\"Feel Aw Right\", The Bel-Cantos, Downey D-128, 45cat. Retrieved January 29, 2020. He recorded his debut single, \"Man Ain't Nothin'\" / \"I Don't Need It, released under the name Lee Barry on Downey in 1966. He also co-wrote \"Together Forever,\" released by Pat Powdrill & the Powerdrills in 1967.\n\nIn the mid-'60s, Bob Keane of Del-Fi Records hired him as an A&R man for his new Bronco Records imprint, and White started working with the label's artists, including Viola Wills and The Bobby Fuller Four, as a songwriter, session musician, and arranger. He discovered singer Felice Taylor and arranged her song \"I Feel Love Comin' On\" co-written with his friend Paul Politi. It became a big hit in the UK. Other charting hits written by White and Politi for her included \"It May Be Winter Outside (But in My Heart It's Spring)\" and \"Under the Influence of Love\". Bronco issued one of White's first singles, 1967's \"All in the Run of a Day,\" produced by Keane and White. White also wrote \"Doin' the Banana Split\" for TV bubblegum act The Banana Splits in 1968.\n\nIn 1969, White was signed by Forward Records of Los Angeles, a division of Transcontinental Entertainment Corporation, as a producer.\n\n1970s as producer\nIn 1972, White got his big break producing a girl group he had discovered called Love Unlimited. Formed in imitative style of the Motown girl group The Supremes, the group members had gradually honed their talents with White for two years previously until they signed contracts with Uni Records. His friend Paul Politi hooked him up with music industry businessman Larry Nunes, who helped to finance their album. After it was recorded, Nunes took the recording to Russ Regan, who was the head of the Uni label owned by MCA. The album, 1972's From A Girl's Point of View We Give to You... Love Unlimited, became the first of White's string of long-titled albums and singles.\n\nWhite produced, wrote and arranged their classic soul ballad \"Walkin' in the Rain with the One I Love\", which climbed to No. 14 in the Billboard Hot 100 Pop chart and No. 6 on the Billboard R&B chart in late 1972. It became White's first million selling single as a writer and producer. This single also reached No. 12 in the UK chart. White's voice can clearly be heard in this piece as he plays the lover who answers the phone call of the female lead.\n\nSoon after, Regan left Uni for 20th Century Records. Without Regan, White's relationship with Uni soured. With his relationship with Uni over and Love Unlimited contract-bound with the label, White was able to switch both his production deal and the group to 20th Century Records. They recorded several other hits throughout the 1970s, \"I Belong to You\", which spent over five months on the Billboard R&B chart in 1974 including a week at No. 1 and \"Under the Influence of Love Unlimited\", which hit No. 3 on the Billboard Pop album charts. White married the lead singer of the group, Glodean James, on July 4, 1974.\n\nThe Love Unlimited Orchestra\nIn 1973, White created The Love Unlimited Orchestra, a 40-piece orchestral group to be used originally as a backing band for the girl-group Love Unlimited. However, White had other plans, and in 1973 he released a single with \"Love's Theme\" (written by him and played by the Orchestra), which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Pop charts. Later, in 1974, he made the first album of the Love Unlimited Orchestra, Rhapsody in White, containing \"Love's Theme\". White would continue to make albums with the Orchestra, achieving some successes such as: \"Rhapsody in White\"; \"Satin Soul\"; \"Forever in Love\"; \"Midnight Groove\"; \"My Sweet Summer Suite\", Remake of \"Theme From King Kong\". The Orchestra ceased to make albums in 1983, but continued to support White as a backing band.\n\n1970s solo career\nWhite wanted to work with another act but decided to work with a solo male artist. While working on a few demos for a male singer, he made three song demos of himself singing and playing, but Nunes heard them and insisted that he re-record and release them himself as a solo recording artist. After arguing for days about it, White was finally persuaded to release the songs himself, although he was initially reluctant to step out behind the microphone.\n\nHe then wrote several other songs and recorded them for what eventually became an entire album of music. He was going to use the name \"White Heat,\" but decided on using his given name instead. White was still hesitating up to the time the label copy was made. It eventually became White's first solo album, 1973's I've Got So Much to Give. It included the title track and his first solo chart hit, \"I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby\", which also rose to No. 1 on the Billboard R&B charts as well as No. 3 on the Billboard Pop charts in 1973 and stayed in the top 40 for many weeks.\n\nOther chart hits by White included \"Never, Never Gonna Give You Up\" (No. 2 R&B, No. 7 Pop in 1973), \"Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe\" (No. 1 Pop and R&B in 1974), \"You're the First, the Last, My Everything\" (No. 1 R&B, No. 2 Pop in 1974), \"What Am I Gonna Do with You\" (No. 1 R&B, No. 8 Pop in 1975), \"Let the Music Play\" (No. 4 R&B in 1976), \"It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next to Me\" (No. 1 R&B, No. 4 Pop in 1977) and \"Your Sweetness Is My Weakness\" (No. 2 R&B in 1978) and others. White also had a strong following in the UK, where he scored five Top 10 hits and a No. 1 for \"You're the First, the Last, My Everything\". Due to his large frame, facial hair, and deep voice, he was given the nickname \"The Walrus of Love\" in the UK.\n\nAfter six years White left 20th Century in 1979 to launch his own label, Unlimited Gold, with CBS/Columbia Records.\n\n1980s\nAlthough his success on the pop charts slowed down as the disco era came to an end, he maintained a loyal following throughout his career. Despite several albums over the next three years, he failed to repeat his earlier successes, with no singles managing to reach the Billboard Hot 100, except for 1982's \"Change,\" climbing into the Billboard R&B Top 20 (No. 12). His label venture was exacting a heavy financial cost on White, so he concentrated on mostly touring and finally folded his label in 1983.\n\nAfter four years he signed with A&M Records, and with the release of 1987's The Right Night & Barry White, the single entitled \"Sho' You Right\" made it to the Billboard R&B charts, peaking at No. 17.\n\nIn 1989 he released The Man Is Back! and with it had three top 40 singles on the Billboard R&B charts: \"Super Lover\", which made it to No. 34, \"I Wanna Do It Good to Ya\", which made it to No. 26, and \"When Will I See You Again\", which made it to No. 32.\n\n1990s\nA 1970s nostalgia fad allowed White to enjoy a renewed wave of popularity in the 1990s. After participating in the song \"The Secret Garden (Sweet Seduction Suite)\" from Quincy Jones's 1989 album Back on the Block, White mounted an effective comeback with several albums, each more successful than the last. He returned to the top of the charts in 1991 with the album Put Me in Your Mix, which reached No. 8 on the Billboard R&B Albums chart and the song by the same name reached No. 2 on the Billboard R&B singles chart.\n\nIn 1994, White released The Icon Is Love, which went to No. 1 on the Billboard R&B album charts, and the single \"Practice What You Preach\" gave him his first No. 1 on the Billboard R&B singles chart in almost 20 years. The album was nominated for a Grammy in the Best R&B Album category, but lost to TLC's CrazySexyCool.\n\nIn 1996, White recorded the duet \"In Your Wildest Dreams\" with Tina Turner. 1996 also saw the release of Space Jam and its soundtrack, on which White had a duet with Chris Rock, called \"Basketball Jones,\" a remake of Cheech & Chong's \"Basketball Jones\" from 1973.\n\nWhite's final album, 1999's Staying Power, resulted in his last hit song \"Staying Power,\" which placed No. 45 on the Billboard R&B charts. The single won him two Grammy Awards in the categories Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance.\n\nHis autobiography, Love Unlimited, written with Mark Eliot, was published in 1999 by Broadway Books.\n\nActing career\n\nOver the course of his career, White sometimes did voice-over work for television and movies. He voiced the character Brother Bear in the film Coonskin (1975), and also played the character Sampson in the movie's live-action segments. He appeared as himself in a few episodes of The Simpsons. In the episode \"Whacking Day\", Bart and Lisa used his deep bass singing voice, played through loudspeakers placed on the ground, to lull and attract snakes, saving them from extermination. White was a fan of the show, and had reportedly contacted the staff about wanting to make a guest appearance. He made a second cameo in the episode \"Krusty Gets Kancelled\".\n\nWhite played the role of a bus driver for a Prodigy commercial in 1995, and he also portrayed the voice of a rabbit in a Good Seasons salad-dressing-mix commercial, singing a song called \"You Can't Bottle Love\". In addition, he did some work for car commercials, including for Oldsmobile, and later on, Jeep. White also provided voice-over for Arby's Restaurant commercials on television and radio to promote its Market Fresh menu. White's voice can also be heard in Apple's first iBook commercial. White made three guest appearances on the comedy-drama television series Ally McBeal, as his music was often featured on the show in dream sequences.\n\n Personal life \n\n Marriages \nWhite was first married to his childhood sweetheart, identified as just Mary in his autobiography, by the time he was 19. They separated in 1969 and later divorced.\n\nIn 1974, White married singer Glodean James. The couple collaborated on the 1981 album Barry & Glodean. They reportedly divorced in 1988, however, they were still legally married until White's death in 2003 although they lived separate lives. Although estranged from Glodean for over a decade, as his widow she was made sole executor of his estate.\n\n Children \nWhite had at least nine children.\n\nBy the age of 16, White had fathered two children with his first wife Mary. They had four children together. In 2017, his son Darryl White from his first marriage sued his estate claiming he was cut off financially.\n\nWhite had four children with his second wife Glodean James. Their daughter Shaherah was his personal assistant. Barry Jr. played in the Love Unlimited Orchestra and was also his tour manager. White's son MacKevin worked in his publishing administration.\n\nWhite had a daughter, Denise Donnell born in 1962 to Gurtha Allen. She did not discover who her biological father was until 1988. She was accepted by White and with his help she changed her name to Denise White. In 2016, she sued White's estate after she stopped receiving money.\n\nAfter White's death in 2003, his girlfriend Katherine Denton claimed her infant daughter was his biological child. Denton also claimed that she was owed money and personal items that White had promised to give her. Paternity tests revealed that he was not the father of her child and Denton subsequently lost her court case.\n\nHealth problems and death\n\nDue to a poor diet, White was overweight for most of his adult life and suffered from related health problems. He was also known to be a heavy smoker, reportedly smoking approximately 150 cigarettes a day; roughly between 7 and 8 packs.\n\nWhile on-tour in the summer of 1995, White nearly collapsed after a concert. He took a break from performing that fall and on October 30 of that year, he was hospitalized after suffering a minor stroke due to high blood pressure. He was in a coma for four days, but was discharged a week after coming out of it.\n\nWhile touring with Earth, Wind & Fire in August 1999, White was forced to cancel a month's worth of tour dates owing to exhaustion, high blood pressure and a hectic schedule. Family, friends, and associates also reported that as the 2000s began, White was in such poor health that he could hardly stand up; his last performances suffered as a result.\nIn September 2002, White was hospitalized with kidney failure attributed to chronic high blood pressure; he was also believed to have been diabetic. While undergoing dialysis and awaiting a kidney transplant in May 2003, White suffered a severe stroke, which forced him to retire from public life. He also suffered multiple seizures in his last few weeks.\n\nWhite's unstable health prevented him from receiving a new kidney and on July 4, 2003, he died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after suffering a cardiac arrest; he was 58.\"Singer Barry White dies\", BBC, July 5, 2003. His remains were cremated, and the ashes were scattered in the ocean off the Californian coast.\n\nLegacy\nOn September 20, 2004, White was posthumously inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame at a ceremony held in New York. On September 12, 2013, which would have been White's 69th birthday, he was posthumously awarded the 2,506th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6914 Hollywood Boulevard in the category of recording. The show Counting Cars paid tribute to White by restoring the last car he owned for his widow, Glodean.\n\nIn an obituary referring to White by his nickname, \"The Walrus of Love\", the BBC recalled \"the rich timbres of one of the most distinctive soul voices of his generation, about which it was once said: 'If chocolate fudge cake could sing, it would sound like Barry White.'\"\n\n Awards and nominations \nWhite was nominated for 11 Grammy Awards; winning two for Staying Power at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards in 2000.\n\nDiscography\n\nStudio albums\n I've Got So Much to Give (1973)\n Stone Gon' (1973)\n Can't Get Enough (1974)\n Just Another Way to Say I Love You (1975) \n Let the Music Play (1976)\n Is This Whatcha Wont? (1976)\n Barry White Sings for Someone You Love (1977)\n The Man (1978)\n I Love to Sing the Songs I Sing (1979)\n The Message Is Love (1979) \n Sheet Music (1980)\n Beware! (1981)\n Change (1982) \n Dedicated (1983) \n The Right Night & Barry White (1987) \n The Man Is Back! (1989) \n Put Me in Your Mix (1991) \n The Icon Is Love (1994) \n Staying Power'' (1999)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n \n\n1944 births\n2003 deaths\nAfrican-American record producers\nRecord producers from Texas\nAfrican-American male singer-songwriters\nAmerican bandleaders\nAmerican bass-baritones\nA&M Records artists\nAmerican dance musicians\n20th-century African-American male singers\nAmerican people convicted of theft\nAmerican rhythm and blues singer-songwriters\nAmerican soul singers\nCasablanca Records artists\nAmerican male actors\nAmerican male voice actors\nAfrican-American male actors\nDeaths from kidney failure\nGrammy Award winners\nMercury Records artists\nSinger-songwriters from Texas\nPeople from Galveston, Texas\nPrivate Music artists\nSingers from Los Angeles\nAmerican disco singers\nRecord producers from California\nDowney Records artists\nSinger-songwriters from California\nThe Love Unlimited Orchestra members"},"extractive":{"kind":"string","value":"true"},"retrieved_contexts":{"kind":"list like","value":["Eternal Echoes is the name of John Barry's final solo album. It was his follow-up recording to The Beyondness of Things, an original solo album of independent material not connected to any film. The composer described the 11 pieces of Eternal Echoes as comprising \"an album of sounds, of places and of objects that have always existed and always will exist. They are without beginning or end. They are infinite in our past and future.\"\n\nThe album was inspired by the poetry of Barry's friend, John O'Donohue. Initially, the composer conceived the project as a cycle of songs based on O'Donohue's poems. But it ended up being a purely orchestral recording performed by the English Chamber Orchestra. The album also features soloists David White on saxophone and Tommy Morgan on harmonica. The critical reception was rather modest at the time of the album's release. Commercially, Eternal Echoes was not as successful as The Beyondness of Things either.\n\nTrack listing\n\n\"Eternal Echoes\" - 4:25\n\"Returning Home\" - 4:12\n\"Crazy Dog\" - 3:03\n\"Slow Day\" - 3:03\n\"Fred and Cyd\" - 4:06\n\"Blessed Illusion\" - 4:08\n\"Lullabying\" - 3:17\n\"Winning\" - 3:56\n\"Get Over It\" - 3:54\n\"First Steps\" - 3:47\n\"Elegy\" - 5:37\n\n2001 albums\nJohn Barry (composer) albums\nDecca Records albums","Barry White Sings for Someone You Love is the self-produced seventh album by soul singer Barry White, released in 1977 on the 20th Century label.\n\nCommercial performance\nThe album topped the R&B albums chart, White's first to do so since 1975. It also reached No. 8 on the Billboard 200, his second to reach the top ten. The album was a success, yielding two Billboard R&B Top Ten singles, \"It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next to Me\", which peaked at No. 1, and \"Playing Your Game, Baby\". \"It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next to Me\" was also a hit on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching #4. A third single, \"Oh, What a Night for Dancing\", reached No. 13 on the R&B chart and No. 24 on the pop chart. The album was digitally remastered and reissued on CD on September 24, 1996, by Mercury Records. The original vinyl album was released with three different covers. In addition to the beige fur with black letters cover shown above, the LP was also issued with dark brown fur and grey fur. Each of these covers had White's name and the album's title in white letters, and are harder to find than the more common light brown fur with black letters cover.\n\n\"Playing Your Game, Baby\", the first track featured on the album, was remixed by British electronica group Groove Armada for their 2000 album Back to Mine: Groove Armada.\n\nTrack listing\n\nPersonnel\nBarry White - lead vocals, arranger\nJohn Roberts - orchestration \nTechnical\nFrank Kejmar - engineer\nGrant Edwards - front cover photography\n\nCharts\n\nSingles\n\nSee also\nList of number-one R&B albums of 1977 (U.S.)\n\nCertifications and sales\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n 'Barry White Sings for Someone You Love' at Discogs\n\n1977 albums\nBarry White albums\n20th Century Fox Records albums"],"string":"[\n \"Eternal Echoes is the name of John Barry's final solo album. It was his follow-up recording to The Beyondness of Things, an original solo album of independent material not connected to any film. The composer described the 11 pieces of Eternal Echoes as comprising \\\"an album of sounds, of places and of objects that have always existed and always will exist. They are without beginning or end. They are infinite in our past and future.\\\"\\n\\nThe album was inspired by the poetry of Barry's friend, John O'Donohue. Initially, the composer conceived the project as a cycle of songs based on O'Donohue's poems. But it ended up being a purely orchestral recording performed by the English Chamber Orchestra. The album also features soloists David White on saxophone and Tommy Morgan on harmonica. The critical reception was rather modest at the time of the album's release. Commercially, Eternal Echoes was not as successful as The Beyondness of Things either.\\n\\nTrack listing\\n\\n\\\"Eternal Echoes\\\" - 4:25\\n\\\"Returning Home\\\" - 4:12\\n\\\"Crazy Dog\\\" - 3:03\\n\\\"Slow Day\\\" - 3:03\\n\\\"Fred and Cyd\\\" - 4:06\\n\\\"Blessed Illusion\\\" - 4:08\\n\\\"Lullabying\\\" - 3:17\\n\\\"Winning\\\" - 3:56\\n\\\"Get Over It\\\" - 3:54\\n\\\"First Steps\\\" - 3:47\\n\\\"Elegy\\\" - 5:37\\n\\n2001 albums\\nJohn Barry (composer) albums\\nDecca Records albums\",\n \"Barry White Sings for Someone You Love is the self-produced seventh album by soul singer Barry White, released in 1977 on the 20th Century label.\\n\\nCommercial performance\\nThe album topped the R&B albums chart, White's first to do so since 1975. It also reached No. 8 on the Billboard 200, his second to reach the top ten. The album was a success, yielding two Billboard R&B Top Ten singles, \\\"It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next to Me\\\", which peaked at No. 1, and \\\"Playing Your Game, Baby\\\". \\\"It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next to Me\\\" was also a hit on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching #4. A third single, \\\"Oh, What a Night for Dancing\\\", reached No. 13 on the R&B chart and No. 24 on the pop chart. The album was digitally remastered and reissued on CD on September 24, 1996, by Mercury Records. The original vinyl album was released with three different covers. In addition to the beige fur with black letters cover shown above, the LP was also issued with dark brown fur and grey fur. Each of these covers had White's name and the album's title in white letters, and are harder to find than the more common light brown fur with black letters cover.\\n\\n\\\"Playing Your Game, Baby\\\", the first track featured on the album, was remixed by British electronica group Groove Armada for their 2000 album Back to Mine: Groove Armada.\\n\\nTrack listing\\n\\nPersonnel\\nBarry White - lead vocals, arranger\\nJohn Roberts - orchestration \\nTechnical\\nFrank Kejmar - engineer\\nGrant Edwards - front cover photography\\n\\nCharts\\n\\nSingles\\n\\nSee also\\nList of number-one R&B albums of 1977 (U.S.)\\n\\nCertifications and sales\\n\\nReferences\\n\\nExternal links\\n 'Barry White Sings for Someone You Love' at Discogs\\n\\n1977 albums\\nBarry White albums\\n20th Century Fox Records albums\"\n]"},"chunked_article":{"kind":"list like","value":["Barry Eugene Carter (September 12, 1944 – July 4, 2003), better known by his stage name Barry White, was an American singer-songwriter, musician, record producer and composer. A two-time Grammy Award–winner known for his bass-baritone voice and romantic image, his greatest success came in the 1970s as a solo singer and with The Love Unlimited Orchestra, crafting many enduring soul, funk, and disco songs such as his two biggest hits: \"You're the First, the Last, My Everything\" and \"Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe\".","A two-time Grammy Award–winner known for his bass-baritone voice and romantic image, his greatest success came in the 1970s as a solo singer and with The Love Unlimited Orchestra, crafting many enduring soul, funk, and disco songs such as his two biggest hits: \"You're the First, the Last, My Everything\" and \"Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe\". White recorded 19 studio albums during the course of his career, but multiple versions and compilations were released worldwide that were certified gold, 41 of which also attained platinum status.","White recorded 19 studio albums during the course of his career, but multiple versions and compilations were released worldwide that were certified gold, 41 of which also attained platinum status. White had 20 gold and 10 platinum singles, with worldwide record sales in excess of 100 million records, and is one of the best-selling music artists of all time. His influences included James Cleveland, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, The Supremes, The Four Tops, and Marvin Gaye.","His influences included James Cleveland, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, The Supremes, The Four Tops, and Marvin Gaye. Early life White was born Barry Eugene Carter on September 12, 1944, in Galveston, Texas, United States. His father was Melvin A. White, and his mother was Sadie Marie Carter. His parents never married, so his mother gave him her last name, but he later took on the surname of his father.","His parents never married, so his mother gave him her last name, but he later took on the surname of his father. He grew up in the Watts neighborhood of South Central Los Angeles, California. He was the older of two children; his brother Darryl was 13 months younger. White grew up listening to his mother's classical music collection and first took to the piano, emulating what he heard on the records.","White grew up listening to his mother's classical music collection and first took to the piano, emulating what he heard on the records. White has often been credited with playing piano, at age 11, on Jesse Belvin's 1956 hit single, \"Goodnight My Love\". However, in a 1995 interview with the Boston Herald, White denied writing or arranging the song. He believed the story was an exaggeration by journalists. While White and Belvin lived in the same neighborhood, Belvin was 12 years older than White.","While White and Belvin lived in the same neighborhood, Belvin was 12 years older than White. White's voice deepened suddenly when he was 14. He recalled: \"[As a child], I had a normal squeaky kid voice. Then as a teenager, that completely changed. My mother cried because she knew her baby boy had become a man.\" White was jailed for four months at the age of 16 for stealing $30,000 worth of Cadillac tires.","White was jailed for four months at the age of 16 for stealing $30,000 worth of Cadillac tires. While in jail, he listened to Elvis Presley singing \"It's Now or Never\" on the radio, an experience he later credited with changing the course of his life. Music career 1960s After his release from jail, White left gang life and began a musical career at the beginning of the 1960s in singing groups.","Music career 1960s After his release from jail, White left gang life and began a musical career at the beginning of the 1960s in singing groups. He first released \"Too Far to Turn Around\" in 1960 as part of The Upfronts before working for various small independent labels in Los Angeles. He also recorded several singles under his own name in the early 1960s, backed by vocal groups the Atlantics (for the Rampart and Faro labels) and the Majestics (for the Linda and Jordan labels).","He also recorded several singles under his own name in the early 1960s, backed by vocal groups the Atlantics (for the Rampart and Faro labels) and the Majestics (for the Linda and Jordan labels). White had no involvement with Bob & Earl's 1963 hit single \"Harlem Shuffle\", a song he has sometimes been credited with producing; in his 1999 autobiography, White confirmed the song had been produced by Gene Page, who had worked with him on many of White's 1970s successes.","White had no involvement with Bob & Earl's 1963 hit single \"Harlem Shuffle\", a song he has sometimes been credited with producing; in his 1999 autobiography, White confirmed the song had been produced by Gene Page, who had worked with him on many of White's 1970s successes. In 1965, White produced \"Feel Aw Right\" by the Bel Cantos, released on the Downey label. \"Feel Aw Right\", The Bel-Cantos, Downey D-128, 45cat.","In 1965, White produced \"Feel Aw Right\" by the Bel Cantos, released on the Downey label. \"Feel Aw Right\", The Bel-Cantos, Downey D-128, 45cat. Retrieved January 29, 2020. He recorded his debut single, \"Man Ain't Nothin'\" / \"I Don't Need It, released under the name Lee Barry on Downey in 1966. He also co-wrote \"Together Forever,\" released by Pat Powdrill & the Powerdrills in 1967.","He also co-wrote \"Together Forever,\" released by Pat Powdrill & the Powerdrills in 1967. In the mid-'60s, Bob Keane of Del-Fi Records hired him as an A&R man for his new Bronco Records imprint, and White started working with the label's artists, including Viola Wills and The Bobby Fuller Four, as a songwriter, session musician, and arranger. He discovered singer Felice Taylor and arranged her song \"I Feel Love Comin' On\" co-written with his friend Paul Politi.","He discovered singer Felice Taylor and arranged her song \"I Feel Love Comin' On\" co-written with his friend Paul Politi. It became a big hit in the UK. Other charting hits written by White and Politi for her included \"It May Be Winter Outside (But in My Heart It's Spring)\" and \"Under the Influence of Love\". Bronco issued one of White's first singles, 1967's \"All in the Run of a Day,\" produced by Keane and White.","Bronco issued one of White's first singles, 1967's \"All in the Run of a Day,\" produced by Keane and White. White also wrote \"Doin' the Banana Split\" for TV bubblegum act The Banana Splits in 1968. In 1969, White was signed by Forward Records of Los Angeles, a division of Transcontinental Entertainment Corporation, as a producer. 1970s as producer In 1972, White got his big break producing a girl group he had discovered called Love Unlimited.","1970s as producer In 1972, White got his big break producing a girl group he had discovered called Love Unlimited. Formed in imitative style of the Motown girl group The Supremes, the group members had gradually honed their talents with White for two years previously until they signed contracts with Uni Records. His friend Paul Politi hooked him up with music industry businessman Larry Nunes, who helped to finance their album.","His friend Paul Politi hooked him up with music industry businessman Larry Nunes, who helped to finance their album. After it was recorded, Nunes took the recording to Russ Regan, who was the head of the Uni label owned by MCA. The album, 1972's From A Girl's Point of View We Give to You... Love Unlimited, became the first of White's string of long-titled albums and singles.","The album, 1972's From A Girl's Point of View We Give to You... Love Unlimited, became the first of White's string of long-titled albums and singles. White produced, wrote and arranged their classic soul ballad \"Walkin' in the Rain with the One I Love\", which climbed to No. 14 in the Billboard Hot 100 Pop chart and No. 6 on the Billboard R&B chart in late 1972. It became White's first million selling single as a writer and producer.","It became White's first million selling single as a writer and producer. This single also reached No. 12 in the UK chart. White's voice can clearly be heard in this piece as he plays the lover who answers the phone call of the female lead. Soon after, Regan left Uni for 20th Century Records. Without Regan, White's relationship with Uni soured.","Without Regan, White's relationship with Uni soured. Without Regan, White's relationship with Uni soured. With his relationship with Uni over and Love Unlimited contract-bound with the label, White was able to switch both his production deal and the group to 20th Century Records. They recorded several other hits throughout the 1970s, \"I Belong to You\", which spent over five months on the Billboard R&B chart in 1974 including a week at No.","They recorded several other hits throughout the 1970s, \"I Belong to You\", which spent over five months on the Billboard R&B chart in 1974 including a week at No. 1 and \"Under the Influence of Love Unlimited\", which hit No. 3 on the Billboard Pop album charts. White married the lead singer of the group, Glodean James, on July 4, 1974.","White married the lead singer of the group, Glodean James, on July 4, 1974. The Love Unlimited Orchestra In 1973, White created The Love Unlimited Orchestra, a 40-piece orchestral group to be used originally as a backing band for the girl-group Love Unlimited. However, White had other plans, and in 1973 he released a single with \"Love's Theme\" (written by him and played by the Orchestra), which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Pop charts.","1 on the Billboard Pop charts. 1 on the Billboard Pop charts. Later, in 1974, he made the first album of the Love Unlimited Orchestra, Rhapsody in White, containing \"Love's Theme\". White would continue to make albums with the Orchestra, achieving some successes such as: \"Rhapsody in White\"; \"Satin Soul\"; \"Forever in Love\"; \"Midnight Groove\"; \"My Sweet Summer Suite\", Remake of \"Theme From King Kong\".","White would continue to make albums with the Orchestra, achieving some successes such as: \"Rhapsody in White\"; \"Satin Soul\"; \"Forever in Love\"; \"Midnight Groove\"; \"My Sweet Summer Suite\", Remake of \"Theme From King Kong\". The Orchestra ceased to make albums in 1983, but continued to support White as a backing band. 1970s solo career White wanted to work with another act but decided to work with a solo male artist.","1970s solo career White wanted to work with another act but decided to work with a solo male artist. While working on a few demos for a male singer, he made three song demos of himself singing and playing, but Nunes heard them and insisted that he re-record and release them himself as a solo recording artist. After arguing for days about it, White was finally persuaded to release the songs himself, although he was initially reluctant to step out behind the microphone.","After arguing for days about it, White was finally persuaded to release the songs himself, although he was initially reluctant to step out behind the microphone. He then wrote several other songs and recorded them for what eventually became an entire album of music. He was going to use the name \"White Heat,\" but decided on using his given name instead. White was still hesitating up to the time the label copy was made.","White was still hesitating up to the time the label copy was made. It eventually became White's first solo album, 1973's I've Got So Much to Give. It included the title track and his first solo chart hit, \"I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby\", which also rose to No. 1 on the Billboard R&B charts as well as No. 3 on the Billboard Pop charts in 1973 and stayed in the top 40 for many weeks.","3 on the Billboard Pop charts in 1973 and stayed in the top 40 for many weeks. Other chart hits by White included \"Never, Never Gonna Give You Up\" (No. 2 R&B, No. 7 Pop in 1973), \"Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe\" (No. 1 Pop and R&B in 1974), \"You're the First, the Last, My Everything\" (No. 1 R&B, No.","1 R&B, No. 1 R&B, No. 2 Pop in 1974), \"What Am I Gonna Do with You\" (No. 1 R&B, No. 8 Pop in 1975), \"Let the Music Play\" (No. 4 R&B in 1976), \"It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next to Me\" (No. 1 R&B, No.","1 R&B, No. 1 R&B, No. 4 Pop in 1977) and \"Your Sweetness Is My Weakness\" (No. 2 R&B in 1978) and others. White also had a strong following in the UK, where he scored five Top 10 hits and a No. 1 for \"You're the First, the Last, My Everything\".","1 for \"You're the First, the Last, My Everything\". Due to his large frame, facial hair, and deep voice, he was given the nickname \"The Walrus of Love\" in the UK. After six years White left 20th Century in 1979 to launch his own label, Unlimited Gold, with CBS/Columbia Records. 1980s Although his success on the pop charts slowed down as the disco era came to an end, he maintained a loyal following throughout his career.","1980s Although his success on the pop charts slowed down as the disco era came to an end, he maintained a loyal following throughout his career. Despite several albums over the next three years, he failed to repeat his earlier successes, with no singles managing to reach the Billboard Hot 100, except for 1982's \"Change,\" climbing into the Billboard R&B Top 20 (No. 12).","12). 12). His label venture was exacting a heavy financial cost on White, so he concentrated on mostly touring and finally folded his label in 1983. After four years he signed with A&M Records, and with the release of 1987's The Right Night & Barry White, the single entitled \"Sho' You Right\" made it to the Billboard R&B charts, peaking at No. 17. In 1989 he released The Man Is Back!","17. In 1989 he released The Man Is Back! In 1989 he released The Man Is Back! and with it had three top 40 singles on the Billboard R&B charts: \"Super Lover\", which made it to No. 34, \"I Wanna Do It Good to Ya\", which made it to No. 26, and \"When Will I See You Again\", which made it to No. 32.","32. 32. 1990s A 1970s nostalgia fad allowed White to enjoy a renewed wave of popularity in the 1990s. After participating in the song \"The Secret Garden (Sweet Seduction Suite)\" from Quincy Jones's 1989 album Back on the Block, White mounted an effective comeback with several albums, each more successful than the last. He returned to the top of the charts in 1991 with the album Put Me in Your Mix, which reached No.","He returned to the top of the charts in 1991 with the album Put Me in Your Mix, which reached No. 8 on the Billboard R&B Albums chart and the song by the same name reached No. 2 on the Billboard R&B singles chart. In 1994, White released The Icon Is Love, which went to No. 1 on the Billboard R&B album charts, and the single \"Practice What You Preach\" gave him his first No.","1 on the Billboard R&B album charts, and the single \"Practice What You Preach\" gave him his first No. 1 on the Billboard R&B singles chart in almost 20 years. The album was nominated for a Grammy in the Best R&B Album category, but lost to TLC's CrazySexyCool. In 1996, White recorded the duet \"In Your Wildest Dreams\" with Tina Turner.","In 1996, White recorded the duet \"In Your Wildest Dreams\" with Tina Turner. 1996 also saw the release of Space Jam and its soundtrack, on which White had a duet with Chris Rock, called \"Basketball Jones,\" a remake of Cheech & Chong's \"Basketball Jones\" from 1973. White's final album, 1999's Staying Power, resulted in his last hit song \"Staying Power,\" which placed No. 45 on the Billboard R&B charts.","45 on the Billboard R&B charts. 45 on the Billboard R&B charts. The single won him two Grammy Awards in the categories Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance. His autobiography, Love Unlimited, written with Mark Eliot, was published in 1999 by Broadway Books. Acting career Over the course of his career, White sometimes did voice-over work for television and movies.","Acting career Over the course of his career, White sometimes did voice-over work for television and movies. He voiced the character Brother Bear in the film Coonskin (1975), and also played the character Sampson in the movie's live-action segments. He appeared as himself in a few episodes of The Simpsons. In the episode \"Whacking Day\", Bart and Lisa used his deep bass singing voice, played through loudspeakers placed on the ground, to lull and attract snakes, saving them from extermination.","In the episode \"Whacking Day\", Bart and Lisa used his deep bass singing voice, played through loudspeakers placed on the ground, to lull and attract snakes, saving them from extermination. White was a fan of the show, and had reportedly contacted the staff about wanting to make a guest appearance. He made a second cameo in the episode \"Krusty Gets Kancelled\".","He made a second cameo in the episode \"Krusty Gets Kancelled\". White played the role of a bus driver for a Prodigy commercial in 1995, and he also portrayed the voice of a rabbit in a Good Seasons salad-dressing-mix commercial, singing a song called \"You Can't Bottle Love\". In addition, he did some work for car commercials, including for Oldsmobile, and later on, Jeep. White also provided voice-over for Arby's Restaurant commercials on television and radio to promote its Market Fresh menu.","White also provided voice-over for Arby's Restaurant commercials on television and radio to promote its Market Fresh menu. White's voice can also be heard in Apple's first iBook commercial. White made three guest appearances on the comedy-drama television series Ally McBeal, as his music was often featured on the show in dream sequences. Personal life Marriages White was first married to his childhood sweetheart, identified as just Mary in his autobiography, by the time he was 19. They separated in 1969 and later divorced.","They separated in 1969 and later divorced. They separated in 1969 and later divorced. In 1974, White married singer Glodean James. The couple collaborated on the 1981 album Barry & Glodean. They reportedly divorced in 1988, however, they were still legally married until White's death in 2003 although they lived separate lives. Although estranged from Glodean for over a decade, as his widow she was made sole executor of his estate. Children White had at least nine children.","Children White had at least nine children. Children White had at least nine children. By the age of 16, White had fathered two children with his first wife Mary. They had four children together. In 2017, his son Darryl White from his first marriage sued his estate claiming he was cut off financially. White had four children with his second wife Glodean James. Their daughter Shaherah was his personal assistant. Barry Jr. played in the Love Unlimited Orchestra and was also his tour manager.","Barry Jr. played in the Love Unlimited Orchestra and was also his tour manager. White's son MacKevin worked in his publishing administration. White had a daughter, Denise Donnell born in 1962 to Gurtha Allen. She did not discover who her biological father was until 1988. She was accepted by White and with his help she changed her name to Denise White. In 2016, she sued White's estate after she stopped receiving money.","In 2016, she sued White's estate after she stopped receiving money. After White's death in 2003, his girlfriend Katherine Denton claimed her infant daughter was his biological child. Denton also claimed that she was owed money and personal items that White had promised to give her. Paternity tests revealed that he was not the father of her child and Denton subsequently lost her court case. Health problems and death Due to a poor diet, White was overweight for most of his adult life and suffered from related health problems.","Health problems and death Due to a poor diet, White was overweight for most of his adult life and suffered from related health problems. He was also known to be a heavy smoker, reportedly smoking approximately 150 cigarettes a day; roughly between 7 and 8 packs. While on-tour in the summer of 1995, White nearly collapsed after a concert. He took a break from performing that fall and on October 30 of that year, he was hospitalized after suffering a minor stroke due to high blood pressure.","He took a break from performing that fall and on October 30 of that year, he was hospitalized after suffering a minor stroke due to high blood pressure. He was in a coma for four days, but was discharged a week after coming out of it. While touring with Earth, Wind & Fire in August 1999, White was forced to cancel a month's worth of tour dates owing to exhaustion, high blood pressure and a hectic schedule.","While touring with Earth, Wind & Fire in August 1999, White was forced to cancel a month's worth of tour dates owing to exhaustion, high blood pressure and a hectic schedule. Family, friends, and associates also reported that as the 2000s began, White was in such poor health that he could hardly stand up; his last performances suffered as a result. In September 2002, White was hospitalized with kidney failure attributed to chronic high blood pressure; he was also believed to have been diabetic.","In September 2002, White was hospitalized with kidney failure attributed to chronic high blood pressure; he was also believed to have been diabetic. While undergoing dialysis and awaiting a kidney transplant in May 2003, White suffered a severe stroke, which forced him to retire from public life. He also suffered multiple seizures in his last few weeks.","He also suffered multiple seizures in his last few weeks. White's unstable health prevented him from receiving a new kidney and on July 4, 2003, he died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after suffering a cardiac arrest; he was 58. \"Singer Barry White dies\", BBC, July 5, 2003. His remains were cremated, and the ashes were scattered in the ocean off the Californian coast.","His remains were cremated, and the ashes were scattered in the ocean off the Californian coast. Legacy On September 20, 2004, White was posthumously inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame at a ceremony held in New York. On September 12, 2013, which would have been White's 69th birthday, he was posthumously awarded the 2,506th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6914 Hollywood Boulevard in the category of recording.","On September 12, 2013, which would have been White's 69th birthday, he was posthumously awarded the 2,506th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6914 Hollywood Boulevard in the category of recording. The show Counting Cars paid tribute to White by restoring the last car he owned for his widow, Glodean.","The show Counting Cars paid tribute to White by restoring the last car he owned for his widow, Glodean. In an obituary referring to White by his nickname, \"The Walrus of Love\", the BBC recalled \"the rich timbres of one of the most distinctive soul voices of his generation, about which it was once said: 'If chocolate fudge cake could sing, it would sound like Barry White.'\"","In an obituary referring to White by his nickname, \"The Walrus of Love\", the BBC recalled \"the rich timbres of one of the most distinctive soul voices of his generation, about which it was once said: 'If chocolate fudge cake could sing, it would sound like Barry White.'\" Awards and nominations White was nominated for 11 Grammy Awards; winning two for Staying Power at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards in 2000.","Awards and nominations White was nominated for 11 Grammy Awards; winning two for Staying Power at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards in 2000. Discography Studio albums I've Got So Much to Give (1973) Stone Gon' (1973) Can't Get Enough (1974) Just Another Way to Say I Love You (1975) Let the Music Play (1976) Is This Whatcha Wont?","Discography Studio albums I've Got So Much to Give (1973) Stone Gon' (1973) Can't Get Enough (1974) Just Another Way to Say I Love You (1975) Let the Music Play (1976) Is This Whatcha Wont? (1976) Barry White Sings for Someone You Love (1977) The Man (1978) I Love to Sing the Songs I Sing (1979) The Message Is Love (1979) Sheet Music (1980) Beware!","(1976) Barry White Sings for Someone You Love (1977) The Man (1978) I Love to Sing the Songs I Sing (1979) The Message Is Love (1979) Sheet Music (1980) Beware! (1981) Change (1982) Dedicated (1983) The Right Night & Barry White (1987) The Man Is Back!","(1981) Change (1982) Dedicated (1983) The Right Night & Barry White (1987) The Man Is Back! (1989) Put Me in Your Mix (1991) The Icon Is Love (1994) Staying Power'' (1999) References External links 1944 births 2003 deaths African-American record producers Record producers from Texas African-American male singer-songwriters American bandleaders American bass-baritones A&M Records artists American dance musicians 20th-century African-American male singers American people convicted of theft American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters American soul singers Casablanca Records artists American male actors American male voice actors African-American male actors Deaths from kidney failure Grammy Award winners Mercury Records artists Singer-songwriters from Texas People from Galveston, Texas Private Music artists Singers from Los Angeles American disco singers Record producers from California Downey Records artists Singer-songwriters from California The Love Unlimited Orchestra members"],"string":"[\n \"Barry Eugene Carter (September 12, 1944 – July 4, 2003), better known by his stage name Barry White, was an American singer-songwriter, musician, record producer and composer. A two-time Grammy Award–winner known for his bass-baritone voice and romantic image, his greatest success came in the 1970s as a solo singer and with The Love Unlimited Orchestra, crafting many enduring soul, funk, and disco songs such as his two biggest hits: \\\"You're the First, the Last, My Everything\\\" and \\\"Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe\\\".\",\n \"A two-time Grammy Award–winner known for his bass-baritone voice and romantic image, his greatest success came in the 1970s as a solo singer and with The Love Unlimited Orchestra, crafting many enduring soul, funk, and disco songs such as his two biggest hits: \\\"You're the First, the Last, My Everything\\\" and \\\"Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe\\\". White recorded 19 studio albums during the course of his career, but multiple versions and compilations were released worldwide that were certified gold, 41 of which also attained platinum status.\",\n \"White recorded 19 studio albums during the course of his career, but multiple versions and compilations were released worldwide that were certified gold, 41 of which also attained platinum status. White had 20 gold and 10 platinum singles, with worldwide record sales in excess of 100 million records, and is one of the best-selling music artists of all time. His influences included James Cleveland, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, The Supremes, The Four Tops, and Marvin Gaye.\",\n \"His influences included James Cleveland, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, The Supremes, The Four Tops, and Marvin Gaye. Early life White was born Barry Eugene Carter on September 12, 1944, in Galveston, Texas, United States. His father was Melvin A. White, and his mother was Sadie Marie Carter. His parents never married, so his mother gave him her last name, but he later took on the surname of his father.\",\n \"His parents never married, so his mother gave him her last name, but he later took on the surname of his father. He grew up in the Watts neighborhood of South Central Los Angeles, California. He was the older of two children; his brother Darryl was 13 months younger. White grew up listening to his mother's classical music collection and first took to the piano, emulating what he heard on the records.\",\n \"White grew up listening to his mother's classical music collection and first took to the piano, emulating what he heard on the records. White has often been credited with playing piano, at age 11, on Jesse Belvin's 1956 hit single, \\\"Goodnight My Love\\\". However, in a 1995 interview with the Boston Herald, White denied writing or arranging the song. He believed the story was an exaggeration by journalists. While White and Belvin lived in the same neighborhood, Belvin was 12 years older than White.\",\n \"While White and Belvin lived in the same neighborhood, Belvin was 12 years older than White. White's voice deepened suddenly when he was 14. He recalled: \\\"[As a child], I had a normal squeaky kid voice. Then as a teenager, that completely changed. My mother cried because she knew her baby boy had become a man.\\\" White was jailed for four months at the age of 16 for stealing $30,000 worth of Cadillac tires.\",\n \"White was jailed for four months at the age of 16 for stealing $30,000 worth of Cadillac tires. While in jail, he listened to Elvis Presley singing \\\"It's Now or Never\\\" on the radio, an experience he later credited with changing the course of his life. Music career 1960s After his release from jail, White left gang life and began a musical career at the beginning of the 1960s in singing groups.\",\n \"Music career 1960s After his release from jail, White left gang life and began a musical career at the beginning of the 1960s in singing groups. He first released \\\"Too Far to Turn Around\\\" in 1960 as part of The Upfronts before working for various small independent labels in Los Angeles. He also recorded several singles under his own name in the early 1960s, backed by vocal groups the Atlantics (for the Rampart and Faro labels) and the Majestics (for the Linda and Jordan labels).\",\n \"He also recorded several singles under his own name in the early 1960s, backed by vocal groups the Atlantics (for the Rampart and Faro labels) and the Majestics (for the Linda and Jordan labels). White had no involvement with Bob & Earl's 1963 hit single \\\"Harlem Shuffle\\\", a song he has sometimes been credited with producing; in his 1999 autobiography, White confirmed the song had been produced by Gene Page, who had worked with him on many of White's 1970s successes.\",\n \"White had no involvement with Bob & Earl's 1963 hit single \\\"Harlem Shuffle\\\", a song he has sometimes been credited with producing; in his 1999 autobiography, White confirmed the song had been produced by Gene Page, who had worked with him on many of White's 1970s successes. In 1965, White produced \\\"Feel Aw Right\\\" by the Bel Cantos, released on the Downey label. \\\"Feel Aw Right\\\", The Bel-Cantos, Downey D-128, 45cat.\",\n \"In 1965, White produced \\\"Feel Aw Right\\\" by the Bel Cantos, released on the Downey label. \\\"Feel Aw Right\\\", The Bel-Cantos, Downey D-128, 45cat. Retrieved January 29, 2020. He recorded his debut single, \\\"Man Ain't Nothin'\\\" / \\\"I Don't Need It, released under the name Lee Barry on Downey in 1966. He also co-wrote \\\"Together Forever,\\\" released by Pat Powdrill & the Powerdrills in 1967.\",\n \"He also co-wrote \\\"Together Forever,\\\" released by Pat Powdrill & the Powerdrills in 1967. In the mid-'60s, Bob Keane of Del-Fi Records hired him as an A&R man for his new Bronco Records imprint, and White started working with the label's artists, including Viola Wills and The Bobby Fuller Four, as a songwriter, session musician, and arranger. He discovered singer Felice Taylor and arranged her song \\\"I Feel Love Comin' On\\\" co-written with his friend Paul Politi.\",\n \"He discovered singer Felice Taylor and arranged her song \\\"I Feel Love Comin' On\\\" co-written with his friend Paul Politi. It became a big hit in the UK. Other charting hits written by White and Politi for her included \\\"It May Be Winter Outside (But in My Heart It's Spring)\\\" and \\\"Under the Influence of Love\\\". Bronco issued one of White's first singles, 1967's \\\"All in the Run of a Day,\\\" produced by Keane and White.\",\n \"Bronco issued one of White's first singles, 1967's \\\"All in the Run of a Day,\\\" produced by Keane and White. White also wrote \\\"Doin' the Banana Split\\\" for TV bubblegum act The Banana Splits in 1968. In 1969, White was signed by Forward Records of Los Angeles, a division of Transcontinental Entertainment Corporation, as a producer. 1970s as producer In 1972, White got his big break producing a girl group he had discovered called Love Unlimited.\",\n \"1970s as producer In 1972, White got his big break producing a girl group he had discovered called Love Unlimited. Formed in imitative style of the Motown girl group The Supremes, the group members had gradually honed their talents with White for two years previously until they signed contracts with Uni Records. His friend Paul Politi hooked him up with music industry businessman Larry Nunes, who helped to finance their album.\",\n \"His friend Paul Politi hooked him up with music industry businessman Larry Nunes, who helped to finance their album. After it was recorded, Nunes took the recording to Russ Regan, who was the head of the Uni label owned by MCA. The album, 1972's From A Girl's Point of View We Give to You... Love Unlimited, became the first of White's string of long-titled albums and singles.\",\n \"The album, 1972's From A Girl's Point of View We Give to You... Love Unlimited, became the first of White's string of long-titled albums and singles. White produced, wrote and arranged their classic soul ballad \\\"Walkin' in the Rain with the One I Love\\\", which climbed to No. 14 in the Billboard Hot 100 Pop chart and No. 6 on the Billboard R&B chart in late 1972. It became White's first million selling single as a writer and producer.\",\n \"It became White's first million selling single as a writer and producer. This single also reached No. 12 in the UK chart. White's voice can clearly be heard in this piece as he plays the lover who answers the phone call of the female lead. Soon after, Regan left Uni for 20th Century Records. Without Regan, White's relationship with Uni soured.\",\n \"Without Regan, White's relationship with Uni soured. Without Regan, White's relationship with Uni soured. With his relationship with Uni over and Love Unlimited contract-bound with the label, White was able to switch both his production deal and the group to 20th Century Records. They recorded several other hits throughout the 1970s, \\\"I Belong to You\\\", which spent over five months on the Billboard R&B chart in 1974 including a week at No.\",\n \"They recorded several other hits throughout the 1970s, \\\"I Belong to You\\\", which spent over five months on the Billboard R&B chart in 1974 including a week at No. 1 and \\\"Under the Influence of Love Unlimited\\\", which hit No. 3 on the Billboard Pop album charts. White married the lead singer of the group, Glodean James, on July 4, 1974.\",\n \"White married the lead singer of the group, Glodean James, on July 4, 1974. The Love Unlimited Orchestra In 1973, White created The Love Unlimited Orchestra, a 40-piece orchestral group to be used originally as a backing band for the girl-group Love Unlimited. However, White had other plans, and in 1973 he released a single with \\\"Love's Theme\\\" (written by him and played by the Orchestra), which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Pop charts.\",\n \"1 on the Billboard Pop charts. 1 on the Billboard Pop charts. Later, in 1974, he made the first album of the Love Unlimited Orchestra, Rhapsody in White, containing \\\"Love's Theme\\\". White would continue to make albums with the Orchestra, achieving some successes such as: \\\"Rhapsody in White\\\"; \\\"Satin Soul\\\"; \\\"Forever in Love\\\"; \\\"Midnight Groove\\\"; \\\"My Sweet Summer Suite\\\", Remake of \\\"Theme From King Kong\\\".\",\n \"White would continue to make albums with the Orchestra, achieving some successes such as: \\\"Rhapsody in White\\\"; \\\"Satin Soul\\\"; \\\"Forever in Love\\\"; \\\"Midnight Groove\\\"; \\\"My Sweet Summer Suite\\\", Remake of \\\"Theme From King Kong\\\". The Orchestra ceased to make albums in 1983, but continued to support White as a backing band. 1970s solo career White wanted to work with another act but decided to work with a solo male artist.\",\n \"1970s solo career White wanted to work with another act but decided to work with a solo male artist. While working on a few demos for a male singer, he made three song demos of himself singing and playing, but Nunes heard them and insisted that he re-record and release them himself as a solo recording artist. After arguing for days about it, White was finally persuaded to release the songs himself, although he was initially reluctant to step out behind the microphone.\",\n \"After arguing for days about it, White was finally persuaded to release the songs himself, although he was initially reluctant to step out behind the microphone. He then wrote several other songs and recorded them for what eventually became an entire album of music. He was going to use the name \\\"White Heat,\\\" but decided on using his given name instead. White was still hesitating up to the time the label copy was made.\",\n \"White was still hesitating up to the time the label copy was made. It eventually became White's first solo album, 1973's I've Got So Much to Give. It included the title track and his first solo chart hit, \\\"I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby\\\", which also rose to No. 1 on the Billboard R&B charts as well as No. 3 on the Billboard Pop charts in 1973 and stayed in the top 40 for many weeks.\",\n \"3 on the Billboard Pop charts in 1973 and stayed in the top 40 for many weeks. Other chart hits by White included \\\"Never, Never Gonna Give You Up\\\" (No. 2 R&B, No. 7 Pop in 1973), \\\"Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe\\\" (No. 1 Pop and R&B in 1974), \\\"You're the First, the Last, My Everything\\\" (No. 1 R&B, No.\",\n \"1 R&B, No. 1 R&B, No. 2 Pop in 1974), \\\"What Am I Gonna Do with You\\\" (No. 1 R&B, No. 8 Pop in 1975), \\\"Let the Music Play\\\" (No. 4 R&B in 1976), \\\"It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next to Me\\\" (No. 1 R&B, No.\",\n \"1 R&B, No. 1 R&B, No. 4 Pop in 1977) and \\\"Your Sweetness Is My Weakness\\\" (No. 2 R&B in 1978) and others. White also had a strong following in the UK, where he scored five Top 10 hits and a No. 1 for \\\"You're the First, the Last, My Everything\\\".\",\n \"1 for \\\"You're the First, the Last, My Everything\\\". Due to his large frame, facial hair, and deep voice, he was given the nickname \\\"The Walrus of Love\\\" in the UK. After six years White left 20th Century in 1979 to launch his own label, Unlimited Gold, with CBS/Columbia Records. 1980s Although his success on the pop charts slowed down as the disco era came to an end, he maintained a loyal following throughout his career.\",\n \"1980s Although his success on the pop charts slowed down as the disco era came to an end, he maintained a loyal following throughout his career. Despite several albums over the next three years, he failed to repeat his earlier successes, with no singles managing to reach the Billboard Hot 100, except for 1982's \\\"Change,\\\" climbing into the Billboard R&B Top 20 (No. 12).\",\n \"12). 12). His label venture was exacting a heavy financial cost on White, so he concentrated on mostly touring and finally folded his label in 1983. After four years he signed with A&M Records, and with the release of 1987's The Right Night & Barry White, the single entitled \\\"Sho' You Right\\\" made it to the Billboard R&B charts, peaking at No. 17. In 1989 he released The Man Is Back!\",\n \"17. In 1989 he released The Man Is Back! In 1989 he released The Man Is Back! and with it had three top 40 singles on the Billboard R&B charts: \\\"Super Lover\\\", which made it to No. 34, \\\"I Wanna Do It Good to Ya\\\", which made it to No. 26, and \\\"When Will I See You Again\\\", which made it to No. 32.\",\n \"32. 32. 1990s A 1970s nostalgia fad allowed White to enjoy a renewed wave of popularity in the 1990s. After participating in the song \\\"The Secret Garden (Sweet Seduction Suite)\\\" from Quincy Jones's 1989 album Back on the Block, White mounted an effective comeback with several albums, each more successful than the last. He returned to the top of the charts in 1991 with the album Put Me in Your Mix, which reached No.\",\n \"He returned to the top of the charts in 1991 with the album Put Me in Your Mix, which reached No. 8 on the Billboard R&B Albums chart and the song by the same name reached No. 2 on the Billboard R&B singles chart. In 1994, White released The Icon Is Love, which went to No. 1 on the Billboard R&B album charts, and the single \\\"Practice What You Preach\\\" gave him his first No.\",\n \"1 on the Billboard R&B album charts, and the single \\\"Practice What You Preach\\\" gave him his first No. 1 on the Billboard R&B singles chart in almost 20 years. The album was nominated for a Grammy in the Best R&B Album category, but lost to TLC's CrazySexyCool. In 1996, White recorded the duet \\\"In Your Wildest Dreams\\\" with Tina Turner.\",\n \"In 1996, White recorded the duet \\\"In Your Wildest Dreams\\\" with Tina Turner. 1996 also saw the release of Space Jam and its soundtrack, on which White had a duet with Chris Rock, called \\\"Basketball Jones,\\\" a remake of Cheech & Chong's \\\"Basketball Jones\\\" from 1973. White's final album, 1999's Staying Power, resulted in his last hit song \\\"Staying Power,\\\" which placed No. 45 on the Billboard R&B charts.\",\n \"45 on the Billboard R&B charts. 45 on the Billboard R&B charts. The single won him two Grammy Awards in the categories Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance. His autobiography, Love Unlimited, written with Mark Eliot, was published in 1999 by Broadway Books. Acting career Over the course of his career, White sometimes did voice-over work for television and movies.\",\n \"Acting career Over the course of his career, White sometimes did voice-over work for television and movies. He voiced the character Brother Bear in the film Coonskin (1975), and also played the character Sampson in the movie's live-action segments. He appeared as himself in a few episodes of The Simpsons. In the episode \\\"Whacking Day\\\", Bart and Lisa used his deep bass singing voice, played through loudspeakers placed on the ground, to lull and attract snakes, saving them from extermination.\",\n \"In the episode \\\"Whacking Day\\\", Bart and Lisa used his deep bass singing voice, played through loudspeakers placed on the ground, to lull and attract snakes, saving them from extermination. White was a fan of the show, and had reportedly contacted the staff about wanting to make a guest appearance. He made a second cameo in the episode \\\"Krusty Gets Kancelled\\\".\",\n \"He made a second cameo in the episode \\\"Krusty Gets Kancelled\\\". White played the role of a bus driver for a Prodigy commercial in 1995, and he also portrayed the voice of a rabbit in a Good Seasons salad-dressing-mix commercial, singing a song called \\\"You Can't Bottle Love\\\". In addition, he did some work for car commercials, including for Oldsmobile, and later on, Jeep. White also provided voice-over for Arby's Restaurant commercials on television and radio to promote its Market Fresh menu.\",\n \"White also provided voice-over for Arby's Restaurant commercials on television and radio to promote its Market Fresh menu. White's voice can also be heard in Apple's first iBook commercial. White made three guest appearances on the comedy-drama television series Ally McBeal, as his music was often featured on the show in dream sequences. Personal life Marriages White was first married to his childhood sweetheart, identified as just Mary in his autobiography, by the time he was 19. They separated in 1969 and later divorced.\",\n \"They separated in 1969 and later divorced. They separated in 1969 and later divorced. In 1974, White married singer Glodean James. The couple collaborated on the 1981 album Barry & Glodean. They reportedly divorced in 1988, however, they were still legally married until White's death in 2003 although they lived separate lives. Although estranged from Glodean for over a decade, as his widow she was made sole executor of his estate. Children White had at least nine children.\",\n \"Children White had at least nine children. Children White had at least nine children. By the age of 16, White had fathered two children with his first wife Mary. They had four children together. In 2017, his son Darryl White from his first marriage sued his estate claiming he was cut off financially. White had four children with his second wife Glodean James. Their daughter Shaherah was his personal assistant. Barry Jr. played in the Love Unlimited Orchestra and was also his tour manager.\",\n \"Barry Jr. played in the Love Unlimited Orchestra and was also his tour manager. White's son MacKevin worked in his publishing administration. White had a daughter, Denise Donnell born in 1962 to Gurtha Allen. She did not discover who her biological father was until 1988. She was accepted by White and with his help she changed her name to Denise White. In 2016, she sued White's estate after she stopped receiving money.\",\n \"In 2016, she sued White's estate after she stopped receiving money. After White's death in 2003, his girlfriend Katherine Denton claimed her infant daughter was his biological child. Denton also claimed that she was owed money and personal items that White had promised to give her. Paternity tests revealed that he was not the father of her child and Denton subsequently lost her court case. Health problems and death Due to a poor diet, White was overweight for most of his adult life and suffered from related health problems.\",\n \"Health problems and death Due to a poor diet, White was overweight for most of his adult life and suffered from related health problems. He was also known to be a heavy smoker, reportedly smoking approximately 150 cigarettes a day; roughly between 7 and 8 packs. While on-tour in the summer of 1995, White nearly collapsed after a concert. He took a break from performing that fall and on October 30 of that year, he was hospitalized after suffering a minor stroke due to high blood pressure.\",\n \"He took a break from performing that fall and on October 30 of that year, he was hospitalized after suffering a minor stroke due to high blood pressure. He was in a coma for four days, but was discharged a week after coming out of it. While touring with Earth, Wind & Fire in August 1999, White was forced to cancel a month's worth of tour dates owing to exhaustion, high blood pressure and a hectic schedule.\",\n \"While touring with Earth, Wind & Fire in August 1999, White was forced to cancel a month's worth of tour dates owing to exhaustion, high blood pressure and a hectic schedule. Family, friends, and associates also reported that as the 2000s began, White was in such poor health that he could hardly stand up; his last performances suffered as a result. In September 2002, White was hospitalized with kidney failure attributed to chronic high blood pressure; he was also believed to have been diabetic.\",\n \"In September 2002, White was hospitalized with kidney failure attributed to chronic high blood pressure; he was also believed to have been diabetic. While undergoing dialysis and awaiting a kidney transplant in May 2003, White suffered a severe stroke, which forced him to retire from public life. He also suffered multiple seizures in his last few weeks.\",\n \"He also suffered multiple seizures in his last few weeks. White's unstable health prevented him from receiving a new kidney and on July 4, 2003, he died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after suffering a cardiac arrest; he was 58. \\\"Singer Barry White dies\\\", BBC, July 5, 2003. His remains were cremated, and the ashes were scattered in the ocean off the Californian coast.\",\n \"His remains were cremated, and the ashes were scattered in the ocean off the Californian coast. Legacy On September 20, 2004, White was posthumously inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame at a ceremony held in New York. On September 12, 2013, which would have been White's 69th birthday, he was posthumously awarded the 2,506th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6914 Hollywood Boulevard in the category of recording.\",\n \"On September 12, 2013, which would have been White's 69th birthday, he was posthumously awarded the 2,506th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6914 Hollywood Boulevard in the category of recording. The show Counting Cars paid tribute to White by restoring the last car he owned for his widow, Glodean.\",\n \"The show Counting Cars paid tribute to White by restoring the last car he owned for his widow, Glodean. In an obituary referring to White by his nickname, \\\"The Walrus of Love\\\", the BBC recalled \\\"the rich timbres of one of the most distinctive soul voices of his generation, about which it was once said: 'If chocolate fudge cake could sing, it would sound like Barry White.'\\\"\",\n \"In an obituary referring to White by his nickname, \\\"The Walrus of Love\\\", the BBC recalled \\\"the rich timbres of one of the most distinctive soul voices of his generation, about which it was once said: 'If chocolate fudge cake could sing, it would sound like Barry White.'\\\" Awards and nominations White was nominated for 11 Grammy Awards; winning two for Staying Power at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards in 2000.\",\n \"Awards and nominations White was nominated for 11 Grammy Awards; winning two for Staying Power at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards in 2000. Discography Studio albums I've Got So Much to Give (1973) Stone Gon' (1973) Can't Get Enough (1974) Just Another Way to Say I Love You (1975) Let the Music Play (1976) Is This Whatcha Wont?\",\n \"Discography Studio albums I've Got So Much to Give (1973) Stone Gon' (1973) Can't Get Enough (1974) Just Another Way to Say I Love You (1975) Let the Music Play (1976) Is This Whatcha Wont? (1976) Barry White Sings for Someone You Love (1977) The Man (1978) I Love to Sing the Songs I Sing (1979) The Message Is Love (1979) Sheet Music (1980) Beware!\",\n \"(1976) Barry White Sings for Someone You Love (1977) The Man (1978) I Love to Sing the Songs I Sing (1979) The Message Is Love (1979) Sheet Music (1980) Beware! (1981) Change (1982) Dedicated (1983) The Right Night & Barry White (1987) The Man Is Back!\",\n \"(1981) Change (1982) Dedicated (1983) The Right Night & Barry White (1987) The Man Is Back! (1989) Put Me in Your Mix (1991) The Icon Is Love (1994) Staying Power'' (1999) References External links 1944 births 2003 deaths African-American record producers Record producers from Texas African-American male singer-songwriters American bandleaders American bass-baritones A&M Records artists American dance musicians 20th-century African-American male singers American people convicted of theft American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters American soul singers Casablanca Records artists American male actors American male voice actors African-American male actors Deaths from kidney failure Grammy Award winners Mercury Records artists Singer-songwriters from Texas People from Galveston, Texas Private Music artists Singers from Los Angeles American disco singers Record producers from California Downey Records artists Singer-songwriters from California The Love Unlimited Orchestra members\"\n]"}}},{"rowIdx":370,"cells":{"History":{"kind":"list like","value":["Barry White","The 1970s as solo artist","What was the name of Barry White's first solo album?","1973's I've Got So Much to Give."],"string":"[\n \"Barry White\",\n \"The 1970s as solo artist\",\n \"What was the name of Barry White's first solo album?\",\n \"1973's I've Got So Much to Give.\"\n]"},"QuAC_dialog_id":{"kind":"string","value":"C_65c5e0d4539d4bd3bfdbb671c90200e3_0"},"Question":{"kind":"string","value":"What was a single from the album?"},"Question_no":{"kind":"number","value":2,"string":"2"},"Rewrite":{"kind":"string","value":"What was a single from Barry White's album I've Got So Much to Give?"},"true_page_title":{"kind":"string","value":"Barry White"},"true_contexts":{"kind":"string","value":"White wanted to work with another act but decided to work with a solo male artist. While working on a few demos for a male singer, he made three song demos of himself singing and playing, but Nunes heard them and insisted that he re-record and release them himself as a solo recording artist. After arguing for days about it, White was finally persuaded to release the songs himself, although he was initially reluctant to step out in front of the microphone. He then wrote several other songs and recorded them for what eventually became an entire album of music. He was going to use the name \"White Heat,\" but decided on using his given name instead. White was still hesitating up to the time the label copy was made. It eventually became White's first solo album, 1973's I've Got So Much to Give. It included the title track and his first solo chart hit, \"I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby\", which also rose to #1 on the Billboard R&B charts as well as #3 on the Billboard Pop charts in 1973 and stayed in the top 40 for many weeks. Other chart hits by White included \"Never, Never Gonna Give You Up\" (#2 R&B, #7 Pop in 1973), \"Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe\" (# 1 Pop and R&B in 1974), \"You're the First, the Last, My Everything\" (#1 R&B, #2 Pop in 1974), \"What Am I Gonna Do with You\" (#1 R&B, #8 Pop in 1975), \"Let the Music Play\" (#4 R&B in 1976), \"It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next to Me\" (#1 R&B, #4 Pop in 1977) and \"Your Sweetness Is My Weakness\" (#2 R&B in 1978) and others. White also had a strong following in the UK, where he scored five Top 10 hits and a #1 for \"You're the First, the Last, My Everything\". CANNOTANSWER"},"answer":{"kind":"string","value":"It included the title track and his first solo chart hit, \"I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby\","},"true_contexts_wiki":{"kind":"string","value":"Barry Eugene Carter (September 12, 1944 – July 4, 2003), better known by his stage name Barry White, was an American singer-songwriter, musician, record producer and composer. A two-time Grammy Award–winner known for his bass-baritone voice and romantic image, his greatest success came in the 1970s as a solo singer and with The Love Unlimited Orchestra, crafting many enduring soul, funk, and disco songs such as his two biggest hits: \"You're the First, the Last, My Everything\" and \"Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe\".\n\nWhite recorded 19 studio albums during the course of his career, but multiple versions and compilations were released worldwide that were certified gold, 41 of which also attained platinum status. White had 20 gold and 10 platinum singles, with worldwide record sales in excess of 100 million records, and is one of the best-selling music artists of all time. His influences included James Cleveland, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, The Supremes, The Four Tops, and Marvin Gaye.\n\nEarly life\nWhite was born Barry Eugene Carter on September 12, 1944, in Galveston, Texas, United States. His father was Melvin A. White, and his mother was Sadie Marie Carter. His parents never married, so his mother gave him her last name, but he later took on the surname of his father. He grew up in the Watts neighborhood of South Central Los Angeles, California. He was the older of two children; his brother Darryl was 13 months younger. White grew up listening to his mother's classical music collection and first took to the piano, emulating what he heard on the records.\n\nWhite has often been credited with playing piano, at age 11, on Jesse Belvin's 1956 hit single, \"Goodnight My Love\". However, in a 1995 interview with the Boston Herald, White denied writing or arranging the song. He believed the story was an exaggeration by journalists. While White and Belvin lived in the same neighborhood, Belvin was 12 years older than White.\n\nWhite's voice deepened suddenly when he was 14. He recalled: \"[As a child], I had a normal squeaky kid voice. Then as a teenager, that completely changed. My mother cried because she knew her baby boy had become a man.\"\n\nWhite was jailed for four months at the age of 16 for stealing $30,000 worth of Cadillac tires. While in jail, he listened to Elvis Presley singing \"It's Now or Never\" on the radio, an experience he later credited with changing the course of his life.\n\nMusic career\n\n1960s\nAfter his release from jail, White left gang life and began a musical career at the beginning of the 1960s in singing groups. He first released \"Too Far to Turn Around\" in 1960 as part of The Upfronts before working for various small independent labels in Los Angeles. He also recorded several singles under his own name in the early 1960s, backed by vocal groups the Atlantics (for the Rampart and Faro labels) and the Majestics (for the Linda and Jordan labels). White had no involvement with Bob & Earl's 1963 hit single \"Harlem Shuffle\", a song he has sometimes been credited with producing; in his 1999 autobiography, White confirmed the song had been produced by Gene Page, who had worked with him on many of White's 1970s successes.\n\nIn 1965, White produced \"Feel Aw Right\" by the Bel Cantos, released on the Downey label. \"Feel Aw Right\", The Bel-Cantos, Downey D-128, 45cat. Retrieved January 29, 2020. He recorded his debut single, \"Man Ain't Nothin'\" / \"I Don't Need It, released under the name Lee Barry on Downey in 1966. He also co-wrote \"Together Forever,\" released by Pat Powdrill & the Powerdrills in 1967.\n\nIn the mid-'60s, Bob Keane of Del-Fi Records hired him as an A&R man for his new Bronco Records imprint, and White started working with the label's artists, including Viola Wills and The Bobby Fuller Four, as a songwriter, session musician, and arranger. He discovered singer Felice Taylor and arranged her song \"I Feel Love Comin' On\" co-written with his friend Paul Politi. It became a big hit in the UK. Other charting hits written by White and Politi for her included \"It May Be Winter Outside (But in My Heart It's Spring)\" and \"Under the Influence of Love\". Bronco issued one of White's first singles, 1967's \"All in the Run of a Day,\" produced by Keane and White. White also wrote \"Doin' the Banana Split\" for TV bubblegum act The Banana Splits in 1968.\n\nIn 1969, White was signed by Forward Records of Los Angeles, a division of Transcontinental Entertainment Corporation, as a producer.\n\n1970s as producer\nIn 1972, White got his big break producing a girl group he had discovered called Love Unlimited. Formed in imitative style of the Motown girl group The Supremes, the group members had gradually honed their talents with White for two years previously until they signed contracts with Uni Records. His friend Paul Politi hooked him up with music industry businessman Larry Nunes, who helped to finance their album. After it was recorded, Nunes took the recording to Russ Regan, who was the head of the Uni label owned by MCA. The album, 1972's From A Girl's Point of View We Give to You... Love Unlimited, became the first of White's string of long-titled albums and singles.\n\nWhite produced, wrote and arranged their classic soul ballad \"Walkin' in the Rain with the One I Love\", which climbed to No. 14 in the Billboard Hot 100 Pop chart and No. 6 on the Billboard R&B chart in late 1972. It became White's first million selling single as a writer and producer. This single also reached No. 12 in the UK chart. White's voice can clearly be heard in this piece as he plays the lover who answers the phone call of the female lead.\n\nSoon after, Regan left Uni for 20th Century Records. Without Regan, White's relationship with Uni soured. With his relationship with Uni over and Love Unlimited contract-bound with the label, White was able to switch both his production deal and the group to 20th Century Records. They recorded several other hits throughout the 1970s, \"I Belong to You\", which spent over five months on the Billboard R&B chart in 1974 including a week at No. 1 and \"Under the Influence of Love Unlimited\", which hit No. 3 on the Billboard Pop album charts. White married the lead singer of the group, Glodean James, on July 4, 1974.\n\nThe Love Unlimited Orchestra\nIn 1973, White created The Love Unlimited Orchestra, a 40-piece orchestral group to be used originally as a backing band for the girl-group Love Unlimited. However, White had other plans, and in 1973 he released a single with \"Love's Theme\" (written by him and played by the Orchestra), which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Pop charts. Later, in 1974, he made the first album of the Love Unlimited Orchestra, Rhapsody in White, containing \"Love's Theme\". White would continue to make albums with the Orchestra, achieving some successes such as: \"Rhapsody in White\"; \"Satin Soul\"; \"Forever in Love\"; \"Midnight Groove\"; \"My Sweet Summer Suite\", Remake of \"Theme From King Kong\". The Orchestra ceased to make albums in 1983, but continued to support White as a backing band.\n\n1970s solo career\nWhite wanted to work with another act but decided to work with a solo male artist. While working on a few demos for a male singer, he made three song demos of himself singing and playing, but Nunes heard them and insisted that he re-record and release them himself as a solo recording artist. After arguing for days about it, White was finally persuaded to release the songs himself, although he was initially reluctant to step out behind the microphone.\n\nHe then wrote several other songs and recorded them for what eventually became an entire album of music. He was going to use the name \"White Heat,\" but decided on using his given name instead. White was still hesitating up to the time the label copy was made. It eventually became White's first solo album, 1973's I've Got So Much to Give. It included the title track and his first solo chart hit, \"I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby\", which also rose to No. 1 on the Billboard R&B charts as well as No. 3 on the Billboard Pop charts in 1973 and stayed in the top 40 for many weeks.\n\nOther chart hits by White included \"Never, Never Gonna Give You Up\" (No. 2 R&B, No. 7 Pop in 1973), \"Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe\" (No. 1 Pop and R&B in 1974), \"You're the First, the Last, My Everything\" (No. 1 R&B, No. 2 Pop in 1974), \"What Am I Gonna Do with You\" (No. 1 R&B, No. 8 Pop in 1975), \"Let the Music Play\" (No. 4 R&B in 1976), \"It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next to Me\" (No. 1 R&B, No. 4 Pop in 1977) and \"Your Sweetness Is My Weakness\" (No. 2 R&B in 1978) and others. White also had a strong following in the UK, where he scored five Top 10 hits and a No. 1 for \"You're the First, the Last, My Everything\". Due to his large frame, facial hair, and deep voice, he was given the nickname \"The Walrus of Love\" in the UK.\n\nAfter six years White left 20th Century in 1979 to launch his own label, Unlimited Gold, with CBS/Columbia Records.\n\n1980s\nAlthough his success on the pop charts slowed down as the disco era came to an end, he maintained a loyal following throughout his career. Despite several albums over the next three years, he failed to repeat his earlier successes, with no singles managing to reach the Billboard Hot 100, except for 1982's \"Change,\" climbing into the Billboard R&B Top 20 (No. 12). His label venture was exacting a heavy financial cost on White, so he concentrated on mostly touring and finally folded his label in 1983.\n\nAfter four years he signed with A&M Records, and with the release of 1987's The Right Night & Barry White, the single entitled \"Sho' You Right\" made it to the Billboard R&B charts, peaking at No. 17.\n\nIn 1989 he released The Man Is Back! and with it had three top 40 singles on the Billboard R&B charts: \"Super Lover\", which made it to No. 34, \"I Wanna Do It Good to Ya\", which made it to No. 26, and \"When Will I See You Again\", which made it to No. 32.\n\n1990s\nA 1970s nostalgia fad allowed White to enjoy a renewed wave of popularity in the 1990s. After participating in the song \"The Secret Garden (Sweet Seduction Suite)\" from Quincy Jones's 1989 album Back on the Block, White mounted an effective comeback with several albums, each more successful than the last. He returned to the top of the charts in 1991 with the album Put Me in Your Mix, which reached No. 8 on the Billboard R&B Albums chart and the song by the same name reached No. 2 on the Billboard R&B singles chart.\n\nIn 1994, White released The Icon Is Love, which went to No. 1 on the Billboard R&B album charts, and the single \"Practice What You Preach\" gave him his first No. 1 on the Billboard R&B singles chart in almost 20 years. The album was nominated for a Grammy in the Best R&B Album category, but lost to TLC's CrazySexyCool.\n\nIn 1996, White recorded the duet \"In Your Wildest Dreams\" with Tina Turner. 1996 also saw the release of Space Jam and its soundtrack, on which White had a duet with Chris Rock, called \"Basketball Jones,\" a remake of Cheech & Chong's \"Basketball Jones\" from 1973.\n\nWhite's final album, 1999's Staying Power, resulted in his last hit song \"Staying Power,\" which placed No. 45 on the Billboard R&B charts. The single won him two Grammy Awards in the categories Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance.\n\nHis autobiography, Love Unlimited, written with Mark Eliot, was published in 1999 by Broadway Books.\n\nActing career\n\nOver the course of his career, White sometimes did voice-over work for television and movies. He voiced the character Brother Bear in the film Coonskin (1975), and also played the character Sampson in the movie's live-action segments. He appeared as himself in a few episodes of The Simpsons. In the episode \"Whacking Day\", Bart and Lisa used his deep bass singing voice, played through loudspeakers placed on the ground, to lull and attract snakes, saving them from extermination. White was a fan of the show, and had reportedly contacted the staff about wanting to make a guest appearance. He made a second cameo in the episode \"Krusty Gets Kancelled\".\n\nWhite played the role of a bus driver for a Prodigy commercial in 1995, and he also portrayed the voice of a rabbit in a Good Seasons salad-dressing-mix commercial, singing a song called \"You Can't Bottle Love\". In addition, he did some work for car commercials, including for Oldsmobile, and later on, Jeep. White also provided voice-over for Arby's Restaurant commercials on television and radio to promote its Market Fresh menu. White's voice can also be heard in Apple's first iBook commercial. White made three guest appearances on the comedy-drama television series Ally McBeal, as his music was often featured on the show in dream sequences.\n\n Personal life \n\n Marriages \nWhite was first married to his childhood sweetheart, identified as just Mary in his autobiography, by the time he was 19. They separated in 1969 and later divorced.\n\nIn 1974, White married singer Glodean James. The couple collaborated on the 1981 album Barry & Glodean. They reportedly divorced in 1988, however, they were still legally married until White's death in 2003 although they lived separate lives. Although estranged from Glodean for over a decade, as his widow she was made sole executor of his estate.\n\n Children \nWhite had at least nine children.\n\nBy the age of 16, White had fathered two children with his first wife Mary. They had four children together. In 2017, his son Darryl White from his first marriage sued his estate claiming he was cut off financially.\n\nWhite had four children with his second wife Glodean James. Their daughter Shaherah was his personal assistant. Barry Jr. played in the Love Unlimited Orchestra and was also his tour manager. White's son MacKevin worked in his publishing administration.\n\nWhite had a daughter, Denise Donnell born in 1962 to Gurtha Allen. She did not discover who her biological father was until 1988. She was accepted by White and with his help she changed her name to Denise White. In 2016, she sued White's estate after she stopped receiving money.\n\nAfter White's death in 2003, his girlfriend Katherine Denton claimed her infant daughter was his biological child. Denton also claimed that she was owed money and personal items that White had promised to give her. Paternity tests revealed that he was not the father of her child and Denton subsequently lost her court case.\n\nHealth problems and death\n\nDue to a poor diet, White was overweight for most of his adult life and suffered from related health problems. He was also known to be a heavy smoker, reportedly smoking approximately 150 cigarettes a day; roughly between 7 and 8 packs.\n\nWhile on-tour in the summer of 1995, White nearly collapsed after a concert. He took a break from performing that fall and on October 30 of that year, he was hospitalized after suffering a minor stroke due to high blood pressure. He was in a coma for four days, but was discharged a week after coming out of it.\n\nWhile touring with Earth, Wind & Fire in August 1999, White was forced to cancel a month's worth of tour dates owing to exhaustion, high blood pressure and a hectic schedule. Family, friends, and associates also reported that as the 2000s began, White was in such poor health that he could hardly stand up; his last performances suffered as a result.\nIn September 2002, White was hospitalized with kidney failure attributed to chronic high blood pressure; he was also believed to have been diabetic. While undergoing dialysis and awaiting a kidney transplant in May 2003, White suffered a severe stroke, which forced him to retire from public life. He also suffered multiple seizures in his last few weeks.\n\nWhite's unstable health prevented him from receiving a new kidney and on July 4, 2003, he died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after suffering a cardiac arrest; he was 58.\"Singer Barry White dies\", BBC, July 5, 2003. His remains were cremated, and the ashes were scattered in the ocean off the Californian coast.\n\nLegacy\nOn September 20, 2004, White was posthumously inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame at a ceremony held in New York. On September 12, 2013, which would have been White's 69th birthday, he was posthumously awarded the 2,506th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6914 Hollywood Boulevard in the category of recording. The show Counting Cars paid tribute to White by restoring the last car he owned for his widow, Glodean.\n\nIn an obituary referring to White by his nickname, \"The Walrus of Love\", the BBC recalled \"the rich timbres of one of the most distinctive soul voices of his generation, about which it was once said: 'If chocolate fudge cake could sing, it would sound like Barry White.'\"\n\n Awards and nominations \nWhite was nominated for 11 Grammy Awards; winning two for Staying Power at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards in 2000.\n\nDiscography\n\nStudio albums\n I've Got So Much to Give (1973)\n Stone Gon' (1973)\n Can't Get Enough (1974)\n Just Another Way to Say I Love You (1975) \n Let the Music Play (1976)\n Is This Whatcha Wont? (1976)\n Barry White Sings for Someone You Love (1977)\n The Man (1978)\n I Love to Sing the Songs I Sing (1979)\n The Message Is Love (1979) \n Sheet Music (1980)\n Beware! (1981)\n Change (1982) \n Dedicated (1983) \n The Right Night & Barry White (1987) \n The Man Is Back! (1989) \n Put Me in Your Mix (1991) \n The Icon Is Love (1994) \n Staying Power'' (1999)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n \n\n1944 births\n2003 deaths\nAfrican-American record producers\nRecord producers from Texas\nAfrican-American male singer-songwriters\nAmerican bandleaders\nAmerican bass-baritones\nA&M Records artists\nAmerican dance musicians\n20th-century African-American male singers\nAmerican people convicted of theft\nAmerican rhythm and blues singer-songwriters\nAmerican soul singers\nCasablanca Records artists\nAmerican male actors\nAmerican male voice actors\nAfrican-American male actors\nDeaths from kidney failure\nGrammy Award winners\nMercury Records artists\nSinger-songwriters from Texas\nPeople from Galveston, Texas\nPrivate Music artists\nSingers from Los Angeles\nAmerican disco singers\nRecord producers from California\nDowney Records artists\nSinger-songwriters from California\nThe Love Unlimited Orchestra members"},"extractive":{"kind":"string","value":"true"},"retrieved_contexts":{"kind":"list like","value":["We Created the World is the debut studio album by Finnish alternative rock band Softengine. It was released in Finland on 3 October 2014, through Sony Music Entertainment. The album has peaked to number 7 on the Finnish Albums Chart. The album includes the singles \"Something Better\", \"Yellow House\", \"The Sirens\" and \"What If I?\".\n\nSingles\n\"Something Better\" was released as the lead single from the album on 21 March 2014. The song was selected to represent Finland at the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 at the B&W Hallerne in Copenhagen, Denmark. The song qualified from the second semi-final to compete in the final. Finland placed 11th in the final, scoring 72 points. This was Finland's best placing in the contest since Lordi's victory in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006. \"Yellow House\" was released as the second single from the album on 13 June 2014. \"The Sirens\" was released as the third single from the album on 3 October 2014. \"What If I?\" was released as the fourth single from the album on 17 December 2014.\n\nTrack listing\n\nChart performance\n\nRelease history\n\nReferences\n\n2014 debut albums","Good Ol' Fashioned Love is the debut studio album by British-Irish doo-wop boy band The Overtones. The album was released on 1 November 2010 in the UK by Rhino Entertainment. The album was subsequently re-released on 8 March 2011, containing a number of new tracks. The album peaked at number 4 on the UK Albums Chart and number 14 on the Irish Albums Chart. The album was released in Germany and Austria on 23 March 2012, renamed Gambling Man.\n\nThe album has sold 470,000 copies as of April 2018.\n\nSingles\n \"Gambling Man\" was released as the first single from the album on 8 October 2010. The track peaked at number 82 on the UK Singles Chart, and was later released as the album's lead single in international territories such as Germany and Austria.\n \"The Longest Time\", a cover of the Billy Joel original, was released as the second single from the album on 25 April 2011. It was the only cover version from the album to be released as a single.\n \"Second Last Chance\" was released as the third single from the album on 15 August 2011. It was the first single to be released from the Platinum edition of the album.\n \"Say What I Feel\" was released as the fourth and final single from the album on 16 December 2011. It was the second original song to be released from the album as a single. The track was co-written by 5ive member Sean Conlon and songwriter Peter-John Vetesse.\n\nTrack listing\n\nCharts\n\nWeekly charts\n\nGood Ol' Fashioned Love\n\nGambling Man\n\nYear-end charts\n\nGood Ol' Fashioned Love\n\nRelease history\n\nReferences\n\n2010 debut albums\nThe Overtones albums"],"string":"[\n \"We Created the World is the debut studio album by Finnish alternative rock band Softengine. It was released in Finland on 3 October 2014, through Sony Music Entertainment. The album has peaked to number 7 on the Finnish Albums Chart. The album includes the singles \\\"Something Better\\\", \\\"Yellow House\\\", \\\"The Sirens\\\" and \\\"What If I?\\\".\\n\\nSingles\\n\\\"Something Better\\\" was released as the lead single from the album on 21 March 2014. The song was selected to represent Finland at the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 at the B&W Hallerne in Copenhagen, Denmark. The song qualified from the second semi-final to compete in the final. Finland placed 11th in the final, scoring 72 points. This was Finland's best placing in the contest since Lordi's victory in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006. \\\"Yellow House\\\" was released as the second single from the album on 13 June 2014. \\\"The Sirens\\\" was released as the third single from the album on 3 October 2014. \\\"What If I?\\\" was released as the fourth single from the album on 17 December 2014.\\n\\nTrack listing\\n\\nChart performance\\n\\nRelease history\\n\\nReferences\\n\\n2014 debut albums\",\n \"Good Ol' Fashioned Love is the debut studio album by British-Irish doo-wop boy band The Overtones. The album was released on 1 November 2010 in the UK by Rhino Entertainment. The album was subsequently re-released on 8 March 2011, containing a number of new tracks. The album peaked at number 4 on the UK Albums Chart and number 14 on the Irish Albums Chart. The album was released in Germany and Austria on 23 March 2012, renamed Gambling Man.\\n\\nThe album has sold 470,000 copies as of April 2018.\\n\\nSingles\\n \\\"Gambling Man\\\" was released as the first single from the album on 8 October 2010. The track peaked at number 82 on the UK Singles Chart, and was later released as the album's lead single in international territories such as Germany and Austria.\\n \\\"The Longest Time\\\", a cover of the Billy Joel original, was released as the second single from the album on 25 April 2011. It was the only cover version from the album to be released as a single.\\n \\\"Second Last Chance\\\" was released as the third single from the album on 15 August 2011. It was the first single to be released from the Platinum edition of the album.\\n \\\"Say What I Feel\\\" was released as the fourth and final single from the album on 16 December 2011. It was the second original song to be released from the album as a single. The track was co-written by 5ive member Sean Conlon and songwriter Peter-John Vetesse.\\n\\nTrack listing\\n\\nCharts\\n\\nWeekly charts\\n\\nGood Ol' Fashioned Love\\n\\nGambling Man\\n\\nYear-end charts\\n\\nGood Ol' Fashioned Love\\n\\nRelease history\\n\\nReferences\\n\\n2010 debut albums\\nThe Overtones albums\"\n]"},"chunked_article":{"kind":"list like","value":["Barry Eugene Carter (September 12, 1944 – July 4, 2003), better known by his stage name Barry White, was an American singer-songwriter, musician, record producer and composer. A two-time Grammy Award–winner known for his bass-baritone voice and romantic image, his greatest success came in the 1970s as a solo singer and with The Love Unlimited Orchestra, crafting many enduring soul, funk, and disco songs such as his two biggest hits: \"You're the First, the Last, My Everything\" and \"Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe\".","A two-time Grammy Award–winner known for his bass-baritone voice and romantic image, his greatest success came in the 1970s as a solo singer and with The Love Unlimited Orchestra, crafting many enduring soul, funk, and disco songs such as his two biggest hits: \"You're the First, the Last, My Everything\" and \"Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe\". White recorded 19 studio albums during the course of his career, but multiple versions and compilations were released worldwide that were certified gold, 41 of which also attained platinum status.","White recorded 19 studio albums during the course of his career, but multiple versions and compilations were released worldwide that were certified gold, 41 of which also attained platinum status. White had 20 gold and 10 platinum singles, with worldwide record sales in excess of 100 million records, and is one of the best-selling music artists of all time. His influences included James Cleveland, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, The Supremes, The Four Tops, and Marvin Gaye.","His influences included James Cleveland, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, The Supremes, The Four Tops, and Marvin Gaye. Early life White was born Barry Eugene Carter on September 12, 1944, in Galveston, Texas, United States. His father was Melvin A. White, and his mother was Sadie Marie Carter. His parents never married, so his mother gave him her last name, but he later took on the surname of his father.","His parents never married, so his mother gave him her last name, but he later took on the surname of his father. He grew up in the Watts neighborhood of South Central Los Angeles, California. He was the older of two children; his brother Darryl was 13 months younger. White grew up listening to his mother's classical music collection and first took to the piano, emulating what he heard on the records.","White grew up listening to his mother's classical music collection and first took to the piano, emulating what he heard on the records. White has often been credited with playing piano, at age 11, on Jesse Belvin's 1956 hit single, \"Goodnight My Love\". However, in a 1995 interview with the Boston Herald, White denied writing or arranging the song. He believed the story was an exaggeration by journalists. While White and Belvin lived in the same neighborhood, Belvin was 12 years older than White.","While White and Belvin lived in the same neighborhood, Belvin was 12 years older than White. White's voice deepened suddenly when he was 14. He recalled: \"[As a child], I had a normal squeaky kid voice. Then as a teenager, that completely changed. My mother cried because she knew her baby boy had become a man.\" White was jailed for four months at the age of 16 for stealing $30,000 worth of Cadillac tires.","White was jailed for four months at the age of 16 for stealing $30,000 worth of Cadillac tires. While in jail, he listened to Elvis Presley singing \"It's Now or Never\" on the radio, an experience he later credited with changing the course of his life. Music career 1960s After his release from jail, White left gang life and began a musical career at the beginning of the 1960s in singing groups.","Music career 1960s After his release from jail, White left gang life and began a musical career at the beginning of the 1960s in singing groups. He first released \"Too Far to Turn Around\" in 1960 as part of The Upfronts before working for various small independent labels in Los Angeles. He also recorded several singles under his own name in the early 1960s, backed by vocal groups the Atlantics (for the Rampart and Faro labels) and the Majestics (for the Linda and Jordan labels).","He also recorded several singles under his own name in the early 1960s, backed by vocal groups the Atlantics (for the Rampart and Faro labels) and the Majestics (for the Linda and Jordan labels). White had no involvement with Bob & Earl's 1963 hit single \"Harlem Shuffle\", a song he has sometimes been credited with producing; in his 1999 autobiography, White confirmed the song had been produced by Gene Page, who had worked with him on many of White's 1970s successes.","White had no involvement with Bob & Earl's 1963 hit single \"Harlem Shuffle\", a song he has sometimes been credited with producing; in his 1999 autobiography, White confirmed the song had been produced by Gene Page, who had worked with him on many of White's 1970s successes. In 1965, White produced \"Feel Aw Right\" by the Bel Cantos, released on the Downey label. \"Feel Aw Right\", The Bel-Cantos, Downey D-128, 45cat.","In 1965, White produced \"Feel Aw Right\" by the Bel Cantos, released on the Downey label. \"Feel Aw Right\", The Bel-Cantos, Downey D-128, 45cat. Retrieved January 29, 2020. He recorded his debut single, \"Man Ain't Nothin'\" / \"I Don't Need It, released under the name Lee Barry on Downey in 1966. He also co-wrote \"Together Forever,\" released by Pat Powdrill & the Powerdrills in 1967.","He also co-wrote \"Together Forever,\" released by Pat Powdrill & the Powerdrills in 1967. In the mid-'60s, Bob Keane of Del-Fi Records hired him as an A&R man for his new Bronco Records imprint, and White started working with the label's artists, including Viola Wills and The Bobby Fuller Four, as a songwriter, session musician, and arranger. He discovered singer Felice Taylor and arranged her song \"I Feel Love Comin' On\" co-written with his friend Paul Politi.","He discovered singer Felice Taylor and arranged her song \"I Feel Love Comin' On\" co-written with his friend Paul Politi. It became a big hit in the UK. Other charting hits written by White and Politi for her included \"It May Be Winter Outside (But in My Heart It's Spring)\" and \"Under the Influence of Love\". Bronco issued one of White's first singles, 1967's \"All in the Run of a Day,\" produced by Keane and White.","Bronco issued one of White's first singles, 1967's \"All in the Run of a Day,\" produced by Keane and White. White also wrote \"Doin' the Banana Split\" for TV bubblegum act The Banana Splits in 1968. In 1969, White was signed by Forward Records of Los Angeles, a division of Transcontinental Entertainment Corporation, as a producer. 1970s as producer In 1972, White got his big break producing a girl group he had discovered called Love Unlimited.","1970s as producer In 1972, White got his big break producing a girl group he had discovered called Love Unlimited. Formed in imitative style of the Motown girl group The Supremes, the group members had gradually honed their talents with White for two years previously until they signed contracts with Uni Records. His friend Paul Politi hooked him up with music industry businessman Larry Nunes, who helped to finance their album.","His friend Paul Politi hooked him up with music industry businessman Larry Nunes, who helped to finance their album. After it was recorded, Nunes took the recording to Russ Regan, who was the head of the Uni label owned by MCA. The album, 1972's From A Girl's Point of View We Give to You... Love Unlimited, became the first of White's string of long-titled albums and singles.","The album, 1972's From A Girl's Point of View We Give to You... Love Unlimited, became the first of White's string of long-titled albums and singles. White produced, wrote and arranged their classic soul ballad \"Walkin' in the Rain with the One I Love\", which climbed to No. 14 in the Billboard Hot 100 Pop chart and No. 6 on the Billboard R&B chart in late 1972. It became White's first million selling single as a writer and producer.","It became White's first million selling single as a writer and producer. This single also reached No. 12 in the UK chart. White's voice can clearly be heard in this piece as he plays the lover who answers the phone call of the female lead. Soon after, Regan left Uni for 20th Century Records. Without Regan, White's relationship with Uni soured.","Without Regan, White's relationship with Uni soured. Without Regan, White's relationship with Uni soured. With his relationship with Uni over and Love Unlimited contract-bound with the label, White was able to switch both his production deal and the group to 20th Century Records. They recorded several other hits throughout the 1970s, \"I Belong to You\", which spent over five months on the Billboard R&B chart in 1974 including a week at No.","They recorded several other hits throughout the 1970s, \"I Belong to You\", which spent over five months on the Billboard R&B chart in 1974 including a week at No. 1 and \"Under the Influence of Love Unlimited\", which hit No. 3 on the Billboard Pop album charts. White married the lead singer of the group, Glodean James, on July 4, 1974.","White married the lead singer of the group, Glodean James, on July 4, 1974. The Love Unlimited Orchestra In 1973, White created The Love Unlimited Orchestra, a 40-piece orchestral group to be used originally as a backing band for the girl-group Love Unlimited. However, White had other plans, and in 1973 he released a single with \"Love's Theme\" (written by him and played by the Orchestra), which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Pop charts.","1 on the Billboard Pop charts. 1 on the Billboard Pop charts. Later, in 1974, he made the first album of the Love Unlimited Orchestra, Rhapsody in White, containing \"Love's Theme\". White would continue to make albums with the Orchestra, achieving some successes such as: \"Rhapsody in White\"; \"Satin Soul\"; \"Forever in Love\"; \"Midnight Groove\"; \"My Sweet Summer Suite\", Remake of \"Theme From King Kong\".","White would continue to make albums with the Orchestra, achieving some successes such as: \"Rhapsody in White\"; \"Satin Soul\"; \"Forever in Love\"; \"Midnight Groove\"; \"My Sweet Summer Suite\", Remake of \"Theme From King Kong\". The Orchestra ceased to make albums in 1983, but continued to support White as a backing band. 1970s solo career White wanted to work with another act but decided to work with a solo male artist.","1970s solo career White wanted to work with another act but decided to work with a solo male artist. While working on a few demos for a male singer, he made three song demos of himself singing and playing, but Nunes heard them and insisted that he re-record and release them himself as a solo recording artist. After arguing for days about it, White was finally persuaded to release the songs himself, although he was initially reluctant to step out behind the microphone.","After arguing for days about it, White was finally persuaded to release the songs himself, although he was initially reluctant to step out behind the microphone. He then wrote several other songs and recorded them for what eventually became an entire album of music. He was going to use the name \"White Heat,\" but decided on using his given name instead. White was still hesitating up to the time the label copy was made.","White was still hesitating up to the time the label copy was made. It eventually became White's first solo album, 1973's I've Got So Much to Give. It included the title track and his first solo chart hit, \"I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby\", which also rose to No. 1 on the Billboard R&B charts as well as No. 3 on the Billboard Pop charts in 1973 and stayed in the top 40 for many weeks.","3 on the Billboard Pop charts in 1973 and stayed in the top 40 for many weeks. Other chart hits by White included \"Never, Never Gonna Give You Up\" (No. 2 R&B, No. 7 Pop in 1973), \"Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe\" (No. 1 Pop and R&B in 1974), \"You're the First, the Last, My Everything\" (No. 1 R&B, No.","1 R&B, No. 1 R&B, No. 2 Pop in 1974), \"What Am I Gonna Do with You\" (No. 1 R&B, No. 8 Pop in 1975), \"Let the Music Play\" (No. 4 R&B in 1976), \"It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next to Me\" (No. 1 R&B, No.","1 R&B, No. 1 R&B, No. 4 Pop in 1977) and \"Your Sweetness Is My Weakness\" (No. 2 R&B in 1978) and others. White also had a strong following in the UK, where he scored five Top 10 hits and a No. 1 for \"You're the First, the Last, My Everything\".","1 for \"You're the First, the Last, My Everything\". Due to his large frame, facial hair, and deep voice, he was given the nickname \"The Walrus of Love\" in the UK. After six years White left 20th Century in 1979 to launch his own label, Unlimited Gold, with CBS/Columbia Records. 1980s Although his success on the pop charts slowed down as the disco era came to an end, he maintained a loyal following throughout his career.","1980s Although his success on the pop charts slowed down as the disco era came to an end, he maintained a loyal following throughout his career. Despite several albums over the next three years, he failed to repeat his earlier successes, with no singles managing to reach the Billboard Hot 100, except for 1982's \"Change,\" climbing into the Billboard R&B Top 20 (No. 12).","12). 12). His label venture was exacting a heavy financial cost on White, so he concentrated on mostly touring and finally folded his label in 1983. After four years he signed with A&M Records, and with the release of 1987's The Right Night & Barry White, the single entitled \"Sho' You Right\" made it to the Billboard R&B charts, peaking at No. 17. In 1989 he released The Man Is Back!","17. In 1989 he released The Man Is Back! In 1989 he released The Man Is Back! and with it had three top 40 singles on the Billboard R&B charts: \"Super Lover\", which made it to No. 34, \"I Wanna Do It Good to Ya\", which made it to No. 26, and \"When Will I See You Again\", which made it to No. 32.","32. 32. 1990s A 1970s nostalgia fad allowed White to enjoy a renewed wave of popularity in the 1990s. After participating in the song \"The Secret Garden (Sweet Seduction Suite)\" from Quincy Jones's 1989 album Back on the Block, White mounted an effective comeback with several albums, each more successful than the last. He returned to the top of the charts in 1991 with the album Put Me in Your Mix, which reached No.","He returned to the top of the charts in 1991 with the album Put Me in Your Mix, which reached No. 8 on the Billboard R&B Albums chart and the song by the same name reached No. 2 on the Billboard R&B singles chart. In 1994, White released The Icon Is Love, which went to No. 1 on the Billboard R&B album charts, and the single \"Practice What You Preach\" gave him his first No.","1 on the Billboard R&B album charts, and the single \"Practice What You Preach\" gave him his first No. 1 on the Billboard R&B singles chart in almost 20 years. The album was nominated for a Grammy in the Best R&B Album category, but lost to TLC's CrazySexyCool. In 1996, White recorded the duet \"In Your Wildest Dreams\" with Tina Turner.","In 1996, White recorded the duet \"In Your Wildest Dreams\" with Tina Turner. 1996 also saw the release of Space Jam and its soundtrack, on which White had a duet with Chris Rock, called \"Basketball Jones,\" a remake of Cheech & Chong's \"Basketball Jones\" from 1973. White's final album, 1999's Staying Power, resulted in his last hit song \"Staying Power,\" which placed No. 45 on the Billboard R&B charts.","45 on the Billboard R&B charts. 45 on the Billboard R&B charts. The single won him two Grammy Awards in the categories Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance. His autobiography, Love Unlimited, written with Mark Eliot, was published in 1999 by Broadway Books. Acting career Over the course of his career, White sometimes did voice-over work for television and movies.","Acting career Over the course of his career, White sometimes did voice-over work for television and movies. He voiced the character Brother Bear in the film Coonskin (1975), and also played the character Sampson in the movie's live-action segments. He appeared as himself in a few episodes of The Simpsons. In the episode \"Whacking Day\", Bart and Lisa used his deep bass singing voice, played through loudspeakers placed on the ground, to lull and attract snakes, saving them from extermination.","In the episode \"Whacking Day\", Bart and Lisa used his deep bass singing voice, played through loudspeakers placed on the ground, to lull and attract snakes, saving them from extermination. White was a fan of the show, and had reportedly contacted the staff about wanting to make a guest appearance. He made a second cameo in the episode \"Krusty Gets Kancelled\".","He made a second cameo in the episode \"Krusty Gets Kancelled\". White played the role of a bus driver for a Prodigy commercial in 1995, and he also portrayed the voice of a rabbit in a Good Seasons salad-dressing-mix commercial, singing a song called \"You Can't Bottle Love\". In addition, he did some work for car commercials, including for Oldsmobile, and later on, Jeep. White also provided voice-over for Arby's Restaurant commercials on television and radio to promote its Market Fresh menu.","White also provided voice-over for Arby's Restaurant commercials on television and radio to promote its Market Fresh menu. White's voice can also be heard in Apple's first iBook commercial. White made three guest appearances on the comedy-drama television series Ally McBeal, as his music was often featured on the show in dream sequences. Personal life Marriages White was first married to his childhood sweetheart, identified as just Mary in his autobiography, by the time he was 19. They separated in 1969 and later divorced.","They separated in 1969 and later divorced. They separated in 1969 and later divorced. In 1974, White married singer Glodean James. The couple collaborated on the 1981 album Barry & Glodean. They reportedly divorced in 1988, however, they were still legally married until White's death in 2003 although they lived separate lives. Although estranged from Glodean for over a decade, as his widow she was made sole executor of his estate. Children White had at least nine children.","Children White had at least nine children. Children White had at least nine children. By the age of 16, White had fathered two children with his first wife Mary. They had four children together. In 2017, his son Darryl White from his first marriage sued his estate claiming he was cut off financially. White had four children with his second wife Glodean James. Their daughter Shaherah was his personal assistant. Barry Jr. played in the Love Unlimited Orchestra and was also his tour manager.","Barry Jr. played in the Love Unlimited Orchestra and was also his tour manager. White's son MacKevin worked in his publishing administration. White had a daughter, Denise Donnell born in 1962 to Gurtha Allen. She did not discover who her biological father was until 1988. She was accepted by White and with his help she changed her name to Denise White. In 2016, she sued White's estate after she stopped receiving money.","In 2016, she sued White's estate after she stopped receiving money. After White's death in 2003, his girlfriend Katherine Denton claimed her infant daughter was his biological child. Denton also claimed that she was owed money and personal items that White had promised to give her. Paternity tests revealed that he was not the father of her child and Denton subsequently lost her court case. Health problems and death Due to a poor diet, White was overweight for most of his adult life and suffered from related health problems.","Health problems and death Due to a poor diet, White was overweight for most of his adult life and suffered from related health problems. He was also known to be a heavy smoker, reportedly smoking approximately 150 cigarettes a day; roughly between 7 and 8 packs. While on-tour in the summer of 1995, White nearly collapsed after a concert. He took a break from performing that fall and on October 30 of that year, he was hospitalized after suffering a minor stroke due to high blood pressure.","He took a break from performing that fall and on October 30 of that year, he was hospitalized after suffering a minor stroke due to high blood pressure. He was in a coma for four days, but was discharged a week after coming out of it. While touring with Earth, Wind & Fire in August 1999, White was forced to cancel a month's worth of tour dates owing to exhaustion, high blood pressure and a hectic schedule.","While touring with Earth, Wind & Fire in August 1999, White was forced to cancel a month's worth of tour dates owing to exhaustion, high blood pressure and a hectic schedule. Family, friends, and associates also reported that as the 2000s began, White was in such poor health that he could hardly stand up; his last performances suffered as a result. In September 2002, White was hospitalized with kidney failure attributed to chronic high blood pressure; he was also believed to have been diabetic.","In September 2002, White was hospitalized with kidney failure attributed to chronic high blood pressure; he was also believed to have been diabetic. While undergoing dialysis and awaiting a kidney transplant in May 2003, White suffered a severe stroke, which forced him to retire from public life. He also suffered multiple seizures in his last few weeks.","He also suffered multiple seizures in his last few weeks. White's unstable health prevented him from receiving a new kidney and on July 4, 2003, he died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after suffering a cardiac arrest; he was 58. \"Singer Barry White dies\", BBC, July 5, 2003. His remains were cremated, and the ashes were scattered in the ocean off the Californian coast.","His remains were cremated, and the ashes were scattered in the ocean off the Californian coast. Legacy On September 20, 2004, White was posthumously inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame at a ceremony held in New York. On September 12, 2013, which would have been White's 69th birthday, he was posthumously awarded the 2,506th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6914 Hollywood Boulevard in the category of recording.","On September 12, 2013, which would have been White's 69th birthday, he was posthumously awarded the 2,506th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6914 Hollywood Boulevard in the category of recording. The show Counting Cars paid tribute to White by restoring the last car he owned for his widow, Glodean.","The show Counting Cars paid tribute to White by restoring the last car he owned for his widow, Glodean. In an obituary referring to White by his nickname, \"The Walrus of Love\", the BBC recalled \"the rich timbres of one of the most distinctive soul voices of his generation, about which it was once said: 'If chocolate fudge cake could sing, it would sound like Barry White.'\"","In an obituary referring to White by his nickname, \"The Walrus of Love\", the BBC recalled \"the rich timbres of one of the most distinctive soul voices of his generation, about which it was once said: 'If chocolate fudge cake could sing, it would sound like Barry White.'\" Awards and nominations White was nominated for 11 Grammy Awards; winning two for Staying Power at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards in 2000.","Awards and nominations White was nominated for 11 Grammy Awards; winning two for Staying Power at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards in 2000. Discography Studio albums I've Got So Much to Give (1973) Stone Gon' (1973) Can't Get Enough (1974) Just Another Way to Say I Love You (1975) Let the Music Play (1976) Is This Whatcha Wont?","Discography Studio albums I've Got So Much to Give (1973) Stone Gon' (1973) Can't Get Enough (1974) Just Another Way to Say I Love You (1975) Let the Music Play (1976) Is This Whatcha Wont? (1976) Barry White Sings for Someone You Love (1977) The Man (1978) I Love to Sing the Songs I Sing (1979) The Message Is Love (1979) Sheet Music (1980) Beware!","(1976) Barry White Sings for Someone You Love (1977) The Man (1978) I Love to Sing the Songs I Sing (1979) The Message Is Love (1979) Sheet Music (1980) Beware! (1981) Change (1982) Dedicated (1983) The Right Night & Barry White (1987) The Man Is Back!","(1981) Change (1982) Dedicated (1983) The Right Night & Barry White (1987) The Man Is Back! (1989) Put Me in Your Mix (1991) The Icon Is Love (1994) Staying Power'' (1999) References External links 1944 births 2003 deaths African-American record producers Record producers from Texas African-American male singer-songwriters American bandleaders American bass-baritones A&M Records artists American dance musicians 20th-century African-American male singers American people convicted of theft American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters American soul singers Casablanca Records artists American male actors American male voice actors African-American male actors Deaths from kidney failure Grammy Award winners Mercury Records artists Singer-songwriters from Texas People from Galveston, Texas Private Music artists Singers from Los Angeles American disco singers Record producers from California Downey Records artists Singer-songwriters from California The Love Unlimited Orchestra members"],"string":"[\n \"Barry Eugene Carter (September 12, 1944 – July 4, 2003), better known by his stage name Barry White, was an American singer-songwriter, musician, record producer and composer. A two-time Grammy Award–winner known for his bass-baritone voice and romantic image, his greatest success came in the 1970s as a solo singer and with The Love Unlimited Orchestra, crafting many enduring soul, funk, and disco songs such as his two biggest hits: \\\"You're the First, the Last, My Everything\\\" and \\\"Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe\\\".\",\n \"A two-time Grammy Award–winner known for his bass-baritone voice and romantic image, his greatest success came in the 1970s as a solo singer and with The Love Unlimited Orchestra, crafting many enduring soul, funk, and disco songs such as his two biggest hits: \\\"You're the First, the Last, My Everything\\\" and \\\"Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe\\\". White recorded 19 studio albums during the course of his career, but multiple versions and compilations were released worldwide that were certified gold, 41 of which also attained platinum status.\",\n \"White recorded 19 studio albums during the course of his career, but multiple versions and compilations were released worldwide that were certified gold, 41 of which also attained platinum status. White had 20 gold and 10 platinum singles, with worldwide record sales in excess of 100 million records, and is one of the best-selling music artists of all time. His influences included James Cleveland, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, The Supremes, The Four Tops, and Marvin Gaye.\",\n \"His influences included James Cleveland, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, The Supremes, The Four Tops, and Marvin Gaye. Early life White was born Barry Eugene Carter on September 12, 1944, in Galveston, Texas, United States. His father was Melvin A. White, and his mother was Sadie Marie Carter. His parents never married, so his mother gave him her last name, but he later took on the surname of his father.\",\n \"His parents never married, so his mother gave him her last name, but he later took on the surname of his father. He grew up in the Watts neighborhood of South Central Los Angeles, California. He was the older of two children; his brother Darryl was 13 months younger. White grew up listening to his mother's classical music collection and first took to the piano, emulating what he heard on the records.\",\n \"White grew up listening to his mother's classical music collection and first took to the piano, emulating what he heard on the records. White has often been credited with playing piano, at age 11, on Jesse Belvin's 1956 hit single, \\\"Goodnight My Love\\\". However, in a 1995 interview with the Boston Herald, White denied writing or arranging the song. He believed the story was an exaggeration by journalists. While White and Belvin lived in the same neighborhood, Belvin was 12 years older than White.\",\n \"While White and Belvin lived in the same neighborhood, Belvin was 12 years older than White. White's voice deepened suddenly when he was 14. He recalled: \\\"[As a child], I had a normal squeaky kid voice. Then as a teenager, that completely changed. My mother cried because she knew her baby boy had become a man.\\\" White was jailed for four months at the age of 16 for stealing $30,000 worth of Cadillac tires.\",\n \"White was jailed for four months at the age of 16 for stealing $30,000 worth of Cadillac tires. While in jail, he listened to Elvis Presley singing \\\"It's Now or Never\\\" on the radio, an experience he later credited with changing the course of his life. Music career 1960s After his release from jail, White left gang life and began a musical career at the beginning of the 1960s in singing groups.\",\n \"Music career 1960s After his release from jail, White left gang life and began a musical career at the beginning of the 1960s in singing groups. He first released \\\"Too Far to Turn Around\\\" in 1960 as part of The Upfronts before working for various small independent labels in Los Angeles. He also recorded several singles under his own name in the early 1960s, backed by vocal groups the Atlantics (for the Rampart and Faro labels) and the Majestics (for the Linda and Jordan labels).\",\n \"He also recorded several singles under his own name in the early 1960s, backed by vocal groups the Atlantics (for the Rampart and Faro labels) and the Majestics (for the Linda and Jordan labels). White had no involvement with Bob & Earl's 1963 hit single \\\"Harlem Shuffle\\\", a song he has sometimes been credited with producing; in his 1999 autobiography, White confirmed the song had been produced by Gene Page, who had worked with him on many of White's 1970s successes.\",\n \"White had no involvement with Bob & Earl's 1963 hit single \\\"Harlem Shuffle\\\", a song he has sometimes been credited with producing; in his 1999 autobiography, White confirmed the song had been produced by Gene Page, who had worked with him on many of White's 1970s successes. In 1965, White produced \\\"Feel Aw Right\\\" by the Bel Cantos, released on the Downey label. \\\"Feel Aw Right\\\", The Bel-Cantos, Downey D-128, 45cat.\",\n \"In 1965, White produced \\\"Feel Aw Right\\\" by the Bel Cantos, released on the Downey label. \\\"Feel Aw Right\\\", The Bel-Cantos, Downey D-128, 45cat. Retrieved January 29, 2020. He recorded his debut single, \\\"Man Ain't Nothin'\\\" / \\\"I Don't Need It, released under the name Lee Barry on Downey in 1966. He also co-wrote \\\"Together Forever,\\\" released by Pat Powdrill & the Powerdrills in 1967.\",\n \"He also co-wrote \\\"Together Forever,\\\" released by Pat Powdrill & the Powerdrills in 1967. In the mid-'60s, Bob Keane of Del-Fi Records hired him as an A&R man for his new Bronco Records imprint, and White started working with the label's artists, including Viola Wills and The Bobby Fuller Four, as a songwriter, session musician, and arranger. He discovered singer Felice Taylor and arranged her song \\\"I Feel Love Comin' On\\\" co-written with his friend Paul Politi.\",\n \"He discovered singer Felice Taylor and arranged her song \\\"I Feel Love Comin' On\\\" co-written with his friend Paul Politi. It became a big hit in the UK. Other charting hits written by White and Politi for her included \\\"It May Be Winter Outside (But in My Heart It's Spring)\\\" and \\\"Under the Influence of Love\\\". Bronco issued one of White's first singles, 1967's \\\"All in the Run of a Day,\\\" produced by Keane and White.\",\n \"Bronco issued one of White's first singles, 1967's \\\"All in the Run of a Day,\\\" produced by Keane and White. White also wrote \\\"Doin' the Banana Split\\\" for TV bubblegum act The Banana Splits in 1968. In 1969, White was signed by Forward Records of Los Angeles, a division of Transcontinental Entertainment Corporation, as a producer. 1970s as producer In 1972, White got his big break producing a girl group he had discovered called Love Unlimited.\",\n \"1970s as producer In 1972, White got his big break producing a girl group he had discovered called Love Unlimited. Formed in imitative style of the Motown girl group The Supremes, the group members had gradually honed their talents with White for two years previously until they signed contracts with Uni Records. His friend Paul Politi hooked him up with music industry businessman Larry Nunes, who helped to finance their album.\",\n \"His friend Paul Politi hooked him up with music industry businessman Larry Nunes, who helped to finance their album. After it was recorded, Nunes took the recording to Russ Regan, who was the head of the Uni label owned by MCA. The album, 1972's From A Girl's Point of View We Give to You... Love Unlimited, became the first of White's string of long-titled albums and singles.\",\n \"The album, 1972's From A Girl's Point of View We Give to You... Love Unlimited, became the first of White's string of long-titled albums and singles. White produced, wrote and arranged their classic soul ballad \\\"Walkin' in the Rain with the One I Love\\\", which climbed to No. 14 in the Billboard Hot 100 Pop chart and No. 6 on the Billboard R&B chart in late 1972. It became White's first million selling single as a writer and producer.\",\n \"It became White's first million selling single as a writer and producer. This single also reached No. 12 in the UK chart. White's voice can clearly be heard in this piece as he plays the lover who answers the phone call of the female lead. Soon after, Regan left Uni for 20th Century Records. Without Regan, White's relationship with Uni soured.\",\n \"Without Regan, White's relationship with Uni soured. Without Regan, White's relationship with Uni soured. With his relationship with Uni over and Love Unlimited contract-bound with the label, White was able to switch both his production deal and the group to 20th Century Records. They recorded several other hits throughout the 1970s, \\\"I Belong to You\\\", which spent over five months on the Billboard R&B chart in 1974 including a week at No.\",\n \"They recorded several other hits throughout the 1970s, \\\"I Belong to You\\\", which spent over five months on the Billboard R&B chart in 1974 including a week at No. 1 and \\\"Under the Influence of Love Unlimited\\\", which hit No. 3 on the Billboard Pop album charts. White married the lead singer of the group, Glodean James, on July 4, 1974.\",\n \"White married the lead singer of the group, Glodean James, on July 4, 1974. The Love Unlimited Orchestra In 1973, White created The Love Unlimited Orchestra, a 40-piece orchestral group to be used originally as a backing band for the girl-group Love Unlimited. However, White had other plans, and in 1973 he released a single with \\\"Love's Theme\\\" (written by him and played by the Orchestra), which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Pop charts.\",\n \"1 on the Billboard Pop charts. 1 on the Billboard Pop charts. Later, in 1974, he made the first album of the Love Unlimited Orchestra, Rhapsody in White, containing \\\"Love's Theme\\\". White would continue to make albums with the Orchestra, achieving some successes such as: \\\"Rhapsody in White\\\"; \\\"Satin Soul\\\"; \\\"Forever in Love\\\"; \\\"Midnight Groove\\\"; \\\"My Sweet Summer Suite\\\", Remake of \\\"Theme From King Kong\\\".\",\n \"White would continue to make albums with the Orchestra, achieving some successes such as: \\\"Rhapsody in White\\\"; \\\"Satin Soul\\\"; \\\"Forever in Love\\\"; \\\"Midnight Groove\\\"; \\\"My Sweet Summer Suite\\\", Remake of \\\"Theme From King Kong\\\". The Orchestra ceased to make albums in 1983, but continued to support White as a backing band. 1970s solo career White wanted to work with another act but decided to work with a solo male artist.\",\n \"1970s solo career White wanted to work with another act but decided to work with a solo male artist. While working on a few demos for a male singer, he made three song demos of himself singing and playing, but Nunes heard them and insisted that he re-record and release them himself as a solo recording artist. After arguing for days about it, White was finally persuaded to release the songs himself, although he was initially reluctant to step out behind the microphone.\",\n \"After arguing for days about it, White was finally persuaded to release the songs himself, although he was initially reluctant to step out behind the microphone. He then wrote several other songs and recorded them for what eventually became an entire album of music. He was going to use the name \\\"White Heat,\\\" but decided on using his given name instead. White was still hesitating up to the time the label copy was made.\",\n \"White was still hesitating up to the time the label copy was made. It eventually became White's first solo album, 1973's I've Got So Much to Give. It included the title track and his first solo chart hit, \\\"I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby\\\", which also rose to No. 1 on the Billboard R&B charts as well as No. 3 on the Billboard Pop charts in 1973 and stayed in the top 40 for many weeks.\",\n \"3 on the Billboard Pop charts in 1973 and stayed in the top 40 for many weeks. Other chart hits by White included \\\"Never, Never Gonna Give You Up\\\" (No. 2 R&B, No. 7 Pop in 1973), \\\"Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe\\\" (No. 1 Pop and R&B in 1974), \\\"You're the First, the Last, My Everything\\\" (No. 1 R&B, No.\",\n \"1 R&B, No. 1 R&B, No. 2 Pop in 1974), \\\"What Am I Gonna Do with You\\\" (No. 1 R&B, No. 8 Pop in 1975), \\\"Let the Music Play\\\" (No. 4 R&B in 1976), \\\"It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next to Me\\\" (No. 1 R&B, No.\",\n \"1 R&B, No. 1 R&B, No. 4 Pop in 1977) and \\\"Your Sweetness Is My Weakness\\\" (No. 2 R&B in 1978) and others. White also had a strong following in the UK, where he scored five Top 10 hits and a No. 1 for \\\"You're the First, the Last, My Everything\\\".\",\n \"1 for \\\"You're the First, the Last, My Everything\\\". Due to his large frame, facial hair, and deep voice, he was given the nickname \\\"The Walrus of Love\\\" in the UK. After six years White left 20th Century in 1979 to launch his own label, Unlimited Gold, with CBS/Columbia Records. 1980s Although his success on the pop charts slowed down as the disco era came to an end, he maintained a loyal following throughout his career.\",\n \"1980s Although his success on the pop charts slowed down as the disco era came to an end, he maintained a loyal following throughout his career. Despite several albums over the next three years, he failed to repeat his earlier successes, with no singles managing to reach the Billboard Hot 100, except for 1982's \\\"Change,\\\" climbing into the Billboard R&B Top 20 (No. 12).\",\n \"12). 12). His label venture was exacting a heavy financial cost on White, so he concentrated on mostly touring and finally folded his label in 1983. After four years he signed with A&M Records, and with the release of 1987's The Right Night & Barry White, the single entitled \\\"Sho' You Right\\\" made it to the Billboard R&B charts, peaking at No. 17. In 1989 he released The Man Is Back!\",\n \"17. In 1989 he released The Man Is Back! In 1989 he released The Man Is Back! and with it had three top 40 singles on the Billboard R&B charts: \\\"Super Lover\\\", which made it to No. 34, \\\"I Wanna Do It Good to Ya\\\", which made it to No. 26, and \\\"When Will I See You Again\\\", which made it to No. 32.\",\n \"32. 32. 1990s A 1970s nostalgia fad allowed White to enjoy a renewed wave of popularity in the 1990s. After participating in the song \\\"The Secret Garden (Sweet Seduction Suite)\\\" from Quincy Jones's 1989 album Back on the Block, White mounted an effective comeback with several albums, each more successful than the last. He returned to the top of the charts in 1991 with the album Put Me in Your Mix, which reached No.\",\n \"He returned to the top of the charts in 1991 with the album Put Me in Your Mix, which reached No. 8 on the Billboard R&B Albums chart and the song by the same name reached No. 2 on the Billboard R&B singles chart. In 1994, White released The Icon Is Love, which went to No. 1 on the Billboard R&B album charts, and the single \\\"Practice What You Preach\\\" gave him his first No.\",\n \"1 on the Billboard R&B album charts, and the single \\\"Practice What You Preach\\\" gave him his first No. 1 on the Billboard R&B singles chart in almost 20 years. The album was nominated for a Grammy in the Best R&B Album category, but lost to TLC's CrazySexyCool. In 1996, White recorded the duet \\\"In Your Wildest Dreams\\\" with Tina Turner.\",\n \"In 1996, White recorded the duet \\\"In Your Wildest Dreams\\\" with Tina Turner. 1996 also saw the release of Space Jam and its soundtrack, on which White had a duet with Chris Rock, called \\\"Basketball Jones,\\\" a remake of Cheech & Chong's \\\"Basketball Jones\\\" from 1973. White's final album, 1999's Staying Power, resulted in his last hit song \\\"Staying Power,\\\" which placed No. 45 on the Billboard R&B charts.\",\n \"45 on the Billboard R&B charts. 45 on the Billboard R&B charts. The single won him two Grammy Awards in the categories Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance. His autobiography, Love Unlimited, written with Mark Eliot, was published in 1999 by Broadway Books. Acting career Over the course of his career, White sometimes did voice-over work for television and movies.\",\n \"Acting career Over the course of his career, White sometimes did voice-over work for television and movies. He voiced the character Brother Bear in the film Coonskin (1975), and also played the character Sampson in the movie's live-action segments. He appeared as himself in a few episodes of The Simpsons. In the episode \\\"Whacking Day\\\", Bart and Lisa used his deep bass singing voice, played through loudspeakers placed on the ground, to lull and attract snakes, saving them from extermination.\",\n \"In the episode \\\"Whacking Day\\\", Bart and Lisa used his deep bass singing voice, played through loudspeakers placed on the ground, to lull and attract snakes, saving them from extermination. White was a fan of the show, and had reportedly contacted the staff about wanting to make a guest appearance. He made a second cameo in the episode \\\"Krusty Gets Kancelled\\\".\",\n \"He made a second cameo in the episode \\\"Krusty Gets Kancelled\\\". White played the role of a bus driver for a Prodigy commercial in 1995, and he also portrayed the voice of a rabbit in a Good Seasons salad-dressing-mix commercial, singing a song called \\\"You Can't Bottle Love\\\". In addition, he did some work for car commercials, including for Oldsmobile, and later on, Jeep. White also provided voice-over for Arby's Restaurant commercials on television and radio to promote its Market Fresh menu.\",\n \"White also provided voice-over for Arby's Restaurant commercials on television and radio to promote its Market Fresh menu. White's voice can also be heard in Apple's first iBook commercial. White made three guest appearances on the comedy-drama television series Ally McBeal, as his music was often featured on the show in dream sequences. Personal life Marriages White was first married to his childhood sweetheart, identified as just Mary in his autobiography, by the time he was 19. They separated in 1969 and later divorced.\",\n \"They separated in 1969 and later divorced. They separated in 1969 and later divorced. In 1974, White married singer Glodean James. The couple collaborated on the 1981 album Barry & Glodean. They reportedly divorced in 1988, however, they were still legally married until White's death in 2003 although they lived separate lives. Although estranged from Glodean for over a decade, as his widow she was made sole executor of his estate. Children White had at least nine children.\",\n \"Children White had at least nine children. Children White had at least nine children. By the age of 16, White had fathered two children with his first wife Mary. They had four children together. In 2017, his son Darryl White from his first marriage sued his estate claiming he was cut off financially. White had four children with his second wife Glodean James. Their daughter Shaherah was his personal assistant. Barry Jr. played in the Love Unlimited Orchestra and was also his tour manager.\",\n \"Barry Jr. played in the Love Unlimited Orchestra and was also his tour manager. White's son MacKevin worked in his publishing administration. White had a daughter, Denise Donnell born in 1962 to Gurtha Allen. She did not discover who her biological father was until 1988. She was accepted by White and with his help she changed her name to Denise White. In 2016, she sued White's estate after she stopped receiving money.\",\n \"In 2016, she sued White's estate after she stopped receiving money. After White's death in 2003, his girlfriend Katherine Denton claimed her infant daughter was his biological child. Denton also claimed that she was owed money and personal items that White had promised to give her. Paternity tests revealed that he was not the father of her child and Denton subsequently lost her court case. Health problems and death Due to a poor diet, White was overweight for most of his adult life and suffered from related health problems.\",\n \"Health problems and death Due to a poor diet, White was overweight for most of his adult life and suffered from related health problems. He was also known to be a heavy smoker, reportedly smoking approximately 150 cigarettes a day; roughly between 7 and 8 packs. While on-tour in the summer of 1995, White nearly collapsed after a concert. He took a break from performing that fall and on October 30 of that year, he was hospitalized after suffering a minor stroke due to high blood pressure.\",\n \"He took a break from performing that fall and on October 30 of that year, he was hospitalized after suffering a minor stroke due to high blood pressure. He was in a coma for four days, but was discharged a week after coming out of it. While touring with Earth, Wind & Fire in August 1999, White was forced to cancel a month's worth of tour dates owing to exhaustion, high blood pressure and a hectic schedule.\",\n \"While touring with Earth, Wind & Fire in August 1999, White was forced to cancel a month's worth of tour dates owing to exhaustion, high blood pressure and a hectic schedule. Family, friends, and associates also reported that as the 2000s began, White was in such poor health that he could hardly stand up; his last performances suffered as a result. In September 2002, White was hospitalized with kidney failure attributed to chronic high blood pressure; he was also believed to have been diabetic.\",\n \"In September 2002, White was hospitalized with kidney failure attributed to chronic high blood pressure; he was also believed to have been diabetic. While undergoing dialysis and awaiting a kidney transplant in May 2003, White suffered a severe stroke, which forced him to retire from public life. He also suffered multiple seizures in his last few weeks.\",\n \"He also suffered multiple seizures in his last few weeks. White's unstable health prevented him from receiving a new kidney and on July 4, 2003, he died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after suffering a cardiac arrest; he was 58. \\\"Singer Barry White dies\\\", BBC, July 5, 2003. His remains were cremated, and the ashes were scattered in the ocean off the Californian coast.\",\n \"His remains were cremated, and the ashes were scattered in the ocean off the Californian coast. Legacy On September 20, 2004, White was posthumously inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame at a ceremony held in New York. On September 12, 2013, which would have been White's 69th birthday, he was posthumously awarded the 2,506th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6914 Hollywood Boulevard in the category of recording.\",\n \"On September 12, 2013, which would have been White's 69th birthday, he was posthumously awarded the 2,506th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6914 Hollywood Boulevard in the category of recording. The show Counting Cars paid tribute to White by restoring the last car he owned for his widow, Glodean.\",\n \"The show Counting Cars paid tribute to White by restoring the last car he owned for his widow, Glodean. In an obituary referring to White by his nickname, \\\"The Walrus of Love\\\", the BBC recalled \\\"the rich timbres of one of the most distinctive soul voices of his generation, about which it was once said: 'If chocolate fudge cake could sing, it would sound like Barry White.'\\\"\",\n \"In an obituary referring to White by his nickname, \\\"The Walrus of Love\\\", the BBC recalled \\\"the rich timbres of one of the most distinctive soul voices of his generation, about which it was once said: 'If chocolate fudge cake could sing, it would sound like Barry White.'\\\" Awards and nominations White was nominated for 11 Grammy Awards; winning two for Staying Power at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards in 2000.\",\n \"Awards and nominations White was nominated for 11 Grammy Awards; winning two for Staying Power at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards in 2000. Discography Studio albums I've Got So Much to Give (1973) Stone Gon' (1973) Can't Get Enough (1974) Just Another Way to Say I Love You (1975) Let the Music Play (1976) Is This Whatcha Wont?\",\n \"Discography Studio albums I've Got So Much to Give (1973) Stone Gon' (1973) Can't Get Enough (1974) Just Another Way to Say I Love You (1975) Let the Music Play (1976) Is This Whatcha Wont? (1976) Barry White Sings for Someone You Love (1977) The Man (1978) I Love to Sing the Songs I Sing (1979) The Message Is Love (1979) Sheet Music (1980) Beware!\",\n \"(1976) Barry White Sings for Someone You Love (1977) The Man (1978) I Love to Sing the Songs I Sing (1979) The Message Is Love (1979) Sheet Music (1980) Beware! (1981) Change (1982) Dedicated (1983) The Right Night & Barry White (1987) The Man Is Back!\",\n \"(1981) Change (1982) Dedicated (1983) The Right Night & Barry White (1987) The Man Is Back! (1989) Put Me in Your Mix (1991) The Icon Is Love (1994) Staying Power'' (1999) References External links 1944 births 2003 deaths African-American record producers Record producers from Texas African-American male singer-songwriters American bandleaders American bass-baritones A&M Records artists American dance musicians 20th-century African-American male singers American people convicted of theft American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters American soul singers Casablanca Records artists American male actors American male voice actors African-American male actors Deaths from kidney failure Grammy Award winners Mercury Records artists Singer-songwriters from Texas People from Galveston, Texas Private Music artists Singers from Los Angeles American disco singers Record producers from California Downey Records artists Singer-songwriters from California The Love Unlimited Orchestra members\"\n]"}}},{"rowIdx":371,"cells":{"History":{"kind":"list like","value":["Alexandru Macedonski","Late 1890s","How old was Macedonski during this time period?","I don't know."],"string":"[\n \"Alexandru Macedonski\",\n \"Late 1890s\",\n \"How old was Macedonski during this time period?\",\n \"I don't know.\"\n]"},"QuAC_dialog_id":{"kind":"string","value":"C_0dd521a55de449a4b87a29d550b59837_1"},"Question":{"kind":"string","value":"What was he doing during this time?"},"Question_no":{"kind":"number","value":2,"string":"2"},"Rewrite":{"kind":"string","value":"What was Alexandru Macedonski doing in the late 1890s?"},"true_page_title":{"kind":"string","value":"Alexandru Macedonski"},"true_contexts":{"kind":"string","value":"Macedonski also returned with a new volume of poetry, Excelsior (consecutive editions in 1895 and 1896), and founded Liga Ortodoxa (\"The Orthodox League\"), a magazine noted for hosting the debut of Tudor Arghezi, later one of the most celebrated figures in Romanian literature. Macedonski commended his new protege for reaching \"the summit of poetry and art\" at \"an age when I was still prattling verses\". Liga Ortodoxa also hosted articles against Caragiale, which Macedonski signed with the pseudonym Sallustiu (\"Sallustius\"). The magazine was additional proof of Macedonski's return to conservatism, and largely dedicated to defending the cause of Romanian Orthodox Metropolitan Ghenadie, deposed by the Romanian Synod following a political scandal. It defended Ghenadie up until he chose to resign, and subsequently went out of print. Macedonski was shocked to note that Ghenadie had given up his own defense. In 1895, his Casa cu nr. 10 was translated into French by the Journal des Debats, whose editors reportedly found it picturesque. Two years later, Macedonski himself published French-language translations of his earlier poetry under the title Bronzes, a volume prefaced by his disciple, the critic and promoter Alexandru Bogdan-Pitesti. Although it was positively reviewed by Mercure de France magazine, Bronzes was largely unnoticed by the French audience, a fact which Tudor Vianu attributes to Bogdan-Pitesti's lack of qualification for the cultural mission Macedonski had trusted him with. By that time, his circle had come to be frequented with regularity by Bogdan-Pitesti's friend and collaborator, the celebrated painter Stefan Luchian, who was in the Symbolist and Art Nouveau stage of his career. By 1898, Macedonski was again facing financial difficulties, and his collaborators resorted to organizing a fundraiser in his honor. His rejection of the Orthodox establishment was documented by his political tract, published that year as Falimentul clerului ortodox. Between that time and 1900, he focused on researching esoteric, occult and pseudoscientific subjects. Traian Demetrescu, who recorded his visits with Macedonski, recalled his former mentor being opposed to his positivist take on science, claiming to explain the workings of the Universe in \"a different way\", through \"imagination\", but also taking an interest in Camille Flammarion's astronomy studies. Macedonski was determined to interpret death through parapsychological means, and, in 1900, conferenced at the Atheneum on the subject Sufletul si viata viitoare (\"The Soul and the Coming Life\"). The focal point of his vision was that man could voluntarily stave off death with words and gestures, a concept he elaborated upon in his later articles. In one such piece, Macedonski argued: \"man has the power [...] to compact the energy currents known as thoughts to the point where he changes them, according to his own will, into objects or soul-bearing creatures.\" He also attempted to build a machine for extinguishing chimney fires. Later, Nikita Macedonski registered the invention of nacre-treated paper, which is sometimes attributed to his father. CANNOTANSWER"},"answer":{"kind":"string","value":"By 1898, Macedonski was again facing financial difficulties, and his collaborators resorted to organizing a fundraiser in his honor."},"true_contexts_wiki":{"kind":"string","value":"Alexandru Macedonski (; also rendered as Al. A. Macedonski, Macedonschi or Macedonsky; 14 March 1854 – 24 November 1920) was a Romanian poet, novelist, dramatist and literary critic, known especially for having promoted French Symbolism in his native country, and for leading the Romanian Symbolist movement during its early decades. A forerunner of local modernist literature, he is the first local author to have used free verse, and claimed by some to have been the first in modern European literature. Within the framework of Romanian literature, Macedonski is seen by critics as second only to national poet Mihai Eminescu; as leader of a cosmopolitan and aestheticist trend formed around his Literatorul journal, he was diametrically opposed to the inward-looking traditionalism of Eminescu and his school.\n\nDebuting as a Neoromantic in the Wallachian tradition, Macedonski went through the Realist-Naturalist stage deemed \"social poetry\", while progressively adapting his style to Symbolism and Parnassianism, and repeatedly but unsuccessfully attempting to impose himself in the Francophone world. Despite having theorized \"instrumentalism\", which reacted against the traditional guidelines of poetry, he maintained a lifelong connection with Neoclassicism and its ideal of purity. Macedonski's quest for excellence found its foremost expression in his recurring motif of life as a pilgrimage to Mecca, notably used in his critically acclaimed Nights cycle. The stylistic stages of his career are reflected in the collections Prima verba, Poezii, and Excelsior, as well as in the fantasy novel Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu. In old age, he became the author of rondels, noted for their detached and serene vision of life, in contrast with his earlier combativeness.\n\nIn parallel to his literary career, Macedonski was a civil servant, notably serving as prefect in the Budjak and Northern Dobruja during the late 1870s. As journalist and militant, his allegiance fluctuated between the liberal current and conservatism, becoming involved in polemics and controversies of the day. Of the long series of publications he founded, Literatorul was the most influential, notably hosting his early conflicts with the Junimea literary society. These targeted Vasile Alecsandri and especially Eminescu, their context and tone becoming the cause of a major rift between Macedonski and his public. This situation repeated itself in later years, when Macedonski and his Forța Morală magazine began campaigning against the Junimist dramatist Ion Luca Caragiale, whom they falsely accused of plagiarism. During World War I, the poet aggravated his critics by supporting the Central Powers against Romania's alliance with the Entente side. His biography was also marked by an enduring interest in esotericism, numerous attempts to become recognized as an inventor, and an enthusiasm for cycling.\n\nThe scion of a political and aristocratic family, the poet was the son of General Alexandru Macedonski, who served as Defense Minister, and the grandson of 1821 rebel Dimitrie Macedonski. Both his son Alexis and grandson Soare were known painters.\n\nBiography\n\nEarly life and family\n\nThe poet's paternal family had arrived in Wallachia during the early 19th century. Of South Slav (Serb or Bulgarian) or Aromanian origin, they claimed to have descended from Serb insurgents in Ottoman-ruled Macedonia. Alexandru's grandfather Dimitrie and Dimitrie's brother Pavel participated in the 1821 uprising against the Phanariote administration, and in alliance with the Filiki Eteria; Dimitrie made the object of controversy when, during the final stage of the revolt, he sided with the Eteria in its confrontation with Wallachian leader Tudor Vladimirescu, taking an active part in the latter's killing. Both Macedonski brothers had careers in the Wallachian military forces, at a time when the country was governed by Imperial Russian envoys, when the Regulamentul Organic regime recognized the family as belonging to Wallachia's nobility. Dimitrie married Zoe, the daughter an ethnic Russian or Polish officer; their son, the Russian-educated Alexandru, climbed in the military and political hierarchy, joining the unified Land Forces after his political ally, Alexander John Cuza, was elected Domnitor and the two Danubian Principalities became united Romania. Both the officer's uncle Pavel and brother Mihail were amateur poets.\n\nMacedonski's mother, Maria Fisența (also Vicenț or Vicența), was from an aristocratic environment, being the scion of Oltenian boyars. Through her father, she may have descended from Russian immigrants who had been absorbed into Oltenia's nobility. Maria had been adopted by the boyar Dumitrache Pârâianu, and the couple had inherited the Adâncata and Pometești estates in Goiești, on the Amaradia Valley.\n\nBoth the poet and his father were dissatisfied with accounts of their lineage, contradicting them with an account that researchers have come to consider spurious. Although adherents of the Romanian Orthodox Church, the Macedonskis traced their origin to Rogala-bearing Lithuanian nobility from the defunct Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. While the writer perpetuated his father's claim, it is possible that he also took pride in investigating his Balkan roots: according to literary historian Tudor Vianu, who, as a youth, was a member of his circle, this tendency is attested by two of Macedonski's poems from the 1880s, where the South Slavs appear as icons of freedom. Vianu's contemporary, literary historian George Călinescu, postulated that, although the family had been absorbed into the ethnic and cultural majority, the poet's origin served to enrich local culture by linking it to a \"Thracian\" tradition and the spirit of \"adventurers\".\n\nThe family moved often, following General Macedonski's postings. Born in Bucharest, Macedonski-son was the third of four siblings, the oldest of whom was a daughter, Caterina. Before the age of six, he was a sickly and nervous child, who is reported to have had regular tantrums. In 1862, his father sent him to school in Oltenia, and he spent most time in the Amaradia region. The nostalgia he felt for the landscape later made him consider writing an Amărăzene (\"Amaradians\") cycle, of which only one poem was ever completed. He was attending the Carol I High School in Craiova and, according to his official record, graduated in 1867.\n\nMacedonski's father had by then become known as an authoritarian commander, and, during his time in Târgu Ocna, faced a mutiny which only his wife could stop by pleading with the soldiers (an episode which made an impression on the future poet). A stern parent, he took an active part in educating his children. Having briefly served as Defense Minister, the general was mysteriously dismissed by Cuza in 1863, and his pension became the topic of a political scandal. It ended only under the rule of Carol I, Cuza's Hohenzollern successor, when Parliament voted against increasing the sum to the level demanded by its recipient. Having preserved a negative impression of the 1866 plebiscite, during which Cuza's dethronement had been confirmed, Macedonski remained a committed opponent of the new ruler. As a youth and adult, he sought to revive his father's cause, and included allusions to the perceived injustice in at least one poem. After spending the last months of his life protesting against the authorities, Macedonski-father fell ill and died in September 1869, leaving his family to speculate that he had been murdered by political rivals.\n\nDebut years\n\nMacedonski left Romania in 1870, traveling through Austria-Hungary and spending time in Vienna, before visiting Switzerland and possibly other countries; according to one account, it was here that he may have first met (and disliked) his rival poet Mihai Eminescu, at a time a Viennese student. Macedonski's visit was meant to be preparation for entering the University of Bucharest, but he spent much of his time in the bohemian environment, seeking entertainment and engaging in romantic escapades. He was however opposed to the lifestyle choices of people his age, claiming that they were engaged in \"orgy after orgy\". At around that date, the young author had begun to perfect a style heavily influenced by Romanticism, and in particular by his Wallachian predecessors Dimitrie Bolintineanu and Ion Heliade Rădulescu. He was for a while in Styria, at Bad Gleichenberg, a stay which, George Călinescu believes, may have been the result of a medical recommendation to help him counter excessive nervousness. The landscape there inspired him to write an ode. Also in 1870, he published his first lyrics in George Bariț's Transylvanian-based journal Telegraful Român.\n\nThe following year, he left for Italy, where he visited Pisa, Florence, Venice, and possibly other cities. His records of the journey indicate that he was faced with financial difficulties and plagued by disease. Macedonski also claimed to have attended college lectures in these cities, and to have spent significant time studying at Pisa University, but this remains uncertain. He eventually returned to Bucharest, where he entered the Faculty of Letters (which he never attended regularly). According to Călinescu, Macedonski \"did not feel the need\" to attend classes, because \"such a young man will expect society to render upon him its homages.\" He was again in Italy during spring 1872, soon after publishing his debut volume Prima verba (Latin for \"First Word\"). Having also written an anti-Carol piece, published in Telegraful Român during 1873, Macedonski reportedly feared political reprisals, and decided to make another visit to Styria and Italy while his case was being assessed. It was in Italy that he met French musicologist Jules Combarieu, with whom he corresponded sporadically over the following decades.\n\nDuring that period, Macedonski became interested in the political scene and political journalism, first as a sympathizer of the liberal-radical current—which, in 1875, organized itself around the National Liberal Party. In 1874, back in Craiova, Macedonski founded a short-lived literary society known as Junimea, a title which purposefully or unwittingly copied that of the influential conservative association with whom he would later quarrel. It was then that he met journalist and pedagogue Ștefan Velescu, a meeting witnessed by Velescu's pupil, the future liberal journalist Constantin Bacalbașa, who recorded it in his memoirs. Oltul magazine, which he had helped establish and which displayed a liberal agenda, continued to be published until July 1875, and featured Macedonski's translations from Pierre-Jean de Béranger, Hector de Charlieu and Alphonse de Lamartine, as well as his debut in travel writing and short story. At age 22, he worked on his first play, a comedy titled Gemenii (\"The Twins\"). In 1874 that he came to the attention of young journalist future dramatist Ion Luca Caragiale, who satirized him in articles for the magazine Ghimpele, ridiculing his claim to Lithuanian descent, and eventually turning him into the character Aamsky, whose fictional career ends with his death from exhaustion caused by contributing to \"for the country's political development\". This was the first episode in a consuming polemic between the two figures. Reflecting back on this period in 1892, Macedonski described Caragiale as a \"noisy young man\" of \"sophistic reasoning\", whose target audience was to be found in \"beer gardens\".\n\n1875 trial and office as prefect\n\nIn March 1875, Macedonski was arrested on charges of defamation or sedition. For almost a year before, he and Oltul had taken an active part in the campaign against Conservative Party and its leader, Premier Lascăr Catargiu. In this context, he had demanded that the common man \"rise up with weapons in their hands and break both the government agents and the government\", following up with similar messages aimed at the Domnitor. He was taken to Bucharest's Văcărești prison and confined there for almost three months. Supported by the liberal press and defended by the most prestigious pro-liberal attorneys (Nicolae Fleva among them), Macedonski faced a jury trial on 7 June, being eventually cleared of the charges. Reportedly, the Bucharest populace organized a spontaneous celebration of the verdict.\n\nIn 1875, after the National Liberal Ion Emanuel Florescu was assigned the post of Premier by Carol, Macedonski embarked on an administrative career. The poet was upset by not being included on the National Liberal list for the 1875 suffrage. This disenchantment led him into a brief conflict with the young liberal figure Bonifaciu Florescu, only to join him soon afterward in editing Stindardul journal, alongside Pantazi Ghica and George Fălcoianu. The publication followed the line of Nicolae Moret Blaremberg, made notorious for his radical and republican agenda. Ghica and Macedonski remained close friends until Ghica's 1882 death.\n\nThe new cabinet eventually appointed him Prefect of Bolgrad region, in the Budjak (at the time part of Romania). In parallel, he published his first translation, a version of Parisina, an 1816 epic poem by Lord Byron, and completed the original works Ithalo and Calul arabului (\"The Arab's Horse\"). He also spoke at the Romanian Atheneum, presenting his views on the state of Romanian literature (1878). His time in office ended upon the outbreak of the Russo-Turkish War. At the time, Russian volunteers were amassed on the Budjak border, requesting from the Romanian authorities the right of free passage into the Principality of Serbia. The National Liberal Premier Ion Brătianu, who was negotiating an anti-Ottoman alliance, sent Macedonski signals to let them pass, but the prefect, obeying the official recommendation of Internal Affairs Minister George D. Vernescu, decided against it, and was consequently stripped of his office.\n\nStill determined to pursue a career in the press, Macedonski founded a string of unsuccessful magazines with patriotic content and titles such as Vestea (\"The Announcement\"), Dunărea (\"The Danube\"), Fulgerul (\"The Lightning\") and, after 1880, Tarara (an onomatopoeia equivalent to \"Toodoodoo\"). Their history is connected with that of the Russo-Turkish War, at the end of which Romanian participation on the Russian side resulted in her independence. Macedonski remained committed to the anti-Ottoman cause, and, some thirty years later, stated: \"We want no Turkey in Europe!\"\n\nBy 1879, the poet, who continued to voice criticism of Carol, had several times switched sides between the National Liberals and the opposition Conservatives. That year, while the Budjak was ceded to Russia and Northern Dobruja was integrated into Romania, the Brătianu cabinet appointed him administrator of the Sulina plasă and the Danube Delta. He had previously refused to be made comptroller in Putna County, believing such an appointment to be beneath his capacity, and had lost a National Liberal appointment in Silistra when Southern Dobruja was granted to the Principality of Bulgaria. During this short interval in office, he traveled to the Snake Island in the Black Sea—his appreciation for the place later motivated him to write the fantasy novel Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu and the poem Lewki.\n\nEarly Literatorul years\nWith the 1880s came a turning point in Alexandru Macedonski's career. Vianu notes that changes took place in the poet's relationship with his public: \"Society recognizes in him the nonconformist. [...] The man becomes singular; people start talking about his oddities.\" Macedonski's presumed frustration at being perceived in this way, Vianu notes, may have led him closer to the idea of poète maudit, theorized earlier by Paul Verlaine. In this context, he had set his sight on promoting \"social poetry\", the merger between lyricism and political militantism. Meanwhile, according to Călinescu, his attacks on the liberals and the \"daft insults he aimed at [Romania's] throne\" had effectively ruined his own chance of political advancement.\n\nIn January 1880, he launched his most influential and long-lived publication, Literatorul, which was also the focal point of his eclectic cultural circle, and, in later years, of the local Symbolist school. In its first version, the magazine was co-edited by Macedonski, Bonifaciu Florescu and poet Th. M. Stoenescu. Florescu parted with the group soon after, due to a disagreement with Macedonski, and was later attacked by the latter for allegedly accumulating academic posts. Literatorul aimed to irritate Junimist sensibilities from its first issue, when it stated its dislike for \"political prejudice in literature.\" This was most likely an allusion to the views of Junimist figure Titu Maiorescu, being later accompanied by explicit attacks on him and his followers. An early success for the new journal was the warm reception it received from Vasile Alecsandri, a Romantic poet and occasional Junimist whom Macedonski idolized at the time, and the collaboration of popular memoirist Gheorghe Sion. Another such figure was the intellectual V. A. Urechia, whom Macedonski made president of the Literatorul Society. In 1881, Education Minister Urechia granted Macedonski the Bene-Merenti medal 1st class, although, Călinescu stresses, the poet had only totaled 18 months of public service. At around that time, Macedonski had allegedly begun courting actress Aristizza Romanescu, who rejected his advances, leaving him unenthusiastic about love matters and unwilling to seek female company.\n\nIn parallel, Macedonski used the magazine to publicize his disagreement with the main Junimist voice, Convorbiri Literare. Among the group of contributors, several had already been victims of Maiorescu's irony: Sion, Urechia, Pantazi Ghica and Petru Grădișteanu. While welcoming the debut of its contributor, Parnassian-Neoclassicist novelist and poet Duiliu Zamfirescu, Macedonski repeatedly attacked its main exponent, the conservative poet Eminescu, claiming not to understand his poetry. However, Literatorul was also open to contributions from some Convorbiri Literare affiliates (Zamfirescu, Matilda Cugler-Poni and Veronica Micle).\n\nIn November 1880, Macedonski's plays Iadeș! (\"Wishbone!\", a comedy first printed in 1882) and Unchiașul Sărăcie (\"Old Man Poverty\") premiered at the National Theater Bucharest. A sign of government approval, this was followed by Macedonski's appointment to a minor administrative office, as Historical Monuments Inspector. Nevertheless, both plays failed to impose themselves on public perception, and were withdrawn from the program by 1888. Călinescu asserts that, although Macedonski later claimed to have always been facing poverty, his job in the administration, coupled with other sources of revenue, ensured him a comfortable existence.\n\nIn 1881, Macedonski published a new collection of poetry. Titled Poezii, it carries the year \"1882\" on its original cover. Again moving away from liberalism, Macedonski sought to make himself accepted by Junimea and Maiorescu. He consequently attended the Junimea sessions, and gave a public reading of Noaptea de noiembrie (\"November Night\"), the first publicized piece in his lifelong Nights cycle. It reportedly earned him the praise of historian and poet Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu, who, although an anti-Junimist, happened to be in the audience. Despite rumors according to which he had applauded Macedonski, Maiorescu himself was not impressed, and left an unenthusiastic account of the event in his private diary.\n\nAgainst Alecsandri and Eminescu\nMacedonski's open conflict with Junimea began in 1882, when he engaged in a publicized polemic with Alecsandri. It was ignited when, through Macedonski's articles, Literatorul criticized Alecsandri for accepting Romanian Academy prizes despite being its member, and later involved Sion (whose replies on behalf of the Academy were derided by Macedonski). Macedonski also took distance from Alecsandri's style, publishing a \"critical analysis\" of his poetry in one issue of Literatorul. In turn, Alecsandri humiliated his young rival by portraying him as Zoilus, the prototype of slanderers, and himself as the model poet Horace in the 1883 play Fântâna Blanduziei. The two were eventually reconciled, and Macedonski again spoke of Alecsandri as his ideological and stylistic predecessor.\n\nIn April 1882, Eminescu had also replied to Macedonski in Timpul journal, referring to an unnamed poet who \"barely finishes high-school, comes over to Bucharest selling nick-nacks and makeup [and goes into] literary dealership\". Reproaching Macedonski's attacks on Alecsandri, Eminescu makes a nationalist comment about the young poet bearing \"the bastard instincts of those foreigners who were Romanianized only yesterday\", and attributes him \"the physiognomy of a hairdresser\". Through the articles of Petru Th. Missir, Convorbiri Literare gave Poezii a negative review, deemed \"malevolent\" by literary historian Mircea Anghelescu. At the other end of the political and cultural spectrum, Macedonski faced opposition from the intellectuals attracted to socialism, in particular Contemporanul editors Constantin Mille and Ioan Nădejde, with whom he was engaged in an extended polemic.\n\nIn the meantime, Macedonski published his own play, which had Cuza for its main character and was eponymously titled Cuza-Vodă, and completed translations for Literatorul—from Maurice Rollinat, whom he helped impose as a main cultural reference in Romanian Symbolism, and from the Greek poet Akhillefs Paraskhos. In 1883, he also contributed his first sketch story, Casa cu nr. 10 (\"The House at Number 10\"). In early 1883, he married Ana Rallet-Slătineanu. Wealthy and supposedly related to Romanian aristocrats, she would bear him five children in all: the painter Alexis was the eldest, followed by Nikita; the three youngest were two sons (Panel and Constantin Macedonski) and a daughter, Anna (also known as Nina). His heterosexual lifestyle notwithstanding, Macedonski remained a self-avowed admirer of male beauties, and was rumored to be a closeted homosexual.\n\nIn July 1883, Macedonski undertook one of his most controversial anti-Junimist actions. That month, Literatorul published an epigram signed with the pseudonym Duna, deriding an unnamed author who had lost his mind. Mihai Eminescu—whom many had already come to see as Romania's national poet—had by then developed a mental disorder which had become known to the general public. Ever since that moment, Macedonski has generally been believed to be Duna, and as a result, was faced with much criticism from both readers and commentators. The intense anti-Literatorul press campaign was initiated in August, when writer Grigore Ventura issued an article condemning Macedonski's attitude (published in the Bucharest-based newspaper L'Indépendance Roumaine), with Macedonski responding in the National Liberal organ Românul. During one evening, Macedonski is reported to have been assaulted by anonymous supporters of Eminescu. His previous conflict with Nădejde was also affected by this renewed controversy: while opposed to Junimist policies, the socialists at Contemporanul voiced their admiration for Eminescu's art.\n\nLate in 1883, Macedonski and his friends unveiled Ion Georgescu's statue of their mentor Bolintineanu in the National Theater lobby. The circumstances in which this took place rose suspicion of foul play; on this grounds, Macedonski was ridiculed by his former friend Zamfirescu in the journal România Liberă, which left him embittered. Călinescu proposes that, although such negative reactions were invoked by Macedonski's supporters as a sign of their mentor having been marginalized, Macedonski had expressed his dissatisfaction with the cultural environment long before that moment, and was still a respected figure even after the incidents took place.\n\nFirst Paris sojourn and Poezia viitorului\n\nHaving been stripped of his administrative office by the new Brătianu cabinet, Macedonski faced financial difficulties, and was forced to move into a house on the outskirts of Bucharest, and later moved between houses in northern Bucharest. According to Călinescu, the poet continued to cultivate luxury and passionately invested in the decorative arts, although his source of income, other than the supposed assistance \"of [European] ruling houses\", remains a mystery. Arguing that Macedonski was \"always in need of money\" to use on his luxury items, poet Victor Eftimiu claimed: \"He did not shy away from sending emphatic notes to the potentates of his day [...], flattering some, threatening others. He would marry off or simply mate some of his disciples with aging and rich women, and then he would squeeze out their assets.\"\n\nMacedonski eventually left Romania in 1884, visiting Paris. On his way there, he passed through Craiova, where he met aspiring author Traian Demetrescu, whose works he had already hosted in Literatorul and who was to become his friend and protégé. Demetrescu later recalled being gripped by \"tremors of emotion\" upon first catching sight of Macedonski. In France, Macedonski set up contacts within the French literary environment, and began contributing to French or Francophone literary publications—including the Belgian Symbolist platforms La Wallonie and L'Élan littéraire. His collaboration with La Wallonie alongside Albert Mockel, Tudor Vianu believes, makes Alexandru Macedonski one in the original wave of European Symbolists. This adaptation to Symbolism also drew on his marked Francophilia, which in turn complemented his tendencies toward cosmopolitanism. He became opposed to Carol I, who, in 1881, had been granted the Crown of the Romanian Kingdom. In addition to his admiration for Cuza and the 1848 Wallachian revolutionaries, the poet objected to the King's sympathy for France's main rival, the German Empire. In January 1885, after having returned from the voyage, he announced his retirement from public life, claiming that German influence and its exponents at Junimea had \"conquered\" Romanian culture, and repeating his claim that Eminescu lacked value.\n\nIn the meantime, Literatorul went out of print, although new series were still published at irregular intervals until 1904 (when it ceased being published altogether). The magazine was reportedly hated by the public, causing Macedonski, Stoenescu, Florescu, Urechia and educator Anghel Demetriescu to try to revive it as Revista Literară (\"The Literary Review\", published for a few months in 1885). The poet attempted to establish other magazines, all of them short-lived, and, in 1887, handed for print his Naturalist novella Dramă banală (\"Banal Drama\") while completing one of the most revered episodes in the Nights series, Noaptea de mai (\"May Night\"). Also in 1886, he worked on his other Naturalist novellas: Zi de august (\"August Day\"), Pe drum de poștă (\"On the Stagecoach Trail\"), Din carnetul unui dezertor (\"From the Notebook of a Deserter\"), Între cotețe (\"Amidst Hen Houses\") and the eponymous Nicu Dereanu.\n\nBy 1888, he was again sympathetic toward Blaremberg, whose dissident National Liberal faction had formed an alliance with the Conservatives, editing Stindardul Țărei (later Straja Țărei) as his supporting journal. However, late in the same year, he returned to the liberal mainstream, being assigned a weekly column in Românul newspaper. Two years later, he attempted to relaunch Literatorul under the leadership of liberal figure Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu, but the latter eventually settled for founding his own Revista Nouă. Around 1891, he saluted Junimeas own break with the Conservatives and its entry into politics at the Conservative-Constitutional Party, before offering an enthusiastic welcome to the 1892 Junimist agitation among university students. In 1894, he would speak in front of student crowds gathered at a political rally in University Square, and soon after made himself known for supporting the cause of ethnic Romanians and other underrepresented groups of Austria-Hungary.\n\nHis literary thesis of the time was titled Poezia viitorului (\"The Poetry of the Future\"). It upheld Symbolist authors as the models to follow, while Macedonski personally began producing what he referred to as \"instrumentalist\" poems, composed around musical and onomatopoeic elements, and showing a preference for internal rhymes. Such an experimental approach was soon after parodied and ridiculed by Ion Luca Caragiale, who had by then affiliated and parted with Junimea, in his new Moftul Român magazine. The poet sought to reconcile with his rival, publicizing a claim that Caragiale was being unjustly ignored by the cultural establishment, but this attempt failed to mend relations between them, and the conflict escalated further.\n\nWhile, in 1893, Literatorul hosted fragments of Thalassa in its Romanian-language version, the author also launched a daily, Lumina (\"The Light\"). It was also at that stage that Alexandru Macedonski associated with Cincinat Pavelescu, the noted epigrammarian, who joined him in editing Literatorul, and with whom he co-authored the 1893 verse tragedy depicting the Biblical hero Saul, and named after him. Although showcased by the National Theater with star actor Constantin Nottara in the title role, it failed to register success with the public. Two years later, the two Literatorul editors made headlines as pioneers of cycling. An enthusiastic promoter of the sport, Macedonski joined fellow poet Constantin Cantilli on a marathon, pedaling from Bucharest across the border into Austria-Hungary, all the way down to Brașov.\n\nLate 1890s\nMacedonski also returned with a new volume of poetry, Excelsior (consecutive editions in 1895 and 1896), and founded Liga Ortodoxă (\"The Orthodox League\"), a magazine noted for hosting the debut of Tudor Arghezi, later one of the most celebrated figures in Romanian literature. Macedonski commended his new protégé for reaching \"the summit of poetry and art\" at \"an age when I was still prattling verses\". Liga Ortodoxă also hosted articles against Caragiale, which Macedonski signed with the pseudonym Sallustiu (\"Sallustius\"). The magazine was additional proof of Macedonski's return to conservatism, and largely dedicated to defending the cause of Romanian Orthodox Metropolitan Ghenadie, deposed by the Romanian Synod following a political scandal. It defended Ghenadie up until he chose to resign, and subsequently went out of print. Macedonski was shocked to note that Ghenadie had given up his own defense.\n\nIn 1895, his Casa cu nr. 10 was translated into French by the Journal des Débats, whose editors reportedly found it picturesque. Two years later, Macedonski himself published French-language translations of his earlier poetry under the title Bronzes, a volume prefaced by his disciple, the critic and promoter Alexandru Bogdan-Pitești. Although it was positively reviewed by Mercure de France magazine, Bronzes was largely unnoticed by the French audience, a fact which Tudor Vianu attributes to Bogdan-Pitești's lack of qualification for the cultural mission Macedonski had trusted him with. By that time, his circle had come to be frequented with regularity by Bogdan-Pitești's friend and collaborator, the celebrated painter Ștefan Luchian, who was in the Symbolist and Art Nouveau stage of his career.\n\nBy 1898, Macedonski was again facing financial difficulties, and his collaborators resorted to organizing a fundraiser in his honor. His rejection of the Orthodox establishment was documented by his political tract, published that year as . Between that time and 1900, he focused on researching esoteric, occult and pseudoscientific subjects. Traian Demetrescu, who recorded his visits with Macedonski, recalled his former mentor being opposed to his positivist take on science, claiming to explain the workings of the Universe in \"a different way\", through \"imagination\", but also taking an interest in Camille Flammarion's astronomy studies. Macedonski was determined to interpret death through parapsychological means, and, in 1900, conferenced at the Atheneum on the subject Sufletul și viața viitoare (\"The Soul and the Coming Life\"). The focal point of his vision was that man could voluntarily stave off death with words and gestures, a concept he elaborated upon in his later articles. In one such piece, Macedonski argued: \"man has the power [...] to compact the energy currents known as thoughts to the point where he changes them, according to his own will, into objects or soul-bearing creatures.\" He also attempted to build a machine for extinguishing chimney fires. Later, Nikita Macedonski registered the invention of nacre-treated paper, which is sometimes attributed to his father.\n\nCaion scandal and expatriation\nThe few issues of Literatorul that were printed in 1899-1900 saw the circle being joined by the young Symbolist poet Ștefan Petică. In 1902, he published Cartea de aur (\"The Golden Book\"), comprising his sketch stories and novellas. In parallel, Macedonski returned to the public scene, founding Forța Morală magazine. It was through this venue that he began responding to Ion Luca Caragiale's earlier attacks. This he did by hosting the articles of aspiring journalist Constantin Al. Ionescu-Caion, who accused Caragiale of having plagiarized a Hungarian author by the name of Kemény in his tragedy play Năpasta. Kemény turned out to be non-existent. According to Vianu, Macedonski had no prior knowledge of the fraud, but had also been \"blinded\" by his resentments instead of displaying \"discernment\", and had even showed evidence of \"insanity\". Most in Macedonski's own series of anti-Caragiale articles were unsigned, or signed with pseudonyms such as Luciliu (\"Gaius Lucilius\").\n\nLike in the case of Eminescu's conflict with Macedonski, the polemic enlisted a negative response from the public. The poet's associate Th. M. Stoenescu convinced himself that Caragiale was being framed, and refused to allow Revista Literară to be used for endorsing Caion, which caused Macedonski to shun him. Macedonski refused to withdraw his support for the cause even after Caragiale sued Caion, but Forța Morală soon went out of print. Before it did so, the journal hosted some of Macedonski's most renowned poems, including Lewki and Noaptea de decemvrie (\"December Night\"), together with his article on Remy de Gourmont's thoughts on poetics.\n\nIn his article of 1903, titled (\"Toward Occultism. Later Orientations toward Theosophy and Social Philosophy\"), the poet envisaged making his interest in esoteric subjects the basis of a new literary movement. Also that year, poet George Bacovia began attending the literary circle, and gave a reading of his celebrated Plumb poem, being welcomed by Macedonski with a flattering epigram. Macedonski's series of short-lived periodicals resumed in 1905, when he founded Le Beau Danube Bleu (French for \"The Beautiful Blue Danube\") and Liga Conservatoare (\"The Conservative League\"). He registered more success in 1906, when his Thalassa was published, as Le Calvaire de feu, by Edward Sansot's Paris-based publishing house. This followed intense self-promotion within the French literary environment, as well as advertisements in the French press. Part of this involved Macedonski sending his book to be reviewed by Émile Faguet, Jean Mounet-Sully, Joséphin Péladan, Pierre Quillard and Jean Richepin, who replied with what Vianu deems \"the politeness of circumstance.\" The volume was nonetheless favorably reviewed by the prestigious magazines Mercure de France and Gil Blas.\n\nAlso in 1906, La Revue Musicale published his interview with Combarieu, through which the latter aimed to verify supposed connections between literary inspiration and musical sensitivity. By 1907, he was concentrating on experiments in physics, and eventually publicized his claim to have discovered that light does not travel through vacuum. He sent a paper on astronomy subjects to be reviewed by the Société Astronomique de France, of which he subsequently became a member. The same year, he drafted the plan for a world government, announcing that he had found sympathy for the cause throughout Europe. Macedonski also introduced himself to an Italophone public, when two of his sonnets were published by Poesia, the magazine of Futurist theorist Filippo Tommaso Marinetti.\n\nBetween 1910 and 1912, Macedonski was again in Paris. Seeking to withdraw himself from Romania's public life due to what he perceived as injustice, he had by then completed work on the French-language tragicomedy Le Fou? (\"The Madman?\"), which was only published after his death. He was actively seeking to establish his reputation in French theater, reading his new play to a circle which included Louis de Gonzague Frick and Florian-Parmentier, while, at home, newspapers reported rumors that his work was going to be staged by Sarah Bernhardt's company. His efforts were largely fruitless, and, accompanied by his son Alexis, the poet left France, spent some time in Italy, and eventually returned to Romania. Passing through the German Empire, he learned of Ion Luca Caragiale's sudden death, and wrote Adevărul daily an open letter, which showed that he had come to revise his stance, notably comparing the deceased author's style and legacy to those of Mark Twain.\n\nDuring Macedonski's absence, his style and work had come to be reviewed more positively, in particular by the young authors I. Dragoslav, Horia Furtună, Ion Pillat, Anastasie Mândru, Al. T. Stamatiad, as well as by post-Junimist critic Mihail Dragomirescu, who offered Macedonski a good reception in his Convorbiri Critice magazine. Tudor Vianu, who cites contemporary statements by Dragoslav, concludes that, upon arrival, Macedonski was enthusiastically received by a public who had missed him. Also in 1912, one of his poems was published as an homage by Simbolul, a magazine published by the young and radical Symbolists Tristan Tzara, Ion Vinea and Marcel Janco. Around that time, Macedonski also collaborated with the Iași-based moderate Symbolist magazine Versuri și Proză. Polemics surrounding his case nevertheless continued: in late 1912, as part of a National Theater adaptation of Alphonse Daudet's Sapho, actor Cazimir Belcot borrowed from Macedonski's appearance and mannerisms to portray a failure.\n\nReturn and World War I years\nMacedonski and his protégés had become regular frequenters of Bucharest cafés. Having a table permanently reserved for him at Imperial Hotel's Kübler Coffeehouse, he was later a presence in two other such establishments: High-Life and Terasa Oteteleșanu. He is said to have spent part of his time at Kübler loudly mocking the traditionalist poets who gathered at an opposite table. Meanwhile, the poet's literary club, set up at his house in Dorobanți quarter, had come to resemble a mystical circle, over which he held magisterial command. Vianu, who visited the poet together with Pillat, compares this atmosphere with those created by other \"mystics and magi of poetry\" (citing as examples Joséphin Péladan, Louis-Nicolas Ménard, Stéphane Mallarmé and Stefan George). The hall where seances were hosted was only lit by candles, and the tables were covered in red fabric. Macedonski himself was seated on a throne designed by Alexis, and adopted a dominant pose. The apparent secrecy and the initiation rites performed on new members were purportedly inspired by Rosicrucianism and the Freemasonry. By then, Macedonski was rewarding his followers' poems with false gemstones.\n\nThe poet founded Revista Critică (\"The Critical Review\"), which again closed after a short while, and issued the poetry volume Flori sacre (\"Sacred Flowers\"). Grouping his Forța Morală poems and older pieces, it was dedicated to his new generation of followers, whom Macedonski's preface referred to as \"the new Romania.\" He continued to hope that Le Fou? was going to be staged in France, especially after he received some encouragement in the form of articles in Mercure de France and Journal des Débats, but was confronted with the general public's indifference. In 1914, Thalassa was published in a non-definitive version by Constantin Banu's magazine Flacăra, which sought to revive overall interest in his work. At a French Red Cross conference in September, Macedonski paid his final public homage to France, which had just become entangled in World War I. It was also in 1914 that Macedonski commissioned for print his very first rondels and completed work on a tragedy play about Renaissance poet Dante Aligheri—known as La Mort de Dante in its French original, and Moartea lui Dante in the secondary Romanian version (both meaning \"Dante's Death\"). The aging poet was by then building connections with the local art scene: together with artist Alexandru Severin, he created (and probably presided over) Cenaclul idealist (\"The Idealist Club\"), which included Symbolist artists and was placed under the honorary patronage of King Carol.\n\n1916 was also the year when Romania abandoned her neutrality and, under a National Liberal government, rallied with the Entente Powers. During the neutrality period, Macedonski had shed his lifelong Francophilia to join the Germanophiles, who wanted to see Romanian participation on the Central Powers' side. In 1915, he issued the journal Cuvântul Meu (\"My Word\"). Entirely written by him, it published ten consecutive issues before going bankrupt, and notably lashed out against France for being \"bourgeois\" and \"lawyer-filled\", demanding from Romania not to get involved in the conflict. Commentators and researchers of his work have declared themselves puzzled by this change in allegiance.\n\nMacedonski further alienated public opinion during the Romanian Campaign, when the Central Powers armies entered southern Romania and occupied Bucharest. Alexis was drafted and became a war artist, but Macedonski Sr, who received formal protection from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bucharest, chose to stay behind while the authorities and many ordinary citizens relocated to Iași, where resistance was still being organized. His stance was interpreted as collaborationism by his critics. However, Macedonski reportedly faced extreme poverty throughout the occupation. Having by then begun to attend the circle of Alexandru Bogdan-Pitești, his promoter and fellow Germanophile, he was once rewarded by the latter with a turkey filled with gold coins.\n\nLate polemics, illness and death\n\nLiteratorul resumed print in June 1918, once Romania capitulated to the Central Powers under the Treaty of Bucharest. A controversial incident occurred soon afterwards, when, going against the counsel of his friend and collaborator Stamatiad, Macedonski signed a Literatorul article where the German military administrator August von Mackensen, who was about to lead his troops out of Romania, was presented in a positive light. In a manner deemed \"excessive\" by historian Lucian Boia, the Romanian writer was paying homage not just to Mackensen, but also, indirectly, to German Emperor Wilhelm II and the Reichsheer. Soon after reading the piece, Romanian Academy member and fellow Symbolist promoter Ovid Densusianu withdrew his own nomination of Macedonski for an Academy seat. During summer, Macedonski also joined the group of public figures who saluted the senior Conservative Germanophile Petre P. Carp (deeming Carp \"the veteran of character, honesty and Romanianism\"), and, in September, joined Ioan Slavici and Gala Galaction as a contributor to the occupation magazine Rumänien in Wort und Bild, where he prophesied an anti-French \"political renaissance\" of Romania.\n\nAlexandru Macedonski faced problems after the Romanian government resumed its control over Bucharest, and during the early years of Greater Romania. What followed the Mackensen article, Vianu claims, was Macedonski's bellum contra omnes (\"war against all\"). However, the poet made efforts to accommodate himself with the triumphal return of the Iași authorities: in December 1918, Literatorul celebrated the extension of Romanian rule \"from the Tisza to the Dniester\" as a success of the National Liberals, paying homage to Francophile political leaders Ion I. C. Brătianu and Take Ionescu. Macedonski also envisaged running in the 1918 election for a seat in the new Parliament (which was supposed to vote a document to replace the 1866 Constitution as the organic law), but never registered his candidature. According to Vianu, he had intended to create a joke political party, the \"intellectual group\", whose other member was an unnamed coffeehouse acquaintance of his. Literatorul was revived for a final time in 1919.\n\nHis health deteriorated from heart disease, which is described by Vianu as an effect of constant smoking. By that stage, Vianu recalls, Macedonski also had problems coming to terms with his age. His last anthumous work was the pamphlet Zaherlina (named after the Romanian version of \"Zacherlin\"; also known as Zacherlina or Zacherlina în continuare, \"Zacherlin Contd.\"), completed in 1919 and published the following year. It notably attacked Densusianu, who had become Macedonski's personal enemy. Some other polemical texts he had authored late in life saw print only after his death, under the title Mustrări postume către o generație neînțelegătoare (\"Posthumous Reprimands for an Obtuse Generation\").\n\n1920 was also the year when the People's Party cabinet attempted to pension him off from his office at the Historical Monuments Commission, but the publicized protest of Macedonski's fellow writers in Bucharest made it reconsider. Confined to his home by illness and old age, Macedonski was still writing poems, some of which later known as his Ultima verba (\"Last Words\"). The writer died on 24 November, at three o'clock in the afternoon. Having come to develop an addiction to floral fragrances, he was inhaling a rose petal extract during his last hours. He was buried in Bucharest's Bellu.\n\nWork\n\nGeneral characteristics\n\nAlthough Alexandru Macedonski frequently changed his style and views on literary matters, a number of constants have been traced throughout his work. Thus, a common perception is that his literature had a strongly visual aspect, the notion being condensed in Cincinat Pavelescu's definition of Macedonski: \"Poet, therefore painter; painter, therefore poet.\" Traian Demetrescu too recalled that his mentor had been dreaming of becoming a visual artist, and had eventually settled for turning his son Alexis into one. This pictorial approach to writing created parallels between Macedonski and his traditionalist contemporaries Vasile Alecsandri and Barbu Ștefănescu Delavrancea.\n\nFollowing the tenets of Dimitrie Bolintineanu and Théophile Gautier, the writer repeatedly called for purity in versification, and upheld it as an essential requirement, while progressively seeking to verify the quality of his poetry through phonaesthetics. A characteristic of Macedonski's style is his inventive use of Romanian. Initially influenced by Ion Heliade Rădulescu's introduction of Italian-based words to the Romanian lexis, Macedonski himself later infused poetic language with a large array of neologisms from several Romance sources. Likewise, Vianu notes, Macedonski had a tendency for comparing nature with the artificial, the result of this being a \"document\" of his values. Macedonski's language alternated neologisms with barbarisms, many of which were coined by him personally. They include claviculat (\"clavicled\", applied to a shoulder), împălăriată (\"enhatted\", used to define a crowd of hat-wearing tourists), and ureichii (instead of urechii, \"to the ear\" or \"of the ear\"). His narratives nevertheless take an interest in recording direct speech, used as a method of characterization. However, Călinescu criticizes Macedonski for using a language which, \"although grammatically correct [...], seems to have been learned only recently\", as well as for not following other Romanian writers in creating a lasting poetic style.\n\nThe writer's belief in the effects of sheer willpower, notably present in his comments on esoteric subjects, was itself a defining characteristic of his perspective on literature. In 1882, he wrote about progression in one's career: \"We are all poets at birth, but only those who shape themselves through study will become poets.\" Vianu, who notes Macedonski's \"exclusivity\" and \"fanaticism\", places such statements in connection with Macedonski's personal ambition, \"pride\" and \"the willingness to carry out ventured actions [...], in stated opposition with the entire surrounding and with contempt for the foreseeable reaction.\"\n\nAlmost all periods of Macedonski's work reflect, in whole or in part, his public persona and the polemics he was involved in. George Călinescu's emits a verdict on the relation between his lifetime notoriety and the public's actual awareness of his work: \"Macedonski [was] a poet well-known for being an unknown poet.\" According to literary critic Matei Călinescu, the innovative aspects of his impact on Romanian literature were not as much related to his \"literary ideology\", as much as to his \"contradictory spirit\" and \"essential nonconformism\". However, literary researcher Adrian Marino proposes that Macedonski was one of the first modern authors to illustrate the importance of \"dialectic unity\" through his views on art, in particular by having argued that poetry needed to be driven by \"an idea\". Having theorized once, while questioning Junimist rigor, that \"the logic of poetry is absurdity itself [italics in the original]\", the poet also said: \"Poetry is the chaos of spirit and matter, of the cries of distress and mad laughter. From the sublime to the trivial, that is what it should be.\" He later revised part of this verdict, and, making explicit his adoption of aestheticism, spoke against trivial subjects and in favor of the sublime.\n\nWhile Macedonski also discarded the concept of \"social poetry\" not long after postulating it, its spirit, Tudor Vianu believes, can still be found in his later contributions. This, the critic notes, was owed to his \"social temperament\", whose \"fundamental experience is that of the social.\" Discussing this sociable and extrovert character, other critics see in the poet's life and work the imprint of \"quixotism\". Also according to Vianu, this contrasted with Macedonski's failures in communicating with the public, an experience which made him \"misanthropic\" and contributed to his ultimate vision of death as freedom. Literary historian Pompiliu Constantinescu concluded: \"Macedonski could not resign; his one martyrdom was for Art, as the sole liberation from a tormented life.\" Other commentators have defined the poet's perspective on life as a result of \"neurosis\".\n\nIn Vianu's perspective, Macedonski's stance is dominated by a mixture of nostalgia, sensuality, lugubrious-grotesque imagery, and \"the lack of bashfulness for antisocial sentiments\" which compliments his sarcasm. In respect to the latter characteristic, Vianu notes \"no one in Romanian literature has laughed the same way as Macedonski\", whereas critic Ștefan Cazimir argues: \"[Macedonski was] lacking the sense of relativity in principles, and implicitly a sense of humor.\" Cazimir adds: \"Only when he aged did [Macedonski] learn to smile\". George Călinescu himself believes Macedonski to have been \"fundamentally a spiritual man with lots of humor\", speculating that he was able to see the \"uselessness\" of his own scientific ventures.\n\nCritics note that, while Macedonski progressed from one stage to the other, his work fluctuated between artistic accomplishment and mediocrity. Tudor Vianu believes \"failure in reaching originality\" and reliance on \"soppy-conventional attributes of the day\" to be especially evident wherever Macedonski tried to emulate epic poetry. He also notes that Macedonski's love-themed pieces \"cannot be listed among [his] most fortunate\". At his best, commentators note, he was one of the Romanian literature's classics. Macedonski is thus perceived as the author second only to Eminescu, and as his ideal counterpart—a relation Vianu describes as \"the internal dualism [confronting] two familiar gods\". Various critics have compared Eminescu's poetic discourse with that of the Symbolist leader, concluding that the two poets often display very similar attitudes. Călinescu writes that, while Macedonski's work is largely inferior to that of his Junimist rival, it forms the best \"reply\" ever conceived within their common setting.\n\nPrima verba and other early works\nWith Ion Catina, Vasile Păun and Grigore H. Grandea, young Macedonski belonged to late Romanian Romanticism, part of a Neoromantic generation which had for its mentors Heliade Rădulescu and Bolintineanu. Other early influences were Pierre-Jean de Béranger and Gottfried August Bürger, together with Romanian folklore, motifs from them being adapted by Macedonski into pastorals and ballades of ca. 1870–1880. The imprint of Romanticism and such other sources was evident in Prima verba, which groups pieces that Macedonski authored in his early youth, the earliest of them being written when he was just twelve. Critics generally argue that the volume is without value. The poems display his rebellious attitude, self-victimization and strong reliance on autobiographical elements, centering on such episodes as the death of his father. In one piece inspired by the ideology of Heliade Rădulescu, Vianu notes, Macedonski sings \"the French Revolution's love for freedom and equality, otherwise proclaimed from his nobleman's perspective.\" It reads:\n\nIn parallel, Macedonski used erotic themes, completing a series which, although written on the model of idylls, is noted for its brute details of sexual exploits. The poet probably acknowledged that posterity would reject them, and did not republish them in any of his collected poetry volumes.\n\nDuring his time at Oltul (1873–1875), Macedonski published a series of poems, most of which were not featured in definitive editions of his work. In addition to odes written in the Italian-based version of Romanian, it includes lyrics which satirize Carol I without mentioning his name. Following his arrest, Macedonski also completed Celula mea de la Văcărești (\"My Cell in Văcărești\"), which shows his attempt to joke about the situation. In contrast to this series, some of the pieces written during Macedonski's time in the Budjak and Northern Dobruja display a detachment from contemporary themes. At that stage, he was especially inspired by Lord Byron, whom Vianu calls \"the sovereign poet of [Macedonski's] youth.\" In Calul arabului, Macedonski explores exotic and Levantine settings, using symbols which announce George Coșbuc's El-Zorab, and the Venetian-themed Ithalo, which centers on episodes of betrayal and murder. Others were epic and patriotic in tone, with subjects such as Romanian victories in the Russo-Turkish War or the Imperial Roman sites along the Danube. One of these pieces, titled Hinov after the village and stone quarry in Rasova, gives Macedonski a claim to being the first modern European poet to have used free verse, ahead of the French Symbolist Gustave Kahn. Macedonski himself later voiced the claim, and referred to such a technique as \"symphonic verse\", \"proteic verse\", or, in honor of composer Richard Wagner, \"Wagnerian verse\".\n\nWhile editing Oltul, Macedonski also completed his first prose writings. These were the travel account Pompeia și Sorento (\"Pompeia and Sorento\", 1874) and a prison-themed story described by Vianu as \"a tearjerker\", titled Câinele din Văcărești (\"The Dog in Văcărești\", 1875). These were later complemented by other travel works, which critic Mihai Zamfir likens to the verbal experiments of Impressionist literature, pioneering in the Romanian prose poetry genre. The short comedy Gemenii was his debut work for the stage, but, according to Vianu, failed to show any merit other than a \"logical construction\" and a preview into Macedonski's use of sarcasm. These writings were followed in 1876 by a concise biography of Cârjaliul, an early 19th-century hajduk. In line with his first Levant-themed poems, Macedonski authored the 1877 story Așa se fac banii (\"This Is How Money Is Made\", later retold in French as Comment on devient riche et puissant, \"How to Become Rich and Powerful\"), a fable of fatalism and the Muslim world—it dealt with two brothers, one hard-working and one indolent, the latter of whom earns his money through a series of serendipitous events. Likewise, his verse comedy Iadeș! borrowed its theme from the widely circulated collection of Persian literature known as Sindipa. The setting was however modern, and, as noted by French-born critic Frédéric Damé, the plot also borrowed much from Émile Augier's Gabrielle and from other morality plays of the period. Part of the text was an ironic treatment of youth in liberal professions, an attitude which Macedonski fitted in his emerging anti-bourgeois discourse.\n\nWith the first poems in his Nights cycle, Macedonski still showed his allegiance to Romanticism, and in particular to Alphonse de Lamartine, and the supposed inventor of this theme, Alfred de Musset. Noaptea de noiembrie opens with a violent condemnation of his adversaries, and sees Macedonski depicting his own funeral. The poem is commended by Călinescu, who notes that, in contrast to the \"apparently trivial beginning\", the main part, where Macedonski depicts himself in flight over the Danube, brings the Romanian writer close to the accomplishments of Dante Aligheri. The writer himself claimed that the piece evidenced \"the uttermost breath of inspiration I have ever felt in my life.\" Another poem, Noaptea de aprilie (\"April Night\"), was probably his testimony of unrequited love for Aristizza Romanescu.\n\nRealism and Naturalism\nBy the 1880s, Macedonski developed and applied his \"social poetry\" theory, as branch of Realism. Explained by the writer himself as a reaction against the legacy of Lamartine, it also signified his brief affiliation with the Naturalist current, a radical segment of the Realist movement. Traian Demetrescu thus noted that Macedonski cherished the works of French Naturalists and Realists such as Gustave Flaubert and Émile Zola. During this phase, Macedonski made known his sympathy for the disinherited, from girls forced into prostitution to convicts sentenced to penal labor on salt mines, and also spoke out against the conventionalism of civil marriages. His Ocnele (\"The Salt Mines\") includes the verdict:\n\nNaturalist depiction was also the main element in his prose pieces of the early 1880s. Among them was the first of several sketch stories using still life techniques, Casa cu nr. 10 (according to Zamfir, a prime sample of Macedonski's \"ornamental\" genre). With Între cotețe, Dramă banală and later Cometa lui Odorescu (\"Odorescu's Comet\"), Macedonski speaks about his own biography. The former has for a protagonist Pandele Vergea, a thirty-five-year-old man who is consumed by an avicultural obsession, who dreams of turning into a bird, and who is eventually maimed by his overcrowded fowls. In contrast, Dereanu is a bohemian university student, possessed by dreams of military and political glory, and who meditates about his future in front of Heliade Rădulescu's statue or in Bucharest cafés. Also a bohemian, Odorescu announces his discovery of a comet, before being proved wrong by his aunt, an ordinary woman. Some pieces also double as memoirs: in Dramă banală, the plot revolves around Macedonski's recollection of the 1866 plebiscite. Vianu draws attention to the picturesque depiction of historic Bucharest, a contributing element in Cometa..., Casa cu nr. 10 and Între cotețe.\n\nWith Unchiașul Sărăcie (also written in verse), Macedonski took Naturalist tenets into the field of drama. Frédéric Damé believed it an imitation of a play by Ernest d'Hervilly and Alfred Grévin, but, Vianu argues, the Romanian text was only loosely based on theirs: in Macedonski's adaptation, the theme became fairy tale-like, and used a speech style based on Romanian folklore. Around the time of its completion, Macedonski was also working on a similarly loose adaptation of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, which notably had the two protagonists die in each other's arms. Another such play is 3 decemvrie (\"December 3\"), which partly retells Friedrich Ludwig Zacharias Werner's Der 24 Februar using Naturalist devices. By contrast, the homage-play Cuza-Vodă is mainly a Romantic piece, where Alexander John Cuza finds his political mission validated by legendary figures in Romanian history.\n\nIn parallel, Macedonski was using poetry to carry out his polemics. In an 1884 epigram, he reacted against Alecsandri's Fântâna Blanduziei, but, in Vianu's definition, \"his regular causticity seems to be restrained.\" The piece he had earlier written, presumably against Eminescu, scandalized the public by mocking the rival's mental ruin:\n\nAccording to Tudor Vianu, Macedonski was mostly motivated by his disappointment in Junimea, and in particular by Eminescu's response to his public persona. Vianu contends that, although Macedonski \"never was familiar with the resigned and patient attitudes\", he was \"by no means an evil man.\" On one occasion, the poet defended himself against criticism, noting that the epigram had not been specifically addressed to Eminescu, but had been labeled as such by the press, and claiming to have authored it years before its Literatorul edition. However, the later piece Viața de apoi (\"The Afterlife\") still displays resentments he harbored toward Eminescu.\n\nBy 1880–1884, particularly after the Eminescu scandal, Macedonski envisaged prioritizing French as his language of expression. According to Vianu, Macedonski had traversed \"the lowest point\" of his existence, and had been subject to \"one of the most delicate mysteries of poetic creation.\" Among his pieces of the period is the French-language sonnet Pârle, il me dit alors (\"Speak, He Then Said to Me\"), where, Vianu notes, \"one discovers the state of mind of a poet who decides to expatriate himself.\"\n\nAdoption of Symbolism\n\nAccording to Mihai Zamfir, at the end of his transition from the \"mimetic and egocentric\" verse to Symbolist poetry, Macedonski emerged a \"remarkable, often extraordinary\" author. In the early 20th century, fellow poet and critic N. Davidescu described Macedonski, Ion Minulescu and other Symbolists from Wallachia as distinct from their Moldavian counterparts in both style and themes. Endorsing the theory and practice of Symbolism for much of his life, Macedonski retrospectively claimed to have been one of its first exponents. His version of Symbolism, critic Paul Cernat notes, clashed with that advocated by many of his contemporaries in that it rejected merit to the Decadent movement, and represented the \"decorative\" aestheticist trend of Paranassian spirit within the Romanian Symbolist current.\n\nWithin Poezia viitorului, Macedonski invoked as his models to follow some important or secondary Symbolist and Parnassian figures: Charles Baudelaire, Joséphin Péladan, Maurice Maeterlinck, Stéphane Mallarmé and Jean Moréas. In his review of Bronzes for Mercure de France, Pierre Quillard remarked the \"irreproachable\" technique, but criticized the poet for being too indebted to both Baudelaire and Leconte de Lisle; other Symbolist figures whom Macedonski is known to have borrowed from are José María de Heredia and Iwan Gilkin. While undergoing this transition, to what linguist Manuela-Delia Suciu argues is a mostly Parnassian phase, Macedonski was still referencing Naturalism, and considered it compatible with Symbolism.\n\nWith the adoption of such tenets came a succession of Symbolist poems, where the focus is on minutely-observed objects, usually items of luxury, partly reflecting themes he had explored in the Naturalist stage. Commenting on them, Tudor Vianu argues that no such works had ever been produced in Romanian literature up until that moment. In his Ospățul lui Pentaur (\"The Feast of Pentaur\"), the poet reflected on civilization itself, as reflected in inanimate opulence. The motif was also developed in descriptive prose fragments later grouped in Cartea de aur, collectively titled nuvele fără oameni (\"novellas without people\") and compared by Călinescu with the paintings of Theodor Aman.\n\nAlso during that stage, Macedonski was exploring the numerous links between Symbolism, mysticism and esotericism. Earlier pieces had already come to explore macabre themes characteristic for an early branch of Symbolism. Influenced by Maurice Rollinat, they include the somber Vaporul morții (\"The Ship of Death\") and Visul fatal (\"The Fatal Dream\"). Likewise, the piece titled Imnul lui Satan (\"Satan's Hymn\") was placed by critics in connection with Les Litanies de Satan (part of Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du mal), but, Vianu argues, the source of Macedonski's satanic themes may have been lodged in his own vision of the world. This interest also reflected in his 1893 Saul, where Cincinat Pavelescu's contribution is supposedly minimal. Echoing satanic themes, Ernest Legouvé's dramatic version of the Medea myth (which Macedonski translated at some point in his life) and the classical work of Jean Racine, it shows the dark powers of political conflict intervening between the eponymous king and his ephebos-like protégé David, the latter of whom turns out to be the agent of spiritual revolution.\n\n (\"August Night\"), outlines a monistic belief probably inspired by Rosicrucianism, stressing the unity between soul and matter and depicting Macedonski's own journey into a transcendental space. Following the examples of Baudelaire's Les paradis artificiels, but also echoing his readings from Paul Verlaine and Théophile Gautier, Macedonski left poems dealing with narcotics and substance abuse, at least some of which reflected his personal experience with nicotine and possibly other unnamed drugs. Also at that stage, Macedonski also began publishing the \"instrumentalist\" series of his Symbolist poems. This form of experimental poem was influenced by the theories of René Ghil and verified through his encounter with Remy de Gourmont's views. In parallel, it reaffirmed Macedonski's personal view that music and the spoken word were intimately related (a perspective notably attested by his 1906 interview with Jules Combarieu). Romanian critic Petre Răileanu theorized that such elements evidenced Macedonski's transition to \"metaliterature\". On a different level, they echoed an older influence, that of Gottfried August Bürger.\n\nExcelsior\nDespite having stated his interest in innovation, Macedonski generally displayed a more conventional style in his Excelsior volume. It included Noaptea de mai, which Vianu sees as \"one of the [vernacular's] most beautiful poems\" and as evidence of \"a clear joy, without any torment whatsoever\". A celebration of spring partly evoking folkloric themes, it was made famous by the recurring refrain, Veniți: privighetoarea cântă și liliacul e-nflorit (\"Come along: the nightingale is singing and the lilac is in blossom\"). Like Noaptea de mai, Lewki (named after and dedicated to the Snake Island), depicts intense joy, completed in this case by what Vianu calls \"the restorative touch of nature.\" The series also returned to Levant settings and Islamic imagery, particularly in Acșam dovalar (named after the Turkish version of Witr). Also noted within the volume is his short \"Modern Psalms\" series, including the piece Iertare (\"Forgiveness\"), which is addressed to God:\n\nExcelsior also included Noaptea de ianuarie (\"January Night\"), which encapsulates one of his best-known political statements. Anghelescu reads it as a \"meditation on disillusionment that culminates in a vitality-laden exhortation of action.\" Its anti-bourgeois attitude, literary historian Z. Ornea argues, was one of the meeting points between Macedonski and Junimism. In what is seen as its most acid section, the text notably reads:\n\nAt the same time as being engaged in his most violent polemics, Macedonski produced meditative and serene poems, which were later judged to be among his best. Noaptea de decemvrie is the synthesis of his main themes and influences, rated by commentators as his \"masterpiece\". Partly based on an earlier poem (Meka, named after the Arab city), it tells the story of an emir, who, left unsatisfied by the shallow and opulent life he leads in Baghdad, decides to leave on pilgrimage. While critics agree that it is to be read as an allegory of Macedonski's biography, the ironic text does not make it clear whether the emir actually reaches his target, nor if the central metaphor of Mecca as a mirage means that the goal is not worth sacrificing for. While Mircea Anghelescu comments that Macedonski illustrates \"unusual tension\" by rigorously amplifying references to the color red, seen as a symbol of suffering, Călinescu notes that the sequence of lyrics has a studied \"delirious\" element, and illustrates this with the quote:\n\nLate prose works\nIn prose, his focus shifted back to the purely descriptive, or led Alexandru Macedonski into the realm of fantasy literature. These stories, most of which were eventually collected in Cartea de aur, include memoirs of his childhood in the Amaradia region, nostalgic portrayals of the Oltenian boyar environment, idealized depictions of Cuza's reign, as well as a retrospective view on the end of Rom slavery (found in his piece Verigă țiganul, \"Verigă the Gypsy\"). The best known among them is Pe drum de poștă, a third-person narrative and thinly disguised memoir, where the characters are an adolescent Alexandru Macedonski and his father, General Macedonski. The idyllic outlook present in such stories is one of the common meeting points between his version of Symbolism and traditionalist authors such as Barbu Ștefănescu Delavrancea. Vianu indicates the connection, but adds: \"Macedonski descended, through memory, in the world of the village, with the tremor of regret for the peace and plenty of the old settlements, so well polished that each person, landowner as well as peasant, lived within a framework that nature itself seemed to have granted. [...] in depicting rural environments, Macedonski presents the point of view of a conservative.\"\n\nThalassa, Le Calvaire de feu, a fantasy novel and extended prose poem, was celebrated by Macedonski's disciple Oreste Georgescu as \"the new religion of humanity\". The volume carried the mocking dedication \"To France, this Chaldea\" (thought by Vianu to reference Péladan's views on the decay of civilization). It has affinities with writings by the Italian Decadent author Gabriele d'Annunzio, as well as echoes from Anatole France. The hero Thalassa, a Greek boy, works as a lighthouse-keeper on Snake Island, fantasizing about the golden age of mankind. His fate is changed by a shipwreck, during which a girl, Caliope, reaches the island's shore. Thalassa and Caliope fall in love, but are mysteriously unable to seal their union through sexual intercourse: the boy attributes this failure to the \"curse\" of human individuality. Seeking to achieve a perfect union with his lover, he eventually kills her and drowns himself in the Black Sea.\n\nIn her review for Mercure de France, novelist Rachilde argued: \"Very difficult to read, entirely developed in Symbolist manner [and] almost impossible to recount, obviously written in French but nevertheless obviously conceived by a Romanian (and what a spirited Romanian!).\" Rachilde believed the work to display \"the fragrance of Oriental spices [...] rose marmalade and a slice of bear meat.\" According to Vianu, the book builds on Macedonski's earlier themes, replacing Naturalist observation with a metaphysical speculation about idealism. One other aspect of Macedonski's stylistic exploration took him to attempt recording synesthesia. His manuscript is written in ink of several colors, which, he believed, was to help readers get a full sense of its meaning. Like other synesthetic aspects of his novel, this is believed to have been inspired by the techniques of Baudelaire and Arthur Rimbaud.\n\nThalassa, Le Calvaire de feu is noted for its numerous cultural references, and especially for using a wide range of metaphors. Such aspects have been reviewed negatively by modern critics. Tudor Vianu writes: \"the poet makes such waste of gemstones that we feel like saying some of them must be false\", while Călinescu, who notes that some fragments reveal \"an incomparable artist\" and \"a professional metaphorist\", notes that \"in the end, such virtuosities become a bore.\" According to Manuela-Delia Suciu, Thalassa is \"prolix\" and \"too polished\", traits believed by Zamfir to be less irritating in the Romanian version. Critic Cornel Moraru found that, in the background, Thalassa, a \"great Symbolist novel\", confronts Ancient Greek and Christian mythology, but \"abuses\" the religious vocabulary. Another part of the novel's imagery is erotic, and includes an elaborate and aestheticized description of male genitalia.\n\nThe four-act tragicomedy Le Fou? is seen by Vianu as comparable in subject matter and depth to Enrico IV, a celebrated 1922 play by Luigi Pirandello. The plot reflects Macedonski's confrontation with his critics, and his acceptance of the fact that people saw in him an eccentric. The central figure is a banker, Dorval, who identifies himself with Napoleon Bonaparte to the point where he sees episodes in his biography as mirrors of early 19th-century battles. Unlike patients with dissociative identity disorder, Dorval does not actually imagine his life has become Napoleon's, but rather joins with him on an intellectual level. Witnesses of this disorder are divided into family, who seek to have Dorval committed, and close friends, who come to see his take on life as a manifestation of genius. The spectator is led to believe that the latter interpretation is the correct one. At a larger level, Vianu indicates, the play is also Macedonski's critique of capitalism, and, using Parisian argot, makes allusive references to famous people of the day.\n\nParticularly during the 1890s, Macedonski was a follower of Edgar Allan Poe and of Gothic fiction in general, producing a Romanian version of Poe's Metzengerstein story, urging his own disciples to translate other such pieces, and adopting \"Gothic\" themes in his original prose. Indebted to Jules Verne and H. G. Wells, Macedonski also wrote a number of science fiction stories, including the 1913 Oceania-Pacific-Dreadnought, which depicts civilization on the verge of a crisis. The gigantic commercial ship is maintained by a banker's union, and designed to grant travelers access to every pleasure imaginable; this causes the working-class inhabited cities on the continent to fall into a state of neglect and permanent violence, the climax of the story occurring with the bankers' decision to destroy their creation. Oceania-Pacific-Dreadnought is noted for anticipating television, the ship being equipped with electrically-operated \"large and clear mirrors\" that display \"images from various parts of the Earth\". Macedonski was by then interested in the development of cinema, and authored a silent film screenplay based on Comment on devient riche et puissant.\n\nFinal transition\n\nLate in his life, Macedonski had come to reject Symbolist tenets, defining them as \"imbecilities\" designed for \"the uncultured\". Ultima verba, the very last poems to be written by him, show him coming to terms with himself, and are treasured for their serene or intensely joyous vision of life and human accomplishment. The rondels written at this stage, known collectively as Poema rondelurilor, are one of the first instances where the technique is used locally. Like those written previously by Literatoruls Pavelescu and Alexandru Obedenaru, they are based on an earlier motif present in Macedonski's work, that of recurring refrains. Many of the pieces document the poet's final discoveries. One of them is Rondelul crinilor (\"The Rondel of the Lilies\"), which proclaims fragrances as the source of beatitude: În crini e beția cea rară, \"In lilies one finds that exceptional drunkenness\". According to Ștefan Cazimir, Rondelul orașului mic (\"The Rondel of the Small Town\") shows a \"likable wave of irony and self-irony\", and the poet himself coming to terms with \"the existence of a world who ignores him.\" Proof of his combativeness was still to be found in Rondelul contimporanilor (\"The Rondel of the Contemporaries\").\n\nThe poet's take on life is also outlined in his final play, Moartea lui Dante. Călinescu writes that, by then, Macedonski was \"obsessed\" with the Divine Comedy. Macedonski identifies with his hero, Dante Aligheri, and formulates his own poetic testament while identifying World War I Romania with the medieval Republic of Florence. Tudor Vianu remarks: \"In Dante's great self-pride, Macedonski found his own.\" He sees the play as the best such work to have been produced by Macedonski, whereas Călinescu deems it \"puerile\". Zamfir believes Moartea... to be a significant text in Macedonski's bibliography, \"one of the first samples of Romanian Symbolist theater\", and as such indebted mainly to Maeterlinck. Vianu argues that the play may document the Romanian writer's late rejection of France, through the protagonist's statement: \"the French are a gentle people, but their soul is different from mine.\"\n\nA number of rondels show Macedonski's late fascination with the Far East, China and Japan. George Călinescu believes that this is to be understood as one item in a large antithesis, the other being Decadent Paris, which one rondel describes as \"hell\". The Orient, viewed as the space of serenity, is believed by Macedonski to be peopled by toy-like women and absent opium-smokers, and to be kept orderly by a stable meritocracy. The Chinese-themed poem Tsing-Ly-Tsi, which Cazimir notes for its discreet, \"almost imperceptible\", humor, reads:\n\nLegacy\n\nMacedonski's school and its early impact\n\nAlexandru Macedonski repeatedly expressed the thought that, unlike his contemporaries, posterity would judge him a great poet. With the exception of Mihail Dragomirescu, conservative literary critics tended to ignore Macedonski while he was alive. The first such figure was Junimeas Titu Maiorescu, who believed him to be a minor author, referring to him only a couple of times in his books and usually ridiculing him in his articles. One of these texts, the 1886 essay Poeți și critici (\"Poets and Critics\"), spoke of Macedonski as having \"vitiated\" poetry, a notion he also applied to Constantin D. Aricescu and Aron Densușianu. Especially radical pronouncements were left by the traditionalist authors Ilarie Chendi and Nicolae Iorga. Chendi wrote of Macedonski being \"the caricature of a man\", having \"a feverish mind\" and being motivated by \"the brutal instinct of revenge\". Iorga, who became better known as a historian, later retracted some of the statements he had made against the poet during the 1890s. Among the younger prominent traditionalist writers was the Transylvanian-born Lucian Blaga, who may have purposefully avoided Macedonski during his first visit to Bucharest in 1920. Although more sympathetic to the Symbolist author, both Dragomirescu and Gheorghe Adamescu tended to describe him as exclusively the product of French and Decadent literature, while Dragomirescu's disciple Ion Trivale denied all merit to Macedonski's literature.\n\nAccording to Tudor Vianu, Macedonski's intellectual friends (among them Anghel Demetriescu, George Ionescu-Gion, Bonifaciu Florescu, Grigore Tocilescu and V. A. Urechia) were largely responsible for passing down \"a better and truer image of the abused poet.\" It was also due to Dragomirescu that Noaptea de decemvrie was included in a literature textbook for final grade high school students, which some argue is the poet's first-ever presence in the Romanian curriculum. According to historian Lucian Nastasă, the poet's wife Ana Rallet behaved like an \"excellent secretary\" while Macedonski was still alive, and thereafter helped sort and edit his manuscript while maintaining \"an actual cult\" for her husband.\n\nMacedonski's cosmopolitan circle was the center of a literary alternative to the prevailing conservatism and Eminescu-like traditionalism of the day, the latter tendency being grouped around Sămănătorul magazine for part of Macedonski's lifetime. While Macedonski himself maintained his links with Romanticism and Classicism, commentators have retrospectively recognized in him the main person who announced Romania's first wave in modernist literature. Many first-generation disciples were to part with his guidelines early on, either by radicalizing their Symbolism or by stepping out of its confines. Traian Demetrescu was one of the first to do so, focusing on his commitment to socialism—Vianu notes that the split took place \"without coldness and the heart's versatility\" on Macedonski's part. Literary researcher Lidia Bote argues that it was Petică who first illustrated mature Symbolism, emancipating himself from Macedonski's eclectic tendencies after 1902. By that time, the Symbolist authors Dimitrie Anghel and N. D. Cocea used Macedonski's fantasy prose as an inspiration for their own, and N. Davidescu was borrowing from his mystical discourse. The pictorial and joyous elements in Macedonski's poems were also serving to inspire Stamatiad, Eugeniu Ștefănescu-Est and Horia Furtună. In the early stages of his career, Ion Pillat wrote pieces which echo his master's choice of exotic themes. A more discreet legacy of Macedonski's ideas was also preserved inside the conservative and traditionalist camps. Although his separation from Literatorul was drastic, and led him to rally with Junimea, Duiliu Zamfirescu built on some elements borrowed from the magazine's ideology, incorporating them into his literary vision.\n\nMany of Macedonski's most devoted disciples, whom he himself had encouraged, have been rated by various critics as secondary or mediocre. This is the case of Theodor Cornel (who made his name as an art critic), Mircea Demetriade, Oreste Georgescu, Alexandru Obedenaru, Stoenescu, Stamatiad, Carol Scrob, Dumitru Karnabatt and Donar Munteanu. Another such minor author was the self-styled \"hermeticist\" Alexandru Petroff, who expanded on Macedonski's ideas about esoteric knowledge.\n\nMacedonski's eldest son Alexis continued to pursue a career as a painter. His son Soare followed in his footsteps, receiving acclaim from art critics of the period. Soare's short career ended in 1928, before he turned nineteen, but his works have been featured in several retrospective exhibitions, including one organized by Alexis. Alexis later experimented with scenic design as an assistant to French filmmaker René Clair; his later life, shrouded in mystery and intrigue, led him to a career in Fascist Italy and Francoist Spain. Another of Alexandru Macedonski's sons, Nikita, was also a poet and painter. For a while in the 1920s, he edited the literary supplement of Universul newspaper. Two years after her father's death, Anna Macedonski married poet Mihail Celarianu.\n\nIn addition to his polemical portrayals in works by Alecsandri, Eminescu and Caragiale, Macedonski's career was an inspiration for various authors. His image acquired mythical proportions for his followers. Like Demetrescu, many of them left memoirs on Macedonski which were published before or after his death. His admirers were writing poetry about him as early as 1874, and, in 1892, Cincinat Pavelescu published a rhapsodizing portrait of Macedonski as \"the Artist\". Pavelescu, Dragoslav and Petică paid homage to the writer by leaving recollections which describe him as a devoted and considerate friend. In contrast, traditionalist poet Alexandru Vlahuță authored an 1889 sketch story in which Macedonski (referred to as Polidor) is the object of derision.\n\nLate recognition\nActual recognition of the poet as a classic came only in the interwar period. A final volume of never before published poems, Poema rondelurilor, saw print in 1927. Macedonski's work was analyzed and popularized by a new generation of critics, among them Vianu and George Călinescu. The post-Junimist modernist critic Eugen Lovinescu also commented favorably on Macedonski's work, but overall, Călinescu asserts, his opinions on the subject gave little insight into what he actually thought about the poet. He also recounts that Macedonski himself treated Lovinescu with disdain, and once called him \"a canary\".\n\nThe emerging avant-garde, although originating from Symbolism, progressively took its distance from Literatoruls legacy. Initially, Macedonski's contribution to experimental literature was continued within formal Symbolism by his disciples Demetriade, Iuliu Cezar Săvescu and Ion Minulescu. The latter was particularly indebted to Macedonski in matters of vision and language. In 1904, Tudor Arghezi also left behind the Literatorul circle and its tenets, eventually arriving to the fusion of modernist, traditionalist and avant-garde elements. However, he remained indebted to Macedonski's example in his descriptive prose. The 1912 Simbolul magazine, which moved between conventional Symbolism and the emerging avant-garde, also published an Imagist-inspired parody of Noaptea de mai, signed by Adrian Maniu. A co-founder of Dadaism during the late 1910s, Tristan Tzara is believed by Swedish researcher Tom Sandqvist to have been inspired more or less directly by Macedonski, and in particular by the latter's thoughts on the relation between absurdity and poetry. In his debut poems, Benjamin Fondane-Barbu Fundoianu occasionally followed Macedonski, but, by 1920, stated that the Symbolist doyen merely imitated French models to the point of \"parasitism\".\n\nSeveral avant-garde authors returned to Macedonski's literary guidelines by the late 1920s, as they themselves grew more moderate. This was the case of Maniu and Ion Vinea, both of whom published prose works in the line of Thalassa. The same work is also believed to have influenced two non-avant-garde authors, Davidescu and Mateiu Caragiale, who remained close to the tenets Symbolism. Mateiu was the illegitimate son of Ion Luca Caragiale, but, Vianu notes, could withstand comparisons with his father's rival: the eccentricities were complementary, although Mateiu Caragiale shied away from public affairs. In the same post-Symbolist generation, Celarianu (Macedonski's posthumous son-in-law), George Bacovia and Păstorel Teodoreanu also built on Macedonski's legacy, being later joined in this by the Bessarabian linguist Eugenio Coșeriu (who, in his early poetic career, imitated Macedonski's rondel style). In the late 1920s, when their form of modern psalms inspired Albanian-Romanian poet Aleksander Stavre Drenova, Macedonski and Arghezi both made an indirect impact on Albanian literature.\n\nMacedonski's status as one of Romanian literature's greats was consolidated later in the 20th century. By this time, Noaptea de decemvrie had become one of the most recognizable literary works to be taught in Romanian schools. During the first years of Communist Romania, the Socialist Realist current condemned Symbolism (see Censorship in Communist Romania), but spoke favorably of Macedonski's critique of the bourgeoisie. A while after this episode, Marin Sorescu, one of the best-known modernist poets of his generation, wrote a homage-parody of the Nights cycle. Included in the volume Singur între poeți (\"Alone among Poets\"), it is seen by critic Mircea Scarlat as Sorescu's most representative such pieces. Also then, Noaptea de decemvrie partly inspired Ștefan Augustin Doinaș' ballad Mistrețul cu colți de argint.\n\nIn the 1990s, Ștefan Agopian took the Nights cycle as inspiration for an erotic short story, while Pavel Șușară adapted his rondels to a modernized setting. Macedonski's prose also influenced younger writers such as Angelo Mitchievici and Anca Maria Mosora. In neighboring Moldova, Macedonski influenced the Neosymbolism of Aureliu Busuioc. A magazine by the name of Literatorul, which claims to represent the legacy of Macedonski's publication, was founded in Romania in 1991, being edited by writers Sorescu, Fănuș Neagu and Mircea Micu. In 2006, the Romanian Academy granted posthumous membership to Alexandru Macedonski.\n\nMacedonski's poems had a sizable impact on Romania's popular culture. During communism, Noaptea de mai was the basis for a successful musical adaptation, composed by Marian Nistor and sung by Mirabela Dauer. Tudor Gheorghe, a singer-songwriter inspired by American folk revival, also used some of Macedonski's texts as lyrics to his melodies. In the 2000s, the refrain of Noaptea de mai was mixed into a manea parody by Adrian Copilul Minune.\n\nPortrayals, visual tributes and landmarks\n\nAlthough his poetic theories were largely without echoes in Romanian art, Macedonski captured the interest of several modern artists, including, early on, cartoonist Nicolae Petrescu Găină. Alongside other writers who visited Terasa Oteteleșanu, Macedonski was notably portrayed the drawings of celebrated Romanian artist Iosif Iser. He is also depicted in a 1918 lithograph by Jean Alexandru Steriadi, purportedly Steriadi's only Symbolist work. Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu inspired a series of reliefs, designed by Alexis Macedonski and hosted in his father's house in Dorobanți. During the 1910s, busts of him were completed by two sculptors, Alexandru Severin and Friedrich Storck, one of Storck's variants being hosted by the Ioan Cantacuzino collection. In 1919, Theodor Burcă was also inspired to complete another bust, and, during World War II, was commissioned by Mayor of Bucharest Ioan Rășcanu to build a Macedonski Monument in the Grădina Icoanei park, but this was never completed. Constantin Piliuță, a painter active in the second half of the 20th century, made Macedonski the subject of a portrait in series dedicated to Romanian cultural figures (also depicted were Nicolae Iorga, Ștefan Luchian and Vianu). In 1975, a bust of Macedonski, the work of Constantin Foamete, was unveiled in Craiova.\n\nOf Macedonski's numerous residences, the one in Dorobanți was demolished when the Academy of Economic Studies (ASE) was expanded. A commemorative plaque was later put up near the spot. Macedonski's childhood home in Goiești passed into state property under communism, and was in turn a school, a community home and a Macedonski Museum, before falling into neglect after the Romanian Revolution of 1989. Several streets named in honor of Alexandru Macedonski, notably in Bucharest (by the ASE), Craiova, Cluj-Napoca and Timișoara.\n\nWorks published anthumously\nPrima verba (poetry, 1872)\nIthalo (poem, 1878)\nPoezii (poetry, 1881/1882)\nParizina (translation of Parisina, 1882)\nIadeș! (comedy, 1882)\nDramă banală (short story, 1887)\nSaul (with Cincinat Pavelescu; tragedy, 1893)\nExcelsior (poetry, 1895)\nBronzes (poetry, 1897)\n (essay, 1898)\nCartea de aur (prose, 1902)\nThalassa, Le Calvaire de feu (novel, 1906; 1914)\nFlori sacre (poetry, 1912)\nZaherlina (essay, 1920)\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\nMircea Anghelescu, chronological table, preface and critical references, in Macedonski, Poemele \"Nopților\", Editura Albatros, Bucharest, 1972, p. 7-31, 137–140. \nNicolae Balotă, Arte poetice ale secolului XX: ipostaze românești și străine, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1976. \nLucian Boia, \"Germanofilii\". Elita intelectuală românească în anii Primului Război Mondial, Humanitas, Bucharest, 2010. \nGeorge Călinescu, Istoria literaturii române de la origini pînă în prezent, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1986\nPaul Cernat, Avangarda românească și complexul periferiei: primul val, Cartea Românească, Bucharest, 2007. \nȘerban Cioculescu, Caragialiana, Editura Eminescu, Bucharest, 1974. \nPéter Krasztev,\n\"From a Deadlocked Present into an Imagined Past\", in the Central European University's East Central Europe = L'Europe du Centre-Est, Vol. 26, Nr. 2/1999, p. 33-52\n\"From Modernization to Modernist Literature\", in Marcel Cornis-Pope, John Neubauer (eds.), History of the Literary Cultures of East-Central Europe, Vol. 3, John Benjamins, Amsterdam & Philadelphia, 2004, p. 332-348. \n Lucian Nastasă, Intelectualii și promovarea socială (pentru o morfologie a câmpului universitar), Editura Nereamia Napocae, Cluj-Napoca, 2003; e-book version at the Romanian Academy's George Bariț Institute of History\nZ. Ornea, Junimea și junimismul, Vol. II, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1998. \nPerpessicius, Studii eminesciene, Museum of Romanian Literature, Bucharest, 2001. \nPetre Răileanu, Michel Carassou, Fundoianu/Fondane et l'avant-garde, Fondation Culturelle Roumaine, Éditions Paris-Méditerranée, Bucharest & Paris, 1999. \nTom Sandqvist, Dada East. The Romanians of Cabaret Voltaire, MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts & London, 2006. \n Manuela-Delia Suciu, \"La poésie roumaine au XIXe siècle. Alexandru Macedonski entre romantisme et symbolisme\", in Revue d'Études Françaises, Nr. 8/2003, p. 101-110 (republished by the Centre Interuniversitaire d’Études Françaises/Egyetemközi Francia Központ)\nTudor Vianu, Scriitori români, Vol. I-III, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1970–1971. \n Mariana Vida, \"La société Tinerimea artistică de Bucarest et le symbolisme tardif entre 1902-1910\", in Revue Roumaine d'Histoire de l'Art. Série Beaux-arts, Vol. XLIV, 2007, p. 55-66\n\nExternal links\n\nAmidst Hen Houses (excerpts), Poésies, Thalassa (excerpt), in the Romanian Cultural Institute's Plural Magazine (various issues)\n Alexandru Macedonski, Museum of Romanian Literature profile\n\n \n1854 births\n1920 deaths\n19th-century Romanian poets\n20th-century Romanian poets\nRomanian male poets\nRomantic poets\nNeoclassical writers\nSymbolist poets\nSonneteers\nRomanian fabulists\nRomanian epigrammatists\n19th-century Romanian dramatists and playwrights\n20th-century Romanian dramatists and playwrights\nMale dramatists and playwrights\n19th-century Romanian novelists\n20th-century Romanian novelists\nRomanian male novelists\nRomanian writers in French\n19th-century short story writers\n20th-century short story writers\nRomanian male short story writers\nRomanian short story writers\nRealism (art movement)\nSymbolist novelists\nRomanian fantasy writers\nRomanian science fiction writers\nRomanian humorists\nRomanian erotica writers\n19th-century essayists\n20th-century essayists\nRomanian essayists\n20th-century biographers\nRomanian biographers\nMale biographers\nRomanian memoirists\nRomanian travel writers\nRomanian literary critics\nRomanian screenwriters\nMale screenwriters\nRomanian columnists\nRomanian magazine editors\nRomanian magazine founders\nRomanian newspaper editors\nRomanian newspaper founders\n19th-century translators\n20th-century translators\nRomanian translators\nEnglish–Romanian translators\nFrench–Romanian translators\nGreek–Romanian translators\nWriters from Bucharest\nRomanian nobility\nMembers of the Romanian Orthodox Church\nCarol I National College alumni\nNational Liberal Party (Romania) politicians\nRepublicanism in the Kingdom of Romania\nRomanian civil servants\nPrefects of Romania\nRomanian inventors\nRomanian esotericists\nRomanian expatriates in France\nRomanian people of World War I\nBurials at Bellu Cemetery\nMembers of the Romanian Academy elected posthumously\n20th-century screenwriters"},"extractive":{"kind":"string","value":"true"},"retrieved_contexts":{"kind":"list like","value":["\"What She's Doing Now\" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music singer Garth Brooks. It was released in December 1991 as the third single from his album Ropin' the Wind. It spent four weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart. It was co-written by Pat Alger.\n\nContent\nThe song is a ballad about a man who wonders what his former lover is currently doing and what her whereabouts are (\"last I heard she had moved to Boulder\"). While the singer has no idea what she is doing now, he proclaims \"what she's doing now is tearing [him] apart\".\n\nBackground and production\nBrooks provided the following background information on the song in the CD booklet liner notes from The Hits:\n\n\"What She's Doing Now\" was an idea I had a long, long time about a man wondering what a woman was doing. And it was very simple. What is she doing now? Is she hanging out the clothes? Is she running a business? Is she a mother? Is she married? Who is she with? When I told the idea to Pat Alger, he looked at me with a smile and said, 'I wonder if she knows what she's doing now to me?' When I heard that, the bumps went over my arms and the back of my neck, and I knew that he had something. Crystal Gayle cut this song back in 1989. It came back to us for the Ropin' The Wind album. It is a song that has crossed all boundaries and borders around the world. This has made me extremely happy because the greatest gift a writer can ask for is to relate to someone. I can't help but think that this song might relate to a lot of people.\"\n\nOther versions\nWhile Garth Brooks penned the song, he was not the first person to release it. On the 1990 release Ain't Gonna Worry'', Crystal Gayle recorded the song as \"What He's Doing Now\"; her version was not released as a single.\n\nTrack listing\nEuropean CD single\nLiberty CDCL 656\n\"What She's Doing Now\"\n\"Shameless\"\n\"We Bury The Hatchet\"\nUS 7\" Jukebox single\nLiberty S7-57784\n\"What She's Doing Now\"\n\"Friends in Low Places\"\n\nChart positions\n\nYear-end charts\n\nReferences\n\n1991 singles\nCrystal Gayle songs\nGarth Brooks songs\nSongs written by Pat Alger\nSongs written by Garth Brooks\nSong recordings produced by Allen Reynolds\nLiberty Records singles\n1991 songs","\"I Love What Love Is Doing to Me\" is a song written by Johnny Cunningham. It was recorded by American country music artist Lynn Anderson and released as a single in 1977 via Columbia Records, becoming a top 40 hit that year.\n\nBackground and release\n\"I Love What Love Is Doing to Me\" was recorded in April 1977 at the Columbia Studio, located in Nashville, Tennessee. The sessions was produced by Glenn Sutton, Anderson's longtime production collaborator at the label and her first husband. It was co-produced by Steve Gibson, making the session Anderson's first experience under the co-production of Gibson. Nine additional tracks were recorded at this particular session, including the major hit \"He Ain't You.\"\n\n\"I Love What Love Is Doing to Me\" was released as a single in May 1977 via Columbia Records. The song spent ten weeks on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart before reaching number 22 in July 1977. The song was issued on Anderson's 1977 studio album I Love What Love Is Doing to Me/He Ain't You.\n\nTrack listings \n7\" vinyl single\n \"I Love What Love Is Doing to Me\" – 2:10\n \"Will I Ever Hear Those Churchbells Ring?\" – 3:32\n\nChart performance\n\nReferences\n\n1977 singles\n1977 songs\nColumbia Records singles\nLynn Anderson songs\nSong recordings produced by Glenn Sutton"],"string":"[\n \"\\\"What She's Doing Now\\\" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music singer Garth Brooks. It was released in December 1991 as the third single from his album Ropin' the Wind. It spent four weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart. It was co-written by Pat Alger.\\n\\nContent\\nThe song is a ballad about a man who wonders what his former lover is currently doing and what her whereabouts are (\\\"last I heard she had moved to Boulder\\\"). While the singer has no idea what she is doing now, he proclaims \\\"what she's doing now is tearing [him] apart\\\".\\n\\nBackground and production\\nBrooks provided the following background information on the song in the CD booklet liner notes from The Hits:\\n\\n\\\"What She's Doing Now\\\" was an idea I had a long, long time about a man wondering what a woman was doing. And it was very simple. What is she doing now? Is she hanging out the clothes? Is she running a business? Is she a mother? Is she married? Who is she with? When I told the idea to Pat Alger, he looked at me with a smile and said, 'I wonder if she knows what she's doing now to me?' When I heard that, the bumps went over my arms and the back of my neck, and I knew that he had something. Crystal Gayle cut this song back in 1989. It came back to us for the Ropin' The Wind album. It is a song that has crossed all boundaries and borders around the world. This has made me extremely happy because the greatest gift a writer can ask for is to relate to someone. I can't help but think that this song might relate to a lot of people.\\\"\\n\\nOther versions\\nWhile Garth Brooks penned the song, he was not the first person to release it. On the 1990 release Ain't Gonna Worry'', Crystal Gayle recorded the song as \\\"What He's Doing Now\\\"; her version was not released as a single.\\n\\nTrack listing\\nEuropean CD single\\nLiberty CDCL 656\\n\\\"What She's Doing Now\\\"\\n\\\"Shameless\\\"\\n\\\"We Bury The Hatchet\\\"\\nUS 7\\\" Jukebox single\\nLiberty S7-57784\\n\\\"What She's Doing Now\\\"\\n\\\"Friends in Low Places\\\"\\n\\nChart positions\\n\\nYear-end charts\\n\\nReferences\\n\\n1991 singles\\nCrystal Gayle songs\\nGarth Brooks songs\\nSongs written by Pat Alger\\nSongs written by Garth Brooks\\nSong recordings produced by Allen Reynolds\\nLiberty Records singles\\n1991 songs\",\n \"\\\"I Love What Love Is Doing to Me\\\" is a song written by Johnny Cunningham. It was recorded by American country music artist Lynn Anderson and released as a single in 1977 via Columbia Records, becoming a top 40 hit that year.\\n\\nBackground and release\\n\\\"I Love What Love Is Doing to Me\\\" was recorded in April 1977 at the Columbia Studio, located in Nashville, Tennessee. The sessions was produced by Glenn Sutton, Anderson's longtime production collaborator at the label and her first husband. It was co-produced by Steve Gibson, making the session Anderson's first experience under the co-production of Gibson. Nine additional tracks were recorded at this particular session, including the major hit \\\"He Ain't You.\\\"\\n\\n\\\"I Love What Love Is Doing to Me\\\" was released as a single in May 1977 via Columbia Records. The song spent ten weeks on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart before reaching number 22 in July 1977. The song was issued on Anderson's 1977 studio album I Love What Love Is Doing to Me/He Ain't You.\\n\\nTrack listings \\n7\\\" vinyl single\\n \\\"I Love What Love Is Doing to Me\\\" – 2:10\\n \\\"Will I Ever Hear Those Churchbells Ring?\\\" – 3:32\\n\\nChart performance\\n\\nReferences\\n\\n1977 singles\\n1977 songs\\nColumbia Records singles\\nLynn Anderson songs\\nSong recordings produced by Glenn Sutton\"\n]"},"chunked_article":{"kind":"list like","value":["Alexandru Macedonski (; also rendered as Al. A. Macedonski, Macedonschi or Macedonsky; 14 March 1854 – 24 November 1920) was a Romanian poet, novelist, dramatist and literary critic, known especially for having promoted French Symbolism in his native country, and for leading the Romanian Symbolist movement during its early decades. A forerunner of local modernist literature, he is the first local author to have used free verse, and claimed by some to have been the first in modern European literature.","A forerunner of local modernist literature, he is the first local author to have used free verse, and claimed by some to have been the first in modern European literature. Within the framework of Romanian literature, Macedonski is seen by critics as second only to national poet Mihai Eminescu; as leader of a cosmopolitan and aestheticist trend formed around his Literatorul journal, he was diametrically opposed to the inward-looking traditionalism of Eminescu and his school.","Within the framework of Romanian literature, Macedonski is seen by critics as second only to national poet Mihai Eminescu; as leader of a cosmopolitan and aestheticist trend formed around his Literatorul journal, he was diametrically opposed to the inward-looking traditionalism of Eminescu and his school. Debuting as a Neoromantic in the Wallachian tradition, Macedonski went through the Realist-Naturalist stage deemed \"social poetry\", while progressively adapting his style to Symbolism and Parnassianism, and repeatedly but unsuccessfully attempting to impose himself in the Francophone world.","Debuting as a Neoromantic in the Wallachian tradition, Macedonski went through the Realist-Naturalist stage deemed \"social poetry\", while progressively adapting his style to Symbolism and Parnassianism, and repeatedly but unsuccessfully attempting to impose himself in the Francophone world. Despite having theorized \"instrumentalism\", which reacted against the traditional guidelines of poetry, he maintained a lifelong connection with Neoclassicism and its ideal of purity.","Despite having theorized \"instrumentalism\", which reacted against the traditional guidelines of poetry, he maintained a lifelong connection with Neoclassicism and its ideal of purity. Macedonski's quest for excellence found its foremost expression in his recurring motif of life as a pilgrimage to Mecca, notably used in his critically acclaimed Nights cycle. The stylistic stages of his career are reflected in the collections Prima verba, Poezii, and Excelsior, as well as in the fantasy novel Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu.","The stylistic stages of his career are reflected in the collections Prima verba, Poezii, and Excelsior, as well as in the fantasy novel Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu. In old age, he became the author of rondels, noted for their detached and serene vision of life, in contrast with his earlier combativeness. In parallel to his literary career, Macedonski was a civil servant, notably serving as prefect in the Budjak and Northern Dobruja during the late 1870s.","In parallel to his literary career, Macedonski was a civil servant, notably serving as prefect in the Budjak and Northern Dobruja during the late 1870s. As journalist and militant, his allegiance fluctuated between the liberal current and conservatism, becoming involved in polemics and controversies of the day. Of the long series of publications he founded, Literatorul was the most influential, notably hosting his early conflicts with the Junimea literary society.","Of the long series of publications he founded, Literatorul was the most influential, notably hosting his early conflicts with the Junimea literary society. These targeted Vasile Alecsandri and especially Eminescu, their context and tone becoming the cause of a major rift between Macedonski and his public. This situation repeated itself in later years, when Macedonski and his Forța Morală magazine began campaigning against the Junimist dramatist Ion Luca Caragiale, whom they falsely accused of plagiarism.","This situation repeated itself in later years, when Macedonski and his Forța Morală magazine began campaigning against the Junimist dramatist Ion Luca Caragiale, whom they falsely accused of plagiarism. During World War I, the poet aggravated his critics by supporting the Central Powers against Romania's alliance with the Entente side. His biography was also marked by an enduring interest in esotericism, numerous attempts to become recognized as an inventor, and an enthusiasm for cycling.","His biography was also marked by an enduring interest in esotericism, numerous attempts to become recognized as an inventor, and an enthusiasm for cycling. The scion of a political and aristocratic family, the poet was the son of General Alexandru Macedonski, who served as Defense Minister, and the grandson of 1821 rebel Dimitrie Macedonski. Both his son Alexis and grandson Soare were known painters. Biography Early life and family The poet's paternal family had arrived in Wallachia during the early 19th century.","Biography Early life and family The poet's paternal family had arrived in Wallachia during the early 19th century. Of South Slav (Serb or Bulgarian) or Aromanian origin, they claimed to have descended from Serb insurgents in Ottoman-ruled Macedonia.","Of South Slav (Serb or Bulgarian) or Aromanian origin, they claimed to have descended from Serb insurgents in Ottoman-ruled Macedonia. Alexandru's grandfather Dimitrie and Dimitrie's brother Pavel participated in the 1821 uprising against the Phanariote administration, and in alliance with the Filiki Eteria; Dimitrie made the object of controversy when, during the final stage of the revolt, he sided with the Eteria in its confrontation with Wallachian leader Tudor Vladimirescu, taking an active part in the latter's killing.","Alexandru's grandfather Dimitrie and Dimitrie's brother Pavel participated in the 1821 uprising against the Phanariote administration, and in alliance with the Filiki Eteria; Dimitrie made the object of controversy when, during the final stage of the revolt, he sided with the Eteria in its confrontation with Wallachian leader Tudor Vladimirescu, taking an active part in the latter's killing. Both Macedonski brothers had careers in the Wallachian military forces, at a time when the country was governed by Imperial Russian envoys, when the Regulamentul Organic regime recognized the family as belonging to Wallachia's nobility.","Both Macedonski brothers had careers in the Wallachian military forces, at a time when the country was governed by Imperial Russian envoys, when the Regulamentul Organic regime recognized the family as belonging to Wallachia's nobility. Dimitrie married Zoe, the daughter an ethnic Russian or Polish officer; their son, the Russian-educated Alexandru, climbed in the military and political hierarchy, joining the unified Land Forces after his political ally, Alexander John Cuza, was elected Domnitor and the two Danubian Principalities became united Romania.","Dimitrie married Zoe, the daughter an ethnic Russian or Polish officer; their son, the Russian-educated Alexandru, climbed in the military and political hierarchy, joining the unified Land Forces after his political ally, Alexander John Cuza, was elected Domnitor and the two Danubian Principalities became united Romania. Both the officer's uncle Pavel and brother Mihail were amateur poets. Macedonski's mother, Maria Fisența (also Vicenț or Vicența), was from an aristocratic environment, being the scion of Oltenian boyars.","Macedonski's mother, Maria Fisența (also Vicenț or Vicența), was from an aristocratic environment, being the scion of Oltenian boyars. Through her father, she may have descended from Russian immigrants who had been absorbed into Oltenia's nobility. Maria had been adopted by the boyar Dumitrache Pârâianu, and the couple had inherited the Adâncata and Pometești estates in Goiești, on the Amaradia Valley.","Maria had been adopted by the boyar Dumitrache Pârâianu, and the couple had inherited the Adâncata and Pometești estates in Goiești, on the Amaradia Valley. Both the poet and his father were dissatisfied with accounts of their lineage, contradicting them with an account that researchers have come to consider spurious. Although adherents of the Romanian Orthodox Church, the Macedonskis traced their origin to Rogala-bearing Lithuanian nobility from the defunct Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.","Although adherents of the Romanian Orthodox Church, the Macedonskis traced their origin to Rogala-bearing Lithuanian nobility from the defunct Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. While the writer perpetuated his father's claim, it is possible that he also took pride in investigating his Balkan roots: according to literary historian Tudor Vianu, who, as a youth, was a member of his circle, this tendency is attested by two of Macedonski's poems from the 1880s, where the South Slavs appear as icons of freedom.","While the writer perpetuated his father's claim, it is possible that he also took pride in investigating his Balkan roots: according to literary historian Tudor Vianu, who, as a youth, was a member of his circle, this tendency is attested by two of Macedonski's poems from the 1880s, where the South Slavs appear as icons of freedom. Vianu's contemporary, literary historian George Călinescu, postulated that, although the family had been absorbed into the ethnic and cultural majority, the poet's origin served to enrich local culture by linking it to a \"Thracian\" tradition and the spirit of \"adventurers\".","Vianu's contemporary, literary historian George Călinescu, postulated that, although the family had been absorbed into the ethnic and cultural majority, the poet's origin served to enrich local culture by linking it to a \"Thracian\" tradition and the spirit of \"adventurers\". The family moved often, following General Macedonski's postings. Born in Bucharest, Macedonski-son was the third of four siblings, the oldest of whom was a daughter, Caterina.","Born in Bucharest, Macedonski-son was the third of four siblings, the oldest of whom was a daughter, Caterina. Before the age of six, he was a sickly and nervous child, who is reported to have had regular tantrums. In 1862, his father sent him to school in Oltenia, and he spent most time in the Amaradia region. The nostalgia he felt for the landscape later made him consider writing an Amărăzene (\"Amaradians\") cycle, of which only one poem was ever completed.","The nostalgia he felt for the landscape later made him consider writing an Amărăzene (\"Amaradians\") cycle, of which only one poem was ever completed. He was attending the Carol I High School in Craiova and, according to his official record, graduated in 1867.","He was attending the Carol I High School in Craiova and, according to his official record, graduated in 1867. Macedonski's father had by then become known as an authoritarian commander, and, during his time in Târgu Ocna, faced a mutiny which only his wife could stop by pleading with the soldiers (an episode which made an impression on the future poet). A stern parent, he took an active part in educating his children.","A stern parent, he took an active part in educating his children. Having briefly served as Defense Minister, the general was mysteriously dismissed by Cuza in 1863, and his pension became the topic of a political scandal. It ended only under the rule of Carol I, Cuza's Hohenzollern successor, when Parliament voted against increasing the sum to the level demanded by its recipient.","It ended only under the rule of Carol I, Cuza's Hohenzollern successor, when Parliament voted against increasing the sum to the level demanded by its recipient. Having preserved a negative impression of the 1866 plebiscite, during which Cuza's dethronement had been confirmed, Macedonski remained a committed opponent of the new ruler. As a youth and adult, he sought to revive his father's cause, and included allusions to the perceived injustice in at least one poem.","As a youth and adult, he sought to revive his father's cause, and included allusions to the perceived injustice in at least one poem. After spending the last months of his life protesting against the authorities, Macedonski-father fell ill and died in September 1869, leaving his family to speculate that he had been murdered by political rivals.","After spending the last months of his life protesting against the authorities, Macedonski-father fell ill and died in September 1869, leaving his family to speculate that he had been murdered by political rivals. Debut years Macedonski left Romania in 1870, traveling through Austria-Hungary and spending time in Vienna, before visiting Switzerland and possibly other countries; according to one account, it was here that he may have first met (and disliked) his rival poet Mihai Eminescu, at a time a Viennese student.","Debut years Macedonski left Romania in 1870, traveling through Austria-Hungary and spending time in Vienna, before visiting Switzerland and possibly other countries; according to one account, it was here that he may have first met (and disliked) his rival poet Mihai Eminescu, at a time a Viennese student. Macedonski's visit was meant to be preparation for entering the University of Bucharest, but he spent much of his time in the bohemian environment, seeking entertainment and engaging in romantic escapades.","Macedonski's visit was meant to be preparation for entering the University of Bucharest, but he spent much of his time in the bohemian environment, seeking entertainment and engaging in romantic escapades. He was however opposed to the lifestyle choices of people his age, claiming that they were engaged in \"orgy after orgy\". At around that date, the young author had begun to perfect a style heavily influenced by Romanticism, and in particular by his Wallachian predecessors Dimitrie Bolintineanu and Ion Heliade Rădulescu.","At around that date, the young author had begun to perfect a style heavily influenced by Romanticism, and in particular by his Wallachian predecessors Dimitrie Bolintineanu and Ion Heliade Rădulescu. He was for a while in Styria, at Bad Gleichenberg, a stay which, George Călinescu believes, may have been the result of a medical recommendation to help him counter excessive nervousness. The landscape there inspired him to write an ode. Also in 1870, he published his first lyrics in George Bariț's Transylvanian-based journal Telegraful Român.","Also in 1870, he published his first lyrics in George Bariț's Transylvanian-based journal Telegraful Român. The following year, he left for Italy, where he visited Pisa, Florence, Venice, and possibly other cities. His records of the journey indicate that he was faced with financial difficulties and plagued by disease. Macedonski also claimed to have attended college lectures in these cities, and to have spent significant time studying at Pisa University, but this remains uncertain.","Macedonski also claimed to have attended college lectures in these cities, and to have spent significant time studying at Pisa University, but this remains uncertain. He eventually returned to Bucharest, where he entered the Faculty of Letters (which he never attended regularly). According to Călinescu, Macedonski \"did not feel the need\" to attend classes, because \"such a young man will expect society to render upon him its homages.\"","According to Călinescu, Macedonski \"did not feel the need\" to attend classes, because \"such a young man will expect society to render upon him its homages.\" He was again in Italy during spring 1872, soon after publishing his debut volume Prima verba (Latin for \"First Word\"). Having also written an anti-Carol piece, published in Telegraful Român during 1873, Macedonski reportedly feared political reprisals, and decided to make another visit to Styria and Italy while his case was being assessed.","Having also written an anti-Carol piece, published in Telegraful Român during 1873, Macedonski reportedly feared political reprisals, and decided to make another visit to Styria and Italy while his case was being assessed. It was in Italy that he met French musicologist Jules Combarieu, with whom he corresponded sporadically over the following decades. During that period, Macedonski became interested in the political scene and political journalism, first as a sympathizer of the liberal-radical current—which, in 1875, organized itself around the National Liberal Party.","During that period, Macedonski became interested in the political scene and political journalism, first as a sympathizer of the liberal-radical current—which, in 1875, organized itself around the National Liberal Party. In 1874, back in Craiova, Macedonski founded a short-lived literary society known as Junimea, a title which purposefully or unwittingly copied that of the influential conservative association with whom he would later quarrel.","In 1874, back in Craiova, Macedonski founded a short-lived literary society known as Junimea, a title which purposefully or unwittingly copied that of the influential conservative association with whom he would later quarrel. It was then that he met journalist and pedagogue Ștefan Velescu, a meeting witnessed by Velescu's pupil, the future liberal journalist Constantin Bacalbașa, who recorded it in his memoirs.","It was then that he met journalist and pedagogue Ștefan Velescu, a meeting witnessed by Velescu's pupil, the future liberal journalist Constantin Bacalbașa, who recorded it in his memoirs. Oltul magazine, which he had helped establish and which displayed a liberal agenda, continued to be published until July 1875, and featured Macedonski's translations from Pierre-Jean de Béranger, Hector de Charlieu and Alphonse de Lamartine, as well as his debut in travel writing and short story.","Oltul magazine, which he had helped establish and which displayed a liberal agenda, continued to be published until July 1875, and featured Macedonski's translations from Pierre-Jean de Béranger, Hector de Charlieu and Alphonse de Lamartine, as well as his debut in travel writing and short story. At age 22, he worked on his first play, a comedy titled Gemenii (\"The Twins\").","At age 22, he worked on his first play, a comedy titled Gemenii (\"The Twins\"). In 1874 that he came to the attention of young journalist future dramatist Ion Luca Caragiale, who satirized him in articles for the magazine Ghimpele, ridiculing his claim to Lithuanian descent, and eventually turning him into the character Aamsky, whose fictional career ends with his death from exhaustion caused by contributing to \"for the country's political development\".","In 1874 that he came to the attention of young journalist future dramatist Ion Luca Caragiale, who satirized him in articles for the magazine Ghimpele, ridiculing his claim to Lithuanian descent, and eventually turning him into the character Aamsky, whose fictional career ends with his death from exhaustion caused by contributing to \"for the country's political development\". This was the first episode in a consuming polemic between the two figures.","This was the first episode in a consuming polemic between the two figures. Reflecting back on this period in 1892, Macedonski described Caragiale as a \"noisy young man\" of \"sophistic reasoning\", whose target audience was to be found in \"beer gardens\". 1875 trial and office as prefect In March 1875, Macedonski was arrested on charges of defamation or sedition. For almost a year before, he and Oltul had taken an active part in the campaign against Conservative Party and its leader, Premier Lascăr Catargiu.","For almost a year before, he and Oltul had taken an active part in the campaign against Conservative Party and its leader, Premier Lascăr Catargiu. In this context, he had demanded that the common man \"rise up with weapons in their hands and break both the government agents and the government\", following up with similar messages aimed at the Domnitor. He was taken to Bucharest's Văcărești prison and confined there for almost three months.","He was taken to Bucharest's Văcărești prison and confined there for almost three months. Supported by the liberal press and defended by the most prestigious pro-liberal attorneys (Nicolae Fleva among them), Macedonski faced a jury trial on 7 June, being eventually cleared of the charges. Reportedly, the Bucharest populace organized a spontaneous celebration of the verdict. In 1875, after the National Liberal Ion Emanuel Florescu was assigned the post of Premier by Carol, Macedonski embarked on an administrative career.","In 1875, after the National Liberal Ion Emanuel Florescu was assigned the post of Premier by Carol, Macedonski embarked on an administrative career. The poet was upset by not being included on the National Liberal list for the 1875 suffrage. This disenchantment led him into a brief conflict with the young liberal figure Bonifaciu Florescu, only to join him soon afterward in editing Stindardul journal, alongside Pantazi Ghica and George Fălcoianu. The publication followed the line of Nicolae Moret Blaremberg, made notorious for his radical and republican agenda.","The publication followed the line of Nicolae Moret Blaremberg, made notorious for his radical and republican agenda. Ghica and Macedonski remained close friends until Ghica's 1882 death. The new cabinet eventually appointed him Prefect of Bolgrad region, in the Budjak (at the time part of Romania). In parallel, he published his first translation, a version of Parisina, an 1816 epic poem by Lord Byron, and completed the original works Ithalo and Calul arabului (\"The Arab's Horse\").","In parallel, he published his first translation, a version of Parisina, an 1816 epic poem by Lord Byron, and completed the original works Ithalo and Calul arabului (\"The Arab's Horse\"). He also spoke at the Romanian Atheneum, presenting his views on the state of Romanian literature (1878). His time in office ended upon the outbreak of the Russo-Turkish War.","His time in office ended upon the outbreak of the Russo-Turkish War. At the time, Russian volunteers were amassed on the Budjak border, requesting from the Romanian authorities the right of free passage into the Principality of Serbia. The National Liberal Premier Ion Brătianu, who was negotiating an anti-Ottoman alliance, sent Macedonski signals to let them pass, but the prefect, obeying the official recommendation of Internal Affairs Minister George D. Vernescu, decided against it, and was consequently stripped of his office.","The National Liberal Premier Ion Brătianu, who was negotiating an anti-Ottoman alliance, sent Macedonski signals to let them pass, but the prefect, obeying the official recommendation of Internal Affairs Minister George D. Vernescu, decided against it, and was consequently stripped of his office. Still determined to pursue a career in the press, Macedonski founded a string of unsuccessful magazines with patriotic content and titles such as Vestea (\"The Announcement\"), Dunărea (\"The Danube\"), Fulgerul (\"The Lightning\") and, after 1880, Tarara (an onomatopoeia equivalent to \"Toodoodoo\").","Still determined to pursue a career in the press, Macedonski founded a string of unsuccessful magazines with patriotic content and titles such as Vestea (\"The Announcement\"), Dunărea (\"The Danube\"), Fulgerul (\"The Lightning\") and, after 1880, Tarara (an onomatopoeia equivalent to \"Toodoodoo\"). Their history is connected with that of the Russo-Turkish War, at the end of which Romanian participation on the Russian side resulted in her independence.","Their history is connected with that of the Russo-Turkish War, at the end of which Romanian participation on the Russian side resulted in her independence. Macedonski remained committed to the anti-Ottoman cause, and, some thirty years later, stated: \"We want no Turkey in Europe!\" By 1879, the poet, who continued to voice criticism of Carol, had several times switched sides between the National Liberals and the opposition Conservatives.","By 1879, the poet, who continued to voice criticism of Carol, had several times switched sides between the National Liberals and the opposition Conservatives. That year, while the Budjak was ceded to Russia and Northern Dobruja was integrated into Romania, the Brătianu cabinet appointed him administrator of the Sulina plasă and the Danube Delta.","That year, while the Budjak was ceded to Russia and Northern Dobruja was integrated into Romania, the Brătianu cabinet appointed him administrator of the Sulina plasă and the Danube Delta. He had previously refused to be made comptroller in Putna County, believing such an appointment to be beneath his capacity, and had lost a National Liberal appointment in Silistra when Southern Dobruja was granted to the Principality of Bulgaria.","He had previously refused to be made comptroller in Putna County, believing such an appointment to be beneath his capacity, and had lost a National Liberal appointment in Silistra when Southern Dobruja was granted to the Principality of Bulgaria. During this short interval in office, he traveled to the Snake Island in the Black Sea—his appreciation for the place later motivated him to write the fantasy novel Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu and the poem Lewki. Early Literatorul years With the 1880s came a turning point in Alexandru Macedonski's career.","Early Literatorul years With the 1880s came a turning point in Alexandru Macedonski's career. Vianu notes that changes took place in the poet's relationship with his public: \"Society recognizes in him the nonconformist. [...] The man becomes singular; people start talking about his oddities.\" Macedonski's presumed frustration at being perceived in this way, Vianu notes, may have led him closer to the idea of poète maudit, theorized earlier by Paul Verlaine.","Macedonski's presumed frustration at being perceived in this way, Vianu notes, may have led him closer to the idea of poète maudit, theorized earlier by Paul Verlaine. In this context, he had set his sight on promoting \"social poetry\", the merger between lyricism and political militantism. Meanwhile, according to Călinescu, his attacks on the liberals and the \"daft insults he aimed at [Romania's] throne\" had effectively ruined his own chance of political advancement.","Meanwhile, according to Călinescu, his attacks on the liberals and the \"daft insults he aimed at [Romania's] throne\" had effectively ruined his own chance of political advancement. In January 1880, he launched his most influential and long-lived publication, Literatorul, which was also the focal point of his eclectic cultural circle, and, in later years, of the local Symbolist school. In its first version, the magazine was co-edited by Macedonski, Bonifaciu Florescu and poet Th. M. Stoenescu.","M. Stoenescu. M. Stoenescu. Florescu parted with the group soon after, due to a disagreement with Macedonski, and was later attacked by the latter for allegedly accumulating academic posts. Literatorul aimed to irritate Junimist sensibilities from its first issue, when it stated its dislike for \"political prejudice in literature.\" This was most likely an allusion to the views of Junimist figure Titu Maiorescu, being later accompanied by explicit attacks on him and his followers.","This was most likely an allusion to the views of Junimist figure Titu Maiorescu, being later accompanied by explicit attacks on him and his followers. An early success for the new journal was the warm reception it received from Vasile Alecsandri, a Romantic poet and occasional Junimist whom Macedonski idolized at the time, and the collaboration of popular memoirist Gheorghe Sion. Another such figure was the intellectual V. A. Urechia, whom Macedonski made president of the Literatorul Society.","Another such figure was the intellectual V. A. Urechia, whom Macedonski made president of the Literatorul Society. In 1881, Education Minister Urechia granted Macedonski the Bene-Merenti medal 1st class, although, Călinescu stresses, the poet had only totaled 18 months of public service. At around that time, Macedonski had allegedly begun courting actress Aristizza Romanescu, who rejected his advances, leaving him unenthusiastic about love matters and unwilling to seek female company.","At around that time, Macedonski had allegedly begun courting actress Aristizza Romanescu, who rejected his advances, leaving him unenthusiastic about love matters and unwilling to seek female company. In parallel, Macedonski used the magazine to publicize his disagreement with the main Junimist voice, Convorbiri Literare. Among the group of contributors, several had already been victims of Maiorescu's irony: Sion, Urechia, Pantazi Ghica and Petru Grădișteanu.","Among the group of contributors, several had already been victims of Maiorescu's irony: Sion, Urechia, Pantazi Ghica and Petru Grădișteanu. While welcoming the debut of its contributor, Parnassian-Neoclassicist novelist and poet Duiliu Zamfirescu, Macedonski repeatedly attacked its main exponent, the conservative poet Eminescu, claiming not to understand his poetry. However, Literatorul was also open to contributions from some Convorbiri Literare affiliates (Zamfirescu, Matilda Cugler-Poni and Veronica Micle). In November 1880, Macedonski's plays Iadeș! (\"Wishbone!","In November 1880, Macedonski's plays Iadeș! (\"Wishbone! (\"Wishbone! \", a comedy first printed in 1882) and Unchiașul Sărăcie (\"Old Man Poverty\") premiered at the National Theater Bucharest. A sign of government approval, this was followed by Macedonski's appointment to a minor administrative office, as Historical Monuments Inspector. Nevertheless, both plays failed to impose themselves on public perception, and were withdrawn from the program by 1888.","Nevertheless, both plays failed to impose themselves on public perception, and were withdrawn from the program by 1888. Călinescu asserts that, although Macedonski later claimed to have always been facing poverty, his job in the administration, coupled with other sources of revenue, ensured him a comfortable existence. In 1881, Macedonski published a new collection of poetry. Titled Poezii, it carries the year \"1882\" on its original cover. Again moving away from liberalism, Macedonski sought to make himself accepted by Junimea and Maiorescu.","Again moving away from liberalism, Macedonski sought to make himself accepted by Junimea and Maiorescu. He consequently attended the Junimea sessions, and gave a public reading of Noaptea de noiembrie (\"November Night\"), the first publicized piece in his lifelong Nights cycle. It reportedly earned him the praise of historian and poet Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu, who, although an anti-Junimist, happened to be in the audience.","It reportedly earned him the praise of historian and poet Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu, who, although an anti-Junimist, happened to be in the audience. Despite rumors according to which he had applauded Macedonski, Maiorescu himself was not impressed, and left an unenthusiastic account of the event in his private diary. Against Alecsandri and Eminescu Macedonski's open conflict with Junimea began in 1882, when he engaged in a publicized polemic with Alecsandri.","Against Alecsandri and Eminescu Macedonski's open conflict with Junimea began in 1882, when he engaged in a publicized polemic with Alecsandri. It was ignited when, through Macedonski's articles, Literatorul criticized Alecsandri for accepting Romanian Academy prizes despite being its member, and later involved Sion (whose replies on behalf of the Academy were derided by Macedonski). Macedonski also took distance from Alecsandri's style, publishing a \"critical analysis\" of his poetry in one issue of Literatorul.","Macedonski also took distance from Alecsandri's style, publishing a \"critical analysis\" of his poetry in one issue of Literatorul. In turn, Alecsandri humiliated his young rival by portraying him as Zoilus, the prototype of slanderers, and himself as the model poet Horace in the 1883 play Fântâna Blanduziei. The two were eventually reconciled, and Macedonski again spoke of Alecsandri as his ideological and stylistic predecessor.","The two were eventually reconciled, and Macedonski again spoke of Alecsandri as his ideological and stylistic predecessor. In April 1882, Eminescu had also replied to Macedonski in Timpul journal, referring to an unnamed poet who \"barely finishes high-school, comes over to Bucharest selling nick-nacks and makeup [and goes into] literary dealership\".","In April 1882, Eminescu had also replied to Macedonski in Timpul journal, referring to an unnamed poet who \"barely finishes high-school, comes over to Bucharest selling nick-nacks and makeup [and goes into] literary dealership\". Reproaching Macedonski's attacks on Alecsandri, Eminescu makes a nationalist comment about the young poet bearing \"the bastard instincts of those foreigners who were Romanianized only yesterday\", and attributes him \"the physiognomy of a hairdresser\". Through the articles of Petru Th.","Through the articles of Petru Th. Through the articles of Petru Th. Missir, Convorbiri Literare gave Poezii a negative review, deemed \"malevolent\" by literary historian Mircea Anghelescu. At the other end of the political and cultural spectrum, Macedonski faced opposition from the intellectuals attracted to socialism, in particular Contemporanul editors Constantin Mille and Ioan Nădejde, with whom he was engaged in an extended polemic.","At the other end of the political and cultural spectrum, Macedonski faced opposition from the intellectuals attracted to socialism, in particular Contemporanul editors Constantin Mille and Ioan Nădejde, with whom he was engaged in an extended polemic. In the meantime, Macedonski published his own play, which had Cuza for its main character and was eponymously titled Cuza-Vodă, and completed translations for Literatorul—from Maurice Rollinat, whom he helped impose as a main cultural reference in Romanian Symbolism, and from the Greek poet Akhillefs Paraskhos.","In the meantime, Macedonski published his own play, which had Cuza for its main character and was eponymously titled Cuza-Vodă, and completed translations for Literatorul—from Maurice Rollinat, whom he helped impose as a main cultural reference in Romanian Symbolism, and from the Greek poet Akhillefs Paraskhos. In 1883, he also contributed his first sketch story, Casa cu nr. 10 (\"The House at Number 10\"). In early 1883, he married Ana Rallet-Slătineanu.","In early 1883, he married Ana Rallet-Slătineanu. In early 1883, he married Ana Rallet-Slătineanu. Wealthy and supposedly related to Romanian aristocrats, she would bear him five children in all: the painter Alexis was the eldest, followed by Nikita; the three youngest were two sons (Panel and Constantin Macedonski) and a daughter, Anna (also known as Nina). His heterosexual lifestyle notwithstanding, Macedonski remained a self-avowed admirer of male beauties, and was rumored to be a closeted homosexual.","His heterosexual lifestyle notwithstanding, Macedonski remained a self-avowed admirer of male beauties, and was rumored to be a closeted homosexual. In July 1883, Macedonski undertook one of his most controversial anti-Junimist actions. That month, Literatorul published an epigram signed with the pseudonym Duna, deriding an unnamed author who had lost his mind. Mihai Eminescu—whom many had already come to see as Romania's national poet—had by then developed a mental disorder which had become known to the general public.","Mihai Eminescu—whom many had already come to see as Romania's national poet—had by then developed a mental disorder which had become known to the general public. Ever since that moment, Macedonski has generally been believed to be Duna, and as a result, was faced with much criticism from both readers and commentators. The intense anti-Literatorul press campaign was initiated in August, when writer Grigore Ventura issued an article condemning Macedonski's attitude (published in the Bucharest-based newspaper L'Indépendance Roumaine), with Macedonski responding in the National Liberal organ Românul.","The intense anti-Literatorul press campaign was initiated in August, when writer Grigore Ventura issued an article condemning Macedonski's attitude (published in the Bucharest-based newspaper L'Indépendance Roumaine), with Macedonski responding in the National Liberal organ Românul. During one evening, Macedonski is reported to have been assaulted by anonymous supporters of Eminescu. His previous conflict with Nădejde was also affected by this renewed controversy: while opposed to Junimist policies, the socialists at Contemporanul voiced their admiration for Eminescu's art.","His previous conflict with Nădejde was also affected by this renewed controversy: while opposed to Junimist policies, the socialists at Contemporanul voiced their admiration for Eminescu's art. Late in 1883, Macedonski and his friends unveiled Ion Georgescu's statue of their mentor Bolintineanu in the National Theater lobby. The circumstances in which this took place rose suspicion of foul play; on this grounds, Macedonski was ridiculed by his former friend Zamfirescu in the journal România Liberă, which left him embittered.","The circumstances in which this took place rose suspicion of foul play; on this grounds, Macedonski was ridiculed by his former friend Zamfirescu in the journal România Liberă, which left him embittered. Călinescu proposes that, although such negative reactions were invoked by Macedonski's supporters as a sign of their mentor having been marginalized, Macedonski had expressed his dissatisfaction with the cultural environment long before that moment, and was still a respected figure even after the incidents took place.","Călinescu proposes that, although such negative reactions were invoked by Macedonski's supporters as a sign of their mentor having been marginalized, Macedonski had expressed his dissatisfaction with the cultural environment long before that moment, and was still a respected figure even after the incidents took place. First Paris sojourn and Poezia viitorului Having been stripped of his administrative office by the new Brătianu cabinet, Macedonski faced financial difficulties, and was forced to move into a house on the outskirts of Bucharest, and later moved between houses in northern Bucharest.","First Paris sojourn and Poezia viitorului Having been stripped of his administrative office by the new Brătianu cabinet, Macedonski faced financial difficulties, and was forced to move into a house on the outskirts of Bucharest, and later moved between houses in northern Bucharest. According to Călinescu, the poet continued to cultivate luxury and passionately invested in the decorative arts, although his source of income, other than the supposed assistance \"of [European] ruling houses\", remains a mystery.","According to Călinescu, the poet continued to cultivate luxury and passionately invested in the decorative arts, although his source of income, other than the supposed assistance \"of [European] ruling houses\", remains a mystery. Arguing that Macedonski was \"always in need of money\" to use on his luxury items, poet Victor Eftimiu claimed: \"He did not shy away from sending emphatic notes to the potentates of his day [...], flattering some, threatening others.","Arguing that Macedonski was \"always in need of money\" to use on his luxury items, poet Victor Eftimiu claimed: \"He did not shy away from sending emphatic notes to the potentates of his day [...], flattering some, threatening others. He would marry off or simply mate some of his disciples with aging and rich women, and then he would squeeze out their assets.\" Macedonski eventually left Romania in 1884, visiting Paris.","Macedonski eventually left Romania in 1884, visiting Paris. Macedonski eventually left Romania in 1884, visiting Paris. On his way there, he passed through Craiova, where he met aspiring author Traian Demetrescu, whose works he had already hosted in Literatorul and who was to become his friend and protégé. Demetrescu later recalled being gripped by \"tremors of emotion\" upon first catching sight of Macedonski.","Demetrescu later recalled being gripped by \"tremors of emotion\" upon first catching sight of Macedonski. In France, Macedonski set up contacts within the French literary environment, and began contributing to French or Francophone literary publications—including the Belgian Symbolist platforms La Wallonie and L'Élan littéraire. His collaboration with La Wallonie alongside Albert Mockel, Tudor Vianu believes, makes Alexandru Macedonski one in the original wave of European Symbolists. This adaptation to Symbolism also drew on his marked Francophilia, which in turn complemented his tendencies toward cosmopolitanism.","This adaptation to Symbolism also drew on his marked Francophilia, which in turn complemented his tendencies toward cosmopolitanism. He became opposed to Carol I, who, in 1881, had been granted the Crown of the Romanian Kingdom. In addition to his admiration for Cuza and the 1848 Wallachian revolutionaries, the poet objected to the King's sympathy for France's main rival, the German Empire.","In addition to his admiration for Cuza and the 1848 Wallachian revolutionaries, the poet objected to the King's sympathy for France's main rival, the German Empire. In January 1885, after having returned from the voyage, he announced his retirement from public life, claiming that German influence and its exponents at Junimea had \"conquered\" Romanian culture, and repeating his claim that Eminescu lacked value.","In January 1885, after having returned from the voyage, he announced his retirement from public life, claiming that German influence and its exponents at Junimea had \"conquered\" Romanian culture, and repeating his claim that Eminescu lacked value. In the meantime, Literatorul went out of print, although new series were still published at irregular intervals until 1904 (when it ceased being published altogether).","In the meantime, Literatorul went out of print, although new series were still published at irregular intervals until 1904 (when it ceased being published altogether). The magazine was reportedly hated by the public, causing Macedonski, Stoenescu, Florescu, Urechia and educator Anghel Demetriescu to try to revive it as Revista Literară (\"The Literary Review\", published for a few months in 1885).","The magazine was reportedly hated by the public, causing Macedonski, Stoenescu, Florescu, Urechia and educator Anghel Demetriescu to try to revive it as Revista Literară (\"The Literary Review\", published for a few months in 1885). The poet attempted to establish other magazines, all of them short-lived, and, in 1887, handed for print his Naturalist novella Dramă banală (\"Banal Drama\") while completing one of the most revered episodes in the Nights series, Noaptea de mai (\"May Night\").","The poet attempted to establish other magazines, all of them short-lived, and, in 1887, handed for print his Naturalist novella Dramă banală (\"Banal Drama\") while completing one of the most revered episodes in the Nights series, Noaptea de mai (\"May Night\"). Also in 1886, he worked on his other Naturalist novellas: Zi de august (\"August Day\"), Pe drum de poștă (\"On the Stagecoach Trail\"), Din carnetul unui dezertor (\"From the Notebook of a Deserter\"), Între cotețe (\"Amidst Hen Houses\") and the eponymous Nicu Dereanu.","Also in 1886, he worked on his other Naturalist novellas: Zi de august (\"August Day\"), Pe drum de poștă (\"On the Stagecoach Trail\"), Din carnetul unui dezertor (\"From the Notebook of a Deserter\"), Între cotețe (\"Amidst Hen Houses\") and the eponymous Nicu Dereanu. By 1888, he was again sympathetic toward Blaremberg, whose dissident National Liberal faction had formed an alliance with the Conservatives, editing Stindardul Țărei (later Straja Țărei) as his supporting journal.","By 1888, he was again sympathetic toward Blaremberg, whose dissident National Liberal faction had formed an alliance with the Conservatives, editing Stindardul Țărei (later Straja Țărei) as his supporting journal. However, late in the same year, he returned to the liberal mainstream, being assigned a weekly column in Românul newspaper. Two years later, he attempted to relaunch Literatorul under the leadership of liberal figure Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu, but the latter eventually settled for founding his own Revista Nouă.","Two years later, he attempted to relaunch Literatorul under the leadership of liberal figure Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu, but the latter eventually settled for founding his own Revista Nouă. Around 1891, he saluted Junimeas own break with the Conservatives and its entry into politics at the Conservative-Constitutional Party, before offering an enthusiastic welcome to the 1892 Junimist agitation among university students.","Around 1891, he saluted Junimeas own break with the Conservatives and its entry into politics at the Conservative-Constitutional Party, before offering an enthusiastic welcome to the 1892 Junimist agitation among university students. In 1894, he would speak in front of student crowds gathered at a political rally in University Square, and soon after made himself known for supporting the cause of ethnic Romanians and other underrepresented groups of Austria-Hungary. His literary thesis of the time was titled Poezia viitorului (\"The Poetry of the Future\").","His literary thesis of the time was titled Poezia viitorului (\"The Poetry of the Future\"). It upheld Symbolist authors as the models to follow, while Macedonski personally began producing what he referred to as \"instrumentalist\" poems, composed around musical and onomatopoeic elements, and showing a preference for internal rhymes. Such an experimental approach was soon after parodied and ridiculed by Ion Luca Caragiale, who had by then affiliated and parted with Junimea, in his new Moftul Român magazine.","Such an experimental approach was soon after parodied and ridiculed by Ion Luca Caragiale, who had by then affiliated and parted with Junimea, in his new Moftul Român magazine. The poet sought to reconcile with his rival, publicizing a claim that Caragiale was being unjustly ignored by the cultural establishment, but this attempt failed to mend relations between them, and the conflict escalated further.","The poet sought to reconcile with his rival, publicizing a claim that Caragiale was being unjustly ignored by the cultural establishment, but this attempt failed to mend relations between them, and the conflict escalated further. While, in 1893, Literatorul hosted fragments of Thalassa in its Romanian-language version, the author also launched a daily, Lumina (\"The Light\").","While, in 1893, Literatorul hosted fragments of Thalassa in its Romanian-language version, the author also launched a daily, Lumina (\"The Light\"). It was also at that stage that Alexandru Macedonski associated with Cincinat Pavelescu, the noted epigrammarian, who joined him in editing Literatorul, and with whom he co-authored the 1893 verse tragedy depicting the Biblical hero Saul, and named after him. Although showcased by the National Theater with star actor Constantin Nottara in the title role, it failed to register success with the public.","Although showcased by the National Theater with star actor Constantin Nottara in the title role, it failed to register success with the public. Two years later, the two Literatorul editors made headlines as pioneers of cycling. An enthusiastic promoter of the sport, Macedonski joined fellow poet Constantin Cantilli on a marathon, pedaling from Bucharest across the border into Austria-Hungary, all the way down to Brașov.","An enthusiastic promoter of the sport, Macedonski joined fellow poet Constantin Cantilli on a marathon, pedaling from Bucharest across the border into Austria-Hungary, all the way down to Brașov. Late 1890s Macedonski also returned with a new volume of poetry, Excelsior (consecutive editions in 1895 and 1896), and founded Liga Ortodoxă (\"The Orthodox League\"), a magazine noted for hosting the debut of Tudor Arghezi, later one of the most celebrated figures in Romanian literature.","Late 1890s Macedonski also returned with a new volume of poetry, Excelsior (consecutive editions in 1895 and 1896), and founded Liga Ortodoxă (\"The Orthodox League\"), a magazine noted for hosting the debut of Tudor Arghezi, later one of the most celebrated figures in Romanian literature. Macedonski commended his new protégé for reaching \"the summit of poetry and art\" at \"an age when I was still prattling verses\".","Macedonski commended his new protégé for reaching \"the summit of poetry and art\" at \"an age when I was still prattling verses\". Liga Ortodoxă also hosted articles against Caragiale, which Macedonski signed with the pseudonym Sallustiu (\"Sallustius\"). The magazine was additional proof of Macedonski's return to conservatism, and largely dedicated to defending the cause of Romanian Orthodox Metropolitan Ghenadie, deposed by the Romanian Synod following a political scandal. It defended Ghenadie up until he chose to resign, and subsequently went out of print.","It defended Ghenadie up until he chose to resign, and subsequently went out of print. Macedonski was shocked to note that Ghenadie had given up his own defense. In 1895, his Casa cu nr. 10 was translated into French by the Journal des Débats, whose editors reportedly found it picturesque. Two years later, Macedonski himself published French-language translations of his earlier poetry under the title Bronzes, a volume prefaced by his disciple, the critic and promoter Alexandru Bogdan-Pitești.","Two years later, Macedonski himself published French-language translations of his earlier poetry under the title Bronzes, a volume prefaced by his disciple, the critic and promoter Alexandru Bogdan-Pitești. Although it was positively reviewed by Mercure de France magazine, Bronzes was largely unnoticed by the French audience, a fact which Tudor Vianu attributes to Bogdan-Pitești's lack of qualification for the cultural mission Macedonski had trusted him with.","Although it was positively reviewed by Mercure de France magazine, Bronzes was largely unnoticed by the French audience, a fact which Tudor Vianu attributes to Bogdan-Pitești's lack of qualification for the cultural mission Macedonski had trusted him with. By that time, his circle had come to be frequented with regularity by Bogdan-Pitești's friend and collaborator, the celebrated painter Ștefan Luchian, who was in the Symbolist and Art Nouveau stage of his career.","By that time, his circle had come to be frequented with regularity by Bogdan-Pitești's friend and collaborator, the celebrated painter Ștefan Luchian, who was in the Symbolist and Art Nouveau stage of his career. By 1898, Macedonski was again facing financial difficulties, and his collaborators resorted to organizing a fundraiser in his honor. His rejection of the Orthodox establishment was documented by his political tract, published that year as . Between that time and 1900, he focused on researching esoteric, occult and pseudoscientific subjects.","Between that time and 1900, he focused on researching esoteric, occult and pseudoscientific subjects. Traian Demetrescu, who recorded his visits with Macedonski, recalled his former mentor being opposed to his positivist take on science, claiming to explain the workings of the Universe in \"a different way\", through \"imagination\", but also taking an interest in Camille Flammarion's astronomy studies.","Traian Demetrescu, who recorded his visits with Macedonski, recalled his former mentor being opposed to his positivist take on science, claiming to explain the workings of the Universe in \"a different way\", through \"imagination\", but also taking an interest in Camille Flammarion's astronomy studies. Macedonski was determined to interpret death through parapsychological means, and, in 1900, conferenced at the Atheneum on the subject Sufletul și viața viitoare (\"The Soul and the Coming Life\").","Macedonski was determined to interpret death through parapsychological means, and, in 1900, conferenced at the Atheneum on the subject Sufletul și viața viitoare (\"The Soul and the Coming Life\"). The focal point of his vision was that man could voluntarily stave off death with words and gestures, a concept he elaborated upon in his later articles.","The focal point of his vision was that man could voluntarily stave off death with words and gestures, a concept he elaborated upon in his later articles. In one such piece, Macedonski argued: \"man has the power [...] to compact the energy currents known as thoughts to the point where he changes them, according to his own will, into objects or soul-bearing creatures.\" He also attempted to build a machine for extinguishing chimney fires.","He also attempted to build a machine for extinguishing chimney fires. Later, Nikita Macedonski registered the invention of nacre-treated paper, which is sometimes attributed to his father. Caion scandal and expatriation The few issues of Literatorul that were printed in 1899-1900 saw the circle being joined by the young Symbolist poet Ștefan Petică. In 1902, he published Cartea de aur (\"The Golden Book\"), comprising his sketch stories and novellas. In parallel, Macedonski returned to the public scene, founding Forța Morală magazine.","In parallel, Macedonski returned to the public scene, founding Forța Morală magazine. It was through this venue that he began responding to Ion Luca Caragiale's earlier attacks. This he did by hosting the articles of aspiring journalist Constantin Al. Ionescu-Caion, who accused Caragiale of having plagiarized a Hungarian author by the name of Kemény in his tragedy play Năpasta. Kemény turned out to be non-existent.","Kemény turned out to be non-existent. Kemény turned out to be non-existent. According to Vianu, Macedonski had no prior knowledge of the fraud, but had also been \"blinded\" by his resentments instead of displaying \"discernment\", and had even showed evidence of \"insanity\". Most in Macedonski's own series of anti-Caragiale articles were unsigned, or signed with pseudonyms such as Luciliu (\"Gaius Lucilius\").","Most in Macedonski's own series of anti-Caragiale articles were unsigned, or signed with pseudonyms such as Luciliu (\"Gaius Lucilius\"). Like in the case of Eminescu's conflict with Macedonski, the polemic enlisted a negative response from the public. The poet's associate Th. M. Stoenescu convinced himself that Caragiale was being framed, and refused to allow Revista Literară to be used for endorsing Caion, which caused Macedonski to shun him.","M. Stoenescu convinced himself that Caragiale was being framed, and refused to allow Revista Literară to be used for endorsing Caion, which caused Macedonski to shun him. Macedonski refused to withdraw his support for the cause even after Caragiale sued Caion, but Forța Morală soon went out of print. Before it did so, the journal hosted some of Macedonski's most renowned poems, including Lewki and Noaptea de decemvrie (\"December Night\"), together with his article on Remy de Gourmont's thoughts on poetics.","Before it did so, the journal hosted some of Macedonski's most renowned poems, including Lewki and Noaptea de decemvrie (\"December Night\"), together with his article on Remy de Gourmont's thoughts on poetics. In his article of 1903, titled (\"Toward Occultism. Later Orientations toward Theosophy and Social Philosophy\"), the poet envisaged making his interest in esoteric subjects the basis of a new literary movement.","Later Orientations toward Theosophy and Social Philosophy\"), the poet envisaged making his interest in esoteric subjects the basis of a new literary movement. Also that year, poet George Bacovia began attending the literary circle, and gave a reading of his celebrated Plumb poem, being welcomed by Macedonski with a flattering epigram. Macedonski's series of short-lived periodicals resumed in 1905, when he founded Le Beau Danube Bleu (French for \"The Beautiful Blue Danube\") and Liga Conservatoare (\"The Conservative League\").","Macedonski's series of short-lived periodicals resumed in 1905, when he founded Le Beau Danube Bleu (French for \"The Beautiful Blue Danube\") and Liga Conservatoare (\"The Conservative League\"). He registered more success in 1906, when his Thalassa was published, as Le Calvaire de feu, by Edward Sansot's Paris-based publishing house. This followed intense self-promotion within the French literary environment, as well as advertisements in the French press.","This followed intense self-promotion within the French literary environment, as well as advertisements in the French press. Part of this involved Macedonski sending his book to be reviewed by Émile Faguet, Jean Mounet-Sully, Joséphin Péladan, Pierre Quillard and Jean Richepin, who replied with what Vianu deems \"the politeness of circumstance.\" The volume was nonetheless favorably reviewed by the prestigious magazines Mercure de France and Gil Blas.","The volume was nonetheless favorably reviewed by the prestigious magazines Mercure de France and Gil Blas. Also in 1906, La Revue Musicale published his interview with Combarieu, through which the latter aimed to verify supposed connections between literary inspiration and musical sensitivity. By 1907, he was concentrating on experiments in physics, and eventually publicized his claim to have discovered that light does not travel through vacuum. He sent a paper on astronomy subjects to be reviewed by the Société Astronomique de France, of which he subsequently became a member.","He sent a paper on astronomy subjects to be reviewed by the Société Astronomique de France, of which he subsequently became a member. The same year, he drafted the plan for a world government, announcing that he had found sympathy for the cause throughout Europe. Macedonski also introduced himself to an Italophone public, when two of his sonnets were published by Poesia, the magazine of Futurist theorist Filippo Tommaso Marinetti. Between 1910 and 1912, Macedonski was again in Paris.","Between 1910 and 1912, Macedonski was again in Paris. Seeking to withdraw himself from Romania's public life due to what he perceived as injustice, he had by then completed work on the French-language tragicomedy Le Fou? (\"The Madman? \"), which was only published after his death.","\"), which was only published after his death. He was actively seeking to establish his reputation in French theater, reading his new play to a circle which included Louis de Gonzague Frick and Florian-Parmentier, while, at home, newspapers reported rumors that his work was going to be staged by Sarah Bernhardt's company. His efforts were largely fruitless, and, accompanied by his son Alexis, the poet left France, spent some time in Italy, and eventually returned to Romania.","His efforts were largely fruitless, and, accompanied by his son Alexis, the poet left France, spent some time in Italy, and eventually returned to Romania. Passing through the German Empire, he learned of Ion Luca Caragiale's sudden death, and wrote Adevărul daily an open letter, which showed that he had come to revise his stance, notably comparing the deceased author's style and legacy to those of Mark Twain.","Passing through the German Empire, he learned of Ion Luca Caragiale's sudden death, and wrote Adevărul daily an open letter, which showed that he had come to revise his stance, notably comparing the deceased author's style and legacy to those of Mark Twain. During Macedonski's absence, his style and work had come to be reviewed more positively, in particular by the young authors I. Dragoslav, Horia Furtună, Ion Pillat, Anastasie Mândru, Al.","During Macedonski's absence, his style and work had come to be reviewed more positively, in particular by the young authors I. Dragoslav, Horia Furtună, Ion Pillat, Anastasie Mândru, Al. T. Stamatiad, as well as by post-Junimist critic Mihail Dragomirescu, who offered Macedonski a good reception in his Convorbiri Critice magazine. Tudor Vianu, who cites contemporary statements by Dragoslav, concludes that, upon arrival, Macedonski was enthusiastically received by a public who had missed him.","Tudor Vianu, who cites contemporary statements by Dragoslav, concludes that, upon arrival, Macedonski was enthusiastically received by a public who had missed him. Also in 1912, one of his poems was published as an homage by Simbolul, a magazine published by the young and radical Symbolists Tristan Tzara, Ion Vinea and Marcel Janco. Around that time, Macedonski also collaborated with the Iași-based moderate Symbolist magazine Versuri și Proză.","Around that time, Macedonski also collaborated with the Iași-based moderate Symbolist magazine Versuri și Proză. Polemics surrounding his case nevertheless continued: in late 1912, as part of a National Theater adaptation of Alphonse Daudet's Sapho, actor Cazimir Belcot borrowed from Macedonski's appearance and mannerisms to portray a failure. Return and World War I years Macedonski and his protégés had become regular frequenters of Bucharest cafés.","Return and World War I years Macedonski and his protégés had become regular frequenters of Bucharest cafés. Having a table permanently reserved for him at Imperial Hotel's Kübler Coffeehouse, he was later a presence in two other such establishments: High-Life and Terasa Oteteleșanu. He is said to have spent part of his time at Kübler loudly mocking the traditionalist poets who gathered at an opposite table.","He is said to have spent part of his time at Kübler loudly mocking the traditionalist poets who gathered at an opposite table. Meanwhile, the poet's literary club, set up at his house in Dorobanți quarter, had come to resemble a mystical circle, over which he held magisterial command. Vianu, who visited the poet together with Pillat, compares this atmosphere with those created by other \"mystics and magi of poetry\" (citing as examples Joséphin Péladan, Louis-Nicolas Ménard, Stéphane Mallarmé and Stefan George).","Vianu, who visited the poet together with Pillat, compares this atmosphere with those created by other \"mystics and magi of poetry\" (citing as examples Joséphin Péladan, Louis-Nicolas Ménard, Stéphane Mallarmé and Stefan George). The hall where seances were hosted was only lit by candles, and the tables were covered in red fabric. Macedonski himself was seated on a throne designed by Alexis, and adopted a dominant pose. The apparent secrecy and the initiation rites performed on new members were purportedly inspired by Rosicrucianism and the Freemasonry.","The apparent secrecy and the initiation rites performed on new members were purportedly inspired by Rosicrucianism and the Freemasonry. By then, Macedonski was rewarding his followers' poems with false gemstones. The poet founded Revista Critică (\"The Critical Review\"), which again closed after a short while, and issued the poetry volume Flori sacre (\"Sacred Flowers\").","The poet founded Revista Critică (\"The Critical Review\"), which again closed after a short while, and issued the poetry volume Flori sacre (\"Sacred Flowers\"). Grouping his Forța Morală poems and older pieces, it was dedicated to his new generation of followers, whom Macedonski's preface referred to as \"the new Romania.\" He continued to hope that Le Fou?","He continued to hope that Le Fou? He continued to hope that Le Fou? was going to be staged in France, especially after he received some encouragement in the form of articles in Mercure de France and Journal des Débats, but was confronted with the general public's indifference. In 1914, Thalassa was published in a non-definitive version by Constantin Banu's magazine Flacăra, which sought to revive overall interest in his work.","In 1914, Thalassa was published in a non-definitive version by Constantin Banu's magazine Flacăra, which sought to revive overall interest in his work. At a French Red Cross conference in September, Macedonski paid his final public homage to France, which had just become entangled in World War I.","At a French Red Cross conference in September, Macedonski paid his final public homage to France, which had just become entangled in World War I. It was also in 1914 that Macedonski commissioned for print his very first rondels and completed work on a tragedy play about Renaissance poet Dante Aligheri—known as La Mort de Dante in its French original, and Moartea lui Dante in the secondary Romanian version (both meaning \"Dante's Death\").","It was also in 1914 that Macedonski commissioned for print his very first rondels and completed work on a tragedy play about Renaissance poet Dante Aligheri—known as La Mort de Dante in its French original, and Moartea lui Dante in the secondary Romanian version (both meaning \"Dante's Death\"). The aging poet was by then building connections with the local art scene: together with artist Alexandru Severin, he created (and probably presided over) Cenaclul idealist (\"The Idealist Club\"), which included Symbolist artists and was placed under the honorary patronage of King Carol.","The aging poet was by then building connections with the local art scene: together with artist Alexandru Severin, he created (and probably presided over) Cenaclul idealist (\"The Idealist Club\"), which included Symbolist artists and was placed under the honorary patronage of King Carol. 1916 was also the year when Romania abandoned her neutrality and, under a National Liberal government, rallied with the Entente Powers.","1916 was also the year when Romania abandoned her neutrality and, under a National Liberal government, rallied with the Entente Powers. During the neutrality period, Macedonski had shed his lifelong Francophilia to join the Germanophiles, who wanted to see Romanian participation on the Central Powers' side. In 1915, he issued the journal Cuvântul Meu (\"My Word\").","In 1915, he issued the journal Cuvântul Meu (\"My Word\"). Entirely written by him, it published ten consecutive issues before going bankrupt, and notably lashed out against France for being \"bourgeois\" and \"lawyer-filled\", demanding from Romania not to get involved in the conflict. Commentators and researchers of his work have declared themselves puzzled by this change in allegiance. Macedonski further alienated public opinion during the Romanian Campaign, when the Central Powers armies entered southern Romania and occupied Bucharest.","Macedonski further alienated public opinion during the Romanian Campaign, when the Central Powers armies entered southern Romania and occupied Bucharest. Alexis was drafted and became a war artist, but Macedonski Sr, who received formal protection from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bucharest, chose to stay behind while the authorities and many ordinary citizens relocated to Iași, where resistance was still being organized. His stance was interpreted as collaborationism by his critics. However, Macedonski reportedly faced extreme poverty throughout the occupation.","However, Macedonski reportedly faced extreme poverty throughout the occupation. Having by then begun to attend the circle of Alexandru Bogdan-Pitești, his promoter and fellow Germanophile, he was once rewarded by the latter with a turkey filled with gold coins. Late polemics, illness and death Literatorul resumed print in June 1918, once Romania capitulated to the Central Powers under the Treaty of Bucharest.","Late polemics, illness and death Literatorul resumed print in June 1918, once Romania capitulated to the Central Powers under the Treaty of Bucharest. A controversial incident occurred soon afterwards, when, going against the counsel of his friend and collaborator Stamatiad, Macedonski signed a Literatorul article where the German military administrator August von Mackensen, who was about to lead his troops out of Romania, was presented in a positive light.","A controversial incident occurred soon afterwards, when, going against the counsel of his friend and collaborator Stamatiad, Macedonski signed a Literatorul article where the German military administrator August von Mackensen, who was about to lead his troops out of Romania, was presented in a positive light. In a manner deemed \"excessive\" by historian Lucian Boia, the Romanian writer was paying homage not just to Mackensen, but also, indirectly, to German Emperor Wilhelm II and the Reichsheer.","In a manner deemed \"excessive\" by historian Lucian Boia, the Romanian writer was paying homage not just to Mackensen, but also, indirectly, to German Emperor Wilhelm II and the Reichsheer. Soon after reading the piece, Romanian Academy member and fellow Symbolist promoter Ovid Densusianu withdrew his own nomination of Macedonski for an Academy seat.","Soon after reading the piece, Romanian Academy member and fellow Symbolist promoter Ovid Densusianu withdrew his own nomination of Macedonski for an Academy seat. During summer, Macedonski also joined the group of public figures who saluted the senior Conservative Germanophile Petre P. Carp (deeming Carp \"the veteran of character, honesty and Romanianism\"), and, in September, joined Ioan Slavici and Gala Galaction as a contributor to the occupation magazine Rumänien in Wort und Bild, where he prophesied an anti-French \"political renaissance\" of Romania.","During summer, Macedonski also joined the group of public figures who saluted the senior Conservative Germanophile Petre P. Carp (deeming Carp \"the veteran of character, honesty and Romanianism\"), and, in September, joined Ioan Slavici and Gala Galaction as a contributor to the occupation magazine Rumänien in Wort und Bild, where he prophesied an anti-French \"political renaissance\" of Romania. Alexandru Macedonski faced problems after the Romanian government resumed its control over Bucharest, and during the early years of Greater Romania.","Alexandru Macedonski faced problems after the Romanian government resumed its control over Bucharest, and during the early years of Greater Romania. What followed the Mackensen article, Vianu claims, was Macedonski's bellum contra omnes (\"war against all\").","What followed the Mackensen article, Vianu claims, was Macedonski's bellum contra omnes (\"war against all\"). However, the poet made efforts to accommodate himself with the triumphal return of the Iași authorities: in December 1918, Literatorul celebrated the extension of Romanian rule \"from the Tisza to the Dniester\" as a success of the National Liberals, paying homage to Francophile political leaders Ion I. C. Brătianu and Take Ionescu.","However, the poet made efforts to accommodate himself with the triumphal return of the Iași authorities: in December 1918, Literatorul celebrated the extension of Romanian rule \"from the Tisza to the Dniester\" as a success of the National Liberals, paying homage to Francophile political leaders Ion I. C. Brătianu and Take Ionescu. Macedonski also envisaged running in the 1918 election for a seat in the new Parliament (which was supposed to vote a document to replace the 1866 Constitution as the organic law), but never registered his candidature.","Macedonski also envisaged running in the 1918 election for a seat in the new Parliament (which was supposed to vote a document to replace the 1866 Constitution as the organic law), but never registered his candidature. According to Vianu, he had intended to create a joke political party, the \"intellectual group\", whose other member was an unnamed coffeehouse acquaintance of his. Literatorul was revived for a final time in 1919. His health deteriorated from heart disease, which is described by Vianu as an effect of constant smoking.","His health deteriorated from heart disease, which is described by Vianu as an effect of constant smoking. By that stage, Vianu recalls, Macedonski also had problems coming to terms with his age. His last anthumous work was the pamphlet Zaherlina (named after the Romanian version of \"Zacherlin\"; also known as Zacherlina or Zacherlina în continuare, \"Zacherlin Contd. \"), completed in 1919 and published the following year. It notably attacked Densusianu, who had become Macedonski's personal enemy.","It notably attacked Densusianu, who had become Macedonski's personal enemy. Some other polemical texts he had authored late in life saw print only after his death, under the title Mustrări postume către o generație neînțelegătoare (\"Posthumous Reprimands for an Obtuse Generation\"). 1920 was also the year when the People's Party cabinet attempted to pension him off from his office at the Historical Monuments Commission, but the publicized protest of Macedonski's fellow writers in Bucharest made it reconsider.","1920 was also the year when the People's Party cabinet attempted to pension him off from his office at the Historical Monuments Commission, but the publicized protest of Macedonski's fellow writers in Bucharest made it reconsider. Confined to his home by illness and old age, Macedonski was still writing poems, some of which later known as his Ultima verba (\"Last Words\"). The writer died on 24 November, at three o'clock in the afternoon.","The writer died on 24 November, at three o'clock in the afternoon. Having come to develop an addiction to floral fragrances, he was inhaling a rose petal extract during his last hours. He was buried in Bucharest's Bellu. Work General characteristics Although Alexandru Macedonski frequently changed his style and views on literary matters, a number of constants have been traced throughout his work.","Work General characteristics Although Alexandru Macedonski frequently changed his style and views on literary matters, a number of constants have been traced throughout his work. Thus, a common perception is that his literature had a strongly visual aspect, the notion being condensed in Cincinat Pavelescu's definition of Macedonski: \"Poet, therefore painter; painter, therefore poet.\" Traian Demetrescu too recalled that his mentor had been dreaming of becoming a visual artist, and had eventually settled for turning his son Alexis into one.","Traian Demetrescu too recalled that his mentor had been dreaming of becoming a visual artist, and had eventually settled for turning his son Alexis into one. This pictorial approach to writing created parallels between Macedonski and his traditionalist contemporaries Vasile Alecsandri and Barbu Ștefănescu Delavrancea. Following the tenets of Dimitrie Bolintineanu and Théophile Gautier, the writer repeatedly called for purity in versification, and upheld it as an essential requirement, while progressively seeking to verify the quality of his poetry through phonaesthetics.","Following the tenets of Dimitrie Bolintineanu and Théophile Gautier, the writer repeatedly called for purity in versification, and upheld it as an essential requirement, while progressively seeking to verify the quality of his poetry through phonaesthetics. A characteristic of Macedonski's style is his inventive use of Romanian. Initially influenced by Ion Heliade Rădulescu's introduction of Italian-based words to the Romanian lexis, Macedonski himself later infused poetic language with a large array of neologisms from several Romance sources.","Initially influenced by Ion Heliade Rădulescu's introduction of Italian-based words to the Romanian lexis, Macedonski himself later infused poetic language with a large array of neologisms from several Romance sources. Likewise, Vianu notes, Macedonski had a tendency for comparing nature with the artificial, the result of this being a \"document\" of his values. Macedonski's language alternated neologisms with barbarisms, many of which were coined by him personally.","Macedonski's language alternated neologisms with barbarisms, many of which were coined by him personally. They include claviculat (\"clavicled\", applied to a shoulder), împălăriată (\"enhatted\", used to define a crowd of hat-wearing tourists), and ureichii (instead of urechii, \"to the ear\" or \"of the ear\"). His narratives nevertheless take an interest in recording direct speech, used as a method of characterization.","His narratives nevertheless take an interest in recording direct speech, used as a method of characterization. However, Călinescu criticizes Macedonski for using a language which, \"although grammatically correct [...], seems to have been learned only recently\", as well as for not following other Romanian writers in creating a lasting poetic style. The writer's belief in the effects of sheer willpower, notably present in his comments on esoteric subjects, was itself a defining characteristic of his perspective on literature.","The writer's belief in the effects of sheer willpower, notably present in his comments on esoteric subjects, was itself a defining characteristic of his perspective on literature. In 1882, he wrote about progression in one's career: \"We are all poets at birth, but only those who shape themselves through study will become poets.\"","In 1882, he wrote about progression in one's career: \"We are all poets at birth, but only those who shape themselves through study will become poets.\" Vianu, who notes Macedonski's \"exclusivity\" and \"fanaticism\", places such statements in connection with Macedonski's personal ambition, \"pride\" and \"the willingness to carry out ventured actions [...], in stated opposition with the entire surrounding and with contempt for the foreseeable reaction.\"","Vianu, who notes Macedonski's \"exclusivity\" and \"fanaticism\", places such statements in connection with Macedonski's personal ambition, \"pride\" and \"the willingness to carry out ventured actions [...], in stated opposition with the entire surrounding and with contempt for the foreseeable reaction.\" Almost all periods of Macedonski's work reflect, in whole or in part, his public persona and the polemics he was involved in.","Almost all periods of Macedonski's work reflect, in whole or in part, his public persona and the polemics he was involved in. George Călinescu's emits a verdict on the relation between his lifetime notoriety and the public's actual awareness of his work: \"Macedonski [was] a poet well-known for being an unknown poet.\"","George Călinescu's emits a verdict on the relation between his lifetime notoriety and the public's actual awareness of his work: \"Macedonski [was] a poet well-known for being an unknown poet.\" According to literary critic Matei Călinescu, the innovative aspects of his impact on Romanian literature were not as much related to his \"literary ideology\", as much as to his \"contradictory spirit\" and \"essential nonconformism\".","According to literary critic Matei Călinescu, the innovative aspects of his impact on Romanian literature were not as much related to his \"literary ideology\", as much as to his \"contradictory spirit\" and \"essential nonconformism\". However, literary researcher Adrian Marino proposes that Macedonski was one of the first modern authors to illustrate the importance of \"dialectic unity\" through his views on art, in particular by having argued that poetry needed to be driven by \"an idea\".","However, literary researcher Adrian Marino proposes that Macedonski was one of the first modern authors to illustrate the importance of \"dialectic unity\" through his views on art, in particular by having argued that poetry needed to be driven by \"an idea\". Having theorized once, while questioning Junimist rigor, that \"the logic of poetry is absurdity itself [italics in the original]\", the poet also said: \"Poetry is the chaos of spirit and matter, of the cries of distress and mad laughter.","Having theorized once, while questioning Junimist rigor, that \"the logic of poetry is absurdity itself [italics in the original]\", the poet also said: \"Poetry is the chaos of spirit and matter, of the cries of distress and mad laughter. From the sublime to the trivial, that is what it should be.\" He later revised part of this verdict, and, making explicit his adoption of aestheticism, spoke against trivial subjects and in favor of the sublime.","He later revised part of this verdict, and, making explicit his adoption of aestheticism, spoke against trivial subjects and in favor of the sublime. While Macedonski also discarded the concept of \"social poetry\" not long after postulating it, its spirit, Tudor Vianu believes, can still be found in his later contributions. This, the critic notes, was owed to his \"social temperament\", whose \"fundamental experience is that of the social.\"","This, the critic notes, was owed to his \"social temperament\", whose \"fundamental experience is that of the social.\" Discussing this sociable and extrovert character, other critics see in the poet's life and work the imprint of \"quixotism\". Also according to Vianu, this contrasted with Macedonski's failures in communicating with the public, an experience which made him \"misanthropic\" and contributed to his ultimate vision of death as freedom.","Also according to Vianu, this contrasted with Macedonski's failures in communicating with the public, an experience which made him \"misanthropic\" and contributed to his ultimate vision of death as freedom. Literary historian Pompiliu Constantinescu concluded: \"Macedonski could not resign; his one martyrdom was for Art, as the sole liberation from a tormented life.\" Other commentators have defined the poet's perspective on life as a result of \"neurosis\".","Other commentators have defined the poet's perspective on life as a result of \"neurosis\". In Vianu's perspective, Macedonski's stance is dominated by a mixture of nostalgia, sensuality, lugubrious-grotesque imagery, and \"the lack of bashfulness for antisocial sentiments\" which compliments his sarcasm.","In Vianu's perspective, Macedonski's stance is dominated by a mixture of nostalgia, sensuality, lugubrious-grotesque imagery, and \"the lack of bashfulness for antisocial sentiments\" which compliments his sarcasm. In respect to the latter characteristic, Vianu notes \"no one in Romanian literature has laughed the same way as Macedonski\", whereas critic Ștefan Cazimir argues: \"[Macedonski was] lacking the sense of relativity in principles, and implicitly a sense of humor.\"","In respect to the latter characteristic, Vianu notes \"no one in Romanian literature has laughed the same way as Macedonski\", whereas critic Ștefan Cazimir argues: \"[Macedonski was] lacking the sense of relativity in principles, and implicitly a sense of humor.\" Cazimir adds: \"Only when he aged did [Macedonski] learn to smile\".","Cazimir adds: \"Only when he aged did [Macedonski] learn to smile\". George Călinescu himself believes Macedonski to have been \"fundamentally a spiritual man with lots of humor\", speculating that he was able to see the \"uselessness\" of his own scientific ventures. Critics note that, while Macedonski progressed from one stage to the other, his work fluctuated between artistic accomplishment and mediocrity.","Critics note that, while Macedonski progressed from one stage to the other, his work fluctuated between artistic accomplishment and mediocrity. Tudor Vianu believes \"failure in reaching originality\" and reliance on \"soppy-conventional attributes of the day\" to be especially evident wherever Macedonski tried to emulate epic poetry. He also notes that Macedonski's love-themed pieces \"cannot be listed among [his] most fortunate\". At his best, commentators note, he was one of the Romanian literature's classics.","At his best, commentators note, he was one of the Romanian literature's classics. Macedonski is thus perceived as the author second only to Eminescu, and as his ideal counterpart—a relation Vianu describes as \"the internal dualism [confronting] two familiar gods\". Various critics have compared Eminescu's poetic discourse with that of the Symbolist leader, concluding that the two poets often display very similar attitudes.","Various critics have compared Eminescu's poetic discourse with that of the Symbolist leader, concluding that the two poets often display very similar attitudes. Călinescu writes that, while Macedonski's work is largely inferior to that of his Junimist rival, it forms the best \"reply\" ever conceived within their common setting. Prima verba and other early works With Ion Catina, Vasile Păun and Grigore H. Grandea, young Macedonski belonged to late Romanian Romanticism, part of a Neoromantic generation which had for its mentors Heliade Rădulescu and Bolintineanu.","Prima verba and other early works With Ion Catina, Vasile Păun and Grigore H. Grandea, young Macedonski belonged to late Romanian Romanticism, part of a Neoromantic generation which had for its mentors Heliade Rădulescu and Bolintineanu. Other early influences were Pierre-Jean de Béranger and Gottfried August Bürger, together with Romanian folklore, motifs from them being adapted by Macedonski into pastorals and ballades of ca. 1870–1880.","1870–1880. 1870–1880. The imprint of Romanticism and such other sources was evident in Prima verba, which groups pieces that Macedonski authored in his early youth, the earliest of them being written when he was just twelve. Critics generally argue that the volume is without value. The poems display his rebellious attitude, self-victimization and strong reliance on autobiographical elements, centering on such episodes as the death of his father.","The poems display his rebellious attitude, self-victimization and strong reliance on autobiographical elements, centering on such episodes as the death of his father. In one piece inspired by the ideology of Heliade Rădulescu, Vianu notes, Macedonski sings \"the French Revolution's love for freedom and equality, otherwise proclaimed from his nobleman's perspective.\" It reads: In parallel, Macedonski used erotic themes, completing a series which, although written on the model of idylls, is noted for its brute details of sexual exploits.","It reads: In parallel, Macedonski used erotic themes, completing a series which, although written on the model of idylls, is noted for its brute details of sexual exploits. The poet probably acknowledged that posterity would reject them, and did not republish them in any of his collected poetry volumes. During his time at Oltul (1873–1875), Macedonski published a series of poems, most of which were not featured in definitive editions of his work.","During his time at Oltul (1873–1875), Macedonski published a series of poems, most of which were not featured in definitive editions of his work. In addition to odes written in the Italian-based version of Romanian, it includes lyrics which satirize Carol I without mentioning his name. Following his arrest, Macedonski also completed Celula mea de la Văcărești (\"My Cell in Văcărești\"), which shows his attempt to joke about the situation.","Following his arrest, Macedonski also completed Celula mea de la Văcărești (\"My Cell in Văcărești\"), which shows his attempt to joke about the situation. In contrast to this series, some of the pieces written during Macedonski's time in the Budjak and Northern Dobruja display a detachment from contemporary themes. At that stage, he was especially inspired by Lord Byron, whom Vianu calls \"the sovereign poet of [Macedonski's] youth.\"","At that stage, he was especially inspired by Lord Byron, whom Vianu calls \"the sovereign poet of [Macedonski's] youth.\" In Calul arabului, Macedonski explores exotic and Levantine settings, using symbols which announce George Coșbuc's El-Zorab, and the Venetian-themed Ithalo, which centers on episodes of betrayal and murder. Others were epic and patriotic in tone, with subjects such as Romanian victories in the Russo-Turkish War or the Imperial Roman sites along the Danube.","Others were epic and patriotic in tone, with subjects such as Romanian victories in the Russo-Turkish War or the Imperial Roman sites along the Danube. One of these pieces, titled Hinov after the village and stone quarry in Rasova, gives Macedonski a claim to being the first modern European poet to have used free verse, ahead of the French Symbolist Gustave Kahn.","One of these pieces, titled Hinov after the village and stone quarry in Rasova, gives Macedonski a claim to being the first modern European poet to have used free verse, ahead of the French Symbolist Gustave Kahn. Macedonski himself later voiced the claim, and referred to such a technique as \"symphonic verse\", \"proteic verse\", or, in honor of composer Richard Wagner, \"Wagnerian verse\". While editing Oltul, Macedonski also completed his first prose writings.","While editing Oltul, Macedonski also completed his first prose writings. These were the travel account Pompeia și Sorento (\"Pompeia and Sorento\", 1874) and a prison-themed story described by Vianu as \"a tearjerker\", titled Câinele din Văcărești (\"The Dog in Văcărești\", 1875). These were later complemented by other travel works, which critic Mihai Zamfir likens to the verbal experiments of Impressionist literature, pioneering in the Romanian prose poetry genre.","These were later complemented by other travel works, which critic Mihai Zamfir likens to the verbal experiments of Impressionist literature, pioneering in the Romanian prose poetry genre. The short comedy Gemenii was his debut work for the stage, but, according to Vianu, failed to show any merit other than a \"logical construction\" and a preview into Macedonski's use of sarcasm. These writings were followed in 1876 by a concise biography of Cârjaliul, an early 19th-century hajduk.","These writings were followed in 1876 by a concise biography of Cârjaliul, an early 19th-century hajduk. In line with his first Levant-themed poems, Macedonski authored the 1877 story Așa se fac banii (\"This Is How Money Is Made\", later retold in French as Comment on devient riche et puissant, \"How to Become Rich and Powerful\"), a fable of fatalism and the Muslim world—it dealt with two brothers, one hard-working and one indolent, the latter of whom earns his money through a series of serendipitous events.","In line with his first Levant-themed poems, Macedonski authored the 1877 story Așa se fac banii (\"This Is How Money Is Made\", later retold in French as Comment on devient riche et puissant, \"How to Become Rich and Powerful\"), a fable of fatalism and the Muslim world—it dealt with two brothers, one hard-working and one indolent, the latter of whom earns his money through a series of serendipitous events. Likewise, his verse comedy Iadeș!","Likewise, his verse comedy Iadeș! Likewise, his verse comedy Iadeș! borrowed its theme from the widely circulated collection of Persian literature known as Sindipa. The setting was however modern, and, as noted by French-born critic Frédéric Damé, the plot also borrowed much from Émile Augier's Gabrielle and from other morality plays of the period. Part of the text was an ironic treatment of youth in liberal professions, an attitude which Macedonski fitted in his emerging anti-bourgeois discourse.","Part of the text was an ironic treatment of youth in liberal professions, an attitude which Macedonski fitted in his emerging anti-bourgeois discourse. With the first poems in his Nights cycle, Macedonski still showed his allegiance to Romanticism, and in particular to Alphonse de Lamartine, and the supposed inventor of this theme, Alfred de Musset. Noaptea de noiembrie opens with a violent condemnation of his adversaries, and sees Macedonski depicting his own funeral.","Noaptea de noiembrie opens with a violent condemnation of his adversaries, and sees Macedonski depicting his own funeral. The poem is commended by Călinescu, who notes that, in contrast to the \"apparently trivial beginning\", the main part, where Macedonski depicts himself in flight over the Danube, brings the Romanian writer close to the accomplishments of Dante Aligheri. The writer himself claimed that the piece evidenced \"the uttermost breath of inspiration I have ever felt in my life.\"","The writer himself claimed that the piece evidenced \"the uttermost breath of inspiration I have ever felt in my life.\" Another poem, Noaptea de aprilie (\"April Night\"), was probably his testimony of unrequited love for Aristizza Romanescu. Realism and Naturalism By the 1880s, Macedonski developed and applied his \"social poetry\" theory, as branch of Realism.","Realism and Naturalism By the 1880s, Macedonski developed and applied his \"social poetry\" theory, as branch of Realism. Explained by the writer himself as a reaction against the legacy of Lamartine, it also signified his brief affiliation with the Naturalist current, a radical segment of the Realist movement. Traian Demetrescu thus noted that Macedonski cherished the works of French Naturalists and Realists such as Gustave Flaubert and Émile Zola.","Traian Demetrescu thus noted that Macedonski cherished the works of French Naturalists and Realists such as Gustave Flaubert and Émile Zola. During this phase, Macedonski made known his sympathy for the disinherited, from girls forced into prostitution to convicts sentenced to penal labor on salt mines, and also spoke out against the conventionalism of civil marriages. His Ocnele (\"The Salt Mines\") includes the verdict: Naturalist depiction was also the main element in his prose pieces of the early 1880s.","His Ocnele (\"The Salt Mines\") includes the verdict: Naturalist depiction was also the main element in his prose pieces of the early 1880s. Among them was the first of several sketch stories using still life techniques, Casa cu nr. 10 (according to Zamfir, a prime sample of Macedonski's \"ornamental\" genre). With Între cotețe, Dramă banală and later Cometa lui Odorescu (\"Odorescu's Comet\"), Macedonski speaks about his own biography.","With Între cotețe, Dramă banală and later Cometa lui Odorescu (\"Odorescu's Comet\"), Macedonski speaks about his own biography. The former has for a protagonist Pandele Vergea, a thirty-five-year-old man who is consumed by an avicultural obsession, who dreams of turning into a bird, and who is eventually maimed by his overcrowded fowls.","The former has for a protagonist Pandele Vergea, a thirty-five-year-old man who is consumed by an avicultural obsession, who dreams of turning into a bird, and who is eventually maimed by his overcrowded fowls. In contrast, Dereanu is a bohemian university student, possessed by dreams of military and political glory, and who meditates about his future in front of Heliade Rădulescu's statue or in Bucharest cafés. Also a bohemian, Odorescu announces his discovery of a comet, before being proved wrong by his aunt, an ordinary woman.","Also a bohemian, Odorescu announces his discovery of a comet, before being proved wrong by his aunt, an ordinary woman. Some pieces also double as memoirs: in Dramă banală, the plot revolves around Macedonski's recollection of the 1866 plebiscite. Vianu draws attention to the picturesque depiction of historic Bucharest, a contributing element in Cometa..., Casa cu nr. 10 and Între cotețe. With Unchiașul Sărăcie (also written in verse), Macedonski took Naturalist tenets into the field of drama.","With Unchiașul Sărăcie (also written in verse), Macedonski took Naturalist tenets into the field of drama. Frédéric Damé believed it an imitation of a play by Ernest d'Hervilly and Alfred Grévin, but, Vianu argues, the Romanian text was only loosely based on theirs: in Macedonski's adaptation, the theme became fairy tale-like, and used a speech style based on Romanian folklore.","Frédéric Damé believed it an imitation of a play by Ernest d'Hervilly and Alfred Grévin, but, Vianu argues, the Romanian text was only loosely based on theirs: in Macedonski's adaptation, the theme became fairy tale-like, and used a speech style based on Romanian folklore. Around the time of its completion, Macedonski was also working on a similarly loose adaptation of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, which notably had the two protagonists die in each other's arms.","Around the time of its completion, Macedonski was also working on a similarly loose adaptation of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, which notably had the two protagonists die in each other's arms. Another such play is 3 decemvrie (\"December 3\"), which partly retells Friedrich Ludwig Zacharias Werner's Der 24 Februar using Naturalist devices. By contrast, the homage-play Cuza-Vodă is mainly a Romantic piece, where Alexander John Cuza finds his political mission validated by legendary figures in Romanian history.","By contrast, the homage-play Cuza-Vodă is mainly a Romantic piece, where Alexander John Cuza finds his political mission validated by legendary figures in Romanian history. In parallel, Macedonski was using poetry to carry out his polemics. In an 1884 epigram, he reacted against Alecsandri's Fântâna Blanduziei, but, in Vianu's definition, \"his regular causticity seems to be restrained.\"","In an 1884 epigram, he reacted against Alecsandri's Fântâna Blanduziei, but, in Vianu's definition, \"his regular causticity seems to be restrained.\" The piece he had earlier written, presumably against Eminescu, scandalized the public by mocking the rival's mental ruin: According to Tudor Vianu, Macedonski was mostly motivated by his disappointment in Junimea, and in particular by Eminescu's response to his public persona.","The piece he had earlier written, presumably against Eminescu, scandalized the public by mocking the rival's mental ruin: According to Tudor Vianu, Macedonski was mostly motivated by his disappointment in Junimea, and in particular by Eminescu's response to his public persona. Vianu contends that, although Macedonski \"never was familiar with the resigned and patient attitudes\", he was \"by no means an evil man.\"","Vianu contends that, although Macedonski \"never was familiar with the resigned and patient attitudes\", he was \"by no means an evil man.\" On one occasion, the poet defended himself against criticism, noting that the epigram had not been specifically addressed to Eminescu, but had been labeled as such by the press, and claiming to have authored it years before its Literatorul edition. However, the later piece Viața de apoi (\"The Afterlife\") still displays resentments he harbored toward Eminescu.","However, the later piece Viața de apoi (\"The Afterlife\") still displays resentments he harbored toward Eminescu. By 1880–1884, particularly after the Eminescu scandal, Macedonski envisaged prioritizing French as his language of expression. According to Vianu, Macedonski had traversed \"the lowest point\" of his existence, and had been subject to \"one of the most delicate mysteries of poetic creation.\"","According to Vianu, Macedonski had traversed \"the lowest point\" of his existence, and had been subject to \"one of the most delicate mysteries of poetic creation.\" Among his pieces of the period is the French-language sonnet Pârle, il me dit alors (\"Speak, He Then Said to Me\"), where, Vianu notes, \"one discovers the state of mind of a poet who decides to expatriate himself.\"","Among his pieces of the period is the French-language sonnet Pârle, il me dit alors (\"Speak, He Then Said to Me\"), where, Vianu notes, \"one discovers the state of mind of a poet who decides to expatriate himself.\" Adoption of Symbolism According to Mihai Zamfir, at the end of his transition from the \"mimetic and egocentric\" verse to Symbolist poetry, Macedonski emerged a \"remarkable, often extraordinary\" author.","Adoption of Symbolism According to Mihai Zamfir, at the end of his transition from the \"mimetic and egocentric\" verse to Symbolist poetry, Macedonski emerged a \"remarkable, often extraordinary\" author. In the early 20th century, fellow poet and critic N. Davidescu described Macedonski, Ion Minulescu and other Symbolists from Wallachia as distinct from their Moldavian counterparts in both style and themes. Endorsing the theory and practice of Symbolism for much of his life, Macedonski retrospectively claimed to have been one of its first exponents.","Endorsing the theory and practice of Symbolism for much of his life, Macedonski retrospectively claimed to have been one of its first exponents. His version of Symbolism, critic Paul Cernat notes, clashed with that advocated by many of his contemporaries in that it rejected merit to the Decadent movement, and represented the \"decorative\" aestheticist trend of Paranassian spirit within the Romanian Symbolist current.","His version of Symbolism, critic Paul Cernat notes, clashed with that advocated by many of his contemporaries in that it rejected merit to the Decadent movement, and represented the \"decorative\" aestheticist trend of Paranassian spirit within the Romanian Symbolist current. Within Poezia viitorului, Macedonski invoked as his models to follow some important or secondary Symbolist and Parnassian figures: Charles Baudelaire, Joséphin Péladan, Maurice Maeterlinck, Stéphane Mallarmé and Jean Moréas.","Within Poezia viitorului, Macedonski invoked as his models to follow some important or secondary Symbolist and Parnassian figures: Charles Baudelaire, Joséphin Péladan, Maurice Maeterlinck, Stéphane Mallarmé and Jean Moréas. In his review of Bronzes for Mercure de France, Pierre Quillard remarked the \"irreproachable\" technique, but criticized the poet for being too indebted to both Baudelaire and Leconte de Lisle; other Symbolist figures whom Macedonski is known to have borrowed from are José María de Heredia and Iwan Gilkin.","In his review of Bronzes for Mercure de France, Pierre Quillard remarked the \"irreproachable\" technique, but criticized the poet for being too indebted to both Baudelaire and Leconte de Lisle; other Symbolist figures whom Macedonski is known to have borrowed from are José María de Heredia and Iwan Gilkin. While undergoing this transition, to what linguist Manuela-Delia Suciu argues is a mostly Parnassian phase, Macedonski was still referencing Naturalism, and considered it compatible with Symbolism.","While undergoing this transition, to what linguist Manuela-Delia Suciu argues is a mostly Parnassian phase, Macedonski was still referencing Naturalism, and considered it compatible with Symbolism. With the adoption of such tenets came a succession of Symbolist poems, where the focus is on minutely-observed objects, usually items of luxury, partly reflecting themes he had explored in the Naturalist stage. Commenting on them, Tudor Vianu argues that no such works had ever been produced in Romanian literature up until that moment.","Commenting on them, Tudor Vianu argues that no such works had ever been produced in Romanian literature up until that moment. In his Ospățul lui Pentaur (\"The Feast of Pentaur\"), the poet reflected on civilization itself, as reflected in inanimate opulence. The motif was also developed in descriptive prose fragments later grouped in Cartea de aur, collectively titled nuvele fără oameni (\"novellas without people\") and compared by Călinescu with the paintings of Theodor Aman.","The motif was also developed in descriptive prose fragments later grouped in Cartea de aur, collectively titled nuvele fără oameni (\"novellas without people\") and compared by Călinescu with the paintings of Theodor Aman. Also during that stage, Macedonski was exploring the numerous links between Symbolism, mysticism and esotericism. Earlier pieces had already come to explore macabre themes characteristic for an early branch of Symbolism.","Earlier pieces had already come to explore macabre themes characteristic for an early branch of Symbolism. Influenced by Maurice Rollinat, they include the somber Vaporul morții (\"The Ship of Death\") and Visul fatal (\"The Fatal Dream\").","Influenced by Maurice Rollinat, they include the somber Vaporul morții (\"The Ship of Death\") and Visul fatal (\"The Fatal Dream\"). Likewise, the piece titled Imnul lui Satan (\"Satan's Hymn\") was placed by critics in connection with Les Litanies de Satan (part of Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du mal), but, Vianu argues, the source of Macedonski's satanic themes may have been lodged in his own vision of the world.","Likewise, the piece titled Imnul lui Satan (\"Satan's Hymn\") was placed by critics in connection with Les Litanies de Satan (part of Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du mal), but, Vianu argues, the source of Macedonski's satanic themes may have been lodged in his own vision of the world. This interest also reflected in his 1893 Saul, where Cincinat Pavelescu's contribution is supposedly minimal.","This interest also reflected in his 1893 Saul, where Cincinat Pavelescu's contribution is supposedly minimal. Echoing satanic themes, Ernest Legouvé's dramatic version of the Medea myth (which Macedonski translated at some point in his life) and the classical work of Jean Racine, it shows the dark powers of political conflict intervening between the eponymous king and his ephebos-like protégé David, the latter of whom turns out to be the agent of spiritual revolution.","Echoing satanic themes, Ernest Legouvé's dramatic version of the Medea myth (which Macedonski translated at some point in his life) and the classical work of Jean Racine, it shows the dark powers of political conflict intervening between the eponymous king and his ephebos-like protégé David, the latter of whom turns out to be the agent of spiritual revolution. (\"August Night\"), outlines a monistic belief probably inspired by Rosicrucianism, stressing the unity between soul and matter and depicting Macedonski's own journey into a transcendental space.","(\"August Night\"), outlines a monistic belief probably inspired by Rosicrucianism, stressing the unity between soul and matter and depicting Macedonski's own journey into a transcendental space. Following the examples of Baudelaire's Les paradis artificiels, but also echoing his readings from Paul Verlaine and Théophile Gautier, Macedonski left poems dealing with narcotics and substance abuse, at least some of which reflected his personal experience with nicotine and possibly other unnamed drugs.","Following the examples of Baudelaire's Les paradis artificiels, but also echoing his readings from Paul Verlaine and Théophile Gautier, Macedonski left poems dealing with narcotics and substance abuse, at least some of which reflected his personal experience with nicotine and possibly other unnamed drugs. Also at that stage, Macedonski also began publishing the \"instrumentalist\" series of his Symbolist poems. This form of experimental poem was influenced by the theories of René Ghil and verified through his encounter with Remy de Gourmont's views.","This form of experimental poem was influenced by the theories of René Ghil and verified through his encounter with Remy de Gourmont's views. In parallel, it reaffirmed Macedonski's personal view that music and the spoken word were intimately related (a perspective notably attested by his 1906 interview with Jules Combarieu). Romanian critic Petre Răileanu theorized that such elements evidenced Macedonski's transition to \"metaliterature\". On a different level, they echoed an older influence, that of Gottfried August Bürger.","On a different level, they echoed an older influence, that of Gottfried August Bürger. Excelsior Despite having stated his interest in innovation, Macedonski generally displayed a more conventional style in his Excelsior volume. It included Noaptea de mai, which Vianu sees as \"one of the [vernacular's] most beautiful poems\" and as evidence of \"a clear joy, without any torment whatsoever\".","It included Noaptea de mai, which Vianu sees as \"one of the [vernacular's] most beautiful poems\" and as evidence of \"a clear joy, without any torment whatsoever\". A celebration of spring partly evoking folkloric themes, it was made famous by the recurring refrain, Veniți: privighetoarea cântă și liliacul e-nflorit (\"Come along: the nightingale is singing and the lilac is in blossom\").","A celebration of spring partly evoking folkloric themes, it was made famous by the recurring refrain, Veniți: privighetoarea cântă și liliacul e-nflorit (\"Come along: the nightingale is singing and the lilac is in blossom\"). Like Noaptea de mai, Lewki (named after and dedicated to the Snake Island), depicts intense joy, completed in this case by what Vianu calls \"the restorative touch of nature.\"","Like Noaptea de mai, Lewki (named after and dedicated to the Snake Island), depicts intense joy, completed in this case by what Vianu calls \"the restorative touch of nature.\" The series also returned to Levant settings and Islamic imagery, particularly in Acșam dovalar (named after the Turkish version of Witr).","The series also returned to Levant settings and Islamic imagery, particularly in Acșam dovalar (named after the Turkish version of Witr). Also noted within the volume is his short \"Modern Psalms\" series, including the piece Iertare (\"Forgiveness\"), which is addressed to God: Excelsior also included Noaptea de ianuarie (\"January Night\"), which encapsulates one of his best-known political statements. Anghelescu reads it as a \"meditation on disillusionment that culminates in a vitality-laden exhortation of action.\"","Anghelescu reads it as a \"meditation on disillusionment that culminates in a vitality-laden exhortation of action.\" Its anti-bourgeois attitude, literary historian Z. Ornea argues, was one of the meeting points between Macedonski and Junimism. In what is seen as its most acid section, the text notably reads: At the same time as being engaged in his most violent polemics, Macedonski produced meditative and serene poems, which were later judged to be among his best.","In what is seen as its most acid section, the text notably reads: At the same time as being engaged in his most violent polemics, Macedonski produced meditative and serene poems, which were later judged to be among his best. Noaptea de decemvrie is the synthesis of his main themes and influences, rated by commentators as his \"masterpiece\".","Noaptea de decemvrie is the synthesis of his main themes and influences, rated by commentators as his \"masterpiece\". Partly based on an earlier poem (Meka, named after the Arab city), it tells the story of an emir, who, left unsatisfied by the shallow and opulent life he leads in Baghdad, decides to leave on pilgrimage.","Partly based on an earlier poem (Meka, named after the Arab city), it tells the story of an emir, who, left unsatisfied by the shallow and opulent life he leads in Baghdad, decides to leave on pilgrimage. While critics agree that it is to be read as an allegory of Macedonski's biography, the ironic text does not make it clear whether the emir actually reaches his target, nor if the central metaphor of Mecca as a mirage means that the goal is not worth sacrificing for.","While critics agree that it is to be read as an allegory of Macedonski's biography, the ironic text does not make it clear whether the emir actually reaches his target, nor if the central metaphor of Mecca as a mirage means that the goal is not worth sacrificing for. While Mircea Anghelescu comments that Macedonski illustrates \"unusual tension\" by rigorously amplifying references to the color red, seen as a symbol of suffering, Călinescu notes that the sequence of lyrics has a studied \"delirious\" element, and illustrates this with the quote: Late prose works In prose, his focus shifted back to the purely descriptive, or led Alexandru Macedonski into the realm of fantasy literature.","While Mircea Anghelescu comments that Macedonski illustrates \"unusual tension\" by rigorously amplifying references to the color red, seen as a symbol of suffering, Călinescu notes that the sequence of lyrics has a studied \"delirious\" element, and illustrates this with the quote: Late prose works In prose, his focus shifted back to the purely descriptive, or led Alexandru Macedonski into the realm of fantasy literature. These stories, most of which were eventually collected in Cartea de aur, include memoirs of his childhood in the Amaradia region, nostalgic portrayals of the Oltenian boyar environment, idealized depictions of Cuza's reign, as well as a retrospective view on the end of Rom slavery (found in his piece Verigă țiganul, \"Verigă the Gypsy\").","These stories, most of which were eventually collected in Cartea de aur, include memoirs of his childhood in the Amaradia region, nostalgic portrayals of the Oltenian boyar environment, idealized depictions of Cuza's reign, as well as a retrospective view on the end of Rom slavery (found in his piece Verigă țiganul, \"Verigă the Gypsy\"). The best known among them is Pe drum de poștă, a third-person narrative and thinly disguised memoir, where the characters are an adolescent Alexandru Macedonski and his father, General Macedonski.","The best known among them is Pe drum de poștă, a third-person narrative and thinly disguised memoir, where the characters are an adolescent Alexandru Macedonski and his father, General Macedonski. The idyllic outlook present in such stories is one of the common meeting points between his version of Symbolism and traditionalist authors such as Barbu Ștefănescu Delavrancea.","The idyllic outlook present in such stories is one of the common meeting points between his version of Symbolism and traditionalist authors such as Barbu Ștefănescu Delavrancea. Vianu indicates the connection, but adds: \"Macedonski descended, through memory, in the world of the village, with the tremor of regret for the peace and plenty of the old settlements, so well polished that each person, landowner as well as peasant, lived within a framework that nature itself seemed to have granted.","Vianu indicates the connection, but adds: \"Macedonski descended, through memory, in the world of the village, with the tremor of regret for the peace and plenty of the old settlements, so well polished that each person, landowner as well as peasant, lived within a framework that nature itself seemed to have granted. [...] in depicting rural environments, Macedonski presents the point of view of a conservative.\"","[...] in depicting rural environments, Macedonski presents the point of view of a conservative.\" Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu, a fantasy novel and extended prose poem, was celebrated by Macedonski's disciple Oreste Georgescu as \"the new religion of humanity\". The volume carried the mocking dedication \"To France, this Chaldea\" (thought by Vianu to reference Péladan's views on the decay of civilization).","The volume carried the mocking dedication \"To France, this Chaldea\" (thought by Vianu to reference Péladan's views on the decay of civilization). It has affinities with writings by the Italian Decadent author Gabriele d'Annunzio, as well as echoes from Anatole France. The hero Thalassa, a Greek boy, works as a lighthouse-keeper on Snake Island, fantasizing about the golden age of mankind. His fate is changed by a shipwreck, during which a girl, Caliope, reaches the island's shore.","His fate is changed by a shipwreck, during which a girl, Caliope, reaches the island's shore. Thalassa and Caliope fall in love, but are mysteriously unable to seal their union through sexual intercourse: the boy attributes this failure to the \"curse\" of human individuality. Seeking to achieve a perfect union with his lover, he eventually kills her and drowns himself in the Black Sea.","Seeking to achieve a perfect union with his lover, he eventually kills her and drowns himself in the Black Sea. In her review for Mercure de France, novelist Rachilde argued: \"Very difficult to read, entirely developed in Symbolist manner [and] almost impossible to recount, obviously written in French but nevertheless obviously conceived by a Romanian (and what a spirited Romanian!).\" Rachilde believed the work to display \"the fragrance of Oriental spices [...] rose marmalade and a slice of bear meat.\"","Rachilde believed the work to display \"the fragrance of Oriental spices [...] rose marmalade and a slice of bear meat.\" According to Vianu, the book builds on Macedonski's earlier themes, replacing Naturalist observation with a metaphysical speculation about idealism. One other aspect of Macedonski's stylistic exploration took him to attempt recording synesthesia. His manuscript is written in ink of several colors, which, he believed, was to help readers get a full sense of its meaning.","His manuscript is written in ink of several colors, which, he believed, was to help readers get a full sense of its meaning. Like other synesthetic aspects of his novel, this is believed to have been inspired by the techniques of Baudelaire and Arthur Rimbaud. Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu is noted for its numerous cultural references, and especially for using a wide range of metaphors. Such aspects have been reviewed negatively by modern critics.","Such aspects have been reviewed negatively by modern critics. Such aspects have been reviewed negatively by modern critics. Tudor Vianu writes: \"the poet makes such waste of gemstones that we feel like saying some of them must be false\", while Călinescu, who notes that some fragments reveal \"an incomparable artist\" and \"a professional metaphorist\", notes that \"in the end, such virtuosities become a bore.\"","Tudor Vianu writes: \"the poet makes such waste of gemstones that we feel like saying some of them must be false\", while Călinescu, who notes that some fragments reveal \"an incomparable artist\" and \"a professional metaphorist\", notes that \"in the end, such virtuosities become a bore.\" According to Manuela-Delia Suciu, Thalassa is \"prolix\" and \"too polished\", traits believed by Zamfir to be less irritating in the Romanian version.","According to Manuela-Delia Suciu, Thalassa is \"prolix\" and \"too polished\", traits believed by Zamfir to be less irritating in the Romanian version. Critic Cornel Moraru found that, in the background, Thalassa, a \"great Symbolist novel\", confronts Ancient Greek and Christian mythology, but \"abuses\" the religious vocabulary. Another part of the novel's imagery is erotic, and includes an elaborate and aestheticized description of male genitalia. The four-act tragicomedy Le Fou?","The four-act tragicomedy Le Fou? The four-act tragicomedy Le Fou? is seen by Vianu as comparable in subject matter and depth to Enrico IV, a celebrated 1922 play by Luigi Pirandello. The plot reflects Macedonski's confrontation with his critics, and his acceptance of the fact that people saw in him an eccentric. The central figure is a banker, Dorval, who identifies himself with Napoleon Bonaparte to the point where he sees episodes in his biography as mirrors of early 19th-century battles.","The central figure is a banker, Dorval, who identifies himself with Napoleon Bonaparte to the point where he sees episodes in his biography as mirrors of early 19th-century battles. Unlike patients with dissociative identity disorder, Dorval does not actually imagine his life has become Napoleon's, but rather joins with him on an intellectual level. Witnesses of this disorder are divided into family, who seek to have Dorval committed, and close friends, who come to see his take on life as a manifestation of genius.","Witnesses of this disorder are divided into family, who seek to have Dorval committed, and close friends, who come to see his take on life as a manifestation of genius. The spectator is led to believe that the latter interpretation is the correct one. At a larger level, Vianu indicates, the play is also Macedonski's critique of capitalism, and, using Parisian argot, makes allusive references to famous people of the day.","At a larger level, Vianu indicates, the play is also Macedonski's critique of capitalism, and, using Parisian argot, makes allusive references to famous people of the day. Particularly during the 1890s, Macedonski was a follower of Edgar Allan Poe and of Gothic fiction in general, producing a Romanian version of Poe's Metzengerstein story, urging his own disciples to translate other such pieces, and adopting \"Gothic\" themes in his original prose.","Particularly during the 1890s, Macedonski was a follower of Edgar Allan Poe and of Gothic fiction in general, producing a Romanian version of Poe's Metzengerstein story, urging his own disciples to translate other such pieces, and adopting \"Gothic\" themes in his original prose. Indebted to Jules Verne and H. G. Wells, Macedonski also wrote a number of science fiction stories, including the 1913 Oceania-Pacific-Dreadnought, which depicts civilization on the verge of a crisis.","Indebted to Jules Verne and H. G. Wells, Macedonski also wrote a number of science fiction stories, including the 1913 Oceania-Pacific-Dreadnought, which depicts civilization on the verge of a crisis. The gigantic commercial ship is maintained by a banker's union, and designed to grant travelers access to every pleasure imaginable; this causes the working-class inhabited cities on the continent to fall into a state of neglect and permanent violence, the climax of the story occurring with the bankers' decision to destroy their creation.","The gigantic commercial ship is maintained by a banker's union, and designed to grant travelers access to every pleasure imaginable; this causes the working-class inhabited cities on the continent to fall into a state of neglect and permanent violence, the climax of the story occurring with the bankers' decision to destroy their creation. Oceania-Pacific-Dreadnought is noted for anticipating television, the ship being equipped with electrically-operated \"large and clear mirrors\" that display \"images from various parts of the Earth\".","Oceania-Pacific-Dreadnought is noted for anticipating television, the ship being equipped with electrically-operated \"large and clear mirrors\" that display \"images from various parts of the Earth\". Macedonski was by then interested in the development of cinema, and authored a silent film screenplay based on Comment on devient riche et puissant. Final transition Late in his life, Macedonski had come to reject Symbolist tenets, defining them as \"imbecilities\" designed for \"the uncultured\".","Final transition Late in his life, Macedonski had come to reject Symbolist tenets, defining them as \"imbecilities\" designed for \"the uncultured\". Ultima verba, the very last poems to be written by him, show him coming to terms with himself, and are treasured for their serene or intensely joyous vision of life and human accomplishment. The rondels written at this stage, known collectively as Poema rondelurilor, are one of the first instances where the technique is used locally.","The rondels written at this stage, known collectively as Poema rondelurilor, are one of the first instances where the technique is used locally. Like those written previously by Literatoruls Pavelescu and Alexandru Obedenaru, they are based on an earlier motif present in Macedonski's work, that of recurring refrains. Many of the pieces document the poet's final discoveries.","Many of the pieces document the poet's final discoveries. One of them is Rondelul crinilor (\"The Rondel of the Lilies\"), which proclaims fragrances as the source of beatitude: În crini e beția cea rară, \"In lilies one finds that exceptional drunkenness\".","One of them is Rondelul crinilor (\"The Rondel of the Lilies\"), which proclaims fragrances as the source of beatitude: În crini e beția cea rară, \"In lilies one finds that exceptional drunkenness\". According to Ștefan Cazimir, Rondelul orașului mic (\"The Rondel of the Small Town\") shows a \"likable wave of irony and self-irony\", and the poet himself coming to terms with \"the existence of a world who ignores him.\"","According to Ștefan Cazimir, Rondelul orașului mic (\"The Rondel of the Small Town\") shows a \"likable wave of irony and self-irony\", and the poet himself coming to terms with \"the existence of a world who ignores him.\" Proof of his combativeness was still to be found in Rondelul contimporanilor (\"The Rondel of the Contemporaries\"). The poet's take on life is also outlined in his final play, Moartea lui Dante.","The poet's take on life is also outlined in his final play, Moartea lui Dante. Călinescu writes that, by then, Macedonski was \"obsessed\" with the Divine Comedy. Macedonski identifies with his hero, Dante Aligheri, and formulates his own poetic testament while identifying World War I Romania with the medieval Republic of Florence. Tudor Vianu remarks: \"In Dante's great self-pride, Macedonski found his own.\"","Tudor Vianu remarks: \"In Dante's great self-pride, Macedonski found his own.\" He sees the play as the best such work to have been produced by Macedonski, whereas Călinescu deems it \"puerile\". Zamfir believes Moartea... to be a significant text in Macedonski's bibliography, \"one of the first samples of Romanian Symbolist theater\", and as such indebted mainly to Maeterlinck.","Zamfir believes Moartea... to be a significant text in Macedonski's bibliography, \"one of the first samples of Romanian Symbolist theater\", and as such indebted mainly to Maeterlinck. Vianu argues that the play may document the Romanian writer's late rejection of France, through the protagonist's statement: \"the French are a gentle people, but their soul is different from mine.\" A number of rondels show Macedonski's late fascination with the Far East, China and Japan.","A number of rondels show Macedonski's late fascination with the Far East, China and Japan. George Călinescu believes that this is to be understood as one item in a large antithesis, the other being Decadent Paris, which one rondel describes as \"hell\". The Orient, viewed as the space of serenity, is believed by Macedonski to be peopled by toy-like women and absent opium-smokers, and to be kept orderly by a stable meritocracy.","The Orient, viewed as the space of serenity, is believed by Macedonski to be peopled by toy-like women and absent opium-smokers, and to be kept orderly by a stable meritocracy. The Chinese-themed poem Tsing-Ly-Tsi, which Cazimir notes for its discreet, \"almost imperceptible\", humor, reads: Legacy Macedonski's school and its early impact Alexandru Macedonski repeatedly expressed the thought that, unlike his contemporaries, posterity would judge him a great poet.","The Chinese-themed poem Tsing-Ly-Tsi, which Cazimir notes for its discreet, \"almost imperceptible\", humor, reads: Legacy Macedonski's school and its early impact Alexandru Macedonski repeatedly expressed the thought that, unlike his contemporaries, posterity would judge him a great poet. With the exception of Mihail Dragomirescu, conservative literary critics tended to ignore Macedonski while he was alive.","With the exception of Mihail Dragomirescu, conservative literary critics tended to ignore Macedonski while he was alive. The first such figure was Junimeas Titu Maiorescu, who believed him to be a minor author, referring to him only a couple of times in his books and usually ridiculing him in his articles. One of these texts, the 1886 essay Poeți și critici (\"Poets and Critics\"), spoke of Macedonski as having \"vitiated\" poetry, a notion he also applied to Constantin D. Aricescu and Aron Densușianu.","One of these texts, the 1886 essay Poeți și critici (\"Poets and Critics\"), spoke of Macedonski as having \"vitiated\" poetry, a notion he also applied to Constantin D. Aricescu and Aron Densușianu. Especially radical pronouncements were left by the traditionalist authors Ilarie Chendi and Nicolae Iorga. Chendi wrote of Macedonski being \"the caricature of a man\", having \"a feverish mind\" and being motivated by \"the brutal instinct of revenge\".","Chendi wrote of Macedonski being \"the caricature of a man\", having \"a feverish mind\" and being motivated by \"the brutal instinct of revenge\". Iorga, who became better known as a historian, later retracted some of the statements he had made against the poet during the 1890s. Among the younger prominent traditionalist writers was the Transylvanian-born Lucian Blaga, who may have purposefully avoided Macedonski during his first visit to Bucharest in 1920.","Among the younger prominent traditionalist writers was the Transylvanian-born Lucian Blaga, who may have purposefully avoided Macedonski during his first visit to Bucharest in 1920. Although more sympathetic to the Symbolist author, both Dragomirescu and Gheorghe Adamescu tended to describe him as exclusively the product of French and Decadent literature, while Dragomirescu's disciple Ion Trivale denied all merit to Macedonski's literature.","Although more sympathetic to the Symbolist author, both Dragomirescu and Gheorghe Adamescu tended to describe him as exclusively the product of French and Decadent literature, while Dragomirescu's disciple Ion Trivale denied all merit to Macedonski's literature. According to Tudor Vianu, Macedonski's intellectual friends (among them Anghel Demetriescu, George Ionescu-Gion, Bonifaciu Florescu, Grigore Tocilescu and V. A. Urechia) were largely responsible for passing down \"a better and truer image of the abused poet.\"","According to Tudor Vianu, Macedonski's intellectual friends (among them Anghel Demetriescu, George Ionescu-Gion, Bonifaciu Florescu, Grigore Tocilescu and V. A. Urechia) were largely responsible for passing down \"a better and truer image of the abused poet.\" It was also due to Dragomirescu that Noaptea de decemvrie was included in a literature textbook for final grade high school students, which some argue is the poet's first-ever presence in the Romanian curriculum.","It was also due to Dragomirescu that Noaptea de decemvrie was included in a literature textbook for final grade high school students, which some argue is the poet's first-ever presence in the Romanian curriculum. According to historian Lucian Nastasă, the poet's wife Ana Rallet behaved like an \"excellent secretary\" while Macedonski was still alive, and thereafter helped sort and edit his manuscript while maintaining \"an actual cult\" for her husband.","According to historian Lucian Nastasă, the poet's wife Ana Rallet behaved like an \"excellent secretary\" while Macedonski was still alive, and thereafter helped sort and edit his manuscript while maintaining \"an actual cult\" for her husband. Macedonski's cosmopolitan circle was the center of a literary alternative to the prevailing conservatism and Eminescu-like traditionalism of the day, the latter tendency being grouped around Sămănătorul magazine for part of Macedonski's lifetime.","Macedonski's cosmopolitan circle was the center of a literary alternative to the prevailing conservatism and Eminescu-like traditionalism of the day, the latter tendency being grouped around Sămănătorul magazine for part of Macedonski's lifetime. While Macedonski himself maintained his links with Romanticism and Classicism, commentators have retrospectively recognized in him the main person who announced Romania's first wave in modernist literature. Many first-generation disciples were to part with his guidelines early on, either by radicalizing their Symbolism or by stepping out of its confines.","Many first-generation disciples were to part with his guidelines early on, either by radicalizing their Symbolism or by stepping out of its confines. Traian Demetrescu was one of the first to do so, focusing on his commitment to socialism—Vianu notes that the split took place \"without coldness and the heart's versatility\" on Macedonski's part. Literary researcher Lidia Bote argues that it was Petică who first illustrated mature Symbolism, emancipating himself from Macedonski's eclectic tendencies after 1902.","Literary researcher Lidia Bote argues that it was Petică who first illustrated mature Symbolism, emancipating himself from Macedonski's eclectic tendencies after 1902. By that time, the Symbolist authors Dimitrie Anghel and N. D. Cocea used Macedonski's fantasy prose as an inspiration for their own, and N. Davidescu was borrowing from his mystical discourse. The pictorial and joyous elements in Macedonski's poems were also serving to inspire Stamatiad, Eugeniu Ștefănescu-Est and Horia Furtună.","The pictorial and joyous elements in Macedonski's poems were also serving to inspire Stamatiad, Eugeniu Ștefănescu-Est and Horia Furtună. In the early stages of his career, Ion Pillat wrote pieces which echo his master's choice of exotic themes. A more discreet legacy of Macedonski's ideas was also preserved inside the conservative and traditionalist camps. Although his separation from Literatorul was drastic, and led him to rally with Junimea, Duiliu Zamfirescu built on some elements borrowed from the magazine's ideology, incorporating them into his literary vision.","Although his separation from Literatorul was drastic, and led him to rally with Junimea, Duiliu Zamfirescu built on some elements borrowed from the magazine's ideology, incorporating them into his literary vision. Many of Macedonski's most devoted disciples, whom he himself had encouraged, have been rated by various critics as secondary or mediocre.","Many of Macedonski's most devoted disciples, whom he himself had encouraged, have been rated by various critics as secondary or mediocre. This is the case of Theodor Cornel (who made his name as an art critic), Mircea Demetriade, Oreste Georgescu, Alexandru Obedenaru, Stoenescu, Stamatiad, Carol Scrob, Dumitru Karnabatt and Donar Munteanu. Another such minor author was the self-styled \"hermeticist\" Alexandru Petroff, who expanded on Macedonski's ideas about esoteric knowledge.","Another such minor author was the self-styled \"hermeticist\" Alexandru Petroff, who expanded on Macedonski's ideas about esoteric knowledge. Macedonski's eldest son Alexis continued to pursue a career as a painter. His son Soare followed in his footsteps, receiving acclaim from art critics of the period. Soare's short career ended in 1928, before he turned nineteen, but his works have been featured in several retrospective exhibitions, including one organized by Alexis.","Soare's short career ended in 1928, before he turned nineteen, but his works have been featured in several retrospective exhibitions, including one organized by Alexis. Alexis later experimented with scenic design as an assistant to French filmmaker René Clair; his later life, shrouded in mystery and intrigue, led him to a career in Fascist Italy and Francoist Spain. Another of Alexandru Macedonski's sons, Nikita, was also a poet and painter. For a while in the 1920s, he edited the literary supplement of Universul newspaper.","For a while in the 1920s, he edited the literary supplement of Universul newspaper. Two years after her father's death, Anna Macedonski married poet Mihail Celarianu. In addition to his polemical portrayals in works by Alecsandri, Eminescu and Caragiale, Macedonski's career was an inspiration for various authors. His image acquired mythical proportions for his followers. Like Demetrescu, many of them left memoirs on Macedonski which were published before or after his death.","Like Demetrescu, many of them left memoirs on Macedonski which were published before or after his death. His admirers were writing poetry about him as early as 1874, and, in 1892, Cincinat Pavelescu published a rhapsodizing portrait of Macedonski as \"the Artist\". Pavelescu, Dragoslav and Petică paid homage to the writer by leaving recollections which describe him as a devoted and considerate friend. In contrast, traditionalist poet Alexandru Vlahuță authored an 1889 sketch story in which Macedonski (referred to as Polidor) is the object of derision.","In contrast, traditionalist poet Alexandru Vlahuță authored an 1889 sketch story in which Macedonski (referred to as Polidor) is the object of derision. Late recognition Actual recognition of the poet as a classic came only in the interwar period. A final volume of never before published poems, Poema rondelurilor, saw print in 1927. Macedonski's work was analyzed and popularized by a new generation of critics, among them Vianu and George Călinescu.","Macedonski's work was analyzed and popularized by a new generation of critics, among them Vianu and George Călinescu. The post-Junimist modernist critic Eugen Lovinescu also commented favorably on Macedonski's work, but overall, Călinescu asserts, his opinions on the subject gave little insight into what he actually thought about the poet. He also recounts that Macedonski himself treated Lovinescu with disdain, and once called him \"a canary\". The emerging avant-garde, although originating from Symbolism, progressively took its distance from Literatoruls legacy.","The emerging avant-garde, although originating from Symbolism, progressively took its distance from Literatoruls legacy. Initially, Macedonski's contribution to experimental literature was continued within formal Symbolism by his disciples Demetriade, Iuliu Cezar Săvescu and Ion Minulescu. The latter was particularly indebted to Macedonski in matters of vision and language. In 1904, Tudor Arghezi also left behind the Literatorul circle and its tenets, eventually arriving to the fusion of modernist, traditionalist and avant-garde elements. However, he remained indebted to Macedonski's example in his descriptive prose.","However, he remained indebted to Macedonski's example in his descriptive prose. The 1912 Simbolul magazine, which moved between conventional Symbolism and the emerging avant-garde, also published an Imagist-inspired parody of Noaptea de mai, signed by Adrian Maniu. A co-founder of Dadaism during the late 1910s, Tristan Tzara is believed by Swedish researcher Tom Sandqvist to have been inspired more or less directly by Macedonski, and in particular by the latter's thoughts on the relation between absurdity and poetry.","A co-founder of Dadaism during the late 1910s, Tristan Tzara is believed by Swedish researcher Tom Sandqvist to have been inspired more or less directly by Macedonski, and in particular by the latter's thoughts on the relation between absurdity and poetry. In his debut poems, Benjamin Fondane-Barbu Fundoianu occasionally followed Macedonski, but, by 1920, stated that the Symbolist doyen merely imitated French models to the point of \"parasitism\". Several avant-garde authors returned to Macedonski's literary guidelines by the late 1920s, as they themselves grew more moderate.","Several avant-garde authors returned to Macedonski's literary guidelines by the late 1920s, as they themselves grew more moderate. This was the case of Maniu and Ion Vinea, both of whom published prose works in the line of Thalassa. The same work is also believed to have influenced two non-avant-garde authors, Davidescu and Mateiu Caragiale, who remained close to the tenets Symbolism.","The same work is also believed to have influenced two non-avant-garde authors, Davidescu and Mateiu Caragiale, who remained close to the tenets Symbolism. Mateiu was the illegitimate son of Ion Luca Caragiale, but, Vianu notes, could withstand comparisons with his father's rival: the eccentricities were complementary, although Mateiu Caragiale shied away from public affairs.","Mateiu was the illegitimate son of Ion Luca Caragiale, but, Vianu notes, could withstand comparisons with his father's rival: the eccentricities were complementary, although Mateiu Caragiale shied away from public affairs. In the same post-Symbolist generation, Celarianu (Macedonski's posthumous son-in-law), George Bacovia and Păstorel Teodoreanu also built on Macedonski's legacy, being later joined in this by the Bessarabian linguist Eugenio Coșeriu (who, in his early poetic career, imitated Macedonski's rondel style).","In the same post-Symbolist generation, Celarianu (Macedonski's posthumous son-in-law), George Bacovia and Păstorel Teodoreanu also built on Macedonski's legacy, being later joined in this by the Bessarabian linguist Eugenio Coșeriu (who, in his early poetic career, imitated Macedonski's rondel style). In the late 1920s, when their form of modern psalms inspired Albanian-Romanian poet Aleksander Stavre Drenova, Macedonski and Arghezi both made an indirect impact on Albanian literature.","In the late 1920s, when their form of modern psalms inspired Albanian-Romanian poet Aleksander Stavre Drenova, Macedonski and Arghezi both made an indirect impact on Albanian literature. Macedonski's status as one of Romanian literature's greats was consolidated later in the 20th century. By this time, Noaptea de decemvrie had become one of the most recognizable literary works to be taught in Romanian schools.","By this time, Noaptea de decemvrie had become one of the most recognizable literary works to be taught in Romanian schools. During the first years of Communist Romania, the Socialist Realist current condemned Symbolism (see Censorship in Communist Romania), but spoke favorably of Macedonski's critique of the bourgeoisie. A while after this episode, Marin Sorescu, one of the best-known modernist poets of his generation, wrote a homage-parody of the Nights cycle.","A while after this episode, Marin Sorescu, one of the best-known modernist poets of his generation, wrote a homage-parody of the Nights cycle. Included in the volume Singur între poeți (\"Alone among Poets\"), it is seen by critic Mircea Scarlat as Sorescu's most representative such pieces. Also then, Noaptea de decemvrie partly inspired Ștefan Augustin Doinaș' ballad Mistrețul cu colți de argint.","Also then, Noaptea de decemvrie partly inspired Ștefan Augustin Doinaș' ballad Mistrețul cu colți de argint. In the 1990s, Ștefan Agopian took the Nights cycle as inspiration for an erotic short story, while Pavel Șușară adapted his rondels to a modernized setting. Macedonski's prose also influenced younger writers such as Angelo Mitchievici and Anca Maria Mosora. In neighboring Moldova, Macedonski influenced the Neosymbolism of Aureliu Busuioc.","In neighboring Moldova, Macedonski influenced the Neosymbolism of Aureliu Busuioc. A magazine by the name of Literatorul, which claims to represent the legacy of Macedonski's publication, was founded in Romania in 1991, being edited by writers Sorescu, Fănuș Neagu and Mircea Micu. In 2006, the Romanian Academy granted posthumous membership to Alexandru Macedonski. Macedonski's poems had a sizable impact on Romania's popular culture.","Macedonski's poems had a sizable impact on Romania's popular culture. During communism, Noaptea de mai was the basis for a successful musical adaptation, composed by Marian Nistor and sung by Mirabela Dauer. Tudor Gheorghe, a singer-songwriter inspired by American folk revival, also used some of Macedonski's texts as lyrics to his melodies. In the 2000s, the refrain of Noaptea de mai was mixed into a manea parody by Adrian Copilul Minune.","In the 2000s, the refrain of Noaptea de mai was mixed into a manea parody by Adrian Copilul Minune. Portrayals, visual tributes and landmarks Although his poetic theories were largely without echoes in Romanian art, Macedonski captured the interest of several modern artists, including, early on, cartoonist Nicolae Petrescu Găină. Alongside other writers who visited Terasa Oteteleșanu, Macedonski was notably portrayed the drawings of celebrated Romanian artist Iosif Iser. He is also depicted in a 1918 lithograph by Jean Alexandru Steriadi, purportedly Steriadi's only Symbolist work.","He is also depicted in a 1918 lithograph by Jean Alexandru Steriadi, purportedly Steriadi's only Symbolist work. Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu inspired a series of reliefs, designed by Alexis Macedonski and hosted in his father's house in Dorobanți. During the 1910s, busts of him were completed by two sculptors, Alexandru Severin and Friedrich Storck, one of Storck's variants being hosted by the Ioan Cantacuzino collection.","During the 1910s, busts of him were completed by two sculptors, Alexandru Severin and Friedrich Storck, one of Storck's variants being hosted by the Ioan Cantacuzino collection. In 1919, Theodor Burcă was also inspired to complete another bust, and, during World War II, was commissioned by Mayor of Bucharest Ioan Rășcanu to build a Macedonski Monument in the Grădina Icoanei park, but this was never completed.","In 1919, Theodor Burcă was also inspired to complete another bust, and, during World War II, was commissioned by Mayor of Bucharest Ioan Rășcanu to build a Macedonski Monument in the Grădina Icoanei park, but this was never completed. Constantin Piliuță, a painter active in the second half of the 20th century, made Macedonski the subject of a portrait in series dedicated to Romanian cultural figures (also depicted were Nicolae Iorga, Ștefan Luchian and Vianu).","Constantin Piliuță, a painter active in the second half of the 20th century, made Macedonski the subject of a portrait in series dedicated to Romanian cultural figures (also depicted were Nicolae Iorga, Ștefan Luchian and Vianu). In 1975, a bust of Macedonski, the work of Constantin Foamete, was unveiled in Craiova. Of Macedonski's numerous residences, the one in Dorobanți was demolished when the Academy of Economic Studies (ASE) was expanded. A commemorative plaque was later put up near the spot.","A commemorative plaque was later put up near the spot. Macedonski's childhood home in Goiești passed into state property under communism, and was in turn a school, a community home and a Macedonski Museum, before falling into neglect after the Romanian Revolution of 1989. Several streets named in honor of Alexandru Macedonski, notably in Bucharest (by the ASE), Craiova, Cluj-Napoca and Timișoara.","Several streets named in honor of Alexandru Macedonski, notably in Bucharest (by the ASE), Craiova, Cluj-Napoca and Timișoara. Works published anthumously Prima verba (poetry, 1872) Ithalo (poem, 1878) Poezii (poetry, 1881/1882) Parizina (translation of Parisina, 1882) Iadeș!","Works published anthumously Prima verba (poetry, 1872) Ithalo (poem, 1878) Poezii (poetry, 1881/1882) Parizina (translation of Parisina, 1882) Iadeș! (comedy, 1882) Dramă banală (short story, 1887) Saul (with Cincinat Pavelescu; tragedy, 1893) Excelsior (poetry, 1895) Bronzes (poetry, 1897) (essay, 1898) Cartea de aur (prose, 1902) Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu (novel, 1906; 1914) Flori sacre (poetry, 1912) Zaherlina (essay, 1920) Notes References Mircea Anghelescu, chronological table, preface and critical references, in Macedonski, Poemele \"Nopților\", Editura Albatros, Bucharest, 1972, p. 7-31, 137–140.","(comedy, 1882) Dramă banală (short story, 1887) Saul (with Cincinat Pavelescu; tragedy, 1893) Excelsior (poetry, 1895) Bronzes (poetry, 1897) (essay, 1898) Cartea de aur (prose, 1902) Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu (novel, 1906; 1914) Flori sacre (poetry, 1912) Zaherlina (essay, 1920) Notes References Mircea Anghelescu, chronological table, preface and critical references, in Macedonski, Poemele \"Nopților\", Editura Albatros, Bucharest, 1972, p. 7-31, 137–140. Nicolae Balotă, Arte poetice ale secolului XX: ipostaze românești și străine, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1976.","Nicolae Balotă, Arte poetice ale secolului XX: ipostaze românești și străine, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1976. Lucian Boia, \"Germanofilii\". Elita intelectuală românească în anii Primului Război Mondial, Humanitas, Bucharest, 2010. George Călinescu, Istoria literaturii române de la origini pînă în prezent, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1986 Paul Cernat, Avangarda românească și complexul periferiei: primul val, Cartea Românească, Bucharest, 2007. Șerban Cioculescu, Caragialiana, Editura Eminescu, Bucharest, 1974.","Șerban Cioculescu, Caragialiana, Editura Eminescu, Bucharest, 1974. Péter Krasztev, \"From a Deadlocked Present into an Imagined Past\", in the Central European University's East Central Europe = L'Europe du Centre-Est, Vol. 26, Nr. 2/1999, p. 33-52 \"From Modernization to Modernist Literature\", in Marcel Cornis-Pope, John Neubauer (eds. ), History of the Literary Cultures of East-Central Europe, Vol. 3, John Benjamins, Amsterdam & Philadelphia, 2004, p. 332-348.","3, John Benjamins, Amsterdam & Philadelphia, 2004, p. 332-348. Lucian Nastasă, Intelectualii și promovarea socială (pentru o morfologie a câmpului universitar), Editura Nereamia Napocae, Cluj-Napoca, 2003; e-book version at the Romanian Academy's George Bariț Institute of History Z. Ornea, Junimea și junimismul, Vol. II, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1998. Perpessicius, Studii eminesciene, Museum of Romanian Literature, Bucharest, 2001.","Perpessicius, Studii eminesciene, Museum of Romanian Literature, Bucharest, 2001. Petre Răileanu, Michel Carassou, Fundoianu/Fondane et l'avant-garde, Fondation Culturelle Roumaine, Éditions Paris-Méditerranée, Bucharest & Paris, 1999. Tom Sandqvist, Dada East. The Romanians of Cabaret Voltaire, MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts & London, 2006. Manuela-Delia Suciu, \"La poésie roumaine au XIXe siècle. Alexandru Macedonski entre romantisme et symbolisme\", in Revue d'Études Françaises, Nr.","Alexandru Macedonski entre romantisme et symbolisme\", in Revue d'Études Françaises, Nr. 8/2003, p. 101-110 (republished by the Centre Interuniversitaire d’Études Françaises/Egyetemközi Francia Központ) Tudor Vianu, Scriitori români, Vol. I-III, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1970–1971. Mariana Vida, \"La société Tinerimea artistică de Bucarest et le symbolisme tardif entre 1902-1910\", in Revue Roumaine d'Histoire de l'Art. Série Beaux-arts, Vol.","Série Beaux-arts, Vol. Série Beaux-arts, Vol. XLIV, 2007, p. 55-66 External links Amidst Hen Houses (excerpts), Poésies, Thalassa (excerpt), in the Romanian Cultural Institute's Plural Magazine (various issues) Alexandru Macedonski, Museum of Romanian Literature profile 1854 births 1920 deaths 19th-century Romanian poets 20th-century Romanian poets Romanian male poets Romantic poets Neoclassical writers Symbolist poets Sonneteers Romanian fabulists Romanian epigrammatists 19th-century Romanian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Romanian dramatists and playwrights Male dramatists and playwrights 19th-century Romanian novelists 20th-century Romanian novelists Romanian male novelists Romanian writers in French 19th-century short story writers 20th-century short story writers Romanian male short story writers Romanian short story writers Realism (art movement) Symbolist novelists Romanian fantasy writers Romanian science fiction writers Romanian humorists Romanian erotica writers 19th-century essayists 20th-century essayists Romanian essayists 20th-century biographers Romanian biographers Male biographers Romanian memoirists Romanian travel writers Romanian literary critics Romanian screenwriters Male screenwriters Romanian columnists Romanian magazine editors Romanian magazine founders Romanian newspaper editors Romanian newspaper founders 19th-century translators 20th-century translators Romanian translators English–Romanian translators French–Romanian translators Greek–Romanian translators Writers from Bucharest Romanian nobility Members of the Romanian Orthodox Church Carol I National College alumni National Liberal Party (Romania) politicians Republicanism in the Kingdom of Romania Romanian civil servants Prefects of Romania Romanian inventors Romanian esotericists Romanian expatriates in France Romanian people of World War I Burials at Bellu Cemetery Members of the Romanian Academy elected posthumously 20th-century screenwriters"],"string":"[\n \"Alexandru Macedonski (; also rendered as Al. A. Macedonski, Macedonschi or Macedonsky; 14 March 1854 – 24 November 1920) was a Romanian poet, novelist, dramatist and literary critic, known especially for having promoted French Symbolism in his native country, and for leading the Romanian Symbolist movement during its early decades. A forerunner of local modernist literature, he is the first local author to have used free verse, and claimed by some to have been the first in modern European literature.\",\n \"A forerunner of local modernist literature, he is the first local author to have used free verse, and claimed by some to have been the first in modern European literature. Within the framework of Romanian literature, Macedonski is seen by critics as second only to national poet Mihai Eminescu; as leader of a cosmopolitan and aestheticist trend formed around his Literatorul journal, he was diametrically opposed to the inward-looking traditionalism of Eminescu and his school.\",\n \"Within the framework of Romanian literature, Macedonski is seen by critics as second only to national poet Mihai Eminescu; as leader of a cosmopolitan and aestheticist trend formed around his Literatorul journal, he was diametrically opposed to the inward-looking traditionalism of Eminescu and his school. Debuting as a Neoromantic in the Wallachian tradition, Macedonski went through the Realist-Naturalist stage deemed \\\"social poetry\\\", while progressively adapting his style to Symbolism and Parnassianism, and repeatedly but unsuccessfully attempting to impose himself in the Francophone world.\",\n \"Debuting as a Neoromantic in the Wallachian tradition, Macedonski went through the Realist-Naturalist stage deemed \\\"social poetry\\\", while progressively adapting his style to Symbolism and Parnassianism, and repeatedly but unsuccessfully attempting to impose himself in the Francophone world. Despite having theorized \\\"instrumentalism\\\", which reacted against the traditional guidelines of poetry, he maintained a lifelong connection with Neoclassicism and its ideal of purity.\",\n \"Despite having theorized \\\"instrumentalism\\\", which reacted against the traditional guidelines of poetry, he maintained a lifelong connection with Neoclassicism and its ideal of purity. Macedonski's quest for excellence found its foremost expression in his recurring motif of life as a pilgrimage to Mecca, notably used in his critically acclaimed Nights cycle. The stylistic stages of his career are reflected in the collections Prima verba, Poezii, and Excelsior, as well as in the fantasy novel Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu.\",\n \"The stylistic stages of his career are reflected in the collections Prima verba, Poezii, and Excelsior, as well as in the fantasy novel Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu. In old age, he became the author of rondels, noted for their detached and serene vision of life, in contrast with his earlier combativeness. In parallel to his literary career, Macedonski was a civil servant, notably serving as prefect in the Budjak and Northern Dobruja during the late 1870s.\",\n \"In parallel to his literary career, Macedonski was a civil servant, notably serving as prefect in the Budjak and Northern Dobruja during the late 1870s. As journalist and militant, his allegiance fluctuated between the liberal current and conservatism, becoming involved in polemics and controversies of the day. Of the long series of publications he founded, Literatorul was the most influential, notably hosting his early conflicts with the Junimea literary society.\",\n \"Of the long series of publications he founded, Literatorul was the most influential, notably hosting his early conflicts with the Junimea literary society. These targeted Vasile Alecsandri and especially Eminescu, their context and tone becoming the cause of a major rift between Macedonski and his public. This situation repeated itself in later years, when Macedonski and his Forța Morală magazine began campaigning against the Junimist dramatist Ion Luca Caragiale, whom they falsely accused of plagiarism.\",\n \"This situation repeated itself in later years, when Macedonski and his Forța Morală magazine began campaigning against the Junimist dramatist Ion Luca Caragiale, whom they falsely accused of plagiarism. During World War I, the poet aggravated his critics by supporting the Central Powers against Romania's alliance with the Entente side. His biography was also marked by an enduring interest in esotericism, numerous attempts to become recognized as an inventor, and an enthusiasm for cycling.\",\n \"His biography was also marked by an enduring interest in esotericism, numerous attempts to become recognized as an inventor, and an enthusiasm for cycling. The scion of a political and aristocratic family, the poet was the son of General Alexandru Macedonski, who served as Defense Minister, and the grandson of 1821 rebel Dimitrie Macedonski. Both his son Alexis and grandson Soare were known painters. Biography Early life and family The poet's paternal family had arrived in Wallachia during the early 19th century.\",\n \"Biography Early life and family The poet's paternal family had arrived in Wallachia during the early 19th century. Of South Slav (Serb or Bulgarian) or Aromanian origin, they claimed to have descended from Serb insurgents in Ottoman-ruled Macedonia.\",\n \"Of South Slav (Serb or Bulgarian) or Aromanian origin, they claimed to have descended from Serb insurgents in Ottoman-ruled Macedonia. Alexandru's grandfather Dimitrie and Dimitrie's brother Pavel participated in the 1821 uprising against the Phanariote administration, and in alliance with the Filiki Eteria; Dimitrie made the object of controversy when, during the final stage of the revolt, he sided with the Eteria in its confrontation with Wallachian leader Tudor Vladimirescu, taking an active part in the latter's killing.\",\n \"Alexandru's grandfather Dimitrie and Dimitrie's brother Pavel participated in the 1821 uprising against the Phanariote administration, and in alliance with the Filiki Eteria; Dimitrie made the object of controversy when, during the final stage of the revolt, he sided with the Eteria in its confrontation with Wallachian leader Tudor Vladimirescu, taking an active part in the latter's killing. Both Macedonski brothers had careers in the Wallachian military forces, at a time when the country was governed by Imperial Russian envoys, when the Regulamentul Organic regime recognized the family as belonging to Wallachia's nobility.\",\n \"Both Macedonski brothers had careers in the Wallachian military forces, at a time when the country was governed by Imperial Russian envoys, when the Regulamentul Organic regime recognized the family as belonging to Wallachia's nobility. Dimitrie married Zoe, the daughter an ethnic Russian or Polish officer; their son, the Russian-educated Alexandru, climbed in the military and political hierarchy, joining the unified Land Forces after his political ally, Alexander John Cuza, was elected Domnitor and the two Danubian Principalities became united Romania.\",\n \"Dimitrie married Zoe, the daughter an ethnic Russian or Polish officer; their son, the Russian-educated Alexandru, climbed in the military and political hierarchy, joining the unified Land Forces after his political ally, Alexander John Cuza, was elected Domnitor and the two Danubian Principalities became united Romania. Both the officer's uncle Pavel and brother Mihail were amateur poets. Macedonski's mother, Maria Fisența (also Vicenț or Vicența), was from an aristocratic environment, being the scion of Oltenian boyars.\",\n \"Macedonski's mother, Maria Fisența (also Vicenț or Vicența), was from an aristocratic environment, being the scion of Oltenian boyars. Through her father, she may have descended from Russian immigrants who had been absorbed into Oltenia's nobility. Maria had been adopted by the boyar Dumitrache Pârâianu, and the couple had inherited the Adâncata and Pometești estates in Goiești, on the Amaradia Valley.\",\n \"Maria had been adopted by the boyar Dumitrache Pârâianu, and the couple had inherited the Adâncata and Pometești estates in Goiești, on the Amaradia Valley. Both the poet and his father were dissatisfied with accounts of their lineage, contradicting them with an account that researchers have come to consider spurious. Although adherents of the Romanian Orthodox Church, the Macedonskis traced their origin to Rogala-bearing Lithuanian nobility from the defunct Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.\",\n \"Although adherents of the Romanian Orthodox Church, the Macedonskis traced their origin to Rogala-bearing Lithuanian nobility from the defunct Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. While the writer perpetuated his father's claim, it is possible that he also took pride in investigating his Balkan roots: according to literary historian Tudor Vianu, who, as a youth, was a member of his circle, this tendency is attested by two of Macedonski's poems from the 1880s, where the South Slavs appear as icons of freedom.\",\n \"While the writer perpetuated his father's claim, it is possible that he also took pride in investigating his Balkan roots: according to literary historian Tudor Vianu, who, as a youth, was a member of his circle, this tendency is attested by two of Macedonski's poems from the 1880s, where the South Slavs appear as icons of freedom. Vianu's contemporary, literary historian George Călinescu, postulated that, although the family had been absorbed into the ethnic and cultural majority, the poet's origin served to enrich local culture by linking it to a \\\"Thracian\\\" tradition and the spirit of \\\"adventurers\\\".\",\n \"Vianu's contemporary, literary historian George Călinescu, postulated that, although the family had been absorbed into the ethnic and cultural majority, the poet's origin served to enrich local culture by linking it to a \\\"Thracian\\\" tradition and the spirit of \\\"adventurers\\\". The family moved often, following General Macedonski's postings. Born in Bucharest, Macedonski-son was the third of four siblings, the oldest of whom was a daughter, Caterina.\",\n \"Born in Bucharest, Macedonski-son was the third of four siblings, the oldest of whom was a daughter, Caterina. Before the age of six, he was a sickly and nervous child, who is reported to have had regular tantrums. In 1862, his father sent him to school in Oltenia, and he spent most time in the Amaradia region. The nostalgia he felt for the landscape later made him consider writing an Amărăzene (\\\"Amaradians\\\") cycle, of which only one poem was ever completed.\",\n \"The nostalgia he felt for the landscape later made him consider writing an Amărăzene (\\\"Amaradians\\\") cycle, of which only one poem was ever completed. He was attending the Carol I High School in Craiova and, according to his official record, graduated in 1867.\",\n \"He was attending the Carol I High School in Craiova and, according to his official record, graduated in 1867. Macedonski's father had by then become known as an authoritarian commander, and, during his time in Târgu Ocna, faced a mutiny which only his wife could stop by pleading with the soldiers (an episode which made an impression on the future poet). A stern parent, he took an active part in educating his children.\",\n \"A stern parent, he took an active part in educating his children. Having briefly served as Defense Minister, the general was mysteriously dismissed by Cuza in 1863, and his pension became the topic of a political scandal. It ended only under the rule of Carol I, Cuza's Hohenzollern successor, when Parliament voted against increasing the sum to the level demanded by its recipient.\",\n \"It ended only under the rule of Carol I, Cuza's Hohenzollern successor, when Parliament voted against increasing the sum to the level demanded by its recipient. Having preserved a negative impression of the 1866 plebiscite, during which Cuza's dethronement had been confirmed, Macedonski remained a committed opponent of the new ruler. As a youth and adult, he sought to revive his father's cause, and included allusions to the perceived injustice in at least one poem.\",\n \"As a youth and adult, he sought to revive his father's cause, and included allusions to the perceived injustice in at least one poem. After spending the last months of his life protesting against the authorities, Macedonski-father fell ill and died in September 1869, leaving his family to speculate that he had been murdered by political rivals.\",\n \"After spending the last months of his life protesting against the authorities, Macedonski-father fell ill and died in September 1869, leaving his family to speculate that he had been murdered by political rivals. Debut years Macedonski left Romania in 1870, traveling through Austria-Hungary and spending time in Vienna, before visiting Switzerland and possibly other countries; according to one account, it was here that he may have first met (and disliked) his rival poet Mihai Eminescu, at a time a Viennese student.\",\n \"Debut years Macedonski left Romania in 1870, traveling through Austria-Hungary and spending time in Vienna, before visiting Switzerland and possibly other countries; according to one account, it was here that he may have first met (and disliked) his rival poet Mihai Eminescu, at a time a Viennese student. Macedonski's visit was meant to be preparation for entering the University of Bucharest, but he spent much of his time in the bohemian environment, seeking entertainment and engaging in romantic escapades.\",\n \"Macedonski's visit was meant to be preparation for entering the University of Bucharest, but he spent much of his time in the bohemian environment, seeking entertainment and engaging in romantic escapades. He was however opposed to the lifestyle choices of people his age, claiming that they were engaged in \\\"orgy after orgy\\\". At around that date, the young author had begun to perfect a style heavily influenced by Romanticism, and in particular by his Wallachian predecessors Dimitrie Bolintineanu and Ion Heliade Rădulescu.\",\n \"At around that date, the young author had begun to perfect a style heavily influenced by Romanticism, and in particular by his Wallachian predecessors Dimitrie Bolintineanu and Ion Heliade Rădulescu. He was for a while in Styria, at Bad Gleichenberg, a stay which, George Călinescu believes, may have been the result of a medical recommendation to help him counter excessive nervousness. The landscape there inspired him to write an ode. Also in 1870, he published his first lyrics in George Bariț's Transylvanian-based journal Telegraful Român.\",\n \"Also in 1870, he published his first lyrics in George Bariț's Transylvanian-based journal Telegraful Român. The following year, he left for Italy, where he visited Pisa, Florence, Venice, and possibly other cities. His records of the journey indicate that he was faced with financial difficulties and plagued by disease. Macedonski also claimed to have attended college lectures in these cities, and to have spent significant time studying at Pisa University, but this remains uncertain.\",\n \"Macedonski also claimed to have attended college lectures in these cities, and to have spent significant time studying at Pisa University, but this remains uncertain. He eventually returned to Bucharest, where he entered the Faculty of Letters (which he never attended regularly). According to Călinescu, Macedonski \\\"did not feel the need\\\" to attend classes, because \\\"such a young man will expect society to render upon him its homages.\\\"\",\n \"According to Călinescu, Macedonski \\\"did not feel the need\\\" to attend classes, because \\\"such a young man will expect society to render upon him its homages.\\\" He was again in Italy during spring 1872, soon after publishing his debut volume Prima verba (Latin for \\\"First Word\\\"). Having also written an anti-Carol piece, published in Telegraful Român during 1873, Macedonski reportedly feared political reprisals, and decided to make another visit to Styria and Italy while his case was being assessed.\",\n \"Having also written an anti-Carol piece, published in Telegraful Român during 1873, Macedonski reportedly feared political reprisals, and decided to make another visit to Styria and Italy while his case was being assessed. It was in Italy that he met French musicologist Jules Combarieu, with whom he corresponded sporadically over the following decades. During that period, Macedonski became interested in the political scene and political journalism, first as a sympathizer of the liberal-radical current—which, in 1875, organized itself around the National Liberal Party.\",\n \"During that period, Macedonski became interested in the political scene and political journalism, first as a sympathizer of the liberal-radical current—which, in 1875, organized itself around the National Liberal Party. In 1874, back in Craiova, Macedonski founded a short-lived literary society known as Junimea, a title which purposefully or unwittingly copied that of the influential conservative association with whom he would later quarrel.\",\n \"In 1874, back in Craiova, Macedonski founded a short-lived literary society known as Junimea, a title which purposefully or unwittingly copied that of the influential conservative association with whom he would later quarrel. It was then that he met journalist and pedagogue Ștefan Velescu, a meeting witnessed by Velescu's pupil, the future liberal journalist Constantin Bacalbașa, who recorded it in his memoirs.\",\n \"It was then that he met journalist and pedagogue Ștefan Velescu, a meeting witnessed by Velescu's pupil, the future liberal journalist Constantin Bacalbașa, who recorded it in his memoirs. Oltul magazine, which he had helped establish and which displayed a liberal agenda, continued to be published until July 1875, and featured Macedonski's translations from Pierre-Jean de Béranger, Hector de Charlieu and Alphonse de Lamartine, as well as his debut in travel writing and short story.\",\n \"Oltul magazine, which he had helped establish and which displayed a liberal agenda, continued to be published until July 1875, and featured Macedonski's translations from Pierre-Jean de Béranger, Hector de Charlieu and Alphonse de Lamartine, as well as his debut in travel writing and short story. At age 22, he worked on his first play, a comedy titled Gemenii (\\\"The Twins\\\").\",\n \"At age 22, he worked on his first play, a comedy titled Gemenii (\\\"The Twins\\\"). In 1874 that he came to the attention of young journalist future dramatist Ion Luca Caragiale, who satirized him in articles for the magazine Ghimpele, ridiculing his claim to Lithuanian descent, and eventually turning him into the character Aamsky, whose fictional career ends with his death from exhaustion caused by contributing to \\\"for the country's political development\\\".\",\n \"In 1874 that he came to the attention of young journalist future dramatist Ion Luca Caragiale, who satirized him in articles for the magazine Ghimpele, ridiculing his claim to Lithuanian descent, and eventually turning him into the character Aamsky, whose fictional career ends with his death from exhaustion caused by contributing to \\\"for the country's political development\\\". This was the first episode in a consuming polemic between the two figures.\",\n \"This was the first episode in a consuming polemic between the two figures. Reflecting back on this period in 1892, Macedonski described Caragiale as a \\\"noisy young man\\\" of \\\"sophistic reasoning\\\", whose target audience was to be found in \\\"beer gardens\\\". 1875 trial and office as prefect In March 1875, Macedonski was arrested on charges of defamation or sedition. For almost a year before, he and Oltul had taken an active part in the campaign against Conservative Party and its leader, Premier Lascăr Catargiu.\",\n \"For almost a year before, he and Oltul had taken an active part in the campaign against Conservative Party and its leader, Premier Lascăr Catargiu. In this context, he had demanded that the common man \\\"rise up with weapons in their hands and break both the government agents and the government\\\", following up with similar messages aimed at the Domnitor. He was taken to Bucharest's Văcărești prison and confined there for almost three months.\",\n \"He was taken to Bucharest's Văcărești prison and confined there for almost three months. Supported by the liberal press and defended by the most prestigious pro-liberal attorneys (Nicolae Fleva among them), Macedonski faced a jury trial on 7 June, being eventually cleared of the charges. Reportedly, the Bucharest populace organized a spontaneous celebration of the verdict. In 1875, after the National Liberal Ion Emanuel Florescu was assigned the post of Premier by Carol, Macedonski embarked on an administrative career.\",\n \"In 1875, after the National Liberal Ion Emanuel Florescu was assigned the post of Premier by Carol, Macedonski embarked on an administrative career. The poet was upset by not being included on the National Liberal list for the 1875 suffrage. This disenchantment led him into a brief conflict with the young liberal figure Bonifaciu Florescu, only to join him soon afterward in editing Stindardul journal, alongside Pantazi Ghica and George Fălcoianu. The publication followed the line of Nicolae Moret Blaremberg, made notorious for his radical and republican agenda.\",\n \"The publication followed the line of Nicolae Moret Blaremberg, made notorious for his radical and republican agenda. Ghica and Macedonski remained close friends until Ghica's 1882 death. The new cabinet eventually appointed him Prefect of Bolgrad region, in the Budjak (at the time part of Romania). In parallel, he published his first translation, a version of Parisina, an 1816 epic poem by Lord Byron, and completed the original works Ithalo and Calul arabului (\\\"The Arab's Horse\\\").\",\n \"In parallel, he published his first translation, a version of Parisina, an 1816 epic poem by Lord Byron, and completed the original works Ithalo and Calul arabului (\\\"The Arab's Horse\\\"). He also spoke at the Romanian Atheneum, presenting his views on the state of Romanian literature (1878). His time in office ended upon the outbreak of the Russo-Turkish War.\",\n \"His time in office ended upon the outbreak of the Russo-Turkish War. At the time, Russian volunteers were amassed on the Budjak border, requesting from the Romanian authorities the right of free passage into the Principality of Serbia. The National Liberal Premier Ion Brătianu, who was negotiating an anti-Ottoman alliance, sent Macedonski signals to let them pass, but the prefect, obeying the official recommendation of Internal Affairs Minister George D. Vernescu, decided against it, and was consequently stripped of his office.\",\n \"The National Liberal Premier Ion Brătianu, who was negotiating an anti-Ottoman alliance, sent Macedonski signals to let them pass, but the prefect, obeying the official recommendation of Internal Affairs Minister George D. Vernescu, decided against it, and was consequently stripped of his office. Still determined to pursue a career in the press, Macedonski founded a string of unsuccessful magazines with patriotic content and titles such as Vestea (\\\"The Announcement\\\"), Dunărea (\\\"The Danube\\\"), Fulgerul (\\\"The Lightning\\\") and, after 1880, Tarara (an onomatopoeia equivalent to \\\"Toodoodoo\\\").\",\n \"Still determined to pursue a career in the press, Macedonski founded a string of unsuccessful magazines with patriotic content and titles such as Vestea (\\\"The Announcement\\\"), Dunărea (\\\"The Danube\\\"), Fulgerul (\\\"The Lightning\\\") and, after 1880, Tarara (an onomatopoeia equivalent to \\\"Toodoodoo\\\"). Their history is connected with that of the Russo-Turkish War, at the end of which Romanian participation on the Russian side resulted in her independence.\",\n \"Their history is connected with that of the Russo-Turkish War, at the end of which Romanian participation on the Russian side resulted in her independence. Macedonski remained committed to the anti-Ottoman cause, and, some thirty years later, stated: \\\"We want no Turkey in Europe!\\\" By 1879, the poet, who continued to voice criticism of Carol, had several times switched sides between the National Liberals and the opposition Conservatives.\",\n \"By 1879, the poet, who continued to voice criticism of Carol, had several times switched sides between the National Liberals and the opposition Conservatives. That year, while the Budjak was ceded to Russia and Northern Dobruja was integrated into Romania, the Brătianu cabinet appointed him administrator of the Sulina plasă and the Danube Delta.\",\n \"That year, while the Budjak was ceded to Russia and Northern Dobruja was integrated into Romania, the Brătianu cabinet appointed him administrator of the Sulina plasă and the Danube Delta. He had previously refused to be made comptroller in Putna County, believing such an appointment to be beneath his capacity, and had lost a National Liberal appointment in Silistra when Southern Dobruja was granted to the Principality of Bulgaria.\",\n \"He had previously refused to be made comptroller in Putna County, believing such an appointment to be beneath his capacity, and had lost a National Liberal appointment in Silistra when Southern Dobruja was granted to the Principality of Bulgaria. During this short interval in office, he traveled to the Snake Island in the Black Sea—his appreciation for the place later motivated him to write the fantasy novel Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu and the poem Lewki. Early Literatorul years With the 1880s came a turning point in Alexandru Macedonski's career.\",\n \"Early Literatorul years With the 1880s came a turning point in Alexandru Macedonski's career. Vianu notes that changes took place in the poet's relationship with his public: \\\"Society recognizes in him the nonconformist. [...] The man becomes singular; people start talking about his oddities.\\\" Macedonski's presumed frustration at being perceived in this way, Vianu notes, may have led him closer to the idea of poète maudit, theorized earlier by Paul Verlaine.\",\n \"Macedonski's presumed frustration at being perceived in this way, Vianu notes, may have led him closer to the idea of poète maudit, theorized earlier by Paul Verlaine. In this context, he had set his sight on promoting \\\"social poetry\\\", the merger between lyricism and political militantism. Meanwhile, according to Călinescu, his attacks on the liberals and the \\\"daft insults he aimed at [Romania's] throne\\\" had effectively ruined his own chance of political advancement.\",\n \"Meanwhile, according to Călinescu, his attacks on the liberals and the \\\"daft insults he aimed at [Romania's] throne\\\" had effectively ruined his own chance of political advancement. In January 1880, he launched his most influential and long-lived publication, Literatorul, which was also the focal point of his eclectic cultural circle, and, in later years, of the local Symbolist school. In its first version, the magazine was co-edited by Macedonski, Bonifaciu Florescu and poet Th. M. Stoenescu.\",\n \"M. Stoenescu. M. Stoenescu. Florescu parted with the group soon after, due to a disagreement with Macedonski, and was later attacked by the latter for allegedly accumulating academic posts. Literatorul aimed to irritate Junimist sensibilities from its first issue, when it stated its dislike for \\\"political prejudice in literature.\\\" This was most likely an allusion to the views of Junimist figure Titu Maiorescu, being later accompanied by explicit attacks on him and his followers.\",\n \"This was most likely an allusion to the views of Junimist figure Titu Maiorescu, being later accompanied by explicit attacks on him and his followers. An early success for the new journal was the warm reception it received from Vasile Alecsandri, a Romantic poet and occasional Junimist whom Macedonski idolized at the time, and the collaboration of popular memoirist Gheorghe Sion. Another such figure was the intellectual V. A. Urechia, whom Macedonski made president of the Literatorul Society.\",\n \"Another such figure was the intellectual V. A. Urechia, whom Macedonski made president of the Literatorul Society. In 1881, Education Minister Urechia granted Macedonski the Bene-Merenti medal 1st class, although, Călinescu stresses, the poet had only totaled 18 months of public service. At around that time, Macedonski had allegedly begun courting actress Aristizza Romanescu, who rejected his advances, leaving him unenthusiastic about love matters and unwilling to seek female company.\",\n \"At around that time, Macedonski had allegedly begun courting actress Aristizza Romanescu, who rejected his advances, leaving him unenthusiastic about love matters and unwilling to seek female company. In parallel, Macedonski used the magazine to publicize his disagreement with the main Junimist voice, Convorbiri Literare. Among the group of contributors, several had already been victims of Maiorescu's irony: Sion, Urechia, Pantazi Ghica and Petru Grădișteanu.\",\n \"Among the group of contributors, several had already been victims of Maiorescu's irony: Sion, Urechia, Pantazi Ghica and Petru Grădișteanu. While welcoming the debut of its contributor, Parnassian-Neoclassicist novelist and poet Duiliu Zamfirescu, Macedonski repeatedly attacked its main exponent, the conservative poet Eminescu, claiming not to understand his poetry. However, Literatorul was also open to contributions from some Convorbiri Literare affiliates (Zamfirescu, Matilda Cugler-Poni and Veronica Micle). In November 1880, Macedonski's plays Iadeș! (\\\"Wishbone!\",\n \"In November 1880, Macedonski's plays Iadeș! (\\\"Wishbone! (\\\"Wishbone! \\\", a comedy first printed in 1882) and Unchiașul Sărăcie (\\\"Old Man Poverty\\\") premiered at the National Theater Bucharest. A sign of government approval, this was followed by Macedonski's appointment to a minor administrative office, as Historical Monuments Inspector. Nevertheless, both plays failed to impose themselves on public perception, and were withdrawn from the program by 1888.\",\n \"Nevertheless, both plays failed to impose themselves on public perception, and were withdrawn from the program by 1888. Călinescu asserts that, although Macedonski later claimed to have always been facing poverty, his job in the administration, coupled with other sources of revenue, ensured him a comfortable existence. In 1881, Macedonski published a new collection of poetry. Titled Poezii, it carries the year \\\"1882\\\" on its original cover. Again moving away from liberalism, Macedonski sought to make himself accepted by Junimea and Maiorescu.\",\n \"Again moving away from liberalism, Macedonski sought to make himself accepted by Junimea and Maiorescu. He consequently attended the Junimea sessions, and gave a public reading of Noaptea de noiembrie (\\\"November Night\\\"), the first publicized piece in his lifelong Nights cycle. It reportedly earned him the praise of historian and poet Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu, who, although an anti-Junimist, happened to be in the audience.\",\n \"It reportedly earned him the praise of historian and poet Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu, who, although an anti-Junimist, happened to be in the audience. Despite rumors according to which he had applauded Macedonski, Maiorescu himself was not impressed, and left an unenthusiastic account of the event in his private diary. Against Alecsandri and Eminescu Macedonski's open conflict with Junimea began in 1882, when he engaged in a publicized polemic with Alecsandri.\",\n \"Against Alecsandri and Eminescu Macedonski's open conflict with Junimea began in 1882, when he engaged in a publicized polemic with Alecsandri. It was ignited when, through Macedonski's articles, Literatorul criticized Alecsandri for accepting Romanian Academy prizes despite being its member, and later involved Sion (whose replies on behalf of the Academy were derided by Macedonski). Macedonski also took distance from Alecsandri's style, publishing a \\\"critical analysis\\\" of his poetry in one issue of Literatorul.\",\n \"Macedonski also took distance from Alecsandri's style, publishing a \\\"critical analysis\\\" of his poetry in one issue of Literatorul. In turn, Alecsandri humiliated his young rival by portraying him as Zoilus, the prototype of slanderers, and himself as the model poet Horace in the 1883 play Fântâna Blanduziei. The two were eventually reconciled, and Macedonski again spoke of Alecsandri as his ideological and stylistic predecessor.\",\n \"The two were eventually reconciled, and Macedonski again spoke of Alecsandri as his ideological and stylistic predecessor. In April 1882, Eminescu had also replied to Macedonski in Timpul journal, referring to an unnamed poet who \\\"barely finishes high-school, comes over to Bucharest selling nick-nacks and makeup [and goes into] literary dealership\\\".\",\n \"In April 1882, Eminescu had also replied to Macedonski in Timpul journal, referring to an unnamed poet who \\\"barely finishes high-school, comes over to Bucharest selling nick-nacks and makeup [and goes into] literary dealership\\\". Reproaching Macedonski's attacks on Alecsandri, Eminescu makes a nationalist comment about the young poet bearing \\\"the bastard instincts of those foreigners who were Romanianized only yesterday\\\", and attributes him \\\"the physiognomy of a hairdresser\\\". Through the articles of Petru Th.\",\n \"Through the articles of Petru Th. Through the articles of Petru Th. Missir, Convorbiri Literare gave Poezii a negative review, deemed \\\"malevolent\\\" by literary historian Mircea Anghelescu. At the other end of the political and cultural spectrum, Macedonski faced opposition from the intellectuals attracted to socialism, in particular Contemporanul editors Constantin Mille and Ioan Nădejde, with whom he was engaged in an extended polemic.\",\n \"At the other end of the political and cultural spectrum, Macedonski faced opposition from the intellectuals attracted to socialism, in particular Contemporanul editors Constantin Mille and Ioan Nădejde, with whom he was engaged in an extended polemic. In the meantime, Macedonski published his own play, which had Cuza for its main character and was eponymously titled Cuza-Vodă, and completed translations for Literatorul—from Maurice Rollinat, whom he helped impose as a main cultural reference in Romanian Symbolism, and from the Greek poet Akhillefs Paraskhos.\",\n \"In the meantime, Macedonski published his own play, which had Cuza for its main character and was eponymously titled Cuza-Vodă, and completed translations for Literatorul—from Maurice Rollinat, whom he helped impose as a main cultural reference in Romanian Symbolism, and from the Greek poet Akhillefs Paraskhos. In 1883, he also contributed his first sketch story, Casa cu nr. 10 (\\\"The House at Number 10\\\"). In early 1883, he married Ana Rallet-Slătineanu.\",\n \"In early 1883, he married Ana Rallet-Slătineanu. In early 1883, he married Ana Rallet-Slătineanu. Wealthy and supposedly related to Romanian aristocrats, she would bear him five children in all: the painter Alexis was the eldest, followed by Nikita; the three youngest were two sons (Panel and Constantin Macedonski) and a daughter, Anna (also known as Nina). His heterosexual lifestyle notwithstanding, Macedonski remained a self-avowed admirer of male beauties, and was rumored to be a closeted homosexual.\",\n \"His heterosexual lifestyle notwithstanding, Macedonski remained a self-avowed admirer of male beauties, and was rumored to be a closeted homosexual. In July 1883, Macedonski undertook one of his most controversial anti-Junimist actions. That month, Literatorul published an epigram signed with the pseudonym Duna, deriding an unnamed author who had lost his mind. Mihai Eminescu—whom many had already come to see as Romania's national poet—had by then developed a mental disorder which had become known to the general public.\",\n \"Mihai Eminescu—whom many had already come to see as Romania's national poet—had by then developed a mental disorder which had become known to the general public. Ever since that moment, Macedonski has generally been believed to be Duna, and as a result, was faced with much criticism from both readers and commentators. The intense anti-Literatorul press campaign was initiated in August, when writer Grigore Ventura issued an article condemning Macedonski's attitude (published in the Bucharest-based newspaper L'Indépendance Roumaine), with Macedonski responding in the National Liberal organ Românul.\",\n \"The intense anti-Literatorul press campaign was initiated in August, when writer Grigore Ventura issued an article condemning Macedonski's attitude (published in the Bucharest-based newspaper L'Indépendance Roumaine), with Macedonski responding in the National Liberal organ Românul. During one evening, Macedonski is reported to have been assaulted by anonymous supporters of Eminescu. His previous conflict with Nădejde was also affected by this renewed controversy: while opposed to Junimist policies, the socialists at Contemporanul voiced their admiration for Eminescu's art.\",\n \"His previous conflict with Nădejde was also affected by this renewed controversy: while opposed to Junimist policies, the socialists at Contemporanul voiced their admiration for Eminescu's art. Late in 1883, Macedonski and his friends unveiled Ion Georgescu's statue of their mentor Bolintineanu in the National Theater lobby. The circumstances in which this took place rose suspicion of foul play; on this grounds, Macedonski was ridiculed by his former friend Zamfirescu in the journal România Liberă, which left him embittered.\",\n \"The circumstances in which this took place rose suspicion of foul play; on this grounds, Macedonski was ridiculed by his former friend Zamfirescu in the journal România Liberă, which left him embittered. Călinescu proposes that, although such negative reactions were invoked by Macedonski's supporters as a sign of their mentor having been marginalized, Macedonski had expressed his dissatisfaction with the cultural environment long before that moment, and was still a respected figure even after the incidents took place.\",\n \"Călinescu proposes that, although such negative reactions were invoked by Macedonski's supporters as a sign of their mentor having been marginalized, Macedonski had expressed his dissatisfaction with the cultural environment long before that moment, and was still a respected figure even after the incidents took place. First Paris sojourn and Poezia viitorului Having been stripped of his administrative office by the new Brătianu cabinet, Macedonski faced financial difficulties, and was forced to move into a house on the outskirts of Bucharest, and later moved between houses in northern Bucharest.\",\n \"First Paris sojourn and Poezia viitorului Having been stripped of his administrative office by the new Brătianu cabinet, Macedonski faced financial difficulties, and was forced to move into a house on the outskirts of Bucharest, and later moved between houses in northern Bucharest. According to Călinescu, the poet continued to cultivate luxury and passionately invested in the decorative arts, although his source of income, other than the supposed assistance \\\"of [European] ruling houses\\\", remains a mystery.\",\n \"According to Călinescu, the poet continued to cultivate luxury and passionately invested in the decorative arts, although his source of income, other than the supposed assistance \\\"of [European] ruling houses\\\", remains a mystery. Arguing that Macedonski was \\\"always in need of money\\\" to use on his luxury items, poet Victor Eftimiu claimed: \\\"He did not shy away from sending emphatic notes to the potentates of his day [...], flattering some, threatening others.\",\n \"Arguing that Macedonski was \\\"always in need of money\\\" to use on his luxury items, poet Victor Eftimiu claimed: \\\"He did not shy away from sending emphatic notes to the potentates of his day [...], flattering some, threatening others. He would marry off or simply mate some of his disciples with aging and rich women, and then he would squeeze out their assets.\\\" Macedonski eventually left Romania in 1884, visiting Paris.\",\n \"Macedonski eventually left Romania in 1884, visiting Paris. Macedonski eventually left Romania in 1884, visiting Paris. On his way there, he passed through Craiova, where he met aspiring author Traian Demetrescu, whose works he had already hosted in Literatorul and who was to become his friend and protégé. Demetrescu later recalled being gripped by \\\"tremors of emotion\\\" upon first catching sight of Macedonski.\",\n \"Demetrescu later recalled being gripped by \\\"tremors of emotion\\\" upon first catching sight of Macedonski. In France, Macedonski set up contacts within the French literary environment, and began contributing to French or Francophone literary publications—including the Belgian Symbolist platforms La Wallonie and L'Élan littéraire. His collaboration with La Wallonie alongside Albert Mockel, Tudor Vianu believes, makes Alexandru Macedonski one in the original wave of European Symbolists. This adaptation to Symbolism also drew on his marked Francophilia, which in turn complemented his tendencies toward cosmopolitanism.\",\n \"This adaptation to Symbolism also drew on his marked Francophilia, which in turn complemented his tendencies toward cosmopolitanism. He became opposed to Carol I, who, in 1881, had been granted the Crown of the Romanian Kingdom. In addition to his admiration for Cuza and the 1848 Wallachian revolutionaries, the poet objected to the King's sympathy for France's main rival, the German Empire.\",\n \"In addition to his admiration for Cuza and the 1848 Wallachian revolutionaries, the poet objected to the King's sympathy for France's main rival, the German Empire. In January 1885, after having returned from the voyage, he announced his retirement from public life, claiming that German influence and its exponents at Junimea had \\\"conquered\\\" Romanian culture, and repeating his claim that Eminescu lacked value.\",\n \"In January 1885, after having returned from the voyage, he announced his retirement from public life, claiming that German influence and its exponents at Junimea had \\\"conquered\\\" Romanian culture, and repeating his claim that Eminescu lacked value. In the meantime, Literatorul went out of print, although new series were still published at irregular intervals until 1904 (when it ceased being published altogether).\",\n \"In the meantime, Literatorul went out of print, although new series were still published at irregular intervals until 1904 (when it ceased being published altogether). The magazine was reportedly hated by the public, causing Macedonski, Stoenescu, Florescu, Urechia and educator Anghel Demetriescu to try to revive it as Revista Literară (\\\"The Literary Review\\\", published for a few months in 1885).\",\n \"The magazine was reportedly hated by the public, causing Macedonski, Stoenescu, Florescu, Urechia and educator Anghel Demetriescu to try to revive it as Revista Literară (\\\"The Literary Review\\\", published for a few months in 1885). The poet attempted to establish other magazines, all of them short-lived, and, in 1887, handed for print his Naturalist novella Dramă banală (\\\"Banal Drama\\\") while completing one of the most revered episodes in the Nights series, Noaptea de mai (\\\"May Night\\\").\",\n \"The poet attempted to establish other magazines, all of them short-lived, and, in 1887, handed for print his Naturalist novella Dramă banală (\\\"Banal Drama\\\") while completing one of the most revered episodes in the Nights series, Noaptea de mai (\\\"May Night\\\"). Also in 1886, he worked on his other Naturalist novellas: Zi de august (\\\"August Day\\\"), Pe drum de poștă (\\\"On the Stagecoach Trail\\\"), Din carnetul unui dezertor (\\\"From the Notebook of a Deserter\\\"), Între cotețe (\\\"Amidst Hen Houses\\\") and the eponymous Nicu Dereanu.\",\n \"Also in 1886, he worked on his other Naturalist novellas: Zi de august (\\\"August Day\\\"), Pe drum de poștă (\\\"On the Stagecoach Trail\\\"), Din carnetul unui dezertor (\\\"From the Notebook of a Deserter\\\"), Între cotețe (\\\"Amidst Hen Houses\\\") and the eponymous Nicu Dereanu. By 1888, he was again sympathetic toward Blaremberg, whose dissident National Liberal faction had formed an alliance with the Conservatives, editing Stindardul Țărei (later Straja Țărei) as his supporting journal.\",\n \"By 1888, he was again sympathetic toward Blaremberg, whose dissident National Liberal faction had formed an alliance with the Conservatives, editing Stindardul Țărei (later Straja Țărei) as his supporting journal. However, late in the same year, he returned to the liberal mainstream, being assigned a weekly column in Românul newspaper. Two years later, he attempted to relaunch Literatorul under the leadership of liberal figure Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu, but the latter eventually settled for founding his own Revista Nouă.\",\n \"Two years later, he attempted to relaunch Literatorul under the leadership of liberal figure Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu, but the latter eventually settled for founding his own Revista Nouă. Around 1891, he saluted Junimeas own break with the Conservatives and its entry into politics at the Conservative-Constitutional Party, before offering an enthusiastic welcome to the 1892 Junimist agitation among university students.\",\n \"Around 1891, he saluted Junimeas own break with the Conservatives and its entry into politics at the Conservative-Constitutional Party, before offering an enthusiastic welcome to the 1892 Junimist agitation among university students. In 1894, he would speak in front of student crowds gathered at a political rally in University Square, and soon after made himself known for supporting the cause of ethnic Romanians and other underrepresented groups of Austria-Hungary. His literary thesis of the time was titled Poezia viitorului (\\\"The Poetry of the Future\\\").\",\n \"His literary thesis of the time was titled Poezia viitorului (\\\"The Poetry of the Future\\\"). It upheld Symbolist authors as the models to follow, while Macedonski personally began producing what he referred to as \\\"instrumentalist\\\" poems, composed around musical and onomatopoeic elements, and showing a preference for internal rhymes. Such an experimental approach was soon after parodied and ridiculed by Ion Luca Caragiale, who had by then affiliated and parted with Junimea, in his new Moftul Român magazine.\",\n \"Such an experimental approach was soon after parodied and ridiculed by Ion Luca Caragiale, who had by then affiliated and parted with Junimea, in his new Moftul Român magazine. The poet sought to reconcile with his rival, publicizing a claim that Caragiale was being unjustly ignored by the cultural establishment, but this attempt failed to mend relations between them, and the conflict escalated further.\",\n \"The poet sought to reconcile with his rival, publicizing a claim that Caragiale was being unjustly ignored by the cultural establishment, but this attempt failed to mend relations between them, and the conflict escalated further. While, in 1893, Literatorul hosted fragments of Thalassa in its Romanian-language version, the author also launched a daily, Lumina (\\\"The Light\\\").\",\n \"While, in 1893, Literatorul hosted fragments of Thalassa in its Romanian-language version, the author also launched a daily, Lumina (\\\"The Light\\\"). It was also at that stage that Alexandru Macedonski associated with Cincinat Pavelescu, the noted epigrammarian, who joined him in editing Literatorul, and with whom he co-authored the 1893 verse tragedy depicting the Biblical hero Saul, and named after him. Although showcased by the National Theater with star actor Constantin Nottara in the title role, it failed to register success with the public.\",\n \"Although showcased by the National Theater with star actor Constantin Nottara in the title role, it failed to register success with the public. Two years later, the two Literatorul editors made headlines as pioneers of cycling. An enthusiastic promoter of the sport, Macedonski joined fellow poet Constantin Cantilli on a marathon, pedaling from Bucharest across the border into Austria-Hungary, all the way down to Brașov.\",\n \"An enthusiastic promoter of the sport, Macedonski joined fellow poet Constantin Cantilli on a marathon, pedaling from Bucharest across the border into Austria-Hungary, all the way down to Brașov. Late 1890s Macedonski also returned with a new volume of poetry, Excelsior (consecutive editions in 1895 and 1896), and founded Liga Ortodoxă (\\\"The Orthodox League\\\"), a magazine noted for hosting the debut of Tudor Arghezi, later one of the most celebrated figures in Romanian literature.\",\n \"Late 1890s Macedonski also returned with a new volume of poetry, Excelsior (consecutive editions in 1895 and 1896), and founded Liga Ortodoxă (\\\"The Orthodox League\\\"), a magazine noted for hosting the debut of Tudor Arghezi, later one of the most celebrated figures in Romanian literature. Macedonski commended his new protégé for reaching \\\"the summit of poetry and art\\\" at \\\"an age when I was still prattling verses\\\".\",\n \"Macedonski commended his new protégé for reaching \\\"the summit of poetry and art\\\" at \\\"an age when I was still prattling verses\\\". Liga Ortodoxă also hosted articles against Caragiale, which Macedonski signed with the pseudonym Sallustiu (\\\"Sallustius\\\"). The magazine was additional proof of Macedonski's return to conservatism, and largely dedicated to defending the cause of Romanian Orthodox Metropolitan Ghenadie, deposed by the Romanian Synod following a political scandal. It defended Ghenadie up until he chose to resign, and subsequently went out of print.\",\n \"It defended Ghenadie up until he chose to resign, and subsequently went out of print. Macedonski was shocked to note that Ghenadie had given up his own defense. In 1895, his Casa cu nr. 10 was translated into French by the Journal des Débats, whose editors reportedly found it picturesque. Two years later, Macedonski himself published French-language translations of his earlier poetry under the title Bronzes, a volume prefaced by his disciple, the critic and promoter Alexandru Bogdan-Pitești.\",\n \"Two years later, Macedonski himself published French-language translations of his earlier poetry under the title Bronzes, a volume prefaced by his disciple, the critic and promoter Alexandru Bogdan-Pitești. Although it was positively reviewed by Mercure de France magazine, Bronzes was largely unnoticed by the French audience, a fact which Tudor Vianu attributes to Bogdan-Pitești's lack of qualification for the cultural mission Macedonski had trusted him with.\",\n \"Although it was positively reviewed by Mercure de France magazine, Bronzes was largely unnoticed by the French audience, a fact which Tudor Vianu attributes to Bogdan-Pitești's lack of qualification for the cultural mission Macedonski had trusted him with. By that time, his circle had come to be frequented with regularity by Bogdan-Pitești's friend and collaborator, the celebrated painter Ștefan Luchian, who was in the Symbolist and Art Nouveau stage of his career.\",\n \"By that time, his circle had come to be frequented with regularity by Bogdan-Pitești's friend and collaborator, the celebrated painter Ștefan Luchian, who was in the Symbolist and Art Nouveau stage of his career. By 1898, Macedonski was again facing financial difficulties, and his collaborators resorted to organizing a fundraiser in his honor. His rejection of the Orthodox establishment was documented by his political tract, published that year as . Between that time and 1900, he focused on researching esoteric, occult and pseudoscientific subjects.\",\n \"Between that time and 1900, he focused on researching esoteric, occult and pseudoscientific subjects. Traian Demetrescu, who recorded his visits with Macedonski, recalled his former mentor being opposed to his positivist take on science, claiming to explain the workings of the Universe in \\\"a different way\\\", through \\\"imagination\\\", but also taking an interest in Camille Flammarion's astronomy studies.\",\n \"Traian Demetrescu, who recorded his visits with Macedonski, recalled his former mentor being opposed to his positivist take on science, claiming to explain the workings of the Universe in \\\"a different way\\\", through \\\"imagination\\\", but also taking an interest in Camille Flammarion's astronomy studies. Macedonski was determined to interpret death through parapsychological means, and, in 1900, conferenced at the Atheneum on the subject Sufletul și viața viitoare (\\\"The Soul and the Coming Life\\\").\",\n \"Macedonski was determined to interpret death through parapsychological means, and, in 1900, conferenced at the Atheneum on the subject Sufletul și viața viitoare (\\\"The Soul and the Coming Life\\\"). The focal point of his vision was that man could voluntarily stave off death with words and gestures, a concept he elaborated upon in his later articles.\",\n \"The focal point of his vision was that man could voluntarily stave off death with words and gestures, a concept he elaborated upon in his later articles. In one such piece, Macedonski argued: \\\"man has the power [...] to compact the energy currents known as thoughts to the point where he changes them, according to his own will, into objects or soul-bearing creatures.\\\" He also attempted to build a machine for extinguishing chimney fires.\",\n \"He also attempted to build a machine for extinguishing chimney fires. Later, Nikita Macedonski registered the invention of nacre-treated paper, which is sometimes attributed to his father. Caion scandal and expatriation The few issues of Literatorul that were printed in 1899-1900 saw the circle being joined by the young Symbolist poet Ștefan Petică. In 1902, he published Cartea de aur (\\\"The Golden Book\\\"), comprising his sketch stories and novellas. In parallel, Macedonski returned to the public scene, founding Forța Morală magazine.\",\n \"In parallel, Macedonski returned to the public scene, founding Forța Morală magazine. It was through this venue that he began responding to Ion Luca Caragiale's earlier attacks. This he did by hosting the articles of aspiring journalist Constantin Al. Ionescu-Caion, who accused Caragiale of having plagiarized a Hungarian author by the name of Kemény in his tragedy play Năpasta. Kemény turned out to be non-existent.\",\n \"Kemény turned out to be non-existent. Kemény turned out to be non-existent. According to Vianu, Macedonski had no prior knowledge of the fraud, but had also been \\\"blinded\\\" by his resentments instead of displaying \\\"discernment\\\", and had even showed evidence of \\\"insanity\\\". Most in Macedonski's own series of anti-Caragiale articles were unsigned, or signed with pseudonyms such as Luciliu (\\\"Gaius Lucilius\\\").\",\n \"Most in Macedonski's own series of anti-Caragiale articles were unsigned, or signed with pseudonyms such as Luciliu (\\\"Gaius Lucilius\\\"). Like in the case of Eminescu's conflict with Macedonski, the polemic enlisted a negative response from the public. The poet's associate Th. M. Stoenescu convinced himself that Caragiale was being framed, and refused to allow Revista Literară to be used for endorsing Caion, which caused Macedonski to shun him.\",\n \"M. Stoenescu convinced himself that Caragiale was being framed, and refused to allow Revista Literară to be used for endorsing Caion, which caused Macedonski to shun him. Macedonski refused to withdraw his support for the cause even after Caragiale sued Caion, but Forța Morală soon went out of print. Before it did so, the journal hosted some of Macedonski's most renowned poems, including Lewki and Noaptea de decemvrie (\\\"December Night\\\"), together with his article on Remy de Gourmont's thoughts on poetics.\",\n \"Before it did so, the journal hosted some of Macedonski's most renowned poems, including Lewki and Noaptea de decemvrie (\\\"December Night\\\"), together with his article on Remy de Gourmont's thoughts on poetics. In his article of 1903, titled (\\\"Toward Occultism. Later Orientations toward Theosophy and Social Philosophy\\\"), the poet envisaged making his interest in esoteric subjects the basis of a new literary movement.\",\n \"Later Orientations toward Theosophy and Social Philosophy\\\"), the poet envisaged making his interest in esoteric subjects the basis of a new literary movement. Also that year, poet George Bacovia began attending the literary circle, and gave a reading of his celebrated Plumb poem, being welcomed by Macedonski with a flattering epigram. Macedonski's series of short-lived periodicals resumed in 1905, when he founded Le Beau Danube Bleu (French for \\\"The Beautiful Blue Danube\\\") and Liga Conservatoare (\\\"The Conservative League\\\").\",\n \"Macedonski's series of short-lived periodicals resumed in 1905, when he founded Le Beau Danube Bleu (French for \\\"The Beautiful Blue Danube\\\") and Liga Conservatoare (\\\"The Conservative League\\\"). He registered more success in 1906, when his Thalassa was published, as Le Calvaire de feu, by Edward Sansot's Paris-based publishing house. This followed intense self-promotion within the French literary environment, as well as advertisements in the French press.\",\n \"This followed intense self-promotion within the French literary environment, as well as advertisements in the French press. Part of this involved Macedonski sending his book to be reviewed by Émile Faguet, Jean Mounet-Sully, Joséphin Péladan, Pierre Quillard and Jean Richepin, who replied with what Vianu deems \\\"the politeness of circumstance.\\\" The volume was nonetheless favorably reviewed by the prestigious magazines Mercure de France and Gil Blas.\",\n \"The volume was nonetheless favorably reviewed by the prestigious magazines Mercure de France and Gil Blas. Also in 1906, La Revue Musicale published his interview with Combarieu, through which the latter aimed to verify supposed connections between literary inspiration and musical sensitivity. By 1907, he was concentrating on experiments in physics, and eventually publicized his claim to have discovered that light does not travel through vacuum. He sent a paper on astronomy subjects to be reviewed by the Société Astronomique de France, of which he subsequently became a member.\",\n \"He sent a paper on astronomy subjects to be reviewed by the Société Astronomique de France, of which he subsequently became a member. The same year, he drafted the plan for a world government, announcing that he had found sympathy for the cause throughout Europe. Macedonski also introduced himself to an Italophone public, when two of his sonnets were published by Poesia, the magazine of Futurist theorist Filippo Tommaso Marinetti. Between 1910 and 1912, Macedonski was again in Paris.\",\n \"Between 1910 and 1912, Macedonski was again in Paris. Seeking to withdraw himself from Romania's public life due to what he perceived as injustice, he had by then completed work on the French-language tragicomedy Le Fou? (\\\"The Madman? \\\"), which was only published after his death.\",\n \"\\\"), which was only published after his death. He was actively seeking to establish his reputation in French theater, reading his new play to a circle which included Louis de Gonzague Frick and Florian-Parmentier, while, at home, newspapers reported rumors that his work was going to be staged by Sarah Bernhardt's company. His efforts were largely fruitless, and, accompanied by his son Alexis, the poet left France, spent some time in Italy, and eventually returned to Romania.\",\n \"His efforts were largely fruitless, and, accompanied by his son Alexis, the poet left France, spent some time in Italy, and eventually returned to Romania. Passing through the German Empire, he learned of Ion Luca Caragiale's sudden death, and wrote Adevărul daily an open letter, which showed that he had come to revise his stance, notably comparing the deceased author's style and legacy to those of Mark Twain.\",\n \"Passing through the German Empire, he learned of Ion Luca Caragiale's sudden death, and wrote Adevărul daily an open letter, which showed that he had come to revise his stance, notably comparing the deceased author's style and legacy to those of Mark Twain. During Macedonski's absence, his style and work had come to be reviewed more positively, in particular by the young authors I. Dragoslav, Horia Furtună, Ion Pillat, Anastasie Mândru, Al.\",\n \"During Macedonski's absence, his style and work had come to be reviewed more positively, in particular by the young authors I. Dragoslav, Horia Furtună, Ion Pillat, Anastasie Mândru, Al. T. Stamatiad, as well as by post-Junimist critic Mihail Dragomirescu, who offered Macedonski a good reception in his Convorbiri Critice magazine. Tudor Vianu, who cites contemporary statements by Dragoslav, concludes that, upon arrival, Macedonski was enthusiastically received by a public who had missed him.\",\n \"Tudor Vianu, who cites contemporary statements by Dragoslav, concludes that, upon arrival, Macedonski was enthusiastically received by a public who had missed him. Also in 1912, one of his poems was published as an homage by Simbolul, a magazine published by the young and radical Symbolists Tristan Tzara, Ion Vinea and Marcel Janco. Around that time, Macedonski also collaborated with the Iași-based moderate Symbolist magazine Versuri și Proză.\",\n \"Around that time, Macedonski also collaborated with the Iași-based moderate Symbolist magazine Versuri și Proză. Polemics surrounding his case nevertheless continued: in late 1912, as part of a National Theater adaptation of Alphonse Daudet's Sapho, actor Cazimir Belcot borrowed from Macedonski's appearance and mannerisms to portray a failure. Return and World War I years Macedonski and his protégés had become regular frequenters of Bucharest cafés.\",\n \"Return and World War I years Macedonski and his protégés had become regular frequenters of Bucharest cafés. Having a table permanently reserved for him at Imperial Hotel's Kübler Coffeehouse, he was later a presence in two other such establishments: High-Life and Terasa Oteteleșanu. He is said to have spent part of his time at Kübler loudly mocking the traditionalist poets who gathered at an opposite table.\",\n \"He is said to have spent part of his time at Kübler loudly mocking the traditionalist poets who gathered at an opposite table. Meanwhile, the poet's literary club, set up at his house in Dorobanți quarter, had come to resemble a mystical circle, over which he held magisterial command. Vianu, who visited the poet together with Pillat, compares this atmosphere with those created by other \\\"mystics and magi of poetry\\\" (citing as examples Joséphin Péladan, Louis-Nicolas Ménard, Stéphane Mallarmé and Stefan George).\",\n \"Vianu, who visited the poet together with Pillat, compares this atmosphere with those created by other \\\"mystics and magi of poetry\\\" (citing as examples Joséphin Péladan, Louis-Nicolas Ménard, Stéphane Mallarmé and Stefan George). The hall where seances were hosted was only lit by candles, and the tables were covered in red fabric. Macedonski himself was seated on a throne designed by Alexis, and adopted a dominant pose. The apparent secrecy and the initiation rites performed on new members were purportedly inspired by Rosicrucianism and the Freemasonry.\",\n \"The apparent secrecy and the initiation rites performed on new members were purportedly inspired by Rosicrucianism and the Freemasonry. By then, Macedonski was rewarding his followers' poems with false gemstones. The poet founded Revista Critică (\\\"The Critical Review\\\"), which again closed after a short while, and issued the poetry volume Flori sacre (\\\"Sacred Flowers\\\").\",\n \"The poet founded Revista Critică (\\\"The Critical Review\\\"), which again closed after a short while, and issued the poetry volume Flori sacre (\\\"Sacred Flowers\\\"). Grouping his Forța Morală poems and older pieces, it was dedicated to his new generation of followers, whom Macedonski's preface referred to as \\\"the new Romania.\\\" He continued to hope that Le Fou?\",\n \"He continued to hope that Le Fou? He continued to hope that Le Fou? was going to be staged in France, especially after he received some encouragement in the form of articles in Mercure de France and Journal des Débats, but was confronted with the general public's indifference. In 1914, Thalassa was published in a non-definitive version by Constantin Banu's magazine Flacăra, which sought to revive overall interest in his work.\",\n \"In 1914, Thalassa was published in a non-definitive version by Constantin Banu's magazine Flacăra, which sought to revive overall interest in his work. At a French Red Cross conference in September, Macedonski paid his final public homage to France, which had just become entangled in World War I.\",\n \"At a French Red Cross conference in September, Macedonski paid his final public homage to France, which had just become entangled in World War I. It was also in 1914 that Macedonski commissioned for print his very first rondels and completed work on a tragedy play about Renaissance poet Dante Aligheri—known as La Mort de Dante in its French original, and Moartea lui Dante in the secondary Romanian version (both meaning \\\"Dante's Death\\\").\",\n \"It was also in 1914 that Macedonski commissioned for print his very first rondels and completed work on a tragedy play about Renaissance poet Dante Aligheri—known as La Mort de Dante in its French original, and Moartea lui Dante in the secondary Romanian version (both meaning \\\"Dante's Death\\\"). The aging poet was by then building connections with the local art scene: together with artist Alexandru Severin, he created (and probably presided over) Cenaclul idealist (\\\"The Idealist Club\\\"), which included Symbolist artists and was placed under the honorary patronage of King Carol.\",\n \"The aging poet was by then building connections with the local art scene: together with artist Alexandru Severin, he created (and probably presided over) Cenaclul idealist (\\\"The Idealist Club\\\"), which included Symbolist artists and was placed under the honorary patronage of King Carol. 1916 was also the year when Romania abandoned her neutrality and, under a National Liberal government, rallied with the Entente Powers.\",\n \"1916 was also the year when Romania abandoned her neutrality and, under a National Liberal government, rallied with the Entente Powers. During the neutrality period, Macedonski had shed his lifelong Francophilia to join the Germanophiles, who wanted to see Romanian participation on the Central Powers' side. In 1915, he issued the journal Cuvântul Meu (\\\"My Word\\\").\",\n \"In 1915, he issued the journal Cuvântul Meu (\\\"My Word\\\"). Entirely written by him, it published ten consecutive issues before going bankrupt, and notably lashed out against France for being \\\"bourgeois\\\" and \\\"lawyer-filled\\\", demanding from Romania not to get involved in the conflict. Commentators and researchers of his work have declared themselves puzzled by this change in allegiance. Macedonski further alienated public opinion during the Romanian Campaign, when the Central Powers armies entered southern Romania and occupied Bucharest.\",\n \"Macedonski further alienated public opinion during the Romanian Campaign, when the Central Powers armies entered southern Romania and occupied Bucharest. Alexis was drafted and became a war artist, but Macedonski Sr, who received formal protection from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bucharest, chose to stay behind while the authorities and many ordinary citizens relocated to Iași, where resistance was still being organized. His stance was interpreted as collaborationism by his critics. However, Macedonski reportedly faced extreme poverty throughout the occupation.\",\n \"However, Macedonski reportedly faced extreme poverty throughout the occupation. Having by then begun to attend the circle of Alexandru Bogdan-Pitești, his promoter and fellow Germanophile, he was once rewarded by the latter with a turkey filled with gold coins. Late polemics, illness and death Literatorul resumed print in June 1918, once Romania capitulated to the Central Powers under the Treaty of Bucharest.\",\n \"Late polemics, illness and death Literatorul resumed print in June 1918, once Romania capitulated to the Central Powers under the Treaty of Bucharest. A controversial incident occurred soon afterwards, when, going against the counsel of his friend and collaborator Stamatiad, Macedonski signed a Literatorul article where the German military administrator August von Mackensen, who was about to lead his troops out of Romania, was presented in a positive light.\",\n \"A controversial incident occurred soon afterwards, when, going against the counsel of his friend and collaborator Stamatiad, Macedonski signed a Literatorul article where the German military administrator August von Mackensen, who was about to lead his troops out of Romania, was presented in a positive light. In a manner deemed \\\"excessive\\\" by historian Lucian Boia, the Romanian writer was paying homage not just to Mackensen, but also, indirectly, to German Emperor Wilhelm II and the Reichsheer.\",\n \"In a manner deemed \\\"excessive\\\" by historian Lucian Boia, the Romanian writer was paying homage not just to Mackensen, but also, indirectly, to German Emperor Wilhelm II and the Reichsheer. Soon after reading the piece, Romanian Academy member and fellow Symbolist promoter Ovid Densusianu withdrew his own nomination of Macedonski for an Academy seat.\",\n \"Soon after reading the piece, Romanian Academy member and fellow Symbolist promoter Ovid Densusianu withdrew his own nomination of Macedonski for an Academy seat. During summer, Macedonski also joined the group of public figures who saluted the senior Conservative Germanophile Petre P. Carp (deeming Carp \\\"the veteran of character, honesty and Romanianism\\\"), and, in September, joined Ioan Slavici and Gala Galaction as a contributor to the occupation magazine Rumänien in Wort und Bild, where he prophesied an anti-French \\\"political renaissance\\\" of Romania.\",\n \"During summer, Macedonski also joined the group of public figures who saluted the senior Conservative Germanophile Petre P. Carp (deeming Carp \\\"the veteran of character, honesty and Romanianism\\\"), and, in September, joined Ioan Slavici and Gala Galaction as a contributor to the occupation magazine Rumänien in Wort und Bild, where he prophesied an anti-French \\\"political renaissance\\\" of Romania. Alexandru Macedonski faced problems after the Romanian government resumed its control over Bucharest, and during the early years of Greater Romania.\",\n \"Alexandru Macedonski faced problems after the Romanian government resumed its control over Bucharest, and during the early years of Greater Romania. What followed the Mackensen article, Vianu claims, was Macedonski's bellum contra omnes (\\\"war against all\\\").\",\n \"What followed the Mackensen article, Vianu claims, was Macedonski's bellum contra omnes (\\\"war against all\\\"). However, the poet made efforts to accommodate himself with the triumphal return of the Iași authorities: in December 1918, Literatorul celebrated the extension of Romanian rule \\\"from the Tisza to the Dniester\\\" as a success of the National Liberals, paying homage to Francophile political leaders Ion I. C. Brătianu and Take Ionescu.\",\n \"However, the poet made efforts to accommodate himself with the triumphal return of the Iași authorities: in December 1918, Literatorul celebrated the extension of Romanian rule \\\"from the Tisza to the Dniester\\\" as a success of the National Liberals, paying homage to Francophile political leaders Ion I. C. Brătianu and Take Ionescu. Macedonski also envisaged running in the 1918 election for a seat in the new Parliament (which was supposed to vote a document to replace the 1866 Constitution as the organic law), but never registered his candidature.\",\n \"Macedonski also envisaged running in the 1918 election for a seat in the new Parliament (which was supposed to vote a document to replace the 1866 Constitution as the organic law), but never registered his candidature. According to Vianu, he had intended to create a joke political party, the \\\"intellectual group\\\", whose other member was an unnamed coffeehouse acquaintance of his. Literatorul was revived for a final time in 1919. His health deteriorated from heart disease, which is described by Vianu as an effect of constant smoking.\",\n \"His health deteriorated from heart disease, which is described by Vianu as an effect of constant smoking. By that stage, Vianu recalls, Macedonski also had problems coming to terms with his age. His last anthumous work was the pamphlet Zaherlina (named after the Romanian version of \\\"Zacherlin\\\"; also known as Zacherlina or Zacherlina în continuare, \\\"Zacherlin Contd. \\\"), completed in 1919 and published the following year. It notably attacked Densusianu, who had become Macedonski's personal enemy.\",\n \"It notably attacked Densusianu, who had become Macedonski's personal enemy. Some other polemical texts he had authored late in life saw print only after his death, under the title Mustrări postume către o generație neînțelegătoare (\\\"Posthumous Reprimands for an Obtuse Generation\\\"). 1920 was also the year when the People's Party cabinet attempted to pension him off from his office at the Historical Monuments Commission, but the publicized protest of Macedonski's fellow writers in Bucharest made it reconsider.\",\n \"1920 was also the year when the People's Party cabinet attempted to pension him off from his office at the Historical Monuments Commission, but the publicized protest of Macedonski's fellow writers in Bucharest made it reconsider. Confined to his home by illness and old age, Macedonski was still writing poems, some of which later known as his Ultima verba (\\\"Last Words\\\"). The writer died on 24 November, at three o'clock in the afternoon.\",\n \"The writer died on 24 November, at three o'clock in the afternoon. Having come to develop an addiction to floral fragrances, he was inhaling a rose petal extract during his last hours. He was buried in Bucharest's Bellu. Work General characteristics Although Alexandru Macedonski frequently changed his style and views on literary matters, a number of constants have been traced throughout his work.\",\n \"Work General characteristics Although Alexandru Macedonski frequently changed his style and views on literary matters, a number of constants have been traced throughout his work. Thus, a common perception is that his literature had a strongly visual aspect, the notion being condensed in Cincinat Pavelescu's definition of Macedonski: \\\"Poet, therefore painter; painter, therefore poet.\\\" Traian Demetrescu too recalled that his mentor had been dreaming of becoming a visual artist, and had eventually settled for turning his son Alexis into one.\",\n \"Traian Demetrescu too recalled that his mentor had been dreaming of becoming a visual artist, and had eventually settled for turning his son Alexis into one. This pictorial approach to writing created parallels between Macedonski and his traditionalist contemporaries Vasile Alecsandri and Barbu Ștefănescu Delavrancea. Following the tenets of Dimitrie Bolintineanu and Théophile Gautier, the writer repeatedly called for purity in versification, and upheld it as an essential requirement, while progressively seeking to verify the quality of his poetry through phonaesthetics.\",\n \"Following the tenets of Dimitrie Bolintineanu and Théophile Gautier, the writer repeatedly called for purity in versification, and upheld it as an essential requirement, while progressively seeking to verify the quality of his poetry through phonaesthetics. A characteristic of Macedonski's style is his inventive use of Romanian. Initially influenced by Ion Heliade Rădulescu's introduction of Italian-based words to the Romanian lexis, Macedonski himself later infused poetic language with a large array of neologisms from several Romance sources.\",\n \"Initially influenced by Ion Heliade Rădulescu's introduction of Italian-based words to the Romanian lexis, Macedonski himself later infused poetic language with a large array of neologisms from several Romance sources. Likewise, Vianu notes, Macedonski had a tendency for comparing nature with the artificial, the result of this being a \\\"document\\\" of his values. Macedonski's language alternated neologisms with barbarisms, many of which were coined by him personally.\",\n \"Macedonski's language alternated neologisms with barbarisms, many of which were coined by him personally. They include claviculat (\\\"clavicled\\\", applied to a shoulder), împălăriată (\\\"enhatted\\\", used to define a crowd of hat-wearing tourists), and ureichii (instead of urechii, \\\"to the ear\\\" or \\\"of the ear\\\"). His narratives nevertheless take an interest in recording direct speech, used as a method of characterization.\",\n \"His narratives nevertheless take an interest in recording direct speech, used as a method of characterization. However, Călinescu criticizes Macedonski for using a language which, \\\"although grammatically correct [...], seems to have been learned only recently\\\", as well as for not following other Romanian writers in creating a lasting poetic style. The writer's belief in the effects of sheer willpower, notably present in his comments on esoteric subjects, was itself a defining characteristic of his perspective on literature.\",\n \"The writer's belief in the effects of sheer willpower, notably present in his comments on esoteric subjects, was itself a defining characteristic of his perspective on literature. In 1882, he wrote about progression in one's career: \\\"We are all poets at birth, but only those who shape themselves through study will become poets.\\\"\",\n \"In 1882, he wrote about progression in one's career: \\\"We are all poets at birth, but only those who shape themselves through study will become poets.\\\" Vianu, who notes Macedonski's \\\"exclusivity\\\" and \\\"fanaticism\\\", places such statements in connection with Macedonski's personal ambition, \\\"pride\\\" and \\\"the willingness to carry out ventured actions [...], in stated opposition with the entire surrounding and with contempt for the foreseeable reaction.\\\"\",\n \"Vianu, who notes Macedonski's \\\"exclusivity\\\" and \\\"fanaticism\\\", places such statements in connection with Macedonski's personal ambition, \\\"pride\\\" and \\\"the willingness to carry out ventured actions [...], in stated opposition with the entire surrounding and with contempt for the foreseeable reaction.\\\" Almost all periods of Macedonski's work reflect, in whole or in part, his public persona and the polemics he was involved in.\",\n \"Almost all periods of Macedonski's work reflect, in whole or in part, his public persona and the polemics he was involved in. George Călinescu's emits a verdict on the relation between his lifetime notoriety and the public's actual awareness of his work: \\\"Macedonski [was] a poet well-known for being an unknown poet.\\\"\",\n \"George Călinescu's emits a verdict on the relation between his lifetime notoriety and the public's actual awareness of his work: \\\"Macedonski [was] a poet well-known for being an unknown poet.\\\" According to literary critic Matei Călinescu, the innovative aspects of his impact on Romanian literature were not as much related to his \\\"literary ideology\\\", as much as to his \\\"contradictory spirit\\\" and \\\"essential nonconformism\\\".\",\n \"According to literary critic Matei Călinescu, the innovative aspects of his impact on Romanian literature were not as much related to his \\\"literary ideology\\\", as much as to his \\\"contradictory spirit\\\" and \\\"essential nonconformism\\\". However, literary researcher Adrian Marino proposes that Macedonski was one of the first modern authors to illustrate the importance of \\\"dialectic unity\\\" through his views on art, in particular by having argued that poetry needed to be driven by \\\"an idea\\\".\",\n \"However, literary researcher Adrian Marino proposes that Macedonski was one of the first modern authors to illustrate the importance of \\\"dialectic unity\\\" through his views on art, in particular by having argued that poetry needed to be driven by \\\"an idea\\\". Having theorized once, while questioning Junimist rigor, that \\\"the logic of poetry is absurdity itself [italics in the original]\\\", the poet also said: \\\"Poetry is the chaos of spirit and matter, of the cries of distress and mad laughter.\",\n \"Having theorized once, while questioning Junimist rigor, that \\\"the logic of poetry is absurdity itself [italics in the original]\\\", the poet also said: \\\"Poetry is the chaos of spirit and matter, of the cries of distress and mad laughter. From the sublime to the trivial, that is what it should be.\\\" He later revised part of this verdict, and, making explicit his adoption of aestheticism, spoke against trivial subjects and in favor of the sublime.\",\n \"He later revised part of this verdict, and, making explicit his adoption of aestheticism, spoke against trivial subjects and in favor of the sublime. While Macedonski also discarded the concept of \\\"social poetry\\\" not long after postulating it, its spirit, Tudor Vianu believes, can still be found in his later contributions. This, the critic notes, was owed to his \\\"social temperament\\\", whose \\\"fundamental experience is that of the social.\\\"\",\n \"This, the critic notes, was owed to his \\\"social temperament\\\", whose \\\"fundamental experience is that of the social.\\\" Discussing this sociable and extrovert character, other critics see in the poet's life and work the imprint of \\\"quixotism\\\". Also according to Vianu, this contrasted with Macedonski's failures in communicating with the public, an experience which made him \\\"misanthropic\\\" and contributed to his ultimate vision of death as freedom.\",\n \"Also according to Vianu, this contrasted with Macedonski's failures in communicating with the public, an experience which made him \\\"misanthropic\\\" and contributed to his ultimate vision of death as freedom. Literary historian Pompiliu Constantinescu concluded: \\\"Macedonski could not resign; his one martyrdom was for Art, as the sole liberation from a tormented life.\\\" Other commentators have defined the poet's perspective on life as a result of \\\"neurosis\\\".\",\n \"Other commentators have defined the poet's perspective on life as a result of \\\"neurosis\\\". In Vianu's perspective, Macedonski's stance is dominated by a mixture of nostalgia, sensuality, lugubrious-grotesque imagery, and \\\"the lack of bashfulness for antisocial sentiments\\\" which compliments his sarcasm.\",\n \"In Vianu's perspective, Macedonski's stance is dominated by a mixture of nostalgia, sensuality, lugubrious-grotesque imagery, and \\\"the lack of bashfulness for antisocial sentiments\\\" which compliments his sarcasm. In respect to the latter characteristic, Vianu notes \\\"no one in Romanian literature has laughed the same way as Macedonski\\\", whereas critic Ștefan Cazimir argues: \\\"[Macedonski was] lacking the sense of relativity in principles, and implicitly a sense of humor.\\\"\",\n \"In respect to the latter characteristic, Vianu notes \\\"no one in Romanian literature has laughed the same way as Macedonski\\\", whereas critic Ștefan Cazimir argues: \\\"[Macedonski was] lacking the sense of relativity in principles, and implicitly a sense of humor.\\\" Cazimir adds: \\\"Only when he aged did [Macedonski] learn to smile\\\".\",\n \"Cazimir adds: \\\"Only when he aged did [Macedonski] learn to smile\\\". George Călinescu himself believes Macedonski to have been \\\"fundamentally a spiritual man with lots of humor\\\", speculating that he was able to see the \\\"uselessness\\\" of his own scientific ventures. Critics note that, while Macedonski progressed from one stage to the other, his work fluctuated between artistic accomplishment and mediocrity.\",\n \"Critics note that, while Macedonski progressed from one stage to the other, his work fluctuated between artistic accomplishment and mediocrity. Tudor Vianu believes \\\"failure in reaching originality\\\" and reliance on \\\"soppy-conventional attributes of the day\\\" to be especially evident wherever Macedonski tried to emulate epic poetry. He also notes that Macedonski's love-themed pieces \\\"cannot be listed among [his] most fortunate\\\". At his best, commentators note, he was one of the Romanian literature's classics.\",\n \"At his best, commentators note, he was one of the Romanian literature's classics. Macedonski is thus perceived as the author second only to Eminescu, and as his ideal counterpart—a relation Vianu describes as \\\"the internal dualism [confronting] two familiar gods\\\". Various critics have compared Eminescu's poetic discourse with that of the Symbolist leader, concluding that the two poets often display very similar attitudes.\",\n \"Various critics have compared Eminescu's poetic discourse with that of the Symbolist leader, concluding that the two poets often display very similar attitudes. Călinescu writes that, while Macedonski's work is largely inferior to that of his Junimist rival, it forms the best \\\"reply\\\" ever conceived within their common setting. Prima verba and other early works With Ion Catina, Vasile Păun and Grigore H. Grandea, young Macedonski belonged to late Romanian Romanticism, part of a Neoromantic generation which had for its mentors Heliade Rădulescu and Bolintineanu.\",\n \"Prima verba and other early works With Ion Catina, Vasile Păun and Grigore H. Grandea, young Macedonski belonged to late Romanian Romanticism, part of a Neoromantic generation which had for its mentors Heliade Rădulescu and Bolintineanu. Other early influences were Pierre-Jean de Béranger and Gottfried August Bürger, together with Romanian folklore, motifs from them being adapted by Macedonski into pastorals and ballades of ca. 1870–1880.\",\n \"1870–1880. 1870–1880. The imprint of Romanticism and such other sources was evident in Prima verba, which groups pieces that Macedonski authored in his early youth, the earliest of them being written when he was just twelve. Critics generally argue that the volume is without value. The poems display his rebellious attitude, self-victimization and strong reliance on autobiographical elements, centering on such episodes as the death of his father.\",\n \"The poems display his rebellious attitude, self-victimization and strong reliance on autobiographical elements, centering on such episodes as the death of his father. In one piece inspired by the ideology of Heliade Rădulescu, Vianu notes, Macedonski sings \\\"the French Revolution's love for freedom and equality, otherwise proclaimed from his nobleman's perspective.\\\" It reads: In parallel, Macedonski used erotic themes, completing a series which, although written on the model of idylls, is noted for its brute details of sexual exploits.\",\n \"It reads: In parallel, Macedonski used erotic themes, completing a series which, although written on the model of idylls, is noted for its brute details of sexual exploits. The poet probably acknowledged that posterity would reject them, and did not republish them in any of his collected poetry volumes. During his time at Oltul (1873–1875), Macedonski published a series of poems, most of which were not featured in definitive editions of his work.\",\n \"During his time at Oltul (1873–1875), Macedonski published a series of poems, most of which were not featured in definitive editions of his work. In addition to odes written in the Italian-based version of Romanian, it includes lyrics which satirize Carol I without mentioning his name. Following his arrest, Macedonski also completed Celula mea de la Văcărești (\\\"My Cell in Văcărești\\\"), which shows his attempt to joke about the situation.\",\n \"Following his arrest, Macedonski also completed Celula mea de la Văcărești (\\\"My Cell in Văcărești\\\"), which shows his attempt to joke about the situation. In contrast to this series, some of the pieces written during Macedonski's time in the Budjak and Northern Dobruja display a detachment from contemporary themes. At that stage, he was especially inspired by Lord Byron, whom Vianu calls \\\"the sovereign poet of [Macedonski's] youth.\\\"\",\n \"At that stage, he was especially inspired by Lord Byron, whom Vianu calls \\\"the sovereign poet of [Macedonski's] youth.\\\" In Calul arabului, Macedonski explores exotic and Levantine settings, using symbols which announce George Coșbuc's El-Zorab, and the Venetian-themed Ithalo, which centers on episodes of betrayal and murder. Others were epic and patriotic in tone, with subjects such as Romanian victories in the Russo-Turkish War or the Imperial Roman sites along the Danube.\",\n \"Others were epic and patriotic in tone, with subjects such as Romanian victories in the Russo-Turkish War or the Imperial Roman sites along the Danube. One of these pieces, titled Hinov after the village and stone quarry in Rasova, gives Macedonski a claim to being the first modern European poet to have used free verse, ahead of the French Symbolist Gustave Kahn.\",\n \"One of these pieces, titled Hinov after the village and stone quarry in Rasova, gives Macedonski a claim to being the first modern European poet to have used free verse, ahead of the French Symbolist Gustave Kahn. Macedonski himself later voiced the claim, and referred to such a technique as \\\"symphonic verse\\\", \\\"proteic verse\\\", or, in honor of composer Richard Wagner, \\\"Wagnerian verse\\\". While editing Oltul, Macedonski also completed his first prose writings.\",\n \"While editing Oltul, Macedonski also completed his first prose writings. These were the travel account Pompeia și Sorento (\\\"Pompeia and Sorento\\\", 1874) and a prison-themed story described by Vianu as \\\"a tearjerker\\\", titled Câinele din Văcărești (\\\"The Dog in Văcărești\\\", 1875). These were later complemented by other travel works, which critic Mihai Zamfir likens to the verbal experiments of Impressionist literature, pioneering in the Romanian prose poetry genre.\",\n \"These were later complemented by other travel works, which critic Mihai Zamfir likens to the verbal experiments of Impressionist literature, pioneering in the Romanian prose poetry genre. The short comedy Gemenii was his debut work for the stage, but, according to Vianu, failed to show any merit other than a \\\"logical construction\\\" and a preview into Macedonski's use of sarcasm. These writings were followed in 1876 by a concise biography of Cârjaliul, an early 19th-century hajduk.\",\n \"These writings were followed in 1876 by a concise biography of Cârjaliul, an early 19th-century hajduk. In line with his first Levant-themed poems, Macedonski authored the 1877 story Așa se fac banii (\\\"This Is How Money Is Made\\\", later retold in French as Comment on devient riche et puissant, \\\"How to Become Rich and Powerful\\\"), a fable of fatalism and the Muslim world—it dealt with two brothers, one hard-working and one indolent, the latter of whom earns his money through a series of serendipitous events.\",\n \"In line with his first Levant-themed poems, Macedonski authored the 1877 story Așa se fac banii (\\\"This Is How Money Is Made\\\", later retold in French as Comment on devient riche et puissant, \\\"How to Become Rich and Powerful\\\"), a fable of fatalism and the Muslim world—it dealt with two brothers, one hard-working and one indolent, the latter of whom earns his money through a series of serendipitous events. Likewise, his verse comedy Iadeș!\",\n \"Likewise, his verse comedy Iadeș! Likewise, his verse comedy Iadeș! borrowed its theme from the widely circulated collection of Persian literature known as Sindipa. The setting was however modern, and, as noted by French-born critic Frédéric Damé, the plot also borrowed much from Émile Augier's Gabrielle and from other morality plays of the period. Part of the text was an ironic treatment of youth in liberal professions, an attitude which Macedonski fitted in his emerging anti-bourgeois discourse.\",\n \"Part of the text was an ironic treatment of youth in liberal professions, an attitude which Macedonski fitted in his emerging anti-bourgeois discourse. With the first poems in his Nights cycle, Macedonski still showed his allegiance to Romanticism, and in particular to Alphonse de Lamartine, and the supposed inventor of this theme, Alfred de Musset. Noaptea de noiembrie opens with a violent condemnation of his adversaries, and sees Macedonski depicting his own funeral.\",\n \"Noaptea de noiembrie opens with a violent condemnation of his adversaries, and sees Macedonski depicting his own funeral. The poem is commended by Călinescu, who notes that, in contrast to the \\\"apparently trivial beginning\\\", the main part, where Macedonski depicts himself in flight over the Danube, brings the Romanian writer close to the accomplishments of Dante Aligheri. The writer himself claimed that the piece evidenced \\\"the uttermost breath of inspiration I have ever felt in my life.\\\"\",\n \"The writer himself claimed that the piece evidenced \\\"the uttermost breath of inspiration I have ever felt in my life.\\\" Another poem, Noaptea de aprilie (\\\"April Night\\\"), was probably his testimony of unrequited love for Aristizza Romanescu. Realism and Naturalism By the 1880s, Macedonski developed and applied his \\\"social poetry\\\" theory, as branch of Realism.\",\n \"Realism and Naturalism By the 1880s, Macedonski developed and applied his \\\"social poetry\\\" theory, as branch of Realism. Explained by the writer himself as a reaction against the legacy of Lamartine, it also signified his brief affiliation with the Naturalist current, a radical segment of the Realist movement. Traian Demetrescu thus noted that Macedonski cherished the works of French Naturalists and Realists such as Gustave Flaubert and Émile Zola.\",\n \"Traian Demetrescu thus noted that Macedonski cherished the works of French Naturalists and Realists such as Gustave Flaubert and Émile Zola. During this phase, Macedonski made known his sympathy for the disinherited, from girls forced into prostitution to convicts sentenced to penal labor on salt mines, and also spoke out against the conventionalism of civil marriages. His Ocnele (\\\"The Salt Mines\\\") includes the verdict: Naturalist depiction was also the main element in his prose pieces of the early 1880s.\",\n \"His Ocnele (\\\"The Salt Mines\\\") includes the verdict: Naturalist depiction was also the main element in his prose pieces of the early 1880s. Among them was the first of several sketch stories using still life techniques, Casa cu nr. 10 (according to Zamfir, a prime sample of Macedonski's \\\"ornamental\\\" genre). With Între cotețe, Dramă banală and later Cometa lui Odorescu (\\\"Odorescu's Comet\\\"), Macedonski speaks about his own biography.\",\n \"With Între cotețe, Dramă banală and later Cometa lui Odorescu (\\\"Odorescu's Comet\\\"), Macedonski speaks about his own biography. The former has for a protagonist Pandele Vergea, a thirty-five-year-old man who is consumed by an avicultural obsession, who dreams of turning into a bird, and who is eventually maimed by his overcrowded fowls.\",\n \"The former has for a protagonist Pandele Vergea, a thirty-five-year-old man who is consumed by an avicultural obsession, who dreams of turning into a bird, and who is eventually maimed by his overcrowded fowls. In contrast, Dereanu is a bohemian university student, possessed by dreams of military and political glory, and who meditates about his future in front of Heliade Rădulescu's statue or in Bucharest cafés. Also a bohemian, Odorescu announces his discovery of a comet, before being proved wrong by his aunt, an ordinary woman.\",\n \"Also a bohemian, Odorescu announces his discovery of a comet, before being proved wrong by his aunt, an ordinary woman. Some pieces also double as memoirs: in Dramă banală, the plot revolves around Macedonski's recollection of the 1866 plebiscite. Vianu draws attention to the picturesque depiction of historic Bucharest, a contributing element in Cometa..., Casa cu nr. 10 and Între cotețe. With Unchiașul Sărăcie (also written in verse), Macedonski took Naturalist tenets into the field of drama.\",\n \"With Unchiașul Sărăcie (also written in verse), Macedonski took Naturalist tenets into the field of drama. Frédéric Damé believed it an imitation of a play by Ernest d'Hervilly and Alfred Grévin, but, Vianu argues, the Romanian text was only loosely based on theirs: in Macedonski's adaptation, the theme became fairy tale-like, and used a speech style based on Romanian folklore.\",\n \"Frédéric Damé believed it an imitation of a play by Ernest d'Hervilly and Alfred Grévin, but, Vianu argues, the Romanian text was only loosely based on theirs: in Macedonski's adaptation, the theme became fairy tale-like, and used a speech style based on Romanian folklore. Around the time of its completion, Macedonski was also working on a similarly loose adaptation of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, which notably had the two protagonists die in each other's arms.\",\n \"Around the time of its completion, Macedonski was also working on a similarly loose adaptation of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, which notably had the two protagonists die in each other's arms. Another such play is 3 decemvrie (\\\"December 3\\\"), which partly retells Friedrich Ludwig Zacharias Werner's Der 24 Februar using Naturalist devices. By contrast, the homage-play Cuza-Vodă is mainly a Romantic piece, where Alexander John Cuza finds his political mission validated by legendary figures in Romanian history.\",\n \"By contrast, the homage-play Cuza-Vodă is mainly a Romantic piece, where Alexander John Cuza finds his political mission validated by legendary figures in Romanian history. In parallel, Macedonski was using poetry to carry out his polemics. In an 1884 epigram, he reacted against Alecsandri's Fântâna Blanduziei, but, in Vianu's definition, \\\"his regular causticity seems to be restrained.\\\"\",\n \"In an 1884 epigram, he reacted against Alecsandri's Fântâna Blanduziei, but, in Vianu's definition, \\\"his regular causticity seems to be restrained.\\\" The piece he had earlier written, presumably against Eminescu, scandalized the public by mocking the rival's mental ruin: According to Tudor Vianu, Macedonski was mostly motivated by his disappointment in Junimea, and in particular by Eminescu's response to his public persona.\",\n \"The piece he had earlier written, presumably against Eminescu, scandalized the public by mocking the rival's mental ruin: According to Tudor Vianu, Macedonski was mostly motivated by his disappointment in Junimea, and in particular by Eminescu's response to his public persona. Vianu contends that, although Macedonski \\\"never was familiar with the resigned and patient attitudes\\\", he was \\\"by no means an evil man.\\\"\",\n \"Vianu contends that, although Macedonski \\\"never was familiar with the resigned and patient attitudes\\\", he was \\\"by no means an evil man.\\\" On one occasion, the poet defended himself against criticism, noting that the epigram had not been specifically addressed to Eminescu, but had been labeled as such by the press, and claiming to have authored it years before its Literatorul edition. However, the later piece Viața de apoi (\\\"The Afterlife\\\") still displays resentments he harbored toward Eminescu.\",\n \"However, the later piece Viața de apoi (\\\"The Afterlife\\\") still displays resentments he harbored toward Eminescu. By 1880–1884, particularly after the Eminescu scandal, Macedonski envisaged prioritizing French as his language of expression. According to Vianu, Macedonski had traversed \\\"the lowest point\\\" of his existence, and had been subject to \\\"one of the most delicate mysteries of poetic creation.\\\"\",\n \"According to Vianu, Macedonski had traversed \\\"the lowest point\\\" of his existence, and had been subject to \\\"one of the most delicate mysteries of poetic creation.\\\" Among his pieces of the period is the French-language sonnet Pârle, il me dit alors (\\\"Speak, He Then Said to Me\\\"), where, Vianu notes, \\\"one discovers the state of mind of a poet who decides to expatriate himself.\\\"\",\n \"Among his pieces of the period is the French-language sonnet Pârle, il me dit alors (\\\"Speak, He Then Said to Me\\\"), where, Vianu notes, \\\"one discovers the state of mind of a poet who decides to expatriate himself.\\\" Adoption of Symbolism According to Mihai Zamfir, at the end of his transition from the \\\"mimetic and egocentric\\\" verse to Symbolist poetry, Macedonski emerged a \\\"remarkable, often extraordinary\\\" author.\",\n \"Adoption of Symbolism According to Mihai Zamfir, at the end of his transition from the \\\"mimetic and egocentric\\\" verse to Symbolist poetry, Macedonski emerged a \\\"remarkable, often extraordinary\\\" author. In the early 20th century, fellow poet and critic N. Davidescu described Macedonski, Ion Minulescu and other Symbolists from Wallachia as distinct from their Moldavian counterparts in both style and themes. Endorsing the theory and practice of Symbolism for much of his life, Macedonski retrospectively claimed to have been one of its first exponents.\",\n \"Endorsing the theory and practice of Symbolism for much of his life, Macedonski retrospectively claimed to have been one of its first exponents. His version of Symbolism, critic Paul Cernat notes, clashed with that advocated by many of his contemporaries in that it rejected merit to the Decadent movement, and represented the \\\"decorative\\\" aestheticist trend of Paranassian spirit within the Romanian Symbolist current.\",\n \"His version of Symbolism, critic Paul Cernat notes, clashed with that advocated by many of his contemporaries in that it rejected merit to the Decadent movement, and represented the \\\"decorative\\\" aestheticist trend of Paranassian spirit within the Romanian Symbolist current. Within Poezia viitorului, Macedonski invoked as his models to follow some important or secondary Symbolist and Parnassian figures: Charles Baudelaire, Joséphin Péladan, Maurice Maeterlinck, Stéphane Mallarmé and Jean Moréas.\",\n \"Within Poezia viitorului, Macedonski invoked as his models to follow some important or secondary Symbolist and Parnassian figures: Charles Baudelaire, Joséphin Péladan, Maurice Maeterlinck, Stéphane Mallarmé and Jean Moréas. In his review of Bronzes for Mercure de France, Pierre Quillard remarked the \\\"irreproachable\\\" technique, but criticized the poet for being too indebted to both Baudelaire and Leconte de Lisle; other Symbolist figures whom Macedonski is known to have borrowed from are José María de Heredia and Iwan Gilkin.\",\n \"In his review of Bronzes for Mercure de France, Pierre Quillard remarked the \\\"irreproachable\\\" technique, but criticized the poet for being too indebted to both Baudelaire and Leconte de Lisle; other Symbolist figures whom Macedonski is known to have borrowed from are José María de Heredia and Iwan Gilkin. While undergoing this transition, to what linguist Manuela-Delia Suciu argues is a mostly Parnassian phase, Macedonski was still referencing Naturalism, and considered it compatible with Symbolism.\",\n \"While undergoing this transition, to what linguist Manuela-Delia Suciu argues is a mostly Parnassian phase, Macedonski was still referencing Naturalism, and considered it compatible with Symbolism. With the adoption of such tenets came a succession of Symbolist poems, where the focus is on minutely-observed objects, usually items of luxury, partly reflecting themes he had explored in the Naturalist stage. Commenting on them, Tudor Vianu argues that no such works had ever been produced in Romanian literature up until that moment.\",\n \"Commenting on them, Tudor Vianu argues that no such works had ever been produced in Romanian literature up until that moment. In his Ospățul lui Pentaur (\\\"The Feast of Pentaur\\\"), the poet reflected on civilization itself, as reflected in inanimate opulence. The motif was also developed in descriptive prose fragments later grouped in Cartea de aur, collectively titled nuvele fără oameni (\\\"novellas without people\\\") and compared by Călinescu with the paintings of Theodor Aman.\",\n \"The motif was also developed in descriptive prose fragments later grouped in Cartea de aur, collectively titled nuvele fără oameni (\\\"novellas without people\\\") and compared by Călinescu with the paintings of Theodor Aman. Also during that stage, Macedonski was exploring the numerous links between Symbolism, mysticism and esotericism. Earlier pieces had already come to explore macabre themes characteristic for an early branch of Symbolism.\",\n \"Earlier pieces had already come to explore macabre themes characteristic for an early branch of Symbolism. Influenced by Maurice Rollinat, they include the somber Vaporul morții (\\\"The Ship of Death\\\") and Visul fatal (\\\"The Fatal Dream\\\").\",\n \"Influenced by Maurice Rollinat, they include the somber Vaporul morții (\\\"The Ship of Death\\\") and Visul fatal (\\\"The Fatal Dream\\\"). Likewise, the piece titled Imnul lui Satan (\\\"Satan's Hymn\\\") was placed by critics in connection with Les Litanies de Satan (part of Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du mal), but, Vianu argues, the source of Macedonski's satanic themes may have been lodged in his own vision of the world.\",\n \"Likewise, the piece titled Imnul lui Satan (\\\"Satan's Hymn\\\") was placed by critics in connection with Les Litanies de Satan (part of Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du mal), but, Vianu argues, the source of Macedonski's satanic themes may have been lodged in his own vision of the world. This interest also reflected in his 1893 Saul, where Cincinat Pavelescu's contribution is supposedly minimal.\",\n \"This interest also reflected in his 1893 Saul, where Cincinat Pavelescu's contribution is supposedly minimal. Echoing satanic themes, Ernest Legouvé's dramatic version of the Medea myth (which Macedonski translated at some point in his life) and the classical work of Jean Racine, it shows the dark powers of political conflict intervening between the eponymous king and his ephebos-like protégé David, the latter of whom turns out to be the agent of spiritual revolution.\",\n \"Echoing satanic themes, Ernest Legouvé's dramatic version of the Medea myth (which Macedonski translated at some point in his life) and the classical work of Jean Racine, it shows the dark powers of political conflict intervening between the eponymous king and his ephebos-like protégé David, the latter of whom turns out to be the agent of spiritual revolution. (\\\"August Night\\\"), outlines a monistic belief probably inspired by Rosicrucianism, stressing the unity between soul and matter and depicting Macedonski's own journey into a transcendental space.\",\n \"(\\\"August Night\\\"), outlines a monistic belief probably inspired by Rosicrucianism, stressing the unity between soul and matter and depicting Macedonski's own journey into a transcendental space. Following the examples of Baudelaire's Les paradis artificiels, but also echoing his readings from Paul Verlaine and Théophile Gautier, Macedonski left poems dealing with narcotics and substance abuse, at least some of which reflected his personal experience with nicotine and possibly other unnamed drugs.\",\n \"Following the examples of Baudelaire's Les paradis artificiels, but also echoing his readings from Paul Verlaine and Théophile Gautier, Macedonski left poems dealing with narcotics and substance abuse, at least some of which reflected his personal experience with nicotine and possibly other unnamed drugs. Also at that stage, Macedonski also began publishing the \\\"instrumentalist\\\" series of his Symbolist poems. This form of experimental poem was influenced by the theories of René Ghil and verified through his encounter with Remy de Gourmont's views.\",\n \"This form of experimental poem was influenced by the theories of René Ghil and verified through his encounter with Remy de Gourmont's views. In parallel, it reaffirmed Macedonski's personal view that music and the spoken word were intimately related (a perspective notably attested by his 1906 interview with Jules Combarieu). Romanian critic Petre Răileanu theorized that such elements evidenced Macedonski's transition to \\\"metaliterature\\\". On a different level, they echoed an older influence, that of Gottfried August Bürger.\",\n \"On a different level, they echoed an older influence, that of Gottfried August Bürger. Excelsior Despite having stated his interest in innovation, Macedonski generally displayed a more conventional style in his Excelsior volume. It included Noaptea de mai, which Vianu sees as \\\"one of the [vernacular's] most beautiful poems\\\" and as evidence of \\\"a clear joy, without any torment whatsoever\\\".\",\n \"It included Noaptea de mai, which Vianu sees as \\\"one of the [vernacular's] most beautiful poems\\\" and as evidence of \\\"a clear joy, without any torment whatsoever\\\". A celebration of spring partly evoking folkloric themes, it was made famous by the recurring refrain, Veniți: privighetoarea cântă și liliacul e-nflorit (\\\"Come along: the nightingale is singing and the lilac is in blossom\\\").\",\n \"A celebration of spring partly evoking folkloric themes, it was made famous by the recurring refrain, Veniți: privighetoarea cântă și liliacul e-nflorit (\\\"Come along: the nightingale is singing and the lilac is in blossom\\\"). Like Noaptea de mai, Lewki (named after and dedicated to the Snake Island), depicts intense joy, completed in this case by what Vianu calls \\\"the restorative touch of nature.\\\"\",\n \"Like Noaptea de mai, Lewki (named after and dedicated to the Snake Island), depicts intense joy, completed in this case by what Vianu calls \\\"the restorative touch of nature.\\\" The series also returned to Levant settings and Islamic imagery, particularly in Acșam dovalar (named after the Turkish version of Witr).\",\n \"The series also returned to Levant settings and Islamic imagery, particularly in Acșam dovalar (named after the Turkish version of Witr). Also noted within the volume is his short \\\"Modern Psalms\\\" series, including the piece Iertare (\\\"Forgiveness\\\"), which is addressed to God: Excelsior also included Noaptea de ianuarie (\\\"January Night\\\"), which encapsulates one of his best-known political statements. Anghelescu reads it as a \\\"meditation on disillusionment that culminates in a vitality-laden exhortation of action.\\\"\",\n \"Anghelescu reads it as a \\\"meditation on disillusionment that culminates in a vitality-laden exhortation of action.\\\" Its anti-bourgeois attitude, literary historian Z. Ornea argues, was one of the meeting points between Macedonski and Junimism. In what is seen as its most acid section, the text notably reads: At the same time as being engaged in his most violent polemics, Macedonski produced meditative and serene poems, which were later judged to be among his best.\",\n \"In what is seen as its most acid section, the text notably reads: At the same time as being engaged in his most violent polemics, Macedonski produced meditative and serene poems, which were later judged to be among his best. Noaptea de decemvrie is the synthesis of his main themes and influences, rated by commentators as his \\\"masterpiece\\\".\",\n \"Noaptea de decemvrie is the synthesis of his main themes and influences, rated by commentators as his \\\"masterpiece\\\". Partly based on an earlier poem (Meka, named after the Arab city), it tells the story of an emir, who, left unsatisfied by the shallow and opulent life he leads in Baghdad, decides to leave on pilgrimage.\",\n \"Partly based on an earlier poem (Meka, named after the Arab city), it tells the story of an emir, who, left unsatisfied by the shallow and opulent life he leads in Baghdad, decides to leave on pilgrimage. While critics agree that it is to be read as an allegory of Macedonski's biography, the ironic text does not make it clear whether the emir actually reaches his target, nor if the central metaphor of Mecca as a mirage means that the goal is not worth sacrificing for.\",\n \"While critics agree that it is to be read as an allegory of Macedonski's biography, the ironic text does not make it clear whether the emir actually reaches his target, nor if the central metaphor of Mecca as a mirage means that the goal is not worth sacrificing for. While Mircea Anghelescu comments that Macedonski illustrates \\\"unusual tension\\\" by rigorously amplifying references to the color red, seen as a symbol of suffering, Călinescu notes that the sequence of lyrics has a studied \\\"delirious\\\" element, and illustrates this with the quote: Late prose works In prose, his focus shifted back to the purely descriptive, or led Alexandru Macedonski into the realm of fantasy literature.\",\n \"While Mircea Anghelescu comments that Macedonski illustrates \\\"unusual tension\\\" by rigorously amplifying references to the color red, seen as a symbol of suffering, Călinescu notes that the sequence of lyrics has a studied \\\"delirious\\\" element, and illustrates this with the quote: Late prose works In prose, his focus shifted back to the purely descriptive, or led Alexandru Macedonski into the realm of fantasy literature. These stories, most of which were eventually collected in Cartea de aur, include memoirs of his childhood in the Amaradia region, nostalgic portrayals of the Oltenian boyar environment, idealized depictions of Cuza's reign, as well as a retrospective view on the end of Rom slavery (found in his piece Verigă țiganul, \\\"Verigă the Gypsy\\\").\",\n \"These stories, most of which were eventually collected in Cartea de aur, include memoirs of his childhood in the Amaradia region, nostalgic portrayals of the Oltenian boyar environment, idealized depictions of Cuza's reign, as well as a retrospective view on the end of Rom slavery (found in his piece Verigă țiganul, \\\"Verigă the Gypsy\\\"). The best known among them is Pe drum de poștă, a third-person narrative and thinly disguised memoir, where the characters are an adolescent Alexandru Macedonski and his father, General Macedonski.\",\n \"The best known among them is Pe drum de poștă, a third-person narrative and thinly disguised memoir, where the characters are an adolescent Alexandru Macedonski and his father, General Macedonski. The idyllic outlook present in such stories is one of the common meeting points between his version of Symbolism and traditionalist authors such as Barbu Ștefănescu Delavrancea.\",\n \"The idyllic outlook present in such stories is one of the common meeting points between his version of Symbolism and traditionalist authors such as Barbu Ștefănescu Delavrancea. Vianu indicates the connection, but adds: \\\"Macedonski descended, through memory, in the world of the village, with the tremor of regret for the peace and plenty of the old settlements, so well polished that each person, landowner as well as peasant, lived within a framework that nature itself seemed to have granted.\",\n \"Vianu indicates the connection, but adds: \\\"Macedonski descended, through memory, in the world of the village, with the tremor of regret for the peace and plenty of the old settlements, so well polished that each person, landowner as well as peasant, lived within a framework that nature itself seemed to have granted. [...] in depicting rural environments, Macedonski presents the point of view of a conservative.\\\"\",\n \"[...] in depicting rural environments, Macedonski presents the point of view of a conservative.\\\" Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu, a fantasy novel and extended prose poem, was celebrated by Macedonski's disciple Oreste Georgescu as \\\"the new religion of humanity\\\". The volume carried the mocking dedication \\\"To France, this Chaldea\\\" (thought by Vianu to reference Péladan's views on the decay of civilization).\",\n \"The volume carried the mocking dedication \\\"To France, this Chaldea\\\" (thought by Vianu to reference Péladan's views on the decay of civilization). It has affinities with writings by the Italian Decadent author Gabriele d'Annunzio, as well as echoes from Anatole France. The hero Thalassa, a Greek boy, works as a lighthouse-keeper on Snake Island, fantasizing about the golden age of mankind. His fate is changed by a shipwreck, during which a girl, Caliope, reaches the island's shore.\",\n \"His fate is changed by a shipwreck, during which a girl, Caliope, reaches the island's shore. Thalassa and Caliope fall in love, but are mysteriously unable to seal their union through sexual intercourse: the boy attributes this failure to the \\\"curse\\\" of human individuality. Seeking to achieve a perfect union with his lover, he eventually kills her and drowns himself in the Black Sea.\",\n \"Seeking to achieve a perfect union with his lover, he eventually kills her and drowns himself in the Black Sea. In her review for Mercure de France, novelist Rachilde argued: \\\"Very difficult to read, entirely developed in Symbolist manner [and] almost impossible to recount, obviously written in French but nevertheless obviously conceived by a Romanian (and what a spirited Romanian!).\\\" Rachilde believed the work to display \\\"the fragrance of Oriental spices [...] rose marmalade and a slice of bear meat.\\\"\",\n \"Rachilde believed the work to display \\\"the fragrance of Oriental spices [...] rose marmalade and a slice of bear meat.\\\" According to Vianu, the book builds on Macedonski's earlier themes, replacing Naturalist observation with a metaphysical speculation about idealism. One other aspect of Macedonski's stylistic exploration took him to attempt recording synesthesia. His manuscript is written in ink of several colors, which, he believed, was to help readers get a full sense of its meaning.\",\n \"His manuscript is written in ink of several colors, which, he believed, was to help readers get a full sense of its meaning. Like other synesthetic aspects of his novel, this is believed to have been inspired by the techniques of Baudelaire and Arthur Rimbaud. Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu is noted for its numerous cultural references, and especially for using a wide range of metaphors. Such aspects have been reviewed negatively by modern critics.\",\n \"Such aspects have been reviewed negatively by modern critics. Such aspects have been reviewed negatively by modern critics. Tudor Vianu writes: \\\"the poet makes such waste of gemstones that we feel like saying some of them must be false\\\", while Călinescu, who notes that some fragments reveal \\\"an incomparable artist\\\" and \\\"a professional metaphorist\\\", notes that \\\"in the end, such virtuosities become a bore.\\\"\",\n \"Tudor Vianu writes: \\\"the poet makes such waste of gemstones that we feel like saying some of them must be false\\\", while Călinescu, who notes that some fragments reveal \\\"an incomparable artist\\\" and \\\"a professional metaphorist\\\", notes that \\\"in the end, such virtuosities become a bore.\\\" According to Manuela-Delia Suciu, Thalassa is \\\"prolix\\\" and \\\"too polished\\\", traits believed by Zamfir to be less irritating in the Romanian version.\",\n \"According to Manuela-Delia Suciu, Thalassa is \\\"prolix\\\" and \\\"too polished\\\", traits believed by Zamfir to be less irritating in the Romanian version. Critic Cornel Moraru found that, in the background, Thalassa, a \\\"great Symbolist novel\\\", confronts Ancient Greek and Christian mythology, but \\\"abuses\\\" the religious vocabulary. Another part of the novel's imagery is erotic, and includes an elaborate and aestheticized description of male genitalia. The four-act tragicomedy Le Fou?\",\n \"The four-act tragicomedy Le Fou? The four-act tragicomedy Le Fou? is seen by Vianu as comparable in subject matter and depth to Enrico IV, a celebrated 1922 play by Luigi Pirandello. The plot reflects Macedonski's confrontation with his critics, and his acceptance of the fact that people saw in him an eccentric. The central figure is a banker, Dorval, who identifies himself with Napoleon Bonaparte to the point where he sees episodes in his biography as mirrors of early 19th-century battles.\",\n \"The central figure is a banker, Dorval, who identifies himself with Napoleon Bonaparte to the point where he sees episodes in his biography as mirrors of early 19th-century battles. Unlike patients with dissociative identity disorder, Dorval does not actually imagine his life has become Napoleon's, but rather joins with him on an intellectual level. Witnesses of this disorder are divided into family, who seek to have Dorval committed, and close friends, who come to see his take on life as a manifestation of genius.\",\n \"Witnesses of this disorder are divided into family, who seek to have Dorval committed, and close friends, who come to see his take on life as a manifestation of genius. The spectator is led to believe that the latter interpretation is the correct one. At a larger level, Vianu indicates, the play is also Macedonski's critique of capitalism, and, using Parisian argot, makes allusive references to famous people of the day.\",\n \"At a larger level, Vianu indicates, the play is also Macedonski's critique of capitalism, and, using Parisian argot, makes allusive references to famous people of the day. Particularly during the 1890s, Macedonski was a follower of Edgar Allan Poe and of Gothic fiction in general, producing a Romanian version of Poe's Metzengerstein story, urging his own disciples to translate other such pieces, and adopting \\\"Gothic\\\" themes in his original prose.\",\n \"Particularly during the 1890s, Macedonski was a follower of Edgar Allan Poe and of Gothic fiction in general, producing a Romanian version of Poe's Metzengerstein story, urging his own disciples to translate other such pieces, and adopting \\\"Gothic\\\" themes in his original prose. Indebted to Jules Verne and H. G. Wells, Macedonski also wrote a number of science fiction stories, including the 1913 Oceania-Pacific-Dreadnought, which depicts civilization on the verge of a crisis.\",\n \"Indebted to Jules Verne and H. G. Wells, Macedonski also wrote a number of science fiction stories, including the 1913 Oceania-Pacific-Dreadnought, which depicts civilization on the verge of a crisis. The gigantic commercial ship is maintained by a banker's union, and designed to grant travelers access to every pleasure imaginable; this causes the working-class inhabited cities on the continent to fall into a state of neglect and permanent violence, the climax of the story occurring with the bankers' decision to destroy their creation.\",\n \"The gigantic commercial ship is maintained by a banker's union, and designed to grant travelers access to every pleasure imaginable; this causes the working-class inhabited cities on the continent to fall into a state of neglect and permanent violence, the climax of the story occurring with the bankers' decision to destroy their creation. Oceania-Pacific-Dreadnought is noted for anticipating television, the ship being equipped with electrically-operated \\\"large and clear mirrors\\\" that display \\\"images from various parts of the Earth\\\".\",\n \"Oceania-Pacific-Dreadnought is noted for anticipating television, the ship being equipped with electrically-operated \\\"large and clear mirrors\\\" that display \\\"images from various parts of the Earth\\\". Macedonski was by then interested in the development of cinema, and authored a silent film screenplay based on Comment on devient riche et puissant. Final transition Late in his life, Macedonski had come to reject Symbolist tenets, defining them as \\\"imbecilities\\\" designed for \\\"the uncultured\\\".\",\n \"Final transition Late in his life, Macedonski had come to reject Symbolist tenets, defining them as \\\"imbecilities\\\" designed for \\\"the uncultured\\\". Ultima verba, the very last poems to be written by him, show him coming to terms with himself, and are treasured for their serene or intensely joyous vision of life and human accomplishment. The rondels written at this stage, known collectively as Poema rondelurilor, are one of the first instances where the technique is used locally.\",\n \"The rondels written at this stage, known collectively as Poema rondelurilor, are one of the first instances where the technique is used locally. Like those written previously by Literatoruls Pavelescu and Alexandru Obedenaru, they are based on an earlier motif present in Macedonski's work, that of recurring refrains. Many of the pieces document the poet's final discoveries.\",\n \"Many of the pieces document the poet's final discoveries. One of them is Rondelul crinilor (\\\"The Rondel of the Lilies\\\"), which proclaims fragrances as the source of beatitude: În crini e beția cea rară, \\\"In lilies one finds that exceptional drunkenness\\\".\",\n \"One of them is Rondelul crinilor (\\\"The Rondel of the Lilies\\\"), which proclaims fragrances as the source of beatitude: În crini e beția cea rară, \\\"In lilies one finds that exceptional drunkenness\\\". According to Ștefan Cazimir, Rondelul orașului mic (\\\"The Rondel of the Small Town\\\") shows a \\\"likable wave of irony and self-irony\\\", and the poet himself coming to terms with \\\"the existence of a world who ignores him.\\\"\",\n \"According to Ștefan Cazimir, Rondelul orașului mic (\\\"The Rondel of the Small Town\\\") shows a \\\"likable wave of irony and self-irony\\\", and the poet himself coming to terms with \\\"the existence of a world who ignores him.\\\" Proof of his combativeness was still to be found in Rondelul contimporanilor (\\\"The Rondel of the Contemporaries\\\"). The poet's take on life is also outlined in his final play, Moartea lui Dante.\",\n \"The poet's take on life is also outlined in his final play, Moartea lui Dante. Călinescu writes that, by then, Macedonski was \\\"obsessed\\\" with the Divine Comedy. Macedonski identifies with his hero, Dante Aligheri, and formulates his own poetic testament while identifying World War I Romania with the medieval Republic of Florence. Tudor Vianu remarks: \\\"In Dante's great self-pride, Macedonski found his own.\\\"\",\n \"Tudor Vianu remarks: \\\"In Dante's great self-pride, Macedonski found his own.\\\" He sees the play as the best such work to have been produced by Macedonski, whereas Călinescu deems it \\\"puerile\\\". Zamfir believes Moartea... to be a significant text in Macedonski's bibliography, \\\"one of the first samples of Romanian Symbolist theater\\\", and as such indebted mainly to Maeterlinck.\",\n \"Zamfir believes Moartea... to be a significant text in Macedonski's bibliography, \\\"one of the first samples of Romanian Symbolist theater\\\", and as such indebted mainly to Maeterlinck. Vianu argues that the play may document the Romanian writer's late rejection of France, through the protagonist's statement: \\\"the French are a gentle people, but their soul is different from mine.\\\" A number of rondels show Macedonski's late fascination with the Far East, China and Japan.\",\n \"A number of rondels show Macedonski's late fascination with the Far East, China and Japan. George Călinescu believes that this is to be understood as one item in a large antithesis, the other being Decadent Paris, which one rondel describes as \\\"hell\\\". The Orient, viewed as the space of serenity, is believed by Macedonski to be peopled by toy-like women and absent opium-smokers, and to be kept orderly by a stable meritocracy.\",\n \"The Orient, viewed as the space of serenity, is believed by Macedonski to be peopled by toy-like women and absent opium-smokers, and to be kept orderly by a stable meritocracy. The Chinese-themed poem Tsing-Ly-Tsi, which Cazimir notes for its discreet, \\\"almost imperceptible\\\", humor, reads: Legacy Macedonski's school and its early impact Alexandru Macedonski repeatedly expressed the thought that, unlike his contemporaries, posterity would judge him a great poet.\",\n \"The Chinese-themed poem Tsing-Ly-Tsi, which Cazimir notes for its discreet, \\\"almost imperceptible\\\", humor, reads: Legacy Macedonski's school and its early impact Alexandru Macedonski repeatedly expressed the thought that, unlike his contemporaries, posterity would judge him a great poet. With the exception of Mihail Dragomirescu, conservative literary critics tended to ignore Macedonski while he was alive.\",\n \"With the exception of Mihail Dragomirescu, conservative literary critics tended to ignore Macedonski while he was alive. The first such figure was Junimeas Titu Maiorescu, who believed him to be a minor author, referring to him only a couple of times in his books and usually ridiculing him in his articles. One of these texts, the 1886 essay Poeți și critici (\\\"Poets and Critics\\\"), spoke of Macedonski as having \\\"vitiated\\\" poetry, a notion he also applied to Constantin D. Aricescu and Aron Densușianu.\",\n \"One of these texts, the 1886 essay Poeți și critici (\\\"Poets and Critics\\\"), spoke of Macedonski as having \\\"vitiated\\\" poetry, a notion he also applied to Constantin D. Aricescu and Aron Densușianu. Especially radical pronouncements were left by the traditionalist authors Ilarie Chendi and Nicolae Iorga. Chendi wrote of Macedonski being \\\"the caricature of a man\\\", having \\\"a feverish mind\\\" and being motivated by \\\"the brutal instinct of revenge\\\".\",\n \"Chendi wrote of Macedonski being \\\"the caricature of a man\\\", having \\\"a feverish mind\\\" and being motivated by \\\"the brutal instinct of revenge\\\". Iorga, who became better known as a historian, later retracted some of the statements he had made against the poet during the 1890s. Among the younger prominent traditionalist writers was the Transylvanian-born Lucian Blaga, who may have purposefully avoided Macedonski during his first visit to Bucharest in 1920.\",\n \"Among the younger prominent traditionalist writers was the Transylvanian-born Lucian Blaga, who may have purposefully avoided Macedonski during his first visit to Bucharest in 1920. Although more sympathetic to the Symbolist author, both Dragomirescu and Gheorghe Adamescu tended to describe him as exclusively the product of French and Decadent literature, while Dragomirescu's disciple Ion Trivale denied all merit to Macedonski's literature.\",\n \"Although more sympathetic to the Symbolist author, both Dragomirescu and Gheorghe Adamescu tended to describe him as exclusively the product of French and Decadent literature, while Dragomirescu's disciple Ion Trivale denied all merit to Macedonski's literature. According to Tudor Vianu, Macedonski's intellectual friends (among them Anghel Demetriescu, George Ionescu-Gion, Bonifaciu Florescu, Grigore Tocilescu and V. A. Urechia) were largely responsible for passing down \\\"a better and truer image of the abused poet.\\\"\",\n \"According to Tudor Vianu, Macedonski's intellectual friends (among them Anghel Demetriescu, George Ionescu-Gion, Bonifaciu Florescu, Grigore Tocilescu and V. A. Urechia) were largely responsible for passing down \\\"a better and truer image of the abused poet.\\\" It was also due to Dragomirescu that Noaptea de decemvrie was included in a literature textbook for final grade high school students, which some argue is the poet's first-ever presence in the Romanian curriculum.\",\n \"It was also due to Dragomirescu that Noaptea de decemvrie was included in a literature textbook for final grade high school students, which some argue is the poet's first-ever presence in the Romanian curriculum. According to historian Lucian Nastasă, the poet's wife Ana Rallet behaved like an \\\"excellent secretary\\\" while Macedonski was still alive, and thereafter helped sort and edit his manuscript while maintaining \\\"an actual cult\\\" for her husband.\",\n \"According to historian Lucian Nastasă, the poet's wife Ana Rallet behaved like an \\\"excellent secretary\\\" while Macedonski was still alive, and thereafter helped sort and edit his manuscript while maintaining \\\"an actual cult\\\" for her husband. Macedonski's cosmopolitan circle was the center of a literary alternative to the prevailing conservatism and Eminescu-like traditionalism of the day, the latter tendency being grouped around Sămănătorul magazine for part of Macedonski's lifetime.\",\n \"Macedonski's cosmopolitan circle was the center of a literary alternative to the prevailing conservatism and Eminescu-like traditionalism of the day, the latter tendency being grouped around Sămănătorul magazine for part of Macedonski's lifetime. While Macedonski himself maintained his links with Romanticism and Classicism, commentators have retrospectively recognized in him the main person who announced Romania's first wave in modernist literature. Many first-generation disciples were to part with his guidelines early on, either by radicalizing their Symbolism or by stepping out of its confines.\",\n \"Many first-generation disciples were to part with his guidelines early on, either by radicalizing their Symbolism or by stepping out of its confines. Traian Demetrescu was one of the first to do so, focusing on his commitment to socialism—Vianu notes that the split took place \\\"without coldness and the heart's versatility\\\" on Macedonski's part. Literary researcher Lidia Bote argues that it was Petică who first illustrated mature Symbolism, emancipating himself from Macedonski's eclectic tendencies after 1902.\",\n \"Literary researcher Lidia Bote argues that it was Petică who first illustrated mature Symbolism, emancipating himself from Macedonski's eclectic tendencies after 1902. By that time, the Symbolist authors Dimitrie Anghel and N. D. Cocea used Macedonski's fantasy prose as an inspiration for their own, and N. Davidescu was borrowing from his mystical discourse. The pictorial and joyous elements in Macedonski's poems were also serving to inspire Stamatiad, Eugeniu Ștefănescu-Est and Horia Furtună.\",\n \"The pictorial and joyous elements in Macedonski's poems were also serving to inspire Stamatiad, Eugeniu Ștefănescu-Est and Horia Furtună. In the early stages of his career, Ion Pillat wrote pieces which echo his master's choice of exotic themes. A more discreet legacy of Macedonski's ideas was also preserved inside the conservative and traditionalist camps. Although his separation from Literatorul was drastic, and led him to rally with Junimea, Duiliu Zamfirescu built on some elements borrowed from the magazine's ideology, incorporating them into his literary vision.\",\n \"Although his separation from Literatorul was drastic, and led him to rally with Junimea, Duiliu Zamfirescu built on some elements borrowed from the magazine's ideology, incorporating them into his literary vision. Many of Macedonski's most devoted disciples, whom he himself had encouraged, have been rated by various critics as secondary or mediocre.\",\n \"Many of Macedonski's most devoted disciples, whom he himself had encouraged, have been rated by various critics as secondary or mediocre. This is the case of Theodor Cornel (who made his name as an art critic), Mircea Demetriade, Oreste Georgescu, Alexandru Obedenaru, Stoenescu, Stamatiad, Carol Scrob, Dumitru Karnabatt and Donar Munteanu. Another such minor author was the self-styled \\\"hermeticist\\\" Alexandru Petroff, who expanded on Macedonski's ideas about esoteric knowledge.\",\n \"Another such minor author was the self-styled \\\"hermeticist\\\" Alexandru Petroff, who expanded on Macedonski's ideas about esoteric knowledge. Macedonski's eldest son Alexis continued to pursue a career as a painter. His son Soare followed in his footsteps, receiving acclaim from art critics of the period. Soare's short career ended in 1928, before he turned nineteen, but his works have been featured in several retrospective exhibitions, including one organized by Alexis.\",\n \"Soare's short career ended in 1928, before he turned nineteen, but his works have been featured in several retrospective exhibitions, including one organized by Alexis. Alexis later experimented with scenic design as an assistant to French filmmaker René Clair; his later life, shrouded in mystery and intrigue, led him to a career in Fascist Italy and Francoist Spain. Another of Alexandru Macedonski's sons, Nikita, was also a poet and painter. For a while in the 1920s, he edited the literary supplement of Universul newspaper.\",\n \"For a while in the 1920s, he edited the literary supplement of Universul newspaper. Two years after her father's death, Anna Macedonski married poet Mihail Celarianu. In addition to his polemical portrayals in works by Alecsandri, Eminescu and Caragiale, Macedonski's career was an inspiration for various authors. His image acquired mythical proportions for his followers. Like Demetrescu, many of them left memoirs on Macedonski which were published before or after his death.\",\n \"Like Demetrescu, many of them left memoirs on Macedonski which were published before or after his death. His admirers were writing poetry about him as early as 1874, and, in 1892, Cincinat Pavelescu published a rhapsodizing portrait of Macedonski as \\\"the Artist\\\". Pavelescu, Dragoslav and Petică paid homage to the writer by leaving recollections which describe him as a devoted and considerate friend. In contrast, traditionalist poet Alexandru Vlahuță authored an 1889 sketch story in which Macedonski (referred to as Polidor) is the object of derision.\",\n \"In contrast, traditionalist poet Alexandru Vlahuță authored an 1889 sketch story in which Macedonski (referred to as Polidor) is the object of derision. Late recognition Actual recognition of the poet as a classic came only in the interwar period. A final volume of never before published poems, Poema rondelurilor, saw print in 1927. Macedonski's work was analyzed and popularized by a new generation of critics, among them Vianu and George Călinescu.\",\n \"Macedonski's work was analyzed and popularized by a new generation of critics, among them Vianu and George Călinescu. The post-Junimist modernist critic Eugen Lovinescu also commented favorably on Macedonski's work, but overall, Călinescu asserts, his opinions on the subject gave little insight into what he actually thought about the poet. He also recounts that Macedonski himself treated Lovinescu with disdain, and once called him \\\"a canary\\\". The emerging avant-garde, although originating from Symbolism, progressively took its distance from Literatoruls legacy.\",\n \"The emerging avant-garde, although originating from Symbolism, progressively took its distance from Literatoruls legacy. Initially, Macedonski's contribution to experimental literature was continued within formal Symbolism by his disciples Demetriade, Iuliu Cezar Săvescu and Ion Minulescu. The latter was particularly indebted to Macedonski in matters of vision and language. In 1904, Tudor Arghezi also left behind the Literatorul circle and its tenets, eventually arriving to the fusion of modernist, traditionalist and avant-garde elements. However, he remained indebted to Macedonski's example in his descriptive prose.\",\n \"However, he remained indebted to Macedonski's example in his descriptive prose. The 1912 Simbolul magazine, which moved between conventional Symbolism and the emerging avant-garde, also published an Imagist-inspired parody of Noaptea de mai, signed by Adrian Maniu. A co-founder of Dadaism during the late 1910s, Tristan Tzara is believed by Swedish researcher Tom Sandqvist to have been inspired more or less directly by Macedonski, and in particular by the latter's thoughts on the relation between absurdity and poetry.\",\n \"A co-founder of Dadaism during the late 1910s, Tristan Tzara is believed by Swedish researcher Tom Sandqvist to have been inspired more or less directly by Macedonski, and in particular by the latter's thoughts on the relation between absurdity and poetry. In his debut poems, Benjamin Fondane-Barbu Fundoianu occasionally followed Macedonski, but, by 1920, stated that the Symbolist doyen merely imitated French models to the point of \\\"parasitism\\\". Several avant-garde authors returned to Macedonski's literary guidelines by the late 1920s, as they themselves grew more moderate.\",\n \"Several avant-garde authors returned to Macedonski's literary guidelines by the late 1920s, as they themselves grew more moderate. This was the case of Maniu and Ion Vinea, both of whom published prose works in the line of Thalassa. The same work is also believed to have influenced two non-avant-garde authors, Davidescu and Mateiu Caragiale, who remained close to the tenets Symbolism.\",\n \"The same work is also believed to have influenced two non-avant-garde authors, Davidescu and Mateiu Caragiale, who remained close to the tenets Symbolism. Mateiu was the illegitimate son of Ion Luca Caragiale, but, Vianu notes, could withstand comparisons with his father's rival: the eccentricities were complementary, although Mateiu Caragiale shied away from public affairs.\",\n \"Mateiu was the illegitimate son of Ion Luca Caragiale, but, Vianu notes, could withstand comparisons with his father's rival: the eccentricities were complementary, although Mateiu Caragiale shied away from public affairs. In the same post-Symbolist generation, Celarianu (Macedonski's posthumous son-in-law), George Bacovia and Păstorel Teodoreanu also built on Macedonski's legacy, being later joined in this by the Bessarabian linguist Eugenio Coșeriu (who, in his early poetic career, imitated Macedonski's rondel style).\",\n \"In the same post-Symbolist generation, Celarianu (Macedonski's posthumous son-in-law), George Bacovia and Păstorel Teodoreanu also built on Macedonski's legacy, being later joined in this by the Bessarabian linguist Eugenio Coșeriu (who, in his early poetic career, imitated Macedonski's rondel style). In the late 1920s, when their form of modern psalms inspired Albanian-Romanian poet Aleksander Stavre Drenova, Macedonski and Arghezi both made an indirect impact on Albanian literature.\",\n \"In the late 1920s, when their form of modern psalms inspired Albanian-Romanian poet Aleksander Stavre Drenova, Macedonski and Arghezi both made an indirect impact on Albanian literature. Macedonski's status as one of Romanian literature's greats was consolidated later in the 20th century. By this time, Noaptea de decemvrie had become one of the most recognizable literary works to be taught in Romanian schools.\",\n \"By this time, Noaptea de decemvrie had become one of the most recognizable literary works to be taught in Romanian schools. During the first years of Communist Romania, the Socialist Realist current condemned Symbolism (see Censorship in Communist Romania), but spoke favorably of Macedonski's critique of the bourgeoisie. A while after this episode, Marin Sorescu, one of the best-known modernist poets of his generation, wrote a homage-parody of the Nights cycle.\",\n \"A while after this episode, Marin Sorescu, one of the best-known modernist poets of his generation, wrote a homage-parody of the Nights cycle. Included in the volume Singur între poeți (\\\"Alone among Poets\\\"), it is seen by critic Mircea Scarlat as Sorescu's most representative such pieces. Also then, Noaptea de decemvrie partly inspired Ștefan Augustin Doinaș' ballad Mistrețul cu colți de argint.\",\n \"Also then, Noaptea de decemvrie partly inspired Ștefan Augustin Doinaș' ballad Mistrețul cu colți de argint. In the 1990s, Ștefan Agopian took the Nights cycle as inspiration for an erotic short story, while Pavel Șușară adapted his rondels to a modernized setting. Macedonski's prose also influenced younger writers such as Angelo Mitchievici and Anca Maria Mosora. In neighboring Moldova, Macedonski influenced the Neosymbolism of Aureliu Busuioc.\",\n \"In neighboring Moldova, Macedonski influenced the Neosymbolism of Aureliu Busuioc. A magazine by the name of Literatorul, which claims to represent the legacy of Macedonski's publication, was founded in Romania in 1991, being edited by writers Sorescu, Fănuș Neagu and Mircea Micu. In 2006, the Romanian Academy granted posthumous membership to Alexandru Macedonski. Macedonski's poems had a sizable impact on Romania's popular culture.\",\n \"Macedonski's poems had a sizable impact on Romania's popular culture. During communism, Noaptea de mai was the basis for a successful musical adaptation, composed by Marian Nistor and sung by Mirabela Dauer. Tudor Gheorghe, a singer-songwriter inspired by American folk revival, also used some of Macedonski's texts as lyrics to his melodies. In the 2000s, the refrain of Noaptea de mai was mixed into a manea parody by Adrian Copilul Minune.\",\n \"In the 2000s, the refrain of Noaptea de mai was mixed into a manea parody by Adrian Copilul Minune. Portrayals, visual tributes and landmarks Although his poetic theories were largely without echoes in Romanian art, Macedonski captured the interest of several modern artists, including, early on, cartoonist Nicolae Petrescu Găină. Alongside other writers who visited Terasa Oteteleșanu, Macedonski was notably portrayed the drawings of celebrated Romanian artist Iosif Iser. He is also depicted in a 1918 lithograph by Jean Alexandru Steriadi, purportedly Steriadi's only Symbolist work.\",\n \"He is also depicted in a 1918 lithograph by Jean Alexandru Steriadi, purportedly Steriadi's only Symbolist work. Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu inspired a series of reliefs, designed by Alexis Macedonski and hosted in his father's house in Dorobanți. During the 1910s, busts of him were completed by two sculptors, Alexandru Severin and Friedrich Storck, one of Storck's variants being hosted by the Ioan Cantacuzino collection.\",\n \"During the 1910s, busts of him were completed by two sculptors, Alexandru Severin and Friedrich Storck, one of Storck's variants being hosted by the Ioan Cantacuzino collection. In 1919, Theodor Burcă was also inspired to complete another bust, and, during World War II, was commissioned by Mayor of Bucharest Ioan Rășcanu to build a Macedonski Monument in the Grădina Icoanei park, but this was never completed.\",\n \"In 1919, Theodor Burcă was also inspired to complete another bust, and, during World War II, was commissioned by Mayor of Bucharest Ioan Rășcanu to build a Macedonski Monument in the Grădina Icoanei park, but this was never completed. Constantin Piliuță, a painter active in the second half of the 20th century, made Macedonski the subject of a portrait in series dedicated to Romanian cultural figures (also depicted were Nicolae Iorga, Ștefan Luchian and Vianu).\",\n \"Constantin Piliuță, a painter active in the second half of the 20th century, made Macedonski the subject of a portrait in series dedicated to Romanian cultural figures (also depicted were Nicolae Iorga, Ștefan Luchian and Vianu). In 1975, a bust of Macedonski, the work of Constantin Foamete, was unveiled in Craiova. Of Macedonski's numerous residences, the one in Dorobanți was demolished when the Academy of Economic Studies (ASE) was expanded. A commemorative plaque was later put up near the spot.\",\n \"A commemorative plaque was later put up near the spot. Macedonski's childhood home in Goiești passed into state property under communism, and was in turn a school, a community home and a Macedonski Museum, before falling into neglect after the Romanian Revolution of 1989. Several streets named in honor of Alexandru Macedonski, notably in Bucharest (by the ASE), Craiova, Cluj-Napoca and Timișoara.\",\n \"Several streets named in honor of Alexandru Macedonski, notably in Bucharest (by the ASE), Craiova, Cluj-Napoca and Timișoara. Works published anthumously Prima verba (poetry, 1872) Ithalo (poem, 1878) Poezii (poetry, 1881/1882) Parizina (translation of Parisina, 1882) Iadeș!\",\n \"Works published anthumously Prima verba (poetry, 1872) Ithalo (poem, 1878) Poezii (poetry, 1881/1882) Parizina (translation of Parisina, 1882) Iadeș! (comedy, 1882) Dramă banală (short story, 1887) Saul (with Cincinat Pavelescu; tragedy, 1893) Excelsior (poetry, 1895) Bronzes (poetry, 1897) (essay, 1898) Cartea de aur (prose, 1902) Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu (novel, 1906; 1914) Flori sacre (poetry, 1912) Zaherlina (essay, 1920) Notes References Mircea Anghelescu, chronological table, preface and critical references, in Macedonski, Poemele \\\"Nopților\\\", Editura Albatros, Bucharest, 1972, p. 7-31, 137–140.\",\n \"(comedy, 1882) Dramă banală (short story, 1887) Saul (with Cincinat Pavelescu; tragedy, 1893) Excelsior (poetry, 1895) Bronzes (poetry, 1897) (essay, 1898) Cartea de aur (prose, 1902) Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu (novel, 1906; 1914) Flori sacre (poetry, 1912) Zaherlina (essay, 1920) Notes References Mircea Anghelescu, chronological table, preface and critical references, in Macedonski, Poemele \\\"Nopților\\\", Editura Albatros, Bucharest, 1972, p. 7-31, 137–140. Nicolae Balotă, Arte poetice ale secolului XX: ipostaze românești și străine, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1976.\",\n \"Nicolae Balotă, Arte poetice ale secolului XX: ipostaze românești și străine, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1976. Lucian Boia, \\\"Germanofilii\\\". Elita intelectuală românească în anii Primului Război Mondial, Humanitas, Bucharest, 2010. George Călinescu, Istoria literaturii române de la origini pînă în prezent, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1986 Paul Cernat, Avangarda românească și complexul periferiei: primul val, Cartea Românească, Bucharest, 2007. Șerban Cioculescu, Caragialiana, Editura Eminescu, Bucharest, 1974.\",\n \"Șerban Cioculescu, Caragialiana, Editura Eminescu, Bucharest, 1974. Péter Krasztev, \\\"From a Deadlocked Present into an Imagined Past\\\", in the Central European University's East Central Europe = L'Europe du Centre-Est, Vol. 26, Nr. 2/1999, p. 33-52 \\\"From Modernization to Modernist Literature\\\", in Marcel Cornis-Pope, John Neubauer (eds. ), History of the Literary Cultures of East-Central Europe, Vol. 3, John Benjamins, Amsterdam & Philadelphia, 2004, p. 332-348.\",\n \"3, John Benjamins, Amsterdam & Philadelphia, 2004, p. 332-348. Lucian Nastasă, Intelectualii și promovarea socială (pentru o morfologie a câmpului universitar), Editura Nereamia Napocae, Cluj-Napoca, 2003; e-book version at the Romanian Academy's George Bariț Institute of History Z. Ornea, Junimea și junimismul, Vol. II, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1998. Perpessicius, Studii eminesciene, Museum of Romanian Literature, Bucharest, 2001.\",\n \"Perpessicius, Studii eminesciene, Museum of Romanian Literature, Bucharest, 2001. Petre Răileanu, Michel Carassou, Fundoianu/Fondane et l'avant-garde, Fondation Culturelle Roumaine, Éditions Paris-Méditerranée, Bucharest & Paris, 1999. Tom Sandqvist, Dada East. The Romanians of Cabaret Voltaire, MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts & London, 2006. Manuela-Delia Suciu, \\\"La poésie roumaine au XIXe siècle. Alexandru Macedonski entre romantisme et symbolisme\\\", in Revue d'Études Françaises, Nr.\",\n \"Alexandru Macedonski entre romantisme et symbolisme\\\", in Revue d'Études Françaises, Nr. 8/2003, p. 101-110 (republished by the Centre Interuniversitaire d’Études Françaises/Egyetemközi Francia Központ) Tudor Vianu, Scriitori români, Vol. I-III, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1970–1971. Mariana Vida, \\\"La société Tinerimea artistică de Bucarest et le symbolisme tardif entre 1902-1910\\\", in Revue Roumaine d'Histoire de l'Art. Série Beaux-arts, Vol.\",\n \"Série Beaux-arts, Vol. Série Beaux-arts, Vol. XLIV, 2007, p. 55-66 External links Amidst Hen Houses (excerpts), Poésies, Thalassa (excerpt), in the Romanian Cultural Institute's Plural Magazine (various issues) Alexandru Macedonski, Museum of Romanian Literature profile 1854 births 1920 deaths 19th-century Romanian poets 20th-century Romanian poets Romanian male poets Romantic poets Neoclassical writers Symbolist poets Sonneteers Romanian fabulists Romanian epigrammatists 19th-century Romanian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Romanian dramatists and playwrights Male dramatists and playwrights 19th-century Romanian novelists 20th-century Romanian novelists Romanian male novelists Romanian writers in French 19th-century short story writers 20th-century short story writers Romanian male short story writers Romanian short story writers Realism (art movement) Symbolist novelists Romanian fantasy writers Romanian science fiction writers Romanian humorists Romanian erotica writers 19th-century essayists 20th-century essayists Romanian essayists 20th-century biographers Romanian biographers Male biographers Romanian memoirists Romanian travel writers Romanian literary critics Romanian screenwriters Male screenwriters Romanian columnists Romanian magazine editors Romanian magazine founders Romanian newspaper editors Romanian newspaper founders 19th-century translators 20th-century translators Romanian translators English–Romanian translators French–Romanian translators Greek–Romanian translators Writers from Bucharest Romanian nobility Members of the Romanian Orthodox Church Carol I National College alumni National Liberal Party (Romania) politicians Republicanism in the Kingdom of Romania Romanian civil servants Prefects of Romania Romanian inventors Romanian esotericists Romanian expatriates in France Romanian people of World War I Burials at Bellu Cemetery Members of the Romanian Academy elected posthumously 20th-century screenwriters\"\n]"}}},{"rowIdx":372,"cells":{"History":{"kind":"list like","value":["Alexandru Macedonski","Late 1890s","How old was Macedonski during this time period?","I don't know.","What was he doing during this time?","By 1898, Macedonski was again facing financial difficulties, and his collaborators resorted to organizing a fundraiser in his honor."],"string":"[\n \"Alexandru Macedonski\",\n \"Late 1890s\",\n \"How old was Macedonski during this time period?\",\n \"I don't know.\",\n \"What was he doing during this time?\",\n \"By 1898, Macedonski was again facing financial difficulties, and his collaborators resorted to organizing a fundraiser in his honor.\"\n]"},"QuAC_dialog_id":{"kind":"string","value":"C_0dd521a55de449a4b87a29d550b59837_1"},"Question":{"kind":"string","value":"At this time, had he written any literature yet?"},"Question_no":{"kind":"number","value":3,"string":"3"},"Rewrite":{"kind":"string","value":"In the late 1890's, had Alexandru Macedonski written any literature yet?"},"true_page_title":{"kind":"string","value":"Alexandru Macedonski"},"true_contexts":{"kind":"string","value":"Macedonski also returned with a new volume of poetry, Excelsior (consecutive editions in 1895 and 1896), and founded Liga Ortodoxa (\"The Orthodox League\"), a magazine noted for hosting the debut of Tudor Arghezi, later one of the most celebrated figures in Romanian literature. Macedonski commended his new protege for reaching \"the summit of poetry and art\" at \"an age when I was still prattling verses\". Liga Ortodoxa also hosted articles against Caragiale, which Macedonski signed with the pseudonym Sallustiu (\"Sallustius\"). The magazine was additional proof of Macedonski's return to conservatism, and largely dedicated to defending the cause of Romanian Orthodox Metropolitan Ghenadie, deposed by the Romanian Synod following a political scandal. It defended Ghenadie up until he chose to resign, and subsequently went out of print. Macedonski was shocked to note that Ghenadie had given up his own defense. In 1895, his Casa cu nr. 10 was translated into French by the Journal des Debats, whose editors reportedly found it picturesque. Two years later, Macedonski himself published French-language translations of his earlier poetry under the title Bronzes, a volume prefaced by his disciple, the critic and promoter Alexandru Bogdan-Pitesti. Although it was positively reviewed by Mercure de France magazine, Bronzes was largely unnoticed by the French audience, a fact which Tudor Vianu attributes to Bogdan-Pitesti's lack of qualification for the cultural mission Macedonski had trusted him with. By that time, his circle had come to be frequented with regularity by Bogdan-Pitesti's friend and collaborator, the celebrated painter Stefan Luchian, who was in the Symbolist and Art Nouveau stage of his career. By 1898, Macedonski was again facing financial difficulties, and his collaborators resorted to organizing a fundraiser in his honor. His rejection of the Orthodox establishment was documented by his political tract, published that year as Falimentul clerului ortodox. Between that time and 1900, he focused on researching esoteric, occult and pseudoscientific subjects. Traian Demetrescu, who recorded his visits with Macedonski, recalled his former mentor being opposed to his positivist take on science, claiming to explain the workings of the Universe in \"a different way\", through \"imagination\", but also taking an interest in Camille Flammarion's astronomy studies. Macedonski was determined to interpret death through parapsychological means, and, in 1900, conferenced at the Atheneum on the subject Sufletul si viata viitoare (\"The Soul and the Coming Life\"). The focal point of his vision was that man could voluntarily stave off death with words and gestures, a concept he elaborated upon in his later articles. In one such piece, Macedonski argued: \"man has the power [...] to compact the energy currents known as thoughts to the point where he changes them, according to his own will, into objects or soul-bearing creatures.\" He also attempted to build a machine for extinguishing chimney fires. Later, Nikita Macedonski registered the invention of nacre-treated paper, which is sometimes attributed to his father. CANNOTANSWER"},"answer":{"kind":"string","value":"Macedonski also returned with a new volume of poetry, Excelsior ("},"true_contexts_wiki":{"kind":"string","value":"Alexandru Macedonski (; also rendered as Al. A. Macedonski, Macedonschi or Macedonsky; 14 March 1854 – 24 November 1920) was a Romanian poet, novelist, dramatist and literary critic, known especially for having promoted French Symbolism in his native country, and for leading the Romanian Symbolist movement during its early decades. A forerunner of local modernist literature, he is the first local author to have used free verse, and claimed by some to have been the first in modern European literature. Within the framework of Romanian literature, Macedonski is seen by critics as second only to national poet Mihai Eminescu; as leader of a cosmopolitan and aestheticist trend formed around his Literatorul journal, he was diametrically opposed to the inward-looking traditionalism of Eminescu and his school.\n\nDebuting as a Neoromantic in the Wallachian tradition, Macedonski went through the Realist-Naturalist stage deemed \"social poetry\", while progressively adapting his style to Symbolism and Parnassianism, and repeatedly but unsuccessfully attempting to impose himself in the Francophone world. Despite having theorized \"instrumentalism\", which reacted against the traditional guidelines of poetry, he maintained a lifelong connection with Neoclassicism and its ideal of purity. Macedonski's quest for excellence found its foremost expression in his recurring motif of life as a pilgrimage to Mecca, notably used in his critically acclaimed Nights cycle. The stylistic stages of his career are reflected in the collections Prima verba, Poezii, and Excelsior, as well as in the fantasy novel Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu. In old age, he became the author of rondels, noted for their detached and serene vision of life, in contrast with his earlier combativeness.\n\nIn parallel to his literary career, Macedonski was a civil servant, notably serving as prefect in the Budjak and Northern Dobruja during the late 1870s. As journalist and militant, his allegiance fluctuated between the liberal current and conservatism, becoming involved in polemics and controversies of the day. Of the long series of publications he founded, Literatorul was the most influential, notably hosting his early conflicts with the Junimea literary society. These targeted Vasile Alecsandri and especially Eminescu, their context and tone becoming the cause of a major rift between Macedonski and his public. This situation repeated itself in later years, when Macedonski and his Forța Morală magazine began campaigning against the Junimist dramatist Ion Luca Caragiale, whom they falsely accused of plagiarism. During World War I, the poet aggravated his critics by supporting the Central Powers against Romania's alliance with the Entente side. His biography was also marked by an enduring interest in esotericism, numerous attempts to become recognized as an inventor, and an enthusiasm for cycling.\n\nThe scion of a political and aristocratic family, the poet was the son of General Alexandru Macedonski, who served as Defense Minister, and the grandson of 1821 rebel Dimitrie Macedonski. Both his son Alexis and grandson Soare were known painters.\n\nBiography\n\nEarly life and family\n\nThe poet's paternal family had arrived in Wallachia during the early 19th century. Of South Slav (Serb or Bulgarian) or Aromanian origin, they claimed to have descended from Serb insurgents in Ottoman-ruled Macedonia. Alexandru's grandfather Dimitrie and Dimitrie's brother Pavel participated in the 1821 uprising against the Phanariote administration, and in alliance with the Filiki Eteria; Dimitrie made the object of controversy when, during the final stage of the revolt, he sided with the Eteria in its confrontation with Wallachian leader Tudor Vladimirescu, taking an active part in the latter's killing. Both Macedonski brothers had careers in the Wallachian military forces, at a time when the country was governed by Imperial Russian envoys, when the Regulamentul Organic regime recognized the family as belonging to Wallachia's nobility. Dimitrie married Zoe, the daughter an ethnic Russian or Polish officer; their son, the Russian-educated Alexandru, climbed in the military and political hierarchy, joining the unified Land Forces after his political ally, Alexander John Cuza, was elected Domnitor and the two Danubian Principalities became united Romania. Both the officer's uncle Pavel and brother Mihail were amateur poets.\n\nMacedonski's mother, Maria Fisența (also Vicenț or Vicența), was from an aristocratic environment, being the scion of Oltenian boyars. Through her father, she may have descended from Russian immigrants who had been absorbed into Oltenia's nobility. Maria had been adopted by the boyar Dumitrache Pârâianu, and the couple had inherited the Adâncata and Pometești estates in Goiești, on the Amaradia Valley.\n\nBoth the poet and his father were dissatisfied with accounts of their lineage, contradicting them with an account that researchers have come to consider spurious. Although adherents of the Romanian Orthodox Church, the Macedonskis traced their origin to Rogala-bearing Lithuanian nobility from the defunct Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. While the writer perpetuated his father's claim, it is possible that he also took pride in investigating his Balkan roots: according to literary historian Tudor Vianu, who, as a youth, was a member of his circle, this tendency is attested by two of Macedonski's poems from the 1880s, where the South Slavs appear as icons of freedom. Vianu's contemporary, literary historian George Călinescu, postulated that, although the family had been absorbed into the ethnic and cultural majority, the poet's origin served to enrich local culture by linking it to a \"Thracian\" tradition and the spirit of \"adventurers\".\n\nThe family moved often, following General Macedonski's postings. Born in Bucharest, Macedonski-son was the third of four siblings, the oldest of whom was a daughter, Caterina. Before the age of six, he was a sickly and nervous child, who is reported to have had regular tantrums. In 1862, his father sent him to school in Oltenia, and he spent most time in the Amaradia region. The nostalgia he felt for the landscape later made him consider writing an Amărăzene (\"Amaradians\") cycle, of which only one poem was ever completed. He was attending the Carol I High School in Craiova and, according to his official record, graduated in 1867.\n\nMacedonski's father had by then become known as an authoritarian commander, and, during his time in Târgu Ocna, faced a mutiny which only his wife could stop by pleading with the soldiers (an episode which made an impression on the future poet). A stern parent, he took an active part in educating his children. Having briefly served as Defense Minister, the general was mysteriously dismissed by Cuza in 1863, and his pension became the topic of a political scandal. It ended only under the rule of Carol I, Cuza's Hohenzollern successor, when Parliament voted against increasing the sum to the level demanded by its recipient. Having preserved a negative impression of the 1866 plebiscite, during which Cuza's dethronement had been confirmed, Macedonski remained a committed opponent of the new ruler. As a youth and adult, he sought to revive his father's cause, and included allusions to the perceived injustice in at least one poem. After spending the last months of his life protesting against the authorities, Macedonski-father fell ill and died in September 1869, leaving his family to speculate that he had been murdered by political rivals.\n\nDebut years\n\nMacedonski left Romania in 1870, traveling through Austria-Hungary and spending time in Vienna, before visiting Switzerland and possibly other countries; according to one account, it was here that he may have first met (and disliked) his rival poet Mihai Eminescu, at a time a Viennese student. Macedonski's visit was meant to be preparation for entering the University of Bucharest, but he spent much of his time in the bohemian environment, seeking entertainment and engaging in romantic escapades. He was however opposed to the lifestyle choices of people his age, claiming that they were engaged in \"orgy after orgy\". At around that date, the young author had begun to perfect a style heavily influenced by Romanticism, and in particular by his Wallachian predecessors Dimitrie Bolintineanu and Ion Heliade Rădulescu. He was for a while in Styria, at Bad Gleichenberg, a stay which, George Călinescu believes, may have been the result of a medical recommendation to help him counter excessive nervousness. The landscape there inspired him to write an ode. Also in 1870, he published his first lyrics in George Bariț's Transylvanian-based journal Telegraful Român.\n\nThe following year, he left for Italy, where he visited Pisa, Florence, Venice, and possibly other cities. His records of the journey indicate that he was faced with financial difficulties and plagued by disease. Macedonski also claimed to have attended college lectures in these cities, and to have spent significant time studying at Pisa University, but this remains uncertain. He eventually returned to Bucharest, where he entered the Faculty of Letters (which he never attended regularly). According to Călinescu, Macedonski \"did not feel the need\" to attend classes, because \"such a young man will expect society to render upon him its homages.\" He was again in Italy during spring 1872, soon after publishing his debut volume Prima verba (Latin for \"First Word\"). Having also written an anti-Carol piece, published in Telegraful Român during 1873, Macedonski reportedly feared political reprisals, and decided to make another visit to Styria and Italy while his case was being assessed. It was in Italy that he met French musicologist Jules Combarieu, with whom he corresponded sporadically over the following decades.\n\nDuring that period, Macedonski became interested in the political scene and political journalism, first as a sympathizer of the liberal-radical current—which, in 1875, organized itself around the National Liberal Party. In 1874, back in Craiova, Macedonski founded a short-lived literary society known as Junimea, a title which purposefully or unwittingly copied that of the influential conservative association with whom he would later quarrel. It was then that he met journalist and pedagogue Ștefan Velescu, a meeting witnessed by Velescu's pupil, the future liberal journalist Constantin Bacalbașa, who recorded it in his memoirs. Oltul magazine, which he had helped establish and which displayed a liberal agenda, continued to be published until July 1875, and featured Macedonski's translations from Pierre-Jean de Béranger, Hector de Charlieu and Alphonse de Lamartine, as well as his debut in travel writing and short story. At age 22, he worked on his first play, a comedy titled Gemenii (\"The Twins\"). In 1874 that he came to the attention of young journalist future dramatist Ion Luca Caragiale, who satirized him in articles for the magazine Ghimpele, ridiculing his claim to Lithuanian descent, and eventually turning him into the character Aamsky, whose fictional career ends with his death from exhaustion caused by contributing to \"for the country's political development\". This was the first episode in a consuming polemic between the two figures. Reflecting back on this period in 1892, Macedonski described Caragiale as a \"noisy young man\" of \"sophistic reasoning\", whose target audience was to be found in \"beer gardens\".\n\n1875 trial and office as prefect\n\nIn March 1875, Macedonski was arrested on charges of defamation or sedition. For almost a year before, he and Oltul had taken an active part in the campaign against Conservative Party and its leader, Premier Lascăr Catargiu. In this context, he had demanded that the common man \"rise up with weapons in their hands and break both the government agents and the government\", following up with similar messages aimed at the Domnitor. He was taken to Bucharest's Văcărești prison and confined there for almost three months. Supported by the liberal press and defended by the most prestigious pro-liberal attorneys (Nicolae Fleva among them), Macedonski faced a jury trial on 7 June, being eventually cleared of the charges. Reportedly, the Bucharest populace organized a spontaneous celebration of the verdict.\n\nIn 1875, after the National Liberal Ion Emanuel Florescu was assigned the post of Premier by Carol, Macedonski embarked on an administrative career. The poet was upset by not being included on the National Liberal list for the 1875 suffrage. This disenchantment led him into a brief conflict with the young liberal figure Bonifaciu Florescu, only to join him soon afterward in editing Stindardul journal, alongside Pantazi Ghica and George Fălcoianu. The publication followed the line of Nicolae Moret Blaremberg, made notorious for his radical and republican agenda. Ghica and Macedonski remained close friends until Ghica's 1882 death.\n\nThe new cabinet eventually appointed him Prefect of Bolgrad region, in the Budjak (at the time part of Romania). In parallel, he published his first translation, a version of Parisina, an 1816 epic poem by Lord Byron, and completed the original works Ithalo and Calul arabului (\"The Arab's Horse\"). He also spoke at the Romanian Atheneum, presenting his views on the state of Romanian literature (1878). His time in office ended upon the outbreak of the Russo-Turkish War. At the time, Russian volunteers were amassed on the Budjak border, requesting from the Romanian authorities the right of free passage into the Principality of Serbia. The National Liberal Premier Ion Brătianu, who was negotiating an anti-Ottoman alliance, sent Macedonski signals to let them pass, but the prefect, obeying the official recommendation of Internal Affairs Minister George D. Vernescu, decided against it, and was consequently stripped of his office.\n\nStill determined to pursue a career in the press, Macedonski founded a string of unsuccessful magazines with patriotic content and titles such as Vestea (\"The Announcement\"), Dunărea (\"The Danube\"), Fulgerul (\"The Lightning\") and, after 1880, Tarara (an onomatopoeia equivalent to \"Toodoodoo\"). Their history is connected with that of the Russo-Turkish War, at the end of which Romanian participation on the Russian side resulted in her independence. Macedonski remained committed to the anti-Ottoman cause, and, some thirty years later, stated: \"We want no Turkey in Europe!\"\n\nBy 1879, the poet, who continued to voice criticism of Carol, had several times switched sides between the National Liberals and the opposition Conservatives. That year, while the Budjak was ceded to Russia and Northern Dobruja was integrated into Romania, the Brătianu cabinet appointed him administrator of the Sulina plasă and the Danube Delta. He had previously refused to be made comptroller in Putna County, believing such an appointment to be beneath his capacity, and had lost a National Liberal appointment in Silistra when Southern Dobruja was granted to the Principality of Bulgaria. During this short interval in office, he traveled to the Snake Island in the Black Sea—his appreciation for the place later motivated him to write the fantasy novel Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu and the poem Lewki.\n\nEarly Literatorul years\nWith the 1880s came a turning point in Alexandru Macedonski's career. Vianu notes that changes took place in the poet's relationship with his public: \"Society recognizes in him the nonconformist. [...] The man becomes singular; people start talking about his oddities.\" Macedonski's presumed frustration at being perceived in this way, Vianu notes, may have led him closer to the idea of poète maudit, theorized earlier by Paul Verlaine. In this context, he had set his sight on promoting \"social poetry\", the merger between lyricism and political militantism. Meanwhile, according to Călinescu, his attacks on the liberals and the \"daft insults he aimed at [Romania's] throne\" had effectively ruined his own chance of political advancement.\n\nIn January 1880, he launched his most influential and long-lived publication, Literatorul, which was also the focal point of his eclectic cultural circle, and, in later years, of the local Symbolist school. In its first version, the magazine was co-edited by Macedonski, Bonifaciu Florescu and poet Th. M. Stoenescu. Florescu parted with the group soon after, due to a disagreement with Macedonski, and was later attacked by the latter for allegedly accumulating academic posts. Literatorul aimed to irritate Junimist sensibilities from its first issue, when it stated its dislike for \"political prejudice in literature.\" This was most likely an allusion to the views of Junimist figure Titu Maiorescu, being later accompanied by explicit attacks on him and his followers. An early success for the new journal was the warm reception it received from Vasile Alecsandri, a Romantic poet and occasional Junimist whom Macedonski idolized at the time, and the collaboration of popular memoirist Gheorghe Sion. Another such figure was the intellectual V. A. Urechia, whom Macedonski made president of the Literatorul Society. In 1881, Education Minister Urechia granted Macedonski the Bene-Merenti medal 1st class, although, Călinescu stresses, the poet had only totaled 18 months of public service. At around that time, Macedonski had allegedly begun courting actress Aristizza Romanescu, who rejected his advances, leaving him unenthusiastic about love matters and unwilling to seek female company.\n\nIn parallel, Macedonski used the magazine to publicize his disagreement with the main Junimist voice, Convorbiri Literare. Among the group of contributors, several had already been victims of Maiorescu's irony: Sion, Urechia, Pantazi Ghica and Petru Grădișteanu. While welcoming the debut of its contributor, Parnassian-Neoclassicist novelist and poet Duiliu Zamfirescu, Macedonski repeatedly attacked its main exponent, the conservative poet Eminescu, claiming not to understand his poetry. However, Literatorul was also open to contributions from some Convorbiri Literare affiliates (Zamfirescu, Matilda Cugler-Poni and Veronica Micle).\n\nIn November 1880, Macedonski's plays Iadeș! (\"Wishbone!\", a comedy first printed in 1882) and Unchiașul Sărăcie (\"Old Man Poverty\") premiered at the National Theater Bucharest. A sign of government approval, this was followed by Macedonski's appointment to a minor administrative office, as Historical Monuments Inspector. Nevertheless, both plays failed to impose themselves on public perception, and were withdrawn from the program by 1888. Călinescu asserts that, although Macedonski later claimed to have always been facing poverty, his job in the administration, coupled with other sources of revenue, ensured him a comfortable existence.\n\nIn 1881, Macedonski published a new collection of poetry. Titled Poezii, it carries the year \"1882\" on its original cover. Again moving away from liberalism, Macedonski sought to make himself accepted by Junimea and Maiorescu. He consequently attended the Junimea sessions, and gave a public reading of Noaptea de noiembrie (\"November Night\"), the first publicized piece in his lifelong Nights cycle. It reportedly earned him the praise of historian and poet Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu, who, although an anti-Junimist, happened to be in the audience. Despite rumors according to which he had applauded Macedonski, Maiorescu himself was not impressed, and left an unenthusiastic account of the event in his private diary.\n\nAgainst Alecsandri and Eminescu\nMacedonski's open conflict with Junimea began in 1882, when he engaged in a publicized polemic with Alecsandri. It was ignited when, through Macedonski's articles, Literatorul criticized Alecsandri for accepting Romanian Academy prizes despite being its member, and later involved Sion (whose replies on behalf of the Academy were derided by Macedonski). Macedonski also took distance from Alecsandri's style, publishing a \"critical analysis\" of his poetry in one issue of Literatorul. In turn, Alecsandri humiliated his young rival by portraying him as Zoilus, the prototype of slanderers, and himself as the model poet Horace in the 1883 play Fântâna Blanduziei. The two were eventually reconciled, and Macedonski again spoke of Alecsandri as his ideological and stylistic predecessor.\n\nIn April 1882, Eminescu had also replied to Macedonski in Timpul journal, referring to an unnamed poet who \"barely finishes high-school, comes over to Bucharest selling nick-nacks and makeup [and goes into] literary dealership\". Reproaching Macedonski's attacks on Alecsandri, Eminescu makes a nationalist comment about the young poet bearing \"the bastard instincts of those foreigners who were Romanianized only yesterday\", and attributes him \"the physiognomy of a hairdresser\". Through the articles of Petru Th. Missir, Convorbiri Literare gave Poezii a negative review, deemed \"malevolent\" by literary historian Mircea Anghelescu. At the other end of the political and cultural spectrum, Macedonski faced opposition from the intellectuals attracted to socialism, in particular Contemporanul editors Constantin Mille and Ioan Nădejde, with whom he was engaged in an extended polemic.\n\nIn the meantime, Macedonski published his own play, which had Cuza for its main character and was eponymously titled Cuza-Vodă, and completed translations for Literatorul—from Maurice Rollinat, whom he helped impose as a main cultural reference in Romanian Symbolism, and from the Greek poet Akhillefs Paraskhos. In 1883, he also contributed his first sketch story, Casa cu nr. 10 (\"The House at Number 10\"). In early 1883, he married Ana Rallet-Slătineanu. Wealthy and supposedly related to Romanian aristocrats, she would bear him five children in all: the painter Alexis was the eldest, followed by Nikita; the three youngest were two sons (Panel and Constantin Macedonski) and a daughter, Anna (also known as Nina). His heterosexual lifestyle notwithstanding, Macedonski remained a self-avowed admirer of male beauties, and was rumored to be a closeted homosexual.\n\nIn July 1883, Macedonski undertook one of his most controversial anti-Junimist actions. That month, Literatorul published an epigram signed with the pseudonym Duna, deriding an unnamed author who had lost his mind. Mihai Eminescu—whom many had already come to see as Romania's national poet—had by then developed a mental disorder which had become known to the general public. Ever since that moment, Macedonski has generally been believed to be Duna, and as a result, was faced with much criticism from both readers and commentators. The intense anti-Literatorul press campaign was initiated in August, when writer Grigore Ventura issued an article condemning Macedonski's attitude (published in the Bucharest-based newspaper L'Indépendance Roumaine), with Macedonski responding in the National Liberal organ Românul. During one evening, Macedonski is reported to have been assaulted by anonymous supporters of Eminescu. His previous conflict with Nădejde was also affected by this renewed controversy: while opposed to Junimist policies, the socialists at Contemporanul voiced their admiration for Eminescu's art.\n\nLate in 1883, Macedonski and his friends unveiled Ion Georgescu's statue of their mentor Bolintineanu in the National Theater lobby. The circumstances in which this took place rose suspicion of foul play; on this grounds, Macedonski was ridiculed by his former friend Zamfirescu in the journal România Liberă, which left him embittered. Călinescu proposes that, although such negative reactions were invoked by Macedonski's supporters as a sign of their mentor having been marginalized, Macedonski had expressed his dissatisfaction with the cultural environment long before that moment, and was still a respected figure even after the incidents took place.\n\nFirst Paris sojourn and Poezia viitorului\n\nHaving been stripped of his administrative office by the new Brătianu cabinet, Macedonski faced financial difficulties, and was forced to move into a house on the outskirts of Bucharest, and later moved between houses in northern Bucharest. According to Călinescu, the poet continued to cultivate luxury and passionately invested in the decorative arts, although his source of income, other than the supposed assistance \"of [European] ruling houses\", remains a mystery. Arguing that Macedonski was \"always in need of money\" to use on his luxury items, poet Victor Eftimiu claimed: \"He did not shy away from sending emphatic notes to the potentates of his day [...], flattering some, threatening others. He would marry off or simply mate some of his disciples with aging and rich women, and then he would squeeze out their assets.\"\n\nMacedonski eventually left Romania in 1884, visiting Paris. On his way there, he passed through Craiova, where he met aspiring author Traian Demetrescu, whose works he had already hosted in Literatorul and who was to become his friend and protégé. Demetrescu later recalled being gripped by \"tremors of emotion\" upon first catching sight of Macedonski. In France, Macedonski set up contacts within the French literary environment, and began contributing to French or Francophone literary publications—including the Belgian Symbolist platforms La Wallonie and L'Élan littéraire. His collaboration with La Wallonie alongside Albert Mockel, Tudor Vianu believes, makes Alexandru Macedonski one in the original wave of European Symbolists. This adaptation to Symbolism also drew on his marked Francophilia, which in turn complemented his tendencies toward cosmopolitanism. He became opposed to Carol I, who, in 1881, had been granted the Crown of the Romanian Kingdom. In addition to his admiration for Cuza and the 1848 Wallachian revolutionaries, the poet objected to the King's sympathy for France's main rival, the German Empire. In January 1885, after having returned from the voyage, he announced his retirement from public life, claiming that German influence and its exponents at Junimea had \"conquered\" Romanian culture, and repeating his claim that Eminescu lacked value.\n\nIn the meantime, Literatorul went out of print, although new series were still published at irregular intervals until 1904 (when it ceased being published altogether). The magazine was reportedly hated by the public, causing Macedonski, Stoenescu, Florescu, Urechia and educator Anghel Demetriescu to try to revive it as Revista Literară (\"The Literary Review\", published for a few months in 1885). The poet attempted to establish other magazines, all of them short-lived, and, in 1887, handed for print his Naturalist novella Dramă banală (\"Banal Drama\") while completing one of the most revered episodes in the Nights series, Noaptea de mai (\"May Night\"). Also in 1886, he worked on his other Naturalist novellas: Zi de august (\"August Day\"), Pe drum de poștă (\"On the Stagecoach Trail\"), Din carnetul unui dezertor (\"From the Notebook of a Deserter\"), Între cotețe (\"Amidst Hen Houses\") and the eponymous Nicu Dereanu.\n\nBy 1888, he was again sympathetic toward Blaremberg, whose dissident National Liberal faction had formed an alliance with the Conservatives, editing Stindardul Țărei (later Straja Țărei) as his supporting journal. However, late in the same year, he returned to the liberal mainstream, being assigned a weekly column in Românul newspaper. Two years later, he attempted to relaunch Literatorul under the leadership of liberal figure Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu, but the latter eventually settled for founding his own Revista Nouă. Around 1891, he saluted Junimeas own break with the Conservatives and its entry into politics at the Conservative-Constitutional Party, before offering an enthusiastic welcome to the 1892 Junimist agitation among university students. In 1894, he would speak in front of student crowds gathered at a political rally in University Square, and soon after made himself known for supporting the cause of ethnic Romanians and other underrepresented groups of Austria-Hungary.\n\nHis literary thesis of the time was titled Poezia viitorului (\"The Poetry of the Future\"). It upheld Symbolist authors as the models to follow, while Macedonski personally began producing what he referred to as \"instrumentalist\" poems, composed around musical and onomatopoeic elements, and showing a preference for internal rhymes. Such an experimental approach was soon after parodied and ridiculed by Ion Luca Caragiale, who had by then affiliated and parted with Junimea, in his new Moftul Român magazine. The poet sought to reconcile with his rival, publicizing a claim that Caragiale was being unjustly ignored by the cultural establishment, but this attempt failed to mend relations between them, and the conflict escalated further.\n\nWhile, in 1893, Literatorul hosted fragments of Thalassa in its Romanian-language version, the author also launched a daily, Lumina (\"The Light\"). It was also at that stage that Alexandru Macedonski associated with Cincinat Pavelescu, the noted epigrammarian, who joined him in editing Literatorul, and with whom he co-authored the 1893 verse tragedy depicting the Biblical hero Saul, and named after him. Although showcased by the National Theater with star actor Constantin Nottara in the title role, it failed to register success with the public. Two years later, the two Literatorul editors made headlines as pioneers of cycling. An enthusiastic promoter of the sport, Macedonski joined fellow poet Constantin Cantilli on a marathon, pedaling from Bucharest across the border into Austria-Hungary, all the way down to Brașov.\n\nLate 1890s\nMacedonski also returned with a new volume of poetry, Excelsior (consecutive editions in 1895 and 1896), and founded Liga Ortodoxă (\"The Orthodox League\"), a magazine noted for hosting the debut of Tudor Arghezi, later one of the most celebrated figures in Romanian literature. Macedonski commended his new protégé for reaching \"the summit of poetry and art\" at \"an age when I was still prattling verses\". Liga Ortodoxă also hosted articles against Caragiale, which Macedonski signed with the pseudonym Sallustiu (\"Sallustius\"). The magazine was additional proof of Macedonski's return to conservatism, and largely dedicated to defending the cause of Romanian Orthodox Metropolitan Ghenadie, deposed by the Romanian Synod following a political scandal. It defended Ghenadie up until he chose to resign, and subsequently went out of print. Macedonski was shocked to note that Ghenadie had given up his own defense.\n\nIn 1895, his Casa cu nr. 10 was translated into French by the Journal des Débats, whose editors reportedly found it picturesque. Two years later, Macedonski himself published French-language translations of his earlier poetry under the title Bronzes, a volume prefaced by his disciple, the critic and promoter Alexandru Bogdan-Pitești. Although it was positively reviewed by Mercure de France magazine, Bronzes was largely unnoticed by the French audience, a fact which Tudor Vianu attributes to Bogdan-Pitești's lack of qualification for the cultural mission Macedonski had trusted him with. By that time, his circle had come to be frequented with regularity by Bogdan-Pitești's friend and collaborator, the celebrated painter Ștefan Luchian, who was in the Symbolist and Art Nouveau stage of his career.\n\nBy 1898, Macedonski was again facing financial difficulties, and his collaborators resorted to organizing a fundraiser in his honor. His rejection of the Orthodox establishment was documented by his political tract, published that year as . Between that time and 1900, he focused on researching esoteric, occult and pseudoscientific subjects. Traian Demetrescu, who recorded his visits with Macedonski, recalled his former mentor being opposed to his positivist take on science, claiming to explain the workings of the Universe in \"a different way\", through \"imagination\", but also taking an interest in Camille Flammarion's astronomy studies. Macedonski was determined to interpret death through parapsychological means, and, in 1900, conferenced at the Atheneum on the subject Sufletul și viața viitoare (\"The Soul and the Coming Life\"). The focal point of his vision was that man could voluntarily stave off death with words and gestures, a concept he elaborated upon in his later articles. In one such piece, Macedonski argued: \"man has the power [...] to compact the energy currents known as thoughts to the point where he changes them, according to his own will, into objects or soul-bearing creatures.\" He also attempted to build a machine for extinguishing chimney fires. Later, Nikita Macedonski registered the invention of nacre-treated paper, which is sometimes attributed to his father.\n\nCaion scandal and expatriation\nThe few issues of Literatorul that were printed in 1899-1900 saw the circle being joined by the young Symbolist poet Ștefan Petică. In 1902, he published Cartea de aur (\"The Golden Book\"), comprising his sketch stories and novellas. In parallel, Macedonski returned to the public scene, founding Forța Morală magazine. It was through this venue that he began responding to Ion Luca Caragiale's earlier attacks. This he did by hosting the articles of aspiring journalist Constantin Al. Ionescu-Caion, who accused Caragiale of having plagiarized a Hungarian author by the name of Kemény in his tragedy play Năpasta. Kemény turned out to be non-existent. According to Vianu, Macedonski had no prior knowledge of the fraud, but had also been \"blinded\" by his resentments instead of displaying \"discernment\", and had even showed evidence of \"insanity\". Most in Macedonski's own series of anti-Caragiale articles were unsigned, or signed with pseudonyms such as Luciliu (\"Gaius Lucilius\").\n\nLike in the case of Eminescu's conflict with Macedonski, the polemic enlisted a negative response from the public. The poet's associate Th. M. Stoenescu convinced himself that Caragiale was being framed, and refused to allow Revista Literară to be used for endorsing Caion, which caused Macedonski to shun him. Macedonski refused to withdraw his support for the cause even after Caragiale sued Caion, but Forța Morală soon went out of print. Before it did so, the journal hosted some of Macedonski's most renowned poems, including Lewki and Noaptea de decemvrie (\"December Night\"), together with his article on Remy de Gourmont's thoughts on poetics.\n\nIn his article of 1903, titled (\"Toward Occultism. Later Orientations toward Theosophy and Social Philosophy\"), the poet envisaged making his interest in esoteric subjects the basis of a new literary movement. Also that year, poet George Bacovia began attending the literary circle, and gave a reading of his celebrated Plumb poem, being welcomed by Macedonski with a flattering epigram. Macedonski's series of short-lived periodicals resumed in 1905, when he founded Le Beau Danube Bleu (French for \"The Beautiful Blue Danube\") and Liga Conservatoare (\"The Conservative League\"). He registered more success in 1906, when his Thalassa was published, as Le Calvaire de feu, by Edward Sansot's Paris-based publishing house. This followed intense self-promotion within the French literary environment, as well as advertisements in the French press. Part of this involved Macedonski sending his book to be reviewed by Émile Faguet, Jean Mounet-Sully, Joséphin Péladan, Pierre Quillard and Jean Richepin, who replied with what Vianu deems \"the politeness of circumstance.\" The volume was nonetheless favorably reviewed by the prestigious magazines Mercure de France and Gil Blas.\n\nAlso in 1906, La Revue Musicale published his interview with Combarieu, through which the latter aimed to verify supposed connections between literary inspiration and musical sensitivity. By 1907, he was concentrating on experiments in physics, and eventually publicized his claim to have discovered that light does not travel through vacuum. He sent a paper on astronomy subjects to be reviewed by the Société Astronomique de France, of which he subsequently became a member. The same year, he drafted the plan for a world government, announcing that he had found sympathy for the cause throughout Europe. Macedonski also introduced himself to an Italophone public, when two of his sonnets were published by Poesia, the magazine of Futurist theorist Filippo Tommaso Marinetti.\n\nBetween 1910 and 1912, Macedonski was again in Paris. Seeking to withdraw himself from Romania's public life due to what he perceived as injustice, he had by then completed work on the French-language tragicomedy Le Fou? (\"The Madman?\"), which was only published after his death. He was actively seeking to establish his reputation in French theater, reading his new play to a circle which included Louis de Gonzague Frick and Florian-Parmentier, while, at home, newspapers reported rumors that his work was going to be staged by Sarah Bernhardt's company. His efforts were largely fruitless, and, accompanied by his son Alexis, the poet left France, spent some time in Italy, and eventually returned to Romania. Passing through the German Empire, he learned of Ion Luca Caragiale's sudden death, and wrote Adevărul daily an open letter, which showed that he had come to revise his stance, notably comparing the deceased author's style and legacy to those of Mark Twain.\n\nDuring Macedonski's absence, his style and work had come to be reviewed more positively, in particular by the young authors I. Dragoslav, Horia Furtună, Ion Pillat, Anastasie Mândru, Al. T. Stamatiad, as well as by post-Junimist critic Mihail Dragomirescu, who offered Macedonski a good reception in his Convorbiri Critice magazine. Tudor Vianu, who cites contemporary statements by Dragoslav, concludes that, upon arrival, Macedonski was enthusiastically received by a public who had missed him. Also in 1912, one of his poems was published as an homage by Simbolul, a magazine published by the young and radical Symbolists Tristan Tzara, Ion Vinea and Marcel Janco. Around that time, Macedonski also collaborated with the Iași-based moderate Symbolist magazine Versuri și Proză. Polemics surrounding his case nevertheless continued: in late 1912, as part of a National Theater adaptation of Alphonse Daudet's Sapho, actor Cazimir Belcot borrowed from Macedonski's appearance and mannerisms to portray a failure.\n\nReturn and World War I years\nMacedonski and his protégés had become regular frequenters of Bucharest cafés. Having a table permanently reserved for him at Imperial Hotel's Kübler Coffeehouse, he was later a presence in two other such establishments: High-Life and Terasa Oteteleșanu. He is said to have spent part of his time at Kübler loudly mocking the traditionalist poets who gathered at an opposite table. Meanwhile, the poet's literary club, set up at his house in Dorobanți quarter, had come to resemble a mystical circle, over which he held magisterial command. Vianu, who visited the poet together with Pillat, compares this atmosphere with those created by other \"mystics and magi of poetry\" (citing as examples Joséphin Péladan, Louis-Nicolas Ménard, Stéphane Mallarmé and Stefan George). The hall where seances were hosted was only lit by candles, and the tables were covered in red fabric. Macedonski himself was seated on a throne designed by Alexis, and adopted a dominant pose. The apparent secrecy and the initiation rites performed on new members were purportedly inspired by Rosicrucianism and the Freemasonry. By then, Macedonski was rewarding his followers' poems with false gemstones.\n\nThe poet founded Revista Critică (\"The Critical Review\"), which again closed after a short while, and issued the poetry volume Flori sacre (\"Sacred Flowers\"). Grouping his Forța Morală poems and older pieces, it was dedicated to his new generation of followers, whom Macedonski's preface referred to as \"the new Romania.\" He continued to hope that Le Fou? was going to be staged in France, especially after he received some encouragement in the form of articles in Mercure de France and Journal des Débats, but was confronted with the general public's indifference. In 1914, Thalassa was published in a non-definitive version by Constantin Banu's magazine Flacăra, which sought to revive overall interest in his work. At a French Red Cross conference in September, Macedonski paid his final public homage to France, which had just become entangled in World War I. It was also in 1914 that Macedonski commissioned for print his very first rondels and completed work on a tragedy play about Renaissance poet Dante Aligheri—known as La Mort de Dante in its French original, and Moartea lui Dante in the secondary Romanian version (both meaning \"Dante's Death\"). The aging poet was by then building connections with the local art scene: together with artist Alexandru Severin, he created (and probably presided over) Cenaclul idealist (\"The Idealist Club\"), which included Symbolist artists and was placed under the honorary patronage of King Carol.\n\n1916 was also the year when Romania abandoned her neutrality and, under a National Liberal government, rallied with the Entente Powers. During the neutrality period, Macedonski had shed his lifelong Francophilia to join the Germanophiles, who wanted to see Romanian participation on the Central Powers' side. In 1915, he issued the journal Cuvântul Meu (\"My Word\"). Entirely written by him, it published ten consecutive issues before going bankrupt, and notably lashed out against France for being \"bourgeois\" and \"lawyer-filled\", demanding from Romania not to get involved in the conflict. Commentators and researchers of his work have declared themselves puzzled by this change in allegiance.\n\nMacedonski further alienated public opinion during the Romanian Campaign, when the Central Powers armies entered southern Romania and occupied Bucharest. Alexis was drafted and became a war artist, but Macedonski Sr, who received formal protection from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bucharest, chose to stay behind while the authorities and many ordinary citizens relocated to Iași, where resistance was still being organized. His stance was interpreted as collaborationism by his critics. However, Macedonski reportedly faced extreme poverty throughout the occupation. Having by then begun to attend the circle of Alexandru Bogdan-Pitești, his promoter and fellow Germanophile, he was once rewarded by the latter with a turkey filled with gold coins.\n\nLate polemics, illness and death\n\nLiteratorul resumed print in June 1918, once Romania capitulated to the Central Powers under the Treaty of Bucharest. A controversial incident occurred soon afterwards, when, going against the counsel of his friend and collaborator Stamatiad, Macedonski signed a Literatorul article where the German military administrator August von Mackensen, who was about to lead his troops out of Romania, was presented in a positive light. In a manner deemed \"excessive\" by historian Lucian Boia, the Romanian writer was paying homage not just to Mackensen, but also, indirectly, to German Emperor Wilhelm II and the Reichsheer. Soon after reading the piece, Romanian Academy member and fellow Symbolist promoter Ovid Densusianu withdrew his own nomination of Macedonski for an Academy seat. During summer, Macedonski also joined the group of public figures who saluted the senior Conservative Germanophile Petre P. Carp (deeming Carp \"the veteran of character, honesty and Romanianism\"), and, in September, joined Ioan Slavici and Gala Galaction as a contributor to the occupation magazine Rumänien in Wort und Bild, where he prophesied an anti-French \"political renaissance\" of Romania.\n\nAlexandru Macedonski faced problems after the Romanian government resumed its control over Bucharest, and during the early years of Greater Romania. What followed the Mackensen article, Vianu claims, was Macedonski's bellum contra omnes (\"war against all\"). However, the poet made efforts to accommodate himself with the triumphal return of the Iași authorities: in December 1918, Literatorul celebrated the extension of Romanian rule \"from the Tisza to the Dniester\" as a success of the National Liberals, paying homage to Francophile political leaders Ion I. C. Brătianu and Take Ionescu. Macedonski also envisaged running in the 1918 election for a seat in the new Parliament (which was supposed to vote a document to replace the 1866 Constitution as the organic law), but never registered his candidature. According to Vianu, he had intended to create a joke political party, the \"intellectual group\", whose other member was an unnamed coffeehouse acquaintance of his. Literatorul was revived for a final time in 1919.\n\nHis health deteriorated from heart disease, which is described by Vianu as an effect of constant smoking. By that stage, Vianu recalls, Macedonski also had problems coming to terms with his age. His last anthumous work was the pamphlet Zaherlina (named after the Romanian version of \"Zacherlin\"; also known as Zacherlina or Zacherlina în continuare, \"Zacherlin Contd.\"), completed in 1919 and published the following year. It notably attacked Densusianu, who had become Macedonski's personal enemy. Some other polemical texts he had authored late in life saw print only after his death, under the title Mustrări postume către o generație neînțelegătoare (\"Posthumous Reprimands for an Obtuse Generation\").\n\n1920 was also the year when the People's Party cabinet attempted to pension him off from his office at the Historical Monuments Commission, but the publicized protest of Macedonski's fellow writers in Bucharest made it reconsider. Confined to his home by illness and old age, Macedonski was still writing poems, some of which later known as his Ultima verba (\"Last Words\"). The writer died on 24 November, at three o'clock in the afternoon. Having come to develop an addiction to floral fragrances, he was inhaling a rose petal extract during his last hours. He was buried in Bucharest's Bellu.\n\nWork\n\nGeneral characteristics\n\nAlthough Alexandru Macedonski frequently changed his style and views on literary matters, a number of constants have been traced throughout his work. Thus, a common perception is that his literature had a strongly visual aspect, the notion being condensed in Cincinat Pavelescu's definition of Macedonski: \"Poet, therefore painter; painter, therefore poet.\" Traian Demetrescu too recalled that his mentor had been dreaming of becoming a visual artist, and had eventually settled for turning his son Alexis into one. This pictorial approach to writing created parallels between Macedonski and his traditionalist contemporaries Vasile Alecsandri and Barbu Ștefănescu Delavrancea.\n\nFollowing the tenets of Dimitrie Bolintineanu and Théophile Gautier, the writer repeatedly called for purity in versification, and upheld it as an essential requirement, while progressively seeking to verify the quality of his poetry through phonaesthetics. A characteristic of Macedonski's style is his inventive use of Romanian. Initially influenced by Ion Heliade Rădulescu's introduction of Italian-based words to the Romanian lexis, Macedonski himself later infused poetic language with a large array of neologisms from several Romance sources. Likewise, Vianu notes, Macedonski had a tendency for comparing nature with the artificial, the result of this being a \"document\" of his values. Macedonski's language alternated neologisms with barbarisms, many of which were coined by him personally. They include claviculat (\"clavicled\", applied to a shoulder), împălăriată (\"enhatted\", used to define a crowd of hat-wearing tourists), and ureichii (instead of urechii, \"to the ear\" or \"of the ear\"). His narratives nevertheless take an interest in recording direct speech, used as a method of characterization. However, Călinescu criticizes Macedonski for using a language which, \"although grammatically correct [...], seems to have been learned only recently\", as well as for not following other Romanian writers in creating a lasting poetic style.\n\nThe writer's belief in the effects of sheer willpower, notably present in his comments on esoteric subjects, was itself a defining characteristic of his perspective on literature. In 1882, he wrote about progression in one's career: \"We are all poets at birth, but only those who shape themselves through study will become poets.\" Vianu, who notes Macedonski's \"exclusivity\" and \"fanaticism\", places such statements in connection with Macedonski's personal ambition, \"pride\" and \"the willingness to carry out ventured actions [...], in stated opposition with the entire surrounding and with contempt for the foreseeable reaction.\"\n\nAlmost all periods of Macedonski's work reflect, in whole or in part, his public persona and the polemics he was involved in. George Călinescu's emits a verdict on the relation between his lifetime notoriety and the public's actual awareness of his work: \"Macedonski [was] a poet well-known for being an unknown poet.\" According to literary critic Matei Călinescu, the innovative aspects of his impact on Romanian literature were not as much related to his \"literary ideology\", as much as to his \"contradictory spirit\" and \"essential nonconformism\". However, literary researcher Adrian Marino proposes that Macedonski was one of the first modern authors to illustrate the importance of \"dialectic unity\" through his views on art, in particular by having argued that poetry needed to be driven by \"an idea\". Having theorized once, while questioning Junimist rigor, that \"the logic of poetry is absurdity itself [italics in the original]\", the poet also said: \"Poetry is the chaos of spirit and matter, of the cries of distress and mad laughter. From the sublime to the trivial, that is what it should be.\" He later revised part of this verdict, and, making explicit his adoption of aestheticism, spoke against trivial subjects and in favor of the sublime.\n\nWhile Macedonski also discarded the concept of \"social poetry\" not long after postulating it, its spirit, Tudor Vianu believes, can still be found in his later contributions. This, the critic notes, was owed to his \"social temperament\", whose \"fundamental experience is that of the social.\" Discussing this sociable and extrovert character, other critics see in the poet's life and work the imprint of \"quixotism\". Also according to Vianu, this contrasted with Macedonski's failures in communicating with the public, an experience which made him \"misanthropic\" and contributed to his ultimate vision of death as freedom. Literary historian Pompiliu Constantinescu concluded: \"Macedonski could not resign; his one martyrdom was for Art, as the sole liberation from a tormented life.\" Other commentators have defined the poet's perspective on life as a result of \"neurosis\".\n\nIn Vianu's perspective, Macedonski's stance is dominated by a mixture of nostalgia, sensuality, lugubrious-grotesque imagery, and \"the lack of bashfulness for antisocial sentiments\" which compliments his sarcasm. In respect to the latter characteristic, Vianu notes \"no one in Romanian literature has laughed the same way as Macedonski\", whereas critic Ștefan Cazimir argues: \"[Macedonski was] lacking the sense of relativity in principles, and implicitly a sense of humor.\" Cazimir adds: \"Only when he aged did [Macedonski] learn to smile\". George Călinescu himself believes Macedonski to have been \"fundamentally a spiritual man with lots of humor\", speculating that he was able to see the \"uselessness\" of his own scientific ventures.\n\nCritics note that, while Macedonski progressed from one stage to the other, his work fluctuated between artistic accomplishment and mediocrity. Tudor Vianu believes \"failure in reaching originality\" and reliance on \"soppy-conventional attributes of the day\" to be especially evident wherever Macedonski tried to emulate epic poetry. He also notes that Macedonski's love-themed pieces \"cannot be listed among [his] most fortunate\". At his best, commentators note, he was one of the Romanian literature's classics. Macedonski is thus perceived as the author second only to Eminescu, and as his ideal counterpart—a relation Vianu describes as \"the internal dualism [confronting] two familiar gods\". Various critics have compared Eminescu's poetic discourse with that of the Symbolist leader, concluding that the two poets often display very similar attitudes. Călinescu writes that, while Macedonski's work is largely inferior to that of his Junimist rival, it forms the best \"reply\" ever conceived within their common setting.\n\nPrima verba and other early works\nWith Ion Catina, Vasile Păun and Grigore H. Grandea, young Macedonski belonged to late Romanian Romanticism, part of a Neoromantic generation which had for its mentors Heliade Rădulescu and Bolintineanu. Other early influences were Pierre-Jean de Béranger and Gottfried August Bürger, together with Romanian folklore, motifs from them being adapted by Macedonski into pastorals and ballades of ca. 1870–1880. The imprint of Romanticism and such other sources was evident in Prima verba, which groups pieces that Macedonski authored in his early youth, the earliest of them being written when he was just twelve. Critics generally argue that the volume is without value. The poems display his rebellious attitude, self-victimization and strong reliance on autobiographical elements, centering on such episodes as the death of his father. In one piece inspired by the ideology of Heliade Rădulescu, Vianu notes, Macedonski sings \"the French Revolution's love for freedom and equality, otherwise proclaimed from his nobleman's perspective.\" It reads:\n\nIn parallel, Macedonski used erotic themes, completing a series which, although written on the model of idylls, is noted for its brute details of sexual exploits. The poet probably acknowledged that posterity would reject them, and did not republish them in any of his collected poetry volumes.\n\nDuring his time at Oltul (1873–1875), Macedonski published a series of poems, most of which were not featured in definitive editions of his work. In addition to odes written in the Italian-based version of Romanian, it includes lyrics which satirize Carol I without mentioning his name. Following his arrest, Macedonski also completed Celula mea de la Văcărești (\"My Cell in Văcărești\"), which shows his attempt to joke about the situation. In contrast to this series, some of the pieces written during Macedonski's time in the Budjak and Northern Dobruja display a detachment from contemporary themes. At that stage, he was especially inspired by Lord Byron, whom Vianu calls \"the sovereign poet of [Macedonski's] youth.\" In Calul arabului, Macedonski explores exotic and Levantine settings, using symbols which announce George Coșbuc's El-Zorab, and the Venetian-themed Ithalo, which centers on episodes of betrayal and murder. Others were epic and patriotic in tone, with subjects such as Romanian victories in the Russo-Turkish War or the Imperial Roman sites along the Danube. One of these pieces, titled Hinov after the village and stone quarry in Rasova, gives Macedonski a claim to being the first modern European poet to have used free verse, ahead of the French Symbolist Gustave Kahn. Macedonski himself later voiced the claim, and referred to such a technique as \"symphonic verse\", \"proteic verse\", or, in honor of composer Richard Wagner, \"Wagnerian verse\".\n\nWhile editing Oltul, Macedonski also completed his first prose writings. These were the travel account Pompeia și Sorento (\"Pompeia and Sorento\", 1874) and a prison-themed story described by Vianu as \"a tearjerker\", titled Câinele din Văcărești (\"The Dog in Văcărești\", 1875). These were later complemented by other travel works, which critic Mihai Zamfir likens to the verbal experiments of Impressionist literature, pioneering in the Romanian prose poetry genre. The short comedy Gemenii was his debut work for the stage, but, according to Vianu, failed to show any merit other than a \"logical construction\" and a preview into Macedonski's use of sarcasm. These writings were followed in 1876 by a concise biography of Cârjaliul, an early 19th-century hajduk. In line with his first Levant-themed poems, Macedonski authored the 1877 story Așa se fac banii (\"This Is How Money Is Made\", later retold in French as Comment on devient riche et puissant, \"How to Become Rich and Powerful\"), a fable of fatalism and the Muslim world—it dealt with two brothers, one hard-working and one indolent, the latter of whom earns his money through a series of serendipitous events. Likewise, his verse comedy Iadeș! borrowed its theme from the widely circulated collection of Persian literature known as Sindipa. The setting was however modern, and, as noted by French-born critic Frédéric Damé, the plot also borrowed much from Émile Augier's Gabrielle and from other morality plays of the period. Part of the text was an ironic treatment of youth in liberal professions, an attitude which Macedonski fitted in his emerging anti-bourgeois discourse.\n\nWith the first poems in his Nights cycle, Macedonski still showed his allegiance to Romanticism, and in particular to Alphonse de Lamartine, and the supposed inventor of this theme, Alfred de Musset. Noaptea de noiembrie opens with a violent condemnation of his adversaries, and sees Macedonski depicting his own funeral. The poem is commended by Călinescu, who notes that, in contrast to the \"apparently trivial beginning\", the main part, where Macedonski depicts himself in flight over the Danube, brings the Romanian writer close to the accomplishments of Dante Aligheri. The writer himself claimed that the piece evidenced \"the uttermost breath of inspiration I have ever felt in my life.\" Another poem, Noaptea de aprilie (\"April Night\"), was probably his testimony of unrequited love for Aristizza Romanescu.\n\nRealism and Naturalism\nBy the 1880s, Macedonski developed and applied his \"social poetry\" theory, as branch of Realism. Explained by the writer himself as a reaction against the legacy of Lamartine, it also signified his brief affiliation with the Naturalist current, a radical segment of the Realist movement. Traian Demetrescu thus noted that Macedonski cherished the works of French Naturalists and Realists such as Gustave Flaubert and Émile Zola. During this phase, Macedonski made known his sympathy for the disinherited, from girls forced into prostitution to convicts sentenced to penal labor on salt mines, and also spoke out against the conventionalism of civil marriages. His Ocnele (\"The Salt Mines\") includes the verdict:\n\nNaturalist depiction was also the main element in his prose pieces of the early 1880s. Among them was the first of several sketch stories using still life techniques, Casa cu nr. 10 (according to Zamfir, a prime sample of Macedonski's \"ornamental\" genre). With Între cotețe, Dramă banală and later Cometa lui Odorescu (\"Odorescu's Comet\"), Macedonski speaks about his own biography. The former has for a protagonist Pandele Vergea, a thirty-five-year-old man who is consumed by an avicultural obsession, who dreams of turning into a bird, and who is eventually maimed by his overcrowded fowls. In contrast, Dereanu is a bohemian university student, possessed by dreams of military and political glory, and who meditates about his future in front of Heliade Rădulescu's statue or in Bucharest cafés. Also a bohemian, Odorescu announces his discovery of a comet, before being proved wrong by his aunt, an ordinary woman. Some pieces also double as memoirs: in Dramă banală, the plot revolves around Macedonski's recollection of the 1866 plebiscite. Vianu draws attention to the picturesque depiction of historic Bucharest, a contributing element in Cometa..., Casa cu nr. 10 and Între cotețe.\n\nWith Unchiașul Sărăcie (also written in verse), Macedonski took Naturalist tenets into the field of drama. Frédéric Damé believed it an imitation of a play by Ernest d'Hervilly and Alfred Grévin, but, Vianu argues, the Romanian text was only loosely based on theirs: in Macedonski's adaptation, the theme became fairy tale-like, and used a speech style based on Romanian folklore. Around the time of its completion, Macedonski was also working on a similarly loose adaptation of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, which notably had the two protagonists die in each other's arms. Another such play is 3 decemvrie (\"December 3\"), which partly retells Friedrich Ludwig Zacharias Werner's Der 24 Februar using Naturalist devices. By contrast, the homage-play Cuza-Vodă is mainly a Romantic piece, where Alexander John Cuza finds his political mission validated by legendary figures in Romanian history.\n\nIn parallel, Macedonski was using poetry to carry out his polemics. In an 1884 epigram, he reacted against Alecsandri's Fântâna Blanduziei, but, in Vianu's definition, \"his regular causticity seems to be restrained.\" The piece he had earlier written, presumably against Eminescu, scandalized the public by mocking the rival's mental ruin:\n\nAccording to Tudor Vianu, Macedonski was mostly motivated by his disappointment in Junimea, and in particular by Eminescu's response to his public persona. Vianu contends that, although Macedonski \"never was familiar with the resigned and patient attitudes\", he was \"by no means an evil man.\" On one occasion, the poet defended himself against criticism, noting that the epigram had not been specifically addressed to Eminescu, but had been labeled as such by the press, and claiming to have authored it years before its Literatorul edition. However, the later piece Viața de apoi (\"The Afterlife\") still displays resentments he harbored toward Eminescu.\n\nBy 1880–1884, particularly after the Eminescu scandal, Macedonski envisaged prioritizing French as his language of expression. According to Vianu, Macedonski had traversed \"the lowest point\" of his existence, and had been subject to \"one of the most delicate mysteries of poetic creation.\" Among his pieces of the period is the French-language sonnet Pârle, il me dit alors (\"Speak, He Then Said to Me\"), where, Vianu notes, \"one discovers the state of mind of a poet who decides to expatriate himself.\"\n\nAdoption of Symbolism\n\nAccording to Mihai Zamfir, at the end of his transition from the \"mimetic and egocentric\" verse to Symbolist poetry, Macedonski emerged a \"remarkable, often extraordinary\" author. In the early 20th century, fellow poet and critic N. Davidescu described Macedonski, Ion Minulescu and other Symbolists from Wallachia as distinct from their Moldavian counterparts in both style and themes. Endorsing the theory and practice of Symbolism for much of his life, Macedonski retrospectively claimed to have been one of its first exponents. His version of Symbolism, critic Paul Cernat notes, clashed with that advocated by many of his contemporaries in that it rejected merit to the Decadent movement, and represented the \"decorative\" aestheticist trend of Paranassian spirit within the Romanian Symbolist current.\n\nWithin Poezia viitorului, Macedonski invoked as his models to follow some important or secondary Symbolist and Parnassian figures: Charles Baudelaire, Joséphin Péladan, Maurice Maeterlinck, Stéphane Mallarmé and Jean Moréas. In his review of Bronzes for Mercure de France, Pierre Quillard remarked the \"irreproachable\" technique, but criticized the poet for being too indebted to both Baudelaire and Leconte de Lisle; other Symbolist figures whom Macedonski is known to have borrowed from are José María de Heredia and Iwan Gilkin. While undergoing this transition, to what linguist Manuela-Delia Suciu argues is a mostly Parnassian phase, Macedonski was still referencing Naturalism, and considered it compatible with Symbolism.\n\nWith the adoption of such tenets came a succession of Symbolist poems, where the focus is on minutely-observed objects, usually items of luxury, partly reflecting themes he had explored in the Naturalist stage. Commenting on them, Tudor Vianu argues that no such works had ever been produced in Romanian literature up until that moment. In his Ospățul lui Pentaur (\"The Feast of Pentaur\"), the poet reflected on civilization itself, as reflected in inanimate opulence. The motif was also developed in descriptive prose fragments later grouped in Cartea de aur, collectively titled nuvele fără oameni (\"novellas without people\") and compared by Călinescu with the paintings of Theodor Aman.\n\nAlso during that stage, Macedonski was exploring the numerous links between Symbolism, mysticism and esotericism. Earlier pieces had already come to explore macabre themes characteristic for an early branch of Symbolism. Influenced by Maurice Rollinat, they include the somber Vaporul morții (\"The Ship of Death\") and Visul fatal (\"The Fatal Dream\"). Likewise, the piece titled Imnul lui Satan (\"Satan's Hymn\") was placed by critics in connection with Les Litanies de Satan (part of Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du mal), but, Vianu argues, the source of Macedonski's satanic themes may have been lodged in his own vision of the world. This interest also reflected in his 1893 Saul, where Cincinat Pavelescu's contribution is supposedly minimal. Echoing satanic themes, Ernest Legouvé's dramatic version of the Medea myth (which Macedonski translated at some point in his life) and the classical work of Jean Racine, it shows the dark powers of political conflict intervening between the eponymous king and his ephebos-like protégé David, the latter of whom turns out to be the agent of spiritual revolution.\n\n (\"August Night\"), outlines a monistic belief probably inspired by Rosicrucianism, stressing the unity between soul and matter and depicting Macedonski's own journey into a transcendental space. Following the examples of Baudelaire's Les paradis artificiels, but also echoing his readings from Paul Verlaine and Théophile Gautier, Macedonski left poems dealing with narcotics and substance abuse, at least some of which reflected his personal experience with nicotine and possibly other unnamed drugs. Also at that stage, Macedonski also began publishing the \"instrumentalist\" series of his Symbolist poems. This form of experimental poem was influenced by the theories of René Ghil and verified through his encounter with Remy de Gourmont's views. In parallel, it reaffirmed Macedonski's personal view that music and the spoken word were intimately related (a perspective notably attested by his 1906 interview with Jules Combarieu). Romanian critic Petre Răileanu theorized that such elements evidenced Macedonski's transition to \"metaliterature\". On a different level, they echoed an older influence, that of Gottfried August Bürger.\n\nExcelsior\nDespite having stated his interest in innovation, Macedonski generally displayed a more conventional style in his Excelsior volume. It included Noaptea de mai, which Vianu sees as \"one of the [vernacular's] most beautiful poems\" and as evidence of \"a clear joy, without any torment whatsoever\". A celebration of spring partly evoking folkloric themes, it was made famous by the recurring refrain, Veniți: privighetoarea cântă și liliacul e-nflorit (\"Come along: the nightingale is singing and the lilac is in blossom\"). Like Noaptea de mai, Lewki (named after and dedicated to the Snake Island), depicts intense joy, completed in this case by what Vianu calls \"the restorative touch of nature.\" The series also returned to Levant settings and Islamic imagery, particularly in Acșam dovalar (named after the Turkish version of Witr). Also noted within the volume is his short \"Modern Psalms\" series, including the piece Iertare (\"Forgiveness\"), which is addressed to God:\n\nExcelsior also included Noaptea de ianuarie (\"January Night\"), which encapsulates one of his best-known political statements. Anghelescu reads it as a \"meditation on disillusionment that culminates in a vitality-laden exhortation of action.\" Its anti-bourgeois attitude, literary historian Z. Ornea argues, was one of the meeting points between Macedonski and Junimism. In what is seen as its most acid section, the text notably reads:\n\nAt the same time as being engaged in his most violent polemics, Macedonski produced meditative and serene poems, which were later judged to be among his best. Noaptea de decemvrie is the synthesis of his main themes and influences, rated by commentators as his \"masterpiece\". Partly based on an earlier poem (Meka, named after the Arab city), it tells the story of an emir, who, left unsatisfied by the shallow and opulent life he leads in Baghdad, decides to leave on pilgrimage. While critics agree that it is to be read as an allegory of Macedonski's biography, the ironic text does not make it clear whether the emir actually reaches his target, nor if the central metaphor of Mecca as a mirage means that the goal is not worth sacrificing for. While Mircea Anghelescu comments that Macedonski illustrates \"unusual tension\" by rigorously amplifying references to the color red, seen as a symbol of suffering, Călinescu notes that the sequence of lyrics has a studied \"delirious\" element, and illustrates this with the quote:\n\nLate prose works\nIn prose, his focus shifted back to the purely descriptive, or led Alexandru Macedonski into the realm of fantasy literature. These stories, most of which were eventually collected in Cartea de aur, include memoirs of his childhood in the Amaradia region, nostalgic portrayals of the Oltenian boyar environment, idealized depictions of Cuza's reign, as well as a retrospective view on the end of Rom slavery (found in his piece Verigă țiganul, \"Verigă the Gypsy\"). The best known among them is Pe drum de poștă, a third-person narrative and thinly disguised memoir, where the characters are an adolescent Alexandru Macedonski and his father, General Macedonski. The idyllic outlook present in such stories is one of the common meeting points between his version of Symbolism and traditionalist authors such as Barbu Ștefănescu Delavrancea. Vianu indicates the connection, but adds: \"Macedonski descended, through memory, in the world of the village, with the tremor of regret for the peace and plenty of the old settlements, so well polished that each person, landowner as well as peasant, lived within a framework that nature itself seemed to have granted. [...] in depicting rural environments, Macedonski presents the point of view of a conservative.\"\n\nThalassa, Le Calvaire de feu, a fantasy novel and extended prose poem, was celebrated by Macedonski's disciple Oreste Georgescu as \"the new religion of humanity\". The volume carried the mocking dedication \"To France, this Chaldea\" (thought by Vianu to reference Péladan's views on the decay of civilization). It has affinities with writings by the Italian Decadent author Gabriele d'Annunzio, as well as echoes from Anatole France. The hero Thalassa, a Greek boy, works as a lighthouse-keeper on Snake Island, fantasizing about the golden age of mankind. His fate is changed by a shipwreck, during which a girl, Caliope, reaches the island's shore. Thalassa and Caliope fall in love, but are mysteriously unable to seal their union through sexual intercourse: the boy attributes this failure to the \"curse\" of human individuality. Seeking to achieve a perfect union with his lover, he eventually kills her and drowns himself in the Black Sea.\n\nIn her review for Mercure de France, novelist Rachilde argued: \"Very difficult to read, entirely developed in Symbolist manner [and] almost impossible to recount, obviously written in French but nevertheless obviously conceived by a Romanian (and what a spirited Romanian!).\" Rachilde believed the work to display \"the fragrance of Oriental spices [...] rose marmalade and a slice of bear meat.\" According to Vianu, the book builds on Macedonski's earlier themes, replacing Naturalist observation with a metaphysical speculation about idealism. One other aspect of Macedonski's stylistic exploration took him to attempt recording synesthesia. His manuscript is written in ink of several colors, which, he believed, was to help readers get a full sense of its meaning. Like other synesthetic aspects of his novel, this is believed to have been inspired by the techniques of Baudelaire and Arthur Rimbaud.\n\nThalassa, Le Calvaire de feu is noted for its numerous cultural references, and especially for using a wide range of metaphors. Such aspects have been reviewed negatively by modern critics. Tudor Vianu writes: \"the poet makes such waste of gemstones that we feel like saying some of them must be false\", while Călinescu, who notes that some fragments reveal \"an incomparable artist\" and \"a professional metaphorist\", notes that \"in the end, such virtuosities become a bore.\" According to Manuela-Delia Suciu, Thalassa is \"prolix\" and \"too polished\", traits believed by Zamfir to be less irritating in the Romanian version. Critic Cornel Moraru found that, in the background, Thalassa, a \"great Symbolist novel\", confronts Ancient Greek and Christian mythology, but \"abuses\" the religious vocabulary. Another part of the novel's imagery is erotic, and includes an elaborate and aestheticized description of male genitalia.\n\nThe four-act tragicomedy Le Fou? is seen by Vianu as comparable in subject matter and depth to Enrico IV, a celebrated 1922 play by Luigi Pirandello. The plot reflects Macedonski's confrontation with his critics, and his acceptance of the fact that people saw in him an eccentric. The central figure is a banker, Dorval, who identifies himself with Napoleon Bonaparte to the point where he sees episodes in his biography as mirrors of early 19th-century battles. Unlike patients with dissociative identity disorder, Dorval does not actually imagine his life has become Napoleon's, but rather joins with him on an intellectual level. Witnesses of this disorder are divided into family, who seek to have Dorval committed, and close friends, who come to see his take on life as a manifestation of genius. The spectator is led to believe that the latter interpretation is the correct one. At a larger level, Vianu indicates, the play is also Macedonski's critique of capitalism, and, using Parisian argot, makes allusive references to famous people of the day.\n\nParticularly during the 1890s, Macedonski was a follower of Edgar Allan Poe and of Gothic fiction in general, producing a Romanian version of Poe's Metzengerstein story, urging his own disciples to translate other such pieces, and adopting \"Gothic\" themes in his original prose. Indebted to Jules Verne and H. G. Wells, Macedonski also wrote a number of science fiction stories, including the 1913 Oceania-Pacific-Dreadnought, which depicts civilization on the verge of a crisis. The gigantic commercial ship is maintained by a banker's union, and designed to grant travelers access to every pleasure imaginable; this causes the working-class inhabited cities on the continent to fall into a state of neglect and permanent violence, the climax of the story occurring with the bankers' decision to destroy their creation. Oceania-Pacific-Dreadnought is noted for anticipating television, the ship being equipped with electrically-operated \"large and clear mirrors\" that display \"images from various parts of the Earth\". Macedonski was by then interested in the development of cinema, and authored a silent film screenplay based on Comment on devient riche et puissant.\n\nFinal transition\n\nLate in his life, Macedonski had come to reject Symbolist tenets, defining them as \"imbecilities\" designed for \"the uncultured\". Ultima verba, the very last poems to be written by him, show him coming to terms with himself, and are treasured for their serene or intensely joyous vision of life and human accomplishment. The rondels written at this stage, known collectively as Poema rondelurilor, are one of the first instances where the technique is used locally. Like those written previously by Literatoruls Pavelescu and Alexandru Obedenaru, they are based on an earlier motif present in Macedonski's work, that of recurring refrains. Many of the pieces document the poet's final discoveries. One of them is Rondelul crinilor (\"The Rondel of the Lilies\"), which proclaims fragrances as the source of beatitude: În crini e beția cea rară, \"In lilies one finds that exceptional drunkenness\". According to Ștefan Cazimir, Rondelul orașului mic (\"The Rondel of the Small Town\") shows a \"likable wave of irony and self-irony\", and the poet himself coming to terms with \"the existence of a world who ignores him.\" Proof of his combativeness was still to be found in Rondelul contimporanilor (\"The Rondel of the Contemporaries\").\n\nThe poet's take on life is also outlined in his final play, Moartea lui Dante. Călinescu writes that, by then, Macedonski was \"obsessed\" with the Divine Comedy. Macedonski identifies with his hero, Dante Aligheri, and formulates his own poetic testament while identifying World War I Romania with the medieval Republic of Florence. Tudor Vianu remarks: \"In Dante's great self-pride, Macedonski found his own.\" He sees the play as the best such work to have been produced by Macedonski, whereas Călinescu deems it \"puerile\". Zamfir believes Moartea... to be a significant text in Macedonski's bibliography, \"one of the first samples of Romanian Symbolist theater\", and as such indebted mainly to Maeterlinck. Vianu argues that the play may document the Romanian writer's late rejection of France, through the protagonist's statement: \"the French are a gentle people, but their soul is different from mine.\"\n\nA number of rondels show Macedonski's late fascination with the Far East, China and Japan. George Călinescu believes that this is to be understood as one item in a large antithesis, the other being Decadent Paris, which one rondel describes as \"hell\". The Orient, viewed as the space of serenity, is believed by Macedonski to be peopled by toy-like women and absent opium-smokers, and to be kept orderly by a stable meritocracy. The Chinese-themed poem Tsing-Ly-Tsi, which Cazimir notes for its discreet, \"almost imperceptible\", humor, reads:\n\nLegacy\n\nMacedonski's school and its early impact\n\nAlexandru Macedonski repeatedly expressed the thought that, unlike his contemporaries, posterity would judge him a great poet. With the exception of Mihail Dragomirescu, conservative literary critics tended to ignore Macedonski while he was alive. The first such figure was Junimeas Titu Maiorescu, who believed him to be a minor author, referring to him only a couple of times in his books and usually ridiculing him in his articles. One of these texts, the 1886 essay Poeți și critici (\"Poets and Critics\"), spoke of Macedonski as having \"vitiated\" poetry, a notion he also applied to Constantin D. Aricescu and Aron Densușianu. Especially radical pronouncements were left by the traditionalist authors Ilarie Chendi and Nicolae Iorga. Chendi wrote of Macedonski being \"the caricature of a man\", having \"a feverish mind\" and being motivated by \"the brutal instinct of revenge\". Iorga, who became better known as a historian, later retracted some of the statements he had made against the poet during the 1890s. Among the younger prominent traditionalist writers was the Transylvanian-born Lucian Blaga, who may have purposefully avoided Macedonski during his first visit to Bucharest in 1920. Although more sympathetic to the Symbolist author, both Dragomirescu and Gheorghe Adamescu tended to describe him as exclusively the product of French and Decadent literature, while Dragomirescu's disciple Ion Trivale denied all merit to Macedonski's literature.\n\nAccording to Tudor Vianu, Macedonski's intellectual friends (among them Anghel Demetriescu, George Ionescu-Gion, Bonifaciu Florescu, Grigore Tocilescu and V. A. Urechia) were largely responsible for passing down \"a better and truer image of the abused poet.\" It was also due to Dragomirescu that Noaptea de decemvrie was included in a literature textbook for final grade high school students, which some argue is the poet's first-ever presence in the Romanian curriculum. According to historian Lucian Nastasă, the poet's wife Ana Rallet behaved like an \"excellent secretary\" while Macedonski was still alive, and thereafter helped sort and edit his manuscript while maintaining \"an actual cult\" for her husband.\n\nMacedonski's cosmopolitan circle was the center of a literary alternative to the prevailing conservatism and Eminescu-like traditionalism of the day, the latter tendency being grouped around Sămănătorul magazine for part of Macedonski's lifetime. While Macedonski himself maintained his links with Romanticism and Classicism, commentators have retrospectively recognized in him the main person who announced Romania's first wave in modernist literature. Many first-generation disciples were to part with his guidelines early on, either by radicalizing their Symbolism or by stepping out of its confines. Traian Demetrescu was one of the first to do so, focusing on his commitment to socialism—Vianu notes that the split took place \"without coldness and the heart's versatility\" on Macedonski's part. Literary researcher Lidia Bote argues that it was Petică who first illustrated mature Symbolism, emancipating himself from Macedonski's eclectic tendencies after 1902. By that time, the Symbolist authors Dimitrie Anghel and N. D. Cocea used Macedonski's fantasy prose as an inspiration for their own, and N. Davidescu was borrowing from his mystical discourse. The pictorial and joyous elements in Macedonski's poems were also serving to inspire Stamatiad, Eugeniu Ștefănescu-Est and Horia Furtună. In the early stages of his career, Ion Pillat wrote pieces which echo his master's choice of exotic themes. A more discreet legacy of Macedonski's ideas was also preserved inside the conservative and traditionalist camps. Although his separation from Literatorul was drastic, and led him to rally with Junimea, Duiliu Zamfirescu built on some elements borrowed from the magazine's ideology, incorporating them into his literary vision.\n\nMany of Macedonski's most devoted disciples, whom he himself had encouraged, have been rated by various critics as secondary or mediocre. This is the case of Theodor Cornel (who made his name as an art critic), Mircea Demetriade, Oreste Georgescu, Alexandru Obedenaru, Stoenescu, Stamatiad, Carol Scrob, Dumitru Karnabatt and Donar Munteanu. Another such minor author was the self-styled \"hermeticist\" Alexandru Petroff, who expanded on Macedonski's ideas about esoteric knowledge.\n\nMacedonski's eldest son Alexis continued to pursue a career as a painter. His son Soare followed in his footsteps, receiving acclaim from art critics of the period. Soare's short career ended in 1928, before he turned nineteen, but his works have been featured in several retrospective exhibitions, including one organized by Alexis. Alexis later experimented with scenic design as an assistant to French filmmaker René Clair; his later life, shrouded in mystery and intrigue, led him to a career in Fascist Italy and Francoist Spain. Another of Alexandru Macedonski's sons, Nikita, was also a poet and painter. For a while in the 1920s, he edited the literary supplement of Universul newspaper. Two years after her father's death, Anna Macedonski married poet Mihail Celarianu.\n\nIn addition to his polemical portrayals in works by Alecsandri, Eminescu and Caragiale, Macedonski's career was an inspiration for various authors. His image acquired mythical proportions for his followers. Like Demetrescu, many of them left memoirs on Macedonski which were published before or after his death. His admirers were writing poetry about him as early as 1874, and, in 1892, Cincinat Pavelescu published a rhapsodizing portrait of Macedonski as \"the Artist\". Pavelescu, Dragoslav and Petică paid homage to the writer by leaving recollections which describe him as a devoted and considerate friend. In contrast, traditionalist poet Alexandru Vlahuță authored an 1889 sketch story in which Macedonski (referred to as Polidor) is the object of derision.\n\nLate recognition\nActual recognition of the poet as a classic came only in the interwar period. A final volume of never before published poems, Poema rondelurilor, saw print in 1927. Macedonski's work was analyzed and popularized by a new generation of critics, among them Vianu and George Călinescu. The post-Junimist modernist critic Eugen Lovinescu also commented favorably on Macedonski's work, but overall, Călinescu asserts, his opinions on the subject gave little insight into what he actually thought about the poet. He also recounts that Macedonski himself treated Lovinescu with disdain, and once called him \"a canary\".\n\nThe emerging avant-garde, although originating from Symbolism, progressively took its distance from Literatoruls legacy. Initially, Macedonski's contribution to experimental literature was continued within formal Symbolism by his disciples Demetriade, Iuliu Cezar Săvescu and Ion Minulescu. The latter was particularly indebted to Macedonski in matters of vision and language. In 1904, Tudor Arghezi also left behind the Literatorul circle and its tenets, eventually arriving to the fusion of modernist, traditionalist and avant-garde elements. However, he remained indebted to Macedonski's example in his descriptive prose. The 1912 Simbolul magazine, which moved between conventional Symbolism and the emerging avant-garde, also published an Imagist-inspired parody of Noaptea de mai, signed by Adrian Maniu. A co-founder of Dadaism during the late 1910s, Tristan Tzara is believed by Swedish researcher Tom Sandqvist to have been inspired more or less directly by Macedonski, and in particular by the latter's thoughts on the relation between absurdity and poetry. In his debut poems, Benjamin Fondane-Barbu Fundoianu occasionally followed Macedonski, but, by 1920, stated that the Symbolist doyen merely imitated French models to the point of \"parasitism\".\n\nSeveral avant-garde authors returned to Macedonski's literary guidelines by the late 1920s, as they themselves grew more moderate. This was the case of Maniu and Ion Vinea, both of whom published prose works in the line of Thalassa. The same work is also believed to have influenced two non-avant-garde authors, Davidescu and Mateiu Caragiale, who remained close to the tenets Symbolism. Mateiu was the illegitimate son of Ion Luca Caragiale, but, Vianu notes, could withstand comparisons with his father's rival: the eccentricities were complementary, although Mateiu Caragiale shied away from public affairs. In the same post-Symbolist generation, Celarianu (Macedonski's posthumous son-in-law), George Bacovia and Păstorel Teodoreanu also built on Macedonski's legacy, being later joined in this by the Bessarabian linguist Eugenio Coșeriu (who, in his early poetic career, imitated Macedonski's rondel style). In the late 1920s, when their form of modern psalms inspired Albanian-Romanian poet Aleksander Stavre Drenova, Macedonski and Arghezi both made an indirect impact on Albanian literature.\n\nMacedonski's status as one of Romanian literature's greats was consolidated later in the 20th century. By this time, Noaptea de decemvrie had become one of the most recognizable literary works to be taught in Romanian schools. During the first years of Communist Romania, the Socialist Realist current condemned Symbolism (see Censorship in Communist Romania), but spoke favorably of Macedonski's critique of the bourgeoisie. A while after this episode, Marin Sorescu, one of the best-known modernist poets of his generation, wrote a homage-parody of the Nights cycle. Included in the volume Singur între poeți (\"Alone among Poets\"), it is seen by critic Mircea Scarlat as Sorescu's most representative such pieces. Also then, Noaptea de decemvrie partly inspired Ștefan Augustin Doinaș' ballad Mistrețul cu colți de argint.\n\nIn the 1990s, Ștefan Agopian took the Nights cycle as inspiration for an erotic short story, while Pavel Șușară adapted his rondels to a modernized setting. Macedonski's prose also influenced younger writers such as Angelo Mitchievici and Anca Maria Mosora. In neighboring Moldova, Macedonski influenced the Neosymbolism of Aureliu Busuioc. A magazine by the name of Literatorul, which claims to represent the legacy of Macedonski's publication, was founded in Romania in 1991, being edited by writers Sorescu, Fănuș Neagu and Mircea Micu. In 2006, the Romanian Academy granted posthumous membership to Alexandru Macedonski.\n\nMacedonski's poems had a sizable impact on Romania's popular culture. During communism, Noaptea de mai was the basis for a successful musical adaptation, composed by Marian Nistor and sung by Mirabela Dauer. Tudor Gheorghe, a singer-songwriter inspired by American folk revival, also used some of Macedonski's texts as lyrics to his melodies. In the 2000s, the refrain of Noaptea de mai was mixed into a manea parody by Adrian Copilul Minune.\n\nPortrayals, visual tributes and landmarks\n\nAlthough his poetic theories were largely without echoes in Romanian art, Macedonski captured the interest of several modern artists, including, early on, cartoonist Nicolae Petrescu Găină. Alongside other writers who visited Terasa Oteteleșanu, Macedonski was notably portrayed the drawings of celebrated Romanian artist Iosif Iser. He is also depicted in a 1918 lithograph by Jean Alexandru Steriadi, purportedly Steriadi's only Symbolist work. Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu inspired a series of reliefs, designed by Alexis Macedonski and hosted in his father's house in Dorobanți. During the 1910s, busts of him were completed by two sculptors, Alexandru Severin and Friedrich Storck, one of Storck's variants being hosted by the Ioan Cantacuzino collection. In 1919, Theodor Burcă was also inspired to complete another bust, and, during World War II, was commissioned by Mayor of Bucharest Ioan Rășcanu to build a Macedonski Monument in the Grădina Icoanei park, but this was never completed. Constantin Piliuță, a painter active in the second half of the 20th century, made Macedonski the subject of a portrait in series dedicated to Romanian cultural figures (also depicted were Nicolae Iorga, Ștefan Luchian and Vianu). In 1975, a bust of Macedonski, the work of Constantin Foamete, was unveiled in Craiova.\n\nOf Macedonski's numerous residences, the one in Dorobanți was demolished when the Academy of Economic Studies (ASE) was expanded. A commemorative plaque was later put up near the spot. Macedonski's childhood home in Goiești passed into state property under communism, and was in turn a school, a community home and a Macedonski Museum, before falling into neglect after the Romanian Revolution of 1989. Several streets named in honor of Alexandru Macedonski, notably in Bucharest (by the ASE), Craiova, Cluj-Napoca and Timișoara.\n\nWorks published anthumously\nPrima verba (poetry, 1872)\nIthalo (poem, 1878)\nPoezii (poetry, 1881/1882)\nParizina (translation of Parisina, 1882)\nIadeș! (comedy, 1882)\nDramă banală (short story, 1887)\nSaul (with Cincinat Pavelescu; tragedy, 1893)\nExcelsior (poetry, 1895)\nBronzes (poetry, 1897)\n (essay, 1898)\nCartea de aur (prose, 1902)\nThalassa, Le Calvaire de feu (novel, 1906; 1914)\nFlori sacre (poetry, 1912)\nZaherlina (essay, 1920)\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\nMircea Anghelescu, chronological table, preface and critical references, in Macedonski, Poemele \"Nopților\", Editura Albatros, Bucharest, 1972, p. 7-31, 137–140. \nNicolae Balotă, Arte poetice ale secolului XX: ipostaze românești și străine, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1976. \nLucian Boia, \"Germanofilii\". Elita intelectuală românească în anii Primului Război Mondial, Humanitas, Bucharest, 2010. \nGeorge Călinescu, Istoria literaturii române de la origini pînă în prezent, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1986\nPaul Cernat, Avangarda românească și complexul periferiei: primul val, Cartea Românească, Bucharest, 2007. \nȘerban Cioculescu, Caragialiana, Editura Eminescu, Bucharest, 1974. \nPéter Krasztev,\n\"From a Deadlocked Present into an Imagined Past\", in the Central European University's East Central Europe = L'Europe du Centre-Est, Vol. 26, Nr. 2/1999, p. 33-52\n\"From Modernization to Modernist Literature\", in Marcel Cornis-Pope, John Neubauer (eds.), History of the Literary Cultures of East-Central Europe, Vol. 3, John Benjamins, Amsterdam & Philadelphia, 2004, p. 332-348. \n Lucian Nastasă, Intelectualii și promovarea socială (pentru o morfologie a câmpului universitar), Editura Nereamia Napocae, Cluj-Napoca, 2003; e-book version at the Romanian Academy's George Bariț Institute of History\nZ. Ornea, Junimea și junimismul, Vol. II, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1998. \nPerpessicius, Studii eminesciene, Museum of Romanian Literature, Bucharest, 2001. \nPetre Răileanu, Michel Carassou, Fundoianu/Fondane et l'avant-garde, Fondation Culturelle Roumaine, Éditions Paris-Méditerranée, Bucharest & Paris, 1999. \nTom Sandqvist, Dada East. The Romanians of Cabaret Voltaire, MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts & London, 2006. \n Manuela-Delia Suciu, \"La poésie roumaine au XIXe siècle. Alexandru Macedonski entre romantisme et symbolisme\", in Revue d'Études Françaises, Nr. 8/2003, p. 101-110 (republished by the Centre Interuniversitaire d’Études Françaises/Egyetemközi Francia Központ)\nTudor Vianu, Scriitori români, Vol. I-III, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1970–1971. \n Mariana Vida, \"La société Tinerimea artistică de Bucarest et le symbolisme tardif entre 1902-1910\", in Revue Roumaine d'Histoire de l'Art. Série Beaux-arts, Vol. XLIV, 2007, p. 55-66\n\nExternal links\n\nAmidst Hen Houses (excerpts), Poésies, Thalassa (excerpt), in the Romanian Cultural Institute's Plural Magazine (various issues)\n Alexandru Macedonski, Museum of Romanian Literature profile\n\n \n1854 births\n1920 deaths\n19th-century Romanian poets\n20th-century Romanian poets\nRomanian male poets\nRomantic poets\nNeoclassical writers\nSymbolist poets\nSonneteers\nRomanian fabulists\nRomanian epigrammatists\n19th-century Romanian dramatists and playwrights\n20th-century Romanian dramatists and playwrights\nMale dramatists and playwrights\n19th-century Romanian novelists\n20th-century Romanian novelists\nRomanian male novelists\nRomanian writers in French\n19th-century short story writers\n20th-century short story writers\nRomanian male short story writers\nRomanian short story writers\nRealism (art movement)\nSymbolist novelists\nRomanian fantasy writers\nRomanian science fiction writers\nRomanian humorists\nRomanian erotica writers\n19th-century essayists\n20th-century essayists\nRomanian essayists\n20th-century biographers\nRomanian biographers\nMale biographers\nRomanian memoirists\nRomanian travel writers\nRomanian literary critics\nRomanian screenwriters\nMale screenwriters\nRomanian columnists\nRomanian magazine editors\nRomanian magazine founders\nRomanian newspaper editors\nRomanian newspaper founders\n19th-century translators\n20th-century translators\nRomanian translators\nEnglish–Romanian translators\nFrench–Romanian translators\nGreek–Romanian translators\nWriters from Bucharest\nRomanian nobility\nMembers of the Romanian Orthodox Church\nCarol I National College alumni\nNational Liberal Party (Romania) politicians\nRepublicanism in the Kingdom of Romania\nRomanian civil servants\nPrefects of Romania\nRomanian inventors\nRomanian esotericists\nRomanian expatriates in France\nRomanian people of World War I\nBurials at Bellu Cemetery\nMembers of the Romanian Academy elected posthumously\n20th-century screenwriters"},"extractive":{"kind":"string","value":"true"},"retrieved_contexts":{"kind":"list like","value":["Vernacular literature is literature written in the vernacular—the speech of the \"common people\".\n\nIn the European tradition, this effectively means literature not written in Latin nor Koine Greek. In this context, vernacular literature appeared during the Middle Ages at different periods in the various countries; the earliest European vernacular literatures are Irish literature (the earliest being Tochmarc Emire (10th century), transcribed from a lost manuscript of the 8th century), Welsh literature, English literature and Gothic literature.\n\nThe Italian poet Dante Alighieri, in his De vulgari eloquentia, was possibly the first European writer to argue cogently for the promotion of literature in the vernacular. Important early vernacular works include Dante's Divine Comedy, Giovanni Boccaccio's Decameron (both in Italian), John Barbour's The Brus (in Scots), Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (in Middle English) and Jacob van Maerlant's Spieghel Historiael (in Middle Dutch). Indeed, Dante's work actually contributed towards the creation of the Italian language. Leonardo Da Vinci used vernacular in his work.\n\nThe term is also applied to works not written in the standard and/or prestige language of their time and place. For example, many authors in Scotland, such as James Kelman and Edwin Morgan have used Scots, even though English is now the prestige language of publishing in Scotland. Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o writes in his native Gikuyu language though he previously wrote in English. Some authors have written in invented vernacular; examples of such novels include the futuristic literary novels A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess and Boxy an Star by Daren King.\n\nOutside Europe\n\nBy extension, the term is also used to describe, for example, Chinese literature not written in classical Chinese and Indian literature after Sanskrit. In the Indian culture, traditionally religious or scholarly works were written in Prakrit, Tamil and Sanskrit. With the rise of the Bhakti movement from the 8th century on-wards, religious works began to be created in Kannada, and Telugu, and from the 12th Century onward in many other Indian languages throughout the different regions of India. For example, the Ramayana, one of Hinduism's sacred epics in Sanskrit, had vernacular versions such as Ramacharitamanasa, a Hindi version of the Ramayana by the 16th century poet Tulsidas. In China, the New Culture Movement of the 1910s–20s promoted vernacular literature.\n\nIn the Philippines, the term means any written literature in a language other than Filipino (or Tagalog) or English. At present, it forms the second largest corpus of literature, following the literature in Tagalog. During the Spanish colonial era, when Filipino did not yet exist as a national lingua franca, literature in this type flourished. Aside from religious literature, such as the Passiong Mahal (the Passion of Our Lord), zarzuelas were also produced using the Philippine vernacular languages.\n\nIn Arabic, vernacular literature refers to works written in dialects of Arabic as opposed to Classical Arabic or Modern Standard Arabic. For the Egyptian dialect authors include Ahmed Fouad Negm, Muhammad Husayn Haykal, and Salah Jahin. There is also a wave of modern writers.\n\nReferences\n\nSee also\n Medieval literature\n Creole languages\n\n \nDiglossia","Girolamo Lagomarsini (16981773) was an Italian humanist and philologist. Born into a wealthy Genoese family in Spain, he studied classical literature in Arezzo and Rome. Later holding a chair at the Collegium Gregorianum he published a collection of Latin orations and conducted influential research on the text of the Roman author Cicero.\n\nBiography \nGirolamo Lagomarsini was born on 30 September 1698 at El Puerto de Santa María (Spain), of a wealthy Genoese family. In 1708 he went to Italy, and commenced his studies in the College of the Jesuits at Prato, in Tuscany. In 1721, he began to teach rhetoric at the College of Arezzo. Four years afterwards he went to Rome to complete his theological studies, after which he returned to his duties at Arezzo. In 1732 he was appointed to the chair of rhetoric at Florence, and in 1751 to that of Greek in the Collegium Gregorianum at Rome, which position he occupied until his death on 18 May 1773.\n\nWorks \nLagomarsini left several works on classical literature; he published Latin orations (1746) and epistles, a poem On the Origin of Springs, (De Origine Fontium, 1749), and other works.\n\nFrom 1735 to 1744 he collected material for a new edition of Cicero, which, however, was never published. Barthold Georg Niebuhr was the first to make use of Lagomarsini's vast collection of various readings preserved in the Roman College. An industrious scholar, Lagomarsini collated all the manuscripts of Cicero accessible to him in Florence and elsewhere. In such a vast bulk of material there is much that is valuable, and yet a great deal is of little use to the modern scholar because of the indiscriminate way in which the material was gathered. Reading follows upon variant reading without any critical analysis of the text or any attempt at a new interpretation. To be sure, this is not so much a personal fault of Lagomarsini as a characteristic of the era in which he lived and worked. At that time the mere gathering of erudite material was considered to be valuable and a sense of discrimination had not yet been attained. Nonetheless, the variants collected by Lagomarsini stimulated questions concerning textual history, thus making a valuable contribution to the development of modern textual criticism.\n\nNotes\n\nBibliography \n \n \n \n\n1698 births\n1773 deaths\nItalian humanists\nItalian classical scholars"],"string":"[\n \"Vernacular literature is literature written in the vernacular—the speech of the \\\"common people\\\".\\n\\nIn the European tradition, this effectively means literature not written in Latin nor Koine Greek. In this context, vernacular literature appeared during the Middle Ages at different periods in the various countries; the earliest European vernacular literatures are Irish literature (the earliest being Tochmarc Emire (10th century), transcribed from a lost manuscript of the 8th century), Welsh literature, English literature and Gothic literature.\\n\\nThe Italian poet Dante Alighieri, in his De vulgari eloquentia, was possibly the first European writer to argue cogently for the promotion of literature in the vernacular. Important early vernacular works include Dante's Divine Comedy, Giovanni Boccaccio's Decameron (both in Italian), John Barbour's The Brus (in Scots), Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (in Middle English) and Jacob van Maerlant's Spieghel Historiael (in Middle Dutch). Indeed, Dante's work actually contributed towards the creation of the Italian language. Leonardo Da Vinci used vernacular in his work.\\n\\nThe term is also applied to works not written in the standard and/or prestige language of their time and place. For example, many authors in Scotland, such as James Kelman and Edwin Morgan have used Scots, even though English is now the prestige language of publishing in Scotland. Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o writes in his native Gikuyu language though he previously wrote in English. Some authors have written in invented vernacular; examples of such novels include the futuristic literary novels A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess and Boxy an Star by Daren King.\\n\\nOutside Europe\\n\\nBy extension, the term is also used to describe, for example, Chinese literature not written in classical Chinese and Indian literature after Sanskrit. In the Indian culture, traditionally religious or scholarly works were written in Prakrit, Tamil and Sanskrit. With the rise of the Bhakti movement from the 8th century on-wards, religious works began to be created in Kannada, and Telugu, and from the 12th Century onward in many other Indian languages throughout the different regions of India. For example, the Ramayana, one of Hinduism's sacred epics in Sanskrit, had vernacular versions such as Ramacharitamanasa, a Hindi version of the Ramayana by the 16th century poet Tulsidas. In China, the New Culture Movement of the 1910s–20s promoted vernacular literature.\\n\\nIn the Philippines, the term means any written literature in a language other than Filipino (or Tagalog) or English. At present, it forms the second largest corpus of literature, following the literature in Tagalog. During the Spanish colonial era, when Filipino did not yet exist as a national lingua franca, literature in this type flourished. Aside from religious literature, such as the Passiong Mahal (the Passion of Our Lord), zarzuelas were also produced using the Philippine vernacular languages.\\n\\nIn Arabic, vernacular literature refers to works written in dialects of Arabic as opposed to Classical Arabic or Modern Standard Arabic. For the Egyptian dialect authors include Ahmed Fouad Negm, Muhammad Husayn Haykal, and Salah Jahin. There is also a wave of modern writers.\\n\\nReferences\\n\\nSee also\\n Medieval literature\\n Creole languages\\n\\n \\nDiglossia\",\n \"Girolamo Lagomarsini (16981773) was an Italian humanist and philologist. Born into a wealthy Genoese family in Spain, he studied classical literature in Arezzo and Rome. Later holding a chair at the Collegium Gregorianum he published a collection of Latin orations and conducted influential research on the text of the Roman author Cicero.\\n\\nBiography \\nGirolamo Lagomarsini was born on 30 September 1698 at El Puerto de Santa María (Spain), of a wealthy Genoese family. In 1708 he went to Italy, and commenced his studies in the College of the Jesuits at Prato, in Tuscany. In 1721, he began to teach rhetoric at the College of Arezzo. Four years afterwards he went to Rome to complete his theological studies, after which he returned to his duties at Arezzo. In 1732 he was appointed to the chair of rhetoric at Florence, and in 1751 to that of Greek in the Collegium Gregorianum at Rome, which position he occupied until his death on 18 May 1773.\\n\\nWorks \\nLagomarsini left several works on classical literature; he published Latin orations (1746) and epistles, a poem On the Origin of Springs, (De Origine Fontium, 1749), and other works.\\n\\nFrom 1735 to 1744 he collected material for a new edition of Cicero, which, however, was never published. Barthold Georg Niebuhr was the first to make use of Lagomarsini's vast collection of various readings preserved in the Roman College. An industrious scholar, Lagomarsini collated all the manuscripts of Cicero accessible to him in Florence and elsewhere. In such a vast bulk of material there is much that is valuable, and yet a great deal is of little use to the modern scholar because of the indiscriminate way in which the material was gathered. Reading follows upon variant reading without any critical analysis of the text or any attempt at a new interpretation. To be sure, this is not so much a personal fault of Lagomarsini as a characteristic of the era in which he lived and worked. At that time the mere gathering of erudite material was considered to be valuable and a sense of discrimination had not yet been attained. Nonetheless, the variants collected by Lagomarsini stimulated questions concerning textual history, thus making a valuable contribution to the development of modern textual criticism.\\n\\nNotes\\n\\nBibliography \\n \\n \\n \\n\\n1698 births\\n1773 deaths\\nItalian humanists\\nItalian classical scholars\"\n]"},"chunked_article":{"kind":"list like","value":["Alexandru Macedonski (; also rendered as Al. A. Macedonski, Macedonschi or Macedonsky; 14 March 1854 – 24 November 1920) was a Romanian poet, novelist, dramatist and literary critic, known especially for having promoted French Symbolism in his native country, and for leading the Romanian Symbolist movement during its early decades. A forerunner of local modernist literature, he is the first local author to have used free verse, and claimed by some to have been the first in modern European literature.","A forerunner of local modernist literature, he is the first local author to have used free verse, and claimed by some to have been the first in modern European literature. Within the framework of Romanian literature, Macedonski is seen by critics as second only to national poet Mihai Eminescu; as leader of a cosmopolitan and aestheticist trend formed around his Literatorul journal, he was diametrically opposed to the inward-looking traditionalism of Eminescu and his school.","Within the framework of Romanian literature, Macedonski is seen by critics as second only to national poet Mihai Eminescu; as leader of a cosmopolitan and aestheticist trend formed around his Literatorul journal, he was diametrically opposed to the inward-looking traditionalism of Eminescu and his school. Debuting as a Neoromantic in the Wallachian tradition, Macedonski went through the Realist-Naturalist stage deemed \"social poetry\", while progressively adapting his style to Symbolism and Parnassianism, and repeatedly but unsuccessfully attempting to impose himself in the Francophone world.","Debuting as a Neoromantic in the Wallachian tradition, Macedonski went through the Realist-Naturalist stage deemed \"social poetry\", while progressively adapting his style to Symbolism and Parnassianism, and repeatedly but unsuccessfully attempting to impose himself in the Francophone world. Despite having theorized \"instrumentalism\", which reacted against the traditional guidelines of poetry, he maintained a lifelong connection with Neoclassicism and its ideal of purity.","Despite having theorized \"instrumentalism\", which reacted against the traditional guidelines of poetry, he maintained a lifelong connection with Neoclassicism and its ideal of purity. Macedonski's quest for excellence found its foremost expression in his recurring motif of life as a pilgrimage to Mecca, notably used in his critically acclaimed Nights cycle. The stylistic stages of his career are reflected in the collections Prima verba, Poezii, and Excelsior, as well as in the fantasy novel Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu.","The stylistic stages of his career are reflected in the collections Prima verba, Poezii, and Excelsior, as well as in the fantasy novel Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu. In old age, he became the author of rondels, noted for their detached and serene vision of life, in contrast with his earlier combativeness. In parallel to his literary career, Macedonski was a civil servant, notably serving as prefect in the Budjak and Northern Dobruja during the late 1870s.","In parallel to his literary career, Macedonski was a civil servant, notably serving as prefect in the Budjak and Northern Dobruja during the late 1870s. As journalist and militant, his allegiance fluctuated between the liberal current and conservatism, becoming involved in polemics and controversies of the day. Of the long series of publications he founded, Literatorul was the most influential, notably hosting his early conflicts with the Junimea literary society.","Of the long series of publications he founded, Literatorul was the most influential, notably hosting his early conflicts with the Junimea literary society. These targeted Vasile Alecsandri and especially Eminescu, their context and tone becoming the cause of a major rift between Macedonski and his public. This situation repeated itself in later years, when Macedonski and his Forța Morală magazine began campaigning against the Junimist dramatist Ion Luca Caragiale, whom they falsely accused of plagiarism.","This situation repeated itself in later years, when Macedonski and his Forța Morală magazine began campaigning against the Junimist dramatist Ion Luca Caragiale, whom they falsely accused of plagiarism. During World War I, the poet aggravated his critics by supporting the Central Powers against Romania's alliance with the Entente side. His biography was also marked by an enduring interest in esotericism, numerous attempts to become recognized as an inventor, and an enthusiasm for cycling.","His biography was also marked by an enduring interest in esotericism, numerous attempts to become recognized as an inventor, and an enthusiasm for cycling. The scion of a political and aristocratic family, the poet was the son of General Alexandru Macedonski, who served as Defense Minister, and the grandson of 1821 rebel Dimitrie Macedonski. Both his son Alexis and grandson Soare were known painters. Biography Early life and family The poet's paternal family had arrived in Wallachia during the early 19th century.","Biography Early life and family The poet's paternal family had arrived in Wallachia during the early 19th century. Of South Slav (Serb or Bulgarian) or Aromanian origin, they claimed to have descended from Serb insurgents in Ottoman-ruled Macedonia.","Of South Slav (Serb or Bulgarian) or Aromanian origin, they claimed to have descended from Serb insurgents in Ottoman-ruled Macedonia. Alexandru's grandfather Dimitrie and Dimitrie's brother Pavel participated in the 1821 uprising against the Phanariote administration, and in alliance with the Filiki Eteria; Dimitrie made the object of controversy when, during the final stage of the revolt, he sided with the Eteria in its confrontation with Wallachian leader Tudor Vladimirescu, taking an active part in the latter's killing.","Alexandru's grandfather Dimitrie and Dimitrie's brother Pavel participated in the 1821 uprising against the Phanariote administration, and in alliance with the Filiki Eteria; Dimitrie made the object of controversy when, during the final stage of the revolt, he sided with the Eteria in its confrontation with Wallachian leader Tudor Vladimirescu, taking an active part in the latter's killing. Both Macedonski brothers had careers in the Wallachian military forces, at a time when the country was governed by Imperial Russian envoys, when the Regulamentul Organic regime recognized the family as belonging to Wallachia's nobility.","Both Macedonski brothers had careers in the Wallachian military forces, at a time when the country was governed by Imperial Russian envoys, when the Regulamentul Organic regime recognized the family as belonging to Wallachia's nobility. Dimitrie married Zoe, the daughter an ethnic Russian or Polish officer; their son, the Russian-educated Alexandru, climbed in the military and political hierarchy, joining the unified Land Forces after his political ally, Alexander John Cuza, was elected Domnitor and the two Danubian Principalities became united Romania.","Dimitrie married Zoe, the daughter an ethnic Russian or Polish officer; their son, the Russian-educated Alexandru, climbed in the military and political hierarchy, joining the unified Land Forces after his political ally, Alexander John Cuza, was elected Domnitor and the two Danubian Principalities became united Romania. Both the officer's uncle Pavel and brother Mihail were amateur poets. Macedonski's mother, Maria Fisența (also Vicenț or Vicența), was from an aristocratic environment, being the scion of Oltenian boyars.","Macedonski's mother, Maria Fisența (also Vicenț or Vicența), was from an aristocratic environment, being the scion of Oltenian boyars. Through her father, she may have descended from Russian immigrants who had been absorbed into Oltenia's nobility. Maria had been adopted by the boyar Dumitrache Pârâianu, and the couple had inherited the Adâncata and Pometești estates in Goiești, on the Amaradia Valley.","Maria had been adopted by the boyar Dumitrache Pârâianu, and the couple had inherited the Adâncata and Pometești estates in Goiești, on the Amaradia Valley. Both the poet and his father were dissatisfied with accounts of their lineage, contradicting them with an account that researchers have come to consider spurious. Although adherents of the Romanian Orthodox Church, the Macedonskis traced their origin to Rogala-bearing Lithuanian nobility from the defunct Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.","Although adherents of the Romanian Orthodox Church, the Macedonskis traced their origin to Rogala-bearing Lithuanian nobility from the defunct Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. While the writer perpetuated his father's claim, it is possible that he also took pride in investigating his Balkan roots: according to literary historian Tudor Vianu, who, as a youth, was a member of his circle, this tendency is attested by two of Macedonski's poems from the 1880s, where the South Slavs appear as icons of freedom.","While the writer perpetuated his father's claim, it is possible that he also took pride in investigating his Balkan roots: according to literary historian Tudor Vianu, who, as a youth, was a member of his circle, this tendency is attested by two of Macedonski's poems from the 1880s, where the South Slavs appear as icons of freedom. Vianu's contemporary, literary historian George Călinescu, postulated that, although the family had been absorbed into the ethnic and cultural majority, the poet's origin served to enrich local culture by linking it to a \"Thracian\" tradition and the spirit of \"adventurers\".","Vianu's contemporary, literary historian George Călinescu, postulated that, although the family had been absorbed into the ethnic and cultural majority, the poet's origin served to enrich local culture by linking it to a \"Thracian\" tradition and the spirit of \"adventurers\". The family moved often, following General Macedonski's postings. Born in Bucharest, Macedonski-son was the third of four siblings, the oldest of whom was a daughter, Caterina.","Born in Bucharest, Macedonski-son was the third of four siblings, the oldest of whom was a daughter, Caterina. Before the age of six, he was a sickly and nervous child, who is reported to have had regular tantrums. In 1862, his father sent him to school in Oltenia, and he spent most time in the Amaradia region. The nostalgia he felt for the landscape later made him consider writing an Amărăzene (\"Amaradians\") cycle, of which only one poem was ever completed.","The nostalgia he felt for the landscape later made him consider writing an Amărăzene (\"Amaradians\") cycle, of which only one poem was ever completed. He was attending the Carol I High School in Craiova and, according to his official record, graduated in 1867.","He was attending the Carol I High School in Craiova and, according to his official record, graduated in 1867. Macedonski's father had by then become known as an authoritarian commander, and, during his time in Târgu Ocna, faced a mutiny which only his wife could stop by pleading with the soldiers (an episode which made an impression on the future poet). A stern parent, he took an active part in educating his children.","A stern parent, he took an active part in educating his children. Having briefly served as Defense Minister, the general was mysteriously dismissed by Cuza in 1863, and his pension became the topic of a political scandal. It ended only under the rule of Carol I, Cuza's Hohenzollern successor, when Parliament voted against increasing the sum to the level demanded by its recipient.","It ended only under the rule of Carol I, Cuza's Hohenzollern successor, when Parliament voted against increasing the sum to the level demanded by its recipient. Having preserved a negative impression of the 1866 plebiscite, during which Cuza's dethronement had been confirmed, Macedonski remained a committed opponent of the new ruler. As a youth and adult, he sought to revive his father's cause, and included allusions to the perceived injustice in at least one poem.","As a youth and adult, he sought to revive his father's cause, and included allusions to the perceived injustice in at least one poem. After spending the last months of his life protesting against the authorities, Macedonski-father fell ill and died in September 1869, leaving his family to speculate that he had been murdered by political rivals.","After spending the last months of his life protesting against the authorities, Macedonski-father fell ill and died in September 1869, leaving his family to speculate that he had been murdered by political rivals. Debut years Macedonski left Romania in 1870, traveling through Austria-Hungary and spending time in Vienna, before visiting Switzerland and possibly other countries; according to one account, it was here that he may have first met (and disliked) his rival poet Mihai Eminescu, at a time a Viennese student.","Debut years Macedonski left Romania in 1870, traveling through Austria-Hungary and spending time in Vienna, before visiting Switzerland and possibly other countries; according to one account, it was here that he may have first met (and disliked) his rival poet Mihai Eminescu, at a time a Viennese student. Macedonski's visit was meant to be preparation for entering the University of Bucharest, but he spent much of his time in the bohemian environment, seeking entertainment and engaging in romantic escapades.","Macedonski's visit was meant to be preparation for entering the University of Bucharest, but he spent much of his time in the bohemian environment, seeking entertainment and engaging in romantic escapades. He was however opposed to the lifestyle choices of people his age, claiming that they were engaged in \"orgy after orgy\". At around that date, the young author had begun to perfect a style heavily influenced by Romanticism, and in particular by his Wallachian predecessors Dimitrie Bolintineanu and Ion Heliade Rădulescu.","At around that date, the young author had begun to perfect a style heavily influenced by Romanticism, and in particular by his Wallachian predecessors Dimitrie Bolintineanu and Ion Heliade Rădulescu. He was for a while in Styria, at Bad Gleichenberg, a stay which, George Călinescu believes, may have been the result of a medical recommendation to help him counter excessive nervousness. The landscape there inspired him to write an ode. Also in 1870, he published his first lyrics in George Bariț's Transylvanian-based journal Telegraful Român.","Also in 1870, he published his first lyrics in George Bariț's Transylvanian-based journal Telegraful Român. The following year, he left for Italy, where he visited Pisa, Florence, Venice, and possibly other cities. His records of the journey indicate that he was faced with financial difficulties and plagued by disease. Macedonski also claimed to have attended college lectures in these cities, and to have spent significant time studying at Pisa University, but this remains uncertain.","Macedonski also claimed to have attended college lectures in these cities, and to have spent significant time studying at Pisa University, but this remains uncertain. He eventually returned to Bucharest, where he entered the Faculty of Letters (which he never attended regularly). According to Călinescu, Macedonski \"did not feel the need\" to attend classes, because \"such a young man will expect society to render upon him its homages.\"","According to Călinescu, Macedonski \"did not feel the need\" to attend classes, because \"such a young man will expect society to render upon him its homages.\" He was again in Italy during spring 1872, soon after publishing his debut volume Prima verba (Latin for \"First Word\"). Having also written an anti-Carol piece, published in Telegraful Român during 1873, Macedonski reportedly feared political reprisals, and decided to make another visit to Styria and Italy while his case was being assessed.","Having also written an anti-Carol piece, published in Telegraful Român during 1873, Macedonski reportedly feared political reprisals, and decided to make another visit to Styria and Italy while his case was being assessed. It was in Italy that he met French musicologist Jules Combarieu, with whom he corresponded sporadically over the following decades. During that period, Macedonski became interested in the political scene and political journalism, first as a sympathizer of the liberal-radical current—which, in 1875, organized itself around the National Liberal Party.","During that period, Macedonski became interested in the political scene and political journalism, first as a sympathizer of the liberal-radical current—which, in 1875, organized itself around the National Liberal Party. In 1874, back in Craiova, Macedonski founded a short-lived literary society known as Junimea, a title which purposefully or unwittingly copied that of the influential conservative association with whom he would later quarrel.","In 1874, back in Craiova, Macedonski founded a short-lived literary society known as Junimea, a title which purposefully or unwittingly copied that of the influential conservative association with whom he would later quarrel. It was then that he met journalist and pedagogue Ștefan Velescu, a meeting witnessed by Velescu's pupil, the future liberal journalist Constantin Bacalbașa, who recorded it in his memoirs.","It was then that he met journalist and pedagogue Ștefan Velescu, a meeting witnessed by Velescu's pupil, the future liberal journalist Constantin Bacalbașa, who recorded it in his memoirs. Oltul magazine, which he had helped establish and which displayed a liberal agenda, continued to be published until July 1875, and featured Macedonski's translations from Pierre-Jean de Béranger, Hector de Charlieu and Alphonse de Lamartine, as well as his debut in travel writing and short story.","Oltul magazine, which he had helped establish and which displayed a liberal agenda, continued to be published until July 1875, and featured Macedonski's translations from Pierre-Jean de Béranger, Hector de Charlieu and Alphonse de Lamartine, as well as his debut in travel writing and short story. At age 22, he worked on his first play, a comedy titled Gemenii (\"The Twins\").","At age 22, he worked on his first play, a comedy titled Gemenii (\"The Twins\"). In 1874 that he came to the attention of young journalist future dramatist Ion Luca Caragiale, who satirized him in articles for the magazine Ghimpele, ridiculing his claim to Lithuanian descent, and eventually turning him into the character Aamsky, whose fictional career ends with his death from exhaustion caused by contributing to \"for the country's political development\".","In 1874 that he came to the attention of young journalist future dramatist Ion Luca Caragiale, who satirized him in articles for the magazine Ghimpele, ridiculing his claim to Lithuanian descent, and eventually turning him into the character Aamsky, whose fictional career ends with his death from exhaustion caused by contributing to \"for the country's political development\". This was the first episode in a consuming polemic between the two figures.","This was the first episode in a consuming polemic between the two figures. Reflecting back on this period in 1892, Macedonski described Caragiale as a \"noisy young man\" of \"sophistic reasoning\", whose target audience was to be found in \"beer gardens\". 1875 trial and office as prefect In March 1875, Macedonski was arrested on charges of defamation or sedition. For almost a year before, he and Oltul had taken an active part in the campaign against Conservative Party and its leader, Premier Lascăr Catargiu.","For almost a year before, he and Oltul had taken an active part in the campaign against Conservative Party and its leader, Premier Lascăr Catargiu. In this context, he had demanded that the common man \"rise up with weapons in their hands and break both the government agents and the government\", following up with similar messages aimed at the Domnitor. He was taken to Bucharest's Văcărești prison and confined there for almost three months.","He was taken to Bucharest's Văcărești prison and confined there for almost three months. Supported by the liberal press and defended by the most prestigious pro-liberal attorneys (Nicolae Fleva among them), Macedonski faced a jury trial on 7 June, being eventually cleared of the charges. Reportedly, the Bucharest populace organized a spontaneous celebration of the verdict. In 1875, after the National Liberal Ion Emanuel Florescu was assigned the post of Premier by Carol, Macedonski embarked on an administrative career.","In 1875, after the National Liberal Ion Emanuel Florescu was assigned the post of Premier by Carol, Macedonski embarked on an administrative career. The poet was upset by not being included on the National Liberal list for the 1875 suffrage. This disenchantment led him into a brief conflict with the young liberal figure Bonifaciu Florescu, only to join him soon afterward in editing Stindardul journal, alongside Pantazi Ghica and George Fălcoianu. The publication followed the line of Nicolae Moret Blaremberg, made notorious for his radical and republican agenda.","The publication followed the line of Nicolae Moret Blaremberg, made notorious for his radical and republican agenda. Ghica and Macedonski remained close friends until Ghica's 1882 death. The new cabinet eventually appointed him Prefect of Bolgrad region, in the Budjak (at the time part of Romania). In parallel, he published his first translation, a version of Parisina, an 1816 epic poem by Lord Byron, and completed the original works Ithalo and Calul arabului (\"The Arab's Horse\").","In parallel, he published his first translation, a version of Parisina, an 1816 epic poem by Lord Byron, and completed the original works Ithalo and Calul arabului (\"The Arab's Horse\"). He also spoke at the Romanian Atheneum, presenting his views on the state of Romanian literature (1878). His time in office ended upon the outbreak of the Russo-Turkish War.","His time in office ended upon the outbreak of the Russo-Turkish War. At the time, Russian volunteers were amassed on the Budjak border, requesting from the Romanian authorities the right of free passage into the Principality of Serbia. The National Liberal Premier Ion Brătianu, who was negotiating an anti-Ottoman alliance, sent Macedonski signals to let them pass, but the prefect, obeying the official recommendation of Internal Affairs Minister George D. Vernescu, decided against it, and was consequently stripped of his office.","The National Liberal Premier Ion Brătianu, who was negotiating an anti-Ottoman alliance, sent Macedonski signals to let them pass, but the prefect, obeying the official recommendation of Internal Affairs Minister George D. Vernescu, decided against it, and was consequently stripped of his office. Still determined to pursue a career in the press, Macedonski founded a string of unsuccessful magazines with patriotic content and titles such as Vestea (\"The Announcement\"), Dunărea (\"The Danube\"), Fulgerul (\"The Lightning\") and, after 1880, Tarara (an onomatopoeia equivalent to \"Toodoodoo\").","Still determined to pursue a career in the press, Macedonski founded a string of unsuccessful magazines with patriotic content and titles such as Vestea (\"The Announcement\"), Dunărea (\"The Danube\"), Fulgerul (\"The Lightning\") and, after 1880, Tarara (an onomatopoeia equivalent to \"Toodoodoo\"). Their history is connected with that of the Russo-Turkish War, at the end of which Romanian participation on the Russian side resulted in her independence.","Their history is connected with that of the Russo-Turkish War, at the end of which Romanian participation on the Russian side resulted in her independence. Macedonski remained committed to the anti-Ottoman cause, and, some thirty years later, stated: \"We want no Turkey in Europe!\" By 1879, the poet, who continued to voice criticism of Carol, had several times switched sides between the National Liberals and the opposition Conservatives.","By 1879, the poet, who continued to voice criticism of Carol, had several times switched sides between the National Liberals and the opposition Conservatives. That year, while the Budjak was ceded to Russia and Northern Dobruja was integrated into Romania, the Brătianu cabinet appointed him administrator of the Sulina plasă and the Danube Delta.","That year, while the Budjak was ceded to Russia and Northern Dobruja was integrated into Romania, the Brătianu cabinet appointed him administrator of the Sulina plasă and the Danube Delta. He had previously refused to be made comptroller in Putna County, believing such an appointment to be beneath his capacity, and had lost a National Liberal appointment in Silistra when Southern Dobruja was granted to the Principality of Bulgaria.","He had previously refused to be made comptroller in Putna County, believing such an appointment to be beneath his capacity, and had lost a National Liberal appointment in Silistra when Southern Dobruja was granted to the Principality of Bulgaria. During this short interval in office, he traveled to the Snake Island in the Black Sea—his appreciation for the place later motivated him to write the fantasy novel Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu and the poem Lewki. Early Literatorul years With the 1880s came a turning point in Alexandru Macedonski's career.","Early Literatorul years With the 1880s came a turning point in Alexandru Macedonski's career. Vianu notes that changes took place in the poet's relationship with his public: \"Society recognizes in him the nonconformist. [...] The man becomes singular; people start talking about his oddities.\" Macedonski's presumed frustration at being perceived in this way, Vianu notes, may have led him closer to the idea of poète maudit, theorized earlier by Paul Verlaine.","Macedonski's presumed frustration at being perceived in this way, Vianu notes, may have led him closer to the idea of poète maudit, theorized earlier by Paul Verlaine. In this context, he had set his sight on promoting \"social poetry\", the merger between lyricism and political militantism. Meanwhile, according to Călinescu, his attacks on the liberals and the \"daft insults he aimed at [Romania's] throne\" had effectively ruined his own chance of political advancement.","Meanwhile, according to Călinescu, his attacks on the liberals and the \"daft insults he aimed at [Romania's] throne\" had effectively ruined his own chance of political advancement. In January 1880, he launched his most influential and long-lived publication, Literatorul, which was also the focal point of his eclectic cultural circle, and, in later years, of the local Symbolist school. In its first version, the magazine was co-edited by Macedonski, Bonifaciu Florescu and poet Th. M. Stoenescu.","M. Stoenescu. M. Stoenescu. Florescu parted with the group soon after, due to a disagreement with Macedonski, and was later attacked by the latter for allegedly accumulating academic posts. Literatorul aimed to irritate Junimist sensibilities from its first issue, when it stated its dislike for \"political prejudice in literature.\" This was most likely an allusion to the views of Junimist figure Titu Maiorescu, being later accompanied by explicit attacks on him and his followers.","This was most likely an allusion to the views of Junimist figure Titu Maiorescu, being later accompanied by explicit attacks on him and his followers. An early success for the new journal was the warm reception it received from Vasile Alecsandri, a Romantic poet and occasional Junimist whom Macedonski idolized at the time, and the collaboration of popular memoirist Gheorghe Sion. Another such figure was the intellectual V. A. Urechia, whom Macedonski made president of the Literatorul Society.","Another such figure was the intellectual V. A. Urechia, whom Macedonski made president of the Literatorul Society. In 1881, Education Minister Urechia granted Macedonski the Bene-Merenti medal 1st class, although, Călinescu stresses, the poet had only totaled 18 months of public service. At around that time, Macedonski had allegedly begun courting actress Aristizza Romanescu, who rejected his advances, leaving him unenthusiastic about love matters and unwilling to seek female company.","At around that time, Macedonski had allegedly begun courting actress Aristizza Romanescu, who rejected his advances, leaving him unenthusiastic about love matters and unwilling to seek female company. In parallel, Macedonski used the magazine to publicize his disagreement with the main Junimist voice, Convorbiri Literare. Among the group of contributors, several had already been victims of Maiorescu's irony: Sion, Urechia, Pantazi Ghica and Petru Grădișteanu.","Among the group of contributors, several had already been victims of Maiorescu's irony: Sion, Urechia, Pantazi Ghica and Petru Grădișteanu. While welcoming the debut of its contributor, Parnassian-Neoclassicist novelist and poet Duiliu Zamfirescu, Macedonski repeatedly attacked its main exponent, the conservative poet Eminescu, claiming not to understand his poetry. However, Literatorul was also open to contributions from some Convorbiri Literare affiliates (Zamfirescu, Matilda Cugler-Poni and Veronica Micle). In November 1880, Macedonski's plays Iadeș! (\"Wishbone!","In November 1880, Macedonski's plays Iadeș! (\"Wishbone! (\"Wishbone! \", a comedy first printed in 1882) and Unchiașul Sărăcie (\"Old Man Poverty\") premiered at the National Theater Bucharest. A sign of government approval, this was followed by Macedonski's appointment to a minor administrative office, as Historical Monuments Inspector. Nevertheless, both plays failed to impose themselves on public perception, and were withdrawn from the program by 1888.","Nevertheless, both plays failed to impose themselves on public perception, and were withdrawn from the program by 1888. Călinescu asserts that, although Macedonski later claimed to have always been facing poverty, his job in the administration, coupled with other sources of revenue, ensured him a comfortable existence. In 1881, Macedonski published a new collection of poetry. Titled Poezii, it carries the year \"1882\" on its original cover. Again moving away from liberalism, Macedonski sought to make himself accepted by Junimea and Maiorescu.","Again moving away from liberalism, Macedonski sought to make himself accepted by Junimea and Maiorescu. He consequently attended the Junimea sessions, and gave a public reading of Noaptea de noiembrie (\"November Night\"), the first publicized piece in his lifelong Nights cycle. It reportedly earned him the praise of historian and poet Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu, who, although an anti-Junimist, happened to be in the audience.","It reportedly earned him the praise of historian and poet Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu, who, although an anti-Junimist, happened to be in the audience. Despite rumors according to which he had applauded Macedonski, Maiorescu himself was not impressed, and left an unenthusiastic account of the event in his private diary. Against Alecsandri and Eminescu Macedonski's open conflict with Junimea began in 1882, when he engaged in a publicized polemic with Alecsandri.","Against Alecsandri and Eminescu Macedonski's open conflict with Junimea began in 1882, when he engaged in a publicized polemic with Alecsandri. It was ignited when, through Macedonski's articles, Literatorul criticized Alecsandri for accepting Romanian Academy prizes despite being its member, and later involved Sion (whose replies on behalf of the Academy were derided by Macedonski). Macedonski also took distance from Alecsandri's style, publishing a \"critical analysis\" of his poetry in one issue of Literatorul.","Macedonski also took distance from Alecsandri's style, publishing a \"critical analysis\" of his poetry in one issue of Literatorul. In turn, Alecsandri humiliated his young rival by portraying him as Zoilus, the prototype of slanderers, and himself as the model poet Horace in the 1883 play Fântâna Blanduziei. The two were eventually reconciled, and Macedonski again spoke of Alecsandri as his ideological and stylistic predecessor.","The two were eventually reconciled, and Macedonski again spoke of Alecsandri as his ideological and stylistic predecessor. In April 1882, Eminescu had also replied to Macedonski in Timpul journal, referring to an unnamed poet who \"barely finishes high-school, comes over to Bucharest selling nick-nacks and makeup [and goes into] literary dealership\".","In April 1882, Eminescu had also replied to Macedonski in Timpul journal, referring to an unnamed poet who \"barely finishes high-school, comes over to Bucharest selling nick-nacks and makeup [and goes into] literary dealership\". Reproaching Macedonski's attacks on Alecsandri, Eminescu makes a nationalist comment about the young poet bearing \"the bastard instincts of those foreigners who were Romanianized only yesterday\", and attributes him \"the physiognomy of a hairdresser\". Through the articles of Petru Th.","Through the articles of Petru Th. Through the articles of Petru Th. Missir, Convorbiri Literare gave Poezii a negative review, deemed \"malevolent\" by literary historian Mircea Anghelescu. At the other end of the political and cultural spectrum, Macedonski faced opposition from the intellectuals attracted to socialism, in particular Contemporanul editors Constantin Mille and Ioan Nădejde, with whom he was engaged in an extended polemic.","At the other end of the political and cultural spectrum, Macedonski faced opposition from the intellectuals attracted to socialism, in particular Contemporanul editors Constantin Mille and Ioan Nădejde, with whom he was engaged in an extended polemic. In the meantime, Macedonski published his own play, which had Cuza for its main character and was eponymously titled Cuza-Vodă, and completed translations for Literatorul—from Maurice Rollinat, whom he helped impose as a main cultural reference in Romanian Symbolism, and from the Greek poet Akhillefs Paraskhos.","In the meantime, Macedonski published his own play, which had Cuza for its main character and was eponymously titled Cuza-Vodă, and completed translations for Literatorul—from Maurice Rollinat, whom he helped impose as a main cultural reference in Romanian Symbolism, and from the Greek poet Akhillefs Paraskhos. In 1883, he also contributed his first sketch story, Casa cu nr. 10 (\"The House at Number 10\"). In early 1883, he married Ana Rallet-Slătineanu.","In early 1883, he married Ana Rallet-Slătineanu. In early 1883, he married Ana Rallet-Slătineanu. Wealthy and supposedly related to Romanian aristocrats, she would bear him five children in all: the painter Alexis was the eldest, followed by Nikita; the three youngest were two sons (Panel and Constantin Macedonski) and a daughter, Anna (also known as Nina). His heterosexual lifestyle notwithstanding, Macedonski remained a self-avowed admirer of male beauties, and was rumored to be a closeted homosexual.","His heterosexual lifestyle notwithstanding, Macedonski remained a self-avowed admirer of male beauties, and was rumored to be a closeted homosexual. In July 1883, Macedonski undertook one of his most controversial anti-Junimist actions. That month, Literatorul published an epigram signed with the pseudonym Duna, deriding an unnamed author who had lost his mind. Mihai Eminescu—whom many had already come to see as Romania's national poet—had by then developed a mental disorder which had become known to the general public.","Mihai Eminescu—whom many had already come to see as Romania's national poet—had by then developed a mental disorder which had become known to the general public. Ever since that moment, Macedonski has generally been believed to be Duna, and as a result, was faced with much criticism from both readers and commentators. The intense anti-Literatorul press campaign was initiated in August, when writer Grigore Ventura issued an article condemning Macedonski's attitude (published in the Bucharest-based newspaper L'Indépendance Roumaine), with Macedonski responding in the National Liberal organ Românul.","The intense anti-Literatorul press campaign was initiated in August, when writer Grigore Ventura issued an article condemning Macedonski's attitude (published in the Bucharest-based newspaper L'Indépendance Roumaine), with Macedonski responding in the National Liberal organ Românul. During one evening, Macedonski is reported to have been assaulted by anonymous supporters of Eminescu. His previous conflict with Nădejde was also affected by this renewed controversy: while opposed to Junimist policies, the socialists at Contemporanul voiced their admiration for Eminescu's art.","His previous conflict with Nădejde was also affected by this renewed controversy: while opposed to Junimist policies, the socialists at Contemporanul voiced their admiration for Eminescu's art. Late in 1883, Macedonski and his friends unveiled Ion Georgescu's statue of their mentor Bolintineanu in the National Theater lobby. The circumstances in which this took place rose suspicion of foul play; on this grounds, Macedonski was ridiculed by his former friend Zamfirescu in the journal România Liberă, which left him embittered.","The circumstances in which this took place rose suspicion of foul play; on this grounds, Macedonski was ridiculed by his former friend Zamfirescu in the journal România Liberă, which left him embittered. Călinescu proposes that, although such negative reactions were invoked by Macedonski's supporters as a sign of their mentor having been marginalized, Macedonski had expressed his dissatisfaction with the cultural environment long before that moment, and was still a respected figure even after the incidents took place.","Călinescu proposes that, although such negative reactions were invoked by Macedonski's supporters as a sign of their mentor having been marginalized, Macedonski had expressed his dissatisfaction with the cultural environment long before that moment, and was still a respected figure even after the incidents took place. First Paris sojourn and Poezia viitorului Having been stripped of his administrative office by the new Brătianu cabinet, Macedonski faced financial difficulties, and was forced to move into a house on the outskirts of Bucharest, and later moved between houses in northern Bucharest.","First Paris sojourn and Poezia viitorului Having been stripped of his administrative office by the new Brătianu cabinet, Macedonski faced financial difficulties, and was forced to move into a house on the outskirts of Bucharest, and later moved between houses in northern Bucharest. According to Călinescu, the poet continued to cultivate luxury and passionately invested in the decorative arts, although his source of income, other than the supposed assistance \"of [European] ruling houses\", remains a mystery.","According to Călinescu, the poet continued to cultivate luxury and passionately invested in the decorative arts, although his source of income, other than the supposed assistance \"of [European] ruling houses\", remains a mystery. Arguing that Macedonski was \"always in need of money\" to use on his luxury items, poet Victor Eftimiu claimed: \"He did not shy away from sending emphatic notes to the potentates of his day [...], flattering some, threatening others.","Arguing that Macedonski was \"always in need of money\" to use on his luxury items, poet Victor Eftimiu claimed: \"He did not shy away from sending emphatic notes to the potentates of his day [...], flattering some, threatening others. He would marry off or simply mate some of his disciples with aging and rich women, and then he would squeeze out their assets.\" Macedonski eventually left Romania in 1884, visiting Paris.","Macedonski eventually left Romania in 1884, visiting Paris. Macedonski eventually left Romania in 1884, visiting Paris. On his way there, he passed through Craiova, where he met aspiring author Traian Demetrescu, whose works he had already hosted in Literatorul and who was to become his friend and protégé. Demetrescu later recalled being gripped by \"tremors of emotion\" upon first catching sight of Macedonski.","Demetrescu later recalled being gripped by \"tremors of emotion\" upon first catching sight of Macedonski. In France, Macedonski set up contacts within the French literary environment, and began contributing to French or Francophone literary publications—including the Belgian Symbolist platforms La Wallonie and L'Élan littéraire. His collaboration with La Wallonie alongside Albert Mockel, Tudor Vianu believes, makes Alexandru Macedonski one in the original wave of European Symbolists. This adaptation to Symbolism also drew on his marked Francophilia, which in turn complemented his tendencies toward cosmopolitanism.","This adaptation to Symbolism also drew on his marked Francophilia, which in turn complemented his tendencies toward cosmopolitanism. He became opposed to Carol I, who, in 1881, had been granted the Crown of the Romanian Kingdom. In addition to his admiration for Cuza and the 1848 Wallachian revolutionaries, the poet objected to the King's sympathy for France's main rival, the German Empire.","In addition to his admiration for Cuza and the 1848 Wallachian revolutionaries, the poet objected to the King's sympathy for France's main rival, the German Empire. In January 1885, after having returned from the voyage, he announced his retirement from public life, claiming that German influence and its exponents at Junimea had \"conquered\" Romanian culture, and repeating his claim that Eminescu lacked value.","In January 1885, after having returned from the voyage, he announced his retirement from public life, claiming that German influence and its exponents at Junimea had \"conquered\" Romanian culture, and repeating his claim that Eminescu lacked value. In the meantime, Literatorul went out of print, although new series were still published at irregular intervals until 1904 (when it ceased being published altogether).","In the meantime, Literatorul went out of print, although new series were still published at irregular intervals until 1904 (when it ceased being published altogether). The magazine was reportedly hated by the public, causing Macedonski, Stoenescu, Florescu, Urechia and educator Anghel Demetriescu to try to revive it as Revista Literară (\"The Literary Review\", published for a few months in 1885).","The magazine was reportedly hated by the public, causing Macedonski, Stoenescu, Florescu, Urechia and educator Anghel Demetriescu to try to revive it as Revista Literară (\"The Literary Review\", published for a few months in 1885). The poet attempted to establish other magazines, all of them short-lived, and, in 1887, handed for print his Naturalist novella Dramă banală (\"Banal Drama\") while completing one of the most revered episodes in the Nights series, Noaptea de mai (\"May Night\").","The poet attempted to establish other magazines, all of them short-lived, and, in 1887, handed for print his Naturalist novella Dramă banală (\"Banal Drama\") while completing one of the most revered episodes in the Nights series, Noaptea de mai (\"May Night\"). Also in 1886, he worked on his other Naturalist novellas: Zi de august (\"August Day\"), Pe drum de poștă (\"On the Stagecoach Trail\"), Din carnetul unui dezertor (\"From the Notebook of a Deserter\"), Între cotețe (\"Amidst Hen Houses\") and the eponymous Nicu Dereanu.","Also in 1886, he worked on his other Naturalist novellas: Zi de august (\"August Day\"), Pe drum de poștă (\"On the Stagecoach Trail\"), Din carnetul unui dezertor (\"From the Notebook of a Deserter\"), Între cotețe (\"Amidst Hen Houses\") and the eponymous Nicu Dereanu. By 1888, he was again sympathetic toward Blaremberg, whose dissident National Liberal faction had formed an alliance with the Conservatives, editing Stindardul Țărei (later Straja Țărei) as his supporting journal.","By 1888, he was again sympathetic toward Blaremberg, whose dissident National Liberal faction had formed an alliance with the Conservatives, editing Stindardul Țărei (later Straja Țărei) as his supporting journal. However, late in the same year, he returned to the liberal mainstream, being assigned a weekly column in Românul newspaper. Two years later, he attempted to relaunch Literatorul under the leadership of liberal figure Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu, but the latter eventually settled for founding his own Revista Nouă.","Two years later, he attempted to relaunch Literatorul under the leadership of liberal figure Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu, but the latter eventually settled for founding his own Revista Nouă. Around 1891, he saluted Junimeas own break with the Conservatives and its entry into politics at the Conservative-Constitutional Party, before offering an enthusiastic welcome to the 1892 Junimist agitation among university students.","Around 1891, he saluted Junimeas own break with the Conservatives and its entry into politics at the Conservative-Constitutional Party, before offering an enthusiastic welcome to the 1892 Junimist agitation among university students. In 1894, he would speak in front of student crowds gathered at a political rally in University Square, and soon after made himself known for supporting the cause of ethnic Romanians and other underrepresented groups of Austria-Hungary. His literary thesis of the time was titled Poezia viitorului (\"The Poetry of the Future\").","His literary thesis of the time was titled Poezia viitorului (\"The Poetry of the Future\"). It upheld Symbolist authors as the models to follow, while Macedonski personally began producing what he referred to as \"instrumentalist\" poems, composed around musical and onomatopoeic elements, and showing a preference for internal rhymes. Such an experimental approach was soon after parodied and ridiculed by Ion Luca Caragiale, who had by then affiliated and parted with Junimea, in his new Moftul Român magazine.","Such an experimental approach was soon after parodied and ridiculed by Ion Luca Caragiale, who had by then affiliated and parted with Junimea, in his new Moftul Român magazine. The poet sought to reconcile with his rival, publicizing a claim that Caragiale was being unjustly ignored by the cultural establishment, but this attempt failed to mend relations between them, and the conflict escalated further.","The poet sought to reconcile with his rival, publicizing a claim that Caragiale was being unjustly ignored by the cultural establishment, but this attempt failed to mend relations between them, and the conflict escalated further. While, in 1893, Literatorul hosted fragments of Thalassa in its Romanian-language version, the author also launched a daily, Lumina (\"The Light\").","While, in 1893, Literatorul hosted fragments of Thalassa in its Romanian-language version, the author also launched a daily, Lumina (\"The Light\"). It was also at that stage that Alexandru Macedonski associated with Cincinat Pavelescu, the noted epigrammarian, who joined him in editing Literatorul, and with whom he co-authored the 1893 verse tragedy depicting the Biblical hero Saul, and named after him. Although showcased by the National Theater with star actor Constantin Nottara in the title role, it failed to register success with the public.","Although showcased by the National Theater with star actor Constantin Nottara in the title role, it failed to register success with the public. Two years later, the two Literatorul editors made headlines as pioneers of cycling. An enthusiastic promoter of the sport, Macedonski joined fellow poet Constantin Cantilli on a marathon, pedaling from Bucharest across the border into Austria-Hungary, all the way down to Brașov.","An enthusiastic promoter of the sport, Macedonski joined fellow poet Constantin Cantilli on a marathon, pedaling from Bucharest across the border into Austria-Hungary, all the way down to Brașov. Late 1890s Macedonski also returned with a new volume of poetry, Excelsior (consecutive editions in 1895 and 1896), and founded Liga Ortodoxă (\"The Orthodox League\"), a magazine noted for hosting the debut of Tudor Arghezi, later one of the most celebrated figures in Romanian literature.","Late 1890s Macedonski also returned with a new volume of poetry, Excelsior (consecutive editions in 1895 and 1896), and founded Liga Ortodoxă (\"The Orthodox League\"), a magazine noted for hosting the debut of Tudor Arghezi, later one of the most celebrated figures in Romanian literature. Macedonski commended his new protégé for reaching \"the summit of poetry and art\" at \"an age when I was still prattling verses\".","Macedonski commended his new protégé for reaching \"the summit of poetry and art\" at \"an age when I was still prattling verses\". Liga Ortodoxă also hosted articles against Caragiale, which Macedonski signed with the pseudonym Sallustiu (\"Sallustius\"). The magazine was additional proof of Macedonski's return to conservatism, and largely dedicated to defending the cause of Romanian Orthodox Metropolitan Ghenadie, deposed by the Romanian Synod following a political scandal. It defended Ghenadie up until he chose to resign, and subsequently went out of print.","It defended Ghenadie up until he chose to resign, and subsequently went out of print. Macedonski was shocked to note that Ghenadie had given up his own defense. In 1895, his Casa cu nr. 10 was translated into French by the Journal des Débats, whose editors reportedly found it picturesque. Two years later, Macedonski himself published French-language translations of his earlier poetry under the title Bronzes, a volume prefaced by his disciple, the critic and promoter Alexandru Bogdan-Pitești.","Two years later, Macedonski himself published French-language translations of his earlier poetry under the title Bronzes, a volume prefaced by his disciple, the critic and promoter Alexandru Bogdan-Pitești. Although it was positively reviewed by Mercure de France magazine, Bronzes was largely unnoticed by the French audience, a fact which Tudor Vianu attributes to Bogdan-Pitești's lack of qualification for the cultural mission Macedonski had trusted him with.","Although it was positively reviewed by Mercure de France magazine, Bronzes was largely unnoticed by the French audience, a fact which Tudor Vianu attributes to Bogdan-Pitești's lack of qualification for the cultural mission Macedonski had trusted him with. By that time, his circle had come to be frequented with regularity by Bogdan-Pitești's friend and collaborator, the celebrated painter Ștefan Luchian, who was in the Symbolist and Art Nouveau stage of his career.","By that time, his circle had come to be frequented with regularity by Bogdan-Pitești's friend and collaborator, the celebrated painter Ștefan Luchian, who was in the Symbolist and Art Nouveau stage of his career. By 1898, Macedonski was again facing financial difficulties, and his collaborators resorted to organizing a fundraiser in his honor. His rejection of the Orthodox establishment was documented by his political tract, published that year as . Between that time and 1900, he focused on researching esoteric, occult and pseudoscientific subjects.","Between that time and 1900, he focused on researching esoteric, occult and pseudoscientific subjects. Traian Demetrescu, who recorded his visits with Macedonski, recalled his former mentor being opposed to his positivist take on science, claiming to explain the workings of the Universe in \"a different way\", through \"imagination\", but also taking an interest in Camille Flammarion's astronomy studies.","Traian Demetrescu, who recorded his visits with Macedonski, recalled his former mentor being opposed to his positivist take on science, claiming to explain the workings of the Universe in \"a different way\", through \"imagination\", but also taking an interest in Camille Flammarion's astronomy studies. Macedonski was determined to interpret death through parapsychological means, and, in 1900, conferenced at the Atheneum on the subject Sufletul și viața viitoare (\"The Soul and the Coming Life\").","Macedonski was determined to interpret death through parapsychological means, and, in 1900, conferenced at the Atheneum on the subject Sufletul și viața viitoare (\"The Soul and the Coming Life\"). The focal point of his vision was that man could voluntarily stave off death with words and gestures, a concept he elaborated upon in his later articles.","The focal point of his vision was that man could voluntarily stave off death with words and gestures, a concept he elaborated upon in his later articles. In one such piece, Macedonski argued: \"man has the power [...] to compact the energy currents known as thoughts to the point where he changes them, according to his own will, into objects or soul-bearing creatures.\" He also attempted to build a machine for extinguishing chimney fires.","He also attempted to build a machine for extinguishing chimney fires. Later, Nikita Macedonski registered the invention of nacre-treated paper, which is sometimes attributed to his father. Caion scandal and expatriation The few issues of Literatorul that were printed in 1899-1900 saw the circle being joined by the young Symbolist poet Ștefan Petică. In 1902, he published Cartea de aur (\"The Golden Book\"), comprising his sketch stories and novellas. In parallel, Macedonski returned to the public scene, founding Forța Morală magazine.","In parallel, Macedonski returned to the public scene, founding Forța Morală magazine. It was through this venue that he began responding to Ion Luca Caragiale's earlier attacks. This he did by hosting the articles of aspiring journalist Constantin Al. Ionescu-Caion, who accused Caragiale of having plagiarized a Hungarian author by the name of Kemény in his tragedy play Năpasta. Kemény turned out to be non-existent.","Kemény turned out to be non-existent. Kemény turned out to be non-existent. According to Vianu, Macedonski had no prior knowledge of the fraud, but had also been \"blinded\" by his resentments instead of displaying \"discernment\", and had even showed evidence of \"insanity\". Most in Macedonski's own series of anti-Caragiale articles were unsigned, or signed with pseudonyms such as Luciliu (\"Gaius Lucilius\").","Most in Macedonski's own series of anti-Caragiale articles were unsigned, or signed with pseudonyms such as Luciliu (\"Gaius Lucilius\"). Like in the case of Eminescu's conflict with Macedonski, the polemic enlisted a negative response from the public. The poet's associate Th. M. Stoenescu convinced himself that Caragiale was being framed, and refused to allow Revista Literară to be used for endorsing Caion, which caused Macedonski to shun him.","M. Stoenescu convinced himself that Caragiale was being framed, and refused to allow Revista Literară to be used for endorsing Caion, which caused Macedonski to shun him. Macedonski refused to withdraw his support for the cause even after Caragiale sued Caion, but Forța Morală soon went out of print. Before it did so, the journal hosted some of Macedonski's most renowned poems, including Lewki and Noaptea de decemvrie (\"December Night\"), together with his article on Remy de Gourmont's thoughts on poetics.","Before it did so, the journal hosted some of Macedonski's most renowned poems, including Lewki and Noaptea de decemvrie (\"December Night\"), together with his article on Remy de Gourmont's thoughts on poetics. In his article of 1903, titled (\"Toward Occultism. Later Orientations toward Theosophy and Social Philosophy\"), the poet envisaged making his interest in esoteric subjects the basis of a new literary movement.","Later Orientations toward Theosophy and Social Philosophy\"), the poet envisaged making his interest in esoteric subjects the basis of a new literary movement. Also that year, poet George Bacovia began attending the literary circle, and gave a reading of his celebrated Plumb poem, being welcomed by Macedonski with a flattering epigram. Macedonski's series of short-lived periodicals resumed in 1905, when he founded Le Beau Danube Bleu (French for \"The Beautiful Blue Danube\") and Liga Conservatoare (\"The Conservative League\").","Macedonski's series of short-lived periodicals resumed in 1905, when he founded Le Beau Danube Bleu (French for \"The Beautiful Blue Danube\") and Liga Conservatoare (\"The Conservative League\"). He registered more success in 1906, when his Thalassa was published, as Le Calvaire de feu, by Edward Sansot's Paris-based publishing house. This followed intense self-promotion within the French literary environment, as well as advertisements in the French press.","This followed intense self-promotion within the French literary environment, as well as advertisements in the French press. Part of this involved Macedonski sending his book to be reviewed by Émile Faguet, Jean Mounet-Sully, Joséphin Péladan, Pierre Quillard and Jean Richepin, who replied with what Vianu deems \"the politeness of circumstance.\" The volume was nonetheless favorably reviewed by the prestigious magazines Mercure de France and Gil Blas.","The volume was nonetheless favorably reviewed by the prestigious magazines Mercure de France and Gil Blas. Also in 1906, La Revue Musicale published his interview with Combarieu, through which the latter aimed to verify supposed connections between literary inspiration and musical sensitivity. By 1907, he was concentrating on experiments in physics, and eventually publicized his claim to have discovered that light does not travel through vacuum. He sent a paper on astronomy subjects to be reviewed by the Société Astronomique de France, of which he subsequently became a member.","He sent a paper on astronomy subjects to be reviewed by the Société Astronomique de France, of which he subsequently became a member. The same year, he drafted the plan for a world government, announcing that he had found sympathy for the cause throughout Europe. Macedonski also introduced himself to an Italophone public, when two of his sonnets were published by Poesia, the magazine of Futurist theorist Filippo Tommaso Marinetti. Between 1910 and 1912, Macedonski was again in Paris.","Between 1910 and 1912, Macedonski was again in Paris. Seeking to withdraw himself from Romania's public life due to what he perceived as injustice, he had by then completed work on the French-language tragicomedy Le Fou? (\"The Madman? \"), which was only published after his death.","\"), which was only published after his death. He was actively seeking to establish his reputation in French theater, reading his new play to a circle which included Louis de Gonzague Frick and Florian-Parmentier, while, at home, newspapers reported rumors that his work was going to be staged by Sarah Bernhardt's company. His efforts were largely fruitless, and, accompanied by his son Alexis, the poet left France, spent some time in Italy, and eventually returned to Romania.","His efforts were largely fruitless, and, accompanied by his son Alexis, the poet left France, spent some time in Italy, and eventually returned to Romania. Passing through the German Empire, he learned of Ion Luca Caragiale's sudden death, and wrote Adevărul daily an open letter, which showed that he had come to revise his stance, notably comparing the deceased author's style and legacy to those of Mark Twain.","Passing through the German Empire, he learned of Ion Luca Caragiale's sudden death, and wrote Adevărul daily an open letter, which showed that he had come to revise his stance, notably comparing the deceased author's style and legacy to those of Mark Twain. During Macedonski's absence, his style and work had come to be reviewed more positively, in particular by the young authors I. Dragoslav, Horia Furtună, Ion Pillat, Anastasie Mândru, Al.","During Macedonski's absence, his style and work had come to be reviewed more positively, in particular by the young authors I. Dragoslav, Horia Furtună, Ion Pillat, Anastasie Mândru, Al. T. Stamatiad, as well as by post-Junimist critic Mihail Dragomirescu, who offered Macedonski a good reception in his Convorbiri Critice magazine. Tudor Vianu, who cites contemporary statements by Dragoslav, concludes that, upon arrival, Macedonski was enthusiastically received by a public who had missed him.","Tudor Vianu, who cites contemporary statements by Dragoslav, concludes that, upon arrival, Macedonski was enthusiastically received by a public who had missed him. Also in 1912, one of his poems was published as an homage by Simbolul, a magazine published by the young and radical Symbolists Tristan Tzara, Ion Vinea and Marcel Janco. Around that time, Macedonski also collaborated with the Iași-based moderate Symbolist magazine Versuri și Proză.","Around that time, Macedonski also collaborated with the Iași-based moderate Symbolist magazine Versuri și Proză. Polemics surrounding his case nevertheless continued: in late 1912, as part of a National Theater adaptation of Alphonse Daudet's Sapho, actor Cazimir Belcot borrowed from Macedonski's appearance and mannerisms to portray a failure. Return and World War I years Macedonski and his protégés had become regular frequenters of Bucharest cafés.","Return and World War I years Macedonski and his protégés had become regular frequenters of Bucharest cafés. Having a table permanently reserved for him at Imperial Hotel's Kübler Coffeehouse, he was later a presence in two other such establishments: High-Life and Terasa Oteteleșanu. He is said to have spent part of his time at Kübler loudly mocking the traditionalist poets who gathered at an opposite table.","He is said to have spent part of his time at Kübler loudly mocking the traditionalist poets who gathered at an opposite table. Meanwhile, the poet's literary club, set up at his house in Dorobanți quarter, had come to resemble a mystical circle, over which he held magisterial command. Vianu, who visited the poet together with Pillat, compares this atmosphere with those created by other \"mystics and magi of poetry\" (citing as examples Joséphin Péladan, Louis-Nicolas Ménard, Stéphane Mallarmé and Stefan George).","Vianu, who visited the poet together with Pillat, compares this atmosphere with those created by other \"mystics and magi of poetry\" (citing as examples Joséphin Péladan, Louis-Nicolas Ménard, Stéphane Mallarmé and Stefan George). The hall where seances were hosted was only lit by candles, and the tables were covered in red fabric. Macedonski himself was seated on a throne designed by Alexis, and adopted a dominant pose. The apparent secrecy and the initiation rites performed on new members were purportedly inspired by Rosicrucianism and the Freemasonry.","The apparent secrecy and the initiation rites performed on new members were purportedly inspired by Rosicrucianism and the Freemasonry. By then, Macedonski was rewarding his followers' poems with false gemstones. The poet founded Revista Critică (\"The Critical Review\"), which again closed after a short while, and issued the poetry volume Flori sacre (\"Sacred Flowers\").","The poet founded Revista Critică (\"The Critical Review\"), which again closed after a short while, and issued the poetry volume Flori sacre (\"Sacred Flowers\"). Grouping his Forța Morală poems and older pieces, it was dedicated to his new generation of followers, whom Macedonski's preface referred to as \"the new Romania.\" He continued to hope that Le Fou?","He continued to hope that Le Fou? He continued to hope that Le Fou? was going to be staged in France, especially after he received some encouragement in the form of articles in Mercure de France and Journal des Débats, but was confronted with the general public's indifference. In 1914, Thalassa was published in a non-definitive version by Constantin Banu's magazine Flacăra, which sought to revive overall interest in his work.","In 1914, Thalassa was published in a non-definitive version by Constantin Banu's magazine Flacăra, which sought to revive overall interest in his work. At a French Red Cross conference in September, Macedonski paid his final public homage to France, which had just become entangled in World War I.","At a French Red Cross conference in September, Macedonski paid his final public homage to France, which had just become entangled in World War I. It was also in 1914 that Macedonski commissioned for print his very first rondels and completed work on a tragedy play about Renaissance poet Dante Aligheri—known as La Mort de Dante in its French original, and Moartea lui Dante in the secondary Romanian version (both meaning \"Dante's Death\").","It was also in 1914 that Macedonski commissioned for print his very first rondels and completed work on a tragedy play about Renaissance poet Dante Aligheri—known as La Mort de Dante in its French original, and Moartea lui Dante in the secondary Romanian version (both meaning \"Dante's Death\"). The aging poet was by then building connections with the local art scene: together with artist Alexandru Severin, he created (and probably presided over) Cenaclul idealist (\"The Idealist Club\"), which included Symbolist artists and was placed under the honorary patronage of King Carol.","The aging poet was by then building connections with the local art scene: together with artist Alexandru Severin, he created (and probably presided over) Cenaclul idealist (\"The Idealist Club\"), which included Symbolist artists and was placed under the honorary patronage of King Carol. 1916 was also the year when Romania abandoned her neutrality and, under a National Liberal government, rallied with the Entente Powers.","1916 was also the year when Romania abandoned her neutrality and, under a National Liberal government, rallied with the Entente Powers. During the neutrality period, Macedonski had shed his lifelong Francophilia to join the Germanophiles, who wanted to see Romanian participation on the Central Powers' side. In 1915, he issued the journal Cuvântul Meu (\"My Word\").","In 1915, he issued the journal Cuvântul Meu (\"My Word\"). Entirely written by him, it published ten consecutive issues before going bankrupt, and notably lashed out against France for being \"bourgeois\" and \"lawyer-filled\", demanding from Romania not to get involved in the conflict. Commentators and researchers of his work have declared themselves puzzled by this change in allegiance. Macedonski further alienated public opinion during the Romanian Campaign, when the Central Powers armies entered southern Romania and occupied Bucharest.","Macedonski further alienated public opinion during the Romanian Campaign, when the Central Powers armies entered southern Romania and occupied Bucharest. Alexis was drafted and became a war artist, but Macedonski Sr, who received formal protection from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bucharest, chose to stay behind while the authorities and many ordinary citizens relocated to Iași, where resistance was still being organized. His stance was interpreted as collaborationism by his critics. However, Macedonski reportedly faced extreme poverty throughout the occupation.","However, Macedonski reportedly faced extreme poverty throughout the occupation. Having by then begun to attend the circle of Alexandru Bogdan-Pitești, his promoter and fellow Germanophile, he was once rewarded by the latter with a turkey filled with gold coins. Late polemics, illness and death Literatorul resumed print in June 1918, once Romania capitulated to the Central Powers under the Treaty of Bucharest.","Late polemics, illness and death Literatorul resumed print in June 1918, once Romania capitulated to the Central Powers under the Treaty of Bucharest. A controversial incident occurred soon afterwards, when, going against the counsel of his friend and collaborator Stamatiad, Macedonski signed a Literatorul article where the German military administrator August von Mackensen, who was about to lead his troops out of Romania, was presented in a positive light.","A controversial incident occurred soon afterwards, when, going against the counsel of his friend and collaborator Stamatiad, Macedonski signed a Literatorul article where the German military administrator August von Mackensen, who was about to lead his troops out of Romania, was presented in a positive light. In a manner deemed \"excessive\" by historian Lucian Boia, the Romanian writer was paying homage not just to Mackensen, but also, indirectly, to German Emperor Wilhelm II and the Reichsheer.","In a manner deemed \"excessive\" by historian Lucian Boia, the Romanian writer was paying homage not just to Mackensen, but also, indirectly, to German Emperor Wilhelm II and the Reichsheer. Soon after reading the piece, Romanian Academy member and fellow Symbolist promoter Ovid Densusianu withdrew his own nomination of Macedonski for an Academy seat.","Soon after reading the piece, Romanian Academy member and fellow Symbolist promoter Ovid Densusianu withdrew his own nomination of Macedonski for an Academy seat. During summer, Macedonski also joined the group of public figures who saluted the senior Conservative Germanophile Petre P. Carp (deeming Carp \"the veteran of character, honesty and Romanianism\"), and, in September, joined Ioan Slavici and Gala Galaction as a contributor to the occupation magazine Rumänien in Wort und Bild, where he prophesied an anti-French \"political renaissance\" of Romania.","During summer, Macedonski also joined the group of public figures who saluted the senior Conservative Germanophile Petre P. Carp (deeming Carp \"the veteran of character, honesty and Romanianism\"), and, in September, joined Ioan Slavici and Gala Galaction as a contributor to the occupation magazine Rumänien in Wort und Bild, where he prophesied an anti-French \"political renaissance\" of Romania. Alexandru Macedonski faced problems after the Romanian government resumed its control over Bucharest, and during the early years of Greater Romania.","Alexandru Macedonski faced problems after the Romanian government resumed its control over Bucharest, and during the early years of Greater Romania. What followed the Mackensen article, Vianu claims, was Macedonski's bellum contra omnes (\"war against all\").","What followed the Mackensen article, Vianu claims, was Macedonski's bellum contra omnes (\"war against all\"). However, the poet made efforts to accommodate himself with the triumphal return of the Iași authorities: in December 1918, Literatorul celebrated the extension of Romanian rule \"from the Tisza to the Dniester\" as a success of the National Liberals, paying homage to Francophile political leaders Ion I. C. Brătianu and Take Ionescu.","However, the poet made efforts to accommodate himself with the triumphal return of the Iași authorities: in December 1918, Literatorul celebrated the extension of Romanian rule \"from the Tisza to the Dniester\" as a success of the National Liberals, paying homage to Francophile political leaders Ion I. C. Brătianu and Take Ionescu. Macedonski also envisaged running in the 1918 election for a seat in the new Parliament (which was supposed to vote a document to replace the 1866 Constitution as the organic law), but never registered his candidature.","Macedonski also envisaged running in the 1918 election for a seat in the new Parliament (which was supposed to vote a document to replace the 1866 Constitution as the organic law), but never registered his candidature. According to Vianu, he had intended to create a joke political party, the \"intellectual group\", whose other member was an unnamed coffeehouse acquaintance of his. Literatorul was revived for a final time in 1919. His health deteriorated from heart disease, which is described by Vianu as an effect of constant smoking.","His health deteriorated from heart disease, which is described by Vianu as an effect of constant smoking. By that stage, Vianu recalls, Macedonski also had problems coming to terms with his age. His last anthumous work was the pamphlet Zaherlina (named after the Romanian version of \"Zacherlin\"; also known as Zacherlina or Zacherlina în continuare, \"Zacherlin Contd. \"), completed in 1919 and published the following year. It notably attacked Densusianu, who had become Macedonski's personal enemy.","It notably attacked Densusianu, who had become Macedonski's personal enemy. Some other polemical texts he had authored late in life saw print only after his death, under the title Mustrări postume către o generație neînțelegătoare (\"Posthumous Reprimands for an Obtuse Generation\"). 1920 was also the year when the People's Party cabinet attempted to pension him off from his office at the Historical Monuments Commission, but the publicized protest of Macedonski's fellow writers in Bucharest made it reconsider.","1920 was also the year when the People's Party cabinet attempted to pension him off from his office at the Historical Monuments Commission, but the publicized protest of Macedonski's fellow writers in Bucharest made it reconsider. Confined to his home by illness and old age, Macedonski was still writing poems, some of which later known as his Ultima verba (\"Last Words\"). The writer died on 24 November, at three o'clock in the afternoon.","The writer died on 24 November, at three o'clock in the afternoon. Having come to develop an addiction to floral fragrances, he was inhaling a rose petal extract during his last hours. He was buried in Bucharest's Bellu. Work General characteristics Although Alexandru Macedonski frequently changed his style and views on literary matters, a number of constants have been traced throughout his work.","Work General characteristics Although Alexandru Macedonski frequently changed his style and views on literary matters, a number of constants have been traced throughout his work. Thus, a common perception is that his literature had a strongly visual aspect, the notion being condensed in Cincinat Pavelescu's definition of Macedonski: \"Poet, therefore painter; painter, therefore poet.\" Traian Demetrescu too recalled that his mentor had been dreaming of becoming a visual artist, and had eventually settled for turning his son Alexis into one.","Traian Demetrescu too recalled that his mentor had been dreaming of becoming a visual artist, and had eventually settled for turning his son Alexis into one. This pictorial approach to writing created parallels between Macedonski and his traditionalist contemporaries Vasile Alecsandri and Barbu Ștefănescu Delavrancea. Following the tenets of Dimitrie Bolintineanu and Théophile Gautier, the writer repeatedly called for purity in versification, and upheld it as an essential requirement, while progressively seeking to verify the quality of his poetry through phonaesthetics.","Following the tenets of Dimitrie Bolintineanu and Théophile Gautier, the writer repeatedly called for purity in versification, and upheld it as an essential requirement, while progressively seeking to verify the quality of his poetry through phonaesthetics. A characteristic of Macedonski's style is his inventive use of Romanian. Initially influenced by Ion Heliade Rădulescu's introduction of Italian-based words to the Romanian lexis, Macedonski himself later infused poetic language with a large array of neologisms from several Romance sources.","Initially influenced by Ion Heliade Rădulescu's introduction of Italian-based words to the Romanian lexis, Macedonski himself later infused poetic language with a large array of neologisms from several Romance sources. Likewise, Vianu notes, Macedonski had a tendency for comparing nature with the artificial, the result of this being a \"document\" of his values. Macedonski's language alternated neologisms with barbarisms, many of which were coined by him personally.","Macedonski's language alternated neologisms with barbarisms, many of which were coined by him personally. They include claviculat (\"clavicled\", applied to a shoulder), împălăriată (\"enhatted\", used to define a crowd of hat-wearing tourists), and ureichii (instead of urechii, \"to the ear\" or \"of the ear\"). His narratives nevertheless take an interest in recording direct speech, used as a method of characterization.","His narratives nevertheless take an interest in recording direct speech, used as a method of characterization. However, Călinescu criticizes Macedonski for using a language which, \"although grammatically correct [...], seems to have been learned only recently\", as well as for not following other Romanian writers in creating a lasting poetic style. The writer's belief in the effects of sheer willpower, notably present in his comments on esoteric subjects, was itself a defining characteristic of his perspective on literature.","The writer's belief in the effects of sheer willpower, notably present in his comments on esoteric subjects, was itself a defining characteristic of his perspective on literature. In 1882, he wrote about progression in one's career: \"We are all poets at birth, but only those who shape themselves through study will become poets.\"","In 1882, he wrote about progression in one's career: \"We are all poets at birth, but only those who shape themselves through study will become poets.\" Vianu, who notes Macedonski's \"exclusivity\" and \"fanaticism\", places such statements in connection with Macedonski's personal ambition, \"pride\" and \"the willingness to carry out ventured actions [...], in stated opposition with the entire surrounding and with contempt for the foreseeable reaction.\"","Vianu, who notes Macedonski's \"exclusivity\" and \"fanaticism\", places such statements in connection with Macedonski's personal ambition, \"pride\" and \"the willingness to carry out ventured actions [...], in stated opposition with the entire surrounding and with contempt for the foreseeable reaction.\" Almost all periods of Macedonski's work reflect, in whole or in part, his public persona and the polemics he was involved in.","Almost all periods of Macedonski's work reflect, in whole or in part, his public persona and the polemics he was involved in. George Călinescu's emits a verdict on the relation between his lifetime notoriety and the public's actual awareness of his work: \"Macedonski [was] a poet well-known for being an unknown poet.\"","George Călinescu's emits a verdict on the relation between his lifetime notoriety and the public's actual awareness of his work: \"Macedonski [was] a poet well-known for being an unknown poet.\" According to literary critic Matei Călinescu, the innovative aspects of his impact on Romanian literature were not as much related to his \"literary ideology\", as much as to his \"contradictory spirit\" and \"essential nonconformism\".","According to literary critic Matei Călinescu, the innovative aspects of his impact on Romanian literature were not as much related to his \"literary ideology\", as much as to his \"contradictory spirit\" and \"essential nonconformism\". However, literary researcher Adrian Marino proposes that Macedonski was one of the first modern authors to illustrate the importance of \"dialectic unity\" through his views on art, in particular by having argued that poetry needed to be driven by \"an idea\".","However, literary researcher Adrian Marino proposes that Macedonski was one of the first modern authors to illustrate the importance of \"dialectic unity\" through his views on art, in particular by having argued that poetry needed to be driven by \"an idea\". Having theorized once, while questioning Junimist rigor, that \"the logic of poetry is absurdity itself [italics in the original]\", the poet also said: \"Poetry is the chaos of spirit and matter, of the cries of distress and mad laughter.","Having theorized once, while questioning Junimist rigor, that \"the logic of poetry is absurdity itself [italics in the original]\", the poet also said: \"Poetry is the chaos of spirit and matter, of the cries of distress and mad laughter. From the sublime to the trivial, that is what it should be.\" He later revised part of this verdict, and, making explicit his adoption of aestheticism, spoke against trivial subjects and in favor of the sublime.","He later revised part of this verdict, and, making explicit his adoption of aestheticism, spoke against trivial subjects and in favor of the sublime. While Macedonski also discarded the concept of \"social poetry\" not long after postulating it, its spirit, Tudor Vianu believes, can still be found in his later contributions. This, the critic notes, was owed to his \"social temperament\", whose \"fundamental experience is that of the social.\"","This, the critic notes, was owed to his \"social temperament\", whose \"fundamental experience is that of the social.\" Discussing this sociable and extrovert character, other critics see in the poet's life and work the imprint of \"quixotism\". Also according to Vianu, this contrasted with Macedonski's failures in communicating with the public, an experience which made him \"misanthropic\" and contributed to his ultimate vision of death as freedom.","Also according to Vianu, this contrasted with Macedonski's failures in communicating with the public, an experience which made him \"misanthropic\" and contributed to his ultimate vision of death as freedom. Literary historian Pompiliu Constantinescu concluded: \"Macedonski could not resign; his one martyrdom was for Art, as the sole liberation from a tormented life.\" Other commentators have defined the poet's perspective on life as a result of \"neurosis\".","Other commentators have defined the poet's perspective on life as a result of \"neurosis\". In Vianu's perspective, Macedonski's stance is dominated by a mixture of nostalgia, sensuality, lugubrious-grotesque imagery, and \"the lack of bashfulness for antisocial sentiments\" which compliments his sarcasm.","In Vianu's perspective, Macedonski's stance is dominated by a mixture of nostalgia, sensuality, lugubrious-grotesque imagery, and \"the lack of bashfulness for antisocial sentiments\" which compliments his sarcasm. In respect to the latter characteristic, Vianu notes \"no one in Romanian literature has laughed the same way as Macedonski\", whereas critic Ștefan Cazimir argues: \"[Macedonski was] lacking the sense of relativity in principles, and implicitly a sense of humor.\"","In respect to the latter characteristic, Vianu notes \"no one in Romanian literature has laughed the same way as Macedonski\", whereas critic Ștefan Cazimir argues: \"[Macedonski was] lacking the sense of relativity in principles, and implicitly a sense of humor.\" Cazimir adds: \"Only when he aged did [Macedonski] learn to smile\".","Cazimir adds: \"Only when he aged did [Macedonski] learn to smile\". George Călinescu himself believes Macedonski to have been \"fundamentally a spiritual man with lots of humor\", speculating that he was able to see the \"uselessness\" of his own scientific ventures. Critics note that, while Macedonski progressed from one stage to the other, his work fluctuated between artistic accomplishment and mediocrity.","Critics note that, while Macedonski progressed from one stage to the other, his work fluctuated between artistic accomplishment and mediocrity. Tudor Vianu believes \"failure in reaching originality\" and reliance on \"soppy-conventional attributes of the day\" to be especially evident wherever Macedonski tried to emulate epic poetry. He also notes that Macedonski's love-themed pieces \"cannot be listed among [his] most fortunate\". At his best, commentators note, he was one of the Romanian literature's classics.","At his best, commentators note, he was one of the Romanian literature's classics. Macedonski is thus perceived as the author second only to Eminescu, and as his ideal counterpart—a relation Vianu describes as \"the internal dualism [confronting] two familiar gods\". Various critics have compared Eminescu's poetic discourse with that of the Symbolist leader, concluding that the two poets often display very similar attitudes.","Various critics have compared Eminescu's poetic discourse with that of the Symbolist leader, concluding that the two poets often display very similar attitudes. Călinescu writes that, while Macedonski's work is largely inferior to that of his Junimist rival, it forms the best \"reply\" ever conceived within their common setting. Prima verba and other early works With Ion Catina, Vasile Păun and Grigore H. Grandea, young Macedonski belonged to late Romanian Romanticism, part of a Neoromantic generation which had for its mentors Heliade Rădulescu and Bolintineanu.","Prima verba and other early works With Ion Catina, Vasile Păun and Grigore H. Grandea, young Macedonski belonged to late Romanian Romanticism, part of a Neoromantic generation which had for its mentors Heliade Rădulescu and Bolintineanu. Other early influences were Pierre-Jean de Béranger and Gottfried August Bürger, together with Romanian folklore, motifs from them being adapted by Macedonski into pastorals and ballades of ca. 1870–1880.","1870–1880. 1870–1880. The imprint of Romanticism and such other sources was evident in Prima verba, which groups pieces that Macedonski authored in his early youth, the earliest of them being written when he was just twelve. Critics generally argue that the volume is without value. The poems display his rebellious attitude, self-victimization and strong reliance on autobiographical elements, centering on such episodes as the death of his father.","The poems display his rebellious attitude, self-victimization and strong reliance on autobiographical elements, centering on such episodes as the death of his father. In one piece inspired by the ideology of Heliade Rădulescu, Vianu notes, Macedonski sings \"the French Revolution's love for freedom and equality, otherwise proclaimed from his nobleman's perspective.\" It reads: In parallel, Macedonski used erotic themes, completing a series which, although written on the model of idylls, is noted for its brute details of sexual exploits.","It reads: In parallel, Macedonski used erotic themes, completing a series which, although written on the model of idylls, is noted for its brute details of sexual exploits. The poet probably acknowledged that posterity would reject them, and did not republish them in any of his collected poetry volumes. During his time at Oltul (1873–1875), Macedonski published a series of poems, most of which were not featured in definitive editions of his work.","During his time at Oltul (1873–1875), Macedonski published a series of poems, most of which were not featured in definitive editions of his work. In addition to odes written in the Italian-based version of Romanian, it includes lyrics which satirize Carol I without mentioning his name. Following his arrest, Macedonski also completed Celula mea de la Văcărești (\"My Cell in Văcărești\"), which shows his attempt to joke about the situation.","Following his arrest, Macedonski also completed Celula mea de la Văcărești (\"My Cell in Văcărești\"), which shows his attempt to joke about the situation. In contrast to this series, some of the pieces written during Macedonski's time in the Budjak and Northern Dobruja display a detachment from contemporary themes. At that stage, he was especially inspired by Lord Byron, whom Vianu calls \"the sovereign poet of [Macedonski's] youth.\"","At that stage, he was especially inspired by Lord Byron, whom Vianu calls \"the sovereign poet of [Macedonski's] youth.\" In Calul arabului, Macedonski explores exotic and Levantine settings, using symbols which announce George Coșbuc's El-Zorab, and the Venetian-themed Ithalo, which centers on episodes of betrayal and murder. Others were epic and patriotic in tone, with subjects such as Romanian victories in the Russo-Turkish War or the Imperial Roman sites along the Danube.","Others were epic and patriotic in tone, with subjects such as Romanian victories in the Russo-Turkish War or the Imperial Roman sites along the Danube. One of these pieces, titled Hinov after the village and stone quarry in Rasova, gives Macedonski a claim to being the first modern European poet to have used free verse, ahead of the French Symbolist Gustave Kahn.","One of these pieces, titled Hinov after the village and stone quarry in Rasova, gives Macedonski a claim to being the first modern European poet to have used free verse, ahead of the French Symbolist Gustave Kahn. Macedonski himself later voiced the claim, and referred to such a technique as \"symphonic verse\", \"proteic verse\", or, in honor of composer Richard Wagner, \"Wagnerian verse\". While editing Oltul, Macedonski also completed his first prose writings.","While editing Oltul, Macedonski also completed his first prose writings. These were the travel account Pompeia și Sorento (\"Pompeia and Sorento\", 1874) and a prison-themed story described by Vianu as \"a tearjerker\", titled Câinele din Văcărești (\"The Dog in Văcărești\", 1875). These were later complemented by other travel works, which critic Mihai Zamfir likens to the verbal experiments of Impressionist literature, pioneering in the Romanian prose poetry genre.","These were later complemented by other travel works, which critic Mihai Zamfir likens to the verbal experiments of Impressionist literature, pioneering in the Romanian prose poetry genre. The short comedy Gemenii was his debut work for the stage, but, according to Vianu, failed to show any merit other than a \"logical construction\" and a preview into Macedonski's use of sarcasm. These writings were followed in 1876 by a concise biography of Cârjaliul, an early 19th-century hajduk.","These writings were followed in 1876 by a concise biography of Cârjaliul, an early 19th-century hajduk. In line with his first Levant-themed poems, Macedonski authored the 1877 story Așa se fac banii (\"This Is How Money Is Made\", later retold in French as Comment on devient riche et puissant, \"How to Become Rich and Powerful\"), a fable of fatalism and the Muslim world—it dealt with two brothers, one hard-working and one indolent, the latter of whom earns his money through a series of serendipitous events.","In line with his first Levant-themed poems, Macedonski authored the 1877 story Așa se fac banii (\"This Is How Money Is Made\", later retold in French as Comment on devient riche et puissant, \"How to Become Rich and Powerful\"), a fable of fatalism and the Muslim world—it dealt with two brothers, one hard-working and one indolent, the latter of whom earns his money through a series of serendipitous events. Likewise, his verse comedy Iadeș!","Likewise, his verse comedy Iadeș! Likewise, his verse comedy Iadeș! borrowed its theme from the widely circulated collection of Persian literature known as Sindipa. The setting was however modern, and, as noted by French-born critic Frédéric Damé, the plot also borrowed much from Émile Augier's Gabrielle and from other morality plays of the period. Part of the text was an ironic treatment of youth in liberal professions, an attitude which Macedonski fitted in his emerging anti-bourgeois discourse.","Part of the text was an ironic treatment of youth in liberal professions, an attitude which Macedonski fitted in his emerging anti-bourgeois discourse. With the first poems in his Nights cycle, Macedonski still showed his allegiance to Romanticism, and in particular to Alphonse de Lamartine, and the supposed inventor of this theme, Alfred de Musset. Noaptea de noiembrie opens with a violent condemnation of his adversaries, and sees Macedonski depicting his own funeral.","Noaptea de noiembrie opens with a violent condemnation of his adversaries, and sees Macedonski depicting his own funeral. The poem is commended by Călinescu, who notes that, in contrast to the \"apparently trivial beginning\", the main part, where Macedonski depicts himself in flight over the Danube, brings the Romanian writer close to the accomplishments of Dante Aligheri. The writer himself claimed that the piece evidenced \"the uttermost breath of inspiration I have ever felt in my life.\"","The writer himself claimed that the piece evidenced \"the uttermost breath of inspiration I have ever felt in my life.\" Another poem, Noaptea de aprilie (\"April Night\"), was probably his testimony of unrequited love for Aristizza Romanescu. Realism and Naturalism By the 1880s, Macedonski developed and applied his \"social poetry\" theory, as branch of Realism.","Realism and Naturalism By the 1880s, Macedonski developed and applied his \"social poetry\" theory, as branch of Realism. Explained by the writer himself as a reaction against the legacy of Lamartine, it also signified his brief affiliation with the Naturalist current, a radical segment of the Realist movement. Traian Demetrescu thus noted that Macedonski cherished the works of French Naturalists and Realists such as Gustave Flaubert and Émile Zola.","Traian Demetrescu thus noted that Macedonski cherished the works of French Naturalists and Realists such as Gustave Flaubert and Émile Zola. During this phase, Macedonski made known his sympathy for the disinherited, from girls forced into prostitution to convicts sentenced to penal labor on salt mines, and also spoke out against the conventionalism of civil marriages. His Ocnele (\"The Salt Mines\") includes the verdict: Naturalist depiction was also the main element in his prose pieces of the early 1880s.","His Ocnele (\"The Salt Mines\") includes the verdict: Naturalist depiction was also the main element in his prose pieces of the early 1880s. Among them was the first of several sketch stories using still life techniques, Casa cu nr. 10 (according to Zamfir, a prime sample of Macedonski's \"ornamental\" genre). With Între cotețe, Dramă banală and later Cometa lui Odorescu (\"Odorescu's Comet\"), Macedonski speaks about his own biography.","With Între cotețe, Dramă banală and later Cometa lui Odorescu (\"Odorescu's Comet\"), Macedonski speaks about his own biography. The former has for a protagonist Pandele Vergea, a thirty-five-year-old man who is consumed by an avicultural obsession, who dreams of turning into a bird, and who is eventually maimed by his overcrowded fowls.","The former has for a protagonist Pandele Vergea, a thirty-five-year-old man who is consumed by an avicultural obsession, who dreams of turning into a bird, and who is eventually maimed by his overcrowded fowls. In contrast, Dereanu is a bohemian university student, possessed by dreams of military and political glory, and who meditates about his future in front of Heliade Rădulescu's statue or in Bucharest cafés. Also a bohemian, Odorescu announces his discovery of a comet, before being proved wrong by his aunt, an ordinary woman.","Also a bohemian, Odorescu announces his discovery of a comet, before being proved wrong by his aunt, an ordinary woman. Some pieces also double as memoirs: in Dramă banală, the plot revolves around Macedonski's recollection of the 1866 plebiscite. Vianu draws attention to the picturesque depiction of historic Bucharest, a contributing element in Cometa..., Casa cu nr. 10 and Între cotețe. With Unchiașul Sărăcie (also written in verse), Macedonski took Naturalist tenets into the field of drama.","With Unchiașul Sărăcie (also written in verse), Macedonski took Naturalist tenets into the field of drama. Frédéric Damé believed it an imitation of a play by Ernest d'Hervilly and Alfred Grévin, but, Vianu argues, the Romanian text was only loosely based on theirs: in Macedonski's adaptation, the theme became fairy tale-like, and used a speech style based on Romanian folklore.","Frédéric Damé believed it an imitation of a play by Ernest d'Hervilly and Alfred Grévin, but, Vianu argues, the Romanian text was only loosely based on theirs: in Macedonski's adaptation, the theme became fairy tale-like, and used a speech style based on Romanian folklore. Around the time of its completion, Macedonski was also working on a similarly loose adaptation of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, which notably had the two protagonists die in each other's arms.","Around the time of its completion, Macedonski was also working on a similarly loose adaptation of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, which notably had the two protagonists die in each other's arms. Another such play is 3 decemvrie (\"December 3\"), which partly retells Friedrich Ludwig Zacharias Werner's Der 24 Februar using Naturalist devices. By contrast, the homage-play Cuza-Vodă is mainly a Romantic piece, where Alexander John Cuza finds his political mission validated by legendary figures in Romanian history.","By contrast, the homage-play Cuza-Vodă is mainly a Romantic piece, where Alexander John Cuza finds his political mission validated by legendary figures in Romanian history. In parallel, Macedonski was using poetry to carry out his polemics. In an 1884 epigram, he reacted against Alecsandri's Fântâna Blanduziei, but, in Vianu's definition, \"his regular causticity seems to be restrained.\"","In an 1884 epigram, he reacted against Alecsandri's Fântâna Blanduziei, but, in Vianu's definition, \"his regular causticity seems to be restrained.\" The piece he had earlier written, presumably against Eminescu, scandalized the public by mocking the rival's mental ruin: According to Tudor Vianu, Macedonski was mostly motivated by his disappointment in Junimea, and in particular by Eminescu's response to his public persona.","The piece he had earlier written, presumably against Eminescu, scandalized the public by mocking the rival's mental ruin: According to Tudor Vianu, Macedonski was mostly motivated by his disappointment in Junimea, and in particular by Eminescu's response to his public persona. Vianu contends that, although Macedonski \"never was familiar with the resigned and patient attitudes\", he was \"by no means an evil man.\"","Vianu contends that, although Macedonski \"never was familiar with the resigned and patient attitudes\", he was \"by no means an evil man.\" On one occasion, the poet defended himself against criticism, noting that the epigram had not been specifically addressed to Eminescu, but had been labeled as such by the press, and claiming to have authored it years before its Literatorul edition. However, the later piece Viața de apoi (\"The Afterlife\") still displays resentments he harbored toward Eminescu.","However, the later piece Viața de apoi (\"The Afterlife\") still displays resentments he harbored toward Eminescu. By 1880–1884, particularly after the Eminescu scandal, Macedonski envisaged prioritizing French as his language of expression. According to Vianu, Macedonski had traversed \"the lowest point\" of his existence, and had been subject to \"one of the most delicate mysteries of poetic creation.\"","According to Vianu, Macedonski had traversed \"the lowest point\" of his existence, and had been subject to \"one of the most delicate mysteries of poetic creation.\" Among his pieces of the period is the French-language sonnet Pârle, il me dit alors (\"Speak, He Then Said to Me\"), where, Vianu notes, \"one discovers the state of mind of a poet who decides to expatriate himself.\"","Among his pieces of the period is the French-language sonnet Pârle, il me dit alors (\"Speak, He Then Said to Me\"), where, Vianu notes, \"one discovers the state of mind of a poet who decides to expatriate himself.\" Adoption of Symbolism According to Mihai Zamfir, at the end of his transition from the \"mimetic and egocentric\" verse to Symbolist poetry, Macedonski emerged a \"remarkable, often extraordinary\" author.","Adoption of Symbolism According to Mihai Zamfir, at the end of his transition from the \"mimetic and egocentric\" verse to Symbolist poetry, Macedonski emerged a \"remarkable, often extraordinary\" author. In the early 20th century, fellow poet and critic N. Davidescu described Macedonski, Ion Minulescu and other Symbolists from Wallachia as distinct from their Moldavian counterparts in both style and themes. Endorsing the theory and practice of Symbolism for much of his life, Macedonski retrospectively claimed to have been one of its first exponents.","Endorsing the theory and practice of Symbolism for much of his life, Macedonski retrospectively claimed to have been one of its first exponents. His version of Symbolism, critic Paul Cernat notes, clashed with that advocated by many of his contemporaries in that it rejected merit to the Decadent movement, and represented the \"decorative\" aestheticist trend of Paranassian spirit within the Romanian Symbolist current.","His version of Symbolism, critic Paul Cernat notes, clashed with that advocated by many of his contemporaries in that it rejected merit to the Decadent movement, and represented the \"decorative\" aestheticist trend of Paranassian spirit within the Romanian Symbolist current. Within Poezia viitorului, Macedonski invoked as his models to follow some important or secondary Symbolist and Parnassian figures: Charles Baudelaire, Joséphin Péladan, Maurice Maeterlinck, Stéphane Mallarmé and Jean Moréas.","Within Poezia viitorului, Macedonski invoked as his models to follow some important or secondary Symbolist and Parnassian figures: Charles Baudelaire, Joséphin Péladan, Maurice Maeterlinck, Stéphane Mallarmé and Jean Moréas. In his review of Bronzes for Mercure de France, Pierre Quillard remarked the \"irreproachable\" technique, but criticized the poet for being too indebted to both Baudelaire and Leconte de Lisle; other Symbolist figures whom Macedonski is known to have borrowed from are José María de Heredia and Iwan Gilkin.","In his review of Bronzes for Mercure de France, Pierre Quillard remarked the \"irreproachable\" technique, but criticized the poet for being too indebted to both Baudelaire and Leconte de Lisle; other Symbolist figures whom Macedonski is known to have borrowed from are José María de Heredia and Iwan Gilkin. While undergoing this transition, to what linguist Manuela-Delia Suciu argues is a mostly Parnassian phase, Macedonski was still referencing Naturalism, and considered it compatible with Symbolism.","While undergoing this transition, to what linguist Manuela-Delia Suciu argues is a mostly Parnassian phase, Macedonski was still referencing Naturalism, and considered it compatible with Symbolism. With the adoption of such tenets came a succession of Symbolist poems, where the focus is on minutely-observed objects, usually items of luxury, partly reflecting themes he had explored in the Naturalist stage. Commenting on them, Tudor Vianu argues that no such works had ever been produced in Romanian literature up until that moment.","Commenting on them, Tudor Vianu argues that no such works had ever been produced in Romanian literature up until that moment. In his Ospățul lui Pentaur (\"The Feast of Pentaur\"), the poet reflected on civilization itself, as reflected in inanimate opulence. The motif was also developed in descriptive prose fragments later grouped in Cartea de aur, collectively titled nuvele fără oameni (\"novellas without people\") and compared by Călinescu with the paintings of Theodor Aman.","The motif was also developed in descriptive prose fragments later grouped in Cartea de aur, collectively titled nuvele fără oameni (\"novellas without people\") and compared by Călinescu with the paintings of Theodor Aman. Also during that stage, Macedonski was exploring the numerous links between Symbolism, mysticism and esotericism. Earlier pieces had already come to explore macabre themes characteristic for an early branch of Symbolism.","Earlier pieces had already come to explore macabre themes characteristic for an early branch of Symbolism. Influenced by Maurice Rollinat, they include the somber Vaporul morții (\"The Ship of Death\") and Visul fatal (\"The Fatal Dream\").","Influenced by Maurice Rollinat, they include the somber Vaporul morții (\"The Ship of Death\") and Visul fatal (\"The Fatal Dream\"). Likewise, the piece titled Imnul lui Satan (\"Satan's Hymn\") was placed by critics in connection with Les Litanies de Satan (part of Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du mal), but, Vianu argues, the source of Macedonski's satanic themes may have been lodged in his own vision of the world.","Likewise, the piece titled Imnul lui Satan (\"Satan's Hymn\") was placed by critics in connection with Les Litanies de Satan (part of Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du mal), but, Vianu argues, the source of Macedonski's satanic themes may have been lodged in his own vision of the world. This interest also reflected in his 1893 Saul, where Cincinat Pavelescu's contribution is supposedly minimal.","This interest also reflected in his 1893 Saul, where Cincinat Pavelescu's contribution is supposedly minimal. Echoing satanic themes, Ernest Legouvé's dramatic version of the Medea myth (which Macedonski translated at some point in his life) and the classical work of Jean Racine, it shows the dark powers of political conflict intervening between the eponymous king and his ephebos-like protégé David, the latter of whom turns out to be the agent of spiritual revolution.","Echoing satanic themes, Ernest Legouvé's dramatic version of the Medea myth (which Macedonski translated at some point in his life) and the classical work of Jean Racine, it shows the dark powers of political conflict intervening between the eponymous king and his ephebos-like protégé David, the latter of whom turns out to be the agent of spiritual revolution. (\"August Night\"), outlines a monistic belief probably inspired by Rosicrucianism, stressing the unity between soul and matter and depicting Macedonski's own journey into a transcendental space.","(\"August Night\"), outlines a monistic belief probably inspired by Rosicrucianism, stressing the unity between soul and matter and depicting Macedonski's own journey into a transcendental space. Following the examples of Baudelaire's Les paradis artificiels, but also echoing his readings from Paul Verlaine and Théophile Gautier, Macedonski left poems dealing with narcotics and substance abuse, at least some of which reflected his personal experience with nicotine and possibly other unnamed drugs.","Following the examples of Baudelaire's Les paradis artificiels, but also echoing his readings from Paul Verlaine and Théophile Gautier, Macedonski left poems dealing with narcotics and substance abuse, at least some of which reflected his personal experience with nicotine and possibly other unnamed drugs. Also at that stage, Macedonski also began publishing the \"instrumentalist\" series of his Symbolist poems. This form of experimental poem was influenced by the theories of René Ghil and verified through his encounter with Remy de Gourmont's views.","This form of experimental poem was influenced by the theories of René Ghil and verified through his encounter with Remy de Gourmont's views. In parallel, it reaffirmed Macedonski's personal view that music and the spoken word were intimately related (a perspective notably attested by his 1906 interview with Jules Combarieu). Romanian critic Petre Răileanu theorized that such elements evidenced Macedonski's transition to \"metaliterature\". On a different level, they echoed an older influence, that of Gottfried August Bürger.","On a different level, they echoed an older influence, that of Gottfried August Bürger. Excelsior Despite having stated his interest in innovation, Macedonski generally displayed a more conventional style in his Excelsior volume. It included Noaptea de mai, which Vianu sees as \"one of the [vernacular's] most beautiful poems\" and as evidence of \"a clear joy, without any torment whatsoever\".","It included Noaptea de mai, which Vianu sees as \"one of the [vernacular's] most beautiful poems\" and as evidence of \"a clear joy, without any torment whatsoever\". A celebration of spring partly evoking folkloric themes, it was made famous by the recurring refrain, Veniți: privighetoarea cântă și liliacul e-nflorit (\"Come along: the nightingale is singing and the lilac is in blossom\").","A celebration of spring partly evoking folkloric themes, it was made famous by the recurring refrain, Veniți: privighetoarea cântă și liliacul e-nflorit (\"Come along: the nightingale is singing and the lilac is in blossom\"). Like Noaptea de mai, Lewki (named after and dedicated to the Snake Island), depicts intense joy, completed in this case by what Vianu calls \"the restorative touch of nature.\"","Like Noaptea de mai, Lewki (named after and dedicated to the Snake Island), depicts intense joy, completed in this case by what Vianu calls \"the restorative touch of nature.\" The series also returned to Levant settings and Islamic imagery, particularly in Acșam dovalar (named after the Turkish version of Witr).","The series also returned to Levant settings and Islamic imagery, particularly in Acșam dovalar (named after the Turkish version of Witr). Also noted within the volume is his short \"Modern Psalms\" series, including the piece Iertare (\"Forgiveness\"), which is addressed to God: Excelsior also included Noaptea de ianuarie (\"January Night\"), which encapsulates one of his best-known political statements. Anghelescu reads it as a \"meditation on disillusionment that culminates in a vitality-laden exhortation of action.\"","Anghelescu reads it as a \"meditation on disillusionment that culminates in a vitality-laden exhortation of action.\" Its anti-bourgeois attitude, literary historian Z. Ornea argues, was one of the meeting points between Macedonski and Junimism. In what is seen as its most acid section, the text notably reads: At the same time as being engaged in his most violent polemics, Macedonski produced meditative and serene poems, which were later judged to be among his best.","In what is seen as its most acid section, the text notably reads: At the same time as being engaged in his most violent polemics, Macedonski produced meditative and serene poems, which were later judged to be among his best. Noaptea de decemvrie is the synthesis of his main themes and influences, rated by commentators as his \"masterpiece\".","Noaptea de decemvrie is the synthesis of his main themes and influences, rated by commentators as his \"masterpiece\". Partly based on an earlier poem (Meka, named after the Arab city), it tells the story of an emir, who, left unsatisfied by the shallow and opulent life he leads in Baghdad, decides to leave on pilgrimage.","Partly based on an earlier poem (Meka, named after the Arab city), it tells the story of an emir, who, left unsatisfied by the shallow and opulent life he leads in Baghdad, decides to leave on pilgrimage. While critics agree that it is to be read as an allegory of Macedonski's biography, the ironic text does not make it clear whether the emir actually reaches his target, nor if the central metaphor of Mecca as a mirage means that the goal is not worth sacrificing for.","While critics agree that it is to be read as an allegory of Macedonski's biography, the ironic text does not make it clear whether the emir actually reaches his target, nor if the central metaphor of Mecca as a mirage means that the goal is not worth sacrificing for. While Mircea Anghelescu comments that Macedonski illustrates \"unusual tension\" by rigorously amplifying references to the color red, seen as a symbol of suffering, Călinescu notes that the sequence of lyrics has a studied \"delirious\" element, and illustrates this with the quote: Late prose works In prose, his focus shifted back to the purely descriptive, or led Alexandru Macedonski into the realm of fantasy literature.","While Mircea Anghelescu comments that Macedonski illustrates \"unusual tension\" by rigorously amplifying references to the color red, seen as a symbol of suffering, Călinescu notes that the sequence of lyrics has a studied \"delirious\" element, and illustrates this with the quote: Late prose works In prose, his focus shifted back to the purely descriptive, or led Alexandru Macedonski into the realm of fantasy literature. These stories, most of which were eventually collected in Cartea de aur, include memoirs of his childhood in the Amaradia region, nostalgic portrayals of the Oltenian boyar environment, idealized depictions of Cuza's reign, as well as a retrospective view on the end of Rom slavery (found in his piece Verigă țiganul, \"Verigă the Gypsy\").","These stories, most of which were eventually collected in Cartea de aur, include memoirs of his childhood in the Amaradia region, nostalgic portrayals of the Oltenian boyar environment, idealized depictions of Cuza's reign, as well as a retrospective view on the end of Rom slavery (found in his piece Verigă țiganul, \"Verigă the Gypsy\"). The best known among them is Pe drum de poștă, a third-person narrative and thinly disguised memoir, where the characters are an adolescent Alexandru Macedonski and his father, General Macedonski.","The best known among them is Pe drum de poștă, a third-person narrative and thinly disguised memoir, where the characters are an adolescent Alexandru Macedonski and his father, General Macedonski. The idyllic outlook present in such stories is one of the common meeting points between his version of Symbolism and traditionalist authors such as Barbu Ștefănescu Delavrancea.","The idyllic outlook present in such stories is one of the common meeting points between his version of Symbolism and traditionalist authors such as Barbu Ștefănescu Delavrancea. Vianu indicates the connection, but adds: \"Macedonski descended, through memory, in the world of the village, with the tremor of regret for the peace and plenty of the old settlements, so well polished that each person, landowner as well as peasant, lived within a framework that nature itself seemed to have granted.","Vianu indicates the connection, but adds: \"Macedonski descended, through memory, in the world of the village, with the tremor of regret for the peace and plenty of the old settlements, so well polished that each person, landowner as well as peasant, lived within a framework that nature itself seemed to have granted. [...] in depicting rural environments, Macedonski presents the point of view of a conservative.\"","[...] in depicting rural environments, Macedonski presents the point of view of a conservative.\" Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu, a fantasy novel and extended prose poem, was celebrated by Macedonski's disciple Oreste Georgescu as \"the new religion of humanity\". The volume carried the mocking dedication \"To France, this Chaldea\" (thought by Vianu to reference Péladan's views on the decay of civilization).","The volume carried the mocking dedication \"To France, this Chaldea\" (thought by Vianu to reference Péladan's views on the decay of civilization). It has affinities with writings by the Italian Decadent author Gabriele d'Annunzio, as well as echoes from Anatole France. The hero Thalassa, a Greek boy, works as a lighthouse-keeper on Snake Island, fantasizing about the golden age of mankind. His fate is changed by a shipwreck, during which a girl, Caliope, reaches the island's shore.","His fate is changed by a shipwreck, during which a girl, Caliope, reaches the island's shore. Thalassa and Caliope fall in love, but are mysteriously unable to seal their union through sexual intercourse: the boy attributes this failure to the \"curse\" of human individuality. Seeking to achieve a perfect union with his lover, he eventually kills her and drowns himself in the Black Sea.","Seeking to achieve a perfect union with his lover, he eventually kills her and drowns himself in the Black Sea. In her review for Mercure de France, novelist Rachilde argued: \"Very difficult to read, entirely developed in Symbolist manner [and] almost impossible to recount, obviously written in French but nevertheless obviously conceived by a Romanian (and what a spirited Romanian!).\" Rachilde believed the work to display \"the fragrance of Oriental spices [...] rose marmalade and a slice of bear meat.\"","Rachilde believed the work to display \"the fragrance of Oriental spices [...] rose marmalade and a slice of bear meat.\" According to Vianu, the book builds on Macedonski's earlier themes, replacing Naturalist observation with a metaphysical speculation about idealism. One other aspect of Macedonski's stylistic exploration took him to attempt recording synesthesia. His manuscript is written in ink of several colors, which, he believed, was to help readers get a full sense of its meaning.","His manuscript is written in ink of several colors, which, he believed, was to help readers get a full sense of its meaning. Like other synesthetic aspects of his novel, this is believed to have been inspired by the techniques of Baudelaire and Arthur Rimbaud. Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu is noted for its numerous cultural references, and especially for using a wide range of metaphors. Such aspects have been reviewed negatively by modern critics.","Such aspects have been reviewed negatively by modern critics. Such aspects have been reviewed negatively by modern critics. Tudor Vianu writes: \"the poet makes such waste of gemstones that we feel like saying some of them must be false\", while Călinescu, who notes that some fragments reveal \"an incomparable artist\" and \"a professional metaphorist\", notes that \"in the end, such virtuosities become a bore.\"","Tudor Vianu writes: \"the poet makes such waste of gemstones that we feel like saying some of them must be false\", while Călinescu, who notes that some fragments reveal \"an incomparable artist\" and \"a professional metaphorist\", notes that \"in the end, such virtuosities become a bore.\" According to Manuela-Delia Suciu, Thalassa is \"prolix\" and \"too polished\", traits believed by Zamfir to be less irritating in the Romanian version.","According to Manuela-Delia Suciu, Thalassa is \"prolix\" and \"too polished\", traits believed by Zamfir to be less irritating in the Romanian version. Critic Cornel Moraru found that, in the background, Thalassa, a \"great Symbolist novel\", confronts Ancient Greek and Christian mythology, but \"abuses\" the religious vocabulary. Another part of the novel's imagery is erotic, and includes an elaborate and aestheticized description of male genitalia. The four-act tragicomedy Le Fou?","The four-act tragicomedy Le Fou? The four-act tragicomedy Le Fou? is seen by Vianu as comparable in subject matter and depth to Enrico IV, a celebrated 1922 play by Luigi Pirandello. The plot reflects Macedonski's confrontation with his critics, and his acceptance of the fact that people saw in him an eccentric. The central figure is a banker, Dorval, who identifies himself with Napoleon Bonaparte to the point where he sees episodes in his biography as mirrors of early 19th-century battles.","The central figure is a banker, Dorval, who identifies himself with Napoleon Bonaparte to the point where he sees episodes in his biography as mirrors of early 19th-century battles. Unlike patients with dissociative identity disorder, Dorval does not actually imagine his life has become Napoleon's, but rather joins with him on an intellectual level. Witnesses of this disorder are divided into family, who seek to have Dorval committed, and close friends, who come to see his take on life as a manifestation of genius.","Witnesses of this disorder are divided into family, who seek to have Dorval committed, and close friends, who come to see his take on life as a manifestation of genius. The spectator is led to believe that the latter interpretation is the correct one. At a larger level, Vianu indicates, the play is also Macedonski's critique of capitalism, and, using Parisian argot, makes allusive references to famous people of the day.","At a larger level, Vianu indicates, the play is also Macedonski's critique of capitalism, and, using Parisian argot, makes allusive references to famous people of the day. Particularly during the 1890s, Macedonski was a follower of Edgar Allan Poe and of Gothic fiction in general, producing a Romanian version of Poe's Metzengerstein story, urging his own disciples to translate other such pieces, and adopting \"Gothic\" themes in his original prose.","Particularly during the 1890s, Macedonski was a follower of Edgar Allan Poe and of Gothic fiction in general, producing a Romanian version of Poe's Metzengerstein story, urging his own disciples to translate other such pieces, and adopting \"Gothic\" themes in his original prose. Indebted to Jules Verne and H. G. Wells, Macedonski also wrote a number of science fiction stories, including the 1913 Oceania-Pacific-Dreadnought, which depicts civilization on the verge of a crisis.","Indebted to Jules Verne and H. G. Wells, Macedonski also wrote a number of science fiction stories, including the 1913 Oceania-Pacific-Dreadnought, which depicts civilization on the verge of a crisis. The gigantic commercial ship is maintained by a banker's union, and designed to grant travelers access to every pleasure imaginable; this causes the working-class inhabited cities on the continent to fall into a state of neglect and permanent violence, the climax of the story occurring with the bankers' decision to destroy their creation.","The gigantic commercial ship is maintained by a banker's union, and designed to grant travelers access to every pleasure imaginable; this causes the working-class inhabited cities on the continent to fall into a state of neglect and permanent violence, the climax of the story occurring with the bankers' decision to destroy their creation. Oceania-Pacific-Dreadnought is noted for anticipating television, the ship being equipped with electrically-operated \"large and clear mirrors\" that display \"images from various parts of the Earth\".","Oceania-Pacific-Dreadnought is noted for anticipating television, the ship being equipped with electrically-operated \"large and clear mirrors\" that display \"images from various parts of the Earth\". Macedonski was by then interested in the development of cinema, and authored a silent film screenplay based on Comment on devient riche et puissant. Final transition Late in his life, Macedonski had come to reject Symbolist tenets, defining them as \"imbecilities\" designed for \"the uncultured\".","Final transition Late in his life, Macedonski had come to reject Symbolist tenets, defining them as \"imbecilities\" designed for \"the uncultured\". Ultima verba, the very last poems to be written by him, show him coming to terms with himself, and are treasured for their serene or intensely joyous vision of life and human accomplishment. The rondels written at this stage, known collectively as Poema rondelurilor, are one of the first instances where the technique is used locally.","The rondels written at this stage, known collectively as Poema rondelurilor, are one of the first instances where the technique is used locally. Like those written previously by Literatoruls Pavelescu and Alexandru Obedenaru, they are based on an earlier motif present in Macedonski's work, that of recurring refrains. Many of the pieces document the poet's final discoveries.","Many of the pieces document the poet's final discoveries. One of them is Rondelul crinilor (\"The Rondel of the Lilies\"), which proclaims fragrances as the source of beatitude: În crini e beția cea rară, \"In lilies one finds that exceptional drunkenness\".","One of them is Rondelul crinilor (\"The Rondel of the Lilies\"), which proclaims fragrances as the source of beatitude: În crini e beția cea rară, \"In lilies one finds that exceptional drunkenness\". According to Ștefan Cazimir, Rondelul orașului mic (\"The Rondel of the Small Town\") shows a \"likable wave of irony and self-irony\", and the poet himself coming to terms with \"the existence of a world who ignores him.\"","According to Ștefan Cazimir, Rondelul orașului mic (\"The Rondel of the Small Town\") shows a \"likable wave of irony and self-irony\", and the poet himself coming to terms with \"the existence of a world who ignores him.\" Proof of his combativeness was still to be found in Rondelul contimporanilor (\"The Rondel of the Contemporaries\"). The poet's take on life is also outlined in his final play, Moartea lui Dante.","The poet's take on life is also outlined in his final play, Moartea lui Dante. Călinescu writes that, by then, Macedonski was \"obsessed\" with the Divine Comedy. Macedonski identifies with his hero, Dante Aligheri, and formulates his own poetic testament while identifying World War I Romania with the medieval Republic of Florence. Tudor Vianu remarks: \"In Dante's great self-pride, Macedonski found his own.\"","Tudor Vianu remarks: \"In Dante's great self-pride, Macedonski found his own.\" He sees the play as the best such work to have been produced by Macedonski, whereas Călinescu deems it \"puerile\". Zamfir believes Moartea... to be a significant text in Macedonski's bibliography, \"one of the first samples of Romanian Symbolist theater\", and as such indebted mainly to Maeterlinck.","Zamfir believes Moartea... to be a significant text in Macedonski's bibliography, \"one of the first samples of Romanian Symbolist theater\", and as such indebted mainly to Maeterlinck. Vianu argues that the play may document the Romanian writer's late rejection of France, through the protagonist's statement: \"the French are a gentle people, but their soul is different from mine.\" A number of rondels show Macedonski's late fascination with the Far East, China and Japan.","A number of rondels show Macedonski's late fascination with the Far East, China and Japan. George Călinescu believes that this is to be understood as one item in a large antithesis, the other being Decadent Paris, which one rondel describes as \"hell\". The Orient, viewed as the space of serenity, is believed by Macedonski to be peopled by toy-like women and absent opium-smokers, and to be kept orderly by a stable meritocracy.","The Orient, viewed as the space of serenity, is believed by Macedonski to be peopled by toy-like women and absent opium-smokers, and to be kept orderly by a stable meritocracy. The Chinese-themed poem Tsing-Ly-Tsi, which Cazimir notes for its discreet, \"almost imperceptible\", humor, reads: Legacy Macedonski's school and its early impact Alexandru Macedonski repeatedly expressed the thought that, unlike his contemporaries, posterity would judge him a great poet.","The Chinese-themed poem Tsing-Ly-Tsi, which Cazimir notes for its discreet, \"almost imperceptible\", humor, reads: Legacy Macedonski's school and its early impact Alexandru Macedonski repeatedly expressed the thought that, unlike his contemporaries, posterity would judge him a great poet. With the exception of Mihail Dragomirescu, conservative literary critics tended to ignore Macedonski while he was alive.","With the exception of Mihail Dragomirescu, conservative literary critics tended to ignore Macedonski while he was alive. The first such figure was Junimeas Titu Maiorescu, who believed him to be a minor author, referring to him only a couple of times in his books and usually ridiculing him in his articles. One of these texts, the 1886 essay Poeți și critici (\"Poets and Critics\"), spoke of Macedonski as having \"vitiated\" poetry, a notion he also applied to Constantin D. Aricescu and Aron Densușianu.","One of these texts, the 1886 essay Poeți și critici (\"Poets and Critics\"), spoke of Macedonski as having \"vitiated\" poetry, a notion he also applied to Constantin D. Aricescu and Aron Densușianu. Especially radical pronouncements were left by the traditionalist authors Ilarie Chendi and Nicolae Iorga. Chendi wrote of Macedonski being \"the caricature of a man\", having \"a feverish mind\" and being motivated by \"the brutal instinct of revenge\".","Chendi wrote of Macedonski being \"the caricature of a man\", having \"a feverish mind\" and being motivated by \"the brutal instinct of revenge\". Iorga, who became better known as a historian, later retracted some of the statements he had made against the poet during the 1890s. Among the younger prominent traditionalist writers was the Transylvanian-born Lucian Blaga, who may have purposefully avoided Macedonski during his first visit to Bucharest in 1920.","Among the younger prominent traditionalist writers was the Transylvanian-born Lucian Blaga, who may have purposefully avoided Macedonski during his first visit to Bucharest in 1920. Although more sympathetic to the Symbolist author, both Dragomirescu and Gheorghe Adamescu tended to describe him as exclusively the product of French and Decadent literature, while Dragomirescu's disciple Ion Trivale denied all merit to Macedonski's literature.","Although more sympathetic to the Symbolist author, both Dragomirescu and Gheorghe Adamescu tended to describe him as exclusively the product of French and Decadent literature, while Dragomirescu's disciple Ion Trivale denied all merit to Macedonski's literature. According to Tudor Vianu, Macedonski's intellectual friends (among them Anghel Demetriescu, George Ionescu-Gion, Bonifaciu Florescu, Grigore Tocilescu and V. A. Urechia) were largely responsible for passing down \"a better and truer image of the abused poet.\"","According to Tudor Vianu, Macedonski's intellectual friends (among them Anghel Demetriescu, George Ionescu-Gion, Bonifaciu Florescu, Grigore Tocilescu and V. A. Urechia) were largely responsible for passing down \"a better and truer image of the abused poet.\" It was also due to Dragomirescu that Noaptea de decemvrie was included in a literature textbook for final grade high school students, which some argue is the poet's first-ever presence in the Romanian curriculum.","It was also due to Dragomirescu that Noaptea de decemvrie was included in a literature textbook for final grade high school students, which some argue is the poet's first-ever presence in the Romanian curriculum. According to historian Lucian Nastasă, the poet's wife Ana Rallet behaved like an \"excellent secretary\" while Macedonski was still alive, and thereafter helped sort and edit his manuscript while maintaining \"an actual cult\" for her husband.","According to historian Lucian Nastasă, the poet's wife Ana Rallet behaved like an \"excellent secretary\" while Macedonski was still alive, and thereafter helped sort and edit his manuscript while maintaining \"an actual cult\" for her husband. Macedonski's cosmopolitan circle was the center of a literary alternative to the prevailing conservatism and Eminescu-like traditionalism of the day, the latter tendency being grouped around Sămănătorul magazine for part of Macedonski's lifetime.","Macedonski's cosmopolitan circle was the center of a literary alternative to the prevailing conservatism and Eminescu-like traditionalism of the day, the latter tendency being grouped around Sămănătorul magazine for part of Macedonski's lifetime. While Macedonski himself maintained his links with Romanticism and Classicism, commentators have retrospectively recognized in him the main person who announced Romania's first wave in modernist literature. Many first-generation disciples were to part with his guidelines early on, either by radicalizing their Symbolism or by stepping out of its confines.","Many first-generation disciples were to part with his guidelines early on, either by radicalizing their Symbolism or by stepping out of its confines. Traian Demetrescu was one of the first to do so, focusing on his commitment to socialism—Vianu notes that the split took place \"without coldness and the heart's versatility\" on Macedonski's part. Literary researcher Lidia Bote argues that it was Petică who first illustrated mature Symbolism, emancipating himself from Macedonski's eclectic tendencies after 1902.","Literary researcher Lidia Bote argues that it was Petică who first illustrated mature Symbolism, emancipating himself from Macedonski's eclectic tendencies after 1902. By that time, the Symbolist authors Dimitrie Anghel and N. D. Cocea used Macedonski's fantasy prose as an inspiration for their own, and N. Davidescu was borrowing from his mystical discourse. The pictorial and joyous elements in Macedonski's poems were also serving to inspire Stamatiad, Eugeniu Ștefănescu-Est and Horia Furtună.","The pictorial and joyous elements in Macedonski's poems were also serving to inspire Stamatiad, Eugeniu Ștefănescu-Est and Horia Furtună. In the early stages of his career, Ion Pillat wrote pieces which echo his master's choice of exotic themes. A more discreet legacy of Macedonski's ideas was also preserved inside the conservative and traditionalist camps. Although his separation from Literatorul was drastic, and led him to rally with Junimea, Duiliu Zamfirescu built on some elements borrowed from the magazine's ideology, incorporating them into his literary vision.","Although his separation from Literatorul was drastic, and led him to rally with Junimea, Duiliu Zamfirescu built on some elements borrowed from the magazine's ideology, incorporating them into his literary vision. Many of Macedonski's most devoted disciples, whom he himself had encouraged, have been rated by various critics as secondary or mediocre.","Many of Macedonski's most devoted disciples, whom he himself had encouraged, have been rated by various critics as secondary or mediocre. This is the case of Theodor Cornel (who made his name as an art critic), Mircea Demetriade, Oreste Georgescu, Alexandru Obedenaru, Stoenescu, Stamatiad, Carol Scrob, Dumitru Karnabatt and Donar Munteanu. Another such minor author was the self-styled \"hermeticist\" Alexandru Petroff, who expanded on Macedonski's ideas about esoteric knowledge.","Another such minor author was the self-styled \"hermeticist\" Alexandru Petroff, who expanded on Macedonski's ideas about esoteric knowledge. Macedonski's eldest son Alexis continued to pursue a career as a painter. His son Soare followed in his footsteps, receiving acclaim from art critics of the period. Soare's short career ended in 1928, before he turned nineteen, but his works have been featured in several retrospective exhibitions, including one organized by Alexis.","Soare's short career ended in 1928, before he turned nineteen, but his works have been featured in several retrospective exhibitions, including one organized by Alexis. Alexis later experimented with scenic design as an assistant to French filmmaker René Clair; his later life, shrouded in mystery and intrigue, led him to a career in Fascist Italy and Francoist Spain. Another of Alexandru Macedonski's sons, Nikita, was also a poet and painter. For a while in the 1920s, he edited the literary supplement of Universul newspaper.","For a while in the 1920s, he edited the literary supplement of Universul newspaper. Two years after her father's death, Anna Macedonski married poet Mihail Celarianu. In addition to his polemical portrayals in works by Alecsandri, Eminescu and Caragiale, Macedonski's career was an inspiration for various authors. His image acquired mythical proportions for his followers. Like Demetrescu, many of them left memoirs on Macedonski which were published before or after his death.","Like Demetrescu, many of them left memoirs on Macedonski which were published before or after his death. His admirers were writing poetry about him as early as 1874, and, in 1892, Cincinat Pavelescu published a rhapsodizing portrait of Macedonski as \"the Artist\". Pavelescu, Dragoslav and Petică paid homage to the writer by leaving recollections which describe him as a devoted and considerate friend. In contrast, traditionalist poet Alexandru Vlahuță authored an 1889 sketch story in which Macedonski (referred to as Polidor) is the object of derision.","In contrast, traditionalist poet Alexandru Vlahuță authored an 1889 sketch story in which Macedonski (referred to as Polidor) is the object of derision. Late recognition Actual recognition of the poet as a classic came only in the interwar period. A final volume of never before published poems, Poema rondelurilor, saw print in 1927. Macedonski's work was analyzed and popularized by a new generation of critics, among them Vianu and George Călinescu.","Macedonski's work was analyzed and popularized by a new generation of critics, among them Vianu and George Călinescu. The post-Junimist modernist critic Eugen Lovinescu also commented favorably on Macedonski's work, but overall, Călinescu asserts, his opinions on the subject gave little insight into what he actually thought about the poet. He also recounts that Macedonski himself treated Lovinescu with disdain, and once called him \"a canary\". The emerging avant-garde, although originating from Symbolism, progressively took its distance from Literatoruls legacy.","The emerging avant-garde, although originating from Symbolism, progressively took its distance from Literatoruls legacy. Initially, Macedonski's contribution to experimental literature was continued within formal Symbolism by his disciples Demetriade, Iuliu Cezar Săvescu and Ion Minulescu. The latter was particularly indebted to Macedonski in matters of vision and language. In 1904, Tudor Arghezi also left behind the Literatorul circle and its tenets, eventually arriving to the fusion of modernist, traditionalist and avant-garde elements. However, he remained indebted to Macedonski's example in his descriptive prose.","However, he remained indebted to Macedonski's example in his descriptive prose. The 1912 Simbolul magazine, which moved between conventional Symbolism and the emerging avant-garde, also published an Imagist-inspired parody of Noaptea de mai, signed by Adrian Maniu. A co-founder of Dadaism during the late 1910s, Tristan Tzara is believed by Swedish researcher Tom Sandqvist to have been inspired more or less directly by Macedonski, and in particular by the latter's thoughts on the relation between absurdity and poetry.","A co-founder of Dadaism during the late 1910s, Tristan Tzara is believed by Swedish researcher Tom Sandqvist to have been inspired more or less directly by Macedonski, and in particular by the latter's thoughts on the relation between absurdity and poetry. In his debut poems, Benjamin Fondane-Barbu Fundoianu occasionally followed Macedonski, but, by 1920, stated that the Symbolist doyen merely imitated French models to the point of \"parasitism\". Several avant-garde authors returned to Macedonski's literary guidelines by the late 1920s, as they themselves grew more moderate.","Several avant-garde authors returned to Macedonski's literary guidelines by the late 1920s, as they themselves grew more moderate. This was the case of Maniu and Ion Vinea, both of whom published prose works in the line of Thalassa. The same work is also believed to have influenced two non-avant-garde authors, Davidescu and Mateiu Caragiale, who remained close to the tenets Symbolism.","The same work is also believed to have influenced two non-avant-garde authors, Davidescu and Mateiu Caragiale, who remained close to the tenets Symbolism. Mateiu was the illegitimate son of Ion Luca Caragiale, but, Vianu notes, could withstand comparisons with his father's rival: the eccentricities were complementary, although Mateiu Caragiale shied away from public affairs.","Mateiu was the illegitimate son of Ion Luca Caragiale, but, Vianu notes, could withstand comparisons with his father's rival: the eccentricities were complementary, although Mateiu Caragiale shied away from public affairs. In the same post-Symbolist generation, Celarianu (Macedonski's posthumous son-in-law), George Bacovia and Păstorel Teodoreanu also built on Macedonski's legacy, being later joined in this by the Bessarabian linguist Eugenio Coșeriu (who, in his early poetic career, imitated Macedonski's rondel style).","In the same post-Symbolist generation, Celarianu (Macedonski's posthumous son-in-law), George Bacovia and Păstorel Teodoreanu also built on Macedonski's legacy, being later joined in this by the Bessarabian linguist Eugenio Coșeriu (who, in his early poetic career, imitated Macedonski's rondel style). In the late 1920s, when their form of modern psalms inspired Albanian-Romanian poet Aleksander Stavre Drenova, Macedonski and Arghezi both made an indirect impact on Albanian literature.","In the late 1920s, when their form of modern psalms inspired Albanian-Romanian poet Aleksander Stavre Drenova, Macedonski and Arghezi both made an indirect impact on Albanian literature. Macedonski's status as one of Romanian literature's greats was consolidated later in the 20th century. By this time, Noaptea de decemvrie had become one of the most recognizable literary works to be taught in Romanian schools.","By this time, Noaptea de decemvrie had become one of the most recognizable literary works to be taught in Romanian schools. During the first years of Communist Romania, the Socialist Realist current condemned Symbolism (see Censorship in Communist Romania), but spoke favorably of Macedonski's critique of the bourgeoisie. A while after this episode, Marin Sorescu, one of the best-known modernist poets of his generation, wrote a homage-parody of the Nights cycle.","A while after this episode, Marin Sorescu, one of the best-known modernist poets of his generation, wrote a homage-parody of the Nights cycle. Included in the volume Singur între poeți (\"Alone among Poets\"), it is seen by critic Mircea Scarlat as Sorescu's most representative such pieces. Also then, Noaptea de decemvrie partly inspired Ștefan Augustin Doinaș' ballad Mistrețul cu colți de argint.","Also then, Noaptea de decemvrie partly inspired Ștefan Augustin Doinaș' ballad Mistrețul cu colți de argint. In the 1990s, Ștefan Agopian took the Nights cycle as inspiration for an erotic short story, while Pavel Șușară adapted his rondels to a modernized setting. Macedonski's prose also influenced younger writers such as Angelo Mitchievici and Anca Maria Mosora. In neighboring Moldova, Macedonski influenced the Neosymbolism of Aureliu Busuioc.","In neighboring Moldova, Macedonski influenced the Neosymbolism of Aureliu Busuioc. A magazine by the name of Literatorul, which claims to represent the legacy of Macedonski's publication, was founded in Romania in 1991, being edited by writers Sorescu, Fănuș Neagu and Mircea Micu. In 2006, the Romanian Academy granted posthumous membership to Alexandru Macedonski. Macedonski's poems had a sizable impact on Romania's popular culture.","Macedonski's poems had a sizable impact on Romania's popular culture. During communism, Noaptea de mai was the basis for a successful musical adaptation, composed by Marian Nistor and sung by Mirabela Dauer. Tudor Gheorghe, a singer-songwriter inspired by American folk revival, also used some of Macedonski's texts as lyrics to his melodies. In the 2000s, the refrain of Noaptea de mai was mixed into a manea parody by Adrian Copilul Minune.","In the 2000s, the refrain of Noaptea de mai was mixed into a manea parody by Adrian Copilul Minune. Portrayals, visual tributes and landmarks Although his poetic theories were largely without echoes in Romanian art, Macedonski captured the interest of several modern artists, including, early on, cartoonist Nicolae Petrescu Găină. Alongside other writers who visited Terasa Oteteleșanu, Macedonski was notably portrayed the drawings of celebrated Romanian artist Iosif Iser. He is also depicted in a 1918 lithograph by Jean Alexandru Steriadi, purportedly Steriadi's only Symbolist work.","He is also depicted in a 1918 lithograph by Jean Alexandru Steriadi, purportedly Steriadi's only Symbolist work. Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu inspired a series of reliefs, designed by Alexis Macedonski and hosted in his father's house in Dorobanți. During the 1910s, busts of him were completed by two sculptors, Alexandru Severin and Friedrich Storck, one of Storck's variants being hosted by the Ioan Cantacuzino collection.","During the 1910s, busts of him were completed by two sculptors, Alexandru Severin and Friedrich Storck, one of Storck's variants being hosted by the Ioan Cantacuzino collection. In 1919, Theodor Burcă was also inspired to complete another bust, and, during World War II, was commissioned by Mayor of Bucharest Ioan Rășcanu to build a Macedonski Monument in the Grădina Icoanei park, but this was never completed.","In 1919, Theodor Burcă was also inspired to complete another bust, and, during World War II, was commissioned by Mayor of Bucharest Ioan Rășcanu to build a Macedonski Monument in the Grădina Icoanei park, but this was never completed. Constantin Piliuță, a painter active in the second half of the 20th century, made Macedonski the subject of a portrait in series dedicated to Romanian cultural figures (also depicted were Nicolae Iorga, Ștefan Luchian and Vianu).","Constantin Piliuță, a painter active in the second half of the 20th century, made Macedonski the subject of a portrait in series dedicated to Romanian cultural figures (also depicted were Nicolae Iorga, Ștefan Luchian and Vianu). In 1975, a bust of Macedonski, the work of Constantin Foamete, was unveiled in Craiova. Of Macedonski's numerous residences, the one in Dorobanți was demolished when the Academy of Economic Studies (ASE) was expanded. A commemorative plaque was later put up near the spot.","A commemorative plaque was later put up near the spot. Macedonski's childhood home in Goiești passed into state property under communism, and was in turn a school, a community home and a Macedonski Museum, before falling into neglect after the Romanian Revolution of 1989. Several streets named in honor of Alexandru Macedonski, notably in Bucharest (by the ASE), Craiova, Cluj-Napoca and Timișoara.","Several streets named in honor of Alexandru Macedonski, notably in Bucharest (by the ASE), Craiova, Cluj-Napoca and Timișoara. Works published anthumously Prima verba (poetry, 1872) Ithalo (poem, 1878) Poezii (poetry, 1881/1882) Parizina (translation of Parisina, 1882) Iadeș!","Works published anthumously Prima verba (poetry, 1872) Ithalo (poem, 1878) Poezii (poetry, 1881/1882) Parizina (translation of Parisina, 1882) Iadeș! (comedy, 1882) Dramă banală (short story, 1887) Saul (with Cincinat Pavelescu; tragedy, 1893) Excelsior (poetry, 1895) Bronzes (poetry, 1897) (essay, 1898) Cartea de aur (prose, 1902) Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu (novel, 1906; 1914) Flori sacre (poetry, 1912) Zaherlina (essay, 1920) Notes References Mircea Anghelescu, chronological table, preface and critical references, in Macedonski, Poemele \"Nopților\", Editura Albatros, Bucharest, 1972, p. 7-31, 137–140.","(comedy, 1882) Dramă banală (short story, 1887) Saul (with Cincinat Pavelescu; tragedy, 1893) Excelsior (poetry, 1895) Bronzes (poetry, 1897) (essay, 1898) Cartea de aur (prose, 1902) Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu (novel, 1906; 1914) Flori sacre (poetry, 1912) Zaherlina (essay, 1920) Notes References Mircea Anghelescu, chronological table, preface and critical references, in Macedonski, Poemele \"Nopților\", Editura Albatros, Bucharest, 1972, p. 7-31, 137–140. Nicolae Balotă, Arte poetice ale secolului XX: ipostaze românești și străine, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1976.","Nicolae Balotă, Arte poetice ale secolului XX: ipostaze românești și străine, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1976. Lucian Boia, \"Germanofilii\". Elita intelectuală românească în anii Primului Război Mondial, Humanitas, Bucharest, 2010. George Călinescu, Istoria literaturii române de la origini pînă în prezent, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1986 Paul Cernat, Avangarda românească și complexul periferiei: primul val, Cartea Românească, Bucharest, 2007. Șerban Cioculescu, Caragialiana, Editura Eminescu, Bucharest, 1974.","Șerban Cioculescu, Caragialiana, Editura Eminescu, Bucharest, 1974. Péter Krasztev, \"From a Deadlocked Present into an Imagined Past\", in the Central European University's East Central Europe = L'Europe du Centre-Est, Vol. 26, Nr. 2/1999, p. 33-52 \"From Modernization to Modernist Literature\", in Marcel Cornis-Pope, John Neubauer (eds. ), History of the Literary Cultures of East-Central Europe, Vol. 3, John Benjamins, Amsterdam & Philadelphia, 2004, p. 332-348.","3, John Benjamins, Amsterdam & Philadelphia, 2004, p. 332-348. Lucian Nastasă, Intelectualii și promovarea socială (pentru o morfologie a câmpului universitar), Editura Nereamia Napocae, Cluj-Napoca, 2003; e-book version at the Romanian Academy's George Bariț Institute of History Z. Ornea, Junimea și junimismul, Vol. II, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1998. Perpessicius, Studii eminesciene, Museum of Romanian Literature, Bucharest, 2001.","Perpessicius, Studii eminesciene, Museum of Romanian Literature, Bucharest, 2001. Petre Răileanu, Michel Carassou, Fundoianu/Fondane et l'avant-garde, Fondation Culturelle Roumaine, Éditions Paris-Méditerranée, Bucharest & Paris, 1999. Tom Sandqvist, Dada East. The Romanians of Cabaret Voltaire, MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts & London, 2006. Manuela-Delia Suciu, \"La poésie roumaine au XIXe siècle. Alexandru Macedonski entre romantisme et symbolisme\", in Revue d'Études Françaises, Nr.","Alexandru Macedonski entre romantisme et symbolisme\", in Revue d'Études Françaises, Nr. 8/2003, p. 101-110 (republished by the Centre Interuniversitaire d’Études Françaises/Egyetemközi Francia Központ) Tudor Vianu, Scriitori români, Vol. I-III, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1970–1971. Mariana Vida, \"La société Tinerimea artistică de Bucarest et le symbolisme tardif entre 1902-1910\", in Revue Roumaine d'Histoire de l'Art. Série Beaux-arts, Vol.","Série Beaux-arts, Vol. Série Beaux-arts, Vol. XLIV, 2007, p. 55-66 External links Amidst Hen Houses (excerpts), Poésies, Thalassa (excerpt), in the Romanian Cultural Institute's Plural Magazine (various issues) Alexandru Macedonski, Museum of Romanian Literature profile 1854 births 1920 deaths 19th-century Romanian poets 20th-century Romanian poets Romanian male poets Romantic poets Neoclassical writers Symbolist poets Sonneteers Romanian fabulists Romanian epigrammatists 19th-century Romanian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Romanian dramatists and playwrights Male dramatists and playwrights 19th-century Romanian novelists 20th-century Romanian novelists Romanian male novelists Romanian writers in French 19th-century short story writers 20th-century short story writers Romanian male short story writers Romanian short story writers Realism (art movement) Symbolist novelists Romanian fantasy writers Romanian science fiction writers Romanian humorists Romanian erotica writers 19th-century essayists 20th-century essayists Romanian essayists 20th-century biographers Romanian biographers Male biographers Romanian memoirists Romanian travel writers Romanian literary critics Romanian screenwriters Male screenwriters Romanian columnists Romanian magazine editors Romanian magazine founders Romanian newspaper editors Romanian newspaper founders 19th-century translators 20th-century translators Romanian translators English–Romanian translators French–Romanian translators Greek–Romanian translators Writers from Bucharest Romanian nobility Members of the Romanian Orthodox Church Carol I National College alumni National Liberal Party (Romania) politicians Republicanism in the Kingdom of Romania Romanian civil servants Prefects of Romania Romanian inventors Romanian esotericists Romanian expatriates in France Romanian people of World War I Burials at Bellu Cemetery Members of the Romanian Academy elected posthumously 20th-century screenwriters"],"string":"[\n \"Alexandru Macedonski (; also rendered as Al. A. Macedonski, Macedonschi or Macedonsky; 14 March 1854 – 24 November 1920) was a Romanian poet, novelist, dramatist and literary critic, known especially for having promoted French Symbolism in his native country, and for leading the Romanian Symbolist movement during its early decades. A forerunner of local modernist literature, he is the first local author to have used free verse, and claimed by some to have been the first in modern European literature.\",\n \"A forerunner of local modernist literature, he is the first local author to have used free verse, and claimed by some to have been the first in modern European literature. Within the framework of Romanian literature, Macedonski is seen by critics as second only to national poet Mihai Eminescu; as leader of a cosmopolitan and aestheticist trend formed around his Literatorul journal, he was diametrically opposed to the inward-looking traditionalism of Eminescu and his school.\",\n \"Within the framework of Romanian literature, Macedonski is seen by critics as second only to national poet Mihai Eminescu; as leader of a cosmopolitan and aestheticist trend formed around his Literatorul journal, he was diametrically opposed to the inward-looking traditionalism of Eminescu and his school. Debuting as a Neoromantic in the Wallachian tradition, Macedonski went through the Realist-Naturalist stage deemed \\\"social poetry\\\", while progressively adapting his style to Symbolism and Parnassianism, and repeatedly but unsuccessfully attempting to impose himself in the Francophone world.\",\n \"Debuting as a Neoromantic in the Wallachian tradition, Macedonski went through the Realist-Naturalist stage deemed \\\"social poetry\\\", while progressively adapting his style to Symbolism and Parnassianism, and repeatedly but unsuccessfully attempting to impose himself in the Francophone world. Despite having theorized \\\"instrumentalism\\\", which reacted against the traditional guidelines of poetry, he maintained a lifelong connection with Neoclassicism and its ideal of purity.\",\n \"Despite having theorized \\\"instrumentalism\\\", which reacted against the traditional guidelines of poetry, he maintained a lifelong connection with Neoclassicism and its ideal of purity. Macedonski's quest for excellence found its foremost expression in his recurring motif of life as a pilgrimage to Mecca, notably used in his critically acclaimed Nights cycle. The stylistic stages of his career are reflected in the collections Prima verba, Poezii, and Excelsior, as well as in the fantasy novel Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu.\",\n \"The stylistic stages of his career are reflected in the collections Prima verba, Poezii, and Excelsior, as well as in the fantasy novel Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu. In old age, he became the author of rondels, noted for their detached and serene vision of life, in contrast with his earlier combativeness. In parallel to his literary career, Macedonski was a civil servant, notably serving as prefect in the Budjak and Northern Dobruja during the late 1870s.\",\n \"In parallel to his literary career, Macedonski was a civil servant, notably serving as prefect in the Budjak and Northern Dobruja during the late 1870s. As journalist and militant, his allegiance fluctuated between the liberal current and conservatism, becoming involved in polemics and controversies of the day. Of the long series of publications he founded, Literatorul was the most influential, notably hosting his early conflicts with the Junimea literary society.\",\n \"Of the long series of publications he founded, Literatorul was the most influential, notably hosting his early conflicts with the Junimea literary society. These targeted Vasile Alecsandri and especially Eminescu, their context and tone becoming the cause of a major rift between Macedonski and his public. This situation repeated itself in later years, when Macedonski and his Forța Morală magazine began campaigning against the Junimist dramatist Ion Luca Caragiale, whom they falsely accused of plagiarism.\",\n \"This situation repeated itself in later years, when Macedonski and his Forța Morală magazine began campaigning against the Junimist dramatist Ion Luca Caragiale, whom they falsely accused of plagiarism. During World War I, the poet aggravated his critics by supporting the Central Powers against Romania's alliance with the Entente side. His biography was also marked by an enduring interest in esotericism, numerous attempts to become recognized as an inventor, and an enthusiasm for cycling.\",\n \"His biography was also marked by an enduring interest in esotericism, numerous attempts to become recognized as an inventor, and an enthusiasm for cycling. The scion of a political and aristocratic family, the poet was the son of General Alexandru Macedonski, who served as Defense Minister, and the grandson of 1821 rebel Dimitrie Macedonski. Both his son Alexis and grandson Soare were known painters. Biography Early life and family The poet's paternal family had arrived in Wallachia during the early 19th century.\",\n \"Biography Early life and family The poet's paternal family had arrived in Wallachia during the early 19th century. Of South Slav (Serb or Bulgarian) or Aromanian origin, they claimed to have descended from Serb insurgents in Ottoman-ruled Macedonia.\",\n \"Of South Slav (Serb or Bulgarian) or Aromanian origin, they claimed to have descended from Serb insurgents in Ottoman-ruled Macedonia. Alexandru's grandfather Dimitrie and Dimitrie's brother Pavel participated in the 1821 uprising against the Phanariote administration, and in alliance with the Filiki Eteria; Dimitrie made the object of controversy when, during the final stage of the revolt, he sided with the Eteria in its confrontation with Wallachian leader Tudor Vladimirescu, taking an active part in the latter's killing.\",\n \"Alexandru's grandfather Dimitrie and Dimitrie's brother Pavel participated in the 1821 uprising against the Phanariote administration, and in alliance with the Filiki Eteria; Dimitrie made the object of controversy when, during the final stage of the revolt, he sided with the Eteria in its confrontation with Wallachian leader Tudor Vladimirescu, taking an active part in the latter's killing. Both Macedonski brothers had careers in the Wallachian military forces, at a time when the country was governed by Imperial Russian envoys, when the Regulamentul Organic regime recognized the family as belonging to Wallachia's nobility.\",\n \"Both Macedonski brothers had careers in the Wallachian military forces, at a time when the country was governed by Imperial Russian envoys, when the Regulamentul Organic regime recognized the family as belonging to Wallachia's nobility. Dimitrie married Zoe, the daughter an ethnic Russian or Polish officer; their son, the Russian-educated Alexandru, climbed in the military and political hierarchy, joining the unified Land Forces after his political ally, Alexander John Cuza, was elected Domnitor and the two Danubian Principalities became united Romania.\",\n \"Dimitrie married Zoe, the daughter an ethnic Russian or Polish officer; their son, the Russian-educated Alexandru, climbed in the military and political hierarchy, joining the unified Land Forces after his political ally, Alexander John Cuza, was elected Domnitor and the two Danubian Principalities became united Romania. Both the officer's uncle Pavel and brother Mihail were amateur poets. Macedonski's mother, Maria Fisența (also Vicenț or Vicența), was from an aristocratic environment, being the scion of Oltenian boyars.\",\n \"Macedonski's mother, Maria Fisența (also Vicenț or Vicența), was from an aristocratic environment, being the scion of Oltenian boyars. Through her father, she may have descended from Russian immigrants who had been absorbed into Oltenia's nobility. Maria had been adopted by the boyar Dumitrache Pârâianu, and the couple had inherited the Adâncata and Pometești estates in Goiești, on the Amaradia Valley.\",\n \"Maria had been adopted by the boyar Dumitrache Pârâianu, and the couple had inherited the Adâncata and Pometești estates in Goiești, on the Amaradia Valley. Both the poet and his father were dissatisfied with accounts of their lineage, contradicting them with an account that researchers have come to consider spurious. Although adherents of the Romanian Orthodox Church, the Macedonskis traced their origin to Rogala-bearing Lithuanian nobility from the defunct Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.\",\n \"Although adherents of the Romanian Orthodox Church, the Macedonskis traced their origin to Rogala-bearing Lithuanian nobility from the defunct Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. While the writer perpetuated his father's claim, it is possible that he also took pride in investigating his Balkan roots: according to literary historian Tudor Vianu, who, as a youth, was a member of his circle, this tendency is attested by two of Macedonski's poems from the 1880s, where the South Slavs appear as icons of freedom.\",\n \"While the writer perpetuated his father's claim, it is possible that he also took pride in investigating his Balkan roots: according to literary historian Tudor Vianu, who, as a youth, was a member of his circle, this tendency is attested by two of Macedonski's poems from the 1880s, where the South Slavs appear as icons of freedom. Vianu's contemporary, literary historian George Călinescu, postulated that, although the family had been absorbed into the ethnic and cultural majority, the poet's origin served to enrich local culture by linking it to a \\\"Thracian\\\" tradition and the spirit of \\\"adventurers\\\".\",\n \"Vianu's contemporary, literary historian George Călinescu, postulated that, although the family had been absorbed into the ethnic and cultural majority, the poet's origin served to enrich local culture by linking it to a \\\"Thracian\\\" tradition and the spirit of \\\"adventurers\\\". The family moved often, following General Macedonski's postings. Born in Bucharest, Macedonski-son was the third of four siblings, the oldest of whom was a daughter, Caterina.\",\n \"Born in Bucharest, Macedonski-son was the third of four siblings, the oldest of whom was a daughter, Caterina. Before the age of six, he was a sickly and nervous child, who is reported to have had regular tantrums. In 1862, his father sent him to school in Oltenia, and he spent most time in the Amaradia region. The nostalgia he felt for the landscape later made him consider writing an Amărăzene (\\\"Amaradians\\\") cycle, of which only one poem was ever completed.\",\n \"The nostalgia he felt for the landscape later made him consider writing an Amărăzene (\\\"Amaradians\\\") cycle, of which only one poem was ever completed. He was attending the Carol I High School in Craiova and, according to his official record, graduated in 1867.\",\n \"He was attending the Carol I High School in Craiova and, according to his official record, graduated in 1867. Macedonski's father had by then become known as an authoritarian commander, and, during his time in Târgu Ocna, faced a mutiny which only his wife could stop by pleading with the soldiers (an episode which made an impression on the future poet). A stern parent, he took an active part in educating his children.\",\n \"A stern parent, he took an active part in educating his children. Having briefly served as Defense Minister, the general was mysteriously dismissed by Cuza in 1863, and his pension became the topic of a political scandal. It ended only under the rule of Carol I, Cuza's Hohenzollern successor, when Parliament voted against increasing the sum to the level demanded by its recipient.\",\n \"It ended only under the rule of Carol I, Cuza's Hohenzollern successor, when Parliament voted against increasing the sum to the level demanded by its recipient. Having preserved a negative impression of the 1866 plebiscite, during which Cuza's dethronement had been confirmed, Macedonski remained a committed opponent of the new ruler. As a youth and adult, he sought to revive his father's cause, and included allusions to the perceived injustice in at least one poem.\",\n \"As a youth and adult, he sought to revive his father's cause, and included allusions to the perceived injustice in at least one poem. After spending the last months of his life protesting against the authorities, Macedonski-father fell ill and died in September 1869, leaving his family to speculate that he had been murdered by political rivals.\",\n \"After spending the last months of his life protesting against the authorities, Macedonski-father fell ill and died in September 1869, leaving his family to speculate that he had been murdered by political rivals. Debut years Macedonski left Romania in 1870, traveling through Austria-Hungary and spending time in Vienna, before visiting Switzerland and possibly other countries; according to one account, it was here that he may have first met (and disliked) his rival poet Mihai Eminescu, at a time a Viennese student.\",\n \"Debut years Macedonski left Romania in 1870, traveling through Austria-Hungary and spending time in Vienna, before visiting Switzerland and possibly other countries; according to one account, it was here that he may have first met (and disliked) his rival poet Mihai Eminescu, at a time a Viennese student. Macedonski's visit was meant to be preparation for entering the University of Bucharest, but he spent much of his time in the bohemian environment, seeking entertainment and engaging in romantic escapades.\",\n \"Macedonski's visit was meant to be preparation for entering the University of Bucharest, but he spent much of his time in the bohemian environment, seeking entertainment and engaging in romantic escapades. He was however opposed to the lifestyle choices of people his age, claiming that they were engaged in \\\"orgy after orgy\\\". At around that date, the young author had begun to perfect a style heavily influenced by Romanticism, and in particular by his Wallachian predecessors Dimitrie Bolintineanu and Ion Heliade Rădulescu.\",\n \"At around that date, the young author had begun to perfect a style heavily influenced by Romanticism, and in particular by his Wallachian predecessors Dimitrie Bolintineanu and Ion Heliade Rădulescu. He was for a while in Styria, at Bad Gleichenberg, a stay which, George Călinescu believes, may have been the result of a medical recommendation to help him counter excessive nervousness. The landscape there inspired him to write an ode. Also in 1870, he published his first lyrics in George Bariț's Transylvanian-based journal Telegraful Român.\",\n \"Also in 1870, he published his first lyrics in George Bariț's Transylvanian-based journal Telegraful Român. The following year, he left for Italy, where he visited Pisa, Florence, Venice, and possibly other cities. His records of the journey indicate that he was faced with financial difficulties and plagued by disease. Macedonski also claimed to have attended college lectures in these cities, and to have spent significant time studying at Pisa University, but this remains uncertain.\",\n \"Macedonski also claimed to have attended college lectures in these cities, and to have spent significant time studying at Pisa University, but this remains uncertain. He eventually returned to Bucharest, where he entered the Faculty of Letters (which he never attended regularly). According to Călinescu, Macedonski \\\"did not feel the need\\\" to attend classes, because \\\"such a young man will expect society to render upon him its homages.\\\"\",\n \"According to Călinescu, Macedonski \\\"did not feel the need\\\" to attend classes, because \\\"such a young man will expect society to render upon him its homages.\\\" He was again in Italy during spring 1872, soon after publishing his debut volume Prima verba (Latin for \\\"First Word\\\"). Having also written an anti-Carol piece, published in Telegraful Român during 1873, Macedonski reportedly feared political reprisals, and decided to make another visit to Styria and Italy while his case was being assessed.\",\n \"Having also written an anti-Carol piece, published in Telegraful Român during 1873, Macedonski reportedly feared political reprisals, and decided to make another visit to Styria and Italy while his case was being assessed. It was in Italy that he met French musicologist Jules Combarieu, with whom he corresponded sporadically over the following decades. During that period, Macedonski became interested in the political scene and political journalism, first as a sympathizer of the liberal-radical current—which, in 1875, organized itself around the National Liberal Party.\",\n \"During that period, Macedonski became interested in the political scene and political journalism, first as a sympathizer of the liberal-radical current—which, in 1875, organized itself around the National Liberal Party. In 1874, back in Craiova, Macedonski founded a short-lived literary society known as Junimea, a title which purposefully or unwittingly copied that of the influential conservative association with whom he would later quarrel.\",\n \"In 1874, back in Craiova, Macedonski founded a short-lived literary society known as Junimea, a title which purposefully or unwittingly copied that of the influential conservative association with whom he would later quarrel. It was then that he met journalist and pedagogue Ștefan Velescu, a meeting witnessed by Velescu's pupil, the future liberal journalist Constantin Bacalbașa, who recorded it in his memoirs.\",\n \"It was then that he met journalist and pedagogue Ștefan Velescu, a meeting witnessed by Velescu's pupil, the future liberal journalist Constantin Bacalbașa, who recorded it in his memoirs. Oltul magazine, which he had helped establish and which displayed a liberal agenda, continued to be published until July 1875, and featured Macedonski's translations from Pierre-Jean de Béranger, Hector de Charlieu and Alphonse de Lamartine, as well as his debut in travel writing and short story.\",\n \"Oltul magazine, which he had helped establish and which displayed a liberal agenda, continued to be published until July 1875, and featured Macedonski's translations from Pierre-Jean de Béranger, Hector de Charlieu and Alphonse de Lamartine, as well as his debut in travel writing and short story. At age 22, he worked on his first play, a comedy titled Gemenii (\\\"The Twins\\\").\",\n \"At age 22, he worked on his first play, a comedy titled Gemenii (\\\"The Twins\\\"). In 1874 that he came to the attention of young journalist future dramatist Ion Luca Caragiale, who satirized him in articles for the magazine Ghimpele, ridiculing his claim to Lithuanian descent, and eventually turning him into the character Aamsky, whose fictional career ends with his death from exhaustion caused by contributing to \\\"for the country's political development\\\".\",\n \"In 1874 that he came to the attention of young journalist future dramatist Ion Luca Caragiale, who satirized him in articles for the magazine Ghimpele, ridiculing his claim to Lithuanian descent, and eventually turning him into the character Aamsky, whose fictional career ends with his death from exhaustion caused by contributing to \\\"for the country's political development\\\". This was the first episode in a consuming polemic between the two figures.\",\n \"This was the first episode in a consuming polemic between the two figures. Reflecting back on this period in 1892, Macedonski described Caragiale as a \\\"noisy young man\\\" of \\\"sophistic reasoning\\\", whose target audience was to be found in \\\"beer gardens\\\". 1875 trial and office as prefect In March 1875, Macedonski was arrested on charges of defamation or sedition. For almost a year before, he and Oltul had taken an active part in the campaign against Conservative Party and its leader, Premier Lascăr Catargiu.\",\n \"For almost a year before, he and Oltul had taken an active part in the campaign against Conservative Party and its leader, Premier Lascăr Catargiu. In this context, he had demanded that the common man \\\"rise up with weapons in their hands and break both the government agents and the government\\\", following up with similar messages aimed at the Domnitor. He was taken to Bucharest's Văcărești prison and confined there for almost three months.\",\n \"He was taken to Bucharest's Văcărești prison and confined there for almost three months. Supported by the liberal press and defended by the most prestigious pro-liberal attorneys (Nicolae Fleva among them), Macedonski faced a jury trial on 7 June, being eventually cleared of the charges. Reportedly, the Bucharest populace organized a spontaneous celebration of the verdict. In 1875, after the National Liberal Ion Emanuel Florescu was assigned the post of Premier by Carol, Macedonski embarked on an administrative career.\",\n \"In 1875, after the National Liberal Ion Emanuel Florescu was assigned the post of Premier by Carol, Macedonski embarked on an administrative career. The poet was upset by not being included on the National Liberal list for the 1875 suffrage. This disenchantment led him into a brief conflict with the young liberal figure Bonifaciu Florescu, only to join him soon afterward in editing Stindardul journal, alongside Pantazi Ghica and George Fălcoianu. The publication followed the line of Nicolae Moret Blaremberg, made notorious for his radical and republican agenda.\",\n \"The publication followed the line of Nicolae Moret Blaremberg, made notorious for his radical and republican agenda. Ghica and Macedonski remained close friends until Ghica's 1882 death. The new cabinet eventually appointed him Prefect of Bolgrad region, in the Budjak (at the time part of Romania). In parallel, he published his first translation, a version of Parisina, an 1816 epic poem by Lord Byron, and completed the original works Ithalo and Calul arabului (\\\"The Arab's Horse\\\").\",\n \"In parallel, he published his first translation, a version of Parisina, an 1816 epic poem by Lord Byron, and completed the original works Ithalo and Calul arabului (\\\"The Arab's Horse\\\"). He also spoke at the Romanian Atheneum, presenting his views on the state of Romanian literature (1878). His time in office ended upon the outbreak of the Russo-Turkish War.\",\n \"His time in office ended upon the outbreak of the Russo-Turkish War. At the time, Russian volunteers were amassed on the Budjak border, requesting from the Romanian authorities the right of free passage into the Principality of Serbia. The National Liberal Premier Ion Brătianu, who was negotiating an anti-Ottoman alliance, sent Macedonski signals to let them pass, but the prefect, obeying the official recommendation of Internal Affairs Minister George D. Vernescu, decided against it, and was consequently stripped of his office.\",\n \"The National Liberal Premier Ion Brătianu, who was negotiating an anti-Ottoman alliance, sent Macedonski signals to let them pass, but the prefect, obeying the official recommendation of Internal Affairs Minister George D. Vernescu, decided against it, and was consequently stripped of his office. Still determined to pursue a career in the press, Macedonski founded a string of unsuccessful magazines with patriotic content and titles such as Vestea (\\\"The Announcement\\\"), Dunărea (\\\"The Danube\\\"), Fulgerul (\\\"The Lightning\\\") and, after 1880, Tarara (an onomatopoeia equivalent to \\\"Toodoodoo\\\").\",\n \"Still determined to pursue a career in the press, Macedonski founded a string of unsuccessful magazines with patriotic content and titles such as Vestea (\\\"The Announcement\\\"), Dunărea (\\\"The Danube\\\"), Fulgerul (\\\"The Lightning\\\") and, after 1880, Tarara (an onomatopoeia equivalent to \\\"Toodoodoo\\\"). Their history is connected with that of the Russo-Turkish War, at the end of which Romanian participation on the Russian side resulted in her independence.\",\n \"Their history is connected with that of the Russo-Turkish War, at the end of which Romanian participation on the Russian side resulted in her independence. Macedonski remained committed to the anti-Ottoman cause, and, some thirty years later, stated: \\\"We want no Turkey in Europe!\\\" By 1879, the poet, who continued to voice criticism of Carol, had several times switched sides between the National Liberals and the opposition Conservatives.\",\n \"By 1879, the poet, who continued to voice criticism of Carol, had several times switched sides between the National Liberals and the opposition Conservatives. That year, while the Budjak was ceded to Russia and Northern Dobruja was integrated into Romania, the Brătianu cabinet appointed him administrator of the Sulina plasă and the Danube Delta.\",\n \"That year, while the Budjak was ceded to Russia and Northern Dobruja was integrated into Romania, the Brătianu cabinet appointed him administrator of the Sulina plasă and the Danube Delta. He had previously refused to be made comptroller in Putna County, believing such an appointment to be beneath his capacity, and had lost a National Liberal appointment in Silistra when Southern Dobruja was granted to the Principality of Bulgaria.\",\n \"He had previously refused to be made comptroller in Putna County, believing such an appointment to be beneath his capacity, and had lost a National Liberal appointment in Silistra when Southern Dobruja was granted to the Principality of Bulgaria. During this short interval in office, he traveled to the Snake Island in the Black Sea—his appreciation for the place later motivated him to write the fantasy novel Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu and the poem Lewki. Early Literatorul years With the 1880s came a turning point in Alexandru Macedonski's career.\",\n \"Early Literatorul years With the 1880s came a turning point in Alexandru Macedonski's career. Vianu notes that changes took place in the poet's relationship with his public: \\\"Society recognizes in him the nonconformist. [...] The man becomes singular; people start talking about his oddities.\\\" Macedonski's presumed frustration at being perceived in this way, Vianu notes, may have led him closer to the idea of poète maudit, theorized earlier by Paul Verlaine.\",\n \"Macedonski's presumed frustration at being perceived in this way, Vianu notes, may have led him closer to the idea of poète maudit, theorized earlier by Paul Verlaine. In this context, he had set his sight on promoting \\\"social poetry\\\", the merger between lyricism and political militantism. Meanwhile, according to Călinescu, his attacks on the liberals and the \\\"daft insults he aimed at [Romania's] throne\\\" had effectively ruined his own chance of political advancement.\",\n \"Meanwhile, according to Călinescu, his attacks on the liberals and the \\\"daft insults he aimed at [Romania's] throne\\\" had effectively ruined his own chance of political advancement. In January 1880, he launched his most influential and long-lived publication, Literatorul, which was also the focal point of his eclectic cultural circle, and, in later years, of the local Symbolist school. In its first version, the magazine was co-edited by Macedonski, Bonifaciu Florescu and poet Th. M. Stoenescu.\",\n \"M. Stoenescu. M. Stoenescu. Florescu parted with the group soon after, due to a disagreement with Macedonski, and was later attacked by the latter for allegedly accumulating academic posts. Literatorul aimed to irritate Junimist sensibilities from its first issue, when it stated its dislike for \\\"political prejudice in literature.\\\" This was most likely an allusion to the views of Junimist figure Titu Maiorescu, being later accompanied by explicit attacks on him and his followers.\",\n \"This was most likely an allusion to the views of Junimist figure Titu Maiorescu, being later accompanied by explicit attacks on him and his followers. An early success for the new journal was the warm reception it received from Vasile Alecsandri, a Romantic poet and occasional Junimist whom Macedonski idolized at the time, and the collaboration of popular memoirist Gheorghe Sion. Another such figure was the intellectual V. A. Urechia, whom Macedonski made president of the Literatorul Society.\",\n \"Another such figure was the intellectual V. A. Urechia, whom Macedonski made president of the Literatorul Society. In 1881, Education Minister Urechia granted Macedonski the Bene-Merenti medal 1st class, although, Călinescu stresses, the poet had only totaled 18 months of public service. At around that time, Macedonski had allegedly begun courting actress Aristizza Romanescu, who rejected his advances, leaving him unenthusiastic about love matters and unwilling to seek female company.\",\n \"At around that time, Macedonski had allegedly begun courting actress Aristizza Romanescu, who rejected his advances, leaving him unenthusiastic about love matters and unwilling to seek female company. In parallel, Macedonski used the magazine to publicize his disagreement with the main Junimist voice, Convorbiri Literare. Among the group of contributors, several had already been victims of Maiorescu's irony: Sion, Urechia, Pantazi Ghica and Petru Grădișteanu.\",\n \"Among the group of contributors, several had already been victims of Maiorescu's irony: Sion, Urechia, Pantazi Ghica and Petru Grădișteanu. While welcoming the debut of its contributor, Parnassian-Neoclassicist novelist and poet Duiliu Zamfirescu, Macedonski repeatedly attacked its main exponent, the conservative poet Eminescu, claiming not to understand his poetry. However, Literatorul was also open to contributions from some Convorbiri Literare affiliates (Zamfirescu, Matilda Cugler-Poni and Veronica Micle). In November 1880, Macedonski's plays Iadeș! (\\\"Wishbone!\",\n \"In November 1880, Macedonski's plays Iadeș! (\\\"Wishbone! (\\\"Wishbone! \\\", a comedy first printed in 1882) and Unchiașul Sărăcie (\\\"Old Man Poverty\\\") premiered at the National Theater Bucharest. A sign of government approval, this was followed by Macedonski's appointment to a minor administrative office, as Historical Monuments Inspector. Nevertheless, both plays failed to impose themselves on public perception, and were withdrawn from the program by 1888.\",\n \"Nevertheless, both plays failed to impose themselves on public perception, and were withdrawn from the program by 1888. Călinescu asserts that, although Macedonski later claimed to have always been facing poverty, his job in the administration, coupled with other sources of revenue, ensured him a comfortable existence. In 1881, Macedonski published a new collection of poetry. Titled Poezii, it carries the year \\\"1882\\\" on its original cover. Again moving away from liberalism, Macedonski sought to make himself accepted by Junimea and Maiorescu.\",\n \"Again moving away from liberalism, Macedonski sought to make himself accepted by Junimea and Maiorescu. He consequently attended the Junimea sessions, and gave a public reading of Noaptea de noiembrie (\\\"November Night\\\"), the first publicized piece in his lifelong Nights cycle. It reportedly earned him the praise of historian and poet Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu, who, although an anti-Junimist, happened to be in the audience.\",\n \"It reportedly earned him the praise of historian and poet Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu, who, although an anti-Junimist, happened to be in the audience. Despite rumors according to which he had applauded Macedonski, Maiorescu himself was not impressed, and left an unenthusiastic account of the event in his private diary. Against Alecsandri and Eminescu Macedonski's open conflict with Junimea began in 1882, when he engaged in a publicized polemic with Alecsandri.\",\n \"Against Alecsandri and Eminescu Macedonski's open conflict with Junimea began in 1882, when he engaged in a publicized polemic with Alecsandri. It was ignited when, through Macedonski's articles, Literatorul criticized Alecsandri for accepting Romanian Academy prizes despite being its member, and later involved Sion (whose replies on behalf of the Academy were derided by Macedonski). Macedonski also took distance from Alecsandri's style, publishing a \\\"critical analysis\\\" of his poetry in one issue of Literatorul.\",\n \"Macedonski also took distance from Alecsandri's style, publishing a \\\"critical analysis\\\" of his poetry in one issue of Literatorul. In turn, Alecsandri humiliated his young rival by portraying him as Zoilus, the prototype of slanderers, and himself as the model poet Horace in the 1883 play Fântâna Blanduziei. The two were eventually reconciled, and Macedonski again spoke of Alecsandri as his ideological and stylistic predecessor.\",\n \"The two were eventually reconciled, and Macedonski again spoke of Alecsandri as his ideological and stylistic predecessor. In April 1882, Eminescu had also replied to Macedonski in Timpul journal, referring to an unnamed poet who \\\"barely finishes high-school, comes over to Bucharest selling nick-nacks and makeup [and goes into] literary dealership\\\".\",\n \"In April 1882, Eminescu had also replied to Macedonski in Timpul journal, referring to an unnamed poet who \\\"barely finishes high-school, comes over to Bucharest selling nick-nacks and makeup [and goes into] literary dealership\\\". Reproaching Macedonski's attacks on Alecsandri, Eminescu makes a nationalist comment about the young poet bearing \\\"the bastard instincts of those foreigners who were Romanianized only yesterday\\\", and attributes him \\\"the physiognomy of a hairdresser\\\". Through the articles of Petru Th.\",\n \"Through the articles of Petru Th. Through the articles of Petru Th. Missir, Convorbiri Literare gave Poezii a negative review, deemed \\\"malevolent\\\" by literary historian Mircea Anghelescu. At the other end of the political and cultural spectrum, Macedonski faced opposition from the intellectuals attracted to socialism, in particular Contemporanul editors Constantin Mille and Ioan Nădejde, with whom he was engaged in an extended polemic.\",\n \"At the other end of the political and cultural spectrum, Macedonski faced opposition from the intellectuals attracted to socialism, in particular Contemporanul editors Constantin Mille and Ioan Nădejde, with whom he was engaged in an extended polemic. In the meantime, Macedonski published his own play, which had Cuza for its main character and was eponymously titled Cuza-Vodă, and completed translations for Literatorul—from Maurice Rollinat, whom he helped impose as a main cultural reference in Romanian Symbolism, and from the Greek poet Akhillefs Paraskhos.\",\n \"In the meantime, Macedonski published his own play, which had Cuza for its main character and was eponymously titled Cuza-Vodă, and completed translations for Literatorul—from Maurice Rollinat, whom he helped impose as a main cultural reference in Romanian Symbolism, and from the Greek poet Akhillefs Paraskhos. In 1883, he also contributed his first sketch story, Casa cu nr. 10 (\\\"The House at Number 10\\\"). In early 1883, he married Ana Rallet-Slătineanu.\",\n \"In early 1883, he married Ana Rallet-Slătineanu. In early 1883, he married Ana Rallet-Slătineanu. Wealthy and supposedly related to Romanian aristocrats, she would bear him five children in all: the painter Alexis was the eldest, followed by Nikita; the three youngest were two sons (Panel and Constantin Macedonski) and a daughter, Anna (also known as Nina). His heterosexual lifestyle notwithstanding, Macedonski remained a self-avowed admirer of male beauties, and was rumored to be a closeted homosexual.\",\n \"His heterosexual lifestyle notwithstanding, Macedonski remained a self-avowed admirer of male beauties, and was rumored to be a closeted homosexual. In July 1883, Macedonski undertook one of his most controversial anti-Junimist actions. That month, Literatorul published an epigram signed with the pseudonym Duna, deriding an unnamed author who had lost his mind. Mihai Eminescu—whom many had already come to see as Romania's national poet—had by then developed a mental disorder which had become known to the general public.\",\n \"Mihai Eminescu—whom many had already come to see as Romania's national poet—had by then developed a mental disorder which had become known to the general public. Ever since that moment, Macedonski has generally been believed to be Duna, and as a result, was faced with much criticism from both readers and commentators. The intense anti-Literatorul press campaign was initiated in August, when writer Grigore Ventura issued an article condemning Macedonski's attitude (published in the Bucharest-based newspaper L'Indépendance Roumaine), with Macedonski responding in the National Liberal organ Românul.\",\n \"The intense anti-Literatorul press campaign was initiated in August, when writer Grigore Ventura issued an article condemning Macedonski's attitude (published in the Bucharest-based newspaper L'Indépendance Roumaine), with Macedonski responding in the National Liberal organ Românul. During one evening, Macedonski is reported to have been assaulted by anonymous supporters of Eminescu. His previous conflict with Nădejde was also affected by this renewed controversy: while opposed to Junimist policies, the socialists at Contemporanul voiced their admiration for Eminescu's art.\",\n \"His previous conflict with Nădejde was also affected by this renewed controversy: while opposed to Junimist policies, the socialists at Contemporanul voiced their admiration for Eminescu's art. Late in 1883, Macedonski and his friends unveiled Ion Georgescu's statue of their mentor Bolintineanu in the National Theater lobby. The circumstances in which this took place rose suspicion of foul play; on this grounds, Macedonski was ridiculed by his former friend Zamfirescu in the journal România Liberă, which left him embittered.\",\n \"The circumstances in which this took place rose suspicion of foul play; on this grounds, Macedonski was ridiculed by his former friend Zamfirescu in the journal România Liberă, which left him embittered. Călinescu proposes that, although such negative reactions were invoked by Macedonski's supporters as a sign of their mentor having been marginalized, Macedonski had expressed his dissatisfaction with the cultural environment long before that moment, and was still a respected figure even after the incidents took place.\",\n \"Călinescu proposes that, although such negative reactions were invoked by Macedonski's supporters as a sign of their mentor having been marginalized, Macedonski had expressed his dissatisfaction with the cultural environment long before that moment, and was still a respected figure even after the incidents took place. First Paris sojourn and Poezia viitorului Having been stripped of his administrative office by the new Brătianu cabinet, Macedonski faced financial difficulties, and was forced to move into a house on the outskirts of Bucharest, and later moved between houses in northern Bucharest.\",\n \"First Paris sojourn and Poezia viitorului Having been stripped of his administrative office by the new Brătianu cabinet, Macedonski faced financial difficulties, and was forced to move into a house on the outskirts of Bucharest, and later moved between houses in northern Bucharest. According to Călinescu, the poet continued to cultivate luxury and passionately invested in the decorative arts, although his source of income, other than the supposed assistance \\\"of [European] ruling houses\\\", remains a mystery.\",\n \"According to Călinescu, the poet continued to cultivate luxury and passionately invested in the decorative arts, although his source of income, other than the supposed assistance \\\"of [European] ruling houses\\\", remains a mystery. Arguing that Macedonski was \\\"always in need of money\\\" to use on his luxury items, poet Victor Eftimiu claimed: \\\"He did not shy away from sending emphatic notes to the potentates of his day [...], flattering some, threatening others.\",\n \"Arguing that Macedonski was \\\"always in need of money\\\" to use on his luxury items, poet Victor Eftimiu claimed: \\\"He did not shy away from sending emphatic notes to the potentates of his day [...], flattering some, threatening others. He would marry off or simply mate some of his disciples with aging and rich women, and then he would squeeze out their assets.\\\" Macedonski eventually left Romania in 1884, visiting Paris.\",\n \"Macedonski eventually left Romania in 1884, visiting Paris. Macedonski eventually left Romania in 1884, visiting Paris. On his way there, he passed through Craiova, where he met aspiring author Traian Demetrescu, whose works he had already hosted in Literatorul and who was to become his friend and protégé. Demetrescu later recalled being gripped by \\\"tremors of emotion\\\" upon first catching sight of Macedonski.\",\n \"Demetrescu later recalled being gripped by \\\"tremors of emotion\\\" upon first catching sight of Macedonski. In France, Macedonski set up contacts within the French literary environment, and began contributing to French or Francophone literary publications—including the Belgian Symbolist platforms La Wallonie and L'Élan littéraire. His collaboration with La Wallonie alongside Albert Mockel, Tudor Vianu believes, makes Alexandru Macedonski one in the original wave of European Symbolists. This adaptation to Symbolism also drew on his marked Francophilia, which in turn complemented his tendencies toward cosmopolitanism.\",\n \"This adaptation to Symbolism also drew on his marked Francophilia, which in turn complemented his tendencies toward cosmopolitanism. He became opposed to Carol I, who, in 1881, had been granted the Crown of the Romanian Kingdom. In addition to his admiration for Cuza and the 1848 Wallachian revolutionaries, the poet objected to the King's sympathy for France's main rival, the German Empire.\",\n \"In addition to his admiration for Cuza and the 1848 Wallachian revolutionaries, the poet objected to the King's sympathy for France's main rival, the German Empire. In January 1885, after having returned from the voyage, he announced his retirement from public life, claiming that German influence and its exponents at Junimea had \\\"conquered\\\" Romanian culture, and repeating his claim that Eminescu lacked value.\",\n \"In January 1885, after having returned from the voyage, he announced his retirement from public life, claiming that German influence and its exponents at Junimea had \\\"conquered\\\" Romanian culture, and repeating his claim that Eminescu lacked value. In the meantime, Literatorul went out of print, although new series were still published at irregular intervals until 1904 (when it ceased being published altogether).\",\n \"In the meantime, Literatorul went out of print, although new series were still published at irregular intervals until 1904 (when it ceased being published altogether). The magazine was reportedly hated by the public, causing Macedonski, Stoenescu, Florescu, Urechia and educator Anghel Demetriescu to try to revive it as Revista Literară (\\\"The Literary Review\\\", published for a few months in 1885).\",\n \"The magazine was reportedly hated by the public, causing Macedonski, Stoenescu, Florescu, Urechia and educator Anghel Demetriescu to try to revive it as Revista Literară (\\\"The Literary Review\\\", published for a few months in 1885). The poet attempted to establish other magazines, all of them short-lived, and, in 1887, handed for print his Naturalist novella Dramă banală (\\\"Banal Drama\\\") while completing one of the most revered episodes in the Nights series, Noaptea de mai (\\\"May Night\\\").\",\n \"The poet attempted to establish other magazines, all of them short-lived, and, in 1887, handed for print his Naturalist novella Dramă banală (\\\"Banal Drama\\\") while completing one of the most revered episodes in the Nights series, Noaptea de mai (\\\"May Night\\\"). Also in 1886, he worked on his other Naturalist novellas: Zi de august (\\\"August Day\\\"), Pe drum de poștă (\\\"On the Stagecoach Trail\\\"), Din carnetul unui dezertor (\\\"From the Notebook of a Deserter\\\"), Între cotețe (\\\"Amidst Hen Houses\\\") and the eponymous Nicu Dereanu.\",\n \"Also in 1886, he worked on his other Naturalist novellas: Zi de august (\\\"August Day\\\"), Pe drum de poștă (\\\"On the Stagecoach Trail\\\"), Din carnetul unui dezertor (\\\"From the Notebook of a Deserter\\\"), Între cotețe (\\\"Amidst Hen Houses\\\") and the eponymous Nicu Dereanu. By 1888, he was again sympathetic toward Blaremberg, whose dissident National Liberal faction had formed an alliance with the Conservatives, editing Stindardul Țărei (later Straja Țărei) as his supporting journal.\",\n \"By 1888, he was again sympathetic toward Blaremberg, whose dissident National Liberal faction had formed an alliance with the Conservatives, editing Stindardul Țărei (later Straja Țărei) as his supporting journal. However, late in the same year, he returned to the liberal mainstream, being assigned a weekly column in Românul newspaper. Two years later, he attempted to relaunch Literatorul under the leadership of liberal figure Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu, but the latter eventually settled for founding his own Revista Nouă.\",\n \"Two years later, he attempted to relaunch Literatorul under the leadership of liberal figure Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu, but the latter eventually settled for founding his own Revista Nouă. Around 1891, he saluted Junimeas own break with the Conservatives and its entry into politics at the Conservative-Constitutional Party, before offering an enthusiastic welcome to the 1892 Junimist agitation among university students.\",\n \"Around 1891, he saluted Junimeas own break with the Conservatives and its entry into politics at the Conservative-Constitutional Party, before offering an enthusiastic welcome to the 1892 Junimist agitation among university students. In 1894, he would speak in front of student crowds gathered at a political rally in University Square, and soon after made himself known for supporting the cause of ethnic Romanians and other underrepresented groups of Austria-Hungary. His literary thesis of the time was titled Poezia viitorului (\\\"The Poetry of the Future\\\").\",\n \"His literary thesis of the time was titled Poezia viitorului (\\\"The Poetry of the Future\\\"). It upheld Symbolist authors as the models to follow, while Macedonski personally began producing what he referred to as \\\"instrumentalist\\\" poems, composed around musical and onomatopoeic elements, and showing a preference for internal rhymes. Such an experimental approach was soon after parodied and ridiculed by Ion Luca Caragiale, who had by then affiliated and parted with Junimea, in his new Moftul Român magazine.\",\n \"Such an experimental approach was soon after parodied and ridiculed by Ion Luca Caragiale, who had by then affiliated and parted with Junimea, in his new Moftul Român magazine. The poet sought to reconcile with his rival, publicizing a claim that Caragiale was being unjustly ignored by the cultural establishment, but this attempt failed to mend relations between them, and the conflict escalated further.\",\n \"The poet sought to reconcile with his rival, publicizing a claim that Caragiale was being unjustly ignored by the cultural establishment, but this attempt failed to mend relations between them, and the conflict escalated further. While, in 1893, Literatorul hosted fragments of Thalassa in its Romanian-language version, the author also launched a daily, Lumina (\\\"The Light\\\").\",\n \"While, in 1893, Literatorul hosted fragments of Thalassa in its Romanian-language version, the author also launched a daily, Lumina (\\\"The Light\\\"). It was also at that stage that Alexandru Macedonski associated with Cincinat Pavelescu, the noted epigrammarian, who joined him in editing Literatorul, and with whom he co-authored the 1893 verse tragedy depicting the Biblical hero Saul, and named after him. Although showcased by the National Theater with star actor Constantin Nottara in the title role, it failed to register success with the public.\",\n \"Although showcased by the National Theater with star actor Constantin Nottara in the title role, it failed to register success with the public. Two years later, the two Literatorul editors made headlines as pioneers of cycling. An enthusiastic promoter of the sport, Macedonski joined fellow poet Constantin Cantilli on a marathon, pedaling from Bucharest across the border into Austria-Hungary, all the way down to Brașov.\",\n \"An enthusiastic promoter of the sport, Macedonski joined fellow poet Constantin Cantilli on a marathon, pedaling from Bucharest across the border into Austria-Hungary, all the way down to Brașov. Late 1890s Macedonski also returned with a new volume of poetry, Excelsior (consecutive editions in 1895 and 1896), and founded Liga Ortodoxă (\\\"The Orthodox League\\\"), a magazine noted for hosting the debut of Tudor Arghezi, later one of the most celebrated figures in Romanian literature.\",\n \"Late 1890s Macedonski also returned with a new volume of poetry, Excelsior (consecutive editions in 1895 and 1896), and founded Liga Ortodoxă (\\\"The Orthodox League\\\"), a magazine noted for hosting the debut of Tudor Arghezi, later one of the most celebrated figures in Romanian literature. Macedonski commended his new protégé for reaching \\\"the summit of poetry and art\\\" at \\\"an age when I was still prattling verses\\\".\",\n \"Macedonski commended his new protégé for reaching \\\"the summit of poetry and art\\\" at \\\"an age when I was still prattling verses\\\". Liga Ortodoxă also hosted articles against Caragiale, which Macedonski signed with the pseudonym Sallustiu (\\\"Sallustius\\\"). The magazine was additional proof of Macedonski's return to conservatism, and largely dedicated to defending the cause of Romanian Orthodox Metropolitan Ghenadie, deposed by the Romanian Synod following a political scandal. It defended Ghenadie up until he chose to resign, and subsequently went out of print.\",\n \"It defended Ghenadie up until he chose to resign, and subsequently went out of print. Macedonski was shocked to note that Ghenadie had given up his own defense. In 1895, his Casa cu nr. 10 was translated into French by the Journal des Débats, whose editors reportedly found it picturesque. Two years later, Macedonski himself published French-language translations of his earlier poetry under the title Bronzes, a volume prefaced by his disciple, the critic and promoter Alexandru Bogdan-Pitești.\",\n \"Two years later, Macedonski himself published French-language translations of his earlier poetry under the title Bronzes, a volume prefaced by his disciple, the critic and promoter Alexandru Bogdan-Pitești. Although it was positively reviewed by Mercure de France magazine, Bronzes was largely unnoticed by the French audience, a fact which Tudor Vianu attributes to Bogdan-Pitești's lack of qualification for the cultural mission Macedonski had trusted him with.\",\n \"Although it was positively reviewed by Mercure de France magazine, Bronzes was largely unnoticed by the French audience, a fact which Tudor Vianu attributes to Bogdan-Pitești's lack of qualification for the cultural mission Macedonski had trusted him with. By that time, his circle had come to be frequented with regularity by Bogdan-Pitești's friend and collaborator, the celebrated painter Ștefan Luchian, who was in the Symbolist and Art Nouveau stage of his career.\",\n \"By that time, his circle had come to be frequented with regularity by Bogdan-Pitești's friend and collaborator, the celebrated painter Ștefan Luchian, who was in the Symbolist and Art Nouveau stage of his career. By 1898, Macedonski was again facing financial difficulties, and his collaborators resorted to organizing a fundraiser in his honor. His rejection of the Orthodox establishment was documented by his political tract, published that year as . Between that time and 1900, he focused on researching esoteric, occult and pseudoscientific subjects.\",\n \"Between that time and 1900, he focused on researching esoteric, occult and pseudoscientific subjects. Traian Demetrescu, who recorded his visits with Macedonski, recalled his former mentor being opposed to his positivist take on science, claiming to explain the workings of the Universe in \\\"a different way\\\", through \\\"imagination\\\", but also taking an interest in Camille Flammarion's astronomy studies.\",\n \"Traian Demetrescu, who recorded his visits with Macedonski, recalled his former mentor being opposed to his positivist take on science, claiming to explain the workings of the Universe in \\\"a different way\\\", through \\\"imagination\\\", but also taking an interest in Camille Flammarion's astronomy studies. Macedonski was determined to interpret death through parapsychological means, and, in 1900, conferenced at the Atheneum on the subject Sufletul și viața viitoare (\\\"The Soul and the Coming Life\\\").\",\n \"Macedonski was determined to interpret death through parapsychological means, and, in 1900, conferenced at the Atheneum on the subject Sufletul și viața viitoare (\\\"The Soul and the Coming Life\\\"). The focal point of his vision was that man could voluntarily stave off death with words and gestures, a concept he elaborated upon in his later articles.\",\n \"The focal point of his vision was that man could voluntarily stave off death with words and gestures, a concept he elaborated upon in his later articles. In one such piece, Macedonski argued: \\\"man has the power [...] to compact the energy currents known as thoughts to the point where he changes them, according to his own will, into objects or soul-bearing creatures.\\\" He also attempted to build a machine for extinguishing chimney fires.\",\n \"He also attempted to build a machine for extinguishing chimney fires. Later, Nikita Macedonski registered the invention of nacre-treated paper, which is sometimes attributed to his father. Caion scandal and expatriation The few issues of Literatorul that were printed in 1899-1900 saw the circle being joined by the young Symbolist poet Ștefan Petică. In 1902, he published Cartea de aur (\\\"The Golden Book\\\"), comprising his sketch stories and novellas. In parallel, Macedonski returned to the public scene, founding Forța Morală magazine.\",\n \"In parallel, Macedonski returned to the public scene, founding Forța Morală magazine. It was through this venue that he began responding to Ion Luca Caragiale's earlier attacks. This he did by hosting the articles of aspiring journalist Constantin Al. Ionescu-Caion, who accused Caragiale of having plagiarized a Hungarian author by the name of Kemény in his tragedy play Năpasta. Kemény turned out to be non-existent.\",\n \"Kemény turned out to be non-existent. Kemény turned out to be non-existent. According to Vianu, Macedonski had no prior knowledge of the fraud, but had also been \\\"blinded\\\" by his resentments instead of displaying \\\"discernment\\\", and had even showed evidence of \\\"insanity\\\". Most in Macedonski's own series of anti-Caragiale articles were unsigned, or signed with pseudonyms such as Luciliu (\\\"Gaius Lucilius\\\").\",\n \"Most in Macedonski's own series of anti-Caragiale articles were unsigned, or signed with pseudonyms such as Luciliu (\\\"Gaius Lucilius\\\"). Like in the case of Eminescu's conflict with Macedonski, the polemic enlisted a negative response from the public. The poet's associate Th. M. Stoenescu convinced himself that Caragiale was being framed, and refused to allow Revista Literară to be used for endorsing Caion, which caused Macedonski to shun him.\",\n \"M. Stoenescu convinced himself that Caragiale was being framed, and refused to allow Revista Literară to be used for endorsing Caion, which caused Macedonski to shun him. Macedonski refused to withdraw his support for the cause even after Caragiale sued Caion, but Forța Morală soon went out of print. Before it did so, the journal hosted some of Macedonski's most renowned poems, including Lewki and Noaptea de decemvrie (\\\"December Night\\\"), together with his article on Remy de Gourmont's thoughts on poetics.\",\n \"Before it did so, the journal hosted some of Macedonski's most renowned poems, including Lewki and Noaptea de decemvrie (\\\"December Night\\\"), together with his article on Remy de Gourmont's thoughts on poetics. In his article of 1903, titled (\\\"Toward Occultism. Later Orientations toward Theosophy and Social Philosophy\\\"), the poet envisaged making his interest in esoteric subjects the basis of a new literary movement.\",\n \"Later Orientations toward Theosophy and Social Philosophy\\\"), the poet envisaged making his interest in esoteric subjects the basis of a new literary movement. Also that year, poet George Bacovia began attending the literary circle, and gave a reading of his celebrated Plumb poem, being welcomed by Macedonski with a flattering epigram. Macedonski's series of short-lived periodicals resumed in 1905, when he founded Le Beau Danube Bleu (French for \\\"The Beautiful Blue Danube\\\") and Liga Conservatoare (\\\"The Conservative League\\\").\",\n \"Macedonski's series of short-lived periodicals resumed in 1905, when he founded Le Beau Danube Bleu (French for \\\"The Beautiful Blue Danube\\\") and Liga Conservatoare (\\\"The Conservative League\\\"). He registered more success in 1906, when his Thalassa was published, as Le Calvaire de feu, by Edward Sansot's Paris-based publishing house. This followed intense self-promotion within the French literary environment, as well as advertisements in the French press.\",\n \"This followed intense self-promotion within the French literary environment, as well as advertisements in the French press. Part of this involved Macedonski sending his book to be reviewed by Émile Faguet, Jean Mounet-Sully, Joséphin Péladan, Pierre Quillard and Jean Richepin, who replied with what Vianu deems \\\"the politeness of circumstance.\\\" The volume was nonetheless favorably reviewed by the prestigious magazines Mercure de France and Gil Blas.\",\n \"The volume was nonetheless favorably reviewed by the prestigious magazines Mercure de France and Gil Blas. Also in 1906, La Revue Musicale published his interview with Combarieu, through which the latter aimed to verify supposed connections between literary inspiration and musical sensitivity. By 1907, he was concentrating on experiments in physics, and eventually publicized his claim to have discovered that light does not travel through vacuum. He sent a paper on astronomy subjects to be reviewed by the Société Astronomique de France, of which he subsequently became a member.\",\n \"He sent a paper on astronomy subjects to be reviewed by the Société Astronomique de France, of which he subsequently became a member. The same year, he drafted the plan for a world government, announcing that he had found sympathy for the cause throughout Europe. Macedonski also introduced himself to an Italophone public, when two of his sonnets were published by Poesia, the magazine of Futurist theorist Filippo Tommaso Marinetti. Between 1910 and 1912, Macedonski was again in Paris.\",\n \"Between 1910 and 1912, Macedonski was again in Paris. Seeking to withdraw himself from Romania's public life due to what he perceived as injustice, he had by then completed work on the French-language tragicomedy Le Fou? (\\\"The Madman? \\\"), which was only published after his death.\",\n \"\\\"), which was only published after his death. He was actively seeking to establish his reputation in French theater, reading his new play to a circle which included Louis de Gonzague Frick and Florian-Parmentier, while, at home, newspapers reported rumors that his work was going to be staged by Sarah Bernhardt's company. His efforts were largely fruitless, and, accompanied by his son Alexis, the poet left France, spent some time in Italy, and eventually returned to Romania.\",\n \"His efforts were largely fruitless, and, accompanied by his son Alexis, the poet left France, spent some time in Italy, and eventually returned to Romania. Passing through the German Empire, he learned of Ion Luca Caragiale's sudden death, and wrote Adevărul daily an open letter, which showed that he had come to revise his stance, notably comparing the deceased author's style and legacy to those of Mark Twain.\",\n \"Passing through the German Empire, he learned of Ion Luca Caragiale's sudden death, and wrote Adevărul daily an open letter, which showed that he had come to revise his stance, notably comparing the deceased author's style and legacy to those of Mark Twain. During Macedonski's absence, his style and work had come to be reviewed more positively, in particular by the young authors I. Dragoslav, Horia Furtună, Ion Pillat, Anastasie Mândru, Al.\",\n \"During Macedonski's absence, his style and work had come to be reviewed more positively, in particular by the young authors I. Dragoslav, Horia Furtună, Ion Pillat, Anastasie Mândru, Al. T. Stamatiad, as well as by post-Junimist critic Mihail Dragomirescu, who offered Macedonski a good reception in his Convorbiri Critice magazine. Tudor Vianu, who cites contemporary statements by Dragoslav, concludes that, upon arrival, Macedonski was enthusiastically received by a public who had missed him.\",\n \"Tudor Vianu, who cites contemporary statements by Dragoslav, concludes that, upon arrival, Macedonski was enthusiastically received by a public who had missed him. Also in 1912, one of his poems was published as an homage by Simbolul, a magazine published by the young and radical Symbolists Tristan Tzara, Ion Vinea and Marcel Janco. Around that time, Macedonski also collaborated with the Iași-based moderate Symbolist magazine Versuri și Proză.\",\n \"Around that time, Macedonski also collaborated with the Iași-based moderate Symbolist magazine Versuri și Proză. Polemics surrounding his case nevertheless continued: in late 1912, as part of a National Theater adaptation of Alphonse Daudet's Sapho, actor Cazimir Belcot borrowed from Macedonski's appearance and mannerisms to portray a failure. Return and World War I years Macedonski and his protégés had become regular frequenters of Bucharest cafés.\",\n \"Return and World War I years Macedonski and his protégés had become regular frequenters of Bucharest cafés. Having a table permanently reserved for him at Imperial Hotel's Kübler Coffeehouse, he was later a presence in two other such establishments: High-Life and Terasa Oteteleșanu. He is said to have spent part of his time at Kübler loudly mocking the traditionalist poets who gathered at an opposite table.\",\n \"He is said to have spent part of his time at Kübler loudly mocking the traditionalist poets who gathered at an opposite table. Meanwhile, the poet's literary club, set up at his house in Dorobanți quarter, had come to resemble a mystical circle, over which he held magisterial command. Vianu, who visited the poet together with Pillat, compares this atmosphere with those created by other \\\"mystics and magi of poetry\\\" (citing as examples Joséphin Péladan, Louis-Nicolas Ménard, Stéphane Mallarmé and Stefan George).\",\n \"Vianu, who visited the poet together with Pillat, compares this atmosphere with those created by other \\\"mystics and magi of poetry\\\" (citing as examples Joséphin Péladan, Louis-Nicolas Ménard, Stéphane Mallarmé and Stefan George). The hall where seances were hosted was only lit by candles, and the tables were covered in red fabric. Macedonski himself was seated on a throne designed by Alexis, and adopted a dominant pose. The apparent secrecy and the initiation rites performed on new members were purportedly inspired by Rosicrucianism and the Freemasonry.\",\n \"The apparent secrecy and the initiation rites performed on new members were purportedly inspired by Rosicrucianism and the Freemasonry. By then, Macedonski was rewarding his followers' poems with false gemstones. The poet founded Revista Critică (\\\"The Critical Review\\\"), which again closed after a short while, and issued the poetry volume Flori sacre (\\\"Sacred Flowers\\\").\",\n \"The poet founded Revista Critică (\\\"The Critical Review\\\"), which again closed after a short while, and issued the poetry volume Flori sacre (\\\"Sacred Flowers\\\"). Grouping his Forța Morală poems and older pieces, it was dedicated to his new generation of followers, whom Macedonski's preface referred to as \\\"the new Romania.\\\" He continued to hope that Le Fou?\",\n \"He continued to hope that Le Fou? He continued to hope that Le Fou? was going to be staged in France, especially after he received some encouragement in the form of articles in Mercure de France and Journal des Débats, but was confronted with the general public's indifference. In 1914, Thalassa was published in a non-definitive version by Constantin Banu's magazine Flacăra, which sought to revive overall interest in his work.\",\n \"In 1914, Thalassa was published in a non-definitive version by Constantin Banu's magazine Flacăra, which sought to revive overall interest in his work. At a French Red Cross conference in September, Macedonski paid his final public homage to France, which had just become entangled in World War I.\",\n \"At a French Red Cross conference in September, Macedonski paid his final public homage to France, which had just become entangled in World War I. It was also in 1914 that Macedonski commissioned for print his very first rondels and completed work on a tragedy play about Renaissance poet Dante Aligheri—known as La Mort de Dante in its French original, and Moartea lui Dante in the secondary Romanian version (both meaning \\\"Dante's Death\\\").\",\n \"It was also in 1914 that Macedonski commissioned for print his very first rondels and completed work on a tragedy play about Renaissance poet Dante Aligheri—known as La Mort de Dante in its French original, and Moartea lui Dante in the secondary Romanian version (both meaning \\\"Dante's Death\\\"). The aging poet was by then building connections with the local art scene: together with artist Alexandru Severin, he created (and probably presided over) Cenaclul idealist (\\\"The Idealist Club\\\"), which included Symbolist artists and was placed under the honorary patronage of King Carol.\",\n \"The aging poet was by then building connections with the local art scene: together with artist Alexandru Severin, he created (and probably presided over) Cenaclul idealist (\\\"The Idealist Club\\\"), which included Symbolist artists and was placed under the honorary patronage of King Carol. 1916 was also the year when Romania abandoned her neutrality and, under a National Liberal government, rallied with the Entente Powers.\",\n \"1916 was also the year when Romania abandoned her neutrality and, under a National Liberal government, rallied with the Entente Powers. During the neutrality period, Macedonski had shed his lifelong Francophilia to join the Germanophiles, who wanted to see Romanian participation on the Central Powers' side. In 1915, he issued the journal Cuvântul Meu (\\\"My Word\\\").\",\n \"In 1915, he issued the journal Cuvântul Meu (\\\"My Word\\\"). Entirely written by him, it published ten consecutive issues before going bankrupt, and notably lashed out against France for being \\\"bourgeois\\\" and \\\"lawyer-filled\\\", demanding from Romania not to get involved in the conflict. Commentators and researchers of his work have declared themselves puzzled by this change in allegiance. Macedonski further alienated public opinion during the Romanian Campaign, when the Central Powers armies entered southern Romania and occupied Bucharest.\",\n \"Macedonski further alienated public opinion during the Romanian Campaign, when the Central Powers armies entered southern Romania and occupied Bucharest. Alexis was drafted and became a war artist, but Macedonski Sr, who received formal protection from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bucharest, chose to stay behind while the authorities and many ordinary citizens relocated to Iași, where resistance was still being organized. His stance was interpreted as collaborationism by his critics. However, Macedonski reportedly faced extreme poverty throughout the occupation.\",\n \"However, Macedonski reportedly faced extreme poverty throughout the occupation. Having by then begun to attend the circle of Alexandru Bogdan-Pitești, his promoter and fellow Germanophile, he was once rewarded by the latter with a turkey filled with gold coins. Late polemics, illness and death Literatorul resumed print in June 1918, once Romania capitulated to the Central Powers under the Treaty of Bucharest.\",\n \"Late polemics, illness and death Literatorul resumed print in June 1918, once Romania capitulated to the Central Powers under the Treaty of Bucharest. A controversial incident occurred soon afterwards, when, going against the counsel of his friend and collaborator Stamatiad, Macedonski signed a Literatorul article where the German military administrator August von Mackensen, who was about to lead his troops out of Romania, was presented in a positive light.\",\n \"A controversial incident occurred soon afterwards, when, going against the counsel of his friend and collaborator Stamatiad, Macedonski signed a Literatorul article where the German military administrator August von Mackensen, who was about to lead his troops out of Romania, was presented in a positive light. In a manner deemed \\\"excessive\\\" by historian Lucian Boia, the Romanian writer was paying homage not just to Mackensen, but also, indirectly, to German Emperor Wilhelm II and the Reichsheer.\",\n \"In a manner deemed \\\"excessive\\\" by historian Lucian Boia, the Romanian writer was paying homage not just to Mackensen, but also, indirectly, to German Emperor Wilhelm II and the Reichsheer. Soon after reading the piece, Romanian Academy member and fellow Symbolist promoter Ovid Densusianu withdrew his own nomination of Macedonski for an Academy seat.\",\n \"Soon after reading the piece, Romanian Academy member and fellow Symbolist promoter Ovid Densusianu withdrew his own nomination of Macedonski for an Academy seat. During summer, Macedonski also joined the group of public figures who saluted the senior Conservative Germanophile Petre P. Carp (deeming Carp \\\"the veteran of character, honesty and Romanianism\\\"), and, in September, joined Ioan Slavici and Gala Galaction as a contributor to the occupation magazine Rumänien in Wort und Bild, where he prophesied an anti-French \\\"political renaissance\\\" of Romania.\",\n \"During summer, Macedonski also joined the group of public figures who saluted the senior Conservative Germanophile Petre P. Carp (deeming Carp \\\"the veteran of character, honesty and Romanianism\\\"), and, in September, joined Ioan Slavici and Gala Galaction as a contributor to the occupation magazine Rumänien in Wort und Bild, where he prophesied an anti-French \\\"political renaissance\\\" of Romania. Alexandru Macedonski faced problems after the Romanian government resumed its control over Bucharest, and during the early years of Greater Romania.\",\n \"Alexandru Macedonski faced problems after the Romanian government resumed its control over Bucharest, and during the early years of Greater Romania. What followed the Mackensen article, Vianu claims, was Macedonski's bellum contra omnes (\\\"war against all\\\").\",\n \"What followed the Mackensen article, Vianu claims, was Macedonski's bellum contra omnes (\\\"war against all\\\"). However, the poet made efforts to accommodate himself with the triumphal return of the Iași authorities: in December 1918, Literatorul celebrated the extension of Romanian rule \\\"from the Tisza to the Dniester\\\" as a success of the National Liberals, paying homage to Francophile political leaders Ion I. C. Brătianu and Take Ionescu.\",\n \"However, the poet made efforts to accommodate himself with the triumphal return of the Iași authorities: in December 1918, Literatorul celebrated the extension of Romanian rule \\\"from the Tisza to the Dniester\\\" as a success of the National Liberals, paying homage to Francophile political leaders Ion I. C. Brătianu and Take Ionescu. Macedonski also envisaged running in the 1918 election for a seat in the new Parliament (which was supposed to vote a document to replace the 1866 Constitution as the organic law), but never registered his candidature.\",\n \"Macedonski also envisaged running in the 1918 election for a seat in the new Parliament (which was supposed to vote a document to replace the 1866 Constitution as the organic law), but never registered his candidature. According to Vianu, he had intended to create a joke political party, the \\\"intellectual group\\\", whose other member was an unnamed coffeehouse acquaintance of his. Literatorul was revived for a final time in 1919. His health deteriorated from heart disease, which is described by Vianu as an effect of constant smoking.\",\n \"His health deteriorated from heart disease, which is described by Vianu as an effect of constant smoking. By that stage, Vianu recalls, Macedonski also had problems coming to terms with his age. His last anthumous work was the pamphlet Zaherlina (named after the Romanian version of \\\"Zacherlin\\\"; also known as Zacherlina or Zacherlina în continuare, \\\"Zacherlin Contd. \\\"), completed in 1919 and published the following year. It notably attacked Densusianu, who had become Macedonski's personal enemy.\",\n \"It notably attacked Densusianu, who had become Macedonski's personal enemy. Some other polemical texts he had authored late in life saw print only after his death, under the title Mustrări postume către o generație neînțelegătoare (\\\"Posthumous Reprimands for an Obtuse Generation\\\"). 1920 was also the year when the People's Party cabinet attempted to pension him off from his office at the Historical Monuments Commission, but the publicized protest of Macedonski's fellow writers in Bucharest made it reconsider.\",\n \"1920 was also the year when the People's Party cabinet attempted to pension him off from his office at the Historical Monuments Commission, but the publicized protest of Macedonski's fellow writers in Bucharest made it reconsider. Confined to his home by illness and old age, Macedonski was still writing poems, some of which later known as his Ultima verba (\\\"Last Words\\\"). The writer died on 24 November, at three o'clock in the afternoon.\",\n \"The writer died on 24 November, at three o'clock in the afternoon. Having come to develop an addiction to floral fragrances, he was inhaling a rose petal extract during his last hours. He was buried in Bucharest's Bellu. Work General characteristics Although Alexandru Macedonski frequently changed his style and views on literary matters, a number of constants have been traced throughout his work.\",\n \"Work General characteristics Although Alexandru Macedonski frequently changed his style and views on literary matters, a number of constants have been traced throughout his work. Thus, a common perception is that his literature had a strongly visual aspect, the notion being condensed in Cincinat Pavelescu's definition of Macedonski: \\\"Poet, therefore painter; painter, therefore poet.\\\" Traian Demetrescu too recalled that his mentor had been dreaming of becoming a visual artist, and had eventually settled for turning his son Alexis into one.\",\n \"Traian Demetrescu too recalled that his mentor had been dreaming of becoming a visual artist, and had eventually settled for turning his son Alexis into one. This pictorial approach to writing created parallels between Macedonski and his traditionalist contemporaries Vasile Alecsandri and Barbu Ștefănescu Delavrancea. Following the tenets of Dimitrie Bolintineanu and Théophile Gautier, the writer repeatedly called for purity in versification, and upheld it as an essential requirement, while progressively seeking to verify the quality of his poetry through phonaesthetics.\",\n \"Following the tenets of Dimitrie Bolintineanu and Théophile Gautier, the writer repeatedly called for purity in versification, and upheld it as an essential requirement, while progressively seeking to verify the quality of his poetry through phonaesthetics. A characteristic of Macedonski's style is his inventive use of Romanian. Initially influenced by Ion Heliade Rădulescu's introduction of Italian-based words to the Romanian lexis, Macedonski himself later infused poetic language with a large array of neologisms from several Romance sources.\",\n \"Initially influenced by Ion Heliade Rădulescu's introduction of Italian-based words to the Romanian lexis, Macedonski himself later infused poetic language with a large array of neologisms from several Romance sources. Likewise, Vianu notes, Macedonski had a tendency for comparing nature with the artificial, the result of this being a \\\"document\\\" of his values. Macedonski's language alternated neologisms with barbarisms, many of which were coined by him personally.\",\n \"Macedonski's language alternated neologisms with barbarisms, many of which were coined by him personally. They include claviculat (\\\"clavicled\\\", applied to a shoulder), împălăriată (\\\"enhatted\\\", used to define a crowd of hat-wearing tourists), and ureichii (instead of urechii, \\\"to the ear\\\" or \\\"of the ear\\\"). His narratives nevertheless take an interest in recording direct speech, used as a method of characterization.\",\n \"His narratives nevertheless take an interest in recording direct speech, used as a method of characterization. However, Călinescu criticizes Macedonski for using a language which, \\\"although grammatically correct [...], seems to have been learned only recently\\\", as well as for not following other Romanian writers in creating a lasting poetic style. The writer's belief in the effects of sheer willpower, notably present in his comments on esoteric subjects, was itself a defining characteristic of his perspective on literature.\",\n \"The writer's belief in the effects of sheer willpower, notably present in his comments on esoteric subjects, was itself a defining characteristic of his perspective on literature. In 1882, he wrote about progression in one's career: \\\"We are all poets at birth, but only those who shape themselves through study will become poets.\\\"\",\n \"In 1882, he wrote about progression in one's career: \\\"We are all poets at birth, but only those who shape themselves through study will become poets.\\\" Vianu, who notes Macedonski's \\\"exclusivity\\\" and \\\"fanaticism\\\", places such statements in connection with Macedonski's personal ambition, \\\"pride\\\" and \\\"the willingness to carry out ventured actions [...], in stated opposition with the entire surrounding and with contempt for the foreseeable reaction.\\\"\",\n \"Vianu, who notes Macedonski's \\\"exclusivity\\\" and \\\"fanaticism\\\", places such statements in connection with Macedonski's personal ambition, \\\"pride\\\" and \\\"the willingness to carry out ventured actions [...], in stated opposition with the entire surrounding and with contempt for the foreseeable reaction.\\\" Almost all periods of Macedonski's work reflect, in whole or in part, his public persona and the polemics he was involved in.\",\n \"Almost all periods of Macedonski's work reflect, in whole or in part, his public persona and the polemics he was involved in. George Călinescu's emits a verdict on the relation between his lifetime notoriety and the public's actual awareness of his work: \\\"Macedonski [was] a poet well-known for being an unknown poet.\\\"\",\n \"George Călinescu's emits a verdict on the relation between his lifetime notoriety and the public's actual awareness of his work: \\\"Macedonski [was] a poet well-known for being an unknown poet.\\\" According to literary critic Matei Călinescu, the innovative aspects of his impact on Romanian literature were not as much related to his \\\"literary ideology\\\", as much as to his \\\"contradictory spirit\\\" and \\\"essential nonconformism\\\".\",\n \"According to literary critic Matei Călinescu, the innovative aspects of his impact on Romanian literature were not as much related to his \\\"literary ideology\\\", as much as to his \\\"contradictory spirit\\\" and \\\"essential nonconformism\\\". However, literary researcher Adrian Marino proposes that Macedonski was one of the first modern authors to illustrate the importance of \\\"dialectic unity\\\" through his views on art, in particular by having argued that poetry needed to be driven by \\\"an idea\\\".\",\n \"However, literary researcher Adrian Marino proposes that Macedonski was one of the first modern authors to illustrate the importance of \\\"dialectic unity\\\" through his views on art, in particular by having argued that poetry needed to be driven by \\\"an idea\\\". Having theorized once, while questioning Junimist rigor, that \\\"the logic of poetry is absurdity itself [italics in the original]\\\", the poet also said: \\\"Poetry is the chaos of spirit and matter, of the cries of distress and mad laughter.\",\n \"Having theorized once, while questioning Junimist rigor, that \\\"the logic of poetry is absurdity itself [italics in the original]\\\", the poet also said: \\\"Poetry is the chaos of spirit and matter, of the cries of distress and mad laughter. From the sublime to the trivial, that is what it should be.\\\" He later revised part of this verdict, and, making explicit his adoption of aestheticism, spoke against trivial subjects and in favor of the sublime.\",\n \"He later revised part of this verdict, and, making explicit his adoption of aestheticism, spoke against trivial subjects and in favor of the sublime. While Macedonski also discarded the concept of \\\"social poetry\\\" not long after postulating it, its spirit, Tudor Vianu believes, can still be found in his later contributions. This, the critic notes, was owed to his \\\"social temperament\\\", whose \\\"fundamental experience is that of the social.\\\"\",\n \"This, the critic notes, was owed to his \\\"social temperament\\\", whose \\\"fundamental experience is that of the social.\\\" Discussing this sociable and extrovert character, other critics see in the poet's life and work the imprint of \\\"quixotism\\\". Also according to Vianu, this contrasted with Macedonski's failures in communicating with the public, an experience which made him \\\"misanthropic\\\" and contributed to his ultimate vision of death as freedom.\",\n \"Also according to Vianu, this contrasted with Macedonski's failures in communicating with the public, an experience which made him \\\"misanthropic\\\" and contributed to his ultimate vision of death as freedom. Literary historian Pompiliu Constantinescu concluded: \\\"Macedonski could not resign; his one martyrdom was for Art, as the sole liberation from a tormented life.\\\" Other commentators have defined the poet's perspective on life as a result of \\\"neurosis\\\".\",\n \"Other commentators have defined the poet's perspective on life as a result of \\\"neurosis\\\". In Vianu's perspective, Macedonski's stance is dominated by a mixture of nostalgia, sensuality, lugubrious-grotesque imagery, and \\\"the lack of bashfulness for antisocial sentiments\\\" which compliments his sarcasm.\",\n \"In Vianu's perspective, Macedonski's stance is dominated by a mixture of nostalgia, sensuality, lugubrious-grotesque imagery, and \\\"the lack of bashfulness for antisocial sentiments\\\" which compliments his sarcasm. In respect to the latter characteristic, Vianu notes \\\"no one in Romanian literature has laughed the same way as Macedonski\\\", whereas critic Ștefan Cazimir argues: \\\"[Macedonski was] lacking the sense of relativity in principles, and implicitly a sense of humor.\\\"\",\n \"In respect to the latter characteristic, Vianu notes \\\"no one in Romanian literature has laughed the same way as Macedonski\\\", whereas critic Ștefan Cazimir argues: \\\"[Macedonski was] lacking the sense of relativity in principles, and implicitly a sense of humor.\\\" Cazimir adds: \\\"Only when he aged did [Macedonski] learn to smile\\\".\",\n \"Cazimir adds: \\\"Only when he aged did [Macedonski] learn to smile\\\". George Călinescu himself believes Macedonski to have been \\\"fundamentally a spiritual man with lots of humor\\\", speculating that he was able to see the \\\"uselessness\\\" of his own scientific ventures. Critics note that, while Macedonski progressed from one stage to the other, his work fluctuated between artistic accomplishment and mediocrity.\",\n \"Critics note that, while Macedonski progressed from one stage to the other, his work fluctuated between artistic accomplishment and mediocrity. Tudor Vianu believes \\\"failure in reaching originality\\\" and reliance on \\\"soppy-conventional attributes of the day\\\" to be especially evident wherever Macedonski tried to emulate epic poetry. He also notes that Macedonski's love-themed pieces \\\"cannot be listed among [his] most fortunate\\\". At his best, commentators note, he was one of the Romanian literature's classics.\",\n \"At his best, commentators note, he was one of the Romanian literature's classics. Macedonski is thus perceived as the author second only to Eminescu, and as his ideal counterpart—a relation Vianu describes as \\\"the internal dualism [confronting] two familiar gods\\\". Various critics have compared Eminescu's poetic discourse with that of the Symbolist leader, concluding that the two poets often display very similar attitudes.\",\n \"Various critics have compared Eminescu's poetic discourse with that of the Symbolist leader, concluding that the two poets often display very similar attitudes. Călinescu writes that, while Macedonski's work is largely inferior to that of his Junimist rival, it forms the best \\\"reply\\\" ever conceived within their common setting. Prima verba and other early works With Ion Catina, Vasile Păun and Grigore H. Grandea, young Macedonski belonged to late Romanian Romanticism, part of a Neoromantic generation which had for its mentors Heliade Rădulescu and Bolintineanu.\",\n \"Prima verba and other early works With Ion Catina, Vasile Păun and Grigore H. Grandea, young Macedonski belonged to late Romanian Romanticism, part of a Neoromantic generation which had for its mentors Heliade Rădulescu and Bolintineanu. Other early influences were Pierre-Jean de Béranger and Gottfried August Bürger, together with Romanian folklore, motifs from them being adapted by Macedonski into pastorals and ballades of ca. 1870–1880.\",\n \"1870–1880. 1870–1880. The imprint of Romanticism and such other sources was evident in Prima verba, which groups pieces that Macedonski authored in his early youth, the earliest of them being written when he was just twelve. Critics generally argue that the volume is without value. The poems display his rebellious attitude, self-victimization and strong reliance on autobiographical elements, centering on such episodes as the death of his father.\",\n \"The poems display his rebellious attitude, self-victimization and strong reliance on autobiographical elements, centering on such episodes as the death of his father. In one piece inspired by the ideology of Heliade Rădulescu, Vianu notes, Macedonski sings \\\"the French Revolution's love for freedom and equality, otherwise proclaimed from his nobleman's perspective.\\\" It reads: In parallel, Macedonski used erotic themes, completing a series which, although written on the model of idylls, is noted for its brute details of sexual exploits.\",\n \"It reads: In parallel, Macedonski used erotic themes, completing a series which, although written on the model of idylls, is noted for its brute details of sexual exploits. The poet probably acknowledged that posterity would reject them, and did not republish them in any of his collected poetry volumes. During his time at Oltul (1873–1875), Macedonski published a series of poems, most of which were not featured in definitive editions of his work.\",\n \"During his time at Oltul (1873–1875), Macedonski published a series of poems, most of which were not featured in definitive editions of his work. In addition to odes written in the Italian-based version of Romanian, it includes lyrics which satirize Carol I without mentioning his name. Following his arrest, Macedonski also completed Celula mea de la Văcărești (\\\"My Cell in Văcărești\\\"), which shows his attempt to joke about the situation.\",\n \"Following his arrest, Macedonski also completed Celula mea de la Văcărești (\\\"My Cell in Văcărești\\\"), which shows his attempt to joke about the situation. In contrast to this series, some of the pieces written during Macedonski's time in the Budjak and Northern Dobruja display a detachment from contemporary themes. At that stage, he was especially inspired by Lord Byron, whom Vianu calls \\\"the sovereign poet of [Macedonski's] youth.\\\"\",\n \"At that stage, he was especially inspired by Lord Byron, whom Vianu calls \\\"the sovereign poet of [Macedonski's] youth.\\\" In Calul arabului, Macedonski explores exotic and Levantine settings, using symbols which announce George Coșbuc's El-Zorab, and the Venetian-themed Ithalo, which centers on episodes of betrayal and murder. Others were epic and patriotic in tone, with subjects such as Romanian victories in the Russo-Turkish War or the Imperial Roman sites along the Danube.\",\n \"Others were epic and patriotic in tone, with subjects such as Romanian victories in the Russo-Turkish War or the Imperial Roman sites along the Danube. One of these pieces, titled Hinov after the village and stone quarry in Rasova, gives Macedonski a claim to being the first modern European poet to have used free verse, ahead of the French Symbolist Gustave Kahn.\",\n \"One of these pieces, titled Hinov after the village and stone quarry in Rasova, gives Macedonski a claim to being the first modern European poet to have used free verse, ahead of the French Symbolist Gustave Kahn. Macedonski himself later voiced the claim, and referred to such a technique as \\\"symphonic verse\\\", \\\"proteic verse\\\", or, in honor of composer Richard Wagner, \\\"Wagnerian verse\\\". While editing Oltul, Macedonski also completed his first prose writings.\",\n \"While editing Oltul, Macedonski also completed his first prose writings. These were the travel account Pompeia și Sorento (\\\"Pompeia and Sorento\\\", 1874) and a prison-themed story described by Vianu as \\\"a tearjerker\\\", titled Câinele din Văcărești (\\\"The Dog in Văcărești\\\", 1875). These were later complemented by other travel works, which critic Mihai Zamfir likens to the verbal experiments of Impressionist literature, pioneering in the Romanian prose poetry genre.\",\n \"These were later complemented by other travel works, which critic Mihai Zamfir likens to the verbal experiments of Impressionist literature, pioneering in the Romanian prose poetry genre. The short comedy Gemenii was his debut work for the stage, but, according to Vianu, failed to show any merit other than a \\\"logical construction\\\" and a preview into Macedonski's use of sarcasm. These writings were followed in 1876 by a concise biography of Cârjaliul, an early 19th-century hajduk.\",\n \"These writings were followed in 1876 by a concise biography of Cârjaliul, an early 19th-century hajduk. In line with his first Levant-themed poems, Macedonski authored the 1877 story Așa se fac banii (\\\"This Is How Money Is Made\\\", later retold in French as Comment on devient riche et puissant, \\\"How to Become Rich and Powerful\\\"), a fable of fatalism and the Muslim world—it dealt with two brothers, one hard-working and one indolent, the latter of whom earns his money through a series of serendipitous events.\",\n \"In line with his first Levant-themed poems, Macedonski authored the 1877 story Așa se fac banii (\\\"This Is How Money Is Made\\\", later retold in French as Comment on devient riche et puissant, \\\"How to Become Rich and Powerful\\\"), a fable of fatalism and the Muslim world—it dealt with two brothers, one hard-working and one indolent, the latter of whom earns his money through a series of serendipitous events. Likewise, his verse comedy Iadeș!\",\n \"Likewise, his verse comedy Iadeș! Likewise, his verse comedy Iadeș! borrowed its theme from the widely circulated collection of Persian literature known as Sindipa. The setting was however modern, and, as noted by French-born critic Frédéric Damé, the plot also borrowed much from Émile Augier's Gabrielle and from other morality plays of the period. Part of the text was an ironic treatment of youth in liberal professions, an attitude which Macedonski fitted in his emerging anti-bourgeois discourse.\",\n \"Part of the text was an ironic treatment of youth in liberal professions, an attitude which Macedonski fitted in his emerging anti-bourgeois discourse. With the first poems in his Nights cycle, Macedonski still showed his allegiance to Romanticism, and in particular to Alphonse de Lamartine, and the supposed inventor of this theme, Alfred de Musset. Noaptea de noiembrie opens with a violent condemnation of his adversaries, and sees Macedonski depicting his own funeral.\",\n \"Noaptea de noiembrie opens with a violent condemnation of his adversaries, and sees Macedonski depicting his own funeral. The poem is commended by Călinescu, who notes that, in contrast to the \\\"apparently trivial beginning\\\", the main part, where Macedonski depicts himself in flight over the Danube, brings the Romanian writer close to the accomplishments of Dante Aligheri. The writer himself claimed that the piece evidenced \\\"the uttermost breath of inspiration I have ever felt in my life.\\\"\",\n \"The writer himself claimed that the piece evidenced \\\"the uttermost breath of inspiration I have ever felt in my life.\\\" Another poem, Noaptea de aprilie (\\\"April Night\\\"), was probably his testimony of unrequited love for Aristizza Romanescu. Realism and Naturalism By the 1880s, Macedonski developed and applied his \\\"social poetry\\\" theory, as branch of Realism.\",\n \"Realism and Naturalism By the 1880s, Macedonski developed and applied his \\\"social poetry\\\" theory, as branch of Realism. Explained by the writer himself as a reaction against the legacy of Lamartine, it also signified his brief affiliation with the Naturalist current, a radical segment of the Realist movement. Traian Demetrescu thus noted that Macedonski cherished the works of French Naturalists and Realists such as Gustave Flaubert and Émile Zola.\",\n \"Traian Demetrescu thus noted that Macedonski cherished the works of French Naturalists and Realists such as Gustave Flaubert and Émile Zola. During this phase, Macedonski made known his sympathy for the disinherited, from girls forced into prostitution to convicts sentenced to penal labor on salt mines, and also spoke out against the conventionalism of civil marriages. His Ocnele (\\\"The Salt Mines\\\") includes the verdict: Naturalist depiction was also the main element in his prose pieces of the early 1880s.\",\n \"His Ocnele (\\\"The Salt Mines\\\") includes the verdict: Naturalist depiction was also the main element in his prose pieces of the early 1880s. Among them was the first of several sketch stories using still life techniques, Casa cu nr. 10 (according to Zamfir, a prime sample of Macedonski's \\\"ornamental\\\" genre). With Între cotețe, Dramă banală and later Cometa lui Odorescu (\\\"Odorescu's Comet\\\"), Macedonski speaks about his own biography.\",\n \"With Între cotețe, Dramă banală and later Cometa lui Odorescu (\\\"Odorescu's Comet\\\"), Macedonski speaks about his own biography. The former has for a protagonist Pandele Vergea, a thirty-five-year-old man who is consumed by an avicultural obsession, who dreams of turning into a bird, and who is eventually maimed by his overcrowded fowls.\",\n \"The former has for a protagonist Pandele Vergea, a thirty-five-year-old man who is consumed by an avicultural obsession, who dreams of turning into a bird, and who is eventually maimed by his overcrowded fowls. In contrast, Dereanu is a bohemian university student, possessed by dreams of military and political glory, and who meditates about his future in front of Heliade Rădulescu's statue or in Bucharest cafés. Also a bohemian, Odorescu announces his discovery of a comet, before being proved wrong by his aunt, an ordinary woman.\",\n \"Also a bohemian, Odorescu announces his discovery of a comet, before being proved wrong by his aunt, an ordinary woman. Some pieces also double as memoirs: in Dramă banală, the plot revolves around Macedonski's recollection of the 1866 plebiscite. Vianu draws attention to the picturesque depiction of historic Bucharest, a contributing element in Cometa..., Casa cu nr. 10 and Între cotețe. With Unchiașul Sărăcie (also written in verse), Macedonski took Naturalist tenets into the field of drama.\",\n \"With Unchiașul Sărăcie (also written in verse), Macedonski took Naturalist tenets into the field of drama. Frédéric Damé believed it an imitation of a play by Ernest d'Hervilly and Alfred Grévin, but, Vianu argues, the Romanian text was only loosely based on theirs: in Macedonski's adaptation, the theme became fairy tale-like, and used a speech style based on Romanian folklore.\",\n \"Frédéric Damé believed it an imitation of a play by Ernest d'Hervilly and Alfred Grévin, but, Vianu argues, the Romanian text was only loosely based on theirs: in Macedonski's adaptation, the theme became fairy tale-like, and used a speech style based on Romanian folklore. Around the time of its completion, Macedonski was also working on a similarly loose adaptation of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, which notably had the two protagonists die in each other's arms.\",\n \"Around the time of its completion, Macedonski was also working on a similarly loose adaptation of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, which notably had the two protagonists die in each other's arms. Another such play is 3 decemvrie (\\\"December 3\\\"), which partly retells Friedrich Ludwig Zacharias Werner's Der 24 Februar using Naturalist devices. By contrast, the homage-play Cuza-Vodă is mainly a Romantic piece, where Alexander John Cuza finds his political mission validated by legendary figures in Romanian history.\",\n \"By contrast, the homage-play Cuza-Vodă is mainly a Romantic piece, where Alexander John Cuza finds his political mission validated by legendary figures in Romanian history. In parallel, Macedonski was using poetry to carry out his polemics. In an 1884 epigram, he reacted against Alecsandri's Fântâna Blanduziei, but, in Vianu's definition, \\\"his regular causticity seems to be restrained.\\\"\",\n \"In an 1884 epigram, he reacted against Alecsandri's Fântâna Blanduziei, but, in Vianu's definition, \\\"his regular causticity seems to be restrained.\\\" The piece he had earlier written, presumably against Eminescu, scandalized the public by mocking the rival's mental ruin: According to Tudor Vianu, Macedonski was mostly motivated by his disappointment in Junimea, and in particular by Eminescu's response to his public persona.\",\n \"The piece he had earlier written, presumably against Eminescu, scandalized the public by mocking the rival's mental ruin: According to Tudor Vianu, Macedonski was mostly motivated by his disappointment in Junimea, and in particular by Eminescu's response to his public persona. Vianu contends that, although Macedonski \\\"never was familiar with the resigned and patient attitudes\\\", he was \\\"by no means an evil man.\\\"\",\n \"Vianu contends that, although Macedonski \\\"never was familiar with the resigned and patient attitudes\\\", he was \\\"by no means an evil man.\\\" On one occasion, the poet defended himself against criticism, noting that the epigram had not been specifically addressed to Eminescu, but had been labeled as such by the press, and claiming to have authored it years before its Literatorul edition. However, the later piece Viața de apoi (\\\"The Afterlife\\\") still displays resentments he harbored toward Eminescu.\",\n \"However, the later piece Viața de apoi (\\\"The Afterlife\\\") still displays resentments he harbored toward Eminescu. By 1880–1884, particularly after the Eminescu scandal, Macedonski envisaged prioritizing French as his language of expression. According to Vianu, Macedonski had traversed \\\"the lowest point\\\" of his existence, and had been subject to \\\"one of the most delicate mysteries of poetic creation.\\\"\",\n \"According to Vianu, Macedonski had traversed \\\"the lowest point\\\" of his existence, and had been subject to \\\"one of the most delicate mysteries of poetic creation.\\\" Among his pieces of the period is the French-language sonnet Pârle, il me dit alors (\\\"Speak, He Then Said to Me\\\"), where, Vianu notes, \\\"one discovers the state of mind of a poet who decides to expatriate himself.\\\"\",\n \"Among his pieces of the period is the French-language sonnet Pârle, il me dit alors (\\\"Speak, He Then Said to Me\\\"), where, Vianu notes, \\\"one discovers the state of mind of a poet who decides to expatriate himself.\\\" Adoption of Symbolism According to Mihai Zamfir, at the end of his transition from the \\\"mimetic and egocentric\\\" verse to Symbolist poetry, Macedonski emerged a \\\"remarkable, often extraordinary\\\" author.\",\n \"Adoption of Symbolism According to Mihai Zamfir, at the end of his transition from the \\\"mimetic and egocentric\\\" verse to Symbolist poetry, Macedonski emerged a \\\"remarkable, often extraordinary\\\" author. In the early 20th century, fellow poet and critic N. Davidescu described Macedonski, Ion Minulescu and other Symbolists from Wallachia as distinct from their Moldavian counterparts in both style and themes. Endorsing the theory and practice of Symbolism for much of his life, Macedonski retrospectively claimed to have been one of its first exponents.\",\n \"Endorsing the theory and practice of Symbolism for much of his life, Macedonski retrospectively claimed to have been one of its first exponents. His version of Symbolism, critic Paul Cernat notes, clashed with that advocated by many of his contemporaries in that it rejected merit to the Decadent movement, and represented the \\\"decorative\\\" aestheticist trend of Paranassian spirit within the Romanian Symbolist current.\",\n \"His version of Symbolism, critic Paul Cernat notes, clashed with that advocated by many of his contemporaries in that it rejected merit to the Decadent movement, and represented the \\\"decorative\\\" aestheticist trend of Paranassian spirit within the Romanian Symbolist current. Within Poezia viitorului, Macedonski invoked as his models to follow some important or secondary Symbolist and Parnassian figures: Charles Baudelaire, Joséphin Péladan, Maurice Maeterlinck, Stéphane Mallarmé and Jean Moréas.\",\n \"Within Poezia viitorului, Macedonski invoked as his models to follow some important or secondary Symbolist and Parnassian figures: Charles Baudelaire, Joséphin Péladan, Maurice Maeterlinck, Stéphane Mallarmé and Jean Moréas. In his review of Bronzes for Mercure de France, Pierre Quillard remarked the \\\"irreproachable\\\" technique, but criticized the poet for being too indebted to both Baudelaire and Leconte de Lisle; other Symbolist figures whom Macedonski is known to have borrowed from are José María de Heredia and Iwan Gilkin.\",\n \"In his review of Bronzes for Mercure de France, Pierre Quillard remarked the \\\"irreproachable\\\" technique, but criticized the poet for being too indebted to both Baudelaire and Leconte de Lisle; other Symbolist figures whom Macedonski is known to have borrowed from are José María de Heredia and Iwan Gilkin. While undergoing this transition, to what linguist Manuela-Delia Suciu argues is a mostly Parnassian phase, Macedonski was still referencing Naturalism, and considered it compatible with Symbolism.\",\n \"While undergoing this transition, to what linguist Manuela-Delia Suciu argues is a mostly Parnassian phase, Macedonski was still referencing Naturalism, and considered it compatible with Symbolism. With the adoption of such tenets came a succession of Symbolist poems, where the focus is on minutely-observed objects, usually items of luxury, partly reflecting themes he had explored in the Naturalist stage. Commenting on them, Tudor Vianu argues that no such works had ever been produced in Romanian literature up until that moment.\",\n \"Commenting on them, Tudor Vianu argues that no such works had ever been produced in Romanian literature up until that moment. In his Ospățul lui Pentaur (\\\"The Feast of Pentaur\\\"), the poet reflected on civilization itself, as reflected in inanimate opulence. The motif was also developed in descriptive prose fragments later grouped in Cartea de aur, collectively titled nuvele fără oameni (\\\"novellas without people\\\") and compared by Călinescu with the paintings of Theodor Aman.\",\n \"The motif was also developed in descriptive prose fragments later grouped in Cartea de aur, collectively titled nuvele fără oameni (\\\"novellas without people\\\") and compared by Călinescu with the paintings of Theodor Aman. Also during that stage, Macedonski was exploring the numerous links between Symbolism, mysticism and esotericism. Earlier pieces had already come to explore macabre themes characteristic for an early branch of Symbolism.\",\n \"Earlier pieces had already come to explore macabre themes characteristic for an early branch of Symbolism. Influenced by Maurice Rollinat, they include the somber Vaporul morții (\\\"The Ship of Death\\\") and Visul fatal (\\\"The Fatal Dream\\\").\",\n \"Influenced by Maurice Rollinat, they include the somber Vaporul morții (\\\"The Ship of Death\\\") and Visul fatal (\\\"The Fatal Dream\\\"). Likewise, the piece titled Imnul lui Satan (\\\"Satan's Hymn\\\") was placed by critics in connection with Les Litanies de Satan (part of Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du mal), but, Vianu argues, the source of Macedonski's satanic themes may have been lodged in his own vision of the world.\",\n \"Likewise, the piece titled Imnul lui Satan (\\\"Satan's Hymn\\\") was placed by critics in connection with Les Litanies de Satan (part of Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du mal), but, Vianu argues, the source of Macedonski's satanic themes may have been lodged in his own vision of the world. This interest also reflected in his 1893 Saul, where Cincinat Pavelescu's contribution is supposedly minimal.\",\n \"This interest also reflected in his 1893 Saul, where Cincinat Pavelescu's contribution is supposedly minimal. Echoing satanic themes, Ernest Legouvé's dramatic version of the Medea myth (which Macedonski translated at some point in his life) and the classical work of Jean Racine, it shows the dark powers of political conflict intervening between the eponymous king and his ephebos-like protégé David, the latter of whom turns out to be the agent of spiritual revolution.\",\n \"Echoing satanic themes, Ernest Legouvé's dramatic version of the Medea myth (which Macedonski translated at some point in his life) and the classical work of Jean Racine, it shows the dark powers of political conflict intervening between the eponymous king and his ephebos-like protégé David, the latter of whom turns out to be the agent of spiritual revolution. (\\\"August Night\\\"), outlines a monistic belief probably inspired by Rosicrucianism, stressing the unity between soul and matter and depicting Macedonski's own journey into a transcendental space.\",\n \"(\\\"August Night\\\"), outlines a monistic belief probably inspired by Rosicrucianism, stressing the unity between soul and matter and depicting Macedonski's own journey into a transcendental space. Following the examples of Baudelaire's Les paradis artificiels, but also echoing his readings from Paul Verlaine and Théophile Gautier, Macedonski left poems dealing with narcotics and substance abuse, at least some of which reflected his personal experience with nicotine and possibly other unnamed drugs.\",\n \"Following the examples of Baudelaire's Les paradis artificiels, but also echoing his readings from Paul Verlaine and Théophile Gautier, Macedonski left poems dealing with narcotics and substance abuse, at least some of which reflected his personal experience with nicotine and possibly other unnamed drugs. Also at that stage, Macedonski also began publishing the \\\"instrumentalist\\\" series of his Symbolist poems. This form of experimental poem was influenced by the theories of René Ghil and verified through his encounter with Remy de Gourmont's views.\",\n \"This form of experimental poem was influenced by the theories of René Ghil and verified through his encounter with Remy de Gourmont's views. In parallel, it reaffirmed Macedonski's personal view that music and the spoken word were intimately related (a perspective notably attested by his 1906 interview with Jules Combarieu). Romanian critic Petre Răileanu theorized that such elements evidenced Macedonski's transition to \\\"metaliterature\\\". On a different level, they echoed an older influence, that of Gottfried August Bürger.\",\n \"On a different level, they echoed an older influence, that of Gottfried August Bürger. Excelsior Despite having stated his interest in innovation, Macedonski generally displayed a more conventional style in his Excelsior volume. It included Noaptea de mai, which Vianu sees as \\\"one of the [vernacular's] most beautiful poems\\\" and as evidence of \\\"a clear joy, without any torment whatsoever\\\".\",\n \"It included Noaptea de mai, which Vianu sees as \\\"one of the [vernacular's] most beautiful poems\\\" and as evidence of \\\"a clear joy, without any torment whatsoever\\\". A celebration of spring partly evoking folkloric themes, it was made famous by the recurring refrain, Veniți: privighetoarea cântă și liliacul e-nflorit (\\\"Come along: the nightingale is singing and the lilac is in blossom\\\").\",\n \"A celebration of spring partly evoking folkloric themes, it was made famous by the recurring refrain, Veniți: privighetoarea cântă și liliacul e-nflorit (\\\"Come along: the nightingale is singing and the lilac is in blossom\\\"). Like Noaptea de mai, Lewki (named after and dedicated to the Snake Island), depicts intense joy, completed in this case by what Vianu calls \\\"the restorative touch of nature.\\\"\",\n \"Like Noaptea de mai, Lewki (named after and dedicated to the Snake Island), depicts intense joy, completed in this case by what Vianu calls \\\"the restorative touch of nature.\\\" The series also returned to Levant settings and Islamic imagery, particularly in Acșam dovalar (named after the Turkish version of Witr).\",\n \"The series also returned to Levant settings and Islamic imagery, particularly in Acșam dovalar (named after the Turkish version of Witr). Also noted within the volume is his short \\\"Modern Psalms\\\" series, including the piece Iertare (\\\"Forgiveness\\\"), which is addressed to God: Excelsior also included Noaptea de ianuarie (\\\"January Night\\\"), which encapsulates one of his best-known political statements. Anghelescu reads it as a \\\"meditation on disillusionment that culminates in a vitality-laden exhortation of action.\\\"\",\n \"Anghelescu reads it as a \\\"meditation on disillusionment that culminates in a vitality-laden exhortation of action.\\\" Its anti-bourgeois attitude, literary historian Z. Ornea argues, was one of the meeting points between Macedonski and Junimism. In what is seen as its most acid section, the text notably reads: At the same time as being engaged in his most violent polemics, Macedonski produced meditative and serene poems, which were later judged to be among his best.\",\n \"In what is seen as its most acid section, the text notably reads: At the same time as being engaged in his most violent polemics, Macedonski produced meditative and serene poems, which were later judged to be among his best. Noaptea de decemvrie is the synthesis of his main themes and influences, rated by commentators as his \\\"masterpiece\\\".\",\n \"Noaptea de decemvrie is the synthesis of his main themes and influences, rated by commentators as his \\\"masterpiece\\\". Partly based on an earlier poem (Meka, named after the Arab city), it tells the story of an emir, who, left unsatisfied by the shallow and opulent life he leads in Baghdad, decides to leave on pilgrimage.\",\n \"Partly based on an earlier poem (Meka, named after the Arab city), it tells the story of an emir, who, left unsatisfied by the shallow and opulent life he leads in Baghdad, decides to leave on pilgrimage. While critics agree that it is to be read as an allegory of Macedonski's biography, the ironic text does not make it clear whether the emir actually reaches his target, nor if the central metaphor of Mecca as a mirage means that the goal is not worth sacrificing for.\",\n \"While critics agree that it is to be read as an allegory of Macedonski's biography, the ironic text does not make it clear whether the emir actually reaches his target, nor if the central metaphor of Mecca as a mirage means that the goal is not worth sacrificing for. While Mircea Anghelescu comments that Macedonski illustrates \\\"unusual tension\\\" by rigorously amplifying references to the color red, seen as a symbol of suffering, Călinescu notes that the sequence of lyrics has a studied \\\"delirious\\\" element, and illustrates this with the quote: Late prose works In prose, his focus shifted back to the purely descriptive, or led Alexandru Macedonski into the realm of fantasy literature.\",\n \"While Mircea Anghelescu comments that Macedonski illustrates \\\"unusual tension\\\" by rigorously amplifying references to the color red, seen as a symbol of suffering, Călinescu notes that the sequence of lyrics has a studied \\\"delirious\\\" element, and illustrates this with the quote: Late prose works In prose, his focus shifted back to the purely descriptive, or led Alexandru Macedonski into the realm of fantasy literature. These stories, most of which were eventually collected in Cartea de aur, include memoirs of his childhood in the Amaradia region, nostalgic portrayals of the Oltenian boyar environment, idealized depictions of Cuza's reign, as well as a retrospective view on the end of Rom slavery (found in his piece Verigă țiganul, \\\"Verigă the Gypsy\\\").\",\n \"These stories, most of which were eventually collected in Cartea de aur, include memoirs of his childhood in the Amaradia region, nostalgic portrayals of the Oltenian boyar environment, idealized depictions of Cuza's reign, as well as a retrospective view on the end of Rom slavery (found in his piece Verigă țiganul, \\\"Verigă the Gypsy\\\"). The best known among them is Pe drum de poștă, a third-person narrative and thinly disguised memoir, where the characters are an adolescent Alexandru Macedonski and his father, General Macedonski.\",\n \"The best known among them is Pe drum de poștă, a third-person narrative and thinly disguised memoir, where the characters are an adolescent Alexandru Macedonski and his father, General Macedonski. The idyllic outlook present in such stories is one of the common meeting points between his version of Symbolism and traditionalist authors such as Barbu Ștefănescu Delavrancea.\",\n \"The idyllic outlook present in such stories is one of the common meeting points between his version of Symbolism and traditionalist authors such as Barbu Ștefănescu Delavrancea. Vianu indicates the connection, but adds: \\\"Macedonski descended, through memory, in the world of the village, with the tremor of regret for the peace and plenty of the old settlements, so well polished that each person, landowner as well as peasant, lived within a framework that nature itself seemed to have granted.\",\n \"Vianu indicates the connection, but adds: \\\"Macedonski descended, through memory, in the world of the village, with the tremor of regret for the peace and plenty of the old settlements, so well polished that each person, landowner as well as peasant, lived within a framework that nature itself seemed to have granted. [...] in depicting rural environments, Macedonski presents the point of view of a conservative.\\\"\",\n \"[...] in depicting rural environments, Macedonski presents the point of view of a conservative.\\\" Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu, a fantasy novel and extended prose poem, was celebrated by Macedonski's disciple Oreste Georgescu as \\\"the new religion of humanity\\\". The volume carried the mocking dedication \\\"To France, this Chaldea\\\" (thought by Vianu to reference Péladan's views on the decay of civilization).\",\n \"The volume carried the mocking dedication \\\"To France, this Chaldea\\\" (thought by Vianu to reference Péladan's views on the decay of civilization). It has affinities with writings by the Italian Decadent author Gabriele d'Annunzio, as well as echoes from Anatole France. The hero Thalassa, a Greek boy, works as a lighthouse-keeper on Snake Island, fantasizing about the golden age of mankind. His fate is changed by a shipwreck, during which a girl, Caliope, reaches the island's shore.\",\n \"His fate is changed by a shipwreck, during which a girl, Caliope, reaches the island's shore. Thalassa and Caliope fall in love, but are mysteriously unable to seal their union through sexual intercourse: the boy attributes this failure to the \\\"curse\\\" of human individuality. Seeking to achieve a perfect union with his lover, he eventually kills her and drowns himself in the Black Sea.\",\n \"Seeking to achieve a perfect union with his lover, he eventually kills her and drowns himself in the Black Sea. In her review for Mercure de France, novelist Rachilde argued: \\\"Very difficult to read, entirely developed in Symbolist manner [and] almost impossible to recount, obviously written in French but nevertheless obviously conceived by a Romanian (and what a spirited Romanian!).\\\" Rachilde believed the work to display \\\"the fragrance of Oriental spices [...] rose marmalade and a slice of bear meat.\\\"\",\n \"Rachilde believed the work to display \\\"the fragrance of Oriental spices [...] rose marmalade and a slice of bear meat.\\\" According to Vianu, the book builds on Macedonski's earlier themes, replacing Naturalist observation with a metaphysical speculation about idealism. One other aspect of Macedonski's stylistic exploration took him to attempt recording synesthesia. His manuscript is written in ink of several colors, which, he believed, was to help readers get a full sense of its meaning.\",\n \"His manuscript is written in ink of several colors, which, he believed, was to help readers get a full sense of its meaning. Like other synesthetic aspects of his novel, this is believed to have been inspired by the techniques of Baudelaire and Arthur Rimbaud. Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu is noted for its numerous cultural references, and especially for using a wide range of metaphors. Such aspects have been reviewed negatively by modern critics.\",\n \"Such aspects have been reviewed negatively by modern critics. Such aspects have been reviewed negatively by modern critics. Tudor Vianu writes: \\\"the poet makes such waste of gemstones that we feel like saying some of them must be false\\\", while Călinescu, who notes that some fragments reveal \\\"an incomparable artist\\\" and \\\"a professional metaphorist\\\", notes that \\\"in the end, such virtuosities become a bore.\\\"\",\n \"Tudor Vianu writes: \\\"the poet makes such waste of gemstones that we feel like saying some of them must be false\\\", while Călinescu, who notes that some fragments reveal \\\"an incomparable artist\\\" and \\\"a professional metaphorist\\\", notes that \\\"in the end, such virtuosities become a bore.\\\" According to Manuela-Delia Suciu, Thalassa is \\\"prolix\\\" and \\\"too polished\\\", traits believed by Zamfir to be less irritating in the Romanian version.\",\n \"According to Manuela-Delia Suciu, Thalassa is \\\"prolix\\\" and \\\"too polished\\\", traits believed by Zamfir to be less irritating in the Romanian version. Critic Cornel Moraru found that, in the background, Thalassa, a \\\"great Symbolist novel\\\", confronts Ancient Greek and Christian mythology, but \\\"abuses\\\" the religious vocabulary. Another part of the novel's imagery is erotic, and includes an elaborate and aestheticized description of male genitalia. The four-act tragicomedy Le Fou?\",\n \"The four-act tragicomedy Le Fou? The four-act tragicomedy Le Fou? is seen by Vianu as comparable in subject matter and depth to Enrico IV, a celebrated 1922 play by Luigi Pirandello. The plot reflects Macedonski's confrontation with his critics, and his acceptance of the fact that people saw in him an eccentric. The central figure is a banker, Dorval, who identifies himself with Napoleon Bonaparte to the point where he sees episodes in his biography as mirrors of early 19th-century battles.\",\n \"The central figure is a banker, Dorval, who identifies himself with Napoleon Bonaparte to the point where he sees episodes in his biography as mirrors of early 19th-century battles. Unlike patients with dissociative identity disorder, Dorval does not actually imagine his life has become Napoleon's, but rather joins with him on an intellectual level. Witnesses of this disorder are divided into family, who seek to have Dorval committed, and close friends, who come to see his take on life as a manifestation of genius.\",\n \"Witnesses of this disorder are divided into family, who seek to have Dorval committed, and close friends, who come to see his take on life as a manifestation of genius. The spectator is led to believe that the latter interpretation is the correct one. At a larger level, Vianu indicates, the play is also Macedonski's critique of capitalism, and, using Parisian argot, makes allusive references to famous people of the day.\",\n \"At a larger level, Vianu indicates, the play is also Macedonski's critique of capitalism, and, using Parisian argot, makes allusive references to famous people of the day. Particularly during the 1890s, Macedonski was a follower of Edgar Allan Poe and of Gothic fiction in general, producing a Romanian version of Poe's Metzengerstein story, urging his own disciples to translate other such pieces, and adopting \\\"Gothic\\\" themes in his original prose.\",\n \"Particularly during the 1890s, Macedonski was a follower of Edgar Allan Poe and of Gothic fiction in general, producing a Romanian version of Poe's Metzengerstein story, urging his own disciples to translate other such pieces, and adopting \\\"Gothic\\\" themes in his original prose. Indebted to Jules Verne and H. G. Wells, Macedonski also wrote a number of science fiction stories, including the 1913 Oceania-Pacific-Dreadnought, which depicts civilization on the verge of a crisis.\",\n \"Indebted to Jules Verne and H. G. Wells, Macedonski also wrote a number of science fiction stories, including the 1913 Oceania-Pacific-Dreadnought, which depicts civilization on the verge of a crisis. The gigantic commercial ship is maintained by a banker's union, and designed to grant travelers access to every pleasure imaginable; this causes the working-class inhabited cities on the continent to fall into a state of neglect and permanent violence, the climax of the story occurring with the bankers' decision to destroy their creation.\",\n \"The gigantic commercial ship is maintained by a banker's union, and designed to grant travelers access to every pleasure imaginable; this causes the working-class inhabited cities on the continent to fall into a state of neglect and permanent violence, the climax of the story occurring with the bankers' decision to destroy their creation. Oceania-Pacific-Dreadnought is noted for anticipating television, the ship being equipped with electrically-operated \\\"large and clear mirrors\\\" that display \\\"images from various parts of the Earth\\\".\",\n \"Oceania-Pacific-Dreadnought is noted for anticipating television, the ship being equipped with electrically-operated \\\"large and clear mirrors\\\" that display \\\"images from various parts of the Earth\\\". Macedonski was by then interested in the development of cinema, and authored a silent film screenplay based on Comment on devient riche et puissant. Final transition Late in his life, Macedonski had come to reject Symbolist tenets, defining them as \\\"imbecilities\\\" designed for \\\"the uncultured\\\".\",\n \"Final transition Late in his life, Macedonski had come to reject Symbolist tenets, defining them as \\\"imbecilities\\\" designed for \\\"the uncultured\\\". Ultima verba, the very last poems to be written by him, show him coming to terms with himself, and are treasured for their serene or intensely joyous vision of life and human accomplishment. The rondels written at this stage, known collectively as Poema rondelurilor, are one of the first instances where the technique is used locally.\",\n \"The rondels written at this stage, known collectively as Poema rondelurilor, are one of the first instances where the technique is used locally. Like those written previously by Literatoruls Pavelescu and Alexandru Obedenaru, they are based on an earlier motif present in Macedonski's work, that of recurring refrains. Many of the pieces document the poet's final discoveries.\",\n \"Many of the pieces document the poet's final discoveries. One of them is Rondelul crinilor (\\\"The Rondel of the Lilies\\\"), which proclaims fragrances as the source of beatitude: În crini e beția cea rară, \\\"In lilies one finds that exceptional drunkenness\\\".\",\n \"One of them is Rondelul crinilor (\\\"The Rondel of the Lilies\\\"), which proclaims fragrances as the source of beatitude: În crini e beția cea rară, \\\"In lilies one finds that exceptional drunkenness\\\". According to Ștefan Cazimir, Rondelul orașului mic (\\\"The Rondel of the Small Town\\\") shows a \\\"likable wave of irony and self-irony\\\", and the poet himself coming to terms with \\\"the existence of a world who ignores him.\\\"\",\n \"According to Ștefan Cazimir, Rondelul orașului mic (\\\"The Rondel of the Small Town\\\") shows a \\\"likable wave of irony and self-irony\\\", and the poet himself coming to terms with \\\"the existence of a world who ignores him.\\\" Proof of his combativeness was still to be found in Rondelul contimporanilor (\\\"The Rondel of the Contemporaries\\\"). The poet's take on life is also outlined in his final play, Moartea lui Dante.\",\n \"The poet's take on life is also outlined in his final play, Moartea lui Dante. Călinescu writes that, by then, Macedonski was \\\"obsessed\\\" with the Divine Comedy. Macedonski identifies with his hero, Dante Aligheri, and formulates his own poetic testament while identifying World War I Romania with the medieval Republic of Florence. Tudor Vianu remarks: \\\"In Dante's great self-pride, Macedonski found his own.\\\"\",\n \"Tudor Vianu remarks: \\\"In Dante's great self-pride, Macedonski found his own.\\\" He sees the play as the best such work to have been produced by Macedonski, whereas Călinescu deems it \\\"puerile\\\". Zamfir believes Moartea... to be a significant text in Macedonski's bibliography, \\\"one of the first samples of Romanian Symbolist theater\\\", and as such indebted mainly to Maeterlinck.\",\n \"Zamfir believes Moartea... to be a significant text in Macedonski's bibliography, \\\"one of the first samples of Romanian Symbolist theater\\\", and as such indebted mainly to Maeterlinck. Vianu argues that the play may document the Romanian writer's late rejection of France, through the protagonist's statement: \\\"the French are a gentle people, but their soul is different from mine.\\\" A number of rondels show Macedonski's late fascination with the Far East, China and Japan.\",\n \"A number of rondels show Macedonski's late fascination with the Far East, China and Japan. George Călinescu believes that this is to be understood as one item in a large antithesis, the other being Decadent Paris, which one rondel describes as \\\"hell\\\". The Orient, viewed as the space of serenity, is believed by Macedonski to be peopled by toy-like women and absent opium-smokers, and to be kept orderly by a stable meritocracy.\",\n \"The Orient, viewed as the space of serenity, is believed by Macedonski to be peopled by toy-like women and absent opium-smokers, and to be kept orderly by a stable meritocracy. The Chinese-themed poem Tsing-Ly-Tsi, which Cazimir notes for its discreet, \\\"almost imperceptible\\\", humor, reads: Legacy Macedonski's school and its early impact Alexandru Macedonski repeatedly expressed the thought that, unlike his contemporaries, posterity would judge him a great poet.\",\n \"The Chinese-themed poem Tsing-Ly-Tsi, which Cazimir notes for its discreet, \\\"almost imperceptible\\\", humor, reads: Legacy Macedonski's school and its early impact Alexandru Macedonski repeatedly expressed the thought that, unlike his contemporaries, posterity would judge him a great poet. With the exception of Mihail Dragomirescu, conservative literary critics tended to ignore Macedonski while he was alive.\",\n \"With the exception of Mihail Dragomirescu, conservative literary critics tended to ignore Macedonski while he was alive. The first such figure was Junimeas Titu Maiorescu, who believed him to be a minor author, referring to him only a couple of times in his books and usually ridiculing him in his articles. One of these texts, the 1886 essay Poeți și critici (\\\"Poets and Critics\\\"), spoke of Macedonski as having \\\"vitiated\\\" poetry, a notion he also applied to Constantin D. Aricescu and Aron Densușianu.\",\n \"One of these texts, the 1886 essay Poeți și critici (\\\"Poets and Critics\\\"), spoke of Macedonski as having \\\"vitiated\\\" poetry, a notion he also applied to Constantin D. Aricescu and Aron Densușianu. Especially radical pronouncements were left by the traditionalist authors Ilarie Chendi and Nicolae Iorga. Chendi wrote of Macedonski being \\\"the caricature of a man\\\", having \\\"a feverish mind\\\" and being motivated by \\\"the brutal instinct of revenge\\\".\",\n \"Chendi wrote of Macedonski being \\\"the caricature of a man\\\", having \\\"a feverish mind\\\" and being motivated by \\\"the brutal instinct of revenge\\\". Iorga, who became better known as a historian, later retracted some of the statements he had made against the poet during the 1890s. Among the younger prominent traditionalist writers was the Transylvanian-born Lucian Blaga, who may have purposefully avoided Macedonski during his first visit to Bucharest in 1920.\",\n \"Among the younger prominent traditionalist writers was the Transylvanian-born Lucian Blaga, who may have purposefully avoided Macedonski during his first visit to Bucharest in 1920. Although more sympathetic to the Symbolist author, both Dragomirescu and Gheorghe Adamescu tended to describe him as exclusively the product of French and Decadent literature, while Dragomirescu's disciple Ion Trivale denied all merit to Macedonski's literature.\",\n \"Although more sympathetic to the Symbolist author, both Dragomirescu and Gheorghe Adamescu tended to describe him as exclusively the product of French and Decadent literature, while Dragomirescu's disciple Ion Trivale denied all merit to Macedonski's literature. According to Tudor Vianu, Macedonski's intellectual friends (among them Anghel Demetriescu, George Ionescu-Gion, Bonifaciu Florescu, Grigore Tocilescu and V. A. Urechia) were largely responsible for passing down \\\"a better and truer image of the abused poet.\\\"\",\n \"According to Tudor Vianu, Macedonski's intellectual friends (among them Anghel Demetriescu, George Ionescu-Gion, Bonifaciu Florescu, Grigore Tocilescu and V. A. Urechia) were largely responsible for passing down \\\"a better and truer image of the abused poet.\\\" It was also due to Dragomirescu that Noaptea de decemvrie was included in a literature textbook for final grade high school students, which some argue is the poet's first-ever presence in the Romanian curriculum.\",\n \"It was also due to Dragomirescu that Noaptea de decemvrie was included in a literature textbook for final grade high school students, which some argue is the poet's first-ever presence in the Romanian curriculum. According to historian Lucian Nastasă, the poet's wife Ana Rallet behaved like an \\\"excellent secretary\\\" while Macedonski was still alive, and thereafter helped sort and edit his manuscript while maintaining \\\"an actual cult\\\" for her husband.\",\n \"According to historian Lucian Nastasă, the poet's wife Ana Rallet behaved like an \\\"excellent secretary\\\" while Macedonski was still alive, and thereafter helped sort and edit his manuscript while maintaining \\\"an actual cult\\\" for her husband. Macedonski's cosmopolitan circle was the center of a literary alternative to the prevailing conservatism and Eminescu-like traditionalism of the day, the latter tendency being grouped around Sămănătorul magazine for part of Macedonski's lifetime.\",\n \"Macedonski's cosmopolitan circle was the center of a literary alternative to the prevailing conservatism and Eminescu-like traditionalism of the day, the latter tendency being grouped around Sămănătorul magazine for part of Macedonski's lifetime. While Macedonski himself maintained his links with Romanticism and Classicism, commentators have retrospectively recognized in him the main person who announced Romania's first wave in modernist literature. Many first-generation disciples were to part with his guidelines early on, either by radicalizing their Symbolism or by stepping out of its confines.\",\n \"Many first-generation disciples were to part with his guidelines early on, either by radicalizing their Symbolism or by stepping out of its confines. Traian Demetrescu was one of the first to do so, focusing on his commitment to socialism—Vianu notes that the split took place \\\"without coldness and the heart's versatility\\\" on Macedonski's part. Literary researcher Lidia Bote argues that it was Petică who first illustrated mature Symbolism, emancipating himself from Macedonski's eclectic tendencies after 1902.\",\n \"Literary researcher Lidia Bote argues that it was Petică who first illustrated mature Symbolism, emancipating himself from Macedonski's eclectic tendencies after 1902. By that time, the Symbolist authors Dimitrie Anghel and N. D. Cocea used Macedonski's fantasy prose as an inspiration for their own, and N. Davidescu was borrowing from his mystical discourse. The pictorial and joyous elements in Macedonski's poems were also serving to inspire Stamatiad, Eugeniu Ștefănescu-Est and Horia Furtună.\",\n \"The pictorial and joyous elements in Macedonski's poems were also serving to inspire Stamatiad, Eugeniu Ștefănescu-Est and Horia Furtună. In the early stages of his career, Ion Pillat wrote pieces which echo his master's choice of exotic themes. A more discreet legacy of Macedonski's ideas was also preserved inside the conservative and traditionalist camps. Although his separation from Literatorul was drastic, and led him to rally with Junimea, Duiliu Zamfirescu built on some elements borrowed from the magazine's ideology, incorporating them into his literary vision.\",\n \"Although his separation from Literatorul was drastic, and led him to rally with Junimea, Duiliu Zamfirescu built on some elements borrowed from the magazine's ideology, incorporating them into his literary vision. Many of Macedonski's most devoted disciples, whom he himself had encouraged, have been rated by various critics as secondary or mediocre.\",\n \"Many of Macedonski's most devoted disciples, whom he himself had encouraged, have been rated by various critics as secondary or mediocre. This is the case of Theodor Cornel (who made his name as an art critic), Mircea Demetriade, Oreste Georgescu, Alexandru Obedenaru, Stoenescu, Stamatiad, Carol Scrob, Dumitru Karnabatt and Donar Munteanu. Another such minor author was the self-styled \\\"hermeticist\\\" Alexandru Petroff, who expanded on Macedonski's ideas about esoteric knowledge.\",\n \"Another such minor author was the self-styled \\\"hermeticist\\\" Alexandru Petroff, who expanded on Macedonski's ideas about esoteric knowledge. Macedonski's eldest son Alexis continued to pursue a career as a painter. His son Soare followed in his footsteps, receiving acclaim from art critics of the period. Soare's short career ended in 1928, before he turned nineteen, but his works have been featured in several retrospective exhibitions, including one organized by Alexis.\",\n \"Soare's short career ended in 1928, before he turned nineteen, but his works have been featured in several retrospective exhibitions, including one organized by Alexis. Alexis later experimented with scenic design as an assistant to French filmmaker René Clair; his later life, shrouded in mystery and intrigue, led him to a career in Fascist Italy and Francoist Spain. Another of Alexandru Macedonski's sons, Nikita, was also a poet and painter. For a while in the 1920s, he edited the literary supplement of Universul newspaper.\",\n \"For a while in the 1920s, he edited the literary supplement of Universul newspaper. Two years after her father's death, Anna Macedonski married poet Mihail Celarianu. In addition to his polemical portrayals in works by Alecsandri, Eminescu and Caragiale, Macedonski's career was an inspiration for various authors. His image acquired mythical proportions for his followers. Like Demetrescu, many of them left memoirs on Macedonski which were published before or after his death.\",\n \"Like Demetrescu, many of them left memoirs on Macedonski which were published before or after his death. His admirers were writing poetry about him as early as 1874, and, in 1892, Cincinat Pavelescu published a rhapsodizing portrait of Macedonski as \\\"the Artist\\\". Pavelescu, Dragoslav and Petică paid homage to the writer by leaving recollections which describe him as a devoted and considerate friend. In contrast, traditionalist poet Alexandru Vlahuță authored an 1889 sketch story in which Macedonski (referred to as Polidor) is the object of derision.\",\n \"In contrast, traditionalist poet Alexandru Vlahuță authored an 1889 sketch story in which Macedonski (referred to as Polidor) is the object of derision. Late recognition Actual recognition of the poet as a classic came only in the interwar period. A final volume of never before published poems, Poema rondelurilor, saw print in 1927. Macedonski's work was analyzed and popularized by a new generation of critics, among them Vianu and George Călinescu.\",\n \"Macedonski's work was analyzed and popularized by a new generation of critics, among them Vianu and George Călinescu. The post-Junimist modernist critic Eugen Lovinescu also commented favorably on Macedonski's work, but overall, Călinescu asserts, his opinions on the subject gave little insight into what he actually thought about the poet. He also recounts that Macedonski himself treated Lovinescu with disdain, and once called him \\\"a canary\\\". The emerging avant-garde, although originating from Symbolism, progressively took its distance from Literatoruls legacy.\",\n \"The emerging avant-garde, although originating from Symbolism, progressively took its distance from Literatoruls legacy. Initially, Macedonski's contribution to experimental literature was continued within formal Symbolism by his disciples Demetriade, Iuliu Cezar Săvescu and Ion Minulescu. The latter was particularly indebted to Macedonski in matters of vision and language. In 1904, Tudor Arghezi also left behind the Literatorul circle and its tenets, eventually arriving to the fusion of modernist, traditionalist and avant-garde elements. However, he remained indebted to Macedonski's example in his descriptive prose.\",\n \"However, he remained indebted to Macedonski's example in his descriptive prose. The 1912 Simbolul magazine, which moved between conventional Symbolism and the emerging avant-garde, also published an Imagist-inspired parody of Noaptea de mai, signed by Adrian Maniu. A co-founder of Dadaism during the late 1910s, Tristan Tzara is believed by Swedish researcher Tom Sandqvist to have been inspired more or less directly by Macedonski, and in particular by the latter's thoughts on the relation between absurdity and poetry.\",\n \"A co-founder of Dadaism during the late 1910s, Tristan Tzara is believed by Swedish researcher Tom Sandqvist to have been inspired more or less directly by Macedonski, and in particular by the latter's thoughts on the relation between absurdity and poetry. In his debut poems, Benjamin Fondane-Barbu Fundoianu occasionally followed Macedonski, but, by 1920, stated that the Symbolist doyen merely imitated French models to the point of \\\"parasitism\\\". Several avant-garde authors returned to Macedonski's literary guidelines by the late 1920s, as they themselves grew more moderate.\",\n \"Several avant-garde authors returned to Macedonski's literary guidelines by the late 1920s, as they themselves grew more moderate. This was the case of Maniu and Ion Vinea, both of whom published prose works in the line of Thalassa. The same work is also believed to have influenced two non-avant-garde authors, Davidescu and Mateiu Caragiale, who remained close to the tenets Symbolism.\",\n \"The same work is also believed to have influenced two non-avant-garde authors, Davidescu and Mateiu Caragiale, who remained close to the tenets Symbolism. Mateiu was the illegitimate son of Ion Luca Caragiale, but, Vianu notes, could withstand comparisons with his father's rival: the eccentricities were complementary, although Mateiu Caragiale shied away from public affairs.\",\n \"Mateiu was the illegitimate son of Ion Luca Caragiale, but, Vianu notes, could withstand comparisons with his father's rival: the eccentricities were complementary, although Mateiu Caragiale shied away from public affairs. In the same post-Symbolist generation, Celarianu (Macedonski's posthumous son-in-law), George Bacovia and Păstorel Teodoreanu also built on Macedonski's legacy, being later joined in this by the Bessarabian linguist Eugenio Coșeriu (who, in his early poetic career, imitated Macedonski's rondel style).\",\n \"In the same post-Symbolist generation, Celarianu (Macedonski's posthumous son-in-law), George Bacovia and Păstorel Teodoreanu also built on Macedonski's legacy, being later joined in this by the Bessarabian linguist Eugenio Coșeriu (who, in his early poetic career, imitated Macedonski's rondel style). In the late 1920s, when their form of modern psalms inspired Albanian-Romanian poet Aleksander Stavre Drenova, Macedonski and Arghezi both made an indirect impact on Albanian literature.\",\n \"In the late 1920s, when their form of modern psalms inspired Albanian-Romanian poet Aleksander Stavre Drenova, Macedonski and Arghezi both made an indirect impact on Albanian literature. Macedonski's status as one of Romanian literature's greats was consolidated later in the 20th century. By this time, Noaptea de decemvrie had become one of the most recognizable literary works to be taught in Romanian schools.\",\n \"By this time, Noaptea de decemvrie had become one of the most recognizable literary works to be taught in Romanian schools. During the first years of Communist Romania, the Socialist Realist current condemned Symbolism (see Censorship in Communist Romania), but spoke favorably of Macedonski's critique of the bourgeoisie. A while after this episode, Marin Sorescu, one of the best-known modernist poets of his generation, wrote a homage-parody of the Nights cycle.\",\n \"A while after this episode, Marin Sorescu, one of the best-known modernist poets of his generation, wrote a homage-parody of the Nights cycle. Included in the volume Singur între poeți (\\\"Alone among Poets\\\"), it is seen by critic Mircea Scarlat as Sorescu's most representative such pieces. Also then, Noaptea de decemvrie partly inspired Ștefan Augustin Doinaș' ballad Mistrețul cu colți de argint.\",\n \"Also then, Noaptea de decemvrie partly inspired Ștefan Augustin Doinaș' ballad Mistrețul cu colți de argint. In the 1990s, Ștefan Agopian took the Nights cycle as inspiration for an erotic short story, while Pavel Șușară adapted his rondels to a modernized setting. Macedonski's prose also influenced younger writers such as Angelo Mitchievici and Anca Maria Mosora. In neighboring Moldova, Macedonski influenced the Neosymbolism of Aureliu Busuioc.\",\n \"In neighboring Moldova, Macedonski influenced the Neosymbolism of Aureliu Busuioc. A magazine by the name of Literatorul, which claims to represent the legacy of Macedonski's publication, was founded in Romania in 1991, being edited by writers Sorescu, Fănuș Neagu and Mircea Micu. In 2006, the Romanian Academy granted posthumous membership to Alexandru Macedonski. Macedonski's poems had a sizable impact on Romania's popular culture.\",\n \"Macedonski's poems had a sizable impact on Romania's popular culture. During communism, Noaptea de mai was the basis for a successful musical adaptation, composed by Marian Nistor and sung by Mirabela Dauer. Tudor Gheorghe, a singer-songwriter inspired by American folk revival, also used some of Macedonski's texts as lyrics to his melodies. In the 2000s, the refrain of Noaptea de mai was mixed into a manea parody by Adrian Copilul Minune.\",\n \"In the 2000s, the refrain of Noaptea de mai was mixed into a manea parody by Adrian Copilul Minune. Portrayals, visual tributes and landmarks Although his poetic theories were largely without echoes in Romanian art, Macedonski captured the interest of several modern artists, including, early on, cartoonist Nicolae Petrescu Găină. Alongside other writers who visited Terasa Oteteleșanu, Macedonski was notably portrayed the drawings of celebrated Romanian artist Iosif Iser. He is also depicted in a 1918 lithograph by Jean Alexandru Steriadi, purportedly Steriadi's only Symbolist work.\",\n \"He is also depicted in a 1918 lithograph by Jean Alexandru Steriadi, purportedly Steriadi's only Symbolist work. Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu inspired a series of reliefs, designed by Alexis Macedonski and hosted in his father's house in Dorobanți. During the 1910s, busts of him were completed by two sculptors, Alexandru Severin and Friedrich Storck, one of Storck's variants being hosted by the Ioan Cantacuzino collection.\",\n \"During the 1910s, busts of him were completed by two sculptors, Alexandru Severin and Friedrich Storck, one of Storck's variants being hosted by the Ioan Cantacuzino collection. In 1919, Theodor Burcă was also inspired to complete another bust, and, during World War II, was commissioned by Mayor of Bucharest Ioan Rășcanu to build a Macedonski Monument in the Grădina Icoanei park, but this was never completed.\",\n \"In 1919, Theodor Burcă was also inspired to complete another bust, and, during World War II, was commissioned by Mayor of Bucharest Ioan Rășcanu to build a Macedonski Monument in the Grădina Icoanei park, but this was never completed. Constantin Piliuță, a painter active in the second half of the 20th century, made Macedonski the subject of a portrait in series dedicated to Romanian cultural figures (also depicted were Nicolae Iorga, Ștefan Luchian and Vianu).\",\n \"Constantin Piliuță, a painter active in the second half of the 20th century, made Macedonski the subject of a portrait in series dedicated to Romanian cultural figures (also depicted were Nicolae Iorga, Ștefan Luchian and Vianu). In 1975, a bust of Macedonski, the work of Constantin Foamete, was unveiled in Craiova. Of Macedonski's numerous residences, the one in Dorobanți was demolished when the Academy of Economic Studies (ASE) was expanded. A commemorative plaque was later put up near the spot.\",\n \"A commemorative plaque was later put up near the spot. Macedonski's childhood home in Goiești passed into state property under communism, and was in turn a school, a community home and a Macedonski Museum, before falling into neglect after the Romanian Revolution of 1989. Several streets named in honor of Alexandru Macedonski, notably in Bucharest (by the ASE), Craiova, Cluj-Napoca and Timișoara.\",\n \"Several streets named in honor of Alexandru Macedonski, notably in Bucharest (by the ASE), Craiova, Cluj-Napoca and Timișoara. Works published anthumously Prima verba (poetry, 1872) Ithalo (poem, 1878) Poezii (poetry, 1881/1882) Parizina (translation of Parisina, 1882) Iadeș!\",\n \"Works published anthumously Prima verba (poetry, 1872) Ithalo (poem, 1878) Poezii (poetry, 1881/1882) Parizina (translation of Parisina, 1882) Iadeș! (comedy, 1882) Dramă banală (short story, 1887) Saul (with Cincinat Pavelescu; tragedy, 1893) Excelsior (poetry, 1895) Bronzes (poetry, 1897) (essay, 1898) Cartea de aur (prose, 1902) Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu (novel, 1906; 1914) Flori sacre (poetry, 1912) Zaherlina (essay, 1920) Notes References Mircea Anghelescu, chronological table, preface and critical references, in Macedonski, Poemele \\\"Nopților\\\", Editura Albatros, Bucharest, 1972, p. 7-31, 137–140.\",\n \"(comedy, 1882) Dramă banală (short story, 1887) Saul (with Cincinat Pavelescu; tragedy, 1893) Excelsior (poetry, 1895) Bronzes (poetry, 1897) (essay, 1898) Cartea de aur (prose, 1902) Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu (novel, 1906; 1914) Flori sacre (poetry, 1912) Zaherlina (essay, 1920) Notes References Mircea Anghelescu, chronological table, preface and critical references, in Macedonski, Poemele \\\"Nopților\\\", Editura Albatros, Bucharest, 1972, p. 7-31, 137–140. Nicolae Balotă, Arte poetice ale secolului XX: ipostaze românești și străine, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1976.\",\n \"Nicolae Balotă, Arte poetice ale secolului XX: ipostaze românești și străine, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1976. Lucian Boia, \\\"Germanofilii\\\". Elita intelectuală românească în anii Primului Război Mondial, Humanitas, Bucharest, 2010. George Călinescu, Istoria literaturii române de la origini pînă în prezent, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1986 Paul Cernat, Avangarda românească și complexul periferiei: primul val, Cartea Românească, Bucharest, 2007. Șerban Cioculescu, Caragialiana, Editura Eminescu, Bucharest, 1974.\",\n \"Șerban Cioculescu, Caragialiana, Editura Eminescu, Bucharest, 1974. Péter Krasztev, \\\"From a Deadlocked Present into an Imagined Past\\\", in the Central European University's East Central Europe = L'Europe du Centre-Est, Vol. 26, Nr. 2/1999, p. 33-52 \\\"From Modernization to Modernist Literature\\\", in Marcel Cornis-Pope, John Neubauer (eds. ), History of the Literary Cultures of East-Central Europe, Vol. 3, John Benjamins, Amsterdam & Philadelphia, 2004, p. 332-348.\",\n \"3, John Benjamins, Amsterdam & Philadelphia, 2004, p. 332-348. Lucian Nastasă, Intelectualii și promovarea socială (pentru o morfologie a câmpului universitar), Editura Nereamia Napocae, Cluj-Napoca, 2003; e-book version at the Romanian Academy's George Bariț Institute of History Z. Ornea, Junimea și junimismul, Vol. II, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1998. Perpessicius, Studii eminesciene, Museum of Romanian Literature, Bucharest, 2001.\",\n \"Perpessicius, Studii eminesciene, Museum of Romanian Literature, Bucharest, 2001. Petre Răileanu, Michel Carassou, Fundoianu/Fondane et l'avant-garde, Fondation Culturelle Roumaine, Éditions Paris-Méditerranée, Bucharest & Paris, 1999. Tom Sandqvist, Dada East. The Romanians of Cabaret Voltaire, MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts & London, 2006. Manuela-Delia Suciu, \\\"La poésie roumaine au XIXe siècle. Alexandru Macedonski entre romantisme et symbolisme\\\", in Revue d'Études Françaises, Nr.\",\n \"Alexandru Macedonski entre romantisme et symbolisme\\\", in Revue d'Études Françaises, Nr. 8/2003, p. 101-110 (republished by the Centre Interuniversitaire d’Études Françaises/Egyetemközi Francia Központ) Tudor Vianu, Scriitori români, Vol. I-III, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1970–1971. Mariana Vida, \\\"La société Tinerimea artistică de Bucarest et le symbolisme tardif entre 1902-1910\\\", in Revue Roumaine d'Histoire de l'Art. Série Beaux-arts, Vol.\",\n \"Série Beaux-arts, Vol. Série Beaux-arts, Vol. XLIV, 2007, p. 55-66 External links Amidst Hen Houses (excerpts), Poésies, Thalassa (excerpt), in the Romanian Cultural Institute's Plural Magazine (various issues) Alexandru Macedonski, Museum of Romanian Literature profile 1854 births 1920 deaths 19th-century Romanian poets 20th-century Romanian poets Romanian male poets Romantic poets Neoclassical writers Symbolist poets Sonneteers Romanian fabulists Romanian epigrammatists 19th-century Romanian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Romanian dramatists and playwrights Male dramatists and playwrights 19th-century Romanian novelists 20th-century Romanian novelists Romanian male novelists Romanian writers in French 19th-century short story writers 20th-century short story writers Romanian male short story writers Romanian short story writers Realism (art movement) Symbolist novelists Romanian fantasy writers Romanian science fiction writers Romanian humorists Romanian erotica writers 19th-century essayists 20th-century essayists Romanian essayists 20th-century biographers Romanian biographers Male biographers Romanian memoirists Romanian travel writers Romanian literary critics Romanian screenwriters Male screenwriters Romanian columnists Romanian magazine editors Romanian magazine founders Romanian newspaper editors Romanian newspaper founders 19th-century translators 20th-century translators Romanian translators English–Romanian translators French–Romanian translators Greek–Romanian translators Writers from Bucharest Romanian nobility Members of the Romanian Orthodox Church Carol I National College alumni National Liberal Party (Romania) politicians Republicanism in the Kingdom of Romania Romanian civil servants Prefects of Romania Romanian inventors Romanian esotericists Romanian expatriates in France Romanian people of World War I Burials at Bellu Cemetery Members of the Romanian Academy elected posthumously 20th-century screenwriters\"\n]"}}},{"rowIdx":373,"cells":{"History":{"kind":"list like","value":["Alexandru Macedonski","Late 1890s","How old was Macedonski during this time period?","I don't know.","What was he doing during this time?","By 1898, Macedonski was again facing financial difficulties, and his collaborators resorted to organizing a fundraiser in his honor.","At this time, had he written any literature yet?","Macedonski also returned with a new volume of poetry, Excelsior ("],"string":"[\n \"Alexandru Macedonski\",\n \"Late 1890s\",\n \"How old was Macedonski during this time period?\",\n \"I don't know.\",\n \"What was he doing during this time?\",\n \"By 1898, Macedonski was again facing financial difficulties, and his collaborators resorted to organizing a fundraiser in his honor.\",\n \"At this time, had he written any literature yet?\",\n \"Macedonski also returned with a new volume of poetry, Excelsior (\"\n]"},"QuAC_dialog_id":{"kind":"string","value":"C_0dd521a55de449a4b87a29d550b59837_1"},"Question":{"kind":"string","value":"Did the new volume bring him much success?"},"Question_no":{"kind":"number","value":4,"string":"4"},"Rewrite":{"kind":"string","value":"Did Excelsior bring Alexandru Macedonski much success?"},"true_page_title":{"kind":"string","value":"Alexandru Macedonski"},"true_contexts":{"kind":"string","value":"Macedonski also returned with a new volume of poetry, Excelsior (consecutive editions in 1895 and 1896), and founded Liga Ortodoxa (\"The Orthodox League\"), a magazine noted for hosting the debut of Tudor Arghezi, later one of the most celebrated figures in Romanian literature. Macedonski commended his new protege for reaching \"the summit of poetry and art\" at \"an age when I was still prattling verses\". Liga Ortodoxa also hosted articles against Caragiale, which Macedonski signed with the pseudonym Sallustiu (\"Sallustius\"). The magazine was additional proof of Macedonski's return to conservatism, and largely dedicated to defending the cause of Romanian Orthodox Metropolitan Ghenadie, deposed by the Romanian Synod following a political scandal. It defended Ghenadie up until he chose to resign, and subsequently went out of print. Macedonski was shocked to note that Ghenadie had given up his own defense. In 1895, his Casa cu nr. 10 was translated into French by the Journal des Debats, whose editors reportedly found it picturesque. Two years later, Macedonski himself published French-language translations of his earlier poetry under the title Bronzes, a volume prefaced by his disciple, the critic and promoter Alexandru Bogdan-Pitesti. Although it was positively reviewed by Mercure de France magazine, Bronzes was largely unnoticed by the French audience, a fact which Tudor Vianu attributes to Bogdan-Pitesti's lack of qualification for the cultural mission Macedonski had trusted him with. By that time, his circle had come to be frequented with regularity by Bogdan-Pitesti's friend and collaborator, the celebrated painter Stefan Luchian, who was in the Symbolist and Art Nouveau stage of his career. By 1898, Macedonski was again facing financial difficulties, and his collaborators resorted to organizing a fundraiser in his honor. His rejection of the Orthodox establishment was documented by his political tract, published that year as Falimentul clerului ortodox. Between that time and 1900, he focused on researching esoteric, occult and pseudoscientific subjects. Traian Demetrescu, who recorded his visits with Macedonski, recalled his former mentor being opposed to his positivist take on science, claiming to explain the workings of the Universe in \"a different way\", through \"imagination\", but also taking an interest in Camille Flammarion's astronomy studies. Macedonski was determined to interpret death through parapsychological means, and, in 1900, conferenced at the Atheneum on the subject Sufletul si viata viitoare (\"The Soul and the Coming Life\"). The focal point of his vision was that man could voluntarily stave off death with words and gestures, a concept he elaborated upon in his later articles. In one such piece, Macedonski argued: \"man has the power [...] to compact the energy currents known as thoughts to the point where he changes them, according to his own will, into objects or soul-bearing creatures.\" He also attempted to build a machine for extinguishing chimney fires. Later, Nikita Macedonski registered the invention of nacre-treated paper, which is sometimes attributed to his father. CANNOTANSWER"},"answer":{"kind":"string","value":"later one of the most celebrated figures in Romanian literature."},"true_contexts_wiki":{"kind":"string","value":"Alexandru Macedonski (; also rendered as Al. A. Macedonski, Macedonschi or Macedonsky; 14 March 1854 – 24 November 1920) was a Romanian poet, novelist, dramatist and literary critic, known especially for having promoted French Symbolism in his native country, and for leading the Romanian Symbolist movement during its early decades. A forerunner of local modernist literature, he is the first local author to have used free verse, and claimed by some to have been the first in modern European literature. Within the framework of Romanian literature, Macedonski is seen by critics as second only to national poet Mihai Eminescu; as leader of a cosmopolitan and aestheticist trend formed around his Literatorul journal, he was diametrically opposed to the inward-looking traditionalism of Eminescu and his school.\n\nDebuting as a Neoromantic in the Wallachian tradition, Macedonski went through the Realist-Naturalist stage deemed \"social poetry\", while progressively adapting his style to Symbolism and Parnassianism, and repeatedly but unsuccessfully attempting to impose himself in the Francophone world. Despite having theorized \"instrumentalism\", which reacted against the traditional guidelines of poetry, he maintained a lifelong connection with Neoclassicism and its ideal of purity. Macedonski's quest for excellence found its foremost expression in his recurring motif of life as a pilgrimage to Mecca, notably used in his critically acclaimed Nights cycle. The stylistic stages of his career are reflected in the collections Prima verba, Poezii, and Excelsior, as well as in the fantasy novel Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu. In old age, he became the author of rondels, noted for their detached and serene vision of life, in contrast with his earlier combativeness.\n\nIn parallel to his literary career, Macedonski was a civil servant, notably serving as prefect in the Budjak and Northern Dobruja during the late 1870s. As journalist and militant, his allegiance fluctuated between the liberal current and conservatism, becoming involved in polemics and controversies of the day. Of the long series of publications he founded, Literatorul was the most influential, notably hosting his early conflicts with the Junimea literary society. These targeted Vasile Alecsandri and especially Eminescu, their context and tone becoming the cause of a major rift between Macedonski and his public. This situation repeated itself in later years, when Macedonski and his Forța Morală magazine began campaigning against the Junimist dramatist Ion Luca Caragiale, whom they falsely accused of plagiarism. During World War I, the poet aggravated his critics by supporting the Central Powers against Romania's alliance with the Entente side. His biography was also marked by an enduring interest in esotericism, numerous attempts to become recognized as an inventor, and an enthusiasm for cycling.\n\nThe scion of a political and aristocratic family, the poet was the son of General Alexandru Macedonski, who served as Defense Minister, and the grandson of 1821 rebel Dimitrie Macedonski. Both his son Alexis and grandson Soare were known painters.\n\nBiography\n\nEarly life and family\n\nThe poet's paternal family had arrived in Wallachia during the early 19th century. Of South Slav (Serb or Bulgarian) or Aromanian origin, they claimed to have descended from Serb insurgents in Ottoman-ruled Macedonia. Alexandru's grandfather Dimitrie and Dimitrie's brother Pavel participated in the 1821 uprising against the Phanariote administration, and in alliance with the Filiki Eteria; Dimitrie made the object of controversy when, during the final stage of the revolt, he sided with the Eteria in its confrontation with Wallachian leader Tudor Vladimirescu, taking an active part in the latter's killing. Both Macedonski brothers had careers in the Wallachian military forces, at a time when the country was governed by Imperial Russian envoys, when the Regulamentul Organic regime recognized the family as belonging to Wallachia's nobility. Dimitrie married Zoe, the daughter an ethnic Russian or Polish officer; their son, the Russian-educated Alexandru, climbed in the military and political hierarchy, joining the unified Land Forces after his political ally, Alexander John Cuza, was elected Domnitor and the two Danubian Principalities became united Romania. Both the officer's uncle Pavel and brother Mihail were amateur poets.\n\nMacedonski's mother, Maria Fisența (also Vicenț or Vicența), was from an aristocratic environment, being the scion of Oltenian boyars. Through her father, she may have descended from Russian immigrants who had been absorbed into Oltenia's nobility. Maria had been adopted by the boyar Dumitrache Pârâianu, and the couple had inherited the Adâncata and Pometești estates in Goiești, on the Amaradia Valley.\n\nBoth the poet and his father were dissatisfied with accounts of their lineage, contradicting them with an account that researchers have come to consider spurious. Although adherents of the Romanian Orthodox Church, the Macedonskis traced their origin to Rogala-bearing Lithuanian nobility from the defunct Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. While the writer perpetuated his father's claim, it is possible that he also took pride in investigating his Balkan roots: according to literary historian Tudor Vianu, who, as a youth, was a member of his circle, this tendency is attested by two of Macedonski's poems from the 1880s, where the South Slavs appear as icons of freedom. Vianu's contemporary, literary historian George Călinescu, postulated that, although the family had been absorbed into the ethnic and cultural majority, the poet's origin served to enrich local culture by linking it to a \"Thracian\" tradition and the spirit of \"adventurers\".\n\nThe family moved often, following General Macedonski's postings. Born in Bucharest, Macedonski-son was the third of four siblings, the oldest of whom was a daughter, Caterina. Before the age of six, he was a sickly and nervous child, who is reported to have had regular tantrums. In 1862, his father sent him to school in Oltenia, and he spent most time in the Amaradia region. The nostalgia he felt for the landscape later made him consider writing an Amărăzene (\"Amaradians\") cycle, of which only one poem was ever completed. He was attending the Carol I High School in Craiova and, according to his official record, graduated in 1867.\n\nMacedonski's father had by then become known as an authoritarian commander, and, during his time in Târgu Ocna, faced a mutiny which only his wife could stop by pleading with the soldiers (an episode which made an impression on the future poet). A stern parent, he took an active part in educating his children. Having briefly served as Defense Minister, the general was mysteriously dismissed by Cuza in 1863, and his pension became the topic of a political scandal. It ended only under the rule of Carol I, Cuza's Hohenzollern successor, when Parliament voted against increasing the sum to the level demanded by its recipient. Having preserved a negative impression of the 1866 plebiscite, during which Cuza's dethronement had been confirmed, Macedonski remained a committed opponent of the new ruler. As a youth and adult, he sought to revive his father's cause, and included allusions to the perceived injustice in at least one poem. After spending the last months of his life protesting against the authorities, Macedonski-father fell ill and died in September 1869, leaving his family to speculate that he had been murdered by political rivals.\n\nDebut years\n\nMacedonski left Romania in 1870, traveling through Austria-Hungary and spending time in Vienna, before visiting Switzerland and possibly other countries; according to one account, it was here that he may have first met (and disliked) his rival poet Mihai Eminescu, at a time a Viennese student. Macedonski's visit was meant to be preparation for entering the University of Bucharest, but he spent much of his time in the bohemian environment, seeking entertainment and engaging in romantic escapades. He was however opposed to the lifestyle choices of people his age, claiming that they were engaged in \"orgy after orgy\". At around that date, the young author had begun to perfect a style heavily influenced by Romanticism, and in particular by his Wallachian predecessors Dimitrie Bolintineanu and Ion Heliade Rădulescu. He was for a while in Styria, at Bad Gleichenberg, a stay which, George Călinescu believes, may have been the result of a medical recommendation to help him counter excessive nervousness. The landscape there inspired him to write an ode. Also in 1870, he published his first lyrics in George Bariț's Transylvanian-based journal Telegraful Român.\n\nThe following year, he left for Italy, where he visited Pisa, Florence, Venice, and possibly other cities. His records of the journey indicate that he was faced with financial difficulties and plagued by disease. Macedonski also claimed to have attended college lectures in these cities, and to have spent significant time studying at Pisa University, but this remains uncertain. He eventually returned to Bucharest, where he entered the Faculty of Letters (which he never attended regularly). According to Călinescu, Macedonski \"did not feel the need\" to attend classes, because \"such a young man will expect society to render upon him its homages.\" He was again in Italy during spring 1872, soon after publishing his debut volume Prima verba (Latin for \"First Word\"). Having also written an anti-Carol piece, published in Telegraful Român during 1873, Macedonski reportedly feared political reprisals, and decided to make another visit to Styria and Italy while his case was being assessed. It was in Italy that he met French musicologist Jules Combarieu, with whom he corresponded sporadically over the following decades.\n\nDuring that period, Macedonski became interested in the political scene and political journalism, first as a sympathizer of the liberal-radical current—which, in 1875, organized itself around the National Liberal Party. In 1874, back in Craiova, Macedonski founded a short-lived literary society known as Junimea, a title which purposefully or unwittingly copied that of the influential conservative association with whom he would later quarrel. It was then that he met journalist and pedagogue Ștefan Velescu, a meeting witnessed by Velescu's pupil, the future liberal journalist Constantin Bacalbașa, who recorded it in his memoirs. Oltul magazine, which he had helped establish and which displayed a liberal agenda, continued to be published until July 1875, and featured Macedonski's translations from Pierre-Jean de Béranger, Hector de Charlieu and Alphonse de Lamartine, as well as his debut in travel writing and short story. At age 22, he worked on his first play, a comedy titled Gemenii (\"The Twins\"). In 1874 that he came to the attention of young journalist future dramatist Ion Luca Caragiale, who satirized him in articles for the magazine Ghimpele, ridiculing his claim to Lithuanian descent, and eventually turning him into the character Aamsky, whose fictional career ends with his death from exhaustion caused by contributing to \"for the country's political development\". This was the first episode in a consuming polemic between the two figures. Reflecting back on this period in 1892, Macedonski described Caragiale as a \"noisy young man\" of \"sophistic reasoning\", whose target audience was to be found in \"beer gardens\".\n\n1875 trial and office as prefect\n\nIn March 1875, Macedonski was arrested on charges of defamation or sedition. For almost a year before, he and Oltul had taken an active part in the campaign against Conservative Party and its leader, Premier Lascăr Catargiu. In this context, he had demanded that the common man \"rise up with weapons in their hands and break both the government agents and the government\", following up with similar messages aimed at the Domnitor. He was taken to Bucharest's Văcărești prison and confined there for almost three months. Supported by the liberal press and defended by the most prestigious pro-liberal attorneys (Nicolae Fleva among them), Macedonski faced a jury trial on 7 June, being eventually cleared of the charges. Reportedly, the Bucharest populace organized a spontaneous celebration of the verdict.\n\nIn 1875, after the National Liberal Ion Emanuel Florescu was assigned the post of Premier by Carol, Macedonski embarked on an administrative career. The poet was upset by not being included on the National Liberal list for the 1875 suffrage. This disenchantment led him into a brief conflict with the young liberal figure Bonifaciu Florescu, only to join him soon afterward in editing Stindardul journal, alongside Pantazi Ghica and George Fălcoianu. The publication followed the line of Nicolae Moret Blaremberg, made notorious for his radical and republican agenda. Ghica and Macedonski remained close friends until Ghica's 1882 death.\n\nThe new cabinet eventually appointed him Prefect of Bolgrad region, in the Budjak (at the time part of Romania). In parallel, he published his first translation, a version of Parisina, an 1816 epic poem by Lord Byron, and completed the original works Ithalo and Calul arabului (\"The Arab's Horse\"). He also spoke at the Romanian Atheneum, presenting his views on the state of Romanian literature (1878). His time in office ended upon the outbreak of the Russo-Turkish War. At the time, Russian volunteers were amassed on the Budjak border, requesting from the Romanian authorities the right of free passage into the Principality of Serbia. The National Liberal Premier Ion Brătianu, who was negotiating an anti-Ottoman alliance, sent Macedonski signals to let them pass, but the prefect, obeying the official recommendation of Internal Affairs Minister George D. Vernescu, decided against it, and was consequently stripped of his office.\n\nStill determined to pursue a career in the press, Macedonski founded a string of unsuccessful magazines with patriotic content and titles such as Vestea (\"The Announcement\"), Dunărea (\"The Danube\"), Fulgerul (\"The Lightning\") and, after 1880, Tarara (an onomatopoeia equivalent to \"Toodoodoo\"). Their history is connected with that of the Russo-Turkish War, at the end of which Romanian participation on the Russian side resulted in her independence. Macedonski remained committed to the anti-Ottoman cause, and, some thirty years later, stated: \"We want no Turkey in Europe!\"\n\nBy 1879, the poet, who continued to voice criticism of Carol, had several times switched sides between the National Liberals and the opposition Conservatives. That year, while the Budjak was ceded to Russia and Northern Dobruja was integrated into Romania, the Brătianu cabinet appointed him administrator of the Sulina plasă and the Danube Delta. He had previously refused to be made comptroller in Putna County, believing such an appointment to be beneath his capacity, and had lost a National Liberal appointment in Silistra when Southern Dobruja was granted to the Principality of Bulgaria. During this short interval in office, he traveled to the Snake Island in the Black Sea—his appreciation for the place later motivated him to write the fantasy novel Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu and the poem Lewki.\n\nEarly Literatorul years\nWith the 1880s came a turning point in Alexandru Macedonski's career. Vianu notes that changes took place in the poet's relationship with his public: \"Society recognizes in him the nonconformist. [...] The man becomes singular; people start talking about his oddities.\" Macedonski's presumed frustration at being perceived in this way, Vianu notes, may have led him closer to the idea of poète maudit, theorized earlier by Paul Verlaine. In this context, he had set his sight on promoting \"social poetry\", the merger between lyricism and political militantism. Meanwhile, according to Călinescu, his attacks on the liberals and the \"daft insults he aimed at [Romania's] throne\" had effectively ruined his own chance of political advancement.\n\nIn January 1880, he launched his most influential and long-lived publication, Literatorul, which was also the focal point of his eclectic cultural circle, and, in later years, of the local Symbolist school. In its first version, the magazine was co-edited by Macedonski, Bonifaciu Florescu and poet Th. M. Stoenescu. Florescu parted with the group soon after, due to a disagreement with Macedonski, and was later attacked by the latter for allegedly accumulating academic posts. Literatorul aimed to irritate Junimist sensibilities from its first issue, when it stated its dislike for \"political prejudice in literature.\" This was most likely an allusion to the views of Junimist figure Titu Maiorescu, being later accompanied by explicit attacks on him and his followers. An early success for the new journal was the warm reception it received from Vasile Alecsandri, a Romantic poet and occasional Junimist whom Macedonski idolized at the time, and the collaboration of popular memoirist Gheorghe Sion. Another such figure was the intellectual V. A. Urechia, whom Macedonski made president of the Literatorul Society. In 1881, Education Minister Urechia granted Macedonski the Bene-Merenti medal 1st class, although, Călinescu stresses, the poet had only totaled 18 months of public service. At around that time, Macedonski had allegedly begun courting actress Aristizza Romanescu, who rejected his advances, leaving him unenthusiastic about love matters and unwilling to seek female company.\n\nIn parallel, Macedonski used the magazine to publicize his disagreement with the main Junimist voice, Convorbiri Literare. Among the group of contributors, several had already been victims of Maiorescu's irony: Sion, Urechia, Pantazi Ghica and Petru Grădișteanu. While welcoming the debut of its contributor, Parnassian-Neoclassicist novelist and poet Duiliu Zamfirescu, Macedonski repeatedly attacked its main exponent, the conservative poet Eminescu, claiming not to understand his poetry. However, Literatorul was also open to contributions from some Convorbiri Literare affiliates (Zamfirescu, Matilda Cugler-Poni and Veronica Micle).\n\nIn November 1880, Macedonski's plays Iadeș! (\"Wishbone!\", a comedy first printed in 1882) and Unchiașul Sărăcie (\"Old Man Poverty\") premiered at the National Theater Bucharest. A sign of government approval, this was followed by Macedonski's appointment to a minor administrative office, as Historical Monuments Inspector. Nevertheless, both plays failed to impose themselves on public perception, and were withdrawn from the program by 1888. Călinescu asserts that, although Macedonski later claimed to have always been facing poverty, his job in the administration, coupled with other sources of revenue, ensured him a comfortable existence.\n\nIn 1881, Macedonski published a new collection of poetry. Titled Poezii, it carries the year \"1882\" on its original cover. Again moving away from liberalism, Macedonski sought to make himself accepted by Junimea and Maiorescu. He consequently attended the Junimea sessions, and gave a public reading of Noaptea de noiembrie (\"November Night\"), the first publicized piece in his lifelong Nights cycle. It reportedly earned him the praise of historian and poet Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu, who, although an anti-Junimist, happened to be in the audience. Despite rumors according to which he had applauded Macedonski, Maiorescu himself was not impressed, and left an unenthusiastic account of the event in his private diary.\n\nAgainst Alecsandri and Eminescu\nMacedonski's open conflict with Junimea began in 1882, when he engaged in a publicized polemic with Alecsandri. It was ignited when, through Macedonski's articles, Literatorul criticized Alecsandri for accepting Romanian Academy prizes despite being its member, and later involved Sion (whose replies on behalf of the Academy were derided by Macedonski). Macedonski also took distance from Alecsandri's style, publishing a \"critical analysis\" of his poetry in one issue of Literatorul. In turn, Alecsandri humiliated his young rival by portraying him as Zoilus, the prototype of slanderers, and himself as the model poet Horace in the 1883 play Fântâna Blanduziei. The two were eventually reconciled, and Macedonski again spoke of Alecsandri as his ideological and stylistic predecessor.\n\nIn April 1882, Eminescu had also replied to Macedonski in Timpul journal, referring to an unnamed poet who \"barely finishes high-school, comes over to Bucharest selling nick-nacks and makeup [and goes into] literary dealership\". Reproaching Macedonski's attacks on Alecsandri, Eminescu makes a nationalist comment about the young poet bearing \"the bastard instincts of those foreigners who were Romanianized only yesterday\", and attributes him \"the physiognomy of a hairdresser\". Through the articles of Petru Th. Missir, Convorbiri Literare gave Poezii a negative review, deemed \"malevolent\" by literary historian Mircea Anghelescu. At the other end of the political and cultural spectrum, Macedonski faced opposition from the intellectuals attracted to socialism, in particular Contemporanul editors Constantin Mille and Ioan Nădejde, with whom he was engaged in an extended polemic.\n\nIn the meantime, Macedonski published his own play, which had Cuza for its main character and was eponymously titled Cuza-Vodă, and completed translations for Literatorul—from Maurice Rollinat, whom he helped impose as a main cultural reference in Romanian Symbolism, and from the Greek poet Akhillefs Paraskhos. In 1883, he also contributed his first sketch story, Casa cu nr. 10 (\"The House at Number 10\"). In early 1883, he married Ana Rallet-Slătineanu. Wealthy and supposedly related to Romanian aristocrats, she would bear him five children in all: the painter Alexis was the eldest, followed by Nikita; the three youngest were two sons (Panel and Constantin Macedonski) and a daughter, Anna (also known as Nina). His heterosexual lifestyle notwithstanding, Macedonski remained a self-avowed admirer of male beauties, and was rumored to be a closeted homosexual.\n\nIn July 1883, Macedonski undertook one of his most controversial anti-Junimist actions. That month, Literatorul published an epigram signed with the pseudonym Duna, deriding an unnamed author who had lost his mind. Mihai Eminescu—whom many had already come to see as Romania's national poet—had by then developed a mental disorder which had become known to the general public. Ever since that moment, Macedonski has generally been believed to be Duna, and as a result, was faced with much criticism from both readers and commentators. The intense anti-Literatorul press campaign was initiated in August, when writer Grigore Ventura issued an article condemning Macedonski's attitude (published in the Bucharest-based newspaper L'Indépendance Roumaine), with Macedonski responding in the National Liberal organ Românul. During one evening, Macedonski is reported to have been assaulted by anonymous supporters of Eminescu. His previous conflict with Nădejde was also affected by this renewed controversy: while opposed to Junimist policies, the socialists at Contemporanul voiced their admiration for Eminescu's art.\n\nLate in 1883, Macedonski and his friends unveiled Ion Georgescu's statue of their mentor Bolintineanu in the National Theater lobby. The circumstances in which this took place rose suspicion of foul play; on this grounds, Macedonski was ridiculed by his former friend Zamfirescu in the journal România Liberă, which left him embittered. Călinescu proposes that, although such negative reactions were invoked by Macedonski's supporters as a sign of their mentor having been marginalized, Macedonski had expressed his dissatisfaction with the cultural environment long before that moment, and was still a respected figure even after the incidents took place.\n\nFirst Paris sojourn and Poezia viitorului\n\nHaving been stripped of his administrative office by the new Brătianu cabinet, Macedonski faced financial difficulties, and was forced to move into a house on the outskirts of Bucharest, and later moved between houses in northern Bucharest. According to Călinescu, the poet continued to cultivate luxury and passionately invested in the decorative arts, although his source of income, other than the supposed assistance \"of [European] ruling houses\", remains a mystery. Arguing that Macedonski was \"always in need of money\" to use on his luxury items, poet Victor Eftimiu claimed: \"He did not shy away from sending emphatic notes to the potentates of his day [...], flattering some, threatening others. He would marry off or simply mate some of his disciples with aging and rich women, and then he would squeeze out their assets.\"\n\nMacedonski eventually left Romania in 1884, visiting Paris. On his way there, he passed through Craiova, where he met aspiring author Traian Demetrescu, whose works he had already hosted in Literatorul and who was to become his friend and protégé. Demetrescu later recalled being gripped by \"tremors of emotion\" upon first catching sight of Macedonski. In France, Macedonski set up contacts within the French literary environment, and began contributing to French or Francophone literary publications—including the Belgian Symbolist platforms La Wallonie and L'Élan littéraire. His collaboration with La Wallonie alongside Albert Mockel, Tudor Vianu believes, makes Alexandru Macedonski one in the original wave of European Symbolists. This adaptation to Symbolism also drew on his marked Francophilia, which in turn complemented his tendencies toward cosmopolitanism. He became opposed to Carol I, who, in 1881, had been granted the Crown of the Romanian Kingdom. In addition to his admiration for Cuza and the 1848 Wallachian revolutionaries, the poet objected to the King's sympathy for France's main rival, the German Empire. In January 1885, after having returned from the voyage, he announced his retirement from public life, claiming that German influence and its exponents at Junimea had \"conquered\" Romanian culture, and repeating his claim that Eminescu lacked value.\n\nIn the meantime, Literatorul went out of print, although new series were still published at irregular intervals until 1904 (when it ceased being published altogether). The magazine was reportedly hated by the public, causing Macedonski, Stoenescu, Florescu, Urechia and educator Anghel Demetriescu to try to revive it as Revista Literară (\"The Literary Review\", published for a few months in 1885). The poet attempted to establish other magazines, all of them short-lived, and, in 1887, handed for print his Naturalist novella Dramă banală (\"Banal Drama\") while completing one of the most revered episodes in the Nights series, Noaptea de mai (\"May Night\"). Also in 1886, he worked on his other Naturalist novellas: Zi de august (\"August Day\"), Pe drum de poștă (\"On the Stagecoach Trail\"), Din carnetul unui dezertor (\"From the Notebook of a Deserter\"), Între cotețe (\"Amidst Hen Houses\") and the eponymous Nicu Dereanu.\n\nBy 1888, he was again sympathetic toward Blaremberg, whose dissident National Liberal faction had formed an alliance with the Conservatives, editing Stindardul Țărei (later Straja Țărei) as his supporting journal. However, late in the same year, he returned to the liberal mainstream, being assigned a weekly column in Românul newspaper. Two years later, he attempted to relaunch Literatorul under the leadership of liberal figure Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu, but the latter eventually settled for founding his own Revista Nouă. Around 1891, he saluted Junimeas own break with the Conservatives and its entry into politics at the Conservative-Constitutional Party, before offering an enthusiastic welcome to the 1892 Junimist agitation among university students. In 1894, he would speak in front of student crowds gathered at a political rally in University Square, and soon after made himself known for supporting the cause of ethnic Romanians and other underrepresented groups of Austria-Hungary.\n\nHis literary thesis of the time was titled Poezia viitorului (\"The Poetry of the Future\"). It upheld Symbolist authors as the models to follow, while Macedonski personally began producing what he referred to as \"instrumentalist\" poems, composed around musical and onomatopoeic elements, and showing a preference for internal rhymes. Such an experimental approach was soon after parodied and ridiculed by Ion Luca Caragiale, who had by then affiliated and parted with Junimea, in his new Moftul Român magazine. The poet sought to reconcile with his rival, publicizing a claim that Caragiale was being unjustly ignored by the cultural establishment, but this attempt failed to mend relations between them, and the conflict escalated further.\n\nWhile, in 1893, Literatorul hosted fragments of Thalassa in its Romanian-language version, the author also launched a daily, Lumina (\"The Light\"). It was also at that stage that Alexandru Macedonski associated with Cincinat Pavelescu, the noted epigrammarian, who joined him in editing Literatorul, and with whom he co-authored the 1893 verse tragedy depicting the Biblical hero Saul, and named after him. Although showcased by the National Theater with star actor Constantin Nottara in the title role, it failed to register success with the public. Two years later, the two Literatorul editors made headlines as pioneers of cycling. An enthusiastic promoter of the sport, Macedonski joined fellow poet Constantin Cantilli on a marathon, pedaling from Bucharest across the border into Austria-Hungary, all the way down to Brașov.\n\nLate 1890s\nMacedonski also returned with a new volume of poetry, Excelsior (consecutive editions in 1895 and 1896), and founded Liga Ortodoxă (\"The Orthodox League\"), a magazine noted for hosting the debut of Tudor Arghezi, later one of the most celebrated figures in Romanian literature. Macedonski commended his new protégé for reaching \"the summit of poetry and art\" at \"an age when I was still prattling verses\". Liga Ortodoxă also hosted articles against Caragiale, which Macedonski signed with the pseudonym Sallustiu (\"Sallustius\"). The magazine was additional proof of Macedonski's return to conservatism, and largely dedicated to defending the cause of Romanian Orthodox Metropolitan Ghenadie, deposed by the Romanian Synod following a political scandal. It defended Ghenadie up until he chose to resign, and subsequently went out of print. Macedonski was shocked to note that Ghenadie had given up his own defense.\n\nIn 1895, his Casa cu nr. 10 was translated into French by the Journal des Débats, whose editors reportedly found it picturesque. Two years later, Macedonski himself published French-language translations of his earlier poetry under the title Bronzes, a volume prefaced by his disciple, the critic and promoter Alexandru Bogdan-Pitești. Although it was positively reviewed by Mercure de France magazine, Bronzes was largely unnoticed by the French audience, a fact which Tudor Vianu attributes to Bogdan-Pitești's lack of qualification for the cultural mission Macedonski had trusted him with. By that time, his circle had come to be frequented with regularity by Bogdan-Pitești's friend and collaborator, the celebrated painter Ștefan Luchian, who was in the Symbolist and Art Nouveau stage of his career.\n\nBy 1898, Macedonski was again facing financial difficulties, and his collaborators resorted to organizing a fundraiser in his honor. His rejection of the Orthodox establishment was documented by his political tract, published that year as . Between that time and 1900, he focused on researching esoteric, occult and pseudoscientific subjects. Traian Demetrescu, who recorded his visits with Macedonski, recalled his former mentor being opposed to his positivist take on science, claiming to explain the workings of the Universe in \"a different way\", through \"imagination\", but also taking an interest in Camille Flammarion's astronomy studies. Macedonski was determined to interpret death through parapsychological means, and, in 1900, conferenced at the Atheneum on the subject Sufletul și viața viitoare (\"The Soul and the Coming Life\"). The focal point of his vision was that man could voluntarily stave off death with words and gestures, a concept he elaborated upon in his later articles. In one such piece, Macedonski argued: \"man has the power [...] to compact the energy currents known as thoughts to the point where he changes them, according to his own will, into objects or soul-bearing creatures.\" He also attempted to build a machine for extinguishing chimney fires. Later, Nikita Macedonski registered the invention of nacre-treated paper, which is sometimes attributed to his father.\n\nCaion scandal and expatriation\nThe few issues of Literatorul that were printed in 1899-1900 saw the circle being joined by the young Symbolist poet Ștefan Petică. In 1902, he published Cartea de aur (\"The Golden Book\"), comprising his sketch stories and novellas. In parallel, Macedonski returned to the public scene, founding Forța Morală magazine. It was through this venue that he began responding to Ion Luca Caragiale's earlier attacks. This he did by hosting the articles of aspiring journalist Constantin Al. Ionescu-Caion, who accused Caragiale of having plagiarized a Hungarian author by the name of Kemény in his tragedy play Năpasta. Kemény turned out to be non-existent. According to Vianu, Macedonski had no prior knowledge of the fraud, but had also been \"blinded\" by his resentments instead of displaying \"discernment\", and had even showed evidence of \"insanity\". Most in Macedonski's own series of anti-Caragiale articles were unsigned, or signed with pseudonyms such as Luciliu (\"Gaius Lucilius\").\n\nLike in the case of Eminescu's conflict with Macedonski, the polemic enlisted a negative response from the public. The poet's associate Th. M. Stoenescu convinced himself that Caragiale was being framed, and refused to allow Revista Literară to be used for endorsing Caion, which caused Macedonski to shun him. Macedonski refused to withdraw his support for the cause even after Caragiale sued Caion, but Forța Morală soon went out of print. Before it did so, the journal hosted some of Macedonski's most renowned poems, including Lewki and Noaptea de decemvrie (\"December Night\"), together with his article on Remy de Gourmont's thoughts on poetics.\n\nIn his article of 1903, titled (\"Toward Occultism. Later Orientations toward Theosophy and Social Philosophy\"), the poet envisaged making his interest in esoteric subjects the basis of a new literary movement. Also that year, poet George Bacovia began attending the literary circle, and gave a reading of his celebrated Plumb poem, being welcomed by Macedonski with a flattering epigram. Macedonski's series of short-lived periodicals resumed in 1905, when he founded Le Beau Danube Bleu (French for \"The Beautiful Blue Danube\") and Liga Conservatoare (\"The Conservative League\"). He registered more success in 1906, when his Thalassa was published, as Le Calvaire de feu, by Edward Sansot's Paris-based publishing house. This followed intense self-promotion within the French literary environment, as well as advertisements in the French press. Part of this involved Macedonski sending his book to be reviewed by Émile Faguet, Jean Mounet-Sully, Joséphin Péladan, Pierre Quillard and Jean Richepin, who replied with what Vianu deems \"the politeness of circumstance.\" The volume was nonetheless favorably reviewed by the prestigious magazines Mercure de France and Gil Blas.\n\nAlso in 1906, La Revue Musicale published his interview with Combarieu, through which the latter aimed to verify supposed connections between literary inspiration and musical sensitivity. By 1907, he was concentrating on experiments in physics, and eventually publicized his claim to have discovered that light does not travel through vacuum. He sent a paper on astronomy subjects to be reviewed by the Société Astronomique de France, of which he subsequently became a member. The same year, he drafted the plan for a world government, announcing that he had found sympathy for the cause throughout Europe. Macedonski also introduced himself to an Italophone public, when two of his sonnets were published by Poesia, the magazine of Futurist theorist Filippo Tommaso Marinetti.\n\nBetween 1910 and 1912, Macedonski was again in Paris. Seeking to withdraw himself from Romania's public life due to what he perceived as injustice, he had by then completed work on the French-language tragicomedy Le Fou? (\"The Madman?\"), which was only published after his death. He was actively seeking to establish his reputation in French theater, reading his new play to a circle which included Louis de Gonzague Frick and Florian-Parmentier, while, at home, newspapers reported rumors that his work was going to be staged by Sarah Bernhardt's company. His efforts were largely fruitless, and, accompanied by his son Alexis, the poet left France, spent some time in Italy, and eventually returned to Romania. Passing through the German Empire, he learned of Ion Luca Caragiale's sudden death, and wrote Adevărul daily an open letter, which showed that he had come to revise his stance, notably comparing the deceased author's style and legacy to those of Mark Twain.\n\nDuring Macedonski's absence, his style and work had come to be reviewed more positively, in particular by the young authors I. Dragoslav, Horia Furtună, Ion Pillat, Anastasie Mândru, Al. T. Stamatiad, as well as by post-Junimist critic Mihail Dragomirescu, who offered Macedonski a good reception in his Convorbiri Critice magazine. Tudor Vianu, who cites contemporary statements by Dragoslav, concludes that, upon arrival, Macedonski was enthusiastically received by a public who had missed him. Also in 1912, one of his poems was published as an homage by Simbolul, a magazine published by the young and radical Symbolists Tristan Tzara, Ion Vinea and Marcel Janco. Around that time, Macedonski also collaborated with the Iași-based moderate Symbolist magazine Versuri și Proză. Polemics surrounding his case nevertheless continued: in late 1912, as part of a National Theater adaptation of Alphonse Daudet's Sapho, actor Cazimir Belcot borrowed from Macedonski's appearance and mannerisms to portray a failure.\n\nReturn and World War I years\nMacedonski and his protégés had become regular frequenters of Bucharest cafés. Having a table permanently reserved for him at Imperial Hotel's Kübler Coffeehouse, he was later a presence in two other such establishments: High-Life and Terasa Oteteleșanu. He is said to have spent part of his time at Kübler loudly mocking the traditionalist poets who gathered at an opposite table. Meanwhile, the poet's literary club, set up at his house in Dorobanți quarter, had come to resemble a mystical circle, over which he held magisterial command. Vianu, who visited the poet together with Pillat, compares this atmosphere with those created by other \"mystics and magi of poetry\" (citing as examples Joséphin Péladan, Louis-Nicolas Ménard, Stéphane Mallarmé and Stefan George). The hall where seances were hosted was only lit by candles, and the tables were covered in red fabric. Macedonski himself was seated on a throne designed by Alexis, and adopted a dominant pose. The apparent secrecy and the initiation rites performed on new members were purportedly inspired by Rosicrucianism and the Freemasonry. By then, Macedonski was rewarding his followers' poems with false gemstones.\n\nThe poet founded Revista Critică (\"The Critical Review\"), which again closed after a short while, and issued the poetry volume Flori sacre (\"Sacred Flowers\"). Grouping his Forța Morală poems and older pieces, it was dedicated to his new generation of followers, whom Macedonski's preface referred to as \"the new Romania.\" He continued to hope that Le Fou? was going to be staged in France, especially after he received some encouragement in the form of articles in Mercure de France and Journal des Débats, but was confronted with the general public's indifference. In 1914, Thalassa was published in a non-definitive version by Constantin Banu's magazine Flacăra, which sought to revive overall interest in his work. At a French Red Cross conference in September, Macedonski paid his final public homage to France, which had just become entangled in World War I. It was also in 1914 that Macedonski commissioned for print his very first rondels and completed work on a tragedy play about Renaissance poet Dante Aligheri—known as La Mort de Dante in its French original, and Moartea lui Dante in the secondary Romanian version (both meaning \"Dante's Death\"). The aging poet was by then building connections with the local art scene: together with artist Alexandru Severin, he created (and probably presided over) Cenaclul idealist (\"The Idealist Club\"), which included Symbolist artists and was placed under the honorary patronage of King Carol.\n\n1916 was also the year when Romania abandoned her neutrality and, under a National Liberal government, rallied with the Entente Powers. During the neutrality period, Macedonski had shed his lifelong Francophilia to join the Germanophiles, who wanted to see Romanian participation on the Central Powers' side. In 1915, he issued the journal Cuvântul Meu (\"My Word\"). Entirely written by him, it published ten consecutive issues before going bankrupt, and notably lashed out against France for being \"bourgeois\" and \"lawyer-filled\", demanding from Romania not to get involved in the conflict. Commentators and researchers of his work have declared themselves puzzled by this change in allegiance.\n\nMacedonski further alienated public opinion during the Romanian Campaign, when the Central Powers armies entered southern Romania and occupied Bucharest. Alexis was drafted and became a war artist, but Macedonski Sr, who received formal protection from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bucharest, chose to stay behind while the authorities and many ordinary citizens relocated to Iași, where resistance was still being organized. His stance was interpreted as collaborationism by his critics. However, Macedonski reportedly faced extreme poverty throughout the occupation. Having by then begun to attend the circle of Alexandru Bogdan-Pitești, his promoter and fellow Germanophile, he was once rewarded by the latter with a turkey filled with gold coins.\n\nLate polemics, illness and death\n\nLiteratorul resumed print in June 1918, once Romania capitulated to the Central Powers under the Treaty of Bucharest. A controversial incident occurred soon afterwards, when, going against the counsel of his friend and collaborator Stamatiad, Macedonski signed a Literatorul article where the German military administrator August von Mackensen, who was about to lead his troops out of Romania, was presented in a positive light. In a manner deemed \"excessive\" by historian Lucian Boia, the Romanian writer was paying homage not just to Mackensen, but also, indirectly, to German Emperor Wilhelm II and the Reichsheer. Soon after reading the piece, Romanian Academy member and fellow Symbolist promoter Ovid Densusianu withdrew his own nomination of Macedonski for an Academy seat. During summer, Macedonski also joined the group of public figures who saluted the senior Conservative Germanophile Petre P. Carp (deeming Carp \"the veteran of character, honesty and Romanianism\"), and, in September, joined Ioan Slavici and Gala Galaction as a contributor to the occupation magazine Rumänien in Wort und Bild, where he prophesied an anti-French \"political renaissance\" of Romania.\n\nAlexandru Macedonski faced problems after the Romanian government resumed its control over Bucharest, and during the early years of Greater Romania. What followed the Mackensen article, Vianu claims, was Macedonski's bellum contra omnes (\"war against all\"). However, the poet made efforts to accommodate himself with the triumphal return of the Iași authorities: in December 1918, Literatorul celebrated the extension of Romanian rule \"from the Tisza to the Dniester\" as a success of the National Liberals, paying homage to Francophile political leaders Ion I. C. Brătianu and Take Ionescu. Macedonski also envisaged running in the 1918 election for a seat in the new Parliament (which was supposed to vote a document to replace the 1866 Constitution as the organic law), but never registered his candidature. According to Vianu, he had intended to create a joke political party, the \"intellectual group\", whose other member was an unnamed coffeehouse acquaintance of his. Literatorul was revived for a final time in 1919.\n\nHis health deteriorated from heart disease, which is described by Vianu as an effect of constant smoking. By that stage, Vianu recalls, Macedonski also had problems coming to terms with his age. His last anthumous work was the pamphlet Zaherlina (named after the Romanian version of \"Zacherlin\"; also known as Zacherlina or Zacherlina în continuare, \"Zacherlin Contd.\"), completed in 1919 and published the following year. It notably attacked Densusianu, who had become Macedonski's personal enemy. Some other polemical texts he had authored late in life saw print only after his death, under the title Mustrări postume către o generație neînțelegătoare (\"Posthumous Reprimands for an Obtuse Generation\").\n\n1920 was also the year when the People's Party cabinet attempted to pension him off from his office at the Historical Monuments Commission, but the publicized protest of Macedonski's fellow writers in Bucharest made it reconsider. Confined to his home by illness and old age, Macedonski was still writing poems, some of which later known as his Ultima verba (\"Last Words\"). The writer died on 24 November, at three o'clock in the afternoon. Having come to develop an addiction to floral fragrances, he was inhaling a rose petal extract during his last hours. He was buried in Bucharest's Bellu.\n\nWork\n\nGeneral characteristics\n\nAlthough Alexandru Macedonski frequently changed his style and views on literary matters, a number of constants have been traced throughout his work. Thus, a common perception is that his literature had a strongly visual aspect, the notion being condensed in Cincinat Pavelescu's definition of Macedonski: \"Poet, therefore painter; painter, therefore poet.\" Traian Demetrescu too recalled that his mentor had been dreaming of becoming a visual artist, and had eventually settled for turning his son Alexis into one. This pictorial approach to writing created parallels between Macedonski and his traditionalist contemporaries Vasile Alecsandri and Barbu Ștefănescu Delavrancea.\n\nFollowing the tenets of Dimitrie Bolintineanu and Théophile Gautier, the writer repeatedly called for purity in versification, and upheld it as an essential requirement, while progressively seeking to verify the quality of his poetry through phonaesthetics. A characteristic of Macedonski's style is his inventive use of Romanian. Initially influenced by Ion Heliade Rădulescu's introduction of Italian-based words to the Romanian lexis, Macedonski himself later infused poetic language with a large array of neologisms from several Romance sources. Likewise, Vianu notes, Macedonski had a tendency for comparing nature with the artificial, the result of this being a \"document\" of his values. Macedonski's language alternated neologisms with barbarisms, many of which were coined by him personally. They include claviculat (\"clavicled\", applied to a shoulder), împălăriată (\"enhatted\", used to define a crowd of hat-wearing tourists), and ureichii (instead of urechii, \"to the ear\" or \"of the ear\"). His narratives nevertheless take an interest in recording direct speech, used as a method of characterization. However, Călinescu criticizes Macedonski for using a language which, \"although grammatically correct [...], seems to have been learned only recently\", as well as for not following other Romanian writers in creating a lasting poetic style.\n\nThe writer's belief in the effects of sheer willpower, notably present in his comments on esoteric subjects, was itself a defining characteristic of his perspective on literature. In 1882, he wrote about progression in one's career: \"We are all poets at birth, but only those who shape themselves through study will become poets.\" Vianu, who notes Macedonski's \"exclusivity\" and \"fanaticism\", places such statements in connection with Macedonski's personal ambition, \"pride\" and \"the willingness to carry out ventured actions [...], in stated opposition with the entire surrounding and with contempt for the foreseeable reaction.\"\n\nAlmost all periods of Macedonski's work reflect, in whole or in part, his public persona and the polemics he was involved in. George Călinescu's emits a verdict on the relation between his lifetime notoriety and the public's actual awareness of his work: \"Macedonski [was] a poet well-known for being an unknown poet.\" According to literary critic Matei Călinescu, the innovative aspects of his impact on Romanian literature were not as much related to his \"literary ideology\", as much as to his \"contradictory spirit\" and \"essential nonconformism\". However, literary researcher Adrian Marino proposes that Macedonski was one of the first modern authors to illustrate the importance of \"dialectic unity\" through his views on art, in particular by having argued that poetry needed to be driven by \"an idea\". Having theorized once, while questioning Junimist rigor, that \"the logic of poetry is absurdity itself [italics in the original]\", the poet also said: \"Poetry is the chaos of spirit and matter, of the cries of distress and mad laughter. From the sublime to the trivial, that is what it should be.\" He later revised part of this verdict, and, making explicit his adoption of aestheticism, spoke against trivial subjects and in favor of the sublime.\n\nWhile Macedonski also discarded the concept of \"social poetry\" not long after postulating it, its spirit, Tudor Vianu believes, can still be found in his later contributions. This, the critic notes, was owed to his \"social temperament\", whose \"fundamental experience is that of the social.\" Discussing this sociable and extrovert character, other critics see in the poet's life and work the imprint of \"quixotism\". Also according to Vianu, this contrasted with Macedonski's failures in communicating with the public, an experience which made him \"misanthropic\" and contributed to his ultimate vision of death as freedom. Literary historian Pompiliu Constantinescu concluded: \"Macedonski could not resign; his one martyrdom was for Art, as the sole liberation from a tormented life.\" Other commentators have defined the poet's perspective on life as a result of \"neurosis\".\n\nIn Vianu's perspective, Macedonski's stance is dominated by a mixture of nostalgia, sensuality, lugubrious-grotesque imagery, and \"the lack of bashfulness for antisocial sentiments\" which compliments his sarcasm. In respect to the latter characteristic, Vianu notes \"no one in Romanian literature has laughed the same way as Macedonski\", whereas critic Ștefan Cazimir argues: \"[Macedonski was] lacking the sense of relativity in principles, and implicitly a sense of humor.\" Cazimir adds: \"Only when he aged did [Macedonski] learn to smile\". George Călinescu himself believes Macedonski to have been \"fundamentally a spiritual man with lots of humor\", speculating that he was able to see the \"uselessness\" of his own scientific ventures.\n\nCritics note that, while Macedonski progressed from one stage to the other, his work fluctuated between artistic accomplishment and mediocrity. Tudor Vianu believes \"failure in reaching originality\" and reliance on \"soppy-conventional attributes of the day\" to be especially evident wherever Macedonski tried to emulate epic poetry. He also notes that Macedonski's love-themed pieces \"cannot be listed among [his] most fortunate\". At his best, commentators note, he was one of the Romanian literature's classics. Macedonski is thus perceived as the author second only to Eminescu, and as his ideal counterpart—a relation Vianu describes as \"the internal dualism [confronting] two familiar gods\". Various critics have compared Eminescu's poetic discourse with that of the Symbolist leader, concluding that the two poets often display very similar attitudes. Călinescu writes that, while Macedonski's work is largely inferior to that of his Junimist rival, it forms the best \"reply\" ever conceived within their common setting.\n\nPrima verba and other early works\nWith Ion Catina, Vasile Păun and Grigore H. Grandea, young Macedonski belonged to late Romanian Romanticism, part of a Neoromantic generation which had for its mentors Heliade Rădulescu and Bolintineanu. Other early influences were Pierre-Jean de Béranger and Gottfried August Bürger, together with Romanian folklore, motifs from them being adapted by Macedonski into pastorals and ballades of ca. 1870–1880. The imprint of Romanticism and such other sources was evident in Prima verba, which groups pieces that Macedonski authored in his early youth, the earliest of them being written when he was just twelve. Critics generally argue that the volume is without value. The poems display his rebellious attitude, self-victimization and strong reliance on autobiographical elements, centering on such episodes as the death of his father. In one piece inspired by the ideology of Heliade Rădulescu, Vianu notes, Macedonski sings \"the French Revolution's love for freedom and equality, otherwise proclaimed from his nobleman's perspective.\" It reads:\n\nIn parallel, Macedonski used erotic themes, completing a series which, although written on the model of idylls, is noted for its brute details of sexual exploits. The poet probably acknowledged that posterity would reject them, and did not republish them in any of his collected poetry volumes.\n\nDuring his time at Oltul (1873–1875), Macedonski published a series of poems, most of which were not featured in definitive editions of his work. In addition to odes written in the Italian-based version of Romanian, it includes lyrics which satirize Carol I without mentioning his name. Following his arrest, Macedonski also completed Celula mea de la Văcărești (\"My Cell in Văcărești\"), which shows his attempt to joke about the situation. In contrast to this series, some of the pieces written during Macedonski's time in the Budjak and Northern Dobruja display a detachment from contemporary themes. At that stage, he was especially inspired by Lord Byron, whom Vianu calls \"the sovereign poet of [Macedonski's] youth.\" In Calul arabului, Macedonski explores exotic and Levantine settings, using symbols which announce George Coșbuc's El-Zorab, and the Venetian-themed Ithalo, which centers on episodes of betrayal and murder. Others were epic and patriotic in tone, with subjects such as Romanian victories in the Russo-Turkish War or the Imperial Roman sites along the Danube. One of these pieces, titled Hinov after the village and stone quarry in Rasova, gives Macedonski a claim to being the first modern European poet to have used free verse, ahead of the French Symbolist Gustave Kahn. Macedonski himself later voiced the claim, and referred to such a technique as \"symphonic verse\", \"proteic verse\", or, in honor of composer Richard Wagner, \"Wagnerian verse\".\n\nWhile editing Oltul, Macedonski also completed his first prose writings. These were the travel account Pompeia și Sorento (\"Pompeia and Sorento\", 1874) and a prison-themed story described by Vianu as \"a tearjerker\", titled Câinele din Văcărești (\"The Dog in Văcărești\", 1875). These were later complemented by other travel works, which critic Mihai Zamfir likens to the verbal experiments of Impressionist literature, pioneering in the Romanian prose poetry genre. The short comedy Gemenii was his debut work for the stage, but, according to Vianu, failed to show any merit other than a \"logical construction\" and a preview into Macedonski's use of sarcasm. These writings were followed in 1876 by a concise biography of Cârjaliul, an early 19th-century hajduk. In line with his first Levant-themed poems, Macedonski authored the 1877 story Așa se fac banii (\"This Is How Money Is Made\", later retold in French as Comment on devient riche et puissant, \"How to Become Rich and Powerful\"), a fable of fatalism and the Muslim world—it dealt with two brothers, one hard-working and one indolent, the latter of whom earns his money through a series of serendipitous events. Likewise, his verse comedy Iadeș! borrowed its theme from the widely circulated collection of Persian literature known as Sindipa. The setting was however modern, and, as noted by French-born critic Frédéric Damé, the plot also borrowed much from Émile Augier's Gabrielle and from other morality plays of the period. Part of the text was an ironic treatment of youth in liberal professions, an attitude which Macedonski fitted in his emerging anti-bourgeois discourse.\n\nWith the first poems in his Nights cycle, Macedonski still showed his allegiance to Romanticism, and in particular to Alphonse de Lamartine, and the supposed inventor of this theme, Alfred de Musset. Noaptea de noiembrie opens with a violent condemnation of his adversaries, and sees Macedonski depicting his own funeral. The poem is commended by Călinescu, who notes that, in contrast to the \"apparently trivial beginning\", the main part, where Macedonski depicts himself in flight over the Danube, brings the Romanian writer close to the accomplishments of Dante Aligheri. The writer himself claimed that the piece evidenced \"the uttermost breath of inspiration I have ever felt in my life.\" Another poem, Noaptea de aprilie (\"April Night\"), was probably his testimony of unrequited love for Aristizza Romanescu.\n\nRealism and Naturalism\nBy the 1880s, Macedonski developed and applied his \"social poetry\" theory, as branch of Realism. Explained by the writer himself as a reaction against the legacy of Lamartine, it also signified his brief affiliation with the Naturalist current, a radical segment of the Realist movement. Traian Demetrescu thus noted that Macedonski cherished the works of French Naturalists and Realists such as Gustave Flaubert and Émile Zola. During this phase, Macedonski made known his sympathy for the disinherited, from girls forced into prostitution to convicts sentenced to penal labor on salt mines, and also spoke out against the conventionalism of civil marriages. His Ocnele (\"The Salt Mines\") includes the verdict:\n\nNaturalist depiction was also the main element in his prose pieces of the early 1880s. Among them was the first of several sketch stories using still life techniques, Casa cu nr. 10 (according to Zamfir, a prime sample of Macedonski's \"ornamental\" genre). With Între cotețe, Dramă banală and later Cometa lui Odorescu (\"Odorescu's Comet\"), Macedonski speaks about his own biography. The former has for a protagonist Pandele Vergea, a thirty-five-year-old man who is consumed by an avicultural obsession, who dreams of turning into a bird, and who is eventually maimed by his overcrowded fowls. In contrast, Dereanu is a bohemian university student, possessed by dreams of military and political glory, and who meditates about his future in front of Heliade Rădulescu's statue or in Bucharest cafés. Also a bohemian, Odorescu announces his discovery of a comet, before being proved wrong by his aunt, an ordinary woman. Some pieces also double as memoirs: in Dramă banală, the plot revolves around Macedonski's recollection of the 1866 plebiscite. Vianu draws attention to the picturesque depiction of historic Bucharest, a contributing element in Cometa..., Casa cu nr. 10 and Între cotețe.\n\nWith Unchiașul Sărăcie (also written in verse), Macedonski took Naturalist tenets into the field of drama. Frédéric Damé believed it an imitation of a play by Ernest d'Hervilly and Alfred Grévin, but, Vianu argues, the Romanian text was only loosely based on theirs: in Macedonski's adaptation, the theme became fairy tale-like, and used a speech style based on Romanian folklore. Around the time of its completion, Macedonski was also working on a similarly loose adaptation of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, which notably had the two protagonists die in each other's arms. Another such play is 3 decemvrie (\"December 3\"), which partly retells Friedrich Ludwig Zacharias Werner's Der 24 Februar using Naturalist devices. By contrast, the homage-play Cuza-Vodă is mainly a Romantic piece, where Alexander John Cuza finds his political mission validated by legendary figures in Romanian history.\n\nIn parallel, Macedonski was using poetry to carry out his polemics. In an 1884 epigram, he reacted against Alecsandri's Fântâna Blanduziei, but, in Vianu's definition, \"his regular causticity seems to be restrained.\" The piece he had earlier written, presumably against Eminescu, scandalized the public by mocking the rival's mental ruin:\n\nAccording to Tudor Vianu, Macedonski was mostly motivated by his disappointment in Junimea, and in particular by Eminescu's response to his public persona. Vianu contends that, although Macedonski \"never was familiar with the resigned and patient attitudes\", he was \"by no means an evil man.\" On one occasion, the poet defended himself against criticism, noting that the epigram had not been specifically addressed to Eminescu, but had been labeled as such by the press, and claiming to have authored it years before its Literatorul edition. However, the later piece Viața de apoi (\"The Afterlife\") still displays resentments he harbored toward Eminescu.\n\nBy 1880–1884, particularly after the Eminescu scandal, Macedonski envisaged prioritizing French as his language of expression. According to Vianu, Macedonski had traversed \"the lowest point\" of his existence, and had been subject to \"one of the most delicate mysteries of poetic creation.\" Among his pieces of the period is the French-language sonnet Pârle, il me dit alors (\"Speak, He Then Said to Me\"), where, Vianu notes, \"one discovers the state of mind of a poet who decides to expatriate himself.\"\n\nAdoption of Symbolism\n\nAccording to Mihai Zamfir, at the end of his transition from the \"mimetic and egocentric\" verse to Symbolist poetry, Macedonski emerged a \"remarkable, often extraordinary\" author. In the early 20th century, fellow poet and critic N. Davidescu described Macedonski, Ion Minulescu and other Symbolists from Wallachia as distinct from their Moldavian counterparts in both style and themes. Endorsing the theory and practice of Symbolism for much of his life, Macedonski retrospectively claimed to have been one of its first exponents. His version of Symbolism, critic Paul Cernat notes, clashed with that advocated by many of his contemporaries in that it rejected merit to the Decadent movement, and represented the \"decorative\" aestheticist trend of Paranassian spirit within the Romanian Symbolist current.\n\nWithin Poezia viitorului, Macedonski invoked as his models to follow some important or secondary Symbolist and Parnassian figures: Charles Baudelaire, Joséphin Péladan, Maurice Maeterlinck, Stéphane Mallarmé and Jean Moréas. In his review of Bronzes for Mercure de France, Pierre Quillard remarked the \"irreproachable\" technique, but criticized the poet for being too indebted to both Baudelaire and Leconte de Lisle; other Symbolist figures whom Macedonski is known to have borrowed from are José María de Heredia and Iwan Gilkin. While undergoing this transition, to what linguist Manuela-Delia Suciu argues is a mostly Parnassian phase, Macedonski was still referencing Naturalism, and considered it compatible with Symbolism.\n\nWith the adoption of such tenets came a succession of Symbolist poems, where the focus is on minutely-observed objects, usually items of luxury, partly reflecting themes he had explored in the Naturalist stage. Commenting on them, Tudor Vianu argues that no such works had ever been produced in Romanian literature up until that moment. In his Ospățul lui Pentaur (\"The Feast of Pentaur\"), the poet reflected on civilization itself, as reflected in inanimate opulence. The motif was also developed in descriptive prose fragments later grouped in Cartea de aur, collectively titled nuvele fără oameni (\"novellas without people\") and compared by Călinescu with the paintings of Theodor Aman.\n\nAlso during that stage, Macedonski was exploring the numerous links between Symbolism, mysticism and esotericism. Earlier pieces had already come to explore macabre themes characteristic for an early branch of Symbolism. Influenced by Maurice Rollinat, they include the somber Vaporul morții (\"The Ship of Death\") and Visul fatal (\"The Fatal Dream\"). Likewise, the piece titled Imnul lui Satan (\"Satan's Hymn\") was placed by critics in connection with Les Litanies de Satan (part of Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du mal), but, Vianu argues, the source of Macedonski's satanic themes may have been lodged in his own vision of the world. This interest also reflected in his 1893 Saul, where Cincinat Pavelescu's contribution is supposedly minimal. Echoing satanic themes, Ernest Legouvé's dramatic version of the Medea myth (which Macedonski translated at some point in his life) and the classical work of Jean Racine, it shows the dark powers of political conflict intervening between the eponymous king and his ephebos-like protégé David, the latter of whom turns out to be the agent of spiritual revolution.\n\n (\"August Night\"), outlines a monistic belief probably inspired by Rosicrucianism, stressing the unity between soul and matter and depicting Macedonski's own journey into a transcendental space. Following the examples of Baudelaire's Les paradis artificiels, but also echoing his readings from Paul Verlaine and Théophile Gautier, Macedonski left poems dealing with narcotics and substance abuse, at least some of which reflected his personal experience with nicotine and possibly other unnamed drugs. Also at that stage, Macedonski also began publishing the \"instrumentalist\" series of his Symbolist poems. This form of experimental poem was influenced by the theories of René Ghil and verified through his encounter with Remy de Gourmont's views. In parallel, it reaffirmed Macedonski's personal view that music and the spoken word were intimately related (a perspective notably attested by his 1906 interview with Jules Combarieu). Romanian critic Petre Răileanu theorized that such elements evidenced Macedonski's transition to \"metaliterature\". On a different level, they echoed an older influence, that of Gottfried August Bürger.\n\nExcelsior\nDespite having stated his interest in innovation, Macedonski generally displayed a more conventional style in his Excelsior volume. It included Noaptea de mai, which Vianu sees as \"one of the [vernacular's] most beautiful poems\" and as evidence of \"a clear joy, without any torment whatsoever\". A celebration of spring partly evoking folkloric themes, it was made famous by the recurring refrain, Veniți: privighetoarea cântă și liliacul e-nflorit (\"Come along: the nightingale is singing and the lilac is in blossom\"). Like Noaptea de mai, Lewki (named after and dedicated to the Snake Island), depicts intense joy, completed in this case by what Vianu calls \"the restorative touch of nature.\" The series also returned to Levant settings and Islamic imagery, particularly in Acșam dovalar (named after the Turkish version of Witr). Also noted within the volume is his short \"Modern Psalms\" series, including the piece Iertare (\"Forgiveness\"), which is addressed to God:\n\nExcelsior also included Noaptea de ianuarie (\"January Night\"), which encapsulates one of his best-known political statements. Anghelescu reads it as a \"meditation on disillusionment that culminates in a vitality-laden exhortation of action.\" Its anti-bourgeois attitude, literary historian Z. Ornea argues, was one of the meeting points between Macedonski and Junimism. In what is seen as its most acid section, the text notably reads:\n\nAt the same time as being engaged in his most violent polemics, Macedonski produced meditative and serene poems, which were later judged to be among his best. Noaptea de decemvrie is the synthesis of his main themes and influences, rated by commentators as his \"masterpiece\". Partly based on an earlier poem (Meka, named after the Arab city), it tells the story of an emir, who, left unsatisfied by the shallow and opulent life he leads in Baghdad, decides to leave on pilgrimage. While critics agree that it is to be read as an allegory of Macedonski's biography, the ironic text does not make it clear whether the emir actually reaches his target, nor if the central metaphor of Mecca as a mirage means that the goal is not worth sacrificing for. While Mircea Anghelescu comments that Macedonski illustrates \"unusual tension\" by rigorously amplifying references to the color red, seen as a symbol of suffering, Călinescu notes that the sequence of lyrics has a studied \"delirious\" element, and illustrates this with the quote:\n\nLate prose works\nIn prose, his focus shifted back to the purely descriptive, or led Alexandru Macedonski into the realm of fantasy literature. These stories, most of which were eventually collected in Cartea de aur, include memoirs of his childhood in the Amaradia region, nostalgic portrayals of the Oltenian boyar environment, idealized depictions of Cuza's reign, as well as a retrospective view on the end of Rom slavery (found in his piece Verigă țiganul, \"Verigă the Gypsy\"). The best known among them is Pe drum de poștă, a third-person narrative and thinly disguised memoir, where the characters are an adolescent Alexandru Macedonski and his father, General Macedonski. The idyllic outlook present in such stories is one of the common meeting points between his version of Symbolism and traditionalist authors such as Barbu Ștefănescu Delavrancea. Vianu indicates the connection, but adds: \"Macedonski descended, through memory, in the world of the village, with the tremor of regret for the peace and plenty of the old settlements, so well polished that each person, landowner as well as peasant, lived within a framework that nature itself seemed to have granted. [...] in depicting rural environments, Macedonski presents the point of view of a conservative.\"\n\nThalassa, Le Calvaire de feu, a fantasy novel and extended prose poem, was celebrated by Macedonski's disciple Oreste Georgescu as \"the new religion of humanity\". The volume carried the mocking dedication \"To France, this Chaldea\" (thought by Vianu to reference Péladan's views on the decay of civilization). It has affinities with writings by the Italian Decadent author Gabriele d'Annunzio, as well as echoes from Anatole France. The hero Thalassa, a Greek boy, works as a lighthouse-keeper on Snake Island, fantasizing about the golden age of mankind. His fate is changed by a shipwreck, during which a girl, Caliope, reaches the island's shore. Thalassa and Caliope fall in love, but are mysteriously unable to seal their union through sexual intercourse: the boy attributes this failure to the \"curse\" of human individuality. Seeking to achieve a perfect union with his lover, he eventually kills her and drowns himself in the Black Sea.\n\nIn her review for Mercure de France, novelist Rachilde argued: \"Very difficult to read, entirely developed in Symbolist manner [and] almost impossible to recount, obviously written in French but nevertheless obviously conceived by a Romanian (and what a spirited Romanian!).\" Rachilde believed the work to display \"the fragrance of Oriental spices [...] rose marmalade and a slice of bear meat.\" According to Vianu, the book builds on Macedonski's earlier themes, replacing Naturalist observation with a metaphysical speculation about idealism. One other aspect of Macedonski's stylistic exploration took him to attempt recording synesthesia. His manuscript is written in ink of several colors, which, he believed, was to help readers get a full sense of its meaning. Like other synesthetic aspects of his novel, this is believed to have been inspired by the techniques of Baudelaire and Arthur Rimbaud.\n\nThalassa, Le Calvaire de feu is noted for its numerous cultural references, and especially for using a wide range of metaphors. Such aspects have been reviewed negatively by modern critics. Tudor Vianu writes: \"the poet makes such waste of gemstones that we feel like saying some of them must be false\", while Călinescu, who notes that some fragments reveal \"an incomparable artist\" and \"a professional metaphorist\", notes that \"in the end, such virtuosities become a bore.\" According to Manuela-Delia Suciu, Thalassa is \"prolix\" and \"too polished\", traits believed by Zamfir to be less irritating in the Romanian version. Critic Cornel Moraru found that, in the background, Thalassa, a \"great Symbolist novel\", confronts Ancient Greek and Christian mythology, but \"abuses\" the religious vocabulary. Another part of the novel's imagery is erotic, and includes an elaborate and aestheticized description of male genitalia.\n\nThe four-act tragicomedy Le Fou? is seen by Vianu as comparable in subject matter and depth to Enrico IV, a celebrated 1922 play by Luigi Pirandello. The plot reflects Macedonski's confrontation with his critics, and his acceptance of the fact that people saw in him an eccentric. The central figure is a banker, Dorval, who identifies himself with Napoleon Bonaparte to the point where he sees episodes in his biography as mirrors of early 19th-century battles. Unlike patients with dissociative identity disorder, Dorval does not actually imagine his life has become Napoleon's, but rather joins with him on an intellectual level. Witnesses of this disorder are divided into family, who seek to have Dorval committed, and close friends, who come to see his take on life as a manifestation of genius. The spectator is led to believe that the latter interpretation is the correct one. At a larger level, Vianu indicates, the play is also Macedonski's critique of capitalism, and, using Parisian argot, makes allusive references to famous people of the day.\n\nParticularly during the 1890s, Macedonski was a follower of Edgar Allan Poe and of Gothic fiction in general, producing a Romanian version of Poe's Metzengerstein story, urging his own disciples to translate other such pieces, and adopting \"Gothic\" themes in his original prose. Indebted to Jules Verne and H. G. Wells, Macedonski also wrote a number of science fiction stories, including the 1913 Oceania-Pacific-Dreadnought, which depicts civilization on the verge of a crisis. The gigantic commercial ship is maintained by a banker's union, and designed to grant travelers access to every pleasure imaginable; this causes the working-class inhabited cities on the continent to fall into a state of neglect and permanent violence, the climax of the story occurring with the bankers' decision to destroy their creation. Oceania-Pacific-Dreadnought is noted for anticipating television, the ship being equipped with electrically-operated \"large and clear mirrors\" that display \"images from various parts of the Earth\". Macedonski was by then interested in the development of cinema, and authored a silent film screenplay based on Comment on devient riche et puissant.\n\nFinal transition\n\nLate in his life, Macedonski had come to reject Symbolist tenets, defining them as \"imbecilities\" designed for \"the uncultured\". Ultima verba, the very last poems to be written by him, show him coming to terms with himself, and are treasured for their serene or intensely joyous vision of life and human accomplishment. The rondels written at this stage, known collectively as Poema rondelurilor, are one of the first instances where the technique is used locally. Like those written previously by Literatoruls Pavelescu and Alexandru Obedenaru, they are based on an earlier motif present in Macedonski's work, that of recurring refrains. Many of the pieces document the poet's final discoveries. One of them is Rondelul crinilor (\"The Rondel of the Lilies\"), which proclaims fragrances as the source of beatitude: În crini e beția cea rară, \"In lilies one finds that exceptional drunkenness\". According to Ștefan Cazimir, Rondelul orașului mic (\"The Rondel of the Small Town\") shows a \"likable wave of irony and self-irony\", and the poet himself coming to terms with \"the existence of a world who ignores him.\" Proof of his combativeness was still to be found in Rondelul contimporanilor (\"The Rondel of the Contemporaries\").\n\nThe poet's take on life is also outlined in his final play, Moartea lui Dante. Călinescu writes that, by then, Macedonski was \"obsessed\" with the Divine Comedy. Macedonski identifies with his hero, Dante Aligheri, and formulates his own poetic testament while identifying World War I Romania with the medieval Republic of Florence. Tudor Vianu remarks: \"In Dante's great self-pride, Macedonski found his own.\" He sees the play as the best such work to have been produced by Macedonski, whereas Călinescu deems it \"puerile\". Zamfir believes Moartea... to be a significant text in Macedonski's bibliography, \"one of the first samples of Romanian Symbolist theater\", and as such indebted mainly to Maeterlinck. Vianu argues that the play may document the Romanian writer's late rejection of France, through the protagonist's statement: \"the French are a gentle people, but their soul is different from mine.\"\n\nA number of rondels show Macedonski's late fascination with the Far East, China and Japan. George Călinescu believes that this is to be understood as one item in a large antithesis, the other being Decadent Paris, which one rondel describes as \"hell\". The Orient, viewed as the space of serenity, is believed by Macedonski to be peopled by toy-like women and absent opium-smokers, and to be kept orderly by a stable meritocracy. The Chinese-themed poem Tsing-Ly-Tsi, which Cazimir notes for its discreet, \"almost imperceptible\", humor, reads:\n\nLegacy\n\nMacedonski's school and its early impact\n\nAlexandru Macedonski repeatedly expressed the thought that, unlike his contemporaries, posterity would judge him a great poet. With the exception of Mihail Dragomirescu, conservative literary critics tended to ignore Macedonski while he was alive. The first such figure was Junimeas Titu Maiorescu, who believed him to be a minor author, referring to him only a couple of times in his books and usually ridiculing him in his articles. One of these texts, the 1886 essay Poeți și critici (\"Poets and Critics\"), spoke of Macedonski as having \"vitiated\" poetry, a notion he also applied to Constantin D. Aricescu and Aron Densușianu. Especially radical pronouncements were left by the traditionalist authors Ilarie Chendi and Nicolae Iorga. Chendi wrote of Macedonski being \"the caricature of a man\", having \"a feverish mind\" and being motivated by \"the brutal instinct of revenge\". Iorga, who became better known as a historian, later retracted some of the statements he had made against the poet during the 1890s. Among the younger prominent traditionalist writers was the Transylvanian-born Lucian Blaga, who may have purposefully avoided Macedonski during his first visit to Bucharest in 1920. Although more sympathetic to the Symbolist author, both Dragomirescu and Gheorghe Adamescu tended to describe him as exclusively the product of French and Decadent literature, while Dragomirescu's disciple Ion Trivale denied all merit to Macedonski's literature.\n\nAccording to Tudor Vianu, Macedonski's intellectual friends (among them Anghel Demetriescu, George Ionescu-Gion, Bonifaciu Florescu, Grigore Tocilescu and V. A. Urechia) were largely responsible for passing down \"a better and truer image of the abused poet.\" It was also due to Dragomirescu that Noaptea de decemvrie was included in a literature textbook for final grade high school students, which some argue is the poet's first-ever presence in the Romanian curriculum. According to historian Lucian Nastasă, the poet's wife Ana Rallet behaved like an \"excellent secretary\" while Macedonski was still alive, and thereafter helped sort and edit his manuscript while maintaining \"an actual cult\" for her husband.\n\nMacedonski's cosmopolitan circle was the center of a literary alternative to the prevailing conservatism and Eminescu-like traditionalism of the day, the latter tendency being grouped around Sămănătorul magazine for part of Macedonski's lifetime. While Macedonski himself maintained his links with Romanticism and Classicism, commentators have retrospectively recognized in him the main person who announced Romania's first wave in modernist literature. Many first-generation disciples were to part with his guidelines early on, either by radicalizing their Symbolism or by stepping out of its confines. Traian Demetrescu was one of the first to do so, focusing on his commitment to socialism—Vianu notes that the split took place \"without coldness and the heart's versatility\" on Macedonski's part. Literary researcher Lidia Bote argues that it was Petică who first illustrated mature Symbolism, emancipating himself from Macedonski's eclectic tendencies after 1902. By that time, the Symbolist authors Dimitrie Anghel and N. D. Cocea used Macedonski's fantasy prose as an inspiration for their own, and N. Davidescu was borrowing from his mystical discourse. The pictorial and joyous elements in Macedonski's poems were also serving to inspire Stamatiad, Eugeniu Ștefănescu-Est and Horia Furtună. In the early stages of his career, Ion Pillat wrote pieces which echo his master's choice of exotic themes. A more discreet legacy of Macedonski's ideas was also preserved inside the conservative and traditionalist camps. Although his separation from Literatorul was drastic, and led him to rally with Junimea, Duiliu Zamfirescu built on some elements borrowed from the magazine's ideology, incorporating them into his literary vision.\n\nMany of Macedonski's most devoted disciples, whom he himself had encouraged, have been rated by various critics as secondary or mediocre. This is the case of Theodor Cornel (who made his name as an art critic), Mircea Demetriade, Oreste Georgescu, Alexandru Obedenaru, Stoenescu, Stamatiad, Carol Scrob, Dumitru Karnabatt and Donar Munteanu. Another such minor author was the self-styled \"hermeticist\" Alexandru Petroff, who expanded on Macedonski's ideas about esoteric knowledge.\n\nMacedonski's eldest son Alexis continued to pursue a career as a painter. His son Soare followed in his footsteps, receiving acclaim from art critics of the period. Soare's short career ended in 1928, before he turned nineteen, but his works have been featured in several retrospective exhibitions, including one organized by Alexis. Alexis later experimented with scenic design as an assistant to French filmmaker René Clair; his later life, shrouded in mystery and intrigue, led him to a career in Fascist Italy and Francoist Spain. Another of Alexandru Macedonski's sons, Nikita, was also a poet and painter. For a while in the 1920s, he edited the literary supplement of Universul newspaper. Two years after her father's death, Anna Macedonski married poet Mihail Celarianu.\n\nIn addition to his polemical portrayals in works by Alecsandri, Eminescu and Caragiale, Macedonski's career was an inspiration for various authors. His image acquired mythical proportions for his followers. Like Demetrescu, many of them left memoirs on Macedonski which were published before or after his death. His admirers were writing poetry about him as early as 1874, and, in 1892, Cincinat Pavelescu published a rhapsodizing portrait of Macedonski as \"the Artist\". Pavelescu, Dragoslav and Petică paid homage to the writer by leaving recollections which describe him as a devoted and considerate friend. In contrast, traditionalist poet Alexandru Vlahuță authored an 1889 sketch story in which Macedonski (referred to as Polidor) is the object of derision.\n\nLate recognition\nActual recognition of the poet as a classic came only in the interwar period. A final volume of never before published poems, Poema rondelurilor, saw print in 1927. Macedonski's work was analyzed and popularized by a new generation of critics, among them Vianu and George Călinescu. The post-Junimist modernist critic Eugen Lovinescu also commented favorably on Macedonski's work, but overall, Călinescu asserts, his opinions on the subject gave little insight into what he actually thought about the poet. He also recounts that Macedonski himself treated Lovinescu with disdain, and once called him \"a canary\".\n\nThe emerging avant-garde, although originating from Symbolism, progressively took its distance from Literatoruls legacy. Initially, Macedonski's contribution to experimental literature was continued within formal Symbolism by his disciples Demetriade, Iuliu Cezar Săvescu and Ion Minulescu. The latter was particularly indebted to Macedonski in matters of vision and language. In 1904, Tudor Arghezi also left behind the Literatorul circle and its tenets, eventually arriving to the fusion of modernist, traditionalist and avant-garde elements. However, he remained indebted to Macedonski's example in his descriptive prose. The 1912 Simbolul magazine, which moved between conventional Symbolism and the emerging avant-garde, also published an Imagist-inspired parody of Noaptea de mai, signed by Adrian Maniu. A co-founder of Dadaism during the late 1910s, Tristan Tzara is believed by Swedish researcher Tom Sandqvist to have been inspired more or less directly by Macedonski, and in particular by the latter's thoughts on the relation between absurdity and poetry. In his debut poems, Benjamin Fondane-Barbu Fundoianu occasionally followed Macedonski, but, by 1920, stated that the Symbolist doyen merely imitated French models to the point of \"parasitism\".\n\nSeveral avant-garde authors returned to Macedonski's literary guidelines by the late 1920s, as they themselves grew more moderate. This was the case of Maniu and Ion Vinea, both of whom published prose works in the line of Thalassa. The same work is also believed to have influenced two non-avant-garde authors, Davidescu and Mateiu Caragiale, who remained close to the tenets Symbolism. Mateiu was the illegitimate son of Ion Luca Caragiale, but, Vianu notes, could withstand comparisons with his father's rival: the eccentricities were complementary, although Mateiu Caragiale shied away from public affairs. In the same post-Symbolist generation, Celarianu (Macedonski's posthumous son-in-law), George Bacovia and Păstorel Teodoreanu also built on Macedonski's legacy, being later joined in this by the Bessarabian linguist Eugenio Coșeriu (who, in his early poetic career, imitated Macedonski's rondel style). In the late 1920s, when their form of modern psalms inspired Albanian-Romanian poet Aleksander Stavre Drenova, Macedonski and Arghezi both made an indirect impact on Albanian literature.\n\nMacedonski's status as one of Romanian literature's greats was consolidated later in the 20th century. By this time, Noaptea de decemvrie had become one of the most recognizable literary works to be taught in Romanian schools. During the first years of Communist Romania, the Socialist Realist current condemned Symbolism (see Censorship in Communist Romania), but spoke favorably of Macedonski's critique of the bourgeoisie. A while after this episode, Marin Sorescu, one of the best-known modernist poets of his generation, wrote a homage-parody of the Nights cycle. Included in the volume Singur între poeți (\"Alone among Poets\"), it is seen by critic Mircea Scarlat as Sorescu's most representative such pieces. Also then, Noaptea de decemvrie partly inspired Ștefan Augustin Doinaș' ballad Mistrețul cu colți de argint.\n\nIn the 1990s, Ștefan Agopian took the Nights cycle as inspiration for an erotic short story, while Pavel Șușară adapted his rondels to a modernized setting. Macedonski's prose also influenced younger writers such as Angelo Mitchievici and Anca Maria Mosora. In neighboring Moldova, Macedonski influenced the Neosymbolism of Aureliu Busuioc. A magazine by the name of Literatorul, which claims to represent the legacy of Macedonski's publication, was founded in Romania in 1991, being edited by writers Sorescu, Fănuș Neagu and Mircea Micu. In 2006, the Romanian Academy granted posthumous membership to Alexandru Macedonski.\n\nMacedonski's poems had a sizable impact on Romania's popular culture. During communism, Noaptea de mai was the basis for a successful musical adaptation, composed by Marian Nistor and sung by Mirabela Dauer. Tudor Gheorghe, a singer-songwriter inspired by American folk revival, also used some of Macedonski's texts as lyrics to his melodies. In the 2000s, the refrain of Noaptea de mai was mixed into a manea parody by Adrian Copilul Minune.\n\nPortrayals, visual tributes and landmarks\n\nAlthough his poetic theories were largely without echoes in Romanian art, Macedonski captured the interest of several modern artists, including, early on, cartoonist Nicolae Petrescu Găină. Alongside other writers who visited Terasa Oteteleșanu, Macedonski was notably portrayed the drawings of celebrated Romanian artist Iosif Iser. He is also depicted in a 1918 lithograph by Jean Alexandru Steriadi, purportedly Steriadi's only Symbolist work. Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu inspired a series of reliefs, designed by Alexis Macedonski and hosted in his father's house in Dorobanți. During the 1910s, busts of him were completed by two sculptors, Alexandru Severin and Friedrich Storck, one of Storck's variants being hosted by the Ioan Cantacuzino collection. In 1919, Theodor Burcă was also inspired to complete another bust, and, during World War II, was commissioned by Mayor of Bucharest Ioan Rășcanu to build a Macedonski Monument in the Grădina Icoanei park, but this was never completed. Constantin Piliuță, a painter active in the second half of the 20th century, made Macedonski the subject of a portrait in series dedicated to Romanian cultural figures (also depicted were Nicolae Iorga, Ștefan Luchian and Vianu). In 1975, a bust of Macedonski, the work of Constantin Foamete, was unveiled in Craiova.\n\nOf Macedonski's numerous residences, the one in Dorobanți was demolished when the Academy of Economic Studies (ASE) was expanded. A commemorative plaque was later put up near the spot. Macedonski's childhood home in Goiești passed into state property under communism, and was in turn a school, a community home and a Macedonski Museum, before falling into neglect after the Romanian Revolution of 1989. Several streets named in honor of Alexandru Macedonski, notably in Bucharest (by the ASE), Craiova, Cluj-Napoca and Timișoara.\n\nWorks published anthumously\nPrima verba (poetry, 1872)\nIthalo (poem, 1878)\nPoezii (poetry, 1881/1882)\nParizina (translation of Parisina, 1882)\nIadeș! (comedy, 1882)\nDramă banală (short story, 1887)\nSaul (with Cincinat Pavelescu; tragedy, 1893)\nExcelsior (poetry, 1895)\nBronzes (poetry, 1897)\n (essay, 1898)\nCartea de aur (prose, 1902)\nThalassa, Le Calvaire de feu (novel, 1906; 1914)\nFlori sacre (poetry, 1912)\nZaherlina (essay, 1920)\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\nMircea Anghelescu, chronological table, preface and critical references, in Macedonski, Poemele \"Nopților\", Editura Albatros, Bucharest, 1972, p. 7-31, 137–140. \nNicolae Balotă, Arte poetice ale secolului XX: ipostaze românești și străine, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1976. \nLucian Boia, \"Germanofilii\". Elita intelectuală românească în anii Primului Război Mondial, Humanitas, Bucharest, 2010. \nGeorge Călinescu, Istoria literaturii române de la origini pînă în prezent, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1986\nPaul Cernat, Avangarda românească și complexul periferiei: primul val, Cartea Românească, Bucharest, 2007. \nȘerban Cioculescu, Caragialiana, Editura Eminescu, Bucharest, 1974. \nPéter Krasztev,\n\"From a Deadlocked Present into an Imagined Past\", in the Central European University's East Central Europe = L'Europe du Centre-Est, Vol. 26, Nr. 2/1999, p. 33-52\n\"From Modernization to Modernist Literature\", in Marcel Cornis-Pope, John Neubauer (eds.), History of the Literary Cultures of East-Central Europe, Vol. 3, John Benjamins, Amsterdam & Philadelphia, 2004, p. 332-348. \n Lucian Nastasă, Intelectualii și promovarea socială (pentru o morfologie a câmpului universitar), Editura Nereamia Napocae, Cluj-Napoca, 2003; e-book version at the Romanian Academy's George Bariț Institute of History\nZ. Ornea, Junimea și junimismul, Vol. II, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1998. \nPerpessicius, Studii eminesciene, Museum of Romanian Literature, Bucharest, 2001. \nPetre Răileanu, Michel Carassou, Fundoianu/Fondane et l'avant-garde, Fondation Culturelle Roumaine, Éditions Paris-Méditerranée, Bucharest & Paris, 1999. \nTom Sandqvist, Dada East. The Romanians of Cabaret Voltaire, MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts & London, 2006. \n Manuela-Delia Suciu, \"La poésie roumaine au XIXe siècle. Alexandru Macedonski entre romantisme et symbolisme\", in Revue d'Études Françaises, Nr. 8/2003, p. 101-110 (republished by the Centre Interuniversitaire d’Études Françaises/Egyetemközi Francia Központ)\nTudor Vianu, Scriitori români, Vol. I-III, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1970–1971. \n Mariana Vida, \"La société Tinerimea artistică de Bucarest et le symbolisme tardif entre 1902-1910\", in Revue Roumaine d'Histoire de l'Art. Série Beaux-arts, Vol. XLIV, 2007, p. 55-66\n\nExternal links\n\nAmidst Hen Houses (excerpts), Poésies, Thalassa (excerpt), in the Romanian Cultural Institute's Plural Magazine (various issues)\n Alexandru Macedonski, Museum of Romanian Literature profile\n\n \n1854 births\n1920 deaths\n19th-century Romanian poets\n20th-century Romanian poets\nRomanian male poets\nRomantic poets\nNeoclassical writers\nSymbolist poets\nSonneteers\nRomanian fabulists\nRomanian epigrammatists\n19th-century Romanian dramatists and playwrights\n20th-century Romanian dramatists and playwrights\nMale dramatists and playwrights\n19th-century Romanian novelists\n20th-century Romanian novelists\nRomanian male novelists\nRomanian writers in French\n19th-century short story writers\n20th-century short story writers\nRomanian male short story writers\nRomanian short story writers\nRealism (art movement)\nSymbolist novelists\nRomanian fantasy writers\nRomanian science fiction writers\nRomanian humorists\nRomanian erotica writers\n19th-century essayists\n20th-century essayists\nRomanian essayists\n20th-century biographers\nRomanian biographers\nMale biographers\nRomanian memoirists\nRomanian travel writers\nRomanian literary critics\nRomanian screenwriters\nMale screenwriters\nRomanian columnists\nRomanian magazine editors\nRomanian magazine founders\nRomanian newspaper editors\nRomanian newspaper founders\n19th-century translators\n20th-century translators\nRomanian translators\nEnglish–Romanian translators\nFrench–Romanian translators\nGreek–Romanian translators\nWriters from Bucharest\nRomanian nobility\nMembers of the Romanian Orthodox Church\nCarol I National College alumni\nNational Liberal Party (Romania) politicians\nRepublicanism in the Kingdom of Romania\nRomanian civil servants\nPrefects of Romania\nRomanian inventors\nRomanian esotericists\nRomanian expatriates in France\nRomanian people of World War I\nBurials at Bellu Cemetery\nMembers of the Romanian Academy elected posthumously\n20th-century screenwriters"},"extractive":{"kind":"string","value":"true"},"retrieved_contexts":{"kind":"list like","value":["The Revenge is a 1721 tragedy by the British writer Edward Young. Although initially it did not enjoy the same success as his previous play Busiris, King of Egypt, it later became a much-revived work during the eighteenth century particularly popular because of the Othello-like role of the Moorish character Zanga. John Philip Kemble revived the work briefly in 1798 before Edmund Kean in 1815 did so with great success and it became part of his repertoire.\n\nThe original Drury Lane cast included Barton Booth as Don Alonzo, Robert Wilks as Don Carlos, John Thurmond as Don Alverez, John Mills as Zanga, Mary Porter as Leonora and Christiana Horton as Isabella. The work was dedicated to Young's patron the Duke of Wharton.\n\nReferences\n\nBibliography\n Baines, Paul & Ferarro, Julian & Rogers, Pat. The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Eighteenth-Century Writers and Writing, 1660-1789. Wiley-Blackwell, 2011.\n Burling, William J. A Checklist of New Plays and Entertainments on the London Stage, 1700-1737. Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press, 1992.\n Kahan, Jeffrey. Shakespeare Imitations, Parodies and Forgeries, 1710-1820, Volume 1. Taylor & Francis, 2004.\n Nicoll, Allardyce. History of English Drama, 1660-1900, Volume 2. Cambridge University Press, 2009.\n Worrall, David. Harlequin Empire: Race, Ethnicity and the Drama of the Popular Enlightenment. Routledge, 2015.\n\n1721 plays\nBritish plays\nWest End plays\nTragedy plays\nHistorical plays","A Short History of the English People is a book written by English historian John Richard Green. Published in 1874, \"it is a history, not of English Kings or English Conquests, but of the English People.\"\n\nBackground and reception \nGreen began work on the book in 1869, having been given only six months to live after being hit hard by disease that had plagued him throughout his life. Only having around 800 pages to write on, he had to leave out much of what he wanted to include. Green intentionally left out the battles of England feeling they did not play a big role in the formation of the nation, saying that historians \"too often turned history into a mere record of the butchery of men by their fellow men.\" His new ideas, and omission of information that others felt important, meant Green was criticized by other historians as well as the people close to him.\n\nOthers thought highly of the book, including Francis Adams, who used quotations from the book in his poem The Peasants' Revolt.\n\nNotes\n\nBibliography\n\nExternal links\nThe 1902–3 Macmillan illustrated-edition of the work at the Internet Archive:\nVolume I\nVolume II\nVolume III\nVolume IV\n\n1874 non-fiction books\nHistory books about England"],"string":"[\n \"The Revenge is a 1721 tragedy by the British writer Edward Young. Although initially it did not enjoy the same success as his previous play Busiris, King of Egypt, it later became a much-revived work during the eighteenth century particularly popular because of the Othello-like role of the Moorish character Zanga. John Philip Kemble revived the work briefly in 1798 before Edmund Kean in 1815 did so with great success and it became part of his repertoire.\\n\\nThe original Drury Lane cast included Barton Booth as Don Alonzo, Robert Wilks as Don Carlos, John Thurmond as Don Alverez, John Mills as Zanga, Mary Porter as Leonora and Christiana Horton as Isabella. The work was dedicated to Young's patron the Duke of Wharton.\\n\\nReferences\\n\\nBibliography\\n Baines, Paul & Ferarro, Julian & Rogers, Pat. The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Eighteenth-Century Writers and Writing, 1660-1789. Wiley-Blackwell, 2011.\\n Burling, William J. A Checklist of New Plays and Entertainments on the London Stage, 1700-1737. Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press, 1992.\\n Kahan, Jeffrey. Shakespeare Imitations, Parodies and Forgeries, 1710-1820, Volume 1. Taylor & Francis, 2004.\\n Nicoll, Allardyce. History of English Drama, 1660-1900, Volume 2. Cambridge University Press, 2009.\\n Worrall, David. Harlequin Empire: Race, Ethnicity and the Drama of the Popular Enlightenment. Routledge, 2015.\\n\\n1721 plays\\nBritish plays\\nWest End plays\\nTragedy plays\\nHistorical plays\",\n \"A Short History of the English People is a book written by English historian John Richard Green. Published in 1874, \\\"it is a history, not of English Kings or English Conquests, but of the English People.\\\"\\n\\nBackground and reception \\nGreen began work on the book in 1869, having been given only six months to live after being hit hard by disease that had plagued him throughout his life. Only having around 800 pages to write on, he had to leave out much of what he wanted to include. Green intentionally left out the battles of England feeling they did not play a big role in the formation of the nation, saying that historians \\\"too often turned history into a mere record of the butchery of men by their fellow men.\\\" His new ideas, and omission of information that others felt important, meant Green was criticized by other historians as well as the people close to him.\\n\\nOthers thought highly of the book, including Francis Adams, who used quotations from the book in his poem The Peasants' Revolt.\\n\\nNotes\\n\\nBibliography\\n\\nExternal links\\nThe 1902–3 Macmillan illustrated-edition of the work at the Internet Archive:\\nVolume I\\nVolume II\\nVolume III\\nVolume IV\\n\\n1874 non-fiction books\\nHistory books about England\"\n]"},"chunked_article":{"kind":"list like","value":["Alexandru Macedonski (; also rendered as Al. A. Macedonski, Macedonschi or Macedonsky; 14 March 1854 – 24 November 1920) was a Romanian poet, novelist, dramatist and literary critic, known especially for having promoted French Symbolism in his native country, and for leading the Romanian Symbolist movement during its early decades. A forerunner of local modernist literature, he is the first local author to have used free verse, and claimed by some to have been the first in modern European literature.","A forerunner of local modernist literature, he is the first local author to have used free verse, and claimed by some to have been the first in modern European literature. Within the framework of Romanian literature, Macedonski is seen by critics as second only to national poet Mihai Eminescu; as leader of a cosmopolitan and aestheticist trend formed around his Literatorul journal, he was diametrically opposed to the inward-looking traditionalism of Eminescu and his school.","Within the framework of Romanian literature, Macedonski is seen by critics as second only to national poet Mihai Eminescu; as leader of a cosmopolitan and aestheticist trend formed around his Literatorul journal, he was diametrically opposed to the inward-looking traditionalism of Eminescu and his school. Debuting as a Neoromantic in the Wallachian tradition, Macedonski went through the Realist-Naturalist stage deemed \"social poetry\", while progressively adapting his style to Symbolism and Parnassianism, and repeatedly but unsuccessfully attempting to impose himself in the Francophone world.","Debuting as a Neoromantic in the Wallachian tradition, Macedonski went through the Realist-Naturalist stage deemed \"social poetry\", while progressively adapting his style to Symbolism and Parnassianism, and repeatedly but unsuccessfully attempting to impose himself in the Francophone world. Despite having theorized \"instrumentalism\", which reacted against the traditional guidelines of poetry, he maintained a lifelong connection with Neoclassicism and its ideal of purity.","Despite having theorized \"instrumentalism\", which reacted against the traditional guidelines of poetry, he maintained a lifelong connection with Neoclassicism and its ideal of purity. Macedonski's quest for excellence found its foremost expression in his recurring motif of life as a pilgrimage to Mecca, notably used in his critically acclaimed Nights cycle. The stylistic stages of his career are reflected in the collections Prima verba, Poezii, and Excelsior, as well as in the fantasy novel Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu.","The stylistic stages of his career are reflected in the collections Prima verba, Poezii, and Excelsior, as well as in the fantasy novel Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu. In old age, he became the author of rondels, noted for their detached and serene vision of life, in contrast with his earlier combativeness. In parallel to his literary career, Macedonski was a civil servant, notably serving as prefect in the Budjak and Northern Dobruja during the late 1870s.","In parallel to his literary career, Macedonski was a civil servant, notably serving as prefect in the Budjak and Northern Dobruja during the late 1870s. As journalist and militant, his allegiance fluctuated between the liberal current and conservatism, becoming involved in polemics and controversies of the day. Of the long series of publications he founded, Literatorul was the most influential, notably hosting his early conflicts with the Junimea literary society.","Of the long series of publications he founded, Literatorul was the most influential, notably hosting his early conflicts with the Junimea literary society. These targeted Vasile Alecsandri and especially Eminescu, their context and tone becoming the cause of a major rift between Macedonski and his public. This situation repeated itself in later years, when Macedonski and his Forța Morală magazine began campaigning against the Junimist dramatist Ion Luca Caragiale, whom they falsely accused of plagiarism.","This situation repeated itself in later years, when Macedonski and his Forța Morală magazine began campaigning against the Junimist dramatist Ion Luca Caragiale, whom they falsely accused of plagiarism. During World War I, the poet aggravated his critics by supporting the Central Powers against Romania's alliance with the Entente side. His biography was also marked by an enduring interest in esotericism, numerous attempts to become recognized as an inventor, and an enthusiasm for cycling.","His biography was also marked by an enduring interest in esotericism, numerous attempts to become recognized as an inventor, and an enthusiasm for cycling. The scion of a political and aristocratic family, the poet was the son of General Alexandru Macedonski, who served as Defense Minister, and the grandson of 1821 rebel Dimitrie Macedonski. Both his son Alexis and grandson Soare were known painters. Biography Early life and family The poet's paternal family had arrived in Wallachia during the early 19th century.","Biography Early life and family The poet's paternal family had arrived in Wallachia during the early 19th century. Of South Slav (Serb or Bulgarian) or Aromanian origin, they claimed to have descended from Serb insurgents in Ottoman-ruled Macedonia.","Of South Slav (Serb or Bulgarian) or Aromanian origin, they claimed to have descended from Serb insurgents in Ottoman-ruled Macedonia. Alexandru's grandfather Dimitrie and Dimitrie's brother Pavel participated in the 1821 uprising against the Phanariote administration, and in alliance with the Filiki Eteria; Dimitrie made the object of controversy when, during the final stage of the revolt, he sided with the Eteria in its confrontation with Wallachian leader Tudor Vladimirescu, taking an active part in the latter's killing.","Alexandru's grandfather Dimitrie and Dimitrie's brother Pavel participated in the 1821 uprising against the Phanariote administration, and in alliance with the Filiki Eteria; Dimitrie made the object of controversy when, during the final stage of the revolt, he sided with the Eteria in its confrontation with Wallachian leader Tudor Vladimirescu, taking an active part in the latter's killing. Both Macedonski brothers had careers in the Wallachian military forces, at a time when the country was governed by Imperial Russian envoys, when the Regulamentul Organic regime recognized the family as belonging to Wallachia's nobility.","Both Macedonski brothers had careers in the Wallachian military forces, at a time when the country was governed by Imperial Russian envoys, when the Regulamentul Organic regime recognized the family as belonging to Wallachia's nobility. Dimitrie married Zoe, the daughter an ethnic Russian or Polish officer; their son, the Russian-educated Alexandru, climbed in the military and political hierarchy, joining the unified Land Forces after his political ally, Alexander John Cuza, was elected Domnitor and the two Danubian Principalities became united Romania.","Dimitrie married Zoe, the daughter an ethnic Russian or Polish officer; their son, the Russian-educated Alexandru, climbed in the military and political hierarchy, joining the unified Land Forces after his political ally, Alexander John Cuza, was elected Domnitor and the two Danubian Principalities became united Romania. Both the officer's uncle Pavel and brother Mihail were amateur poets. Macedonski's mother, Maria Fisența (also Vicenț or Vicența), was from an aristocratic environment, being the scion of Oltenian boyars.","Macedonski's mother, Maria Fisența (also Vicenț or Vicența), was from an aristocratic environment, being the scion of Oltenian boyars. Through her father, she may have descended from Russian immigrants who had been absorbed into Oltenia's nobility. Maria had been adopted by the boyar Dumitrache Pârâianu, and the couple had inherited the Adâncata and Pometești estates in Goiești, on the Amaradia Valley.","Maria had been adopted by the boyar Dumitrache Pârâianu, and the couple had inherited the Adâncata and Pometești estates in Goiești, on the Amaradia Valley. Both the poet and his father were dissatisfied with accounts of their lineage, contradicting them with an account that researchers have come to consider spurious. Although adherents of the Romanian Orthodox Church, the Macedonskis traced their origin to Rogala-bearing Lithuanian nobility from the defunct Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.","Although adherents of the Romanian Orthodox Church, the Macedonskis traced their origin to Rogala-bearing Lithuanian nobility from the defunct Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. While the writer perpetuated his father's claim, it is possible that he also took pride in investigating his Balkan roots: according to literary historian Tudor Vianu, who, as a youth, was a member of his circle, this tendency is attested by two of Macedonski's poems from the 1880s, where the South Slavs appear as icons of freedom.","While the writer perpetuated his father's claim, it is possible that he also took pride in investigating his Balkan roots: according to literary historian Tudor Vianu, who, as a youth, was a member of his circle, this tendency is attested by two of Macedonski's poems from the 1880s, where the South Slavs appear as icons of freedom. Vianu's contemporary, literary historian George Călinescu, postulated that, although the family had been absorbed into the ethnic and cultural majority, the poet's origin served to enrich local culture by linking it to a \"Thracian\" tradition and the spirit of \"adventurers\".","Vianu's contemporary, literary historian George Călinescu, postulated that, although the family had been absorbed into the ethnic and cultural majority, the poet's origin served to enrich local culture by linking it to a \"Thracian\" tradition and the spirit of \"adventurers\". The family moved often, following General Macedonski's postings. Born in Bucharest, Macedonski-son was the third of four siblings, the oldest of whom was a daughter, Caterina.","Born in Bucharest, Macedonski-son was the third of four siblings, the oldest of whom was a daughter, Caterina. Before the age of six, he was a sickly and nervous child, who is reported to have had regular tantrums. In 1862, his father sent him to school in Oltenia, and he spent most time in the Amaradia region. The nostalgia he felt for the landscape later made him consider writing an Amărăzene (\"Amaradians\") cycle, of which only one poem was ever completed.","The nostalgia he felt for the landscape later made him consider writing an Amărăzene (\"Amaradians\") cycle, of which only one poem was ever completed. He was attending the Carol I High School in Craiova and, according to his official record, graduated in 1867.","He was attending the Carol I High School in Craiova and, according to his official record, graduated in 1867. Macedonski's father had by then become known as an authoritarian commander, and, during his time in Târgu Ocna, faced a mutiny which only his wife could stop by pleading with the soldiers (an episode which made an impression on the future poet). A stern parent, he took an active part in educating his children.","A stern parent, he took an active part in educating his children. Having briefly served as Defense Minister, the general was mysteriously dismissed by Cuza in 1863, and his pension became the topic of a political scandal. It ended only under the rule of Carol I, Cuza's Hohenzollern successor, when Parliament voted against increasing the sum to the level demanded by its recipient.","It ended only under the rule of Carol I, Cuza's Hohenzollern successor, when Parliament voted against increasing the sum to the level demanded by its recipient. Having preserved a negative impression of the 1866 plebiscite, during which Cuza's dethronement had been confirmed, Macedonski remained a committed opponent of the new ruler. As a youth and adult, he sought to revive his father's cause, and included allusions to the perceived injustice in at least one poem.","As a youth and adult, he sought to revive his father's cause, and included allusions to the perceived injustice in at least one poem. After spending the last months of his life protesting against the authorities, Macedonski-father fell ill and died in September 1869, leaving his family to speculate that he had been murdered by political rivals.","After spending the last months of his life protesting against the authorities, Macedonski-father fell ill and died in September 1869, leaving his family to speculate that he had been murdered by political rivals. Debut years Macedonski left Romania in 1870, traveling through Austria-Hungary and spending time in Vienna, before visiting Switzerland and possibly other countries; according to one account, it was here that he may have first met (and disliked) his rival poet Mihai Eminescu, at a time a Viennese student.","Debut years Macedonski left Romania in 1870, traveling through Austria-Hungary and spending time in Vienna, before visiting Switzerland and possibly other countries; according to one account, it was here that he may have first met (and disliked) his rival poet Mihai Eminescu, at a time a Viennese student. Macedonski's visit was meant to be preparation for entering the University of Bucharest, but he spent much of his time in the bohemian environment, seeking entertainment and engaging in romantic escapades.","Macedonski's visit was meant to be preparation for entering the University of Bucharest, but he spent much of his time in the bohemian environment, seeking entertainment and engaging in romantic escapades. He was however opposed to the lifestyle choices of people his age, claiming that they were engaged in \"orgy after orgy\". At around that date, the young author had begun to perfect a style heavily influenced by Romanticism, and in particular by his Wallachian predecessors Dimitrie Bolintineanu and Ion Heliade Rădulescu.","At around that date, the young author had begun to perfect a style heavily influenced by Romanticism, and in particular by his Wallachian predecessors Dimitrie Bolintineanu and Ion Heliade Rădulescu. He was for a while in Styria, at Bad Gleichenberg, a stay which, George Călinescu believes, may have been the result of a medical recommendation to help him counter excessive nervousness. The landscape there inspired him to write an ode. Also in 1870, he published his first lyrics in George Bariț's Transylvanian-based journal Telegraful Român.","Also in 1870, he published his first lyrics in George Bariț's Transylvanian-based journal Telegraful Român. The following year, he left for Italy, where he visited Pisa, Florence, Venice, and possibly other cities. His records of the journey indicate that he was faced with financial difficulties and plagued by disease. Macedonski also claimed to have attended college lectures in these cities, and to have spent significant time studying at Pisa University, but this remains uncertain.","Macedonski also claimed to have attended college lectures in these cities, and to have spent significant time studying at Pisa University, but this remains uncertain. He eventually returned to Bucharest, where he entered the Faculty of Letters (which he never attended regularly). According to Călinescu, Macedonski \"did not feel the need\" to attend classes, because \"such a young man will expect society to render upon him its homages.\"","According to Călinescu, Macedonski \"did not feel the need\" to attend classes, because \"such a young man will expect society to render upon him its homages.\" He was again in Italy during spring 1872, soon after publishing his debut volume Prima verba (Latin for \"First Word\"). Having also written an anti-Carol piece, published in Telegraful Român during 1873, Macedonski reportedly feared political reprisals, and decided to make another visit to Styria and Italy while his case was being assessed.","Having also written an anti-Carol piece, published in Telegraful Român during 1873, Macedonski reportedly feared political reprisals, and decided to make another visit to Styria and Italy while his case was being assessed. It was in Italy that he met French musicologist Jules Combarieu, with whom he corresponded sporadically over the following decades. During that period, Macedonski became interested in the political scene and political journalism, first as a sympathizer of the liberal-radical current—which, in 1875, organized itself around the National Liberal Party.","During that period, Macedonski became interested in the political scene and political journalism, first as a sympathizer of the liberal-radical current—which, in 1875, organized itself around the National Liberal Party. In 1874, back in Craiova, Macedonski founded a short-lived literary society known as Junimea, a title which purposefully or unwittingly copied that of the influential conservative association with whom he would later quarrel.","In 1874, back in Craiova, Macedonski founded a short-lived literary society known as Junimea, a title which purposefully or unwittingly copied that of the influential conservative association with whom he would later quarrel. It was then that he met journalist and pedagogue Ștefan Velescu, a meeting witnessed by Velescu's pupil, the future liberal journalist Constantin Bacalbașa, who recorded it in his memoirs.","It was then that he met journalist and pedagogue Ștefan Velescu, a meeting witnessed by Velescu's pupil, the future liberal journalist Constantin Bacalbașa, who recorded it in his memoirs. Oltul magazine, which he had helped establish and which displayed a liberal agenda, continued to be published until July 1875, and featured Macedonski's translations from Pierre-Jean de Béranger, Hector de Charlieu and Alphonse de Lamartine, as well as his debut in travel writing and short story.","Oltul magazine, which he had helped establish and which displayed a liberal agenda, continued to be published until July 1875, and featured Macedonski's translations from Pierre-Jean de Béranger, Hector de Charlieu and Alphonse de Lamartine, as well as his debut in travel writing and short story. At age 22, he worked on his first play, a comedy titled Gemenii (\"The Twins\").","At age 22, he worked on his first play, a comedy titled Gemenii (\"The Twins\"). In 1874 that he came to the attention of young journalist future dramatist Ion Luca Caragiale, who satirized him in articles for the magazine Ghimpele, ridiculing his claim to Lithuanian descent, and eventually turning him into the character Aamsky, whose fictional career ends with his death from exhaustion caused by contributing to \"for the country's political development\".","In 1874 that he came to the attention of young journalist future dramatist Ion Luca Caragiale, who satirized him in articles for the magazine Ghimpele, ridiculing his claim to Lithuanian descent, and eventually turning him into the character Aamsky, whose fictional career ends with his death from exhaustion caused by contributing to \"for the country's political development\". This was the first episode in a consuming polemic between the two figures.","This was the first episode in a consuming polemic between the two figures. Reflecting back on this period in 1892, Macedonski described Caragiale as a \"noisy young man\" of \"sophistic reasoning\", whose target audience was to be found in \"beer gardens\". 1875 trial and office as prefect In March 1875, Macedonski was arrested on charges of defamation or sedition. For almost a year before, he and Oltul had taken an active part in the campaign against Conservative Party and its leader, Premier Lascăr Catargiu.","For almost a year before, he and Oltul had taken an active part in the campaign against Conservative Party and its leader, Premier Lascăr Catargiu. In this context, he had demanded that the common man \"rise up with weapons in their hands and break both the government agents and the government\", following up with similar messages aimed at the Domnitor. He was taken to Bucharest's Văcărești prison and confined there for almost three months.","He was taken to Bucharest's Văcărești prison and confined there for almost three months. Supported by the liberal press and defended by the most prestigious pro-liberal attorneys (Nicolae Fleva among them), Macedonski faced a jury trial on 7 June, being eventually cleared of the charges. Reportedly, the Bucharest populace organized a spontaneous celebration of the verdict. In 1875, after the National Liberal Ion Emanuel Florescu was assigned the post of Premier by Carol, Macedonski embarked on an administrative career.","In 1875, after the National Liberal Ion Emanuel Florescu was assigned the post of Premier by Carol, Macedonski embarked on an administrative career. The poet was upset by not being included on the National Liberal list for the 1875 suffrage. This disenchantment led him into a brief conflict with the young liberal figure Bonifaciu Florescu, only to join him soon afterward in editing Stindardul journal, alongside Pantazi Ghica and George Fălcoianu. The publication followed the line of Nicolae Moret Blaremberg, made notorious for his radical and republican agenda.","The publication followed the line of Nicolae Moret Blaremberg, made notorious for his radical and republican agenda. Ghica and Macedonski remained close friends until Ghica's 1882 death. The new cabinet eventually appointed him Prefect of Bolgrad region, in the Budjak (at the time part of Romania). In parallel, he published his first translation, a version of Parisina, an 1816 epic poem by Lord Byron, and completed the original works Ithalo and Calul arabului (\"The Arab's Horse\").","In parallel, he published his first translation, a version of Parisina, an 1816 epic poem by Lord Byron, and completed the original works Ithalo and Calul arabului (\"The Arab's Horse\"). He also spoke at the Romanian Atheneum, presenting his views on the state of Romanian literature (1878). His time in office ended upon the outbreak of the Russo-Turkish War.","His time in office ended upon the outbreak of the Russo-Turkish War. At the time, Russian volunteers were amassed on the Budjak border, requesting from the Romanian authorities the right of free passage into the Principality of Serbia. The National Liberal Premier Ion Brătianu, who was negotiating an anti-Ottoman alliance, sent Macedonski signals to let them pass, but the prefect, obeying the official recommendation of Internal Affairs Minister George D. Vernescu, decided against it, and was consequently stripped of his office.","The National Liberal Premier Ion Brătianu, who was negotiating an anti-Ottoman alliance, sent Macedonski signals to let them pass, but the prefect, obeying the official recommendation of Internal Affairs Minister George D. Vernescu, decided against it, and was consequently stripped of his office. Still determined to pursue a career in the press, Macedonski founded a string of unsuccessful magazines with patriotic content and titles such as Vestea (\"The Announcement\"), Dunărea (\"The Danube\"), Fulgerul (\"The Lightning\") and, after 1880, Tarara (an onomatopoeia equivalent to \"Toodoodoo\").","Still determined to pursue a career in the press, Macedonski founded a string of unsuccessful magazines with patriotic content and titles such as Vestea (\"The Announcement\"), Dunărea (\"The Danube\"), Fulgerul (\"The Lightning\") and, after 1880, Tarara (an onomatopoeia equivalent to \"Toodoodoo\"). Their history is connected with that of the Russo-Turkish War, at the end of which Romanian participation on the Russian side resulted in her independence.","Their history is connected with that of the Russo-Turkish War, at the end of which Romanian participation on the Russian side resulted in her independence. Macedonski remained committed to the anti-Ottoman cause, and, some thirty years later, stated: \"We want no Turkey in Europe!\" By 1879, the poet, who continued to voice criticism of Carol, had several times switched sides between the National Liberals and the opposition Conservatives.","By 1879, the poet, who continued to voice criticism of Carol, had several times switched sides between the National Liberals and the opposition Conservatives. That year, while the Budjak was ceded to Russia and Northern Dobruja was integrated into Romania, the Brătianu cabinet appointed him administrator of the Sulina plasă and the Danube Delta.","That year, while the Budjak was ceded to Russia and Northern Dobruja was integrated into Romania, the Brătianu cabinet appointed him administrator of the Sulina plasă and the Danube Delta. He had previously refused to be made comptroller in Putna County, believing such an appointment to be beneath his capacity, and had lost a National Liberal appointment in Silistra when Southern Dobruja was granted to the Principality of Bulgaria.","He had previously refused to be made comptroller in Putna County, believing such an appointment to be beneath his capacity, and had lost a National Liberal appointment in Silistra when Southern Dobruja was granted to the Principality of Bulgaria. During this short interval in office, he traveled to the Snake Island in the Black Sea—his appreciation for the place later motivated him to write the fantasy novel Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu and the poem Lewki. Early Literatorul years With the 1880s came a turning point in Alexandru Macedonski's career.","Early Literatorul years With the 1880s came a turning point in Alexandru Macedonski's career. Vianu notes that changes took place in the poet's relationship with his public: \"Society recognizes in him the nonconformist. [...] The man becomes singular; people start talking about his oddities.\" Macedonski's presumed frustration at being perceived in this way, Vianu notes, may have led him closer to the idea of poète maudit, theorized earlier by Paul Verlaine.","Macedonski's presumed frustration at being perceived in this way, Vianu notes, may have led him closer to the idea of poète maudit, theorized earlier by Paul Verlaine. In this context, he had set his sight on promoting \"social poetry\", the merger between lyricism and political militantism. Meanwhile, according to Călinescu, his attacks on the liberals and the \"daft insults he aimed at [Romania's] throne\" had effectively ruined his own chance of political advancement.","Meanwhile, according to Călinescu, his attacks on the liberals and the \"daft insults he aimed at [Romania's] throne\" had effectively ruined his own chance of political advancement. In January 1880, he launched his most influential and long-lived publication, Literatorul, which was also the focal point of his eclectic cultural circle, and, in later years, of the local Symbolist school. In its first version, the magazine was co-edited by Macedonski, Bonifaciu Florescu and poet Th. M. Stoenescu.","M. Stoenescu. M. Stoenescu. Florescu parted with the group soon after, due to a disagreement with Macedonski, and was later attacked by the latter for allegedly accumulating academic posts. Literatorul aimed to irritate Junimist sensibilities from its first issue, when it stated its dislike for \"political prejudice in literature.\" This was most likely an allusion to the views of Junimist figure Titu Maiorescu, being later accompanied by explicit attacks on him and his followers.","This was most likely an allusion to the views of Junimist figure Titu Maiorescu, being later accompanied by explicit attacks on him and his followers. An early success for the new journal was the warm reception it received from Vasile Alecsandri, a Romantic poet and occasional Junimist whom Macedonski idolized at the time, and the collaboration of popular memoirist Gheorghe Sion. Another such figure was the intellectual V. A. Urechia, whom Macedonski made president of the Literatorul Society.","Another such figure was the intellectual V. A. Urechia, whom Macedonski made president of the Literatorul Society. In 1881, Education Minister Urechia granted Macedonski the Bene-Merenti medal 1st class, although, Călinescu stresses, the poet had only totaled 18 months of public service. At around that time, Macedonski had allegedly begun courting actress Aristizza Romanescu, who rejected his advances, leaving him unenthusiastic about love matters and unwilling to seek female company.","At around that time, Macedonski had allegedly begun courting actress Aristizza Romanescu, who rejected his advances, leaving him unenthusiastic about love matters and unwilling to seek female company. In parallel, Macedonski used the magazine to publicize his disagreement with the main Junimist voice, Convorbiri Literare. Among the group of contributors, several had already been victims of Maiorescu's irony: Sion, Urechia, Pantazi Ghica and Petru Grădișteanu.","Among the group of contributors, several had already been victims of Maiorescu's irony: Sion, Urechia, Pantazi Ghica and Petru Grădișteanu. While welcoming the debut of its contributor, Parnassian-Neoclassicist novelist and poet Duiliu Zamfirescu, Macedonski repeatedly attacked its main exponent, the conservative poet Eminescu, claiming not to understand his poetry. However, Literatorul was also open to contributions from some Convorbiri Literare affiliates (Zamfirescu, Matilda Cugler-Poni and Veronica Micle). In November 1880, Macedonski's plays Iadeș! (\"Wishbone!","In November 1880, Macedonski's plays Iadeș! (\"Wishbone! (\"Wishbone! \", a comedy first printed in 1882) and Unchiașul Sărăcie (\"Old Man Poverty\") premiered at the National Theater Bucharest. A sign of government approval, this was followed by Macedonski's appointment to a minor administrative office, as Historical Monuments Inspector. Nevertheless, both plays failed to impose themselves on public perception, and were withdrawn from the program by 1888.","Nevertheless, both plays failed to impose themselves on public perception, and were withdrawn from the program by 1888. Călinescu asserts that, although Macedonski later claimed to have always been facing poverty, his job in the administration, coupled with other sources of revenue, ensured him a comfortable existence. In 1881, Macedonski published a new collection of poetry. Titled Poezii, it carries the year \"1882\" on its original cover. Again moving away from liberalism, Macedonski sought to make himself accepted by Junimea and Maiorescu.","Again moving away from liberalism, Macedonski sought to make himself accepted by Junimea and Maiorescu. He consequently attended the Junimea sessions, and gave a public reading of Noaptea de noiembrie (\"November Night\"), the first publicized piece in his lifelong Nights cycle. It reportedly earned him the praise of historian and poet Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu, who, although an anti-Junimist, happened to be in the audience.","It reportedly earned him the praise of historian and poet Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu, who, although an anti-Junimist, happened to be in the audience. Despite rumors according to which he had applauded Macedonski, Maiorescu himself was not impressed, and left an unenthusiastic account of the event in his private diary. Against Alecsandri and Eminescu Macedonski's open conflict with Junimea began in 1882, when he engaged in a publicized polemic with Alecsandri.","Against Alecsandri and Eminescu Macedonski's open conflict with Junimea began in 1882, when he engaged in a publicized polemic with Alecsandri. It was ignited when, through Macedonski's articles, Literatorul criticized Alecsandri for accepting Romanian Academy prizes despite being its member, and later involved Sion (whose replies on behalf of the Academy were derided by Macedonski). Macedonski also took distance from Alecsandri's style, publishing a \"critical analysis\" of his poetry in one issue of Literatorul.","Macedonski also took distance from Alecsandri's style, publishing a \"critical analysis\" of his poetry in one issue of Literatorul. In turn, Alecsandri humiliated his young rival by portraying him as Zoilus, the prototype of slanderers, and himself as the model poet Horace in the 1883 play Fântâna Blanduziei. The two were eventually reconciled, and Macedonski again spoke of Alecsandri as his ideological and stylistic predecessor.","The two were eventually reconciled, and Macedonski again spoke of Alecsandri as his ideological and stylistic predecessor. In April 1882, Eminescu had also replied to Macedonski in Timpul journal, referring to an unnamed poet who \"barely finishes high-school, comes over to Bucharest selling nick-nacks and makeup [and goes into] literary dealership\".","In April 1882, Eminescu had also replied to Macedonski in Timpul journal, referring to an unnamed poet who \"barely finishes high-school, comes over to Bucharest selling nick-nacks and makeup [and goes into] literary dealership\". Reproaching Macedonski's attacks on Alecsandri, Eminescu makes a nationalist comment about the young poet bearing \"the bastard instincts of those foreigners who were Romanianized only yesterday\", and attributes him \"the physiognomy of a hairdresser\". Through the articles of Petru Th.","Through the articles of Petru Th. Through the articles of Petru Th. Missir, Convorbiri Literare gave Poezii a negative review, deemed \"malevolent\" by literary historian Mircea Anghelescu. At the other end of the political and cultural spectrum, Macedonski faced opposition from the intellectuals attracted to socialism, in particular Contemporanul editors Constantin Mille and Ioan Nădejde, with whom he was engaged in an extended polemic.","At the other end of the political and cultural spectrum, Macedonski faced opposition from the intellectuals attracted to socialism, in particular Contemporanul editors Constantin Mille and Ioan Nădejde, with whom he was engaged in an extended polemic. In the meantime, Macedonski published his own play, which had Cuza for its main character and was eponymously titled Cuza-Vodă, and completed translations for Literatorul—from Maurice Rollinat, whom he helped impose as a main cultural reference in Romanian Symbolism, and from the Greek poet Akhillefs Paraskhos.","In the meantime, Macedonski published his own play, which had Cuza for its main character and was eponymously titled Cuza-Vodă, and completed translations for Literatorul—from Maurice Rollinat, whom he helped impose as a main cultural reference in Romanian Symbolism, and from the Greek poet Akhillefs Paraskhos. In 1883, he also contributed his first sketch story, Casa cu nr. 10 (\"The House at Number 10\"). In early 1883, he married Ana Rallet-Slătineanu.","In early 1883, he married Ana Rallet-Slătineanu. In early 1883, he married Ana Rallet-Slătineanu. Wealthy and supposedly related to Romanian aristocrats, she would bear him five children in all: the painter Alexis was the eldest, followed by Nikita; the three youngest were two sons (Panel and Constantin Macedonski) and a daughter, Anna (also known as Nina). His heterosexual lifestyle notwithstanding, Macedonski remained a self-avowed admirer of male beauties, and was rumored to be a closeted homosexual.","His heterosexual lifestyle notwithstanding, Macedonski remained a self-avowed admirer of male beauties, and was rumored to be a closeted homosexual. In July 1883, Macedonski undertook one of his most controversial anti-Junimist actions. That month, Literatorul published an epigram signed with the pseudonym Duna, deriding an unnamed author who had lost his mind. Mihai Eminescu—whom many had already come to see as Romania's national poet—had by then developed a mental disorder which had become known to the general public.","Mihai Eminescu—whom many had already come to see as Romania's national poet—had by then developed a mental disorder which had become known to the general public. Ever since that moment, Macedonski has generally been believed to be Duna, and as a result, was faced with much criticism from both readers and commentators. The intense anti-Literatorul press campaign was initiated in August, when writer Grigore Ventura issued an article condemning Macedonski's attitude (published in the Bucharest-based newspaper L'Indépendance Roumaine), with Macedonski responding in the National Liberal organ Românul.","The intense anti-Literatorul press campaign was initiated in August, when writer Grigore Ventura issued an article condemning Macedonski's attitude (published in the Bucharest-based newspaper L'Indépendance Roumaine), with Macedonski responding in the National Liberal organ Românul. During one evening, Macedonski is reported to have been assaulted by anonymous supporters of Eminescu. His previous conflict with Nădejde was also affected by this renewed controversy: while opposed to Junimist policies, the socialists at Contemporanul voiced their admiration for Eminescu's art.","His previous conflict with Nădejde was also affected by this renewed controversy: while opposed to Junimist policies, the socialists at Contemporanul voiced their admiration for Eminescu's art. Late in 1883, Macedonski and his friends unveiled Ion Georgescu's statue of their mentor Bolintineanu in the National Theater lobby. The circumstances in which this took place rose suspicion of foul play; on this grounds, Macedonski was ridiculed by his former friend Zamfirescu in the journal România Liberă, which left him embittered.","The circumstances in which this took place rose suspicion of foul play; on this grounds, Macedonski was ridiculed by his former friend Zamfirescu in the journal România Liberă, which left him embittered. Călinescu proposes that, although such negative reactions were invoked by Macedonski's supporters as a sign of their mentor having been marginalized, Macedonski had expressed his dissatisfaction with the cultural environment long before that moment, and was still a respected figure even after the incidents took place.","Călinescu proposes that, although such negative reactions were invoked by Macedonski's supporters as a sign of their mentor having been marginalized, Macedonski had expressed his dissatisfaction with the cultural environment long before that moment, and was still a respected figure even after the incidents took place. First Paris sojourn and Poezia viitorului Having been stripped of his administrative office by the new Brătianu cabinet, Macedonski faced financial difficulties, and was forced to move into a house on the outskirts of Bucharest, and later moved between houses in northern Bucharest.","First Paris sojourn and Poezia viitorului Having been stripped of his administrative office by the new Brătianu cabinet, Macedonski faced financial difficulties, and was forced to move into a house on the outskirts of Bucharest, and later moved between houses in northern Bucharest. According to Călinescu, the poet continued to cultivate luxury and passionately invested in the decorative arts, although his source of income, other than the supposed assistance \"of [European] ruling houses\", remains a mystery.","According to Călinescu, the poet continued to cultivate luxury and passionately invested in the decorative arts, although his source of income, other than the supposed assistance \"of [European] ruling houses\", remains a mystery. Arguing that Macedonski was \"always in need of money\" to use on his luxury items, poet Victor Eftimiu claimed: \"He did not shy away from sending emphatic notes to the potentates of his day [...], flattering some, threatening others.","Arguing that Macedonski was \"always in need of money\" to use on his luxury items, poet Victor Eftimiu claimed: \"He did not shy away from sending emphatic notes to the potentates of his day [...], flattering some, threatening others. He would marry off or simply mate some of his disciples with aging and rich women, and then he would squeeze out their assets.\" Macedonski eventually left Romania in 1884, visiting Paris.","Macedonski eventually left Romania in 1884, visiting Paris. Macedonski eventually left Romania in 1884, visiting Paris. On his way there, he passed through Craiova, where he met aspiring author Traian Demetrescu, whose works he had already hosted in Literatorul and who was to become his friend and protégé. Demetrescu later recalled being gripped by \"tremors of emotion\" upon first catching sight of Macedonski.","Demetrescu later recalled being gripped by \"tremors of emotion\" upon first catching sight of Macedonski. In France, Macedonski set up contacts within the French literary environment, and began contributing to French or Francophone literary publications—including the Belgian Symbolist platforms La Wallonie and L'Élan littéraire. His collaboration with La Wallonie alongside Albert Mockel, Tudor Vianu believes, makes Alexandru Macedonski one in the original wave of European Symbolists. This adaptation to Symbolism also drew on his marked Francophilia, which in turn complemented his tendencies toward cosmopolitanism.","This adaptation to Symbolism also drew on his marked Francophilia, which in turn complemented his tendencies toward cosmopolitanism. He became opposed to Carol I, who, in 1881, had been granted the Crown of the Romanian Kingdom. In addition to his admiration for Cuza and the 1848 Wallachian revolutionaries, the poet objected to the King's sympathy for France's main rival, the German Empire.","In addition to his admiration for Cuza and the 1848 Wallachian revolutionaries, the poet objected to the King's sympathy for France's main rival, the German Empire. In January 1885, after having returned from the voyage, he announced his retirement from public life, claiming that German influence and its exponents at Junimea had \"conquered\" Romanian culture, and repeating his claim that Eminescu lacked value.","In January 1885, after having returned from the voyage, he announced his retirement from public life, claiming that German influence and its exponents at Junimea had \"conquered\" Romanian culture, and repeating his claim that Eminescu lacked value. In the meantime, Literatorul went out of print, although new series were still published at irregular intervals until 1904 (when it ceased being published altogether).","In the meantime, Literatorul went out of print, although new series were still published at irregular intervals until 1904 (when it ceased being published altogether). The magazine was reportedly hated by the public, causing Macedonski, Stoenescu, Florescu, Urechia and educator Anghel Demetriescu to try to revive it as Revista Literară (\"The Literary Review\", published for a few months in 1885).","The magazine was reportedly hated by the public, causing Macedonski, Stoenescu, Florescu, Urechia and educator Anghel Demetriescu to try to revive it as Revista Literară (\"The Literary Review\", published for a few months in 1885). The poet attempted to establish other magazines, all of them short-lived, and, in 1887, handed for print his Naturalist novella Dramă banală (\"Banal Drama\") while completing one of the most revered episodes in the Nights series, Noaptea de mai (\"May Night\").","The poet attempted to establish other magazines, all of them short-lived, and, in 1887, handed for print his Naturalist novella Dramă banală (\"Banal Drama\") while completing one of the most revered episodes in the Nights series, Noaptea de mai (\"May Night\"). Also in 1886, he worked on his other Naturalist novellas: Zi de august (\"August Day\"), Pe drum de poștă (\"On the Stagecoach Trail\"), Din carnetul unui dezertor (\"From the Notebook of a Deserter\"), Între cotețe (\"Amidst Hen Houses\") and the eponymous Nicu Dereanu.","Also in 1886, he worked on his other Naturalist novellas: Zi de august (\"August Day\"), Pe drum de poștă (\"On the Stagecoach Trail\"), Din carnetul unui dezertor (\"From the Notebook of a Deserter\"), Între cotețe (\"Amidst Hen Houses\") and the eponymous Nicu Dereanu. By 1888, he was again sympathetic toward Blaremberg, whose dissident National Liberal faction had formed an alliance with the Conservatives, editing Stindardul Țărei (later Straja Țărei) as his supporting journal.","By 1888, he was again sympathetic toward Blaremberg, whose dissident National Liberal faction had formed an alliance with the Conservatives, editing Stindardul Țărei (later Straja Țărei) as his supporting journal. However, late in the same year, he returned to the liberal mainstream, being assigned a weekly column in Românul newspaper. Two years later, he attempted to relaunch Literatorul under the leadership of liberal figure Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu, but the latter eventually settled for founding his own Revista Nouă.","Two years later, he attempted to relaunch Literatorul under the leadership of liberal figure Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu, but the latter eventually settled for founding his own Revista Nouă. Around 1891, he saluted Junimeas own break with the Conservatives and its entry into politics at the Conservative-Constitutional Party, before offering an enthusiastic welcome to the 1892 Junimist agitation among university students.","Around 1891, he saluted Junimeas own break with the Conservatives and its entry into politics at the Conservative-Constitutional Party, before offering an enthusiastic welcome to the 1892 Junimist agitation among university students. In 1894, he would speak in front of student crowds gathered at a political rally in University Square, and soon after made himself known for supporting the cause of ethnic Romanians and other underrepresented groups of Austria-Hungary. His literary thesis of the time was titled Poezia viitorului (\"The Poetry of the Future\").","His literary thesis of the time was titled Poezia viitorului (\"The Poetry of the Future\"). It upheld Symbolist authors as the models to follow, while Macedonski personally began producing what he referred to as \"instrumentalist\" poems, composed around musical and onomatopoeic elements, and showing a preference for internal rhymes. Such an experimental approach was soon after parodied and ridiculed by Ion Luca Caragiale, who had by then affiliated and parted with Junimea, in his new Moftul Român magazine.","Such an experimental approach was soon after parodied and ridiculed by Ion Luca Caragiale, who had by then affiliated and parted with Junimea, in his new Moftul Român magazine. The poet sought to reconcile with his rival, publicizing a claim that Caragiale was being unjustly ignored by the cultural establishment, but this attempt failed to mend relations between them, and the conflict escalated further.","The poet sought to reconcile with his rival, publicizing a claim that Caragiale was being unjustly ignored by the cultural establishment, but this attempt failed to mend relations between them, and the conflict escalated further. While, in 1893, Literatorul hosted fragments of Thalassa in its Romanian-language version, the author also launched a daily, Lumina (\"The Light\").","While, in 1893, Literatorul hosted fragments of Thalassa in its Romanian-language version, the author also launched a daily, Lumina (\"The Light\"). It was also at that stage that Alexandru Macedonski associated with Cincinat Pavelescu, the noted epigrammarian, who joined him in editing Literatorul, and with whom he co-authored the 1893 verse tragedy depicting the Biblical hero Saul, and named after him. Although showcased by the National Theater with star actor Constantin Nottara in the title role, it failed to register success with the public.","Although showcased by the National Theater with star actor Constantin Nottara in the title role, it failed to register success with the public. Two years later, the two Literatorul editors made headlines as pioneers of cycling. An enthusiastic promoter of the sport, Macedonski joined fellow poet Constantin Cantilli on a marathon, pedaling from Bucharest across the border into Austria-Hungary, all the way down to Brașov.","An enthusiastic promoter of the sport, Macedonski joined fellow poet Constantin Cantilli on a marathon, pedaling from Bucharest across the border into Austria-Hungary, all the way down to Brașov. Late 1890s Macedonski also returned with a new volume of poetry, Excelsior (consecutive editions in 1895 and 1896), and founded Liga Ortodoxă (\"The Orthodox League\"), a magazine noted for hosting the debut of Tudor Arghezi, later one of the most celebrated figures in Romanian literature.","Late 1890s Macedonski also returned with a new volume of poetry, Excelsior (consecutive editions in 1895 and 1896), and founded Liga Ortodoxă (\"The Orthodox League\"), a magazine noted for hosting the debut of Tudor Arghezi, later one of the most celebrated figures in Romanian literature. Macedonski commended his new protégé for reaching \"the summit of poetry and art\" at \"an age when I was still prattling verses\".","Macedonski commended his new protégé for reaching \"the summit of poetry and art\" at \"an age when I was still prattling verses\". Liga Ortodoxă also hosted articles against Caragiale, which Macedonski signed with the pseudonym Sallustiu (\"Sallustius\"). The magazine was additional proof of Macedonski's return to conservatism, and largely dedicated to defending the cause of Romanian Orthodox Metropolitan Ghenadie, deposed by the Romanian Synod following a political scandal. It defended Ghenadie up until he chose to resign, and subsequently went out of print.","It defended Ghenadie up until he chose to resign, and subsequently went out of print. Macedonski was shocked to note that Ghenadie had given up his own defense. In 1895, his Casa cu nr. 10 was translated into French by the Journal des Débats, whose editors reportedly found it picturesque. Two years later, Macedonski himself published French-language translations of his earlier poetry under the title Bronzes, a volume prefaced by his disciple, the critic and promoter Alexandru Bogdan-Pitești.","Two years later, Macedonski himself published French-language translations of his earlier poetry under the title Bronzes, a volume prefaced by his disciple, the critic and promoter Alexandru Bogdan-Pitești. Although it was positively reviewed by Mercure de France magazine, Bronzes was largely unnoticed by the French audience, a fact which Tudor Vianu attributes to Bogdan-Pitești's lack of qualification for the cultural mission Macedonski had trusted him with.","Although it was positively reviewed by Mercure de France magazine, Bronzes was largely unnoticed by the French audience, a fact which Tudor Vianu attributes to Bogdan-Pitești's lack of qualification for the cultural mission Macedonski had trusted him with. By that time, his circle had come to be frequented with regularity by Bogdan-Pitești's friend and collaborator, the celebrated painter Ștefan Luchian, who was in the Symbolist and Art Nouveau stage of his career.","By that time, his circle had come to be frequented with regularity by Bogdan-Pitești's friend and collaborator, the celebrated painter Ștefan Luchian, who was in the Symbolist and Art Nouveau stage of his career. By 1898, Macedonski was again facing financial difficulties, and his collaborators resorted to organizing a fundraiser in his honor. His rejection of the Orthodox establishment was documented by his political tract, published that year as . Between that time and 1900, he focused on researching esoteric, occult and pseudoscientific subjects.","Between that time and 1900, he focused on researching esoteric, occult and pseudoscientific subjects. Traian Demetrescu, who recorded his visits with Macedonski, recalled his former mentor being opposed to his positivist take on science, claiming to explain the workings of the Universe in \"a different way\", through \"imagination\", but also taking an interest in Camille Flammarion's astronomy studies.","Traian Demetrescu, who recorded his visits with Macedonski, recalled his former mentor being opposed to his positivist take on science, claiming to explain the workings of the Universe in \"a different way\", through \"imagination\", but also taking an interest in Camille Flammarion's astronomy studies. Macedonski was determined to interpret death through parapsychological means, and, in 1900, conferenced at the Atheneum on the subject Sufletul și viața viitoare (\"The Soul and the Coming Life\").","Macedonski was determined to interpret death through parapsychological means, and, in 1900, conferenced at the Atheneum on the subject Sufletul și viața viitoare (\"The Soul and the Coming Life\"). The focal point of his vision was that man could voluntarily stave off death with words and gestures, a concept he elaborated upon in his later articles.","The focal point of his vision was that man could voluntarily stave off death with words and gestures, a concept he elaborated upon in his later articles. In one such piece, Macedonski argued: \"man has the power [...] to compact the energy currents known as thoughts to the point where he changes them, according to his own will, into objects or soul-bearing creatures.\" He also attempted to build a machine for extinguishing chimney fires.","He also attempted to build a machine for extinguishing chimney fires. Later, Nikita Macedonski registered the invention of nacre-treated paper, which is sometimes attributed to his father. Caion scandal and expatriation The few issues of Literatorul that were printed in 1899-1900 saw the circle being joined by the young Symbolist poet Ștefan Petică. In 1902, he published Cartea de aur (\"The Golden Book\"), comprising his sketch stories and novellas. In parallel, Macedonski returned to the public scene, founding Forța Morală magazine.","In parallel, Macedonski returned to the public scene, founding Forța Morală magazine. It was through this venue that he began responding to Ion Luca Caragiale's earlier attacks. This he did by hosting the articles of aspiring journalist Constantin Al. Ionescu-Caion, who accused Caragiale of having plagiarized a Hungarian author by the name of Kemény in his tragedy play Năpasta. Kemény turned out to be non-existent.","Kemény turned out to be non-existent. Kemény turned out to be non-existent. According to Vianu, Macedonski had no prior knowledge of the fraud, but had also been \"blinded\" by his resentments instead of displaying \"discernment\", and had even showed evidence of \"insanity\". Most in Macedonski's own series of anti-Caragiale articles were unsigned, or signed with pseudonyms such as Luciliu (\"Gaius Lucilius\").","Most in Macedonski's own series of anti-Caragiale articles were unsigned, or signed with pseudonyms such as Luciliu (\"Gaius Lucilius\"). Like in the case of Eminescu's conflict with Macedonski, the polemic enlisted a negative response from the public. The poet's associate Th. M. Stoenescu convinced himself that Caragiale was being framed, and refused to allow Revista Literară to be used for endorsing Caion, which caused Macedonski to shun him.","M. Stoenescu convinced himself that Caragiale was being framed, and refused to allow Revista Literară to be used for endorsing Caion, which caused Macedonski to shun him. Macedonski refused to withdraw his support for the cause even after Caragiale sued Caion, but Forța Morală soon went out of print. Before it did so, the journal hosted some of Macedonski's most renowned poems, including Lewki and Noaptea de decemvrie (\"December Night\"), together with his article on Remy de Gourmont's thoughts on poetics.","Before it did so, the journal hosted some of Macedonski's most renowned poems, including Lewki and Noaptea de decemvrie (\"December Night\"), together with his article on Remy de Gourmont's thoughts on poetics. In his article of 1903, titled (\"Toward Occultism. Later Orientations toward Theosophy and Social Philosophy\"), the poet envisaged making his interest in esoteric subjects the basis of a new literary movement.","Later Orientations toward Theosophy and Social Philosophy\"), the poet envisaged making his interest in esoteric subjects the basis of a new literary movement. Also that year, poet George Bacovia began attending the literary circle, and gave a reading of his celebrated Plumb poem, being welcomed by Macedonski with a flattering epigram. Macedonski's series of short-lived periodicals resumed in 1905, when he founded Le Beau Danube Bleu (French for \"The Beautiful Blue Danube\") and Liga Conservatoare (\"The Conservative League\").","Macedonski's series of short-lived periodicals resumed in 1905, when he founded Le Beau Danube Bleu (French for \"The Beautiful Blue Danube\") and Liga Conservatoare (\"The Conservative League\"). He registered more success in 1906, when his Thalassa was published, as Le Calvaire de feu, by Edward Sansot's Paris-based publishing house. This followed intense self-promotion within the French literary environment, as well as advertisements in the French press.","This followed intense self-promotion within the French literary environment, as well as advertisements in the French press. Part of this involved Macedonski sending his book to be reviewed by Émile Faguet, Jean Mounet-Sully, Joséphin Péladan, Pierre Quillard and Jean Richepin, who replied with what Vianu deems \"the politeness of circumstance.\" The volume was nonetheless favorably reviewed by the prestigious magazines Mercure de France and Gil Blas.","The volume was nonetheless favorably reviewed by the prestigious magazines Mercure de France and Gil Blas. Also in 1906, La Revue Musicale published his interview with Combarieu, through which the latter aimed to verify supposed connections between literary inspiration and musical sensitivity. By 1907, he was concentrating on experiments in physics, and eventually publicized his claim to have discovered that light does not travel through vacuum. He sent a paper on astronomy subjects to be reviewed by the Société Astronomique de France, of which he subsequently became a member.","He sent a paper on astronomy subjects to be reviewed by the Société Astronomique de France, of which he subsequently became a member. The same year, he drafted the plan for a world government, announcing that he had found sympathy for the cause throughout Europe. Macedonski also introduced himself to an Italophone public, when two of his sonnets were published by Poesia, the magazine of Futurist theorist Filippo Tommaso Marinetti. Between 1910 and 1912, Macedonski was again in Paris.","Between 1910 and 1912, Macedonski was again in Paris. Seeking to withdraw himself from Romania's public life due to what he perceived as injustice, he had by then completed work on the French-language tragicomedy Le Fou? (\"The Madman? \"), which was only published after his death.","\"), which was only published after his death. He was actively seeking to establish his reputation in French theater, reading his new play to a circle which included Louis de Gonzague Frick and Florian-Parmentier, while, at home, newspapers reported rumors that his work was going to be staged by Sarah Bernhardt's company. His efforts were largely fruitless, and, accompanied by his son Alexis, the poet left France, spent some time in Italy, and eventually returned to Romania.","His efforts were largely fruitless, and, accompanied by his son Alexis, the poet left France, spent some time in Italy, and eventually returned to Romania. Passing through the German Empire, he learned of Ion Luca Caragiale's sudden death, and wrote Adevărul daily an open letter, which showed that he had come to revise his stance, notably comparing the deceased author's style and legacy to those of Mark Twain.","Passing through the German Empire, he learned of Ion Luca Caragiale's sudden death, and wrote Adevărul daily an open letter, which showed that he had come to revise his stance, notably comparing the deceased author's style and legacy to those of Mark Twain. During Macedonski's absence, his style and work had come to be reviewed more positively, in particular by the young authors I. Dragoslav, Horia Furtună, Ion Pillat, Anastasie Mândru, Al.","During Macedonski's absence, his style and work had come to be reviewed more positively, in particular by the young authors I. Dragoslav, Horia Furtună, Ion Pillat, Anastasie Mândru, Al. T. Stamatiad, as well as by post-Junimist critic Mihail Dragomirescu, who offered Macedonski a good reception in his Convorbiri Critice magazine. Tudor Vianu, who cites contemporary statements by Dragoslav, concludes that, upon arrival, Macedonski was enthusiastically received by a public who had missed him.","Tudor Vianu, who cites contemporary statements by Dragoslav, concludes that, upon arrival, Macedonski was enthusiastically received by a public who had missed him. Also in 1912, one of his poems was published as an homage by Simbolul, a magazine published by the young and radical Symbolists Tristan Tzara, Ion Vinea and Marcel Janco. Around that time, Macedonski also collaborated with the Iași-based moderate Symbolist magazine Versuri și Proză.","Around that time, Macedonski also collaborated with the Iași-based moderate Symbolist magazine Versuri și Proză. Polemics surrounding his case nevertheless continued: in late 1912, as part of a National Theater adaptation of Alphonse Daudet's Sapho, actor Cazimir Belcot borrowed from Macedonski's appearance and mannerisms to portray a failure. Return and World War I years Macedonski and his protégés had become regular frequenters of Bucharest cafés.","Return and World War I years Macedonski and his protégés had become regular frequenters of Bucharest cafés. Having a table permanently reserved for him at Imperial Hotel's Kübler Coffeehouse, he was later a presence in two other such establishments: High-Life and Terasa Oteteleșanu. He is said to have spent part of his time at Kübler loudly mocking the traditionalist poets who gathered at an opposite table.","He is said to have spent part of his time at Kübler loudly mocking the traditionalist poets who gathered at an opposite table. Meanwhile, the poet's literary club, set up at his house in Dorobanți quarter, had come to resemble a mystical circle, over which he held magisterial command. Vianu, who visited the poet together with Pillat, compares this atmosphere with those created by other \"mystics and magi of poetry\" (citing as examples Joséphin Péladan, Louis-Nicolas Ménard, Stéphane Mallarmé and Stefan George).","Vianu, who visited the poet together with Pillat, compares this atmosphere with those created by other \"mystics and magi of poetry\" (citing as examples Joséphin Péladan, Louis-Nicolas Ménard, Stéphane Mallarmé and Stefan George). The hall where seances were hosted was only lit by candles, and the tables were covered in red fabric. Macedonski himself was seated on a throne designed by Alexis, and adopted a dominant pose. The apparent secrecy and the initiation rites performed on new members were purportedly inspired by Rosicrucianism and the Freemasonry.","The apparent secrecy and the initiation rites performed on new members were purportedly inspired by Rosicrucianism and the Freemasonry. By then, Macedonski was rewarding his followers' poems with false gemstones. The poet founded Revista Critică (\"The Critical Review\"), which again closed after a short while, and issued the poetry volume Flori sacre (\"Sacred Flowers\").","The poet founded Revista Critică (\"The Critical Review\"), which again closed after a short while, and issued the poetry volume Flori sacre (\"Sacred Flowers\"). Grouping his Forța Morală poems and older pieces, it was dedicated to his new generation of followers, whom Macedonski's preface referred to as \"the new Romania.\" He continued to hope that Le Fou?","He continued to hope that Le Fou? He continued to hope that Le Fou? was going to be staged in France, especially after he received some encouragement in the form of articles in Mercure de France and Journal des Débats, but was confronted with the general public's indifference. In 1914, Thalassa was published in a non-definitive version by Constantin Banu's magazine Flacăra, which sought to revive overall interest in his work.","In 1914, Thalassa was published in a non-definitive version by Constantin Banu's magazine Flacăra, which sought to revive overall interest in his work. At a French Red Cross conference in September, Macedonski paid his final public homage to France, which had just become entangled in World War I.","At a French Red Cross conference in September, Macedonski paid his final public homage to France, which had just become entangled in World War I. It was also in 1914 that Macedonski commissioned for print his very first rondels and completed work on a tragedy play about Renaissance poet Dante Aligheri—known as La Mort de Dante in its French original, and Moartea lui Dante in the secondary Romanian version (both meaning \"Dante's Death\").","It was also in 1914 that Macedonski commissioned for print his very first rondels and completed work on a tragedy play about Renaissance poet Dante Aligheri—known as La Mort de Dante in its French original, and Moartea lui Dante in the secondary Romanian version (both meaning \"Dante's Death\"). The aging poet was by then building connections with the local art scene: together with artist Alexandru Severin, he created (and probably presided over) Cenaclul idealist (\"The Idealist Club\"), which included Symbolist artists and was placed under the honorary patronage of King Carol.","The aging poet was by then building connections with the local art scene: together with artist Alexandru Severin, he created (and probably presided over) Cenaclul idealist (\"The Idealist Club\"), which included Symbolist artists and was placed under the honorary patronage of King Carol. 1916 was also the year when Romania abandoned her neutrality and, under a National Liberal government, rallied with the Entente Powers.","1916 was also the year when Romania abandoned her neutrality and, under a National Liberal government, rallied with the Entente Powers. During the neutrality period, Macedonski had shed his lifelong Francophilia to join the Germanophiles, who wanted to see Romanian participation on the Central Powers' side. In 1915, he issued the journal Cuvântul Meu (\"My Word\").","In 1915, he issued the journal Cuvântul Meu (\"My Word\"). Entirely written by him, it published ten consecutive issues before going bankrupt, and notably lashed out against France for being \"bourgeois\" and \"lawyer-filled\", demanding from Romania not to get involved in the conflict. Commentators and researchers of his work have declared themselves puzzled by this change in allegiance. Macedonski further alienated public opinion during the Romanian Campaign, when the Central Powers armies entered southern Romania and occupied Bucharest.","Macedonski further alienated public opinion during the Romanian Campaign, when the Central Powers armies entered southern Romania and occupied Bucharest. Alexis was drafted and became a war artist, but Macedonski Sr, who received formal protection from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bucharest, chose to stay behind while the authorities and many ordinary citizens relocated to Iași, where resistance was still being organized. His stance was interpreted as collaborationism by his critics. However, Macedonski reportedly faced extreme poverty throughout the occupation.","However, Macedonski reportedly faced extreme poverty throughout the occupation. Having by then begun to attend the circle of Alexandru Bogdan-Pitești, his promoter and fellow Germanophile, he was once rewarded by the latter with a turkey filled with gold coins. Late polemics, illness and death Literatorul resumed print in June 1918, once Romania capitulated to the Central Powers under the Treaty of Bucharest.","Late polemics, illness and death Literatorul resumed print in June 1918, once Romania capitulated to the Central Powers under the Treaty of Bucharest. A controversial incident occurred soon afterwards, when, going against the counsel of his friend and collaborator Stamatiad, Macedonski signed a Literatorul article where the German military administrator August von Mackensen, who was about to lead his troops out of Romania, was presented in a positive light.","A controversial incident occurred soon afterwards, when, going against the counsel of his friend and collaborator Stamatiad, Macedonski signed a Literatorul article where the German military administrator August von Mackensen, who was about to lead his troops out of Romania, was presented in a positive light. In a manner deemed \"excessive\" by historian Lucian Boia, the Romanian writer was paying homage not just to Mackensen, but also, indirectly, to German Emperor Wilhelm II and the Reichsheer.","In a manner deemed \"excessive\" by historian Lucian Boia, the Romanian writer was paying homage not just to Mackensen, but also, indirectly, to German Emperor Wilhelm II and the Reichsheer. Soon after reading the piece, Romanian Academy member and fellow Symbolist promoter Ovid Densusianu withdrew his own nomination of Macedonski for an Academy seat.","Soon after reading the piece, Romanian Academy member and fellow Symbolist promoter Ovid Densusianu withdrew his own nomination of Macedonski for an Academy seat. During summer, Macedonski also joined the group of public figures who saluted the senior Conservative Germanophile Petre P. Carp (deeming Carp \"the veteran of character, honesty and Romanianism\"), and, in September, joined Ioan Slavici and Gala Galaction as a contributor to the occupation magazine Rumänien in Wort und Bild, where he prophesied an anti-French \"political renaissance\" of Romania.","During summer, Macedonski also joined the group of public figures who saluted the senior Conservative Germanophile Petre P. Carp (deeming Carp \"the veteran of character, honesty and Romanianism\"), and, in September, joined Ioan Slavici and Gala Galaction as a contributor to the occupation magazine Rumänien in Wort und Bild, where he prophesied an anti-French \"political renaissance\" of Romania. Alexandru Macedonski faced problems after the Romanian government resumed its control over Bucharest, and during the early years of Greater Romania.","Alexandru Macedonski faced problems after the Romanian government resumed its control over Bucharest, and during the early years of Greater Romania. What followed the Mackensen article, Vianu claims, was Macedonski's bellum contra omnes (\"war against all\").","What followed the Mackensen article, Vianu claims, was Macedonski's bellum contra omnes (\"war against all\"). However, the poet made efforts to accommodate himself with the triumphal return of the Iași authorities: in December 1918, Literatorul celebrated the extension of Romanian rule \"from the Tisza to the Dniester\" as a success of the National Liberals, paying homage to Francophile political leaders Ion I. C. Brătianu and Take Ionescu.","However, the poet made efforts to accommodate himself with the triumphal return of the Iași authorities: in December 1918, Literatorul celebrated the extension of Romanian rule \"from the Tisza to the Dniester\" as a success of the National Liberals, paying homage to Francophile political leaders Ion I. C. Brătianu and Take Ionescu. Macedonski also envisaged running in the 1918 election for a seat in the new Parliament (which was supposed to vote a document to replace the 1866 Constitution as the organic law), but never registered his candidature.","Macedonski also envisaged running in the 1918 election for a seat in the new Parliament (which was supposed to vote a document to replace the 1866 Constitution as the organic law), but never registered his candidature. According to Vianu, he had intended to create a joke political party, the \"intellectual group\", whose other member was an unnamed coffeehouse acquaintance of his. Literatorul was revived for a final time in 1919. His health deteriorated from heart disease, which is described by Vianu as an effect of constant smoking.","His health deteriorated from heart disease, which is described by Vianu as an effect of constant smoking. By that stage, Vianu recalls, Macedonski also had problems coming to terms with his age. His last anthumous work was the pamphlet Zaherlina (named after the Romanian version of \"Zacherlin\"; also known as Zacherlina or Zacherlina în continuare, \"Zacherlin Contd. \"), completed in 1919 and published the following year. It notably attacked Densusianu, who had become Macedonski's personal enemy.","It notably attacked Densusianu, who had become Macedonski's personal enemy. Some other polemical texts he had authored late in life saw print only after his death, under the title Mustrări postume către o generație neînțelegătoare (\"Posthumous Reprimands for an Obtuse Generation\"). 1920 was also the year when the People's Party cabinet attempted to pension him off from his office at the Historical Monuments Commission, but the publicized protest of Macedonski's fellow writers in Bucharest made it reconsider.","1920 was also the year when the People's Party cabinet attempted to pension him off from his office at the Historical Monuments Commission, but the publicized protest of Macedonski's fellow writers in Bucharest made it reconsider. Confined to his home by illness and old age, Macedonski was still writing poems, some of which later known as his Ultima verba (\"Last Words\"). The writer died on 24 November, at three o'clock in the afternoon.","The writer died on 24 November, at three o'clock in the afternoon. Having come to develop an addiction to floral fragrances, he was inhaling a rose petal extract during his last hours. He was buried in Bucharest's Bellu. Work General characteristics Although Alexandru Macedonski frequently changed his style and views on literary matters, a number of constants have been traced throughout his work.","Work General characteristics Although Alexandru Macedonski frequently changed his style and views on literary matters, a number of constants have been traced throughout his work. Thus, a common perception is that his literature had a strongly visual aspect, the notion being condensed in Cincinat Pavelescu's definition of Macedonski: \"Poet, therefore painter; painter, therefore poet.\" Traian Demetrescu too recalled that his mentor had been dreaming of becoming a visual artist, and had eventually settled for turning his son Alexis into one.","Traian Demetrescu too recalled that his mentor had been dreaming of becoming a visual artist, and had eventually settled for turning his son Alexis into one. This pictorial approach to writing created parallels between Macedonski and his traditionalist contemporaries Vasile Alecsandri and Barbu Ștefănescu Delavrancea. Following the tenets of Dimitrie Bolintineanu and Théophile Gautier, the writer repeatedly called for purity in versification, and upheld it as an essential requirement, while progressively seeking to verify the quality of his poetry through phonaesthetics.","Following the tenets of Dimitrie Bolintineanu and Théophile Gautier, the writer repeatedly called for purity in versification, and upheld it as an essential requirement, while progressively seeking to verify the quality of his poetry through phonaesthetics. A characteristic of Macedonski's style is his inventive use of Romanian. Initially influenced by Ion Heliade Rădulescu's introduction of Italian-based words to the Romanian lexis, Macedonski himself later infused poetic language with a large array of neologisms from several Romance sources.","Initially influenced by Ion Heliade Rădulescu's introduction of Italian-based words to the Romanian lexis, Macedonski himself later infused poetic language with a large array of neologisms from several Romance sources. Likewise, Vianu notes, Macedonski had a tendency for comparing nature with the artificial, the result of this being a \"document\" of his values. Macedonski's language alternated neologisms with barbarisms, many of which were coined by him personally.","Macedonski's language alternated neologisms with barbarisms, many of which were coined by him personally. They include claviculat (\"clavicled\", applied to a shoulder), împălăriată (\"enhatted\", used to define a crowd of hat-wearing tourists), and ureichii (instead of urechii, \"to the ear\" or \"of the ear\"). His narratives nevertheless take an interest in recording direct speech, used as a method of characterization.","His narratives nevertheless take an interest in recording direct speech, used as a method of characterization. However, Călinescu criticizes Macedonski for using a language which, \"although grammatically correct [...], seems to have been learned only recently\", as well as for not following other Romanian writers in creating a lasting poetic style. The writer's belief in the effects of sheer willpower, notably present in his comments on esoteric subjects, was itself a defining characteristic of his perspective on literature.","The writer's belief in the effects of sheer willpower, notably present in his comments on esoteric subjects, was itself a defining characteristic of his perspective on literature. In 1882, he wrote about progression in one's career: \"We are all poets at birth, but only those who shape themselves through study will become poets.\"","In 1882, he wrote about progression in one's career: \"We are all poets at birth, but only those who shape themselves through study will become poets.\" Vianu, who notes Macedonski's \"exclusivity\" and \"fanaticism\", places such statements in connection with Macedonski's personal ambition, \"pride\" and \"the willingness to carry out ventured actions [...], in stated opposition with the entire surrounding and with contempt for the foreseeable reaction.\"","Vianu, who notes Macedonski's \"exclusivity\" and \"fanaticism\", places such statements in connection with Macedonski's personal ambition, \"pride\" and \"the willingness to carry out ventured actions [...], in stated opposition with the entire surrounding and with contempt for the foreseeable reaction.\" Almost all periods of Macedonski's work reflect, in whole or in part, his public persona and the polemics he was involved in.","Almost all periods of Macedonski's work reflect, in whole or in part, his public persona and the polemics he was involved in. George Călinescu's emits a verdict on the relation between his lifetime notoriety and the public's actual awareness of his work: \"Macedonski [was] a poet well-known for being an unknown poet.\"","George Călinescu's emits a verdict on the relation between his lifetime notoriety and the public's actual awareness of his work: \"Macedonski [was] a poet well-known for being an unknown poet.\" According to literary critic Matei Călinescu, the innovative aspects of his impact on Romanian literature were not as much related to his \"literary ideology\", as much as to his \"contradictory spirit\" and \"essential nonconformism\".","According to literary critic Matei Călinescu, the innovative aspects of his impact on Romanian literature were not as much related to his \"literary ideology\", as much as to his \"contradictory spirit\" and \"essential nonconformism\". However, literary researcher Adrian Marino proposes that Macedonski was one of the first modern authors to illustrate the importance of \"dialectic unity\" through his views on art, in particular by having argued that poetry needed to be driven by \"an idea\".","However, literary researcher Adrian Marino proposes that Macedonski was one of the first modern authors to illustrate the importance of \"dialectic unity\" through his views on art, in particular by having argued that poetry needed to be driven by \"an idea\". Having theorized once, while questioning Junimist rigor, that \"the logic of poetry is absurdity itself [italics in the original]\", the poet also said: \"Poetry is the chaos of spirit and matter, of the cries of distress and mad laughter.","Having theorized once, while questioning Junimist rigor, that \"the logic of poetry is absurdity itself [italics in the original]\", the poet also said: \"Poetry is the chaos of spirit and matter, of the cries of distress and mad laughter. From the sublime to the trivial, that is what it should be.\" He later revised part of this verdict, and, making explicit his adoption of aestheticism, spoke against trivial subjects and in favor of the sublime.","He later revised part of this verdict, and, making explicit his adoption of aestheticism, spoke against trivial subjects and in favor of the sublime. While Macedonski also discarded the concept of \"social poetry\" not long after postulating it, its spirit, Tudor Vianu believes, can still be found in his later contributions. This, the critic notes, was owed to his \"social temperament\", whose \"fundamental experience is that of the social.\"","This, the critic notes, was owed to his \"social temperament\", whose \"fundamental experience is that of the social.\" Discussing this sociable and extrovert character, other critics see in the poet's life and work the imprint of \"quixotism\". Also according to Vianu, this contrasted with Macedonski's failures in communicating with the public, an experience which made him \"misanthropic\" and contributed to his ultimate vision of death as freedom.","Also according to Vianu, this contrasted with Macedonski's failures in communicating with the public, an experience which made him \"misanthropic\" and contributed to his ultimate vision of death as freedom. Literary historian Pompiliu Constantinescu concluded: \"Macedonski could not resign; his one martyrdom was for Art, as the sole liberation from a tormented life.\" Other commentators have defined the poet's perspective on life as a result of \"neurosis\".","Other commentators have defined the poet's perspective on life as a result of \"neurosis\". In Vianu's perspective, Macedonski's stance is dominated by a mixture of nostalgia, sensuality, lugubrious-grotesque imagery, and \"the lack of bashfulness for antisocial sentiments\" which compliments his sarcasm.","In Vianu's perspective, Macedonski's stance is dominated by a mixture of nostalgia, sensuality, lugubrious-grotesque imagery, and \"the lack of bashfulness for antisocial sentiments\" which compliments his sarcasm. In respect to the latter characteristic, Vianu notes \"no one in Romanian literature has laughed the same way as Macedonski\", whereas critic Ștefan Cazimir argues: \"[Macedonski was] lacking the sense of relativity in principles, and implicitly a sense of humor.\"","In respect to the latter characteristic, Vianu notes \"no one in Romanian literature has laughed the same way as Macedonski\", whereas critic Ștefan Cazimir argues: \"[Macedonski was] lacking the sense of relativity in principles, and implicitly a sense of humor.\" Cazimir adds: \"Only when he aged did [Macedonski] learn to smile\".","Cazimir adds: \"Only when he aged did [Macedonski] learn to smile\". George Călinescu himself believes Macedonski to have been \"fundamentally a spiritual man with lots of humor\", speculating that he was able to see the \"uselessness\" of his own scientific ventures. Critics note that, while Macedonski progressed from one stage to the other, his work fluctuated between artistic accomplishment and mediocrity.","Critics note that, while Macedonski progressed from one stage to the other, his work fluctuated between artistic accomplishment and mediocrity. Tudor Vianu believes \"failure in reaching originality\" and reliance on \"soppy-conventional attributes of the day\" to be especially evident wherever Macedonski tried to emulate epic poetry. He also notes that Macedonski's love-themed pieces \"cannot be listed among [his] most fortunate\". At his best, commentators note, he was one of the Romanian literature's classics.","At his best, commentators note, he was one of the Romanian literature's classics. Macedonski is thus perceived as the author second only to Eminescu, and as his ideal counterpart—a relation Vianu describes as \"the internal dualism [confronting] two familiar gods\". Various critics have compared Eminescu's poetic discourse with that of the Symbolist leader, concluding that the two poets often display very similar attitudes.","Various critics have compared Eminescu's poetic discourse with that of the Symbolist leader, concluding that the two poets often display very similar attitudes. Călinescu writes that, while Macedonski's work is largely inferior to that of his Junimist rival, it forms the best \"reply\" ever conceived within their common setting. Prima verba and other early works With Ion Catina, Vasile Păun and Grigore H. Grandea, young Macedonski belonged to late Romanian Romanticism, part of a Neoromantic generation which had for its mentors Heliade Rădulescu and Bolintineanu.","Prima verba and other early works With Ion Catina, Vasile Păun and Grigore H. Grandea, young Macedonski belonged to late Romanian Romanticism, part of a Neoromantic generation which had for its mentors Heliade Rădulescu and Bolintineanu. Other early influences were Pierre-Jean de Béranger and Gottfried August Bürger, together with Romanian folklore, motifs from them being adapted by Macedonski into pastorals and ballades of ca. 1870–1880.","1870–1880. 1870–1880. The imprint of Romanticism and such other sources was evident in Prima verba, which groups pieces that Macedonski authored in his early youth, the earliest of them being written when he was just twelve. Critics generally argue that the volume is without value. The poems display his rebellious attitude, self-victimization and strong reliance on autobiographical elements, centering on such episodes as the death of his father.","The poems display his rebellious attitude, self-victimization and strong reliance on autobiographical elements, centering on such episodes as the death of his father. In one piece inspired by the ideology of Heliade Rădulescu, Vianu notes, Macedonski sings \"the French Revolution's love for freedom and equality, otherwise proclaimed from his nobleman's perspective.\" It reads: In parallel, Macedonski used erotic themes, completing a series which, although written on the model of idylls, is noted for its brute details of sexual exploits.","It reads: In parallel, Macedonski used erotic themes, completing a series which, although written on the model of idylls, is noted for its brute details of sexual exploits. The poet probably acknowledged that posterity would reject them, and did not republish them in any of his collected poetry volumes. During his time at Oltul (1873–1875), Macedonski published a series of poems, most of which were not featured in definitive editions of his work.","During his time at Oltul (1873–1875), Macedonski published a series of poems, most of which were not featured in definitive editions of his work. In addition to odes written in the Italian-based version of Romanian, it includes lyrics which satirize Carol I without mentioning his name. Following his arrest, Macedonski also completed Celula mea de la Văcărești (\"My Cell in Văcărești\"), which shows his attempt to joke about the situation.","Following his arrest, Macedonski also completed Celula mea de la Văcărești (\"My Cell in Văcărești\"), which shows his attempt to joke about the situation. In contrast to this series, some of the pieces written during Macedonski's time in the Budjak and Northern Dobruja display a detachment from contemporary themes. At that stage, he was especially inspired by Lord Byron, whom Vianu calls \"the sovereign poet of [Macedonski's] youth.\"","At that stage, he was especially inspired by Lord Byron, whom Vianu calls \"the sovereign poet of [Macedonski's] youth.\" In Calul arabului, Macedonski explores exotic and Levantine settings, using symbols which announce George Coșbuc's El-Zorab, and the Venetian-themed Ithalo, which centers on episodes of betrayal and murder. Others were epic and patriotic in tone, with subjects such as Romanian victories in the Russo-Turkish War or the Imperial Roman sites along the Danube.","Others were epic and patriotic in tone, with subjects such as Romanian victories in the Russo-Turkish War or the Imperial Roman sites along the Danube. One of these pieces, titled Hinov after the village and stone quarry in Rasova, gives Macedonski a claim to being the first modern European poet to have used free verse, ahead of the French Symbolist Gustave Kahn.","One of these pieces, titled Hinov after the village and stone quarry in Rasova, gives Macedonski a claim to being the first modern European poet to have used free verse, ahead of the French Symbolist Gustave Kahn. Macedonski himself later voiced the claim, and referred to such a technique as \"symphonic verse\", \"proteic verse\", or, in honor of composer Richard Wagner, \"Wagnerian verse\". While editing Oltul, Macedonski also completed his first prose writings.","While editing Oltul, Macedonski also completed his first prose writings. These were the travel account Pompeia și Sorento (\"Pompeia and Sorento\", 1874) and a prison-themed story described by Vianu as \"a tearjerker\", titled Câinele din Văcărești (\"The Dog in Văcărești\", 1875). These were later complemented by other travel works, which critic Mihai Zamfir likens to the verbal experiments of Impressionist literature, pioneering in the Romanian prose poetry genre.","These were later complemented by other travel works, which critic Mihai Zamfir likens to the verbal experiments of Impressionist literature, pioneering in the Romanian prose poetry genre. The short comedy Gemenii was his debut work for the stage, but, according to Vianu, failed to show any merit other than a \"logical construction\" and a preview into Macedonski's use of sarcasm. These writings were followed in 1876 by a concise biography of Cârjaliul, an early 19th-century hajduk.","These writings were followed in 1876 by a concise biography of Cârjaliul, an early 19th-century hajduk. In line with his first Levant-themed poems, Macedonski authored the 1877 story Așa se fac banii (\"This Is How Money Is Made\", later retold in French as Comment on devient riche et puissant, \"How to Become Rich and Powerful\"), a fable of fatalism and the Muslim world—it dealt with two brothers, one hard-working and one indolent, the latter of whom earns his money through a series of serendipitous events.","In line with his first Levant-themed poems, Macedonski authored the 1877 story Așa se fac banii (\"This Is How Money Is Made\", later retold in French as Comment on devient riche et puissant, \"How to Become Rich and Powerful\"), a fable of fatalism and the Muslim world—it dealt with two brothers, one hard-working and one indolent, the latter of whom earns his money through a series of serendipitous events. Likewise, his verse comedy Iadeș!","Likewise, his verse comedy Iadeș! Likewise, his verse comedy Iadeș! borrowed its theme from the widely circulated collection of Persian literature known as Sindipa. The setting was however modern, and, as noted by French-born critic Frédéric Damé, the plot also borrowed much from Émile Augier's Gabrielle and from other morality plays of the period. Part of the text was an ironic treatment of youth in liberal professions, an attitude which Macedonski fitted in his emerging anti-bourgeois discourse.","Part of the text was an ironic treatment of youth in liberal professions, an attitude which Macedonski fitted in his emerging anti-bourgeois discourse. With the first poems in his Nights cycle, Macedonski still showed his allegiance to Romanticism, and in particular to Alphonse de Lamartine, and the supposed inventor of this theme, Alfred de Musset. Noaptea de noiembrie opens with a violent condemnation of his adversaries, and sees Macedonski depicting his own funeral.","Noaptea de noiembrie opens with a violent condemnation of his adversaries, and sees Macedonski depicting his own funeral. The poem is commended by Călinescu, who notes that, in contrast to the \"apparently trivial beginning\", the main part, where Macedonski depicts himself in flight over the Danube, brings the Romanian writer close to the accomplishments of Dante Aligheri. The writer himself claimed that the piece evidenced \"the uttermost breath of inspiration I have ever felt in my life.\"","The writer himself claimed that the piece evidenced \"the uttermost breath of inspiration I have ever felt in my life.\" Another poem, Noaptea de aprilie (\"April Night\"), was probably his testimony of unrequited love for Aristizza Romanescu. Realism and Naturalism By the 1880s, Macedonski developed and applied his \"social poetry\" theory, as branch of Realism.","Realism and Naturalism By the 1880s, Macedonski developed and applied his \"social poetry\" theory, as branch of Realism. Explained by the writer himself as a reaction against the legacy of Lamartine, it also signified his brief affiliation with the Naturalist current, a radical segment of the Realist movement. Traian Demetrescu thus noted that Macedonski cherished the works of French Naturalists and Realists such as Gustave Flaubert and Émile Zola.","Traian Demetrescu thus noted that Macedonski cherished the works of French Naturalists and Realists such as Gustave Flaubert and Émile Zola. During this phase, Macedonski made known his sympathy for the disinherited, from girls forced into prostitution to convicts sentenced to penal labor on salt mines, and also spoke out against the conventionalism of civil marriages. His Ocnele (\"The Salt Mines\") includes the verdict: Naturalist depiction was also the main element in his prose pieces of the early 1880s.","His Ocnele (\"The Salt Mines\") includes the verdict: Naturalist depiction was also the main element in his prose pieces of the early 1880s. Among them was the first of several sketch stories using still life techniques, Casa cu nr. 10 (according to Zamfir, a prime sample of Macedonski's \"ornamental\" genre). With Între cotețe, Dramă banală and later Cometa lui Odorescu (\"Odorescu's Comet\"), Macedonski speaks about his own biography.","With Între cotețe, Dramă banală and later Cometa lui Odorescu (\"Odorescu's Comet\"), Macedonski speaks about his own biography. The former has for a protagonist Pandele Vergea, a thirty-five-year-old man who is consumed by an avicultural obsession, who dreams of turning into a bird, and who is eventually maimed by his overcrowded fowls.","The former has for a protagonist Pandele Vergea, a thirty-five-year-old man who is consumed by an avicultural obsession, who dreams of turning into a bird, and who is eventually maimed by his overcrowded fowls. In contrast, Dereanu is a bohemian university student, possessed by dreams of military and political glory, and who meditates about his future in front of Heliade Rădulescu's statue or in Bucharest cafés. Also a bohemian, Odorescu announces his discovery of a comet, before being proved wrong by his aunt, an ordinary woman.","Also a bohemian, Odorescu announces his discovery of a comet, before being proved wrong by his aunt, an ordinary woman. Some pieces also double as memoirs: in Dramă banală, the plot revolves around Macedonski's recollection of the 1866 plebiscite. Vianu draws attention to the picturesque depiction of historic Bucharest, a contributing element in Cometa..., Casa cu nr. 10 and Între cotețe. With Unchiașul Sărăcie (also written in verse), Macedonski took Naturalist tenets into the field of drama.","With Unchiașul Sărăcie (also written in verse), Macedonski took Naturalist tenets into the field of drama. Frédéric Damé believed it an imitation of a play by Ernest d'Hervilly and Alfred Grévin, but, Vianu argues, the Romanian text was only loosely based on theirs: in Macedonski's adaptation, the theme became fairy tale-like, and used a speech style based on Romanian folklore.","Frédéric Damé believed it an imitation of a play by Ernest d'Hervilly and Alfred Grévin, but, Vianu argues, the Romanian text was only loosely based on theirs: in Macedonski's adaptation, the theme became fairy tale-like, and used a speech style based on Romanian folklore. Around the time of its completion, Macedonski was also working on a similarly loose adaptation of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, which notably had the two protagonists die in each other's arms.","Around the time of its completion, Macedonski was also working on a similarly loose adaptation of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, which notably had the two protagonists die in each other's arms. Another such play is 3 decemvrie (\"December 3\"), which partly retells Friedrich Ludwig Zacharias Werner's Der 24 Februar using Naturalist devices. By contrast, the homage-play Cuza-Vodă is mainly a Romantic piece, where Alexander John Cuza finds his political mission validated by legendary figures in Romanian history.","By contrast, the homage-play Cuza-Vodă is mainly a Romantic piece, where Alexander John Cuza finds his political mission validated by legendary figures in Romanian history. In parallel, Macedonski was using poetry to carry out his polemics. In an 1884 epigram, he reacted against Alecsandri's Fântâna Blanduziei, but, in Vianu's definition, \"his regular causticity seems to be restrained.\"","In an 1884 epigram, he reacted against Alecsandri's Fântâna Blanduziei, but, in Vianu's definition, \"his regular causticity seems to be restrained.\" The piece he had earlier written, presumably against Eminescu, scandalized the public by mocking the rival's mental ruin: According to Tudor Vianu, Macedonski was mostly motivated by his disappointment in Junimea, and in particular by Eminescu's response to his public persona.","The piece he had earlier written, presumably against Eminescu, scandalized the public by mocking the rival's mental ruin: According to Tudor Vianu, Macedonski was mostly motivated by his disappointment in Junimea, and in particular by Eminescu's response to his public persona. Vianu contends that, although Macedonski \"never was familiar with the resigned and patient attitudes\", he was \"by no means an evil man.\"","Vianu contends that, although Macedonski \"never was familiar with the resigned and patient attitudes\", he was \"by no means an evil man.\" On one occasion, the poet defended himself against criticism, noting that the epigram had not been specifically addressed to Eminescu, but had been labeled as such by the press, and claiming to have authored it years before its Literatorul edition. However, the later piece Viața de apoi (\"The Afterlife\") still displays resentments he harbored toward Eminescu.","However, the later piece Viața de apoi (\"The Afterlife\") still displays resentments he harbored toward Eminescu. By 1880–1884, particularly after the Eminescu scandal, Macedonski envisaged prioritizing French as his language of expression. According to Vianu, Macedonski had traversed \"the lowest point\" of his existence, and had been subject to \"one of the most delicate mysteries of poetic creation.\"","According to Vianu, Macedonski had traversed \"the lowest point\" of his existence, and had been subject to \"one of the most delicate mysteries of poetic creation.\" Among his pieces of the period is the French-language sonnet Pârle, il me dit alors (\"Speak, He Then Said to Me\"), where, Vianu notes, \"one discovers the state of mind of a poet who decides to expatriate himself.\"","Among his pieces of the period is the French-language sonnet Pârle, il me dit alors (\"Speak, He Then Said to Me\"), where, Vianu notes, \"one discovers the state of mind of a poet who decides to expatriate himself.\" Adoption of Symbolism According to Mihai Zamfir, at the end of his transition from the \"mimetic and egocentric\" verse to Symbolist poetry, Macedonski emerged a \"remarkable, often extraordinary\" author.","Adoption of Symbolism According to Mihai Zamfir, at the end of his transition from the \"mimetic and egocentric\" verse to Symbolist poetry, Macedonski emerged a \"remarkable, often extraordinary\" author. In the early 20th century, fellow poet and critic N. Davidescu described Macedonski, Ion Minulescu and other Symbolists from Wallachia as distinct from their Moldavian counterparts in both style and themes. Endorsing the theory and practice of Symbolism for much of his life, Macedonski retrospectively claimed to have been one of its first exponents.","Endorsing the theory and practice of Symbolism for much of his life, Macedonski retrospectively claimed to have been one of its first exponents. His version of Symbolism, critic Paul Cernat notes, clashed with that advocated by many of his contemporaries in that it rejected merit to the Decadent movement, and represented the \"decorative\" aestheticist trend of Paranassian spirit within the Romanian Symbolist current.","His version of Symbolism, critic Paul Cernat notes, clashed with that advocated by many of his contemporaries in that it rejected merit to the Decadent movement, and represented the \"decorative\" aestheticist trend of Paranassian spirit within the Romanian Symbolist current. Within Poezia viitorului, Macedonski invoked as his models to follow some important or secondary Symbolist and Parnassian figures: Charles Baudelaire, Joséphin Péladan, Maurice Maeterlinck, Stéphane Mallarmé and Jean Moréas.","Within Poezia viitorului, Macedonski invoked as his models to follow some important or secondary Symbolist and Parnassian figures: Charles Baudelaire, Joséphin Péladan, Maurice Maeterlinck, Stéphane Mallarmé and Jean Moréas. In his review of Bronzes for Mercure de France, Pierre Quillard remarked the \"irreproachable\" technique, but criticized the poet for being too indebted to both Baudelaire and Leconte de Lisle; other Symbolist figures whom Macedonski is known to have borrowed from are José María de Heredia and Iwan Gilkin.","In his review of Bronzes for Mercure de France, Pierre Quillard remarked the \"irreproachable\" technique, but criticized the poet for being too indebted to both Baudelaire and Leconte de Lisle; other Symbolist figures whom Macedonski is known to have borrowed from are José María de Heredia and Iwan Gilkin. While undergoing this transition, to what linguist Manuela-Delia Suciu argues is a mostly Parnassian phase, Macedonski was still referencing Naturalism, and considered it compatible with Symbolism.","While undergoing this transition, to what linguist Manuela-Delia Suciu argues is a mostly Parnassian phase, Macedonski was still referencing Naturalism, and considered it compatible with Symbolism. With the adoption of such tenets came a succession of Symbolist poems, where the focus is on minutely-observed objects, usually items of luxury, partly reflecting themes he had explored in the Naturalist stage. Commenting on them, Tudor Vianu argues that no such works had ever been produced in Romanian literature up until that moment.","Commenting on them, Tudor Vianu argues that no such works had ever been produced in Romanian literature up until that moment. In his Ospățul lui Pentaur (\"The Feast of Pentaur\"), the poet reflected on civilization itself, as reflected in inanimate opulence. The motif was also developed in descriptive prose fragments later grouped in Cartea de aur, collectively titled nuvele fără oameni (\"novellas without people\") and compared by Călinescu with the paintings of Theodor Aman.","The motif was also developed in descriptive prose fragments later grouped in Cartea de aur, collectively titled nuvele fără oameni (\"novellas without people\") and compared by Călinescu with the paintings of Theodor Aman. Also during that stage, Macedonski was exploring the numerous links between Symbolism, mysticism and esotericism. Earlier pieces had already come to explore macabre themes characteristic for an early branch of Symbolism.","Earlier pieces had already come to explore macabre themes characteristic for an early branch of Symbolism. Influenced by Maurice Rollinat, they include the somber Vaporul morții (\"The Ship of Death\") and Visul fatal (\"The Fatal Dream\").","Influenced by Maurice Rollinat, they include the somber Vaporul morții (\"The Ship of Death\") and Visul fatal (\"The Fatal Dream\"). Likewise, the piece titled Imnul lui Satan (\"Satan's Hymn\") was placed by critics in connection with Les Litanies de Satan (part of Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du mal), but, Vianu argues, the source of Macedonski's satanic themes may have been lodged in his own vision of the world.","Likewise, the piece titled Imnul lui Satan (\"Satan's Hymn\") was placed by critics in connection with Les Litanies de Satan (part of Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du mal), but, Vianu argues, the source of Macedonski's satanic themes may have been lodged in his own vision of the world. This interest also reflected in his 1893 Saul, where Cincinat Pavelescu's contribution is supposedly minimal.","This interest also reflected in his 1893 Saul, where Cincinat Pavelescu's contribution is supposedly minimal. Echoing satanic themes, Ernest Legouvé's dramatic version of the Medea myth (which Macedonski translated at some point in his life) and the classical work of Jean Racine, it shows the dark powers of political conflict intervening between the eponymous king and his ephebos-like protégé David, the latter of whom turns out to be the agent of spiritual revolution.","Echoing satanic themes, Ernest Legouvé's dramatic version of the Medea myth (which Macedonski translated at some point in his life) and the classical work of Jean Racine, it shows the dark powers of political conflict intervening between the eponymous king and his ephebos-like protégé David, the latter of whom turns out to be the agent of spiritual revolution. (\"August Night\"), outlines a monistic belief probably inspired by Rosicrucianism, stressing the unity between soul and matter and depicting Macedonski's own journey into a transcendental space.","(\"August Night\"), outlines a monistic belief probably inspired by Rosicrucianism, stressing the unity between soul and matter and depicting Macedonski's own journey into a transcendental space. Following the examples of Baudelaire's Les paradis artificiels, but also echoing his readings from Paul Verlaine and Théophile Gautier, Macedonski left poems dealing with narcotics and substance abuse, at least some of which reflected his personal experience with nicotine and possibly other unnamed drugs.","Following the examples of Baudelaire's Les paradis artificiels, but also echoing his readings from Paul Verlaine and Théophile Gautier, Macedonski left poems dealing with narcotics and substance abuse, at least some of which reflected his personal experience with nicotine and possibly other unnamed drugs. Also at that stage, Macedonski also began publishing the \"instrumentalist\" series of his Symbolist poems. This form of experimental poem was influenced by the theories of René Ghil and verified through his encounter with Remy de Gourmont's views.","This form of experimental poem was influenced by the theories of René Ghil and verified through his encounter with Remy de Gourmont's views. In parallel, it reaffirmed Macedonski's personal view that music and the spoken word were intimately related (a perspective notably attested by his 1906 interview with Jules Combarieu). Romanian critic Petre Răileanu theorized that such elements evidenced Macedonski's transition to \"metaliterature\". On a different level, they echoed an older influence, that of Gottfried August Bürger.","On a different level, they echoed an older influence, that of Gottfried August Bürger. Excelsior Despite having stated his interest in innovation, Macedonski generally displayed a more conventional style in his Excelsior volume. It included Noaptea de mai, which Vianu sees as \"one of the [vernacular's] most beautiful poems\" and as evidence of \"a clear joy, without any torment whatsoever\".","It included Noaptea de mai, which Vianu sees as \"one of the [vernacular's] most beautiful poems\" and as evidence of \"a clear joy, without any torment whatsoever\". A celebration of spring partly evoking folkloric themes, it was made famous by the recurring refrain, Veniți: privighetoarea cântă și liliacul e-nflorit (\"Come along: the nightingale is singing and the lilac is in blossom\").","A celebration of spring partly evoking folkloric themes, it was made famous by the recurring refrain, Veniți: privighetoarea cântă și liliacul e-nflorit (\"Come along: the nightingale is singing and the lilac is in blossom\"). Like Noaptea de mai, Lewki (named after and dedicated to the Snake Island), depicts intense joy, completed in this case by what Vianu calls \"the restorative touch of nature.\"","Like Noaptea de mai, Lewki (named after and dedicated to the Snake Island), depicts intense joy, completed in this case by what Vianu calls \"the restorative touch of nature.\" The series also returned to Levant settings and Islamic imagery, particularly in Acșam dovalar (named after the Turkish version of Witr).","The series also returned to Levant settings and Islamic imagery, particularly in Acșam dovalar (named after the Turkish version of Witr). Also noted within the volume is his short \"Modern Psalms\" series, including the piece Iertare (\"Forgiveness\"), which is addressed to God: Excelsior also included Noaptea de ianuarie (\"January Night\"), which encapsulates one of his best-known political statements. Anghelescu reads it as a \"meditation on disillusionment that culminates in a vitality-laden exhortation of action.\"","Anghelescu reads it as a \"meditation on disillusionment that culminates in a vitality-laden exhortation of action.\" Its anti-bourgeois attitude, literary historian Z. Ornea argues, was one of the meeting points between Macedonski and Junimism. In what is seen as its most acid section, the text notably reads: At the same time as being engaged in his most violent polemics, Macedonski produced meditative and serene poems, which were later judged to be among his best.","In what is seen as its most acid section, the text notably reads: At the same time as being engaged in his most violent polemics, Macedonski produced meditative and serene poems, which were later judged to be among his best. Noaptea de decemvrie is the synthesis of his main themes and influences, rated by commentators as his \"masterpiece\".","Noaptea de decemvrie is the synthesis of his main themes and influences, rated by commentators as his \"masterpiece\". Partly based on an earlier poem (Meka, named after the Arab city), it tells the story of an emir, who, left unsatisfied by the shallow and opulent life he leads in Baghdad, decides to leave on pilgrimage.","Partly based on an earlier poem (Meka, named after the Arab city), it tells the story of an emir, who, left unsatisfied by the shallow and opulent life he leads in Baghdad, decides to leave on pilgrimage. While critics agree that it is to be read as an allegory of Macedonski's biography, the ironic text does not make it clear whether the emir actually reaches his target, nor if the central metaphor of Mecca as a mirage means that the goal is not worth sacrificing for.","While critics agree that it is to be read as an allegory of Macedonski's biography, the ironic text does not make it clear whether the emir actually reaches his target, nor if the central metaphor of Mecca as a mirage means that the goal is not worth sacrificing for. While Mircea Anghelescu comments that Macedonski illustrates \"unusual tension\" by rigorously amplifying references to the color red, seen as a symbol of suffering, Călinescu notes that the sequence of lyrics has a studied \"delirious\" element, and illustrates this with the quote: Late prose works In prose, his focus shifted back to the purely descriptive, or led Alexandru Macedonski into the realm of fantasy literature.","While Mircea Anghelescu comments that Macedonski illustrates \"unusual tension\" by rigorously amplifying references to the color red, seen as a symbol of suffering, Călinescu notes that the sequence of lyrics has a studied \"delirious\" element, and illustrates this with the quote: Late prose works In prose, his focus shifted back to the purely descriptive, or led Alexandru Macedonski into the realm of fantasy literature. These stories, most of which were eventually collected in Cartea de aur, include memoirs of his childhood in the Amaradia region, nostalgic portrayals of the Oltenian boyar environment, idealized depictions of Cuza's reign, as well as a retrospective view on the end of Rom slavery (found in his piece Verigă țiganul, \"Verigă the Gypsy\").","These stories, most of which were eventually collected in Cartea de aur, include memoirs of his childhood in the Amaradia region, nostalgic portrayals of the Oltenian boyar environment, idealized depictions of Cuza's reign, as well as a retrospective view on the end of Rom slavery (found in his piece Verigă țiganul, \"Verigă the Gypsy\"). The best known among them is Pe drum de poștă, a third-person narrative and thinly disguised memoir, where the characters are an adolescent Alexandru Macedonski and his father, General Macedonski.","The best known among them is Pe drum de poștă, a third-person narrative and thinly disguised memoir, where the characters are an adolescent Alexandru Macedonski and his father, General Macedonski. The idyllic outlook present in such stories is one of the common meeting points between his version of Symbolism and traditionalist authors such as Barbu Ștefănescu Delavrancea.","The idyllic outlook present in such stories is one of the common meeting points between his version of Symbolism and traditionalist authors such as Barbu Ștefănescu Delavrancea. Vianu indicates the connection, but adds: \"Macedonski descended, through memory, in the world of the village, with the tremor of regret for the peace and plenty of the old settlements, so well polished that each person, landowner as well as peasant, lived within a framework that nature itself seemed to have granted.","Vianu indicates the connection, but adds: \"Macedonski descended, through memory, in the world of the village, with the tremor of regret for the peace and plenty of the old settlements, so well polished that each person, landowner as well as peasant, lived within a framework that nature itself seemed to have granted. [...] in depicting rural environments, Macedonski presents the point of view of a conservative.\"","[...] in depicting rural environments, Macedonski presents the point of view of a conservative.\" Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu, a fantasy novel and extended prose poem, was celebrated by Macedonski's disciple Oreste Georgescu as \"the new religion of humanity\". The volume carried the mocking dedication \"To France, this Chaldea\" (thought by Vianu to reference Péladan's views on the decay of civilization).","The volume carried the mocking dedication \"To France, this Chaldea\" (thought by Vianu to reference Péladan's views on the decay of civilization). It has affinities with writings by the Italian Decadent author Gabriele d'Annunzio, as well as echoes from Anatole France. The hero Thalassa, a Greek boy, works as a lighthouse-keeper on Snake Island, fantasizing about the golden age of mankind. His fate is changed by a shipwreck, during which a girl, Caliope, reaches the island's shore.","His fate is changed by a shipwreck, during which a girl, Caliope, reaches the island's shore. Thalassa and Caliope fall in love, but are mysteriously unable to seal their union through sexual intercourse: the boy attributes this failure to the \"curse\" of human individuality. Seeking to achieve a perfect union with his lover, he eventually kills her and drowns himself in the Black Sea.","Seeking to achieve a perfect union with his lover, he eventually kills her and drowns himself in the Black Sea. In her review for Mercure de France, novelist Rachilde argued: \"Very difficult to read, entirely developed in Symbolist manner [and] almost impossible to recount, obviously written in French but nevertheless obviously conceived by a Romanian (and what a spirited Romanian!).\" Rachilde believed the work to display \"the fragrance of Oriental spices [...] rose marmalade and a slice of bear meat.\"","Rachilde believed the work to display \"the fragrance of Oriental spices [...] rose marmalade and a slice of bear meat.\" According to Vianu, the book builds on Macedonski's earlier themes, replacing Naturalist observation with a metaphysical speculation about idealism. One other aspect of Macedonski's stylistic exploration took him to attempt recording synesthesia. His manuscript is written in ink of several colors, which, he believed, was to help readers get a full sense of its meaning.","His manuscript is written in ink of several colors, which, he believed, was to help readers get a full sense of its meaning. Like other synesthetic aspects of his novel, this is believed to have been inspired by the techniques of Baudelaire and Arthur Rimbaud. Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu is noted for its numerous cultural references, and especially for using a wide range of metaphors. Such aspects have been reviewed negatively by modern critics.","Such aspects have been reviewed negatively by modern critics. Such aspects have been reviewed negatively by modern critics. Tudor Vianu writes: \"the poet makes such waste of gemstones that we feel like saying some of them must be false\", while Călinescu, who notes that some fragments reveal \"an incomparable artist\" and \"a professional metaphorist\", notes that \"in the end, such virtuosities become a bore.\"","Tudor Vianu writes: \"the poet makes such waste of gemstones that we feel like saying some of them must be false\", while Călinescu, who notes that some fragments reveal \"an incomparable artist\" and \"a professional metaphorist\", notes that \"in the end, such virtuosities become a bore.\" According to Manuela-Delia Suciu, Thalassa is \"prolix\" and \"too polished\", traits believed by Zamfir to be less irritating in the Romanian version.","According to Manuela-Delia Suciu, Thalassa is \"prolix\" and \"too polished\", traits believed by Zamfir to be less irritating in the Romanian version. Critic Cornel Moraru found that, in the background, Thalassa, a \"great Symbolist novel\", confronts Ancient Greek and Christian mythology, but \"abuses\" the religious vocabulary. Another part of the novel's imagery is erotic, and includes an elaborate and aestheticized description of male genitalia. The four-act tragicomedy Le Fou?","The four-act tragicomedy Le Fou? The four-act tragicomedy Le Fou? is seen by Vianu as comparable in subject matter and depth to Enrico IV, a celebrated 1922 play by Luigi Pirandello. The plot reflects Macedonski's confrontation with his critics, and his acceptance of the fact that people saw in him an eccentric. The central figure is a banker, Dorval, who identifies himself with Napoleon Bonaparte to the point where he sees episodes in his biography as mirrors of early 19th-century battles.","The central figure is a banker, Dorval, who identifies himself with Napoleon Bonaparte to the point where he sees episodes in his biography as mirrors of early 19th-century battles. Unlike patients with dissociative identity disorder, Dorval does not actually imagine his life has become Napoleon's, but rather joins with him on an intellectual level. Witnesses of this disorder are divided into family, who seek to have Dorval committed, and close friends, who come to see his take on life as a manifestation of genius.","Witnesses of this disorder are divided into family, who seek to have Dorval committed, and close friends, who come to see his take on life as a manifestation of genius. The spectator is led to believe that the latter interpretation is the correct one. At a larger level, Vianu indicates, the play is also Macedonski's critique of capitalism, and, using Parisian argot, makes allusive references to famous people of the day.","At a larger level, Vianu indicates, the play is also Macedonski's critique of capitalism, and, using Parisian argot, makes allusive references to famous people of the day. Particularly during the 1890s, Macedonski was a follower of Edgar Allan Poe and of Gothic fiction in general, producing a Romanian version of Poe's Metzengerstein story, urging his own disciples to translate other such pieces, and adopting \"Gothic\" themes in his original prose.","Particularly during the 1890s, Macedonski was a follower of Edgar Allan Poe and of Gothic fiction in general, producing a Romanian version of Poe's Metzengerstein story, urging his own disciples to translate other such pieces, and adopting \"Gothic\" themes in his original prose. Indebted to Jules Verne and H. G. Wells, Macedonski also wrote a number of science fiction stories, including the 1913 Oceania-Pacific-Dreadnought, which depicts civilization on the verge of a crisis.","Indebted to Jules Verne and H. G. Wells, Macedonski also wrote a number of science fiction stories, including the 1913 Oceania-Pacific-Dreadnought, which depicts civilization on the verge of a crisis. The gigantic commercial ship is maintained by a banker's union, and designed to grant travelers access to every pleasure imaginable; this causes the working-class inhabited cities on the continent to fall into a state of neglect and permanent violence, the climax of the story occurring with the bankers' decision to destroy their creation.","The gigantic commercial ship is maintained by a banker's union, and designed to grant travelers access to every pleasure imaginable; this causes the working-class inhabited cities on the continent to fall into a state of neglect and permanent violence, the climax of the story occurring with the bankers' decision to destroy their creation. Oceania-Pacific-Dreadnought is noted for anticipating television, the ship being equipped with electrically-operated \"large and clear mirrors\" that display \"images from various parts of the Earth\".","Oceania-Pacific-Dreadnought is noted for anticipating television, the ship being equipped with electrically-operated \"large and clear mirrors\" that display \"images from various parts of the Earth\". Macedonski was by then interested in the development of cinema, and authored a silent film screenplay based on Comment on devient riche et puissant. Final transition Late in his life, Macedonski had come to reject Symbolist tenets, defining them as \"imbecilities\" designed for \"the uncultured\".","Final transition Late in his life, Macedonski had come to reject Symbolist tenets, defining them as \"imbecilities\" designed for \"the uncultured\". Ultima verba, the very last poems to be written by him, show him coming to terms with himself, and are treasured for their serene or intensely joyous vision of life and human accomplishment. The rondels written at this stage, known collectively as Poema rondelurilor, are one of the first instances where the technique is used locally.","The rondels written at this stage, known collectively as Poema rondelurilor, are one of the first instances where the technique is used locally. Like those written previously by Literatoruls Pavelescu and Alexandru Obedenaru, they are based on an earlier motif present in Macedonski's work, that of recurring refrains. Many of the pieces document the poet's final discoveries.","Many of the pieces document the poet's final discoveries. One of them is Rondelul crinilor (\"The Rondel of the Lilies\"), which proclaims fragrances as the source of beatitude: În crini e beția cea rară, \"In lilies one finds that exceptional drunkenness\".","One of them is Rondelul crinilor (\"The Rondel of the Lilies\"), which proclaims fragrances as the source of beatitude: În crini e beția cea rară, \"In lilies one finds that exceptional drunkenness\". According to Ștefan Cazimir, Rondelul orașului mic (\"The Rondel of the Small Town\") shows a \"likable wave of irony and self-irony\", and the poet himself coming to terms with \"the existence of a world who ignores him.\"","According to Ștefan Cazimir, Rondelul orașului mic (\"The Rondel of the Small Town\") shows a \"likable wave of irony and self-irony\", and the poet himself coming to terms with \"the existence of a world who ignores him.\" Proof of his combativeness was still to be found in Rondelul contimporanilor (\"The Rondel of the Contemporaries\"). The poet's take on life is also outlined in his final play, Moartea lui Dante.","The poet's take on life is also outlined in his final play, Moartea lui Dante. Călinescu writes that, by then, Macedonski was \"obsessed\" with the Divine Comedy. Macedonski identifies with his hero, Dante Aligheri, and formulates his own poetic testament while identifying World War I Romania with the medieval Republic of Florence. Tudor Vianu remarks: \"In Dante's great self-pride, Macedonski found his own.\"","Tudor Vianu remarks: \"In Dante's great self-pride, Macedonski found his own.\" He sees the play as the best such work to have been produced by Macedonski, whereas Călinescu deems it \"puerile\". Zamfir believes Moartea... to be a significant text in Macedonski's bibliography, \"one of the first samples of Romanian Symbolist theater\", and as such indebted mainly to Maeterlinck.","Zamfir believes Moartea... to be a significant text in Macedonski's bibliography, \"one of the first samples of Romanian Symbolist theater\", and as such indebted mainly to Maeterlinck. Vianu argues that the play may document the Romanian writer's late rejection of France, through the protagonist's statement: \"the French are a gentle people, but their soul is different from mine.\" A number of rondels show Macedonski's late fascination with the Far East, China and Japan.","A number of rondels show Macedonski's late fascination with the Far East, China and Japan. George Călinescu believes that this is to be understood as one item in a large antithesis, the other being Decadent Paris, which one rondel describes as \"hell\". The Orient, viewed as the space of serenity, is believed by Macedonski to be peopled by toy-like women and absent opium-smokers, and to be kept orderly by a stable meritocracy.","The Orient, viewed as the space of serenity, is believed by Macedonski to be peopled by toy-like women and absent opium-smokers, and to be kept orderly by a stable meritocracy. The Chinese-themed poem Tsing-Ly-Tsi, which Cazimir notes for its discreet, \"almost imperceptible\", humor, reads: Legacy Macedonski's school and its early impact Alexandru Macedonski repeatedly expressed the thought that, unlike his contemporaries, posterity would judge him a great poet.","The Chinese-themed poem Tsing-Ly-Tsi, which Cazimir notes for its discreet, \"almost imperceptible\", humor, reads: Legacy Macedonski's school and its early impact Alexandru Macedonski repeatedly expressed the thought that, unlike his contemporaries, posterity would judge him a great poet. With the exception of Mihail Dragomirescu, conservative literary critics tended to ignore Macedonski while he was alive.","With the exception of Mihail Dragomirescu, conservative literary critics tended to ignore Macedonski while he was alive. The first such figure was Junimeas Titu Maiorescu, who believed him to be a minor author, referring to him only a couple of times in his books and usually ridiculing him in his articles. One of these texts, the 1886 essay Poeți și critici (\"Poets and Critics\"), spoke of Macedonski as having \"vitiated\" poetry, a notion he also applied to Constantin D. Aricescu and Aron Densușianu.","One of these texts, the 1886 essay Poeți și critici (\"Poets and Critics\"), spoke of Macedonski as having \"vitiated\" poetry, a notion he also applied to Constantin D. Aricescu and Aron Densușianu. Especially radical pronouncements were left by the traditionalist authors Ilarie Chendi and Nicolae Iorga. Chendi wrote of Macedonski being \"the caricature of a man\", having \"a feverish mind\" and being motivated by \"the brutal instinct of revenge\".","Chendi wrote of Macedonski being \"the caricature of a man\", having \"a feverish mind\" and being motivated by \"the brutal instinct of revenge\". Iorga, who became better known as a historian, later retracted some of the statements he had made against the poet during the 1890s. Among the younger prominent traditionalist writers was the Transylvanian-born Lucian Blaga, who may have purposefully avoided Macedonski during his first visit to Bucharest in 1920.","Among the younger prominent traditionalist writers was the Transylvanian-born Lucian Blaga, who may have purposefully avoided Macedonski during his first visit to Bucharest in 1920. Although more sympathetic to the Symbolist author, both Dragomirescu and Gheorghe Adamescu tended to describe him as exclusively the product of French and Decadent literature, while Dragomirescu's disciple Ion Trivale denied all merit to Macedonski's literature.","Although more sympathetic to the Symbolist author, both Dragomirescu and Gheorghe Adamescu tended to describe him as exclusively the product of French and Decadent literature, while Dragomirescu's disciple Ion Trivale denied all merit to Macedonski's literature. According to Tudor Vianu, Macedonski's intellectual friends (among them Anghel Demetriescu, George Ionescu-Gion, Bonifaciu Florescu, Grigore Tocilescu and V. A. Urechia) were largely responsible for passing down \"a better and truer image of the abused poet.\"","According to Tudor Vianu, Macedonski's intellectual friends (among them Anghel Demetriescu, George Ionescu-Gion, Bonifaciu Florescu, Grigore Tocilescu and V. A. Urechia) were largely responsible for passing down \"a better and truer image of the abused poet.\" It was also due to Dragomirescu that Noaptea de decemvrie was included in a literature textbook for final grade high school students, which some argue is the poet's first-ever presence in the Romanian curriculum.","It was also due to Dragomirescu that Noaptea de decemvrie was included in a literature textbook for final grade high school students, which some argue is the poet's first-ever presence in the Romanian curriculum. According to historian Lucian Nastasă, the poet's wife Ana Rallet behaved like an \"excellent secretary\" while Macedonski was still alive, and thereafter helped sort and edit his manuscript while maintaining \"an actual cult\" for her husband.","According to historian Lucian Nastasă, the poet's wife Ana Rallet behaved like an \"excellent secretary\" while Macedonski was still alive, and thereafter helped sort and edit his manuscript while maintaining \"an actual cult\" for her husband. Macedonski's cosmopolitan circle was the center of a literary alternative to the prevailing conservatism and Eminescu-like traditionalism of the day, the latter tendency being grouped around Sămănătorul magazine for part of Macedonski's lifetime.","Macedonski's cosmopolitan circle was the center of a literary alternative to the prevailing conservatism and Eminescu-like traditionalism of the day, the latter tendency being grouped around Sămănătorul magazine for part of Macedonski's lifetime. While Macedonski himself maintained his links with Romanticism and Classicism, commentators have retrospectively recognized in him the main person who announced Romania's first wave in modernist literature. Many first-generation disciples were to part with his guidelines early on, either by radicalizing their Symbolism or by stepping out of its confines.","Many first-generation disciples were to part with his guidelines early on, either by radicalizing their Symbolism or by stepping out of its confines. Traian Demetrescu was one of the first to do so, focusing on his commitment to socialism—Vianu notes that the split took place \"without coldness and the heart's versatility\" on Macedonski's part. Literary researcher Lidia Bote argues that it was Petică who first illustrated mature Symbolism, emancipating himself from Macedonski's eclectic tendencies after 1902.","Literary researcher Lidia Bote argues that it was Petică who first illustrated mature Symbolism, emancipating himself from Macedonski's eclectic tendencies after 1902. By that time, the Symbolist authors Dimitrie Anghel and N. D. Cocea used Macedonski's fantasy prose as an inspiration for their own, and N. Davidescu was borrowing from his mystical discourse. The pictorial and joyous elements in Macedonski's poems were also serving to inspire Stamatiad, Eugeniu Ștefănescu-Est and Horia Furtună.","The pictorial and joyous elements in Macedonski's poems were also serving to inspire Stamatiad, Eugeniu Ștefănescu-Est and Horia Furtună. In the early stages of his career, Ion Pillat wrote pieces which echo his master's choice of exotic themes. A more discreet legacy of Macedonski's ideas was also preserved inside the conservative and traditionalist camps. Although his separation from Literatorul was drastic, and led him to rally with Junimea, Duiliu Zamfirescu built on some elements borrowed from the magazine's ideology, incorporating them into his literary vision.","Although his separation from Literatorul was drastic, and led him to rally with Junimea, Duiliu Zamfirescu built on some elements borrowed from the magazine's ideology, incorporating them into his literary vision. Many of Macedonski's most devoted disciples, whom he himself had encouraged, have been rated by various critics as secondary or mediocre.","Many of Macedonski's most devoted disciples, whom he himself had encouraged, have been rated by various critics as secondary or mediocre. This is the case of Theodor Cornel (who made his name as an art critic), Mircea Demetriade, Oreste Georgescu, Alexandru Obedenaru, Stoenescu, Stamatiad, Carol Scrob, Dumitru Karnabatt and Donar Munteanu. Another such minor author was the self-styled \"hermeticist\" Alexandru Petroff, who expanded on Macedonski's ideas about esoteric knowledge.","Another such minor author was the self-styled \"hermeticist\" Alexandru Petroff, who expanded on Macedonski's ideas about esoteric knowledge. Macedonski's eldest son Alexis continued to pursue a career as a painter. His son Soare followed in his footsteps, receiving acclaim from art critics of the period. Soare's short career ended in 1928, before he turned nineteen, but his works have been featured in several retrospective exhibitions, including one organized by Alexis.","Soare's short career ended in 1928, before he turned nineteen, but his works have been featured in several retrospective exhibitions, including one organized by Alexis. Alexis later experimented with scenic design as an assistant to French filmmaker René Clair; his later life, shrouded in mystery and intrigue, led him to a career in Fascist Italy and Francoist Spain. Another of Alexandru Macedonski's sons, Nikita, was also a poet and painter. For a while in the 1920s, he edited the literary supplement of Universul newspaper.","For a while in the 1920s, he edited the literary supplement of Universul newspaper. Two years after her father's death, Anna Macedonski married poet Mihail Celarianu. In addition to his polemical portrayals in works by Alecsandri, Eminescu and Caragiale, Macedonski's career was an inspiration for various authors. His image acquired mythical proportions for his followers. Like Demetrescu, many of them left memoirs on Macedonski which were published before or after his death.","Like Demetrescu, many of them left memoirs on Macedonski which were published before or after his death. His admirers were writing poetry about him as early as 1874, and, in 1892, Cincinat Pavelescu published a rhapsodizing portrait of Macedonski as \"the Artist\". Pavelescu, Dragoslav and Petică paid homage to the writer by leaving recollections which describe him as a devoted and considerate friend. In contrast, traditionalist poet Alexandru Vlahuță authored an 1889 sketch story in which Macedonski (referred to as Polidor) is the object of derision.","In contrast, traditionalist poet Alexandru Vlahuță authored an 1889 sketch story in which Macedonski (referred to as Polidor) is the object of derision. Late recognition Actual recognition of the poet as a classic came only in the interwar period. A final volume of never before published poems, Poema rondelurilor, saw print in 1927. Macedonski's work was analyzed and popularized by a new generation of critics, among them Vianu and George Călinescu.","Macedonski's work was analyzed and popularized by a new generation of critics, among them Vianu and George Călinescu. The post-Junimist modernist critic Eugen Lovinescu also commented favorably on Macedonski's work, but overall, Călinescu asserts, his opinions on the subject gave little insight into what he actually thought about the poet. He also recounts that Macedonski himself treated Lovinescu with disdain, and once called him \"a canary\". The emerging avant-garde, although originating from Symbolism, progressively took its distance from Literatoruls legacy.","The emerging avant-garde, although originating from Symbolism, progressively took its distance from Literatoruls legacy. Initially, Macedonski's contribution to experimental literature was continued within formal Symbolism by his disciples Demetriade, Iuliu Cezar Săvescu and Ion Minulescu. The latter was particularly indebted to Macedonski in matters of vision and language. In 1904, Tudor Arghezi also left behind the Literatorul circle and its tenets, eventually arriving to the fusion of modernist, traditionalist and avant-garde elements. However, he remained indebted to Macedonski's example in his descriptive prose.","However, he remained indebted to Macedonski's example in his descriptive prose. The 1912 Simbolul magazine, which moved between conventional Symbolism and the emerging avant-garde, also published an Imagist-inspired parody of Noaptea de mai, signed by Adrian Maniu. A co-founder of Dadaism during the late 1910s, Tristan Tzara is believed by Swedish researcher Tom Sandqvist to have been inspired more or less directly by Macedonski, and in particular by the latter's thoughts on the relation between absurdity and poetry.","A co-founder of Dadaism during the late 1910s, Tristan Tzara is believed by Swedish researcher Tom Sandqvist to have been inspired more or less directly by Macedonski, and in particular by the latter's thoughts on the relation between absurdity and poetry. In his debut poems, Benjamin Fondane-Barbu Fundoianu occasionally followed Macedonski, but, by 1920, stated that the Symbolist doyen merely imitated French models to the point of \"parasitism\". Several avant-garde authors returned to Macedonski's literary guidelines by the late 1920s, as they themselves grew more moderate.","Several avant-garde authors returned to Macedonski's literary guidelines by the late 1920s, as they themselves grew more moderate. This was the case of Maniu and Ion Vinea, both of whom published prose works in the line of Thalassa. The same work is also believed to have influenced two non-avant-garde authors, Davidescu and Mateiu Caragiale, who remained close to the tenets Symbolism.","The same work is also believed to have influenced two non-avant-garde authors, Davidescu and Mateiu Caragiale, who remained close to the tenets Symbolism. Mateiu was the illegitimate son of Ion Luca Caragiale, but, Vianu notes, could withstand comparisons with his father's rival: the eccentricities were complementary, although Mateiu Caragiale shied away from public affairs.","Mateiu was the illegitimate son of Ion Luca Caragiale, but, Vianu notes, could withstand comparisons with his father's rival: the eccentricities were complementary, although Mateiu Caragiale shied away from public affairs. In the same post-Symbolist generation, Celarianu (Macedonski's posthumous son-in-law), George Bacovia and Păstorel Teodoreanu also built on Macedonski's legacy, being later joined in this by the Bessarabian linguist Eugenio Coșeriu (who, in his early poetic career, imitated Macedonski's rondel style).","In the same post-Symbolist generation, Celarianu (Macedonski's posthumous son-in-law), George Bacovia and Păstorel Teodoreanu also built on Macedonski's legacy, being later joined in this by the Bessarabian linguist Eugenio Coșeriu (who, in his early poetic career, imitated Macedonski's rondel style). In the late 1920s, when their form of modern psalms inspired Albanian-Romanian poet Aleksander Stavre Drenova, Macedonski and Arghezi both made an indirect impact on Albanian literature.","In the late 1920s, when their form of modern psalms inspired Albanian-Romanian poet Aleksander Stavre Drenova, Macedonski and Arghezi both made an indirect impact on Albanian literature. Macedonski's status as one of Romanian literature's greats was consolidated later in the 20th century. By this time, Noaptea de decemvrie had become one of the most recognizable literary works to be taught in Romanian schools.","By this time, Noaptea de decemvrie had become one of the most recognizable literary works to be taught in Romanian schools. During the first years of Communist Romania, the Socialist Realist current condemned Symbolism (see Censorship in Communist Romania), but spoke favorably of Macedonski's critique of the bourgeoisie. A while after this episode, Marin Sorescu, one of the best-known modernist poets of his generation, wrote a homage-parody of the Nights cycle.","A while after this episode, Marin Sorescu, one of the best-known modernist poets of his generation, wrote a homage-parody of the Nights cycle. Included in the volume Singur între poeți (\"Alone among Poets\"), it is seen by critic Mircea Scarlat as Sorescu's most representative such pieces. Also then, Noaptea de decemvrie partly inspired Ștefan Augustin Doinaș' ballad Mistrețul cu colți de argint.","Also then, Noaptea de decemvrie partly inspired Ștefan Augustin Doinaș' ballad Mistrețul cu colți de argint. In the 1990s, Ștefan Agopian took the Nights cycle as inspiration for an erotic short story, while Pavel Șușară adapted his rondels to a modernized setting. Macedonski's prose also influenced younger writers such as Angelo Mitchievici and Anca Maria Mosora. In neighboring Moldova, Macedonski influenced the Neosymbolism of Aureliu Busuioc.","In neighboring Moldova, Macedonski influenced the Neosymbolism of Aureliu Busuioc. A magazine by the name of Literatorul, which claims to represent the legacy of Macedonski's publication, was founded in Romania in 1991, being edited by writers Sorescu, Fănuș Neagu and Mircea Micu. In 2006, the Romanian Academy granted posthumous membership to Alexandru Macedonski. Macedonski's poems had a sizable impact on Romania's popular culture.","Macedonski's poems had a sizable impact on Romania's popular culture. During communism, Noaptea de mai was the basis for a successful musical adaptation, composed by Marian Nistor and sung by Mirabela Dauer. Tudor Gheorghe, a singer-songwriter inspired by American folk revival, also used some of Macedonski's texts as lyrics to his melodies. In the 2000s, the refrain of Noaptea de mai was mixed into a manea parody by Adrian Copilul Minune.","In the 2000s, the refrain of Noaptea de mai was mixed into a manea parody by Adrian Copilul Minune. Portrayals, visual tributes and landmarks Although his poetic theories were largely without echoes in Romanian art, Macedonski captured the interest of several modern artists, including, early on, cartoonist Nicolae Petrescu Găină. Alongside other writers who visited Terasa Oteteleșanu, Macedonski was notably portrayed the drawings of celebrated Romanian artist Iosif Iser. He is also depicted in a 1918 lithograph by Jean Alexandru Steriadi, purportedly Steriadi's only Symbolist work.","He is also depicted in a 1918 lithograph by Jean Alexandru Steriadi, purportedly Steriadi's only Symbolist work. Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu inspired a series of reliefs, designed by Alexis Macedonski and hosted in his father's house in Dorobanți. During the 1910s, busts of him were completed by two sculptors, Alexandru Severin and Friedrich Storck, one of Storck's variants being hosted by the Ioan Cantacuzino collection.","During the 1910s, busts of him were completed by two sculptors, Alexandru Severin and Friedrich Storck, one of Storck's variants being hosted by the Ioan Cantacuzino collection. In 1919, Theodor Burcă was also inspired to complete another bust, and, during World War II, was commissioned by Mayor of Bucharest Ioan Rășcanu to build a Macedonski Monument in the Grădina Icoanei park, but this was never completed.","In 1919, Theodor Burcă was also inspired to complete another bust, and, during World War II, was commissioned by Mayor of Bucharest Ioan Rășcanu to build a Macedonski Monument in the Grădina Icoanei park, but this was never completed. Constantin Piliuță, a painter active in the second half of the 20th century, made Macedonski the subject of a portrait in series dedicated to Romanian cultural figures (also depicted were Nicolae Iorga, Ștefan Luchian and Vianu).","Constantin Piliuță, a painter active in the second half of the 20th century, made Macedonski the subject of a portrait in series dedicated to Romanian cultural figures (also depicted were Nicolae Iorga, Ștefan Luchian and Vianu). In 1975, a bust of Macedonski, the work of Constantin Foamete, was unveiled in Craiova. Of Macedonski's numerous residences, the one in Dorobanți was demolished when the Academy of Economic Studies (ASE) was expanded. A commemorative plaque was later put up near the spot.","A commemorative plaque was later put up near the spot. Macedonski's childhood home in Goiești passed into state property under communism, and was in turn a school, a community home and a Macedonski Museum, before falling into neglect after the Romanian Revolution of 1989. Several streets named in honor of Alexandru Macedonski, notably in Bucharest (by the ASE), Craiova, Cluj-Napoca and Timișoara.","Several streets named in honor of Alexandru Macedonski, notably in Bucharest (by the ASE), Craiova, Cluj-Napoca and Timișoara. Works published anthumously Prima verba (poetry, 1872) Ithalo (poem, 1878) Poezii (poetry, 1881/1882) Parizina (translation of Parisina, 1882) Iadeș!","Works published anthumously Prima verba (poetry, 1872) Ithalo (poem, 1878) Poezii (poetry, 1881/1882) Parizina (translation of Parisina, 1882) Iadeș! (comedy, 1882) Dramă banală (short story, 1887) Saul (with Cincinat Pavelescu; tragedy, 1893) Excelsior (poetry, 1895) Bronzes (poetry, 1897) (essay, 1898) Cartea de aur (prose, 1902) Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu (novel, 1906; 1914) Flori sacre (poetry, 1912) Zaherlina (essay, 1920) Notes References Mircea Anghelescu, chronological table, preface and critical references, in Macedonski, Poemele \"Nopților\", Editura Albatros, Bucharest, 1972, p. 7-31, 137–140.","(comedy, 1882) Dramă banală (short story, 1887) Saul (with Cincinat Pavelescu; tragedy, 1893) Excelsior (poetry, 1895) Bronzes (poetry, 1897) (essay, 1898) Cartea de aur (prose, 1902) Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu (novel, 1906; 1914) Flori sacre (poetry, 1912) Zaherlina (essay, 1920) Notes References Mircea Anghelescu, chronological table, preface and critical references, in Macedonski, Poemele \"Nopților\", Editura Albatros, Bucharest, 1972, p. 7-31, 137–140. Nicolae Balotă, Arte poetice ale secolului XX: ipostaze românești și străine, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1976.","Nicolae Balotă, Arte poetice ale secolului XX: ipostaze românești și străine, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1976. Lucian Boia, \"Germanofilii\". Elita intelectuală românească în anii Primului Război Mondial, Humanitas, Bucharest, 2010. George Călinescu, Istoria literaturii române de la origini pînă în prezent, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1986 Paul Cernat, Avangarda românească și complexul periferiei: primul val, Cartea Românească, Bucharest, 2007. Șerban Cioculescu, Caragialiana, Editura Eminescu, Bucharest, 1974.","Șerban Cioculescu, Caragialiana, Editura Eminescu, Bucharest, 1974. Péter Krasztev, \"From a Deadlocked Present into an Imagined Past\", in the Central European University's East Central Europe = L'Europe du Centre-Est, Vol. 26, Nr. 2/1999, p. 33-52 \"From Modernization to Modernist Literature\", in Marcel Cornis-Pope, John Neubauer (eds. ), History of the Literary Cultures of East-Central Europe, Vol. 3, John Benjamins, Amsterdam & Philadelphia, 2004, p. 332-348.","3, John Benjamins, Amsterdam & Philadelphia, 2004, p. 332-348. Lucian Nastasă, Intelectualii și promovarea socială (pentru o morfologie a câmpului universitar), Editura Nereamia Napocae, Cluj-Napoca, 2003; e-book version at the Romanian Academy's George Bariț Institute of History Z. Ornea, Junimea și junimismul, Vol. II, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1998. Perpessicius, Studii eminesciene, Museum of Romanian Literature, Bucharest, 2001.","Perpessicius, Studii eminesciene, Museum of Romanian Literature, Bucharest, 2001. Petre Răileanu, Michel Carassou, Fundoianu/Fondane et l'avant-garde, Fondation Culturelle Roumaine, Éditions Paris-Méditerranée, Bucharest & Paris, 1999. Tom Sandqvist, Dada East. The Romanians of Cabaret Voltaire, MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts & London, 2006. Manuela-Delia Suciu, \"La poésie roumaine au XIXe siècle. Alexandru Macedonski entre romantisme et symbolisme\", in Revue d'Études Françaises, Nr.","Alexandru Macedonski entre romantisme et symbolisme\", in Revue d'Études Françaises, Nr. 8/2003, p. 101-110 (republished by the Centre Interuniversitaire d’Études Françaises/Egyetemközi Francia Központ) Tudor Vianu, Scriitori români, Vol. I-III, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1970–1971. Mariana Vida, \"La société Tinerimea artistică de Bucarest et le symbolisme tardif entre 1902-1910\", in Revue Roumaine d'Histoire de l'Art. Série Beaux-arts, Vol.","Série Beaux-arts, Vol. Série Beaux-arts, Vol. XLIV, 2007, p. 55-66 External links Amidst Hen Houses (excerpts), Poésies, Thalassa (excerpt), in the Romanian Cultural Institute's Plural Magazine (various issues) Alexandru Macedonski, Museum of Romanian Literature profile 1854 births 1920 deaths 19th-century Romanian poets 20th-century Romanian poets Romanian male poets Romantic poets Neoclassical writers Symbolist poets Sonneteers Romanian fabulists Romanian epigrammatists 19th-century Romanian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Romanian dramatists and playwrights Male dramatists and playwrights 19th-century Romanian novelists 20th-century Romanian novelists Romanian male novelists Romanian writers in French 19th-century short story writers 20th-century short story writers Romanian male short story writers Romanian short story writers Realism (art movement) Symbolist novelists Romanian fantasy writers Romanian science fiction writers Romanian humorists Romanian erotica writers 19th-century essayists 20th-century essayists Romanian essayists 20th-century biographers Romanian biographers Male biographers Romanian memoirists Romanian travel writers Romanian literary critics Romanian screenwriters Male screenwriters Romanian columnists Romanian magazine editors Romanian magazine founders Romanian newspaper editors Romanian newspaper founders 19th-century translators 20th-century translators Romanian translators English–Romanian translators French–Romanian translators Greek–Romanian translators Writers from Bucharest Romanian nobility Members of the Romanian Orthodox Church Carol I National College alumni National Liberal Party (Romania) politicians Republicanism in the Kingdom of Romania Romanian civil servants Prefects of Romania Romanian inventors Romanian esotericists Romanian expatriates in France Romanian people of World War I Burials at Bellu Cemetery Members of the Romanian Academy elected posthumously 20th-century screenwriters"],"string":"[\n \"Alexandru Macedonski (; also rendered as Al. A. Macedonski, Macedonschi or Macedonsky; 14 March 1854 – 24 November 1920) was a Romanian poet, novelist, dramatist and literary critic, known especially for having promoted French Symbolism in his native country, and for leading the Romanian Symbolist movement during its early decades. A forerunner of local modernist literature, he is the first local author to have used free verse, and claimed by some to have been the first in modern European literature.\",\n \"A forerunner of local modernist literature, he is the first local author to have used free verse, and claimed by some to have been the first in modern European literature. Within the framework of Romanian literature, Macedonski is seen by critics as second only to national poet Mihai Eminescu; as leader of a cosmopolitan and aestheticist trend formed around his Literatorul journal, he was diametrically opposed to the inward-looking traditionalism of Eminescu and his school.\",\n \"Within the framework of Romanian literature, Macedonski is seen by critics as second only to national poet Mihai Eminescu; as leader of a cosmopolitan and aestheticist trend formed around his Literatorul journal, he was diametrically opposed to the inward-looking traditionalism of Eminescu and his school. Debuting as a Neoromantic in the Wallachian tradition, Macedonski went through the Realist-Naturalist stage deemed \\\"social poetry\\\", while progressively adapting his style to Symbolism and Parnassianism, and repeatedly but unsuccessfully attempting to impose himself in the Francophone world.\",\n \"Debuting as a Neoromantic in the Wallachian tradition, Macedonski went through the Realist-Naturalist stage deemed \\\"social poetry\\\", while progressively adapting his style to Symbolism and Parnassianism, and repeatedly but unsuccessfully attempting to impose himself in the Francophone world. Despite having theorized \\\"instrumentalism\\\", which reacted against the traditional guidelines of poetry, he maintained a lifelong connection with Neoclassicism and its ideal of purity.\",\n \"Despite having theorized \\\"instrumentalism\\\", which reacted against the traditional guidelines of poetry, he maintained a lifelong connection with Neoclassicism and its ideal of purity. Macedonski's quest for excellence found its foremost expression in his recurring motif of life as a pilgrimage to Mecca, notably used in his critically acclaimed Nights cycle. The stylistic stages of his career are reflected in the collections Prima verba, Poezii, and Excelsior, as well as in the fantasy novel Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu.\",\n \"The stylistic stages of his career are reflected in the collections Prima verba, Poezii, and Excelsior, as well as in the fantasy novel Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu. In old age, he became the author of rondels, noted for their detached and serene vision of life, in contrast with his earlier combativeness. In parallel to his literary career, Macedonski was a civil servant, notably serving as prefect in the Budjak and Northern Dobruja during the late 1870s.\",\n \"In parallel to his literary career, Macedonski was a civil servant, notably serving as prefect in the Budjak and Northern Dobruja during the late 1870s. As journalist and militant, his allegiance fluctuated between the liberal current and conservatism, becoming involved in polemics and controversies of the day. Of the long series of publications he founded, Literatorul was the most influential, notably hosting his early conflicts with the Junimea literary society.\",\n \"Of the long series of publications he founded, Literatorul was the most influential, notably hosting his early conflicts with the Junimea literary society. These targeted Vasile Alecsandri and especially Eminescu, their context and tone becoming the cause of a major rift between Macedonski and his public. This situation repeated itself in later years, when Macedonski and his Forța Morală magazine began campaigning against the Junimist dramatist Ion Luca Caragiale, whom they falsely accused of plagiarism.\",\n \"This situation repeated itself in later years, when Macedonski and his Forța Morală magazine began campaigning against the Junimist dramatist Ion Luca Caragiale, whom they falsely accused of plagiarism. During World War I, the poet aggravated his critics by supporting the Central Powers against Romania's alliance with the Entente side. His biography was also marked by an enduring interest in esotericism, numerous attempts to become recognized as an inventor, and an enthusiasm for cycling.\",\n \"His biography was also marked by an enduring interest in esotericism, numerous attempts to become recognized as an inventor, and an enthusiasm for cycling. The scion of a political and aristocratic family, the poet was the son of General Alexandru Macedonski, who served as Defense Minister, and the grandson of 1821 rebel Dimitrie Macedonski. Both his son Alexis and grandson Soare were known painters. Biography Early life and family The poet's paternal family had arrived in Wallachia during the early 19th century.\",\n \"Biography Early life and family The poet's paternal family had arrived in Wallachia during the early 19th century. Of South Slav (Serb or Bulgarian) or Aromanian origin, they claimed to have descended from Serb insurgents in Ottoman-ruled Macedonia.\",\n \"Of South Slav (Serb or Bulgarian) or Aromanian origin, they claimed to have descended from Serb insurgents in Ottoman-ruled Macedonia. Alexandru's grandfather Dimitrie and Dimitrie's brother Pavel participated in the 1821 uprising against the Phanariote administration, and in alliance with the Filiki Eteria; Dimitrie made the object of controversy when, during the final stage of the revolt, he sided with the Eteria in its confrontation with Wallachian leader Tudor Vladimirescu, taking an active part in the latter's killing.\",\n \"Alexandru's grandfather Dimitrie and Dimitrie's brother Pavel participated in the 1821 uprising against the Phanariote administration, and in alliance with the Filiki Eteria; Dimitrie made the object of controversy when, during the final stage of the revolt, he sided with the Eteria in its confrontation with Wallachian leader Tudor Vladimirescu, taking an active part in the latter's killing. Both Macedonski brothers had careers in the Wallachian military forces, at a time when the country was governed by Imperial Russian envoys, when the Regulamentul Organic regime recognized the family as belonging to Wallachia's nobility.\",\n \"Both Macedonski brothers had careers in the Wallachian military forces, at a time when the country was governed by Imperial Russian envoys, when the Regulamentul Organic regime recognized the family as belonging to Wallachia's nobility. Dimitrie married Zoe, the daughter an ethnic Russian or Polish officer; their son, the Russian-educated Alexandru, climbed in the military and political hierarchy, joining the unified Land Forces after his political ally, Alexander John Cuza, was elected Domnitor and the two Danubian Principalities became united Romania.\",\n \"Dimitrie married Zoe, the daughter an ethnic Russian or Polish officer; their son, the Russian-educated Alexandru, climbed in the military and political hierarchy, joining the unified Land Forces after his political ally, Alexander John Cuza, was elected Domnitor and the two Danubian Principalities became united Romania. Both the officer's uncle Pavel and brother Mihail were amateur poets. Macedonski's mother, Maria Fisența (also Vicenț or Vicența), was from an aristocratic environment, being the scion of Oltenian boyars.\",\n \"Macedonski's mother, Maria Fisența (also Vicenț or Vicența), was from an aristocratic environment, being the scion of Oltenian boyars. Through her father, she may have descended from Russian immigrants who had been absorbed into Oltenia's nobility. Maria had been adopted by the boyar Dumitrache Pârâianu, and the couple had inherited the Adâncata and Pometești estates in Goiești, on the Amaradia Valley.\",\n \"Maria had been adopted by the boyar Dumitrache Pârâianu, and the couple had inherited the Adâncata and Pometești estates in Goiești, on the Amaradia Valley. Both the poet and his father were dissatisfied with accounts of their lineage, contradicting them with an account that researchers have come to consider spurious. Although adherents of the Romanian Orthodox Church, the Macedonskis traced their origin to Rogala-bearing Lithuanian nobility from the defunct Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.\",\n \"Although adherents of the Romanian Orthodox Church, the Macedonskis traced their origin to Rogala-bearing Lithuanian nobility from the defunct Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. While the writer perpetuated his father's claim, it is possible that he also took pride in investigating his Balkan roots: according to literary historian Tudor Vianu, who, as a youth, was a member of his circle, this tendency is attested by two of Macedonski's poems from the 1880s, where the South Slavs appear as icons of freedom.\",\n \"While the writer perpetuated his father's claim, it is possible that he also took pride in investigating his Balkan roots: according to literary historian Tudor Vianu, who, as a youth, was a member of his circle, this tendency is attested by two of Macedonski's poems from the 1880s, where the South Slavs appear as icons of freedom. Vianu's contemporary, literary historian George Călinescu, postulated that, although the family had been absorbed into the ethnic and cultural majority, the poet's origin served to enrich local culture by linking it to a \\\"Thracian\\\" tradition and the spirit of \\\"adventurers\\\".\",\n \"Vianu's contemporary, literary historian George Călinescu, postulated that, although the family had been absorbed into the ethnic and cultural majority, the poet's origin served to enrich local culture by linking it to a \\\"Thracian\\\" tradition and the spirit of \\\"adventurers\\\". The family moved often, following General Macedonski's postings. Born in Bucharest, Macedonski-son was the third of four siblings, the oldest of whom was a daughter, Caterina.\",\n \"Born in Bucharest, Macedonski-son was the third of four siblings, the oldest of whom was a daughter, Caterina. Before the age of six, he was a sickly and nervous child, who is reported to have had regular tantrums. In 1862, his father sent him to school in Oltenia, and he spent most time in the Amaradia region. The nostalgia he felt for the landscape later made him consider writing an Amărăzene (\\\"Amaradians\\\") cycle, of which only one poem was ever completed.\",\n \"The nostalgia he felt for the landscape later made him consider writing an Amărăzene (\\\"Amaradians\\\") cycle, of which only one poem was ever completed. He was attending the Carol I High School in Craiova and, according to his official record, graduated in 1867.\",\n \"He was attending the Carol I High School in Craiova and, according to his official record, graduated in 1867. Macedonski's father had by then become known as an authoritarian commander, and, during his time in Târgu Ocna, faced a mutiny which only his wife could stop by pleading with the soldiers (an episode which made an impression on the future poet). A stern parent, he took an active part in educating his children.\",\n \"A stern parent, he took an active part in educating his children. Having briefly served as Defense Minister, the general was mysteriously dismissed by Cuza in 1863, and his pension became the topic of a political scandal. It ended only under the rule of Carol I, Cuza's Hohenzollern successor, when Parliament voted against increasing the sum to the level demanded by its recipient.\",\n \"It ended only under the rule of Carol I, Cuza's Hohenzollern successor, when Parliament voted against increasing the sum to the level demanded by its recipient. Having preserved a negative impression of the 1866 plebiscite, during which Cuza's dethronement had been confirmed, Macedonski remained a committed opponent of the new ruler. As a youth and adult, he sought to revive his father's cause, and included allusions to the perceived injustice in at least one poem.\",\n \"As a youth and adult, he sought to revive his father's cause, and included allusions to the perceived injustice in at least one poem. After spending the last months of his life protesting against the authorities, Macedonski-father fell ill and died in September 1869, leaving his family to speculate that he had been murdered by political rivals.\",\n \"After spending the last months of his life protesting against the authorities, Macedonski-father fell ill and died in September 1869, leaving his family to speculate that he had been murdered by political rivals. Debut years Macedonski left Romania in 1870, traveling through Austria-Hungary and spending time in Vienna, before visiting Switzerland and possibly other countries; according to one account, it was here that he may have first met (and disliked) his rival poet Mihai Eminescu, at a time a Viennese student.\",\n \"Debut years Macedonski left Romania in 1870, traveling through Austria-Hungary and spending time in Vienna, before visiting Switzerland and possibly other countries; according to one account, it was here that he may have first met (and disliked) his rival poet Mihai Eminescu, at a time a Viennese student. Macedonski's visit was meant to be preparation for entering the University of Bucharest, but he spent much of his time in the bohemian environment, seeking entertainment and engaging in romantic escapades.\",\n \"Macedonski's visit was meant to be preparation for entering the University of Bucharest, but he spent much of his time in the bohemian environment, seeking entertainment and engaging in romantic escapades. He was however opposed to the lifestyle choices of people his age, claiming that they were engaged in \\\"orgy after orgy\\\". At around that date, the young author had begun to perfect a style heavily influenced by Romanticism, and in particular by his Wallachian predecessors Dimitrie Bolintineanu and Ion Heliade Rădulescu.\",\n \"At around that date, the young author had begun to perfect a style heavily influenced by Romanticism, and in particular by his Wallachian predecessors Dimitrie Bolintineanu and Ion Heliade Rădulescu. He was for a while in Styria, at Bad Gleichenberg, a stay which, George Călinescu believes, may have been the result of a medical recommendation to help him counter excessive nervousness. The landscape there inspired him to write an ode. Also in 1870, he published his first lyrics in George Bariț's Transylvanian-based journal Telegraful Român.\",\n \"Also in 1870, he published his first lyrics in George Bariț's Transylvanian-based journal Telegraful Român. The following year, he left for Italy, where he visited Pisa, Florence, Venice, and possibly other cities. His records of the journey indicate that he was faced with financial difficulties and plagued by disease. Macedonski also claimed to have attended college lectures in these cities, and to have spent significant time studying at Pisa University, but this remains uncertain.\",\n \"Macedonski also claimed to have attended college lectures in these cities, and to have spent significant time studying at Pisa University, but this remains uncertain. He eventually returned to Bucharest, where he entered the Faculty of Letters (which he never attended regularly). According to Călinescu, Macedonski \\\"did not feel the need\\\" to attend classes, because \\\"such a young man will expect society to render upon him its homages.\\\"\",\n \"According to Călinescu, Macedonski \\\"did not feel the need\\\" to attend classes, because \\\"such a young man will expect society to render upon him its homages.\\\" He was again in Italy during spring 1872, soon after publishing his debut volume Prima verba (Latin for \\\"First Word\\\"). Having also written an anti-Carol piece, published in Telegraful Român during 1873, Macedonski reportedly feared political reprisals, and decided to make another visit to Styria and Italy while his case was being assessed.\",\n \"Having also written an anti-Carol piece, published in Telegraful Român during 1873, Macedonski reportedly feared political reprisals, and decided to make another visit to Styria and Italy while his case was being assessed. It was in Italy that he met French musicologist Jules Combarieu, with whom he corresponded sporadically over the following decades. During that period, Macedonski became interested in the political scene and political journalism, first as a sympathizer of the liberal-radical current—which, in 1875, organized itself around the National Liberal Party.\",\n \"During that period, Macedonski became interested in the political scene and political journalism, first as a sympathizer of the liberal-radical current—which, in 1875, organized itself around the National Liberal Party. In 1874, back in Craiova, Macedonski founded a short-lived literary society known as Junimea, a title which purposefully or unwittingly copied that of the influential conservative association with whom he would later quarrel.\",\n \"In 1874, back in Craiova, Macedonski founded a short-lived literary society known as Junimea, a title which purposefully or unwittingly copied that of the influential conservative association with whom he would later quarrel. It was then that he met journalist and pedagogue Ștefan Velescu, a meeting witnessed by Velescu's pupil, the future liberal journalist Constantin Bacalbașa, who recorded it in his memoirs.\",\n \"It was then that he met journalist and pedagogue Ștefan Velescu, a meeting witnessed by Velescu's pupil, the future liberal journalist Constantin Bacalbașa, who recorded it in his memoirs. Oltul magazine, which he had helped establish and which displayed a liberal agenda, continued to be published until July 1875, and featured Macedonski's translations from Pierre-Jean de Béranger, Hector de Charlieu and Alphonse de Lamartine, as well as his debut in travel writing and short story.\",\n \"Oltul magazine, which he had helped establish and which displayed a liberal agenda, continued to be published until July 1875, and featured Macedonski's translations from Pierre-Jean de Béranger, Hector de Charlieu and Alphonse de Lamartine, as well as his debut in travel writing and short story. At age 22, he worked on his first play, a comedy titled Gemenii (\\\"The Twins\\\").\",\n \"At age 22, he worked on his first play, a comedy titled Gemenii (\\\"The Twins\\\"). In 1874 that he came to the attention of young journalist future dramatist Ion Luca Caragiale, who satirized him in articles for the magazine Ghimpele, ridiculing his claim to Lithuanian descent, and eventually turning him into the character Aamsky, whose fictional career ends with his death from exhaustion caused by contributing to \\\"for the country's political development\\\".\",\n \"In 1874 that he came to the attention of young journalist future dramatist Ion Luca Caragiale, who satirized him in articles for the magazine Ghimpele, ridiculing his claim to Lithuanian descent, and eventually turning him into the character Aamsky, whose fictional career ends with his death from exhaustion caused by contributing to \\\"for the country's political development\\\". This was the first episode in a consuming polemic between the two figures.\",\n \"This was the first episode in a consuming polemic between the two figures. Reflecting back on this period in 1892, Macedonski described Caragiale as a \\\"noisy young man\\\" of \\\"sophistic reasoning\\\", whose target audience was to be found in \\\"beer gardens\\\". 1875 trial and office as prefect In March 1875, Macedonski was arrested on charges of defamation or sedition. For almost a year before, he and Oltul had taken an active part in the campaign against Conservative Party and its leader, Premier Lascăr Catargiu.\",\n \"For almost a year before, he and Oltul had taken an active part in the campaign against Conservative Party and its leader, Premier Lascăr Catargiu. In this context, he had demanded that the common man \\\"rise up with weapons in their hands and break both the government agents and the government\\\", following up with similar messages aimed at the Domnitor. He was taken to Bucharest's Văcărești prison and confined there for almost three months.\",\n \"He was taken to Bucharest's Văcărești prison and confined there for almost three months. Supported by the liberal press and defended by the most prestigious pro-liberal attorneys (Nicolae Fleva among them), Macedonski faced a jury trial on 7 June, being eventually cleared of the charges. Reportedly, the Bucharest populace organized a spontaneous celebration of the verdict. In 1875, after the National Liberal Ion Emanuel Florescu was assigned the post of Premier by Carol, Macedonski embarked on an administrative career.\",\n \"In 1875, after the National Liberal Ion Emanuel Florescu was assigned the post of Premier by Carol, Macedonski embarked on an administrative career. The poet was upset by not being included on the National Liberal list for the 1875 suffrage. This disenchantment led him into a brief conflict with the young liberal figure Bonifaciu Florescu, only to join him soon afterward in editing Stindardul journal, alongside Pantazi Ghica and George Fălcoianu. The publication followed the line of Nicolae Moret Blaremberg, made notorious for his radical and republican agenda.\",\n \"The publication followed the line of Nicolae Moret Blaremberg, made notorious for his radical and republican agenda. Ghica and Macedonski remained close friends until Ghica's 1882 death. The new cabinet eventually appointed him Prefect of Bolgrad region, in the Budjak (at the time part of Romania). In parallel, he published his first translation, a version of Parisina, an 1816 epic poem by Lord Byron, and completed the original works Ithalo and Calul arabului (\\\"The Arab's Horse\\\").\",\n \"In parallel, he published his first translation, a version of Parisina, an 1816 epic poem by Lord Byron, and completed the original works Ithalo and Calul arabului (\\\"The Arab's Horse\\\"). He also spoke at the Romanian Atheneum, presenting his views on the state of Romanian literature (1878). His time in office ended upon the outbreak of the Russo-Turkish War.\",\n \"His time in office ended upon the outbreak of the Russo-Turkish War. At the time, Russian volunteers were amassed on the Budjak border, requesting from the Romanian authorities the right of free passage into the Principality of Serbia. The National Liberal Premier Ion Brătianu, who was negotiating an anti-Ottoman alliance, sent Macedonski signals to let them pass, but the prefect, obeying the official recommendation of Internal Affairs Minister George D. Vernescu, decided against it, and was consequently stripped of his office.\",\n \"The National Liberal Premier Ion Brătianu, who was negotiating an anti-Ottoman alliance, sent Macedonski signals to let them pass, but the prefect, obeying the official recommendation of Internal Affairs Minister George D. Vernescu, decided against it, and was consequently stripped of his office. Still determined to pursue a career in the press, Macedonski founded a string of unsuccessful magazines with patriotic content and titles such as Vestea (\\\"The Announcement\\\"), Dunărea (\\\"The Danube\\\"), Fulgerul (\\\"The Lightning\\\") and, after 1880, Tarara (an onomatopoeia equivalent to \\\"Toodoodoo\\\").\",\n \"Still determined to pursue a career in the press, Macedonski founded a string of unsuccessful magazines with patriotic content and titles such as Vestea (\\\"The Announcement\\\"), Dunărea (\\\"The Danube\\\"), Fulgerul (\\\"The Lightning\\\") and, after 1880, Tarara (an onomatopoeia equivalent to \\\"Toodoodoo\\\"). Their history is connected with that of the Russo-Turkish War, at the end of which Romanian participation on the Russian side resulted in her independence.\",\n \"Their history is connected with that of the Russo-Turkish War, at the end of which Romanian participation on the Russian side resulted in her independence. Macedonski remained committed to the anti-Ottoman cause, and, some thirty years later, stated: \\\"We want no Turkey in Europe!\\\" By 1879, the poet, who continued to voice criticism of Carol, had several times switched sides between the National Liberals and the opposition Conservatives.\",\n \"By 1879, the poet, who continued to voice criticism of Carol, had several times switched sides between the National Liberals and the opposition Conservatives. That year, while the Budjak was ceded to Russia and Northern Dobruja was integrated into Romania, the Brătianu cabinet appointed him administrator of the Sulina plasă and the Danube Delta.\",\n \"That year, while the Budjak was ceded to Russia and Northern Dobruja was integrated into Romania, the Brătianu cabinet appointed him administrator of the Sulina plasă and the Danube Delta. He had previously refused to be made comptroller in Putna County, believing such an appointment to be beneath his capacity, and had lost a National Liberal appointment in Silistra when Southern Dobruja was granted to the Principality of Bulgaria.\",\n \"He had previously refused to be made comptroller in Putna County, believing such an appointment to be beneath his capacity, and had lost a National Liberal appointment in Silistra when Southern Dobruja was granted to the Principality of Bulgaria. During this short interval in office, he traveled to the Snake Island in the Black Sea—his appreciation for the place later motivated him to write the fantasy novel Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu and the poem Lewki. Early Literatorul years With the 1880s came a turning point in Alexandru Macedonski's career.\",\n \"Early Literatorul years With the 1880s came a turning point in Alexandru Macedonski's career. Vianu notes that changes took place in the poet's relationship with his public: \\\"Society recognizes in him the nonconformist. [...] The man becomes singular; people start talking about his oddities.\\\" Macedonski's presumed frustration at being perceived in this way, Vianu notes, may have led him closer to the idea of poète maudit, theorized earlier by Paul Verlaine.\",\n \"Macedonski's presumed frustration at being perceived in this way, Vianu notes, may have led him closer to the idea of poète maudit, theorized earlier by Paul Verlaine. In this context, he had set his sight on promoting \\\"social poetry\\\", the merger between lyricism and political militantism. Meanwhile, according to Călinescu, his attacks on the liberals and the \\\"daft insults he aimed at [Romania's] throne\\\" had effectively ruined his own chance of political advancement.\",\n \"Meanwhile, according to Călinescu, his attacks on the liberals and the \\\"daft insults he aimed at [Romania's] throne\\\" had effectively ruined his own chance of political advancement. In January 1880, he launched his most influential and long-lived publication, Literatorul, which was also the focal point of his eclectic cultural circle, and, in later years, of the local Symbolist school. In its first version, the magazine was co-edited by Macedonski, Bonifaciu Florescu and poet Th. M. Stoenescu.\",\n \"M. Stoenescu. M. Stoenescu. Florescu parted with the group soon after, due to a disagreement with Macedonski, and was later attacked by the latter for allegedly accumulating academic posts. Literatorul aimed to irritate Junimist sensibilities from its first issue, when it stated its dislike for \\\"political prejudice in literature.\\\" This was most likely an allusion to the views of Junimist figure Titu Maiorescu, being later accompanied by explicit attacks on him and his followers.\",\n \"This was most likely an allusion to the views of Junimist figure Titu Maiorescu, being later accompanied by explicit attacks on him and his followers. An early success for the new journal was the warm reception it received from Vasile Alecsandri, a Romantic poet and occasional Junimist whom Macedonski idolized at the time, and the collaboration of popular memoirist Gheorghe Sion. Another such figure was the intellectual V. A. Urechia, whom Macedonski made president of the Literatorul Society.\",\n \"Another such figure was the intellectual V. A. Urechia, whom Macedonski made president of the Literatorul Society. In 1881, Education Minister Urechia granted Macedonski the Bene-Merenti medal 1st class, although, Călinescu stresses, the poet had only totaled 18 months of public service. At around that time, Macedonski had allegedly begun courting actress Aristizza Romanescu, who rejected his advances, leaving him unenthusiastic about love matters and unwilling to seek female company.\",\n \"At around that time, Macedonski had allegedly begun courting actress Aristizza Romanescu, who rejected his advances, leaving him unenthusiastic about love matters and unwilling to seek female company. In parallel, Macedonski used the magazine to publicize his disagreement with the main Junimist voice, Convorbiri Literare. Among the group of contributors, several had already been victims of Maiorescu's irony: Sion, Urechia, Pantazi Ghica and Petru Grădișteanu.\",\n \"Among the group of contributors, several had already been victims of Maiorescu's irony: Sion, Urechia, Pantazi Ghica and Petru Grădișteanu. While welcoming the debut of its contributor, Parnassian-Neoclassicist novelist and poet Duiliu Zamfirescu, Macedonski repeatedly attacked its main exponent, the conservative poet Eminescu, claiming not to understand his poetry. However, Literatorul was also open to contributions from some Convorbiri Literare affiliates (Zamfirescu, Matilda Cugler-Poni and Veronica Micle). In November 1880, Macedonski's plays Iadeș! (\\\"Wishbone!\",\n \"In November 1880, Macedonski's plays Iadeș! (\\\"Wishbone! (\\\"Wishbone! \\\", a comedy first printed in 1882) and Unchiașul Sărăcie (\\\"Old Man Poverty\\\") premiered at the National Theater Bucharest. A sign of government approval, this was followed by Macedonski's appointment to a minor administrative office, as Historical Monuments Inspector. Nevertheless, both plays failed to impose themselves on public perception, and were withdrawn from the program by 1888.\",\n \"Nevertheless, both plays failed to impose themselves on public perception, and were withdrawn from the program by 1888. Călinescu asserts that, although Macedonski later claimed to have always been facing poverty, his job in the administration, coupled with other sources of revenue, ensured him a comfortable existence. In 1881, Macedonski published a new collection of poetry. Titled Poezii, it carries the year \\\"1882\\\" on its original cover. Again moving away from liberalism, Macedonski sought to make himself accepted by Junimea and Maiorescu.\",\n \"Again moving away from liberalism, Macedonski sought to make himself accepted by Junimea and Maiorescu. He consequently attended the Junimea sessions, and gave a public reading of Noaptea de noiembrie (\\\"November Night\\\"), the first publicized piece in his lifelong Nights cycle. It reportedly earned him the praise of historian and poet Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu, who, although an anti-Junimist, happened to be in the audience.\",\n \"It reportedly earned him the praise of historian and poet Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu, who, although an anti-Junimist, happened to be in the audience. Despite rumors according to which he had applauded Macedonski, Maiorescu himself was not impressed, and left an unenthusiastic account of the event in his private diary. Against Alecsandri and Eminescu Macedonski's open conflict with Junimea began in 1882, when he engaged in a publicized polemic with Alecsandri.\",\n \"Against Alecsandri and Eminescu Macedonski's open conflict with Junimea began in 1882, when he engaged in a publicized polemic with Alecsandri. It was ignited when, through Macedonski's articles, Literatorul criticized Alecsandri for accepting Romanian Academy prizes despite being its member, and later involved Sion (whose replies on behalf of the Academy were derided by Macedonski). Macedonski also took distance from Alecsandri's style, publishing a \\\"critical analysis\\\" of his poetry in one issue of Literatorul.\",\n \"Macedonski also took distance from Alecsandri's style, publishing a \\\"critical analysis\\\" of his poetry in one issue of Literatorul. In turn, Alecsandri humiliated his young rival by portraying him as Zoilus, the prototype of slanderers, and himself as the model poet Horace in the 1883 play Fântâna Blanduziei. The two were eventually reconciled, and Macedonski again spoke of Alecsandri as his ideological and stylistic predecessor.\",\n \"The two were eventually reconciled, and Macedonski again spoke of Alecsandri as his ideological and stylistic predecessor. In April 1882, Eminescu had also replied to Macedonski in Timpul journal, referring to an unnamed poet who \\\"barely finishes high-school, comes over to Bucharest selling nick-nacks and makeup [and goes into] literary dealership\\\".\",\n \"In April 1882, Eminescu had also replied to Macedonski in Timpul journal, referring to an unnamed poet who \\\"barely finishes high-school, comes over to Bucharest selling nick-nacks and makeup [and goes into] literary dealership\\\". Reproaching Macedonski's attacks on Alecsandri, Eminescu makes a nationalist comment about the young poet bearing \\\"the bastard instincts of those foreigners who were Romanianized only yesterday\\\", and attributes him \\\"the physiognomy of a hairdresser\\\". Through the articles of Petru Th.\",\n \"Through the articles of Petru Th. Through the articles of Petru Th. Missir, Convorbiri Literare gave Poezii a negative review, deemed \\\"malevolent\\\" by literary historian Mircea Anghelescu. At the other end of the political and cultural spectrum, Macedonski faced opposition from the intellectuals attracted to socialism, in particular Contemporanul editors Constantin Mille and Ioan Nădejde, with whom he was engaged in an extended polemic.\",\n \"At the other end of the political and cultural spectrum, Macedonski faced opposition from the intellectuals attracted to socialism, in particular Contemporanul editors Constantin Mille and Ioan Nădejde, with whom he was engaged in an extended polemic. In the meantime, Macedonski published his own play, which had Cuza for its main character and was eponymously titled Cuza-Vodă, and completed translations for Literatorul—from Maurice Rollinat, whom he helped impose as a main cultural reference in Romanian Symbolism, and from the Greek poet Akhillefs Paraskhos.\",\n \"In the meantime, Macedonski published his own play, which had Cuza for its main character and was eponymously titled Cuza-Vodă, and completed translations for Literatorul—from Maurice Rollinat, whom he helped impose as a main cultural reference in Romanian Symbolism, and from the Greek poet Akhillefs Paraskhos. In 1883, he also contributed his first sketch story, Casa cu nr. 10 (\\\"The House at Number 10\\\"). In early 1883, he married Ana Rallet-Slătineanu.\",\n \"In early 1883, he married Ana Rallet-Slătineanu. In early 1883, he married Ana Rallet-Slătineanu. Wealthy and supposedly related to Romanian aristocrats, she would bear him five children in all: the painter Alexis was the eldest, followed by Nikita; the three youngest were two sons (Panel and Constantin Macedonski) and a daughter, Anna (also known as Nina). His heterosexual lifestyle notwithstanding, Macedonski remained a self-avowed admirer of male beauties, and was rumored to be a closeted homosexual.\",\n \"His heterosexual lifestyle notwithstanding, Macedonski remained a self-avowed admirer of male beauties, and was rumored to be a closeted homosexual. In July 1883, Macedonski undertook one of his most controversial anti-Junimist actions. That month, Literatorul published an epigram signed with the pseudonym Duna, deriding an unnamed author who had lost his mind. Mihai Eminescu—whom many had already come to see as Romania's national poet—had by then developed a mental disorder which had become known to the general public.\",\n \"Mihai Eminescu—whom many had already come to see as Romania's national poet—had by then developed a mental disorder which had become known to the general public. Ever since that moment, Macedonski has generally been believed to be Duna, and as a result, was faced with much criticism from both readers and commentators. The intense anti-Literatorul press campaign was initiated in August, when writer Grigore Ventura issued an article condemning Macedonski's attitude (published in the Bucharest-based newspaper L'Indépendance Roumaine), with Macedonski responding in the National Liberal organ Românul.\",\n \"The intense anti-Literatorul press campaign was initiated in August, when writer Grigore Ventura issued an article condemning Macedonski's attitude (published in the Bucharest-based newspaper L'Indépendance Roumaine), with Macedonski responding in the National Liberal organ Românul. During one evening, Macedonski is reported to have been assaulted by anonymous supporters of Eminescu. His previous conflict with Nădejde was also affected by this renewed controversy: while opposed to Junimist policies, the socialists at Contemporanul voiced their admiration for Eminescu's art.\",\n \"His previous conflict with Nădejde was also affected by this renewed controversy: while opposed to Junimist policies, the socialists at Contemporanul voiced their admiration for Eminescu's art. Late in 1883, Macedonski and his friends unveiled Ion Georgescu's statue of their mentor Bolintineanu in the National Theater lobby. The circumstances in which this took place rose suspicion of foul play; on this grounds, Macedonski was ridiculed by his former friend Zamfirescu in the journal România Liberă, which left him embittered.\",\n \"The circumstances in which this took place rose suspicion of foul play; on this grounds, Macedonski was ridiculed by his former friend Zamfirescu in the journal România Liberă, which left him embittered. Călinescu proposes that, although such negative reactions were invoked by Macedonski's supporters as a sign of their mentor having been marginalized, Macedonski had expressed his dissatisfaction with the cultural environment long before that moment, and was still a respected figure even after the incidents took place.\",\n \"Călinescu proposes that, although such negative reactions were invoked by Macedonski's supporters as a sign of their mentor having been marginalized, Macedonski had expressed his dissatisfaction with the cultural environment long before that moment, and was still a respected figure even after the incidents took place. First Paris sojourn and Poezia viitorului Having been stripped of his administrative office by the new Brătianu cabinet, Macedonski faced financial difficulties, and was forced to move into a house on the outskirts of Bucharest, and later moved between houses in northern Bucharest.\",\n \"First Paris sojourn and Poezia viitorului Having been stripped of his administrative office by the new Brătianu cabinet, Macedonski faced financial difficulties, and was forced to move into a house on the outskirts of Bucharest, and later moved between houses in northern Bucharest. According to Călinescu, the poet continued to cultivate luxury and passionately invested in the decorative arts, although his source of income, other than the supposed assistance \\\"of [European] ruling houses\\\", remains a mystery.\",\n \"According to Călinescu, the poet continued to cultivate luxury and passionately invested in the decorative arts, although his source of income, other than the supposed assistance \\\"of [European] ruling houses\\\", remains a mystery. Arguing that Macedonski was \\\"always in need of money\\\" to use on his luxury items, poet Victor Eftimiu claimed: \\\"He did not shy away from sending emphatic notes to the potentates of his day [...], flattering some, threatening others.\",\n \"Arguing that Macedonski was \\\"always in need of money\\\" to use on his luxury items, poet Victor Eftimiu claimed: \\\"He did not shy away from sending emphatic notes to the potentates of his day [...], flattering some, threatening others. He would marry off or simply mate some of his disciples with aging and rich women, and then he would squeeze out their assets.\\\" Macedonski eventually left Romania in 1884, visiting Paris.\",\n \"Macedonski eventually left Romania in 1884, visiting Paris. Macedonski eventually left Romania in 1884, visiting Paris. On his way there, he passed through Craiova, where he met aspiring author Traian Demetrescu, whose works he had already hosted in Literatorul and who was to become his friend and protégé. Demetrescu later recalled being gripped by \\\"tremors of emotion\\\" upon first catching sight of Macedonski.\",\n \"Demetrescu later recalled being gripped by \\\"tremors of emotion\\\" upon first catching sight of Macedonski. In France, Macedonski set up contacts within the French literary environment, and began contributing to French or Francophone literary publications—including the Belgian Symbolist platforms La Wallonie and L'Élan littéraire. His collaboration with La Wallonie alongside Albert Mockel, Tudor Vianu believes, makes Alexandru Macedonski one in the original wave of European Symbolists. This adaptation to Symbolism also drew on his marked Francophilia, which in turn complemented his tendencies toward cosmopolitanism.\",\n \"This adaptation to Symbolism also drew on his marked Francophilia, which in turn complemented his tendencies toward cosmopolitanism. He became opposed to Carol I, who, in 1881, had been granted the Crown of the Romanian Kingdom. In addition to his admiration for Cuza and the 1848 Wallachian revolutionaries, the poet objected to the King's sympathy for France's main rival, the German Empire.\",\n \"In addition to his admiration for Cuza and the 1848 Wallachian revolutionaries, the poet objected to the King's sympathy for France's main rival, the German Empire. In January 1885, after having returned from the voyage, he announced his retirement from public life, claiming that German influence and its exponents at Junimea had \\\"conquered\\\" Romanian culture, and repeating his claim that Eminescu lacked value.\",\n \"In January 1885, after having returned from the voyage, he announced his retirement from public life, claiming that German influence and its exponents at Junimea had \\\"conquered\\\" Romanian culture, and repeating his claim that Eminescu lacked value. In the meantime, Literatorul went out of print, although new series were still published at irregular intervals until 1904 (when it ceased being published altogether).\",\n \"In the meantime, Literatorul went out of print, although new series were still published at irregular intervals until 1904 (when it ceased being published altogether). The magazine was reportedly hated by the public, causing Macedonski, Stoenescu, Florescu, Urechia and educator Anghel Demetriescu to try to revive it as Revista Literară (\\\"The Literary Review\\\", published for a few months in 1885).\",\n \"The magazine was reportedly hated by the public, causing Macedonski, Stoenescu, Florescu, Urechia and educator Anghel Demetriescu to try to revive it as Revista Literară (\\\"The Literary Review\\\", published for a few months in 1885). The poet attempted to establish other magazines, all of them short-lived, and, in 1887, handed for print his Naturalist novella Dramă banală (\\\"Banal Drama\\\") while completing one of the most revered episodes in the Nights series, Noaptea de mai (\\\"May Night\\\").\",\n \"The poet attempted to establish other magazines, all of them short-lived, and, in 1887, handed for print his Naturalist novella Dramă banală (\\\"Banal Drama\\\") while completing one of the most revered episodes in the Nights series, Noaptea de mai (\\\"May Night\\\"). Also in 1886, he worked on his other Naturalist novellas: Zi de august (\\\"August Day\\\"), Pe drum de poștă (\\\"On the Stagecoach Trail\\\"), Din carnetul unui dezertor (\\\"From the Notebook of a Deserter\\\"), Între cotețe (\\\"Amidst Hen Houses\\\") and the eponymous Nicu Dereanu.\",\n \"Also in 1886, he worked on his other Naturalist novellas: Zi de august (\\\"August Day\\\"), Pe drum de poștă (\\\"On the Stagecoach Trail\\\"), Din carnetul unui dezertor (\\\"From the Notebook of a Deserter\\\"), Între cotețe (\\\"Amidst Hen Houses\\\") and the eponymous Nicu Dereanu. By 1888, he was again sympathetic toward Blaremberg, whose dissident National Liberal faction had formed an alliance with the Conservatives, editing Stindardul Țărei (later Straja Țărei) as his supporting journal.\",\n \"By 1888, he was again sympathetic toward Blaremberg, whose dissident National Liberal faction had formed an alliance with the Conservatives, editing Stindardul Țărei (later Straja Țărei) as his supporting journal. However, late in the same year, he returned to the liberal mainstream, being assigned a weekly column in Românul newspaper. Two years later, he attempted to relaunch Literatorul under the leadership of liberal figure Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu, but the latter eventually settled for founding his own Revista Nouă.\",\n \"Two years later, he attempted to relaunch Literatorul under the leadership of liberal figure Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu, but the latter eventually settled for founding his own Revista Nouă. Around 1891, he saluted Junimeas own break with the Conservatives and its entry into politics at the Conservative-Constitutional Party, before offering an enthusiastic welcome to the 1892 Junimist agitation among university students.\",\n \"Around 1891, he saluted Junimeas own break with the Conservatives and its entry into politics at the Conservative-Constitutional Party, before offering an enthusiastic welcome to the 1892 Junimist agitation among university students. In 1894, he would speak in front of student crowds gathered at a political rally in University Square, and soon after made himself known for supporting the cause of ethnic Romanians and other underrepresented groups of Austria-Hungary. His literary thesis of the time was titled Poezia viitorului (\\\"The Poetry of the Future\\\").\",\n \"His literary thesis of the time was titled Poezia viitorului (\\\"The Poetry of the Future\\\"). It upheld Symbolist authors as the models to follow, while Macedonski personally began producing what he referred to as \\\"instrumentalist\\\" poems, composed around musical and onomatopoeic elements, and showing a preference for internal rhymes. Such an experimental approach was soon after parodied and ridiculed by Ion Luca Caragiale, who had by then affiliated and parted with Junimea, in his new Moftul Român magazine.\",\n \"Such an experimental approach was soon after parodied and ridiculed by Ion Luca Caragiale, who had by then affiliated and parted with Junimea, in his new Moftul Român magazine. The poet sought to reconcile with his rival, publicizing a claim that Caragiale was being unjustly ignored by the cultural establishment, but this attempt failed to mend relations between them, and the conflict escalated further.\",\n \"The poet sought to reconcile with his rival, publicizing a claim that Caragiale was being unjustly ignored by the cultural establishment, but this attempt failed to mend relations between them, and the conflict escalated further. While, in 1893, Literatorul hosted fragments of Thalassa in its Romanian-language version, the author also launched a daily, Lumina (\\\"The Light\\\").\",\n \"While, in 1893, Literatorul hosted fragments of Thalassa in its Romanian-language version, the author also launched a daily, Lumina (\\\"The Light\\\"). It was also at that stage that Alexandru Macedonski associated with Cincinat Pavelescu, the noted epigrammarian, who joined him in editing Literatorul, and with whom he co-authored the 1893 verse tragedy depicting the Biblical hero Saul, and named after him. Although showcased by the National Theater with star actor Constantin Nottara in the title role, it failed to register success with the public.\",\n \"Although showcased by the National Theater with star actor Constantin Nottara in the title role, it failed to register success with the public. Two years later, the two Literatorul editors made headlines as pioneers of cycling. An enthusiastic promoter of the sport, Macedonski joined fellow poet Constantin Cantilli on a marathon, pedaling from Bucharest across the border into Austria-Hungary, all the way down to Brașov.\",\n \"An enthusiastic promoter of the sport, Macedonski joined fellow poet Constantin Cantilli on a marathon, pedaling from Bucharest across the border into Austria-Hungary, all the way down to Brașov. Late 1890s Macedonski also returned with a new volume of poetry, Excelsior (consecutive editions in 1895 and 1896), and founded Liga Ortodoxă (\\\"The Orthodox League\\\"), a magazine noted for hosting the debut of Tudor Arghezi, later one of the most celebrated figures in Romanian literature.\",\n \"Late 1890s Macedonski also returned with a new volume of poetry, Excelsior (consecutive editions in 1895 and 1896), and founded Liga Ortodoxă (\\\"The Orthodox League\\\"), a magazine noted for hosting the debut of Tudor Arghezi, later one of the most celebrated figures in Romanian literature. Macedonski commended his new protégé for reaching \\\"the summit of poetry and art\\\" at \\\"an age when I was still prattling verses\\\".\",\n \"Macedonski commended his new protégé for reaching \\\"the summit of poetry and art\\\" at \\\"an age when I was still prattling verses\\\". Liga Ortodoxă also hosted articles against Caragiale, which Macedonski signed with the pseudonym Sallustiu (\\\"Sallustius\\\"). The magazine was additional proof of Macedonski's return to conservatism, and largely dedicated to defending the cause of Romanian Orthodox Metropolitan Ghenadie, deposed by the Romanian Synod following a political scandal. It defended Ghenadie up until he chose to resign, and subsequently went out of print.\",\n \"It defended Ghenadie up until he chose to resign, and subsequently went out of print. Macedonski was shocked to note that Ghenadie had given up his own defense. In 1895, his Casa cu nr. 10 was translated into French by the Journal des Débats, whose editors reportedly found it picturesque. Two years later, Macedonski himself published French-language translations of his earlier poetry under the title Bronzes, a volume prefaced by his disciple, the critic and promoter Alexandru Bogdan-Pitești.\",\n \"Two years later, Macedonski himself published French-language translations of his earlier poetry under the title Bronzes, a volume prefaced by his disciple, the critic and promoter Alexandru Bogdan-Pitești. Although it was positively reviewed by Mercure de France magazine, Bronzes was largely unnoticed by the French audience, a fact which Tudor Vianu attributes to Bogdan-Pitești's lack of qualification for the cultural mission Macedonski had trusted him with.\",\n \"Although it was positively reviewed by Mercure de France magazine, Bronzes was largely unnoticed by the French audience, a fact which Tudor Vianu attributes to Bogdan-Pitești's lack of qualification for the cultural mission Macedonski had trusted him with. By that time, his circle had come to be frequented with regularity by Bogdan-Pitești's friend and collaborator, the celebrated painter Ștefan Luchian, who was in the Symbolist and Art Nouveau stage of his career.\",\n \"By that time, his circle had come to be frequented with regularity by Bogdan-Pitești's friend and collaborator, the celebrated painter Ștefan Luchian, who was in the Symbolist and Art Nouveau stage of his career. By 1898, Macedonski was again facing financial difficulties, and his collaborators resorted to organizing a fundraiser in his honor. His rejection of the Orthodox establishment was documented by his political tract, published that year as . Between that time and 1900, he focused on researching esoteric, occult and pseudoscientific subjects.\",\n \"Between that time and 1900, he focused on researching esoteric, occult and pseudoscientific subjects. Traian Demetrescu, who recorded his visits with Macedonski, recalled his former mentor being opposed to his positivist take on science, claiming to explain the workings of the Universe in \\\"a different way\\\", through \\\"imagination\\\", but also taking an interest in Camille Flammarion's astronomy studies.\",\n \"Traian Demetrescu, who recorded his visits with Macedonski, recalled his former mentor being opposed to his positivist take on science, claiming to explain the workings of the Universe in \\\"a different way\\\", through \\\"imagination\\\", but also taking an interest in Camille Flammarion's astronomy studies. Macedonski was determined to interpret death through parapsychological means, and, in 1900, conferenced at the Atheneum on the subject Sufletul și viața viitoare (\\\"The Soul and the Coming Life\\\").\",\n \"Macedonski was determined to interpret death through parapsychological means, and, in 1900, conferenced at the Atheneum on the subject Sufletul și viața viitoare (\\\"The Soul and the Coming Life\\\"). The focal point of his vision was that man could voluntarily stave off death with words and gestures, a concept he elaborated upon in his later articles.\",\n \"The focal point of his vision was that man could voluntarily stave off death with words and gestures, a concept he elaborated upon in his later articles. In one such piece, Macedonski argued: \\\"man has the power [...] to compact the energy currents known as thoughts to the point where he changes them, according to his own will, into objects or soul-bearing creatures.\\\" He also attempted to build a machine for extinguishing chimney fires.\",\n \"He also attempted to build a machine for extinguishing chimney fires. Later, Nikita Macedonski registered the invention of nacre-treated paper, which is sometimes attributed to his father. Caion scandal and expatriation The few issues of Literatorul that were printed in 1899-1900 saw the circle being joined by the young Symbolist poet Ștefan Petică. In 1902, he published Cartea de aur (\\\"The Golden Book\\\"), comprising his sketch stories and novellas. In parallel, Macedonski returned to the public scene, founding Forța Morală magazine.\",\n \"In parallel, Macedonski returned to the public scene, founding Forța Morală magazine. It was through this venue that he began responding to Ion Luca Caragiale's earlier attacks. This he did by hosting the articles of aspiring journalist Constantin Al. Ionescu-Caion, who accused Caragiale of having plagiarized a Hungarian author by the name of Kemény in his tragedy play Năpasta. Kemény turned out to be non-existent.\",\n \"Kemény turned out to be non-existent. Kemény turned out to be non-existent. According to Vianu, Macedonski had no prior knowledge of the fraud, but had also been \\\"blinded\\\" by his resentments instead of displaying \\\"discernment\\\", and had even showed evidence of \\\"insanity\\\". Most in Macedonski's own series of anti-Caragiale articles were unsigned, or signed with pseudonyms such as Luciliu (\\\"Gaius Lucilius\\\").\",\n \"Most in Macedonski's own series of anti-Caragiale articles were unsigned, or signed with pseudonyms such as Luciliu (\\\"Gaius Lucilius\\\"). Like in the case of Eminescu's conflict with Macedonski, the polemic enlisted a negative response from the public. The poet's associate Th. M. Stoenescu convinced himself that Caragiale was being framed, and refused to allow Revista Literară to be used for endorsing Caion, which caused Macedonski to shun him.\",\n \"M. Stoenescu convinced himself that Caragiale was being framed, and refused to allow Revista Literară to be used for endorsing Caion, which caused Macedonski to shun him. Macedonski refused to withdraw his support for the cause even after Caragiale sued Caion, but Forța Morală soon went out of print. Before it did so, the journal hosted some of Macedonski's most renowned poems, including Lewki and Noaptea de decemvrie (\\\"December Night\\\"), together with his article on Remy de Gourmont's thoughts on poetics.\",\n \"Before it did so, the journal hosted some of Macedonski's most renowned poems, including Lewki and Noaptea de decemvrie (\\\"December Night\\\"), together with his article on Remy de Gourmont's thoughts on poetics. In his article of 1903, titled (\\\"Toward Occultism. Later Orientations toward Theosophy and Social Philosophy\\\"), the poet envisaged making his interest in esoteric subjects the basis of a new literary movement.\",\n \"Later Orientations toward Theosophy and Social Philosophy\\\"), the poet envisaged making his interest in esoteric subjects the basis of a new literary movement. Also that year, poet George Bacovia began attending the literary circle, and gave a reading of his celebrated Plumb poem, being welcomed by Macedonski with a flattering epigram. Macedonski's series of short-lived periodicals resumed in 1905, when he founded Le Beau Danube Bleu (French for \\\"The Beautiful Blue Danube\\\") and Liga Conservatoare (\\\"The Conservative League\\\").\",\n \"Macedonski's series of short-lived periodicals resumed in 1905, when he founded Le Beau Danube Bleu (French for \\\"The Beautiful Blue Danube\\\") and Liga Conservatoare (\\\"The Conservative League\\\"). He registered more success in 1906, when his Thalassa was published, as Le Calvaire de feu, by Edward Sansot's Paris-based publishing house. This followed intense self-promotion within the French literary environment, as well as advertisements in the French press.\",\n \"This followed intense self-promotion within the French literary environment, as well as advertisements in the French press. Part of this involved Macedonski sending his book to be reviewed by Émile Faguet, Jean Mounet-Sully, Joséphin Péladan, Pierre Quillard and Jean Richepin, who replied with what Vianu deems \\\"the politeness of circumstance.\\\" The volume was nonetheless favorably reviewed by the prestigious magazines Mercure de France and Gil Blas.\",\n \"The volume was nonetheless favorably reviewed by the prestigious magazines Mercure de France and Gil Blas. Also in 1906, La Revue Musicale published his interview with Combarieu, through which the latter aimed to verify supposed connections between literary inspiration and musical sensitivity. By 1907, he was concentrating on experiments in physics, and eventually publicized his claim to have discovered that light does not travel through vacuum. He sent a paper on astronomy subjects to be reviewed by the Société Astronomique de France, of which he subsequently became a member.\",\n \"He sent a paper on astronomy subjects to be reviewed by the Société Astronomique de France, of which he subsequently became a member. The same year, he drafted the plan for a world government, announcing that he had found sympathy for the cause throughout Europe. Macedonski also introduced himself to an Italophone public, when two of his sonnets were published by Poesia, the magazine of Futurist theorist Filippo Tommaso Marinetti. Between 1910 and 1912, Macedonski was again in Paris.\",\n \"Between 1910 and 1912, Macedonski was again in Paris. Seeking to withdraw himself from Romania's public life due to what he perceived as injustice, he had by then completed work on the French-language tragicomedy Le Fou? (\\\"The Madman? \\\"), which was only published after his death.\",\n \"\\\"), which was only published after his death. He was actively seeking to establish his reputation in French theater, reading his new play to a circle which included Louis de Gonzague Frick and Florian-Parmentier, while, at home, newspapers reported rumors that his work was going to be staged by Sarah Bernhardt's company. His efforts were largely fruitless, and, accompanied by his son Alexis, the poet left France, spent some time in Italy, and eventually returned to Romania.\",\n \"His efforts were largely fruitless, and, accompanied by his son Alexis, the poet left France, spent some time in Italy, and eventually returned to Romania. Passing through the German Empire, he learned of Ion Luca Caragiale's sudden death, and wrote Adevărul daily an open letter, which showed that he had come to revise his stance, notably comparing the deceased author's style and legacy to those of Mark Twain.\",\n \"Passing through the German Empire, he learned of Ion Luca Caragiale's sudden death, and wrote Adevărul daily an open letter, which showed that he had come to revise his stance, notably comparing the deceased author's style and legacy to those of Mark Twain. During Macedonski's absence, his style and work had come to be reviewed more positively, in particular by the young authors I. Dragoslav, Horia Furtună, Ion Pillat, Anastasie Mândru, Al.\",\n \"During Macedonski's absence, his style and work had come to be reviewed more positively, in particular by the young authors I. Dragoslav, Horia Furtună, Ion Pillat, Anastasie Mândru, Al. T. Stamatiad, as well as by post-Junimist critic Mihail Dragomirescu, who offered Macedonski a good reception in his Convorbiri Critice magazine. Tudor Vianu, who cites contemporary statements by Dragoslav, concludes that, upon arrival, Macedonski was enthusiastically received by a public who had missed him.\",\n \"Tudor Vianu, who cites contemporary statements by Dragoslav, concludes that, upon arrival, Macedonski was enthusiastically received by a public who had missed him. Also in 1912, one of his poems was published as an homage by Simbolul, a magazine published by the young and radical Symbolists Tristan Tzara, Ion Vinea and Marcel Janco. Around that time, Macedonski also collaborated with the Iași-based moderate Symbolist magazine Versuri și Proză.\",\n \"Around that time, Macedonski also collaborated with the Iași-based moderate Symbolist magazine Versuri și Proză. Polemics surrounding his case nevertheless continued: in late 1912, as part of a National Theater adaptation of Alphonse Daudet's Sapho, actor Cazimir Belcot borrowed from Macedonski's appearance and mannerisms to portray a failure. Return and World War I years Macedonski and his protégés had become regular frequenters of Bucharest cafés.\",\n \"Return and World War I years Macedonski and his protégés had become regular frequenters of Bucharest cafés. Having a table permanently reserved for him at Imperial Hotel's Kübler Coffeehouse, he was later a presence in two other such establishments: High-Life and Terasa Oteteleșanu. He is said to have spent part of his time at Kübler loudly mocking the traditionalist poets who gathered at an opposite table.\",\n \"He is said to have spent part of his time at Kübler loudly mocking the traditionalist poets who gathered at an opposite table. Meanwhile, the poet's literary club, set up at his house in Dorobanți quarter, had come to resemble a mystical circle, over which he held magisterial command. Vianu, who visited the poet together with Pillat, compares this atmosphere with those created by other \\\"mystics and magi of poetry\\\" (citing as examples Joséphin Péladan, Louis-Nicolas Ménard, Stéphane Mallarmé and Stefan George).\",\n \"Vianu, who visited the poet together with Pillat, compares this atmosphere with those created by other \\\"mystics and magi of poetry\\\" (citing as examples Joséphin Péladan, Louis-Nicolas Ménard, Stéphane Mallarmé and Stefan George). The hall where seances were hosted was only lit by candles, and the tables were covered in red fabric. Macedonski himself was seated on a throne designed by Alexis, and adopted a dominant pose. The apparent secrecy and the initiation rites performed on new members were purportedly inspired by Rosicrucianism and the Freemasonry.\",\n \"The apparent secrecy and the initiation rites performed on new members were purportedly inspired by Rosicrucianism and the Freemasonry. By then, Macedonski was rewarding his followers' poems with false gemstones. The poet founded Revista Critică (\\\"The Critical Review\\\"), which again closed after a short while, and issued the poetry volume Flori sacre (\\\"Sacred Flowers\\\").\",\n \"The poet founded Revista Critică (\\\"The Critical Review\\\"), which again closed after a short while, and issued the poetry volume Flori sacre (\\\"Sacred Flowers\\\"). Grouping his Forța Morală poems and older pieces, it was dedicated to his new generation of followers, whom Macedonski's preface referred to as \\\"the new Romania.\\\" He continued to hope that Le Fou?\",\n \"He continued to hope that Le Fou? He continued to hope that Le Fou? was going to be staged in France, especially after he received some encouragement in the form of articles in Mercure de France and Journal des Débats, but was confronted with the general public's indifference. In 1914, Thalassa was published in a non-definitive version by Constantin Banu's magazine Flacăra, which sought to revive overall interest in his work.\",\n \"In 1914, Thalassa was published in a non-definitive version by Constantin Banu's magazine Flacăra, which sought to revive overall interest in his work. At a French Red Cross conference in September, Macedonski paid his final public homage to France, which had just become entangled in World War I.\",\n \"At a French Red Cross conference in September, Macedonski paid his final public homage to France, which had just become entangled in World War I. It was also in 1914 that Macedonski commissioned for print his very first rondels and completed work on a tragedy play about Renaissance poet Dante Aligheri—known as La Mort de Dante in its French original, and Moartea lui Dante in the secondary Romanian version (both meaning \\\"Dante's Death\\\").\",\n \"It was also in 1914 that Macedonski commissioned for print his very first rondels and completed work on a tragedy play about Renaissance poet Dante Aligheri—known as La Mort de Dante in its French original, and Moartea lui Dante in the secondary Romanian version (both meaning \\\"Dante's Death\\\"). The aging poet was by then building connections with the local art scene: together with artist Alexandru Severin, he created (and probably presided over) Cenaclul idealist (\\\"The Idealist Club\\\"), which included Symbolist artists and was placed under the honorary patronage of King Carol.\",\n \"The aging poet was by then building connections with the local art scene: together with artist Alexandru Severin, he created (and probably presided over) Cenaclul idealist (\\\"The Idealist Club\\\"), which included Symbolist artists and was placed under the honorary patronage of King Carol. 1916 was also the year when Romania abandoned her neutrality and, under a National Liberal government, rallied with the Entente Powers.\",\n \"1916 was also the year when Romania abandoned her neutrality and, under a National Liberal government, rallied with the Entente Powers. During the neutrality period, Macedonski had shed his lifelong Francophilia to join the Germanophiles, who wanted to see Romanian participation on the Central Powers' side. In 1915, he issued the journal Cuvântul Meu (\\\"My Word\\\").\",\n \"In 1915, he issued the journal Cuvântul Meu (\\\"My Word\\\"). Entirely written by him, it published ten consecutive issues before going bankrupt, and notably lashed out against France for being \\\"bourgeois\\\" and \\\"lawyer-filled\\\", demanding from Romania not to get involved in the conflict. Commentators and researchers of his work have declared themselves puzzled by this change in allegiance. Macedonski further alienated public opinion during the Romanian Campaign, when the Central Powers armies entered southern Romania and occupied Bucharest.\",\n \"Macedonski further alienated public opinion during the Romanian Campaign, when the Central Powers armies entered southern Romania and occupied Bucharest. Alexis was drafted and became a war artist, but Macedonski Sr, who received formal protection from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bucharest, chose to stay behind while the authorities and many ordinary citizens relocated to Iași, where resistance was still being organized. His stance was interpreted as collaborationism by his critics. However, Macedonski reportedly faced extreme poverty throughout the occupation.\",\n \"However, Macedonski reportedly faced extreme poverty throughout the occupation. Having by then begun to attend the circle of Alexandru Bogdan-Pitești, his promoter and fellow Germanophile, he was once rewarded by the latter with a turkey filled with gold coins. Late polemics, illness and death Literatorul resumed print in June 1918, once Romania capitulated to the Central Powers under the Treaty of Bucharest.\",\n \"Late polemics, illness and death Literatorul resumed print in June 1918, once Romania capitulated to the Central Powers under the Treaty of Bucharest. A controversial incident occurred soon afterwards, when, going against the counsel of his friend and collaborator Stamatiad, Macedonski signed a Literatorul article where the German military administrator August von Mackensen, who was about to lead his troops out of Romania, was presented in a positive light.\",\n \"A controversial incident occurred soon afterwards, when, going against the counsel of his friend and collaborator Stamatiad, Macedonski signed a Literatorul article where the German military administrator August von Mackensen, who was about to lead his troops out of Romania, was presented in a positive light. In a manner deemed \\\"excessive\\\" by historian Lucian Boia, the Romanian writer was paying homage not just to Mackensen, but also, indirectly, to German Emperor Wilhelm II and the Reichsheer.\",\n \"In a manner deemed \\\"excessive\\\" by historian Lucian Boia, the Romanian writer was paying homage not just to Mackensen, but also, indirectly, to German Emperor Wilhelm II and the Reichsheer. Soon after reading the piece, Romanian Academy member and fellow Symbolist promoter Ovid Densusianu withdrew his own nomination of Macedonski for an Academy seat.\",\n \"Soon after reading the piece, Romanian Academy member and fellow Symbolist promoter Ovid Densusianu withdrew his own nomination of Macedonski for an Academy seat. During summer, Macedonski also joined the group of public figures who saluted the senior Conservative Germanophile Petre P. Carp (deeming Carp \\\"the veteran of character, honesty and Romanianism\\\"), and, in September, joined Ioan Slavici and Gala Galaction as a contributor to the occupation magazine Rumänien in Wort und Bild, where he prophesied an anti-French \\\"political renaissance\\\" of Romania.\",\n \"During summer, Macedonski also joined the group of public figures who saluted the senior Conservative Germanophile Petre P. Carp (deeming Carp \\\"the veteran of character, honesty and Romanianism\\\"), and, in September, joined Ioan Slavici and Gala Galaction as a contributor to the occupation magazine Rumänien in Wort und Bild, where he prophesied an anti-French \\\"political renaissance\\\" of Romania. Alexandru Macedonski faced problems after the Romanian government resumed its control over Bucharest, and during the early years of Greater Romania.\",\n \"Alexandru Macedonski faced problems after the Romanian government resumed its control over Bucharest, and during the early years of Greater Romania. What followed the Mackensen article, Vianu claims, was Macedonski's bellum contra omnes (\\\"war against all\\\").\",\n \"What followed the Mackensen article, Vianu claims, was Macedonski's bellum contra omnes (\\\"war against all\\\"). However, the poet made efforts to accommodate himself with the triumphal return of the Iași authorities: in December 1918, Literatorul celebrated the extension of Romanian rule \\\"from the Tisza to the Dniester\\\" as a success of the National Liberals, paying homage to Francophile political leaders Ion I. C. Brătianu and Take Ionescu.\",\n \"However, the poet made efforts to accommodate himself with the triumphal return of the Iași authorities: in December 1918, Literatorul celebrated the extension of Romanian rule \\\"from the Tisza to the Dniester\\\" as a success of the National Liberals, paying homage to Francophile political leaders Ion I. C. Brătianu and Take Ionescu. Macedonski also envisaged running in the 1918 election for a seat in the new Parliament (which was supposed to vote a document to replace the 1866 Constitution as the organic law), but never registered his candidature.\",\n \"Macedonski also envisaged running in the 1918 election for a seat in the new Parliament (which was supposed to vote a document to replace the 1866 Constitution as the organic law), but never registered his candidature. According to Vianu, he had intended to create a joke political party, the \\\"intellectual group\\\", whose other member was an unnamed coffeehouse acquaintance of his. Literatorul was revived for a final time in 1919. His health deteriorated from heart disease, which is described by Vianu as an effect of constant smoking.\",\n \"His health deteriorated from heart disease, which is described by Vianu as an effect of constant smoking. By that stage, Vianu recalls, Macedonski also had problems coming to terms with his age. His last anthumous work was the pamphlet Zaherlina (named after the Romanian version of \\\"Zacherlin\\\"; also known as Zacherlina or Zacherlina în continuare, \\\"Zacherlin Contd. \\\"), completed in 1919 and published the following year. It notably attacked Densusianu, who had become Macedonski's personal enemy.\",\n \"It notably attacked Densusianu, who had become Macedonski's personal enemy. Some other polemical texts he had authored late in life saw print only after his death, under the title Mustrări postume către o generație neînțelegătoare (\\\"Posthumous Reprimands for an Obtuse Generation\\\"). 1920 was also the year when the People's Party cabinet attempted to pension him off from his office at the Historical Monuments Commission, but the publicized protest of Macedonski's fellow writers in Bucharest made it reconsider.\",\n \"1920 was also the year when the People's Party cabinet attempted to pension him off from his office at the Historical Monuments Commission, but the publicized protest of Macedonski's fellow writers in Bucharest made it reconsider. Confined to his home by illness and old age, Macedonski was still writing poems, some of which later known as his Ultima verba (\\\"Last Words\\\"). The writer died on 24 November, at three o'clock in the afternoon.\",\n \"The writer died on 24 November, at three o'clock in the afternoon. Having come to develop an addiction to floral fragrances, he was inhaling a rose petal extract during his last hours. He was buried in Bucharest's Bellu. Work General characteristics Although Alexandru Macedonski frequently changed his style and views on literary matters, a number of constants have been traced throughout his work.\",\n \"Work General characteristics Although Alexandru Macedonski frequently changed his style and views on literary matters, a number of constants have been traced throughout his work. Thus, a common perception is that his literature had a strongly visual aspect, the notion being condensed in Cincinat Pavelescu's definition of Macedonski: \\\"Poet, therefore painter; painter, therefore poet.\\\" Traian Demetrescu too recalled that his mentor had been dreaming of becoming a visual artist, and had eventually settled for turning his son Alexis into one.\",\n \"Traian Demetrescu too recalled that his mentor had been dreaming of becoming a visual artist, and had eventually settled for turning his son Alexis into one. This pictorial approach to writing created parallels between Macedonski and his traditionalist contemporaries Vasile Alecsandri and Barbu Ștefănescu Delavrancea. Following the tenets of Dimitrie Bolintineanu and Théophile Gautier, the writer repeatedly called for purity in versification, and upheld it as an essential requirement, while progressively seeking to verify the quality of his poetry through phonaesthetics.\",\n \"Following the tenets of Dimitrie Bolintineanu and Théophile Gautier, the writer repeatedly called for purity in versification, and upheld it as an essential requirement, while progressively seeking to verify the quality of his poetry through phonaesthetics. A characteristic of Macedonski's style is his inventive use of Romanian. Initially influenced by Ion Heliade Rădulescu's introduction of Italian-based words to the Romanian lexis, Macedonski himself later infused poetic language with a large array of neologisms from several Romance sources.\",\n \"Initially influenced by Ion Heliade Rădulescu's introduction of Italian-based words to the Romanian lexis, Macedonski himself later infused poetic language with a large array of neologisms from several Romance sources. Likewise, Vianu notes, Macedonski had a tendency for comparing nature with the artificial, the result of this being a \\\"document\\\" of his values. Macedonski's language alternated neologisms with barbarisms, many of which were coined by him personally.\",\n \"Macedonski's language alternated neologisms with barbarisms, many of which were coined by him personally. They include claviculat (\\\"clavicled\\\", applied to a shoulder), împălăriată (\\\"enhatted\\\", used to define a crowd of hat-wearing tourists), and ureichii (instead of urechii, \\\"to the ear\\\" or \\\"of the ear\\\"). His narratives nevertheless take an interest in recording direct speech, used as a method of characterization.\",\n \"His narratives nevertheless take an interest in recording direct speech, used as a method of characterization. However, Călinescu criticizes Macedonski for using a language which, \\\"although grammatically correct [...], seems to have been learned only recently\\\", as well as for not following other Romanian writers in creating a lasting poetic style. The writer's belief in the effects of sheer willpower, notably present in his comments on esoteric subjects, was itself a defining characteristic of his perspective on literature.\",\n \"The writer's belief in the effects of sheer willpower, notably present in his comments on esoteric subjects, was itself a defining characteristic of his perspective on literature. In 1882, he wrote about progression in one's career: \\\"We are all poets at birth, but only those who shape themselves through study will become poets.\\\"\",\n \"In 1882, he wrote about progression in one's career: \\\"We are all poets at birth, but only those who shape themselves through study will become poets.\\\" Vianu, who notes Macedonski's \\\"exclusivity\\\" and \\\"fanaticism\\\", places such statements in connection with Macedonski's personal ambition, \\\"pride\\\" and \\\"the willingness to carry out ventured actions [...], in stated opposition with the entire surrounding and with contempt for the foreseeable reaction.\\\"\",\n \"Vianu, who notes Macedonski's \\\"exclusivity\\\" and \\\"fanaticism\\\", places such statements in connection with Macedonski's personal ambition, \\\"pride\\\" and \\\"the willingness to carry out ventured actions [...], in stated opposition with the entire surrounding and with contempt for the foreseeable reaction.\\\" Almost all periods of Macedonski's work reflect, in whole or in part, his public persona and the polemics he was involved in.\",\n \"Almost all periods of Macedonski's work reflect, in whole or in part, his public persona and the polemics he was involved in. George Călinescu's emits a verdict on the relation between his lifetime notoriety and the public's actual awareness of his work: \\\"Macedonski [was] a poet well-known for being an unknown poet.\\\"\",\n \"George Călinescu's emits a verdict on the relation between his lifetime notoriety and the public's actual awareness of his work: \\\"Macedonski [was] a poet well-known for being an unknown poet.\\\" According to literary critic Matei Călinescu, the innovative aspects of his impact on Romanian literature were not as much related to his \\\"literary ideology\\\", as much as to his \\\"contradictory spirit\\\" and \\\"essential nonconformism\\\".\",\n \"According to literary critic Matei Călinescu, the innovative aspects of his impact on Romanian literature were not as much related to his \\\"literary ideology\\\", as much as to his \\\"contradictory spirit\\\" and \\\"essential nonconformism\\\". However, literary researcher Adrian Marino proposes that Macedonski was one of the first modern authors to illustrate the importance of \\\"dialectic unity\\\" through his views on art, in particular by having argued that poetry needed to be driven by \\\"an idea\\\".\",\n \"However, literary researcher Adrian Marino proposes that Macedonski was one of the first modern authors to illustrate the importance of \\\"dialectic unity\\\" through his views on art, in particular by having argued that poetry needed to be driven by \\\"an idea\\\". Having theorized once, while questioning Junimist rigor, that \\\"the logic of poetry is absurdity itself [italics in the original]\\\", the poet also said: \\\"Poetry is the chaos of spirit and matter, of the cries of distress and mad laughter.\",\n \"Having theorized once, while questioning Junimist rigor, that \\\"the logic of poetry is absurdity itself [italics in the original]\\\", the poet also said: \\\"Poetry is the chaos of spirit and matter, of the cries of distress and mad laughter. From the sublime to the trivial, that is what it should be.\\\" He later revised part of this verdict, and, making explicit his adoption of aestheticism, spoke against trivial subjects and in favor of the sublime.\",\n \"He later revised part of this verdict, and, making explicit his adoption of aestheticism, spoke against trivial subjects and in favor of the sublime. While Macedonski also discarded the concept of \\\"social poetry\\\" not long after postulating it, its spirit, Tudor Vianu believes, can still be found in his later contributions. This, the critic notes, was owed to his \\\"social temperament\\\", whose \\\"fundamental experience is that of the social.\\\"\",\n \"This, the critic notes, was owed to his \\\"social temperament\\\", whose \\\"fundamental experience is that of the social.\\\" Discussing this sociable and extrovert character, other critics see in the poet's life and work the imprint of \\\"quixotism\\\". Also according to Vianu, this contrasted with Macedonski's failures in communicating with the public, an experience which made him \\\"misanthropic\\\" and contributed to his ultimate vision of death as freedom.\",\n \"Also according to Vianu, this contrasted with Macedonski's failures in communicating with the public, an experience which made him \\\"misanthropic\\\" and contributed to his ultimate vision of death as freedom. Literary historian Pompiliu Constantinescu concluded: \\\"Macedonski could not resign; his one martyrdom was for Art, as the sole liberation from a tormented life.\\\" Other commentators have defined the poet's perspective on life as a result of \\\"neurosis\\\".\",\n \"Other commentators have defined the poet's perspective on life as a result of \\\"neurosis\\\". In Vianu's perspective, Macedonski's stance is dominated by a mixture of nostalgia, sensuality, lugubrious-grotesque imagery, and \\\"the lack of bashfulness for antisocial sentiments\\\" which compliments his sarcasm.\",\n \"In Vianu's perspective, Macedonski's stance is dominated by a mixture of nostalgia, sensuality, lugubrious-grotesque imagery, and \\\"the lack of bashfulness for antisocial sentiments\\\" which compliments his sarcasm. In respect to the latter characteristic, Vianu notes \\\"no one in Romanian literature has laughed the same way as Macedonski\\\", whereas critic Ștefan Cazimir argues: \\\"[Macedonski was] lacking the sense of relativity in principles, and implicitly a sense of humor.\\\"\",\n \"In respect to the latter characteristic, Vianu notes \\\"no one in Romanian literature has laughed the same way as Macedonski\\\", whereas critic Ștefan Cazimir argues: \\\"[Macedonski was] lacking the sense of relativity in principles, and implicitly a sense of humor.\\\" Cazimir adds: \\\"Only when he aged did [Macedonski] learn to smile\\\".\",\n \"Cazimir adds: \\\"Only when he aged did [Macedonski] learn to smile\\\". George Călinescu himself believes Macedonski to have been \\\"fundamentally a spiritual man with lots of humor\\\", speculating that he was able to see the \\\"uselessness\\\" of his own scientific ventures. Critics note that, while Macedonski progressed from one stage to the other, his work fluctuated between artistic accomplishment and mediocrity.\",\n \"Critics note that, while Macedonski progressed from one stage to the other, his work fluctuated between artistic accomplishment and mediocrity. Tudor Vianu believes \\\"failure in reaching originality\\\" and reliance on \\\"soppy-conventional attributes of the day\\\" to be especially evident wherever Macedonski tried to emulate epic poetry. He also notes that Macedonski's love-themed pieces \\\"cannot be listed among [his] most fortunate\\\". At his best, commentators note, he was one of the Romanian literature's classics.\",\n \"At his best, commentators note, he was one of the Romanian literature's classics. Macedonski is thus perceived as the author second only to Eminescu, and as his ideal counterpart—a relation Vianu describes as \\\"the internal dualism [confronting] two familiar gods\\\". Various critics have compared Eminescu's poetic discourse with that of the Symbolist leader, concluding that the two poets often display very similar attitudes.\",\n \"Various critics have compared Eminescu's poetic discourse with that of the Symbolist leader, concluding that the two poets often display very similar attitudes. Călinescu writes that, while Macedonski's work is largely inferior to that of his Junimist rival, it forms the best \\\"reply\\\" ever conceived within their common setting. Prima verba and other early works With Ion Catina, Vasile Păun and Grigore H. Grandea, young Macedonski belonged to late Romanian Romanticism, part of a Neoromantic generation which had for its mentors Heliade Rădulescu and Bolintineanu.\",\n \"Prima verba and other early works With Ion Catina, Vasile Păun and Grigore H. Grandea, young Macedonski belonged to late Romanian Romanticism, part of a Neoromantic generation which had for its mentors Heliade Rădulescu and Bolintineanu. Other early influences were Pierre-Jean de Béranger and Gottfried August Bürger, together with Romanian folklore, motifs from them being adapted by Macedonski into pastorals and ballades of ca. 1870–1880.\",\n \"1870–1880. 1870–1880. The imprint of Romanticism and such other sources was evident in Prima verba, which groups pieces that Macedonski authored in his early youth, the earliest of them being written when he was just twelve. Critics generally argue that the volume is without value. The poems display his rebellious attitude, self-victimization and strong reliance on autobiographical elements, centering on such episodes as the death of his father.\",\n \"The poems display his rebellious attitude, self-victimization and strong reliance on autobiographical elements, centering on such episodes as the death of his father. In one piece inspired by the ideology of Heliade Rădulescu, Vianu notes, Macedonski sings \\\"the French Revolution's love for freedom and equality, otherwise proclaimed from his nobleman's perspective.\\\" It reads: In parallel, Macedonski used erotic themes, completing a series which, although written on the model of idylls, is noted for its brute details of sexual exploits.\",\n \"It reads: In parallel, Macedonski used erotic themes, completing a series which, although written on the model of idylls, is noted for its brute details of sexual exploits. The poet probably acknowledged that posterity would reject them, and did not republish them in any of his collected poetry volumes. During his time at Oltul (1873–1875), Macedonski published a series of poems, most of which were not featured in definitive editions of his work.\",\n \"During his time at Oltul (1873–1875), Macedonski published a series of poems, most of which were not featured in definitive editions of his work. In addition to odes written in the Italian-based version of Romanian, it includes lyrics which satirize Carol I without mentioning his name. Following his arrest, Macedonski also completed Celula mea de la Văcărești (\\\"My Cell in Văcărești\\\"), which shows his attempt to joke about the situation.\",\n \"Following his arrest, Macedonski also completed Celula mea de la Văcărești (\\\"My Cell in Văcărești\\\"), which shows his attempt to joke about the situation. In contrast to this series, some of the pieces written during Macedonski's time in the Budjak and Northern Dobruja display a detachment from contemporary themes. At that stage, he was especially inspired by Lord Byron, whom Vianu calls \\\"the sovereign poet of [Macedonski's] youth.\\\"\",\n \"At that stage, he was especially inspired by Lord Byron, whom Vianu calls \\\"the sovereign poet of [Macedonski's] youth.\\\" In Calul arabului, Macedonski explores exotic and Levantine settings, using symbols which announce George Coșbuc's El-Zorab, and the Venetian-themed Ithalo, which centers on episodes of betrayal and murder. Others were epic and patriotic in tone, with subjects such as Romanian victories in the Russo-Turkish War or the Imperial Roman sites along the Danube.\",\n \"Others were epic and patriotic in tone, with subjects such as Romanian victories in the Russo-Turkish War or the Imperial Roman sites along the Danube. One of these pieces, titled Hinov after the village and stone quarry in Rasova, gives Macedonski a claim to being the first modern European poet to have used free verse, ahead of the French Symbolist Gustave Kahn.\",\n \"One of these pieces, titled Hinov after the village and stone quarry in Rasova, gives Macedonski a claim to being the first modern European poet to have used free verse, ahead of the French Symbolist Gustave Kahn. Macedonski himself later voiced the claim, and referred to such a technique as \\\"symphonic verse\\\", \\\"proteic verse\\\", or, in honor of composer Richard Wagner, \\\"Wagnerian verse\\\". While editing Oltul, Macedonski also completed his first prose writings.\",\n \"While editing Oltul, Macedonski also completed his first prose writings. These were the travel account Pompeia și Sorento (\\\"Pompeia and Sorento\\\", 1874) and a prison-themed story described by Vianu as \\\"a tearjerker\\\", titled Câinele din Văcărești (\\\"The Dog in Văcărești\\\", 1875). These were later complemented by other travel works, which critic Mihai Zamfir likens to the verbal experiments of Impressionist literature, pioneering in the Romanian prose poetry genre.\",\n \"These were later complemented by other travel works, which critic Mihai Zamfir likens to the verbal experiments of Impressionist literature, pioneering in the Romanian prose poetry genre. The short comedy Gemenii was his debut work for the stage, but, according to Vianu, failed to show any merit other than a \\\"logical construction\\\" and a preview into Macedonski's use of sarcasm. These writings were followed in 1876 by a concise biography of Cârjaliul, an early 19th-century hajduk.\",\n \"These writings were followed in 1876 by a concise biography of Cârjaliul, an early 19th-century hajduk. In line with his first Levant-themed poems, Macedonski authored the 1877 story Așa se fac banii (\\\"This Is How Money Is Made\\\", later retold in French as Comment on devient riche et puissant, \\\"How to Become Rich and Powerful\\\"), a fable of fatalism and the Muslim world—it dealt with two brothers, one hard-working and one indolent, the latter of whom earns his money through a series of serendipitous events.\",\n \"In line with his first Levant-themed poems, Macedonski authored the 1877 story Așa se fac banii (\\\"This Is How Money Is Made\\\", later retold in French as Comment on devient riche et puissant, \\\"How to Become Rich and Powerful\\\"), a fable of fatalism and the Muslim world—it dealt with two brothers, one hard-working and one indolent, the latter of whom earns his money through a series of serendipitous events. Likewise, his verse comedy Iadeș!\",\n \"Likewise, his verse comedy Iadeș! Likewise, his verse comedy Iadeș! borrowed its theme from the widely circulated collection of Persian literature known as Sindipa. The setting was however modern, and, as noted by French-born critic Frédéric Damé, the plot also borrowed much from Émile Augier's Gabrielle and from other morality plays of the period. Part of the text was an ironic treatment of youth in liberal professions, an attitude which Macedonski fitted in his emerging anti-bourgeois discourse.\",\n \"Part of the text was an ironic treatment of youth in liberal professions, an attitude which Macedonski fitted in his emerging anti-bourgeois discourse. With the first poems in his Nights cycle, Macedonski still showed his allegiance to Romanticism, and in particular to Alphonse de Lamartine, and the supposed inventor of this theme, Alfred de Musset. Noaptea de noiembrie opens with a violent condemnation of his adversaries, and sees Macedonski depicting his own funeral.\",\n \"Noaptea de noiembrie opens with a violent condemnation of his adversaries, and sees Macedonski depicting his own funeral. The poem is commended by Călinescu, who notes that, in contrast to the \\\"apparently trivial beginning\\\", the main part, where Macedonski depicts himself in flight over the Danube, brings the Romanian writer close to the accomplishments of Dante Aligheri. The writer himself claimed that the piece evidenced \\\"the uttermost breath of inspiration I have ever felt in my life.\\\"\",\n \"The writer himself claimed that the piece evidenced \\\"the uttermost breath of inspiration I have ever felt in my life.\\\" Another poem, Noaptea de aprilie (\\\"April Night\\\"), was probably his testimony of unrequited love for Aristizza Romanescu. Realism and Naturalism By the 1880s, Macedonski developed and applied his \\\"social poetry\\\" theory, as branch of Realism.\",\n \"Realism and Naturalism By the 1880s, Macedonski developed and applied his \\\"social poetry\\\" theory, as branch of Realism. Explained by the writer himself as a reaction against the legacy of Lamartine, it also signified his brief affiliation with the Naturalist current, a radical segment of the Realist movement. Traian Demetrescu thus noted that Macedonski cherished the works of French Naturalists and Realists such as Gustave Flaubert and Émile Zola.\",\n \"Traian Demetrescu thus noted that Macedonski cherished the works of French Naturalists and Realists such as Gustave Flaubert and Émile Zola. During this phase, Macedonski made known his sympathy for the disinherited, from girls forced into prostitution to convicts sentenced to penal labor on salt mines, and also spoke out against the conventionalism of civil marriages. His Ocnele (\\\"The Salt Mines\\\") includes the verdict: Naturalist depiction was also the main element in his prose pieces of the early 1880s.\",\n \"His Ocnele (\\\"The Salt Mines\\\") includes the verdict: Naturalist depiction was also the main element in his prose pieces of the early 1880s. Among them was the first of several sketch stories using still life techniques, Casa cu nr. 10 (according to Zamfir, a prime sample of Macedonski's \\\"ornamental\\\" genre). With Între cotețe, Dramă banală and later Cometa lui Odorescu (\\\"Odorescu's Comet\\\"), Macedonski speaks about his own biography.\",\n \"With Între cotețe, Dramă banală and later Cometa lui Odorescu (\\\"Odorescu's Comet\\\"), Macedonski speaks about his own biography. The former has for a protagonist Pandele Vergea, a thirty-five-year-old man who is consumed by an avicultural obsession, who dreams of turning into a bird, and who is eventually maimed by his overcrowded fowls.\",\n \"The former has for a protagonist Pandele Vergea, a thirty-five-year-old man who is consumed by an avicultural obsession, who dreams of turning into a bird, and who is eventually maimed by his overcrowded fowls. In contrast, Dereanu is a bohemian university student, possessed by dreams of military and political glory, and who meditates about his future in front of Heliade Rădulescu's statue or in Bucharest cafés. Also a bohemian, Odorescu announces his discovery of a comet, before being proved wrong by his aunt, an ordinary woman.\",\n \"Also a bohemian, Odorescu announces his discovery of a comet, before being proved wrong by his aunt, an ordinary woman. Some pieces also double as memoirs: in Dramă banală, the plot revolves around Macedonski's recollection of the 1866 plebiscite. Vianu draws attention to the picturesque depiction of historic Bucharest, a contributing element in Cometa..., Casa cu nr. 10 and Între cotețe. With Unchiașul Sărăcie (also written in verse), Macedonski took Naturalist tenets into the field of drama.\",\n \"With Unchiașul Sărăcie (also written in verse), Macedonski took Naturalist tenets into the field of drama. Frédéric Damé believed it an imitation of a play by Ernest d'Hervilly and Alfred Grévin, but, Vianu argues, the Romanian text was only loosely based on theirs: in Macedonski's adaptation, the theme became fairy tale-like, and used a speech style based on Romanian folklore.\",\n \"Frédéric Damé believed it an imitation of a play by Ernest d'Hervilly and Alfred Grévin, but, Vianu argues, the Romanian text was only loosely based on theirs: in Macedonski's adaptation, the theme became fairy tale-like, and used a speech style based on Romanian folklore. Around the time of its completion, Macedonski was also working on a similarly loose adaptation of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, which notably had the two protagonists die in each other's arms.\",\n \"Around the time of its completion, Macedonski was also working on a similarly loose adaptation of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, which notably had the two protagonists die in each other's arms. Another such play is 3 decemvrie (\\\"December 3\\\"), which partly retells Friedrich Ludwig Zacharias Werner's Der 24 Februar using Naturalist devices. By contrast, the homage-play Cuza-Vodă is mainly a Romantic piece, where Alexander John Cuza finds his political mission validated by legendary figures in Romanian history.\",\n \"By contrast, the homage-play Cuza-Vodă is mainly a Romantic piece, where Alexander John Cuza finds his political mission validated by legendary figures in Romanian history. In parallel, Macedonski was using poetry to carry out his polemics. In an 1884 epigram, he reacted against Alecsandri's Fântâna Blanduziei, but, in Vianu's definition, \\\"his regular causticity seems to be restrained.\\\"\",\n \"In an 1884 epigram, he reacted against Alecsandri's Fântâna Blanduziei, but, in Vianu's definition, \\\"his regular causticity seems to be restrained.\\\" The piece he had earlier written, presumably against Eminescu, scandalized the public by mocking the rival's mental ruin: According to Tudor Vianu, Macedonski was mostly motivated by his disappointment in Junimea, and in particular by Eminescu's response to his public persona.\",\n \"The piece he had earlier written, presumably against Eminescu, scandalized the public by mocking the rival's mental ruin: According to Tudor Vianu, Macedonski was mostly motivated by his disappointment in Junimea, and in particular by Eminescu's response to his public persona. Vianu contends that, although Macedonski \\\"never was familiar with the resigned and patient attitudes\\\", he was \\\"by no means an evil man.\\\"\",\n \"Vianu contends that, although Macedonski \\\"never was familiar with the resigned and patient attitudes\\\", he was \\\"by no means an evil man.\\\" On one occasion, the poet defended himself against criticism, noting that the epigram had not been specifically addressed to Eminescu, but had been labeled as such by the press, and claiming to have authored it years before its Literatorul edition. However, the later piece Viața de apoi (\\\"The Afterlife\\\") still displays resentments he harbored toward Eminescu.\",\n \"However, the later piece Viața de apoi (\\\"The Afterlife\\\") still displays resentments he harbored toward Eminescu. By 1880–1884, particularly after the Eminescu scandal, Macedonski envisaged prioritizing French as his language of expression. According to Vianu, Macedonski had traversed \\\"the lowest point\\\" of his existence, and had been subject to \\\"one of the most delicate mysteries of poetic creation.\\\"\",\n \"According to Vianu, Macedonski had traversed \\\"the lowest point\\\" of his existence, and had been subject to \\\"one of the most delicate mysteries of poetic creation.\\\" Among his pieces of the period is the French-language sonnet Pârle, il me dit alors (\\\"Speak, He Then Said to Me\\\"), where, Vianu notes, \\\"one discovers the state of mind of a poet who decides to expatriate himself.\\\"\",\n \"Among his pieces of the period is the French-language sonnet Pârle, il me dit alors (\\\"Speak, He Then Said to Me\\\"), where, Vianu notes, \\\"one discovers the state of mind of a poet who decides to expatriate himself.\\\" Adoption of Symbolism According to Mihai Zamfir, at the end of his transition from the \\\"mimetic and egocentric\\\" verse to Symbolist poetry, Macedonski emerged a \\\"remarkable, often extraordinary\\\" author.\",\n \"Adoption of Symbolism According to Mihai Zamfir, at the end of his transition from the \\\"mimetic and egocentric\\\" verse to Symbolist poetry, Macedonski emerged a \\\"remarkable, often extraordinary\\\" author. In the early 20th century, fellow poet and critic N. Davidescu described Macedonski, Ion Minulescu and other Symbolists from Wallachia as distinct from their Moldavian counterparts in both style and themes. Endorsing the theory and practice of Symbolism for much of his life, Macedonski retrospectively claimed to have been one of its first exponents.\",\n \"Endorsing the theory and practice of Symbolism for much of his life, Macedonski retrospectively claimed to have been one of its first exponents. His version of Symbolism, critic Paul Cernat notes, clashed with that advocated by many of his contemporaries in that it rejected merit to the Decadent movement, and represented the \\\"decorative\\\" aestheticist trend of Paranassian spirit within the Romanian Symbolist current.\",\n \"His version of Symbolism, critic Paul Cernat notes, clashed with that advocated by many of his contemporaries in that it rejected merit to the Decadent movement, and represented the \\\"decorative\\\" aestheticist trend of Paranassian spirit within the Romanian Symbolist current. Within Poezia viitorului, Macedonski invoked as his models to follow some important or secondary Symbolist and Parnassian figures: Charles Baudelaire, Joséphin Péladan, Maurice Maeterlinck, Stéphane Mallarmé and Jean Moréas.\",\n \"Within Poezia viitorului, Macedonski invoked as his models to follow some important or secondary Symbolist and Parnassian figures: Charles Baudelaire, Joséphin Péladan, Maurice Maeterlinck, Stéphane Mallarmé and Jean Moréas. In his review of Bronzes for Mercure de France, Pierre Quillard remarked the \\\"irreproachable\\\" technique, but criticized the poet for being too indebted to both Baudelaire and Leconte de Lisle; other Symbolist figures whom Macedonski is known to have borrowed from are José María de Heredia and Iwan Gilkin.\",\n \"In his review of Bronzes for Mercure de France, Pierre Quillard remarked the \\\"irreproachable\\\" technique, but criticized the poet for being too indebted to both Baudelaire and Leconte de Lisle; other Symbolist figures whom Macedonski is known to have borrowed from are José María de Heredia and Iwan Gilkin. While undergoing this transition, to what linguist Manuela-Delia Suciu argues is a mostly Parnassian phase, Macedonski was still referencing Naturalism, and considered it compatible with Symbolism.\",\n \"While undergoing this transition, to what linguist Manuela-Delia Suciu argues is a mostly Parnassian phase, Macedonski was still referencing Naturalism, and considered it compatible with Symbolism. With the adoption of such tenets came a succession of Symbolist poems, where the focus is on minutely-observed objects, usually items of luxury, partly reflecting themes he had explored in the Naturalist stage. Commenting on them, Tudor Vianu argues that no such works had ever been produced in Romanian literature up until that moment.\",\n \"Commenting on them, Tudor Vianu argues that no such works had ever been produced in Romanian literature up until that moment. In his Ospățul lui Pentaur (\\\"The Feast of Pentaur\\\"), the poet reflected on civilization itself, as reflected in inanimate opulence. The motif was also developed in descriptive prose fragments later grouped in Cartea de aur, collectively titled nuvele fără oameni (\\\"novellas without people\\\") and compared by Călinescu with the paintings of Theodor Aman.\",\n \"The motif was also developed in descriptive prose fragments later grouped in Cartea de aur, collectively titled nuvele fără oameni (\\\"novellas without people\\\") and compared by Călinescu with the paintings of Theodor Aman. Also during that stage, Macedonski was exploring the numerous links between Symbolism, mysticism and esotericism. Earlier pieces had already come to explore macabre themes characteristic for an early branch of Symbolism.\",\n \"Earlier pieces had already come to explore macabre themes characteristic for an early branch of Symbolism. Influenced by Maurice Rollinat, they include the somber Vaporul morții (\\\"The Ship of Death\\\") and Visul fatal (\\\"The Fatal Dream\\\").\",\n \"Influenced by Maurice Rollinat, they include the somber Vaporul morții (\\\"The Ship of Death\\\") and Visul fatal (\\\"The Fatal Dream\\\"). Likewise, the piece titled Imnul lui Satan (\\\"Satan's Hymn\\\") was placed by critics in connection with Les Litanies de Satan (part of Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du mal), but, Vianu argues, the source of Macedonski's satanic themes may have been lodged in his own vision of the world.\",\n \"Likewise, the piece titled Imnul lui Satan (\\\"Satan's Hymn\\\") was placed by critics in connection with Les Litanies de Satan (part of Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du mal), but, Vianu argues, the source of Macedonski's satanic themes may have been lodged in his own vision of the world. This interest also reflected in his 1893 Saul, where Cincinat Pavelescu's contribution is supposedly minimal.\",\n \"This interest also reflected in his 1893 Saul, where Cincinat Pavelescu's contribution is supposedly minimal. Echoing satanic themes, Ernest Legouvé's dramatic version of the Medea myth (which Macedonski translated at some point in his life) and the classical work of Jean Racine, it shows the dark powers of political conflict intervening between the eponymous king and his ephebos-like protégé David, the latter of whom turns out to be the agent of spiritual revolution.\",\n \"Echoing satanic themes, Ernest Legouvé's dramatic version of the Medea myth (which Macedonski translated at some point in his life) and the classical work of Jean Racine, it shows the dark powers of political conflict intervening between the eponymous king and his ephebos-like protégé David, the latter of whom turns out to be the agent of spiritual revolution. (\\\"August Night\\\"), outlines a monistic belief probably inspired by Rosicrucianism, stressing the unity between soul and matter and depicting Macedonski's own journey into a transcendental space.\",\n \"(\\\"August Night\\\"), outlines a monistic belief probably inspired by Rosicrucianism, stressing the unity between soul and matter and depicting Macedonski's own journey into a transcendental space. Following the examples of Baudelaire's Les paradis artificiels, but also echoing his readings from Paul Verlaine and Théophile Gautier, Macedonski left poems dealing with narcotics and substance abuse, at least some of which reflected his personal experience with nicotine and possibly other unnamed drugs.\",\n \"Following the examples of Baudelaire's Les paradis artificiels, but also echoing his readings from Paul Verlaine and Théophile Gautier, Macedonski left poems dealing with narcotics and substance abuse, at least some of which reflected his personal experience with nicotine and possibly other unnamed drugs. Also at that stage, Macedonski also began publishing the \\\"instrumentalist\\\" series of his Symbolist poems. This form of experimental poem was influenced by the theories of René Ghil and verified through his encounter with Remy de Gourmont's views.\",\n \"This form of experimental poem was influenced by the theories of René Ghil and verified through his encounter with Remy de Gourmont's views. In parallel, it reaffirmed Macedonski's personal view that music and the spoken word were intimately related (a perspective notably attested by his 1906 interview with Jules Combarieu). Romanian critic Petre Răileanu theorized that such elements evidenced Macedonski's transition to \\\"metaliterature\\\". On a different level, they echoed an older influence, that of Gottfried August Bürger.\",\n \"On a different level, they echoed an older influence, that of Gottfried August Bürger. Excelsior Despite having stated his interest in innovation, Macedonski generally displayed a more conventional style in his Excelsior volume. It included Noaptea de mai, which Vianu sees as \\\"one of the [vernacular's] most beautiful poems\\\" and as evidence of \\\"a clear joy, without any torment whatsoever\\\".\",\n \"It included Noaptea de mai, which Vianu sees as \\\"one of the [vernacular's] most beautiful poems\\\" and as evidence of \\\"a clear joy, without any torment whatsoever\\\". A celebration of spring partly evoking folkloric themes, it was made famous by the recurring refrain, Veniți: privighetoarea cântă și liliacul e-nflorit (\\\"Come along: the nightingale is singing and the lilac is in blossom\\\").\",\n \"A celebration of spring partly evoking folkloric themes, it was made famous by the recurring refrain, Veniți: privighetoarea cântă și liliacul e-nflorit (\\\"Come along: the nightingale is singing and the lilac is in blossom\\\"). Like Noaptea de mai, Lewki (named after and dedicated to the Snake Island), depicts intense joy, completed in this case by what Vianu calls \\\"the restorative touch of nature.\\\"\",\n \"Like Noaptea de mai, Lewki (named after and dedicated to the Snake Island), depicts intense joy, completed in this case by what Vianu calls \\\"the restorative touch of nature.\\\" The series also returned to Levant settings and Islamic imagery, particularly in Acșam dovalar (named after the Turkish version of Witr).\",\n \"The series also returned to Levant settings and Islamic imagery, particularly in Acșam dovalar (named after the Turkish version of Witr). Also noted within the volume is his short \\\"Modern Psalms\\\" series, including the piece Iertare (\\\"Forgiveness\\\"), which is addressed to God: Excelsior also included Noaptea de ianuarie (\\\"January Night\\\"), which encapsulates one of his best-known political statements. Anghelescu reads it as a \\\"meditation on disillusionment that culminates in a vitality-laden exhortation of action.\\\"\",\n \"Anghelescu reads it as a \\\"meditation on disillusionment that culminates in a vitality-laden exhortation of action.\\\" Its anti-bourgeois attitude, literary historian Z. Ornea argues, was one of the meeting points between Macedonski and Junimism. In what is seen as its most acid section, the text notably reads: At the same time as being engaged in his most violent polemics, Macedonski produced meditative and serene poems, which were later judged to be among his best.\",\n \"In what is seen as its most acid section, the text notably reads: At the same time as being engaged in his most violent polemics, Macedonski produced meditative and serene poems, which were later judged to be among his best. Noaptea de decemvrie is the synthesis of his main themes and influences, rated by commentators as his \\\"masterpiece\\\".\",\n \"Noaptea de decemvrie is the synthesis of his main themes and influences, rated by commentators as his \\\"masterpiece\\\". Partly based on an earlier poem (Meka, named after the Arab city), it tells the story of an emir, who, left unsatisfied by the shallow and opulent life he leads in Baghdad, decides to leave on pilgrimage.\",\n \"Partly based on an earlier poem (Meka, named after the Arab city), it tells the story of an emir, who, left unsatisfied by the shallow and opulent life he leads in Baghdad, decides to leave on pilgrimage. While critics agree that it is to be read as an allegory of Macedonski's biography, the ironic text does not make it clear whether the emir actually reaches his target, nor if the central metaphor of Mecca as a mirage means that the goal is not worth sacrificing for.\",\n \"While critics agree that it is to be read as an allegory of Macedonski's biography, the ironic text does not make it clear whether the emir actually reaches his target, nor if the central metaphor of Mecca as a mirage means that the goal is not worth sacrificing for. While Mircea Anghelescu comments that Macedonski illustrates \\\"unusual tension\\\" by rigorously amplifying references to the color red, seen as a symbol of suffering, Călinescu notes that the sequence of lyrics has a studied \\\"delirious\\\" element, and illustrates this with the quote: Late prose works In prose, his focus shifted back to the purely descriptive, or led Alexandru Macedonski into the realm of fantasy literature.\",\n \"While Mircea Anghelescu comments that Macedonski illustrates \\\"unusual tension\\\" by rigorously amplifying references to the color red, seen as a symbol of suffering, Călinescu notes that the sequence of lyrics has a studied \\\"delirious\\\" element, and illustrates this with the quote: Late prose works In prose, his focus shifted back to the purely descriptive, or led Alexandru Macedonski into the realm of fantasy literature. These stories, most of which were eventually collected in Cartea de aur, include memoirs of his childhood in the Amaradia region, nostalgic portrayals of the Oltenian boyar environment, idealized depictions of Cuza's reign, as well as a retrospective view on the end of Rom slavery (found in his piece Verigă țiganul, \\\"Verigă the Gypsy\\\").\",\n \"These stories, most of which were eventually collected in Cartea de aur, include memoirs of his childhood in the Amaradia region, nostalgic portrayals of the Oltenian boyar environment, idealized depictions of Cuza's reign, as well as a retrospective view on the end of Rom slavery (found in his piece Verigă țiganul, \\\"Verigă the Gypsy\\\"). The best known among them is Pe drum de poștă, a third-person narrative and thinly disguised memoir, where the characters are an adolescent Alexandru Macedonski and his father, General Macedonski.\",\n \"The best known among them is Pe drum de poștă, a third-person narrative and thinly disguised memoir, where the characters are an adolescent Alexandru Macedonski and his father, General Macedonski. The idyllic outlook present in such stories is one of the common meeting points between his version of Symbolism and traditionalist authors such as Barbu Ștefănescu Delavrancea.\",\n \"The idyllic outlook present in such stories is one of the common meeting points between his version of Symbolism and traditionalist authors such as Barbu Ștefănescu Delavrancea. Vianu indicates the connection, but adds: \\\"Macedonski descended, through memory, in the world of the village, with the tremor of regret for the peace and plenty of the old settlements, so well polished that each person, landowner as well as peasant, lived within a framework that nature itself seemed to have granted.\",\n \"Vianu indicates the connection, but adds: \\\"Macedonski descended, through memory, in the world of the village, with the tremor of regret for the peace and plenty of the old settlements, so well polished that each person, landowner as well as peasant, lived within a framework that nature itself seemed to have granted. [...] in depicting rural environments, Macedonski presents the point of view of a conservative.\\\"\",\n \"[...] in depicting rural environments, Macedonski presents the point of view of a conservative.\\\" Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu, a fantasy novel and extended prose poem, was celebrated by Macedonski's disciple Oreste Georgescu as \\\"the new religion of humanity\\\". The volume carried the mocking dedication \\\"To France, this Chaldea\\\" (thought by Vianu to reference Péladan's views on the decay of civilization).\",\n \"The volume carried the mocking dedication \\\"To France, this Chaldea\\\" (thought by Vianu to reference Péladan's views on the decay of civilization). It has affinities with writings by the Italian Decadent author Gabriele d'Annunzio, as well as echoes from Anatole France. The hero Thalassa, a Greek boy, works as a lighthouse-keeper on Snake Island, fantasizing about the golden age of mankind. His fate is changed by a shipwreck, during which a girl, Caliope, reaches the island's shore.\",\n \"His fate is changed by a shipwreck, during which a girl, Caliope, reaches the island's shore. Thalassa and Caliope fall in love, but are mysteriously unable to seal their union through sexual intercourse: the boy attributes this failure to the \\\"curse\\\" of human individuality. Seeking to achieve a perfect union with his lover, he eventually kills her and drowns himself in the Black Sea.\",\n \"Seeking to achieve a perfect union with his lover, he eventually kills her and drowns himself in the Black Sea. In her review for Mercure de France, novelist Rachilde argued: \\\"Very difficult to read, entirely developed in Symbolist manner [and] almost impossible to recount, obviously written in French but nevertheless obviously conceived by a Romanian (and what a spirited Romanian!).\\\" Rachilde believed the work to display \\\"the fragrance of Oriental spices [...] rose marmalade and a slice of bear meat.\\\"\",\n \"Rachilde believed the work to display \\\"the fragrance of Oriental spices [...] rose marmalade and a slice of bear meat.\\\" According to Vianu, the book builds on Macedonski's earlier themes, replacing Naturalist observation with a metaphysical speculation about idealism. One other aspect of Macedonski's stylistic exploration took him to attempt recording synesthesia. His manuscript is written in ink of several colors, which, he believed, was to help readers get a full sense of its meaning.\",\n \"His manuscript is written in ink of several colors, which, he believed, was to help readers get a full sense of its meaning. Like other synesthetic aspects of his novel, this is believed to have been inspired by the techniques of Baudelaire and Arthur Rimbaud. Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu is noted for its numerous cultural references, and especially for using a wide range of metaphors. Such aspects have been reviewed negatively by modern critics.\",\n \"Such aspects have been reviewed negatively by modern critics. Such aspects have been reviewed negatively by modern critics. Tudor Vianu writes: \\\"the poet makes such waste of gemstones that we feel like saying some of them must be false\\\", while Călinescu, who notes that some fragments reveal \\\"an incomparable artist\\\" and \\\"a professional metaphorist\\\", notes that \\\"in the end, such virtuosities become a bore.\\\"\",\n \"Tudor Vianu writes: \\\"the poet makes such waste of gemstones that we feel like saying some of them must be false\\\", while Călinescu, who notes that some fragments reveal \\\"an incomparable artist\\\" and \\\"a professional metaphorist\\\", notes that \\\"in the end, such virtuosities become a bore.\\\" According to Manuela-Delia Suciu, Thalassa is \\\"prolix\\\" and \\\"too polished\\\", traits believed by Zamfir to be less irritating in the Romanian version.\",\n \"According to Manuela-Delia Suciu, Thalassa is \\\"prolix\\\" and \\\"too polished\\\", traits believed by Zamfir to be less irritating in the Romanian version. Critic Cornel Moraru found that, in the background, Thalassa, a \\\"great Symbolist novel\\\", confronts Ancient Greek and Christian mythology, but \\\"abuses\\\" the religious vocabulary. Another part of the novel's imagery is erotic, and includes an elaborate and aestheticized description of male genitalia. The four-act tragicomedy Le Fou?\",\n \"The four-act tragicomedy Le Fou? The four-act tragicomedy Le Fou? is seen by Vianu as comparable in subject matter and depth to Enrico IV, a celebrated 1922 play by Luigi Pirandello. The plot reflects Macedonski's confrontation with his critics, and his acceptance of the fact that people saw in him an eccentric. The central figure is a banker, Dorval, who identifies himself with Napoleon Bonaparte to the point where he sees episodes in his biography as mirrors of early 19th-century battles.\",\n \"The central figure is a banker, Dorval, who identifies himself with Napoleon Bonaparte to the point where he sees episodes in his biography as mirrors of early 19th-century battles. Unlike patients with dissociative identity disorder, Dorval does not actually imagine his life has become Napoleon's, but rather joins with him on an intellectual level. Witnesses of this disorder are divided into family, who seek to have Dorval committed, and close friends, who come to see his take on life as a manifestation of genius.\",\n \"Witnesses of this disorder are divided into family, who seek to have Dorval committed, and close friends, who come to see his take on life as a manifestation of genius. The spectator is led to believe that the latter interpretation is the correct one. At a larger level, Vianu indicates, the play is also Macedonski's critique of capitalism, and, using Parisian argot, makes allusive references to famous people of the day.\",\n \"At a larger level, Vianu indicates, the play is also Macedonski's critique of capitalism, and, using Parisian argot, makes allusive references to famous people of the day. Particularly during the 1890s, Macedonski was a follower of Edgar Allan Poe and of Gothic fiction in general, producing a Romanian version of Poe's Metzengerstein story, urging his own disciples to translate other such pieces, and adopting \\\"Gothic\\\" themes in his original prose.\",\n \"Particularly during the 1890s, Macedonski was a follower of Edgar Allan Poe and of Gothic fiction in general, producing a Romanian version of Poe's Metzengerstein story, urging his own disciples to translate other such pieces, and adopting \\\"Gothic\\\" themes in his original prose. Indebted to Jules Verne and H. G. Wells, Macedonski also wrote a number of science fiction stories, including the 1913 Oceania-Pacific-Dreadnought, which depicts civilization on the verge of a crisis.\",\n \"Indebted to Jules Verne and H. G. Wells, Macedonski also wrote a number of science fiction stories, including the 1913 Oceania-Pacific-Dreadnought, which depicts civilization on the verge of a crisis. The gigantic commercial ship is maintained by a banker's union, and designed to grant travelers access to every pleasure imaginable; this causes the working-class inhabited cities on the continent to fall into a state of neglect and permanent violence, the climax of the story occurring with the bankers' decision to destroy their creation.\",\n \"The gigantic commercial ship is maintained by a banker's union, and designed to grant travelers access to every pleasure imaginable; this causes the working-class inhabited cities on the continent to fall into a state of neglect and permanent violence, the climax of the story occurring with the bankers' decision to destroy their creation. Oceania-Pacific-Dreadnought is noted for anticipating television, the ship being equipped with electrically-operated \\\"large and clear mirrors\\\" that display \\\"images from various parts of the Earth\\\".\",\n \"Oceania-Pacific-Dreadnought is noted for anticipating television, the ship being equipped with electrically-operated \\\"large and clear mirrors\\\" that display \\\"images from various parts of the Earth\\\". Macedonski was by then interested in the development of cinema, and authored a silent film screenplay based on Comment on devient riche et puissant. Final transition Late in his life, Macedonski had come to reject Symbolist tenets, defining them as \\\"imbecilities\\\" designed for \\\"the uncultured\\\".\",\n \"Final transition Late in his life, Macedonski had come to reject Symbolist tenets, defining them as \\\"imbecilities\\\" designed for \\\"the uncultured\\\". Ultima verba, the very last poems to be written by him, show him coming to terms with himself, and are treasured for their serene or intensely joyous vision of life and human accomplishment. The rondels written at this stage, known collectively as Poema rondelurilor, are one of the first instances where the technique is used locally.\",\n \"The rondels written at this stage, known collectively as Poema rondelurilor, are one of the first instances where the technique is used locally. Like those written previously by Literatoruls Pavelescu and Alexandru Obedenaru, they are based on an earlier motif present in Macedonski's work, that of recurring refrains. Many of the pieces document the poet's final discoveries.\",\n \"Many of the pieces document the poet's final discoveries. One of them is Rondelul crinilor (\\\"The Rondel of the Lilies\\\"), which proclaims fragrances as the source of beatitude: În crini e beția cea rară, \\\"In lilies one finds that exceptional drunkenness\\\".\",\n \"One of them is Rondelul crinilor (\\\"The Rondel of the Lilies\\\"), which proclaims fragrances as the source of beatitude: În crini e beția cea rară, \\\"In lilies one finds that exceptional drunkenness\\\". According to Ștefan Cazimir, Rondelul orașului mic (\\\"The Rondel of the Small Town\\\") shows a \\\"likable wave of irony and self-irony\\\", and the poet himself coming to terms with \\\"the existence of a world who ignores him.\\\"\",\n \"According to Ștefan Cazimir, Rondelul orașului mic (\\\"The Rondel of the Small Town\\\") shows a \\\"likable wave of irony and self-irony\\\", and the poet himself coming to terms with \\\"the existence of a world who ignores him.\\\" Proof of his combativeness was still to be found in Rondelul contimporanilor (\\\"The Rondel of the Contemporaries\\\"). The poet's take on life is also outlined in his final play, Moartea lui Dante.\",\n \"The poet's take on life is also outlined in his final play, Moartea lui Dante. Călinescu writes that, by then, Macedonski was \\\"obsessed\\\" with the Divine Comedy. Macedonski identifies with his hero, Dante Aligheri, and formulates his own poetic testament while identifying World War I Romania with the medieval Republic of Florence. Tudor Vianu remarks: \\\"In Dante's great self-pride, Macedonski found his own.\\\"\",\n \"Tudor Vianu remarks: \\\"In Dante's great self-pride, Macedonski found his own.\\\" He sees the play as the best such work to have been produced by Macedonski, whereas Călinescu deems it \\\"puerile\\\". Zamfir believes Moartea... to be a significant text in Macedonski's bibliography, \\\"one of the first samples of Romanian Symbolist theater\\\", and as such indebted mainly to Maeterlinck.\",\n \"Zamfir believes Moartea... to be a significant text in Macedonski's bibliography, \\\"one of the first samples of Romanian Symbolist theater\\\", and as such indebted mainly to Maeterlinck. Vianu argues that the play may document the Romanian writer's late rejection of France, through the protagonist's statement: \\\"the French are a gentle people, but their soul is different from mine.\\\" A number of rondels show Macedonski's late fascination with the Far East, China and Japan.\",\n \"A number of rondels show Macedonski's late fascination with the Far East, China and Japan. George Călinescu believes that this is to be understood as one item in a large antithesis, the other being Decadent Paris, which one rondel describes as \\\"hell\\\". The Orient, viewed as the space of serenity, is believed by Macedonski to be peopled by toy-like women and absent opium-smokers, and to be kept orderly by a stable meritocracy.\",\n \"The Orient, viewed as the space of serenity, is believed by Macedonski to be peopled by toy-like women and absent opium-smokers, and to be kept orderly by a stable meritocracy. The Chinese-themed poem Tsing-Ly-Tsi, which Cazimir notes for its discreet, \\\"almost imperceptible\\\", humor, reads: Legacy Macedonski's school and its early impact Alexandru Macedonski repeatedly expressed the thought that, unlike his contemporaries, posterity would judge him a great poet.\",\n \"The Chinese-themed poem Tsing-Ly-Tsi, which Cazimir notes for its discreet, \\\"almost imperceptible\\\", humor, reads: Legacy Macedonski's school and its early impact Alexandru Macedonski repeatedly expressed the thought that, unlike his contemporaries, posterity would judge him a great poet. With the exception of Mihail Dragomirescu, conservative literary critics tended to ignore Macedonski while he was alive.\",\n \"With the exception of Mihail Dragomirescu, conservative literary critics tended to ignore Macedonski while he was alive. The first such figure was Junimeas Titu Maiorescu, who believed him to be a minor author, referring to him only a couple of times in his books and usually ridiculing him in his articles. One of these texts, the 1886 essay Poeți și critici (\\\"Poets and Critics\\\"), spoke of Macedonski as having \\\"vitiated\\\" poetry, a notion he also applied to Constantin D. Aricescu and Aron Densușianu.\",\n \"One of these texts, the 1886 essay Poeți și critici (\\\"Poets and Critics\\\"), spoke of Macedonski as having \\\"vitiated\\\" poetry, a notion he also applied to Constantin D. Aricescu and Aron Densușianu. Especially radical pronouncements were left by the traditionalist authors Ilarie Chendi and Nicolae Iorga. Chendi wrote of Macedonski being \\\"the caricature of a man\\\", having \\\"a feverish mind\\\" and being motivated by \\\"the brutal instinct of revenge\\\".\",\n \"Chendi wrote of Macedonski being \\\"the caricature of a man\\\", having \\\"a feverish mind\\\" and being motivated by \\\"the brutal instinct of revenge\\\". Iorga, who became better known as a historian, later retracted some of the statements he had made against the poet during the 1890s. Among the younger prominent traditionalist writers was the Transylvanian-born Lucian Blaga, who may have purposefully avoided Macedonski during his first visit to Bucharest in 1920.\",\n \"Among the younger prominent traditionalist writers was the Transylvanian-born Lucian Blaga, who may have purposefully avoided Macedonski during his first visit to Bucharest in 1920. Although more sympathetic to the Symbolist author, both Dragomirescu and Gheorghe Adamescu tended to describe him as exclusively the product of French and Decadent literature, while Dragomirescu's disciple Ion Trivale denied all merit to Macedonski's literature.\",\n \"Although more sympathetic to the Symbolist author, both Dragomirescu and Gheorghe Adamescu tended to describe him as exclusively the product of French and Decadent literature, while Dragomirescu's disciple Ion Trivale denied all merit to Macedonski's literature. According to Tudor Vianu, Macedonski's intellectual friends (among them Anghel Demetriescu, George Ionescu-Gion, Bonifaciu Florescu, Grigore Tocilescu and V. A. Urechia) were largely responsible for passing down \\\"a better and truer image of the abused poet.\\\"\",\n \"According to Tudor Vianu, Macedonski's intellectual friends (among them Anghel Demetriescu, George Ionescu-Gion, Bonifaciu Florescu, Grigore Tocilescu and V. A. Urechia) were largely responsible for passing down \\\"a better and truer image of the abused poet.\\\" It was also due to Dragomirescu that Noaptea de decemvrie was included in a literature textbook for final grade high school students, which some argue is the poet's first-ever presence in the Romanian curriculum.\",\n \"It was also due to Dragomirescu that Noaptea de decemvrie was included in a literature textbook for final grade high school students, which some argue is the poet's first-ever presence in the Romanian curriculum. According to historian Lucian Nastasă, the poet's wife Ana Rallet behaved like an \\\"excellent secretary\\\" while Macedonski was still alive, and thereafter helped sort and edit his manuscript while maintaining \\\"an actual cult\\\" for her husband.\",\n \"According to historian Lucian Nastasă, the poet's wife Ana Rallet behaved like an \\\"excellent secretary\\\" while Macedonski was still alive, and thereafter helped sort and edit his manuscript while maintaining \\\"an actual cult\\\" for her husband. Macedonski's cosmopolitan circle was the center of a literary alternative to the prevailing conservatism and Eminescu-like traditionalism of the day, the latter tendency being grouped around Sămănătorul magazine for part of Macedonski's lifetime.\",\n \"Macedonski's cosmopolitan circle was the center of a literary alternative to the prevailing conservatism and Eminescu-like traditionalism of the day, the latter tendency being grouped around Sămănătorul magazine for part of Macedonski's lifetime. While Macedonski himself maintained his links with Romanticism and Classicism, commentators have retrospectively recognized in him the main person who announced Romania's first wave in modernist literature. Many first-generation disciples were to part with his guidelines early on, either by radicalizing their Symbolism or by stepping out of its confines.\",\n \"Many first-generation disciples were to part with his guidelines early on, either by radicalizing their Symbolism or by stepping out of its confines. Traian Demetrescu was one of the first to do so, focusing on his commitment to socialism—Vianu notes that the split took place \\\"without coldness and the heart's versatility\\\" on Macedonski's part. Literary researcher Lidia Bote argues that it was Petică who first illustrated mature Symbolism, emancipating himself from Macedonski's eclectic tendencies after 1902.\",\n \"Literary researcher Lidia Bote argues that it was Petică who first illustrated mature Symbolism, emancipating himself from Macedonski's eclectic tendencies after 1902. By that time, the Symbolist authors Dimitrie Anghel and N. D. Cocea used Macedonski's fantasy prose as an inspiration for their own, and N. Davidescu was borrowing from his mystical discourse. The pictorial and joyous elements in Macedonski's poems were also serving to inspire Stamatiad, Eugeniu Ștefănescu-Est and Horia Furtună.\",\n \"The pictorial and joyous elements in Macedonski's poems were also serving to inspire Stamatiad, Eugeniu Ștefănescu-Est and Horia Furtună. In the early stages of his career, Ion Pillat wrote pieces which echo his master's choice of exotic themes. A more discreet legacy of Macedonski's ideas was also preserved inside the conservative and traditionalist camps. Although his separation from Literatorul was drastic, and led him to rally with Junimea, Duiliu Zamfirescu built on some elements borrowed from the magazine's ideology, incorporating them into his literary vision.\",\n \"Although his separation from Literatorul was drastic, and led him to rally with Junimea, Duiliu Zamfirescu built on some elements borrowed from the magazine's ideology, incorporating them into his literary vision. Many of Macedonski's most devoted disciples, whom he himself had encouraged, have been rated by various critics as secondary or mediocre.\",\n \"Many of Macedonski's most devoted disciples, whom he himself had encouraged, have been rated by various critics as secondary or mediocre. This is the case of Theodor Cornel (who made his name as an art critic), Mircea Demetriade, Oreste Georgescu, Alexandru Obedenaru, Stoenescu, Stamatiad, Carol Scrob, Dumitru Karnabatt and Donar Munteanu. Another such minor author was the self-styled \\\"hermeticist\\\" Alexandru Petroff, who expanded on Macedonski's ideas about esoteric knowledge.\",\n \"Another such minor author was the self-styled \\\"hermeticist\\\" Alexandru Petroff, who expanded on Macedonski's ideas about esoteric knowledge. Macedonski's eldest son Alexis continued to pursue a career as a painter. His son Soare followed in his footsteps, receiving acclaim from art critics of the period. Soare's short career ended in 1928, before he turned nineteen, but his works have been featured in several retrospective exhibitions, including one organized by Alexis.\",\n \"Soare's short career ended in 1928, before he turned nineteen, but his works have been featured in several retrospective exhibitions, including one organized by Alexis. Alexis later experimented with scenic design as an assistant to French filmmaker René Clair; his later life, shrouded in mystery and intrigue, led him to a career in Fascist Italy and Francoist Spain. Another of Alexandru Macedonski's sons, Nikita, was also a poet and painter. For a while in the 1920s, he edited the literary supplement of Universul newspaper.\",\n \"For a while in the 1920s, he edited the literary supplement of Universul newspaper. Two years after her father's death, Anna Macedonski married poet Mihail Celarianu. In addition to his polemical portrayals in works by Alecsandri, Eminescu and Caragiale, Macedonski's career was an inspiration for various authors. His image acquired mythical proportions for his followers. Like Demetrescu, many of them left memoirs on Macedonski which were published before or after his death.\",\n \"Like Demetrescu, many of them left memoirs on Macedonski which were published before or after his death. His admirers were writing poetry about him as early as 1874, and, in 1892, Cincinat Pavelescu published a rhapsodizing portrait of Macedonski as \\\"the Artist\\\". Pavelescu, Dragoslav and Petică paid homage to the writer by leaving recollections which describe him as a devoted and considerate friend. In contrast, traditionalist poet Alexandru Vlahuță authored an 1889 sketch story in which Macedonski (referred to as Polidor) is the object of derision.\",\n \"In contrast, traditionalist poet Alexandru Vlahuță authored an 1889 sketch story in which Macedonski (referred to as Polidor) is the object of derision. Late recognition Actual recognition of the poet as a classic came only in the interwar period. A final volume of never before published poems, Poema rondelurilor, saw print in 1927. Macedonski's work was analyzed and popularized by a new generation of critics, among them Vianu and George Călinescu.\",\n \"Macedonski's work was analyzed and popularized by a new generation of critics, among them Vianu and George Călinescu. The post-Junimist modernist critic Eugen Lovinescu also commented favorably on Macedonski's work, but overall, Călinescu asserts, his opinions on the subject gave little insight into what he actually thought about the poet. He also recounts that Macedonski himself treated Lovinescu with disdain, and once called him \\\"a canary\\\". The emerging avant-garde, although originating from Symbolism, progressively took its distance from Literatoruls legacy.\",\n \"The emerging avant-garde, although originating from Symbolism, progressively took its distance from Literatoruls legacy. Initially, Macedonski's contribution to experimental literature was continued within formal Symbolism by his disciples Demetriade, Iuliu Cezar Săvescu and Ion Minulescu. The latter was particularly indebted to Macedonski in matters of vision and language. In 1904, Tudor Arghezi also left behind the Literatorul circle and its tenets, eventually arriving to the fusion of modernist, traditionalist and avant-garde elements. However, he remained indebted to Macedonski's example in his descriptive prose.\",\n \"However, he remained indebted to Macedonski's example in his descriptive prose. The 1912 Simbolul magazine, which moved between conventional Symbolism and the emerging avant-garde, also published an Imagist-inspired parody of Noaptea de mai, signed by Adrian Maniu. A co-founder of Dadaism during the late 1910s, Tristan Tzara is believed by Swedish researcher Tom Sandqvist to have been inspired more or less directly by Macedonski, and in particular by the latter's thoughts on the relation between absurdity and poetry.\",\n \"A co-founder of Dadaism during the late 1910s, Tristan Tzara is believed by Swedish researcher Tom Sandqvist to have been inspired more or less directly by Macedonski, and in particular by the latter's thoughts on the relation between absurdity and poetry. In his debut poems, Benjamin Fondane-Barbu Fundoianu occasionally followed Macedonski, but, by 1920, stated that the Symbolist doyen merely imitated French models to the point of \\\"parasitism\\\". Several avant-garde authors returned to Macedonski's literary guidelines by the late 1920s, as they themselves grew more moderate.\",\n \"Several avant-garde authors returned to Macedonski's literary guidelines by the late 1920s, as they themselves grew more moderate. This was the case of Maniu and Ion Vinea, both of whom published prose works in the line of Thalassa. The same work is also believed to have influenced two non-avant-garde authors, Davidescu and Mateiu Caragiale, who remained close to the tenets Symbolism.\",\n \"The same work is also believed to have influenced two non-avant-garde authors, Davidescu and Mateiu Caragiale, who remained close to the tenets Symbolism. Mateiu was the illegitimate son of Ion Luca Caragiale, but, Vianu notes, could withstand comparisons with his father's rival: the eccentricities were complementary, although Mateiu Caragiale shied away from public affairs.\",\n \"Mateiu was the illegitimate son of Ion Luca Caragiale, but, Vianu notes, could withstand comparisons with his father's rival: the eccentricities were complementary, although Mateiu Caragiale shied away from public affairs. In the same post-Symbolist generation, Celarianu (Macedonski's posthumous son-in-law), George Bacovia and Păstorel Teodoreanu also built on Macedonski's legacy, being later joined in this by the Bessarabian linguist Eugenio Coșeriu (who, in his early poetic career, imitated Macedonski's rondel style).\",\n \"In the same post-Symbolist generation, Celarianu (Macedonski's posthumous son-in-law), George Bacovia and Păstorel Teodoreanu also built on Macedonski's legacy, being later joined in this by the Bessarabian linguist Eugenio Coșeriu (who, in his early poetic career, imitated Macedonski's rondel style). In the late 1920s, when their form of modern psalms inspired Albanian-Romanian poet Aleksander Stavre Drenova, Macedonski and Arghezi both made an indirect impact on Albanian literature.\",\n \"In the late 1920s, when their form of modern psalms inspired Albanian-Romanian poet Aleksander Stavre Drenova, Macedonski and Arghezi both made an indirect impact on Albanian literature. Macedonski's status as one of Romanian literature's greats was consolidated later in the 20th century. By this time, Noaptea de decemvrie had become one of the most recognizable literary works to be taught in Romanian schools.\",\n \"By this time, Noaptea de decemvrie had become one of the most recognizable literary works to be taught in Romanian schools. During the first years of Communist Romania, the Socialist Realist current condemned Symbolism (see Censorship in Communist Romania), but spoke favorably of Macedonski's critique of the bourgeoisie. A while after this episode, Marin Sorescu, one of the best-known modernist poets of his generation, wrote a homage-parody of the Nights cycle.\",\n \"A while after this episode, Marin Sorescu, one of the best-known modernist poets of his generation, wrote a homage-parody of the Nights cycle. Included in the volume Singur între poeți (\\\"Alone among Poets\\\"), it is seen by critic Mircea Scarlat as Sorescu's most representative such pieces. Also then, Noaptea de decemvrie partly inspired Ștefan Augustin Doinaș' ballad Mistrețul cu colți de argint.\",\n \"Also then, Noaptea de decemvrie partly inspired Ștefan Augustin Doinaș' ballad Mistrețul cu colți de argint. In the 1990s, Ștefan Agopian took the Nights cycle as inspiration for an erotic short story, while Pavel Șușară adapted his rondels to a modernized setting. Macedonski's prose also influenced younger writers such as Angelo Mitchievici and Anca Maria Mosora. In neighboring Moldova, Macedonski influenced the Neosymbolism of Aureliu Busuioc.\",\n \"In neighboring Moldova, Macedonski influenced the Neosymbolism of Aureliu Busuioc. A magazine by the name of Literatorul, which claims to represent the legacy of Macedonski's publication, was founded in Romania in 1991, being edited by writers Sorescu, Fănuș Neagu and Mircea Micu. In 2006, the Romanian Academy granted posthumous membership to Alexandru Macedonski. Macedonski's poems had a sizable impact on Romania's popular culture.\",\n \"Macedonski's poems had a sizable impact on Romania's popular culture. During communism, Noaptea de mai was the basis for a successful musical adaptation, composed by Marian Nistor and sung by Mirabela Dauer. Tudor Gheorghe, a singer-songwriter inspired by American folk revival, also used some of Macedonski's texts as lyrics to his melodies. In the 2000s, the refrain of Noaptea de mai was mixed into a manea parody by Adrian Copilul Minune.\",\n \"In the 2000s, the refrain of Noaptea de mai was mixed into a manea parody by Adrian Copilul Minune. Portrayals, visual tributes and landmarks Although his poetic theories were largely without echoes in Romanian art, Macedonski captured the interest of several modern artists, including, early on, cartoonist Nicolae Petrescu Găină. Alongside other writers who visited Terasa Oteteleșanu, Macedonski was notably portrayed the drawings of celebrated Romanian artist Iosif Iser. He is also depicted in a 1918 lithograph by Jean Alexandru Steriadi, purportedly Steriadi's only Symbolist work.\",\n \"He is also depicted in a 1918 lithograph by Jean Alexandru Steriadi, purportedly Steriadi's only Symbolist work. Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu inspired a series of reliefs, designed by Alexis Macedonski and hosted in his father's house in Dorobanți. During the 1910s, busts of him were completed by two sculptors, Alexandru Severin and Friedrich Storck, one of Storck's variants being hosted by the Ioan Cantacuzino collection.\",\n \"During the 1910s, busts of him were completed by two sculptors, Alexandru Severin and Friedrich Storck, one of Storck's variants being hosted by the Ioan Cantacuzino collection. In 1919, Theodor Burcă was also inspired to complete another bust, and, during World War II, was commissioned by Mayor of Bucharest Ioan Rășcanu to build a Macedonski Monument in the Grădina Icoanei park, but this was never completed.\",\n \"In 1919, Theodor Burcă was also inspired to complete another bust, and, during World War II, was commissioned by Mayor of Bucharest Ioan Rășcanu to build a Macedonski Monument in the Grădina Icoanei park, but this was never completed. Constantin Piliuță, a painter active in the second half of the 20th century, made Macedonski the subject of a portrait in series dedicated to Romanian cultural figures (also depicted were Nicolae Iorga, Ștefan Luchian and Vianu).\",\n \"Constantin Piliuță, a painter active in the second half of the 20th century, made Macedonski the subject of a portrait in series dedicated to Romanian cultural figures (also depicted were Nicolae Iorga, Ștefan Luchian and Vianu). In 1975, a bust of Macedonski, the work of Constantin Foamete, was unveiled in Craiova. Of Macedonski's numerous residences, the one in Dorobanți was demolished when the Academy of Economic Studies (ASE) was expanded. A commemorative plaque was later put up near the spot.\",\n \"A commemorative plaque was later put up near the spot. Macedonski's childhood home in Goiești passed into state property under communism, and was in turn a school, a community home and a Macedonski Museum, before falling into neglect after the Romanian Revolution of 1989. Several streets named in honor of Alexandru Macedonski, notably in Bucharest (by the ASE), Craiova, Cluj-Napoca and Timișoara.\",\n \"Several streets named in honor of Alexandru Macedonski, notably in Bucharest (by the ASE), Craiova, Cluj-Napoca and Timișoara. Works published anthumously Prima verba (poetry, 1872) Ithalo (poem, 1878) Poezii (poetry, 1881/1882) Parizina (translation of Parisina, 1882) Iadeș!\",\n \"Works published anthumously Prima verba (poetry, 1872) Ithalo (poem, 1878) Poezii (poetry, 1881/1882) Parizina (translation of Parisina, 1882) Iadeș! (comedy, 1882) Dramă banală (short story, 1887) Saul (with Cincinat Pavelescu; tragedy, 1893) Excelsior (poetry, 1895) Bronzes (poetry, 1897) (essay, 1898) Cartea de aur (prose, 1902) Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu (novel, 1906; 1914) Flori sacre (poetry, 1912) Zaherlina (essay, 1920) Notes References Mircea Anghelescu, chronological table, preface and critical references, in Macedonski, Poemele \\\"Nopților\\\", Editura Albatros, Bucharest, 1972, p. 7-31, 137–140.\",\n \"(comedy, 1882) Dramă banală (short story, 1887) Saul (with Cincinat Pavelescu; tragedy, 1893) Excelsior (poetry, 1895) Bronzes (poetry, 1897) (essay, 1898) Cartea de aur (prose, 1902) Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu (novel, 1906; 1914) Flori sacre (poetry, 1912) Zaherlina (essay, 1920) Notes References Mircea Anghelescu, chronological table, preface and critical references, in Macedonski, Poemele \\\"Nopților\\\", Editura Albatros, Bucharest, 1972, p. 7-31, 137–140. Nicolae Balotă, Arte poetice ale secolului XX: ipostaze românești și străine, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1976.\",\n \"Nicolae Balotă, Arte poetice ale secolului XX: ipostaze românești și străine, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1976. Lucian Boia, \\\"Germanofilii\\\". Elita intelectuală românească în anii Primului Război Mondial, Humanitas, Bucharest, 2010. George Călinescu, Istoria literaturii române de la origini pînă în prezent, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1986 Paul Cernat, Avangarda românească și complexul periferiei: primul val, Cartea Românească, Bucharest, 2007. Șerban Cioculescu, Caragialiana, Editura Eminescu, Bucharest, 1974.\",\n \"Șerban Cioculescu, Caragialiana, Editura Eminescu, Bucharest, 1974. Péter Krasztev, \\\"From a Deadlocked Present into an Imagined Past\\\", in the Central European University's East Central Europe = L'Europe du Centre-Est, Vol. 26, Nr. 2/1999, p. 33-52 \\\"From Modernization to Modernist Literature\\\", in Marcel Cornis-Pope, John Neubauer (eds. ), History of the Literary Cultures of East-Central Europe, Vol. 3, John Benjamins, Amsterdam & Philadelphia, 2004, p. 332-348.\",\n \"3, John Benjamins, Amsterdam & Philadelphia, 2004, p. 332-348. Lucian Nastasă, Intelectualii și promovarea socială (pentru o morfologie a câmpului universitar), Editura Nereamia Napocae, Cluj-Napoca, 2003; e-book version at the Romanian Academy's George Bariț Institute of History Z. Ornea, Junimea și junimismul, Vol. II, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1998. Perpessicius, Studii eminesciene, Museum of Romanian Literature, Bucharest, 2001.\",\n \"Perpessicius, Studii eminesciene, Museum of Romanian Literature, Bucharest, 2001. Petre Răileanu, Michel Carassou, Fundoianu/Fondane et l'avant-garde, Fondation Culturelle Roumaine, Éditions Paris-Méditerranée, Bucharest & Paris, 1999. Tom Sandqvist, Dada East. The Romanians of Cabaret Voltaire, MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts & London, 2006. Manuela-Delia Suciu, \\\"La poésie roumaine au XIXe siècle. Alexandru Macedonski entre romantisme et symbolisme\\\", in Revue d'Études Françaises, Nr.\",\n \"Alexandru Macedonski entre romantisme et symbolisme\\\", in Revue d'Études Françaises, Nr. 8/2003, p. 101-110 (republished by the Centre Interuniversitaire d’Études Françaises/Egyetemközi Francia Központ) Tudor Vianu, Scriitori români, Vol. I-III, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1970–1971. Mariana Vida, \\\"La société Tinerimea artistică de Bucarest et le symbolisme tardif entre 1902-1910\\\", in Revue Roumaine d'Histoire de l'Art. Série Beaux-arts, Vol.\",\n \"Série Beaux-arts, Vol. Série Beaux-arts, Vol. XLIV, 2007, p. 55-66 External links Amidst Hen Houses (excerpts), Poésies, Thalassa (excerpt), in the Romanian Cultural Institute's Plural Magazine (various issues) Alexandru Macedonski, Museum of Romanian Literature profile 1854 births 1920 deaths 19th-century Romanian poets 20th-century Romanian poets Romanian male poets Romantic poets Neoclassical writers Symbolist poets Sonneteers Romanian fabulists Romanian epigrammatists 19th-century Romanian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Romanian dramatists and playwrights Male dramatists and playwrights 19th-century Romanian novelists 20th-century Romanian novelists Romanian male novelists Romanian writers in French 19th-century short story writers 20th-century short story writers Romanian male short story writers Romanian short story writers Realism (art movement) Symbolist novelists Romanian fantasy writers Romanian science fiction writers Romanian humorists Romanian erotica writers 19th-century essayists 20th-century essayists Romanian essayists 20th-century biographers Romanian biographers Male biographers Romanian memoirists Romanian travel writers Romanian literary critics Romanian screenwriters Male screenwriters Romanian columnists Romanian magazine editors Romanian magazine founders Romanian newspaper editors Romanian newspaper founders 19th-century translators 20th-century translators Romanian translators English–Romanian translators French–Romanian translators Greek–Romanian translators Writers from Bucharest Romanian nobility Members of the Romanian Orthodox Church Carol I National College alumni National Liberal Party (Romania) politicians Republicanism in the Kingdom of Romania Romanian civil servants Prefects of Romania Romanian inventors Romanian esotericists Romanian expatriates in France Romanian people of World War I Burials at Bellu Cemetery Members of the Romanian Academy elected posthumously 20th-century screenwriters\"\n]"}}},{"rowIdx":374,"cells":{"History":{"kind":"list like","value":["Terry Nation","Doctor Who"],"string":"[\n \"Terry Nation\",\n \"Doctor Who\"\n]"},"QuAC_dialog_id":{"kind":"string","value":"C_27cf8f62e352479f9e87e95654df4e3f_1"},"Question":{"kind":"string","value":"What work did he do on Doctor Who?"},"Question_no":{"kind":"number","value":1,"string":"1"},"Rewrite":{"kind":"string","value":"What work did Terry Nation do on Doctor Who?"},"true_page_title":{"kind":"string","value":"Terry Nation"},"true_contexts":{"kind":"string","value":"Prior to this, Nation had declined an offer from scriptwriter David Whitaker to write for a new science-fiction programme that was entering production at the BBC; Whitaker had been impressed by a script that Nation had written for the ABC anthology series Out of this World. Now unemployed, and with a young family to support, Nation contacted Whitaker and accepted the offer, writing the second Doctor Who serial, The Daleks (also known as The Mutants and The Dead Planet). The serial introduced the eponymous extraterrestrial villains that would quickly become the series' most popular and enduring monsters, and resulted in a major merchandising success for the BBC. Having risen in the public consciousness, Nation went on to contribute further scripts to Doctor Who. In 1965, Nation and Dennis Spooner co-wrote the 12-part serial The Daleks' Master Plan, after which Nation, who still held the copyright to the Daleks, attempted to launch a Dalek spin-off TV series in the United States. Various other Dalek tie-in material appeared, including comic strips in the children's weekly TV Century 21 and annuals; such material was frequently credited to Nation, even when written by others. Between 1966 and 1972, appearances by the Daleks in Doctor Who became less frequent and were written for the series by other authors. In 1973, following an eight-year absence from scriptwriting for the series, Nation returned to writing for the Daleks on Doctor Who with the Third Doctor serial Planet of the Daleks. In 1998, readers of Doctor Who Magazine voted Nation's 1975 serial Genesis of the Daleks the greatest Doctor Who story of all time. In the story, Nation introduced the character of Davros, the creator of the Daleks, who went on to appear in further storylines. Nation also wrote two non-Dalek scripts for Doctor Who, The Keys of Marinus in 1964, which introduced the Voord and The Android Invasion in 1975, which introduced the Kraal. During this time, Nation also worked in commercial TV, contributing scripts to series such as The Avengers, The Baron, The Champions, Department S, The Persuaders! and The Saint. Nation's work on Doctor Who was the subject of the documentary Terror Nation, a special feature on the BBC DVD release of the serial Destiny of the Daleks. CANNOTANSWER"},"answer":{"kind":"string","value":"writing the second Doctor Who serial,"},"true_contexts_wiki":{"kind":"string","value":"Terence Joseph Nation (8 August 19309 March 1997) was a Welsh screenwriter and novelist. Especially known for his work in British television science fiction, he created the Daleks and Davros for Doctor Who (1963), as well as the series Survivors (1975) and Blake's 7 (1978).\n\nNation first made his name as a comedy writer before becoming a prolific writer for drama, working on many of the most popular British series of the 1960s and 1970s such as The Avengers, The Baron, The Champions, Department S, The Persuaders! and The Saint. When Nation was commissioned to write The Daleks (1963) for Doctor Who, the villainous eponymous creatures established the series' early popularity. He later devised the recurring character of Davros in Genesis of the Daleks (1975). His series Survivors and Blake's 7 have been described as \"much-loved cult TV classics\".\n\nLife and career\n\nEarly years\nBorn in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales, Nation initially worked in comedy, entering the industry in 1955 after a (possibly apocryphal) incident in which Spike Milligan bought a sketch that he had written because he thought that Nation appeared hungry. During the 1950s, Nation worked with John Junkin and Johnny Speight for the writers' agency Associated London Scripts, where he collaborated on hundreds of radio plays for comedians such as Terry Scott, Eric Sykes, Harry Worth and Frankie Howerd.\n\nHis career break came in 1962, when he was commissioned to write material for Tony Hancockfirst for Hancock's unsuccessful series for Associated Television broadcast on ITV in 1963, and then his stage show. Although Nation accompanied Hancock as his chief screenwriter on tour in 1963, Hancock would regularly neglect Nation's scripts in favour of recycling his old material. Following an argument over this, Hancock either fired Nation, or Nation resigned (it is unclear which).\n\nDoctor Who\nPrior to his association with Hancock, Nation had declined an offer from scriptwriter David Whitaker to write for a new science-fiction programme that was entering production at the BBC; Whitaker had been impressed by a script that Nation had written for the ABC anthology series Out of this World. Now unemployed, and with a young family to support, Nation contacted Whitaker and accepted the offer, writing the second Doctor Who serial, The Daleks (also known as The Mutants and The Dead Planet). The serial introduced the eponymous extraterrestrial villains that would quickly become the series' most popular and enduring monsters, and resulted in a major merchandising success for the BBC.\n\nNation contributed further scripts to Doctor Who. In 1965, Nation and Dennis Spooner co-wrote the 12-part serial The Daleks' Master Plan, after which Nation, who still held the copyright to the Daleks, attempted to launch a Dalek spin-off TV series in the United States. Various other Dalek tie-in material appeared, including comic strips in the children's weekly TV Century 21 and annuals; such material was frequently credited to Nation, even when written by others. Between 1966 and 1972, appearances by the Daleks in Doctor Who became less frequent and were written for the series by other authors.\n\nIn 1973, following an eight-year absence from scriptwriting for the series, Nation returned to writing for the Daleks on Doctor Who with the Third Doctor serial Planet of the Daleks. In 1998, readers of Doctor Who Magazine voted Nation's 1975 serial Genesis of the Daleks the greatest Doctor Who story of all time. In the story, Nation introduced the character of Davros, the creator of the Daleks, who went on to appear in further storylines. Nation also wrote two non-Dalek scripts for Doctor Who, The Keys of Marinus in 1964, which introduced the Voord, and The Android Invasion in 1975, which introduced the Kraals. Nation's final script for Doctor Who was Destiny of the Daleks, broadcast in 1979.\n\nHis work on Doctor Who was the subject of the documentary Terror Nation, a special feature on the BBC DVD release of Destiny of the Daleks.\n\nOut of the Unknown\nNation's first work on the science-fiction anthology series Out of the Unknown was scripting an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's short story The Fox and the Forest in 1965 for the show's debut series. It was about a 21st century couple taking a forbidden trip to Mexico in 1938, only to be followed by enforcers from the future. It is one of only two episodes from the first series to be considered lost, with only two photographs and the end titles known to exist.\n\nIn 1969, when the show began to be produced in colour, Nation granted permission for the Daleks to be used in the series three episode Get Off My Cloud, based on the story by Peter Phillips about a bed-bound science-fiction author who finds himself within one of his own fantasies after a mental breakdown. This would be the first time the Daleks had been shown in colour on television, although they had previously appeared in colour in the Peter Cushing films. Only production stills and low-quality audio extracts survive.\n\nSurvivors and Blake's 7\nHaving returned to writing for Doctor Who, the BBC commissioned Nation to create a new science-fiction drama series. First broadcast in 1975, Survivors is the post-apocalyptic story of the last humans on Earth after the world's population has been devastated by plague. Although the series was well received, Nation's creative vision conflicted with that of producer Terence Dudley, and the final two seasons were produced without Nation's involvement.\n\nMeanwhile, screenwriter Brian Clemens claimed that he had related the concept for Survivors to Nation in the late 1960s while they were working together on the final season of The Avengers, with Clemens claiming to have registered the Survivors concept with the Writers' Guild of Great Britain in 1965; Nation denied the allegations. Although the case was ultimately brought before the High Court, both sides withdrew from the proceedings after their legal costs mounted.\n\nThe production of Nation's next BBC creation, Blake's 7, experienced fewer problems. This series follows a group of criminals and political prisoners who are on the run from the evil \"Terran Federation\", piloting a stolen spaceship of unknown origin. Blake's 7 ran for four series from 1978 to 1981.\n\nAlthough Nation scripted the whole of the first series of Blake's 7, his creative influence subsequently declined in the following two series despite writing some key episodes, as script editor Chris Boucher exerted a greater influence on those seasons. Nation didn't write any episodes in the fourth series of Blake's 7. In the 1980s, Nation attempted, without success, to secure funding for a fifth season of Blake's 7. During the 1970s, Nation wrote a children's novel for his daughter Rebecca (after whom he named the character of Rebec in the 1973 Doctor Who serial Planet of the Daleks) titled Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet, as well as a novel based on Survivors.\n\nUnited States\nIn 1980, Nation moved to Los Angeles, where he developed programme ideas and worked for various production studios. Little of his work from this time was as successful as that of his earlier period in Britain. He wrote scripts for the TV series MacGyver (1985) and A Fine Romance (1989).\n\nDeath\nNation died from emphysema in Los Angeles on 9 March 1997, aged 66. Shortly before his death, he had been collaborating with actor Paul Darrow on another attempt to revive Blake's 7.\n\nWriting credits\n\nAwards and nominations\n\nIn 2013, Nation was commemorated with a blue plaque at the house in Cardiff where he was born.\n\nBibliography\nSurvivors (1976, )\nRebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet (1978, )\n\nReferences\n\nFurther reading\n Turner, Alwyn W.: The Man Who Invented The Daleks: The Strange Worlds of Terry Nation, London: Aurum Press, 2011, .\n\nExternal links\n \n \n \n Terry Nation profile, Museum of Broadcast Communications, museum.tv; accessed 26 December 2014.\n\n1930 births\n1997 deaths\n20th-century British novelists\nBBC people\nBritish male novelists\nBritish male screenwriters\nWelsh radio writers\nBritish science fiction writers\nDeaths from emphysema\nWelsh comedy writers\nWelsh expatriates in the United States\nWelsh novelists\nWelsh science fiction writers\nWelsh screenwriters\nWelsh television writers\nWriters from Cardiff\nPeople from Llandaff\n20th-century British male writers\nBritish male television writers\n20th-century British screenwriters"},"extractive":{"kind":"string","value":"true"},"retrieved_contexts":{"kind":"list like","value":["The Year of the Intern, the first novel by Robin Cook and very different from his thrillers, follows the journey of intern Dr. Peters through his year of placement.\n\nPlot introduction\nIt is an insider's perspective of the medical world. As Dr. Peters becomes a doctor he is destroying himself as a person due to extensive work and concerns.\n\nDr. Cook began writing the book while serving on a submarine, basing it on his experiences as a medical resident. When it did not do particularly well, he began an extensive study of other books in the genre to see what made a bestseller. He decided to concentrate on medical suspense thrillers, mixing intricately plotted murder and intrigue with medical technology. He also brought controversial ethical and social issues affecting the medical profession to the attention of the general public.\n\nPlot Summary \nDr. Peters receives a phone call from a nurse, who sounds desperate, but Dr. Peters can do little. He has forgotten when he last slept, but he knows that in the coming hours he will make life or death decisions. As he begins his internship, he must deal with assisting the surgeons in the operating room, help nurses who happen to know more than him, cope with worried friends and family of the ill and injured, and pretend that he is a qualified doctor. The book takes a deeper look into the psychical and psychological effects on a medical intern.\n\nExternal links\nThe Publisher's site\n\n1973 American novels\nNovels by Robin Cook\nHarcourt (publisher) books\n1973 debut novels","Adolf Ludwig Winkelmann (born 26 March 1887 in Salzkotten, died 1 February 1947 in Hamburg) was an SS Hauptsturmführer and was employed as a doctor in several Nazi concentration camps including the Ravensbrück concentration camp.\n\nLife \n\nWinkelmann passed the state examination in 1913 at the University of Kiel, and on 26 September 1914 he received his licence to practise as a doctor. He received his doctorate from Walter Stoeckel, worked at various hospitals and was employed as a doctor in the Imperial German Navy during the First World War. After the war he was in 1918 a member of a volunteer corps, before settling as a practising physician in Lippstadt.\n\nOn 1 May 1933 he joined the NSDAP (membership No. 3.101.530), and on 18 June 1933 he joined the Schutzstaffel (SS No. 109.112). Winkelmann was promoted to SS Unterscharführer on 15 September 1935, to Oberscharführer on 9 November 1936 and to Hauptsturmführer on 30 January 1939. From January to October 1940 he was employed as a regimental doctor with the rank of SS Hauptsturmführer in the 8th SS regiment of the Waffen SS in Kraków.\n\nUntil 1 December 1944, he worked as a medical officer in Częstochowa. After brief assignments at the Groß-Rosen and Sachsenhausen concentration camps, he was transferred to the Ravensbrück concentration camp at the end of February 1945.\n\nRavensbrück \n\nWinkelmann admitted that together with Richard Trommer he had selected prisoners who were unable to work, but the purpose of the selection remained hidden: \"I knew that some transports came to the Uckermark concentration camp, but I did not know for what purpose.\" He had only been there a few times. This was contrasted by the statements of all witnesses who unanimously confirmed his participation in the selections there. During his service in Ravensbrück, he and Trommer \"selected around 1,500 to 2,000 prisoners for removal”. Winkelmann described these selections in court:The searches took place on one of the camp streets or in a barrack, but very rarely. The inmates marched in a row to Dr Trommer and past me. Of course, we could only do a very superficial examination, and the people who were obviously sick, unable to work, or unable to march were searched. The inmates had bare their legs so that we could see if they were capable of walking.Winkelmann said that he had not known that the selection could mean death for the prisoners. Nor did he know that there was a gas chamber in the camp. He only acted on the orders of Trommer, who told him that there was a choice for evacuating the camp. He was horrified to have participated in such a crime. He had never heard of gassings in Germany until then and had only known about Auschwitz-Birkenau. Since Percival Treite and Franz Lucas were busy with the selection for the gas chamber in Ravensbrück, he was the third doctor responsible for the area.\n\nTo relieve him, a witness testified that Winkelmann refused to abort her because she violated his medical ethos. According to his own information, he saw no ill-treatment of prisoners in the area and did not do any.\n\nWinkelmann died on 1 February 1947 of the consequences of a heart attack during the first of the seven Ravensbrück trials in Hamburg. Despite some doubts, the court found him guilty, but no death sentence was passed.\n\nReferences\n\n1887 births\n1947 deaths\nNazi concentration camp personnel\nPhysicians in the Nazi Party"],"string":"[\n \"The Year of the Intern, the first novel by Robin Cook and very different from his thrillers, follows the journey of intern Dr. Peters through his year of placement.\\n\\nPlot introduction\\nIt is an insider's perspective of the medical world. As Dr. Peters becomes a doctor he is destroying himself as a person due to extensive work and concerns.\\n\\nDr. Cook began writing the book while serving on a submarine, basing it on his experiences as a medical resident. When it did not do particularly well, he began an extensive study of other books in the genre to see what made a bestseller. He decided to concentrate on medical suspense thrillers, mixing intricately plotted murder and intrigue with medical technology. He also brought controversial ethical and social issues affecting the medical profession to the attention of the general public.\\n\\nPlot Summary \\nDr. Peters receives a phone call from a nurse, who sounds desperate, but Dr. Peters can do little. He has forgotten when he last slept, but he knows that in the coming hours he will make life or death decisions. As he begins his internship, he must deal with assisting the surgeons in the operating room, help nurses who happen to know more than him, cope with worried friends and family of the ill and injured, and pretend that he is a qualified doctor. The book takes a deeper look into the psychical and psychological effects on a medical intern.\\n\\nExternal links\\nThe Publisher's site\\n\\n1973 American novels\\nNovels by Robin Cook\\nHarcourt (publisher) books\\n1973 debut novels\",\n \"Adolf Ludwig Winkelmann (born 26 March 1887 in Salzkotten, died 1 February 1947 in Hamburg) was an SS Hauptsturmführer and was employed as a doctor in several Nazi concentration camps including the Ravensbrück concentration camp.\\n\\nLife \\n\\nWinkelmann passed the state examination in 1913 at the University of Kiel, and on 26 September 1914 he received his licence to practise as a doctor. He received his doctorate from Walter Stoeckel, worked at various hospitals and was employed as a doctor in the Imperial German Navy during the First World War. After the war he was in 1918 a member of a volunteer corps, before settling as a practising physician in Lippstadt.\\n\\nOn 1 May 1933 he joined the NSDAP (membership No. 3.101.530), and on 18 June 1933 he joined the Schutzstaffel (SS No. 109.112). Winkelmann was promoted to SS Unterscharführer on 15 September 1935, to Oberscharführer on 9 November 1936 and to Hauptsturmführer on 30 January 1939. From January to October 1940 he was employed as a regimental doctor with the rank of SS Hauptsturmführer in the 8th SS regiment of the Waffen SS in Kraków.\\n\\nUntil 1 December 1944, he worked as a medical officer in Częstochowa. After brief assignments at the Groß-Rosen and Sachsenhausen concentration camps, he was transferred to the Ravensbrück concentration camp at the end of February 1945.\\n\\nRavensbrück \\n\\nWinkelmann admitted that together with Richard Trommer he had selected prisoners who were unable to work, but the purpose of the selection remained hidden: \\\"I knew that some transports came to the Uckermark concentration camp, but I did not know for what purpose.\\\" He had only been there a few times. This was contrasted by the statements of all witnesses who unanimously confirmed his participation in the selections there. During his service in Ravensbrück, he and Trommer \\\"selected around 1,500 to 2,000 prisoners for removal”. Winkelmann described these selections in court:The searches took place on one of the camp streets or in a barrack, but very rarely. The inmates marched in a row to Dr Trommer and past me. Of course, we could only do a very superficial examination, and the people who were obviously sick, unable to work, or unable to march were searched. The inmates had bare their legs so that we could see if they were capable of walking.Winkelmann said that he had not known that the selection could mean death for the prisoners. Nor did he know that there was a gas chamber in the camp. He only acted on the orders of Trommer, who told him that there was a choice for evacuating the camp. He was horrified to have participated in such a crime. He had never heard of gassings in Germany until then and had only known about Auschwitz-Birkenau. Since Percival Treite and Franz Lucas were busy with the selection for the gas chamber in Ravensbrück, he was the third doctor responsible for the area.\\n\\nTo relieve him, a witness testified that Winkelmann refused to abort her because she violated his medical ethos. According to his own information, he saw no ill-treatment of prisoners in the area and did not do any.\\n\\nWinkelmann died on 1 February 1947 of the consequences of a heart attack during the first of the seven Ravensbrück trials in Hamburg. Despite some doubts, the court found him guilty, but no death sentence was passed.\\n\\nReferences\\n\\n1887 births\\n1947 deaths\\nNazi concentration camp personnel\\nPhysicians in the Nazi Party\"\n]"},"chunked_article":{"kind":"list like","value":["Terence Joseph Nation (8 August 19309 March 1997) was a Welsh screenwriter and novelist. Especially known for his work in British television science fiction, he created the Daleks and Davros for Doctor Who (1963), as well as the series Survivors (1975) and Blake's 7 (1978).","Especially known for his work in British television science fiction, he created the Daleks and Davros for Doctor Who (1963), as well as the series Survivors (1975) and Blake's 7 (1978). Nation first made his name as a comedy writer before becoming a prolific writer for drama, working on many of the most popular British series of the 1960s and 1970s such as The Avengers, The Baron, The Champions, Department S, The Persuaders! and The Saint.","and The Saint. and The Saint. When Nation was commissioned to write The Daleks (1963) for Doctor Who, the villainous eponymous creatures established the series' early popularity. He later devised the recurring character of Davros in Genesis of the Daleks (1975). His series Survivors and Blake's 7 have been described as \"much-loved cult TV classics\".","His series Survivors and Blake's 7 have been described as \"much-loved cult TV classics\". Life and career Early years Born in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales, Nation initially worked in comedy, entering the industry in 1955 after a (possibly apocryphal) incident in which Spike Milligan bought a sketch that he had written because he thought that Nation appeared hungry.","Life and career Early years Born in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales, Nation initially worked in comedy, entering the industry in 1955 after a (possibly apocryphal) incident in which Spike Milligan bought a sketch that he had written because he thought that Nation appeared hungry. During the 1950s, Nation worked with John Junkin and Johnny Speight for the writers' agency Associated London Scripts, where he collaborated on hundreds of radio plays for comedians such as Terry Scott, Eric Sykes, Harry Worth and Frankie Howerd.","During the 1950s, Nation worked with John Junkin and Johnny Speight for the writers' agency Associated London Scripts, where he collaborated on hundreds of radio plays for comedians such as Terry Scott, Eric Sykes, Harry Worth and Frankie Howerd. His career break came in 1962, when he was commissioned to write material for Tony Hancockfirst for Hancock's unsuccessful series for Associated Television broadcast on ITV in 1963, and then his stage show.","His career break came in 1962, when he was commissioned to write material for Tony Hancockfirst for Hancock's unsuccessful series for Associated Television broadcast on ITV in 1963, and then his stage show. Although Nation accompanied Hancock as his chief screenwriter on tour in 1963, Hancock would regularly neglect Nation's scripts in favour of recycling his old material. Following an argument over this, Hancock either fired Nation, or Nation resigned (it is unclear which).","Following an argument over this, Hancock either fired Nation, or Nation resigned (it is unclear which). Doctor Who Prior to his association with Hancock, Nation had declined an offer from scriptwriter David Whitaker to write for a new science-fiction programme that was entering production at the BBC; Whitaker had been impressed by a script that Nation had written for the ABC anthology series Out of this World.","Doctor Who Prior to his association with Hancock, Nation had declined an offer from scriptwriter David Whitaker to write for a new science-fiction programme that was entering production at the BBC; Whitaker had been impressed by a script that Nation had written for the ABC anthology series Out of this World. Now unemployed, and with a young family to support, Nation contacted Whitaker and accepted the offer, writing the second Doctor Who serial, The Daleks (also known as The Mutants and The Dead Planet).","Now unemployed, and with a young family to support, Nation contacted Whitaker and accepted the offer, writing the second Doctor Who serial, The Daleks (also known as The Mutants and The Dead Planet). The serial introduced the eponymous extraterrestrial villains that would quickly become the series' most popular and enduring monsters, and resulted in a major merchandising success for the BBC. Nation contributed further scripts to Doctor Who.","Nation contributed further scripts to Doctor Who. Nation contributed further scripts to Doctor Who. In 1965, Nation and Dennis Spooner co-wrote the 12-part serial The Daleks' Master Plan, after which Nation, who still held the copyright to the Daleks, attempted to launch a Dalek spin-off TV series in the United States. Various other Dalek tie-in material appeared, including comic strips in the children's weekly TV Century 21 and annuals; such material was frequently credited to Nation, even when written by others.","Various other Dalek tie-in material appeared, including comic strips in the children's weekly TV Century 21 and annuals; such material was frequently credited to Nation, even when written by others. Between 1966 and 1972, appearances by the Daleks in Doctor Who became less frequent and were written for the series by other authors. In 1973, following an eight-year absence from scriptwriting for the series, Nation returned to writing for the Daleks on Doctor Who with the Third Doctor serial Planet of the Daleks.","In 1973, following an eight-year absence from scriptwriting for the series, Nation returned to writing for the Daleks on Doctor Who with the Third Doctor serial Planet of the Daleks. In 1998, readers of Doctor Who Magazine voted Nation's 1975 serial Genesis of the Daleks the greatest Doctor Who story of all time. In the story, Nation introduced the character of Davros, the creator of the Daleks, who went on to appear in further storylines.","In the story, Nation introduced the character of Davros, the creator of the Daleks, who went on to appear in further storylines. Nation also wrote two non-Dalek scripts for Doctor Who, The Keys of Marinus in 1964, which introduced the Voord, and The Android Invasion in 1975, which introduced the Kraals. Nation's final script for Doctor Who was Destiny of the Daleks, broadcast in 1979.","Nation's final script for Doctor Who was Destiny of the Daleks, broadcast in 1979. His work on Doctor Who was the subject of the documentary Terror Nation, a special feature on the BBC DVD release of Destiny of the Daleks. Out of the Unknown Nation's first work on the science-fiction anthology series Out of the Unknown was scripting an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's short story The Fox and the Forest in 1965 for the show's debut series.","Out of the Unknown Nation's first work on the science-fiction anthology series Out of the Unknown was scripting an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's short story The Fox and the Forest in 1965 for the show's debut series. It was about a 21st century couple taking a forbidden trip to Mexico in 1938, only to be followed by enforcers from the future. It is one of only two episodes from the first series to be considered lost, with only two photographs and the end titles known to exist.","It is one of only two episodes from the first series to be considered lost, with only two photographs and the end titles known to exist. In 1969, when the show began to be produced in colour, Nation granted permission for the Daleks to be used in the series three episode Get Off My Cloud, based on the story by Peter Phillips about a bed-bound science-fiction author who finds himself within one of his own fantasies after a mental breakdown.","In 1969, when the show began to be produced in colour, Nation granted permission for the Daleks to be used in the series three episode Get Off My Cloud, based on the story by Peter Phillips about a bed-bound science-fiction author who finds himself within one of his own fantasies after a mental breakdown. This would be the first time the Daleks had been shown in colour on television, although they had previously appeared in colour in the Peter Cushing films. Only production stills and low-quality audio extracts survive.","Only production stills and low-quality audio extracts survive. Only production stills and low-quality audio extracts survive. Survivors and Blake's 7 Having returned to writing for Doctor Who, the BBC commissioned Nation to create a new science-fiction drama series. First broadcast in 1975, Survivors is the post-apocalyptic story of the last humans on Earth after the world's population has been devastated by plague.","First broadcast in 1975, Survivors is the post-apocalyptic story of the last humans on Earth after the world's population has been devastated by plague. Although the series was well received, Nation's creative vision conflicted with that of producer Terence Dudley, and the final two seasons were produced without Nation's involvement.","Although the series was well received, Nation's creative vision conflicted with that of producer Terence Dudley, and the final two seasons were produced without Nation's involvement. Meanwhile, screenwriter Brian Clemens claimed that he had related the concept for Survivors to Nation in the late 1960s while they were working together on the final season of The Avengers, with Clemens claiming to have registered the Survivors concept with the Writers' Guild of Great Britain in 1965; Nation denied the allegations.","Meanwhile, screenwriter Brian Clemens claimed that he had related the concept for Survivors to Nation in the late 1960s while they were working together on the final season of The Avengers, with Clemens claiming to have registered the Survivors concept with the Writers' Guild of Great Britain in 1965; Nation denied the allegations. Although the case was ultimately brought before the High Court, both sides withdrew from the proceedings after their legal costs mounted. The production of Nation's next BBC creation, Blake's 7, experienced fewer problems.","The production of Nation's next BBC creation, Blake's 7, experienced fewer problems. This series follows a group of criminals and political prisoners who are on the run from the evil \"Terran Federation\", piloting a stolen spaceship of unknown origin. Blake's 7 ran for four series from 1978 to 1981.","Blake's 7 ran for four series from 1978 to 1981. Although Nation scripted the whole of the first series of Blake's 7, his creative influence subsequently declined in the following two series despite writing some key episodes, as script editor Chris Boucher exerted a greater influence on those seasons. Nation didn't write any episodes in the fourth series of Blake's 7. In the 1980s, Nation attempted, without success, to secure funding for a fifth season of Blake's 7.","In the 1980s, Nation attempted, without success, to secure funding for a fifth season of Blake's 7. During the 1970s, Nation wrote a children's novel for his daughter Rebecca (after whom he named the character of Rebec in the 1973 Doctor Who serial Planet of the Daleks) titled Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet, as well as a novel based on Survivors. United States In 1980, Nation moved to Los Angeles, where he developed programme ideas and worked for various production studios.","United States In 1980, Nation moved to Los Angeles, where he developed programme ideas and worked for various production studios. Little of his work from this time was as successful as that of his earlier period in Britain. He wrote scripts for the TV series MacGyver (1985) and A Fine Romance (1989). Death Nation died from emphysema in Los Angeles on 9 March 1997, aged 66. Shortly before his death, he had been collaborating with actor Paul Darrow on another attempt to revive Blake's 7.","Shortly before his death, he had been collaborating with actor Paul Darrow on another attempt to revive Blake's 7. Writing credits Awards and nominations In 2013, Nation was commemorated with a blue plaque at the house in Cardiff where he was born. Bibliography Survivors (1976, ) Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet (1978, ) References Further reading Turner, Alwyn W.: The Man Who Invented The Daleks: The Strange Worlds of Terry Nation, London: Aurum Press, 2011, .","Bibliography Survivors (1976, ) Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet (1978, ) References Further reading Turner, Alwyn W.: The Man Who Invented The Daleks: The Strange Worlds of Terry Nation, London: Aurum Press, 2011, . External links Terry Nation profile, Museum of Broadcast Communications, museum.tv; accessed 26 December 2014.","External links Terry Nation profile, Museum of Broadcast Communications, museum.tv; accessed 26 December 2014. 1930 births 1997 deaths 20th-century British novelists BBC people British male novelists British male screenwriters Welsh radio writers British science fiction writers Deaths from emphysema Welsh comedy writers Welsh expatriates in the United States Welsh novelists Welsh science fiction writers Welsh screenwriters Welsh television writers Writers from Cardiff People from Llandaff 20th-century British male writers British male television writers 20th-century British screenwriters"],"string":"[\n \"Terence Joseph Nation (8 August 19309 March 1997) was a Welsh screenwriter and novelist. Especially known for his work in British television science fiction, he created the Daleks and Davros for Doctor Who (1963), as well as the series Survivors (1975) and Blake's 7 (1978).\",\n \"Especially known for his work in British television science fiction, he created the Daleks and Davros for Doctor Who (1963), as well as the series Survivors (1975) and Blake's 7 (1978). Nation first made his name as a comedy writer before becoming a prolific writer for drama, working on many of the most popular British series of the 1960s and 1970s such as The Avengers, The Baron, The Champions, Department S, The Persuaders! and The Saint.\",\n \"and The Saint. and The Saint. When Nation was commissioned to write The Daleks (1963) for Doctor Who, the villainous eponymous creatures established the series' early popularity. He later devised the recurring character of Davros in Genesis of the Daleks (1975). His series Survivors and Blake's 7 have been described as \\\"much-loved cult TV classics\\\".\",\n \"His series Survivors and Blake's 7 have been described as \\\"much-loved cult TV classics\\\". Life and career Early years Born in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales, Nation initially worked in comedy, entering the industry in 1955 after a (possibly apocryphal) incident in which Spike Milligan bought a sketch that he had written because he thought that Nation appeared hungry.\",\n \"Life and career Early years Born in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales, Nation initially worked in comedy, entering the industry in 1955 after a (possibly apocryphal) incident in which Spike Milligan bought a sketch that he had written because he thought that Nation appeared hungry. During the 1950s, Nation worked with John Junkin and Johnny Speight for the writers' agency Associated London Scripts, where he collaborated on hundreds of radio plays for comedians such as Terry Scott, Eric Sykes, Harry Worth and Frankie Howerd.\",\n \"During the 1950s, Nation worked with John Junkin and Johnny Speight for the writers' agency Associated London Scripts, where he collaborated on hundreds of radio plays for comedians such as Terry Scott, Eric Sykes, Harry Worth and Frankie Howerd. His career break came in 1962, when he was commissioned to write material for Tony Hancockfirst for Hancock's unsuccessful series for Associated Television broadcast on ITV in 1963, and then his stage show.\",\n \"His career break came in 1962, when he was commissioned to write material for Tony Hancockfirst for Hancock's unsuccessful series for Associated Television broadcast on ITV in 1963, and then his stage show. Although Nation accompanied Hancock as his chief screenwriter on tour in 1963, Hancock would regularly neglect Nation's scripts in favour of recycling his old material. Following an argument over this, Hancock either fired Nation, or Nation resigned (it is unclear which).\",\n \"Following an argument over this, Hancock either fired Nation, or Nation resigned (it is unclear which). Doctor Who Prior to his association with Hancock, Nation had declined an offer from scriptwriter David Whitaker to write for a new science-fiction programme that was entering production at the BBC; Whitaker had been impressed by a script that Nation had written for the ABC anthology series Out of this World.\",\n \"Doctor Who Prior to his association with Hancock, Nation had declined an offer from scriptwriter David Whitaker to write for a new science-fiction programme that was entering production at the BBC; Whitaker had been impressed by a script that Nation had written for the ABC anthology series Out of this World. Now unemployed, and with a young family to support, Nation contacted Whitaker and accepted the offer, writing the second Doctor Who serial, The Daleks (also known as The Mutants and The Dead Planet).\",\n \"Now unemployed, and with a young family to support, Nation contacted Whitaker and accepted the offer, writing the second Doctor Who serial, The Daleks (also known as The Mutants and The Dead Planet). The serial introduced the eponymous extraterrestrial villains that would quickly become the series' most popular and enduring monsters, and resulted in a major merchandising success for the BBC. Nation contributed further scripts to Doctor Who.\",\n \"Nation contributed further scripts to Doctor Who. Nation contributed further scripts to Doctor Who. In 1965, Nation and Dennis Spooner co-wrote the 12-part serial The Daleks' Master Plan, after which Nation, who still held the copyright to the Daleks, attempted to launch a Dalek spin-off TV series in the United States. Various other Dalek tie-in material appeared, including comic strips in the children's weekly TV Century 21 and annuals; such material was frequently credited to Nation, even when written by others.\",\n \"Various other Dalek tie-in material appeared, including comic strips in the children's weekly TV Century 21 and annuals; such material was frequently credited to Nation, even when written by others. Between 1966 and 1972, appearances by the Daleks in Doctor Who became less frequent and were written for the series by other authors. In 1973, following an eight-year absence from scriptwriting for the series, Nation returned to writing for the Daleks on Doctor Who with the Third Doctor serial Planet of the Daleks.\",\n \"In 1973, following an eight-year absence from scriptwriting for the series, Nation returned to writing for the Daleks on Doctor Who with the Third Doctor serial Planet of the Daleks. In 1998, readers of Doctor Who Magazine voted Nation's 1975 serial Genesis of the Daleks the greatest Doctor Who story of all time. In the story, Nation introduced the character of Davros, the creator of the Daleks, who went on to appear in further storylines.\",\n \"In the story, Nation introduced the character of Davros, the creator of the Daleks, who went on to appear in further storylines. Nation also wrote two non-Dalek scripts for Doctor Who, The Keys of Marinus in 1964, which introduced the Voord, and The Android Invasion in 1975, which introduced the Kraals. Nation's final script for Doctor Who was Destiny of the Daleks, broadcast in 1979.\",\n \"Nation's final script for Doctor Who was Destiny of the Daleks, broadcast in 1979. His work on Doctor Who was the subject of the documentary Terror Nation, a special feature on the BBC DVD release of Destiny of the Daleks. Out of the Unknown Nation's first work on the science-fiction anthology series Out of the Unknown was scripting an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's short story The Fox and the Forest in 1965 for the show's debut series.\",\n \"Out of the Unknown Nation's first work on the science-fiction anthology series Out of the Unknown was scripting an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's short story The Fox and the Forest in 1965 for the show's debut series. It was about a 21st century couple taking a forbidden trip to Mexico in 1938, only to be followed by enforcers from the future. It is one of only two episodes from the first series to be considered lost, with only two photographs and the end titles known to exist.\",\n \"It is one of only two episodes from the first series to be considered lost, with only two photographs and the end titles known to exist. In 1969, when the show began to be produced in colour, Nation granted permission for the Daleks to be used in the series three episode Get Off My Cloud, based on the story by Peter Phillips about a bed-bound science-fiction author who finds himself within one of his own fantasies after a mental breakdown.\",\n \"In 1969, when the show began to be produced in colour, Nation granted permission for the Daleks to be used in the series three episode Get Off My Cloud, based on the story by Peter Phillips about a bed-bound science-fiction author who finds himself within one of his own fantasies after a mental breakdown. This would be the first time the Daleks had been shown in colour on television, although they had previously appeared in colour in the Peter Cushing films. Only production stills and low-quality audio extracts survive.\",\n \"Only production stills and low-quality audio extracts survive. Only production stills and low-quality audio extracts survive. Survivors and Blake's 7 Having returned to writing for Doctor Who, the BBC commissioned Nation to create a new science-fiction drama series. First broadcast in 1975, Survivors is the post-apocalyptic story of the last humans on Earth after the world's population has been devastated by plague.\",\n \"First broadcast in 1975, Survivors is the post-apocalyptic story of the last humans on Earth after the world's population has been devastated by plague. Although the series was well received, Nation's creative vision conflicted with that of producer Terence Dudley, and the final two seasons were produced without Nation's involvement.\",\n \"Although the series was well received, Nation's creative vision conflicted with that of producer Terence Dudley, and the final two seasons were produced without Nation's involvement. Meanwhile, screenwriter Brian Clemens claimed that he had related the concept for Survivors to Nation in the late 1960s while they were working together on the final season of The Avengers, with Clemens claiming to have registered the Survivors concept with the Writers' Guild of Great Britain in 1965; Nation denied the allegations.\",\n \"Meanwhile, screenwriter Brian Clemens claimed that he had related the concept for Survivors to Nation in the late 1960s while they were working together on the final season of The Avengers, with Clemens claiming to have registered the Survivors concept with the Writers' Guild of Great Britain in 1965; Nation denied the allegations. Although the case was ultimately brought before the High Court, both sides withdrew from the proceedings after their legal costs mounted. The production of Nation's next BBC creation, Blake's 7, experienced fewer problems.\",\n \"The production of Nation's next BBC creation, Blake's 7, experienced fewer problems. This series follows a group of criminals and political prisoners who are on the run from the evil \\\"Terran Federation\\\", piloting a stolen spaceship of unknown origin. Blake's 7 ran for four series from 1978 to 1981.\",\n \"Blake's 7 ran for four series from 1978 to 1981. Although Nation scripted the whole of the first series of Blake's 7, his creative influence subsequently declined in the following two series despite writing some key episodes, as script editor Chris Boucher exerted a greater influence on those seasons. Nation didn't write any episodes in the fourth series of Blake's 7. In the 1980s, Nation attempted, without success, to secure funding for a fifth season of Blake's 7.\",\n \"In the 1980s, Nation attempted, without success, to secure funding for a fifth season of Blake's 7. During the 1970s, Nation wrote a children's novel for his daughter Rebecca (after whom he named the character of Rebec in the 1973 Doctor Who serial Planet of the Daleks) titled Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet, as well as a novel based on Survivors. United States In 1980, Nation moved to Los Angeles, where he developed programme ideas and worked for various production studios.\",\n \"United States In 1980, Nation moved to Los Angeles, where he developed programme ideas and worked for various production studios. Little of his work from this time was as successful as that of his earlier period in Britain. He wrote scripts for the TV series MacGyver (1985) and A Fine Romance (1989). Death Nation died from emphysema in Los Angeles on 9 March 1997, aged 66. Shortly before his death, he had been collaborating with actor Paul Darrow on another attempt to revive Blake's 7.\",\n \"Shortly before his death, he had been collaborating with actor Paul Darrow on another attempt to revive Blake's 7. Writing credits Awards and nominations In 2013, Nation was commemorated with a blue plaque at the house in Cardiff where he was born. Bibliography Survivors (1976, ) Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet (1978, ) References Further reading Turner, Alwyn W.: The Man Who Invented The Daleks: The Strange Worlds of Terry Nation, London: Aurum Press, 2011, .\",\n \"Bibliography Survivors (1976, ) Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet (1978, ) References Further reading Turner, Alwyn W.: The Man Who Invented The Daleks: The Strange Worlds of Terry Nation, London: Aurum Press, 2011, . External links Terry Nation profile, Museum of Broadcast Communications, museum.tv; accessed 26 December 2014.\",\n \"External links Terry Nation profile, Museum of Broadcast Communications, museum.tv; accessed 26 December 2014. 1930 births 1997 deaths 20th-century British novelists BBC people British male novelists British male screenwriters Welsh radio writers British science fiction writers Deaths from emphysema Welsh comedy writers Welsh expatriates in the United States Welsh novelists Welsh science fiction writers Welsh screenwriters Welsh television writers Writers from Cardiff People from Llandaff 20th-century British male writers British male television writers 20th-century British screenwriters\"\n]"}}},{"rowIdx":375,"cells":{"History":{"kind":"list like","value":["Terry Nation","Doctor Who","What work did he do on Doctor Who?","writing the second Doctor Who serial,"],"string":"[\n \"Terry Nation\",\n \"Doctor Who\",\n \"What work did he do on Doctor Who?\",\n \"writing the second Doctor Who serial,\"\n]"},"QuAC_dialog_id":{"kind":"string","value":"C_27cf8f62e352479f9e87e95654df4e3f_1"},"Question":{"kind":"string","value":"What contributions did he make?"},"Question_no":{"kind":"number","value":2,"string":"2"},"Rewrite":{"kind":"string","value":"What contributions did Terry Nation make on Doctor Who?"},"true_page_title":{"kind":"string","value":"Terry Nation"},"true_contexts":{"kind":"string","value":"Prior to this, Nation had declined an offer from scriptwriter David Whitaker to write for a new science-fiction programme that was entering production at the BBC; Whitaker had been impressed by a script that Nation had written for the ABC anthology series Out of this World. Now unemployed, and with a young family to support, Nation contacted Whitaker and accepted the offer, writing the second Doctor Who serial, The Daleks (also known as The Mutants and The Dead Planet). The serial introduced the eponymous extraterrestrial villains that would quickly become the series' most popular and enduring monsters, and resulted in a major merchandising success for the BBC. Having risen in the public consciousness, Nation went on to contribute further scripts to Doctor Who. In 1965, Nation and Dennis Spooner co-wrote the 12-part serial The Daleks' Master Plan, after which Nation, who still held the copyright to the Daleks, attempted to launch a Dalek spin-off TV series in the United States. Various other Dalek tie-in material appeared, including comic strips in the children's weekly TV Century 21 and annuals; such material was frequently credited to Nation, even when written by others. Between 1966 and 1972, appearances by the Daleks in Doctor Who became less frequent and were written for the series by other authors. In 1973, following an eight-year absence from scriptwriting for the series, Nation returned to writing for the Daleks on Doctor Who with the Third Doctor serial Planet of the Daleks. In 1998, readers of Doctor Who Magazine voted Nation's 1975 serial Genesis of the Daleks the greatest Doctor Who story of all time. In the story, Nation introduced the character of Davros, the creator of the Daleks, who went on to appear in further storylines. Nation also wrote two non-Dalek scripts for Doctor Who, The Keys of Marinus in 1964, which introduced the Voord and The Android Invasion in 1975, which introduced the Kraal. During this time, Nation also worked in commercial TV, contributing scripts to series such as The Avengers, The Baron, The Champions, Department S, The Persuaders! and The Saint. Nation's work on Doctor Who was the subject of the documentary Terror Nation, a special feature on the BBC DVD release of the serial Destiny of the Daleks. CANNOTANSWER"},"answer":{"kind":"string","value":"The serial introduced the eponymous extraterrestrial villains that would quickly become the series' most popular and enduring monsters, and resulted in a major merchandising success for the BBC."},"true_contexts_wiki":{"kind":"string","value":"Terence Joseph Nation (8 August 19309 March 1997) was a Welsh screenwriter and novelist. Especially known for his work in British television science fiction, he created the Daleks and Davros for Doctor Who (1963), as well as the series Survivors (1975) and Blake's 7 (1978).\n\nNation first made his name as a comedy writer before becoming a prolific writer for drama, working on many of the most popular British series of the 1960s and 1970s such as The Avengers, The Baron, The Champions, Department S, The Persuaders! and The Saint. When Nation was commissioned to write The Daleks (1963) for Doctor Who, the villainous eponymous creatures established the series' early popularity. He later devised the recurring character of Davros in Genesis of the Daleks (1975). His series Survivors and Blake's 7 have been described as \"much-loved cult TV classics\".\n\nLife and career\n\nEarly years\nBorn in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales, Nation initially worked in comedy, entering the industry in 1955 after a (possibly apocryphal) incident in which Spike Milligan bought a sketch that he had written because he thought that Nation appeared hungry. During the 1950s, Nation worked with John Junkin and Johnny Speight for the writers' agency Associated London Scripts, where he collaborated on hundreds of radio plays for comedians such as Terry Scott, Eric Sykes, Harry Worth and Frankie Howerd.\n\nHis career break came in 1962, when he was commissioned to write material for Tony Hancockfirst for Hancock's unsuccessful series for Associated Television broadcast on ITV in 1963, and then his stage show. Although Nation accompanied Hancock as his chief screenwriter on tour in 1963, Hancock would regularly neglect Nation's scripts in favour of recycling his old material. Following an argument over this, Hancock either fired Nation, or Nation resigned (it is unclear which).\n\nDoctor Who\nPrior to his association with Hancock, Nation had declined an offer from scriptwriter David Whitaker to write for a new science-fiction programme that was entering production at the BBC; Whitaker had been impressed by a script that Nation had written for the ABC anthology series Out of this World. Now unemployed, and with a young family to support, Nation contacted Whitaker and accepted the offer, writing the second Doctor Who serial, The Daleks (also known as The Mutants and The Dead Planet). The serial introduced the eponymous extraterrestrial villains that would quickly become the series' most popular and enduring monsters, and resulted in a major merchandising success for the BBC.\n\nNation contributed further scripts to Doctor Who. In 1965, Nation and Dennis Spooner co-wrote the 12-part serial The Daleks' Master Plan, after which Nation, who still held the copyright to the Daleks, attempted to launch a Dalek spin-off TV series in the United States. Various other Dalek tie-in material appeared, including comic strips in the children's weekly TV Century 21 and annuals; such material was frequently credited to Nation, even when written by others. Between 1966 and 1972, appearances by the Daleks in Doctor Who became less frequent and were written for the series by other authors.\n\nIn 1973, following an eight-year absence from scriptwriting for the series, Nation returned to writing for the Daleks on Doctor Who with the Third Doctor serial Planet of the Daleks. In 1998, readers of Doctor Who Magazine voted Nation's 1975 serial Genesis of the Daleks the greatest Doctor Who story of all time. In the story, Nation introduced the character of Davros, the creator of the Daleks, who went on to appear in further storylines. Nation also wrote two non-Dalek scripts for Doctor Who, The Keys of Marinus in 1964, which introduced the Voord, and The Android Invasion in 1975, which introduced the Kraals. Nation's final script for Doctor Who was Destiny of the Daleks, broadcast in 1979.\n\nHis work on Doctor Who was the subject of the documentary Terror Nation, a special feature on the BBC DVD release of Destiny of the Daleks.\n\nOut of the Unknown\nNation's first work on the science-fiction anthology series Out of the Unknown was scripting an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's short story The Fox and the Forest in 1965 for the show's debut series. It was about a 21st century couple taking a forbidden trip to Mexico in 1938, only to be followed by enforcers from the future. It is one of only two episodes from the first series to be considered lost, with only two photographs and the end titles known to exist.\n\nIn 1969, when the show began to be produced in colour, Nation granted permission for the Daleks to be used in the series three episode Get Off My Cloud, based on the story by Peter Phillips about a bed-bound science-fiction author who finds himself within one of his own fantasies after a mental breakdown. This would be the first time the Daleks had been shown in colour on television, although they had previously appeared in colour in the Peter Cushing films. Only production stills and low-quality audio extracts survive.\n\nSurvivors and Blake's 7\nHaving returned to writing for Doctor Who, the BBC commissioned Nation to create a new science-fiction drama series. First broadcast in 1975, Survivors is the post-apocalyptic story of the last humans on Earth after the world's population has been devastated by plague. Although the series was well received, Nation's creative vision conflicted with that of producer Terence Dudley, and the final two seasons were produced without Nation's involvement.\n\nMeanwhile, screenwriter Brian Clemens claimed that he had related the concept for Survivors to Nation in the late 1960s while they were working together on the final season of The Avengers, with Clemens claiming to have registered the Survivors concept with the Writers' Guild of Great Britain in 1965; Nation denied the allegations. Although the case was ultimately brought before the High Court, both sides withdrew from the proceedings after their legal costs mounted.\n\nThe production of Nation's next BBC creation, Blake's 7, experienced fewer problems. This series follows a group of criminals and political prisoners who are on the run from the evil \"Terran Federation\", piloting a stolen spaceship of unknown origin. Blake's 7 ran for four series from 1978 to 1981.\n\nAlthough Nation scripted the whole of the first series of Blake's 7, his creative influence subsequently declined in the following two series despite writing some key episodes, as script editor Chris Boucher exerted a greater influence on those seasons. Nation didn't write any episodes in the fourth series of Blake's 7. In the 1980s, Nation attempted, without success, to secure funding for a fifth season of Blake's 7. During the 1970s, Nation wrote a children's novel for his daughter Rebecca (after whom he named the character of Rebec in the 1973 Doctor Who serial Planet of the Daleks) titled Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet, as well as a novel based on Survivors.\n\nUnited States\nIn 1980, Nation moved to Los Angeles, where he developed programme ideas and worked for various production studios. Little of his work from this time was as successful as that of his earlier period in Britain. He wrote scripts for the TV series MacGyver (1985) and A Fine Romance (1989).\n\nDeath\nNation died from emphysema in Los Angeles on 9 March 1997, aged 66. Shortly before his death, he had been collaborating with actor Paul Darrow on another attempt to revive Blake's 7.\n\nWriting credits\n\nAwards and nominations\n\nIn 2013, Nation was commemorated with a blue plaque at the house in Cardiff where he was born.\n\nBibliography\nSurvivors (1976, )\nRebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet (1978, )\n\nReferences\n\nFurther reading\n Turner, Alwyn W.: The Man Who Invented The Daleks: The Strange Worlds of Terry Nation, London: Aurum Press, 2011, .\n\nExternal links\n \n \n \n Terry Nation profile, Museum of Broadcast Communications, museum.tv; accessed 26 December 2014.\n\n1930 births\n1997 deaths\n20th-century British novelists\nBBC people\nBritish male novelists\nBritish male screenwriters\nWelsh radio writers\nBritish science fiction writers\nDeaths from emphysema\nWelsh comedy writers\nWelsh expatriates in the United States\nWelsh novelists\nWelsh science fiction writers\nWelsh screenwriters\nWelsh television writers\nWriters from Cardiff\nPeople from Llandaff\n20th-century British male writers\nBritish male television writers\n20th-century British screenwriters"},"extractive":{"kind":"string","value":"true"},"retrieved_contexts":{"kind":"list like","value":["Methodios II (Greek: Μεθόδιος Β΄) (? – 1240) served as Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople (in exile due to the Fourth Crusade) for three months in 1240, when he died. He succeeded Germanus II.\n\nBefore he was elected Patriarch, he was abbot of the Hyacinth Monastery in Nicaea. His short patriarchy did not let him make important contributions.\n\nSources \n Οικουμενικό Πατριαρχείο\n «Νεώτερον Εγκυκλοπαιδικόν Λεξικόν Ηλίου» vol. 13, p. 172\n\n1240 deaths\n13th-century patriarchs of Constantinople\nPeople of the Empire of Nicaea","Back on Track is a gospel-oriented 1991 album by the DeBarge Family including two members of the soul music group DeBarge, released on Truth Ministries. The album consisted of contributions from various members of the DeBarge family. Sales were poor because of limited promotion from the small label, and because El DeBarge did not appear on the album.\n\nTrack listing\n\"We Need Your Love\"\n\"Coming Home\"\n\"You Can Make It\"\n\"Close to You\"\n\"G.O.O.D. Times\"\n\"Trust in Jesus\"\n\"Ninety-Nine and a Half (Won't Do)\"\n\"Shine\"\n\"He Will Make a Way\"\n\nReferences \n\n1991 albums"],"string":"[\n \"Methodios II (Greek: Μεθόδιος Β΄) (? – 1240) served as Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople (in exile due to the Fourth Crusade) for three months in 1240, when he died. He succeeded Germanus II.\\n\\nBefore he was elected Patriarch, he was abbot of the Hyacinth Monastery in Nicaea. His short patriarchy did not let him make important contributions.\\n\\nSources \\n Οικουμενικό Πατριαρχείο\\n «Νεώτερον Εγκυκλοπαιδικόν Λεξικόν Ηλίου» vol. 13, p. 172\\n\\n1240 deaths\\n13th-century patriarchs of Constantinople\\nPeople of the Empire of Nicaea\",\n \"Back on Track is a gospel-oriented 1991 album by the DeBarge Family including two members of the soul music group DeBarge, released on Truth Ministries. The album consisted of contributions from various members of the DeBarge family. Sales were poor because of limited promotion from the small label, and because El DeBarge did not appear on the album.\\n\\nTrack listing\\n\\\"We Need Your Love\\\"\\n\\\"Coming Home\\\"\\n\\\"You Can Make It\\\"\\n\\\"Close to You\\\"\\n\\\"G.O.O.D. Times\\\"\\n\\\"Trust in Jesus\\\"\\n\\\"Ninety-Nine and a Half (Won't Do)\\\"\\n\\\"Shine\\\"\\n\\\"He Will Make a Way\\\"\\n\\nReferences \\n\\n1991 albums\"\n]"},"chunked_article":{"kind":"list like","value":["Terence Joseph Nation (8 August 19309 March 1997) was a Welsh screenwriter and novelist. Especially known for his work in British television science fiction, he created the Daleks and Davros for Doctor Who (1963), as well as the series Survivors (1975) and Blake's 7 (1978).","Especially known for his work in British television science fiction, he created the Daleks and Davros for Doctor Who (1963), as well as the series Survivors (1975) and Blake's 7 (1978). Nation first made his name as a comedy writer before becoming a prolific writer for drama, working on many of the most popular British series of the 1960s and 1970s such as The Avengers, The Baron, The Champions, Department S, The Persuaders! and The Saint.","and The Saint. and The Saint. When Nation was commissioned to write The Daleks (1963) for Doctor Who, the villainous eponymous creatures established the series' early popularity. He later devised the recurring character of Davros in Genesis of the Daleks (1975). His series Survivors and Blake's 7 have been described as \"much-loved cult TV classics\".","His series Survivors and Blake's 7 have been described as \"much-loved cult TV classics\". Life and career Early years Born in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales, Nation initially worked in comedy, entering the industry in 1955 after a (possibly apocryphal) incident in which Spike Milligan bought a sketch that he had written because he thought that Nation appeared hungry.","Life and career Early years Born in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales, Nation initially worked in comedy, entering the industry in 1955 after a (possibly apocryphal) incident in which Spike Milligan bought a sketch that he had written because he thought that Nation appeared hungry. During the 1950s, Nation worked with John Junkin and Johnny Speight for the writers' agency Associated London Scripts, where he collaborated on hundreds of radio plays for comedians such as Terry Scott, Eric Sykes, Harry Worth and Frankie Howerd.","During the 1950s, Nation worked with John Junkin and Johnny Speight for the writers' agency Associated London Scripts, where he collaborated on hundreds of radio plays for comedians such as Terry Scott, Eric Sykes, Harry Worth and Frankie Howerd. His career break came in 1962, when he was commissioned to write material for Tony Hancockfirst for Hancock's unsuccessful series for Associated Television broadcast on ITV in 1963, and then his stage show.","His career break came in 1962, when he was commissioned to write material for Tony Hancockfirst for Hancock's unsuccessful series for Associated Television broadcast on ITV in 1963, and then his stage show. Although Nation accompanied Hancock as his chief screenwriter on tour in 1963, Hancock would regularly neglect Nation's scripts in favour of recycling his old material. Following an argument over this, Hancock either fired Nation, or Nation resigned (it is unclear which).","Following an argument over this, Hancock either fired Nation, or Nation resigned (it is unclear which). Doctor Who Prior to his association with Hancock, Nation had declined an offer from scriptwriter David Whitaker to write for a new science-fiction programme that was entering production at the BBC; Whitaker had been impressed by a script that Nation had written for the ABC anthology series Out of this World.","Doctor Who Prior to his association with Hancock, Nation had declined an offer from scriptwriter David Whitaker to write for a new science-fiction programme that was entering production at the BBC; Whitaker had been impressed by a script that Nation had written for the ABC anthology series Out of this World. Now unemployed, and with a young family to support, Nation contacted Whitaker and accepted the offer, writing the second Doctor Who serial, The Daleks (also known as The Mutants and The Dead Planet).","Now unemployed, and with a young family to support, Nation contacted Whitaker and accepted the offer, writing the second Doctor Who serial, The Daleks (also known as The Mutants and The Dead Planet). The serial introduced the eponymous extraterrestrial villains that would quickly become the series' most popular and enduring monsters, and resulted in a major merchandising success for the BBC. Nation contributed further scripts to Doctor Who.","Nation contributed further scripts to Doctor Who. Nation contributed further scripts to Doctor Who. In 1965, Nation and Dennis Spooner co-wrote the 12-part serial The Daleks' Master Plan, after which Nation, who still held the copyright to the Daleks, attempted to launch a Dalek spin-off TV series in the United States. Various other Dalek tie-in material appeared, including comic strips in the children's weekly TV Century 21 and annuals; such material was frequently credited to Nation, even when written by others.","Various other Dalek tie-in material appeared, including comic strips in the children's weekly TV Century 21 and annuals; such material was frequently credited to Nation, even when written by others. Between 1966 and 1972, appearances by the Daleks in Doctor Who became less frequent and were written for the series by other authors. In 1973, following an eight-year absence from scriptwriting for the series, Nation returned to writing for the Daleks on Doctor Who with the Third Doctor serial Planet of the Daleks.","In 1973, following an eight-year absence from scriptwriting for the series, Nation returned to writing for the Daleks on Doctor Who with the Third Doctor serial Planet of the Daleks. In 1998, readers of Doctor Who Magazine voted Nation's 1975 serial Genesis of the Daleks the greatest Doctor Who story of all time. In the story, Nation introduced the character of Davros, the creator of the Daleks, who went on to appear in further storylines.","In the story, Nation introduced the character of Davros, the creator of the Daleks, who went on to appear in further storylines. Nation also wrote two non-Dalek scripts for Doctor Who, The Keys of Marinus in 1964, which introduced the Voord, and The Android Invasion in 1975, which introduced the Kraals. Nation's final script for Doctor Who was Destiny of the Daleks, broadcast in 1979.","Nation's final script for Doctor Who was Destiny of the Daleks, broadcast in 1979. His work on Doctor Who was the subject of the documentary Terror Nation, a special feature on the BBC DVD release of Destiny of the Daleks. Out of the Unknown Nation's first work on the science-fiction anthology series Out of the Unknown was scripting an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's short story The Fox and the Forest in 1965 for the show's debut series.","Out of the Unknown Nation's first work on the science-fiction anthology series Out of the Unknown was scripting an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's short story The Fox and the Forest in 1965 for the show's debut series. It was about a 21st century couple taking a forbidden trip to Mexico in 1938, only to be followed by enforcers from the future. It is one of only two episodes from the first series to be considered lost, with only two photographs and the end titles known to exist.","It is one of only two episodes from the first series to be considered lost, with only two photographs and the end titles known to exist. In 1969, when the show began to be produced in colour, Nation granted permission for the Daleks to be used in the series three episode Get Off My Cloud, based on the story by Peter Phillips about a bed-bound science-fiction author who finds himself within one of his own fantasies after a mental breakdown.","In 1969, when the show began to be produced in colour, Nation granted permission for the Daleks to be used in the series three episode Get Off My Cloud, based on the story by Peter Phillips about a bed-bound science-fiction author who finds himself within one of his own fantasies after a mental breakdown. This would be the first time the Daleks had been shown in colour on television, although they had previously appeared in colour in the Peter Cushing films. Only production stills and low-quality audio extracts survive.","Only production stills and low-quality audio extracts survive. Only production stills and low-quality audio extracts survive. Survivors and Blake's 7 Having returned to writing for Doctor Who, the BBC commissioned Nation to create a new science-fiction drama series. First broadcast in 1975, Survivors is the post-apocalyptic story of the last humans on Earth after the world's population has been devastated by plague.","First broadcast in 1975, Survivors is the post-apocalyptic story of the last humans on Earth after the world's population has been devastated by plague. Although the series was well received, Nation's creative vision conflicted with that of producer Terence Dudley, and the final two seasons were produced without Nation's involvement.","Although the series was well received, Nation's creative vision conflicted with that of producer Terence Dudley, and the final two seasons were produced without Nation's involvement. Meanwhile, screenwriter Brian Clemens claimed that he had related the concept for Survivors to Nation in the late 1960s while they were working together on the final season of The Avengers, with Clemens claiming to have registered the Survivors concept with the Writers' Guild of Great Britain in 1965; Nation denied the allegations.","Meanwhile, screenwriter Brian Clemens claimed that he had related the concept for Survivors to Nation in the late 1960s while they were working together on the final season of The Avengers, with Clemens claiming to have registered the Survivors concept with the Writers' Guild of Great Britain in 1965; Nation denied the allegations. Although the case was ultimately brought before the High Court, both sides withdrew from the proceedings after their legal costs mounted. The production of Nation's next BBC creation, Blake's 7, experienced fewer problems.","The production of Nation's next BBC creation, Blake's 7, experienced fewer problems. This series follows a group of criminals and political prisoners who are on the run from the evil \"Terran Federation\", piloting a stolen spaceship of unknown origin. Blake's 7 ran for four series from 1978 to 1981.","Blake's 7 ran for four series from 1978 to 1981. Although Nation scripted the whole of the first series of Blake's 7, his creative influence subsequently declined in the following two series despite writing some key episodes, as script editor Chris Boucher exerted a greater influence on those seasons. Nation didn't write any episodes in the fourth series of Blake's 7. In the 1980s, Nation attempted, without success, to secure funding for a fifth season of Blake's 7.","In the 1980s, Nation attempted, without success, to secure funding for a fifth season of Blake's 7. During the 1970s, Nation wrote a children's novel for his daughter Rebecca (after whom he named the character of Rebec in the 1973 Doctor Who serial Planet of the Daleks) titled Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet, as well as a novel based on Survivors. United States In 1980, Nation moved to Los Angeles, where he developed programme ideas and worked for various production studios.","United States In 1980, Nation moved to Los Angeles, where he developed programme ideas and worked for various production studios. Little of his work from this time was as successful as that of his earlier period in Britain. He wrote scripts for the TV series MacGyver (1985) and A Fine Romance (1989). Death Nation died from emphysema in Los Angeles on 9 March 1997, aged 66. Shortly before his death, he had been collaborating with actor Paul Darrow on another attempt to revive Blake's 7.","Shortly before his death, he had been collaborating with actor Paul Darrow on another attempt to revive Blake's 7. Writing credits Awards and nominations In 2013, Nation was commemorated with a blue plaque at the house in Cardiff where he was born. Bibliography Survivors (1976, ) Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet (1978, ) References Further reading Turner, Alwyn W.: The Man Who Invented The Daleks: The Strange Worlds of Terry Nation, London: Aurum Press, 2011, .","Bibliography Survivors (1976, ) Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet (1978, ) References Further reading Turner, Alwyn W.: The Man Who Invented The Daleks: The Strange Worlds of Terry Nation, London: Aurum Press, 2011, . External links Terry Nation profile, Museum of Broadcast Communications, museum.tv; accessed 26 December 2014.","External links Terry Nation profile, Museum of Broadcast Communications, museum.tv; accessed 26 December 2014. 1930 births 1997 deaths 20th-century British novelists BBC people British male novelists British male screenwriters Welsh radio writers British science fiction writers Deaths from emphysema Welsh comedy writers Welsh expatriates in the United States Welsh novelists Welsh science fiction writers Welsh screenwriters Welsh television writers Writers from Cardiff People from Llandaff 20th-century British male writers British male television writers 20th-century British screenwriters"],"string":"[\n \"Terence Joseph Nation (8 August 19309 March 1997) was a Welsh screenwriter and novelist. Especially known for his work in British television science fiction, he created the Daleks and Davros for Doctor Who (1963), as well as the series Survivors (1975) and Blake's 7 (1978).\",\n \"Especially known for his work in British television science fiction, he created the Daleks and Davros for Doctor Who (1963), as well as the series Survivors (1975) and Blake's 7 (1978). Nation first made his name as a comedy writer before becoming a prolific writer for drama, working on many of the most popular British series of the 1960s and 1970s such as The Avengers, The Baron, The Champions, Department S, The Persuaders! and The Saint.\",\n \"and The Saint. and The Saint. When Nation was commissioned to write The Daleks (1963) for Doctor Who, the villainous eponymous creatures established the series' early popularity. He later devised the recurring character of Davros in Genesis of the Daleks (1975). His series Survivors and Blake's 7 have been described as \\\"much-loved cult TV classics\\\".\",\n \"His series Survivors and Blake's 7 have been described as \\\"much-loved cult TV classics\\\". Life and career Early years Born in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales, Nation initially worked in comedy, entering the industry in 1955 after a (possibly apocryphal) incident in which Spike Milligan bought a sketch that he had written because he thought that Nation appeared hungry.\",\n \"Life and career Early years Born in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales, Nation initially worked in comedy, entering the industry in 1955 after a (possibly apocryphal) incident in which Spike Milligan bought a sketch that he had written because he thought that Nation appeared hungry. During the 1950s, Nation worked with John Junkin and Johnny Speight for the writers' agency Associated London Scripts, where he collaborated on hundreds of radio plays for comedians such as Terry Scott, Eric Sykes, Harry Worth and Frankie Howerd.\",\n \"During the 1950s, Nation worked with John Junkin and Johnny Speight for the writers' agency Associated London Scripts, where he collaborated on hundreds of radio plays for comedians such as Terry Scott, Eric Sykes, Harry Worth and Frankie Howerd. His career break came in 1962, when he was commissioned to write material for Tony Hancockfirst for Hancock's unsuccessful series for Associated Television broadcast on ITV in 1963, and then his stage show.\",\n \"His career break came in 1962, when he was commissioned to write material for Tony Hancockfirst for Hancock's unsuccessful series for Associated Television broadcast on ITV in 1963, and then his stage show. Although Nation accompanied Hancock as his chief screenwriter on tour in 1963, Hancock would regularly neglect Nation's scripts in favour of recycling his old material. Following an argument over this, Hancock either fired Nation, or Nation resigned (it is unclear which).\",\n \"Following an argument over this, Hancock either fired Nation, or Nation resigned (it is unclear which). Doctor Who Prior to his association with Hancock, Nation had declined an offer from scriptwriter David Whitaker to write for a new science-fiction programme that was entering production at the BBC; Whitaker had been impressed by a script that Nation had written for the ABC anthology series Out of this World.\",\n \"Doctor Who Prior to his association with Hancock, Nation had declined an offer from scriptwriter David Whitaker to write for a new science-fiction programme that was entering production at the BBC; Whitaker had been impressed by a script that Nation had written for the ABC anthology series Out of this World. Now unemployed, and with a young family to support, Nation contacted Whitaker and accepted the offer, writing the second Doctor Who serial, The Daleks (also known as The Mutants and The Dead Planet).\",\n \"Now unemployed, and with a young family to support, Nation contacted Whitaker and accepted the offer, writing the second Doctor Who serial, The Daleks (also known as The Mutants and The Dead Planet). The serial introduced the eponymous extraterrestrial villains that would quickly become the series' most popular and enduring monsters, and resulted in a major merchandising success for the BBC. Nation contributed further scripts to Doctor Who.\",\n \"Nation contributed further scripts to Doctor Who. Nation contributed further scripts to Doctor Who. In 1965, Nation and Dennis Spooner co-wrote the 12-part serial The Daleks' Master Plan, after which Nation, who still held the copyright to the Daleks, attempted to launch a Dalek spin-off TV series in the United States. Various other Dalek tie-in material appeared, including comic strips in the children's weekly TV Century 21 and annuals; such material was frequently credited to Nation, even when written by others.\",\n \"Various other Dalek tie-in material appeared, including comic strips in the children's weekly TV Century 21 and annuals; such material was frequently credited to Nation, even when written by others. Between 1966 and 1972, appearances by the Daleks in Doctor Who became less frequent and were written for the series by other authors. In 1973, following an eight-year absence from scriptwriting for the series, Nation returned to writing for the Daleks on Doctor Who with the Third Doctor serial Planet of the Daleks.\",\n \"In 1973, following an eight-year absence from scriptwriting for the series, Nation returned to writing for the Daleks on Doctor Who with the Third Doctor serial Planet of the Daleks. In 1998, readers of Doctor Who Magazine voted Nation's 1975 serial Genesis of the Daleks the greatest Doctor Who story of all time. In the story, Nation introduced the character of Davros, the creator of the Daleks, who went on to appear in further storylines.\",\n \"In the story, Nation introduced the character of Davros, the creator of the Daleks, who went on to appear in further storylines. Nation also wrote two non-Dalek scripts for Doctor Who, The Keys of Marinus in 1964, which introduced the Voord, and The Android Invasion in 1975, which introduced the Kraals. Nation's final script for Doctor Who was Destiny of the Daleks, broadcast in 1979.\",\n \"Nation's final script for Doctor Who was Destiny of the Daleks, broadcast in 1979. His work on Doctor Who was the subject of the documentary Terror Nation, a special feature on the BBC DVD release of Destiny of the Daleks. Out of the Unknown Nation's first work on the science-fiction anthology series Out of the Unknown was scripting an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's short story The Fox and the Forest in 1965 for the show's debut series.\",\n \"Out of the Unknown Nation's first work on the science-fiction anthology series Out of the Unknown was scripting an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's short story The Fox and the Forest in 1965 for the show's debut series. It was about a 21st century couple taking a forbidden trip to Mexico in 1938, only to be followed by enforcers from the future. It is one of only two episodes from the first series to be considered lost, with only two photographs and the end titles known to exist.\",\n \"It is one of only two episodes from the first series to be considered lost, with only two photographs and the end titles known to exist. In 1969, when the show began to be produced in colour, Nation granted permission for the Daleks to be used in the series three episode Get Off My Cloud, based on the story by Peter Phillips about a bed-bound science-fiction author who finds himself within one of his own fantasies after a mental breakdown.\",\n \"In 1969, when the show began to be produced in colour, Nation granted permission for the Daleks to be used in the series three episode Get Off My Cloud, based on the story by Peter Phillips about a bed-bound science-fiction author who finds himself within one of his own fantasies after a mental breakdown. This would be the first time the Daleks had been shown in colour on television, although they had previously appeared in colour in the Peter Cushing films. Only production stills and low-quality audio extracts survive.\",\n \"Only production stills and low-quality audio extracts survive. Only production stills and low-quality audio extracts survive. Survivors and Blake's 7 Having returned to writing for Doctor Who, the BBC commissioned Nation to create a new science-fiction drama series. First broadcast in 1975, Survivors is the post-apocalyptic story of the last humans on Earth after the world's population has been devastated by plague.\",\n \"First broadcast in 1975, Survivors is the post-apocalyptic story of the last humans on Earth after the world's population has been devastated by plague. Although the series was well received, Nation's creative vision conflicted with that of producer Terence Dudley, and the final two seasons were produced without Nation's involvement.\",\n \"Although the series was well received, Nation's creative vision conflicted with that of producer Terence Dudley, and the final two seasons were produced without Nation's involvement. Meanwhile, screenwriter Brian Clemens claimed that he had related the concept for Survivors to Nation in the late 1960s while they were working together on the final season of The Avengers, with Clemens claiming to have registered the Survivors concept with the Writers' Guild of Great Britain in 1965; Nation denied the allegations.\",\n \"Meanwhile, screenwriter Brian Clemens claimed that he had related the concept for Survivors to Nation in the late 1960s while they were working together on the final season of The Avengers, with Clemens claiming to have registered the Survivors concept with the Writers' Guild of Great Britain in 1965; Nation denied the allegations. Although the case was ultimately brought before the High Court, both sides withdrew from the proceedings after their legal costs mounted. The production of Nation's next BBC creation, Blake's 7, experienced fewer problems.\",\n \"The production of Nation's next BBC creation, Blake's 7, experienced fewer problems. This series follows a group of criminals and political prisoners who are on the run from the evil \\\"Terran Federation\\\", piloting a stolen spaceship of unknown origin. Blake's 7 ran for four series from 1978 to 1981.\",\n \"Blake's 7 ran for four series from 1978 to 1981. Although Nation scripted the whole of the first series of Blake's 7, his creative influence subsequently declined in the following two series despite writing some key episodes, as script editor Chris Boucher exerted a greater influence on those seasons. Nation didn't write any episodes in the fourth series of Blake's 7. In the 1980s, Nation attempted, without success, to secure funding for a fifth season of Blake's 7.\",\n \"In the 1980s, Nation attempted, without success, to secure funding for a fifth season of Blake's 7. During the 1970s, Nation wrote a children's novel for his daughter Rebecca (after whom he named the character of Rebec in the 1973 Doctor Who serial Planet of the Daleks) titled Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet, as well as a novel based on Survivors. United States In 1980, Nation moved to Los Angeles, where he developed programme ideas and worked for various production studios.\",\n \"United States In 1980, Nation moved to Los Angeles, where he developed programme ideas and worked for various production studios. Little of his work from this time was as successful as that of his earlier period in Britain. He wrote scripts for the TV series MacGyver (1985) and A Fine Romance (1989). Death Nation died from emphysema in Los Angeles on 9 March 1997, aged 66. Shortly before his death, he had been collaborating with actor Paul Darrow on another attempt to revive Blake's 7.\",\n \"Shortly before his death, he had been collaborating with actor Paul Darrow on another attempt to revive Blake's 7. Writing credits Awards and nominations In 2013, Nation was commemorated with a blue plaque at the house in Cardiff where he was born. Bibliography Survivors (1976, ) Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet (1978, ) References Further reading Turner, Alwyn W.: The Man Who Invented The Daleks: The Strange Worlds of Terry Nation, London: Aurum Press, 2011, .\",\n \"Bibliography Survivors (1976, ) Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet (1978, ) References Further reading Turner, Alwyn W.: The Man Who Invented The Daleks: The Strange Worlds of Terry Nation, London: Aurum Press, 2011, . External links Terry Nation profile, Museum of Broadcast Communications, museum.tv; accessed 26 December 2014.\",\n \"External links Terry Nation profile, Museum of Broadcast Communications, museum.tv; accessed 26 December 2014. 1930 births 1997 deaths 20th-century British novelists BBC people British male novelists British male screenwriters Welsh radio writers British science fiction writers Deaths from emphysema Welsh comedy writers Welsh expatriates in the United States Welsh novelists Welsh science fiction writers Welsh screenwriters Welsh television writers Writers from Cardiff People from Llandaff 20th-century British male writers British male television writers 20th-century British screenwriters\"\n]"}}},{"rowIdx":376,"cells":{"History":{"kind":"list like","value":["Terry Nation","Doctor Who","What work did he do on Doctor Who?","writing the second Doctor Who serial,","What contributions did he make?","The serial introduced the eponymous extraterrestrial villains that would quickly become the series' most popular and enduring monsters, and resulted in a major merchandising success for the BBC."],"string":"[\n \"Terry Nation\",\n \"Doctor Who\",\n \"What work did he do on Doctor Who?\",\n \"writing the second Doctor Who serial,\",\n \"What contributions did he make?\",\n \"The serial introduced the eponymous extraterrestrial villains that would quickly become the series' most popular and enduring monsters, and resulted in a major merchandising success for the BBC.\"\n]"},"QuAC_dialog_id":{"kind":"string","value":"C_27cf8f62e352479f9e87e95654df4e3f_1"},"Question":{"kind":"string","value":"What was the name of these villains?"},"Question_no":{"kind":"number","value":3,"string":"3"},"Rewrite":{"kind":"string","value":"What was the name of eponymous extraterrestrial villains?"},"true_page_title":{"kind":"string","value":"Terry Nation"},"true_contexts":{"kind":"string","value":"Prior to this, Nation had declined an offer from scriptwriter David Whitaker to write for a new science-fiction programme that was entering production at the BBC; Whitaker had been impressed by a script that Nation had written for the ABC anthology series Out of this World. Now unemployed, and with a young family to support, Nation contacted Whitaker and accepted the offer, writing the second Doctor Who serial, The Daleks (also known as The Mutants and The Dead Planet). The serial introduced the eponymous extraterrestrial villains that would quickly become the series' most popular and enduring monsters, and resulted in a major merchandising success for the BBC. Having risen in the public consciousness, Nation went on to contribute further scripts to Doctor Who. In 1965, Nation and Dennis Spooner co-wrote the 12-part serial The Daleks' Master Plan, after which Nation, who still held the copyright to the Daleks, attempted to launch a Dalek spin-off TV series in the United States. Various other Dalek tie-in material appeared, including comic strips in the children's weekly TV Century 21 and annuals; such material was frequently credited to Nation, even when written by others. Between 1966 and 1972, appearances by the Daleks in Doctor Who became less frequent and were written for the series by other authors. In 1973, following an eight-year absence from scriptwriting for the series, Nation returned to writing for the Daleks on Doctor Who with the Third Doctor serial Planet of the Daleks. In 1998, readers of Doctor Who Magazine voted Nation's 1975 serial Genesis of the Daleks the greatest Doctor Who story of all time. In the story, Nation introduced the character of Davros, the creator of the Daleks, who went on to appear in further storylines. Nation also wrote two non-Dalek scripts for Doctor Who, The Keys of Marinus in 1964, which introduced the Voord and The Android Invasion in 1975, which introduced the Kraal. During this time, Nation also worked in commercial TV, contributing scripts to series such as The Avengers, The Baron, The Champions, Department S, The Persuaders! and The Saint. Nation's work on Doctor Who was the subject of the documentary Terror Nation, a special feature on the BBC DVD release of the serial Destiny of the Daleks. CANNOTANSWER"},"answer":{"kind":"string","value":"The Mutants"},"true_contexts_wiki":{"kind":"string","value":"Terence Joseph Nation (8 August 19309 March 1997) was a Welsh screenwriter and novelist. Especially known for his work in British television science fiction, he created the Daleks and Davros for Doctor Who (1963), as well as the series Survivors (1975) and Blake's 7 (1978).\n\nNation first made his name as a comedy writer before becoming a prolific writer for drama, working on many of the most popular British series of the 1960s and 1970s such as The Avengers, The Baron, The Champions, Department S, The Persuaders! and The Saint. When Nation was commissioned to write The Daleks (1963) for Doctor Who, the villainous eponymous creatures established the series' early popularity. He later devised the recurring character of Davros in Genesis of the Daleks (1975). His series Survivors and Blake's 7 have been described as \"much-loved cult TV classics\".\n\nLife and career\n\nEarly years\nBorn in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales, Nation initially worked in comedy, entering the industry in 1955 after a (possibly apocryphal) incident in which Spike Milligan bought a sketch that he had written because he thought that Nation appeared hungry. During the 1950s, Nation worked with John Junkin and Johnny Speight for the writers' agency Associated London Scripts, where he collaborated on hundreds of radio plays for comedians such as Terry Scott, Eric Sykes, Harry Worth and Frankie Howerd.\n\nHis career break came in 1962, when he was commissioned to write material for Tony Hancockfirst for Hancock's unsuccessful series for Associated Television broadcast on ITV in 1963, and then his stage show. Although Nation accompanied Hancock as his chief screenwriter on tour in 1963, Hancock would regularly neglect Nation's scripts in favour of recycling his old material. Following an argument over this, Hancock either fired Nation, or Nation resigned (it is unclear which).\n\nDoctor Who\nPrior to his association with Hancock, Nation had declined an offer from scriptwriter David Whitaker to write for a new science-fiction programme that was entering production at the BBC; Whitaker had been impressed by a script that Nation had written for the ABC anthology series Out of this World. Now unemployed, and with a young family to support, Nation contacted Whitaker and accepted the offer, writing the second Doctor Who serial, The Daleks (also known as The Mutants and The Dead Planet). The serial introduced the eponymous extraterrestrial villains that would quickly become the series' most popular and enduring monsters, and resulted in a major merchandising success for the BBC.\n\nNation contributed further scripts to Doctor Who. In 1965, Nation and Dennis Spooner co-wrote the 12-part serial The Daleks' Master Plan, after which Nation, who still held the copyright to the Daleks, attempted to launch a Dalek spin-off TV series in the United States. Various other Dalek tie-in material appeared, including comic strips in the children's weekly TV Century 21 and annuals; such material was frequently credited to Nation, even when written by others. Between 1966 and 1972, appearances by the Daleks in Doctor Who became less frequent and were written for the series by other authors.\n\nIn 1973, following an eight-year absence from scriptwriting for the series, Nation returned to writing for the Daleks on Doctor Who with the Third Doctor serial Planet of the Daleks. In 1998, readers of Doctor Who Magazine voted Nation's 1975 serial Genesis of the Daleks the greatest Doctor Who story of all time. In the story, Nation introduced the character of Davros, the creator of the Daleks, who went on to appear in further storylines. Nation also wrote two non-Dalek scripts for Doctor Who, The Keys of Marinus in 1964, which introduced the Voord, and The Android Invasion in 1975, which introduced the Kraals. Nation's final script for Doctor Who was Destiny of the Daleks, broadcast in 1979.\n\nHis work on Doctor Who was the subject of the documentary Terror Nation, a special feature on the BBC DVD release of Destiny of the Daleks.\n\nOut of the Unknown\nNation's first work on the science-fiction anthology series Out of the Unknown was scripting an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's short story The Fox and the Forest in 1965 for the show's debut series. It was about a 21st century couple taking a forbidden trip to Mexico in 1938, only to be followed by enforcers from the future. It is one of only two episodes from the first series to be considered lost, with only two photographs and the end titles known to exist.\n\nIn 1969, when the show began to be produced in colour, Nation granted permission for the Daleks to be used in the series three episode Get Off My Cloud, based on the story by Peter Phillips about a bed-bound science-fiction author who finds himself within one of his own fantasies after a mental breakdown. This would be the first time the Daleks had been shown in colour on television, although they had previously appeared in colour in the Peter Cushing films. Only production stills and low-quality audio extracts survive.\n\nSurvivors and Blake's 7\nHaving returned to writing for Doctor Who, the BBC commissioned Nation to create a new science-fiction drama series. First broadcast in 1975, Survivors is the post-apocalyptic story of the last humans on Earth after the world's population has been devastated by plague. Although the series was well received, Nation's creative vision conflicted with that of producer Terence Dudley, and the final two seasons were produced without Nation's involvement.\n\nMeanwhile, screenwriter Brian Clemens claimed that he had related the concept for Survivors to Nation in the late 1960s while they were working together on the final season of The Avengers, with Clemens claiming to have registered the Survivors concept with the Writers' Guild of Great Britain in 1965; Nation denied the allegations. Although the case was ultimately brought before the High Court, both sides withdrew from the proceedings after their legal costs mounted.\n\nThe production of Nation's next BBC creation, Blake's 7, experienced fewer problems. This series follows a group of criminals and political prisoners who are on the run from the evil \"Terran Federation\", piloting a stolen spaceship of unknown origin. Blake's 7 ran for four series from 1978 to 1981.\n\nAlthough Nation scripted the whole of the first series of Blake's 7, his creative influence subsequently declined in the following two series despite writing some key episodes, as script editor Chris Boucher exerted a greater influence on those seasons. Nation didn't write any episodes in the fourth series of Blake's 7. In the 1980s, Nation attempted, without success, to secure funding for a fifth season of Blake's 7. During the 1970s, Nation wrote a children's novel for his daughter Rebecca (after whom he named the character of Rebec in the 1973 Doctor Who serial Planet of the Daleks) titled Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet, as well as a novel based on Survivors.\n\nUnited States\nIn 1980, Nation moved to Los Angeles, where he developed programme ideas and worked for various production studios. Little of his work from this time was as successful as that of his earlier period in Britain. He wrote scripts for the TV series MacGyver (1985) and A Fine Romance (1989).\n\nDeath\nNation died from emphysema in Los Angeles on 9 March 1997, aged 66. Shortly before his death, he had been collaborating with actor Paul Darrow on another attempt to revive Blake's 7.\n\nWriting credits\n\nAwards and nominations\n\nIn 2013, Nation was commemorated with a blue plaque at the house in Cardiff where he was born.\n\nBibliography\nSurvivors (1976, )\nRebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet (1978, )\n\nReferences\n\nFurther reading\n Turner, Alwyn W.: The Man Who Invented The Daleks: The Strange Worlds of Terry Nation, London: Aurum Press, 2011, .\n\nExternal links\n \n \n \n Terry Nation profile, Museum of Broadcast Communications, museum.tv; accessed 26 December 2014.\n\n1930 births\n1997 deaths\n20th-century British novelists\nBBC people\nBritish male novelists\nBritish male screenwriters\nWelsh radio writers\nBritish science fiction writers\nDeaths from emphysema\nWelsh comedy writers\nWelsh expatriates in the United States\nWelsh novelists\nWelsh science fiction writers\nWelsh screenwriters\nWelsh television writers\nWriters from Cardiff\nPeople from Llandaff\n20th-century British male writers\nBritish male television writers\n20th-century British screenwriters"},"extractive":{"kind":"string","value":"true"},"retrieved_contexts":{"kind":"list like","value":["The following is a list of Dick Tracy villain debuts. One of the appeals of the Dick Tracy comic strip is its unique villains. Many had bizarre deformities, including the Blank (1937), Little Face Finny (1941), Pruneface (1943), the Brow (1944), Shaky (1945), and Pearshape (1949). Chester Gould wrote these villains for his reader's righteous condemnation, without exploring moral gray areas. This was emphasized by depicting the heroes as attractive and the villains as grotesque. Other notable villains include Big Boy (1931), Breathless Mahoney (1931) and Flattop (1943).\n\n1930s\n\n1940s\n\n1950s\n\n1960s\n\n1970s\n\n1980s\n\n1990s\n\n2000s\n\n2010s\n\n2020s\n\nReferences\n\nSources\n \n \n \n\nDick Tracy characters\nComic strip villains\nDick Tracy\nDick Tracy","Midnight Rose was a name taken by a group of United Kingdom science fiction and fantasy writers for a series of shared world anthologies published by the Penguin Books imprint Roc. The group's \"core members\" were Alex Stewart, Roz Kaveney, Neil Gaiman and Mary Gentle. Contributors to individual anthologies included Marcus Rowland, Storm Constantine, Kim Newman, Charles Stross, Stephen Baxter, Colin Greenland, Graham Higgins, Paul Cornell and David Langford, among others.\n\nThe anthologies were:\n\nTemps\nTwo volumes of superhero pastiches, set in a world where the United Kingdom and European Union demand registry of superhuman talents, whereupon the Talented are expected to be permanently \"on call\" as part-time superheroes, in exchange for a stipend. The popular perception of the British Civil Service is played up, with registering as a \"Temp\" being strangely similar to applying for Jobseeker's Allowance or other benefits. The two books were Temps (1991) and EuroTemps (1992).\n\nThe Weerde\nThe concept behind The Weerde was that shapeshifting creatures had been living alongside humanity for millennia, mostly concealing themselves, but occasionally giving rise to legends of supernatural monsters. The books in this series were The Weerde Book One (1992) and The Weerde Book Two: Book of the Ancients (1993).\n\nVillains!\nVillains! (1992) was a parody of heroic fantasy. Like Gentle's later Grunts, it looked at the typical fantasy world from the point of view of the villains.\n\nSeveral of the stories from these anthologies have subsequently appeared in other collections, or have been put on line by their authors:\n\nRoz Kaveney: \"A Lonely Impulse\" (Temps), \"A Wolf To Man\" (The Weerde Book One), \"Bellringer's Overtime\" (Villains!), \"Totally Trashed\" (EuroTemps), \"Ignorance of Perfect Reason\" (The Weerde Book Two)\nDavid Langford: \"Leaks\" (Temps), \"The Arts of the Enemy\" (Villains!), \"If Looks Could Kill\" (EuroTemps), \"The Lions in the Desert\" (The Weerde Book Two)\nMarcus Rowland: \"Frog Day Afternoon\" (Temps), \"Playing Safe\" (EuroTemps), \"The Missing Martian\" (The Weerde Book Two)\nCharles Stross: \"Examination Night\" (Villains!), \"Ancient Of Days\" (The Weerde Book One), \"Red, Hot and Dark\" (The Weerde Book Two)\n\nExternal links \n Roz Kaveney: stories online\n David Langford: bibliography\n Marcus Rowland: stories online\n Charles Stross: stories online\n\nScience fiction organizations"],"string":"[\n \"The following is a list of Dick Tracy villain debuts. One of the appeals of the Dick Tracy comic strip is its unique villains. Many had bizarre deformities, including the Blank (1937), Little Face Finny (1941), Pruneface (1943), the Brow (1944), Shaky (1945), and Pearshape (1949). Chester Gould wrote these villains for his reader's righteous condemnation, without exploring moral gray areas. This was emphasized by depicting the heroes as attractive and the villains as grotesque. Other notable villains include Big Boy (1931), Breathless Mahoney (1931) and Flattop (1943).\\n\\n1930s\\n\\n1940s\\n\\n1950s\\n\\n1960s\\n\\n1970s\\n\\n1980s\\n\\n1990s\\n\\n2000s\\n\\n2010s\\n\\n2020s\\n\\nReferences\\n\\nSources\\n \\n \\n \\n\\nDick Tracy characters\\nComic strip villains\\nDick Tracy\\nDick Tracy\",\n \"Midnight Rose was a name taken by a group of United Kingdom science fiction and fantasy writers for a series of shared world anthologies published by the Penguin Books imprint Roc. The group's \\\"core members\\\" were Alex Stewart, Roz Kaveney, Neil Gaiman and Mary Gentle. Contributors to individual anthologies included Marcus Rowland, Storm Constantine, Kim Newman, Charles Stross, Stephen Baxter, Colin Greenland, Graham Higgins, Paul Cornell and David Langford, among others.\\n\\nThe anthologies were:\\n\\nTemps\\nTwo volumes of superhero pastiches, set in a world where the United Kingdom and European Union demand registry of superhuman talents, whereupon the Talented are expected to be permanently \\\"on call\\\" as part-time superheroes, in exchange for a stipend. The popular perception of the British Civil Service is played up, with registering as a \\\"Temp\\\" being strangely similar to applying for Jobseeker's Allowance or other benefits. The two books were Temps (1991) and EuroTemps (1992).\\n\\nThe Weerde\\nThe concept behind The Weerde was that shapeshifting creatures had been living alongside humanity for millennia, mostly concealing themselves, but occasionally giving rise to legends of supernatural monsters. The books in this series were The Weerde Book One (1992) and The Weerde Book Two: Book of the Ancients (1993).\\n\\nVillains!\\nVillains! (1992) was a parody of heroic fantasy. Like Gentle's later Grunts, it looked at the typical fantasy world from the point of view of the villains.\\n\\nSeveral of the stories from these anthologies have subsequently appeared in other collections, or have been put on line by their authors:\\n\\nRoz Kaveney: \\\"A Lonely Impulse\\\" (Temps), \\\"A Wolf To Man\\\" (The Weerde Book One), \\\"Bellringer's Overtime\\\" (Villains!), \\\"Totally Trashed\\\" (EuroTemps), \\\"Ignorance of Perfect Reason\\\" (The Weerde Book Two)\\nDavid Langford: \\\"Leaks\\\" (Temps), \\\"The Arts of the Enemy\\\" (Villains!), \\\"If Looks Could Kill\\\" (EuroTemps), \\\"The Lions in the Desert\\\" (The Weerde Book Two)\\nMarcus Rowland: \\\"Frog Day Afternoon\\\" (Temps), \\\"Playing Safe\\\" (EuroTemps), \\\"The Missing Martian\\\" (The Weerde Book Two)\\nCharles Stross: \\\"Examination Night\\\" (Villains!), \\\"Ancient Of Days\\\" (The Weerde Book One), \\\"Red, Hot and Dark\\\" (The Weerde Book Two)\\n\\nExternal links \\n Roz Kaveney: stories online\\n David Langford: bibliography\\n Marcus Rowland: stories online\\n Charles Stross: stories online\\n\\nScience fiction organizations\"\n]"},"chunked_article":{"kind":"list like","value":["Terence Joseph Nation (8 August 19309 March 1997) was a Welsh screenwriter and novelist. Especially known for his work in British television science fiction, he created the Daleks and Davros for Doctor Who (1963), as well as the series Survivors (1975) and Blake's 7 (1978).","Especially known for his work in British television science fiction, he created the Daleks and Davros for Doctor Who (1963), as well as the series Survivors (1975) and Blake's 7 (1978). Nation first made his name as a comedy writer before becoming a prolific writer for drama, working on many of the most popular British series of the 1960s and 1970s such as The Avengers, The Baron, The Champions, Department S, The Persuaders! and The Saint.","and The Saint. and The Saint. When Nation was commissioned to write The Daleks (1963) for Doctor Who, the villainous eponymous creatures established the series' early popularity. He later devised the recurring character of Davros in Genesis of the Daleks (1975). His series Survivors and Blake's 7 have been described as \"much-loved cult TV classics\".","His series Survivors and Blake's 7 have been described as \"much-loved cult TV classics\". Life and career Early years Born in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales, Nation initially worked in comedy, entering the industry in 1955 after a (possibly apocryphal) incident in which Spike Milligan bought a sketch that he had written because he thought that Nation appeared hungry.","Life and career Early years Born in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales, Nation initially worked in comedy, entering the industry in 1955 after a (possibly apocryphal) incident in which Spike Milligan bought a sketch that he had written because he thought that Nation appeared hungry. During the 1950s, Nation worked with John Junkin and Johnny Speight for the writers' agency Associated London Scripts, where he collaborated on hundreds of radio plays for comedians such as Terry Scott, Eric Sykes, Harry Worth and Frankie Howerd.","During the 1950s, Nation worked with John Junkin and Johnny Speight for the writers' agency Associated London Scripts, where he collaborated on hundreds of radio plays for comedians such as Terry Scott, Eric Sykes, Harry Worth and Frankie Howerd. His career break came in 1962, when he was commissioned to write material for Tony Hancockfirst for Hancock's unsuccessful series for Associated Television broadcast on ITV in 1963, and then his stage show.","His career break came in 1962, when he was commissioned to write material for Tony Hancockfirst for Hancock's unsuccessful series for Associated Television broadcast on ITV in 1963, and then his stage show. Although Nation accompanied Hancock as his chief screenwriter on tour in 1963, Hancock would regularly neglect Nation's scripts in favour of recycling his old material. Following an argument over this, Hancock either fired Nation, or Nation resigned (it is unclear which).","Following an argument over this, Hancock either fired Nation, or Nation resigned (it is unclear which). Doctor Who Prior to his association with Hancock, Nation had declined an offer from scriptwriter David Whitaker to write for a new science-fiction programme that was entering production at the BBC; Whitaker had been impressed by a script that Nation had written for the ABC anthology series Out of this World.","Doctor Who Prior to his association with Hancock, Nation had declined an offer from scriptwriter David Whitaker to write for a new science-fiction programme that was entering production at the BBC; Whitaker had been impressed by a script that Nation had written for the ABC anthology series Out of this World. Now unemployed, and with a young family to support, Nation contacted Whitaker and accepted the offer, writing the second Doctor Who serial, The Daleks (also known as The Mutants and The Dead Planet).","Now unemployed, and with a young family to support, Nation contacted Whitaker and accepted the offer, writing the second Doctor Who serial, The Daleks (also known as The Mutants and The Dead Planet). The serial introduced the eponymous extraterrestrial villains that would quickly become the series' most popular and enduring monsters, and resulted in a major merchandising success for the BBC. Nation contributed further scripts to Doctor Who.","Nation contributed further scripts to Doctor Who. Nation contributed further scripts to Doctor Who. In 1965, Nation and Dennis Spooner co-wrote the 12-part serial The Daleks' Master Plan, after which Nation, who still held the copyright to the Daleks, attempted to launch a Dalek spin-off TV series in the United States. Various other Dalek tie-in material appeared, including comic strips in the children's weekly TV Century 21 and annuals; such material was frequently credited to Nation, even when written by others.","Various other Dalek tie-in material appeared, including comic strips in the children's weekly TV Century 21 and annuals; such material was frequently credited to Nation, even when written by others. Between 1966 and 1972, appearances by the Daleks in Doctor Who became less frequent and were written for the series by other authors. In 1973, following an eight-year absence from scriptwriting for the series, Nation returned to writing for the Daleks on Doctor Who with the Third Doctor serial Planet of the Daleks.","In 1973, following an eight-year absence from scriptwriting for the series, Nation returned to writing for the Daleks on Doctor Who with the Third Doctor serial Planet of the Daleks. In 1998, readers of Doctor Who Magazine voted Nation's 1975 serial Genesis of the Daleks the greatest Doctor Who story of all time. In the story, Nation introduced the character of Davros, the creator of the Daleks, who went on to appear in further storylines.","In the story, Nation introduced the character of Davros, the creator of the Daleks, who went on to appear in further storylines. Nation also wrote two non-Dalek scripts for Doctor Who, The Keys of Marinus in 1964, which introduced the Voord, and The Android Invasion in 1975, which introduced the Kraals. Nation's final script for Doctor Who was Destiny of the Daleks, broadcast in 1979.","Nation's final script for Doctor Who was Destiny of the Daleks, broadcast in 1979. His work on Doctor Who was the subject of the documentary Terror Nation, a special feature on the BBC DVD release of Destiny of the Daleks. Out of the Unknown Nation's first work on the science-fiction anthology series Out of the Unknown was scripting an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's short story The Fox and the Forest in 1965 for the show's debut series.","Out of the Unknown Nation's first work on the science-fiction anthology series Out of the Unknown was scripting an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's short story The Fox and the Forest in 1965 for the show's debut series. It was about a 21st century couple taking a forbidden trip to Mexico in 1938, only to be followed by enforcers from the future. It is one of only two episodes from the first series to be considered lost, with only two photographs and the end titles known to exist.","It is one of only two episodes from the first series to be considered lost, with only two photographs and the end titles known to exist. In 1969, when the show began to be produced in colour, Nation granted permission for the Daleks to be used in the series three episode Get Off My Cloud, based on the story by Peter Phillips about a bed-bound science-fiction author who finds himself within one of his own fantasies after a mental breakdown.","In 1969, when the show began to be produced in colour, Nation granted permission for the Daleks to be used in the series three episode Get Off My Cloud, based on the story by Peter Phillips about a bed-bound science-fiction author who finds himself within one of his own fantasies after a mental breakdown. This would be the first time the Daleks had been shown in colour on television, although they had previously appeared in colour in the Peter Cushing films. Only production stills and low-quality audio extracts survive.","Only production stills and low-quality audio extracts survive. Only production stills and low-quality audio extracts survive. Survivors and Blake's 7 Having returned to writing for Doctor Who, the BBC commissioned Nation to create a new science-fiction drama series. First broadcast in 1975, Survivors is the post-apocalyptic story of the last humans on Earth after the world's population has been devastated by plague.","First broadcast in 1975, Survivors is the post-apocalyptic story of the last humans on Earth after the world's population has been devastated by plague. Although the series was well received, Nation's creative vision conflicted with that of producer Terence Dudley, and the final two seasons were produced without Nation's involvement.","Although the series was well received, Nation's creative vision conflicted with that of producer Terence Dudley, and the final two seasons were produced without Nation's involvement. Meanwhile, screenwriter Brian Clemens claimed that he had related the concept for Survivors to Nation in the late 1960s while they were working together on the final season of The Avengers, with Clemens claiming to have registered the Survivors concept with the Writers' Guild of Great Britain in 1965; Nation denied the allegations.","Meanwhile, screenwriter Brian Clemens claimed that he had related the concept for Survivors to Nation in the late 1960s while they were working together on the final season of The Avengers, with Clemens claiming to have registered the Survivors concept with the Writers' Guild of Great Britain in 1965; Nation denied the allegations. Although the case was ultimately brought before the High Court, both sides withdrew from the proceedings after their legal costs mounted. The production of Nation's next BBC creation, Blake's 7, experienced fewer problems.","The production of Nation's next BBC creation, Blake's 7, experienced fewer problems. This series follows a group of criminals and political prisoners who are on the run from the evil \"Terran Federation\", piloting a stolen spaceship of unknown origin. Blake's 7 ran for four series from 1978 to 1981.","Blake's 7 ran for four series from 1978 to 1981. Although Nation scripted the whole of the first series of Blake's 7, his creative influence subsequently declined in the following two series despite writing some key episodes, as script editor Chris Boucher exerted a greater influence on those seasons. Nation didn't write any episodes in the fourth series of Blake's 7. In the 1980s, Nation attempted, without success, to secure funding for a fifth season of Blake's 7.","In the 1980s, Nation attempted, without success, to secure funding for a fifth season of Blake's 7. During the 1970s, Nation wrote a children's novel for his daughter Rebecca (after whom he named the character of Rebec in the 1973 Doctor Who serial Planet of the Daleks) titled Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet, as well as a novel based on Survivors. United States In 1980, Nation moved to Los Angeles, where he developed programme ideas and worked for various production studios.","United States In 1980, Nation moved to Los Angeles, where he developed programme ideas and worked for various production studios. Little of his work from this time was as successful as that of his earlier period in Britain. He wrote scripts for the TV series MacGyver (1985) and A Fine Romance (1989). Death Nation died from emphysema in Los Angeles on 9 March 1997, aged 66. Shortly before his death, he had been collaborating with actor Paul Darrow on another attempt to revive Blake's 7.","Shortly before his death, he had been collaborating with actor Paul Darrow on another attempt to revive Blake's 7. Writing credits Awards and nominations In 2013, Nation was commemorated with a blue plaque at the house in Cardiff where he was born. Bibliography Survivors (1976, ) Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet (1978, ) References Further reading Turner, Alwyn W.: The Man Who Invented The Daleks: The Strange Worlds of Terry Nation, London: Aurum Press, 2011, .","Bibliography Survivors (1976, ) Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet (1978, ) References Further reading Turner, Alwyn W.: The Man Who Invented The Daleks: The Strange Worlds of Terry Nation, London: Aurum Press, 2011, . External links Terry Nation profile, Museum of Broadcast Communications, museum.tv; accessed 26 December 2014.","External links Terry Nation profile, Museum of Broadcast Communications, museum.tv; accessed 26 December 2014. 1930 births 1997 deaths 20th-century British novelists BBC people British male novelists British male screenwriters Welsh radio writers British science fiction writers Deaths from emphysema Welsh comedy writers Welsh expatriates in the United States Welsh novelists Welsh science fiction writers Welsh screenwriters Welsh television writers Writers from Cardiff People from Llandaff 20th-century British male writers British male television writers 20th-century British screenwriters"],"string":"[\n \"Terence Joseph Nation (8 August 19309 March 1997) was a Welsh screenwriter and novelist. Especially known for his work in British television science fiction, he created the Daleks and Davros for Doctor Who (1963), as well as the series Survivors (1975) and Blake's 7 (1978).\",\n \"Especially known for his work in British television science fiction, he created the Daleks and Davros for Doctor Who (1963), as well as the series Survivors (1975) and Blake's 7 (1978). Nation first made his name as a comedy writer before becoming a prolific writer for drama, working on many of the most popular British series of the 1960s and 1970s such as The Avengers, The Baron, The Champions, Department S, The Persuaders! and The Saint.\",\n \"and The Saint. and The Saint. When Nation was commissioned to write The Daleks (1963) for Doctor Who, the villainous eponymous creatures established the series' early popularity. He later devised the recurring character of Davros in Genesis of the Daleks (1975). His series Survivors and Blake's 7 have been described as \\\"much-loved cult TV classics\\\".\",\n \"His series Survivors and Blake's 7 have been described as \\\"much-loved cult TV classics\\\". Life and career Early years Born in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales, Nation initially worked in comedy, entering the industry in 1955 after a (possibly apocryphal) incident in which Spike Milligan bought a sketch that he had written because he thought that Nation appeared hungry.\",\n \"Life and career Early years Born in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales, Nation initially worked in comedy, entering the industry in 1955 after a (possibly apocryphal) incident in which Spike Milligan bought a sketch that he had written because he thought that Nation appeared hungry. During the 1950s, Nation worked with John Junkin and Johnny Speight for the writers' agency Associated London Scripts, where he collaborated on hundreds of radio plays for comedians such as Terry Scott, Eric Sykes, Harry Worth and Frankie Howerd.\",\n \"During the 1950s, Nation worked with John Junkin and Johnny Speight for the writers' agency Associated London Scripts, where he collaborated on hundreds of radio plays for comedians such as Terry Scott, Eric Sykes, Harry Worth and Frankie Howerd. His career break came in 1962, when he was commissioned to write material for Tony Hancockfirst for Hancock's unsuccessful series for Associated Television broadcast on ITV in 1963, and then his stage show.\",\n \"His career break came in 1962, when he was commissioned to write material for Tony Hancockfirst for Hancock's unsuccessful series for Associated Television broadcast on ITV in 1963, and then his stage show. Although Nation accompanied Hancock as his chief screenwriter on tour in 1963, Hancock would regularly neglect Nation's scripts in favour of recycling his old material. Following an argument over this, Hancock either fired Nation, or Nation resigned (it is unclear which).\",\n \"Following an argument over this, Hancock either fired Nation, or Nation resigned (it is unclear which). Doctor Who Prior to his association with Hancock, Nation had declined an offer from scriptwriter David Whitaker to write for a new science-fiction programme that was entering production at the BBC; Whitaker had been impressed by a script that Nation had written for the ABC anthology series Out of this World.\",\n \"Doctor Who Prior to his association with Hancock, Nation had declined an offer from scriptwriter David Whitaker to write for a new science-fiction programme that was entering production at the BBC; Whitaker had been impressed by a script that Nation had written for the ABC anthology series Out of this World. Now unemployed, and with a young family to support, Nation contacted Whitaker and accepted the offer, writing the second Doctor Who serial, The Daleks (also known as The Mutants and The Dead Planet).\",\n \"Now unemployed, and with a young family to support, Nation contacted Whitaker and accepted the offer, writing the second Doctor Who serial, The Daleks (also known as The Mutants and The Dead Planet). The serial introduced the eponymous extraterrestrial villains that would quickly become the series' most popular and enduring monsters, and resulted in a major merchandising success for the BBC. Nation contributed further scripts to Doctor Who.\",\n \"Nation contributed further scripts to Doctor Who. Nation contributed further scripts to Doctor Who. In 1965, Nation and Dennis Spooner co-wrote the 12-part serial The Daleks' Master Plan, after which Nation, who still held the copyright to the Daleks, attempted to launch a Dalek spin-off TV series in the United States. Various other Dalek tie-in material appeared, including comic strips in the children's weekly TV Century 21 and annuals; such material was frequently credited to Nation, even when written by others.\",\n \"Various other Dalek tie-in material appeared, including comic strips in the children's weekly TV Century 21 and annuals; such material was frequently credited to Nation, even when written by others. Between 1966 and 1972, appearances by the Daleks in Doctor Who became less frequent and were written for the series by other authors. In 1973, following an eight-year absence from scriptwriting for the series, Nation returned to writing for the Daleks on Doctor Who with the Third Doctor serial Planet of the Daleks.\",\n \"In 1973, following an eight-year absence from scriptwriting for the series, Nation returned to writing for the Daleks on Doctor Who with the Third Doctor serial Planet of the Daleks. In 1998, readers of Doctor Who Magazine voted Nation's 1975 serial Genesis of the Daleks the greatest Doctor Who story of all time. In the story, Nation introduced the character of Davros, the creator of the Daleks, who went on to appear in further storylines.\",\n \"In the story, Nation introduced the character of Davros, the creator of the Daleks, who went on to appear in further storylines. Nation also wrote two non-Dalek scripts for Doctor Who, The Keys of Marinus in 1964, which introduced the Voord, and The Android Invasion in 1975, which introduced the Kraals. Nation's final script for Doctor Who was Destiny of the Daleks, broadcast in 1979.\",\n \"Nation's final script for Doctor Who was Destiny of the Daleks, broadcast in 1979. His work on Doctor Who was the subject of the documentary Terror Nation, a special feature on the BBC DVD release of Destiny of the Daleks. Out of the Unknown Nation's first work on the science-fiction anthology series Out of the Unknown was scripting an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's short story The Fox and the Forest in 1965 for the show's debut series.\",\n \"Out of the Unknown Nation's first work on the science-fiction anthology series Out of the Unknown was scripting an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's short story The Fox and the Forest in 1965 for the show's debut series. It was about a 21st century couple taking a forbidden trip to Mexico in 1938, only to be followed by enforcers from the future. It is one of only two episodes from the first series to be considered lost, with only two photographs and the end titles known to exist.\",\n \"It is one of only two episodes from the first series to be considered lost, with only two photographs and the end titles known to exist. In 1969, when the show began to be produced in colour, Nation granted permission for the Daleks to be used in the series three episode Get Off My Cloud, based on the story by Peter Phillips about a bed-bound science-fiction author who finds himself within one of his own fantasies after a mental breakdown.\",\n \"In 1969, when the show began to be produced in colour, Nation granted permission for the Daleks to be used in the series three episode Get Off My Cloud, based on the story by Peter Phillips about a bed-bound science-fiction author who finds himself within one of his own fantasies after a mental breakdown. This would be the first time the Daleks had been shown in colour on television, although they had previously appeared in colour in the Peter Cushing films. Only production stills and low-quality audio extracts survive.\",\n \"Only production stills and low-quality audio extracts survive. Only production stills and low-quality audio extracts survive. Survivors and Blake's 7 Having returned to writing for Doctor Who, the BBC commissioned Nation to create a new science-fiction drama series. First broadcast in 1975, Survivors is the post-apocalyptic story of the last humans on Earth after the world's population has been devastated by plague.\",\n \"First broadcast in 1975, Survivors is the post-apocalyptic story of the last humans on Earth after the world's population has been devastated by plague. Although the series was well received, Nation's creative vision conflicted with that of producer Terence Dudley, and the final two seasons were produced without Nation's involvement.\",\n \"Although the series was well received, Nation's creative vision conflicted with that of producer Terence Dudley, and the final two seasons were produced without Nation's involvement. Meanwhile, screenwriter Brian Clemens claimed that he had related the concept for Survivors to Nation in the late 1960s while they were working together on the final season of The Avengers, with Clemens claiming to have registered the Survivors concept with the Writers' Guild of Great Britain in 1965; Nation denied the allegations.\",\n \"Meanwhile, screenwriter Brian Clemens claimed that he had related the concept for Survivors to Nation in the late 1960s while they were working together on the final season of The Avengers, with Clemens claiming to have registered the Survivors concept with the Writers' Guild of Great Britain in 1965; Nation denied the allegations. Although the case was ultimately brought before the High Court, both sides withdrew from the proceedings after their legal costs mounted. The production of Nation's next BBC creation, Blake's 7, experienced fewer problems.\",\n \"The production of Nation's next BBC creation, Blake's 7, experienced fewer problems. This series follows a group of criminals and political prisoners who are on the run from the evil \\\"Terran Federation\\\", piloting a stolen spaceship of unknown origin. Blake's 7 ran for four series from 1978 to 1981.\",\n \"Blake's 7 ran for four series from 1978 to 1981. Although Nation scripted the whole of the first series of Blake's 7, his creative influence subsequently declined in the following two series despite writing some key episodes, as script editor Chris Boucher exerted a greater influence on those seasons. Nation didn't write any episodes in the fourth series of Blake's 7. In the 1980s, Nation attempted, without success, to secure funding for a fifth season of Blake's 7.\",\n \"In the 1980s, Nation attempted, without success, to secure funding for a fifth season of Blake's 7. During the 1970s, Nation wrote a children's novel for his daughter Rebecca (after whom he named the character of Rebec in the 1973 Doctor Who serial Planet of the Daleks) titled Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet, as well as a novel based on Survivors. United States In 1980, Nation moved to Los Angeles, where he developed programme ideas and worked for various production studios.\",\n \"United States In 1980, Nation moved to Los Angeles, where he developed programme ideas and worked for various production studios. Little of his work from this time was as successful as that of his earlier period in Britain. He wrote scripts for the TV series MacGyver (1985) and A Fine Romance (1989). Death Nation died from emphysema in Los Angeles on 9 March 1997, aged 66. Shortly before his death, he had been collaborating with actor Paul Darrow on another attempt to revive Blake's 7.\",\n \"Shortly before his death, he had been collaborating with actor Paul Darrow on another attempt to revive Blake's 7. Writing credits Awards and nominations In 2013, Nation was commemorated with a blue plaque at the house in Cardiff where he was born. Bibliography Survivors (1976, ) Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet (1978, ) References Further reading Turner, Alwyn W.: The Man Who Invented The Daleks: The Strange Worlds of Terry Nation, London: Aurum Press, 2011, .\",\n \"Bibliography Survivors (1976, ) Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet (1978, ) References Further reading Turner, Alwyn W.: The Man Who Invented The Daleks: The Strange Worlds of Terry Nation, London: Aurum Press, 2011, . External links Terry Nation profile, Museum of Broadcast Communications, museum.tv; accessed 26 December 2014.\",\n \"External links Terry Nation profile, Museum of Broadcast Communications, museum.tv; accessed 26 December 2014. 1930 births 1997 deaths 20th-century British novelists BBC people British male novelists British male screenwriters Welsh radio writers British science fiction writers Deaths from emphysema Welsh comedy writers Welsh expatriates in the United States Welsh novelists Welsh science fiction writers Welsh screenwriters Welsh television writers Writers from Cardiff People from Llandaff 20th-century British male writers British male television writers 20th-century British screenwriters\"\n]"}}},{"rowIdx":377,"cells":{"History":{"kind":"list like","value":["Terry Nation","Doctor Who","What work did he do on Doctor Who?","writing the second Doctor Who serial,","What contributions did he make?","The serial introduced the eponymous extraterrestrial villains that would quickly become the series' most popular and enduring monsters, and resulted in a major merchandising success for the BBC.","What was the name of these villains?","The Mutants"],"string":"[\n \"Terry Nation\",\n \"Doctor Who\",\n \"What work did he do on Doctor Who?\",\n \"writing the second Doctor Who serial,\",\n \"What contributions did he make?\",\n \"The serial introduced the eponymous extraterrestrial villains that would quickly become the series' most popular and enduring monsters, and resulted in a major merchandising success for the BBC.\",\n \"What was the name of these villains?\",\n \"The Mutants\"\n]"},"QuAC_dialog_id":{"kind":"string","value":"C_27cf8f62e352479f9e87e95654df4e3f_1"},"Question":{"kind":"string","value":"Did he state how he came to create these characters?"},"Question_no":{"kind":"number","value":4,"string":"4"},"Rewrite":{"kind":"string","value":"Did Terry Nation state how surged the idea to create eponymous extraterrestrial villains?"},"true_page_title":{"kind":"string","value":"Terry Nation"},"true_contexts":{"kind":"string","value":"Prior to this, Nation had declined an offer from scriptwriter David Whitaker to write for a new science-fiction programme that was entering production at the BBC; Whitaker had been impressed by a script that Nation had written for the ABC anthology series Out of this World. Now unemployed, and with a young family to support, Nation contacted Whitaker and accepted the offer, writing the second Doctor Who serial, The Daleks (also known as The Mutants and The Dead Planet). The serial introduced the eponymous extraterrestrial villains that would quickly become the series' most popular and enduring monsters, and resulted in a major merchandising success for the BBC. Having risen in the public consciousness, Nation went on to contribute further scripts to Doctor Who. In 1965, Nation and Dennis Spooner co-wrote the 12-part serial The Daleks' Master Plan, after which Nation, who still held the copyright to the Daleks, attempted to launch a Dalek spin-off TV series in the United States. Various other Dalek tie-in material appeared, including comic strips in the children's weekly TV Century 21 and annuals; such material was frequently credited to Nation, even when written by others. Between 1966 and 1972, appearances by the Daleks in Doctor Who became less frequent and were written for the series by other authors. In 1973, following an eight-year absence from scriptwriting for the series, Nation returned to writing for the Daleks on Doctor Who with the Third Doctor serial Planet of the Daleks. In 1998, readers of Doctor Who Magazine voted Nation's 1975 serial Genesis of the Daleks the greatest Doctor Who story of all time. In the story, Nation introduced the character of Davros, the creator of the Daleks, who went on to appear in further storylines. Nation also wrote two non-Dalek scripts for Doctor Who, The Keys of Marinus in 1964, which introduced the Voord and The Android Invasion in 1975, which introduced the Kraal. During this time, Nation also worked in commercial TV, contributing scripts to series such as The Avengers, The Baron, The Champions, Department S, The Persuaders! and The Saint. Nation's work on Doctor Who was the subject of the documentary Terror Nation, a special feature on the BBC DVD release of the serial Destiny of the Daleks. CANNOTANSWER"},"answer":{"kind":"string","value":"unemployed, and with a young family to support,"},"true_contexts_wiki":{"kind":"string","value":"Terence Joseph Nation (8 August 19309 March 1997) was a Welsh screenwriter and novelist. Especially known for his work in British television science fiction, he created the Daleks and Davros for Doctor Who (1963), as well as the series Survivors (1975) and Blake's 7 (1978).\n\nNation first made his name as a comedy writer before becoming a prolific writer for drama, working on many of the most popular British series of the 1960s and 1970s such as The Avengers, The Baron, The Champions, Department S, The Persuaders! and The Saint. When Nation was commissioned to write The Daleks (1963) for Doctor Who, the villainous eponymous creatures established the series' early popularity. He later devised the recurring character of Davros in Genesis of the Daleks (1975). His series Survivors and Blake's 7 have been described as \"much-loved cult TV classics\".\n\nLife and career\n\nEarly years\nBorn in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales, Nation initially worked in comedy, entering the industry in 1955 after a (possibly apocryphal) incident in which Spike Milligan bought a sketch that he had written because he thought that Nation appeared hungry. During the 1950s, Nation worked with John Junkin and Johnny Speight for the writers' agency Associated London Scripts, where he collaborated on hundreds of radio plays for comedians such as Terry Scott, Eric Sykes, Harry Worth and Frankie Howerd.\n\nHis career break came in 1962, when he was commissioned to write material for Tony Hancockfirst for Hancock's unsuccessful series for Associated Television broadcast on ITV in 1963, and then his stage show. Although Nation accompanied Hancock as his chief screenwriter on tour in 1963, Hancock would regularly neglect Nation's scripts in favour of recycling his old material. Following an argument over this, Hancock either fired Nation, or Nation resigned (it is unclear which).\n\nDoctor Who\nPrior to his association with Hancock, Nation had declined an offer from scriptwriter David Whitaker to write for a new science-fiction programme that was entering production at the BBC; Whitaker had been impressed by a script that Nation had written for the ABC anthology series Out of this World. Now unemployed, and with a young family to support, Nation contacted Whitaker and accepted the offer, writing the second Doctor Who serial, The Daleks (also known as The Mutants and The Dead Planet). The serial introduced the eponymous extraterrestrial villains that would quickly become the series' most popular and enduring monsters, and resulted in a major merchandising success for the BBC.\n\nNation contributed further scripts to Doctor Who. In 1965, Nation and Dennis Spooner co-wrote the 12-part serial The Daleks' Master Plan, after which Nation, who still held the copyright to the Daleks, attempted to launch a Dalek spin-off TV series in the United States. Various other Dalek tie-in material appeared, including comic strips in the children's weekly TV Century 21 and annuals; such material was frequently credited to Nation, even when written by others. Between 1966 and 1972, appearances by the Daleks in Doctor Who became less frequent and were written for the series by other authors.\n\nIn 1973, following an eight-year absence from scriptwriting for the series, Nation returned to writing for the Daleks on Doctor Who with the Third Doctor serial Planet of the Daleks. In 1998, readers of Doctor Who Magazine voted Nation's 1975 serial Genesis of the Daleks the greatest Doctor Who story of all time. In the story, Nation introduced the character of Davros, the creator of the Daleks, who went on to appear in further storylines. Nation also wrote two non-Dalek scripts for Doctor Who, The Keys of Marinus in 1964, which introduced the Voord, and The Android Invasion in 1975, which introduced the Kraals. Nation's final script for Doctor Who was Destiny of the Daleks, broadcast in 1979.\n\nHis work on Doctor Who was the subject of the documentary Terror Nation, a special feature on the BBC DVD release of Destiny of the Daleks.\n\nOut of the Unknown\nNation's first work on the science-fiction anthology series Out of the Unknown was scripting an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's short story The Fox and the Forest in 1965 for the show's debut series. It was about a 21st century couple taking a forbidden trip to Mexico in 1938, only to be followed by enforcers from the future. It is one of only two episodes from the first series to be considered lost, with only two photographs and the end titles known to exist.\n\nIn 1969, when the show began to be produced in colour, Nation granted permission for the Daleks to be used in the series three episode Get Off My Cloud, based on the story by Peter Phillips about a bed-bound science-fiction author who finds himself within one of his own fantasies after a mental breakdown. This would be the first time the Daleks had been shown in colour on television, although they had previously appeared in colour in the Peter Cushing films. Only production stills and low-quality audio extracts survive.\n\nSurvivors and Blake's 7\nHaving returned to writing for Doctor Who, the BBC commissioned Nation to create a new science-fiction drama series. First broadcast in 1975, Survivors is the post-apocalyptic story of the last humans on Earth after the world's population has been devastated by plague. Although the series was well received, Nation's creative vision conflicted with that of producer Terence Dudley, and the final two seasons were produced without Nation's involvement.\n\nMeanwhile, screenwriter Brian Clemens claimed that he had related the concept for Survivors to Nation in the late 1960s while they were working together on the final season of The Avengers, with Clemens claiming to have registered the Survivors concept with the Writers' Guild of Great Britain in 1965; Nation denied the allegations. Although the case was ultimately brought before the High Court, both sides withdrew from the proceedings after their legal costs mounted.\n\nThe production of Nation's next BBC creation, Blake's 7, experienced fewer problems. This series follows a group of criminals and political prisoners who are on the run from the evil \"Terran Federation\", piloting a stolen spaceship of unknown origin. Blake's 7 ran for four series from 1978 to 1981.\n\nAlthough Nation scripted the whole of the first series of Blake's 7, his creative influence subsequently declined in the following two series despite writing some key episodes, as script editor Chris Boucher exerted a greater influence on those seasons. Nation didn't write any episodes in the fourth series of Blake's 7. In the 1980s, Nation attempted, without success, to secure funding for a fifth season of Blake's 7. During the 1970s, Nation wrote a children's novel for his daughter Rebecca (after whom he named the character of Rebec in the 1973 Doctor Who serial Planet of the Daleks) titled Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet, as well as a novel based on Survivors.\n\nUnited States\nIn 1980, Nation moved to Los Angeles, where he developed programme ideas and worked for various production studios. Little of his work from this time was as successful as that of his earlier period in Britain. He wrote scripts for the TV series MacGyver (1985) and A Fine Romance (1989).\n\nDeath\nNation died from emphysema in Los Angeles on 9 March 1997, aged 66. Shortly before his death, he had been collaborating with actor Paul Darrow on another attempt to revive Blake's 7.\n\nWriting credits\n\nAwards and nominations\n\nIn 2013, Nation was commemorated with a blue plaque at the house in Cardiff where he was born.\n\nBibliography\nSurvivors (1976, )\nRebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet (1978, )\n\nReferences\n\nFurther reading\n Turner, Alwyn W.: The Man Who Invented The Daleks: The Strange Worlds of Terry Nation, London: Aurum Press, 2011, .\n\nExternal links\n \n \n \n Terry Nation profile, Museum of Broadcast Communications, museum.tv; accessed 26 December 2014.\n\n1930 births\n1997 deaths\n20th-century British novelists\nBBC people\nBritish male novelists\nBritish male screenwriters\nWelsh radio writers\nBritish science fiction writers\nDeaths from emphysema\nWelsh comedy writers\nWelsh expatriates in the United States\nWelsh novelists\nWelsh science fiction writers\nWelsh screenwriters\nWelsh television writers\nWriters from Cardiff\nPeople from Llandaff\n20th-century British male writers\nBritish male television writers\n20th-century British screenwriters"},"extractive":{"kind":"string","value":"true"},"retrieved_contexts":{"kind":"list like","value":["How to Draw Manga () is a series of instructional books on drawing manga published by Graphic-sha, by a variety of authors. Originally in Japanese for the Japanese market, many volumes have been translated into English and published in the United States. The English-language volumes in the series were co-produced by Graphic-sha and two other Japanese companies, Japanime Co. Ltd. and Japan Publications Trading Co.\n\nList of books in the series \nThis is a list of books in the main HTDM set and other sets that relate to the main series.\n\nHow to Draw Manga \nOriginally there were no volume numbers on the English versions, because the original Japanese version did not have them. Only volumes 1 - 8 were given numbers. With continued reprints and more books being released, all volumes gained a number. The dates given are the first printing.\n\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 1: Compiling Characters (October 1999)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 2: Compiling Techniques (July 2000)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 3: Compiling Application and Practice (August 2000)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 4: Dressing Your Characters in Casual Wear (May 2001)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 5: Developing Shoujo Manga Techniques (July 2002)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 6: Martial Arts & Combat Sports (June 2002)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 7: Amazing Effects (June 2003)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 8: Super Basics (June 2003)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 9: Special: Colored Original Drawing (May 2001)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 10: Getting Started (October 2000)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 11: Maids & Miko (November 2002)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 12: Giant Robots (February 2002)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 13: Super Tone Techniques (August 2002)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 14: Colorful Costumes (January 2003)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 15: Girls' Life Illustration File (May 2003)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 16: Guns & Military Vol. 1 (September 2003)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 17: Guns & Military Vol. 2 (October 2004)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 18: Super-Deformed Characters Vol. 1 Humans (August 2004)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 19: Super-Deformed Characters Vol. 2 Animals (June 2005)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 20: Female Characters (December 1999)\n\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 21: Bishoujo Pretty Gals (November 2000)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 22: Bishoujo Around the World (March 2001)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 23: Illustrating Battles (October 2000)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 24: Occult & Horror (June 2003)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 25: Bodies & Anatomy (December 2001)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 26: Making Anime (January 2003)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 27: Male Characters (July 2002)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 28: Couples (January 2003)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 29: Putting Things in Perspective (October 2002)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 30: Pen & Tone Techniques (April 2003)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 31: More about Pretty Gals (August 2003)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 32: Mech. Drawing (December 2003)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 33: Costume Encyclopedia Vol. 1 Everyday Fashion (December 2003)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 34: Costume Encyclopedia Vol. 2 Intimate Apparel (January 2005)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 35: Costume Encyclopedia Vol. 3: Sexy Sports Wear (May 2005)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 36: Animals (February 2005)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 37: Macromedia Flash Techniques (February 2004)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 38: Ninja & Samurai Portrayal (September 2005)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 39: Creating Manga: Stories (April 2007) \nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 40: Dressing Your Characters In Suits & Sailor Suits (August 2006)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 41: Costume Encyclopedia Vol. 4 Kimono & Gowns (April 2007)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 42: Drawing Yaoi (June 2007) Note: this is a bishōnen how-to guide, not yaoi\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 43: Drawing Bishōnen (December 2008)\n\nHow to Draw Manga: Ultimate Manga Lessons \nThis set was printed in a smaller format of 15 cm x 21 cm.\nHow to Draw Manga: Ultimate Manga Lessons Vol. 1: Drawing Made Easy (April 2005)\nHow to Draw Manga: Ultimate Manga Lessons Vol. 2: The Basics of Characters and Materials (August 2005)\nHow to Draw Manga: Ultimate Manga Lessons Vol. 3: Drawing Sensational Characters (November 2005)\nHow to Draw Manga: Ultimate Manga Lessons Vol. 4: Making the Characters Come Alive (March 2006)\nHow to Draw Manga: Ultimate Manga Lessons Vol. 5: A Touch of Dynamism (2006)\nHow to Draw Manga: Ultimate Manga Lessons Vol. 6: Striking the Right Note (2006)\n\nHow to Draw Manga: Computones \nEach volume in this set includes a CD-ROM for use with Windows only.\n\nHow to Draw Manga: Computones Vol. 1: Basic Tone Techniques (May 2005)\nHow to Draw Manga: Computones Vol. 2: Depicting Characters (September 2005)\nHow to Draw Manga: Computones Vol. 3: Mecha (October 2005)\nHow to Draw Manga: Computones Vol. 4: Portraying Couples (June 2006)\nHow to Draw Manga: Computones Vol. 5: Aiming For Action (June 2006)\n\nHow to Draw Manga: Sketching Manga-Style \nHow to Draw Manga: Sketching Manga-Style Vol. 1: Sketching to Plan (February 2007)\nHow to Draw Manga: Sketching Manga-Style Vol. 2: Logical Proportions (April 2007)\nHow to Draw Manga: Sketching Manga-Style Vol. 3: Unforgettable Characters (October 2007)\nHow to Draw Manga: Sketching Manga-Style Vol. 4: All About Perspective (Nov 12, 2008)\nHow to Draw Manga: Sketching Manga-Style Vol. 5: Sketching Props (August 11, 2009)\n\nThese books are no longer in print and the series has been canceled.\n\nManga Pose Resource Book \nThis set was printed in an over-sized format of 21 cm x 29.6 cm.\n\nManga Pose Resource Book Vol. 1: Basic Poses (2002)\nManga Pose Resource Book Vol. 2: Animals (2002)\nManga Pose Resource Book Vol. 3: Actions Scenes (2002)\n\nHow to Draw Anime and Game Characters \nThis set is another Graphic-Sha publication that is shown alongside the main HTDM series on the dustjacks and in ads.\n\nHow to Draw Anime and Game Characters Vol. 1: Basics for Beginners and Beyond (August 2000)\nHow to Draw Anime and Game Characters Vol. 2: Expressing Emotions (March 2001)\nHow to Draw Anime and Game Characters Vol. 3: Bringing Daily Actions to Life (August 2001)\nHow to Draw Anime and Game Characters Vol. 4: Mastering Battle and Action Moves (April 2002)\nHow to Draw Anime and Game Characters Vol. 5: Bishoujo Game Characters (September 2003)\n\nMore How to Draw Manga \nAnother set of manga-know-how with only four volumes, based in character creation.\n\nMore How to Draw Manga Vol. 1: The Basics of Character Drawing (March 2004)\nMore How to Draw Manga Vol. 2: Penning Characters (March 2004)\nMore How to Draw Manga Vol. 3: Enhancing a Character's Sense of Presence (August 2004)\nMore How to Draw Manga Vol. 4: Mastering Bishoujo Characters (September 2004)\n\nCancelled/status unknown volumes \nThese are volumes that were going to be released in English and even advertised for ordering, but they have been cancelled.\n\nHow to Draw Manga: Digital Comic Guide Vol. 1\n\nCross-promotions \nA special edition of the series titled How to Draw Manga Special: Colored Original Drawing was produced detailing how to use Copic markers. It explains how to avoid blotches, use colorless blenders, select paper, refill markers, changing nibs and the airbrush system. It is Volume 9 in the English language series.\n\nReception \nThe series has been credited with \"the standardization of manga style\", popularizing most common tropes such as \"the large eyes of shōjo characters, the feminine features of bishōnen\". The series has been successful in multiple markets as it has been translated to numerous other languages, and it shows the global success of manga - that not only the product itself is successful, but even works about the process of making the product.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Manga related books on Graphic-sha website\n How to Draw Manga\n\nBooks about visual art\nBooks about manga\nHandbooks and manuals\nBook series introduced in 1999\nJapanese book series","Circle Seven Animation (or Disney Circle Seven Animation) was a short-lived division of Walt Disney Feature Animation specializing in computer-generated imagery (CGI) animation and was originally intended to create sequels to the Disney-owned Pixar properties, leading rivals and animators to derisively nickname the division \"Pixaren't\". The studio did not release any films during its existence, nor were any of its scripts used by Pixar.\n\nThe division was named after the street where its studio was located. Circle Seven Drive in Glendale, California is also home to KABC-TV.\n\nBackground\nPixar and Disney originally had a seven-film distribution agreement that gave Disney full ownership of Pixar's feature films and characters, as well as sequel rights. With the success of Toy Story 2 in the end of 1999, then-Disney CEO Michael Eisner and then-owner of Pixar Steve Jobs began to disagree on how Pixar should be run and the terms of a continued relationship.\n\nEisner claimed that Toy Story 2, as it was a sequel, did not count towards the \"original\" film count of the agreement, though Jobs disagreed.\n\nJobs announced in January 2004 — after ten months of negotiations — that Pixar would not renew their agreement with Disney, and would seek out other distributors for releases starting in 2006. Jobs wanted Pixar to receive most of the profits that their films made (giving Disney the standard 10% distribution fee) as well as full ownership of any future films and characters that the studio would create after Cars (2006). \n\nEisner found these terms unacceptable. Pixar executive producer John Lasseter, who had personally directed Toy Story (1995), A Bug's Life (1998), and Toy Story 2 (1999), became distraught over the breakdown of the Disney-Pixar relationship, as he was worried about what Disney might do with the characters Pixar had created.\n\nWhen he had to announce what had happened at a meeting of Pixar's 800 employees, Lasseter reportedly said, through tears, \"It's like you have these dear children and you have to give them up to be adopted by convicted child molesters.\"\n\nName\nCircle 7 Animation was named after the street where its studio was located, and the often-used Circle 7 logo, a television station logo in the United States designed in the early 1960s for the American Broadcasting Company's five owned-and-operated stations, all of which broadcast on VHF channel 7.\n\nHistory\nIn March 2005, Disney Circle Seven Animation was formed as a CGI animation studio to create sequels to the Disney-owned Pixar properties, and the studio began to hire staff shortly thereafter. It was seen as a bargaining chip by people within both Pixar and Disney, but also as a backup plan by Eisner in case negotiations fell through.\n\nThe first (and only) projects that the studio worked on were early drafts of Toy Story 3, Monsters, Inc. 2: Lost in Scaradise, and Finding Nemo 2. \n\nBob Iger succeeded Eisner as the new CEO of Disney in 2005. While viewing a parade at Hong Kong Disneyland that fall, Iger realized how badly Disney needed Pixar because all characters less than ten years old in the parade were from Pixar's films. In late January 2006, Iger and Jobs agreed to a deal in which Disney would purchase Pixar for $7.4 billion, with Pixar's leadership (Edwin Catmull and Lasseter) taking control of Disney's animation group. Under this new deal, Pixar would make Toy Story 3 with an all-new script; director Andrew Stanton stated that Pixar purposely avoided looking at Circle Seven's script.\n\nOn May 26, 2006, Disney officially closed Circle Seven Animation, and transferred about 136 out of the studio's 168 employees to Walt Disney Feature Animation, which was soon renamed Walt Disney Animation Studios. Catmull later disclosed in his 2014 book Creativity, Inc. that although Pixar had been frustrated with Disney's decision to create Circle Seven Animation in order to create sequels to Pixar's own films, they did not hold that against Circle Seven's employees, who had no part in that decision. This was why Catmull and Lasseter were willing to absorb most of the Circle Seven workforce directly into Walt Disney Animation Studios. Indeed, they eventually appointed Andrew Millstein, the former head of Circle Seven, as the general manager of Walt Disney Animation Studios to handle day-to-day business affairs on their behalf.\n\nReferences\n\nAmerican animation studios\nWalt Disney Animation Studios\nEntertainment companies based in California\nMass media companies established in 2005\nMass media companies disestablished in 2006\nCompanies based in Glendale, California\n2005 establishments in California\n2006 disestablishments in California"],"string":"[\n \"How to Draw Manga () is a series of instructional books on drawing manga published by Graphic-sha, by a variety of authors. Originally in Japanese for the Japanese market, many volumes have been translated into English and published in the United States. The English-language volumes in the series were co-produced by Graphic-sha and two other Japanese companies, Japanime Co. Ltd. and Japan Publications Trading Co.\\n\\nList of books in the series \\nThis is a list of books in the main HTDM set and other sets that relate to the main series.\\n\\nHow to Draw Manga \\nOriginally there were no volume numbers on the English versions, because the original Japanese version did not have them. Only volumes 1 - 8 were given numbers. With continued reprints and more books being released, all volumes gained a number. The dates given are the first printing.\\n\\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 1: Compiling Characters (October 1999)\\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 2: Compiling Techniques (July 2000)\\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 3: Compiling Application and Practice (August 2000)\\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 4: Dressing Your Characters in Casual Wear (May 2001)\\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 5: Developing Shoujo Manga Techniques (July 2002)\\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 6: Martial Arts & Combat Sports (June 2002)\\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 7: Amazing Effects (June 2003)\\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 8: Super Basics (June 2003)\\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 9: Special: Colored Original Drawing (May 2001)\\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 10: Getting Started (October 2000)\\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 11: Maids & Miko (November 2002)\\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 12: Giant Robots (February 2002)\\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 13: Super Tone Techniques (August 2002)\\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 14: Colorful Costumes (January 2003)\\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 15: Girls' Life Illustration File (May 2003)\\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 16: Guns & Military Vol. 1 (September 2003)\\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 17: Guns & Military Vol. 2 (October 2004)\\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 18: Super-Deformed Characters Vol. 1 Humans (August 2004)\\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 19: Super-Deformed Characters Vol. 2 Animals (June 2005)\\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 20: Female Characters (December 1999)\\n\\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 21: Bishoujo Pretty Gals (November 2000)\\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 22: Bishoujo Around the World (March 2001)\\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 23: Illustrating Battles (October 2000)\\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 24: Occult & Horror (June 2003)\\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 25: Bodies & Anatomy (December 2001)\\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 26: Making Anime (January 2003)\\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 27: Male Characters (July 2002)\\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 28: Couples (January 2003)\\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 29: Putting Things in Perspective (October 2002)\\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 30: Pen & Tone Techniques (April 2003)\\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 31: More about Pretty Gals (August 2003)\\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 32: Mech. Drawing (December 2003)\\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 33: Costume Encyclopedia Vol. 1 Everyday Fashion (December 2003)\\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 34: Costume Encyclopedia Vol. 2 Intimate Apparel (January 2005)\\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 35: Costume Encyclopedia Vol. 3: Sexy Sports Wear (May 2005)\\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 36: Animals (February 2005)\\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 37: Macromedia Flash Techniques (February 2004)\\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 38: Ninja & Samurai Portrayal (September 2005)\\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 39: Creating Manga: Stories (April 2007) \\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 40: Dressing Your Characters In Suits & Sailor Suits (August 2006)\\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 41: Costume Encyclopedia Vol. 4 Kimono & Gowns (April 2007)\\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 42: Drawing Yaoi (June 2007) Note: this is a bishōnen how-to guide, not yaoi\\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 43: Drawing Bishōnen (December 2008)\\n\\nHow to Draw Manga: Ultimate Manga Lessons \\nThis set was printed in a smaller format of 15 cm x 21 cm.\\nHow to Draw Manga: Ultimate Manga Lessons Vol. 1: Drawing Made Easy (April 2005)\\nHow to Draw Manga: Ultimate Manga Lessons Vol. 2: The Basics of Characters and Materials (August 2005)\\nHow to Draw Manga: Ultimate Manga Lessons Vol. 3: Drawing Sensational Characters (November 2005)\\nHow to Draw Manga: Ultimate Manga Lessons Vol. 4: Making the Characters Come Alive (March 2006)\\nHow to Draw Manga: Ultimate Manga Lessons Vol. 5: A Touch of Dynamism (2006)\\nHow to Draw Manga: Ultimate Manga Lessons Vol. 6: Striking the Right Note (2006)\\n\\nHow to Draw Manga: Computones \\nEach volume in this set includes a CD-ROM for use with Windows only.\\n\\nHow to Draw Manga: Computones Vol. 1: Basic Tone Techniques (May 2005)\\nHow to Draw Manga: Computones Vol. 2: Depicting Characters (September 2005)\\nHow to Draw Manga: Computones Vol. 3: Mecha (October 2005)\\nHow to Draw Manga: Computones Vol. 4: Portraying Couples (June 2006)\\nHow to Draw Manga: Computones Vol. 5: Aiming For Action (June 2006)\\n\\nHow to Draw Manga: Sketching Manga-Style \\nHow to Draw Manga: Sketching Manga-Style Vol. 1: Sketching to Plan (February 2007)\\nHow to Draw Manga: Sketching Manga-Style Vol. 2: Logical Proportions (April 2007)\\nHow to Draw Manga: Sketching Manga-Style Vol. 3: Unforgettable Characters (October 2007)\\nHow to Draw Manga: Sketching Manga-Style Vol. 4: All About Perspective (Nov 12, 2008)\\nHow to Draw Manga: Sketching Manga-Style Vol. 5: Sketching Props (August 11, 2009)\\n\\nThese books are no longer in print and the series has been canceled.\\n\\nManga Pose Resource Book \\nThis set was printed in an over-sized format of 21 cm x 29.6 cm.\\n\\nManga Pose Resource Book Vol. 1: Basic Poses (2002)\\nManga Pose Resource Book Vol. 2: Animals (2002)\\nManga Pose Resource Book Vol. 3: Actions Scenes (2002)\\n\\nHow to Draw Anime and Game Characters \\nThis set is another Graphic-Sha publication that is shown alongside the main HTDM series on the dustjacks and in ads.\\n\\nHow to Draw Anime and Game Characters Vol. 1: Basics for Beginners and Beyond (August 2000)\\nHow to Draw Anime and Game Characters Vol. 2: Expressing Emotions (March 2001)\\nHow to Draw Anime and Game Characters Vol. 3: Bringing Daily Actions to Life (August 2001)\\nHow to Draw Anime and Game Characters Vol. 4: Mastering Battle and Action Moves (April 2002)\\nHow to Draw Anime and Game Characters Vol. 5: Bishoujo Game Characters (September 2003)\\n\\nMore How to Draw Manga \\nAnother set of manga-know-how with only four volumes, based in character creation.\\n\\nMore How to Draw Manga Vol. 1: The Basics of Character Drawing (March 2004)\\nMore How to Draw Manga Vol. 2: Penning Characters (March 2004)\\nMore How to Draw Manga Vol. 3: Enhancing a Character's Sense of Presence (August 2004)\\nMore How to Draw Manga Vol. 4: Mastering Bishoujo Characters (September 2004)\\n\\nCancelled/status unknown volumes \\nThese are volumes that were going to be released in English and even advertised for ordering, but they have been cancelled.\\n\\nHow to Draw Manga: Digital Comic Guide Vol. 1\\n\\nCross-promotions \\nA special edition of the series titled How to Draw Manga Special: Colored Original Drawing was produced detailing how to use Copic markers. It explains how to avoid blotches, use colorless blenders, select paper, refill markers, changing nibs and the airbrush system. It is Volume 9 in the English language series.\\n\\nReception \\nThe series has been credited with \\\"the standardization of manga style\\\", popularizing most common tropes such as \\\"the large eyes of shōjo characters, the feminine features of bishōnen\\\". The series has been successful in multiple markets as it has been translated to numerous other languages, and it shows the global success of manga - that not only the product itself is successful, but even works about the process of making the product.\\n\\nReferences\\n\\nExternal links \\n Manga related books on Graphic-sha website\\n How to Draw Manga\\n\\nBooks about visual art\\nBooks about manga\\nHandbooks and manuals\\nBook series introduced in 1999\\nJapanese book series\",\n \"Circle Seven Animation (or Disney Circle Seven Animation) was a short-lived division of Walt Disney Feature Animation specializing in computer-generated imagery (CGI) animation and was originally intended to create sequels to the Disney-owned Pixar properties, leading rivals and animators to derisively nickname the division \\\"Pixaren't\\\". The studio did not release any films during its existence, nor were any of its scripts used by Pixar.\\n\\nThe division was named after the street where its studio was located. Circle Seven Drive in Glendale, California is also home to KABC-TV.\\n\\nBackground\\nPixar and Disney originally had a seven-film distribution agreement that gave Disney full ownership of Pixar's feature films and characters, as well as sequel rights. With the success of Toy Story 2 in the end of 1999, then-Disney CEO Michael Eisner and then-owner of Pixar Steve Jobs began to disagree on how Pixar should be run and the terms of a continued relationship.\\n\\nEisner claimed that Toy Story 2, as it was a sequel, did not count towards the \\\"original\\\" film count of the agreement, though Jobs disagreed.\\n\\nJobs announced in January 2004 — after ten months of negotiations — that Pixar would not renew their agreement with Disney, and would seek out other distributors for releases starting in 2006. Jobs wanted Pixar to receive most of the profits that their films made (giving Disney the standard 10% distribution fee) as well as full ownership of any future films and characters that the studio would create after Cars (2006). \\n\\nEisner found these terms unacceptable. Pixar executive producer John Lasseter, who had personally directed Toy Story (1995), A Bug's Life (1998), and Toy Story 2 (1999), became distraught over the breakdown of the Disney-Pixar relationship, as he was worried about what Disney might do with the characters Pixar had created.\\n\\nWhen he had to announce what had happened at a meeting of Pixar's 800 employees, Lasseter reportedly said, through tears, \\\"It's like you have these dear children and you have to give them up to be adopted by convicted child molesters.\\\"\\n\\nName\\nCircle 7 Animation was named after the street where its studio was located, and the often-used Circle 7 logo, a television station logo in the United States designed in the early 1960s for the American Broadcasting Company's five owned-and-operated stations, all of which broadcast on VHF channel 7.\\n\\nHistory\\nIn March 2005, Disney Circle Seven Animation was formed as a CGI animation studio to create sequels to the Disney-owned Pixar properties, and the studio began to hire staff shortly thereafter. It was seen as a bargaining chip by people within both Pixar and Disney, but also as a backup plan by Eisner in case negotiations fell through.\\n\\nThe first (and only) projects that the studio worked on were early drafts of Toy Story 3, Monsters, Inc. 2: Lost in Scaradise, and Finding Nemo 2. \\n\\nBob Iger succeeded Eisner as the new CEO of Disney in 2005. While viewing a parade at Hong Kong Disneyland that fall, Iger realized how badly Disney needed Pixar because all characters less than ten years old in the parade were from Pixar's films. In late January 2006, Iger and Jobs agreed to a deal in which Disney would purchase Pixar for $7.4 billion, with Pixar's leadership (Edwin Catmull and Lasseter) taking control of Disney's animation group. Under this new deal, Pixar would make Toy Story 3 with an all-new script; director Andrew Stanton stated that Pixar purposely avoided looking at Circle Seven's script.\\n\\nOn May 26, 2006, Disney officially closed Circle Seven Animation, and transferred about 136 out of the studio's 168 employees to Walt Disney Feature Animation, which was soon renamed Walt Disney Animation Studios. Catmull later disclosed in his 2014 book Creativity, Inc. that although Pixar had been frustrated with Disney's decision to create Circle Seven Animation in order to create sequels to Pixar's own films, they did not hold that against Circle Seven's employees, who had no part in that decision. This was why Catmull and Lasseter were willing to absorb most of the Circle Seven workforce directly into Walt Disney Animation Studios. Indeed, they eventually appointed Andrew Millstein, the former head of Circle Seven, as the general manager of Walt Disney Animation Studios to handle day-to-day business affairs on their behalf.\\n\\nReferences\\n\\nAmerican animation studios\\nWalt Disney Animation Studios\\nEntertainment companies based in California\\nMass media companies established in 2005\\nMass media companies disestablished in 2006\\nCompanies based in Glendale, California\\n2005 establishments in California\\n2006 disestablishments in California\"\n]"},"chunked_article":{"kind":"list like","value":["Terence Joseph Nation (8 August 19309 March 1997) was a Welsh screenwriter and novelist. Especially known for his work in British television science fiction, he created the Daleks and Davros for Doctor Who (1963), as well as the series Survivors (1975) and Blake's 7 (1978).","Especially known for his work in British television science fiction, he created the Daleks and Davros for Doctor Who (1963), as well as the series Survivors (1975) and Blake's 7 (1978). Nation first made his name as a comedy writer before becoming a prolific writer for drama, working on many of the most popular British series of the 1960s and 1970s such as The Avengers, The Baron, The Champions, Department S, The Persuaders! and The Saint.","and The Saint. and The Saint. When Nation was commissioned to write The Daleks (1963) for Doctor Who, the villainous eponymous creatures established the series' early popularity. He later devised the recurring character of Davros in Genesis of the Daleks (1975). His series Survivors and Blake's 7 have been described as \"much-loved cult TV classics\".","His series Survivors and Blake's 7 have been described as \"much-loved cult TV classics\". Life and career Early years Born in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales, Nation initially worked in comedy, entering the industry in 1955 after a (possibly apocryphal) incident in which Spike Milligan bought a sketch that he had written because he thought that Nation appeared hungry.","Life and career Early years Born in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales, Nation initially worked in comedy, entering the industry in 1955 after a (possibly apocryphal) incident in which Spike Milligan bought a sketch that he had written because he thought that Nation appeared hungry. During the 1950s, Nation worked with John Junkin and Johnny Speight for the writers' agency Associated London Scripts, where he collaborated on hundreds of radio plays for comedians such as Terry Scott, Eric Sykes, Harry Worth and Frankie Howerd.","During the 1950s, Nation worked with John Junkin and Johnny Speight for the writers' agency Associated London Scripts, where he collaborated on hundreds of radio plays for comedians such as Terry Scott, Eric Sykes, Harry Worth and Frankie Howerd. His career break came in 1962, when he was commissioned to write material for Tony Hancockfirst for Hancock's unsuccessful series for Associated Television broadcast on ITV in 1963, and then his stage show.","His career break came in 1962, when he was commissioned to write material for Tony Hancockfirst for Hancock's unsuccessful series for Associated Television broadcast on ITV in 1963, and then his stage show. Although Nation accompanied Hancock as his chief screenwriter on tour in 1963, Hancock would regularly neglect Nation's scripts in favour of recycling his old material. Following an argument over this, Hancock either fired Nation, or Nation resigned (it is unclear which).","Following an argument over this, Hancock either fired Nation, or Nation resigned (it is unclear which). Doctor Who Prior to his association with Hancock, Nation had declined an offer from scriptwriter David Whitaker to write for a new science-fiction programme that was entering production at the BBC; Whitaker had been impressed by a script that Nation had written for the ABC anthology series Out of this World.","Doctor Who Prior to his association with Hancock, Nation had declined an offer from scriptwriter David Whitaker to write for a new science-fiction programme that was entering production at the BBC; Whitaker had been impressed by a script that Nation had written for the ABC anthology series Out of this World. Now unemployed, and with a young family to support, Nation contacted Whitaker and accepted the offer, writing the second Doctor Who serial, The Daleks (also known as The Mutants and The Dead Planet).","Now unemployed, and with a young family to support, Nation contacted Whitaker and accepted the offer, writing the second Doctor Who serial, The Daleks (also known as The Mutants and The Dead Planet). The serial introduced the eponymous extraterrestrial villains that would quickly become the series' most popular and enduring monsters, and resulted in a major merchandising success for the BBC. Nation contributed further scripts to Doctor Who.","Nation contributed further scripts to Doctor Who. Nation contributed further scripts to Doctor Who. In 1965, Nation and Dennis Spooner co-wrote the 12-part serial The Daleks' Master Plan, after which Nation, who still held the copyright to the Daleks, attempted to launch a Dalek spin-off TV series in the United States. Various other Dalek tie-in material appeared, including comic strips in the children's weekly TV Century 21 and annuals; such material was frequently credited to Nation, even when written by others.","Various other Dalek tie-in material appeared, including comic strips in the children's weekly TV Century 21 and annuals; such material was frequently credited to Nation, even when written by others. Between 1966 and 1972, appearances by the Daleks in Doctor Who became less frequent and were written for the series by other authors. In 1973, following an eight-year absence from scriptwriting for the series, Nation returned to writing for the Daleks on Doctor Who with the Third Doctor serial Planet of the Daleks.","In 1973, following an eight-year absence from scriptwriting for the series, Nation returned to writing for the Daleks on Doctor Who with the Third Doctor serial Planet of the Daleks. In 1998, readers of Doctor Who Magazine voted Nation's 1975 serial Genesis of the Daleks the greatest Doctor Who story of all time. In the story, Nation introduced the character of Davros, the creator of the Daleks, who went on to appear in further storylines.","In the story, Nation introduced the character of Davros, the creator of the Daleks, who went on to appear in further storylines. Nation also wrote two non-Dalek scripts for Doctor Who, The Keys of Marinus in 1964, which introduced the Voord, and The Android Invasion in 1975, which introduced the Kraals. Nation's final script for Doctor Who was Destiny of the Daleks, broadcast in 1979.","Nation's final script for Doctor Who was Destiny of the Daleks, broadcast in 1979. His work on Doctor Who was the subject of the documentary Terror Nation, a special feature on the BBC DVD release of Destiny of the Daleks. Out of the Unknown Nation's first work on the science-fiction anthology series Out of the Unknown was scripting an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's short story The Fox and the Forest in 1965 for the show's debut series.","Out of the Unknown Nation's first work on the science-fiction anthology series Out of the Unknown was scripting an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's short story The Fox and the Forest in 1965 for the show's debut series. It was about a 21st century couple taking a forbidden trip to Mexico in 1938, only to be followed by enforcers from the future. It is one of only two episodes from the first series to be considered lost, with only two photographs and the end titles known to exist.","It is one of only two episodes from the first series to be considered lost, with only two photographs and the end titles known to exist. In 1969, when the show began to be produced in colour, Nation granted permission for the Daleks to be used in the series three episode Get Off My Cloud, based on the story by Peter Phillips about a bed-bound science-fiction author who finds himself within one of his own fantasies after a mental breakdown.","In 1969, when the show began to be produced in colour, Nation granted permission for the Daleks to be used in the series three episode Get Off My Cloud, based on the story by Peter Phillips about a bed-bound science-fiction author who finds himself within one of his own fantasies after a mental breakdown. This would be the first time the Daleks had been shown in colour on television, although they had previously appeared in colour in the Peter Cushing films. Only production stills and low-quality audio extracts survive.","Only production stills and low-quality audio extracts survive. Only production stills and low-quality audio extracts survive. Survivors and Blake's 7 Having returned to writing for Doctor Who, the BBC commissioned Nation to create a new science-fiction drama series. First broadcast in 1975, Survivors is the post-apocalyptic story of the last humans on Earth after the world's population has been devastated by plague.","First broadcast in 1975, Survivors is the post-apocalyptic story of the last humans on Earth after the world's population has been devastated by plague. Although the series was well received, Nation's creative vision conflicted with that of producer Terence Dudley, and the final two seasons were produced without Nation's involvement.","Although the series was well received, Nation's creative vision conflicted with that of producer Terence Dudley, and the final two seasons were produced without Nation's involvement. Meanwhile, screenwriter Brian Clemens claimed that he had related the concept for Survivors to Nation in the late 1960s while they were working together on the final season of The Avengers, with Clemens claiming to have registered the Survivors concept with the Writers' Guild of Great Britain in 1965; Nation denied the allegations.","Meanwhile, screenwriter Brian Clemens claimed that he had related the concept for Survivors to Nation in the late 1960s while they were working together on the final season of The Avengers, with Clemens claiming to have registered the Survivors concept with the Writers' Guild of Great Britain in 1965; Nation denied the allegations. Although the case was ultimately brought before the High Court, both sides withdrew from the proceedings after their legal costs mounted. The production of Nation's next BBC creation, Blake's 7, experienced fewer problems.","The production of Nation's next BBC creation, Blake's 7, experienced fewer problems. This series follows a group of criminals and political prisoners who are on the run from the evil \"Terran Federation\", piloting a stolen spaceship of unknown origin. Blake's 7 ran for four series from 1978 to 1981.","Blake's 7 ran for four series from 1978 to 1981. Although Nation scripted the whole of the first series of Blake's 7, his creative influence subsequently declined in the following two series despite writing some key episodes, as script editor Chris Boucher exerted a greater influence on those seasons. Nation didn't write any episodes in the fourth series of Blake's 7. In the 1980s, Nation attempted, without success, to secure funding for a fifth season of Blake's 7.","In the 1980s, Nation attempted, without success, to secure funding for a fifth season of Blake's 7. During the 1970s, Nation wrote a children's novel for his daughter Rebecca (after whom he named the character of Rebec in the 1973 Doctor Who serial Planet of the Daleks) titled Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet, as well as a novel based on Survivors. United States In 1980, Nation moved to Los Angeles, where he developed programme ideas and worked for various production studios.","United States In 1980, Nation moved to Los Angeles, where he developed programme ideas and worked for various production studios. Little of his work from this time was as successful as that of his earlier period in Britain. He wrote scripts for the TV series MacGyver (1985) and A Fine Romance (1989). Death Nation died from emphysema in Los Angeles on 9 March 1997, aged 66. Shortly before his death, he had been collaborating with actor Paul Darrow on another attempt to revive Blake's 7.","Shortly before his death, he had been collaborating with actor Paul Darrow on another attempt to revive Blake's 7. Writing credits Awards and nominations In 2013, Nation was commemorated with a blue plaque at the house in Cardiff where he was born. Bibliography Survivors (1976, ) Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet (1978, ) References Further reading Turner, Alwyn W.: The Man Who Invented The Daleks: The Strange Worlds of Terry Nation, London: Aurum Press, 2011, .","Bibliography Survivors (1976, ) Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet (1978, ) References Further reading Turner, Alwyn W.: The Man Who Invented The Daleks: The Strange Worlds of Terry Nation, London: Aurum Press, 2011, . External links Terry Nation profile, Museum of Broadcast Communications, museum.tv; accessed 26 December 2014.","External links Terry Nation profile, Museum of Broadcast Communications, museum.tv; accessed 26 December 2014. 1930 births 1997 deaths 20th-century British novelists BBC people British male novelists British male screenwriters Welsh radio writers British science fiction writers Deaths from emphysema Welsh comedy writers Welsh expatriates in the United States Welsh novelists Welsh science fiction writers Welsh screenwriters Welsh television writers Writers from Cardiff People from Llandaff 20th-century British male writers British male television writers 20th-century British screenwriters"],"string":"[\n \"Terence Joseph Nation (8 August 19309 March 1997) was a Welsh screenwriter and novelist. Especially known for his work in British television science fiction, he created the Daleks and Davros for Doctor Who (1963), as well as the series Survivors (1975) and Blake's 7 (1978).\",\n \"Especially known for his work in British television science fiction, he created the Daleks and Davros for Doctor Who (1963), as well as the series Survivors (1975) and Blake's 7 (1978). Nation first made his name as a comedy writer before becoming a prolific writer for drama, working on many of the most popular British series of the 1960s and 1970s such as The Avengers, The Baron, The Champions, Department S, The Persuaders! and The Saint.\",\n \"and The Saint. and The Saint. When Nation was commissioned to write The Daleks (1963) for Doctor Who, the villainous eponymous creatures established the series' early popularity. He later devised the recurring character of Davros in Genesis of the Daleks (1975). His series Survivors and Blake's 7 have been described as \\\"much-loved cult TV classics\\\".\",\n \"His series Survivors and Blake's 7 have been described as \\\"much-loved cult TV classics\\\". Life and career Early years Born in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales, Nation initially worked in comedy, entering the industry in 1955 after a (possibly apocryphal) incident in which Spike Milligan bought a sketch that he had written because he thought that Nation appeared hungry.\",\n \"Life and career Early years Born in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales, Nation initially worked in comedy, entering the industry in 1955 after a (possibly apocryphal) incident in which Spike Milligan bought a sketch that he had written because he thought that Nation appeared hungry. During the 1950s, Nation worked with John Junkin and Johnny Speight for the writers' agency Associated London Scripts, where he collaborated on hundreds of radio plays for comedians such as Terry Scott, Eric Sykes, Harry Worth and Frankie Howerd.\",\n \"During the 1950s, Nation worked with John Junkin and Johnny Speight for the writers' agency Associated London Scripts, where he collaborated on hundreds of radio plays for comedians such as Terry Scott, Eric Sykes, Harry Worth and Frankie Howerd. His career break came in 1962, when he was commissioned to write material for Tony Hancockfirst for Hancock's unsuccessful series for Associated Television broadcast on ITV in 1963, and then his stage show.\",\n \"His career break came in 1962, when he was commissioned to write material for Tony Hancockfirst for Hancock's unsuccessful series for Associated Television broadcast on ITV in 1963, and then his stage show. Although Nation accompanied Hancock as his chief screenwriter on tour in 1963, Hancock would regularly neglect Nation's scripts in favour of recycling his old material. Following an argument over this, Hancock either fired Nation, or Nation resigned (it is unclear which).\",\n \"Following an argument over this, Hancock either fired Nation, or Nation resigned (it is unclear which). Doctor Who Prior to his association with Hancock, Nation had declined an offer from scriptwriter David Whitaker to write for a new science-fiction programme that was entering production at the BBC; Whitaker had been impressed by a script that Nation had written for the ABC anthology series Out of this World.\",\n \"Doctor Who Prior to his association with Hancock, Nation had declined an offer from scriptwriter David Whitaker to write for a new science-fiction programme that was entering production at the BBC; Whitaker had been impressed by a script that Nation had written for the ABC anthology series Out of this World. Now unemployed, and with a young family to support, Nation contacted Whitaker and accepted the offer, writing the second Doctor Who serial, The Daleks (also known as The Mutants and The Dead Planet).\",\n \"Now unemployed, and with a young family to support, Nation contacted Whitaker and accepted the offer, writing the second Doctor Who serial, The Daleks (also known as The Mutants and The Dead Planet). The serial introduced the eponymous extraterrestrial villains that would quickly become the series' most popular and enduring monsters, and resulted in a major merchandising success for the BBC. Nation contributed further scripts to Doctor Who.\",\n \"Nation contributed further scripts to Doctor Who. Nation contributed further scripts to Doctor Who. In 1965, Nation and Dennis Spooner co-wrote the 12-part serial The Daleks' Master Plan, after which Nation, who still held the copyright to the Daleks, attempted to launch a Dalek spin-off TV series in the United States. Various other Dalek tie-in material appeared, including comic strips in the children's weekly TV Century 21 and annuals; such material was frequently credited to Nation, even when written by others.\",\n \"Various other Dalek tie-in material appeared, including comic strips in the children's weekly TV Century 21 and annuals; such material was frequently credited to Nation, even when written by others. Between 1966 and 1972, appearances by the Daleks in Doctor Who became less frequent and were written for the series by other authors. In 1973, following an eight-year absence from scriptwriting for the series, Nation returned to writing for the Daleks on Doctor Who with the Third Doctor serial Planet of the Daleks.\",\n \"In 1973, following an eight-year absence from scriptwriting for the series, Nation returned to writing for the Daleks on Doctor Who with the Third Doctor serial Planet of the Daleks. In 1998, readers of Doctor Who Magazine voted Nation's 1975 serial Genesis of the Daleks the greatest Doctor Who story of all time. In the story, Nation introduced the character of Davros, the creator of the Daleks, who went on to appear in further storylines.\",\n \"In the story, Nation introduced the character of Davros, the creator of the Daleks, who went on to appear in further storylines. Nation also wrote two non-Dalek scripts for Doctor Who, The Keys of Marinus in 1964, which introduced the Voord, and The Android Invasion in 1975, which introduced the Kraals. Nation's final script for Doctor Who was Destiny of the Daleks, broadcast in 1979.\",\n \"Nation's final script for Doctor Who was Destiny of the Daleks, broadcast in 1979. His work on Doctor Who was the subject of the documentary Terror Nation, a special feature on the BBC DVD release of Destiny of the Daleks. Out of the Unknown Nation's first work on the science-fiction anthology series Out of the Unknown was scripting an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's short story The Fox and the Forest in 1965 for the show's debut series.\",\n \"Out of the Unknown Nation's first work on the science-fiction anthology series Out of the Unknown was scripting an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's short story The Fox and the Forest in 1965 for the show's debut series. It was about a 21st century couple taking a forbidden trip to Mexico in 1938, only to be followed by enforcers from the future. It is one of only two episodes from the first series to be considered lost, with only two photographs and the end titles known to exist.\",\n \"It is one of only two episodes from the first series to be considered lost, with only two photographs and the end titles known to exist. In 1969, when the show began to be produced in colour, Nation granted permission for the Daleks to be used in the series three episode Get Off My Cloud, based on the story by Peter Phillips about a bed-bound science-fiction author who finds himself within one of his own fantasies after a mental breakdown.\",\n \"In 1969, when the show began to be produced in colour, Nation granted permission for the Daleks to be used in the series three episode Get Off My Cloud, based on the story by Peter Phillips about a bed-bound science-fiction author who finds himself within one of his own fantasies after a mental breakdown. This would be the first time the Daleks had been shown in colour on television, although they had previously appeared in colour in the Peter Cushing films. Only production stills and low-quality audio extracts survive.\",\n \"Only production stills and low-quality audio extracts survive. Only production stills and low-quality audio extracts survive. Survivors and Blake's 7 Having returned to writing for Doctor Who, the BBC commissioned Nation to create a new science-fiction drama series. First broadcast in 1975, Survivors is the post-apocalyptic story of the last humans on Earth after the world's population has been devastated by plague.\",\n \"First broadcast in 1975, Survivors is the post-apocalyptic story of the last humans on Earth after the world's population has been devastated by plague. Although the series was well received, Nation's creative vision conflicted with that of producer Terence Dudley, and the final two seasons were produced without Nation's involvement.\",\n \"Although the series was well received, Nation's creative vision conflicted with that of producer Terence Dudley, and the final two seasons were produced without Nation's involvement. Meanwhile, screenwriter Brian Clemens claimed that he had related the concept for Survivors to Nation in the late 1960s while they were working together on the final season of The Avengers, with Clemens claiming to have registered the Survivors concept with the Writers' Guild of Great Britain in 1965; Nation denied the allegations.\",\n \"Meanwhile, screenwriter Brian Clemens claimed that he had related the concept for Survivors to Nation in the late 1960s while they were working together on the final season of The Avengers, with Clemens claiming to have registered the Survivors concept with the Writers' Guild of Great Britain in 1965; Nation denied the allegations. Although the case was ultimately brought before the High Court, both sides withdrew from the proceedings after their legal costs mounted. The production of Nation's next BBC creation, Blake's 7, experienced fewer problems.\",\n \"The production of Nation's next BBC creation, Blake's 7, experienced fewer problems. This series follows a group of criminals and political prisoners who are on the run from the evil \\\"Terran Federation\\\", piloting a stolen spaceship of unknown origin. Blake's 7 ran for four series from 1978 to 1981.\",\n \"Blake's 7 ran for four series from 1978 to 1981. Although Nation scripted the whole of the first series of Blake's 7, his creative influence subsequently declined in the following two series despite writing some key episodes, as script editor Chris Boucher exerted a greater influence on those seasons. Nation didn't write any episodes in the fourth series of Blake's 7. In the 1980s, Nation attempted, without success, to secure funding for a fifth season of Blake's 7.\",\n \"In the 1980s, Nation attempted, without success, to secure funding for a fifth season of Blake's 7. During the 1970s, Nation wrote a children's novel for his daughter Rebecca (after whom he named the character of Rebec in the 1973 Doctor Who serial Planet of the Daleks) titled Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet, as well as a novel based on Survivors. United States In 1980, Nation moved to Los Angeles, where he developed programme ideas and worked for various production studios.\",\n \"United States In 1980, Nation moved to Los Angeles, where he developed programme ideas and worked for various production studios. Little of his work from this time was as successful as that of his earlier period in Britain. He wrote scripts for the TV series MacGyver (1985) and A Fine Romance (1989). Death Nation died from emphysema in Los Angeles on 9 March 1997, aged 66. Shortly before his death, he had been collaborating with actor Paul Darrow on another attempt to revive Blake's 7.\",\n \"Shortly before his death, he had been collaborating with actor Paul Darrow on another attempt to revive Blake's 7. Writing credits Awards and nominations In 2013, Nation was commemorated with a blue plaque at the house in Cardiff where he was born. Bibliography Survivors (1976, ) Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet (1978, ) References Further reading Turner, Alwyn W.: The Man Who Invented The Daleks: The Strange Worlds of Terry Nation, London: Aurum Press, 2011, .\",\n \"Bibliography Survivors (1976, ) Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet (1978, ) References Further reading Turner, Alwyn W.: The Man Who Invented The Daleks: The Strange Worlds of Terry Nation, London: Aurum Press, 2011, . External links Terry Nation profile, Museum of Broadcast Communications, museum.tv; accessed 26 December 2014.\",\n \"External links Terry Nation profile, Museum of Broadcast Communications, museum.tv; accessed 26 December 2014. 1930 births 1997 deaths 20th-century British novelists BBC people British male novelists British male screenwriters Welsh radio writers British science fiction writers Deaths from emphysema Welsh comedy writers Welsh expatriates in the United States Welsh novelists Welsh science fiction writers Welsh screenwriters Welsh television writers Writers from Cardiff People from Llandaff 20th-century British male writers British male television writers 20th-century British screenwriters\"\n]"}}},{"rowIdx":378,"cells":{"History":{"kind":"list like","value":["Terry Nation","Doctor Who","What work did he do on Doctor Who?","writing the second Doctor Who serial,","What contributions did he make?","The serial introduced the eponymous extraterrestrial villains that would quickly become the series' most popular and enduring monsters, and resulted in a major merchandising success for the BBC.","What was the name of these villains?","The Mutants","Did he state how he came to create these characters?","unemployed, and with a young family to support,"],"string":"[\n \"Terry Nation\",\n \"Doctor Who\",\n \"What work did he do on Doctor Who?\",\n \"writing the second Doctor Who serial,\",\n \"What contributions did he make?\",\n \"The serial introduced the eponymous extraterrestrial villains that would quickly become the series' most popular and enduring monsters, and resulted in a major merchandising success for the BBC.\",\n \"What was the name of these villains?\",\n \"The Mutants\",\n \"Did he state how he came to create these characters?\",\n \"unemployed, and with a young family to support,\"\n]"},"QuAC_dialog_id":{"kind":"string","value":"C_27cf8f62e352479f9e87e95654df4e3f_1"},"Question":{"kind":"string","value":"When was he hired to produce these characters for Doctor Who?"},"Question_no":{"kind":"number","value":5,"string":"5"},"Rewrite":{"kind":"string","value":"When was Terry Nation hired to produce eponymous extraterrestrial villains for Doctor Who?"},"true_page_title":{"kind":"string","value":"Terry Nation"},"true_contexts":{"kind":"string","value":"Prior to this, Nation had declined an offer from scriptwriter David Whitaker to write for a new science-fiction programme that was entering production at the BBC; Whitaker had been impressed by a script that Nation had written for the ABC anthology series Out of this World. Now unemployed, and with a young family to support, Nation contacted Whitaker and accepted the offer, writing the second Doctor Who serial, The Daleks (also known as The Mutants and The Dead Planet). The serial introduced the eponymous extraterrestrial villains that would quickly become the series' most popular and enduring monsters, and resulted in a major merchandising success for the BBC. Having risen in the public consciousness, Nation went on to contribute further scripts to Doctor Who. In 1965, Nation and Dennis Spooner co-wrote the 12-part serial The Daleks' Master Plan, after which Nation, who still held the copyright to the Daleks, attempted to launch a Dalek spin-off TV series in the United States. Various other Dalek tie-in material appeared, including comic strips in the children's weekly TV Century 21 and annuals; such material was frequently credited to Nation, even when written by others. Between 1966 and 1972, appearances by the Daleks in Doctor Who became less frequent and were written for the series by other authors. In 1973, following an eight-year absence from scriptwriting for the series, Nation returned to writing for the Daleks on Doctor Who with the Third Doctor serial Planet of the Daleks. In 1998, readers of Doctor Who Magazine voted Nation's 1975 serial Genesis of the Daleks the greatest Doctor Who story of all time. In the story, Nation introduced the character of Davros, the creator of the Daleks, who went on to appear in further storylines. Nation also wrote two non-Dalek scripts for Doctor Who, The Keys of Marinus in 1964, which introduced the Voord and The Android Invasion in 1975, which introduced the Kraal. During this time, Nation also worked in commercial TV, contributing scripts to series such as The Avengers, The Baron, The Champions, Department S, The Persuaders! and The Saint. Nation's work on Doctor Who was the subject of the documentary Terror Nation, a special feature on the BBC DVD release of the serial Destiny of the Daleks. CANNOTANSWER"},"answer":{"kind":"string","value":"1965,"},"true_contexts_wiki":{"kind":"string","value":"Terence Joseph Nation (8 August 19309 March 1997) was a Welsh screenwriter and novelist. Especially known for his work in British television science fiction, he created the Daleks and Davros for Doctor Who (1963), as well as the series Survivors (1975) and Blake's 7 (1978).\n\nNation first made his name as a comedy writer before becoming a prolific writer for drama, working on many of the most popular British series of the 1960s and 1970s such as The Avengers, The Baron, The Champions, Department S, The Persuaders! and The Saint. When Nation was commissioned to write The Daleks (1963) for Doctor Who, the villainous eponymous creatures established the series' early popularity. He later devised the recurring character of Davros in Genesis of the Daleks (1975). His series Survivors and Blake's 7 have been described as \"much-loved cult TV classics\".\n\nLife and career\n\nEarly years\nBorn in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales, Nation initially worked in comedy, entering the industry in 1955 after a (possibly apocryphal) incident in which Spike Milligan bought a sketch that he had written because he thought that Nation appeared hungry. During the 1950s, Nation worked with John Junkin and Johnny Speight for the writers' agency Associated London Scripts, where he collaborated on hundreds of radio plays for comedians such as Terry Scott, Eric Sykes, Harry Worth and Frankie Howerd.\n\nHis career break came in 1962, when he was commissioned to write material for Tony Hancockfirst for Hancock's unsuccessful series for Associated Television broadcast on ITV in 1963, and then his stage show. Although Nation accompanied Hancock as his chief screenwriter on tour in 1963, Hancock would regularly neglect Nation's scripts in favour of recycling his old material. Following an argument over this, Hancock either fired Nation, or Nation resigned (it is unclear which).\n\nDoctor Who\nPrior to his association with Hancock, Nation had declined an offer from scriptwriter David Whitaker to write for a new science-fiction programme that was entering production at the BBC; Whitaker had been impressed by a script that Nation had written for the ABC anthology series Out of this World. Now unemployed, and with a young family to support, Nation contacted Whitaker and accepted the offer, writing the second Doctor Who serial, The Daleks (also known as The Mutants and The Dead Planet). The serial introduced the eponymous extraterrestrial villains that would quickly become the series' most popular and enduring monsters, and resulted in a major merchandising success for the BBC.\n\nNation contributed further scripts to Doctor Who. In 1965, Nation and Dennis Spooner co-wrote the 12-part serial The Daleks' Master Plan, after which Nation, who still held the copyright to the Daleks, attempted to launch a Dalek spin-off TV series in the United States. Various other Dalek tie-in material appeared, including comic strips in the children's weekly TV Century 21 and annuals; such material was frequently credited to Nation, even when written by others. Between 1966 and 1972, appearances by the Daleks in Doctor Who became less frequent and were written for the series by other authors.\n\nIn 1973, following an eight-year absence from scriptwriting for the series, Nation returned to writing for the Daleks on Doctor Who with the Third Doctor serial Planet of the Daleks. In 1998, readers of Doctor Who Magazine voted Nation's 1975 serial Genesis of the Daleks the greatest Doctor Who story of all time. In the story, Nation introduced the character of Davros, the creator of the Daleks, who went on to appear in further storylines. Nation also wrote two non-Dalek scripts for Doctor Who, The Keys of Marinus in 1964, which introduced the Voord, and The Android Invasion in 1975, which introduced the Kraals. Nation's final script for Doctor Who was Destiny of the Daleks, broadcast in 1979.\n\nHis work on Doctor Who was the subject of the documentary Terror Nation, a special feature on the BBC DVD release of Destiny of the Daleks.\n\nOut of the Unknown\nNation's first work on the science-fiction anthology series Out of the Unknown was scripting an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's short story The Fox and the Forest in 1965 for the show's debut series. It was about a 21st century couple taking a forbidden trip to Mexico in 1938, only to be followed by enforcers from the future. It is one of only two episodes from the first series to be considered lost, with only two photographs and the end titles known to exist.\n\nIn 1969, when the show began to be produced in colour, Nation granted permission for the Daleks to be used in the series three episode Get Off My Cloud, based on the story by Peter Phillips about a bed-bound science-fiction author who finds himself within one of his own fantasies after a mental breakdown. This would be the first time the Daleks had been shown in colour on television, although they had previously appeared in colour in the Peter Cushing films. Only production stills and low-quality audio extracts survive.\n\nSurvivors and Blake's 7\nHaving returned to writing for Doctor Who, the BBC commissioned Nation to create a new science-fiction drama series. First broadcast in 1975, Survivors is the post-apocalyptic story of the last humans on Earth after the world's population has been devastated by plague. Although the series was well received, Nation's creative vision conflicted with that of producer Terence Dudley, and the final two seasons were produced without Nation's involvement.\n\nMeanwhile, screenwriter Brian Clemens claimed that he had related the concept for Survivors to Nation in the late 1960s while they were working together on the final season of The Avengers, with Clemens claiming to have registered the Survivors concept with the Writers' Guild of Great Britain in 1965; Nation denied the allegations. Although the case was ultimately brought before the High Court, both sides withdrew from the proceedings after their legal costs mounted.\n\nThe production of Nation's next BBC creation, Blake's 7, experienced fewer problems. This series follows a group of criminals and political prisoners who are on the run from the evil \"Terran Federation\", piloting a stolen spaceship of unknown origin. Blake's 7 ran for four series from 1978 to 1981.\n\nAlthough Nation scripted the whole of the first series of Blake's 7, his creative influence subsequently declined in the following two series despite writing some key episodes, as script editor Chris Boucher exerted a greater influence on those seasons. Nation didn't write any episodes in the fourth series of Blake's 7. In the 1980s, Nation attempted, without success, to secure funding for a fifth season of Blake's 7. During the 1970s, Nation wrote a children's novel for his daughter Rebecca (after whom he named the character of Rebec in the 1973 Doctor Who serial Planet of the Daleks) titled Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet, as well as a novel based on Survivors.\n\nUnited States\nIn 1980, Nation moved to Los Angeles, where he developed programme ideas and worked for various production studios. Little of his work from this time was as successful as that of his earlier period in Britain. He wrote scripts for the TV series MacGyver (1985) and A Fine Romance (1989).\n\nDeath\nNation died from emphysema in Los Angeles on 9 March 1997, aged 66. Shortly before his death, he had been collaborating with actor Paul Darrow on another attempt to revive Blake's 7.\n\nWriting credits\n\nAwards and nominations\n\nIn 2013, Nation was commemorated with a blue plaque at the house in Cardiff where he was born.\n\nBibliography\nSurvivors (1976, )\nRebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet (1978, )\n\nReferences\n\nFurther reading\n Turner, Alwyn W.: The Man Who Invented The Daleks: The Strange Worlds of Terry Nation, London: Aurum Press, 2011, .\n\nExternal links\n \n \n \n Terry Nation profile, Museum of Broadcast Communications, museum.tv; accessed 26 December 2014.\n\n1930 births\n1997 deaths\n20th-century British novelists\nBBC people\nBritish male novelists\nBritish male screenwriters\nWelsh radio writers\nBritish science fiction writers\nDeaths from emphysema\nWelsh comedy writers\nWelsh expatriates in the United States\nWelsh novelists\nWelsh science fiction writers\nWelsh screenwriters\nWelsh television writers\nWriters from Cardiff\nPeople from Llandaff\n20th-century British male writers\nBritish male television writers\n20th-century British screenwriters"},"extractive":{"kind":"string","value":"true"},"retrieved_contexts":{"kind":"list like","value":["The Virgin Decalog books were collections of short stories published by Virgin Publishing based on the television series Doctor Who: they gained their name from the fact that each volume contained ten stories (although the last collection contains eleven). Five volumes were published between 1994 and September 1997, although volumes 4 and 5 did not feature the Doctor or any other non-Virgin copyrighted characters. This is because the BBC decided not to renew Virgin's licence to produce original fiction featuring the Doctor or any characters featured in the TV series (Virgin transitioned to featuring characters created for literature over which the BBC had no rights). Following this, the BBC began producing their own Doctor Who fiction, including short stories under the name Short Trips.\n\nThe Books\n\nDecalog\nThe first volume of stories published was Decalog (Virgin, 17 March 1994), edited by Mark Stammers and Stephen James Walker. It contained the following stories:\n\nThe Story Playback by Stephen James Walker was a short linking piece that recurred between the other stories, detailing the story of an amnesiac claiming to be the Doctor having his memories restored by going through the items in his pockets: each item relates to one of the stories.\n\nDecalog 2: Lost Property\nThe next volume was Decalog 2: Lost Property (Virgin Publishing, 20 July 1995), again edited by Mark Stammers and Stephen James Walker. This volume abandoned the linking story concept used in Decalog, and instead concentrated on having all its stories written on the same theme – a property that the Doctor owns somewhere or when in the universe. It contained the stories:\n\nDecalog 3: Consequences\nThe final Decalog collection before Virgin lost their licence to use The Doctor and characters from the 1963–89 series was called Decalog 3: Consequences (Virgin Publishing, 18 July 1996), and was joint edited by Justin Richards and Andy Lane. It introduced a new idea for linking the stories whereby each story would contain an element from the previous and subsequent stories, and the first contained an element from the last and vice versa. It contained the following stories:\n\nThis was Steven Moffat's first Doctor Who work. He later went on to write for the 2005 revival of the television series, and would become head writer for the series from the 2010 season onwards. Jackie Marshall was an established writer of Doctor Who fan fiction at the time. DeCandido went on to write novels for the Star Trek franchise. Moffat would later use many plot elements from Continuity Errors as the basis for the 2010 Christmas Special, as well as for River Song's backstory in \"Let's Kill Hitler\".\n\nDecalog 4: Re-Generations\nThe first Decalog collection after Virgin lost their licence to use Doctor Who TV characters was called Decalog 4: Re-Generations (Virgin Publishing, 15 May 1997), and was again joint edited by Justin Richards and Andy Lane. In order to try to keep the audience of previous Decalogs even though the Doctor could no longer appear in the stories, it was decided to theme the collection around the family history of one of the Doctor's companion Roz Forrester. As this companion had been created by co-editor Andy Lane for the Virgin New Adventures, there were no copyright issues in including her. It contained the following stories:\n\nDecalog 5: Wonders\nThe final Decalog collection was called Decalog 5: Wonders (Virgin Publishing, 18 September 1997), and was jointly edited by Paul Leonard and Jim Mortimore. This time, all but one story were free-standing science fiction pieces on the theme of \"the Ten Wonders of the Universe\", without direct connection to the Doctor Who universe. One story, The Judgement of Solomon by Lawrence Miles, however features former New Adventures companion, Bernice Summerfield. The collection contained the following stories:\n\nFollowing the publication of this book, Virgin produced no further Decalog collections.\n\nReferences\n\nBook series introduced in 1994\nNovels based on Doctor Who\nScience fiction book series\n1990s books\nVirgin Books books","Honoré Lechasseur is one of two main characters in the Doctor Who spin-off Time Hunter series published by Telos Publishing Ltd. He is a time sensitive, which means that he possess the ability to see into people's pasts and futures when he is in their vicinity. He is also able to physically travel along people's timelines when he is working with a time channeller, such as his friend Emily Blandish. Honoré has appeared on some of the covers of the Time Hunter novellas.\n\nOverview \nThe character was created by Daniel O'Mahony for the Telos Doctor Who novella The Cabinet of Light. Shortly after the novella was published it was announced that BBC Enterprises would not be renewing Telos's licence to produce Doctor Who novellas. Telos subsequently announced that they would begin producing a series of \"Part mystery, part detective story, part dark fantasy, part science fiction\" novellas that would continue the spirit of the Doctor Who novellas. This was the Time Hunter range, which continued the adventures of Honoré and Emily Blandish.\n\nHonoré is portrayed as a moral character – he prides himself on never having swindled any of his customers – who develops from struggling to understand and live with his abilities, to embracing them through his platonic relationship with Emily Blandish. Through the novellas, he progresses from using alcohol on a regular basis as a \"painkiller\", to eventually becoming teetotal.\n\nThe character continued in the Time Hunter range for 11 novellas, before Telos announced that the range was to be closed due to poor sales.\n\nBiography \n\nHonoré Lechasseur in an American from New Orleans, Louisiana, who came to Europe whilst serving in the US Army in World War II. His platoon were moving through France when they became lost and ended up in Belgium, finding a farmhouse that had recently been abandoned by German soldiers. The group settled down to enjoy a stash of alcohol that had been left behind, and Honoré's Lieutenant began to play a piano: the piano had been booby trapped with explosives, and the Lieutenant was killed.\n\nHonoré suffered physical injuries in the explosion and was advised by Army medics that he would never walk again. He also suffered psychological injuries from the trauma, made worse by the knowledge that of his entire platoon, Honoré was the only other person who could play the piano and so if it had not been his lieutenant who had been killed, it might well have been Honoré himself.\n\nHonoré was moved to a hospital in England in 1943, where he began to recover the use of his legs. During this period, he also began to develop an ability to see people's pasts and futures that he later learnt was called time sensitivity.\n\nWhilst in hospital, Honoré was treated by a small bearded Scots doctor (recalling the Seventh Doctor, although it is unclear whether the character is intended to actually be the Seventh Doctor in disguise) who helped him recover to a certain degree. Honoré then left the hospital and relocated to Shoreditch in London, where he began working as a black market spiv – although he preferred the term \"fixer\".\n\nIn 1949, Honoré was hired by a woman posing as Emily Blandish to find her \"husband\", the Doctor. During the course of his investigations, Honoré met a young amnesiac woman dubbed \"the girl in the pink pyjamas\" by the press, and together they help save the Cabinet of Light (in actuality, the TARDIS) from a Nazi cult desperate to possess it for their own ends. He also helped the girl to remember her real name: Emily Blandish.\n\nFollowing this adventure, Emily and Honoré kept in touch and built a strong, platonic relationship. It was not until they both happened to spot the same man at the same time and wonder where he had come from, however, that they realised that Emily was a time sensitive. They both travelled forwards in time to an alternative 1984 (based on the novel by George Orwell), where they spent time trying to work out how to get back to their own time – which they ultimately did, whilst also ensuring that the future they had witnessed never came about.\n\nHonoré and Emily eventually came to understand how they had travelled through time, and became so practised at it that they could soon travel at will to a chosen date and time. They faced various adventures together, during which they fought the Fendahl and gained the enmity of a mysterious time travelling cult.\n\nAt present, Honoré's ultimate destiny is unknown.\n\nExternal links \n Telos website\n Outpost Gallifrey's \"Cabinet of Light\" section\n Doctor Who Ratings Guide reviews\n\nLiterary characters introduced in 2003\nDoctor Who book characters\nFictional spivs\nMale characters in literature\nTime Hunter"],"string":"[\n \"The Virgin Decalog books were collections of short stories published by Virgin Publishing based on the television series Doctor Who: they gained their name from the fact that each volume contained ten stories (although the last collection contains eleven). Five volumes were published between 1994 and September 1997, although volumes 4 and 5 did not feature the Doctor or any other non-Virgin copyrighted characters. This is because the BBC decided not to renew Virgin's licence to produce original fiction featuring the Doctor or any characters featured in the TV series (Virgin transitioned to featuring characters created for literature over which the BBC had no rights). Following this, the BBC began producing their own Doctor Who fiction, including short stories under the name Short Trips.\\n\\nThe Books\\n\\nDecalog\\nThe first volume of stories published was Decalog (Virgin, 17 March 1994), edited by Mark Stammers and Stephen James Walker. It contained the following stories:\\n\\nThe Story Playback by Stephen James Walker was a short linking piece that recurred between the other stories, detailing the story of an amnesiac claiming to be the Doctor having his memories restored by going through the items in his pockets: each item relates to one of the stories.\\n\\nDecalog 2: Lost Property\\nThe next volume was Decalog 2: Lost Property (Virgin Publishing, 20 July 1995), again edited by Mark Stammers and Stephen James Walker. This volume abandoned the linking story concept used in Decalog, and instead concentrated on having all its stories written on the same theme – a property that the Doctor owns somewhere or when in the universe. It contained the stories:\\n\\nDecalog 3: Consequences\\nThe final Decalog collection before Virgin lost their licence to use The Doctor and characters from the 1963–89 series was called Decalog 3: Consequences (Virgin Publishing, 18 July 1996), and was joint edited by Justin Richards and Andy Lane. It introduced a new idea for linking the stories whereby each story would contain an element from the previous and subsequent stories, and the first contained an element from the last and vice versa. It contained the following stories:\\n\\nThis was Steven Moffat's first Doctor Who work. He later went on to write for the 2005 revival of the television series, and would become head writer for the series from the 2010 season onwards. Jackie Marshall was an established writer of Doctor Who fan fiction at the time. DeCandido went on to write novels for the Star Trek franchise. Moffat would later use many plot elements from Continuity Errors as the basis for the 2010 Christmas Special, as well as for River Song's backstory in \\\"Let's Kill Hitler\\\".\\n\\nDecalog 4: Re-Generations\\nThe first Decalog collection after Virgin lost their licence to use Doctor Who TV characters was called Decalog 4: Re-Generations (Virgin Publishing, 15 May 1997), and was again joint edited by Justin Richards and Andy Lane. In order to try to keep the audience of previous Decalogs even though the Doctor could no longer appear in the stories, it was decided to theme the collection around the family history of one of the Doctor's companion Roz Forrester. As this companion had been created by co-editor Andy Lane for the Virgin New Adventures, there were no copyright issues in including her. It contained the following stories:\\n\\nDecalog 5: Wonders\\nThe final Decalog collection was called Decalog 5: Wonders (Virgin Publishing, 18 September 1997), and was jointly edited by Paul Leonard and Jim Mortimore. This time, all but one story were free-standing science fiction pieces on the theme of \\\"the Ten Wonders of the Universe\\\", without direct connection to the Doctor Who universe. One story, The Judgement of Solomon by Lawrence Miles, however features former New Adventures companion, Bernice Summerfield. The collection contained the following stories:\\n\\nFollowing the publication of this book, Virgin produced no further Decalog collections.\\n\\nReferences\\n\\nBook series introduced in 1994\\nNovels based on Doctor Who\\nScience fiction book series\\n1990s books\\nVirgin Books books\",\n \"Honoré Lechasseur is one of two main characters in the Doctor Who spin-off Time Hunter series published by Telos Publishing Ltd. He is a time sensitive, which means that he possess the ability to see into people's pasts and futures when he is in their vicinity. He is also able to physically travel along people's timelines when he is working with a time channeller, such as his friend Emily Blandish. Honoré has appeared on some of the covers of the Time Hunter novellas.\\n\\nOverview \\nThe character was created by Daniel O'Mahony for the Telos Doctor Who novella The Cabinet of Light. Shortly after the novella was published it was announced that BBC Enterprises would not be renewing Telos's licence to produce Doctor Who novellas. Telos subsequently announced that they would begin producing a series of \\\"Part mystery, part detective story, part dark fantasy, part science fiction\\\" novellas that would continue the spirit of the Doctor Who novellas. This was the Time Hunter range, which continued the adventures of Honoré and Emily Blandish.\\n\\nHonoré is portrayed as a moral character – he prides himself on never having swindled any of his customers – who develops from struggling to understand and live with his abilities, to embracing them through his platonic relationship with Emily Blandish. Through the novellas, he progresses from using alcohol on a regular basis as a \\\"painkiller\\\", to eventually becoming teetotal.\\n\\nThe character continued in the Time Hunter range for 11 novellas, before Telos announced that the range was to be closed due to poor sales.\\n\\nBiography \\n\\nHonoré Lechasseur in an American from New Orleans, Louisiana, who came to Europe whilst serving in the US Army in World War II. His platoon were moving through France when they became lost and ended up in Belgium, finding a farmhouse that had recently been abandoned by German soldiers. The group settled down to enjoy a stash of alcohol that had been left behind, and Honoré's Lieutenant began to play a piano: the piano had been booby trapped with explosives, and the Lieutenant was killed.\\n\\nHonoré suffered physical injuries in the explosion and was advised by Army medics that he would never walk again. He also suffered psychological injuries from the trauma, made worse by the knowledge that of his entire platoon, Honoré was the only other person who could play the piano and so if it had not been his lieutenant who had been killed, it might well have been Honoré himself.\\n\\nHonoré was moved to a hospital in England in 1943, where he began to recover the use of his legs. During this period, he also began to develop an ability to see people's pasts and futures that he later learnt was called time sensitivity.\\n\\nWhilst in hospital, Honoré was treated by a small bearded Scots doctor (recalling the Seventh Doctor, although it is unclear whether the character is intended to actually be the Seventh Doctor in disguise) who helped him recover to a certain degree. Honoré then left the hospital and relocated to Shoreditch in London, where he began working as a black market spiv – although he preferred the term \\\"fixer\\\".\\n\\nIn 1949, Honoré was hired by a woman posing as Emily Blandish to find her \\\"husband\\\", the Doctor. During the course of his investigations, Honoré met a young amnesiac woman dubbed \\\"the girl in the pink pyjamas\\\" by the press, and together they help save the Cabinet of Light (in actuality, the TARDIS) from a Nazi cult desperate to possess it for their own ends. He also helped the girl to remember her real name: Emily Blandish.\\n\\nFollowing this adventure, Emily and Honoré kept in touch and built a strong, platonic relationship. It was not until they both happened to spot the same man at the same time and wonder where he had come from, however, that they realised that Emily was a time sensitive. They both travelled forwards in time to an alternative 1984 (based on the novel by George Orwell), where they spent time trying to work out how to get back to their own time – which they ultimately did, whilst also ensuring that the future they had witnessed never came about.\\n\\nHonoré and Emily eventually came to understand how they had travelled through time, and became so practised at it that they could soon travel at will to a chosen date and time. They faced various adventures together, during which they fought the Fendahl and gained the enmity of a mysterious time travelling cult.\\n\\nAt present, Honoré's ultimate destiny is unknown.\\n\\nExternal links \\n Telos website\\n Outpost Gallifrey's \\\"Cabinet of Light\\\" section\\n Doctor Who Ratings Guide reviews\\n\\nLiterary characters introduced in 2003\\nDoctor Who book characters\\nFictional spivs\\nMale characters in literature\\nTime Hunter\"\n]"},"chunked_article":{"kind":"list like","value":["Terence Joseph Nation (8 August 19309 March 1997) was a Welsh screenwriter and novelist. Especially known for his work in British television science fiction, he created the Daleks and Davros for Doctor Who (1963), as well as the series Survivors (1975) and Blake's 7 (1978).","Especially known for his work in British television science fiction, he created the Daleks and Davros for Doctor Who (1963), as well as the series Survivors (1975) and Blake's 7 (1978). Nation first made his name as a comedy writer before becoming a prolific writer for drama, working on many of the most popular British series of the 1960s and 1970s such as The Avengers, The Baron, The Champions, Department S, The Persuaders! and The Saint.","and The Saint. and The Saint. When Nation was commissioned to write The Daleks (1963) for Doctor Who, the villainous eponymous creatures established the series' early popularity. He later devised the recurring character of Davros in Genesis of the Daleks (1975). His series Survivors and Blake's 7 have been described as \"much-loved cult TV classics\".","His series Survivors and Blake's 7 have been described as \"much-loved cult TV classics\". Life and career Early years Born in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales, Nation initially worked in comedy, entering the industry in 1955 after a (possibly apocryphal) incident in which Spike Milligan bought a sketch that he had written because he thought that Nation appeared hungry.","Life and career Early years Born in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales, Nation initially worked in comedy, entering the industry in 1955 after a (possibly apocryphal) incident in which Spike Milligan bought a sketch that he had written because he thought that Nation appeared hungry. During the 1950s, Nation worked with John Junkin and Johnny Speight for the writers' agency Associated London Scripts, where he collaborated on hundreds of radio plays for comedians such as Terry Scott, Eric Sykes, Harry Worth and Frankie Howerd.","During the 1950s, Nation worked with John Junkin and Johnny Speight for the writers' agency Associated London Scripts, where he collaborated on hundreds of radio plays for comedians such as Terry Scott, Eric Sykes, Harry Worth and Frankie Howerd. His career break came in 1962, when he was commissioned to write material for Tony Hancockfirst for Hancock's unsuccessful series for Associated Television broadcast on ITV in 1963, and then his stage show.","His career break came in 1962, when he was commissioned to write material for Tony Hancockfirst for Hancock's unsuccessful series for Associated Television broadcast on ITV in 1963, and then his stage show. Although Nation accompanied Hancock as his chief screenwriter on tour in 1963, Hancock would regularly neglect Nation's scripts in favour of recycling his old material. Following an argument over this, Hancock either fired Nation, or Nation resigned (it is unclear which).","Following an argument over this, Hancock either fired Nation, or Nation resigned (it is unclear which). Doctor Who Prior to his association with Hancock, Nation had declined an offer from scriptwriter David Whitaker to write for a new science-fiction programme that was entering production at the BBC; Whitaker had been impressed by a script that Nation had written for the ABC anthology series Out of this World.","Doctor Who Prior to his association with Hancock, Nation had declined an offer from scriptwriter David Whitaker to write for a new science-fiction programme that was entering production at the BBC; Whitaker had been impressed by a script that Nation had written for the ABC anthology series Out of this World. Now unemployed, and with a young family to support, Nation contacted Whitaker and accepted the offer, writing the second Doctor Who serial, The Daleks (also known as The Mutants and The Dead Planet).","Now unemployed, and with a young family to support, Nation contacted Whitaker and accepted the offer, writing the second Doctor Who serial, The Daleks (also known as The Mutants and The Dead Planet). The serial introduced the eponymous extraterrestrial villains that would quickly become the series' most popular and enduring monsters, and resulted in a major merchandising success for the BBC. Nation contributed further scripts to Doctor Who.","Nation contributed further scripts to Doctor Who. Nation contributed further scripts to Doctor Who. In 1965, Nation and Dennis Spooner co-wrote the 12-part serial The Daleks' Master Plan, after which Nation, who still held the copyright to the Daleks, attempted to launch a Dalek spin-off TV series in the United States. Various other Dalek tie-in material appeared, including comic strips in the children's weekly TV Century 21 and annuals; such material was frequently credited to Nation, even when written by others.","Various other Dalek tie-in material appeared, including comic strips in the children's weekly TV Century 21 and annuals; such material was frequently credited to Nation, even when written by others. Between 1966 and 1972, appearances by the Daleks in Doctor Who became less frequent and were written for the series by other authors. In 1973, following an eight-year absence from scriptwriting for the series, Nation returned to writing for the Daleks on Doctor Who with the Third Doctor serial Planet of the Daleks.","In 1973, following an eight-year absence from scriptwriting for the series, Nation returned to writing for the Daleks on Doctor Who with the Third Doctor serial Planet of the Daleks. In 1998, readers of Doctor Who Magazine voted Nation's 1975 serial Genesis of the Daleks the greatest Doctor Who story of all time. In the story, Nation introduced the character of Davros, the creator of the Daleks, who went on to appear in further storylines.","In the story, Nation introduced the character of Davros, the creator of the Daleks, who went on to appear in further storylines. Nation also wrote two non-Dalek scripts for Doctor Who, The Keys of Marinus in 1964, which introduced the Voord, and The Android Invasion in 1975, which introduced the Kraals. Nation's final script for Doctor Who was Destiny of the Daleks, broadcast in 1979.","Nation's final script for Doctor Who was Destiny of the Daleks, broadcast in 1979. His work on Doctor Who was the subject of the documentary Terror Nation, a special feature on the BBC DVD release of Destiny of the Daleks. Out of the Unknown Nation's first work on the science-fiction anthology series Out of the Unknown was scripting an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's short story The Fox and the Forest in 1965 for the show's debut series.","Out of the Unknown Nation's first work on the science-fiction anthology series Out of the Unknown was scripting an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's short story The Fox and the Forest in 1965 for the show's debut series. It was about a 21st century couple taking a forbidden trip to Mexico in 1938, only to be followed by enforcers from the future. It is one of only two episodes from the first series to be considered lost, with only two photographs and the end titles known to exist.","It is one of only two episodes from the first series to be considered lost, with only two photographs and the end titles known to exist. In 1969, when the show began to be produced in colour, Nation granted permission for the Daleks to be used in the series three episode Get Off My Cloud, based on the story by Peter Phillips about a bed-bound science-fiction author who finds himself within one of his own fantasies after a mental breakdown.","In 1969, when the show began to be produced in colour, Nation granted permission for the Daleks to be used in the series three episode Get Off My Cloud, based on the story by Peter Phillips about a bed-bound science-fiction author who finds himself within one of his own fantasies after a mental breakdown. This would be the first time the Daleks had been shown in colour on television, although they had previously appeared in colour in the Peter Cushing films. Only production stills and low-quality audio extracts survive.","Only production stills and low-quality audio extracts survive. Only production stills and low-quality audio extracts survive. Survivors and Blake's 7 Having returned to writing for Doctor Who, the BBC commissioned Nation to create a new science-fiction drama series. First broadcast in 1975, Survivors is the post-apocalyptic story of the last humans on Earth after the world's population has been devastated by plague.","First broadcast in 1975, Survivors is the post-apocalyptic story of the last humans on Earth after the world's population has been devastated by plague. Although the series was well received, Nation's creative vision conflicted with that of producer Terence Dudley, and the final two seasons were produced without Nation's involvement.","Although the series was well received, Nation's creative vision conflicted with that of producer Terence Dudley, and the final two seasons were produced without Nation's involvement. Meanwhile, screenwriter Brian Clemens claimed that he had related the concept for Survivors to Nation in the late 1960s while they were working together on the final season of The Avengers, with Clemens claiming to have registered the Survivors concept with the Writers' Guild of Great Britain in 1965; Nation denied the allegations.","Meanwhile, screenwriter Brian Clemens claimed that he had related the concept for Survivors to Nation in the late 1960s while they were working together on the final season of The Avengers, with Clemens claiming to have registered the Survivors concept with the Writers' Guild of Great Britain in 1965; Nation denied the allegations. Although the case was ultimately brought before the High Court, both sides withdrew from the proceedings after their legal costs mounted. The production of Nation's next BBC creation, Blake's 7, experienced fewer problems.","The production of Nation's next BBC creation, Blake's 7, experienced fewer problems. This series follows a group of criminals and political prisoners who are on the run from the evil \"Terran Federation\", piloting a stolen spaceship of unknown origin. Blake's 7 ran for four series from 1978 to 1981.","Blake's 7 ran for four series from 1978 to 1981. Although Nation scripted the whole of the first series of Blake's 7, his creative influence subsequently declined in the following two series despite writing some key episodes, as script editor Chris Boucher exerted a greater influence on those seasons. Nation didn't write any episodes in the fourth series of Blake's 7. In the 1980s, Nation attempted, without success, to secure funding for a fifth season of Blake's 7.","In the 1980s, Nation attempted, without success, to secure funding for a fifth season of Blake's 7. During the 1970s, Nation wrote a children's novel for his daughter Rebecca (after whom he named the character of Rebec in the 1973 Doctor Who serial Planet of the Daleks) titled Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet, as well as a novel based on Survivors. United States In 1980, Nation moved to Los Angeles, where he developed programme ideas and worked for various production studios.","United States In 1980, Nation moved to Los Angeles, where he developed programme ideas and worked for various production studios. Little of his work from this time was as successful as that of his earlier period in Britain. He wrote scripts for the TV series MacGyver (1985) and A Fine Romance (1989). Death Nation died from emphysema in Los Angeles on 9 March 1997, aged 66. Shortly before his death, he had been collaborating with actor Paul Darrow on another attempt to revive Blake's 7.","Shortly before his death, he had been collaborating with actor Paul Darrow on another attempt to revive Blake's 7. Writing credits Awards and nominations In 2013, Nation was commemorated with a blue plaque at the house in Cardiff where he was born. Bibliography Survivors (1976, ) Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet (1978, ) References Further reading Turner, Alwyn W.: The Man Who Invented The Daleks: The Strange Worlds of Terry Nation, London: Aurum Press, 2011, .","Bibliography Survivors (1976, ) Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet (1978, ) References Further reading Turner, Alwyn W.: The Man Who Invented The Daleks: The Strange Worlds of Terry Nation, London: Aurum Press, 2011, . External links Terry Nation profile, Museum of Broadcast Communications, museum.tv; accessed 26 December 2014.","External links Terry Nation profile, Museum of Broadcast Communications, museum.tv; accessed 26 December 2014. 1930 births 1997 deaths 20th-century British novelists BBC people British male novelists British male screenwriters Welsh radio writers British science fiction writers Deaths from emphysema Welsh comedy writers Welsh expatriates in the United States Welsh novelists Welsh science fiction writers Welsh screenwriters Welsh television writers Writers from Cardiff People from Llandaff 20th-century British male writers British male television writers 20th-century British screenwriters"],"string":"[\n \"Terence Joseph Nation (8 August 19309 March 1997) was a Welsh screenwriter and novelist. Especially known for his work in British television science fiction, he created the Daleks and Davros for Doctor Who (1963), as well as the series Survivors (1975) and Blake's 7 (1978).\",\n \"Especially known for his work in British television science fiction, he created the Daleks and Davros for Doctor Who (1963), as well as the series Survivors (1975) and Blake's 7 (1978). Nation first made his name as a comedy writer before becoming a prolific writer for drama, working on many of the most popular British series of the 1960s and 1970s such as The Avengers, The Baron, The Champions, Department S, The Persuaders! and The Saint.\",\n \"and The Saint. and The Saint. When Nation was commissioned to write The Daleks (1963) for Doctor Who, the villainous eponymous creatures established the series' early popularity. He later devised the recurring character of Davros in Genesis of the Daleks (1975). His series Survivors and Blake's 7 have been described as \\\"much-loved cult TV classics\\\".\",\n \"His series Survivors and Blake's 7 have been described as \\\"much-loved cult TV classics\\\". Life and career Early years Born in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales, Nation initially worked in comedy, entering the industry in 1955 after a (possibly apocryphal) incident in which Spike Milligan bought a sketch that he had written because he thought that Nation appeared hungry.\",\n \"Life and career Early years Born in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales, Nation initially worked in comedy, entering the industry in 1955 after a (possibly apocryphal) incident in which Spike Milligan bought a sketch that he had written because he thought that Nation appeared hungry. During the 1950s, Nation worked with John Junkin and Johnny Speight for the writers' agency Associated London Scripts, where he collaborated on hundreds of radio plays for comedians such as Terry Scott, Eric Sykes, Harry Worth and Frankie Howerd.\",\n \"During the 1950s, Nation worked with John Junkin and Johnny Speight for the writers' agency Associated London Scripts, where he collaborated on hundreds of radio plays for comedians such as Terry Scott, Eric Sykes, Harry Worth and Frankie Howerd. His career break came in 1962, when he was commissioned to write material for Tony Hancockfirst for Hancock's unsuccessful series for Associated Television broadcast on ITV in 1963, and then his stage show.\",\n \"His career break came in 1962, when he was commissioned to write material for Tony Hancockfirst for Hancock's unsuccessful series for Associated Television broadcast on ITV in 1963, and then his stage show. Although Nation accompanied Hancock as his chief screenwriter on tour in 1963, Hancock would regularly neglect Nation's scripts in favour of recycling his old material. Following an argument over this, Hancock either fired Nation, or Nation resigned (it is unclear which).\",\n \"Following an argument over this, Hancock either fired Nation, or Nation resigned (it is unclear which). Doctor Who Prior to his association with Hancock, Nation had declined an offer from scriptwriter David Whitaker to write for a new science-fiction programme that was entering production at the BBC; Whitaker had been impressed by a script that Nation had written for the ABC anthology series Out of this World.\",\n \"Doctor Who Prior to his association with Hancock, Nation had declined an offer from scriptwriter David Whitaker to write for a new science-fiction programme that was entering production at the BBC; Whitaker had been impressed by a script that Nation had written for the ABC anthology series Out of this World. Now unemployed, and with a young family to support, Nation contacted Whitaker and accepted the offer, writing the second Doctor Who serial, The Daleks (also known as The Mutants and The Dead Planet).\",\n \"Now unemployed, and with a young family to support, Nation contacted Whitaker and accepted the offer, writing the second Doctor Who serial, The Daleks (also known as The Mutants and The Dead Planet). The serial introduced the eponymous extraterrestrial villains that would quickly become the series' most popular and enduring monsters, and resulted in a major merchandising success for the BBC. Nation contributed further scripts to Doctor Who.\",\n \"Nation contributed further scripts to Doctor Who. Nation contributed further scripts to Doctor Who. In 1965, Nation and Dennis Spooner co-wrote the 12-part serial The Daleks' Master Plan, after which Nation, who still held the copyright to the Daleks, attempted to launch a Dalek spin-off TV series in the United States. Various other Dalek tie-in material appeared, including comic strips in the children's weekly TV Century 21 and annuals; such material was frequently credited to Nation, even when written by others.\",\n \"Various other Dalek tie-in material appeared, including comic strips in the children's weekly TV Century 21 and annuals; such material was frequently credited to Nation, even when written by others. Between 1966 and 1972, appearances by the Daleks in Doctor Who became less frequent and were written for the series by other authors. In 1973, following an eight-year absence from scriptwriting for the series, Nation returned to writing for the Daleks on Doctor Who with the Third Doctor serial Planet of the Daleks.\",\n \"In 1973, following an eight-year absence from scriptwriting for the series, Nation returned to writing for the Daleks on Doctor Who with the Third Doctor serial Planet of the Daleks. In 1998, readers of Doctor Who Magazine voted Nation's 1975 serial Genesis of the Daleks the greatest Doctor Who story of all time. In the story, Nation introduced the character of Davros, the creator of the Daleks, who went on to appear in further storylines.\",\n \"In the story, Nation introduced the character of Davros, the creator of the Daleks, who went on to appear in further storylines. Nation also wrote two non-Dalek scripts for Doctor Who, The Keys of Marinus in 1964, which introduced the Voord, and The Android Invasion in 1975, which introduced the Kraals. Nation's final script for Doctor Who was Destiny of the Daleks, broadcast in 1979.\",\n \"Nation's final script for Doctor Who was Destiny of the Daleks, broadcast in 1979. His work on Doctor Who was the subject of the documentary Terror Nation, a special feature on the BBC DVD release of Destiny of the Daleks. Out of the Unknown Nation's first work on the science-fiction anthology series Out of the Unknown was scripting an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's short story The Fox and the Forest in 1965 for the show's debut series.\",\n \"Out of the Unknown Nation's first work on the science-fiction anthology series Out of the Unknown was scripting an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's short story The Fox and the Forest in 1965 for the show's debut series. It was about a 21st century couple taking a forbidden trip to Mexico in 1938, only to be followed by enforcers from the future. It is one of only two episodes from the first series to be considered lost, with only two photographs and the end titles known to exist.\",\n \"It is one of only two episodes from the first series to be considered lost, with only two photographs and the end titles known to exist. In 1969, when the show began to be produced in colour, Nation granted permission for the Daleks to be used in the series three episode Get Off My Cloud, based on the story by Peter Phillips about a bed-bound science-fiction author who finds himself within one of his own fantasies after a mental breakdown.\",\n \"In 1969, when the show began to be produced in colour, Nation granted permission for the Daleks to be used in the series three episode Get Off My Cloud, based on the story by Peter Phillips about a bed-bound science-fiction author who finds himself within one of his own fantasies after a mental breakdown. This would be the first time the Daleks had been shown in colour on television, although they had previously appeared in colour in the Peter Cushing films. Only production stills and low-quality audio extracts survive.\",\n \"Only production stills and low-quality audio extracts survive. Only production stills and low-quality audio extracts survive. Survivors and Blake's 7 Having returned to writing for Doctor Who, the BBC commissioned Nation to create a new science-fiction drama series. First broadcast in 1975, Survivors is the post-apocalyptic story of the last humans on Earth after the world's population has been devastated by plague.\",\n \"First broadcast in 1975, Survivors is the post-apocalyptic story of the last humans on Earth after the world's population has been devastated by plague. Although the series was well received, Nation's creative vision conflicted with that of producer Terence Dudley, and the final two seasons were produced without Nation's involvement.\",\n \"Although the series was well received, Nation's creative vision conflicted with that of producer Terence Dudley, and the final two seasons were produced without Nation's involvement. Meanwhile, screenwriter Brian Clemens claimed that he had related the concept for Survivors to Nation in the late 1960s while they were working together on the final season of The Avengers, with Clemens claiming to have registered the Survivors concept with the Writers' Guild of Great Britain in 1965; Nation denied the allegations.\",\n \"Meanwhile, screenwriter Brian Clemens claimed that he had related the concept for Survivors to Nation in the late 1960s while they were working together on the final season of The Avengers, with Clemens claiming to have registered the Survivors concept with the Writers' Guild of Great Britain in 1965; Nation denied the allegations. Although the case was ultimately brought before the High Court, both sides withdrew from the proceedings after their legal costs mounted. The production of Nation's next BBC creation, Blake's 7, experienced fewer problems.\",\n \"The production of Nation's next BBC creation, Blake's 7, experienced fewer problems. This series follows a group of criminals and political prisoners who are on the run from the evil \\\"Terran Federation\\\", piloting a stolen spaceship of unknown origin. Blake's 7 ran for four series from 1978 to 1981.\",\n \"Blake's 7 ran for four series from 1978 to 1981. Although Nation scripted the whole of the first series of Blake's 7, his creative influence subsequently declined in the following two series despite writing some key episodes, as script editor Chris Boucher exerted a greater influence on those seasons. Nation didn't write any episodes in the fourth series of Blake's 7. In the 1980s, Nation attempted, without success, to secure funding for a fifth season of Blake's 7.\",\n \"In the 1980s, Nation attempted, without success, to secure funding for a fifth season of Blake's 7. During the 1970s, Nation wrote a children's novel for his daughter Rebecca (after whom he named the character of Rebec in the 1973 Doctor Who serial Planet of the Daleks) titled Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet, as well as a novel based on Survivors. United States In 1980, Nation moved to Los Angeles, where he developed programme ideas and worked for various production studios.\",\n \"United States In 1980, Nation moved to Los Angeles, where he developed programme ideas and worked for various production studios. Little of his work from this time was as successful as that of his earlier period in Britain. He wrote scripts for the TV series MacGyver (1985) and A Fine Romance (1989). Death Nation died from emphysema in Los Angeles on 9 March 1997, aged 66. Shortly before his death, he had been collaborating with actor Paul Darrow on another attempt to revive Blake's 7.\",\n \"Shortly before his death, he had been collaborating with actor Paul Darrow on another attempt to revive Blake's 7. Writing credits Awards and nominations In 2013, Nation was commemorated with a blue plaque at the house in Cardiff where he was born. Bibliography Survivors (1976, ) Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet (1978, ) References Further reading Turner, Alwyn W.: The Man Who Invented The Daleks: The Strange Worlds of Terry Nation, London: Aurum Press, 2011, .\",\n \"Bibliography Survivors (1976, ) Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet (1978, ) References Further reading Turner, Alwyn W.: The Man Who Invented The Daleks: The Strange Worlds of Terry Nation, London: Aurum Press, 2011, . External links Terry Nation profile, Museum of Broadcast Communications, museum.tv; accessed 26 December 2014.\",\n \"External links Terry Nation profile, Museum of Broadcast Communications, museum.tv; accessed 26 December 2014. 1930 births 1997 deaths 20th-century British novelists BBC people British male novelists British male screenwriters Welsh radio writers British science fiction writers Deaths from emphysema Welsh comedy writers Welsh expatriates in the United States Welsh novelists Welsh science fiction writers Welsh screenwriters Welsh television writers Writers from Cardiff People from Llandaff 20th-century British male writers British male television writers 20th-century British screenwriters\"\n]"}}},{"rowIdx":379,"cells":{"History":{"kind":"list like","value":["Terry Nation","Doctor Who","What work did he do on Doctor Who?","writing the second Doctor Who serial,","What contributions did he make?","The serial introduced the eponymous extraterrestrial villains that would quickly become the series' most popular and enduring monsters, and resulted in a major merchandising success for the BBC.","What was the name of these villains?","The Mutants","Did he state how he came to create these characters?","unemployed, and with a young family to support,","When was he hired to produce these characters for Doctor Who?","1965,","Did he create anything else for the series?","Having risen in the public consciousness, Nation went on to contribute further scripts to Doctor Who. In 1965,"],"string":"[\n \"Terry Nation\",\n \"Doctor Who\",\n \"What work did he do on Doctor Who?\",\n \"writing the second Doctor Who serial,\",\n \"What contributions did he make?\",\n \"The serial introduced the eponymous extraterrestrial villains that would quickly become the series' most popular and enduring monsters, and resulted in a major merchandising success for the BBC.\",\n \"What was the name of these villains?\",\n \"The Mutants\",\n \"Did he state how he came to create these characters?\",\n \"unemployed, and with a young family to support,\",\n \"When was he hired to produce these characters for Doctor Who?\",\n \"1965,\",\n \"Did he create anything else for the series?\",\n \"Having risen in the public consciousness, Nation went on to contribute further scripts to Doctor Who. In 1965,\"\n]"},"QuAC_dialog_id":{"kind":"string","value":"C_27cf8f62e352479f9e87e95654df4e3f_1"},"Question":{"kind":"string","value":"What scripts did he contribute?"},"Question_no":{"kind":"number","value":7,"string":"7"},"Rewrite":{"kind":"string","value":"What scripts did Terry Nation contribute on Doctor Who?"},"true_page_title":{"kind":"string","value":"Terry Nation"},"true_contexts":{"kind":"string","value":"Prior to this, Nation had declined an offer from scriptwriter David Whitaker to write for a new science-fiction programme that was entering production at the BBC; Whitaker had been impressed by a script that Nation had written for the ABC anthology series Out of this World. Now unemployed, and with a young family to support, Nation contacted Whitaker and accepted the offer, writing the second Doctor Who serial, The Daleks (also known as The Mutants and The Dead Planet). The serial introduced the eponymous extraterrestrial villains that would quickly become the series' most popular and enduring monsters, and resulted in a major merchandising success for the BBC. Having risen in the public consciousness, Nation went on to contribute further scripts to Doctor Who. In 1965, Nation and Dennis Spooner co-wrote the 12-part serial The Daleks' Master Plan, after which Nation, who still held the copyright to the Daleks, attempted to launch a Dalek spin-off TV series in the United States. Various other Dalek tie-in material appeared, including comic strips in the children's weekly TV Century 21 and annuals; such material was frequently credited to Nation, even when written by others. Between 1966 and 1972, appearances by the Daleks in Doctor Who became less frequent and were written for the series by other authors. In 1973, following an eight-year absence from scriptwriting for the series, Nation returned to writing for the Daleks on Doctor Who with the Third Doctor serial Planet of the Daleks. In 1998, readers of Doctor Who Magazine voted Nation's 1975 serial Genesis of the Daleks the greatest Doctor Who story of all time. In the story, Nation introduced the character of Davros, the creator of the Daleks, who went on to appear in further storylines. Nation also wrote two non-Dalek scripts for Doctor Who, The Keys of Marinus in 1964, which introduced the Voord and The Android Invasion in 1975, which introduced the Kraal. During this time, Nation also worked in commercial TV, contributing scripts to series such as The Avengers, The Baron, The Champions, Department S, The Persuaders! and The Saint. Nation's work on Doctor Who was the subject of the documentary Terror Nation, a special feature on the BBC DVD release of the serial Destiny of the Daleks. CANNOTANSWER"},"answer":{"kind":"string","value":"Doctor Who. In 1965,"},"true_contexts_wiki":{"kind":"string","value":"Terence Joseph Nation (8 August 19309 March 1997) was a Welsh screenwriter and novelist. Especially known for his work in British television science fiction, he created the Daleks and Davros for Doctor Who (1963), as well as the series Survivors (1975) and Blake's 7 (1978).\n\nNation first made his name as a comedy writer before becoming a prolific writer for drama, working on many of the most popular British series of the 1960s and 1970s such as The Avengers, The Baron, The Champions, Department S, The Persuaders! and The Saint. When Nation was commissioned to write The Daleks (1963) for Doctor Who, the villainous eponymous creatures established the series' early popularity. He later devised the recurring character of Davros in Genesis of the Daleks (1975). His series Survivors and Blake's 7 have been described as \"much-loved cult TV classics\".\n\nLife and career\n\nEarly years\nBorn in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales, Nation initially worked in comedy, entering the industry in 1955 after a (possibly apocryphal) incident in which Spike Milligan bought a sketch that he had written because he thought that Nation appeared hungry. During the 1950s, Nation worked with John Junkin and Johnny Speight for the writers' agency Associated London Scripts, where he collaborated on hundreds of radio plays for comedians such as Terry Scott, Eric Sykes, Harry Worth and Frankie Howerd.\n\nHis career break came in 1962, when he was commissioned to write material for Tony Hancockfirst for Hancock's unsuccessful series for Associated Television broadcast on ITV in 1963, and then his stage show. Although Nation accompanied Hancock as his chief screenwriter on tour in 1963, Hancock would regularly neglect Nation's scripts in favour of recycling his old material. Following an argument over this, Hancock either fired Nation, or Nation resigned (it is unclear which).\n\nDoctor Who\nPrior to his association with Hancock, Nation had declined an offer from scriptwriter David Whitaker to write for a new science-fiction programme that was entering production at the BBC; Whitaker had been impressed by a script that Nation had written for the ABC anthology series Out of this World. Now unemployed, and with a young family to support, Nation contacted Whitaker and accepted the offer, writing the second Doctor Who serial, The Daleks (also known as The Mutants and The Dead Planet). The serial introduced the eponymous extraterrestrial villains that would quickly become the series' most popular and enduring monsters, and resulted in a major merchandising success for the BBC.\n\nNation contributed further scripts to Doctor Who. In 1965, Nation and Dennis Spooner co-wrote the 12-part serial The Daleks' Master Plan, after which Nation, who still held the copyright to the Daleks, attempted to launch a Dalek spin-off TV series in the United States. Various other Dalek tie-in material appeared, including comic strips in the children's weekly TV Century 21 and annuals; such material was frequently credited to Nation, even when written by others. Between 1966 and 1972, appearances by the Daleks in Doctor Who became less frequent and were written for the series by other authors.\n\nIn 1973, following an eight-year absence from scriptwriting for the series, Nation returned to writing for the Daleks on Doctor Who with the Third Doctor serial Planet of the Daleks. In 1998, readers of Doctor Who Magazine voted Nation's 1975 serial Genesis of the Daleks the greatest Doctor Who story of all time. In the story, Nation introduced the character of Davros, the creator of the Daleks, who went on to appear in further storylines. Nation also wrote two non-Dalek scripts for Doctor Who, The Keys of Marinus in 1964, which introduced the Voord, and The Android Invasion in 1975, which introduced the Kraals. Nation's final script for Doctor Who was Destiny of the Daleks, broadcast in 1979.\n\nHis work on Doctor Who was the subject of the documentary Terror Nation, a special feature on the BBC DVD release of Destiny of the Daleks.\n\nOut of the Unknown\nNation's first work on the science-fiction anthology series Out of the Unknown was scripting an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's short story The Fox and the Forest in 1965 for the show's debut series. It was about a 21st century couple taking a forbidden trip to Mexico in 1938, only to be followed by enforcers from the future. It is one of only two episodes from the first series to be considered lost, with only two photographs and the end titles known to exist.\n\nIn 1969, when the show began to be produced in colour, Nation granted permission for the Daleks to be used in the series three episode Get Off My Cloud, based on the story by Peter Phillips about a bed-bound science-fiction author who finds himself within one of his own fantasies after a mental breakdown. This would be the first time the Daleks had been shown in colour on television, although they had previously appeared in colour in the Peter Cushing films. Only production stills and low-quality audio extracts survive.\n\nSurvivors and Blake's 7\nHaving returned to writing for Doctor Who, the BBC commissioned Nation to create a new science-fiction drama series. First broadcast in 1975, Survivors is the post-apocalyptic story of the last humans on Earth after the world's population has been devastated by plague. Although the series was well received, Nation's creative vision conflicted with that of producer Terence Dudley, and the final two seasons were produced without Nation's involvement.\n\nMeanwhile, screenwriter Brian Clemens claimed that he had related the concept for Survivors to Nation in the late 1960s while they were working together on the final season of The Avengers, with Clemens claiming to have registered the Survivors concept with the Writers' Guild of Great Britain in 1965; Nation denied the allegations. Although the case was ultimately brought before the High Court, both sides withdrew from the proceedings after their legal costs mounted.\n\nThe production of Nation's next BBC creation, Blake's 7, experienced fewer problems. This series follows a group of criminals and political prisoners who are on the run from the evil \"Terran Federation\", piloting a stolen spaceship of unknown origin. Blake's 7 ran for four series from 1978 to 1981.\n\nAlthough Nation scripted the whole of the first series of Blake's 7, his creative influence subsequently declined in the following two series despite writing some key episodes, as script editor Chris Boucher exerted a greater influence on those seasons. Nation didn't write any episodes in the fourth series of Blake's 7. In the 1980s, Nation attempted, without success, to secure funding for a fifth season of Blake's 7. During the 1970s, Nation wrote a children's novel for his daughter Rebecca (after whom he named the character of Rebec in the 1973 Doctor Who serial Planet of the Daleks) titled Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet, as well as a novel based on Survivors.\n\nUnited States\nIn 1980, Nation moved to Los Angeles, where he developed programme ideas and worked for various production studios. Little of his work from this time was as successful as that of his earlier period in Britain. He wrote scripts for the TV series MacGyver (1985) and A Fine Romance (1989).\n\nDeath\nNation died from emphysema in Los Angeles on 9 March 1997, aged 66. Shortly before his death, he had been collaborating with actor Paul Darrow on another attempt to revive Blake's 7.\n\nWriting credits\n\nAwards and nominations\n\nIn 2013, Nation was commemorated with a blue plaque at the house in Cardiff where he was born.\n\nBibliography\nSurvivors (1976, )\nRebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet (1978, )\n\nReferences\n\nFurther reading\n Turner, Alwyn W.: The Man Who Invented The Daleks: The Strange Worlds of Terry Nation, London: Aurum Press, 2011, .\n\nExternal links\n \n \n \n Terry Nation profile, Museum of Broadcast Communications, museum.tv; accessed 26 December 2014.\n\n1930 births\n1997 deaths\n20th-century British novelists\nBBC people\nBritish male novelists\nBritish male screenwriters\nWelsh radio writers\nBritish science fiction writers\nDeaths from emphysema\nWelsh comedy writers\nWelsh expatriates in the United States\nWelsh novelists\nWelsh science fiction writers\nWelsh screenwriters\nWelsh television writers\nWriters from Cardiff\nPeople from Llandaff\n20th-century British male writers\nBritish male television writers\n20th-century British screenwriters"},"extractive":{"kind":"string","value":"true"},"retrieved_contexts":{"kind":"list like","value":["In the behaviorism approach to psychology, behavioral scripts are a sequence of expected behaviors for a given situation. Scripts include default standards for the actors, props, setting, and sequence of events that are expected to occur in a particular situation. The classic script example involves an individual dining at a restaurant. This script has several components: props including tables, menus, food, and money, as well as roles including customers, servers, chefs, and a cashier. The sequence of expected events for this script begins with a hungry customer entering the restaurant, ordering, eating, paying and then ends with the customer exiting. People continually follow scripts which are acquired through habit, practice and simple routine. Following a script can be useful because it could help to save the time and mental effort of deciding on appropriate behavior each time a situation is encountered.\n\nPsychology\nSemantic memory builds schemas and scripts. With this, semantic memory is known as the knowledge that people gain from experiencing events in the everyday world. This information is then organized into a concept that people can understand in their own way. Semantic memory relates to scripts because scripts are made through the knowledge that one gains through these everyday experiences and habituation.\n\nThere have been many empirical research studies conducted in order to test the validity of the script theory. One such study, conducted by Bower, Black, and Turner in 1979, asked participants to read 18 different scenarios, all of which represented a doctor’s office script. The participants were later asked to complete either a recall task or a recognition task. In the recall task, the participants were asked to remember as much as they could about each scenario. Here, the participants tended to recall certain parts of the stories that were not actually present, but that were parts of the scripts that the stories represented. In the recognition task, participants were asked to rate various sentences on a 7-point scale regarding their personal confidence that they had seen each sentence in the scenario. Some sentences shown to participants were from the stories and some were not. Of the sentences that were not from the stories, some were relevant to the doctor’s office script and others were not relevant to the script at all. Here, participants tended to recognize certain non-story sentences as having come from the story if the non-story sentence was relevant to the script. Ultimately, Bower, Black, and Turner’s study suggested that scripts serve as a guide for a person’s recall and recognition for certain things that they already know.\n\nBehavioral scripts that people are taught allow them to make realistic assumptions about situations, places, and people. These assumptions stem from what are known as schemas. Schemas make our environments more approachable to understand, and therefore people are able to familiarize themselves with what is around them. When people become comfortable with what they find familiar, they are more likely to remember events, people or places that obscure from their initial thought or script.\n\nSome people may have a tendency to habituate behavioral scripts in a manner that can act to limit consciousness in a subliminal way. This can negatively influence the subconscious mind and, subsequently, can negatively affect perceptions, judgments, values, beliefs, cognition and behavior. For example, over-reliance upon behavioral scripts combined with social norms that encourage an individual to use these behavioral scripts may influence one to stereotype and develop a prejudiced attitude toward others based on socioeconomic status, ethnicity, race, etc.\n\nSome applied behavior analysts even use scripts to train new skills and 20 years of research supports script use as an effective way to build new language, social, and activity routines for adults and children with developmental disabilities. With language scripts fading, efforts are being made in an attempt to help the scripts recombine in order to approximate more natural language.\n\nMuch of the development of scripts first addresses language and how it influences what we know and understand. With language, many psychologists have used the specific study of language to develop theories about concepts and scripts. In particular, researchers recognize semantic memory development is mostly possible through verbal-linguistic stimuli. Language and memory are constantly used for people to be able to interpret what experiences or people mean to or relate to them. Here, language has influence on the scripts people use because of its relationship to semantic memory.\n\nThere are also instances where damage to a person’s script affects to their ability to understand concepts. For instance, Sirigu, Zalla, Pillon, Grafman, Agid, and Dubois (1995) conducted a study on brain-damaged patients and their ability to access scripts that relate to a certain situation. Within their study, they asked patients with brain-damage (particularly to their prefrontal cortex) to make as many scripts for different situations as they could and put them in their commonly known sequence. These researchers found that those with prefrontal brain damage could make just as many scripts for different situations as those without prefrontal brain damage. Although with finding this, these researchers also found that patients with prefrontal brain damage had a difficult time putting in order or sequencing the events that happen within a script. They concluded that the prefrontal brain-damaged patients had difficulty within finding the goal of each script, where each script has a specific thing that a person looks for to achieve. For example, within the script of going to a restaurant, the goal of the dinner would be to eat, where prefrontal brain-damaged patients are likely to see the goal of this script as paying for the meal or ordering for the food.\n\nSee also\n Frame (artificial intelligence)\n Knowledge representation\n Psychology\n Schema (psychology)\n\nNotes\n\nBehaviorism\nCognition\nServices marketing","Anga Lipi(অঙ্গ লিপি) is a historical writing system or script of the Anga area of India. The Anga Lipi finds its mention in the Buddhist text \"Lalitvistar\" which says Anga lipi was one of the most important scripts among the 64 scripts known to Lord Budhha.\n\nEtymology and history\nAnga refers to a region in what is now Bihar and Jharkhand states of India, and Lipi means script.\nThe Anga Script is mentioned in an ancient Sanskrit language Buddhist book the \"Lalitvistar\" (ललितविस्तर), which names Anga Lipi relatively early in the list of 64 scripts known to the Buddha. Arthur Coke Burnell thought that some of the sixty-four scripts mentioned in \"Lalitvistar\" were mythical, but he considered some, including Dravid, Anga and Banga, to be real, though not appearing as distinct alphabets until the 9th or 10th century CE. (Burnell regarded this passage as a late interpolation.)\n\nCharacteristics and comparison\nAnga Lipi and Bengali script might have been derived from Brahmic, with some regional characteristics. This supports the belief that the development of local characteristics in alphabets was continuing from earlier times.\n\nIt reflects the early development of local variants of Indian alphabets.\n\nSee also\nBrahmic family of scripts\nBrāhmī script\nBengali-Assamese script\nKaithi\nAbugida\nList of writing systems\nList of languages by first written accounts\nAngika\nMiddle Indo-Aryan languages\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n angika.com\n\nHistory of writing\nLinguistic history of India\nBrahmic scripts"],"string":"[\n \"In the behaviorism approach to psychology, behavioral scripts are a sequence of expected behaviors for a given situation. Scripts include default standards for the actors, props, setting, and sequence of events that are expected to occur in a particular situation. The classic script example involves an individual dining at a restaurant. This script has several components: props including tables, menus, food, and money, as well as roles including customers, servers, chefs, and a cashier. The sequence of expected events for this script begins with a hungry customer entering the restaurant, ordering, eating, paying and then ends with the customer exiting. People continually follow scripts which are acquired through habit, practice and simple routine. Following a script can be useful because it could help to save the time and mental effort of deciding on appropriate behavior each time a situation is encountered.\\n\\nPsychology\\nSemantic memory builds schemas and scripts. With this, semantic memory is known as the knowledge that people gain from experiencing events in the everyday world. This information is then organized into a concept that people can understand in their own way. Semantic memory relates to scripts because scripts are made through the knowledge that one gains through these everyday experiences and habituation.\\n\\nThere have been many empirical research studies conducted in order to test the validity of the script theory. One such study, conducted by Bower, Black, and Turner in 1979, asked participants to read 18 different scenarios, all of which represented a doctor’s office script. The participants were later asked to complete either a recall task or a recognition task. In the recall task, the participants were asked to remember as much as they could about each scenario. Here, the participants tended to recall certain parts of the stories that were not actually present, but that were parts of the scripts that the stories represented. In the recognition task, participants were asked to rate various sentences on a 7-point scale regarding their personal confidence that they had seen each sentence in the scenario. Some sentences shown to participants were from the stories and some were not. Of the sentences that were not from the stories, some were relevant to the doctor’s office script and others were not relevant to the script at all. Here, participants tended to recognize certain non-story sentences as having come from the story if the non-story sentence was relevant to the script. Ultimately, Bower, Black, and Turner’s study suggested that scripts serve as a guide for a person’s recall and recognition for certain things that they already know.\\n\\nBehavioral scripts that people are taught allow them to make realistic assumptions about situations, places, and people. These assumptions stem from what are known as schemas. Schemas make our environments more approachable to understand, and therefore people are able to familiarize themselves with what is around them. When people become comfortable with what they find familiar, they are more likely to remember events, people or places that obscure from their initial thought or script.\\n\\nSome people may have a tendency to habituate behavioral scripts in a manner that can act to limit consciousness in a subliminal way. This can negatively influence the subconscious mind and, subsequently, can negatively affect perceptions, judgments, values, beliefs, cognition and behavior. For example, over-reliance upon behavioral scripts combined with social norms that encourage an individual to use these behavioral scripts may influence one to stereotype and develop a prejudiced attitude toward others based on socioeconomic status, ethnicity, race, etc.\\n\\nSome applied behavior analysts even use scripts to train new skills and 20 years of research supports script use as an effective way to build new language, social, and activity routines for adults and children with developmental disabilities. With language scripts fading, efforts are being made in an attempt to help the scripts recombine in order to approximate more natural language.\\n\\nMuch of the development of scripts first addresses language and how it influences what we know and understand. With language, many psychologists have used the specific study of language to develop theories about concepts and scripts. In particular, researchers recognize semantic memory development is mostly possible through verbal-linguistic stimuli. Language and memory are constantly used for people to be able to interpret what experiences or people mean to or relate to them. Here, language has influence on the scripts people use because of its relationship to semantic memory.\\n\\nThere are also instances where damage to a person’s script affects to their ability to understand concepts. For instance, Sirigu, Zalla, Pillon, Grafman, Agid, and Dubois (1995) conducted a study on brain-damaged patients and their ability to access scripts that relate to a certain situation. Within their study, they asked patients with brain-damage (particularly to their prefrontal cortex) to make as many scripts for different situations as they could and put them in their commonly known sequence. These researchers found that those with prefrontal brain damage could make just as many scripts for different situations as those without prefrontal brain damage. Although with finding this, these researchers also found that patients with prefrontal brain damage had a difficult time putting in order or sequencing the events that happen within a script. They concluded that the prefrontal brain-damaged patients had difficulty within finding the goal of each script, where each script has a specific thing that a person looks for to achieve. For example, within the script of going to a restaurant, the goal of the dinner would be to eat, where prefrontal brain-damaged patients are likely to see the goal of this script as paying for the meal or ordering for the food.\\n\\nSee also\\n Frame (artificial intelligence)\\n Knowledge representation\\n Psychology\\n Schema (psychology)\\n\\nNotes\\n\\nBehaviorism\\nCognition\\nServices marketing\",\n \"Anga Lipi(অঙ্গ লিপি) is a historical writing system or script of the Anga area of India. The Anga Lipi finds its mention in the Buddhist text \\\"Lalitvistar\\\" which says Anga lipi was one of the most important scripts among the 64 scripts known to Lord Budhha.\\n\\nEtymology and history\\nAnga refers to a region in what is now Bihar and Jharkhand states of India, and Lipi means script.\\nThe Anga Script is mentioned in an ancient Sanskrit language Buddhist book the \\\"Lalitvistar\\\" (ललितविस्तर), which names Anga Lipi relatively early in the list of 64 scripts known to the Buddha. Arthur Coke Burnell thought that some of the sixty-four scripts mentioned in \\\"Lalitvistar\\\" were mythical, but he considered some, including Dravid, Anga and Banga, to be real, though not appearing as distinct alphabets until the 9th or 10th century CE. (Burnell regarded this passage as a late interpolation.)\\n\\nCharacteristics and comparison\\nAnga Lipi and Bengali script might have been derived from Brahmic, with some regional characteristics. This supports the belief that the development of local characteristics in alphabets was continuing from earlier times.\\n\\nIt reflects the early development of local variants of Indian alphabets.\\n\\nSee also\\nBrahmic family of scripts\\nBrāhmī script\\nBengali-Assamese script\\nKaithi\\nAbugida\\nList of writing systems\\nList of languages by first written accounts\\nAngika\\nMiddle Indo-Aryan languages\\n\\nReferences\\n\\nExternal links\\n angika.com\\n\\nHistory of writing\\nLinguistic history of India\\nBrahmic scripts\"\n]"},"chunked_article":{"kind":"list like","value":["Terence Joseph Nation (8 August 19309 March 1997) was a Welsh screenwriter and novelist. Especially known for his work in British television science fiction, he created the Daleks and Davros for Doctor Who (1963), as well as the series Survivors (1975) and Blake's 7 (1978).","Especially known for his work in British television science fiction, he created the Daleks and Davros for Doctor Who (1963), as well as the series Survivors (1975) and Blake's 7 (1978). Nation first made his name as a comedy writer before becoming a prolific writer for drama, working on many of the most popular British series of the 1960s and 1970s such as The Avengers, The Baron, The Champions, Department S, The Persuaders! and The Saint.","and The Saint. and The Saint. When Nation was commissioned to write The Daleks (1963) for Doctor Who, the villainous eponymous creatures established the series' early popularity. He later devised the recurring character of Davros in Genesis of the Daleks (1975). His series Survivors and Blake's 7 have been described as \"much-loved cult TV classics\".","His series Survivors and Blake's 7 have been described as \"much-loved cult TV classics\". Life and career Early years Born in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales, Nation initially worked in comedy, entering the industry in 1955 after a (possibly apocryphal) incident in which Spike Milligan bought a sketch that he had written because he thought that Nation appeared hungry.","Life and career Early years Born in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales, Nation initially worked in comedy, entering the industry in 1955 after a (possibly apocryphal) incident in which Spike Milligan bought a sketch that he had written because he thought that Nation appeared hungry. During the 1950s, Nation worked with John Junkin and Johnny Speight for the writers' agency Associated London Scripts, where he collaborated on hundreds of radio plays for comedians such as Terry Scott, Eric Sykes, Harry Worth and Frankie Howerd.","During the 1950s, Nation worked with John Junkin and Johnny Speight for the writers' agency Associated London Scripts, where he collaborated on hundreds of radio plays for comedians such as Terry Scott, Eric Sykes, Harry Worth and Frankie Howerd. His career break came in 1962, when he was commissioned to write material for Tony Hancockfirst for Hancock's unsuccessful series for Associated Television broadcast on ITV in 1963, and then his stage show.","His career break came in 1962, when he was commissioned to write material for Tony Hancockfirst for Hancock's unsuccessful series for Associated Television broadcast on ITV in 1963, and then his stage show. Although Nation accompanied Hancock as his chief screenwriter on tour in 1963, Hancock would regularly neglect Nation's scripts in favour of recycling his old material. Following an argument over this, Hancock either fired Nation, or Nation resigned (it is unclear which).","Following an argument over this, Hancock either fired Nation, or Nation resigned (it is unclear which). Doctor Who Prior to his association with Hancock, Nation had declined an offer from scriptwriter David Whitaker to write for a new science-fiction programme that was entering production at the BBC; Whitaker had been impressed by a script that Nation had written for the ABC anthology series Out of this World.","Doctor Who Prior to his association with Hancock, Nation had declined an offer from scriptwriter David Whitaker to write for a new science-fiction programme that was entering production at the BBC; Whitaker had been impressed by a script that Nation had written for the ABC anthology series Out of this World. Now unemployed, and with a young family to support, Nation contacted Whitaker and accepted the offer, writing the second Doctor Who serial, The Daleks (also known as The Mutants and The Dead Planet).","Now unemployed, and with a young family to support, Nation contacted Whitaker and accepted the offer, writing the second Doctor Who serial, The Daleks (also known as The Mutants and The Dead Planet). The serial introduced the eponymous extraterrestrial villains that would quickly become the series' most popular and enduring monsters, and resulted in a major merchandising success for the BBC. Nation contributed further scripts to Doctor Who.","Nation contributed further scripts to Doctor Who. Nation contributed further scripts to Doctor Who. In 1965, Nation and Dennis Spooner co-wrote the 12-part serial The Daleks' Master Plan, after which Nation, who still held the copyright to the Daleks, attempted to launch a Dalek spin-off TV series in the United States. Various other Dalek tie-in material appeared, including comic strips in the children's weekly TV Century 21 and annuals; such material was frequently credited to Nation, even when written by others.","Various other Dalek tie-in material appeared, including comic strips in the children's weekly TV Century 21 and annuals; such material was frequently credited to Nation, even when written by others. Between 1966 and 1972, appearances by the Daleks in Doctor Who became less frequent and were written for the series by other authors. In 1973, following an eight-year absence from scriptwriting for the series, Nation returned to writing for the Daleks on Doctor Who with the Third Doctor serial Planet of the Daleks.","In 1973, following an eight-year absence from scriptwriting for the series, Nation returned to writing for the Daleks on Doctor Who with the Third Doctor serial Planet of the Daleks. In 1998, readers of Doctor Who Magazine voted Nation's 1975 serial Genesis of the Daleks the greatest Doctor Who story of all time. In the story, Nation introduced the character of Davros, the creator of the Daleks, who went on to appear in further storylines.","In the story, Nation introduced the character of Davros, the creator of the Daleks, who went on to appear in further storylines. Nation also wrote two non-Dalek scripts for Doctor Who, The Keys of Marinus in 1964, which introduced the Voord, and The Android Invasion in 1975, which introduced the Kraals. Nation's final script for Doctor Who was Destiny of the Daleks, broadcast in 1979.","Nation's final script for Doctor Who was Destiny of the Daleks, broadcast in 1979. His work on Doctor Who was the subject of the documentary Terror Nation, a special feature on the BBC DVD release of Destiny of the Daleks. Out of the Unknown Nation's first work on the science-fiction anthology series Out of the Unknown was scripting an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's short story The Fox and the Forest in 1965 for the show's debut series.","Out of the Unknown Nation's first work on the science-fiction anthology series Out of the Unknown was scripting an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's short story The Fox and the Forest in 1965 for the show's debut series. It was about a 21st century couple taking a forbidden trip to Mexico in 1938, only to be followed by enforcers from the future. It is one of only two episodes from the first series to be considered lost, with only two photographs and the end titles known to exist.","It is one of only two episodes from the first series to be considered lost, with only two photographs and the end titles known to exist. In 1969, when the show began to be produced in colour, Nation granted permission for the Daleks to be used in the series three episode Get Off My Cloud, based on the story by Peter Phillips about a bed-bound science-fiction author who finds himself within one of his own fantasies after a mental breakdown.","In 1969, when the show began to be produced in colour, Nation granted permission for the Daleks to be used in the series three episode Get Off My Cloud, based on the story by Peter Phillips about a bed-bound science-fiction author who finds himself within one of his own fantasies after a mental breakdown. This would be the first time the Daleks had been shown in colour on television, although they had previously appeared in colour in the Peter Cushing films. Only production stills and low-quality audio extracts survive.","Only production stills and low-quality audio extracts survive. Only production stills and low-quality audio extracts survive. Survivors and Blake's 7 Having returned to writing for Doctor Who, the BBC commissioned Nation to create a new science-fiction drama series. First broadcast in 1975, Survivors is the post-apocalyptic story of the last humans on Earth after the world's population has been devastated by plague.","First broadcast in 1975, Survivors is the post-apocalyptic story of the last humans on Earth after the world's population has been devastated by plague. Although the series was well received, Nation's creative vision conflicted with that of producer Terence Dudley, and the final two seasons were produced without Nation's involvement.","Although the series was well received, Nation's creative vision conflicted with that of producer Terence Dudley, and the final two seasons were produced without Nation's involvement. Meanwhile, screenwriter Brian Clemens claimed that he had related the concept for Survivors to Nation in the late 1960s while they were working together on the final season of The Avengers, with Clemens claiming to have registered the Survivors concept with the Writers' Guild of Great Britain in 1965; Nation denied the allegations.","Meanwhile, screenwriter Brian Clemens claimed that he had related the concept for Survivors to Nation in the late 1960s while they were working together on the final season of The Avengers, with Clemens claiming to have registered the Survivors concept with the Writers' Guild of Great Britain in 1965; Nation denied the allegations. Although the case was ultimately brought before the High Court, both sides withdrew from the proceedings after their legal costs mounted. The production of Nation's next BBC creation, Blake's 7, experienced fewer problems.","The production of Nation's next BBC creation, Blake's 7, experienced fewer problems. This series follows a group of criminals and political prisoners who are on the run from the evil \"Terran Federation\", piloting a stolen spaceship of unknown origin. Blake's 7 ran for four series from 1978 to 1981.","Blake's 7 ran for four series from 1978 to 1981. Although Nation scripted the whole of the first series of Blake's 7, his creative influence subsequently declined in the following two series despite writing some key episodes, as script editor Chris Boucher exerted a greater influence on those seasons. Nation didn't write any episodes in the fourth series of Blake's 7. In the 1980s, Nation attempted, without success, to secure funding for a fifth season of Blake's 7.","In the 1980s, Nation attempted, without success, to secure funding for a fifth season of Blake's 7. During the 1970s, Nation wrote a children's novel for his daughter Rebecca (after whom he named the character of Rebec in the 1973 Doctor Who serial Planet of the Daleks) titled Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet, as well as a novel based on Survivors. United States In 1980, Nation moved to Los Angeles, where he developed programme ideas and worked for various production studios.","United States In 1980, Nation moved to Los Angeles, where he developed programme ideas and worked for various production studios. Little of his work from this time was as successful as that of his earlier period in Britain. He wrote scripts for the TV series MacGyver (1985) and A Fine Romance (1989). Death Nation died from emphysema in Los Angeles on 9 March 1997, aged 66. Shortly before his death, he had been collaborating with actor Paul Darrow on another attempt to revive Blake's 7.","Shortly before his death, he had been collaborating with actor Paul Darrow on another attempt to revive Blake's 7. Writing credits Awards and nominations In 2013, Nation was commemorated with a blue plaque at the house in Cardiff where he was born. Bibliography Survivors (1976, ) Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet (1978, ) References Further reading Turner, Alwyn W.: The Man Who Invented The Daleks: The Strange Worlds of Terry Nation, London: Aurum Press, 2011, .","Bibliography Survivors (1976, ) Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet (1978, ) References Further reading Turner, Alwyn W.: The Man Who Invented The Daleks: The Strange Worlds of Terry Nation, London: Aurum Press, 2011, . External links Terry Nation profile, Museum of Broadcast Communications, museum.tv; accessed 26 December 2014.","External links Terry Nation profile, Museum of Broadcast Communications, museum.tv; accessed 26 December 2014. 1930 births 1997 deaths 20th-century British novelists BBC people British male novelists British male screenwriters Welsh radio writers British science fiction writers Deaths from emphysema Welsh comedy writers Welsh expatriates in the United States Welsh novelists Welsh science fiction writers Welsh screenwriters Welsh television writers Writers from Cardiff People from Llandaff 20th-century British male writers British male television writers 20th-century British screenwriters"],"string":"[\n \"Terence Joseph Nation (8 August 19309 March 1997) was a Welsh screenwriter and novelist. Especially known for his work in British television science fiction, he created the Daleks and Davros for Doctor Who (1963), as well as the series Survivors (1975) and Blake's 7 (1978).\",\n \"Especially known for his work in British television science fiction, he created the Daleks and Davros for Doctor Who (1963), as well as the series Survivors (1975) and Blake's 7 (1978). Nation first made his name as a comedy writer before becoming a prolific writer for drama, working on many of the most popular British series of the 1960s and 1970s such as The Avengers, The Baron, The Champions, Department S, The Persuaders! and The Saint.\",\n \"and The Saint. and The Saint. When Nation was commissioned to write The Daleks (1963) for Doctor Who, the villainous eponymous creatures established the series' early popularity. He later devised the recurring character of Davros in Genesis of the Daleks (1975). His series Survivors and Blake's 7 have been described as \\\"much-loved cult TV classics\\\".\",\n \"His series Survivors and Blake's 7 have been described as \\\"much-loved cult TV classics\\\". Life and career Early years Born in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales, Nation initially worked in comedy, entering the industry in 1955 after a (possibly apocryphal) incident in which Spike Milligan bought a sketch that he had written because he thought that Nation appeared hungry.\",\n \"Life and career Early years Born in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales, Nation initially worked in comedy, entering the industry in 1955 after a (possibly apocryphal) incident in which Spike Milligan bought a sketch that he had written because he thought that Nation appeared hungry. During the 1950s, Nation worked with John Junkin and Johnny Speight for the writers' agency Associated London Scripts, where he collaborated on hundreds of radio plays for comedians such as Terry Scott, Eric Sykes, Harry Worth and Frankie Howerd.\",\n \"During the 1950s, Nation worked with John Junkin and Johnny Speight for the writers' agency Associated London Scripts, where he collaborated on hundreds of radio plays for comedians such as Terry Scott, Eric Sykes, Harry Worth and Frankie Howerd. His career break came in 1962, when he was commissioned to write material for Tony Hancockfirst for Hancock's unsuccessful series for Associated Television broadcast on ITV in 1963, and then his stage show.\",\n \"His career break came in 1962, when he was commissioned to write material for Tony Hancockfirst for Hancock's unsuccessful series for Associated Television broadcast on ITV in 1963, and then his stage show. Although Nation accompanied Hancock as his chief screenwriter on tour in 1963, Hancock would regularly neglect Nation's scripts in favour of recycling his old material. Following an argument over this, Hancock either fired Nation, or Nation resigned (it is unclear which).\",\n \"Following an argument over this, Hancock either fired Nation, or Nation resigned (it is unclear which). Doctor Who Prior to his association with Hancock, Nation had declined an offer from scriptwriter David Whitaker to write for a new science-fiction programme that was entering production at the BBC; Whitaker had been impressed by a script that Nation had written for the ABC anthology series Out of this World.\",\n \"Doctor Who Prior to his association with Hancock, Nation had declined an offer from scriptwriter David Whitaker to write for a new science-fiction programme that was entering production at the BBC; Whitaker had been impressed by a script that Nation had written for the ABC anthology series Out of this World. Now unemployed, and with a young family to support, Nation contacted Whitaker and accepted the offer, writing the second Doctor Who serial, The Daleks (also known as The Mutants and The Dead Planet).\",\n \"Now unemployed, and with a young family to support, Nation contacted Whitaker and accepted the offer, writing the second Doctor Who serial, The Daleks (also known as The Mutants and The Dead Planet). The serial introduced the eponymous extraterrestrial villains that would quickly become the series' most popular and enduring monsters, and resulted in a major merchandising success for the BBC. Nation contributed further scripts to Doctor Who.\",\n \"Nation contributed further scripts to Doctor Who. Nation contributed further scripts to Doctor Who. In 1965, Nation and Dennis Spooner co-wrote the 12-part serial The Daleks' Master Plan, after which Nation, who still held the copyright to the Daleks, attempted to launch a Dalek spin-off TV series in the United States. Various other Dalek tie-in material appeared, including comic strips in the children's weekly TV Century 21 and annuals; such material was frequently credited to Nation, even when written by others.\",\n \"Various other Dalek tie-in material appeared, including comic strips in the children's weekly TV Century 21 and annuals; such material was frequently credited to Nation, even when written by others. Between 1966 and 1972, appearances by the Daleks in Doctor Who became less frequent and were written for the series by other authors. In 1973, following an eight-year absence from scriptwriting for the series, Nation returned to writing for the Daleks on Doctor Who with the Third Doctor serial Planet of the Daleks.\",\n \"In 1973, following an eight-year absence from scriptwriting for the series, Nation returned to writing for the Daleks on Doctor Who with the Third Doctor serial Planet of the Daleks. In 1998, readers of Doctor Who Magazine voted Nation's 1975 serial Genesis of the Daleks the greatest Doctor Who story of all time. In the story, Nation introduced the character of Davros, the creator of the Daleks, who went on to appear in further storylines.\",\n \"In the story, Nation introduced the character of Davros, the creator of the Daleks, who went on to appear in further storylines. Nation also wrote two non-Dalek scripts for Doctor Who, The Keys of Marinus in 1964, which introduced the Voord, and The Android Invasion in 1975, which introduced the Kraals. Nation's final script for Doctor Who was Destiny of the Daleks, broadcast in 1979.\",\n \"Nation's final script for Doctor Who was Destiny of the Daleks, broadcast in 1979. His work on Doctor Who was the subject of the documentary Terror Nation, a special feature on the BBC DVD release of Destiny of the Daleks. Out of the Unknown Nation's first work on the science-fiction anthology series Out of the Unknown was scripting an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's short story The Fox and the Forest in 1965 for the show's debut series.\",\n \"Out of the Unknown Nation's first work on the science-fiction anthology series Out of the Unknown was scripting an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's short story The Fox and the Forest in 1965 for the show's debut series. It was about a 21st century couple taking a forbidden trip to Mexico in 1938, only to be followed by enforcers from the future. It is one of only two episodes from the first series to be considered lost, with only two photographs and the end titles known to exist.\",\n \"It is one of only two episodes from the first series to be considered lost, with only two photographs and the end titles known to exist. In 1969, when the show began to be produced in colour, Nation granted permission for the Daleks to be used in the series three episode Get Off My Cloud, based on the story by Peter Phillips about a bed-bound science-fiction author who finds himself within one of his own fantasies after a mental breakdown.\",\n \"In 1969, when the show began to be produced in colour, Nation granted permission for the Daleks to be used in the series three episode Get Off My Cloud, based on the story by Peter Phillips about a bed-bound science-fiction author who finds himself within one of his own fantasies after a mental breakdown. This would be the first time the Daleks had been shown in colour on television, although they had previously appeared in colour in the Peter Cushing films. Only production stills and low-quality audio extracts survive.\",\n \"Only production stills and low-quality audio extracts survive. Only production stills and low-quality audio extracts survive. Survivors and Blake's 7 Having returned to writing for Doctor Who, the BBC commissioned Nation to create a new science-fiction drama series. First broadcast in 1975, Survivors is the post-apocalyptic story of the last humans on Earth after the world's population has been devastated by plague.\",\n \"First broadcast in 1975, Survivors is the post-apocalyptic story of the last humans on Earth after the world's population has been devastated by plague. Although the series was well received, Nation's creative vision conflicted with that of producer Terence Dudley, and the final two seasons were produced without Nation's involvement.\",\n \"Although the series was well received, Nation's creative vision conflicted with that of producer Terence Dudley, and the final two seasons were produced without Nation's involvement. Meanwhile, screenwriter Brian Clemens claimed that he had related the concept for Survivors to Nation in the late 1960s while they were working together on the final season of The Avengers, with Clemens claiming to have registered the Survivors concept with the Writers' Guild of Great Britain in 1965; Nation denied the allegations.\",\n \"Meanwhile, screenwriter Brian Clemens claimed that he had related the concept for Survivors to Nation in the late 1960s while they were working together on the final season of The Avengers, with Clemens claiming to have registered the Survivors concept with the Writers' Guild of Great Britain in 1965; Nation denied the allegations. Although the case was ultimately brought before the High Court, both sides withdrew from the proceedings after their legal costs mounted. The production of Nation's next BBC creation, Blake's 7, experienced fewer problems.\",\n \"The production of Nation's next BBC creation, Blake's 7, experienced fewer problems. This series follows a group of criminals and political prisoners who are on the run from the evil \\\"Terran Federation\\\", piloting a stolen spaceship of unknown origin. Blake's 7 ran for four series from 1978 to 1981.\",\n \"Blake's 7 ran for four series from 1978 to 1981. Although Nation scripted the whole of the first series of Blake's 7, his creative influence subsequently declined in the following two series despite writing some key episodes, as script editor Chris Boucher exerted a greater influence on those seasons. Nation didn't write any episodes in the fourth series of Blake's 7. In the 1980s, Nation attempted, without success, to secure funding for a fifth season of Blake's 7.\",\n \"In the 1980s, Nation attempted, without success, to secure funding for a fifth season of Blake's 7. During the 1970s, Nation wrote a children's novel for his daughter Rebecca (after whom he named the character of Rebec in the 1973 Doctor Who serial Planet of the Daleks) titled Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet, as well as a novel based on Survivors. United States In 1980, Nation moved to Los Angeles, where he developed programme ideas and worked for various production studios.\",\n \"United States In 1980, Nation moved to Los Angeles, where he developed programme ideas and worked for various production studios. Little of his work from this time was as successful as that of his earlier period in Britain. He wrote scripts for the TV series MacGyver (1985) and A Fine Romance (1989). Death Nation died from emphysema in Los Angeles on 9 March 1997, aged 66. Shortly before his death, he had been collaborating with actor Paul Darrow on another attempt to revive Blake's 7.\",\n \"Shortly before his death, he had been collaborating with actor Paul Darrow on another attempt to revive Blake's 7. Writing credits Awards and nominations In 2013, Nation was commemorated with a blue plaque at the house in Cardiff where he was born. Bibliography Survivors (1976, ) Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet (1978, ) References Further reading Turner, Alwyn W.: The Man Who Invented The Daleks: The Strange Worlds of Terry Nation, London: Aurum Press, 2011, .\",\n \"Bibliography Survivors (1976, ) Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet (1978, ) References Further reading Turner, Alwyn W.: The Man Who Invented The Daleks: The Strange Worlds of Terry Nation, London: Aurum Press, 2011, . External links Terry Nation profile, Museum of Broadcast Communications, museum.tv; accessed 26 December 2014.\",\n \"External links Terry Nation profile, Museum of Broadcast Communications, museum.tv; accessed 26 December 2014. 1930 births 1997 deaths 20th-century British novelists BBC people British male novelists British male screenwriters Welsh radio writers British science fiction writers Deaths from emphysema Welsh comedy writers Welsh expatriates in the United States Welsh novelists Welsh science fiction writers Welsh screenwriters Welsh television writers Writers from Cardiff People from Llandaff 20th-century British male writers British male television writers 20th-century British screenwriters\"\n]"}}},{"rowIdx":380,"cells":{"History":{"kind":"list like","value":["The Flaming Lips","Signed to Warner Bros. (Hit to Death in the Future Head to Clouds Taste Metallic) (1991-1996)"],"string":"[\n \"The Flaming Lips\",\n \"Signed to Warner Bros. (Hit to Death in the Future Head to Clouds Taste Metallic) (1991-1996)\"\n]"},"QuAC_dialog_id":{"kind":"string","value":"C_ca8285aeaf4548bf9a7a664f85008ca4_0"},"Question":{"kind":"string","value":"What was the first album with Warner Bros?"},"Question_no":{"kind":"number","value":1,"string":"1"},"Rewrite":{"kind":"string","value":"What was the first album by The Flaming Lips with Warner Bros?"},"true_page_title":{"kind":"string","value":"The Flaming Lips"},"true_contexts":{"kind":"string","value":"In 1991, the band started recording their major label debut Hit to Death in the Future Head. The album's release was halted for nearly a year due to the use of a sample from Michael Kamen's score for the film Brazil in the track \"You Have to Be Joking (Autopsy of the Devil's Brain)\", which required a lengthy clearance process. After the recording of this album Donahue left the band to concentrate on Mercury Rev and Roberts left the band as well, citing creative differences. They were replaced by Ronald Jones and Steven Drozd respectively. In 1993, they released Transmissions from the Satellite Heart. This was the only studio album since In a Priest Driven Ambulance to date in which Dave Fridmann has not been involved. Because of the success of the album and the single \"She Don't Use Jelly\", the band was featured on four popular television series: Beverly Hills, 90210, Late Show with David Letterman, Charmed and Beavis and Butt-head. The success of this record led to long stints of touring, opening for bands including the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Candlebox. Clouds Taste Metallic was released to much critical fanfare in late 1995, though it did not achieve the commercial success of its predecessor. The strain of the year-long Clouds tour, added to the stress from the three years touring in support of Transmissions, was a major factor in the departure of Ronald Jones in late 1996. He was said to be suffering from a severe case of agoraphobia, although the documentary Fearless Freaks states that he left because of his growing concerns over Drozd's drug use. In September 2014, the Lips paid tribute to former bandmate Ronald Jones and the impact his music had on their developing sound by performing Transmissions from the Satellite Heart live at First Avenue. In February 2015, they performed Clouds Taste Metallic live at the same venue and in December 2015, a 20th Anniversary box set called Heady Nuggs: 20 Years After Clouds Taste Metallic 1994-1997 surrounding the album's release, and the cult status it has achieved over the years was also released. CANNOTANSWER"},"answer":{"kind":"string","value":"Hit to Death in the Future Head."},"true_contexts_wiki":{"kind":"string","value":"The Flaming Lips are an American psychedelic rock band formed in 1983 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The band currently consists of Wayne Coyne (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Steven Drozd (guitars, keyboards, bass, vocals), Derek Brown (keyboards, guitars, percussion), Matt Duckworth Kirksey (drums, percussion, keyboards) and Nicholas Ley (percussion, drums).\n\nThe group recorded several albums and EPs on an indie label, Restless, in the 1980s and early 1990s. After signing to Warner Brothers, they released their first record with Warner, Hit to Death in the Future Head (1992). They later released The Soft Bulletin (1999), which was NME magazine's Album of the Year, and then Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (2002). In February 2007, they were nominated for a BRIT Award for \"Best International Act\". The group has won three Grammy Awards, including two for Best Rock Instrumental Performance. They were placed on Q magazines list of the \"50 Bands to See Before You Die\" in 2002.\n\nHistory\n\nEarly history and releases (1983–1990)\nThe Flaming Lips formed in Oklahoma City in 1983 with Wayne Coyne on guitar, his brother Mark singing lead vocals, Michael Ivins on bass and Dave Kotska on drums. The band debuted at Oklahoma City's Blue Note Lounge. After they hired Dave Kotska as the drummer, Richard English joined the band in 1984. That same year they recorded The Flaming Lips EP, their only release with Mark singing lead vocals.\n\nThere are several theories as to how the band chose their name. One possibility is that it was inspired by the 1953 feature film Geraldine, in which comedian Stan Freberg sings several songs, including one named \"Flaming Lips\". Another possible source is from the 1964 film What a Way to Go! in which Shirley MacLaine's character stars in a film titled Flaming Lips. However, according to an article in the September 16, 1993 issue of Rolling Stone, Mark and Wayne came up with the name as a reference to a rumor about a classmate who contracted genital herpes after receiving cunnilingus from a partner with active cold sores. Wayne elaborated:When Mark and I were in, I think it was Junior Year in High School, there was a rumor about this girl who got herpes from this guy at a party. He went down on her with a cold sore. I don't think we knew the girl, and I'm not sure if she even existed, you know how kids just spread bullshit. But when we were thinking of band names one night over a pack of Schlitz and some left-handed cigarettes and remembered how we joked that they both had \"Flaming Lips\" and it just stuck.After his brother's departure, Wayne assumed the vocal duties and the band released their first full-length album, Hear It Is, on Pink Dust Records (the psychedelic-rock imprint of Enigma Records) in 1986. This line-up recorded two more albums: 1987's Oh My Gawd!!! and 1989's Telepathic Surgery, the latter originally planned to be a 30-minute sound collage.\n\nDrummer Nathan Roberts replaced English and guitarist Jonathan Donahue (also a member of the alternative rock band Mercury Rev) joined in 1989. In a Priest Driven Ambulance, their first album with producer Dave Fridmann, was recorded at the State University of New York in Fredonia for $5 an hour on a $10,000 budget. The album was host to a marked expansion in the band's sound and their previous experiments in tape loops and effects were given a more prominent role. During this period, Coyne made his transition to a higher, more strained vocal style akin to Neil Young, which he first used on Telepathic Surgery's \"Chrome Plated Suicide\" and has employed ever since.\n\nIn 1990, the band caught the attention of Warner Bros. Records and was signed promptly after a label representative witnessed a show at which the band almost burned down the venue (American Legion Hall in Norman, Oklahoma) with the use of pyrotechnics.\n\nSigned to Warner Bros. (Hit to Death in the Future Head to Clouds Taste Metallic) (1991–1996)\nIn 1991, the band started recording their major label debut Hit to Death in the Future Head. The album's release was halted for nearly a year because of the use of a sample from Michael Kamen's score for the film Brazil in the track \"You Have to Be Joking (Autopsy of the Devil's Brain)\", which required a lengthy clearance process. After the recording of this album, Donahue left the band to concentrate on Mercury Rev, and Roberts left the band as well, citing creative differences. They were replaced by Ronald Jones and Steven Drozd, respectively.\n\nIn 1993, they released Transmissions from the Satellite Heart. This was the only studio album since In a Priest Driven Ambulance, to date, in which Dave Fridmann has not been involved. Because of the success of the album and the single \"She Don't Use Jelly\", the band was featured on four popular television series: Beverly Hills, 90210, Late Show with David Letterman, Charmed and Beavis and Butt-head. The success of this record led to long stints of touring, opening for bands including Red Hot Chili Peppers and Candlebox.\n\nClouds Taste Metallic was released to much critical fanfare in late 1995, though it did not achieve the commercial success of its predecessor. The strain of the year-long Clouds tour, added to the stress from the three years touring in support of Transmissions, was a major factor in the departure of Jones in late 1996. He was said to be suffering from a severe case of agoraphobia, although the documentary Fearless Freaks states that he left because of his growing concerns over Drozd's drug use.\n\nIn September 2014, the band paid tribute to Jones and the impact his music had on their developing sound by performing Transmissions from the Satellite Heart live at First Avenue. In February 2015, they performed Clouds Taste Metallic at the same venue. Later, in December, a 20th anniversary box set called Heady Nuggs: 20 Years After Clouds Taste Metallic 1994–1997, was released.\n\nZaireeka (1997–1998)\nThe departure of Jones and a general dissatisfaction with standard \"rock\" music led to the three remaining members of the group redefining the direction of the band with the experimental Zaireeka (1997), a four-CD album which is intended to be heard by playing all four CDs in four separate CD players simultaneously. The music incorporated both traditional musical elements and \"found\" sounds (as in musique concrète), often heavily manipulated with recording studio electronics.\n\nAs part of the development of this project, the band conducted a series of \"parking lot experiments\" and then later, \"boombox experiments\". In the parking lot experiments up to 40 volunteers were given cassettes created by the band to be played at a parking lot in their cars' stereo systems simultaneously. In the \"boom box experiments\" an orchestra composed of up to 40 volunteers with modified \"boombox\"-type tape players was \"conducted\" – directed to vary the volume, speed or tone of the tape they were playing (again composed by the band) – by Wayne Coyne.\n\nMeanwhile, a series of unfortunate events (recounted in the 1999 song \"The Spiderbite Song\") beset the band. Drozd's arm was almost amputated needlessly because of what he claimed was a spider bite (it turned out to be abscessed as a result of Drozd's heroin use), Ivins was trapped in his car for several hours after a wheel spun off of another vehicle into his windshield, and Coyne's father died after a long battle with cancer.\n\nMainstream breakthrough (The Soft Bulletin and Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots) (1999–2002)\nThough their experimental endeavors received some press coverage, their real breakthrough came with the 1999 release, The Soft Bulletin. Marrying more traditional catchy melodies with synthetic strings, hypnotic, carefully manipulated beats, booming cymbals and oddball but philosophical lyrics (sung much more strongly than on earlier releases), the album quickly became one of the underground hits of the year, even widely considered to be one of the best albums of the entire decade.\n\nCompared by many music critics to the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds because of its inclusion of harmonies and orchestrated sounds, The Soft Bulletin also featured greater use of synthesizers, drum machines, sound effects and more studio manipulation. After this album was released, Coyne stated that, \"if someone was to ask me what instrument do I play, I would say the recording studio.\" As the band considered an attempt to recreate this complex album live solely with additional musicians to be complex and expensive, they decided to tour as a three-piece and make extensive use of pre-recorded music to fill out those parts that were not performed live by the members of the band. This led to the decision to have the drummer Drozd play primarily keyboards and guitar live instead of the drums. This, in turn, led to a decision to utilize video recordings and projections of Steven playing the drums for some of the band's older songs, so the band added Kliph Scurlock on drums and percussion, Drozd focused on guitars, keyboards, bass (when he plays bass, Ivins plays keyboards), drums and occasional vocals, when he sings, Coyne plays guitars, keyboards and theremin.\n\nTo enhance the live experience for their audience and to accurately reproduce the sound of The Soft Bulletin live, the Lips devised the concept of the \"Headphone Concert\". A low-powered FM transmitter was set up at shows, and the concert was simultaneously broadcast to small Walkman-style receivers and headphones made available for free to audience members. This would, in theory, allow the audiences greater sonic clarity while still feeling the power of a full live P.A. This concept was debuted in Dallas, Texas, and at the South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas, in March 1999, and was subsequently used on the International Music Against Brain Degeneration Revue tour. This tour featured Japanese band Cornelius, Sebadoh, Robyn Hitchcock, Sonic Boom's E.A.R. and IQU.\n\nThree years later, in the summer of 2002, the Flaming Lips joined bands Cake and Modest Mouse on the Unlimited Sunshine Tour. They also released the full-length Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots to much critical acclaim. Featuring guest musician Yoshimi P-We (who inspired the album's title track) and demonstrating more use of electronic instruments and computer manipulation than The Soft Bulletin, Yoshimi is widely considered to be the Flaming Lips' first critical and commercial success after nearly twenty years as a band. The final track on the album, \"Approaching Pavonis Mons by Balloon (Utopia Planitia)\" earned a 2003 Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance, and the album was certified gold on April 10, 2006. In March 2007, the band revealed that they had recently teamed up with screenwriter Aaron Sorkin to produce a Broadway musical based on the album.\n\nIn January 2012, Pitchfork TV released a forty-five-minute documentary on The Soft Bulletin. The documentary featured several rare archival photos and videos along with interviews from the members, producer Dave Fridmann, and manager Scott Booker. The same year, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots was adapted into a musical after being in development for years after the album's release.\n\nBoth The Soft Bulletin and Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots have been released on DVD-Audio.\n\nFollowing the success of \"Yoshimi\", Steven Drozd completed rehab for heroin addiction. This decision was spurred by a physical altercation between Drozd and Wayne Coyne.\n\nContinued success (At War with the Mystics) (2002–2006)\nShortly after Yoshimi and The Soft Bulletin, the Flaming Lips released two EPs in the same vein of their previous album's robotic theme which contain remixed songs from Yoshimi, Fight Test and Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell. They also appeared on the track \"Marching the Hate Machines (Into the Sun)\" on the Thievery Corporation album The Cosmic Game. In 2002 they were invited to work with The Chemical Brothers. Steven Drozd performed lead vocals, while Wayne Coyne performed harmony vocals, on the single \"The Golden Path\", which was included on The Chemical Brothers compilation album, Singles 93-03.\n\nIn 2002, they performed as the opening act, as well as the backup band, for singer Beck on his Sea Change tour. In the summer of 2004, it was announced that the Flaming Lips would appear among the headliners on the 2004 Lollapalooza tour, alongside such artists as Sonic Youth and Morrissey; however, the tour was canceled because of lack of revenue. Also in 2004, the band recorded the song \"SpongeBob and Patrick Confront the Psychic Wall of Energy\" for the soundtrack of The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. Following the concerts' cancellation, the band entered Tarbox Road Studio with producer Dave Fridmann and began work on their eleventh album, the more organic-sounding At War with the Mystics. The record, aimed to be a more guitar-based and heavier effort than recent albums, featured more politically conscious lyrics than any of their previous releases, and was released in April 2006 to a mixed yet mostly positive reception.\n\nIn 2005 the band was the subject of a documentary called Fearless Freaks, featuring appearances by other artists and celebrities such as Gibby Haynes, The White Stripes, Beck, Christina Ricci, Liz Phair, Juliette Lewis, Steve Burns, Starlight Mints, and Adam Goldberg. In that same year, the Flaming Lips contributed a version of \"Bohemian Rhapsody\" to the album Killer Queen: A Tribute to Queen. Also in this year, the Flaming Lips released the DVD VOID (Video Overview in Deceleration), which chronicles all of their ventures into music video that have been produced since they signed with Warner Bros in 1991. In October 2005, the Flaming Lips recorded a cover of \"If I Only Had a Brain\" for the soundtrack of the video game Stubbs the Zombie, which features modern rock bands covering songs from the 1950s and 1960s. Additionally, the band released one new song, \"Mr. Ambulance Driver\", for the soundtrack of the 2005 film Wedding Crashers (a slightly edited version of the song found its way onto the new record).\n\nThe band released two singles from At War With the Mystics: \"The W.A.N.D.\", which was featured in a Dell commercial and which was originally put out as a download-only single in early 2006, and \"The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song\", which became their highest-charting single on the UK Singles Chart, peaking at No. 16. A 4-track EP, entitled It Overtakes Me, was released later in the UK that year. The only instrumental on the album, \"The Wizard Turns On... The Giant Silver Flashlight and Puts on His Werewolf Moccasins\", earned a 2006 Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance, making it twice in a row the Lips have been nominated in that category and won.\n\nFollowing the April 4, 2006 release of At War with the Mystics, the band began a tour to support the album in the United Kingdom, including a finale at the Royal Albert Hall and performances at the O2 Wireless Festival. At the Leeds England date of the festival, the band opened for The Who, of whom they are long standing fans.\n\nThe band continued to tour throughout the fall of 2006 stopping in Montreal, the Virgin Festival on the Toronto Islands, Atlantic City's House of Blues, The University of Vermont in Burlington, their hometown Oklahoma City, the Austin City Limits Music Festival in Austin, Texas, and New York City, NY as well as several other cities. The homecoming show in Oklahoma City was performed at the Zoo Amphitheater and included the unveiling of a new UFO stage prop, and would provide footage for the U.F.O.s at the Zoo concert DVD.\n\nOn December 5, 2006, Oklahoma City honored the band with a downtown alley named after the band. Vince Gill and Charlie Christian were also given street names by the city. Flaming Lips Alley is at the center of Oklahoma City's entertainment district, Bricktown. At the official dedication in 2007, Coyne said of Oklahoma City, \"...We're on the way to becoming, I think, the fucking coolest city in America.\"\n\nChristmas on Mars (2008)\nIn 2001, the Flaming Lips began filming a low-budget indie film entitled Christmas on Mars. Filming for the movie ended in late September 2005 and premiered on May 25, 2008 at the Sasquatch! Music Festival. The film tells the story of the first Christmas of a colony set-up on the surface of Mars and was written by Wayne Coyne, and co-directed by Wayne Coyne, Bradley Beesley and George Salisbury, with the band and their friends acting in the movie.\n\nThe band brought the film to rock festivals across America during the summer of 2008 and screened it in a large circus tent they had bought for that purpose. The film was released on DVD on November 11, 2008, along with a soundtrack written and performed by the Flaming Lips.\n\nThe band released their first live concert DVD, UFO's at the Zoo: The Legendary Concert in Oklahoma City, on August 7, 2007. The band also contributed original songs to the soundtracks of several 2007 films, including \"The Supreme Being Teaches Spider-Man How to be in Love\" for Spider-Man 3, \"I Was Zapped by the Super Lucky Rainbow\" for Good Luck Chuck, \"Love the World You Find\" for Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, and \"Maybe I'm Not the One\" and \"Tale of the Horny Frog\" for The Heartbreak Kid.\n\nOfficial rock song of Oklahoma (2009)\nIn March 2009 \"Do You Realize??\" was announced as the official rock song of Oklahoma. Ten choices were put to a public vote, and out of 21,000 votes cast nearly 51% were for \"Do You Realize??\" The Oklahoma Senate approved this choice unanimously. The Oklahoma House of Representatives failed to confirm the choice after Rep. Mike Reynolds, R-Oklahoma City attacked the band for its use of offensive language, and Rep. Corey Holland, R-Marlow said he had been \"really offended\" when Michael Ivins came to the announcement ceremony in March wearing a red T-shirt with a yellow hammer and sickle. However, that evening, Oklahoma governor Brad Henry announced he would sign an executive order naming the song the official rock song. Henry said that for more than 20 years the Flaming Lips have produced \"creative, fun and provocative rock music.\" \"The music of the Flaming Lips has earned Grammys, glowing critical acclaim and fans all over the world\", the governor said. \"A truly iconic rock n' roll band, they are proud ambassadors of their home state... They were clearly the people's choice, and I intend to honor that vote.\" However, it was revealed in 2013 that Republican Governor Mary Fallin removed this designation by not renewing Brad Henry's executive order upon taking office in 2011. An alley in Oklahoma City had been named for the band in 2006.\n\nEmbryonic and Dark Side of the Moon (2009)\nIn 2009, the band released their twelfth studio album and first double album, Embryonic. The album, which was the band's first to open in the Billboard top 10, was widely critically acclaimed for its new direction; late in the recording the band added Derek Brown on keyboards, percussion and guitar. In December of the same year, the band released their second album of the year and thirteenth overall, The Flaming Lips and Stardeath and White Dwarfs with Henry Rollins and Peaches Doing The Dark Side of the Moon, a track-for-track cover of Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon, which was recorded with Stardeath and White Dwarfs and features guest appearances from Henry Rollins and Peaches. The album was released physically on vinyl and CD in 2010.\n\nIn 2010, the band performed \"I Can Be a Frog\" on the Nick Jr. television series Yo Gabba Gabba.\n\n2011 releases\nIn January 2011, the Lips announced their intention of releasing a new song every month of the year. In February, they released the first track titled \"Two Blobs Fucking\". The song exists as 12 separate pieces on YouTube and must be played simultaneously to be heard as intended.\n\nIn March 2011, the Lips released the EP The Flaming Lips with Neon Indian. \nIn April, the band released the Gummy Song Skull EP, a seven-pound skull made of gummy bear material with a gummy brain, which contained a flashdrive with 4 songs on them. This release was extremely limited, but was soon leaked on the internet shortly after its release.\n\nIn May, the band released its second collaboration EP titled The Flaming Lips with Prefuse 73. It contains four songs and was released in a similar way to the earlier Neon Indian EP, in that the run was extremely limited and consisted of randomly colored, one of a kind discs. This EP was briefly available on the band's official website but sold out shortly after it was put up for sale.\n\nJune saw several releases by the band, the first being The Soft Bulletin: Live la Fantastique de Institution 2011, a live-in-studio recording of the band's 1999 album The Soft Bulletin which was on a flash drive embedded in a marijuana-flavored brain inside a strawberry flavored gummy skull. This was only released at the band's two night show at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery on June 14 and 15. This show was a special two-night, one morning event in which they played the entirety of The Soft Bulletin one night and a new revamped version of The Dark Side of the Moon and collaborated with Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros for a performance of \"Do You Realize??\" at dawn of the second day. Also included on this flash drive was a best-of compilation titled Everyone You Know Someday Will Die. It included songs from every portion of the band's career as well as a newly recorded intro. The final June release was the Gummy Song Fetus EP which consisted of three songs on a flash drive embedded in a bubblegum-flavored fetus made of gummy bear material.\n\nIn July, the band released The Flaming Lips with Lightning Bolt, a collaborative EP with experimental rock group Lightning Bolt, featuring the songs \"I Wanna Get High But I Don't Want Brain Damage\" and \"Working at NASA on Acid\". This EP was released on randomly colored vinyl as with the previous two collaborative EPs.\n\nIn late August, the band announced that it would be recording a six-hour-long song titled \"I Found a Star on the Ground\". This, along with two other songs, was released in September packaged with a set of spinning discs with animations on them. This release is officially called Strobo Trip. Featured in \"I Found a Star on the Ground\" is Sean Lennon who, with his band, opened for the Lips in early 2011. In the song Lennon reads off several lists of names of people who donated $100 to the Oklahoma City SPCA and Academy of Contemporary Music at University of Central Oklahoma. 212 names are featured in the song.\n\nAt midnight October 31, 2011, a 24-hour song was released titled \"7 Skies H3\". The song played live on a never-ending audio stream on a special website set up by the band and was made available for purchase as a hard drive encased in an actual human skull, limited to 13 copies.\n\nThe band's last release of 2011 was a 12\" EP collaboration, The Flaming Lips with Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band, sold only at the band's annual New Years shows in Oklahoma City.\n\nHeady Fwends, Guinness World Record and other collaborations (2012)\nWith their previous contract with Warner Bros. Records having expired in 2011, the band re-signed to Warner Bros. for the United States and to Bella Union in Europe in early 2012. The first release under these new deals was The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends, initially released as a limited edition vinyl-only package for Record Store Day on April 21. The album features collaborations with artists such as Kesha, Nick Cave, and Erykah Badu. In an interview with American Songwriter, Coyne stated that \"Since we were releasing music every month, we thought it would be a little bit boring for us each month to say 'Well here's four more Flaming Lips songs.' We just thought 'Well we'll get some of our friends, and we'll do collaborations and see what happens.'\" The album later received a wider release on CD and digitally on June 26 in the US and July 30 in Europe.\n\nThe Flaming Lips broke Jay-Z's Guinness World Record for the most live concerts (8) in 24 hours, on June 27 and 28, 2012. The attempt was part of the O Music Awards, and was Livestreamed online for the entire 24 hours. The attempt started in Memphis on the afternoon of June 27 and ended in New Orleans on the afternoon of June 28, with 20 minutes to spare. The band played with guests including Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Neon Indian, Linear Downfall and Phantogram and HOTT MT, among others.\n\nThe concerts, which were required to be at least 15 minutes long, as per Guinness rules, featured a mix of special covers, songs rarely or never performed live by the band before, and new songs from Heady Fwends.\n\nIn November 2012 the band's Lovely Sorts of Death Records released a collaborative track-by-track reinterpretation of King Crimson's In the Court of the Crimson King with Stardeath and White Dwarfs, Linear Downfall, New Fumes, and Space Face entitled Playing Hide and Seek with the Ghosts of Dawn on vinyl and on their own 'Satellite Heart Radio' website.\n\nThey also worked on Kesha's Warrior album (on \"Past Lives\") and Lipsha. She also featured on their collaborative albums.\n\nThe Terror (2013–2014)\nThe band's next studio album, titled The Terror, was originally due for release on April 2, 2013 in the US and on April 1 in Europe, the tour began with a new member: keyboardist and guitarist Jake Ingalls, Derek Brown focused on percussion and additional guitars and keyboards. Because of a corruption while mastering the record on vinyl, the US release was delayed for two weeks, until April 16.\n\nIn anticipation of the album's release, their song, \"Sun Blows Up Today\", was featured in a Hyundai Super Bowl XLVII commercial. The band also released a lyric video on for \"Sun Blows Up Today\" with animations created by long-time Lips collaborator George Salisbury. The band premiered the new album live at a free outdoor concert at SXSW on March 15, 2013.\n\nCritical reception of the album has tended to focus on its thematic bleakness and the turgid noisiness of its instrumentation. Like the three albums often referred to as \"a trilogy\" accounting for the majority of the band's mainstream production over the past 15 years (consisting of The Soft Bulletin, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, and At War With the Mystics), The Terror adheres to the love story/space opera narrative structure while taking a much darker approach. As noted in a review by Pitchfork, \"The Terror deals in more personal turmoil– loneliness, depression, anxiety... Perhaps not coincidentally, the album was preceded by news of Coyne's separation from his partner of 25 years, Michelle, and of multi-instrumentalist Steven Drozd relapsing temporarily.\"\n\nJon Pareles of The New York Times summarized the thematic content of the album fairly succinctly when he wrote, \"The lyrics [of 'The Terror'] find cosmic repercussions in a lovers' breakup; loneliness turns to contemplation of grim human compulsions and the end of the universe.\" Another critic goes so far as to say that the album underlines the Lacanian psychodynamics structurally inherent in the conventions of the space opera.\n\nWayne Coyne's own description of his process or the theme of the album jibes well with this critical diagnosis:\n\n\"We want, or wanted, to believe that without love we would disappear, that love, somehow, would save us that, yeah, if we have love, give love and know love, we are truly alive and if there is no love, there would be no life. The Terror is, we know now, that even without love, life goes on... we just go on... there is no mercy killing.\"\n\nIn November 2013 they produced and curated \"The Time Has Come To Shoot You Down…What A Sound,\" a reworking of the Stone Roses' debut album featuring New Fumes, Spaceface, Stardeath and White Dwarfs, Foxygen, Peaking Lights, Poliça and others.\n\nIn March 2014, longtime drummer and percussionist Kliph Scurlock left the band, and was replaced by drummer, percussionist and keyboardist Matt Duckworth Kirksey and percussionist and drummer Nicholas Ley. Derek Brown began focusing on guitars, and occasional keyboards and percussion. In May, Scurlock claimed he had been fired for negative comments about Wayne Coyne's friend Christina Fallin, the daughter of Oklahoma's governor and leader of a band called Pink Pony. Fallin had recently been criticized for cultural appropriation after she wore a Native American headdress in a publicity photo. According to Scurlock, his criticism of Fallin's actions led to conflict with Coyne and his dismissal. In response, Drozd said, \"[t]his Lips/Kliph bullshit has gone too far. We parted ways because of the usual band musical differences. The rest has been blown way out.\" Coyne went even further, calling Scurlock a \"pathological liar\" and stated that he never meant his defense of Fallin, which included posting a photo of his dog in a feathered headdress, to be offensive but that he was \"very sorry, to anybody that is following my Instagram or my Twitter, if I offended anybody of any religion, any race, any belief system. I would say you shouldn't follow my tweets; you shouldn't even probably want to be a Flaming Lips fan because we don't really have any agenda.\"\n\nMiley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz (2015)\nOn August 30, 2015, after hosting the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards, Miley Cyrus announced that Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz, the free, 23-track experimental album that Cyrus and the Flaming Lips wrote and recorded together, was available via online streaming. The album is described by Coyne as a combination of Pink Floyd and Portishead and \"a slightly wiser, sadder, more true version\" of Cyrus' pop music output.\n\nOczy Mlody, King's Mouth, and American Head (2016–present)\nAccording to the Tarbox Roads Studio's website, the Flaming Lips began recording a new album with Dave Fridmann on January 27, 2016.\nIn a June interview with Danish music blog Regnsky, Wayne Coyne said that a new album would come out in January 2017, even though they had originally planned for it to be released in October 2016. Wayne Coyne later confirmed in a September interview with Consequence of Sound, that they would release a new album at the beginning of 2017. On October 20, the band confirmed the January 2017 release date for the album. The band embarked on a tour in support that was described as \"rock's greatest acid punch party\" with \"balloons, confetti cannons and rainbow visuals\". On January 13, 2017 the fourteenth Flaming Lips album Oczy Mlody was released, and featured a guest appearance by Miley Cyrus. The album charted in both the UK and US.\n\nOn Record Store Day, April 22, 2017, the Flaming Lips released Onboard the International Space Station Concert for Peace, a re-recording of seven tracks from Oczy Mlody in a faux live setting.\n\nThe band's next studio album, King's Mouth, was released on April 13, 2019 for Record Store Day. Mick Jones of The Clash and Big Audio Dynamite narrates the album; Wayne Coyne said of Jones that \"he’s on almost every song... it really is quite unbelievable.\"\n\nIn late 2019, Coyne and Drozd collaborated with garage rock duo Deap Vally to form a new band, Deap Lips. The project's self-titled debut album was released on March 13, 2020.\n\nOn March 23, 2020, Drozd announced that the band's sixteenth studio album, American Head, is due for release in the summer. The band officially announced the album's release date as September 11, 2020, along with the single \"My Religion Is You\" on June 6, 2020.\n\nDuring the COVID-19 pandemic, the band performed a concert in their hometown of Oklahoma City on October 12, 2020, while entirely encased within inflatable human-sized bubbles. Audience members were also protected by plastic bubbles. They performed in this fashion on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert and again in 2021.\n\nOn August 16, 2021, Ingalls announced on his Instagram page that he left the band on amicable terms. Also in August, Coyne commented on his Instagram that Ivins was no longer in the band, leaving Coyne as the only original member. Micah Nelson has been on bass for recent live performances.\n\nIn November 2021, the band released an album of nine Nick Cave cover songs with the young Canadian musician Nell Smith. Smith and The Lips recorded the album remotely during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown.\n\nMembers\n\nCurrent members\nWayne Coyne – lead vocals (1985–present), guitars, keyboards, theremin (1983–present), backing vocals (1983–1985, 1991–present), bass guitar (2021–present)\nSteven Drozd – guitars, keyboards, bass, drums, backing and lead vocals (1991–present)\nDerek Brown – keyboards, guitars, percussion, backing vocals (2009–present)\nMatt Duckworth Kirksey – drums, percussion, keyboards, backing vocals (2014–present)\nNicholas Ley – percussion, drums, samples (2014–present)\n\nCurrent touring musicians\nMicah Nelson – bass, keyboards, backing vocals (2021–present)\n\nFormer members\nMark Coyne – lead vocals (1983–1985)\nDave Kostka – drums (1983–1984)\nRichard English – drums, keyboards, backing vocals (1984–1989)\nNathan Roberts – drums (1989–1991)\nJonathan Donahue – guitars, backing vocals (1989–1991)\nJon Mooneyham – guitars, backing vocals (1991)\nRonald Jones – guitars, backing vocals (1991–1996)\nKliph Scurlock – drums, percussion (2002–2014)\nJake Ingalls – keyboards, guitars (2013–2021)\nMichael Ivins – bass, keyboards, backing vocals (1983–2021)\n\nFormer touring musicians\nRay Suen – percussion, violin, harp, keyboards (2009–2012)\n\nTimeline\n\nSelected discography\n\nStudio albums\n\nHear It Is (1986)\nOh My Gawd!!! (1987)\nTelepathic Surgery (1989)\nIn a Priest Driven Ambulance (1990)\nHit to Death in the Future Head (1992)\nTransmissions from the Satellite Heart (1993)\nClouds Taste Metallic (1995)\nZaireeka (1997)\n\nThe Soft Bulletin (1999)\nYoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (2002)\nAt War with the Mystics (2006)\nEmbryonic (2009)\nThe Terror (2013)\nOczy Mlody (2017)\nKing's Mouth (2019)\nAmerican Head (2020)\n\nExtended plays\nThe Flaming Lips (1984)\nGummy Song Skull (2011)\nGummy Song Fetus (2011)\nStrobo Trip (2011)\n24 Hour Song Skull (2011)\nPeace Sword (2013)\n\nCollaborative albums\nThe Flaming Lips and Stardeath and White Dwarfs with Henry Rollins and Peaches Doing The Dark Side of the Moon (2009)\nThe Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends (2012)\nPlaying Hide and Seek with the Ghosts of Dawn (2012)\nThe Time Has Come to Shoot You Down... What a Sound (2013)\nWith a Little Help from My Fwends (2014)\nDeap Lips (2020) \nWhere the Viaduct Looms (2021)\n\nSoundtracks/Miscellaneous\nThe Southern Oklahoma Cosmic Trigger Contest (2001)\nAtlas Eets Christmas (2007) \nOnce Beyond Hopelessness (2008)\n\nAwards and nominations\nThe Flaming Lips won their first Grammy Award in 2003, for their track \"Approaching Pavonis Mons by Balloon (Utopia Planitia)\". To date, the band has been nominated for six Grammy Awards, and won three times.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n \n1983 establishments in Oklahoma\nAlternative rock groups from Oklahoma\nAmerican experimental rock groups\nAmerican psychedelic rock music groups\nGrammy Award winners\nIndie rock musical groups from Oklahoma\nMusical groups established in 1983\nMusical groups from Oklahoma\nNeo-psychedelia groups\nNoise pop musical groups\nPsychedelic pop music groups\nSpace rock musical groups\nWarner Records artists\nBella Union artists\nRestless Records artists"},"extractive":{"kind":"string","value":"true"},"retrieved_contexts":{"kind":"list like","value":["Love at First Sight is a studio album by American singer Dionne Warwick released in 1977 by Warner Bros. Records.\n\nOverview \nThe album was produced by Michael Omartian and Steve Barri. The sound of the longplay resembled the previous works of the artist of the Scepter Records period. By the way, there is a ballad on the album \"Early Morning Strangers\", the author of which was Hal David, with whom Warwick worked for a long time and fruitfully in those years.\n\nAnyway, the album became a failure, neither it nor the singles hit the charts, critics also took the record with restraint. This was Warwick's last album with Warner Bros., the next album she will release on Arista Records.\n\nTrack listing\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\nDionne Warwick albums\n1977 albums\nAlbums arranged by Michael Omartian\nAlbums produced by Michael Omartian\nAlbums produced by Steve Barri\nWarner Records albums","Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in March 1958 as the recorded music division of the American film studio Warner Bros.\n\nArtists who have recorded for Warner Records include Madonna, Prince, Cher, Frank Sinatra, Joni Mitchell, Van Halen, Alice Cooper, Kylie Minogue, Goo Goo Dolls, Tom Petty, Sheryl Crow, Gorillaz, Adam Lambert, Bette Midler, Grateful Dead, Jane's Addiction, Blur, Duran Duran, Deep Purple, Fleetwood Mac, Liam Gallagher, James Taylor, Lily Allen, JoJo, Linkin Park, Muse, George Benson, Nile Rodgers, Black Sabbath, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Black Keys, My Chemical Romance, Tevin Campbell, Mac Miller, Dua Lipa, Bebe Rexha, R.E.M., and Sex Pistols.\n\nHistory\n\nFounding\nAt the end of the silent movie period, Warner Bros. Pictures decided to expand into publishing and recording so that it could access low-cost music content for its films. In 1928, the studio acquired several smaller music publishing firms which included M. Witmark & Sons, Harms Inc., and a partial interest in New World Music Corp., and merged them to form the Music Publishers Holding Company. This new group controlled valuable copyrights on standards by George and Ira Gershwin and Jerome Kern, and the new division was soon earning solid profits of up to US$2 million every year.\n\nIn 1930, MPHC paid US$28 million to acquire Brunswick Records (which included Vocalion), whose roster included Duke Ellington, Red Nichols, Nick Lucas, Al Jolson, Earl Burtnett, Ethel Waters, Abe Lyman, Leroy Carr, Tampa Red and Memphis Minnie, and soon after the sale to Warner Bros., the label signed rising radio and recording stars Bing Crosby, Mills Brothers, and Boswell Sisters. Unfortunately for Warner Bros., the dual impact of the Great Depression and the introduction of broadcast radio greatly harmed the recording industry—sales crashed, dropping by around 90% from more than 100 million records in 1927 to fewer than 10 million by 1932 and major companies were forced to halve the price of records from 75c to 35c.\n\nIn December 1931, Warner Bros. offloaded Brunswick to the American Record Corporation (ARC) for a fraction of its former value, in a lease arrangement which did not include Brunswick's pressing plants. Technically, Warner maintained actual ownership of Brunswick, which with the sale of ARC to CBS in 1939 and their decision to discontinue Brunswick in favor of reviving the Columbia label, reverted to Warner Bros. Warner Bros. sold Brunswick a second time (along with Brunswick's back catalog up to 1931), this time along with the old Brunswick pressing plants Warner owned, to Decca Records (which formed its American operations in 1934) in exchange for a financial interest in Decca. The heavy loss it incurred in the Brunswick deal kept the studio out of the record business for more than 25 years, and during this period it licensed its film music to other companies for release as soundtrack albums.\n\n1958–1963: formation and early years\n \nWarner Bros. returned to the record business in 1958 with the establishment of its own recording division, Warner Bros. Records. By this time, the established Hollywood studios were reeling from multiple challenges to their former dominance—the most notable being the introduction of television in the late 1940s. Legal changes also had a major impact on their business—lawsuits brought by major stars had effectively overthrown the old studio contract system by the late 1940s and, beginning in 1949, anti-trust suits brought by the US government forced the five major studios to divest their cinema chains.\n\nIn 1956, Harry Warner and Albert Warner sold their interest in the studio and the board was joined by new members who favored a renewed expansion into the music business—Charles Allen of the investment bank Charles Allen & Company, Serge Semenenko of the First National Bank of Boston and investor David Baird. Semenenko in particular had a strong professional interest in the entertainment business and he began to push Jack Warner on the issue of setting up an 'in-house' record label. With the record business booming – sales had topped US$500 million by 1958 – Semnenko argued that it was foolish for Warner Bros. to make deals with other companies to release its soundtracks when, for less than the cost of one motion picture, they could establish their own label, creating a new income stream that could continue indefinitely and provide an additional means of exploiting and promoting its contract actors.\n\nAnother impetus for the label's creation was the brief music career of Warner Bros. actor Tab Hunter. Although Hunter was signed to an exclusive acting contract with the studio, it did not prevent him from signing a recording contract, which he did with Dot Records, owned at the time by Paramount Pictures. Hunter scored several hits for Dot, including the US No. 1 single, \"Young Love\" (1957) and, to Warner Bros.' chagrin, reporters were primarily asking about the hit record, rather than Hunter's latest Warner movie. In 1958, the studio signed Hunter as its first artist to its newly formed record division, although his subsequent recordings for the label failed to duplicate his success with Dot.\n\nWarner Bros. agreed to buy Imperial Records in 1956 and, although the deal fell apart, it marked the breaking of a psychological barrier: \"If the company was willing to buy another label, why not start its own?\" To establish the label, the company hired former Columbia Records president James B. Conkling; its founding directors of A&R were Harris Ashburn, George Avakian, and Bob Prince. Conkling was an able administrator with extensive experience in the industry—he had been instrumental in launching the LP format at Columbia and had played a key role in establishing the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences the previous year. However, Conkling had decidedly middle-of-the-road musical tastes (he was married to Donna King of vocal trio the King Sisters), and was thus rather out of step with emerging trends in the industry, especially the fast-growing market for rock'n'roll music.\n\nWarner Bros. Records opened for business on March 19, 1958; its original office was located above the film studio's machine shop at 3701 Warner Boulevard in Burbank, California. Its early album releases (1958–1960) were aimed at the upscale end of the mainstream audience, and Warner Bros. took an early (though largely unsuccessful) lead in recording stereo LPs that targeted the new \"hi-fi\" market. The catalogue in this period included:\n vocal/spoken word albums by Warner contract players such as Tab Hunter, Edd Byrnes, Connie Stevens, Jack Webb and William Holden\n novelty/comedy albums by artists such as Spike Jones and Bob Newhart\n film soundtracks and collections of film and TV themes\n 'middle of the road' instrumental albums by artists including Matty Matlock, Buddy Cole, Henry Mancini, George Greeley, Warren Barker and \"Ira Ironstrings\" (a pseudonym for guitarist Alvino Rey, Conkling's brother-in-law, who was in fact under contract to Capitol Records at the time).\n\nSome albums featured jokey or self-deprecating titles such as:\n Music for People with $3.98 (Plus Tax If Any),\n Terribly Sophisticated Songs: A Collection of Unpopular Songs for Popular People,\n Songs the Kids Brought Home from Camp,\n Please Don't Put Your Empties on the Piano, and\n But You've Never Heard Gershwin with Bongos.\nAlmost all were commercial failures; and the only charting album in Warner Bros.' first two years was Warren Barker's 'soundtrack' album for the studio's hit series 77 Sunset Strip, which reached No. 3 in 1959. Tab Hunter's \"Jealous Heart\" (WB 5008), which reached No. 62, was Warner Bros.' only charting single during its first year.\n\nEarly Warner Bros. singles had distinctive pink labels, with the WB logo at the top center and \"WARNER\" in white Hellenic font to the left of the WB shield and \"BROS.\" in the same color and style font to the right. Below the shield in white Rockwell font, it read \"VITAPHONIC HIGH FIDELITY;\" this 45 label was used for two years, 1958 – 1960. This initial 45 label was soon replaced by a new, all-red label with the WB shield logo at 9 o'clock and a number of different-colored arrows (blue, chartreuse, and yellow) surrounding and pointing away from the center hole. The first hit was the novelty record \"Kookie, Kookie (Lend Me Your Comb),\" with words and music by Irving Taylor, which reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was nominally performed by Warner contract actor Edd Byrnes, who played the wisecracking hipster character Gerald Lloyd \"Kookie\" Kookson III on Warner's TV detective series 77 Sunset Strip. The story behind the recording illustrates the sharp practices often employed by major recording companies. Actress and singer Connie Stevens (who appeared in the Warner TV series Hawaiian Eye) spoke on the song's chorus, but although her record contract entitled her to a five-percent royalty rate, the label arbitrarily defined her contribution to be a favor to Byrnes, and assigned her just 1% royalty on the song, despite the fact that, as she soon discovered, her name was being prominently displayed on the single's label. Warner Bros. also charged her for a share of the recording costs, which was to be recouped from her drastically reduced royalty. When Stevens scored her own hit single with \"Sixteen Reasons\" in 1960, Warner Bros. refused to allow her to perform it on Hawaiian Eye because it was not published by MPHC, and they also prevented her from singing it on The Ed Sullivan Show, thereby robbing her of nationwide promotion (and a $5000 appearance fee).\n\nWith only two hits to its credit in two years, the label was in serious financial trouble by 1960, having lost at least US$3 million and music historian Frederic Dannen reports that the only reason it was not closed down was because the Warner board was reluctant to write off the additional $2 million the label was owed in outstanding receivables and inventory. After a restructure, Conkling was obliged to report to Herman Starr; he rejected a buyout offer by Conkling and a group of other record company employees but agreed to keep the label running in exchange for heavy cost-cutting—the staff was reduced from 100 to 30 and Conkling voluntarily cut his own pay from $1000 to $500.\n\nWarner Bros. now turned to rock'n'roll acts in hopes of advancing its sales but their first signing, Bill Haley, was by then past his prime and failed to score any hits. The label was more fortunate with its next signing, the Everly Brothers, whom Warner Bros. secured after the end of their previous contract with Cadence Records. Herman Starr effectively gambled the future of the company by approving what was reputed to be the first million-dollar contract in music history, which guaranteed the Everly Brothers $525,000 against an escalating royalty rate of up to 7 percent, well above the industry standard of the day. The duo were fielding offers from all the major labels as their Cadence contract wound up, but Warners eventually won out because the brothers harboured ambitions to branch out into film, and the label's connection to the movie studio provided the perfect opportunity. Luckily, the Everlys' first Warner Bros. single \"Cathy's Clown\" was a smash hit, climbing to No. 1 in the US and selling more than eight million copies, and their debut Warner Bros. album It's Everly Time reached No. 9 on the album chart.\n\nIn late 1959, Warner Bros signed a virtually unknown Chicago-based comedian, Bob Newhart, marking the beginning of the label's continuing involvement with comedy. Newhart provided the label's next major commercial breakthrough — in May 1960, three months after the success of \"Cathy's Clown,\" Newhart's debut album The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart unexpectedly shot straight to No. 1 in the US, staying at the top for fourteen weeks, charting for more than two years and selling more than 600,000 copies. Capping this commercial success, Newhart scored historic wins in three major categories at the 1961 Grammy Awards — he won Album of the Year for Button-Down Mind, his quickly released follow-up album, The Button-Down Mind Strikes Back (1960) won the Best Comedy Performance–Spoken Word category, and Newhart himself won Best New Artist, the first time in Grammy history that a comedy album had won Album of the Year, and the only time a comedian has won Best New Artist.\n\nInterviewed for the official Warner Bros Records history in 2008, Newhart recalled that at the time he signed with the label he was totally unknown outside Chicago, he was still working as full-time as an accountant, and he had only done a few local radio and TV appearances. His break came thanks to a friend, local DJ Dan Sorkin, who knew Warner CEO Jim Conkling. Sorkin arranged for Newhart to make a demo tape of a few of his original sketches, which Conkling heard and liked. Equally remarkably, Newhart revealed that had never performed in a club prior to recording the album. Warners arranged to record him at a Houston, Texas club called The Tidelands, where he was booked for a two-week residency as the opening act, beginning 12 February 1960, and Newhart freely admitted to being \"terrified\" on his first night. He quickly realised that he only had enough material for one side of an album, but by the time Warner A&R manager George Avakian arrived for the recording, Newhart had hastily written enough new material to fill both sides of an LP. When Newhart contacted Warners in April to find out when the album would be released, he was amazed to be told that the label was rushing all available copies to Minneapolis, because radio DJs there had broken it, and it had become so popular that a local newspaper was even printing the times that tracks would be played on air. He recalled that the success of the album almost instantly kick-started his career, and that he was soon being deluged with appearance offers, including The Ed Sullivan Show. A few months later, when Newhart met Conkling and Jack Warner at a dinner, he recalled that Warner effusively greeted him as \"the man who saved Warner Brothers Records\".\n\nDespite the turnaround in the label's commercial and critcal fortunes at the start of the new decade, Jim Conkling was unexpectedly forced out as CEO during 1961. The ostensible reason for his ousting was that Warner and the studio executives doubted Conkling's commitment to the label, after they discovered that he had sold his shares of Warner Bros stock, netting him around $1 million. However, label biographer Warren Zanes and former WBR executive Stan Cornyn both opined that this was merely a pretext, and that the studio effectively scapegoated Conkling for the label's earlier failures, pointing to the fact that Conkling's successor had been selected well before Conkling was terminated. Conkling resigned in the fall of that year, and was replaced by Mike Maitland, another former Capitol Records executive. Around the same time, Joe Smith was appointed as head of promotions.\n\nWarner Bros. made another prescient signing in folk group Peter, Paul & Mary. The trio had been on the verge of signing with Atlantic Records, but before the deal could be completed they were poached by Warner Bros. Artie Mogull (who worked for one of Warner Bros.' publishing companies, Witmark Music) had introduced their manager Albert Grossman to Herman Starr, and as a result the group signed a recording and publishing deal with Warner Bros. Grossman's deal for the group broke new ground for recording artists — it included a substantial advance of $30,000 and, most significantly, it set a new benchmark for recording contracts by stipulating that the trio would have complete creative control over the recording and packaging of their music.\n\nSoon after, Grossman and Mogull signed a publishing deal that gave Witmark one of its most lucrative clients, Bob Dylan. Grossman bought out Dylan's previous contract with Leeds Music and signed the then-unknown singer-songwriter to Witmark for an advance of $5000. Two years later in 1963, Peter, Paul & Mary scored two consecutive Top 10 hits with Dylan songs, launching Dylan's career, and this was followed by many more hits by artists covering Dylan's songs, alongside the growing commercial success of Dylan himself. Grossman benefited enormously from both deals, because he took a 25% commission as Dylan's manager, and he structured Dylan's publishing deal so that he received 50% of Witmark's share of Dylan's publishing income—a tactic that was later emulated by other leading artist managers such as David Geffen.\n\nMeanwhile, the label enjoyed further major success with comedy recordings. Comedian Allan Sherman (who had been signed on the personal recommendation of George Burns), issued his first Warner LP My Son, the Folk Singer in 1962. The album, which satirized the folk boom, became a major hit, selling over a million copies, and winning a Gold Record award, and is cited as being the fastest-selling LP ever released in the US up to that time. Sherman also scored a hit single in late 1963 with a cut from his third WBR album, My Son, The Nut, when his song \"Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah\" (which satirized the American summer camp tradition) became a surprise novelty hit, peaking at #2.\n\nBill Cosby broke through soon after and he continued the label's dream run with comedy LPs into the late 1960s, releasing a string of highly successful albums on Warner Bros. over the next six years, alongside his groundbreaking career as a TV actor.\n\nThe label's fortunes had finally turned around by 1962 thanks to the Everly Brothers, Newhart, folk stars Peter, Paul & Mary, jazz and pop crossover hit Joanie Sommers and comedian Allan Sherman, and Warner Bros. Records ended the financial year 1961–62 in the black for the first time since its founding.\n\nWarner/Reprise 1963–1967\nIn August 1963, Warner Bros. made a \"rescue takeover\" of Frank Sinatra's ailing Reprise Records as part of a deal to acquire Sinatra's services as a recording artist and as an actor for Warner Bros. Pictures. The total deal was valued at around US$10 million, and it gave Sinatra a one-third share in the combined record company and a seat on the Warner/Reprise board; Warner Bros. Records head Mike Maitland became the president of the new combine and Mo Ostin was retained as manager of the Reprise label.\n\nReprise was heavily in debt at the time of the takeover, and the Warner Records management team was reportedly dismayed at their balance sheet being pushed back into the red by the acquisition, but they were given no choice in the matter. Ben Kalmenson, a Warner Bros. company director and close aide to Jack Warner, summoned the label's directors to a meeting in New York and explicitly told them that both he and Warner wanted the deal and that they expected them to vote in favor of it.\n\nDespite these misgivings, the purchase ultimately proved very beneficial to the Warner group. Reprise flourished in the late 1960s thanks to Sinatra's famous comeback and the hits by Sinatra and his daughter Nancy, and the label also secured the US distribution rights to the recordings of the Kinks and Jimi Hendrix. Most importantly for the future of the company, the merger brought Reprise manager Mo Ostin into the Warner fold and \"his ultimate value to Warner Bros. would dwarf Sinatra's.\" Ostin's business and musical instincts, and his rapport with artists were to prove crucial to the success of the Warner labels over the next two decades.\n\nIn 1964, Warner Bros. launched Loma Records, which was meant to focus on R&B acts. The label, run by former King Records promotion man Bob Krasnow, would release over 100 singles and five albums, but saw only limited success and was wound down in 1968.\n\nAn important addition to the Warner Bros. staff in this period was Ed Thrasher, who moved from Columbia Records in 1964 to become Warner/Reprise's head art director. Among his design credits for the Warner family of labels were The Jimi Hendrix Experience's Are You Experienced, Van Morrison's Astral Weeks, The Grateful Dead's Anthem of the Sun, The Doobie Brothers' Toulouse Street, Tiny Tim's God Bless Tiny Tim, and Joni Mitchell's Clouds, which set off a trend of musicians creating the artwork for their own record sleeves. In 1973, when Frank Sinatra emerged from retirement with his comeback album, Thrasher shot candid photographs for the cover and also devised the album title Ol' Blue Eyes Is Back, which was widely used to promote Sinatra's return to recording and touring. Besides his work on album covers, Thrasher art-directed many of Warner Bros.' ads and posters from 1964 to 1979.\n\nIn 1964, Warner Bros. successfully negotiated with French label Disques Vogue and Warner Bros.' British distributor Pye Records for the rights to distribute Petula Clark's recordings in the US (said rights previously being held by Laurie Records). Clark soon scored a No. 1 US hit with \"Downtown.\" Warner also released other Pye artists in the US market such as The Kinks.\n\nAnother significant development in the label's history came in 1966 when Ostin hired young independent producer Lenny Waronker as an A&R manager, beginning a strong and enduring mentor/protegé relationship between the two. Waronker, the son of Liberty Records founder Simon Waronker, had previously worked as an assistant to Liberty producer Snuff Garrett. Later he worked with the small San Francisco label Autumn Records, founded by disc jockeys Tom Donahue, Bobby Mitchell, and Sylvester Stewart (who would soon become famous as a musician under his stage name Sly Stone).\n\nWaronker had been hired as a freelance producer for some of Autumn's acts including The Tikis (who later became Harpers Bizarre), The Beau Brummels, and The Mojo Men, and for these recording sessions he brought in several musician friends who were then becoming established on the L.A. music scene: composer/musicians Randy Newman (a childhood friend), Leon Russell, and Van Dyke Parks. Together they became the foundation of the creative salon that centered on Waronker at Warner Bros. and which, with Ostin's continuing support, became the catalyst for Warner Records' subsequent success as a rock music label. Initially, Waronker looked after the acts that Warner Bros. took over when they bought Autumn Records for $10,000, but during the year he also avidly pursued rising Los Angeles band The Buffalo Springfield. Although (much to his and Ostin's chagrin) the band was ultimately signed by Atlantic Records, they eventually became part of the Warner Bros. catalogue after Atlantic was purchased by Warner Bros. Records.\n\nIn 1967, Warner Bros. took over Valiant Records, which added hit-making harmony pop group The Association to the Warner roster. This acquisition proved to be another huge money-maker for Warner Bros.; The Association scored a string of major hits in the late 1960s, and their 1967 hit \"Never My Love\" went on to become the second-most-played song on American radio and TV in the 20th century. During the year, the label also took its first tentative step into the burgeoning rock market when they signed leading San Francisco psychedelic rock group The Grateful Dead. Warner Bros. threw the band a release party at Fugazi Hall in San Francisco's North Beach. During the concert, Warner A&R manager Joe Smith took the stage and announced, \"I just want to say what an honor it is to be able to introduce the Grateful Dead and its music to the world,\" which prompted a cynical Jerry Garcia to quip in reply, \"I just want to say what an honor it is for the Grateful Dead to introduce Warner Bros. Records to the world.\"\n\nAlso in 1967, Warner/Reprise established its Canadian operation Warner Reprise Canada Ltd., replacing its distribution deal with the Compo Company. This was the origin of Warner Music Canada.\n\n1967–1969: Warner Bros.-Seven Arts\nIn November 1966 the entire Warner group was taken over by and merged with Seven Arts Productions, a New York-based company owned by Eliot Hyman. Seven Arts specialized in syndicating old movies and cartoons to TV, and had independently produced a number of significant feature films for other studios, including Stanley Kubrick's Lolita, as well as forging a successful production partnership with noted British studio Hammer Films. Hyman's purchase of Jack L. Warner's controlling share of the Warner group for US$32 million stunned the film world—Warner Records executive Joe Smith later quipped that it was\n\nThe newly merged group was renamed Warner Bros.-Seven Arts (often referred to in the trade press by the abbreviation it adopted for its new logo, \"W7\"). Although Warner Bros. Pictures was faltering, the purchase coincided with a period of tremendous growth in the music industry, and Warner-Reprise was now on its way to becoming a major player in the industry. Hyman's investment banker Alan Hirshfeld, of Charles Allen and Company, urged him to expand the company's record holdings, and arranged a meeting with Jerry Wexler, and Ahmet and Nesuhi Ertegun, co-owners of leading independent label Atlantic Records, which eventually resulted in the purchase of Atlantic in 1968.\n\nIn June 1967, Mo Ostin attended the historic Monterey International Pop Festival, where The Association performed the opening set. Ostin had already acquired the US rights to The Jimi Hendrix Experience's recordings, sight unseen, but he was reportedly unimpressed by Hendrix's now-famous performance. During his visit he met Andy Wickham, who had come to Monterey as an assistant to festival promoter Lou Adler. Wickham had worked as a commercial artist in London, followed by a stint with Andrew Loog Oldham's Immediate Records before moving to Los Angeles to work for Adler's Dunhill label. Ostin initially hired Wickham as Warner's \"house hippie\" on a generous retainer of $200 per week. Hanging out around Laurel Canyon, Wickham scouted for new talent and established a rapport with the young musicians Warner Bros. was seeking to sign. Like Lenny Waronker, Wickham's youth, intelligence and hip attitude allowed him to bridge the \"generation gap between these young performers and the older Warner 'establishment'\". He played a major role in signing Eric Andersen, Jethro Tull, Van Morrison, and Joni Mitchell (who signed to Reprise), whom Wickham successfully recommended to Ostin in his first week with the company. Over the next thirty years, Wickham became one of Warner's most influential A&R managers, signing such notable acts as Emmylou Harris, Buck Owens, and Norwegian pop trio a-ha.\n\nDuring this formative period, Warner Bros. made several other notable new signings including Randy Newman and Van Dyke Parks. Newman would not make his commercial breakthrough until the mid-1970s but he achieved a high profile in the industry thanks to songs he wrote that were covered by other acts like Three Dog Night and Alan Price. Although Warner Bros. spent large sums on albums that sold poorly, and there were some missteps in its promotion strategy, the presence of unorthodox acts like The Grateful Dead and critically acclaimed 'cult' performers like Newman and Parks, combined with the artistic freedom that the label afforded them, proved significant in building Warner Bros.' reputation and credibility. Bob Krasnow, who briefly headed Warner Bros.' short-lived 'black' label Loma Records, later commented that The Grateful Dead \"...were really the springboard. People said, 'Wow, if they'll sign The Dead, they must be going in the right direction.'\"\n\nAlthough not widely known to the general public at that time, Van Dyke Parks was a figure of high repute on the L.A. music scene thanks to his work as a session musician and songwriter (notably with the Byrds and Harper's Bizarre), and especially because of his renowned collaboration with Brian Wilson on the legendary unreleased Beach Boys album Smile. In 1967, Lenny Waronker produced Parks' Warner debut album Song Cycle, which reportedly cost more than $35,000 to record, making it one of the most expensive 'pop' albums ever made up to that time. It sold very poorly despite rave critical reviews, so publicist Stan Cornyn (who had helped the label to sign The Grateful Dead) wrote an infamous tongue-in-cheek advertisement to promote it. The ad cheekily declared that the label had \"lost $35,509 on 'the album of the year' (dammit),\" suggested that those who had purchased the album had probably worn their copies out by playing it over and over, and made the offer that listeners could send these supposedly worn-out copies back to Warner Bros., who would exchange it for two new copies, including one \"to educate a friend with.\" Incensed by the tactic, Parks accused Cornyn of trying to kill his career. Cornyn encountered similar problems with Joni Mitchell—he penned an advertisement that was meant to convey the message that Mitchell was yet to achieve significant market penetration, but the tag-line \"Joni Mitchell is 90% Virgin\" reportedly reduced Mitchell to tears, and Cornyn had to withdraw it from publication.\n\nWarner Bros. also struggled with their flagship rock act, The Grateful Dead who, like Peter, Paul and Mary, had negotiated complete artistic control over the recording and packaging of their music. Their debut album had been recorded in just four days, and although it was not a major hit, it cracked the US Top 50 album chart and sold steadily, eventually going gold in 1971. For their second album, The Grateful Dead took a far more experimental approach, embarking on a marathon series of recording sessions lasting seven months, from September 1967 to March 1968. They started the album with David Hassinger, who had produced their first album, but he quit the project in frustration in December 1967 while they were recording in New York City (although he is co-credited with the band on the album). The group and their concert sound engineer Dan Healy then took over production of the album themselves, taking the unusual step of intermixing studio material with multitrack recordings of their concerts. Anthem of the Sun proved to be the least successful of The Grateful Dead's 1960s albums—it sold poorly, the extended sessions put the band more than $100,000 in debt to the label, and Warner Bros. executive Joe Smith later described it as \"the most unreasonable project with which we have ever involved ourselves.\"\n\nThe Grateful Dead's relationship with Warner Bros. Records was stretched even further by the making of their third album Aoxomoxoa (1969), which also took around seven months to record and cost $180,000, almost twice as much as its predecessor. It sold poorly and took almost thirty years to be accredited with gold-record status. There were further difficulties in 1971 when the band presented Warner Bros. with a planned live double-album that they wanted to call Skull Fuck, but Ostin handled the matter diplomatically. Rather than refusing point-blank to release it, he reminded The Grateful Dead that they were heavily in debt to Warner's and would not see any royalties until this had been repaid; he also pointed out that the provocative title would inevitably hurt sales because major retailers like Sears would refuse to stock it. Realizing that this would reduce their income, the band voluntarily changed the title to Grateful Dead, known generally as Skull and Roses.\n\nSome of Warner Bros.' biggest commercial successes during this period were with \"Sunshine Pop\" acts. Harpers Bizarre scored a No. 13 Billboard hit in April 1967 with their version of Simon & Garfunkel's \"The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)\", and a month later The Association scored a US No. 1 with \"Windy,\" and they reached No. 8 on the album chart with their first Warner Bros. album Insight Out. Their next single \"Never My Love\" also topped the charts in autumn 1967 (No. 2 Billboard, No. 1 Cashbox), and now ranks as one of the most successful of all Warner Bros. recordings—it became a radio staple and is now accredited by BMI as the second most-played song on US radio in the 20th century, surpassing both \"Yesterday\" by the Beatles and \"Stand by Me\" by Ben E. King. The group's 1968 Greatest Hits album was also a major hit, reaching No. 4 on the US album chart. In 1968, Mason Williams' instrumental composition \"Classical Gas\" reached No. 2 on the Billboard chart, selling more than a million copies, and Williams won three Grammys that year.\n\nAnother notable Warner release from this period was Astral Weeks, the second solo album by Van Morrison (his first was on Bang), who signed with the label in 1968. Although it sold relatively poorly on its first release (and did not reach gold record status until 2001), it has been widely acclaimed by musicians and critics worldwide, has featured prominently on many \"Best Albums of All Time\" lists, and has remained in release almost continuously since 1968.\n\nDuring 1968, using the profits from Warner/Reprise, W7 purchased Atlantic Records for $17.5 million, including the label's valuable archive, its growing roster of new artists, and the services of its three renowned executives Jerry Wexler, Nesuhi Ertegun and Ahmet Ertegun. However, the purchase again caused rancor among the Warner/Reprise management, who were upset that their hard-won profits had been co-opted to buy Atlantic, and that Atlantic's executives were made large shareholders in Warner-Seven Arts—the deal gave the Ertegun brothers and Wexler between them 66,000 shares of Warner Bros.' common stock.\n\nOn June 1, 1968, Billboard announced that Warner Bros. Records' star comedy performer Bill Cosby had turned down a five-year, US$3.5 million contract renewal offer, and would leave the label in August of that year to record for his own Tetragrammaton Records label. Just over one month later (July 13) Billboard reported on a major reorganization of the entire Warner-Seven Arts music division. Mike Maitland was promoted to Executive Vice-president of both the recorded music and publishing operations, and George Lee took over from Victor Blau as operational head of the recording division. The restructure also reversed the reporting arrangement put in place in 1960, and from this point the Warner publishing arm reported to the record division under Maitland. The Billboard article also noted the enormous growth and vital significance of W7's music operations, which were by then providing most of Warner-Seven Arts' revenue—during the first nine months of that fiscal year, the recording and publishing divisions generated 74% of the corporation's total profit, with the publishing division alone accounting for over US$2 million of ASCAP's collections from music users.\n\n1969–1972: Kinney takeover\nIn 1969, Warner Bros.-Seven Arts was taken over by the Kinney National Company, headed by New York businessman Steve J. Ross, who would successfully lead the Warner group of companies until his death in 1992. The US$400 million deal created a new conglomerate that combined the Warner film, television, recording, and music publishing divisions with Kinney's multi-faceted holdings. Ross had founded the company in the late 1950s while working in his family's funeral business—seeing the opportunity to use the company's cars, which were idle at night, he founded a successful car hire operation, which he later merged with the Kinney parking garage company. Ross took the company public in 1962, and from this base it expanded rapidly between 1966 and 1968, merging with National Cleaning Services in 1966 to form the Kinney National Company, and then acquiring a string of companies that would prove of enormous value to the Warner group in the years ahead–National Periodical Publications (which included DC Comics and All American Comics), the Ashley-Famous talent agency, and Panavision.\n\nIn the summer of 1969, Atlantic Records agreed to assist Warner Bros. Records in establishing overseas divisions, but when Warner executive Phil Rose arrived in Australia to begin setting up a subsidiary there, he discovered that just one week earlier Atlantic had signed a new four-year production and distribution deal with local label Festival Records without informing Warner Bros.\n\nDuring 1969, the rivalry between Mike Maitland and Ahmet Ertegun quickly escalated into an all-out executive battle, but Steve Ross favored Ertegun, and the conflict culminated in Maitland being dismissed from his position on January 25, 1970. He declined an offer of a job with Warner Bros. Pictures and left the company, subsequently becoming president of MCA Records. Mo Ostin was appointed president of Warner Bros. Records with Joe Smith as executive vice-president.\n\nIn 1970, the 'Seven Arts' name was dropped and the WB shield became the Warner Bros. Records logo again.\n\n1970–1979: The Ostin era\nBeginning back in 1967 with the signing of the Grateful Dead, Warner Bros. Records and its affiliate labels steadily built up a diverse and prestigious lineup of rock and pop artists through the 1970s, and earning a strong reputation as an \"artists first\" record company. Under the guidance of Edward West, vice-president of Warner Bros. Records Inc in 1973 and its executives, A&R managers and staff producers, including Mo Ostin, David Geffen, Joe Smith, Stan Cornyn, Lenny Waronker, Andy Wickham, Russ Titelman and ex-Warner Bros. recording artist (with Harpers Bizarre) Ted Templeman, sales grew steadily throughout the decade and by the end of the 1970s Warner Bros. and its sister labels had become one of the world's leading recording groups, with a star-studded roster that included Fleetwood Mac, James Taylor, Van Morrison, America, Alice Cooper, Carly Simon, Van Halen, the Doobie Brothers, Bonnie Raitt, Chaka Khan, Ambrosia, and Rickie Lee Jones. This was augmented by the group's valuable back-catalogue, and lucrative licensing deals with American and international labels including Sire, Vertigo and Island Records (1975–1982) that gave WBR the American distribution rights for leading British and European rock acts including Deep Purple, Jethro Tull, Black Sabbath, Roxy Music, King Crimson and Kraftwerk. Aided by the growth of FM radio and the album oriented rock format, LPs became the primary vehicle of Warner Bros. sales successes throughout the 1970s, although artists such as the Doobie Brothers and America also scored many major US and international hit singles.\n\nOne of the first Warner Bros. albums to achieve both critical and commercial success in the early 1970s was Van Morrison's third solo LP Moondance (January 1970) which consolidated his distinctive blend of rock, jazz and R&B, earned glowing critical praise and sold well—it made the Top 40 album chart in both the US and the UK, the single \"Come Running\" was a US Top 40 hit (No. 39, Billboard) and the title track became a radio perennial.\n\nBritish group Black Sabbath were signed to Philips Records' progressive subsidiary Vertigo in their native country. Deep Purple, who recorded for EMI's Parlophone and Harvest labels in England, were originally signed in the US to the independent Tetragrammaton Records, which was distributed by Warner Bros., who acquired the label after it folded in 1970. Black Sabbath's eponymous debut album (recorded in just two days) reached No. 8 on the UK album chart, and No. 23 on the Billboard 200, where it remained for over a year, selling strongly despite some negative reviews. It has since been certified platinum in the US by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and in the UK by British Phonographic Industry (BPI). Sabbath's second album was to have been called War Pigs, but Warner Bros. Records changed the title to Paranoid fearing a backlash by consumers. It was a Top 10 hit on the US album chart in 1971, and went on to sell four million copies in the US alone with virtually no radio airplay.\n\nBy 1970, \"Seven Arts\" was dropped from the company name and the WB shield became the Warner Bros. Records logo again. During 1972, a financial scandal in its parking operations forced Kinney National to spin off its non-entertainment assets, and the Warner recording, publishing and film divisions then became part of a new umbrella company, Warner Communications.\n\nIn July 1970, the Warner recording group acquired another prestige asset with the purchase of Jac Holzman's Elektra Records for US$10 million. Like Atlantic, the new acquisition came with a very valuable back-catalogue, which included the Doors, Love, Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Tim Buckley, the Stooges, MC5 and Bread, but Elektra soon began producing more major hits under the Warner umbrella. Recent signing Carly Simon scored two successive Top 20 singles in 1971 with \"That's the Way I've Always Heard It Should Be\" and \"Anticipation\", and her first two albums both made the Billboard Top 50, but the following year she topped the single and album charts with her international smash hit \"You're So Vain\" and the album No Secrets, which both went to No. 1 in the US Jac Holzman ran the label until 1972, when he was succeeded by David Geffen and Elektra was merged with Geffen's label Asylum Records. Geffen was forced to step down in 1975 for health reasons and Joe Smith was appointed president in his place, although the label's fortunes subsequently waned considerably, with Elektra-Asylum reportedly losing some $27 million during the last two years of Smith's tenure.\n\nWith three co-owned record companies, the next step was the formation of the group's in-house distribution arm, initially called Kinney Records Distributing Corporation, to better control distribution of product and make sure records by breaking new acts were available.\n\nIn 1971, UK-based pop rock trio America were signed to the recently established British division of Warner Bros. Their debut album, released late in the year, at first enjoyed only moderate success, but in early 1972 their single \"A Horse with No Name\" became a major international hit, reaching No. 1 in the US. Warner hastily reissued the album with the song included and it too became a huge hit, reaching No. 1 on the US album chart and eventually earning a platinum record award. Although criticized for their similarity to Neil Young (indeed, rumors circulated around Hollywood that Young had cut the track anonymously), America scored five more US Top 10 singles over the next three years, including a second US No. 1 with \"Sister Golden Hair\" in 1975. Their albums performed very strongly in the charts—each of their first seven LPs were US Top 40 albums, five of these made the Top 10 and all but one (Hat Trick, 1973) achieved either gold or platinum status. Their 1975 Greatest Hits album became a perennial seller and is now accredited at 4x platinum.\n\nIn 1972, Dionne Warwick was signed to Warner Bros. Records after leaving Scepter Records in what was the biggest contract at the time for a female recording artist, although her five years at Warner Bros. were relatively unsuccessful in comparison to her spectacular hit-making tenure at Scepter.\n\nAfter a slow start, the Doobie Brothers proved to be one of Warner Bros.' most successful signings. Their debut album made little impact but their second album Toulouse Street (1972) reached No. 21 and spawned two US Top 40 singles, \"Listen to the Music\" and \"Jesus is Just Alright\", inaugurating a string of hit albums and singles over the next five years. Their third album The Captain and Me was even more successful, reaching No. 7 in the US and producing two more hit singles, \"China Grove\" (#15) and \"Long Train Runnin'\" (#8); it became a consistent seller and is now accredited 2x Platinum by the RIAA. What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits (1974) reached No. 4 and produced two more hits including their first US No. 1 single \"Black Water\" (1975). Stampede also reached No. 4, and produced another hit single with the Motown cover \"Take Me in Your Arms (Rock Me a Little While)\" (US #11).\n\nWarner Bros. Records' reputation for nurturing new artists was demonstrated by the career of Alice Cooper (originally the name of the band, but later taken over as the stage name / persona of singer and main songwriter Vince Furnier). The Alice Cooper band recorded two unsuccessful albums for Frank Zappa's Warner-distributed label Straight Records before teaming with producer Bob Ezrin, who became a longtime collaborator. Their third LP Love it to Death (originally released on Straight and later reissued on Warner Bros.) reached No. 35 on the Billboard album chart and produced the hit single \"I'm Eighteen\", which reached No. 21. Following the runaway success of their 1971 European tour Warner Bros. Records offered the band a multi-album contract; their first Warner Bros. album Killer sold well, with the single \"Halo of Flies\" making the Top 10 in the Netherlands, but it was their next album School's Out (1972) that really put them on the map. The title song was a Top 10 hit in the US, reached No. 1 in the UK and became a radio staple, and the album went to No. 2 in the US and sold more than a million copies. Billion Dollar Babies (1973) became their biggest success, going to No. 1 in both the US and the UK. The follow-up Muscle of Love (1973) was less successful, although the single \"Teenage Lament '74 was a Top 20 hit in the UK. Furnier split from the band in 1974 and signed to Warner Bros.' sister label, Atlantic as a solo artist, scoring further success with his solo albums and singles.\n\nIn 1973, Frank Zappa and manager Herb Cohen closed the Straight and Bizarre labels and established a new imprint, DiscReet Records, retaining their distribution deal with Warner Bros. Zappa's next album Apostrophe (') (1973) became the biggest commercial success of his career, reaching No. 10 on the Billboard album chart, and the single \"Don't Eat the Yellow Snow\" was a minor hit and (at the time) his only single to make the Hot 100 chart. Zappa also enjoyed moderate commercial success with the live double LP Roxy and Elsewhere (1974) and his next studio LP One Size Fits All (1975), both of which reached the Top 30 on the Billboard album chart.\n\n WBR introduced a new label design for its LPs and singles in mid-1973. This design, which WBR would use until mid-1978, featured a multi-colored, idealized watercolor painting of a Burbank street lined by palms and eucalypts, and titled with the slogan \"Burbank, Home of Warner Bros. Records\". According to the label's official history, the design was copied from a similarly-styled \"orange crate art\" fruit company label illustration created by an unknown commercial artist in the 1920s.\n\nAfter several years as a 'cult' artist, Randy Newman achieved his first significant commercial success as a solo artist with his 1974 album Good Old Boys which made the Top 40. His controversial 1977 single \"Short People\" was one of the surprise hits of the year, reaching No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. On October 12, 1974, WBR and Phil Spector established Warner-Spector Records, but the label was short-lived and folded in 1977; most of its releases were reissues Philles Records recordings from the 1960s and the only new material released was two singles by the disco group Calhoon and a single by Cher.\n\nIn 1975 David Geffen was obliged to leave the company for health reasons, after being told that he had a terminal illness (although this later proved to be a false diagnosis). In his place, Joe Smith was promoted to become President of the combined Elektra/Asylum label. At this time Warner Bros. began to wind down the Reprise label. In 1976–77 almost all Reprise acts, including Fleetwood Mac, Gordon Lightfoot, Ry Cooder and Michael Franks were transferred to Warner Bros., leaving only Neil Young (who refused to move) and founder Frank Sinatra. Apart from these artists and some reissues, the Reprise label was dormant until it was reactivated in 1986 with the issue of the Dream Academy's single \"The Love Parade\" on Reprise 28750.\n\nBy far the most successful of the Reprise acts who moved to Warner Bros. was Fleetwood Mac, whose massive success firmly established Warner Bros. in the front rank of major labels—although few would have predicted it from the band's tumultuous history. Between 1970 and 1975 there were multiple lineup changes (with only two original members remaining by 1974), their album sales declined drastically, and a legal battle over the group's name kept them off the road for over a year. However, just as Fleetwood Mac was switching labels in 1975, the group re-invigorated by the recruitment of new members Lindsay Buckingham and Stevie Nicks. The 'new' Fleetwood Mac scored a string of US and international hits and their self-titled Reprise debut album was a huge success, reaching No. 1 in the US, charting for more than 30 weeks and selling more than 5 million copies. In 1977, their now-legendary Rumours took both group and Warner Bros. label to even greater heights—it generated a string of international hit singles and became the most successful album in the label's history; it is currently ranked the 11th biggest selling album of all time and as of 2009 was estimated to have sold more than 40 million copies.\n\nAfter a string of albums with the Faces and as a solo artist for Mercury Records in the early 1970s, British singer Rod Stewart signed with Warner Bros. in 1974, applied for American citizenship and moved to the US. Launching a sustained run of success, his Warner debut album Atlantic Crossing (1975) was a major international hit, reaching No. 9 on the Billboard album chart and No. 1 in Australia, with the single \"I Don't Want to Talk About It\" going to No. 1 in the UK. His second WBR album A Night on the Town (1976) went to No. 2 in the US and No. 1 in Australia and produced three US Top 40 singles, including his first US No. 1 \"Tonight's the Night\". Foot Loose & Fancy Free (1977) reached No. 2 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart and No. 1 in Australia and again produced three US Top 40 singles, including \"You're in My Heart (The Final Acclaim)\", which reached No. 4. Blondes Have More Fun (1978) went to No. 1 in the US and Australia, and produced two more Top 40 singles including his second US No. 1, \"Da Ya Think I'm Sexy\" (although Stewart and co-writer Carmine Appice were later successfully sued for plagiarizing the song's catchy melody hook from \"Taj Mahall\" by Brazilian songwriter Jorge Ben). Stewart's Greatest Hits collection (1979) went to No. 1 in the UK and Australia, giving the singer a record-breaking five consecutive No. 1 albums in the latter country.\n\nWarner Bros. Records also had unexpected success in the mid-1970s with another 'heritage' act, veteran vocal group the Four Seasons. In early 1975, they signed with Curb Records (which was distributed by WBR) just as lead singer Frankie Valli scored a surprise hit with his independently released solo single \"My Eyes Adored You\". Soon after, Valli and The Four Seasons burst back onto the charts with the disco-styled \"Who Loves You\", which reached No. 3 in the US and sold more than a million copies, and the album Who Loves You sold more than 1 million copies. Their next single \"December 1963 (Oh, What a Night)\" topped the charts in both Britain and the US in early 1976, becoming the group's first US No. 1 since 1967. A remixed version was a hit again in 1994 and its total of 54 weeks in charts gives it the longest tenure of any song on the Billboard Hot 100.\n\nBy the time of The Doobie Brothers 1976 album Takin' It to the Streets, founding member Tom Johnston had effectively left the band and he was replaced by former Steely Dan session man Michael McDonald, whose distinctive voice helped to propel the group to even greater success. The new album sold strongly, reaching No. 8 in the US, and the title track reached No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming a perennial on radio playlists. Warner Bros. also released the massively successful Best of the Doobies (1976), which has become one of the biggest-selling albums of all time and is currently accredited at 10x Platinum status. 1978's Minute by Minute marked the peak of their career—both the album and its lead single \"What A Fool Believes\" went to No. 1 in the US and the album's title track also made the US Top 20, although it was their last album with founding drummer John Hartman and long-serving guitarist Jeff \"Skunk\" Baxter.\n\nDuring the late 1970s, Warner Bros.' reputation as an \"artists first\" label was challenged by a bitter and long-running dispute with Frank Zappa. In 1976, Zappa's relationship with manager Herb Cohen ended in litigation. For Zoot Allures, Zappa took his own copy of the master directly to Warner Bros. Records, who agreed to release the album, therefore bypassing Cohen and DiscReet. However, Warner Bros. changed their position following legal action from Cohen. Zappa was then obligated to deliver four more albums to Warner Bros. for release on DiscReet. Zappa sequenced a double live album and three studio albums, but Warner Bros. objected to some or all of these recordings and refused to reimburse Zappa for production costs, as required by the DiscReet distribution contract. Zappa then re-edited the material into a 4-LP set called Läther (pronounced 'leather'), made a deal with Phonogram, and scheduled the release of Läther for Halloween 1977. However, Warner Bros. threatened legal action, forcing Zappa to shelve the release. Infuriated, Zappa hosted a broadcast on KROQ-FM in Pasadena, California, where he played the entire Läther album in sequence, repeatedly criticizing Warner Bros., and openly encouraging listeners to record the broadcast. Warner Bros. took further legal action against Zappa, which prevented him from issuing any material for over a year. During 1978 and 1979, Warner Bros. issued the disputed material over four albums – Zappa in New York (an edited and censored version of the original 1977 live double album), Studio Tan, Sleep Dirt and Orchestral Favorites. Zappa eventually won the rights to his Straight, Bizarre, DiscReet and Warner Bros. material, but remained trenchantly critical of his treatment by Warner Bros. for the rest of his life. Zappa's recordings were subsequently reissued on CD by Rykodisc (ironically it was later acquired by Warner Music), including Läther, which appeared posthumously in 1996.\n\nRy Cooder was another Reprise act who was transferred to Warner Bros. in 1977. His first Warner release was the 1977 live album Showtime and he remained with the label until his contract expired in the late 1980s. His 1979 album Bop 'Til You Drop is notable as the first major-label rock album to be digitally recorded, and it became the best-selling album of his career.\n\nThanks to its distribution deal with Curb Records, WBR scored the biggest hit single in the company's history in 1977. The ballad \"You Light Up My Life\" (written and produced by Joe Brooks) was originally recorded by the late Kasey Cisyk for the soundtrack to the film of the same name, in which actress Didi Conn lip-synched to Cisyk's recording. Teenager Debby Boone (daughter of actor-singer Pat Boone) was recruited to record a new version for single release, and this became a massive success, topping the Billboard Hot 100 for a record-setting 10 consecutive weeks, and earning a Platinum certification from the RIAA. It became the most successful single of the 1970s in the United States, setting what was then a new record for longest run at No. 1 in the US and surpassing Elvis Presley's \"Hound Dog\". Boone's success also earned her Grammy nominations for \"Best Female Pop Vocal Performance \" and \"Record of the Year\" and won her the 1977 Grammy for \"Best New Artist\" and the 1977 American Music Award for \"Favorite Pop Single\". The song also earned Joe Brooks the 1977 \"Song of the Year\" Grammy (tied with \"Evergreen (Love Theme from A Star Is Born)\") as well as \"Best Original Song\" at both the 1977 Golden Globe and Academy Awards.\n\nThroughout the 1970s, Warner Bros. also benefited from its US/Canada distribution deals with independent labels such as Straight Records, DiscReet Records, UK labels Chrysalis (1972–1976) and Island (1974–1982), Bizarre Records, Bearsville Records (1970–1984) and Geffen Records (which was sold to MCA in 1990).\n\nAlthough primarily associated with mainstream white acts in the Seventies, Warner Bros.' distribution deals with smaller labels also brought it some success in the disco, soul and funk genres in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Among the imprints it distributed that were notable in these fields were Seymour Stein's Sire Records (which Warner Bros. soon purchased), Curtis Mayfield's Curtom, Norman Whitfield's Whitfield Records, Quincy Jones' Qwest, Prince's Paisley Park, RFC Records (formed in December 1978 when Ray Caviano became the executive director of Warner's disco division), and Tom Silverman's Tommy Boy Records (another label Warner Bros. eventually took over).\n\nUntil the late 1970s, Warner Bros. itself still had very few African American music artists on its roster, but this began to change with the signing of artists such as George Benson and Prince. Benson had risen to prominence in jazz in the 1960s but was still relatively little-known by the general public. However, his move to Warner Bros. in 1976 and the teaming with producer Tommy LiPuma enabled him to straddle genres and made him a popular and highly successful mainstream R&B and pop artist. His first Warner Bros. LP Breezin' (1976) became one of the most successful jazz albums of the decade and a major 'crossover' hit—it topped the American Pop, R&B and Jazz album charts and produced two hit singles, the title track (which became a Jazz standard and a radio favorite) and \"This Masquerade\", which was a Top 10 pop and R&B hit. Benson enjoyed enormous success with his subsequent Warner albums. All of his Warner LPs made the Top 20 on the US jazz album chart and beginning with Breezin''', he scored seven consecutive US No. 1 jazz albums; the first five of these were also Top 20 hits on both the Pop and R&B charts. His live version of Leiber & Stoller's \"On Broadway\" (from his 1978 live album Weekend in L.A.) outcharted the original version by the Drifters, reaching No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100, and gained further exposure thanks to its memorable use in the famous audition sequence in Bob Fosse's 1979 film All That Jazz. Benson's most successful single \"Give Me the Night\" (1980) became his first US No. 1 R&B hit, reached No. 4 on the Pop chart and also reached No. 2 on the Hot Disco Singles chart.\n\nPrince signed to Warner Bros. in 1977. His first album For You made little impact, although the single \"Soft and Wet\" reached No. 12 on the Billboard R&B chart. However, his second self-titled album (1979) fared considerably better, reaching No. 3 on the R&B album chart and earning a gold record award; the first single lifted from the album, \"I Wanna Be Your Lover\" became Prince's first crossover hit, reaching No. 1 on the R&B chart and No. 11 on the main pop chart, while the follow-up single \"Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?\" reached No. 13 on the R&B chart. Although he was still little known outside the US at this stage, this early success set the stage for his major commercial breakthrough in the 1980s.\n\nAnother valuable late 1970s discovery was metal-pop band Van Halen, who were spotted at a Hollywood club by Mo Ostin and Ted Templeman in 1977. Their self-titled debut album was a notable success, reaching No. 19 on the Billboard album chart, and their second album Van Halen II (1979) reached No. 6 and produced their first hit single \"Dance the Night Away\" (#19).\n\nWarner Bros. also began to tentatively embrace the burgeoning new wave movement in the late 1970s, signing cult bands Devo and the B-52s. A crucial acquisition in this field—and one which would soon prove to be of enormous importance to the company—was the New York-based Sire Records, founded in 1966 by Seymour Stein and Richard Gottehrer. Warner Bros. took over Sire's distribution from ABC Records in 1977 and bought the label in 1978, retaining Stein as its president. The addition of the Sire roster gave Warner Bros. an important foothold in this area (indeed, Stein is often credited with naming the genre to replace the term \"punk\", which he disliked); its American signings included the Ramones, the Dead Boys, and Talking Heads and most importantly of all, Madonna, who soon became the most successful female artist in music history, earning billions for Warner. Sire's distribution deals with British independent labels including Mute, Rough Trade, Korova and Fiction gave WEA the American rights to important UK-based New Wave bands including Depeche Mode, the Smiths, the Beat, Madness, Echo & the Bunnymen, and the Cure. Into the 1990s, the label had continued success with Seal, k.d. lang, Tommy Page, Ice-T, and Ministry.\n\nIn the late 1970s, Warner Bros. also scored mainstream pop hits with singer/actor Shaun Cassidy—his version of \"Da Doo Ron Ron\" went to No. 1 in the US in 1977, his next two singles (both penned by Eric Carmen) were US Top 10 hits and Cassidy was nominated for a Grammy award. As the decade drew to a close, there were more breakthroughs with new acts. Rickie Lee Jones' self-titled debut album went to No. 3 in the US, No. 1 in Australia and No. 18 in the UK and produced two hit singles, \"Chuck E.'s In Love\" (US #4) and \"Young Blood\" (US #40). Thanks to its American distribution deal with Vertigo, British group Dire Straits provided another sustained run of hit albums and singles in the late 1970s and 1980s. Their eponymous debut album (1978) was a surprise international hit, going to No. 2 in the US and earning a gold record award from the RIAA, while the single \"Sultans of Swing\" went to No. 4 in the US. Their second album Communiqué (1979) made the Top 20 in many countries and earned another gold record award in the US WBR also enjoyed renewed success with comedy recordings in this period, transferring Richard Pryor from Reprise and signing rising star Steve Martin, whose second Warner album A Wild and Crazy Guy (1978) became one of the label's biggest comedy hits—it reached No. 2 on the pop album chart, won the 1979 Grammy for 'Best Comedy Album', and Martin's novelty single, \"King Tut\" was a US Top 20 hit.\n\nIn the 1970s there were different systems for four-channel stereo. Warner Records and the whole WEA group chose JVC's and RCA's discrete system called CD-4 or Quadradisc. That was the system with the highest separation between the four channel, but the system needed a special stylus that could read frequences up to 48 000 Hz.\n\n1980–1988\nThe 1980s was a period of unprecedented success for Warner Bros. Records. The golden decade began with the success of singer-songwriter Christopher Cross, whose self-titled debut album went to No. 6 in the US and produced four charting singles, including the No. 1 hit \"Sailing\". He also won five major categories at the 1981 Grammy Awards, becoming the only solo artist to date to win the \"Big Four\" awards in one year (Record, Song and Album of the Year, and Best New Artist) while his performance of \"Arthur's Theme\" from the Dudley Moore film Arthur, which also went to No. 1, won both the Oscar and the Golden Globe award for Best Original Song.\n\nWarner Bros. scored an apparent coup in 1980 by luring Paul Simon away from Columbia Records. His first Warner album was One Trick Pony (1980), which accompanied the movie of the same name, which Simon wrote and starred in. The single \"Late in the Evening\" was a major hit (#6) but the album was not a big seller. His next album, Hearts and Bones (1983) was well received by critics but neither it nor the lead single \"Allergies\" made the chart and Simon's career took a nosedive and it was several more years before the label's patience eventually paid off.\n\nAfter two moderate-selling albums that established them as one of the most original American new wave bands of the period, DEVO broke through to mainstream success in 1980 with their third album Freedom of Choice which reached No. 22 in the US. Thanks to its quirky music video, which was put on high rotation on MTV, the single \"Whip It\" reached No. 14 on the Billboard pop chart, becoming the group's biggest American hit. Their follow-up EP DEV-O Live (1981) was a surprise hit in Australia, topping the singles chart there for three weeks, but their subsequent albums and singles suffered from declining sales and the group was eventually dropped by the label after their 1984 album Shout.\n\nPrince's 1980 album Dirty Mind was widely praised by critics, earning a gold record award, but his 1982 double-LP 1999 (1982) became his first major hit album, selling over six million copies and spawning three hit singles. The title track reached No. 12 in the US and provided his first international hit (#25 UK) and his next two singles, \"Little Red Corvette\" and \"Delirious\", were both US Top 10 hits.\n\nChicago was picked up by Warner Bros. in 1981 after being dropped by its former label Columbia, which believed that the band was no longer commercially viable. After teaming with producer David Foster, the band shot back into the charts in 1982 with the album Chicago 16, which reached No. 9 and produced two hit singles including the US No. 1 hit \"Hard To Say I'm Sorry\". The group's second Warner album, Chicago 17, became the biggest seller of its career—it reached No. 4 in the US and produced four US Top-20 singles including the Top-5 hits \"Hard Habit to Break\" (#3) and \"You're the Inspiration\" (#3) and is currently accredited at 6× Platinum. Lead singer Peter Cetera left the group after this album but had continued success as a solo artist for Warner, scoring a No. 1 hit in 1986 with \"Glory of Love\" (from the movie The Karate Kid Part II), which was also nominated for a Grammy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and an Academy Award. His second solo album sold more than a million copies and produced another No. 1 hit, \"The Next Time I Fall\". His third solo album produced the Top 5 hit \"One Good Woman\" (1988) and \"After All\" reached No. 6.\n\nLenny Waronker took over as President of WBR in 1982, and his first act was to sign Elvis Costello. Costello's first Warner album Spike featured his biggest American single, the Paul McCartney collaboration \"Veronica\", which was a US Top 20 hit. He recorded three more critically praised albums for Warner Bros., Mighty Like A Rose, Brutal Youth, and All This Useless Beauty, but he was dropped from the label after the major corporate shakeup in the mid-1990s.\n\nAfter the end of his contract with RSO Records and Polydor, Eric Clapton signed with Warner Bros. in 1982. His first WBR album, Money and Cigarettes (1983), reached No. 16 on the Billboard album chart, and the single \"I've Got a Rock 'n' Roll Heart\" reached No. 18 on the Billboard Hot 100. His next album Behind the Sun also fared well, reaching No. 34 and the hit single \"Forever Man\" went to No. 26, but he transferred to Reprise for his next release.\n\nAnother resurgent 1970s act who scored major success with Warner Bros. in this period was ZZ Top, which had previously been signed to London Records. During an extended break in the late 1970s the group gained ownership of its London recordings and signed with Warner Bros., which also re-issued the band's back-catalogue. The group's first two Warner albums Deguello (1979) and El Loco (1981) were moderately successful, but Eliminator (1983) became a major hit thanks to strong support for its music videos on MTV. The band scored three US hit singles including \"Legs\" (US #8), while the album reached No. 9 on the Billboard 200 and sold in huge numbers, earning a Diamond record award in 1996. Afterburner (1985) went to No. 4 and produced seven hit singles, including \"Sleeping Bag\" (#8).\n\nSire artist Madonna shot to international prominence with her 1983 self-titled debut album and her first mainstream hit single \"Holiday\", which reached No. 16 in the US and became a hit in many other countries, including Australia and the UK, where it was Top 5. The album made the Top 20 in more than a dozen countries including the US, where it has been certified at 5× Platinum status. It was quickly followed by Like a Virgin, which became her first US No. 1 album and has sold more than 21 million copies worldwide. The title track was also a huge international hit, going to No. 1 in Australia, Canada, Japan and the US. Boosted by her well-received role in the film Desperately Seeking Susan, \"Crazy For You\" (1985) became her second US No. 1 hit, and the follow-up \"Material Girl\" reached No. 2 in the US and was Top 5 in many other countries.\n\nPrince's hugely successful 1984 film and album Purple Rain cemented his stardom, selling more than thirteen million copies in the US (25 million worldwide) and spending twenty-four consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, while the Purple Rain film won the Academy Award for \"Best Original Song Score\" and grossed more than $80 million in the US. Singles from the album became hits on pop charts around the world; \"When Doves Cry\" and \"Let's Go Crazy\" both reached No. 1 and the title track reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. However, the sexually explicit album track \"Darling Nikki\" generated a major controversy that had lasting effects—when politician's wife Tipper Gore heard her 12-year-old daughter listening to the song and investigated the lyrics, her outrage led to the formation of the conservative lobby group Parents Music Resource Center. Their stance was vehemently opposed by former Warner Bros. artist Frank Zappa and others, but the PMRC's political clout eventually forced the US recording industry to adopt the compulsory practice of placing a \"Parental Advisory: Explicit Lyrics\" sticker on records deemed to contain \"offensive\" content.\n\n1984 also saw Van Halen break into the big league with the single \"Jump\" (their only US No. 1 hit) and the album 1984; it was a huge seller (earning Diamond album status in 1999) and reached No. 2 in the US, producing two more Top 20 hits. However, escalating friction between guitarist Eddie Van Halen and lead singer David Lee Roth reached breaking point soon after the album's release and Roth left the band, to be replaced by Sammy Hagar, who recorded for WB as part of Montrose; 1984 was also the last time they worked with Ted Templeman, who had produced all their albums up to this point.\n\nIn 1985, Dire Straits' single \"Money for Nothing\" gained massive exposure on MTV thanks to its innovative computer-animated music video, propelling the single to No. 1 in the US. They scored two more US Top 20 hits with \"Walk of Life\" and \"So Far Away\" and the album Brothers in Arms was a phenomenal success—it went to No. 1 in the US, Australia and most European countries and sold in colossal numbers—by 1996 it had been certified at 9× platinum in the US and it is currently ranked at No. 25 in the list of best-selling albums of all time, with sales of more than 30 million copies worldwide.\n\nThe new incarnation of Van Halen bounced back in 1986, releasing the enormously successful 5150 album which went to No. 1 and produced two hit singles, \"Why Can't This Be Love\" (US #3) and \"Dreams\" (#22). Their three subsequent studio albums (OU812, For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge, and Balance) all reached No. 1 and the band scored 17 US Top 20 singles, including 1988's \"When It's Love\" (US #5), but their overall sales gradually declined, with each album selling less than its predecessor.\n\nThe same was true of Prince. He scored numerous hit albums and singles through the latter half of the 1980s, but his record sales declined and Warner Bros. executives became increasingly concerned that he was producing far more material than they could release. His image was also tarnished by the failure of his later film ventures, his embarrassing refusal to participate in the recording of \"We Are The World\" and his sacking of guitarist Wendy Melvoin and long-serving keyboard player Lisa Coleman. The 1985 album Around the World in a Day held the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 for three weeks and peaked at No. 5 in the UK, selling seven million copies despite minimal promotion. Parade (1986) served as the soundtrack for Prince's second film Under the Cherry Moon; although the movie was a critical and commercial failure, the album peaked at No. 3 in Billboard and No. 2 on the R&B album charts and his classic single \"Kiss\" was another big international hit, going to No. 1 in the US and becoming a radio staple.\n\nPrince's next project had a long and complex evolution, beginning as a proposed concept double-album called Dream Factory; Prince then proposed a solo LP which he intended to issue under the pseudonym Camille, but he eventually combined elements from both to create the ambitious three-album set Crystal Ball. However, because of the relatively lower sales of his previous albums, Prince's manager Steve Fargnoli and Warner Bros. president Mo Ostin both doubted the commercial viability of releasing a 3-LP set, and after previewing Crystal Ball, Ostin insisted that Prince pare it down to two records. Prince at first refused and a battle of wills ensued for several weeks, but he eventually backed down and removed seven tracks; the resulting double-album was released in March 1987 as \"Sign o' the Times\". Despite Prince's bitterness over its forced reduction, it was very successful, peaking at No. 6 on the Billboard 200 albums chart and selling 5 million copies, while the title single \"Sign o' the Times\" reached No. 3 on the Hot 100. The follow-up single \"If I Was Your Girlfriend\" flopped (although it went to No. 12 on R&B chart) but he scored big hits with the next two singles, \"U Got the Look\" (#2 Hot 100, #11 R&B) and \"I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man\" (#10 Hot 100, #14 R&B).\n\nIn 1985, the company collaborated with View-Master to start out a children's video series Kidsongs, which were produced by Together Again Productions, and Warner Music Video handling distribution of the video product, designed for the educational market.\n\n1986–87 took Warner Bros. to even greater heights. Madonna's landmark album True Blue produced three US No. 1s and two Top 5 singles and the LP was an unprecedented success, topping the charts in more than 28 countries (a feat that earned her a place in the Guinness Book of Records), and to date it has sold 24 million copies. After several years in the doldrums, a reinvigorated Paul Simon burst back onto the music scene in late 1986 with Graceland. Warner Bros. were initially anxious about the commercial appeal of Simon's innovative fusion of rock with African styles but the album was a resounding success, topping the charts in many countries, reaching No. 3 in the US and producing two US Top 20 singles. It became the best-selling American album of 1987 and the most successful of Simon's solo career, selling more than 5 million copies, and winning the 1986 Grammy for 'Album of the Year'; the title track also won 'Song of the Year' in 1987. In jazz, Warner Bros. scored another artistic coup by signing jazz legend Miles Davis after his break with longtime label Columbia. His comeback album Tutu (1986) was a major crossover hit, gaining rave reviews and winning a Grammy in 1987.\n\nIn the summer of 1986, Warner Bros. announced the reactivation of Reprise Records with its own separate promotions department, and former Warner Bros. Vice President of Promotion Richard Fitzgerald was appointed as label Vice President.\n\nDuring 1987, Prince recorded a pared-down funk LP, The Black Album, but he withdrew it in December just before it was to be released (even though 500,000 copies had been printed). Its hastily recorded replacement Lovesexy (1988) was a moderate success, reaching No. 11 on the Billboard album chart although it reached No. 1 in the UK. However, he rebounded in 1989 with the soundtrack for the hugely successful Batman film, which sold more than eleven million copies, reached No. 1 on the Billboard album chart and produced four hit singles including \"Batdance\", which topped both the Hot 100 and R&B charts.\n\nLike fellow Athens, Georgia natives the B-52s, R.E.M. was a 'cult' band that gradually built up a strong following in the US and internationally during the 1980s (thanks in part to their innovative music videos). For most of the 1980s they were signed to the independent label IRS Records and in 1987, they broke out to mainstream success with the album Document, their first to sell more than one million copies. However, they were frustrated by IRS's poor international distribution and when their IRS contract expired in 1988 they signed with Warner Bros. Their Warner debut Green established them as a major force, earning a platinum album and selling more than 4 million copies worldwide, and \"Stand\" became their first US hit single.\n\nIn 1989, after an extended period of inactivity following the death of guitarist and main writer Ricky Wilson, the B-52s shot back to prominence with the album Cosmic Thing. It was a Top 5 hit in the US (#4) and the UK (#2) and went to No. 1 in Australia, where the group had enjoyed a strong following since their debut single \"Rock Lobster\"; they also scored three consecutive hit singles with \"Love Shack\" (#3 US, #1 Australia), \"Roam\" (US #3) and \"Deadbeat Club\" (US #30).\n\nWarner Bros.' most successful decade yet closed in sensational fashion. In early 1989, Madonna signed an endorsement deal with Pepsi, who introduced her new single \"Like a Prayer\" in the lavish \"Make a Wish\" commercial—the first time a pop single had debuted in an advertisement and the first time such a commercial was given a worldwide satellite premiere. However Pepsi had no control over Madonna's own \"Like a Prayer\" music video, which debuted exclusively on MTV soon after—it generated heated criticism due to its provocative use of religious imagery and was condemned by the Vatican. As a result, Pepsi withdrew the advertisement and canceled the endorsement deal—although Madonna was allowed to retain her US$5 million fee—but the controversy only heightened interest in the single and the album (also titled Like a Prayer). The single became Madonna's seventh US No. 1 and topped the chart in more than 30 other countries, and the album also went to No. 1, sold seven million copies worldwide and produced two more US Top 5 singles, establishing Madonna as the most successful female artist of the 1980s and one of the most successful musical performers of all time.\n\n1989–2004: The Time Warner era\nIn 1989 Time Inc. acquired Warner Communications and merged the two enterprises to create Time Warner in a deal valued at US$14 billion.\n\nAfter a long period of relative stability that was notable in the cutthroat American music industry, the death of Steve Ross in late 1992 marked the start of a period of major upheaval at Warner Bros. Records.\n\nR.E.M.'s second Warner album Out of Time (1991) consolidated their success, topping the charts in both the US and the UK and producing two major hit singles: \"Losing My Religion\" became their biggest American single (#4 on Billboard Hot 100) and a hit in numerous other countries, and \"Shiny Happy People\", a Top 10 hit in both the US and the UK; the group also won three categories at that year's Grammy Awards.\n\nPrince's fortunes in the Nineties were mixed; he scored more hits and renewed his contract in 1992, but his relationship with Warner Bros. Records soon soured, climaxing in a highly publicized legal battle and his eventual departure from the label. Although his fourth film, Graffiti Bridge was panned by critics and bombed at the box office the album of the same name was very successful—it reached No. 6 on both the Billboard Hot 200 and R&B album chart and produced two US Top 20 singles. Diamonds and Pearls (1991) became one of the biggest albums of his career, selling 9 million records, reaching No. 3 in the US, No. 2 in the UK and No. 1 in Australia, with five of the six singles lifted from the album becoming hits in the US and other countries, including \"Cream\", which became his fifth US No. 1.\n\nPrince was appointed a vice-president of Warner Bros. Records when he re-signed with them in 1992, but soon regretted his decision. His next album—identified by the cryptic symbol on the cover later defined as \"The Love Symbol\"—was another solid hit, peaking at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 and selling 5 million copies worldwide, but by now tensions were increasing. Warner Bros. wanted to release \"7\" as his next single, but Prince successfully pushed for \"My Name Is Prince\" and it was only a minor hit (#36 Hot 100, #23 R&B); the follow-up \"Sexy MF\" was censored in the US because of the expletive in the chorus and did not even make the US Top 50 although it was a Top 5 hit in the UK and Australia. When eventually released, \"7\" became the only major US hit lifted from the album, peaking (appropriately) at No. 7.\n\nFollowing the 3-disc compilation The Hits/The B-Sides (1993), Prince stopped using his first name and started using only the \"Love Symbol\"—a decision that drew considerable ridicule from the media. Because this sign has no verbal equivalent, he was often derisively referred to as \"The Artist Formerly Known as Prince\". By 1994, relations between The Artist and his record label had reached an impasse—in February WEA cancelled its distribution deal with Paisley Park, effectively putting the label out of business. Although released by an independent distributor, his next single \"The Most Beautiful Girl in the World\" (1994) reached No. 3 in the US and topped the singles charts throughout Europe, becoming the biggest hit single of his career.\n\nPrince had meanwhile prepared two new albums, Come and The Gold Experience; an early version of Come was rejected but Warner Bros. eventually accepted both albums, although they refused to issue them simultaneously. By this time Prince had launched a legal action to terminate his contract and gain ownership of his master recordings, and he publicized his views by appearing in public with the word \"SLAVE\" written across his right cheek. Come (1994) was moderately successful in the US (#15, gold record) and the single \"Letitgo\" reached No. 10 on the R&B chart, although the album was a major hit in the UK, debuting at No. 1. In November Warner released a limited edition of The Black Album, but it was already widely bootlegged, sold poorly and was soon deleted. The Gold Experience (1995) was hailed by some reviewers as Prince's best effort since Sign o' the Times; it included \"The Most Beautiful Girl in the World\" and produced two other charting singles, \"I Hate U\" (US #11 and \"Gold\" UK #10). Prince's remarkable career with Warner Bros. ended with Chaos and Disorder (1996), compiled expressly to end his contract. It was one of his least successful releases but still managed to reach No. 26 in the US and No. 14 in the UK and produced one minor hit, \"Dinner With Delores\" (#36 UK). Prince subsequently released recordings on his own NPG label (via EMI) before eventually signing with Universal Music in 2005.\n\nR.E.M.'s Automatic for the People (1992) cemented their status as one of the top bands of the period and was the most successful album of their career, reaching No. 1 in the UK and No. 2 in the US, selling more than 10 million copies worldwide and generating three US hit singles, \"Drive\", \"Man on the Moon\", and \"Everybody Hurts\".\n\nDuring 1992 WBR faced one of the most serious controversies in its history over the provocative recording \"Cop Killer\" from the self titled album by Body Count, a rap metal band led by Ice-T. Unfortunately for Warner Bros., the song (which mentions the Rodney King case) came out just before the controversial acquittal of the police charged with King's beating, which sparked the 1992 Los Angeles Riots and the confluence of events put the song under the national spotlight. Complaints escalated over the summer—conservative police associations called for a boycott of Time Warner products, politicians including President George H. W. Bush denounced the label for releasing the song, Warner executives received death threats, Time Warner stockholders threatened to pull out of the company and the New Zealand police commissioner unsuccessfully tried to have the record banned there. Although Ice-T later voluntarily reissued Body Count without \"Cop Killer\", the furore seriously rattled Warner Music and in January 1993 WBR made an undisclosed deal releasing Ice-T from his contract and returning the Body Count master tapes to him. In the wake of the \"Cop Killer\" affair, Warner Bros. distanced itself from gangsta rap and in late 1995, it sold its 50% stake in Interscope Records and its controversial subsidiary Death Row Records (Tupac Shakur, Snoop Dogg) back to co-owners Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field. Iovine and Field quickly aligned Interscope with the Universal Music Group; the label, now known as Interscope-Geffen-A&M following the merger of several Universal imprints, is still run by Iovine today.\n\nSome relief came later that year when comedian Jeff Foxworthy revived Warner Bros.' success with comedy recordings; his debut album You Might Be a Redneck If... was a major hit in the US and Canada, and both it and his follow-up album sold more than three million copies each.\n\nEnd of an era: Ostin and Waronker depart\nDuring 1994–1995, Warner Bros.'s successes and problems with its artists were overshadowed by a protracted period of highly publicized internecine strife, centering on Warner Music Group chairman Robert J. Morgado and his successor Michael J. Fuchs. In September 1993, Ostin began negotiations to renew his contract and it was at this point that Morgado unveiled his plan for a major corporate shakeup of the Warner group. This triggered a series of damaging corporate conflicts and in particular created a fatal rift between Morgado and Ostin. The first major casualty was Elektra chairman Bob Krasnow, who resigned abruptly in July 1994.\n\nFor many years Ostin had reported directly to Time Warner chairman Steve Ross (and then to Ross's successor Gerald Levin) but Morgado now insisted that Ostin should report to him, and he established a new division, Warner Music US, headed by Doug Morris, to oversee the three main record labels. Fearing the loss of autonomy and worried that he would be obliged to implement Morgado's \"slash-and-burn\" policy to streamline the label's staff and artist roster, he refused to carry out Morgado's orders and decided not to renew his contract. Ostin officially stepped down from Warner Bros. when his contract expired on December 31, 1994, although he stayed on as a senior consultant to Time Warner's chairman until August 1995. He later commented:\n\nOstin's departure sent shockwaves through the company and the industry, and elicited glowing tributes from colleagues and competitors like Joe Smith and Clive Davis, and musicians like Paul Simon and R.E.M. It also triggered an exodus of Warner executives who had joined the company primarily because of Ostin. Next to go was Lenny Waronker—he was initially designated to succeed Ostin as chairman but he ultimately declined the job and left WBR soon after. Following a period of uncertainty and speculation, the two joined forces to establish a new label, DreamWorks Records. Waronker was replaced by ex Atlantic Records president Danny Goldberg, but his tenure proved short. Long-serving WBR executive Russ Thyret, who had joined the label in 1971 and worked closely with Mo Ostin for many years, was promoted to vice-chairman in January 1995.\n\nGerald Levin forced Morgado to resign in May 1995 and he was replaced by HBO chairman Michael J. Fuchs. Fuchs sacked Morris a month later (sparking a US$50m breach of contract suit) and Warner Music US was dissolved. Morris' removal led to speculation that Ostin was being courted to return to WBR, but these reports proved unfounded, since Ostin and Waronker moved to DreamWorks soon after. Morris moved to MCA Records.\n\nDespite his close ties to Morris, Danny Goldberg was initially told he could remain as WBR president but he left the company in August 1995 after negotiating a settlement with Time Warner to terminate his five-year, US$20 million contract, which still had four years to run. He was subsequently appointed president of PolyGram subsidiary Mercury Records in October. Following Goldberg's departure Russ Thyret was promoted to chairman, CEO and label president. Fuchs himself was forced out of Time Warner in November 1995. In May 1997, Phil Quartararo took over as president of WBR, only weeks after he had left EMI's Virgin Records following a management shake-up there.\n\nThe departure of the team led by Ostin and Waronker also meant that many of the Warner artists whose careers they had nurtured and curated over the previous 30 years were now deprived of their patronage. As a result, by the year 2000 many of the \"flagship\" Warner acts of the Ostin/Waronker years left the label as their contracts expired. Ry Cooder was dropped in 1995 and Randy Newman followed Ostin and Waronker to DreamWorks, departing with a wry comment on his own status and the recent turmoil at Warner Bros.:\n\nAlthough never rising beyond \"cult\" status in terms of his sales as a solo artist, one of the most notable survivors from the Ostin era was Van Dyke Parks, who continued to release albums on Warner Bros. – Tokyo Rose (1989), the Brian Wilson collaboration Orange Crate Art (1995) and the live album Moonlighting: Live at the Ash Grove (1998). In 2004 Parks reunited with Brian Wilson to complete their long-shelved collaboration, Smile, which was released on the Nonesuch label to universal critical praise, winning a Grammy award, and making the Top 20 in the US and Top 10 in the UK, where it earned a gold record award.\n\nIn early 2001, there was a major restructure of the Warner Music Group; about 600 positions were eliminated across the three labels, and an executive reshuffle led to the departures of Thyret and Quartararo (as well as Reprise president Howie Klein) and the hiring of then-Interscope president Tom Whalley as head of Warner Bros. Records. In August Whalley appointed Jeff Ayeroff as Creative Director of Warner Bros. Records and Creative Consultant to Warner Music Group. Ayeroff had previously been WBR's Senior Vice-president and Creative Director from 1983 to 1986, overseeing many successful album covers and music videos in that period.\n\nIn 2002, Linkin Park won the Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance for their single Crawling released under Warner Bros. Whereas they were also nominated for Best Rock Album for Hybrid Theory which also turned out to be the best selling album of 2001 worldwide and Best New Artist. In 2004, the band was nominated for their song Session for Best Rock Instrumental Performance. In 2006 the band won Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for the song Numb/Encore released under Warner Bros./Roc-A-Fella/Machine Shop.\n\n2004–2019: Warner Music Group\n\nIn 2003, amid management disputes, sagging share prices and rising alarm about the impact of digital file sharing, Time Warner decided to unload its music operations. In March 2004, Time Warner's music assets were acquired by a private equity group headed by Thomas H. Lee Partners, Lexa Partners (led by Edgar Bronfman Jr., who put up US$150 million drawn from his family's stake in Vivendi), Bain Capital and Providence Equity Partners. The deal included an option that would allow Time Warner to buy back in if conditions proved favorable. Bronfman, Lee, Bain and Providence had reportedly recouped their investment by May 2006 through dividends, refinancing and a share offer floated in May 2005. \n\nThe sale was followed by a major restructure over the first half of 2004, which wad aimed at slashing $27 million from the company's budget. The cost-cutting measures included more than 1000 staff layoffs worldwide, the dropping of 80 artists, comprising more than half the Warner roster, and the restructuring of the company's two \"boutique\" labels. Elektra was folded into Atlantic, and its sub-label Nonesuch was absorbed into the Warner Records label, although Elektra would be revived as an active label five years later. The restructure period was also marked by a short but widely publicised dispute between Warner and Madonna—although, notably, the label made public efforts to distance the dispute from their regular dealings with Madonna, who remained signed to Warner as a solo artist.\n\nFollowing the private buyout of the music group, Madonna began talks with Warner management to dissolve the joint venture partnership in Madonna's Maverick label, to allow the label to work with other companies. Founded in 1992, Maverick had scored a major success in 1995 with Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill, and Madonna and her two partners, Guy Oseary and Ronnie Dashed, jointly held a controlling 60% stake. After the talks broke down, the trio sued the company; they alleged mismanagement, improper accounting and profit-taking, claiming that Maverick had earned $100m in profit for the group, and seeking to recover $200 million in alleged lost revenue, but the suit was settled in June that year, with Madonna selling most of her stake in Maverick to Warner for just $10 million.\n\nIn 2005, following the global restructure, Warner Music Australia scored a major coup when it acquired the assets of the Australian Festival Mushroom Group. That company had originated as Festival Records in Sydney in the 1952, and after its acquisition by Rupert Murdoch in 1961, Festival became one of the leading Australian record companies, recording and/or releasing much of the most significant Australian pop and rock music of the era on its flagship Festival label or via its subsidiary imprints. Festival also signed valuable licensing and distribution deals with major local independent pop labels such as Spin (NSW) and Clarion (WA), and it subsequently took over many of these labels and acquired their masters, greatly increasing its holdings of key Australian pop/rock recordings.\n\nIn the 1970s Festival signed a distribution deal with the fledgling Melbourne label Mushroom Records, founded by Michael Gudinski. Mushroom scored a key breakthrough in 1974–75 with Melbourne band Skyhooks, whose debut album Living in the Seventies'' became the highest-selling Australian album ever issued up to that time. Mushroom enjoyed enormous success in Australia from the late 1970s on, and although Gudinski later moved the label's distribution to EMI for some years, the two companies were eventually merged—Festival acquired 49% of Mushroom in 1993 and bought the remainder when Gudinski sold his controlling share in 1998. Finally, in 2005, after multiple management reshuffles and a steady decline in revenue, News Ltd sold the group and its recording archive (said to contain over 20,000 master tapes) to Warner Music Australia for a reported AU$10 million.\n\nFollowing the divestiture, WMG licensed the Warner Bros. trademarks, although this license could have been revoked if WMG came under control of a major motion picture studio.\n\nAfter five years of dormancy, Elektra was revived as an active imprint in June 2009, although some artists who had been signed to prior to the label' shelving in 2004 (including Tracy Chapman) had continued to have their recordings issued as Elektra releases. In mid-2018, Elektra was detached from the Atlantic Records umbrella and reorganized into Elektra Music Group, once again operating as an independently managed frontline label of Warner Music.\n\nIn 2013, WMG acquired Parlophone Records from EMI as part of its sale to Universal Music Group. Most Parlophone artists (excluding Coldplay and Tinie Tempah, who were placed under Atlantic) were placed under Warner Bros. Records for US distribution.\nDan McCarroll was named president. He held the position until July 2017.\n\nIn October 2017, Aaron Bay-Schuck and Tom Corson were named co-chairmen of Warner Bros. Records, with Bay-Schuck serving as CEO and Corson COO. Corson joined the company in January 2018; Bay-Schuck began in the fall of that year. The Warner Bros. headquarters moved from Burbank to downtown Los Angeles in March 2019.\n\n2019–present: Warner Records\nOn May 28, 2019, the label announced that it had changed its name to Warner Records, and unveiled a new logo—replacing the Warner Bros. shield with a wordmark and black circle (both partially cut off at the bottom). WMG explained that the new logo was meant to resemble the Earth, a record, and the Sun, and had \"artful simplicity and impactful typography that are ideally suited to the digital world\". The change was necessitated by the upcoming expiration of WMG's license to the Warner Bros. trademarks; after the sale of Warner Music Group in 2004 by Time Warner (now WarnerMedia since 2018), the company had been granted a 15-year license to use the Warner Bros. name and shield logo. The new logo received mixed reviews, with marketing critics and former WMG employees lamenting the replacement of the historic Warner Bros. emblem (used by the label for 61 years) with a comparatively simplistic mark.\n\nAffiliated labels\n\nCurrent\n A&E Records (formerly Mushroom Records UK) (2003–present)\n Helium 3 (2006–present)\n Beluga Heights (2008–present)\n Curb Records (1974-1982, 2000–present)\n Word Records (2002–present)\n Facultad de Némea (2017–present)\n Festival Mushroom Records (2005–present)\n Hotwire Unlimited (2010–present)\n Machine Shop Recordings (2001–present)\n Loveway Records (2009–present)\n Mind of a Genius (2016–present)\n Arkade Records (2016–present)\n Nonesuch Records (2004–present)\n OVO Sound (2012–present)\n Parlophone (2014–present)\n Reprise Records (1963–present)\n REMember Music (2014–present)\n Sire Records (1978–1995, 2003–present)\n Artery Recordings (2017–present)\n The Benton Music Records (2018–present)\n Clover Music (2018–present)\n Masked Records (2018–present)\n\nFormer\n 1017 Brick Squad Records\n 143 Records\n 4AD Records (1992–1998) (US only)\n Action Theory Records\n American Recordings (1988–1997 [US], 2005–2007 [worldwide])\n Autumn Records (1963–1965)\n Bearsville Records (1970–1984)\n BME Recordings\n Blacksmith Records (2005–2008)\n Brute/Beaute Records (2004–2007)\n Capricorn Records (1972–1977), (1990–1995)\n Chrysalis Records (1972–1976) (US only)\n Cold Chillin' Records (1987–1994)\n Dark Horse Records (1976–1992)\n Doghouse Records\n ECM Records (?–1984)\n Extasy International Records (2000–2004)\n Full Moon Records (1974–1992)\n F-111 Records (1995–2001)\n Geffen Records (1980–1990)\n Giant Records and its subsidiaries the Medicine Label (1993–1995), Paladin, Revolution (1990–2001; catalog is owned by Warner Records today)\n Ice Age Entertainment\n Island Records (1977–1982, except for Steve Winwood releases until 1987)\n Jet Life Recordings\n Kwanza Records (1973–1974)\n Loma Records (1964–1968 and one boutique release in 2003)\n London Records (2000–2017; small part of catalog was secured by WMG after sold to Because Music, including New Order)\n Luaka Bop Records (1988–2000)\n Malpaso Records (1995–2000)\n Maverick Records (1992–2008; dormant)\n Maybach Music Group (2011–2012)\n Metal Blade Records (1988–1993)\n Music for Little People (1990–1995)\n Opal Records (1987–1993)\n Paisley Park Records (1985–1994)\n Perezcious Music\n Playmaker Music\n Premeditated Records (middle 1990s)\n Public Broadcasting Service\n Qwest Records (1980–2000)\n Raybaw Records (2005–2008)\n RuffNation Records\n Slash Records (1982–1998; 2003–present)\n Teleprompt Records\n Tommy Boy Records (1985–2002; rights to pre-2002 catalog transferred to Atlantic Records and reacquired by a \"new\" Tommy Boy (Tommy Boy Entertainment) in 2017, being distributed by ADA subsidiary of WMG. The label reacquired its pre-2002 catalog in 2017)\n Valiant Records (1960–1966)\n Warner Alliance (1986–1998)\n Warner Western (198?–200?)\n Funk Volume (2015–2016)\n\nArtists\n\nSee also\n List of record labels\n List of Warner Records artists\n Reprise Records\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n \n The Warner Bros. Records Story from BSN Pubs. – includes links to comprehensive Warner Bros. album discographies, 1958–1983\n \n Discography of Loma Records\n\n \nAmerican record labels\nWarner Music labels\nAmerican country music record labels\nHeavy metal record labels\nHip hop record labels\nPop record labels\nRock record labels\nSoundtrack record labels\nEntertainment companies based in California\nCompanies based in Burbank, California\nRecord labels established in 1958\nEntertainment companies established in 1958\n1958 establishments in California\nFormer WarnerMedia subsidiaries\nIFPI members\nLabels distributed by Warner Music Group"],"string":"[\n \"Love at First Sight is a studio album by American singer Dionne Warwick released in 1977 by Warner Bros. Records.\\n\\nOverview \\nThe album was produced by Michael Omartian and Steve Barri. The sound of the longplay resembled the previous works of the artist of the Scepter Records period. By the way, there is a ballad on the album \\\"Early Morning Strangers\\\", the author of which was Hal David, with whom Warwick worked for a long time and fruitfully in those years.\\n\\nAnyway, the album became a failure, neither it nor the singles hit the charts, critics also took the record with restraint. This was Warwick's last album with Warner Bros., the next album she will release on Arista Records.\\n\\nTrack listing\\n\\nReferences\\n\\nExternal links\\n \\n\\nDionne Warwick albums\\n1977 albums\\nAlbums arranged by Michael Omartian\\nAlbums produced by Michael Omartian\\nAlbums produced by Steve Barri\\nWarner Records albums\",\n \"Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in March 1958 as the recorded music division of the American film studio Warner Bros.\\n\\nArtists who have recorded for Warner Records include Madonna, Prince, Cher, Frank Sinatra, Joni Mitchell, Van Halen, Alice Cooper, Kylie Minogue, Goo Goo Dolls, Tom Petty, Sheryl Crow, Gorillaz, Adam Lambert, Bette Midler, Grateful Dead, Jane's Addiction, Blur, Duran Duran, Deep Purple, Fleetwood Mac, Liam Gallagher, James Taylor, Lily Allen, JoJo, Linkin Park, Muse, George Benson, Nile Rodgers, Black Sabbath, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Black Keys, My Chemical Romance, Tevin Campbell, Mac Miller, Dua Lipa, Bebe Rexha, R.E.M., and Sex Pistols.\\n\\nHistory\\n\\nFounding\\nAt the end of the silent movie period, Warner Bros. Pictures decided to expand into publishing and recording so that it could access low-cost music content for its films. In 1928, the studio acquired several smaller music publishing firms which included M. Witmark & Sons, Harms Inc., and a partial interest in New World Music Corp., and merged them to form the Music Publishers Holding Company. This new group controlled valuable copyrights on standards by George and Ira Gershwin and Jerome Kern, and the new division was soon earning solid profits of up to US$2 million every year.\\n\\nIn 1930, MPHC paid US$28 million to acquire Brunswick Records (which included Vocalion), whose roster included Duke Ellington, Red Nichols, Nick Lucas, Al Jolson, Earl Burtnett, Ethel Waters, Abe Lyman, Leroy Carr, Tampa Red and Memphis Minnie, and soon after the sale to Warner Bros., the label signed rising radio and recording stars Bing Crosby, Mills Brothers, and Boswell Sisters. Unfortunately for Warner Bros., the dual impact of the Great Depression and the introduction of broadcast radio greatly harmed the recording industry—sales crashed, dropping by around 90% from more than 100 million records in 1927 to fewer than 10 million by 1932 and major companies were forced to halve the price of records from 75c to 35c.\\n\\nIn December 1931, Warner Bros. offloaded Brunswick to the American Record Corporation (ARC) for a fraction of its former value, in a lease arrangement which did not include Brunswick's pressing plants. Technically, Warner maintained actual ownership of Brunswick, which with the sale of ARC to CBS in 1939 and their decision to discontinue Brunswick in favor of reviving the Columbia label, reverted to Warner Bros. Warner Bros. sold Brunswick a second time (along with Brunswick's back catalog up to 1931), this time along with the old Brunswick pressing plants Warner owned, to Decca Records (which formed its American operations in 1934) in exchange for a financial interest in Decca. The heavy loss it incurred in the Brunswick deal kept the studio out of the record business for more than 25 years, and during this period it licensed its film music to other companies for release as soundtrack albums.\\n\\n1958–1963: formation and early years\\n \\nWarner Bros. returned to the record business in 1958 with the establishment of its own recording division, Warner Bros. Records. By this time, the established Hollywood studios were reeling from multiple challenges to their former dominance—the most notable being the introduction of television in the late 1940s. Legal changes also had a major impact on their business—lawsuits brought by major stars had effectively overthrown the old studio contract system by the late 1940s and, beginning in 1949, anti-trust suits brought by the US government forced the five major studios to divest their cinema chains.\\n\\nIn 1956, Harry Warner and Albert Warner sold their interest in the studio and the board was joined by new members who favored a renewed expansion into the music business—Charles Allen of the investment bank Charles Allen & Company, Serge Semenenko of the First National Bank of Boston and investor David Baird. Semenenko in particular had a strong professional interest in the entertainment business and he began to push Jack Warner on the issue of setting up an 'in-house' record label. With the record business booming – sales had topped US$500 million by 1958 – Semnenko argued that it was foolish for Warner Bros. to make deals with other companies to release its soundtracks when, for less than the cost of one motion picture, they could establish their own label, creating a new income stream that could continue indefinitely and provide an additional means of exploiting and promoting its contract actors.\\n\\nAnother impetus for the label's creation was the brief music career of Warner Bros. actor Tab Hunter. Although Hunter was signed to an exclusive acting contract with the studio, it did not prevent him from signing a recording contract, which he did with Dot Records, owned at the time by Paramount Pictures. Hunter scored several hits for Dot, including the US No. 1 single, \\\"Young Love\\\" (1957) and, to Warner Bros.' chagrin, reporters were primarily asking about the hit record, rather than Hunter's latest Warner movie. In 1958, the studio signed Hunter as its first artist to its newly formed record division, although his subsequent recordings for the label failed to duplicate his success with Dot.\\n\\nWarner Bros. agreed to buy Imperial Records in 1956 and, although the deal fell apart, it marked the breaking of a psychological barrier: \\\"If the company was willing to buy another label, why not start its own?\\\" To establish the label, the company hired former Columbia Records president James B. Conkling; its founding directors of A&R were Harris Ashburn, George Avakian, and Bob Prince. Conkling was an able administrator with extensive experience in the industry—he had been instrumental in launching the LP format at Columbia and had played a key role in establishing the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences the previous year. However, Conkling had decidedly middle-of-the-road musical tastes (he was married to Donna King of vocal trio the King Sisters), and was thus rather out of step with emerging trends in the industry, especially the fast-growing market for rock'n'roll music.\\n\\nWarner Bros. Records opened for business on March 19, 1958; its original office was located above the film studio's machine shop at 3701 Warner Boulevard in Burbank, California. Its early album releases (1958–1960) were aimed at the upscale end of the mainstream audience, and Warner Bros. took an early (though largely unsuccessful) lead in recording stereo LPs that targeted the new \\\"hi-fi\\\" market. The catalogue in this period included:\\n vocal/spoken word albums by Warner contract players such as Tab Hunter, Edd Byrnes, Connie Stevens, Jack Webb and William Holden\\n novelty/comedy albums by artists such as Spike Jones and Bob Newhart\\n film soundtracks and collections of film and TV themes\\n 'middle of the road' instrumental albums by artists including Matty Matlock, Buddy Cole, Henry Mancini, George Greeley, Warren Barker and \\\"Ira Ironstrings\\\" (a pseudonym for guitarist Alvino Rey, Conkling's brother-in-law, who was in fact under contract to Capitol Records at the time).\\n\\nSome albums featured jokey or self-deprecating titles such as:\\n Music for People with $3.98 (Plus Tax If Any),\\n Terribly Sophisticated Songs: A Collection of Unpopular Songs for Popular People,\\n Songs the Kids Brought Home from Camp,\\n Please Don't Put Your Empties on the Piano, and\\n But You've Never Heard Gershwin with Bongos.\\nAlmost all were commercial failures; and the only charting album in Warner Bros.' first two years was Warren Barker's 'soundtrack' album for the studio's hit series 77 Sunset Strip, which reached No. 3 in 1959. Tab Hunter's \\\"Jealous Heart\\\" (WB 5008), which reached No. 62, was Warner Bros.' only charting single during its first year.\\n\\nEarly Warner Bros. singles had distinctive pink labels, with the WB logo at the top center and \\\"WARNER\\\" in white Hellenic font to the left of the WB shield and \\\"BROS.\\\" in the same color and style font to the right. Below the shield in white Rockwell font, it read \\\"VITAPHONIC HIGH FIDELITY;\\\" this 45 label was used for two years, 1958 – 1960. This initial 45 label was soon replaced by a new, all-red label with the WB shield logo at 9 o'clock and a number of different-colored arrows (blue, chartreuse, and yellow) surrounding and pointing away from the center hole. The first hit was the novelty record \\\"Kookie, Kookie (Lend Me Your Comb),\\\" with words and music by Irving Taylor, which reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was nominally performed by Warner contract actor Edd Byrnes, who played the wisecracking hipster character Gerald Lloyd \\\"Kookie\\\" Kookson III on Warner's TV detective series 77 Sunset Strip. The story behind the recording illustrates the sharp practices often employed by major recording companies. Actress and singer Connie Stevens (who appeared in the Warner TV series Hawaiian Eye) spoke on the song's chorus, but although her record contract entitled her to a five-percent royalty rate, the label arbitrarily defined her contribution to be a favor to Byrnes, and assigned her just 1% royalty on the song, despite the fact that, as she soon discovered, her name was being prominently displayed on the single's label. Warner Bros. also charged her for a share of the recording costs, which was to be recouped from her drastically reduced royalty. When Stevens scored her own hit single with \\\"Sixteen Reasons\\\" in 1960, Warner Bros. refused to allow her to perform it on Hawaiian Eye because it was not published by MPHC, and they also prevented her from singing it on The Ed Sullivan Show, thereby robbing her of nationwide promotion (and a $5000 appearance fee).\\n\\nWith only two hits to its credit in two years, the label was in serious financial trouble by 1960, having lost at least US$3 million and music historian Frederic Dannen reports that the only reason it was not closed down was because the Warner board was reluctant to write off the additional $2 million the label was owed in outstanding receivables and inventory. After a restructure, Conkling was obliged to report to Herman Starr; he rejected a buyout offer by Conkling and a group of other record company employees but agreed to keep the label running in exchange for heavy cost-cutting—the staff was reduced from 100 to 30 and Conkling voluntarily cut his own pay from $1000 to $500.\\n\\nWarner Bros. now turned to rock'n'roll acts in hopes of advancing its sales but their first signing, Bill Haley, was by then past his prime and failed to score any hits. The label was more fortunate with its next signing, the Everly Brothers, whom Warner Bros. secured after the end of their previous contract with Cadence Records. Herman Starr effectively gambled the future of the company by approving what was reputed to be the first million-dollar contract in music history, which guaranteed the Everly Brothers $525,000 against an escalating royalty rate of up to 7 percent, well above the industry standard of the day. The duo were fielding offers from all the major labels as their Cadence contract wound up, but Warners eventually won out because the brothers harboured ambitions to branch out into film, and the label's connection to the movie studio provided the perfect opportunity. Luckily, the Everlys' first Warner Bros. single \\\"Cathy's Clown\\\" was a smash hit, climbing to No. 1 in the US and selling more than eight million copies, and their debut Warner Bros. album It's Everly Time reached No. 9 on the album chart.\\n\\nIn late 1959, Warner Bros signed a virtually unknown Chicago-based comedian, Bob Newhart, marking the beginning of the label's continuing involvement with comedy. Newhart provided the label's next major commercial breakthrough — in May 1960, three months after the success of \\\"Cathy's Clown,\\\" Newhart's debut album The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart unexpectedly shot straight to No. 1 in the US, staying at the top for fourteen weeks, charting for more than two years and selling more than 600,000 copies. Capping this commercial success, Newhart scored historic wins in three major categories at the 1961 Grammy Awards — he won Album of the Year for Button-Down Mind, his quickly released follow-up album, The Button-Down Mind Strikes Back (1960) won the Best Comedy Performance–Spoken Word category, and Newhart himself won Best New Artist, the first time in Grammy history that a comedy album had won Album of the Year, and the only time a comedian has won Best New Artist.\\n\\nInterviewed for the official Warner Bros Records history in 2008, Newhart recalled that at the time he signed with the label he was totally unknown outside Chicago, he was still working as full-time as an accountant, and he had only done a few local radio and TV appearances. His break came thanks to a friend, local DJ Dan Sorkin, who knew Warner CEO Jim Conkling. Sorkin arranged for Newhart to make a demo tape of a few of his original sketches, which Conkling heard and liked. Equally remarkably, Newhart revealed that had never performed in a club prior to recording the album. Warners arranged to record him at a Houston, Texas club called The Tidelands, where he was booked for a two-week residency as the opening act, beginning 12 February 1960, and Newhart freely admitted to being \\\"terrified\\\" on his first night. He quickly realised that he only had enough material for one side of an album, but by the time Warner A&R manager George Avakian arrived for the recording, Newhart had hastily written enough new material to fill both sides of an LP. When Newhart contacted Warners in April to find out when the album would be released, he was amazed to be told that the label was rushing all available copies to Minneapolis, because radio DJs there had broken it, and it had become so popular that a local newspaper was even printing the times that tracks would be played on air. He recalled that the success of the album almost instantly kick-started his career, and that he was soon being deluged with appearance offers, including The Ed Sullivan Show. A few months later, when Newhart met Conkling and Jack Warner at a dinner, he recalled that Warner effusively greeted him as \\\"the man who saved Warner Brothers Records\\\".\\n\\nDespite the turnaround in the label's commercial and critcal fortunes at the start of the new decade, Jim Conkling was unexpectedly forced out as CEO during 1961. The ostensible reason for his ousting was that Warner and the studio executives doubted Conkling's commitment to the label, after they discovered that he had sold his shares of Warner Bros stock, netting him around $1 million. However, label biographer Warren Zanes and former WBR executive Stan Cornyn both opined that this was merely a pretext, and that the studio effectively scapegoated Conkling for the label's earlier failures, pointing to the fact that Conkling's successor had been selected well before Conkling was terminated. Conkling resigned in the fall of that year, and was replaced by Mike Maitland, another former Capitol Records executive. Around the same time, Joe Smith was appointed as head of promotions.\\n\\nWarner Bros. made another prescient signing in folk group Peter, Paul & Mary. The trio had been on the verge of signing with Atlantic Records, but before the deal could be completed they were poached by Warner Bros. Artie Mogull (who worked for one of Warner Bros.' publishing companies, Witmark Music) had introduced their manager Albert Grossman to Herman Starr, and as a result the group signed a recording and publishing deal with Warner Bros. Grossman's deal for the group broke new ground for recording artists — it included a substantial advance of $30,000 and, most significantly, it set a new benchmark for recording contracts by stipulating that the trio would have complete creative control over the recording and packaging of their music.\\n\\nSoon after, Grossman and Mogull signed a publishing deal that gave Witmark one of its most lucrative clients, Bob Dylan. Grossman bought out Dylan's previous contract with Leeds Music and signed the then-unknown singer-songwriter to Witmark for an advance of $5000. Two years later in 1963, Peter, Paul & Mary scored two consecutive Top 10 hits with Dylan songs, launching Dylan's career, and this was followed by many more hits by artists covering Dylan's songs, alongside the growing commercial success of Dylan himself. Grossman benefited enormously from both deals, because he took a 25% commission as Dylan's manager, and he structured Dylan's publishing deal so that he received 50% of Witmark's share of Dylan's publishing income—a tactic that was later emulated by other leading artist managers such as David Geffen.\\n\\nMeanwhile, the label enjoyed further major success with comedy recordings. Comedian Allan Sherman (who had been signed on the personal recommendation of George Burns), issued his first Warner LP My Son, the Folk Singer in 1962. The album, which satirized the folk boom, became a major hit, selling over a million copies, and winning a Gold Record award, and is cited as being the fastest-selling LP ever released in the US up to that time. Sherman also scored a hit single in late 1963 with a cut from his third WBR album, My Son, The Nut, when his song \\\"Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah\\\" (which satirized the American summer camp tradition) became a surprise novelty hit, peaking at #2.\\n\\nBill Cosby broke through soon after and he continued the label's dream run with comedy LPs into the late 1960s, releasing a string of highly successful albums on Warner Bros. over the next six years, alongside his groundbreaking career as a TV actor.\\n\\nThe label's fortunes had finally turned around by 1962 thanks to the Everly Brothers, Newhart, folk stars Peter, Paul & Mary, jazz and pop crossover hit Joanie Sommers and comedian Allan Sherman, and Warner Bros. Records ended the financial year 1961–62 in the black for the first time since its founding.\\n\\nWarner/Reprise 1963–1967\\nIn August 1963, Warner Bros. made a \\\"rescue takeover\\\" of Frank Sinatra's ailing Reprise Records as part of a deal to acquire Sinatra's services as a recording artist and as an actor for Warner Bros. Pictures. The total deal was valued at around US$10 million, and it gave Sinatra a one-third share in the combined record company and a seat on the Warner/Reprise board; Warner Bros. Records head Mike Maitland became the president of the new combine and Mo Ostin was retained as manager of the Reprise label.\\n\\nReprise was heavily in debt at the time of the takeover, and the Warner Records management team was reportedly dismayed at their balance sheet being pushed back into the red by the acquisition, but they were given no choice in the matter. Ben Kalmenson, a Warner Bros. company director and close aide to Jack Warner, summoned the label's directors to a meeting in New York and explicitly told them that both he and Warner wanted the deal and that they expected them to vote in favor of it.\\n\\nDespite these misgivings, the purchase ultimately proved very beneficial to the Warner group. Reprise flourished in the late 1960s thanks to Sinatra's famous comeback and the hits by Sinatra and his daughter Nancy, and the label also secured the US distribution rights to the recordings of the Kinks and Jimi Hendrix. Most importantly for the future of the company, the merger brought Reprise manager Mo Ostin into the Warner fold and \\\"his ultimate value to Warner Bros. would dwarf Sinatra's.\\\" Ostin's business and musical instincts, and his rapport with artists were to prove crucial to the success of the Warner labels over the next two decades.\\n\\nIn 1964, Warner Bros. launched Loma Records, which was meant to focus on R&B acts. The label, run by former King Records promotion man Bob Krasnow, would release over 100 singles and five albums, but saw only limited success and was wound down in 1968.\\n\\nAn important addition to the Warner Bros. staff in this period was Ed Thrasher, who moved from Columbia Records in 1964 to become Warner/Reprise's head art director. Among his design credits for the Warner family of labels were The Jimi Hendrix Experience's Are You Experienced, Van Morrison's Astral Weeks, The Grateful Dead's Anthem of the Sun, The Doobie Brothers' Toulouse Street, Tiny Tim's God Bless Tiny Tim, and Joni Mitchell's Clouds, which set off a trend of musicians creating the artwork for their own record sleeves. In 1973, when Frank Sinatra emerged from retirement with his comeback album, Thrasher shot candid photographs for the cover and also devised the album title Ol' Blue Eyes Is Back, which was widely used to promote Sinatra's return to recording and touring. Besides his work on album covers, Thrasher art-directed many of Warner Bros.' ads and posters from 1964 to 1979.\\n\\nIn 1964, Warner Bros. successfully negotiated with French label Disques Vogue and Warner Bros.' British distributor Pye Records for the rights to distribute Petula Clark's recordings in the US (said rights previously being held by Laurie Records). Clark soon scored a No. 1 US hit with \\\"Downtown.\\\" Warner also released other Pye artists in the US market such as The Kinks.\\n\\nAnother significant development in the label's history came in 1966 when Ostin hired young independent producer Lenny Waronker as an A&R manager, beginning a strong and enduring mentor/protegé relationship between the two. Waronker, the son of Liberty Records founder Simon Waronker, had previously worked as an assistant to Liberty producer Snuff Garrett. Later he worked with the small San Francisco label Autumn Records, founded by disc jockeys Tom Donahue, Bobby Mitchell, and Sylvester Stewart (who would soon become famous as a musician under his stage name Sly Stone).\\n\\nWaronker had been hired as a freelance producer for some of Autumn's acts including The Tikis (who later became Harpers Bizarre), The Beau Brummels, and The Mojo Men, and for these recording sessions he brought in several musician friends who were then becoming established on the L.A. music scene: composer/musicians Randy Newman (a childhood friend), Leon Russell, and Van Dyke Parks. Together they became the foundation of the creative salon that centered on Waronker at Warner Bros. and which, with Ostin's continuing support, became the catalyst for Warner Records' subsequent success as a rock music label. Initially, Waronker looked after the acts that Warner Bros. took over when they bought Autumn Records for $10,000, but during the year he also avidly pursued rising Los Angeles band The Buffalo Springfield. Although (much to his and Ostin's chagrin) the band was ultimately signed by Atlantic Records, they eventually became part of the Warner Bros. catalogue after Atlantic was purchased by Warner Bros. Records.\\n\\nIn 1967, Warner Bros. took over Valiant Records, which added hit-making harmony pop group The Association to the Warner roster. This acquisition proved to be another huge money-maker for Warner Bros.; The Association scored a string of major hits in the late 1960s, and their 1967 hit \\\"Never My Love\\\" went on to become the second-most-played song on American radio and TV in the 20th century. During the year, the label also took its first tentative step into the burgeoning rock market when they signed leading San Francisco psychedelic rock group The Grateful Dead. Warner Bros. threw the band a release party at Fugazi Hall in San Francisco's North Beach. During the concert, Warner A&R manager Joe Smith took the stage and announced, \\\"I just want to say what an honor it is to be able to introduce the Grateful Dead and its music to the world,\\\" which prompted a cynical Jerry Garcia to quip in reply, \\\"I just want to say what an honor it is for the Grateful Dead to introduce Warner Bros. Records to the world.\\\"\\n\\nAlso in 1967, Warner/Reprise established its Canadian operation Warner Reprise Canada Ltd., replacing its distribution deal with the Compo Company. This was the origin of Warner Music Canada.\\n\\n1967–1969: Warner Bros.-Seven Arts\\nIn November 1966 the entire Warner group was taken over by and merged with Seven Arts Productions, a New York-based company owned by Eliot Hyman. Seven Arts specialized in syndicating old movies and cartoons to TV, and had independently produced a number of significant feature films for other studios, including Stanley Kubrick's Lolita, as well as forging a successful production partnership with noted British studio Hammer Films. Hyman's purchase of Jack L. Warner's controlling share of the Warner group for US$32 million stunned the film world—Warner Records executive Joe Smith later quipped that it was\\n\\nThe newly merged group was renamed Warner Bros.-Seven Arts (often referred to in the trade press by the abbreviation it adopted for its new logo, \\\"W7\\\"). Although Warner Bros. Pictures was faltering, the purchase coincided with a period of tremendous growth in the music industry, and Warner-Reprise was now on its way to becoming a major player in the industry. Hyman's investment banker Alan Hirshfeld, of Charles Allen and Company, urged him to expand the company's record holdings, and arranged a meeting with Jerry Wexler, and Ahmet and Nesuhi Ertegun, co-owners of leading independent label Atlantic Records, which eventually resulted in the purchase of Atlantic in 1968.\\n\\nIn June 1967, Mo Ostin attended the historic Monterey International Pop Festival, where The Association performed the opening set. Ostin had already acquired the US rights to The Jimi Hendrix Experience's recordings, sight unseen, but he was reportedly unimpressed by Hendrix's now-famous performance. During his visit he met Andy Wickham, who had come to Monterey as an assistant to festival promoter Lou Adler. Wickham had worked as a commercial artist in London, followed by a stint with Andrew Loog Oldham's Immediate Records before moving to Los Angeles to work for Adler's Dunhill label. Ostin initially hired Wickham as Warner's \\\"house hippie\\\" on a generous retainer of $200 per week. Hanging out around Laurel Canyon, Wickham scouted for new talent and established a rapport with the young musicians Warner Bros. was seeking to sign. Like Lenny Waronker, Wickham's youth, intelligence and hip attitude allowed him to bridge the \\\"generation gap between these young performers and the older Warner 'establishment'\\\". He played a major role in signing Eric Andersen, Jethro Tull, Van Morrison, and Joni Mitchell (who signed to Reprise), whom Wickham successfully recommended to Ostin in his first week with the company. Over the next thirty years, Wickham became one of Warner's most influential A&R managers, signing such notable acts as Emmylou Harris, Buck Owens, and Norwegian pop trio a-ha.\\n\\nDuring this formative period, Warner Bros. made several other notable new signings including Randy Newman and Van Dyke Parks. Newman would not make his commercial breakthrough until the mid-1970s but he achieved a high profile in the industry thanks to songs he wrote that were covered by other acts like Three Dog Night and Alan Price. Although Warner Bros. spent large sums on albums that sold poorly, and there were some missteps in its promotion strategy, the presence of unorthodox acts like The Grateful Dead and critically acclaimed 'cult' performers like Newman and Parks, combined with the artistic freedom that the label afforded them, proved significant in building Warner Bros.' reputation and credibility. Bob Krasnow, who briefly headed Warner Bros.' short-lived 'black' label Loma Records, later commented that The Grateful Dead \\\"...were really the springboard. People said, 'Wow, if they'll sign The Dead, they must be going in the right direction.'\\\"\\n\\nAlthough not widely known to the general public at that time, Van Dyke Parks was a figure of high repute on the L.A. music scene thanks to his work as a session musician and songwriter (notably with the Byrds and Harper's Bizarre), and especially because of his renowned collaboration with Brian Wilson on the legendary unreleased Beach Boys album Smile. In 1967, Lenny Waronker produced Parks' Warner debut album Song Cycle, which reportedly cost more than $35,000 to record, making it one of the most expensive 'pop' albums ever made up to that time. It sold very poorly despite rave critical reviews, so publicist Stan Cornyn (who had helped the label to sign The Grateful Dead) wrote an infamous tongue-in-cheek advertisement to promote it. The ad cheekily declared that the label had \\\"lost $35,509 on 'the album of the year' (dammit),\\\" suggested that those who had purchased the album had probably worn their copies out by playing it over and over, and made the offer that listeners could send these supposedly worn-out copies back to Warner Bros., who would exchange it for two new copies, including one \\\"to educate a friend with.\\\" Incensed by the tactic, Parks accused Cornyn of trying to kill his career. Cornyn encountered similar problems with Joni Mitchell—he penned an advertisement that was meant to convey the message that Mitchell was yet to achieve significant market penetration, but the tag-line \\\"Joni Mitchell is 90% Virgin\\\" reportedly reduced Mitchell to tears, and Cornyn had to withdraw it from publication.\\n\\nWarner Bros. also struggled with their flagship rock act, The Grateful Dead who, like Peter, Paul and Mary, had negotiated complete artistic control over the recording and packaging of their music. Their debut album had been recorded in just four days, and although it was not a major hit, it cracked the US Top 50 album chart and sold steadily, eventually going gold in 1971. For their second album, The Grateful Dead took a far more experimental approach, embarking on a marathon series of recording sessions lasting seven months, from September 1967 to March 1968. They started the album with David Hassinger, who had produced their first album, but he quit the project in frustration in December 1967 while they were recording in New York City (although he is co-credited with the band on the album). The group and their concert sound engineer Dan Healy then took over production of the album themselves, taking the unusual step of intermixing studio material with multitrack recordings of their concerts. Anthem of the Sun proved to be the least successful of The Grateful Dead's 1960s albums—it sold poorly, the extended sessions put the band more than $100,000 in debt to the label, and Warner Bros. executive Joe Smith later described it as \\\"the most unreasonable project with which we have ever involved ourselves.\\\"\\n\\nThe Grateful Dead's relationship with Warner Bros. Records was stretched even further by the making of their third album Aoxomoxoa (1969), which also took around seven months to record and cost $180,000, almost twice as much as its predecessor. It sold poorly and took almost thirty years to be accredited with gold-record status. There were further difficulties in 1971 when the band presented Warner Bros. with a planned live double-album that they wanted to call Skull Fuck, but Ostin handled the matter diplomatically. Rather than refusing point-blank to release it, he reminded The Grateful Dead that they were heavily in debt to Warner's and would not see any royalties until this had been repaid; he also pointed out that the provocative title would inevitably hurt sales because major retailers like Sears would refuse to stock it. Realizing that this would reduce their income, the band voluntarily changed the title to Grateful Dead, known generally as Skull and Roses.\\n\\nSome of Warner Bros.' biggest commercial successes during this period were with \\\"Sunshine Pop\\\" acts. Harpers Bizarre scored a No. 13 Billboard hit in April 1967 with their version of Simon & Garfunkel's \\\"The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)\\\", and a month later The Association scored a US No. 1 with \\\"Windy,\\\" and they reached No. 8 on the album chart with their first Warner Bros. album Insight Out. Their next single \\\"Never My Love\\\" also topped the charts in autumn 1967 (No. 2 Billboard, No. 1 Cashbox), and now ranks as one of the most successful of all Warner Bros. recordings—it became a radio staple and is now accredited by BMI as the second most-played song on US radio in the 20th century, surpassing both \\\"Yesterday\\\" by the Beatles and \\\"Stand by Me\\\" by Ben E. King. The group's 1968 Greatest Hits album was also a major hit, reaching No. 4 on the US album chart. In 1968, Mason Williams' instrumental composition \\\"Classical Gas\\\" reached No. 2 on the Billboard chart, selling more than a million copies, and Williams won three Grammys that year.\\n\\nAnother notable Warner release from this period was Astral Weeks, the second solo album by Van Morrison (his first was on Bang), who signed with the label in 1968. Although it sold relatively poorly on its first release (and did not reach gold record status until 2001), it has been widely acclaimed by musicians and critics worldwide, has featured prominently on many \\\"Best Albums of All Time\\\" lists, and has remained in release almost continuously since 1968.\\n\\nDuring 1968, using the profits from Warner/Reprise, W7 purchased Atlantic Records for $17.5 million, including the label's valuable archive, its growing roster of new artists, and the services of its three renowned executives Jerry Wexler, Nesuhi Ertegun and Ahmet Ertegun. However, the purchase again caused rancor among the Warner/Reprise management, who were upset that their hard-won profits had been co-opted to buy Atlantic, and that Atlantic's executives were made large shareholders in Warner-Seven Arts—the deal gave the Ertegun brothers and Wexler between them 66,000 shares of Warner Bros.' common stock.\\n\\nOn June 1, 1968, Billboard announced that Warner Bros. Records' star comedy performer Bill Cosby had turned down a five-year, US$3.5 million contract renewal offer, and would leave the label in August of that year to record for his own Tetragrammaton Records label. Just over one month later (July 13) Billboard reported on a major reorganization of the entire Warner-Seven Arts music division. Mike Maitland was promoted to Executive Vice-president of both the recorded music and publishing operations, and George Lee took over from Victor Blau as operational head of the recording division. The restructure also reversed the reporting arrangement put in place in 1960, and from this point the Warner publishing arm reported to the record division under Maitland. The Billboard article also noted the enormous growth and vital significance of W7's music operations, which were by then providing most of Warner-Seven Arts' revenue—during the first nine months of that fiscal year, the recording and publishing divisions generated 74% of the corporation's total profit, with the publishing division alone accounting for over US$2 million of ASCAP's collections from music users.\\n\\n1969–1972: Kinney takeover\\nIn 1969, Warner Bros.-Seven Arts was taken over by the Kinney National Company, headed by New York businessman Steve J. Ross, who would successfully lead the Warner group of companies until his death in 1992. The US$400 million deal created a new conglomerate that combined the Warner film, television, recording, and music publishing divisions with Kinney's multi-faceted holdings. Ross had founded the company in the late 1950s while working in his family's funeral business—seeing the opportunity to use the company's cars, which were idle at night, he founded a successful car hire operation, which he later merged with the Kinney parking garage company. Ross took the company public in 1962, and from this base it expanded rapidly between 1966 and 1968, merging with National Cleaning Services in 1966 to form the Kinney National Company, and then acquiring a string of companies that would prove of enormous value to the Warner group in the years ahead–National Periodical Publications (which included DC Comics and All American Comics), the Ashley-Famous talent agency, and Panavision.\\n\\nIn the summer of 1969, Atlantic Records agreed to assist Warner Bros. Records in establishing overseas divisions, but when Warner executive Phil Rose arrived in Australia to begin setting up a subsidiary there, he discovered that just one week earlier Atlantic had signed a new four-year production and distribution deal with local label Festival Records without informing Warner Bros.\\n\\nDuring 1969, the rivalry between Mike Maitland and Ahmet Ertegun quickly escalated into an all-out executive battle, but Steve Ross favored Ertegun, and the conflict culminated in Maitland being dismissed from his position on January 25, 1970. He declined an offer of a job with Warner Bros. Pictures and left the company, subsequently becoming president of MCA Records. Mo Ostin was appointed president of Warner Bros. Records with Joe Smith as executive vice-president.\\n\\nIn 1970, the 'Seven Arts' name was dropped and the WB shield became the Warner Bros. Records logo again.\\n\\n1970–1979: The Ostin era\\nBeginning back in 1967 with the signing of the Grateful Dead, Warner Bros. Records and its affiliate labels steadily built up a diverse and prestigious lineup of rock and pop artists through the 1970s, and earning a strong reputation as an \\\"artists first\\\" record company. Under the guidance of Edward West, vice-president of Warner Bros. Records Inc in 1973 and its executives, A&R managers and staff producers, including Mo Ostin, David Geffen, Joe Smith, Stan Cornyn, Lenny Waronker, Andy Wickham, Russ Titelman and ex-Warner Bros. recording artist (with Harpers Bizarre) Ted Templeman, sales grew steadily throughout the decade and by the end of the 1970s Warner Bros. and its sister labels had become one of the world's leading recording groups, with a star-studded roster that included Fleetwood Mac, James Taylor, Van Morrison, America, Alice Cooper, Carly Simon, Van Halen, the Doobie Brothers, Bonnie Raitt, Chaka Khan, Ambrosia, and Rickie Lee Jones. This was augmented by the group's valuable back-catalogue, and lucrative licensing deals with American and international labels including Sire, Vertigo and Island Records (1975–1982) that gave WBR the American distribution rights for leading British and European rock acts including Deep Purple, Jethro Tull, Black Sabbath, Roxy Music, King Crimson and Kraftwerk. Aided by the growth of FM radio and the album oriented rock format, LPs became the primary vehicle of Warner Bros. sales successes throughout the 1970s, although artists such as the Doobie Brothers and America also scored many major US and international hit singles.\\n\\nOne of the first Warner Bros. albums to achieve both critical and commercial success in the early 1970s was Van Morrison's third solo LP Moondance (January 1970) which consolidated his distinctive blend of rock, jazz and R&B, earned glowing critical praise and sold well—it made the Top 40 album chart in both the US and the UK, the single \\\"Come Running\\\" was a US Top 40 hit (No. 39, Billboard) and the title track became a radio perennial.\\n\\nBritish group Black Sabbath were signed to Philips Records' progressive subsidiary Vertigo in their native country. Deep Purple, who recorded for EMI's Parlophone and Harvest labels in England, were originally signed in the US to the independent Tetragrammaton Records, which was distributed by Warner Bros., who acquired the label after it folded in 1970. Black Sabbath's eponymous debut album (recorded in just two days) reached No. 8 on the UK album chart, and No. 23 on the Billboard 200, where it remained for over a year, selling strongly despite some negative reviews. It has since been certified platinum in the US by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and in the UK by British Phonographic Industry (BPI). Sabbath's second album was to have been called War Pigs, but Warner Bros. Records changed the title to Paranoid fearing a backlash by consumers. It was a Top 10 hit on the US album chart in 1971, and went on to sell four million copies in the US alone with virtually no radio airplay.\\n\\nBy 1970, \\\"Seven Arts\\\" was dropped from the company name and the WB shield became the Warner Bros. Records logo again. During 1972, a financial scandal in its parking operations forced Kinney National to spin off its non-entertainment assets, and the Warner recording, publishing and film divisions then became part of a new umbrella company, Warner Communications.\\n\\nIn July 1970, the Warner recording group acquired another prestige asset with the purchase of Jac Holzman's Elektra Records for US$10 million. Like Atlantic, the new acquisition came with a very valuable back-catalogue, which included the Doors, Love, Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Tim Buckley, the Stooges, MC5 and Bread, but Elektra soon began producing more major hits under the Warner umbrella. Recent signing Carly Simon scored two successive Top 20 singles in 1971 with \\\"That's the Way I've Always Heard It Should Be\\\" and \\\"Anticipation\\\", and her first two albums both made the Billboard Top 50, but the following year she topped the single and album charts with her international smash hit \\\"You're So Vain\\\" and the album No Secrets, which both went to No. 1 in the US Jac Holzman ran the label until 1972, when he was succeeded by David Geffen and Elektra was merged with Geffen's label Asylum Records. Geffen was forced to step down in 1975 for health reasons and Joe Smith was appointed president in his place, although the label's fortunes subsequently waned considerably, with Elektra-Asylum reportedly losing some $27 million during the last two years of Smith's tenure.\\n\\nWith three co-owned record companies, the next step was the formation of the group's in-house distribution arm, initially called Kinney Records Distributing Corporation, to better control distribution of product and make sure records by breaking new acts were available.\\n\\nIn 1971, UK-based pop rock trio America were signed to the recently established British division of Warner Bros. Their debut album, released late in the year, at first enjoyed only moderate success, but in early 1972 their single \\\"A Horse with No Name\\\" became a major international hit, reaching No. 1 in the US. Warner hastily reissued the album with the song included and it too became a huge hit, reaching No. 1 on the US album chart and eventually earning a platinum record award. Although criticized for their similarity to Neil Young (indeed, rumors circulated around Hollywood that Young had cut the track anonymously), America scored five more US Top 10 singles over the next three years, including a second US No. 1 with \\\"Sister Golden Hair\\\" in 1975. Their albums performed very strongly in the charts—each of their first seven LPs were US Top 40 albums, five of these made the Top 10 and all but one (Hat Trick, 1973) achieved either gold or platinum status. Their 1975 Greatest Hits album became a perennial seller and is now accredited at 4x platinum.\\n\\nIn 1972, Dionne Warwick was signed to Warner Bros. Records after leaving Scepter Records in what was the biggest contract at the time for a female recording artist, although her five years at Warner Bros. were relatively unsuccessful in comparison to her spectacular hit-making tenure at Scepter.\\n\\nAfter a slow start, the Doobie Brothers proved to be one of Warner Bros.' most successful signings. Their debut album made little impact but their second album Toulouse Street (1972) reached No. 21 and spawned two US Top 40 singles, \\\"Listen to the Music\\\" and \\\"Jesus is Just Alright\\\", inaugurating a string of hit albums and singles over the next five years. Their third album The Captain and Me was even more successful, reaching No. 7 in the US and producing two more hit singles, \\\"China Grove\\\" (#15) and \\\"Long Train Runnin'\\\" (#8); it became a consistent seller and is now accredited 2x Platinum by the RIAA. What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits (1974) reached No. 4 and produced two more hits including their first US No. 1 single \\\"Black Water\\\" (1975). Stampede also reached No. 4, and produced another hit single with the Motown cover \\\"Take Me in Your Arms (Rock Me a Little While)\\\" (US #11).\\n\\nWarner Bros. Records' reputation for nurturing new artists was demonstrated by the career of Alice Cooper (originally the name of the band, but later taken over as the stage name / persona of singer and main songwriter Vince Furnier). The Alice Cooper band recorded two unsuccessful albums for Frank Zappa's Warner-distributed label Straight Records before teaming with producer Bob Ezrin, who became a longtime collaborator. Their third LP Love it to Death (originally released on Straight and later reissued on Warner Bros.) reached No. 35 on the Billboard album chart and produced the hit single \\\"I'm Eighteen\\\", which reached No. 21. Following the runaway success of their 1971 European tour Warner Bros. Records offered the band a multi-album contract; their first Warner Bros. album Killer sold well, with the single \\\"Halo of Flies\\\" making the Top 10 in the Netherlands, but it was their next album School's Out (1972) that really put them on the map. The title song was a Top 10 hit in the US, reached No. 1 in the UK and became a radio staple, and the album went to No. 2 in the US and sold more than a million copies. Billion Dollar Babies (1973) became their biggest success, going to No. 1 in both the US and the UK. The follow-up Muscle of Love (1973) was less successful, although the single \\\"Teenage Lament '74 was a Top 20 hit in the UK. Furnier split from the band in 1974 and signed to Warner Bros.' sister label, Atlantic as a solo artist, scoring further success with his solo albums and singles.\\n\\nIn 1973, Frank Zappa and manager Herb Cohen closed the Straight and Bizarre labels and established a new imprint, DiscReet Records, retaining their distribution deal with Warner Bros. Zappa's next album Apostrophe (') (1973) became the biggest commercial success of his career, reaching No. 10 on the Billboard album chart, and the single \\\"Don't Eat the Yellow Snow\\\" was a minor hit and (at the time) his only single to make the Hot 100 chart. Zappa also enjoyed moderate commercial success with the live double LP Roxy and Elsewhere (1974) and his next studio LP One Size Fits All (1975), both of which reached the Top 30 on the Billboard album chart.\\n\\n WBR introduced a new label design for its LPs and singles in mid-1973. This design, which WBR would use until mid-1978, featured a multi-colored, idealized watercolor painting of a Burbank street lined by palms and eucalypts, and titled with the slogan \\\"Burbank, Home of Warner Bros. Records\\\". According to the label's official history, the design was copied from a similarly-styled \\\"orange crate art\\\" fruit company label illustration created by an unknown commercial artist in the 1920s.\\n\\nAfter several years as a 'cult' artist, Randy Newman achieved his first significant commercial success as a solo artist with his 1974 album Good Old Boys which made the Top 40. His controversial 1977 single \\\"Short People\\\" was one of the surprise hits of the year, reaching No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. On October 12, 1974, WBR and Phil Spector established Warner-Spector Records, but the label was short-lived and folded in 1977; most of its releases were reissues Philles Records recordings from the 1960s and the only new material released was two singles by the disco group Calhoon and a single by Cher.\\n\\nIn 1975 David Geffen was obliged to leave the company for health reasons, after being told that he had a terminal illness (although this later proved to be a false diagnosis). In his place, Joe Smith was promoted to become President of the combined Elektra/Asylum label. At this time Warner Bros. began to wind down the Reprise label. In 1976–77 almost all Reprise acts, including Fleetwood Mac, Gordon Lightfoot, Ry Cooder and Michael Franks were transferred to Warner Bros., leaving only Neil Young (who refused to move) and founder Frank Sinatra. Apart from these artists and some reissues, the Reprise label was dormant until it was reactivated in 1986 with the issue of the Dream Academy's single \\\"The Love Parade\\\" on Reprise 28750.\\n\\nBy far the most successful of the Reprise acts who moved to Warner Bros. was Fleetwood Mac, whose massive success firmly established Warner Bros. in the front rank of major labels—although few would have predicted it from the band's tumultuous history. Between 1970 and 1975 there were multiple lineup changes (with only two original members remaining by 1974), their album sales declined drastically, and a legal battle over the group's name kept them off the road for over a year. However, just as Fleetwood Mac was switching labels in 1975, the group re-invigorated by the recruitment of new members Lindsay Buckingham and Stevie Nicks. The 'new' Fleetwood Mac scored a string of US and international hits and their self-titled Reprise debut album was a huge success, reaching No. 1 in the US, charting for more than 30 weeks and selling more than 5 million copies. In 1977, their now-legendary Rumours took both group and Warner Bros. label to even greater heights—it generated a string of international hit singles and became the most successful album in the label's history; it is currently ranked the 11th biggest selling album of all time and as of 2009 was estimated to have sold more than 40 million copies.\\n\\nAfter a string of albums with the Faces and as a solo artist for Mercury Records in the early 1970s, British singer Rod Stewart signed with Warner Bros. in 1974, applied for American citizenship and moved to the US. Launching a sustained run of success, his Warner debut album Atlantic Crossing (1975) was a major international hit, reaching No. 9 on the Billboard album chart and No. 1 in Australia, with the single \\\"I Don't Want to Talk About It\\\" going to No. 1 in the UK. His second WBR album A Night on the Town (1976) went to No. 2 in the US and No. 1 in Australia and produced three US Top 40 singles, including his first US No. 1 \\\"Tonight's the Night\\\". Foot Loose & Fancy Free (1977) reached No. 2 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart and No. 1 in Australia and again produced three US Top 40 singles, including \\\"You're in My Heart (The Final Acclaim)\\\", which reached No. 4. Blondes Have More Fun (1978) went to No. 1 in the US and Australia, and produced two more Top 40 singles including his second US No. 1, \\\"Da Ya Think I'm Sexy\\\" (although Stewart and co-writer Carmine Appice were later successfully sued for plagiarizing the song's catchy melody hook from \\\"Taj Mahall\\\" by Brazilian songwriter Jorge Ben). Stewart's Greatest Hits collection (1979) went to No. 1 in the UK and Australia, giving the singer a record-breaking five consecutive No. 1 albums in the latter country.\\n\\nWarner Bros. Records also had unexpected success in the mid-1970s with another 'heritage' act, veteran vocal group the Four Seasons. In early 1975, they signed with Curb Records (which was distributed by WBR) just as lead singer Frankie Valli scored a surprise hit with his independently released solo single \\\"My Eyes Adored You\\\". Soon after, Valli and The Four Seasons burst back onto the charts with the disco-styled \\\"Who Loves You\\\", which reached No. 3 in the US and sold more than a million copies, and the album Who Loves You sold more than 1 million copies. Their next single \\\"December 1963 (Oh, What a Night)\\\" topped the charts in both Britain and the US in early 1976, becoming the group's first US No. 1 since 1967. A remixed version was a hit again in 1994 and its total of 54 weeks in charts gives it the longest tenure of any song on the Billboard Hot 100.\\n\\nBy the time of The Doobie Brothers 1976 album Takin' It to the Streets, founding member Tom Johnston had effectively left the band and he was replaced by former Steely Dan session man Michael McDonald, whose distinctive voice helped to propel the group to even greater success. The new album sold strongly, reaching No. 8 in the US, and the title track reached No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming a perennial on radio playlists. Warner Bros. also released the massively successful Best of the Doobies (1976), which has become one of the biggest-selling albums of all time and is currently accredited at 10x Platinum status. 1978's Minute by Minute marked the peak of their career—both the album and its lead single \\\"What A Fool Believes\\\" went to No. 1 in the US and the album's title track also made the US Top 20, although it was their last album with founding drummer John Hartman and long-serving guitarist Jeff \\\"Skunk\\\" Baxter.\\n\\nDuring the late 1970s, Warner Bros.' reputation as an \\\"artists first\\\" label was challenged by a bitter and long-running dispute with Frank Zappa. In 1976, Zappa's relationship with manager Herb Cohen ended in litigation. For Zoot Allures, Zappa took his own copy of the master directly to Warner Bros. Records, who agreed to release the album, therefore bypassing Cohen and DiscReet. However, Warner Bros. changed their position following legal action from Cohen. Zappa was then obligated to deliver four more albums to Warner Bros. for release on DiscReet. Zappa sequenced a double live album and three studio albums, but Warner Bros. objected to some or all of these recordings and refused to reimburse Zappa for production costs, as required by the DiscReet distribution contract. Zappa then re-edited the material into a 4-LP set called Läther (pronounced 'leather'), made a deal with Phonogram, and scheduled the release of Läther for Halloween 1977. However, Warner Bros. threatened legal action, forcing Zappa to shelve the release. Infuriated, Zappa hosted a broadcast on KROQ-FM in Pasadena, California, where he played the entire Läther album in sequence, repeatedly criticizing Warner Bros., and openly encouraging listeners to record the broadcast. Warner Bros. took further legal action against Zappa, which prevented him from issuing any material for over a year. During 1978 and 1979, Warner Bros. issued the disputed material over four albums – Zappa in New York (an edited and censored version of the original 1977 live double album), Studio Tan, Sleep Dirt and Orchestral Favorites. Zappa eventually won the rights to his Straight, Bizarre, DiscReet and Warner Bros. material, but remained trenchantly critical of his treatment by Warner Bros. for the rest of his life. Zappa's recordings were subsequently reissued on CD by Rykodisc (ironically it was later acquired by Warner Music), including Läther, which appeared posthumously in 1996.\\n\\nRy Cooder was another Reprise act who was transferred to Warner Bros. in 1977. His first Warner release was the 1977 live album Showtime and he remained with the label until his contract expired in the late 1980s. His 1979 album Bop 'Til You Drop is notable as the first major-label rock album to be digitally recorded, and it became the best-selling album of his career.\\n\\nThanks to its distribution deal with Curb Records, WBR scored the biggest hit single in the company's history in 1977. The ballad \\\"You Light Up My Life\\\" (written and produced by Joe Brooks) was originally recorded by the late Kasey Cisyk for the soundtrack to the film of the same name, in which actress Didi Conn lip-synched to Cisyk's recording. Teenager Debby Boone (daughter of actor-singer Pat Boone) was recruited to record a new version for single release, and this became a massive success, topping the Billboard Hot 100 for a record-setting 10 consecutive weeks, and earning a Platinum certification from the RIAA. It became the most successful single of the 1970s in the United States, setting what was then a new record for longest run at No. 1 in the US and surpassing Elvis Presley's \\\"Hound Dog\\\". Boone's success also earned her Grammy nominations for \\\"Best Female Pop Vocal Performance \\\" and \\\"Record of the Year\\\" and won her the 1977 Grammy for \\\"Best New Artist\\\" and the 1977 American Music Award for \\\"Favorite Pop Single\\\". The song also earned Joe Brooks the 1977 \\\"Song of the Year\\\" Grammy (tied with \\\"Evergreen (Love Theme from A Star Is Born)\\\") as well as \\\"Best Original Song\\\" at both the 1977 Golden Globe and Academy Awards.\\n\\nThroughout the 1970s, Warner Bros. also benefited from its US/Canada distribution deals with independent labels such as Straight Records, DiscReet Records, UK labels Chrysalis (1972–1976) and Island (1974–1982), Bizarre Records, Bearsville Records (1970–1984) and Geffen Records (which was sold to MCA in 1990).\\n\\nAlthough primarily associated with mainstream white acts in the Seventies, Warner Bros.' distribution deals with smaller labels also brought it some success in the disco, soul and funk genres in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Among the imprints it distributed that were notable in these fields were Seymour Stein's Sire Records (which Warner Bros. soon purchased), Curtis Mayfield's Curtom, Norman Whitfield's Whitfield Records, Quincy Jones' Qwest, Prince's Paisley Park, RFC Records (formed in December 1978 when Ray Caviano became the executive director of Warner's disco division), and Tom Silverman's Tommy Boy Records (another label Warner Bros. eventually took over).\\n\\nUntil the late 1970s, Warner Bros. itself still had very few African American music artists on its roster, but this began to change with the signing of artists such as George Benson and Prince. Benson had risen to prominence in jazz in the 1960s but was still relatively little-known by the general public. However, his move to Warner Bros. in 1976 and the teaming with producer Tommy LiPuma enabled him to straddle genres and made him a popular and highly successful mainstream R&B and pop artist. His first Warner Bros. LP Breezin' (1976) became one of the most successful jazz albums of the decade and a major 'crossover' hit—it topped the American Pop, R&B and Jazz album charts and produced two hit singles, the title track (which became a Jazz standard and a radio favorite) and \\\"This Masquerade\\\", which was a Top 10 pop and R&B hit. Benson enjoyed enormous success with his subsequent Warner albums. All of his Warner LPs made the Top 20 on the US jazz album chart and beginning with Breezin''', he scored seven consecutive US No. 1 jazz albums; the first five of these were also Top 20 hits on both the Pop and R&B charts. His live version of Leiber & Stoller's \\\"On Broadway\\\" (from his 1978 live album Weekend in L.A.) outcharted the original version by the Drifters, reaching No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100, and gained further exposure thanks to its memorable use in the famous audition sequence in Bob Fosse's 1979 film All That Jazz. Benson's most successful single \\\"Give Me the Night\\\" (1980) became his first US No. 1 R&B hit, reached No. 4 on the Pop chart and also reached No. 2 on the Hot Disco Singles chart.\\n\\nPrince signed to Warner Bros. in 1977. His first album For You made little impact, although the single \\\"Soft and Wet\\\" reached No. 12 on the Billboard R&B chart. However, his second self-titled album (1979) fared considerably better, reaching No. 3 on the R&B album chart and earning a gold record award; the first single lifted from the album, \\\"I Wanna Be Your Lover\\\" became Prince's first crossover hit, reaching No. 1 on the R&B chart and No. 11 on the main pop chart, while the follow-up single \\\"Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?\\\" reached No. 13 on the R&B chart. Although he was still little known outside the US at this stage, this early success set the stage for his major commercial breakthrough in the 1980s.\\n\\nAnother valuable late 1970s discovery was metal-pop band Van Halen, who were spotted at a Hollywood club by Mo Ostin and Ted Templeman in 1977. Their self-titled debut album was a notable success, reaching No. 19 on the Billboard album chart, and their second album Van Halen II (1979) reached No. 6 and produced their first hit single \\\"Dance the Night Away\\\" (#19).\\n\\nWarner Bros. also began to tentatively embrace the burgeoning new wave movement in the late 1970s, signing cult bands Devo and the B-52s. A crucial acquisition in this field—and one which would soon prove to be of enormous importance to the company—was the New York-based Sire Records, founded in 1966 by Seymour Stein and Richard Gottehrer. Warner Bros. took over Sire's distribution from ABC Records in 1977 and bought the label in 1978, retaining Stein as its president. The addition of the Sire roster gave Warner Bros. an important foothold in this area (indeed, Stein is often credited with naming the genre to replace the term \\\"punk\\\", which he disliked); its American signings included the Ramones, the Dead Boys, and Talking Heads and most importantly of all, Madonna, who soon became the most successful female artist in music history, earning billions for Warner. Sire's distribution deals with British independent labels including Mute, Rough Trade, Korova and Fiction gave WEA the American rights to important UK-based New Wave bands including Depeche Mode, the Smiths, the Beat, Madness, Echo & the Bunnymen, and the Cure. Into the 1990s, the label had continued success with Seal, k.d. lang, Tommy Page, Ice-T, and Ministry.\\n\\nIn the late 1970s, Warner Bros. also scored mainstream pop hits with singer/actor Shaun Cassidy—his version of \\\"Da Doo Ron Ron\\\" went to No. 1 in the US in 1977, his next two singles (both penned by Eric Carmen) were US Top 10 hits and Cassidy was nominated for a Grammy award. As the decade drew to a close, there were more breakthroughs with new acts. Rickie Lee Jones' self-titled debut album went to No. 3 in the US, No. 1 in Australia and No. 18 in the UK and produced two hit singles, \\\"Chuck E.'s In Love\\\" (US #4) and \\\"Young Blood\\\" (US #40). Thanks to its American distribution deal with Vertigo, British group Dire Straits provided another sustained run of hit albums and singles in the late 1970s and 1980s. Their eponymous debut album (1978) was a surprise international hit, going to No. 2 in the US and earning a gold record award from the RIAA, while the single \\\"Sultans of Swing\\\" went to No. 4 in the US. Their second album Communiqué (1979) made the Top 20 in many countries and earned another gold record award in the US WBR also enjoyed renewed success with comedy recordings in this period, transferring Richard Pryor from Reprise and signing rising star Steve Martin, whose second Warner album A Wild and Crazy Guy (1978) became one of the label's biggest comedy hits—it reached No. 2 on the pop album chart, won the 1979 Grammy for 'Best Comedy Album', and Martin's novelty single, \\\"King Tut\\\" was a US Top 20 hit.\\n\\nIn the 1970s there were different systems for four-channel stereo. Warner Records and the whole WEA group chose JVC's and RCA's discrete system called CD-4 or Quadradisc. That was the system with the highest separation between the four channel, but the system needed a special stylus that could read frequences up to 48 000 Hz.\\n\\n1980–1988\\nThe 1980s was a period of unprecedented success for Warner Bros. Records. The golden decade began with the success of singer-songwriter Christopher Cross, whose self-titled debut album went to No. 6 in the US and produced four charting singles, including the No. 1 hit \\\"Sailing\\\". He also won five major categories at the 1981 Grammy Awards, becoming the only solo artist to date to win the \\\"Big Four\\\" awards in one year (Record, Song and Album of the Year, and Best New Artist) while his performance of \\\"Arthur's Theme\\\" from the Dudley Moore film Arthur, which also went to No. 1, won both the Oscar and the Golden Globe award for Best Original Song.\\n\\nWarner Bros. scored an apparent coup in 1980 by luring Paul Simon away from Columbia Records. His first Warner album was One Trick Pony (1980), which accompanied the movie of the same name, which Simon wrote and starred in. The single \\\"Late in the Evening\\\" was a major hit (#6) but the album was not a big seller. His next album, Hearts and Bones (1983) was well received by critics but neither it nor the lead single \\\"Allergies\\\" made the chart and Simon's career took a nosedive and it was several more years before the label's patience eventually paid off.\\n\\nAfter two moderate-selling albums that established them as one of the most original American new wave bands of the period, DEVO broke through to mainstream success in 1980 with their third album Freedom of Choice which reached No. 22 in the US. Thanks to its quirky music video, which was put on high rotation on MTV, the single \\\"Whip It\\\" reached No. 14 on the Billboard pop chart, becoming the group's biggest American hit. Their follow-up EP DEV-O Live (1981) was a surprise hit in Australia, topping the singles chart there for three weeks, but their subsequent albums and singles suffered from declining sales and the group was eventually dropped by the label after their 1984 album Shout.\\n\\nPrince's 1980 album Dirty Mind was widely praised by critics, earning a gold record award, but his 1982 double-LP 1999 (1982) became his first major hit album, selling over six million copies and spawning three hit singles. The title track reached No. 12 in the US and provided his first international hit (#25 UK) and his next two singles, \\\"Little Red Corvette\\\" and \\\"Delirious\\\", were both US Top 10 hits.\\n\\nChicago was picked up by Warner Bros. in 1981 after being dropped by its former label Columbia, which believed that the band was no longer commercially viable. After teaming with producer David Foster, the band shot back into the charts in 1982 with the album Chicago 16, which reached No. 9 and produced two hit singles including the US No. 1 hit \\\"Hard To Say I'm Sorry\\\". The group's second Warner album, Chicago 17, became the biggest seller of its career—it reached No. 4 in the US and produced four US Top-20 singles including the Top-5 hits \\\"Hard Habit to Break\\\" (#3) and \\\"You're the Inspiration\\\" (#3) and is currently accredited at 6× Platinum. Lead singer Peter Cetera left the group after this album but had continued success as a solo artist for Warner, scoring a No. 1 hit in 1986 with \\\"Glory of Love\\\" (from the movie The Karate Kid Part II), which was also nominated for a Grammy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and an Academy Award. His second solo album sold more than a million copies and produced another No. 1 hit, \\\"The Next Time I Fall\\\". His third solo album produced the Top 5 hit \\\"One Good Woman\\\" (1988) and \\\"After All\\\" reached No. 6.\\n\\nLenny Waronker took over as President of WBR in 1982, and his first act was to sign Elvis Costello. Costello's first Warner album Spike featured his biggest American single, the Paul McCartney collaboration \\\"Veronica\\\", which was a US Top 20 hit. He recorded three more critically praised albums for Warner Bros., Mighty Like A Rose, Brutal Youth, and All This Useless Beauty, but he was dropped from the label after the major corporate shakeup in the mid-1990s.\\n\\nAfter the end of his contract with RSO Records and Polydor, Eric Clapton signed with Warner Bros. in 1982. His first WBR album, Money and Cigarettes (1983), reached No. 16 on the Billboard album chart, and the single \\\"I've Got a Rock 'n' Roll Heart\\\" reached No. 18 on the Billboard Hot 100. His next album Behind the Sun also fared well, reaching No. 34 and the hit single \\\"Forever Man\\\" went to No. 26, but he transferred to Reprise for his next release.\\n\\nAnother resurgent 1970s act who scored major success with Warner Bros. in this period was ZZ Top, which had previously been signed to London Records. During an extended break in the late 1970s the group gained ownership of its London recordings and signed with Warner Bros., which also re-issued the band's back-catalogue. The group's first two Warner albums Deguello (1979) and El Loco (1981) were moderately successful, but Eliminator (1983) became a major hit thanks to strong support for its music videos on MTV. The band scored three US hit singles including \\\"Legs\\\" (US #8), while the album reached No. 9 on the Billboard 200 and sold in huge numbers, earning a Diamond record award in 1996. Afterburner (1985) went to No. 4 and produced seven hit singles, including \\\"Sleeping Bag\\\" (#8).\\n\\nSire artist Madonna shot to international prominence with her 1983 self-titled debut album and her first mainstream hit single \\\"Holiday\\\", which reached No. 16 in the US and became a hit in many other countries, including Australia and the UK, where it was Top 5. The album made the Top 20 in more than a dozen countries including the US, where it has been certified at 5× Platinum status. It was quickly followed by Like a Virgin, which became her first US No. 1 album and has sold more than 21 million copies worldwide. The title track was also a huge international hit, going to No. 1 in Australia, Canada, Japan and the US. Boosted by her well-received role in the film Desperately Seeking Susan, \\\"Crazy For You\\\" (1985) became her second US No. 1 hit, and the follow-up \\\"Material Girl\\\" reached No. 2 in the US and was Top 5 in many other countries.\\n\\nPrince's hugely successful 1984 film and album Purple Rain cemented his stardom, selling more than thirteen million copies in the US (25 million worldwide) and spending twenty-four consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, while the Purple Rain film won the Academy Award for \\\"Best Original Song Score\\\" and grossed more than $80 million in the US. Singles from the album became hits on pop charts around the world; \\\"When Doves Cry\\\" and \\\"Let's Go Crazy\\\" both reached No. 1 and the title track reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. However, the sexually explicit album track \\\"Darling Nikki\\\" generated a major controversy that had lasting effects—when politician's wife Tipper Gore heard her 12-year-old daughter listening to the song and investigated the lyrics, her outrage led to the formation of the conservative lobby group Parents Music Resource Center. Their stance was vehemently opposed by former Warner Bros. artist Frank Zappa and others, but the PMRC's political clout eventually forced the US recording industry to adopt the compulsory practice of placing a \\\"Parental Advisory: Explicit Lyrics\\\" sticker on records deemed to contain \\\"offensive\\\" content.\\n\\n1984 also saw Van Halen break into the big league with the single \\\"Jump\\\" (their only US No. 1 hit) and the album 1984; it was a huge seller (earning Diamond album status in 1999) and reached No. 2 in the US, producing two more Top 20 hits. However, escalating friction between guitarist Eddie Van Halen and lead singer David Lee Roth reached breaking point soon after the album's release and Roth left the band, to be replaced by Sammy Hagar, who recorded for WB as part of Montrose; 1984 was also the last time they worked with Ted Templeman, who had produced all their albums up to this point.\\n\\nIn 1985, Dire Straits' single \\\"Money for Nothing\\\" gained massive exposure on MTV thanks to its innovative computer-animated music video, propelling the single to No. 1 in the US. They scored two more US Top 20 hits with \\\"Walk of Life\\\" and \\\"So Far Away\\\" and the album Brothers in Arms was a phenomenal success—it went to No. 1 in the US, Australia and most European countries and sold in colossal numbers—by 1996 it had been certified at 9× platinum in the US and it is currently ranked at No. 25 in the list of best-selling albums of all time, with sales of more than 30 million copies worldwide.\\n\\nThe new incarnation of Van Halen bounced back in 1986, releasing the enormously successful 5150 album which went to No. 1 and produced two hit singles, \\\"Why Can't This Be Love\\\" (US #3) and \\\"Dreams\\\" (#22). Their three subsequent studio albums (OU812, For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge, and Balance) all reached No. 1 and the band scored 17 US Top 20 singles, including 1988's \\\"When It's Love\\\" (US #5), but their overall sales gradually declined, with each album selling less than its predecessor.\\n\\nThe same was true of Prince. He scored numerous hit albums and singles through the latter half of the 1980s, but his record sales declined and Warner Bros. executives became increasingly concerned that he was producing far more material than they could release. His image was also tarnished by the failure of his later film ventures, his embarrassing refusal to participate in the recording of \\\"We Are The World\\\" and his sacking of guitarist Wendy Melvoin and long-serving keyboard player Lisa Coleman. The 1985 album Around the World in a Day held the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 for three weeks and peaked at No. 5 in the UK, selling seven million copies despite minimal promotion. Parade (1986) served as the soundtrack for Prince's second film Under the Cherry Moon; although the movie was a critical and commercial failure, the album peaked at No. 3 in Billboard and No. 2 on the R&B album charts and his classic single \\\"Kiss\\\" was another big international hit, going to No. 1 in the US and becoming a radio staple.\\n\\nPrince's next project had a long and complex evolution, beginning as a proposed concept double-album called Dream Factory; Prince then proposed a solo LP which he intended to issue under the pseudonym Camille, but he eventually combined elements from both to create the ambitious three-album set Crystal Ball. However, because of the relatively lower sales of his previous albums, Prince's manager Steve Fargnoli and Warner Bros. president Mo Ostin both doubted the commercial viability of releasing a 3-LP set, and after previewing Crystal Ball, Ostin insisted that Prince pare it down to two records. Prince at first refused and a battle of wills ensued for several weeks, but he eventually backed down and removed seven tracks; the resulting double-album was released in March 1987 as \\\"Sign o' the Times\\\". Despite Prince's bitterness over its forced reduction, it was very successful, peaking at No. 6 on the Billboard 200 albums chart and selling 5 million copies, while the title single \\\"Sign o' the Times\\\" reached No. 3 on the Hot 100. The follow-up single \\\"If I Was Your Girlfriend\\\" flopped (although it went to No. 12 on R&B chart) but he scored big hits with the next two singles, \\\"U Got the Look\\\" (#2 Hot 100, #11 R&B) and \\\"I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man\\\" (#10 Hot 100, #14 R&B).\\n\\nIn 1985, the company collaborated with View-Master to start out a children's video series Kidsongs, which were produced by Together Again Productions, and Warner Music Video handling distribution of the video product, designed for the educational market.\\n\\n1986–87 took Warner Bros. to even greater heights. Madonna's landmark album True Blue produced three US No. 1s and two Top 5 singles and the LP was an unprecedented success, topping the charts in more than 28 countries (a feat that earned her a place in the Guinness Book of Records), and to date it has sold 24 million copies. After several years in the doldrums, a reinvigorated Paul Simon burst back onto the music scene in late 1986 with Graceland. Warner Bros. were initially anxious about the commercial appeal of Simon's innovative fusion of rock with African styles but the album was a resounding success, topping the charts in many countries, reaching No. 3 in the US and producing two US Top 20 singles. It became the best-selling American album of 1987 and the most successful of Simon's solo career, selling more than 5 million copies, and winning the 1986 Grammy for 'Album of the Year'; the title track also won 'Song of the Year' in 1987. In jazz, Warner Bros. scored another artistic coup by signing jazz legend Miles Davis after his break with longtime label Columbia. His comeback album Tutu (1986) was a major crossover hit, gaining rave reviews and winning a Grammy in 1987.\\n\\nIn the summer of 1986, Warner Bros. announced the reactivation of Reprise Records with its own separate promotions department, and former Warner Bros. Vice President of Promotion Richard Fitzgerald was appointed as label Vice President.\\n\\nDuring 1987, Prince recorded a pared-down funk LP, The Black Album, but he withdrew it in December just before it was to be released (even though 500,000 copies had been printed). Its hastily recorded replacement Lovesexy (1988) was a moderate success, reaching No. 11 on the Billboard album chart although it reached No. 1 in the UK. However, he rebounded in 1989 with the soundtrack for the hugely successful Batman film, which sold more than eleven million copies, reached No. 1 on the Billboard album chart and produced four hit singles including \\\"Batdance\\\", which topped both the Hot 100 and R&B charts.\\n\\nLike fellow Athens, Georgia natives the B-52s, R.E.M. was a 'cult' band that gradually built up a strong following in the US and internationally during the 1980s (thanks in part to their innovative music videos). For most of the 1980s they were signed to the independent label IRS Records and in 1987, they broke out to mainstream success with the album Document, their first to sell more than one million copies. However, they were frustrated by IRS's poor international distribution and when their IRS contract expired in 1988 they signed with Warner Bros. Their Warner debut Green established them as a major force, earning a platinum album and selling more than 4 million copies worldwide, and \\\"Stand\\\" became their first US hit single.\\n\\nIn 1989, after an extended period of inactivity following the death of guitarist and main writer Ricky Wilson, the B-52s shot back to prominence with the album Cosmic Thing. It was a Top 5 hit in the US (#4) and the UK (#2) and went to No. 1 in Australia, where the group had enjoyed a strong following since their debut single \\\"Rock Lobster\\\"; they also scored three consecutive hit singles with \\\"Love Shack\\\" (#3 US, #1 Australia), \\\"Roam\\\" (US #3) and \\\"Deadbeat Club\\\" (US #30).\\n\\nWarner Bros.' most successful decade yet closed in sensational fashion. In early 1989, Madonna signed an endorsement deal with Pepsi, who introduced her new single \\\"Like a Prayer\\\" in the lavish \\\"Make a Wish\\\" commercial—the first time a pop single had debuted in an advertisement and the first time such a commercial was given a worldwide satellite premiere. However Pepsi had no control over Madonna's own \\\"Like a Prayer\\\" music video, which debuted exclusively on MTV soon after—it generated heated criticism due to its provocative use of religious imagery and was condemned by the Vatican. As a result, Pepsi withdrew the advertisement and canceled the endorsement deal—although Madonna was allowed to retain her US$5 million fee—but the controversy only heightened interest in the single and the album (also titled Like a Prayer). The single became Madonna's seventh US No. 1 and topped the chart in more than 30 other countries, and the album also went to No. 1, sold seven million copies worldwide and produced two more US Top 5 singles, establishing Madonna as the most successful female artist of the 1980s and one of the most successful musical performers of all time.\\n\\n1989–2004: The Time Warner era\\nIn 1989 Time Inc. acquired Warner Communications and merged the two enterprises to create Time Warner in a deal valued at US$14 billion.\\n\\nAfter a long period of relative stability that was notable in the cutthroat American music industry, the death of Steve Ross in late 1992 marked the start of a period of major upheaval at Warner Bros. Records.\\n\\nR.E.M.'s second Warner album Out of Time (1991) consolidated their success, topping the charts in both the US and the UK and producing two major hit singles: \\\"Losing My Religion\\\" became their biggest American single (#4 on Billboard Hot 100) and a hit in numerous other countries, and \\\"Shiny Happy People\\\", a Top 10 hit in both the US and the UK; the group also won three categories at that year's Grammy Awards.\\n\\nPrince's fortunes in the Nineties were mixed; he scored more hits and renewed his contract in 1992, but his relationship with Warner Bros. Records soon soured, climaxing in a highly publicized legal battle and his eventual departure from the label. Although his fourth film, Graffiti Bridge was panned by critics and bombed at the box office the album of the same name was very successful—it reached No. 6 on both the Billboard Hot 200 and R&B album chart and produced two US Top 20 singles. Diamonds and Pearls (1991) became one of the biggest albums of his career, selling 9 million records, reaching No. 3 in the US, No. 2 in the UK and No. 1 in Australia, with five of the six singles lifted from the album becoming hits in the US and other countries, including \\\"Cream\\\", which became his fifth US No. 1.\\n\\nPrince was appointed a vice-president of Warner Bros. Records when he re-signed with them in 1992, but soon regretted his decision. His next album—identified by the cryptic symbol on the cover later defined as \\\"The Love Symbol\\\"—was another solid hit, peaking at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 and selling 5 million copies worldwide, but by now tensions were increasing. Warner Bros. wanted to release \\\"7\\\" as his next single, but Prince successfully pushed for \\\"My Name Is Prince\\\" and it was only a minor hit (#36 Hot 100, #23 R&B); the follow-up \\\"Sexy MF\\\" was censored in the US because of the expletive in the chorus and did not even make the US Top 50 although it was a Top 5 hit in the UK and Australia. When eventually released, \\\"7\\\" became the only major US hit lifted from the album, peaking (appropriately) at No. 7.\\n\\nFollowing the 3-disc compilation The Hits/The B-Sides (1993), Prince stopped using his first name and started using only the \\\"Love Symbol\\\"—a decision that drew considerable ridicule from the media. Because this sign has no verbal equivalent, he was often derisively referred to as \\\"The Artist Formerly Known as Prince\\\". By 1994, relations between The Artist and his record label had reached an impasse—in February WEA cancelled its distribution deal with Paisley Park, effectively putting the label out of business. Although released by an independent distributor, his next single \\\"The Most Beautiful Girl in the World\\\" (1994) reached No. 3 in the US and topped the singles charts throughout Europe, becoming the biggest hit single of his career.\\n\\nPrince had meanwhile prepared two new albums, Come and The Gold Experience; an early version of Come was rejected but Warner Bros. eventually accepted both albums, although they refused to issue them simultaneously. By this time Prince had launched a legal action to terminate his contract and gain ownership of his master recordings, and he publicized his views by appearing in public with the word \\\"SLAVE\\\" written across his right cheek. Come (1994) was moderately successful in the US (#15, gold record) and the single \\\"Letitgo\\\" reached No. 10 on the R&B chart, although the album was a major hit in the UK, debuting at No. 1. In November Warner released a limited edition of The Black Album, but it was already widely bootlegged, sold poorly and was soon deleted. The Gold Experience (1995) was hailed by some reviewers as Prince's best effort since Sign o' the Times; it included \\\"The Most Beautiful Girl in the World\\\" and produced two other charting singles, \\\"I Hate U\\\" (US #11 and \\\"Gold\\\" UK #10). Prince's remarkable career with Warner Bros. ended with Chaos and Disorder (1996), compiled expressly to end his contract. It was one of his least successful releases but still managed to reach No. 26 in the US and No. 14 in the UK and produced one minor hit, \\\"Dinner With Delores\\\" (#36 UK). Prince subsequently released recordings on his own NPG label (via EMI) before eventually signing with Universal Music in 2005.\\n\\nR.E.M.'s Automatic for the People (1992) cemented their status as one of the top bands of the period and was the most successful album of their career, reaching No. 1 in the UK and No. 2 in the US, selling more than 10 million copies worldwide and generating three US hit singles, \\\"Drive\\\", \\\"Man on the Moon\\\", and \\\"Everybody Hurts\\\".\\n\\nDuring 1992 WBR faced one of the most serious controversies in its history over the provocative recording \\\"Cop Killer\\\" from the self titled album by Body Count, a rap metal band led by Ice-T. Unfortunately for Warner Bros., the song (which mentions the Rodney King case) came out just before the controversial acquittal of the police charged with King's beating, which sparked the 1992 Los Angeles Riots and the confluence of events put the song under the national spotlight. Complaints escalated over the summer—conservative police associations called for a boycott of Time Warner products, politicians including President George H. W. Bush denounced the label for releasing the song, Warner executives received death threats, Time Warner stockholders threatened to pull out of the company and the New Zealand police commissioner unsuccessfully tried to have the record banned there. Although Ice-T later voluntarily reissued Body Count without \\\"Cop Killer\\\", the furore seriously rattled Warner Music and in January 1993 WBR made an undisclosed deal releasing Ice-T from his contract and returning the Body Count master tapes to him. In the wake of the \\\"Cop Killer\\\" affair, Warner Bros. distanced itself from gangsta rap and in late 1995, it sold its 50% stake in Interscope Records and its controversial subsidiary Death Row Records (Tupac Shakur, Snoop Dogg) back to co-owners Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field. Iovine and Field quickly aligned Interscope with the Universal Music Group; the label, now known as Interscope-Geffen-A&M following the merger of several Universal imprints, is still run by Iovine today.\\n\\nSome relief came later that year when comedian Jeff Foxworthy revived Warner Bros.' success with comedy recordings; his debut album You Might Be a Redneck If... was a major hit in the US and Canada, and both it and his follow-up album sold more than three million copies each.\\n\\nEnd of an era: Ostin and Waronker depart\\nDuring 1994–1995, Warner Bros.'s successes and problems with its artists were overshadowed by a protracted period of highly publicized internecine strife, centering on Warner Music Group chairman Robert J. Morgado and his successor Michael J. Fuchs. In September 1993, Ostin began negotiations to renew his contract and it was at this point that Morgado unveiled his plan for a major corporate shakeup of the Warner group. This triggered a series of damaging corporate conflicts and in particular created a fatal rift between Morgado and Ostin. The first major casualty was Elektra chairman Bob Krasnow, who resigned abruptly in July 1994.\\n\\nFor many years Ostin had reported directly to Time Warner chairman Steve Ross (and then to Ross's successor Gerald Levin) but Morgado now insisted that Ostin should report to him, and he established a new division, Warner Music US, headed by Doug Morris, to oversee the three main record labels. Fearing the loss of autonomy and worried that he would be obliged to implement Morgado's \\\"slash-and-burn\\\" policy to streamline the label's staff and artist roster, he refused to carry out Morgado's orders and decided not to renew his contract. Ostin officially stepped down from Warner Bros. when his contract expired on December 31, 1994, although he stayed on as a senior consultant to Time Warner's chairman until August 1995. He later commented:\\n\\nOstin's departure sent shockwaves through the company and the industry, and elicited glowing tributes from colleagues and competitors like Joe Smith and Clive Davis, and musicians like Paul Simon and R.E.M. It also triggered an exodus of Warner executives who had joined the company primarily because of Ostin. Next to go was Lenny Waronker—he was initially designated to succeed Ostin as chairman but he ultimately declined the job and left WBR soon after. Following a period of uncertainty and speculation, the two joined forces to establish a new label, DreamWorks Records. Waronker was replaced by ex Atlantic Records president Danny Goldberg, but his tenure proved short. Long-serving WBR executive Russ Thyret, who had joined the label in 1971 and worked closely with Mo Ostin for many years, was promoted to vice-chairman in January 1995.\\n\\nGerald Levin forced Morgado to resign in May 1995 and he was replaced by HBO chairman Michael J. Fuchs. Fuchs sacked Morris a month later (sparking a US$50m breach of contract suit) and Warner Music US was dissolved. Morris' removal led to speculation that Ostin was being courted to return to WBR, but these reports proved unfounded, since Ostin and Waronker moved to DreamWorks soon after. Morris moved to MCA Records.\\n\\nDespite his close ties to Morris, Danny Goldberg was initially told he could remain as WBR president but he left the company in August 1995 after negotiating a settlement with Time Warner to terminate his five-year, US$20 million contract, which still had four years to run. He was subsequently appointed president of PolyGram subsidiary Mercury Records in October. Following Goldberg's departure Russ Thyret was promoted to chairman, CEO and label president. Fuchs himself was forced out of Time Warner in November 1995. In May 1997, Phil Quartararo took over as president of WBR, only weeks after he had left EMI's Virgin Records following a management shake-up there.\\n\\nThe departure of the team led by Ostin and Waronker also meant that many of the Warner artists whose careers they had nurtured and curated over the previous 30 years were now deprived of their patronage. As a result, by the year 2000 many of the \\\"flagship\\\" Warner acts of the Ostin/Waronker years left the label as their contracts expired. Ry Cooder was dropped in 1995 and Randy Newman followed Ostin and Waronker to DreamWorks, departing with a wry comment on his own status and the recent turmoil at Warner Bros.:\\n\\nAlthough never rising beyond \\\"cult\\\" status in terms of his sales as a solo artist, one of the most notable survivors from the Ostin era was Van Dyke Parks, who continued to release albums on Warner Bros. – Tokyo Rose (1989), the Brian Wilson collaboration Orange Crate Art (1995) and the live album Moonlighting: Live at the Ash Grove (1998). In 2004 Parks reunited with Brian Wilson to complete their long-shelved collaboration, Smile, which was released on the Nonesuch label to universal critical praise, winning a Grammy award, and making the Top 20 in the US and Top 10 in the UK, where it earned a gold record award.\\n\\nIn early 2001, there was a major restructure of the Warner Music Group; about 600 positions were eliminated across the three labels, and an executive reshuffle led to the departures of Thyret and Quartararo (as well as Reprise president Howie Klein) and the hiring of then-Interscope president Tom Whalley as head of Warner Bros. Records. In August Whalley appointed Jeff Ayeroff as Creative Director of Warner Bros. Records and Creative Consultant to Warner Music Group. Ayeroff had previously been WBR's Senior Vice-president and Creative Director from 1983 to 1986, overseeing many successful album covers and music videos in that period.\\n\\nIn 2002, Linkin Park won the Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance for their single Crawling released under Warner Bros. Whereas they were also nominated for Best Rock Album for Hybrid Theory which also turned out to be the best selling album of 2001 worldwide and Best New Artist. In 2004, the band was nominated for their song Session for Best Rock Instrumental Performance. In 2006 the band won Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for the song Numb/Encore released under Warner Bros./Roc-A-Fella/Machine Shop.\\n\\n2004–2019: Warner Music Group\\n\\nIn 2003, amid management disputes, sagging share prices and rising alarm about the impact of digital file sharing, Time Warner decided to unload its music operations. In March 2004, Time Warner's music assets were acquired by a private equity group headed by Thomas H. Lee Partners, Lexa Partners (led by Edgar Bronfman Jr., who put up US$150 million drawn from his family's stake in Vivendi), Bain Capital and Providence Equity Partners. The deal included an option that would allow Time Warner to buy back in if conditions proved favorable. Bronfman, Lee, Bain and Providence had reportedly recouped their investment by May 2006 through dividends, refinancing and a share offer floated in May 2005. \\n\\nThe sale was followed by a major restructure over the first half of 2004, which wad aimed at slashing $27 million from the company's budget. The cost-cutting measures included more than 1000 staff layoffs worldwide, the dropping of 80 artists, comprising more than half the Warner roster, and the restructuring of the company's two \\\"boutique\\\" labels. Elektra was folded into Atlantic, and its sub-label Nonesuch was absorbed into the Warner Records label, although Elektra would be revived as an active label five years later. The restructure period was also marked by a short but widely publicised dispute between Warner and Madonna—although, notably, the label made public efforts to distance the dispute from their regular dealings with Madonna, who remained signed to Warner as a solo artist.\\n\\nFollowing the private buyout of the music group, Madonna began talks with Warner management to dissolve the joint venture partnership in Madonna's Maverick label, to allow the label to work with other companies. Founded in 1992, Maverick had scored a major success in 1995 with Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill, and Madonna and her two partners, Guy Oseary and Ronnie Dashed, jointly held a controlling 60% stake. After the talks broke down, the trio sued the company; they alleged mismanagement, improper accounting and profit-taking, claiming that Maverick had earned $100m in profit for the group, and seeking to recover $200 million in alleged lost revenue, but the suit was settled in June that year, with Madonna selling most of her stake in Maverick to Warner for just $10 million.\\n\\nIn 2005, following the global restructure, Warner Music Australia scored a major coup when it acquired the assets of the Australian Festival Mushroom Group. That company had originated as Festival Records in Sydney in the 1952, and after its acquisition by Rupert Murdoch in 1961, Festival became one of the leading Australian record companies, recording and/or releasing much of the most significant Australian pop and rock music of the era on its flagship Festival label or via its subsidiary imprints. Festival also signed valuable licensing and distribution deals with major local independent pop labels such as Spin (NSW) and Clarion (WA), and it subsequently took over many of these labels and acquired their masters, greatly increasing its holdings of key Australian pop/rock recordings.\\n\\nIn the 1970s Festival signed a distribution deal with the fledgling Melbourne label Mushroom Records, founded by Michael Gudinski. Mushroom scored a key breakthrough in 1974–75 with Melbourne band Skyhooks, whose debut album Living in the Seventies'' became the highest-selling Australian album ever issued up to that time. Mushroom enjoyed enormous success in Australia from the late 1970s on, and although Gudinski later moved the label's distribution to EMI for some years, the two companies were eventually merged—Festival acquired 49% of Mushroom in 1993 and bought the remainder when Gudinski sold his controlling share in 1998. Finally, in 2005, after multiple management reshuffles and a steady decline in revenue, News Ltd sold the group and its recording archive (said to contain over 20,000 master tapes) to Warner Music Australia for a reported AU$10 million.\\n\\nFollowing the divestiture, WMG licensed the Warner Bros. trademarks, although this license could have been revoked if WMG came under control of a major motion picture studio.\\n\\nAfter five years of dormancy, Elektra was revived as an active imprint in June 2009, although some artists who had been signed to prior to the label' shelving in 2004 (including Tracy Chapman) had continued to have their recordings issued as Elektra releases. In mid-2018, Elektra was detached from the Atlantic Records umbrella and reorganized into Elektra Music Group, once again operating as an independently managed frontline label of Warner Music.\\n\\nIn 2013, WMG acquired Parlophone Records from EMI as part of its sale to Universal Music Group. Most Parlophone artists (excluding Coldplay and Tinie Tempah, who were placed under Atlantic) were placed under Warner Bros. Records for US distribution.\\nDan McCarroll was named president. He held the position until July 2017.\\n\\nIn October 2017, Aaron Bay-Schuck and Tom Corson were named co-chairmen of Warner Bros. Records, with Bay-Schuck serving as CEO and Corson COO. Corson joined the company in January 2018; Bay-Schuck began in the fall of that year. The Warner Bros. headquarters moved from Burbank to downtown Los Angeles in March 2019.\\n\\n2019–present: Warner Records\\nOn May 28, 2019, the label announced that it had changed its name to Warner Records, and unveiled a new logo—replacing the Warner Bros. shield with a wordmark and black circle (both partially cut off at the bottom). WMG explained that the new logo was meant to resemble the Earth, a record, and the Sun, and had \\\"artful simplicity and impactful typography that are ideally suited to the digital world\\\". The change was necessitated by the upcoming expiration of WMG's license to the Warner Bros. trademarks; after the sale of Warner Music Group in 2004 by Time Warner (now WarnerMedia since 2018), the company had been granted a 15-year license to use the Warner Bros. name and shield logo. The new logo received mixed reviews, with marketing critics and former WMG employees lamenting the replacement of the historic Warner Bros. emblem (used by the label for 61 years) with a comparatively simplistic mark.\\n\\nAffiliated labels\\n\\nCurrent\\n A&E Records (formerly Mushroom Records UK) (2003–present)\\n Helium 3 (2006–present)\\n Beluga Heights (2008–present)\\n Curb Records (1974-1982, 2000–present)\\n Word Records (2002–present)\\n Facultad de Némea (2017–present)\\n Festival Mushroom Records (2005–present)\\n Hotwire Unlimited (2010–present)\\n Machine Shop Recordings (2001–present)\\n Loveway Records (2009–present)\\n Mind of a Genius (2016–present)\\n Arkade Records (2016–present)\\n Nonesuch Records (2004–present)\\n OVO Sound (2012–present)\\n Parlophone (2014–present)\\n Reprise Records (1963–present)\\n REMember Music (2014–present)\\n Sire Records (1978–1995, 2003–present)\\n Artery Recordings (2017–present)\\n The Benton Music Records (2018–present)\\n Clover Music (2018–present)\\n Masked Records (2018–present)\\n\\nFormer\\n 1017 Brick Squad Records\\n 143 Records\\n 4AD Records (1992–1998) (US only)\\n Action Theory Records\\n American Recordings (1988–1997 [US], 2005–2007 [worldwide])\\n Autumn Records (1963–1965)\\n Bearsville Records (1970–1984)\\n BME Recordings\\n Blacksmith Records (2005–2008)\\n Brute/Beaute Records (2004–2007)\\n Capricorn Records (1972–1977), (1990–1995)\\n Chrysalis Records (1972–1976) (US only)\\n Cold Chillin' Records (1987–1994)\\n Dark Horse Records (1976–1992)\\n Doghouse Records\\n ECM Records (?–1984)\\n Extasy International Records (2000–2004)\\n Full Moon Records (1974–1992)\\n F-111 Records (1995–2001)\\n Geffen Records (1980–1990)\\n Giant Records and its subsidiaries the Medicine Label (1993–1995), Paladin, Revolution (1990–2001; catalog is owned by Warner Records today)\\n Ice Age Entertainment\\n Island Records (1977–1982, except for Steve Winwood releases until 1987)\\n Jet Life Recordings\\n Kwanza Records (1973–1974)\\n Loma Records (1964–1968 and one boutique release in 2003)\\n London Records (2000–2017; small part of catalog was secured by WMG after sold to Because Music, including New Order)\\n Luaka Bop Records (1988–2000)\\n Malpaso Records (1995–2000)\\n Maverick Records (1992–2008; dormant)\\n Maybach Music Group (2011–2012)\\n Metal Blade Records (1988–1993)\\n Music for Little People (1990–1995)\\n Opal Records (1987–1993)\\n Paisley Park Records (1985–1994)\\n Perezcious Music\\n Playmaker Music\\n Premeditated Records (middle 1990s)\\n Public Broadcasting Service\\n Qwest Records (1980–2000)\\n Raybaw Records (2005–2008)\\n RuffNation Records\\n Slash Records (1982–1998; 2003–present)\\n Teleprompt Records\\n Tommy Boy Records (1985–2002; rights to pre-2002 catalog transferred to Atlantic Records and reacquired by a \\\"new\\\" Tommy Boy (Tommy Boy Entertainment) in 2017, being distributed by ADA subsidiary of WMG. The label reacquired its pre-2002 catalog in 2017)\\n Valiant Records (1960–1966)\\n Warner Alliance (1986–1998)\\n Warner Western (198?–200?)\\n Funk Volume (2015–2016)\\n\\nArtists\\n\\nSee also\\n List of record labels\\n List of Warner Records artists\\n Reprise Records\\n\\nNotes\\n\\nReferences\\n\\nExternal links\\n \\n \\n The Warner Bros. Records Story from BSN Pubs. – includes links to comprehensive Warner Bros. album discographies, 1958–1983\\n \\n Discography of Loma Records\\n\\n \\nAmerican record labels\\nWarner Music labels\\nAmerican country music record labels\\nHeavy metal record labels\\nHip hop record labels\\nPop record labels\\nRock record labels\\nSoundtrack record labels\\nEntertainment companies based in California\\nCompanies based in Burbank, California\\nRecord labels established in 1958\\nEntertainment companies established in 1958\\n1958 establishments in California\\nFormer WarnerMedia subsidiaries\\nIFPI members\\nLabels distributed by Warner Music Group\"\n]"},"chunked_article":{"kind":"list like","value":["The Flaming Lips are an American psychedelic rock band formed in 1983 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The band currently consists of Wayne Coyne (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Steven Drozd (guitars, keyboards, bass, vocals), Derek Brown (keyboards, guitars, percussion), Matt Duckworth Kirksey (drums, percussion, keyboards) and Nicholas Ley (percussion, drums). The group recorded several albums and EPs on an indie label, Restless, in the 1980s and early 1990s.","The group recorded several albums and EPs on an indie label, Restless, in the 1980s and early 1990s. After signing to Warner Brothers, they released their first record with Warner, Hit to Death in the Future Head (1992). They later released The Soft Bulletin (1999), which was NME magazine's Album of the Year, and then Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (2002). In February 2007, they were nominated for a BRIT Award for \"Best International Act\".","In February 2007, they were nominated for a BRIT Award for \"Best International Act\". The group has won three Grammy Awards, including two for Best Rock Instrumental Performance. They were placed on Q magazines list of the \"50 Bands to See Before You Die\" in 2002. History Early history and releases (1983–1990) The Flaming Lips formed in Oklahoma City in 1983 with Wayne Coyne on guitar, his brother Mark singing lead vocals, Michael Ivins on bass and Dave Kotska on drums.","History Early history and releases (1983–1990) The Flaming Lips formed in Oklahoma City in 1983 with Wayne Coyne on guitar, his brother Mark singing lead vocals, Michael Ivins on bass and Dave Kotska on drums. The band debuted at Oklahoma City's Blue Note Lounge. After they hired Dave Kotska as the drummer, Richard English joined the band in 1984. That same year they recorded The Flaming Lips EP, their only release with Mark singing lead vocals. There are several theories as to how the band chose their name.","There are several theories as to how the band chose their name. One possibility is that it was inspired by the 1953 feature film Geraldine, in which comedian Stan Freberg sings several songs, including one named \"Flaming Lips\". Another possible source is from the 1964 film What a Way to Go! in which Shirley MacLaine's character stars in a film titled Flaming Lips.","in which Shirley MacLaine's character stars in a film titled Flaming Lips. However, according to an article in the September 16, 1993 issue of Rolling Stone, Mark and Wayne came up with the name as a reference to a rumor about a classmate who contracted genital herpes after receiving cunnilingus from a partner with active cold sores. Wayne elaborated:When Mark and I were in, I think it was Junior Year in High School, there was a rumor about this girl who got herpes from this guy at a party.","Wayne elaborated:When Mark and I were in, I think it was Junior Year in High School, there was a rumor about this girl who got herpes from this guy at a party. He went down on her with a cold sore. I don't think we knew the girl, and I'm not sure if she even existed, you know how kids just spread bullshit.","I don't think we knew the girl, and I'm not sure if she even existed, you know how kids just spread bullshit. But when we were thinking of band names one night over a pack of Schlitz and some left-handed cigarettes and remembered how we joked that they both had \"Flaming Lips\" and it just stuck.After his brother's departure, Wayne assumed the vocal duties and the band released their first full-length album, Hear It Is, on Pink Dust Records (the psychedelic-rock imprint of Enigma Records) in 1986.","But when we were thinking of band names one night over a pack of Schlitz and some left-handed cigarettes and remembered how we joked that they both had \"Flaming Lips\" and it just stuck.After his brother's departure, Wayne assumed the vocal duties and the band released their first full-length album, Hear It Is, on Pink Dust Records (the psychedelic-rock imprint of Enigma Records) in 1986. This line-up recorded two more albums: 1987's Oh My Gawd!!!","This line-up recorded two more albums: 1987's Oh My Gawd!!! and 1989's Telepathic Surgery, the latter originally planned to be a 30-minute sound collage. Drummer Nathan Roberts replaced English and guitarist Jonathan Donahue (also a member of the alternative rock band Mercury Rev) joined in 1989. In a Priest Driven Ambulance, their first album with producer Dave Fridmann, was recorded at the State University of New York in Fredonia for $5 an hour on a $10,000 budget.","In a Priest Driven Ambulance, their first album with producer Dave Fridmann, was recorded at the State University of New York in Fredonia for $5 an hour on a $10,000 budget. The album was host to a marked expansion in the band's sound and their previous experiments in tape loops and effects were given a more prominent role.","The album was host to a marked expansion in the band's sound and their previous experiments in tape loops and effects were given a more prominent role. During this period, Coyne made his transition to a higher, more strained vocal style akin to Neil Young, which he first used on Telepathic Surgery's \"Chrome Plated Suicide\" and has employed ever since.","During this period, Coyne made his transition to a higher, more strained vocal style akin to Neil Young, which he first used on Telepathic Surgery's \"Chrome Plated Suicide\" and has employed ever since. In 1990, the band caught the attention of Warner Bros. Records and was signed promptly after a label representative witnessed a show at which the band almost burned down the venue (American Legion Hall in Norman, Oklahoma) with the use of pyrotechnics.","In 1990, the band caught the attention of Warner Bros. Records and was signed promptly after a label representative witnessed a show at which the band almost burned down the venue (American Legion Hall in Norman, Oklahoma) with the use of pyrotechnics. Signed to Warner Bros. (Hit to Death in the Future Head to Clouds Taste Metallic) (1991–1996) In 1991, the band started recording their major label debut Hit to Death in the Future Head.","Signed to Warner Bros. (Hit to Death in the Future Head to Clouds Taste Metallic) (1991–1996) In 1991, the band started recording their major label debut Hit to Death in the Future Head. The album's release was halted for nearly a year because of the use of a sample from Michael Kamen's score for the film Brazil in the track \"You Have to Be Joking (Autopsy of the Devil's Brain)\", which required a lengthy clearance process.","The album's release was halted for nearly a year because of the use of a sample from Michael Kamen's score for the film Brazil in the track \"You Have to Be Joking (Autopsy of the Devil's Brain)\", which required a lengthy clearance process. After the recording of this album, Donahue left the band to concentrate on Mercury Rev, and Roberts left the band as well, citing creative differences. They were replaced by Ronald Jones and Steven Drozd, respectively.","They were replaced by Ronald Jones and Steven Drozd, respectively. In 1993, they released Transmissions from the Satellite Heart. This was the only studio album since In a Priest Driven Ambulance, to date, in which Dave Fridmann has not been involved. Because of the success of the album and the single \"She Don't Use Jelly\", the band was featured on four popular television series: Beverly Hills, 90210, Late Show with David Letterman, Charmed and Beavis and Butt-head.","Because of the success of the album and the single \"She Don't Use Jelly\", the band was featured on four popular television series: Beverly Hills, 90210, Late Show with David Letterman, Charmed and Beavis and Butt-head. The success of this record led to long stints of touring, opening for bands including Red Hot Chili Peppers and Candlebox. Clouds Taste Metallic was released to much critical fanfare in late 1995, though it did not achieve the commercial success of its predecessor.","Clouds Taste Metallic was released to much critical fanfare in late 1995, though it did not achieve the commercial success of its predecessor. The strain of the year-long Clouds tour, added to the stress from the three years touring in support of Transmissions, was a major factor in the departure of Jones in late 1996. He was said to be suffering from a severe case of agoraphobia, although the documentary Fearless Freaks states that he left because of his growing concerns over Drozd's drug use.","He was said to be suffering from a severe case of agoraphobia, although the documentary Fearless Freaks states that he left because of his growing concerns over Drozd's drug use. In September 2014, the band paid tribute to Jones and the impact his music had on their developing sound by performing Transmissions from the Satellite Heart live at First Avenue. In February 2015, they performed Clouds Taste Metallic at the same venue.","In February 2015, they performed Clouds Taste Metallic at the same venue. Later, in December, a 20th anniversary box set called Heady Nuggs: 20 Years After Clouds Taste Metallic 1994–1997, was released.","Later, in December, a 20th anniversary box set called Heady Nuggs: 20 Years After Clouds Taste Metallic 1994–1997, was released. Zaireeka (1997–1998) The departure of Jones and a general dissatisfaction with standard \"rock\" music led to the three remaining members of the group redefining the direction of the band with the experimental Zaireeka (1997), a four-CD album which is intended to be heard by playing all four CDs in four separate CD players simultaneously.","Zaireeka (1997–1998) The departure of Jones and a general dissatisfaction with standard \"rock\" music led to the three remaining members of the group redefining the direction of the band with the experimental Zaireeka (1997), a four-CD album which is intended to be heard by playing all four CDs in four separate CD players simultaneously. The music incorporated both traditional musical elements and \"found\" sounds (as in musique concrète), often heavily manipulated with recording studio electronics.","The music incorporated both traditional musical elements and \"found\" sounds (as in musique concrète), often heavily manipulated with recording studio electronics. As part of the development of this project, the band conducted a series of \"parking lot experiments\" and then later, \"boombox experiments\". In the parking lot experiments up to 40 volunteers were given cassettes created by the band to be played at a parking lot in their cars' stereo systems simultaneously.","In the parking lot experiments up to 40 volunteers were given cassettes created by the band to be played at a parking lot in their cars' stereo systems simultaneously. In the \"boom box experiments\" an orchestra composed of up to 40 volunteers with modified \"boombox\"-type tape players was \"conducted\" – directed to vary the volume, speed or tone of the tape they were playing (again composed by the band) – by Wayne Coyne.","In the \"boom box experiments\" an orchestra composed of up to 40 volunteers with modified \"boombox\"-type tape players was \"conducted\" – directed to vary the volume, speed or tone of the tape they were playing (again composed by the band) – by Wayne Coyne. Meanwhile, a series of unfortunate events (recounted in the 1999 song \"The Spiderbite Song\") beset the band.","Meanwhile, a series of unfortunate events (recounted in the 1999 song \"The Spiderbite Song\") beset the band. Drozd's arm was almost amputated needlessly because of what he claimed was a spider bite (it turned out to be abscessed as a result of Drozd's heroin use), Ivins was trapped in his car for several hours after a wheel spun off of another vehicle into his windshield, and Coyne's father died after a long battle with cancer.","Drozd's arm was almost amputated needlessly because of what he claimed was a spider bite (it turned out to be abscessed as a result of Drozd's heroin use), Ivins was trapped in his car for several hours after a wheel spun off of another vehicle into his windshield, and Coyne's father died after a long battle with cancer. Mainstream breakthrough (The Soft Bulletin and Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots) (1999–2002) Though their experimental endeavors received some press coverage, their real breakthrough came with the 1999 release, The Soft Bulletin.","Mainstream breakthrough (The Soft Bulletin and Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots) (1999–2002) Though their experimental endeavors received some press coverage, their real breakthrough came with the 1999 release, The Soft Bulletin. Marrying more traditional catchy melodies with synthetic strings, hypnotic, carefully manipulated beats, booming cymbals and oddball but philosophical lyrics (sung much more strongly than on earlier releases), the album quickly became one of the underground hits of the year, even widely considered to be one of the best albums of the entire decade.","Marrying more traditional catchy melodies with synthetic strings, hypnotic, carefully manipulated beats, booming cymbals and oddball but philosophical lyrics (sung much more strongly than on earlier releases), the album quickly became one of the underground hits of the year, even widely considered to be one of the best albums of the entire decade. Compared by many music critics to the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds because of its inclusion of harmonies and orchestrated sounds, The Soft Bulletin also featured greater use of synthesizers, drum machines, sound effects and more studio manipulation.","Compared by many music critics to the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds because of its inclusion of harmonies and orchestrated sounds, The Soft Bulletin also featured greater use of synthesizers, drum machines, sound effects and more studio manipulation. After this album was released, Coyne stated that, \"if someone was to ask me what instrument do I play, I would say the recording studio.\"","After this album was released, Coyne stated that, \"if someone was to ask me what instrument do I play, I would say the recording studio.\" As the band considered an attempt to recreate this complex album live solely with additional musicians to be complex and expensive, they decided to tour as a three-piece and make extensive use of pre-recorded music to fill out those parts that were not performed live by the members of the band.","As the band considered an attempt to recreate this complex album live solely with additional musicians to be complex and expensive, they decided to tour as a three-piece and make extensive use of pre-recorded music to fill out those parts that were not performed live by the members of the band. This led to the decision to have the drummer Drozd play primarily keyboards and guitar live instead of the drums.","This led to the decision to have the drummer Drozd play primarily keyboards and guitar live instead of the drums. This, in turn, led to a decision to utilize video recordings and projections of Steven playing the drums for some of the band's older songs, so the band added Kliph Scurlock on drums and percussion, Drozd focused on guitars, keyboards, bass (when he plays bass, Ivins plays keyboards), drums and occasional vocals, when he sings, Coyne plays guitars, keyboards and theremin.","This, in turn, led to a decision to utilize video recordings and projections of Steven playing the drums for some of the band's older songs, so the band added Kliph Scurlock on drums and percussion, Drozd focused on guitars, keyboards, bass (when he plays bass, Ivins plays keyboards), drums and occasional vocals, when he sings, Coyne plays guitars, keyboards and theremin. To enhance the live experience for their audience and to accurately reproduce the sound of The Soft Bulletin live, the Lips devised the concept of the \"Headphone Concert\".","To enhance the live experience for their audience and to accurately reproduce the sound of The Soft Bulletin live, the Lips devised the concept of the \"Headphone Concert\". A low-powered FM transmitter was set up at shows, and the concert was simultaneously broadcast to small Walkman-style receivers and headphones made available for free to audience members. This would, in theory, allow the audiences greater sonic clarity while still feeling the power of a full live P.A.","This would, in theory, allow the audiences greater sonic clarity while still feeling the power of a full live P.A. This concept was debuted in Dallas, Texas, and at the South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas, in March 1999, and was subsequently used on the International Music Against Brain Degeneration Revue tour. This tour featured Japanese band Cornelius, Sebadoh, Robyn Hitchcock, Sonic Boom's E.A.R. and IQU.","and IQU. and IQU. Three years later, in the summer of 2002, the Flaming Lips joined bands Cake and Modest Mouse on the Unlimited Sunshine Tour. They also released the full-length Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots to much critical acclaim. Featuring guest musician Yoshimi P-We (who inspired the album's title track) and demonstrating more use of electronic instruments and computer manipulation than The Soft Bulletin, Yoshimi is widely considered to be the Flaming Lips' first critical and commercial success after nearly twenty years as a band.","Featuring guest musician Yoshimi P-We (who inspired the album's title track) and demonstrating more use of electronic instruments and computer manipulation than The Soft Bulletin, Yoshimi is widely considered to be the Flaming Lips' first critical and commercial success after nearly twenty years as a band. The final track on the album, \"Approaching Pavonis Mons by Balloon (Utopia Planitia)\" earned a 2003 Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance, and the album was certified gold on April 10, 2006.","The final track on the album, \"Approaching Pavonis Mons by Balloon (Utopia Planitia)\" earned a 2003 Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance, and the album was certified gold on April 10, 2006. In March 2007, the band revealed that they had recently teamed up with screenwriter Aaron Sorkin to produce a Broadway musical based on the album. In January 2012, Pitchfork TV released a forty-five-minute documentary on The Soft Bulletin.","In January 2012, Pitchfork TV released a forty-five-minute documentary on The Soft Bulletin. The documentary featured several rare archival photos and videos along with interviews from the members, producer Dave Fridmann, and manager Scott Booker. The same year, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots was adapted into a musical after being in development for years after the album's release. Both The Soft Bulletin and Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots have been released on DVD-Audio. Following the success of \"Yoshimi\", Steven Drozd completed rehab for heroin addiction.","Following the success of \"Yoshimi\", Steven Drozd completed rehab for heroin addiction. This decision was spurred by a physical altercation between Drozd and Wayne Coyne. Continued success (At War with the Mystics) (2002–2006) Shortly after Yoshimi and The Soft Bulletin, the Flaming Lips released two EPs in the same vein of their previous album's robotic theme which contain remixed songs from Yoshimi, Fight Test and Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell.","Continued success (At War with the Mystics) (2002–2006) Shortly after Yoshimi and The Soft Bulletin, the Flaming Lips released two EPs in the same vein of their previous album's robotic theme which contain remixed songs from Yoshimi, Fight Test and Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell. They also appeared on the track \"Marching the Hate Machines (Into the Sun)\" on the Thievery Corporation album The Cosmic Game. In 2002 they were invited to work with The Chemical Brothers.","In 2002 they were invited to work with The Chemical Brothers. Steven Drozd performed lead vocals, while Wayne Coyne performed harmony vocals, on the single \"The Golden Path\", which was included on The Chemical Brothers compilation album, Singles 93-03. In 2002, they performed as the opening act, as well as the backup band, for singer Beck on his Sea Change tour.","In 2002, they performed as the opening act, as well as the backup band, for singer Beck on his Sea Change tour. In the summer of 2004, it was announced that the Flaming Lips would appear among the headliners on the 2004 Lollapalooza tour, alongside such artists as Sonic Youth and Morrissey; however, the tour was canceled because of lack of revenue. Also in 2004, the band recorded the song \"SpongeBob and Patrick Confront the Psychic Wall of Energy\" for the soundtrack of The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie.","Also in 2004, the band recorded the song \"SpongeBob and Patrick Confront the Psychic Wall of Energy\" for the soundtrack of The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. Following the concerts' cancellation, the band entered Tarbox Road Studio with producer Dave Fridmann and began work on their eleventh album, the more organic-sounding At War with the Mystics.","Following the concerts' cancellation, the band entered Tarbox Road Studio with producer Dave Fridmann and began work on their eleventh album, the more organic-sounding At War with the Mystics. The record, aimed to be a more guitar-based and heavier effort than recent albums, featured more politically conscious lyrics than any of their previous releases, and was released in April 2006 to a mixed yet mostly positive reception.","The record, aimed to be a more guitar-based and heavier effort than recent albums, featured more politically conscious lyrics than any of their previous releases, and was released in April 2006 to a mixed yet mostly positive reception. In 2005 the band was the subject of a documentary called Fearless Freaks, featuring appearances by other artists and celebrities such as Gibby Haynes, The White Stripes, Beck, Christina Ricci, Liz Phair, Juliette Lewis, Steve Burns, Starlight Mints, and Adam Goldberg.","In 2005 the band was the subject of a documentary called Fearless Freaks, featuring appearances by other artists and celebrities such as Gibby Haynes, The White Stripes, Beck, Christina Ricci, Liz Phair, Juliette Lewis, Steve Burns, Starlight Mints, and Adam Goldberg. In that same year, the Flaming Lips contributed a version of \"Bohemian Rhapsody\" to the album Killer Queen: A Tribute to Queen.","In that same year, the Flaming Lips contributed a version of \"Bohemian Rhapsody\" to the album Killer Queen: A Tribute to Queen. Also in this year, the Flaming Lips released the DVD VOID (Video Overview in Deceleration), which chronicles all of their ventures into music video that have been produced since they signed with Warner Bros in 1991.","Also in this year, the Flaming Lips released the DVD VOID (Video Overview in Deceleration), which chronicles all of their ventures into music video that have been produced since they signed with Warner Bros in 1991. In October 2005, the Flaming Lips recorded a cover of \"If I Only Had a Brain\" for the soundtrack of the video game Stubbs the Zombie, which features modern rock bands covering songs from the 1950s and 1960s.","In October 2005, the Flaming Lips recorded a cover of \"If I Only Had a Brain\" for the soundtrack of the video game Stubbs the Zombie, which features modern rock bands covering songs from the 1950s and 1960s. Additionally, the band released one new song, \"Mr. Ambulance Driver\", for the soundtrack of the 2005 film Wedding Crashers (a slightly edited version of the song found its way onto the new record). The band released two singles from At War With the Mystics: \"The W.A.N.D.","The band released two singles from At War With the Mystics: \"The W.A.N.D. \", which was featured in a Dell commercial and which was originally put out as a download-only single in early 2006, and \"The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song\", which became their highest-charting single on the UK Singles Chart, peaking at No. 16. A 4-track EP, entitled It Overtakes Me, was released later in the UK that year. The only instrumental on the album, \"The Wizard Turns On...","The only instrumental on the album, \"The Wizard Turns On... The Giant Silver Flashlight and Puts on His Werewolf Moccasins\", earned a 2006 Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance, making it twice in a row the Lips have been nominated in that category and won. Following the April 4, 2006 release of At War with the Mystics, the band began a tour to support the album in the United Kingdom, including a finale at the Royal Albert Hall and performances at the O2 Wireless Festival.","Following the April 4, 2006 release of At War with the Mystics, the band began a tour to support the album in the United Kingdom, including a finale at the Royal Albert Hall and performances at the O2 Wireless Festival. At the Leeds England date of the festival, the band opened for The Who, of whom they are long standing fans.","At the Leeds England date of the festival, the band opened for The Who, of whom they are long standing fans. The band continued to tour throughout the fall of 2006 stopping in Montreal, the Virgin Festival on the Toronto Islands, Atlantic City's House of Blues, The University of Vermont in Burlington, their hometown Oklahoma City, the Austin City Limits Music Festival in Austin, Texas, and New York City, NY as well as several other cities.","The band continued to tour throughout the fall of 2006 stopping in Montreal, the Virgin Festival on the Toronto Islands, Atlantic City's House of Blues, The University of Vermont in Burlington, their hometown Oklahoma City, the Austin City Limits Music Festival in Austin, Texas, and New York City, NY as well as several other cities. The homecoming show in Oklahoma City was performed at the Zoo Amphitheater and included the unveiling of a new UFO stage prop, and would provide footage for the U.F.O.s at the Zoo concert DVD.","The homecoming show in Oklahoma City was performed at the Zoo Amphitheater and included the unveiling of a new UFO stage prop, and would provide footage for the U.F.O.s at the Zoo concert DVD. On December 5, 2006, Oklahoma City honored the band with a downtown alley named after the band. Vince Gill and Charlie Christian were also given street names by the city. Flaming Lips Alley is at the center of Oklahoma City's entertainment district, Bricktown.","Flaming Lips Alley is at the center of Oklahoma City's entertainment district, Bricktown. At the official dedication in 2007, Coyne said of Oklahoma City, \"...We're on the way to becoming, I think, the fucking coolest city in America.\" Christmas on Mars (2008) In 2001, the Flaming Lips began filming a low-budget indie film entitled Christmas on Mars. Filming for the movie ended in late September 2005 and premiered on May 25, 2008 at the Sasquatch! Music Festival.","Music Festival. Music Festival. The film tells the story of the first Christmas of a colony set-up on the surface of Mars and was written by Wayne Coyne, and co-directed by Wayne Coyne, Bradley Beesley and George Salisbury, with the band and their friends acting in the movie. The band brought the film to rock festivals across America during the summer of 2008 and screened it in a large circus tent they had bought for that purpose.","The band brought the film to rock festivals across America during the summer of 2008 and screened it in a large circus tent they had bought for that purpose. The film was released on DVD on November 11, 2008, along with a soundtrack written and performed by the Flaming Lips. The band released their first live concert DVD, UFO's at the Zoo: The Legendary Concert in Oklahoma City, on August 7, 2007.","The band released their first live concert DVD, UFO's at the Zoo: The Legendary Concert in Oklahoma City, on August 7, 2007. The band also contributed original songs to the soundtracks of several 2007 films, including \"The Supreme Being Teaches Spider-Man How to be in Love\" for Spider-Man 3, \"I Was Zapped by the Super Lucky Rainbow\" for Good Luck Chuck, \"Love the World You Find\" for Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, and \"Maybe I'm Not the One\" and \"Tale of the Horny Frog\" for The Heartbreak Kid.","The band also contributed original songs to the soundtracks of several 2007 films, including \"The Supreme Being Teaches Spider-Man How to be in Love\" for Spider-Man 3, \"I Was Zapped by the Super Lucky Rainbow\" for Good Luck Chuck, \"Love the World You Find\" for Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, and \"Maybe I'm Not the One\" and \"Tale of the Horny Frog\" for The Heartbreak Kid. Official rock song of Oklahoma (2009) In March 2009 \"Do You Realize??\"","Official rock song of Oklahoma (2009) In March 2009 \"Do You Realize??\" was announced as the official rock song of Oklahoma. Ten choices were put to a public vote, and out of 21,000 votes cast nearly 51% were for \"Do You Realize??\" The Oklahoma Senate approved this choice unanimously.","The Oklahoma Senate approved this choice unanimously. The Oklahoma Senate approved this choice unanimously. The Oklahoma House of Representatives failed to confirm the choice after Rep. Mike Reynolds, R-Oklahoma City attacked the band for its use of offensive language, and Rep. Corey Holland, R-Marlow said he had been \"really offended\" when Michael Ivins came to the announcement ceremony in March wearing a red T-shirt with a yellow hammer and sickle.","The Oklahoma House of Representatives failed to confirm the choice after Rep. Mike Reynolds, R-Oklahoma City attacked the band for its use of offensive language, and Rep. Corey Holland, R-Marlow said he had been \"really offended\" when Michael Ivins came to the announcement ceremony in March wearing a red T-shirt with a yellow hammer and sickle. However, that evening, Oklahoma governor Brad Henry announced he would sign an executive order naming the song the official rock song.","However, that evening, Oklahoma governor Brad Henry announced he would sign an executive order naming the song the official rock song. Henry said that for more than 20 years the Flaming Lips have produced \"creative, fun and provocative rock music.\" \"The music of the Flaming Lips has earned Grammys, glowing critical acclaim and fans all over the world\", the governor said. \"A truly iconic rock n' roll band, they are proud ambassadors of their home state...","\"A truly iconic rock n' roll band, they are proud ambassadors of their home state... They were clearly the people's choice, and I intend to honor that vote.\" However, it was revealed in 2013 that Republican Governor Mary Fallin removed this designation by not renewing Brad Henry's executive order upon taking office in 2011. An alley in Oklahoma City had been named for the band in 2006.","An alley in Oklahoma City had been named for the band in 2006. Embryonic and Dark Side of the Moon (2009) In 2009, the band released their twelfth studio album and first double album, Embryonic. The album, which was the band's first to open in the Billboard top 10, was widely critically acclaimed for its new direction; late in the recording the band added Derek Brown on keyboards, percussion and guitar.","The album, which was the band's first to open in the Billboard top 10, was widely critically acclaimed for its new direction; late in the recording the band added Derek Brown on keyboards, percussion and guitar. In December of the same year, the band released their second album of the year and thirteenth overall, The Flaming Lips and Stardeath and White Dwarfs with Henry Rollins and Peaches Doing The Dark Side of the Moon, a track-for-track cover of Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon, which was recorded with Stardeath and White Dwarfs and features guest appearances from Henry Rollins and Peaches.","In December of the same year, the band released their second album of the year and thirteenth overall, The Flaming Lips and Stardeath and White Dwarfs with Henry Rollins and Peaches Doing The Dark Side of the Moon, a track-for-track cover of Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon, which was recorded with Stardeath and White Dwarfs and features guest appearances from Henry Rollins and Peaches. The album was released physically on vinyl and CD in 2010.","The album was released physically on vinyl and CD in 2010. In 2010, the band performed \"I Can Be a Frog\" on the Nick Jr. television series Yo Gabba Gabba. 2011 releases In January 2011, the Lips announced their intention of releasing a new song every month of the year. In February, they released the first track titled \"Two Blobs Fucking\". The song exists as 12 separate pieces on YouTube and must be played simultaneously to be heard as intended.","The song exists as 12 separate pieces on YouTube and must be played simultaneously to be heard as intended. In March 2011, the Lips released the EP The Flaming Lips with Neon Indian. In April, the band released the Gummy Song Skull EP, a seven-pound skull made of gummy bear material with a gummy brain, which contained a flashdrive with 4 songs on them. This release was extremely limited, but was soon leaked on the internet shortly after its release.","This release was extremely limited, but was soon leaked on the internet shortly after its release. In May, the band released its second collaboration EP titled The Flaming Lips with Prefuse 73. It contains four songs and was released in a similar way to the earlier Neon Indian EP, in that the run was extremely limited and consisted of randomly colored, one of a kind discs. This EP was briefly available on the band's official website but sold out shortly after it was put up for sale.","This EP was briefly available on the band's official website but sold out shortly after it was put up for sale. June saw several releases by the band, the first being The Soft Bulletin: Live la Fantastique de Institution 2011, a live-in-studio recording of the band's 1999 album The Soft Bulletin which was on a flash drive embedded in a marijuana-flavored brain inside a strawberry flavored gummy skull. This was only released at the band's two night show at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery on June 14 and 15.","This was only released at the band's two night show at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery on June 14 and 15. This show was a special two-night, one morning event in which they played the entirety of The Soft Bulletin one night and a new revamped version of The Dark Side of the Moon and collaborated with Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros for a performance of \"Do You Realize??\" at dawn of the second day.","at dawn of the second day. at dawn of the second day. Also included on this flash drive was a best-of compilation titled Everyone You Know Someday Will Die. It included songs from every portion of the band's career as well as a newly recorded intro. The final June release was the Gummy Song Fetus EP which consisted of three songs on a flash drive embedded in a bubblegum-flavored fetus made of gummy bear material.","The final June release was the Gummy Song Fetus EP which consisted of three songs on a flash drive embedded in a bubblegum-flavored fetus made of gummy bear material. In July, the band released The Flaming Lips with Lightning Bolt, a collaborative EP with experimental rock group Lightning Bolt, featuring the songs \"I Wanna Get High But I Don't Want Brain Damage\" and \"Working at NASA on Acid\". This EP was released on randomly colored vinyl as with the previous two collaborative EPs.","This EP was released on randomly colored vinyl as with the previous two collaborative EPs. In late August, the band announced that it would be recording a six-hour-long song titled \"I Found a Star on the Ground\". This, along with two other songs, was released in September packaged with a set of spinning discs with animations on them. This release is officially called Strobo Trip.","This release is officially called Strobo Trip. This release is officially called Strobo Trip. Featured in \"I Found a Star on the Ground\" is Sean Lennon who, with his band, opened for the Lips in early 2011. In the song Lennon reads off several lists of names of people who donated $100 to the Oklahoma City SPCA and Academy of Contemporary Music at University of Central Oklahoma. 212 names are featured in the song.","212 names are featured in the song. 212 names are featured in the song. At midnight October 31, 2011, a 24-hour song was released titled \"7 Skies H3\". The song played live on a never-ending audio stream on a special website set up by the band and was made available for purchase as a hard drive encased in an actual human skull, limited to 13 copies.","The song played live on a never-ending audio stream on a special website set up by the band and was made available for purchase as a hard drive encased in an actual human skull, limited to 13 copies. The band's last release of 2011 was a 12\" EP collaboration, The Flaming Lips with Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band, sold only at the band's annual New Years shows in Oklahoma City.","The band's last release of 2011 was a 12\" EP collaboration, The Flaming Lips with Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band, sold only at the band's annual New Years shows in Oklahoma City. Heady Fwends, Guinness World Record and other collaborations (2012) With their previous contract with Warner Bros. Records having expired in 2011, the band re-signed to Warner Bros. for the United States and to Bella Union in Europe in early 2012.","Heady Fwends, Guinness World Record and other collaborations (2012) With their previous contract with Warner Bros. Records having expired in 2011, the band re-signed to Warner Bros. for the United States and to Bella Union in Europe in early 2012. The first release under these new deals was The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends, initially released as a limited edition vinyl-only package for Record Store Day on April 21. The album features collaborations with artists such as Kesha, Nick Cave, and Erykah Badu.","The album features collaborations with artists such as Kesha, Nick Cave, and Erykah Badu. In an interview with American Songwriter, Coyne stated that \"Since we were releasing music every month, we thought it would be a little bit boring for us each month to say 'Well here's four more Flaming Lips songs.' We just thought 'Well we'll get some of our friends, and we'll do collaborations and see what happens.'\"","We just thought 'Well we'll get some of our friends, and we'll do collaborations and see what happens.'\" The album later received a wider release on CD and digitally on June 26 in the US and July 30 in Europe. The Flaming Lips broke Jay-Z's Guinness World Record for the most live concerts (8) in 24 hours, on June 27 and 28, 2012. The attempt was part of the O Music Awards, and was Livestreamed online for the entire 24 hours.","The attempt was part of the O Music Awards, and was Livestreamed online for the entire 24 hours. The attempt started in Memphis on the afternoon of June 27 and ended in New Orleans on the afternoon of June 28, with 20 minutes to spare. The band played with guests including Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Neon Indian, Linear Downfall and Phantogram and HOTT MT, among others.","The band played with guests including Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Neon Indian, Linear Downfall and Phantogram and HOTT MT, among others. The concerts, which were required to be at least 15 minutes long, as per Guinness rules, featured a mix of special covers, songs rarely or never performed live by the band before, and new songs from Heady Fwends.","The concerts, which were required to be at least 15 minutes long, as per Guinness rules, featured a mix of special covers, songs rarely or never performed live by the band before, and new songs from Heady Fwends. In November 2012 the band's Lovely Sorts of Death Records released a collaborative track-by-track reinterpretation of King Crimson's In the Court of the Crimson King with Stardeath and White Dwarfs, Linear Downfall, New Fumes, and Space Face entitled Playing Hide and Seek with the Ghosts of Dawn on vinyl and on their own 'Satellite Heart Radio' website.","In November 2012 the band's Lovely Sorts of Death Records released a collaborative track-by-track reinterpretation of King Crimson's In the Court of the Crimson King with Stardeath and White Dwarfs, Linear Downfall, New Fumes, and Space Face entitled Playing Hide and Seek with the Ghosts of Dawn on vinyl and on their own 'Satellite Heart Radio' website. They also worked on Kesha's Warrior album (on \"Past Lives\") and Lipsha. She also featured on their collaborative albums.","She also featured on their collaborative albums. She also featured on their collaborative albums. The Terror (2013–2014) The band's next studio album, titled The Terror, was originally due for release on April 2, 2013 in the US and on April 1 in Europe, the tour began with a new member: keyboardist and guitarist Jake Ingalls, Derek Brown focused on percussion and additional guitars and keyboards.","The Terror (2013–2014) The band's next studio album, titled The Terror, was originally due for release on April 2, 2013 in the US and on April 1 in Europe, the tour began with a new member: keyboardist and guitarist Jake Ingalls, Derek Brown focused on percussion and additional guitars and keyboards. Because of a corruption while mastering the record on vinyl, the US release was delayed for two weeks, until April 16.","Because of a corruption while mastering the record on vinyl, the US release was delayed for two weeks, until April 16. In anticipation of the album's release, their song, \"Sun Blows Up Today\", was featured in a Hyundai Super Bowl XLVII commercial. The band also released a lyric video on for \"Sun Blows Up Today\" with animations created by long-time Lips collaborator George Salisbury. The band premiered the new album live at a free outdoor concert at SXSW on March 15, 2013.","The band premiered the new album live at a free outdoor concert at SXSW on March 15, 2013. Critical reception of the album has tended to focus on its thematic bleakness and the turgid noisiness of its instrumentation.","Critical reception of the album has tended to focus on its thematic bleakness and the turgid noisiness of its instrumentation. Like the three albums often referred to as \"a trilogy\" accounting for the majority of the band's mainstream production over the past 15 years (consisting of The Soft Bulletin, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, and At War With the Mystics), The Terror adheres to the love story/space opera narrative structure while taking a much darker approach.","Like the three albums often referred to as \"a trilogy\" accounting for the majority of the band's mainstream production over the past 15 years (consisting of The Soft Bulletin, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, and At War With the Mystics), The Terror adheres to the love story/space opera narrative structure while taking a much darker approach. As noted in a review by Pitchfork, \"The Terror deals in more personal turmoil– loneliness, depression, anxiety... Perhaps not coincidentally, the album was preceded by news of Coyne's separation from his partner of 25 years, Michelle, and of multi-instrumentalist Steven Drozd relapsing temporarily.\"","As noted in a review by Pitchfork, \"The Terror deals in more personal turmoil– loneliness, depression, anxiety... Perhaps not coincidentally, the album was preceded by news of Coyne's separation from his partner of 25 years, Michelle, and of multi-instrumentalist Steven Drozd relapsing temporarily.\" Jon Pareles of The New York Times summarized the thematic content of the album fairly succinctly when he wrote, \"The lyrics [of 'The Terror'] find cosmic repercussions in a lovers' breakup; loneliness turns to contemplation of grim human compulsions and the end of the universe.\"","Jon Pareles of The New York Times summarized the thematic content of the album fairly succinctly when he wrote, \"The lyrics [of 'The Terror'] find cosmic repercussions in a lovers' breakup; loneliness turns to contemplation of grim human compulsions and the end of the universe.\" Another critic goes so far as to say that the album underlines the Lacanian psychodynamics structurally inherent in the conventions of the space opera.","Another critic goes so far as to say that the album underlines the Lacanian psychodynamics structurally inherent in the conventions of the space opera. Wayne Coyne's own description of his process or the theme of the album jibes well with this critical diagnosis: \"We want, or wanted, to believe that without love we would disappear, that love, somehow, would save us that, yeah, if we have love, give love and know love, we are truly alive and if there is no love, there would be no life.","Wayne Coyne's own description of his process or the theme of the album jibes well with this critical diagnosis: \"We want, or wanted, to believe that without love we would disappear, that love, somehow, would save us that, yeah, if we have love, give love and know love, we are truly alive and if there is no love, there would be no life. The Terror is, we know now, that even without love, life goes on... we just go on... there is no mercy killing.\"","The Terror is, we know now, that even without love, life goes on... we just go on... there is no mercy killing.\" In November 2013 they produced and curated \"The Time Has Come To Shoot You Down…What A Sound,\" a reworking of the Stone Roses' debut album featuring New Fumes, Spaceface, Stardeath and White Dwarfs, Foxygen, Peaking Lights, Poliça and others.","In November 2013 they produced and curated \"The Time Has Come To Shoot You Down…What A Sound,\" a reworking of the Stone Roses' debut album featuring New Fumes, Spaceface, Stardeath and White Dwarfs, Foxygen, Peaking Lights, Poliça and others. In March 2014, longtime drummer and percussionist Kliph Scurlock left the band, and was replaced by drummer, percussionist and keyboardist Matt Duckworth Kirksey and percussionist and drummer Nicholas Ley. Derek Brown began focusing on guitars, and occasional keyboards and percussion.","Derek Brown began focusing on guitars, and occasional keyboards and percussion. In May, Scurlock claimed he had been fired for negative comments about Wayne Coyne's friend Christina Fallin, the daughter of Oklahoma's governor and leader of a band called Pink Pony. Fallin had recently been criticized for cultural appropriation after she wore a Native American headdress in a publicity photo. According to Scurlock, his criticism of Fallin's actions led to conflict with Coyne and his dismissal.","According to Scurlock, his criticism of Fallin's actions led to conflict with Coyne and his dismissal. In response, Drozd said, \"[t]his Lips/Kliph bullshit has gone too far. We parted ways because of the usual band musical differences. The rest has been blown way out.\"","The rest has been blown way out.\" The rest has been blown way out.\" Coyne went even further, calling Scurlock a \"pathological liar\" and stated that he never meant his defense of Fallin, which included posting a photo of his dog in a feathered headdress, to be offensive but that he was \"very sorry, to anybody that is following my Instagram or my Twitter, if I offended anybody of any religion, any race, any belief system.","Coyne went even further, calling Scurlock a \"pathological liar\" and stated that he never meant his defense of Fallin, which included posting a photo of his dog in a feathered headdress, to be offensive but that he was \"very sorry, to anybody that is following my Instagram or my Twitter, if I offended anybody of any religion, any race, any belief system. I would say you shouldn't follow my tweets; you shouldn't even probably want to be a Flaming Lips fan because we don't really have any agenda.\"","I would say you shouldn't follow my tweets; you shouldn't even probably want to be a Flaming Lips fan because we don't really have any agenda.\" Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz (2015) On August 30, 2015, after hosting the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards, Miley Cyrus announced that Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz, the free, 23-track experimental album that Cyrus and the Flaming Lips wrote and recorded together, was available via online streaming.","Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz (2015) On August 30, 2015, after hosting the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards, Miley Cyrus announced that Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz, the free, 23-track experimental album that Cyrus and the Flaming Lips wrote and recorded together, was available via online streaming. The album is described by Coyne as a combination of Pink Floyd and Portishead and \"a slightly wiser, sadder, more true version\" of Cyrus' pop music output.","The album is described by Coyne as a combination of Pink Floyd and Portishead and \"a slightly wiser, sadder, more true version\" of Cyrus' pop music output. Oczy Mlody, King's Mouth, and American Head (2016–present) According to the Tarbox Roads Studio's website, the Flaming Lips began recording a new album with Dave Fridmann on January 27, 2016.","Oczy Mlody, King's Mouth, and American Head (2016–present) According to the Tarbox Roads Studio's website, the Flaming Lips began recording a new album with Dave Fridmann on January 27, 2016. In a June interview with Danish music blog Regnsky, Wayne Coyne said that a new album would come out in January 2017, even though they had originally planned for it to be released in October 2016.","In a June interview with Danish music blog Regnsky, Wayne Coyne said that a new album would come out in January 2017, even though they had originally planned for it to be released in October 2016. Wayne Coyne later confirmed in a September interview with Consequence of Sound, that they would release a new album at the beginning of 2017. On October 20, the band confirmed the January 2017 release date for the album.","On October 20, the band confirmed the January 2017 release date for the album. The band embarked on a tour in support that was described as \"rock's greatest acid punch party\" with \"balloons, confetti cannons and rainbow visuals\". On January 13, 2017 the fourteenth Flaming Lips album Oczy Mlody was released, and featured a guest appearance by Miley Cyrus. The album charted in both the UK and US.","The album charted in both the UK and US. The album charted in both the UK and US. On Record Store Day, April 22, 2017, the Flaming Lips released Onboard the International Space Station Concert for Peace, a re-recording of seven tracks from Oczy Mlody in a faux live setting. The band's next studio album, King's Mouth, was released on April 13, 2019 for Record Store Day.","The band's next studio album, King's Mouth, was released on April 13, 2019 for Record Store Day. Mick Jones of The Clash and Big Audio Dynamite narrates the album; Wayne Coyne said of Jones that \"he’s on almost every song... it really is quite unbelievable.\" In late 2019, Coyne and Drozd collaborated with garage rock duo Deap Vally to form a new band, Deap Lips. The project's self-titled debut album was released on March 13, 2020.","The project's self-titled debut album was released on March 13, 2020. On March 23, 2020, Drozd announced that the band's sixteenth studio album, American Head, is due for release in the summer. The band officially announced the album's release date as September 11, 2020, along with the single \"My Religion Is You\" on June 6, 2020.","The band officially announced the album's release date as September 11, 2020, along with the single \"My Religion Is You\" on June 6, 2020. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the band performed a concert in their hometown of Oklahoma City on October 12, 2020, while entirely encased within inflatable human-sized bubbles. Audience members were also protected by plastic bubbles. They performed in this fashion on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert and again in 2021.","They performed in this fashion on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert and again in 2021. On August 16, 2021, Ingalls announced on his Instagram page that he left the band on amicable terms. Also in August, Coyne commented on his Instagram that Ivins was no longer in the band, leaving Coyne as the only original member. Micah Nelson has been on bass for recent live performances. In November 2021, the band released an album of nine Nick Cave cover songs with the young Canadian musician Nell Smith.","In November 2021, the band released an album of nine Nick Cave cover songs with the young Canadian musician Nell Smith. Smith and The Lips recorded the album remotely during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown.","Smith and The Lips recorded the album remotely during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown. Members Current members Wayne Coyne – lead vocals (1985–present), guitars, keyboards, theremin (1983–present), backing vocals (1983–1985, 1991–present), bass guitar (2021–present) Steven Drozd – guitars, keyboards, bass, drums, backing and lead vocals (1991–present) Derek Brown – keyboards, guitars, percussion, backing vocals (2009–present) Matt Duckworth Kirksey – drums, percussion, keyboards, backing vocals (2014–present) Nicholas Ley – percussion, drums, samples (2014–present) Current touring musicians Micah Nelson – bass, keyboards, backing vocals (2021–present) Former members Mark Coyne – lead vocals (1983–1985) Dave Kostka – drums (1983–1984) Richard English – drums, keyboards, backing vocals (1984–1989) Nathan Roberts – drums (1989–1991) Jonathan Donahue – guitars, backing vocals (1989–1991) Jon Mooneyham – guitars, backing vocals (1991) Ronald Jones – guitars, backing vocals (1991–1996) Kliph Scurlock – drums, percussion (2002–2014) Jake Ingalls – keyboards, guitars (2013–2021) Michael Ivins – bass, keyboards, backing vocals (1983–2021) Former touring musicians Ray Suen – percussion, violin, harp, keyboards (2009–2012) Timeline Selected discography Studio albums Hear It Is (1986) Oh My Gawd!!!","Members Current members Wayne Coyne – lead vocals (1985–present), guitars, keyboards, theremin (1983–present), backing vocals (1983–1985, 1991–present), bass guitar (2021–present) Steven Drozd – guitars, keyboards, bass, drums, backing and lead vocals (1991–present) Derek Brown – keyboards, guitars, percussion, backing vocals (2009–present) Matt Duckworth Kirksey – drums, percussion, keyboards, backing vocals (2014–present) Nicholas Ley – percussion, drums, samples (2014–present) Current touring musicians Micah Nelson – bass, keyboards, backing vocals (2021–present) Former members Mark Coyne – lead vocals (1983–1985) Dave Kostka – drums (1983–1984) Richard English – drums, keyboards, backing vocals (1984–1989) Nathan Roberts – drums (1989–1991) Jonathan Donahue – guitars, backing vocals (1989–1991) Jon Mooneyham – guitars, backing vocals (1991) Ronald Jones – guitars, backing vocals (1991–1996) Kliph Scurlock – drums, percussion (2002–2014) Jake Ingalls – keyboards, guitars (2013–2021) Michael Ivins – bass, keyboards, backing vocals (1983–2021) Former touring musicians Ray Suen – percussion, violin, harp, keyboards (2009–2012) Timeline Selected discography Studio albums Hear It Is (1986) Oh My Gawd!!! (1987) Telepathic Surgery (1989) In a Priest Driven Ambulance (1990) Hit to Death in the Future Head (1992) Transmissions from the Satellite Heart (1993) Clouds Taste Metallic (1995) Zaireeka (1997) The Soft Bulletin (1999) Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (2002) At War with the Mystics (2006) Embryonic (2009) The Terror (2013) Oczy Mlody (2017) King's Mouth (2019) American Head (2020) Extended plays The Flaming Lips (1984) Gummy Song Skull (2011) Gummy Song Fetus (2011) Strobo Trip (2011) 24 Hour Song Skull (2011) Peace Sword (2013) Collaborative albums The Flaming Lips and Stardeath and White Dwarfs with Henry Rollins and Peaches Doing The Dark Side of the Moon (2009) The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends (2012) Playing Hide and Seek with the Ghosts of Dawn (2012) The Time Has Come to Shoot You Down... What a Sound (2013) With a Little Help from My Fwends (2014) Deap Lips (2020) Where the Viaduct Looms (2021) Soundtracks/Miscellaneous The Southern Oklahoma Cosmic Trigger Contest (2001) Atlas Eets Christmas (2007) Once Beyond Hopelessness (2008) Awards and nominations The Flaming Lips won their first Grammy Award in 2003, for their track \"Approaching Pavonis Mons by Balloon (Utopia Planitia)\".","(1987) Telepathic Surgery (1989) In a Priest Driven Ambulance (1990) Hit to Death in the Future Head (1992) Transmissions from the Satellite Heart (1993) Clouds Taste Metallic (1995) Zaireeka (1997) The Soft Bulletin (1999) Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (2002) At War with the Mystics (2006) Embryonic (2009) The Terror (2013) Oczy Mlody (2017) King's Mouth (2019) American Head (2020) Extended plays The Flaming Lips (1984) Gummy Song Skull (2011) Gummy Song Fetus (2011) Strobo Trip (2011) 24 Hour Song Skull (2011) Peace Sword (2013) Collaborative albums The Flaming Lips and Stardeath and White Dwarfs with Henry Rollins and Peaches Doing The Dark Side of the Moon (2009) The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends (2012) Playing Hide and Seek with the Ghosts of Dawn (2012) The Time Has Come to Shoot You Down... What a Sound (2013) With a Little Help from My Fwends (2014) Deap Lips (2020) Where the Viaduct Looms (2021) Soundtracks/Miscellaneous The Southern Oklahoma Cosmic Trigger Contest (2001) Atlas Eets Christmas (2007) Once Beyond Hopelessness (2008) Awards and nominations The Flaming Lips won their first Grammy Award in 2003, for their track \"Approaching Pavonis Mons by Balloon (Utopia Planitia)\". To date, the band has been nominated for six Grammy Awards, and won three times.","To date, the band has been nominated for six Grammy Awards, and won three times. References External links 1983 establishments in Oklahoma Alternative rock groups from Oklahoma American experimental rock groups American psychedelic rock music groups Grammy Award winners Indie rock musical groups from Oklahoma Musical groups established in 1983 Musical groups from Oklahoma Neo-psychedelia groups Noise pop musical groups Psychedelic pop music groups Space rock musical groups Warner Records artists Bella Union artists Restless Records artists"],"string":"[\n \"The Flaming Lips are an American psychedelic rock band formed in 1983 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The band currently consists of Wayne Coyne (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Steven Drozd (guitars, keyboards, bass, vocals), Derek Brown (keyboards, guitars, percussion), Matt Duckworth Kirksey (drums, percussion, keyboards) and Nicholas Ley (percussion, drums). The group recorded several albums and EPs on an indie label, Restless, in the 1980s and early 1990s.\",\n \"The group recorded several albums and EPs on an indie label, Restless, in the 1980s and early 1990s. After signing to Warner Brothers, they released their first record with Warner, Hit to Death in the Future Head (1992). They later released The Soft Bulletin (1999), which was NME magazine's Album of the Year, and then Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (2002). In February 2007, they were nominated for a BRIT Award for \\\"Best International Act\\\".\",\n \"In February 2007, they were nominated for a BRIT Award for \\\"Best International Act\\\". The group has won three Grammy Awards, including two for Best Rock Instrumental Performance. They were placed on Q magazines list of the \\\"50 Bands to See Before You Die\\\" in 2002. History Early history and releases (1983–1990) The Flaming Lips formed in Oklahoma City in 1983 with Wayne Coyne on guitar, his brother Mark singing lead vocals, Michael Ivins on bass and Dave Kotska on drums.\",\n \"History Early history and releases (1983–1990) The Flaming Lips formed in Oklahoma City in 1983 with Wayne Coyne on guitar, his brother Mark singing lead vocals, Michael Ivins on bass and Dave Kotska on drums. The band debuted at Oklahoma City's Blue Note Lounge. After they hired Dave Kotska as the drummer, Richard English joined the band in 1984. That same year they recorded The Flaming Lips EP, their only release with Mark singing lead vocals. There are several theories as to how the band chose their name.\",\n \"There are several theories as to how the band chose their name. One possibility is that it was inspired by the 1953 feature film Geraldine, in which comedian Stan Freberg sings several songs, including one named \\\"Flaming Lips\\\". Another possible source is from the 1964 film What a Way to Go! in which Shirley MacLaine's character stars in a film titled Flaming Lips.\",\n \"in which Shirley MacLaine's character stars in a film titled Flaming Lips. However, according to an article in the September 16, 1993 issue of Rolling Stone, Mark and Wayne came up with the name as a reference to a rumor about a classmate who contracted genital herpes after receiving cunnilingus from a partner with active cold sores. Wayne elaborated:When Mark and I were in, I think it was Junior Year in High School, there was a rumor about this girl who got herpes from this guy at a party.\",\n \"Wayne elaborated:When Mark and I were in, I think it was Junior Year in High School, there was a rumor about this girl who got herpes from this guy at a party. He went down on her with a cold sore. I don't think we knew the girl, and I'm not sure if she even existed, you know how kids just spread bullshit.\",\n \"I don't think we knew the girl, and I'm not sure if she even existed, you know how kids just spread bullshit. But when we were thinking of band names one night over a pack of Schlitz and some left-handed cigarettes and remembered how we joked that they both had \\\"Flaming Lips\\\" and it just stuck.After his brother's departure, Wayne assumed the vocal duties and the band released their first full-length album, Hear It Is, on Pink Dust Records (the psychedelic-rock imprint of Enigma Records) in 1986.\",\n \"But when we were thinking of band names one night over a pack of Schlitz and some left-handed cigarettes and remembered how we joked that they both had \\\"Flaming Lips\\\" and it just stuck.After his brother's departure, Wayne assumed the vocal duties and the band released their first full-length album, Hear It Is, on Pink Dust Records (the psychedelic-rock imprint of Enigma Records) in 1986. This line-up recorded two more albums: 1987's Oh My Gawd!!!\",\n \"This line-up recorded two more albums: 1987's Oh My Gawd!!! and 1989's Telepathic Surgery, the latter originally planned to be a 30-minute sound collage. Drummer Nathan Roberts replaced English and guitarist Jonathan Donahue (also a member of the alternative rock band Mercury Rev) joined in 1989. In a Priest Driven Ambulance, their first album with producer Dave Fridmann, was recorded at the State University of New York in Fredonia for $5 an hour on a $10,000 budget.\",\n \"In a Priest Driven Ambulance, their first album with producer Dave Fridmann, was recorded at the State University of New York in Fredonia for $5 an hour on a $10,000 budget. The album was host to a marked expansion in the band's sound and their previous experiments in tape loops and effects were given a more prominent role.\",\n \"The album was host to a marked expansion in the band's sound and their previous experiments in tape loops and effects were given a more prominent role. During this period, Coyne made his transition to a higher, more strained vocal style akin to Neil Young, which he first used on Telepathic Surgery's \\\"Chrome Plated Suicide\\\" and has employed ever since.\",\n \"During this period, Coyne made his transition to a higher, more strained vocal style akin to Neil Young, which he first used on Telepathic Surgery's \\\"Chrome Plated Suicide\\\" and has employed ever since. In 1990, the band caught the attention of Warner Bros. Records and was signed promptly after a label representative witnessed a show at which the band almost burned down the venue (American Legion Hall in Norman, Oklahoma) with the use of pyrotechnics.\",\n \"In 1990, the band caught the attention of Warner Bros. Records and was signed promptly after a label representative witnessed a show at which the band almost burned down the venue (American Legion Hall in Norman, Oklahoma) with the use of pyrotechnics. Signed to Warner Bros. (Hit to Death in the Future Head to Clouds Taste Metallic) (1991–1996) In 1991, the band started recording their major label debut Hit to Death in the Future Head.\",\n \"Signed to Warner Bros. (Hit to Death in the Future Head to Clouds Taste Metallic) (1991–1996) In 1991, the band started recording their major label debut Hit to Death in the Future Head. The album's release was halted for nearly a year because of the use of a sample from Michael Kamen's score for the film Brazil in the track \\\"You Have to Be Joking (Autopsy of the Devil's Brain)\\\", which required a lengthy clearance process.\",\n \"The album's release was halted for nearly a year because of the use of a sample from Michael Kamen's score for the film Brazil in the track \\\"You Have to Be Joking (Autopsy of the Devil's Brain)\\\", which required a lengthy clearance process. After the recording of this album, Donahue left the band to concentrate on Mercury Rev, and Roberts left the band as well, citing creative differences. They were replaced by Ronald Jones and Steven Drozd, respectively.\",\n \"They were replaced by Ronald Jones and Steven Drozd, respectively. In 1993, they released Transmissions from the Satellite Heart. This was the only studio album since In a Priest Driven Ambulance, to date, in which Dave Fridmann has not been involved. Because of the success of the album and the single \\\"She Don't Use Jelly\\\", the band was featured on four popular television series: Beverly Hills, 90210, Late Show with David Letterman, Charmed and Beavis and Butt-head.\",\n \"Because of the success of the album and the single \\\"She Don't Use Jelly\\\", the band was featured on four popular television series: Beverly Hills, 90210, Late Show with David Letterman, Charmed and Beavis and Butt-head. The success of this record led to long stints of touring, opening for bands including Red Hot Chili Peppers and Candlebox. Clouds Taste Metallic was released to much critical fanfare in late 1995, though it did not achieve the commercial success of its predecessor.\",\n \"Clouds Taste Metallic was released to much critical fanfare in late 1995, though it did not achieve the commercial success of its predecessor. The strain of the year-long Clouds tour, added to the stress from the three years touring in support of Transmissions, was a major factor in the departure of Jones in late 1996. He was said to be suffering from a severe case of agoraphobia, although the documentary Fearless Freaks states that he left because of his growing concerns over Drozd's drug use.\",\n \"He was said to be suffering from a severe case of agoraphobia, although the documentary Fearless Freaks states that he left because of his growing concerns over Drozd's drug use. In September 2014, the band paid tribute to Jones and the impact his music had on their developing sound by performing Transmissions from the Satellite Heart live at First Avenue. In February 2015, they performed Clouds Taste Metallic at the same venue.\",\n \"In February 2015, they performed Clouds Taste Metallic at the same venue. Later, in December, a 20th anniversary box set called Heady Nuggs: 20 Years After Clouds Taste Metallic 1994–1997, was released.\",\n \"Later, in December, a 20th anniversary box set called Heady Nuggs: 20 Years After Clouds Taste Metallic 1994–1997, was released. Zaireeka (1997–1998) The departure of Jones and a general dissatisfaction with standard \\\"rock\\\" music led to the three remaining members of the group redefining the direction of the band with the experimental Zaireeka (1997), a four-CD album which is intended to be heard by playing all four CDs in four separate CD players simultaneously.\",\n \"Zaireeka (1997–1998) The departure of Jones and a general dissatisfaction with standard \\\"rock\\\" music led to the three remaining members of the group redefining the direction of the band with the experimental Zaireeka (1997), a four-CD album which is intended to be heard by playing all four CDs in four separate CD players simultaneously. The music incorporated both traditional musical elements and \\\"found\\\" sounds (as in musique concrète), often heavily manipulated with recording studio electronics.\",\n \"The music incorporated both traditional musical elements and \\\"found\\\" sounds (as in musique concrète), often heavily manipulated with recording studio electronics. As part of the development of this project, the band conducted a series of \\\"parking lot experiments\\\" and then later, \\\"boombox experiments\\\". In the parking lot experiments up to 40 volunteers were given cassettes created by the band to be played at a parking lot in their cars' stereo systems simultaneously.\",\n \"In the parking lot experiments up to 40 volunteers were given cassettes created by the band to be played at a parking lot in their cars' stereo systems simultaneously. In the \\\"boom box experiments\\\" an orchestra composed of up to 40 volunteers with modified \\\"boombox\\\"-type tape players was \\\"conducted\\\" – directed to vary the volume, speed or tone of the tape they were playing (again composed by the band) – by Wayne Coyne.\",\n \"In the \\\"boom box experiments\\\" an orchestra composed of up to 40 volunteers with modified \\\"boombox\\\"-type tape players was \\\"conducted\\\" – directed to vary the volume, speed or tone of the tape they were playing (again composed by the band) – by Wayne Coyne. Meanwhile, a series of unfortunate events (recounted in the 1999 song \\\"The Spiderbite Song\\\") beset the band.\",\n \"Meanwhile, a series of unfortunate events (recounted in the 1999 song \\\"The Spiderbite Song\\\") beset the band. Drozd's arm was almost amputated needlessly because of what he claimed was a spider bite (it turned out to be abscessed as a result of Drozd's heroin use), Ivins was trapped in his car for several hours after a wheel spun off of another vehicle into his windshield, and Coyne's father died after a long battle with cancer.\",\n \"Drozd's arm was almost amputated needlessly because of what he claimed was a spider bite (it turned out to be abscessed as a result of Drozd's heroin use), Ivins was trapped in his car for several hours after a wheel spun off of another vehicle into his windshield, and Coyne's father died after a long battle with cancer. Mainstream breakthrough (The Soft Bulletin and Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots) (1999–2002) Though their experimental endeavors received some press coverage, their real breakthrough came with the 1999 release, The Soft Bulletin.\",\n \"Mainstream breakthrough (The Soft Bulletin and Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots) (1999–2002) Though their experimental endeavors received some press coverage, their real breakthrough came with the 1999 release, The Soft Bulletin. Marrying more traditional catchy melodies with synthetic strings, hypnotic, carefully manipulated beats, booming cymbals and oddball but philosophical lyrics (sung much more strongly than on earlier releases), the album quickly became one of the underground hits of the year, even widely considered to be one of the best albums of the entire decade.\",\n \"Marrying more traditional catchy melodies with synthetic strings, hypnotic, carefully manipulated beats, booming cymbals and oddball but philosophical lyrics (sung much more strongly than on earlier releases), the album quickly became one of the underground hits of the year, even widely considered to be one of the best albums of the entire decade. Compared by many music critics to the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds because of its inclusion of harmonies and orchestrated sounds, The Soft Bulletin also featured greater use of synthesizers, drum machines, sound effects and more studio manipulation.\",\n \"Compared by many music critics to the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds because of its inclusion of harmonies and orchestrated sounds, The Soft Bulletin also featured greater use of synthesizers, drum machines, sound effects and more studio manipulation. After this album was released, Coyne stated that, \\\"if someone was to ask me what instrument do I play, I would say the recording studio.\\\"\",\n \"After this album was released, Coyne stated that, \\\"if someone was to ask me what instrument do I play, I would say the recording studio.\\\" As the band considered an attempt to recreate this complex album live solely with additional musicians to be complex and expensive, they decided to tour as a three-piece and make extensive use of pre-recorded music to fill out those parts that were not performed live by the members of the band.\",\n \"As the band considered an attempt to recreate this complex album live solely with additional musicians to be complex and expensive, they decided to tour as a three-piece and make extensive use of pre-recorded music to fill out those parts that were not performed live by the members of the band. This led to the decision to have the drummer Drozd play primarily keyboards and guitar live instead of the drums.\",\n \"This led to the decision to have the drummer Drozd play primarily keyboards and guitar live instead of the drums. This, in turn, led to a decision to utilize video recordings and projections of Steven playing the drums for some of the band's older songs, so the band added Kliph Scurlock on drums and percussion, Drozd focused on guitars, keyboards, bass (when he plays bass, Ivins plays keyboards), drums and occasional vocals, when he sings, Coyne plays guitars, keyboards and theremin.\",\n \"This, in turn, led to a decision to utilize video recordings and projections of Steven playing the drums for some of the band's older songs, so the band added Kliph Scurlock on drums and percussion, Drozd focused on guitars, keyboards, bass (when he plays bass, Ivins plays keyboards), drums and occasional vocals, when he sings, Coyne plays guitars, keyboards and theremin. To enhance the live experience for their audience and to accurately reproduce the sound of The Soft Bulletin live, the Lips devised the concept of the \\\"Headphone Concert\\\".\",\n \"To enhance the live experience for their audience and to accurately reproduce the sound of The Soft Bulletin live, the Lips devised the concept of the \\\"Headphone Concert\\\". A low-powered FM transmitter was set up at shows, and the concert was simultaneously broadcast to small Walkman-style receivers and headphones made available for free to audience members. This would, in theory, allow the audiences greater sonic clarity while still feeling the power of a full live P.A.\",\n \"This would, in theory, allow the audiences greater sonic clarity while still feeling the power of a full live P.A. This concept was debuted in Dallas, Texas, and at the South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas, in March 1999, and was subsequently used on the International Music Against Brain Degeneration Revue tour. This tour featured Japanese band Cornelius, Sebadoh, Robyn Hitchcock, Sonic Boom's E.A.R. and IQU.\",\n \"and IQU. and IQU. Three years later, in the summer of 2002, the Flaming Lips joined bands Cake and Modest Mouse on the Unlimited Sunshine Tour. They also released the full-length Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots to much critical acclaim. Featuring guest musician Yoshimi P-We (who inspired the album's title track) and demonstrating more use of electronic instruments and computer manipulation than The Soft Bulletin, Yoshimi is widely considered to be the Flaming Lips' first critical and commercial success after nearly twenty years as a band.\",\n \"Featuring guest musician Yoshimi P-We (who inspired the album's title track) and demonstrating more use of electronic instruments and computer manipulation than The Soft Bulletin, Yoshimi is widely considered to be the Flaming Lips' first critical and commercial success after nearly twenty years as a band. The final track on the album, \\\"Approaching Pavonis Mons by Balloon (Utopia Planitia)\\\" earned a 2003 Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance, and the album was certified gold on April 10, 2006.\",\n \"The final track on the album, \\\"Approaching Pavonis Mons by Balloon (Utopia Planitia)\\\" earned a 2003 Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance, and the album was certified gold on April 10, 2006. In March 2007, the band revealed that they had recently teamed up with screenwriter Aaron Sorkin to produce a Broadway musical based on the album. In January 2012, Pitchfork TV released a forty-five-minute documentary on The Soft Bulletin.\",\n \"In January 2012, Pitchfork TV released a forty-five-minute documentary on The Soft Bulletin. The documentary featured several rare archival photos and videos along with interviews from the members, producer Dave Fridmann, and manager Scott Booker. The same year, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots was adapted into a musical after being in development for years after the album's release. Both The Soft Bulletin and Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots have been released on DVD-Audio. Following the success of \\\"Yoshimi\\\", Steven Drozd completed rehab for heroin addiction.\",\n \"Following the success of \\\"Yoshimi\\\", Steven Drozd completed rehab for heroin addiction. This decision was spurred by a physical altercation between Drozd and Wayne Coyne. Continued success (At War with the Mystics) (2002–2006) Shortly after Yoshimi and The Soft Bulletin, the Flaming Lips released two EPs in the same vein of their previous album's robotic theme which contain remixed songs from Yoshimi, Fight Test and Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell.\",\n \"Continued success (At War with the Mystics) (2002–2006) Shortly after Yoshimi and The Soft Bulletin, the Flaming Lips released two EPs in the same vein of their previous album's robotic theme which contain remixed songs from Yoshimi, Fight Test and Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell. They also appeared on the track \\\"Marching the Hate Machines (Into the Sun)\\\" on the Thievery Corporation album The Cosmic Game. In 2002 they were invited to work with The Chemical Brothers.\",\n \"In 2002 they were invited to work with The Chemical Brothers. Steven Drozd performed lead vocals, while Wayne Coyne performed harmony vocals, on the single \\\"The Golden Path\\\", which was included on The Chemical Brothers compilation album, Singles 93-03. In 2002, they performed as the opening act, as well as the backup band, for singer Beck on his Sea Change tour.\",\n \"In 2002, they performed as the opening act, as well as the backup band, for singer Beck on his Sea Change tour. In the summer of 2004, it was announced that the Flaming Lips would appear among the headliners on the 2004 Lollapalooza tour, alongside such artists as Sonic Youth and Morrissey; however, the tour was canceled because of lack of revenue. Also in 2004, the band recorded the song \\\"SpongeBob and Patrick Confront the Psychic Wall of Energy\\\" for the soundtrack of The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie.\",\n \"Also in 2004, the band recorded the song \\\"SpongeBob and Patrick Confront the Psychic Wall of Energy\\\" for the soundtrack of The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. Following the concerts' cancellation, the band entered Tarbox Road Studio with producer Dave Fridmann and began work on their eleventh album, the more organic-sounding At War with the Mystics.\",\n \"Following the concerts' cancellation, the band entered Tarbox Road Studio with producer Dave Fridmann and began work on their eleventh album, the more organic-sounding At War with the Mystics. The record, aimed to be a more guitar-based and heavier effort than recent albums, featured more politically conscious lyrics than any of their previous releases, and was released in April 2006 to a mixed yet mostly positive reception.\",\n \"The record, aimed to be a more guitar-based and heavier effort than recent albums, featured more politically conscious lyrics than any of their previous releases, and was released in April 2006 to a mixed yet mostly positive reception. In 2005 the band was the subject of a documentary called Fearless Freaks, featuring appearances by other artists and celebrities such as Gibby Haynes, The White Stripes, Beck, Christina Ricci, Liz Phair, Juliette Lewis, Steve Burns, Starlight Mints, and Adam Goldberg.\",\n \"In 2005 the band was the subject of a documentary called Fearless Freaks, featuring appearances by other artists and celebrities such as Gibby Haynes, The White Stripes, Beck, Christina Ricci, Liz Phair, Juliette Lewis, Steve Burns, Starlight Mints, and Adam Goldberg. In that same year, the Flaming Lips contributed a version of \\\"Bohemian Rhapsody\\\" to the album Killer Queen: A Tribute to Queen.\",\n \"In that same year, the Flaming Lips contributed a version of \\\"Bohemian Rhapsody\\\" to the album Killer Queen: A Tribute to Queen. Also in this year, the Flaming Lips released the DVD VOID (Video Overview in Deceleration), which chronicles all of their ventures into music video that have been produced since they signed with Warner Bros in 1991.\",\n \"Also in this year, the Flaming Lips released the DVD VOID (Video Overview in Deceleration), which chronicles all of their ventures into music video that have been produced since they signed with Warner Bros in 1991. In October 2005, the Flaming Lips recorded a cover of \\\"If I Only Had a Brain\\\" for the soundtrack of the video game Stubbs the Zombie, which features modern rock bands covering songs from the 1950s and 1960s.\",\n \"In October 2005, the Flaming Lips recorded a cover of \\\"If I Only Had a Brain\\\" for the soundtrack of the video game Stubbs the Zombie, which features modern rock bands covering songs from the 1950s and 1960s. Additionally, the band released one new song, \\\"Mr. Ambulance Driver\\\", for the soundtrack of the 2005 film Wedding Crashers (a slightly edited version of the song found its way onto the new record). The band released two singles from At War With the Mystics: \\\"The W.A.N.D.\",\n \"The band released two singles from At War With the Mystics: \\\"The W.A.N.D. \\\", which was featured in a Dell commercial and which was originally put out as a download-only single in early 2006, and \\\"The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song\\\", which became their highest-charting single on the UK Singles Chart, peaking at No. 16. A 4-track EP, entitled It Overtakes Me, was released later in the UK that year. The only instrumental on the album, \\\"The Wizard Turns On...\",\n \"The only instrumental on the album, \\\"The Wizard Turns On... The Giant Silver Flashlight and Puts on His Werewolf Moccasins\\\", earned a 2006 Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance, making it twice in a row the Lips have been nominated in that category and won. Following the April 4, 2006 release of At War with the Mystics, the band began a tour to support the album in the United Kingdom, including a finale at the Royal Albert Hall and performances at the O2 Wireless Festival.\",\n \"Following the April 4, 2006 release of At War with the Mystics, the band began a tour to support the album in the United Kingdom, including a finale at the Royal Albert Hall and performances at the O2 Wireless Festival. At the Leeds England date of the festival, the band opened for The Who, of whom they are long standing fans.\",\n \"At the Leeds England date of the festival, the band opened for The Who, of whom they are long standing fans. The band continued to tour throughout the fall of 2006 stopping in Montreal, the Virgin Festival on the Toronto Islands, Atlantic City's House of Blues, The University of Vermont in Burlington, their hometown Oklahoma City, the Austin City Limits Music Festival in Austin, Texas, and New York City, NY as well as several other cities.\",\n \"The band continued to tour throughout the fall of 2006 stopping in Montreal, the Virgin Festival on the Toronto Islands, Atlantic City's House of Blues, The University of Vermont in Burlington, their hometown Oklahoma City, the Austin City Limits Music Festival in Austin, Texas, and New York City, NY as well as several other cities. The homecoming show in Oklahoma City was performed at the Zoo Amphitheater and included the unveiling of a new UFO stage prop, and would provide footage for the U.F.O.s at the Zoo concert DVD.\",\n \"The homecoming show in Oklahoma City was performed at the Zoo Amphitheater and included the unveiling of a new UFO stage prop, and would provide footage for the U.F.O.s at the Zoo concert DVD. On December 5, 2006, Oklahoma City honored the band with a downtown alley named after the band. Vince Gill and Charlie Christian were also given street names by the city. Flaming Lips Alley is at the center of Oklahoma City's entertainment district, Bricktown.\",\n \"Flaming Lips Alley is at the center of Oklahoma City's entertainment district, Bricktown. At the official dedication in 2007, Coyne said of Oklahoma City, \\\"...We're on the way to becoming, I think, the fucking coolest city in America.\\\" Christmas on Mars (2008) In 2001, the Flaming Lips began filming a low-budget indie film entitled Christmas on Mars. Filming for the movie ended in late September 2005 and premiered on May 25, 2008 at the Sasquatch! Music Festival.\",\n \"Music Festival. Music Festival. The film tells the story of the first Christmas of a colony set-up on the surface of Mars and was written by Wayne Coyne, and co-directed by Wayne Coyne, Bradley Beesley and George Salisbury, with the band and their friends acting in the movie. The band brought the film to rock festivals across America during the summer of 2008 and screened it in a large circus tent they had bought for that purpose.\",\n \"The band brought the film to rock festivals across America during the summer of 2008 and screened it in a large circus tent they had bought for that purpose. The film was released on DVD on November 11, 2008, along with a soundtrack written and performed by the Flaming Lips. The band released their first live concert DVD, UFO's at the Zoo: The Legendary Concert in Oklahoma City, on August 7, 2007.\",\n \"The band released their first live concert DVD, UFO's at the Zoo: The Legendary Concert in Oklahoma City, on August 7, 2007. The band also contributed original songs to the soundtracks of several 2007 films, including \\\"The Supreme Being Teaches Spider-Man How to be in Love\\\" for Spider-Man 3, \\\"I Was Zapped by the Super Lucky Rainbow\\\" for Good Luck Chuck, \\\"Love the World You Find\\\" for Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, and \\\"Maybe I'm Not the One\\\" and \\\"Tale of the Horny Frog\\\" for The Heartbreak Kid.\",\n \"The band also contributed original songs to the soundtracks of several 2007 films, including \\\"The Supreme Being Teaches Spider-Man How to be in Love\\\" for Spider-Man 3, \\\"I Was Zapped by the Super Lucky Rainbow\\\" for Good Luck Chuck, \\\"Love the World You Find\\\" for Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, and \\\"Maybe I'm Not the One\\\" and \\\"Tale of the Horny Frog\\\" for The Heartbreak Kid. Official rock song of Oklahoma (2009) In March 2009 \\\"Do You Realize??\\\"\",\n \"Official rock song of Oklahoma (2009) In March 2009 \\\"Do You Realize??\\\" was announced as the official rock song of Oklahoma. Ten choices were put to a public vote, and out of 21,000 votes cast nearly 51% were for \\\"Do You Realize??\\\" The Oklahoma Senate approved this choice unanimously.\",\n \"The Oklahoma Senate approved this choice unanimously. The Oklahoma Senate approved this choice unanimously. The Oklahoma House of Representatives failed to confirm the choice after Rep. Mike Reynolds, R-Oklahoma City attacked the band for its use of offensive language, and Rep. Corey Holland, R-Marlow said he had been \\\"really offended\\\" when Michael Ivins came to the announcement ceremony in March wearing a red T-shirt with a yellow hammer and sickle.\",\n \"The Oklahoma House of Representatives failed to confirm the choice after Rep. Mike Reynolds, R-Oklahoma City attacked the band for its use of offensive language, and Rep. Corey Holland, R-Marlow said he had been \\\"really offended\\\" when Michael Ivins came to the announcement ceremony in March wearing a red T-shirt with a yellow hammer and sickle. However, that evening, Oklahoma governor Brad Henry announced he would sign an executive order naming the song the official rock song.\",\n \"However, that evening, Oklahoma governor Brad Henry announced he would sign an executive order naming the song the official rock song. Henry said that for more than 20 years the Flaming Lips have produced \\\"creative, fun and provocative rock music.\\\" \\\"The music of the Flaming Lips has earned Grammys, glowing critical acclaim and fans all over the world\\\", the governor said. \\\"A truly iconic rock n' roll band, they are proud ambassadors of their home state...\",\n \"\\\"A truly iconic rock n' roll band, they are proud ambassadors of their home state... They were clearly the people's choice, and I intend to honor that vote.\\\" However, it was revealed in 2013 that Republican Governor Mary Fallin removed this designation by not renewing Brad Henry's executive order upon taking office in 2011. An alley in Oklahoma City had been named for the band in 2006.\",\n \"An alley in Oklahoma City had been named for the band in 2006. Embryonic and Dark Side of the Moon (2009) In 2009, the band released their twelfth studio album and first double album, Embryonic. The album, which was the band's first to open in the Billboard top 10, was widely critically acclaimed for its new direction; late in the recording the band added Derek Brown on keyboards, percussion and guitar.\",\n \"The album, which was the band's first to open in the Billboard top 10, was widely critically acclaimed for its new direction; late in the recording the band added Derek Brown on keyboards, percussion and guitar. In December of the same year, the band released their second album of the year and thirteenth overall, The Flaming Lips and Stardeath and White Dwarfs with Henry Rollins and Peaches Doing The Dark Side of the Moon, a track-for-track cover of Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon, which was recorded with Stardeath and White Dwarfs and features guest appearances from Henry Rollins and Peaches.\",\n \"In December of the same year, the band released their second album of the year and thirteenth overall, The Flaming Lips and Stardeath and White Dwarfs with Henry Rollins and Peaches Doing The Dark Side of the Moon, a track-for-track cover of Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon, which was recorded with Stardeath and White Dwarfs and features guest appearances from Henry Rollins and Peaches. The album was released physically on vinyl and CD in 2010.\",\n \"The album was released physically on vinyl and CD in 2010. In 2010, the band performed \\\"I Can Be a Frog\\\" on the Nick Jr. television series Yo Gabba Gabba. 2011 releases In January 2011, the Lips announced their intention of releasing a new song every month of the year. In February, they released the first track titled \\\"Two Blobs Fucking\\\". The song exists as 12 separate pieces on YouTube and must be played simultaneously to be heard as intended.\",\n \"The song exists as 12 separate pieces on YouTube and must be played simultaneously to be heard as intended. In March 2011, the Lips released the EP The Flaming Lips with Neon Indian. In April, the band released the Gummy Song Skull EP, a seven-pound skull made of gummy bear material with a gummy brain, which contained a flashdrive with 4 songs on them. This release was extremely limited, but was soon leaked on the internet shortly after its release.\",\n \"This release was extremely limited, but was soon leaked on the internet shortly after its release. In May, the band released its second collaboration EP titled The Flaming Lips with Prefuse 73. It contains four songs and was released in a similar way to the earlier Neon Indian EP, in that the run was extremely limited and consisted of randomly colored, one of a kind discs. This EP was briefly available on the band's official website but sold out shortly after it was put up for sale.\",\n \"This EP was briefly available on the band's official website but sold out shortly after it was put up for sale. June saw several releases by the band, the first being The Soft Bulletin: Live la Fantastique de Institution 2011, a live-in-studio recording of the band's 1999 album The Soft Bulletin which was on a flash drive embedded in a marijuana-flavored brain inside a strawberry flavored gummy skull. This was only released at the band's two night show at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery on June 14 and 15.\",\n \"This was only released at the band's two night show at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery on June 14 and 15. This show was a special two-night, one morning event in which they played the entirety of The Soft Bulletin one night and a new revamped version of The Dark Side of the Moon and collaborated with Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros for a performance of \\\"Do You Realize??\\\" at dawn of the second day.\",\n \"at dawn of the second day. at dawn of the second day. Also included on this flash drive was a best-of compilation titled Everyone You Know Someday Will Die. It included songs from every portion of the band's career as well as a newly recorded intro. The final June release was the Gummy Song Fetus EP which consisted of three songs on a flash drive embedded in a bubblegum-flavored fetus made of gummy bear material.\",\n \"The final June release was the Gummy Song Fetus EP which consisted of three songs on a flash drive embedded in a bubblegum-flavored fetus made of gummy bear material. In July, the band released The Flaming Lips with Lightning Bolt, a collaborative EP with experimental rock group Lightning Bolt, featuring the songs \\\"I Wanna Get High But I Don't Want Brain Damage\\\" and \\\"Working at NASA on Acid\\\". This EP was released on randomly colored vinyl as with the previous two collaborative EPs.\",\n \"This EP was released on randomly colored vinyl as with the previous two collaborative EPs. In late August, the band announced that it would be recording a six-hour-long song titled \\\"I Found a Star on the Ground\\\". This, along with two other songs, was released in September packaged with a set of spinning discs with animations on them. This release is officially called Strobo Trip.\",\n \"This release is officially called Strobo Trip. This release is officially called Strobo Trip. Featured in \\\"I Found a Star on the Ground\\\" is Sean Lennon who, with his band, opened for the Lips in early 2011. In the song Lennon reads off several lists of names of people who donated $100 to the Oklahoma City SPCA and Academy of Contemporary Music at University of Central Oklahoma. 212 names are featured in the song.\",\n \"212 names are featured in the song. 212 names are featured in the song. At midnight October 31, 2011, a 24-hour song was released titled \\\"7 Skies H3\\\". The song played live on a never-ending audio stream on a special website set up by the band and was made available for purchase as a hard drive encased in an actual human skull, limited to 13 copies.\",\n \"The song played live on a never-ending audio stream on a special website set up by the band and was made available for purchase as a hard drive encased in an actual human skull, limited to 13 copies. The band's last release of 2011 was a 12\\\" EP collaboration, The Flaming Lips with Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band, sold only at the band's annual New Years shows in Oklahoma City.\",\n \"The band's last release of 2011 was a 12\\\" EP collaboration, The Flaming Lips with Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band, sold only at the band's annual New Years shows in Oklahoma City. Heady Fwends, Guinness World Record and other collaborations (2012) With their previous contract with Warner Bros. Records having expired in 2011, the band re-signed to Warner Bros. for the United States and to Bella Union in Europe in early 2012.\",\n \"Heady Fwends, Guinness World Record and other collaborations (2012) With their previous contract with Warner Bros. Records having expired in 2011, the band re-signed to Warner Bros. for the United States and to Bella Union in Europe in early 2012. The first release under these new deals was The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends, initially released as a limited edition vinyl-only package for Record Store Day on April 21. The album features collaborations with artists such as Kesha, Nick Cave, and Erykah Badu.\",\n \"The album features collaborations with artists such as Kesha, Nick Cave, and Erykah Badu. In an interview with American Songwriter, Coyne stated that \\\"Since we were releasing music every month, we thought it would be a little bit boring for us each month to say 'Well here's four more Flaming Lips songs.' We just thought 'Well we'll get some of our friends, and we'll do collaborations and see what happens.'\\\"\",\n \"We just thought 'Well we'll get some of our friends, and we'll do collaborations and see what happens.'\\\" The album later received a wider release on CD and digitally on June 26 in the US and July 30 in Europe. The Flaming Lips broke Jay-Z's Guinness World Record for the most live concerts (8) in 24 hours, on June 27 and 28, 2012. The attempt was part of the O Music Awards, and was Livestreamed online for the entire 24 hours.\",\n \"The attempt was part of the O Music Awards, and was Livestreamed online for the entire 24 hours. The attempt started in Memphis on the afternoon of June 27 and ended in New Orleans on the afternoon of June 28, with 20 minutes to spare. The band played with guests including Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Neon Indian, Linear Downfall and Phantogram and HOTT MT, among others.\",\n \"The band played with guests including Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Neon Indian, Linear Downfall and Phantogram and HOTT MT, among others. The concerts, which were required to be at least 15 minutes long, as per Guinness rules, featured a mix of special covers, songs rarely or never performed live by the band before, and new songs from Heady Fwends.\",\n \"The concerts, which were required to be at least 15 minutes long, as per Guinness rules, featured a mix of special covers, songs rarely or never performed live by the band before, and new songs from Heady Fwends. In November 2012 the band's Lovely Sorts of Death Records released a collaborative track-by-track reinterpretation of King Crimson's In the Court of the Crimson King with Stardeath and White Dwarfs, Linear Downfall, New Fumes, and Space Face entitled Playing Hide and Seek with the Ghosts of Dawn on vinyl and on their own 'Satellite Heart Radio' website.\",\n \"In November 2012 the band's Lovely Sorts of Death Records released a collaborative track-by-track reinterpretation of King Crimson's In the Court of the Crimson King with Stardeath and White Dwarfs, Linear Downfall, New Fumes, and Space Face entitled Playing Hide and Seek with the Ghosts of Dawn on vinyl and on their own 'Satellite Heart Radio' website. They also worked on Kesha's Warrior album (on \\\"Past Lives\\\") and Lipsha. She also featured on their collaborative albums.\",\n \"She also featured on their collaborative albums. She also featured on their collaborative albums. The Terror (2013–2014) The band's next studio album, titled The Terror, was originally due for release on April 2, 2013 in the US and on April 1 in Europe, the tour began with a new member: keyboardist and guitarist Jake Ingalls, Derek Brown focused on percussion and additional guitars and keyboards.\",\n \"The Terror (2013–2014) The band's next studio album, titled The Terror, was originally due for release on April 2, 2013 in the US and on April 1 in Europe, the tour began with a new member: keyboardist and guitarist Jake Ingalls, Derek Brown focused on percussion and additional guitars and keyboards. Because of a corruption while mastering the record on vinyl, the US release was delayed for two weeks, until April 16.\",\n \"Because of a corruption while mastering the record on vinyl, the US release was delayed for two weeks, until April 16. In anticipation of the album's release, their song, \\\"Sun Blows Up Today\\\", was featured in a Hyundai Super Bowl XLVII commercial. The band also released a lyric video on for \\\"Sun Blows Up Today\\\" with animations created by long-time Lips collaborator George Salisbury. The band premiered the new album live at a free outdoor concert at SXSW on March 15, 2013.\",\n \"The band premiered the new album live at a free outdoor concert at SXSW on March 15, 2013. Critical reception of the album has tended to focus on its thematic bleakness and the turgid noisiness of its instrumentation.\",\n \"Critical reception of the album has tended to focus on its thematic bleakness and the turgid noisiness of its instrumentation. Like the three albums often referred to as \\\"a trilogy\\\" accounting for the majority of the band's mainstream production over the past 15 years (consisting of The Soft Bulletin, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, and At War With the Mystics), The Terror adheres to the love story/space opera narrative structure while taking a much darker approach.\",\n \"Like the three albums often referred to as \\\"a trilogy\\\" accounting for the majority of the band's mainstream production over the past 15 years (consisting of The Soft Bulletin, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, and At War With the Mystics), The Terror adheres to the love story/space opera narrative structure while taking a much darker approach. As noted in a review by Pitchfork, \\\"The Terror deals in more personal turmoil– loneliness, depression, anxiety... Perhaps not coincidentally, the album was preceded by news of Coyne's separation from his partner of 25 years, Michelle, and of multi-instrumentalist Steven Drozd relapsing temporarily.\\\"\",\n \"As noted in a review by Pitchfork, \\\"The Terror deals in more personal turmoil– loneliness, depression, anxiety... Perhaps not coincidentally, the album was preceded by news of Coyne's separation from his partner of 25 years, Michelle, and of multi-instrumentalist Steven Drozd relapsing temporarily.\\\" Jon Pareles of The New York Times summarized the thematic content of the album fairly succinctly when he wrote, \\\"The lyrics [of 'The Terror'] find cosmic repercussions in a lovers' breakup; loneliness turns to contemplation of grim human compulsions and the end of the universe.\\\"\",\n \"Jon Pareles of The New York Times summarized the thematic content of the album fairly succinctly when he wrote, \\\"The lyrics [of 'The Terror'] find cosmic repercussions in a lovers' breakup; loneliness turns to contemplation of grim human compulsions and the end of the universe.\\\" Another critic goes so far as to say that the album underlines the Lacanian psychodynamics structurally inherent in the conventions of the space opera.\",\n \"Another critic goes so far as to say that the album underlines the Lacanian psychodynamics structurally inherent in the conventions of the space opera. Wayne Coyne's own description of his process or the theme of the album jibes well with this critical diagnosis: \\\"We want, or wanted, to believe that without love we would disappear, that love, somehow, would save us that, yeah, if we have love, give love and know love, we are truly alive and if there is no love, there would be no life.\",\n \"Wayne Coyne's own description of his process or the theme of the album jibes well with this critical diagnosis: \\\"We want, or wanted, to believe that without love we would disappear, that love, somehow, would save us that, yeah, if we have love, give love and know love, we are truly alive and if there is no love, there would be no life. The Terror is, we know now, that even without love, life goes on... we just go on... there is no mercy killing.\\\"\",\n \"The Terror is, we know now, that even without love, life goes on... we just go on... there is no mercy killing.\\\" In November 2013 they produced and curated \\\"The Time Has Come To Shoot You Down…What A Sound,\\\" a reworking of the Stone Roses' debut album featuring New Fumes, Spaceface, Stardeath and White Dwarfs, Foxygen, Peaking Lights, Poliça and others.\",\n \"In November 2013 they produced and curated \\\"The Time Has Come To Shoot You Down…What A Sound,\\\" a reworking of the Stone Roses' debut album featuring New Fumes, Spaceface, Stardeath and White Dwarfs, Foxygen, Peaking Lights, Poliça and others. In March 2014, longtime drummer and percussionist Kliph Scurlock left the band, and was replaced by drummer, percussionist and keyboardist Matt Duckworth Kirksey and percussionist and drummer Nicholas Ley. Derek Brown began focusing on guitars, and occasional keyboards and percussion.\",\n \"Derek Brown began focusing on guitars, and occasional keyboards and percussion. In May, Scurlock claimed he had been fired for negative comments about Wayne Coyne's friend Christina Fallin, the daughter of Oklahoma's governor and leader of a band called Pink Pony. Fallin had recently been criticized for cultural appropriation after she wore a Native American headdress in a publicity photo. According to Scurlock, his criticism of Fallin's actions led to conflict with Coyne and his dismissal.\",\n \"According to Scurlock, his criticism of Fallin's actions led to conflict with Coyne and his dismissal. In response, Drozd said, \\\"[t]his Lips/Kliph bullshit has gone too far. We parted ways because of the usual band musical differences. The rest has been blown way out.\\\"\",\n \"The rest has been blown way out.\\\" The rest has been blown way out.\\\" Coyne went even further, calling Scurlock a \\\"pathological liar\\\" and stated that he never meant his defense of Fallin, which included posting a photo of his dog in a feathered headdress, to be offensive but that he was \\\"very sorry, to anybody that is following my Instagram or my Twitter, if I offended anybody of any religion, any race, any belief system.\",\n \"Coyne went even further, calling Scurlock a \\\"pathological liar\\\" and stated that he never meant his defense of Fallin, which included posting a photo of his dog in a feathered headdress, to be offensive but that he was \\\"very sorry, to anybody that is following my Instagram or my Twitter, if I offended anybody of any religion, any race, any belief system. I would say you shouldn't follow my tweets; you shouldn't even probably want to be a Flaming Lips fan because we don't really have any agenda.\\\"\",\n \"I would say you shouldn't follow my tweets; you shouldn't even probably want to be a Flaming Lips fan because we don't really have any agenda.\\\" Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz (2015) On August 30, 2015, after hosting the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards, Miley Cyrus announced that Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz, the free, 23-track experimental album that Cyrus and the Flaming Lips wrote and recorded together, was available via online streaming.\",\n \"Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz (2015) On August 30, 2015, after hosting the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards, Miley Cyrus announced that Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz, the free, 23-track experimental album that Cyrus and the Flaming Lips wrote and recorded together, was available via online streaming. The album is described by Coyne as a combination of Pink Floyd and Portishead and \\\"a slightly wiser, sadder, more true version\\\" of Cyrus' pop music output.\",\n \"The album is described by Coyne as a combination of Pink Floyd and Portishead and \\\"a slightly wiser, sadder, more true version\\\" of Cyrus' pop music output. Oczy Mlody, King's Mouth, and American Head (2016–present) According to the Tarbox Roads Studio's website, the Flaming Lips began recording a new album with Dave Fridmann on January 27, 2016.\",\n \"Oczy Mlody, King's Mouth, and American Head (2016–present) According to the Tarbox Roads Studio's website, the Flaming Lips began recording a new album with Dave Fridmann on January 27, 2016. In a June interview with Danish music blog Regnsky, Wayne Coyne said that a new album would come out in January 2017, even though they had originally planned for it to be released in October 2016.\",\n \"In a June interview with Danish music blog Regnsky, Wayne Coyne said that a new album would come out in January 2017, even though they had originally planned for it to be released in October 2016. Wayne Coyne later confirmed in a September interview with Consequence of Sound, that they would release a new album at the beginning of 2017. On October 20, the band confirmed the January 2017 release date for the album.\",\n \"On October 20, the band confirmed the January 2017 release date for the album. The band embarked on a tour in support that was described as \\\"rock's greatest acid punch party\\\" with \\\"balloons, confetti cannons and rainbow visuals\\\". On January 13, 2017 the fourteenth Flaming Lips album Oczy Mlody was released, and featured a guest appearance by Miley Cyrus. The album charted in both the UK and US.\",\n \"The album charted in both the UK and US. The album charted in both the UK and US. On Record Store Day, April 22, 2017, the Flaming Lips released Onboard the International Space Station Concert for Peace, a re-recording of seven tracks from Oczy Mlody in a faux live setting. The band's next studio album, King's Mouth, was released on April 13, 2019 for Record Store Day.\",\n \"The band's next studio album, King's Mouth, was released on April 13, 2019 for Record Store Day. Mick Jones of The Clash and Big Audio Dynamite narrates the album; Wayne Coyne said of Jones that \\\"he’s on almost every song... it really is quite unbelievable.\\\" In late 2019, Coyne and Drozd collaborated with garage rock duo Deap Vally to form a new band, Deap Lips. The project's self-titled debut album was released on March 13, 2020.\",\n \"The project's self-titled debut album was released on March 13, 2020. On March 23, 2020, Drozd announced that the band's sixteenth studio album, American Head, is due for release in the summer. The band officially announced the album's release date as September 11, 2020, along with the single \\\"My Religion Is You\\\" on June 6, 2020.\",\n \"The band officially announced the album's release date as September 11, 2020, along with the single \\\"My Religion Is You\\\" on June 6, 2020. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the band performed a concert in their hometown of Oklahoma City on October 12, 2020, while entirely encased within inflatable human-sized bubbles. Audience members were also protected by plastic bubbles. They performed in this fashion on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert and again in 2021.\",\n \"They performed in this fashion on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert and again in 2021. On August 16, 2021, Ingalls announced on his Instagram page that he left the band on amicable terms. Also in August, Coyne commented on his Instagram that Ivins was no longer in the band, leaving Coyne as the only original member. Micah Nelson has been on bass for recent live performances. In November 2021, the band released an album of nine Nick Cave cover songs with the young Canadian musician Nell Smith.\",\n \"In November 2021, the band released an album of nine Nick Cave cover songs with the young Canadian musician Nell Smith. Smith and The Lips recorded the album remotely during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown.\",\n \"Smith and The Lips recorded the album remotely during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown. Members Current members Wayne Coyne – lead vocals (1985–present), guitars, keyboards, theremin (1983–present), backing vocals (1983–1985, 1991–present), bass guitar (2021–present) Steven Drozd – guitars, keyboards, bass, drums, backing and lead vocals (1991–present) Derek Brown – keyboards, guitars, percussion, backing vocals (2009–present) Matt Duckworth Kirksey – drums, percussion, keyboards, backing vocals (2014–present) Nicholas Ley – percussion, drums, samples (2014–present) Current touring musicians Micah Nelson – bass, keyboards, backing vocals (2021–present) Former members Mark Coyne – lead vocals (1983–1985) Dave Kostka – drums (1983–1984) Richard English – drums, keyboards, backing vocals (1984–1989) Nathan Roberts – drums (1989–1991) Jonathan Donahue – guitars, backing vocals (1989–1991) Jon Mooneyham – guitars, backing vocals (1991) Ronald Jones – guitars, backing vocals (1991–1996) Kliph Scurlock – drums, percussion (2002–2014) Jake Ingalls – keyboards, guitars (2013–2021) Michael Ivins – bass, keyboards, backing vocals (1983–2021) Former touring musicians Ray Suen – percussion, violin, harp, keyboards (2009–2012) Timeline Selected discography Studio albums Hear It Is (1986) Oh My Gawd!!!\",\n \"Members Current members Wayne Coyne – lead vocals (1985–present), guitars, keyboards, theremin (1983–present), backing vocals (1983–1985, 1991–present), bass guitar (2021–present) Steven Drozd – guitars, keyboards, bass, drums, backing and lead vocals (1991–present) Derek Brown – keyboards, guitars, percussion, backing vocals (2009–present) Matt Duckworth Kirksey – drums, percussion, keyboards, backing vocals (2014–present) Nicholas Ley – percussion, drums, samples (2014–present) Current touring musicians Micah Nelson – bass, keyboards, backing vocals (2021–present) Former members Mark Coyne – lead vocals (1983–1985) Dave Kostka – drums (1983–1984) Richard English – drums, keyboards, backing vocals (1984–1989) Nathan Roberts – drums (1989–1991) Jonathan Donahue – guitars, backing vocals (1989–1991) Jon Mooneyham – guitars, backing vocals (1991) Ronald Jones – guitars, backing vocals (1991–1996) Kliph Scurlock – drums, percussion (2002–2014) Jake Ingalls – keyboards, guitars (2013–2021) Michael Ivins – bass, keyboards, backing vocals (1983–2021) Former touring musicians Ray Suen – percussion, violin, harp, keyboards (2009–2012) Timeline Selected discography Studio albums Hear It Is (1986) Oh My Gawd!!! (1987) Telepathic Surgery (1989) In a Priest Driven Ambulance (1990) Hit to Death in the Future Head (1992) Transmissions from the Satellite Heart (1993) Clouds Taste Metallic (1995) Zaireeka (1997) The Soft Bulletin (1999) Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (2002) At War with the Mystics (2006) Embryonic (2009) The Terror (2013) Oczy Mlody (2017) King's Mouth (2019) American Head (2020) Extended plays The Flaming Lips (1984) Gummy Song Skull (2011) Gummy Song Fetus (2011) Strobo Trip (2011) 24 Hour Song Skull (2011) Peace Sword (2013) Collaborative albums The Flaming Lips and Stardeath and White Dwarfs with Henry Rollins and Peaches Doing The Dark Side of the Moon (2009) The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends (2012) Playing Hide and Seek with the Ghosts of Dawn (2012) The Time Has Come to Shoot You Down... What a Sound (2013) With a Little Help from My Fwends (2014) Deap Lips (2020) Where the Viaduct Looms (2021) Soundtracks/Miscellaneous The Southern Oklahoma Cosmic Trigger Contest (2001) Atlas Eets Christmas (2007) Once Beyond Hopelessness (2008) Awards and nominations The Flaming Lips won their first Grammy Award in 2003, for their track \\\"Approaching Pavonis Mons by Balloon (Utopia Planitia)\\\".\",\n \"(1987) Telepathic Surgery (1989) In a Priest Driven Ambulance (1990) Hit to Death in the Future Head (1992) Transmissions from the Satellite Heart (1993) Clouds Taste Metallic (1995) Zaireeka (1997) The Soft Bulletin (1999) Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (2002) At War with the Mystics (2006) Embryonic (2009) The Terror (2013) Oczy Mlody (2017) King's Mouth (2019) American Head (2020) Extended plays The Flaming Lips (1984) Gummy Song Skull (2011) Gummy Song Fetus (2011) Strobo Trip (2011) 24 Hour Song Skull (2011) Peace Sword (2013) Collaborative albums The Flaming Lips and Stardeath and White Dwarfs with Henry Rollins and Peaches Doing The Dark Side of the Moon (2009) The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends (2012) Playing Hide and Seek with the Ghosts of Dawn (2012) The Time Has Come to Shoot You Down... What a Sound (2013) With a Little Help from My Fwends (2014) Deap Lips (2020) Where the Viaduct Looms (2021) Soundtracks/Miscellaneous The Southern Oklahoma Cosmic Trigger Contest (2001) Atlas Eets Christmas (2007) Once Beyond Hopelessness (2008) Awards and nominations The Flaming Lips won their first Grammy Award in 2003, for their track \\\"Approaching Pavonis Mons by Balloon (Utopia Planitia)\\\". To date, the band has been nominated for six Grammy Awards, and won three times.\",\n \"To date, the band has been nominated for six Grammy Awards, and won three times. References External links 1983 establishments in Oklahoma Alternative rock groups from Oklahoma American experimental rock groups American psychedelic rock music groups Grammy Award winners Indie rock musical groups from Oklahoma Musical groups established in 1983 Musical groups from Oklahoma Neo-psychedelia groups Noise pop musical groups Psychedelic pop music groups Space rock musical groups Warner Records artists Bella Union artists Restless Records artists\"\n]"}}},{"rowIdx":381,"cells":{"History":{"kind":"list like","value":["Sandman (Wesley Dodds)","Powers and abilities"],"string":"[\n \"Sandman (Wesley Dodds)\",\n \"Powers and abilities\"\n]"},"QuAC_dialog_id":{"kind":"string","value":"C_66c8684ed1f04066a6bfcf6cee925937_0"},"Question":{"kind":"string","value":"What are his special abilities?"},"Question_no":{"kind":"number","value":1,"string":"1"},"Rewrite":{"kind":"string","value":"What are Wesley Dodds special abilities?"},"true_page_title":{"kind":"string","value":"Sandman (Wesley Dodds)"},"true_contexts":{"kind":"string","value":"Dodds has prophetic dreams which come to him as cryptic, ambiguous visions of crimes. Originally of unexplained origin, these dreams were later ascribed to encounter between Dodds and the entity known as Dream via retcon. The visions haunt Wes, who uses his keen intellect and amateur detective skills to properly interpret them. He is also a talented chemist and inventor, creating the sand-like substance and the Silicoid Gun ultimately responsible for transforming Sandy the Golden Boy into a Silicon-based life-form. In the early years of his career, Wesley Dodds possesses the strength level of a man who engages in regular exercise, and was a fine hand-to-hand combatant. As he grows older, his strength level diminishes in relative proportion to his age. As hobbies, Wes enjoys reading, writing, poetry, origami and philosophy. Through an unknown process, Wes passes his power of prophetic visions on to his former ward, Sanderson Hawkins upon the moment of his own death. Wesley Dodds' costume consists of a basic green business suit, fedora, a World War I era gas mask, a gas gun, and a wire gun. The gas mask protects Dodds from the effects of the gas emitted from his gas gun. The gas gun, a handheld device fitted with cartridges containing concentrated sleeping gas, is Wesley Dodds' only known weapon. Pressing the trigger on the gun releases a cloud of green dust rendering all within the Sandman's immediate vicinity unconscious. An upgraded canister dispenser for the gun is provided for him by his close friend and confidante, Lee Travis. Wes is also known to conceal smaller knockout gas capsules in a hollow heel on his shoe. These prove ideal when placed in situations where his gas gun is not readily available. He also makes use of a specially designed \"wirepoon\" gun, which fires a length of thin, steel cable. In the early days of his career, the Sandman drives a black 1938 Plymouth Coupe. The car is enhanced with various features to aid Wes in his crusade against crime. CANNOTANSWER"},"answer":{"kind":"string","value":"Dodds has prophetic dreams which come to him as cryptic, ambiguous visions of crimes."},"true_contexts_wiki":{"kind":"string","value":"Sandman (Wesley Dodds) is a fictional superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first of several DC characters to bear the name Sandman, he was created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Bert Christman. Attired in a green business suit, a fedora, and a World War I gas mask, the Sandman used a gun emitting a sleeping gas to sedate criminals. He was originally one of the mystery men to appear in comic books and other types of adventure fiction in the 1930s but later was outfitted with a unitard/cowl costume and developed into a proper superhero, acquiring sidekick Sandy, and founding the Justice Society of America.\n\nLike most DC Golden Age superheroes, the Sandman fell into obscurity in the 1940s and eventually other DC characters took his name. During the 1990s, when writer Neil Gaiman's Sandman (featuring Morpheus, the anthropomorphic embodiment of dreams) was popular, DC revived Dodds in Sandman Mystery Theatre, a pulp/noir series set in the 1930s. Wizard Magazine ranked Wesley Dodds among the Top 200 Comic Book Characters of All Time, and he is the oldest superhero in terms of continuity to appear on the list.\n\nPublication history\n\nGolden Age of comic books\nArtist Bert Christman and writer Gardner Fox are generally credited as co-creating the original, Wesley Dodds version of the DC Comics character the Sandman. While the character's first appearance is usually given as Adventure Comics #40 (cover-dated July 1939), he also appeared in DC Comics' 1939 New York World's Fair Comics omnibus, which historians believe appeared on newsstands one to two weeks earlier, while also believing the Adventure Comics story was written and drawn first. Each of the two stories' scripts were credited to the pseudonym \"Larry Dean\"; Fox wrote the untitled, 10-page story in New York World's Fair #1, while he simply plotted, and Christman scripted, the untitled, six-page story, generally known as \"The Tarantula Strikes\", in Adventure #40. Creig Flessel, who drew many early Sandman adventures, has sometimes been credited as co-creator on the basis of drawing the Sandman cover of Adventure #40, but no other evidence has surfaced.\n\nFollowing these two first appearances, the feature \"The Sandman\" continued to appear in the omnibus Adventure Comics through #102 (February–March 1946). One of the medium's seminal \"mystery men\", as referred to at the time, the Sandman straddled the pulp magazine detective tradition and the emerging superhero tradition by dint of his dual identity and his fanciful, masked attire and weapon: an exotic \"gas gun\" that could compel villains to tell the truth, as well as put them to sleep. Unlike many superheroes, he frequently found himself the victim of gunshot wounds, both in the Golden Age and in stories in DC's modern-day Vertigo imprint, and he would continue fighting in spite of his injuries.\n\nIn his early career, Dodds (the character's surname was given as \"Dodd\" in his first four appearances; he became \"Dodds\" in Adventure Comics #44) was frequently aided by his girlfriend, Dian Belmont, who is aware of his dual identity. Unlike many superhero love interests, Belmont was often, though not always, portrayed as an equal partner of the Sandman, rather than a damsel in distress. Later stories would reveal that the two remained together for the duration of their lives, though they never married.\n\nThe Sandman was one of the original members of the Justice Society of America when that superhero team was introduced in All Star Comics #3, published by All-American Comics, one of the companies that would merge to form DC.\n\nIn Adventure Comics #69 (December 1941), Dodds was given a yellow-and-purple costume by writer Mort Weisinger and artist Paul Norris, as well as a yellow-clad kid sidekick, Sandy the Golden Boy, nephew of Dian Belmont. Later that year, the celebrated team of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby took over this version of the character. In 1942, Dodds enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as an anti-aircraft gunner during World War II.\n\nSilver Age to Modern Age\n\nReintroduced in the Silver Age in Justice League of America #46 (July 1966), the Sandman made occasional appearances in the annual teamups between that superhero group and the JSA.\n\nIn 1981 DC began publishing All-Star Squadron, a retelling of the Earth-Two mystery-men during WWII. Although not a main character, Sandman does appear in its pages. Of note is issue #18 which gives an explanation of why Dodds changed costumes from the cloak and gas mask to the yellow-and-purple outfit; Dian wore his costume while he was fighting elsewhere and she was killed in a fray. Dodds decided to wear the new costume, of Dian's design, until he could bring himself to wear the original in which she had died.\n\nLater, this explanation would be changed again when Dian Belmont was retconned to have never died, and a new explanation was given: Sandy convinced Dodds to switch to the more colorful costume to gain the support of regular people, who preferred the more traditional superhero look to his older, pulp-themed costume.\n\nAn acclaimed film noir-inspired retelling of the original Sandman's adventures, Sandman Mystery Theatre, ran from 1993 to 1998 under DC Comics' Vertigo mature-reader imprint. Although as a whole its continuity within the DC Universe is debatable, several elements of the series – the more nuanced relationship between Dodds and Dian Belmont; the Sandman's appearance (wearing a trench coat and World War I gas mask instead of the cape and the custom-made gas mask); and Dodds' pudgier appearance and wearing of glasses – have been adopted into regular continuity. The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual.\n\nIn Sandman Midnight Theatre (1995) a one-shot special by Neil Gaiman (author of the Modern Age supernatural series The Sandman), Matt Wagner (co-author of Sandman Mystery Theatre), and Teddy Kristiansen, depicts an interaction between the two characters, with the original visiting Great Britain and encountering the imprisoned Dream, the protagonist of Gaiman's series. A minor retcon by Gaiman suggested that Dodds' chosen identity was a result of Dream's absence from the realm the Dreaming, and that Dodds carries an aspect of that mystical realm. This explains Dodds' prophetic dreams.\n\nTwilight years\nDodds is one of a number of Justice Society members who finds themselves in the \"Ragnarok Dimension\" during the early Modern Age of comic books. The Last Days of the Justice Society of America Special (1986) wrote the post-Crisis tale of a time-warped wave of destruction ready to engulf the world. Dodds and his JSA teammates enter into a limbo to engage in an eternal battle that would allow the universe to continue its existence. This was later revealed to be a simulation created by Odin, which he intended to give to Dream as a bribe. Dodds, Dream's protege, and Hawkman, the grandfather of Dream's appointed successor are the only JSA members who were seen at that time. This lasted only until 1992 when DC published Armageddon: Inferno. This mini-series ended with the JSA members leaving limbo and entering the 'real' world. Justice Society of America (1992–1993) showed how the JSA members handled returning to normal life. For the Sandman, the series depicted him as an old, thin man with a balding scalp and a sharp wit. Starting with issue #1 his physical condition became important as writer Len Strazewski had him suffer a stroke at the first sign of a villainous attack. Both his age and his physical limitations became a theme writers would use in this character's post-Crisis stories.\n\nDuring Zero Hour, Dodds is returned to his proper age by the Extant. Later, Wesley Dodds is shown as retired and living with Dian Belmont though occasionally coming out of it, most notably in a team-up with Jack Knight, the son of Dodds' JSA teammate Starman. When Dian is diagnosed with a terminal disease, the two travel the world together until her death.\n\nTowards the end of his life, Dodds' prophetic dreams alert him to the identity and location of the new Doctor Fate, prompting him to contact the Gray Man, a being created from the residue of others' dreams, as well as his old friend Speed Saunders to instruct them to warn his former teammates about what he has discovered. Waiting on a clifftop, he is subsequently confronted by the powerful villain Mordru, who intends to force Dodds to tell him the identity of the new Doctor Fate, only for Dodds to distract Mordru with his gas-gun long enough to commit suicide by jumping off the cliff rather than allow Mordru to torture him into submission. His last thoughts were that his final slumber would be free of nightmares as he is reunited with Dian. His youthful but now grown-up sidekick Sandy the Golden Boy becomes known simply as Sand and takes his mentor's place as a member of the Justice Society of America as well as his prophetic dreams. Eventually, he takes the name of Sandman.\n\nSleep of Reason\nWesley Dodds makes a comeback via flashback images in the 2006 limited series Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason.\n\nBlackest Night\nDodds is reanimated as a Black Lantern in the \"Blackest Night\" storyline. He and several other fallen JSAers attack the Brownstone, seeking the hearts of the living within.\n\nExodus Noir\nDodds appeared in the \"Exodus Noir\" arc of Madame Xanadu in 2010, in a story set in 1940.\n\nDC Rebirth\nIn the \"Watchmen\" sequel \"Doomsday Clock\", Lois Lane finds a flash-drive at the Daily Planet. It shows her footage of Sandman and the rest of the Justice Society.\n\nIn the pages of \"Dark Nights: Death Metal\", the Prime-Earth version of Sandman was revealed to be entombed at the Valhalla Cemetery. Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring.\n\nPowers and abilities\nDodds has prophetic dreams which come to him as cryptic, ambiguous visions of crimes. Originally of unexplained origin, these dreams were later ascribed to an encounter between Dodds and the entity known as Dream via retcon. The visions haunt Dodds, who uses his keen intellect and amateur detective skills to properly interpret them. He is also a talented chemist and inventor, creating the sand-like substance and the Silicoid Gun ultimately responsible for transforming Sandy the Golden Boy into a Silicon-based life-form. In the early years of his career, Wesley Dodds possesses the strength level of a man who engages in regular exercise, and was a fine hand-to-hand combatant. As he grows older, his strength level diminishes in relative proportion to his age. As hobbies, Dodds enjoys reading, writing, poetry, origami and philosophy. Through an unknown process, Dodds passes his power of prophetic visions on to his former ward, Sanderson Hawkins upon the moment of his own death.\n \nWesley Dodds' costume consists of a basic green business suit, fedora, a World War I era gas mask, a gas gun, and a specially designed \"wirepoon\" gun, which fires a length of thin, steel cable. The gas mask protects Dodds from the effects of the gas emitted from his gas gun. The gas gun, a handheld device fitted with cartridges containing concentrated sleeping gas, is Wesley Dodds' only known weapon. Pressing the trigger on the gun releases a cloud of green dust rendering all within the Sandman's immediate vicinity unconscious. An upgraded canister dispenser for the gun is provided for him by his close friend and confidante, Lee Travis. Dodds is also known to conceal smaller knockout gas capsules in a hollow heel on his shoe. These prove ideal when placed in situations where his gas gun is not readily available.\n\nIn the early days of his career, the Sandman drives a black 1938 Plymouth coupe. The car is enhanced with various features to aid Dodds in his crusade against crime.\n\nEnemies\n\nSandman has an assortment of enemies that he fought:\n Butcher - A cannibalistic butcher.\n Doctor Death - Raymond Kessler is a serial killer/swindler who is the boyfriend of Dian Belmont's cousin Lucy.\n Phantom of the Fair - Gerald Zimmerman is a man who has been torturing and killing homosexual men at the New York World's Fair.\n Ramulus - A plant-manipulating villain who was also known as Nightshade and Plant Master. He later appeared as a member of the Monster Society of Evil.\n Scorpion - Terrence Pritchard is an ad executive who becomes a bullwhip-wielding vigilante.\n Tarantula - A man who targeted Vivian Dale. There was also a second Tarantula that Sandman fought. This one was Roger Goldman who is a serial killer and the former owner of the Evergood Milk Bottling Company.\n\nOther versions\n\nKingdom Come\nDodds appears as an infirm old man at the beginning of the graphic novel, plagued with visions of the impending apocalyptic battle between various factions of metahumans. Before his death, he relates his visions, interpreted through passages from the Book of Revelation, to Norman McCay, who later witnesses the events in the company of the Spectre.\n\nEarth 40\nWesley Dodds meets with The Unholy Three to give information about the Trigger, a device that causes every nuclear reactor in the world to detonate in a nuclear explosion. The Sandman arranges for The Unholy Three to meet with The Lantern, who has information on where the Trigger is located.\n\nEarth 2\nIn The New 52 (a reboot of DC Comics), a new Earth-2 version of Sandman appears. While he does wear a gas mask and wield a gas gun, he is also equipped with a teleporter. When Washington DC is attacked by Solomon Grundy, Commander Wesley Dodds, along with his Sandmen paramilitary force, is sent to retrieve and save President Lightfoot. They are later assigned by Commander Khan in a special and unofficial mission to infiltrate Terry Sloane's secret facility, where they confront and subdue a mind-controlled Michael Holt.\n\nIn other media\n\nTelevision\n\nAnimation\n Wesley Dodds / Sandman makes a non-speaking appearance in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode \"Crisis: 22,300 Miles Above Earth\". He is seen with the other members of the Justice Society of America.\n Sandman makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in the Young Justice episode \"Humanity\". He is shown with the other members of the JSA during a flashback sequence.\n\nLive-action\n A character loosely inspired by the Sandman under the pseudonym of Nightshade makes recurring appearances in The Flash (1990), portrayed by Jason Bernard. This version is Dr. Desmond Powell, a 1950s vigilante who retained the Sandman's costume and captured criminals using a knockout gun and tranquilizer darts. After retiring as a vigilante after he defeated \"The Ghost\" in 1955, he later became a doctor and Chief of Staff at Central City Hospital. When the Ghost reappears in 1990, Powell becomes Nightshade once again and teams up with the Flash to apprehend his old enemy. He later unknowingly inspires the Deadly Nightshade. Powell is framed for multiple counts of murder, but clears his name and captures the impostor. He also makes his secret identity public and becomes a celebrity.\n Wesley Dodds appeared in the Smallville two-hour special episode \"Absolute Justice\", portrayed by Ken Lawson. This version was a member of the now-disbanded Justice Society of America. After having a nightmare about losing his teammate, the Star-Spangled Kid, Dodds is killed by Icicle II. His body was later found by Clark Kent.\n Sandman's helmet appears in Rip Hunter's office in Legends of Tomorrow.\n Sandman appears in the series Stargirl. He appears as a member of the Justice Society of America before the team was attacked and killed by the Injustice Society, with Dodds in particular being killed by Icicle.\n\nFilm\n An alternate universe version of Sandman makes a cameo appearance in the animated film Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths. This version is a minor member of the Crime Syndicate of America.\n An alternate timeline version of Sandman appears in the animated film Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox. This version is one of the few active superheroes in the dystopian \"Flashpoint\" timeline.\n\nVideo games\nWesley Dodds' costume appears in the background of the Hall of Justice in the video game Injustice: Gods Among Us.\n\nWeb series\nSandman makes a minor appearance in the DC Super Hero Girls episode \"Welcome to Super Hero High\". He appears as a graduate of the titular school.\n\nCollected editions\n The Golden Age Sandman Archive Vol. 1 (Sandman stories from New York World's Fair Comics #1–2 and Adventure Comics #40–59) by Bert Christman and others.\n Sandman by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby (World's Finest #6–7; Adventure Comics #72–102; Sandman #1) \n Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 1: The Tarantula (Sandman Mystery Theatre #1–4)\n Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 2: The Face and The Brute (Sandman Mystery Theatre #5–12)\n Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 3: The Vamp (Sandman Mystery Theatre #13–16)\n Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 4: The Scorpion (Sandman Mystery Theatre #17–20)\n Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 5: Dr. Death and The Night of the Butcher (Sandman Mystery Theatre #21–28) \n Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 6: The Hourman and The Python (Sandman Mystery Theatre #29–36)\n Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 7: The Mist and The Phantom of the Fair (Sandman Mystery Theatre #37–44)\n Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 8: The Blackhawk and The Return of the Scarlet Ghost (Sandman Mystery Theatre #45–52)\n Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason (Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason #1–5)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n JSA Fact File: The Sandman\n Earth-2 Sandman Index]\n Sequart.com: \"The Sandman — Interlude: Sandman Mystery Theatre (1993–1998)\", by Julian Darius\n\nCharacters created by Allen Bert Christman\nCharacters created by Gardner Fox\nComics characters introduced in 1939\nDC Comics male superheroes\nEarth-Two\nFictional businesspeople\nFictional characters with precognition\nFictional detectives\nFictional scientists\nFictional socialites\nGolden Age superheroes\nJewish superheroes\nSandman\nVigilante characters in comics"},"extractive":{"kind":"string","value":"true"},"retrieved_contexts":{"kind":"list like","value":["The Real Superhumans and the Quest for the Future Fantastic is a two-hour-long special from the Discovery Channel which aired in 2007. It follows four people with what are described as \"real life superhuman abilities\", a geneticist who created the first chimera of two very different species of rodents, and a scientist on a mission to become immortal. The show was done in a comic book format ending with the common slogan \"To be continued\" as to indicate that the people of the show and humanity itself is just beginning to venture into a new age, one where genetic manipulation and other technologies to obtain special abilities will be for sale to the general public.\n\nReferences\n\n2007 American television series debuts\nDiscovery Channel original programming","The following comparison of video players compares general and technical information for notable software media player programs.\n\nFor the purpose of this comparison, video players are defined as any media player which can play video, even if it can also play audio files.\n\nGeneral\n\nActive players\n\nInactive players\n\nOperating system compatibility\nThis section lists the operating systems on which the player works. There may be multiple versions of a player, each one for a given operating system.\n\nFeatures\n\nExtended features\n\nConsumer video format ability\nInformation about what video formats the players understand. Footnotes lead to information about abilities of future versions of the players or plugins/filters that provide such abilities.\n\nProduction video format ability\n\nAudio format ability\nInformation about what audio formats the players understand. Footnotes lead to information about abilities of future versions of the players or plugins/filters that provide such abilities.\n\nContainer format ability\nInformation about what container formats the players understand. Footnotes lead to information about abilities of future versions of the players or filters that provide such abilities.\n\nStreaming support\nInformation about which internet protocols the players understand, for receiving streaming media content.\n\nPlaylist format ability\nInformation about which playlist formats the players understand.\n\nElectronic program guide format ability\nInformation about which Electronic program guide format the players viewable.\n\nSubtitle ability\nInformation about what subtitle formats the players understand. Footnotes lead to information about abilities of future versions of the players or filters that provide such abilities.\n\nMetadata ability\nInformation about what metadata, or tagging, formats the players understand. Most other containers have their own metadata format and the players usually use them. Footnotes lead to information about abilities of future versions of the players or plugins that provide such abilities.\n\nOptical media ability \nInformation about what kinds of optical discs the players can play. Footnotes lead to information about abilities of future versions of the players or plugins that provide such abilities.\nPlayback of Super Audio CD is not possible for any media player, because no suitable hardware exists.\nAll media players capable of audio CD playback will also play the Redbook core of any HDCD disc, providing no sound-quality benefits over standard audio CDs.\n\nSee also\n\n List of codecs\n Open source codecs and containers\n Comparison of video codecs\n Comparison of audio coding formats\n Comparison of container formats\n Subtitle (captioning)\n Comparison of portable media players\n Comparison of video encoders\n Comparison of PVR software packages\n\nReferences\n\nRelated lists on other projects\n :m:Open Source Toolset - short sections on Audio editing and Video editing\n Software - short lists of Ogg audio and video editors\n Help:Converting video - tools for manipulating audio and video\n\n \nvideo player software\nITunes\n\nde:Mediaplayer#Software"],"string":"[\n \"The Real Superhumans and the Quest for the Future Fantastic is a two-hour-long special from the Discovery Channel which aired in 2007. It follows four people with what are described as \\\"real life superhuman abilities\\\", a geneticist who created the first chimera of two very different species of rodents, and a scientist on a mission to become immortal. The show was done in a comic book format ending with the common slogan \\\"To be continued\\\" as to indicate that the people of the show and humanity itself is just beginning to venture into a new age, one where genetic manipulation and other technologies to obtain special abilities will be for sale to the general public.\\n\\nReferences\\n\\n2007 American television series debuts\\nDiscovery Channel original programming\",\n \"The following comparison of video players compares general and technical information for notable software media player programs.\\n\\nFor the purpose of this comparison, video players are defined as any media player which can play video, even if it can also play audio files.\\n\\nGeneral\\n\\nActive players\\n\\nInactive players\\n\\nOperating system compatibility\\nThis section lists the operating systems on which the player works. There may be multiple versions of a player, each one for a given operating system.\\n\\nFeatures\\n\\nExtended features\\n\\nConsumer video format ability\\nInformation about what video formats the players understand. Footnotes lead to information about abilities of future versions of the players or plugins/filters that provide such abilities.\\n\\nProduction video format ability\\n\\nAudio format ability\\nInformation about what audio formats the players understand. Footnotes lead to information about abilities of future versions of the players or plugins/filters that provide such abilities.\\n\\nContainer format ability\\nInformation about what container formats the players understand. Footnotes lead to information about abilities of future versions of the players or filters that provide such abilities.\\n\\nStreaming support\\nInformation about which internet protocols the players understand, for receiving streaming media content.\\n\\nPlaylist format ability\\nInformation about which playlist formats the players understand.\\n\\nElectronic program guide format ability\\nInformation about which Electronic program guide format the players viewable.\\n\\nSubtitle ability\\nInformation about what subtitle formats the players understand. Footnotes lead to information about abilities of future versions of the players or filters that provide such abilities.\\n\\nMetadata ability\\nInformation about what metadata, or tagging, formats the players understand. Most other containers have their own metadata format and the players usually use them. Footnotes lead to information about abilities of future versions of the players or plugins that provide such abilities.\\n\\nOptical media ability \\nInformation about what kinds of optical discs the players can play. Footnotes lead to information about abilities of future versions of the players or plugins that provide such abilities.\\nPlayback of Super Audio CD is not possible for any media player, because no suitable hardware exists.\\nAll media players capable of audio CD playback will also play the Redbook core of any HDCD disc, providing no sound-quality benefits over standard audio CDs.\\n\\nSee also\\n\\n List of codecs\\n Open source codecs and containers\\n Comparison of video codecs\\n Comparison of audio coding formats\\n Comparison of container formats\\n Subtitle (captioning)\\n Comparison of portable media players\\n Comparison of video encoders\\n Comparison of PVR software packages\\n\\nReferences\\n\\nRelated lists on other projects\\n :m:Open Source Toolset - short sections on Audio editing and Video editing\\n Software - short lists of Ogg audio and video editors\\n Help:Converting video - tools for manipulating audio and video\\n\\n \\nvideo player software\\nITunes\\n\\nde:Mediaplayer#Software\"\n]"},"chunked_article":{"kind":"list like","value":["Sandman (Wesley Dodds) is a fictional superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first of several DC characters to bear the name Sandman, he was created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Bert Christman. Attired in a green business suit, a fedora, and a World War I gas mask, the Sandman used a gun emitting a sleeping gas to sedate criminals.","Attired in a green business suit, a fedora, and a World War I gas mask, the Sandman used a gun emitting a sleeping gas to sedate criminals. He was originally one of the mystery men to appear in comic books and other types of adventure fiction in the 1930s but later was outfitted with a unitard/cowl costume and developed into a proper superhero, acquiring sidekick Sandy, and founding the Justice Society of America.","He was originally one of the mystery men to appear in comic books and other types of adventure fiction in the 1930s but later was outfitted with a unitard/cowl costume and developed into a proper superhero, acquiring sidekick Sandy, and founding the Justice Society of America. Like most DC Golden Age superheroes, the Sandman fell into obscurity in the 1940s and eventually other DC characters took his name.","Like most DC Golden Age superheroes, the Sandman fell into obscurity in the 1940s and eventually other DC characters took his name. During the 1990s, when writer Neil Gaiman's Sandman (featuring Morpheus, the anthropomorphic embodiment of dreams) was popular, DC revived Dodds in Sandman Mystery Theatre, a pulp/noir series set in the 1930s. Wizard Magazine ranked Wesley Dodds among the Top 200 Comic Book Characters of All Time, and he is the oldest superhero in terms of continuity to appear on the list.","Wizard Magazine ranked Wesley Dodds among the Top 200 Comic Book Characters of All Time, and he is the oldest superhero in terms of continuity to appear on the list. Publication history Golden Age of comic books Artist Bert Christman and writer Gardner Fox are generally credited as co-creating the original, Wesley Dodds version of the DC Comics character the Sandman.","Publication history Golden Age of comic books Artist Bert Christman and writer Gardner Fox are generally credited as co-creating the original, Wesley Dodds version of the DC Comics character the Sandman. While the character's first appearance is usually given as Adventure Comics #40 (cover-dated July 1939), he also appeared in DC Comics' 1939 New York World's Fair Comics omnibus, which historians believe appeared on newsstands one to two weeks earlier, while also believing the Adventure Comics story was written and drawn first.","While the character's first appearance is usually given as Adventure Comics #40 (cover-dated July 1939), he also appeared in DC Comics' 1939 New York World's Fair Comics omnibus, which historians believe appeared on newsstands one to two weeks earlier, while also believing the Adventure Comics story was written and drawn first. Each of the two stories' scripts were credited to the pseudonym \"Larry Dean\"; Fox wrote the untitled, 10-page story in New York World's Fair #1, while he simply plotted, and Christman scripted, the untitled, six-page story, generally known as \"The Tarantula Strikes\", in Adventure #40.","Each of the two stories' scripts were credited to the pseudonym \"Larry Dean\"; Fox wrote the untitled, 10-page story in New York World's Fair #1, while he simply plotted, and Christman scripted, the untitled, six-page story, generally known as \"The Tarantula Strikes\", in Adventure #40. Creig Flessel, who drew many early Sandman adventures, has sometimes been credited as co-creator on the basis of drawing the Sandman cover of Adventure #40, but no other evidence has surfaced.","Creig Flessel, who drew many early Sandman adventures, has sometimes been credited as co-creator on the basis of drawing the Sandman cover of Adventure #40, but no other evidence has surfaced. Following these two first appearances, the feature \"The Sandman\" continued to appear in the omnibus Adventure Comics through #102 (February–March 1946).","Following these two first appearances, the feature \"The Sandman\" continued to appear in the omnibus Adventure Comics through #102 (February–March 1946). One of the medium's seminal \"mystery men\", as referred to at the time, the Sandman straddled the pulp magazine detective tradition and the emerging superhero tradition by dint of his dual identity and his fanciful, masked attire and weapon: an exotic \"gas gun\" that could compel villains to tell the truth, as well as put them to sleep.","One of the medium's seminal \"mystery men\", as referred to at the time, the Sandman straddled the pulp magazine detective tradition and the emerging superhero tradition by dint of his dual identity and his fanciful, masked attire and weapon: an exotic \"gas gun\" that could compel villains to tell the truth, as well as put them to sleep. Unlike many superheroes, he frequently found himself the victim of gunshot wounds, both in the Golden Age and in stories in DC's modern-day Vertigo imprint, and he would continue fighting in spite of his injuries.","Unlike many superheroes, he frequently found himself the victim of gunshot wounds, both in the Golden Age and in stories in DC's modern-day Vertigo imprint, and he would continue fighting in spite of his injuries. In his early career, Dodds (the character's surname was given as \"Dodd\" in his first four appearances; he became \"Dodds\" in Adventure Comics #44) was frequently aided by his girlfriend, Dian Belmont, who is aware of his dual identity.","In his early career, Dodds (the character's surname was given as \"Dodd\" in his first four appearances; he became \"Dodds\" in Adventure Comics #44) was frequently aided by his girlfriend, Dian Belmont, who is aware of his dual identity. Unlike many superhero love interests, Belmont was often, though not always, portrayed as an equal partner of the Sandman, rather than a damsel in distress.","Unlike many superhero love interests, Belmont was often, though not always, portrayed as an equal partner of the Sandman, rather than a damsel in distress. Later stories would reveal that the two remained together for the duration of their lives, though they never married. The Sandman was one of the original members of the Justice Society of America when that superhero team was introduced in All Star Comics #3, published by All-American Comics, one of the companies that would merge to form DC.","The Sandman was one of the original members of the Justice Society of America when that superhero team was introduced in All Star Comics #3, published by All-American Comics, one of the companies that would merge to form DC. In Adventure Comics #69 (December 1941), Dodds was given a yellow-and-purple costume by writer Mort Weisinger and artist Paul Norris, as well as a yellow-clad kid sidekick, Sandy the Golden Boy, nephew of Dian Belmont.","In Adventure Comics #69 (December 1941), Dodds was given a yellow-and-purple costume by writer Mort Weisinger and artist Paul Norris, as well as a yellow-clad kid sidekick, Sandy the Golden Boy, nephew of Dian Belmont. Later that year, the celebrated team of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby took over this version of the character. In 1942, Dodds enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as an anti-aircraft gunner during World War II.","In 1942, Dodds enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as an anti-aircraft gunner during World War II. Silver Age to Modern Age Reintroduced in the Silver Age in Justice League of America #46 (July 1966), the Sandman made occasional appearances in the annual teamups between that superhero group and the JSA. In 1981 DC began publishing All-Star Squadron, a retelling of the Earth-Two mystery-men during WWII. Although not a main character, Sandman does appear in its pages.","Although not a main character, Sandman does appear in its pages. Of note is issue #18 which gives an explanation of why Dodds changed costumes from the cloak and gas mask to the yellow-and-purple outfit; Dian wore his costume while he was fighting elsewhere and she was killed in a fray. Dodds decided to wear the new costume, of Dian's design, until he could bring himself to wear the original in which she had died.","Dodds decided to wear the new costume, of Dian's design, until he could bring himself to wear the original in which she had died. Later, this explanation would be changed again when Dian Belmont was retconned to have never died, and a new explanation was given: Sandy convinced Dodds to switch to the more colorful costume to gain the support of regular people, who preferred the more traditional superhero look to his older, pulp-themed costume.","Later, this explanation would be changed again when Dian Belmont was retconned to have never died, and a new explanation was given: Sandy convinced Dodds to switch to the more colorful costume to gain the support of regular people, who preferred the more traditional superhero look to his older, pulp-themed costume. An acclaimed film noir-inspired retelling of the original Sandman's adventures, Sandman Mystery Theatre, ran from 1993 to 1998 under DC Comics' Vertigo mature-reader imprint.","An acclaimed film noir-inspired retelling of the original Sandman's adventures, Sandman Mystery Theatre, ran from 1993 to 1998 under DC Comics' Vertigo mature-reader imprint. Although as a whole its continuity within the DC Universe is debatable, several elements of the series – the more nuanced relationship between Dodds and Dian Belmont; the Sandman's appearance (wearing a trench coat and World War I gas mask instead of the cape and the custom-made gas mask); and Dodds' pudgier appearance and wearing of glasses – have been adopted into regular continuity.","Although as a whole its continuity within the DC Universe is debatable, several elements of the series – the more nuanced relationship between Dodds and Dian Belmont; the Sandman's appearance (wearing a trench coat and World War I gas mask instead of the cape and the custom-made gas mask); and Dodds' pudgier appearance and wearing of glasses – have been adopted into regular continuity. The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual.","The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual. The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual. In Sandman Midnight Theatre (1995) a one-shot special by Neil Gaiman (author of the Modern Age supernatural series The Sandman), Matt Wagner (co-author of Sandman Mystery Theatre), and Teddy Kristiansen, depicts an interaction between the two characters, with the original visiting Great Britain and encountering the imprisoned Dream, the protagonist of Gaiman's series.","In Sandman Midnight Theatre (1995) a one-shot special by Neil Gaiman (author of the Modern Age supernatural series The Sandman), Matt Wagner (co-author of Sandman Mystery Theatre), and Teddy Kristiansen, depicts an interaction between the two characters, with the original visiting Great Britain and encountering the imprisoned Dream, the protagonist of Gaiman's series. A minor retcon by Gaiman suggested that Dodds' chosen identity was a result of Dream's absence from the realm the Dreaming, and that Dodds carries an aspect of that mystical realm.","A minor retcon by Gaiman suggested that Dodds' chosen identity was a result of Dream's absence from the realm the Dreaming, and that Dodds carries an aspect of that mystical realm. This explains Dodds' prophetic dreams. Twilight years Dodds is one of a number of Justice Society members who finds themselves in the \"Ragnarok Dimension\" during the early Modern Age of comic books.","Twilight years Dodds is one of a number of Justice Society members who finds themselves in the \"Ragnarok Dimension\" during the early Modern Age of comic books. The Last Days of the Justice Society of America Special (1986) wrote the post-Crisis tale of a time-warped wave of destruction ready to engulf the world. Dodds and his JSA teammates enter into a limbo to engage in an eternal battle that would allow the universe to continue its existence.","Dodds and his JSA teammates enter into a limbo to engage in an eternal battle that would allow the universe to continue its existence. This was later revealed to be a simulation created by Odin, which he intended to give to Dream as a bribe. Dodds, Dream's protege, and Hawkman, the grandfather of Dream's appointed successor are the only JSA members who were seen at that time. This lasted only until 1992 when DC published Armageddon: Inferno.","This lasted only until 1992 when DC published Armageddon: Inferno. This mini-series ended with the JSA members leaving limbo and entering the 'real' world. Justice Society of America (1992–1993) showed how the JSA members handled returning to normal life. For the Sandman, the series depicted him as an old, thin man with a balding scalp and a sharp wit. Starting with issue #1 his physical condition became important as writer Len Strazewski had him suffer a stroke at the first sign of a villainous attack.","Starting with issue #1 his physical condition became important as writer Len Strazewski had him suffer a stroke at the first sign of a villainous attack. Both his age and his physical limitations became a theme writers would use in this character's post-Crisis stories. During Zero Hour, Dodds is returned to his proper age by the Extant.","During Zero Hour, Dodds is returned to his proper age by the Extant. Later, Wesley Dodds is shown as retired and living with Dian Belmont though occasionally coming out of it, most notably in a team-up with Jack Knight, the son of Dodds' JSA teammate Starman. When Dian is diagnosed with a terminal disease, the two travel the world together until her death.","When Dian is diagnosed with a terminal disease, the two travel the world together until her death. Towards the end of his life, Dodds' prophetic dreams alert him to the identity and location of the new Doctor Fate, prompting him to contact the Gray Man, a being created from the residue of others' dreams, as well as his old friend Speed Saunders to instruct them to warn his former teammates about what he has discovered.","Towards the end of his life, Dodds' prophetic dreams alert him to the identity and location of the new Doctor Fate, prompting him to contact the Gray Man, a being created from the residue of others' dreams, as well as his old friend Speed Saunders to instruct them to warn his former teammates about what he has discovered. Waiting on a clifftop, he is subsequently confronted by the powerful villain Mordru, who intends to force Dodds to tell him the identity of the new Doctor Fate, only for Dodds to distract Mordru with his gas-gun long enough to commit suicide by jumping off the cliff rather than allow Mordru to torture him into submission.","Waiting on a clifftop, he is subsequently confronted by the powerful villain Mordru, who intends to force Dodds to tell him the identity of the new Doctor Fate, only for Dodds to distract Mordru with his gas-gun long enough to commit suicide by jumping off the cliff rather than allow Mordru to torture him into submission. His last thoughts were that his final slumber would be free of nightmares as he is reunited with Dian.","His last thoughts were that his final slumber would be free of nightmares as he is reunited with Dian. His youthful but now grown-up sidekick Sandy the Golden Boy becomes known simply as Sand and takes his mentor's place as a member of the Justice Society of America as well as his prophetic dreams. Eventually, he takes the name of Sandman. Sleep of Reason Wesley Dodds makes a comeback via flashback images in the 2006 limited series Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason.","Sleep of Reason Wesley Dodds makes a comeback via flashback images in the 2006 limited series Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason. Blackest Night Dodds is reanimated as a Black Lantern in the \"Blackest Night\" storyline. He and several other fallen JSAers attack the Brownstone, seeking the hearts of the living within. Exodus Noir Dodds appeared in the \"Exodus Noir\" arc of Madame Xanadu in 2010, in a story set in 1940.","Exodus Noir Dodds appeared in the \"Exodus Noir\" arc of Madame Xanadu in 2010, in a story set in 1940. DC Rebirth In the \"Watchmen\" sequel \"Doomsday Clock\", Lois Lane finds a flash-drive at the Daily Planet. It shows her footage of Sandman and the rest of the Justice Society. In the pages of \"Dark Nights: Death Metal\", the Prime-Earth version of Sandman was revealed to be entombed at the Valhalla Cemetery. Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring.","Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring. Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring. Powers and abilities Dodds has prophetic dreams which come to him as cryptic, ambiguous visions of crimes. Originally of unexplained origin, these dreams were later ascribed to an encounter between Dodds and the entity known as Dream via retcon. The visions haunt Dodds, who uses his keen intellect and amateur detective skills to properly interpret them.","The visions haunt Dodds, who uses his keen intellect and amateur detective skills to properly interpret them. He is also a talented chemist and inventor, creating the sand-like substance and the Silicoid Gun ultimately responsible for transforming Sandy the Golden Boy into a Silicon-based life-form. In the early years of his career, Wesley Dodds possesses the strength level of a man who engages in regular exercise, and was a fine hand-to-hand combatant. As he grows older, his strength level diminishes in relative proportion to his age.","As he grows older, his strength level diminishes in relative proportion to his age. As hobbies, Dodds enjoys reading, writing, poetry, origami and philosophy. Through an unknown process, Dodds passes his power of prophetic visions on to his former ward, Sanderson Hawkins upon the moment of his own death.","Through an unknown process, Dodds passes his power of prophetic visions on to his former ward, Sanderson Hawkins upon the moment of his own death. Wesley Dodds' costume consists of a basic green business suit, fedora, a World War I era gas mask, a gas gun, and a specially designed \"wirepoon\" gun, which fires a length of thin, steel cable. The gas mask protects Dodds from the effects of the gas emitted from his gas gun.","The gas mask protects Dodds from the effects of the gas emitted from his gas gun. The gas gun, a handheld device fitted with cartridges containing concentrated sleeping gas, is Wesley Dodds' only known weapon. Pressing the trigger on the gun releases a cloud of green dust rendering all within the Sandman's immediate vicinity unconscious. An upgraded canister dispenser for the gun is provided for him by his close friend and confidante, Lee Travis.","An upgraded canister dispenser for the gun is provided for him by his close friend and confidante, Lee Travis. Dodds is also known to conceal smaller knockout gas capsules in a hollow heel on his shoe. These prove ideal when placed in situations where his gas gun is not readily available. In the early days of his career, the Sandman drives a black 1938 Plymouth coupe. The car is enhanced with various features to aid Dodds in his crusade against crime.","The car is enhanced with various features to aid Dodds in his crusade against crime. Enemies Sandman has an assortment of enemies that he fought: Butcher - A cannibalistic butcher. Doctor Death - Raymond Kessler is a serial killer/swindler who is the boyfriend of Dian Belmont's cousin Lucy. Phantom of the Fair - Gerald Zimmerman is a man who has been torturing and killing homosexual men at the New York World's Fair. Ramulus - A plant-manipulating villain who was also known as Nightshade and Plant Master.","Ramulus - A plant-manipulating villain who was also known as Nightshade and Plant Master. He later appeared as a member of the Monster Society of Evil. Scorpion - Terrence Pritchard is an ad executive who becomes a bullwhip-wielding vigilante. Tarantula - A man who targeted Vivian Dale. There was also a second Tarantula that Sandman fought. This one was Roger Goldman who is a serial killer and the former owner of the Evergood Milk Bottling Company.","This one was Roger Goldman who is a serial killer and the former owner of the Evergood Milk Bottling Company. Other versions Kingdom Come Dodds appears as an infirm old man at the beginning of the graphic novel, plagued with visions of the impending apocalyptic battle between various factions of metahumans. Before his death, he relates his visions, interpreted through passages from the Book of Revelation, to Norman McCay, who later witnesses the events in the company of the Spectre.","Before his death, he relates his visions, interpreted through passages from the Book of Revelation, to Norman McCay, who later witnesses the events in the company of the Spectre. Earth 40 Wesley Dodds meets with The Unholy Three to give information about the Trigger, a device that causes every nuclear reactor in the world to detonate in a nuclear explosion. The Sandman arranges for The Unholy Three to meet with The Lantern, who has information on where the Trigger is located.","The Sandman arranges for The Unholy Three to meet with The Lantern, who has information on where the Trigger is located. Earth 2 In The New 52 (a reboot of DC Comics), a new Earth-2 version of Sandman appears. While he does wear a gas mask and wield a gas gun, he is also equipped with a teleporter. When Washington DC is attacked by Solomon Grundy, Commander Wesley Dodds, along with his Sandmen paramilitary force, is sent to retrieve and save President Lightfoot.","When Washington DC is attacked by Solomon Grundy, Commander Wesley Dodds, along with his Sandmen paramilitary force, is sent to retrieve and save President Lightfoot. They are later assigned by Commander Khan in a special and unofficial mission to infiltrate Terry Sloane's secret facility, where they confront and subdue a mind-controlled Michael Holt. In other media Television Animation Wesley Dodds / Sandman makes a non-speaking appearance in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode \"Crisis: 22,300 Miles Above Earth\".","In other media Television Animation Wesley Dodds / Sandman makes a non-speaking appearance in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode \"Crisis: 22,300 Miles Above Earth\". He is seen with the other members of the Justice Society of America. Sandman makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in the Young Justice episode \"Humanity\". He is shown with the other members of the JSA during a flashback sequence.","He is shown with the other members of the JSA during a flashback sequence. Live-action A character loosely inspired by the Sandman under the pseudonym of Nightshade makes recurring appearances in The Flash (1990), portrayed by Jason Bernard. This version is Dr. Desmond Powell, a 1950s vigilante who retained the Sandman's costume and captured criminals using a knockout gun and tranquilizer darts. After retiring as a vigilante after he defeated \"The Ghost\" in 1955, he later became a doctor and Chief of Staff at Central City Hospital.","After retiring as a vigilante after he defeated \"The Ghost\" in 1955, he later became a doctor and Chief of Staff at Central City Hospital. When the Ghost reappears in 1990, Powell becomes Nightshade once again and teams up with the Flash to apprehend his old enemy. He later unknowingly inspires the Deadly Nightshade. Powell is framed for multiple counts of murder, but clears his name and captures the impostor. He also makes his secret identity public and becomes a celebrity.","He also makes his secret identity public and becomes a celebrity. Wesley Dodds appeared in the Smallville two-hour special episode \"Absolute Justice\", portrayed by Ken Lawson. This version was a member of the now-disbanded Justice Society of America. After having a nightmare about losing his teammate, the Star-Spangled Kid, Dodds is killed by Icicle II. His body was later found by Clark Kent. Sandman's helmet appears in Rip Hunter's office in Legends of Tomorrow. Sandman appears in the series Stargirl.","Sandman appears in the series Stargirl. Sandman appears in the series Stargirl. He appears as a member of the Justice Society of America before the team was attacked and killed by the Injustice Society, with Dodds in particular being killed by Icicle. Film An alternate universe version of Sandman makes a cameo appearance in the animated film Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths. This version is a minor member of the Crime Syndicate of America. An alternate timeline version of Sandman appears in the animated film Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox.","An alternate timeline version of Sandman appears in the animated film Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox. This version is one of the few active superheroes in the dystopian \"Flashpoint\" timeline. Video games Wesley Dodds' costume appears in the background of the Hall of Justice in the video game Injustice: Gods Among Us. Web series Sandman makes a minor appearance in the DC Super Hero Girls episode \"Welcome to Super Hero High\". He appears as a graduate of the titular school.","He appears as a graduate of the titular school. He appears as a graduate of the titular school. Collected editions The Golden Age Sandman Archive Vol. 1 (Sandman stories from New York World's Fair Comics #1–2 and Adventure Comics #40–59) by Bert Christman and others.","1 (Sandman stories from New York World's Fair Comics #1–2 and Adventure Comics #40–59) by Bert Christman and others. Sandman by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby (World's Finest #6–7; Adventure Comics #72–102; Sandman #1) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 1: The Tarantula (Sandman Mystery Theatre #1–4) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 2: The Face and The Brute (Sandman Mystery Theatre #5–12) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 3: The Vamp (Sandman Mystery Theatre #13–16) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 4: The Scorpion (Sandman Mystery Theatre #17–20) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 5: Dr. Death and The Night of the Butcher (Sandman Mystery Theatre #21–28) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 6: The Hourman and The Python (Sandman Mystery Theatre #29–36) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 7: The Mist and The Phantom of the Fair (Sandman Mystery Theatre #37–44) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 8: The Blackhawk and The Return of the Scarlet Ghost (Sandman Mystery Theatre #45–52) Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason (Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason #1–5) References External links JSA Fact File: The Sandman Earth-2 Sandman Index] Sequart.com: \"The Sandman — Interlude: Sandman Mystery Theatre (1993–1998)\", by Julian Darius Characters created by Allen Bert Christman Characters created by Gardner Fox Comics characters introduced in 1939 DC Comics male superheroes Earth-Two Fictional businesspeople Fictional characters with precognition Fictional detectives Fictional scientists Fictional socialites Golden Age superheroes Jewish superheroes Sandman Vigilante characters in comics"],"string":"[\n \"Sandman (Wesley Dodds) is a fictional superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first of several DC characters to bear the name Sandman, he was created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Bert Christman. Attired in a green business suit, a fedora, and a World War I gas mask, the Sandman used a gun emitting a sleeping gas to sedate criminals.\",\n \"Attired in a green business suit, a fedora, and a World War I gas mask, the Sandman used a gun emitting a sleeping gas to sedate criminals. He was originally one of the mystery men to appear in comic books and other types of adventure fiction in the 1930s but later was outfitted with a unitard/cowl costume and developed into a proper superhero, acquiring sidekick Sandy, and founding the Justice Society of America.\",\n \"He was originally one of the mystery men to appear in comic books and other types of adventure fiction in the 1930s but later was outfitted with a unitard/cowl costume and developed into a proper superhero, acquiring sidekick Sandy, and founding the Justice Society of America. Like most DC Golden Age superheroes, the Sandman fell into obscurity in the 1940s and eventually other DC characters took his name.\",\n \"Like most DC Golden Age superheroes, the Sandman fell into obscurity in the 1940s and eventually other DC characters took his name. During the 1990s, when writer Neil Gaiman's Sandman (featuring Morpheus, the anthropomorphic embodiment of dreams) was popular, DC revived Dodds in Sandman Mystery Theatre, a pulp/noir series set in the 1930s. Wizard Magazine ranked Wesley Dodds among the Top 200 Comic Book Characters of All Time, and he is the oldest superhero in terms of continuity to appear on the list.\",\n \"Wizard Magazine ranked Wesley Dodds among the Top 200 Comic Book Characters of All Time, and he is the oldest superhero in terms of continuity to appear on the list. Publication history Golden Age of comic books Artist Bert Christman and writer Gardner Fox are generally credited as co-creating the original, Wesley Dodds version of the DC Comics character the Sandman.\",\n \"Publication history Golden Age of comic books Artist Bert Christman and writer Gardner Fox are generally credited as co-creating the original, Wesley Dodds version of the DC Comics character the Sandman. While the character's first appearance is usually given as Adventure Comics #40 (cover-dated July 1939), he also appeared in DC Comics' 1939 New York World's Fair Comics omnibus, which historians believe appeared on newsstands one to two weeks earlier, while also believing the Adventure Comics story was written and drawn first.\",\n \"While the character's first appearance is usually given as Adventure Comics #40 (cover-dated July 1939), he also appeared in DC Comics' 1939 New York World's Fair Comics omnibus, which historians believe appeared on newsstands one to two weeks earlier, while also believing the Adventure Comics story was written and drawn first. Each of the two stories' scripts were credited to the pseudonym \\\"Larry Dean\\\"; Fox wrote the untitled, 10-page story in New York World's Fair #1, while he simply plotted, and Christman scripted, the untitled, six-page story, generally known as \\\"The Tarantula Strikes\\\", in Adventure #40.\",\n \"Each of the two stories' scripts were credited to the pseudonym \\\"Larry Dean\\\"; Fox wrote the untitled, 10-page story in New York World's Fair #1, while he simply plotted, and Christman scripted, the untitled, six-page story, generally known as \\\"The Tarantula Strikes\\\", in Adventure #40. Creig Flessel, who drew many early Sandman adventures, has sometimes been credited as co-creator on the basis of drawing the Sandman cover of Adventure #40, but no other evidence has surfaced.\",\n \"Creig Flessel, who drew many early Sandman adventures, has sometimes been credited as co-creator on the basis of drawing the Sandman cover of Adventure #40, but no other evidence has surfaced. Following these two first appearances, the feature \\\"The Sandman\\\" continued to appear in the omnibus Adventure Comics through #102 (February–March 1946).\",\n \"Following these two first appearances, the feature \\\"The Sandman\\\" continued to appear in the omnibus Adventure Comics through #102 (February–March 1946). One of the medium's seminal \\\"mystery men\\\", as referred to at the time, the Sandman straddled the pulp magazine detective tradition and the emerging superhero tradition by dint of his dual identity and his fanciful, masked attire and weapon: an exotic \\\"gas gun\\\" that could compel villains to tell the truth, as well as put them to sleep.\",\n \"One of the medium's seminal \\\"mystery men\\\", as referred to at the time, the Sandman straddled the pulp magazine detective tradition and the emerging superhero tradition by dint of his dual identity and his fanciful, masked attire and weapon: an exotic \\\"gas gun\\\" that could compel villains to tell the truth, as well as put them to sleep. Unlike many superheroes, he frequently found himself the victim of gunshot wounds, both in the Golden Age and in stories in DC's modern-day Vertigo imprint, and he would continue fighting in spite of his injuries.\",\n \"Unlike many superheroes, he frequently found himself the victim of gunshot wounds, both in the Golden Age and in stories in DC's modern-day Vertigo imprint, and he would continue fighting in spite of his injuries. In his early career, Dodds (the character's surname was given as \\\"Dodd\\\" in his first four appearances; he became \\\"Dodds\\\" in Adventure Comics #44) was frequently aided by his girlfriend, Dian Belmont, who is aware of his dual identity.\",\n \"In his early career, Dodds (the character's surname was given as \\\"Dodd\\\" in his first four appearances; he became \\\"Dodds\\\" in Adventure Comics #44) was frequently aided by his girlfriend, Dian Belmont, who is aware of his dual identity. Unlike many superhero love interests, Belmont was often, though not always, portrayed as an equal partner of the Sandman, rather than a damsel in distress.\",\n \"Unlike many superhero love interests, Belmont was often, though not always, portrayed as an equal partner of the Sandman, rather than a damsel in distress. Later stories would reveal that the two remained together for the duration of their lives, though they never married. The Sandman was one of the original members of the Justice Society of America when that superhero team was introduced in All Star Comics #3, published by All-American Comics, one of the companies that would merge to form DC.\",\n \"The Sandman was one of the original members of the Justice Society of America when that superhero team was introduced in All Star Comics #3, published by All-American Comics, one of the companies that would merge to form DC. In Adventure Comics #69 (December 1941), Dodds was given a yellow-and-purple costume by writer Mort Weisinger and artist Paul Norris, as well as a yellow-clad kid sidekick, Sandy the Golden Boy, nephew of Dian Belmont.\",\n \"In Adventure Comics #69 (December 1941), Dodds was given a yellow-and-purple costume by writer Mort Weisinger and artist Paul Norris, as well as a yellow-clad kid sidekick, Sandy the Golden Boy, nephew of Dian Belmont. Later that year, the celebrated team of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby took over this version of the character. In 1942, Dodds enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as an anti-aircraft gunner during World War II.\",\n \"In 1942, Dodds enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as an anti-aircraft gunner during World War II. Silver Age to Modern Age Reintroduced in the Silver Age in Justice League of America #46 (July 1966), the Sandman made occasional appearances in the annual teamups between that superhero group and the JSA. In 1981 DC began publishing All-Star Squadron, a retelling of the Earth-Two mystery-men during WWII. Although not a main character, Sandman does appear in its pages.\",\n \"Although not a main character, Sandman does appear in its pages. Of note is issue #18 which gives an explanation of why Dodds changed costumes from the cloak and gas mask to the yellow-and-purple outfit; Dian wore his costume while he was fighting elsewhere and she was killed in a fray. Dodds decided to wear the new costume, of Dian's design, until he could bring himself to wear the original in which she had died.\",\n \"Dodds decided to wear the new costume, of Dian's design, until he could bring himself to wear the original in which she had died. Later, this explanation would be changed again when Dian Belmont was retconned to have never died, and a new explanation was given: Sandy convinced Dodds to switch to the more colorful costume to gain the support of regular people, who preferred the more traditional superhero look to his older, pulp-themed costume.\",\n \"Later, this explanation would be changed again when Dian Belmont was retconned to have never died, and a new explanation was given: Sandy convinced Dodds to switch to the more colorful costume to gain the support of regular people, who preferred the more traditional superhero look to his older, pulp-themed costume. An acclaimed film noir-inspired retelling of the original Sandman's adventures, Sandman Mystery Theatre, ran from 1993 to 1998 under DC Comics' Vertigo mature-reader imprint.\",\n \"An acclaimed film noir-inspired retelling of the original Sandman's adventures, Sandman Mystery Theatre, ran from 1993 to 1998 under DC Comics' Vertigo mature-reader imprint. Although as a whole its continuity within the DC Universe is debatable, several elements of the series – the more nuanced relationship between Dodds and Dian Belmont; the Sandman's appearance (wearing a trench coat and World War I gas mask instead of the cape and the custom-made gas mask); and Dodds' pudgier appearance and wearing of glasses – have been adopted into regular continuity.\",\n \"Although as a whole its continuity within the DC Universe is debatable, several elements of the series – the more nuanced relationship between Dodds and Dian Belmont; the Sandman's appearance (wearing a trench coat and World War I gas mask instead of the cape and the custom-made gas mask); and Dodds' pudgier appearance and wearing of glasses – have been adopted into regular continuity. The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual.\",\n \"The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual. The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual. In Sandman Midnight Theatre (1995) a one-shot special by Neil Gaiman (author of the Modern Age supernatural series The Sandman), Matt Wagner (co-author of Sandman Mystery Theatre), and Teddy Kristiansen, depicts an interaction between the two characters, with the original visiting Great Britain and encountering the imprisoned Dream, the protagonist of Gaiman's series.\",\n \"In Sandman Midnight Theatre (1995) a one-shot special by Neil Gaiman (author of the Modern Age supernatural series The Sandman), Matt Wagner (co-author of Sandman Mystery Theatre), and Teddy Kristiansen, depicts an interaction between the two characters, with the original visiting Great Britain and encountering the imprisoned Dream, the protagonist of Gaiman's series. A minor retcon by Gaiman suggested that Dodds' chosen identity was a result of Dream's absence from the realm the Dreaming, and that Dodds carries an aspect of that mystical realm.\",\n \"A minor retcon by Gaiman suggested that Dodds' chosen identity was a result of Dream's absence from the realm the Dreaming, and that Dodds carries an aspect of that mystical realm. This explains Dodds' prophetic dreams. Twilight years Dodds is one of a number of Justice Society members who finds themselves in the \\\"Ragnarok Dimension\\\" during the early Modern Age of comic books.\",\n \"Twilight years Dodds is one of a number of Justice Society members who finds themselves in the \\\"Ragnarok Dimension\\\" during the early Modern Age of comic books. The Last Days of the Justice Society of America Special (1986) wrote the post-Crisis tale of a time-warped wave of destruction ready to engulf the world. Dodds and his JSA teammates enter into a limbo to engage in an eternal battle that would allow the universe to continue its existence.\",\n \"Dodds and his JSA teammates enter into a limbo to engage in an eternal battle that would allow the universe to continue its existence. This was later revealed to be a simulation created by Odin, which he intended to give to Dream as a bribe. Dodds, Dream's protege, and Hawkman, the grandfather of Dream's appointed successor are the only JSA members who were seen at that time. This lasted only until 1992 when DC published Armageddon: Inferno.\",\n \"This lasted only until 1992 when DC published Armageddon: Inferno. This mini-series ended with the JSA members leaving limbo and entering the 'real' world. Justice Society of America (1992–1993) showed how the JSA members handled returning to normal life. For the Sandman, the series depicted him as an old, thin man with a balding scalp and a sharp wit. Starting with issue #1 his physical condition became important as writer Len Strazewski had him suffer a stroke at the first sign of a villainous attack.\",\n \"Starting with issue #1 his physical condition became important as writer Len Strazewski had him suffer a stroke at the first sign of a villainous attack. Both his age and his physical limitations became a theme writers would use in this character's post-Crisis stories. During Zero Hour, Dodds is returned to his proper age by the Extant.\",\n \"During Zero Hour, Dodds is returned to his proper age by the Extant. Later, Wesley Dodds is shown as retired and living with Dian Belmont though occasionally coming out of it, most notably in a team-up with Jack Knight, the son of Dodds' JSA teammate Starman. When Dian is diagnosed with a terminal disease, the two travel the world together until her death.\",\n \"When Dian is diagnosed with a terminal disease, the two travel the world together until her death. Towards the end of his life, Dodds' prophetic dreams alert him to the identity and location of the new Doctor Fate, prompting him to contact the Gray Man, a being created from the residue of others' dreams, as well as his old friend Speed Saunders to instruct them to warn his former teammates about what he has discovered.\",\n \"Towards the end of his life, Dodds' prophetic dreams alert him to the identity and location of the new Doctor Fate, prompting him to contact the Gray Man, a being created from the residue of others' dreams, as well as his old friend Speed Saunders to instruct them to warn his former teammates about what he has discovered. Waiting on a clifftop, he is subsequently confronted by the powerful villain Mordru, who intends to force Dodds to tell him the identity of the new Doctor Fate, only for Dodds to distract Mordru with his gas-gun long enough to commit suicide by jumping off the cliff rather than allow Mordru to torture him into submission.\",\n \"Waiting on a clifftop, he is subsequently confronted by the powerful villain Mordru, who intends to force Dodds to tell him the identity of the new Doctor Fate, only for Dodds to distract Mordru with his gas-gun long enough to commit suicide by jumping off the cliff rather than allow Mordru to torture him into submission. His last thoughts were that his final slumber would be free of nightmares as he is reunited with Dian.\",\n \"His last thoughts were that his final slumber would be free of nightmares as he is reunited with Dian. His youthful but now grown-up sidekick Sandy the Golden Boy becomes known simply as Sand and takes his mentor's place as a member of the Justice Society of America as well as his prophetic dreams. Eventually, he takes the name of Sandman. Sleep of Reason Wesley Dodds makes a comeback via flashback images in the 2006 limited series Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason.\",\n \"Sleep of Reason Wesley Dodds makes a comeback via flashback images in the 2006 limited series Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason. Blackest Night Dodds is reanimated as a Black Lantern in the \\\"Blackest Night\\\" storyline. He and several other fallen JSAers attack the Brownstone, seeking the hearts of the living within. Exodus Noir Dodds appeared in the \\\"Exodus Noir\\\" arc of Madame Xanadu in 2010, in a story set in 1940.\",\n \"Exodus Noir Dodds appeared in the \\\"Exodus Noir\\\" arc of Madame Xanadu in 2010, in a story set in 1940. DC Rebirth In the \\\"Watchmen\\\" sequel \\\"Doomsday Clock\\\", Lois Lane finds a flash-drive at the Daily Planet. It shows her footage of Sandman and the rest of the Justice Society. In the pages of \\\"Dark Nights: Death Metal\\\", the Prime-Earth version of Sandman was revealed to be entombed at the Valhalla Cemetery. Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring.\",\n \"Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring. Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring. Powers and abilities Dodds has prophetic dreams which come to him as cryptic, ambiguous visions of crimes. Originally of unexplained origin, these dreams were later ascribed to an encounter between Dodds and the entity known as Dream via retcon. The visions haunt Dodds, who uses his keen intellect and amateur detective skills to properly interpret them.\",\n \"The visions haunt Dodds, who uses his keen intellect and amateur detective skills to properly interpret them. He is also a talented chemist and inventor, creating the sand-like substance and the Silicoid Gun ultimately responsible for transforming Sandy the Golden Boy into a Silicon-based life-form. In the early years of his career, Wesley Dodds possesses the strength level of a man who engages in regular exercise, and was a fine hand-to-hand combatant. As he grows older, his strength level diminishes in relative proportion to his age.\",\n \"As he grows older, his strength level diminishes in relative proportion to his age. As hobbies, Dodds enjoys reading, writing, poetry, origami and philosophy. Through an unknown process, Dodds passes his power of prophetic visions on to his former ward, Sanderson Hawkins upon the moment of his own death.\",\n \"Through an unknown process, Dodds passes his power of prophetic visions on to his former ward, Sanderson Hawkins upon the moment of his own death. Wesley Dodds' costume consists of a basic green business suit, fedora, a World War I era gas mask, a gas gun, and a specially designed \\\"wirepoon\\\" gun, which fires a length of thin, steel cable. The gas mask protects Dodds from the effects of the gas emitted from his gas gun.\",\n \"The gas mask protects Dodds from the effects of the gas emitted from his gas gun. The gas gun, a handheld device fitted with cartridges containing concentrated sleeping gas, is Wesley Dodds' only known weapon. Pressing the trigger on the gun releases a cloud of green dust rendering all within the Sandman's immediate vicinity unconscious. An upgraded canister dispenser for the gun is provided for him by his close friend and confidante, Lee Travis.\",\n \"An upgraded canister dispenser for the gun is provided for him by his close friend and confidante, Lee Travis. Dodds is also known to conceal smaller knockout gas capsules in a hollow heel on his shoe. These prove ideal when placed in situations where his gas gun is not readily available. In the early days of his career, the Sandman drives a black 1938 Plymouth coupe. The car is enhanced with various features to aid Dodds in his crusade against crime.\",\n \"The car is enhanced with various features to aid Dodds in his crusade against crime. Enemies Sandman has an assortment of enemies that he fought: Butcher - A cannibalistic butcher. Doctor Death - Raymond Kessler is a serial killer/swindler who is the boyfriend of Dian Belmont's cousin Lucy. Phantom of the Fair - Gerald Zimmerman is a man who has been torturing and killing homosexual men at the New York World's Fair. Ramulus - A plant-manipulating villain who was also known as Nightshade and Plant Master.\",\n \"Ramulus - A plant-manipulating villain who was also known as Nightshade and Plant Master. He later appeared as a member of the Monster Society of Evil. Scorpion - Terrence Pritchard is an ad executive who becomes a bullwhip-wielding vigilante. Tarantula - A man who targeted Vivian Dale. There was also a second Tarantula that Sandman fought. This one was Roger Goldman who is a serial killer and the former owner of the Evergood Milk Bottling Company.\",\n \"This one was Roger Goldman who is a serial killer and the former owner of the Evergood Milk Bottling Company. Other versions Kingdom Come Dodds appears as an infirm old man at the beginning of the graphic novel, plagued with visions of the impending apocalyptic battle between various factions of metahumans. Before his death, he relates his visions, interpreted through passages from the Book of Revelation, to Norman McCay, who later witnesses the events in the company of the Spectre.\",\n \"Before his death, he relates his visions, interpreted through passages from the Book of Revelation, to Norman McCay, who later witnesses the events in the company of the Spectre. Earth 40 Wesley Dodds meets with The Unholy Three to give information about the Trigger, a device that causes every nuclear reactor in the world to detonate in a nuclear explosion. The Sandman arranges for The Unholy Three to meet with The Lantern, who has information on where the Trigger is located.\",\n \"The Sandman arranges for The Unholy Three to meet with The Lantern, who has information on where the Trigger is located. Earth 2 In The New 52 (a reboot of DC Comics), a new Earth-2 version of Sandman appears. While he does wear a gas mask and wield a gas gun, he is also equipped with a teleporter. When Washington DC is attacked by Solomon Grundy, Commander Wesley Dodds, along with his Sandmen paramilitary force, is sent to retrieve and save President Lightfoot.\",\n \"When Washington DC is attacked by Solomon Grundy, Commander Wesley Dodds, along with his Sandmen paramilitary force, is sent to retrieve and save President Lightfoot. They are later assigned by Commander Khan in a special and unofficial mission to infiltrate Terry Sloane's secret facility, where they confront and subdue a mind-controlled Michael Holt. In other media Television Animation Wesley Dodds / Sandman makes a non-speaking appearance in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode \\\"Crisis: 22,300 Miles Above Earth\\\".\",\n \"In other media Television Animation Wesley Dodds / Sandman makes a non-speaking appearance in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode \\\"Crisis: 22,300 Miles Above Earth\\\". He is seen with the other members of the Justice Society of America. Sandman makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in the Young Justice episode \\\"Humanity\\\". He is shown with the other members of the JSA during a flashback sequence.\",\n \"He is shown with the other members of the JSA during a flashback sequence. Live-action A character loosely inspired by the Sandman under the pseudonym of Nightshade makes recurring appearances in The Flash (1990), portrayed by Jason Bernard. This version is Dr. Desmond Powell, a 1950s vigilante who retained the Sandman's costume and captured criminals using a knockout gun and tranquilizer darts. After retiring as a vigilante after he defeated \\\"The Ghost\\\" in 1955, he later became a doctor and Chief of Staff at Central City Hospital.\",\n \"After retiring as a vigilante after he defeated \\\"The Ghost\\\" in 1955, he later became a doctor and Chief of Staff at Central City Hospital. When the Ghost reappears in 1990, Powell becomes Nightshade once again and teams up with the Flash to apprehend his old enemy. He later unknowingly inspires the Deadly Nightshade. Powell is framed for multiple counts of murder, but clears his name and captures the impostor. He also makes his secret identity public and becomes a celebrity.\",\n \"He also makes his secret identity public and becomes a celebrity. Wesley Dodds appeared in the Smallville two-hour special episode \\\"Absolute Justice\\\", portrayed by Ken Lawson. This version was a member of the now-disbanded Justice Society of America. After having a nightmare about losing his teammate, the Star-Spangled Kid, Dodds is killed by Icicle II. His body was later found by Clark Kent. Sandman's helmet appears in Rip Hunter's office in Legends of Tomorrow. Sandman appears in the series Stargirl.\",\n \"Sandman appears in the series Stargirl. Sandman appears in the series Stargirl. He appears as a member of the Justice Society of America before the team was attacked and killed by the Injustice Society, with Dodds in particular being killed by Icicle. Film An alternate universe version of Sandman makes a cameo appearance in the animated film Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths. This version is a minor member of the Crime Syndicate of America. An alternate timeline version of Sandman appears in the animated film Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox.\",\n \"An alternate timeline version of Sandman appears in the animated film Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox. This version is one of the few active superheroes in the dystopian \\\"Flashpoint\\\" timeline. Video games Wesley Dodds' costume appears in the background of the Hall of Justice in the video game Injustice: Gods Among Us. Web series Sandman makes a minor appearance in the DC Super Hero Girls episode \\\"Welcome to Super Hero High\\\". He appears as a graduate of the titular school.\",\n \"He appears as a graduate of the titular school. He appears as a graduate of the titular school. Collected editions The Golden Age Sandman Archive Vol. 1 (Sandman stories from New York World's Fair Comics #1–2 and Adventure Comics #40–59) by Bert Christman and others.\",\n \"1 (Sandman stories from New York World's Fair Comics #1–2 and Adventure Comics #40–59) by Bert Christman and others. Sandman by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby (World's Finest #6–7; Adventure Comics #72–102; Sandman #1) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 1: The Tarantula (Sandman Mystery Theatre #1–4) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 2: The Face and The Brute (Sandman Mystery Theatre #5–12) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 3: The Vamp (Sandman Mystery Theatre #13–16) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 4: The Scorpion (Sandman Mystery Theatre #17–20) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 5: Dr. Death and The Night of the Butcher (Sandman Mystery Theatre #21–28) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 6: The Hourman and The Python (Sandman Mystery Theatre #29–36) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 7: The Mist and The Phantom of the Fair (Sandman Mystery Theatre #37–44) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 8: The Blackhawk and The Return of the Scarlet Ghost (Sandman Mystery Theatre #45–52) Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason (Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason #1–5) References External links JSA Fact File: The Sandman Earth-2 Sandman Index] Sequart.com: \\\"The Sandman — Interlude: Sandman Mystery Theatre (1993–1998)\\\", by Julian Darius Characters created by Allen Bert Christman Characters created by Gardner Fox Comics characters introduced in 1939 DC Comics male superheroes Earth-Two Fictional businesspeople Fictional characters with precognition Fictional detectives Fictional scientists Fictional socialites Golden Age superheroes Jewish superheroes Sandman Vigilante characters in comics\"\n]"}}},{"rowIdx":382,"cells":{"History":{"kind":"list like","value":["Sandman (Wesley Dodds)","Powers and abilities","What are his special abilities?","Dodds has prophetic dreams which come to him as cryptic, ambiguous visions of crimes."],"string":"[\n \"Sandman (Wesley Dodds)\",\n \"Powers and abilities\",\n \"What are his special abilities?\",\n \"Dodds has prophetic dreams which come to him as cryptic, ambiguous visions of crimes.\"\n]"},"QuAC_dialog_id":{"kind":"string","value":"C_66c8684ed1f04066a6bfcf6cee925937_0"},"Question":{"kind":"string","value":"Is he able to fight the criminals?"},"Question_no":{"kind":"number","value":2,"string":"2"},"Rewrite":{"kind":"string","value":"Is Wesley Dodds able to fight the criminals?"},"true_page_title":{"kind":"string","value":"Sandman (Wesley Dodds)"},"true_contexts":{"kind":"string","value":"Dodds has prophetic dreams which come to him as cryptic, ambiguous visions of crimes. Originally of unexplained origin, these dreams were later ascribed to encounter between Dodds and the entity known as Dream via retcon. The visions haunt Wes, who uses his keen intellect and amateur detective skills to properly interpret them. He is also a talented chemist and inventor, creating the sand-like substance and the Silicoid Gun ultimately responsible for transforming Sandy the Golden Boy into a Silicon-based life-form. In the early years of his career, Wesley Dodds possesses the strength level of a man who engages in regular exercise, and was a fine hand-to-hand combatant. As he grows older, his strength level diminishes in relative proportion to his age. As hobbies, Wes enjoys reading, writing, poetry, origami and philosophy. Through an unknown process, Wes passes his power of prophetic visions on to his former ward, Sanderson Hawkins upon the moment of his own death. Wesley Dodds' costume consists of a basic green business suit, fedora, a World War I era gas mask, a gas gun, and a wire gun. The gas mask protects Dodds from the effects of the gas emitted from his gas gun. The gas gun, a handheld device fitted with cartridges containing concentrated sleeping gas, is Wesley Dodds' only known weapon. Pressing the trigger on the gun releases a cloud of green dust rendering all within the Sandman's immediate vicinity unconscious. An upgraded canister dispenser for the gun is provided for him by his close friend and confidante, Lee Travis. Wes is also known to conceal smaller knockout gas capsules in a hollow heel on his shoe. These prove ideal when placed in situations where his gas gun is not readily available. He also makes use of a specially designed \"wirepoon\" gun, which fires a length of thin, steel cable. In the early days of his career, the Sandman drives a black 1938 Plymouth Coupe. The car is enhanced with various features to aid Wes in his crusade against crime. CANNOTANSWER"},"answer":{"kind":"string","value":"These prove ideal when placed in situations where his gas gun is not readily available."},"true_contexts_wiki":{"kind":"string","value":"Sandman (Wesley Dodds) is a fictional superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first of several DC characters to bear the name Sandman, he was created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Bert Christman. Attired in a green business suit, a fedora, and a World War I gas mask, the Sandman used a gun emitting a sleeping gas to sedate criminals. He was originally one of the mystery men to appear in comic books and other types of adventure fiction in the 1930s but later was outfitted with a unitard/cowl costume and developed into a proper superhero, acquiring sidekick Sandy, and founding the Justice Society of America.\n\nLike most DC Golden Age superheroes, the Sandman fell into obscurity in the 1940s and eventually other DC characters took his name. During the 1990s, when writer Neil Gaiman's Sandman (featuring Morpheus, the anthropomorphic embodiment of dreams) was popular, DC revived Dodds in Sandman Mystery Theatre, a pulp/noir series set in the 1930s. Wizard Magazine ranked Wesley Dodds among the Top 200 Comic Book Characters of All Time, and he is the oldest superhero in terms of continuity to appear on the list.\n\nPublication history\n\nGolden Age of comic books\nArtist Bert Christman and writer Gardner Fox are generally credited as co-creating the original, Wesley Dodds version of the DC Comics character the Sandman. While the character's first appearance is usually given as Adventure Comics #40 (cover-dated July 1939), he also appeared in DC Comics' 1939 New York World's Fair Comics omnibus, which historians believe appeared on newsstands one to two weeks earlier, while also believing the Adventure Comics story was written and drawn first. Each of the two stories' scripts were credited to the pseudonym \"Larry Dean\"; Fox wrote the untitled, 10-page story in New York World's Fair #1, while he simply plotted, and Christman scripted, the untitled, six-page story, generally known as \"The Tarantula Strikes\", in Adventure #40. Creig Flessel, who drew many early Sandman adventures, has sometimes been credited as co-creator on the basis of drawing the Sandman cover of Adventure #40, but no other evidence has surfaced.\n\nFollowing these two first appearances, the feature \"The Sandman\" continued to appear in the omnibus Adventure Comics through #102 (February–March 1946). One of the medium's seminal \"mystery men\", as referred to at the time, the Sandman straddled the pulp magazine detective tradition and the emerging superhero tradition by dint of his dual identity and his fanciful, masked attire and weapon: an exotic \"gas gun\" that could compel villains to tell the truth, as well as put them to sleep. Unlike many superheroes, he frequently found himself the victim of gunshot wounds, both in the Golden Age and in stories in DC's modern-day Vertigo imprint, and he would continue fighting in spite of his injuries.\n\nIn his early career, Dodds (the character's surname was given as \"Dodd\" in his first four appearances; he became \"Dodds\" in Adventure Comics #44) was frequently aided by his girlfriend, Dian Belmont, who is aware of his dual identity. Unlike many superhero love interests, Belmont was often, though not always, portrayed as an equal partner of the Sandman, rather than a damsel in distress. Later stories would reveal that the two remained together for the duration of their lives, though they never married.\n\nThe Sandman was one of the original members of the Justice Society of America when that superhero team was introduced in All Star Comics #3, published by All-American Comics, one of the companies that would merge to form DC.\n\nIn Adventure Comics #69 (December 1941), Dodds was given a yellow-and-purple costume by writer Mort Weisinger and artist Paul Norris, as well as a yellow-clad kid sidekick, Sandy the Golden Boy, nephew of Dian Belmont. Later that year, the celebrated team of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby took over this version of the character. In 1942, Dodds enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as an anti-aircraft gunner during World War II.\n\nSilver Age to Modern Age\n\nReintroduced in the Silver Age in Justice League of America #46 (July 1966), the Sandman made occasional appearances in the annual teamups between that superhero group and the JSA.\n\nIn 1981 DC began publishing All-Star Squadron, a retelling of the Earth-Two mystery-men during WWII. Although not a main character, Sandman does appear in its pages. Of note is issue #18 which gives an explanation of why Dodds changed costumes from the cloak and gas mask to the yellow-and-purple outfit; Dian wore his costume while he was fighting elsewhere and she was killed in a fray. Dodds decided to wear the new costume, of Dian's design, until he could bring himself to wear the original in which she had died.\n\nLater, this explanation would be changed again when Dian Belmont was retconned to have never died, and a new explanation was given: Sandy convinced Dodds to switch to the more colorful costume to gain the support of regular people, who preferred the more traditional superhero look to his older, pulp-themed costume.\n\nAn acclaimed film noir-inspired retelling of the original Sandman's adventures, Sandman Mystery Theatre, ran from 1993 to 1998 under DC Comics' Vertigo mature-reader imprint. Although as a whole its continuity within the DC Universe is debatable, several elements of the series – the more nuanced relationship between Dodds and Dian Belmont; the Sandman's appearance (wearing a trench coat and World War I gas mask instead of the cape and the custom-made gas mask); and Dodds' pudgier appearance and wearing of glasses – have been adopted into regular continuity. The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual.\n\nIn Sandman Midnight Theatre (1995) a one-shot special by Neil Gaiman (author of the Modern Age supernatural series The Sandman), Matt Wagner (co-author of Sandman Mystery Theatre), and Teddy Kristiansen, depicts an interaction between the two characters, with the original visiting Great Britain and encountering the imprisoned Dream, the protagonist of Gaiman's series. A minor retcon by Gaiman suggested that Dodds' chosen identity was a result of Dream's absence from the realm the Dreaming, and that Dodds carries an aspect of that mystical realm. This explains Dodds' prophetic dreams.\n\nTwilight years\nDodds is one of a number of Justice Society members who finds themselves in the \"Ragnarok Dimension\" during the early Modern Age of comic books. The Last Days of the Justice Society of America Special (1986) wrote the post-Crisis tale of a time-warped wave of destruction ready to engulf the world. Dodds and his JSA teammates enter into a limbo to engage in an eternal battle that would allow the universe to continue its existence. This was later revealed to be a simulation created by Odin, which he intended to give to Dream as a bribe. Dodds, Dream's protege, and Hawkman, the grandfather of Dream's appointed successor are the only JSA members who were seen at that time. This lasted only until 1992 when DC published Armageddon: Inferno. This mini-series ended with the JSA members leaving limbo and entering the 'real' world. Justice Society of America (1992–1993) showed how the JSA members handled returning to normal life. For the Sandman, the series depicted him as an old, thin man with a balding scalp and a sharp wit. Starting with issue #1 his physical condition became important as writer Len Strazewski had him suffer a stroke at the first sign of a villainous attack. Both his age and his physical limitations became a theme writers would use in this character's post-Crisis stories.\n\nDuring Zero Hour, Dodds is returned to his proper age by the Extant. Later, Wesley Dodds is shown as retired and living with Dian Belmont though occasionally coming out of it, most notably in a team-up with Jack Knight, the son of Dodds' JSA teammate Starman. When Dian is diagnosed with a terminal disease, the two travel the world together until her death.\n\nTowards the end of his life, Dodds' prophetic dreams alert him to the identity and location of the new Doctor Fate, prompting him to contact the Gray Man, a being created from the residue of others' dreams, as well as his old friend Speed Saunders to instruct them to warn his former teammates about what he has discovered. Waiting on a clifftop, he is subsequently confronted by the powerful villain Mordru, who intends to force Dodds to tell him the identity of the new Doctor Fate, only for Dodds to distract Mordru with his gas-gun long enough to commit suicide by jumping off the cliff rather than allow Mordru to torture him into submission. His last thoughts were that his final slumber would be free of nightmares as he is reunited with Dian. His youthful but now grown-up sidekick Sandy the Golden Boy becomes known simply as Sand and takes his mentor's place as a member of the Justice Society of America as well as his prophetic dreams. Eventually, he takes the name of Sandman.\n\nSleep of Reason\nWesley Dodds makes a comeback via flashback images in the 2006 limited series Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason.\n\nBlackest Night\nDodds is reanimated as a Black Lantern in the \"Blackest Night\" storyline. He and several other fallen JSAers attack the Brownstone, seeking the hearts of the living within.\n\nExodus Noir\nDodds appeared in the \"Exodus Noir\" arc of Madame Xanadu in 2010, in a story set in 1940.\n\nDC Rebirth\nIn the \"Watchmen\" sequel \"Doomsday Clock\", Lois Lane finds a flash-drive at the Daily Planet. It shows her footage of Sandman and the rest of the Justice Society.\n\nIn the pages of \"Dark Nights: Death Metal\", the Prime-Earth version of Sandman was revealed to be entombed at the Valhalla Cemetery. Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring.\n\nPowers and abilities\nDodds has prophetic dreams which come to him as cryptic, ambiguous visions of crimes. Originally of unexplained origin, these dreams were later ascribed to an encounter between Dodds and the entity known as Dream via retcon. The visions haunt Dodds, who uses his keen intellect and amateur detective skills to properly interpret them. He is also a talented chemist and inventor, creating the sand-like substance and the Silicoid Gun ultimately responsible for transforming Sandy the Golden Boy into a Silicon-based life-form. In the early years of his career, Wesley Dodds possesses the strength level of a man who engages in regular exercise, and was a fine hand-to-hand combatant. As he grows older, his strength level diminishes in relative proportion to his age. As hobbies, Dodds enjoys reading, writing, poetry, origami and philosophy. Through an unknown process, Dodds passes his power of prophetic visions on to his former ward, Sanderson Hawkins upon the moment of his own death.\n \nWesley Dodds' costume consists of a basic green business suit, fedora, a World War I era gas mask, a gas gun, and a specially designed \"wirepoon\" gun, which fires a length of thin, steel cable. The gas mask protects Dodds from the effects of the gas emitted from his gas gun. The gas gun, a handheld device fitted with cartridges containing concentrated sleeping gas, is Wesley Dodds' only known weapon. Pressing the trigger on the gun releases a cloud of green dust rendering all within the Sandman's immediate vicinity unconscious. An upgraded canister dispenser for the gun is provided for him by his close friend and confidante, Lee Travis. Dodds is also known to conceal smaller knockout gas capsules in a hollow heel on his shoe. These prove ideal when placed in situations where his gas gun is not readily available.\n\nIn the early days of his career, the Sandman drives a black 1938 Plymouth coupe. The car is enhanced with various features to aid Dodds in his crusade against crime.\n\nEnemies\n\nSandman has an assortment of enemies that he fought:\n Butcher - A cannibalistic butcher.\n Doctor Death - Raymond Kessler is a serial killer/swindler who is the boyfriend of Dian Belmont's cousin Lucy.\n Phantom of the Fair - Gerald Zimmerman is a man who has been torturing and killing homosexual men at the New York World's Fair.\n Ramulus - A plant-manipulating villain who was also known as Nightshade and Plant Master. He later appeared as a member of the Monster Society of Evil.\n Scorpion - Terrence Pritchard is an ad executive who becomes a bullwhip-wielding vigilante.\n Tarantula - A man who targeted Vivian Dale. There was also a second Tarantula that Sandman fought. This one was Roger Goldman who is a serial killer and the former owner of the Evergood Milk Bottling Company.\n\nOther versions\n\nKingdom Come\nDodds appears as an infirm old man at the beginning of the graphic novel, plagued with visions of the impending apocalyptic battle between various factions of metahumans. Before his death, he relates his visions, interpreted through passages from the Book of Revelation, to Norman McCay, who later witnesses the events in the company of the Spectre.\n\nEarth 40\nWesley Dodds meets with The Unholy Three to give information about the Trigger, a device that causes every nuclear reactor in the world to detonate in a nuclear explosion. The Sandman arranges for The Unholy Three to meet with The Lantern, who has information on where the Trigger is located.\n\nEarth 2\nIn The New 52 (a reboot of DC Comics), a new Earth-2 version of Sandman appears. While he does wear a gas mask and wield a gas gun, he is also equipped with a teleporter. When Washington DC is attacked by Solomon Grundy, Commander Wesley Dodds, along with his Sandmen paramilitary force, is sent to retrieve and save President Lightfoot. They are later assigned by Commander Khan in a special and unofficial mission to infiltrate Terry Sloane's secret facility, where they confront and subdue a mind-controlled Michael Holt.\n\nIn other media\n\nTelevision\n\nAnimation\n Wesley Dodds / Sandman makes a non-speaking appearance in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode \"Crisis: 22,300 Miles Above Earth\". He is seen with the other members of the Justice Society of America.\n Sandman makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in the Young Justice episode \"Humanity\". He is shown with the other members of the JSA during a flashback sequence.\n\nLive-action\n A character loosely inspired by the Sandman under the pseudonym of Nightshade makes recurring appearances in The Flash (1990), portrayed by Jason Bernard. This version is Dr. Desmond Powell, a 1950s vigilante who retained the Sandman's costume and captured criminals using a knockout gun and tranquilizer darts. After retiring as a vigilante after he defeated \"The Ghost\" in 1955, he later became a doctor and Chief of Staff at Central City Hospital. When the Ghost reappears in 1990, Powell becomes Nightshade once again and teams up with the Flash to apprehend his old enemy. He later unknowingly inspires the Deadly Nightshade. Powell is framed for multiple counts of murder, but clears his name and captures the impostor. He also makes his secret identity public and becomes a celebrity.\n Wesley Dodds appeared in the Smallville two-hour special episode \"Absolute Justice\", portrayed by Ken Lawson. This version was a member of the now-disbanded Justice Society of America. After having a nightmare about losing his teammate, the Star-Spangled Kid, Dodds is killed by Icicle II. His body was later found by Clark Kent.\n Sandman's helmet appears in Rip Hunter's office in Legends of Tomorrow.\n Sandman appears in the series Stargirl. He appears as a member of the Justice Society of America before the team was attacked and killed by the Injustice Society, with Dodds in particular being killed by Icicle.\n\nFilm\n An alternate universe version of Sandman makes a cameo appearance in the animated film Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths. This version is a minor member of the Crime Syndicate of America.\n An alternate timeline version of Sandman appears in the animated film Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox. This version is one of the few active superheroes in the dystopian \"Flashpoint\" timeline.\n\nVideo games\nWesley Dodds' costume appears in the background of the Hall of Justice in the video game Injustice: Gods Among Us.\n\nWeb series\nSandman makes a minor appearance in the DC Super Hero Girls episode \"Welcome to Super Hero High\". He appears as a graduate of the titular school.\n\nCollected editions\n The Golden Age Sandman Archive Vol. 1 (Sandman stories from New York World's Fair Comics #1–2 and Adventure Comics #40–59) by Bert Christman and others.\n Sandman by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby (World's Finest #6–7; Adventure Comics #72–102; Sandman #1) \n Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 1: The Tarantula (Sandman Mystery Theatre #1–4)\n Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 2: The Face and The Brute (Sandman Mystery Theatre #5–12)\n Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 3: The Vamp (Sandman Mystery Theatre #13–16)\n Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 4: The Scorpion (Sandman Mystery Theatre #17–20)\n Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 5: Dr. Death and The Night of the Butcher (Sandman Mystery Theatre #21–28) \n Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 6: The Hourman and The Python (Sandman Mystery Theatre #29–36)\n Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 7: The Mist and The Phantom of the Fair (Sandman Mystery Theatre #37–44)\n Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 8: The Blackhawk and The Return of the Scarlet Ghost (Sandman Mystery Theatre #45–52)\n Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason (Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason #1–5)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n JSA Fact File: The Sandman\n Earth-2 Sandman Index]\n Sequart.com: \"The Sandman — Interlude: Sandman Mystery Theatre (1993–1998)\", by Julian Darius\n\nCharacters created by Allen Bert Christman\nCharacters created by Gardner Fox\nComics characters introduced in 1939\nDC Comics male superheroes\nEarth-Two\nFictional businesspeople\nFictional characters with precognition\nFictional detectives\nFictional scientists\nFictional socialites\nGolden Age superheroes\nJewish superheroes\nSandman\nVigilante characters in comics"},"extractive":{"kind":"string","value":"true"},"retrieved_contexts":{"kind":"list like","value":["Ofir Drori (; born 26 April 1976) is an Israeli writer and activist based in Central Africa. He started as an activist against wildlife trafficking, and expanded to anti-corruption, democracy and human rights activism throughout Africa.\n\nActivism\nHe is the founder of LAGA – the Last Great Ape Organisation, an enforcement non-governmental organization that fights corruption in order to bring about to the arrests and prosecutions of major wildlife criminals dealing in endangered animal species. LAGA's award-winning model for a wildlife law enforcement NGO has started in Cameroon and is now replicated in the Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, and Gabon.\n\nIn 2005, based on the experience of fighting corruption in the judiciary and the forces of law and order, he has founded another NGO, called Anti Corruption in Cameroon, or AC–Cameroon, which focuses on establishing Anti-Corruption law enforcement in Cameroon, and involving citizens in the fight against corruption through direct legal action.\n\nDrori is a co-founder of The EAGLE Network.\n\nCrocodile attack\nIn December 2013, Drori was attacked by a 3-meter long Nile crocodile while vacationing along the Omo River in Ethiopia, but he managed to escape death. Despite his injuries Drori was able to survive in the wilderness for two days and reach tribesmen and eventually was evacuated to hospital in Addis Ababa, and then to a hospital in Israel. This incident is reminiscent of Australian eco-activist Val Plumwood who also survived a crocodile attack in 1985, and she subsequently wrote of it in her landmark 1996 essay \"Being Prey\".\n\nHonors and awards\nIn 2012 he was awarded the prestigious World Wildlife Fund Duke of Edinburgh Conservation Medal for his work. He also received the Interpol Ecomessage Award, The Clark Bavin Enforcement award and the Condé Nast Traveler Environment Award for his work, as well as the Future For Nature Award and the Shining World Compassion Award.\n\nPublished works\nDrori co-wrote The Last Great Ape: A Journey Through Africa and a Fight for the Heart of the Continent with David McDannald ().\n\nReferences \n\n 'Man in black' fights for Cameroon apes Man in Black Fights, BBC News, June 15, 2007\n Cameroon: Fight Against Wildlife Criminals Formalised allAfrica.com, March 2007\n Jail for Cameroon chimp trafficker BBC News, July 25, 2003\n How Saving One Chimp Led to a New Kind of Anti-Poaching Group, National Geographic, June 2016\n African Conservation Group With Unusual Mission: Enforcement, The New York Times, October 2015\n Tedx Ede 2016\n\nExternal links\n LAGA - The Last Great Ape Organization\n EAGLE Network\n\nIsraeli activists\nLiving people\n1976 births","The Tiger Blade ( or Seua khaap daap) is a 2005 Thai action film.\n\nPlot\nA gang of criminals with supernatural powers, led by Mahesak, break a rebel Karen warlord Kaoyot out of prison, and plan to steal the national treasury of Thailand in order to fund Kaoyot's continuing fight. A secret police unit, led by Yosthana engages the criminals in various battles. Among the criminals they must face are the Five Bullets Bandit and the female warrior, G.I. Jenjila.\n\nThough the police unit puts up a good fight, among them female officer Deungdao, in order to ultimately defeat the criminals, they need to use magic. So Yosthana obtains an old, magical sword, which is activated by the menstrual blood of a virgin.\n\nCast\nAtsadawut Luengsuntorn as Yosthana\nPhimonrat Phisarayabud as Deungdao\nPongpat Wachirabunjong as Kaoyot\nSrungsuda Lawanprasert as G.I. Jenjila\nAmornrit Sriphung as Mahesak\nChalad na Songkhla as Five Bullets Bandit\nAnnan Bunnak as Red Beard\n\nRelease\nThe Tiger Blade was released on October 27, 2005 in Thailand cinemas, where critical and box-office response was practically non-existent.\n\nThe film received more attention overseas. The Canada-based genre film website, Twitch, praised the film as \"pure guilty pleasure\" while acknowledging weaknesses that included an unnecessarily convoluted and complicated plot, subpar computer-generated imagery, and poorly framed and edited action sequences. \"This is all true. But, damn it, what [The Tiger Blade] does well it does really well, and what it does well is have fun,\" Twitch's Todd Brown wrote.\n\nThe film was released on an all-region DVD in Thailand, with English subtitles, but that release is censored to blur out guns, smoking and alcohol consumption. Subsequent DVD releases in Canada, France (by Luc Besson's EuropaCorp), Japan and Hong Kong are uncensored. The movie has also been release on Blu-ray disc\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nOfficial site \n\n2005 films\nThai films\nThai-language films\n2005 action films\nThai martial arts films"],"string":"[\n \"Ofir Drori (; born 26 April 1976) is an Israeli writer and activist based in Central Africa. He started as an activist against wildlife trafficking, and expanded to anti-corruption, democracy and human rights activism throughout Africa.\\n\\nActivism\\nHe is the founder of LAGA – the Last Great Ape Organisation, an enforcement non-governmental organization that fights corruption in order to bring about to the arrests and prosecutions of major wildlife criminals dealing in endangered animal species. LAGA's award-winning model for a wildlife law enforcement NGO has started in Cameroon and is now replicated in the Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, and Gabon.\\n\\nIn 2005, based on the experience of fighting corruption in the judiciary and the forces of law and order, he has founded another NGO, called Anti Corruption in Cameroon, or AC–Cameroon, which focuses on establishing Anti-Corruption law enforcement in Cameroon, and involving citizens in the fight against corruption through direct legal action.\\n\\nDrori is a co-founder of The EAGLE Network.\\n\\nCrocodile attack\\nIn December 2013, Drori was attacked by a 3-meter long Nile crocodile while vacationing along the Omo River in Ethiopia, but he managed to escape death. Despite his injuries Drori was able to survive in the wilderness for two days and reach tribesmen and eventually was evacuated to hospital in Addis Ababa, and then to a hospital in Israel. This incident is reminiscent of Australian eco-activist Val Plumwood who also survived a crocodile attack in 1985, and she subsequently wrote of it in her landmark 1996 essay \\\"Being Prey\\\".\\n\\nHonors and awards\\nIn 2012 he was awarded the prestigious World Wildlife Fund Duke of Edinburgh Conservation Medal for his work. He also received the Interpol Ecomessage Award, The Clark Bavin Enforcement award and the Condé Nast Traveler Environment Award for his work, as well as the Future For Nature Award and the Shining World Compassion Award.\\n\\nPublished works\\nDrori co-wrote The Last Great Ape: A Journey Through Africa and a Fight for the Heart of the Continent with David McDannald ().\\n\\nReferences \\n\\n 'Man in black' fights for Cameroon apes Man in Black Fights, BBC News, June 15, 2007\\n Cameroon: Fight Against Wildlife Criminals Formalised allAfrica.com, March 2007\\n Jail for Cameroon chimp trafficker BBC News, July 25, 2003\\n How Saving One Chimp Led to a New Kind of Anti-Poaching Group, National Geographic, June 2016\\n African Conservation Group With Unusual Mission: Enforcement, The New York Times, October 2015\\n Tedx Ede 2016\\n\\nExternal links\\n LAGA - The Last Great Ape Organization\\n EAGLE Network\\n\\nIsraeli activists\\nLiving people\\n1976 births\",\n \"The Tiger Blade ( or Seua khaap daap) is a 2005 Thai action film.\\n\\nPlot\\nA gang of criminals with supernatural powers, led by Mahesak, break a rebel Karen warlord Kaoyot out of prison, and plan to steal the national treasury of Thailand in order to fund Kaoyot's continuing fight. A secret police unit, led by Yosthana engages the criminals in various battles. Among the criminals they must face are the Five Bullets Bandit and the female warrior, G.I. Jenjila.\\n\\nThough the police unit puts up a good fight, among them female officer Deungdao, in order to ultimately defeat the criminals, they need to use magic. So Yosthana obtains an old, magical sword, which is activated by the menstrual blood of a virgin.\\n\\nCast\\nAtsadawut Luengsuntorn as Yosthana\\nPhimonrat Phisarayabud as Deungdao\\nPongpat Wachirabunjong as Kaoyot\\nSrungsuda Lawanprasert as G.I. Jenjila\\nAmornrit Sriphung as Mahesak\\nChalad na Songkhla as Five Bullets Bandit\\nAnnan Bunnak as Red Beard\\n\\nRelease\\nThe Tiger Blade was released on October 27, 2005 in Thailand cinemas, where critical and box-office response was practically non-existent.\\n\\nThe film received more attention overseas. The Canada-based genre film website, Twitch, praised the film as \\\"pure guilty pleasure\\\" while acknowledging weaknesses that included an unnecessarily convoluted and complicated plot, subpar computer-generated imagery, and poorly framed and edited action sequences. \\\"This is all true. But, damn it, what [The Tiger Blade] does well it does really well, and what it does well is have fun,\\\" Twitch's Todd Brown wrote.\\n\\nThe film was released on an all-region DVD in Thailand, with English subtitles, but that release is censored to blur out guns, smoking and alcohol consumption. Subsequent DVD releases in Canada, France (by Luc Besson's EuropaCorp), Japan and Hong Kong are uncensored. The movie has also been release on Blu-ray disc\\n\\nReferences\\n\\nExternal links\\n\\nOfficial site \\n\\n2005 films\\nThai films\\nThai-language films\\n2005 action films\\nThai martial arts films\"\n]"},"chunked_article":{"kind":"list like","value":["Sandman (Wesley Dodds) is a fictional superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first of several DC characters to bear the name Sandman, he was created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Bert Christman. Attired in a green business suit, a fedora, and a World War I gas mask, the Sandman used a gun emitting a sleeping gas to sedate criminals.","Attired in a green business suit, a fedora, and a World War I gas mask, the Sandman used a gun emitting a sleeping gas to sedate criminals. He was originally one of the mystery men to appear in comic books and other types of adventure fiction in the 1930s but later was outfitted with a unitard/cowl costume and developed into a proper superhero, acquiring sidekick Sandy, and founding the Justice Society of America.","He was originally one of the mystery men to appear in comic books and other types of adventure fiction in the 1930s but later was outfitted with a unitard/cowl costume and developed into a proper superhero, acquiring sidekick Sandy, and founding the Justice Society of America. Like most DC Golden Age superheroes, the Sandman fell into obscurity in the 1940s and eventually other DC characters took his name.","Like most DC Golden Age superheroes, the Sandman fell into obscurity in the 1940s and eventually other DC characters took his name. During the 1990s, when writer Neil Gaiman's Sandman (featuring Morpheus, the anthropomorphic embodiment of dreams) was popular, DC revived Dodds in Sandman Mystery Theatre, a pulp/noir series set in the 1930s. Wizard Magazine ranked Wesley Dodds among the Top 200 Comic Book Characters of All Time, and he is the oldest superhero in terms of continuity to appear on the list.","Wizard Magazine ranked Wesley Dodds among the Top 200 Comic Book Characters of All Time, and he is the oldest superhero in terms of continuity to appear on the list. Publication history Golden Age of comic books Artist Bert Christman and writer Gardner Fox are generally credited as co-creating the original, Wesley Dodds version of the DC Comics character the Sandman.","Publication history Golden Age of comic books Artist Bert Christman and writer Gardner Fox are generally credited as co-creating the original, Wesley Dodds version of the DC Comics character the Sandman. While the character's first appearance is usually given as Adventure Comics #40 (cover-dated July 1939), he also appeared in DC Comics' 1939 New York World's Fair Comics omnibus, which historians believe appeared on newsstands one to two weeks earlier, while also believing the Adventure Comics story was written and drawn first.","While the character's first appearance is usually given as Adventure Comics #40 (cover-dated July 1939), he also appeared in DC Comics' 1939 New York World's Fair Comics omnibus, which historians believe appeared on newsstands one to two weeks earlier, while also believing the Adventure Comics story was written and drawn first. Each of the two stories' scripts were credited to the pseudonym \"Larry Dean\"; Fox wrote the untitled, 10-page story in New York World's Fair #1, while he simply plotted, and Christman scripted, the untitled, six-page story, generally known as \"The Tarantula Strikes\", in Adventure #40.","Each of the two stories' scripts were credited to the pseudonym \"Larry Dean\"; Fox wrote the untitled, 10-page story in New York World's Fair #1, while he simply plotted, and Christman scripted, the untitled, six-page story, generally known as \"The Tarantula Strikes\", in Adventure #40. Creig Flessel, who drew many early Sandman adventures, has sometimes been credited as co-creator on the basis of drawing the Sandman cover of Adventure #40, but no other evidence has surfaced.","Creig Flessel, who drew many early Sandman adventures, has sometimes been credited as co-creator on the basis of drawing the Sandman cover of Adventure #40, but no other evidence has surfaced. Following these two first appearances, the feature \"The Sandman\" continued to appear in the omnibus Adventure Comics through #102 (February–March 1946).","Following these two first appearances, the feature \"The Sandman\" continued to appear in the omnibus Adventure Comics through #102 (February–March 1946). One of the medium's seminal \"mystery men\", as referred to at the time, the Sandman straddled the pulp magazine detective tradition and the emerging superhero tradition by dint of his dual identity and his fanciful, masked attire and weapon: an exotic \"gas gun\" that could compel villains to tell the truth, as well as put them to sleep.","One of the medium's seminal \"mystery men\", as referred to at the time, the Sandman straddled the pulp magazine detective tradition and the emerging superhero tradition by dint of his dual identity and his fanciful, masked attire and weapon: an exotic \"gas gun\" that could compel villains to tell the truth, as well as put them to sleep. Unlike many superheroes, he frequently found himself the victim of gunshot wounds, both in the Golden Age and in stories in DC's modern-day Vertigo imprint, and he would continue fighting in spite of his injuries.","Unlike many superheroes, he frequently found himself the victim of gunshot wounds, both in the Golden Age and in stories in DC's modern-day Vertigo imprint, and he would continue fighting in spite of his injuries. In his early career, Dodds (the character's surname was given as \"Dodd\" in his first four appearances; he became \"Dodds\" in Adventure Comics #44) was frequently aided by his girlfriend, Dian Belmont, who is aware of his dual identity.","In his early career, Dodds (the character's surname was given as \"Dodd\" in his first four appearances; he became \"Dodds\" in Adventure Comics #44) was frequently aided by his girlfriend, Dian Belmont, who is aware of his dual identity. Unlike many superhero love interests, Belmont was often, though not always, portrayed as an equal partner of the Sandman, rather than a damsel in distress.","Unlike many superhero love interests, Belmont was often, though not always, portrayed as an equal partner of the Sandman, rather than a damsel in distress. Later stories would reveal that the two remained together for the duration of their lives, though they never married. The Sandman was one of the original members of the Justice Society of America when that superhero team was introduced in All Star Comics #3, published by All-American Comics, one of the companies that would merge to form DC.","The Sandman was one of the original members of the Justice Society of America when that superhero team was introduced in All Star Comics #3, published by All-American Comics, one of the companies that would merge to form DC. In Adventure Comics #69 (December 1941), Dodds was given a yellow-and-purple costume by writer Mort Weisinger and artist Paul Norris, as well as a yellow-clad kid sidekick, Sandy the Golden Boy, nephew of Dian Belmont.","In Adventure Comics #69 (December 1941), Dodds was given a yellow-and-purple costume by writer Mort Weisinger and artist Paul Norris, as well as a yellow-clad kid sidekick, Sandy the Golden Boy, nephew of Dian Belmont. Later that year, the celebrated team of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby took over this version of the character. In 1942, Dodds enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as an anti-aircraft gunner during World War II.","In 1942, Dodds enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as an anti-aircraft gunner during World War II. Silver Age to Modern Age Reintroduced in the Silver Age in Justice League of America #46 (July 1966), the Sandman made occasional appearances in the annual teamups between that superhero group and the JSA. In 1981 DC began publishing All-Star Squadron, a retelling of the Earth-Two mystery-men during WWII. Although not a main character, Sandman does appear in its pages.","Although not a main character, Sandman does appear in its pages. Of note is issue #18 which gives an explanation of why Dodds changed costumes from the cloak and gas mask to the yellow-and-purple outfit; Dian wore his costume while he was fighting elsewhere and she was killed in a fray. Dodds decided to wear the new costume, of Dian's design, until he could bring himself to wear the original in which she had died.","Dodds decided to wear the new costume, of Dian's design, until he could bring himself to wear the original in which she had died. Later, this explanation would be changed again when Dian Belmont was retconned to have never died, and a new explanation was given: Sandy convinced Dodds to switch to the more colorful costume to gain the support of regular people, who preferred the more traditional superhero look to his older, pulp-themed costume.","Later, this explanation would be changed again when Dian Belmont was retconned to have never died, and a new explanation was given: Sandy convinced Dodds to switch to the more colorful costume to gain the support of regular people, who preferred the more traditional superhero look to his older, pulp-themed costume. An acclaimed film noir-inspired retelling of the original Sandman's adventures, Sandman Mystery Theatre, ran from 1993 to 1998 under DC Comics' Vertigo mature-reader imprint.","An acclaimed film noir-inspired retelling of the original Sandman's adventures, Sandman Mystery Theatre, ran from 1993 to 1998 under DC Comics' Vertigo mature-reader imprint. Although as a whole its continuity within the DC Universe is debatable, several elements of the series – the more nuanced relationship between Dodds and Dian Belmont; the Sandman's appearance (wearing a trench coat and World War I gas mask instead of the cape and the custom-made gas mask); and Dodds' pudgier appearance and wearing of glasses – have been adopted into regular continuity.","Although as a whole its continuity within the DC Universe is debatable, several elements of the series – the more nuanced relationship between Dodds and Dian Belmont; the Sandman's appearance (wearing a trench coat and World War I gas mask instead of the cape and the custom-made gas mask); and Dodds' pudgier appearance and wearing of glasses – have been adopted into regular continuity. The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual.","The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual. The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual. In Sandman Midnight Theatre (1995) a one-shot special by Neil Gaiman (author of the Modern Age supernatural series The Sandman), Matt Wagner (co-author of Sandman Mystery Theatre), and Teddy Kristiansen, depicts an interaction between the two characters, with the original visiting Great Britain and encountering the imprisoned Dream, the protagonist of Gaiman's series.","In Sandman Midnight Theatre (1995) a one-shot special by Neil Gaiman (author of the Modern Age supernatural series The Sandman), Matt Wagner (co-author of Sandman Mystery Theatre), and Teddy Kristiansen, depicts an interaction between the two characters, with the original visiting Great Britain and encountering the imprisoned Dream, the protagonist of Gaiman's series. A minor retcon by Gaiman suggested that Dodds' chosen identity was a result of Dream's absence from the realm the Dreaming, and that Dodds carries an aspect of that mystical realm.","A minor retcon by Gaiman suggested that Dodds' chosen identity was a result of Dream's absence from the realm the Dreaming, and that Dodds carries an aspect of that mystical realm. This explains Dodds' prophetic dreams. Twilight years Dodds is one of a number of Justice Society members who finds themselves in the \"Ragnarok Dimension\" during the early Modern Age of comic books.","Twilight years Dodds is one of a number of Justice Society members who finds themselves in the \"Ragnarok Dimension\" during the early Modern Age of comic books. The Last Days of the Justice Society of America Special (1986) wrote the post-Crisis tale of a time-warped wave of destruction ready to engulf the world. Dodds and his JSA teammates enter into a limbo to engage in an eternal battle that would allow the universe to continue its existence.","Dodds and his JSA teammates enter into a limbo to engage in an eternal battle that would allow the universe to continue its existence. This was later revealed to be a simulation created by Odin, which he intended to give to Dream as a bribe. Dodds, Dream's protege, and Hawkman, the grandfather of Dream's appointed successor are the only JSA members who were seen at that time. This lasted only until 1992 when DC published Armageddon: Inferno.","This lasted only until 1992 when DC published Armageddon: Inferno. This mini-series ended with the JSA members leaving limbo and entering the 'real' world. Justice Society of America (1992–1993) showed how the JSA members handled returning to normal life. For the Sandman, the series depicted him as an old, thin man with a balding scalp and a sharp wit. Starting with issue #1 his physical condition became important as writer Len Strazewski had him suffer a stroke at the first sign of a villainous attack.","Starting with issue #1 his physical condition became important as writer Len Strazewski had him suffer a stroke at the first sign of a villainous attack. Both his age and his physical limitations became a theme writers would use in this character's post-Crisis stories. During Zero Hour, Dodds is returned to his proper age by the Extant.","During Zero Hour, Dodds is returned to his proper age by the Extant. Later, Wesley Dodds is shown as retired and living with Dian Belmont though occasionally coming out of it, most notably in a team-up with Jack Knight, the son of Dodds' JSA teammate Starman. When Dian is diagnosed with a terminal disease, the two travel the world together until her death.","When Dian is diagnosed with a terminal disease, the two travel the world together until her death. Towards the end of his life, Dodds' prophetic dreams alert him to the identity and location of the new Doctor Fate, prompting him to contact the Gray Man, a being created from the residue of others' dreams, as well as his old friend Speed Saunders to instruct them to warn his former teammates about what he has discovered.","Towards the end of his life, Dodds' prophetic dreams alert him to the identity and location of the new Doctor Fate, prompting him to contact the Gray Man, a being created from the residue of others' dreams, as well as his old friend Speed Saunders to instruct them to warn his former teammates about what he has discovered. Waiting on a clifftop, he is subsequently confronted by the powerful villain Mordru, who intends to force Dodds to tell him the identity of the new Doctor Fate, only for Dodds to distract Mordru with his gas-gun long enough to commit suicide by jumping off the cliff rather than allow Mordru to torture him into submission.","Waiting on a clifftop, he is subsequently confronted by the powerful villain Mordru, who intends to force Dodds to tell him the identity of the new Doctor Fate, only for Dodds to distract Mordru with his gas-gun long enough to commit suicide by jumping off the cliff rather than allow Mordru to torture him into submission. His last thoughts were that his final slumber would be free of nightmares as he is reunited with Dian.","His last thoughts were that his final slumber would be free of nightmares as he is reunited with Dian. His youthful but now grown-up sidekick Sandy the Golden Boy becomes known simply as Sand and takes his mentor's place as a member of the Justice Society of America as well as his prophetic dreams. Eventually, he takes the name of Sandman. Sleep of Reason Wesley Dodds makes a comeback via flashback images in the 2006 limited series Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason.","Sleep of Reason Wesley Dodds makes a comeback via flashback images in the 2006 limited series Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason. Blackest Night Dodds is reanimated as a Black Lantern in the \"Blackest Night\" storyline. He and several other fallen JSAers attack the Brownstone, seeking the hearts of the living within. Exodus Noir Dodds appeared in the \"Exodus Noir\" arc of Madame Xanadu in 2010, in a story set in 1940.","Exodus Noir Dodds appeared in the \"Exodus Noir\" arc of Madame Xanadu in 2010, in a story set in 1940. DC Rebirth In the \"Watchmen\" sequel \"Doomsday Clock\", Lois Lane finds a flash-drive at the Daily Planet. It shows her footage of Sandman and the rest of the Justice Society. In the pages of \"Dark Nights: Death Metal\", the Prime-Earth version of Sandman was revealed to be entombed at the Valhalla Cemetery. Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring.","Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring. Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring. Powers and abilities Dodds has prophetic dreams which come to him as cryptic, ambiguous visions of crimes. Originally of unexplained origin, these dreams were later ascribed to an encounter between Dodds and the entity known as Dream via retcon. The visions haunt Dodds, who uses his keen intellect and amateur detective skills to properly interpret them.","The visions haunt Dodds, who uses his keen intellect and amateur detective skills to properly interpret them. He is also a talented chemist and inventor, creating the sand-like substance and the Silicoid Gun ultimately responsible for transforming Sandy the Golden Boy into a Silicon-based life-form. In the early years of his career, Wesley Dodds possesses the strength level of a man who engages in regular exercise, and was a fine hand-to-hand combatant. As he grows older, his strength level diminishes in relative proportion to his age.","As he grows older, his strength level diminishes in relative proportion to his age. As hobbies, Dodds enjoys reading, writing, poetry, origami and philosophy. Through an unknown process, Dodds passes his power of prophetic visions on to his former ward, Sanderson Hawkins upon the moment of his own death.","Through an unknown process, Dodds passes his power of prophetic visions on to his former ward, Sanderson Hawkins upon the moment of his own death. Wesley Dodds' costume consists of a basic green business suit, fedora, a World War I era gas mask, a gas gun, and a specially designed \"wirepoon\" gun, which fires a length of thin, steel cable. The gas mask protects Dodds from the effects of the gas emitted from his gas gun.","The gas mask protects Dodds from the effects of the gas emitted from his gas gun. The gas gun, a handheld device fitted with cartridges containing concentrated sleeping gas, is Wesley Dodds' only known weapon. Pressing the trigger on the gun releases a cloud of green dust rendering all within the Sandman's immediate vicinity unconscious. An upgraded canister dispenser for the gun is provided for him by his close friend and confidante, Lee Travis.","An upgraded canister dispenser for the gun is provided for him by his close friend and confidante, Lee Travis. Dodds is also known to conceal smaller knockout gas capsules in a hollow heel on his shoe. These prove ideal when placed in situations where his gas gun is not readily available. In the early days of his career, the Sandman drives a black 1938 Plymouth coupe. The car is enhanced with various features to aid Dodds in his crusade against crime.","The car is enhanced with various features to aid Dodds in his crusade against crime. Enemies Sandman has an assortment of enemies that he fought: Butcher - A cannibalistic butcher. Doctor Death - Raymond Kessler is a serial killer/swindler who is the boyfriend of Dian Belmont's cousin Lucy. Phantom of the Fair - Gerald Zimmerman is a man who has been torturing and killing homosexual men at the New York World's Fair. Ramulus - A plant-manipulating villain who was also known as Nightshade and Plant Master.","Ramulus - A plant-manipulating villain who was also known as Nightshade and Plant Master. He later appeared as a member of the Monster Society of Evil. Scorpion - Terrence Pritchard is an ad executive who becomes a bullwhip-wielding vigilante. Tarantula - A man who targeted Vivian Dale. There was also a second Tarantula that Sandman fought. This one was Roger Goldman who is a serial killer and the former owner of the Evergood Milk Bottling Company.","This one was Roger Goldman who is a serial killer and the former owner of the Evergood Milk Bottling Company. Other versions Kingdom Come Dodds appears as an infirm old man at the beginning of the graphic novel, plagued with visions of the impending apocalyptic battle between various factions of metahumans. Before his death, he relates his visions, interpreted through passages from the Book of Revelation, to Norman McCay, who later witnesses the events in the company of the Spectre.","Before his death, he relates his visions, interpreted through passages from the Book of Revelation, to Norman McCay, who later witnesses the events in the company of the Spectre. Earth 40 Wesley Dodds meets with The Unholy Three to give information about the Trigger, a device that causes every nuclear reactor in the world to detonate in a nuclear explosion. The Sandman arranges for The Unholy Three to meet with The Lantern, who has information on where the Trigger is located.","The Sandman arranges for The Unholy Three to meet with The Lantern, who has information on where the Trigger is located. Earth 2 In The New 52 (a reboot of DC Comics), a new Earth-2 version of Sandman appears. While he does wear a gas mask and wield a gas gun, he is also equipped with a teleporter. When Washington DC is attacked by Solomon Grundy, Commander Wesley Dodds, along with his Sandmen paramilitary force, is sent to retrieve and save President Lightfoot.","When Washington DC is attacked by Solomon Grundy, Commander Wesley Dodds, along with his Sandmen paramilitary force, is sent to retrieve and save President Lightfoot. They are later assigned by Commander Khan in a special and unofficial mission to infiltrate Terry Sloane's secret facility, where they confront and subdue a mind-controlled Michael Holt. In other media Television Animation Wesley Dodds / Sandman makes a non-speaking appearance in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode \"Crisis: 22,300 Miles Above Earth\".","In other media Television Animation Wesley Dodds / Sandman makes a non-speaking appearance in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode \"Crisis: 22,300 Miles Above Earth\". He is seen with the other members of the Justice Society of America. Sandman makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in the Young Justice episode \"Humanity\". He is shown with the other members of the JSA during a flashback sequence.","He is shown with the other members of the JSA during a flashback sequence. Live-action A character loosely inspired by the Sandman under the pseudonym of Nightshade makes recurring appearances in The Flash (1990), portrayed by Jason Bernard. This version is Dr. Desmond Powell, a 1950s vigilante who retained the Sandman's costume and captured criminals using a knockout gun and tranquilizer darts. After retiring as a vigilante after he defeated \"The Ghost\" in 1955, he later became a doctor and Chief of Staff at Central City Hospital.","After retiring as a vigilante after he defeated \"The Ghost\" in 1955, he later became a doctor and Chief of Staff at Central City Hospital. When the Ghost reappears in 1990, Powell becomes Nightshade once again and teams up with the Flash to apprehend his old enemy. He later unknowingly inspires the Deadly Nightshade. Powell is framed for multiple counts of murder, but clears his name and captures the impostor. He also makes his secret identity public and becomes a celebrity.","He also makes his secret identity public and becomes a celebrity. Wesley Dodds appeared in the Smallville two-hour special episode \"Absolute Justice\", portrayed by Ken Lawson. This version was a member of the now-disbanded Justice Society of America. After having a nightmare about losing his teammate, the Star-Spangled Kid, Dodds is killed by Icicle II. His body was later found by Clark Kent. Sandman's helmet appears in Rip Hunter's office in Legends of Tomorrow. Sandman appears in the series Stargirl.","Sandman appears in the series Stargirl. Sandman appears in the series Stargirl. He appears as a member of the Justice Society of America before the team was attacked and killed by the Injustice Society, with Dodds in particular being killed by Icicle. Film An alternate universe version of Sandman makes a cameo appearance in the animated film Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths. This version is a minor member of the Crime Syndicate of America. An alternate timeline version of Sandman appears in the animated film Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox.","An alternate timeline version of Sandman appears in the animated film Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox. This version is one of the few active superheroes in the dystopian \"Flashpoint\" timeline. Video games Wesley Dodds' costume appears in the background of the Hall of Justice in the video game Injustice: Gods Among Us. Web series Sandman makes a minor appearance in the DC Super Hero Girls episode \"Welcome to Super Hero High\". He appears as a graduate of the titular school.","He appears as a graduate of the titular school. He appears as a graduate of the titular school. Collected editions The Golden Age Sandman Archive Vol. 1 (Sandman stories from New York World's Fair Comics #1–2 and Adventure Comics #40–59) by Bert Christman and others.","1 (Sandman stories from New York World's Fair Comics #1–2 and Adventure Comics #40–59) by Bert Christman and others. Sandman by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby (World's Finest #6–7; Adventure Comics #72–102; Sandman #1) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 1: The Tarantula (Sandman Mystery Theatre #1–4) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 2: The Face and The Brute (Sandman Mystery Theatre #5–12) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 3: The Vamp (Sandman Mystery Theatre #13–16) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 4: The Scorpion (Sandman Mystery Theatre #17–20) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 5: Dr. Death and The Night of the Butcher (Sandman Mystery Theatre #21–28) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 6: The Hourman and The Python (Sandman Mystery Theatre #29–36) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 7: The Mist and The Phantom of the Fair (Sandman Mystery Theatre #37–44) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 8: The Blackhawk and The Return of the Scarlet Ghost (Sandman Mystery Theatre #45–52) Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason (Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason #1–5) References External links JSA Fact File: The Sandman Earth-2 Sandman Index] Sequart.com: \"The Sandman — Interlude: Sandman Mystery Theatre (1993–1998)\", by Julian Darius Characters created by Allen Bert Christman Characters created by Gardner Fox Comics characters introduced in 1939 DC Comics male superheroes Earth-Two Fictional businesspeople Fictional characters with precognition Fictional detectives Fictional scientists Fictional socialites Golden Age superheroes Jewish superheroes Sandman Vigilante characters in comics"],"string":"[\n \"Sandman (Wesley Dodds) is a fictional superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first of several DC characters to bear the name Sandman, he was created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Bert Christman. Attired in a green business suit, a fedora, and a World War I gas mask, the Sandman used a gun emitting a sleeping gas to sedate criminals.\",\n \"Attired in a green business suit, a fedora, and a World War I gas mask, the Sandman used a gun emitting a sleeping gas to sedate criminals. He was originally one of the mystery men to appear in comic books and other types of adventure fiction in the 1930s but later was outfitted with a unitard/cowl costume and developed into a proper superhero, acquiring sidekick Sandy, and founding the Justice Society of America.\",\n \"He was originally one of the mystery men to appear in comic books and other types of adventure fiction in the 1930s but later was outfitted with a unitard/cowl costume and developed into a proper superhero, acquiring sidekick Sandy, and founding the Justice Society of America. Like most DC Golden Age superheroes, the Sandman fell into obscurity in the 1940s and eventually other DC characters took his name.\",\n \"Like most DC Golden Age superheroes, the Sandman fell into obscurity in the 1940s and eventually other DC characters took his name. During the 1990s, when writer Neil Gaiman's Sandman (featuring Morpheus, the anthropomorphic embodiment of dreams) was popular, DC revived Dodds in Sandman Mystery Theatre, a pulp/noir series set in the 1930s. Wizard Magazine ranked Wesley Dodds among the Top 200 Comic Book Characters of All Time, and he is the oldest superhero in terms of continuity to appear on the list.\",\n \"Wizard Magazine ranked Wesley Dodds among the Top 200 Comic Book Characters of All Time, and he is the oldest superhero in terms of continuity to appear on the list. Publication history Golden Age of comic books Artist Bert Christman and writer Gardner Fox are generally credited as co-creating the original, Wesley Dodds version of the DC Comics character the Sandman.\",\n \"Publication history Golden Age of comic books Artist Bert Christman and writer Gardner Fox are generally credited as co-creating the original, Wesley Dodds version of the DC Comics character the Sandman. While the character's first appearance is usually given as Adventure Comics #40 (cover-dated July 1939), he also appeared in DC Comics' 1939 New York World's Fair Comics omnibus, which historians believe appeared on newsstands one to two weeks earlier, while also believing the Adventure Comics story was written and drawn first.\",\n \"While the character's first appearance is usually given as Adventure Comics #40 (cover-dated July 1939), he also appeared in DC Comics' 1939 New York World's Fair Comics omnibus, which historians believe appeared on newsstands one to two weeks earlier, while also believing the Adventure Comics story was written and drawn first. Each of the two stories' scripts were credited to the pseudonym \\\"Larry Dean\\\"; Fox wrote the untitled, 10-page story in New York World's Fair #1, while he simply plotted, and Christman scripted, the untitled, six-page story, generally known as \\\"The Tarantula Strikes\\\", in Adventure #40.\",\n \"Each of the two stories' scripts were credited to the pseudonym \\\"Larry Dean\\\"; Fox wrote the untitled, 10-page story in New York World's Fair #1, while he simply plotted, and Christman scripted, the untitled, six-page story, generally known as \\\"The Tarantula Strikes\\\", in Adventure #40. Creig Flessel, who drew many early Sandman adventures, has sometimes been credited as co-creator on the basis of drawing the Sandman cover of Adventure #40, but no other evidence has surfaced.\",\n \"Creig Flessel, who drew many early Sandman adventures, has sometimes been credited as co-creator on the basis of drawing the Sandman cover of Adventure #40, but no other evidence has surfaced. Following these two first appearances, the feature \\\"The Sandman\\\" continued to appear in the omnibus Adventure Comics through #102 (February–March 1946).\",\n \"Following these two first appearances, the feature \\\"The Sandman\\\" continued to appear in the omnibus Adventure Comics through #102 (February–March 1946). One of the medium's seminal \\\"mystery men\\\", as referred to at the time, the Sandman straddled the pulp magazine detective tradition and the emerging superhero tradition by dint of his dual identity and his fanciful, masked attire and weapon: an exotic \\\"gas gun\\\" that could compel villains to tell the truth, as well as put them to sleep.\",\n \"One of the medium's seminal \\\"mystery men\\\", as referred to at the time, the Sandman straddled the pulp magazine detective tradition and the emerging superhero tradition by dint of his dual identity and his fanciful, masked attire and weapon: an exotic \\\"gas gun\\\" that could compel villains to tell the truth, as well as put them to sleep. Unlike many superheroes, he frequently found himself the victim of gunshot wounds, both in the Golden Age and in stories in DC's modern-day Vertigo imprint, and he would continue fighting in spite of his injuries.\",\n \"Unlike many superheroes, he frequently found himself the victim of gunshot wounds, both in the Golden Age and in stories in DC's modern-day Vertigo imprint, and he would continue fighting in spite of his injuries. In his early career, Dodds (the character's surname was given as \\\"Dodd\\\" in his first four appearances; he became \\\"Dodds\\\" in Adventure Comics #44) was frequently aided by his girlfriend, Dian Belmont, who is aware of his dual identity.\",\n \"In his early career, Dodds (the character's surname was given as \\\"Dodd\\\" in his first four appearances; he became \\\"Dodds\\\" in Adventure Comics #44) was frequently aided by his girlfriend, Dian Belmont, who is aware of his dual identity. Unlike many superhero love interests, Belmont was often, though not always, portrayed as an equal partner of the Sandman, rather than a damsel in distress.\",\n \"Unlike many superhero love interests, Belmont was often, though not always, portrayed as an equal partner of the Sandman, rather than a damsel in distress. Later stories would reveal that the two remained together for the duration of their lives, though they never married. The Sandman was one of the original members of the Justice Society of America when that superhero team was introduced in All Star Comics #3, published by All-American Comics, one of the companies that would merge to form DC.\",\n \"The Sandman was one of the original members of the Justice Society of America when that superhero team was introduced in All Star Comics #3, published by All-American Comics, one of the companies that would merge to form DC. In Adventure Comics #69 (December 1941), Dodds was given a yellow-and-purple costume by writer Mort Weisinger and artist Paul Norris, as well as a yellow-clad kid sidekick, Sandy the Golden Boy, nephew of Dian Belmont.\",\n \"In Adventure Comics #69 (December 1941), Dodds was given a yellow-and-purple costume by writer Mort Weisinger and artist Paul Norris, as well as a yellow-clad kid sidekick, Sandy the Golden Boy, nephew of Dian Belmont. Later that year, the celebrated team of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby took over this version of the character. In 1942, Dodds enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as an anti-aircraft gunner during World War II.\",\n \"In 1942, Dodds enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as an anti-aircraft gunner during World War II. Silver Age to Modern Age Reintroduced in the Silver Age in Justice League of America #46 (July 1966), the Sandman made occasional appearances in the annual teamups between that superhero group and the JSA. In 1981 DC began publishing All-Star Squadron, a retelling of the Earth-Two mystery-men during WWII. Although not a main character, Sandman does appear in its pages.\",\n \"Although not a main character, Sandman does appear in its pages. Of note is issue #18 which gives an explanation of why Dodds changed costumes from the cloak and gas mask to the yellow-and-purple outfit; Dian wore his costume while he was fighting elsewhere and she was killed in a fray. Dodds decided to wear the new costume, of Dian's design, until he could bring himself to wear the original in which she had died.\",\n \"Dodds decided to wear the new costume, of Dian's design, until he could bring himself to wear the original in which she had died. Later, this explanation would be changed again when Dian Belmont was retconned to have never died, and a new explanation was given: Sandy convinced Dodds to switch to the more colorful costume to gain the support of regular people, who preferred the more traditional superhero look to his older, pulp-themed costume.\",\n \"Later, this explanation would be changed again when Dian Belmont was retconned to have never died, and a new explanation was given: Sandy convinced Dodds to switch to the more colorful costume to gain the support of regular people, who preferred the more traditional superhero look to his older, pulp-themed costume. An acclaimed film noir-inspired retelling of the original Sandman's adventures, Sandman Mystery Theatre, ran from 1993 to 1998 under DC Comics' Vertigo mature-reader imprint.\",\n \"An acclaimed film noir-inspired retelling of the original Sandman's adventures, Sandman Mystery Theatre, ran from 1993 to 1998 under DC Comics' Vertigo mature-reader imprint. Although as a whole its continuity within the DC Universe is debatable, several elements of the series – the more nuanced relationship between Dodds and Dian Belmont; the Sandman's appearance (wearing a trench coat and World War I gas mask instead of the cape and the custom-made gas mask); and Dodds' pudgier appearance and wearing of glasses – have been adopted into regular continuity.\",\n \"Although as a whole its continuity within the DC Universe is debatable, several elements of the series – the more nuanced relationship between Dodds and Dian Belmont; the Sandman's appearance (wearing a trench coat and World War I gas mask instead of the cape and the custom-made gas mask); and Dodds' pudgier appearance and wearing of glasses – have been adopted into regular continuity. The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual.\",\n \"The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual. The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual. In Sandman Midnight Theatre (1995) a one-shot special by Neil Gaiman (author of the Modern Age supernatural series The Sandman), Matt Wagner (co-author of Sandman Mystery Theatre), and Teddy Kristiansen, depicts an interaction between the two characters, with the original visiting Great Britain and encountering the imprisoned Dream, the protagonist of Gaiman's series.\",\n \"In Sandman Midnight Theatre (1995) a one-shot special by Neil Gaiman (author of the Modern Age supernatural series The Sandman), Matt Wagner (co-author of Sandman Mystery Theatre), and Teddy Kristiansen, depicts an interaction between the two characters, with the original visiting Great Britain and encountering the imprisoned Dream, the protagonist of Gaiman's series. A minor retcon by Gaiman suggested that Dodds' chosen identity was a result of Dream's absence from the realm the Dreaming, and that Dodds carries an aspect of that mystical realm.\",\n \"A minor retcon by Gaiman suggested that Dodds' chosen identity was a result of Dream's absence from the realm the Dreaming, and that Dodds carries an aspect of that mystical realm. This explains Dodds' prophetic dreams. Twilight years Dodds is one of a number of Justice Society members who finds themselves in the \\\"Ragnarok Dimension\\\" during the early Modern Age of comic books.\",\n \"Twilight years Dodds is one of a number of Justice Society members who finds themselves in the \\\"Ragnarok Dimension\\\" during the early Modern Age of comic books. The Last Days of the Justice Society of America Special (1986) wrote the post-Crisis tale of a time-warped wave of destruction ready to engulf the world. Dodds and his JSA teammates enter into a limbo to engage in an eternal battle that would allow the universe to continue its existence.\",\n \"Dodds and his JSA teammates enter into a limbo to engage in an eternal battle that would allow the universe to continue its existence. This was later revealed to be a simulation created by Odin, which he intended to give to Dream as a bribe. Dodds, Dream's protege, and Hawkman, the grandfather of Dream's appointed successor are the only JSA members who were seen at that time. This lasted only until 1992 when DC published Armageddon: Inferno.\",\n \"This lasted only until 1992 when DC published Armageddon: Inferno. This mini-series ended with the JSA members leaving limbo and entering the 'real' world. Justice Society of America (1992–1993) showed how the JSA members handled returning to normal life. For the Sandman, the series depicted him as an old, thin man with a balding scalp and a sharp wit. Starting with issue #1 his physical condition became important as writer Len Strazewski had him suffer a stroke at the first sign of a villainous attack.\",\n \"Starting with issue #1 his physical condition became important as writer Len Strazewski had him suffer a stroke at the first sign of a villainous attack. Both his age and his physical limitations became a theme writers would use in this character's post-Crisis stories. During Zero Hour, Dodds is returned to his proper age by the Extant.\",\n \"During Zero Hour, Dodds is returned to his proper age by the Extant. Later, Wesley Dodds is shown as retired and living with Dian Belmont though occasionally coming out of it, most notably in a team-up with Jack Knight, the son of Dodds' JSA teammate Starman. When Dian is diagnosed with a terminal disease, the two travel the world together until her death.\",\n \"When Dian is diagnosed with a terminal disease, the two travel the world together until her death. Towards the end of his life, Dodds' prophetic dreams alert him to the identity and location of the new Doctor Fate, prompting him to contact the Gray Man, a being created from the residue of others' dreams, as well as his old friend Speed Saunders to instruct them to warn his former teammates about what he has discovered.\",\n \"Towards the end of his life, Dodds' prophetic dreams alert him to the identity and location of the new Doctor Fate, prompting him to contact the Gray Man, a being created from the residue of others' dreams, as well as his old friend Speed Saunders to instruct them to warn his former teammates about what he has discovered. Waiting on a clifftop, he is subsequently confronted by the powerful villain Mordru, who intends to force Dodds to tell him the identity of the new Doctor Fate, only for Dodds to distract Mordru with his gas-gun long enough to commit suicide by jumping off the cliff rather than allow Mordru to torture him into submission.\",\n \"Waiting on a clifftop, he is subsequently confronted by the powerful villain Mordru, who intends to force Dodds to tell him the identity of the new Doctor Fate, only for Dodds to distract Mordru with his gas-gun long enough to commit suicide by jumping off the cliff rather than allow Mordru to torture him into submission. His last thoughts were that his final slumber would be free of nightmares as he is reunited with Dian.\",\n \"His last thoughts were that his final slumber would be free of nightmares as he is reunited with Dian. His youthful but now grown-up sidekick Sandy the Golden Boy becomes known simply as Sand and takes his mentor's place as a member of the Justice Society of America as well as his prophetic dreams. Eventually, he takes the name of Sandman. Sleep of Reason Wesley Dodds makes a comeback via flashback images in the 2006 limited series Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason.\",\n \"Sleep of Reason Wesley Dodds makes a comeback via flashback images in the 2006 limited series Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason. Blackest Night Dodds is reanimated as a Black Lantern in the \\\"Blackest Night\\\" storyline. He and several other fallen JSAers attack the Brownstone, seeking the hearts of the living within. Exodus Noir Dodds appeared in the \\\"Exodus Noir\\\" arc of Madame Xanadu in 2010, in a story set in 1940.\",\n \"Exodus Noir Dodds appeared in the \\\"Exodus Noir\\\" arc of Madame Xanadu in 2010, in a story set in 1940. DC Rebirth In the \\\"Watchmen\\\" sequel \\\"Doomsday Clock\\\", Lois Lane finds a flash-drive at the Daily Planet. It shows her footage of Sandman and the rest of the Justice Society. In the pages of \\\"Dark Nights: Death Metal\\\", the Prime-Earth version of Sandman was revealed to be entombed at the Valhalla Cemetery. Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring.\",\n \"Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring. Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring. Powers and abilities Dodds has prophetic dreams which come to him as cryptic, ambiguous visions of crimes. Originally of unexplained origin, these dreams were later ascribed to an encounter between Dodds and the entity known as Dream via retcon. The visions haunt Dodds, who uses his keen intellect and amateur detective skills to properly interpret them.\",\n \"The visions haunt Dodds, who uses his keen intellect and amateur detective skills to properly interpret them. He is also a talented chemist and inventor, creating the sand-like substance and the Silicoid Gun ultimately responsible for transforming Sandy the Golden Boy into a Silicon-based life-form. In the early years of his career, Wesley Dodds possesses the strength level of a man who engages in regular exercise, and was a fine hand-to-hand combatant. As he grows older, his strength level diminishes in relative proportion to his age.\",\n \"As he grows older, his strength level diminishes in relative proportion to his age. As hobbies, Dodds enjoys reading, writing, poetry, origami and philosophy. Through an unknown process, Dodds passes his power of prophetic visions on to his former ward, Sanderson Hawkins upon the moment of his own death.\",\n \"Through an unknown process, Dodds passes his power of prophetic visions on to his former ward, Sanderson Hawkins upon the moment of his own death. Wesley Dodds' costume consists of a basic green business suit, fedora, a World War I era gas mask, a gas gun, and a specially designed \\\"wirepoon\\\" gun, which fires a length of thin, steel cable. The gas mask protects Dodds from the effects of the gas emitted from his gas gun.\",\n \"The gas mask protects Dodds from the effects of the gas emitted from his gas gun. The gas gun, a handheld device fitted with cartridges containing concentrated sleeping gas, is Wesley Dodds' only known weapon. Pressing the trigger on the gun releases a cloud of green dust rendering all within the Sandman's immediate vicinity unconscious. An upgraded canister dispenser for the gun is provided for him by his close friend and confidante, Lee Travis.\",\n \"An upgraded canister dispenser for the gun is provided for him by his close friend and confidante, Lee Travis. Dodds is also known to conceal smaller knockout gas capsules in a hollow heel on his shoe. These prove ideal when placed in situations where his gas gun is not readily available. In the early days of his career, the Sandman drives a black 1938 Plymouth coupe. The car is enhanced with various features to aid Dodds in his crusade against crime.\",\n \"The car is enhanced with various features to aid Dodds in his crusade against crime. Enemies Sandman has an assortment of enemies that he fought: Butcher - A cannibalistic butcher. Doctor Death - Raymond Kessler is a serial killer/swindler who is the boyfriend of Dian Belmont's cousin Lucy. Phantom of the Fair - Gerald Zimmerman is a man who has been torturing and killing homosexual men at the New York World's Fair. Ramulus - A plant-manipulating villain who was also known as Nightshade and Plant Master.\",\n \"Ramulus - A plant-manipulating villain who was also known as Nightshade and Plant Master. He later appeared as a member of the Monster Society of Evil. Scorpion - Terrence Pritchard is an ad executive who becomes a bullwhip-wielding vigilante. Tarantula - A man who targeted Vivian Dale. There was also a second Tarantula that Sandman fought. This one was Roger Goldman who is a serial killer and the former owner of the Evergood Milk Bottling Company.\",\n \"This one was Roger Goldman who is a serial killer and the former owner of the Evergood Milk Bottling Company. Other versions Kingdom Come Dodds appears as an infirm old man at the beginning of the graphic novel, plagued with visions of the impending apocalyptic battle between various factions of metahumans. Before his death, he relates his visions, interpreted through passages from the Book of Revelation, to Norman McCay, who later witnesses the events in the company of the Spectre.\",\n \"Before his death, he relates his visions, interpreted through passages from the Book of Revelation, to Norman McCay, who later witnesses the events in the company of the Spectre. Earth 40 Wesley Dodds meets with The Unholy Three to give information about the Trigger, a device that causes every nuclear reactor in the world to detonate in a nuclear explosion. The Sandman arranges for The Unholy Three to meet with The Lantern, who has information on where the Trigger is located.\",\n \"The Sandman arranges for The Unholy Three to meet with The Lantern, who has information on where the Trigger is located. Earth 2 In The New 52 (a reboot of DC Comics), a new Earth-2 version of Sandman appears. While he does wear a gas mask and wield a gas gun, he is also equipped with a teleporter. When Washington DC is attacked by Solomon Grundy, Commander Wesley Dodds, along with his Sandmen paramilitary force, is sent to retrieve and save President Lightfoot.\",\n \"When Washington DC is attacked by Solomon Grundy, Commander Wesley Dodds, along with his Sandmen paramilitary force, is sent to retrieve and save President Lightfoot. They are later assigned by Commander Khan in a special and unofficial mission to infiltrate Terry Sloane's secret facility, where they confront and subdue a mind-controlled Michael Holt. In other media Television Animation Wesley Dodds / Sandman makes a non-speaking appearance in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode \\\"Crisis: 22,300 Miles Above Earth\\\".\",\n \"In other media Television Animation Wesley Dodds / Sandman makes a non-speaking appearance in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode \\\"Crisis: 22,300 Miles Above Earth\\\". He is seen with the other members of the Justice Society of America. Sandman makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in the Young Justice episode \\\"Humanity\\\". He is shown with the other members of the JSA during a flashback sequence.\",\n \"He is shown with the other members of the JSA during a flashback sequence. Live-action A character loosely inspired by the Sandman under the pseudonym of Nightshade makes recurring appearances in The Flash (1990), portrayed by Jason Bernard. This version is Dr. Desmond Powell, a 1950s vigilante who retained the Sandman's costume and captured criminals using a knockout gun and tranquilizer darts. After retiring as a vigilante after he defeated \\\"The Ghost\\\" in 1955, he later became a doctor and Chief of Staff at Central City Hospital.\",\n \"After retiring as a vigilante after he defeated \\\"The Ghost\\\" in 1955, he later became a doctor and Chief of Staff at Central City Hospital. When the Ghost reappears in 1990, Powell becomes Nightshade once again and teams up with the Flash to apprehend his old enemy. He later unknowingly inspires the Deadly Nightshade. Powell is framed for multiple counts of murder, but clears his name and captures the impostor. He also makes his secret identity public and becomes a celebrity.\",\n \"He also makes his secret identity public and becomes a celebrity. Wesley Dodds appeared in the Smallville two-hour special episode \\\"Absolute Justice\\\", portrayed by Ken Lawson. This version was a member of the now-disbanded Justice Society of America. After having a nightmare about losing his teammate, the Star-Spangled Kid, Dodds is killed by Icicle II. His body was later found by Clark Kent. Sandman's helmet appears in Rip Hunter's office in Legends of Tomorrow. Sandman appears in the series Stargirl.\",\n \"Sandman appears in the series Stargirl. Sandman appears in the series Stargirl. He appears as a member of the Justice Society of America before the team was attacked and killed by the Injustice Society, with Dodds in particular being killed by Icicle. Film An alternate universe version of Sandman makes a cameo appearance in the animated film Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths. This version is a minor member of the Crime Syndicate of America. An alternate timeline version of Sandman appears in the animated film Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox.\",\n \"An alternate timeline version of Sandman appears in the animated film Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox. This version is one of the few active superheroes in the dystopian \\\"Flashpoint\\\" timeline. Video games Wesley Dodds' costume appears in the background of the Hall of Justice in the video game Injustice: Gods Among Us. Web series Sandman makes a minor appearance in the DC Super Hero Girls episode \\\"Welcome to Super Hero High\\\". He appears as a graduate of the titular school.\",\n \"He appears as a graduate of the titular school. He appears as a graduate of the titular school. Collected editions The Golden Age Sandman Archive Vol. 1 (Sandman stories from New York World's Fair Comics #1–2 and Adventure Comics #40–59) by Bert Christman and others.\",\n \"1 (Sandman stories from New York World's Fair Comics #1–2 and Adventure Comics #40–59) by Bert Christman and others. Sandman by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby (World's Finest #6–7; Adventure Comics #72–102; Sandman #1) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 1: The Tarantula (Sandman Mystery Theatre #1–4) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 2: The Face and The Brute (Sandman Mystery Theatre #5–12) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 3: The Vamp (Sandman Mystery Theatre #13–16) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 4: The Scorpion (Sandman Mystery Theatre #17–20) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 5: Dr. Death and The Night of the Butcher (Sandman Mystery Theatre #21–28) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 6: The Hourman and The Python (Sandman Mystery Theatre #29–36) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 7: The Mist and The Phantom of the Fair (Sandman Mystery Theatre #37–44) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 8: The Blackhawk and The Return of the Scarlet Ghost (Sandman Mystery Theatre #45–52) Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason (Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason #1–5) References External links JSA Fact File: The Sandman Earth-2 Sandman Index] Sequart.com: \\\"The Sandman — Interlude: Sandman Mystery Theatre (1993–1998)\\\", by Julian Darius Characters created by Allen Bert Christman Characters created by Gardner Fox Comics characters introduced in 1939 DC Comics male superheroes Earth-Two Fictional businesspeople Fictional characters with precognition Fictional detectives Fictional scientists Fictional socialites Golden Age superheroes Jewish superheroes Sandman Vigilante characters in comics\"\n]"}}},{"rowIdx":383,"cells":{"History":{"kind":"list like","value":["Sandman (Wesley Dodds)","Powers and abilities","What are his special abilities?","Dodds has prophetic dreams which come to him as cryptic, ambiguous visions of crimes.","Is he able to fight the criminals?","These prove ideal when placed in situations where his gas gun is not readily available."],"string":"[\n \"Sandman (Wesley Dodds)\",\n \"Powers and abilities\",\n \"What are his special abilities?\",\n \"Dodds has prophetic dreams which come to him as cryptic, ambiguous visions of crimes.\",\n \"Is he able to fight the criminals?\",\n \"These prove ideal when placed in situations where his gas gun is not readily available.\"\n]"},"QuAC_dialog_id":{"kind":"string","value":"C_66c8684ed1f04066a6bfcf6cee925937_0"},"Question":{"kind":"string","value":"What does he do with the gas gun?"},"Question_no":{"kind":"number","value":3,"string":"3"},"Rewrite":{"kind":"string","value":"What does Wesley Dodds do with the gas gun?"},"true_page_title":{"kind":"string","value":"Sandman (Wesley Dodds)"},"true_contexts":{"kind":"string","value":"Dodds has prophetic dreams which come to him as cryptic, ambiguous visions of crimes. Originally of unexplained origin, these dreams were later ascribed to encounter between Dodds and the entity known as Dream via retcon. The visions haunt Wes, who uses his keen intellect and amateur detective skills to properly interpret them. He is also a talented chemist and inventor, creating the sand-like substance and the Silicoid Gun ultimately responsible for transforming Sandy the Golden Boy into a Silicon-based life-form. In the early years of his career, Wesley Dodds possesses the strength level of a man who engages in regular exercise, and was a fine hand-to-hand combatant. As he grows older, his strength level diminishes in relative proportion to his age. As hobbies, Wes enjoys reading, writing, poetry, origami and philosophy. Through an unknown process, Wes passes his power of prophetic visions on to his former ward, Sanderson Hawkins upon the moment of his own death. Wesley Dodds' costume consists of a basic green business suit, fedora, a World War I era gas mask, a gas gun, and a wire gun. The gas mask protects Dodds from the effects of the gas emitted from his gas gun. The gas gun, a handheld device fitted with cartridges containing concentrated sleeping gas, is Wesley Dodds' only known weapon. Pressing the trigger on the gun releases a cloud of green dust rendering all within the Sandman's immediate vicinity unconscious. An upgraded canister dispenser for the gun is provided for him by his close friend and confidante, Lee Travis. Wes is also known to conceal smaller knockout gas capsules in a hollow heel on his shoe. These prove ideal when placed in situations where his gas gun is not readily available. He also makes use of a specially designed \"wirepoon\" gun, which fires a length of thin, steel cable. In the early days of his career, the Sandman drives a black 1938 Plymouth Coupe. The car is enhanced with various features to aid Wes in his crusade against crime. CANNOTANSWER"},"answer":{"kind":"string","value":"Pressing the trigger on the gun releases a cloud of green dust rendering all within the Sandman's immediate vicinity unconscious."},"true_contexts_wiki":{"kind":"string","value":"Sandman (Wesley Dodds) is a fictional superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first of several DC characters to bear the name Sandman, he was created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Bert Christman. Attired in a green business suit, a fedora, and a World War I gas mask, the Sandman used a gun emitting a sleeping gas to sedate criminals. He was originally one of the mystery men to appear in comic books and other types of adventure fiction in the 1930s but later was outfitted with a unitard/cowl costume and developed into a proper superhero, acquiring sidekick Sandy, and founding the Justice Society of America.\n\nLike most DC Golden Age superheroes, the Sandman fell into obscurity in the 1940s and eventually other DC characters took his name. During the 1990s, when writer Neil Gaiman's Sandman (featuring Morpheus, the anthropomorphic embodiment of dreams) was popular, DC revived Dodds in Sandman Mystery Theatre, a pulp/noir series set in the 1930s. Wizard Magazine ranked Wesley Dodds among the Top 200 Comic Book Characters of All Time, and he is the oldest superhero in terms of continuity to appear on the list.\n\nPublication history\n\nGolden Age of comic books\nArtist Bert Christman and writer Gardner Fox are generally credited as co-creating the original, Wesley Dodds version of the DC Comics character the Sandman. While the character's first appearance is usually given as Adventure Comics #40 (cover-dated July 1939), he also appeared in DC Comics' 1939 New York World's Fair Comics omnibus, which historians believe appeared on newsstands one to two weeks earlier, while also believing the Adventure Comics story was written and drawn first. Each of the two stories' scripts were credited to the pseudonym \"Larry Dean\"; Fox wrote the untitled, 10-page story in New York World's Fair #1, while he simply plotted, and Christman scripted, the untitled, six-page story, generally known as \"The Tarantula Strikes\", in Adventure #40. Creig Flessel, who drew many early Sandman adventures, has sometimes been credited as co-creator on the basis of drawing the Sandman cover of Adventure #40, but no other evidence has surfaced.\n\nFollowing these two first appearances, the feature \"The Sandman\" continued to appear in the omnibus Adventure Comics through #102 (February–March 1946). One of the medium's seminal \"mystery men\", as referred to at the time, the Sandman straddled the pulp magazine detective tradition and the emerging superhero tradition by dint of his dual identity and his fanciful, masked attire and weapon: an exotic \"gas gun\" that could compel villains to tell the truth, as well as put them to sleep. Unlike many superheroes, he frequently found himself the victim of gunshot wounds, both in the Golden Age and in stories in DC's modern-day Vertigo imprint, and he would continue fighting in spite of his injuries.\n\nIn his early career, Dodds (the character's surname was given as \"Dodd\" in his first four appearances; he became \"Dodds\" in Adventure Comics #44) was frequently aided by his girlfriend, Dian Belmont, who is aware of his dual identity. Unlike many superhero love interests, Belmont was often, though not always, portrayed as an equal partner of the Sandman, rather than a damsel in distress. Later stories would reveal that the two remained together for the duration of their lives, though they never married.\n\nThe Sandman was one of the original members of the Justice Society of America when that superhero team was introduced in All Star Comics #3, published by All-American Comics, one of the companies that would merge to form DC.\n\nIn Adventure Comics #69 (December 1941), Dodds was given a yellow-and-purple costume by writer Mort Weisinger and artist Paul Norris, as well as a yellow-clad kid sidekick, Sandy the Golden Boy, nephew of Dian Belmont. Later that year, the celebrated team of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby took over this version of the character. In 1942, Dodds enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as an anti-aircraft gunner during World War II.\n\nSilver Age to Modern Age\n\nReintroduced in the Silver Age in Justice League of America #46 (July 1966), the Sandman made occasional appearances in the annual teamups between that superhero group and the JSA.\n\nIn 1981 DC began publishing All-Star Squadron, a retelling of the Earth-Two mystery-men during WWII. Although not a main character, Sandman does appear in its pages. Of note is issue #18 which gives an explanation of why Dodds changed costumes from the cloak and gas mask to the yellow-and-purple outfit; Dian wore his costume while he was fighting elsewhere and she was killed in a fray. Dodds decided to wear the new costume, of Dian's design, until he could bring himself to wear the original in which she had died.\n\nLater, this explanation would be changed again when Dian Belmont was retconned to have never died, and a new explanation was given: Sandy convinced Dodds to switch to the more colorful costume to gain the support of regular people, who preferred the more traditional superhero look to his older, pulp-themed costume.\n\nAn acclaimed film noir-inspired retelling of the original Sandman's adventures, Sandman Mystery Theatre, ran from 1993 to 1998 under DC Comics' Vertigo mature-reader imprint. Although as a whole its continuity within the DC Universe is debatable, several elements of the series – the more nuanced relationship between Dodds and Dian Belmont; the Sandman's appearance (wearing a trench coat and World War I gas mask instead of the cape and the custom-made gas mask); and Dodds' pudgier appearance and wearing of glasses – have been adopted into regular continuity. The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual.\n\nIn Sandman Midnight Theatre (1995) a one-shot special by Neil Gaiman (author of the Modern Age supernatural series The Sandman), Matt Wagner (co-author of Sandman Mystery Theatre), and Teddy Kristiansen, depicts an interaction between the two characters, with the original visiting Great Britain and encountering the imprisoned Dream, the protagonist of Gaiman's series. A minor retcon by Gaiman suggested that Dodds' chosen identity was a result of Dream's absence from the realm the Dreaming, and that Dodds carries an aspect of that mystical realm. This explains Dodds' prophetic dreams.\n\nTwilight years\nDodds is one of a number of Justice Society members who finds themselves in the \"Ragnarok Dimension\" during the early Modern Age of comic books. The Last Days of the Justice Society of America Special (1986) wrote the post-Crisis tale of a time-warped wave of destruction ready to engulf the world. Dodds and his JSA teammates enter into a limbo to engage in an eternal battle that would allow the universe to continue its existence. This was later revealed to be a simulation created by Odin, which he intended to give to Dream as a bribe. Dodds, Dream's protege, and Hawkman, the grandfather of Dream's appointed successor are the only JSA members who were seen at that time. This lasted only until 1992 when DC published Armageddon: Inferno. This mini-series ended with the JSA members leaving limbo and entering the 'real' world. Justice Society of America (1992–1993) showed how the JSA members handled returning to normal life. For the Sandman, the series depicted him as an old, thin man with a balding scalp and a sharp wit. Starting with issue #1 his physical condition became important as writer Len Strazewski had him suffer a stroke at the first sign of a villainous attack. Both his age and his physical limitations became a theme writers would use in this character's post-Crisis stories.\n\nDuring Zero Hour, Dodds is returned to his proper age by the Extant. Later, Wesley Dodds is shown as retired and living with Dian Belmont though occasionally coming out of it, most notably in a team-up with Jack Knight, the son of Dodds' JSA teammate Starman. When Dian is diagnosed with a terminal disease, the two travel the world together until her death.\n\nTowards the end of his life, Dodds' prophetic dreams alert him to the identity and location of the new Doctor Fate, prompting him to contact the Gray Man, a being created from the residue of others' dreams, as well as his old friend Speed Saunders to instruct them to warn his former teammates about what he has discovered. Waiting on a clifftop, he is subsequently confronted by the powerful villain Mordru, who intends to force Dodds to tell him the identity of the new Doctor Fate, only for Dodds to distract Mordru with his gas-gun long enough to commit suicide by jumping off the cliff rather than allow Mordru to torture him into submission. His last thoughts were that his final slumber would be free of nightmares as he is reunited with Dian. His youthful but now grown-up sidekick Sandy the Golden Boy becomes known simply as Sand and takes his mentor's place as a member of the Justice Society of America as well as his prophetic dreams. Eventually, he takes the name of Sandman.\n\nSleep of Reason\nWesley Dodds makes a comeback via flashback images in the 2006 limited series Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason.\n\nBlackest Night\nDodds is reanimated as a Black Lantern in the \"Blackest Night\" storyline. He and several other fallen JSAers attack the Brownstone, seeking the hearts of the living within.\n\nExodus Noir\nDodds appeared in the \"Exodus Noir\" arc of Madame Xanadu in 2010, in a story set in 1940.\n\nDC Rebirth\nIn the \"Watchmen\" sequel \"Doomsday Clock\", Lois Lane finds a flash-drive at the Daily Planet. It shows her footage of Sandman and the rest of the Justice Society.\n\nIn the pages of \"Dark Nights: Death Metal\", the Prime-Earth version of Sandman was revealed to be entombed at the Valhalla Cemetery. Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring.\n\nPowers and abilities\nDodds has prophetic dreams which come to him as cryptic, ambiguous visions of crimes. Originally of unexplained origin, these dreams were later ascribed to an encounter between Dodds and the entity known as Dream via retcon. The visions haunt Dodds, who uses his keen intellect and amateur detective skills to properly interpret them. He is also a talented chemist and inventor, creating the sand-like substance and the Silicoid Gun ultimately responsible for transforming Sandy the Golden Boy into a Silicon-based life-form. In the early years of his career, Wesley Dodds possesses the strength level of a man who engages in regular exercise, and was a fine hand-to-hand combatant. As he grows older, his strength level diminishes in relative proportion to his age. As hobbies, Dodds enjoys reading, writing, poetry, origami and philosophy. Through an unknown process, Dodds passes his power of prophetic visions on to his former ward, Sanderson Hawkins upon the moment of his own death.\n \nWesley Dodds' costume consists of a basic green business suit, fedora, a World War I era gas mask, a gas gun, and a specially designed \"wirepoon\" gun, which fires a length of thin, steel cable. The gas mask protects Dodds from the effects of the gas emitted from his gas gun. The gas gun, a handheld device fitted with cartridges containing concentrated sleeping gas, is Wesley Dodds' only known weapon. Pressing the trigger on the gun releases a cloud of green dust rendering all within the Sandman's immediate vicinity unconscious. An upgraded canister dispenser for the gun is provided for him by his close friend and confidante, Lee Travis. Dodds is also known to conceal smaller knockout gas capsules in a hollow heel on his shoe. These prove ideal when placed in situations where his gas gun is not readily available.\n\nIn the early days of his career, the Sandman drives a black 1938 Plymouth coupe. The car is enhanced with various features to aid Dodds in his crusade against crime.\n\nEnemies\n\nSandman has an assortment of enemies that he fought:\n Butcher - A cannibalistic butcher.\n Doctor Death - Raymond Kessler is a serial killer/swindler who is the boyfriend of Dian Belmont's cousin Lucy.\n Phantom of the Fair - Gerald Zimmerman is a man who has been torturing and killing homosexual men at the New York World's Fair.\n Ramulus - A plant-manipulating villain who was also known as Nightshade and Plant Master. He later appeared as a member of the Monster Society of Evil.\n Scorpion - Terrence Pritchard is an ad executive who becomes a bullwhip-wielding vigilante.\n Tarantula - A man who targeted Vivian Dale. There was also a second Tarantula that Sandman fought. This one was Roger Goldman who is a serial killer and the former owner of the Evergood Milk Bottling Company.\n\nOther versions\n\nKingdom Come\nDodds appears as an infirm old man at the beginning of the graphic novel, plagued with visions of the impending apocalyptic battle between various factions of metahumans. Before his death, he relates his visions, interpreted through passages from the Book of Revelation, to Norman McCay, who later witnesses the events in the company of the Spectre.\n\nEarth 40\nWesley Dodds meets with The Unholy Three to give information about the Trigger, a device that causes every nuclear reactor in the world to detonate in a nuclear explosion. The Sandman arranges for The Unholy Three to meet with The Lantern, who has information on where the Trigger is located.\n\nEarth 2\nIn The New 52 (a reboot of DC Comics), a new Earth-2 version of Sandman appears. While he does wear a gas mask and wield a gas gun, he is also equipped with a teleporter. When Washington DC is attacked by Solomon Grundy, Commander Wesley Dodds, along with his Sandmen paramilitary force, is sent to retrieve and save President Lightfoot. They are later assigned by Commander Khan in a special and unofficial mission to infiltrate Terry Sloane's secret facility, where they confront and subdue a mind-controlled Michael Holt.\n\nIn other media\n\nTelevision\n\nAnimation\n Wesley Dodds / Sandman makes a non-speaking appearance in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode \"Crisis: 22,300 Miles Above Earth\". He is seen with the other members of the Justice Society of America.\n Sandman makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in the Young Justice episode \"Humanity\". He is shown with the other members of the JSA during a flashback sequence.\n\nLive-action\n A character loosely inspired by the Sandman under the pseudonym of Nightshade makes recurring appearances in The Flash (1990), portrayed by Jason Bernard. This version is Dr. Desmond Powell, a 1950s vigilante who retained the Sandman's costume and captured criminals using a knockout gun and tranquilizer darts. After retiring as a vigilante after he defeated \"The Ghost\" in 1955, he later became a doctor and Chief of Staff at Central City Hospital. When the Ghost reappears in 1990, Powell becomes Nightshade once again and teams up with the Flash to apprehend his old enemy. He later unknowingly inspires the Deadly Nightshade. Powell is framed for multiple counts of murder, but clears his name and captures the impostor. He also makes his secret identity public and becomes a celebrity.\n Wesley Dodds appeared in the Smallville two-hour special episode \"Absolute Justice\", portrayed by Ken Lawson. This version was a member of the now-disbanded Justice Society of America. After having a nightmare about losing his teammate, the Star-Spangled Kid, Dodds is killed by Icicle II. His body was later found by Clark Kent.\n Sandman's helmet appears in Rip Hunter's office in Legends of Tomorrow.\n Sandman appears in the series Stargirl. He appears as a member of the Justice Society of America before the team was attacked and killed by the Injustice Society, with Dodds in particular being killed by Icicle.\n\nFilm\n An alternate universe version of Sandman makes a cameo appearance in the animated film Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths. This version is a minor member of the Crime Syndicate of America.\n An alternate timeline version of Sandman appears in the animated film Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox. This version is one of the few active superheroes in the dystopian \"Flashpoint\" timeline.\n\nVideo games\nWesley Dodds' costume appears in the background of the Hall of Justice in the video game Injustice: Gods Among Us.\n\nWeb series\nSandman makes a minor appearance in the DC Super Hero Girls episode \"Welcome to Super Hero High\". He appears as a graduate of the titular school.\n\nCollected editions\n The Golden Age Sandman Archive Vol. 1 (Sandman stories from New York World's Fair Comics #1–2 and Adventure Comics #40–59) by Bert Christman and others.\n Sandman by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby (World's Finest #6–7; Adventure Comics #72–102; Sandman #1) \n Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 1: The Tarantula (Sandman Mystery Theatre #1–4)\n Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 2: The Face and The Brute (Sandman Mystery Theatre #5–12)\n Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 3: The Vamp (Sandman Mystery Theatre #13–16)\n Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 4: The Scorpion (Sandman Mystery Theatre #17–20)\n Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 5: Dr. Death and The Night of the Butcher (Sandman Mystery Theatre #21–28) \n Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 6: The Hourman and The Python (Sandman Mystery Theatre #29–36)\n Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 7: The Mist and The Phantom of the Fair (Sandman Mystery Theatre #37–44)\n Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 8: The Blackhawk and The Return of the Scarlet Ghost (Sandman Mystery Theatre #45–52)\n Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason (Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason #1–5)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n JSA Fact File: The Sandman\n Earth-2 Sandman Index]\n Sequart.com: \"The Sandman — Interlude: Sandman Mystery Theatre (1993–1998)\", by Julian Darius\n\nCharacters created by Allen Bert Christman\nCharacters created by Gardner Fox\nComics characters introduced in 1939\nDC Comics male superheroes\nEarth-Two\nFictional businesspeople\nFictional characters with precognition\nFictional detectives\nFictional scientists\nFictional socialites\nGolden Age superheroes\nJewish superheroes\nSandman\nVigilante characters in comics"},"extractive":{"kind":"string","value":"true"},"retrieved_contexts":{"kind":"list like","value":["The RML 12.5-inch guns were large rifled muzzle-loading guns designed for British battleships and were also employed for coast defence.\n\nDesign \n\nThe gun originated from a desire for a longer 12-inch gun than the existing RML 12-inch 35-ton gun. Experiments in 1874 with both 12-inch and 12.5-inch versions 3 feet longer than the existing 12-inch gun showed the 12.5-inch calibre was more suitable, and further experiments showed a projectile of 800 pounds could be fired with a charge of 130 pounds of P2 gunpowder without undue strain. The same construction as in the existing 12-inch 35-ton gun was used : a mild steel \"A\" tube toughened in oil, surrounded by wrought iron \"B\" tube, triple coil in front of the trunnion, coiled breech-piece and breech coil. This was approved in January 1875.\n\nThe gun was rifled on the \"Woolwich\" pattern of a small number of broad shallow rounded grooves, with 9 grooves increasing from 0 to 1 turn in 35 calibres ( i.e. 1 turn in 437.5 inches).\n\nMark II had an enlarged powder chamber and attained higher muzzle velocity and slightly longer range.\n\nThis gun was the final development of large British rifled muzzle-loading guns before it switched to breechloaders beginning in 1880. It was succeeded in its class on new battleships by the BL 12-inch Mk II gun.\n\nNaval service \nGuns were mounted on HMS Dreadnought commissioned in 1879, HMS Agamemnon commissioned in 1883, and HMS Ajax commissioned in 1885, the last British warships completed with muzzle-loading guns.\n\nAmmunition \nWhen the gun was first introduced projectiles had several rows of \"studs\" which engaged with the gun's rifling to impart spin. Sometime after 1878, \"attached gas-checks\" were fitted to the bases of the studded shells, reducing wear on the guns and improving their range and accuracy. Subsequently, \"automatic gas-checks\" were developed which could rotate shells, allowing the deployment of a new range of studless ammunition.\n\n RML 12.5in Studded Shell, located at Hurst Castle, UK\n RML 12.5in Studded Shrapnel Shell Mk I with Attached Gas-Check Mk I\n RML 12.5in Studded Palliser Shell Mk III with Attached Gas-Check Mk II\n RML 12.5in Studded Common Shell Mk I with Attached Gas-Check Mk II\n RML 12.5in Studded Shrapnel Shell Mk I with Attached Gas-check Mk II\n RML 12.5in Case Shot Mk III\n RML 12.5in Studless Palliser Shell Mk I with Automatic Gas-Check\n RML 12.5in Studless Common Shell Mk I with Automatic Gas-Check\n RML 12.5in Studless Shrapnel Shell Mk I with Automatic Gas-check\n\nImages 3–9 show the range of ammunition for the RML 12.5-inch gun in 1885. By this time the gun no longer fired studded ammunition without gas-checks. Instead there were two sets of ammunition available, namely: older studded ammunition with attached gas-checks Mk II, and newer studless ammunition with automatic gas-checks. Case ammunition neither was studded nor required gas-checks. Also by this time, attached gas-checks Mk I as shown in image 2 had been superseded by attached gas-checks Mk II.\n\nSee also \n List of naval guns\n\nSurviving examples \n Two at Hurst Castle, UK, originally at Cliff End Battery\n At Fort Nelson, Portsmouth, UK, originally at Cliff End Battery\n Outside Fort Albert, Isle of Wight\n No 22 of 1876 outside Calbourne Mill, Isle of Wight, originally at Cliff End Battery\n An unpreserved gun at Fort Delimara, Malta\n Gun on replica carriage at Harding's Battery, Gibraltar\n Gun number 87 and 95, dated 1878. Now in the ditch at Fort Cunningham, Bermuda\n\nNotes and references\n\nBibliography \n Treatise on the construction and manufacture of ordnance in the British service. War Office, UK, 1877\n Text Book of Gunnery, 1887. LONDON : PRINTED FOR HIS MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE, BY HARRISON AND SONS, ST. MARTIN'S LANE\n\nExternal links \n\n Handbook for the R.M.L. 12.5-inch 38-ton gun, marks I and II : casemate, dwarf, and small port mountings (land service). Great Britain. War Office. London : H.M.S.O. 1885 at State Library of Victoria\n Handbook for the 12.5-inch 38-ton R.M.L. gun, marks I and II, casemate, dwarf, and small part mountings land service 1888, 1893, 1899, 1904 at State Library of Victoria\n Diagram of gun on small port 6-foot recoil carriage at Victorian Forts and Artillery website\n Diagram of gun on Casemate Platform, 6 feet recoil Mark III at Victorian Forts and Artillery website\n Diagram of gun on Dwarf 'C' Pivot Mark III at Victorian Forts and Artillery website\n\nNaval guns of the United Kingdom\n320 mm artillery\nVictorian-era weapons of the United Kingdom\nCoastal artillery","A combustion light-gas gun (CLGG) is a projectile weapon that utilizes the explosive force of low molecular-weight combustible gases, such as hydrogen mixed with oxygen, as propellant. When the gases are ignited, they burn, expand and propel the projectile out of the barrel with higher efficiency relative to solid propellant and have achieved higher muzzle velocities in experiments. Combustion light-gas gun technology is one of the areas being explored in an attempt to achieve higher velocities from artillery to gain greater range. Conventional guns use solid propellants, usually nitrocellulose-based compounds, to develop the chamber pressures needed to accelerate the projectiles. CLGGs' gaseous propellants are able to increase the propellant's specific impulse. Therefore, hydrogen is typically the first choice; however, other propellants like methane can be used.\n\nWhile this technology does appear to provide higher velocities, the main drawback with gaseous or liquid propellants for gun systems is the difficulty in getting uniform and predictable ignition and muzzle velocities. Variance with muzzle velocities affects precision in range, and the further a weapon shoots, the more significant these variances become. If an artillery system cannot maintain uniform and predictable muzzle velocities it will be of no use at longer ranges. Another issue is the survival of projectile payloads at higher accelerations. Fuzes, explosive fill, and guidance systems all must be \"hardened\" against the significant acceleration loads of conventional artillery to survive and function properly. Higher velocity weapons, like the CLGG, face these engineering challenges as they edge the boundaries of firing accelerations higher.\n\nThe research and development firm UTRON, Inc is experimenting with a combustion light-gas gun design for field use. The corporation claims to have a system ready for testing as a potential long-range naval fire support weapon for emerging ships, such as the Zumwalt-class destroyer. The CLGG, like the railgun, is a possible candidate technology for greater ranges for naval systems, among others. UTRON has built and tested 45mm and 155mm combustion light-gas guns.\n\nSee also \nLight-gas gun\nScram cannon\n\nReferences\n\nhttps://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a462130.pdf UTRON 2006 Test Report\nArtillery by type\nBallistics\n Emerging technologies"],"string":"[\n \"The RML 12.5-inch guns were large rifled muzzle-loading guns designed for British battleships and were also employed for coast defence.\\n\\nDesign \\n\\nThe gun originated from a desire for a longer 12-inch gun than the existing RML 12-inch 35-ton gun. Experiments in 1874 with both 12-inch and 12.5-inch versions 3 feet longer than the existing 12-inch gun showed the 12.5-inch calibre was more suitable, and further experiments showed a projectile of 800 pounds could be fired with a charge of 130 pounds of P2 gunpowder without undue strain. The same construction as in the existing 12-inch 35-ton gun was used : a mild steel \\\"A\\\" tube toughened in oil, surrounded by wrought iron \\\"B\\\" tube, triple coil in front of the trunnion, coiled breech-piece and breech coil. This was approved in January 1875.\\n\\nThe gun was rifled on the \\\"Woolwich\\\" pattern of a small number of broad shallow rounded grooves, with 9 grooves increasing from 0 to 1 turn in 35 calibres ( i.e. 1 turn in 437.5 inches).\\n\\nMark II had an enlarged powder chamber and attained higher muzzle velocity and slightly longer range.\\n\\nThis gun was the final development of large British rifled muzzle-loading guns before it switched to breechloaders beginning in 1880. It was succeeded in its class on new battleships by the BL 12-inch Mk II gun.\\n\\nNaval service \\nGuns were mounted on HMS Dreadnought commissioned in 1879, HMS Agamemnon commissioned in 1883, and HMS Ajax commissioned in 1885, the last British warships completed with muzzle-loading guns.\\n\\nAmmunition \\nWhen the gun was first introduced projectiles had several rows of \\\"studs\\\" which engaged with the gun's rifling to impart spin. Sometime after 1878, \\\"attached gas-checks\\\" were fitted to the bases of the studded shells, reducing wear on the guns and improving their range and accuracy. Subsequently, \\\"automatic gas-checks\\\" were developed which could rotate shells, allowing the deployment of a new range of studless ammunition.\\n\\n RML 12.5in Studded Shell, located at Hurst Castle, UK\\n RML 12.5in Studded Shrapnel Shell Mk I with Attached Gas-Check Mk I\\n RML 12.5in Studded Palliser Shell Mk III with Attached Gas-Check Mk II\\n RML 12.5in Studded Common Shell Mk I with Attached Gas-Check Mk II\\n RML 12.5in Studded Shrapnel Shell Mk I with Attached Gas-check Mk II\\n RML 12.5in Case Shot Mk III\\n RML 12.5in Studless Palliser Shell Mk I with Automatic Gas-Check\\n RML 12.5in Studless Common Shell Mk I with Automatic Gas-Check\\n RML 12.5in Studless Shrapnel Shell Mk I with Automatic Gas-check\\n\\nImages 3–9 show the range of ammunition for the RML 12.5-inch gun in 1885. By this time the gun no longer fired studded ammunition without gas-checks. Instead there were two sets of ammunition available, namely: older studded ammunition with attached gas-checks Mk II, and newer studless ammunition with automatic gas-checks. Case ammunition neither was studded nor required gas-checks. Also by this time, attached gas-checks Mk I as shown in image 2 had been superseded by attached gas-checks Mk II.\\n\\nSee also \\n List of naval guns\\n\\nSurviving examples \\n Two at Hurst Castle, UK, originally at Cliff End Battery\\n At Fort Nelson, Portsmouth, UK, originally at Cliff End Battery\\n Outside Fort Albert, Isle of Wight\\n No 22 of 1876 outside Calbourne Mill, Isle of Wight, originally at Cliff End Battery\\n An unpreserved gun at Fort Delimara, Malta\\n Gun on replica carriage at Harding's Battery, Gibraltar\\n Gun number 87 and 95, dated 1878. Now in the ditch at Fort Cunningham, Bermuda\\n\\nNotes and references\\n\\nBibliography \\n Treatise on the construction and manufacture of ordnance in the British service. War Office, UK, 1877\\n Text Book of Gunnery, 1887. LONDON : PRINTED FOR HIS MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE, BY HARRISON AND SONS, ST. MARTIN'S LANE\\n\\nExternal links \\n\\n Handbook for the R.M.L. 12.5-inch 38-ton gun, marks I and II : casemate, dwarf, and small port mountings (land service). Great Britain. War Office. London : H.M.S.O. 1885 at State Library of Victoria\\n Handbook for the 12.5-inch 38-ton R.M.L. gun, marks I and II, casemate, dwarf, and small part mountings land service 1888, 1893, 1899, 1904 at State Library of Victoria\\n Diagram of gun on small port 6-foot recoil carriage at Victorian Forts and Artillery website\\n Diagram of gun on Casemate Platform, 6 feet recoil Mark III at Victorian Forts and Artillery website\\n Diagram of gun on Dwarf 'C' Pivot Mark III at Victorian Forts and Artillery website\\n\\nNaval guns of the United Kingdom\\n320 mm artillery\\nVictorian-era weapons of the United Kingdom\\nCoastal artillery\",\n \"A combustion light-gas gun (CLGG) is a projectile weapon that utilizes the explosive force of low molecular-weight combustible gases, such as hydrogen mixed with oxygen, as propellant. When the gases are ignited, they burn, expand and propel the projectile out of the barrel with higher efficiency relative to solid propellant and have achieved higher muzzle velocities in experiments. Combustion light-gas gun technology is one of the areas being explored in an attempt to achieve higher velocities from artillery to gain greater range. Conventional guns use solid propellants, usually nitrocellulose-based compounds, to develop the chamber pressures needed to accelerate the projectiles. CLGGs' gaseous propellants are able to increase the propellant's specific impulse. Therefore, hydrogen is typically the first choice; however, other propellants like methane can be used.\\n\\nWhile this technology does appear to provide higher velocities, the main drawback with gaseous or liquid propellants for gun systems is the difficulty in getting uniform and predictable ignition and muzzle velocities. Variance with muzzle velocities affects precision in range, and the further a weapon shoots, the more significant these variances become. If an artillery system cannot maintain uniform and predictable muzzle velocities it will be of no use at longer ranges. Another issue is the survival of projectile payloads at higher accelerations. Fuzes, explosive fill, and guidance systems all must be \\\"hardened\\\" against the significant acceleration loads of conventional artillery to survive and function properly. Higher velocity weapons, like the CLGG, face these engineering challenges as they edge the boundaries of firing accelerations higher.\\n\\nThe research and development firm UTRON, Inc is experimenting with a combustion light-gas gun design for field use. The corporation claims to have a system ready for testing as a potential long-range naval fire support weapon for emerging ships, such as the Zumwalt-class destroyer. The CLGG, like the railgun, is a possible candidate technology for greater ranges for naval systems, among others. UTRON has built and tested 45mm and 155mm combustion light-gas guns.\\n\\nSee also \\nLight-gas gun\\nScram cannon\\n\\nReferences\\n\\nhttps://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a462130.pdf UTRON 2006 Test Report\\nArtillery by type\\nBallistics\\n Emerging technologies\"\n]"},"chunked_article":{"kind":"list like","value":["Sandman (Wesley Dodds) is a fictional superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first of several DC characters to bear the name Sandman, he was created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Bert Christman. Attired in a green business suit, a fedora, and a World War I gas mask, the Sandman used a gun emitting a sleeping gas to sedate criminals.","Attired in a green business suit, a fedora, and a World War I gas mask, the Sandman used a gun emitting a sleeping gas to sedate criminals. He was originally one of the mystery men to appear in comic books and other types of adventure fiction in the 1930s but later was outfitted with a unitard/cowl costume and developed into a proper superhero, acquiring sidekick Sandy, and founding the Justice Society of America.","He was originally one of the mystery men to appear in comic books and other types of adventure fiction in the 1930s but later was outfitted with a unitard/cowl costume and developed into a proper superhero, acquiring sidekick Sandy, and founding the Justice Society of America. Like most DC Golden Age superheroes, the Sandman fell into obscurity in the 1940s and eventually other DC characters took his name.","Like most DC Golden Age superheroes, the Sandman fell into obscurity in the 1940s and eventually other DC characters took his name. During the 1990s, when writer Neil Gaiman's Sandman (featuring Morpheus, the anthropomorphic embodiment of dreams) was popular, DC revived Dodds in Sandman Mystery Theatre, a pulp/noir series set in the 1930s. Wizard Magazine ranked Wesley Dodds among the Top 200 Comic Book Characters of All Time, and he is the oldest superhero in terms of continuity to appear on the list.","Wizard Magazine ranked Wesley Dodds among the Top 200 Comic Book Characters of All Time, and he is the oldest superhero in terms of continuity to appear on the list. Publication history Golden Age of comic books Artist Bert Christman and writer Gardner Fox are generally credited as co-creating the original, Wesley Dodds version of the DC Comics character the Sandman.","Publication history Golden Age of comic books Artist Bert Christman and writer Gardner Fox are generally credited as co-creating the original, Wesley Dodds version of the DC Comics character the Sandman. While the character's first appearance is usually given as Adventure Comics #40 (cover-dated July 1939), he also appeared in DC Comics' 1939 New York World's Fair Comics omnibus, which historians believe appeared on newsstands one to two weeks earlier, while also believing the Adventure Comics story was written and drawn first.","While the character's first appearance is usually given as Adventure Comics #40 (cover-dated July 1939), he also appeared in DC Comics' 1939 New York World's Fair Comics omnibus, which historians believe appeared on newsstands one to two weeks earlier, while also believing the Adventure Comics story was written and drawn first. Each of the two stories' scripts were credited to the pseudonym \"Larry Dean\"; Fox wrote the untitled, 10-page story in New York World's Fair #1, while he simply plotted, and Christman scripted, the untitled, six-page story, generally known as \"The Tarantula Strikes\", in Adventure #40.","Each of the two stories' scripts were credited to the pseudonym \"Larry Dean\"; Fox wrote the untitled, 10-page story in New York World's Fair #1, while he simply plotted, and Christman scripted, the untitled, six-page story, generally known as \"The Tarantula Strikes\", in Adventure #40. Creig Flessel, who drew many early Sandman adventures, has sometimes been credited as co-creator on the basis of drawing the Sandman cover of Adventure #40, but no other evidence has surfaced.","Creig Flessel, who drew many early Sandman adventures, has sometimes been credited as co-creator on the basis of drawing the Sandman cover of Adventure #40, but no other evidence has surfaced. Following these two first appearances, the feature \"The Sandman\" continued to appear in the omnibus Adventure Comics through #102 (February–March 1946).","Following these two first appearances, the feature \"The Sandman\" continued to appear in the omnibus Adventure Comics through #102 (February–March 1946). One of the medium's seminal \"mystery men\", as referred to at the time, the Sandman straddled the pulp magazine detective tradition and the emerging superhero tradition by dint of his dual identity and his fanciful, masked attire and weapon: an exotic \"gas gun\" that could compel villains to tell the truth, as well as put them to sleep.","One of the medium's seminal \"mystery men\", as referred to at the time, the Sandman straddled the pulp magazine detective tradition and the emerging superhero tradition by dint of his dual identity and his fanciful, masked attire and weapon: an exotic \"gas gun\" that could compel villains to tell the truth, as well as put them to sleep. Unlike many superheroes, he frequently found himself the victim of gunshot wounds, both in the Golden Age and in stories in DC's modern-day Vertigo imprint, and he would continue fighting in spite of his injuries.","Unlike many superheroes, he frequently found himself the victim of gunshot wounds, both in the Golden Age and in stories in DC's modern-day Vertigo imprint, and he would continue fighting in spite of his injuries. In his early career, Dodds (the character's surname was given as \"Dodd\" in his first four appearances; he became \"Dodds\" in Adventure Comics #44) was frequently aided by his girlfriend, Dian Belmont, who is aware of his dual identity.","In his early career, Dodds (the character's surname was given as \"Dodd\" in his first four appearances; he became \"Dodds\" in Adventure Comics #44) was frequently aided by his girlfriend, Dian Belmont, who is aware of his dual identity. Unlike many superhero love interests, Belmont was often, though not always, portrayed as an equal partner of the Sandman, rather than a damsel in distress.","Unlike many superhero love interests, Belmont was often, though not always, portrayed as an equal partner of the Sandman, rather than a damsel in distress. Later stories would reveal that the two remained together for the duration of their lives, though they never married. The Sandman was one of the original members of the Justice Society of America when that superhero team was introduced in All Star Comics #3, published by All-American Comics, one of the companies that would merge to form DC.","The Sandman was one of the original members of the Justice Society of America when that superhero team was introduced in All Star Comics #3, published by All-American Comics, one of the companies that would merge to form DC. In Adventure Comics #69 (December 1941), Dodds was given a yellow-and-purple costume by writer Mort Weisinger and artist Paul Norris, as well as a yellow-clad kid sidekick, Sandy the Golden Boy, nephew of Dian Belmont.","In Adventure Comics #69 (December 1941), Dodds was given a yellow-and-purple costume by writer Mort Weisinger and artist Paul Norris, as well as a yellow-clad kid sidekick, Sandy the Golden Boy, nephew of Dian Belmont. Later that year, the celebrated team of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby took over this version of the character. In 1942, Dodds enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as an anti-aircraft gunner during World War II.","In 1942, Dodds enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as an anti-aircraft gunner during World War II. Silver Age to Modern Age Reintroduced in the Silver Age in Justice League of America #46 (July 1966), the Sandman made occasional appearances in the annual teamups between that superhero group and the JSA. In 1981 DC began publishing All-Star Squadron, a retelling of the Earth-Two mystery-men during WWII. Although not a main character, Sandman does appear in its pages.","Although not a main character, Sandman does appear in its pages. Of note is issue #18 which gives an explanation of why Dodds changed costumes from the cloak and gas mask to the yellow-and-purple outfit; Dian wore his costume while he was fighting elsewhere and she was killed in a fray. Dodds decided to wear the new costume, of Dian's design, until he could bring himself to wear the original in which she had died.","Dodds decided to wear the new costume, of Dian's design, until he could bring himself to wear the original in which she had died. Later, this explanation would be changed again when Dian Belmont was retconned to have never died, and a new explanation was given: Sandy convinced Dodds to switch to the more colorful costume to gain the support of regular people, who preferred the more traditional superhero look to his older, pulp-themed costume.","Later, this explanation would be changed again when Dian Belmont was retconned to have never died, and a new explanation was given: Sandy convinced Dodds to switch to the more colorful costume to gain the support of regular people, who preferred the more traditional superhero look to his older, pulp-themed costume. An acclaimed film noir-inspired retelling of the original Sandman's adventures, Sandman Mystery Theatre, ran from 1993 to 1998 under DC Comics' Vertigo mature-reader imprint.","An acclaimed film noir-inspired retelling of the original Sandman's adventures, Sandman Mystery Theatre, ran from 1993 to 1998 under DC Comics' Vertigo mature-reader imprint. Although as a whole its continuity within the DC Universe is debatable, several elements of the series – the more nuanced relationship between Dodds and Dian Belmont; the Sandman's appearance (wearing a trench coat and World War I gas mask instead of the cape and the custom-made gas mask); and Dodds' pudgier appearance and wearing of glasses – have been adopted into regular continuity.","Although as a whole its continuity within the DC Universe is debatable, several elements of the series – the more nuanced relationship between Dodds and Dian Belmont; the Sandman's appearance (wearing a trench coat and World War I gas mask instead of the cape and the custom-made gas mask); and Dodds' pudgier appearance and wearing of glasses – have been adopted into regular continuity. The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual.","The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual. The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual. In Sandman Midnight Theatre (1995) a one-shot special by Neil Gaiman (author of the Modern Age supernatural series The Sandman), Matt Wagner (co-author of Sandman Mystery Theatre), and Teddy Kristiansen, depicts an interaction between the two characters, with the original visiting Great Britain and encountering the imprisoned Dream, the protagonist of Gaiman's series.","In Sandman Midnight Theatre (1995) a one-shot special by Neil Gaiman (author of the Modern Age supernatural series The Sandman), Matt Wagner (co-author of Sandman Mystery Theatre), and Teddy Kristiansen, depicts an interaction between the two characters, with the original visiting Great Britain and encountering the imprisoned Dream, the protagonist of Gaiman's series. A minor retcon by Gaiman suggested that Dodds' chosen identity was a result of Dream's absence from the realm the Dreaming, and that Dodds carries an aspect of that mystical realm.","A minor retcon by Gaiman suggested that Dodds' chosen identity was a result of Dream's absence from the realm the Dreaming, and that Dodds carries an aspect of that mystical realm. This explains Dodds' prophetic dreams. Twilight years Dodds is one of a number of Justice Society members who finds themselves in the \"Ragnarok Dimension\" during the early Modern Age of comic books.","Twilight years Dodds is one of a number of Justice Society members who finds themselves in the \"Ragnarok Dimension\" during the early Modern Age of comic books. The Last Days of the Justice Society of America Special (1986) wrote the post-Crisis tale of a time-warped wave of destruction ready to engulf the world. Dodds and his JSA teammates enter into a limbo to engage in an eternal battle that would allow the universe to continue its existence.","Dodds and his JSA teammates enter into a limbo to engage in an eternal battle that would allow the universe to continue its existence. This was later revealed to be a simulation created by Odin, which he intended to give to Dream as a bribe. Dodds, Dream's protege, and Hawkman, the grandfather of Dream's appointed successor are the only JSA members who were seen at that time. This lasted only until 1992 when DC published Armageddon: Inferno.","This lasted only until 1992 when DC published Armageddon: Inferno. This mini-series ended with the JSA members leaving limbo and entering the 'real' world. Justice Society of America (1992–1993) showed how the JSA members handled returning to normal life. For the Sandman, the series depicted him as an old, thin man with a balding scalp and a sharp wit. Starting with issue #1 his physical condition became important as writer Len Strazewski had him suffer a stroke at the first sign of a villainous attack.","Starting with issue #1 his physical condition became important as writer Len Strazewski had him suffer a stroke at the first sign of a villainous attack. Both his age and his physical limitations became a theme writers would use in this character's post-Crisis stories. During Zero Hour, Dodds is returned to his proper age by the Extant.","During Zero Hour, Dodds is returned to his proper age by the Extant. Later, Wesley Dodds is shown as retired and living with Dian Belmont though occasionally coming out of it, most notably in a team-up with Jack Knight, the son of Dodds' JSA teammate Starman. When Dian is diagnosed with a terminal disease, the two travel the world together until her death.","When Dian is diagnosed with a terminal disease, the two travel the world together until her death. Towards the end of his life, Dodds' prophetic dreams alert him to the identity and location of the new Doctor Fate, prompting him to contact the Gray Man, a being created from the residue of others' dreams, as well as his old friend Speed Saunders to instruct them to warn his former teammates about what he has discovered.","Towards the end of his life, Dodds' prophetic dreams alert him to the identity and location of the new Doctor Fate, prompting him to contact the Gray Man, a being created from the residue of others' dreams, as well as his old friend Speed Saunders to instruct them to warn his former teammates about what he has discovered. Waiting on a clifftop, he is subsequently confronted by the powerful villain Mordru, who intends to force Dodds to tell him the identity of the new Doctor Fate, only for Dodds to distract Mordru with his gas-gun long enough to commit suicide by jumping off the cliff rather than allow Mordru to torture him into submission.","Waiting on a clifftop, he is subsequently confronted by the powerful villain Mordru, who intends to force Dodds to tell him the identity of the new Doctor Fate, only for Dodds to distract Mordru with his gas-gun long enough to commit suicide by jumping off the cliff rather than allow Mordru to torture him into submission. His last thoughts were that his final slumber would be free of nightmares as he is reunited with Dian.","His last thoughts were that his final slumber would be free of nightmares as he is reunited with Dian. His youthful but now grown-up sidekick Sandy the Golden Boy becomes known simply as Sand and takes his mentor's place as a member of the Justice Society of America as well as his prophetic dreams. Eventually, he takes the name of Sandman. Sleep of Reason Wesley Dodds makes a comeback via flashback images in the 2006 limited series Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason.","Sleep of Reason Wesley Dodds makes a comeback via flashback images in the 2006 limited series Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason. Blackest Night Dodds is reanimated as a Black Lantern in the \"Blackest Night\" storyline. He and several other fallen JSAers attack the Brownstone, seeking the hearts of the living within. Exodus Noir Dodds appeared in the \"Exodus Noir\" arc of Madame Xanadu in 2010, in a story set in 1940.","Exodus Noir Dodds appeared in the \"Exodus Noir\" arc of Madame Xanadu in 2010, in a story set in 1940. DC Rebirth In the \"Watchmen\" sequel \"Doomsday Clock\", Lois Lane finds a flash-drive at the Daily Planet. It shows her footage of Sandman and the rest of the Justice Society. In the pages of \"Dark Nights: Death Metal\", the Prime-Earth version of Sandman was revealed to be entombed at the Valhalla Cemetery. Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring.","Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring. Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring. Powers and abilities Dodds has prophetic dreams which come to him as cryptic, ambiguous visions of crimes. Originally of unexplained origin, these dreams were later ascribed to an encounter between Dodds and the entity known as Dream via retcon. The visions haunt Dodds, who uses his keen intellect and amateur detective skills to properly interpret them.","The visions haunt Dodds, who uses his keen intellect and amateur detective skills to properly interpret them. He is also a talented chemist and inventor, creating the sand-like substance and the Silicoid Gun ultimately responsible for transforming Sandy the Golden Boy into a Silicon-based life-form. In the early years of his career, Wesley Dodds possesses the strength level of a man who engages in regular exercise, and was a fine hand-to-hand combatant. As he grows older, his strength level diminishes in relative proportion to his age.","As he grows older, his strength level diminishes in relative proportion to his age. As hobbies, Dodds enjoys reading, writing, poetry, origami and philosophy. Through an unknown process, Dodds passes his power of prophetic visions on to his former ward, Sanderson Hawkins upon the moment of his own death.","Through an unknown process, Dodds passes his power of prophetic visions on to his former ward, Sanderson Hawkins upon the moment of his own death. Wesley Dodds' costume consists of a basic green business suit, fedora, a World War I era gas mask, a gas gun, and a specially designed \"wirepoon\" gun, which fires a length of thin, steel cable. The gas mask protects Dodds from the effects of the gas emitted from his gas gun.","The gas mask protects Dodds from the effects of the gas emitted from his gas gun. The gas gun, a handheld device fitted with cartridges containing concentrated sleeping gas, is Wesley Dodds' only known weapon. Pressing the trigger on the gun releases a cloud of green dust rendering all within the Sandman's immediate vicinity unconscious. An upgraded canister dispenser for the gun is provided for him by his close friend and confidante, Lee Travis.","An upgraded canister dispenser for the gun is provided for him by his close friend and confidante, Lee Travis. Dodds is also known to conceal smaller knockout gas capsules in a hollow heel on his shoe. These prove ideal when placed in situations where his gas gun is not readily available. In the early days of his career, the Sandman drives a black 1938 Plymouth coupe. The car is enhanced with various features to aid Dodds in his crusade against crime.","The car is enhanced with various features to aid Dodds in his crusade against crime. Enemies Sandman has an assortment of enemies that he fought: Butcher - A cannibalistic butcher. Doctor Death - Raymond Kessler is a serial killer/swindler who is the boyfriend of Dian Belmont's cousin Lucy. Phantom of the Fair - Gerald Zimmerman is a man who has been torturing and killing homosexual men at the New York World's Fair. Ramulus - A plant-manipulating villain who was also known as Nightshade and Plant Master.","Ramulus - A plant-manipulating villain who was also known as Nightshade and Plant Master. He later appeared as a member of the Monster Society of Evil. Scorpion - Terrence Pritchard is an ad executive who becomes a bullwhip-wielding vigilante. Tarantula - A man who targeted Vivian Dale. There was also a second Tarantula that Sandman fought. This one was Roger Goldman who is a serial killer and the former owner of the Evergood Milk Bottling Company.","This one was Roger Goldman who is a serial killer and the former owner of the Evergood Milk Bottling Company. Other versions Kingdom Come Dodds appears as an infirm old man at the beginning of the graphic novel, plagued with visions of the impending apocalyptic battle between various factions of metahumans. Before his death, he relates his visions, interpreted through passages from the Book of Revelation, to Norman McCay, who later witnesses the events in the company of the Spectre.","Before his death, he relates his visions, interpreted through passages from the Book of Revelation, to Norman McCay, who later witnesses the events in the company of the Spectre. Earth 40 Wesley Dodds meets with The Unholy Three to give information about the Trigger, a device that causes every nuclear reactor in the world to detonate in a nuclear explosion. The Sandman arranges for The Unholy Three to meet with The Lantern, who has information on where the Trigger is located.","The Sandman arranges for The Unholy Three to meet with The Lantern, who has information on where the Trigger is located. Earth 2 In The New 52 (a reboot of DC Comics), a new Earth-2 version of Sandman appears. While he does wear a gas mask and wield a gas gun, he is also equipped with a teleporter. When Washington DC is attacked by Solomon Grundy, Commander Wesley Dodds, along with his Sandmen paramilitary force, is sent to retrieve and save President Lightfoot.","When Washington DC is attacked by Solomon Grundy, Commander Wesley Dodds, along with his Sandmen paramilitary force, is sent to retrieve and save President Lightfoot. They are later assigned by Commander Khan in a special and unofficial mission to infiltrate Terry Sloane's secret facility, where they confront and subdue a mind-controlled Michael Holt. In other media Television Animation Wesley Dodds / Sandman makes a non-speaking appearance in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode \"Crisis: 22,300 Miles Above Earth\".","In other media Television Animation Wesley Dodds / Sandman makes a non-speaking appearance in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode \"Crisis: 22,300 Miles Above Earth\". He is seen with the other members of the Justice Society of America. Sandman makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in the Young Justice episode \"Humanity\". He is shown with the other members of the JSA during a flashback sequence.","He is shown with the other members of the JSA during a flashback sequence. Live-action A character loosely inspired by the Sandman under the pseudonym of Nightshade makes recurring appearances in The Flash (1990), portrayed by Jason Bernard. This version is Dr. Desmond Powell, a 1950s vigilante who retained the Sandman's costume and captured criminals using a knockout gun and tranquilizer darts. After retiring as a vigilante after he defeated \"The Ghost\" in 1955, he later became a doctor and Chief of Staff at Central City Hospital.","After retiring as a vigilante after he defeated \"The Ghost\" in 1955, he later became a doctor and Chief of Staff at Central City Hospital. When the Ghost reappears in 1990, Powell becomes Nightshade once again and teams up with the Flash to apprehend his old enemy. He later unknowingly inspires the Deadly Nightshade. Powell is framed for multiple counts of murder, but clears his name and captures the impostor. He also makes his secret identity public and becomes a celebrity.","He also makes his secret identity public and becomes a celebrity. Wesley Dodds appeared in the Smallville two-hour special episode \"Absolute Justice\", portrayed by Ken Lawson. This version was a member of the now-disbanded Justice Society of America. After having a nightmare about losing his teammate, the Star-Spangled Kid, Dodds is killed by Icicle II. His body was later found by Clark Kent. Sandman's helmet appears in Rip Hunter's office in Legends of Tomorrow. Sandman appears in the series Stargirl.","Sandman appears in the series Stargirl. Sandman appears in the series Stargirl. He appears as a member of the Justice Society of America before the team was attacked and killed by the Injustice Society, with Dodds in particular being killed by Icicle. Film An alternate universe version of Sandman makes a cameo appearance in the animated film Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths. This version is a minor member of the Crime Syndicate of America. An alternate timeline version of Sandman appears in the animated film Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox.","An alternate timeline version of Sandman appears in the animated film Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox. This version is one of the few active superheroes in the dystopian \"Flashpoint\" timeline. Video games Wesley Dodds' costume appears in the background of the Hall of Justice in the video game Injustice: Gods Among Us. Web series Sandman makes a minor appearance in the DC Super Hero Girls episode \"Welcome to Super Hero High\". He appears as a graduate of the titular school.","He appears as a graduate of the titular school. He appears as a graduate of the titular school. Collected editions The Golden Age Sandman Archive Vol. 1 (Sandman stories from New York World's Fair Comics #1–2 and Adventure Comics #40–59) by Bert Christman and others.","1 (Sandman stories from New York World's Fair Comics #1–2 and Adventure Comics #40–59) by Bert Christman and others. Sandman by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby (World's Finest #6–7; Adventure Comics #72–102; Sandman #1) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 1: The Tarantula (Sandman Mystery Theatre #1–4) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 2: The Face and The Brute (Sandman Mystery Theatre #5–12) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 3: The Vamp (Sandman Mystery Theatre #13–16) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 4: The Scorpion (Sandman Mystery Theatre #17–20) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 5: Dr. Death and The Night of the Butcher (Sandman Mystery Theatre #21–28) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 6: The Hourman and The Python (Sandman Mystery Theatre #29–36) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 7: The Mist and The Phantom of the Fair (Sandman Mystery Theatre #37–44) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 8: The Blackhawk and The Return of the Scarlet Ghost (Sandman Mystery Theatre #45–52) Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason (Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason #1–5) References External links JSA Fact File: The Sandman Earth-2 Sandman Index] Sequart.com: \"The Sandman — Interlude: Sandman Mystery Theatre (1993–1998)\", by Julian Darius Characters created by Allen Bert Christman Characters created by Gardner Fox Comics characters introduced in 1939 DC Comics male superheroes Earth-Two Fictional businesspeople Fictional characters with precognition Fictional detectives Fictional scientists Fictional socialites Golden Age superheroes Jewish superheroes Sandman Vigilante characters in comics"],"string":"[\n \"Sandman (Wesley Dodds) is a fictional superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first of several DC characters to bear the name Sandman, he was created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Bert Christman. Attired in a green business suit, a fedora, and a World War I gas mask, the Sandman used a gun emitting a sleeping gas to sedate criminals.\",\n \"Attired in a green business suit, a fedora, and a World War I gas mask, the Sandman used a gun emitting a sleeping gas to sedate criminals. He was originally one of the mystery men to appear in comic books and other types of adventure fiction in the 1930s but later was outfitted with a unitard/cowl costume and developed into a proper superhero, acquiring sidekick Sandy, and founding the Justice Society of America.\",\n \"He was originally one of the mystery men to appear in comic books and other types of adventure fiction in the 1930s but later was outfitted with a unitard/cowl costume and developed into a proper superhero, acquiring sidekick Sandy, and founding the Justice Society of America. Like most DC Golden Age superheroes, the Sandman fell into obscurity in the 1940s and eventually other DC characters took his name.\",\n \"Like most DC Golden Age superheroes, the Sandman fell into obscurity in the 1940s and eventually other DC characters took his name. During the 1990s, when writer Neil Gaiman's Sandman (featuring Morpheus, the anthropomorphic embodiment of dreams) was popular, DC revived Dodds in Sandman Mystery Theatre, a pulp/noir series set in the 1930s. Wizard Magazine ranked Wesley Dodds among the Top 200 Comic Book Characters of All Time, and he is the oldest superhero in terms of continuity to appear on the list.\",\n \"Wizard Magazine ranked Wesley Dodds among the Top 200 Comic Book Characters of All Time, and he is the oldest superhero in terms of continuity to appear on the list. Publication history Golden Age of comic books Artist Bert Christman and writer Gardner Fox are generally credited as co-creating the original, Wesley Dodds version of the DC Comics character the Sandman.\",\n \"Publication history Golden Age of comic books Artist Bert Christman and writer Gardner Fox are generally credited as co-creating the original, Wesley Dodds version of the DC Comics character the Sandman. While the character's first appearance is usually given as Adventure Comics #40 (cover-dated July 1939), he also appeared in DC Comics' 1939 New York World's Fair Comics omnibus, which historians believe appeared on newsstands one to two weeks earlier, while also believing the Adventure Comics story was written and drawn first.\",\n \"While the character's first appearance is usually given as Adventure Comics #40 (cover-dated July 1939), he also appeared in DC Comics' 1939 New York World's Fair Comics omnibus, which historians believe appeared on newsstands one to two weeks earlier, while also believing the Adventure Comics story was written and drawn first. Each of the two stories' scripts were credited to the pseudonym \\\"Larry Dean\\\"; Fox wrote the untitled, 10-page story in New York World's Fair #1, while he simply plotted, and Christman scripted, the untitled, six-page story, generally known as \\\"The Tarantula Strikes\\\", in Adventure #40.\",\n \"Each of the two stories' scripts were credited to the pseudonym \\\"Larry Dean\\\"; Fox wrote the untitled, 10-page story in New York World's Fair #1, while he simply plotted, and Christman scripted, the untitled, six-page story, generally known as \\\"The Tarantula Strikes\\\", in Adventure #40. Creig Flessel, who drew many early Sandman adventures, has sometimes been credited as co-creator on the basis of drawing the Sandman cover of Adventure #40, but no other evidence has surfaced.\",\n \"Creig Flessel, who drew many early Sandman adventures, has sometimes been credited as co-creator on the basis of drawing the Sandman cover of Adventure #40, but no other evidence has surfaced. Following these two first appearances, the feature \\\"The Sandman\\\" continued to appear in the omnibus Adventure Comics through #102 (February–March 1946).\",\n \"Following these two first appearances, the feature \\\"The Sandman\\\" continued to appear in the omnibus Adventure Comics through #102 (February–March 1946). One of the medium's seminal \\\"mystery men\\\", as referred to at the time, the Sandman straddled the pulp magazine detective tradition and the emerging superhero tradition by dint of his dual identity and his fanciful, masked attire and weapon: an exotic \\\"gas gun\\\" that could compel villains to tell the truth, as well as put them to sleep.\",\n \"One of the medium's seminal \\\"mystery men\\\", as referred to at the time, the Sandman straddled the pulp magazine detective tradition and the emerging superhero tradition by dint of his dual identity and his fanciful, masked attire and weapon: an exotic \\\"gas gun\\\" that could compel villains to tell the truth, as well as put them to sleep. Unlike many superheroes, he frequently found himself the victim of gunshot wounds, both in the Golden Age and in stories in DC's modern-day Vertigo imprint, and he would continue fighting in spite of his injuries.\",\n \"Unlike many superheroes, he frequently found himself the victim of gunshot wounds, both in the Golden Age and in stories in DC's modern-day Vertigo imprint, and he would continue fighting in spite of his injuries. In his early career, Dodds (the character's surname was given as \\\"Dodd\\\" in his first four appearances; he became \\\"Dodds\\\" in Adventure Comics #44) was frequently aided by his girlfriend, Dian Belmont, who is aware of his dual identity.\",\n \"In his early career, Dodds (the character's surname was given as \\\"Dodd\\\" in his first four appearances; he became \\\"Dodds\\\" in Adventure Comics #44) was frequently aided by his girlfriend, Dian Belmont, who is aware of his dual identity. Unlike many superhero love interests, Belmont was often, though not always, portrayed as an equal partner of the Sandman, rather than a damsel in distress.\",\n \"Unlike many superhero love interests, Belmont was often, though not always, portrayed as an equal partner of the Sandman, rather than a damsel in distress. Later stories would reveal that the two remained together for the duration of their lives, though they never married. The Sandman was one of the original members of the Justice Society of America when that superhero team was introduced in All Star Comics #3, published by All-American Comics, one of the companies that would merge to form DC.\",\n \"The Sandman was one of the original members of the Justice Society of America when that superhero team was introduced in All Star Comics #3, published by All-American Comics, one of the companies that would merge to form DC. In Adventure Comics #69 (December 1941), Dodds was given a yellow-and-purple costume by writer Mort Weisinger and artist Paul Norris, as well as a yellow-clad kid sidekick, Sandy the Golden Boy, nephew of Dian Belmont.\",\n \"In Adventure Comics #69 (December 1941), Dodds was given a yellow-and-purple costume by writer Mort Weisinger and artist Paul Norris, as well as a yellow-clad kid sidekick, Sandy the Golden Boy, nephew of Dian Belmont. Later that year, the celebrated team of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby took over this version of the character. In 1942, Dodds enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as an anti-aircraft gunner during World War II.\",\n \"In 1942, Dodds enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as an anti-aircraft gunner during World War II. Silver Age to Modern Age Reintroduced in the Silver Age in Justice League of America #46 (July 1966), the Sandman made occasional appearances in the annual teamups between that superhero group and the JSA. In 1981 DC began publishing All-Star Squadron, a retelling of the Earth-Two mystery-men during WWII. Although not a main character, Sandman does appear in its pages.\",\n \"Although not a main character, Sandman does appear in its pages. Of note is issue #18 which gives an explanation of why Dodds changed costumes from the cloak and gas mask to the yellow-and-purple outfit; Dian wore his costume while he was fighting elsewhere and she was killed in a fray. Dodds decided to wear the new costume, of Dian's design, until he could bring himself to wear the original in which she had died.\",\n \"Dodds decided to wear the new costume, of Dian's design, until he could bring himself to wear the original in which she had died. Later, this explanation would be changed again when Dian Belmont was retconned to have never died, and a new explanation was given: Sandy convinced Dodds to switch to the more colorful costume to gain the support of regular people, who preferred the more traditional superhero look to his older, pulp-themed costume.\",\n \"Later, this explanation would be changed again when Dian Belmont was retconned to have never died, and a new explanation was given: Sandy convinced Dodds to switch to the more colorful costume to gain the support of regular people, who preferred the more traditional superhero look to his older, pulp-themed costume. An acclaimed film noir-inspired retelling of the original Sandman's adventures, Sandman Mystery Theatre, ran from 1993 to 1998 under DC Comics' Vertigo mature-reader imprint.\",\n \"An acclaimed film noir-inspired retelling of the original Sandman's adventures, Sandman Mystery Theatre, ran from 1993 to 1998 under DC Comics' Vertigo mature-reader imprint. Although as a whole its continuity within the DC Universe is debatable, several elements of the series – the more nuanced relationship between Dodds and Dian Belmont; the Sandman's appearance (wearing a trench coat and World War I gas mask instead of the cape and the custom-made gas mask); and Dodds' pudgier appearance and wearing of glasses – have been adopted into regular continuity.\",\n \"Although as a whole its continuity within the DC Universe is debatable, several elements of the series – the more nuanced relationship between Dodds and Dian Belmont; the Sandman's appearance (wearing a trench coat and World War I gas mask instead of the cape and the custom-made gas mask); and Dodds' pudgier appearance and wearing of glasses – have been adopted into regular continuity. The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual.\",\n \"The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual. The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual. In Sandman Midnight Theatre (1995) a one-shot special by Neil Gaiman (author of the Modern Age supernatural series The Sandman), Matt Wagner (co-author of Sandman Mystery Theatre), and Teddy Kristiansen, depicts an interaction between the two characters, with the original visiting Great Britain and encountering the imprisoned Dream, the protagonist of Gaiman's series.\",\n \"In Sandman Midnight Theatre (1995) a one-shot special by Neil Gaiman (author of the Modern Age supernatural series The Sandman), Matt Wagner (co-author of Sandman Mystery Theatre), and Teddy Kristiansen, depicts an interaction between the two characters, with the original visiting Great Britain and encountering the imprisoned Dream, the protagonist of Gaiman's series. A minor retcon by Gaiman suggested that Dodds' chosen identity was a result of Dream's absence from the realm the Dreaming, and that Dodds carries an aspect of that mystical realm.\",\n \"A minor retcon by Gaiman suggested that Dodds' chosen identity was a result of Dream's absence from the realm the Dreaming, and that Dodds carries an aspect of that mystical realm. This explains Dodds' prophetic dreams. Twilight years Dodds is one of a number of Justice Society members who finds themselves in the \\\"Ragnarok Dimension\\\" during the early Modern Age of comic books.\",\n \"Twilight years Dodds is one of a number of Justice Society members who finds themselves in the \\\"Ragnarok Dimension\\\" during the early Modern Age of comic books. The Last Days of the Justice Society of America Special (1986) wrote the post-Crisis tale of a time-warped wave of destruction ready to engulf the world. Dodds and his JSA teammates enter into a limbo to engage in an eternal battle that would allow the universe to continue its existence.\",\n \"Dodds and his JSA teammates enter into a limbo to engage in an eternal battle that would allow the universe to continue its existence. This was later revealed to be a simulation created by Odin, which he intended to give to Dream as a bribe. Dodds, Dream's protege, and Hawkman, the grandfather of Dream's appointed successor are the only JSA members who were seen at that time. This lasted only until 1992 when DC published Armageddon: Inferno.\",\n \"This lasted only until 1992 when DC published Armageddon: Inferno. This mini-series ended with the JSA members leaving limbo and entering the 'real' world. Justice Society of America (1992–1993) showed how the JSA members handled returning to normal life. For the Sandman, the series depicted him as an old, thin man with a balding scalp and a sharp wit. Starting with issue #1 his physical condition became important as writer Len Strazewski had him suffer a stroke at the first sign of a villainous attack.\",\n \"Starting with issue #1 his physical condition became important as writer Len Strazewski had him suffer a stroke at the first sign of a villainous attack. Both his age and his physical limitations became a theme writers would use in this character's post-Crisis stories. During Zero Hour, Dodds is returned to his proper age by the Extant.\",\n \"During Zero Hour, Dodds is returned to his proper age by the Extant. Later, Wesley Dodds is shown as retired and living with Dian Belmont though occasionally coming out of it, most notably in a team-up with Jack Knight, the son of Dodds' JSA teammate Starman. When Dian is diagnosed with a terminal disease, the two travel the world together until her death.\",\n \"When Dian is diagnosed with a terminal disease, the two travel the world together until her death. Towards the end of his life, Dodds' prophetic dreams alert him to the identity and location of the new Doctor Fate, prompting him to contact the Gray Man, a being created from the residue of others' dreams, as well as his old friend Speed Saunders to instruct them to warn his former teammates about what he has discovered.\",\n \"Towards the end of his life, Dodds' prophetic dreams alert him to the identity and location of the new Doctor Fate, prompting him to contact the Gray Man, a being created from the residue of others' dreams, as well as his old friend Speed Saunders to instruct them to warn his former teammates about what he has discovered. Waiting on a clifftop, he is subsequently confronted by the powerful villain Mordru, who intends to force Dodds to tell him the identity of the new Doctor Fate, only for Dodds to distract Mordru with his gas-gun long enough to commit suicide by jumping off the cliff rather than allow Mordru to torture him into submission.\",\n \"Waiting on a clifftop, he is subsequently confronted by the powerful villain Mordru, who intends to force Dodds to tell him the identity of the new Doctor Fate, only for Dodds to distract Mordru with his gas-gun long enough to commit suicide by jumping off the cliff rather than allow Mordru to torture him into submission. His last thoughts were that his final slumber would be free of nightmares as he is reunited with Dian.\",\n \"His last thoughts were that his final slumber would be free of nightmares as he is reunited with Dian. His youthful but now grown-up sidekick Sandy the Golden Boy becomes known simply as Sand and takes his mentor's place as a member of the Justice Society of America as well as his prophetic dreams. Eventually, he takes the name of Sandman. Sleep of Reason Wesley Dodds makes a comeback via flashback images in the 2006 limited series Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason.\",\n \"Sleep of Reason Wesley Dodds makes a comeback via flashback images in the 2006 limited series Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason. Blackest Night Dodds is reanimated as a Black Lantern in the \\\"Blackest Night\\\" storyline. He and several other fallen JSAers attack the Brownstone, seeking the hearts of the living within. Exodus Noir Dodds appeared in the \\\"Exodus Noir\\\" arc of Madame Xanadu in 2010, in a story set in 1940.\",\n \"Exodus Noir Dodds appeared in the \\\"Exodus Noir\\\" arc of Madame Xanadu in 2010, in a story set in 1940. DC Rebirth In the \\\"Watchmen\\\" sequel \\\"Doomsday Clock\\\", Lois Lane finds a flash-drive at the Daily Planet. It shows her footage of Sandman and the rest of the Justice Society. In the pages of \\\"Dark Nights: Death Metal\\\", the Prime-Earth version of Sandman was revealed to be entombed at the Valhalla Cemetery. Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring.\",\n \"Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring. Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring. Powers and abilities Dodds has prophetic dreams which come to him as cryptic, ambiguous visions of crimes. Originally of unexplained origin, these dreams were later ascribed to an encounter between Dodds and the entity known as Dream via retcon. The visions haunt Dodds, who uses his keen intellect and amateur detective skills to properly interpret them.\",\n \"The visions haunt Dodds, who uses his keen intellect and amateur detective skills to properly interpret them. He is also a talented chemist and inventor, creating the sand-like substance and the Silicoid Gun ultimately responsible for transforming Sandy the Golden Boy into a Silicon-based life-form. In the early years of his career, Wesley Dodds possesses the strength level of a man who engages in regular exercise, and was a fine hand-to-hand combatant. As he grows older, his strength level diminishes in relative proportion to his age.\",\n \"As he grows older, his strength level diminishes in relative proportion to his age. As hobbies, Dodds enjoys reading, writing, poetry, origami and philosophy. Through an unknown process, Dodds passes his power of prophetic visions on to his former ward, Sanderson Hawkins upon the moment of his own death.\",\n \"Through an unknown process, Dodds passes his power of prophetic visions on to his former ward, Sanderson Hawkins upon the moment of his own death. Wesley Dodds' costume consists of a basic green business suit, fedora, a World War I era gas mask, a gas gun, and a specially designed \\\"wirepoon\\\" gun, which fires a length of thin, steel cable. The gas mask protects Dodds from the effects of the gas emitted from his gas gun.\",\n \"The gas mask protects Dodds from the effects of the gas emitted from his gas gun. The gas gun, a handheld device fitted with cartridges containing concentrated sleeping gas, is Wesley Dodds' only known weapon. Pressing the trigger on the gun releases a cloud of green dust rendering all within the Sandman's immediate vicinity unconscious. An upgraded canister dispenser for the gun is provided for him by his close friend and confidante, Lee Travis.\",\n \"An upgraded canister dispenser for the gun is provided for him by his close friend and confidante, Lee Travis. Dodds is also known to conceal smaller knockout gas capsules in a hollow heel on his shoe. These prove ideal when placed in situations where his gas gun is not readily available. In the early days of his career, the Sandman drives a black 1938 Plymouth coupe. The car is enhanced with various features to aid Dodds in his crusade against crime.\",\n \"The car is enhanced with various features to aid Dodds in his crusade against crime. Enemies Sandman has an assortment of enemies that he fought: Butcher - A cannibalistic butcher. Doctor Death - Raymond Kessler is a serial killer/swindler who is the boyfriend of Dian Belmont's cousin Lucy. Phantom of the Fair - Gerald Zimmerman is a man who has been torturing and killing homosexual men at the New York World's Fair. Ramulus - A plant-manipulating villain who was also known as Nightshade and Plant Master.\",\n \"Ramulus - A plant-manipulating villain who was also known as Nightshade and Plant Master. He later appeared as a member of the Monster Society of Evil. Scorpion - Terrence Pritchard is an ad executive who becomes a bullwhip-wielding vigilante. Tarantula - A man who targeted Vivian Dale. There was also a second Tarantula that Sandman fought. This one was Roger Goldman who is a serial killer and the former owner of the Evergood Milk Bottling Company.\",\n \"This one was Roger Goldman who is a serial killer and the former owner of the Evergood Milk Bottling Company. Other versions Kingdom Come Dodds appears as an infirm old man at the beginning of the graphic novel, plagued with visions of the impending apocalyptic battle between various factions of metahumans. Before his death, he relates his visions, interpreted through passages from the Book of Revelation, to Norman McCay, who later witnesses the events in the company of the Spectre.\",\n \"Before his death, he relates his visions, interpreted through passages from the Book of Revelation, to Norman McCay, who later witnesses the events in the company of the Spectre. Earth 40 Wesley Dodds meets with The Unholy Three to give information about the Trigger, a device that causes every nuclear reactor in the world to detonate in a nuclear explosion. The Sandman arranges for The Unholy Three to meet with The Lantern, who has information on where the Trigger is located.\",\n \"The Sandman arranges for The Unholy Three to meet with The Lantern, who has information on where the Trigger is located. Earth 2 In The New 52 (a reboot of DC Comics), a new Earth-2 version of Sandman appears. While he does wear a gas mask and wield a gas gun, he is also equipped with a teleporter. When Washington DC is attacked by Solomon Grundy, Commander Wesley Dodds, along with his Sandmen paramilitary force, is sent to retrieve and save President Lightfoot.\",\n \"When Washington DC is attacked by Solomon Grundy, Commander Wesley Dodds, along with his Sandmen paramilitary force, is sent to retrieve and save President Lightfoot. They are later assigned by Commander Khan in a special and unofficial mission to infiltrate Terry Sloane's secret facility, where they confront and subdue a mind-controlled Michael Holt. In other media Television Animation Wesley Dodds / Sandman makes a non-speaking appearance in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode \\\"Crisis: 22,300 Miles Above Earth\\\".\",\n \"In other media Television Animation Wesley Dodds / Sandman makes a non-speaking appearance in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode \\\"Crisis: 22,300 Miles Above Earth\\\". He is seen with the other members of the Justice Society of America. Sandman makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in the Young Justice episode \\\"Humanity\\\". He is shown with the other members of the JSA during a flashback sequence.\",\n \"He is shown with the other members of the JSA during a flashback sequence. Live-action A character loosely inspired by the Sandman under the pseudonym of Nightshade makes recurring appearances in The Flash (1990), portrayed by Jason Bernard. This version is Dr. Desmond Powell, a 1950s vigilante who retained the Sandman's costume and captured criminals using a knockout gun and tranquilizer darts. After retiring as a vigilante after he defeated \\\"The Ghost\\\" in 1955, he later became a doctor and Chief of Staff at Central City Hospital.\",\n \"After retiring as a vigilante after he defeated \\\"The Ghost\\\" in 1955, he later became a doctor and Chief of Staff at Central City Hospital. When the Ghost reappears in 1990, Powell becomes Nightshade once again and teams up with the Flash to apprehend his old enemy. He later unknowingly inspires the Deadly Nightshade. Powell is framed for multiple counts of murder, but clears his name and captures the impostor. He also makes his secret identity public and becomes a celebrity.\",\n \"He also makes his secret identity public and becomes a celebrity. Wesley Dodds appeared in the Smallville two-hour special episode \\\"Absolute Justice\\\", portrayed by Ken Lawson. This version was a member of the now-disbanded Justice Society of America. After having a nightmare about losing his teammate, the Star-Spangled Kid, Dodds is killed by Icicle II. His body was later found by Clark Kent. Sandman's helmet appears in Rip Hunter's office in Legends of Tomorrow. Sandman appears in the series Stargirl.\",\n \"Sandman appears in the series Stargirl. Sandman appears in the series Stargirl. He appears as a member of the Justice Society of America before the team was attacked and killed by the Injustice Society, with Dodds in particular being killed by Icicle. Film An alternate universe version of Sandman makes a cameo appearance in the animated film Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths. This version is a minor member of the Crime Syndicate of America. An alternate timeline version of Sandman appears in the animated film Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox.\",\n \"An alternate timeline version of Sandman appears in the animated film Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox. This version is one of the few active superheroes in the dystopian \\\"Flashpoint\\\" timeline. Video games Wesley Dodds' costume appears in the background of the Hall of Justice in the video game Injustice: Gods Among Us. Web series Sandman makes a minor appearance in the DC Super Hero Girls episode \\\"Welcome to Super Hero High\\\". He appears as a graduate of the titular school.\",\n \"He appears as a graduate of the titular school. He appears as a graduate of the titular school. Collected editions The Golden Age Sandman Archive Vol. 1 (Sandman stories from New York World's Fair Comics #1–2 and Adventure Comics #40–59) by Bert Christman and others.\",\n \"1 (Sandman stories from New York World's Fair Comics #1–2 and Adventure Comics #40–59) by Bert Christman and others. Sandman by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby (World's Finest #6–7; Adventure Comics #72–102; Sandman #1) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 1: The Tarantula (Sandman Mystery Theatre #1–4) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 2: The Face and The Brute (Sandman Mystery Theatre #5–12) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 3: The Vamp (Sandman Mystery Theatre #13–16) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 4: The Scorpion (Sandman Mystery Theatre #17–20) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 5: Dr. Death and The Night of the Butcher (Sandman Mystery Theatre #21–28) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 6: The Hourman and The Python (Sandman Mystery Theatre #29–36) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 7: The Mist and The Phantom of the Fair (Sandman Mystery Theatre #37–44) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 8: The Blackhawk and The Return of the Scarlet Ghost (Sandman Mystery Theatre #45–52) Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason (Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason #1–5) References External links JSA Fact File: The Sandman Earth-2 Sandman Index] Sequart.com: \\\"The Sandman — Interlude: Sandman Mystery Theatre (1993–1998)\\\", by Julian Darius Characters created by Allen Bert Christman Characters created by Gardner Fox Comics characters introduced in 1939 DC Comics male superheroes Earth-Two Fictional businesspeople Fictional characters with precognition Fictional detectives Fictional scientists Fictional socialites Golden Age superheroes Jewish superheroes Sandman Vigilante characters in comics\"\n]"}}},{"rowIdx":384,"cells":{"History":{"kind":"list like","value":["Sandman (Wesley Dodds)","Powers and abilities","What are his special abilities?","Dodds has prophetic dreams which come to him as cryptic, ambiguous visions of crimes.","Is he able to fight the criminals?","These prove ideal when placed in situations where his gas gun is not readily available.","What does he do with the gas gun?","Pressing the trigger on the gun releases a cloud of green dust rendering all within the Sandman's immediate vicinity unconscious."],"string":"[\n \"Sandman (Wesley Dodds)\",\n \"Powers and abilities\",\n \"What are his special abilities?\",\n \"Dodds has prophetic dreams which come to him as cryptic, ambiguous visions of crimes.\",\n \"Is he able to fight the criminals?\",\n \"These prove ideal when placed in situations where his gas gun is not readily available.\",\n \"What does he do with the gas gun?\",\n \"Pressing the trigger on the gun releases a cloud of green dust rendering all within the Sandman's immediate vicinity unconscious.\"\n]"},"QuAC_dialog_id":{"kind":"string","value":"C_66c8684ed1f04066a6bfcf6cee925937_0"},"Question":{"kind":"string","value":"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?"},"Question_no":{"kind":"number","value":4,"string":"4"},"Rewrite":{"kind":"string","value":"Besides Dodds special abilities, are there any other interesting aspects about this article?"},"true_page_title":{"kind":"string","value":"Sandman (Wesley Dodds)"},"true_contexts":{"kind":"string","value":"Dodds has prophetic dreams which come to him as cryptic, ambiguous visions of crimes. Originally of unexplained origin, these dreams were later ascribed to encounter between Dodds and the entity known as Dream via retcon. The visions haunt Wes, who uses his keen intellect and amateur detective skills to properly interpret them. He is also a talented chemist and inventor, creating the sand-like substance and the Silicoid Gun ultimately responsible for transforming Sandy the Golden Boy into a Silicon-based life-form. In the early years of his career, Wesley Dodds possesses the strength level of a man who engages in regular exercise, and was a fine hand-to-hand combatant. As he grows older, his strength level diminishes in relative proportion to his age. As hobbies, Wes enjoys reading, writing, poetry, origami and philosophy. Through an unknown process, Wes passes his power of prophetic visions on to his former ward, Sanderson Hawkins upon the moment of his own death. Wesley Dodds' costume consists of a basic green business suit, fedora, a World War I era gas mask, a gas gun, and a wire gun. The gas mask protects Dodds from the effects of the gas emitted from his gas gun. The gas gun, a handheld device fitted with cartridges containing concentrated sleeping gas, is Wesley Dodds' only known weapon. Pressing the trigger on the gun releases a cloud of green dust rendering all within the Sandman's immediate vicinity unconscious. An upgraded canister dispenser for the gun is provided for him by his close friend and confidante, Lee Travis. Wes is also known to conceal smaller knockout gas capsules in a hollow heel on his shoe. These prove ideal when placed in situations where his gas gun is not readily available. He also makes use of a specially designed \"wirepoon\" gun, which fires a length of thin, steel cable. In the early days of his career, the Sandman drives a black 1938 Plymouth Coupe. The car is enhanced with various features to aid Wes in his crusade against crime. CANNOTANSWER"},"answer":{"kind":"string","value":"In the early days of his career, the Sandman drives a black 1938 Plymouth Coupe."},"true_contexts_wiki":{"kind":"string","value":"Sandman (Wesley Dodds) is a fictional superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first of several DC characters to bear the name Sandman, he was created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Bert Christman. Attired in a green business suit, a fedora, and a World War I gas mask, the Sandman used a gun emitting a sleeping gas to sedate criminals. He was originally one of the mystery men to appear in comic books and other types of adventure fiction in the 1930s but later was outfitted with a unitard/cowl costume and developed into a proper superhero, acquiring sidekick Sandy, and founding the Justice Society of America.\n\nLike most DC Golden Age superheroes, the Sandman fell into obscurity in the 1940s and eventually other DC characters took his name. During the 1990s, when writer Neil Gaiman's Sandman (featuring Morpheus, the anthropomorphic embodiment of dreams) was popular, DC revived Dodds in Sandman Mystery Theatre, a pulp/noir series set in the 1930s. Wizard Magazine ranked Wesley Dodds among the Top 200 Comic Book Characters of All Time, and he is the oldest superhero in terms of continuity to appear on the list.\n\nPublication history\n\nGolden Age of comic books\nArtist Bert Christman and writer Gardner Fox are generally credited as co-creating the original, Wesley Dodds version of the DC Comics character the Sandman. While the character's first appearance is usually given as Adventure Comics #40 (cover-dated July 1939), he also appeared in DC Comics' 1939 New York World's Fair Comics omnibus, which historians believe appeared on newsstands one to two weeks earlier, while also believing the Adventure Comics story was written and drawn first. Each of the two stories' scripts were credited to the pseudonym \"Larry Dean\"; Fox wrote the untitled, 10-page story in New York World's Fair #1, while he simply plotted, and Christman scripted, the untitled, six-page story, generally known as \"The Tarantula Strikes\", in Adventure #40. Creig Flessel, who drew many early Sandman adventures, has sometimes been credited as co-creator on the basis of drawing the Sandman cover of Adventure #40, but no other evidence has surfaced.\n\nFollowing these two first appearances, the feature \"The Sandman\" continued to appear in the omnibus Adventure Comics through #102 (February–March 1946). One of the medium's seminal \"mystery men\", as referred to at the time, the Sandman straddled the pulp magazine detective tradition and the emerging superhero tradition by dint of his dual identity and his fanciful, masked attire and weapon: an exotic \"gas gun\" that could compel villains to tell the truth, as well as put them to sleep. Unlike many superheroes, he frequently found himself the victim of gunshot wounds, both in the Golden Age and in stories in DC's modern-day Vertigo imprint, and he would continue fighting in spite of his injuries.\n\nIn his early career, Dodds (the character's surname was given as \"Dodd\" in his first four appearances; he became \"Dodds\" in Adventure Comics #44) was frequently aided by his girlfriend, Dian Belmont, who is aware of his dual identity. Unlike many superhero love interests, Belmont was often, though not always, portrayed as an equal partner of the Sandman, rather than a damsel in distress. Later stories would reveal that the two remained together for the duration of their lives, though they never married.\n\nThe Sandman was one of the original members of the Justice Society of America when that superhero team was introduced in All Star Comics #3, published by All-American Comics, one of the companies that would merge to form DC.\n\nIn Adventure Comics #69 (December 1941), Dodds was given a yellow-and-purple costume by writer Mort Weisinger and artist Paul Norris, as well as a yellow-clad kid sidekick, Sandy the Golden Boy, nephew of Dian Belmont. Later that year, the celebrated team of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby took over this version of the character. In 1942, Dodds enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as an anti-aircraft gunner during World War II.\n\nSilver Age to Modern Age\n\nReintroduced in the Silver Age in Justice League of America #46 (July 1966), the Sandman made occasional appearances in the annual teamups between that superhero group and the JSA.\n\nIn 1981 DC began publishing All-Star Squadron, a retelling of the Earth-Two mystery-men during WWII. Although not a main character, Sandman does appear in its pages. Of note is issue #18 which gives an explanation of why Dodds changed costumes from the cloak and gas mask to the yellow-and-purple outfit; Dian wore his costume while he was fighting elsewhere and she was killed in a fray. Dodds decided to wear the new costume, of Dian's design, until he could bring himself to wear the original in which she had died.\n\nLater, this explanation would be changed again when Dian Belmont was retconned to have never died, and a new explanation was given: Sandy convinced Dodds to switch to the more colorful costume to gain the support of regular people, who preferred the more traditional superhero look to his older, pulp-themed costume.\n\nAn acclaimed film noir-inspired retelling of the original Sandman's adventures, Sandman Mystery Theatre, ran from 1993 to 1998 under DC Comics' Vertigo mature-reader imprint. Although as a whole its continuity within the DC Universe is debatable, several elements of the series – the more nuanced relationship between Dodds and Dian Belmont; the Sandman's appearance (wearing a trench coat and World War I gas mask instead of the cape and the custom-made gas mask); and Dodds' pudgier appearance and wearing of glasses – have been adopted into regular continuity. The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual.\n\nIn Sandman Midnight Theatre (1995) a one-shot special by Neil Gaiman (author of the Modern Age supernatural series The Sandman), Matt Wagner (co-author of Sandman Mystery Theatre), and Teddy Kristiansen, depicts an interaction between the two characters, with the original visiting Great Britain and encountering the imprisoned Dream, the protagonist of Gaiman's series. A minor retcon by Gaiman suggested that Dodds' chosen identity was a result of Dream's absence from the realm the Dreaming, and that Dodds carries an aspect of that mystical realm. This explains Dodds' prophetic dreams.\n\nTwilight years\nDodds is one of a number of Justice Society members who finds themselves in the \"Ragnarok Dimension\" during the early Modern Age of comic books. The Last Days of the Justice Society of America Special (1986) wrote the post-Crisis tale of a time-warped wave of destruction ready to engulf the world. Dodds and his JSA teammates enter into a limbo to engage in an eternal battle that would allow the universe to continue its existence. This was later revealed to be a simulation created by Odin, which he intended to give to Dream as a bribe. Dodds, Dream's protege, and Hawkman, the grandfather of Dream's appointed successor are the only JSA members who were seen at that time. This lasted only until 1992 when DC published Armageddon: Inferno. This mini-series ended with the JSA members leaving limbo and entering the 'real' world. Justice Society of America (1992–1993) showed how the JSA members handled returning to normal life. For the Sandman, the series depicted him as an old, thin man with a balding scalp and a sharp wit. Starting with issue #1 his physical condition became important as writer Len Strazewski had him suffer a stroke at the first sign of a villainous attack. Both his age and his physical limitations became a theme writers would use in this character's post-Crisis stories.\n\nDuring Zero Hour, Dodds is returned to his proper age by the Extant. Later, Wesley Dodds is shown as retired and living with Dian Belmont though occasionally coming out of it, most notably in a team-up with Jack Knight, the son of Dodds' JSA teammate Starman. When Dian is diagnosed with a terminal disease, the two travel the world together until her death.\n\nTowards the end of his life, Dodds' prophetic dreams alert him to the identity and location of the new Doctor Fate, prompting him to contact the Gray Man, a being created from the residue of others' dreams, as well as his old friend Speed Saunders to instruct them to warn his former teammates about what he has discovered. Waiting on a clifftop, he is subsequently confronted by the powerful villain Mordru, who intends to force Dodds to tell him the identity of the new Doctor Fate, only for Dodds to distract Mordru with his gas-gun long enough to commit suicide by jumping off the cliff rather than allow Mordru to torture him into submission. His last thoughts were that his final slumber would be free of nightmares as he is reunited with Dian. His youthful but now grown-up sidekick Sandy the Golden Boy becomes known simply as Sand and takes his mentor's place as a member of the Justice Society of America as well as his prophetic dreams. Eventually, he takes the name of Sandman.\n\nSleep of Reason\nWesley Dodds makes a comeback via flashback images in the 2006 limited series Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason.\n\nBlackest Night\nDodds is reanimated as a Black Lantern in the \"Blackest Night\" storyline. He and several other fallen JSAers attack the Brownstone, seeking the hearts of the living within.\n\nExodus Noir\nDodds appeared in the \"Exodus Noir\" arc of Madame Xanadu in 2010, in a story set in 1940.\n\nDC Rebirth\nIn the \"Watchmen\" sequel \"Doomsday Clock\", Lois Lane finds a flash-drive at the Daily Planet. It shows her footage of Sandman and the rest of the Justice Society.\n\nIn the pages of \"Dark Nights: Death Metal\", the Prime-Earth version of Sandman was revealed to be entombed at the Valhalla Cemetery. Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring.\n\nPowers and abilities\nDodds has prophetic dreams which come to him as cryptic, ambiguous visions of crimes. Originally of unexplained origin, these dreams were later ascribed to an encounter between Dodds and the entity known as Dream via retcon. The visions haunt Dodds, who uses his keen intellect and amateur detective skills to properly interpret them. He is also a talented chemist and inventor, creating the sand-like substance and the Silicoid Gun ultimately responsible for transforming Sandy the Golden Boy into a Silicon-based life-form. In the early years of his career, Wesley Dodds possesses the strength level of a man who engages in regular exercise, and was a fine hand-to-hand combatant. As he grows older, his strength level diminishes in relative proportion to his age. As hobbies, Dodds enjoys reading, writing, poetry, origami and philosophy. Through an unknown process, Dodds passes his power of prophetic visions on to his former ward, Sanderson Hawkins upon the moment of his own death.\n \nWesley Dodds' costume consists of a basic green business suit, fedora, a World War I era gas mask, a gas gun, and a specially designed \"wirepoon\" gun, which fires a length of thin, steel cable. The gas mask protects Dodds from the effects of the gas emitted from his gas gun. The gas gun, a handheld device fitted with cartridges containing concentrated sleeping gas, is Wesley Dodds' only known weapon. Pressing the trigger on the gun releases a cloud of green dust rendering all within the Sandman's immediate vicinity unconscious. An upgraded canister dispenser for the gun is provided for him by his close friend and confidante, Lee Travis. Dodds is also known to conceal smaller knockout gas capsules in a hollow heel on his shoe. These prove ideal when placed in situations where his gas gun is not readily available.\n\nIn the early days of his career, the Sandman drives a black 1938 Plymouth coupe. The car is enhanced with various features to aid Dodds in his crusade against crime.\n\nEnemies\n\nSandman has an assortment of enemies that he fought:\n Butcher - A cannibalistic butcher.\n Doctor Death - Raymond Kessler is a serial killer/swindler who is the boyfriend of Dian Belmont's cousin Lucy.\n Phantom of the Fair - Gerald Zimmerman is a man who has been torturing and killing homosexual men at the New York World's Fair.\n Ramulus - A plant-manipulating villain who was also known as Nightshade and Plant Master. He later appeared as a member of the Monster Society of Evil.\n Scorpion - Terrence Pritchard is an ad executive who becomes a bullwhip-wielding vigilante.\n Tarantula - A man who targeted Vivian Dale. There was also a second Tarantula that Sandman fought. This one was Roger Goldman who is a serial killer and the former owner of the Evergood Milk Bottling Company.\n\nOther versions\n\nKingdom Come\nDodds appears as an infirm old man at the beginning of the graphic novel, plagued with visions of the impending apocalyptic battle between various factions of metahumans. Before his death, he relates his visions, interpreted through passages from the Book of Revelation, to Norman McCay, who later witnesses the events in the company of the Spectre.\n\nEarth 40\nWesley Dodds meets with The Unholy Three to give information about the Trigger, a device that causes every nuclear reactor in the world to detonate in a nuclear explosion. The Sandman arranges for The Unholy Three to meet with The Lantern, who has information on where the Trigger is located.\n\nEarth 2\nIn The New 52 (a reboot of DC Comics), a new Earth-2 version of Sandman appears. While he does wear a gas mask and wield a gas gun, he is also equipped with a teleporter. When Washington DC is attacked by Solomon Grundy, Commander Wesley Dodds, along with his Sandmen paramilitary force, is sent to retrieve and save President Lightfoot. They are later assigned by Commander Khan in a special and unofficial mission to infiltrate Terry Sloane's secret facility, where they confront and subdue a mind-controlled Michael Holt.\n\nIn other media\n\nTelevision\n\nAnimation\n Wesley Dodds / Sandman makes a non-speaking appearance in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode \"Crisis: 22,300 Miles Above Earth\". He is seen with the other members of the Justice Society of America.\n Sandman makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in the Young Justice episode \"Humanity\". He is shown with the other members of the JSA during a flashback sequence.\n\nLive-action\n A character loosely inspired by the Sandman under the pseudonym of Nightshade makes recurring appearances in The Flash (1990), portrayed by Jason Bernard. This version is Dr. Desmond Powell, a 1950s vigilante who retained the Sandman's costume and captured criminals using a knockout gun and tranquilizer darts. After retiring as a vigilante after he defeated \"The Ghost\" in 1955, he later became a doctor and Chief of Staff at Central City Hospital. When the Ghost reappears in 1990, Powell becomes Nightshade once again and teams up with the Flash to apprehend his old enemy. He later unknowingly inspires the Deadly Nightshade. Powell is framed for multiple counts of murder, but clears his name and captures the impostor. He also makes his secret identity public and becomes a celebrity.\n Wesley Dodds appeared in the Smallville two-hour special episode \"Absolute Justice\", portrayed by Ken Lawson. This version was a member of the now-disbanded Justice Society of America. After having a nightmare about losing his teammate, the Star-Spangled Kid, Dodds is killed by Icicle II. His body was later found by Clark Kent.\n Sandman's helmet appears in Rip Hunter's office in Legends of Tomorrow.\n Sandman appears in the series Stargirl. He appears as a member of the Justice Society of America before the team was attacked and killed by the Injustice Society, with Dodds in particular being killed by Icicle.\n\nFilm\n An alternate universe version of Sandman makes a cameo appearance in the animated film Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths. This version is a minor member of the Crime Syndicate of America.\n An alternate timeline version of Sandman appears in the animated film Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox. This version is one of the few active superheroes in the dystopian \"Flashpoint\" timeline.\n\nVideo games\nWesley Dodds' costume appears in the background of the Hall of Justice in the video game Injustice: Gods Among Us.\n\nWeb series\nSandman makes a minor appearance in the DC Super Hero Girls episode \"Welcome to Super Hero High\". He appears as a graduate of the titular school.\n\nCollected editions\n The Golden Age Sandman Archive Vol. 1 (Sandman stories from New York World's Fair Comics #1–2 and Adventure Comics #40–59) by Bert Christman and others.\n Sandman by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby (World's Finest #6–7; Adventure Comics #72–102; Sandman #1) \n Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 1: The Tarantula (Sandman Mystery Theatre #1–4)\n Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 2: The Face and The Brute (Sandman Mystery Theatre #5–12)\n Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 3: The Vamp (Sandman Mystery Theatre #13–16)\n Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 4: The Scorpion (Sandman Mystery Theatre #17–20)\n Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 5: Dr. Death and The Night of the Butcher (Sandman Mystery Theatre #21–28) \n Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 6: The Hourman and The Python (Sandman Mystery Theatre #29–36)\n Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 7: The Mist and The Phantom of the Fair (Sandman Mystery Theatre #37–44)\n Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 8: The Blackhawk and The Return of the Scarlet Ghost (Sandman Mystery Theatre #45–52)\n Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason (Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason #1–5)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n JSA Fact File: The Sandman\n Earth-2 Sandman Index]\n Sequart.com: \"The Sandman — Interlude: Sandman Mystery Theatre (1993–1998)\", by Julian Darius\n\nCharacters created by Allen Bert Christman\nCharacters created by Gardner Fox\nComics characters introduced in 1939\nDC Comics male superheroes\nEarth-Two\nFictional businesspeople\nFictional characters with precognition\nFictional detectives\nFictional scientists\nFictional socialites\nGolden Age superheroes\nJewish superheroes\nSandman\nVigilante characters in comics"},"extractive":{"kind":"string","value":"true"},"retrieved_contexts":{"kind":"list like","value":["Přírodní park Třebíčsko (before Oblast klidu Třebíčsko) is a natural park near Třebíč in the Czech Republic. There are many interesting plants. The park was founded in 1983.\n\nKobylinec and Ptáčovský kopeček\n\nKobylinec is a natural monument situated ca 0,5 km from the village of Trnava.\nThe area of this monument is 0,44 ha. Pulsatilla grandis can be found here and in the Ptáčovský kopeček park near Ptáčov near Třebíč. Both monuments are very popular for tourists.\n\nPonds\n\nIn the natural park there are some interesting ponds such as Velký Bor, Malý Bor, Buršík near Přeckov and a brook Březinka. Dams on the brook are examples of European beaver activity.\n\nSyenitové skály near Pocoucov\n\nSyenitové skály (rocks of syenit) near Pocoucov is one of famed locations. There are interesting granite boulders. The area of the reservation is 0,77 ha.\n\nExternal links\nParts of this article or all article was translated from Czech. The original article is :cs:Přírodní park Třebíčsko.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nNature near the village Trnava which is there\n\nTřebíč\nParks in the Czech Republic\nTourist attractions in the Vysočina Region","Damn Interesting is an independent website founded by Alan Bellows in 2005. The website presents true stories from science, history, and psychology, primarily as long-form articles, often illustrated with original artwork. Works are written by various authors, and published at irregular intervals. The website openly rejects advertising, relying on reader and listener donations to cover operating costs.\n\nAs of October 2012, each article is also published as a podcast under the same name. In November 2019, a second podcast was launched under the title Damn Interesting Week, featuring unscripted commentary on an assortment of news articles featured on the website's \"Curated Links\" section that week. In mid-2020, a third podcast called Damn Interesting Curio Cabinet began highlighting the website's periodic short-form articles in the same radioplay format as the original podcast.\n\nIn July 2009, Damn Interesting published the print book Alien Hand Syndrome through Workman Publishing. It contains some favorites from the site and some exclusive content.\n\nAwards and recognition \nIn August 2007, PC Magazine named Damn Interesting one of the \"Top 100 Undiscovered Web Sites\".\nThe article \"The Zero-Armed Bandit\" by Alan Bellows won a 2015 Sidney Award from David Brooks in The New York Times.\nThe article \"Ghoulish Acts and Dastardly Deeds\" by Alan Bellows was cited as \"nonfiction journalism from 2017 that will stand the test of time\" by Conor Friedersdorf in The Atlantic.\nThe article \"Dupes and Duplicity\" by Jennifer Lee Noonan won a 2020 Sidney Award from David Brooks in the New York Times.\n\nAccusing The Dollop of plagiarism \n\nOn July 9, 2015, Bellows posted an open letter accusing The Dollop, a comedy podcast about history, of plagiarism due to their repeated use of verbatim text from Damn Interesting articles without permission or attribution. Dave Anthony, the writer of The Dollop, responded on reddit, admitting to using Damn Interesting content, but claiming that the use was protected by fair use, and that \"historical facts are not copyrightable.\" In an article about the controversy on Plagiarism Today, Jonathan Bailey concluded, \"Any way one looks at it, The Dollop failed its ethical obligations to all of the people, not just those writing for Damn Interesting, who put in the time, energy and expertise into writing the original content upon which their show is based.\"\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Official website\n\n2005 podcast debuts"],"string":"[\n \"Přírodní park Třebíčsko (before Oblast klidu Třebíčsko) is a natural park near Třebíč in the Czech Republic. There are many interesting plants. The park was founded in 1983.\\n\\nKobylinec and Ptáčovský kopeček\\n\\nKobylinec is a natural monument situated ca 0,5 km from the village of Trnava.\\nThe area of this monument is 0,44 ha. Pulsatilla grandis can be found here and in the Ptáčovský kopeček park near Ptáčov near Třebíč. Both monuments are very popular for tourists.\\n\\nPonds\\n\\nIn the natural park there are some interesting ponds such as Velký Bor, Malý Bor, Buršík near Přeckov and a brook Březinka. Dams on the brook are examples of European beaver activity.\\n\\nSyenitové skály near Pocoucov\\n\\nSyenitové skály (rocks of syenit) near Pocoucov is one of famed locations. There are interesting granite boulders. The area of the reservation is 0,77 ha.\\n\\nExternal links\\nParts of this article or all article was translated from Czech. The original article is :cs:Přírodní park Třebíčsko.\\n\\nReferences\\n\\nExternal links\\nNature near the village Trnava which is there\\n\\nTřebíč\\nParks in the Czech Republic\\nTourist attractions in the Vysočina Region\",\n \"Damn Interesting is an independent website founded by Alan Bellows in 2005. The website presents true stories from science, history, and psychology, primarily as long-form articles, often illustrated with original artwork. Works are written by various authors, and published at irregular intervals. The website openly rejects advertising, relying on reader and listener donations to cover operating costs.\\n\\nAs of October 2012, each article is also published as a podcast under the same name. In November 2019, a second podcast was launched under the title Damn Interesting Week, featuring unscripted commentary on an assortment of news articles featured on the website's \\\"Curated Links\\\" section that week. In mid-2020, a third podcast called Damn Interesting Curio Cabinet began highlighting the website's periodic short-form articles in the same radioplay format as the original podcast.\\n\\nIn July 2009, Damn Interesting published the print book Alien Hand Syndrome through Workman Publishing. It contains some favorites from the site and some exclusive content.\\n\\nAwards and recognition \\nIn August 2007, PC Magazine named Damn Interesting one of the \\\"Top 100 Undiscovered Web Sites\\\".\\nThe article \\\"The Zero-Armed Bandit\\\" by Alan Bellows won a 2015 Sidney Award from David Brooks in The New York Times.\\nThe article \\\"Ghoulish Acts and Dastardly Deeds\\\" by Alan Bellows was cited as \\\"nonfiction journalism from 2017 that will stand the test of time\\\" by Conor Friedersdorf in The Atlantic.\\nThe article \\\"Dupes and Duplicity\\\" by Jennifer Lee Noonan won a 2020 Sidney Award from David Brooks in the New York Times.\\n\\nAccusing The Dollop of plagiarism \\n\\nOn July 9, 2015, Bellows posted an open letter accusing The Dollop, a comedy podcast about history, of plagiarism due to their repeated use of verbatim text from Damn Interesting articles without permission or attribution. Dave Anthony, the writer of The Dollop, responded on reddit, admitting to using Damn Interesting content, but claiming that the use was protected by fair use, and that \\\"historical facts are not copyrightable.\\\" In an article about the controversy on Plagiarism Today, Jonathan Bailey concluded, \\\"Any way one looks at it, The Dollop failed its ethical obligations to all of the people, not just those writing for Damn Interesting, who put in the time, energy and expertise into writing the original content upon which their show is based.\\\"\\n\\nReferences\\n\\nExternal links \\n Official website\\n\\n2005 podcast debuts\"\n]"},"chunked_article":{"kind":"list like","value":["Sandman (Wesley Dodds) is a fictional superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first of several DC characters to bear the name Sandman, he was created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Bert Christman. Attired in a green business suit, a fedora, and a World War I gas mask, the Sandman used a gun emitting a sleeping gas to sedate criminals.","Attired in a green business suit, a fedora, and a World War I gas mask, the Sandman used a gun emitting a sleeping gas to sedate criminals. He was originally one of the mystery men to appear in comic books and other types of adventure fiction in the 1930s but later was outfitted with a unitard/cowl costume and developed into a proper superhero, acquiring sidekick Sandy, and founding the Justice Society of America.","He was originally one of the mystery men to appear in comic books and other types of adventure fiction in the 1930s but later was outfitted with a unitard/cowl costume and developed into a proper superhero, acquiring sidekick Sandy, and founding the Justice Society of America. Like most DC Golden Age superheroes, the Sandman fell into obscurity in the 1940s and eventually other DC characters took his name.","Like most DC Golden Age superheroes, the Sandman fell into obscurity in the 1940s and eventually other DC characters took his name. During the 1990s, when writer Neil Gaiman's Sandman (featuring Morpheus, the anthropomorphic embodiment of dreams) was popular, DC revived Dodds in Sandman Mystery Theatre, a pulp/noir series set in the 1930s. Wizard Magazine ranked Wesley Dodds among the Top 200 Comic Book Characters of All Time, and he is the oldest superhero in terms of continuity to appear on the list.","Wizard Magazine ranked Wesley Dodds among the Top 200 Comic Book Characters of All Time, and he is the oldest superhero in terms of continuity to appear on the list. Publication history Golden Age of comic books Artist Bert Christman and writer Gardner Fox are generally credited as co-creating the original, Wesley Dodds version of the DC Comics character the Sandman.","Publication history Golden Age of comic books Artist Bert Christman and writer Gardner Fox are generally credited as co-creating the original, Wesley Dodds version of the DC Comics character the Sandman. While the character's first appearance is usually given as Adventure Comics #40 (cover-dated July 1939), he also appeared in DC Comics' 1939 New York World's Fair Comics omnibus, which historians believe appeared on newsstands one to two weeks earlier, while also believing the Adventure Comics story was written and drawn first.","While the character's first appearance is usually given as Adventure Comics #40 (cover-dated July 1939), he also appeared in DC Comics' 1939 New York World's Fair Comics omnibus, which historians believe appeared on newsstands one to two weeks earlier, while also believing the Adventure Comics story was written and drawn first. Each of the two stories' scripts were credited to the pseudonym \"Larry Dean\"; Fox wrote the untitled, 10-page story in New York World's Fair #1, while he simply plotted, and Christman scripted, the untitled, six-page story, generally known as \"The Tarantula Strikes\", in Adventure #40.","Each of the two stories' scripts were credited to the pseudonym \"Larry Dean\"; Fox wrote the untitled, 10-page story in New York World's Fair #1, while he simply plotted, and Christman scripted, the untitled, six-page story, generally known as \"The Tarantula Strikes\", in Adventure #40. Creig Flessel, who drew many early Sandman adventures, has sometimes been credited as co-creator on the basis of drawing the Sandman cover of Adventure #40, but no other evidence has surfaced.","Creig Flessel, who drew many early Sandman adventures, has sometimes been credited as co-creator on the basis of drawing the Sandman cover of Adventure #40, but no other evidence has surfaced. Following these two first appearances, the feature \"The Sandman\" continued to appear in the omnibus Adventure Comics through #102 (February–March 1946).","Following these two first appearances, the feature \"The Sandman\" continued to appear in the omnibus Adventure Comics through #102 (February–March 1946). One of the medium's seminal \"mystery men\", as referred to at the time, the Sandman straddled the pulp magazine detective tradition and the emerging superhero tradition by dint of his dual identity and his fanciful, masked attire and weapon: an exotic \"gas gun\" that could compel villains to tell the truth, as well as put them to sleep.","One of the medium's seminal \"mystery men\", as referred to at the time, the Sandman straddled the pulp magazine detective tradition and the emerging superhero tradition by dint of his dual identity and his fanciful, masked attire and weapon: an exotic \"gas gun\" that could compel villains to tell the truth, as well as put them to sleep. Unlike many superheroes, he frequently found himself the victim of gunshot wounds, both in the Golden Age and in stories in DC's modern-day Vertigo imprint, and he would continue fighting in spite of his injuries.","Unlike many superheroes, he frequently found himself the victim of gunshot wounds, both in the Golden Age and in stories in DC's modern-day Vertigo imprint, and he would continue fighting in spite of his injuries. In his early career, Dodds (the character's surname was given as \"Dodd\" in his first four appearances; he became \"Dodds\" in Adventure Comics #44) was frequently aided by his girlfriend, Dian Belmont, who is aware of his dual identity.","In his early career, Dodds (the character's surname was given as \"Dodd\" in his first four appearances; he became \"Dodds\" in Adventure Comics #44) was frequently aided by his girlfriend, Dian Belmont, who is aware of his dual identity. Unlike many superhero love interests, Belmont was often, though not always, portrayed as an equal partner of the Sandman, rather than a damsel in distress.","Unlike many superhero love interests, Belmont was often, though not always, portrayed as an equal partner of the Sandman, rather than a damsel in distress. Later stories would reveal that the two remained together for the duration of their lives, though they never married. The Sandman was one of the original members of the Justice Society of America when that superhero team was introduced in All Star Comics #3, published by All-American Comics, one of the companies that would merge to form DC.","The Sandman was one of the original members of the Justice Society of America when that superhero team was introduced in All Star Comics #3, published by All-American Comics, one of the companies that would merge to form DC. In Adventure Comics #69 (December 1941), Dodds was given a yellow-and-purple costume by writer Mort Weisinger and artist Paul Norris, as well as a yellow-clad kid sidekick, Sandy the Golden Boy, nephew of Dian Belmont.","In Adventure Comics #69 (December 1941), Dodds was given a yellow-and-purple costume by writer Mort Weisinger and artist Paul Norris, as well as a yellow-clad kid sidekick, Sandy the Golden Boy, nephew of Dian Belmont. Later that year, the celebrated team of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby took over this version of the character. In 1942, Dodds enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as an anti-aircraft gunner during World War II.","In 1942, Dodds enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as an anti-aircraft gunner during World War II. Silver Age to Modern Age Reintroduced in the Silver Age in Justice League of America #46 (July 1966), the Sandman made occasional appearances in the annual teamups between that superhero group and the JSA. In 1981 DC began publishing All-Star Squadron, a retelling of the Earth-Two mystery-men during WWII. Although not a main character, Sandman does appear in its pages.","Although not a main character, Sandman does appear in its pages. Of note is issue #18 which gives an explanation of why Dodds changed costumes from the cloak and gas mask to the yellow-and-purple outfit; Dian wore his costume while he was fighting elsewhere and she was killed in a fray. Dodds decided to wear the new costume, of Dian's design, until he could bring himself to wear the original in which she had died.","Dodds decided to wear the new costume, of Dian's design, until he could bring himself to wear the original in which she had died. Later, this explanation would be changed again when Dian Belmont was retconned to have never died, and a new explanation was given: Sandy convinced Dodds to switch to the more colorful costume to gain the support of regular people, who preferred the more traditional superhero look to his older, pulp-themed costume.","Later, this explanation would be changed again when Dian Belmont was retconned to have never died, and a new explanation was given: Sandy convinced Dodds to switch to the more colorful costume to gain the support of regular people, who preferred the more traditional superhero look to his older, pulp-themed costume. An acclaimed film noir-inspired retelling of the original Sandman's adventures, Sandman Mystery Theatre, ran from 1993 to 1998 under DC Comics' Vertigo mature-reader imprint.","An acclaimed film noir-inspired retelling of the original Sandman's adventures, Sandman Mystery Theatre, ran from 1993 to 1998 under DC Comics' Vertigo mature-reader imprint. Although as a whole its continuity within the DC Universe is debatable, several elements of the series – the more nuanced relationship between Dodds and Dian Belmont; the Sandman's appearance (wearing a trench coat and World War I gas mask instead of the cape and the custom-made gas mask); and Dodds' pudgier appearance and wearing of glasses – have been adopted into regular continuity.","Although as a whole its continuity within the DC Universe is debatable, several elements of the series – the more nuanced relationship between Dodds and Dian Belmont; the Sandman's appearance (wearing a trench coat and World War I gas mask instead of the cape and the custom-made gas mask); and Dodds' pudgier appearance and wearing of glasses – have been adopted into regular continuity. The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual.","The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual. The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual. In Sandman Midnight Theatre (1995) a one-shot special by Neil Gaiman (author of the Modern Age supernatural series The Sandman), Matt Wagner (co-author of Sandman Mystery Theatre), and Teddy Kristiansen, depicts an interaction between the two characters, with the original visiting Great Britain and encountering the imprisoned Dream, the protagonist of Gaiman's series.","In Sandman Midnight Theatre (1995) a one-shot special by Neil Gaiman (author of the Modern Age supernatural series The Sandman), Matt Wagner (co-author of Sandman Mystery Theatre), and Teddy Kristiansen, depicts an interaction between the two characters, with the original visiting Great Britain and encountering the imprisoned Dream, the protagonist of Gaiman's series. A minor retcon by Gaiman suggested that Dodds' chosen identity was a result of Dream's absence from the realm the Dreaming, and that Dodds carries an aspect of that mystical realm.","A minor retcon by Gaiman suggested that Dodds' chosen identity was a result of Dream's absence from the realm the Dreaming, and that Dodds carries an aspect of that mystical realm. This explains Dodds' prophetic dreams. Twilight years Dodds is one of a number of Justice Society members who finds themselves in the \"Ragnarok Dimension\" during the early Modern Age of comic books.","Twilight years Dodds is one of a number of Justice Society members who finds themselves in the \"Ragnarok Dimension\" during the early Modern Age of comic books. The Last Days of the Justice Society of America Special (1986) wrote the post-Crisis tale of a time-warped wave of destruction ready to engulf the world. Dodds and his JSA teammates enter into a limbo to engage in an eternal battle that would allow the universe to continue its existence.","Dodds and his JSA teammates enter into a limbo to engage in an eternal battle that would allow the universe to continue its existence. This was later revealed to be a simulation created by Odin, which he intended to give to Dream as a bribe. Dodds, Dream's protege, and Hawkman, the grandfather of Dream's appointed successor are the only JSA members who were seen at that time. This lasted only until 1992 when DC published Armageddon: Inferno.","This lasted only until 1992 when DC published Armageddon: Inferno. This mini-series ended with the JSA members leaving limbo and entering the 'real' world. Justice Society of America (1992–1993) showed how the JSA members handled returning to normal life. For the Sandman, the series depicted him as an old, thin man with a balding scalp and a sharp wit. Starting with issue #1 his physical condition became important as writer Len Strazewski had him suffer a stroke at the first sign of a villainous attack.","Starting with issue #1 his physical condition became important as writer Len Strazewski had him suffer a stroke at the first sign of a villainous attack. Both his age and his physical limitations became a theme writers would use in this character's post-Crisis stories. During Zero Hour, Dodds is returned to his proper age by the Extant.","During Zero Hour, Dodds is returned to his proper age by the Extant. Later, Wesley Dodds is shown as retired and living with Dian Belmont though occasionally coming out of it, most notably in a team-up with Jack Knight, the son of Dodds' JSA teammate Starman. When Dian is diagnosed with a terminal disease, the two travel the world together until her death.","When Dian is diagnosed with a terminal disease, the two travel the world together until her death. Towards the end of his life, Dodds' prophetic dreams alert him to the identity and location of the new Doctor Fate, prompting him to contact the Gray Man, a being created from the residue of others' dreams, as well as his old friend Speed Saunders to instruct them to warn his former teammates about what he has discovered.","Towards the end of his life, Dodds' prophetic dreams alert him to the identity and location of the new Doctor Fate, prompting him to contact the Gray Man, a being created from the residue of others' dreams, as well as his old friend Speed Saunders to instruct them to warn his former teammates about what he has discovered. Waiting on a clifftop, he is subsequently confronted by the powerful villain Mordru, who intends to force Dodds to tell him the identity of the new Doctor Fate, only for Dodds to distract Mordru with his gas-gun long enough to commit suicide by jumping off the cliff rather than allow Mordru to torture him into submission.","Waiting on a clifftop, he is subsequently confronted by the powerful villain Mordru, who intends to force Dodds to tell him the identity of the new Doctor Fate, only for Dodds to distract Mordru with his gas-gun long enough to commit suicide by jumping off the cliff rather than allow Mordru to torture him into submission. His last thoughts were that his final slumber would be free of nightmares as he is reunited with Dian.","His last thoughts were that his final slumber would be free of nightmares as he is reunited with Dian. His youthful but now grown-up sidekick Sandy the Golden Boy becomes known simply as Sand and takes his mentor's place as a member of the Justice Society of America as well as his prophetic dreams. Eventually, he takes the name of Sandman. Sleep of Reason Wesley Dodds makes a comeback via flashback images in the 2006 limited series Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason.","Sleep of Reason Wesley Dodds makes a comeback via flashback images in the 2006 limited series Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason. Blackest Night Dodds is reanimated as a Black Lantern in the \"Blackest Night\" storyline. He and several other fallen JSAers attack the Brownstone, seeking the hearts of the living within. Exodus Noir Dodds appeared in the \"Exodus Noir\" arc of Madame Xanadu in 2010, in a story set in 1940.","Exodus Noir Dodds appeared in the \"Exodus Noir\" arc of Madame Xanadu in 2010, in a story set in 1940. DC Rebirth In the \"Watchmen\" sequel \"Doomsday Clock\", Lois Lane finds a flash-drive at the Daily Planet. It shows her footage of Sandman and the rest of the Justice Society. In the pages of \"Dark Nights: Death Metal\", the Prime-Earth version of Sandman was revealed to be entombed at the Valhalla Cemetery. Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring.","Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring. Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring. Powers and abilities Dodds has prophetic dreams which come to him as cryptic, ambiguous visions of crimes. Originally of unexplained origin, these dreams were later ascribed to an encounter between Dodds and the entity known as Dream via retcon. The visions haunt Dodds, who uses his keen intellect and amateur detective skills to properly interpret them.","The visions haunt Dodds, who uses his keen intellect and amateur detective skills to properly interpret them. He is also a talented chemist and inventor, creating the sand-like substance and the Silicoid Gun ultimately responsible for transforming Sandy the Golden Boy into a Silicon-based life-form. In the early years of his career, Wesley Dodds possesses the strength level of a man who engages in regular exercise, and was a fine hand-to-hand combatant. As he grows older, his strength level diminishes in relative proportion to his age.","As he grows older, his strength level diminishes in relative proportion to his age. As hobbies, Dodds enjoys reading, writing, poetry, origami and philosophy. Through an unknown process, Dodds passes his power of prophetic visions on to his former ward, Sanderson Hawkins upon the moment of his own death.","Through an unknown process, Dodds passes his power of prophetic visions on to his former ward, Sanderson Hawkins upon the moment of his own death. Wesley Dodds' costume consists of a basic green business suit, fedora, a World War I era gas mask, a gas gun, and a specially designed \"wirepoon\" gun, which fires a length of thin, steel cable. The gas mask protects Dodds from the effects of the gas emitted from his gas gun.","The gas mask protects Dodds from the effects of the gas emitted from his gas gun. The gas gun, a handheld device fitted with cartridges containing concentrated sleeping gas, is Wesley Dodds' only known weapon. Pressing the trigger on the gun releases a cloud of green dust rendering all within the Sandman's immediate vicinity unconscious. An upgraded canister dispenser for the gun is provided for him by his close friend and confidante, Lee Travis.","An upgraded canister dispenser for the gun is provided for him by his close friend and confidante, Lee Travis. Dodds is also known to conceal smaller knockout gas capsules in a hollow heel on his shoe. These prove ideal when placed in situations where his gas gun is not readily available. In the early days of his career, the Sandman drives a black 1938 Plymouth coupe. The car is enhanced with various features to aid Dodds in his crusade against crime.","The car is enhanced with various features to aid Dodds in his crusade against crime. Enemies Sandman has an assortment of enemies that he fought: Butcher - A cannibalistic butcher. Doctor Death - Raymond Kessler is a serial killer/swindler who is the boyfriend of Dian Belmont's cousin Lucy. Phantom of the Fair - Gerald Zimmerman is a man who has been torturing and killing homosexual men at the New York World's Fair. Ramulus - A plant-manipulating villain who was also known as Nightshade and Plant Master.","Ramulus - A plant-manipulating villain who was also known as Nightshade and Plant Master. He later appeared as a member of the Monster Society of Evil. Scorpion - Terrence Pritchard is an ad executive who becomes a bullwhip-wielding vigilante. Tarantula - A man who targeted Vivian Dale. There was also a second Tarantula that Sandman fought. This one was Roger Goldman who is a serial killer and the former owner of the Evergood Milk Bottling Company.","This one was Roger Goldman who is a serial killer and the former owner of the Evergood Milk Bottling Company. Other versions Kingdom Come Dodds appears as an infirm old man at the beginning of the graphic novel, plagued with visions of the impending apocalyptic battle between various factions of metahumans. Before his death, he relates his visions, interpreted through passages from the Book of Revelation, to Norman McCay, who later witnesses the events in the company of the Spectre.","Before his death, he relates his visions, interpreted through passages from the Book of Revelation, to Norman McCay, who later witnesses the events in the company of the Spectre. Earth 40 Wesley Dodds meets with The Unholy Three to give information about the Trigger, a device that causes every nuclear reactor in the world to detonate in a nuclear explosion. The Sandman arranges for The Unholy Three to meet with The Lantern, who has information on where the Trigger is located.","The Sandman arranges for The Unholy Three to meet with The Lantern, who has information on where the Trigger is located. Earth 2 In The New 52 (a reboot of DC Comics), a new Earth-2 version of Sandman appears. While he does wear a gas mask and wield a gas gun, he is also equipped with a teleporter. When Washington DC is attacked by Solomon Grundy, Commander Wesley Dodds, along with his Sandmen paramilitary force, is sent to retrieve and save President Lightfoot.","When Washington DC is attacked by Solomon Grundy, Commander Wesley Dodds, along with his Sandmen paramilitary force, is sent to retrieve and save President Lightfoot. They are later assigned by Commander Khan in a special and unofficial mission to infiltrate Terry Sloane's secret facility, where they confront and subdue a mind-controlled Michael Holt. In other media Television Animation Wesley Dodds / Sandman makes a non-speaking appearance in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode \"Crisis: 22,300 Miles Above Earth\".","In other media Television Animation Wesley Dodds / Sandman makes a non-speaking appearance in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode \"Crisis: 22,300 Miles Above Earth\". He is seen with the other members of the Justice Society of America. Sandman makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in the Young Justice episode \"Humanity\". He is shown with the other members of the JSA during a flashback sequence.","He is shown with the other members of the JSA during a flashback sequence. Live-action A character loosely inspired by the Sandman under the pseudonym of Nightshade makes recurring appearances in The Flash (1990), portrayed by Jason Bernard. This version is Dr. Desmond Powell, a 1950s vigilante who retained the Sandman's costume and captured criminals using a knockout gun and tranquilizer darts. After retiring as a vigilante after he defeated \"The Ghost\" in 1955, he later became a doctor and Chief of Staff at Central City Hospital.","After retiring as a vigilante after he defeated \"The Ghost\" in 1955, he later became a doctor and Chief of Staff at Central City Hospital. When the Ghost reappears in 1990, Powell becomes Nightshade once again and teams up with the Flash to apprehend his old enemy. He later unknowingly inspires the Deadly Nightshade. Powell is framed for multiple counts of murder, but clears his name and captures the impostor. He also makes his secret identity public and becomes a celebrity.","He also makes his secret identity public and becomes a celebrity. Wesley Dodds appeared in the Smallville two-hour special episode \"Absolute Justice\", portrayed by Ken Lawson. This version was a member of the now-disbanded Justice Society of America. After having a nightmare about losing his teammate, the Star-Spangled Kid, Dodds is killed by Icicle II. His body was later found by Clark Kent. Sandman's helmet appears in Rip Hunter's office in Legends of Tomorrow. Sandman appears in the series Stargirl.","Sandman appears in the series Stargirl. Sandman appears in the series Stargirl. He appears as a member of the Justice Society of America before the team was attacked and killed by the Injustice Society, with Dodds in particular being killed by Icicle. Film An alternate universe version of Sandman makes a cameo appearance in the animated film Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths. This version is a minor member of the Crime Syndicate of America. An alternate timeline version of Sandman appears in the animated film Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox.","An alternate timeline version of Sandman appears in the animated film Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox. This version is one of the few active superheroes in the dystopian \"Flashpoint\" timeline. Video games Wesley Dodds' costume appears in the background of the Hall of Justice in the video game Injustice: Gods Among Us. Web series Sandman makes a minor appearance in the DC Super Hero Girls episode \"Welcome to Super Hero High\". He appears as a graduate of the titular school.","He appears as a graduate of the titular school. He appears as a graduate of the titular school. Collected editions The Golden Age Sandman Archive Vol. 1 (Sandman stories from New York World's Fair Comics #1–2 and Adventure Comics #40–59) by Bert Christman and others.","1 (Sandman stories from New York World's Fair Comics #1–2 and Adventure Comics #40–59) by Bert Christman and others. Sandman by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby (World's Finest #6–7; Adventure Comics #72–102; Sandman #1) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 1: The Tarantula (Sandman Mystery Theatre #1–4) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 2: The Face and The Brute (Sandman Mystery Theatre #5–12) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 3: The Vamp (Sandman Mystery Theatre #13–16) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 4: The Scorpion (Sandman Mystery Theatre #17–20) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 5: Dr. Death and The Night of the Butcher (Sandman Mystery Theatre #21–28) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 6: The Hourman and The Python (Sandman Mystery Theatre #29–36) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 7: The Mist and The Phantom of the Fair (Sandman Mystery Theatre #37–44) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 8: The Blackhawk and The Return of the Scarlet Ghost (Sandman Mystery Theatre #45–52) Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason (Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason #1–5) References External links JSA Fact File: The Sandman Earth-2 Sandman Index] Sequart.com: \"The Sandman — Interlude: Sandman Mystery Theatre (1993–1998)\", by Julian Darius Characters created by Allen Bert Christman Characters created by Gardner Fox Comics characters introduced in 1939 DC Comics male superheroes Earth-Two Fictional businesspeople Fictional characters with precognition Fictional detectives Fictional scientists Fictional socialites Golden Age superheroes Jewish superheroes Sandman Vigilante characters in comics"],"string":"[\n \"Sandman (Wesley Dodds) is a fictional superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first of several DC characters to bear the name Sandman, he was created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Bert Christman. Attired in a green business suit, a fedora, and a World War I gas mask, the Sandman used a gun emitting a sleeping gas to sedate criminals.\",\n \"Attired in a green business suit, a fedora, and a World War I gas mask, the Sandman used a gun emitting a sleeping gas to sedate criminals. He was originally one of the mystery men to appear in comic books and other types of adventure fiction in the 1930s but later was outfitted with a unitard/cowl costume and developed into a proper superhero, acquiring sidekick Sandy, and founding the Justice Society of America.\",\n \"He was originally one of the mystery men to appear in comic books and other types of adventure fiction in the 1930s but later was outfitted with a unitard/cowl costume and developed into a proper superhero, acquiring sidekick Sandy, and founding the Justice Society of America. Like most DC Golden Age superheroes, the Sandman fell into obscurity in the 1940s and eventually other DC characters took his name.\",\n \"Like most DC Golden Age superheroes, the Sandman fell into obscurity in the 1940s and eventually other DC characters took his name. During the 1990s, when writer Neil Gaiman's Sandman (featuring Morpheus, the anthropomorphic embodiment of dreams) was popular, DC revived Dodds in Sandman Mystery Theatre, a pulp/noir series set in the 1930s. Wizard Magazine ranked Wesley Dodds among the Top 200 Comic Book Characters of All Time, and he is the oldest superhero in terms of continuity to appear on the list.\",\n \"Wizard Magazine ranked Wesley Dodds among the Top 200 Comic Book Characters of All Time, and he is the oldest superhero in terms of continuity to appear on the list. Publication history Golden Age of comic books Artist Bert Christman and writer Gardner Fox are generally credited as co-creating the original, Wesley Dodds version of the DC Comics character the Sandman.\",\n \"Publication history Golden Age of comic books Artist Bert Christman and writer Gardner Fox are generally credited as co-creating the original, Wesley Dodds version of the DC Comics character the Sandman. While the character's first appearance is usually given as Adventure Comics #40 (cover-dated July 1939), he also appeared in DC Comics' 1939 New York World's Fair Comics omnibus, which historians believe appeared on newsstands one to two weeks earlier, while also believing the Adventure Comics story was written and drawn first.\",\n \"While the character's first appearance is usually given as Adventure Comics #40 (cover-dated July 1939), he also appeared in DC Comics' 1939 New York World's Fair Comics omnibus, which historians believe appeared on newsstands one to two weeks earlier, while also believing the Adventure Comics story was written and drawn first. Each of the two stories' scripts were credited to the pseudonym \\\"Larry Dean\\\"; Fox wrote the untitled, 10-page story in New York World's Fair #1, while he simply plotted, and Christman scripted, the untitled, six-page story, generally known as \\\"The Tarantula Strikes\\\", in Adventure #40.\",\n \"Each of the two stories' scripts were credited to the pseudonym \\\"Larry Dean\\\"; Fox wrote the untitled, 10-page story in New York World's Fair #1, while he simply plotted, and Christman scripted, the untitled, six-page story, generally known as \\\"The Tarantula Strikes\\\", in Adventure #40. Creig Flessel, who drew many early Sandman adventures, has sometimes been credited as co-creator on the basis of drawing the Sandman cover of Adventure #40, but no other evidence has surfaced.\",\n \"Creig Flessel, who drew many early Sandman adventures, has sometimes been credited as co-creator on the basis of drawing the Sandman cover of Adventure #40, but no other evidence has surfaced. Following these two first appearances, the feature \\\"The Sandman\\\" continued to appear in the omnibus Adventure Comics through #102 (February–March 1946).\",\n \"Following these two first appearances, the feature \\\"The Sandman\\\" continued to appear in the omnibus Adventure Comics through #102 (February–March 1946). One of the medium's seminal \\\"mystery men\\\", as referred to at the time, the Sandman straddled the pulp magazine detective tradition and the emerging superhero tradition by dint of his dual identity and his fanciful, masked attire and weapon: an exotic \\\"gas gun\\\" that could compel villains to tell the truth, as well as put them to sleep.\",\n \"One of the medium's seminal \\\"mystery men\\\", as referred to at the time, the Sandman straddled the pulp magazine detective tradition and the emerging superhero tradition by dint of his dual identity and his fanciful, masked attire and weapon: an exotic \\\"gas gun\\\" that could compel villains to tell the truth, as well as put them to sleep. Unlike many superheroes, he frequently found himself the victim of gunshot wounds, both in the Golden Age and in stories in DC's modern-day Vertigo imprint, and he would continue fighting in spite of his injuries.\",\n \"Unlike many superheroes, he frequently found himself the victim of gunshot wounds, both in the Golden Age and in stories in DC's modern-day Vertigo imprint, and he would continue fighting in spite of his injuries. In his early career, Dodds (the character's surname was given as \\\"Dodd\\\" in his first four appearances; he became \\\"Dodds\\\" in Adventure Comics #44) was frequently aided by his girlfriend, Dian Belmont, who is aware of his dual identity.\",\n \"In his early career, Dodds (the character's surname was given as \\\"Dodd\\\" in his first four appearances; he became \\\"Dodds\\\" in Adventure Comics #44) was frequently aided by his girlfriend, Dian Belmont, who is aware of his dual identity. Unlike many superhero love interests, Belmont was often, though not always, portrayed as an equal partner of the Sandman, rather than a damsel in distress.\",\n \"Unlike many superhero love interests, Belmont was often, though not always, portrayed as an equal partner of the Sandman, rather than a damsel in distress. Later stories would reveal that the two remained together for the duration of their lives, though they never married. The Sandman was one of the original members of the Justice Society of America when that superhero team was introduced in All Star Comics #3, published by All-American Comics, one of the companies that would merge to form DC.\",\n \"The Sandman was one of the original members of the Justice Society of America when that superhero team was introduced in All Star Comics #3, published by All-American Comics, one of the companies that would merge to form DC. In Adventure Comics #69 (December 1941), Dodds was given a yellow-and-purple costume by writer Mort Weisinger and artist Paul Norris, as well as a yellow-clad kid sidekick, Sandy the Golden Boy, nephew of Dian Belmont.\",\n \"In Adventure Comics #69 (December 1941), Dodds was given a yellow-and-purple costume by writer Mort Weisinger and artist Paul Norris, as well as a yellow-clad kid sidekick, Sandy the Golden Boy, nephew of Dian Belmont. Later that year, the celebrated team of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby took over this version of the character. In 1942, Dodds enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as an anti-aircraft gunner during World War II.\",\n \"In 1942, Dodds enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as an anti-aircraft gunner during World War II. Silver Age to Modern Age Reintroduced in the Silver Age in Justice League of America #46 (July 1966), the Sandman made occasional appearances in the annual teamups between that superhero group and the JSA. In 1981 DC began publishing All-Star Squadron, a retelling of the Earth-Two mystery-men during WWII. Although not a main character, Sandman does appear in its pages.\",\n \"Although not a main character, Sandman does appear in its pages. Of note is issue #18 which gives an explanation of why Dodds changed costumes from the cloak and gas mask to the yellow-and-purple outfit; Dian wore his costume while he was fighting elsewhere and she was killed in a fray. Dodds decided to wear the new costume, of Dian's design, until he could bring himself to wear the original in which she had died.\",\n \"Dodds decided to wear the new costume, of Dian's design, until he could bring himself to wear the original in which she had died. Later, this explanation would be changed again when Dian Belmont was retconned to have never died, and a new explanation was given: Sandy convinced Dodds to switch to the more colorful costume to gain the support of regular people, who preferred the more traditional superhero look to his older, pulp-themed costume.\",\n \"Later, this explanation would be changed again when Dian Belmont was retconned to have never died, and a new explanation was given: Sandy convinced Dodds to switch to the more colorful costume to gain the support of regular people, who preferred the more traditional superhero look to his older, pulp-themed costume. An acclaimed film noir-inspired retelling of the original Sandman's adventures, Sandman Mystery Theatre, ran from 1993 to 1998 under DC Comics' Vertigo mature-reader imprint.\",\n \"An acclaimed film noir-inspired retelling of the original Sandman's adventures, Sandman Mystery Theatre, ran from 1993 to 1998 under DC Comics' Vertigo mature-reader imprint. Although as a whole its continuity within the DC Universe is debatable, several elements of the series – the more nuanced relationship between Dodds and Dian Belmont; the Sandman's appearance (wearing a trench coat and World War I gas mask instead of the cape and the custom-made gas mask); and Dodds' pudgier appearance and wearing of glasses – have been adopted into regular continuity.\",\n \"Although as a whole its continuity within the DC Universe is debatable, several elements of the series – the more nuanced relationship between Dodds and Dian Belmont; the Sandman's appearance (wearing a trench coat and World War I gas mask instead of the cape and the custom-made gas mask); and Dodds' pudgier appearance and wearing of glasses – have been adopted into regular continuity. The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual.\",\n \"The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual. The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual. In Sandman Midnight Theatre (1995) a one-shot special by Neil Gaiman (author of the Modern Age supernatural series The Sandman), Matt Wagner (co-author of Sandman Mystery Theatre), and Teddy Kristiansen, depicts an interaction between the two characters, with the original visiting Great Britain and encountering the imprisoned Dream, the protagonist of Gaiman's series.\",\n \"In Sandman Midnight Theatre (1995) a one-shot special by Neil Gaiman (author of the Modern Age supernatural series The Sandman), Matt Wagner (co-author of Sandman Mystery Theatre), and Teddy Kristiansen, depicts an interaction between the two characters, with the original visiting Great Britain and encountering the imprisoned Dream, the protagonist of Gaiman's series. A minor retcon by Gaiman suggested that Dodds' chosen identity was a result of Dream's absence from the realm the Dreaming, and that Dodds carries an aspect of that mystical realm.\",\n \"A minor retcon by Gaiman suggested that Dodds' chosen identity was a result of Dream's absence from the realm the Dreaming, and that Dodds carries an aspect of that mystical realm. This explains Dodds' prophetic dreams. Twilight years Dodds is one of a number of Justice Society members who finds themselves in the \\\"Ragnarok Dimension\\\" during the early Modern Age of comic books.\",\n \"Twilight years Dodds is one of a number of Justice Society members who finds themselves in the \\\"Ragnarok Dimension\\\" during the early Modern Age of comic books. The Last Days of the Justice Society of America Special (1986) wrote the post-Crisis tale of a time-warped wave of destruction ready to engulf the world. Dodds and his JSA teammates enter into a limbo to engage in an eternal battle that would allow the universe to continue its existence.\",\n \"Dodds and his JSA teammates enter into a limbo to engage in an eternal battle that would allow the universe to continue its existence. This was later revealed to be a simulation created by Odin, which he intended to give to Dream as a bribe. Dodds, Dream's protege, and Hawkman, the grandfather of Dream's appointed successor are the only JSA members who were seen at that time. This lasted only until 1992 when DC published Armageddon: Inferno.\",\n \"This lasted only until 1992 when DC published Armageddon: Inferno. This mini-series ended with the JSA members leaving limbo and entering the 'real' world. Justice Society of America (1992–1993) showed how the JSA members handled returning to normal life. For the Sandman, the series depicted him as an old, thin man with a balding scalp and a sharp wit. Starting with issue #1 his physical condition became important as writer Len Strazewski had him suffer a stroke at the first sign of a villainous attack.\",\n \"Starting with issue #1 his physical condition became important as writer Len Strazewski had him suffer a stroke at the first sign of a villainous attack. Both his age and his physical limitations became a theme writers would use in this character's post-Crisis stories. During Zero Hour, Dodds is returned to his proper age by the Extant.\",\n \"During Zero Hour, Dodds is returned to his proper age by the Extant. Later, Wesley Dodds is shown as retired and living with Dian Belmont though occasionally coming out of it, most notably in a team-up with Jack Knight, the son of Dodds' JSA teammate Starman. When Dian is diagnosed with a terminal disease, the two travel the world together until her death.\",\n \"When Dian is diagnosed with a terminal disease, the two travel the world together until her death. Towards the end of his life, Dodds' prophetic dreams alert him to the identity and location of the new Doctor Fate, prompting him to contact the Gray Man, a being created from the residue of others' dreams, as well as his old friend Speed Saunders to instruct them to warn his former teammates about what he has discovered.\",\n \"Towards the end of his life, Dodds' prophetic dreams alert him to the identity and location of the new Doctor Fate, prompting him to contact the Gray Man, a being created from the residue of others' dreams, as well as his old friend Speed Saunders to instruct them to warn his former teammates about what he has discovered. Waiting on a clifftop, he is subsequently confronted by the powerful villain Mordru, who intends to force Dodds to tell him the identity of the new Doctor Fate, only for Dodds to distract Mordru with his gas-gun long enough to commit suicide by jumping off the cliff rather than allow Mordru to torture him into submission.\",\n \"Waiting on a clifftop, he is subsequently confronted by the powerful villain Mordru, who intends to force Dodds to tell him the identity of the new Doctor Fate, only for Dodds to distract Mordru with his gas-gun long enough to commit suicide by jumping off the cliff rather than allow Mordru to torture him into submission. His last thoughts were that his final slumber would be free of nightmares as he is reunited with Dian.\",\n \"His last thoughts were that his final slumber would be free of nightmares as he is reunited with Dian. His youthful but now grown-up sidekick Sandy the Golden Boy becomes known simply as Sand and takes his mentor's place as a member of the Justice Society of America as well as his prophetic dreams. Eventually, he takes the name of Sandman. Sleep of Reason Wesley Dodds makes a comeback via flashback images in the 2006 limited series Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason.\",\n \"Sleep of Reason Wesley Dodds makes a comeback via flashback images in the 2006 limited series Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason. Blackest Night Dodds is reanimated as a Black Lantern in the \\\"Blackest Night\\\" storyline. He and several other fallen JSAers attack the Brownstone, seeking the hearts of the living within. Exodus Noir Dodds appeared in the \\\"Exodus Noir\\\" arc of Madame Xanadu in 2010, in a story set in 1940.\",\n \"Exodus Noir Dodds appeared in the \\\"Exodus Noir\\\" arc of Madame Xanadu in 2010, in a story set in 1940. DC Rebirth In the \\\"Watchmen\\\" sequel \\\"Doomsday Clock\\\", Lois Lane finds a flash-drive at the Daily Planet. It shows her footage of Sandman and the rest of the Justice Society. In the pages of \\\"Dark Nights: Death Metal\\\", the Prime-Earth version of Sandman was revealed to be entombed at the Valhalla Cemetery. Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring.\",\n \"Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring. Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring. Powers and abilities Dodds has prophetic dreams which come to him as cryptic, ambiguous visions of crimes. Originally of unexplained origin, these dreams were later ascribed to an encounter between Dodds and the entity known as Dream via retcon. The visions haunt Dodds, who uses his keen intellect and amateur detective skills to properly interpret them.\",\n \"The visions haunt Dodds, who uses his keen intellect and amateur detective skills to properly interpret them. He is also a talented chemist and inventor, creating the sand-like substance and the Silicoid Gun ultimately responsible for transforming Sandy the Golden Boy into a Silicon-based life-form. In the early years of his career, Wesley Dodds possesses the strength level of a man who engages in regular exercise, and was a fine hand-to-hand combatant. As he grows older, his strength level diminishes in relative proportion to his age.\",\n \"As he grows older, his strength level diminishes in relative proportion to his age. As hobbies, Dodds enjoys reading, writing, poetry, origami and philosophy. Through an unknown process, Dodds passes his power of prophetic visions on to his former ward, Sanderson Hawkins upon the moment of his own death.\",\n \"Through an unknown process, Dodds passes his power of prophetic visions on to his former ward, Sanderson Hawkins upon the moment of his own death. Wesley Dodds' costume consists of a basic green business suit, fedora, a World War I era gas mask, a gas gun, and a specially designed \\\"wirepoon\\\" gun, which fires a length of thin, steel cable. The gas mask protects Dodds from the effects of the gas emitted from his gas gun.\",\n \"The gas mask protects Dodds from the effects of the gas emitted from his gas gun. The gas gun, a handheld device fitted with cartridges containing concentrated sleeping gas, is Wesley Dodds' only known weapon. Pressing the trigger on the gun releases a cloud of green dust rendering all within the Sandman's immediate vicinity unconscious. An upgraded canister dispenser for the gun is provided for him by his close friend and confidante, Lee Travis.\",\n \"An upgraded canister dispenser for the gun is provided for him by his close friend and confidante, Lee Travis. Dodds is also known to conceal smaller knockout gas capsules in a hollow heel on his shoe. These prove ideal when placed in situations where his gas gun is not readily available. In the early days of his career, the Sandman drives a black 1938 Plymouth coupe. The car is enhanced with various features to aid Dodds in his crusade against crime.\",\n \"The car is enhanced with various features to aid Dodds in his crusade against crime. Enemies Sandman has an assortment of enemies that he fought: Butcher - A cannibalistic butcher. Doctor Death - Raymond Kessler is a serial killer/swindler who is the boyfriend of Dian Belmont's cousin Lucy. Phantom of the Fair - Gerald Zimmerman is a man who has been torturing and killing homosexual men at the New York World's Fair. Ramulus - A plant-manipulating villain who was also known as Nightshade and Plant Master.\",\n \"Ramulus - A plant-manipulating villain who was also known as Nightshade and Plant Master. He later appeared as a member of the Monster Society of Evil. Scorpion - Terrence Pritchard is an ad executive who becomes a bullwhip-wielding vigilante. Tarantula - A man who targeted Vivian Dale. There was also a second Tarantula that Sandman fought. This one was Roger Goldman who is a serial killer and the former owner of the Evergood Milk Bottling Company.\",\n \"This one was Roger Goldman who is a serial killer and the former owner of the Evergood Milk Bottling Company. Other versions Kingdom Come Dodds appears as an infirm old man at the beginning of the graphic novel, plagued with visions of the impending apocalyptic battle between various factions of metahumans. Before his death, he relates his visions, interpreted through passages from the Book of Revelation, to Norman McCay, who later witnesses the events in the company of the Spectre.\",\n \"Before his death, he relates his visions, interpreted through passages from the Book of Revelation, to Norman McCay, who later witnesses the events in the company of the Spectre. Earth 40 Wesley Dodds meets with The Unholy Three to give information about the Trigger, a device that causes every nuclear reactor in the world to detonate in a nuclear explosion. The Sandman arranges for The Unholy Three to meet with The Lantern, who has information on where the Trigger is located.\",\n \"The Sandman arranges for The Unholy Three to meet with The Lantern, who has information on where the Trigger is located. Earth 2 In The New 52 (a reboot of DC Comics), a new Earth-2 version of Sandman appears. While he does wear a gas mask and wield a gas gun, he is also equipped with a teleporter. When Washington DC is attacked by Solomon Grundy, Commander Wesley Dodds, along with his Sandmen paramilitary force, is sent to retrieve and save President Lightfoot.\",\n \"When Washington DC is attacked by Solomon Grundy, Commander Wesley Dodds, along with his Sandmen paramilitary force, is sent to retrieve and save President Lightfoot. They are later assigned by Commander Khan in a special and unofficial mission to infiltrate Terry Sloane's secret facility, where they confront and subdue a mind-controlled Michael Holt. In other media Television Animation Wesley Dodds / Sandman makes a non-speaking appearance in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode \\\"Crisis: 22,300 Miles Above Earth\\\".\",\n \"In other media Television Animation Wesley Dodds / Sandman makes a non-speaking appearance in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode \\\"Crisis: 22,300 Miles Above Earth\\\". He is seen with the other members of the Justice Society of America. Sandman makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in the Young Justice episode \\\"Humanity\\\". He is shown with the other members of the JSA during a flashback sequence.\",\n \"He is shown with the other members of the JSA during a flashback sequence. Live-action A character loosely inspired by the Sandman under the pseudonym of Nightshade makes recurring appearances in The Flash (1990), portrayed by Jason Bernard. This version is Dr. Desmond Powell, a 1950s vigilante who retained the Sandman's costume and captured criminals using a knockout gun and tranquilizer darts. After retiring as a vigilante after he defeated \\\"The Ghost\\\" in 1955, he later became a doctor and Chief of Staff at Central City Hospital.\",\n \"After retiring as a vigilante after he defeated \\\"The Ghost\\\" in 1955, he later became a doctor and Chief of Staff at Central City Hospital. When the Ghost reappears in 1990, Powell becomes Nightshade once again and teams up with the Flash to apprehend his old enemy. He later unknowingly inspires the Deadly Nightshade. Powell is framed for multiple counts of murder, but clears his name and captures the impostor. He also makes his secret identity public and becomes a celebrity.\",\n \"He also makes his secret identity public and becomes a celebrity. Wesley Dodds appeared in the Smallville two-hour special episode \\\"Absolute Justice\\\", portrayed by Ken Lawson. This version was a member of the now-disbanded Justice Society of America. After having a nightmare about losing his teammate, the Star-Spangled Kid, Dodds is killed by Icicle II. His body was later found by Clark Kent. Sandman's helmet appears in Rip Hunter's office in Legends of Tomorrow. Sandman appears in the series Stargirl.\",\n \"Sandman appears in the series Stargirl. Sandman appears in the series Stargirl. He appears as a member of the Justice Society of America before the team was attacked and killed by the Injustice Society, with Dodds in particular being killed by Icicle. Film An alternate universe version of Sandman makes a cameo appearance in the animated film Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths. This version is a minor member of the Crime Syndicate of America. An alternate timeline version of Sandman appears in the animated film Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox.\",\n \"An alternate timeline version of Sandman appears in the animated film Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox. This version is one of the few active superheroes in the dystopian \\\"Flashpoint\\\" timeline. Video games Wesley Dodds' costume appears in the background of the Hall of Justice in the video game Injustice: Gods Among Us. Web series Sandman makes a minor appearance in the DC Super Hero Girls episode \\\"Welcome to Super Hero High\\\". He appears as a graduate of the titular school.\",\n \"He appears as a graduate of the titular school. He appears as a graduate of the titular school. Collected editions The Golden Age Sandman Archive Vol. 1 (Sandman stories from New York World's Fair Comics #1–2 and Adventure Comics #40–59) by Bert Christman and others.\",\n \"1 (Sandman stories from New York World's Fair Comics #1–2 and Adventure Comics #40–59) by Bert Christman and others. Sandman by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby (World's Finest #6–7; Adventure Comics #72–102; Sandman #1) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 1: The Tarantula (Sandman Mystery Theatre #1–4) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 2: The Face and The Brute (Sandman Mystery Theatre #5–12) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 3: The Vamp (Sandman Mystery Theatre #13–16) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 4: The Scorpion (Sandman Mystery Theatre #17–20) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 5: Dr. Death and The Night of the Butcher (Sandman Mystery Theatre #21–28) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 6: The Hourman and The Python (Sandman Mystery Theatre #29–36) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 7: The Mist and The Phantom of the Fair (Sandman Mystery Theatre #37–44) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 8: The Blackhawk and The Return of the Scarlet Ghost (Sandman Mystery Theatre #45–52) Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason (Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason #1–5) References External links JSA Fact File: The Sandman Earth-2 Sandman Index] Sequart.com: \\\"The Sandman — Interlude: Sandman Mystery Theatre (1993–1998)\\\", by Julian Darius Characters created by Allen Bert Christman Characters created by Gardner Fox Comics characters introduced in 1939 DC Comics male superheroes Earth-Two Fictional businesspeople Fictional characters with precognition Fictional detectives Fictional scientists Fictional socialites Golden Age superheroes Jewish superheroes Sandman Vigilante characters in comics\"\n]"}}},{"rowIdx":385,"cells":{"History":{"kind":"list like","value":["Sandman (Wesley Dodds)","Powers and abilities","What are his special abilities?","Dodds has prophetic dreams which come to him as cryptic, ambiguous visions of crimes.","Is he able to fight the criminals?","These prove ideal when placed in situations where his gas gun is not readily available.","What does he do with the gas gun?","Pressing the trigger on the gun releases a cloud of green dust rendering all within the Sandman's immediate vicinity unconscious.","Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?","In the early days of his career, the Sandman drives a black 1938 Plymouth Coupe."],"string":"[\n \"Sandman (Wesley Dodds)\",\n \"Powers and abilities\",\n \"What are his special abilities?\",\n \"Dodds has prophetic dreams which come to him as cryptic, ambiguous visions of crimes.\",\n \"Is he able to fight the criminals?\",\n \"These prove ideal when placed in situations where his gas gun is not readily available.\",\n \"What does he do with the gas gun?\",\n \"Pressing the trigger on the gun releases a cloud of green dust rendering all within the Sandman's immediate vicinity unconscious.\",\n \"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?\",\n \"In the early days of his career, the Sandman drives a black 1938 Plymouth Coupe.\"\n]"},"QuAC_dialog_id":{"kind":"string","value":"C_66c8684ed1f04066a6bfcf6cee925937_0"},"Question":{"kind":"string","value":"Did he have a sidekick?"},"Question_no":{"kind":"number","value":5,"string":"5"},"Rewrite":{"kind":"string","value":"Did Wesley Dodds have a sidekick?"},"true_page_title":{"kind":"string","value":"Sandman (Wesley Dodds)"},"true_contexts":{"kind":"string","value":"Dodds has prophetic dreams which come to him as cryptic, ambiguous visions of crimes. Originally of unexplained origin, these dreams were later ascribed to encounter between Dodds and the entity known as Dream via retcon. The visions haunt Wes, who uses his keen intellect and amateur detective skills to properly interpret them. He is also a talented chemist and inventor, creating the sand-like substance and the Silicoid Gun ultimately responsible for transforming Sandy the Golden Boy into a Silicon-based life-form. In the early years of his career, Wesley Dodds possesses the strength level of a man who engages in regular exercise, and was a fine hand-to-hand combatant. As he grows older, his strength level diminishes in relative proportion to his age. As hobbies, Wes enjoys reading, writing, poetry, origami and philosophy. Through an unknown process, Wes passes his power of prophetic visions on to his former ward, Sanderson Hawkins upon the moment of his own death. Wesley Dodds' costume consists of a basic green business suit, fedora, a World War I era gas mask, a gas gun, and a wire gun. The gas mask protects Dodds from the effects of the gas emitted from his gas gun. The gas gun, a handheld device fitted with cartridges containing concentrated sleeping gas, is Wesley Dodds' only known weapon. Pressing the trigger on the gun releases a cloud of green dust rendering all within the Sandman's immediate vicinity unconscious. An upgraded canister dispenser for the gun is provided for him by his close friend and confidante, Lee Travis. Wes is also known to conceal smaller knockout gas capsules in a hollow heel on his shoe. These prove ideal when placed in situations where his gas gun is not readily available. He also makes use of a specially designed \"wirepoon\" gun, which fires a length of thin, steel cable. In the early days of his career, the Sandman drives a black 1938 Plymouth Coupe. The car is enhanced with various features to aid Wes in his crusade against crime. CANNOTANSWER"},"answer":{"kind":"string","value":"Sandy the Golden Boy into a Silicon-based life-form."},"true_contexts_wiki":{"kind":"string","value":"Sandman (Wesley Dodds) is a fictional superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first of several DC characters to bear the name Sandman, he was created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Bert Christman. Attired in a green business suit, a fedora, and a World War I gas mask, the Sandman used a gun emitting a sleeping gas to sedate criminals. He was originally one of the mystery men to appear in comic books and other types of adventure fiction in the 1930s but later was outfitted with a unitard/cowl costume and developed into a proper superhero, acquiring sidekick Sandy, and founding the Justice Society of America.\n\nLike most DC Golden Age superheroes, the Sandman fell into obscurity in the 1940s and eventually other DC characters took his name. During the 1990s, when writer Neil Gaiman's Sandman (featuring Morpheus, the anthropomorphic embodiment of dreams) was popular, DC revived Dodds in Sandman Mystery Theatre, a pulp/noir series set in the 1930s. Wizard Magazine ranked Wesley Dodds among the Top 200 Comic Book Characters of All Time, and he is the oldest superhero in terms of continuity to appear on the list.\n\nPublication history\n\nGolden Age of comic books\nArtist Bert Christman and writer Gardner Fox are generally credited as co-creating the original, Wesley Dodds version of the DC Comics character the Sandman. While the character's first appearance is usually given as Adventure Comics #40 (cover-dated July 1939), he also appeared in DC Comics' 1939 New York World's Fair Comics omnibus, which historians believe appeared on newsstands one to two weeks earlier, while also believing the Adventure Comics story was written and drawn first. Each of the two stories' scripts were credited to the pseudonym \"Larry Dean\"; Fox wrote the untitled, 10-page story in New York World's Fair #1, while he simply plotted, and Christman scripted, the untitled, six-page story, generally known as \"The Tarantula Strikes\", in Adventure #40. Creig Flessel, who drew many early Sandman adventures, has sometimes been credited as co-creator on the basis of drawing the Sandman cover of Adventure #40, but no other evidence has surfaced.\n\nFollowing these two first appearances, the feature \"The Sandman\" continued to appear in the omnibus Adventure Comics through #102 (February–March 1946). One of the medium's seminal \"mystery men\", as referred to at the time, the Sandman straddled the pulp magazine detective tradition and the emerging superhero tradition by dint of his dual identity and his fanciful, masked attire and weapon: an exotic \"gas gun\" that could compel villains to tell the truth, as well as put them to sleep. Unlike many superheroes, he frequently found himself the victim of gunshot wounds, both in the Golden Age and in stories in DC's modern-day Vertigo imprint, and he would continue fighting in spite of his injuries.\n\nIn his early career, Dodds (the character's surname was given as \"Dodd\" in his first four appearances; he became \"Dodds\" in Adventure Comics #44) was frequently aided by his girlfriend, Dian Belmont, who is aware of his dual identity. Unlike many superhero love interests, Belmont was often, though not always, portrayed as an equal partner of the Sandman, rather than a damsel in distress. Later stories would reveal that the two remained together for the duration of their lives, though they never married.\n\nThe Sandman was one of the original members of the Justice Society of America when that superhero team was introduced in All Star Comics #3, published by All-American Comics, one of the companies that would merge to form DC.\n\nIn Adventure Comics #69 (December 1941), Dodds was given a yellow-and-purple costume by writer Mort Weisinger and artist Paul Norris, as well as a yellow-clad kid sidekick, Sandy the Golden Boy, nephew of Dian Belmont. Later that year, the celebrated team of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby took over this version of the character. In 1942, Dodds enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as an anti-aircraft gunner during World War II.\n\nSilver Age to Modern Age\n\nReintroduced in the Silver Age in Justice League of America #46 (July 1966), the Sandman made occasional appearances in the annual teamups between that superhero group and the JSA.\n\nIn 1981 DC began publishing All-Star Squadron, a retelling of the Earth-Two mystery-men during WWII. Although not a main character, Sandman does appear in its pages. Of note is issue #18 which gives an explanation of why Dodds changed costumes from the cloak and gas mask to the yellow-and-purple outfit; Dian wore his costume while he was fighting elsewhere and she was killed in a fray. Dodds decided to wear the new costume, of Dian's design, until he could bring himself to wear the original in which she had died.\n\nLater, this explanation would be changed again when Dian Belmont was retconned to have never died, and a new explanation was given: Sandy convinced Dodds to switch to the more colorful costume to gain the support of regular people, who preferred the more traditional superhero look to his older, pulp-themed costume.\n\nAn acclaimed film noir-inspired retelling of the original Sandman's adventures, Sandman Mystery Theatre, ran from 1993 to 1998 under DC Comics' Vertigo mature-reader imprint. Although as a whole its continuity within the DC Universe is debatable, several elements of the series – the more nuanced relationship between Dodds and Dian Belmont; the Sandman's appearance (wearing a trench coat and World War I gas mask instead of the cape and the custom-made gas mask); and Dodds' pudgier appearance and wearing of glasses – have been adopted into regular continuity. The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual.\n\nIn Sandman Midnight Theatre (1995) a one-shot special by Neil Gaiman (author of the Modern Age supernatural series The Sandman), Matt Wagner (co-author of Sandman Mystery Theatre), and Teddy Kristiansen, depicts an interaction between the two characters, with the original visiting Great Britain and encountering the imprisoned Dream, the protagonist of Gaiman's series. A minor retcon by Gaiman suggested that Dodds' chosen identity was a result of Dream's absence from the realm the Dreaming, and that Dodds carries an aspect of that mystical realm. This explains Dodds' prophetic dreams.\n\nTwilight years\nDodds is one of a number of Justice Society members who finds themselves in the \"Ragnarok Dimension\" during the early Modern Age of comic books. The Last Days of the Justice Society of America Special (1986) wrote the post-Crisis tale of a time-warped wave of destruction ready to engulf the world. Dodds and his JSA teammates enter into a limbo to engage in an eternal battle that would allow the universe to continue its existence. This was later revealed to be a simulation created by Odin, which he intended to give to Dream as a bribe. Dodds, Dream's protege, and Hawkman, the grandfather of Dream's appointed successor are the only JSA members who were seen at that time. This lasted only until 1992 when DC published Armageddon: Inferno. This mini-series ended with the JSA members leaving limbo and entering the 'real' world. Justice Society of America (1992–1993) showed how the JSA members handled returning to normal life. For the Sandman, the series depicted him as an old, thin man with a balding scalp and a sharp wit. Starting with issue #1 his physical condition became important as writer Len Strazewski had him suffer a stroke at the first sign of a villainous attack. Both his age and his physical limitations became a theme writers would use in this character's post-Crisis stories.\n\nDuring Zero Hour, Dodds is returned to his proper age by the Extant. Later, Wesley Dodds is shown as retired and living with Dian Belmont though occasionally coming out of it, most notably in a team-up with Jack Knight, the son of Dodds' JSA teammate Starman. When Dian is diagnosed with a terminal disease, the two travel the world together until her death.\n\nTowards the end of his life, Dodds' prophetic dreams alert him to the identity and location of the new Doctor Fate, prompting him to contact the Gray Man, a being created from the residue of others' dreams, as well as his old friend Speed Saunders to instruct them to warn his former teammates about what he has discovered. Waiting on a clifftop, he is subsequently confronted by the powerful villain Mordru, who intends to force Dodds to tell him the identity of the new Doctor Fate, only for Dodds to distract Mordru with his gas-gun long enough to commit suicide by jumping off the cliff rather than allow Mordru to torture him into submission. His last thoughts were that his final slumber would be free of nightmares as he is reunited with Dian. His youthful but now grown-up sidekick Sandy the Golden Boy becomes known simply as Sand and takes his mentor's place as a member of the Justice Society of America as well as his prophetic dreams. Eventually, he takes the name of Sandman.\n\nSleep of Reason\nWesley Dodds makes a comeback via flashback images in the 2006 limited series Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason.\n\nBlackest Night\nDodds is reanimated as a Black Lantern in the \"Blackest Night\" storyline. He and several other fallen JSAers attack the Brownstone, seeking the hearts of the living within.\n\nExodus Noir\nDodds appeared in the \"Exodus Noir\" arc of Madame Xanadu in 2010, in a story set in 1940.\n\nDC Rebirth\nIn the \"Watchmen\" sequel \"Doomsday Clock\", Lois Lane finds a flash-drive at the Daily Planet. It shows her footage of Sandman and the rest of the Justice Society.\n\nIn the pages of \"Dark Nights: Death Metal\", the Prime-Earth version of Sandman was revealed to be entombed at the Valhalla Cemetery. Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring.\n\nPowers and abilities\nDodds has prophetic dreams which come to him as cryptic, ambiguous visions of crimes. Originally of unexplained origin, these dreams were later ascribed to an encounter between Dodds and the entity known as Dream via retcon. The visions haunt Dodds, who uses his keen intellect and amateur detective skills to properly interpret them. He is also a talented chemist and inventor, creating the sand-like substance and the Silicoid Gun ultimately responsible for transforming Sandy the Golden Boy into a Silicon-based life-form. In the early years of his career, Wesley Dodds possesses the strength level of a man who engages in regular exercise, and was a fine hand-to-hand combatant. As he grows older, his strength level diminishes in relative proportion to his age. As hobbies, Dodds enjoys reading, writing, poetry, origami and philosophy. Through an unknown process, Dodds passes his power of prophetic visions on to his former ward, Sanderson Hawkins upon the moment of his own death.\n \nWesley Dodds' costume consists of a basic green business suit, fedora, a World War I era gas mask, a gas gun, and a specially designed \"wirepoon\" gun, which fires a length of thin, steel cable. The gas mask protects Dodds from the effects of the gas emitted from his gas gun. The gas gun, a handheld device fitted with cartridges containing concentrated sleeping gas, is Wesley Dodds' only known weapon. Pressing the trigger on the gun releases a cloud of green dust rendering all within the Sandman's immediate vicinity unconscious. An upgraded canister dispenser for the gun is provided for him by his close friend and confidante, Lee Travis. Dodds is also known to conceal smaller knockout gas capsules in a hollow heel on his shoe. These prove ideal when placed in situations where his gas gun is not readily available.\n\nIn the early days of his career, the Sandman drives a black 1938 Plymouth coupe. The car is enhanced with various features to aid Dodds in his crusade against crime.\n\nEnemies\n\nSandman has an assortment of enemies that he fought:\n Butcher - A cannibalistic butcher.\n Doctor Death - Raymond Kessler is a serial killer/swindler who is the boyfriend of Dian Belmont's cousin Lucy.\n Phantom of the Fair - Gerald Zimmerman is a man who has been torturing and killing homosexual men at the New York World's Fair.\n Ramulus - A plant-manipulating villain who was also known as Nightshade and Plant Master. He later appeared as a member of the Monster Society of Evil.\n Scorpion - Terrence Pritchard is an ad executive who becomes a bullwhip-wielding vigilante.\n Tarantula - A man who targeted Vivian Dale. There was also a second Tarantula that Sandman fought. This one was Roger Goldman who is a serial killer and the former owner of the Evergood Milk Bottling Company.\n\nOther versions\n\nKingdom Come\nDodds appears as an infirm old man at the beginning of the graphic novel, plagued with visions of the impending apocalyptic battle between various factions of metahumans. Before his death, he relates his visions, interpreted through passages from the Book of Revelation, to Norman McCay, who later witnesses the events in the company of the Spectre.\n\nEarth 40\nWesley Dodds meets with The Unholy Three to give information about the Trigger, a device that causes every nuclear reactor in the world to detonate in a nuclear explosion. The Sandman arranges for The Unholy Three to meet with The Lantern, who has information on where the Trigger is located.\n\nEarth 2\nIn The New 52 (a reboot of DC Comics), a new Earth-2 version of Sandman appears. While he does wear a gas mask and wield a gas gun, he is also equipped with a teleporter. When Washington DC is attacked by Solomon Grundy, Commander Wesley Dodds, along with his Sandmen paramilitary force, is sent to retrieve and save President Lightfoot. They are later assigned by Commander Khan in a special and unofficial mission to infiltrate Terry Sloane's secret facility, where they confront and subdue a mind-controlled Michael Holt.\n\nIn other media\n\nTelevision\n\nAnimation\n Wesley Dodds / Sandman makes a non-speaking appearance in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode \"Crisis: 22,300 Miles Above Earth\". He is seen with the other members of the Justice Society of America.\n Sandman makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in the Young Justice episode \"Humanity\". He is shown with the other members of the JSA during a flashback sequence.\n\nLive-action\n A character loosely inspired by the Sandman under the pseudonym of Nightshade makes recurring appearances in The Flash (1990), portrayed by Jason Bernard. This version is Dr. Desmond Powell, a 1950s vigilante who retained the Sandman's costume and captured criminals using a knockout gun and tranquilizer darts. After retiring as a vigilante after he defeated \"The Ghost\" in 1955, he later became a doctor and Chief of Staff at Central City Hospital. When the Ghost reappears in 1990, Powell becomes Nightshade once again and teams up with the Flash to apprehend his old enemy. He later unknowingly inspires the Deadly Nightshade. Powell is framed for multiple counts of murder, but clears his name and captures the impostor. He also makes his secret identity public and becomes a celebrity.\n Wesley Dodds appeared in the Smallville two-hour special episode \"Absolute Justice\", portrayed by Ken Lawson. This version was a member of the now-disbanded Justice Society of America. After having a nightmare about losing his teammate, the Star-Spangled Kid, Dodds is killed by Icicle II. His body was later found by Clark Kent.\n Sandman's helmet appears in Rip Hunter's office in Legends of Tomorrow.\n Sandman appears in the series Stargirl. He appears as a member of the Justice Society of America before the team was attacked and killed by the Injustice Society, with Dodds in particular being killed by Icicle.\n\nFilm\n An alternate universe version of Sandman makes a cameo appearance in the animated film Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths. This version is a minor member of the Crime Syndicate of America.\n An alternate timeline version of Sandman appears in the animated film Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox. This version is one of the few active superheroes in the dystopian \"Flashpoint\" timeline.\n\nVideo games\nWesley Dodds' costume appears in the background of the Hall of Justice in the video game Injustice: Gods Among Us.\n\nWeb series\nSandman makes a minor appearance in the DC Super Hero Girls episode \"Welcome to Super Hero High\". He appears as a graduate of the titular school.\n\nCollected editions\n The Golden Age Sandman Archive Vol. 1 (Sandman stories from New York World's Fair Comics #1–2 and Adventure Comics #40–59) by Bert Christman and others.\n Sandman by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby (World's Finest #6–7; Adventure Comics #72–102; Sandman #1) \n Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 1: The Tarantula (Sandman Mystery Theatre #1–4)\n Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 2: The Face and The Brute (Sandman Mystery Theatre #5–12)\n Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 3: The Vamp (Sandman Mystery Theatre #13–16)\n Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 4: The Scorpion (Sandman Mystery Theatre #17–20)\n Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 5: Dr. Death and The Night of the Butcher (Sandman Mystery Theatre #21–28) \n Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 6: The Hourman and The Python (Sandman Mystery Theatre #29–36)\n Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 7: The Mist and The Phantom of the Fair (Sandman Mystery Theatre #37–44)\n Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 8: The Blackhawk and The Return of the Scarlet Ghost (Sandman Mystery Theatre #45–52)\n Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason (Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason #1–5)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n JSA Fact File: The Sandman\n Earth-2 Sandman Index]\n Sequart.com: \"The Sandman — Interlude: Sandman Mystery Theatre (1993–1998)\", by Julian Darius\n\nCharacters created by Allen Bert Christman\nCharacters created by Gardner Fox\nComics characters introduced in 1939\nDC Comics male superheroes\nEarth-Two\nFictional businesspeople\nFictional characters with precognition\nFictional detectives\nFictional scientists\nFictional socialites\nGolden Age superheroes\nJewish superheroes\nSandman\nVigilante characters in comics"},"extractive":{"kind":"string","value":"true"},"retrieved_contexts":{"kind":"list like","value":["Borland Sidekick was a personal information manager (PIM) launched by American software company Borland in 1984 under Philippe Kahn's leadership. It was an early and popular terminate and stay resident program (TSR) for MS-DOS which enabled computer users to activate the program using a hot key combination (by default: Ctrl-Alt) while working in other programs. Although a text-mode program, Sidekick's window-based interface echoed that of the Apple Macintosh and anticipated the eventual look of Microsoft Windows 2.0. It included a personal calendar, text editor (with WordStar-like command interface), calculator, ASCII chart, address book, and phone dialer. According to the prospectus for Borland's initial public offering of stock to the public, Sidekick sold more than 1 million copies in its first three years.\n\nOrigin\nAccording to Philippe Kahn, Borland did not originally intend to sell Sidekick. It developed the utility to assist the small company's employees. After several months of use Borland realized that it had a sellable product.\n\nVersions\n\nMS-DOS\n\n1.0\nSidekick 1.0 included Calculator, Notepad, Appointment Calendar, Auto Dialer, ASCII Table and other tools.\n\n1.0 Plus\nSidekick 1.0 Plus included a broader selection of calculators (Business, Scientific, Programmer, Formula), a 9-file Notepad text editor, Appointment Book and Scheduler, a terminal communication tool and ASCII Table. In addition to variants on and enhancements to the 1.0 features, Plus included a 9-file Outliner, q file and directory manager, Clipboard, and supported Expanded Memory and a RAM disk. Control+Alt is the default shortcut to open sidekick 1.0 plus\n\n1.5\n\n2.0\nSidekick 2.0 was the last MS-DOS version.\n\nTraveling Sidekick\nTraveling Sidekick included a 3-ring binder notebook with solar-powered pocket calculator, and Sidekick software.\n\nWindows\nWhen Philippe Kahn left Borland in 1994 to found Starfish Software, he acquired all rights to Sidekick from Borland. Starfish's co-founder Sonia Lee Kahn designed the look and feel of Sidekick 95, which was launched simultaneously with Windows 95 with great success. In 1998 Philippe Kahn and Sonia Lee Kahn sold Starfish to Motorola for $325 Million in a private transaction. Starfish was later bought by Nokia who discontinued the product, with Sidekick 99 being the last version. T-Mobile USA, Inc. currently owns the Sidekick trademark portfolio.\n\nLater versions of the program were made available for Windows, with the last versions featuring a phone dialer and syncing with Palm, Windows CE, and EPOC devices. These versions were less popular than the MS-DOS versions, largely because the Windows environment itself provided most of the original version's key features: task switching and a collection of small utilities. It did however, include a monthly/yearly calendar and a world time map showing which parts of the world are currently in daylight or darkness. Up to eight different world cities (which could be edited) were displayed above and below the map.\n\n1.0\nSidekick 1.0 for Windows was developed and released by Borland before Kahn left the company. It was designed for Windows 3.1 and included Calendar, To Do List, Contacts, a communication tool and a calculator. However, most of the design and file system came from the YourWay PIM software, purchased by Borland from Prisma Software in 1993. As the November 7, 1994 Info World noted, \"Despite its name, the only connection between Sidekick for Windows 1.0 and the venerable Sidekick for MS-DOS is that Borland International owns both programs. Sidekick for Windows is a combination of the calendaring code from Prisma Software Corp.'s Windows PIM YourWay (purchased by Borland last year) and a completely new interface developed by Borland.\"\n\n2.0\nSidekick 2.0 was also developed and initially released by Borland before the move to Starfish.\n\nNew/modified features included:\n overlapping appointments in the Scheduler,\n multiple contact files in the Address Book,\n print layouts that enabled users to print to commercial day planner pages,\n View-in-View,\n Backup & Restore of user's files,\n password protection.\n\nSidekick Deluxe added more than 40 content files for access to online information, Dashboard 3.0 for Windows, and the \"Organized for Success\" video. It was distributed in CD format.\n\nSidekick 95\nSidekick 95 was a Windows 95 version. Sidekick 95 Deluxe was announced in on October 17, 1995. A 10-user version was announced in February, 1996.\n\nIt included Write (a word processor with a spell check feature), EarthTime (a clock), Expense (record keeping tools), Reminder (scheduler), Phone Dialer (communication), Contact Manager and Calendar (with an added daily Almanac).\n\nSidekick 95 Deluxe added Dashboard 95, America Online software, 2 interactive organizational videos, over 40 useful content files called Sidekick Companions and electronic versions of the product manuals in Adobe Acrobat format.\n\nStarfish Internet Sidekick\nCalendar tools added Activity view, daylight saving time support, web link support for contact files, Contact file synchronization over Sidekick 95.\n\nCommunications tool adds caller ID, phone dialer, integration with mail software. Spell check adds auto spell check option.\n\nCalculator supports unit conversion.\n\nNew tools include Internet Scheduler, Expense reporter. Expense reporter includes date reporting, tax calculation, drag and drop receipts between folders.\n\nSidekick 97\nCalendar tools added ability to create web pages from Sidekick Calendar (via WP add-on).\n\nAddress tools added drag and drop, ability to create web pages from Sidekick Cardfiles (via WP add-on).\n\nPDA sync is supported for Palm Pilot, via separate add-on.\n\nWorld Clock supports European Daylight Saving time.\n\nSidekick Web Publisher compatibility is added via separate add-on.\n\nSidekick 98\nCalendar supports vCalendar, Outlook calendars.\n\nAddress tools support Outlook calendars.\n\nAdditional supported PDA sync include Franklin REX. Sync tool can now synchronize To do, Calls, Special Days, Appointments, and Contacts.\n\nWorld clock added world map, Analog or Digital clock format.\n\nIn addition, features requiring separate add-ons in Sidekick 97 are now standard.\n\nLong time users of Sidekick 98 report no difficulties continuing to use the program through subsequent iterations of Windows, up to and including Windows 7.\n\nSidekick 99 (9.x)\nVarious tools found in Sidekick 98 are removed in this release, including dialer, back up & restore, calculator (including conversion tools, expense reporter), spell checker, web page generator, Internet scheduler. Address and calendar file format support were reduced, with Outlook support is now import-only.\n\nSynchronization tools now support multi-point synchronization, Franklin REX PRO, PALM III PDAs.\n\nOS/2\nBorland Sidekick 2.0 for Presentation Manager was based on Sidekick 2.0 for Windows.\n\nMacintosh\nBorland introduced a version for the Apple Macintosh in 1985.\n\nReception\nBorland sold 400,000 copies of Sidekick by September 1985. InfoWorld stated in November 1984 that \"whoever wrote this gem understands Murphy's law ... Sidekick stands in the shadows behind whatever program you are using\", and noted that for programmers, the software was less expensive \"and a lot handier\" than a Texas Instruments hexadecimal calculator. The magazine concluded that \"Sidekick is a time-saving, frustrating-saving bargain [and] is the first step to making paper and pencil obsolete.\" Jerry Pournelle praised Sidekick in Byte in October 1984: \"Philippe Kahn ... now has a product that IBM PC users won't be able to do without. He ought to sell a zillion copies\". Elsewhere in the issue, the magazine stated that Sidekick's existence \"seems to point out a major drawback in quite a few integrated software packages. Why should owners of advanced, multifunction business programs that are supposedly easy to use and that claim to solve all problems be compelled to purchase a utility like Sidekick? It makes you wonder about all those advertising claims\". In January 1985 Pournelle selected Sidekick as one of his products of the year for the IBM PC. BYTE in 1989 listed SideKick Plus as among the \"Distinction\" winners of the BYTE Awards, stating \"Talk about a bang for the buck\".\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nSidekick Museum in Webarchive\n\nDOS software\nBorland software\nComputer-related introductions in 1983\n1984 software","A sidekick is a slang expression for a close companion or colleague (not necessarily in fiction) who is, or is generally regarded as, subordinate to the one they accompany.\n\nSome well-known fictional sidekicks are Don Quixote's Sancho Panza, Sherlock Holmes' Doctor Watson, The Lone Ranger's Tonto, The Green Hornet's Kato, Shrek's Donkey and Puss in Boots, Mickey Mouse's Donald Duck and Goofy, Mario's Luigi and Yoshi, Sonic's Tails and Knuckles, Donkey Kong's Diddy Kong, Daffy Duck's Porky Pig, Captain America's Bucky and Batman's Robin.\n\nOrigins\nThe term is believed to have originated in pickpocket slang of the late 19th and early 20th century. The \"kick\" was the front pocket of a pair of trousers, believed to be the pocket safest from theft. Thus, by analogy, a \"side-kick\" was a person's closest companion.\n\nOne of the earliest recorded sidekicks may be Enkidu, who adopted a sidekick role to Gilgamesh after they became allies in the Epic of Gilgamesh. Other early examples are Achilles and Patroclus in the Iliad and Moses and Aaron in the Old Testament.\n\nFunction of the sidekick in fiction\nSidekicks can fulfill one or multiple functions, such as a counterpoint to the hero, an alternate point of view, or knowledge, skills, or anything else the hero does not have. They often function as comic relief, and/or the straight man to the hero's comedic actions. A sidekick can also be a character to whom the audience can more easily relate than the hero, or whom the audience can imagine themselves as being (such as teen sidekicks). And by asking questions of the hero, or giving the hero someone to talk to, the sidekick provides an opportunity for the author to provide exposition, thereby filling the same role as a Greek chorus.\n\nSidekicks frequently serve as an emotional connection, especially when the hero is depicted as detached and distant, traits which might make it difficult to like the hero. The sidekick is often the confidant who knows the main character better than anyone else, and gives a convincing reason to like the hero. Although Sherlock Holmes was portrayed as a difficult man to know, his friendship with Dr. Watson convinces the reader that Holmes is a good person. The Left Hand of Vampire Hunter D, being mentally linked to the reticent protagonist, often reveals thoughts, feelings, and the physical condition of his host, as well as background elements of the story.\n\nThe apparent stupidity of some comedy sidekicks is often used to make a non-intellectual hero look intelligent. Similarly, a flamboyant or effeminate sidekick may make an otherwise unimposing hero look more masculine. And a strong, silent and modest hero may have his fighting qualities revealed to the other characters and the audience by a talkative sidekick.\n\nWhile many sidekicks are used for comic relief, there are other sidekicks who are less outrageous than the heroes they pledge themselves to, and comedy derived from the hero can often be amplified by the presence or reaction of the sidekick. Examples include Porky Pig, who is more sensible and calmer than Daffy Duck in later short films; similarly, Sancho Panza is more rational than Don Quixote.\n\nIt is typical for the character and sidekick to be of the same gender — otherwise the term \"sidekick\" is replaced with \"partner\" or \"companion\". Whenever there is a team of more than two characters, the term sidekick is generally reserved for another team member of the same sex. It is rare for the relationship between a character and an opposite-sex sidekick to lack romantic or sexual overtones of any kind — though there are examples, like Modesty Blaise and Willie Garvin, The original Doctor Who series intentionally avoided any explicit onscreen indications of romantic or sexual attraction between The Doctor and his female companions. (See the discussion of comic books' teenage sidekicks below.)\n\nWhile unusual, it is not unheard of for a sidekick to be more attractive, charismatic, or physically capable than the supposed hero. This is most typically encountered when the hero's appeal is more intellectual rather than sexual. Such heroes (usually fictional sleuths and scientists) are often middle-aged or older and tend towards eccentricity. Such protagonists may, due to either age or physical unsuitability, be limited to cerebral conflicts, while leaving the physical action to a younger or more physically capable sidekick. This type of sidekick is rarely encountered in fiction, because the hero runs the risk of being upstaged by them. However, examples of successful such pairings include Detective Monk and his sidekick Sharona, Inspector Morse and his sidekick Detective Sergeant Robbie Lewis, Nero Wolfe and his sidekick Archie Goodwin, Hiro Nakamura and his sidekick Ando Masahashi, and Miles Vorkosigan and his sidekick cousin Ivan Vorpatril. In other media, The Green Hornet's sidekick, Kato, has (especially since the 1960s television series with Bruce Lee) been depicted as a capable man of action, for instance in martial arts. The earliest Doctor Who serials, particularly during the First Doctor era, had young male companions who were capable of the physical action that the elderly William Hartnell was not. This became more important as Hartnell's health declined during his tenure as The Doctor. This was not an issue with the following Doctors as they were cast with significantly younger actors.\n\nIt is also not unusual, especially in more recent TV programs such as Bones and NCIS, for there to be a team of sidekicks. In Bones, for example, FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth often fulfills one of the traditional roles of a sidekick by providing translations for the brilliant but socially incapable Dr. Temperance Brennan. Both Brennan and Booth, however, are heroes in their own right. The sidekicks in this case are the team of \"squints\" back in the Jeffersonian Institution's Medico-Legal Lab, each with their own scientific specialty, all of whom are usually needed to break the case.\n\nIn certain cases, a sidekick can grow out of their role of second fiddle to the hero and become a hero in their own right. Dick Grayson is one such example, having outgrown the mantle of Robin when he was under Batman and taken up the new identity of Nightwing. Grayson has more recently succeeded his mentor and taken on the costumed identity of Batman himself. Another example is the popular comic-strip soldier of fortune Captain Easy, who started as the two-fisted sidekick of the scrawny eponymous hero of the strip Wash Tubbs.\n\nComparisons\nA villain's supporters are normally called henchmen, minions, or lackeys, not sidekicks. While this is partially a convention in terminology, it also reflects that few villains are capable of bonds of friendship and loyalty, which are normal in the relationship between a hero and sidekick. This may also be due to the different roles in fiction of the protagonist and the antagonist: whereas a sidekick is a relatively important character due to his or her proximity to the protagonist, and so will likely be a developed character, the role of a henchman is to act as cannon-fodder for the hero and his sidekick. As a result, henchmen tend to be anonymous, disposable characters, existing for the sole purpose of illustrating the protagonists' prowess as they defeat them.\n\nNevertheless, some villains do have sidekicks, including Lex Luthor's Mercy Graves, the Joker's Harley Quinn, Jigsaw's Amanda, Shao Kahn's Shang Tsung, Shinnok's Quan Chi, Ben Wade's Charlie Prince (from Three-Ten to Yuma), Wario's Waluigi, Dr. Eggman's Orbot and Cubot, and Magneto's Mystique (albeit only in the X-Men live action films).\n\nUse in fiction\nFrodo Baggins's Samwise Gamgee, and Harry Potter's Ron Weasley, as well as the afore-mentioned Sancho Panza and Doctor Watson, are notable sidekicks from fiction.\n\nIn fiction, the term \"sidekick\" commonly refers to assistants to crime-fighting heroes. However, sidekicks do not necessarily accompany a crime-fighter, such as Leporello, Don Giovanni's servant in the 1787 opera. Villains can also have sidekicks, who are usually portrayed as less brilliant or lacking cunning. The sidekick has the literary function of playing against the hero, often contrasting in skill, or performing functions not suited to the hero.\n\nThe sidekick was a regular presence in westerns, where Fuzzy Knight, Al \"Fuzzy\" St. John, Smiley Burnette, and Andy Devine had longer careers than some of the heroic singing cowboys for whom they took pratfalls.\n\nIn science fiction the sub-type of the alien sidekick has been established. Examples of alien sidekicks are Mr. Spock (sidekick of Captain James T. Kirk) on Star Trek and Chewbacca (sidekick of Han Solo) in the original Star Wars trilogy. One of the roles of the alien sidekick is to act as a mouthpiece for social commentary on the human condition from an outsider's point of view.\n\nHeroic sidekicks such as Streaky the Supercat of Krypto the Superdog, Festus Haggen of Gunsmoke's Matt Dillon, or Gabrielle of Xena: Warrior Princess not only provide comic relief, but can occasionally be brave and/or resourceful and rescue the hero from a dire fate.\nKalimán, a heroic character depicted on movies, radio theatre and comic books, mentors a young lad named Solín.\n\nComic books\nComic book sidekicks have a long and popular history, dating back to the beginnings of the form. Examples include the Crimson Avenger's sidekick Wing, and Mister America's sidekick Fatman, both of whom debuted in the late 1930s. Other notable comics sidekicks include Ebony White, Jughead, Etta Candy, Captain Haddock, and Obelix.\n\nIn 1940 DC Comics introduced comics' first teenage sidekick, Robin the Boy Wonder, created to soften the dark tone of the Batman comics and make the Dark Knight more attractive to younger readers. Robin's instant popularity spawned a host of imitations, including such iconic characters as Bucky, Toro, Sandy the Golden Boy, and Speedy. (Stripesy was the exception to the rule: an adult sidekick to a teen hero, the Star-Spangled Kid. Another unusual sidekick pairing was the Blonde Bomber [a.k.a. Honey Blake], a newsreel camerawoman, chemist, and crime-fighter with a male sidekick named Jimmy Slapso.)\n\nThe prevalence of so many adult male superheroes and their teenage \"wards\" caused some observers to look askance at the trend. Psychologist Fredric Wertham decided that the phenomenon was a landmine of hidden and repressed Freudian issues, and that a sidekick's participation in violent encounters alongside his hero masked a sexual subtext. In 1954, Wertham's book Seduction of the Innocent coincided with Congressional hearings on (among other topics) the negative influence of comic books. For a time, superhero comics lost their popularity, and many teenage sidekicks faded into obscurity. (Rick Veitch's graphic novel Brat Pack, and issues of Alan Moore's Top 10, directly address the seamy, exploitative, and potentially pedophilia-related aspects of the adult hero-teen sidekick relationship.)\n\nIn the early 1960s, at the advent of comics' so-called Silver Age, a new round of superhero sidekicks made their debuts, including Rick Jones, Aqualad, Snapper Carr, Kid Flash, and Wonder Girl. Indeed, the original Teen Titans superhero team, appearing in 1964, was composed entirely of sidekicks. (Marvel Comics mostly got around the teen sidekick quandary by creating a selection of super-powered teenagers — heroes in their own right, such as Spider-Man, the second Human Torch, and the X-Men.)\n\nMost of the Golden Age and Silver Age sidekicks have subsequently evolved into mature heroes in their own right or have been killed off; and in the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, some new sidekicks have come into being. Certain heroes seem to attract serial sidekicks, notably Batman, Captain America, and The Flash. There have been at least five iterations of Robin; while Captain America has had a diverse array of sidekick successors to Bucky, including the Falcon, Demolition Man, Free Spirit, and Jack Flag.\n\nConversely, the character Rick Jones is virtually a \"sidekick-for-hire,\" having assisted a number of different heroes during his career, starting with the Hulk, moving onto Captain America (when he briefly became the second Bucky), then the first Captain Marvel, Rom Spaceknight, and finally the third Captain Marvel (Genis).\n\nIn television\nTV sidekicks usually play a supporting pivotal role to the star. Examples include Ethel Mertz to Lucy Ricardo (I Love Lucy), Ed Norton to Ralph Kramden (The Honeymooners), Screech Powers to Zack Morris (Saved by the Bell), Major Roger Healey to Major Anthony \"Tony\" Nelson (I Dream of Jeannie), or even a group of people such as the Sweathogs to Mr. Kotter (Welcome Back, Kotter). Duos of equal importance on TV such as Kate McArdle and Allie Lowell (Kate & Allie), Oscar Madison and Felix Unger (The Odd Couple), Bret Maverick and Bart Maverick (Maverick), or Laverne De Fazio and Shirley Feeney (Laverne & Shirley), are sometimes both called sidekicks to each other, although the usual sense of the term denotes inequality.\n\nMany television talk shows make use of a sidekick as a co-host who anchors a show with the main star. Ed McMahon played this role famously to Johnny Carson on the Tonight Show, as did Andy Richter to Conan O'Brien on the Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Tonight Show, and Conan. The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson employed a mechanical robot sidekick named Geoff Peterson (voiced by Josh Robert Thompson).\n\nClarence Gilyard informed viewers on a television commercial for Walker Texas Ranger that he was not Chuck Norris's sidekick, instead humorously saying \"This is Chuck Norris's sidekick\" over footage of Norris kicking a villain.\n\nAnimation\n\nIn animation, some popular examples are Boo-Boo Bear being Yogi Bear's sidekick, Baba Looey being the sidekick of Quick Draw McGraw, and Stimpy being the sidekick of Ren Höek on The Ren and Stimpy Show.\n\nIn the seventh episode of the 1994 animated series The Tick, the heroes take a night to relax at a local superhero nightclub. But when they arrive, Arthur is promptly escorted to the Sidekick Lounge, a small shack behind the club, where he meets several other sidekicks who spend the night lamenting their second-fiddle lot in life.\n\nIn video games\nSome video games have sidekicks who provide assistance to players during their adventures. An early example was Floyd in Planetfall, whom Computer Gaming World in April 1984 described as \"unique\". A potential example of this is found in the case of the Mario Bros., with Luigi serving in a supporting role to his brother Mario. Sonic the Hedgehog is often accompanied by his sidekick Miles \"Tails\" Prower, and his would-be girlfriend Amy Rose also has a hero-sidekick relationship with Cream the Rabbit. Diddy Kong is often seen as the sidekick to Donkey Kong, while Mega Man is aided by his robotic dog Rush. However, video game heroes will occasionally work alone-as in the case of Kid Icarus' Pit-or with a team supporting their efforts-as with Fox McCloud-as opposed to a single sidekick.\n\nSee also\n Confidant\n Henchman\n Foil (literature)\n List of comic book sidekicks\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n\"Sidekicks are second bananas no more,\" Los Angeles Times\n\nPartnerships\nService occupations\nStock characters\nWestern (genre) staples and terminology"],"string":"[\n \"Borland Sidekick was a personal information manager (PIM) launched by American software company Borland in 1984 under Philippe Kahn's leadership. It was an early and popular terminate and stay resident program (TSR) for MS-DOS which enabled computer users to activate the program using a hot key combination (by default: Ctrl-Alt) while working in other programs. Although a text-mode program, Sidekick's window-based interface echoed that of the Apple Macintosh and anticipated the eventual look of Microsoft Windows 2.0. It included a personal calendar, text editor (with WordStar-like command interface), calculator, ASCII chart, address book, and phone dialer. According to the prospectus for Borland's initial public offering of stock to the public, Sidekick sold more than 1 million copies in its first three years.\\n\\nOrigin\\nAccording to Philippe Kahn, Borland did not originally intend to sell Sidekick. It developed the utility to assist the small company's employees. After several months of use Borland realized that it had a sellable product.\\n\\nVersions\\n\\nMS-DOS\\n\\n1.0\\nSidekick 1.0 included Calculator, Notepad, Appointment Calendar, Auto Dialer, ASCII Table and other tools.\\n\\n1.0 Plus\\nSidekick 1.0 Plus included a broader selection of calculators (Business, Scientific, Programmer, Formula), a 9-file Notepad text editor, Appointment Book and Scheduler, a terminal communication tool and ASCII Table. In addition to variants on and enhancements to the 1.0 features, Plus included a 9-file Outliner, q file and directory manager, Clipboard, and supported Expanded Memory and a RAM disk. Control+Alt is the default shortcut to open sidekick 1.0 plus\\n\\n1.5\\n\\n2.0\\nSidekick 2.0 was the last MS-DOS version.\\n\\nTraveling Sidekick\\nTraveling Sidekick included a 3-ring binder notebook with solar-powered pocket calculator, and Sidekick software.\\n\\nWindows\\nWhen Philippe Kahn left Borland in 1994 to found Starfish Software, he acquired all rights to Sidekick from Borland. Starfish's co-founder Sonia Lee Kahn designed the look and feel of Sidekick 95, which was launched simultaneously with Windows 95 with great success. In 1998 Philippe Kahn and Sonia Lee Kahn sold Starfish to Motorola for $325 Million in a private transaction. Starfish was later bought by Nokia who discontinued the product, with Sidekick 99 being the last version. T-Mobile USA, Inc. currently owns the Sidekick trademark portfolio.\\n\\nLater versions of the program were made available for Windows, with the last versions featuring a phone dialer and syncing with Palm, Windows CE, and EPOC devices. These versions were less popular than the MS-DOS versions, largely because the Windows environment itself provided most of the original version's key features: task switching and a collection of small utilities. It did however, include a monthly/yearly calendar and a world time map showing which parts of the world are currently in daylight or darkness. Up to eight different world cities (which could be edited) were displayed above and below the map.\\n\\n1.0\\nSidekick 1.0 for Windows was developed and released by Borland before Kahn left the company. It was designed for Windows 3.1 and included Calendar, To Do List, Contacts, a communication tool and a calculator. However, most of the design and file system came from the YourWay PIM software, purchased by Borland from Prisma Software in 1993. As the November 7, 1994 Info World noted, \\\"Despite its name, the only connection between Sidekick for Windows 1.0 and the venerable Sidekick for MS-DOS is that Borland International owns both programs. Sidekick for Windows is a combination of the calendaring code from Prisma Software Corp.'s Windows PIM YourWay (purchased by Borland last year) and a completely new interface developed by Borland.\\\"\\n\\n2.0\\nSidekick 2.0 was also developed and initially released by Borland before the move to Starfish.\\n\\nNew/modified features included:\\n overlapping appointments in the Scheduler,\\n multiple contact files in the Address Book,\\n print layouts that enabled users to print to commercial day planner pages,\\n View-in-View,\\n Backup & Restore of user's files,\\n password protection.\\n\\nSidekick Deluxe added more than 40 content files for access to online information, Dashboard 3.0 for Windows, and the \\\"Organized for Success\\\" video. It was distributed in CD format.\\n\\nSidekick 95\\nSidekick 95 was a Windows 95 version. Sidekick 95 Deluxe was announced in on October 17, 1995. A 10-user version was announced in February, 1996.\\n\\nIt included Write (a word processor with a spell check feature), EarthTime (a clock), Expense (record keeping tools), Reminder (scheduler), Phone Dialer (communication), Contact Manager and Calendar (with an added daily Almanac).\\n\\nSidekick 95 Deluxe added Dashboard 95, America Online software, 2 interactive organizational videos, over 40 useful content files called Sidekick Companions and electronic versions of the product manuals in Adobe Acrobat format.\\n\\nStarfish Internet Sidekick\\nCalendar tools added Activity view, daylight saving time support, web link support for contact files, Contact file synchronization over Sidekick 95.\\n\\nCommunications tool adds caller ID, phone dialer, integration with mail software. Spell check adds auto spell check option.\\n\\nCalculator supports unit conversion.\\n\\nNew tools include Internet Scheduler, Expense reporter. Expense reporter includes date reporting, tax calculation, drag and drop receipts between folders.\\n\\nSidekick 97\\nCalendar tools added ability to create web pages from Sidekick Calendar (via WP add-on).\\n\\nAddress tools added drag and drop, ability to create web pages from Sidekick Cardfiles (via WP add-on).\\n\\nPDA sync is supported for Palm Pilot, via separate add-on.\\n\\nWorld Clock supports European Daylight Saving time.\\n\\nSidekick Web Publisher compatibility is added via separate add-on.\\n\\nSidekick 98\\nCalendar supports vCalendar, Outlook calendars.\\n\\nAddress tools support Outlook calendars.\\n\\nAdditional supported PDA sync include Franklin REX. Sync tool can now synchronize To do, Calls, Special Days, Appointments, and Contacts.\\n\\nWorld clock added world map, Analog or Digital clock format.\\n\\nIn addition, features requiring separate add-ons in Sidekick 97 are now standard.\\n\\nLong time users of Sidekick 98 report no difficulties continuing to use the program through subsequent iterations of Windows, up to and including Windows 7.\\n\\nSidekick 99 (9.x)\\nVarious tools found in Sidekick 98 are removed in this release, including dialer, back up & restore, calculator (including conversion tools, expense reporter), spell checker, web page generator, Internet scheduler. Address and calendar file format support were reduced, with Outlook support is now import-only.\\n\\nSynchronization tools now support multi-point synchronization, Franklin REX PRO, PALM III PDAs.\\n\\nOS/2\\nBorland Sidekick 2.0 for Presentation Manager was based on Sidekick 2.0 for Windows.\\n\\nMacintosh\\nBorland introduced a version for the Apple Macintosh in 1985.\\n\\nReception\\nBorland sold 400,000 copies of Sidekick by September 1985. InfoWorld stated in November 1984 that \\\"whoever wrote this gem understands Murphy's law ... Sidekick stands in the shadows behind whatever program you are using\\\", and noted that for programmers, the software was less expensive \\\"and a lot handier\\\" than a Texas Instruments hexadecimal calculator. The magazine concluded that \\\"Sidekick is a time-saving, frustrating-saving bargain [and] is the first step to making paper and pencil obsolete.\\\" Jerry Pournelle praised Sidekick in Byte in October 1984: \\\"Philippe Kahn ... now has a product that IBM PC users won't be able to do without. He ought to sell a zillion copies\\\". Elsewhere in the issue, the magazine stated that Sidekick's existence \\\"seems to point out a major drawback in quite a few integrated software packages. Why should owners of advanced, multifunction business programs that are supposedly easy to use and that claim to solve all problems be compelled to purchase a utility like Sidekick? It makes you wonder about all those advertising claims\\\". In January 1985 Pournelle selected Sidekick as one of his products of the year for the IBM PC. BYTE in 1989 listed SideKick Plus as among the \\\"Distinction\\\" winners of the BYTE Awards, stating \\\"Talk about a bang for the buck\\\".\\n\\nReferences\\n\\nExternal links\\nSidekick Museum in Webarchive\\n\\nDOS software\\nBorland software\\nComputer-related introductions in 1983\\n1984 software\",\n \"A sidekick is a slang expression for a close companion or colleague (not necessarily in fiction) who is, or is generally regarded as, subordinate to the one they accompany.\\n\\nSome well-known fictional sidekicks are Don Quixote's Sancho Panza, Sherlock Holmes' Doctor Watson, The Lone Ranger's Tonto, The Green Hornet's Kato, Shrek's Donkey and Puss in Boots, Mickey Mouse's Donald Duck and Goofy, Mario's Luigi and Yoshi, Sonic's Tails and Knuckles, Donkey Kong's Diddy Kong, Daffy Duck's Porky Pig, Captain America's Bucky and Batman's Robin.\\n\\nOrigins\\nThe term is believed to have originated in pickpocket slang of the late 19th and early 20th century. The \\\"kick\\\" was the front pocket of a pair of trousers, believed to be the pocket safest from theft. Thus, by analogy, a \\\"side-kick\\\" was a person's closest companion.\\n\\nOne of the earliest recorded sidekicks may be Enkidu, who adopted a sidekick role to Gilgamesh after they became allies in the Epic of Gilgamesh. Other early examples are Achilles and Patroclus in the Iliad and Moses and Aaron in the Old Testament.\\n\\nFunction of the sidekick in fiction\\nSidekicks can fulfill one or multiple functions, such as a counterpoint to the hero, an alternate point of view, or knowledge, skills, or anything else the hero does not have. They often function as comic relief, and/or the straight man to the hero's comedic actions. A sidekick can also be a character to whom the audience can more easily relate than the hero, or whom the audience can imagine themselves as being (such as teen sidekicks). And by asking questions of the hero, or giving the hero someone to talk to, the sidekick provides an opportunity for the author to provide exposition, thereby filling the same role as a Greek chorus.\\n\\nSidekicks frequently serve as an emotional connection, especially when the hero is depicted as detached and distant, traits which might make it difficult to like the hero. The sidekick is often the confidant who knows the main character better than anyone else, and gives a convincing reason to like the hero. Although Sherlock Holmes was portrayed as a difficult man to know, his friendship with Dr. Watson convinces the reader that Holmes is a good person. The Left Hand of Vampire Hunter D, being mentally linked to the reticent protagonist, often reveals thoughts, feelings, and the physical condition of his host, as well as background elements of the story.\\n\\nThe apparent stupidity of some comedy sidekicks is often used to make a non-intellectual hero look intelligent. Similarly, a flamboyant or effeminate sidekick may make an otherwise unimposing hero look more masculine. And a strong, silent and modest hero may have his fighting qualities revealed to the other characters and the audience by a talkative sidekick.\\n\\nWhile many sidekicks are used for comic relief, there are other sidekicks who are less outrageous than the heroes they pledge themselves to, and comedy derived from the hero can often be amplified by the presence or reaction of the sidekick. Examples include Porky Pig, who is more sensible and calmer than Daffy Duck in later short films; similarly, Sancho Panza is more rational than Don Quixote.\\n\\nIt is typical for the character and sidekick to be of the same gender — otherwise the term \\\"sidekick\\\" is replaced with \\\"partner\\\" or \\\"companion\\\". Whenever there is a team of more than two characters, the term sidekick is generally reserved for another team member of the same sex. It is rare for the relationship between a character and an opposite-sex sidekick to lack romantic or sexual overtones of any kind — though there are examples, like Modesty Blaise and Willie Garvin, The original Doctor Who series intentionally avoided any explicit onscreen indications of romantic or sexual attraction between The Doctor and his female companions. (See the discussion of comic books' teenage sidekicks below.)\\n\\nWhile unusual, it is not unheard of for a sidekick to be more attractive, charismatic, or physically capable than the supposed hero. This is most typically encountered when the hero's appeal is more intellectual rather than sexual. Such heroes (usually fictional sleuths and scientists) are often middle-aged or older and tend towards eccentricity. Such protagonists may, due to either age or physical unsuitability, be limited to cerebral conflicts, while leaving the physical action to a younger or more physically capable sidekick. This type of sidekick is rarely encountered in fiction, because the hero runs the risk of being upstaged by them. However, examples of successful such pairings include Detective Monk and his sidekick Sharona, Inspector Morse and his sidekick Detective Sergeant Robbie Lewis, Nero Wolfe and his sidekick Archie Goodwin, Hiro Nakamura and his sidekick Ando Masahashi, and Miles Vorkosigan and his sidekick cousin Ivan Vorpatril. In other media, The Green Hornet's sidekick, Kato, has (especially since the 1960s television series with Bruce Lee) been depicted as a capable man of action, for instance in martial arts. The earliest Doctor Who serials, particularly during the First Doctor era, had young male companions who were capable of the physical action that the elderly William Hartnell was not. This became more important as Hartnell's health declined during his tenure as The Doctor. This was not an issue with the following Doctors as they were cast with significantly younger actors.\\n\\nIt is also not unusual, especially in more recent TV programs such as Bones and NCIS, for there to be a team of sidekicks. In Bones, for example, FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth often fulfills one of the traditional roles of a sidekick by providing translations for the brilliant but socially incapable Dr. Temperance Brennan. Both Brennan and Booth, however, are heroes in their own right. The sidekicks in this case are the team of \\\"squints\\\" back in the Jeffersonian Institution's Medico-Legal Lab, each with their own scientific specialty, all of whom are usually needed to break the case.\\n\\nIn certain cases, a sidekick can grow out of their role of second fiddle to the hero and become a hero in their own right. Dick Grayson is one such example, having outgrown the mantle of Robin when he was under Batman and taken up the new identity of Nightwing. Grayson has more recently succeeded his mentor and taken on the costumed identity of Batman himself. Another example is the popular comic-strip soldier of fortune Captain Easy, who started as the two-fisted sidekick of the scrawny eponymous hero of the strip Wash Tubbs.\\n\\nComparisons\\nA villain's supporters are normally called henchmen, minions, or lackeys, not sidekicks. While this is partially a convention in terminology, it also reflects that few villains are capable of bonds of friendship and loyalty, which are normal in the relationship between a hero and sidekick. This may also be due to the different roles in fiction of the protagonist and the antagonist: whereas a sidekick is a relatively important character due to his or her proximity to the protagonist, and so will likely be a developed character, the role of a henchman is to act as cannon-fodder for the hero and his sidekick. As a result, henchmen tend to be anonymous, disposable characters, existing for the sole purpose of illustrating the protagonists' prowess as they defeat them.\\n\\nNevertheless, some villains do have sidekicks, including Lex Luthor's Mercy Graves, the Joker's Harley Quinn, Jigsaw's Amanda, Shao Kahn's Shang Tsung, Shinnok's Quan Chi, Ben Wade's Charlie Prince (from Three-Ten to Yuma), Wario's Waluigi, Dr. Eggman's Orbot and Cubot, and Magneto's Mystique (albeit only in the X-Men live action films).\\n\\nUse in fiction\\nFrodo Baggins's Samwise Gamgee, and Harry Potter's Ron Weasley, as well as the afore-mentioned Sancho Panza and Doctor Watson, are notable sidekicks from fiction.\\n\\nIn fiction, the term \\\"sidekick\\\" commonly refers to assistants to crime-fighting heroes. However, sidekicks do not necessarily accompany a crime-fighter, such as Leporello, Don Giovanni's servant in the 1787 opera. Villains can also have sidekicks, who are usually portrayed as less brilliant or lacking cunning. The sidekick has the literary function of playing against the hero, often contrasting in skill, or performing functions not suited to the hero.\\n\\nThe sidekick was a regular presence in westerns, where Fuzzy Knight, Al \\\"Fuzzy\\\" St. John, Smiley Burnette, and Andy Devine had longer careers than some of the heroic singing cowboys for whom they took pratfalls.\\n\\nIn science fiction the sub-type of the alien sidekick has been established. Examples of alien sidekicks are Mr. Spock (sidekick of Captain James T. Kirk) on Star Trek and Chewbacca (sidekick of Han Solo) in the original Star Wars trilogy. One of the roles of the alien sidekick is to act as a mouthpiece for social commentary on the human condition from an outsider's point of view.\\n\\nHeroic sidekicks such as Streaky the Supercat of Krypto the Superdog, Festus Haggen of Gunsmoke's Matt Dillon, or Gabrielle of Xena: Warrior Princess not only provide comic relief, but can occasionally be brave and/or resourceful and rescue the hero from a dire fate.\\nKalimán, a heroic character depicted on movies, radio theatre and comic books, mentors a young lad named Solín.\\n\\nComic books\\nComic book sidekicks have a long and popular history, dating back to the beginnings of the form. Examples include the Crimson Avenger's sidekick Wing, and Mister America's sidekick Fatman, both of whom debuted in the late 1930s. Other notable comics sidekicks include Ebony White, Jughead, Etta Candy, Captain Haddock, and Obelix.\\n\\nIn 1940 DC Comics introduced comics' first teenage sidekick, Robin the Boy Wonder, created to soften the dark tone of the Batman comics and make the Dark Knight more attractive to younger readers. Robin's instant popularity spawned a host of imitations, including such iconic characters as Bucky, Toro, Sandy the Golden Boy, and Speedy. (Stripesy was the exception to the rule: an adult sidekick to a teen hero, the Star-Spangled Kid. Another unusual sidekick pairing was the Blonde Bomber [a.k.a. Honey Blake], a newsreel camerawoman, chemist, and crime-fighter with a male sidekick named Jimmy Slapso.)\\n\\nThe prevalence of so many adult male superheroes and their teenage \\\"wards\\\" caused some observers to look askance at the trend. Psychologist Fredric Wertham decided that the phenomenon was a landmine of hidden and repressed Freudian issues, and that a sidekick's participation in violent encounters alongside his hero masked a sexual subtext. In 1954, Wertham's book Seduction of the Innocent coincided with Congressional hearings on (among other topics) the negative influence of comic books. For a time, superhero comics lost their popularity, and many teenage sidekicks faded into obscurity. (Rick Veitch's graphic novel Brat Pack, and issues of Alan Moore's Top 10, directly address the seamy, exploitative, and potentially pedophilia-related aspects of the adult hero-teen sidekick relationship.)\\n\\nIn the early 1960s, at the advent of comics' so-called Silver Age, a new round of superhero sidekicks made their debuts, including Rick Jones, Aqualad, Snapper Carr, Kid Flash, and Wonder Girl. Indeed, the original Teen Titans superhero team, appearing in 1964, was composed entirely of sidekicks. (Marvel Comics mostly got around the teen sidekick quandary by creating a selection of super-powered teenagers — heroes in their own right, such as Spider-Man, the second Human Torch, and the X-Men.)\\n\\nMost of the Golden Age and Silver Age sidekicks have subsequently evolved into mature heroes in their own right or have been killed off; and in the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, some new sidekicks have come into being. Certain heroes seem to attract serial sidekicks, notably Batman, Captain America, and The Flash. There have been at least five iterations of Robin; while Captain America has had a diverse array of sidekick successors to Bucky, including the Falcon, Demolition Man, Free Spirit, and Jack Flag.\\n\\nConversely, the character Rick Jones is virtually a \\\"sidekick-for-hire,\\\" having assisted a number of different heroes during his career, starting with the Hulk, moving onto Captain America (when he briefly became the second Bucky), then the first Captain Marvel, Rom Spaceknight, and finally the third Captain Marvel (Genis).\\n\\nIn television\\nTV sidekicks usually play a supporting pivotal role to the star. Examples include Ethel Mertz to Lucy Ricardo (I Love Lucy), Ed Norton to Ralph Kramden (The Honeymooners), Screech Powers to Zack Morris (Saved by the Bell), Major Roger Healey to Major Anthony \\\"Tony\\\" Nelson (I Dream of Jeannie), or even a group of people such as the Sweathogs to Mr. Kotter (Welcome Back, Kotter). Duos of equal importance on TV such as Kate McArdle and Allie Lowell (Kate & Allie), Oscar Madison and Felix Unger (The Odd Couple), Bret Maverick and Bart Maverick (Maverick), or Laverne De Fazio and Shirley Feeney (Laverne & Shirley), are sometimes both called sidekicks to each other, although the usual sense of the term denotes inequality.\\n\\nMany television talk shows make use of a sidekick as a co-host who anchors a show with the main star. Ed McMahon played this role famously to Johnny Carson on the Tonight Show, as did Andy Richter to Conan O'Brien on the Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Tonight Show, and Conan. The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson employed a mechanical robot sidekick named Geoff Peterson (voiced by Josh Robert Thompson).\\n\\nClarence Gilyard informed viewers on a television commercial for Walker Texas Ranger that he was not Chuck Norris's sidekick, instead humorously saying \\\"This is Chuck Norris's sidekick\\\" over footage of Norris kicking a villain.\\n\\nAnimation\\n\\nIn animation, some popular examples are Boo-Boo Bear being Yogi Bear's sidekick, Baba Looey being the sidekick of Quick Draw McGraw, and Stimpy being the sidekick of Ren Höek on The Ren and Stimpy Show.\\n\\nIn the seventh episode of the 1994 animated series The Tick, the heroes take a night to relax at a local superhero nightclub. But when they arrive, Arthur is promptly escorted to the Sidekick Lounge, a small shack behind the club, where he meets several other sidekicks who spend the night lamenting their second-fiddle lot in life.\\n\\nIn video games\\nSome video games have sidekicks who provide assistance to players during their adventures. An early example was Floyd in Planetfall, whom Computer Gaming World in April 1984 described as \\\"unique\\\". A potential example of this is found in the case of the Mario Bros., with Luigi serving in a supporting role to his brother Mario. Sonic the Hedgehog is often accompanied by his sidekick Miles \\\"Tails\\\" Prower, and his would-be girlfriend Amy Rose also has a hero-sidekick relationship with Cream the Rabbit. Diddy Kong is often seen as the sidekick to Donkey Kong, while Mega Man is aided by his robotic dog Rush. However, video game heroes will occasionally work alone-as in the case of Kid Icarus' Pit-or with a team supporting their efforts-as with Fox McCloud-as opposed to a single sidekick.\\n\\nSee also\\n Confidant\\n Henchman\\n Foil (literature)\\n List of comic book sidekicks\\n\\nNotes\\n\\nReferences\\n\\nExternal links\\n\\n\\\"Sidekicks are second bananas no more,\\\" Los Angeles Times\\n\\nPartnerships\\nService occupations\\nStock characters\\nWestern (genre) staples and terminology\"\n]"},"chunked_article":{"kind":"list like","value":["Sandman (Wesley Dodds) is a fictional superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first of several DC characters to bear the name Sandman, he was created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Bert Christman. Attired in a green business suit, a fedora, and a World War I gas mask, the Sandman used a gun emitting a sleeping gas to sedate criminals.","Attired in a green business suit, a fedora, and a World War I gas mask, the Sandman used a gun emitting a sleeping gas to sedate criminals. He was originally one of the mystery men to appear in comic books and other types of adventure fiction in the 1930s but later was outfitted with a unitard/cowl costume and developed into a proper superhero, acquiring sidekick Sandy, and founding the Justice Society of America.","He was originally one of the mystery men to appear in comic books and other types of adventure fiction in the 1930s but later was outfitted with a unitard/cowl costume and developed into a proper superhero, acquiring sidekick Sandy, and founding the Justice Society of America. Like most DC Golden Age superheroes, the Sandman fell into obscurity in the 1940s and eventually other DC characters took his name.","Like most DC Golden Age superheroes, the Sandman fell into obscurity in the 1940s and eventually other DC characters took his name. During the 1990s, when writer Neil Gaiman's Sandman (featuring Morpheus, the anthropomorphic embodiment of dreams) was popular, DC revived Dodds in Sandman Mystery Theatre, a pulp/noir series set in the 1930s. Wizard Magazine ranked Wesley Dodds among the Top 200 Comic Book Characters of All Time, and he is the oldest superhero in terms of continuity to appear on the list.","Wizard Magazine ranked Wesley Dodds among the Top 200 Comic Book Characters of All Time, and he is the oldest superhero in terms of continuity to appear on the list. Publication history Golden Age of comic books Artist Bert Christman and writer Gardner Fox are generally credited as co-creating the original, Wesley Dodds version of the DC Comics character the Sandman.","Publication history Golden Age of comic books Artist Bert Christman and writer Gardner Fox are generally credited as co-creating the original, Wesley Dodds version of the DC Comics character the Sandman. While the character's first appearance is usually given as Adventure Comics #40 (cover-dated July 1939), he also appeared in DC Comics' 1939 New York World's Fair Comics omnibus, which historians believe appeared on newsstands one to two weeks earlier, while also believing the Adventure Comics story was written and drawn first.","While the character's first appearance is usually given as Adventure Comics #40 (cover-dated July 1939), he also appeared in DC Comics' 1939 New York World's Fair Comics omnibus, which historians believe appeared on newsstands one to two weeks earlier, while also believing the Adventure Comics story was written and drawn first. Each of the two stories' scripts were credited to the pseudonym \"Larry Dean\"; Fox wrote the untitled, 10-page story in New York World's Fair #1, while he simply plotted, and Christman scripted, the untitled, six-page story, generally known as \"The Tarantula Strikes\", in Adventure #40.","Each of the two stories' scripts were credited to the pseudonym \"Larry Dean\"; Fox wrote the untitled, 10-page story in New York World's Fair #1, while he simply plotted, and Christman scripted, the untitled, six-page story, generally known as \"The Tarantula Strikes\", in Adventure #40. Creig Flessel, who drew many early Sandman adventures, has sometimes been credited as co-creator on the basis of drawing the Sandman cover of Adventure #40, but no other evidence has surfaced.","Creig Flessel, who drew many early Sandman adventures, has sometimes been credited as co-creator on the basis of drawing the Sandman cover of Adventure #40, but no other evidence has surfaced. Following these two first appearances, the feature \"The Sandman\" continued to appear in the omnibus Adventure Comics through #102 (February–March 1946).","Following these two first appearances, the feature \"The Sandman\" continued to appear in the omnibus Adventure Comics through #102 (February–March 1946). One of the medium's seminal \"mystery men\", as referred to at the time, the Sandman straddled the pulp magazine detective tradition and the emerging superhero tradition by dint of his dual identity and his fanciful, masked attire and weapon: an exotic \"gas gun\" that could compel villains to tell the truth, as well as put them to sleep.","One of the medium's seminal \"mystery men\", as referred to at the time, the Sandman straddled the pulp magazine detective tradition and the emerging superhero tradition by dint of his dual identity and his fanciful, masked attire and weapon: an exotic \"gas gun\" that could compel villains to tell the truth, as well as put them to sleep. Unlike many superheroes, he frequently found himself the victim of gunshot wounds, both in the Golden Age and in stories in DC's modern-day Vertigo imprint, and he would continue fighting in spite of his injuries.","Unlike many superheroes, he frequently found himself the victim of gunshot wounds, both in the Golden Age and in stories in DC's modern-day Vertigo imprint, and he would continue fighting in spite of his injuries. In his early career, Dodds (the character's surname was given as \"Dodd\" in his first four appearances; he became \"Dodds\" in Adventure Comics #44) was frequently aided by his girlfriend, Dian Belmont, who is aware of his dual identity.","In his early career, Dodds (the character's surname was given as \"Dodd\" in his first four appearances; he became \"Dodds\" in Adventure Comics #44) was frequently aided by his girlfriend, Dian Belmont, who is aware of his dual identity. Unlike many superhero love interests, Belmont was often, though not always, portrayed as an equal partner of the Sandman, rather than a damsel in distress.","Unlike many superhero love interests, Belmont was often, though not always, portrayed as an equal partner of the Sandman, rather than a damsel in distress. Later stories would reveal that the two remained together for the duration of their lives, though they never married. The Sandman was one of the original members of the Justice Society of America when that superhero team was introduced in All Star Comics #3, published by All-American Comics, one of the companies that would merge to form DC.","The Sandman was one of the original members of the Justice Society of America when that superhero team was introduced in All Star Comics #3, published by All-American Comics, one of the companies that would merge to form DC. In Adventure Comics #69 (December 1941), Dodds was given a yellow-and-purple costume by writer Mort Weisinger and artist Paul Norris, as well as a yellow-clad kid sidekick, Sandy the Golden Boy, nephew of Dian Belmont.","In Adventure Comics #69 (December 1941), Dodds was given a yellow-and-purple costume by writer Mort Weisinger and artist Paul Norris, as well as a yellow-clad kid sidekick, Sandy the Golden Boy, nephew of Dian Belmont. Later that year, the celebrated team of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby took over this version of the character. In 1942, Dodds enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as an anti-aircraft gunner during World War II.","In 1942, Dodds enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as an anti-aircraft gunner during World War II. Silver Age to Modern Age Reintroduced in the Silver Age in Justice League of America #46 (July 1966), the Sandman made occasional appearances in the annual teamups between that superhero group and the JSA. In 1981 DC began publishing All-Star Squadron, a retelling of the Earth-Two mystery-men during WWII. Although not a main character, Sandman does appear in its pages.","Although not a main character, Sandman does appear in its pages. Of note is issue #18 which gives an explanation of why Dodds changed costumes from the cloak and gas mask to the yellow-and-purple outfit; Dian wore his costume while he was fighting elsewhere and she was killed in a fray. Dodds decided to wear the new costume, of Dian's design, until he could bring himself to wear the original in which she had died.","Dodds decided to wear the new costume, of Dian's design, until he could bring himself to wear the original in which she had died. Later, this explanation would be changed again when Dian Belmont was retconned to have never died, and a new explanation was given: Sandy convinced Dodds to switch to the more colorful costume to gain the support of regular people, who preferred the more traditional superhero look to his older, pulp-themed costume.","Later, this explanation would be changed again when Dian Belmont was retconned to have never died, and a new explanation was given: Sandy convinced Dodds to switch to the more colorful costume to gain the support of regular people, who preferred the more traditional superhero look to his older, pulp-themed costume. An acclaimed film noir-inspired retelling of the original Sandman's adventures, Sandman Mystery Theatre, ran from 1993 to 1998 under DC Comics' Vertigo mature-reader imprint.","An acclaimed film noir-inspired retelling of the original Sandman's adventures, Sandman Mystery Theatre, ran from 1993 to 1998 under DC Comics' Vertigo mature-reader imprint. Although as a whole its continuity within the DC Universe is debatable, several elements of the series – the more nuanced relationship between Dodds and Dian Belmont; the Sandman's appearance (wearing a trench coat and World War I gas mask instead of the cape and the custom-made gas mask); and Dodds' pudgier appearance and wearing of glasses – have been adopted into regular continuity.","Although as a whole its continuity within the DC Universe is debatable, several elements of the series – the more nuanced relationship between Dodds and Dian Belmont; the Sandman's appearance (wearing a trench coat and World War I gas mask instead of the cape and the custom-made gas mask); and Dodds' pudgier appearance and wearing of glasses – have been adopted into regular continuity. The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual.","The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual. The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual. In Sandman Midnight Theatre (1995) a one-shot special by Neil Gaiman (author of the Modern Age supernatural series The Sandman), Matt Wagner (co-author of Sandman Mystery Theatre), and Teddy Kristiansen, depicts an interaction between the two characters, with the original visiting Great Britain and encountering the imprisoned Dream, the protagonist of Gaiman's series.","In Sandman Midnight Theatre (1995) a one-shot special by Neil Gaiman (author of the Modern Age supernatural series The Sandman), Matt Wagner (co-author of Sandman Mystery Theatre), and Teddy Kristiansen, depicts an interaction between the two characters, with the original visiting Great Britain and encountering the imprisoned Dream, the protagonist of Gaiman's series. A minor retcon by Gaiman suggested that Dodds' chosen identity was a result of Dream's absence from the realm the Dreaming, and that Dodds carries an aspect of that mystical realm.","A minor retcon by Gaiman suggested that Dodds' chosen identity was a result of Dream's absence from the realm the Dreaming, and that Dodds carries an aspect of that mystical realm. This explains Dodds' prophetic dreams. Twilight years Dodds is one of a number of Justice Society members who finds themselves in the \"Ragnarok Dimension\" during the early Modern Age of comic books.","Twilight years Dodds is one of a number of Justice Society members who finds themselves in the \"Ragnarok Dimension\" during the early Modern Age of comic books. The Last Days of the Justice Society of America Special (1986) wrote the post-Crisis tale of a time-warped wave of destruction ready to engulf the world. Dodds and his JSA teammates enter into a limbo to engage in an eternal battle that would allow the universe to continue its existence.","Dodds and his JSA teammates enter into a limbo to engage in an eternal battle that would allow the universe to continue its existence. This was later revealed to be a simulation created by Odin, which he intended to give to Dream as a bribe. Dodds, Dream's protege, and Hawkman, the grandfather of Dream's appointed successor are the only JSA members who were seen at that time. This lasted only until 1992 when DC published Armageddon: Inferno.","This lasted only until 1992 when DC published Armageddon: Inferno. This mini-series ended with the JSA members leaving limbo and entering the 'real' world. Justice Society of America (1992–1993) showed how the JSA members handled returning to normal life. For the Sandman, the series depicted him as an old, thin man with a balding scalp and a sharp wit. Starting with issue #1 his physical condition became important as writer Len Strazewski had him suffer a stroke at the first sign of a villainous attack.","Starting with issue #1 his physical condition became important as writer Len Strazewski had him suffer a stroke at the first sign of a villainous attack. Both his age and his physical limitations became a theme writers would use in this character's post-Crisis stories. During Zero Hour, Dodds is returned to his proper age by the Extant.","During Zero Hour, Dodds is returned to his proper age by the Extant. Later, Wesley Dodds is shown as retired and living with Dian Belmont though occasionally coming out of it, most notably in a team-up with Jack Knight, the son of Dodds' JSA teammate Starman. When Dian is diagnosed with a terminal disease, the two travel the world together until her death.","When Dian is diagnosed with a terminal disease, the two travel the world together until her death. Towards the end of his life, Dodds' prophetic dreams alert him to the identity and location of the new Doctor Fate, prompting him to contact the Gray Man, a being created from the residue of others' dreams, as well as his old friend Speed Saunders to instruct them to warn his former teammates about what he has discovered.","Towards the end of his life, Dodds' prophetic dreams alert him to the identity and location of the new Doctor Fate, prompting him to contact the Gray Man, a being created from the residue of others' dreams, as well as his old friend Speed Saunders to instruct them to warn his former teammates about what he has discovered. Waiting on a clifftop, he is subsequently confronted by the powerful villain Mordru, who intends to force Dodds to tell him the identity of the new Doctor Fate, only for Dodds to distract Mordru with his gas-gun long enough to commit suicide by jumping off the cliff rather than allow Mordru to torture him into submission.","Waiting on a clifftop, he is subsequently confronted by the powerful villain Mordru, who intends to force Dodds to tell him the identity of the new Doctor Fate, only for Dodds to distract Mordru with his gas-gun long enough to commit suicide by jumping off the cliff rather than allow Mordru to torture him into submission. His last thoughts were that his final slumber would be free of nightmares as he is reunited with Dian.","His last thoughts were that his final slumber would be free of nightmares as he is reunited with Dian. His youthful but now grown-up sidekick Sandy the Golden Boy becomes known simply as Sand and takes his mentor's place as a member of the Justice Society of America as well as his prophetic dreams. Eventually, he takes the name of Sandman. Sleep of Reason Wesley Dodds makes a comeback via flashback images in the 2006 limited series Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason.","Sleep of Reason Wesley Dodds makes a comeback via flashback images in the 2006 limited series Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason. Blackest Night Dodds is reanimated as a Black Lantern in the \"Blackest Night\" storyline. He and several other fallen JSAers attack the Brownstone, seeking the hearts of the living within. Exodus Noir Dodds appeared in the \"Exodus Noir\" arc of Madame Xanadu in 2010, in a story set in 1940.","Exodus Noir Dodds appeared in the \"Exodus Noir\" arc of Madame Xanadu in 2010, in a story set in 1940. DC Rebirth In the \"Watchmen\" sequel \"Doomsday Clock\", Lois Lane finds a flash-drive at the Daily Planet. It shows her footage of Sandman and the rest of the Justice Society. In the pages of \"Dark Nights: Death Metal\", the Prime-Earth version of Sandman was revealed to be entombed at the Valhalla Cemetery. Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring.","Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring. Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring. Powers and abilities Dodds has prophetic dreams which come to him as cryptic, ambiguous visions of crimes. Originally of unexplained origin, these dreams were later ascribed to an encounter between Dodds and the entity known as Dream via retcon. The visions haunt Dodds, who uses his keen intellect and amateur detective skills to properly interpret them.","The visions haunt Dodds, who uses his keen intellect and amateur detective skills to properly interpret them. He is also a talented chemist and inventor, creating the sand-like substance and the Silicoid Gun ultimately responsible for transforming Sandy the Golden Boy into a Silicon-based life-form. In the early years of his career, Wesley Dodds possesses the strength level of a man who engages in regular exercise, and was a fine hand-to-hand combatant. As he grows older, his strength level diminishes in relative proportion to his age.","As he grows older, his strength level diminishes in relative proportion to his age. As hobbies, Dodds enjoys reading, writing, poetry, origami and philosophy. Through an unknown process, Dodds passes his power of prophetic visions on to his former ward, Sanderson Hawkins upon the moment of his own death.","Through an unknown process, Dodds passes his power of prophetic visions on to his former ward, Sanderson Hawkins upon the moment of his own death. Wesley Dodds' costume consists of a basic green business suit, fedora, a World War I era gas mask, a gas gun, and a specially designed \"wirepoon\" gun, which fires a length of thin, steel cable. The gas mask protects Dodds from the effects of the gas emitted from his gas gun.","The gas mask protects Dodds from the effects of the gas emitted from his gas gun. The gas gun, a handheld device fitted with cartridges containing concentrated sleeping gas, is Wesley Dodds' only known weapon. Pressing the trigger on the gun releases a cloud of green dust rendering all within the Sandman's immediate vicinity unconscious. An upgraded canister dispenser for the gun is provided for him by his close friend and confidante, Lee Travis.","An upgraded canister dispenser for the gun is provided for him by his close friend and confidante, Lee Travis. Dodds is also known to conceal smaller knockout gas capsules in a hollow heel on his shoe. These prove ideal when placed in situations where his gas gun is not readily available. In the early days of his career, the Sandman drives a black 1938 Plymouth coupe. The car is enhanced with various features to aid Dodds in his crusade against crime.","The car is enhanced with various features to aid Dodds in his crusade against crime. Enemies Sandman has an assortment of enemies that he fought: Butcher - A cannibalistic butcher. Doctor Death - Raymond Kessler is a serial killer/swindler who is the boyfriend of Dian Belmont's cousin Lucy. Phantom of the Fair - Gerald Zimmerman is a man who has been torturing and killing homosexual men at the New York World's Fair. Ramulus - A plant-manipulating villain who was also known as Nightshade and Plant Master.","Ramulus - A plant-manipulating villain who was also known as Nightshade and Plant Master. He later appeared as a member of the Monster Society of Evil. Scorpion - Terrence Pritchard is an ad executive who becomes a bullwhip-wielding vigilante. Tarantula - A man who targeted Vivian Dale. There was also a second Tarantula that Sandman fought. This one was Roger Goldman who is a serial killer and the former owner of the Evergood Milk Bottling Company.","This one was Roger Goldman who is a serial killer and the former owner of the Evergood Milk Bottling Company. Other versions Kingdom Come Dodds appears as an infirm old man at the beginning of the graphic novel, plagued with visions of the impending apocalyptic battle between various factions of metahumans. Before his death, he relates his visions, interpreted through passages from the Book of Revelation, to Norman McCay, who later witnesses the events in the company of the Spectre.","Before his death, he relates his visions, interpreted through passages from the Book of Revelation, to Norman McCay, who later witnesses the events in the company of the Spectre. Earth 40 Wesley Dodds meets with The Unholy Three to give information about the Trigger, a device that causes every nuclear reactor in the world to detonate in a nuclear explosion. The Sandman arranges for The Unholy Three to meet with The Lantern, who has information on where the Trigger is located.","The Sandman arranges for The Unholy Three to meet with The Lantern, who has information on where the Trigger is located. Earth 2 In The New 52 (a reboot of DC Comics), a new Earth-2 version of Sandman appears. While he does wear a gas mask and wield a gas gun, he is also equipped with a teleporter. When Washington DC is attacked by Solomon Grundy, Commander Wesley Dodds, along with his Sandmen paramilitary force, is sent to retrieve and save President Lightfoot.","When Washington DC is attacked by Solomon Grundy, Commander Wesley Dodds, along with his Sandmen paramilitary force, is sent to retrieve and save President Lightfoot. They are later assigned by Commander Khan in a special and unofficial mission to infiltrate Terry Sloane's secret facility, where they confront and subdue a mind-controlled Michael Holt. In other media Television Animation Wesley Dodds / Sandman makes a non-speaking appearance in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode \"Crisis: 22,300 Miles Above Earth\".","In other media Television Animation Wesley Dodds / Sandman makes a non-speaking appearance in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode \"Crisis: 22,300 Miles Above Earth\". He is seen with the other members of the Justice Society of America. Sandman makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in the Young Justice episode \"Humanity\". He is shown with the other members of the JSA during a flashback sequence.","He is shown with the other members of the JSA during a flashback sequence. Live-action A character loosely inspired by the Sandman under the pseudonym of Nightshade makes recurring appearances in The Flash (1990), portrayed by Jason Bernard. This version is Dr. Desmond Powell, a 1950s vigilante who retained the Sandman's costume and captured criminals using a knockout gun and tranquilizer darts. After retiring as a vigilante after he defeated \"The Ghost\" in 1955, he later became a doctor and Chief of Staff at Central City Hospital.","After retiring as a vigilante after he defeated \"The Ghost\" in 1955, he later became a doctor and Chief of Staff at Central City Hospital. When the Ghost reappears in 1990, Powell becomes Nightshade once again and teams up with the Flash to apprehend his old enemy. He later unknowingly inspires the Deadly Nightshade. Powell is framed for multiple counts of murder, but clears his name and captures the impostor. He also makes his secret identity public and becomes a celebrity.","He also makes his secret identity public and becomes a celebrity. Wesley Dodds appeared in the Smallville two-hour special episode \"Absolute Justice\", portrayed by Ken Lawson. This version was a member of the now-disbanded Justice Society of America. After having a nightmare about losing his teammate, the Star-Spangled Kid, Dodds is killed by Icicle II. His body was later found by Clark Kent. Sandman's helmet appears in Rip Hunter's office in Legends of Tomorrow. Sandman appears in the series Stargirl.","Sandman appears in the series Stargirl. Sandman appears in the series Stargirl. He appears as a member of the Justice Society of America before the team was attacked and killed by the Injustice Society, with Dodds in particular being killed by Icicle. Film An alternate universe version of Sandman makes a cameo appearance in the animated film Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths. This version is a minor member of the Crime Syndicate of America. An alternate timeline version of Sandman appears in the animated film Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox.","An alternate timeline version of Sandman appears in the animated film Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox. This version is one of the few active superheroes in the dystopian \"Flashpoint\" timeline. Video games Wesley Dodds' costume appears in the background of the Hall of Justice in the video game Injustice: Gods Among Us. Web series Sandman makes a minor appearance in the DC Super Hero Girls episode \"Welcome to Super Hero High\". He appears as a graduate of the titular school.","He appears as a graduate of the titular school. He appears as a graduate of the titular school. Collected editions The Golden Age Sandman Archive Vol. 1 (Sandman stories from New York World's Fair Comics #1–2 and Adventure Comics #40–59) by Bert Christman and others.","1 (Sandman stories from New York World's Fair Comics #1–2 and Adventure Comics #40–59) by Bert Christman and others. Sandman by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby (World's Finest #6–7; Adventure Comics #72–102; Sandman #1) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 1: The Tarantula (Sandman Mystery Theatre #1–4) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 2: The Face and The Brute (Sandman Mystery Theatre #5–12) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 3: The Vamp (Sandman Mystery Theatre #13–16) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 4: The Scorpion (Sandman Mystery Theatre #17–20) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 5: Dr. Death and The Night of the Butcher (Sandman Mystery Theatre #21–28) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 6: The Hourman and The Python (Sandman Mystery Theatre #29–36) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 7: The Mist and The Phantom of the Fair (Sandman Mystery Theatre #37–44) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 8: The Blackhawk and The Return of the Scarlet Ghost (Sandman Mystery Theatre #45–52) Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason (Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason #1–5) References External links JSA Fact File: The Sandman Earth-2 Sandman Index] Sequart.com: \"The Sandman — Interlude: Sandman Mystery Theatre (1993–1998)\", by Julian Darius Characters created by Allen Bert Christman Characters created by Gardner Fox Comics characters introduced in 1939 DC Comics male superheroes Earth-Two Fictional businesspeople Fictional characters with precognition Fictional detectives Fictional scientists Fictional socialites Golden Age superheroes Jewish superheroes Sandman Vigilante characters in comics"],"string":"[\n \"Sandman (Wesley Dodds) is a fictional superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first of several DC characters to bear the name Sandman, he was created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Bert Christman. Attired in a green business suit, a fedora, and a World War I gas mask, the Sandman used a gun emitting a sleeping gas to sedate criminals.\",\n \"Attired in a green business suit, a fedora, and a World War I gas mask, the Sandman used a gun emitting a sleeping gas to sedate criminals. He was originally one of the mystery men to appear in comic books and other types of adventure fiction in the 1930s but later was outfitted with a unitard/cowl costume and developed into a proper superhero, acquiring sidekick Sandy, and founding the Justice Society of America.\",\n \"He was originally one of the mystery men to appear in comic books and other types of adventure fiction in the 1930s but later was outfitted with a unitard/cowl costume and developed into a proper superhero, acquiring sidekick Sandy, and founding the Justice Society of America. Like most DC Golden Age superheroes, the Sandman fell into obscurity in the 1940s and eventually other DC characters took his name.\",\n \"Like most DC Golden Age superheroes, the Sandman fell into obscurity in the 1940s and eventually other DC characters took his name. During the 1990s, when writer Neil Gaiman's Sandman (featuring Morpheus, the anthropomorphic embodiment of dreams) was popular, DC revived Dodds in Sandman Mystery Theatre, a pulp/noir series set in the 1930s. Wizard Magazine ranked Wesley Dodds among the Top 200 Comic Book Characters of All Time, and he is the oldest superhero in terms of continuity to appear on the list.\",\n \"Wizard Magazine ranked Wesley Dodds among the Top 200 Comic Book Characters of All Time, and he is the oldest superhero in terms of continuity to appear on the list. Publication history Golden Age of comic books Artist Bert Christman and writer Gardner Fox are generally credited as co-creating the original, Wesley Dodds version of the DC Comics character the Sandman.\",\n \"Publication history Golden Age of comic books Artist Bert Christman and writer Gardner Fox are generally credited as co-creating the original, Wesley Dodds version of the DC Comics character the Sandman. While the character's first appearance is usually given as Adventure Comics #40 (cover-dated July 1939), he also appeared in DC Comics' 1939 New York World's Fair Comics omnibus, which historians believe appeared on newsstands one to two weeks earlier, while also believing the Adventure Comics story was written and drawn first.\",\n \"While the character's first appearance is usually given as Adventure Comics #40 (cover-dated July 1939), he also appeared in DC Comics' 1939 New York World's Fair Comics omnibus, which historians believe appeared on newsstands one to two weeks earlier, while also believing the Adventure Comics story was written and drawn first. Each of the two stories' scripts were credited to the pseudonym \\\"Larry Dean\\\"; Fox wrote the untitled, 10-page story in New York World's Fair #1, while he simply plotted, and Christman scripted, the untitled, six-page story, generally known as \\\"The Tarantula Strikes\\\", in Adventure #40.\",\n \"Each of the two stories' scripts were credited to the pseudonym \\\"Larry Dean\\\"; Fox wrote the untitled, 10-page story in New York World's Fair #1, while he simply plotted, and Christman scripted, the untitled, six-page story, generally known as \\\"The Tarantula Strikes\\\", in Adventure #40. Creig Flessel, who drew many early Sandman adventures, has sometimes been credited as co-creator on the basis of drawing the Sandman cover of Adventure #40, but no other evidence has surfaced.\",\n \"Creig Flessel, who drew many early Sandman adventures, has sometimes been credited as co-creator on the basis of drawing the Sandman cover of Adventure #40, but no other evidence has surfaced. Following these two first appearances, the feature \\\"The Sandman\\\" continued to appear in the omnibus Adventure Comics through #102 (February–March 1946).\",\n \"Following these two first appearances, the feature \\\"The Sandman\\\" continued to appear in the omnibus Adventure Comics through #102 (February–March 1946). One of the medium's seminal \\\"mystery men\\\", as referred to at the time, the Sandman straddled the pulp magazine detective tradition and the emerging superhero tradition by dint of his dual identity and his fanciful, masked attire and weapon: an exotic \\\"gas gun\\\" that could compel villains to tell the truth, as well as put them to sleep.\",\n \"One of the medium's seminal \\\"mystery men\\\", as referred to at the time, the Sandman straddled the pulp magazine detective tradition and the emerging superhero tradition by dint of his dual identity and his fanciful, masked attire and weapon: an exotic \\\"gas gun\\\" that could compel villains to tell the truth, as well as put them to sleep. Unlike many superheroes, he frequently found himself the victim of gunshot wounds, both in the Golden Age and in stories in DC's modern-day Vertigo imprint, and he would continue fighting in spite of his injuries.\",\n \"Unlike many superheroes, he frequently found himself the victim of gunshot wounds, both in the Golden Age and in stories in DC's modern-day Vertigo imprint, and he would continue fighting in spite of his injuries. In his early career, Dodds (the character's surname was given as \\\"Dodd\\\" in his first four appearances; he became \\\"Dodds\\\" in Adventure Comics #44) was frequently aided by his girlfriend, Dian Belmont, who is aware of his dual identity.\",\n \"In his early career, Dodds (the character's surname was given as \\\"Dodd\\\" in his first four appearances; he became \\\"Dodds\\\" in Adventure Comics #44) was frequently aided by his girlfriend, Dian Belmont, who is aware of his dual identity. Unlike many superhero love interests, Belmont was often, though not always, portrayed as an equal partner of the Sandman, rather than a damsel in distress.\",\n \"Unlike many superhero love interests, Belmont was often, though not always, portrayed as an equal partner of the Sandman, rather than a damsel in distress. Later stories would reveal that the two remained together for the duration of their lives, though they never married. The Sandman was one of the original members of the Justice Society of America when that superhero team was introduced in All Star Comics #3, published by All-American Comics, one of the companies that would merge to form DC.\",\n \"The Sandman was one of the original members of the Justice Society of America when that superhero team was introduced in All Star Comics #3, published by All-American Comics, one of the companies that would merge to form DC. In Adventure Comics #69 (December 1941), Dodds was given a yellow-and-purple costume by writer Mort Weisinger and artist Paul Norris, as well as a yellow-clad kid sidekick, Sandy the Golden Boy, nephew of Dian Belmont.\",\n \"In Adventure Comics #69 (December 1941), Dodds was given a yellow-and-purple costume by writer Mort Weisinger and artist Paul Norris, as well as a yellow-clad kid sidekick, Sandy the Golden Boy, nephew of Dian Belmont. Later that year, the celebrated team of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby took over this version of the character. In 1942, Dodds enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as an anti-aircraft gunner during World War II.\",\n \"In 1942, Dodds enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as an anti-aircraft gunner during World War II. Silver Age to Modern Age Reintroduced in the Silver Age in Justice League of America #46 (July 1966), the Sandman made occasional appearances in the annual teamups between that superhero group and the JSA. In 1981 DC began publishing All-Star Squadron, a retelling of the Earth-Two mystery-men during WWII. Although not a main character, Sandman does appear in its pages.\",\n \"Although not a main character, Sandman does appear in its pages. Of note is issue #18 which gives an explanation of why Dodds changed costumes from the cloak and gas mask to the yellow-and-purple outfit; Dian wore his costume while he was fighting elsewhere and she was killed in a fray. Dodds decided to wear the new costume, of Dian's design, until he could bring himself to wear the original in which she had died.\",\n \"Dodds decided to wear the new costume, of Dian's design, until he could bring himself to wear the original in which she had died. Later, this explanation would be changed again when Dian Belmont was retconned to have never died, and a new explanation was given: Sandy convinced Dodds to switch to the more colorful costume to gain the support of regular people, who preferred the more traditional superhero look to his older, pulp-themed costume.\",\n \"Later, this explanation would be changed again when Dian Belmont was retconned to have never died, and a new explanation was given: Sandy convinced Dodds to switch to the more colorful costume to gain the support of regular people, who preferred the more traditional superhero look to his older, pulp-themed costume. An acclaimed film noir-inspired retelling of the original Sandman's adventures, Sandman Mystery Theatre, ran from 1993 to 1998 under DC Comics' Vertigo mature-reader imprint.\",\n \"An acclaimed film noir-inspired retelling of the original Sandman's adventures, Sandman Mystery Theatre, ran from 1993 to 1998 under DC Comics' Vertigo mature-reader imprint. Although as a whole its continuity within the DC Universe is debatable, several elements of the series – the more nuanced relationship between Dodds and Dian Belmont; the Sandman's appearance (wearing a trench coat and World War I gas mask instead of the cape and the custom-made gas mask); and Dodds' pudgier appearance and wearing of glasses – have been adopted into regular continuity.\",\n \"Although as a whole its continuity within the DC Universe is debatable, several elements of the series – the more nuanced relationship between Dodds and Dian Belmont; the Sandman's appearance (wearing a trench coat and World War I gas mask instead of the cape and the custom-made gas mask); and Dodds' pudgier appearance and wearing of glasses – have been adopted into regular continuity. The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual.\",\n \"The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual. The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual. In Sandman Midnight Theatre (1995) a one-shot special by Neil Gaiman (author of the Modern Age supernatural series The Sandman), Matt Wagner (co-author of Sandman Mystery Theatre), and Teddy Kristiansen, depicts an interaction between the two characters, with the original visiting Great Britain and encountering the imprisoned Dream, the protagonist of Gaiman's series.\",\n \"In Sandman Midnight Theatre (1995) a one-shot special by Neil Gaiman (author of the Modern Age supernatural series The Sandman), Matt Wagner (co-author of Sandman Mystery Theatre), and Teddy Kristiansen, depicts an interaction between the two characters, with the original visiting Great Britain and encountering the imprisoned Dream, the protagonist of Gaiman's series. A minor retcon by Gaiman suggested that Dodds' chosen identity was a result of Dream's absence from the realm the Dreaming, and that Dodds carries an aspect of that mystical realm.\",\n \"A minor retcon by Gaiman suggested that Dodds' chosen identity was a result of Dream's absence from the realm the Dreaming, and that Dodds carries an aspect of that mystical realm. This explains Dodds' prophetic dreams. Twilight years Dodds is one of a number of Justice Society members who finds themselves in the \\\"Ragnarok Dimension\\\" during the early Modern Age of comic books.\",\n \"Twilight years Dodds is one of a number of Justice Society members who finds themselves in the \\\"Ragnarok Dimension\\\" during the early Modern Age of comic books. The Last Days of the Justice Society of America Special (1986) wrote the post-Crisis tale of a time-warped wave of destruction ready to engulf the world. Dodds and his JSA teammates enter into a limbo to engage in an eternal battle that would allow the universe to continue its existence.\",\n \"Dodds and his JSA teammates enter into a limbo to engage in an eternal battle that would allow the universe to continue its existence. This was later revealed to be a simulation created by Odin, which he intended to give to Dream as a bribe. Dodds, Dream's protege, and Hawkman, the grandfather of Dream's appointed successor are the only JSA members who were seen at that time. This lasted only until 1992 when DC published Armageddon: Inferno.\",\n \"This lasted only until 1992 when DC published Armageddon: Inferno. This mini-series ended with the JSA members leaving limbo and entering the 'real' world. Justice Society of America (1992–1993) showed how the JSA members handled returning to normal life. For the Sandman, the series depicted him as an old, thin man with a balding scalp and a sharp wit. Starting with issue #1 his physical condition became important as writer Len Strazewski had him suffer a stroke at the first sign of a villainous attack.\",\n \"Starting with issue #1 his physical condition became important as writer Len Strazewski had him suffer a stroke at the first sign of a villainous attack. Both his age and his physical limitations became a theme writers would use in this character's post-Crisis stories. During Zero Hour, Dodds is returned to his proper age by the Extant.\",\n \"During Zero Hour, Dodds is returned to his proper age by the Extant. Later, Wesley Dodds is shown as retired and living with Dian Belmont though occasionally coming out of it, most notably in a team-up with Jack Knight, the son of Dodds' JSA teammate Starman. When Dian is diagnosed with a terminal disease, the two travel the world together until her death.\",\n \"When Dian is diagnosed with a terminal disease, the two travel the world together until her death. Towards the end of his life, Dodds' prophetic dreams alert him to the identity and location of the new Doctor Fate, prompting him to contact the Gray Man, a being created from the residue of others' dreams, as well as his old friend Speed Saunders to instruct them to warn his former teammates about what he has discovered.\",\n \"Towards the end of his life, Dodds' prophetic dreams alert him to the identity and location of the new Doctor Fate, prompting him to contact the Gray Man, a being created from the residue of others' dreams, as well as his old friend Speed Saunders to instruct them to warn his former teammates about what he has discovered. Waiting on a clifftop, he is subsequently confronted by the powerful villain Mordru, who intends to force Dodds to tell him the identity of the new Doctor Fate, only for Dodds to distract Mordru with his gas-gun long enough to commit suicide by jumping off the cliff rather than allow Mordru to torture him into submission.\",\n \"Waiting on a clifftop, he is subsequently confronted by the powerful villain Mordru, who intends to force Dodds to tell him the identity of the new Doctor Fate, only for Dodds to distract Mordru with his gas-gun long enough to commit suicide by jumping off the cliff rather than allow Mordru to torture him into submission. His last thoughts were that his final slumber would be free of nightmares as he is reunited with Dian.\",\n \"His last thoughts were that his final slumber would be free of nightmares as he is reunited with Dian. His youthful but now grown-up sidekick Sandy the Golden Boy becomes known simply as Sand and takes his mentor's place as a member of the Justice Society of America as well as his prophetic dreams. Eventually, he takes the name of Sandman. Sleep of Reason Wesley Dodds makes a comeback via flashback images in the 2006 limited series Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason.\",\n \"Sleep of Reason Wesley Dodds makes a comeback via flashback images in the 2006 limited series Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason. Blackest Night Dodds is reanimated as a Black Lantern in the \\\"Blackest Night\\\" storyline. He and several other fallen JSAers attack the Brownstone, seeking the hearts of the living within. Exodus Noir Dodds appeared in the \\\"Exodus Noir\\\" arc of Madame Xanadu in 2010, in a story set in 1940.\",\n \"Exodus Noir Dodds appeared in the \\\"Exodus Noir\\\" arc of Madame Xanadu in 2010, in a story set in 1940. DC Rebirth In the \\\"Watchmen\\\" sequel \\\"Doomsday Clock\\\", Lois Lane finds a flash-drive at the Daily Planet. It shows her footage of Sandman and the rest of the Justice Society. In the pages of \\\"Dark Nights: Death Metal\\\", the Prime-Earth version of Sandman was revealed to be entombed at the Valhalla Cemetery. Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring.\",\n \"Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring. Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring. Powers and abilities Dodds has prophetic dreams which come to him as cryptic, ambiguous visions of crimes. Originally of unexplained origin, these dreams were later ascribed to an encounter between Dodds and the entity known as Dream via retcon. The visions haunt Dodds, who uses his keen intellect and amateur detective skills to properly interpret them.\",\n \"The visions haunt Dodds, who uses his keen intellect and amateur detective skills to properly interpret them. He is also a talented chemist and inventor, creating the sand-like substance and the Silicoid Gun ultimately responsible for transforming Sandy the Golden Boy into a Silicon-based life-form. In the early years of his career, Wesley Dodds possesses the strength level of a man who engages in regular exercise, and was a fine hand-to-hand combatant. As he grows older, his strength level diminishes in relative proportion to his age.\",\n \"As he grows older, his strength level diminishes in relative proportion to his age. As hobbies, Dodds enjoys reading, writing, poetry, origami and philosophy. Through an unknown process, Dodds passes his power of prophetic visions on to his former ward, Sanderson Hawkins upon the moment of his own death.\",\n \"Through an unknown process, Dodds passes his power of prophetic visions on to his former ward, Sanderson Hawkins upon the moment of his own death. Wesley Dodds' costume consists of a basic green business suit, fedora, a World War I era gas mask, a gas gun, and a specially designed \\\"wirepoon\\\" gun, which fires a length of thin, steel cable. The gas mask protects Dodds from the effects of the gas emitted from his gas gun.\",\n \"The gas mask protects Dodds from the effects of the gas emitted from his gas gun. The gas gun, a handheld device fitted with cartridges containing concentrated sleeping gas, is Wesley Dodds' only known weapon. Pressing the trigger on the gun releases a cloud of green dust rendering all within the Sandman's immediate vicinity unconscious. An upgraded canister dispenser for the gun is provided for him by his close friend and confidante, Lee Travis.\",\n \"An upgraded canister dispenser for the gun is provided for him by his close friend and confidante, Lee Travis. Dodds is also known to conceal smaller knockout gas capsules in a hollow heel on his shoe. These prove ideal when placed in situations where his gas gun is not readily available. In the early days of his career, the Sandman drives a black 1938 Plymouth coupe. The car is enhanced with various features to aid Dodds in his crusade against crime.\",\n \"The car is enhanced with various features to aid Dodds in his crusade against crime. Enemies Sandman has an assortment of enemies that he fought: Butcher - A cannibalistic butcher. Doctor Death - Raymond Kessler is a serial killer/swindler who is the boyfriend of Dian Belmont's cousin Lucy. Phantom of the Fair - Gerald Zimmerman is a man who has been torturing and killing homosexual men at the New York World's Fair. Ramulus - A plant-manipulating villain who was also known as Nightshade and Plant Master.\",\n \"Ramulus - A plant-manipulating villain who was also known as Nightshade and Plant Master. He later appeared as a member of the Monster Society of Evil. Scorpion - Terrence Pritchard is an ad executive who becomes a bullwhip-wielding vigilante. Tarantula - A man who targeted Vivian Dale. There was also a second Tarantula that Sandman fought. This one was Roger Goldman who is a serial killer and the former owner of the Evergood Milk Bottling Company.\",\n \"This one was Roger Goldman who is a serial killer and the former owner of the Evergood Milk Bottling Company. Other versions Kingdom Come Dodds appears as an infirm old man at the beginning of the graphic novel, plagued with visions of the impending apocalyptic battle between various factions of metahumans. Before his death, he relates his visions, interpreted through passages from the Book of Revelation, to Norman McCay, who later witnesses the events in the company of the Spectre.\",\n \"Before his death, he relates his visions, interpreted through passages from the Book of Revelation, to Norman McCay, who later witnesses the events in the company of the Spectre. Earth 40 Wesley Dodds meets with The Unholy Three to give information about the Trigger, a device that causes every nuclear reactor in the world to detonate in a nuclear explosion. The Sandman arranges for The Unholy Three to meet with The Lantern, who has information on where the Trigger is located.\",\n \"The Sandman arranges for The Unholy Three to meet with The Lantern, who has information on where the Trigger is located. Earth 2 In The New 52 (a reboot of DC Comics), a new Earth-2 version of Sandman appears. While he does wear a gas mask and wield a gas gun, he is also equipped with a teleporter. When Washington DC is attacked by Solomon Grundy, Commander Wesley Dodds, along with his Sandmen paramilitary force, is sent to retrieve and save President Lightfoot.\",\n \"When Washington DC is attacked by Solomon Grundy, Commander Wesley Dodds, along with his Sandmen paramilitary force, is sent to retrieve and save President Lightfoot. They are later assigned by Commander Khan in a special and unofficial mission to infiltrate Terry Sloane's secret facility, where they confront and subdue a mind-controlled Michael Holt. In other media Television Animation Wesley Dodds / Sandman makes a non-speaking appearance in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode \\\"Crisis: 22,300 Miles Above Earth\\\".\",\n \"In other media Television Animation Wesley Dodds / Sandman makes a non-speaking appearance in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode \\\"Crisis: 22,300 Miles Above Earth\\\". He is seen with the other members of the Justice Society of America. Sandman makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in the Young Justice episode \\\"Humanity\\\". He is shown with the other members of the JSA during a flashback sequence.\",\n \"He is shown with the other members of the JSA during a flashback sequence. Live-action A character loosely inspired by the Sandman under the pseudonym of Nightshade makes recurring appearances in The Flash (1990), portrayed by Jason Bernard. This version is Dr. Desmond Powell, a 1950s vigilante who retained the Sandman's costume and captured criminals using a knockout gun and tranquilizer darts. After retiring as a vigilante after he defeated \\\"The Ghost\\\" in 1955, he later became a doctor and Chief of Staff at Central City Hospital.\",\n \"After retiring as a vigilante after he defeated \\\"The Ghost\\\" in 1955, he later became a doctor and Chief of Staff at Central City Hospital. When the Ghost reappears in 1990, Powell becomes Nightshade once again and teams up with the Flash to apprehend his old enemy. He later unknowingly inspires the Deadly Nightshade. Powell is framed for multiple counts of murder, but clears his name and captures the impostor. He also makes his secret identity public and becomes a celebrity.\",\n \"He also makes his secret identity public and becomes a celebrity. Wesley Dodds appeared in the Smallville two-hour special episode \\\"Absolute Justice\\\", portrayed by Ken Lawson. This version was a member of the now-disbanded Justice Society of America. After having a nightmare about losing his teammate, the Star-Spangled Kid, Dodds is killed by Icicle II. His body was later found by Clark Kent. Sandman's helmet appears in Rip Hunter's office in Legends of Tomorrow. Sandman appears in the series Stargirl.\",\n \"Sandman appears in the series Stargirl. Sandman appears in the series Stargirl. He appears as a member of the Justice Society of America before the team was attacked and killed by the Injustice Society, with Dodds in particular being killed by Icicle. Film An alternate universe version of Sandman makes a cameo appearance in the animated film Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths. This version is a minor member of the Crime Syndicate of America. An alternate timeline version of Sandman appears in the animated film Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox.\",\n \"An alternate timeline version of Sandman appears in the animated film Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox. This version is one of the few active superheroes in the dystopian \\\"Flashpoint\\\" timeline. Video games Wesley Dodds' costume appears in the background of the Hall of Justice in the video game Injustice: Gods Among Us. Web series Sandman makes a minor appearance in the DC Super Hero Girls episode \\\"Welcome to Super Hero High\\\". He appears as a graduate of the titular school.\",\n \"He appears as a graduate of the titular school. He appears as a graduate of the titular school. Collected editions The Golden Age Sandman Archive Vol. 1 (Sandman stories from New York World's Fair Comics #1–2 and Adventure Comics #40–59) by Bert Christman and others.\",\n \"1 (Sandman stories from New York World's Fair Comics #1–2 and Adventure Comics #40–59) by Bert Christman and others. Sandman by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby (World's Finest #6–7; Adventure Comics #72–102; Sandman #1) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 1: The Tarantula (Sandman Mystery Theatre #1–4) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 2: The Face and The Brute (Sandman Mystery Theatre #5–12) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 3: The Vamp (Sandman Mystery Theatre #13–16) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 4: The Scorpion (Sandman Mystery Theatre #17–20) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 5: Dr. Death and The Night of the Butcher (Sandman Mystery Theatre #21–28) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 6: The Hourman and The Python (Sandman Mystery Theatre #29–36) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 7: The Mist and The Phantom of the Fair (Sandman Mystery Theatre #37–44) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 8: The Blackhawk and The Return of the Scarlet Ghost (Sandman Mystery Theatre #45–52) Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason (Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason #1–5) References External links JSA Fact File: The Sandman Earth-2 Sandman Index] Sequart.com: \\\"The Sandman — Interlude: Sandman Mystery Theatre (1993–1998)\\\", by Julian Darius Characters created by Allen Bert Christman Characters created by Gardner Fox Comics characters introduced in 1939 DC Comics male superheroes Earth-Two Fictional businesspeople Fictional characters with precognition Fictional detectives Fictional scientists Fictional socialites Golden Age superheroes Jewish superheroes Sandman Vigilante characters in comics\"\n]"}}},{"rowIdx":386,"cells":{"History":{"kind":"list like","value":["Sandman (Wesley Dodds)","Powers and abilities","What are his special abilities?","Dodds has prophetic dreams which come to him as cryptic, ambiguous visions of crimes.","Is he able to fight the criminals?","These prove ideal when placed in situations where his gas gun is not readily available.","What does he do with the gas gun?","Pressing the trigger on the gun releases a cloud of green dust rendering all within the Sandman's immediate vicinity unconscious.","Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?","In the early days of his career, the Sandman drives a black 1938 Plymouth Coupe.","Did he have a sidekick?","Sandy the Golden Boy into a Silicon-based life-form.","Does he have any other powers?","Wes is also known to conceal smaller knockout gas capsules in a hollow heel on his shoe.","What else is he notable for?","He also makes use of a specially designed \"wirepoon\" gun, which fires a length of thin, steel cable."],"string":"[\n \"Sandman (Wesley Dodds)\",\n \"Powers and abilities\",\n \"What are his special abilities?\",\n \"Dodds has prophetic dreams which come to him as cryptic, ambiguous visions of crimes.\",\n \"Is he able to fight the criminals?\",\n \"These prove ideal when placed in situations where his gas gun is not readily available.\",\n \"What does he do with the gas gun?\",\n \"Pressing the trigger on the gun releases a cloud of green dust rendering all within the Sandman's immediate vicinity unconscious.\",\n \"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?\",\n \"In the early days of his career, the Sandman drives a black 1938 Plymouth Coupe.\",\n \"Did he have a sidekick?\",\n \"Sandy the Golden Boy into a Silicon-based life-form.\",\n \"Does he have any other powers?\",\n \"Wes is also known to conceal smaller knockout gas capsules in a hollow heel on his shoe.\",\n \"What else is he notable for?\",\n \"He also makes use of a specially designed \\\"wirepoon\\\" gun, which fires a length of thin, steel cable.\"\n]"},"QuAC_dialog_id":{"kind":"string","value":"C_66c8684ed1f04066a6bfcf6cee925937_0"},"Question":{"kind":"string","value":"Does he have any weaknesses?"},"Question_no":{"kind":"number","value":8,"string":"8"},"Rewrite":{"kind":"string","value":"Does Wesley Dodds have any weaknesses?"},"true_page_title":{"kind":"string","value":"Sandman (Wesley Dodds)"},"true_contexts":{"kind":"string","value":"Dodds has prophetic dreams which come to him as cryptic, ambiguous visions of crimes. Originally of unexplained origin, these dreams were later ascribed to encounter between Dodds and the entity known as Dream via retcon. The visions haunt Wes, who uses his keen intellect and amateur detective skills to properly interpret them. He is also a talented chemist and inventor, creating the sand-like substance and the Silicoid Gun ultimately responsible for transforming Sandy the Golden Boy into a Silicon-based life-form. In the early years of his career, Wesley Dodds possesses the strength level of a man who engages in regular exercise, and was a fine hand-to-hand combatant. As he grows older, his strength level diminishes in relative proportion to his age. As hobbies, Wes enjoys reading, writing, poetry, origami and philosophy. Through an unknown process, Wes passes his power of prophetic visions on to his former ward, Sanderson Hawkins upon the moment of his own death. Wesley Dodds' costume consists of a basic green business suit, fedora, a World War I era gas mask, a gas gun, and a wire gun. The gas mask protects Dodds from the effects of the gas emitted from his gas gun. The gas gun, a handheld device fitted with cartridges containing concentrated sleeping gas, is Wesley Dodds' only known weapon. Pressing the trigger on the gun releases a cloud of green dust rendering all within the Sandman's immediate vicinity unconscious. An upgraded canister dispenser for the gun is provided for him by his close friend and confidante, Lee Travis. Wes is also known to conceal smaller knockout gas capsules in a hollow heel on his shoe. These prove ideal when placed in situations where his gas gun is not readily available. He also makes use of a specially designed \"wirepoon\" gun, which fires a length of thin, steel cable. In the early days of his career, the Sandman drives a black 1938 Plymouth Coupe. The car is enhanced with various features to aid Wes in his crusade against crime. CANNOTANSWER"},"answer":{"kind":"string","value":"Wesley Dodds possesses the strength level of a man who engages in regular exercise,"},"true_contexts_wiki":{"kind":"string","value":"Sandman (Wesley Dodds) is a fictional superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first of several DC characters to bear the name Sandman, he was created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Bert Christman. Attired in a green business suit, a fedora, and a World War I gas mask, the Sandman used a gun emitting a sleeping gas to sedate criminals. He was originally one of the mystery men to appear in comic books and other types of adventure fiction in the 1930s but later was outfitted with a unitard/cowl costume and developed into a proper superhero, acquiring sidekick Sandy, and founding the Justice Society of America.\n\nLike most DC Golden Age superheroes, the Sandman fell into obscurity in the 1940s and eventually other DC characters took his name. During the 1990s, when writer Neil Gaiman's Sandman (featuring Morpheus, the anthropomorphic embodiment of dreams) was popular, DC revived Dodds in Sandman Mystery Theatre, a pulp/noir series set in the 1930s. Wizard Magazine ranked Wesley Dodds among the Top 200 Comic Book Characters of All Time, and he is the oldest superhero in terms of continuity to appear on the list.\n\nPublication history\n\nGolden Age of comic books\nArtist Bert Christman and writer Gardner Fox are generally credited as co-creating the original, Wesley Dodds version of the DC Comics character the Sandman. While the character's first appearance is usually given as Adventure Comics #40 (cover-dated July 1939), he also appeared in DC Comics' 1939 New York World's Fair Comics omnibus, which historians believe appeared on newsstands one to two weeks earlier, while also believing the Adventure Comics story was written and drawn first. Each of the two stories' scripts were credited to the pseudonym \"Larry Dean\"; Fox wrote the untitled, 10-page story in New York World's Fair #1, while he simply plotted, and Christman scripted, the untitled, six-page story, generally known as \"The Tarantula Strikes\", in Adventure #40. Creig Flessel, who drew many early Sandman adventures, has sometimes been credited as co-creator on the basis of drawing the Sandman cover of Adventure #40, but no other evidence has surfaced.\n\nFollowing these two first appearances, the feature \"The Sandman\" continued to appear in the omnibus Adventure Comics through #102 (February–March 1946). One of the medium's seminal \"mystery men\", as referred to at the time, the Sandman straddled the pulp magazine detective tradition and the emerging superhero tradition by dint of his dual identity and his fanciful, masked attire and weapon: an exotic \"gas gun\" that could compel villains to tell the truth, as well as put them to sleep. Unlike many superheroes, he frequently found himself the victim of gunshot wounds, both in the Golden Age and in stories in DC's modern-day Vertigo imprint, and he would continue fighting in spite of his injuries.\n\nIn his early career, Dodds (the character's surname was given as \"Dodd\" in his first four appearances; he became \"Dodds\" in Adventure Comics #44) was frequently aided by his girlfriend, Dian Belmont, who is aware of his dual identity. Unlike many superhero love interests, Belmont was often, though not always, portrayed as an equal partner of the Sandman, rather than a damsel in distress. Later stories would reveal that the two remained together for the duration of their lives, though they never married.\n\nThe Sandman was one of the original members of the Justice Society of America when that superhero team was introduced in All Star Comics #3, published by All-American Comics, one of the companies that would merge to form DC.\n\nIn Adventure Comics #69 (December 1941), Dodds was given a yellow-and-purple costume by writer Mort Weisinger and artist Paul Norris, as well as a yellow-clad kid sidekick, Sandy the Golden Boy, nephew of Dian Belmont. Later that year, the celebrated team of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby took over this version of the character. In 1942, Dodds enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as an anti-aircraft gunner during World War II.\n\nSilver Age to Modern Age\n\nReintroduced in the Silver Age in Justice League of America #46 (July 1966), the Sandman made occasional appearances in the annual teamups between that superhero group and the JSA.\n\nIn 1981 DC began publishing All-Star Squadron, a retelling of the Earth-Two mystery-men during WWII. Although not a main character, Sandman does appear in its pages. Of note is issue #18 which gives an explanation of why Dodds changed costumes from the cloak and gas mask to the yellow-and-purple outfit; Dian wore his costume while he was fighting elsewhere and she was killed in a fray. Dodds decided to wear the new costume, of Dian's design, until he could bring himself to wear the original in which she had died.\n\nLater, this explanation would be changed again when Dian Belmont was retconned to have never died, and a new explanation was given: Sandy convinced Dodds to switch to the more colorful costume to gain the support of regular people, who preferred the more traditional superhero look to his older, pulp-themed costume.\n\nAn acclaimed film noir-inspired retelling of the original Sandman's adventures, Sandman Mystery Theatre, ran from 1993 to 1998 under DC Comics' Vertigo mature-reader imprint. Although as a whole its continuity within the DC Universe is debatable, several elements of the series – the more nuanced relationship between Dodds and Dian Belmont; the Sandman's appearance (wearing a trench coat and World War I gas mask instead of the cape and the custom-made gas mask); and Dodds' pudgier appearance and wearing of glasses – have been adopted into regular continuity. The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual.\n\nIn Sandman Midnight Theatre (1995) a one-shot special by Neil Gaiman (author of the Modern Age supernatural series The Sandman), Matt Wagner (co-author of Sandman Mystery Theatre), and Teddy Kristiansen, depicts an interaction between the two characters, with the original visiting Great Britain and encountering the imprisoned Dream, the protagonist of Gaiman's series. A minor retcon by Gaiman suggested that Dodds' chosen identity was a result of Dream's absence from the realm the Dreaming, and that Dodds carries an aspect of that mystical realm. This explains Dodds' prophetic dreams.\n\nTwilight years\nDodds is one of a number of Justice Society members who finds themselves in the \"Ragnarok Dimension\" during the early Modern Age of comic books. The Last Days of the Justice Society of America Special (1986) wrote the post-Crisis tale of a time-warped wave of destruction ready to engulf the world. Dodds and his JSA teammates enter into a limbo to engage in an eternal battle that would allow the universe to continue its existence. This was later revealed to be a simulation created by Odin, which he intended to give to Dream as a bribe. Dodds, Dream's protege, and Hawkman, the grandfather of Dream's appointed successor are the only JSA members who were seen at that time. This lasted only until 1992 when DC published Armageddon: Inferno. This mini-series ended with the JSA members leaving limbo and entering the 'real' world. Justice Society of America (1992–1993) showed how the JSA members handled returning to normal life. For the Sandman, the series depicted him as an old, thin man with a balding scalp and a sharp wit. Starting with issue #1 his physical condition became important as writer Len Strazewski had him suffer a stroke at the first sign of a villainous attack. Both his age and his physical limitations became a theme writers would use in this character's post-Crisis stories.\n\nDuring Zero Hour, Dodds is returned to his proper age by the Extant. Later, Wesley Dodds is shown as retired and living with Dian Belmont though occasionally coming out of it, most notably in a team-up with Jack Knight, the son of Dodds' JSA teammate Starman. When Dian is diagnosed with a terminal disease, the two travel the world together until her death.\n\nTowards the end of his life, Dodds' prophetic dreams alert him to the identity and location of the new Doctor Fate, prompting him to contact the Gray Man, a being created from the residue of others' dreams, as well as his old friend Speed Saunders to instruct them to warn his former teammates about what he has discovered. Waiting on a clifftop, he is subsequently confronted by the powerful villain Mordru, who intends to force Dodds to tell him the identity of the new Doctor Fate, only for Dodds to distract Mordru with his gas-gun long enough to commit suicide by jumping off the cliff rather than allow Mordru to torture him into submission. His last thoughts were that his final slumber would be free of nightmares as he is reunited with Dian. His youthful but now grown-up sidekick Sandy the Golden Boy becomes known simply as Sand and takes his mentor's place as a member of the Justice Society of America as well as his prophetic dreams. Eventually, he takes the name of Sandman.\n\nSleep of Reason\nWesley Dodds makes a comeback via flashback images in the 2006 limited series Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason.\n\nBlackest Night\nDodds is reanimated as a Black Lantern in the \"Blackest Night\" storyline. He and several other fallen JSAers attack the Brownstone, seeking the hearts of the living within.\n\nExodus Noir\nDodds appeared in the \"Exodus Noir\" arc of Madame Xanadu in 2010, in a story set in 1940.\n\nDC Rebirth\nIn the \"Watchmen\" sequel \"Doomsday Clock\", Lois Lane finds a flash-drive at the Daily Planet. It shows her footage of Sandman and the rest of the Justice Society.\n\nIn the pages of \"Dark Nights: Death Metal\", the Prime-Earth version of Sandman was revealed to be entombed at the Valhalla Cemetery. Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring.\n\nPowers and abilities\nDodds has prophetic dreams which come to him as cryptic, ambiguous visions of crimes. Originally of unexplained origin, these dreams were later ascribed to an encounter between Dodds and the entity known as Dream via retcon. The visions haunt Dodds, who uses his keen intellect and amateur detective skills to properly interpret them. He is also a talented chemist and inventor, creating the sand-like substance and the Silicoid Gun ultimately responsible for transforming Sandy the Golden Boy into a Silicon-based life-form. In the early years of his career, Wesley Dodds possesses the strength level of a man who engages in regular exercise, and was a fine hand-to-hand combatant. As he grows older, his strength level diminishes in relative proportion to his age. As hobbies, Dodds enjoys reading, writing, poetry, origami and philosophy. Through an unknown process, Dodds passes his power of prophetic visions on to his former ward, Sanderson Hawkins upon the moment of his own death.\n \nWesley Dodds' costume consists of a basic green business suit, fedora, a World War I era gas mask, a gas gun, and a specially designed \"wirepoon\" gun, which fires a length of thin, steel cable. The gas mask protects Dodds from the effects of the gas emitted from his gas gun. The gas gun, a handheld device fitted with cartridges containing concentrated sleeping gas, is Wesley Dodds' only known weapon. Pressing the trigger on the gun releases a cloud of green dust rendering all within the Sandman's immediate vicinity unconscious. An upgraded canister dispenser for the gun is provided for him by his close friend and confidante, Lee Travis. Dodds is also known to conceal smaller knockout gas capsules in a hollow heel on his shoe. These prove ideal when placed in situations where his gas gun is not readily available.\n\nIn the early days of his career, the Sandman drives a black 1938 Plymouth coupe. The car is enhanced with various features to aid Dodds in his crusade against crime.\n\nEnemies\n\nSandman has an assortment of enemies that he fought:\n Butcher - A cannibalistic butcher.\n Doctor Death - Raymond Kessler is a serial killer/swindler who is the boyfriend of Dian Belmont's cousin Lucy.\n Phantom of the Fair - Gerald Zimmerman is a man who has been torturing and killing homosexual men at the New York World's Fair.\n Ramulus - A plant-manipulating villain who was also known as Nightshade and Plant Master. He later appeared as a member of the Monster Society of Evil.\n Scorpion - Terrence Pritchard is an ad executive who becomes a bullwhip-wielding vigilante.\n Tarantula - A man who targeted Vivian Dale. There was also a second Tarantula that Sandman fought. This one was Roger Goldman who is a serial killer and the former owner of the Evergood Milk Bottling Company.\n\nOther versions\n\nKingdom Come\nDodds appears as an infirm old man at the beginning of the graphic novel, plagued with visions of the impending apocalyptic battle between various factions of metahumans. Before his death, he relates his visions, interpreted through passages from the Book of Revelation, to Norman McCay, who later witnesses the events in the company of the Spectre.\n\nEarth 40\nWesley Dodds meets with The Unholy Three to give information about the Trigger, a device that causes every nuclear reactor in the world to detonate in a nuclear explosion. The Sandman arranges for The Unholy Three to meet with The Lantern, who has information on where the Trigger is located.\n\nEarth 2\nIn The New 52 (a reboot of DC Comics), a new Earth-2 version of Sandman appears. While he does wear a gas mask and wield a gas gun, he is also equipped with a teleporter. When Washington DC is attacked by Solomon Grundy, Commander Wesley Dodds, along with his Sandmen paramilitary force, is sent to retrieve and save President Lightfoot. They are later assigned by Commander Khan in a special and unofficial mission to infiltrate Terry Sloane's secret facility, where they confront and subdue a mind-controlled Michael Holt.\n\nIn other media\n\nTelevision\n\nAnimation\n Wesley Dodds / Sandman makes a non-speaking appearance in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode \"Crisis: 22,300 Miles Above Earth\". He is seen with the other members of the Justice Society of America.\n Sandman makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in the Young Justice episode \"Humanity\". He is shown with the other members of the JSA during a flashback sequence.\n\nLive-action\n A character loosely inspired by the Sandman under the pseudonym of Nightshade makes recurring appearances in The Flash (1990), portrayed by Jason Bernard. This version is Dr. Desmond Powell, a 1950s vigilante who retained the Sandman's costume and captured criminals using a knockout gun and tranquilizer darts. After retiring as a vigilante after he defeated \"The Ghost\" in 1955, he later became a doctor and Chief of Staff at Central City Hospital. When the Ghost reappears in 1990, Powell becomes Nightshade once again and teams up with the Flash to apprehend his old enemy. He later unknowingly inspires the Deadly Nightshade. Powell is framed for multiple counts of murder, but clears his name and captures the impostor. He also makes his secret identity public and becomes a celebrity.\n Wesley Dodds appeared in the Smallville two-hour special episode \"Absolute Justice\", portrayed by Ken Lawson. This version was a member of the now-disbanded Justice Society of America. After having a nightmare about losing his teammate, the Star-Spangled Kid, Dodds is killed by Icicle II. His body was later found by Clark Kent.\n Sandman's helmet appears in Rip Hunter's office in Legends of Tomorrow.\n Sandman appears in the series Stargirl. He appears as a member of the Justice Society of America before the team was attacked and killed by the Injustice Society, with Dodds in particular being killed by Icicle.\n\nFilm\n An alternate universe version of Sandman makes a cameo appearance in the animated film Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths. This version is a minor member of the Crime Syndicate of America.\n An alternate timeline version of Sandman appears in the animated film Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox. This version is one of the few active superheroes in the dystopian \"Flashpoint\" timeline.\n\nVideo games\nWesley Dodds' costume appears in the background of the Hall of Justice in the video game Injustice: Gods Among Us.\n\nWeb series\nSandman makes a minor appearance in the DC Super Hero Girls episode \"Welcome to Super Hero High\". He appears as a graduate of the titular school.\n\nCollected editions\n The Golden Age Sandman Archive Vol. 1 (Sandman stories from New York World's Fair Comics #1–2 and Adventure Comics #40–59) by Bert Christman and others.\n Sandman by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby (World's Finest #6–7; Adventure Comics #72–102; Sandman #1) \n Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 1: The Tarantula (Sandman Mystery Theatre #1–4)\n Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 2: The Face and The Brute (Sandman Mystery Theatre #5–12)\n Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 3: The Vamp (Sandman Mystery Theatre #13–16)\n Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 4: The Scorpion (Sandman Mystery Theatre #17–20)\n Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 5: Dr. Death and The Night of the Butcher (Sandman Mystery Theatre #21–28) \n Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 6: The Hourman and The Python (Sandman Mystery Theatre #29–36)\n Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 7: The Mist and The Phantom of the Fair (Sandman Mystery Theatre #37–44)\n Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 8: The Blackhawk and The Return of the Scarlet Ghost (Sandman Mystery Theatre #45–52)\n Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason (Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason #1–5)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n JSA Fact File: The Sandman\n Earth-2 Sandman Index]\n Sequart.com: \"The Sandman — Interlude: Sandman Mystery Theatre (1993–1998)\", by Julian Darius\n\nCharacters created by Allen Bert Christman\nCharacters created by Gardner Fox\nComics characters introduced in 1939\nDC Comics male superheroes\nEarth-Two\nFictional businesspeople\nFictional characters with precognition\nFictional detectives\nFictional scientists\nFictional socialites\nGolden Age superheroes\nJewish superheroes\nSandman\nVigilante characters in comics"},"extractive":{"kind":"string","value":"true"},"retrieved_contexts":{"kind":"list like","value":["Axel Geller (born 1 April 1999) is an Argentine tennis player.\n\nGeller has a career high ATP singles ranking of 539 achieved on 5 August 2019. He was ranked number 1 on the ITF Juniors Ranking in 2017. He currently attends Stanford University and plays on its men's tennis team.\n\nGeller won the 2017 Wimbledon Championships – Boys' Doubles title. He also Reached the 2017 Wimbledon Championships – Boys' Singles and the 2017 US Open – Boys' Singles finals but lost in both. These results helped propel him to achieve the No. 1 junior ranking.\n\nATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals\n\nSingles: 3 (3–0)\n\nDoubles: 3 (3–0)\n\nJunior Grand Slam finals\n\nSingles: 2 (2 finals)\n\nDoubles: 1 (1 title)\n\nNotes\n\nExternal links\n\nPlaying Style\nGeller in considered an aggressive baseline player. He possess a very powerful flat serve, and also has great shots on both wings. He often uses his serve to set up points or to get to the net. Geller also has a very flat backhand and forehand, both which he uses to dictate points and the tempo.\n\nGeller though does have some weaknesses. Because of his large frame Geller does struggle with his movement a bit. Those weaknesses are often overcome though because of the shots he has on both wings.\n\n1999 births\nLiving people\nStanford Cardinal men's tennis players\nArgentine male tennis players\nTennis players from Buenos Aires\nWimbledon junior champions\nGrand Slam (tennis) champions in boys' doubles","\"Strengths and weaknesses of evolution\" is a controversial phrase that has been proposed for (and in Texas introduced into) public school science curricula. Those proposing the phrase, such as the chairman of the Texas State Board of Education (SBOE), Don McLeroy, purport that there are weaknesses in the theory of evolution and in the evidence that life has evolved that should be taught for a balanced treatment of the subject of evolution. The scientific community rejects that any substantive weaknesses exist in the scientific theory, or in the data that it explains, and views the examples that have been given in support of the phrasing as being without merit and long refuted.\n\nThis has led scientists and journalists to conclude that the phrase is a creationist tactic to introduce religion into science courses. The phrase was introduced by the SBOE in the late 1980s. Since then it has been promoted in California and Missouri. In late 2008, it became a highly publicized issue as the Texas SBOE held public hearings on whether this language should be removed from the curriculum. According to the National Center for Science Education, the phrase, like 'Teach the controversy' and 'Critical Analysis of Evolution', is an attempt in a series of legal and political tactics adopted by intelligent design advocates to encourage educators to teach fallacious information — that a controversy exists among scientists over whether evolution has occurred.\n\nHistory\n\nTexas SBOE\nThe \"strengths and weaknesses\" language was included in the curriculum standards in Texas to appease creationists when the SBOE first mandated the teaching of evolution in the late 1980s.\n\nIn 2003, the \"strengths and weaknesses\" language in the standards was employed by members of the board in an unsuccessful attempt to dilute the treatment of evolution in the biology textbooks they were considering.\n\nIn September 2008 the 21st Century Science Coalition released a petition to remove the phrase \"strengths and weaknesses\" from the public school guidelines for science classrooms in Texas. As of November 2008, 588 scientists at Texas universities and 777 other scientists across the state have signed the petition.\n\nIn the summer of 2008/2009 the Texas SBOE is determining the curriculum for the next decade, including deciding whether the \"strengths and weaknesses\" of evolution should be taught. While this language was described by The New York Times as a \"benign-sounding phrase\", they mention that critics state that it is a new strategy to undermine the teaching of evolution, and for students to hear religious objections under the heading of scientific discourse. The then SBOE Chairman, Don McLeroy, a Young Earth creationist dentist from Central Texas, denied that the language \"is subterfuge for bringing in creationism.\" McLeroy views the debate as being between \"two systems of science\" — \"a creationist system and a naturalist system\". These views have alarmed Texas educators, including former chairman of the department of medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas Dan Foster, who stated that \"[s]erious students will not come to study in our universities if Texas is labeled scientifically backward\".\n\nIn December 2008, the San Antonio Express-News stated in an editorial that the Texas SBOE has a \"long history of trying to water down the science curriculum with criticisms of evolution that lack scientific credibility.\"\n\nIn January 2009, the Texas SBOE voted to remove the 'Strengths and Weaknesses\" language, but its conservative faction, led by Don McLeroy, managed to pass several amendments to the science curriculum that opponents describe as opening the door to teaching objections to evolution that might lead students to reject it. These included one amendment that compels science teachers to teach about aspects of the fossil record that do not neatly fit with gradualism, but rather show the relatively sudden appearance of some species while others seem to remain unchanged for millions of years. Prominent University of Texas biology professor David Hillis described the amendments as \"mak[ing] no sense to me ... It's a clear indication that the chairman of the state school board doesn’t understand the science.\" Board member Ken Mercer of San Antonio, who voted to keep \"strengths and weaknesses\" described his support for the language in explicitly religious terms: \"It's an issue of freedom of religion.\" This view was contradicted by fellow social conservative board member Barbara Cargill, who stated \"[t]his isn’t about religion.\"\n\nOn March 13, 2009 a bill (HB 4224) was introduced in the Texas House of Representatives that would require the Texas SBOE to restore the \"strengths and weaknesses\" language in the state science standards.\n\nCalifornia\nIn 2003 and 2004, creationist lawyer Larry Caldwell sought to persuade the Roseville Joint Union High School District Board of Trustees to adopt a policy which included teaching \"the scientific strengths and weaknesses\" of evolution. When this was rejected, he filed a complaint in federal court against the district, alleging that his civil rights were violated during the controversy, resulting in a summary judgment against him in September 2007.\n\nDiscovery Institute\nIn February 2008 the Discovery Institute created an Academic Freedom petition that stated \"Teachers should be protected from being fired, harassed, intimidated, or discriminated against for objectively presenting the scientific strengths and weaknesses of Darwinian theory.\"\n\nMissouri\n\nIn February 2009, House Bill 656, introduced in the Missouri House of Representatives, proposed that \"teachers shall be permitted to help students understand, analyze, critique, and review in an objective manner the scientific strengths and scientific weaknesses of theories of biological and chemical evolution.\" This bill died when the Missouri legislative session ended on May 15, 2009.\n\nTennessee\nOn February 9, 2011, Tennessee House of Representatives member Bill Dunn introduced House Bill 368, which states that \"teachers shall be permitted to help students understand, analyze, critique, and review in an objective manner the scientific strengths and scientific weaknesses of existing scientific theories covered in the course being taught.\" On February 16, 2011, Tennessee State Senator Bo Watson introduced an identical bill, Senate Bill 893. The House Bill was passed by the House Education Committee on March 29, 2011, and referred to the House Calendar and Rules Committee. Alan I. Leshner, the Chief Executive Officer of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and Executive Publisher of the journal Science, wrote to the House of Representatives opposing the Bill, stating \"There is virtually no scientific controversy among the overwhelming majority of researchers on the core facts of global warming and evolution. Asserting that there are significant scientific controversies about the overall nature of these concepts when there are none will only confuse students, not enlighten them.\"\n\nEducational and scientific value\n\nWhile anti-evolution members of the Texas SBOE have claimed their \"weaknesses\" campaign has nothing to do with faith, that \"We're not putting religion in books\", scientists have rebutted that these weaknesses are simply falsehoods. Scientists testified at the state board hearing in November 2008 that evolution is a scientific theory, not a hypothesis and thus does not have weaknesses.\n\nSome scientists, including Andrew Ellington, professor of biochemistry at the University of Texas, and Robert Dennison, Houston Independent School District's AP science lead teacher, are concerned that the mention of \"weaknesses\" in the curriculum standards has had a chilling effect on science teachers.\n\nIn a survey commissioned by the Texas Freedom Network, \"94% of Texas scientists indicated that claimed \"weaknesses\" are not valid scientific objections to evolution (with 87% saying that they “strongly disagree” that such weaknesses should be considered valid).\"\n\nSpecific weaknesses and their scientific rebuttals\n\nSupporters of the 'strengths and weaknesses of evolution' language have proposed the following as weaknesses of evolution, and the scientific community has responded with the following rebuttals:\n\nSee also\n Academic Freedom bills\n Christine Comer\n Creation–evolution controversy\n Critical Analysis of Evolution\n Free Speech on Evolution\n Intelligent design in politics\n Neo-creationism\n Stand up for science\n Teach the controversy\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nIndex to Creationist Claims at TalkOrigins Archive\nSpontaneous Generation and the Origin of Life by John S. Wilkins\nArchived Audio Files of Texas SBOE meetings\nTranscript (and link to audio file) of a lecture given by Texas SBOE Chairman Don McLeroy on Evolution and Creationism\n\nIntelligent design movement\nReligion and politics\nIntelligent design controversies\nDiscovery Institute campaigns\nDenialism"],"string":"[\n \"Axel Geller (born 1 April 1999) is an Argentine tennis player.\\n\\nGeller has a career high ATP singles ranking of 539 achieved on 5 August 2019. He was ranked number 1 on the ITF Juniors Ranking in 2017. He currently attends Stanford University and plays on its men's tennis team.\\n\\nGeller won the 2017 Wimbledon Championships – Boys' Doubles title. He also Reached the 2017 Wimbledon Championships – Boys' Singles and the 2017 US Open – Boys' Singles finals but lost in both. These results helped propel him to achieve the No. 1 junior ranking.\\n\\nATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals\\n\\nSingles: 3 (3–0)\\n\\nDoubles: 3 (3–0)\\n\\nJunior Grand Slam finals\\n\\nSingles: 2 (2 finals)\\n\\nDoubles: 1 (1 title)\\n\\nNotes\\n\\nExternal links\\n\\nPlaying Style\\nGeller in considered an aggressive baseline player. He possess a very powerful flat serve, and also has great shots on both wings. He often uses his serve to set up points or to get to the net. Geller also has a very flat backhand and forehand, both which he uses to dictate points and the tempo.\\n\\nGeller though does have some weaknesses. Because of his large frame Geller does struggle with his movement a bit. Those weaknesses are often overcome though because of the shots he has on both wings.\\n\\n1999 births\\nLiving people\\nStanford Cardinal men's tennis players\\nArgentine male tennis players\\nTennis players from Buenos Aires\\nWimbledon junior champions\\nGrand Slam (tennis) champions in boys' doubles\",\n \"\\\"Strengths and weaknesses of evolution\\\" is a controversial phrase that has been proposed for (and in Texas introduced into) public school science curricula. Those proposing the phrase, such as the chairman of the Texas State Board of Education (SBOE), Don McLeroy, purport that there are weaknesses in the theory of evolution and in the evidence that life has evolved that should be taught for a balanced treatment of the subject of evolution. The scientific community rejects that any substantive weaknesses exist in the scientific theory, or in the data that it explains, and views the examples that have been given in support of the phrasing as being without merit and long refuted.\\n\\nThis has led scientists and journalists to conclude that the phrase is a creationist tactic to introduce religion into science courses. The phrase was introduced by the SBOE in the late 1980s. Since then it has been promoted in California and Missouri. In late 2008, it became a highly publicized issue as the Texas SBOE held public hearings on whether this language should be removed from the curriculum. According to the National Center for Science Education, the phrase, like 'Teach the controversy' and 'Critical Analysis of Evolution', is an attempt in a series of legal and political tactics adopted by intelligent design advocates to encourage educators to teach fallacious information — that a controversy exists among scientists over whether evolution has occurred.\\n\\nHistory\\n\\nTexas SBOE\\nThe \\\"strengths and weaknesses\\\" language was included in the curriculum standards in Texas to appease creationists when the SBOE first mandated the teaching of evolution in the late 1980s.\\n\\nIn 2003, the \\\"strengths and weaknesses\\\" language in the standards was employed by members of the board in an unsuccessful attempt to dilute the treatment of evolution in the biology textbooks they were considering.\\n\\nIn September 2008 the 21st Century Science Coalition released a petition to remove the phrase \\\"strengths and weaknesses\\\" from the public school guidelines for science classrooms in Texas. As of November 2008, 588 scientists at Texas universities and 777 other scientists across the state have signed the petition.\\n\\nIn the summer of 2008/2009 the Texas SBOE is determining the curriculum for the next decade, including deciding whether the \\\"strengths and weaknesses\\\" of evolution should be taught. While this language was described by The New York Times as a \\\"benign-sounding phrase\\\", they mention that critics state that it is a new strategy to undermine the teaching of evolution, and for students to hear religious objections under the heading of scientific discourse. The then SBOE Chairman, Don McLeroy, a Young Earth creationist dentist from Central Texas, denied that the language \\\"is subterfuge for bringing in creationism.\\\" McLeroy views the debate as being between \\\"two systems of science\\\" — \\\"a creationist system and a naturalist system\\\". These views have alarmed Texas educators, including former chairman of the department of medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas Dan Foster, who stated that \\\"[s]erious students will not come to study in our universities if Texas is labeled scientifically backward\\\".\\n\\nIn December 2008, the San Antonio Express-News stated in an editorial that the Texas SBOE has a \\\"long history of trying to water down the science curriculum with criticisms of evolution that lack scientific credibility.\\\"\\n\\nIn January 2009, the Texas SBOE voted to remove the 'Strengths and Weaknesses\\\" language, but its conservative faction, led by Don McLeroy, managed to pass several amendments to the science curriculum that opponents describe as opening the door to teaching objections to evolution that might lead students to reject it. These included one amendment that compels science teachers to teach about aspects of the fossil record that do not neatly fit with gradualism, but rather show the relatively sudden appearance of some species while others seem to remain unchanged for millions of years. Prominent University of Texas biology professor David Hillis described the amendments as \\\"mak[ing] no sense to me ... It's a clear indication that the chairman of the state school board doesn’t understand the science.\\\" Board member Ken Mercer of San Antonio, who voted to keep \\\"strengths and weaknesses\\\" described his support for the language in explicitly religious terms: \\\"It's an issue of freedom of religion.\\\" This view was contradicted by fellow social conservative board member Barbara Cargill, who stated \\\"[t]his isn’t about religion.\\\"\\n\\nOn March 13, 2009 a bill (HB 4224) was introduced in the Texas House of Representatives that would require the Texas SBOE to restore the \\\"strengths and weaknesses\\\" language in the state science standards.\\n\\nCalifornia\\nIn 2003 and 2004, creationist lawyer Larry Caldwell sought to persuade the Roseville Joint Union High School District Board of Trustees to adopt a policy which included teaching \\\"the scientific strengths and weaknesses\\\" of evolution. When this was rejected, he filed a complaint in federal court against the district, alleging that his civil rights were violated during the controversy, resulting in a summary judgment against him in September 2007.\\n\\nDiscovery Institute\\nIn February 2008 the Discovery Institute created an Academic Freedom petition that stated \\\"Teachers should be protected from being fired, harassed, intimidated, or discriminated against for objectively presenting the scientific strengths and weaknesses of Darwinian theory.\\\"\\n\\nMissouri\\n\\nIn February 2009, House Bill 656, introduced in the Missouri House of Representatives, proposed that \\\"teachers shall be permitted to help students understand, analyze, critique, and review in an objective manner the scientific strengths and scientific weaknesses of theories of biological and chemical evolution.\\\" This bill died when the Missouri legislative session ended on May 15, 2009.\\n\\nTennessee\\nOn February 9, 2011, Tennessee House of Representatives member Bill Dunn introduced House Bill 368, which states that \\\"teachers shall be permitted to help students understand, analyze, critique, and review in an objective manner the scientific strengths and scientific weaknesses of existing scientific theories covered in the course being taught.\\\" On February 16, 2011, Tennessee State Senator Bo Watson introduced an identical bill, Senate Bill 893. The House Bill was passed by the House Education Committee on March 29, 2011, and referred to the House Calendar and Rules Committee. Alan I. Leshner, the Chief Executive Officer of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and Executive Publisher of the journal Science, wrote to the House of Representatives opposing the Bill, stating \\\"There is virtually no scientific controversy among the overwhelming majority of researchers on the core facts of global warming and evolution. Asserting that there are significant scientific controversies about the overall nature of these concepts when there are none will only confuse students, not enlighten them.\\\"\\n\\nEducational and scientific value\\n\\nWhile anti-evolution members of the Texas SBOE have claimed their \\\"weaknesses\\\" campaign has nothing to do with faith, that \\\"We're not putting religion in books\\\", scientists have rebutted that these weaknesses are simply falsehoods. Scientists testified at the state board hearing in November 2008 that evolution is a scientific theory, not a hypothesis and thus does not have weaknesses.\\n\\nSome scientists, including Andrew Ellington, professor of biochemistry at the University of Texas, and Robert Dennison, Houston Independent School District's AP science lead teacher, are concerned that the mention of \\\"weaknesses\\\" in the curriculum standards has had a chilling effect on science teachers.\\n\\nIn a survey commissioned by the Texas Freedom Network, \\\"94% of Texas scientists indicated that claimed \\\"weaknesses\\\" are not valid scientific objections to evolution (with 87% saying that they “strongly disagree” that such weaknesses should be considered valid).\\\"\\n\\nSpecific weaknesses and their scientific rebuttals\\n\\nSupporters of the 'strengths and weaknesses of evolution' language have proposed the following as weaknesses of evolution, and the scientific community has responded with the following rebuttals:\\n\\nSee also\\n Academic Freedom bills\\n Christine Comer\\n Creation–evolution controversy\\n Critical Analysis of Evolution\\n Free Speech on Evolution\\n Intelligent design in politics\\n Neo-creationism\\n Stand up for science\\n Teach the controversy\\n\\nReferences\\n\\nExternal links\\nIndex to Creationist Claims at TalkOrigins Archive\\nSpontaneous Generation and the Origin of Life by John S. Wilkins\\nArchived Audio Files of Texas SBOE meetings\\nTranscript (and link to audio file) of a lecture given by Texas SBOE Chairman Don McLeroy on Evolution and Creationism\\n\\nIntelligent design movement\\nReligion and politics\\nIntelligent design controversies\\nDiscovery Institute campaigns\\nDenialism\"\n]"},"chunked_article":{"kind":"list like","value":["Sandman (Wesley Dodds) is a fictional superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first of several DC characters to bear the name Sandman, he was created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Bert Christman. Attired in a green business suit, a fedora, and a World War I gas mask, the Sandman used a gun emitting a sleeping gas to sedate criminals.","Attired in a green business suit, a fedora, and a World War I gas mask, the Sandman used a gun emitting a sleeping gas to sedate criminals. He was originally one of the mystery men to appear in comic books and other types of adventure fiction in the 1930s but later was outfitted with a unitard/cowl costume and developed into a proper superhero, acquiring sidekick Sandy, and founding the Justice Society of America.","He was originally one of the mystery men to appear in comic books and other types of adventure fiction in the 1930s but later was outfitted with a unitard/cowl costume and developed into a proper superhero, acquiring sidekick Sandy, and founding the Justice Society of America. Like most DC Golden Age superheroes, the Sandman fell into obscurity in the 1940s and eventually other DC characters took his name.","Like most DC Golden Age superheroes, the Sandman fell into obscurity in the 1940s and eventually other DC characters took his name. During the 1990s, when writer Neil Gaiman's Sandman (featuring Morpheus, the anthropomorphic embodiment of dreams) was popular, DC revived Dodds in Sandman Mystery Theatre, a pulp/noir series set in the 1930s. Wizard Magazine ranked Wesley Dodds among the Top 200 Comic Book Characters of All Time, and he is the oldest superhero in terms of continuity to appear on the list.","Wizard Magazine ranked Wesley Dodds among the Top 200 Comic Book Characters of All Time, and he is the oldest superhero in terms of continuity to appear on the list. Publication history Golden Age of comic books Artist Bert Christman and writer Gardner Fox are generally credited as co-creating the original, Wesley Dodds version of the DC Comics character the Sandman.","Publication history Golden Age of comic books Artist Bert Christman and writer Gardner Fox are generally credited as co-creating the original, Wesley Dodds version of the DC Comics character the Sandman. While the character's first appearance is usually given as Adventure Comics #40 (cover-dated July 1939), he also appeared in DC Comics' 1939 New York World's Fair Comics omnibus, which historians believe appeared on newsstands one to two weeks earlier, while also believing the Adventure Comics story was written and drawn first.","While the character's first appearance is usually given as Adventure Comics #40 (cover-dated July 1939), he also appeared in DC Comics' 1939 New York World's Fair Comics omnibus, which historians believe appeared on newsstands one to two weeks earlier, while also believing the Adventure Comics story was written and drawn first. Each of the two stories' scripts were credited to the pseudonym \"Larry Dean\"; Fox wrote the untitled, 10-page story in New York World's Fair #1, while he simply plotted, and Christman scripted, the untitled, six-page story, generally known as \"The Tarantula Strikes\", in Adventure #40.","Each of the two stories' scripts were credited to the pseudonym \"Larry Dean\"; Fox wrote the untitled, 10-page story in New York World's Fair #1, while he simply plotted, and Christman scripted, the untitled, six-page story, generally known as \"The Tarantula Strikes\", in Adventure #40. Creig Flessel, who drew many early Sandman adventures, has sometimes been credited as co-creator on the basis of drawing the Sandman cover of Adventure #40, but no other evidence has surfaced.","Creig Flessel, who drew many early Sandman adventures, has sometimes been credited as co-creator on the basis of drawing the Sandman cover of Adventure #40, but no other evidence has surfaced. Following these two first appearances, the feature \"The Sandman\" continued to appear in the omnibus Adventure Comics through #102 (February–March 1946).","Following these two first appearances, the feature \"The Sandman\" continued to appear in the omnibus Adventure Comics through #102 (February–March 1946). One of the medium's seminal \"mystery men\", as referred to at the time, the Sandman straddled the pulp magazine detective tradition and the emerging superhero tradition by dint of his dual identity and his fanciful, masked attire and weapon: an exotic \"gas gun\" that could compel villains to tell the truth, as well as put them to sleep.","One of the medium's seminal \"mystery men\", as referred to at the time, the Sandman straddled the pulp magazine detective tradition and the emerging superhero tradition by dint of his dual identity and his fanciful, masked attire and weapon: an exotic \"gas gun\" that could compel villains to tell the truth, as well as put them to sleep. Unlike many superheroes, he frequently found himself the victim of gunshot wounds, both in the Golden Age and in stories in DC's modern-day Vertigo imprint, and he would continue fighting in spite of his injuries.","Unlike many superheroes, he frequently found himself the victim of gunshot wounds, both in the Golden Age and in stories in DC's modern-day Vertigo imprint, and he would continue fighting in spite of his injuries. In his early career, Dodds (the character's surname was given as \"Dodd\" in his first four appearances; he became \"Dodds\" in Adventure Comics #44) was frequently aided by his girlfriend, Dian Belmont, who is aware of his dual identity.","In his early career, Dodds (the character's surname was given as \"Dodd\" in his first four appearances; he became \"Dodds\" in Adventure Comics #44) was frequently aided by his girlfriend, Dian Belmont, who is aware of his dual identity. Unlike many superhero love interests, Belmont was often, though not always, portrayed as an equal partner of the Sandman, rather than a damsel in distress.","Unlike many superhero love interests, Belmont was often, though not always, portrayed as an equal partner of the Sandman, rather than a damsel in distress. Later stories would reveal that the two remained together for the duration of their lives, though they never married. The Sandman was one of the original members of the Justice Society of America when that superhero team was introduced in All Star Comics #3, published by All-American Comics, one of the companies that would merge to form DC.","The Sandman was one of the original members of the Justice Society of America when that superhero team was introduced in All Star Comics #3, published by All-American Comics, one of the companies that would merge to form DC. In Adventure Comics #69 (December 1941), Dodds was given a yellow-and-purple costume by writer Mort Weisinger and artist Paul Norris, as well as a yellow-clad kid sidekick, Sandy the Golden Boy, nephew of Dian Belmont.","In Adventure Comics #69 (December 1941), Dodds was given a yellow-and-purple costume by writer Mort Weisinger and artist Paul Norris, as well as a yellow-clad kid sidekick, Sandy the Golden Boy, nephew of Dian Belmont. Later that year, the celebrated team of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby took over this version of the character. In 1942, Dodds enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as an anti-aircraft gunner during World War II.","In 1942, Dodds enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as an anti-aircraft gunner during World War II. Silver Age to Modern Age Reintroduced in the Silver Age in Justice League of America #46 (July 1966), the Sandman made occasional appearances in the annual teamups between that superhero group and the JSA. In 1981 DC began publishing All-Star Squadron, a retelling of the Earth-Two mystery-men during WWII. Although not a main character, Sandman does appear in its pages.","Although not a main character, Sandman does appear in its pages. Of note is issue #18 which gives an explanation of why Dodds changed costumes from the cloak and gas mask to the yellow-and-purple outfit; Dian wore his costume while he was fighting elsewhere and she was killed in a fray. Dodds decided to wear the new costume, of Dian's design, until he could bring himself to wear the original in which she had died.","Dodds decided to wear the new costume, of Dian's design, until he could bring himself to wear the original in which she had died. Later, this explanation would be changed again when Dian Belmont was retconned to have never died, and a new explanation was given: Sandy convinced Dodds to switch to the more colorful costume to gain the support of regular people, who preferred the more traditional superhero look to his older, pulp-themed costume.","Later, this explanation would be changed again when Dian Belmont was retconned to have never died, and a new explanation was given: Sandy convinced Dodds to switch to the more colorful costume to gain the support of regular people, who preferred the more traditional superhero look to his older, pulp-themed costume. An acclaimed film noir-inspired retelling of the original Sandman's adventures, Sandman Mystery Theatre, ran from 1993 to 1998 under DC Comics' Vertigo mature-reader imprint.","An acclaimed film noir-inspired retelling of the original Sandman's adventures, Sandman Mystery Theatre, ran from 1993 to 1998 under DC Comics' Vertigo mature-reader imprint. Although as a whole its continuity within the DC Universe is debatable, several elements of the series – the more nuanced relationship between Dodds and Dian Belmont; the Sandman's appearance (wearing a trench coat and World War I gas mask instead of the cape and the custom-made gas mask); and Dodds' pudgier appearance and wearing of glasses – have been adopted into regular continuity.","Although as a whole its continuity within the DC Universe is debatable, several elements of the series – the more nuanced relationship between Dodds and Dian Belmont; the Sandman's appearance (wearing a trench coat and World War I gas mask instead of the cape and the custom-made gas mask); and Dodds' pudgier appearance and wearing of glasses – have been adopted into regular continuity. The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual.","The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual. The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual. In Sandman Midnight Theatre (1995) a one-shot special by Neil Gaiman (author of the Modern Age supernatural series The Sandman), Matt Wagner (co-author of Sandman Mystery Theatre), and Teddy Kristiansen, depicts an interaction between the two characters, with the original visiting Great Britain and encountering the imprisoned Dream, the protagonist of Gaiman's series.","In Sandman Midnight Theatre (1995) a one-shot special by Neil Gaiman (author of the Modern Age supernatural series The Sandman), Matt Wagner (co-author of Sandman Mystery Theatre), and Teddy Kristiansen, depicts an interaction between the two characters, with the original visiting Great Britain and encountering the imprisoned Dream, the protagonist of Gaiman's series. A minor retcon by Gaiman suggested that Dodds' chosen identity was a result of Dream's absence from the realm the Dreaming, and that Dodds carries an aspect of that mystical realm.","A minor retcon by Gaiman suggested that Dodds' chosen identity was a result of Dream's absence from the realm the Dreaming, and that Dodds carries an aspect of that mystical realm. This explains Dodds' prophetic dreams. Twilight years Dodds is one of a number of Justice Society members who finds themselves in the \"Ragnarok Dimension\" during the early Modern Age of comic books.","Twilight years Dodds is one of a number of Justice Society members who finds themselves in the \"Ragnarok Dimension\" during the early Modern Age of comic books. The Last Days of the Justice Society of America Special (1986) wrote the post-Crisis tale of a time-warped wave of destruction ready to engulf the world. Dodds and his JSA teammates enter into a limbo to engage in an eternal battle that would allow the universe to continue its existence.","Dodds and his JSA teammates enter into a limbo to engage in an eternal battle that would allow the universe to continue its existence. This was later revealed to be a simulation created by Odin, which he intended to give to Dream as a bribe. Dodds, Dream's protege, and Hawkman, the grandfather of Dream's appointed successor are the only JSA members who were seen at that time. This lasted only until 1992 when DC published Armageddon: Inferno.","This lasted only until 1992 when DC published Armageddon: Inferno. This mini-series ended with the JSA members leaving limbo and entering the 'real' world. Justice Society of America (1992–1993) showed how the JSA members handled returning to normal life. For the Sandman, the series depicted him as an old, thin man with a balding scalp and a sharp wit. Starting with issue #1 his physical condition became important as writer Len Strazewski had him suffer a stroke at the first sign of a villainous attack.","Starting with issue #1 his physical condition became important as writer Len Strazewski had him suffer a stroke at the first sign of a villainous attack. Both his age and his physical limitations became a theme writers would use in this character's post-Crisis stories. During Zero Hour, Dodds is returned to his proper age by the Extant.","During Zero Hour, Dodds is returned to his proper age by the Extant. Later, Wesley Dodds is shown as retired and living with Dian Belmont though occasionally coming out of it, most notably in a team-up with Jack Knight, the son of Dodds' JSA teammate Starman. When Dian is diagnosed with a terminal disease, the two travel the world together until her death.","When Dian is diagnosed with a terminal disease, the two travel the world together until her death. Towards the end of his life, Dodds' prophetic dreams alert him to the identity and location of the new Doctor Fate, prompting him to contact the Gray Man, a being created from the residue of others' dreams, as well as his old friend Speed Saunders to instruct them to warn his former teammates about what he has discovered.","Towards the end of his life, Dodds' prophetic dreams alert him to the identity and location of the new Doctor Fate, prompting him to contact the Gray Man, a being created from the residue of others' dreams, as well as his old friend Speed Saunders to instruct them to warn his former teammates about what he has discovered. Waiting on a clifftop, he is subsequently confronted by the powerful villain Mordru, who intends to force Dodds to tell him the identity of the new Doctor Fate, only for Dodds to distract Mordru with his gas-gun long enough to commit suicide by jumping off the cliff rather than allow Mordru to torture him into submission.","Waiting on a clifftop, he is subsequently confronted by the powerful villain Mordru, who intends to force Dodds to tell him the identity of the new Doctor Fate, only for Dodds to distract Mordru with his gas-gun long enough to commit suicide by jumping off the cliff rather than allow Mordru to torture him into submission. His last thoughts were that his final slumber would be free of nightmares as he is reunited with Dian.","His last thoughts were that his final slumber would be free of nightmares as he is reunited with Dian. His youthful but now grown-up sidekick Sandy the Golden Boy becomes known simply as Sand and takes his mentor's place as a member of the Justice Society of America as well as his prophetic dreams. Eventually, he takes the name of Sandman. Sleep of Reason Wesley Dodds makes a comeback via flashback images in the 2006 limited series Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason.","Sleep of Reason Wesley Dodds makes a comeback via flashback images in the 2006 limited series Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason. Blackest Night Dodds is reanimated as a Black Lantern in the \"Blackest Night\" storyline. He and several other fallen JSAers attack the Brownstone, seeking the hearts of the living within. Exodus Noir Dodds appeared in the \"Exodus Noir\" arc of Madame Xanadu in 2010, in a story set in 1940.","Exodus Noir Dodds appeared in the \"Exodus Noir\" arc of Madame Xanadu in 2010, in a story set in 1940. DC Rebirth In the \"Watchmen\" sequel \"Doomsday Clock\", Lois Lane finds a flash-drive at the Daily Planet. It shows her footage of Sandman and the rest of the Justice Society. In the pages of \"Dark Nights: Death Metal\", the Prime-Earth version of Sandman was revealed to be entombed at the Valhalla Cemetery. Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring.","Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring. Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring. Powers and abilities Dodds has prophetic dreams which come to him as cryptic, ambiguous visions of crimes. Originally of unexplained origin, these dreams were later ascribed to an encounter between Dodds and the entity known as Dream via retcon. The visions haunt Dodds, who uses his keen intellect and amateur detective skills to properly interpret them.","The visions haunt Dodds, who uses his keen intellect and amateur detective skills to properly interpret them. He is also a talented chemist and inventor, creating the sand-like substance and the Silicoid Gun ultimately responsible for transforming Sandy the Golden Boy into a Silicon-based life-form. In the early years of his career, Wesley Dodds possesses the strength level of a man who engages in regular exercise, and was a fine hand-to-hand combatant. As he grows older, his strength level diminishes in relative proportion to his age.","As he grows older, his strength level diminishes in relative proportion to his age. As hobbies, Dodds enjoys reading, writing, poetry, origami and philosophy. Through an unknown process, Dodds passes his power of prophetic visions on to his former ward, Sanderson Hawkins upon the moment of his own death.","Through an unknown process, Dodds passes his power of prophetic visions on to his former ward, Sanderson Hawkins upon the moment of his own death. Wesley Dodds' costume consists of a basic green business suit, fedora, a World War I era gas mask, a gas gun, and a specially designed \"wirepoon\" gun, which fires a length of thin, steel cable. The gas mask protects Dodds from the effects of the gas emitted from his gas gun.","The gas mask protects Dodds from the effects of the gas emitted from his gas gun. The gas gun, a handheld device fitted with cartridges containing concentrated sleeping gas, is Wesley Dodds' only known weapon. Pressing the trigger on the gun releases a cloud of green dust rendering all within the Sandman's immediate vicinity unconscious. An upgraded canister dispenser for the gun is provided for him by his close friend and confidante, Lee Travis.","An upgraded canister dispenser for the gun is provided for him by his close friend and confidante, Lee Travis. Dodds is also known to conceal smaller knockout gas capsules in a hollow heel on his shoe. These prove ideal when placed in situations where his gas gun is not readily available. In the early days of his career, the Sandman drives a black 1938 Plymouth coupe. The car is enhanced with various features to aid Dodds in his crusade against crime.","The car is enhanced with various features to aid Dodds in his crusade against crime. Enemies Sandman has an assortment of enemies that he fought: Butcher - A cannibalistic butcher. Doctor Death - Raymond Kessler is a serial killer/swindler who is the boyfriend of Dian Belmont's cousin Lucy. Phantom of the Fair - Gerald Zimmerman is a man who has been torturing and killing homosexual men at the New York World's Fair. Ramulus - A plant-manipulating villain who was also known as Nightshade and Plant Master.","Ramulus - A plant-manipulating villain who was also known as Nightshade and Plant Master. He later appeared as a member of the Monster Society of Evil. Scorpion - Terrence Pritchard is an ad executive who becomes a bullwhip-wielding vigilante. Tarantula - A man who targeted Vivian Dale. There was also a second Tarantula that Sandman fought. This one was Roger Goldman who is a serial killer and the former owner of the Evergood Milk Bottling Company.","This one was Roger Goldman who is a serial killer and the former owner of the Evergood Milk Bottling Company. Other versions Kingdom Come Dodds appears as an infirm old man at the beginning of the graphic novel, plagued with visions of the impending apocalyptic battle between various factions of metahumans. Before his death, he relates his visions, interpreted through passages from the Book of Revelation, to Norman McCay, who later witnesses the events in the company of the Spectre.","Before his death, he relates his visions, interpreted through passages from the Book of Revelation, to Norman McCay, who later witnesses the events in the company of the Spectre. Earth 40 Wesley Dodds meets with The Unholy Three to give information about the Trigger, a device that causes every nuclear reactor in the world to detonate in a nuclear explosion. The Sandman arranges for The Unholy Three to meet with The Lantern, who has information on where the Trigger is located.","The Sandman arranges for The Unholy Three to meet with The Lantern, who has information on where the Trigger is located. Earth 2 In The New 52 (a reboot of DC Comics), a new Earth-2 version of Sandman appears. While he does wear a gas mask and wield a gas gun, he is also equipped with a teleporter. When Washington DC is attacked by Solomon Grundy, Commander Wesley Dodds, along with his Sandmen paramilitary force, is sent to retrieve and save President Lightfoot.","When Washington DC is attacked by Solomon Grundy, Commander Wesley Dodds, along with his Sandmen paramilitary force, is sent to retrieve and save President Lightfoot. They are later assigned by Commander Khan in a special and unofficial mission to infiltrate Terry Sloane's secret facility, where they confront and subdue a mind-controlled Michael Holt. In other media Television Animation Wesley Dodds / Sandman makes a non-speaking appearance in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode \"Crisis: 22,300 Miles Above Earth\".","In other media Television Animation Wesley Dodds / Sandman makes a non-speaking appearance in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode \"Crisis: 22,300 Miles Above Earth\". He is seen with the other members of the Justice Society of America. Sandman makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in the Young Justice episode \"Humanity\". He is shown with the other members of the JSA during a flashback sequence.","He is shown with the other members of the JSA during a flashback sequence. Live-action A character loosely inspired by the Sandman under the pseudonym of Nightshade makes recurring appearances in The Flash (1990), portrayed by Jason Bernard. This version is Dr. Desmond Powell, a 1950s vigilante who retained the Sandman's costume and captured criminals using a knockout gun and tranquilizer darts. After retiring as a vigilante after he defeated \"The Ghost\" in 1955, he later became a doctor and Chief of Staff at Central City Hospital.","After retiring as a vigilante after he defeated \"The Ghost\" in 1955, he later became a doctor and Chief of Staff at Central City Hospital. When the Ghost reappears in 1990, Powell becomes Nightshade once again and teams up with the Flash to apprehend his old enemy. He later unknowingly inspires the Deadly Nightshade. Powell is framed for multiple counts of murder, but clears his name and captures the impostor. He also makes his secret identity public and becomes a celebrity.","He also makes his secret identity public and becomes a celebrity. Wesley Dodds appeared in the Smallville two-hour special episode \"Absolute Justice\", portrayed by Ken Lawson. This version was a member of the now-disbanded Justice Society of America. After having a nightmare about losing his teammate, the Star-Spangled Kid, Dodds is killed by Icicle II. His body was later found by Clark Kent. Sandman's helmet appears in Rip Hunter's office in Legends of Tomorrow. Sandman appears in the series Stargirl.","Sandman appears in the series Stargirl. Sandman appears in the series Stargirl. He appears as a member of the Justice Society of America before the team was attacked and killed by the Injustice Society, with Dodds in particular being killed by Icicle. Film An alternate universe version of Sandman makes a cameo appearance in the animated film Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths. This version is a minor member of the Crime Syndicate of America. An alternate timeline version of Sandman appears in the animated film Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox.","An alternate timeline version of Sandman appears in the animated film Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox. This version is one of the few active superheroes in the dystopian \"Flashpoint\" timeline. Video games Wesley Dodds' costume appears in the background of the Hall of Justice in the video game Injustice: Gods Among Us. Web series Sandman makes a minor appearance in the DC Super Hero Girls episode \"Welcome to Super Hero High\". He appears as a graduate of the titular school.","He appears as a graduate of the titular school. He appears as a graduate of the titular school. Collected editions The Golden Age Sandman Archive Vol. 1 (Sandman stories from New York World's Fair Comics #1–2 and Adventure Comics #40–59) by Bert Christman and others.","1 (Sandman stories from New York World's Fair Comics #1–2 and Adventure Comics #40–59) by Bert Christman and others. Sandman by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby (World's Finest #6–7; Adventure Comics #72–102; Sandman #1) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 1: The Tarantula (Sandman Mystery Theatre #1–4) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 2: The Face and The Brute (Sandman Mystery Theatre #5–12) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 3: The Vamp (Sandman Mystery Theatre #13–16) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 4: The Scorpion (Sandman Mystery Theatre #17–20) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 5: Dr. Death and The Night of the Butcher (Sandman Mystery Theatre #21–28) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 6: The Hourman and The Python (Sandman Mystery Theatre #29–36) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 7: The Mist and The Phantom of the Fair (Sandman Mystery Theatre #37–44) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 8: The Blackhawk and The Return of the Scarlet Ghost (Sandman Mystery Theatre #45–52) Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason (Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason #1–5) References External links JSA Fact File: The Sandman Earth-2 Sandman Index] Sequart.com: \"The Sandman — Interlude: Sandman Mystery Theatre (1993–1998)\", by Julian Darius Characters created by Allen Bert Christman Characters created by Gardner Fox Comics characters introduced in 1939 DC Comics male superheroes Earth-Two Fictional businesspeople Fictional characters with precognition Fictional detectives Fictional scientists Fictional socialites Golden Age superheroes Jewish superheroes Sandman Vigilante characters in comics"],"string":"[\n \"Sandman (Wesley Dodds) is a fictional superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first of several DC characters to bear the name Sandman, he was created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Bert Christman. Attired in a green business suit, a fedora, and a World War I gas mask, the Sandman used a gun emitting a sleeping gas to sedate criminals.\",\n \"Attired in a green business suit, a fedora, and a World War I gas mask, the Sandman used a gun emitting a sleeping gas to sedate criminals. He was originally one of the mystery men to appear in comic books and other types of adventure fiction in the 1930s but later was outfitted with a unitard/cowl costume and developed into a proper superhero, acquiring sidekick Sandy, and founding the Justice Society of America.\",\n \"He was originally one of the mystery men to appear in comic books and other types of adventure fiction in the 1930s but later was outfitted with a unitard/cowl costume and developed into a proper superhero, acquiring sidekick Sandy, and founding the Justice Society of America. Like most DC Golden Age superheroes, the Sandman fell into obscurity in the 1940s and eventually other DC characters took his name.\",\n \"Like most DC Golden Age superheroes, the Sandman fell into obscurity in the 1940s and eventually other DC characters took his name. During the 1990s, when writer Neil Gaiman's Sandman (featuring Morpheus, the anthropomorphic embodiment of dreams) was popular, DC revived Dodds in Sandman Mystery Theatre, a pulp/noir series set in the 1930s. Wizard Magazine ranked Wesley Dodds among the Top 200 Comic Book Characters of All Time, and he is the oldest superhero in terms of continuity to appear on the list.\",\n \"Wizard Magazine ranked Wesley Dodds among the Top 200 Comic Book Characters of All Time, and he is the oldest superhero in terms of continuity to appear on the list. Publication history Golden Age of comic books Artist Bert Christman and writer Gardner Fox are generally credited as co-creating the original, Wesley Dodds version of the DC Comics character the Sandman.\",\n \"Publication history Golden Age of comic books Artist Bert Christman and writer Gardner Fox are generally credited as co-creating the original, Wesley Dodds version of the DC Comics character the Sandman. While the character's first appearance is usually given as Adventure Comics #40 (cover-dated July 1939), he also appeared in DC Comics' 1939 New York World's Fair Comics omnibus, which historians believe appeared on newsstands one to two weeks earlier, while also believing the Adventure Comics story was written and drawn first.\",\n \"While the character's first appearance is usually given as Adventure Comics #40 (cover-dated July 1939), he also appeared in DC Comics' 1939 New York World's Fair Comics omnibus, which historians believe appeared on newsstands one to two weeks earlier, while also believing the Adventure Comics story was written and drawn first. Each of the two stories' scripts were credited to the pseudonym \\\"Larry Dean\\\"; Fox wrote the untitled, 10-page story in New York World's Fair #1, while he simply plotted, and Christman scripted, the untitled, six-page story, generally known as \\\"The Tarantula Strikes\\\", in Adventure #40.\",\n \"Each of the two stories' scripts were credited to the pseudonym \\\"Larry Dean\\\"; Fox wrote the untitled, 10-page story in New York World's Fair #1, while he simply plotted, and Christman scripted, the untitled, six-page story, generally known as \\\"The Tarantula Strikes\\\", in Adventure #40. Creig Flessel, who drew many early Sandman adventures, has sometimes been credited as co-creator on the basis of drawing the Sandman cover of Adventure #40, but no other evidence has surfaced.\",\n \"Creig Flessel, who drew many early Sandman adventures, has sometimes been credited as co-creator on the basis of drawing the Sandman cover of Adventure #40, but no other evidence has surfaced. Following these two first appearances, the feature \\\"The Sandman\\\" continued to appear in the omnibus Adventure Comics through #102 (February–March 1946).\",\n \"Following these two first appearances, the feature \\\"The Sandman\\\" continued to appear in the omnibus Adventure Comics through #102 (February–March 1946). One of the medium's seminal \\\"mystery men\\\", as referred to at the time, the Sandman straddled the pulp magazine detective tradition and the emerging superhero tradition by dint of his dual identity and his fanciful, masked attire and weapon: an exotic \\\"gas gun\\\" that could compel villains to tell the truth, as well as put them to sleep.\",\n \"One of the medium's seminal \\\"mystery men\\\", as referred to at the time, the Sandman straddled the pulp magazine detective tradition and the emerging superhero tradition by dint of his dual identity and his fanciful, masked attire and weapon: an exotic \\\"gas gun\\\" that could compel villains to tell the truth, as well as put them to sleep. Unlike many superheroes, he frequently found himself the victim of gunshot wounds, both in the Golden Age and in stories in DC's modern-day Vertigo imprint, and he would continue fighting in spite of his injuries.\",\n \"Unlike many superheroes, he frequently found himself the victim of gunshot wounds, both in the Golden Age and in stories in DC's modern-day Vertigo imprint, and he would continue fighting in spite of his injuries. In his early career, Dodds (the character's surname was given as \\\"Dodd\\\" in his first four appearances; he became \\\"Dodds\\\" in Adventure Comics #44) was frequently aided by his girlfriend, Dian Belmont, who is aware of his dual identity.\",\n \"In his early career, Dodds (the character's surname was given as \\\"Dodd\\\" in his first four appearances; he became \\\"Dodds\\\" in Adventure Comics #44) was frequently aided by his girlfriend, Dian Belmont, who is aware of his dual identity. Unlike many superhero love interests, Belmont was often, though not always, portrayed as an equal partner of the Sandman, rather than a damsel in distress.\",\n \"Unlike many superhero love interests, Belmont was often, though not always, portrayed as an equal partner of the Sandman, rather than a damsel in distress. Later stories would reveal that the two remained together for the duration of their lives, though they never married. The Sandman was one of the original members of the Justice Society of America when that superhero team was introduced in All Star Comics #3, published by All-American Comics, one of the companies that would merge to form DC.\",\n \"The Sandman was one of the original members of the Justice Society of America when that superhero team was introduced in All Star Comics #3, published by All-American Comics, one of the companies that would merge to form DC. In Adventure Comics #69 (December 1941), Dodds was given a yellow-and-purple costume by writer Mort Weisinger and artist Paul Norris, as well as a yellow-clad kid sidekick, Sandy the Golden Boy, nephew of Dian Belmont.\",\n \"In Adventure Comics #69 (December 1941), Dodds was given a yellow-and-purple costume by writer Mort Weisinger and artist Paul Norris, as well as a yellow-clad kid sidekick, Sandy the Golden Boy, nephew of Dian Belmont. Later that year, the celebrated team of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby took over this version of the character. In 1942, Dodds enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as an anti-aircraft gunner during World War II.\",\n \"In 1942, Dodds enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as an anti-aircraft gunner during World War II. Silver Age to Modern Age Reintroduced in the Silver Age in Justice League of America #46 (July 1966), the Sandman made occasional appearances in the annual teamups between that superhero group and the JSA. In 1981 DC began publishing All-Star Squadron, a retelling of the Earth-Two mystery-men during WWII. Although not a main character, Sandman does appear in its pages.\",\n \"Although not a main character, Sandman does appear in its pages. Of note is issue #18 which gives an explanation of why Dodds changed costumes from the cloak and gas mask to the yellow-and-purple outfit; Dian wore his costume while he was fighting elsewhere and she was killed in a fray. Dodds decided to wear the new costume, of Dian's design, until he could bring himself to wear the original in which she had died.\",\n \"Dodds decided to wear the new costume, of Dian's design, until he could bring himself to wear the original in which she had died. Later, this explanation would be changed again when Dian Belmont was retconned to have never died, and a new explanation was given: Sandy convinced Dodds to switch to the more colorful costume to gain the support of regular people, who preferred the more traditional superhero look to his older, pulp-themed costume.\",\n \"Later, this explanation would be changed again when Dian Belmont was retconned to have never died, and a new explanation was given: Sandy convinced Dodds to switch to the more colorful costume to gain the support of regular people, who preferred the more traditional superhero look to his older, pulp-themed costume. An acclaimed film noir-inspired retelling of the original Sandman's adventures, Sandman Mystery Theatre, ran from 1993 to 1998 under DC Comics' Vertigo mature-reader imprint.\",\n \"An acclaimed film noir-inspired retelling of the original Sandman's adventures, Sandman Mystery Theatre, ran from 1993 to 1998 under DC Comics' Vertigo mature-reader imprint. Although as a whole its continuity within the DC Universe is debatable, several elements of the series – the more nuanced relationship between Dodds and Dian Belmont; the Sandman's appearance (wearing a trench coat and World War I gas mask instead of the cape and the custom-made gas mask); and Dodds' pudgier appearance and wearing of glasses – have been adopted into regular continuity.\",\n \"Although as a whole its continuity within the DC Universe is debatable, several elements of the series – the more nuanced relationship between Dodds and Dian Belmont; the Sandman's appearance (wearing a trench coat and World War I gas mask instead of the cape and the custom-made gas mask); and Dodds' pudgier appearance and wearing of glasses – have been adopted into regular continuity. The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual.\",\n \"The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual. The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual. In Sandman Midnight Theatre (1995) a one-shot special by Neil Gaiman (author of the Modern Age supernatural series The Sandman), Matt Wagner (co-author of Sandman Mystery Theatre), and Teddy Kristiansen, depicts an interaction between the two characters, with the original visiting Great Britain and encountering the imprisoned Dream, the protagonist of Gaiman's series.\",\n \"In Sandman Midnight Theatre (1995) a one-shot special by Neil Gaiman (author of the Modern Age supernatural series The Sandman), Matt Wagner (co-author of Sandman Mystery Theatre), and Teddy Kristiansen, depicts an interaction between the two characters, with the original visiting Great Britain and encountering the imprisoned Dream, the protagonist of Gaiman's series. A minor retcon by Gaiman suggested that Dodds' chosen identity was a result of Dream's absence from the realm the Dreaming, and that Dodds carries an aspect of that mystical realm.\",\n \"A minor retcon by Gaiman suggested that Dodds' chosen identity was a result of Dream's absence from the realm the Dreaming, and that Dodds carries an aspect of that mystical realm. This explains Dodds' prophetic dreams. Twilight years Dodds is one of a number of Justice Society members who finds themselves in the \\\"Ragnarok Dimension\\\" during the early Modern Age of comic books.\",\n \"Twilight years Dodds is one of a number of Justice Society members who finds themselves in the \\\"Ragnarok Dimension\\\" during the early Modern Age of comic books. The Last Days of the Justice Society of America Special (1986) wrote the post-Crisis tale of a time-warped wave of destruction ready to engulf the world. Dodds and his JSA teammates enter into a limbo to engage in an eternal battle that would allow the universe to continue its existence.\",\n \"Dodds and his JSA teammates enter into a limbo to engage in an eternal battle that would allow the universe to continue its existence. This was later revealed to be a simulation created by Odin, which he intended to give to Dream as a bribe. Dodds, Dream's protege, and Hawkman, the grandfather of Dream's appointed successor are the only JSA members who were seen at that time. This lasted only until 1992 when DC published Armageddon: Inferno.\",\n \"This lasted only until 1992 when DC published Armageddon: Inferno. This mini-series ended with the JSA members leaving limbo and entering the 'real' world. Justice Society of America (1992–1993) showed how the JSA members handled returning to normal life. For the Sandman, the series depicted him as an old, thin man with a balding scalp and a sharp wit. Starting with issue #1 his physical condition became important as writer Len Strazewski had him suffer a stroke at the first sign of a villainous attack.\",\n \"Starting with issue #1 his physical condition became important as writer Len Strazewski had him suffer a stroke at the first sign of a villainous attack. Both his age and his physical limitations became a theme writers would use in this character's post-Crisis stories. During Zero Hour, Dodds is returned to his proper age by the Extant.\",\n \"During Zero Hour, Dodds is returned to his proper age by the Extant. Later, Wesley Dodds is shown as retired and living with Dian Belmont though occasionally coming out of it, most notably in a team-up with Jack Knight, the son of Dodds' JSA teammate Starman. When Dian is diagnosed with a terminal disease, the two travel the world together until her death.\",\n \"When Dian is diagnosed with a terminal disease, the two travel the world together until her death. Towards the end of his life, Dodds' prophetic dreams alert him to the identity and location of the new Doctor Fate, prompting him to contact the Gray Man, a being created from the residue of others' dreams, as well as his old friend Speed Saunders to instruct them to warn his former teammates about what he has discovered.\",\n \"Towards the end of his life, Dodds' prophetic dreams alert him to the identity and location of the new Doctor Fate, prompting him to contact the Gray Man, a being created from the residue of others' dreams, as well as his old friend Speed Saunders to instruct them to warn his former teammates about what he has discovered. Waiting on a clifftop, he is subsequently confronted by the powerful villain Mordru, who intends to force Dodds to tell him the identity of the new Doctor Fate, only for Dodds to distract Mordru with his gas-gun long enough to commit suicide by jumping off the cliff rather than allow Mordru to torture him into submission.\",\n \"Waiting on a clifftop, he is subsequently confronted by the powerful villain Mordru, who intends to force Dodds to tell him the identity of the new Doctor Fate, only for Dodds to distract Mordru with his gas-gun long enough to commit suicide by jumping off the cliff rather than allow Mordru to torture him into submission. His last thoughts were that his final slumber would be free of nightmares as he is reunited with Dian.\",\n \"His last thoughts were that his final slumber would be free of nightmares as he is reunited with Dian. His youthful but now grown-up sidekick Sandy the Golden Boy becomes known simply as Sand and takes his mentor's place as a member of the Justice Society of America as well as his prophetic dreams. Eventually, he takes the name of Sandman. Sleep of Reason Wesley Dodds makes a comeback via flashback images in the 2006 limited series Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason.\",\n \"Sleep of Reason Wesley Dodds makes a comeback via flashback images in the 2006 limited series Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason. Blackest Night Dodds is reanimated as a Black Lantern in the \\\"Blackest Night\\\" storyline. He and several other fallen JSAers attack the Brownstone, seeking the hearts of the living within. Exodus Noir Dodds appeared in the \\\"Exodus Noir\\\" arc of Madame Xanadu in 2010, in a story set in 1940.\",\n \"Exodus Noir Dodds appeared in the \\\"Exodus Noir\\\" arc of Madame Xanadu in 2010, in a story set in 1940. DC Rebirth In the \\\"Watchmen\\\" sequel \\\"Doomsday Clock\\\", Lois Lane finds a flash-drive at the Daily Planet. It shows her footage of Sandman and the rest of the Justice Society. In the pages of \\\"Dark Nights: Death Metal\\\", the Prime-Earth version of Sandman was revealed to be entombed at the Valhalla Cemetery. Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring.\",\n \"Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring. Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring. Powers and abilities Dodds has prophetic dreams which come to him as cryptic, ambiguous visions of crimes. Originally of unexplained origin, these dreams were later ascribed to an encounter between Dodds and the entity known as Dream via retcon. The visions haunt Dodds, who uses his keen intellect and amateur detective skills to properly interpret them.\",\n \"The visions haunt Dodds, who uses his keen intellect and amateur detective skills to properly interpret them. He is also a talented chemist and inventor, creating the sand-like substance and the Silicoid Gun ultimately responsible for transforming Sandy the Golden Boy into a Silicon-based life-form. In the early years of his career, Wesley Dodds possesses the strength level of a man who engages in regular exercise, and was a fine hand-to-hand combatant. As he grows older, his strength level diminishes in relative proportion to his age.\",\n \"As he grows older, his strength level diminishes in relative proportion to his age. As hobbies, Dodds enjoys reading, writing, poetry, origami and philosophy. Through an unknown process, Dodds passes his power of prophetic visions on to his former ward, Sanderson Hawkins upon the moment of his own death.\",\n \"Through an unknown process, Dodds passes his power of prophetic visions on to his former ward, Sanderson Hawkins upon the moment of his own death. Wesley Dodds' costume consists of a basic green business suit, fedora, a World War I era gas mask, a gas gun, and a specially designed \\\"wirepoon\\\" gun, which fires a length of thin, steel cable. The gas mask protects Dodds from the effects of the gas emitted from his gas gun.\",\n \"The gas mask protects Dodds from the effects of the gas emitted from his gas gun. The gas gun, a handheld device fitted with cartridges containing concentrated sleeping gas, is Wesley Dodds' only known weapon. Pressing the trigger on the gun releases a cloud of green dust rendering all within the Sandman's immediate vicinity unconscious. An upgraded canister dispenser for the gun is provided for him by his close friend and confidante, Lee Travis.\",\n \"An upgraded canister dispenser for the gun is provided for him by his close friend and confidante, Lee Travis. Dodds is also known to conceal smaller knockout gas capsules in a hollow heel on his shoe. These prove ideal when placed in situations where his gas gun is not readily available. In the early days of his career, the Sandman drives a black 1938 Plymouth coupe. The car is enhanced with various features to aid Dodds in his crusade against crime.\",\n \"The car is enhanced with various features to aid Dodds in his crusade against crime. Enemies Sandman has an assortment of enemies that he fought: Butcher - A cannibalistic butcher. Doctor Death - Raymond Kessler is a serial killer/swindler who is the boyfriend of Dian Belmont's cousin Lucy. Phantom of the Fair - Gerald Zimmerman is a man who has been torturing and killing homosexual men at the New York World's Fair. Ramulus - A plant-manipulating villain who was also known as Nightshade and Plant Master.\",\n \"Ramulus - A plant-manipulating villain who was also known as Nightshade and Plant Master. He later appeared as a member of the Monster Society of Evil. Scorpion - Terrence Pritchard is an ad executive who becomes a bullwhip-wielding vigilante. Tarantula - A man who targeted Vivian Dale. There was also a second Tarantula that Sandman fought. This one was Roger Goldman who is a serial killer and the former owner of the Evergood Milk Bottling Company.\",\n \"This one was Roger Goldman who is a serial killer and the former owner of the Evergood Milk Bottling Company. Other versions Kingdom Come Dodds appears as an infirm old man at the beginning of the graphic novel, plagued with visions of the impending apocalyptic battle between various factions of metahumans. Before his death, he relates his visions, interpreted through passages from the Book of Revelation, to Norman McCay, who later witnesses the events in the company of the Spectre.\",\n \"Before his death, he relates his visions, interpreted through passages from the Book of Revelation, to Norman McCay, who later witnesses the events in the company of the Spectre. Earth 40 Wesley Dodds meets with The Unholy Three to give information about the Trigger, a device that causes every nuclear reactor in the world to detonate in a nuclear explosion. The Sandman arranges for The Unholy Three to meet with The Lantern, who has information on where the Trigger is located.\",\n \"The Sandman arranges for The Unholy Three to meet with The Lantern, who has information on where the Trigger is located. Earth 2 In The New 52 (a reboot of DC Comics), a new Earth-2 version of Sandman appears. While he does wear a gas mask and wield a gas gun, he is also equipped with a teleporter. When Washington DC is attacked by Solomon Grundy, Commander Wesley Dodds, along with his Sandmen paramilitary force, is sent to retrieve and save President Lightfoot.\",\n \"When Washington DC is attacked by Solomon Grundy, Commander Wesley Dodds, along with his Sandmen paramilitary force, is sent to retrieve and save President Lightfoot. They are later assigned by Commander Khan in a special and unofficial mission to infiltrate Terry Sloane's secret facility, where they confront and subdue a mind-controlled Michael Holt. In other media Television Animation Wesley Dodds / Sandman makes a non-speaking appearance in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode \\\"Crisis: 22,300 Miles Above Earth\\\".\",\n \"In other media Television Animation Wesley Dodds / Sandman makes a non-speaking appearance in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode \\\"Crisis: 22,300 Miles Above Earth\\\". He is seen with the other members of the Justice Society of America. Sandman makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in the Young Justice episode \\\"Humanity\\\". He is shown with the other members of the JSA during a flashback sequence.\",\n \"He is shown with the other members of the JSA during a flashback sequence. Live-action A character loosely inspired by the Sandman under the pseudonym of Nightshade makes recurring appearances in The Flash (1990), portrayed by Jason Bernard. This version is Dr. Desmond Powell, a 1950s vigilante who retained the Sandman's costume and captured criminals using a knockout gun and tranquilizer darts. After retiring as a vigilante after he defeated \\\"The Ghost\\\" in 1955, he later became a doctor and Chief of Staff at Central City Hospital.\",\n \"After retiring as a vigilante after he defeated \\\"The Ghost\\\" in 1955, he later became a doctor and Chief of Staff at Central City Hospital. When the Ghost reappears in 1990, Powell becomes Nightshade once again and teams up with the Flash to apprehend his old enemy. He later unknowingly inspires the Deadly Nightshade. Powell is framed for multiple counts of murder, but clears his name and captures the impostor. He also makes his secret identity public and becomes a celebrity.\",\n \"He also makes his secret identity public and becomes a celebrity. Wesley Dodds appeared in the Smallville two-hour special episode \\\"Absolute Justice\\\", portrayed by Ken Lawson. This version was a member of the now-disbanded Justice Society of America. After having a nightmare about losing his teammate, the Star-Spangled Kid, Dodds is killed by Icicle II. His body was later found by Clark Kent. Sandman's helmet appears in Rip Hunter's office in Legends of Tomorrow. Sandman appears in the series Stargirl.\",\n \"Sandman appears in the series Stargirl. Sandman appears in the series Stargirl. He appears as a member of the Justice Society of America before the team was attacked and killed by the Injustice Society, with Dodds in particular being killed by Icicle. Film An alternate universe version of Sandman makes a cameo appearance in the animated film Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths. This version is a minor member of the Crime Syndicate of America. An alternate timeline version of Sandman appears in the animated film Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox.\",\n \"An alternate timeline version of Sandman appears in the animated film Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox. This version is one of the few active superheroes in the dystopian \\\"Flashpoint\\\" timeline. Video games Wesley Dodds' costume appears in the background of the Hall of Justice in the video game Injustice: Gods Among Us. Web series Sandman makes a minor appearance in the DC Super Hero Girls episode \\\"Welcome to Super Hero High\\\". He appears as a graduate of the titular school.\",\n \"He appears as a graduate of the titular school. He appears as a graduate of the titular school. Collected editions The Golden Age Sandman Archive Vol. 1 (Sandman stories from New York World's Fair Comics #1–2 and Adventure Comics #40–59) by Bert Christman and others.\",\n \"1 (Sandman stories from New York World's Fair Comics #1–2 and Adventure Comics #40–59) by Bert Christman and others. Sandman by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby (World's Finest #6–7; Adventure Comics #72–102; Sandman #1) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 1: The Tarantula (Sandman Mystery Theatre #1–4) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 2: The Face and The Brute (Sandman Mystery Theatre #5–12) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 3: The Vamp (Sandman Mystery Theatre #13–16) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 4: The Scorpion (Sandman Mystery Theatre #17–20) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 5: Dr. Death and The Night of the Butcher (Sandman Mystery Theatre #21–28) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 6: The Hourman and The Python (Sandman Mystery Theatre #29–36) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 7: The Mist and The Phantom of the Fair (Sandman Mystery Theatre #37–44) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 8: The Blackhawk and The Return of the Scarlet Ghost (Sandman Mystery Theatre #45–52) Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason (Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason #1–5) References External links JSA Fact File: The Sandman Earth-2 Sandman Index] Sequart.com: \\\"The Sandman — Interlude: Sandman Mystery Theatre (1993–1998)\\\", by Julian Darius Characters created by Allen Bert Christman Characters created by Gardner Fox Comics characters introduced in 1939 DC Comics male superheroes Earth-Two Fictional businesspeople Fictional characters with precognition Fictional detectives Fictional scientists Fictional socialites Golden Age superheroes Jewish superheroes Sandman Vigilante characters in comics\"\n]"}}},{"rowIdx":387,"cells":{"History":{"kind":"list like","value":["Supergirl (Kara Zor-El)","Bronze Age"],"string":"[\n \"Supergirl (Kara Zor-El)\",\n \"Bronze Age\"\n]"},"QuAC_dialog_id":{"kind":"string","value":"C_eaa7329c3ac14b8bb4aaea61d8fa517d_1"},"Question":{"kind":"string","value":"whaat is the bronze age"},"Question_no":{"kind":"number","value":1,"string":"1"},"Rewrite":{"kind":"string","value":"whaat is Supergirl's bronze age?"},"true_page_title":{"kind":"string","value":"Supergirl (Kara Zor-El)"},"true_contexts":{"kind":"string","value":"After long-time Superman family editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971, the character underwent revitalization under editor Joe Orlando and artist Mike Sekowsky. Wearing a series of new outfits, leaving her adopted foster home with the Danvers family, Linda goes on to San Francisco where she works for KSF-TV as a camera operator and develops a crush on her boss, Geoffrey Anderson. These stories introduced Supergirl's most memorable villain from this period: Lex Luthor's niece Nasthalthia, or Nasty. Nasty had made two appearances towards the end of Linda's college years, then pursued her to KSF-TV, trying to secure proof of her dual identity. Supergirl starred in her first solo eponymous monthly series beginning in 1972 until October 1974, when her monthly title merged with Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane, and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen to produce a new title: then-highest DC selling series called The Superman Family, where she eventually became the steady lead story. Linda worked as a student advisor at New Athens Experimental School, before leaving for New York to follow a career in acting with daytime soap Secret Hearts. In 1982 Supergirl received a second monthly solo series titled The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl, relocating the character to Chicago as Linda became a mature student of Psychology. Industry legend, and former DC Publisher, Carmine Infantino provided the pencilled art (Bob Oksner inked). With issue 13 the title was revamped, with a new costume design (sporting a red headband) and the title shortened to just Supergirl. The series ran until sudden cancellation in 1984, only two months before the character's debut in a big-budget Hollywood film starring Helen Slater. In the Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985) the greatest heroes from Earth-One, Earth-Two, Earth-Four, Earth-S, and Earth-X join forces in order to defeat the Anti-Monitor. When Superman comes face to face with the Anti-Monitor and is knocked unconscious, Supergirl rushes to save him before he is killed. She is able to fight him off long enough for Dr. Light to carry her cousin to a safe distance, but is killed by the Anti-Monitor. A public memorial service for Supergirl takes place in Chicago, where Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) delivers the eulogy. In her remarks she states \"Kara is a hero. She will not be forgotten.\" Superman then gives his late cousin burial by taking her corpse to Rokyn/New Krypton to Zor-El and Allura. A Superman issue the next month reveals that Kara had experienced a premonition about her own passing. However, when the universe is rebooted, the timeline is altered. Kara Zor-El and all memory of her is erased from existence. CANNOTANSWER"},"answer":{"kind":"string","value":"After long-time Superman family editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971,"},"true_contexts_wiki":{"kind":"string","value":"Kara Zor-El, also known by her adoptive names of Linda Lee Danvers, Kara Kent, Linda Lang, and Kara Danvers, and the superhero name of Supergirl, is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. She was created by Otto Binder and designed by Al Plastino. Danvers first appeared in Action Comics #252 (May 1959)'s \"The Supergirl from Krypton\" story. Kara is the biological cousin of Kal-El, who went on to adopt the name of Clark Kent and the superhero Superman. During the 1980s and the revolution of the Modern Age of Comics, Superman editors believed the character's history had become too convoluted, thus killing Supergirl during the 1985 Crisis on Infinite Earths event and retconning her out of existence.\n\nDC Comics Senior Vice President Dan DiDio re-introduced the character in 2004 along with editor Eddie Berganza and writer Jeph Loeb, with her the Superman/Batman storyline \"The Supergirl from Krypton\". As the current Supergirl, Kara stars in her own monthly comic book series. With DC's The New 52 relaunch, Kara, like most of the DC Universe, was revamped. DC relaunched the Supergirl comic in August 2016 as part of their DC Rebirth initiative.\n\nIn live-action, Supergirl appeared in the 1984 film based on her character and was portrayed by Helen Slater. She also appeared in the series Smallville, played by actress Laura Vandervoort. In 2015, the live-action Arrowverse series Supergirl debuted on CBS and then moved to The CW after the first season. Supergirl was portrayed by Melissa Benoist on the show and also appeared on other Arrowverse shows. Sasha Calle will appear as Supergirl in the upcoming DC Extended Universe film The Flash (2022).\n\nPublication history\n\nEarly life\nAlthough Kara Zor-El was the first character to use the name \"Supergirl,\" DC Comics tested three different female versions of Superman prior to her debut. \n\nThe first story to feature a female counterpart to Superman was \"Lois Lane – Superwoman,\" which was published in Action Comics #60 (May 1943). In the story, a hospitalized Lois Lane dreams she has gained superpowers thanks to a blood transfusion from the Man of Steel. She begins her own career as \"Superwoman\", complete with a version of Superman's costume.\n\nIn the Superboy #78 story entitled \"Claire Kent, Alias Super-Sister\", Superboy saves the life of an alien woman named Shar-La, who turns Superboy into a girl, in retaliation for his disparaging thoughts about women drivers which she picked up telepathically. In Smallville, Clark claims to be Claire Kent, an out-of-town relative who is staying with the Kents. When in costume, he appears as Superboy's sister, Super-Sister, and claims the two have exchanged places. Once Superboy has learned his lesson about feeling more respect for women, Shar-La reveals the episode to be a dream which she projected into Superboy's mind.\n\nIn Superman #123 (August 1958), Jimmy Olsen uses a magic totem to wish a \"Super-Girl\" into existence as a companion and aid to Superman; however, the two frequently get in each other's way until she is fatally injured protecting Superman from a Kryptonite meteor. At her insistence, Jimmy wishes the dying girl out of existence. DC used this story to gauge public response to the concept of a completely new super-powered female counterpart to Superman.\n\nThe Kara Zor-El version of Supergirl finally appeared in Action Comics #252 (May 1959). Otto Binder wrote and Al Plastino illustrated her début story, in which Kara was born and raised in Argo City (unnamed until later issues), a fragment of Krypton that survived destruction. When the city is doomed by a meteor shower, Kara is sent to Earth by her parents, Zor-El and Alura (the latter unnamed until later issues), to be raised by her cousin Kal-El, known as Superman. Supergirl adopted the secret identity of an orphan \"Linda Lee\", and made Midvale Orphanage her home. Supergirl promised Superman that she would keep her existence on Earth a secret, so that he may use her as a \"secret weapon\", but that didn't stop Supergirl from exploring her new powers covertly. Action Comics #255 published reader's letters-of-comment to Supergirl's first appearance; she had allegedly generated a sizeable and mostly positive reaction.\n\nSupergirl, from her debut onwards, became a regular backup strip in Action Comics. She joined the Legion of Super-Heroes, like her cousin had done as a teenager, and in Action Comics #279 (July 1961) she was adopted by Fred and Edna Danvers, becoming \"Linda Lee Danvers\". Supergirl acted for three years as Superman's secret weapon, and her adventures during that time have been compared to contemporary developments in feminist thinking in work such as Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique. She was at last introduced by her super-powered cousin to an unsuspecting world in Action Comics #285 (February 1962).\n\nDuring her first quarter of a century, Linda Danvers would have many professions, from student to student advisor, to actor, and even TV camera operator. She shared Action Comics with Superman until transferring to the lead in Adventure Comics at the end of the 1960s. In 1972 she finally moved to her own short-lived eponymous magazine, before DC merged its Supergirl, Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen titles into a single anthology title named The Superman Family. In 1982 Supergirl was relaunched into her own magazine.\n\nDeath during Crisis on Infinite Earths\n\nIn 1985, the maxi-series Crisis on Infinite Earths was conceived as a way to reduce DC continuity to a single universe in which all characters maintained a single history. Despite Supergirl's continued popularity and status as a central member of the \"Superman Family\", the editors at DC Comics and the creators of the maxi-series decided to kill Supergirl off during the Crisis. According to Marv Wolfman, writer of Crisis on Infinite Earths:\n\nThe idea of killing Supergirl was first conceived by DC's vice president/executive editor Dick Giordano, who lobbied for the death to DC's publishers. He later said he has never had any regrets about this, explaining, \"Supergirl was created initially to take advantage of the high Superman sales and not much thought was put into her creation. She was created essentially as a female Superman. With time, writers and artists improved upon her execution, but she never did really add anything to the Superman mythos—at least not for me.\" The poor initial reception of the 1984 film Supergirl was also blamed by some sources.\n\nIn 1989, in the tale \"Christmas with the Super-Heroes\" the soul of Kara appears to Boston \"Deadman\" Brand, cheers him up, and then disappears from continuity until 2001 (see below).\n\nSeveral characters unrelated to Superman soon took on the Supergirl persona, including the Matrix (a shapeshifting genetically engineered life-form that 'defaulted' as Supergirl), Linda Danvers (the result of Matrix merging with the dying Linda Danvers and becoming an Earth-bound angel of fire), and Cir-El (Superman's apparent daughter from a possible future).\n\nA heroine resembling the Pre-Crisis Kara would later appear in Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #5, along with an entire army of Legionnaires gathered from alternate worlds, times, and realities, to battle the Time Trapper.\n\nTwo Supergirls meet \nPrior to the post-Crisis introduction of Kara Zor-El into mainstream continuity, the pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El made an appearance in Peter David's Supergirl: Many Happy Returns. The then-current Supergirl series, at the time starring Linda Danvers, was in danger of cancellation and Peter David thought a story arc involving Kara Zor-El would be enough to revitalize the series. In an interview with Cliff Biggers of Newsarama, David states:\n\nIn the Linda Danvers' Supergirl series issues 49 and 50 (October and November 2000), the original dead Kara appears as Linda's \"guardian angel\". Then in issues 75 to 80, \"Many Happy Returns\", a young Kara appears from an earlier time long before the Crisis. The paradox becomes a moral crisis for Linda who tries to take her place as the Crisis sacrifice, living for years in a Silver Age universe where \"no one swears, the villains are always easy to defeat, and everything's very, very clean\", eventually marrying the Silver Age Superman and having a daughter with him, before she is forced to return to her universe by the Spectre when he reveals that her efforts to replace Kara as the sacrifice will not succeed. This run was illustrated by Ed Benes who had also illustrated Gail Simone's Birds of Prey which had a similar whimsical camaraderie between its female leads.\n\nLinda's inability to ultimately save Kara, coupled with the loss of her daughter, is so devastating that it ends her own career as Supergirl, Linda leaving a note for Superman where she explains that she feels that she has failed to live up to the standards of a true Supergirl and choosing to go somewhere she cannot be found. This story arc is usually cited as one of the best Supergirl stories ever written. The series ended with issue 80.\n\nRevival \n\nAfter the launch of the Superman/Batman comic book series, executive editor Dan DiDio had been looking for a way to simplify the Supergirl character from her convoluted post-Crisis history; the simplest version, of course, was Superman's cousin. Jeph Loeb and editor Eddie Berganza found an opening to reintroduce the character following the conclusion of the first story arc of Superman/Batman. Loeb states:\n\nThe modern version of Kara Zor-El made her debut in Superman/Batman #8 (2004). Kara takes the mantle of Supergirl at the conclusion of the storyline. The Supergirl comic book series would later be relaunched, now starring Kara Zor-El as \"The Girl of Steel\". The first arc of the new series was written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by Ian Churchill. Loeb would later describe the appeal of writing for Supergirl:\n\nAs the character continued to be reinvented, steps towards regarding the iconic character were some of the most prominent changes. Artist Jamal Igle and editor Matt Idleson moved to transition the character away from red panties under her skirt to biker shorts, feeling such a change was a logical progression and \"more respectable.\"\n\nThe New 52\nIn September 2011, DC Comics began The New 52, in which it canceled all of its monthly superhero titles and relaunched 52 new ones, wiping out most of its past continuity in the process. One of the new titles was a new Supergirl series (Volume 6) that featured a new origin for Kara and was published between 2011 and 2015. Artist Mahmud Asrar designed a new costume for the character which strongly deviated from her classic, \"cheerleader\" suit, a change which generated criticism from some readers.\n\nDC Rebirth\nThe 2016 DC Comics title relaunch Rebirth incorporates several elements (such as the costume, the name, the setting, and some characters) from the Supergirl television series. The DC Rebirth initiative undid the New 52's modern recreations, bringing DC's heroes back to their more classic iterations. Supergirl's new series (Volume 7) was titled Supergirl: Rebirth, written by Steven Orlando. The first arc was penciled by Brian Ching, who also redesigned Supergirl's costume in reference to a more classic look. In April 2018, it was announced that the title would be canceled after issue #20, only to be revived in August that year under a new creative team, with new writer Marc Andreyko and artist Kevin Maguire. The series ended with its 42nd issue.\n\nFuture State: Kara Zor-El, Superwoman\nThe Future State comics propose a possible future for Kara Zor-El, now an adult and having taken the alias of Superwoman. She leaves Earth to become a guardian of the Moon, which has become a refugee colony for aliens from the entire universe. The series was written by Marguerite Bennet and penciled by Marguerite Sauvage.\n\nSupergirl: Woman of Tomorrow\nUnder the Infinite Frontier brand, Kara's next series Woman of Tomorrow debuted in June 2021, written by Tom King and penciled by Brazilian artists Bilquis Evely and Mat Lopes. The arc introduces Supergirl to new character grounds as she begins the story as a young woman, celebrating her 21st birthday and helping a young alien in her quest for revenge. The \"mentor-mentee journey on revenge\" plot is, according to King, inspired by the original novel and both versions of True Grit. \n\nIn this series, the creators paid homage to Linda Danvers, as Kara manifests flame wings and powers after taking a red kryptonite drug, in order to save her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon.\n\nFictional character biography\n\nSilver Age\nIn her debut story, Kara Zor-El is the last survivor of Argo City of the planet Krypton. Although Argo, which had survived the explosion of the planet, drifted through space as a self-sustaining environment, the soil of the colony eventually turned into Kryptonite; and though Kara's father Zor-El placed lead sheeting above the ground to protect the citizens from radiation, meteorites pierced the sheeting, and the Kryptonians died of radiation poisoning instead of replacing the metal.\n\nIn Supergirl's subsequent backup feature in Action Comics drawn by artist Jim Mooney for ten years until 1968, Supergirl adopts the identity of Linda Lee, an orphan at Midvale Orphanage presided over by headmistress Miss Hart. She disguises herself by hiding her blond hair beneath a brunette wig; Supergirl interacts with humans on a person-to-person basis performing good deeds and saving the world by helping one person at a time, and she also devises clever schemes as \"Superman's Secret Weapon,\" saving him many times and avoiding adoption before Superman can introduce her publicly.\n\nWhile temporarily powerless due to the scheming of Kandorian scientist Lesla-Lar, who is out to supplant her on Earth, Linda allows herself to be adopted by engineer and rocket scientist Fred Danvers and his wife, Edna. In time, she reveals her secret identity to her adoptive parents on the same day her cousin Superman finally introduces her to the world in the finale of then-DC's longest playing series ever (eight chapters) aptly called \"The World's Greatest Heroine\".\n\nWhen frequent dreams about her parents being alive turn out to be real, she builds a machine aided by her engineer father's talent, and brings them both back alive from the \"Survival Zone\" where they had both teleported during Argo City's final moments. Zor-El and Allura eventually end up living in Kandor, and when the city in the bottle is enlarged, they both go on to live in Rokyn/New Krypton, where they have the sad duty of receiving her mortal remains after \"Crisis\" for burial.\n\nGraduating from high school in 1965, Linda Lee goes to college on a scholarship and stays in Stanhope College until she graduates in 1971. During this era, she is helped by her pet cat Streaky, her Super-Horse pet Comet, and befriends Lena Thorul, who had first appeared in the Lois Lane series. Kara is also a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, where she becomes close to Brainiac 5. In addition, Linda has boyfriends from the orphanage (Richard \"Dick\" Malverne) and from Atlantis (Jerro the merboy).\n\nIn 1967, Supergirl meets Batgirl for the first time in World's Finest Comics. Developing a strong friendship, the two characters teamed up many times again, as in Superman Family #171, or Adventure #381.\nIn 1969, Supergirl left Action Comics and became a featured character in Adventure Comics beginning with issue #381 (June 1969).\n\nDuring the 1970s, Supergirl's costume changed frequently, as did her career in her civilian life. In her secret identity as Linda Lee Danvers, Kara Zor-El took a variety of jobs including graduate student in acting, television camera operator, and student counselor, and finally became an actress on the TV soap Secret Hearts.\n\nBronze Age\nAfter long-time Superman family editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971, the character underwent revitalization under editor Joe Orlando and artist Mike Sekowsky. Wearing a series of new outfits, leaving her adopted foster home with the Danvers family, Linda goes on to San Francisco where she works for KSF-TV as a camera operator and develops a crush on her boss, Geoffrey Anderson. These stories introduced Supergirl's most memorable villain from this period: Lex Luthor's niece Nasthalthia, or Nasty. Nasty had made two appearances towards the end of Linda's college years, then pursued her to KSF-TV, trying to secure proof of her dual identity.\n\nSupergirl starred in her first solo eponymous monthly series beginning in 1972 until October 1974, when her monthly title merged with Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane, and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen to produce a new title: then-highest DC selling series called The Superman Family, where she eventually became the steady lead story. Linda worked as a student advisor at New Athens Experimental School, before leaving for New York to follow a career in acting with daytime soap Secret Hearts.\n\nIn 1982 Supergirl received a second monthly solo series titled The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl, relocating the character to Chicago as Linda became a mature student of Psychology. Industry legend, and former DC Publisher, Carmine Infantino provided the penciled art (Bob Oksner inked). With issue 13 the title was revamped, with a new costume design (sporting a red headband) and the title shortened to just Supergirl. The series ran until sudden cancellation in 1984, only two months before the character's debut in a big-budget Hollywood film starring Helen Slater.\n\nIn the Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985), the greatest heroes from Earth-One, Earth-Two, Earth-Four, Earth-S, and Earth-X join forces in order to defeat the Anti-Monitor. When Superman comes face to face with the Anti-Monitor and is knocked unconscious, Supergirl rushes to save him before he is killed. She is able to fight him off long enough for Dr. Light to carry her cousin to a safe distance, but is killed by the Anti-Monitor. A public memorial service for Supergirl takes place in Chicago, where Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) delivers the eulogy. In her remarks, she states \"Kara is a hero. She will not be forgotten.\" Superman then gives his late cousin burial by taking her corpse to Rokyn/New Krypton to Zor-El and Allura. A Superman issue the next month reveals that Kara had experienced a premonition about her own passing. However, when the universe is rebooted, the timeline is altered. Kara Zor-El and all memory of her is erased from existence.\n\nEchoes\nAfter these events, the soul of Kara Zor-El made another appearance in continuity three years later in a story titled \"Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot\" in Christmas with the Super-Heroes #2 (1989). Within the story, Boston \"Deadman\" Brand tries to feel the warmth of Christmas by possessing revelers' bodies. Feeling guilty upon the realization that he has been stealing others' Christmases, he flies off feeling sorry for himself for being denied a reward after a year of helping people. A warmly dressed blonde woman approaches Brand, startling him. Somehow seeing the normally invisible Brand, she converses with him, reminding him,\n\nShe reminds Brand that even though he is dead, he is still human, and he should rejoice because it means his spirit is still alive. As the woman leaves, Brand asks her who she is, to which she replies, \"My name is Kara. Though I doubt that will mean anything to you.\" The story, written by Alan Brennert and penciled by Dick Giordano, is dedicated to Otto Binder and Jim Mooney, adding: \"We still remember.\"\n\nFinally, the soul of Kara Zor-El appeared twice during Peter David's run, specifically in issues #48 and #49 when she appears before a defeated and imprisoned then-Supergirl, Linda Danvers from Earth, and comforts her. Linda acknowledges she has been helped three times by her phantom-friend, and when she asks her name she is told by the smiling figure: \"I have gone by many names, but the one I am most fond of is: Kara!\"\n\nModern Age\n\nIn 2004, Jeph Loeb reintroduced Kara Zor-El into post-Zero Hour (Birthright timeline) continuity during a storyline in the series Superman/Batman. She is the biological cousin of Superman, and although chronologically older than him, the ship in which she traveled to Earth was caught in a large green Kryptonite meteorite which held her in a state of suspended animation for much of the journey, making her have the appearance of a 16-year-old girl. Still, Supergirl sometimes saw Superman as a child, due to last carrying him as a baby. DC Comics relaunched the Supergirl, the first story arc of which was written by Loeb. showcases Supergirl on a journey of self-discovery. Along her journey, she encounters Power Girl (Kara Zor-El's counterpart from another universe), the Teen Titans, the Outsiders, the Justice League of America, and arch-villain Lex Luthor.\n\nDuring the company-wide crossover series Infinite Crisis (2005), a sequel to Crisis on Infinite Earths, Supergirl is transported to the 31st century, where she is revered as a member of the Superman family and joins the Legion of Super-Heroes. DC Comics renamed the monthly series Legion of Super-Heroes to Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes. Beginning with issue #16. In the limited series 52, which chronicles the events that took place during the missing year after the end of Infinite Crisis, Donna Troy recalls the original Kara Zor-El and her sacrifice to save the universe. Supergirl returns to the 21st century during the course of 52. After briefly filling in for a temporarily depowered Superman as guardian of Metropolis, she assumes the identity of Flamebird to fight crime in the bottle city of Kandor with Power Girl as Nightwing in Greg Rucka's arc Supergirl: Kandor.\n\nIn 2007, Supergirl appeared in the miniseries Amazons Attack! That same year, she joined the Teen Titans for five issues.\n\nConversations with other heroes who maintain secret identities lead Kara to the conclusion that she needs to make a deeper connection with human beings. She accepts Lana Lang's proposal to present her to the Daily Planet staff as \"Linda Lang\", Lana's teenaged niece.\n\nIn the 2008–2009 \"New Krypton\" story arc, in which Superman discovers and frees the real Kandor and a large number of its citizens, Supergirl is reunited with her father, Zor-El and mother, Alura, though Zor-El is killed by the villain Reactron. When a planet is formed that the Kryptonians call New Krypton, Kara is torn between her life on Earth, and her obligation to her mother, eventually joining the New Krypton Science Guild.\n\nSupergirl subsequently appears in the 2009 miniseries Justice League: Cry for Justice, and the 2009–2010 storyline \"Blackest Night\". The New Krypton storyline would later be resolved in the \"World of New Krypton\", \"Superman: Last Stand of New Krypton\", \"War of the Supermen\" storylines, resulting in the destruction of New Krypton and seeing Supergirl mourn her people.\n\nSupergirl subsequently appears in the 2010 \"Brightest Day\" storyline, the follow up to \"Blackest Night\"., where she joins the Justice League along with Jesse Quick & Jade.\n\nThe New 52\nIn this continuity, Kara's ship lands in Smallville, Kansas but hurtles through the Earth and emerges in Siberia.\n\nKara has no memory of the destruction of Krypton, and believes it is only three days since her spacecraft was launched. She learns the truth about Krypton's destruction from Superman, and later journeys through a wormhole to Argo City, which she finds in orbit around a blue sun. She finds the city in ruins, with no explanation of how it met that fate, and is attacked by a female Worldkiller named Reign before the city plummets into the sun. When Reign and her fellow Worldkiller plan to enslave the Earth, Supergirl returns there to defeat them, and thus adopts Earth as her new home.\n\nAfter several battles with supervillains, including the Worldkillers, superweapons of Kryptonian design, she accepts Krypton's destruction, but continues to grapple with her grief. Her desire to restore Krypton results in her being manipulated into nearly destroying the Earth by another Kryptonian whom she falls in love with. Upon realizing his manipulation, she kills him by driving Kryptonite through his heart, and succumbs to Kryptonite poisoning.\n\nFollowing her poisoning, Supergirl departs the Earth to die alone. While adrift in interstellar space, she encounters a planet under attack by monsters, and quickly intervenes to save them, unaware that the entire planet is a trap by Brainiac. She is captured and restrained by Cyborg Superman, but after a struggle, manages to escape both Brainiac and Cyborg Superman. Returning to Earth, she is sent into the past by the Oracle alongside Superman and Superboy, where she ensures that a resurrected H'el cannot save Krypton, and sacrifices the planet and her family in order to save the universe.\n\nBack on Earth, she encounters the assassin Lobo. Initially eager for a peaceful resolution, seeing a kind of kinship with him in their both being lone survivors of their respective worlds (although not truly aware of Lobo's circumstances), Kara's encounter with the Czarnian would reveal deep mental wounds, resulting in the unleashing of her rage and transformation into a Red Lantern. Driven insane by rage, Kara wanders space, attacking everyone in her way, until captured by several Green Lanterns and brought to Hal Jordan. Immediately recognizing a Kryptonian and unable to remove the power ring without killing her, he brings her to Guy Gardner, the leader of one of the two Red Lantern factions, who manages to restore her sanity.\n\nAfter some time under Guy Gardner's tutelage and protecting the galaxy as a Red Lantern, after being discharged from the Red Lantern Corps (because Guy did not want for her to die needlessly against Atrocitus' splinter group), on her way back to Earth, Kara encounters the leader of the Worldkillers, who are revealed to be parasitic suits of armor. He attempts to assimilate Kara as his host, but she voluntarily subjects herself to Kryptonite poisoning in order to stop him, and eventually flies into the Sun and removes her power ring, killing her and removing him from her body. However, Kara is revealed to be immortal while in the Sun's core, and is restored to life without the power ring or any Kryptonite poisoning, immediately destroying the Worldkiller. She later helps Guy against Atrocitus and his Red Lantern splinter group.\n\nConvergence and return of the Pre-Crisis version\nDuring the Convergence story arc, the original Kara Zor-El who had sacrificed her life during Crisis on Infinite Earths makes an appearance on the amalgamated planet of Telos. At the end of the saga she volunteers herself to once again fight the Anti-Monitor but this time, with the help of her timeline's Barry Allen, the Pre-Flashpoint Superman (in tow with his pregnant wife, Lois Lane), and a repentant Parallax (Zero Hour Hal Jordan), vows to defeat him for the sake of the multiverse's continued existence. Without it being seen, those left on Telos discover the group was successful and all previous timelines (with the mysterious exception of the pre-Flashpoint/pre-New 52 DC universe) from DC history had been re-established, though the fate of the original Kara Zor-El and her fellows went unmentioned.\n\nA few more details of the battle against the Anti-Monitor are later revealed during the New 52 comic mini-series (leading into DC's Rebirth event). After the defeat of Anti-Monitor, Pre-New 52 Clark and Lois decide to start life anew in the closest universe they can find (mysteriously yet unable to see their old universe even though the rest of the multiverse had been restored) while Pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El, along with her contemporary Barry Allen and Zero Hour Parallax/Hal Jordan, decide to find their place in the universe and go off to do so. Her fate as of that story arc is yet to be revealed.\n\nDC Rebirth\nAfter the events that led to the death of the New 52 version of Superman, 16-year-old Kara lives in National City with her adoptive parents, D.E.O. agents Jeremiah and Eliza Danvers, where she attends high school and works with the agency as led by Cameron Chase. As part of her civilian identity, Kara receives special glasses that darken her blond hair when posing as Kara Danvers. Kara also goes on an internship at Cat Grant's CATCO alongside Ben Rubel, whom she befriends.\n\nIn her opening arc \"The Reign of the Cyborg Supermen\", Kara discovers that the cyborg Zor-El, whom she had battled in her New 52 title, is still active and has rebuilt other Kryptonians (her mother Alura included), planning to take over Earth. Supergirl defeats them but vows to help her father regardless of his actions. After National City discovers Supergirl has kept Zor-El's \"living\" status a secret, they become untrustful of her. Director Bones takes advantage of the heroine's impopularity and, after taking control of the D.E.O., sends villains in an attempt to bring Kara down. She defeats all of them and regains trust from National City with Ben's help.\n\nThe Supergirl Who Laughs\nKara is later infected by The Batman Who Laughs toxin, causing her to turn evil and joining other infected as part of Laughs Secret Six before later being cured. She is fired from CatCo by Cat Grant and starts working at S.T.A.R. Labs.\n\nWoman of Tomorrow\nJourneying throughout the universe with Krypto, Kara celebrates her 21st birthday alone on a distant planet. Drunk in a bar, she is approached by a little girl named Ruthye and is asked to kill Krem (her father's murderer) in vengeance. Supergirl refuses but, when she is about to leave the planet, Krem attacks and severely wounds both her and Krypto, fleeing in Kara's ship. Kara begins her journey alongside Ruthye and, powerless, saves her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon by taking a red kryptonite drug which causes her to manifest flame wings.\n\nPowers and abilities\n\nLike all Kryptonians under a yellow sun, the current version of Kara Zor-El possesses virtually unlimited strength, stamina, and durability. She is able to fly and with super speed that she can also use on foot, similar to Superman and The Flash. Also like Superman, Supergirl possesses super senses, super-breath, and freeze breathe, as well as multiple forms of supervision (including X-Ray, Infrared, Telescopic, and Microscopic). Kara also has a bio-electric aura that enhances her near invulnerability and also protects her skin and her costume from dirt and tear; as such, Kara is perpetually clean. The Sun also provides Kara with a longer lifespan than that of a human being, to the point that she is effectively a biological immortal. Kara doesn't require food, water, or sleep to survive. She is also immune to most diseases, mental and physical, and would require a very strong strain to have a chance at affecting her.\n\nIn the rare instances that Kara is harmed by someone matching her strength or by the use of one of her weaknesses, she can heal almost instantaneously. Her power surpasses most other beings, though she can be overpowered by those who rival her strength such as Black Adam, Darkseid, Despero, Doomsday, Bizarro, Wonder Woman, and Superman.\n\nIn reality, Kara is actually older than her cousin, Clark, and spent time on Krypton before its destruction. As such (unlike Superman), she possesses memories of Kryptonian culture as well as her cousin's parents.\n\nContinued exposure to a yellow Sun will slowly increase abilities. Many characters in the DC Universe have noted that Supergirl appears, at times, to be even more powerful than Superman himself. In answer to this, Superman states that this is because he has spent his entire life subconsciously suppressing his full powers in order to avoid hurting others, having been absorbing solar radiation since his infancy. Kara, not having such practice or experience, simply uses the full magnitude of her powers.\n\nAbilities\nUnlike her cousin, Kara was taught to fight in Krypton as part of her tests, and at the Crucible Academy, being adept at various Kryptonian fighting styles like Klurkor and Torquasm Rao. Supergirl also learned the art of Bagua under I-Ching's instructions. She practiced how to manipulate her Chi or Qi in order to gain better control of her powers due to them becoming overwhelmed after her conflict with the Fatal Five. Superman recommended guardianship with I-Ching to Supergirl first. In addition to training in Krypton, Kara was trained by Batman in advanced martial arts and trained with the Amazons in Themyscira in unarmed and armed combat, Amazonas martial arts, fencing, Shield handling, and other Amazon weapons. She trained with Wonder Woman and Artemis extensively.\n\nOther versions\n\nThere are numerous alternate versions of Supergirl. The most notable is Power Girl (real name Kara Zor-L, also known as Karen Starr) who first appeared in All Star Comics #58 (January/February 1976).\n\nPower Girl is the Earth-Two counterpart of Supergirl and the first cousin of Kal-L, Superman of the pre-Crisis Earth-Two. The infant Power Girl's parents enabled her to escape the destruction of Krypton. Although she left the planet at the same time that Superman did, her ship took much longer to reach Earth-Two.\n\nShe has superhuman strength and the ability to fly and is the first chairwoman of the Justice Society of America. She sports a bob of blond hair; wears a distinctive white, red, and blue costume; and has an aggressive fighting style. Throughout her early appearances in All Star Comics, she is often at odds with Wildcat because his penchant for talking to her as if she were an ordinary human female rather than a superpowered Kryptonian annoys her.\n\nShe also fought alongside the Sovereign Seven team, replacing Rampart after his death though that series is not considered to be part of canon in the DC universe.\n\nThe 1985 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths eliminated Earth-Two, causing her origin to change; she became the granddaughter of the Atlantean sorcerer Arion. However, story events culminating in the 2005–2006 Infinite Crisis limited series restored her status as a refugee from the Krypton of the destroyed pre-Crisis Earth-Two universe.\n\nLike the original Kara's Streaky, Power Girl has a cat, featured in a story by Amanda Conner in Wonder Woman #600.\n\nReception\nThis version of Supergirl is ranked as the 153rd-greatest comic book character of all time by Wizard magazine.\n\nIGN also ranked this version of Supergirl as the 94th-greatest comic book superhero, stating \"for a character born of the Silver Age that saw everything from a Super Baby to a Super Monkey, Kara Zor-El grew into something much more than simply another marketing ploy to slap an 'S' on.\" In 2013 IGN ranked Supergirl as the 17th-greatest DC comic superhero, stating \"she was an early example of a female sidekick developing a large fanbase in her own right\", and \"Supergirl has been one of DC's most powerful heroes, and a standard to hold other female heroes against.\"\n\nAppearances\n\nPre-Crisis\n 1959 to 1969: Action Comics #252 to #376.\n 1969 to 1972: Adventure Comics #381 to #424.\n 1972 to 1974: Supergirl #1 to #10.\n 1974 to 1982: Her comic merges with Jimmy Olsen's and Lois Lane's to become Superman Family #164 to #222.\n 1982 to 1984: The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl #1 to #13, Supergirl (vol. 2) #14 to #23.\n 2015: Convergence\n\nKara Zor-El appeared in over 750 stories published by DC from 1959 to 1985.\n\nPost-Crisis\n\n 2004 to 2005: Superman/Batman #8 to #13 and #19\n 2005 to 2011: Supergirl (vol. 5) #0 to #67\n 2006 to 2008: Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes (Legion of Super-Heroes vol. 5) #16 to #37\n 2007: Action Comics #850\n 2008: Final Crisis\n 2011 to 2015: New 52: Supergirl (vol. 6) #1 to #40\n 2016 to current: Rebirth: Supergirl (vol. 7) #1 to current\n\nKara Zor-El also appears as a supporting character in several issues of other DC Comics, including Superman, Action Comics, Teen Titans, Amazons Attack, World War III, and Wonder Girl. She has also appeared in many issues of Superman, Action Comics, and Superman New Krypton starting with the World Without Superman event in 2009, and continuing with the World Against Superman event going into 2010.\n\nCollected editions\nListed in chronological order. All ages titles are not in continuity with the original or modern Kara.\n\nIn other media\n\nTelevision\n\nLive-action\n\nSmallville\nPrior to the seventh season (2007–2008) of the WB/CW show Smallville where she is introduced into the cast and is portrayed by Laura Vandervoort, a woman claiming to be Kara (portrayed by Adrianne Palicki) is briefly introduced in the season 3 finale. It is later revealed her real name is Lindsey Harrison, and had been given false memories and powers by the artificial intelligence of Clark Kent's (Tom Welling) father Jor-El as part of a series of tests. Vandervoort portrays the real Kara, Clark's cousin whose spaceship had been trapped in stasis until the events of the season 6 finale. Much of season 7 is concerned with Kara's attempts to adjust to life on Earth, especially after learning of Krypton's destruction. Her storyline sees her simultaneously become the object of Lex Luthor's (Michael Rosenbaum) obsessions and Jimmy Olsen's (Aaron Ashmore) affections, suffer a bout of amnesia, discover her father's (Christopher Heyerdahl) sinister motives and become a target of evil android Brainiac (James Marsters). The season finale sees Kara become trapped in the Phantom Zone. Starting with season 8, Vandervoort ceases to feature as a series regular, but reprises the role three more times. In her first guest appearance, \"Bloodline,\" Kara is freed from the Phantom Zone and later departs Clark's hometown of Smallville to search for Kandor, her birthplace, as it is rumored to have survived their home planet's destruction. She appears again in the season 10 episode \"Supergirl\", in which she formally adopts her superhero moniker. Her off-screen adventures are alluded to thereafter. Vandervoort makes a final appearance in the show's penultimate episode, \"Prophecy\", in which she helps Green Arrow (Justin Hartley) locate the \"Bow of Orion\" to use against Darkseid. She is then called to the Fortress of Solitude, where she learns from Jor-El that her job on Earth is done. Using a Legion of Super-Heroes flight ring, she travels to the future to seek her own destiny. The Season Eleven comic book continuation of the show later depicts Kara's continued story in the 31st century, subsequent return to the present and joining the Justice League.\n\nArrowverse\n\n In September 2014, a 22-episode television series centered around Supergirl was in development at Warner Bros. Television, set to premiere on CBS with a January 2015 air date. Melissa Benoist was cast as the titular character. In May 2016, the series moved to The CW and was later integrated into the Arrowverse, a shared universe consisting of shows including Arrow, The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow. In the series, Kara Zor-El was sent to Earth to protect her cousin Kal-El, following her homeworld Krypton's destruction. However, she is knocked into the Phantom Zone, where she is stranded for 24 years. She eventually crash lands on Earth and is found by her already grown-up cousin Kal, now known to the world as the iconic superhero \"Superman\". Superman brings Kara into the custody of Jeremiah Danvers, director of the Department of Extranormal Operations (D.E.O.), and his daughter Alex. Growing up, Kara struggles to maintain her Kryptonian abilities as well as balancing her relationship with her adoptive sister. Eventually, the two bond when Kara's powers are exposed. However, Jeremiah decides it's best to isolate her abilities. As an adult, Kara is forced to use her powers again when her sister's plane almost crashes. She is later dubbed \"Supergirl\" by the media and dons a costume like her cousin. Kara decides to use her abilities to fight alien invaders such as Kara's aunt Astra and her husband Non, Mon-El's rogue parents, the Worldkiller Reign, anti-alien activist Ben Lockwood, and later the shadowy organization Leviathan, with the help of her sister Alex, now an agent of the D.E.O., her best friend and tech-expert Winn Schott, last of the Green Martians J'onn J'onzz / Martian Manhunter, and Kal's best friend Jimmy Olsen. She is later joined by Lex Luthor's sister Lena, Prince of Daxam Mon-El, former Legion of Superheroes member Querl \"Brainy\" Dox / Brainiac 5, Nia Nal / Dreamer, James' younger sister Kelly, and reporter Willam Dey face against these rival forces. After joining the Arrowverse, which contain annual crossover, Kara assists Barry Allen, Oliver Queen and the Legends of Tomorrow against threats on their designated earth \"Earth-1\" while Kara’s is designated as \"Earth-38. Later, Kara is selected by The Monitor as the Paragon of Hope to participate in the coming crisis and fight against the Anti-Monitor, whose goal is to destroy the multiverse. After doing so, the Paragons are sent to the Vanishing Point where Oliver, now a Spectre, helps them escape. The Paragons appear at the dawn of time in the anti-matter universe where they have their final confrontation with the Anti-Monitor. Eventually, Oliver sacrifices himself to kill the Anti-Monitor, and as a result, a new multiverse is born with Earth-38 and Earth-1 merged into \"Earth-Prime\". Following the crisis, Kara is forced to deal the after-effects of Crisis which include working with Lex, now owning the D.E.O. while Leviathan continue their covert operations under Gamemnae. The sixth season sees Kara and her allies expose Lex's crimes, but are then forced to deal with Nyxlygsptlnz, a fifth-dimensional imp who tricked the heroes into releasing her from the Phantom Zone. Eventually Nyxlygsptlnz joins forces with Lex Luthor and the two kill William, but Kara's assembled allies are able to defeat the two, culminating in Lex and Nyxlygsptlnz being trapped in the Phantom Zone when one of their own plans backfires. The series concludes with Kara revealing her dual identity so that she can live a full life as one person.\n\nAnimation\n\nDC Nation Shorts\nSupergirl appears with Batgirl and Wonder Girl in Super Best Friends Forever, voiced by Nicole Sullivan.\n\nDC Super Hero Girls\nSupergirl appears as a central protagonist in the web series DC Super Hero Girls voiced by Anais Fairweather, and is a student at Super Hero High, is very kind and caring and extremely powerful but she's also very clumsy.\n\nShe also appears as a central protagonist in the 2019 TV series, with Nicole Sullivan reprising her role from the Super Best Friends Forever shorts. In this version, she is also a rebel and is known as the \"cool kid\" in school. She may be tough but she can easily express her emotions and is very open-minded as well. She can be a cool friend and a helpful one, but she can also be jealous sometimes and she dislikes her cousin's prominence.\n\nJustice League Action\nSupergirl appears in Justice League Action, voiced by Joanne Spracklen. She has the appearance of a wide-eyed human teenager with blonde hair and wears her traditional costume except that it has thigh-high boots and a pleated skirt. As a person, she is youthful, responsible, and shows much affection for her cousin Superman. In \"Party Animal\", she appears as a cameo at this Christmas party with the Justice League. In \"Keeping up with the Kryptonians\", Supergirl becomes a star of the popular reality show \"That's So Kara\", and Superman a Kasnian who rules from one place to another on Earth, all being a reality caused by Mister Mxyzptlk. In \"Unleashed\", Supergirl accompanies Justice League in stopping Red Lantern Corps, unaware that it was a distraction made by Dex-Starr to invade Earth, until it was ultimately resolved by Krypto, Streaky, and Plastic Man. In a short \"The Goddess Must Be Crazy\", Supergirl trains with Wonder Woman in Paradise Island, until she is possessed by Felix Faust, to destroy the island.\n\nFilm\n\nSuperman film series\n A live action depiction of Supergirl first appears in the eponymous 1984 film starring Helen Slater as Supergirl. The film is a spin-off from the Superman film series starring Christopher Reeve, to which it is connected by Marc McClure's character of Jimmy Olsen.\n\nDC Extended Universe\n Kara Zor-El / Linda Danvers / Supergirl exists within the DC Extended Universe, as she was referenced in Man of Steel when Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman discovers an empty pod within the Kryptonian scout spaceship. Though Zack Snyder confirmed in August 2018 that even though the character does exist, that pod was not intended for her.\n In August 2018, a film centered around the character was announced to be in development, with Oren Uziel hired as screenwriter for the project. The studio intends to hire a female director, with Reed Morano—who has expressed interest in the project—being its top choice. Filming was expected to start production in early 2020.\nSasha Calle will play Supergirl for the DC Extended Universe in The Flash.\n\nAnimation\n Summer Glau voices the post-Crisis version of Kara Zor-El in Superman/Batman: Apocalypse, which is based on the Superman/Batman storyline \"The Supergirl from Krypton\". Despite this, it was confirmed by director Lauren Montgomery that Supergirl's name was removed from the title due to the much slower sales of the previous Wonder Woman animated movie, and the character was not permitted to appear on the cover in her trademark outfit.\n Molly Quinn voices Supergirl in Superman: Unbound.\n Supergirl appears in Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League: Cosmic Clash, voiced by Jessica DiCicco.\n\nVideo games\n Supergirl appears in DC Universe Online, voiced by Adriene Mishler. In the villain campaign, the players help Doctor Psycho capture Supergirl using Kryptonite. In the hero campaign, the players fight Doctor Psycho to save Supergirl. Under the thrall of Brainiac, she must be defeated in the Fortress of Solitude: Power Core raid.\n Supergirl is unlockable in Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes, voiced by Bridget Hoffman.\n Supergirl makes a cameo appearance in the IOS version of Injustice: Gods Among Us as a support card.\n Supergirl appears as a playable character in Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham, voiced by Kari Wahlgren. She is playable in her default variant which is designed after her appearance in The New 52 and in her Classic attire. Her Classic variant is unlocked in a VR Mission while her New 52 variant is unlocked in a Hub Quest in Nok where she requests players to defeat a number of enemies she accidentally releases from their cells.\n Supergirl appears as a playable character in Infinite Crisis, voiced by Camilla Luddington.\n Supergirl appears as a playable character and the central protagonist in Injustice 2 by NetherRealm Studios, the sequel to Injustice: Gods Among Us, voiced by Laura Bailey. Here her origin is much like in the comics where she is sent along with her cousin Kal-El to Earth by her mother after Krypton is destroyed but on separate pods where hers veers off-course after sustaining significant damage, stranding her in space for many years until she lands on Earth, unaged. When the main storyline starts, she is residing on Black Adam's kingdom of Khandaq, apparently under his and Wonder Woman's protection. When Brainiac who was responsible for Krypton's destruction attacks, she, Wonder Woman, and Black Adam attempt to free Superman and the remaining members of the Regime, while being interrupted in their efforts by new Insurgency recruits Blue Beetle and Firestorm until Batman himself arrives and releases Superman, leading to a temporary alliance between the Regime and Insurgency against the alien warlord. Over the course of the story, she learns the truth about her cousin's tyranny and at the end of the game sides with Batman, Green Lantern and Flash in letting Brainiac live in order to restore the lost cities but is defeated. In Batman's ending, she laments her cousin's tyranny and sees him leave to be imprisoned in the Phantom Zone and is offered membership by Batman in his Justice League. In Superman's ending, she is imprisoned aboard Brainiac's ship and to her shock discovers her cousin has bonded with it and when she refuses his offer to join him in leading his new legion of imprisoned species. He attempts to coerce her by revealing a brainwashed Batman, who had also been captured, further shocking her.\n Supergirl appears as a limited-distribution minifigure for the toys-to-life video game Lego Dimensions, with Kari Wahlgren reprising her role. She has the ability to transform between her classic and Red Lantern forms.\n Supergirl appears as a playable character in DC Unchained.\n Supergirl appears in the PSP version of Justice League Heroes.\n Supergirl appears as a playable character in the DC TV Super-Heroes DLC pack in Lego DC Super-Villains.\n\nSee also\n Alternative versions of Supergirl\n Laurel Gand\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nDC Comics\n\nPre-Crisis Supergirl Chronology\n\nSupergirl\nCharacters created by Otto Binder\nComics characters introduced in 1958\nComics characters introduced in 1959\nDC Comics aliens\nDC Comics American superheroes\nDC Comics characters who can move at superhuman speeds\nDC Comics characters with accelerated healing\nDC Comics characters with superhuman strength\nDC Comics deities\nDC Comics female superheroes\nDC Comics film characters\nDC Comics television characters\nDC Comics extraterrestrial superheroes\nFemale characters in television\nFictional characters with superhuman senses\nFictional actors\nFictional extraterrestrial–human hybrids\nFictional orphans\nFictional photographers\nFictional refugees\nFictional reporters\nFictional school counselors\nFictional American secret agents\nFictional waiting staff\nKryptonians\nSuperheroes who are adopted\nVigilante characters in comics"},"extractive":{"kind":"string","value":"true"},"retrieved_contexts":{"kind":"list like","value":["The Bronze Medallion is the second step towards the lifeguarding certification in Canada. The award is part of the Lifesaving Society's Bronze series of awards. It teaches an understanding of the lifesaving principles embodied in the four components of water rescue education: judgment, knowledge, skill, and fitness. It is the prerequisite for Bronze Cross; Standard First Aid with CPR-C and 16 years of age are the prerequisites for National Lifeguard Service. The Bronze Medallion endurance swim requirement is in 12 minutes using any combination of strokes.\n\nHistory \nLifesaving Society's Bronze Medallion program began in 1896 as Canada's first lifesaving certification program.\n\nPrerequisites \nThe Lifesaving Society requires Bronze Medallion candidates meet the following prerequisites (award may be expired):\n 13 years of age, OR\n Bronze Star\n\nReferences\n\nCanadian awards\nLifesaving","The Little Thetford flesh-hook is a late Bronze-Age (1150950 BC) artefact discovered in 1929 in Little Thetford, near Ely, Cambridgeshire, England. A flesh-hook is a metal hook with a long handle used to pull meat out of a pot or hides out of tan-pits. This particular find is one of 32 other such archaeologically significant finds, scatters, and excavations within of Little Thetford.\n\nDiscovery \nThe artefact was found by a Mr. Dresser, whilst digging a ditch on reclaimed fenland, at Little Thetford in 1929. Discovered about down, it consisted of two-parts, connected by the remains of a wooden shaft. The wood remains have not survived; a contemporary wooden shaft has been added by the British Museum for display purposes. The artefact is in the British Museum though is not, as of 2012, on display. Within of Little Thetford, there have been 33 finds of various kinds over the years, such as flints from the Neolithic era through to a windmill of the late Medieval period.\n\nUses \nThe word flesh-hook is relatively modern. The OED gives the origin of the word as 1325 AD, and defines it as a metal hook with a long stail, used to pull hides out of tan-pits or as a hook for pulling meat from the pot. It may also have been used as a tool to prod animals. The use of this flesh-hook in the Bronze Age can only be speculated.\n\nConstruction \nThe metal used in the construction is a bronze alloy, found to be typical of the late Bronze Age. The material was analysed using ICPAES and contained (approximately) 85% copper, 10% tin, 3% lead, and 2% impurities; although the constituents of the individual parts varied around these figures. From an analysis of 36 other Bronze-Age flesh-hooks known to be in existence, the assembled length of hook-part, butt-end, and missing wood part is speculated to be .\n\nThe artefact was manufactured by casting, using a mould in a lost-wax (cire perdue) process.\n\nDating \n\nThe British Museum dates the artefact within the Bronze Age 1150950 BC. The Cambridgeshire Historic Environment Record database dates the artefact as late Bronze Age 1000–701 BC.\n\nSee also \n Dunaverney flesh-hook\n Lost wax casting\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Introduction to Bronze age\n Lost wax casting explained\n\nArchaeological artifacts\nBronze Age England\n\nPrehistoric objects in the British Museum\nBronzeware\nHistory of Cambridgeshire\nBronze Age Europe"],"string":"[\n \"The Bronze Medallion is the second step towards the lifeguarding certification in Canada. The award is part of the Lifesaving Society's Bronze series of awards. It teaches an understanding of the lifesaving principles embodied in the four components of water rescue education: judgment, knowledge, skill, and fitness. It is the prerequisite for Bronze Cross; Standard First Aid with CPR-C and 16 years of age are the prerequisites for National Lifeguard Service. The Bronze Medallion endurance swim requirement is in 12 minutes using any combination of strokes.\\n\\nHistory \\nLifesaving Society's Bronze Medallion program began in 1896 as Canada's first lifesaving certification program.\\n\\nPrerequisites \\nThe Lifesaving Society requires Bronze Medallion candidates meet the following prerequisites (award may be expired):\\n 13 years of age, OR\\n Bronze Star\\n\\nReferences\\n\\nCanadian awards\\nLifesaving\",\n \"The Little Thetford flesh-hook is a late Bronze-Age (1150950 BC) artefact discovered in 1929 in Little Thetford, near Ely, Cambridgeshire, England. A flesh-hook is a metal hook with a long handle used to pull meat out of a pot or hides out of tan-pits. This particular find is one of 32 other such archaeologically significant finds, scatters, and excavations within of Little Thetford.\\n\\nDiscovery \\nThe artefact was found by a Mr. Dresser, whilst digging a ditch on reclaimed fenland, at Little Thetford in 1929. Discovered about down, it consisted of two-parts, connected by the remains of a wooden shaft. The wood remains have not survived; a contemporary wooden shaft has been added by the British Museum for display purposes. The artefact is in the British Museum though is not, as of 2012, on display. Within of Little Thetford, there have been 33 finds of various kinds over the years, such as flints from the Neolithic era through to a windmill of the late Medieval period.\\n\\nUses \\nThe word flesh-hook is relatively modern. The OED gives the origin of the word as 1325 AD, and defines it as a metal hook with a long stail, used to pull hides out of tan-pits or as a hook for pulling meat from the pot. It may also have been used as a tool to prod animals. The use of this flesh-hook in the Bronze Age can only be speculated.\\n\\nConstruction \\nThe metal used in the construction is a bronze alloy, found to be typical of the late Bronze Age. The material was analysed using ICPAES and contained (approximately) 85% copper, 10% tin, 3% lead, and 2% impurities; although the constituents of the individual parts varied around these figures. From an analysis of 36 other Bronze-Age flesh-hooks known to be in existence, the assembled length of hook-part, butt-end, and missing wood part is speculated to be .\\n\\nThe artefact was manufactured by casting, using a mould in a lost-wax (cire perdue) process.\\n\\nDating \\n\\nThe British Museum dates the artefact within the Bronze Age 1150950 BC. The Cambridgeshire Historic Environment Record database dates the artefact as late Bronze Age 1000–701 BC.\\n\\nSee also \\n Dunaverney flesh-hook\\n Lost wax casting\\n\\nReferences\\n\\nExternal links \\n Introduction to Bronze age\\n Lost wax casting explained\\n\\nArchaeological artifacts\\nBronze Age England\\n\\nPrehistoric objects in the British Museum\\nBronzeware\\nHistory of Cambridgeshire\\nBronze Age Europe\"\n]"},"chunked_article":{"kind":"list like","value":["Kara Zor-El, also known by her adoptive names of Linda Lee Danvers, Kara Kent, Linda Lang, and Kara Danvers, and the superhero name of Supergirl, is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. She was created by Otto Binder and designed by Al Plastino. Danvers first appeared in Action Comics #252 (May 1959)'s \"The Supergirl from Krypton\" story. Kara is the biological cousin of Kal-El, who went on to adopt the name of Clark Kent and the superhero Superman.","Kara is the biological cousin of Kal-El, who went on to adopt the name of Clark Kent and the superhero Superman. During the 1980s and the revolution of the Modern Age of Comics, Superman editors believed the character's history had become too convoluted, thus killing Supergirl during the 1985 Crisis on Infinite Earths event and retconning her out of existence. DC Comics Senior Vice President Dan DiDio re-introduced the character in 2004 along with editor Eddie Berganza and writer Jeph Loeb, with her the Superman/Batman storyline \"The Supergirl from Krypton\".","DC Comics Senior Vice President Dan DiDio re-introduced the character in 2004 along with editor Eddie Berganza and writer Jeph Loeb, with her the Superman/Batman storyline \"The Supergirl from Krypton\". As the current Supergirl, Kara stars in her own monthly comic book series. With DC's The New 52 relaunch, Kara, like most of the DC Universe, was revamped. DC relaunched the Supergirl comic in August 2016 as part of their DC Rebirth initiative.","DC relaunched the Supergirl comic in August 2016 as part of their DC Rebirth initiative. In live-action, Supergirl appeared in the 1984 film based on her character and was portrayed by Helen Slater. She also appeared in the series Smallville, played by actress Laura Vandervoort. In 2015, the live-action Arrowverse series Supergirl debuted on CBS and then moved to The CW after the first season. Supergirl was portrayed by Melissa Benoist on the show and also appeared on other Arrowverse shows.","Supergirl was portrayed by Melissa Benoist on the show and also appeared on other Arrowverse shows. Sasha Calle will appear as Supergirl in the upcoming DC Extended Universe film The Flash (2022). Publication history Early life Although Kara Zor-El was the first character to use the name \"Supergirl,\" DC Comics tested three different female versions of Superman prior to her debut. The first story to feature a female counterpart to Superman was \"Lois Lane – Superwoman,\" which was published in Action Comics #60 (May 1943).","The first story to feature a female counterpart to Superman was \"Lois Lane – Superwoman,\" which was published in Action Comics #60 (May 1943). In the story, a hospitalized Lois Lane dreams she has gained superpowers thanks to a blood transfusion from the Man of Steel. She begins her own career as \"Superwoman\", complete with a version of Superman's costume.","She begins her own career as \"Superwoman\", complete with a version of Superman's costume. In the Superboy #78 story entitled \"Claire Kent, Alias Super-Sister\", Superboy saves the life of an alien woman named Shar-La, who turns Superboy into a girl, in retaliation for his disparaging thoughts about women drivers which she picked up telepathically. In Smallville, Clark claims to be Claire Kent, an out-of-town relative who is staying with the Kents.","In Smallville, Clark claims to be Claire Kent, an out-of-town relative who is staying with the Kents. When in costume, he appears as Superboy's sister, Super-Sister, and claims the two have exchanged places. Once Superboy has learned his lesson about feeling more respect for women, Shar-La reveals the episode to be a dream which she projected into Superboy's mind.","Once Superboy has learned his lesson about feeling more respect for women, Shar-La reveals the episode to be a dream which she projected into Superboy's mind. In Superman #123 (August 1958), Jimmy Olsen uses a magic totem to wish a \"Super-Girl\" into existence as a companion and aid to Superman; however, the two frequently get in each other's way until she is fatally injured protecting Superman from a Kryptonite meteor. At her insistence, Jimmy wishes the dying girl out of existence.","At her insistence, Jimmy wishes the dying girl out of existence. DC used this story to gauge public response to the concept of a completely new super-powered female counterpart to Superman. The Kara Zor-El version of Supergirl finally appeared in Action Comics #252 (May 1959). Otto Binder wrote and Al Plastino illustrated her début story, in which Kara was born and raised in Argo City (unnamed until later issues), a fragment of Krypton that survived destruction.","Otto Binder wrote and Al Plastino illustrated her début story, in which Kara was born and raised in Argo City (unnamed until later issues), a fragment of Krypton that survived destruction. When the city is doomed by a meteor shower, Kara is sent to Earth by her parents, Zor-El and Alura (the latter unnamed until later issues), to be raised by her cousin Kal-El, known as Superman. Supergirl adopted the secret identity of an orphan \"Linda Lee\", and made Midvale Orphanage her home.","Supergirl adopted the secret identity of an orphan \"Linda Lee\", and made Midvale Orphanage her home. Supergirl promised Superman that she would keep her existence on Earth a secret, so that he may use her as a \"secret weapon\", but that didn't stop Supergirl from exploring her new powers covertly. Action Comics #255 published reader's letters-of-comment to Supergirl's first appearance; she had allegedly generated a sizeable and mostly positive reaction.","Action Comics #255 published reader's letters-of-comment to Supergirl's first appearance; she had allegedly generated a sizeable and mostly positive reaction. Supergirl, from her debut onwards, became a regular backup strip in Action Comics. She joined the Legion of Super-Heroes, like her cousin had done as a teenager, and in Action Comics #279 (July 1961) she was adopted by Fred and Edna Danvers, becoming \"Linda Lee Danvers\".","She joined the Legion of Super-Heroes, like her cousin had done as a teenager, and in Action Comics #279 (July 1961) she was adopted by Fred and Edna Danvers, becoming \"Linda Lee Danvers\". Supergirl acted for three years as Superman's secret weapon, and her adventures during that time have been compared to contemporary developments in feminist thinking in work such as Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique.","Supergirl acted for three years as Superman's secret weapon, and her adventures during that time have been compared to contemporary developments in feminist thinking in work such as Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique. She was at last introduced by her super-powered cousin to an unsuspecting world in Action Comics #285 (February 1962). During her first quarter of a century, Linda Danvers would have many professions, from student to student advisor, to actor, and even TV camera operator.","During her first quarter of a century, Linda Danvers would have many professions, from student to student advisor, to actor, and even TV camera operator. She shared Action Comics with Superman until transferring to the lead in Adventure Comics at the end of the 1960s. In 1972 she finally moved to her own short-lived eponymous magazine, before DC merged its Supergirl, Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen titles into a single anthology title named The Superman Family. In 1982 Supergirl was relaunched into her own magazine.","In 1982 Supergirl was relaunched into her own magazine. In 1982 Supergirl was relaunched into her own magazine. Death during Crisis on Infinite Earths In 1985, the maxi-series Crisis on Infinite Earths was conceived as a way to reduce DC continuity to a single universe in which all characters maintained a single history. Despite Supergirl's continued popularity and status as a central member of the \"Superman Family\", the editors at DC Comics and the creators of the maxi-series decided to kill Supergirl off during the Crisis.","Despite Supergirl's continued popularity and status as a central member of the \"Superman Family\", the editors at DC Comics and the creators of the maxi-series decided to kill Supergirl off during the Crisis. According to Marv Wolfman, writer of Crisis on Infinite Earths: The idea of killing Supergirl was first conceived by DC's vice president/executive editor Dick Giordano, who lobbied for the death to DC's publishers.","According to Marv Wolfman, writer of Crisis on Infinite Earths: The idea of killing Supergirl was first conceived by DC's vice president/executive editor Dick Giordano, who lobbied for the death to DC's publishers. He later said he has never had any regrets about this, explaining, \"Supergirl was created initially to take advantage of the high Superman sales and not much thought was put into her creation. She was created essentially as a female Superman.","She was created essentially as a female Superman. She was created essentially as a female Superman. With time, writers and artists improved upon her execution, but she never did really add anything to the Superman mythos—at least not for me.\" The poor initial reception of the 1984 film Supergirl was also blamed by some sources.","The poor initial reception of the 1984 film Supergirl was also blamed by some sources. In 1989, in the tale \"Christmas with the Super-Heroes\" the soul of Kara appears to Boston \"Deadman\" Brand, cheers him up, and then disappears from continuity until 2001 (see below).","In 1989, in the tale \"Christmas with the Super-Heroes\" the soul of Kara appears to Boston \"Deadman\" Brand, cheers him up, and then disappears from continuity until 2001 (see below). Several characters unrelated to Superman soon took on the Supergirl persona, including the Matrix (a shapeshifting genetically engineered life-form that 'defaulted' as Supergirl), Linda Danvers (the result of Matrix merging with the dying Linda Danvers and becoming an Earth-bound angel of fire), and Cir-El (Superman's apparent daughter from a possible future).","Several characters unrelated to Superman soon took on the Supergirl persona, including the Matrix (a shapeshifting genetically engineered life-form that 'defaulted' as Supergirl), Linda Danvers (the result of Matrix merging with the dying Linda Danvers and becoming an Earth-bound angel of fire), and Cir-El (Superman's apparent daughter from a possible future). A heroine resembling the Pre-Crisis Kara would later appear in Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #5, along with an entire army of Legionnaires gathered from alternate worlds, times, and realities, to battle the Time Trapper.","A heroine resembling the Pre-Crisis Kara would later appear in Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #5, along with an entire army of Legionnaires gathered from alternate worlds, times, and realities, to battle the Time Trapper. Two Supergirls meet Prior to the post-Crisis introduction of Kara Zor-El into mainstream continuity, the pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El made an appearance in Peter David's Supergirl: Many Happy Returns.","Two Supergirls meet Prior to the post-Crisis introduction of Kara Zor-El into mainstream continuity, the pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El made an appearance in Peter David's Supergirl: Many Happy Returns. The then-current Supergirl series, at the time starring Linda Danvers, was in danger of cancellation and Peter David thought a story arc involving Kara Zor-El would be enough to revitalize the series.","The then-current Supergirl series, at the time starring Linda Danvers, was in danger of cancellation and Peter David thought a story arc involving Kara Zor-El would be enough to revitalize the series. In an interview with Cliff Biggers of Newsarama, David states: In the Linda Danvers' Supergirl series issues 49 and 50 (October and November 2000), the original dead Kara appears as Linda's \"guardian angel\".","In an interview with Cliff Biggers of Newsarama, David states: In the Linda Danvers' Supergirl series issues 49 and 50 (October and November 2000), the original dead Kara appears as Linda's \"guardian angel\". Then in issues 75 to 80, \"Many Happy Returns\", a young Kara appears from an earlier time long before the Crisis.","Then in issues 75 to 80, \"Many Happy Returns\", a young Kara appears from an earlier time long before the Crisis. The paradox becomes a moral crisis for Linda who tries to take her place as the Crisis sacrifice, living for years in a Silver Age universe where \"no one swears, the villains are always easy to defeat, and everything's very, very clean\", eventually marrying the Silver Age Superman and having a daughter with him, before she is forced to return to her universe by the Spectre when he reveals that her efforts to replace Kara as the sacrifice will not succeed.","The paradox becomes a moral crisis for Linda who tries to take her place as the Crisis sacrifice, living for years in a Silver Age universe where \"no one swears, the villains are always easy to defeat, and everything's very, very clean\", eventually marrying the Silver Age Superman and having a daughter with him, before she is forced to return to her universe by the Spectre when he reveals that her efforts to replace Kara as the sacrifice will not succeed. This run was illustrated by Ed Benes who had also illustrated Gail Simone's Birds of Prey which had a similar whimsical camaraderie between its female leads.","This run was illustrated by Ed Benes who had also illustrated Gail Simone's Birds of Prey which had a similar whimsical camaraderie between its female leads. Linda's inability to ultimately save Kara, coupled with the loss of her daughter, is so devastating that it ends her own career as Supergirl, Linda leaving a note for Superman where she explains that she feels that she has failed to live up to the standards of a true Supergirl and choosing to go somewhere she cannot be found.","Linda's inability to ultimately save Kara, coupled with the loss of her daughter, is so devastating that it ends her own career as Supergirl, Linda leaving a note for Superman where she explains that she feels that she has failed to live up to the standards of a true Supergirl and choosing to go somewhere she cannot be found. This story arc is usually cited as one of the best Supergirl stories ever written. The series ended with issue 80.","The series ended with issue 80. The series ended with issue 80. Revival After the launch of the Superman/Batman comic book series, executive editor Dan DiDio had been looking for a way to simplify the Supergirl character from her convoluted post-Crisis history; the simplest version, of course, was Superman's cousin. Jeph Loeb and editor Eddie Berganza found an opening to reintroduce the character following the conclusion of the first story arc of Superman/Batman.","Jeph Loeb and editor Eddie Berganza found an opening to reintroduce the character following the conclusion of the first story arc of Superman/Batman. Loeb states: The modern version of Kara Zor-El made her debut in Superman/Batman #8 (2004). Kara takes the mantle of Supergirl at the conclusion of the storyline. The Supergirl comic book series would later be relaunched, now starring Kara Zor-El as \"The Girl of Steel\". The first arc of the new series was written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by Ian Churchill.","The first arc of the new series was written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by Ian Churchill. Loeb would later describe the appeal of writing for Supergirl: As the character continued to be reinvented, steps towards regarding the iconic character were some of the most prominent changes. Artist Jamal Igle and editor Matt Idleson moved to transition the character away from red panties under her skirt to biker shorts, feeling such a change was a logical progression and \"more respectable.\"","Artist Jamal Igle and editor Matt Idleson moved to transition the character away from red panties under her skirt to biker shorts, feeling such a change was a logical progression and \"more respectable.\" The New 52 In September 2011, DC Comics began The New 52, in which it canceled all of its monthly superhero titles and relaunched 52 new ones, wiping out most of its past continuity in the process.","The New 52 In September 2011, DC Comics began The New 52, in which it canceled all of its monthly superhero titles and relaunched 52 new ones, wiping out most of its past continuity in the process. One of the new titles was a new Supergirl series (Volume 6) that featured a new origin for Kara and was published between 2011 and 2015.","One of the new titles was a new Supergirl series (Volume 6) that featured a new origin for Kara and was published between 2011 and 2015. Artist Mahmud Asrar designed a new costume for the character which strongly deviated from her classic, \"cheerleader\" suit, a change which generated criticism from some readers. DC Rebirth The 2016 DC Comics title relaunch Rebirth incorporates several elements (such as the costume, the name, the setting, and some characters) from the Supergirl television series.","DC Rebirth The 2016 DC Comics title relaunch Rebirth incorporates several elements (such as the costume, the name, the setting, and some characters) from the Supergirl television series. The DC Rebirth initiative undid the New 52's modern recreations, bringing DC's heroes back to their more classic iterations. Supergirl's new series (Volume 7) was titled Supergirl: Rebirth, written by Steven Orlando. The first arc was penciled by Brian Ching, who also redesigned Supergirl's costume in reference to a more classic look.","The first arc was penciled by Brian Ching, who also redesigned Supergirl's costume in reference to a more classic look. In April 2018, it was announced that the title would be canceled after issue #20, only to be revived in August that year under a new creative team, with new writer Marc Andreyko and artist Kevin Maguire. The series ended with its 42nd issue.","The series ended with its 42nd issue. The series ended with its 42nd issue. Future State: Kara Zor-El, Superwoman The Future State comics propose a possible future for Kara Zor-El, now an adult and having taken the alias of Superwoman. She leaves Earth to become a guardian of the Moon, which has become a refugee colony for aliens from the entire universe. The series was written by Marguerite Bennet and penciled by Marguerite Sauvage.","The series was written by Marguerite Bennet and penciled by Marguerite Sauvage. Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow Under the Infinite Frontier brand, Kara's next series Woman of Tomorrow debuted in June 2021, written by Tom King and penciled by Brazilian artists Bilquis Evely and Mat Lopes. The arc introduces Supergirl to new character grounds as she begins the story as a young woman, celebrating her 21st birthday and helping a young alien in her quest for revenge.","The arc introduces Supergirl to new character grounds as she begins the story as a young woman, celebrating her 21st birthday and helping a young alien in her quest for revenge. The \"mentor-mentee journey on revenge\" plot is, according to King, inspired by the original novel and both versions of True Grit. In this series, the creators paid homage to Linda Danvers, as Kara manifests flame wings and powers after taking a red kryptonite drug, in order to save her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon.","In this series, the creators paid homage to Linda Danvers, as Kara manifests flame wings and powers after taking a red kryptonite drug, in order to save her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon. Fictional character biography Silver Age In her debut story, Kara Zor-El is the last survivor of Argo City of the planet Krypton.","Fictional character biography Silver Age In her debut story, Kara Zor-El is the last survivor of Argo City of the planet Krypton. Although Argo, which had survived the explosion of the planet, drifted through space as a self-sustaining environment, the soil of the colony eventually turned into Kryptonite; and though Kara's father Zor-El placed lead sheeting above the ground to protect the citizens from radiation, meteorites pierced the sheeting, and the Kryptonians died of radiation poisoning instead of replacing the metal.","Although Argo, which had survived the explosion of the planet, drifted through space as a self-sustaining environment, the soil of the colony eventually turned into Kryptonite; and though Kara's father Zor-El placed lead sheeting above the ground to protect the citizens from radiation, meteorites pierced the sheeting, and the Kryptonians died of radiation poisoning instead of replacing the metal. In Supergirl's subsequent backup feature in Action Comics drawn by artist Jim Mooney for ten years until 1968, Supergirl adopts the identity of Linda Lee, an orphan at Midvale Orphanage presided over by headmistress Miss Hart.","In Supergirl's subsequent backup feature in Action Comics drawn by artist Jim Mooney for ten years until 1968, Supergirl adopts the identity of Linda Lee, an orphan at Midvale Orphanage presided over by headmistress Miss Hart. She disguises herself by hiding her blond hair beneath a brunette wig; Supergirl interacts with humans on a person-to-person basis performing good deeds and saving the world by helping one person at a time, and she also devises clever schemes as \"Superman's Secret Weapon,\" saving him many times and avoiding adoption before Superman can introduce her publicly.","She disguises herself by hiding her blond hair beneath a brunette wig; Supergirl interacts with humans on a person-to-person basis performing good deeds and saving the world by helping one person at a time, and she also devises clever schemes as \"Superman's Secret Weapon,\" saving him many times and avoiding adoption before Superman can introduce her publicly. While temporarily powerless due to the scheming of Kandorian scientist Lesla-Lar, who is out to supplant her on Earth, Linda allows herself to be adopted by engineer and rocket scientist Fred Danvers and his wife, Edna.","While temporarily powerless due to the scheming of Kandorian scientist Lesla-Lar, who is out to supplant her on Earth, Linda allows herself to be adopted by engineer and rocket scientist Fred Danvers and his wife, Edna. In time, she reveals her secret identity to her adoptive parents on the same day her cousin Superman finally introduces her to the world in the finale of then-DC's longest playing series ever (eight chapters) aptly called \"The World's Greatest Heroine\".","In time, she reveals her secret identity to her adoptive parents on the same day her cousin Superman finally introduces her to the world in the finale of then-DC's longest playing series ever (eight chapters) aptly called \"The World's Greatest Heroine\". When frequent dreams about her parents being alive turn out to be real, she builds a machine aided by her engineer father's talent, and brings them both back alive from the \"Survival Zone\" where they had both teleported during Argo City's final moments.","When frequent dreams about her parents being alive turn out to be real, she builds a machine aided by her engineer father's talent, and brings them both back alive from the \"Survival Zone\" where they had both teleported during Argo City's final moments. Zor-El and Allura eventually end up living in Kandor, and when the city in the bottle is enlarged, they both go on to live in Rokyn/New Krypton, where they have the sad duty of receiving her mortal remains after \"Crisis\" for burial.","Zor-El and Allura eventually end up living in Kandor, and when the city in the bottle is enlarged, they both go on to live in Rokyn/New Krypton, where they have the sad duty of receiving her mortal remains after \"Crisis\" for burial. Graduating from high school in 1965, Linda Lee goes to college on a scholarship and stays in Stanhope College until she graduates in 1971.","Graduating from high school in 1965, Linda Lee goes to college on a scholarship and stays in Stanhope College until she graduates in 1971. During this era, she is helped by her pet cat Streaky, her Super-Horse pet Comet, and befriends Lena Thorul, who had first appeared in the Lois Lane series. Kara is also a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, where she becomes close to Brainiac 5.","Kara is also a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, where she becomes close to Brainiac 5. In addition, Linda has boyfriends from the orphanage (Richard \"Dick\" Malverne) and from Atlantis (Jerro the merboy). In 1967, Supergirl meets Batgirl for the first time in World's Finest Comics. Developing a strong friendship, the two characters teamed up many times again, as in Superman Family #171, or Adventure #381.","Developing a strong friendship, the two characters teamed up many times again, as in Superman Family #171, or Adventure #381. In 1969, Supergirl left Action Comics and became a featured character in Adventure Comics beginning with issue #381 (June 1969). During the 1970s, Supergirl's costume changed frequently, as did her career in her civilian life.","During the 1970s, Supergirl's costume changed frequently, as did her career in her civilian life. In her secret identity as Linda Lee Danvers, Kara Zor-El took a variety of jobs including graduate student in acting, television camera operator, and student counselor, and finally became an actress on the TV soap Secret Hearts. Bronze Age After long-time Superman family editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971, the character underwent revitalization under editor Joe Orlando and artist Mike Sekowsky.","Bronze Age After long-time Superman family editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971, the character underwent revitalization under editor Joe Orlando and artist Mike Sekowsky. Wearing a series of new outfits, leaving her adopted foster home with the Danvers family, Linda goes on to San Francisco where she works for KSF-TV as a camera operator and develops a crush on her boss, Geoffrey Anderson. These stories introduced Supergirl's most memorable villain from this period: Lex Luthor's niece Nasthalthia, or Nasty.","These stories introduced Supergirl's most memorable villain from this period: Lex Luthor's niece Nasthalthia, or Nasty. Nasty had made two appearances towards the end of Linda's college years, then pursued her to KSF-TV, trying to secure proof of her dual identity.","Nasty had made two appearances towards the end of Linda's college years, then pursued her to KSF-TV, trying to secure proof of her dual identity. Supergirl starred in her first solo eponymous monthly series beginning in 1972 until October 1974, when her monthly title merged with Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane, and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen to produce a new title: then-highest DC selling series called The Superman Family, where she eventually became the steady lead story.","Supergirl starred in her first solo eponymous monthly series beginning in 1972 until October 1974, when her monthly title merged with Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane, and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen to produce a new title: then-highest DC selling series called The Superman Family, where she eventually became the steady lead story. Linda worked as a student advisor at New Athens Experimental School, before leaving for New York to follow a career in acting with daytime soap Secret Hearts.","Linda worked as a student advisor at New Athens Experimental School, before leaving for New York to follow a career in acting with daytime soap Secret Hearts. In 1982 Supergirl received a second monthly solo series titled The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl, relocating the character to Chicago as Linda became a mature student of Psychology. Industry legend, and former DC Publisher, Carmine Infantino provided the penciled art (Bob Oksner inked).","Industry legend, and former DC Publisher, Carmine Infantino provided the penciled art (Bob Oksner inked). With issue 13 the title was revamped, with a new costume design (sporting a red headband) and the title shortened to just Supergirl. The series ran until sudden cancellation in 1984, only two months before the character's debut in a big-budget Hollywood film starring Helen Slater.","The series ran until sudden cancellation in 1984, only two months before the character's debut in a big-budget Hollywood film starring Helen Slater. In the Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985), the greatest heroes from Earth-One, Earth-Two, Earth-Four, Earth-S, and Earth-X join forces in order to defeat the Anti-Monitor. When Superman comes face to face with the Anti-Monitor and is knocked unconscious, Supergirl rushes to save him before he is killed.","When Superman comes face to face with the Anti-Monitor and is knocked unconscious, Supergirl rushes to save him before he is killed. She is able to fight him off long enough for Dr. Light to carry her cousin to a safe distance, but is killed by the Anti-Monitor. A public memorial service for Supergirl takes place in Chicago, where Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) delivers the eulogy. In her remarks, she states \"Kara is a hero. She will not be forgotten.\"","She will not be forgotten.\" She will not be forgotten.\" Superman then gives his late cousin burial by taking her corpse to Rokyn/New Krypton to Zor-El and Allura. A Superman issue the next month reveals that Kara had experienced a premonition about her own passing. However, when the universe is rebooted, the timeline is altered. Kara Zor-El and all memory of her is erased from existence.","Kara Zor-El and all memory of her is erased from existence. Echoes After these events, the soul of Kara Zor-El made another appearance in continuity three years later in a story titled \"Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot\" in Christmas with the Super-Heroes #2 (1989). Within the story, Boston \"Deadman\" Brand tries to feel the warmth of Christmas by possessing revelers' bodies.","Within the story, Boston \"Deadman\" Brand tries to feel the warmth of Christmas by possessing revelers' bodies. Feeling guilty upon the realization that he has been stealing others' Christmases, he flies off feeling sorry for himself for being denied a reward after a year of helping people. A warmly dressed blonde woman approaches Brand, startling him.","A warmly dressed blonde woman approaches Brand, startling him. Somehow seeing the normally invisible Brand, she converses with him, reminding him, She reminds Brand that even though he is dead, he is still human, and he should rejoice because it means his spirit is still alive. As the woman leaves, Brand asks her who she is, to which she replies, \"My name is Kara. Though I doubt that will mean anything to you.\"","Though I doubt that will mean anything to you.\" The story, written by Alan Brennert and penciled by Dick Giordano, is dedicated to Otto Binder and Jim Mooney, adding: \"We still remember.\" Finally, the soul of Kara Zor-El appeared twice during Peter David's run, specifically in issues #48 and #49 when she appears before a defeated and imprisoned then-Supergirl, Linda Danvers from Earth, and comforts her.","Finally, the soul of Kara Zor-El appeared twice during Peter David's run, specifically in issues #48 and #49 when she appears before a defeated and imprisoned then-Supergirl, Linda Danvers from Earth, and comforts her. Linda acknowledges she has been helped three times by her phantom-friend, and when she asks her name she is told by the smiling figure: \"I have gone by many names, but the one I am most fond of is: Kara!\"","Linda acknowledges she has been helped three times by her phantom-friend, and when she asks her name she is told by the smiling figure: \"I have gone by many names, but the one I am most fond of is: Kara!\" Modern Age In 2004, Jeph Loeb reintroduced Kara Zor-El into post-Zero Hour (Birthright timeline) continuity during a storyline in the series Superman/Batman.","Modern Age In 2004, Jeph Loeb reintroduced Kara Zor-El into post-Zero Hour (Birthright timeline) continuity during a storyline in the series Superman/Batman. She is the biological cousin of Superman, and although chronologically older than him, the ship in which she traveled to Earth was caught in a large green Kryptonite meteorite which held her in a state of suspended animation for much of the journey, making her have the appearance of a 16-year-old girl.","She is the biological cousin of Superman, and although chronologically older than him, the ship in which she traveled to Earth was caught in a large green Kryptonite meteorite which held her in a state of suspended animation for much of the journey, making her have the appearance of a 16-year-old girl. Still, Supergirl sometimes saw Superman as a child, due to last carrying him as a baby. DC Comics relaunched the Supergirl, the first story arc of which was written by Loeb. showcases Supergirl on a journey of self-discovery.","showcases Supergirl on a journey of self-discovery. showcases Supergirl on a journey of self-discovery. Along her journey, she encounters Power Girl (Kara Zor-El's counterpart from another universe), the Teen Titans, the Outsiders, the Justice League of America, and arch-villain Lex Luthor. During the company-wide crossover series Infinite Crisis (2005), a sequel to Crisis on Infinite Earths, Supergirl is transported to the 31st century, where she is revered as a member of the Superman family and joins the Legion of Super-Heroes.","During the company-wide crossover series Infinite Crisis (2005), a sequel to Crisis on Infinite Earths, Supergirl is transported to the 31st century, where she is revered as a member of the Superman family and joins the Legion of Super-Heroes. DC Comics renamed the monthly series Legion of Super-Heroes to Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes. Beginning with issue #16.","Beginning with issue #16. Beginning with issue #16. In the limited series 52, which chronicles the events that took place during the missing year after the end of Infinite Crisis, Donna Troy recalls the original Kara Zor-El and her sacrifice to save the universe. Supergirl returns to the 21st century during the course of 52.","Supergirl returns to the 21st century during the course of 52. After briefly filling in for a temporarily depowered Superman as guardian of Metropolis, she assumes the identity of Flamebird to fight crime in the bottle city of Kandor with Power Girl as Nightwing in Greg Rucka's arc Supergirl: Kandor. In 2007, Supergirl appeared in the miniseries Amazons Attack! That same year, she joined the Teen Titans for five issues.","That same year, she joined the Teen Titans for five issues. Conversations with other heroes who maintain secret identities lead Kara to the conclusion that she needs to make a deeper connection with human beings. She accepts Lana Lang's proposal to present her to the Daily Planet staff as \"Linda Lang\", Lana's teenaged niece.","She accepts Lana Lang's proposal to present her to the Daily Planet staff as \"Linda Lang\", Lana's teenaged niece. In the 2008–2009 \"New Krypton\" story arc, in which Superman discovers and frees the real Kandor and a large number of its citizens, Supergirl is reunited with her father, Zor-El and mother, Alura, though Zor-El is killed by the villain Reactron.","In the 2008–2009 \"New Krypton\" story arc, in which Superman discovers and frees the real Kandor and a large number of its citizens, Supergirl is reunited with her father, Zor-El and mother, Alura, though Zor-El is killed by the villain Reactron. When a planet is formed that the Kryptonians call New Krypton, Kara is torn between her life on Earth, and her obligation to her mother, eventually joining the New Krypton Science Guild.","When a planet is formed that the Kryptonians call New Krypton, Kara is torn between her life on Earth, and her obligation to her mother, eventually joining the New Krypton Science Guild. Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2009 miniseries Justice League: Cry for Justice, and the 2009–2010 storyline \"Blackest Night\".","Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2009 miniseries Justice League: Cry for Justice, and the 2009–2010 storyline \"Blackest Night\". The New Krypton storyline would later be resolved in the \"World of New Krypton\", \"Superman: Last Stand of New Krypton\", \"War of the Supermen\" storylines, resulting in the destruction of New Krypton and seeing Supergirl mourn her people.","The New Krypton storyline would later be resolved in the \"World of New Krypton\", \"Superman: Last Stand of New Krypton\", \"War of the Supermen\" storylines, resulting in the destruction of New Krypton and seeing Supergirl mourn her people. Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2010 \"Brightest Day\" storyline, the follow up to \"Blackest Night\"., where she joins the Justice League along with Jesse Quick & Jade.","Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2010 \"Brightest Day\" storyline, the follow up to \"Blackest Night\"., where she joins the Justice League along with Jesse Quick & Jade. The New 52 In this continuity, Kara's ship lands in Smallville, Kansas but hurtles through the Earth and emerges in Siberia. Kara has no memory of the destruction of Krypton, and believes it is only three days since her spacecraft was launched.","Kara has no memory of the destruction of Krypton, and believes it is only three days since her spacecraft was launched. She learns the truth about Krypton's destruction from Superman, and later journeys through a wormhole to Argo City, which she finds in orbit around a blue sun. She finds the city in ruins, with no explanation of how it met that fate, and is attacked by a female Worldkiller named Reign before the city plummets into the sun.","She finds the city in ruins, with no explanation of how it met that fate, and is attacked by a female Worldkiller named Reign before the city plummets into the sun. When Reign and her fellow Worldkiller plan to enslave the Earth, Supergirl returns there to defeat them, and thus adopts Earth as her new home. After several battles with supervillains, including the Worldkillers, superweapons of Kryptonian design, she accepts Krypton's destruction, but continues to grapple with her grief.","After several battles with supervillains, including the Worldkillers, superweapons of Kryptonian design, she accepts Krypton's destruction, but continues to grapple with her grief. Her desire to restore Krypton results in her being manipulated into nearly destroying the Earth by another Kryptonian whom she falls in love with. Upon realizing his manipulation, she kills him by driving Kryptonite through his heart, and succumbs to Kryptonite poisoning. Following her poisoning, Supergirl departs the Earth to die alone.","Following her poisoning, Supergirl departs the Earth to die alone. While adrift in interstellar space, she encounters a planet under attack by monsters, and quickly intervenes to save them, unaware that the entire planet is a trap by Brainiac. She is captured and restrained by Cyborg Superman, but after a struggle, manages to escape both Brainiac and Cyborg Superman.","She is captured and restrained by Cyborg Superman, but after a struggle, manages to escape both Brainiac and Cyborg Superman. Returning to Earth, she is sent into the past by the Oracle alongside Superman and Superboy, where she ensures that a resurrected H'el cannot save Krypton, and sacrifices the planet and her family in order to save the universe. Back on Earth, she encounters the assassin Lobo.","Back on Earth, she encounters the assassin Lobo. Back on Earth, she encounters the assassin Lobo. Initially eager for a peaceful resolution, seeing a kind of kinship with him in their both being lone survivors of their respective worlds (although not truly aware of Lobo's circumstances), Kara's encounter with the Czarnian would reveal deep mental wounds, resulting in the unleashing of her rage and transformation into a Red Lantern.","Initially eager for a peaceful resolution, seeing a kind of kinship with him in their both being lone survivors of their respective worlds (although not truly aware of Lobo's circumstances), Kara's encounter with the Czarnian would reveal deep mental wounds, resulting in the unleashing of her rage and transformation into a Red Lantern. Driven insane by rage, Kara wanders space, attacking everyone in her way, until captured by several Green Lanterns and brought to Hal Jordan.","Driven insane by rage, Kara wanders space, attacking everyone in her way, until captured by several Green Lanterns and brought to Hal Jordan. Immediately recognizing a Kryptonian and unable to remove the power ring without killing her, he brings her to Guy Gardner, the leader of one of the two Red Lantern factions, who manages to restore her sanity.","Immediately recognizing a Kryptonian and unable to remove the power ring without killing her, he brings her to Guy Gardner, the leader of one of the two Red Lantern factions, who manages to restore her sanity. After some time under Guy Gardner's tutelage and protecting the galaxy as a Red Lantern, after being discharged from the Red Lantern Corps (because Guy did not want for her to die needlessly against Atrocitus' splinter group), on her way back to Earth, Kara encounters the leader of the Worldkillers, who are revealed to be parasitic suits of armor.","After some time under Guy Gardner's tutelage and protecting the galaxy as a Red Lantern, after being discharged from the Red Lantern Corps (because Guy did not want for her to die needlessly against Atrocitus' splinter group), on her way back to Earth, Kara encounters the leader of the Worldkillers, who are revealed to be parasitic suits of armor. He attempts to assimilate Kara as his host, but she voluntarily subjects herself to Kryptonite poisoning in order to stop him, and eventually flies into the Sun and removes her power ring, killing her and removing him from her body.","He attempts to assimilate Kara as his host, but she voluntarily subjects herself to Kryptonite poisoning in order to stop him, and eventually flies into the Sun and removes her power ring, killing her and removing him from her body. However, Kara is revealed to be immortal while in the Sun's core, and is restored to life without the power ring or any Kryptonite poisoning, immediately destroying the Worldkiller. She later helps Guy against Atrocitus and his Red Lantern splinter group.","She later helps Guy against Atrocitus and his Red Lantern splinter group. Convergence and return of the Pre-Crisis version During the Convergence story arc, the original Kara Zor-El who had sacrificed her life during Crisis on Infinite Earths makes an appearance on the amalgamated planet of Telos.","Convergence and return of the Pre-Crisis version During the Convergence story arc, the original Kara Zor-El who had sacrificed her life during Crisis on Infinite Earths makes an appearance on the amalgamated planet of Telos. At the end of the saga she volunteers herself to once again fight the Anti-Monitor but this time, with the help of her timeline's Barry Allen, the Pre-Flashpoint Superman (in tow with his pregnant wife, Lois Lane), and a repentant Parallax (Zero Hour Hal Jordan), vows to defeat him for the sake of the multiverse's continued existence.","At the end of the saga she volunteers herself to once again fight the Anti-Monitor but this time, with the help of her timeline's Barry Allen, the Pre-Flashpoint Superman (in tow with his pregnant wife, Lois Lane), and a repentant Parallax (Zero Hour Hal Jordan), vows to defeat him for the sake of the multiverse's continued existence. Without it being seen, those left on Telos discover the group was successful and all previous timelines (with the mysterious exception of the pre-Flashpoint/pre-New 52 DC universe) from DC history had been re-established, though the fate of the original Kara Zor-El and her fellows went unmentioned.","Without it being seen, those left on Telos discover the group was successful and all previous timelines (with the mysterious exception of the pre-Flashpoint/pre-New 52 DC universe) from DC history had been re-established, though the fate of the original Kara Zor-El and her fellows went unmentioned. A few more details of the battle against the Anti-Monitor are later revealed during the New 52 comic mini-series (leading into DC's Rebirth event).","A few more details of the battle against the Anti-Monitor are later revealed during the New 52 comic mini-series (leading into DC's Rebirth event). After the defeat of Anti-Monitor, Pre-New 52 Clark and Lois decide to start life anew in the closest universe they can find (mysteriously yet unable to see their old universe even though the rest of the multiverse had been restored) while Pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El, along with her contemporary Barry Allen and Zero Hour Parallax/Hal Jordan, decide to find their place in the universe and go off to do so.","After the defeat of Anti-Monitor, Pre-New 52 Clark and Lois decide to start life anew in the closest universe they can find (mysteriously yet unable to see their old universe even though the rest of the multiverse had been restored) while Pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El, along with her contemporary Barry Allen and Zero Hour Parallax/Hal Jordan, decide to find their place in the universe and go off to do so. Her fate as of that story arc is yet to be revealed.","Her fate as of that story arc is yet to be revealed. DC Rebirth After the events that led to the death of the New 52 version of Superman, 16-year-old Kara lives in National City with her adoptive parents, D.E.O. agents Jeremiah and Eliza Danvers, where she attends high school and works with the agency as led by Cameron Chase. As part of her civilian identity, Kara receives special glasses that darken her blond hair when posing as Kara Danvers.","As part of her civilian identity, Kara receives special glasses that darken her blond hair when posing as Kara Danvers. Kara also goes on an internship at Cat Grant's CATCO alongside Ben Rubel, whom she befriends. In her opening arc \"The Reign of the Cyborg Supermen\", Kara discovers that the cyborg Zor-El, whom she had battled in her New 52 title, is still active and has rebuilt other Kryptonians (her mother Alura included), planning to take over Earth.","In her opening arc \"The Reign of the Cyborg Supermen\", Kara discovers that the cyborg Zor-El, whom she had battled in her New 52 title, is still active and has rebuilt other Kryptonians (her mother Alura included), planning to take over Earth. Supergirl defeats them but vows to help her father regardless of his actions. After National City discovers Supergirl has kept Zor-El's \"living\" status a secret, they become untrustful of her.","After National City discovers Supergirl has kept Zor-El's \"living\" status a secret, they become untrustful of her. Director Bones takes advantage of the heroine's impopularity and, after taking control of the D.E.O., sends villains in an attempt to bring Kara down. She defeats all of them and regains trust from National City with Ben's help.","She defeats all of them and regains trust from National City with Ben's help. The Supergirl Who Laughs Kara is later infected by The Batman Who Laughs toxin, causing her to turn evil and joining other infected as part of Laughs Secret Six before later being cured. She is fired from CatCo by Cat Grant and starts working at S.T.A.R. Labs. Woman of Tomorrow Journeying throughout the universe with Krypto, Kara celebrates her 21st birthday alone on a distant planet.","Woman of Tomorrow Journeying throughout the universe with Krypto, Kara celebrates her 21st birthday alone on a distant planet. Drunk in a bar, she is approached by a little girl named Ruthye and is asked to kill Krem (her father's murderer) in vengeance. Supergirl refuses but, when she is about to leave the planet, Krem attacks and severely wounds both her and Krypto, fleeing in Kara's ship.","Supergirl refuses but, when she is about to leave the planet, Krem attacks and severely wounds both her and Krypto, fleeing in Kara's ship. Kara begins her journey alongside Ruthye and, powerless, saves her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon by taking a red kryptonite drug which causes her to manifest flame wings. Powers and abilities Like all Kryptonians under a yellow sun, the current version of Kara Zor-El possesses virtually unlimited strength, stamina, and durability.","Powers and abilities Like all Kryptonians under a yellow sun, the current version of Kara Zor-El possesses virtually unlimited strength, stamina, and durability. She is able to fly and with super speed that she can also use on foot, similar to Superman and The Flash. Also like Superman, Supergirl possesses super senses, super-breath, and freeze breathe, as well as multiple forms of supervision (including X-Ray, Infrared, Telescopic, and Microscopic).","Also like Superman, Supergirl possesses super senses, super-breath, and freeze breathe, as well as multiple forms of supervision (including X-Ray, Infrared, Telescopic, and Microscopic). Kara also has a bio-electric aura that enhances her near invulnerability and also protects her skin and her costume from dirt and tear; as such, Kara is perpetually clean. The Sun also provides Kara with a longer lifespan than that of a human being, to the point that she is effectively a biological immortal.","The Sun also provides Kara with a longer lifespan than that of a human being, to the point that she is effectively a biological immortal. Kara doesn't require food, water, or sleep to survive. She is also immune to most diseases, mental and physical, and would require a very strong strain to have a chance at affecting her. In the rare instances that Kara is harmed by someone matching her strength or by the use of one of her weaknesses, she can heal almost instantaneously.","In the rare instances that Kara is harmed by someone matching her strength or by the use of one of her weaknesses, she can heal almost instantaneously. Her power surpasses most other beings, though she can be overpowered by those who rival her strength such as Black Adam, Darkseid, Despero, Doomsday, Bizarro, Wonder Woman, and Superman. In reality, Kara is actually older than her cousin, Clark, and spent time on Krypton before its destruction.","In reality, Kara is actually older than her cousin, Clark, and spent time on Krypton before its destruction. As such (unlike Superman), she possesses memories of Kryptonian culture as well as her cousin's parents. Continued exposure to a yellow Sun will slowly increase abilities. Many characters in the DC Universe have noted that Supergirl appears, at times, to be even more powerful than Superman himself.","Many characters in the DC Universe have noted that Supergirl appears, at times, to be even more powerful than Superman himself. In answer to this, Superman states that this is because he has spent his entire life subconsciously suppressing his full powers in order to avoid hurting others, having been absorbing solar radiation since his infancy. Kara, not having such practice or experience, simply uses the full magnitude of her powers.","Kara, not having such practice or experience, simply uses the full magnitude of her powers. Abilities Unlike her cousin, Kara was taught to fight in Krypton as part of her tests, and at the Crucible Academy, being adept at various Kryptonian fighting styles like Klurkor and Torquasm Rao. Supergirl also learned the art of Bagua under I-Ching's instructions. She practiced how to manipulate her Chi or Qi in order to gain better control of her powers due to them becoming overwhelmed after her conflict with the Fatal Five.","She practiced how to manipulate her Chi or Qi in order to gain better control of her powers due to them becoming overwhelmed after her conflict with the Fatal Five. Superman recommended guardianship with I-Ching to Supergirl first. In addition to training in Krypton, Kara was trained by Batman in advanced martial arts and trained with the Amazons in Themyscira in unarmed and armed combat, Amazonas martial arts, fencing, Shield handling, and other Amazon weapons. She trained with Wonder Woman and Artemis extensively.","She trained with Wonder Woman and Artemis extensively. She trained with Wonder Woman and Artemis extensively. Other versions There are numerous alternate versions of Supergirl. The most notable is Power Girl (real name Kara Zor-L, also known as Karen Starr) who first appeared in All Star Comics #58 (January/February 1976). Power Girl is the Earth-Two counterpart of Supergirl and the first cousin of Kal-L, Superman of the pre-Crisis Earth-Two. The infant Power Girl's parents enabled her to escape the destruction of Krypton.","The infant Power Girl's parents enabled her to escape the destruction of Krypton. Although she left the planet at the same time that Superman did, her ship took much longer to reach Earth-Two. She has superhuman strength and the ability to fly and is the first chairwoman of the Justice Society of America. She sports a bob of blond hair; wears a distinctive white, red, and blue costume; and has an aggressive fighting style.","She sports a bob of blond hair; wears a distinctive white, red, and blue costume; and has an aggressive fighting style. Throughout her early appearances in All Star Comics, she is often at odds with Wildcat because his penchant for talking to her as if she were an ordinary human female rather than a superpowered Kryptonian annoys her. She also fought alongside the Sovereign Seven team, replacing Rampart after his death though that series is not considered to be part of canon in the DC universe.","She also fought alongside the Sovereign Seven team, replacing Rampart after his death though that series is not considered to be part of canon in the DC universe. The 1985 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths eliminated Earth-Two, causing her origin to change; she became the granddaughter of the Atlantean sorcerer Arion. However, story events culminating in the 2005–2006 Infinite Crisis limited series restored her status as a refugee from the Krypton of the destroyed pre-Crisis Earth-Two universe.","However, story events culminating in the 2005–2006 Infinite Crisis limited series restored her status as a refugee from the Krypton of the destroyed pre-Crisis Earth-Two universe. Like the original Kara's Streaky, Power Girl has a cat, featured in a story by Amanda Conner in Wonder Woman #600. Reception This version of Supergirl is ranked as the 153rd-greatest comic book character of all time by Wizard magazine.","Reception This version of Supergirl is ranked as the 153rd-greatest comic book character of all time by Wizard magazine. IGN also ranked this version of Supergirl as the 94th-greatest comic book superhero, stating \"for a character born of the Silver Age that saw everything from a Super Baby to a Super Monkey, Kara Zor-El grew into something much more than simply another marketing ploy to slap an 'S' on.\"","IGN also ranked this version of Supergirl as the 94th-greatest comic book superhero, stating \"for a character born of the Silver Age that saw everything from a Super Baby to a Super Monkey, Kara Zor-El grew into something much more than simply another marketing ploy to slap an 'S' on.\" In 2013 IGN ranked Supergirl as the 17th-greatest DC comic superhero, stating \"she was an early example of a female sidekick developing a large fanbase in her own right\", and \"Supergirl has been one of DC's most powerful heroes, and a standard to hold other female heroes against.\"","In 2013 IGN ranked Supergirl as the 17th-greatest DC comic superhero, stating \"she was an early example of a female sidekick developing a large fanbase in her own right\", and \"Supergirl has been one of DC's most powerful heroes, and a standard to hold other female heroes against.\" Appearances Pre-Crisis 1959 to 1969: Action Comics #252 to #376. 1969 to 1972: Adventure Comics #381 to #424. 1972 to 1974: Supergirl #1 to #10.","1972 to 1974: Supergirl #1 to #10. 1974 to 1982: Her comic merges with Jimmy Olsen's and Lois Lane's to become Superman Family #164 to #222. 1982 to 1984: The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl #1 to #13, Supergirl (vol. 2) #14 to #23. 2015: Convergence Kara Zor-El appeared in over 750 stories published by DC from 1959 to 1985.","2015: Convergence Kara Zor-El appeared in over 750 stories published by DC from 1959 to 1985. Post-Crisis 2004 to 2005: Superman/Batman #8 to #13 and #19 2005 to 2011: Supergirl (vol. 5) #0 to #67 2006 to 2008: Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes (Legion of Super-Heroes vol. 5) #16 to #37 2007: Action Comics #850 2008: Final Crisis 2011 to 2015: New 52: Supergirl (vol.","5) #16 to #37 2007: Action Comics #850 2008: Final Crisis 2011 to 2015: New 52: Supergirl (vol. 6) #1 to #40 2016 to current: Rebirth: Supergirl (vol. 7) #1 to current Kara Zor-El also appears as a supporting character in several issues of other DC Comics, including Superman, Action Comics, Teen Titans, Amazons Attack, World War III, and Wonder Girl.","7) #1 to current Kara Zor-El also appears as a supporting character in several issues of other DC Comics, including Superman, Action Comics, Teen Titans, Amazons Attack, World War III, and Wonder Girl. She has also appeared in many issues of Superman, Action Comics, and Superman New Krypton starting with the World Without Superman event in 2009, and continuing with the World Against Superman event going into 2010. Collected editions Listed in chronological order.","Collected editions Listed in chronological order. Collected editions Listed in chronological order. All ages titles are not in continuity with the original or modern Kara. In other media Television Live-action Smallville Prior to the seventh season (2007–2008) of the WB/CW show Smallville where she is introduced into the cast and is portrayed by Laura Vandervoort, a woman claiming to be Kara (portrayed by Adrianne Palicki) is briefly introduced in the season 3 finale.","In other media Television Live-action Smallville Prior to the seventh season (2007–2008) of the WB/CW show Smallville where she is introduced into the cast and is portrayed by Laura Vandervoort, a woman claiming to be Kara (portrayed by Adrianne Palicki) is briefly introduced in the season 3 finale. It is later revealed her real name is Lindsey Harrison, and had been given false memories and powers by the artificial intelligence of Clark Kent's (Tom Welling) father Jor-El as part of a series of tests.","It is later revealed her real name is Lindsey Harrison, and had been given false memories and powers by the artificial intelligence of Clark Kent's (Tom Welling) father Jor-El as part of a series of tests. Vandervoort portrays the real Kara, Clark's cousin whose spaceship had been trapped in stasis until the events of the season 6 finale. Much of season 7 is concerned with Kara's attempts to adjust to life on Earth, especially after learning of Krypton's destruction.","Much of season 7 is concerned with Kara's attempts to adjust to life on Earth, especially after learning of Krypton's destruction. Her storyline sees her simultaneously become the object of Lex Luthor's (Michael Rosenbaum) obsessions and Jimmy Olsen's (Aaron Ashmore) affections, suffer a bout of amnesia, discover her father's (Christopher Heyerdahl) sinister motives and become a target of evil android Brainiac (James Marsters). The season finale sees Kara become trapped in the Phantom Zone.","The season finale sees Kara become trapped in the Phantom Zone. Starting with season 8, Vandervoort ceases to feature as a series regular, but reprises the role three more times. In her first guest appearance, \"Bloodline,\" Kara is freed from the Phantom Zone and later departs Clark's hometown of Smallville to search for Kandor, her birthplace, as it is rumored to have survived their home planet's destruction.","In her first guest appearance, \"Bloodline,\" Kara is freed from the Phantom Zone and later departs Clark's hometown of Smallville to search for Kandor, her birthplace, as it is rumored to have survived their home planet's destruction. She appears again in the season 10 episode \"Supergirl\", in which she formally adopts her superhero moniker. Her off-screen adventures are alluded to thereafter.","Her off-screen adventures are alluded to thereafter. Her off-screen adventures are alluded to thereafter. Vandervoort makes a final appearance in the show's penultimate episode, \"Prophecy\", in which she helps Green Arrow (Justin Hartley) locate the \"Bow of Orion\" to use against Darkseid. She is then called to the Fortress of Solitude, where she learns from Jor-El that her job on Earth is done. Using a Legion of Super-Heroes flight ring, she travels to the future to seek her own destiny.","Using a Legion of Super-Heroes flight ring, she travels to the future to seek her own destiny. The Season Eleven comic book continuation of the show later depicts Kara's continued story in the 31st century, subsequent return to the present and joining the Justice League. Arrowverse In September 2014, a 22-episode television series centered around Supergirl was in development at Warner Bros. Television, set to premiere on CBS with a January 2015 air date. Melissa Benoist was cast as the titular character.","Melissa Benoist was cast as the titular character. Melissa Benoist was cast as the titular character. In May 2016, the series moved to The CW and was later integrated into the Arrowverse, a shared universe consisting of shows including Arrow, The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow. In the series, Kara Zor-El was sent to Earth to protect her cousin Kal-El, following her homeworld Krypton's destruction. However, she is knocked into the Phantom Zone, where she is stranded for 24 years.","However, she is knocked into the Phantom Zone, where she is stranded for 24 years. She eventually crash lands on Earth and is found by her already grown-up cousin Kal, now known to the world as the iconic superhero \"Superman\". Superman brings Kara into the custody of Jeremiah Danvers, director of the Department of Extranormal Operations (D.E.O. ), and his daughter Alex. Growing up, Kara struggles to maintain her Kryptonian abilities as well as balancing her relationship with her adoptive sister.","Growing up, Kara struggles to maintain her Kryptonian abilities as well as balancing her relationship with her adoptive sister. Eventually, the two bond when Kara's powers are exposed. However, Jeremiah decides it's best to isolate her abilities. As an adult, Kara is forced to use her powers again when her sister's plane almost crashes. She is later dubbed \"Supergirl\" by the media and dons a costume like her cousin.","She is later dubbed \"Supergirl\" by the media and dons a costume like her cousin. Kara decides to use her abilities to fight alien invaders such as Kara's aunt Astra and her husband Non, Mon-El's rogue parents, the Worldkiller Reign, anti-alien activist Ben Lockwood, and later the shadowy organization Leviathan, with the help of her sister Alex, now an agent of the D.E.O., her best friend and tech-expert Winn Schott, last of the Green Martians J'onn J'onzz / Martian Manhunter, and Kal's best friend Jimmy Olsen.","Kara decides to use her abilities to fight alien invaders such as Kara's aunt Astra and her husband Non, Mon-El's rogue parents, the Worldkiller Reign, anti-alien activist Ben Lockwood, and later the shadowy organization Leviathan, with the help of her sister Alex, now an agent of the D.E.O., her best friend and tech-expert Winn Schott, last of the Green Martians J'onn J'onzz / Martian Manhunter, and Kal's best friend Jimmy Olsen. She is later joined by Lex Luthor's sister Lena, Prince of Daxam Mon-El, former Legion of Superheroes member Querl \"Brainy\" Dox / Brainiac 5, Nia Nal / Dreamer, James' younger sister Kelly, and reporter Willam Dey face against these rival forces.","She is later joined by Lex Luthor's sister Lena, Prince of Daxam Mon-El, former Legion of Superheroes member Querl \"Brainy\" Dox / Brainiac 5, Nia Nal / Dreamer, James' younger sister Kelly, and reporter Willam Dey face against these rival forces. After joining the Arrowverse, which contain annual crossover, Kara assists Barry Allen, Oliver Queen and the Legends of Tomorrow against threats on their designated earth \"Earth-1\" while Kara’s is designated as \"Earth-38.","After joining the Arrowverse, which contain annual crossover, Kara assists Barry Allen, Oliver Queen and the Legends of Tomorrow against threats on their designated earth \"Earth-1\" while Kara’s is designated as \"Earth-38. Later, Kara is selected by The Monitor as the Paragon of Hope to participate in the coming crisis and fight against the Anti-Monitor, whose goal is to destroy the multiverse. After doing so, the Paragons are sent to the Vanishing Point where Oliver, now a Spectre, helps them escape.","After doing so, the Paragons are sent to the Vanishing Point where Oliver, now a Spectre, helps them escape. The Paragons appear at the dawn of time in the anti-matter universe where they have their final confrontation with the Anti-Monitor. Eventually, Oliver sacrifices himself to kill the Anti-Monitor, and as a result, a new multiverse is born with Earth-38 and Earth-1 merged into \"Earth-Prime\". Following the crisis, Kara is forced to deal the after-effects of Crisis which include working with Lex, now owning the D.E.O.","Following the crisis, Kara is forced to deal the after-effects of Crisis which include working with Lex, now owning the D.E.O. while Leviathan continue their covert operations under Gamemnae. The sixth season sees Kara and her allies expose Lex's crimes, but are then forced to deal with Nyxlygsptlnz, a fifth-dimensional imp who tricked the heroes into releasing her from the Phantom Zone.","The sixth season sees Kara and her allies expose Lex's crimes, but are then forced to deal with Nyxlygsptlnz, a fifth-dimensional imp who tricked the heroes into releasing her from the Phantom Zone. Eventually Nyxlygsptlnz joins forces with Lex Luthor and the two kill William, but Kara's assembled allies are able to defeat the two, culminating in Lex and Nyxlygsptlnz being trapped in the Phantom Zone when one of their own plans backfires.","Eventually Nyxlygsptlnz joins forces with Lex Luthor and the two kill William, but Kara's assembled allies are able to defeat the two, culminating in Lex and Nyxlygsptlnz being trapped in the Phantom Zone when one of their own plans backfires. The series concludes with Kara revealing her dual identity so that she can live a full life as one person. Animation DC Nation Shorts Supergirl appears with Batgirl and Wonder Girl in Super Best Friends Forever, voiced by Nicole Sullivan.","Animation DC Nation Shorts Supergirl appears with Batgirl and Wonder Girl in Super Best Friends Forever, voiced by Nicole Sullivan. DC Super Hero Girls Supergirl appears as a central protagonist in the web series DC Super Hero Girls voiced by Anais Fairweather, and is a student at Super Hero High, is very kind and caring and extremely powerful but she's also very clumsy. She also appears as a central protagonist in the 2019 TV series, with Nicole Sullivan reprising her role from the Super Best Friends Forever shorts.","She also appears as a central protagonist in the 2019 TV series, with Nicole Sullivan reprising her role from the Super Best Friends Forever shorts. In this version, she is also a rebel and is known as the \"cool kid\" in school. She may be tough but she can easily express her emotions and is very open-minded as well. She can be a cool friend and a helpful one, but she can also be jealous sometimes and she dislikes her cousin's prominence.","She can be a cool friend and a helpful one, but she can also be jealous sometimes and she dislikes her cousin's prominence. Justice League Action Supergirl appears in Justice League Action, voiced by Joanne Spracklen. She has the appearance of a wide-eyed human teenager with blonde hair and wears her traditional costume except that it has thigh-high boots and a pleated skirt. As a person, she is youthful, responsible, and shows much affection for her cousin Superman.","As a person, she is youthful, responsible, and shows much affection for her cousin Superman. In \"Party Animal\", she appears as a cameo at this Christmas party with the Justice League. In \"Keeping up with the Kryptonians\", Supergirl becomes a star of the popular reality show \"That's So Kara\", and Superman a Kasnian who rules from one place to another on Earth, all being a reality caused by Mister Mxyzptlk.","In \"Keeping up with the Kryptonians\", Supergirl becomes a star of the popular reality show \"That's So Kara\", and Superman a Kasnian who rules from one place to another on Earth, all being a reality caused by Mister Mxyzptlk. In \"Unleashed\", Supergirl accompanies Justice League in stopping Red Lantern Corps, unaware that it was a distraction made by Dex-Starr to invade Earth, until it was ultimately resolved by Krypto, Streaky, and Plastic Man.","In \"Unleashed\", Supergirl accompanies Justice League in stopping Red Lantern Corps, unaware that it was a distraction made by Dex-Starr to invade Earth, until it was ultimately resolved by Krypto, Streaky, and Plastic Man. In a short \"The Goddess Must Be Crazy\", Supergirl trains with Wonder Woman in Paradise Island, until she is possessed by Felix Faust, to destroy the island. Film Superman film series A live action depiction of Supergirl first appears in the eponymous 1984 film starring Helen Slater as Supergirl.","Film Superman film series A live action depiction of Supergirl first appears in the eponymous 1984 film starring Helen Slater as Supergirl. The film is a spin-off from the Superman film series starring Christopher Reeve, to which it is connected by Marc McClure's character of Jimmy Olsen. DC Extended Universe Kara Zor-El / Linda Danvers / Supergirl exists within the DC Extended Universe, as she was referenced in Man of Steel when Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman discovers an empty pod within the Kryptonian scout spaceship.","DC Extended Universe Kara Zor-El / Linda Danvers / Supergirl exists within the DC Extended Universe, as she was referenced in Man of Steel when Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman discovers an empty pod within the Kryptonian scout spaceship. Though Zack Snyder confirmed in August 2018 that even though the character does exist, that pod was not intended for her. In August 2018, a film centered around the character was announced to be in development, with Oren Uziel hired as screenwriter for the project.","In August 2018, a film centered around the character was announced to be in development, with Oren Uziel hired as screenwriter for the project. The studio intends to hire a female director, with Reed Morano—who has expressed interest in the project—being its top choice. Filming was expected to start production in early 2020. Sasha Calle will play Supergirl for the DC Extended Universe in The Flash.","Sasha Calle will play Supergirl for the DC Extended Universe in The Flash. Animation Summer Glau voices the post-Crisis version of Kara Zor-El in Superman/Batman: Apocalypse, which is based on the Superman/Batman storyline \"The Supergirl from Krypton\". Despite this, it was confirmed by director Lauren Montgomery that Supergirl's name was removed from the title due to the much slower sales of the previous Wonder Woman animated movie, and the character was not permitted to appear on the cover in her trademark outfit.","Despite this, it was confirmed by director Lauren Montgomery that Supergirl's name was removed from the title due to the much slower sales of the previous Wonder Woman animated movie, and the character was not permitted to appear on the cover in her trademark outfit. Molly Quinn voices Supergirl in Superman: Unbound. Supergirl appears in Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League: Cosmic Clash, voiced by Jessica DiCicco. Video games Supergirl appears in DC Universe Online, voiced by Adriene Mishler.","Video games Supergirl appears in DC Universe Online, voiced by Adriene Mishler. In the villain campaign, the players help Doctor Psycho capture Supergirl using Kryptonite. In the hero campaign, the players fight Doctor Psycho to save Supergirl. Under the thrall of Brainiac, she must be defeated in the Fortress of Solitude: Power Core raid. Supergirl is unlockable in Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes, voiced by Bridget Hoffman. Supergirl makes a cameo appearance in the IOS version of Injustice: Gods Among Us as a support card.","Supergirl makes a cameo appearance in the IOS version of Injustice: Gods Among Us as a support card. Supergirl appears as a playable character in Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham, voiced by Kari Wahlgren. She is playable in her default variant which is designed after her appearance in The New 52 and in her Classic attire.","She is playable in her default variant which is designed after her appearance in The New 52 and in her Classic attire. Her Classic variant is unlocked in a VR Mission while her New 52 variant is unlocked in a Hub Quest in Nok where she requests players to defeat a number of enemies she accidentally releases from their cells. Supergirl appears as a playable character in Infinite Crisis, voiced by Camilla Luddington.","Supergirl appears as a playable character in Infinite Crisis, voiced by Camilla Luddington. Supergirl appears as a playable character and the central protagonist in Injustice 2 by NetherRealm Studios, the sequel to Injustice: Gods Among Us, voiced by Laura Bailey.","Supergirl appears as a playable character and the central protagonist in Injustice 2 by NetherRealm Studios, the sequel to Injustice: Gods Among Us, voiced by Laura Bailey. Here her origin is much like in the comics where she is sent along with her cousin Kal-El to Earth by her mother after Krypton is destroyed but on separate pods where hers veers off-course after sustaining significant damage, stranding her in space for many years until she lands on Earth, unaged.","Here her origin is much like in the comics where she is sent along with her cousin Kal-El to Earth by her mother after Krypton is destroyed but on separate pods where hers veers off-course after sustaining significant damage, stranding her in space for many years until she lands on Earth, unaged. When the main storyline starts, she is residing on Black Adam's kingdom of Khandaq, apparently under his and Wonder Woman's protection.","When the main storyline starts, she is residing on Black Adam's kingdom of Khandaq, apparently under his and Wonder Woman's protection. When Brainiac who was responsible for Krypton's destruction attacks, she, Wonder Woman, and Black Adam attempt to free Superman and the remaining members of the Regime, while being interrupted in their efforts by new Insurgency recruits Blue Beetle and Firestorm until Batman himself arrives and releases Superman, leading to a temporary alliance between the Regime and Insurgency against the alien warlord.","When Brainiac who was responsible for Krypton's destruction attacks, she, Wonder Woman, and Black Adam attempt to free Superman and the remaining members of the Regime, while being interrupted in their efforts by new Insurgency recruits Blue Beetle and Firestorm until Batman himself arrives and releases Superman, leading to a temporary alliance between the Regime and Insurgency against the alien warlord. Over the course of the story, she learns the truth about her cousin's tyranny and at the end of the game sides with Batman, Green Lantern and Flash in letting Brainiac live in order to restore the lost cities but is defeated.","Over the course of the story, she learns the truth about her cousin's tyranny and at the end of the game sides with Batman, Green Lantern and Flash in letting Brainiac live in order to restore the lost cities but is defeated. In Batman's ending, she laments her cousin's tyranny and sees him leave to be imprisoned in the Phantom Zone and is offered membership by Batman in his Justice League.","In Batman's ending, she laments her cousin's tyranny and sees him leave to be imprisoned in the Phantom Zone and is offered membership by Batman in his Justice League. In Superman's ending, she is imprisoned aboard Brainiac's ship and to her shock discovers her cousin has bonded with it and when she refuses his offer to join him in leading his new legion of imprisoned species. He attempts to coerce her by revealing a brainwashed Batman, who had also been captured, further shocking her.","He attempts to coerce her by revealing a brainwashed Batman, who had also been captured, further shocking her. Supergirl appears as a limited-distribution minifigure for the toys-to-life video game Lego Dimensions, with Kari Wahlgren reprising her role. She has the ability to transform between her classic and Red Lantern forms. Supergirl appears as a playable character in DC Unchained. Supergirl appears in the PSP version of Justice League Heroes. Supergirl appears as a playable character in the DC TV Super-Heroes DLC pack in Lego DC Super-Villains.","Supergirl appears as a playable character in the DC TV Super-Heroes DLC pack in Lego DC Super-Villains. See also Alternative versions of Supergirl Laurel Gand References External links DC Comics Pre-Crisis Supergirl Chronology Supergirl Characters created by Otto Binder Comics characters introduced in 1958 Comics characters introduced in 1959 DC Comics aliens DC Comics American superheroes DC Comics characters who can move at superhuman speeds DC Comics characters with accelerated healing DC Comics characters with superhuman strength DC Comics deities DC Comics female superheroes DC Comics film characters DC Comics television characters DC Comics extraterrestrial superheroes Female characters in television Fictional characters with superhuman senses Fictional actors Fictional extraterrestrial–human hybrids Fictional orphans Fictional photographers Fictional refugees Fictional reporters Fictional school counselors Fictional American secret agents Fictional waiting staff Kryptonians Superheroes who are adopted Vigilante characters in comics"],"string":"[\n \"Kara Zor-El, also known by her adoptive names of Linda Lee Danvers, Kara Kent, Linda Lang, and Kara Danvers, and the superhero name of Supergirl, is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. She was created by Otto Binder and designed by Al Plastino. Danvers first appeared in Action Comics #252 (May 1959)'s \\\"The Supergirl from Krypton\\\" story. Kara is the biological cousin of Kal-El, who went on to adopt the name of Clark Kent and the superhero Superman.\",\n \"Kara is the biological cousin of Kal-El, who went on to adopt the name of Clark Kent and the superhero Superman. During the 1980s and the revolution of the Modern Age of Comics, Superman editors believed the character's history had become too convoluted, thus killing Supergirl during the 1985 Crisis on Infinite Earths event and retconning her out of existence. DC Comics Senior Vice President Dan DiDio re-introduced the character in 2004 along with editor Eddie Berganza and writer Jeph Loeb, with her the Superman/Batman storyline \\\"The Supergirl from Krypton\\\".\",\n \"DC Comics Senior Vice President Dan DiDio re-introduced the character in 2004 along with editor Eddie Berganza and writer Jeph Loeb, with her the Superman/Batman storyline \\\"The Supergirl from Krypton\\\". As the current Supergirl, Kara stars in her own monthly comic book series. With DC's The New 52 relaunch, Kara, like most of the DC Universe, was revamped. DC relaunched the Supergirl comic in August 2016 as part of their DC Rebirth initiative.\",\n \"DC relaunched the Supergirl comic in August 2016 as part of their DC Rebirth initiative. In live-action, Supergirl appeared in the 1984 film based on her character and was portrayed by Helen Slater. She also appeared in the series Smallville, played by actress Laura Vandervoort. In 2015, the live-action Arrowverse series Supergirl debuted on CBS and then moved to The CW after the first season. Supergirl was portrayed by Melissa Benoist on the show and also appeared on other Arrowverse shows.\",\n \"Supergirl was portrayed by Melissa Benoist on the show and also appeared on other Arrowverse shows. Sasha Calle will appear as Supergirl in the upcoming DC Extended Universe film The Flash (2022). Publication history Early life Although Kara Zor-El was the first character to use the name \\\"Supergirl,\\\" DC Comics tested three different female versions of Superman prior to her debut. The first story to feature a female counterpart to Superman was \\\"Lois Lane – Superwoman,\\\" which was published in Action Comics #60 (May 1943).\",\n \"The first story to feature a female counterpart to Superman was \\\"Lois Lane – Superwoman,\\\" which was published in Action Comics #60 (May 1943). In the story, a hospitalized Lois Lane dreams she has gained superpowers thanks to a blood transfusion from the Man of Steel. She begins her own career as \\\"Superwoman\\\", complete with a version of Superman's costume.\",\n \"She begins her own career as \\\"Superwoman\\\", complete with a version of Superman's costume. In the Superboy #78 story entitled \\\"Claire Kent, Alias Super-Sister\\\", Superboy saves the life of an alien woman named Shar-La, who turns Superboy into a girl, in retaliation for his disparaging thoughts about women drivers which she picked up telepathically. In Smallville, Clark claims to be Claire Kent, an out-of-town relative who is staying with the Kents.\",\n \"In Smallville, Clark claims to be Claire Kent, an out-of-town relative who is staying with the Kents. When in costume, he appears as Superboy's sister, Super-Sister, and claims the two have exchanged places. Once Superboy has learned his lesson about feeling more respect for women, Shar-La reveals the episode to be a dream which she projected into Superboy's mind.\",\n \"Once Superboy has learned his lesson about feeling more respect for women, Shar-La reveals the episode to be a dream which she projected into Superboy's mind. In Superman #123 (August 1958), Jimmy Olsen uses a magic totem to wish a \\\"Super-Girl\\\" into existence as a companion and aid to Superman; however, the two frequently get in each other's way until she is fatally injured protecting Superman from a Kryptonite meteor. At her insistence, Jimmy wishes the dying girl out of existence.\",\n \"At her insistence, Jimmy wishes the dying girl out of existence. DC used this story to gauge public response to the concept of a completely new super-powered female counterpart to Superman. The Kara Zor-El version of Supergirl finally appeared in Action Comics #252 (May 1959). Otto Binder wrote and Al Plastino illustrated her début story, in which Kara was born and raised in Argo City (unnamed until later issues), a fragment of Krypton that survived destruction.\",\n \"Otto Binder wrote and Al Plastino illustrated her début story, in which Kara was born and raised in Argo City (unnamed until later issues), a fragment of Krypton that survived destruction. When the city is doomed by a meteor shower, Kara is sent to Earth by her parents, Zor-El and Alura (the latter unnamed until later issues), to be raised by her cousin Kal-El, known as Superman. Supergirl adopted the secret identity of an orphan \\\"Linda Lee\\\", and made Midvale Orphanage her home.\",\n \"Supergirl adopted the secret identity of an orphan \\\"Linda Lee\\\", and made Midvale Orphanage her home. Supergirl promised Superman that she would keep her existence on Earth a secret, so that he may use her as a \\\"secret weapon\\\", but that didn't stop Supergirl from exploring her new powers covertly. Action Comics #255 published reader's letters-of-comment to Supergirl's first appearance; she had allegedly generated a sizeable and mostly positive reaction.\",\n \"Action Comics #255 published reader's letters-of-comment to Supergirl's first appearance; she had allegedly generated a sizeable and mostly positive reaction. Supergirl, from her debut onwards, became a regular backup strip in Action Comics. She joined the Legion of Super-Heroes, like her cousin had done as a teenager, and in Action Comics #279 (July 1961) she was adopted by Fred and Edna Danvers, becoming \\\"Linda Lee Danvers\\\".\",\n \"She joined the Legion of Super-Heroes, like her cousin had done as a teenager, and in Action Comics #279 (July 1961) she was adopted by Fred and Edna Danvers, becoming \\\"Linda Lee Danvers\\\". Supergirl acted for three years as Superman's secret weapon, and her adventures during that time have been compared to contemporary developments in feminist thinking in work such as Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique.\",\n \"Supergirl acted for three years as Superman's secret weapon, and her adventures during that time have been compared to contemporary developments in feminist thinking in work such as Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique. She was at last introduced by her super-powered cousin to an unsuspecting world in Action Comics #285 (February 1962). During her first quarter of a century, Linda Danvers would have many professions, from student to student advisor, to actor, and even TV camera operator.\",\n \"During her first quarter of a century, Linda Danvers would have many professions, from student to student advisor, to actor, and even TV camera operator. She shared Action Comics with Superman until transferring to the lead in Adventure Comics at the end of the 1960s. In 1972 she finally moved to her own short-lived eponymous magazine, before DC merged its Supergirl, Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen titles into a single anthology title named The Superman Family. In 1982 Supergirl was relaunched into her own magazine.\",\n \"In 1982 Supergirl was relaunched into her own magazine. In 1982 Supergirl was relaunched into her own magazine. Death during Crisis on Infinite Earths In 1985, the maxi-series Crisis on Infinite Earths was conceived as a way to reduce DC continuity to a single universe in which all characters maintained a single history. Despite Supergirl's continued popularity and status as a central member of the \\\"Superman Family\\\", the editors at DC Comics and the creators of the maxi-series decided to kill Supergirl off during the Crisis.\",\n \"Despite Supergirl's continued popularity and status as a central member of the \\\"Superman Family\\\", the editors at DC Comics and the creators of the maxi-series decided to kill Supergirl off during the Crisis. According to Marv Wolfman, writer of Crisis on Infinite Earths: The idea of killing Supergirl was first conceived by DC's vice president/executive editor Dick Giordano, who lobbied for the death to DC's publishers.\",\n \"According to Marv Wolfman, writer of Crisis on Infinite Earths: The idea of killing Supergirl was first conceived by DC's vice president/executive editor Dick Giordano, who lobbied for the death to DC's publishers. He later said he has never had any regrets about this, explaining, \\\"Supergirl was created initially to take advantage of the high Superman sales and not much thought was put into her creation. She was created essentially as a female Superman.\",\n \"She was created essentially as a female Superman. She was created essentially as a female Superman. With time, writers and artists improved upon her execution, but she never did really add anything to the Superman mythos—at least not for me.\\\" The poor initial reception of the 1984 film Supergirl was also blamed by some sources.\",\n \"The poor initial reception of the 1984 film Supergirl was also blamed by some sources. In 1989, in the tale \\\"Christmas with the Super-Heroes\\\" the soul of Kara appears to Boston \\\"Deadman\\\" Brand, cheers him up, and then disappears from continuity until 2001 (see below).\",\n \"In 1989, in the tale \\\"Christmas with the Super-Heroes\\\" the soul of Kara appears to Boston \\\"Deadman\\\" Brand, cheers him up, and then disappears from continuity until 2001 (see below). Several characters unrelated to Superman soon took on the Supergirl persona, including the Matrix (a shapeshifting genetically engineered life-form that 'defaulted' as Supergirl), Linda Danvers (the result of Matrix merging with the dying Linda Danvers and becoming an Earth-bound angel of fire), and Cir-El (Superman's apparent daughter from a possible future).\",\n \"Several characters unrelated to Superman soon took on the Supergirl persona, including the Matrix (a shapeshifting genetically engineered life-form that 'defaulted' as Supergirl), Linda Danvers (the result of Matrix merging with the dying Linda Danvers and becoming an Earth-bound angel of fire), and Cir-El (Superman's apparent daughter from a possible future). A heroine resembling the Pre-Crisis Kara would later appear in Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #5, along with an entire army of Legionnaires gathered from alternate worlds, times, and realities, to battle the Time Trapper.\",\n \"A heroine resembling the Pre-Crisis Kara would later appear in Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #5, along with an entire army of Legionnaires gathered from alternate worlds, times, and realities, to battle the Time Trapper. Two Supergirls meet Prior to the post-Crisis introduction of Kara Zor-El into mainstream continuity, the pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El made an appearance in Peter David's Supergirl: Many Happy Returns.\",\n \"Two Supergirls meet Prior to the post-Crisis introduction of Kara Zor-El into mainstream continuity, the pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El made an appearance in Peter David's Supergirl: Many Happy Returns. The then-current Supergirl series, at the time starring Linda Danvers, was in danger of cancellation and Peter David thought a story arc involving Kara Zor-El would be enough to revitalize the series.\",\n \"The then-current Supergirl series, at the time starring Linda Danvers, was in danger of cancellation and Peter David thought a story arc involving Kara Zor-El would be enough to revitalize the series. In an interview with Cliff Biggers of Newsarama, David states: In the Linda Danvers' Supergirl series issues 49 and 50 (October and November 2000), the original dead Kara appears as Linda's \\\"guardian angel\\\".\",\n \"In an interview with Cliff Biggers of Newsarama, David states: In the Linda Danvers' Supergirl series issues 49 and 50 (October and November 2000), the original dead Kara appears as Linda's \\\"guardian angel\\\". Then in issues 75 to 80, \\\"Many Happy Returns\\\", a young Kara appears from an earlier time long before the Crisis.\",\n \"Then in issues 75 to 80, \\\"Many Happy Returns\\\", a young Kara appears from an earlier time long before the Crisis. The paradox becomes a moral crisis for Linda who tries to take her place as the Crisis sacrifice, living for years in a Silver Age universe where \\\"no one swears, the villains are always easy to defeat, and everything's very, very clean\\\", eventually marrying the Silver Age Superman and having a daughter with him, before she is forced to return to her universe by the Spectre when he reveals that her efforts to replace Kara as the sacrifice will not succeed.\",\n \"The paradox becomes a moral crisis for Linda who tries to take her place as the Crisis sacrifice, living for years in a Silver Age universe where \\\"no one swears, the villains are always easy to defeat, and everything's very, very clean\\\", eventually marrying the Silver Age Superman and having a daughter with him, before she is forced to return to her universe by the Spectre when he reveals that her efforts to replace Kara as the sacrifice will not succeed. This run was illustrated by Ed Benes who had also illustrated Gail Simone's Birds of Prey which had a similar whimsical camaraderie between its female leads.\",\n \"This run was illustrated by Ed Benes who had also illustrated Gail Simone's Birds of Prey which had a similar whimsical camaraderie between its female leads. Linda's inability to ultimately save Kara, coupled with the loss of her daughter, is so devastating that it ends her own career as Supergirl, Linda leaving a note for Superman where she explains that she feels that she has failed to live up to the standards of a true Supergirl and choosing to go somewhere she cannot be found.\",\n \"Linda's inability to ultimately save Kara, coupled with the loss of her daughter, is so devastating that it ends her own career as Supergirl, Linda leaving a note for Superman where she explains that she feels that she has failed to live up to the standards of a true Supergirl and choosing to go somewhere she cannot be found. This story arc is usually cited as one of the best Supergirl stories ever written. The series ended with issue 80.\",\n \"The series ended with issue 80. The series ended with issue 80. Revival After the launch of the Superman/Batman comic book series, executive editor Dan DiDio had been looking for a way to simplify the Supergirl character from her convoluted post-Crisis history; the simplest version, of course, was Superman's cousin. Jeph Loeb and editor Eddie Berganza found an opening to reintroduce the character following the conclusion of the first story arc of Superman/Batman.\",\n \"Jeph Loeb and editor Eddie Berganza found an opening to reintroduce the character following the conclusion of the first story arc of Superman/Batman. Loeb states: The modern version of Kara Zor-El made her debut in Superman/Batman #8 (2004). Kara takes the mantle of Supergirl at the conclusion of the storyline. The Supergirl comic book series would later be relaunched, now starring Kara Zor-El as \\\"The Girl of Steel\\\". The first arc of the new series was written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by Ian Churchill.\",\n \"The first arc of the new series was written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by Ian Churchill. Loeb would later describe the appeal of writing for Supergirl: As the character continued to be reinvented, steps towards regarding the iconic character were some of the most prominent changes. Artist Jamal Igle and editor Matt Idleson moved to transition the character away from red panties under her skirt to biker shorts, feeling such a change was a logical progression and \\\"more respectable.\\\"\",\n \"Artist Jamal Igle and editor Matt Idleson moved to transition the character away from red panties under her skirt to biker shorts, feeling such a change was a logical progression and \\\"more respectable.\\\" The New 52 In September 2011, DC Comics began The New 52, in which it canceled all of its monthly superhero titles and relaunched 52 new ones, wiping out most of its past continuity in the process.\",\n \"The New 52 In September 2011, DC Comics began The New 52, in which it canceled all of its monthly superhero titles and relaunched 52 new ones, wiping out most of its past continuity in the process. One of the new titles was a new Supergirl series (Volume 6) that featured a new origin for Kara and was published between 2011 and 2015.\",\n \"One of the new titles was a new Supergirl series (Volume 6) that featured a new origin for Kara and was published between 2011 and 2015. Artist Mahmud Asrar designed a new costume for the character which strongly deviated from her classic, \\\"cheerleader\\\" suit, a change which generated criticism from some readers. DC Rebirth The 2016 DC Comics title relaunch Rebirth incorporates several elements (such as the costume, the name, the setting, and some characters) from the Supergirl television series.\",\n \"DC Rebirth The 2016 DC Comics title relaunch Rebirth incorporates several elements (such as the costume, the name, the setting, and some characters) from the Supergirl television series. The DC Rebirth initiative undid the New 52's modern recreations, bringing DC's heroes back to their more classic iterations. Supergirl's new series (Volume 7) was titled Supergirl: Rebirth, written by Steven Orlando. The first arc was penciled by Brian Ching, who also redesigned Supergirl's costume in reference to a more classic look.\",\n \"The first arc was penciled by Brian Ching, who also redesigned Supergirl's costume in reference to a more classic look. In April 2018, it was announced that the title would be canceled after issue #20, only to be revived in August that year under a new creative team, with new writer Marc Andreyko and artist Kevin Maguire. The series ended with its 42nd issue.\",\n \"The series ended with its 42nd issue. The series ended with its 42nd issue. Future State: Kara Zor-El, Superwoman The Future State comics propose a possible future for Kara Zor-El, now an adult and having taken the alias of Superwoman. She leaves Earth to become a guardian of the Moon, which has become a refugee colony for aliens from the entire universe. The series was written by Marguerite Bennet and penciled by Marguerite Sauvage.\",\n \"The series was written by Marguerite Bennet and penciled by Marguerite Sauvage. Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow Under the Infinite Frontier brand, Kara's next series Woman of Tomorrow debuted in June 2021, written by Tom King and penciled by Brazilian artists Bilquis Evely and Mat Lopes. The arc introduces Supergirl to new character grounds as she begins the story as a young woman, celebrating her 21st birthday and helping a young alien in her quest for revenge.\",\n \"The arc introduces Supergirl to new character grounds as she begins the story as a young woman, celebrating her 21st birthday and helping a young alien in her quest for revenge. The \\\"mentor-mentee journey on revenge\\\" plot is, according to King, inspired by the original novel and both versions of True Grit. In this series, the creators paid homage to Linda Danvers, as Kara manifests flame wings and powers after taking a red kryptonite drug, in order to save her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon.\",\n \"In this series, the creators paid homage to Linda Danvers, as Kara manifests flame wings and powers after taking a red kryptonite drug, in order to save her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon. Fictional character biography Silver Age In her debut story, Kara Zor-El is the last survivor of Argo City of the planet Krypton.\",\n \"Fictional character biography Silver Age In her debut story, Kara Zor-El is the last survivor of Argo City of the planet Krypton. Although Argo, which had survived the explosion of the planet, drifted through space as a self-sustaining environment, the soil of the colony eventually turned into Kryptonite; and though Kara's father Zor-El placed lead sheeting above the ground to protect the citizens from radiation, meteorites pierced the sheeting, and the Kryptonians died of radiation poisoning instead of replacing the metal.\",\n \"Although Argo, which had survived the explosion of the planet, drifted through space as a self-sustaining environment, the soil of the colony eventually turned into Kryptonite; and though Kara's father Zor-El placed lead sheeting above the ground to protect the citizens from radiation, meteorites pierced the sheeting, and the Kryptonians died of radiation poisoning instead of replacing the metal. In Supergirl's subsequent backup feature in Action Comics drawn by artist Jim Mooney for ten years until 1968, Supergirl adopts the identity of Linda Lee, an orphan at Midvale Orphanage presided over by headmistress Miss Hart.\",\n \"In Supergirl's subsequent backup feature in Action Comics drawn by artist Jim Mooney for ten years until 1968, Supergirl adopts the identity of Linda Lee, an orphan at Midvale Orphanage presided over by headmistress Miss Hart. She disguises herself by hiding her blond hair beneath a brunette wig; Supergirl interacts with humans on a person-to-person basis performing good deeds and saving the world by helping one person at a time, and she also devises clever schemes as \\\"Superman's Secret Weapon,\\\" saving him many times and avoiding adoption before Superman can introduce her publicly.\",\n \"She disguises herself by hiding her blond hair beneath a brunette wig; Supergirl interacts with humans on a person-to-person basis performing good deeds and saving the world by helping one person at a time, and she also devises clever schemes as \\\"Superman's Secret Weapon,\\\" saving him many times and avoiding adoption before Superman can introduce her publicly. While temporarily powerless due to the scheming of Kandorian scientist Lesla-Lar, who is out to supplant her on Earth, Linda allows herself to be adopted by engineer and rocket scientist Fred Danvers and his wife, Edna.\",\n \"While temporarily powerless due to the scheming of Kandorian scientist Lesla-Lar, who is out to supplant her on Earth, Linda allows herself to be adopted by engineer and rocket scientist Fred Danvers and his wife, Edna. In time, she reveals her secret identity to her adoptive parents on the same day her cousin Superman finally introduces her to the world in the finale of then-DC's longest playing series ever (eight chapters) aptly called \\\"The World's Greatest Heroine\\\".\",\n \"In time, she reveals her secret identity to her adoptive parents on the same day her cousin Superman finally introduces her to the world in the finale of then-DC's longest playing series ever (eight chapters) aptly called \\\"The World's Greatest Heroine\\\". When frequent dreams about her parents being alive turn out to be real, she builds a machine aided by her engineer father's talent, and brings them both back alive from the \\\"Survival Zone\\\" where they had both teleported during Argo City's final moments.\",\n \"When frequent dreams about her parents being alive turn out to be real, she builds a machine aided by her engineer father's talent, and brings them both back alive from the \\\"Survival Zone\\\" where they had both teleported during Argo City's final moments. Zor-El and Allura eventually end up living in Kandor, and when the city in the bottle is enlarged, they both go on to live in Rokyn/New Krypton, where they have the sad duty of receiving her mortal remains after \\\"Crisis\\\" for burial.\",\n \"Zor-El and Allura eventually end up living in Kandor, and when the city in the bottle is enlarged, they both go on to live in Rokyn/New Krypton, where they have the sad duty of receiving her mortal remains after \\\"Crisis\\\" for burial. Graduating from high school in 1965, Linda Lee goes to college on a scholarship and stays in Stanhope College until she graduates in 1971.\",\n \"Graduating from high school in 1965, Linda Lee goes to college on a scholarship and stays in Stanhope College until she graduates in 1971. During this era, she is helped by her pet cat Streaky, her Super-Horse pet Comet, and befriends Lena Thorul, who had first appeared in the Lois Lane series. Kara is also a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, where she becomes close to Brainiac 5.\",\n \"Kara is also a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, where she becomes close to Brainiac 5. In addition, Linda has boyfriends from the orphanage (Richard \\\"Dick\\\" Malverne) and from Atlantis (Jerro the merboy). In 1967, Supergirl meets Batgirl for the first time in World's Finest Comics. Developing a strong friendship, the two characters teamed up many times again, as in Superman Family #171, or Adventure #381.\",\n \"Developing a strong friendship, the two characters teamed up many times again, as in Superman Family #171, or Adventure #381. In 1969, Supergirl left Action Comics and became a featured character in Adventure Comics beginning with issue #381 (June 1969). During the 1970s, Supergirl's costume changed frequently, as did her career in her civilian life.\",\n \"During the 1970s, Supergirl's costume changed frequently, as did her career in her civilian life. In her secret identity as Linda Lee Danvers, Kara Zor-El took a variety of jobs including graduate student in acting, television camera operator, and student counselor, and finally became an actress on the TV soap Secret Hearts. Bronze Age After long-time Superman family editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971, the character underwent revitalization under editor Joe Orlando and artist Mike Sekowsky.\",\n \"Bronze Age After long-time Superman family editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971, the character underwent revitalization under editor Joe Orlando and artist Mike Sekowsky. Wearing a series of new outfits, leaving her adopted foster home with the Danvers family, Linda goes on to San Francisco where she works for KSF-TV as a camera operator and develops a crush on her boss, Geoffrey Anderson. These stories introduced Supergirl's most memorable villain from this period: Lex Luthor's niece Nasthalthia, or Nasty.\",\n \"These stories introduced Supergirl's most memorable villain from this period: Lex Luthor's niece Nasthalthia, or Nasty. Nasty had made two appearances towards the end of Linda's college years, then pursued her to KSF-TV, trying to secure proof of her dual identity.\",\n \"Nasty had made two appearances towards the end of Linda's college years, then pursued her to KSF-TV, trying to secure proof of her dual identity. Supergirl starred in her first solo eponymous monthly series beginning in 1972 until October 1974, when her monthly title merged with Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane, and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen to produce a new title: then-highest DC selling series called The Superman Family, where she eventually became the steady lead story.\",\n \"Supergirl starred in her first solo eponymous monthly series beginning in 1972 until October 1974, when her monthly title merged with Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane, and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen to produce a new title: then-highest DC selling series called The Superman Family, where she eventually became the steady lead story. Linda worked as a student advisor at New Athens Experimental School, before leaving for New York to follow a career in acting with daytime soap Secret Hearts.\",\n \"Linda worked as a student advisor at New Athens Experimental School, before leaving for New York to follow a career in acting with daytime soap Secret Hearts. In 1982 Supergirl received a second monthly solo series titled The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl, relocating the character to Chicago as Linda became a mature student of Psychology. Industry legend, and former DC Publisher, Carmine Infantino provided the penciled art (Bob Oksner inked).\",\n \"Industry legend, and former DC Publisher, Carmine Infantino provided the penciled art (Bob Oksner inked). With issue 13 the title was revamped, with a new costume design (sporting a red headband) and the title shortened to just Supergirl. The series ran until sudden cancellation in 1984, only two months before the character's debut in a big-budget Hollywood film starring Helen Slater.\",\n \"The series ran until sudden cancellation in 1984, only two months before the character's debut in a big-budget Hollywood film starring Helen Slater. In the Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985), the greatest heroes from Earth-One, Earth-Two, Earth-Four, Earth-S, and Earth-X join forces in order to defeat the Anti-Monitor. When Superman comes face to face with the Anti-Monitor and is knocked unconscious, Supergirl rushes to save him before he is killed.\",\n \"When Superman comes face to face with the Anti-Monitor and is knocked unconscious, Supergirl rushes to save him before he is killed. She is able to fight him off long enough for Dr. Light to carry her cousin to a safe distance, but is killed by the Anti-Monitor. A public memorial service for Supergirl takes place in Chicago, where Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) delivers the eulogy. In her remarks, she states \\\"Kara is a hero. She will not be forgotten.\\\"\",\n \"She will not be forgotten.\\\" She will not be forgotten.\\\" Superman then gives his late cousin burial by taking her corpse to Rokyn/New Krypton to Zor-El and Allura. A Superman issue the next month reveals that Kara had experienced a premonition about her own passing. However, when the universe is rebooted, the timeline is altered. Kara Zor-El and all memory of her is erased from existence.\",\n \"Kara Zor-El and all memory of her is erased from existence. Echoes After these events, the soul of Kara Zor-El made another appearance in continuity three years later in a story titled \\\"Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot\\\" in Christmas with the Super-Heroes #2 (1989). Within the story, Boston \\\"Deadman\\\" Brand tries to feel the warmth of Christmas by possessing revelers' bodies.\",\n \"Within the story, Boston \\\"Deadman\\\" Brand tries to feel the warmth of Christmas by possessing revelers' bodies. Feeling guilty upon the realization that he has been stealing others' Christmases, he flies off feeling sorry for himself for being denied a reward after a year of helping people. A warmly dressed blonde woman approaches Brand, startling him.\",\n \"A warmly dressed blonde woman approaches Brand, startling him. Somehow seeing the normally invisible Brand, she converses with him, reminding him, She reminds Brand that even though he is dead, he is still human, and he should rejoice because it means his spirit is still alive. As the woman leaves, Brand asks her who she is, to which she replies, \\\"My name is Kara. Though I doubt that will mean anything to you.\\\"\",\n \"Though I doubt that will mean anything to you.\\\" The story, written by Alan Brennert and penciled by Dick Giordano, is dedicated to Otto Binder and Jim Mooney, adding: \\\"We still remember.\\\" Finally, the soul of Kara Zor-El appeared twice during Peter David's run, specifically in issues #48 and #49 when she appears before a defeated and imprisoned then-Supergirl, Linda Danvers from Earth, and comforts her.\",\n \"Finally, the soul of Kara Zor-El appeared twice during Peter David's run, specifically in issues #48 and #49 when she appears before a defeated and imprisoned then-Supergirl, Linda Danvers from Earth, and comforts her. Linda acknowledges she has been helped three times by her phantom-friend, and when she asks her name she is told by the smiling figure: \\\"I have gone by many names, but the one I am most fond of is: Kara!\\\"\",\n \"Linda acknowledges she has been helped three times by her phantom-friend, and when she asks her name she is told by the smiling figure: \\\"I have gone by many names, but the one I am most fond of is: Kara!\\\" Modern Age In 2004, Jeph Loeb reintroduced Kara Zor-El into post-Zero Hour (Birthright timeline) continuity during a storyline in the series Superman/Batman.\",\n \"Modern Age In 2004, Jeph Loeb reintroduced Kara Zor-El into post-Zero Hour (Birthright timeline) continuity during a storyline in the series Superman/Batman. She is the biological cousin of Superman, and although chronologically older than him, the ship in which she traveled to Earth was caught in a large green Kryptonite meteorite which held her in a state of suspended animation for much of the journey, making her have the appearance of a 16-year-old girl.\",\n \"She is the biological cousin of Superman, and although chronologically older than him, the ship in which she traveled to Earth was caught in a large green Kryptonite meteorite which held her in a state of suspended animation for much of the journey, making her have the appearance of a 16-year-old girl. Still, Supergirl sometimes saw Superman as a child, due to last carrying him as a baby. DC Comics relaunched the Supergirl, the first story arc of which was written by Loeb. showcases Supergirl on a journey of self-discovery.\",\n \"showcases Supergirl on a journey of self-discovery. showcases Supergirl on a journey of self-discovery. Along her journey, she encounters Power Girl (Kara Zor-El's counterpart from another universe), the Teen Titans, the Outsiders, the Justice League of America, and arch-villain Lex Luthor. During the company-wide crossover series Infinite Crisis (2005), a sequel to Crisis on Infinite Earths, Supergirl is transported to the 31st century, where she is revered as a member of the Superman family and joins the Legion of Super-Heroes.\",\n \"During the company-wide crossover series Infinite Crisis (2005), a sequel to Crisis on Infinite Earths, Supergirl is transported to the 31st century, where she is revered as a member of the Superman family and joins the Legion of Super-Heroes. DC Comics renamed the monthly series Legion of Super-Heroes to Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes. Beginning with issue #16.\",\n \"Beginning with issue #16. Beginning with issue #16. In the limited series 52, which chronicles the events that took place during the missing year after the end of Infinite Crisis, Donna Troy recalls the original Kara Zor-El and her sacrifice to save the universe. Supergirl returns to the 21st century during the course of 52.\",\n \"Supergirl returns to the 21st century during the course of 52. After briefly filling in for a temporarily depowered Superman as guardian of Metropolis, she assumes the identity of Flamebird to fight crime in the bottle city of Kandor with Power Girl as Nightwing in Greg Rucka's arc Supergirl: Kandor. In 2007, Supergirl appeared in the miniseries Amazons Attack! That same year, she joined the Teen Titans for five issues.\",\n \"That same year, she joined the Teen Titans for five issues. Conversations with other heroes who maintain secret identities lead Kara to the conclusion that she needs to make a deeper connection with human beings. She accepts Lana Lang's proposal to present her to the Daily Planet staff as \\\"Linda Lang\\\", Lana's teenaged niece.\",\n \"She accepts Lana Lang's proposal to present her to the Daily Planet staff as \\\"Linda Lang\\\", Lana's teenaged niece. In the 2008–2009 \\\"New Krypton\\\" story arc, in which Superman discovers and frees the real Kandor and a large number of its citizens, Supergirl is reunited with her father, Zor-El and mother, Alura, though Zor-El is killed by the villain Reactron.\",\n \"In the 2008–2009 \\\"New Krypton\\\" story arc, in which Superman discovers and frees the real Kandor and a large number of its citizens, Supergirl is reunited with her father, Zor-El and mother, Alura, though Zor-El is killed by the villain Reactron. When a planet is formed that the Kryptonians call New Krypton, Kara is torn between her life on Earth, and her obligation to her mother, eventually joining the New Krypton Science Guild.\",\n \"When a planet is formed that the Kryptonians call New Krypton, Kara is torn between her life on Earth, and her obligation to her mother, eventually joining the New Krypton Science Guild. Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2009 miniseries Justice League: Cry for Justice, and the 2009–2010 storyline \\\"Blackest Night\\\".\",\n \"Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2009 miniseries Justice League: Cry for Justice, and the 2009–2010 storyline \\\"Blackest Night\\\". The New Krypton storyline would later be resolved in the \\\"World of New Krypton\\\", \\\"Superman: Last Stand of New Krypton\\\", \\\"War of the Supermen\\\" storylines, resulting in the destruction of New Krypton and seeing Supergirl mourn her people.\",\n \"The New Krypton storyline would later be resolved in the \\\"World of New Krypton\\\", \\\"Superman: Last Stand of New Krypton\\\", \\\"War of the Supermen\\\" storylines, resulting in the destruction of New Krypton and seeing Supergirl mourn her people. Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2010 \\\"Brightest Day\\\" storyline, the follow up to \\\"Blackest Night\\\"., where she joins the Justice League along with Jesse Quick & Jade.\",\n \"Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2010 \\\"Brightest Day\\\" storyline, the follow up to \\\"Blackest Night\\\"., where she joins the Justice League along with Jesse Quick & Jade. The New 52 In this continuity, Kara's ship lands in Smallville, Kansas but hurtles through the Earth and emerges in Siberia. Kara has no memory of the destruction of Krypton, and believes it is only three days since her spacecraft was launched.\",\n \"Kara has no memory of the destruction of Krypton, and believes it is only three days since her spacecraft was launched. She learns the truth about Krypton's destruction from Superman, and later journeys through a wormhole to Argo City, which she finds in orbit around a blue sun. She finds the city in ruins, with no explanation of how it met that fate, and is attacked by a female Worldkiller named Reign before the city plummets into the sun.\",\n \"She finds the city in ruins, with no explanation of how it met that fate, and is attacked by a female Worldkiller named Reign before the city plummets into the sun. When Reign and her fellow Worldkiller plan to enslave the Earth, Supergirl returns there to defeat them, and thus adopts Earth as her new home. After several battles with supervillains, including the Worldkillers, superweapons of Kryptonian design, she accepts Krypton's destruction, but continues to grapple with her grief.\",\n \"After several battles with supervillains, including the Worldkillers, superweapons of Kryptonian design, she accepts Krypton's destruction, but continues to grapple with her grief. Her desire to restore Krypton results in her being manipulated into nearly destroying the Earth by another Kryptonian whom she falls in love with. Upon realizing his manipulation, she kills him by driving Kryptonite through his heart, and succumbs to Kryptonite poisoning. Following her poisoning, Supergirl departs the Earth to die alone.\",\n \"Following her poisoning, Supergirl departs the Earth to die alone. While adrift in interstellar space, she encounters a planet under attack by monsters, and quickly intervenes to save them, unaware that the entire planet is a trap by Brainiac. She is captured and restrained by Cyborg Superman, but after a struggle, manages to escape both Brainiac and Cyborg Superman.\",\n \"She is captured and restrained by Cyborg Superman, but after a struggle, manages to escape both Brainiac and Cyborg Superman. Returning to Earth, she is sent into the past by the Oracle alongside Superman and Superboy, where she ensures that a resurrected H'el cannot save Krypton, and sacrifices the planet and her family in order to save the universe. Back on Earth, she encounters the assassin Lobo.\",\n \"Back on Earth, she encounters the assassin Lobo. Back on Earth, she encounters the assassin Lobo. Initially eager for a peaceful resolution, seeing a kind of kinship with him in their both being lone survivors of their respective worlds (although not truly aware of Lobo's circumstances), Kara's encounter with the Czarnian would reveal deep mental wounds, resulting in the unleashing of her rage and transformation into a Red Lantern.\",\n \"Initially eager for a peaceful resolution, seeing a kind of kinship with him in their both being lone survivors of their respective worlds (although not truly aware of Lobo's circumstances), Kara's encounter with the Czarnian would reveal deep mental wounds, resulting in the unleashing of her rage and transformation into a Red Lantern. Driven insane by rage, Kara wanders space, attacking everyone in her way, until captured by several Green Lanterns and brought to Hal Jordan.\",\n \"Driven insane by rage, Kara wanders space, attacking everyone in her way, until captured by several Green Lanterns and brought to Hal Jordan. Immediately recognizing a Kryptonian and unable to remove the power ring without killing her, he brings her to Guy Gardner, the leader of one of the two Red Lantern factions, who manages to restore her sanity.\",\n \"Immediately recognizing a Kryptonian and unable to remove the power ring without killing her, he brings her to Guy Gardner, the leader of one of the two Red Lantern factions, who manages to restore her sanity. After some time under Guy Gardner's tutelage and protecting the galaxy as a Red Lantern, after being discharged from the Red Lantern Corps (because Guy did not want for her to die needlessly against Atrocitus' splinter group), on her way back to Earth, Kara encounters the leader of the Worldkillers, who are revealed to be parasitic suits of armor.\",\n \"After some time under Guy Gardner's tutelage and protecting the galaxy as a Red Lantern, after being discharged from the Red Lantern Corps (because Guy did not want for her to die needlessly against Atrocitus' splinter group), on her way back to Earth, Kara encounters the leader of the Worldkillers, who are revealed to be parasitic suits of armor. He attempts to assimilate Kara as his host, but she voluntarily subjects herself to Kryptonite poisoning in order to stop him, and eventually flies into the Sun and removes her power ring, killing her and removing him from her body.\",\n \"He attempts to assimilate Kara as his host, but she voluntarily subjects herself to Kryptonite poisoning in order to stop him, and eventually flies into the Sun and removes her power ring, killing her and removing him from her body. However, Kara is revealed to be immortal while in the Sun's core, and is restored to life without the power ring or any Kryptonite poisoning, immediately destroying the Worldkiller. She later helps Guy against Atrocitus and his Red Lantern splinter group.\",\n \"She later helps Guy against Atrocitus and his Red Lantern splinter group. Convergence and return of the Pre-Crisis version During the Convergence story arc, the original Kara Zor-El who had sacrificed her life during Crisis on Infinite Earths makes an appearance on the amalgamated planet of Telos.\",\n \"Convergence and return of the Pre-Crisis version During the Convergence story arc, the original Kara Zor-El who had sacrificed her life during Crisis on Infinite Earths makes an appearance on the amalgamated planet of Telos. At the end of the saga she volunteers herself to once again fight the Anti-Monitor but this time, with the help of her timeline's Barry Allen, the Pre-Flashpoint Superman (in tow with his pregnant wife, Lois Lane), and a repentant Parallax (Zero Hour Hal Jordan), vows to defeat him for the sake of the multiverse's continued existence.\",\n \"At the end of the saga she volunteers herself to once again fight the Anti-Monitor but this time, with the help of her timeline's Barry Allen, the Pre-Flashpoint Superman (in tow with his pregnant wife, Lois Lane), and a repentant Parallax (Zero Hour Hal Jordan), vows to defeat him for the sake of the multiverse's continued existence. Without it being seen, those left on Telos discover the group was successful and all previous timelines (with the mysterious exception of the pre-Flashpoint/pre-New 52 DC universe) from DC history had been re-established, though the fate of the original Kara Zor-El and her fellows went unmentioned.\",\n \"Without it being seen, those left on Telos discover the group was successful and all previous timelines (with the mysterious exception of the pre-Flashpoint/pre-New 52 DC universe) from DC history had been re-established, though the fate of the original Kara Zor-El and her fellows went unmentioned. A few more details of the battle against the Anti-Monitor are later revealed during the New 52 comic mini-series (leading into DC's Rebirth event).\",\n \"A few more details of the battle against the Anti-Monitor are later revealed during the New 52 comic mini-series (leading into DC's Rebirth event). After the defeat of Anti-Monitor, Pre-New 52 Clark and Lois decide to start life anew in the closest universe they can find (mysteriously yet unable to see their old universe even though the rest of the multiverse had been restored) while Pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El, along with her contemporary Barry Allen and Zero Hour Parallax/Hal Jordan, decide to find their place in the universe and go off to do so.\",\n \"After the defeat of Anti-Monitor, Pre-New 52 Clark and Lois decide to start life anew in the closest universe they can find (mysteriously yet unable to see their old universe even though the rest of the multiverse had been restored) while Pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El, along with her contemporary Barry Allen and Zero Hour Parallax/Hal Jordan, decide to find their place in the universe and go off to do so. Her fate as of that story arc is yet to be revealed.\",\n \"Her fate as of that story arc is yet to be revealed. DC Rebirth After the events that led to the death of the New 52 version of Superman, 16-year-old Kara lives in National City with her adoptive parents, D.E.O. agents Jeremiah and Eliza Danvers, where she attends high school and works with the agency as led by Cameron Chase. As part of her civilian identity, Kara receives special glasses that darken her blond hair when posing as Kara Danvers.\",\n \"As part of her civilian identity, Kara receives special glasses that darken her blond hair when posing as Kara Danvers. Kara also goes on an internship at Cat Grant's CATCO alongside Ben Rubel, whom she befriends. In her opening arc \\\"The Reign of the Cyborg Supermen\\\", Kara discovers that the cyborg Zor-El, whom she had battled in her New 52 title, is still active and has rebuilt other Kryptonians (her mother Alura included), planning to take over Earth.\",\n \"In her opening arc \\\"The Reign of the Cyborg Supermen\\\", Kara discovers that the cyborg Zor-El, whom she had battled in her New 52 title, is still active and has rebuilt other Kryptonians (her mother Alura included), planning to take over Earth. Supergirl defeats them but vows to help her father regardless of his actions. After National City discovers Supergirl has kept Zor-El's \\\"living\\\" status a secret, they become untrustful of her.\",\n \"After National City discovers Supergirl has kept Zor-El's \\\"living\\\" status a secret, they become untrustful of her. Director Bones takes advantage of the heroine's impopularity and, after taking control of the D.E.O., sends villains in an attempt to bring Kara down. She defeats all of them and regains trust from National City with Ben's help.\",\n \"She defeats all of them and regains trust from National City with Ben's help. The Supergirl Who Laughs Kara is later infected by The Batman Who Laughs toxin, causing her to turn evil and joining other infected as part of Laughs Secret Six before later being cured. She is fired from CatCo by Cat Grant and starts working at S.T.A.R. Labs. Woman of Tomorrow Journeying throughout the universe with Krypto, Kara celebrates her 21st birthday alone on a distant planet.\",\n \"Woman of Tomorrow Journeying throughout the universe with Krypto, Kara celebrates her 21st birthday alone on a distant planet. Drunk in a bar, she is approached by a little girl named Ruthye and is asked to kill Krem (her father's murderer) in vengeance. Supergirl refuses but, when she is about to leave the planet, Krem attacks and severely wounds both her and Krypto, fleeing in Kara's ship.\",\n \"Supergirl refuses but, when she is about to leave the planet, Krem attacks and severely wounds both her and Krypto, fleeing in Kara's ship. Kara begins her journey alongside Ruthye and, powerless, saves her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon by taking a red kryptonite drug which causes her to manifest flame wings. Powers and abilities Like all Kryptonians under a yellow sun, the current version of Kara Zor-El possesses virtually unlimited strength, stamina, and durability.\",\n \"Powers and abilities Like all Kryptonians under a yellow sun, the current version of Kara Zor-El possesses virtually unlimited strength, stamina, and durability. She is able to fly and with super speed that she can also use on foot, similar to Superman and The Flash. Also like Superman, Supergirl possesses super senses, super-breath, and freeze breathe, as well as multiple forms of supervision (including X-Ray, Infrared, Telescopic, and Microscopic).\",\n \"Also like Superman, Supergirl possesses super senses, super-breath, and freeze breathe, as well as multiple forms of supervision (including X-Ray, Infrared, Telescopic, and Microscopic). Kara also has a bio-electric aura that enhances her near invulnerability and also protects her skin and her costume from dirt and tear; as such, Kara is perpetually clean. The Sun also provides Kara with a longer lifespan than that of a human being, to the point that she is effectively a biological immortal.\",\n \"The Sun also provides Kara with a longer lifespan than that of a human being, to the point that she is effectively a biological immortal. Kara doesn't require food, water, or sleep to survive. She is also immune to most diseases, mental and physical, and would require a very strong strain to have a chance at affecting her. In the rare instances that Kara is harmed by someone matching her strength or by the use of one of her weaknesses, she can heal almost instantaneously.\",\n \"In the rare instances that Kara is harmed by someone matching her strength or by the use of one of her weaknesses, she can heal almost instantaneously. Her power surpasses most other beings, though she can be overpowered by those who rival her strength such as Black Adam, Darkseid, Despero, Doomsday, Bizarro, Wonder Woman, and Superman. In reality, Kara is actually older than her cousin, Clark, and spent time on Krypton before its destruction.\",\n \"In reality, Kara is actually older than her cousin, Clark, and spent time on Krypton before its destruction. As such (unlike Superman), she possesses memories of Kryptonian culture as well as her cousin's parents. Continued exposure to a yellow Sun will slowly increase abilities. Many characters in the DC Universe have noted that Supergirl appears, at times, to be even more powerful than Superman himself.\",\n \"Many characters in the DC Universe have noted that Supergirl appears, at times, to be even more powerful than Superman himself. In answer to this, Superman states that this is because he has spent his entire life subconsciously suppressing his full powers in order to avoid hurting others, having been absorbing solar radiation since his infancy. Kara, not having such practice or experience, simply uses the full magnitude of her powers.\",\n \"Kara, not having such practice or experience, simply uses the full magnitude of her powers. Abilities Unlike her cousin, Kara was taught to fight in Krypton as part of her tests, and at the Crucible Academy, being adept at various Kryptonian fighting styles like Klurkor and Torquasm Rao. Supergirl also learned the art of Bagua under I-Ching's instructions. She practiced how to manipulate her Chi or Qi in order to gain better control of her powers due to them becoming overwhelmed after her conflict with the Fatal Five.\",\n \"She practiced how to manipulate her Chi or Qi in order to gain better control of her powers due to them becoming overwhelmed after her conflict with the Fatal Five. Superman recommended guardianship with I-Ching to Supergirl first. In addition to training in Krypton, Kara was trained by Batman in advanced martial arts and trained with the Amazons in Themyscira in unarmed and armed combat, Amazonas martial arts, fencing, Shield handling, and other Amazon weapons. She trained with Wonder Woman and Artemis extensively.\",\n \"She trained with Wonder Woman and Artemis extensively. She trained with Wonder Woman and Artemis extensively. Other versions There are numerous alternate versions of Supergirl. The most notable is Power Girl (real name Kara Zor-L, also known as Karen Starr) who first appeared in All Star Comics #58 (January/February 1976). Power Girl is the Earth-Two counterpart of Supergirl and the first cousin of Kal-L, Superman of the pre-Crisis Earth-Two. The infant Power Girl's parents enabled her to escape the destruction of Krypton.\",\n \"The infant Power Girl's parents enabled her to escape the destruction of Krypton. Although she left the planet at the same time that Superman did, her ship took much longer to reach Earth-Two. She has superhuman strength and the ability to fly and is the first chairwoman of the Justice Society of America. She sports a bob of blond hair; wears a distinctive white, red, and blue costume; and has an aggressive fighting style.\",\n \"She sports a bob of blond hair; wears a distinctive white, red, and blue costume; and has an aggressive fighting style. Throughout her early appearances in All Star Comics, she is often at odds with Wildcat because his penchant for talking to her as if she were an ordinary human female rather than a superpowered Kryptonian annoys her. She also fought alongside the Sovereign Seven team, replacing Rampart after his death though that series is not considered to be part of canon in the DC universe.\",\n \"She also fought alongside the Sovereign Seven team, replacing Rampart after his death though that series is not considered to be part of canon in the DC universe. The 1985 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths eliminated Earth-Two, causing her origin to change; she became the granddaughter of the Atlantean sorcerer Arion. However, story events culminating in the 2005–2006 Infinite Crisis limited series restored her status as a refugee from the Krypton of the destroyed pre-Crisis Earth-Two universe.\",\n \"However, story events culminating in the 2005–2006 Infinite Crisis limited series restored her status as a refugee from the Krypton of the destroyed pre-Crisis Earth-Two universe. Like the original Kara's Streaky, Power Girl has a cat, featured in a story by Amanda Conner in Wonder Woman #600. Reception This version of Supergirl is ranked as the 153rd-greatest comic book character of all time by Wizard magazine.\",\n \"Reception This version of Supergirl is ranked as the 153rd-greatest comic book character of all time by Wizard magazine. IGN also ranked this version of Supergirl as the 94th-greatest comic book superhero, stating \\\"for a character born of the Silver Age that saw everything from a Super Baby to a Super Monkey, Kara Zor-El grew into something much more than simply another marketing ploy to slap an 'S' on.\\\"\",\n \"IGN also ranked this version of Supergirl as the 94th-greatest comic book superhero, stating \\\"for a character born of the Silver Age that saw everything from a Super Baby to a Super Monkey, Kara Zor-El grew into something much more than simply another marketing ploy to slap an 'S' on.\\\" In 2013 IGN ranked Supergirl as the 17th-greatest DC comic superhero, stating \\\"she was an early example of a female sidekick developing a large fanbase in her own right\\\", and \\\"Supergirl has been one of DC's most powerful heroes, and a standard to hold other female heroes against.\\\"\",\n \"In 2013 IGN ranked Supergirl as the 17th-greatest DC comic superhero, stating \\\"she was an early example of a female sidekick developing a large fanbase in her own right\\\", and \\\"Supergirl has been one of DC's most powerful heroes, and a standard to hold other female heroes against.\\\" Appearances Pre-Crisis 1959 to 1969: Action Comics #252 to #376. 1969 to 1972: Adventure Comics #381 to #424. 1972 to 1974: Supergirl #1 to #10.\",\n \"1972 to 1974: Supergirl #1 to #10. 1974 to 1982: Her comic merges with Jimmy Olsen's and Lois Lane's to become Superman Family #164 to #222. 1982 to 1984: The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl #1 to #13, Supergirl (vol. 2) #14 to #23. 2015: Convergence Kara Zor-El appeared in over 750 stories published by DC from 1959 to 1985.\",\n \"2015: Convergence Kara Zor-El appeared in over 750 stories published by DC from 1959 to 1985. Post-Crisis 2004 to 2005: Superman/Batman #8 to #13 and #19 2005 to 2011: Supergirl (vol. 5) #0 to #67 2006 to 2008: Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes (Legion of Super-Heroes vol. 5) #16 to #37 2007: Action Comics #850 2008: Final Crisis 2011 to 2015: New 52: Supergirl (vol.\",\n \"5) #16 to #37 2007: Action Comics #850 2008: Final Crisis 2011 to 2015: New 52: Supergirl (vol. 6) #1 to #40 2016 to current: Rebirth: Supergirl (vol. 7) #1 to current Kara Zor-El also appears as a supporting character in several issues of other DC Comics, including Superman, Action Comics, Teen Titans, Amazons Attack, World War III, and Wonder Girl.\",\n \"7) #1 to current Kara Zor-El also appears as a supporting character in several issues of other DC Comics, including Superman, Action Comics, Teen Titans, Amazons Attack, World War III, and Wonder Girl. She has also appeared in many issues of Superman, Action Comics, and Superman New Krypton starting with the World Without Superman event in 2009, and continuing with the World Against Superman event going into 2010. Collected editions Listed in chronological order.\",\n \"Collected editions Listed in chronological order. Collected editions Listed in chronological order. All ages titles are not in continuity with the original or modern Kara. In other media Television Live-action Smallville Prior to the seventh season (2007–2008) of the WB/CW show Smallville where she is introduced into the cast and is portrayed by Laura Vandervoort, a woman claiming to be Kara (portrayed by Adrianne Palicki) is briefly introduced in the season 3 finale.\",\n \"In other media Television Live-action Smallville Prior to the seventh season (2007–2008) of the WB/CW show Smallville where she is introduced into the cast and is portrayed by Laura Vandervoort, a woman claiming to be Kara (portrayed by Adrianne Palicki) is briefly introduced in the season 3 finale. It is later revealed her real name is Lindsey Harrison, and had been given false memories and powers by the artificial intelligence of Clark Kent's (Tom Welling) father Jor-El as part of a series of tests.\",\n \"It is later revealed her real name is Lindsey Harrison, and had been given false memories and powers by the artificial intelligence of Clark Kent's (Tom Welling) father Jor-El as part of a series of tests. Vandervoort portrays the real Kara, Clark's cousin whose spaceship had been trapped in stasis until the events of the season 6 finale. Much of season 7 is concerned with Kara's attempts to adjust to life on Earth, especially after learning of Krypton's destruction.\",\n \"Much of season 7 is concerned with Kara's attempts to adjust to life on Earth, especially after learning of Krypton's destruction. Her storyline sees her simultaneously become the object of Lex Luthor's (Michael Rosenbaum) obsessions and Jimmy Olsen's (Aaron Ashmore) affections, suffer a bout of amnesia, discover her father's (Christopher Heyerdahl) sinister motives and become a target of evil android Brainiac (James Marsters). The season finale sees Kara become trapped in the Phantom Zone.\",\n \"The season finale sees Kara become trapped in the Phantom Zone. Starting with season 8, Vandervoort ceases to feature as a series regular, but reprises the role three more times. In her first guest appearance, \\\"Bloodline,\\\" Kara is freed from the Phantom Zone and later departs Clark's hometown of Smallville to search for Kandor, her birthplace, as it is rumored to have survived their home planet's destruction.\",\n \"In her first guest appearance, \\\"Bloodline,\\\" Kara is freed from the Phantom Zone and later departs Clark's hometown of Smallville to search for Kandor, her birthplace, as it is rumored to have survived their home planet's destruction. She appears again in the season 10 episode \\\"Supergirl\\\", in which she formally adopts her superhero moniker. Her off-screen adventures are alluded to thereafter.\",\n \"Her off-screen adventures are alluded to thereafter. Her off-screen adventures are alluded to thereafter. Vandervoort makes a final appearance in the show's penultimate episode, \\\"Prophecy\\\", in which she helps Green Arrow (Justin Hartley) locate the \\\"Bow of Orion\\\" to use against Darkseid. She is then called to the Fortress of Solitude, where she learns from Jor-El that her job on Earth is done. Using a Legion of Super-Heroes flight ring, she travels to the future to seek her own destiny.\",\n \"Using a Legion of Super-Heroes flight ring, she travels to the future to seek her own destiny. The Season Eleven comic book continuation of the show later depicts Kara's continued story in the 31st century, subsequent return to the present and joining the Justice League. Arrowverse In September 2014, a 22-episode television series centered around Supergirl was in development at Warner Bros. Television, set to premiere on CBS with a January 2015 air date. Melissa Benoist was cast as the titular character.\",\n \"Melissa Benoist was cast as the titular character. Melissa Benoist was cast as the titular character. In May 2016, the series moved to The CW and was later integrated into the Arrowverse, a shared universe consisting of shows including Arrow, The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow. In the series, Kara Zor-El was sent to Earth to protect her cousin Kal-El, following her homeworld Krypton's destruction. However, she is knocked into the Phantom Zone, where she is stranded for 24 years.\",\n \"However, she is knocked into the Phantom Zone, where she is stranded for 24 years. She eventually crash lands on Earth and is found by her already grown-up cousin Kal, now known to the world as the iconic superhero \\\"Superman\\\". Superman brings Kara into the custody of Jeremiah Danvers, director of the Department of Extranormal Operations (D.E.O. ), and his daughter Alex. Growing up, Kara struggles to maintain her Kryptonian abilities as well as balancing her relationship with her adoptive sister.\",\n \"Growing up, Kara struggles to maintain her Kryptonian abilities as well as balancing her relationship with her adoptive sister. Eventually, the two bond when Kara's powers are exposed. However, Jeremiah decides it's best to isolate her abilities. As an adult, Kara is forced to use her powers again when her sister's plane almost crashes. She is later dubbed \\\"Supergirl\\\" by the media and dons a costume like her cousin.\",\n \"She is later dubbed \\\"Supergirl\\\" by the media and dons a costume like her cousin. Kara decides to use her abilities to fight alien invaders such as Kara's aunt Astra and her husband Non, Mon-El's rogue parents, the Worldkiller Reign, anti-alien activist Ben Lockwood, and later the shadowy organization Leviathan, with the help of her sister Alex, now an agent of the D.E.O., her best friend and tech-expert Winn Schott, last of the Green Martians J'onn J'onzz / Martian Manhunter, and Kal's best friend Jimmy Olsen.\",\n \"Kara decides to use her abilities to fight alien invaders such as Kara's aunt Astra and her husband Non, Mon-El's rogue parents, the Worldkiller Reign, anti-alien activist Ben Lockwood, and later the shadowy organization Leviathan, with the help of her sister Alex, now an agent of the D.E.O., her best friend and tech-expert Winn Schott, last of the Green Martians J'onn J'onzz / Martian Manhunter, and Kal's best friend Jimmy Olsen. She is later joined by Lex Luthor's sister Lena, Prince of Daxam Mon-El, former Legion of Superheroes member Querl \\\"Brainy\\\" Dox / Brainiac 5, Nia Nal / Dreamer, James' younger sister Kelly, and reporter Willam Dey face against these rival forces.\",\n \"She is later joined by Lex Luthor's sister Lena, Prince of Daxam Mon-El, former Legion of Superheroes member Querl \\\"Brainy\\\" Dox / Brainiac 5, Nia Nal / Dreamer, James' younger sister Kelly, and reporter Willam Dey face against these rival forces. After joining the Arrowverse, which contain annual crossover, Kara assists Barry Allen, Oliver Queen and the Legends of Tomorrow against threats on their designated earth \\\"Earth-1\\\" while Kara’s is designated as \\\"Earth-38.\",\n \"After joining the Arrowverse, which contain annual crossover, Kara assists Barry Allen, Oliver Queen and the Legends of Tomorrow against threats on their designated earth \\\"Earth-1\\\" while Kara’s is designated as \\\"Earth-38. Later, Kara is selected by The Monitor as the Paragon of Hope to participate in the coming crisis and fight against the Anti-Monitor, whose goal is to destroy the multiverse. After doing so, the Paragons are sent to the Vanishing Point where Oliver, now a Spectre, helps them escape.\",\n \"After doing so, the Paragons are sent to the Vanishing Point where Oliver, now a Spectre, helps them escape. The Paragons appear at the dawn of time in the anti-matter universe where they have their final confrontation with the Anti-Monitor. Eventually, Oliver sacrifices himself to kill the Anti-Monitor, and as a result, a new multiverse is born with Earth-38 and Earth-1 merged into \\\"Earth-Prime\\\". Following the crisis, Kara is forced to deal the after-effects of Crisis which include working with Lex, now owning the D.E.O.\",\n \"Following the crisis, Kara is forced to deal the after-effects of Crisis which include working with Lex, now owning the D.E.O. while Leviathan continue their covert operations under Gamemnae. The sixth season sees Kara and her allies expose Lex's crimes, but are then forced to deal with Nyxlygsptlnz, a fifth-dimensional imp who tricked the heroes into releasing her from the Phantom Zone.\",\n \"The sixth season sees Kara and her allies expose Lex's crimes, but are then forced to deal with Nyxlygsptlnz, a fifth-dimensional imp who tricked the heroes into releasing her from the Phantom Zone. Eventually Nyxlygsptlnz joins forces with Lex Luthor and the two kill William, but Kara's assembled allies are able to defeat the two, culminating in Lex and Nyxlygsptlnz being trapped in the Phantom Zone when one of their own plans backfires.\",\n \"Eventually Nyxlygsptlnz joins forces with Lex Luthor and the two kill William, but Kara's assembled allies are able to defeat the two, culminating in Lex and Nyxlygsptlnz being trapped in the Phantom Zone when one of their own plans backfires. The series concludes with Kara revealing her dual identity so that she can live a full life as one person. Animation DC Nation Shorts Supergirl appears with Batgirl and Wonder Girl in Super Best Friends Forever, voiced by Nicole Sullivan.\",\n \"Animation DC Nation Shorts Supergirl appears with Batgirl and Wonder Girl in Super Best Friends Forever, voiced by Nicole Sullivan. DC Super Hero Girls Supergirl appears as a central protagonist in the web series DC Super Hero Girls voiced by Anais Fairweather, and is a student at Super Hero High, is very kind and caring and extremely powerful but she's also very clumsy. She also appears as a central protagonist in the 2019 TV series, with Nicole Sullivan reprising her role from the Super Best Friends Forever shorts.\",\n \"She also appears as a central protagonist in the 2019 TV series, with Nicole Sullivan reprising her role from the Super Best Friends Forever shorts. In this version, she is also a rebel and is known as the \\\"cool kid\\\" in school. She may be tough but she can easily express her emotions and is very open-minded as well. She can be a cool friend and a helpful one, but she can also be jealous sometimes and she dislikes her cousin's prominence.\",\n \"She can be a cool friend and a helpful one, but she can also be jealous sometimes and she dislikes her cousin's prominence. Justice League Action Supergirl appears in Justice League Action, voiced by Joanne Spracklen. She has the appearance of a wide-eyed human teenager with blonde hair and wears her traditional costume except that it has thigh-high boots and a pleated skirt. As a person, she is youthful, responsible, and shows much affection for her cousin Superman.\",\n \"As a person, she is youthful, responsible, and shows much affection for her cousin Superman. In \\\"Party Animal\\\", she appears as a cameo at this Christmas party with the Justice League. In \\\"Keeping up with the Kryptonians\\\", Supergirl becomes a star of the popular reality show \\\"That's So Kara\\\", and Superman a Kasnian who rules from one place to another on Earth, all being a reality caused by Mister Mxyzptlk.\",\n \"In \\\"Keeping up with the Kryptonians\\\", Supergirl becomes a star of the popular reality show \\\"That's So Kara\\\", and Superman a Kasnian who rules from one place to another on Earth, all being a reality caused by Mister Mxyzptlk. In \\\"Unleashed\\\", Supergirl accompanies Justice League in stopping Red Lantern Corps, unaware that it was a distraction made by Dex-Starr to invade Earth, until it was ultimately resolved by Krypto, Streaky, and Plastic Man.\",\n \"In \\\"Unleashed\\\", Supergirl accompanies Justice League in stopping Red Lantern Corps, unaware that it was a distraction made by Dex-Starr to invade Earth, until it was ultimately resolved by Krypto, Streaky, and Plastic Man. In a short \\\"The Goddess Must Be Crazy\\\", Supergirl trains with Wonder Woman in Paradise Island, until she is possessed by Felix Faust, to destroy the island. Film Superman film series A live action depiction of Supergirl first appears in the eponymous 1984 film starring Helen Slater as Supergirl.\",\n \"Film Superman film series A live action depiction of Supergirl first appears in the eponymous 1984 film starring Helen Slater as Supergirl. The film is a spin-off from the Superman film series starring Christopher Reeve, to which it is connected by Marc McClure's character of Jimmy Olsen. DC Extended Universe Kara Zor-El / Linda Danvers / Supergirl exists within the DC Extended Universe, as she was referenced in Man of Steel when Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman discovers an empty pod within the Kryptonian scout spaceship.\",\n \"DC Extended Universe Kara Zor-El / Linda Danvers / Supergirl exists within the DC Extended Universe, as she was referenced in Man of Steel when Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman discovers an empty pod within the Kryptonian scout spaceship. Though Zack Snyder confirmed in August 2018 that even though the character does exist, that pod was not intended for her. In August 2018, a film centered around the character was announced to be in development, with Oren Uziel hired as screenwriter for the project.\",\n \"In August 2018, a film centered around the character was announced to be in development, with Oren Uziel hired as screenwriter for the project. The studio intends to hire a female director, with Reed Morano—who has expressed interest in the project—being its top choice. Filming was expected to start production in early 2020. Sasha Calle will play Supergirl for the DC Extended Universe in The Flash.\",\n \"Sasha Calle will play Supergirl for the DC Extended Universe in The Flash. Animation Summer Glau voices the post-Crisis version of Kara Zor-El in Superman/Batman: Apocalypse, which is based on the Superman/Batman storyline \\\"The Supergirl from Krypton\\\". Despite this, it was confirmed by director Lauren Montgomery that Supergirl's name was removed from the title due to the much slower sales of the previous Wonder Woman animated movie, and the character was not permitted to appear on the cover in her trademark outfit.\",\n \"Despite this, it was confirmed by director Lauren Montgomery that Supergirl's name was removed from the title due to the much slower sales of the previous Wonder Woman animated movie, and the character was not permitted to appear on the cover in her trademark outfit. Molly Quinn voices Supergirl in Superman: Unbound. Supergirl appears in Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League: Cosmic Clash, voiced by Jessica DiCicco. Video games Supergirl appears in DC Universe Online, voiced by Adriene Mishler.\",\n \"Video games Supergirl appears in DC Universe Online, voiced by Adriene Mishler. In the villain campaign, the players help Doctor Psycho capture Supergirl using Kryptonite. In the hero campaign, the players fight Doctor Psycho to save Supergirl. Under the thrall of Brainiac, she must be defeated in the Fortress of Solitude: Power Core raid. Supergirl is unlockable in Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes, voiced by Bridget Hoffman. Supergirl makes a cameo appearance in the IOS version of Injustice: Gods Among Us as a support card.\",\n \"Supergirl makes a cameo appearance in the IOS version of Injustice: Gods Among Us as a support card. Supergirl appears as a playable character in Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham, voiced by Kari Wahlgren. She is playable in her default variant which is designed after her appearance in The New 52 and in her Classic attire.\",\n \"She is playable in her default variant which is designed after her appearance in The New 52 and in her Classic attire. Her Classic variant is unlocked in a VR Mission while her New 52 variant is unlocked in a Hub Quest in Nok where she requests players to defeat a number of enemies she accidentally releases from their cells. Supergirl appears as a playable character in Infinite Crisis, voiced by Camilla Luddington.\",\n \"Supergirl appears as a playable character in Infinite Crisis, voiced by Camilla Luddington. Supergirl appears as a playable character and the central protagonist in Injustice 2 by NetherRealm Studios, the sequel to Injustice: Gods Among Us, voiced by Laura Bailey.\",\n \"Supergirl appears as a playable character and the central protagonist in Injustice 2 by NetherRealm Studios, the sequel to Injustice: Gods Among Us, voiced by Laura Bailey. Here her origin is much like in the comics where she is sent along with her cousin Kal-El to Earth by her mother after Krypton is destroyed but on separate pods where hers veers off-course after sustaining significant damage, stranding her in space for many years until she lands on Earth, unaged.\",\n \"Here her origin is much like in the comics where she is sent along with her cousin Kal-El to Earth by her mother after Krypton is destroyed but on separate pods where hers veers off-course after sustaining significant damage, stranding her in space for many years until she lands on Earth, unaged. When the main storyline starts, she is residing on Black Adam's kingdom of Khandaq, apparently under his and Wonder Woman's protection.\",\n \"When the main storyline starts, she is residing on Black Adam's kingdom of Khandaq, apparently under his and Wonder Woman's protection. When Brainiac who was responsible for Krypton's destruction attacks, she, Wonder Woman, and Black Adam attempt to free Superman and the remaining members of the Regime, while being interrupted in their efforts by new Insurgency recruits Blue Beetle and Firestorm until Batman himself arrives and releases Superman, leading to a temporary alliance between the Regime and Insurgency against the alien warlord.\",\n \"When Brainiac who was responsible for Krypton's destruction attacks, she, Wonder Woman, and Black Adam attempt to free Superman and the remaining members of the Regime, while being interrupted in their efforts by new Insurgency recruits Blue Beetle and Firestorm until Batman himself arrives and releases Superman, leading to a temporary alliance between the Regime and Insurgency against the alien warlord. Over the course of the story, she learns the truth about her cousin's tyranny and at the end of the game sides with Batman, Green Lantern and Flash in letting Brainiac live in order to restore the lost cities but is defeated.\",\n \"Over the course of the story, she learns the truth about her cousin's tyranny and at the end of the game sides with Batman, Green Lantern and Flash in letting Brainiac live in order to restore the lost cities but is defeated. In Batman's ending, she laments her cousin's tyranny and sees him leave to be imprisoned in the Phantom Zone and is offered membership by Batman in his Justice League.\",\n \"In Batman's ending, she laments her cousin's tyranny and sees him leave to be imprisoned in the Phantom Zone and is offered membership by Batman in his Justice League. In Superman's ending, she is imprisoned aboard Brainiac's ship and to her shock discovers her cousin has bonded with it and when she refuses his offer to join him in leading his new legion of imprisoned species. He attempts to coerce her by revealing a brainwashed Batman, who had also been captured, further shocking her.\",\n \"He attempts to coerce her by revealing a brainwashed Batman, who had also been captured, further shocking her. Supergirl appears as a limited-distribution minifigure for the toys-to-life video game Lego Dimensions, with Kari Wahlgren reprising her role. She has the ability to transform between her classic and Red Lantern forms. Supergirl appears as a playable character in DC Unchained. Supergirl appears in the PSP version of Justice League Heroes. Supergirl appears as a playable character in the DC TV Super-Heroes DLC pack in Lego DC Super-Villains.\",\n \"Supergirl appears as a playable character in the DC TV Super-Heroes DLC pack in Lego DC Super-Villains. See also Alternative versions of Supergirl Laurel Gand References External links DC Comics Pre-Crisis Supergirl Chronology Supergirl Characters created by Otto Binder Comics characters introduced in 1958 Comics characters introduced in 1959 DC Comics aliens DC Comics American superheroes DC Comics characters who can move at superhuman speeds DC Comics characters with accelerated healing DC Comics characters with superhuman strength DC Comics deities DC Comics female superheroes DC Comics film characters DC Comics television characters DC Comics extraterrestrial superheroes Female characters in television Fictional characters with superhuman senses Fictional actors Fictional extraterrestrial–human hybrids Fictional orphans Fictional photographers Fictional refugees Fictional reporters Fictional school counselors Fictional American secret agents Fictional waiting staff Kryptonians Superheroes who are adopted Vigilante characters in comics\"\n]"}}},{"rowIdx":388,"cells":{"History":{"kind":"list like","value":["Supergirl (Kara Zor-El)","Bronze Age","whaat is the bronze age","After long-time Superman family editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971,"],"string":"[\n \"Supergirl (Kara Zor-El)\",\n \"Bronze Age\",\n \"whaat is the bronze age\",\n \"After long-time Superman family editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971,\"\n]"},"QuAC_dialog_id":{"kind":"string","value":"C_eaa7329c3ac14b8bb4aaea61d8fa517d_1"},"Question":{"kind":"string","value":"what happened during the bronze age"},"Question_no":{"kind":"number","value":2,"string":"2"},"Rewrite":{"kind":"string","value":"what happened during Supergirl's bronze age"},"true_page_title":{"kind":"string","value":"Supergirl (Kara Zor-El)"},"true_contexts":{"kind":"string","value":"After long-time Superman family editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971, the character underwent revitalization under editor Joe Orlando and artist Mike Sekowsky. Wearing a series of new outfits, leaving her adopted foster home with the Danvers family, Linda goes on to San Francisco where she works for KSF-TV as a camera operator and develops a crush on her boss, Geoffrey Anderson. These stories introduced Supergirl's most memorable villain from this period: Lex Luthor's niece Nasthalthia, or Nasty. Nasty had made two appearances towards the end of Linda's college years, then pursued her to KSF-TV, trying to secure proof of her dual identity. Supergirl starred in her first solo eponymous monthly series beginning in 1972 until October 1974, when her monthly title merged with Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane, and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen to produce a new title: then-highest DC selling series called The Superman Family, where she eventually became the steady lead story. Linda worked as a student advisor at New Athens Experimental School, before leaving for New York to follow a career in acting with daytime soap Secret Hearts. In 1982 Supergirl received a second monthly solo series titled The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl, relocating the character to Chicago as Linda became a mature student of Psychology. Industry legend, and former DC Publisher, Carmine Infantino provided the pencilled art (Bob Oksner inked). With issue 13 the title was revamped, with a new costume design (sporting a red headband) and the title shortened to just Supergirl. The series ran until sudden cancellation in 1984, only two months before the character's debut in a big-budget Hollywood film starring Helen Slater. In the Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985) the greatest heroes from Earth-One, Earth-Two, Earth-Four, Earth-S, and Earth-X join forces in order to defeat the Anti-Monitor. When Superman comes face to face with the Anti-Monitor and is knocked unconscious, Supergirl rushes to save him before he is killed. She is able to fight him off long enough for Dr. Light to carry her cousin to a safe distance, but is killed by the Anti-Monitor. A public memorial service for Supergirl takes place in Chicago, where Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) delivers the eulogy. In her remarks she states \"Kara is a hero. She will not be forgotten.\" Superman then gives his late cousin burial by taking her corpse to Rokyn/New Krypton to Zor-El and Allura. A Superman issue the next month reveals that Kara had experienced a premonition about her own passing. However, when the universe is rebooted, the timeline is altered. Kara Zor-El and all memory of her is erased from existence. CANNOTANSWER"},"answer":{"kind":"string","value":"the character underwent revitalization under editor Joe Orlando and artist Mike Sekowsky."},"true_contexts_wiki":{"kind":"string","value":"Kara Zor-El, also known by her adoptive names of Linda Lee Danvers, Kara Kent, Linda Lang, and Kara Danvers, and the superhero name of Supergirl, is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. She was created by Otto Binder and designed by Al Plastino. Danvers first appeared in Action Comics #252 (May 1959)'s \"The Supergirl from Krypton\" story. Kara is the biological cousin of Kal-El, who went on to adopt the name of Clark Kent and the superhero Superman. During the 1980s and the revolution of the Modern Age of Comics, Superman editors believed the character's history had become too convoluted, thus killing Supergirl during the 1985 Crisis on Infinite Earths event and retconning her out of existence.\n\nDC Comics Senior Vice President Dan DiDio re-introduced the character in 2004 along with editor Eddie Berganza and writer Jeph Loeb, with her the Superman/Batman storyline \"The Supergirl from Krypton\". As the current Supergirl, Kara stars in her own monthly comic book series. With DC's The New 52 relaunch, Kara, like most of the DC Universe, was revamped. DC relaunched the Supergirl comic in August 2016 as part of their DC Rebirth initiative.\n\nIn live-action, Supergirl appeared in the 1984 film based on her character and was portrayed by Helen Slater. She also appeared in the series Smallville, played by actress Laura Vandervoort. In 2015, the live-action Arrowverse series Supergirl debuted on CBS and then moved to The CW after the first season. Supergirl was portrayed by Melissa Benoist on the show and also appeared on other Arrowverse shows. Sasha Calle will appear as Supergirl in the upcoming DC Extended Universe film The Flash (2022).\n\nPublication history\n\nEarly life\nAlthough Kara Zor-El was the first character to use the name \"Supergirl,\" DC Comics tested three different female versions of Superman prior to her debut. \n\nThe first story to feature a female counterpart to Superman was \"Lois Lane – Superwoman,\" which was published in Action Comics #60 (May 1943). In the story, a hospitalized Lois Lane dreams she has gained superpowers thanks to a blood transfusion from the Man of Steel. She begins her own career as \"Superwoman\", complete with a version of Superman's costume.\n\nIn the Superboy #78 story entitled \"Claire Kent, Alias Super-Sister\", Superboy saves the life of an alien woman named Shar-La, who turns Superboy into a girl, in retaliation for his disparaging thoughts about women drivers which she picked up telepathically. In Smallville, Clark claims to be Claire Kent, an out-of-town relative who is staying with the Kents. When in costume, he appears as Superboy's sister, Super-Sister, and claims the two have exchanged places. Once Superboy has learned his lesson about feeling more respect for women, Shar-La reveals the episode to be a dream which she projected into Superboy's mind.\n\nIn Superman #123 (August 1958), Jimmy Olsen uses a magic totem to wish a \"Super-Girl\" into existence as a companion and aid to Superman; however, the two frequently get in each other's way until she is fatally injured protecting Superman from a Kryptonite meteor. At her insistence, Jimmy wishes the dying girl out of existence. DC used this story to gauge public response to the concept of a completely new super-powered female counterpart to Superman.\n\nThe Kara Zor-El version of Supergirl finally appeared in Action Comics #252 (May 1959). Otto Binder wrote and Al Plastino illustrated her début story, in which Kara was born and raised in Argo City (unnamed until later issues), a fragment of Krypton that survived destruction. When the city is doomed by a meteor shower, Kara is sent to Earth by her parents, Zor-El and Alura (the latter unnamed until later issues), to be raised by her cousin Kal-El, known as Superman. Supergirl adopted the secret identity of an orphan \"Linda Lee\", and made Midvale Orphanage her home. Supergirl promised Superman that she would keep her existence on Earth a secret, so that he may use her as a \"secret weapon\", but that didn't stop Supergirl from exploring her new powers covertly. Action Comics #255 published reader's letters-of-comment to Supergirl's first appearance; she had allegedly generated a sizeable and mostly positive reaction.\n\nSupergirl, from her debut onwards, became a regular backup strip in Action Comics. She joined the Legion of Super-Heroes, like her cousin had done as a teenager, and in Action Comics #279 (July 1961) she was adopted by Fred and Edna Danvers, becoming \"Linda Lee Danvers\". Supergirl acted for three years as Superman's secret weapon, and her adventures during that time have been compared to contemporary developments in feminist thinking in work such as Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique. She was at last introduced by her super-powered cousin to an unsuspecting world in Action Comics #285 (February 1962).\n\nDuring her first quarter of a century, Linda Danvers would have many professions, from student to student advisor, to actor, and even TV camera operator. She shared Action Comics with Superman until transferring to the lead in Adventure Comics at the end of the 1960s. In 1972 she finally moved to her own short-lived eponymous magazine, before DC merged its Supergirl, Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen titles into a single anthology title named The Superman Family. In 1982 Supergirl was relaunched into her own magazine.\n\nDeath during Crisis on Infinite Earths\n\nIn 1985, the maxi-series Crisis on Infinite Earths was conceived as a way to reduce DC continuity to a single universe in which all characters maintained a single history. Despite Supergirl's continued popularity and status as a central member of the \"Superman Family\", the editors at DC Comics and the creators of the maxi-series decided to kill Supergirl off during the Crisis. According to Marv Wolfman, writer of Crisis on Infinite Earths:\n\nThe idea of killing Supergirl was first conceived by DC's vice president/executive editor Dick Giordano, who lobbied for the death to DC's publishers. He later said he has never had any regrets about this, explaining, \"Supergirl was created initially to take advantage of the high Superman sales and not much thought was put into her creation. She was created essentially as a female Superman. With time, writers and artists improved upon her execution, but she never did really add anything to the Superman mythos—at least not for me.\" The poor initial reception of the 1984 film Supergirl was also blamed by some sources.\n\nIn 1989, in the tale \"Christmas with the Super-Heroes\" the soul of Kara appears to Boston \"Deadman\" Brand, cheers him up, and then disappears from continuity until 2001 (see below).\n\nSeveral characters unrelated to Superman soon took on the Supergirl persona, including the Matrix (a shapeshifting genetically engineered life-form that 'defaulted' as Supergirl), Linda Danvers (the result of Matrix merging with the dying Linda Danvers and becoming an Earth-bound angel of fire), and Cir-El (Superman's apparent daughter from a possible future).\n\nA heroine resembling the Pre-Crisis Kara would later appear in Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #5, along with an entire army of Legionnaires gathered from alternate worlds, times, and realities, to battle the Time Trapper.\n\nTwo Supergirls meet \nPrior to the post-Crisis introduction of Kara Zor-El into mainstream continuity, the pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El made an appearance in Peter David's Supergirl: Many Happy Returns. The then-current Supergirl series, at the time starring Linda Danvers, was in danger of cancellation and Peter David thought a story arc involving Kara Zor-El would be enough to revitalize the series. In an interview with Cliff Biggers of Newsarama, David states:\n\nIn the Linda Danvers' Supergirl series issues 49 and 50 (October and November 2000), the original dead Kara appears as Linda's \"guardian angel\". Then in issues 75 to 80, \"Many Happy Returns\", a young Kara appears from an earlier time long before the Crisis. The paradox becomes a moral crisis for Linda who tries to take her place as the Crisis sacrifice, living for years in a Silver Age universe where \"no one swears, the villains are always easy to defeat, and everything's very, very clean\", eventually marrying the Silver Age Superman and having a daughter with him, before she is forced to return to her universe by the Spectre when he reveals that her efforts to replace Kara as the sacrifice will not succeed. This run was illustrated by Ed Benes who had also illustrated Gail Simone's Birds of Prey which had a similar whimsical camaraderie between its female leads.\n\nLinda's inability to ultimately save Kara, coupled with the loss of her daughter, is so devastating that it ends her own career as Supergirl, Linda leaving a note for Superman where she explains that she feels that she has failed to live up to the standards of a true Supergirl and choosing to go somewhere she cannot be found. This story arc is usually cited as one of the best Supergirl stories ever written. The series ended with issue 80.\n\nRevival \n\nAfter the launch of the Superman/Batman comic book series, executive editor Dan DiDio had been looking for a way to simplify the Supergirl character from her convoluted post-Crisis history; the simplest version, of course, was Superman's cousin. Jeph Loeb and editor Eddie Berganza found an opening to reintroduce the character following the conclusion of the first story arc of Superman/Batman. Loeb states:\n\nThe modern version of Kara Zor-El made her debut in Superman/Batman #8 (2004). Kara takes the mantle of Supergirl at the conclusion of the storyline. The Supergirl comic book series would later be relaunched, now starring Kara Zor-El as \"The Girl of Steel\". The first arc of the new series was written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by Ian Churchill. Loeb would later describe the appeal of writing for Supergirl:\n\nAs the character continued to be reinvented, steps towards regarding the iconic character were some of the most prominent changes. Artist Jamal Igle and editor Matt Idleson moved to transition the character away from red panties under her skirt to biker shorts, feeling such a change was a logical progression and \"more respectable.\"\n\nThe New 52\nIn September 2011, DC Comics began The New 52, in which it canceled all of its monthly superhero titles and relaunched 52 new ones, wiping out most of its past continuity in the process. One of the new titles was a new Supergirl series (Volume 6) that featured a new origin for Kara and was published between 2011 and 2015. Artist Mahmud Asrar designed a new costume for the character which strongly deviated from her classic, \"cheerleader\" suit, a change which generated criticism from some readers.\n\nDC Rebirth\nThe 2016 DC Comics title relaunch Rebirth incorporates several elements (such as the costume, the name, the setting, and some characters) from the Supergirl television series. The DC Rebirth initiative undid the New 52's modern recreations, bringing DC's heroes back to their more classic iterations. Supergirl's new series (Volume 7) was titled Supergirl: Rebirth, written by Steven Orlando. The first arc was penciled by Brian Ching, who also redesigned Supergirl's costume in reference to a more classic look. In April 2018, it was announced that the title would be canceled after issue #20, only to be revived in August that year under a new creative team, with new writer Marc Andreyko and artist Kevin Maguire. The series ended with its 42nd issue.\n\nFuture State: Kara Zor-El, Superwoman\nThe Future State comics propose a possible future for Kara Zor-El, now an adult and having taken the alias of Superwoman. She leaves Earth to become a guardian of the Moon, which has become a refugee colony for aliens from the entire universe. The series was written by Marguerite Bennet and penciled by Marguerite Sauvage.\n\nSupergirl: Woman of Tomorrow\nUnder the Infinite Frontier brand, Kara's next series Woman of Tomorrow debuted in June 2021, written by Tom King and penciled by Brazilian artists Bilquis Evely and Mat Lopes. The arc introduces Supergirl to new character grounds as she begins the story as a young woman, celebrating her 21st birthday and helping a young alien in her quest for revenge. The \"mentor-mentee journey on revenge\" plot is, according to King, inspired by the original novel and both versions of True Grit. \n\nIn this series, the creators paid homage to Linda Danvers, as Kara manifests flame wings and powers after taking a red kryptonite drug, in order to save her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon.\n\nFictional character biography\n\nSilver Age\nIn her debut story, Kara Zor-El is the last survivor of Argo City of the planet Krypton. Although Argo, which had survived the explosion of the planet, drifted through space as a self-sustaining environment, the soil of the colony eventually turned into Kryptonite; and though Kara's father Zor-El placed lead sheeting above the ground to protect the citizens from radiation, meteorites pierced the sheeting, and the Kryptonians died of radiation poisoning instead of replacing the metal.\n\nIn Supergirl's subsequent backup feature in Action Comics drawn by artist Jim Mooney for ten years until 1968, Supergirl adopts the identity of Linda Lee, an orphan at Midvale Orphanage presided over by headmistress Miss Hart. She disguises herself by hiding her blond hair beneath a brunette wig; Supergirl interacts with humans on a person-to-person basis performing good deeds and saving the world by helping one person at a time, and she also devises clever schemes as \"Superman's Secret Weapon,\" saving him many times and avoiding adoption before Superman can introduce her publicly.\n\nWhile temporarily powerless due to the scheming of Kandorian scientist Lesla-Lar, who is out to supplant her on Earth, Linda allows herself to be adopted by engineer and rocket scientist Fred Danvers and his wife, Edna. In time, she reveals her secret identity to her adoptive parents on the same day her cousin Superman finally introduces her to the world in the finale of then-DC's longest playing series ever (eight chapters) aptly called \"The World's Greatest Heroine\".\n\nWhen frequent dreams about her parents being alive turn out to be real, she builds a machine aided by her engineer father's talent, and brings them both back alive from the \"Survival Zone\" where they had both teleported during Argo City's final moments. Zor-El and Allura eventually end up living in Kandor, and when the city in the bottle is enlarged, they both go on to live in Rokyn/New Krypton, where they have the sad duty of receiving her mortal remains after \"Crisis\" for burial.\n\nGraduating from high school in 1965, Linda Lee goes to college on a scholarship and stays in Stanhope College until she graduates in 1971. During this era, she is helped by her pet cat Streaky, her Super-Horse pet Comet, and befriends Lena Thorul, who had first appeared in the Lois Lane series. Kara is also a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, where she becomes close to Brainiac 5. In addition, Linda has boyfriends from the orphanage (Richard \"Dick\" Malverne) and from Atlantis (Jerro the merboy).\n\nIn 1967, Supergirl meets Batgirl for the first time in World's Finest Comics. Developing a strong friendship, the two characters teamed up many times again, as in Superman Family #171, or Adventure #381.\nIn 1969, Supergirl left Action Comics and became a featured character in Adventure Comics beginning with issue #381 (June 1969).\n\nDuring the 1970s, Supergirl's costume changed frequently, as did her career in her civilian life. In her secret identity as Linda Lee Danvers, Kara Zor-El took a variety of jobs including graduate student in acting, television camera operator, and student counselor, and finally became an actress on the TV soap Secret Hearts.\n\nBronze Age\nAfter long-time Superman family editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971, the character underwent revitalization under editor Joe Orlando and artist Mike Sekowsky. Wearing a series of new outfits, leaving her adopted foster home with the Danvers family, Linda goes on to San Francisco where she works for KSF-TV as a camera operator and develops a crush on her boss, Geoffrey Anderson. These stories introduced Supergirl's most memorable villain from this period: Lex Luthor's niece Nasthalthia, or Nasty. Nasty had made two appearances towards the end of Linda's college years, then pursued her to KSF-TV, trying to secure proof of her dual identity.\n\nSupergirl starred in her first solo eponymous monthly series beginning in 1972 until October 1974, when her monthly title merged with Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane, and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen to produce a new title: then-highest DC selling series called The Superman Family, where she eventually became the steady lead story. Linda worked as a student advisor at New Athens Experimental School, before leaving for New York to follow a career in acting with daytime soap Secret Hearts.\n\nIn 1982 Supergirl received a second monthly solo series titled The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl, relocating the character to Chicago as Linda became a mature student of Psychology. Industry legend, and former DC Publisher, Carmine Infantino provided the penciled art (Bob Oksner inked). With issue 13 the title was revamped, with a new costume design (sporting a red headband) and the title shortened to just Supergirl. The series ran until sudden cancellation in 1984, only two months before the character's debut in a big-budget Hollywood film starring Helen Slater.\n\nIn the Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985), the greatest heroes from Earth-One, Earth-Two, Earth-Four, Earth-S, and Earth-X join forces in order to defeat the Anti-Monitor. When Superman comes face to face with the Anti-Monitor and is knocked unconscious, Supergirl rushes to save him before he is killed. She is able to fight him off long enough for Dr. Light to carry her cousin to a safe distance, but is killed by the Anti-Monitor. A public memorial service for Supergirl takes place in Chicago, where Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) delivers the eulogy. In her remarks, she states \"Kara is a hero. She will not be forgotten.\" Superman then gives his late cousin burial by taking her corpse to Rokyn/New Krypton to Zor-El and Allura. A Superman issue the next month reveals that Kara had experienced a premonition about her own passing. However, when the universe is rebooted, the timeline is altered. Kara Zor-El and all memory of her is erased from existence.\n\nEchoes\nAfter these events, the soul of Kara Zor-El made another appearance in continuity three years later in a story titled \"Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot\" in Christmas with the Super-Heroes #2 (1989). Within the story, Boston \"Deadman\" Brand tries to feel the warmth of Christmas by possessing revelers' bodies. Feeling guilty upon the realization that he has been stealing others' Christmases, he flies off feeling sorry for himself for being denied a reward after a year of helping people. A warmly dressed blonde woman approaches Brand, startling him. Somehow seeing the normally invisible Brand, she converses with him, reminding him,\n\nShe reminds Brand that even though he is dead, he is still human, and he should rejoice because it means his spirit is still alive. As the woman leaves, Brand asks her who she is, to which she replies, \"My name is Kara. Though I doubt that will mean anything to you.\" The story, written by Alan Brennert and penciled by Dick Giordano, is dedicated to Otto Binder and Jim Mooney, adding: \"We still remember.\"\n\nFinally, the soul of Kara Zor-El appeared twice during Peter David's run, specifically in issues #48 and #49 when she appears before a defeated and imprisoned then-Supergirl, Linda Danvers from Earth, and comforts her. Linda acknowledges she has been helped three times by her phantom-friend, and when she asks her name she is told by the smiling figure: \"I have gone by many names, but the one I am most fond of is: Kara!\"\n\nModern Age\n\nIn 2004, Jeph Loeb reintroduced Kara Zor-El into post-Zero Hour (Birthright timeline) continuity during a storyline in the series Superman/Batman. She is the biological cousin of Superman, and although chronologically older than him, the ship in which she traveled to Earth was caught in a large green Kryptonite meteorite which held her in a state of suspended animation for much of the journey, making her have the appearance of a 16-year-old girl. Still, Supergirl sometimes saw Superman as a child, due to last carrying him as a baby. DC Comics relaunched the Supergirl, the first story arc of which was written by Loeb. showcases Supergirl on a journey of self-discovery. Along her journey, she encounters Power Girl (Kara Zor-El's counterpart from another universe), the Teen Titans, the Outsiders, the Justice League of America, and arch-villain Lex Luthor.\n\nDuring the company-wide crossover series Infinite Crisis (2005), a sequel to Crisis on Infinite Earths, Supergirl is transported to the 31st century, where she is revered as a member of the Superman family and joins the Legion of Super-Heroes. DC Comics renamed the monthly series Legion of Super-Heroes to Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes. Beginning with issue #16. In the limited series 52, which chronicles the events that took place during the missing year after the end of Infinite Crisis, Donna Troy recalls the original Kara Zor-El and her sacrifice to save the universe. Supergirl returns to the 21st century during the course of 52. After briefly filling in for a temporarily depowered Superman as guardian of Metropolis, she assumes the identity of Flamebird to fight crime in the bottle city of Kandor with Power Girl as Nightwing in Greg Rucka's arc Supergirl: Kandor.\n\nIn 2007, Supergirl appeared in the miniseries Amazons Attack! That same year, she joined the Teen Titans for five issues.\n\nConversations with other heroes who maintain secret identities lead Kara to the conclusion that she needs to make a deeper connection with human beings. She accepts Lana Lang's proposal to present her to the Daily Planet staff as \"Linda Lang\", Lana's teenaged niece.\n\nIn the 2008–2009 \"New Krypton\" story arc, in which Superman discovers and frees the real Kandor and a large number of its citizens, Supergirl is reunited with her father, Zor-El and mother, Alura, though Zor-El is killed by the villain Reactron. When a planet is formed that the Kryptonians call New Krypton, Kara is torn between her life on Earth, and her obligation to her mother, eventually joining the New Krypton Science Guild.\n\nSupergirl subsequently appears in the 2009 miniseries Justice League: Cry for Justice, and the 2009–2010 storyline \"Blackest Night\". The New Krypton storyline would later be resolved in the \"World of New Krypton\", \"Superman: Last Stand of New Krypton\", \"War of the Supermen\" storylines, resulting in the destruction of New Krypton and seeing Supergirl mourn her people.\n\nSupergirl subsequently appears in the 2010 \"Brightest Day\" storyline, the follow up to \"Blackest Night\"., where she joins the Justice League along with Jesse Quick & Jade.\n\nThe New 52\nIn this continuity, Kara's ship lands in Smallville, Kansas but hurtles through the Earth and emerges in Siberia.\n\nKara has no memory of the destruction of Krypton, and believes it is only three days since her spacecraft was launched. She learns the truth about Krypton's destruction from Superman, and later journeys through a wormhole to Argo City, which she finds in orbit around a blue sun. She finds the city in ruins, with no explanation of how it met that fate, and is attacked by a female Worldkiller named Reign before the city plummets into the sun. When Reign and her fellow Worldkiller plan to enslave the Earth, Supergirl returns there to defeat them, and thus adopts Earth as her new home.\n\nAfter several battles with supervillains, including the Worldkillers, superweapons of Kryptonian design, she accepts Krypton's destruction, but continues to grapple with her grief. Her desire to restore Krypton results in her being manipulated into nearly destroying the Earth by another Kryptonian whom she falls in love with. Upon realizing his manipulation, she kills him by driving Kryptonite through his heart, and succumbs to Kryptonite poisoning.\n\nFollowing her poisoning, Supergirl departs the Earth to die alone. While adrift in interstellar space, she encounters a planet under attack by monsters, and quickly intervenes to save them, unaware that the entire planet is a trap by Brainiac. She is captured and restrained by Cyborg Superman, but after a struggle, manages to escape both Brainiac and Cyborg Superman. Returning to Earth, she is sent into the past by the Oracle alongside Superman and Superboy, where she ensures that a resurrected H'el cannot save Krypton, and sacrifices the planet and her family in order to save the universe.\n\nBack on Earth, she encounters the assassin Lobo. Initially eager for a peaceful resolution, seeing a kind of kinship with him in their both being lone survivors of their respective worlds (although not truly aware of Lobo's circumstances), Kara's encounter with the Czarnian would reveal deep mental wounds, resulting in the unleashing of her rage and transformation into a Red Lantern. Driven insane by rage, Kara wanders space, attacking everyone in her way, until captured by several Green Lanterns and brought to Hal Jordan. Immediately recognizing a Kryptonian and unable to remove the power ring without killing her, he brings her to Guy Gardner, the leader of one of the two Red Lantern factions, who manages to restore her sanity.\n\nAfter some time under Guy Gardner's tutelage and protecting the galaxy as a Red Lantern, after being discharged from the Red Lantern Corps (because Guy did not want for her to die needlessly against Atrocitus' splinter group), on her way back to Earth, Kara encounters the leader of the Worldkillers, who are revealed to be parasitic suits of armor. He attempts to assimilate Kara as his host, but she voluntarily subjects herself to Kryptonite poisoning in order to stop him, and eventually flies into the Sun and removes her power ring, killing her and removing him from her body. However, Kara is revealed to be immortal while in the Sun's core, and is restored to life without the power ring or any Kryptonite poisoning, immediately destroying the Worldkiller. She later helps Guy against Atrocitus and his Red Lantern splinter group.\n\nConvergence and return of the Pre-Crisis version\nDuring the Convergence story arc, the original Kara Zor-El who had sacrificed her life during Crisis on Infinite Earths makes an appearance on the amalgamated planet of Telos. At the end of the saga she volunteers herself to once again fight the Anti-Monitor but this time, with the help of her timeline's Barry Allen, the Pre-Flashpoint Superman (in tow with his pregnant wife, Lois Lane), and a repentant Parallax (Zero Hour Hal Jordan), vows to defeat him for the sake of the multiverse's continued existence. Without it being seen, those left on Telos discover the group was successful and all previous timelines (with the mysterious exception of the pre-Flashpoint/pre-New 52 DC universe) from DC history had been re-established, though the fate of the original Kara Zor-El and her fellows went unmentioned.\n\nA few more details of the battle against the Anti-Monitor are later revealed during the New 52 comic mini-series (leading into DC's Rebirth event). After the defeat of Anti-Monitor, Pre-New 52 Clark and Lois decide to start life anew in the closest universe they can find (mysteriously yet unable to see their old universe even though the rest of the multiverse had been restored) while Pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El, along with her contemporary Barry Allen and Zero Hour Parallax/Hal Jordan, decide to find their place in the universe and go off to do so. Her fate as of that story arc is yet to be revealed.\n\nDC Rebirth\nAfter the events that led to the death of the New 52 version of Superman, 16-year-old Kara lives in National City with her adoptive parents, D.E.O. agents Jeremiah and Eliza Danvers, where she attends high school and works with the agency as led by Cameron Chase. As part of her civilian identity, Kara receives special glasses that darken her blond hair when posing as Kara Danvers. Kara also goes on an internship at Cat Grant's CATCO alongside Ben Rubel, whom she befriends.\n\nIn her opening arc \"The Reign of the Cyborg Supermen\", Kara discovers that the cyborg Zor-El, whom she had battled in her New 52 title, is still active and has rebuilt other Kryptonians (her mother Alura included), planning to take over Earth. Supergirl defeats them but vows to help her father regardless of his actions. After National City discovers Supergirl has kept Zor-El's \"living\" status a secret, they become untrustful of her. Director Bones takes advantage of the heroine's impopularity and, after taking control of the D.E.O., sends villains in an attempt to bring Kara down. She defeats all of them and regains trust from National City with Ben's help.\n\nThe Supergirl Who Laughs\nKara is later infected by The Batman Who Laughs toxin, causing her to turn evil and joining other infected as part of Laughs Secret Six before later being cured. She is fired from CatCo by Cat Grant and starts working at S.T.A.R. Labs.\n\nWoman of Tomorrow\nJourneying throughout the universe with Krypto, Kara celebrates her 21st birthday alone on a distant planet. Drunk in a bar, she is approached by a little girl named Ruthye and is asked to kill Krem (her father's murderer) in vengeance. Supergirl refuses but, when she is about to leave the planet, Krem attacks and severely wounds both her and Krypto, fleeing in Kara's ship. Kara begins her journey alongside Ruthye and, powerless, saves her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon by taking a red kryptonite drug which causes her to manifest flame wings.\n\nPowers and abilities\n\nLike all Kryptonians under a yellow sun, the current version of Kara Zor-El possesses virtually unlimited strength, stamina, and durability. She is able to fly and with super speed that she can also use on foot, similar to Superman and The Flash. Also like Superman, Supergirl possesses super senses, super-breath, and freeze breathe, as well as multiple forms of supervision (including X-Ray, Infrared, Telescopic, and Microscopic). Kara also has a bio-electric aura that enhances her near invulnerability and also protects her skin and her costume from dirt and tear; as such, Kara is perpetually clean. The Sun also provides Kara with a longer lifespan than that of a human being, to the point that she is effectively a biological immortal. Kara doesn't require food, water, or sleep to survive. She is also immune to most diseases, mental and physical, and would require a very strong strain to have a chance at affecting her.\n\nIn the rare instances that Kara is harmed by someone matching her strength or by the use of one of her weaknesses, she can heal almost instantaneously. Her power surpasses most other beings, though she can be overpowered by those who rival her strength such as Black Adam, Darkseid, Despero, Doomsday, Bizarro, Wonder Woman, and Superman.\n\nIn reality, Kara is actually older than her cousin, Clark, and spent time on Krypton before its destruction. As such (unlike Superman), she possesses memories of Kryptonian culture as well as her cousin's parents.\n\nContinued exposure to a yellow Sun will slowly increase abilities. Many characters in the DC Universe have noted that Supergirl appears, at times, to be even more powerful than Superman himself. In answer to this, Superman states that this is because he has spent his entire life subconsciously suppressing his full powers in order to avoid hurting others, having been absorbing solar radiation since his infancy. Kara, not having such practice or experience, simply uses the full magnitude of her powers.\n\nAbilities\nUnlike her cousin, Kara was taught to fight in Krypton as part of her tests, and at the Crucible Academy, being adept at various Kryptonian fighting styles like Klurkor and Torquasm Rao. Supergirl also learned the art of Bagua under I-Ching's instructions. She practiced how to manipulate her Chi or Qi in order to gain better control of her powers due to them becoming overwhelmed after her conflict with the Fatal Five. Superman recommended guardianship with I-Ching to Supergirl first. In addition to training in Krypton, Kara was trained by Batman in advanced martial arts and trained with the Amazons in Themyscira in unarmed and armed combat, Amazonas martial arts, fencing, Shield handling, and other Amazon weapons. She trained with Wonder Woman and Artemis extensively.\n\nOther versions\n\nThere are numerous alternate versions of Supergirl. The most notable is Power Girl (real name Kara Zor-L, also known as Karen Starr) who first appeared in All Star Comics #58 (January/February 1976).\n\nPower Girl is the Earth-Two counterpart of Supergirl and the first cousin of Kal-L, Superman of the pre-Crisis Earth-Two. The infant Power Girl's parents enabled her to escape the destruction of Krypton. Although she left the planet at the same time that Superman did, her ship took much longer to reach Earth-Two.\n\nShe has superhuman strength and the ability to fly and is the first chairwoman of the Justice Society of America. She sports a bob of blond hair; wears a distinctive white, red, and blue costume; and has an aggressive fighting style. Throughout her early appearances in All Star Comics, she is often at odds with Wildcat because his penchant for talking to her as if she were an ordinary human female rather than a superpowered Kryptonian annoys her.\n\nShe also fought alongside the Sovereign Seven team, replacing Rampart after his death though that series is not considered to be part of canon in the DC universe.\n\nThe 1985 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths eliminated Earth-Two, causing her origin to change; she became the granddaughter of the Atlantean sorcerer Arion. However, story events culminating in the 2005–2006 Infinite Crisis limited series restored her status as a refugee from the Krypton of the destroyed pre-Crisis Earth-Two universe.\n\nLike the original Kara's Streaky, Power Girl has a cat, featured in a story by Amanda Conner in Wonder Woman #600.\n\nReception\nThis version of Supergirl is ranked as the 153rd-greatest comic book character of all time by Wizard magazine.\n\nIGN also ranked this version of Supergirl as the 94th-greatest comic book superhero, stating \"for a character born of the Silver Age that saw everything from a Super Baby to a Super Monkey, Kara Zor-El grew into something much more than simply another marketing ploy to slap an 'S' on.\" In 2013 IGN ranked Supergirl as the 17th-greatest DC comic superhero, stating \"she was an early example of a female sidekick developing a large fanbase in her own right\", and \"Supergirl has been one of DC's most powerful heroes, and a standard to hold other female heroes against.\"\n\nAppearances\n\nPre-Crisis\n 1959 to 1969: Action Comics #252 to #376.\n 1969 to 1972: Adventure Comics #381 to #424.\n 1972 to 1974: Supergirl #1 to #10.\n 1974 to 1982: Her comic merges with Jimmy Olsen's and Lois Lane's to become Superman Family #164 to #222.\n 1982 to 1984: The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl #1 to #13, Supergirl (vol. 2) #14 to #23.\n 2015: Convergence\n\nKara Zor-El appeared in over 750 stories published by DC from 1959 to 1985.\n\nPost-Crisis\n\n 2004 to 2005: Superman/Batman #8 to #13 and #19\n 2005 to 2011: Supergirl (vol. 5) #0 to #67\n 2006 to 2008: Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes (Legion of Super-Heroes vol. 5) #16 to #37\n 2007: Action Comics #850\n 2008: Final Crisis\n 2011 to 2015: New 52: Supergirl (vol. 6) #1 to #40\n 2016 to current: Rebirth: Supergirl (vol. 7) #1 to current\n\nKara Zor-El also appears as a supporting character in several issues of other DC Comics, including Superman, Action Comics, Teen Titans, Amazons Attack, World War III, and Wonder Girl. She has also appeared in many issues of Superman, Action Comics, and Superman New Krypton starting with the World Without Superman event in 2009, and continuing with the World Against Superman event going into 2010.\n\nCollected editions\nListed in chronological order. All ages titles are not in continuity with the original or modern Kara.\n\nIn other media\n\nTelevision\n\nLive-action\n\nSmallville\nPrior to the seventh season (2007–2008) of the WB/CW show Smallville where she is introduced into the cast and is portrayed by Laura Vandervoort, a woman claiming to be Kara (portrayed by Adrianne Palicki) is briefly introduced in the season 3 finale. It is later revealed her real name is Lindsey Harrison, and had been given false memories and powers by the artificial intelligence of Clark Kent's (Tom Welling) father Jor-El as part of a series of tests. Vandervoort portrays the real Kara, Clark's cousin whose spaceship had been trapped in stasis until the events of the season 6 finale. Much of season 7 is concerned with Kara's attempts to adjust to life on Earth, especially after learning of Krypton's destruction. Her storyline sees her simultaneously become the object of Lex Luthor's (Michael Rosenbaum) obsessions and Jimmy Olsen's (Aaron Ashmore) affections, suffer a bout of amnesia, discover her father's (Christopher Heyerdahl) sinister motives and become a target of evil android Brainiac (James Marsters). The season finale sees Kara become trapped in the Phantom Zone. Starting with season 8, Vandervoort ceases to feature as a series regular, but reprises the role three more times. In her first guest appearance, \"Bloodline,\" Kara is freed from the Phantom Zone and later departs Clark's hometown of Smallville to search for Kandor, her birthplace, as it is rumored to have survived their home planet's destruction. She appears again in the season 10 episode \"Supergirl\", in which she formally adopts her superhero moniker. Her off-screen adventures are alluded to thereafter. Vandervoort makes a final appearance in the show's penultimate episode, \"Prophecy\", in which she helps Green Arrow (Justin Hartley) locate the \"Bow of Orion\" to use against Darkseid. She is then called to the Fortress of Solitude, where she learns from Jor-El that her job on Earth is done. Using a Legion of Super-Heroes flight ring, she travels to the future to seek her own destiny. The Season Eleven comic book continuation of the show later depicts Kara's continued story in the 31st century, subsequent return to the present and joining the Justice League.\n\nArrowverse\n\n In September 2014, a 22-episode television series centered around Supergirl was in development at Warner Bros. Television, set to premiere on CBS with a January 2015 air date. Melissa Benoist was cast as the titular character. In May 2016, the series moved to The CW and was later integrated into the Arrowverse, a shared universe consisting of shows including Arrow, The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow. In the series, Kara Zor-El was sent to Earth to protect her cousin Kal-El, following her homeworld Krypton's destruction. However, she is knocked into the Phantom Zone, where she is stranded for 24 years. She eventually crash lands on Earth and is found by her already grown-up cousin Kal, now known to the world as the iconic superhero \"Superman\". Superman brings Kara into the custody of Jeremiah Danvers, director of the Department of Extranormal Operations (D.E.O.), and his daughter Alex. Growing up, Kara struggles to maintain her Kryptonian abilities as well as balancing her relationship with her adoptive sister. Eventually, the two bond when Kara's powers are exposed. However, Jeremiah decides it's best to isolate her abilities. As an adult, Kara is forced to use her powers again when her sister's plane almost crashes. She is later dubbed \"Supergirl\" by the media and dons a costume like her cousin. Kara decides to use her abilities to fight alien invaders such as Kara's aunt Astra and her husband Non, Mon-El's rogue parents, the Worldkiller Reign, anti-alien activist Ben Lockwood, and later the shadowy organization Leviathan, with the help of her sister Alex, now an agent of the D.E.O., her best friend and tech-expert Winn Schott, last of the Green Martians J'onn J'onzz / Martian Manhunter, and Kal's best friend Jimmy Olsen. She is later joined by Lex Luthor's sister Lena, Prince of Daxam Mon-El, former Legion of Superheroes member Querl \"Brainy\" Dox / Brainiac 5, Nia Nal / Dreamer, James' younger sister Kelly, and reporter Willam Dey face against these rival forces. After joining the Arrowverse, which contain annual crossover, Kara assists Barry Allen, Oliver Queen and the Legends of Tomorrow against threats on their designated earth \"Earth-1\" while Kara’s is designated as \"Earth-38. Later, Kara is selected by The Monitor as the Paragon of Hope to participate in the coming crisis and fight against the Anti-Monitor, whose goal is to destroy the multiverse. After doing so, the Paragons are sent to the Vanishing Point where Oliver, now a Spectre, helps them escape. The Paragons appear at the dawn of time in the anti-matter universe where they have their final confrontation with the Anti-Monitor. Eventually, Oliver sacrifices himself to kill the Anti-Monitor, and as a result, a new multiverse is born with Earth-38 and Earth-1 merged into \"Earth-Prime\". Following the crisis, Kara is forced to deal the after-effects of Crisis which include working with Lex, now owning the D.E.O. while Leviathan continue their covert operations under Gamemnae. The sixth season sees Kara and her allies expose Lex's crimes, but are then forced to deal with Nyxlygsptlnz, a fifth-dimensional imp who tricked the heroes into releasing her from the Phantom Zone. Eventually Nyxlygsptlnz joins forces with Lex Luthor and the two kill William, but Kara's assembled allies are able to defeat the two, culminating in Lex and Nyxlygsptlnz being trapped in the Phantom Zone when one of their own plans backfires. The series concludes with Kara revealing her dual identity so that she can live a full life as one person.\n\nAnimation\n\nDC Nation Shorts\nSupergirl appears with Batgirl and Wonder Girl in Super Best Friends Forever, voiced by Nicole Sullivan.\n\nDC Super Hero Girls\nSupergirl appears as a central protagonist in the web series DC Super Hero Girls voiced by Anais Fairweather, and is a student at Super Hero High, is very kind and caring and extremely powerful but she's also very clumsy.\n\nShe also appears as a central protagonist in the 2019 TV series, with Nicole Sullivan reprising her role from the Super Best Friends Forever shorts. In this version, she is also a rebel and is known as the \"cool kid\" in school. She may be tough but she can easily express her emotions and is very open-minded as well. She can be a cool friend and a helpful one, but she can also be jealous sometimes and she dislikes her cousin's prominence.\n\nJustice League Action\nSupergirl appears in Justice League Action, voiced by Joanne Spracklen. She has the appearance of a wide-eyed human teenager with blonde hair and wears her traditional costume except that it has thigh-high boots and a pleated skirt. As a person, she is youthful, responsible, and shows much affection for her cousin Superman. In \"Party Animal\", she appears as a cameo at this Christmas party with the Justice League. In \"Keeping up with the Kryptonians\", Supergirl becomes a star of the popular reality show \"That's So Kara\", and Superman a Kasnian who rules from one place to another on Earth, all being a reality caused by Mister Mxyzptlk. In \"Unleashed\", Supergirl accompanies Justice League in stopping Red Lantern Corps, unaware that it was a distraction made by Dex-Starr to invade Earth, until it was ultimately resolved by Krypto, Streaky, and Plastic Man. In a short \"The Goddess Must Be Crazy\", Supergirl trains with Wonder Woman in Paradise Island, until she is possessed by Felix Faust, to destroy the island.\n\nFilm\n\nSuperman film series\n A live action depiction of Supergirl first appears in the eponymous 1984 film starring Helen Slater as Supergirl. The film is a spin-off from the Superman film series starring Christopher Reeve, to which it is connected by Marc McClure's character of Jimmy Olsen.\n\nDC Extended Universe\n Kara Zor-El / Linda Danvers / Supergirl exists within the DC Extended Universe, as she was referenced in Man of Steel when Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman discovers an empty pod within the Kryptonian scout spaceship. Though Zack Snyder confirmed in August 2018 that even though the character does exist, that pod was not intended for her.\n In August 2018, a film centered around the character was announced to be in development, with Oren Uziel hired as screenwriter for the project. The studio intends to hire a female director, with Reed Morano—who has expressed interest in the project—being its top choice. Filming was expected to start production in early 2020.\nSasha Calle will play Supergirl for the DC Extended Universe in The Flash.\n\nAnimation\n Summer Glau voices the post-Crisis version of Kara Zor-El in Superman/Batman: Apocalypse, which is based on the Superman/Batman storyline \"The Supergirl from Krypton\". Despite this, it was confirmed by director Lauren Montgomery that Supergirl's name was removed from the title due to the much slower sales of the previous Wonder Woman animated movie, and the character was not permitted to appear on the cover in her trademark outfit.\n Molly Quinn voices Supergirl in Superman: Unbound.\n Supergirl appears in Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League: Cosmic Clash, voiced by Jessica DiCicco.\n\nVideo games\n Supergirl appears in DC Universe Online, voiced by Adriene Mishler. In the villain campaign, the players help Doctor Psycho capture Supergirl using Kryptonite. In the hero campaign, the players fight Doctor Psycho to save Supergirl. Under the thrall of Brainiac, she must be defeated in the Fortress of Solitude: Power Core raid.\n Supergirl is unlockable in Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes, voiced by Bridget Hoffman.\n Supergirl makes a cameo appearance in the IOS version of Injustice: Gods Among Us as a support card.\n Supergirl appears as a playable character in Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham, voiced by Kari Wahlgren. She is playable in her default variant which is designed after her appearance in The New 52 and in her Classic attire. Her Classic variant is unlocked in a VR Mission while her New 52 variant is unlocked in a Hub Quest in Nok where she requests players to defeat a number of enemies she accidentally releases from their cells.\n Supergirl appears as a playable character in Infinite Crisis, voiced by Camilla Luddington.\n Supergirl appears as a playable character and the central protagonist in Injustice 2 by NetherRealm Studios, the sequel to Injustice: Gods Among Us, voiced by Laura Bailey. Here her origin is much like in the comics where she is sent along with her cousin Kal-El to Earth by her mother after Krypton is destroyed but on separate pods where hers veers off-course after sustaining significant damage, stranding her in space for many years until she lands on Earth, unaged. When the main storyline starts, she is residing on Black Adam's kingdom of Khandaq, apparently under his and Wonder Woman's protection. When Brainiac who was responsible for Krypton's destruction attacks, she, Wonder Woman, and Black Adam attempt to free Superman and the remaining members of the Regime, while being interrupted in their efforts by new Insurgency recruits Blue Beetle and Firestorm until Batman himself arrives and releases Superman, leading to a temporary alliance between the Regime and Insurgency against the alien warlord. Over the course of the story, she learns the truth about her cousin's tyranny and at the end of the game sides with Batman, Green Lantern and Flash in letting Brainiac live in order to restore the lost cities but is defeated. In Batman's ending, she laments her cousin's tyranny and sees him leave to be imprisoned in the Phantom Zone and is offered membership by Batman in his Justice League. In Superman's ending, she is imprisoned aboard Brainiac's ship and to her shock discovers her cousin has bonded with it and when she refuses his offer to join him in leading his new legion of imprisoned species. He attempts to coerce her by revealing a brainwashed Batman, who had also been captured, further shocking her.\n Supergirl appears as a limited-distribution minifigure for the toys-to-life video game Lego Dimensions, with Kari Wahlgren reprising her role. She has the ability to transform between her classic and Red Lantern forms.\n Supergirl appears as a playable character in DC Unchained.\n Supergirl appears in the PSP version of Justice League Heroes.\n Supergirl appears as a playable character in the DC TV Super-Heroes DLC pack in Lego DC Super-Villains.\n\nSee also\n Alternative versions of Supergirl\n Laurel Gand\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nDC Comics\n\nPre-Crisis Supergirl Chronology\n\nSupergirl\nCharacters created by Otto Binder\nComics characters introduced in 1958\nComics characters introduced in 1959\nDC Comics aliens\nDC Comics American superheroes\nDC Comics characters who can move at superhuman speeds\nDC Comics characters with accelerated healing\nDC Comics characters with superhuman strength\nDC Comics deities\nDC Comics female superheroes\nDC Comics film characters\nDC Comics television characters\nDC Comics extraterrestrial superheroes\nFemale characters in television\nFictional characters with superhuman senses\nFictional actors\nFictional extraterrestrial–human hybrids\nFictional orphans\nFictional photographers\nFictional refugees\nFictional reporters\nFictional school counselors\nFictional American secret agents\nFictional waiting staff\nKryptonians\nSuperheroes who are adopted\nVigilante characters in comics"},"extractive":{"kind":"string","value":"true"},"retrieved_contexts":{"kind":"list like","value":["Stanley Frank \"Stan\" Vickers (18 June 1932 – 17 April 2013) was a Lewisham-born British athlete who mainly competed in the 20 kilometre walk.\n\nHe competed for Great Britain in the 20 kilometre walk at the 1960 Summer Olympics held in Rome, Italy, where he won the bronze medal.\n\nAfter the race, he sat down to rest and was carried off by an ambulance crew that thought he was sick. The crew did not speak English. Several hours passed before officials discovered what had happened.\n\nHe died on 19 April 2013 at the age of 80.\n\nReferences\n\n1932 births\n2013 deaths\nBritish male racewalkers\nEnglish male racewalkers\nOlympic bronze medallists for Great Britain\nAthletes (track and field) at the 1956 Summer Olympics\nAthletes (track and field) at the 1960 Summer Olympics\nOlympic athletes of Great Britain\nEuropean Athletics Championships medalists\nPeople from Lewisham\nAthletes from London\nMedalists at the 1960 Summer Olympics\nOlympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field)\nEnglish Olympic medallists","Various outdated theories have postulated waves of migration during the Middle Bronze Age in the ancient Near East. Drews and Dietrich connect these alleged \"mass migrations\" with the coming of the Greeks, moving from former settlements into the southern and central Balkans, displacing the former pre-Greek inhabitants of Greece. Mellaart makes reference to a supposed migration of the Hittites to their earliest known home in Kültepe during the same period.\n\nWhile the turmoils of the Bronze Age collapse that separate the Late Bronze Age from the Early Iron Age are well documented, theories of migration during the Middle Bronze Age (20th century BCE) have little direct support.\n\nTheories\nVarious outdated theories have postulated waves of migration during the Middle Bronze Age in the Ancient Near East.\n\nMellaart (1958)\nAccording to Mellaart, in The End of the Early Bronze Age in Anatolia and the Aegean (1958), for reasons unknown, the Hittites moved into central Asia Minor, conquering the Hattians and later adopting their culture and name. This invasion by the Hittites displaced other peoples living in Anatolia, who in turn displaced the Middle Helladic Greek-speaking peoples to the west. This in turn caused an exodus from Northwestern Anatolia and created a wave of refugees who invaded what is now southern Greece and destroyed the Early Helladic civilization. Yet, more recent theories and evidence suggest that a Proto-Indo-Hittite language dates back to the fourth millennium BCE, prior to the Bronze Age.\n\nAccording to Mellaart, archaeological evidence shows that the cities of Erzerum, Sivas, Pulur Huyuk near Baiburt, Kultepe near Hafik, and Maltepe near Sivas were destroyed during the Middle Bronze Age. The great trading city of Kanesh (Level II) was also destroyed. From there in the hill country between Halys the destruction layers from this time tell the same story. Karaoglan, Bitik, Polatli and Gordion were burnt, as well as Etiyokusu and Cerkes. Further west near the Dardanelles the two large mounds of Korpruoren and Tavsanli, west of Kutahya, show the same signs of being destroyed.\n\nThe destruction even crossed into Europe in what is now Bulgaria. The migration brought an end to Bulgaria's Early Bronze Age, with archaeological evidence showing that the Yunacite, Salcutza, and Esero centers had a sudden mass desertion during this time.\n\nFrom the Dardanelles, the refugee invaders moved into mainland Greece, and the Peloponnese saw burnt and abandoned cities on par with the much later Dorian invasion which destroyed the Mycenaean civilization. At this time, 1900 BC, destruction layers can be found at southern Greek sites like Orchomenos, , Hagios Kosmas, Raphina, Apesokari, Korakou, Zygouries, Tiryns, Asine, Malthi and Asea. Many other sites are deserted, e.g. Yiriza, Synoro, Ayios Gerasimos, Kophovouni, Makrovouni, Palaiopyrgos, etc. This destruction across Greece also coincided with the arrival of a new culture that had no connection with the Early Helladic civilization, who were the original inhabitants. Northern Greece escaped destruction, as well as southern Anatolia, which during this time showed no disturbances.\n\nMinyan ware\n\nGray Minyan ware was first identified as the pottery introduced by this mass movement of new populations into southern Greece around 1900 BC. However, this theory was disproved in the 1950s when excavations at Lerna showed that Minyan ware had a predecessor in the preceding Early Helladic III Tiryns culture. The advent of Minyan ware coincides with domestic processes reflective of the smooth transition from Early to Middle Bronze Age culture.\n\nGenetic research\n\nLazaridis et al. (2017) researched the genetical origins of the Greeks. They found that the ancient Mycenaean and Minoan populations were highly similar, but not identical, and that \"the Minoans and Mycenaeans descended mainly from early Neolithic farmers, likely migrating thousands of years prior to the Bronze Age from Anatolia, in what is today modern Turkey.\" According to Lazaridis, \"Minoans, Mycenaeans, and modern Greeks also had some ancestry related to the ancient people of the Caucasus, Armenia, and Iran. This finding suggests that some migration occurred in the Aegean and southwestern Anatolia from further east after the time of the earliest farmers.\" Lazaridis et al. (2017) further state that \"the Mycenaeans differed from Minoans in deriving additional ancestry from an ultimate source related to the hunter–gatherers of Eastern Europe and Siberia, introduced via a proximal source related to the inhabitants of either the Eurasian steppe or Armenia.\"\n\nSee also\n Bronze Age Greece\n Bronze Age Anatolia\n\nReferences\n\nSources\nPrinted sources\n\n \n\n \n \n\n \n\n \n\n .\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nWeb-sources\n\n2nd millennium BC\nBronze Age Anatolia\nHuman migration\nIndo-European history\nHelladic civilization\nCycladic civilization\nMinoan civilization"],"string":"[\n \"Stanley Frank \\\"Stan\\\" Vickers (18 June 1932 – 17 April 2013) was a Lewisham-born British athlete who mainly competed in the 20 kilometre walk.\\n\\nHe competed for Great Britain in the 20 kilometre walk at the 1960 Summer Olympics held in Rome, Italy, where he won the bronze medal.\\n\\nAfter the race, he sat down to rest and was carried off by an ambulance crew that thought he was sick. The crew did not speak English. Several hours passed before officials discovered what had happened.\\n\\nHe died on 19 April 2013 at the age of 80.\\n\\nReferences\\n\\n1932 births\\n2013 deaths\\nBritish male racewalkers\\nEnglish male racewalkers\\nOlympic bronze medallists for Great Britain\\nAthletes (track and field) at the 1956 Summer Olympics\\nAthletes (track and field) at the 1960 Summer Olympics\\nOlympic athletes of Great Britain\\nEuropean Athletics Championships medalists\\nPeople from Lewisham\\nAthletes from London\\nMedalists at the 1960 Summer Olympics\\nOlympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field)\\nEnglish Olympic medallists\",\n \"Various outdated theories have postulated waves of migration during the Middle Bronze Age in the ancient Near East. Drews and Dietrich connect these alleged \\\"mass migrations\\\" with the coming of the Greeks, moving from former settlements into the southern and central Balkans, displacing the former pre-Greek inhabitants of Greece. Mellaart makes reference to a supposed migration of the Hittites to their earliest known home in Kültepe during the same period.\\n\\nWhile the turmoils of the Bronze Age collapse that separate the Late Bronze Age from the Early Iron Age are well documented, theories of migration during the Middle Bronze Age (20th century BCE) have little direct support.\\n\\nTheories\\nVarious outdated theories have postulated waves of migration during the Middle Bronze Age in the Ancient Near East.\\n\\nMellaart (1958)\\nAccording to Mellaart, in The End of the Early Bronze Age in Anatolia and the Aegean (1958), for reasons unknown, the Hittites moved into central Asia Minor, conquering the Hattians and later adopting their culture and name. This invasion by the Hittites displaced other peoples living in Anatolia, who in turn displaced the Middle Helladic Greek-speaking peoples to the west. This in turn caused an exodus from Northwestern Anatolia and created a wave of refugees who invaded what is now southern Greece and destroyed the Early Helladic civilization. Yet, more recent theories and evidence suggest that a Proto-Indo-Hittite language dates back to the fourth millennium BCE, prior to the Bronze Age.\\n\\nAccording to Mellaart, archaeological evidence shows that the cities of Erzerum, Sivas, Pulur Huyuk near Baiburt, Kultepe near Hafik, and Maltepe near Sivas were destroyed during the Middle Bronze Age. The great trading city of Kanesh (Level II) was also destroyed. From there in the hill country between Halys the destruction layers from this time tell the same story. Karaoglan, Bitik, Polatli and Gordion were burnt, as well as Etiyokusu and Cerkes. Further west near the Dardanelles the two large mounds of Korpruoren and Tavsanli, west of Kutahya, show the same signs of being destroyed.\\n\\nThe destruction even crossed into Europe in what is now Bulgaria. The migration brought an end to Bulgaria's Early Bronze Age, with archaeological evidence showing that the Yunacite, Salcutza, and Esero centers had a sudden mass desertion during this time.\\n\\nFrom the Dardanelles, the refugee invaders moved into mainland Greece, and the Peloponnese saw burnt and abandoned cities on par with the much later Dorian invasion which destroyed the Mycenaean civilization. At this time, 1900 BC, destruction layers can be found at southern Greek sites like Orchomenos, , Hagios Kosmas, Raphina, Apesokari, Korakou, Zygouries, Tiryns, Asine, Malthi and Asea. Many other sites are deserted, e.g. Yiriza, Synoro, Ayios Gerasimos, Kophovouni, Makrovouni, Palaiopyrgos, etc. This destruction across Greece also coincided with the arrival of a new culture that had no connection with the Early Helladic civilization, who were the original inhabitants. Northern Greece escaped destruction, as well as southern Anatolia, which during this time showed no disturbances.\\n\\nMinyan ware\\n\\nGray Minyan ware was first identified as the pottery introduced by this mass movement of new populations into southern Greece around 1900 BC. However, this theory was disproved in the 1950s when excavations at Lerna showed that Minyan ware had a predecessor in the preceding Early Helladic III Tiryns culture. The advent of Minyan ware coincides with domestic processes reflective of the smooth transition from Early to Middle Bronze Age culture.\\n\\nGenetic research\\n\\nLazaridis et al. (2017) researched the genetical origins of the Greeks. They found that the ancient Mycenaean and Minoan populations were highly similar, but not identical, and that \\\"the Minoans and Mycenaeans descended mainly from early Neolithic farmers, likely migrating thousands of years prior to the Bronze Age from Anatolia, in what is today modern Turkey.\\\" According to Lazaridis, \\\"Minoans, Mycenaeans, and modern Greeks also had some ancestry related to the ancient people of the Caucasus, Armenia, and Iran. This finding suggests that some migration occurred in the Aegean and southwestern Anatolia from further east after the time of the earliest farmers.\\\" Lazaridis et al. (2017) further state that \\\"the Mycenaeans differed from Minoans in deriving additional ancestry from an ultimate source related to the hunter–gatherers of Eastern Europe and Siberia, introduced via a proximal source related to the inhabitants of either the Eurasian steppe or Armenia.\\\"\\n\\nSee also\\n Bronze Age Greece\\n Bronze Age Anatolia\\n\\nReferences\\n\\nSources\\nPrinted sources\\n\\n \\n\\n \\n \\n\\n \\n\\n \\n\\n .\\n\\n \\n\\n \\n\\n \\n\\nWeb-sources\\n\\n2nd millennium BC\\nBronze Age Anatolia\\nHuman migration\\nIndo-European history\\nHelladic civilization\\nCycladic civilization\\nMinoan civilization\"\n]"},"chunked_article":{"kind":"list like","value":["Kara Zor-El, also known by her adoptive names of Linda Lee Danvers, Kara Kent, Linda Lang, and Kara Danvers, and the superhero name of Supergirl, is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. She was created by Otto Binder and designed by Al Plastino. Danvers first appeared in Action Comics #252 (May 1959)'s \"The Supergirl from Krypton\" story. Kara is the biological cousin of Kal-El, who went on to adopt the name of Clark Kent and the superhero Superman.","Kara is the biological cousin of Kal-El, who went on to adopt the name of Clark Kent and the superhero Superman. During the 1980s and the revolution of the Modern Age of Comics, Superman editors believed the character's history had become too convoluted, thus killing Supergirl during the 1985 Crisis on Infinite Earths event and retconning her out of existence. DC Comics Senior Vice President Dan DiDio re-introduced the character in 2004 along with editor Eddie Berganza and writer Jeph Loeb, with her the Superman/Batman storyline \"The Supergirl from Krypton\".","DC Comics Senior Vice President Dan DiDio re-introduced the character in 2004 along with editor Eddie Berganza and writer Jeph Loeb, with her the Superman/Batman storyline \"The Supergirl from Krypton\". As the current Supergirl, Kara stars in her own monthly comic book series. With DC's The New 52 relaunch, Kara, like most of the DC Universe, was revamped. DC relaunched the Supergirl comic in August 2016 as part of their DC Rebirth initiative.","DC relaunched the Supergirl comic in August 2016 as part of their DC Rebirth initiative. In live-action, Supergirl appeared in the 1984 film based on her character and was portrayed by Helen Slater. She also appeared in the series Smallville, played by actress Laura Vandervoort. In 2015, the live-action Arrowverse series Supergirl debuted on CBS and then moved to The CW after the first season. Supergirl was portrayed by Melissa Benoist on the show and also appeared on other Arrowverse shows.","Supergirl was portrayed by Melissa Benoist on the show and also appeared on other Arrowverse shows. Sasha Calle will appear as Supergirl in the upcoming DC Extended Universe film The Flash (2022). Publication history Early life Although Kara Zor-El was the first character to use the name \"Supergirl,\" DC Comics tested three different female versions of Superman prior to her debut. The first story to feature a female counterpart to Superman was \"Lois Lane – Superwoman,\" which was published in Action Comics #60 (May 1943).","The first story to feature a female counterpart to Superman was \"Lois Lane – Superwoman,\" which was published in Action Comics #60 (May 1943). In the story, a hospitalized Lois Lane dreams she has gained superpowers thanks to a blood transfusion from the Man of Steel. She begins her own career as \"Superwoman\", complete with a version of Superman's costume.","She begins her own career as \"Superwoman\", complete with a version of Superman's costume. In the Superboy #78 story entitled \"Claire Kent, Alias Super-Sister\", Superboy saves the life of an alien woman named Shar-La, who turns Superboy into a girl, in retaliation for his disparaging thoughts about women drivers which she picked up telepathically. In Smallville, Clark claims to be Claire Kent, an out-of-town relative who is staying with the Kents.","In Smallville, Clark claims to be Claire Kent, an out-of-town relative who is staying with the Kents. When in costume, he appears as Superboy's sister, Super-Sister, and claims the two have exchanged places. Once Superboy has learned his lesson about feeling more respect for women, Shar-La reveals the episode to be a dream which she projected into Superboy's mind.","Once Superboy has learned his lesson about feeling more respect for women, Shar-La reveals the episode to be a dream which she projected into Superboy's mind. In Superman #123 (August 1958), Jimmy Olsen uses a magic totem to wish a \"Super-Girl\" into existence as a companion and aid to Superman; however, the two frequently get in each other's way until she is fatally injured protecting Superman from a Kryptonite meteor. At her insistence, Jimmy wishes the dying girl out of existence.","At her insistence, Jimmy wishes the dying girl out of existence. DC used this story to gauge public response to the concept of a completely new super-powered female counterpart to Superman. The Kara Zor-El version of Supergirl finally appeared in Action Comics #252 (May 1959). Otto Binder wrote and Al Plastino illustrated her début story, in which Kara was born and raised in Argo City (unnamed until later issues), a fragment of Krypton that survived destruction.","Otto Binder wrote and Al Plastino illustrated her début story, in which Kara was born and raised in Argo City (unnamed until later issues), a fragment of Krypton that survived destruction. When the city is doomed by a meteor shower, Kara is sent to Earth by her parents, Zor-El and Alura (the latter unnamed until later issues), to be raised by her cousin Kal-El, known as Superman. Supergirl adopted the secret identity of an orphan \"Linda Lee\", and made Midvale Orphanage her home.","Supergirl adopted the secret identity of an orphan \"Linda Lee\", and made Midvale Orphanage her home. Supergirl promised Superman that she would keep her existence on Earth a secret, so that he may use her as a \"secret weapon\", but that didn't stop Supergirl from exploring her new powers covertly. Action Comics #255 published reader's letters-of-comment to Supergirl's first appearance; she had allegedly generated a sizeable and mostly positive reaction.","Action Comics #255 published reader's letters-of-comment to Supergirl's first appearance; she had allegedly generated a sizeable and mostly positive reaction. Supergirl, from her debut onwards, became a regular backup strip in Action Comics. She joined the Legion of Super-Heroes, like her cousin had done as a teenager, and in Action Comics #279 (July 1961) she was adopted by Fred and Edna Danvers, becoming \"Linda Lee Danvers\".","She joined the Legion of Super-Heroes, like her cousin had done as a teenager, and in Action Comics #279 (July 1961) she was adopted by Fred and Edna Danvers, becoming \"Linda Lee Danvers\". Supergirl acted for three years as Superman's secret weapon, and her adventures during that time have been compared to contemporary developments in feminist thinking in work such as Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique.","Supergirl acted for three years as Superman's secret weapon, and her adventures during that time have been compared to contemporary developments in feminist thinking in work such as Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique. She was at last introduced by her super-powered cousin to an unsuspecting world in Action Comics #285 (February 1962). During her first quarter of a century, Linda Danvers would have many professions, from student to student advisor, to actor, and even TV camera operator.","During her first quarter of a century, Linda Danvers would have many professions, from student to student advisor, to actor, and even TV camera operator. She shared Action Comics with Superman until transferring to the lead in Adventure Comics at the end of the 1960s. In 1972 she finally moved to her own short-lived eponymous magazine, before DC merged its Supergirl, Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen titles into a single anthology title named The Superman Family. In 1982 Supergirl was relaunched into her own magazine.","In 1982 Supergirl was relaunched into her own magazine. In 1982 Supergirl was relaunched into her own magazine. Death during Crisis on Infinite Earths In 1985, the maxi-series Crisis on Infinite Earths was conceived as a way to reduce DC continuity to a single universe in which all characters maintained a single history. Despite Supergirl's continued popularity and status as a central member of the \"Superman Family\", the editors at DC Comics and the creators of the maxi-series decided to kill Supergirl off during the Crisis.","Despite Supergirl's continued popularity and status as a central member of the \"Superman Family\", the editors at DC Comics and the creators of the maxi-series decided to kill Supergirl off during the Crisis. According to Marv Wolfman, writer of Crisis on Infinite Earths: The idea of killing Supergirl was first conceived by DC's vice president/executive editor Dick Giordano, who lobbied for the death to DC's publishers.","According to Marv Wolfman, writer of Crisis on Infinite Earths: The idea of killing Supergirl was first conceived by DC's vice president/executive editor Dick Giordano, who lobbied for the death to DC's publishers. He later said he has never had any regrets about this, explaining, \"Supergirl was created initially to take advantage of the high Superman sales and not much thought was put into her creation. She was created essentially as a female Superman.","She was created essentially as a female Superman. She was created essentially as a female Superman. With time, writers and artists improved upon her execution, but she never did really add anything to the Superman mythos—at least not for me.\" The poor initial reception of the 1984 film Supergirl was also blamed by some sources.","The poor initial reception of the 1984 film Supergirl was also blamed by some sources. In 1989, in the tale \"Christmas with the Super-Heroes\" the soul of Kara appears to Boston \"Deadman\" Brand, cheers him up, and then disappears from continuity until 2001 (see below).","In 1989, in the tale \"Christmas with the Super-Heroes\" the soul of Kara appears to Boston \"Deadman\" Brand, cheers him up, and then disappears from continuity until 2001 (see below). Several characters unrelated to Superman soon took on the Supergirl persona, including the Matrix (a shapeshifting genetically engineered life-form that 'defaulted' as Supergirl), Linda Danvers (the result of Matrix merging with the dying Linda Danvers and becoming an Earth-bound angel of fire), and Cir-El (Superman's apparent daughter from a possible future).","Several characters unrelated to Superman soon took on the Supergirl persona, including the Matrix (a shapeshifting genetically engineered life-form that 'defaulted' as Supergirl), Linda Danvers (the result of Matrix merging with the dying Linda Danvers and becoming an Earth-bound angel of fire), and Cir-El (Superman's apparent daughter from a possible future). A heroine resembling the Pre-Crisis Kara would later appear in Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #5, along with an entire army of Legionnaires gathered from alternate worlds, times, and realities, to battle the Time Trapper.","A heroine resembling the Pre-Crisis Kara would later appear in Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #5, along with an entire army of Legionnaires gathered from alternate worlds, times, and realities, to battle the Time Trapper. Two Supergirls meet Prior to the post-Crisis introduction of Kara Zor-El into mainstream continuity, the pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El made an appearance in Peter David's Supergirl: Many Happy Returns.","Two Supergirls meet Prior to the post-Crisis introduction of Kara Zor-El into mainstream continuity, the pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El made an appearance in Peter David's Supergirl: Many Happy Returns. The then-current Supergirl series, at the time starring Linda Danvers, was in danger of cancellation and Peter David thought a story arc involving Kara Zor-El would be enough to revitalize the series.","The then-current Supergirl series, at the time starring Linda Danvers, was in danger of cancellation and Peter David thought a story arc involving Kara Zor-El would be enough to revitalize the series. In an interview with Cliff Biggers of Newsarama, David states: In the Linda Danvers' Supergirl series issues 49 and 50 (October and November 2000), the original dead Kara appears as Linda's \"guardian angel\".","In an interview with Cliff Biggers of Newsarama, David states: In the Linda Danvers' Supergirl series issues 49 and 50 (October and November 2000), the original dead Kara appears as Linda's \"guardian angel\". Then in issues 75 to 80, \"Many Happy Returns\", a young Kara appears from an earlier time long before the Crisis.","Then in issues 75 to 80, \"Many Happy Returns\", a young Kara appears from an earlier time long before the Crisis. The paradox becomes a moral crisis for Linda who tries to take her place as the Crisis sacrifice, living for years in a Silver Age universe where \"no one swears, the villains are always easy to defeat, and everything's very, very clean\", eventually marrying the Silver Age Superman and having a daughter with him, before she is forced to return to her universe by the Spectre when he reveals that her efforts to replace Kara as the sacrifice will not succeed.","The paradox becomes a moral crisis for Linda who tries to take her place as the Crisis sacrifice, living for years in a Silver Age universe where \"no one swears, the villains are always easy to defeat, and everything's very, very clean\", eventually marrying the Silver Age Superman and having a daughter with him, before she is forced to return to her universe by the Spectre when he reveals that her efforts to replace Kara as the sacrifice will not succeed. This run was illustrated by Ed Benes who had also illustrated Gail Simone's Birds of Prey which had a similar whimsical camaraderie between its female leads.","This run was illustrated by Ed Benes who had also illustrated Gail Simone's Birds of Prey which had a similar whimsical camaraderie between its female leads. Linda's inability to ultimately save Kara, coupled with the loss of her daughter, is so devastating that it ends her own career as Supergirl, Linda leaving a note for Superman where she explains that she feels that she has failed to live up to the standards of a true Supergirl and choosing to go somewhere she cannot be found.","Linda's inability to ultimately save Kara, coupled with the loss of her daughter, is so devastating that it ends her own career as Supergirl, Linda leaving a note for Superman where she explains that she feels that she has failed to live up to the standards of a true Supergirl and choosing to go somewhere she cannot be found. This story arc is usually cited as one of the best Supergirl stories ever written. The series ended with issue 80.","The series ended with issue 80. The series ended with issue 80. Revival After the launch of the Superman/Batman comic book series, executive editor Dan DiDio had been looking for a way to simplify the Supergirl character from her convoluted post-Crisis history; the simplest version, of course, was Superman's cousin. Jeph Loeb and editor Eddie Berganza found an opening to reintroduce the character following the conclusion of the first story arc of Superman/Batman.","Jeph Loeb and editor Eddie Berganza found an opening to reintroduce the character following the conclusion of the first story arc of Superman/Batman. Loeb states: The modern version of Kara Zor-El made her debut in Superman/Batman #8 (2004). Kara takes the mantle of Supergirl at the conclusion of the storyline. The Supergirl comic book series would later be relaunched, now starring Kara Zor-El as \"The Girl of Steel\". The first arc of the new series was written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by Ian Churchill.","The first arc of the new series was written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by Ian Churchill. Loeb would later describe the appeal of writing for Supergirl: As the character continued to be reinvented, steps towards regarding the iconic character were some of the most prominent changes. Artist Jamal Igle and editor Matt Idleson moved to transition the character away from red panties under her skirt to biker shorts, feeling such a change was a logical progression and \"more respectable.\"","Artist Jamal Igle and editor Matt Idleson moved to transition the character away from red panties under her skirt to biker shorts, feeling such a change was a logical progression and \"more respectable.\" The New 52 In September 2011, DC Comics began The New 52, in which it canceled all of its monthly superhero titles and relaunched 52 new ones, wiping out most of its past continuity in the process.","The New 52 In September 2011, DC Comics began The New 52, in which it canceled all of its monthly superhero titles and relaunched 52 new ones, wiping out most of its past continuity in the process. One of the new titles was a new Supergirl series (Volume 6) that featured a new origin for Kara and was published between 2011 and 2015.","One of the new titles was a new Supergirl series (Volume 6) that featured a new origin for Kara and was published between 2011 and 2015. Artist Mahmud Asrar designed a new costume for the character which strongly deviated from her classic, \"cheerleader\" suit, a change which generated criticism from some readers. DC Rebirth The 2016 DC Comics title relaunch Rebirth incorporates several elements (such as the costume, the name, the setting, and some characters) from the Supergirl television series.","DC Rebirth The 2016 DC Comics title relaunch Rebirth incorporates several elements (such as the costume, the name, the setting, and some characters) from the Supergirl television series. The DC Rebirth initiative undid the New 52's modern recreations, bringing DC's heroes back to their more classic iterations. Supergirl's new series (Volume 7) was titled Supergirl: Rebirth, written by Steven Orlando. The first arc was penciled by Brian Ching, who also redesigned Supergirl's costume in reference to a more classic look.","The first arc was penciled by Brian Ching, who also redesigned Supergirl's costume in reference to a more classic look. In April 2018, it was announced that the title would be canceled after issue #20, only to be revived in August that year under a new creative team, with new writer Marc Andreyko and artist Kevin Maguire. The series ended with its 42nd issue.","The series ended with its 42nd issue. The series ended with its 42nd issue. Future State: Kara Zor-El, Superwoman The Future State comics propose a possible future for Kara Zor-El, now an adult and having taken the alias of Superwoman. She leaves Earth to become a guardian of the Moon, which has become a refugee colony for aliens from the entire universe. The series was written by Marguerite Bennet and penciled by Marguerite Sauvage.","The series was written by Marguerite Bennet and penciled by Marguerite Sauvage. Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow Under the Infinite Frontier brand, Kara's next series Woman of Tomorrow debuted in June 2021, written by Tom King and penciled by Brazilian artists Bilquis Evely and Mat Lopes. The arc introduces Supergirl to new character grounds as she begins the story as a young woman, celebrating her 21st birthday and helping a young alien in her quest for revenge.","The arc introduces Supergirl to new character grounds as she begins the story as a young woman, celebrating her 21st birthday and helping a young alien in her quest for revenge. The \"mentor-mentee journey on revenge\" plot is, according to King, inspired by the original novel and both versions of True Grit. In this series, the creators paid homage to Linda Danvers, as Kara manifests flame wings and powers after taking a red kryptonite drug, in order to save her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon.","In this series, the creators paid homage to Linda Danvers, as Kara manifests flame wings and powers after taking a red kryptonite drug, in order to save her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon. Fictional character biography Silver Age In her debut story, Kara Zor-El is the last survivor of Argo City of the planet Krypton.","Fictional character biography Silver Age In her debut story, Kara Zor-El is the last survivor of Argo City of the planet Krypton. Although Argo, which had survived the explosion of the planet, drifted through space as a self-sustaining environment, the soil of the colony eventually turned into Kryptonite; and though Kara's father Zor-El placed lead sheeting above the ground to protect the citizens from radiation, meteorites pierced the sheeting, and the Kryptonians died of radiation poisoning instead of replacing the metal.","Although Argo, which had survived the explosion of the planet, drifted through space as a self-sustaining environment, the soil of the colony eventually turned into Kryptonite; and though Kara's father Zor-El placed lead sheeting above the ground to protect the citizens from radiation, meteorites pierced the sheeting, and the Kryptonians died of radiation poisoning instead of replacing the metal. In Supergirl's subsequent backup feature in Action Comics drawn by artist Jim Mooney for ten years until 1968, Supergirl adopts the identity of Linda Lee, an orphan at Midvale Orphanage presided over by headmistress Miss Hart.","In Supergirl's subsequent backup feature in Action Comics drawn by artist Jim Mooney for ten years until 1968, Supergirl adopts the identity of Linda Lee, an orphan at Midvale Orphanage presided over by headmistress Miss Hart. She disguises herself by hiding her blond hair beneath a brunette wig; Supergirl interacts with humans on a person-to-person basis performing good deeds and saving the world by helping one person at a time, and she also devises clever schemes as \"Superman's Secret Weapon,\" saving him many times and avoiding adoption before Superman can introduce her publicly.","She disguises herself by hiding her blond hair beneath a brunette wig; Supergirl interacts with humans on a person-to-person basis performing good deeds and saving the world by helping one person at a time, and she also devises clever schemes as \"Superman's Secret Weapon,\" saving him many times and avoiding adoption before Superman can introduce her publicly. While temporarily powerless due to the scheming of Kandorian scientist Lesla-Lar, who is out to supplant her on Earth, Linda allows herself to be adopted by engineer and rocket scientist Fred Danvers and his wife, Edna.","While temporarily powerless due to the scheming of Kandorian scientist Lesla-Lar, who is out to supplant her on Earth, Linda allows herself to be adopted by engineer and rocket scientist Fred Danvers and his wife, Edna. In time, she reveals her secret identity to her adoptive parents on the same day her cousin Superman finally introduces her to the world in the finale of then-DC's longest playing series ever (eight chapters) aptly called \"The World's Greatest Heroine\".","In time, she reveals her secret identity to her adoptive parents on the same day her cousin Superman finally introduces her to the world in the finale of then-DC's longest playing series ever (eight chapters) aptly called \"The World's Greatest Heroine\". When frequent dreams about her parents being alive turn out to be real, she builds a machine aided by her engineer father's talent, and brings them both back alive from the \"Survival Zone\" where they had both teleported during Argo City's final moments.","When frequent dreams about her parents being alive turn out to be real, she builds a machine aided by her engineer father's talent, and brings them both back alive from the \"Survival Zone\" where they had both teleported during Argo City's final moments. Zor-El and Allura eventually end up living in Kandor, and when the city in the bottle is enlarged, they both go on to live in Rokyn/New Krypton, where they have the sad duty of receiving her mortal remains after \"Crisis\" for burial.","Zor-El and Allura eventually end up living in Kandor, and when the city in the bottle is enlarged, they both go on to live in Rokyn/New Krypton, where they have the sad duty of receiving her mortal remains after \"Crisis\" for burial. Graduating from high school in 1965, Linda Lee goes to college on a scholarship and stays in Stanhope College until she graduates in 1971.","Graduating from high school in 1965, Linda Lee goes to college on a scholarship and stays in Stanhope College until she graduates in 1971. During this era, she is helped by her pet cat Streaky, her Super-Horse pet Comet, and befriends Lena Thorul, who had first appeared in the Lois Lane series. Kara is also a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, where she becomes close to Brainiac 5.","Kara is also a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, where she becomes close to Brainiac 5. In addition, Linda has boyfriends from the orphanage (Richard \"Dick\" Malverne) and from Atlantis (Jerro the merboy). In 1967, Supergirl meets Batgirl for the first time in World's Finest Comics. Developing a strong friendship, the two characters teamed up many times again, as in Superman Family #171, or Adventure #381.","Developing a strong friendship, the two characters teamed up many times again, as in Superman Family #171, or Adventure #381. In 1969, Supergirl left Action Comics and became a featured character in Adventure Comics beginning with issue #381 (June 1969). During the 1970s, Supergirl's costume changed frequently, as did her career in her civilian life.","During the 1970s, Supergirl's costume changed frequently, as did her career in her civilian life. In her secret identity as Linda Lee Danvers, Kara Zor-El took a variety of jobs including graduate student in acting, television camera operator, and student counselor, and finally became an actress on the TV soap Secret Hearts. Bronze Age After long-time Superman family editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971, the character underwent revitalization under editor Joe Orlando and artist Mike Sekowsky.","Bronze Age After long-time Superman family editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971, the character underwent revitalization under editor Joe Orlando and artist Mike Sekowsky. Wearing a series of new outfits, leaving her adopted foster home with the Danvers family, Linda goes on to San Francisco where she works for KSF-TV as a camera operator and develops a crush on her boss, Geoffrey Anderson. These stories introduced Supergirl's most memorable villain from this period: Lex Luthor's niece Nasthalthia, or Nasty.","These stories introduced Supergirl's most memorable villain from this period: Lex Luthor's niece Nasthalthia, or Nasty. Nasty had made two appearances towards the end of Linda's college years, then pursued her to KSF-TV, trying to secure proof of her dual identity.","Nasty had made two appearances towards the end of Linda's college years, then pursued her to KSF-TV, trying to secure proof of her dual identity. Supergirl starred in her first solo eponymous monthly series beginning in 1972 until October 1974, when her monthly title merged with Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane, and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen to produce a new title: then-highest DC selling series called The Superman Family, where she eventually became the steady lead story.","Supergirl starred in her first solo eponymous monthly series beginning in 1972 until October 1974, when her monthly title merged with Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane, and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen to produce a new title: then-highest DC selling series called The Superman Family, where she eventually became the steady lead story. Linda worked as a student advisor at New Athens Experimental School, before leaving for New York to follow a career in acting with daytime soap Secret Hearts.","Linda worked as a student advisor at New Athens Experimental School, before leaving for New York to follow a career in acting with daytime soap Secret Hearts. In 1982 Supergirl received a second monthly solo series titled The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl, relocating the character to Chicago as Linda became a mature student of Psychology. Industry legend, and former DC Publisher, Carmine Infantino provided the penciled art (Bob Oksner inked).","Industry legend, and former DC Publisher, Carmine Infantino provided the penciled art (Bob Oksner inked). With issue 13 the title was revamped, with a new costume design (sporting a red headband) and the title shortened to just Supergirl. The series ran until sudden cancellation in 1984, only two months before the character's debut in a big-budget Hollywood film starring Helen Slater.","The series ran until sudden cancellation in 1984, only two months before the character's debut in a big-budget Hollywood film starring Helen Slater. In the Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985), the greatest heroes from Earth-One, Earth-Two, Earth-Four, Earth-S, and Earth-X join forces in order to defeat the Anti-Monitor. When Superman comes face to face with the Anti-Monitor and is knocked unconscious, Supergirl rushes to save him before he is killed.","When Superman comes face to face with the Anti-Monitor and is knocked unconscious, Supergirl rushes to save him before he is killed. She is able to fight him off long enough for Dr. Light to carry her cousin to a safe distance, but is killed by the Anti-Monitor. A public memorial service for Supergirl takes place in Chicago, where Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) delivers the eulogy. In her remarks, she states \"Kara is a hero. She will not be forgotten.\"","She will not be forgotten.\" She will not be forgotten.\" Superman then gives his late cousin burial by taking her corpse to Rokyn/New Krypton to Zor-El and Allura. A Superman issue the next month reveals that Kara had experienced a premonition about her own passing. However, when the universe is rebooted, the timeline is altered. Kara Zor-El and all memory of her is erased from existence.","Kara Zor-El and all memory of her is erased from existence. Echoes After these events, the soul of Kara Zor-El made another appearance in continuity three years later in a story titled \"Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot\" in Christmas with the Super-Heroes #2 (1989). Within the story, Boston \"Deadman\" Brand tries to feel the warmth of Christmas by possessing revelers' bodies.","Within the story, Boston \"Deadman\" Brand tries to feel the warmth of Christmas by possessing revelers' bodies. Feeling guilty upon the realization that he has been stealing others' Christmases, he flies off feeling sorry for himself for being denied a reward after a year of helping people. A warmly dressed blonde woman approaches Brand, startling him.","A warmly dressed blonde woman approaches Brand, startling him. Somehow seeing the normally invisible Brand, she converses with him, reminding him, She reminds Brand that even though he is dead, he is still human, and he should rejoice because it means his spirit is still alive. As the woman leaves, Brand asks her who she is, to which she replies, \"My name is Kara. Though I doubt that will mean anything to you.\"","Though I doubt that will mean anything to you.\" The story, written by Alan Brennert and penciled by Dick Giordano, is dedicated to Otto Binder and Jim Mooney, adding: \"We still remember.\" Finally, the soul of Kara Zor-El appeared twice during Peter David's run, specifically in issues #48 and #49 when she appears before a defeated and imprisoned then-Supergirl, Linda Danvers from Earth, and comforts her.","Finally, the soul of Kara Zor-El appeared twice during Peter David's run, specifically in issues #48 and #49 when she appears before a defeated and imprisoned then-Supergirl, Linda Danvers from Earth, and comforts her. Linda acknowledges she has been helped three times by her phantom-friend, and when she asks her name she is told by the smiling figure: \"I have gone by many names, but the one I am most fond of is: Kara!\"","Linda acknowledges she has been helped three times by her phantom-friend, and when she asks her name she is told by the smiling figure: \"I have gone by many names, but the one I am most fond of is: Kara!\" Modern Age In 2004, Jeph Loeb reintroduced Kara Zor-El into post-Zero Hour (Birthright timeline) continuity during a storyline in the series Superman/Batman.","Modern Age In 2004, Jeph Loeb reintroduced Kara Zor-El into post-Zero Hour (Birthright timeline) continuity during a storyline in the series Superman/Batman. She is the biological cousin of Superman, and although chronologically older than him, the ship in which she traveled to Earth was caught in a large green Kryptonite meteorite which held her in a state of suspended animation for much of the journey, making her have the appearance of a 16-year-old girl.","She is the biological cousin of Superman, and although chronologically older than him, the ship in which she traveled to Earth was caught in a large green Kryptonite meteorite which held her in a state of suspended animation for much of the journey, making her have the appearance of a 16-year-old girl. Still, Supergirl sometimes saw Superman as a child, due to last carrying him as a baby. DC Comics relaunched the Supergirl, the first story arc of which was written by Loeb. showcases Supergirl on a journey of self-discovery.","showcases Supergirl on a journey of self-discovery. showcases Supergirl on a journey of self-discovery. Along her journey, she encounters Power Girl (Kara Zor-El's counterpart from another universe), the Teen Titans, the Outsiders, the Justice League of America, and arch-villain Lex Luthor. During the company-wide crossover series Infinite Crisis (2005), a sequel to Crisis on Infinite Earths, Supergirl is transported to the 31st century, where she is revered as a member of the Superman family and joins the Legion of Super-Heroes.","During the company-wide crossover series Infinite Crisis (2005), a sequel to Crisis on Infinite Earths, Supergirl is transported to the 31st century, where she is revered as a member of the Superman family and joins the Legion of Super-Heroes. DC Comics renamed the monthly series Legion of Super-Heroes to Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes. Beginning with issue #16.","Beginning with issue #16. Beginning with issue #16. In the limited series 52, which chronicles the events that took place during the missing year after the end of Infinite Crisis, Donna Troy recalls the original Kara Zor-El and her sacrifice to save the universe. Supergirl returns to the 21st century during the course of 52.","Supergirl returns to the 21st century during the course of 52. After briefly filling in for a temporarily depowered Superman as guardian of Metropolis, she assumes the identity of Flamebird to fight crime in the bottle city of Kandor with Power Girl as Nightwing in Greg Rucka's arc Supergirl: Kandor. In 2007, Supergirl appeared in the miniseries Amazons Attack! That same year, she joined the Teen Titans for five issues.","That same year, she joined the Teen Titans for five issues. Conversations with other heroes who maintain secret identities lead Kara to the conclusion that she needs to make a deeper connection with human beings. She accepts Lana Lang's proposal to present her to the Daily Planet staff as \"Linda Lang\", Lana's teenaged niece.","She accepts Lana Lang's proposal to present her to the Daily Planet staff as \"Linda Lang\", Lana's teenaged niece. In the 2008–2009 \"New Krypton\" story arc, in which Superman discovers and frees the real Kandor and a large number of its citizens, Supergirl is reunited with her father, Zor-El and mother, Alura, though Zor-El is killed by the villain Reactron.","In the 2008–2009 \"New Krypton\" story arc, in which Superman discovers and frees the real Kandor and a large number of its citizens, Supergirl is reunited with her father, Zor-El and mother, Alura, though Zor-El is killed by the villain Reactron. When a planet is formed that the Kryptonians call New Krypton, Kara is torn between her life on Earth, and her obligation to her mother, eventually joining the New Krypton Science Guild.","When a planet is formed that the Kryptonians call New Krypton, Kara is torn between her life on Earth, and her obligation to her mother, eventually joining the New Krypton Science Guild. Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2009 miniseries Justice League: Cry for Justice, and the 2009–2010 storyline \"Blackest Night\".","Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2009 miniseries Justice League: Cry for Justice, and the 2009–2010 storyline \"Blackest Night\". The New Krypton storyline would later be resolved in the \"World of New Krypton\", \"Superman: Last Stand of New Krypton\", \"War of the Supermen\" storylines, resulting in the destruction of New Krypton and seeing Supergirl mourn her people.","The New Krypton storyline would later be resolved in the \"World of New Krypton\", \"Superman: Last Stand of New Krypton\", \"War of the Supermen\" storylines, resulting in the destruction of New Krypton and seeing Supergirl mourn her people. Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2010 \"Brightest Day\" storyline, the follow up to \"Blackest Night\"., where she joins the Justice League along with Jesse Quick & Jade.","Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2010 \"Brightest Day\" storyline, the follow up to \"Blackest Night\"., where she joins the Justice League along with Jesse Quick & Jade. The New 52 In this continuity, Kara's ship lands in Smallville, Kansas but hurtles through the Earth and emerges in Siberia. Kara has no memory of the destruction of Krypton, and believes it is only three days since her spacecraft was launched.","Kara has no memory of the destruction of Krypton, and believes it is only three days since her spacecraft was launched. She learns the truth about Krypton's destruction from Superman, and later journeys through a wormhole to Argo City, which she finds in orbit around a blue sun. She finds the city in ruins, with no explanation of how it met that fate, and is attacked by a female Worldkiller named Reign before the city plummets into the sun.","She finds the city in ruins, with no explanation of how it met that fate, and is attacked by a female Worldkiller named Reign before the city plummets into the sun. When Reign and her fellow Worldkiller plan to enslave the Earth, Supergirl returns there to defeat them, and thus adopts Earth as her new home. After several battles with supervillains, including the Worldkillers, superweapons of Kryptonian design, she accepts Krypton's destruction, but continues to grapple with her grief.","After several battles with supervillains, including the Worldkillers, superweapons of Kryptonian design, she accepts Krypton's destruction, but continues to grapple with her grief. Her desire to restore Krypton results in her being manipulated into nearly destroying the Earth by another Kryptonian whom she falls in love with. Upon realizing his manipulation, she kills him by driving Kryptonite through his heart, and succumbs to Kryptonite poisoning. Following her poisoning, Supergirl departs the Earth to die alone.","Following her poisoning, Supergirl departs the Earth to die alone. While adrift in interstellar space, she encounters a planet under attack by monsters, and quickly intervenes to save them, unaware that the entire planet is a trap by Brainiac. She is captured and restrained by Cyborg Superman, but after a struggle, manages to escape both Brainiac and Cyborg Superman.","She is captured and restrained by Cyborg Superman, but after a struggle, manages to escape both Brainiac and Cyborg Superman. Returning to Earth, she is sent into the past by the Oracle alongside Superman and Superboy, where she ensures that a resurrected H'el cannot save Krypton, and sacrifices the planet and her family in order to save the universe. Back on Earth, she encounters the assassin Lobo.","Back on Earth, she encounters the assassin Lobo. Back on Earth, she encounters the assassin Lobo. Initially eager for a peaceful resolution, seeing a kind of kinship with him in their both being lone survivors of their respective worlds (although not truly aware of Lobo's circumstances), Kara's encounter with the Czarnian would reveal deep mental wounds, resulting in the unleashing of her rage and transformation into a Red Lantern.","Initially eager for a peaceful resolution, seeing a kind of kinship with him in their both being lone survivors of their respective worlds (although not truly aware of Lobo's circumstances), Kara's encounter with the Czarnian would reveal deep mental wounds, resulting in the unleashing of her rage and transformation into a Red Lantern. Driven insane by rage, Kara wanders space, attacking everyone in her way, until captured by several Green Lanterns and brought to Hal Jordan.","Driven insane by rage, Kara wanders space, attacking everyone in her way, until captured by several Green Lanterns and brought to Hal Jordan. Immediately recognizing a Kryptonian and unable to remove the power ring without killing her, he brings her to Guy Gardner, the leader of one of the two Red Lantern factions, who manages to restore her sanity.","Immediately recognizing a Kryptonian and unable to remove the power ring without killing her, he brings her to Guy Gardner, the leader of one of the two Red Lantern factions, who manages to restore her sanity. After some time under Guy Gardner's tutelage and protecting the galaxy as a Red Lantern, after being discharged from the Red Lantern Corps (because Guy did not want for her to die needlessly against Atrocitus' splinter group), on her way back to Earth, Kara encounters the leader of the Worldkillers, who are revealed to be parasitic suits of armor.","After some time under Guy Gardner's tutelage and protecting the galaxy as a Red Lantern, after being discharged from the Red Lantern Corps (because Guy did not want for her to die needlessly against Atrocitus' splinter group), on her way back to Earth, Kara encounters the leader of the Worldkillers, who are revealed to be parasitic suits of armor. He attempts to assimilate Kara as his host, but she voluntarily subjects herself to Kryptonite poisoning in order to stop him, and eventually flies into the Sun and removes her power ring, killing her and removing him from her body.","He attempts to assimilate Kara as his host, but she voluntarily subjects herself to Kryptonite poisoning in order to stop him, and eventually flies into the Sun and removes her power ring, killing her and removing him from her body. However, Kara is revealed to be immortal while in the Sun's core, and is restored to life without the power ring or any Kryptonite poisoning, immediately destroying the Worldkiller. She later helps Guy against Atrocitus and his Red Lantern splinter group.","She later helps Guy against Atrocitus and his Red Lantern splinter group. Convergence and return of the Pre-Crisis version During the Convergence story arc, the original Kara Zor-El who had sacrificed her life during Crisis on Infinite Earths makes an appearance on the amalgamated planet of Telos.","Convergence and return of the Pre-Crisis version During the Convergence story arc, the original Kara Zor-El who had sacrificed her life during Crisis on Infinite Earths makes an appearance on the amalgamated planet of Telos. At the end of the saga she volunteers herself to once again fight the Anti-Monitor but this time, with the help of her timeline's Barry Allen, the Pre-Flashpoint Superman (in tow with his pregnant wife, Lois Lane), and a repentant Parallax (Zero Hour Hal Jordan), vows to defeat him for the sake of the multiverse's continued existence.","At the end of the saga she volunteers herself to once again fight the Anti-Monitor but this time, with the help of her timeline's Barry Allen, the Pre-Flashpoint Superman (in tow with his pregnant wife, Lois Lane), and a repentant Parallax (Zero Hour Hal Jordan), vows to defeat him for the sake of the multiverse's continued existence. Without it being seen, those left on Telos discover the group was successful and all previous timelines (with the mysterious exception of the pre-Flashpoint/pre-New 52 DC universe) from DC history had been re-established, though the fate of the original Kara Zor-El and her fellows went unmentioned.","Without it being seen, those left on Telos discover the group was successful and all previous timelines (with the mysterious exception of the pre-Flashpoint/pre-New 52 DC universe) from DC history had been re-established, though the fate of the original Kara Zor-El and her fellows went unmentioned. A few more details of the battle against the Anti-Monitor are later revealed during the New 52 comic mini-series (leading into DC's Rebirth event).","A few more details of the battle against the Anti-Monitor are later revealed during the New 52 comic mini-series (leading into DC's Rebirth event). After the defeat of Anti-Monitor, Pre-New 52 Clark and Lois decide to start life anew in the closest universe they can find (mysteriously yet unable to see their old universe even though the rest of the multiverse had been restored) while Pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El, along with her contemporary Barry Allen and Zero Hour Parallax/Hal Jordan, decide to find their place in the universe and go off to do so.","After the defeat of Anti-Monitor, Pre-New 52 Clark and Lois decide to start life anew in the closest universe they can find (mysteriously yet unable to see their old universe even though the rest of the multiverse had been restored) while Pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El, along with her contemporary Barry Allen and Zero Hour Parallax/Hal Jordan, decide to find their place in the universe and go off to do so. Her fate as of that story arc is yet to be revealed.","Her fate as of that story arc is yet to be revealed. DC Rebirth After the events that led to the death of the New 52 version of Superman, 16-year-old Kara lives in National City with her adoptive parents, D.E.O. agents Jeremiah and Eliza Danvers, where she attends high school and works with the agency as led by Cameron Chase. As part of her civilian identity, Kara receives special glasses that darken her blond hair when posing as Kara Danvers.","As part of her civilian identity, Kara receives special glasses that darken her blond hair when posing as Kara Danvers. Kara also goes on an internship at Cat Grant's CATCO alongside Ben Rubel, whom she befriends. In her opening arc \"The Reign of the Cyborg Supermen\", Kara discovers that the cyborg Zor-El, whom she had battled in her New 52 title, is still active and has rebuilt other Kryptonians (her mother Alura included), planning to take over Earth.","In her opening arc \"The Reign of the Cyborg Supermen\", Kara discovers that the cyborg Zor-El, whom she had battled in her New 52 title, is still active and has rebuilt other Kryptonians (her mother Alura included), planning to take over Earth. Supergirl defeats them but vows to help her father regardless of his actions. After National City discovers Supergirl has kept Zor-El's \"living\" status a secret, they become untrustful of her.","After National City discovers Supergirl has kept Zor-El's \"living\" status a secret, they become untrustful of her. Director Bones takes advantage of the heroine's impopularity and, after taking control of the D.E.O., sends villains in an attempt to bring Kara down. She defeats all of them and regains trust from National City with Ben's help.","She defeats all of them and regains trust from National City with Ben's help. The Supergirl Who Laughs Kara is later infected by The Batman Who Laughs toxin, causing her to turn evil and joining other infected as part of Laughs Secret Six before later being cured. She is fired from CatCo by Cat Grant and starts working at S.T.A.R. Labs. Woman of Tomorrow Journeying throughout the universe with Krypto, Kara celebrates her 21st birthday alone on a distant planet.","Woman of Tomorrow Journeying throughout the universe with Krypto, Kara celebrates her 21st birthday alone on a distant planet. Drunk in a bar, she is approached by a little girl named Ruthye and is asked to kill Krem (her father's murderer) in vengeance. Supergirl refuses but, when she is about to leave the planet, Krem attacks and severely wounds both her and Krypto, fleeing in Kara's ship.","Supergirl refuses but, when she is about to leave the planet, Krem attacks and severely wounds both her and Krypto, fleeing in Kara's ship. Kara begins her journey alongside Ruthye and, powerless, saves her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon by taking a red kryptonite drug which causes her to manifest flame wings. Powers and abilities Like all Kryptonians under a yellow sun, the current version of Kara Zor-El possesses virtually unlimited strength, stamina, and durability.","Powers and abilities Like all Kryptonians under a yellow sun, the current version of Kara Zor-El possesses virtually unlimited strength, stamina, and durability. She is able to fly and with super speed that she can also use on foot, similar to Superman and The Flash. Also like Superman, Supergirl possesses super senses, super-breath, and freeze breathe, as well as multiple forms of supervision (including X-Ray, Infrared, Telescopic, and Microscopic).","Also like Superman, Supergirl possesses super senses, super-breath, and freeze breathe, as well as multiple forms of supervision (including X-Ray, Infrared, Telescopic, and Microscopic). Kara also has a bio-electric aura that enhances her near invulnerability and also protects her skin and her costume from dirt and tear; as such, Kara is perpetually clean. The Sun also provides Kara with a longer lifespan than that of a human being, to the point that she is effectively a biological immortal.","The Sun also provides Kara with a longer lifespan than that of a human being, to the point that she is effectively a biological immortal. Kara doesn't require food, water, or sleep to survive. She is also immune to most diseases, mental and physical, and would require a very strong strain to have a chance at affecting her. In the rare instances that Kara is harmed by someone matching her strength or by the use of one of her weaknesses, she can heal almost instantaneously.","In the rare instances that Kara is harmed by someone matching her strength or by the use of one of her weaknesses, she can heal almost instantaneously. Her power surpasses most other beings, though she can be overpowered by those who rival her strength such as Black Adam, Darkseid, Despero, Doomsday, Bizarro, Wonder Woman, and Superman. In reality, Kara is actually older than her cousin, Clark, and spent time on Krypton before its destruction.","In reality, Kara is actually older than her cousin, Clark, and spent time on Krypton before its destruction. As such (unlike Superman), she possesses memories of Kryptonian culture as well as her cousin's parents. Continued exposure to a yellow Sun will slowly increase abilities. Many characters in the DC Universe have noted that Supergirl appears, at times, to be even more powerful than Superman himself.","Many characters in the DC Universe have noted that Supergirl appears, at times, to be even more powerful than Superman himself. In answer to this, Superman states that this is because he has spent his entire life subconsciously suppressing his full powers in order to avoid hurting others, having been absorbing solar radiation since his infancy. Kara, not having such practice or experience, simply uses the full magnitude of her powers.","Kara, not having such practice or experience, simply uses the full magnitude of her powers. Abilities Unlike her cousin, Kara was taught to fight in Krypton as part of her tests, and at the Crucible Academy, being adept at various Kryptonian fighting styles like Klurkor and Torquasm Rao. Supergirl also learned the art of Bagua under I-Ching's instructions. She practiced how to manipulate her Chi or Qi in order to gain better control of her powers due to them becoming overwhelmed after her conflict with the Fatal Five.","She practiced how to manipulate her Chi or Qi in order to gain better control of her powers due to them becoming overwhelmed after her conflict with the Fatal Five. Superman recommended guardianship with I-Ching to Supergirl first. In addition to training in Krypton, Kara was trained by Batman in advanced martial arts and trained with the Amazons in Themyscira in unarmed and armed combat, Amazonas martial arts, fencing, Shield handling, and other Amazon weapons. She trained with Wonder Woman and Artemis extensively.","She trained with Wonder Woman and Artemis extensively. She trained with Wonder Woman and Artemis extensively. Other versions There are numerous alternate versions of Supergirl. The most notable is Power Girl (real name Kara Zor-L, also known as Karen Starr) who first appeared in All Star Comics #58 (January/February 1976). Power Girl is the Earth-Two counterpart of Supergirl and the first cousin of Kal-L, Superman of the pre-Crisis Earth-Two. The infant Power Girl's parents enabled her to escape the destruction of Krypton.","The infant Power Girl's parents enabled her to escape the destruction of Krypton. Although she left the planet at the same time that Superman did, her ship took much longer to reach Earth-Two. She has superhuman strength and the ability to fly and is the first chairwoman of the Justice Society of America. She sports a bob of blond hair; wears a distinctive white, red, and blue costume; and has an aggressive fighting style.","She sports a bob of blond hair; wears a distinctive white, red, and blue costume; and has an aggressive fighting style. Throughout her early appearances in All Star Comics, she is often at odds with Wildcat because his penchant for talking to her as if she were an ordinary human female rather than a superpowered Kryptonian annoys her. She also fought alongside the Sovereign Seven team, replacing Rampart after his death though that series is not considered to be part of canon in the DC universe.","She also fought alongside the Sovereign Seven team, replacing Rampart after his death though that series is not considered to be part of canon in the DC universe. The 1985 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths eliminated Earth-Two, causing her origin to change; she became the granddaughter of the Atlantean sorcerer Arion. However, story events culminating in the 2005–2006 Infinite Crisis limited series restored her status as a refugee from the Krypton of the destroyed pre-Crisis Earth-Two universe.","However, story events culminating in the 2005–2006 Infinite Crisis limited series restored her status as a refugee from the Krypton of the destroyed pre-Crisis Earth-Two universe. Like the original Kara's Streaky, Power Girl has a cat, featured in a story by Amanda Conner in Wonder Woman #600. Reception This version of Supergirl is ranked as the 153rd-greatest comic book character of all time by Wizard magazine.","Reception This version of Supergirl is ranked as the 153rd-greatest comic book character of all time by Wizard magazine. IGN also ranked this version of Supergirl as the 94th-greatest comic book superhero, stating \"for a character born of the Silver Age that saw everything from a Super Baby to a Super Monkey, Kara Zor-El grew into something much more than simply another marketing ploy to slap an 'S' on.\"","IGN also ranked this version of Supergirl as the 94th-greatest comic book superhero, stating \"for a character born of the Silver Age that saw everything from a Super Baby to a Super Monkey, Kara Zor-El grew into something much more than simply another marketing ploy to slap an 'S' on.\" In 2013 IGN ranked Supergirl as the 17th-greatest DC comic superhero, stating \"she was an early example of a female sidekick developing a large fanbase in her own right\", and \"Supergirl has been one of DC's most powerful heroes, and a standard to hold other female heroes against.\"","In 2013 IGN ranked Supergirl as the 17th-greatest DC comic superhero, stating \"she was an early example of a female sidekick developing a large fanbase in her own right\", and \"Supergirl has been one of DC's most powerful heroes, and a standard to hold other female heroes against.\" Appearances Pre-Crisis 1959 to 1969: Action Comics #252 to #376. 1969 to 1972: Adventure Comics #381 to #424. 1972 to 1974: Supergirl #1 to #10.","1972 to 1974: Supergirl #1 to #10. 1974 to 1982: Her comic merges with Jimmy Olsen's and Lois Lane's to become Superman Family #164 to #222. 1982 to 1984: The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl #1 to #13, Supergirl (vol. 2) #14 to #23. 2015: Convergence Kara Zor-El appeared in over 750 stories published by DC from 1959 to 1985.","2015: Convergence Kara Zor-El appeared in over 750 stories published by DC from 1959 to 1985. Post-Crisis 2004 to 2005: Superman/Batman #8 to #13 and #19 2005 to 2011: Supergirl (vol. 5) #0 to #67 2006 to 2008: Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes (Legion of Super-Heroes vol. 5) #16 to #37 2007: Action Comics #850 2008: Final Crisis 2011 to 2015: New 52: Supergirl (vol.","5) #16 to #37 2007: Action Comics #850 2008: Final Crisis 2011 to 2015: New 52: Supergirl (vol. 6) #1 to #40 2016 to current: Rebirth: Supergirl (vol. 7) #1 to current Kara Zor-El also appears as a supporting character in several issues of other DC Comics, including Superman, Action Comics, Teen Titans, Amazons Attack, World War III, and Wonder Girl.","7) #1 to current Kara Zor-El also appears as a supporting character in several issues of other DC Comics, including Superman, Action Comics, Teen Titans, Amazons Attack, World War III, and Wonder Girl. She has also appeared in many issues of Superman, Action Comics, and Superman New Krypton starting with the World Without Superman event in 2009, and continuing with the World Against Superman event going into 2010. Collected editions Listed in chronological order.","Collected editions Listed in chronological order. Collected editions Listed in chronological order. All ages titles are not in continuity with the original or modern Kara. In other media Television Live-action Smallville Prior to the seventh season (2007–2008) of the WB/CW show Smallville where she is introduced into the cast and is portrayed by Laura Vandervoort, a woman claiming to be Kara (portrayed by Adrianne Palicki) is briefly introduced in the season 3 finale.","In other media Television Live-action Smallville Prior to the seventh season (2007–2008) of the WB/CW show Smallville where she is introduced into the cast and is portrayed by Laura Vandervoort, a woman claiming to be Kara (portrayed by Adrianne Palicki) is briefly introduced in the season 3 finale. It is later revealed her real name is Lindsey Harrison, and had been given false memories and powers by the artificial intelligence of Clark Kent's (Tom Welling) father Jor-El as part of a series of tests.","It is later revealed her real name is Lindsey Harrison, and had been given false memories and powers by the artificial intelligence of Clark Kent's (Tom Welling) father Jor-El as part of a series of tests. Vandervoort portrays the real Kara, Clark's cousin whose spaceship had been trapped in stasis until the events of the season 6 finale. Much of season 7 is concerned with Kara's attempts to adjust to life on Earth, especially after learning of Krypton's destruction.","Much of season 7 is concerned with Kara's attempts to adjust to life on Earth, especially after learning of Krypton's destruction. Her storyline sees her simultaneously become the object of Lex Luthor's (Michael Rosenbaum) obsessions and Jimmy Olsen's (Aaron Ashmore) affections, suffer a bout of amnesia, discover her father's (Christopher Heyerdahl) sinister motives and become a target of evil android Brainiac (James Marsters). The season finale sees Kara become trapped in the Phantom Zone.","The season finale sees Kara become trapped in the Phantom Zone. Starting with season 8, Vandervoort ceases to feature as a series regular, but reprises the role three more times. In her first guest appearance, \"Bloodline,\" Kara is freed from the Phantom Zone and later departs Clark's hometown of Smallville to search for Kandor, her birthplace, as it is rumored to have survived their home planet's destruction.","In her first guest appearance, \"Bloodline,\" Kara is freed from the Phantom Zone and later departs Clark's hometown of Smallville to search for Kandor, her birthplace, as it is rumored to have survived their home planet's destruction. She appears again in the season 10 episode \"Supergirl\", in which she formally adopts her superhero moniker. Her off-screen adventures are alluded to thereafter.","Her off-screen adventures are alluded to thereafter. Her off-screen adventures are alluded to thereafter. Vandervoort makes a final appearance in the show's penultimate episode, \"Prophecy\", in which she helps Green Arrow (Justin Hartley) locate the \"Bow of Orion\" to use against Darkseid. She is then called to the Fortress of Solitude, where she learns from Jor-El that her job on Earth is done. Using a Legion of Super-Heroes flight ring, she travels to the future to seek her own destiny.","Using a Legion of Super-Heroes flight ring, she travels to the future to seek her own destiny. The Season Eleven comic book continuation of the show later depicts Kara's continued story in the 31st century, subsequent return to the present and joining the Justice League. Arrowverse In September 2014, a 22-episode television series centered around Supergirl was in development at Warner Bros. Television, set to premiere on CBS with a January 2015 air date. Melissa Benoist was cast as the titular character.","Melissa Benoist was cast as the titular character. Melissa Benoist was cast as the titular character. In May 2016, the series moved to The CW and was later integrated into the Arrowverse, a shared universe consisting of shows including Arrow, The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow. In the series, Kara Zor-El was sent to Earth to protect her cousin Kal-El, following her homeworld Krypton's destruction. However, she is knocked into the Phantom Zone, where she is stranded for 24 years.","However, she is knocked into the Phantom Zone, where she is stranded for 24 years. She eventually crash lands on Earth and is found by her already grown-up cousin Kal, now known to the world as the iconic superhero \"Superman\". Superman brings Kara into the custody of Jeremiah Danvers, director of the Department of Extranormal Operations (D.E.O. ), and his daughter Alex. Growing up, Kara struggles to maintain her Kryptonian abilities as well as balancing her relationship with her adoptive sister.","Growing up, Kara struggles to maintain her Kryptonian abilities as well as balancing her relationship with her adoptive sister. Eventually, the two bond when Kara's powers are exposed. However, Jeremiah decides it's best to isolate her abilities. As an adult, Kara is forced to use her powers again when her sister's plane almost crashes. She is later dubbed \"Supergirl\" by the media and dons a costume like her cousin.","She is later dubbed \"Supergirl\" by the media and dons a costume like her cousin. Kara decides to use her abilities to fight alien invaders such as Kara's aunt Astra and her husband Non, Mon-El's rogue parents, the Worldkiller Reign, anti-alien activist Ben Lockwood, and later the shadowy organization Leviathan, with the help of her sister Alex, now an agent of the D.E.O., her best friend and tech-expert Winn Schott, last of the Green Martians J'onn J'onzz / Martian Manhunter, and Kal's best friend Jimmy Olsen.","Kara decides to use her abilities to fight alien invaders such as Kara's aunt Astra and her husband Non, Mon-El's rogue parents, the Worldkiller Reign, anti-alien activist Ben Lockwood, and later the shadowy organization Leviathan, with the help of her sister Alex, now an agent of the D.E.O., her best friend and tech-expert Winn Schott, last of the Green Martians J'onn J'onzz / Martian Manhunter, and Kal's best friend Jimmy Olsen. She is later joined by Lex Luthor's sister Lena, Prince of Daxam Mon-El, former Legion of Superheroes member Querl \"Brainy\" Dox / Brainiac 5, Nia Nal / Dreamer, James' younger sister Kelly, and reporter Willam Dey face against these rival forces.","She is later joined by Lex Luthor's sister Lena, Prince of Daxam Mon-El, former Legion of Superheroes member Querl \"Brainy\" Dox / Brainiac 5, Nia Nal / Dreamer, James' younger sister Kelly, and reporter Willam Dey face against these rival forces. After joining the Arrowverse, which contain annual crossover, Kara assists Barry Allen, Oliver Queen and the Legends of Tomorrow against threats on their designated earth \"Earth-1\" while Kara’s is designated as \"Earth-38.","After joining the Arrowverse, which contain annual crossover, Kara assists Barry Allen, Oliver Queen and the Legends of Tomorrow against threats on their designated earth \"Earth-1\" while Kara’s is designated as \"Earth-38. Later, Kara is selected by The Monitor as the Paragon of Hope to participate in the coming crisis and fight against the Anti-Monitor, whose goal is to destroy the multiverse. After doing so, the Paragons are sent to the Vanishing Point where Oliver, now a Spectre, helps them escape.","After doing so, the Paragons are sent to the Vanishing Point where Oliver, now a Spectre, helps them escape. The Paragons appear at the dawn of time in the anti-matter universe where they have their final confrontation with the Anti-Monitor. Eventually, Oliver sacrifices himself to kill the Anti-Monitor, and as a result, a new multiverse is born with Earth-38 and Earth-1 merged into \"Earth-Prime\". Following the crisis, Kara is forced to deal the after-effects of Crisis which include working with Lex, now owning the D.E.O.","Following the crisis, Kara is forced to deal the after-effects of Crisis which include working with Lex, now owning the D.E.O. while Leviathan continue their covert operations under Gamemnae. The sixth season sees Kara and her allies expose Lex's crimes, but are then forced to deal with Nyxlygsptlnz, a fifth-dimensional imp who tricked the heroes into releasing her from the Phantom Zone.","The sixth season sees Kara and her allies expose Lex's crimes, but are then forced to deal with Nyxlygsptlnz, a fifth-dimensional imp who tricked the heroes into releasing her from the Phantom Zone. Eventually Nyxlygsptlnz joins forces with Lex Luthor and the two kill William, but Kara's assembled allies are able to defeat the two, culminating in Lex and Nyxlygsptlnz being trapped in the Phantom Zone when one of their own plans backfires.","Eventually Nyxlygsptlnz joins forces with Lex Luthor and the two kill William, but Kara's assembled allies are able to defeat the two, culminating in Lex and Nyxlygsptlnz being trapped in the Phantom Zone when one of their own plans backfires. The series concludes with Kara revealing her dual identity so that she can live a full life as one person. Animation DC Nation Shorts Supergirl appears with Batgirl and Wonder Girl in Super Best Friends Forever, voiced by Nicole Sullivan.","Animation DC Nation Shorts Supergirl appears with Batgirl and Wonder Girl in Super Best Friends Forever, voiced by Nicole Sullivan. DC Super Hero Girls Supergirl appears as a central protagonist in the web series DC Super Hero Girls voiced by Anais Fairweather, and is a student at Super Hero High, is very kind and caring and extremely powerful but she's also very clumsy. She also appears as a central protagonist in the 2019 TV series, with Nicole Sullivan reprising her role from the Super Best Friends Forever shorts.","She also appears as a central protagonist in the 2019 TV series, with Nicole Sullivan reprising her role from the Super Best Friends Forever shorts. In this version, she is also a rebel and is known as the \"cool kid\" in school. She may be tough but she can easily express her emotions and is very open-minded as well. She can be a cool friend and a helpful one, but she can also be jealous sometimes and she dislikes her cousin's prominence.","She can be a cool friend and a helpful one, but she can also be jealous sometimes and she dislikes her cousin's prominence. Justice League Action Supergirl appears in Justice League Action, voiced by Joanne Spracklen. She has the appearance of a wide-eyed human teenager with blonde hair and wears her traditional costume except that it has thigh-high boots and a pleated skirt. As a person, she is youthful, responsible, and shows much affection for her cousin Superman.","As a person, she is youthful, responsible, and shows much affection for her cousin Superman. In \"Party Animal\", she appears as a cameo at this Christmas party with the Justice League. In \"Keeping up with the Kryptonians\", Supergirl becomes a star of the popular reality show \"That's So Kara\", and Superman a Kasnian who rules from one place to another on Earth, all being a reality caused by Mister Mxyzptlk.","In \"Keeping up with the Kryptonians\", Supergirl becomes a star of the popular reality show \"That's So Kara\", and Superman a Kasnian who rules from one place to another on Earth, all being a reality caused by Mister Mxyzptlk. In \"Unleashed\", Supergirl accompanies Justice League in stopping Red Lantern Corps, unaware that it was a distraction made by Dex-Starr to invade Earth, until it was ultimately resolved by Krypto, Streaky, and Plastic Man.","In \"Unleashed\", Supergirl accompanies Justice League in stopping Red Lantern Corps, unaware that it was a distraction made by Dex-Starr to invade Earth, until it was ultimately resolved by Krypto, Streaky, and Plastic Man. In a short \"The Goddess Must Be Crazy\", Supergirl trains with Wonder Woman in Paradise Island, until she is possessed by Felix Faust, to destroy the island. Film Superman film series A live action depiction of Supergirl first appears in the eponymous 1984 film starring Helen Slater as Supergirl.","Film Superman film series A live action depiction of Supergirl first appears in the eponymous 1984 film starring Helen Slater as Supergirl. The film is a spin-off from the Superman film series starring Christopher Reeve, to which it is connected by Marc McClure's character of Jimmy Olsen. DC Extended Universe Kara Zor-El / Linda Danvers / Supergirl exists within the DC Extended Universe, as she was referenced in Man of Steel when Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman discovers an empty pod within the Kryptonian scout spaceship.","DC Extended Universe Kara Zor-El / Linda Danvers / Supergirl exists within the DC Extended Universe, as she was referenced in Man of Steel when Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman discovers an empty pod within the Kryptonian scout spaceship. Though Zack Snyder confirmed in August 2018 that even though the character does exist, that pod was not intended for her. In August 2018, a film centered around the character was announced to be in development, with Oren Uziel hired as screenwriter for the project.","In August 2018, a film centered around the character was announced to be in development, with Oren Uziel hired as screenwriter for the project. The studio intends to hire a female director, with Reed Morano—who has expressed interest in the project—being its top choice. Filming was expected to start production in early 2020. Sasha Calle will play Supergirl for the DC Extended Universe in The Flash.","Sasha Calle will play Supergirl for the DC Extended Universe in The Flash. Animation Summer Glau voices the post-Crisis version of Kara Zor-El in Superman/Batman: Apocalypse, which is based on the Superman/Batman storyline \"The Supergirl from Krypton\". Despite this, it was confirmed by director Lauren Montgomery that Supergirl's name was removed from the title due to the much slower sales of the previous Wonder Woman animated movie, and the character was not permitted to appear on the cover in her trademark outfit.","Despite this, it was confirmed by director Lauren Montgomery that Supergirl's name was removed from the title due to the much slower sales of the previous Wonder Woman animated movie, and the character was not permitted to appear on the cover in her trademark outfit. Molly Quinn voices Supergirl in Superman: Unbound. Supergirl appears in Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League: Cosmic Clash, voiced by Jessica DiCicco. Video games Supergirl appears in DC Universe Online, voiced by Adriene Mishler.","Video games Supergirl appears in DC Universe Online, voiced by Adriene Mishler. In the villain campaign, the players help Doctor Psycho capture Supergirl using Kryptonite. In the hero campaign, the players fight Doctor Psycho to save Supergirl. Under the thrall of Brainiac, she must be defeated in the Fortress of Solitude: Power Core raid. Supergirl is unlockable in Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes, voiced by Bridget Hoffman. Supergirl makes a cameo appearance in the IOS version of Injustice: Gods Among Us as a support card.","Supergirl makes a cameo appearance in the IOS version of Injustice: Gods Among Us as a support card. Supergirl appears as a playable character in Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham, voiced by Kari Wahlgren. She is playable in her default variant which is designed after her appearance in The New 52 and in her Classic attire.","She is playable in her default variant which is designed after her appearance in The New 52 and in her Classic attire. Her Classic variant is unlocked in a VR Mission while her New 52 variant is unlocked in a Hub Quest in Nok where she requests players to defeat a number of enemies she accidentally releases from their cells. Supergirl appears as a playable character in Infinite Crisis, voiced by Camilla Luddington.","Supergirl appears as a playable character in Infinite Crisis, voiced by Camilla Luddington. Supergirl appears as a playable character and the central protagonist in Injustice 2 by NetherRealm Studios, the sequel to Injustice: Gods Among Us, voiced by Laura Bailey.","Supergirl appears as a playable character and the central protagonist in Injustice 2 by NetherRealm Studios, the sequel to Injustice: Gods Among Us, voiced by Laura Bailey. Here her origin is much like in the comics where she is sent along with her cousin Kal-El to Earth by her mother after Krypton is destroyed but on separate pods where hers veers off-course after sustaining significant damage, stranding her in space for many years until she lands on Earth, unaged.","Here her origin is much like in the comics where she is sent along with her cousin Kal-El to Earth by her mother after Krypton is destroyed but on separate pods where hers veers off-course after sustaining significant damage, stranding her in space for many years until she lands on Earth, unaged. When the main storyline starts, she is residing on Black Adam's kingdom of Khandaq, apparently under his and Wonder Woman's protection.","When the main storyline starts, she is residing on Black Adam's kingdom of Khandaq, apparently under his and Wonder Woman's protection. When Brainiac who was responsible for Krypton's destruction attacks, she, Wonder Woman, and Black Adam attempt to free Superman and the remaining members of the Regime, while being interrupted in their efforts by new Insurgency recruits Blue Beetle and Firestorm until Batman himself arrives and releases Superman, leading to a temporary alliance between the Regime and Insurgency against the alien warlord.","When Brainiac who was responsible for Krypton's destruction attacks, she, Wonder Woman, and Black Adam attempt to free Superman and the remaining members of the Regime, while being interrupted in their efforts by new Insurgency recruits Blue Beetle and Firestorm until Batman himself arrives and releases Superman, leading to a temporary alliance between the Regime and Insurgency against the alien warlord. Over the course of the story, she learns the truth about her cousin's tyranny and at the end of the game sides with Batman, Green Lantern and Flash in letting Brainiac live in order to restore the lost cities but is defeated.","Over the course of the story, she learns the truth about her cousin's tyranny and at the end of the game sides with Batman, Green Lantern and Flash in letting Brainiac live in order to restore the lost cities but is defeated. In Batman's ending, she laments her cousin's tyranny and sees him leave to be imprisoned in the Phantom Zone and is offered membership by Batman in his Justice League.","In Batman's ending, she laments her cousin's tyranny and sees him leave to be imprisoned in the Phantom Zone and is offered membership by Batman in his Justice League. In Superman's ending, she is imprisoned aboard Brainiac's ship and to her shock discovers her cousin has bonded with it and when she refuses his offer to join him in leading his new legion of imprisoned species. He attempts to coerce her by revealing a brainwashed Batman, who had also been captured, further shocking her.","He attempts to coerce her by revealing a brainwashed Batman, who had also been captured, further shocking her. Supergirl appears as a limited-distribution minifigure for the toys-to-life video game Lego Dimensions, with Kari Wahlgren reprising her role. She has the ability to transform between her classic and Red Lantern forms. Supergirl appears as a playable character in DC Unchained. Supergirl appears in the PSP version of Justice League Heroes. Supergirl appears as a playable character in the DC TV Super-Heroes DLC pack in Lego DC Super-Villains.","Supergirl appears as a playable character in the DC TV Super-Heroes DLC pack in Lego DC Super-Villains. See also Alternative versions of Supergirl Laurel Gand References External links DC Comics Pre-Crisis Supergirl Chronology Supergirl Characters created by Otto Binder Comics characters introduced in 1958 Comics characters introduced in 1959 DC Comics aliens DC Comics American superheroes DC Comics characters who can move at superhuman speeds DC Comics characters with accelerated healing DC Comics characters with superhuman strength DC Comics deities DC Comics female superheroes DC Comics film characters DC Comics television characters DC Comics extraterrestrial superheroes Female characters in television Fictional characters with superhuman senses Fictional actors Fictional extraterrestrial–human hybrids Fictional orphans Fictional photographers Fictional refugees Fictional reporters Fictional school counselors Fictional American secret agents Fictional waiting staff Kryptonians Superheroes who are adopted Vigilante characters in comics"],"string":"[\n \"Kara Zor-El, also known by her adoptive names of Linda Lee Danvers, Kara Kent, Linda Lang, and Kara Danvers, and the superhero name of Supergirl, is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. She was created by Otto Binder and designed by Al Plastino. Danvers first appeared in Action Comics #252 (May 1959)'s \\\"The Supergirl from Krypton\\\" story. Kara is the biological cousin of Kal-El, who went on to adopt the name of Clark Kent and the superhero Superman.\",\n \"Kara is the biological cousin of Kal-El, who went on to adopt the name of Clark Kent and the superhero Superman. During the 1980s and the revolution of the Modern Age of Comics, Superman editors believed the character's history had become too convoluted, thus killing Supergirl during the 1985 Crisis on Infinite Earths event and retconning her out of existence. DC Comics Senior Vice President Dan DiDio re-introduced the character in 2004 along with editor Eddie Berganza and writer Jeph Loeb, with her the Superman/Batman storyline \\\"The Supergirl from Krypton\\\".\",\n \"DC Comics Senior Vice President Dan DiDio re-introduced the character in 2004 along with editor Eddie Berganza and writer Jeph Loeb, with her the Superman/Batman storyline \\\"The Supergirl from Krypton\\\". As the current Supergirl, Kara stars in her own monthly comic book series. With DC's The New 52 relaunch, Kara, like most of the DC Universe, was revamped. DC relaunched the Supergirl comic in August 2016 as part of their DC Rebirth initiative.\",\n \"DC relaunched the Supergirl comic in August 2016 as part of their DC Rebirth initiative. In live-action, Supergirl appeared in the 1984 film based on her character and was portrayed by Helen Slater. She also appeared in the series Smallville, played by actress Laura Vandervoort. In 2015, the live-action Arrowverse series Supergirl debuted on CBS and then moved to The CW after the first season. Supergirl was portrayed by Melissa Benoist on the show and also appeared on other Arrowverse shows.\",\n \"Supergirl was portrayed by Melissa Benoist on the show and also appeared on other Arrowverse shows. Sasha Calle will appear as Supergirl in the upcoming DC Extended Universe film The Flash (2022). Publication history Early life Although Kara Zor-El was the first character to use the name \\\"Supergirl,\\\" DC Comics tested three different female versions of Superman prior to her debut. The first story to feature a female counterpart to Superman was \\\"Lois Lane – Superwoman,\\\" which was published in Action Comics #60 (May 1943).\",\n \"The first story to feature a female counterpart to Superman was \\\"Lois Lane – Superwoman,\\\" which was published in Action Comics #60 (May 1943). In the story, a hospitalized Lois Lane dreams she has gained superpowers thanks to a blood transfusion from the Man of Steel. She begins her own career as \\\"Superwoman\\\", complete with a version of Superman's costume.\",\n \"She begins her own career as \\\"Superwoman\\\", complete with a version of Superman's costume. In the Superboy #78 story entitled \\\"Claire Kent, Alias Super-Sister\\\", Superboy saves the life of an alien woman named Shar-La, who turns Superboy into a girl, in retaliation for his disparaging thoughts about women drivers which she picked up telepathically. In Smallville, Clark claims to be Claire Kent, an out-of-town relative who is staying with the Kents.\",\n \"In Smallville, Clark claims to be Claire Kent, an out-of-town relative who is staying with the Kents. When in costume, he appears as Superboy's sister, Super-Sister, and claims the two have exchanged places. Once Superboy has learned his lesson about feeling more respect for women, Shar-La reveals the episode to be a dream which she projected into Superboy's mind.\",\n \"Once Superboy has learned his lesson about feeling more respect for women, Shar-La reveals the episode to be a dream which she projected into Superboy's mind. In Superman #123 (August 1958), Jimmy Olsen uses a magic totem to wish a \\\"Super-Girl\\\" into existence as a companion and aid to Superman; however, the two frequently get in each other's way until she is fatally injured protecting Superman from a Kryptonite meteor. At her insistence, Jimmy wishes the dying girl out of existence.\",\n \"At her insistence, Jimmy wishes the dying girl out of existence. DC used this story to gauge public response to the concept of a completely new super-powered female counterpart to Superman. The Kara Zor-El version of Supergirl finally appeared in Action Comics #252 (May 1959). Otto Binder wrote and Al Plastino illustrated her début story, in which Kara was born and raised in Argo City (unnamed until later issues), a fragment of Krypton that survived destruction.\",\n \"Otto Binder wrote and Al Plastino illustrated her début story, in which Kara was born and raised in Argo City (unnamed until later issues), a fragment of Krypton that survived destruction. When the city is doomed by a meteor shower, Kara is sent to Earth by her parents, Zor-El and Alura (the latter unnamed until later issues), to be raised by her cousin Kal-El, known as Superman. Supergirl adopted the secret identity of an orphan \\\"Linda Lee\\\", and made Midvale Orphanage her home.\",\n \"Supergirl adopted the secret identity of an orphan \\\"Linda Lee\\\", and made Midvale Orphanage her home. Supergirl promised Superman that she would keep her existence on Earth a secret, so that he may use her as a \\\"secret weapon\\\", but that didn't stop Supergirl from exploring her new powers covertly. Action Comics #255 published reader's letters-of-comment to Supergirl's first appearance; she had allegedly generated a sizeable and mostly positive reaction.\",\n \"Action Comics #255 published reader's letters-of-comment to Supergirl's first appearance; she had allegedly generated a sizeable and mostly positive reaction. Supergirl, from her debut onwards, became a regular backup strip in Action Comics. She joined the Legion of Super-Heroes, like her cousin had done as a teenager, and in Action Comics #279 (July 1961) she was adopted by Fred and Edna Danvers, becoming \\\"Linda Lee Danvers\\\".\",\n \"She joined the Legion of Super-Heroes, like her cousin had done as a teenager, and in Action Comics #279 (July 1961) she was adopted by Fred and Edna Danvers, becoming \\\"Linda Lee Danvers\\\". Supergirl acted for three years as Superman's secret weapon, and her adventures during that time have been compared to contemporary developments in feminist thinking in work such as Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique.\",\n \"Supergirl acted for three years as Superman's secret weapon, and her adventures during that time have been compared to contemporary developments in feminist thinking in work such as Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique. She was at last introduced by her super-powered cousin to an unsuspecting world in Action Comics #285 (February 1962). During her first quarter of a century, Linda Danvers would have many professions, from student to student advisor, to actor, and even TV camera operator.\",\n \"During her first quarter of a century, Linda Danvers would have many professions, from student to student advisor, to actor, and even TV camera operator. She shared Action Comics with Superman until transferring to the lead in Adventure Comics at the end of the 1960s. In 1972 she finally moved to her own short-lived eponymous magazine, before DC merged its Supergirl, Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen titles into a single anthology title named The Superman Family. In 1982 Supergirl was relaunched into her own magazine.\",\n \"In 1982 Supergirl was relaunched into her own magazine. In 1982 Supergirl was relaunched into her own magazine. Death during Crisis on Infinite Earths In 1985, the maxi-series Crisis on Infinite Earths was conceived as a way to reduce DC continuity to a single universe in which all characters maintained a single history. Despite Supergirl's continued popularity and status as a central member of the \\\"Superman Family\\\", the editors at DC Comics and the creators of the maxi-series decided to kill Supergirl off during the Crisis.\",\n \"Despite Supergirl's continued popularity and status as a central member of the \\\"Superman Family\\\", the editors at DC Comics and the creators of the maxi-series decided to kill Supergirl off during the Crisis. According to Marv Wolfman, writer of Crisis on Infinite Earths: The idea of killing Supergirl was first conceived by DC's vice president/executive editor Dick Giordano, who lobbied for the death to DC's publishers.\",\n \"According to Marv Wolfman, writer of Crisis on Infinite Earths: The idea of killing Supergirl was first conceived by DC's vice president/executive editor Dick Giordano, who lobbied for the death to DC's publishers. He later said he has never had any regrets about this, explaining, \\\"Supergirl was created initially to take advantage of the high Superman sales and not much thought was put into her creation. She was created essentially as a female Superman.\",\n \"She was created essentially as a female Superman. She was created essentially as a female Superman. With time, writers and artists improved upon her execution, but she never did really add anything to the Superman mythos—at least not for me.\\\" The poor initial reception of the 1984 film Supergirl was also blamed by some sources.\",\n \"The poor initial reception of the 1984 film Supergirl was also blamed by some sources. In 1989, in the tale \\\"Christmas with the Super-Heroes\\\" the soul of Kara appears to Boston \\\"Deadman\\\" Brand, cheers him up, and then disappears from continuity until 2001 (see below).\",\n \"In 1989, in the tale \\\"Christmas with the Super-Heroes\\\" the soul of Kara appears to Boston \\\"Deadman\\\" Brand, cheers him up, and then disappears from continuity until 2001 (see below). Several characters unrelated to Superman soon took on the Supergirl persona, including the Matrix (a shapeshifting genetically engineered life-form that 'defaulted' as Supergirl), Linda Danvers (the result of Matrix merging with the dying Linda Danvers and becoming an Earth-bound angel of fire), and Cir-El (Superman's apparent daughter from a possible future).\",\n \"Several characters unrelated to Superman soon took on the Supergirl persona, including the Matrix (a shapeshifting genetically engineered life-form that 'defaulted' as Supergirl), Linda Danvers (the result of Matrix merging with the dying Linda Danvers and becoming an Earth-bound angel of fire), and Cir-El (Superman's apparent daughter from a possible future). A heroine resembling the Pre-Crisis Kara would later appear in Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #5, along with an entire army of Legionnaires gathered from alternate worlds, times, and realities, to battle the Time Trapper.\",\n \"A heroine resembling the Pre-Crisis Kara would later appear in Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #5, along with an entire army of Legionnaires gathered from alternate worlds, times, and realities, to battle the Time Trapper. Two Supergirls meet Prior to the post-Crisis introduction of Kara Zor-El into mainstream continuity, the pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El made an appearance in Peter David's Supergirl: Many Happy Returns.\",\n \"Two Supergirls meet Prior to the post-Crisis introduction of Kara Zor-El into mainstream continuity, the pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El made an appearance in Peter David's Supergirl: Many Happy Returns. The then-current Supergirl series, at the time starring Linda Danvers, was in danger of cancellation and Peter David thought a story arc involving Kara Zor-El would be enough to revitalize the series.\",\n \"The then-current Supergirl series, at the time starring Linda Danvers, was in danger of cancellation and Peter David thought a story arc involving Kara Zor-El would be enough to revitalize the series. In an interview with Cliff Biggers of Newsarama, David states: In the Linda Danvers' Supergirl series issues 49 and 50 (October and November 2000), the original dead Kara appears as Linda's \\\"guardian angel\\\".\",\n \"In an interview with Cliff Biggers of Newsarama, David states: In the Linda Danvers' Supergirl series issues 49 and 50 (October and November 2000), the original dead Kara appears as Linda's \\\"guardian angel\\\". Then in issues 75 to 80, \\\"Many Happy Returns\\\", a young Kara appears from an earlier time long before the Crisis.\",\n \"Then in issues 75 to 80, \\\"Many Happy Returns\\\", a young Kara appears from an earlier time long before the Crisis. The paradox becomes a moral crisis for Linda who tries to take her place as the Crisis sacrifice, living for years in a Silver Age universe where \\\"no one swears, the villains are always easy to defeat, and everything's very, very clean\\\", eventually marrying the Silver Age Superman and having a daughter with him, before she is forced to return to her universe by the Spectre when he reveals that her efforts to replace Kara as the sacrifice will not succeed.\",\n \"The paradox becomes a moral crisis for Linda who tries to take her place as the Crisis sacrifice, living for years in a Silver Age universe where \\\"no one swears, the villains are always easy to defeat, and everything's very, very clean\\\", eventually marrying the Silver Age Superman and having a daughter with him, before she is forced to return to her universe by the Spectre when he reveals that her efforts to replace Kara as the sacrifice will not succeed. This run was illustrated by Ed Benes who had also illustrated Gail Simone's Birds of Prey which had a similar whimsical camaraderie between its female leads.\",\n \"This run was illustrated by Ed Benes who had also illustrated Gail Simone's Birds of Prey which had a similar whimsical camaraderie between its female leads. Linda's inability to ultimately save Kara, coupled with the loss of her daughter, is so devastating that it ends her own career as Supergirl, Linda leaving a note for Superman where she explains that she feels that she has failed to live up to the standards of a true Supergirl and choosing to go somewhere she cannot be found.\",\n \"Linda's inability to ultimately save Kara, coupled with the loss of her daughter, is so devastating that it ends her own career as Supergirl, Linda leaving a note for Superman where she explains that she feels that she has failed to live up to the standards of a true Supergirl and choosing to go somewhere she cannot be found. This story arc is usually cited as one of the best Supergirl stories ever written. The series ended with issue 80.\",\n \"The series ended with issue 80. The series ended with issue 80. Revival After the launch of the Superman/Batman comic book series, executive editor Dan DiDio had been looking for a way to simplify the Supergirl character from her convoluted post-Crisis history; the simplest version, of course, was Superman's cousin. Jeph Loeb and editor Eddie Berganza found an opening to reintroduce the character following the conclusion of the first story arc of Superman/Batman.\",\n \"Jeph Loeb and editor Eddie Berganza found an opening to reintroduce the character following the conclusion of the first story arc of Superman/Batman. Loeb states: The modern version of Kara Zor-El made her debut in Superman/Batman #8 (2004). Kara takes the mantle of Supergirl at the conclusion of the storyline. The Supergirl comic book series would later be relaunched, now starring Kara Zor-El as \\\"The Girl of Steel\\\". The first arc of the new series was written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by Ian Churchill.\",\n \"The first arc of the new series was written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by Ian Churchill. Loeb would later describe the appeal of writing for Supergirl: As the character continued to be reinvented, steps towards regarding the iconic character were some of the most prominent changes. Artist Jamal Igle and editor Matt Idleson moved to transition the character away from red panties under her skirt to biker shorts, feeling such a change was a logical progression and \\\"more respectable.\\\"\",\n \"Artist Jamal Igle and editor Matt Idleson moved to transition the character away from red panties under her skirt to biker shorts, feeling such a change was a logical progression and \\\"more respectable.\\\" The New 52 In September 2011, DC Comics began The New 52, in which it canceled all of its monthly superhero titles and relaunched 52 new ones, wiping out most of its past continuity in the process.\",\n \"The New 52 In September 2011, DC Comics began The New 52, in which it canceled all of its monthly superhero titles and relaunched 52 new ones, wiping out most of its past continuity in the process. One of the new titles was a new Supergirl series (Volume 6) that featured a new origin for Kara and was published between 2011 and 2015.\",\n \"One of the new titles was a new Supergirl series (Volume 6) that featured a new origin for Kara and was published between 2011 and 2015. Artist Mahmud Asrar designed a new costume for the character which strongly deviated from her classic, \\\"cheerleader\\\" suit, a change which generated criticism from some readers. DC Rebirth The 2016 DC Comics title relaunch Rebirth incorporates several elements (such as the costume, the name, the setting, and some characters) from the Supergirl television series.\",\n \"DC Rebirth The 2016 DC Comics title relaunch Rebirth incorporates several elements (such as the costume, the name, the setting, and some characters) from the Supergirl television series. The DC Rebirth initiative undid the New 52's modern recreations, bringing DC's heroes back to their more classic iterations. Supergirl's new series (Volume 7) was titled Supergirl: Rebirth, written by Steven Orlando. The first arc was penciled by Brian Ching, who also redesigned Supergirl's costume in reference to a more classic look.\",\n \"The first arc was penciled by Brian Ching, who also redesigned Supergirl's costume in reference to a more classic look. In April 2018, it was announced that the title would be canceled after issue #20, only to be revived in August that year under a new creative team, with new writer Marc Andreyko and artist Kevin Maguire. The series ended with its 42nd issue.\",\n \"The series ended with its 42nd issue. The series ended with its 42nd issue. Future State: Kara Zor-El, Superwoman The Future State comics propose a possible future for Kara Zor-El, now an adult and having taken the alias of Superwoman. She leaves Earth to become a guardian of the Moon, which has become a refugee colony for aliens from the entire universe. The series was written by Marguerite Bennet and penciled by Marguerite Sauvage.\",\n \"The series was written by Marguerite Bennet and penciled by Marguerite Sauvage. Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow Under the Infinite Frontier brand, Kara's next series Woman of Tomorrow debuted in June 2021, written by Tom King and penciled by Brazilian artists Bilquis Evely and Mat Lopes. The arc introduces Supergirl to new character grounds as she begins the story as a young woman, celebrating her 21st birthday and helping a young alien in her quest for revenge.\",\n \"The arc introduces Supergirl to new character grounds as she begins the story as a young woman, celebrating her 21st birthday and helping a young alien in her quest for revenge. The \\\"mentor-mentee journey on revenge\\\" plot is, according to King, inspired by the original novel and both versions of True Grit. In this series, the creators paid homage to Linda Danvers, as Kara manifests flame wings and powers after taking a red kryptonite drug, in order to save her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon.\",\n \"In this series, the creators paid homage to Linda Danvers, as Kara manifests flame wings and powers after taking a red kryptonite drug, in order to save her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon. Fictional character biography Silver Age In her debut story, Kara Zor-El is the last survivor of Argo City of the planet Krypton.\",\n \"Fictional character biography Silver Age In her debut story, Kara Zor-El is the last survivor of Argo City of the planet Krypton. Although Argo, which had survived the explosion of the planet, drifted through space as a self-sustaining environment, the soil of the colony eventually turned into Kryptonite; and though Kara's father Zor-El placed lead sheeting above the ground to protect the citizens from radiation, meteorites pierced the sheeting, and the Kryptonians died of radiation poisoning instead of replacing the metal.\",\n \"Although Argo, which had survived the explosion of the planet, drifted through space as a self-sustaining environment, the soil of the colony eventually turned into Kryptonite; and though Kara's father Zor-El placed lead sheeting above the ground to protect the citizens from radiation, meteorites pierced the sheeting, and the Kryptonians died of radiation poisoning instead of replacing the metal. In Supergirl's subsequent backup feature in Action Comics drawn by artist Jim Mooney for ten years until 1968, Supergirl adopts the identity of Linda Lee, an orphan at Midvale Orphanage presided over by headmistress Miss Hart.\",\n \"In Supergirl's subsequent backup feature in Action Comics drawn by artist Jim Mooney for ten years until 1968, Supergirl adopts the identity of Linda Lee, an orphan at Midvale Orphanage presided over by headmistress Miss Hart. She disguises herself by hiding her blond hair beneath a brunette wig; Supergirl interacts with humans on a person-to-person basis performing good deeds and saving the world by helping one person at a time, and she also devises clever schemes as \\\"Superman's Secret Weapon,\\\" saving him many times and avoiding adoption before Superman can introduce her publicly.\",\n \"She disguises herself by hiding her blond hair beneath a brunette wig; Supergirl interacts with humans on a person-to-person basis performing good deeds and saving the world by helping one person at a time, and she also devises clever schemes as \\\"Superman's Secret Weapon,\\\" saving him many times and avoiding adoption before Superman can introduce her publicly. While temporarily powerless due to the scheming of Kandorian scientist Lesla-Lar, who is out to supplant her on Earth, Linda allows herself to be adopted by engineer and rocket scientist Fred Danvers and his wife, Edna.\",\n \"While temporarily powerless due to the scheming of Kandorian scientist Lesla-Lar, who is out to supplant her on Earth, Linda allows herself to be adopted by engineer and rocket scientist Fred Danvers and his wife, Edna. In time, she reveals her secret identity to her adoptive parents on the same day her cousin Superman finally introduces her to the world in the finale of then-DC's longest playing series ever (eight chapters) aptly called \\\"The World's Greatest Heroine\\\".\",\n \"In time, she reveals her secret identity to her adoptive parents on the same day her cousin Superman finally introduces her to the world in the finale of then-DC's longest playing series ever (eight chapters) aptly called \\\"The World's Greatest Heroine\\\". When frequent dreams about her parents being alive turn out to be real, she builds a machine aided by her engineer father's talent, and brings them both back alive from the \\\"Survival Zone\\\" where they had both teleported during Argo City's final moments.\",\n \"When frequent dreams about her parents being alive turn out to be real, she builds a machine aided by her engineer father's talent, and brings them both back alive from the \\\"Survival Zone\\\" where they had both teleported during Argo City's final moments. Zor-El and Allura eventually end up living in Kandor, and when the city in the bottle is enlarged, they both go on to live in Rokyn/New Krypton, where they have the sad duty of receiving her mortal remains after \\\"Crisis\\\" for burial.\",\n \"Zor-El and Allura eventually end up living in Kandor, and when the city in the bottle is enlarged, they both go on to live in Rokyn/New Krypton, where they have the sad duty of receiving her mortal remains after \\\"Crisis\\\" for burial. Graduating from high school in 1965, Linda Lee goes to college on a scholarship and stays in Stanhope College until she graduates in 1971.\",\n \"Graduating from high school in 1965, Linda Lee goes to college on a scholarship and stays in Stanhope College until she graduates in 1971. During this era, she is helped by her pet cat Streaky, her Super-Horse pet Comet, and befriends Lena Thorul, who had first appeared in the Lois Lane series. Kara is also a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, where she becomes close to Brainiac 5.\",\n \"Kara is also a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, where she becomes close to Brainiac 5. In addition, Linda has boyfriends from the orphanage (Richard \\\"Dick\\\" Malverne) and from Atlantis (Jerro the merboy). In 1967, Supergirl meets Batgirl for the first time in World's Finest Comics. Developing a strong friendship, the two characters teamed up many times again, as in Superman Family #171, or Adventure #381.\",\n \"Developing a strong friendship, the two characters teamed up many times again, as in Superman Family #171, or Adventure #381. In 1969, Supergirl left Action Comics and became a featured character in Adventure Comics beginning with issue #381 (June 1969). During the 1970s, Supergirl's costume changed frequently, as did her career in her civilian life.\",\n \"During the 1970s, Supergirl's costume changed frequently, as did her career in her civilian life. In her secret identity as Linda Lee Danvers, Kara Zor-El took a variety of jobs including graduate student in acting, television camera operator, and student counselor, and finally became an actress on the TV soap Secret Hearts. Bronze Age After long-time Superman family editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971, the character underwent revitalization under editor Joe Orlando and artist Mike Sekowsky.\",\n \"Bronze Age After long-time Superman family editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971, the character underwent revitalization under editor Joe Orlando and artist Mike Sekowsky. Wearing a series of new outfits, leaving her adopted foster home with the Danvers family, Linda goes on to San Francisco where she works for KSF-TV as a camera operator and develops a crush on her boss, Geoffrey Anderson. These stories introduced Supergirl's most memorable villain from this period: Lex Luthor's niece Nasthalthia, or Nasty.\",\n \"These stories introduced Supergirl's most memorable villain from this period: Lex Luthor's niece Nasthalthia, or Nasty. Nasty had made two appearances towards the end of Linda's college years, then pursued her to KSF-TV, trying to secure proof of her dual identity.\",\n \"Nasty had made two appearances towards the end of Linda's college years, then pursued her to KSF-TV, trying to secure proof of her dual identity. Supergirl starred in her first solo eponymous monthly series beginning in 1972 until October 1974, when her monthly title merged with Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane, and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen to produce a new title: then-highest DC selling series called The Superman Family, where she eventually became the steady lead story.\",\n \"Supergirl starred in her first solo eponymous monthly series beginning in 1972 until October 1974, when her monthly title merged with Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane, and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen to produce a new title: then-highest DC selling series called The Superman Family, where she eventually became the steady lead story. Linda worked as a student advisor at New Athens Experimental School, before leaving for New York to follow a career in acting with daytime soap Secret Hearts.\",\n \"Linda worked as a student advisor at New Athens Experimental School, before leaving for New York to follow a career in acting with daytime soap Secret Hearts. In 1982 Supergirl received a second monthly solo series titled The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl, relocating the character to Chicago as Linda became a mature student of Psychology. Industry legend, and former DC Publisher, Carmine Infantino provided the penciled art (Bob Oksner inked).\",\n \"Industry legend, and former DC Publisher, Carmine Infantino provided the penciled art (Bob Oksner inked). With issue 13 the title was revamped, with a new costume design (sporting a red headband) and the title shortened to just Supergirl. The series ran until sudden cancellation in 1984, only two months before the character's debut in a big-budget Hollywood film starring Helen Slater.\",\n \"The series ran until sudden cancellation in 1984, only two months before the character's debut in a big-budget Hollywood film starring Helen Slater. In the Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985), the greatest heroes from Earth-One, Earth-Two, Earth-Four, Earth-S, and Earth-X join forces in order to defeat the Anti-Monitor. When Superman comes face to face with the Anti-Monitor and is knocked unconscious, Supergirl rushes to save him before he is killed.\",\n \"When Superman comes face to face with the Anti-Monitor and is knocked unconscious, Supergirl rushes to save him before he is killed. She is able to fight him off long enough for Dr. Light to carry her cousin to a safe distance, but is killed by the Anti-Monitor. A public memorial service for Supergirl takes place in Chicago, where Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) delivers the eulogy. In her remarks, she states \\\"Kara is a hero. She will not be forgotten.\\\"\",\n \"She will not be forgotten.\\\" She will not be forgotten.\\\" Superman then gives his late cousin burial by taking her corpse to Rokyn/New Krypton to Zor-El and Allura. A Superman issue the next month reveals that Kara had experienced a premonition about her own passing. However, when the universe is rebooted, the timeline is altered. Kara Zor-El and all memory of her is erased from existence.\",\n \"Kara Zor-El and all memory of her is erased from existence. Echoes After these events, the soul of Kara Zor-El made another appearance in continuity three years later in a story titled \\\"Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot\\\" in Christmas with the Super-Heroes #2 (1989). Within the story, Boston \\\"Deadman\\\" Brand tries to feel the warmth of Christmas by possessing revelers' bodies.\",\n \"Within the story, Boston \\\"Deadman\\\" Brand tries to feel the warmth of Christmas by possessing revelers' bodies. Feeling guilty upon the realization that he has been stealing others' Christmases, he flies off feeling sorry for himself for being denied a reward after a year of helping people. A warmly dressed blonde woman approaches Brand, startling him.\",\n \"A warmly dressed blonde woman approaches Brand, startling him. Somehow seeing the normally invisible Brand, she converses with him, reminding him, She reminds Brand that even though he is dead, he is still human, and he should rejoice because it means his spirit is still alive. As the woman leaves, Brand asks her who she is, to which she replies, \\\"My name is Kara. Though I doubt that will mean anything to you.\\\"\",\n \"Though I doubt that will mean anything to you.\\\" The story, written by Alan Brennert and penciled by Dick Giordano, is dedicated to Otto Binder and Jim Mooney, adding: \\\"We still remember.\\\" Finally, the soul of Kara Zor-El appeared twice during Peter David's run, specifically in issues #48 and #49 when she appears before a defeated and imprisoned then-Supergirl, Linda Danvers from Earth, and comforts her.\",\n \"Finally, the soul of Kara Zor-El appeared twice during Peter David's run, specifically in issues #48 and #49 when she appears before a defeated and imprisoned then-Supergirl, Linda Danvers from Earth, and comforts her. Linda acknowledges she has been helped three times by her phantom-friend, and when she asks her name she is told by the smiling figure: \\\"I have gone by many names, but the one I am most fond of is: Kara!\\\"\",\n \"Linda acknowledges she has been helped three times by her phantom-friend, and when she asks her name she is told by the smiling figure: \\\"I have gone by many names, but the one I am most fond of is: Kara!\\\" Modern Age In 2004, Jeph Loeb reintroduced Kara Zor-El into post-Zero Hour (Birthright timeline) continuity during a storyline in the series Superman/Batman.\",\n \"Modern Age In 2004, Jeph Loeb reintroduced Kara Zor-El into post-Zero Hour (Birthright timeline) continuity during a storyline in the series Superman/Batman. She is the biological cousin of Superman, and although chronologically older than him, the ship in which she traveled to Earth was caught in a large green Kryptonite meteorite which held her in a state of suspended animation for much of the journey, making her have the appearance of a 16-year-old girl.\",\n \"She is the biological cousin of Superman, and although chronologically older than him, the ship in which she traveled to Earth was caught in a large green Kryptonite meteorite which held her in a state of suspended animation for much of the journey, making her have the appearance of a 16-year-old girl. Still, Supergirl sometimes saw Superman as a child, due to last carrying him as a baby. DC Comics relaunched the Supergirl, the first story arc of which was written by Loeb. showcases Supergirl on a journey of self-discovery.\",\n \"showcases Supergirl on a journey of self-discovery. showcases Supergirl on a journey of self-discovery. Along her journey, she encounters Power Girl (Kara Zor-El's counterpart from another universe), the Teen Titans, the Outsiders, the Justice League of America, and arch-villain Lex Luthor. During the company-wide crossover series Infinite Crisis (2005), a sequel to Crisis on Infinite Earths, Supergirl is transported to the 31st century, where she is revered as a member of the Superman family and joins the Legion of Super-Heroes.\",\n \"During the company-wide crossover series Infinite Crisis (2005), a sequel to Crisis on Infinite Earths, Supergirl is transported to the 31st century, where she is revered as a member of the Superman family and joins the Legion of Super-Heroes. DC Comics renamed the monthly series Legion of Super-Heroes to Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes. Beginning with issue #16.\",\n \"Beginning with issue #16. Beginning with issue #16. In the limited series 52, which chronicles the events that took place during the missing year after the end of Infinite Crisis, Donna Troy recalls the original Kara Zor-El and her sacrifice to save the universe. Supergirl returns to the 21st century during the course of 52.\",\n \"Supergirl returns to the 21st century during the course of 52. After briefly filling in for a temporarily depowered Superman as guardian of Metropolis, she assumes the identity of Flamebird to fight crime in the bottle city of Kandor with Power Girl as Nightwing in Greg Rucka's arc Supergirl: Kandor. In 2007, Supergirl appeared in the miniseries Amazons Attack! That same year, she joined the Teen Titans for five issues.\",\n \"That same year, she joined the Teen Titans for five issues. Conversations with other heroes who maintain secret identities lead Kara to the conclusion that she needs to make a deeper connection with human beings. She accepts Lana Lang's proposal to present her to the Daily Planet staff as \\\"Linda Lang\\\", Lana's teenaged niece.\",\n \"She accepts Lana Lang's proposal to present her to the Daily Planet staff as \\\"Linda Lang\\\", Lana's teenaged niece. In the 2008–2009 \\\"New Krypton\\\" story arc, in which Superman discovers and frees the real Kandor and a large number of its citizens, Supergirl is reunited with her father, Zor-El and mother, Alura, though Zor-El is killed by the villain Reactron.\",\n \"In the 2008–2009 \\\"New Krypton\\\" story arc, in which Superman discovers and frees the real Kandor and a large number of its citizens, Supergirl is reunited with her father, Zor-El and mother, Alura, though Zor-El is killed by the villain Reactron. When a planet is formed that the Kryptonians call New Krypton, Kara is torn between her life on Earth, and her obligation to her mother, eventually joining the New Krypton Science Guild.\",\n \"When a planet is formed that the Kryptonians call New Krypton, Kara is torn between her life on Earth, and her obligation to her mother, eventually joining the New Krypton Science Guild. Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2009 miniseries Justice League: Cry for Justice, and the 2009–2010 storyline \\\"Blackest Night\\\".\",\n \"Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2009 miniseries Justice League: Cry for Justice, and the 2009–2010 storyline \\\"Blackest Night\\\". The New Krypton storyline would later be resolved in the \\\"World of New Krypton\\\", \\\"Superman: Last Stand of New Krypton\\\", \\\"War of the Supermen\\\" storylines, resulting in the destruction of New Krypton and seeing Supergirl mourn her people.\",\n \"The New Krypton storyline would later be resolved in the \\\"World of New Krypton\\\", \\\"Superman: Last Stand of New Krypton\\\", \\\"War of the Supermen\\\" storylines, resulting in the destruction of New Krypton and seeing Supergirl mourn her people. Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2010 \\\"Brightest Day\\\" storyline, the follow up to \\\"Blackest Night\\\"., where she joins the Justice League along with Jesse Quick & Jade.\",\n \"Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2010 \\\"Brightest Day\\\" storyline, the follow up to \\\"Blackest Night\\\"., where she joins the Justice League along with Jesse Quick & Jade. The New 52 In this continuity, Kara's ship lands in Smallville, Kansas but hurtles through the Earth and emerges in Siberia. Kara has no memory of the destruction of Krypton, and believes it is only three days since her spacecraft was launched.\",\n \"Kara has no memory of the destruction of Krypton, and believes it is only three days since her spacecraft was launched. She learns the truth about Krypton's destruction from Superman, and later journeys through a wormhole to Argo City, which she finds in orbit around a blue sun. She finds the city in ruins, with no explanation of how it met that fate, and is attacked by a female Worldkiller named Reign before the city plummets into the sun.\",\n \"She finds the city in ruins, with no explanation of how it met that fate, and is attacked by a female Worldkiller named Reign before the city plummets into the sun. When Reign and her fellow Worldkiller plan to enslave the Earth, Supergirl returns there to defeat them, and thus adopts Earth as her new home. After several battles with supervillains, including the Worldkillers, superweapons of Kryptonian design, she accepts Krypton's destruction, but continues to grapple with her grief.\",\n \"After several battles with supervillains, including the Worldkillers, superweapons of Kryptonian design, she accepts Krypton's destruction, but continues to grapple with her grief. Her desire to restore Krypton results in her being manipulated into nearly destroying the Earth by another Kryptonian whom she falls in love with. Upon realizing his manipulation, she kills him by driving Kryptonite through his heart, and succumbs to Kryptonite poisoning. Following her poisoning, Supergirl departs the Earth to die alone.\",\n \"Following her poisoning, Supergirl departs the Earth to die alone. While adrift in interstellar space, she encounters a planet under attack by monsters, and quickly intervenes to save them, unaware that the entire planet is a trap by Brainiac. She is captured and restrained by Cyborg Superman, but after a struggle, manages to escape both Brainiac and Cyborg Superman.\",\n \"She is captured and restrained by Cyborg Superman, but after a struggle, manages to escape both Brainiac and Cyborg Superman. Returning to Earth, she is sent into the past by the Oracle alongside Superman and Superboy, where she ensures that a resurrected H'el cannot save Krypton, and sacrifices the planet and her family in order to save the universe. Back on Earth, she encounters the assassin Lobo.\",\n \"Back on Earth, she encounters the assassin Lobo. Back on Earth, she encounters the assassin Lobo. Initially eager for a peaceful resolution, seeing a kind of kinship with him in their both being lone survivors of their respective worlds (although not truly aware of Lobo's circumstances), Kara's encounter with the Czarnian would reveal deep mental wounds, resulting in the unleashing of her rage and transformation into a Red Lantern.\",\n \"Initially eager for a peaceful resolution, seeing a kind of kinship with him in their both being lone survivors of their respective worlds (although not truly aware of Lobo's circumstances), Kara's encounter with the Czarnian would reveal deep mental wounds, resulting in the unleashing of her rage and transformation into a Red Lantern. Driven insane by rage, Kara wanders space, attacking everyone in her way, until captured by several Green Lanterns and brought to Hal Jordan.\",\n \"Driven insane by rage, Kara wanders space, attacking everyone in her way, until captured by several Green Lanterns and brought to Hal Jordan. Immediately recognizing a Kryptonian and unable to remove the power ring without killing her, he brings her to Guy Gardner, the leader of one of the two Red Lantern factions, who manages to restore her sanity.\",\n \"Immediately recognizing a Kryptonian and unable to remove the power ring without killing her, he brings her to Guy Gardner, the leader of one of the two Red Lantern factions, who manages to restore her sanity. After some time under Guy Gardner's tutelage and protecting the galaxy as a Red Lantern, after being discharged from the Red Lantern Corps (because Guy did not want for her to die needlessly against Atrocitus' splinter group), on her way back to Earth, Kara encounters the leader of the Worldkillers, who are revealed to be parasitic suits of armor.\",\n \"After some time under Guy Gardner's tutelage and protecting the galaxy as a Red Lantern, after being discharged from the Red Lantern Corps (because Guy did not want for her to die needlessly against Atrocitus' splinter group), on her way back to Earth, Kara encounters the leader of the Worldkillers, who are revealed to be parasitic suits of armor. He attempts to assimilate Kara as his host, but she voluntarily subjects herself to Kryptonite poisoning in order to stop him, and eventually flies into the Sun and removes her power ring, killing her and removing him from her body.\",\n \"He attempts to assimilate Kara as his host, but she voluntarily subjects herself to Kryptonite poisoning in order to stop him, and eventually flies into the Sun and removes her power ring, killing her and removing him from her body. However, Kara is revealed to be immortal while in the Sun's core, and is restored to life without the power ring or any Kryptonite poisoning, immediately destroying the Worldkiller. She later helps Guy against Atrocitus and his Red Lantern splinter group.\",\n \"She later helps Guy against Atrocitus and his Red Lantern splinter group. Convergence and return of the Pre-Crisis version During the Convergence story arc, the original Kara Zor-El who had sacrificed her life during Crisis on Infinite Earths makes an appearance on the amalgamated planet of Telos.\",\n \"Convergence and return of the Pre-Crisis version During the Convergence story arc, the original Kara Zor-El who had sacrificed her life during Crisis on Infinite Earths makes an appearance on the amalgamated planet of Telos. At the end of the saga she volunteers herself to once again fight the Anti-Monitor but this time, with the help of her timeline's Barry Allen, the Pre-Flashpoint Superman (in tow with his pregnant wife, Lois Lane), and a repentant Parallax (Zero Hour Hal Jordan), vows to defeat him for the sake of the multiverse's continued existence.\",\n \"At the end of the saga she volunteers herself to once again fight the Anti-Monitor but this time, with the help of her timeline's Barry Allen, the Pre-Flashpoint Superman (in tow with his pregnant wife, Lois Lane), and a repentant Parallax (Zero Hour Hal Jordan), vows to defeat him for the sake of the multiverse's continued existence. Without it being seen, those left on Telos discover the group was successful and all previous timelines (with the mysterious exception of the pre-Flashpoint/pre-New 52 DC universe) from DC history had been re-established, though the fate of the original Kara Zor-El and her fellows went unmentioned.\",\n \"Without it being seen, those left on Telos discover the group was successful and all previous timelines (with the mysterious exception of the pre-Flashpoint/pre-New 52 DC universe) from DC history had been re-established, though the fate of the original Kara Zor-El and her fellows went unmentioned. A few more details of the battle against the Anti-Monitor are later revealed during the New 52 comic mini-series (leading into DC's Rebirth event).\",\n \"A few more details of the battle against the Anti-Monitor are later revealed during the New 52 comic mini-series (leading into DC's Rebirth event). After the defeat of Anti-Monitor, Pre-New 52 Clark and Lois decide to start life anew in the closest universe they can find (mysteriously yet unable to see their old universe even though the rest of the multiverse had been restored) while Pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El, along with her contemporary Barry Allen and Zero Hour Parallax/Hal Jordan, decide to find their place in the universe and go off to do so.\",\n \"After the defeat of Anti-Monitor, Pre-New 52 Clark and Lois decide to start life anew in the closest universe they can find (mysteriously yet unable to see their old universe even though the rest of the multiverse had been restored) while Pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El, along with her contemporary Barry Allen and Zero Hour Parallax/Hal Jordan, decide to find their place in the universe and go off to do so. Her fate as of that story arc is yet to be revealed.\",\n \"Her fate as of that story arc is yet to be revealed. DC Rebirth After the events that led to the death of the New 52 version of Superman, 16-year-old Kara lives in National City with her adoptive parents, D.E.O. agents Jeremiah and Eliza Danvers, where she attends high school and works with the agency as led by Cameron Chase. As part of her civilian identity, Kara receives special glasses that darken her blond hair when posing as Kara Danvers.\",\n \"As part of her civilian identity, Kara receives special glasses that darken her blond hair when posing as Kara Danvers. Kara also goes on an internship at Cat Grant's CATCO alongside Ben Rubel, whom she befriends. In her opening arc \\\"The Reign of the Cyborg Supermen\\\", Kara discovers that the cyborg Zor-El, whom she had battled in her New 52 title, is still active and has rebuilt other Kryptonians (her mother Alura included), planning to take over Earth.\",\n \"In her opening arc \\\"The Reign of the Cyborg Supermen\\\", Kara discovers that the cyborg Zor-El, whom she had battled in her New 52 title, is still active and has rebuilt other Kryptonians (her mother Alura included), planning to take over Earth. Supergirl defeats them but vows to help her father regardless of his actions. After National City discovers Supergirl has kept Zor-El's \\\"living\\\" status a secret, they become untrustful of her.\",\n \"After National City discovers Supergirl has kept Zor-El's \\\"living\\\" status a secret, they become untrustful of her. Director Bones takes advantage of the heroine's impopularity and, after taking control of the D.E.O., sends villains in an attempt to bring Kara down. She defeats all of them and regains trust from National City with Ben's help.\",\n \"She defeats all of them and regains trust from National City with Ben's help. The Supergirl Who Laughs Kara is later infected by The Batman Who Laughs toxin, causing her to turn evil and joining other infected as part of Laughs Secret Six before later being cured. She is fired from CatCo by Cat Grant and starts working at S.T.A.R. Labs. Woman of Tomorrow Journeying throughout the universe with Krypto, Kara celebrates her 21st birthday alone on a distant planet.\",\n \"Woman of Tomorrow Journeying throughout the universe with Krypto, Kara celebrates her 21st birthday alone on a distant planet. Drunk in a bar, she is approached by a little girl named Ruthye and is asked to kill Krem (her father's murderer) in vengeance. Supergirl refuses but, when she is about to leave the planet, Krem attacks and severely wounds both her and Krypto, fleeing in Kara's ship.\",\n \"Supergirl refuses but, when she is about to leave the planet, Krem attacks and severely wounds both her and Krypto, fleeing in Kara's ship. Kara begins her journey alongside Ruthye and, powerless, saves her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon by taking a red kryptonite drug which causes her to manifest flame wings. Powers and abilities Like all Kryptonians under a yellow sun, the current version of Kara Zor-El possesses virtually unlimited strength, stamina, and durability.\",\n \"Powers and abilities Like all Kryptonians under a yellow sun, the current version of Kara Zor-El possesses virtually unlimited strength, stamina, and durability. She is able to fly and with super speed that she can also use on foot, similar to Superman and The Flash. Also like Superman, Supergirl possesses super senses, super-breath, and freeze breathe, as well as multiple forms of supervision (including X-Ray, Infrared, Telescopic, and Microscopic).\",\n \"Also like Superman, Supergirl possesses super senses, super-breath, and freeze breathe, as well as multiple forms of supervision (including X-Ray, Infrared, Telescopic, and Microscopic). Kara also has a bio-electric aura that enhances her near invulnerability and also protects her skin and her costume from dirt and tear; as such, Kara is perpetually clean. The Sun also provides Kara with a longer lifespan than that of a human being, to the point that she is effectively a biological immortal.\",\n \"The Sun also provides Kara with a longer lifespan than that of a human being, to the point that she is effectively a biological immortal. Kara doesn't require food, water, or sleep to survive. She is also immune to most diseases, mental and physical, and would require a very strong strain to have a chance at affecting her. In the rare instances that Kara is harmed by someone matching her strength or by the use of one of her weaknesses, she can heal almost instantaneously.\",\n \"In the rare instances that Kara is harmed by someone matching her strength or by the use of one of her weaknesses, she can heal almost instantaneously. Her power surpasses most other beings, though she can be overpowered by those who rival her strength such as Black Adam, Darkseid, Despero, Doomsday, Bizarro, Wonder Woman, and Superman. In reality, Kara is actually older than her cousin, Clark, and spent time on Krypton before its destruction.\",\n \"In reality, Kara is actually older than her cousin, Clark, and spent time on Krypton before its destruction. As such (unlike Superman), she possesses memories of Kryptonian culture as well as her cousin's parents. Continued exposure to a yellow Sun will slowly increase abilities. Many characters in the DC Universe have noted that Supergirl appears, at times, to be even more powerful than Superman himself.\",\n \"Many characters in the DC Universe have noted that Supergirl appears, at times, to be even more powerful than Superman himself. In answer to this, Superman states that this is because he has spent his entire life subconsciously suppressing his full powers in order to avoid hurting others, having been absorbing solar radiation since his infancy. Kara, not having such practice or experience, simply uses the full magnitude of her powers.\",\n \"Kara, not having such practice or experience, simply uses the full magnitude of her powers. Abilities Unlike her cousin, Kara was taught to fight in Krypton as part of her tests, and at the Crucible Academy, being adept at various Kryptonian fighting styles like Klurkor and Torquasm Rao. Supergirl also learned the art of Bagua under I-Ching's instructions. She practiced how to manipulate her Chi or Qi in order to gain better control of her powers due to them becoming overwhelmed after her conflict with the Fatal Five.\",\n \"She practiced how to manipulate her Chi or Qi in order to gain better control of her powers due to them becoming overwhelmed after her conflict with the Fatal Five. Superman recommended guardianship with I-Ching to Supergirl first. In addition to training in Krypton, Kara was trained by Batman in advanced martial arts and trained with the Amazons in Themyscira in unarmed and armed combat, Amazonas martial arts, fencing, Shield handling, and other Amazon weapons. She trained with Wonder Woman and Artemis extensively.\",\n \"She trained with Wonder Woman and Artemis extensively. She trained with Wonder Woman and Artemis extensively. Other versions There are numerous alternate versions of Supergirl. The most notable is Power Girl (real name Kara Zor-L, also known as Karen Starr) who first appeared in All Star Comics #58 (January/February 1976). Power Girl is the Earth-Two counterpart of Supergirl and the first cousin of Kal-L, Superman of the pre-Crisis Earth-Two. The infant Power Girl's parents enabled her to escape the destruction of Krypton.\",\n \"The infant Power Girl's parents enabled her to escape the destruction of Krypton. Although she left the planet at the same time that Superman did, her ship took much longer to reach Earth-Two. She has superhuman strength and the ability to fly and is the first chairwoman of the Justice Society of America. She sports a bob of blond hair; wears a distinctive white, red, and blue costume; and has an aggressive fighting style.\",\n \"She sports a bob of blond hair; wears a distinctive white, red, and blue costume; and has an aggressive fighting style. Throughout her early appearances in All Star Comics, she is often at odds with Wildcat because his penchant for talking to her as if she were an ordinary human female rather than a superpowered Kryptonian annoys her. She also fought alongside the Sovereign Seven team, replacing Rampart after his death though that series is not considered to be part of canon in the DC universe.\",\n \"She also fought alongside the Sovereign Seven team, replacing Rampart after his death though that series is not considered to be part of canon in the DC universe. The 1985 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths eliminated Earth-Two, causing her origin to change; she became the granddaughter of the Atlantean sorcerer Arion. However, story events culminating in the 2005–2006 Infinite Crisis limited series restored her status as a refugee from the Krypton of the destroyed pre-Crisis Earth-Two universe.\",\n \"However, story events culminating in the 2005–2006 Infinite Crisis limited series restored her status as a refugee from the Krypton of the destroyed pre-Crisis Earth-Two universe. Like the original Kara's Streaky, Power Girl has a cat, featured in a story by Amanda Conner in Wonder Woman #600. Reception This version of Supergirl is ranked as the 153rd-greatest comic book character of all time by Wizard magazine.\",\n \"Reception This version of Supergirl is ranked as the 153rd-greatest comic book character of all time by Wizard magazine. IGN also ranked this version of Supergirl as the 94th-greatest comic book superhero, stating \\\"for a character born of the Silver Age that saw everything from a Super Baby to a Super Monkey, Kara Zor-El grew into something much more than simply another marketing ploy to slap an 'S' on.\\\"\",\n \"IGN also ranked this version of Supergirl as the 94th-greatest comic book superhero, stating \\\"for a character born of the Silver Age that saw everything from a Super Baby to a Super Monkey, Kara Zor-El grew into something much more than simply another marketing ploy to slap an 'S' on.\\\" In 2013 IGN ranked Supergirl as the 17th-greatest DC comic superhero, stating \\\"she was an early example of a female sidekick developing a large fanbase in her own right\\\", and \\\"Supergirl has been one of DC's most powerful heroes, and a standard to hold other female heroes against.\\\"\",\n \"In 2013 IGN ranked Supergirl as the 17th-greatest DC comic superhero, stating \\\"she was an early example of a female sidekick developing a large fanbase in her own right\\\", and \\\"Supergirl has been one of DC's most powerful heroes, and a standard to hold other female heroes against.\\\" Appearances Pre-Crisis 1959 to 1969: Action Comics #252 to #376. 1969 to 1972: Adventure Comics #381 to #424. 1972 to 1974: Supergirl #1 to #10.\",\n \"1972 to 1974: Supergirl #1 to #10. 1974 to 1982: Her comic merges with Jimmy Olsen's and Lois Lane's to become Superman Family #164 to #222. 1982 to 1984: The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl #1 to #13, Supergirl (vol. 2) #14 to #23. 2015: Convergence Kara Zor-El appeared in over 750 stories published by DC from 1959 to 1985.\",\n \"2015: Convergence Kara Zor-El appeared in over 750 stories published by DC from 1959 to 1985. Post-Crisis 2004 to 2005: Superman/Batman #8 to #13 and #19 2005 to 2011: Supergirl (vol. 5) #0 to #67 2006 to 2008: Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes (Legion of Super-Heroes vol. 5) #16 to #37 2007: Action Comics #850 2008: Final Crisis 2011 to 2015: New 52: Supergirl (vol.\",\n \"5) #16 to #37 2007: Action Comics #850 2008: Final Crisis 2011 to 2015: New 52: Supergirl (vol. 6) #1 to #40 2016 to current: Rebirth: Supergirl (vol. 7) #1 to current Kara Zor-El also appears as a supporting character in several issues of other DC Comics, including Superman, Action Comics, Teen Titans, Amazons Attack, World War III, and Wonder Girl.\",\n \"7) #1 to current Kara Zor-El also appears as a supporting character in several issues of other DC Comics, including Superman, Action Comics, Teen Titans, Amazons Attack, World War III, and Wonder Girl. She has also appeared in many issues of Superman, Action Comics, and Superman New Krypton starting with the World Without Superman event in 2009, and continuing with the World Against Superman event going into 2010. Collected editions Listed in chronological order.\",\n \"Collected editions Listed in chronological order. Collected editions Listed in chronological order. All ages titles are not in continuity with the original or modern Kara. In other media Television Live-action Smallville Prior to the seventh season (2007–2008) of the WB/CW show Smallville where she is introduced into the cast and is portrayed by Laura Vandervoort, a woman claiming to be Kara (portrayed by Adrianne Palicki) is briefly introduced in the season 3 finale.\",\n \"In other media Television Live-action Smallville Prior to the seventh season (2007–2008) of the WB/CW show Smallville where she is introduced into the cast and is portrayed by Laura Vandervoort, a woman claiming to be Kara (portrayed by Adrianne Palicki) is briefly introduced in the season 3 finale. It is later revealed her real name is Lindsey Harrison, and had been given false memories and powers by the artificial intelligence of Clark Kent's (Tom Welling) father Jor-El as part of a series of tests.\",\n \"It is later revealed her real name is Lindsey Harrison, and had been given false memories and powers by the artificial intelligence of Clark Kent's (Tom Welling) father Jor-El as part of a series of tests. Vandervoort portrays the real Kara, Clark's cousin whose spaceship had been trapped in stasis until the events of the season 6 finale. Much of season 7 is concerned with Kara's attempts to adjust to life on Earth, especially after learning of Krypton's destruction.\",\n \"Much of season 7 is concerned with Kara's attempts to adjust to life on Earth, especially after learning of Krypton's destruction. Her storyline sees her simultaneously become the object of Lex Luthor's (Michael Rosenbaum) obsessions and Jimmy Olsen's (Aaron Ashmore) affections, suffer a bout of amnesia, discover her father's (Christopher Heyerdahl) sinister motives and become a target of evil android Brainiac (James Marsters). The season finale sees Kara become trapped in the Phantom Zone.\",\n \"The season finale sees Kara become trapped in the Phantom Zone. Starting with season 8, Vandervoort ceases to feature as a series regular, but reprises the role three more times. In her first guest appearance, \\\"Bloodline,\\\" Kara is freed from the Phantom Zone and later departs Clark's hometown of Smallville to search for Kandor, her birthplace, as it is rumored to have survived their home planet's destruction.\",\n \"In her first guest appearance, \\\"Bloodline,\\\" Kara is freed from the Phantom Zone and later departs Clark's hometown of Smallville to search for Kandor, her birthplace, as it is rumored to have survived their home planet's destruction. She appears again in the season 10 episode \\\"Supergirl\\\", in which she formally adopts her superhero moniker. Her off-screen adventures are alluded to thereafter.\",\n \"Her off-screen adventures are alluded to thereafter. Her off-screen adventures are alluded to thereafter. Vandervoort makes a final appearance in the show's penultimate episode, \\\"Prophecy\\\", in which she helps Green Arrow (Justin Hartley) locate the \\\"Bow of Orion\\\" to use against Darkseid. She is then called to the Fortress of Solitude, where she learns from Jor-El that her job on Earth is done. Using a Legion of Super-Heroes flight ring, she travels to the future to seek her own destiny.\",\n \"Using a Legion of Super-Heroes flight ring, she travels to the future to seek her own destiny. The Season Eleven comic book continuation of the show later depicts Kara's continued story in the 31st century, subsequent return to the present and joining the Justice League. Arrowverse In September 2014, a 22-episode television series centered around Supergirl was in development at Warner Bros. Television, set to premiere on CBS with a January 2015 air date. Melissa Benoist was cast as the titular character.\",\n \"Melissa Benoist was cast as the titular character. Melissa Benoist was cast as the titular character. In May 2016, the series moved to The CW and was later integrated into the Arrowverse, a shared universe consisting of shows including Arrow, The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow. In the series, Kara Zor-El was sent to Earth to protect her cousin Kal-El, following her homeworld Krypton's destruction. However, she is knocked into the Phantom Zone, where she is stranded for 24 years.\",\n \"However, she is knocked into the Phantom Zone, where she is stranded for 24 years. She eventually crash lands on Earth and is found by her already grown-up cousin Kal, now known to the world as the iconic superhero \\\"Superman\\\". Superman brings Kara into the custody of Jeremiah Danvers, director of the Department of Extranormal Operations (D.E.O. ), and his daughter Alex. Growing up, Kara struggles to maintain her Kryptonian abilities as well as balancing her relationship with her adoptive sister.\",\n \"Growing up, Kara struggles to maintain her Kryptonian abilities as well as balancing her relationship with her adoptive sister. Eventually, the two bond when Kara's powers are exposed. However, Jeremiah decides it's best to isolate her abilities. As an adult, Kara is forced to use her powers again when her sister's plane almost crashes. She is later dubbed \\\"Supergirl\\\" by the media and dons a costume like her cousin.\",\n \"She is later dubbed \\\"Supergirl\\\" by the media and dons a costume like her cousin. Kara decides to use her abilities to fight alien invaders such as Kara's aunt Astra and her husband Non, Mon-El's rogue parents, the Worldkiller Reign, anti-alien activist Ben Lockwood, and later the shadowy organization Leviathan, with the help of her sister Alex, now an agent of the D.E.O., her best friend and tech-expert Winn Schott, last of the Green Martians J'onn J'onzz / Martian Manhunter, and Kal's best friend Jimmy Olsen.\",\n \"Kara decides to use her abilities to fight alien invaders such as Kara's aunt Astra and her husband Non, Mon-El's rogue parents, the Worldkiller Reign, anti-alien activist Ben Lockwood, and later the shadowy organization Leviathan, with the help of her sister Alex, now an agent of the D.E.O., her best friend and tech-expert Winn Schott, last of the Green Martians J'onn J'onzz / Martian Manhunter, and Kal's best friend Jimmy Olsen. She is later joined by Lex Luthor's sister Lena, Prince of Daxam Mon-El, former Legion of Superheroes member Querl \\\"Brainy\\\" Dox / Brainiac 5, Nia Nal / Dreamer, James' younger sister Kelly, and reporter Willam Dey face against these rival forces.\",\n \"She is later joined by Lex Luthor's sister Lena, Prince of Daxam Mon-El, former Legion of Superheroes member Querl \\\"Brainy\\\" Dox / Brainiac 5, Nia Nal / Dreamer, James' younger sister Kelly, and reporter Willam Dey face against these rival forces. After joining the Arrowverse, which contain annual crossover, Kara assists Barry Allen, Oliver Queen and the Legends of Tomorrow against threats on their designated earth \\\"Earth-1\\\" while Kara’s is designated as \\\"Earth-38.\",\n \"After joining the Arrowverse, which contain annual crossover, Kara assists Barry Allen, Oliver Queen and the Legends of Tomorrow against threats on their designated earth \\\"Earth-1\\\" while Kara’s is designated as \\\"Earth-38. Later, Kara is selected by The Monitor as the Paragon of Hope to participate in the coming crisis and fight against the Anti-Monitor, whose goal is to destroy the multiverse. After doing so, the Paragons are sent to the Vanishing Point where Oliver, now a Spectre, helps them escape.\",\n \"After doing so, the Paragons are sent to the Vanishing Point where Oliver, now a Spectre, helps them escape. The Paragons appear at the dawn of time in the anti-matter universe where they have their final confrontation with the Anti-Monitor. Eventually, Oliver sacrifices himself to kill the Anti-Monitor, and as a result, a new multiverse is born with Earth-38 and Earth-1 merged into \\\"Earth-Prime\\\". Following the crisis, Kara is forced to deal the after-effects of Crisis which include working with Lex, now owning the D.E.O.\",\n \"Following the crisis, Kara is forced to deal the after-effects of Crisis which include working with Lex, now owning the D.E.O. while Leviathan continue their covert operations under Gamemnae. The sixth season sees Kara and her allies expose Lex's crimes, but are then forced to deal with Nyxlygsptlnz, a fifth-dimensional imp who tricked the heroes into releasing her from the Phantom Zone.\",\n \"The sixth season sees Kara and her allies expose Lex's crimes, but are then forced to deal with Nyxlygsptlnz, a fifth-dimensional imp who tricked the heroes into releasing her from the Phantom Zone. Eventually Nyxlygsptlnz joins forces with Lex Luthor and the two kill William, but Kara's assembled allies are able to defeat the two, culminating in Lex and Nyxlygsptlnz being trapped in the Phantom Zone when one of their own plans backfires.\",\n \"Eventually Nyxlygsptlnz joins forces with Lex Luthor and the two kill William, but Kara's assembled allies are able to defeat the two, culminating in Lex and Nyxlygsptlnz being trapped in the Phantom Zone when one of their own plans backfires. The series concludes with Kara revealing her dual identity so that she can live a full life as one person. Animation DC Nation Shorts Supergirl appears with Batgirl and Wonder Girl in Super Best Friends Forever, voiced by Nicole Sullivan.\",\n \"Animation DC Nation Shorts Supergirl appears with Batgirl and Wonder Girl in Super Best Friends Forever, voiced by Nicole Sullivan. DC Super Hero Girls Supergirl appears as a central protagonist in the web series DC Super Hero Girls voiced by Anais Fairweather, and is a student at Super Hero High, is very kind and caring and extremely powerful but she's also very clumsy. She also appears as a central protagonist in the 2019 TV series, with Nicole Sullivan reprising her role from the Super Best Friends Forever shorts.\",\n \"She also appears as a central protagonist in the 2019 TV series, with Nicole Sullivan reprising her role from the Super Best Friends Forever shorts. In this version, she is also a rebel and is known as the \\\"cool kid\\\" in school. She may be tough but she can easily express her emotions and is very open-minded as well. She can be a cool friend and a helpful one, but she can also be jealous sometimes and she dislikes her cousin's prominence.\",\n \"She can be a cool friend and a helpful one, but she can also be jealous sometimes and she dislikes her cousin's prominence. Justice League Action Supergirl appears in Justice League Action, voiced by Joanne Spracklen. She has the appearance of a wide-eyed human teenager with blonde hair and wears her traditional costume except that it has thigh-high boots and a pleated skirt. As a person, she is youthful, responsible, and shows much affection for her cousin Superman.\",\n \"As a person, she is youthful, responsible, and shows much affection for her cousin Superman. In \\\"Party Animal\\\", she appears as a cameo at this Christmas party with the Justice League. In \\\"Keeping up with the Kryptonians\\\", Supergirl becomes a star of the popular reality show \\\"That's So Kara\\\", and Superman a Kasnian who rules from one place to another on Earth, all being a reality caused by Mister Mxyzptlk.\",\n \"In \\\"Keeping up with the Kryptonians\\\", Supergirl becomes a star of the popular reality show \\\"That's So Kara\\\", and Superman a Kasnian who rules from one place to another on Earth, all being a reality caused by Mister Mxyzptlk. In \\\"Unleashed\\\", Supergirl accompanies Justice League in stopping Red Lantern Corps, unaware that it was a distraction made by Dex-Starr to invade Earth, until it was ultimately resolved by Krypto, Streaky, and Plastic Man.\",\n \"In \\\"Unleashed\\\", Supergirl accompanies Justice League in stopping Red Lantern Corps, unaware that it was a distraction made by Dex-Starr to invade Earth, until it was ultimately resolved by Krypto, Streaky, and Plastic Man. In a short \\\"The Goddess Must Be Crazy\\\", Supergirl trains with Wonder Woman in Paradise Island, until she is possessed by Felix Faust, to destroy the island. Film Superman film series A live action depiction of Supergirl first appears in the eponymous 1984 film starring Helen Slater as Supergirl.\",\n \"Film Superman film series A live action depiction of Supergirl first appears in the eponymous 1984 film starring Helen Slater as Supergirl. The film is a spin-off from the Superman film series starring Christopher Reeve, to which it is connected by Marc McClure's character of Jimmy Olsen. DC Extended Universe Kara Zor-El / Linda Danvers / Supergirl exists within the DC Extended Universe, as she was referenced in Man of Steel when Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman discovers an empty pod within the Kryptonian scout spaceship.\",\n \"DC Extended Universe Kara Zor-El / Linda Danvers / Supergirl exists within the DC Extended Universe, as she was referenced in Man of Steel when Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman discovers an empty pod within the Kryptonian scout spaceship. Though Zack Snyder confirmed in August 2018 that even though the character does exist, that pod was not intended for her. In August 2018, a film centered around the character was announced to be in development, with Oren Uziel hired as screenwriter for the project.\",\n \"In August 2018, a film centered around the character was announced to be in development, with Oren Uziel hired as screenwriter for the project. The studio intends to hire a female director, with Reed Morano—who has expressed interest in the project—being its top choice. Filming was expected to start production in early 2020. Sasha Calle will play Supergirl for the DC Extended Universe in The Flash.\",\n \"Sasha Calle will play Supergirl for the DC Extended Universe in The Flash. Animation Summer Glau voices the post-Crisis version of Kara Zor-El in Superman/Batman: Apocalypse, which is based on the Superman/Batman storyline \\\"The Supergirl from Krypton\\\". Despite this, it was confirmed by director Lauren Montgomery that Supergirl's name was removed from the title due to the much slower sales of the previous Wonder Woman animated movie, and the character was not permitted to appear on the cover in her trademark outfit.\",\n \"Despite this, it was confirmed by director Lauren Montgomery that Supergirl's name was removed from the title due to the much slower sales of the previous Wonder Woman animated movie, and the character was not permitted to appear on the cover in her trademark outfit. Molly Quinn voices Supergirl in Superman: Unbound. Supergirl appears in Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League: Cosmic Clash, voiced by Jessica DiCicco. Video games Supergirl appears in DC Universe Online, voiced by Adriene Mishler.\",\n \"Video games Supergirl appears in DC Universe Online, voiced by Adriene Mishler. In the villain campaign, the players help Doctor Psycho capture Supergirl using Kryptonite. In the hero campaign, the players fight Doctor Psycho to save Supergirl. Under the thrall of Brainiac, she must be defeated in the Fortress of Solitude: Power Core raid. Supergirl is unlockable in Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes, voiced by Bridget Hoffman. Supergirl makes a cameo appearance in the IOS version of Injustice: Gods Among Us as a support card.\",\n \"Supergirl makes a cameo appearance in the IOS version of Injustice: Gods Among Us as a support card. Supergirl appears as a playable character in Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham, voiced by Kari Wahlgren. She is playable in her default variant which is designed after her appearance in The New 52 and in her Classic attire.\",\n \"She is playable in her default variant which is designed after her appearance in The New 52 and in her Classic attire. Her Classic variant is unlocked in a VR Mission while her New 52 variant is unlocked in a Hub Quest in Nok where she requests players to defeat a number of enemies she accidentally releases from their cells. Supergirl appears as a playable character in Infinite Crisis, voiced by Camilla Luddington.\",\n \"Supergirl appears as a playable character in Infinite Crisis, voiced by Camilla Luddington. Supergirl appears as a playable character and the central protagonist in Injustice 2 by NetherRealm Studios, the sequel to Injustice: Gods Among Us, voiced by Laura Bailey.\",\n \"Supergirl appears as a playable character and the central protagonist in Injustice 2 by NetherRealm Studios, the sequel to Injustice: Gods Among Us, voiced by Laura Bailey. Here her origin is much like in the comics where she is sent along with her cousin Kal-El to Earth by her mother after Krypton is destroyed but on separate pods where hers veers off-course after sustaining significant damage, stranding her in space for many years until she lands on Earth, unaged.\",\n \"Here her origin is much like in the comics where she is sent along with her cousin Kal-El to Earth by her mother after Krypton is destroyed but on separate pods where hers veers off-course after sustaining significant damage, stranding her in space for many years until she lands on Earth, unaged. When the main storyline starts, she is residing on Black Adam's kingdom of Khandaq, apparently under his and Wonder Woman's protection.\",\n \"When the main storyline starts, she is residing on Black Adam's kingdom of Khandaq, apparently under his and Wonder Woman's protection. When Brainiac who was responsible for Krypton's destruction attacks, she, Wonder Woman, and Black Adam attempt to free Superman and the remaining members of the Regime, while being interrupted in their efforts by new Insurgency recruits Blue Beetle and Firestorm until Batman himself arrives and releases Superman, leading to a temporary alliance between the Regime and Insurgency against the alien warlord.\",\n \"When Brainiac who was responsible for Krypton's destruction attacks, she, Wonder Woman, and Black Adam attempt to free Superman and the remaining members of the Regime, while being interrupted in their efforts by new Insurgency recruits Blue Beetle and Firestorm until Batman himself arrives and releases Superman, leading to a temporary alliance between the Regime and Insurgency against the alien warlord. Over the course of the story, she learns the truth about her cousin's tyranny and at the end of the game sides with Batman, Green Lantern and Flash in letting Brainiac live in order to restore the lost cities but is defeated.\",\n \"Over the course of the story, she learns the truth about her cousin's tyranny and at the end of the game sides with Batman, Green Lantern and Flash in letting Brainiac live in order to restore the lost cities but is defeated. In Batman's ending, she laments her cousin's tyranny and sees him leave to be imprisoned in the Phantom Zone and is offered membership by Batman in his Justice League.\",\n \"In Batman's ending, she laments her cousin's tyranny and sees him leave to be imprisoned in the Phantom Zone and is offered membership by Batman in his Justice League. In Superman's ending, she is imprisoned aboard Brainiac's ship and to her shock discovers her cousin has bonded with it and when she refuses his offer to join him in leading his new legion of imprisoned species. He attempts to coerce her by revealing a brainwashed Batman, who had also been captured, further shocking her.\",\n \"He attempts to coerce her by revealing a brainwashed Batman, who had also been captured, further shocking her. Supergirl appears as a limited-distribution minifigure for the toys-to-life video game Lego Dimensions, with Kari Wahlgren reprising her role. She has the ability to transform between her classic and Red Lantern forms. Supergirl appears as a playable character in DC Unchained. Supergirl appears in the PSP version of Justice League Heroes. Supergirl appears as a playable character in the DC TV Super-Heroes DLC pack in Lego DC Super-Villains.\",\n \"Supergirl appears as a playable character in the DC TV Super-Heroes DLC pack in Lego DC Super-Villains. See also Alternative versions of Supergirl Laurel Gand References External links DC Comics Pre-Crisis Supergirl Chronology Supergirl Characters created by Otto Binder Comics characters introduced in 1958 Comics characters introduced in 1959 DC Comics aliens DC Comics American superheroes DC Comics characters who can move at superhuman speeds DC Comics characters with accelerated healing DC Comics characters with superhuman strength DC Comics deities DC Comics female superheroes DC Comics film characters DC Comics television characters DC Comics extraterrestrial superheroes Female characters in television Fictional characters with superhuman senses Fictional actors Fictional extraterrestrial–human hybrids Fictional orphans Fictional photographers Fictional refugees Fictional reporters Fictional school counselors Fictional American secret agents Fictional waiting staff Kryptonians Superheroes who are adopted Vigilante characters in comics\"\n]"}}},{"rowIdx":389,"cells":{"History":{"kind":"list like","value":["Supergirl (Kara Zor-El)","Bronze Age","whaat is the bronze age","After long-time Superman family editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971,","what happened during the bronze age","the character underwent revitalization under editor Joe Orlando and artist Mike Sekowsky."],"string":"[\n \"Supergirl (Kara Zor-El)\",\n \"Bronze Age\",\n \"whaat is the bronze age\",\n \"After long-time Superman family editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971,\",\n \"what happened during the bronze age\",\n \"the character underwent revitalization under editor Joe Orlando and artist Mike Sekowsky.\"\n]"},"QuAC_dialog_id":{"kind":"string","value":"C_eaa7329c3ac14b8bb4aaea61d8fa517d_1"},"Question":{"kind":"string","value":"anything intresting happen"},"Question_no":{"kind":"number","value":3,"string":"3"},"Rewrite":{"kind":"string","value":"anything interesting happen during Supergirl's revitalization?"},"true_page_title":{"kind":"string","value":"Supergirl (Kara Zor-El)"},"true_contexts":{"kind":"string","value":"After long-time Superman family editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971, the character underwent revitalization under editor Joe Orlando and artist Mike Sekowsky. Wearing a series of new outfits, leaving her adopted foster home with the Danvers family, Linda goes on to San Francisco where she works for KSF-TV as a camera operator and develops a crush on her boss, Geoffrey Anderson. These stories introduced Supergirl's most memorable villain from this period: Lex Luthor's niece Nasthalthia, or Nasty. Nasty had made two appearances towards the end of Linda's college years, then pursued her to KSF-TV, trying to secure proof of her dual identity. Supergirl starred in her first solo eponymous monthly series beginning in 1972 until October 1974, when her monthly title merged with Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane, and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen to produce a new title: then-highest DC selling series called The Superman Family, where she eventually became the steady lead story. Linda worked as a student advisor at New Athens Experimental School, before leaving for New York to follow a career in acting with daytime soap Secret Hearts. In 1982 Supergirl received a second monthly solo series titled The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl, relocating the character to Chicago as Linda became a mature student of Psychology. Industry legend, and former DC Publisher, Carmine Infantino provided the pencilled art (Bob Oksner inked). With issue 13 the title was revamped, with a new costume design (sporting a red headband) and the title shortened to just Supergirl. The series ran until sudden cancellation in 1984, only two months before the character's debut in a big-budget Hollywood film starring Helen Slater. In the Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985) the greatest heroes from Earth-One, Earth-Two, Earth-Four, Earth-S, and Earth-X join forces in order to defeat the Anti-Monitor. When Superman comes face to face with the Anti-Monitor and is knocked unconscious, Supergirl rushes to save him before he is killed. She is able to fight him off long enough for Dr. Light to carry her cousin to a safe distance, but is killed by the Anti-Monitor. A public memorial service for Supergirl takes place in Chicago, where Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) delivers the eulogy. In her remarks she states \"Kara is a hero. She will not be forgotten.\" Superman then gives his late cousin burial by taking her corpse to Rokyn/New Krypton to Zor-El and Allura. A Superman issue the next month reveals that Kara had experienced a premonition about her own passing. However, when the universe is rebooted, the timeline is altered. Kara Zor-El and all memory of her is erased from existence. CANNOTANSWER"},"answer":{"kind":"string","value":"leaving her adopted foster home with the Danvers family, Linda goes on to San Francisco where she works for KSF-TV as a camera operator"},"true_contexts_wiki":{"kind":"string","value":"Kara Zor-El, also known by her adoptive names of Linda Lee Danvers, Kara Kent, Linda Lang, and Kara Danvers, and the superhero name of Supergirl, is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. She was created by Otto Binder and designed by Al Plastino. Danvers first appeared in Action Comics #252 (May 1959)'s \"The Supergirl from Krypton\" story. Kara is the biological cousin of Kal-El, who went on to adopt the name of Clark Kent and the superhero Superman. During the 1980s and the revolution of the Modern Age of Comics, Superman editors believed the character's history had become too convoluted, thus killing Supergirl during the 1985 Crisis on Infinite Earths event and retconning her out of existence.\n\nDC Comics Senior Vice President Dan DiDio re-introduced the character in 2004 along with editor Eddie Berganza and writer Jeph Loeb, with her the Superman/Batman storyline \"The Supergirl from Krypton\". As the current Supergirl, Kara stars in her own monthly comic book series. With DC's The New 52 relaunch, Kara, like most of the DC Universe, was revamped. DC relaunched the Supergirl comic in August 2016 as part of their DC Rebirth initiative.\n\nIn live-action, Supergirl appeared in the 1984 film based on her character and was portrayed by Helen Slater. She also appeared in the series Smallville, played by actress Laura Vandervoort. In 2015, the live-action Arrowverse series Supergirl debuted on CBS and then moved to The CW after the first season. Supergirl was portrayed by Melissa Benoist on the show and also appeared on other Arrowverse shows. Sasha Calle will appear as Supergirl in the upcoming DC Extended Universe film The Flash (2022).\n\nPublication history\n\nEarly life\nAlthough Kara Zor-El was the first character to use the name \"Supergirl,\" DC Comics tested three different female versions of Superman prior to her debut. \n\nThe first story to feature a female counterpart to Superman was \"Lois Lane – Superwoman,\" which was published in Action Comics #60 (May 1943). In the story, a hospitalized Lois Lane dreams she has gained superpowers thanks to a blood transfusion from the Man of Steel. She begins her own career as \"Superwoman\", complete with a version of Superman's costume.\n\nIn the Superboy #78 story entitled \"Claire Kent, Alias Super-Sister\", Superboy saves the life of an alien woman named Shar-La, who turns Superboy into a girl, in retaliation for his disparaging thoughts about women drivers which she picked up telepathically. In Smallville, Clark claims to be Claire Kent, an out-of-town relative who is staying with the Kents. When in costume, he appears as Superboy's sister, Super-Sister, and claims the two have exchanged places. Once Superboy has learned his lesson about feeling more respect for women, Shar-La reveals the episode to be a dream which she projected into Superboy's mind.\n\nIn Superman #123 (August 1958), Jimmy Olsen uses a magic totem to wish a \"Super-Girl\" into existence as a companion and aid to Superman; however, the two frequently get in each other's way until she is fatally injured protecting Superman from a Kryptonite meteor. At her insistence, Jimmy wishes the dying girl out of existence. DC used this story to gauge public response to the concept of a completely new super-powered female counterpart to Superman.\n\nThe Kara Zor-El version of Supergirl finally appeared in Action Comics #252 (May 1959). Otto Binder wrote and Al Plastino illustrated her début story, in which Kara was born and raised in Argo City (unnamed until later issues), a fragment of Krypton that survived destruction. When the city is doomed by a meteor shower, Kara is sent to Earth by her parents, Zor-El and Alura (the latter unnamed until later issues), to be raised by her cousin Kal-El, known as Superman. Supergirl adopted the secret identity of an orphan \"Linda Lee\", and made Midvale Orphanage her home. Supergirl promised Superman that she would keep her existence on Earth a secret, so that he may use her as a \"secret weapon\", but that didn't stop Supergirl from exploring her new powers covertly. Action Comics #255 published reader's letters-of-comment to Supergirl's first appearance; she had allegedly generated a sizeable and mostly positive reaction.\n\nSupergirl, from her debut onwards, became a regular backup strip in Action Comics. She joined the Legion of Super-Heroes, like her cousin had done as a teenager, and in Action Comics #279 (July 1961) she was adopted by Fred and Edna Danvers, becoming \"Linda Lee Danvers\". Supergirl acted for three years as Superman's secret weapon, and her adventures during that time have been compared to contemporary developments in feminist thinking in work such as Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique. She was at last introduced by her super-powered cousin to an unsuspecting world in Action Comics #285 (February 1962).\n\nDuring her first quarter of a century, Linda Danvers would have many professions, from student to student advisor, to actor, and even TV camera operator. She shared Action Comics with Superman until transferring to the lead in Adventure Comics at the end of the 1960s. In 1972 she finally moved to her own short-lived eponymous magazine, before DC merged its Supergirl, Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen titles into a single anthology title named The Superman Family. In 1982 Supergirl was relaunched into her own magazine.\n\nDeath during Crisis on Infinite Earths\n\nIn 1985, the maxi-series Crisis on Infinite Earths was conceived as a way to reduce DC continuity to a single universe in which all characters maintained a single history. Despite Supergirl's continued popularity and status as a central member of the \"Superman Family\", the editors at DC Comics and the creators of the maxi-series decided to kill Supergirl off during the Crisis. According to Marv Wolfman, writer of Crisis on Infinite Earths:\n\nThe idea of killing Supergirl was first conceived by DC's vice president/executive editor Dick Giordano, who lobbied for the death to DC's publishers. He later said he has never had any regrets about this, explaining, \"Supergirl was created initially to take advantage of the high Superman sales and not much thought was put into her creation. She was created essentially as a female Superman. With time, writers and artists improved upon her execution, but she never did really add anything to the Superman mythos—at least not for me.\" The poor initial reception of the 1984 film Supergirl was also blamed by some sources.\n\nIn 1989, in the tale \"Christmas with the Super-Heroes\" the soul of Kara appears to Boston \"Deadman\" Brand, cheers him up, and then disappears from continuity until 2001 (see below).\n\nSeveral characters unrelated to Superman soon took on the Supergirl persona, including the Matrix (a shapeshifting genetically engineered life-form that 'defaulted' as Supergirl), Linda Danvers (the result of Matrix merging with the dying Linda Danvers and becoming an Earth-bound angel of fire), and Cir-El (Superman's apparent daughter from a possible future).\n\nA heroine resembling the Pre-Crisis Kara would later appear in Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #5, along with an entire army of Legionnaires gathered from alternate worlds, times, and realities, to battle the Time Trapper.\n\nTwo Supergirls meet \nPrior to the post-Crisis introduction of Kara Zor-El into mainstream continuity, the pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El made an appearance in Peter David's Supergirl: Many Happy Returns. The then-current Supergirl series, at the time starring Linda Danvers, was in danger of cancellation and Peter David thought a story arc involving Kara Zor-El would be enough to revitalize the series. In an interview with Cliff Biggers of Newsarama, David states:\n\nIn the Linda Danvers' Supergirl series issues 49 and 50 (October and November 2000), the original dead Kara appears as Linda's \"guardian angel\". Then in issues 75 to 80, \"Many Happy Returns\", a young Kara appears from an earlier time long before the Crisis. The paradox becomes a moral crisis for Linda who tries to take her place as the Crisis sacrifice, living for years in a Silver Age universe where \"no one swears, the villains are always easy to defeat, and everything's very, very clean\", eventually marrying the Silver Age Superman and having a daughter with him, before she is forced to return to her universe by the Spectre when he reveals that her efforts to replace Kara as the sacrifice will not succeed. This run was illustrated by Ed Benes who had also illustrated Gail Simone's Birds of Prey which had a similar whimsical camaraderie between its female leads.\n\nLinda's inability to ultimately save Kara, coupled with the loss of her daughter, is so devastating that it ends her own career as Supergirl, Linda leaving a note for Superman where she explains that she feels that she has failed to live up to the standards of a true Supergirl and choosing to go somewhere she cannot be found. This story arc is usually cited as one of the best Supergirl stories ever written. The series ended with issue 80.\n\nRevival \n\nAfter the launch of the Superman/Batman comic book series, executive editor Dan DiDio had been looking for a way to simplify the Supergirl character from her convoluted post-Crisis history; the simplest version, of course, was Superman's cousin. Jeph Loeb and editor Eddie Berganza found an opening to reintroduce the character following the conclusion of the first story arc of Superman/Batman. Loeb states:\n\nThe modern version of Kara Zor-El made her debut in Superman/Batman #8 (2004). Kara takes the mantle of Supergirl at the conclusion of the storyline. The Supergirl comic book series would later be relaunched, now starring Kara Zor-El as \"The Girl of Steel\". The first arc of the new series was written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by Ian Churchill. Loeb would later describe the appeal of writing for Supergirl:\n\nAs the character continued to be reinvented, steps towards regarding the iconic character were some of the most prominent changes. Artist Jamal Igle and editor Matt Idleson moved to transition the character away from red panties under her skirt to biker shorts, feeling such a change was a logical progression and \"more respectable.\"\n\nThe New 52\nIn September 2011, DC Comics began The New 52, in which it canceled all of its monthly superhero titles and relaunched 52 new ones, wiping out most of its past continuity in the process. One of the new titles was a new Supergirl series (Volume 6) that featured a new origin for Kara and was published between 2011 and 2015. Artist Mahmud Asrar designed a new costume for the character which strongly deviated from her classic, \"cheerleader\" suit, a change which generated criticism from some readers.\n\nDC Rebirth\nThe 2016 DC Comics title relaunch Rebirth incorporates several elements (such as the costume, the name, the setting, and some characters) from the Supergirl television series. The DC Rebirth initiative undid the New 52's modern recreations, bringing DC's heroes back to their more classic iterations. Supergirl's new series (Volume 7) was titled Supergirl: Rebirth, written by Steven Orlando. The first arc was penciled by Brian Ching, who also redesigned Supergirl's costume in reference to a more classic look. In April 2018, it was announced that the title would be canceled after issue #20, only to be revived in August that year under a new creative team, with new writer Marc Andreyko and artist Kevin Maguire. The series ended with its 42nd issue.\n\nFuture State: Kara Zor-El, Superwoman\nThe Future State comics propose a possible future for Kara Zor-El, now an adult and having taken the alias of Superwoman. She leaves Earth to become a guardian of the Moon, which has become a refugee colony for aliens from the entire universe. The series was written by Marguerite Bennet and penciled by Marguerite Sauvage.\n\nSupergirl: Woman of Tomorrow\nUnder the Infinite Frontier brand, Kara's next series Woman of Tomorrow debuted in June 2021, written by Tom King and penciled by Brazilian artists Bilquis Evely and Mat Lopes. The arc introduces Supergirl to new character grounds as she begins the story as a young woman, celebrating her 21st birthday and helping a young alien in her quest for revenge. The \"mentor-mentee journey on revenge\" plot is, according to King, inspired by the original novel and both versions of True Grit. \n\nIn this series, the creators paid homage to Linda Danvers, as Kara manifests flame wings and powers after taking a red kryptonite drug, in order to save her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon.\n\nFictional character biography\n\nSilver Age\nIn her debut story, Kara Zor-El is the last survivor of Argo City of the planet Krypton. Although Argo, which had survived the explosion of the planet, drifted through space as a self-sustaining environment, the soil of the colony eventually turned into Kryptonite; and though Kara's father Zor-El placed lead sheeting above the ground to protect the citizens from radiation, meteorites pierced the sheeting, and the Kryptonians died of radiation poisoning instead of replacing the metal.\n\nIn Supergirl's subsequent backup feature in Action Comics drawn by artist Jim Mooney for ten years until 1968, Supergirl adopts the identity of Linda Lee, an orphan at Midvale Orphanage presided over by headmistress Miss Hart. She disguises herself by hiding her blond hair beneath a brunette wig; Supergirl interacts with humans on a person-to-person basis performing good deeds and saving the world by helping one person at a time, and she also devises clever schemes as \"Superman's Secret Weapon,\" saving him many times and avoiding adoption before Superman can introduce her publicly.\n\nWhile temporarily powerless due to the scheming of Kandorian scientist Lesla-Lar, who is out to supplant her on Earth, Linda allows herself to be adopted by engineer and rocket scientist Fred Danvers and his wife, Edna. In time, she reveals her secret identity to her adoptive parents on the same day her cousin Superman finally introduces her to the world in the finale of then-DC's longest playing series ever (eight chapters) aptly called \"The World's Greatest Heroine\".\n\nWhen frequent dreams about her parents being alive turn out to be real, she builds a machine aided by her engineer father's talent, and brings them both back alive from the \"Survival Zone\" where they had both teleported during Argo City's final moments. Zor-El and Allura eventually end up living in Kandor, and when the city in the bottle is enlarged, they both go on to live in Rokyn/New Krypton, where they have the sad duty of receiving her mortal remains after \"Crisis\" for burial.\n\nGraduating from high school in 1965, Linda Lee goes to college on a scholarship and stays in Stanhope College until she graduates in 1971. During this era, she is helped by her pet cat Streaky, her Super-Horse pet Comet, and befriends Lena Thorul, who had first appeared in the Lois Lane series. Kara is also a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, where she becomes close to Brainiac 5. In addition, Linda has boyfriends from the orphanage (Richard \"Dick\" Malverne) and from Atlantis (Jerro the merboy).\n\nIn 1967, Supergirl meets Batgirl for the first time in World's Finest Comics. Developing a strong friendship, the two characters teamed up many times again, as in Superman Family #171, or Adventure #381.\nIn 1969, Supergirl left Action Comics and became a featured character in Adventure Comics beginning with issue #381 (June 1969).\n\nDuring the 1970s, Supergirl's costume changed frequently, as did her career in her civilian life. In her secret identity as Linda Lee Danvers, Kara Zor-El took a variety of jobs including graduate student in acting, television camera operator, and student counselor, and finally became an actress on the TV soap Secret Hearts.\n\nBronze Age\nAfter long-time Superman family editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971, the character underwent revitalization under editor Joe Orlando and artist Mike Sekowsky. Wearing a series of new outfits, leaving her adopted foster home with the Danvers family, Linda goes on to San Francisco where she works for KSF-TV as a camera operator and develops a crush on her boss, Geoffrey Anderson. These stories introduced Supergirl's most memorable villain from this period: Lex Luthor's niece Nasthalthia, or Nasty. Nasty had made two appearances towards the end of Linda's college years, then pursued her to KSF-TV, trying to secure proof of her dual identity.\n\nSupergirl starred in her first solo eponymous monthly series beginning in 1972 until October 1974, when her monthly title merged with Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane, and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen to produce a new title: then-highest DC selling series called The Superman Family, where she eventually became the steady lead story. Linda worked as a student advisor at New Athens Experimental School, before leaving for New York to follow a career in acting with daytime soap Secret Hearts.\n\nIn 1982 Supergirl received a second monthly solo series titled The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl, relocating the character to Chicago as Linda became a mature student of Psychology. Industry legend, and former DC Publisher, Carmine Infantino provided the penciled art (Bob Oksner inked). With issue 13 the title was revamped, with a new costume design (sporting a red headband) and the title shortened to just Supergirl. The series ran until sudden cancellation in 1984, only two months before the character's debut in a big-budget Hollywood film starring Helen Slater.\n\nIn the Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985), the greatest heroes from Earth-One, Earth-Two, Earth-Four, Earth-S, and Earth-X join forces in order to defeat the Anti-Monitor. When Superman comes face to face with the Anti-Monitor and is knocked unconscious, Supergirl rushes to save him before he is killed. She is able to fight him off long enough for Dr. Light to carry her cousin to a safe distance, but is killed by the Anti-Monitor. A public memorial service for Supergirl takes place in Chicago, where Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) delivers the eulogy. In her remarks, she states \"Kara is a hero. She will not be forgotten.\" Superman then gives his late cousin burial by taking her corpse to Rokyn/New Krypton to Zor-El and Allura. A Superman issue the next month reveals that Kara had experienced a premonition about her own passing. However, when the universe is rebooted, the timeline is altered. Kara Zor-El and all memory of her is erased from existence.\n\nEchoes\nAfter these events, the soul of Kara Zor-El made another appearance in continuity three years later in a story titled \"Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot\" in Christmas with the Super-Heroes #2 (1989). Within the story, Boston \"Deadman\" Brand tries to feel the warmth of Christmas by possessing revelers' bodies. Feeling guilty upon the realization that he has been stealing others' Christmases, he flies off feeling sorry for himself for being denied a reward after a year of helping people. A warmly dressed blonde woman approaches Brand, startling him. Somehow seeing the normally invisible Brand, she converses with him, reminding him,\n\nShe reminds Brand that even though he is dead, he is still human, and he should rejoice because it means his spirit is still alive. As the woman leaves, Brand asks her who she is, to which she replies, \"My name is Kara. Though I doubt that will mean anything to you.\" The story, written by Alan Brennert and penciled by Dick Giordano, is dedicated to Otto Binder and Jim Mooney, adding: \"We still remember.\"\n\nFinally, the soul of Kara Zor-El appeared twice during Peter David's run, specifically in issues #48 and #49 when she appears before a defeated and imprisoned then-Supergirl, Linda Danvers from Earth, and comforts her. Linda acknowledges she has been helped three times by her phantom-friend, and when she asks her name she is told by the smiling figure: \"I have gone by many names, but the one I am most fond of is: Kara!\"\n\nModern Age\n\nIn 2004, Jeph Loeb reintroduced Kara Zor-El into post-Zero Hour (Birthright timeline) continuity during a storyline in the series Superman/Batman. She is the biological cousin of Superman, and although chronologically older than him, the ship in which she traveled to Earth was caught in a large green Kryptonite meteorite which held her in a state of suspended animation for much of the journey, making her have the appearance of a 16-year-old girl. Still, Supergirl sometimes saw Superman as a child, due to last carrying him as a baby. DC Comics relaunched the Supergirl, the first story arc of which was written by Loeb. showcases Supergirl on a journey of self-discovery. Along her journey, she encounters Power Girl (Kara Zor-El's counterpart from another universe), the Teen Titans, the Outsiders, the Justice League of America, and arch-villain Lex Luthor.\n\nDuring the company-wide crossover series Infinite Crisis (2005), a sequel to Crisis on Infinite Earths, Supergirl is transported to the 31st century, where she is revered as a member of the Superman family and joins the Legion of Super-Heroes. DC Comics renamed the monthly series Legion of Super-Heroes to Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes. Beginning with issue #16. In the limited series 52, which chronicles the events that took place during the missing year after the end of Infinite Crisis, Donna Troy recalls the original Kara Zor-El and her sacrifice to save the universe. Supergirl returns to the 21st century during the course of 52. After briefly filling in for a temporarily depowered Superman as guardian of Metropolis, she assumes the identity of Flamebird to fight crime in the bottle city of Kandor with Power Girl as Nightwing in Greg Rucka's arc Supergirl: Kandor.\n\nIn 2007, Supergirl appeared in the miniseries Amazons Attack! That same year, she joined the Teen Titans for five issues.\n\nConversations with other heroes who maintain secret identities lead Kara to the conclusion that she needs to make a deeper connection with human beings. She accepts Lana Lang's proposal to present her to the Daily Planet staff as \"Linda Lang\", Lana's teenaged niece.\n\nIn the 2008–2009 \"New Krypton\" story arc, in which Superman discovers and frees the real Kandor and a large number of its citizens, Supergirl is reunited with her father, Zor-El and mother, Alura, though Zor-El is killed by the villain Reactron. When a planet is formed that the Kryptonians call New Krypton, Kara is torn between her life on Earth, and her obligation to her mother, eventually joining the New Krypton Science Guild.\n\nSupergirl subsequently appears in the 2009 miniseries Justice League: Cry for Justice, and the 2009–2010 storyline \"Blackest Night\". The New Krypton storyline would later be resolved in the \"World of New Krypton\", \"Superman: Last Stand of New Krypton\", \"War of the Supermen\" storylines, resulting in the destruction of New Krypton and seeing Supergirl mourn her people.\n\nSupergirl subsequently appears in the 2010 \"Brightest Day\" storyline, the follow up to \"Blackest Night\"., where she joins the Justice League along with Jesse Quick & Jade.\n\nThe New 52\nIn this continuity, Kara's ship lands in Smallville, Kansas but hurtles through the Earth and emerges in Siberia.\n\nKara has no memory of the destruction of Krypton, and believes it is only three days since her spacecraft was launched. She learns the truth about Krypton's destruction from Superman, and later journeys through a wormhole to Argo City, which she finds in orbit around a blue sun. She finds the city in ruins, with no explanation of how it met that fate, and is attacked by a female Worldkiller named Reign before the city plummets into the sun. When Reign and her fellow Worldkiller plan to enslave the Earth, Supergirl returns there to defeat them, and thus adopts Earth as her new home.\n\nAfter several battles with supervillains, including the Worldkillers, superweapons of Kryptonian design, she accepts Krypton's destruction, but continues to grapple with her grief. Her desire to restore Krypton results in her being manipulated into nearly destroying the Earth by another Kryptonian whom she falls in love with. Upon realizing his manipulation, she kills him by driving Kryptonite through his heart, and succumbs to Kryptonite poisoning.\n\nFollowing her poisoning, Supergirl departs the Earth to die alone. While adrift in interstellar space, she encounters a planet under attack by monsters, and quickly intervenes to save them, unaware that the entire planet is a trap by Brainiac. She is captured and restrained by Cyborg Superman, but after a struggle, manages to escape both Brainiac and Cyborg Superman. Returning to Earth, she is sent into the past by the Oracle alongside Superman and Superboy, where she ensures that a resurrected H'el cannot save Krypton, and sacrifices the planet and her family in order to save the universe.\n\nBack on Earth, she encounters the assassin Lobo. Initially eager for a peaceful resolution, seeing a kind of kinship with him in their both being lone survivors of their respective worlds (although not truly aware of Lobo's circumstances), Kara's encounter with the Czarnian would reveal deep mental wounds, resulting in the unleashing of her rage and transformation into a Red Lantern. Driven insane by rage, Kara wanders space, attacking everyone in her way, until captured by several Green Lanterns and brought to Hal Jordan. Immediately recognizing a Kryptonian and unable to remove the power ring without killing her, he brings her to Guy Gardner, the leader of one of the two Red Lantern factions, who manages to restore her sanity.\n\nAfter some time under Guy Gardner's tutelage and protecting the galaxy as a Red Lantern, after being discharged from the Red Lantern Corps (because Guy did not want for her to die needlessly against Atrocitus' splinter group), on her way back to Earth, Kara encounters the leader of the Worldkillers, who are revealed to be parasitic suits of armor. He attempts to assimilate Kara as his host, but she voluntarily subjects herself to Kryptonite poisoning in order to stop him, and eventually flies into the Sun and removes her power ring, killing her and removing him from her body. However, Kara is revealed to be immortal while in the Sun's core, and is restored to life without the power ring or any Kryptonite poisoning, immediately destroying the Worldkiller. She later helps Guy against Atrocitus and his Red Lantern splinter group.\n\nConvergence and return of the Pre-Crisis version\nDuring the Convergence story arc, the original Kara Zor-El who had sacrificed her life during Crisis on Infinite Earths makes an appearance on the amalgamated planet of Telos. At the end of the saga she volunteers herself to once again fight the Anti-Monitor but this time, with the help of her timeline's Barry Allen, the Pre-Flashpoint Superman (in tow with his pregnant wife, Lois Lane), and a repentant Parallax (Zero Hour Hal Jordan), vows to defeat him for the sake of the multiverse's continued existence. Without it being seen, those left on Telos discover the group was successful and all previous timelines (with the mysterious exception of the pre-Flashpoint/pre-New 52 DC universe) from DC history had been re-established, though the fate of the original Kara Zor-El and her fellows went unmentioned.\n\nA few more details of the battle against the Anti-Monitor are later revealed during the New 52 comic mini-series (leading into DC's Rebirth event). After the defeat of Anti-Monitor, Pre-New 52 Clark and Lois decide to start life anew in the closest universe they can find (mysteriously yet unable to see their old universe even though the rest of the multiverse had been restored) while Pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El, along with her contemporary Barry Allen and Zero Hour Parallax/Hal Jordan, decide to find their place in the universe and go off to do so. Her fate as of that story arc is yet to be revealed.\n\nDC Rebirth\nAfter the events that led to the death of the New 52 version of Superman, 16-year-old Kara lives in National City with her adoptive parents, D.E.O. agents Jeremiah and Eliza Danvers, where she attends high school and works with the agency as led by Cameron Chase. As part of her civilian identity, Kara receives special glasses that darken her blond hair when posing as Kara Danvers. Kara also goes on an internship at Cat Grant's CATCO alongside Ben Rubel, whom she befriends.\n\nIn her opening arc \"The Reign of the Cyborg Supermen\", Kara discovers that the cyborg Zor-El, whom she had battled in her New 52 title, is still active and has rebuilt other Kryptonians (her mother Alura included), planning to take over Earth. Supergirl defeats them but vows to help her father regardless of his actions. After National City discovers Supergirl has kept Zor-El's \"living\" status a secret, they become untrustful of her. Director Bones takes advantage of the heroine's impopularity and, after taking control of the D.E.O., sends villains in an attempt to bring Kara down. She defeats all of them and regains trust from National City with Ben's help.\n\nThe Supergirl Who Laughs\nKara is later infected by The Batman Who Laughs toxin, causing her to turn evil and joining other infected as part of Laughs Secret Six before later being cured. She is fired from CatCo by Cat Grant and starts working at S.T.A.R. Labs.\n\nWoman of Tomorrow\nJourneying throughout the universe with Krypto, Kara celebrates her 21st birthday alone on a distant planet. Drunk in a bar, she is approached by a little girl named Ruthye and is asked to kill Krem (her father's murderer) in vengeance. Supergirl refuses but, when she is about to leave the planet, Krem attacks and severely wounds both her and Krypto, fleeing in Kara's ship. Kara begins her journey alongside Ruthye and, powerless, saves her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon by taking a red kryptonite drug which causes her to manifest flame wings.\n\nPowers and abilities\n\nLike all Kryptonians under a yellow sun, the current version of Kara Zor-El possesses virtually unlimited strength, stamina, and durability. She is able to fly and with super speed that she can also use on foot, similar to Superman and The Flash. Also like Superman, Supergirl possesses super senses, super-breath, and freeze breathe, as well as multiple forms of supervision (including X-Ray, Infrared, Telescopic, and Microscopic). Kara also has a bio-electric aura that enhances her near invulnerability and also protects her skin and her costume from dirt and tear; as such, Kara is perpetually clean. The Sun also provides Kara with a longer lifespan than that of a human being, to the point that she is effectively a biological immortal. Kara doesn't require food, water, or sleep to survive. She is also immune to most diseases, mental and physical, and would require a very strong strain to have a chance at affecting her.\n\nIn the rare instances that Kara is harmed by someone matching her strength or by the use of one of her weaknesses, she can heal almost instantaneously. Her power surpasses most other beings, though she can be overpowered by those who rival her strength such as Black Adam, Darkseid, Despero, Doomsday, Bizarro, Wonder Woman, and Superman.\n\nIn reality, Kara is actually older than her cousin, Clark, and spent time on Krypton before its destruction. As such (unlike Superman), she possesses memories of Kryptonian culture as well as her cousin's parents.\n\nContinued exposure to a yellow Sun will slowly increase abilities. Many characters in the DC Universe have noted that Supergirl appears, at times, to be even more powerful than Superman himself. In answer to this, Superman states that this is because he has spent his entire life subconsciously suppressing his full powers in order to avoid hurting others, having been absorbing solar radiation since his infancy. Kara, not having such practice or experience, simply uses the full magnitude of her powers.\n\nAbilities\nUnlike her cousin, Kara was taught to fight in Krypton as part of her tests, and at the Crucible Academy, being adept at various Kryptonian fighting styles like Klurkor and Torquasm Rao. Supergirl also learned the art of Bagua under I-Ching's instructions. She practiced how to manipulate her Chi or Qi in order to gain better control of her powers due to them becoming overwhelmed after her conflict with the Fatal Five. Superman recommended guardianship with I-Ching to Supergirl first. In addition to training in Krypton, Kara was trained by Batman in advanced martial arts and trained with the Amazons in Themyscira in unarmed and armed combat, Amazonas martial arts, fencing, Shield handling, and other Amazon weapons. She trained with Wonder Woman and Artemis extensively.\n\nOther versions\n\nThere are numerous alternate versions of Supergirl. The most notable is Power Girl (real name Kara Zor-L, also known as Karen Starr) who first appeared in All Star Comics #58 (January/February 1976).\n\nPower Girl is the Earth-Two counterpart of Supergirl and the first cousin of Kal-L, Superman of the pre-Crisis Earth-Two. The infant Power Girl's parents enabled her to escape the destruction of Krypton. Although she left the planet at the same time that Superman did, her ship took much longer to reach Earth-Two.\n\nShe has superhuman strength and the ability to fly and is the first chairwoman of the Justice Society of America. She sports a bob of blond hair; wears a distinctive white, red, and blue costume; and has an aggressive fighting style. Throughout her early appearances in All Star Comics, she is often at odds with Wildcat because his penchant for talking to her as if she were an ordinary human female rather than a superpowered Kryptonian annoys her.\n\nShe also fought alongside the Sovereign Seven team, replacing Rampart after his death though that series is not considered to be part of canon in the DC universe.\n\nThe 1985 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths eliminated Earth-Two, causing her origin to change; she became the granddaughter of the Atlantean sorcerer Arion. However, story events culminating in the 2005–2006 Infinite Crisis limited series restored her status as a refugee from the Krypton of the destroyed pre-Crisis Earth-Two universe.\n\nLike the original Kara's Streaky, Power Girl has a cat, featured in a story by Amanda Conner in Wonder Woman #600.\n\nReception\nThis version of Supergirl is ranked as the 153rd-greatest comic book character of all time by Wizard magazine.\n\nIGN also ranked this version of Supergirl as the 94th-greatest comic book superhero, stating \"for a character born of the Silver Age that saw everything from a Super Baby to a Super Monkey, Kara Zor-El grew into something much more than simply another marketing ploy to slap an 'S' on.\" In 2013 IGN ranked Supergirl as the 17th-greatest DC comic superhero, stating \"she was an early example of a female sidekick developing a large fanbase in her own right\", and \"Supergirl has been one of DC's most powerful heroes, and a standard to hold other female heroes against.\"\n\nAppearances\n\nPre-Crisis\n 1959 to 1969: Action Comics #252 to #376.\n 1969 to 1972: Adventure Comics #381 to #424.\n 1972 to 1974: Supergirl #1 to #10.\n 1974 to 1982: Her comic merges with Jimmy Olsen's and Lois Lane's to become Superman Family #164 to #222.\n 1982 to 1984: The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl #1 to #13, Supergirl (vol. 2) #14 to #23.\n 2015: Convergence\n\nKara Zor-El appeared in over 750 stories published by DC from 1959 to 1985.\n\nPost-Crisis\n\n 2004 to 2005: Superman/Batman #8 to #13 and #19\n 2005 to 2011: Supergirl (vol. 5) #0 to #67\n 2006 to 2008: Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes (Legion of Super-Heroes vol. 5) #16 to #37\n 2007: Action Comics #850\n 2008: Final Crisis\n 2011 to 2015: New 52: Supergirl (vol. 6) #1 to #40\n 2016 to current: Rebirth: Supergirl (vol. 7) #1 to current\n\nKara Zor-El also appears as a supporting character in several issues of other DC Comics, including Superman, Action Comics, Teen Titans, Amazons Attack, World War III, and Wonder Girl. She has also appeared in many issues of Superman, Action Comics, and Superman New Krypton starting with the World Without Superman event in 2009, and continuing with the World Against Superman event going into 2010.\n\nCollected editions\nListed in chronological order. All ages titles are not in continuity with the original or modern Kara.\n\nIn other media\n\nTelevision\n\nLive-action\n\nSmallville\nPrior to the seventh season (2007–2008) of the WB/CW show Smallville where she is introduced into the cast and is portrayed by Laura Vandervoort, a woman claiming to be Kara (portrayed by Adrianne Palicki) is briefly introduced in the season 3 finale. It is later revealed her real name is Lindsey Harrison, and had been given false memories and powers by the artificial intelligence of Clark Kent's (Tom Welling) father Jor-El as part of a series of tests. Vandervoort portrays the real Kara, Clark's cousin whose spaceship had been trapped in stasis until the events of the season 6 finale. Much of season 7 is concerned with Kara's attempts to adjust to life on Earth, especially after learning of Krypton's destruction. Her storyline sees her simultaneously become the object of Lex Luthor's (Michael Rosenbaum) obsessions and Jimmy Olsen's (Aaron Ashmore) affections, suffer a bout of amnesia, discover her father's (Christopher Heyerdahl) sinister motives and become a target of evil android Brainiac (James Marsters). The season finale sees Kara become trapped in the Phantom Zone. Starting with season 8, Vandervoort ceases to feature as a series regular, but reprises the role three more times. In her first guest appearance, \"Bloodline,\" Kara is freed from the Phantom Zone and later departs Clark's hometown of Smallville to search for Kandor, her birthplace, as it is rumored to have survived their home planet's destruction. She appears again in the season 10 episode \"Supergirl\", in which she formally adopts her superhero moniker. Her off-screen adventures are alluded to thereafter. Vandervoort makes a final appearance in the show's penultimate episode, \"Prophecy\", in which she helps Green Arrow (Justin Hartley) locate the \"Bow of Orion\" to use against Darkseid. She is then called to the Fortress of Solitude, where she learns from Jor-El that her job on Earth is done. Using a Legion of Super-Heroes flight ring, she travels to the future to seek her own destiny. The Season Eleven comic book continuation of the show later depicts Kara's continued story in the 31st century, subsequent return to the present and joining the Justice League.\n\nArrowverse\n\n In September 2014, a 22-episode television series centered around Supergirl was in development at Warner Bros. Television, set to premiere on CBS with a January 2015 air date. Melissa Benoist was cast as the titular character. In May 2016, the series moved to The CW and was later integrated into the Arrowverse, a shared universe consisting of shows including Arrow, The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow. In the series, Kara Zor-El was sent to Earth to protect her cousin Kal-El, following her homeworld Krypton's destruction. However, she is knocked into the Phantom Zone, where she is stranded for 24 years. She eventually crash lands on Earth and is found by her already grown-up cousin Kal, now known to the world as the iconic superhero \"Superman\". Superman brings Kara into the custody of Jeremiah Danvers, director of the Department of Extranormal Operations (D.E.O.), and his daughter Alex. Growing up, Kara struggles to maintain her Kryptonian abilities as well as balancing her relationship with her adoptive sister. Eventually, the two bond when Kara's powers are exposed. However, Jeremiah decides it's best to isolate her abilities. As an adult, Kara is forced to use her powers again when her sister's plane almost crashes. She is later dubbed \"Supergirl\" by the media and dons a costume like her cousin. Kara decides to use her abilities to fight alien invaders such as Kara's aunt Astra and her husband Non, Mon-El's rogue parents, the Worldkiller Reign, anti-alien activist Ben Lockwood, and later the shadowy organization Leviathan, with the help of her sister Alex, now an agent of the D.E.O., her best friend and tech-expert Winn Schott, last of the Green Martians J'onn J'onzz / Martian Manhunter, and Kal's best friend Jimmy Olsen. She is later joined by Lex Luthor's sister Lena, Prince of Daxam Mon-El, former Legion of Superheroes member Querl \"Brainy\" Dox / Brainiac 5, Nia Nal / Dreamer, James' younger sister Kelly, and reporter Willam Dey face against these rival forces. After joining the Arrowverse, which contain annual crossover, Kara assists Barry Allen, Oliver Queen and the Legends of Tomorrow against threats on their designated earth \"Earth-1\" while Kara’s is designated as \"Earth-38. Later, Kara is selected by The Monitor as the Paragon of Hope to participate in the coming crisis and fight against the Anti-Monitor, whose goal is to destroy the multiverse. After doing so, the Paragons are sent to the Vanishing Point where Oliver, now a Spectre, helps them escape. The Paragons appear at the dawn of time in the anti-matter universe where they have their final confrontation with the Anti-Monitor. Eventually, Oliver sacrifices himself to kill the Anti-Monitor, and as a result, a new multiverse is born with Earth-38 and Earth-1 merged into \"Earth-Prime\". Following the crisis, Kara is forced to deal the after-effects of Crisis which include working with Lex, now owning the D.E.O. while Leviathan continue their covert operations under Gamemnae. The sixth season sees Kara and her allies expose Lex's crimes, but are then forced to deal with Nyxlygsptlnz, a fifth-dimensional imp who tricked the heroes into releasing her from the Phantom Zone. Eventually Nyxlygsptlnz joins forces with Lex Luthor and the two kill William, but Kara's assembled allies are able to defeat the two, culminating in Lex and Nyxlygsptlnz being trapped in the Phantom Zone when one of their own plans backfires. The series concludes with Kara revealing her dual identity so that she can live a full life as one person.\n\nAnimation\n\nDC Nation Shorts\nSupergirl appears with Batgirl and Wonder Girl in Super Best Friends Forever, voiced by Nicole Sullivan.\n\nDC Super Hero Girls\nSupergirl appears as a central protagonist in the web series DC Super Hero Girls voiced by Anais Fairweather, and is a student at Super Hero High, is very kind and caring and extremely powerful but she's also very clumsy.\n\nShe also appears as a central protagonist in the 2019 TV series, with Nicole Sullivan reprising her role from the Super Best Friends Forever shorts. In this version, she is also a rebel and is known as the \"cool kid\" in school. She may be tough but she can easily express her emotions and is very open-minded as well. She can be a cool friend and a helpful one, but she can also be jealous sometimes and she dislikes her cousin's prominence.\n\nJustice League Action\nSupergirl appears in Justice League Action, voiced by Joanne Spracklen. She has the appearance of a wide-eyed human teenager with blonde hair and wears her traditional costume except that it has thigh-high boots and a pleated skirt. As a person, she is youthful, responsible, and shows much affection for her cousin Superman. In \"Party Animal\", she appears as a cameo at this Christmas party with the Justice League. In \"Keeping up with the Kryptonians\", Supergirl becomes a star of the popular reality show \"That's So Kara\", and Superman a Kasnian who rules from one place to another on Earth, all being a reality caused by Mister Mxyzptlk. In \"Unleashed\", Supergirl accompanies Justice League in stopping Red Lantern Corps, unaware that it was a distraction made by Dex-Starr to invade Earth, until it was ultimately resolved by Krypto, Streaky, and Plastic Man. In a short \"The Goddess Must Be Crazy\", Supergirl trains with Wonder Woman in Paradise Island, until she is possessed by Felix Faust, to destroy the island.\n\nFilm\n\nSuperman film series\n A live action depiction of Supergirl first appears in the eponymous 1984 film starring Helen Slater as Supergirl. The film is a spin-off from the Superman film series starring Christopher Reeve, to which it is connected by Marc McClure's character of Jimmy Olsen.\n\nDC Extended Universe\n Kara Zor-El / Linda Danvers / Supergirl exists within the DC Extended Universe, as she was referenced in Man of Steel when Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman discovers an empty pod within the Kryptonian scout spaceship. Though Zack Snyder confirmed in August 2018 that even though the character does exist, that pod was not intended for her.\n In August 2018, a film centered around the character was announced to be in development, with Oren Uziel hired as screenwriter for the project. The studio intends to hire a female director, with Reed Morano—who has expressed interest in the project—being its top choice. Filming was expected to start production in early 2020.\nSasha Calle will play Supergirl for the DC Extended Universe in The Flash.\n\nAnimation\n Summer Glau voices the post-Crisis version of Kara Zor-El in Superman/Batman: Apocalypse, which is based on the Superman/Batman storyline \"The Supergirl from Krypton\". Despite this, it was confirmed by director Lauren Montgomery that Supergirl's name was removed from the title due to the much slower sales of the previous Wonder Woman animated movie, and the character was not permitted to appear on the cover in her trademark outfit.\n Molly Quinn voices Supergirl in Superman: Unbound.\n Supergirl appears in Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League: Cosmic Clash, voiced by Jessica DiCicco.\n\nVideo games\n Supergirl appears in DC Universe Online, voiced by Adriene Mishler. In the villain campaign, the players help Doctor Psycho capture Supergirl using Kryptonite. In the hero campaign, the players fight Doctor Psycho to save Supergirl. Under the thrall of Brainiac, she must be defeated in the Fortress of Solitude: Power Core raid.\n Supergirl is unlockable in Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes, voiced by Bridget Hoffman.\n Supergirl makes a cameo appearance in the IOS version of Injustice: Gods Among Us as a support card.\n Supergirl appears as a playable character in Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham, voiced by Kari Wahlgren. She is playable in her default variant which is designed after her appearance in The New 52 and in her Classic attire. Her Classic variant is unlocked in a VR Mission while her New 52 variant is unlocked in a Hub Quest in Nok where she requests players to defeat a number of enemies she accidentally releases from their cells.\n Supergirl appears as a playable character in Infinite Crisis, voiced by Camilla Luddington.\n Supergirl appears as a playable character and the central protagonist in Injustice 2 by NetherRealm Studios, the sequel to Injustice: Gods Among Us, voiced by Laura Bailey. Here her origin is much like in the comics where she is sent along with her cousin Kal-El to Earth by her mother after Krypton is destroyed but on separate pods where hers veers off-course after sustaining significant damage, stranding her in space for many years until she lands on Earth, unaged. When the main storyline starts, she is residing on Black Adam's kingdom of Khandaq, apparently under his and Wonder Woman's protection. When Brainiac who was responsible for Krypton's destruction attacks, she, Wonder Woman, and Black Adam attempt to free Superman and the remaining members of the Regime, while being interrupted in their efforts by new Insurgency recruits Blue Beetle and Firestorm until Batman himself arrives and releases Superman, leading to a temporary alliance between the Regime and Insurgency against the alien warlord. Over the course of the story, she learns the truth about her cousin's tyranny and at the end of the game sides with Batman, Green Lantern and Flash in letting Brainiac live in order to restore the lost cities but is defeated. In Batman's ending, she laments her cousin's tyranny and sees him leave to be imprisoned in the Phantom Zone and is offered membership by Batman in his Justice League. In Superman's ending, she is imprisoned aboard Brainiac's ship and to her shock discovers her cousin has bonded with it and when she refuses his offer to join him in leading his new legion of imprisoned species. He attempts to coerce her by revealing a brainwashed Batman, who had also been captured, further shocking her.\n Supergirl appears as a limited-distribution minifigure for the toys-to-life video game Lego Dimensions, with Kari Wahlgren reprising her role. She has the ability to transform between her classic and Red Lantern forms.\n Supergirl appears as a playable character in DC Unchained.\n Supergirl appears in the PSP version of Justice League Heroes.\n Supergirl appears as a playable character in the DC TV Super-Heroes DLC pack in Lego DC Super-Villains.\n\nSee also\n Alternative versions of Supergirl\n Laurel Gand\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nDC Comics\n\nPre-Crisis Supergirl Chronology\n\nSupergirl\nCharacters created by Otto Binder\nComics characters introduced in 1958\nComics characters introduced in 1959\nDC Comics aliens\nDC Comics American superheroes\nDC Comics characters who can move at superhuman speeds\nDC Comics characters with accelerated healing\nDC Comics characters with superhuman strength\nDC Comics deities\nDC Comics female superheroes\nDC Comics film characters\nDC Comics television characters\nDC Comics extraterrestrial superheroes\nFemale characters in television\nFictional characters with superhuman senses\nFictional actors\nFictional extraterrestrial–human hybrids\nFictional orphans\nFictional photographers\nFictional refugees\nFictional reporters\nFictional school counselors\nFictional American secret agents\nFictional waiting staff\nKryptonians\nSuperheroes who are adopted\nVigilante characters in comics"},"extractive":{"kind":"string","value":"true"},"retrieved_contexts":{"kind":"list like","value":["Anything Can Happen is a 1952 comedy-drama film.\n\nAnything Can Happen may also refer to:\n\n Anything Can Happen (album), by Leon Russell, 1994\n \"Anything Can Happen\", a 2019 song by Saint Jhn \n Edhuvum Nadakkum ('Anything Can Happen'), a season of the Tamil TV series Marmadesam\n \"Anything Can Happen in the Next Half Hour\", or \"Anything Can Happen\", a 2007 song by Enter Shikari\n Anything Can Happen in the Next Half Hour (EP), 2004\n\nSee also\n \"Anything Could Happen\", a 2012 song by Ellie Goulding \n Anything Might Happen, 1934 British crime film\n Special Effects: Anything Can Happen, a 1996 American documentary film\n \"Anything Can Happen on Halloween\", a song from the 1986 film The Worst Witch \n Anything Can Happen in the Theatre, a musical revue of works by Maury Yeston\n \"The Anything Can Happen Recurrence\", an episode of The Big Bang Theory (season 7)\n The Anupam Kher Show - Kucch Bhi Ho Sakta Hai ('The Anupam Kher Show — Anything Can Happen') an Indian TV show","\"Anything Can Happen in the Next Half Hour...\" (often shortened to \"Anything Can Happen\") is the second physical single, and third overall, by Enter Shikari and the second single to be released from their debut album Take to the Skies. It was released on 18 February 2007 for digital download and on 5 March 2007 on both CD and 7\" vinyl. It is the band's highest charting single, charting at #27 in the UK single chart, and number 1 on the UK indie chart. There are two remixes of the song, Colon Open Bracket Remix and Grayedout Mix. Both are up for download on their official download store.\n\nTrack listing\n\n CD\n \"Anything Can Happen in the Next Half Hour...\" (Rou, Enter Shikari) - 4:40\n \"Kickin' Back on the Surface of Your Cheek\" (Rou, Enter Shikari) - 3:50\n \"Keep It on Ice\" (Rou) - 2:51\n\n 7\"\n\n \"Anything Can Happen in the Next Half Hour...\" (Rou, Enter Shikari) - 4:40\n \"Kickin' Back on the Surface of Your Cheek\" (Rou, Enter Shikari) - 3:50\n\nOriginal version\nIn the original version of the song, a sample is heard from the introduction of the popular 1960s TV series Stingray in which the character says \"Anything can happen in the next half hour\". This is, however, not heard in the re-recorded version.\n\nChart performance\n\nPersonnel\n\nEnter Shikari\nRoughton \"Rou\" Reynolds - vocals, electronics\nLiam \"Rory\" Clewlow - guitar\nChris Batten - bass, vocals\nRob Rolfe - drums\nProduction\nEnter Shikari - production\nJohn Mitchell - recording\nBen Humphreys - recording\nMartin Giles - mastering\nKeaton Henson - illustration, design\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Video - \"Anything Can Happen in the Next Half Hour...\" video.\n Original Video - Original video using the 2004 EP version of the song.\n Stingray Introduction - The phrase can be heard at 0:44\n\n2007 singles\nEnter Shikari songs\nSong articles missing an audio sample\n2007 songs"],"string":"[\n \"Anything Can Happen is a 1952 comedy-drama film.\\n\\nAnything Can Happen may also refer to:\\n\\n Anything Can Happen (album), by Leon Russell, 1994\\n \\\"Anything Can Happen\\\", a 2019 song by Saint Jhn \\n Edhuvum Nadakkum ('Anything Can Happen'), a season of the Tamil TV series Marmadesam\\n \\\"Anything Can Happen in the Next Half Hour\\\", or \\\"Anything Can Happen\\\", a 2007 song by Enter Shikari\\n Anything Can Happen in the Next Half Hour (EP), 2004\\n\\nSee also\\n \\\"Anything Could Happen\\\", a 2012 song by Ellie Goulding \\n Anything Might Happen, 1934 British crime film\\n Special Effects: Anything Can Happen, a 1996 American documentary film\\n \\\"Anything Can Happen on Halloween\\\", a song from the 1986 film The Worst Witch \\n Anything Can Happen in the Theatre, a musical revue of works by Maury Yeston\\n \\\"The Anything Can Happen Recurrence\\\", an episode of The Big Bang Theory (season 7)\\n The Anupam Kher Show - Kucch Bhi Ho Sakta Hai ('The Anupam Kher Show — Anything Can Happen') an Indian TV show\",\n \"\\\"Anything Can Happen in the Next Half Hour...\\\" (often shortened to \\\"Anything Can Happen\\\") is the second physical single, and third overall, by Enter Shikari and the second single to be released from their debut album Take to the Skies. It was released on 18 February 2007 for digital download and on 5 March 2007 on both CD and 7\\\" vinyl. It is the band's highest charting single, charting at #27 in the UK single chart, and number 1 on the UK indie chart. There are two remixes of the song, Colon Open Bracket Remix and Grayedout Mix. Both are up for download on their official download store.\\n\\nTrack listing\\n\\n CD\\n \\\"Anything Can Happen in the Next Half Hour...\\\" (Rou, Enter Shikari) - 4:40\\n \\\"Kickin' Back on the Surface of Your Cheek\\\" (Rou, Enter Shikari) - 3:50\\n \\\"Keep It on Ice\\\" (Rou) - 2:51\\n\\n 7\\\"\\n\\n \\\"Anything Can Happen in the Next Half Hour...\\\" (Rou, Enter Shikari) - 4:40\\n \\\"Kickin' Back on the Surface of Your Cheek\\\" (Rou, Enter Shikari) - 3:50\\n\\nOriginal version\\nIn the original version of the song, a sample is heard from the introduction of the popular 1960s TV series Stingray in which the character says \\\"Anything can happen in the next half hour\\\". This is, however, not heard in the re-recorded version.\\n\\nChart performance\\n\\nPersonnel\\n\\nEnter Shikari\\nRoughton \\\"Rou\\\" Reynolds - vocals, electronics\\nLiam \\\"Rory\\\" Clewlow - guitar\\nChris Batten - bass, vocals\\nRob Rolfe - drums\\nProduction\\nEnter Shikari - production\\nJohn Mitchell - recording\\nBen Humphreys - recording\\nMartin Giles - mastering\\nKeaton Henson - illustration, design\\n\\nReferences\\n\\nExternal links\\n Video - \\\"Anything Can Happen in the Next Half Hour...\\\" video.\\n Original Video - Original video using the 2004 EP version of the song.\\n Stingray Introduction - The phrase can be heard at 0:44\\n\\n2007 singles\\nEnter Shikari songs\\nSong articles missing an audio sample\\n2007 songs\"\n]"},"chunked_article":{"kind":"list like","value":["Kara Zor-El, also known by her adoptive names of Linda Lee Danvers, Kara Kent, Linda Lang, and Kara Danvers, and the superhero name of Supergirl, is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. She was created by Otto Binder and designed by Al Plastino. Danvers first appeared in Action Comics #252 (May 1959)'s \"The Supergirl from Krypton\" story. Kara is the biological cousin of Kal-El, who went on to adopt the name of Clark Kent and the superhero Superman.","Kara is the biological cousin of Kal-El, who went on to adopt the name of Clark Kent and the superhero Superman. During the 1980s and the revolution of the Modern Age of Comics, Superman editors believed the character's history had become too convoluted, thus killing Supergirl during the 1985 Crisis on Infinite Earths event and retconning her out of existence. DC Comics Senior Vice President Dan DiDio re-introduced the character in 2004 along with editor Eddie Berganza and writer Jeph Loeb, with her the Superman/Batman storyline \"The Supergirl from Krypton\".","DC Comics Senior Vice President Dan DiDio re-introduced the character in 2004 along with editor Eddie Berganza and writer Jeph Loeb, with her the Superman/Batman storyline \"The Supergirl from Krypton\". As the current Supergirl, Kara stars in her own monthly comic book series. With DC's The New 52 relaunch, Kara, like most of the DC Universe, was revamped. DC relaunched the Supergirl comic in August 2016 as part of their DC Rebirth initiative.","DC relaunched the Supergirl comic in August 2016 as part of their DC Rebirth initiative. In live-action, Supergirl appeared in the 1984 film based on her character and was portrayed by Helen Slater. She also appeared in the series Smallville, played by actress Laura Vandervoort. In 2015, the live-action Arrowverse series Supergirl debuted on CBS and then moved to The CW after the first season. Supergirl was portrayed by Melissa Benoist on the show and also appeared on other Arrowverse shows.","Supergirl was portrayed by Melissa Benoist on the show and also appeared on other Arrowverse shows. Sasha Calle will appear as Supergirl in the upcoming DC Extended Universe film The Flash (2022). Publication history Early life Although Kara Zor-El was the first character to use the name \"Supergirl,\" DC Comics tested three different female versions of Superman prior to her debut. The first story to feature a female counterpart to Superman was \"Lois Lane – Superwoman,\" which was published in Action Comics #60 (May 1943).","The first story to feature a female counterpart to Superman was \"Lois Lane – Superwoman,\" which was published in Action Comics #60 (May 1943). In the story, a hospitalized Lois Lane dreams she has gained superpowers thanks to a blood transfusion from the Man of Steel. She begins her own career as \"Superwoman\", complete with a version of Superman's costume.","She begins her own career as \"Superwoman\", complete with a version of Superman's costume. In the Superboy #78 story entitled \"Claire Kent, Alias Super-Sister\", Superboy saves the life of an alien woman named Shar-La, who turns Superboy into a girl, in retaliation for his disparaging thoughts about women drivers which she picked up telepathically. In Smallville, Clark claims to be Claire Kent, an out-of-town relative who is staying with the Kents.","In Smallville, Clark claims to be Claire Kent, an out-of-town relative who is staying with the Kents. When in costume, he appears as Superboy's sister, Super-Sister, and claims the two have exchanged places. Once Superboy has learned his lesson about feeling more respect for women, Shar-La reveals the episode to be a dream which she projected into Superboy's mind.","Once Superboy has learned his lesson about feeling more respect for women, Shar-La reveals the episode to be a dream which she projected into Superboy's mind. In Superman #123 (August 1958), Jimmy Olsen uses a magic totem to wish a \"Super-Girl\" into existence as a companion and aid to Superman; however, the two frequently get in each other's way until she is fatally injured protecting Superman from a Kryptonite meteor. At her insistence, Jimmy wishes the dying girl out of existence.","At her insistence, Jimmy wishes the dying girl out of existence. DC used this story to gauge public response to the concept of a completely new super-powered female counterpart to Superman. The Kara Zor-El version of Supergirl finally appeared in Action Comics #252 (May 1959). Otto Binder wrote and Al Plastino illustrated her début story, in which Kara was born and raised in Argo City (unnamed until later issues), a fragment of Krypton that survived destruction.","Otto Binder wrote and Al Plastino illustrated her début story, in which Kara was born and raised in Argo City (unnamed until later issues), a fragment of Krypton that survived destruction. When the city is doomed by a meteor shower, Kara is sent to Earth by her parents, Zor-El and Alura (the latter unnamed until later issues), to be raised by her cousin Kal-El, known as Superman. Supergirl adopted the secret identity of an orphan \"Linda Lee\", and made Midvale Orphanage her home.","Supergirl adopted the secret identity of an orphan \"Linda Lee\", and made Midvale Orphanage her home. Supergirl promised Superman that she would keep her existence on Earth a secret, so that he may use her as a \"secret weapon\", but that didn't stop Supergirl from exploring her new powers covertly. Action Comics #255 published reader's letters-of-comment to Supergirl's first appearance; she had allegedly generated a sizeable and mostly positive reaction.","Action Comics #255 published reader's letters-of-comment to Supergirl's first appearance; she had allegedly generated a sizeable and mostly positive reaction. Supergirl, from her debut onwards, became a regular backup strip in Action Comics. She joined the Legion of Super-Heroes, like her cousin had done as a teenager, and in Action Comics #279 (July 1961) she was adopted by Fred and Edna Danvers, becoming \"Linda Lee Danvers\".","She joined the Legion of Super-Heroes, like her cousin had done as a teenager, and in Action Comics #279 (July 1961) she was adopted by Fred and Edna Danvers, becoming \"Linda Lee Danvers\". Supergirl acted for three years as Superman's secret weapon, and her adventures during that time have been compared to contemporary developments in feminist thinking in work such as Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique.","Supergirl acted for three years as Superman's secret weapon, and her adventures during that time have been compared to contemporary developments in feminist thinking in work such as Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique. She was at last introduced by her super-powered cousin to an unsuspecting world in Action Comics #285 (February 1962). During her first quarter of a century, Linda Danvers would have many professions, from student to student advisor, to actor, and even TV camera operator.","During her first quarter of a century, Linda Danvers would have many professions, from student to student advisor, to actor, and even TV camera operator. She shared Action Comics with Superman until transferring to the lead in Adventure Comics at the end of the 1960s. In 1972 she finally moved to her own short-lived eponymous magazine, before DC merged its Supergirl, Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen titles into a single anthology title named The Superman Family. In 1982 Supergirl was relaunched into her own magazine.","In 1982 Supergirl was relaunched into her own magazine. In 1982 Supergirl was relaunched into her own magazine. Death during Crisis on Infinite Earths In 1985, the maxi-series Crisis on Infinite Earths was conceived as a way to reduce DC continuity to a single universe in which all characters maintained a single history. Despite Supergirl's continued popularity and status as a central member of the \"Superman Family\", the editors at DC Comics and the creators of the maxi-series decided to kill Supergirl off during the Crisis.","Despite Supergirl's continued popularity and status as a central member of the \"Superman Family\", the editors at DC Comics and the creators of the maxi-series decided to kill Supergirl off during the Crisis. According to Marv Wolfman, writer of Crisis on Infinite Earths: The idea of killing Supergirl was first conceived by DC's vice president/executive editor Dick Giordano, who lobbied for the death to DC's publishers.","According to Marv Wolfman, writer of Crisis on Infinite Earths: The idea of killing Supergirl was first conceived by DC's vice president/executive editor Dick Giordano, who lobbied for the death to DC's publishers. He later said he has never had any regrets about this, explaining, \"Supergirl was created initially to take advantage of the high Superman sales and not much thought was put into her creation. She was created essentially as a female Superman.","She was created essentially as a female Superman. She was created essentially as a female Superman. With time, writers and artists improved upon her execution, but she never did really add anything to the Superman mythos—at least not for me.\" The poor initial reception of the 1984 film Supergirl was also blamed by some sources.","The poor initial reception of the 1984 film Supergirl was also blamed by some sources. In 1989, in the tale \"Christmas with the Super-Heroes\" the soul of Kara appears to Boston \"Deadman\" Brand, cheers him up, and then disappears from continuity until 2001 (see below).","In 1989, in the tale \"Christmas with the Super-Heroes\" the soul of Kara appears to Boston \"Deadman\" Brand, cheers him up, and then disappears from continuity until 2001 (see below). Several characters unrelated to Superman soon took on the Supergirl persona, including the Matrix (a shapeshifting genetically engineered life-form that 'defaulted' as Supergirl), Linda Danvers (the result of Matrix merging with the dying Linda Danvers and becoming an Earth-bound angel of fire), and Cir-El (Superman's apparent daughter from a possible future).","Several characters unrelated to Superman soon took on the Supergirl persona, including the Matrix (a shapeshifting genetically engineered life-form that 'defaulted' as Supergirl), Linda Danvers (the result of Matrix merging with the dying Linda Danvers and becoming an Earth-bound angel of fire), and Cir-El (Superman's apparent daughter from a possible future). A heroine resembling the Pre-Crisis Kara would later appear in Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #5, along with an entire army of Legionnaires gathered from alternate worlds, times, and realities, to battle the Time Trapper.","A heroine resembling the Pre-Crisis Kara would later appear in Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #5, along with an entire army of Legionnaires gathered from alternate worlds, times, and realities, to battle the Time Trapper. Two Supergirls meet Prior to the post-Crisis introduction of Kara Zor-El into mainstream continuity, the pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El made an appearance in Peter David's Supergirl: Many Happy Returns.","Two Supergirls meet Prior to the post-Crisis introduction of Kara Zor-El into mainstream continuity, the pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El made an appearance in Peter David's Supergirl: Many Happy Returns. The then-current Supergirl series, at the time starring Linda Danvers, was in danger of cancellation and Peter David thought a story arc involving Kara Zor-El would be enough to revitalize the series.","The then-current Supergirl series, at the time starring Linda Danvers, was in danger of cancellation and Peter David thought a story arc involving Kara Zor-El would be enough to revitalize the series. In an interview with Cliff Biggers of Newsarama, David states: In the Linda Danvers' Supergirl series issues 49 and 50 (October and November 2000), the original dead Kara appears as Linda's \"guardian angel\".","In an interview with Cliff Biggers of Newsarama, David states: In the Linda Danvers' Supergirl series issues 49 and 50 (October and November 2000), the original dead Kara appears as Linda's \"guardian angel\". Then in issues 75 to 80, \"Many Happy Returns\", a young Kara appears from an earlier time long before the Crisis.","Then in issues 75 to 80, \"Many Happy Returns\", a young Kara appears from an earlier time long before the Crisis. The paradox becomes a moral crisis for Linda who tries to take her place as the Crisis sacrifice, living for years in a Silver Age universe where \"no one swears, the villains are always easy to defeat, and everything's very, very clean\", eventually marrying the Silver Age Superman and having a daughter with him, before she is forced to return to her universe by the Spectre when he reveals that her efforts to replace Kara as the sacrifice will not succeed.","The paradox becomes a moral crisis for Linda who tries to take her place as the Crisis sacrifice, living for years in a Silver Age universe where \"no one swears, the villains are always easy to defeat, and everything's very, very clean\", eventually marrying the Silver Age Superman and having a daughter with him, before she is forced to return to her universe by the Spectre when he reveals that her efforts to replace Kara as the sacrifice will not succeed. This run was illustrated by Ed Benes who had also illustrated Gail Simone's Birds of Prey which had a similar whimsical camaraderie between its female leads.","This run was illustrated by Ed Benes who had also illustrated Gail Simone's Birds of Prey which had a similar whimsical camaraderie between its female leads. Linda's inability to ultimately save Kara, coupled with the loss of her daughter, is so devastating that it ends her own career as Supergirl, Linda leaving a note for Superman where she explains that she feels that she has failed to live up to the standards of a true Supergirl and choosing to go somewhere she cannot be found.","Linda's inability to ultimately save Kara, coupled with the loss of her daughter, is so devastating that it ends her own career as Supergirl, Linda leaving a note for Superman where she explains that she feels that she has failed to live up to the standards of a true Supergirl and choosing to go somewhere she cannot be found. This story arc is usually cited as one of the best Supergirl stories ever written. The series ended with issue 80.","The series ended with issue 80. The series ended with issue 80. Revival After the launch of the Superman/Batman comic book series, executive editor Dan DiDio had been looking for a way to simplify the Supergirl character from her convoluted post-Crisis history; the simplest version, of course, was Superman's cousin. Jeph Loeb and editor Eddie Berganza found an opening to reintroduce the character following the conclusion of the first story arc of Superman/Batman.","Jeph Loeb and editor Eddie Berganza found an opening to reintroduce the character following the conclusion of the first story arc of Superman/Batman. Loeb states: The modern version of Kara Zor-El made her debut in Superman/Batman #8 (2004). Kara takes the mantle of Supergirl at the conclusion of the storyline. The Supergirl comic book series would later be relaunched, now starring Kara Zor-El as \"The Girl of Steel\". The first arc of the new series was written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by Ian Churchill.","The first arc of the new series was written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by Ian Churchill. Loeb would later describe the appeal of writing for Supergirl: As the character continued to be reinvented, steps towards regarding the iconic character were some of the most prominent changes. Artist Jamal Igle and editor Matt Idleson moved to transition the character away from red panties under her skirt to biker shorts, feeling such a change was a logical progression and \"more respectable.\"","Artist Jamal Igle and editor Matt Idleson moved to transition the character away from red panties under her skirt to biker shorts, feeling such a change was a logical progression and \"more respectable.\" The New 52 In September 2011, DC Comics began The New 52, in which it canceled all of its monthly superhero titles and relaunched 52 new ones, wiping out most of its past continuity in the process.","The New 52 In September 2011, DC Comics began The New 52, in which it canceled all of its monthly superhero titles and relaunched 52 new ones, wiping out most of its past continuity in the process. One of the new titles was a new Supergirl series (Volume 6) that featured a new origin for Kara and was published between 2011 and 2015.","One of the new titles was a new Supergirl series (Volume 6) that featured a new origin for Kara and was published between 2011 and 2015. Artist Mahmud Asrar designed a new costume for the character which strongly deviated from her classic, \"cheerleader\" suit, a change which generated criticism from some readers. DC Rebirth The 2016 DC Comics title relaunch Rebirth incorporates several elements (such as the costume, the name, the setting, and some characters) from the Supergirl television series.","DC Rebirth The 2016 DC Comics title relaunch Rebirth incorporates several elements (such as the costume, the name, the setting, and some characters) from the Supergirl television series. The DC Rebirth initiative undid the New 52's modern recreations, bringing DC's heroes back to their more classic iterations. Supergirl's new series (Volume 7) was titled Supergirl: Rebirth, written by Steven Orlando. The first arc was penciled by Brian Ching, who also redesigned Supergirl's costume in reference to a more classic look.","The first arc was penciled by Brian Ching, who also redesigned Supergirl's costume in reference to a more classic look. In April 2018, it was announced that the title would be canceled after issue #20, only to be revived in August that year under a new creative team, with new writer Marc Andreyko and artist Kevin Maguire. The series ended with its 42nd issue.","The series ended with its 42nd issue. The series ended with its 42nd issue. Future State: Kara Zor-El, Superwoman The Future State comics propose a possible future for Kara Zor-El, now an adult and having taken the alias of Superwoman. She leaves Earth to become a guardian of the Moon, which has become a refugee colony for aliens from the entire universe. The series was written by Marguerite Bennet and penciled by Marguerite Sauvage.","The series was written by Marguerite Bennet and penciled by Marguerite Sauvage. Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow Under the Infinite Frontier brand, Kara's next series Woman of Tomorrow debuted in June 2021, written by Tom King and penciled by Brazilian artists Bilquis Evely and Mat Lopes. The arc introduces Supergirl to new character grounds as she begins the story as a young woman, celebrating her 21st birthday and helping a young alien in her quest for revenge.","The arc introduces Supergirl to new character grounds as she begins the story as a young woman, celebrating her 21st birthday and helping a young alien in her quest for revenge. The \"mentor-mentee journey on revenge\" plot is, according to King, inspired by the original novel and both versions of True Grit. In this series, the creators paid homage to Linda Danvers, as Kara manifests flame wings and powers after taking a red kryptonite drug, in order to save her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon.","In this series, the creators paid homage to Linda Danvers, as Kara manifests flame wings and powers after taking a red kryptonite drug, in order to save her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon. Fictional character biography Silver Age In her debut story, Kara Zor-El is the last survivor of Argo City of the planet Krypton.","Fictional character biography Silver Age In her debut story, Kara Zor-El is the last survivor of Argo City of the planet Krypton. Although Argo, which had survived the explosion of the planet, drifted through space as a self-sustaining environment, the soil of the colony eventually turned into Kryptonite; and though Kara's father Zor-El placed lead sheeting above the ground to protect the citizens from radiation, meteorites pierced the sheeting, and the Kryptonians died of radiation poisoning instead of replacing the metal.","Although Argo, which had survived the explosion of the planet, drifted through space as a self-sustaining environment, the soil of the colony eventually turned into Kryptonite; and though Kara's father Zor-El placed lead sheeting above the ground to protect the citizens from radiation, meteorites pierced the sheeting, and the Kryptonians died of radiation poisoning instead of replacing the metal. In Supergirl's subsequent backup feature in Action Comics drawn by artist Jim Mooney for ten years until 1968, Supergirl adopts the identity of Linda Lee, an orphan at Midvale Orphanage presided over by headmistress Miss Hart.","In Supergirl's subsequent backup feature in Action Comics drawn by artist Jim Mooney for ten years until 1968, Supergirl adopts the identity of Linda Lee, an orphan at Midvale Orphanage presided over by headmistress Miss Hart. She disguises herself by hiding her blond hair beneath a brunette wig; Supergirl interacts with humans on a person-to-person basis performing good deeds and saving the world by helping one person at a time, and she also devises clever schemes as \"Superman's Secret Weapon,\" saving him many times and avoiding adoption before Superman can introduce her publicly.","She disguises herself by hiding her blond hair beneath a brunette wig; Supergirl interacts with humans on a person-to-person basis performing good deeds and saving the world by helping one person at a time, and she also devises clever schemes as \"Superman's Secret Weapon,\" saving him many times and avoiding adoption before Superman can introduce her publicly. While temporarily powerless due to the scheming of Kandorian scientist Lesla-Lar, who is out to supplant her on Earth, Linda allows herself to be adopted by engineer and rocket scientist Fred Danvers and his wife, Edna.","While temporarily powerless due to the scheming of Kandorian scientist Lesla-Lar, who is out to supplant her on Earth, Linda allows herself to be adopted by engineer and rocket scientist Fred Danvers and his wife, Edna. In time, she reveals her secret identity to her adoptive parents on the same day her cousin Superman finally introduces her to the world in the finale of then-DC's longest playing series ever (eight chapters) aptly called \"The World's Greatest Heroine\".","In time, she reveals her secret identity to her adoptive parents on the same day her cousin Superman finally introduces her to the world in the finale of then-DC's longest playing series ever (eight chapters) aptly called \"The World's Greatest Heroine\". When frequent dreams about her parents being alive turn out to be real, she builds a machine aided by her engineer father's talent, and brings them both back alive from the \"Survival Zone\" where they had both teleported during Argo City's final moments.","When frequent dreams about her parents being alive turn out to be real, she builds a machine aided by her engineer father's talent, and brings them both back alive from the \"Survival Zone\" where they had both teleported during Argo City's final moments. Zor-El and Allura eventually end up living in Kandor, and when the city in the bottle is enlarged, they both go on to live in Rokyn/New Krypton, where they have the sad duty of receiving her mortal remains after \"Crisis\" for burial.","Zor-El and Allura eventually end up living in Kandor, and when the city in the bottle is enlarged, they both go on to live in Rokyn/New Krypton, where they have the sad duty of receiving her mortal remains after \"Crisis\" for burial. Graduating from high school in 1965, Linda Lee goes to college on a scholarship and stays in Stanhope College until she graduates in 1971.","Graduating from high school in 1965, Linda Lee goes to college on a scholarship and stays in Stanhope College until she graduates in 1971. During this era, she is helped by her pet cat Streaky, her Super-Horse pet Comet, and befriends Lena Thorul, who had first appeared in the Lois Lane series. Kara is also a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, where she becomes close to Brainiac 5.","Kara is also a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, where she becomes close to Brainiac 5. In addition, Linda has boyfriends from the orphanage (Richard \"Dick\" Malverne) and from Atlantis (Jerro the merboy). In 1967, Supergirl meets Batgirl for the first time in World's Finest Comics. Developing a strong friendship, the two characters teamed up many times again, as in Superman Family #171, or Adventure #381.","Developing a strong friendship, the two characters teamed up many times again, as in Superman Family #171, or Adventure #381. In 1969, Supergirl left Action Comics and became a featured character in Adventure Comics beginning with issue #381 (June 1969). During the 1970s, Supergirl's costume changed frequently, as did her career in her civilian life.","During the 1970s, Supergirl's costume changed frequently, as did her career in her civilian life. In her secret identity as Linda Lee Danvers, Kara Zor-El took a variety of jobs including graduate student in acting, television camera operator, and student counselor, and finally became an actress on the TV soap Secret Hearts. Bronze Age After long-time Superman family editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971, the character underwent revitalization under editor Joe Orlando and artist Mike Sekowsky.","Bronze Age After long-time Superman family editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971, the character underwent revitalization under editor Joe Orlando and artist Mike Sekowsky. Wearing a series of new outfits, leaving her adopted foster home with the Danvers family, Linda goes on to San Francisco where she works for KSF-TV as a camera operator and develops a crush on her boss, Geoffrey Anderson. These stories introduced Supergirl's most memorable villain from this period: Lex Luthor's niece Nasthalthia, or Nasty.","These stories introduced Supergirl's most memorable villain from this period: Lex Luthor's niece Nasthalthia, or Nasty. Nasty had made two appearances towards the end of Linda's college years, then pursued her to KSF-TV, trying to secure proof of her dual identity.","Nasty had made two appearances towards the end of Linda's college years, then pursued her to KSF-TV, trying to secure proof of her dual identity. Supergirl starred in her first solo eponymous monthly series beginning in 1972 until October 1974, when her monthly title merged with Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane, and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen to produce a new title: then-highest DC selling series called The Superman Family, where she eventually became the steady lead story.","Supergirl starred in her first solo eponymous monthly series beginning in 1972 until October 1974, when her monthly title merged with Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane, and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen to produce a new title: then-highest DC selling series called The Superman Family, where she eventually became the steady lead story. Linda worked as a student advisor at New Athens Experimental School, before leaving for New York to follow a career in acting with daytime soap Secret Hearts.","Linda worked as a student advisor at New Athens Experimental School, before leaving for New York to follow a career in acting with daytime soap Secret Hearts. In 1982 Supergirl received a second monthly solo series titled The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl, relocating the character to Chicago as Linda became a mature student of Psychology. Industry legend, and former DC Publisher, Carmine Infantino provided the penciled art (Bob Oksner inked).","Industry legend, and former DC Publisher, Carmine Infantino provided the penciled art (Bob Oksner inked). With issue 13 the title was revamped, with a new costume design (sporting a red headband) and the title shortened to just Supergirl. The series ran until sudden cancellation in 1984, only two months before the character's debut in a big-budget Hollywood film starring Helen Slater.","The series ran until sudden cancellation in 1984, only two months before the character's debut in a big-budget Hollywood film starring Helen Slater. In the Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985), the greatest heroes from Earth-One, Earth-Two, Earth-Four, Earth-S, and Earth-X join forces in order to defeat the Anti-Monitor. When Superman comes face to face with the Anti-Monitor and is knocked unconscious, Supergirl rushes to save him before he is killed.","When Superman comes face to face with the Anti-Monitor and is knocked unconscious, Supergirl rushes to save him before he is killed. She is able to fight him off long enough for Dr. Light to carry her cousin to a safe distance, but is killed by the Anti-Monitor. A public memorial service for Supergirl takes place in Chicago, where Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) delivers the eulogy. In her remarks, she states \"Kara is a hero. She will not be forgotten.\"","She will not be forgotten.\" She will not be forgotten.\" Superman then gives his late cousin burial by taking her corpse to Rokyn/New Krypton to Zor-El and Allura. A Superman issue the next month reveals that Kara had experienced a premonition about her own passing. However, when the universe is rebooted, the timeline is altered. Kara Zor-El and all memory of her is erased from existence.","Kara Zor-El and all memory of her is erased from existence. Echoes After these events, the soul of Kara Zor-El made another appearance in continuity three years later in a story titled \"Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot\" in Christmas with the Super-Heroes #2 (1989). Within the story, Boston \"Deadman\" Brand tries to feel the warmth of Christmas by possessing revelers' bodies.","Within the story, Boston \"Deadman\" Brand tries to feel the warmth of Christmas by possessing revelers' bodies. Feeling guilty upon the realization that he has been stealing others' Christmases, he flies off feeling sorry for himself for being denied a reward after a year of helping people. A warmly dressed blonde woman approaches Brand, startling him.","A warmly dressed blonde woman approaches Brand, startling him. Somehow seeing the normally invisible Brand, she converses with him, reminding him, She reminds Brand that even though he is dead, he is still human, and he should rejoice because it means his spirit is still alive. As the woman leaves, Brand asks her who she is, to which she replies, \"My name is Kara. Though I doubt that will mean anything to you.\"","Though I doubt that will mean anything to you.\" The story, written by Alan Brennert and penciled by Dick Giordano, is dedicated to Otto Binder and Jim Mooney, adding: \"We still remember.\" Finally, the soul of Kara Zor-El appeared twice during Peter David's run, specifically in issues #48 and #49 when she appears before a defeated and imprisoned then-Supergirl, Linda Danvers from Earth, and comforts her.","Finally, the soul of Kara Zor-El appeared twice during Peter David's run, specifically in issues #48 and #49 when she appears before a defeated and imprisoned then-Supergirl, Linda Danvers from Earth, and comforts her. Linda acknowledges she has been helped three times by her phantom-friend, and when she asks her name she is told by the smiling figure: \"I have gone by many names, but the one I am most fond of is: Kara!\"","Linda acknowledges she has been helped three times by her phantom-friend, and when she asks her name she is told by the smiling figure: \"I have gone by many names, but the one I am most fond of is: Kara!\" Modern Age In 2004, Jeph Loeb reintroduced Kara Zor-El into post-Zero Hour (Birthright timeline) continuity during a storyline in the series Superman/Batman.","Modern Age In 2004, Jeph Loeb reintroduced Kara Zor-El into post-Zero Hour (Birthright timeline) continuity during a storyline in the series Superman/Batman. She is the biological cousin of Superman, and although chronologically older than him, the ship in which she traveled to Earth was caught in a large green Kryptonite meteorite which held her in a state of suspended animation for much of the journey, making her have the appearance of a 16-year-old girl.","She is the biological cousin of Superman, and although chronologically older than him, the ship in which she traveled to Earth was caught in a large green Kryptonite meteorite which held her in a state of suspended animation for much of the journey, making her have the appearance of a 16-year-old girl. Still, Supergirl sometimes saw Superman as a child, due to last carrying him as a baby. DC Comics relaunched the Supergirl, the first story arc of which was written by Loeb. showcases Supergirl on a journey of self-discovery.","showcases Supergirl on a journey of self-discovery. showcases Supergirl on a journey of self-discovery. Along her journey, she encounters Power Girl (Kara Zor-El's counterpart from another universe), the Teen Titans, the Outsiders, the Justice League of America, and arch-villain Lex Luthor. During the company-wide crossover series Infinite Crisis (2005), a sequel to Crisis on Infinite Earths, Supergirl is transported to the 31st century, where she is revered as a member of the Superman family and joins the Legion of Super-Heroes.","During the company-wide crossover series Infinite Crisis (2005), a sequel to Crisis on Infinite Earths, Supergirl is transported to the 31st century, where she is revered as a member of the Superman family and joins the Legion of Super-Heroes. DC Comics renamed the monthly series Legion of Super-Heroes to Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes. Beginning with issue #16.","Beginning with issue #16. Beginning with issue #16. In the limited series 52, which chronicles the events that took place during the missing year after the end of Infinite Crisis, Donna Troy recalls the original Kara Zor-El and her sacrifice to save the universe. Supergirl returns to the 21st century during the course of 52.","Supergirl returns to the 21st century during the course of 52. After briefly filling in for a temporarily depowered Superman as guardian of Metropolis, she assumes the identity of Flamebird to fight crime in the bottle city of Kandor with Power Girl as Nightwing in Greg Rucka's arc Supergirl: Kandor. In 2007, Supergirl appeared in the miniseries Amazons Attack! That same year, she joined the Teen Titans for five issues.","That same year, she joined the Teen Titans for five issues. Conversations with other heroes who maintain secret identities lead Kara to the conclusion that she needs to make a deeper connection with human beings. She accepts Lana Lang's proposal to present her to the Daily Planet staff as \"Linda Lang\", Lana's teenaged niece.","She accepts Lana Lang's proposal to present her to the Daily Planet staff as \"Linda Lang\", Lana's teenaged niece. In the 2008–2009 \"New Krypton\" story arc, in which Superman discovers and frees the real Kandor and a large number of its citizens, Supergirl is reunited with her father, Zor-El and mother, Alura, though Zor-El is killed by the villain Reactron.","In the 2008–2009 \"New Krypton\" story arc, in which Superman discovers and frees the real Kandor and a large number of its citizens, Supergirl is reunited with her father, Zor-El and mother, Alura, though Zor-El is killed by the villain Reactron. When a planet is formed that the Kryptonians call New Krypton, Kara is torn between her life on Earth, and her obligation to her mother, eventually joining the New Krypton Science Guild.","When a planet is formed that the Kryptonians call New Krypton, Kara is torn between her life on Earth, and her obligation to her mother, eventually joining the New Krypton Science Guild. Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2009 miniseries Justice League: Cry for Justice, and the 2009–2010 storyline \"Blackest Night\".","Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2009 miniseries Justice League: Cry for Justice, and the 2009–2010 storyline \"Blackest Night\". The New Krypton storyline would later be resolved in the \"World of New Krypton\", \"Superman: Last Stand of New Krypton\", \"War of the Supermen\" storylines, resulting in the destruction of New Krypton and seeing Supergirl mourn her people.","The New Krypton storyline would later be resolved in the \"World of New Krypton\", \"Superman: Last Stand of New Krypton\", \"War of the Supermen\" storylines, resulting in the destruction of New Krypton and seeing Supergirl mourn her people. Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2010 \"Brightest Day\" storyline, the follow up to \"Blackest Night\"., where she joins the Justice League along with Jesse Quick & Jade.","Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2010 \"Brightest Day\" storyline, the follow up to \"Blackest Night\"., where she joins the Justice League along with Jesse Quick & Jade. The New 52 In this continuity, Kara's ship lands in Smallville, Kansas but hurtles through the Earth and emerges in Siberia. Kara has no memory of the destruction of Krypton, and believes it is only three days since her spacecraft was launched.","Kara has no memory of the destruction of Krypton, and believes it is only three days since her spacecraft was launched. She learns the truth about Krypton's destruction from Superman, and later journeys through a wormhole to Argo City, which she finds in orbit around a blue sun. She finds the city in ruins, with no explanation of how it met that fate, and is attacked by a female Worldkiller named Reign before the city plummets into the sun.","She finds the city in ruins, with no explanation of how it met that fate, and is attacked by a female Worldkiller named Reign before the city plummets into the sun. When Reign and her fellow Worldkiller plan to enslave the Earth, Supergirl returns there to defeat them, and thus adopts Earth as her new home. After several battles with supervillains, including the Worldkillers, superweapons of Kryptonian design, she accepts Krypton's destruction, but continues to grapple with her grief.","After several battles with supervillains, including the Worldkillers, superweapons of Kryptonian design, she accepts Krypton's destruction, but continues to grapple with her grief. Her desire to restore Krypton results in her being manipulated into nearly destroying the Earth by another Kryptonian whom she falls in love with. Upon realizing his manipulation, she kills him by driving Kryptonite through his heart, and succumbs to Kryptonite poisoning. Following her poisoning, Supergirl departs the Earth to die alone.","Following her poisoning, Supergirl departs the Earth to die alone. While adrift in interstellar space, she encounters a planet under attack by monsters, and quickly intervenes to save them, unaware that the entire planet is a trap by Brainiac. She is captured and restrained by Cyborg Superman, but after a struggle, manages to escape both Brainiac and Cyborg Superman.","She is captured and restrained by Cyborg Superman, but after a struggle, manages to escape both Brainiac and Cyborg Superman. Returning to Earth, she is sent into the past by the Oracle alongside Superman and Superboy, where she ensures that a resurrected H'el cannot save Krypton, and sacrifices the planet and her family in order to save the universe. Back on Earth, she encounters the assassin Lobo.","Back on Earth, she encounters the assassin Lobo. Back on Earth, she encounters the assassin Lobo. Initially eager for a peaceful resolution, seeing a kind of kinship with him in their both being lone survivors of their respective worlds (although not truly aware of Lobo's circumstances), Kara's encounter with the Czarnian would reveal deep mental wounds, resulting in the unleashing of her rage and transformation into a Red Lantern.","Initially eager for a peaceful resolution, seeing a kind of kinship with him in their both being lone survivors of their respective worlds (although not truly aware of Lobo's circumstances), Kara's encounter with the Czarnian would reveal deep mental wounds, resulting in the unleashing of her rage and transformation into a Red Lantern. Driven insane by rage, Kara wanders space, attacking everyone in her way, until captured by several Green Lanterns and brought to Hal Jordan.","Driven insane by rage, Kara wanders space, attacking everyone in her way, until captured by several Green Lanterns and brought to Hal Jordan. Immediately recognizing a Kryptonian and unable to remove the power ring without killing her, he brings her to Guy Gardner, the leader of one of the two Red Lantern factions, who manages to restore her sanity.","Immediately recognizing a Kryptonian and unable to remove the power ring without killing her, he brings her to Guy Gardner, the leader of one of the two Red Lantern factions, who manages to restore her sanity. After some time under Guy Gardner's tutelage and protecting the galaxy as a Red Lantern, after being discharged from the Red Lantern Corps (because Guy did not want for her to die needlessly against Atrocitus' splinter group), on her way back to Earth, Kara encounters the leader of the Worldkillers, who are revealed to be parasitic suits of armor.","After some time under Guy Gardner's tutelage and protecting the galaxy as a Red Lantern, after being discharged from the Red Lantern Corps (because Guy did not want for her to die needlessly against Atrocitus' splinter group), on her way back to Earth, Kara encounters the leader of the Worldkillers, who are revealed to be parasitic suits of armor. He attempts to assimilate Kara as his host, but she voluntarily subjects herself to Kryptonite poisoning in order to stop him, and eventually flies into the Sun and removes her power ring, killing her and removing him from her body.","He attempts to assimilate Kara as his host, but she voluntarily subjects herself to Kryptonite poisoning in order to stop him, and eventually flies into the Sun and removes her power ring, killing her and removing him from her body. However, Kara is revealed to be immortal while in the Sun's core, and is restored to life without the power ring or any Kryptonite poisoning, immediately destroying the Worldkiller. She later helps Guy against Atrocitus and his Red Lantern splinter group.","She later helps Guy against Atrocitus and his Red Lantern splinter group. Convergence and return of the Pre-Crisis version During the Convergence story arc, the original Kara Zor-El who had sacrificed her life during Crisis on Infinite Earths makes an appearance on the amalgamated planet of Telos.","Convergence and return of the Pre-Crisis version During the Convergence story arc, the original Kara Zor-El who had sacrificed her life during Crisis on Infinite Earths makes an appearance on the amalgamated planet of Telos. At the end of the saga she volunteers herself to once again fight the Anti-Monitor but this time, with the help of her timeline's Barry Allen, the Pre-Flashpoint Superman (in tow with his pregnant wife, Lois Lane), and a repentant Parallax (Zero Hour Hal Jordan), vows to defeat him for the sake of the multiverse's continued existence.","At the end of the saga she volunteers herself to once again fight the Anti-Monitor but this time, with the help of her timeline's Barry Allen, the Pre-Flashpoint Superman (in tow with his pregnant wife, Lois Lane), and a repentant Parallax (Zero Hour Hal Jordan), vows to defeat him for the sake of the multiverse's continued existence. Without it being seen, those left on Telos discover the group was successful and all previous timelines (with the mysterious exception of the pre-Flashpoint/pre-New 52 DC universe) from DC history had been re-established, though the fate of the original Kara Zor-El and her fellows went unmentioned.","Without it being seen, those left on Telos discover the group was successful and all previous timelines (with the mysterious exception of the pre-Flashpoint/pre-New 52 DC universe) from DC history had been re-established, though the fate of the original Kara Zor-El and her fellows went unmentioned. A few more details of the battle against the Anti-Monitor are later revealed during the New 52 comic mini-series (leading into DC's Rebirth event).","A few more details of the battle against the Anti-Monitor are later revealed during the New 52 comic mini-series (leading into DC's Rebirth event). After the defeat of Anti-Monitor, Pre-New 52 Clark and Lois decide to start life anew in the closest universe they can find (mysteriously yet unable to see their old universe even though the rest of the multiverse had been restored) while Pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El, along with her contemporary Barry Allen and Zero Hour Parallax/Hal Jordan, decide to find their place in the universe and go off to do so.","After the defeat of Anti-Monitor, Pre-New 52 Clark and Lois decide to start life anew in the closest universe they can find (mysteriously yet unable to see their old universe even though the rest of the multiverse had been restored) while Pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El, along with her contemporary Barry Allen and Zero Hour Parallax/Hal Jordan, decide to find their place in the universe and go off to do so. Her fate as of that story arc is yet to be revealed.","Her fate as of that story arc is yet to be revealed. DC Rebirth After the events that led to the death of the New 52 version of Superman, 16-year-old Kara lives in National City with her adoptive parents, D.E.O. agents Jeremiah and Eliza Danvers, where she attends high school and works with the agency as led by Cameron Chase. As part of her civilian identity, Kara receives special glasses that darken her blond hair when posing as Kara Danvers.","As part of her civilian identity, Kara receives special glasses that darken her blond hair when posing as Kara Danvers. Kara also goes on an internship at Cat Grant's CATCO alongside Ben Rubel, whom she befriends. In her opening arc \"The Reign of the Cyborg Supermen\", Kara discovers that the cyborg Zor-El, whom she had battled in her New 52 title, is still active and has rebuilt other Kryptonians (her mother Alura included), planning to take over Earth.","In her opening arc \"The Reign of the Cyborg Supermen\", Kara discovers that the cyborg Zor-El, whom she had battled in her New 52 title, is still active and has rebuilt other Kryptonians (her mother Alura included), planning to take over Earth. Supergirl defeats them but vows to help her father regardless of his actions. After National City discovers Supergirl has kept Zor-El's \"living\" status a secret, they become untrustful of her.","After National City discovers Supergirl has kept Zor-El's \"living\" status a secret, they become untrustful of her. Director Bones takes advantage of the heroine's impopularity and, after taking control of the D.E.O., sends villains in an attempt to bring Kara down. She defeats all of them and regains trust from National City with Ben's help.","She defeats all of them and regains trust from National City with Ben's help. The Supergirl Who Laughs Kara is later infected by The Batman Who Laughs toxin, causing her to turn evil and joining other infected as part of Laughs Secret Six before later being cured. She is fired from CatCo by Cat Grant and starts working at S.T.A.R. Labs. Woman of Tomorrow Journeying throughout the universe with Krypto, Kara celebrates her 21st birthday alone on a distant planet.","Woman of Tomorrow Journeying throughout the universe with Krypto, Kara celebrates her 21st birthday alone on a distant planet. Drunk in a bar, she is approached by a little girl named Ruthye and is asked to kill Krem (her father's murderer) in vengeance. Supergirl refuses but, when she is about to leave the planet, Krem attacks and severely wounds both her and Krypto, fleeing in Kara's ship.","Supergirl refuses but, when she is about to leave the planet, Krem attacks and severely wounds both her and Krypto, fleeing in Kara's ship. Kara begins her journey alongside Ruthye and, powerless, saves her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon by taking a red kryptonite drug which causes her to manifest flame wings. Powers and abilities Like all Kryptonians under a yellow sun, the current version of Kara Zor-El possesses virtually unlimited strength, stamina, and durability.","Powers and abilities Like all Kryptonians under a yellow sun, the current version of Kara Zor-El possesses virtually unlimited strength, stamina, and durability. She is able to fly and with super speed that she can also use on foot, similar to Superman and The Flash. Also like Superman, Supergirl possesses super senses, super-breath, and freeze breathe, as well as multiple forms of supervision (including X-Ray, Infrared, Telescopic, and Microscopic).","Also like Superman, Supergirl possesses super senses, super-breath, and freeze breathe, as well as multiple forms of supervision (including X-Ray, Infrared, Telescopic, and Microscopic). Kara also has a bio-electric aura that enhances her near invulnerability and also protects her skin and her costume from dirt and tear; as such, Kara is perpetually clean. The Sun also provides Kara with a longer lifespan than that of a human being, to the point that she is effectively a biological immortal.","The Sun also provides Kara with a longer lifespan than that of a human being, to the point that she is effectively a biological immortal. Kara doesn't require food, water, or sleep to survive. She is also immune to most diseases, mental and physical, and would require a very strong strain to have a chance at affecting her. In the rare instances that Kara is harmed by someone matching her strength or by the use of one of her weaknesses, she can heal almost instantaneously.","In the rare instances that Kara is harmed by someone matching her strength or by the use of one of her weaknesses, she can heal almost instantaneously. Her power surpasses most other beings, though she can be overpowered by those who rival her strength such as Black Adam, Darkseid, Despero, Doomsday, Bizarro, Wonder Woman, and Superman. In reality, Kara is actually older than her cousin, Clark, and spent time on Krypton before its destruction.","In reality, Kara is actually older than her cousin, Clark, and spent time on Krypton before its destruction. As such (unlike Superman), she possesses memories of Kryptonian culture as well as her cousin's parents. Continued exposure to a yellow Sun will slowly increase abilities. Many characters in the DC Universe have noted that Supergirl appears, at times, to be even more powerful than Superman himself.","Many characters in the DC Universe have noted that Supergirl appears, at times, to be even more powerful than Superman himself. In answer to this, Superman states that this is because he has spent his entire life subconsciously suppressing his full powers in order to avoid hurting others, having been absorbing solar radiation since his infancy. Kara, not having such practice or experience, simply uses the full magnitude of her powers.","Kara, not having such practice or experience, simply uses the full magnitude of her powers. Abilities Unlike her cousin, Kara was taught to fight in Krypton as part of her tests, and at the Crucible Academy, being adept at various Kryptonian fighting styles like Klurkor and Torquasm Rao. Supergirl also learned the art of Bagua under I-Ching's instructions. She practiced how to manipulate her Chi or Qi in order to gain better control of her powers due to them becoming overwhelmed after her conflict with the Fatal Five.","She practiced how to manipulate her Chi or Qi in order to gain better control of her powers due to them becoming overwhelmed after her conflict with the Fatal Five. Superman recommended guardianship with I-Ching to Supergirl first. In addition to training in Krypton, Kara was trained by Batman in advanced martial arts and trained with the Amazons in Themyscira in unarmed and armed combat, Amazonas martial arts, fencing, Shield handling, and other Amazon weapons. She trained with Wonder Woman and Artemis extensively.","She trained with Wonder Woman and Artemis extensively. She trained with Wonder Woman and Artemis extensively. Other versions There are numerous alternate versions of Supergirl. The most notable is Power Girl (real name Kara Zor-L, also known as Karen Starr) who first appeared in All Star Comics #58 (January/February 1976). Power Girl is the Earth-Two counterpart of Supergirl and the first cousin of Kal-L, Superman of the pre-Crisis Earth-Two. The infant Power Girl's parents enabled her to escape the destruction of Krypton.","The infant Power Girl's parents enabled her to escape the destruction of Krypton. Although she left the planet at the same time that Superman did, her ship took much longer to reach Earth-Two. She has superhuman strength and the ability to fly and is the first chairwoman of the Justice Society of America. She sports a bob of blond hair; wears a distinctive white, red, and blue costume; and has an aggressive fighting style.","She sports a bob of blond hair; wears a distinctive white, red, and blue costume; and has an aggressive fighting style. Throughout her early appearances in All Star Comics, she is often at odds with Wildcat because his penchant for talking to her as if she were an ordinary human female rather than a superpowered Kryptonian annoys her. She also fought alongside the Sovereign Seven team, replacing Rampart after his death though that series is not considered to be part of canon in the DC universe.","She also fought alongside the Sovereign Seven team, replacing Rampart after his death though that series is not considered to be part of canon in the DC universe. The 1985 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths eliminated Earth-Two, causing her origin to change; she became the granddaughter of the Atlantean sorcerer Arion. However, story events culminating in the 2005–2006 Infinite Crisis limited series restored her status as a refugee from the Krypton of the destroyed pre-Crisis Earth-Two universe.","However, story events culminating in the 2005–2006 Infinite Crisis limited series restored her status as a refugee from the Krypton of the destroyed pre-Crisis Earth-Two universe. Like the original Kara's Streaky, Power Girl has a cat, featured in a story by Amanda Conner in Wonder Woman #600. Reception This version of Supergirl is ranked as the 153rd-greatest comic book character of all time by Wizard magazine.","Reception This version of Supergirl is ranked as the 153rd-greatest comic book character of all time by Wizard magazine. IGN also ranked this version of Supergirl as the 94th-greatest comic book superhero, stating \"for a character born of the Silver Age that saw everything from a Super Baby to a Super Monkey, Kara Zor-El grew into something much more than simply another marketing ploy to slap an 'S' on.\"","IGN also ranked this version of Supergirl as the 94th-greatest comic book superhero, stating \"for a character born of the Silver Age that saw everything from a Super Baby to a Super Monkey, Kara Zor-El grew into something much more than simply another marketing ploy to slap an 'S' on.\" In 2013 IGN ranked Supergirl as the 17th-greatest DC comic superhero, stating \"she was an early example of a female sidekick developing a large fanbase in her own right\", and \"Supergirl has been one of DC's most powerful heroes, and a standard to hold other female heroes against.\"","In 2013 IGN ranked Supergirl as the 17th-greatest DC comic superhero, stating \"she was an early example of a female sidekick developing a large fanbase in her own right\", and \"Supergirl has been one of DC's most powerful heroes, and a standard to hold other female heroes against.\" Appearances Pre-Crisis 1959 to 1969: Action Comics #252 to #376. 1969 to 1972: Adventure Comics #381 to #424. 1972 to 1974: Supergirl #1 to #10.","1972 to 1974: Supergirl #1 to #10. 1974 to 1982: Her comic merges with Jimmy Olsen's and Lois Lane's to become Superman Family #164 to #222. 1982 to 1984: The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl #1 to #13, Supergirl (vol. 2) #14 to #23. 2015: Convergence Kara Zor-El appeared in over 750 stories published by DC from 1959 to 1985.","2015: Convergence Kara Zor-El appeared in over 750 stories published by DC from 1959 to 1985. Post-Crisis 2004 to 2005: Superman/Batman #8 to #13 and #19 2005 to 2011: Supergirl (vol. 5) #0 to #67 2006 to 2008: Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes (Legion of Super-Heroes vol. 5) #16 to #37 2007: Action Comics #850 2008: Final Crisis 2011 to 2015: New 52: Supergirl (vol.","5) #16 to #37 2007: Action Comics #850 2008: Final Crisis 2011 to 2015: New 52: Supergirl (vol. 6) #1 to #40 2016 to current: Rebirth: Supergirl (vol. 7) #1 to current Kara Zor-El also appears as a supporting character in several issues of other DC Comics, including Superman, Action Comics, Teen Titans, Amazons Attack, World War III, and Wonder Girl.","7) #1 to current Kara Zor-El also appears as a supporting character in several issues of other DC Comics, including Superman, Action Comics, Teen Titans, Amazons Attack, World War III, and Wonder Girl. She has also appeared in many issues of Superman, Action Comics, and Superman New Krypton starting with the World Without Superman event in 2009, and continuing with the World Against Superman event going into 2010. Collected editions Listed in chronological order.","Collected editions Listed in chronological order. Collected editions Listed in chronological order. All ages titles are not in continuity with the original or modern Kara. In other media Television Live-action Smallville Prior to the seventh season (2007–2008) of the WB/CW show Smallville where she is introduced into the cast and is portrayed by Laura Vandervoort, a woman claiming to be Kara (portrayed by Adrianne Palicki) is briefly introduced in the season 3 finale.","In other media Television Live-action Smallville Prior to the seventh season (2007–2008) of the WB/CW show Smallville where she is introduced into the cast and is portrayed by Laura Vandervoort, a woman claiming to be Kara (portrayed by Adrianne Palicki) is briefly introduced in the season 3 finale. It is later revealed her real name is Lindsey Harrison, and had been given false memories and powers by the artificial intelligence of Clark Kent's (Tom Welling) father Jor-El as part of a series of tests.","It is later revealed her real name is Lindsey Harrison, and had been given false memories and powers by the artificial intelligence of Clark Kent's (Tom Welling) father Jor-El as part of a series of tests. Vandervoort portrays the real Kara, Clark's cousin whose spaceship had been trapped in stasis until the events of the season 6 finale. Much of season 7 is concerned with Kara's attempts to adjust to life on Earth, especially after learning of Krypton's destruction.","Much of season 7 is concerned with Kara's attempts to adjust to life on Earth, especially after learning of Krypton's destruction. Her storyline sees her simultaneously become the object of Lex Luthor's (Michael Rosenbaum) obsessions and Jimmy Olsen's (Aaron Ashmore) affections, suffer a bout of amnesia, discover her father's (Christopher Heyerdahl) sinister motives and become a target of evil android Brainiac (James Marsters). The season finale sees Kara become trapped in the Phantom Zone.","The season finale sees Kara become trapped in the Phantom Zone. Starting with season 8, Vandervoort ceases to feature as a series regular, but reprises the role three more times. In her first guest appearance, \"Bloodline,\" Kara is freed from the Phantom Zone and later departs Clark's hometown of Smallville to search for Kandor, her birthplace, as it is rumored to have survived their home planet's destruction.","In her first guest appearance, \"Bloodline,\" Kara is freed from the Phantom Zone and later departs Clark's hometown of Smallville to search for Kandor, her birthplace, as it is rumored to have survived their home planet's destruction. She appears again in the season 10 episode \"Supergirl\", in which she formally adopts her superhero moniker. Her off-screen adventures are alluded to thereafter.","Her off-screen adventures are alluded to thereafter. Her off-screen adventures are alluded to thereafter. Vandervoort makes a final appearance in the show's penultimate episode, \"Prophecy\", in which she helps Green Arrow (Justin Hartley) locate the \"Bow of Orion\" to use against Darkseid. She is then called to the Fortress of Solitude, where she learns from Jor-El that her job on Earth is done. Using a Legion of Super-Heroes flight ring, she travels to the future to seek her own destiny.","Using a Legion of Super-Heroes flight ring, she travels to the future to seek her own destiny. The Season Eleven comic book continuation of the show later depicts Kara's continued story in the 31st century, subsequent return to the present and joining the Justice League. Arrowverse In September 2014, a 22-episode television series centered around Supergirl was in development at Warner Bros. Television, set to premiere on CBS with a January 2015 air date. Melissa Benoist was cast as the titular character.","Melissa Benoist was cast as the titular character. Melissa Benoist was cast as the titular character. In May 2016, the series moved to The CW and was later integrated into the Arrowverse, a shared universe consisting of shows including Arrow, The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow. In the series, Kara Zor-El was sent to Earth to protect her cousin Kal-El, following her homeworld Krypton's destruction. However, she is knocked into the Phantom Zone, where she is stranded for 24 years.","However, she is knocked into the Phantom Zone, where she is stranded for 24 years. She eventually crash lands on Earth and is found by her already grown-up cousin Kal, now known to the world as the iconic superhero \"Superman\". Superman brings Kara into the custody of Jeremiah Danvers, director of the Department of Extranormal Operations (D.E.O. ), and his daughter Alex. Growing up, Kara struggles to maintain her Kryptonian abilities as well as balancing her relationship with her adoptive sister.","Growing up, Kara struggles to maintain her Kryptonian abilities as well as balancing her relationship with her adoptive sister. Eventually, the two bond when Kara's powers are exposed. However, Jeremiah decides it's best to isolate her abilities. As an adult, Kara is forced to use her powers again when her sister's plane almost crashes. She is later dubbed \"Supergirl\" by the media and dons a costume like her cousin.","She is later dubbed \"Supergirl\" by the media and dons a costume like her cousin. Kara decides to use her abilities to fight alien invaders such as Kara's aunt Astra and her husband Non, Mon-El's rogue parents, the Worldkiller Reign, anti-alien activist Ben Lockwood, and later the shadowy organization Leviathan, with the help of her sister Alex, now an agent of the D.E.O., her best friend and tech-expert Winn Schott, last of the Green Martians J'onn J'onzz / Martian Manhunter, and Kal's best friend Jimmy Olsen.","Kara decides to use her abilities to fight alien invaders such as Kara's aunt Astra and her husband Non, Mon-El's rogue parents, the Worldkiller Reign, anti-alien activist Ben Lockwood, and later the shadowy organization Leviathan, with the help of her sister Alex, now an agent of the D.E.O., her best friend and tech-expert Winn Schott, last of the Green Martians J'onn J'onzz / Martian Manhunter, and Kal's best friend Jimmy Olsen. She is later joined by Lex Luthor's sister Lena, Prince of Daxam Mon-El, former Legion of Superheroes member Querl \"Brainy\" Dox / Brainiac 5, Nia Nal / Dreamer, James' younger sister Kelly, and reporter Willam Dey face against these rival forces.","She is later joined by Lex Luthor's sister Lena, Prince of Daxam Mon-El, former Legion of Superheroes member Querl \"Brainy\" Dox / Brainiac 5, Nia Nal / Dreamer, James' younger sister Kelly, and reporter Willam Dey face against these rival forces. After joining the Arrowverse, which contain annual crossover, Kara assists Barry Allen, Oliver Queen and the Legends of Tomorrow against threats on their designated earth \"Earth-1\" while Kara’s is designated as \"Earth-38.","After joining the Arrowverse, which contain annual crossover, Kara assists Barry Allen, Oliver Queen and the Legends of Tomorrow against threats on their designated earth \"Earth-1\" while Kara’s is designated as \"Earth-38. Later, Kara is selected by The Monitor as the Paragon of Hope to participate in the coming crisis and fight against the Anti-Monitor, whose goal is to destroy the multiverse. After doing so, the Paragons are sent to the Vanishing Point where Oliver, now a Spectre, helps them escape.","After doing so, the Paragons are sent to the Vanishing Point where Oliver, now a Spectre, helps them escape. The Paragons appear at the dawn of time in the anti-matter universe where they have their final confrontation with the Anti-Monitor. Eventually, Oliver sacrifices himself to kill the Anti-Monitor, and as a result, a new multiverse is born with Earth-38 and Earth-1 merged into \"Earth-Prime\". Following the crisis, Kara is forced to deal the after-effects of Crisis which include working with Lex, now owning the D.E.O.","Following the crisis, Kara is forced to deal the after-effects of Crisis which include working with Lex, now owning the D.E.O. while Leviathan continue their covert operations under Gamemnae. The sixth season sees Kara and her allies expose Lex's crimes, but are then forced to deal with Nyxlygsptlnz, a fifth-dimensional imp who tricked the heroes into releasing her from the Phantom Zone.","The sixth season sees Kara and her allies expose Lex's crimes, but are then forced to deal with Nyxlygsptlnz, a fifth-dimensional imp who tricked the heroes into releasing her from the Phantom Zone. Eventually Nyxlygsptlnz joins forces with Lex Luthor and the two kill William, but Kara's assembled allies are able to defeat the two, culminating in Lex and Nyxlygsptlnz being trapped in the Phantom Zone when one of their own plans backfires.","Eventually Nyxlygsptlnz joins forces with Lex Luthor and the two kill William, but Kara's assembled allies are able to defeat the two, culminating in Lex and Nyxlygsptlnz being trapped in the Phantom Zone when one of their own plans backfires. The series concludes with Kara revealing her dual identity so that she can live a full life as one person. Animation DC Nation Shorts Supergirl appears with Batgirl and Wonder Girl in Super Best Friends Forever, voiced by Nicole Sullivan.","Animation DC Nation Shorts Supergirl appears with Batgirl and Wonder Girl in Super Best Friends Forever, voiced by Nicole Sullivan. DC Super Hero Girls Supergirl appears as a central protagonist in the web series DC Super Hero Girls voiced by Anais Fairweather, and is a student at Super Hero High, is very kind and caring and extremely powerful but she's also very clumsy. She also appears as a central protagonist in the 2019 TV series, with Nicole Sullivan reprising her role from the Super Best Friends Forever shorts.","She also appears as a central protagonist in the 2019 TV series, with Nicole Sullivan reprising her role from the Super Best Friends Forever shorts. In this version, she is also a rebel and is known as the \"cool kid\" in school. She may be tough but she can easily express her emotions and is very open-minded as well. She can be a cool friend and a helpful one, but she can also be jealous sometimes and she dislikes her cousin's prominence.","She can be a cool friend and a helpful one, but she can also be jealous sometimes and she dislikes her cousin's prominence. Justice League Action Supergirl appears in Justice League Action, voiced by Joanne Spracklen. She has the appearance of a wide-eyed human teenager with blonde hair and wears her traditional costume except that it has thigh-high boots and a pleated skirt. As a person, she is youthful, responsible, and shows much affection for her cousin Superman.","As a person, she is youthful, responsible, and shows much affection for her cousin Superman. In \"Party Animal\", she appears as a cameo at this Christmas party with the Justice League. In \"Keeping up with the Kryptonians\", Supergirl becomes a star of the popular reality show \"That's So Kara\", and Superman a Kasnian who rules from one place to another on Earth, all being a reality caused by Mister Mxyzptlk.","In \"Keeping up with the Kryptonians\", Supergirl becomes a star of the popular reality show \"That's So Kara\", and Superman a Kasnian who rules from one place to another on Earth, all being a reality caused by Mister Mxyzptlk. In \"Unleashed\", Supergirl accompanies Justice League in stopping Red Lantern Corps, unaware that it was a distraction made by Dex-Starr to invade Earth, until it was ultimately resolved by Krypto, Streaky, and Plastic Man.","In \"Unleashed\", Supergirl accompanies Justice League in stopping Red Lantern Corps, unaware that it was a distraction made by Dex-Starr to invade Earth, until it was ultimately resolved by Krypto, Streaky, and Plastic Man. In a short \"The Goddess Must Be Crazy\", Supergirl trains with Wonder Woman in Paradise Island, until she is possessed by Felix Faust, to destroy the island. Film Superman film series A live action depiction of Supergirl first appears in the eponymous 1984 film starring Helen Slater as Supergirl.","Film Superman film series A live action depiction of Supergirl first appears in the eponymous 1984 film starring Helen Slater as Supergirl. The film is a spin-off from the Superman film series starring Christopher Reeve, to which it is connected by Marc McClure's character of Jimmy Olsen. DC Extended Universe Kara Zor-El / Linda Danvers / Supergirl exists within the DC Extended Universe, as she was referenced in Man of Steel when Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman discovers an empty pod within the Kryptonian scout spaceship.","DC Extended Universe Kara Zor-El / Linda Danvers / Supergirl exists within the DC Extended Universe, as she was referenced in Man of Steel when Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman discovers an empty pod within the Kryptonian scout spaceship. Though Zack Snyder confirmed in August 2018 that even though the character does exist, that pod was not intended for her. In August 2018, a film centered around the character was announced to be in development, with Oren Uziel hired as screenwriter for the project.","In August 2018, a film centered around the character was announced to be in development, with Oren Uziel hired as screenwriter for the project. The studio intends to hire a female director, with Reed Morano—who has expressed interest in the project—being its top choice. Filming was expected to start production in early 2020. Sasha Calle will play Supergirl for the DC Extended Universe in The Flash.","Sasha Calle will play Supergirl for the DC Extended Universe in The Flash. Animation Summer Glau voices the post-Crisis version of Kara Zor-El in Superman/Batman: Apocalypse, which is based on the Superman/Batman storyline \"The Supergirl from Krypton\". Despite this, it was confirmed by director Lauren Montgomery that Supergirl's name was removed from the title due to the much slower sales of the previous Wonder Woman animated movie, and the character was not permitted to appear on the cover in her trademark outfit.","Despite this, it was confirmed by director Lauren Montgomery that Supergirl's name was removed from the title due to the much slower sales of the previous Wonder Woman animated movie, and the character was not permitted to appear on the cover in her trademark outfit. Molly Quinn voices Supergirl in Superman: Unbound. Supergirl appears in Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League: Cosmic Clash, voiced by Jessica DiCicco. Video games Supergirl appears in DC Universe Online, voiced by Adriene Mishler.","Video games Supergirl appears in DC Universe Online, voiced by Adriene Mishler. In the villain campaign, the players help Doctor Psycho capture Supergirl using Kryptonite. In the hero campaign, the players fight Doctor Psycho to save Supergirl. Under the thrall of Brainiac, she must be defeated in the Fortress of Solitude: Power Core raid. Supergirl is unlockable in Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes, voiced by Bridget Hoffman. Supergirl makes a cameo appearance in the IOS version of Injustice: Gods Among Us as a support card.","Supergirl makes a cameo appearance in the IOS version of Injustice: Gods Among Us as a support card. Supergirl appears as a playable character in Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham, voiced by Kari Wahlgren. She is playable in her default variant which is designed after her appearance in The New 52 and in her Classic attire.","She is playable in her default variant which is designed after her appearance in The New 52 and in her Classic attire. Her Classic variant is unlocked in a VR Mission while her New 52 variant is unlocked in a Hub Quest in Nok where she requests players to defeat a number of enemies she accidentally releases from their cells. Supergirl appears as a playable character in Infinite Crisis, voiced by Camilla Luddington.","Supergirl appears as a playable character in Infinite Crisis, voiced by Camilla Luddington. Supergirl appears as a playable character and the central protagonist in Injustice 2 by NetherRealm Studios, the sequel to Injustice: Gods Among Us, voiced by Laura Bailey.","Supergirl appears as a playable character and the central protagonist in Injustice 2 by NetherRealm Studios, the sequel to Injustice: Gods Among Us, voiced by Laura Bailey. Here her origin is much like in the comics where she is sent along with her cousin Kal-El to Earth by her mother after Krypton is destroyed but on separate pods where hers veers off-course after sustaining significant damage, stranding her in space for many years until she lands on Earth, unaged.","Here her origin is much like in the comics where she is sent along with her cousin Kal-El to Earth by her mother after Krypton is destroyed but on separate pods where hers veers off-course after sustaining significant damage, stranding her in space for many years until she lands on Earth, unaged. When the main storyline starts, she is residing on Black Adam's kingdom of Khandaq, apparently under his and Wonder Woman's protection.","When the main storyline starts, she is residing on Black Adam's kingdom of Khandaq, apparently under his and Wonder Woman's protection. When Brainiac who was responsible for Krypton's destruction attacks, she, Wonder Woman, and Black Adam attempt to free Superman and the remaining members of the Regime, while being interrupted in their efforts by new Insurgency recruits Blue Beetle and Firestorm until Batman himself arrives and releases Superman, leading to a temporary alliance between the Regime and Insurgency against the alien warlord.","When Brainiac who was responsible for Krypton's destruction attacks, she, Wonder Woman, and Black Adam attempt to free Superman and the remaining members of the Regime, while being interrupted in their efforts by new Insurgency recruits Blue Beetle and Firestorm until Batman himself arrives and releases Superman, leading to a temporary alliance between the Regime and Insurgency against the alien warlord. Over the course of the story, she learns the truth about her cousin's tyranny and at the end of the game sides with Batman, Green Lantern and Flash in letting Brainiac live in order to restore the lost cities but is defeated.","Over the course of the story, she learns the truth about her cousin's tyranny and at the end of the game sides with Batman, Green Lantern and Flash in letting Brainiac live in order to restore the lost cities but is defeated. In Batman's ending, she laments her cousin's tyranny and sees him leave to be imprisoned in the Phantom Zone and is offered membership by Batman in his Justice League.","In Batman's ending, she laments her cousin's tyranny and sees him leave to be imprisoned in the Phantom Zone and is offered membership by Batman in his Justice League. In Superman's ending, she is imprisoned aboard Brainiac's ship and to her shock discovers her cousin has bonded with it and when she refuses his offer to join him in leading his new legion of imprisoned species. He attempts to coerce her by revealing a brainwashed Batman, who had also been captured, further shocking her.","He attempts to coerce her by revealing a brainwashed Batman, who had also been captured, further shocking her. Supergirl appears as a limited-distribution minifigure for the toys-to-life video game Lego Dimensions, with Kari Wahlgren reprising her role. She has the ability to transform between her classic and Red Lantern forms. Supergirl appears as a playable character in DC Unchained. Supergirl appears in the PSP version of Justice League Heroes. Supergirl appears as a playable character in the DC TV Super-Heroes DLC pack in Lego DC Super-Villains.","Supergirl appears as a playable character in the DC TV Super-Heroes DLC pack in Lego DC Super-Villains. See also Alternative versions of Supergirl Laurel Gand References External links DC Comics Pre-Crisis Supergirl Chronology Supergirl Characters created by Otto Binder Comics characters introduced in 1958 Comics characters introduced in 1959 DC Comics aliens DC Comics American superheroes DC Comics characters who can move at superhuman speeds DC Comics characters with accelerated healing DC Comics characters with superhuman strength DC Comics deities DC Comics female superheroes DC Comics film characters DC Comics television characters DC Comics extraterrestrial superheroes Female characters in television Fictional characters with superhuman senses Fictional actors Fictional extraterrestrial–human hybrids Fictional orphans Fictional photographers Fictional refugees Fictional reporters Fictional school counselors Fictional American secret agents Fictional waiting staff Kryptonians Superheroes who are adopted Vigilante characters in comics"],"string":"[\n \"Kara Zor-El, also known by her adoptive names of Linda Lee Danvers, Kara Kent, Linda Lang, and Kara Danvers, and the superhero name of Supergirl, is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. She was created by Otto Binder and designed by Al Plastino. Danvers first appeared in Action Comics #252 (May 1959)'s \\\"The Supergirl from Krypton\\\" story. Kara is the biological cousin of Kal-El, who went on to adopt the name of Clark Kent and the superhero Superman.\",\n \"Kara is the biological cousin of Kal-El, who went on to adopt the name of Clark Kent and the superhero Superman. During the 1980s and the revolution of the Modern Age of Comics, Superman editors believed the character's history had become too convoluted, thus killing Supergirl during the 1985 Crisis on Infinite Earths event and retconning her out of existence. DC Comics Senior Vice President Dan DiDio re-introduced the character in 2004 along with editor Eddie Berganza and writer Jeph Loeb, with her the Superman/Batman storyline \\\"The Supergirl from Krypton\\\".\",\n \"DC Comics Senior Vice President Dan DiDio re-introduced the character in 2004 along with editor Eddie Berganza and writer Jeph Loeb, with her the Superman/Batman storyline \\\"The Supergirl from Krypton\\\". As the current Supergirl, Kara stars in her own monthly comic book series. With DC's The New 52 relaunch, Kara, like most of the DC Universe, was revamped. DC relaunched the Supergirl comic in August 2016 as part of their DC Rebirth initiative.\",\n \"DC relaunched the Supergirl comic in August 2016 as part of their DC Rebirth initiative. In live-action, Supergirl appeared in the 1984 film based on her character and was portrayed by Helen Slater. She also appeared in the series Smallville, played by actress Laura Vandervoort. In 2015, the live-action Arrowverse series Supergirl debuted on CBS and then moved to The CW after the first season. Supergirl was portrayed by Melissa Benoist on the show and also appeared on other Arrowverse shows.\",\n \"Supergirl was portrayed by Melissa Benoist on the show and also appeared on other Arrowverse shows. Sasha Calle will appear as Supergirl in the upcoming DC Extended Universe film The Flash (2022). Publication history Early life Although Kara Zor-El was the first character to use the name \\\"Supergirl,\\\" DC Comics tested three different female versions of Superman prior to her debut. The first story to feature a female counterpart to Superman was \\\"Lois Lane – Superwoman,\\\" which was published in Action Comics #60 (May 1943).\",\n \"The first story to feature a female counterpart to Superman was \\\"Lois Lane – Superwoman,\\\" which was published in Action Comics #60 (May 1943). In the story, a hospitalized Lois Lane dreams she has gained superpowers thanks to a blood transfusion from the Man of Steel. She begins her own career as \\\"Superwoman\\\", complete with a version of Superman's costume.\",\n \"She begins her own career as \\\"Superwoman\\\", complete with a version of Superman's costume. In the Superboy #78 story entitled \\\"Claire Kent, Alias Super-Sister\\\", Superboy saves the life of an alien woman named Shar-La, who turns Superboy into a girl, in retaliation for his disparaging thoughts about women drivers which she picked up telepathically. In Smallville, Clark claims to be Claire Kent, an out-of-town relative who is staying with the Kents.\",\n \"In Smallville, Clark claims to be Claire Kent, an out-of-town relative who is staying with the Kents. When in costume, he appears as Superboy's sister, Super-Sister, and claims the two have exchanged places. Once Superboy has learned his lesson about feeling more respect for women, Shar-La reveals the episode to be a dream which she projected into Superboy's mind.\",\n \"Once Superboy has learned his lesson about feeling more respect for women, Shar-La reveals the episode to be a dream which she projected into Superboy's mind. In Superman #123 (August 1958), Jimmy Olsen uses a magic totem to wish a \\\"Super-Girl\\\" into existence as a companion and aid to Superman; however, the two frequently get in each other's way until she is fatally injured protecting Superman from a Kryptonite meteor. At her insistence, Jimmy wishes the dying girl out of existence.\",\n \"At her insistence, Jimmy wishes the dying girl out of existence. DC used this story to gauge public response to the concept of a completely new super-powered female counterpart to Superman. The Kara Zor-El version of Supergirl finally appeared in Action Comics #252 (May 1959). Otto Binder wrote and Al Plastino illustrated her début story, in which Kara was born and raised in Argo City (unnamed until later issues), a fragment of Krypton that survived destruction.\",\n \"Otto Binder wrote and Al Plastino illustrated her début story, in which Kara was born and raised in Argo City (unnamed until later issues), a fragment of Krypton that survived destruction. When the city is doomed by a meteor shower, Kara is sent to Earth by her parents, Zor-El and Alura (the latter unnamed until later issues), to be raised by her cousin Kal-El, known as Superman. Supergirl adopted the secret identity of an orphan \\\"Linda Lee\\\", and made Midvale Orphanage her home.\",\n \"Supergirl adopted the secret identity of an orphan \\\"Linda Lee\\\", and made Midvale Orphanage her home. Supergirl promised Superman that she would keep her existence on Earth a secret, so that he may use her as a \\\"secret weapon\\\", but that didn't stop Supergirl from exploring her new powers covertly. Action Comics #255 published reader's letters-of-comment to Supergirl's first appearance; she had allegedly generated a sizeable and mostly positive reaction.\",\n \"Action Comics #255 published reader's letters-of-comment to Supergirl's first appearance; she had allegedly generated a sizeable and mostly positive reaction. Supergirl, from her debut onwards, became a regular backup strip in Action Comics. She joined the Legion of Super-Heroes, like her cousin had done as a teenager, and in Action Comics #279 (July 1961) she was adopted by Fred and Edna Danvers, becoming \\\"Linda Lee Danvers\\\".\",\n \"She joined the Legion of Super-Heroes, like her cousin had done as a teenager, and in Action Comics #279 (July 1961) she was adopted by Fred and Edna Danvers, becoming \\\"Linda Lee Danvers\\\". Supergirl acted for three years as Superman's secret weapon, and her adventures during that time have been compared to contemporary developments in feminist thinking in work such as Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique.\",\n \"Supergirl acted for three years as Superman's secret weapon, and her adventures during that time have been compared to contemporary developments in feminist thinking in work such as Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique. She was at last introduced by her super-powered cousin to an unsuspecting world in Action Comics #285 (February 1962). During her first quarter of a century, Linda Danvers would have many professions, from student to student advisor, to actor, and even TV camera operator.\",\n \"During her first quarter of a century, Linda Danvers would have many professions, from student to student advisor, to actor, and even TV camera operator. She shared Action Comics with Superman until transferring to the lead in Adventure Comics at the end of the 1960s. In 1972 she finally moved to her own short-lived eponymous magazine, before DC merged its Supergirl, Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen titles into a single anthology title named The Superman Family. In 1982 Supergirl was relaunched into her own magazine.\",\n \"In 1982 Supergirl was relaunched into her own magazine. In 1982 Supergirl was relaunched into her own magazine. Death during Crisis on Infinite Earths In 1985, the maxi-series Crisis on Infinite Earths was conceived as a way to reduce DC continuity to a single universe in which all characters maintained a single history. Despite Supergirl's continued popularity and status as a central member of the \\\"Superman Family\\\", the editors at DC Comics and the creators of the maxi-series decided to kill Supergirl off during the Crisis.\",\n \"Despite Supergirl's continued popularity and status as a central member of the \\\"Superman Family\\\", the editors at DC Comics and the creators of the maxi-series decided to kill Supergirl off during the Crisis. According to Marv Wolfman, writer of Crisis on Infinite Earths: The idea of killing Supergirl was first conceived by DC's vice president/executive editor Dick Giordano, who lobbied for the death to DC's publishers.\",\n \"According to Marv Wolfman, writer of Crisis on Infinite Earths: The idea of killing Supergirl was first conceived by DC's vice president/executive editor Dick Giordano, who lobbied for the death to DC's publishers. He later said he has never had any regrets about this, explaining, \\\"Supergirl was created initially to take advantage of the high Superman sales and not much thought was put into her creation. She was created essentially as a female Superman.\",\n \"She was created essentially as a female Superman. She was created essentially as a female Superman. With time, writers and artists improved upon her execution, but she never did really add anything to the Superman mythos—at least not for me.\\\" The poor initial reception of the 1984 film Supergirl was also blamed by some sources.\",\n \"The poor initial reception of the 1984 film Supergirl was also blamed by some sources. In 1989, in the tale \\\"Christmas with the Super-Heroes\\\" the soul of Kara appears to Boston \\\"Deadman\\\" Brand, cheers him up, and then disappears from continuity until 2001 (see below).\",\n \"In 1989, in the tale \\\"Christmas with the Super-Heroes\\\" the soul of Kara appears to Boston \\\"Deadman\\\" Brand, cheers him up, and then disappears from continuity until 2001 (see below). Several characters unrelated to Superman soon took on the Supergirl persona, including the Matrix (a shapeshifting genetically engineered life-form that 'defaulted' as Supergirl), Linda Danvers (the result of Matrix merging with the dying Linda Danvers and becoming an Earth-bound angel of fire), and Cir-El (Superman's apparent daughter from a possible future).\",\n \"Several characters unrelated to Superman soon took on the Supergirl persona, including the Matrix (a shapeshifting genetically engineered life-form that 'defaulted' as Supergirl), Linda Danvers (the result of Matrix merging with the dying Linda Danvers and becoming an Earth-bound angel of fire), and Cir-El (Superman's apparent daughter from a possible future). A heroine resembling the Pre-Crisis Kara would later appear in Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #5, along with an entire army of Legionnaires gathered from alternate worlds, times, and realities, to battle the Time Trapper.\",\n \"A heroine resembling the Pre-Crisis Kara would later appear in Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #5, along with an entire army of Legionnaires gathered from alternate worlds, times, and realities, to battle the Time Trapper. Two Supergirls meet Prior to the post-Crisis introduction of Kara Zor-El into mainstream continuity, the pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El made an appearance in Peter David's Supergirl: Many Happy Returns.\",\n \"Two Supergirls meet Prior to the post-Crisis introduction of Kara Zor-El into mainstream continuity, the pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El made an appearance in Peter David's Supergirl: Many Happy Returns. The then-current Supergirl series, at the time starring Linda Danvers, was in danger of cancellation and Peter David thought a story arc involving Kara Zor-El would be enough to revitalize the series.\",\n \"The then-current Supergirl series, at the time starring Linda Danvers, was in danger of cancellation and Peter David thought a story arc involving Kara Zor-El would be enough to revitalize the series. In an interview with Cliff Biggers of Newsarama, David states: In the Linda Danvers' Supergirl series issues 49 and 50 (October and November 2000), the original dead Kara appears as Linda's \\\"guardian angel\\\".\",\n \"In an interview with Cliff Biggers of Newsarama, David states: In the Linda Danvers' Supergirl series issues 49 and 50 (October and November 2000), the original dead Kara appears as Linda's \\\"guardian angel\\\". Then in issues 75 to 80, \\\"Many Happy Returns\\\", a young Kara appears from an earlier time long before the Crisis.\",\n \"Then in issues 75 to 80, \\\"Many Happy Returns\\\", a young Kara appears from an earlier time long before the Crisis. The paradox becomes a moral crisis for Linda who tries to take her place as the Crisis sacrifice, living for years in a Silver Age universe where \\\"no one swears, the villains are always easy to defeat, and everything's very, very clean\\\", eventually marrying the Silver Age Superman and having a daughter with him, before she is forced to return to her universe by the Spectre when he reveals that her efforts to replace Kara as the sacrifice will not succeed.\",\n \"The paradox becomes a moral crisis for Linda who tries to take her place as the Crisis sacrifice, living for years in a Silver Age universe where \\\"no one swears, the villains are always easy to defeat, and everything's very, very clean\\\", eventually marrying the Silver Age Superman and having a daughter with him, before she is forced to return to her universe by the Spectre when he reveals that her efforts to replace Kara as the sacrifice will not succeed. This run was illustrated by Ed Benes who had also illustrated Gail Simone's Birds of Prey which had a similar whimsical camaraderie between its female leads.\",\n \"This run was illustrated by Ed Benes who had also illustrated Gail Simone's Birds of Prey which had a similar whimsical camaraderie between its female leads. Linda's inability to ultimately save Kara, coupled with the loss of her daughter, is so devastating that it ends her own career as Supergirl, Linda leaving a note for Superman where she explains that she feels that she has failed to live up to the standards of a true Supergirl and choosing to go somewhere she cannot be found.\",\n \"Linda's inability to ultimately save Kara, coupled with the loss of her daughter, is so devastating that it ends her own career as Supergirl, Linda leaving a note for Superman where she explains that she feels that she has failed to live up to the standards of a true Supergirl and choosing to go somewhere she cannot be found. This story arc is usually cited as one of the best Supergirl stories ever written. The series ended with issue 80.\",\n \"The series ended with issue 80. The series ended with issue 80. Revival After the launch of the Superman/Batman comic book series, executive editor Dan DiDio had been looking for a way to simplify the Supergirl character from her convoluted post-Crisis history; the simplest version, of course, was Superman's cousin. Jeph Loeb and editor Eddie Berganza found an opening to reintroduce the character following the conclusion of the first story arc of Superman/Batman.\",\n \"Jeph Loeb and editor Eddie Berganza found an opening to reintroduce the character following the conclusion of the first story arc of Superman/Batman. Loeb states: The modern version of Kara Zor-El made her debut in Superman/Batman #8 (2004). Kara takes the mantle of Supergirl at the conclusion of the storyline. The Supergirl comic book series would later be relaunched, now starring Kara Zor-El as \\\"The Girl of Steel\\\". The first arc of the new series was written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by Ian Churchill.\",\n \"The first arc of the new series was written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by Ian Churchill. Loeb would later describe the appeal of writing for Supergirl: As the character continued to be reinvented, steps towards regarding the iconic character were some of the most prominent changes. Artist Jamal Igle and editor Matt Idleson moved to transition the character away from red panties under her skirt to biker shorts, feeling such a change was a logical progression and \\\"more respectable.\\\"\",\n \"Artist Jamal Igle and editor Matt Idleson moved to transition the character away from red panties under her skirt to biker shorts, feeling such a change was a logical progression and \\\"more respectable.\\\" The New 52 In September 2011, DC Comics began The New 52, in which it canceled all of its monthly superhero titles and relaunched 52 new ones, wiping out most of its past continuity in the process.\",\n \"The New 52 In September 2011, DC Comics began The New 52, in which it canceled all of its monthly superhero titles and relaunched 52 new ones, wiping out most of its past continuity in the process. One of the new titles was a new Supergirl series (Volume 6) that featured a new origin for Kara and was published between 2011 and 2015.\",\n \"One of the new titles was a new Supergirl series (Volume 6) that featured a new origin for Kara and was published between 2011 and 2015. Artist Mahmud Asrar designed a new costume for the character which strongly deviated from her classic, \\\"cheerleader\\\" suit, a change which generated criticism from some readers. DC Rebirth The 2016 DC Comics title relaunch Rebirth incorporates several elements (such as the costume, the name, the setting, and some characters) from the Supergirl television series.\",\n \"DC Rebirth The 2016 DC Comics title relaunch Rebirth incorporates several elements (such as the costume, the name, the setting, and some characters) from the Supergirl television series. The DC Rebirth initiative undid the New 52's modern recreations, bringing DC's heroes back to their more classic iterations. Supergirl's new series (Volume 7) was titled Supergirl: Rebirth, written by Steven Orlando. The first arc was penciled by Brian Ching, who also redesigned Supergirl's costume in reference to a more classic look.\",\n \"The first arc was penciled by Brian Ching, who also redesigned Supergirl's costume in reference to a more classic look. In April 2018, it was announced that the title would be canceled after issue #20, only to be revived in August that year under a new creative team, with new writer Marc Andreyko and artist Kevin Maguire. The series ended with its 42nd issue.\",\n \"The series ended with its 42nd issue. The series ended with its 42nd issue. Future State: Kara Zor-El, Superwoman The Future State comics propose a possible future for Kara Zor-El, now an adult and having taken the alias of Superwoman. She leaves Earth to become a guardian of the Moon, which has become a refugee colony for aliens from the entire universe. The series was written by Marguerite Bennet and penciled by Marguerite Sauvage.\",\n \"The series was written by Marguerite Bennet and penciled by Marguerite Sauvage. Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow Under the Infinite Frontier brand, Kara's next series Woman of Tomorrow debuted in June 2021, written by Tom King and penciled by Brazilian artists Bilquis Evely and Mat Lopes. The arc introduces Supergirl to new character grounds as she begins the story as a young woman, celebrating her 21st birthday and helping a young alien in her quest for revenge.\",\n \"The arc introduces Supergirl to new character grounds as she begins the story as a young woman, celebrating her 21st birthday and helping a young alien in her quest for revenge. The \\\"mentor-mentee journey on revenge\\\" plot is, according to King, inspired by the original novel and both versions of True Grit. In this series, the creators paid homage to Linda Danvers, as Kara manifests flame wings and powers after taking a red kryptonite drug, in order to save her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon.\",\n \"In this series, the creators paid homage to Linda Danvers, as Kara manifests flame wings and powers after taking a red kryptonite drug, in order to save her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon. Fictional character biography Silver Age In her debut story, Kara Zor-El is the last survivor of Argo City of the planet Krypton.\",\n \"Fictional character biography Silver Age In her debut story, Kara Zor-El is the last survivor of Argo City of the planet Krypton. Although Argo, which had survived the explosion of the planet, drifted through space as a self-sustaining environment, the soil of the colony eventually turned into Kryptonite; and though Kara's father Zor-El placed lead sheeting above the ground to protect the citizens from radiation, meteorites pierced the sheeting, and the Kryptonians died of radiation poisoning instead of replacing the metal.\",\n \"Although Argo, which had survived the explosion of the planet, drifted through space as a self-sustaining environment, the soil of the colony eventually turned into Kryptonite; and though Kara's father Zor-El placed lead sheeting above the ground to protect the citizens from radiation, meteorites pierced the sheeting, and the Kryptonians died of radiation poisoning instead of replacing the metal. In Supergirl's subsequent backup feature in Action Comics drawn by artist Jim Mooney for ten years until 1968, Supergirl adopts the identity of Linda Lee, an orphan at Midvale Orphanage presided over by headmistress Miss Hart.\",\n \"In Supergirl's subsequent backup feature in Action Comics drawn by artist Jim Mooney for ten years until 1968, Supergirl adopts the identity of Linda Lee, an orphan at Midvale Orphanage presided over by headmistress Miss Hart. She disguises herself by hiding her blond hair beneath a brunette wig; Supergirl interacts with humans on a person-to-person basis performing good deeds and saving the world by helping one person at a time, and she also devises clever schemes as \\\"Superman's Secret Weapon,\\\" saving him many times and avoiding adoption before Superman can introduce her publicly.\",\n \"She disguises herself by hiding her blond hair beneath a brunette wig; Supergirl interacts with humans on a person-to-person basis performing good deeds and saving the world by helping one person at a time, and she also devises clever schemes as \\\"Superman's Secret Weapon,\\\" saving him many times and avoiding adoption before Superman can introduce her publicly. While temporarily powerless due to the scheming of Kandorian scientist Lesla-Lar, who is out to supplant her on Earth, Linda allows herself to be adopted by engineer and rocket scientist Fred Danvers and his wife, Edna.\",\n \"While temporarily powerless due to the scheming of Kandorian scientist Lesla-Lar, who is out to supplant her on Earth, Linda allows herself to be adopted by engineer and rocket scientist Fred Danvers and his wife, Edna. In time, she reveals her secret identity to her adoptive parents on the same day her cousin Superman finally introduces her to the world in the finale of then-DC's longest playing series ever (eight chapters) aptly called \\\"The World's Greatest Heroine\\\".\",\n \"In time, she reveals her secret identity to her adoptive parents on the same day her cousin Superman finally introduces her to the world in the finale of then-DC's longest playing series ever (eight chapters) aptly called \\\"The World's Greatest Heroine\\\". When frequent dreams about her parents being alive turn out to be real, she builds a machine aided by her engineer father's talent, and brings them both back alive from the \\\"Survival Zone\\\" where they had both teleported during Argo City's final moments.\",\n \"When frequent dreams about her parents being alive turn out to be real, she builds a machine aided by her engineer father's talent, and brings them both back alive from the \\\"Survival Zone\\\" where they had both teleported during Argo City's final moments. Zor-El and Allura eventually end up living in Kandor, and when the city in the bottle is enlarged, they both go on to live in Rokyn/New Krypton, where they have the sad duty of receiving her mortal remains after \\\"Crisis\\\" for burial.\",\n \"Zor-El and Allura eventually end up living in Kandor, and when the city in the bottle is enlarged, they both go on to live in Rokyn/New Krypton, where they have the sad duty of receiving her mortal remains after \\\"Crisis\\\" for burial. Graduating from high school in 1965, Linda Lee goes to college on a scholarship and stays in Stanhope College until she graduates in 1971.\",\n \"Graduating from high school in 1965, Linda Lee goes to college on a scholarship and stays in Stanhope College until she graduates in 1971. During this era, she is helped by her pet cat Streaky, her Super-Horse pet Comet, and befriends Lena Thorul, who had first appeared in the Lois Lane series. Kara is also a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, where she becomes close to Brainiac 5.\",\n \"Kara is also a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, where she becomes close to Brainiac 5. In addition, Linda has boyfriends from the orphanage (Richard \\\"Dick\\\" Malverne) and from Atlantis (Jerro the merboy). In 1967, Supergirl meets Batgirl for the first time in World's Finest Comics. Developing a strong friendship, the two characters teamed up many times again, as in Superman Family #171, or Adventure #381.\",\n \"Developing a strong friendship, the two characters teamed up many times again, as in Superman Family #171, or Adventure #381. In 1969, Supergirl left Action Comics and became a featured character in Adventure Comics beginning with issue #381 (June 1969). During the 1970s, Supergirl's costume changed frequently, as did her career in her civilian life.\",\n \"During the 1970s, Supergirl's costume changed frequently, as did her career in her civilian life. In her secret identity as Linda Lee Danvers, Kara Zor-El took a variety of jobs including graduate student in acting, television camera operator, and student counselor, and finally became an actress on the TV soap Secret Hearts. Bronze Age After long-time Superman family editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971, the character underwent revitalization under editor Joe Orlando and artist Mike Sekowsky.\",\n \"Bronze Age After long-time Superman family editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971, the character underwent revitalization under editor Joe Orlando and artist Mike Sekowsky. Wearing a series of new outfits, leaving her adopted foster home with the Danvers family, Linda goes on to San Francisco where she works for KSF-TV as a camera operator and develops a crush on her boss, Geoffrey Anderson. These stories introduced Supergirl's most memorable villain from this period: Lex Luthor's niece Nasthalthia, or Nasty.\",\n \"These stories introduced Supergirl's most memorable villain from this period: Lex Luthor's niece Nasthalthia, or Nasty. Nasty had made two appearances towards the end of Linda's college years, then pursued her to KSF-TV, trying to secure proof of her dual identity.\",\n \"Nasty had made two appearances towards the end of Linda's college years, then pursued her to KSF-TV, trying to secure proof of her dual identity. Supergirl starred in her first solo eponymous monthly series beginning in 1972 until October 1974, when her monthly title merged with Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane, and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen to produce a new title: then-highest DC selling series called The Superman Family, where she eventually became the steady lead story.\",\n \"Supergirl starred in her first solo eponymous monthly series beginning in 1972 until October 1974, when her monthly title merged with Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane, and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen to produce a new title: then-highest DC selling series called The Superman Family, where she eventually became the steady lead story. Linda worked as a student advisor at New Athens Experimental School, before leaving for New York to follow a career in acting with daytime soap Secret Hearts.\",\n \"Linda worked as a student advisor at New Athens Experimental School, before leaving for New York to follow a career in acting with daytime soap Secret Hearts. In 1982 Supergirl received a second monthly solo series titled The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl, relocating the character to Chicago as Linda became a mature student of Psychology. Industry legend, and former DC Publisher, Carmine Infantino provided the penciled art (Bob Oksner inked).\",\n \"Industry legend, and former DC Publisher, Carmine Infantino provided the penciled art (Bob Oksner inked). With issue 13 the title was revamped, with a new costume design (sporting a red headband) and the title shortened to just Supergirl. The series ran until sudden cancellation in 1984, only two months before the character's debut in a big-budget Hollywood film starring Helen Slater.\",\n \"The series ran until sudden cancellation in 1984, only two months before the character's debut in a big-budget Hollywood film starring Helen Slater. In the Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985), the greatest heroes from Earth-One, Earth-Two, Earth-Four, Earth-S, and Earth-X join forces in order to defeat the Anti-Monitor. When Superman comes face to face with the Anti-Monitor and is knocked unconscious, Supergirl rushes to save him before he is killed.\",\n \"When Superman comes face to face with the Anti-Monitor and is knocked unconscious, Supergirl rushes to save him before he is killed. She is able to fight him off long enough for Dr. Light to carry her cousin to a safe distance, but is killed by the Anti-Monitor. A public memorial service for Supergirl takes place in Chicago, where Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) delivers the eulogy. In her remarks, she states \\\"Kara is a hero. She will not be forgotten.\\\"\",\n \"She will not be forgotten.\\\" She will not be forgotten.\\\" Superman then gives his late cousin burial by taking her corpse to Rokyn/New Krypton to Zor-El and Allura. A Superman issue the next month reveals that Kara had experienced a premonition about her own passing. However, when the universe is rebooted, the timeline is altered. Kara Zor-El and all memory of her is erased from existence.\",\n \"Kara Zor-El and all memory of her is erased from existence. Echoes After these events, the soul of Kara Zor-El made another appearance in continuity three years later in a story titled \\\"Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot\\\" in Christmas with the Super-Heroes #2 (1989). Within the story, Boston \\\"Deadman\\\" Brand tries to feel the warmth of Christmas by possessing revelers' bodies.\",\n \"Within the story, Boston \\\"Deadman\\\" Brand tries to feel the warmth of Christmas by possessing revelers' bodies. Feeling guilty upon the realization that he has been stealing others' Christmases, he flies off feeling sorry for himself for being denied a reward after a year of helping people. A warmly dressed blonde woman approaches Brand, startling him.\",\n \"A warmly dressed blonde woman approaches Brand, startling him. Somehow seeing the normally invisible Brand, she converses with him, reminding him, She reminds Brand that even though he is dead, he is still human, and he should rejoice because it means his spirit is still alive. As the woman leaves, Brand asks her who she is, to which she replies, \\\"My name is Kara. Though I doubt that will mean anything to you.\\\"\",\n \"Though I doubt that will mean anything to you.\\\" The story, written by Alan Brennert and penciled by Dick Giordano, is dedicated to Otto Binder and Jim Mooney, adding: \\\"We still remember.\\\" Finally, the soul of Kara Zor-El appeared twice during Peter David's run, specifically in issues #48 and #49 when she appears before a defeated and imprisoned then-Supergirl, Linda Danvers from Earth, and comforts her.\",\n \"Finally, the soul of Kara Zor-El appeared twice during Peter David's run, specifically in issues #48 and #49 when she appears before a defeated and imprisoned then-Supergirl, Linda Danvers from Earth, and comforts her. Linda acknowledges she has been helped three times by her phantom-friend, and when she asks her name she is told by the smiling figure: \\\"I have gone by many names, but the one I am most fond of is: Kara!\\\"\",\n \"Linda acknowledges she has been helped three times by her phantom-friend, and when she asks her name she is told by the smiling figure: \\\"I have gone by many names, but the one I am most fond of is: Kara!\\\" Modern Age In 2004, Jeph Loeb reintroduced Kara Zor-El into post-Zero Hour (Birthright timeline) continuity during a storyline in the series Superman/Batman.\",\n \"Modern Age In 2004, Jeph Loeb reintroduced Kara Zor-El into post-Zero Hour (Birthright timeline) continuity during a storyline in the series Superman/Batman. She is the biological cousin of Superman, and although chronologically older than him, the ship in which she traveled to Earth was caught in a large green Kryptonite meteorite which held her in a state of suspended animation for much of the journey, making her have the appearance of a 16-year-old girl.\",\n \"She is the biological cousin of Superman, and although chronologically older than him, the ship in which she traveled to Earth was caught in a large green Kryptonite meteorite which held her in a state of suspended animation for much of the journey, making her have the appearance of a 16-year-old girl. Still, Supergirl sometimes saw Superman as a child, due to last carrying him as a baby. DC Comics relaunched the Supergirl, the first story arc of which was written by Loeb. showcases Supergirl on a journey of self-discovery.\",\n \"showcases Supergirl on a journey of self-discovery. showcases Supergirl on a journey of self-discovery. Along her journey, she encounters Power Girl (Kara Zor-El's counterpart from another universe), the Teen Titans, the Outsiders, the Justice League of America, and arch-villain Lex Luthor. During the company-wide crossover series Infinite Crisis (2005), a sequel to Crisis on Infinite Earths, Supergirl is transported to the 31st century, where she is revered as a member of the Superman family and joins the Legion of Super-Heroes.\",\n \"During the company-wide crossover series Infinite Crisis (2005), a sequel to Crisis on Infinite Earths, Supergirl is transported to the 31st century, where she is revered as a member of the Superman family and joins the Legion of Super-Heroes. DC Comics renamed the monthly series Legion of Super-Heroes to Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes. Beginning with issue #16.\",\n \"Beginning with issue #16. Beginning with issue #16. In the limited series 52, which chronicles the events that took place during the missing year after the end of Infinite Crisis, Donna Troy recalls the original Kara Zor-El and her sacrifice to save the universe. Supergirl returns to the 21st century during the course of 52.\",\n \"Supergirl returns to the 21st century during the course of 52. After briefly filling in for a temporarily depowered Superman as guardian of Metropolis, she assumes the identity of Flamebird to fight crime in the bottle city of Kandor with Power Girl as Nightwing in Greg Rucka's arc Supergirl: Kandor. In 2007, Supergirl appeared in the miniseries Amazons Attack! That same year, she joined the Teen Titans for five issues.\",\n \"That same year, she joined the Teen Titans for five issues. Conversations with other heroes who maintain secret identities lead Kara to the conclusion that she needs to make a deeper connection with human beings. She accepts Lana Lang's proposal to present her to the Daily Planet staff as \\\"Linda Lang\\\", Lana's teenaged niece.\",\n \"She accepts Lana Lang's proposal to present her to the Daily Planet staff as \\\"Linda Lang\\\", Lana's teenaged niece. In the 2008–2009 \\\"New Krypton\\\" story arc, in which Superman discovers and frees the real Kandor and a large number of its citizens, Supergirl is reunited with her father, Zor-El and mother, Alura, though Zor-El is killed by the villain Reactron.\",\n \"In the 2008–2009 \\\"New Krypton\\\" story arc, in which Superman discovers and frees the real Kandor and a large number of its citizens, Supergirl is reunited with her father, Zor-El and mother, Alura, though Zor-El is killed by the villain Reactron. When a planet is formed that the Kryptonians call New Krypton, Kara is torn between her life on Earth, and her obligation to her mother, eventually joining the New Krypton Science Guild.\",\n \"When a planet is formed that the Kryptonians call New Krypton, Kara is torn between her life on Earth, and her obligation to her mother, eventually joining the New Krypton Science Guild. Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2009 miniseries Justice League: Cry for Justice, and the 2009–2010 storyline \\\"Blackest Night\\\".\",\n \"Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2009 miniseries Justice League: Cry for Justice, and the 2009–2010 storyline \\\"Blackest Night\\\". The New Krypton storyline would later be resolved in the \\\"World of New Krypton\\\", \\\"Superman: Last Stand of New Krypton\\\", \\\"War of the Supermen\\\" storylines, resulting in the destruction of New Krypton and seeing Supergirl mourn her people.\",\n \"The New Krypton storyline would later be resolved in the \\\"World of New Krypton\\\", \\\"Superman: Last Stand of New Krypton\\\", \\\"War of the Supermen\\\" storylines, resulting in the destruction of New Krypton and seeing Supergirl mourn her people. Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2010 \\\"Brightest Day\\\" storyline, the follow up to \\\"Blackest Night\\\"., where she joins the Justice League along with Jesse Quick & Jade.\",\n \"Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2010 \\\"Brightest Day\\\" storyline, the follow up to \\\"Blackest Night\\\"., where she joins the Justice League along with Jesse Quick & Jade. The New 52 In this continuity, Kara's ship lands in Smallville, Kansas but hurtles through the Earth and emerges in Siberia. Kara has no memory of the destruction of Krypton, and believes it is only three days since her spacecraft was launched.\",\n \"Kara has no memory of the destruction of Krypton, and believes it is only three days since her spacecraft was launched. She learns the truth about Krypton's destruction from Superman, and later journeys through a wormhole to Argo City, which she finds in orbit around a blue sun. She finds the city in ruins, with no explanation of how it met that fate, and is attacked by a female Worldkiller named Reign before the city plummets into the sun.\",\n \"She finds the city in ruins, with no explanation of how it met that fate, and is attacked by a female Worldkiller named Reign before the city plummets into the sun. When Reign and her fellow Worldkiller plan to enslave the Earth, Supergirl returns there to defeat them, and thus adopts Earth as her new home. After several battles with supervillains, including the Worldkillers, superweapons of Kryptonian design, she accepts Krypton's destruction, but continues to grapple with her grief.\",\n \"After several battles with supervillains, including the Worldkillers, superweapons of Kryptonian design, she accepts Krypton's destruction, but continues to grapple with her grief. Her desire to restore Krypton results in her being manipulated into nearly destroying the Earth by another Kryptonian whom she falls in love with. Upon realizing his manipulation, she kills him by driving Kryptonite through his heart, and succumbs to Kryptonite poisoning. Following her poisoning, Supergirl departs the Earth to die alone.\",\n \"Following her poisoning, Supergirl departs the Earth to die alone. While adrift in interstellar space, she encounters a planet under attack by monsters, and quickly intervenes to save them, unaware that the entire planet is a trap by Brainiac. She is captured and restrained by Cyborg Superman, but after a struggle, manages to escape both Brainiac and Cyborg Superman.\",\n \"She is captured and restrained by Cyborg Superman, but after a struggle, manages to escape both Brainiac and Cyborg Superman. Returning to Earth, she is sent into the past by the Oracle alongside Superman and Superboy, where she ensures that a resurrected H'el cannot save Krypton, and sacrifices the planet and her family in order to save the universe. Back on Earth, she encounters the assassin Lobo.\",\n \"Back on Earth, she encounters the assassin Lobo. Back on Earth, she encounters the assassin Lobo. Initially eager for a peaceful resolution, seeing a kind of kinship with him in their both being lone survivors of their respective worlds (although not truly aware of Lobo's circumstances), Kara's encounter with the Czarnian would reveal deep mental wounds, resulting in the unleashing of her rage and transformation into a Red Lantern.\",\n \"Initially eager for a peaceful resolution, seeing a kind of kinship with him in their both being lone survivors of their respective worlds (although not truly aware of Lobo's circumstances), Kara's encounter with the Czarnian would reveal deep mental wounds, resulting in the unleashing of her rage and transformation into a Red Lantern. Driven insane by rage, Kara wanders space, attacking everyone in her way, until captured by several Green Lanterns and brought to Hal Jordan.\",\n \"Driven insane by rage, Kara wanders space, attacking everyone in her way, until captured by several Green Lanterns and brought to Hal Jordan. Immediately recognizing a Kryptonian and unable to remove the power ring without killing her, he brings her to Guy Gardner, the leader of one of the two Red Lantern factions, who manages to restore her sanity.\",\n \"Immediately recognizing a Kryptonian and unable to remove the power ring without killing her, he brings her to Guy Gardner, the leader of one of the two Red Lantern factions, who manages to restore her sanity. After some time under Guy Gardner's tutelage and protecting the galaxy as a Red Lantern, after being discharged from the Red Lantern Corps (because Guy did not want for her to die needlessly against Atrocitus' splinter group), on her way back to Earth, Kara encounters the leader of the Worldkillers, who are revealed to be parasitic suits of armor.\",\n \"After some time under Guy Gardner's tutelage and protecting the galaxy as a Red Lantern, after being discharged from the Red Lantern Corps (because Guy did not want for her to die needlessly against Atrocitus' splinter group), on her way back to Earth, Kara encounters the leader of the Worldkillers, who are revealed to be parasitic suits of armor. He attempts to assimilate Kara as his host, but she voluntarily subjects herself to Kryptonite poisoning in order to stop him, and eventually flies into the Sun and removes her power ring, killing her and removing him from her body.\",\n \"He attempts to assimilate Kara as his host, but she voluntarily subjects herself to Kryptonite poisoning in order to stop him, and eventually flies into the Sun and removes her power ring, killing her and removing him from her body. However, Kara is revealed to be immortal while in the Sun's core, and is restored to life without the power ring or any Kryptonite poisoning, immediately destroying the Worldkiller. She later helps Guy against Atrocitus and his Red Lantern splinter group.\",\n \"She later helps Guy against Atrocitus and his Red Lantern splinter group. Convergence and return of the Pre-Crisis version During the Convergence story arc, the original Kara Zor-El who had sacrificed her life during Crisis on Infinite Earths makes an appearance on the amalgamated planet of Telos.\",\n \"Convergence and return of the Pre-Crisis version During the Convergence story arc, the original Kara Zor-El who had sacrificed her life during Crisis on Infinite Earths makes an appearance on the amalgamated planet of Telos. At the end of the saga she volunteers herself to once again fight the Anti-Monitor but this time, with the help of her timeline's Barry Allen, the Pre-Flashpoint Superman (in tow with his pregnant wife, Lois Lane), and a repentant Parallax (Zero Hour Hal Jordan), vows to defeat him for the sake of the multiverse's continued existence.\",\n \"At the end of the saga she volunteers herself to once again fight the Anti-Monitor but this time, with the help of her timeline's Barry Allen, the Pre-Flashpoint Superman (in tow with his pregnant wife, Lois Lane), and a repentant Parallax (Zero Hour Hal Jordan), vows to defeat him for the sake of the multiverse's continued existence. Without it being seen, those left on Telos discover the group was successful and all previous timelines (with the mysterious exception of the pre-Flashpoint/pre-New 52 DC universe) from DC history had been re-established, though the fate of the original Kara Zor-El and her fellows went unmentioned.\",\n \"Without it being seen, those left on Telos discover the group was successful and all previous timelines (with the mysterious exception of the pre-Flashpoint/pre-New 52 DC universe) from DC history had been re-established, though the fate of the original Kara Zor-El and her fellows went unmentioned. A few more details of the battle against the Anti-Monitor are later revealed during the New 52 comic mini-series (leading into DC's Rebirth event).\",\n \"A few more details of the battle against the Anti-Monitor are later revealed during the New 52 comic mini-series (leading into DC's Rebirth event). After the defeat of Anti-Monitor, Pre-New 52 Clark and Lois decide to start life anew in the closest universe they can find (mysteriously yet unable to see their old universe even though the rest of the multiverse had been restored) while Pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El, along with her contemporary Barry Allen and Zero Hour Parallax/Hal Jordan, decide to find their place in the universe and go off to do so.\",\n \"After the defeat of Anti-Monitor, Pre-New 52 Clark and Lois decide to start life anew in the closest universe they can find (mysteriously yet unable to see their old universe even though the rest of the multiverse had been restored) while Pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El, along with her contemporary Barry Allen and Zero Hour Parallax/Hal Jordan, decide to find their place in the universe and go off to do so. Her fate as of that story arc is yet to be revealed.\",\n \"Her fate as of that story arc is yet to be revealed. DC Rebirth After the events that led to the death of the New 52 version of Superman, 16-year-old Kara lives in National City with her adoptive parents, D.E.O. agents Jeremiah and Eliza Danvers, where she attends high school and works with the agency as led by Cameron Chase. As part of her civilian identity, Kara receives special glasses that darken her blond hair when posing as Kara Danvers.\",\n \"As part of her civilian identity, Kara receives special glasses that darken her blond hair when posing as Kara Danvers. Kara also goes on an internship at Cat Grant's CATCO alongside Ben Rubel, whom she befriends. In her opening arc \\\"The Reign of the Cyborg Supermen\\\", Kara discovers that the cyborg Zor-El, whom she had battled in her New 52 title, is still active and has rebuilt other Kryptonians (her mother Alura included), planning to take over Earth.\",\n \"In her opening arc \\\"The Reign of the Cyborg Supermen\\\", Kara discovers that the cyborg Zor-El, whom she had battled in her New 52 title, is still active and has rebuilt other Kryptonians (her mother Alura included), planning to take over Earth. Supergirl defeats them but vows to help her father regardless of his actions. After National City discovers Supergirl has kept Zor-El's \\\"living\\\" status a secret, they become untrustful of her.\",\n \"After National City discovers Supergirl has kept Zor-El's \\\"living\\\" status a secret, they become untrustful of her. Director Bones takes advantage of the heroine's impopularity and, after taking control of the D.E.O., sends villains in an attempt to bring Kara down. She defeats all of them and regains trust from National City with Ben's help.\",\n \"She defeats all of them and regains trust from National City with Ben's help. The Supergirl Who Laughs Kara is later infected by The Batman Who Laughs toxin, causing her to turn evil and joining other infected as part of Laughs Secret Six before later being cured. She is fired from CatCo by Cat Grant and starts working at S.T.A.R. Labs. Woman of Tomorrow Journeying throughout the universe with Krypto, Kara celebrates her 21st birthday alone on a distant planet.\",\n \"Woman of Tomorrow Journeying throughout the universe with Krypto, Kara celebrates her 21st birthday alone on a distant planet. Drunk in a bar, she is approached by a little girl named Ruthye and is asked to kill Krem (her father's murderer) in vengeance. Supergirl refuses but, when she is about to leave the planet, Krem attacks and severely wounds both her and Krypto, fleeing in Kara's ship.\",\n \"Supergirl refuses but, when she is about to leave the planet, Krem attacks and severely wounds both her and Krypto, fleeing in Kara's ship. Kara begins her journey alongside Ruthye and, powerless, saves her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon by taking a red kryptonite drug which causes her to manifest flame wings. Powers and abilities Like all Kryptonians under a yellow sun, the current version of Kara Zor-El possesses virtually unlimited strength, stamina, and durability.\",\n \"Powers and abilities Like all Kryptonians under a yellow sun, the current version of Kara Zor-El possesses virtually unlimited strength, stamina, and durability. She is able to fly and with super speed that she can also use on foot, similar to Superman and The Flash. Also like Superman, Supergirl possesses super senses, super-breath, and freeze breathe, as well as multiple forms of supervision (including X-Ray, Infrared, Telescopic, and Microscopic).\",\n \"Also like Superman, Supergirl possesses super senses, super-breath, and freeze breathe, as well as multiple forms of supervision (including X-Ray, Infrared, Telescopic, and Microscopic). Kara also has a bio-electric aura that enhances her near invulnerability and also protects her skin and her costume from dirt and tear; as such, Kara is perpetually clean. The Sun also provides Kara with a longer lifespan than that of a human being, to the point that she is effectively a biological immortal.\",\n \"The Sun also provides Kara with a longer lifespan than that of a human being, to the point that she is effectively a biological immortal. Kara doesn't require food, water, or sleep to survive. She is also immune to most diseases, mental and physical, and would require a very strong strain to have a chance at affecting her. In the rare instances that Kara is harmed by someone matching her strength or by the use of one of her weaknesses, she can heal almost instantaneously.\",\n \"In the rare instances that Kara is harmed by someone matching her strength or by the use of one of her weaknesses, she can heal almost instantaneously. Her power surpasses most other beings, though she can be overpowered by those who rival her strength such as Black Adam, Darkseid, Despero, Doomsday, Bizarro, Wonder Woman, and Superman. In reality, Kara is actually older than her cousin, Clark, and spent time on Krypton before its destruction.\",\n \"In reality, Kara is actually older than her cousin, Clark, and spent time on Krypton before its destruction. As such (unlike Superman), she possesses memories of Kryptonian culture as well as her cousin's parents. Continued exposure to a yellow Sun will slowly increase abilities. Many characters in the DC Universe have noted that Supergirl appears, at times, to be even more powerful than Superman himself.\",\n \"Many characters in the DC Universe have noted that Supergirl appears, at times, to be even more powerful than Superman himself. In answer to this, Superman states that this is because he has spent his entire life subconsciously suppressing his full powers in order to avoid hurting others, having been absorbing solar radiation since his infancy. Kara, not having such practice or experience, simply uses the full magnitude of her powers.\",\n \"Kara, not having such practice or experience, simply uses the full magnitude of her powers. Abilities Unlike her cousin, Kara was taught to fight in Krypton as part of her tests, and at the Crucible Academy, being adept at various Kryptonian fighting styles like Klurkor and Torquasm Rao. Supergirl also learned the art of Bagua under I-Ching's instructions. She practiced how to manipulate her Chi or Qi in order to gain better control of her powers due to them becoming overwhelmed after her conflict with the Fatal Five.\",\n \"She practiced how to manipulate her Chi or Qi in order to gain better control of her powers due to them becoming overwhelmed after her conflict with the Fatal Five. Superman recommended guardianship with I-Ching to Supergirl first. In addition to training in Krypton, Kara was trained by Batman in advanced martial arts and trained with the Amazons in Themyscira in unarmed and armed combat, Amazonas martial arts, fencing, Shield handling, and other Amazon weapons. She trained with Wonder Woman and Artemis extensively.\",\n \"She trained with Wonder Woman and Artemis extensively. She trained with Wonder Woman and Artemis extensively. Other versions There are numerous alternate versions of Supergirl. The most notable is Power Girl (real name Kara Zor-L, also known as Karen Starr) who first appeared in All Star Comics #58 (January/February 1976). Power Girl is the Earth-Two counterpart of Supergirl and the first cousin of Kal-L, Superman of the pre-Crisis Earth-Two. The infant Power Girl's parents enabled her to escape the destruction of Krypton.\",\n \"The infant Power Girl's parents enabled her to escape the destruction of Krypton. Although she left the planet at the same time that Superman did, her ship took much longer to reach Earth-Two. She has superhuman strength and the ability to fly and is the first chairwoman of the Justice Society of America. She sports a bob of blond hair; wears a distinctive white, red, and blue costume; and has an aggressive fighting style.\",\n \"She sports a bob of blond hair; wears a distinctive white, red, and blue costume; and has an aggressive fighting style. Throughout her early appearances in All Star Comics, she is often at odds with Wildcat because his penchant for talking to her as if she were an ordinary human female rather than a superpowered Kryptonian annoys her. She also fought alongside the Sovereign Seven team, replacing Rampart after his death though that series is not considered to be part of canon in the DC universe.\",\n \"She also fought alongside the Sovereign Seven team, replacing Rampart after his death though that series is not considered to be part of canon in the DC universe. The 1985 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths eliminated Earth-Two, causing her origin to change; she became the granddaughter of the Atlantean sorcerer Arion. However, story events culminating in the 2005–2006 Infinite Crisis limited series restored her status as a refugee from the Krypton of the destroyed pre-Crisis Earth-Two universe.\",\n \"However, story events culminating in the 2005–2006 Infinite Crisis limited series restored her status as a refugee from the Krypton of the destroyed pre-Crisis Earth-Two universe. Like the original Kara's Streaky, Power Girl has a cat, featured in a story by Amanda Conner in Wonder Woman #600. Reception This version of Supergirl is ranked as the 153rd-greatest comic book character of all time by Wizard magazine.\",\n \"Reception This version of Supergirl is ranked as the 153rd-greatest comic book character of all time by Wizard magazine. IGN also ranked this version of Supergirl as the 94th-greatest comic book superhero, stating \\\"for a character born of the Silver Age that saw everything from a Super Baby to a Super Monkey, Kara Zor-El grew into something much more than simply another marketing ploy to slap an 'S' on.\\\"\",\n \"IGN also ranked this version of Supergirl as the 94th-greatest comic book superhero, stating \\\"for a character born of the Silver Age that saw everything from a Super Baby to a Super Monkey, Kara Zor-El grew into something much more than simply another marketing ploy to slap an 'S' on.\\\" In 2013 IGN ranked Supergirl as the 17th-greatest DC comic superhero, stating \\\"she was an early example of a female sidekick developing a large fanbase in her own right\\\", and \\\"Supergirl has been one of DC's most powerful heroes, and a standard to hold other female heroes against.\\\"\",\n \"In 2013 IGN ranked Supergirl as the 17th-greatest DC comic superhero, stating \\\"she was an early example of a female sidekick developing a large fanbase in her own right\\\", and \\\"Supergirl has been one of DC's most powerful heroes, and a standard to hold other female heroes against.\\\" Appearances Pre-Crisis 1959 to 1969: Action Comics #252 to #376. 1969 to 1972: Adventure Comics #381 to #424. 1972 to 1974: Supergirl #1 to #10.\",\n \"1972 to 1974: Supergirl #1 to #10. 1974 to 1982: Her comic merges with Jimmy Olsen's and Lois Lane's to become Superman Family #164 to #222. 1982 to 1984: The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl #1 to #13, Supergirl (vol. 2) #14 to #23. 2015: Convergence Kara Zor-El appeared in over 750 stories published by DC from 1959 to 1985.\",\n \"2015: Convergence Kara Zor-El appeared in over 750 stories published by DC from 1959 to 1985. Post-Crisis 2004 to 2005: Superman/Batman #8 to #13 and #19 2005 to 2011: Supergirl (vol. 5) #0 to #67 2006 to 2008: Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes (Legion of Super-Heroes vol. 5) #16 to #37 2007: Action Comics #850 2008: Final Crisis 2011 to 2015: New 52: Supergirl (vol.\",\n \"5) #16 to #37 2007: Action Comics #850 2008: Final Crisis 2011 to 2015: New 52: Supergirl (vol. 6) #1 to #40 2016 to current: Rebirth: Supergirl (vol. 7) #1 to current Kara Zor-El also appears as a supporting character in several issues of other DC Comics, including Superman, Action Comics, Teen Titans, Amazons Attack, World War III, and Wonder Girl.\",\n \"7) #1 to current Kara Zor-El also appears as a supporting character in several issues of other DC Comics, including Superman, Action Comics, Teen Titans, Amazons Attack, World War III, and Wonder Girl. She has also appeared in many issues of Superman, Action Comics, and Superman New Krypton starting with the World Without Superman event in 2009, and continuing with the World Against Superman event going into 2010. Collected editions Listed in chronological order.\",\n \"Collected editions Listed in chronological order. Collected editions Listed in chronological order. All ages titles are not in continuity with the original or modern Kara. In other media Television Live-action Smallville Prior to the seventh season (2007–2008) of the WB/CW show Smallville where she is introduced into the cast and is portrayed by Laura Vandervoort, a woman claiming to be Kara (portrayed by Adrianne Palicki) is briefly introduced in the season 3 finale.\",\n \"In other media Television Live-action Smallville Prior to the seventh season (2007–2008) of the WB/CW show Smallville where she is introduced into the cast and is portrayed by Laura Vandervoort, a woman claiming to be Kara (portrayed by Adrianne Palicki) is briefly introduced in the season 3 finale. It is later revealed her real name is Lindsey Harrison, and had been given false memories and powers by the artificial intelligence of Clark Kent's (Tom Welling) father Jor-El as part of a series of tests.\",\n \"It is later revealed her real name is Lindsey Harrison, and had been given false memories and powers by the artificial intelligence of Clark Kent's (Tom Welling) father Jor-El as part of a series of tests. Vandervoort portrays the real Kara, Clark's cousin whose spaceship had been trapped in stasis until the events of the season 6 finale. Much of season 7 is concerned with Kara's attempts to adjust to life on Earth, especially after learning of Krypton's destruction.\",\n \"Much of season 7 is concerned with Kara's attempts to adjust to life on Earth, especially after learning of Krypton's destruction. Her storyline sees her simultaneously become the object of Lex Luthor's (Michael Rosenbaum) obsessions and Jimmy Olsen's (Aaron Ashmore) affections, suffer a bout of amnesia, discover her father's (Christopher Heyerdahl) sinister motives and become a target of evil android Brainiac (James Marsters). The season finale sees Kara become trapped in the Phantom Zone.\",\n \"The season finale sees Kara become trapped in the Phantom Zone. Starting with season 8, Vandervoort ceases to feature as a series regular, but reprises the role three more times. In her first guest appearance, \\\"Bloodline,\\\" Kara is freed from the Phantom Zone and later departs Clark's hometown of Smallville to search for Kandor, her birthplace, as it is rumored to have survived their home planet's destruction.\",\n \"In her first guest appearance, \\\"Bloodline,\\\" Kara is freed from the Phantom Zone and later departs Clark's hometown of Smallville to search for Kandor, her birthplace, as it is rumored to have survived their home planet's destruction. She appears again in the season 10 episode \\\"Supergirl\\\", in which she formally adopts her superhero moniker. Her off-screen adventures are alluded to thereafter.\",\n \"Her off-screen adventures are alluded to thereafter. Her off-screen adventures are alluded to thereafter. Vandervoort makes a final appearance in the show's penultimate episode, \\\"Prophecy\\\", in which she helps Green Arrow (Justin Hartley) locate the \\\"Bow of Orion\\\" to use against Darkseid. She is then called to the Fortress of Solitude, where she learns from Jor-El that her job on Earth is done. Using a Legion of Super-Heroes flight ring, she travels to the future to seek her own destiny.\",\n \"Using a Legion of Super-Heroes flight ring, she travels to the future to seek her own destiny. The Season Eleven comic book continuation of the show later depicts Kara's continued story in the 31st century, subsequent return to the present and joining the Justice League. Arrowverse In September 2014, a 22-episode television series centered around Supergirl was in development at Warner Bros. Television, set to premiere on CBS with a January 2015 air date. Melissa Benoist was cast as the titular character.\",\n \"Melissa Benoist was cast as the titular character. Melissa Benoist was cast as the titular character. In May 2016, the series moved to The CW and was later integrated into the Arrowverse, a shared universe consisting of shows including Arrow, The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow. In the series, Kara Zor-El was sent to Earth to protect her cousin Kal-El, following her homeworld Krypton's destruction. However, she is knocked into the Phantom Zone, where she is stranded for 24 years.\",\n \"However, she is knocked into the Phantom Zone, where she is stranded for 24 years. She eventually crash lands on Earth and is found by her already grown-up cousin Kal, now known to the world as the iconic superhero \\\"Superman\\\". Superman brings Kara into the custody of Jeremiah Danvers, director of the Department of Extranormal Operations (D.E.O. ), and his daughter Alex. Growing up, Kara struggles to maintain her Kryptonian abilities as well as balancing her relationship with her adoptive sister.\",\n \"Growing up, Kara struggles to maintain her Kryptonian abilities as well as balancing her relationship with her adoptive sister. Eventually, the two bond when Kara's powers are exposed. However, Jeremiah decides it's best to isolate her abilities. As an adult, Kara is forced to use her powers again when her sister's plane almost crashes. She is later dubbed \\\"Supergirl\\\" by the media and dons a costume like her cousin.\",\n \"She is later dubbed \\\"Supergirl\\\" by the media and dons a costume like her cousin. Kara decides to use her abilities to fight alien invaders such as Kara's aunt Astra and her husband Non, Mon-El's rogue parents, the Worldkiller Reign, anti-alien activist Ben Lockwood, and later the shadowy organization Leviathan, with the help of her sister Alex, now an agent of the D.E.O., her best friend and tech-expert Winn Schott, last of the Green Martians J'onn J'onzz / Martian Manhunter, and Kal's best friend Jimmy Olsen.\",\n \"Kara decides to use her abilities to fight alien invaders such as Kara's aunt Astra and her husband Non, Mon-El's rogue parents, the Worldkiller Reign, anti-alien activist Ben Lockwood, and later the shadowy organization Leviathan, with the help of her sister Alex, now an agent of the D.E.O., her best friend and tech-expert Winn Schott, last of the Green Martians J'onn J'onzz / Martian Manhunter, and Kal's best friend Jimmy Olsen. She is later joined by Lex Luthor's sister Lena, Prince of Daxam Mon-El, former Legion of Superheroes member Querl \\\"Brainy\\\" Dox / Brainiac 5, Nia Nal / Dreamer, James' younger sister Kelly, and reporter Willam Dey face against these rival forces.\",\n \"She is later joined by Lex Luthor's sister Lena, Prince of Daxam Mon-El, former Legion of Superheroes member Querl \\\"Brainy\\\" Dox / Brainiac 5, Nia Nal / Dreamer, James' younger sister Kelly, and reporter Willam Dey face against these rival forces. After joining the Arrowverse, which contain annual crossover, Kara assists Barry Allen, Oliver Queen and the Legends of Tomorrow against threats on their designated earth \\\"Earth-1\\\" while Kara’s is designated as \\\"Earth-38.\",\n \"After joining the Arrowverse, which contain annual crossover, Kara assists Barry Allen, Oliver Queen and the Legends of Tomorrow against threats on their designated earth \\\"Earth-1\\\" while Kara’s is designated as \\\"Earth-38. Later, Kara is selected by The Monitor as the Paragon of Hope to participate in the coming crisis and fight against the Anti-Monitor, whose goal is to destroy the multiverse. After doing so, the Paragons are sent to the Vanishing Point where Oliver, now a Spectre, helps them escape.\",\n \"After doing so, the Paragons are sent to the Vanishing Point where Oliver, now a Spectre, helps them escape. The Paragons appear at the dawn of time in the anti-matter universe where they have their final confrontation with the Anti-Monitor. Eventually, Oliver sacrifices himself to kill the Anti-Monitor, and as a result, a new multiverse is born with Earth-38 and Earth-1 merged into \\\"Earth-Prime\\\". Following the crisis, Kara is forced to deal the after-effects of Crisis which include working with Lex, now owning the D.E.O.\",\n \"Following the crisis, Kara is forced to deal the after-effects of Crisis which include working with Lex, now owning the D.E.O. while Leviathan continue their covert operations under Gamemnae. The sixth season sees Kara and her allies expose Lex's crimes, but are then forced to deal with Nyxlygsptlnz, a fifth-dimensional imp who tricked the heroes into releasing her from the Phantom Zone.\",\n \"The sixth season sees Kara and her allies expose Lex's crimes, but are then forced to deal with Nyxlygsptlnz, a fifth-dimensional imp who tricked the heroes into releasing her from the Phantom Zone. Eventually Nyxlygsptlnz joins forces with Lex Luthor and the two kill William, but Kara's assembled allies are able to defeat the two, culminating in Lex and Nyxlygsptlnz being trapped in the Phantom Zone when one of their own plans backfires.\",\n \"Eventually Nyxlygsptlnz joins forces with Lex Luthor and the two kill William, but Kara's assembled allies are able to defeat the two, culminating in Lex and Nyxlygsptlnz being trapped in the Phantom Zone when one of their own plans backfires. The series concludes with Kara revealing her dual identity so that she can live a full life as one person. Animation DC Nation Shorts Supergirl appears with Batgirl and Wonder Girl in Super Best Friends Forever, voiced by Nicole Sullivan.\",\n \"Animation DC Nation Shorts Supergirl appears with Batgirl and Wonder Girl in Super Best Friends Forever, voiced by Nicole Sullivan. DC Super Hero Girls Supergirl appears as a central protagonist in the web series DC Super Hero Girls voiced by Anais Fairweather, and is a student at Super Hero High, is very kind and caring and extremely powerful but she's also very clumsy. She also appears as a central protagonist in the 2019 TV series, with Nicole Sullivan reprising her role from the Super Best Friends Forever shorts.\",\n \"She also appears as a central protagonist in the 2019 TV series, with Nicole Sullivan reprising her role from the Super Best Friends Forever shorts. In this version, she is also a rebel and is known as the \\\"cool kid\\\" in school. She may be tough but she can easily express her emotions and is very open-minded as well. She can be a cool friend and a helpful one, but she can also be jealous sometimes and she dislikes her cousin's prominence.\",\n \"She can be a cool friend and a helpful one, but she can also be jealous sometimes and she dislikes her cousin's prominence. Justice League Action Supergirl appears in Justice League Action, voiced by Joanne Spracklen. She has the appearance of a wide-eyed human teenager with blonde hair and wears her traditional costume except that it has thigh-high boots and a pleated skirt. As a person, she is youthful, responsible, and shows much affection for her cousin Superman.\",\n \"As a person, she is youthful, responsible, and shows much affection for her cousin Superman. In \\\"Party Animal\\\", she appears as a cameo at this Christmas party with the Justice League. In \\\"Keeping up with the Kryptonians\\\", Supergirl becomes a star of the popular reality show \\\"That's So Kara\\\", and Superman a Kasnian who rules from one place to another on Earth, all being a reality caused by Mister Mxyzptlk.\",\n \"In \\\"Keeping up with the Kryptonians\\\", Supergirl becomes a star of the popular reality show \\\"That's So Kara\\\", and Superman a Kasnian who rules from one place to another on Earth, all being a reality caused by Mister Mxyzptlk. In \\\"Unleashed\\\", Supergirl accompanies Justice League in stopping Red Lantern Corps, unaware that it was a distraction made by Dex-Starr to invade Earth, until it was ultimately resolved by Krypto, Streaky, and Plastic Man.\",\n \"In \\\"Unleashed\\\", Supergirl accompanies Justice League in stopping Red Lantern Corps, unaware that it was a distraction made by Dex-Starr to invade Earth, until it was ultimately resolved by Krypto, Streaky, and Plastic Man. In a short \\\"The Goddess Must Be Crazy\\\", Supergirl trains with Wonder Woman in Paradise Island, until she is possessed by Felix Faust, to destroy the island. Film Superman film series A live action depiction of Supergirl first appears in the eponymous 1984 film starring Helen Slater as Supergirl.\",\n \"Film Superman film series A live action depiction of Supergirl first appears in the eponymous 1984 film starring Helen Slater as Supergirl. The film is a spin-off from the Superman film series starring Christopher Reeve, to which it is connected by Marc McClure's character of Jimmy Olsen. DC Extended Universe Kara Zor-El / Linda Danvers / Supergirl exists within the DC Extended Universe, as she was referenced in Man of Steel when Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman discovers an empty pod within the Kryptonian scout spaceship.\",\n \"DC Extended Universe Kara Zor-El / Linda Danvers / Supergirl exists within the DC Extended Universe, as she was referenced in Man of Steel when Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman discovers an empty pod within the Kryptonian scout spaceship. Though Zack Snyder confirmed in August 2018 that even though the character does exist, that pod was not intended for her. In August 2018, a film centered around the character was announced to be in development, with Oren Uziel hired as screenwriter for the project.\",\n \"In August 2018, a film centered around the character was announced to be in development, with Oren Uziel hired as screenwriter for the project. The studio intends to hire a female director, with Reed Morano—who has expressed interest in the project—being its top choice. Filming was expected to start production in early 2020. Sasha Calle will play Supergirl for the DC Extended Universe in The Flash.\",\n \"Sasha Calle will play Supergirl for the DC Extended Universe in The Flash. Animation Summer Glau voices the post-Crisis version of Kara Zor-El in Superman/Batman: Apocalypse, which is based on the Superman/Batman storyline \\\"The Supergirl from Krypton\\\". Despite this, it was confirmed by director Lauren Montgomery that Supergirl's name was removed from the title due to the much slower sales of the previous Wonder Woman animated movie, and the character was not permitted to appear on the cover in her trademark outfit.\",\n \"Despite this, it was confirmed by director Lauren Montgomery that Supergirl's name was removed from the title due to the much slower sales of the previous Wonder Woman animated movie, and the character was not permitted to appear on the cover in her trademark outfit. Molly Quinn voices Supergirl in Superman: Unbound. Supergirl appears in Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League: Cosmic Clash, voiced by Jessica DiCicco. Video games Supergirl appears in DC Universe Online, voiced by Adriene Mishler.\",\n \"Video games Supergirl appears in DC Universe Online, voiced by Adriene Mishler. In the villain campaign, the players help Doctor Psycho capture Supergirl using Kryptonite. In the hero campaign, the players fight Doctor Psycho to save Supergirl. Under the thrall of Brainiac, she must be defeated in the Fortress of Solitude: Power Core raid. Supergirl is unlockable in Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes, voiced by Bridget Hoffman. Supergirl makes a cameo appearance in the IOS version of Injustice: Gods Among Us as a support card.\",\n \"Supergirl makes a cameo appearance in the IOS version of Injustice: Gods Among Us as a support card. Supergirl appears as a playable character in Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham, voiced by Kari Wahlgren. She is playable in her default variant which is designed after her appearance in The New 52 and in her Classic attire.\",\n \"She is playable in her default variant which is designed after her appearance in The New 52 and in her Classic attire. Her Classic variant is unlocked in a VR Mission while her New 52 variant is unlocked in a Hub Quest in Nok where she requests players to defeat a number of enemies she accidentally releases from their cells. Supergirl appears as a playable character in Infinite Crisis, voiced by Camilla Luddington.\",\n \"Supergirl appears as a playable character in Infinite Crisis, voiced by Camilla Luddington. Supergirl appears as a playable character and the central protagonist in Injustice 2 by NetherRealm Studios, the sequel to Injustice: Gods Among Us, voiced by Laura Bailey.\",\n \"Supergirl appears as a playable character and the central protagonist in Injustice 2 by NetherRealm Studios, the sequel to Injustice: Gods Among Us, voiced by Laura Bailey. Here her origin is much like in the comics where she is sent along with her cousin Kal-El to Earth by her mother after Krypton is destroyed but on separate pods where hers veers off-course after sustaining significant damage, stranding her in space for many years until she lands on Earth, unaged.\",\n \"Here her origin is much like in the comics where she is sent along with her cousin Kal-El to Earth by her mother after Krypton is destroyed but on separate pods where hers veers off-course after sustaining significant damage, stranding her in space for many years until she lands on Earth, unaged. When the main storyline starts, she is residing on Black Adam's kingdom of Khandaq, apparently under his and Wonder Woman's protection.\",\n \"When the main storyline starts, she is residing on Black Adam's kingdom of Khandaq, apparently under his and Wonder Woman's protection. When Brainiac who was responsible for Krypton's destruction attacks, she, Wonder Woman, and Black Adam attempt to free Superman and the remaining members of the Regime, while being interrupted in their efforts by new Insurgency recruits Blue Beetle and Firestorm until Batman himself arrives and releases Superman, leading to a temporary alliance between the Regime and Insurgency against the alien warlord.\",\n \"When Brainiac who was responsible for Krypton's destruction attacks, she, Wonder Woman, and Black Adam attempt to free Superman and the remaining members of the Regime, while being interrupted in their efforts by new Insurgency recruits Blue Beetle and Firestorm until Batman himself arrives and releases Superman, leading to a temporary alliance between the Regime and Insurgency against the alien warlord. Over the course of the story, she learns the truth about her cousin's tyranny and at the end of the game sides with Batman, Green Lantern and Flash in letting Brainiac live in order to restore the lost cities but is defeated.\",\n \"Over the course of the story, she learns the truth about her cousin's tyranny and at the end of the game sides with Batman, Green Lantern and Flash in letting Brainiac live in order to restore the lost cities but is defeated. In Batman's ending, she laments her cousin's tyranny and sees him leave to be imprisoned in the Phantom Zone and is offered membership by Batman in his Justice League.\",\n \"In Batman's ending, she laments her cousin's tyranny and sees him leave to be imprisoned in the Phantom Zone and is offered membership by Batman in his Justice League. In Superman's ending, she is imprisoned aboard Brainiac's ship and to her shock discovers her cousin has bonded with it and when she refuses his offer to join him in leading his new legion of imprisoned species. He attempts to coerce her by revealing a brainwashed Batman, who had also been captured, further shocking her.\",\n \"He attempts to coerce her by revealing a brainwashed Batman, who had also been captured, further shocking her. Supergirl appears as a limited-distribution minifigure for the toys-to-life video game Lego Dimensions, with Kari Wahlgren reprising her role. She has the ability to transform between her classic and Red Lantern forms. Supergirl appears as a playable character in DC Unchained. Supergirl appears in the PSP version of Justice League Heroes. Supergirl appears as a playable character in the DC TV Super-Heroes DLC pack in Lego DC Super-Villains.\",\n \"Supergirl appears as a playable character in the DC TV Super-Heroes DLC pack in Lego DC Super-Villains. See also Alternative versions of Supergirl Laurel Gand References External links DC Comics Pre-Crisis Supergirl Chronology Supergirl Characters created by Otto Binder Comics characters introduced in 1958 Comics characters introduced in 1959 DC Comics aliens DC Comics American superheroes DC Comics characters who can move at superhuman speeds DC Comics characters with accelerated healing DC Comics characters with superhuman strength DC Comics deities DC Comics female superheroes DC Comics film characters DC Comics television characters DC Comics extraterrestrial superheroes Female characters in television Fictional characters with superhuman senses Fictional actors Fictional extraterrestrial–human hybrids Fictional orphans Fictional photographers Fictional refugees Fictional reporters Fictional school counselors Fictional American secret agents Fictional waiting staff Kryptonians Superheroes who are adopted Vigilante characters in comics\"\n]"}}},{"rowIdx":390,"cells":{"History":{"kind":"list like","value":["Supergirl (Kara Zor-El)","Bronze Age","whaat is the bronze age","After long-time Superman family editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971,","what happened during the bronze age","the character underwent revitalization under editor Joe Orlando and artist Mike Sekowsky.","anything intresting happen","leaving her adopted foster home with the Danvers family, Linda goes on to San Francisco where she works for KSF-TV as a camera operator"],"string":"[\n \"Supergirl (Kara Zor-El)\",\n \"Bronze Age\",\n \"whaat is the bronze age\",\n \"After long-time Superman family editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971,\",\n \"what happened during the bronze age\",\n \"the character underwent revitalization under editor Joe Orlando and artist Mike Sekowsky.\",\n \"anything intresting happen\",\n \"leaving her adopted foster home with the Danvers family, Linda goes on to San Francisco where she works for KSF-TV as a camera operator\"\n]"},"QuAC_dialog_id":{"kind":"string","value":"C_eaa7329c3ac14b8bb4aaea61d8fa517d_1"},"Question":{"kind":"string","value":"what else happened"},"Question_no":{"kind":"number","value":4,"string":"4"},"Rewrite":{"kind":"string","value":"what else happened during Supergirl's revitalization other than leaving her adopted foster home?"},"true_page_title":{"kind":"string","value":"Supergirl (Kara Zor-El)"},"true_contexts":{"kind":"string","value":"After long-time Superman family editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971, the character underwent revitalization under editor Joe Orlando and artist Mike Sekowsky. Wearing a series of new outfits, leaving her adopted foster home with the Danvers family, Linda goes on to San Francisco where she works for KSF-TV as a camera operator and develops a crush on her boss, Geoffrey Anderson. These stories introduced Supergirl's most memorable villain from this period: Lex Luthor's niece Nasthalthia, or Nasty. Nasty had made two appearances towards the end of Linda's college years, then pursued her to KSF-TV, trying to secure proof of her dual identity. Supergirl starred in her first solo eponymous monthly series beginning in 1972 until October 1974, when her monthly title merged with Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane, and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen to produce a new title: then-highest DC selling series called The Superman Family, where she eventually became the steady lead story. Linda worked as a student advisor at New Athens Experimental School, before leaving for New York to follow a career in acting with daytime soap Secret Hearts. In 1982 Supergirl received a second monthly solo series titled The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl, relocating the character to Chicago as Linda became a mature student of Psychology. Industry legend, and former DC Publisher, Carmine Infantino provided the pencilled art (Bob Oksner inked). With issue 13 the title was revamped, with a new costume design (sporting a red headband) and the title shortened to just Supergirl. The series ran until sudden cancellation in 1984, only two months before the character's debut in a big-budget Hollywood film starring Helen Slater. In the Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985) the greatest heroes from Earth-One, Earth-Two, Earth-Four, Earth-S, and Earth-X join forces in order to defeat the Anti-Monitor. When Superman comes face to face with the Anti-Monitor and is knocked unconscious, Supergirl rushes to save him before he is killed. She is able to fight him off long enough for Dr. Light to carry her cousin to a safe distance, but is killed by the Anti-Monitor. A public memorial service for Supergirl takes place in Chicago, where Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) delivers the eulogy. In her remarks she states \"Kara is a hero. She will not be forgotten.\" Superman then gives his late cousin burial by taking her corpse to Rokyn/New Krypton to Zor-El and Allura. A Superman issue the next month reveals that Kara had experienced a premonition about her own passing. However, when the universe is rebooted, the timeline is altered. Kara Zor-El and all memory of her is erased from existence. CANNOTANSWER"},"answer":{"kind":"string","value":"These stories introduced Supergirl's most memorable villain from this period: Lex Luthor's niece Nasthalthia, or Nasty."},"true_contexts_wiki":{"kind":"string","value":"Kara Zor-El, also known by her adoptive names of Linda Lee Danvers, Kara Kent, Linda Lang, and Kara Danvers, and the superhero name of Supergirl, is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. She was created by Otto Binder and designed by Al Plastino. Danvers first appeared in Action Comics #252 (May 1959)'s \"The Supergirl from Krypton\" story. Kara is the biological cousin of Kal-El, who went on to adopt the name of Clark Kent and the superhero Superman. During the 1980s and the revolution of the Modern Age of Comics, Superman editors believed the character's history had become too convoluted, thus killing Supergirl during the 1985 Crisis on Infinite Earths event and retconning her out of existence.\n\nDC Comics Senior Vice President Dan DiDio re-introduced the character in 2004 along with editor Eddie Berganza and writer Jeph Loeb, with her the Superman/Batman storyline \"The Supergirl from Krypton\". As the current Supergirl, Kara stars in her own monthly comic book series. With DC's The New 52 relaunch, Kara, like most of the DC Universe, was revamped. DC relaunched the Supergirl comic in August 2016 as part of their DC Rebirth initiative.\n\nIn live-action, Supergirl appeared in the 1984 film based on her character and was portrayed by Helen Slater. She also appeared in the series Smallville, played by actress Laura Vandervoort. In 2015, the live-action Arrowverse series Supergirl debuted on CBS and then moved to The CW after the first season. Supergirl was portrayed by Melissa Benoist on the show and also appeared on other Arrowverse shows. Sasha Calle will appear as Supergirl in the upcoming DC Extended Universe film The Flash (2022).\n\nPublication history\n\nEarly life\nAlthough Kara Zor-El was the first character to use the name \"Supergirl,\" DC Comics tested three different female versions of Superman prior to her debut. \n\nThe first story to feature a female counterpart to Superman was \"Lois Lane – Superwoman,\" which was published in Action Comics #60 (May 1943). In the story, a hospitalized Lois Lane dreams she has gained superpowers thanks to a blood transfusion from the Man of Steel. She begins her own career as \"Superwoman\", complete with a version of Superman's costume.\n\nIn the Superboy #78 story entitled \"Claire Kent, Alias Super-Sister\", Superboy saves the life of an alien woman named Shar-La, who turns Superboy into a girl, in retaliation for his disparaging thoughts about women drivers which she picked up telepathically. In Smallville, Clark claims to be Claire Kent, an out-of-town relative who is staying with the Kents. When in costume, he appears as Superboy's sister, Super-Sister, and claims the two have exchanged places. Once Superboy has learned his lesson about feeling more respect for women, Shar-La reveals the episode to be a dream which she projected into Superboy's mind.\n\nIn Superman #123 (August 1958), Jimmy Olsen uses a magic totem to wish a \"Super-Girl\" into existence as a companion and aid to Superman; however, the two frequently get in each other's way until she is fatally injured protecting Superman from a Kryptonite meteor. At her insistence, Jimmy wishes the dying girl out of existence. DC used this story to gauge public response to the concept of a completely new super-powered female counterpart to Superman.\n\nThe Kara Zor-El version of Supergirl finally appeared in Action Comics #252 (May 1959). Otto Binder wrote and Al Plastino illustrated her début story, in which Kara was born and raised in Argo City (unnamed until later issues), a fragment of Krypton that survived destruction. When the city is doomed by a meteor shower, Kara is sent to Earth by her parents, Zor-El and Alura (the latter unnamed until later issues), to be raised by her cousin Kal-El, known as Superman. Supergirl adopted the secret identity of an orphan \"Linda Lee\", and made Midvale Orphanage her home. Supergirl promised Superman that she would keep her existence on Earth a secret, so that he may use her as a \"secret weapon\", but that didn't stop Supergirl from exploring her new powers covertly. Action Comics #255 published reader's letters-of-comment to Supergirl's first appearance; she had allegedly generated a sizeable and mostly positive reaction.\n\nSupergirl, from her debut onwards, became a regular backup strip in Action Comics. She joined the Legion of Super-Heroes, like her cousin had done as a teenager, and in Action Comics #279 (July 1961) she was adopted by Fred and Edna Danvers, becoming \"Linda Lee Danvers\". Supergirl acted for three years as Superman's secret weapon, and her adventures during that time have been compared to contemporary developments in feminist thinking in work such as Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique. She was at last introduced by her super-powered cousin to an unsuspecting world in Action Comics #285 (February 1962).\n\nDuring her first quarter of a century, Linda Danvers would have many professions, from student to student advisor, to actor, and even TV camera operator. She shared Action Comics with Superman until transferring to the lead in Adventure Comics at the end of the 1960s. In 1972 she finally moved to her own short-lived eponymous magazine, before DC merged its Supergirl, Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen titles into a single anthology title named The Superman Family. In 1982 Supergirl was relaunched into her own magazine.\n\nDeath during Crisis on Infinite Earths\n\nIn 1985, the maxi-series Crisis on Infinite Earths was conceived as a way to reduce DC continuity to a single universe in which all characters maintained a single history. Despite Supergirl's continued popularity and status as a central member of the \"Superman Family\", the editors at DC Comics and the creators of the maxi-series decided to kill Supergirl off during the Crisis. According to Marv Wolfman, writer of Crisis on Infinite Earths:\n\nThe idea of killing Supergirl was first conceived by DC's vice president/executive editor Dick Giordano, who lobbied for the death to DC's publishers. He later said he has never had any regrets about this, explaining, \"Supergirl was created initially to take advantage of the high Superman sales and not much thought was put into her creation. She was created essentially as a female Superman. With time, writers and artists improved upon her execution, but she never did really add anything to the Superman mythos—at least not for me.\" The poor initial reception of the 1984 film Supergirl was also blamed by some sources.\n\nIn 1989, in the tale \"Christmas with the Super-Heroes\" the soul of Kara appears to Boston \"Deadman\" Brand, cheers him up, and then disappears from continuity until 2001 (see below).\n\nSeveral characters unrelated to Superman soon took on the Supergirl persona, including the Matrix (a shapeshifting genetically engineered life-form that 'defaulted' as Supergirl), Linda Danvers (the result of Matrix merging with the dying Linda Danvers and becoming an Earth-bound angel of fire), and Cir-El (Superman's apparent daughter from a possible future).\n\nA heroine resembling the Pre-Crisis Kara would later appear in Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #5, along with an entire army of Legionnaires gathered from alternate worlds, times, and realities, to battle the Time Trapper.\n\nTwo Supergirls meet \nPrior to the post-Crisis introduction of Kara Zor-El into mainstream continuity, the pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El made an appearance in Peter David's Supergirl: Many Happy Returns. The then-current Supergirl series, at the time starring Linda Danvers, was in danger of cancellation and Peter David thought a story arc involving Kara Zor-El would be enough to revitalize the series. In an interview with Cliff Biggers of Newsarama, David states:\n\nIn the Linda Danvers' Supergirl series issues 49 and 50 (October and November 2000), the original dead Kara appears as Linda's \"guardian angel\". Then in issues 75 to 80, \"Many Happy Returns\", a young Kara appears from an earlier time long before the Crisis. The paradox becomes a moral crisis for Linda who tries to take her place as the Crisis sacrifice, living for years in a Silver Age universe where \"no one swears, the villains are always easy to defeat, and everything's very, very clean\", eventually marrying the Silver Age Superman and having a daughter with him, before she is forced to return to her universe by the Spectre when he reveals that her efforts to replace Kara as the sacrifice will not succeed. This run was illustrated by Ed Benes who had also illustrated Gail Simone's Birds of Prey which had a similar whimsical camaraderie between its female leads.\n\nLinda's inability to ultimately save Kara, coupled with the loss of her daughter, is so devastating that it ends her own career as Supergirl, Linda leaving a note for Superman where she explains that she feels that she has failed to live up to the standards of a true Supergirl and choosing to go somewhere she cannot be found. This story arc is usually cited as one of the best Supergirl stories ever written. The series ended with issue 80.\n\nRevival \n\nAfter the launch of the Superman/Batman comic book series, executive editor Dan DiDio had been looking for a way to simplify the Supergirl character from her convoluted post-Crisis history; the simplest version, of course, was Superman's cousin. Jeph Loeb and editor Eddie Berganza found an opening to reintroduce the character following the conclusion of the first story arc of Superman/Batman. Loeb states:\n\nThe modern version of Kara Zor-El made her debut in Superman/Batman #8 (2004). Kara takes the mantle of Supergirl at the conclusion of the storyline. The Supergirl comic book series would later be relaunched, now starring Kara Zor-El as \"The Girl of Steel\". The first arc of the new series was written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by Ian Churchill. Loeb would later describe the appeal of writing for Supergirl:\n\nAs the character continued to be reinvented, steps towards regarding the iconic character were some of the most prominent changes. Artist Jamal Igle and editor Matt Idleson moved to transition the character away from red panties under her skirt to biker shorts, feeling such a change was a logical progression and \"more respectable.\"\n\nThe New 52\nIn September 2011, DC Comics began The New 52, in which it canceled all of its monthly superhero titles and relaunched 52 new ones, wiping out most of its past continuity in the process. One of the new titles was a new Supergirl series (Volume 6) that featured a new origin for Kara and was published between 2011 and 2015. Artist Mahmud Asrar designed a new costume for the character which strongly deviated from her classic, \"cheerleader\" suit, a change which generated criticism from some readers.\n\nDC Rebirth\nThe 2016 DC Comics title relaunch Rebirth incorporates several elements (such as the costume, the name, the setting, and some characters) from the Supergirl television series. The DC Rebirth initiative undid the New 52's modern recreations, bringing DC's heroes back to their more classic iterations. Supergirl's new series (Volume 7) was titled Supergirl: Rebirth, written by Steven Orlando. The first arc was penciled by Brian Ching, who also redesigned Supergirl's costume in reference to a more classic look. In April 2018, it was announced that the title would be canceled after issue #20, only to be revived in August that year under a new creative team, with new writer Marc Andreyko and artist Kevin Maguire. The series ended with its 42nd issue.\n\nFuture State: Kara Zor-El, Superwoman\nThe Future State comics propose a possible future for Kara Zor-El, now an adult and having taken the alias of Superwoman. She leaves Earth to become a guardian of the Moon, which has become a refugee colony for aliens from the entire universe. The series was written by Marguerite Bennet and penciled by Marguerite Sauvage.\n\nSupergirl: Woman of Tomorrow\nUnder the Infinite Frontier brand, Kara's next series Woman of Tomorrow debuted in June 2021, written by Tom King and penciled by Brazilian artists Bilquis Evely and Mat Lopes. The arc introduces Supergirl to new character grounds as she begins the story as a young woman, celebrating her 21st birthday and helping a young alien in her quest for revenge. The \"mentor-mentee journey on revenge\" plot is, according to King, inspired by the original novel and both versions of True Grit. \n\nIn this series, the creators paid homage to Linda Danvers, as Kara manifests flame wings and powers after taking a red kryptonite drug, in order to save her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon.\n\nFictional character biography\n\nSilver Age\nIn her debut story, Kara Zor-El is the last survivor of Argo City of the planet Krypton. Although Argo, which had survived the explosion of the planet, drifted through space as a self-sustaining environment, the soil of the colony eventually turned into Kryptonite; and though Kara's father Zor-El placed lead sheeting above the ground to protect the citizens from radiation, meteorites pierced the sheeting, and the Kryptonians died of radiation poisoning instead of replacing the metal.\n\nIn Supergirl's subsequent backup feature in Action Comics drawn by artist Jim Mooney for ten years until 1968, Supergirl adopts the identity of Linda Lee, an orphan at Midvale Orphanage presided over by headmistress Miss Hart. She disguises herself by hiding her blond hair beneath a brunette wig; Supergirl interacts with humans on a person-to-person basis performing good deeds and saving the world by helping one person at a time, and she also devises clever schemes as \"Superman's Secret Weapon,\" saving him many times and avoiding adoption before Superman can introduce her publicly.\n\nWhile temporarily powerless due to the scheming of Kandorian scientist Lesla-Lar, who is out to supplant her on Earth, Linda allows herself to be adopted by engineer and rocket scientist Fred Danvers and his wife, Edna. In time, she reveals her secret identity to her adoptive parents on the same day her cousin Superman finally introduces her to the world in the finale of then-DC's longest playing series ever (eight chapters) aptly called \"The World's Greatest Heroine\".\n\nWhen frequent dreams about her parents being alive turn out to be real, she builds a machine aided by her engineer father's talent, and brings them both back alive from the \"Survival Zone\" where they had both teleported during Argo City's final moments. Zor-El and Allura eventually end up living in Kandor, and when the city in the bottle is enlarged, they both go on to live in Rokyn/New Krypton, where they have the sad duty of receiving her mortal remains after \"Crisis\" for burial.\n\nGraduating from high school in 1965, Linda Lee goes to college on a scholarship and stays in Stanhope College until she graduates in 1971. During this era, she is helped by her pet cat Streaky, her Super-Horse pet Comet, and befriends Lena Thorul, who had first appeared in the Lois Lane series. Kara is also a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, where she becomes close to Brainiac 5. In addition, Linda has boyfriends from the orphanage (Richard \"Dick\" Malverne) and from Atlantis (Jerro the merboy).\n\nIn 1967, Supergirl meets Batgirl for the first time in World's Finest Comics. Developing a strong friendship, the two characters teamed up many times again, as in Superman Family #171, or Adventure #381.\nIn 1969, Supergirl left Action Comics and became a featured character in Adventure Comics beginning with issue #381 (June 1969).\n\nDuring the 1970s, Supergirl's costume changed frequently, as did her career in her civilian life. In her secret identity as Linda Lee Danvers, Kara Zor-El took a variety of jobs including graduate student in acting, television camera operator, and student counselor, and finally became an actress on the TV soap Secret Hearts.\n\nBronze Age\nAfter long-time Superman family editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971, the character underwent revitalization under editor Joe Orlando and artist Mike Sekowsky. Wearing a series of new outfits, leaving her adopted foster home with the Danvers family, Linda goes on to San Francisco where she works for KSF-TV as a camera operator and develops a crush on her boss, Geoffrey Anderson. These stories introduced Supergirl's most memorable villain from this period: Lex Luthor's niece Nasthalthia, or Nasty. Nasty had made two appearances towards the end of Linda's college years, then pursued her to KSF-TV, trying to secure proof of her dual identity.\n\nSupergirl starred in her first solo eponymous monthly series beginning in 1972 until October 1974, when her monthly title merged with Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane, and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen to produce a new title: then-highest DC selling series called The Superman Family, where she eventually became the steady lead story. Linda worked as a student advisor at New Athens Experimental School, before leaving for New York to follow a career in acting with daytime soap Secret Hearts.\n\nIn 1982 Supergirl received a second monthly solo series titled The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl, relocating the character to Chicago as Linda became a mature student of Psychology. Industry legend, and former DC Publisher, Carmine Infantino provided the penciled art (Bob Oksner inked). With issue 13 the title was revamped, with a new costume design (sporting a red headband) and the title shortened to just Supergirl. The series ran until sudden cancellation in 1984, only two months before the character's debut in a big-budget Hollywood film starring Helen Slater.\n\nIn the Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985), the greatest heroes from Earth-One, Earth-Two, Earth-Four, Earth-S, and Earth-X join forces in order to defeat the Anti-Monitor. When Superman comes face to face with the Anti-Monitor and is knocked unconscious, Supergirl rushes to save him before he is killed. She is able to fight him off long enough for Dr. Light to carry her cousin to a safe distance, but is killed by the Anti-Monitor. A public memorial service for Supergirl takes place in Chicago, where Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) delivers the eulogy. In her remarks, she states \"Kara is a hero. She will not be forgotten.\" Superman then gives his late cousin burial by taking her corpse to Rokyn/New Krypton to Zor-El and Allura. A Superman issue the next month reveals that Kara had experienced a premonition about her own passing. However, when the universe is rebooted, the timeline is altered. Kara Zor-El and all memory of her is erased from existence.\n\nEchoes\nAfter these events, the soul of Kara Zor-El made another appearance in continuity three years later in a story titled \"Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot\" in Christmas with the Super-Heroes #2 (1989). Within the story, Boston \"Deadman\" Brand tries to feel the warmth of Christmas by possessing revelers' bodies. Feeling guilty upon the realization that he has been stealing others' Christmases, he flies off feeling sorry for himself for being denied a reward after a year of helping people. A warmly dressed blonde woman approaches Brand, startling him. Somehow seeing the normally invisible Brand, she converses with him, reminding him,\n\nShe reminds Brand that even though he is dead, he is still human, and he should rejoice because it means his spirit is still alive. As the woman leaves, Brand asks her who she is, to which she replies, \"My name is Kara. Though I doubt that will mean anything to you.\" The story, written by Alan Brennert and penciled by Dick Giordano, is dedicated to Otto Binder and Jim Mooney, adding: \"We still remember.\"\n\nFinally, the soul of Kara Zor-El appeared twice during Peter David's run, specifically in issues #48 and #49 when she appears before a defeated and imprisoned then-Supergirl, Linda Danvers from Earth, and comforts her. Linda acknowledges she has been helped three times by her phantom-friend, and when she asks her name she is told by the smiling figure: \"I have gone by many names, but the one I am most fond of is: Kara!\"\n\nModern Age\n\nIn 2004, Jeph Loeb reintroduced Kara Zor-El into post-Zero Hour (Birthright timeline) continuity during a storyline in the series Superman/Batman. She is the biological cousin of Superman, and although chronologically older than him, the ship in which she traveled to Earth was caught in a large green Kryptonite meteorite which held her in a state of suspended animation for much of the journey, making her have the appearance of a 16-year-old girl. Still, Supergirl sometimes saw Superman as a child, due to last carrying him as a baby. DC Comics relaunched the Supergirl, the first story arc of which was written by Loeb. showcases Supergirl on a journey of self-discovery. Along her journey, she encounters Power Girl (Kara Zor-El's counterpart from another universe), the Teen Titans, the Outsiders, the Justice League of America, and arch-villain Lex Luthor.\n\nDuring the company-wide crossover series Infinite Crisis (2005), a sequel to Crisis on Infinite Earths, Supergirl is transported to the 31st century, where she is revered as a member of the Superman family and joins the Legion of Super-Heroes. DC Comics renamed the monthly series Legion of Super-Heroes to Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes. Beginning with issue #16. In the limited series 52, which chronicles the events that took place during the missing year after the end of Infinite Crisis, Donna Troy recalls the original Kara Zor-El and her sacrifice to save the universe. Supergirl returns to the 21st century during the course of 52. After briefly filling in for a temporarily depowered Superman as guardian of Metropolis, she assumes the identity of Flamebird to fight crime in the bottle city of Kandor with Power Girl as Nightwing in Greg Rucka's arc Supergirl: Kandor.\n\nIn 2007, Supergirl appeared in the miniseries Amazons Attack! That same year, she joined the Teen Titans for five issues.\n\nConversations with other heroes who maintain secret identities lead Kara to the conclusion that she needs to make a deeper connection with human beings. She accepts Lana Lang's proposal to present her to the Daily Planet staff as \"Linda Lang\", Lana's teenaged niece.\n\nIn the 2008–2009 \"New Krypton\" story arc, in which Superman discovers and frees the real Kandor and a large number of its citizens, Supergirl is reunited with her father, Zor-El and mother, Alura, though Zor-El is killed by the villain Reactron. When a planet is formed that the Kryptonians call New Krypton, Kara is torn between her life on Earth, and her obligation to her mother, eventually joining the New Krypton Science Guild.\n\nSupergirl subsequently appears in the 2009 miniseries Justice League: Cry for Justice, and the 2009–2010 storyline \"Blackest Night\". The New Krypton storyline would later be resolved in the \"World of New Krypton\", \"Superman: Last Stand of New Krypton\", \"War of the Supermen\" storylines, resulting in the destruction of New Krypton and seeing Supergirl mourn her people.\n\nSupergirl subsequently appears in the 2010 \"Brightest Day\" storyline, the follow up to \"Blackest Night\"., where she joins the Justice League along with Jesse Quick & Jade.\n\nThe New 52\nIn this continuity, Kara's ship lands in Smallville, Kansas but hurtles through the Earth and emerges in Siberia.\n\nKara has no memory of the destruction of Krypton, and believes it is only three days since her spacecraft was launched. She learns the truth about Krypton's destruction from Superman, and later journeys through a wormhole to Argo City, which she finds in orbit around a blue sun. She finds the city in ruins, with no explanation of how it met that fate, and is attacked by a female Worldkiller named Reign before the city plummets into the sun. When Reign and her fellow Worldkiller plan to enslave the Earth, Supergirl returns there to defeat them, and thus adopts Earth as her new home.\n\nAfter several battles with supervillains, including the Worldkillers, superweapons of Kryptonian design, she accepts Krypton's destruction, but continues to grapple with her grief. Her desire to restore Krypton results in her being manipulated into nearly destroying the Earth by another Kryptonian whom she falls in love with. Upon realizing his manipulation, she kills him by driving Kryptonite through his heart, and succumbs to Kryptonite poisoning.\n\nFollowing her poisoning, Supergirl departs the Earth to die alone. While adrift in interstellar space, she encounters a planet under attack by monsters, and quickly intervenes to save them, unaware that the entire planet is a trap by Brainiac. She is captured and restrained by Cyborg Superman, but after a struggle, manages to escape both Brainiac and Cyborg Superman. Returning to Earth, she is sent into the past by the Oracle alongside Superman and Superboy, where she ensures that a resurrected H'el cannot save Krypton, and sacrifices the planet and her family in order to save the universe.\n\nBack on Earth, she encounters the assassin Lobo. Initially eager for a peaceful resolution, seeing a kind of kinship with him in their both being lone survivors of their respective worlds (although not truly aware of Lobo's circumstances), Kara's encounter with the Czarnian would reveal deep mental wounds, resulting in the unleashing of her rage and transformation into a Red Lantern. Driven insane by rage, Kara wanders space, attacking everyone in her way, until captured by several Green Lanterns and brought to Hal Jordan. Immediately recognizing a Kryptonian and unable to remove the power ring without killing her, he brings her to Guy Gardner, the leader of one of the two Red Lantern factions, who manages to restore her sanity.\n\nAfter some time under Guy Gardner's tutelage and protecting the galaxy as a Red Lantern, after being discharged from the Red Lantern Corps (because Guy did not want for her to die needlessly against Atrocitus' splinter group), on her way back to Earth, Kara encounters the leader of the Worldkillers, who are revealed to be parasitic suits of armor. He attempts to assimilate Kara as his host, but she voluntarily subjects herself to Kryptonite poisoning in order to stop him, and eventually flies into the Sun and removes her power ring, killing her and removing him from her body. However, Kara is revealed to be immortal while in the Sun's core, and is restored to life without the power ring or any Kryptonite poisoning, immediately destroying the Worldkiller. She later helps Guy against Atrocitus and his Red Lantern splinter group.\n\nConvergence and return of the Pre-Crisis version\nDuring the Convergence story arc, the original Kara Zor-El who had sacrificed her life during Crisis on Infinite Earths makes an appearance on the amalgamated planet of Telos. At the end of the saga she volunteers herself to once again fight the Anti-Monitor but this time, with the help of her timeline's Barry Allen, the Pre-Flashpoint Superman (in tow with his pregnant wife, Lois Lane), and a repentant Parallax (Zero Hour Hal Jordan), vows to defeat him for the sake of the multiverse's continued existence. Without it being seen, those left on Telos discover the group was successful and all previous timelines (with the mysterious exception of the pre-Flashpoint/pre-New 52 DC universe) from DC history had been re-established, though the fate of the original Kara Zor-El and her fellows went unmentioned.\n\nA few more details of the battle against the Anti-Monitor are later revealed during the New 52 comic mini-series (leading into DC's Rebirth event). After the defeat of Anti-Monitor, Pre-New 52 Clark and Lois decide to start life anew in the closest universe they can find (mysteriously yet unable to see their old universe even though the rest of the multiverse had been restored) while Pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El, along with her contemporary Barry Allen and Zero Hour Parallax/Hal Jordan, decide to find their place in the universe and go off to do so. Her fate as of that story arc is yet to be revealed.\n\nDC Rebirth\nAfter the events that led to the death of the New 52 version of Superman, 16-year-old Kara lives in National City with her adoptive parents, D.E.O. agents Jeremiah and Eliza Danvers, where she attends high school and works with the agency as led by Cameron Chase. As part of her civilian identity, Kara receives special glasses that darken her blond hair when posing as Kara Danvers. Kara also goes on an internship at Cat Grant's CATCO alongside Ben Rubel, whom she befriends.\n\nIn her opening arc \"The Reign of the Cyborg Supermen\", Kara discovers that the cyborg Zor-El, whom she had battled in her New 52 title, is still active and has rebuilt other Kryptonians (her mother Alura included), planning to take over Earth. Supergirl defeats them but vows to help her father regardless of his actions. After National City discovers Supergirl has kept Zor-El's \"living\" status a secret, they become untrustful of her. Director Bones takes advantage of the heroine's impopularity and, after taking control of the D.E.O., sends villains in an attempt to bring Kara down. She defeats all of them and regains trust from National City with Ben's help.\n\nThe Supergirl Who Laughs\nKara is later infected by The Batman Who Laughs toxin, causing her to turn evil and joining other infected as part of Laughs Secret Six before later being cured. She is fired from CatCo by Cat Grant and starts working at S.T.A.R. Labs.\n\nWoman of Tomorrow\nJourneying throughout the universe with Krypto, Kara celebrates her 21st birthday alone on a distant planet. Drunk in a bar, she is approached by a little girl named Ruthye and is asked to kill Krem (her father's murderer) in vengeance. Supergirl refuses but, when she is about to leave the planet, Krem attacks and severely wounds both her and Krypto, fleeing in Kara's ship. Kara begins her journey alongside Ruthye and, powerless, saves her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon by taking a red kryptonite drug which causes her to manifest flame wings.\n\nPowers and abilities\n\nLike all Kryptonians under a yellow sun, the current version of Kara Zor-El possesses virtually unlimited strength, stamina, and durability. She is able to fly and with super speed that she can also use on foot, similar to Superman and The Flash. Also like Superman, Supergirl possesses super senses, super-breath, and freeze breathe, as well as multiple forms of supervision (including X-Ray, Infrared, Telescopic, and Microscopic). Kara also has a bio-electric aura that enhances her near invulnerability and also protects her skin and her costume from dirt and tear; as such, Kara is perpetually clean. The Sun also provides Kara with a longer lifespan than that of a human being, to the point that she is effectively a biological immortal. Kara doesn't require food, water, or sleep to survive. She is also immune to most diseases, mental and physical, and would require a very strong strain to have a chance at affecting her.\n\nIn the rare instances that Kara is harmed by someone matching her strength or by the use of one of her weaknesses, she can heal almost instantaneously. Her power surpasses most other beings, though she can be overpowered by those who rival her strength such as Black Adam, Darkseid, Despero, Doomsday, Bizarro, Wonder Woman, and Superman.\n\nIn reality, Kara is actually older than her cousin, Clark, and spent time on Krypton before its destruction. As such (unlike Superman), she possesses memories of Kryptonian culture as well as her cousin's parents.\n\nContinued exposure to a yellow Sun will slowly increase abilities. Many characters in the DC Universe have noted that Supergirl appears, at times, to be even more powerful than Superman himself. In answer to this, Superman states that this is because he has spent his entire life subconsciously suppressing his full powers in order to avoid hurting others, having been absorbing solar radiation since his infancy. Kara, not having such practice or experience, simply uses the full magnitude of her powers.\n\nAbilities\nUnlike her cousin, Kara was taught to fight in Krypton as part of her tests, and at the Crucible Academy, being adept at various Kryptonian fighting styles like Klurkor and Torquasm Rao. Supergirl also learned the art of Bagua under I-Ching's instructions. She practiced how to manipulate her Chi or Qi in order to gain better control of her powers due to them becoming overwhelmed after her conflict with the Fatal Five. Superman recommended guardianship with I-Ching to Supergirl first. In addition to training in Krypton, Kara was trained by Batman in advanced martial arts and trained with the Amazons in Themyscira in unarmed and armed combat, Amazonas martial arts, fencing, Shield handling, and other Amazon weapons. She trained with Wonder Woman and Artemis extensively.\n\nOther versions\n\nThere are numerous alternate versions of Supergirl. The most notable is Power Girl (real name Kara Zor-L, also known as Karen Starr) who first appeared in All Star Comics #58 (January/February 1976).\n\nPower Girl is the Earth-Two counterpart of Supergirl and the first cousin of Kal-L, Superman of the pre-Crisis Earth-Two. The infant Power Girl's parents enabled her to escape the destruction of Krypton. Although she left the planet at the same time that Superman did, her ship took much longer to reach Earth-Two.\n\nShe has superhuman strength and the ability to fly and is the first chairwoman of the Justice Society of America. She sports a bob of blond hair; wears a distinctive white, red, and blue costume; and has an aggressive fighting style. Throughout her early appearances in All Star Comics, she is often at odds with Wildcat because his penchant for talking to her as if she were an ordinary human female rather than a superpowered Kryptonian annoys her.\n\nShe also fought alongside the Sovereign Seven team, replacing Rampart after his death though that series is not considered to be part of canon in the DC universe.\n\nThe 1985 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths eliminated Earth-Two, causing her origin to change; she became the granddaughter of the Atlantean sorcerer Arion. However, story events culminating in the 2005–2006 Infinite Crisis limited series restored her status as a refugee from the Krypton of the destroyed pre-Crisis Earth-Two universe.\n\nLike the original Kara's Streaky, Power Girl has a cat, featured in a story by Amanda Conner in Wonder Woman #600.\n\nReception\nThis version of Supergirl is ranked as the 153rd-greatest comic book character of all time by Wizard magazine.\n\nIGN also ranked this version of Supergirl as the 94th-greatest comic book superhero, stating \"for a character born of the Silver Age that saw everything from a Super Baby to a Super Monkey, Kara Zor-El grew into something much more than simply another marketing ploy to slap an 'S' on.\" In 2013 IGN ranked Supergirl as the 17th-greatest DC comic superhero, stating \"she was an early example of a female sidekick developing a large fanbase in her own right\", and \"Supergirl has been one of DC's most powerful heroes, and a standard to hold other female heroes against.\"\n\nAppearances\n\nPre-Crisis\n 1959 to 1969: Action Comics #252 to #376.\n 1969 to 1972: Adventure Comics #381 to #424.\n 1972 to 1974: Supergirl #1 to #10.\n 1974 to 1982: Her comic merges with Jimmy Olsen's and Lois Lane's to become Superman Family #164 to #222.\n 1982 to 1984: The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl #1 to #13, Supergirl (vol. 2) #14 to #23.\n 2015: Convergence\n\nKara Zor-El appeared in over 750 stories published by DC from 1959 to 1985.\n\nPost-Crisis\n\n 2004 to 2005: Superman/Batman #8 to #13 and #19\n 2005 to 2011: Supergirl (vol. 5) #0 to #67\n 2006 to 2008: Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes (Legion of Super-Heroes vol. 5) #16 to #37\n 2007: Action Comics #850\n 2008: Final Crisis\n 2011 to 2015: New 52: Supergirl (vol. 6) #1 to #40\n 2016 to current: Rebirth: Supergirl (vol. 7) #1 to current\n\nKara Zor-El also appears as a supporting character in several issues of other DC Comics, including Superman, Action Comics, Teen Titans, Amazons Attack, World War III, and Wonder Girl. She has also appeared in many issues of Superman, Action Comics, and Superman New Krypton starting with the World Without Superman event in 2009, and continuing with the World Against Superman event going into 2010.\n\nCollected editions\nListed in chronological order. All ages titles are not in continuity with the original or modern Kara.\n\nIn other media\n\nTelevision\n\nLive-action\n\nSmallville\nPrior to the seventh season (2007–2008) of the WB/CW show Smallville where she is introduced into the cast and is portrayed by Laura Vandervoort, a woman claiming to be Kara (portrayed by Adrianne Palicki) is briefly introduced in the season 3 finale. It is later revealed her real name is Lindsey Harrison, and had been given false memories and powers by the artificial intelligence of Clark Kent's (Tom Welling) father Jor-El as part of a series of tests. Vandervoort portrays the real Kara, Clark's cousin whose spaceship had been trapped in stasis until the events of the season 6 finale. Much of season 7 is concerned with Kara's attempts to adjust to life on Earth, especially after learning of Krypton's destruction. Her storyline sees her simultaneously become the object of Lex Luthor's (Michael Rosenbaum) obsessions and Jimmy Olsen's (Aaron Ashmore) affections, suffer a bout of amnesia, discover her father's (Christopher Heyerdahl) sinister motives and become a target of evil android Brainiac (James Marsters). The season finale sees Kara become trapped in the Phantom Zone. Starting with season 8, Vandervoort ceases to feature as a series regular, but reprises the role three more times. In her first guest appearance, \"Bloodline,\" Kara is freed from the Phantom Zone and later departs Clark's hometown of Smallville to search for Kandor, her birthplace, as it is rumored to have survived their home planet's destruction. She appears again in the season 10 episode \"Supergirl\", in which she formally adopts her superhero moniker. Her off-screen adventures are alluded to thereafter. Vandervoort makes a final appearance in the show's penultimate episode, \"Prophecy\", in which she helps Green Arrow (Justin Hartley) locate the \"Bow of Orion\" to use against Darkseid. She is then called to the Fortress of Solitude, where she learns from Jor-El that her job on Earth is done. Using a Legion of Super-Heroes flight ring, she travels to the future to seek her own destiny. The Season Eleven comic book continuation of the show later depicts Kara's continued story in the 31st century, subsequent return to the present and joining the Justice League.\n\nArrowverse\n\n In September 2014, a 22-episode television series centered around Supergirl was in development at Warner Bros. Television, set to premiere on CBS with a January 2015 air date. Melissa Benoist was cast as the titular character. In May 2016, the series moved to The CW and was later integrated into the Arrowverse, a shared universe consisting of shows including Arrow, The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow. In the series, Kara Zor-El was sent to Earth to protect her cousin Kal-El, following her homeworld Krypton's destruction. However, she is knocked into the Phantom Zone, where she is stranded for 24 years. She eventually crash lands on Earth and is found by her already grown-up cousin Kal, now known to the world as the iconic superhero \"Superman\". Superman brings Kara into the custody of Jeremiah Danvers, director of the Department of Extranormal Operations (D.E.O.), and his daughter Alex. Growing up, Kara struggles to maintain her Kryptonian abilities as well as balancing her relationship with her adoptive sister. Eventually, the two bond when Kara's powers are exposed. However, Jeremiah decides it's best to isolate her abilities. As an adult, Kara is forced to use her powers again when her sister's plane almost crashes. She is later dubbed \"Supergirl\" by the media and dons a costume like her cousin. Kara decides to use her abilities to fight alien invaders such as Kara's aunt Astra and her husband Non, Mon-El's rogue parents, the Worldkiller Reign, anti-alien activist Ben Lockwood, and later the shadowy organization Leviathan, with the help of her sister Alex, now an agent of the D.E.O., her best friend and tech-expert Winn Schott, last of the Green Martians J'onn J'onzz / Martian Manhunter, and Kal's best friend Jimmy Olsen. She is later joined by Lex Luthor's sister Lena, Prince of Daxam Mon-El, former Legion of Superheroes member Querl \"Brainy\" Dox / Brainiac 5, Nia Nal / Dreamer, James' younger sister Kelly, and reporter Willam Dey face against these rival forces. After joining the Arrowverse, which contain annual crossover, Kara assists Barry Allen, Oliver Queen and the Legends of Tomorrow against threats on their designated earth \"Earth-1\" while Kara’s is designated as \"Earth-38. Later, Kara is selected by The Monitor as the Paragon of Hope to participate in the coming crisis and fight against the Anti-Monitor, whose goal is to destroy the multiverse. After doing so, the Paragons are sent to the Vanishing Point where Oliver, now a Spectre, helps them escape. The Paragons appear at the dawn of time in the anti-matter universe where they have their final confrontation with the Anti-Monitor. Eventually, Oliver sacrifices himself to kill the Anti-Monitor, and as a result, a new multiverse is born with Earth-38 and Earth-1 merged into \"Earth-Prime\". Following the crisis, Kara is forced to deal the after-effects of Crisis which include working with Lex, now owning the D.E.O. while Leviathan continue their covert operations under Gamemnae. The sixth season sees Kara and her allies expose Lex's crimes, but are then forced to deal with Nyxlygsptlnz, a fifth-dimensional imp who tricked the heroes into releasing her from the Phantom Zone. Eventually Nyxlygsptlnz joins forces with Lex Luthor and the two kill William, but Kara's assembled allies are able to defeat the two, culminating in Lex and Nyxlygsptlnz being trapped in the Phantom Zone when one of their own plans backfires. The series concludes with Kara revealing her dual identity so that she can live a full life as one person.\n\nAnimation\n\nDC Nation Shorts\nSupergirl appears with Batgirl and Wonder Girl in Super Best Friends Forever, voiced by Nicole Sullivan.\n\nDC Super Hero Girls\nSupergirl appears as a central protagonist in the web series DC Super Hero Girls voiced by Anais Fairweather, and is a student at Super Hero High, is very kind and caring and extremely powerful but she's also very clumsy.\n\nShe also appears as a central protagonist in the 2019 TV series, with Nicole Sullivan reprising her role from the Super Best Friends Forever shorts. In this version, she is also a rebel and is known as the \"cool kid\" in school. She may be tough but she can easily express her emotions and is very open-minded as well. She can be a cool friend and a helpful one, but she can also be jealous sometimes and she dislikes her cousin's prominence.\n\nJustice League Action\nSupergirl appears in Justice League Action, voiced by Joanne Spracklen. She has the appearance of a wide-eyed human teenager with blonde hair and wears her traditional costume except that it has thigh-high boots and a pleated skirt. As a person, she is youthful, responsible, and shows much affection for her cousin Superman. In \"Party Animal\", she appears as a cameo at this Christmas party with the Justice League. In \"Keeping up with the Kryptonians\", Supergirl becomes a star of the popular reality show \"That's So Kara\", and Superman a Kasnian who rules from one place to another on Earth, all being a reality caused by Mister Mxyzptlk. In \"Unleashed\", Supergirl accompanies Justice League in stopping Red Lantern Corps, unaware that it was a distraction made by Dex-Starr to invade Earth, until it was ultimately resolved by Krypto, Streaky, and Plastic Man. In a short \"The Goddess Must Be Crazy\", Supergirl trains with Wonder Woman in Paradise Island, until she is possessed by Felix Faust, to destroy the island.\n\nFilm\n\nSuperman film series\n A live action depiction of Supergirl first appears in the eponymous 1984 film starring Helen Slater as Supergirl. The film is a spin-off from the Superman film series starring Christopher Reeve, to which it is connected by Marc McClure's character of Jimmy Olsen.\n\nDC Extended Universe\n Kara Zor-El / Linda Danvers / Supergirl exists within the DC Extended Universe, as she was referenced in Man of Steel when Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman discovers an empty pod within the Kryptonian scout spaceship. Though Zack Snyder confirmed in August 2018 that even though the character does exist, that pod was not intended for her.\n In August 2018, a film centered around the character was announced to be in development, with Oren Uziel hired as screenwriter for the project. The studio intends to hire a female director, with Reed Morano—who has expressed interest in the project—being its top choice. Filming was expected to start production in early 2020.\nSasha Calle will play Supergirl for the DC Extended Universe in The Flash.\n\nAnimation\n Summer Glau voices the post-Crisis version of Kara Zor-El in Superman/Batman: Apocalypse, which is based on the Superman/Batman storyline \"The Supergirl from Krypton\". Despite this, it was confirmed by director Lauren Montgomery that Supergirl's name was removed from the title due to the much slower sales of the previous Wonder Woman animated movie, and the character was not permitted to appear on the cover in her trademark outfit.\n Molly Quinn voices Supergirl in Superman: Unbound.\n Supergirl appears in Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League: Cosmic Clash, voiced by Jessica DiCicco.\n\nVideo games\n Supergirl appears in DC Universe Online, voiced by Adriene Mishler. In the villain campaign, the players help Doctor Psycho capture Supergirl using Kryptonite. In the hero campaign, the players fight Doctor Psycho to save Supergirl. Under the thrall of Brainiac, she must be defeated in the Fortress of Solitude: Power Core raid.\n Supergirl is unlockable in Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes, voiced by Bridget Hoffman.\n Supergirl makes a cameo appearance in the IOS version of Injustice: Gods Among Us as a support card.\n Supergirl appears as a playable character in Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham, voiced by Kari Wahlgren. She is playable in her default variant which is designed after her appearance in The New 52 and in her Classic attire. Her Classic variant is unlocked in a VR Mission while her New 52 variant is unlocked in a Hub Quest in Nok where she requests players to defeat a number of enemies she accidentally releases from their cells.\n Supergirl appears as a playable character in Infinite Crisis, voiced by Camilla Luddington.\n Supergirl appears as a playable character and the central protagonist in Injustice 2 by NetherRealm Studios, the sequel to Injustice: Gods Among Us, voiced by Laura Bailey. Here her origin is much like in the comics where she is sent along with her cousin Kal-El to Earth by her mother after Krypton is destroyed but on separate pods where hers veers off-course after sustaining significant damage, stranding her in space for many years until she lands on Earth, unaged. When the main storyline starts, she is residing on Black Adam's kingdom of Khandaq, apparently under his and Wonder Woman's protection. When Brainiac who was responsible for Krypton's destruction attacks, she, Wonder Woman, and Black Adam attempt to free Superman and the remaining members of the Regime, while being interrupted in their efforts by new Insurgency recruits Blue Beetle and Firestorm until Batman himself arrives and releases Superman, leading to a temporary alliance between the Regime and Insurgency against the alien warlord. Over the course of the story, she learns the truth about her cousin's tyranny and at the end of the game sides with Batman, Green Lantern and Flash in letting Brainiac live in order to restore the lost cities but is defeated. In Batman's ending, she laments her cousin's tyranny and sees him leave to be imprisoned in the Phantom Zone and is offered membership by Batman in his Justice League. In Superman's ending, she is imprisoned aboard Brainiac's ship and to her shock discovers her cousin has bonded with it and when she refuses his offer to join him in leading his new legion of imprisoned species. He attempts to coerce her by revealing a brainwashed Batman, who had also been captured, further shocking her.\n Supergirl appears as a limited-distribution minifigure for the toys-to-life video game Lego Dimensions, with Kari Wahlgren reprising her role. She has the ability to transform between her classic and Red Lantern forms.\n Supergirl appears as a playable character in DC Unchained.\n Supergirl appears in the PSP version of Justice League Heroes.\n Supergirl appears as a playable character in the DC TV Super-Heroes DLC pack in Lego DC Super-Villains.\n\nSee also\n Alternative versions of Supergirl\n Laurel Gand\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nDC Comics\n\nPre-Crisis Supergirl Chronology\n\nSupergirl\nCharacters created by Otto Binder\nComics characters introduced in 1958\nComics characters introduced in 1959\nDC Comics aliens\nDC Comics American superheroes\nDC Comics characters who can move at superhuman speeds\nDC Comics characters with accelerated healing\nDC Comics characters with superhuman strength\nDC Comics deities\nDC Comics female superheroes\nDC Comics film characters\nDC Comics television characters\nDC Comics extraterrestrial superheroes\nFemale characters in television\nFictional characters with superhuman senses\nFictional actors\nFictional extraterrestrial–human hybrids\nFictional orphans\nFictional photographers\nFictional refugees\nFictional reporters\nFictional school counselors\nFictional American secret agents\nFictional waiting staff\nKryptonians\nSuperheroes who are adopted\nVigilante characters in comics"},"extractive":{"kind":"string","value":"true"},"retrieved_contexts":{"kind":"list like","value":["What Happened to Jones may refer to:\n What Happened to Jones (1897 play), a play by George Broadhurst\n What Happened to Jones (1915 film), a lost silent film\n What Happened to Jones (1920 film), a lost silent film\n What Happened to Jones (1926 film), a silent film comedy","What Happened may refer to:\n\n What Happened (Clinton book), 2017 book by Hillary Clinton\n What Happened (McClellan book), 2008 autobiography by Scott McClellan\n \"What Happened\", a song by Sublime from the album 40oz. to Freedom\n \"What Happened\", an episode of One Day at a Time (2017 TV series)\n\nSee also\nWhat's Happening (disambiguation)"],"string":"[\n \"What Happened to Jones may refer to:\\n What Happened to Jones (1897 play), a play by George Broadhurst\\n What Happened to Jones (1915 film), a lost silent film\\n What Happened to Jones (1920 film), a lost silent film\\n What Happened to Jones (1926 film), a silent film comedy\",\n \"What Happened may refer to:\\n\\n What Happened (Clinton book), 2017 book by Hillary Clinton\\n What Happened (McClellan book), 2008 autobiography by Scott McClellan\\n \\\"What Happened\\\", a song by Sublime from the album 40oz. to Freedom\\n \\\"What Happened\\\", an episode of One Day at a Time (2017 TV series)\\n\\nSee also\\nWhat's Happening (disambiguation)\"\n]"},"chunked_article":{"kind":"list like","value":["Kara Zor-El, also known by her adoptive names of Linda Lee Danvers, Kara Kent, Linda Lang, and Kara Danvers, and the superhero name of Supergirl, is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. She was created by Otto Binder and designed by Al Plastino. Danvers first appeared in Action Comics #252 (May 1959)'s \"The Supergirl from Krypton\" story. Kara is the biological cousin of Kal-El, who went on to adopt the name of Clark Kent and the superhero Superman.","Kara is the biological cousin of Kal-El, who went on to adopt the name of Clark Kent and the superhero Superman. During the 1980s and the revolution of the Modern Age of Comics, Superman editors believed the character's history had become too convoluted, thus killing Supergirl during the 1985 Crisis on Infinite Earths event and retconning her out of existence. DC Comics Senior Vice President Dan DiDio re-introduced the character in 2004 along with editor Eddie Berganza and writer Jeph Loeb, with her the Superman/Batman storyline \"The Supergirl from Krypton\".","DC Comics Senior Vice President Dan DiDio re-introduced the character in 2004 along with editor Eddie Berganza and writer Jeph Loeb, with her the Superman/Batman storyline \"The Supergirl from Krypton\". As the current Supergirl, Kara stars in her own monthly comic book series. With DC's The New 52 relaunch, Kara, like most of the DC Universe, was revamped. DC relaunched the Supergirl comic in August 2016 as part of their DC Rebirth initiative.","DC relaunched the Supergirl comic in August 2016 as part of their DC Rebirth initiative. In live-action, Supergirl appeared in the 1984 film based on her character and was portrayed by Helen Slater. She also appeared in the series Smallville, played by actress Laura Vandervoort. In 2015, the live-action Arrowverse series Supergirl debuted on CBS and then moved to The CW after the first season. Supergirl was portrayed by Melissa Benoist on the show and also appeared on other Arrowverse shows.","Supergirl was portrayed by Melissa Benoist on the show and also appeared on other Arrowverse shows. Sasha Calle will appear as Supergirl in the upcoming DC Extended Universe film The Flash (2022). Publication history Early life Although Kara Zor-El was the first character to use the name \"Supergirl,\" DC Comics tested three different female versions of Superman prior to her debut. The first story to feature a female counterpart to Superman was \"Lois Lane – Superwoman,\" which was published in Action Comics #60 (May 1943).","The first story to feature a female counterpart to Superman was \"Lois Lane – Superwoman,\" which was published in Action Comics #60 (May 1943). In the story, a hospitalized Lois Lane dreams she has gained superpowers thanks to a blood transfusion from the Man of Steel. She begins her own career as \"Superwoman\", complete with a version of Superman's costume.","She begins her own career as \"Superwoman\", complete with a version of Superman's costume. In the Superboy #78 story entitled \"Claire Kent, Alias Super-Sister\", Superboy saves the life of an alien woman named Shar-La, who turns Superboy into a girl, in retaliation for his disparaging thoughts about women drivers which she picked up telepathically. In Smallville, Clark claims to be Claire Kent, an out-of-town relative who is staying with the Kents.","In Smallville, Clark claims to be Claire Kent, an out-of-town relative who is staying with the Kents. When in costume, he appears as Superboy's sister, Super-Sister, and claims the two have exchanged places. Once Superboy has learned his lesson about feeling more respect for women, Shar-La reveals the episode to be a dream which she projected into Superboy's mind.","Once Superboy has learned his lesson about feeling more respect for women, Shar-La reveals the episode to be a dream which she projected into Superboy's mind. In Superman #123 (August 1958), Jimmy Olsen uses a magic totem to wish a \"Super-Girl\" into existence as a companion and aid to Superman; however, the two frequently get in each other's way until she is fatally injured protecting Superman from a Kryptonite meteor. At her insistence, Jimmy wishes the dying girl out of existence.","At her insistence, Jimmy wishes the dying girl out of existence. DC used this story to gauge public response to the concept of a completely new super-powered female counterpart to Superman. The Kara Zor-El version of Supergirl finally appeared in Action Comics #252 (May 1959). Otto Binder wrote and Al Plastino illustrated her début story, in which Kara was born and raised in Argo City (unnamed until later issues), a fragment of Krypton that survived destruction.","Otto Binder wrote and Al Plastino illustrated her début story, in which Kara was born and raised in Argo City (unnamed until later issues), a fragment of Krypton that survived destruction. When the city is doomed by a meteor shower, Kara is sent to Earth by her parents, Zor-El and Alura (the latter unnamed until later issues), to be raised by her cousin Kal-El, known as Superman. Supergirl adopted the secret identity of an orphan \"Linda Lee\", and made Midvale Orphanage her home.","Supergirl adopted the secret identity of an orphan \"Linda Lee\", and made Midvale Orphanage her home. Supergirl promised Superman that she would keep her existence on Earth a secret, so that he may use her as a \"secret weapon\", but that didn't stop Supergirl from exploring her new powers covertly. Action Comics #255 published reader's letters-of-comment to Supergirl's first appearance; she had allegedly generated a sizeable and mostly positive reaction.","Action Comics #255 published reader's letters-of-comment to Supergirl's first appearance; she had allegedly generated a sizeable and mostly positive reaction. Supergirl, from her debut onwards, became a regular backup strip in Action Comics. She joined the Legion of Super-Heroes, like her cousin had done as a teenager, and in Action Comics #279 (July 1961) she was adopted by Fred and Edna Danvers, becoming \"Linda Lee Danvers\".","She joined the Legion of Super-Heroes, like her cousin had done as a teenager, and in Action Comics #279 (July 1961) she was adopted by Fred and Edna Danvers, becoming \"Linda Lee Danvers\". Supergirl acted for three years as Superman's secret weapon, and her adventures during that time have been compared to contemporary developments in feminist thinking in work such as Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique.","Supergirl acted for three years as Superman's secret weapon, and her adventures during that time have been compared to contemporary developments in feminist thinking in work such as Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique. She was at last introduced by her super-powered cousin to an unsuspecting world in Action Comics #285 (February 1962). During her first quarter of a century, Linda Danvers would have many professions, from student to student advisor, to actor, and even TV camera operator.","During her first quarter of a century, Linda Danvers would have many professions, from student to student advisor, to actor, and even TV camera operator. She shared Action Comics with Superman until transferring to the lead in Adventure Comics at the end of the 1960s. In 1972 she finally moved to her own short-lived eponymous magazine, before DC merged its Supergirl, Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen titles into a single anthology title named The Superman Family. In 1982 Supergirl was relaunched into her own magazine.","In 1982 Supergirl was relaunched into her own magazine. In 1982 Supergirl was relaunched into her own magazine. Death during Crisis on Infinite Earths In 1985, the maxi-series Crisis on Infinite Earths was conceived as a way to reduce DC continuity to a single universe in which all characters maintained a single history. Despite Supergirl's continued popularity and status as a central member of the \"Superman Family\", the editors at DC Comics and the creators of the maxi-series decided to kill Supergirl off during the Crisis.","Despite Supergirl's continued popularity and status as a central member of the \"Superman Family\", the editors at DC Comics and the creators of the maxi-series decided to kill Supergirl off during the Crisis. According to Marv Wolfman, writer of Crisis on Infinite Earths: The idea of killing Supergirl was first conceived by DC's vice president/executive editor Dick Giordano, who lobbied for the death to DC's publishers.","According to Marv Wolfman, writer of Crisis on Infinite Earths: The idea of killing Supergirl was first conceived by DC's vice president/executive editor Dick Giordano, who lobbied for the death to DC's publishers. He later said he has never had any regrets about this, explaining, \"Supergirl was created initially to take advantage of the high Superman sales and not much thought was put into her creation. She was created essentially as a female Superman.","She was created essentially as a female Superman. She was created essentially as a female Superman. With time, writers and artists improved upon her execution, but she never did really add anything to the Superman mythos—at least not for me.\" The poor initial reception of the 1984 film Supergirl was also blamed by some sources.","The poor initial reception of the 1984 film Supergirl was also blamed by some sources. In 1989, in the tale \"Christmas with the Super-Heroes\" the soul of Kara appears to Boston \"Deadman\" Brand, cheers him up, and then disappears from continuity until 2001 (see below).","In 1989, in the tale \"Christmas with the Super-Heroes\" the soul of Kara appears to Boston \"Deadman\" Brand, cheers him up, and then disappears from continuity until 2001 (see below). Several characters unrelated to Superman soon took on the Supergirl persona, including the Matrix (a shapeshifting genetically engineered life-form that 'defaulted' as Supergirl), Linda Danvers (the result of Matrix merging with the dying Linda Danvers and becoming an Earth-bound angel of fire), and Cir-El (Superman's apparent daughter from a possible future).","Several characters unrelated to Superman soon took on the Supergirl persona, including the Matrix (a shapeshifting genetically engineered life-form that 'defaulted' as Supergirl), Linda Danvers (the result of Matrix merging with the dying Linda Danvers and becoming an Earth-bound angel of fire), and Cir-El (Superman's apparent daughter from a possible future). A heroine resembling the Pre-Crisis Kara would later appear in Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #5, along with an entire army of Legionnaires gathered from alternate worlds, times, and realities, to battle the Time Trapper.","A heroine resembling the Pre-Crisis Kara would later appear in Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #5, along with an entire army of Legionnaires gathered from alternate worlds, times, and realities, to battle the Time Trapper. Two Supergirls meet Prior to the post-Crisis introduction of Kara Zor-El into mainstream continuity, the pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El made an appearance in Peter David's Supergirl: Many Happy Returns.","Two Supergirls meet Prior to the post-Crisis introduction of Kara Zor-El into mainstream continuity, the pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El made an appearance in Peter David's Supergirl: Many Happy Returns. The then-current Supergirl series, at the time starring Linda Danvers, was in danger of cancellation and Peter David thought a story arc involving Kara Zor-El would be enough to revitalize the series.","The then-current Supergirl series, at the time starring Linda Danvers, was in danger of cancellation and Peter David thought a story arc involving Kara Zor-El would be enough to revitalize the series. In an interview with Cliff Biggers of Newsarama, David states: In the Linda Danvers' Supergirl series issues 49 and 50 (October and November 2000), the original dead Kara appears as Linda's \"guardian angel\".","In an interview with Cliff Biggers of Newsarama, David states: In the Linda Danvers' Supergirl series issues 49 and 50 (October and November 2000), the original dead Kara appears as Linda's \"guardian angel\". Then in issues 75 to 80, \"Many Happy Returns\", a young Kara appears from an earlier time long before the Crisis.","Then in issues 75 to 80, \"Many Happy Returns\", a young Kara appears from an earlier time long before the Crisis. The paradox becomes a moral crisis for Linda who tries to take her place as the Crisis sacrifice, living for years in a Silver Age universe where \"no one swears, the villains are always easy to defeat, and everything's very, very clean\", eventually marrying the Silver Age Superman and having a daughter with him, before she is forced to return to her universe by the Spectre when he reveals that her efforts to replace Kara as the sacrifice will not succeed.","The paradox becomes a moral crisis for Linda who tries to take her place as the Crisis sacrifice, living for years in a Silver Age universe where \"no one swears, the villains are always easy to defeat, and everything's very, very clean\", eventually marrying the Silver Age Superman and having a daughter with him, before she is forced to return to her universe by the Spectre when he reveals that her efforts to replace Kara as the sacrifice will not succeed. This run was illustrated by Ed Benes who had also illustrated Gail Simone's Birds of Prey which had a similar whimsical camaraderie between its female leads.","This run was illustrated by Ed Benes who had also illustrated Gail Simone's Birds of Prey which had a similar whimsical camaraderie between its female leads. Linda's inability to ultimately save Kara, coupled with the loss of her daughter, is so devastating that it ends her own career as Supergirl, Linda leaving a note for Superman where she explains that she feels that she has failed to live up to the standards of a true Supergirl and choosing to go somewhere she cannot be found.","Linda's inability to ultimately save Kara, coupled with the loss of her daughter, is so devastating that it ends her own career as Supergirl, Linda leaving a note for Superman where she explains that she feels that she has failed to live up to the standards of a true Supergirl and choosing to go somewhere she cannot be found. This story arc is usually cited as one of the best Supergirl stories ever written. The series ended with issue 80.","The series ended with issue 80. The series ended with issue 80. Revival After the launch of the Superman/Batman comic book series, executive editor Dan DiDio had been looking for a way to simplify the Supergirl character from her convoluted post-Crisis history; the simplest version, of course, was Superman's cousin. Jeph Loeb and editor Eddie Berganza found an opening to reintroduce the character following the conclusion of the first story arc of Superman/Batman.","Jeph Loeb and editor Eddie Berganza found an opening to reintroduce the character following the conclusion of the first story arc of Superman/Batman. Loeb states: The modern version of Kara Zor-El made her debut in Superman/Batman #8 (2004). Kara takes the mantle of Supergirl at the conclusion of the storyline. The Supergirl comic book series would later be relaunched, now starring Kara Zor-El as \"The Girl of Steel\". The first arc of the new series was written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by Ian Churchill.","The first arc of the new series was written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by Ian Churchill. Loeb would later describe the appeal of writing for Supergirl: As the character continued to be reinvented, steps towards regarding the iconic character were some of the most prominent changes. Artist Jamal Igle and editor Matt Idleson moved to transition the character away from red panties under her skirt to biker shorts, feeling such a change was a logical progression and \"more respectable.\"","Artist Jamal Igle and editor Matt Idleson moved to transition the character away from red panties under her skirt to biker shorts, feeling such a change was a logical progression and \"more respectable.\" The New 52 In September 2011, DC Comics began The New 52, in which it canceled all of its monthly superhero titles and relaunched 52 new ones, wiping out most of its past continuity in the process.","The New 52 In September 2011, DC Comics began The New 52, in which it canceled all of its monthly superhero titles and relaunched 52 new ones, wiping out most of its past continuity in the process. One of the new titles was a new Supergirl series (Volume 6) that featured a new origin for Kara and was published between 2011 and 2015.","One of the new titles was a new Supergirl series (Volume 6) that featured a new origin for Kara and was published between 2011 and 2015. Artist Mahmud Asrar designed a new costume for the character which strongly deviated from her classic, \"cheerleader\" suit, a change which generated criticism from some readers. DC Rebirth The 2016 DC Comics title relaunch Rebirth incorporates several elements (such as the costume, the name, the setting, and some characters) from the Supergirl television series.","DC Rebirth The 2016 DC Comics title relaunch Rebirth incorporates several elements (such as the costume, the name, the setting, and some characters) from the Supergirl television series. The DC Rebirth initiative undid the New 52's modern recreations, bringing DC's heroes back to their more classic iterations. Supergirl's new series (Volume 7) was titled Supergirl: Rebirth, written by Steven Orlando. The first arc was penciled by Brian Ching, who also redesigned Supergirl's costume in reference to a more classic look.","The first arc was penciled by Brian Ching, who also redesigned Supergirl's costume in reference to a more classic look. In April 2018, it was announced that the title would be canceled after issue #20, only to be revived in August that year under a new creative team, with new writer Marc Andreyko and artist Kevin Maguire. The series ended with its 42nd issue.","The series ended with its 42nd issue. The series ended with its 42nd issue. Future State: Kara Zor-El, Superwoman The Future State comics propose a possible future for Kara Zor-El, now an adult and having taken the alias of Superwoman. She leaves Earth to become a guardian of the Moon, which has become a refugee colony for aliens from the entire universe. The series was written by Marguerite Bennet and penciled by Marguerite Sauvage.","The series was written by Marguerite Bennet and penciled by Marguerite Sauvage. Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow Under the Infinite Frontier brand, Kara's next series Woman of Tomorrow debuted in June 2021, written by Tom King and penciled by Brazilian artists Bilquis Evely and Mat Lopes. The arc introduces Supergirl to new character grounds as she begins the story as a young woman, celebrating her 21st birthday and helping a young alien in her quest for revenge.","The arc introduces Supergirl to new character grounds as she begins the story as a young woman, celebrating her 21st birthday and helping a young alien in her quest for revenge. The \"mentor-mentee journey on revenge\" plot is, according to King, inspired by the original novel and both versions of True Grit. In this series, the creators paid homage to Linda Danvers, as Kara manifests flame wings and powers after taking a red kryptonite drug, in order to save her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon.","In this series, the creators paid homage to Linda Danvers, as Kara manifests flame wings and powers after taking a red kryptonite drug, in order to save her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon. Fictional character biography Silver Age In her debut story, Kara Zor-El is the last survivor of Argo City of the planet Krypton.","Fictional character biography Silver Age In her debut story, Kara Zor-El is the last survivor of Argo City of the planet Krypton. Although Argo, which had survived the explosion of the planet, drifted through space as a self-sustaining environment, the soil of the colony eventually turned into Kryptonite; and though Kara's father Zor-El placed lead sheeting above the ground to protect the citizens from radiation, meteorites pierced the sheeting, and the Kryptonians died of radiation poisoning instead of replacing the metal.","Although Argo, which had survived the explosion of the planet, drifted through space as a self-sustaining environment, the soil of the colony eventually turned into Kryptonite; and though Kara's father Zor-El placed lead sheeting above the ground to protect the citizens from radiation, meteorites pierced the sheeting, and the Kryptonians died of radiation poisoning instead of replacing the metal. In Supergirl's subsequent backup feature in Action Comics drawn by artist Jim Mooney for ten years until 1968, Supergirl adopts the identity of Linda Lee, an orphan at Midvale Orphanage presided over by headmistress Miss Hart.","In Supergirl's subsequent backup feature in Action Comics drawn by artist Jim Mooney for ten years until 1968, Supergirl adopts the identity of Linda Lee, an orphan at Midvale Orphanage presided over by headmistress Miss Hart. She disguises herself by hiding her blond hair beneath a brunette wig; Supergirl interacts with humans on a person-to-person basis performing good deeds and saving the world by helping one person at a time, and she also devises clever schemes as \"Superman's Secret Weapon,\" saving him many times and avoiding adoption before Superman can introduce her publicly.","She disguises herself by hiding her blond hair beneath a brunette wig; Supergirl interacts with humans on a person-to-person basis performing good deeds and saving the world by helping one person at a time, and she also devises clever schemes as \"Superman's Secret Weapon,\" saving him many times and avoiding adoption before Superman can introduce her publicly. While temporarily powerless due to the scheming of Kandorian scientist Lesla-Lar, who is out to supplant her on Earth, Linda allows herself to be adopted by engineer and rocket scientist Fred Danvers and his wife, Edna.","While temporarily powerless due to the scheming of Kandorian scientist Lesla-Lar, who is out to supplant her on Earth, Linda allows herself to be adopted by engineer and rocket scientist Fred Danvers and his wife, Edna. In time, she reveals her secret identity to her adoptive parents on the same day her cousin Superman finally introduces her to the world in the finale of then-DC's longest playing series ever (eight chapters) aptly called \"The World's Greatest Heroine\".","In time, she reveals her secret identity to her adoptive parents on the same day her cousin Superman finally introduces her to the world in the finale of then-DC's longest playing series ever (eight chapters) aptly called \"The World's Greatest Heroine\". When frequent dreams about her parents being alive turn out to be real, she builds a machine aided by her engineer father's talent, and brings them both back alive from the \"Survival Zone\" where they had both teleported during Argo City's final moments.","When frequent dreams about her parents being alive turn out to be real, she builds a machine aided by her engineer father's talent, and brings them both back alive from the \"Survival Zone\" where they had both teleported during Argo City's final moments. Zor-El and Allura eventually end up living in Kandor, and when the city in the bottle is enlarged, they both go on to live in Rokyn/New Krypton, where they have the sad duty of receiving her mortal remains after \"Crisis\" for burial.","Zor-El and Allura eventually end up living in Kandor, and when the city in the bottle is enlarged, they both go on to live in Rokyn/New Krypton, where they have the sad duty of receiving her mortal remains after \"Crisis\" for burial. Graduating from high school in 1965, Linda Lee goes to college on a scholarship and stays in Stanhope College until she graduates in 1971.","Graduating from high school in 1965, Linda Lee goes to college on a scholarship and stays in Stanhope College until she graduates in 1971. During this era, she is helped by her pet cat Streaky, her Super-Horse pet Comet, and befriends Lena Thorul, who had first appeared in the Lois Lane series. Kara is also a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, where she becomes close to Brainiac 5.","Kara is also a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, where she becomes close to Brainiac 5. In addition, Linda has boyfriends from the orphanage (Richard \"Dick\" Malverne) and from Atlantis (Jerro the merboy). In 1967, Supergirl meets Batgirl for the first time in World's Finest Comics. Developing a strong friendship, the two characters teamed up many times again, as in Superman Family #171, or Adventure #381.","Developing a strong friendship, the two characters teamed up many times again, as in Superman Family #171, or Adventure #381. In 1969, Supergirl left Action Comics and became a featured character in Adventure Comics beginning with issue #381 (June 1969). During the 1970s, Supergirl's costume changed frequently, as did her career in her civilian life.","During the 1970s, Supergirl's costume changed frequently, as did her career in her civilian life. In her secret identity as Linda Lee Danvers, Kara Zor-El took a variety of jobs including graduate student in acting, television camera operator, and student counselor, and finally became an actress on the TV soap Secret Hearts. Bronze Age After long-time Superman family editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971, the character underwent revitalization under editor Joe Orlando and artist Mike Sekowsky.","Bronze Age After long-time Superman family editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971, the character underwent revitalization under editor Joe Orlando and artist Mike Sekowsky. Wearing a series of new outfits, leaving her adopted foster home with the Danvers family, Linda goes on to San Francisco where she works for KSF-TV as a camera operator and develops a crush on her boss, Geoffrey Anderson. These stories introduced Supergirl's most memorable villain from this period: Lex Luthor's niece Nasthalthia, or Nasty.","These stories introduced Supergirl's most memorable villain from this period: Lex Luthor's niece Nasthalthia, or Nasty. Nasty had made two appearances towards the end of Linda's college years, then pursued her to KSF-TV, trying to secure proof of her dual identity.","Nasty had made two appearances towards the end of Linda's college years, then pursued her to KSF-TV, trying to secure proof of her dual identity. Supergirl starred in her first solo eponymous monthly series beginning in 1972 until October 1974, when her monthly title merged with Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane, and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen to produce a new title: then-highest DC selling series called The Superman Family, where she eventually became the steady lead story.","Supergirl starred in her first solo eponymous monthly series beginning in 1972 until October 1974, when her monthly title merged with Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane, and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen to produce a new title: then-highest DC selling series called The Superman Family, where she eventually became the steady lead story. Linda worked as a student advisor at New Athens Experimental School, before leaving for New York to follow a career in acting with daytime soap Secret Hearts.","Linda worked as a student advisor at New Athens Experimental School, before leaving for New York to follow a career in acting with daytime soap Secret Hearts. In 1982 Supergirl received a second monthly solo series titled The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl, relocating the character to Chicago as Linda became a mature student of Psychology. Industry legend, and former DC Publisher, Carmine Infantino provided the penciled art (Bob Oksner inked).","Industry legend, and former DC Publisher, Carmine Infantino provided the penciled art (Bob Oksner inked). With issue 13 the title was revamped, with a new costume design (sporting a red headband) and the title shortened to just Supergirl. The series ran until sudden cancellation in 1984, only two months before the character's debut in a big-budget Hollywood film starring Helen Slater.","The series ran until sudden cancellation in 1984, only two months before the character's debut in a big-budget Hollywood film starring Helen Slater. In the Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985), the greatest heroes from Earth-One, Earth-Two, Earth-Four, Earth-S, and Earth-X join forces in order to defeat the Anti-Monitor. When Superman comes face to face with the Anti-Monitor and is knocked unconscious, Supergirl rushes to save him before he is killed.","When Superman comes face to face with the Anti-Monitor and is knocked unconscious, Supergirl rushes to save him before he is killed. She is able to fight him off long enough for Dr. Light to carry her cousin to a safe distance, but is killed by the Anti-Monitor. A public memorial service for Supergirl takes place in Chicago, where Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) delivers the eulogy. In her remarks, she states \"Kara is a hero. She will not be forgotten.\"","She will not be forgotten.\" She will not be forgotten.\" Superman then gives his late cousin burial by taking her corpse to Rokyn/New Krypton to Zor-El and Allura. A Superman issue the next month reveals that Kara had experienced a premonition about her own passing. However, when the universe is rebooted, the timeline is altered. Kara Zor-El and all memory of her is erased from existence.","Kara Zor-El and all memory of her is erased from existence. Echoes After these events, the soul of Kara Zor-El made another appearance in continuity three years later in a story titled \"Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot\" in Christmas with the Super-Heroes #2 (1989). Within the story, Boston \"Deadman\" Brand tries to feel the warmth of Christmas by possessing revelers' bodies.","Within the story, Boston \"Deadman\" Brand tries to feel the warmth of Christmas by possessing revelers' bodies. Feeling guilty upon the realization that he has been stealing others' Christmases, he flies off feeling sorry for himself for being denied a reward after a year of helping people. A warmly dressed blonde woman approaches Brand, startling him.","A warmly dressed blonde woman approaches Brand, startling him. Somehow seeing the normally invisible Brand, she converses with him, reminding him, She reminds Brand that even though he is dead, he is still human, and he should rejoice because it means his spirit is still alive. As the woman leaves, Brand asks her who she is, to which she replies, \"My name is Kara. Though I doubt that will mean anything to you.\"","Though I doubt that will mean anything to you.\" The story, written by Alan Brennert and penciled by Dick Giordano, is dedicated to Otto Binder and Jim Mooney, adding: \"We still remember.\" Finally, the soul of Kara Zor-El appeared twice during Peter David's run, specifically in issues #48 and #49 when she appears before a defeated and imprisoned then-Supergirl, Linda Danvers from Earth, and comforts her.","Finally, the soul of Kara Zor-El appeared twice during Peter David's run, specifically in issues #48 and #49 when she appears before a defeated and imprisoned then-Supergirl, Linda Danvers from Earth, and comforts her. Linda acknowledges she has been helped three times by her phantom-friend, and when she asks her name she is told by the smiling figure: \"I have gone by many names, but the one I am most fond of is: Kara!\"","Linda acknowledges she has been helped three times by her phantom-friend, and when she asks her name she is told by the smiling figure: \"I have gone by many names, but the one I am most fond of is: Kara!\" Modern Age In 2004, Jeph Loeb reintroduced Kara Zor-El into post-Zero Hour (Birthright timeline) continuity during a storyline in the series Superman/Batman.","Modern Age In 2004, Jeph Loeb reintroduced Kara Zor-El into post-Zero Hour (Birthright timeline) continuity during a storyline in the series Superman/Batman. She is the biological cousin of Superman, and although chronologically older than him, the ship in which she traveled to Earth was caught in a large green Kryptonite meteorite which held her in a state of suspended animation for much of the journey, making her have the appearance of a 16-year-old girl.","She is the biological cousin of Superman, and although chronologically older than him, the ship in which she traveled to Earth was caught in a large green Kryptonite meteorite which held her in a state of suspended animation for much of the journey, making her have the appearance of a 16-year-old girl. Still, Supergirl sometimes saw Superman as a child, due to last carrying him as a baby. DC Comics relaunched the Supergirl, the first story arc of which was written by Loeb. showcases Supergirl on a journey of self-discovery.","showcases Supergirl on a journey of self-discovery. showcases Supergirl on a journey of self-discovery. Along her journey, she encounters Power Girl (Kara Zor-El's counterpart from another universe), the Teen Titans, the Outsiders, the Justice League of America, and arch-villain Lex Luthor. During the company-wide crossover series Infinite Crisis (2005), a sequel to Crisis on Infinite Earths, Supergirl is transported to the 31st century, where she is revered as a member of the Superman family and joins the Legion of Super-Heroes.","During the company-wide crossover series Infinite Crisis (2005), a sequel to Crisis on Infinite Earths, Supergirl is transported to the 31st century, where she is revered as a member of the Superman family and joins the Legion of Super-Heroes. DC Comics renamed the monthly series Legion of Super-Heroes to Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes. Beginning with issue #16.","Beginning with issue #16. Beginning with issue #16. In the limited series 52, which chronicles the events that took place during the missing year after the end of Infinite Crisis, Donna Troy recalls the original Kara Zor-El and her sacrifice to save the universe. Supergirl returns to the 21st century during the course of 52.","Supergirl returns to the 21st century during the course of 52. After briefly filling in for a temporarily depowered Superman as guardian of Metropolis, she assumes the identity of Flamebird to fight crime in the bottle city of Kandor with Power Girl as Nightwing in Greg Rucka's arc Supergirl: Kandor. In 2007, Supergirl appeared in the miniseries Amazons Attack! That same year, she joined the Teen Titans for five issues.","That same year, she joined the Teen Titans for five issues. Conversations with other heroes who maintain secret identities lead Kara to the conclusion that she needs to make a deeper connection with human beings. She accepts Lana Lang's proposal to present her to the Daily Planet staff as \"Linda Lang\", Lana's teenaged niece.","She accepts Lana Lang's proposal to present her to the Daily Planet staff as \"Linda Lang\", Lana's teenaged niece. In the 2008–2009 \"New Krypton\" story arc, in which Superman discovers and frees the real Kandor and a large number of its citizens, Supergirl is reunited with her father, Zor-El and mother, Alura, though Zor-El is killed by the villain Reactron.","In the 2008–2009 \"New Krypton\" story arc, in which Superman discovers and frees the real Kandor and a large number of its citizens, Supergirl is reunited with her father, Zor-El and mother, Alura, though Zor-El is killed by the villain Reactron. When a planet is formed that the Kryptonians call New Krypton, Kara is torn between her life on Earth, and her obligation to her mother, eventually joining the New Krypton Science Guild.","When a planet is formed that the Kryptonians call New Krypton, Kara is torn between her life on Earth, and her obligation to her mother, eventually joining the New Krypton Science Guild. Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2009 miniseries Justice League: Cry for Justice, and the 2009–2010 storyline \"Blackest Night\".","Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2009 miniseries Justice League: Cry for Justice, and the 2009–2010 storyline \"Blackest Night\". The New Krypton storyline would later be resolved in the \"World of New Krypton\", \"Superman: Last Stand of New Krypton\", \"War of the Supermen\" storylines, resulting in the destruction of New Krypton and seeing Supergirl mourn her people.","The New Krypton storyline would later be resolved in the \"World of New Krypton\", \"Superman: Last Stand of New Krypton\", \"War of the Supermen\" storylines, resulting in the destruction of New Krypton and seeing Supergirl mourn her people. Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2010 \"Brightest Day\" storyline, the follow up to \"Blackest Night\"., where she joins the Justice League along with Jesse Quick & Jade.","Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2010 \"Brightest Day\" storyline, the follow up to \"Blackest Night\"., where she joins the Justice League along with Jesse Quick & Jade. The New 52 In this continuity, Kara's ship lands in Smallville, Kansas but hurtles through the Earth and emerges in Siberia. Kara has no memory of the destruction of Krypton, and believes it is only three days since her spacecraft was launched.","Kara has no memory of the destruction of Krypton, and believes it is only three days since her spacecraft was launched. She learns the truth about Krypton's destruction from Superman, and later journeys through a wormhole to Argo City, which she finds in orbit around a blue sun. She finds the city in ruins, with no explanation of how it met that fate, and is attacked by a female Worldkiller named Reign before the city plummets into the sun.","She finds the city in ruins, with no explanation of how it met that fate, and is attacked by a female Worldkiller named Reign before the city plummets into the sun. When Reign and her fellow Worldkiller plan to enslave the Earth, Supergirl returns there to defeat them, and thus adopts Earth as her new home. After several battles with supervillains, including the Worldkillers, superweapons of Kryptonian design, she accepts Krypton's destruction, but continues to grapple with her grief.","After several battles with supervillains, including the Worldkillers, superweapons of Kryptonian design, she accepts Krypton's destruction, but continues to grapple with her grief. Her desire to restore Krypton results in her being manipulated into nearly destroying the Earth by another Kryptonian whom she falls in love with. Upon realizing his manipulation, she kills him by driving Kryptonite through his heart, and succumbs to Kryptonite poisoning. Following her poisoning, Supergirl departs the Earth to die alone.","Following her poisoning, Supergirl departs the Earth to die alone. While adrift in interstellar space, she encounters a planet under attack by monsters, and quickly intervenes to save them, unaware that the entire planet is a trap by Brainiac. She is captured and restrained by Cyborg Superman, but after a struggle, manages to escape both Brainiac and Cyborg Superman.","She is captured and restrained by Cyborg Superman, but after a struggle, manages to escape both Brainiac and Cyborg Superman. Returning to Earth, she is sent into the past by the Oracle alongside Superman and Superboy, where she ensures that a resurrected H'el cannot save Krypton, and sacrifices the planet and her family in order to save the universe. Back on Earth, she encounters the assassin Lobo.","Back on Earth, she encounters the assassin Lobo. Back on Earth, she encounters the assassin Lobo. Initially eager for a peaceful resolution, seeing a kind of kinship with him in their both being lone survivors of their respective worlds (although not truly aware of Lobo's circumstances), Kara's encounter with the Czarnian would reveal deep mental wounds, resulting in the unleashing of her rage and transformation into a Red Lantern.","Initially eager for a peaceful resolution, seeing a kind of kinship with him in their both being lone survivors of their respective worlds (although not truly aware of Lobo's circumstances), Kara's encounter with the Czarnian would reveal deep mental wounds, resulting in the unleashing of her rage and transformation into a Red Lantern. Driven insane by rage, Kara wanders space, attacking everyone in her way, until captured by several Green Lanterns and brought to Hal Jordan.","Driven insane by rage, Kara wanders space, attacking everyone in her way, until captured by several Green Lanterns and brought to Hal Jordan. Immediately recognizing a Kryptonian and unable to remove the power ring without killing her, he brings her to Guy Gardner, the leader of one of the two Red Lantern factions, who manages to restore her sanity.","Immediately recognizing a Kryptonian and unable to remove the power ring without killing her, he brings her to Guy Gardner, the leader of one of the two Red Lantern factions, who manages to restore her sanity. After some time under Guy Gardner's tutelage and protecting the galaxy as a Red Lantern, after being discharged from the Red Lantern Corps (because Guy did not want for her to die needlessly against Atrocitus' splinter group), on her way back to Earth, Kara encounters the leader of the Worldkillers, who are revealed to be parasitic suits of armor.","After some time under Guy Gardner's tutelage and protecting the galaxy as a Red Lantern, after being discharged from the Red Lantern Corps (because Guy did not want for her to die needlessly against Atrocitus' splinter group), on her way back to Earth, Kara encounters the leader of the Worldkillers, who are revealed to be parasitic suits of armor. He attempts to assimilate Kara as his host, but she voluntarily subjects herself to Kryptonite poisoning in order to stop him, and eventually flies into the Sun and removes her power ring, killing her and removing him from her body.","He attempts to assimilate Kara as his host, but she voluntarily subjects herself to Kryptonite poisoning in order to stop him, and eventually flies into the Sun and removes her power ring, killing her and removing him from her body. However, Kara is revealed to be immortal while in the Sun's core, and is restored to life without the power ring or any Kryptonite poisoning, immediately destroying the Worldkiller. She later helps Guy against Atrocitus and his Red Lantern splinter group.","She later helps Guy against Atrocitus and his Red Lantern splinter group. Convergence and return of the Pre-Crisis version During the Convergence story arc, the original Kara Zor-El who had sacrificed her life during Crisis on Infinite Earths makes an appearance on the amalgamated planet of Telos.","Convergence and return of the Pre-Crisis version During the Convergence story arc, the original Kara Zor-El who had sacrificed her life during Crisis on Infinite Earths makes an appearance on the amalgamated planet of Telos. At the end of the saga she volunteers herself to once again fight the Anti-Monitor but this time, with the help of her timeline's Barry Allen, the Pre-Flashpoint Superman (in tow with his pregnant wife, Lois Lane), and a repentant Parallax (Zero Hour Hal Jordan), vows to defeat him for the sake of the multiverse's continued existence.","At the end of the saga she volunteers herself to once again fight the Anti-Monitor but this time, with the help of her timeline's Barry Allen, the Pre-Flashpoint Superman (in tow with his pregnant wife, Lois Lane), and a repentant Parallax (Zero Hour Hal Jordan), vows to defeat him for the sake of the multiverse's continued existence. Without it being seen, those left on Telos discover the group was successful and all previous timelines (with the mysterious exception of the pre-Flashpoint/pre-New 52 DC universe) from DC history had been re-established, though the fate of the original Kara Zor-El and her fellows went unmentioned.","Without it being seen, those left on Telos discover the group was successful and all previous timelines (with the mysterious exception of the pre-Flashpoint/pre-New 52 DC universe) from DC history had been re-established, though the fate of the original Kara Zor-El and her fellows went unmentioned. A few more details of the battle against the Anti-Monitor are later revealed during the New 52 comic mini-series (leading into DC's Rebirth event).","A few more details of the battle against the Anti-Monitor are later revealed during the New 52 comic mini-series (leading into DC's Rebirth event). After the defeat of Anti-Monitor, Pre-New 52 Clark and Lois decide to start life anew in the closest universe they can find (mysteriously yet unable to see their old universe even though the rest of the multiverse had been restored) while Pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El, along with her contemporary Barry Allen and Zero Hour Parallax/Hal Jordan, decide to find their place in the universe and go off to do so.","After the defeat of Anti-Monitor, Pre-New 52 Clark and Lois decide to start life anew in the closest universe they can find (mysteriously yet unable to see their old universe even though the rest of the multiverse had been restored) while Pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El, along with her contemporary Barry Allen and Zero Hour Parallax/Hal Jordan, decide to find their place in the universe and go off to do so. Her fate as of that story arc is yet to be revealed.","Her fate as of that story arc is yet to be revealed. DC Rebirth After the events that led to the death of the New 52 version of Superman, 16-year-old Kara lives in National City with her adoptive parents, D.E.O. agents Jeremiah and Eliza Danvers, where she attends high school and works with the agency as led by Cameron Chase. As part of her civilian identity, Kara receives special glasses that darken her blond hair when posing as Kara Danvers.","As part of her civilian identity, Kara receives special glasses that darken her blond hair when posing as Kara Danvers. Kara also goes on an internship at Cat Grant's CATCO alongside Ben Rubel, whom she befriends. In her opening arc \"The Reign of the Cyborg Supermen\", Kara discovers that the cyborg Zor-El, whom she had battled in her New 52 title, is still active and has rebuilt other Kryptonians (her mother Alura included), planning to take over Earth.","In her opening arc \"The Reign of the Cyborg Supermen\", Kara discovers that the cyborg Zor-El, whom she had battled in her New 52 title, is still active and has rebuilt other Kryptonians (her mother Alura included), planning to take over Earth. Supergirl defeats them but vows to help her father regardless of his actions. After National City discovers Supergirl has kept Zor-El's \"living\" status a secret, they become untrustful of her.","After National City discovers Supergirl has kept Zor-El's \"living\" status a secret, they become untrustful of her. Director Bones takes advantage of the heroine's impopularity and, after taking control of the D.E.O., sends villains in an attempt to bring Kara down. She defeats all of them and regains trust from National City with Ben's help.","She defeats all of them and regains trust from National City with Ben's help. The Supergirl Who Laughs Kara is later infected by The Batman Who Laughs toxin, causing her to turn evil and joining other infected as part of Laughs Secret Six before later being cured. She is fired from CatCo by Cat Grant and starts working at S.T.A.R. Labs. Woman of Tomorrow Journeying throughout the universe with Krypto, Kara celebrates her 21st birthday alone on a distant planet.","Woman of Tomorrow Journeying throughout the universe with Krypto, Kara celebrates her 21st birthday alone on a distant planet. Drunk in a bar, she is approached by a little girl named Ruthye and is asked to kill Krem (her father's murderer) in vengeance. Supergirl refuses but, when she is about to leave the planet, Krem attacks and severely wounds both her and Krypto, fleeing in Kara's ship.","Supergirl refuses but, when she is about to leave the planet, Krem attacks and severely wounds both her and Krypto, fleeing in Kara's ship. Kara begins her journey alongside Ruthye and, powerless, saves her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon by taking a red kryptonite drug which causes her to manifest flame wings. Powers and abilities Like all Kryptonians under a yellow sun, the current version of Kara Zor-El possesses virtually unlimited strength, stamina, and durability.","Powers and abilities Like all Kryptonians under a yellow sun, the current version of Kara Zor-El possesses virtually unlimited strength, stamina, and durability. She is able to fly and with super speed that she can also use on foot, similar to Superman and The Flash. Also like Superman, Supergirl possesses super senses, super-breath, and freeze breathe, as well as multiple forms of supervision (including X-Ray, Infrared, Telescopic, and Microscopic).","Also like Superman, Supergirl possesses super senses, super-breath, and freeze breathe, as well as multiple forms of supervision (including X-Ray, Infrared, Telescopic, and Microscopic). Kara also has a bio-electric aura that enhances her near invulnerability and also protects her skin and her costume from dirt and tear; as such, Kara is perpetually clean. The Sun also provides Kara with a longer lifespan than that of a human being, to the point that she is effectively a biological immortal.","The Sun also provides Kara with a longer lifespan than that of a human being, to the point that she is effectively a biological immortal. Kara doesn't require food, water, or sleep to survive. She is also immune to most diseases, mental and physical, and would require a very strong strain to have a chance at affecting her. In the rare instances that Kara is harmed by someone matching her strength or by the use of one of her weaknesses, she can heal almost instantaneously.","In the rare instances that Kara is harmed by someone matching her strength or by the use of one of her weaknesses, she can heal almost instantaneously. Her power surpasses most other beings, though she can be overpowered by those who rival her strength such as Black Adam, Darkseid, Despero, Doomsday, Bizarro, Wonder Woman, and Superman. In reality, Kara is actually older than her cousin, Clark, and spent time on Krypton before its destruction.","In reality, Kara is actually older than her cousin, Clark, and spent time on Krypton before its destruction. As such (unlike Superman), she possesses memories of Kryptonian culture as well as her cousin's parents. Continued exposure to a yellow Sun will slowly increase abilities. Many characters in the DC Universe have noted that Supergirl appears, at times, to be even more powerful than Superman himself.","Many characters in the DC Universe have noted that Supergirl appears, at times, to be even more powerful than Superman himself. In answer to this, Superman states that this is because he has spent his entire life subconsciously suppressing his full powers in order to avoid hurting others, having been absorbing solar radiation since his infancy. Kara, not having such practice or experience, simply uses the full magnitude of her powers.","Kara, not having such practice or experience, simply uses the full magnitude of her powers. Abilities Unlike her cousin, Kara was taught to fight in Krypton as part of her tests, and at the Crucible Academy, being adept at various Kryptonian fighting styles like Klurkor and Torquasm Rao. Supergirl also learned the art of Bagua under I-Ching's instructions. She practiced how to manipulate her Chi or Qi in order to gain better control of her powers due to them becoming overwhelmed after her conflict with the Fatal Five.","She practiced how to manipulate her Chi or Qi in order to gain better control of her powers due to them becoming overwhelmed after her conflict with the Fatal Five. Superman recommended guardianship with I-Ching to Supergirl first. In addition to training in Krypton, Kara was trained by Batman in advanced martial arts and trained with the Amazons in Themyscira in unarmed and armed combat, Amazonas martial arts, fencing, Shield handling, and other Amazon weapons. She trained with Wonder Woman and Artemis extensively.","She trained with Wonder Woman and Artemis extensively. She trained with Wonder Woman and Artemis extensively. Other versions There are numerous alternate versions of Supergirl. The most notable is Power Girl (real name Kara Zor-L, also known as Karen Starr) who first appeared in All Star Comics #58 (January/February 1976). Power Girl is the Earth-Two counterpart of Supergirl and the first cousin of Kal-L, Superman of the pre-Crisis Earth-Two. The infant Power Girl's parents enabled her to escape the destruction of Krypton.","The infant Power Girl's parents enabled her to escape the destruction of Krypton. Although she left the planet at the same time that Superman did, her ship took much longer to reach Earth-Two. She has superhuman strength and the ability to fly and is the first chairwoman of the Justice Society of America. She sports a bob of blond hair; wears a distinctive white, red, and blue costume; and has an aggressive fighting style.","She sports a bob of blond hair; wears a distinctive white, red, and blue costume; and has an aggressive fighting style. Throughout her early appearances in All Star Comics, she is often at odds with Wildcat because his penchant for talking to her as if she were an ordinary human female rather than a superpowered Kryptonian annoys her. She also fought alongside the Sovereign Seven team, replacing Rampart after his death though that series is not considered to be part of canon in the DC universe.","She also fought alongside the Sovereign Seven team, replacing Rampart after his death though that series is not considered to be part of canon in the DC universe. The 1985 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths eliminated Earth-Two, causing her origin to change; she became the granddaughter of the Atlantean sorcerer Arion. However, story events culminating in the 2005–2006 Infinite Crisis limited series restored her status as a refugee from the Krypton of the destroyed pre-Crisis Earth-Two universe.","However, story events culminating in the 2005–2006 Infinite Crisis limited series restored her status as a refugee from the Krypton of the destroyed pre-Crisis Earth-Two universe. Like the original Kara's Streaky, Power Girl has a cat, featured in a story by Amanda Conner in Wonder Woman #600. Reception This version of Supergirl is ranked as the 153rd-greatest comic book character of all time by Wizard magazine.","Reception This version of Supergirl is ranked as the 153rd-greatest comic book character of all time by Wizard magazine. IGN also ranked this version of Supergirl as the 94th-greatest comic book superhero, stating \"for a character born of the Silver Age that saw everything from a Super Baby to a Super Monkey, Kara Zor-El grew into something much more than simply another marketing ploy to slap an 'S' on.\"","IGN also ranked this version of Supergirl as the 94th-greatest comic book superhero, stating \"for a character born of the Silver Age that saw everything from a Super Baby to a Super Monkey, Kara Zor-El grew into something much more than simply another marketing ploy to slap an 'S' on.\" In 2013 IGN ranked Supergirl as the 17th-greatest DC comic superhero, stating \"she was an early example of a female sidekick developing a large fanbase in her own right\", and \"Supergirl has been one of DC's most powerful heroes, and a standard to hold other female heroes against.\"","In 2013 IGN ranked Supergirl as the 17th-greatest DC comic superhero, stating \"she was an early example of a female sidekick developing a large fanbase in her own right\", and \"Supergirl has been one of DC's most powerful heroes, and a standard to hold other female heroes against.\" Appearances Pre-Crisis 1959 to 1969: Action Comics #252 to #376. 1969 to 1972: Adventure Comics #381 to #424. 1972 to 1974: Supergirl #1 to #10.","1972 to 1974: Supergirl #1 to #10. 1974 to 1982: Her comic merges with Jimmy Olsen's and Lois Lane's to become Superman Family #164 to #222. 1982 to 1984: The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl #1 to #13, Supergirl (vol. 2) #14 to #23. 2015: Convergence Kara Zor-El appeared in over 750 stories published by DC from 1959 to 1985.","2015: Convergence Kara Zor-El appeared in over 750 stories published by DC from 1959 to 1985. Post-Crisis 2004 to 2005: Superman/Batman #8 to #13 and #19 2005 to 2011: Supergirl (vol. 5) #0 to #67 2006 to 2008: Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes (Legion of Super-Heroes vol. 5) #16 to #37 2007: Action Comics #850 2008: Final Crisis 2011 to 2015: New 52: Supergirl (vol.","5) #16 to #37 2007: Action Comics #850 2008: Final Crisis 2011 to 2015: New 52: Supergirl (vol. 6) #1 to #40 2016 to current: Rebirth: Supergirl (vol. 7) #1 to current Kara Zor-El also appears as a supporting character in several issues of other DC Comics, including Superman, Action Comics, Teen Titans, Amazons Attack, World War III, and Wonder Girl.","7) #1 to current Kara Zor-El also appears as a supporting character in several issues of other DC Comics, including Superman, Action Comics, Teen Titans, Amazons Attack, World War III, and Wonder Girl. She has also appeared in many issues of Superman, Action Comics, and Superman New Krypton starting with the World Without Superman event in 2009, and continuing with the World Against Superman event going into 2010. Collected editions Listed in chronological order.","Collected editions Listed in chronological order. Collected editions Listed in chronological order. All ages titles are not in continuity with the original or modern Kara. In other media Television Live-action Smallville Prior to the seventh season (2007–2008) of the WB/CW show Smallville where she is introduced into the cast and is portrayed by Laura Vandervoort, a woman claiming to be Kara (portrayed by Adrianne Palicki) is briefly introduced in the season 3 finale.","In other media Television Live-action Smallville Prior to the seventh season (2007–2008) of the WB/CW show Smallville where she is introduced into the cast and is portrayed by Laura Vandervoort, a woman claiming to be Kara (portrayed by Adrianne Palicki) is briefly introduced in the season 3 finale. It is later revealed her real name is Lindsey Harrison, and had been given false memories and powers by the artificial intelligence of Clark Kent's (Tom Welling) father Jor-El as part of a series of tests.","It is later revealed her real name is Lindsey Harrison, and had been given false memories and powers by the artificial intelligence of Clark Kent's (Tom Welling) father Jor-El as part of a series of tests. Vandervoort portrays the real Kara, Clark's cousin whose spaceship had been trapped in stasis until the events of the season 6 finale. Much of season 7 is concerned with Kara's attempts to adjust to life on Earth, especially after learning of Krypton's destruction.","Much of season 7 is concerned with Kara's attempts to adjust to life on Earth, especially after learning of Krypton's destruction. Her storyline sees her simultaneously become the object of Lex Luthor's (Michael Rosenbaum) obsessions and Jimmy Olsen's (Aaron Ashmore) affections, suffer a bout of amnesia, discover her father's (Christopher Heyerdahl) sinister motives and become a target of evil android Brainiac (James Marsters). The season finale sees Kara become trapped in the Phantom Zone.","The season finale sees Kara become trapped in the Phantom Zone. Starting with season 8, Vandervoort ceases to feature as a series regular, but reprises the role three more times. In her first guest appearance, \"Bloodline,\" Kara is freed from the Phantom Zone and later departs Clark's hometown of Smallville to search for Kandor, her birthplace, as it is rumored to have survived their home planet's destruction.","In her first guest appearance, \"Bloodline,\" Kara is freed from the Phantom Zone and later departs Clark's hometown of Smallville to search for Kandor, her birthplace, as it is rumored to have survived their home planet's destruction. She appears again in the season 10 episode \"Supergirl\", in which she formally adopts her superhero moniker. Her off-screen adventures are alluded to thereafter.","Her off-screen adventures are alluded to thereafter. Her off-screen adventures are alluded to thereafter. Vandervoort makes a final appearance in the show's penultimate episode, \"Prophecy\", in which she helps Green Arrow (Justin Hartley) locate the \"Bow of Orion\" to use against Darkseid. She is then called to the Fortress of Solitude, where she learns from Jor-El that her job on Earth is done. Using a Legion of Super-Heroes flight ring, she travels to the future to seek her own destiny.","Using a Legion of Super-Heroes flight ring, she travels to the future to seek her own destiny. The Season Eleven comic book continuation of the show later depicts Kara's continued story in the 31st century, subsequent return to the present and joining the Justice League. Arrowverse In September 2014, a 22-episode television series centered around Supergirl was in development at Warner Bros. Television, set to premiere on CBS with a January 2015 air date. Melissa Benoist was cast as the titular character.","Melissa Benoist was cast as the titular character. Melissa Benoist was cast as the titular character. In May 2016, the series moved to The CW and was later integrated into the Arrowverse, a shared universe consisting of shows including Arrow, The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow. In the series, Kara Zor-El was sent to Earth to protect her cousin Kal-El, following her homeworld Krypton's destruction. However, she is knocked into the Phantom Zone, where she is stranded for 24 years.","However, she is knocked into the Phantom Zone, where she is stranded for 24 years. She eventually crash lands on Earth and is found by her already grown-up cousin Kal, now known to the world as the iconic superhero \"Superman\". Superman brings Kara into the custody of Jeremiah Danvers, director of the Department of Extranormal Operations (D.E.O. ), and his daughter Alex. Growing up, Kara struggles to maintain her Kryptonian abilities as well as balancing her relationship with her adoptive sister.","Growing up, Kara struggles to maintain her Kryptonian abilities as well as balancing her relationship with her adoptive sister. Eventually, the two bond when Kara's powers are exposed. However, Jeremiah decides it's best to isolate her abilities. As an adult, Kara is forced to use her powers again when her sister's plane almost crashes. She is later dubbed \"Supergirl\" by the media and dons a costume like her cousin.","She is later dubbed \"Supergirl\" by the media and dons a costume like her cousin. Kara decides to use her abilities to fight alien invaders such as Kara's aunt Astra and her husband Non, Mon-El's rogue parents, the Worldkiller Reign, anti-alien activist Ben Lockwood, and later the shadowy organization Leviathan, with the help of her sister Alex, now an agent of the D.E.O., her best friend and tech-expert Winn Schott, last of the Green Martians J'onn J'onzz / Martian Manhunter, and Kal's best friend Jimmy Olsen.","Kara decides to use her abilities to fight alien invaders such as Kara's aunt Astra and her husband Non, Mon-El's rogue parents, the Worldkiller Reign, anti-alien activist Ben Lockwood, and later the shadowy organization Leviathan, with the help of her sister Alex, now an agent of the D.E.O., her best friend and tech-expert Winn Schott, last of the Green Martians J'onn J'onzz / Martian Manhunter, and Kal's best friend Jimmy Olsen. She is later joined by Lex Luthor's sister Lena, Prince of Daxam Mon-El, former Legion of Superheroes member Querl \"Brainy\" Dox / Brainiac 5, Nia Nal / Dreamer, James' younger sister Kelly, and reporter Willam Dey face against these rival forces.","She is later joined by Lex Luthor's sister Lena, Prince of Daxam Mon-El, former Legion of Superheroes member Querl \"Brainy\" Dox / Brainiac 5, Nia Nal / Dreamer, James' younger sister Kelly, and reporter Willam Dey face against these rival forces. After joining the Arrowverse, which contain annual crossover, Kara assists Barry Allen, Oliver Queen and the Legends of Tomorrow against threats on their designated earth \"Earth-1\" while Kara’s is designated as \"Earth-38.","After joining the Arrowverse, which contain annual crossover, Kara assists Barry Allen, Oliver Queen and the Legends of Tomorrow against threats on their designated earth \"Earth-1\" while Kara’s is designated as \"Earth-38. Later, Kara is selected by The Monitor as the Paragon of Hope to participate in the coming crisis and fight against the Anti-Monitor, whose goal is to destroy the multiverse. After doing so, the Paragons are sent to the Vanishing Point where Oliver, now a Spectre, helps them escape.","After doing so, the Paragons are sent to the Vanishing Point where Oliver, now a Spectre, helps them escape. The Paragons appear at the dawn of time in the anti-matter universe where they have their final confrontation with the Anti-Monitor. Eventually, Oliver sacrifices himself to kill the Anti-Monitor, and as a result, a new multiverse is born with Earth-38 and Earth-1 merged into \"Earth-Prime\". Following the crisis, Kara is forced to deal the after-effects of Crisis which include working with Lex, now owning the D.E.O.","Following the crisis, Kara is forced to deal the after-effects of Crisis which include working with Lex, now owning the D.E.O. while Leviathan continue their covert operations under Gamemnae. The sixth season sees Kara and her allies expose Lex's crimes, but are then forced to deal with Nyxlygsptlnz, a fifth-dimensional imp who tricked the heroes into releasing her from the Phantom Zone.","The sixth season sees Kara and her allies expose Lex's crimes, but are then forced to deal with Nyxlygsptlnz, a fifth-dimensional imp who tricked the heroes into releasing her from the Phantom Zone. Eventually Nyxlygsptlnz joins forces with Lex Luthor and the two kill William, but Kara's assembled allies are able to defeat the two, culminating in Lex and Nyxlygsptlnz being trapped in the Phantom Zone when one of their own plans backfires.","Eventually Nyxlygsptlnz joins forces with Lex Luthor and the two kill William, but Kara's assembled allies are able to defeat the two, culminating in Lex and Nyxlygsptlnz being trapped in the Phantom Zone when one of their own plans backfires. The series concludes with Kara revealing her dual identity so that she can live a full life as one person. Animation DC Nation Shorts Supergirl appears with Batgirl and Wonder Girl in Super Best Friends Forever, voiced by Nicole Sullivan.","Animation DC Nation Shorts Supergirl appears with Batgirl and Wonder Girl in Super Best Friends Forever, voiced by Nicole Sullivan. DC Super Hero Girls Supergirl appears as a central protagonist in the web series DC Super Hero Girls voiced by Anais Fairweather, and is a student at Super Hero High, is very kind and caring and extremely powerful but she's also very clumsy. She also appears as a central protagonist in the 2019 TV series, with Nicole Sullivan reprising her role from the Super Best Friends Forever shorts.","She also appears as a central protagonist in the 2019 TV series, with Nicole Sullivan reprising her role from the Super Best Friends Forever shorts. In this version, she is also a rebel and is known as the \"cool kid\" in school. She may be tough but she can easily express her emotions and is very open-minded as well. She can be a cool friend and a helpful one, but she can also be jealous sometimes and she dislikes her cousin's prominence.","She can be a cool friend and a helpful one, but she can also be jealous sometimes and she dislikes her cousin's prominence. Justice League Action Supergirl appears in Justice League Action, voiced by Joanne Spracklen. She has the appearance of a wide-eyed human teenager with blonde hair and wears her traditional costume except that it has thigh-high boots and a pleated skirt. As a person, she is youthful, responsible, and shows much affection for her cousin Superman.","As a person, she is youthful, responsible, and shows much affection for her cousin Superman. In \"Party Animal\", she appears as a cameo at this Christmas party with the Justice League. In \"Keeping up with the Kryptonians\", Supergirl becomes a star of the popular reality show \"That's So Kara\", and Superman a Kasnian who rules from one place to another on Earth, all being a reality caused by Mister Mxyzptlk.","In \"Keeping up with the Kryptonians\", Supergirl becomes a star of the popular reality show \"That's So Kara\", and Superman a Kasnian who rules from one place to another on Earth, all being a reality caused by Mister Mxyzptlk. In \"Unleashed\", Supergirl accompanies Justice League in stopping Red Lantern Corps, unaware that it was a distraction made by Dex-Starr to invade Earth, until it was ultimately resolved by Krypto, Streaky, and Plastic Man.","In \"Unleashed\", Supergirl accompanies Justice League in stopping Red Lantern Corps, unaware that it was a distraction made by Dex-Starr to invade Earth, until it was ultimately resolved by Krypto, Streaky, and Plastic Man. In a short \"The Goddess Must Be Crazy\", Supergirl trains with Wonder Woman in Paradise Island, until she is possessed by Felix Faust, to destroy the island. Film Superman film series A live action depiction of Supergirl first appears in the eponymous 1984 film starring Helen Slater as Supergirl.","Film Superman film series A live action depiction of Supergirl first appears in the eponymous 1984 film starring Helen Slater as Supergirl. The film is a spin-off from the Superman film series starring Christopher Reeve, to which it is connected by Marc McClure's character of Jimmy Olsen. DC Extended Universe Kara Zor-El / Linda Danvers / Supergirl exists within the DC Extended Universe, as she was referenced in Man of Steel when Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman discovers an empty pod within the Kryptonian scout spaceship.","DC Extended Universe Kara Zor-El / Linda Danvers / Supergirl exists within the DC Extended Universe, as she was referenced in Man of Steel when Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman discovers an empty pod within the Kryptonian scout spaceship. Though Zack Snyder confirmed in August 2018 that even though the character does exist, that pod was not intended for her. In August 2018, a film centered around the character was announced to be in development, with Oren Uziel hired as screenwriter for the project.","In August 2018, a film centered around the character was announced to be in development, with Oren Uziel hired as screenwriter for the project. The studio intends to hire a female director, with Reed Morano—who has expressed interest in the project—being its top choice. Filming was expected to start production in early 2020. Sasha Calle will play Supergirl for the DC Extended Universe in The Flash.","Sasha Calle will play Supergirl for the DC Extended Universe in The Flash. Animation Summer Glau voices the post-Crisis version of Kara Zor-El in Superman/Batman: Apocalypse, which is based on the Superman/Batman storyline \"The Supergirl from Krypton\". Despite this, it was confirmed by director Lauren Montgomery that Supergirl's name was removed from the title due to the much slower sales of the previous Wonder Woman animated movie, and the character was not permitted to appear on the cover in her trademark outfit.","Despite this, it was confirmed by director Lauren Montgomery that Supergirl's name was removed from the title due to the much slower sales of the previous Wonder Woman animated movie, and the character was not permitted to appear on the cover in her trademark outfit. Molly Quinn voices Supergirl in Superman: Unbound. Supergirl appears in Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League: Cosmic Clash, voiced by Jessica DiCicco. Video games Supergirl appears in DC Universe Online, voiced by Adriene Mishler.","Video games Supergirl appears in DC Universe Online, voiced by Adriene Mishler. In the villain campaign, the players help Doctor Psycho capture Supergirl using Kryptonite. In the hero campaign, the players fight Doctor Psycho to save Supergirl. Under the thrall of Brainiac, she must be defeated in the Fortress of Solitude: Power Core raid. Supergirl is unlockable in Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes, voiced by Bridget Hoffman. Supergirl makes a cameo appearance in the IOS version of Injustice: Gods Among Us as a support card.","Supergirl makes a cameo appearance in the IOS version of Injustice: Gods Among Us as a support card. Supergirl appears as a playable character in Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham, voiced by Kari Wahlgren. She is playable in her default variant which is designed after her appearance in The New 52 and in her Classic attire.","She is playable in her default variant which is designed after her appearance in The New 52 and in her Classic attire. Her Classic variant is unlocked in a VR Mission while her New 52 variant is unlocked in a Hub Quest in Nok where she requests players to defeat a number of enemies she accidentally releases from their cells. Supergirl appears as a playable character in Infinite Crisis, voiced by Camilla Luddington.","Supergirl appears as a playable character in Infinite Crisis, voiced by Camilla Luddington. Supergirl appears as a playable character and the central protagonist in Injustice 2 by NetherRealm Studios, the sequel to Injustice: Gods Among Us, voiced by Laura Bailey.","Supergirl appears as a playable character and the central protagonist in Injustice 2 by NetherRealm Studios, the sequel to Injustice: Gods Among Us, voiced by Laura Bailey. Here her origin is much like in the comics where she is sent along with her cousin Kal-El to Earth by her mother after Krypton is destroyed but on separate pods where hers veers off-course after sustaining significant damage, stranding her in space for many years until she lands on Earth, unaged.","Here her origin is much like in the comics where she is sent along with her cousin Kal-El to Earth by her mother after Krypton is destroyed but on separate pods where hers veers off-course after sustaining significant damage, stranding her in space for many years until she lands on Earth, unaged. When the main storyline starts, she is residing on Black Adam's kingdom of Khandaq, apparently under his and Wonder Woman's protection.","When the main storyline starts, she is residing on Black Adam's kingdom of Khandaq, apparently under his and Wonder Woman's protection. When Brainiac who was responsible for Krypton's destruction attacks, she, Wonder Woman, and Black Adam attempt to free Superman and the remaining members of the Regime, while being interrupted in their efforts by new Insurgency recruits Blue Beetle and Firestorm until Batman himself arrives and releases Superman, leading to a temporary alliance between the Regime and Insurgency against the alien warlord.","When Brainiac who was responsible for Krypton's destruction attacks, she, Wonder Woman, and Black Adam attempt to free Superman and the remaining members of the Regime, while being interrupted in their efforts by new Insurgency recruits Blue Beetle and Firestorm until Batman himself arrives and releases Superman, leading to a temporary alliance between the Regime and Insurgency against the alien warlord. Over the course of the story, she learns the truth about her cousin's tyranny and at the end of the game sides with Batman, Green Lantern and Flash in letting Brainiac live in order to restore the lost cities but is defeated.","Over the course of the story, she learns the truth about her cousin's tyranny and at the end of the game sides with Batman, Green Lantern and Flash in letting Brainiac live in order to restore the lost cities but is defeated. In Batman's ending, she laments her cousin's tyranny and sees him leave to be imprisoned in the Phantom Zone and is offered membership by Batman in his Justice League.","In Batman's ending, she laments her cousin's tyranny and sees him leave to be imprisoned in the Phantom Zone and is offered membership by Batman in his Justice League. In Superman's ending, she is imprisoned aboard Brainiac's ship and to her shock discovers her cousin has bonded with it and when she refuses his offer to join him in leading his new legion of imprisoned species. He attempts to coerce her by revealing a brainwashed Batman, who had also been captured, further shocking her.","He attempts to coerce her by revealing a brainwashed Batman, who had also been captured, further shocking her. Supergirl appears as a limited-distribution minifigure for the toys-to-life video game Lego Dimensions, with Kari Wahlgren reprising her role. She has the ability to transform between her classic and Red Lantern forms. Supergirl appears as a playable character in DC Unchained. Supergirl appears in the PSP version of Justice League Heroes. Supergirl appears as a playable character in the DC TV Super-Heroes DLC pack in Lego DC Super-Villains.","Supergirl appears as a playable character in the DC TV Super-Heroes DLC pack in Lego DC Super-Villains. See also Alternative versions of Supergirl Laurel Gand References External links DC Comics Pre-Crisis Supergirl Chronology Supergirl Characters created by Otto Binder Comics characters introduced in 1958 Comics characters introduced in 1959 DC Comics aliens DC Comics American superheroes DC Comics characters who can move at superhuman speeds DC Comics characters with accelerated healing DC Comics characters with superhuman strength DC Comics deities DC Comics female superheroes DC Comics film characters DC Comics television characters DC Comics extraterrestrial superheroes Female characters in television Fictional characters with superhuman senses Fictional actors Fictional extraterrestrial–human hybrids Fictional orphans Fictional photographers Fictional refugees Fictional reporters Fictional school counselors Fictional American secret agents Fictional waiting staff Kryptonians Superheroes who are adopted Vigilante characters in comics"],"string":"[\n \"Kara Zor-El, also known by her adoptive names of Linda Lee Danvers, Kara Kent, Linda Lang, and Kara Danvers, and the superhero name of Supergirl, is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. She was created by Otto Binder and designed by Al Plastino. Danvers first appeared in Action Comics #252 (May 1959)'s \\\"The Supergirl from Krypton\\\" story. Kara is the biological cousin of Kal-El, who went on to adopt the name of Clark Kent and the superhero Superman.\",\n \"Kara is the biological cousin of Kal-El, who went on to adopt the name of Clark Kent and the superhero Superman. During the 1980s and the revolution of the Modern Age of Comics, Superman editors believed the character's history had become too convoluted, thus killing Supergirl during the 1985 Crisis on Infinite Earths event and retconning her out of existence. DC Comics Senior Vice President Dan DiDio re-introduced the character in 2004 along with editor Eddie Berganza and writer Jeph Loeb, with her the Superman/Batman storyline \\\"The Supergirl from Krypton\\\".\",\n \"DC Comics Senior Vice President Dan DiDio re-introduced the character in 2004 along with editor Eddie Berganza and writer Jeph Loeb, with her the Superman/Batman storyline \\\"The Supergirl from Krypton\\\". As the current Supergirl, Kara stars in her own monthly comic book series. With DC's The New 52 relaunch, Kara, like most of the DC Universe, was revamped. DC relaunched the Supergirl comic in August 2016 as part of their DC Rebirth initiative.\",\n \"DC relaunched the Supergirl comic in August 2016 as part of their DC Rebirth initiative. In live-action, Supergirl appeared in the 1984 film based on her character and was portrayed by Helen Slater. She also appeared in the series Smallville, played by actress Laura Vandervoort. In 2015, the live-action Arrowverse series Supergirl debuted on CBS and then moved to The CW after the first season. Supergirl was portrayed by Melissa Benoist on the show and also appeared on other Arrowverse shows.\",\n \"Supergirl was portrayed by Melissa Benoist on the show and also appeared on other Arrowverse shows. Sasha Calle will appear as Supergirl in the upcoming DC Extended Universe film The Flash (2022). Publication history Early life Although Kara Zor-El was the first character to use the name \\\"Supergirl,\\\" DC Comics tested three different female versions of Superman prior to her debut. The first story to feature a female counterpart to Superman was \\\"Lois Lane – Superwoman,\\\" which was published in Action Comics #60 (May 1943).\",\n \"The first story to feature a female counterpart to Superman was \\\"Lois Lane – Superwoman,\\\" which was published in Action Comics #60 (May 1943). In the story, a hospitalized Lois Lane dreams she has gained superpowers thanks to a blood transfusion from the Man of Steel. She begins her own career as \\\"Superwoman\\\", complete with a version of Superman's costume.\",\n \"She begins her own career as \\\"Superwoman\\\", complete with a version of Superman's costume. In the Superboy #78 story entitled \\\"Claire Kent, Alias Super-Sister\\\", Superboy saves the life of an alien woman named Shar-La, who turns Superboy into a girl, in retaliation for his disparaging thoughts about women drivers which she picked up telepathically. In Smallville, Clark claims to be Claire Kent, an out-of-town relative who is staying with the Kents.\",\n \"In Smallville, Clark claims to be Claire Kent, an out-of-town relative who is staying with the Kents. When in costume, he appears as Superboy's sister, Super-Sister, and claims the two have exchanged places. Once Superboy has learned his lesson about feeling more respect for women, Shar-La reveals the episode to be a dream which she projected into Superboy's mind.\",\n \"Once Superboy has learned his lesson about feeling more respect for women, Shar-La reveals the episode to be a dream which she projected into Superboy's mind. In Superman #123 (August 1958), Jimmy Olsen uses a magic totem to wish a \\\"Super-Girl\\\" into existence as a companion and aid to Superman; however, the two frequently get in each other's way until she is fatally injured protecting Superman from a Kryptonite meteor. At her insistence, Jimmy wishes the dying girl out of existence.\",\n \"At her insistence, Jimmy wishes the dying girl out of existence. DC used this story to gauge public response to the concept of a completely new super-powered female counterpart to Superman. The Kara Zor-El version of Supergirl finally appeared in Action Comics #252 (May 1959). Otto Binder wrote and Al Plastino illustrated her début story, in which Kara was born and raised in Argo City (unnamed until later issues), a fragment of Krypton that survived destruction.\",\n \"Otto Binder wrote and Al Plastino illustrated her début story, in which Kara was born and raised in Argo City (unnamed until later issues), a fragment of Krypton that survived destruction. When the city is doomed by a meteor shower, Kara is sent to Earth by her parents, Zor-El and Alura (the latter unnamed until later issues), to be raised by her cousin Kal-El, known as Superman. Supergirl adopted the secret identity of an orphan \\\"Linda Lee\\\", and made Midvale Orphanage her home.\",\n \"Supergirl adopted the secret identity of an orphan \\\"Linda Lee\\\", and made Midvale Orphanage her home. Supergirl promised Superman that she would keep her existence on Earth a secret, so that he may use her as a \\\"secret weapon\\\", but that didn't stop Supergirl from exploring her new powers covertly. Action Comics #255 published reader's letters-of-comment to Supergirl's first appearance; she had allegedly generated a sizeable and mostly positive reaction.\",\n \"Action Comics #255 published reader's letters-of-comment to Supergirl's first appearance; she had allegedly generated a sizeable and mostly positive reaction. Supergirl, from her debut onwards, became a regular backup strip in Action Comics. She joined the Legion of Super-Heroes, like her cousin had done as a teenager, and in Action Comics #279 (July 1961) she was adopted by Fred and Edna Danvers, becoming \\\"Linda Lee Danvers\\\".\",\n \"She joined the Legion of Super-Heroes, like her cousin had done as a teenager, and in Action Comics #279 (July 1961) she was adopted by Fred and Edna Danvers, becoming \\\"Linda Lee Danvers\\\". Supergirl acted for three years as Superman's secret weapon, and her adventures during that time have been compared to contemporary developments in feminist thinking in work such as Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique.\",\n \"Supergirl acted for three years as Superman's secret weapon, and her adventures during that time have been compared to contemporary developments in feminist thinking in work such as Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique. She was at last introduced by her super-powered cousin to an unsuspecting world in Action Comics #285 (February 1962). During her first quarter of a century, Linda Danvers would have many professions, from student to student advisor, to actor, and even TV camera operator.\",\n \"During her first quarter of a century, Linda Danvers would have many professions, from student to student advisor, to actor, and even TV camera operator. She shared Action Comics with Superman until transferring to the lead in Adventure Comics at the end of the 1960s. In 1972 she finally moved to her own short-lived eponymous magazine, before DC merged its Supergirl, Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen titles into a single anthology title named The Superman Family. In 1982 Supergirl was relaunched into her own magazine.\",\n \"In 1982 Supergirl was relaunched into her own magazine. In 1982 Supergirl was relaunched into her own magazine. Death during Crisis on Infinite Earths In 1985, the maxi-series Crisis on Infinite Earths was conceived as a way to reduce DC continuity to a single universe in which all characters maintained a single history. Despite Supergirl's continued popularity and status as a central member of the \\\"Superman Family\\\", the editors at DC Comics and the creators of the maxi-series decided to kill Supergirl off during the Crisis.\",\n \"Despite Supergirl's continued popularity and status as a central member of the \\\"Superman Family\\\", the editors at DC Comics and the creators of the maxi-series decided to kill Supergirl off during the Crisis. According to Marv Wolfman, writer of Crisis on Infinite Earths: The idea of killing Supergirl was first conceived by DC's vice president/executive editor Dick Giordano, who lobbied for the death to DC's publishers.\",\n \"According to Marv Wolfman, writer of Crisis on Infinite Earths: The idea of killing Supergirl was first conceived by DC's vice president/executive editor Dick Giordano, who lobbied for the death to DC's publishers. He later said he has never had any regrets about this, explaining, \\\"Supergirl was created initially to take advantage of the high Superman sales and not much thought was put into her creation. She was created essentially as a female Superman.\",\n \"She was created essentially as a female Superman. She was created essentially as a female Superman. With time, writers and artists improved upon her execution, but she never did really add anything to the Superman mythos—at least not for me.\\\" The poor initial reception of the 1984 film Supergirl was also blamed by some sources.\",\n \"The poor initial reception of the 1984 film Supergirl was also blamed by some sources. In 1989, in the tale \\\"Christmas with the Super-Heroes\\\" the soul of Kara appears to Boston \\\"Deadman\\\" Brand, cheers him up, and then disappears from continuity until 2001 (see below).\",\n \"In 1989, in the tale \\\"Christmas with the Super-Heroes\\\" the soul of Kara appears to Boston \\\"Deadman\\\" Brand, cheers him up, and then disappears from continuity until 2001 (see below). Several characters unrelated to Superman soon took on the Supergirl persona, including the Matrix (a shapeshifting genetically engineered life-form that 'defaulted' as Supergirl), Linda Danvers (the result of Matrix merging with the dying Linda Danvers and becoming an Earth-bound angel of fire), and Cir-El (Superman's apparent daughter from a possible future).\",\n \"Several characters unrelated to Superman soon took on the Supergirl persona, including the Matrix (a shapeshifting genetically engineered life-form that 'defaulted' as Supergirl), Linda Danvers (the result of Matrix merging with the dying Linda Danvers and becoming an Earth-bound angel of fire), and Cir-El (Superman's apparent daughter from a possible future). A heroine resembling the Pre-Crisis Kara would later appear in Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #5, along with an entire army of Legionnaires gathered from alternate worlds, times, and realities, to battle the Time Trapper.\",\n \"A heroine resembling the Pre-Crisis Kara would later appear in Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #5, along with an entire army of Legionnaires gathered from alternate worlds, times, and realities, to battle the Time Trapper. Two Supergirls meet Prior to the post-Crisis introduction of Kara Zor-El into mainstream continuity, the pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El made an appearance in Peter David's Supergirl: Many Happy Returns.\",\n \"Two Supergirls meet Prior to the post-Crisis introduction of Kara Zor-El into mainstream continuity, the pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El made an appearance in Peter David's Supergirl: Many Happy Returns. The then-current Supergirl series, at the time starring Linda Danvers, was in danger of cancellation and Peter David thought a story arc involving Kara Zor-El would be enough to revitalize the series.\",\n \"The then-current Supergirl series, at the time starring Linda Danvers, was in danger of cancellation and Peter David thought a story arc involving Kara Zor-El would be enough to revitalize the series. In an interview with Cliff Biggers of Newsarama, David states: In the Linda Danvers' Supergirl series issues 49 and 50 (October and November 2000), the original dead Kara appears as Linda's \\\"guardian angel\\\".\",\n \"In an interview with Cliff Biggers of Newsarama, David states: In the Linda Danvers' Supergirl series issues 49 and 50 (October and November 2000), the original dead Kara appears as Linda's \\\"guardian angel\\\". Then in issues 75 to 80, \\\"Many Happy Returns\\\", a young Kara appears from an earlier time long before the Crisis.\",\n \"Then in issues 75 to 80, \\\"Many Happy Returns\\\", a young Kara appears from an earlier time long before the Crisis. The paradox becomes a moral crisis for Linda who tries to take her place as the Crisis sacrifice, living for years in a Silver Age universe where \\\"no one swears, the villains are always easy to defeat, and everything's very, very clean\\\", eventually marrying the Silver Age Superman and having a daughter with him, before she is forced to return to her universe by the Spectre when he reveals that her efforts to replace Kara as the sacrifice will not succeed.\",\n \"The paradox becomes a moral crisis for Linda who tries to take her place as the Crisis sacrifice, living for years in a Silver Age universe where \\\"no one swears, the villains are always easy to defeat, and everything's very, very clean\\\", eventually marrying the Silver Age Superman and having a daughter with him, before she is forced to return to her universe by the Spectre when he reveals that her efforts to replace Kara as the sacrifice will not succeed. This run was illustrated by Ed Benes who had also illustrated Gail Simone's Birds of Prey which had a similar whimsical camaraderie between its female leads.\",\n \"This run was illustrated by Ed Benes who had also illustrated Gail Simone's Birds of Prey which had a similar whimsical camaraderie between its female leads. Linda's inability to ultimately save Kara, coupled with the loss of her daughter, is so devastating that it ends her own career as Supergirl, Linda leaving a note for Superman where she explains that she feels that she has failed to live up to the standards of a true Supergirl and choosing to go somewhere she cannot be found.\",\n \"Linda's inability to ultimately save Kara, coupled with the loss of her daughter, is so devastating that it ends her own career as Supergirl, Linda leaving a note for Superman where she explains that she feels that she has failed to live up to the standards of a true Supergirl and choosing to go somewhere she cannot be found. This story arc is usually cited as one of the best Supergirl stories ever written. The series ended with issue 80.\",\n \"The series ended with issue 80. The series ended with issue 80. Revival After the launch of the Superman/Batman comic book series, executive editor Dan DiDio had been looking for a way to simplify the Supergirl character from her convoluted post-Crisis history; the simplest version, of course, was Superman's cousin. Jeph Loeb and editor Eddie Berganza found an opening to reintroduce the character following the conclusion of the first story arc of Superman/Batman.\",\n \"Jeph Loeb and editor Eddie Berganza found an opening to reintroduce the character following the conclusion of the first story arc of Superman/Batman. Loeb states: The modern version of Kara Zor-El made her debut in Superman/Batman #8 (2004). Kara takes the mantle of Supergirl at the conclusion of the storyline. The Supergirl comic book series would later be relaunched, now starring Kara Zor-El as \\\"The Girl of Steel\\\". The first arc of the new series was written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by Ian Churchill.\",\n \"The first arc of the new series was written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by Ian Churchill. Loeb would later describe the appeal of writing for Supergirl: As the character continued to be reinvented, steps towards regarding the iconic character were some of the most prominent changes. Artist Jamal Igle and editor Matt Idleson moved to transition the character away from red panties under her skirt to biker shorts, feeling such a change was a logical progression and \\\"more respectable.\\\"\",\n \"Artist Jamal Igle and editor Matt Idleson moved to transition the character away from red panties under her skirt to biker shorts, feeling such a change was a logical progression and \\\"more respectable.\\\" The New 52 In September 2011, DC Comics began The New 52, in which it canceled all of its monthly superhero titles and relaunched 52 new ones, wiping out most of its past continuity in the process.\",\n \"The New 52 In September 2011, DC Comics began The New 52, in which it canceled all of its monthly superhero titles and relaunched 52 new ones, wiping out most of its past continuity in the process. One of the new titles was a new Supergirl series (Volume 6) that featured a new origin for Kara and was published between 2011 and 2015.\",\n \"One of the new titles was a new Supergirl series (Volume 6) that featured a new origin for Kara and was published between 2011 and 2015. Artist Mahmud Asrar designed a new costume for the character which strongly deviated from her classic, \\\"cheerleader\\\" suit, a change which generated criticism from some readers. DC Rebirth The 2016 DC Comics title relaunch Rebirth incorporates several elements (such as the costume, the name, the setting, and some characters) from the Supergirl television series.\",\n \"DC Rebirth The 2016 DC Comics title relaunch Rebirth incorporates several elements (such as the costume, the name, the setting, and some characters) from the Supergirl television series. The DC Rebirth initiative undid the New 52's modern recreations, bringing DC's heroes back to their more classic iterations. Supergirl's new series (Volume 7) was titled Supergirl: Rebirth, written by Steven Orlando. The first arc was penciled by Brian Ching, who also redesigned Supergirl's costume in reference to a more classic look.\",\n \"The first arc was penciled by Brian Ching, who also redesigned Supergirl's costume in reference to a more classic look. In April 2018, it was announced that the title would be canceled after issue #20, only to be revived in August that year under a new creative team, with new writer Marc Andreyko and artist Kevin Maguire. The series ended with its 42nd issue.\",\n \"The series ended with its 42nd issue. The series ended with its 42nd issue. Future State: Kara Zor-El, Superwoman The Future State comics propose a possible future for Kara Zor-El, now an adult and having taken the alias of Superwoman. She leaves Earth to become a guardian of the Moon, which has become a refugee colony for aliens from the entire universe. The series was written by Marguerite Bennet and penciled by Marguerite Sauvage.\",\n \"The series was written by Marguerite Bennet and penciled by Marguerite Sauvage. Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow Under the Infinite Frontier brand, Kara's next series Woman of Tomorrow debuted in June 2021, written by Tom King and penciled by Brazilian artists Bilquis Evely and Mat Lopes. The arc introduces Supergirl to new character grounds as she begins the story as a young woman, celebrating her 21st birthday and helping a young alien in her quest for revenge.\",\n \"The arc introduces Supergirl to new character grounds as she begins the story as a young woman, celebrating her 21st birthday and helping a young alien in her quest for revenge. The \\\"mentor-mentee journey on revenge\\\" plot is, according to King, inspired by the original novel and both versions of True Grit. In this series, the creators paid homage to Linda Danvers, as Kara manifests flame wings and powers after taking a red kryptonite drug, in order to save her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon.\",\n \"In this series, the creators paid homage to Linda Danvers, as Kara manifests flame wings and powers after taking a red kryptonite drug, in order to save her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon. Fictional character biography Silver Age In her debut story, Kara Zor-El is the last survivor of Argo City of the planet Krypton.\",\n \"Fictional character biography Silver Age In her debut story, Kara Zor-El is the last survivor of Argo City of the planet Krypton. Although Argo, which had survived the explosion of the planet, drifted through space as a self-sustaining environment, the soil of the colony eventually turned into Kryptonite; and though Kara's father Zor-El placed lead sheeting above the ground to protect the citizens from radiation, meteorites pierced the sheeting, and the Kryptonians died of radiation poisoning instead of replacing the metal.\",\n \"Although Argo, which had survived the explosion of the planet, drifted through space as a self-sustaining environment, the soil of the colony eventually turned into Kryptonite; and though Kara's father Zor-El placed lead sheeting above the ground to protect the citizens from radiation, meteorites pierced the sheeting, and the Kryptonians died of radiation poisoning instead of replacing the metal. In Supergirl's subsequent backup feature in Action Comics drawn by artist Jim Mooney for ten years until 1968, Supergirl adopts the identity of Linda Lee, an orphan at Midvale Orphanage presided over by headmistress Miss Hart.\",\n \"In Supergirl's subsequent backup feature in Action Comics drawn by artist Jim Mooney for ten years until 1968, Supergirl adopts the identity of Linda Lee, an orphan at Midvale Orphanage presided over by headmistress Miss Hart. She disguises herself by hiding her blond hair beneath a brunette wig; Supergirl interacts with humans on a person-to-person basis performing good deeds and saving the world by helping one person at a time, and she also devises clever schemes as \\\"Superman's Secret Weapon,\\\" saving him many times and avoiding adoption before Superman can introduce her publicly.\",\n \"She disguises herself by hiding her blond hair beneath a brunette wig; Supergirl interacts with humans on a person-to-person basis performing good deeds and saving the world by helping one person at a time, and she also devises clever schemes as \\\"Superman's Secret Weapon,\\\" saving him many times and avoiding adoption before Superman can introduce her publicly. While temporarily powerless due to the scheming of Kandorian scientist Lesla-Lar, who is out to supplant her on Earth, Linda allows herself to be adopted by engineer and rocket scientist Fred Danvers and his wife, Edna.\",\n \"While temporarily powerless due to the scheming of Kandorian scientist Lesla-Lar, who is out to supplant her on Earth, Linda allows herself to be adopted by engineer and rocket scientist Fred Danvers and his wife, Edna. In time, she reveals her secret identity to her adoptive parents on the same day her cousin Superman finally introduces her to the world in the finale of then-DC's longest playing series ever (eight chapters) aptly called \\\"The World's Greatest Heroine\\\".\",\n \"In time, she reveals her secret identity to her adoptive parents on the same day her cousin Superman finally introduces her to the world in the finale of then-DC's longest playing series ever (eight chapters) aptly called \\\"The World's Greatest Heroine\\\". When frequent dreams about her parents being alive turn out to be real, she builds a machine aided by her engineer father's talent, and brings them both back alive from the \\\"Survival Zone\\\" where they had both teleported during Argo City's final moments.\",\n \"When frequent dreams about her parents being alive turn out to be real, she builds a machine aided by her engineer father's talent, and brings them both back alive from the \\\"Survival Zone\\\" where they had both teleported during Argo City's final moments. Zor-El and Allura eventually end up living in Kandor, and when the city in the bottle is enlarged, they both go on to live in Rokyn/New Krypton, where they have the sad duty of receiving her mortal remains after \\\"Crisis\\\" for burial.\",\n \"Zor-El and Allura eventually end up living in Kandor, and when the city in the bottle is enlarged, they both go on to live in Rokyn/New Krypton, where they have the sad duty of receiving her mortal remains after \\\"Crisis\\\" for burial. Graduating from high school in 1965, Linda Lee goes to college on a scholarship and stays in Stanhope College until she graduates in 1971.\",\n \"Graduating from high school in 1965, Linda Lee goes to college on a scholarship and stays in Stanhope College until she graduates in 1971. During this era, she is helped by her pet cat Streaky, her Super-Horse pet Comet, and befriends Lena Thorul, who had first appeared in the Lois Lane series. Kara is also a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, where she becomes close to Brainiac 5.\",\n \"Kara is also a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, where she becomes close to Brainiac 5. In addition, Linda has boyfriends from the orphanage (Richard \\\"Dick\\\" Malverne) and from Atlantis (Jerro the merboy). In 1967, Supergirl meets Batgirl for the first time in World's Finest Comics. Developing a strong friendship, the two characters teamed up many times again, as in Superman Family #171, or Adventure #381.\",\n \"Developing a strong friendship, the two characters teamed up many times again, as in Superman Family #171, or Adventure #381. In 1969, Supergirl left Action Comics and became a featured character in Adventure Comics beginning with issue #381 (June 1969). During the 1970s, Supergirl's costume changed frequently, as did her career in her civilian life.\",\n \"During the 1970s, Supergirl's costume changed frequently, as did her career in her civilian life. In her secret identity as Linda Lee Danvers, Kara Zor-El took a variety of jobs including graduate student in acting, television camera operator, and student counselor, and finally became an actress on the TV soap Secret Hearts. Bronze Age After long-time Superman family editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971, the character underwent revitalization under editor Joe Orlando and artist Mike Sekowsky.\",\n \"Bronze Age After long-time Superman family editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971, the character underwent revitalization under editor Joe Orlando and artist Mike Sekowsky. Wearing a series of new outfits, leaving her adopted foster home with the Danvers family, Linda goes on to San Francisco where she works for KSF-TV as a camera operator and develops a crush on her boss, Geoffrey Anderson. These stories introduced Supergirl's most memorable villain from this period: Lex Luthor's niece Nasthalthia, or Nasty.\",\n \"These stories introduced Supergirl's most memorable villain from this period: Lex Luthor's niece Nasthalthia, or Nasty. Nasty had made two appearances towards the end of Linda's college years, then pursued her to KSF-TV, trying to secure proof of her dual identity.\",\n \"Nasty had made two appearances towards the end of Linda's college years, then pursued her to KSF-TV, trying to secure proof of her dual identity. Supergirl starred in her first solo eponymous monthly series beginning in 1972 until October 1974, when her monthly title merged with Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane, and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen to produce a new title: then-highest DC selling series called The Superman Family, where she eventually became the steady lead story.\",\n \"Supergirl starred in her first solo eponymous monthly series beginning in 1972 until October 1974, when her monthly title merged with Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane, and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen to produce a new title: then-highest DC selling series called The Superman Family, where she eventually became the steady lead story. Linda worked as a student advisor at New Athens Experimental School, before leaving for New York to follow a career in acting with daytime soap Secret Hearts.\",\n \"Linda worked as a student advisor at New Athens Experimental School, before leaving for New York to follow a career in acting with daytime soap Secret Hearts. In 1982 Supergirl received a second monthly solo series titled The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl, relocating the character to Chicago as Linda became a mature student of Psychology. Industry legend, and former DC Publisher, Carmine Infantino provided the penciled art (Bob Oksner inked).\",\n \"Industry legend, and former DC Publisher, Carmine Infantino provided the penciled art (Bob Oksner inked). With issue 13 the title was revamped, with a new costume design (sporting a red headband) and the title shortened to just Supergirl. The series ran until sudden cancellation in 1984, only two months before the character's debut in a big-budget Hollywood film starring Helen Slater.\",\n \"The series ran until sudden cancellation in 1984, only two months before the character's debut in a big-budget Hollywood film starring Helen Slater. In the Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985), the greatest heroes from Earth-One, Earth-Two, Earth-Four, Earth-S, and Earth-X join forces in order to defeat the Anti-Monitor. When Superman comes face to face with the Anti-Monitor and is knocked unconscious, Supergirl rushes to save him before he is killed.\",\n \"When Superman comes face to face with the Anti-Monitor and is knocked unconscious, Supergirl rushes to save him before he is killed. She is able to fight him off long enough for Dr. Light to carry her cousin to a safe distance, but is killed by the Anti-Monitor. A public memorial service for Supergirl takes place in Chicago, where Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) delivers the eulogy. In her remarks, she states \\\"Kara is a hero. She will not be forgotten.\\\"\",\n \"She will not be forgotten.\\\" She will not be forgotten.\\\" Superman then gives his late cousin burial by taking her corpse to Rokyn/New Krypton to Zor-El and Allura. A Superman issue the next month reveals that Kara had experienced a premonition about her own passing. However, when the universe is rebooted, the timeline is altered. Kara Zor-El and all memory of her is erased from existence.\",\n \"Kara Zor-El and all memory of her is erased from existence. Echoes After these events, the soul of Kara Zor-El made another appearance in continuity three years later in a story titled \\\"Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot\\\" in Christmas with the Super-Heroes #2 (1989). Within the story, Boston \\\"Deadman\\\" Brand tries to feel the warmth of Christmas by possessing revelers' bodies.\",\n \"Within the story, Boston \\\"Deadman\\\" Brand tries to feel the warmth of Christmas by possessing revelers' bodies. Feeling guilty upon the realization that he has been stealing others' Christmases, he flies off feeling sorry for himself for being denied a reward after a year of helping people. A warmly dressed blonde woman approaches Brand, startling him.\",\n \"A warmly dressed blonde woman approaches Brand, startling him. Somehow seeing the normally invisible Brand, she converses with him, reminding him, She reminds Brand that even though he is dead, he is still human, and he should rejoice because it means his spirit is still alive. As the woman leaves, Brand asks her who she is, to which she replies, \\\"My name is Kara. Though I doubt that will mean anything to you.\\\"\",\n \"Though I doubt that will mean anything to you.\\\" The story, written by Alan Brennert and penciled by Dick Giordano, is dedicated to Otto Binder and Jim Mooney, adding: \\\"We still remember.\\\" Finally, the soul of Kara Zor-El appeared twice during Peter David's run, specifically in issues #48 and #49 when she appears before a defeated and imprisoned then-Supergirl, Linda Danvers from Earth, and comforts her.\",\n \"Finally, the soul of Kara Zor-El appeared twice during Peter David's run, specifically in issues #48 and #49 when she appears before a defeated and imprisoned then-Supergirl, Linda Danvers from Earth, and comforts her. Linda acknowledges she has been helped three times by her phantom-friend, and when she asks her name she is told by the smiling figure: \\\"I have gone by many names, but the one I am most fond of is: Kara!\\\"\",\n \"Linda acknowledges she has been helped three times by her phantom-friend, and when she asks her name she is told by the smiling figure: \\\"I have gone by many names, but the one I am most fond of is: Kara!\\\" Modern Age In 2004, Jeph Loeb reintroduced Kara Zor-El into post-Zero Hour (Birthright timeline) continuity during a storyline in the series Superman/Batman.\",\n \"Modern Age In 2004, Jeph Loeb reintroduced Kara Zor-El into post-Zero Hour (Birthright timeline) continuity during a storyline in the series Superman/Batman. She is the biological cousin of Superman, and although chronologically older than him, the ship in which she traveled to Earth was caught in a large green Kryptonite meteorite which held her in a state of suspended animation for much of the journey, making her have the appearance of a 16-year-old girl.\",\n \"She is the biological cousin of Superman, and although chronologically older than him, the ship in which she traveled to Earth was caught in a large green Kryptonite meteorite which held her in a state of suspended animation for much of the journey, making her have the appearance of a 16-year-old girl. Still, Supergirl sometimes saw Superman as a child, due to last carrying him as a baby. DC Comics relaunched the Supergirl, the first story arc of which was written by Loeb. showcases Supergirl on a journey of self-discovery.\",\n \"showcases Supergirl on a journey of self-discovery. showcases Supergirl on a journey of self-discovery. Along her journey, she encounters Power Girl (Kara Zor-El's counterpart from another universe), the Teen Titans, the Outsiders, the Justice League of America, and arch-villain Lex Luthor. During the company-wide crossover series Infinite Crisis (2005), a sequel to Crisis on Infinite Earths, Supergirl is transported to the 31st century, where she is revered as a member of the Superman family and joins the Legion of Super-Heroes.\",\n \"During the company-wide crossover series Infinite Crisis (2005), a sequel to Crisis on Infinite Earths, Supergirl is transported to the 31st century, where she is revered as a member of the Superman family and joins the Legion of Super-Heroes. DC Comics renamed the monthly series Legion of Super-Heroes to Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes. Beginning with issue #16.\",\n \"Beginning with issue #16. Beginning with issue #16. In the limited series 52, which chronicles the events that took place during the missing year after the end of Infinite Crisis, Donna Troy recalls the original Kara Zor-El and her sacrifice to save the universe. Supergirl returns to the 21st century during the course of 52.\",\n \"Supergirl returns to the 21st century during the course of 52. After briefly filling in for a temporarily depowered Superman as guardian of Metropolis, she assumes the identity of Flamebird to fight crime in the bottle city of Kandor with Power Girl as Nightwing in Greg Rucka's arc Supergirl: Kandor. In 2007, Supergirl appeared in the miniseries Amazons Attack! That same year, she joined the Teen Titans for five issues.\",\n \"That same year, she joined the Teen Titans for five issues. Conversations with other heroes who maintain secret identities lead Kara to the conclusion that she needs to make a deeper connection with human beings. She accepts Lana Lang's proposal to present her to the Daily Planet staff as \\\"Linda Lang\\\", Lana's teenaged niece.\",\n \"She accepts Lana Lang's proposal to present her to the Daily Planet staff as \\\"Linda Lang\\\", Lana's teenaged niece. In the 2008–2009 \\\"New Krypton\\\" story arc, in which Superman discovers and frees the real Kandor and a large number of its citizens, Supergirl is reunited with her father, Zor-El and mother, Alura, though Zor-El is killed by the villain Reactron.\",\n \"In the 2008–2009 \\\"New Krypton\\\" story arc, in which Superman discovers and frees the real Kandor and a large number of its citizens, Supergirl is reunited with her father, Zor-El and mother, Alura, though Zor-El is killed by the villain Reactron. When a planet is formed that the Kryptonians call New Krypton, Kara is torn between her life on Earth, and her obligation to her mother, eventually joining the New Krypton Science Guild.\",\n \"When a planet is formed that the Kryptonians call New Krypton, Kara is torn between her life on Earth, and her obligation to her mother, eventually joining the New Krypton Science Guild. Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2009 miniseries Justice League: Cry for Justice, and the 2009–2010 storyline \\\"Blackest Night\\\".\",\n \"Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2009 miniseries Justice League: Cry for Justice, and the 2009–2010 storyline \\\"Blackest Night\\\". The New Krypton storyline would later be resolved in the \\\"World of New Krypton\\\", \\\"Superman: Last Stand of New Krypton\\\", \\\"War of the Supermen\\\" storylines, resulting in the destruction of New Krypton and seeing Supergirl mourn her people.\",\n \"The New Krypton storyline would later be resolved in the \\\"World of New Krypton\\\", \\\"Superman: Last Stand of New Krypton\\\", \\\"War of the Supermen\\\" storylines, resulting in the destruction of New Krypton and seeing Supergirl mourn her people. Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2010 \\\"Brightest Day\\\" storyline, the follow up to \\\"Blackest Night\\\"., where she joins the Justice League along with Jesse Quick & Jade.\",\n \"Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2010 \\\"Brightest Day\\\" storyline, the follow up to \\\"Blackest Night\\\"., where she joins the Justice League along with Jesse Quick & Jade. The New 52 In this continuity, Kara's ship lands in Smallville, Kansas but hurtles through the Earth and emerges in Siberia. Kara has no memory of the destruction of Krypton, and believes it is only three days since her spacecraft was launched.\",\n \"Kara has no memory of the destruction of Krypton, and believes it is only three days since her spacecraft was launched. She learns the truth about Krypton's destruction from Superman, and later journeys through a wormhole to Argo City, which she finds in orbit around a blue sun. She finds the city in ruins, with no explanation of how it met that fate, and is attacked by a female Worldkiller named Reign before the city plummets into the sun.\",\n \"She finds the city in ruins, with no explanation of how it met that fate, and is attacked by a female Worldkiller named Reign before the city plummets into the sun. When Reign and her fellow Worldkiller plan to enslave the Earth, Supergirl returns there to defeat them, and thus adopts Earth as her new home. After several battles with supervillains, including the Worldkillers, superweapons of Kryptonian design, she accepts Krypton's destruction, but continues to grapple with her grief.\",\n \"After several battles with supervillains, including the Worldkillers, superweapons of Kryptonian design, she accepts Krypton's destruction, but continues to grapple with her grief. Her desire to restore Krypton results in her being manipulated into nearly destroying the Earth by another Kryptonian whom she falls in love with. Upon realizing his manipulation, she kills him by driving Kryptonite through his heart, and succumbs to Kryptonite poisoning. Following her poisoning, Supergirl departs the Earth to die alone.\",\n \"Following her poisoning, Supergirl departs the Earth to die alone. While adrift in interstellar space, she encounters a planet under attack by monsters, and quickly intervenes to save them, unaware that the entire planet is a trap by Brainiac. She is captured and restrained by Cyborg Superman, but after a struggle, manages to escape both Brainiac and Cyborg Superman.\",\n \"She is captured and restrained by Cyborg Superman, but after a struggle, manages to escape both Brainiac and Cyborg Superman. Returning to Earth, she is sent into the past by the Oracle alongside Superman and Superboy, where she ensures that a resurrected H'el cannot save Krypton, and sacrifices the planet and her family in order to save the universe. Back on Earth, she encounters the assassin Lobo.\",\n \"Back on Earth, she encounters the assassin Lobo. Back on Earth, she encounters the assassin Lobo. Initially eager for a peaceful resolution, seeing a kind of kinship with him in their both being lone survivors of their respective worlds (although not truly aware of Lobo's circumstances), Kara's encounter with the Czarnian would reveal deep mental wounds, resulting in the unleashing of her rage and transformation into a Red Lantern.\",\n \"Initially eager for a peaceful resolution, seeing a kind of kinship with him in their both being lone survivors of their respective worlds (although not truly aware of Lobo's circumstances), Kara's encounter with the Czarnian would reveal deep mental wounds, resulting in the unleashing of her rage and transformation into a Red Lantern. Driven insane by rage, Kara wanders space, attacking everyone in her way, until captured by several Green Lanterns and brought to Hal Jordan.\",\n \"Driven insane by rage, Kara wanders space, attacking everyone in her way, until captured by several Green Lanterns and brought to Hal Jordan. Immediately recognizing a Kryptonian and unable to remove the power ring without killing her, he brings her to Guy Gardner, the leader of one of the two Red Lantern factions, who manages to restore her sanity.\",\n \"Immediately recognizing a Kryptonian and unable to remove the power ring without killing her, he brings her to Guy Gardner, the leader of one of the two Red Lantern factions, who manages to restore her sanity. After some time under Guy Gardner's tutelage and protecting the galaxy as a Red Lantern, after being discharged from the Red Lantern Corps (because Guy did not want for her to die needlessly against Atrocitus' splinter group), on her way back to Earth, Kara encounters the leader of the Worldkillers, who are revealed to be parasitic suits of armor.\",\n \"After some time under Guy Gardner's tutelage and protecting the galaxy as a Red Lantern, after being discharged from the Red Lantern Corps (because Guy did not want for her to die needlessly against Atrocitus' splinter group), on her way back to Earth, Kara encounters the leader of the Worldkillers, who are revealed to be parasitic suits of armor. He attempts to assimilate Kara as his host, but she voluntarily subjects herself to Kryptonite poisoning in order to stop him, and eventually flies into the Sun and removes her power ring, killing her and removing him from her body.\",\n \"He attempts to assimilate Kara as his host, but she voluntarily subjects herself to Kryptonite poisoning in order to stop him, and eventually flies into the Sun and removes her power ring, killing her and removing him from her body. However, Kara is revealed to be immortal while in the Sun's core, and is restored to life without the power ring or any Kryptonite poisoning, immediately destroying the Worldkiller. She later helps Guy against Atrocitus and his Red Lantern splinter group.\",\n \"She later helps Guy against Atrocitus and his Red Lantern splinter group. Convergence and return of the Pre-Crisis version During the Convergence story arc, the original Kara Zor-El who had sacrificed her life during Crisis on Infinite Earths makes an appearance on the amalgamated planet of Telos.\",\n \"Convergence and return of the Pre-Crisis version During the Convergence story arc, the original Kara Zor-El who had sacrificed her life during Crisis on Infinite Earths makes an appearance on the amalgamated planet of Telos. At the end of the saga she volunteers herself to once again fight the Anti-Monitor but this time, with the help of her timeline's Barry Allen, the Pre-Flashpoint Superman (in tow with his pregnant wife, Lois Lane), and a repentant Parallax (Zero Hour Hal Jordan), vows to defeat him for the sake of the multiverse's continued existence.\",\n \"At the end of the saga she volunteers herself to once again fight the Anti-Monitor but this time, with the help of her timeline's Barry Allen, the Pre-Flashpoint Superman (in tow with his pregnant wife, Lois Lane), and a repentant Parallax (Zero Hour Hal Jordan), vows to defeat him for the sake of the multiverse's continued existence. Without it being seen, those left on Telos discover the group was successful and all previous timelines (with the mysterious exception of the pre-Flashpoint/pre-New 52 DC universe) from DC history had been re-established, though the fate of the original Kara Zor-El and her fellows went unmentioned.\",\n \"Without it being seen, those left on Telos discover the group was successful and all previous timelines (with the mysterious exception of the pre-Flashpoint/pre-New 52 DC universe) from DC history had been re-established, though the fate of the original Kara Zor-El and her fellows went unmentioned. A few more details of the battle against the Anti-Monitor are later revealed during the New 52 comic mini-series (leading into DC's Rebirth event).\",\n \"A few more details of the battle against the Anti-Monitor are later revealed during the New 52 comic mini-series (leading into DC's Rebirth event). After the defeat of Anti-Monitor, Pre-New 52 Clark and Lois decide to start life anew in the closest universe they can find (mysteriously yet unable to see their old universe even though the rest of the multiverse had been restored) while Pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El, along with her contemporary Barry Allen and Zero Hour Parallax/Hal Jordan, decide to find their place in the universe and go off to do so.\",\n \"After the defeat of Anti-Monitor, Pre-New 52 Clark and Lois decide to start life anew in the closest universe they can find (mysteriously yet unable to see their old universe even though the rest of the multiverse had been restored) while Pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El, along with her contemporary Barry Allen and Zero Hour Parallax/Hal Jordan, decide to find their place in the universe and go off to do so. Her fate as of that story arc is yet to be revealed.\",\n \"Her fate as of that story arc is yet to be revealed. DC Rebirth After the events that led to the death of the New 52 version of Superman, 16-year-old Kara lives in National City with her adoptive parents, D.E.O. agents Jeremiah and Eliza Danvers, where she attends high school and works with the agency as led by Cameron Chase. As part of her civilian identity, Kara receives special glasses that darken her blond hair when posing as Kara Danvers.\",\n \"As part of her civilian identity, Kara receives special glasses that darken her blond hair when posing as Kara Danvers. Kara also goes on an internship at Cat Grant's CATCO alongside Ben Rubel, whom she befriends. In her opening arc \\\"The Reign of the Cyborg Supermen\\\", Kara discovers that the cyborg Zor-El, whom she had battled in her New 52 title, is still active and has rebuilt other Kryptonians (her mother Alura included), planning to take over Earth.\",\n \"In her opening arc \\\"The Reign of the Cyborg Supermen\\\", Kara discovers that the cyborg Zor-El, whom she had battled in her New 52 title, is still active and has rebuilt other Kryptonians (her mother Alura included), planning to take over Earth. Supergirl defeats them but vows to help her father regardless of his actions. After National City discovers Supergirl has kept Zor-El's \\\"living\\\" status a secret, they become untrustful of her.\",\n \"After National City discovers Supergirl has kept Zor-El's \\\"living\\\" status a secret, they become untrustful of her. Director Bones takes advantage of the heroine's impopularity and, after taking control of the D.E.O., sends villains in an attempt to bring Kara down. She defeats all of them and regains trust from National City with Ben's help.\",\n \"She defeats all of them and regains trust from National City with Ben's help. The Supergirl Who Laughs Kara is later infected by The Batman Who Laughs toxin, causing her to turn evil and joining other infected as part of Laughs Secret Six before later being cured. She is fired from CatCo by Cat Grant and starts working at S.T.A.R. Labs. Woman of Tomorrow Journeying throughout the universe with Krypto, Kara celebrates her 21st birthday alone on a distant planet.\",\n \"Woman of Tomorrow Journeying throughout the universe with Krypto, Kara celebrates her 21st birthday alone on a distant planet. Drunk in a bar, she is approached by a little girl named Ruthye and is asked to kill Krem (her father's murderer) in vengeance. Supergirl refuses but, when she is about to leave the planet, Krem attacks and severely wounds both her and Krypto, fleeing in Kara's ship.\",\n \"Supergirl refuses but, when she is about to leave the planet, Krem attacks and severely wounds both her and Krypto, fleeing in Kara's ship. Kara begins her journey alongside Ruthye and, powerless, saves her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon by taking a red kryptonite drug which causes her to manifest flame wings. Powers and abilities Like all Kryptonians under a yellow sun, the current version of Kara Zor-El possesses virtually unlimited strength, stamina, and durability.\",\n \"Powers and abilities Like all Kryptonians under a yellow sun, the current version of Kara Zor-El possesses virtually unlimited strength, stamina, and durability. She is able to fly and with super speed that she can also use on foot, similar to Superman and The Flash. Also like Superman, Supergirl possesses super senses, super-breath, and freeze breathe, as well as multiple forms of supervision (including X-Ray, Infrared, Telescopic, and Microscopic).\",\n \"Also like Superman, Supergirl possesses super senses, super-breath, and freeze breathe, as well as multiple forms of supervision (including X-Ray, Infrared, Telescopic, and Microscopic). Kara also has a bio-electric aura that enhances her near invulnerability and also protects her skin and her costume from dirt and tear; as such, Kara is perpetually clean. The Sun also provides Kara with a longer lifespan than that of a human being, to the point that she is effectively a biological immortal.\",\n \"The Sun also provides Kara with a longer lifespan than that of a human being, to the point that she is effectively a biological immortal. Kara doesn't require food, water, or sleep to survive. She is also immune to most diseases, mental and physical, and would require a very strong strain to have a chance at affecting her. In the rare instances that Kara is harmed by someone matching her strength or by the use of one of her weaknesses, she can heal almost instantaneously.\",\n \"In the rare instances that Kara is harmed by someone matching her strength or by the use of one of her weaknesses, she can heal almost instantaneously. Her power surpasses most other beings, though she can be overpowered by those who rival her strength such as Black Adam, Darkseid, Despero, Doomsday, Bizarro, Wonder Woman, and Superman. In reality, Kara is actually older than her cousin, Clark, and spent time on Krypton before its destruction.\",\n \"In reality, Kara is actually older than her cousin, Clark, and spent time on Krypton before its destruction. As such (unlike Superman), she possesses memories of Kryptonian culture as well as her cousin's parents. Continued exposure to a yellow Sun will slowly increase abilities. Many characters in the DC Universe have noted that Supergirl appears, at times, to be even more powerful than Superman himself.\",\n \"Many characters in the DC Universe have noted that Supergirl appears, at times, to be even more powerful than Superman himself. In answer to this, Superman states that this is because he has spent his entire life subconsciously suppressing his full powers in order to avoid hurting others, having been absorbing solar radiation since his infancy. Kara, not having such practice or experience, simply uses the full magnitude of her powers.\",\n \"Kara, not having such practice or experience, simply uses the full magnitude of her powers. Abilities Unlike her cousin, Kara was taught to fight in Krypton as part of her tests, and at the Crucible Academy, being adept at various Kryptonian fighting styles like Klurkor and Torquasm Rao. Supergirl also learned the art of Bagua under I-Ching's instructions. She practiced how to manipulate her Chi or Qi in order to gain better control of her powers due to them becoming overwhelmed after her conflict with the Fatal Five.\",\n \"She practiced how to manipulate her Chi or Qi in order to gain better control of her powers due to them becoming overwhelmed after her conflict with the Fatal Five. Superman recommended guardianship with I-Ching to Supergirl first. In addition to training in Krypton, Kara was trained by Batman in advanced martial arts and trained with the Amazons in Themyscira in unarmed and armed combat, Amazonas martial arts, fencing, Shield handling, and other Amazon weapons. She trained with Wonder Woman and Artemis extensively.\",\n \"She trained with Wonder Woman and Artemis extensively. She trained with Wonder Woman and Artemis extensively. Other versions There are numerous alternate versions of Supergirl. The most notable is Power Girl (real name Kara Zor-L, also known as Karen Starr) who first appeared in All Star Comics #58 (January/February 1976). Power Girl is the Earth-Two counterpart of Supergirl and the first cousin of Kal-L, Superman of the pre-Crisis Earth-Two. The infant Power Girl's parents enabled her to escape the destruction of Krypton.\",\n \"The infant Power Girl's parents enabled her to escape the destruction of Krypton. Although she left the planet at the same time that Superman did, her ship took much longer to reach Earth-Two. She has superhuman strength and the ability to fly and is the first chairwoman of the Justice Society of America. She sports a bob of blond hair; wears a distinctive white, red, and blue costume; and has an aggressive fighting style.\",\n \"She sports a bob of blond hair; wears a distinctive white, red, and blue costume; and has an aggressive fighting style. Throughout her early appearances in All Star Comics, she is often at odds with Wildcat because his penchant for talking to her as if she were an ordinary human female rather than a superpowered Kryptonian annoys her. She also fought alongside the Sovereign Seven team, replacing Rampart after his death though that series is not considered to be part of canon in the DC universe.\",\n \"She also fought alongside the Sovereign Seven team, replacing Rampart after his death though that series is not considered to be part of canon in the DC universe. The 1985 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths eliminated Earth-Two, causing her origin to change; she became the granddaughter of the Atlantean sorcerer Arion. However, story events culminating in the 2005–2006 Infinite Crisis limited series restored her status as a refugee from the Krypton of the destroyed pre-Crisis Earth-Two universe.\",\n \"However, story events culminating in the 2005–2006 Infinite Crisis limited series restored her status as a refugee from the Krypton of the destroyed pre-Crisis Earth-Two universe. Like the original Kara's Streaky, Power Girl has a cat, featured in a story by Amanda Conner in Wonder Woman #600. Reception This version of Supergirl is ranked as the 153rd-greatest comic book character of all time by Wizard magazine.\",\n \"Reception This version of Supergirl is ranked as the 153rd-greatest comic book character of all time by Wizard magazine. IGN also ranked this version of Supergirl as the 94th-greatest comic book superhero, stating \\\"for a character born of the Silver Age that saw everything from a Super Baby to a Super Monkey, Kara Zor-El grew into something much more than simply another marketing ploy to slap an 'S' on.\\\"\",\n \"IGN also ranked this version of Supergirl as the 94th-greatest comic book superhero, stating \\\"for a character born of the Silver Age that saw everything from a Super Baby to a Super Monkey, Kara Zor-El grew into something much more than simply another marketing ploy to slap an 'S' on.\\\" In 2013 IGN ranked Supergirl as the 17th-greatest DC comic superhero, stating \\\"she was an early example of a female sidekick developing a large fanbase in her own right\\\", and \\\"Supergirl has been one of DC's most powerful heroes, and a standard to hold other female heroes against.\\\"\",\n \"In 2013 IGN ranked Supergirl as the 17th-greatest DC comic superhero, stating \\\"she was an early example of a female sidekick developing a large fanbase in her own right\\\", and \\\"Supergirl has been one of DC's most powerful heroes, and a standard to hold other female heroes against.\\\" Appearances Pre-Crisis 1959 to 1969: Action Comics #252 to #376. 1969 to 1972: Adventure Comics #381 to #424. 1972 to 1974: Supergirl #1 to #10.\",\n \"1972 to 1974: Supergirl #1 to #10. 1974 to 1982: Her comic merges with Jimmy Olsen's and Lois Lane's to become Superman Family #164 to #222. 1982 to 1984: The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl #1 to #13, Supergirl (vol. 2) #14 to #23. 2015: Convergence Kara Zor-El appeared in over 750 stories published by DC from 1959 to 1985.\",\n \"2015: Convergence Kara Zor-El appeared in over 750 stories published by DC from 1959 to 1985. Post-Crisis 2004 to 2005: Superman/Batman #8 to #13 and #19 2005 to 2011: Supergirl (vol. 5) #0 to #67 2006 to 2008: Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes (Legion of Super-Heroes vol. 5) #16 to #37 2007: Action Comics #850 2008: Final Crisis 2011 to 2015: New 52: Supergirl (vol.\",\n \"5) #16 to #37 2007: Action Comics #850 2008: Final Crisis 2011 to 2015: New 52: Supergirl (vol. 6) #1 to #40 2016 to current: Rebirth: Supergirl (vol. 7) #1 to current Kara Zor-El also appears as a supporting character in several issues of other DC Comics, including Superman, Action Comics, Teen Titans, Amazons Attack, World War III, and Wonder Girl.\",\n \"7) #1 to current Kara Zor-El also appears as a supporting character in several issues of other DC Comics, including Superman, Action Comics, Teen Titans, Amazons Attack, World War III, and Wonder Girl. She has also appeared in many issues of Superman, Action Comics, and Superman New Krypton starting with the World Without Superman event in 2009, and continuing with the World Against Superman event going into 2010. Collected editions Listed in chronological order.\",\n \"Collected editions Listed in chronological order. Collected editions Listed in chronological order. All ages titles are not in continuity with the original or modern Kara. In other media Television Live-action Smallville Prior to the seventh season (2007–2008) of the WB/CW show Smallville where she is introduced into the cast and is portrayed by Laura Vandervoort, a woman claiming to be Kara (portrayed by Adrianne Palicki) is briefly introduced in the season 3 finale.\",\n \"In other media Television Live-action Smallville Prior to the seventh season (2007–2008) of the WB/CW show Smallville where she is introduced into the cast and is portrayed by Laura Vandervoort, a woman claiming to be Kara (portrayed by Adrianne Palicki) is briefly introduced in the season 3 finale. It is later revealed her real name is Lindsey Harrison, and had been given false memories and powers by the artificial intelligence of Clark Kent's (Tom Welling) father Jor-El as part of a series of tests.\",\n \"It is later revealed her real name is Lindsey Harrison, and had been given false memories and powers by the artificial intelligence of Clark Kent's (Tom Welling) father Jor-El as part of a series of tests. Vandervoort portrays the real Kara, Clark's cousin whose spaceship had been trapped in stasis until the events of the season 6 finale. Much of season 7 is concerned with Kara's attempts to adjust to life on Earth, especially after learning of Krypton's destruction.\",\n \"Much of season 7 is concerned with Kara's attempts to adjust to life on Earth, especially after learning of Krypton's destruction. Her storyline sees her simultaneously become the object of Lex Luthor's (Michael Rosenbaum) obsessions and Jimmy Olsen's (Aaron Ashmore) affections, suffer a bout of amnesia, discover her father's (Christopher Heyerdahl) sinister motives and become a target of evil android Brainiac (James Marsters). The season finale sees Kara become trapped in the Phantom Zone.\",\n \"The season finale sees Kara become trapped in the Phantom Zone. Starting with season 8, Vandervoort ceases to feature as a series regular, but reprises the role three more times. In her first guest appearance, \\\"Bloodline,\\\" Kara is freed from the Phantom Zone and later departs Clark's hometown of Smallville to search for Kandor, her birthplace, as it is rumored to have survived their home planet's destruction.\",\n \"In her first guest appearance, \\\"Bloodline,\\\" Kara is freed from the Phantom Zone and later departs Clark's hometown of Smallville to search for Kandor, her birthplace, as it is rumored to have survived their home planet's destruction. She appears again in the season 10 episode \\\"Supergirl\\\", in which she formally adopts her superhero moniker. Her off-screen adventures are alluded to thereafter.\",\n \"Her off-screen adventures are alluded to thereafter. Her off-screen adventures are alluded to thereafter. Vandervoort makes a final appearance in the show's penultimate episode, \\\"Prophecy\\\", in which she helps Green Arrow (Justin Hartley) locate the \\\"Bow of Orion\\\" to use against Darkseid. She is then called to the Fortress of Solitude, where she learns from Jor-El that her job on Earth is done. Using a Legion of Super-Heroes flight ring, she travels to the future to seek her own destiny.\",\n \"Using a Legion of Super-Heroes flight ring, she travels to the future to seek her own destiny. The Season Eleven comic book continuation of the show later depicts Kara's continued story in the 31st century, subsequent return to the present and joining the Justice League. Arrowverse In September 2014, a 22-episode television series centered around Supergirl was in development at Warner Bros. Television, set to premiere on CBS with a January 2015 air date. Melissa Benoist was cast as the titular character.\",\n \"Melissa Benoist was cast as the titular character. Melissa Benoist was cast as the titular character. In May 2016, the series moved to The CW and was later integrated into the Arrowverse, a shared universe consisting of shows including Arrow, The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow. In the series, Kara Zor-El was sent to Earth to protect her cousin Kal-El, following her homeworld Krypton's destruction. However, she is knocked into the Phantom Zone, where she is stranded for 24 years.\",\n \"However, she is knocked into the Phantom Zone, where she is stranded for 24 years. She eventually crash lands on Earth and is found by her already grown-up cousin Kal, now known to the world as the iconic superhero \\\"Superman\\\". Superman brings Kara into the custody of Jeremiah Danvers, director of the Department of Extranormal Operations (D.E.O. ), and his daughter Alex. Growing up, Kara struggles to maintain her Kryptonian abilities as well as balancing her relationship with her adoptive sister.\",\n \"Growing up, Kara struggles to maintain her Kryptonian abilities as well as balancing her relationship with her adoptive sister. Eventually, the two bond when Kara's powers are exposed. However, Jeremiah decides it's best to isolate her abilities. As an adult, Kara is forced to use her powers again when her sister's plane almost crashes. She is later dubbed \\\"Supergirl\\\" by the media and dons a costume like her cousin.\",\n \"She is later dubbed \\\"Supergirl\\\" by the media and dons a costume like her cousin. Kara decides to use her abilities to fight alien invaders such as Kara's aunt Astra and her husband Non, Mon-El's rogue parents, the Worldkiller Reign, anti-alien activist Ben Lockwood, and later the shadowy organization Leviathan, with the help of her sister Alex, now an agent of the D.E.O., her best friend and tech-expert Winn Schott, last of the Green Martians J'onn J'onzz / Martian Manhunter, and Kal's best friend Jimmy Olsen.\",\n \"Kara decides to use her abilities to fight alien invaders such as Kara's aunt Astra and her husband Non, Mon-El's rogue parents, the Worldkiller Reign, anti-alien activist Ben Lockwood, and later the shadowy organization Leviathan, with the help of her sister Alex, now an agent of the D.E.O., her best friend and tech-expert Winn Schott, last of the Green Martians J'onn J'onzz / Martian Manhunter, and Kal's best friend Jimmy Olsen. She is later joined by Lex Luthor's sister Lena, Prince of Daxam Mon-El, former Legion of Superheroes member Querl \\\"Brainy\\\" Dox / Brainiac 5, Nia Nal / Dreamer, James' younger sister Kelly, and reporter Willam Dey face against these rival forces.\",\n \"She is later joined by Lex Luthor's sister Lena, Prince of Daxam Mon-El, former Legion of Superheroes member Querl \\\"Brainy\\\" Dox / Brainiac 5, Nia Nal / Dreamer, James' younger sister Kelly, and reporter Willam Dey face against these rival forces. After joining the Arrowverse, which contain annual crossover, Kara assists Barry Allen, Oliver Queen and the Legends of Tomorrow against threats on their designated earth \\\"Earth-1\\\" while Kara’s is designated as \\\"Earth-38.\",\n \"After joining the Arrowverse, which contain annual crossover, Kara assists Barry Allen, Oliver Queen and the Legends of Tomorrow against threats on their designated earth \\\"Earth-1\\\" while Kara’s is designated as \\\"Earth-38. Later, Kara is selected by The Monitor as the Paragon of Hope to participate in the coming crisis and fight against the Anti-Monitor, whose goal is to destroy the multiverse. After doing so, the Paragons are sent to the Vanishing Point where Oliver, now a Spectre, helps them escape.\",\n \"After doing so, the Paragons are sent to the Vanishing Point where Oliver, now a Spectre, helps them escape. The Paragons appear at the dawn of time in the anti-matter universe where they have their final confrontation with the Anti-Monitor. Eventually, Oliver sacrifices himself to kill the Anti-Monitor, and as a result, a new multiverse is born with Earth-38 and Earth-1 merged into \\\"Earth-Prime\\\". Following the crisis, Kara is forced to deal the after-effects of Crisis which include working with Lex, now owning the D.E.O.\",\n \"Following the crisis, Kara is forced to deal the after-effects of Crisis which include working with Lex, now owning the D.E.O. while Leviathan continue their covert operations under Gamemnae. The sixth season sees Kara and her allies expose Lex's crimes, but are then forced to deal with Nyxlygsptlnz, a fifth-dimensional imp who tricked the heroes into releasing her from the Phantom Zone.\",\n \"The sixth season sees Kara and her allies expose Lex's crimes, but are then forced to deal with Nyxlygsptlnz, a fifth-dimensional imp who tricked the heroes into releasing her from the Phantom Zone. Eventually Nyxlygsptlnz joins forces with Lex Luthor and the two kill William, but Kara's assembled allies are able to defeat the two, culminating in Lex and Nyxlygsptlnz being trapped in the Phantom Zone when one of their own plans backfires.\",\n \"Eventually Nyxlygsptlnz joins forces with Lex Luthor and the two kill William, but Kara's assembled allies are able to defeat the two, culminating in Lex and Nyxlygsptlnz being trapped in the Phantom Zone when one of their own plans backfires. The series concludes with Kara revealing her dual identity so that she can live a full life as one person. Animation DC Nation Shorts Supergirl appears with Batgirl and Wonder Girl in Super Best Friends Forever, voiced by Nicole Sullivan.\",\n \"Animation DC Nation Shorts Supergirl appears with Batgirl and Wonder Girl in Super Best Friends Forever, voiced by Nicole Sullivan. DC Super Hero Girls Supergirl appears as a central protagonist in the web series DC Super Hero Girls voiced by Anais Fairweather, and is a student at Super Hero High, is very kind and caring and extremely powerful but she's also very clumsy. She also appears as a central protagonist in the 2019 TV series, with Nicole Sullivan reprising her role from the Super Best Friends Forever shorts.\",\n \"She also appears as a central protagonist in the 2019 TV series, with Nicole Sullivan reprising her role from the Super Best Friends Forever shorts. In this version, she is also a rebel and is known as the \\\"cool kid\\\" in school. She may be tough but she can easily express her emotions and is very open-minded as well. She can be a cool friend and a helpful one, but she can also be jealous sometimes and she dislikes her cousin's prominence.\",\n \"She can be a cool friend and a helpful one, but she can also be jealous sometimes and she dislikes her cousin's prominence. Justice League Action Supergirl appears in Justice League Action, voiced by Joanne Spracklen. She has the appearance of a wide-eyed human teenager with blonde hair and wears her traditional costume except that it has thigh-high boots and a pleated skirt. As a person, she is youthful, responsible, and shows much affection for her cousin Superman.\",\n \"As a person, she is youthful, responsible, and shows much affection for her cousin Superman. In \\\"Party Animal\\\", she appears as a cameo at this Christmas party with the Justice League. In \\\"Keeping up with the Kryptonians\\\", Supergirl becomes a star of the popular reality show \\\"That's So Kara\\\", and Superman a Kasnian who rules from one place to another on Earth, all being a reality caused by Mister Mxyzptlk.\",\n \"In \\\"Keeping up with the Kryptonians\\\", Supergirl becomes a star of the popular reality show \\\"That's So Kara\\\", and Superman a Kasnian who rules from one place to another on Earth, all being a reality caused by Mister Mxyzptlk. In \\\"Unleashed\\\", Supergirl accompanies Justice League in stopping Red Lantern Corps, unaware that it was a distraction made by Dex-Starr to invade Earth, until it was ultimately resolved by Krypto, Streaky, and Plastic Man.\",\n \"In \\\"Unleashed\\\", Supergirl accompanies Justice League in stopping Red Lantern Corps, unaware that it was a distraction made by Dex-Starr to invade Earth, until it was ultimately resolved by Krypto, Streaky, and Plastic Man. In a short \\\"The Goddess Must Be Crazy\\\", Supergirl trains with Wonder Woman in Paradise Island, until she is possessed by Felix Faust, to destroy the island. Film Superman film series A live action depiction of Supergirl first appears in the eponymous 1984 film starring Helen Slater as Supergirl.\",\n \"Film Superman film series A live action depiction of Supergirl first appears in the eponymous 1984 film starring Helen Slater as Supergirl. The film is a spin-off from the Superman film series starring Christopher Reeve, to which it is connected by Marc McClure's character of Jimmy Olsen. DC Extended Universe Kara Zor-El / Linda Danvers / Supergirl exists within the DC Extended Universe, as she was referenced in Man of Steel when Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman discovers an empty pod within the Kryptonian scout spaceship.\",\n \"DC Extended Universe Kara Zor-El / Linda Danvers / Supergirl exists within the DC Extended Universe, as she was referenced in Man of Steel when Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman discovers an empty pod within the Kryptonian scout spaceship. Though Zack Snyder confirmed in August 2018 that even though the character does exist, that pod was not intended for her. In August 2018, a film centered around the character was announced to be in development, with Oren Uziel hired as screenwriter for the project.\",\n \"In August 2018, a film centered around the character was announced to be in development, with Oren Uziel hired as screenwriter for the project. The studio intends to hire a female director, with Reed Morano—who has expressed interest in the project—being its top choice. Filming was expected to start production in early 2020. Sasha Calle will play Supergirl for the DC Extended Universe in The Flash.\",\n \"Sasha Calle will play Supergirl for the DC Extended Universe in The Flash. Animation Summer Glau voices the post-Crisis version of Kara Zor-El in Superman/Batman: Apocalypse, which is based on the Superman/Batman storyline \\\"The Supergirl from Krypton\\\". Despite this, it was confirmed by director Lauren Montgomery that Supergirl's name was removed from the title due to the much slower sales of the previous Wonder Woman animated movie, and the character was not permitted to appear on the cover in her trademark outfit.\",\n \"Despite this, it was confirmed by director Lauren Montgomery that Supergirl's name was removed from the title due to the much slower sales of the previous Wonder Woman animated movie, and the character was not permitted to appear on the cover in her trademark outfit. Molly Quinn voices Supergirl in Superman: Unbound. Supergirl appears in Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League: Cosmic Clash, voiced by Jessica DiCicco. Video games Supergirl appears in DC Universe Online, voiced by Adriene Mishler.\",\n \"Video games Supergirl appears in DC Universe Online, voiced by Adriene Mishler. In the villain campaign, the players help Doctor Psycho capture Supergirl using Kryptonite. In the hero campaign, the players fight Doctor Psycho to save Supergirl. Under the thrall of Brainiac, she must be defeated in the Fortress of Solitude: Power Core raid. Supergirl is unlockable in Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes, voiced by Bridget Hoffman. Supergirl makes a cameo appearance in the IOS version of Injustice: Gods Among Us as a support card.\",\n \"Supergirl makes a cameo appearance in the IOS version of Injustice: Gods Among Us as a support card. Supergirl appears as a playable character in Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham, voiced by Kari Wahlgren. She is playable in her default variant which is designed after her appearance in The New 52 and in her Classic attire.\",\n \"She is playable in her default variant which is designed after her appearance in The New 52 and in her Classic attire. Her Classic variant is unlocked in a VR Mission while her New 52 variant is unlocked in a Hub Quest in Nok where she requests players to defeat a number of enemies she accidentally releases from their cells. Supergirl appears as a playable character in Infinite Crisis, voiced by Camilla Luddington.\",\n \"Supergirl appears as a playable character in Infinite Crisis, voiced by Camilla Luddington. Supergirl appears as a playable character and the central protagonist in Injustice 2 by NetherRealm Studios, the sequel to Injustice: Gods Among Us, voiced by Laura Bailey.\",\n \"Supergirl appears as a playable character and the central protagonist in Injustice 2 by NetherRealm Studios, the sequel to Injustice: Gods Among Us, voiced by Laura Bailey. Here her origin is much like in the comics where she is sent along with her cousin Kal-El to Earth by her mother after Krypton is destroyed but on separate pods where hers veers off-course after sustaining significant damage, stranding her in space for many years until she lands on Earth, unaged.\",\n \"Here her origin is much like in the comics where she is sent along with her cousin Kal-El to Earth by her mother after Krypton is destroyed but on separate pods where hers veers off-course after sustaining significant damage, stranding her in space for many years until she lands on Earth, unaged. When the main storyline starts, she is residing on Black Adam's kingdom of Khandaq, apparently under his and Wonder Woman's protection.\",\n \"When the main storyline starts, she is residing on Black Adam's kingdom of Khandaq, apparently under his and Wonder Woman's protection. When Brainiac who was responsible for Krypton's destruction attacks, she, Wonder Woman, and Black Adam attempt to free Superman and the remaining members of the Regime, while being interrupted in their efforts by new Insurgency recruits Blue Beetle and Firestorm until Batman himself arrives and releases Superman, leading to a temporary alliance between the Regime and Insurgency against the alien warlord.\",\n \"When Brainiac who was responsible for Krypton's destruction attacks, she, Wonder Woman, and Black Adam attempt to free Superman and the remaining members of the Regime, while being interrupted in their efforts by new Insurgency recruits Blue Beetle and Firestorm until Batman himself arrives and releases Superman, leading to a temporary alliance between the Regime and Insurgency against the alien warlord. Over the course of the story, she learns the truth about her cousin's tyranny and at the end of the game sides with Batman, Green Lantern and Flash in letting Brainiac live in order to restore the lost cities but is defeated.\",\n \"Over the course of the story, she learns the truth about her cousin's tyranny and at the end of the game sides with Batman, Green Lantern and Flash in letting Brainiac live in order to restore the lost cities but is defeated. In Batman's ending, she laments her cousin's tyranny and sees him leave to be imprisoned in the Phantom Zone and is offered membership by Batman in his Justice League.\",\n \"In Batman's ending, she laments her cousin's tyranny and sees him leave to be imprisoned in the Phantom Zone and is offered membership by Batman in his Justice League. In Superman's ending, she is imprisoned aboard Brainiac's ship and to her shock discovers her cousin has bonded with it and when she refuses his offer to join him in leading his new legion of imprisoned species. He attempts to coerce her by revealing a brainwashed Batman, who had also been captured, further shocking her.\",\n \"He attempts to coerce her by revealing a brainwashed Batman, who had also been captured, further shocking her. Supergirl appears as a limited-distribution minifigure for the toys-to-life video game Lego Dimensions, with Kari Wahlgren reprising her role. She has the ability to transform between her classic and Red Lantern forms. Supergirl appears as a playable character in DC Unchained. Supergirl appears in the PSP version of Justice League Heroes. Supergirl appears as a playable character in the DC TV Super-Heroes DLC pack in Lego DC Super-Villains.\",\n \"Supergirl appears as a playable character in the DC TV Super-Heroes DLC pack in Lego DC Super-Villains. See also Alternative versions of Supergirl Laurel Gand References External links DC Comics Pre-Crisis Supergirl Chronology Supergirl Characters created by Otto Binder Comics characters introduced in 1958 Comics characters introduced in 1959 DC Comics aliens DC Comics American superheroes DC Comics characters who can move at superhuman speeds DC Comics characters with accelerated healing DC Comics characters with superhuman strength DC Comics deities DC Comics female superheroes DC Comics film characters DC Comics television characters DC Comics extraterrestrial superheroes Female characters in television Fictional characters with superhuman senses Fictional actors Fictional extraterrestrial–human hybrids Fictional orphans Fictional photographers Fictional refugees Fictional reporters Fictional school counselors Fictional American secret agents Fictional waiting staff Kryptonians Superheroes who are adopted Vigilante characters in comics\"\n]"}}},{"rowIdx":391,"cells":{"History":{"kind":"list like","value":["Supergirl (Kara Zor-El)","Bronze Age","whaat is the bronze age","After long-time Superman family editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971,","what happened during the bronze age","the character underwent revitalization under editor Joe Orlando and artist Mike Sekowsky.","anything intresting happen","leaving her adopted foster home with the Danvers family, Linda goes on to San Francisco where she works for KSF-TV as a camera operator","what else happened","These stories introduced Supergirl's most memorable villain from this period: Lex Luthor's niece Nasthalthia, or Nasty."],"string":"[\n \"Supergirl (Kara Zor-El)\",\n \"Bronze Age\",\n \"whaat is the bronze age\",\n \"After long-time Superman family editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971,\",\n \"what happened during the bronze age\",\n \"the character underwent revitalization under editor Joe Orlando and artist Mike Sekowsky.\",\n \"anything intresting happen\",\n \"leaving her adopted foster home with the Danvers family, Linda goes on to San Francisco where she works for KSF-TV as a camera operator\",\n \"what else happened\",\n \"These stories introduced Supergirl's most memorable villain from this period: Lex Luthor's niece Nasthalthia, or Nasty.\"\n]"},"QuAC_dialog_id":{"kind":"string","value":"C_eaa7329c3ac14b8bb4aaea61d8fa517d_1"},"Question":{"kind":"string","value":"why her SG and nasty feud"},"Question_no":{"kind":"number","value":5,"string":"5"},"Rewrite":{"kind":"string","value":"why did supergirl and nasty feud"},"true_page_title":{"kind":"string","value":"Supergirl (Kara Zor-El)"},"true_contexts":{"kind":"string","value":"After long-time Superman family editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971, the character underwent revitalization under editor Joe Orlando and artist Mike Sekowsky. Wearing a series of new outfits, leaving her adopted foster home with the Danvers family, Linda goes on to San Francisco where she works for KSF-TV as a camera operator and develops a crush on her boss, Geoffrey Anderson. These stories introduced Supergirl's most memorable villain from this period: Lex Luthor's niece Nasthalthia, or Nasty. Nasty had made two appearances towards the end of Linda's college years, then pursued her to KSF-TV, trying to secure proof of her dual identity. Supergirl starred in her first solo eponymous monthly series beginning in 1972 until October 1974, when her monthly title merged with Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane, and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen to produce a new title: then-highest DC selling series called The Superman Family, where she eventually became the steady lead story. Linda worked as a student advisor at New Athens Experimental School, before leaving for New York to follow a career in acting with daytime soap Secret Hearts. In 1982 Supergirl received a second monthly solo series titled The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl, relocating the character to Chicago as Linda became a mature student of Psychology. Industry legend, and former DC Publisher, Carmine Infantino provided the pencilled art (Bob Oksner inked). With issue 13 the title was revamped, with a new costume design (sporting a red headband) and the title shortened to just Supergirl. The series ran until sudden cancellation in 1984, only two months before the character's debut in a big-budget Hollywood film starring Helen Slater. In the Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985) the greatest heroes from Earth-One, Earth-Two, Earth-Four, Earth-S, and Earth-X join forces in order to defeat the Anti-Monitor. When Superman comes face to face with the Anti-Monitor and is knocked unconscious, Supergirl rushes to save him before he is killed. She is able to fight him off long enough for Dr. Light to carry her cousin to a safe distance, but is killed by the Anti-Monitor. A public memorial service for Supergirl takes place in Chicago, where Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) delivers the eulogy. In her remarks she states \"Kara is a hero. She will not be forgotten.\" Superman then gives his late cousin burial by taking her corpse to Rokyn/New Krypton to Zor-El and Allura. A Superman issue the next month reveals that Kara had experienced a premonition about her own passing. However, when the universe is rebooted, the timeline is altered. Kara Zor-El and all memory of her is erased from existence. CANNOTANSWER"},"answer":{"kind":"string","value":"Nasty had made two appearances towards the end of Linda's college years, then pursued her to KSF-TV, trying to secure proof of her dual identity."},"true_contexts_wiki":{"kind":"string","value":"Kara Zor-El, also known by her adoptive names of Linda Lee Danvers, Kara Kent, Linda Lang, and Kara Danvers, and the superhero name of Supergirl, is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. She was created by Otto Binder and designed by Al Plastino. Danvers first appeared in Action Comics #252 (May 1959)'s \"The Supergirl from Krypton\" story. Kara is the biological cousin of Kal-El, who went on to adopt the name of Clark Kent and the superhero Superman. During the 1980s and the revolution of the Modern Age of Comics, Superman editors believed the character's history had become too convoluted, thus killing Supergirl during the 1985 Crisis on Infinite Earths event and retconning her out of existence.\n\nDC Comics Senior Vice President Dan DiDio re-introduced the character in 2004 along with editor Eddie Berganza and writer Jeph Loeb, with her the Superman/Batman storyline \"The Supergirl from Krypton\". As the current Supergirl, Kara stars in her own monthly comic book series. With DC's The New 52 relaunch, Kara, like most of the DC Universe, was revamped. DC relaunched the Supergirl comic in August 2016 as part of their DC Rebirth initiative.\n\nIn live-action, Supergirl appeared in the 1984 film based on her character and was portrayed by Helen Slater. She also appeared in the series Smallville, played by actress Laura Vandervoort. In 2015, the live-action Arrowverse series Supergirl debuted on CBS and then moved to The CW after the first season. Supergirl was portrayed by Melissa Benoist on the show and also appeared on other Arrowverse shows. Sasha Calle will appear as Supergirl in the upcoming DC Extended Universe film The Flash (2022).\n\nPublication history\n\nEarly life\nAlthough Kara Zor-El was the first character to use the name \"Supergirl,\" DC Comics tested three different female versions of Superman prior to her debut. \n\nThe first story to feature a female counterpart to Superman was \"Lois Lane – Superwoman,\" which was published in Action Comics #60 (May 1943). In the story, a hospitalized Lois Lane dreams she has gained superpowers thanks to a blood transfusion from the Man of Steel. She begins her own career as \"Superwoman\", complete with a version of Superman's costume.\n\nIn the Superboy #78 story entitled \"Claire Kent, Alias Super-Sister\", Superboy saves the life of an alien woman named Shar-La, who turns Superboy into a girl, in retaliation for his disparaging thoughts about women drivers which she picked up telepathically. In Smallville, Clark claims to be Claire Kent, an out-of-town relative who is staying with the Kents. When in costume, he appears as Superboy's sister, Super-Sister, and claims the two have exchanged places. Once Superboy has learned his lesson about feeling more respect for women, Shar-La reveals the episode to be a dream which she projected into Superboy's mind.\n\nIn Superman #123 (August 1958), Jimmy Olsen uses a magic totem to wish a \"Super-Girl\" into existence as a companion and aid to Superman; however, the two frequently get in each other's way until she is fatally injured protecting Superman from a Kryptonite meteor. At her insistence, Jimmy wishes the dying girl out of existence. DC used this story to gauge public response to the concept of a completely new super-powered female counterpart to Superman.\n\nThe Kara Zor-El version of Supergirl finally appeared in Action Comics #252 (May 1959). Otto Binder wrote and Al Plastino illustrated her début story, in which Kara was born and raised in Argo City (unnamed until later issues), a fragment of Krypton that survived destruction. When the city is doomed by a meteor shower, Kara is sent to Earth by her parents, Zor-El and Alura (the latter unnamed until later issues), to be raised by her cousin Kal-El, known as Superman. Supergirl adopted the secret identity of an orphan \"Linda Lee\", and made Midvale Orphanage her home. Supergirl promised Superman that she would keep her existence on Earth a secret, so that he may use her as a \"secret weapon\", but that didn't stop Supergirl from exploring her new powers covertly. Action Comics #255 published reader's letters-of-comment to Supergirl's first appearance; she had allegedly generated a sizeable and mostly positive reaction.\n\nSupergirl, from her debut onwards, became a regular backup strip in Action Comics. She joined the Legion of Super-Heroes, like her cousin had done as a teenager, and in Action Comics #279 (July 1961) she was adopted by Fred and Edna Danvers, becoming \"Linda Lee Danvers\". Supergirl acted for three years as Superman's secret weapon, and her adventures during that time have been compared to contemporary developments in feminist thinking in work such as Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique. She was at last introduced by her super-powered cousin to an unsuspecting world in Action Comics #285 (February 1962).\n\nDuring her first quarter of a century, Linda Danvers would have many professions, from student to student advisor, to actor, and even TV camera operator. She shared Action Comics with Superman until transferring to the lead in Adventure Comics at the end of the 1960s. In 1972 she finally moved to her own short-lived eponymous magazine, before DC merged its Supergirl, Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen titles into a single anthology title named The Superman Family. In 1982 Supergirl was relaunched into her own magazine.\n\nDeath during Crisis on Infinite Earths\n\nIn 1985, the maxi-series Crisis on Infinite Earths was conceived as a way to reduce DC continuity to a single universe in which all characters maintained a single history. Despite Supergirl's continued popularity and status as a central member of the \"Superman Family\", the editors at DC Comics and the creators of the maxi-series decided to kill Supergirl off during the Crisis. According to Marv Wolfman, writer of Crisis on Infinite Earths:\n\nThe idea of killing Supergirl was first conceived by DC's vice president/executive editor Dick Giordano, who lobbied for the death to DC's publishers. He later said he has never had any regrets about this, explaining, \"Supergirl was created initially to take advantage of the high Superman sales and not much thought was put into her creation. She was created essentially as a female Superman. With time, writers and artists improved upon her execution, but she never did really add anything to the Superman mythos—at least not for me.\" The poor initial reception of the 1984 film Supergirl was also blamed by some sources.\n\nIn 1989, in the tale \"Christmas with the Super-Heroes\" the soul of Kara appears to Boston \"Deadman\" Brand, cheers him up, and then disappears from continuity until 2001 (see below).\n\nSeveral characters unrelated to Superman soon took on the Supergirl persona, including the Matrix (a shapeshifting genetically engineered life-form that 'defaulted' as Supergirl), Linda Danvers (the result of Matrix merging with the dying Linda Danvers and becoming an Earth-bound angel of fire), and Cir-El (Superman's apparent daughter from a possible future).\n\nA heroine resembling the Pre-Crisis Kara would later appear in Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #5, along with an entire army of Legionnaires gathered from alternate worlds, times, and realities, to battle the Time Trapper.\n\nTwo Supergirls meet \nPrior to the post-Crisis introduction of Kara Zor-El into mainstream continuity, the pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El made an appearance in Peter David's Supergirl: Many Happy Returns. The then-current Supergirl series, at the time starring Linda Danvers, was in danger of cancellation and Peter David thought a story arc involving Kara Zor-El would be enough to revitalize the series. In an interview with Cliff Biggers of Newsarama, David states:\n\nIn the Linda Danvers' Supergirl series issues 49 and 50 (October and November 2000), the original dead Kara appears as Linda's \"guardian angel\". Then in issues 75 to 80, \"Many Happy Returns\", a young Kara appears from an earlier time long before the Crisis. The paradox becomes a moral crisis for Linda who tries to take her place as the Crisis sacrifice, living for years in a Silver Age universe where \"no one swears, the villains are always easy to defeat, and everything's very, very clean\", eventually marrying the Silver Age Superman and having a daughter with him, before she is forced to return to her universe by the Spectre when he reveals that her efforts to replace Kara as the sacrifice will not succeed. This run was illustrated by Ed Benes who had also illustrated Gail Simone's Birds of Prey which had a similar whimsical camaraderie between its female leads.\n\nLinda's inability to ultimately save Kara, coupled with the loss of her daughter, is so devastating that it ends her own career as Supergirl, Linda leaving a note for Superman where she explains that she feels that she has failed to live up to the standards of a true Supergirl and choosing to go somewhere she cannot be found. This story arc is usually cited as one of the best Supergirl stories ever written. The series ended with issue 80.\n\nRevival \n\nAfter the launch of the Superman/Batman comic book series, executive editor Dan DiDio had been looking for a way to simplify the Supergirl character from her convoluted post-Crisis history; the simplest version, of course, was Superman's cousin. Jeph Loeb and editor Eddie Berganza found an opening to reintroduce the character following the conclusion of the first story arc of Superman/Batman. Loeb states:\n\nThe modern version of Kara Zor-El made her debut in Superman/Batman #8 (2004). Kara takes the mantle of Supergirl at the conclusion of the storyline. The Supergirl comic book series would later be relaunched, now starring Kara Zor-El as \"The Girl of Steel\". The first arc of the new series was written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by Ian Churchill. Loeb would later describe the appeal of writing for Supergirl:\n\nAs the character continued to be reinvented, steps towards regarding the iconic character were some of the most prominent changes. Artist Jamal Igle and editor Matt Idleson moved to transition the character away from red panties under her skirt to biker shorts, feeling such a change was a logical progression and \"more respectable.\"\n\nThe New 52\nIn September 2011, DC Comics began The New 52, in which it canceled all of its monthly superhero titles and relaunched 52 new ones, wiping out most of its past continuity in the process. One of the new titles was a new Supergirl series (Volume 6) that featured a new origin for Kara and was published between 2011 and 2015. Artist Mahmud Asrar designed a new costume for the character which strongly deviated from her classic, \"cheerleader\" suit, a change which generated criticism from some readers.\n\nDC Rebirth\nThe 2016 DC Comics title relaunch Rebirth incorporates several elements (such as the costume, the name, the setting, and some characters) from the Supergirl television series. The DC Rebirth initiative undid the New 52's modern recreations, bringing DC's heroes back to their more classic iterations. Supergirl's new series (Volume 7) was titled Supergirl: Rebirth, written by Steven Orlando. The first arc was penciled by Brian Ching, who also redesigned Supergirl's costume in reference to a more classic look. In April 2018, it was announced that the title would be canceled after issue #20, only to be revived in August that year under a new creative team, with new writer Marc Andreyko and artist Kevin Maguire. The series ended with its 42nd issue.\n\nFuture State: Kara Zor-El, Superwoman\nThe Future State comics propose a possible future for Kara Zor-El, now an adult and having taken the alias of Superwoman. She leaves Earth to become a guardian of the Moon, which has become a refugee colony for aliens from the entire universe. The series was written by Marguerite Bennet and penciled by Marguerite Sauvage.\n\nSupergirl: Woman of Tomorrow\nUnder the Infinite Frontier brand, Kara's next series Woman of Tomorrow debuted in June 2021, written by Tom King and penciled by Brazilian artists Bilquis Evely and Mat Lopes. The arc introduces Supergirl to new character grounds as she begins the story as a young woman, celebrating her 21st birthday and helping a young alien in her quest for revenge. The \"mentor-mentee journey on revenge\" plot is, according to King, inspired by the original novel and both versions of True Grit. \n\nIn this series, the creators paid homage to Linda Danvers, as Kara manifests flame wings and powers after taking a red kryptonite drug, in order to save her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon.\n\nFictional character biography\n\nSilver Age\nIn her debut story, Kara Zor-El is the last survivor of Argo City of the planet Krypton. Although Argo, which had survived the explosion of the planet, drifted through space as a self-sustaining environment, the soil of the colony eventually turned into Kryptonite; and though Kara's father Zor-El placed lead sheeting above the ground to protect the citizens from radiation, meteorites pierced the sheeting, and the Kryptonians died of radiation poisoning instead of replacing the metal.\n\nIn Supergirl's subsequent backup feature in Action Comics drawn by artist Jim Mooney for ten years until 1968, Supergirl adopts the identity of Linda Lee, an orphan at Midvale Orphanage presided over by headmistress Miss Hart. She disguises herself by hiding her blond hair beneath a brunette wig; Supergirl interacts with humans on a person-to-person basis performing good deeds and saving the world by helping one person at a time, and she also devises clever schemes as \"Superman's Secret Weapon,\" saving him many times and avoiding adoption before Superman can introduce her publicly.\n\nWhile temporarily powerless due to the scheming of Kandorian scientist Lesla-Lar, who is out to supplant her on Earth, Linda allows herself to be adopted by engineer and rocket scientist Fred Danvers and his wife, Edna. In time, she reveals her secret identity to her adoptive parents on the same day her cousin Superman finally introduces her to the world in the finale of then-DC's longest playing series ever (eight chapters) aptly called \"The World's Greatest Heroine\".\n\nWhen frequent dreams about her parents being alive turn out to be real, she builds a machine aided by her engineer father's talent, and brings them both back alive from the \"Survival Zone\" where they had both teleported during Argo City's final moments. Zor-El and Allura eventually end up living in Kandor, and when the city in the bottle is enlarged, they both go on to live in Rokyn/New Krypton, where they have the sad duty of receiving her mortal remains after \"Crisis\" for burial.\n\nGraduating from high school in 1965, Linda Lee goes to college on a scholarship and stays in Stanhope College until she graduates in 1971. During this era, she is helped by her pet cat Streaky, her Super-Horse pet Comet, and befriends Lena Thorul, who had first appeared in the Lois Lane series. Kara is also a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, where she becomes close to Brainiac 5. In addition, Linda has boyfriends from the orphanage (Richard \"Dick\" Malverne) and from Atlantis (Jerro the merboy).\n\nIn 1967, Supergirl meets Batgirl for the first time in World's Finest Comics. Developing a strong friendship, the two characters teamed up many times again, as in Superman Family #171, or Adventure #381.\nIn 1969, Supergirl left Action Comics and became a featured character in Adventure Comics beginning with issue #381 (June 1969).\n\nDuring the 1970s, Supergirl's costume changed frequently, as did her career in her civilian life. In her secret identity as Linda Lee Danvers, Kara Zor-El took a variety of jobs including graduate student in acting, television camera operator, and student counselor, and finally became an actress on the TV soap Secret Hearts.\n\nBronze Age\nAfter long-time Superman family editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971, the character underwent revitalization under editor Joe Orlando and artist Mike Sekowsky. Wearing a series of new outfits, leaving her adopted foster home with the Danvers family, Linda goes on to San Francisco where she works for KSF-TV as a camera operator and develops a crush on her boss, Geoffrey Anderson. These stories introduced Supergirl's most memorable villain from this period: Lex Luthor's niece Nasthalthia, or Nasty. Nasty had made two appearances towards the end of Linda's college years, then pursued her to KSF-TV, trying to secure proof of her dual identity.\n\nSupergirl starred in her first solo eponymous monthly series beginning in 1972 until October 1974, when her monthly title merged with Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane, and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen to produce a new title: then-highest DC selling series called The Superman Family, where she eventually became the steady lead story. Linda worked as a student advisor at New Athens Experimental School, before leaving for New York to follow a career in acting with daytime soap Secret Hearts.\n\nIn 1982 Supergirl received a second monthly solo series titled The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl, relocating the character to Chicago as Linda became a mature student of Psychology. Industry legend, and former DC Publisher, Carmine Infantino provided the penciled art (Bob Oksner inked). With issue 13 the title was revamped, with a new costume design (sporting a red headband) and the title shortened to just Supergirl. The series ran until sudden cancellation in 1984, only two months before the character's debut in a big-budget Hollywood film starring Helen Slater.\n\nIn the Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985), the greatest heroes from Earth-One, Earth-Two, Earth-Four, Earth-S, and Earth-X join forces in order to defeat the Anti-Monitor. When Superman comes face to face with the Anti-Monitor and is knocked unconscious, Supergirl rushes to save him before he is killed. She is able to fight him off long enough for Dr. Light to carry her cousin to a safe distance, but is killed by the Anti-Monitor. A public memorial service for Supergirl takes place in Chicago, where Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) delivers the eulogy. In her remarks, she states \"Kara is a hero. She will not be forgotten.\" Superman then gives his late cousin burial by taking her corpse to Rokyn/New Krypton to Zor-El and Allura. A Superman issue the next month reveals that Kara had experienced a premonition about her own passing. However, when the universe is rebooted, the timeline is altered. Kara Zor-El and all memory of her is erased from existence.\n\nEchoes\nAfter these events, the soul of Kara Zor-El made another appearance in continuity three years later in a story titled \"Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot\" in Christmas with the Super-Heroes #2 (1989). Within the story, Boston \"Deadman\" Brand tries to feel the warmth of Christmas by possessing revelers' bodies. Feeling guilty upon the realization that he has been stealing others' Christmases, he flies off feeling sorry for himself for being denied a reward after a year of helping people. A warmly dressed blonde woman approaches Brand, startling him. Somehow seeing the normally invisible Brand, she converses with him, reminding him,\n\nShe reminds Brand that even though he is dead, he is still human, and he should rejoice because it means his spirit is still alive. As the woman leaves, Brand asks her who she is, to which she replies, \"My name is Kara. Though I doubt that will mean anything to you.\" The story, written by Alan Brennert and penciled by Dick Giordano, is dedicated to Otto Binder and Jim Mooney, adding: \"We still remember.\"\n\nFinally, the soul of Kara Zor-El appeared twice during Peter David's run, specifically in issues #48 and #49 when she appears before a defeated and imprisoned then-Supergirl, Linda Danvers from Earth, and comforts her. Linda acknowledges she has been helped three times by her phantom-friend, and when she asks her name she is told by the smiling figure: \"I have gone by many names, but the one I am most fond of is: Kara!\"\n\nModern Age\n\nIn 2004, Jeph Loeb reintroduced Kara Zor-El into post-Zero Hour (Birthright timeline) continuity during a storyline in the series Superman/Batman. She is the biological cousin of Superman, and although chronologically older than him, the ship in which she traveled to Earth was caught in a large green Kryptonite meteorite which held her in a state of suspended animation for much of the journey, making her have the appearance of a 16-year-old girl. Still, Supergirl sometimes saw Superman as a child, due to last carrying him as a baby. DC Comics relaunched the Supergirl, the first story arc of which was written by Loeb. showcases Supergirl on a journey of self-discovery. Along her journey, she encounters Power Girl (Kara Zor-El's counterpart from another universe), the Teen Titans, the Outsiders, the Justice League of America, and arch-villain Lex Luthor.\n\nDuring the company-wide crossover series Infinite Crisis (2005), a sequel to Crisis on Infinite Earths, Supergirl is transported to the 31st century, where she is revered as a member of the Superman family and joins the Legion of Super-Heroes. DC Comics renamed the monthly series Legion of Super-Heroes to Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes. Beginning with issue #16. In the limited series 52, which chronicles the events that took place during the missing year after the end of Infinite Crisis, Donna Troy recalls the original Kara Zor-El and her sacrifice to save the universe. Supergirl returns to the 21st century during the course of 52. After briefly filling in for a temporarily depowered Superman as guardian of Metropolis, she assumes the identity of Flamebird to fight crime in the bottle city of Kandor with Power Girl as Nightwing in Greg Rucka's arc Supergirl: Kandor.\n\nIn 2007, Supergirl appeared in the miniseries Amazons Attack! That same year, she joined the Teen Titans for five issues.\n\nConversations with other heroes who maintain secret identities lead Kara to the conclusion that she needs to make a deeper connection with human beings. She accepts Lana Lang's proposal to present her to the Daily Planet staff as \"Linda Lang\", Lana's teenaged niece.\n\nIn the 2008–2009 \"New Krypton\" story arc, in which Superman discovers and frees the real Kandor and a large number of its citizens, Supergirl is reunited with her father, Zor-El and mother, Alura, though Zor-El is killed by the villain Reactron. When a planet is formed that the Kryptonians call New Krypton, Kara is torn between her life on Earth, and her obligation to her mother, eventually joining the New Krypton Science Guild.\n\nSupergirl subsequently appears in the 2009 miniseries Justice League: Cry for Justice, and the 2009–2010 storyline \"Blackest Night\". The New Krypton storyline would later be resolved in the \"World of New Krypton\", \"Superman: Last Stand of New Krypton\", \"War of the Supermen\" storylines, resulting in the destruction of New Krypton and seeing Supergirl mourn her people.\n\nSupergirl subsequently appears in the 2010 \"Brightest Day\" storyline, the follow up to \"Blackest Night\"., where she joins the Justice League along with Jesse Quick & Jade.\n\nThe New 52\nIn this continuity, Kara's ship lands in Smallville, Kansas but hurtles through the Earth and emerges in Siberia.\n\nKara has no memory of the destruction of Krypton, and believes it is only three days since her spacecraft was launched. She learns the truth about Krypton's destruction from Superman, and later journeys through a wormhole to Argo City, which she finds in orbit around a blue sun. She finds the city in ruins, with no explanation of how it met that fate, and is attacked by a female Worldkiller named Reign before the city plummets into the sun. When Reign and her fellow Worldkiller plan to enslave the Earth, Supergirl returns there to defeat them, and thus adopts Earth as her new home.\n\nAfter several battles with supervillains, including the Worldkillers, superweapons of Kryptonian design, she accepts Krypton's destruction, but continues to grapple with her grief. Her desire to restore Krypton results in her being manipulated into nearly destroying the Earth by another Kryptonian whom she falls in love with. Upon realizing his manipulation, she kills him by driving Kryptonite through his heart, and succumbs to Kryptonite poisoning.\n\nFollowing her poisoning, Supergirl departs the Earth to die alone. While adrift in interstellar space, she encounters a planet under attack by monsters, and quickly intervenes to save them, unaware that the entire planet is a trap by Brainiac. She is captured and restrained by Cyborg Superman, but after a struggle, manages to escape both Brainiac and Cyborg Superman. Returning to Earth, she is sent into the past by the Oracle alongside Superman and Superboy, where she ensures that a resurrected H'el cannot save Krypton, and sacrifices the planet and her family in order to save the universe.\n\nBack on Earth, she encounters the assassin Lobo. Initially eager for a peaceful resolution, seeing a kind of kinship with him in their both being lone survivors of their respective worlds (although not truly aware of Lobo's circumstances), Kara's encounter with the Czarnian would reveal deep mental wounds, resulting in the unleashing of her rage and transformation into a Red Lantern. Driven insane by rage, Kara wanders space, attacking everyone in her way, until captured by several Green Lanterns and brought to Hal Jordan. Immediately recognizing a Kryptonian and unable to remove the power ring without killing her, he brings her to Guy Gardner, the leader of one of the two Red Lantern factions, who manages to restore her sanity.\n\nAfter some time under Guy Gardner's tutelage and protecting the galaxy as a Red Lantern, after being discharged from the Red Lantern Corps (because Guy did not want for her to die needlessly against Atrocitus' splinter group), on her way back to Earth, Kara encounters the leader of the Worldkillers, who are revealed to be parasitic suits of armor. He attempts to assimilate Kara as his host, but she voluntarily subjects herself to Kryptonite poisoning in order to stop him, and eventually flies into the Sun and removes her power ring, killing her and removing him from her body. However, Kara is revealed to be immortal while in the Sun's core, and is restored to life without the power ring or any Kryptonite poisoning, immediately destroying the Worldkiller. She later helps Guy against Atrocitus and his Red Lantern splinter group.\n\nConvergence and return of the Pre-Crisis version\nDuring the Convergence story arc, the original Kara Zor-El who had sacrificed her life during Crisis on Infinite Earths makes an appearance on the amalgamated planet of Telos. At the end of the saga she volunteers herself to once again fight the Anti-Monitor but this time, with the help of her timeline's Barry Allen, the Pre-Flashpoint Superman (in tow with his pregnant wife, Lois Lane), and a repentant Parallax (Zero Hour Hal Jordan), vows to defeat him for the sake of the multiverse's continued existence. Without it being seen, those left on Telos discover the group was successful and all previous timelines (with the mysterious exception of the pre-Flashpoint/pre-New 52 DC universe) from DC history had been re-established, though the fate of the original Kara Zor-El and her fellows went unmentioned.\n\nA few more details of the battle against the Anti-Monitor are later revealed during the New 52 comic mini-series (leading into DC's Rebirth event). After the defeat of Anti-Monitor, Pre-New 52 Clark and Lois decide to start life anew in the closest universe they can find (mysteriously yet unable to see their old universe even though the rest of the multiverse had been restored) while Pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El, along with her contemporary Barry Allen and Zero Hour Parallax/Hal Jordan, decide to find their place in the universe and go off to do so. Her fate as of that story arc is yet to be revealed.\n\nDC Rebirth\nAfter the events that led to the death of the New 52 version of Superman, 16-year-old Kara lives in National City with her adoptive parents, D.E.O. agents Jeremiah and Eliza Danvers, where she attends high school and works with the agency as led by Cameron Chase. As part of her civilian identity, Kara receives special glasses that darken her blond hair when posing as Kara Danvers. Kara also goes on an internship at Cat Grant's CATCO alongside Ben Rubel, whom she befriends.\n\nIn her opening arc \"The Reign of the Cyborg Supermen\", Kara discovers that the cyborg Zor-El, whom she had battled in her New 52 title, is still active and has rebuilt other Kryptonians (her mother Alura included), planning to take over Earth. Supergirl defeats them but vows to help her father regardless of his actions. After National City discovers Supergirl has kept Zor-El's \"living\" status a secret, they become untrustful of her. Director Bones takes advantage of the heroine's impopularity and, after taking control of the D.E.O., sends villains in an attempt to bring Kara down. She defeats all of them and regains trust from National City with Ben's help.\n\nThe Supergirl Who Laughs\nKara is later infected by The Batman Who Laughs toxin, causing her to turn evil and joining other infected as part of Laughs Secret Six before later being cured. She is fired from CatCo by Cat Grant and starts working at S.T.A.R. Labs.\n\nWoman of Tomorrow\nJourneying throughout the universe with Krypto, Kara celebrates her 21st birthday alone on a distant planet. Drunk in a bar, she is approached by a little girl named Ruthye and is asked to kill Krem (her father's murderer) in vengeance. Supergirl refuses but, when she is about to leave the planet, Krem attacks and severely wounds both her and Krypto, fleeing in Kara's ship. Kara begins her journey alongside Ruthye and, powerless, saves her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon by taking a red kryptonite drug which causes her to manifest flame wings.\n\nPowers and abilities\n\nLike all Kryptonians under a yellow sun, the current version of Kara Zor-El possesses virtually unlimited strength, stamina, and durability. She is able to fly and with super speed that she can also use on foot, similar to Superman and The Flash. Also like Superman, Supergirl possesses super senses, super-breath, and freeze breathe, as well as multiple forms of supervision (including X-Ray, Infrared, Telescopic, and Microscopic). Kara also has a bio-electric aura that enhances her near invulnerability and also protects her skin and her costume from dirt and tear; as such, Kara is perpetually clean. The Sun also provides Kara with a longer lifespan than that of a human being, to the point that she is effectively a biological immortal. Kara doesn't require food, water, or sleep to survive. She is also immune to most diseases, mental and physical, and would require a very strong strain to have a chance at affecting her.\n\nIn the rare instances that Kara is harmed by someone matching her strength or by the use of one of her weaknesses, she can heal almost instantaneously. Her power surpasses most other beings, though she can be overpowered by those who rival her strength such as Black Adam, Darkseid, Despero, Doomsday, Bizarro, Wonder Woman, and Superman.\n\nIn reality, Kara is actually older than her cousin, Clark, and spent time on Krypton before its destruction. As such (unlike Superman), she possesses memories of Kryptonian culture as well as her cousin's parents.\n\nContinued exposure to a yellow Sun will slowly increase abilities. Many characters in the DC Universe have noted that Supergirl appears, at times, to be even more powerful than Superman himself. In answer to this, Superman states that this is because he has spent his entire life subconsciously suppressing his full powers in order to avoid hurting others, having been absorbing solar radiation since his infancy. Kara, not having such practice or experience, simply uses the full magnitude of her powers.\n\nAbilities\nUnlike her cousin, Kara was taught to fight in Krypton as part of her tests, and at the Crucible Academy, being adept at various Kryptonian fighting styles like Klurkor and Torquasm Rao. Supergirl also learned the art of Bagua under I-Ching's instructions. She practiced how to manipulate her Chi or Qi in order to gain better control of her powers due to them becoming overwhelmed after her conflict with the Fatal Five. Superman recommended guardianship with I-Ching to Supergirl first. In addition to training in Krypton, Kara was trained by Batman in advanced martial arts and trained with the Amazons in Themyscira in unarmed and armed combat, Amazonas martial arts, fencing, Shield handling, and other Amazon weapons. She trained with Wonder Woman and Artemis extensively.\n\nOther versions\n\nThere are numerous alternate versions of Supergirl. The most notable is Power Girl (real name Kara Zor-L, also known as Karen Starr) who first appeared in All Star Comics #58 (January/February 1976).\n\nPower Girl is the Earth-Two counterpart of Supergirl and the first cousin of Kal-L, Superman of the pre-Crisis Earth-Two. The infant Power Girl's parents enabled her to escape the destruction of Krypton. Although she left the planet at the same time that Superman did, her ship took much longer to reach Earth-Two.\n\nShe has superhuman strength and the ability to fly and is the first chairwoman of the Justice Society of America. She sports a bob of blond hair; wears a distinctive white, red, and blue costume; and has an aggressive fighting style. Throughout her early appearances in All Star Comics, she is often at odds with Wildcat because his penchant for talking to her as if she were an ordinary human female rather than a superpowered Kryptonian annoys her.\n\nShe also fought alongside the Sovereign Seven team, replacing Rampart after his death though that series is not considered to be part of canon in the DC universe.\n\nThe 1985 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths eliminated Earth-Two, causing her origin to change; she became the granddaughter of the Atlantean sorcerer Arion. However, story events culminating in the 2005–2006 Infinite Crisis limited series restored her status as a refugee from the Krypton of the destroyed pre-Crisis Earth-Two universe.\n\nLike the original Kara's Streaky, Power Girl has a cat, featured in a story by Amanda Conner in Wonder Woman #600.\n\nReception\nThis version of Supergirl is ranked as the 153rd-greatest comic book character of all time by Wizard magazine.\n\nIGN also ranked this version of Supergirl as the 94th-greatest comic book superhero, stating \"for a character born of the Silver Age that saw everything from a Super Baby to a Super Monkey, Kara Zor-El grew into something much more than simply another marketing ploy to slap an 'S' on.\" In 2013 IGN ranked Supergirl as the 17th-greatest DC comic superhero, stating \"she was an early example of a female sidekick developing a large fanbase in her own right\", and \"Supergirl has been one of DC's most powerful heroes, and a standard to hold other female heroes against.\"\n\nAppearances\n\nPre-Crisis\n 1959 to 1969: Action Comics #252 to #376.\n 1969 to 1972: Adventure Comics #381 to #424.\n 1972 to 1974: Supergirl #1 to #10.\n 1974 to 1982: Her comic merges with Jimmy Olsen's and Lois Lane's to become Superman Family #164 to #222.\n 1982 to 1984: The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl #1 to #13, Supergirl (vol. 2) #14 to #23.\n 2015: Convergence\n\nKara Zor-El appeared in over 750 stories published by DC from 1959 to 1985.\n\nPost-Crisis\n\n 2004 to 2005: Superman/Batman #8 to #13 and #19\n 2005 to 2011: Supergirl (vol. 5) #0 to #67\n 2006 to 2008: Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes (Legion of Super-Heroes vol. 5) #16 to #37\n 2007: Action Comics #850\n 2008: Final Crisis\n 2011 to 2015: New 52: Supergirl (vol. 6) #1 to #40\n 2016 to current: Rebirth: Supergirl (vol. 7) #1 to current\n\nKara Zor-El also appears as a supporting character in several issues of other DC Comics, including Superman, Action Comics, Teen Titans, Amazons Attack, World War III, and Wonder Girl. She has also appeared in many issues of Superman, Action Comics, and Superman New Krypton starting with the World Without Superman event in 2009, and continuing with the World Against Superman event going into 2010.\n\nCollected editions\nListed in chronological order. All ages titles are not in continuity with the original or modern Kara.\n\nIn other media\n\nTelevision\n\nLive-action\n\nSmallville\nPrior to the seventh season (2007–2008) of the WB/CW show Smallville where she is introduced into the cast and is portrayed by Laura Vandervoort, a woman claiming to be Kara (portrayed by Adrianne Palicki) is briefly introduced in the season 3 finale. It is later revealed her real name is Lindsey Harrison, and had been given false memories and powers by the artificial intelligence of Clark Kent's (Tom Welling) father Jor-El as part of a series of tests. Vandervoort portrays the real Kara, Clark's cousin whose spaceship had been trapped in stasis until the events of the season 6 finale. Much of season 7 is concerned with Kara's attempts to adjust to life on Earth, especially after learning of Krypton's destruction. Her storyline sees her simultaneously become the object of Lex Luthor's (Michael Rosenbaum) obsessions and Jimmy Olsen's (Aaron Ashmore) affections, suffer a bout of amnesia, discover her father's (Christopher Heyerdahl) sinister motives and become a target of evil android Brainiac (James Marsters). The season finale sees Kara become trapped in the Phantom Zone. Starting with season 8, Vandervoort ceases to feature as a series regular, but reprises the role three more times. In her first guest appearance, \"Bloodline,\" Kara is freed from the Phantom Zone and later departs Clark's hometown of Smallville to search for Kandor, her birthplace, as it is rumored to have survived their home planet's destruction. She appears again in the season 10 episode \"Supergirl\", in which she formally adopts her superhero moniker. Her off-screen adventures are alluded to thereafter. Vandervoort makes a final appearance in the show's penultimate episode, \"Prophecy\", in which she helps Green Arrow (Justin Hartley) locate the \"Bow of Orion\" to use against Darkseid. She is then called to the Fortress of Solitude, where she learns from Jor-El that her job on Earth is done. Using a Legion of Super-Heroes flight ring, she travels to the future to seek her own destiny. The Season Eleven comic book continuation of the show later depicts Kara's continued story in the 31st century, subsequent return to the present and joining the Justice League.\n\nArrowverse\n\n In September 2014, a 22-episode television series centered around Supergirl was in development at Warner Bros. Television, set to premiere on CBS with a January 2015 air date. Melissa Benoist was cast as the titular character. In May 2016, the series moved to The CW and was later integrated into the Arrowverse, a shared universe consisting of shows including Arrow, The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow. In the series, Kara Zor-El was sent to Earth to protect her cousin Kal-El, following her homeworld Krypton's destruction. However, she is knocked into the Phantom Zone, where she is stranded for 24 years. She eventually crash lands on Earth and is found by her already grown-up cousin Kal, now known to the world as the iconic superhero \"Superman\". Superman brings Kara into the custody of Jeremiah Danvers, director of the Department of Extranormal Operations (D.E.O.), and his daughter Alex. Growing up, Kara struggles to maintain her Kryptonian abilities as well as balancing her relationship with her adoptive sister. Eventually, the two bond when Kara's powers are exposed. However, Jeremiah decides it's best to isolate her abilities. As an adult, Kara is forced to use her powers again when her sister's plane almost crashes. She is later dubbed \"Supergirl\" by the media and dons a costume like her cousin. Kara decides to use her abilities to fight alien invaders such as Kara's aunt Astra and her husband Non, Mon-El's rogue parents, the Worldkiller Reign, anti-alien activist Ben Lockwood, and later the shadowy organization Leviathan, with the help of her sister Alex, now an agent of the D.E.O., her best friend and tech-expert Winn Schott, last of the Green Martians J'onn J'onzz / Martian Manhunter, and Kal's best friend Jimmy Olsen. She is later joined by Lex Luthor's sister Lena, Prince of Daxam Mon-El, former Legion of Superheroes member Querl \"Brainy\" Dox / Brainiac 5, Nia Nal / Dreamer, James' younger sister Kelly, and reporter Willam Dey face against these rival forces. After joining the Arrowverse, which contain annual crossover, Kara assists Barry Allen, Oliver Queen and the Legends of Tomorrow against threats on their designated earth \"Earth-1\" while Kara’s is designated as \"Earth-38. Later, Kara is selected by The Monitor as the Paragon of Hope to participate in the coming crisis and fight against the Anti-Monitor, whose goal is to destroy the multiverse. After doing so, the Paragons are sent to the Vanishing Point where Oliver, now a Spectre, helps them escape. The Paragons appear at the dawn of time in the anti-matter universe where they have their final confrontation with the Anti-Monitor. Eventually, Oliver sacrifices himself to kill the Anti-Monitor, and as a result, a new multiverse is born with Earth-38 and Earth-1 merged into \"Earth-Prime\". Following the crisis, Kara is forced to deal the after-effects of Crisis which include working with Lex, now owning the D.E.O. while Leviathan continue their covert operations under Gamemnae. The sixth season sees Kara and her allies expose Lex's crimes, but are then forced to deal with Nyxlygsptlnz, a fifth-dimensional imp who tricked the heroes into releasing her from the Phantom Zone. Eventually Nyxlygsptlnz joins forces with Lex Luthor and the two kill William, but Kara's assembled allies are able to defeat the two, culminating in Lex and Nyxlygsptlnz being trapped in the Phantom Zone when one of their own plans backfires. The series concludes with Kara revealing her dual identity so that she can live a full life as one person.\n\nAnimation\n\nDC Nation Shorts\nSupergirl appears with Batgirl and Wonder Girl in Super Best Friends Forever, voiced by Nicole Sullivan.\n\nDC Super Hero Girls\nSupergirl appears as a central protagonist in the web series DC Super Hero Girls voiced by Anais Fairweather, and is a student at Super Hero High, is very kind and caring and extremely powerful but she's also very clumsy.\n\nShe also appears as a central protagonist in the 2019 TV series, with Nicole Sullivan reprising her role from the Super Best Friends Forever shorts. In this version, she is also a rebel and is known as the \"cool kid\" in school. She may be tough but she can easily express her emotions and is very open-minded as well. She can be a cool friend and a helpful one, but she can also be jealous sometimes and she dislikes her cousin's prominence.\n\nJustice League Action\nSupergirl appears in Justice League Action, voiced by Joanne Spracklen. She has the appearance of a wide-eyed human teenager with blonde hair and wears her traditional costume except that it has thigh-high boots and a pleated skirt. As a person, she is youthful, responsible, and shows much affection for her cousin Superman. In \"Party Animal\", she appears as a cameo at this Christmas party with the Justice League. In \"Keeping up with the Kryptonians\", Supergirl becomes a star of the popular reality show \"That's So Kara\", and Superman a Kasnian who rules from one place to another on Earth, all being a reality caused by Mister Mxyzptlk. In \"Unleashed\", Supergirl accompanies Justice League in stopping Red Lantern Corps, unaware that it was a distraction made by Dex-Starr to invade Earth, until it was ultimately resolved by Krypto, Streaky, and Plastic Man. In a short \"The Goddess Must Be Crazy\", Supergirl trains with Wonder Woman in Paradise Island, until she is possessed by Felix Faust, to destroy the island.\n\nFilm\n\nSuperman film series\n A live action depiction of Supergirl first appears in the eponymous 1984 film starring Helen Slater as Supergirl. The film is a spin-off from the Superman film series starring Christopher Reeve, to which it is connected by Marc McClure's character of Jimmy Olsen.\n\nDC Extended Universe\n Kara Zor-El / Linda Danvers / Supergirl exists within the DC Extended Universe, as she was referenced in Man of Steel when Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman discovers an empty pod within the Kryptonian scout spaceship. Though Zack Snyder confirmed in August 2018 that even though the character does exist, that pod was not intended for her.\n In August 2018, a film centered around the character was announced to be in development, with Oren Uziel hired as screenwriter for the project. The studio intends to hire a female director, with Reed Morano—who has expressed interest in the project—being its top choice. Filming was expected to start production in early 2020.\nSasha Calle will play Supergirl for the DC Extended Universe in The Flash.\n\nAnimation\n Summer Glau voices the post-Crisis version of Kara Zor-El in Superman/Batman: Apocalypse, which is based on the Superman/Batman storyline \"The Supergirl from Krypton\". Despite this, it was confirmed by director Lauren Montgomery that Supergirl's name was removed from the title due to the much slower sales of the previous Wonder Woman animated movie, and the character was not permitted to appear on the cover in her trademark outfit.\n Molly Quinn voices Supergirl in Superman: Unbound.\n Supergirl appears in Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League: Cosmic Clash, voiced by Jessica DiCicco.\n\nVideo games\n Supergirl appears in DC Universe Online, voiced by Adriene Mishler. In the villain campaign, the players help Doctor Psycho capture Supergirl using Kryptonite. In the hero campaign, the players fight Doctor Psycho to save Supergirl. Under the thrall of Brainiac, she must be defeated in the Fortress of Solitude: Power Core raid.\n Supergirl is unlockable in Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes, voiced by Bridget Hoffman.\n Supergirl makes a cameo appearance in the IOS version of Injustice: Gods Among Us as a support card.\n Supergirl appears as a playable character in Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham, voiced by Kari Wahlgren. She is playable in her default variant which is designed after her appearance in The New 52 and in her Classic attire. Her Classic variant is unlocked in a VR Mission while her New 52 variant is unlocked in a Hub Quest in Nok where she requests players to defeat a number of enemies she accidentally releases from their cells.\n Supergirl appears as a playable character in Infinite Crisis, voiced by Camilla Luddington.\n Supergirl appears as a playable character and the central protagonist in Injustice 2 by NetherRealm Studios, the sequel to Injustice: Gods Among Us, voiced by Laura Bailey. Here her origin is much like in the comics where she is sent along with her cousin Kal-El to Earth by her mother after Krypton is destroyed but on separate pods where hers veers off-course after sustaining significant damage, stranding her in space for many years until she lands on Earth, unaged. When the main storyline starts, she is residing on Black Adam's kingdom of Khandaq, apparently under his and Wonder Woman's protection. When Brainiac who was responsible for Krypton's destruction attacks, she, Wonder Woman, and Black Adam attempt to free Superman and the remaining members of the Regime, while being interrupted in their efforts by new Insurgency recruits Blue Beetle and Firestorm until Batman himself arrives and releases Superman, leading to a temporary alliance between the Regime and Insurgency against the alien warlord. Over the course of the story, she learns the truth about her cousin's tyranny and at the end of the game sides with Batman, Green Lantern and Flash in letting Brainiac live in order to restore the lost cities but is defeated. In Batman's ending, she laments her cousin's tyranny and sees him leave to be imprisoned in the Phantom Zone and is offered membership by Batman in his Justice League. In Superman's ending, she is imprisoned aboard Brainiac's ship and to her shock discovers her cousin has bonded with it and when she refuses his offer to join him in leading his new legion of imprisoned species. He attempts to coerce her by revealing a brainwashed Batman, who had also been captured, further shocking her.\n Supergirl appears as a limited-distribution minifigure for the toys-to-life video game Lego Dimensions, with Kari Wahlgren reprising her role. She has the ability to transform between her classic and Red Lantern forms.\n Supergirl appears as a playable character in DC Unchained.\n Supergirl appears in the PSP version of Justice League Heroes.\n Supergirl appears as a playable character in the DC TV Super-Heroes DLC pack in Lego DC Super-Villains.\n\nSee also\n Alternative versions of Supergirl\n Laurel Gand\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nDC Comics\n\nPre-Crisis Supergirl Chronology\n\nSupergirl\nCharacters created by Otto Binder\nComics characters introduced in 1958\nComics characters introduced in 1959\nDC Comics aliens\nDC Comics American superheroes\nDC Comics characters who can move at superhuman speeds\nDC Comics characters with accelerated healing\nDC Comics characters with superhuman strength\nDC Comics deities\nDC Comics female superheroes\nDC Comics film characters\nDC Comics television characters\nDC Comics extraterrestrial superheroes\nFemale characters in television\nFictional characters with superhuman senses\nFictional actors\nFictional extraterrestrial–human hybrids\nFictional orphans\nFictional photographers\nFictional refugees\nFictional reporters\nFictional school counselors\nFictional American secret agents\nFictional waiting staff\nKryptonians\nSuperheroes who are adopted\nVigilante characters in comics"},"extractive":{"kind":"string","value":"true"},"retrieved_contexts":{"kind":"list like","value":["Samhita Mukhopadhyay (born May 3, 1978) is an American writer and former executive editor of Teen Vogue. She writes about feminism, culture, race, politics, and dating. She is the author of Outdated: Why Dating is Ruining Your Love Life and the co-editor of the anthology, Nasty Women: Feminism, Resistance, and Revolution in Trump's America.\n\nCareer \n\nMukhopadhyay started blogging in 2005.\n\nIn 2008, Mukhopadhyay contributed an essay on the sexualization of black women to Jaclyn Friedman and Jessica Valenti's anthologyYes Means Yes: Visions of Female Sexual Empowerment.\n\nMukhopadhyay earned a master's degree in Women and Gender Studies in 2009 from San Francisco State University, where her thesis was entitled \"The Politics of the Feminist Blogosphere.\"\n\nMukhopadhyay is the former Executive Editor of the blog Feministing.com and former Senior Editorial Director of Culture and Identities at millennial media platform Mic.\n\nIn February 2018, Mukhopadhyay was named executive editor at Teen Vogue, following Elaine Welteroth's departure from Condé Nast.\n\nBooks \nIn 2011, Mukhopadhyay published her first book, Outdated: Why Dating is Ruining Your Love Life, a feminist intervention to mainstream dating books.\n\nIn 2017, Mukhopadhyay co-edited an anthology with Kate Harding entitled Nasty Women: Feminism, Resistance and Revolution in Trump's America. Mukhopadhyay wrote the introduction to the collection of essays, in which prominent feminists discussed the impact of Donald Trump's election on hard-fought wins for gender, race, sexuality, class and ethnicity.\n\nBibliography \n\nOutdated: Why Dating is Ruining Your Love Life (Seal, 2011)\nNasty Women: Feminism, Resistance and Revolution in Trump's America, ed. with Kate Harding (Picador, 2017)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Official site\n Nasty Women at Macmillan\n\nAmerican magazine editors\nFeminist bloggers\nCondé Nast people\nSan Francisco State University alumni\nLiving people\n1978 births\nAmerican people of Bengali descent\nAmerican women non-fiction writers\n21st-century American women writers\nWomen magazine editors\nAmerican women bloggers\nAmerican bloggers","Jerome Saganowich (born July 5, 1964) is an American professional wrestler best known as Jerry Sags. He is one half of the tag team The Nasty Boys along with Brian Knobbs.\n\nCareer\nSags graduated from Whitehall High School in Pennsylvania. He started his career in the American Wrestling Association as a referee in 1985. In 1986, he formed a tag team called The Nasty Boys with Brian Knobbs and wrestled in the Tennessee territory until they moved to Championship Wrestling from Florida, where they won the Tag Team Titles five times from 1988 through 1990. In 1990, they went to the NWA's Jim Crockett Promotions, which had been purchased by Ted Turner and would be renamed World Championship Wrestling before The Nasty Boys left a few months later. They feuded with Rick and Scott Steiner over the U.S. Tag Team Titles, but could not defeat them. In late 1990, they went to the World Wrestling Federation where they were managed by Jimmy Hart. They won the World Tag Team Titles from The Hart Foundation before feuding with and losing the titles to the Legion of Doom. Knobbs and Sags then feuded with all of the WWF's top face tag teams, including The Rockers and The Bushwhackers. They turned face in the fall of 1992 to feud with Jimmy Hart's Money Inc. over the tag team titles, but were unable to recapture the gold.\n\nThey left the WWF for WCW in 1993 and were quickly placed with manager Missy Hyatt, who led them to the World Tag Team Titles. She left them, and they went on to feud with Harlem Heat, The Blue Bloods, and the team of Dick Slater and Bunkhouse Buck. In 1996, they were tricked by the nWo into thinking they were going to become members, but were attacked as soon as they received their shirts. Sags had been injured previously and had to retire due to this injury. Sags returned to wrestling in 2001 as a trainer and with Knobbs as The Nasty Boys to wrestle in the short-lived X Wrestling Federation. He retired again after the promotion folded in 2002. Sags returned to action with Knobbs to reform The Nasty Boys on June 16, 2007, at Pro Wrestling Unplugged. On November 20, 2007, Knobbs and Sags reformed as The Nasty Boys at the SmackDown! tapings from Tampa, Florida to wrestle their first WWE match in years. According to reports, the match was disastrous, and the team were accused of unprofessionally working stiff with their opponents, Dave Taylor and Drew McIntyre.\n\nOn January 4, 2010, The Nasty Boys made an appearance on Total Nonstop Action Wrestling's television show, TNA Impact!, starting a feud with Team 3D. On the January 21 edition of Impact!, the Nasty Boys competed in their first match for TNA, defeating the team of Eric Young and Kevin Nash. At Against All Odds The Nasty Boys defeated Team 3D in a tag team match, when Jimmy Hart made his return to the company and interfered in the match on the Nasty Boys' behalf. On the February 25 edition of Impact!, Team 3D defeated the Nasty Boys in a tables match, when Jesse Neal interfered on Team 3D's behalf. The Nasty Boys and Hart continued their feud with Team 3D by defeating them and the returning Brother Runt, a replacement for Jesse Neal, whom the Nastys attacked prior to the match, in a six-man tag team match. After the match Neal attacked the Nastys and helped Team 3D put Sags through a table. On March 29, 2010, news broke that the Nasty Boys had been released by TNA following an incident at a TNA function with Spike executives present.\n\nPersonal life\nSags and his wife Laura have four children: daughters Chloe and Madison, and sons Seve and Jax. They reside in Treasure Island, Florida near Brian Knobbs and Hulk Hogan. His sister-in-law was married to the late pro wrestler Dusty Rhodes.\n\nSags appeared in an episode of Man v. Food Nation, in the Tampa, Florida episode where he won his challenge.\n\nChampionships and accomplishments\nChampionship Wrestling International\nCWI Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Brian Knobbs\nContinental Wrestling Association\nAWA Southern Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Brian Knobbs\nNorth American Wrestling Association / South Atlantic Pro Wrestling\nNAWA/SAPW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Brian Knobbs\nNWA Florida\nFCW Tag Team Championship (5 times) – with Brian Knobbs\nPro Wrestling Illustrated\nPWI Tag Team of the Year award in 1994 – with Brian Knobbs\nPWI ranked him # 420 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the \"PWI Years\" in 2003\nPWI ranked him # 53 of the 100 best tag teams of the \"PWI Years\" with Brian Knobbs in 2003.\nProfessional Wrestling Federation\nPWF Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Brian Knobbs\nWorld Championship Wrestling\nWCW World Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Brian Knobbs\nWorld Wrestling Federation\nWWF Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Brian Knobbs\nX Wrestling Federation\nXWF World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Brian Knobbs\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nOfficial Nasty Boys website\nTNA profile\n\n1964 births\nAmerican male professional wrestlers\nLiving people\nSportspeople from Allentown, Pennsylvania\nProfessional wrestlers from Pennsylvania\nProfessional wrestling referees\nWhitehall High School (Pennsylvania) alumni\nPeople from Treasure Island, Florida"],"string":"[\n \"Samhita Mukhopadhyay (born May 3, 1978) is an American writer and former executive editor of Teen Vogue. She writes about feminism, culture, race, politics, and dating. She is the author of Outdated: Why Dating is Ruining Your Love Life and the co-editor of the anthology, Nasty Women: Feminism, Resistance, and Revolution in Trump's America.\\n\\nCareer \\n\\nMukhopadhyay started blogging in 2005.\\n\\nIn 2008, Mukhopadhyay contributed an essay on the sexualization of black women to Jaclyn Friedman and Jessica Valenti's anthologyYes Means Yes: Visions of Female Sexual Empowerment.\\n\\nMukhopadhyay earned a master's degree in Women and Gender Studies in 2009 from San Francisco State University, where her thesis was entitled \\\"The Politics of the Feminist Blogosphere.\\\"\\n\\nMukhopadhyay is the former Executive Editor of the blog Feministing.com and former Senior Editorial Director of Culture and Identities at millennial media platform Mic.\\n\\nIn February 2018, Mukhopadhyay was named executive editor at Teen Vogue, following Elaine Welteroth's departure from Condé Nast.\\n\\nBooks \\nIn 2011, Mukhopadhyay published her first book, Outdated: Why Dating is Ruining Your Love Life, a feminist intervention to mainstream dating books.\\n\\nIn 2017, Mukhopadhyay co-edited an anthology with Kate Harding entitled Nasty Women: Feminism, Resistance and Revolution in Trump's America. Mukhopadhyay wrote the introduction to the collection of essays, in which prominent feminists discussed the impact of Donald Trump's election on hard-fought wins for gender, race, sexuality, class and ethnicity.\\n\\nBibliography \\n\\nOutdated: Why Dating is Ruining Your Love Life (Seal, 2011)\\nNasty Women: Feminism, Resistance and Revolution in Trump's America, ed. with Kate Harding (Picador, 2017)\\n\\nReferences\\n\\nExternal links \\n Official site\\n Nasty Women at Macmillan\\n\\nAmerican magazine editors\\nFeminist bloggers\\nCondé Nast people\\nSan Francisco State University alumni\\nLiving people\\n1978 births\\nAmerican people of Bengali descent\\nAmerican women non-fiction writers\\n21st-century American women writers\\nWomen magazine editors\\nAmerican women bloggers\\nAmerican bloggers\",\n \"Jerome Saganowich (born July 5, 1964) is an American professional wrestler best known as Jerry Sags. He is one half of the tag team The Nasty Boys along with Brian Knobbs.\\n\\nCareer\\nSags graduated from Whitehall High School in Pennsylvania. He started his career in the American Wrestling Association as a referee in 1985. In 1986, he formed a tag team called The Nasty Boys with Brian Knobbs and wrestled in the Tennessee territory until they moved to Championship Wrestling from Florida, where they won the Tag Team Titles five times from 1988 through 1990. In 1990, they went to the NWA's Jim Crockett Promotions, which had been purchased by Ted Turner and would be renamed World Championship Wrestling before The Nasty Boys left a few months later. They feuded with Rick and Scott Steiner over the U.S. Tag Team Titles, but could not defeat them. In late 1990, they went to the World Wrestling Federation where they were managed by Jimmy Hart. They won the World Tag Team Titles from The Hart Foundation before feuding with and losing the titles to the Legion of Doom. Knobbs and Sags then feuded with all of the WWF's top face tag teams, including The Rockers and The Bushwhackers. They turned face in the fall of 1992 to feud with Jimmy Hart's Money Inc. over the tag team titles, but were unable to recapture the gold.\\n\\nThey left the WWF for WCW in 1993 and were quickly placed with manager Missy Hyatt, who led them to the World Tag Team Titles. She left them, and they went on to feud with Harlem Heat, The Blue Bloods, and the team of Dick Slater and Bunkhouse Buck. In 1996, they were tricked by the nWo into thinking they were going to become members, but were attacked as soon as they received their shirts. Sags had been injured previously and had to retire due to this injury. Sags returned to wrestling in 2001 as a trainer and with Knobbs as The Nasty Boys to wrestle in the short-lived X Wrestling Federation. He retired again after the promotion folded in 2002. Sags returned to action with Knobbs to reform The Nasty Boys on June 16, 2007, at Pro Wrestling Unplugged. On November 20, 2007, Knobbs and Sags reformed as The Nasty Boys at the SmackDown! tapings from Tampa, Florida to wrestle their first WWE match in years. According to reports, the match was disastrous, and the team were accused of unprofessionally working stiff with their opponents, Dave Taylor and Drew McIntyre.\\n\\nOn January 4, 2010, The Nasty Boys made an appearance on Total Nonstop Action Wrestling's television show, TNA Impact!, starting a feud with Team 3D. On the January 21 edition of Impact!, the Nasty Boys competed in their first match for TNA, defeating the team of Eric Young and Kevin Nash. At Against All Odds The Nasty Boys defeated Team 3D in a tag team match, when Jimmy Hart made his return to the company and interfered in the match on the Nasty Boys' behalf. On the February 25 edition of Impact!, Team 3D defeated the Nasty Boys in a tables match, when Jesse Neal interfered on Team 3D's behalf. The Nasty Boys and Hart continued their feud with Team 3D by defeating them and the returning Brother Runt, a replacement for Jesse Neal, whom the Nastys attacked prior to the match, in a six-man tag team match. After the match Neal attacked the Nastys and helped Team 3D put Sags through a table. On March 29, 2010, news broke that the Nasty Boys had been released by TNA following an incident at a TNA function with Spike executives present.\\n\\nPersonal life\\nSags and his wife Laura have four children: daughters Chloe and Madison, and sons Seve and Jax. They reside in Treasure Island, Florida near Brian Knobbs and Hulk Hogan. His sister-in-law was married to the late pro wrestler Dusty Rhodes.\\n\\nSags appeared in an episode of Man v. Food Nation, in the Tampa, Florida episode where he won his challenge.\\n\\nChampionships and accomplishments\\nChampionship Wrestling International\\nCWI Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Brian Knobbs\\nContinental Wrestling Association\\nAWA Southern Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Brian Knobbs\\nNorth American Wrestling Association / South Atlantic Pro Wrestling\\nNAWA/SAPW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Brian Knobbs\\nNWA Florida\\nFCW Tag Team Championship (5 times) – with Brian Knobbs\\nPro Wrestling Illustrated\\nPWI Tag Team of the Year award in 1994 – with Brian Knobbs\\nPWI ranked him # 420 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the \\\"PWI Years\\\" in 2003\\nPWI ranked him # 53 of the 100 best tag teams of the \\\"PWI Years\\\" with Brian Knobbs in 2003.\\nProfessional Wrestling Federation\\nPWF Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Brian Knobbs\\nWorld Championship Wrestling\\nWCW World Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Brian Knobbs\\nWorld Wrestling Federation\\nWWF Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Brian Knobbs\\nX Wrestling Federation\\nXWF World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Brian Knobbs\\n\\nReferences\\n\\nExternal links\\n\\nOfficial Nasty Boys website\\nTNA profile\\n\\n1964 births\\nAmerican male professional wrestlers\\nLiving people\\nSportspeople from Allentown, Pennsylvania\\nProfessional wrestlers from Pennsylvania\\nProfessional wrestling referees\\nWhitehall High School (Pennsylvania) alumni\\nPeople from Treasure Island, Florida\"\n]"},"chunked_article":{"kind":"list like","value":["Kara Zor-El, also known by her adoptive names of Linda Lee Danvers, Kara Kent, Linda Lang, and Kara Danvers, and the superhero name of Supergirl, is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. She was created by Otto Binder and designed by Al Plastino. Danvers first appeared in Action Comics #252 (May 1959)'s \"The Supergirl from Krypton\" story. Kara is the biological cousin of Kal-El, who went on to adopt the name of Clark Kent and the superhero Superman.","Kara is the biological cousin of Kal-El, who went on to adopt the name of Clark Kent and the superhero Superman. During the 1980s and the revolution of the Modern Age of Comics, Superman editors believed the character's history had become too convoluted, thus killing Supergirl during the 1985 Crisis on Infinite Earths event and retconning her out of existence. DC Comics Senior Vice President Dan DiDio re-introduced the character in 2004 along with editor Eddie Berganza and writer Jeph Loeb, with her the Superman/Batman storyline \"The Supergirl from Krypton\".","DC Comics Senior Vice President Dan DiDio re-introduced the character in 2004 along with editor Eddie Berganza and writer Jeph Loeb, with her the Superman/Batman storyline \"The Supergirl from Krypton\". As the current Supergirl, Kara stars in her own monthly comic book series. With DC's The New 52 relaunch, Kara, like most of the DC Universe, was revamped. DC relaunched the Supergirl comic in August 2016 as part of their DC Rebirth initiative.","DC relaunched the Supergirl comic in August 2016 as part of their DC Rebirth initiative. In live-action, Supergirl appeared in the 1984 film based on her character and was portrayed by Helen Slater. She also appeared in the series Smallville, played by actress Laura Vandervoort. In 2015, the live-action Arrowverse series Supergirl debuted on CBS and then moved to The CW after the first season. Supergirl was portrayed by Melissa Benoist on the show and also appeared on other Arrowverse shows.","Supergirl was portrayed by Melissa Benoist on the show and also appeared on other Arrowverse shows. Sasha Calle will appear as Supergirl in the upcoming DC Extended Universe film The Flash (2022). Publication history Early life Although Kara Zor-El was the first character to use the name \"Supergirl,\" DC Comics tested three different female versions of Superman prior to her debut. The first story to feature a female counterpart to Superman was \"Lois Lane – Superwoman,\" which was published in Action Comics #60 (May 1943).","The first story to feature a female counterpart to Superman was \"Lois Lane – Superwoman,\" which was published in Action Comics #60 (May 1943). In the story, a hospitalized Lois Lane dreams she has gained superpowers thanks to a blood transfusion from the Man of Steel. She begins her own career as \"Superwoman\", complete with a version of Superman's costume.","She begins her own career as \"Superwoman\", complete with a version of Superman's costume. In the Superboy #78 story entitled \"Claire Kent, Alias Super-Sister\", Superboy saves the life of an alien woman named Shar-La, who turns Superboy into a girl, in retaliation for his disparaging thoughts about women drivers which she picked up telepathically. In Smallville, Clark claims to be Claire Kent, an out-of-town relative who is staying with the Kents.","In Smallville, Clark claims to be Claire Kent, an out-of-town relative who is staying with the Kents. When in costume, he appears as Superboy's sister, Super-Sister, and claims the two have exchanged places. Once Superboy has learned his lesson about feeling more respect for women, Shar-La reveals the episode to be a dream which she projected into Superboy's mind.","Once Superboy has learned his lesson about feeling more respect for women, Shar-La reveals the episode to be a dream which she projected into Superboy's mind. In Superman #123 (August 1958), Jimmy Olsen uses a magic totem to wish a \"Super-Girl\" into existence as a companion and aid to Superman; however, the two frequently get in each other's way until she is fatally injured protecting Superman from a Kryptonite meteor. At her insistence, Jimmy wishes the dying girl out of existence.","At her insistence, Jimmy wishes the dying girl out of existence. DC used this story to gauge public response to the concept of a completely new super-powered female counterpart to Superman. The Kara Zor-El version of Supergirl finally appeared in Action Comics #252 (May 1959). Otto Binder wrote and Al Plastino illustrated her début story, in which Kara was born and raised in Argo City (unnamed until later issues), a fragment of Krypton that survived destruction.","Otto Binder wrote and Al Plastino illustrated her début story, in which Kara was born and raised in Argo City (unnamed until later issues), a fragment of Krypton that survived destruction. When the city is doomed by a meteor shower, Kara is sent to Earth by her parents, Zor-El and Alura (the latter unnamed until later issues), to be raised by her cousin Kal-El, known as Superman. Supergirl adopted the secret identity of an orphan \"Linda Lee\", and made Midvale Orphanage her home.","Supergirl adopted the secret identity of an orphan \"Linda Lee\", and made Midvale Orphanage her home. Supergirl promised Superman that she would keep her existence on Earth a secret, so that he may use her as a \"secret weapon\", but that didn't stop Supergirl from exploring her new powers covertly. Action Comics #255 published reader's letters-of-comment to Supergirl's first appearance; she had allegedly generated a sizeable and mostly positive reaction.","Action Comics #255 published reader's letters-of-comment to Supergirl's first appearance; she had allegedly generated a sizeable and mostly positive reaction. Supergirl, from her debut onwards, became a regular backup strip in Action Comics. She joined the Legion of Super-Heroes, like her cousin had done as a teenager, and in Action Comics #279 (July 1961) she was adopted by Fred and Edna Danvers, becoming \"Linda Lee Danvers\".","She joined the Legion of Super-Heroes, like her cousin had done as a teenager, and in Action Comics #279 (July 1961) she was adopted by Fred and Edna Danvers, becoming \"Linda Lee Danvers\". Supergirl acted for three years as Superman's secret weapon, and her adventures during that time have been compared to contemporary developments in feminist thinking in work such as Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique.","Supergirl acted for three years as Superman's secret weapon, and her adventures during that time have been compared to contemporary developments in feminist thinking in work such as Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique. She was at last introduced by her super-powered cousin to an unsuspecting world in Action Comics #285 (February 1962). During her first quarter of a century, Linda Danvers would have many professions, from student to student advisor, to actor, and even TV camera operator.","During her first quarter of a century, Linda Danvers would have many professions, from student to student advisor, to actor, and even TV camera operator. She shared Action Comics with Superman until transferring to the lead in Adventure Comics at the end of the 1960s. In 1972 she finally moved to her own short-lived eponymous magazine, before DC merged its Supergirl, Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen titles into a single anthology title named The Superman Family. In 1982 Supergirl was relaunched into her own magazine.","In 1982 Supergirl was relaunched into her own magazine. In 1982 Supergirl was relaunched into her own magazine. Death during Crisis on Infinite Earths In 1985, the maxi-series Crisis on Infinite Earths was conceived as a way to reduce DC continuity to a single universe in which all characters maintained a single history. Despite Supergirl's continued popularity and status as a central member of the \"Superman Family\", the editors at DC Comics and the creators of the maxi-series decided to kill Supergirl off during the Crisis.","Despite Supergirl's continued popularity and status as a central member of the \"Superman Family\", the editors at DC Comics and the creators of the maxi-series decided to kill Supergirl off during the Crisis. According to Marv Wolfman, writer of Crisis on Infinite Earths: The idea of killing Supergirl was first conceived by DC's vice president/executive editor Dick Giordano, who lobbied for the death to DC's publishers.","According to Marv Wolfman, writer of Crisis on Infinite Earths: The idea of killing Supergirl was first conceived by DC's vice president/executive editor Dick Giordano, who lobbied for the death to DC's publishers. He later said he has never had any regrets about this, explaining, \"Supergirl was created initially to take advantage of the high Superman sales and not much thought was put into her creation. She was created essentially as a female Superman.","She was created essentially as a female Superman. She was created essentially as a female Superman. With time, writers and artists improved upon her execution, but she never did really add anything to the Superman mythos—at least not for me.\" The poor initial reception of the 1984 film Supergirl was also blamed by some sources.","The poor initial reception of the 1984 film Supergirl was also blamed by some sources. In 1989, in the tale \"Christmas with the Super-Heroes\" the soul of Kara appears to Boston \"Deadman\" Brand, cheers him up, and then disappears from continuity until 2001 (see below).","In 1989, in the tale \"Christmas with the Super-Heroes\" the soul of Kara appears to Boston \"Deadman\" Brand, cheers him up, and then disappears from continuity until 2001 (see below). Several characters unrelated to Superman soon took on the Supergirl persona, including the Matrix (a shapeshifting genetically engineered life-form that 'defaulted' as Supergirl), Linda Danvers (the result of Matrix merging with the dying Linda Danvers and becoming an Earth-bound angel of fire), and Cir-El (Superman's apparent daughter from a possible future).","Several characters unrelated to Superman soon took on the Supergirl persona, including the Matrix (a shapeshifting genetically engineered life-form that 'defaulted' as Supergirl), Linda Danvers (the result of Matrix merging with the dying Linda Danvers and becoming an Earth-bound angel of fire), and Cir-El (Superman's apparent daughter from a possible future). A heroine resembling the Pre-Crisis Kara would later appear in Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #5, along with an entire army of Legionnaires gathered from alternate worlds, times, and realities, to battle the Time Trapper.","A heroine resembling the Pre-Crisis Kara would later appear in Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #5, along with an entire army of Legionnaires gathered from alternate worlds, times, and realities, to battle the Time Trapper. Two Supergirls meet Prior to the post-Crisis introduction of Kara Zor-El into mainstream continuity, the pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El made an appearance in Peter David's Supergirl: Many Happy Returns.","Two Supergirls meet Prior to the post-Crisis introduction of Kara Zor-El into mainstream continuity, the pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El made an appearance in Peter David's Supergirl: Many Happy Returns. The then-current Supergirl series, at the time starring Linda Danvers, was in danger of cancellation and Peter David thought a story arc involving Kara Zor-El would be enough to revitalize the series.","The then-current Supergirl series, at the time starring Linda Danvers, was in danger of cancellation and Peter David thought a story arc involving Kara Zor-El would be enough to revitalize the series. In an interview with Cliff Biggers of Newsarama, David states: In the Linda Danvers' Supergirl series issues 49 and 50 (October and November 2000), the original dead Kara appears as Linda's \"guardian angel\".","In an interview with Cliff Biggers of Newsarama, David states: In the Linda Danvers' Supergirl series issues 49 and 50 (October and November 2000), the original dead Kara appears as Linda's \"guardian angel\". Then in issues 75 to 80, \"Many Happy Returns\", a young Kara appears from an earlier time long before the Crisis.","Then in issues 75 to 80, \"Many Happy Returns\", a young Kara appears from an earlier time long before the Crisis. The paradox becomes a moral crisis for Linda who tries to take her place as the Crisis sacrifice, living for years in a Silver Age universe where \"no one swears, the villains are always easy to defeat, and everything's very, very clean\", eventually marrying the Silver Age Superman and having a daughter with him, before she is forced to return to her universe by the Spectre when he reveals that her efforts to replace Kara as the sacrifice will not succeed.","The paradox becomes a moral crisis for Linda who tries to take her place as the Crisis sacrifice, living for years in a Silver Age universe where \"no one swears, the villains are always easy to defeat, and everything's very, very clean\", eventually marrying the Silver Age Superman and having a daughter with him, before she is forced to return to her universe by the Spectre when he reveals that her efforts to replace Kara as the sacrifice will not succeed. This run was illustrated by Ed Benes who had also illustrated Gail Simone's Birds of Prey which had a similar whimsical camaraderie between its female leads.","This run was illustrated by Ed Benes who had also illustrated Gail Simone's Birds of Prey which had a similar whimsical camaraderie between its female leads. Linda's inability to ultimately save Kara, coupled with the loss of her daughter, is so devastating that it ends her own career as Supergirl, Linda leaving a note for Superman where she explains that she feels that she has failed to live up to the standards of a true Supergirl and choosing to go somewhere she cannot be found.","Linda's inability to ultimately save Kara, coupled with the loss of her daughter, is so devastating that it ends her own career as Supergirl, Linda leaving a note for Superman where she explains that she feels that she has failed to live up to the standards of a true Supergirl and choosing to go somewhere she cannot be found. This story arc is usually cited as one of the best Supergirl stories ever written. The series ended with issue 80.","The series ended with issue 80. The series ended with issue 80. Revival After the launch of the Superman/Batman comic book series, executive editor Dan DiDio had been looking for a way to simplify the Supergirl character from her convoluted post-Crisis history; the simplest version, of course, was Superman's cousin. Jeph Loeb and editor Eddie Berganza found an opening to reintroduce the character following the conclusion of the first story arc of Superman/Batman.","Jeph Loeb and editor Eddie Berganza found an opening to reintroduce the character following the conclusion of the first story arc of Superman/Batman. Loeb states: The modern version of Kara Zor-El made her debut in Superman/Batman #8 (2004). Kara takes the mantle of Supergirl at the conclusion of the storyline. The Supergirl comic book series would later be relaunched, now starring Kara Zor-El as \"The Girl of Steel\". The first arc of the new series was written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by Ian Churchill.","The first arc of the new series was written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by Ian Churchill. Loeb would later describe the appeal of writing for Supergirl: As the character continued to be reinvented, steps towards regarding the iconic character were some of the most prominent changes. Artist Jamal Igle and editor Matt Idleson moved to transition the character away from red panties under her skirt to biker shorts, feeling such a change was a logical progression and \"more respectable.\"","Artist Jamal Igle and editor Matt Idleson moved to transition the character away from red panties under her skirt to biker shorts, feeling such a change was a logical progression and \"more respectable.\" The New 52 In September 2011, DC Comics began The New 52, in which it canceled all of its monthly superhero titles and relaunched 52 new ones, wiping out most of its past continuity in the process.","The New 52 In September 2011, DC Comics began The New 52, in which it canceled all of its monthly superhero titles and relaunched 52 new ones, wiping out most of its past continuity in the process. One of the new titles was a new Supergirl series (Volume 6) that featured a new origin for Kara and was published between 2011 and 2015.","One of the new titles was a new Supergirl series (Volume 6) that featured a new origin for Kara and was published between 2011 and 2015. Artist Mahmud Asrar designed a new costume for the character which strongly deviated from her classic, \"cheerleader\" suit, a change which generated criticism from some readers. DC Rebirth The 2016 DC Comics title relaunch Rebirth incorporates several elements (such as the costume, the name, the setting, and some characters) from the Supergirl television series.","DC Rebirth The 2016 DC Comics title relaunch Rebirth incorporates several elements (such as the costume, the name, the setting, and some characters) from the Supergirl television series. The DC Rebirth initiative undid the New 52's modern recreations, bringing DC's heroes back to their more classic iterations. Supergirl's new series (Volume 7) was titled Supergirl: Rebirth, written by Steven Orlando. The first arc was penciled by Brian Ching, who also redesigned Supergirl's costume in reference to a more classic look.","The first arc was penciled by Brian Ching, who also redesigned Supergirl's costume in reference to a more classic look. In April 2018, it was announced that the title would be canceled after issue #20, only to be revived in August that year under a new creative team, with new writer Marc Andreyko and artist Kevin Maguire. The series ended with its 42nd issue.","The series ended with its 42nd issue. The series ended with its 42nd issue. Future State: Kara Zor-El, Superwoman The Future State comics propose a possible future for Kara Zor-El, now an adult and having taken the alias of Superwoman. She leaves Earth to become a guardian of the Moon, which has become a refugee colony for aliens from the entire universe. The series was written by Marguerite Bennet and penciled by Marguerite Sauvage.","The series was written by Marguerite Bennet and penciled by Marguerite Sauvage. Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow Under the Infinite Frontier brand, Kara's next series Woman of Tomorrow debuted in June 2021, written by Tom King and penciled by Brazilian artists Bilquis Evely and Mat Lopes. The arc introduces Supergirl to new character grounds as she begins the story as a young woman, celebrating her 21st birthday and helping a young alien in her quest for revenge.","The arc introduces Supergirl to new character grounds as she begins the story as a young woman, celebrating her 21st birthday and helping a young alien in her quest for revenge. The \"mentor-mentee journey on revenge\" plot is, according to King, inspired by the original novel and both versions of True Grit. In this series, the creators paid homage to Linda Danvers, as Kara manifests flame wings and powers after taking a red kryptonite drug, in order to save her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon.","In this series, the creators paid homage to Linda Danvers, as Kara manifests flame wings and powers after taking a red kryptonite drug, in order to save her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon. Fictional character biography Silver Age In her debut story, Kara Zor-El is the last survivor of Argo City of the planet Krypton.","Fictional character biography Silver Age In her debut story, Kara Zor-El is the last survivor of Argo City of the planet Krypton. Although Argo, which had survived the explosion of the planet, drifted through space as a self-sustaining environment, the soil of the colony eventually turned into Kryptonite; and though Kara's father Zor-El placed lead sheeting above the ground to protect the citizens from radiation, meteorites pierced the sheeting, and the Kryptonians died of radiation poisoning instead of replacing the metal.","Although Argo, which had survived the explosion of the planet, drifted through space as a self-sustaining environment, the soil of the colony eventually turned into Kryptonite; and though Kara's father Zor-El placed lead sheeting above the ground to protect the citizens from radiation, meteorites pierced the sheeting, and the Kryptonians died of radiation poisoning instead of replacing the metal. In Supergirl's subsequent backup feature in Action Comics drawn by artist Jim Mooney for ten years until 1968, Supergirl adopts the identity of Linda Lee, an orphan at Midvale Orphanage presided over by headmistress Miss Hart.","In Supergirl's subsequent backup feature in Action Comics drawn by artist Jim Mooney for ten years until 1968, Supergirl adopts the identity of Linda Lee, an orphan at Midvale Orphanage presided over by headmistress Miss Hart. She disguises herself by hiding her blond hair beneath a brunette wig; Supergirl interacts with humans on a person-to-person basis performing good deeds and saving the world by helping one person at a time, and she also devises clever schemes as \"Superman's Secret Weapon,\" saving him many times and avoiding adoption before Superman can introduce her publicly.","She disguises herself by hiding her blond hair beneath a brunette wig; Supergirl interacts with humans on a person-to-person basis performing good deeds and saving the world by helping one person at a time, and she also devises clever schemes as \"Superman's Secret Weapon,\" saving him many times and avoiding adoption before Superman can introduce her publicly. While temporarily powerless due to the scheming of Kandorian scientist Lesla-Lar, who is out to supplant her on Earth, Linda allows herself to be adopted by engineer and rocket scientist Fred Danvers and his wife, Edna.","While temporarily powerless due to the scheming of Kandorian scientist Lesla-Lar, who is out to supplant her on Earth, Linda allows herself to be adopted by engineer and rocket scientist Fred Danvers and his wife, Edna. In time, she reveals her secret identity to her adoptive parents on the same day her cousin Superman finally introduces her to the world in the finale of then-DC's longest playing series ever (eight chapters) aptly called \"The World's Greatest Heroine\".","In time, she reveals her secret identity to her adoptive parents on the same day her cousin Superman finally introduces her to the world in the finale of then-DC's longest playing series ever (eight chapters) aptly called \"The World's Greatest Heroine\". When frequent dreams about her parents being alive turn out to be real, she builds a machine aided by her engineer father's talent, and brings them both back alive from the \"Survival Zone\" where they had both teleported during Argo City's final moments.","When frequent dreams about her parents being alive turn out to be real, she builds a machine aided by her engineer father's talent, and brings them both back alive from the \"Survival Zone\" where they had both teleported during Argo City's final moments. Zor-El and Allura eventually end up living in Kandor, and when the city in the bottle is enlarged, they both go on to live in Rokyn/New Krypton, where they have the sad duty of receiving her mortal remains after \"Crisis\" for burial.","Zor-El and Allura eventually end up living in Kandor, and when the city in the bottle is enlarged, they both go on to live in Rokyn/New Krypton, where they have the sad duty of receiving her mortal remains after \"Crisis\" for burial. Graduating from high school in 1965, Linda Lee goes to college on a scholarship and stays in Stanhope College until she graduates in 1971.","Graduating from high school in 1965, Linda Lee goes to college on a scholarship and stays in Stanhope College until she graduates in 1971. During this era, she is helped by her pet cat Streaky, her Super-Horse pet Comet, and befriends Lena Thorul, who had first appeared in the Lois Lane series. Kara is also a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, where she becomes close to Brainiac 5.","Kara is also a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, where she becomes close to Brainiac 5. In addition, Linda has boyfriends from the orphanage (Richard \"Dick\" Malverne) and from Atlantis (Jerro the merboy). In 1967, Supergirl meets Batgirl for the first time in World's Finest Comics. Developing a strong friendship, the two characters teamed up many times again, as in Superman Family #171, or Adventure #381.","Developing a strong friendship, the two characters teamed up many times again, as in Superman Family #171, or Adventure #381. In 1969, Supergirl left Action Comics and became a featured character in Adventure Comics beginning with issue #381 (June 1969). During the 1970s, Supergirl's costume changed frequently, as did her career in her civilian life.","During the 1970s, Supergirl's costume changed frequently, as did her career in her civilian life. In her secret identity as Linda Lee Danvers, Kara Zor-El took a variety of jobs including graduate student in acting, television camera operator, and student counselor, and finally became an actress on the TV soap Secret Hearts. Bronze Age After long-time Superman family editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971, the character underwent revitalization under editor Joe Orlando and artist Mike Sekowsky.","Bronze Age After long-time Superman family editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971, the character underwent revitalization under editor Joe Orlando and artist Mike Sekowsky. Wearing a series of new outfits, leaving her adopted foster home with the Danvers family, Linda goes on to San Francisco where she works for KSF-TV as a camera operator and develops a crush on her boss, Geoffrey Anderson. These stories introduced Supergirl's most memorable villain from this period: Lex Luthor's niece Nasthalthia, or Nasty.","These stories introduced Supergirl's most memorable villain from this period: Lex Luthor's niece Nasthalthia, or Nasty. Nasty had made two appearances towards the end of Linda's college years, then pursued her to KSF-TV, trying to secure proof of her dual identity.","Nasty had made two appearances towards the end of Linda's college years, then pursued her to KSF-TV, trying to secure proof of her dual identity. Supergirl starred in her first solo eponymous monthly series beginning in 1972 until October 1974, when her monthly title merged with Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane, and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen to produce a new title: then-highest DC selling series called The Superman Family, where she eventually became the steady lead story.","Supergirl starred in her first solo eponymous monthly series beginning in 1972 until October 1974, when her monthly title merged with Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane, and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen to produce a new title: then-highest DC selling series called The Superman Family, where she eventually became the steady lead story. Linda worked as a student advisor at New Athens Experimental School, before leaving for New York to follow a career in acting with daytime soap Secret Hearts.","Linda worked as a student advisor at New Athens Experimental School, before leaving for New York to follow a career in acting with daytime soap Secret Hearts. In 1982 Supergirl received a second monthly solo series titled The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl, relocating the character to Chicago as Linda became a mature student of Psychology. Industry legend, and former DC Publisher, Carmine Infantino provided the penciled art (Bob Oksner inked).","Industry legend, and former DC Publisher, Carmine Infantino provided the penciled art (Bob Oksner inked). With issue 13 the title was revamped, with a new costume design (sporting a red headband) and the title shortened to just Supergirl. The series ran until sudden cancellation in 1984, only two months before the character's debut in a big-budget Hollywood film starring Helen Slater.","The series ran until sudden cancellation in 1984, only two months before the character's debut in a big-budget Hollywood film starring Helen Slater. In the Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985), the greatest heroes from Earth-One, Earth-Two, Earth-Four, Earth-S, and Earth-X join forces in order to defeat the Anti-Monitor. When Superman comes face to face with the Anti-Monitor and is knocked unconscious, Supergirl rushes to save him before he is killed.","When Superman comes face to face with the Anti-Monitor and is knocked unconscious, Supergirl rushes to save him before he is killed. She is able to fight him off long enough for Dr. Light to carry her cousin to a safe distance, but is killed by the Anti-Monitor. A public memorial service for Supergirl takes place in Chicago, where Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) delivers the eulogy. In her remarks, she states \"Kara is a hero. She will not be forgotten.\"","She will not be forgotten.\" She will not be forgotten.\" Superman then gives his late cousin burial by taking her corpse to Rokyn/New Krypton to Zor-El and Allura. A Superman issue the next month reveals that Kara had experienced a premonition about her own passing. However, when the universe is rebooted, the timeline is altered. Kara Zor-El and all memory of her is erased from existence.","Kara Zor-El and all memory of her is erased from existence. Echoes After these events, the soul of Kara Zor-El made another appearance in continuity three years later in a story titled \"Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot\" in Christmas with the Super-Heroes #2 (1989). Within the story, Boston \"Deadman\" Brand tries to feel the warmth of Christmas by possessing revelers' bodies.","Within the story, Boston \"Deadman\" Brand tries to feel the warmth of Christmas by possessing revelers' bodies. Feeling guilty upon the realization that he has been stealing others' Christmases, he flies off feeling sorry for himself for being denied a reward after a year of helping people. A warmly dressed blonde woman approaches Brand, startling him.","A warmly dressed blonde woman approaches Brand, startling him. Somehow seeing the normally invisible Brand, she converses with him, reminding him, She reminds Brand that even though he is dead, he is still human, and he should rejoice because it means his spirit is still alive. As the woman leaves, Brand asks her who she is, to which she replies, \"My name is Kara. Though I doubt that will mean anything to you.\"","Though I doubt that will mean anything to you.\" The story, written by Alan Brennert and penciled by Dick Giordano, is dedicated to Otto Binder and Jim Mooney, adding: \"We still remember.\" Finally, the soul of Kara Zor-El appeared twice during Peter David's run, specifically in issues #48 and #49 when she appears before a defeated and imprisoned then-Supergirl, Linda Danvers from Earth, and comforts her.","Finally, the soul of Kara Zor-El appeared twice during Peter David's run, specifically in issues #48 and #49 when she appears before a defeated and imprisoned then-Supergirl, Linda Danvers from Earth, and comforts her. Linda acknowledges she has been helped three times by her phantom-friend, and when she asks her name she is told by the smiling figure: \"I have gone by many names, but the one I am most fond of is: Kara!\"","Linda acknowledges she has been helped three times by her phantom-friend, and when she asks her name she is told by the smiling figure: \"I have gone by many names, but the one I am most fond of is: Kara!\" Modern Age In 2004, Jeph Loeb reintroduced Kara Zor-El into post-Zero Hour (Birthright timeline) continuity during a storyline in the series Superman/Batman.","Modern Age In 2004, Jeph Loeb reintroduced Kara Zor-El into post-Zero Hour (Birthright timeline) continuity during a storyline in the series Superman/Batman. She is the biological cousin of Superman, and although chronologically older than him, the ship in which she traveled to Earth was caught in a large green Kryptonite meteorite which held her in a state of suspended animation for much of the journey, making her have the appearance of a 16-year-old girl.","She is the biological cousin of Superman, and although chronologically older than him, the ship in which she traveled to Earth was caught in a large green Kryptonite meteorite which held her in a state of suspended animation for much of the journey, making her have the appearance of a 16-year-old girl. Still, Supergirl sometimes saw Superman as a child, due to last carrying him as a baby. DC Comics relaunched the Supergirl, the first story arc of which was written by Loeb. showcases Supergirl on a journey of self-discovery.","showcases Supergirl on a journey of self-discovery. showcases Supergirl on a journey of self-discovery. Along her journey, she encounters Power Girl (Kara Zor-El's counterpart from another universe), the Teen Titans, the Outsiders, the Justice League of America, and arch-villain Lex Luthor. During the company-wide crossover series Infinite Crisis (2005), a sequel to Crisis on Infinite Earths, Supergirl is transported to the 31st century, where she is revered as a member of the Superman family and joins the Legion of Super-Heroes.","During the company-wide crossover series Infinite Crisis (2005), a sequel to Crisis on Infinite Earths, Supergirl is transported to the 31st century, where she is revered as a member of the Superman family and joins the Legion of Super-Heroes. DC Comics renamed the monthly series Legion of Super-Heroes to Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes. Beginning with issue #16.","Beginning with issue #16. Beginning with issue #16. In the limited series 52, which chronicles the events that took place during the missing year after the end of Infinite Crisis, Donna Troy recalls the original Kara Zor-El and her sacrifice to save the universe. Supergirl returns to the 21st century during the course of 52.","Supergirl returns to the 21st century during the course of 52. After briefly filling in for a temporarily depowered Superman as guardian of Metropolis, she assumes the identity of Flamebird to fight crime in the bottle city of Kandor with Power Girl as Nightwing in Greg Rucka's arc Supergirl: Kandor. In 2007, Supergirl appeared in the miniseries Amazons Attack! That same year, she joined the Teen Titans for five issues.","That same year, she joined the Teen Titans for five issues. Conversations with other heroes who maintain secret identities lead Kara to the conclusion that she needs to make a deeper connection with human beings. She accepts Lana Lang's proposal to present her to the Daily Planet staff as \"Linda Lang\", Lana's teenaged niece.","She accepts Lana Lang's proposal to present her to the Daily Planet staff as \"Linda Lang\", Lana's teenaged niece. In the 2008–2009 \"New Krypton\" story arc, in which Superman discovers and frees the real Kandor and a large number of its citizens, Supergirl is reunited with her father, Zor-El and mother, Alura, though Zor-El is killed by the villain Reactron.","In the 2008–2009 \"New Krypton\" story arc, in which Superman discovers and frees the real Kandor and a large number of its citizens, Supergirl is reunited with her father, Zor-El and mother, Alura, though Zor-El is killed by the villain Reactron. When a planet is formed that the Kryptonians call New Krypton, Kara is torn between her life on Earth, and her obligation to her mother, eventually joining the New Krypton Science Guild.","When a planet is formed that the Kryptonians call New Krypton, Kara is torn between her life on Earth, and her obligation to her mother, eventually joining the New Krypton Science Guild. Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2009 miniseries Justice League: Cry for Justice, and the 2009–2010 storyline \"Blackest Night\".","Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2009 miniseries Justice League: Cry for Justice, and the 2009–2010 storyline \"Blackest Night\". The New Krypton storyline would later be resolved in the \"World of New Krypton\", \"Superman: Last Stand of New Krypton\", \"War of the Supermen\" storylines, resulting in the destruction of New Krypton and seeing Supergirl mourn her people.","The New Krypton storyline would later be resolved in the \"World of New Krypton\", \"Superman: Last Stand of New Krypton\", \"War of the Supermen\" storylines, resulting in the destruction of New Krypton and seeing Supergirl mourn her people. Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2010 \"Brightest Day\" storyline, the follow up to \"Blackest Night\"., where she joins the Justice League along with Jesse Quick & Jade.","Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2010 \"Brightest Day\" storyline, the follow up to \"Blackest Night\"., where she joins the Justice League along with Jesse Quick & Jade. The New 52 In this continuity, Kara's ship lands in Smallville, Kansas but hurtles through the Earth and emerges in Siberia. Kara has no memory of the destruction of Krypton, and believes it is only three days since her spacecraft was launched.","Kara has no memory of the destruction of Krypton, and believes it is only three days since her spacecraft was launched. She learns the truth about Krypton's destruction from Superman, and later journeys through a wormhole to Argo City, which she finds in orbit around a blue sun. She finds the city in ruins, with no explanation of how it met that fate, and is attacked by a female Worldkiller named Reign before the city plummets into the sun.","She finds the city in ruins, with no explanation of how it met that fate, and is attacked by a female Worldkiller named Reign before the city plummets into the sun. When Reign and her fellow Worldkiller plan to enslave the Earth, Supergirl returns there to defeat them, and thus adopts Earth as her new home. After several battles with supervillains, including the Worldkillers, superweapons of Kryptonian design, she accepts Krypton's destruction, but continues to grapple with her grief.","After several battles with supervillains, including the Worldkillers, superweapons of Kryptonian design, she accepts Krypton's destruction, but continues to grapple with her grief. Her desire to restore Krypton results in her being manipulated into nearly destroying the Earth by another Kryptonian whom she falls in love with. Upon realizing his manipulation, she kills him by driving Kryptonite through his heart, and succumbs to Kryptonite poisoning. Following her poisoning, Supergirl departs the Earth to die alone.","Following her poisoning, Supergirl departs the Earth to die alone. While adrift in interstellar space, she encounters a planet under attack by monsters, and quickly intervenes to save them, unaware that the entire planet is a trap by Brainiac. She is captured and restrained by Cyborg Superman, but after a struggle, manages to escape both Brainiac and Cyborg Superman.","She is captured and restrained by Cyborg Superman, but after a struggle, manages to escape both Brainiac and Cyborg Superman. Returning to Earth, she is sent into the past by the Oracle alongside Superman and Superboy, where she ensures that a resurrected H'el cannot save Krypton, and sacrifices the planet and her family in order to save the universe. Back on Earth, she encounters the assassin Lobo.","Back on Earth, she encounters the assassin Lobo. Back on Earth, she encounters the assassin Lobo. Initially eager for a peaceful resolution, seeing a kind of kinship with him in their both being lone survivors of their respective worlds (although not truly aware of Lobo's circumstances), Kara's encounter with the Czarnian would reveal deep mental wounds, resulting in the unleashing of her rage and transformation into a Red Lantern.","Initially eager for a peaceful resolution, seeing a kind of kinship with him in their both being lone survivors of their respective worlds (although not truly aware of Lobo's circumstances), Kara's encounter with the Czarnian would reveal deep mental wounds, resulting in the unleashing of her rage and transformation into a Red Lantern. Driven insane by rage, Kara wanders space, attacking everyone in her way, until captured by several Green Lanterns and brought to Hal Jordan.","Driven insane by rage, Kara wanders space, attacking everyone in her way, until captured by several Green Lanterns and brought to Hal Jordan. Immediately recognizing a Kryptonian and unable to remove the power ring without killing her, he brings her to Guy Gardner, the leader of one of the two Red Lantern factions, who manages to restore her sanity.","Immediately recognizing a Kryptonian and unable to remove the power ring without killing her, he brings her to Guy Gardner, the leader of one of the two Red Lantern factions, who manages to restore her sanity. After some time under Guy Gardner's tutelage and protecting the galaxy as a Red Lantern, after being discharged from the Red Lantern Corps (because Guy did not want for her to die needlessly against Atrocitus' splinter group), on her way back to Earth, Kara encounters the leader of the Worldkillers, who are revealed to be parasitic suits of armor.","After some time under Guy Gardner's tutelage and protecting the galaxy as a Red Lantern, after being discharged from the Red Lantern Corps (because Guy did not want for her to die needlessly against Atrocitus' splinter group), on her way back to Earth, Kara encounters the leader of the Worldkillers, who are revealed to be parasitic suits of armor. He attempts to assimilate Kara as his host, but she voluntarily subjects herself to Kryptonite poisoning in order to stop him, and eventually flies into the Sun and removes her power ring, killing her and removing him from her body.","He attempts to assimilate Kara as his host, but she voluntarily subjects herself to Kryptonite poisoning in order to stop him, and eventually flies into the Sun and removes her power ring, killing her and removing him from her body. However, Kara is revealed to be immortal while in the Sun's core, and is restored to life without the power ring or any Kryptonite poisoning, immediately destroying the Worldkiller. She later helps Guy against Atrocitus and his Red Lantern splinter group.","She later helps Guy against Atrocitus and his Red Lantern splinter group. Convergence and return of the Pre-Crisis version During the Convergence story arc, the original Kara Zor-El who had sacrificed her life during Crisis on Infinite Earths makes an appearance on the amalgamated planet of Telos.","Convergence and return of the Pre-Crisis version During the Convergence story arc, the original Kara Zor-El who had sacrificed her life during Crisis on Infinite Earths makes an appearance on the amalgamated planet of Telos. At the end of the saga she volunteers herself to once again fight the Anti-Monitor but this time, with the help of her timeline's Barry Allen, the Pre-Flashpoint Superman (in tow with his pregnant wife, Lois Lane), and a repentant Parallax (Zero Hour Hal Jordan), vows to defeat him for the sake of the multiverse's continued existence.","At the end of the saga she volunteers herself to once again fight the Anti-Monitor but this time, with the help of her timeline's Barry Allen, the Pre-Flashpoint Superman (in tow with his pregnant wife, Lois Lane), and a repentant Parallax (Zero Hour Hal Jordan), vows to defeat him for the sake of the multiverse's continued existence. Without it being seen, those left on Telos discover the group was successful and all previous timelines (with the mysterious exception of the pre-Flashpoint/pre-New 52 DC universe) from DC history had been re-established, though the fate of the original Kara Zor-El and her fellows went unmentioned.","Without it being seen, those left on Telos discover the group was successful and all previous timelines (with the mysterious exception of the pre-Flashpoint/pre-New 52 DC universe) from DC history had been re-established, though the fate of the original Kara Zor-El and her fellows went unmentioned. A few more details of the battle against the Anti-Monitor are later revealed during the New 52 comic mini-series (leading into DC's Rebirth event).","A few more details of the battle against the Anti-Monitor are later revealed during the New 52 comic mini-series (leading into DC's Rebirth event). After the defeat of Anti-Monitor, Pre-New 52 Clark and Lois decide to start life anew in the closest universe they can find (mysteriously yet unable to see their old universe even though the rest of the multiverse had been restored) while Pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El, along with her contemporary Barry Allen and Zero Hour Parallax/Hal Jordan, decide to find their place in the universe and go off to do so.","After the defeat of Anti-Monitor, Pre-New 52 Clark and Lois decide to start life anew in the closest universe they can find (mysteriously yet unable to see their old universe even though the rest of the multiverse had been restored) while Pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El, along with her contemporary Barry Allen and Zero Hour Parallax/Hal Jordan, decide to find their place in the universe and go off to do so. Her fate as of that story arc is yet to be revealed.","Her fate as of that story arc is yet to be revealed. DC Rebirth After the events that led to the death of the New 52 version of Superman, 16-year-old Kara lives in National City with her adoptive parents, D.E.O. agents Jeremiah and Eliza Danvers, where she attends high school and works with the agency as led by Cameron Chase. As part of her civilian identity, Kara receives special glasses that darken her blond hair when posing as Kara Danvers.","As part of her civilian identity, Kara receives special glasses that darken her blond hair when posing as Kara Danvers. Kara also goes on an internship at Cat Grant's CATCO alongside Ben Rubel, whom she befriends. In her opening arc \"The Reign of the Cyborg Supermen\", Kara discovers that the cyborg Zor-El, whom she had battled in her New 52 title, is still active and has rebuilt other Kryptonians (her mother Alura included), planning to take over Earth.","In her opening arc \"The Reign of the Cyborg Supermen\", Kara discovers that the cyborg Zor-El, whom she had battled in her New 52 title, is still active and has rebuilt other Kryptonians (her mother Alura included), planning to take over Earth. Supergirl defeats them but vows to help her father regardless of his actions. After National City discovers Supergirl has kept Zor-El's \"living\" status a secret, they become untrustful of her.","After National City discovers Supergirl has kept Zor-El's \"living\" status a secret, they become untrustful of her. Director Bones takes advantage of the heroine's impopularity and, after taking control of the D.E.O., sends villains in an attempt to bring Kara down. She defeats all of them and regains trust from National City with Ben's help.","She defeats all of them and regains trust from National City with Ben's help. The Supergirl Who Laughs Kara is later infected by The Batman Who Laughs toxin, causing her to turn evil and joining other infected as part of Laughs Secret Six before later being cured. She is fired from CatCo by Cat Grant and starts working at S.T.A.R. Labs. Woman of Tomorrow Journeying throughout the universe with Krypto, Kara celebrates her 21st birthday alone on a distant planet.","Woman of Tomorrow Journeying throughout the universe with Krypto, Kara celebrates her 21st birthday alone on a distant planet. Drunk in a bar, she is approached by a little girl named Ruthye and is asked to kill Krem (her father's murderer) in vengeance. Supergirl refuses but, when she is about to leave the planet, Krem attacks and severely wounds both her and Krypto, fleeing in Kara's ship.","Supergirl refuses but, when she is about to leave the planet, Krem attacks and severely wounds both her and Krypto, fleeing in Kara's ship. Kara begins her journey alongside Ruthye and, powerless, saves her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon by taking a red kryptonite drug which causes her to manifest flame wings. Powers and abilities Like all Kryptonians under a yellow sun, the current version of Kara Zor-El possesses virtually unlimited strength, stamina, and durability.","Powers and abilities Like all Kryptonians under a yellow sun, the current version of Kara Zor-El possesses virtually unlimited strength, stamina, and durability. She is able to fly and with super speed that she can also use on foot, similar to Superman and The Flash. Also like Superman, Supergirl possesses super senses, super-breath, and freeze breathe, as well as multiple forms of supervision (including X-Ray, Infrared, Telescopic, and Microscopic).","Also like Superman, Supergirl possesses super senses, super-breath, and freeze breathe, as well as multiple forms of supervision (including X-Ray, Infrared, Telescopic, and Microscopic). Kara also has a bio-electric aura that enhances her near invulnerability and also protects her skin and her costume from dirt and tear; as such, Kara is perpetually clean. The Sun also provides Kara with a longer lifespan than that of a human being, to the point that she is effectively a biological immortal.","The Sun also provides Kara with a longer lifespan than that of a human being, to the point that she is effectively a biological immortal. Kara doesn't require food, water, or sleep to survive. She is also immune to most diseases, mental and physical, and would require a very strong strain to have a chance at affecting her. In the rare instances that Kara is harmed by someone matching her strength or by the use of one of her weaknesses, she can heal almost instantaneously.","In the rare instances that Kara is harmed by someone matching her strength or by the use of one of her weaknesses, she can heal almost instantaneously. Her power surpasses most other beings, though she can be overpowered by those who rival her strength such as Black Adam, Darkseid, Despero, Doomsday, Bizarro, Wonder Woman, and Superman. In reality, Kara is actually older than her cousin, Clark, and spent time on Krypton before its destruction.","In reality, Kara is actually older than her cousin, Clark, and spent time on Krypton before its destruction. As such (unlike Superman), she possesses memories of Kryptonian culture as well as her cousin's parents. Continued exposure to a yellow Sun will slowly increase abilities. Many characters in the DC Universe have noted that Supergirl appears, at times, to be even more powerful than Superman himself.","Many characters in the DC Universe have noted that Supergirl appears, at times, to be even more powerful than Superman himself. In answer to this, Superman states that this is because he has spent his entire life subconsciously suppressing his full powers in order to avoid hurting others, having been absorbing solar radiation since his infancy. Kara, not having such practice or experience, simply uses the full magnitude of her powers.","Kara, not having such practice or experience, simply uses the full magnitude of her powers. Abilities Unlike her cousin, Kara was taught to fight in Krypton as part of her tests, and at the Crucible Academy, being adept at various Kryptonian fighting styles like Klurkor and Torquasm Rao. Supergirl also learned the art of Bagua under I-Ching's instructions. She practiced how to manipulate her Chi or Qi in order to gain better control of her powers due to them becoming overwhelmed after her conflict with the Fatal Five.","She practiced how to manipulate her Chi or Qi in order to gain better control of her powers due to them becoming overwhelmed after her conflict with the Fatal Five. Superman recommended guardianship with I-Ching to Supergirl first. In addition to training in Krypton, Kara was trained by Batman in advanced martial arts and trained with the Amazons in Themyscira in unarmed and armed combat, Amazonas martial arts, fencing, Shield handling, and other Amazon weapons. She trained with Wonder Woman and Artemis extensively.","She trained with Wonder Woman and Artemis extensively. She trained with Wonder Woman and Artemis extensively. Other versions There are numerous alternate versions of Supergirl. The most notable is Power Girl (real name Kara Zor-L, also known as Karen Starr) who first appeared in All Star Comics #58 (January/February 1976). Power Girl is the Earth-Two counterpart of Supergirl and the first cousin of Kal-L, Superman of the pre-Crisis Earth-Two. The infant Power Girl's parents enabled her to escape the destruction of Krypton.","The infant Power Girl's parents enabled her to escape the destruction of Krypton. Although she left the planet at the same time that Superman did, her ship took much longer to reach Earth-Two. She has superhuman strength and the ability to fly and is the first chairwoman of the Justice Society of America. She sports a bob of blond hair; wears a distinctive white, red, and blue costume; and has an aggressive fighting style.","She sports a bob of blond hair; wears a distinctive white, red, and blue costume; and has an aggressive fighting style. Throughout her early appearances in All Star Comics, she is often at odds with Wildcat because his penchant for talking to her as if she were an ordinary human female rather than a superpowered Kryptonian annoys her. She also fought alongside the Sovereign Seven team, replacing Rampart after his death though that series is not considered to be part of canon in the DC universe.","She also fought alongside the Sovereign Seven team, replacing Rampart after his death though that series is not considered to be part of canon in the DC universe. The 1985 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths eliminated Earth-Two, causing her origin to change; she became the granddaughter of the Atlantean sorcerer Arion. However, story events culminating in the 2005–2006 Infinite Crisis limited series restored her status as a refugee from the Krypton of the destroyed pre-Crisis Earth-Two universe.","However, story events culminating in the 2005–2006 Infinite Crisis limited series restored her status as a refugee from the Krypton of the destroyed pre-Crisis Earth-Two universe. Like the original Kara's Streaky, Power Girl has a cat, featured in a story by Amanda Conner in Wonder Woman #600. Reception This version of Supergirl is ranked as the 153rd-greatest comic book character of all time by Wizard magazine.","Reception This version of Supergirl is ranked as the 153rd-greatest comic book character of all time by Wizard magazine. IGN also ranked this version of Supergirl as the 94th-greatest comic book superhero, stating \"for a character born of the Silver Age that saw everything from a Super Baby to a Super Monkey, Kara Zor-El grew into something much more than simply another marketing ploy to slap an 'S' on.\"","IGN also ranked this version of Supergirl as the 94th-greatest comic book superhero, stating \"for a character born of the Silver Age that saw everything from a Super Baby to a Super Monkey, Kara Zor-El grew into something much more than simply another marketing ploy to slap an 'S' on.\" In 2013 IGN ranked Supergirl as the 17th-greatest DC comic superhero, stating \"she was an early example of a female sidekick developing a large fanbase in her own right\", and \"Supergirl has been one of DC's most powerful heroes, and a standard to hold other female heroes against.\"","In 2013 IGN ranked Supergirl as the 17th-greatest DC comic superhero, stating \"she was an early example of a female sidekick developing a large fanbase in her own right\", and \"Supergirl has been one of DC's most powerful heroes, and a standard to hold other female heroes against.\" Appearances Pre-Crisis 1959 to 1969: Action Comics #252 to #376. 1969 to 1972: Adventure Comics #381 to #424. 1972 to 1974: Supergirl #1 to #10.","1972 to 1974: Supergirl #1 to #10. 1974 to 1982: Her comic merges with Jimmy Olsen's and Lois Lane's to become Superman Family #164 to #222. 1982 to 1984: The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl #1 to #13, Supergirl (vol. 2) #14 to #23. 2015: Convergence Kara Zor-El appeared in over 750 stories published by DC from 1959 to 1985.","2015: Convergence Kara Zor-El appeared in over 750 stories published by DC from 1959 to 1985. Post-Crisis 2004 to 2005: Superman/Batman #8 to #13 and #19 2005 to 2011: Supergirl (vol. 5) #0 to #67 2006 to 2008: Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes (Legion of Super-Heroes vol. 5) #16 to #37 2007: Action Comics #850 2008: Final Crisis 2011 to 2015: New 52: Supergirl (vol.","5) #16 to #37 2007: Action Comics #850 2008: Final Crisis 2011 to 2015: New 52: Supergirl (vol. 6) #1 to #40 2016 to current: Rebirth: Supergirl (vol. 7) #1 to current Kara Zor-El also appears as a supporting character in several issues of other DC Comics, including Superman, Action Comics, Teen Titans, Amazons Attack, World War III, and Wonder Girl.","7) #1 to current Kara Zor-El also appears as a supporting character in several issues of other DC Comics, including Superman, Action Comics, Teen Titans, Amazons Attack, World War III, and Wonder Girl. She has also appeared in many issues of Superman, Action Comics, and Superman New Krypton starting with the World Without Superman event in 2009, and continuing with the World Against Superman event going into 2010. Collected editions Listed in chronological order.","Collected editions Listed in chronological order. Collected editions Listed in chronological order. All ages titles are not in continuity with the original or modern Kara. In other media Television Live-action Smallville Prior to the seventh season (2007–2008) of the WB/CW show Smallville where she is introduced into the cast and is portrayed by Laura Vandervoort, a woman claiming to be Kara (portrayed by Adrianne Palicki) is briefly introduced in the season 3 finale.","In other media Television Live-action Smallville Prior to the seventh season (2007–2008) of the WB/CW show Smallville where she is introduced into the cast and is portrayed by Laura Vandervoort, a woman claiming to be Kara (portrayed by Adrianne Palicki) is briefly introduced in the season 3 finale. It is later revealed her real name is Lindsey Harrison, and had been given false memories and powers by the artificial intelligence of Clark Kent's (Tom Welling) father Jor-El as part of a series of tests.","It is later revealed her real name is Lindsey Harrison, and had been given false memories and powers by the artificial intelligence of Clark Kent's (Tom Welling) father Jor-El as part of a series of tests. Vandervoort portrays the real Kara, Clark's cousin whose spaceship had been trapped in stasis until the events of the season 6 finale. Much of season 7 is concerned with Kara's attempts to adjust to life on Earth, especially after learning of Krypton's destruction.","Much of season 7 is concerned with Kara's attempts to adjust to life on Earth, especially after learning of Krypton's destruction. Her storyline sees her simultaneously become the object of Lex Luthor's (Michael Rosenbaum) obsessions and Jimmy Olsen's (Aaron Ashmore) affections, suffer a bout of amnesia, discover her father's (Christopher Heyerdahl) sinister motives and become a target of evil android Brainiac (James Marsters). The season finale sees Kara become trapped in the Phantom Zone.","The season finale sees Kara become trapped in the Phantom Zone. Starting with season 8, Vandervoort ceases to feature as a series regular, but reprises the role three more times. In her first guest appearance, \"Bloodline,\" Kara is freed from the Phantom Zone and later departs Clark's hometown of Smallville to search for Kandor, her birthplace, as it is rumored to have survived their home planet's destruction.","In her first guest appearance, \"Bloodline,\" Kara is freed from the Phantom Zone and later departs Clark's hometown of Smallville to search for Kandor, her birthplace, as it is rumored to have survived their home planet's destruction. She appears again in the season 10 episode \"Supergirl\", in which she formally adopts her superhero moniker. Her off-screen adventures are alluded to thereafter.","Her off-screen adventures are alluded to thereafter. Her off-screen adventures are alluded to thereafter. Vandervoort makes a final appearance in the show's penultimate episode, \"Prophecy\", in which she helps Green Arrow (Justin Hartley) locate the \"Bow of Orion\" to use against Darkseid. She is then called to the Fortress of Solitude, where she learns from Jor-El that her job on Earth is done. Using a Legion of Super-Heroes flight ring, she travels to the future to seek her own destiny.","Using a Legion of Super-Heroes flight ring, she travels to the future to seek her own destiny. The Season Eleven comic book continuation of the show later depicts Kara's continued story in the 31st century, subsequent return to the present and joining the Justice League. Arrowverse In September 2014, a 22-episode television series centered around Supergirl was in development at Warner Bros. Television, set to premiere on CBS with a January 2015 air date. Melissa Benoist was cast as the titular character.","Melissa Benoist was cast as the titular character. Melissa Benoist was cast as the titular character. In May 2016, the series moved to The CW and was later integrated into the Arrowverse, a shared universe consisting of shows including Arrow, The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow. In the series, Kara Zor-El was sent to Earth to protect her cousin Kal-El, following her homeworld Krypton's destruction. However, she is knocked into the Phantom Zone, where she is stranded for 24 years.","However, she is knocked into the Phantom Zone, where she is stranded for 24 years. She eventually crash lands on Earth and is found by her already grown-up cousin Kal, now known to the world as the iconic superhero \"Superman\". Superman brings Kara into the custody of Jeremiah Danvers, director of the Department of Extranormal Operations (D.E.O. ), and his daughter Alex. Growing up, Kara struggles to maintain her Kryptonian abilities as well as balancing her relationship with her adoptive sister.","Growing up, Kara struggles to maintain her Kryptonian abilities as well as balancing her relationship with her adoptive sister. Eventually, the two bond when Kara's powers are exposed. However, Jeremiah decides it's best to isolate her abilities. As an adult, Kara is forced to use her powers again when her sister's plane almost crashes. She is later dubbed \"Supergirl\" by the media and dons a costume like her cousin.","She is later dubbed \"Supergirl\" by the media and dons a costume like her cousin. Kara decides to use her abilities to fight alien invaders such as Kara's aunt Astra and her husband Non, Mon-El's rogue parents, the Worldkiller Reign, anti-alien activist Ben Lockwood, and later the shadowy organization Leviathan, with the help of her sister Alex, now an agent of the D.E.O., her best friend and tech-expert Winn Schott, last of the Green Martians J'onn J'onzz / Martian Manhunter, and Kal's best friend Jimmy Olsen.","Kara decides to use her abilities to fight alien invaders such as Kara's aunt Astra and her husband Non, Mon-El's rogue parents, the Worldkiller Reign, anti-alien activist Ben Lockwood, and later the shadowy organization Leviathan, with the help of her sister Alex, now an agent of the D.E.O., her best friend and tech-expert Winn Schott, last of the Green Martians J'onn J'onzz / Martian Manhunter, and Kal's best friend Jimmy Olsen. She is later joined by Lex Luthor's sister Lena, Prince of Daxam Mon-El, former Legion of Superheroes member Querl \"Brainy\" Dox / Brainiac 5, Nia Nal / Dreamer, James' younger sister Kelly, and reporter Willam Dey face against these rival forces.","She is later joined by Lex Luthor's sister Lena, Prince of Daxam Mon-El, former Legion of Superheroes member Querl \"Brainy\" Dox / Brainiac 5, Nia Nal / Dreamer, James' younger sister Kelly, and reporter Willam Dey face against these rival forces. After joining the Arrowverse, which contain annual crossover, Kara assists Barry Allen, Oliver Queen and the Legends of Tomorrow against threats on their designated earth \"Earth-1\" while Kara’s is designated as \"Earth-38.","After joining the Arrowverse, which contain annual crossover, Kara assists Barry Allen, Oliver Queen and the Legends of Tomorrow against threats on their designated earth \"Earth-1\" while Kara’s is designated as \"Earth-38. Later, Kara is selected by The Monitor as the Paragon of Hope to participate in the coming crisis and fight against the Anti-Monitor, whose goal is to destroy the multiverse. After doing so, the Paragons are sent to the Vanishing Point where Oliver, now a Spectre, helps them escape.","After doing so, the Paragons are sent to the Vanishing Point where Oliver, now a Spectre, helps them escape. The Paragons appear at the dawn of time in the anti-matter universe where they have their final confrontation with the Anti-Monitor. Eventually, Oliver sacrifices himself to kill the Anti-Monitor, and as a result, a new multiverse is born with Earth-38 and Earth-1 merged into \"Earth-Prime\". Following the crisis, Kara is forced to deal the after-effects of Crisis which include working with Lex, now owning the D.E.O.","Following the crisis, Kara is forced to deal the after-effects of Crisis which include working with Lex, now owning the D.E.O. while Leviathan continue their covert operations under Gamemnae. The sixth season sees Kara and her allies expose Lex's crimes, but are then forced to deal with Nyxlygsptlnz, a fifth-dimensional imp who tricked the heroes into releasing her from the Phantom Zone.","The sixth season sees Kara and her allies expose Lex's crimes, but are then forced to deal with Nyxlygsptlnz, a fifth-dimensional imp who tricked the heroes into releasing her from the Phantom Zone. Eventually Nyxlygsptlnz joins forces with Lex Luthor and the two kill William, but Kara's assembled allies are able to defeat the two, culminating in Lex and Nyxlygsptlnz being trapped in the Phantom Zone when one of their own plans backfires.","Eventually Nyxlygsptlnz joins forces with Lex Luthor and the two kill William, but Kara's assembled allies are able to defeat the two, culminating in Lex and Nyxlygsptlnz being trapped in the Phantom Zone when one of their own plans backfires. The series concludes with Kara revealing her dual identity so that she can live a full life as one person. Animation DC Nation Shorts Supergirl appears with Batgirl and Wonder Girl in Super Best Friends Forever, voiced by Nicole Sullivan.","Animation DC Nation Shorts Supergirl appears with Batgirl and Wonder Girl in Super Best Friends Forever, voiced by Nicole Sullivan. DC Super Hero Girls Supergirl appears as a central protagonist in the web series DC Super Hero Girls voiced by Anais Fairweather, and is a student at Super Hero High, is very kind and caring and extremely powerful but she's also very clumsy. She also appears as a central protagonist in the 2019 TV series, with Nicole Sullivan reprising her role from the Super Best Friends Forever shorts.","She also appears as a central protagonist in the 2019 TV series, with Nicole Sullivan reprising her role from the Super Best Friends Forever shorts. In this version, she is also a rebel and is known as the \"cool kid\" in school. She may be tough but she can easily express her emotions and is very open-minded as well. She can be a cool friend and a helpful one, but she can also be jealous sometimes and she dislikes her cousin's prominence.","She can be a cool friend and a helpful one, but she can also be jealous sometimes and she dislikes her cousin's prominence. Justice League Action Supergirl appears in Justice League Action, voiced by Joanne Spracklen. She has the appearance of a wide-eyed human teenager with blonde hair and wears her traditional costume except that it has thigh-high boots and a pleated skirt. As a person, she is youthful, responsible, and shows much affection for her cousin Superman.","As a person, she is youthful, responsible, and shows much affection for her cousin Superman. In \"Party Animal\", she appears as a cameo at this Christmas party with the Justice League. In \"Keeping up with the Kryptonians\", Supergirl becomes a star of the popular reality show \"That's So Kara\", and Superman a Kasnian who rules from one place to another on Earth, all being a reality caused by Mister Mxyzptlk.","In \"Keeping up with the Kryptonians\", Supergirl becomes a star of the popular reality show \"That's So Kara\", and Superman a Kasnian who rules from one place to another on Earth, all being a reality caused by Mister Mxyzptlk. In \"Unleashed\", Supergirl accompanies Justice League in stopping Red Lantern Corps, unaware that it was a distraction made by Dex-Starr to invade Earth, until it was ultimately resolved by Krypto, Streaky, and Plastic Man.","In \"Unleashed\", Supergirl accompanies Justice League in stopping Red Lantern Corps, unaware that it was a distraction made by Dex-Starr to invade Earth, until it was ultimately resolved by Krypto, Streaky, and Plastic Man. In a short \"The Goddess Must Be Crazy\", Supergirl trains with Wonder Woman in Paradise Island, until she is possessed by Felix Faust, to destroy the island. Film Superman film series A live action depiction of Supergirl first appears in the eponymous 1984 film starring Helen Slater as Supergirl.","Film Superman film series A live action depiction of Supergirl first appears in the eponymous 1984 film starring Helen Slater as Supergirl. The film is a spin-off from the Superman film series starring Christopher Reeve, to which it is connected by Marc McClure's character of Jimmy Olsen. DC Extended Universe Kara Zor-El / Linda Danvers / Supergirl exists within the DC Extended Universe, as she was referenced in Man of Steel when Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman discovers an empty pod within the Kryptonian scout spaceship.","DC Extended Universe Kara Zor-El / Linda Danvers / Supergirl exists within the DC Extended Universe, as she was referenced in Man of Steel when Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman discovers an empty pod within the Kryptonian scout spaceship. Though Zack Snyder confirmed in August 2018 that even though the character does exist, that pod was not intended for her. In August 2018, a film centered around the character was announced to be in development, with Oren Uziel hired as screenwriter for the project.","In August 2018, a film centered around the character was announced to be in development, with Oren Uziel hired as screenwriter for the project. The studio intends to hire a female director, with Reed Morano—who has expressed interest in the project—being its top choice. Filming was expected to start production in early 2020. Sasha Calle will play Supergirl for the DC Extended Universe in The Flash.","Sasha Calle will play Supergirl for the DC Extended Universe in The Flash. Animation Summer Glau voices the post-Crisis version of Kara Zor-El in Superman/Batman: Apocalypse, which is based on the Superman/Batman storyline \"The Supergirl from Krypton\". Despite this, it was confirmed by director Lauren Montgomery that Supergirl's name was removed from the title due to the much slower sales of the previous Wonder Woman animated movie, and the character was not permitted to appear on the cover in her trademark outfit.","Despite this, it was confirmed by director Lauren Montgomery that Supergirl's name was removed from the title due to the much slower sales of the previous Wonder Woman animated movie, and the character was not permitted to appear on the cover in her trademark outfit. Molly Quinn voices Supergirl in Superman: Unbound. Supergirl appears in Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League: Cosmic Clash, voiced by Jessica DiCicco. Video games Supergirl appears in DC Universe Online, voiced by Adriene Mishler.","Video games Supergirl appears in DC Universe Online, voiced by Adriene Mishler. In the villain campaign, the players help Doctor Psycho capture Supergirl using Kryptonite. In the hero campaign, the players fight Doctor Psycho to save Supergirl. Under the thrall of Brainiac, she must be defeated in the Fortress of Solitude: Power Core raid. Supergirl is unlockable in Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes, voiced by Bridget Hoffman. Supergirl makes a cameo appearance in the IOS version of Injustice: Gods Among Us as a support card.","Supergirl makes a cameo appearance in the IOS version of Injustice: Gods Among Us as a support card. Supergirl appears as a playable character in Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham, voiced by Kari Wahlgren. She is playable in her default variant which is designed after her appearance in The New 52 and in her Classic attire.","She is playable in her default variant which is designed after her appearance in The New 52 and in her Classic attire. Her Classic variant is unlocked in a VR Mission while her New 52 variant is unlocked in a Hub Quest in Nok where she requests players to defeat a number of enemies she accidentally releases from their cells. Supergirl appears as a playable character in Infinite Crisis, voiced by Camilla Luddington.","Supergirl appears as a playable character in Infinite Crisis, voiced by Camilla Luddington. Supergirl appears as a playable character and the central protagonist in Injustice 2 by NetherRealm Studios, the sequel to Injustice: Gods Among Us, voiced by Laura Bailey.","Supergirl appears as a playable character and the central protagonist in Injustice 2 by NetherRealm Studios, the sequel to Injustice: Gods Among Us, voiced by Laura Bailey. Here her origin is much like in the comics where she is sent along with her cousin Kal-El to Earth by her mother after Krypton is destroyed but on separate pods where hers veers off-course after sustaining significant damage, stranding her in space for many years until she lands on Earth, unaged.","Here her origin is much like in the comics where she is sent along with her cousin Kal-El to Earth by her mother after Krypton is destroyed but on separate pods where hers veers off-course after sustaining significant damage, stranding her in space for many years until she lands on Earth, unaged. When the main storyline starts, she is residing on Black Adam's kingdom of Khandaq, apparently under his and Wonder Woman's protection.","When the main storyline starts, she is residing on Black Adam's kingdom of Khandaq, apparently under his and Wonder Woman's protection. When Brainiac who was responsible for Krypton's destruction attacks, she, Wonder Woman, and Black Adam attempt to free Superman and the remaining members of the Regime, while being interrupted in their efforts by new Insurgency recruits Blue Beetle and Firestorm until Batman himself arrives and releases Superman, leading to a temporary alliance between the Regime and Insurgency against the alien warlord.","When Brainiac who was responsible for Krypton's destruction attacks, she, Wonder Woman, and Black Adam attempt to free Superman and the remaining members of the Regime, while being interrupted in their efforts by new Insurgency recruits Blue Beetle and Firestorm until Batman himself arrives and releases Superman, leading to a temporary alliance between the Regime and Insurgency against the alien warlord. Over the course of the story, she learns the truth about her cousin's tyranny and at the end of the game sides with Batman, Green Lantern and Flash in letting Brainiac live in order to restore the lost cities but is defeated.","Over the course of the story, she learns the truth about her cousin's tyranny and at the end of the game sides with Batman, Green Lantern and Flash in letting Brainiac live in order to restore the lost cities but is defeated. In Batman's ending, she laments her cousin's tyranny and sees him leave to be imprisoned in the Phantom Zone and is offered membership by Batman in his Justice League.","In Batman's ending, she laments her cousin's tyranny and sees him leave to be imprisoned in the Phantom Zone and is offered membership by Batman in his Justice League. In Superman's ending, she is imprisoned aboard Brainiac's ship and to her shock discovers her cousin has bonded with it and when she refuses his offer to join him in leading his new legion of imprisoned species. He attempts to coerce her by revealing a brainwashed Batman, who had also been captured, further shocking her.","He attempts to coerce her by revealing a brainwashed Batman, who had also been captured, further shocking her. Supergirl appears as a limited-distribution minifigure for the toys-to-life video game Lego Dimensions, with Kari Wahlgren reprising her role. She has the ability to transform between her classic and Red Lantern forms. Supergirl appears as a playable character in DC Unchained. Supergirl appears in the PSP version of Justice League Heroes. Supergirl appears as a playable character in the DC TV Super-Heroes DLC pack in Lego DC Super-Villains.","Supergirl appears as a playable character in the DC TV Super-Heroes DLC pack in Lego DC Super-Villains. See also Alternative versions of Supergirl Laurel Gand References External links DC Comics Pre-Crisis Supergirl Chronology Supergirl Characters created by Otto Binder Comics characters introduced in 1958 Comics characters introduced in 1959 DC Comics aliens DC Comics American superheroes DC Comics characters who can move at superhuman speeds DC Comics characters with accelerated healing DC Comics characters with superhuman strength DC Comics deities DC Comics female superheroes DC Comics film characters DC Comics television characters DC Comics extraterrestrial superheroes Female characters in television Fictional characters with superhuman senses Fictional actors Fictional extraterrestrial–human hybrids Fictional orphans Fictional photographers Fictional refugees Fictional reporters Fictional school counselors Fictional American secret agents Fictional waiting staff Kryptonians Superheroes who are adopted Vigilante characters in comics"],"string":"[\n \"Kara Zor-El, also known by her adoptive names of Linda Lee Danvers, Kara Kent, Linda Lang, and Kara Danvers, and the superhero name of Supergirl, is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. She was created by Otto Binder and designed by Al Plastino. Danvers first appeared in Action Comics #252 (May 1959)'s \\\"The Supergirl from Krypton\\\" story. Kara is the biological cousin of Kal-El, who went on to adopt the name of Clark Kent and the superhero Superman.\",\n \"Kara is the biological cousin of Kal-El, who went on to adopt the name of Clark Kent and the superhero Superman. During the 1980s and the revolution of the Modern Age of Comics, Superman editors believed the character's history had become too convoluted, thus killing Supergirl during the 1985 Crisis on Infinite Earths event and retconning her out of existence. DC Comics Senior Vice President Dan DiDio re-introduced the character in 2004 along with editor Eddie Berganza and writer Jeph Loeb, with her the Superman/Batman storyline \\\"The Supergirl from Krypton\\\".\",\n \"DC Comics Senior Vice President Dan DiDio re-introduced the character in 2004 along with editor Eddie Berganza and writer Jeph Loeb, with her the Superman/Batman storyline \\\"The Supergirl from Krypton\\\". As the current Supergirl, Kara stars in her own monthly comic book series. With DC's The New 52 relaunch, Kara, like most of the DC Universe, was revamped. DC relaunched the Supergirl comic in August 2016 as part of their DC Rebirth initiative.\",\n \"DC relaunched the Supergirl comic in August 2016 as part of their DC Rebirth initiative. In live-action, Supergirl appeared in the 1984 film based on her character and was portrayed by Helen Slater. She also appeared in the series Smallville, played by actress Laura Vandervoort. In 2015, the live-action Arrowverse series Supergirl debuted on CBS and then moved to The CW after the first season. Supergirl was portrayed by Melissa Benoist on the show and also appeared on other Arrowverse shows.\",\n \"Supergirl was portrayed by Melissa Benoist on the show and also appeared on other Arrowverse shows. Sasha Calle will appear as Supergirl in the upcoming DC Extended Universe film The Flash (2022). Publication history Early life Although Kara Zor-El was the first character to use the name \\\"Supergirl,\\\" DC Comics tested three different female versions of Superman prior to her debut. The first story to feature a female counterpart to Superman was \\\"Lois Lane – Superwoman,\\\" which was published in Action Comics #60 (May 1943).\",\n \"The first story to feature a female counterpart to Superman was \\\"Lois Lane – Superwoman,\\\" which was published in Action Comics #60 (May 1943). In the story, a hospitalized Lois Lane dreams she has gained superpowers thanks to a blood transfusion from the Man of Steel. She begins her own career as \\\"Superwoman\\\", complete with a version of Superman's costume.\",\n \"She begins her own career as \\\"Superwoman\\\", complete with a version of Superman's costume. In the Superboy #78 story entitled \\\"Claire Kent, Alias Super-Sister\\\", Superboy saves the life of an alien woman named Shar-La, who turns Superboy into a girl, in retaliation for his disparaging thoughts about women drivers which she picked up telepathically. In Smallville, Clark claims to be Claire Kent, an out-of-town relative who is staying with the Kents.\",\n \"In Smallville, Clark claims to be Claire Kent, an out-of-town relative who is staying with the Kents. When in costume, he appears as Superboy's sister, Super-Sister, and claims the two have exchanged places. Once Superboy has learned his lesson about feeling more respect for women, Shar-La reveals the episode to be a dream which she projected into Superboy's mind.\",\n \"Once Superboy has learned his lesson about feeling more respect for women, Shar-La reveals the episode to be a dream which she projected into Superboy's mind. In Superman #123 (August 1958), Jimmy Olsen uses a magic totem to wish a \\\"Super-Girl\\\" into existence as a companion and aid to Superman; however, the two frequently get in each other's way until she is fatally injured protecting Superman from a Kryptonite meteor. At her insistence, Jimmy wishes the dying girl out of existence.\",\n \"At her insistence, Jimmy wishes the dying girl out of existence. DC used this story to gauge public response to the concept of a completely new super-powered female counterpart to Superman. The Kara Zor-El version of Supergirl finally appeared in Action Comics #252 (May 1959). Otto Binder wrote and Al Plastino illustrated her début story, in which Kara was born and raised in Argo City (unnamed until later issues), a fragment of Krypton that survived destruction.\",\n \"Otto Binder wrote and Al Plastino illustrated her début story, in which Kara was born and raised in Argo City (unnamed until later issues), a fragment of Krypton that survived destruction. When the city is doomed by a meteor shower, Kara is sent to Earth by her parents, Zor-El and Alura (the latter unnamed until later issues), to be raised by her cousin Kal-El, known as Superman. Supergirl adopted the secret identity of an orphan \\\"Linda Lee\\\", and made Midvale Orphanage her home.\",\n \"Supergirl adopted the secret identity of an orphan \\\"Linda Lee\\\", and made Midvale Orphanage her home. Supergirl promised Superman that she would keep her existence on Earth a secret, so that he may use her as a \\\"secret weapon\\\", but that didn't stop Supergirl from exploring her new powers covertly. Action Comics #255 published reader's letters-of-comment to Supergirl's first appearance; she had allegedly generated a sizeable and mostly positive reaction.\",\n \"Action Comics #255 published reader's letters-of-comment to Supergirl's first appearance; she had allegedly generated a sizeable and mostly positive reaction. Supergirl, from her debut onwards, became a regular backup strip in Action Comics. She joined the Legion of Super-Heroes, like her cousin had done as a teenager, and in Action Comics #279 (July 1961) she was adopted by Fred and Edna Danvers, becoming \\\"Linda Lee Danvers\\\".\",\n \"She joined the Legion of Super-Heroes, like her cousin had done as a teenager, and in Action Comics #279 (July 1961) she was adopted by Fred and Edna Danvers, becoming \\\"Linda Lee Danvers\\\". Supergirl acted for three years as Superman's secret weapon, and her adventures during that time have been compared to contemporary developments in feminist thinking in work such as Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique.\",\n \"Supergirl acted for three years as Superman's secret weapon, and her adventures during that time have been compared to contemporary developments in feminist thinking in work such as Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique. She was at last introduced by her super-powered cousin to an unsuspecting world in Action Comics #285 (February 1962). During her first quarter of a century, Linda Danvers would have many professions, from student to student advisor, to actor, and even TV camera operator.\",\n \"During her first quarter of a century, Linda Danvers would have many professions, from student to student advisor, to actor, and even TV camera operator. She shared Action Comics with Superman until transferring to the lead in Adventure Comics at the end of the 1960s. In 1972 she finally moved to her own short-lived eponymous magazine, before DC merged its Supergirl, Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen titles into a single anthology title named The Superman Family. In 1982 Supergirl was relaunched into her own magazine.\",\n \"In 1982 Supergirl was relaunched into her own magazine. In 1982 Supergirl was relaunched into her own magazine. Death during Crisis on Infinite Earths In 1985, the maxi-series Crisis on Infinite Earths was conceived as a way to reduce DC continuity to a single universe in which all characters maintained a single history. Despite Supergirl's continued popularity and status as a central member of the \\\"Superman Family\\\", the editors at DC Comics and the creators of the maxi-series decided to kill Supergirl off during the Crisis.\",\n \"Despite Supergirl's continued popularity and status as a central member of the \\\"Superman Family\\\", the editors at DC Comics and the creators of the maxi-series decided to kill Supergirl off during the Crisis. According to Marv Wolfman, writer of Crisis on Infinite Earths: The idea of killing Supergirl was first conceived by DC's vice president/executive editor Dick Giordano, who lobbied for the death to DC's publishers.\",\n \"According to Marv Wolfman, writer of Crisis on Infinite Earths: The idea of killing Supergirl was first conceived by DC's vice president/executive editor Dick Giordano, who lobbied for the death to DC's publishers. He later said he has never had any regrets about this, explaining, \\\"Supergirl was created initially to take advantage of the high Superman sales and not much thought was put into her creation. She was created essentially as a female Superman.\",\n \"She was created essentially as a female Superman. She was created essentially as a female Superman. With time, writers and artists improved upon her execution, but she never did really add anything to the Superman mythos—at least not for me.\\\" The poor initial reception of the 1984 film Supergirl was also blamed by some sources.\",\n \"The poor initial reception of the 1984 film Supergirl was also blamed by some sources. In 1989, in the tale \\\"Christmas with the Super-Heroes\\\" the soul of Kara appears to Boston \\\"Deadman\\\" Brand, cheers him up, and then disappears from continuity until 2001 (see below).\",\n \"In 1989, in the tale \\\"Christmas with the Super-Heroes\\\" the soul of Kara appears to Boston \\\"Deadman\\\" Brand, cheers him up, and then disappears from continuity until 2001 (see below). Several characters unrelated to Superman soon took on the Supergirl persona, including the Matrix (a shapeshifting genetically engineered life-form that 'defaulted' as Supergirl), Linda Danvers (the result of Matrix merging with the dying Linda Danvers and becoming an Earth-bound angel of fire), and Cir-El (Superman's apparent daughter from a possible future).\",\n \"Several characters unrelated to Superman soon took on the Supergirl persona, including the Matrix (a shapeshifting genetically engineered life-form that 'defaulted' as Supergirl), Linda Danvers (the result of Matrix merging with the dying Linda Danvers and becoming an Earth-bound angel of fire), and Cir-El (Superman's apparent daughter from a possible future). A heroine resembling the Pre-Crisis Kara would later appear in Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #5, along with an entire army of Legionnaires gathered from alternate worlds, times, and realities, to battle the Time Trapper.\",\n \"A heroine resembling the Pre-Crisis Kara would later appear in Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #5, along with an entire army of Legionnaires gathered from alternate worlds, times, and realities, to battle the Time Trapper. Two Supergirls meet Prior to the post-Crisis introduction of Kara Zor-El into mainstream continuity, the pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El made an appearance in Peter David's Supergirl: Many Happy Returns.\",\n \"Two Supergirls meet Prior to the post-Crisis introduction of Kara Zor-El into mainstream continuity, the pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El made an appearance in Peter David's Supergirl: Many Happy Returns. The then-current Supergirl series, at the time starring Linda Danvers, was in danger of cancellation and Peter David thought a story arc involving Kara Zor-El would be enough to revitalize the series.\",\n \"The then-current Supergirl series, at the time starring Linda Danvers, was in danger of cancellation and Peter David thought a story arc involving Kara Zor-El would be enough to revitalize the series. In an interview with Cliff Biggers of Newsarama, David states: In the Linda Danvers' Supergirl series issues 49 and 50 (October and November 2000), the original dead Kara appears as Linda's \\\"guardian angel\\\".\",\n \"In an interview with Cliff Biggers of Newsarama, David states: In the Linda Danvers' Supergirl series issues 49 and 50 (October and November 2000), the original dead Kara appears as Linda's \\\"guardian angel\\\". Then in issues 75 to 80, \\\"Many Happy Returns\\\", a young Kara appears from an earlier time long before the Crisis.\",\n \"Then in issues 75 to 80, \\\"Many Happy Returns\\\", a young Kara appears from an earlier time long before the Crisis. The paradox becomes a moral crisis for Linda who tries to take her place as the Crisis sacrifice, living for years in a Silver Age universe where \\\"no one swears, the villains are always easy to defeat, and everything's very, very clean\\\", eventually marrying the Silver Age Superman and having a daughter with him, before she is forced to return to her universe by the Spectre when he reveals that her efforts to replace Kara as the sacrifice will not succeed.\",\n \"The paradox becomes a moral crisis for Linda who tries to take her place as the Crisis sacrifice, living for years in a Silver Age universe where \\\"no one swears, the villains are always easy to defeat, and everything's very, very clean\\\", eventually marrying the Silver Age Superman and having a daughter with him, before she is forced to return to her universe by the Spectre when he reveals that her efforts to replace Kara as the sacrifice will not succeed. This run was illustrated by Ed Benes who had also illustrated Gail Simone's Birds of Prey which had a similar whimsical camaraderie between its female leads.\",\n \"This run was illustrated by Ed Benes who had also illustrated Gail Simone's Birds of Prey which had a similar whimsical camaraderie between its female leads. Linda's inability to ultimately save Kara, coupled with the loss of her daughter, is so devastating that it ends her own career as Supergirl, Linda leaving a note for Superman where she explains that she feels that she has failed to live up to the standards of a true Supergirl and choosing to go somewhere she cannot be found.\",\n \"Linda's inability to ultimately save Kara, coupled with the loss of her daughter, is so devastating that it ends her own career as Supergirl, Linda leaving a note for Superman where she explains that she feels that she has failed to live up to the standards of a true Supergirl and choosing to go somewhere she cannot be found. This story arc is usually cited as one of the best Supergirl stories ever written. The series ended with issue 80.\",\n \"The series ended with issue 80. The series ended with issue 80. Revival After the launch of the Superman/Batman comic book series, executive editor Dan DiDio had been looking for a way to simplify the Supergirl character from her convoluted post-Crisis history; the simplest version, of course, was Superman's cousin. Jeph Loeb and editor Eddie Berganza found an opening to reintroduce the character following the conclusion of the first story arc of Superman/Batman.\",\n \"Jeph Loeb and editor Eddie Berganza found an opening to reintroduce the character following the conclusion of the first story arc of Superman/Batman. Loeb states: The modern version of Kara Zor-El made her debut in Superman/Batman #8 (2004). Kara takes the mantle of Supergirl at the conclusion of the storyline. The Supergirl comic book series would later be relaunched, now starring Kara Zor-El as \\\"The Girl of Steel\\\". The first arc of the new series was written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by Ian Churchill.\",\n \"The first arc of the new series was written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by Ian Churchill. Loeb would later describe the appeal of writing for Supergirl: As the character continued to be reinvented, steps towards regarding the iconic character were some of the most prominent changes. Artist Jamal Igle and editor Matt Idleson moved to transition the character away from red panties under her skirt to biker shorts, feeling such a change was a logical progression and \\\"more respectable.\\\"\",\n \"Artist Jamal Igle and editor Matt Idleson moved to transition the character away from red panties under her skirt to biker shorts, feeling such a change was a logical progression and \\\"more respectable.\\\" The New 52 In September 2011, DC Comics began The New 52, in which it canceled all of its monthly superhero titles and relaunched 52 new ones, wiping out most of its past continuity in the process.\",\n \"The New 52 In September 2011, DC Comics began The New 52, in which it canceled all of its monthly superhero titles and relaunched 52 new ones, wiping out most of its past continuity in the process. One of the new titles was a new Supergirl series (Volume 6) that featured a new origin for Kara and was published between 2011 and 2015.\",\n \"One of the new titles was a new Supergirl series (Volume 6) that featured a new origin for Kara and was published between 2011 and 2015. Artist Mahmud Asrar designed a new costume for the character which strongly deviated from her classic, \\\"cheerleader\\\" suit, a change which generated criticism from some readers. DC Rebirth The 2016 DC Comics title relaunch Rebirth incorporates several elements (such as the costume, the name, the setting, and some characters) from the Supergirl television series.\",\n \"DC Rebirth The 2016 DC Comics title relaunch Rebirth incorporates several elements (such as the costume, the name, the setting, and some characters) from the Supergirl television series. The DC Rebirth initiative undid the New 52's modern recreations, bringing DC's heroes back to their more classic iterations. Supergirl's new series (Volume 7) was titled Supergirl: Rebirth, written by Steven Orlando. The first arc was penciled by Brian Ching, who also redesigned Supergirl's costume in reference to a more classic look.\",\n \"The first arc was penciled by Brian Ching, who also redesigned Supergirl's costume in reference to a more classic look. In April 2018, it was announced that the title would be canceled after issue #20, only to be revived in August that year under a new creative team, with new writer Marc Andreyko and artist Kevin Maguire. The series ended with its 42nd issue.\",\n \"The series ended with its 42nd issue. The series ended with its 42nd issue. Future State: Kara Zor-El, Superwoman The Future State comics propose a possible future for Kara Zor-El, now an adult and having taken the alias of Superwoman. She leaves Earth to become a guardian of the Moon, which has become a refugee colony for aliens from the entire universe. The series was written by Marguerite Bennet and penciled by Marguerite Sauvage.\",\n \"The series was written by Marguerite Bennet and penciled by Marguerite Sauvage. Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow Under the Infinite Frontier brand, Kara's next series Woman of Tomorrow debuted in June 2021, written by Tom King and penciled by Brazilian artists Bilquis Evely and Mat Lopes. The arc introduces Supergirl to new character grounds as she begins the story as a young woman, celebrating her 21st birthday and helping a young alien in her quest for revenge.\",\n \"The arc introduces Supergirl to new character grounds as she begins the story as a young woman, celebrating her 21st birthday and helping a young alien in her quest for revenge. The \\\"mentor-mentee journey on revenge\\\" plot is, according to King, inspired by the original novel and both versions of True Grit. In this series, the creators paid homage to Linda Danvers, as Kara manifests flame wings and powers after taking a red kryptonite drug, in order to save her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon.\",\n \"In this series, the creators paid homage to Linda Danvers, as Kara manifests flame wings and powers after taking a red kryptonite drug, in order to save her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon. Fictional character biography Silver Age In her debut story, Kara Zor-El is the last survivor of Argo City of the planet Krypton.\",\n \"Fictional character biography Silver Age In her debut story, Kara Zor-El is the last survivor of Argo City of the planet Krypton. Although Argo, which had survived the explosion of the planet, drifted through space as a self-sustaining environment, the soil of the colony eventually turned into Kryptonite; and though Kara's father Zor-El placed lead sheeting above the ground to protect the citizens from radiation, meteorites pierced the sheeting, and the Kryptonians died of radiation poisoning instead of replacing the metal.\",\n \"Although Argo, which had survived the explosion of the planet, drifted through space as a self-sustaining environment, the soil of the colony eventually turned into Kryptonite; and though Kara's father Zor-El placed lead sheeting above the ground to protect the citizens from radiation, meteorites pierced the sheeting, and the Kryptonians died of radiation poisoning instead of replacing the metal. In Supergirl's subsequent backup feature in Action Comics drawn by artist Jim Mooney for ten years until 1968, Supergirl adopts the identity of Linda Lee, an orphan at Midvale Orphanage presided over by headmistress Miss Hart.\",\n \"In Supergirl's subsequent backup feature in Action Comics drawn by artist Jim Mooney for ten years until 1968, Supergirl adopts the identity of Linda Lee, an orphan at Midvale Orphanage presided over by headmistress Miss Hart. She disguises herself by hiding her blond hair beneath a brunette wig; Supergirl interacts with humans on a person-to-person basis performing good deeds and saving the world by helping one person at a time, and she also devises clever schemes as \\\"Superman's Secret Weapon,\\\" saving him many times and avoiding adoption before Superman can introduce her publicly.\",\n \"She disguises herself by hiding her blond hair beneath a brunette wig; Supergirl interacts with humans on a person-to-person basis performing good deeds and saving the world by helping one person at a time, and she also devises clever schemes as \\\"Superman's Secret Weapon,\\\" saving him many times and avoiding adoption before Superman can introduce her publicly. While temporarily powerless due to the scheming of Kandorian scientist Lesla-Lar, who is out to supplant her on Earth, Linda allows herself to be adopted by engineer and rocket scientist Fred Danvers and his wife, Edna.\",\n \"While temporarily powerless due to the scheming of Kandorian scientist Lesla-Lar, who is out to supplant her on Earth, Linda allows herself to be adopted by engineer and rocket scientist Fred Danvers and his wife, Edna. In time, she reveals her secret identity to her adoptive parents on the same day her cousin Superman finally introduces her to the world in the finale of then-DC's longest playing series ever (eight chapters) aptly called \\\"The World's Greatest Heroine\\\".\",\n \"In time, she reveals her secret identity to her adoptive parents on the same day her cousin Superman finally introduces her to the world in the finale of then-DC's longest playing series ever (eight chapters) aptly called \\\"The World's Greatest Heroine\\\". When frequent dreams about her parents being alive turn out to be real, she builds a machine aided by her engineer father's talent, and brings them both back alive from the \\\"Survival Zone\\\" where they had both teleported during Argo City's final moments.\",\n \"When frequent dreams about her parents being alive turn out to be real, she builds a machine aided by her engineer father's talent, and brings them both back alive from the \\\"Survival Zone\\\" where they had both teleported during Argo City's final moments. Zor-El and Allura eventually end up living in Kandor, and when the city in the bottle is enlarged, they both go on to live in Rokyn/New Krypton, where they have the sad duty of receiving her mortal remains after \\\"Crisis\\\" for burial.\",\n \"Zor-El and Allura eventually end up living in Kandor, and when the city in the bottle is enlarged, they both go on to live in Rokyn/New Krypton, where they have the sad duty of receiving her mortal remains after \\\"Crisis\\\" for burial. Graduating from high school in 1965, Linda Lee goes to college on a scholarship and stays in Stanhope College until she graduates in 1971.\",\n \"Graduating from high school in 1965, Linda Lee goes to college on a scholarship and stays in Stanhope College until she graduates in 1971. During this era, she is helped by her pet cat Streaky, her Super-Horse pet Comet, and befriends Lena Thorul, who had first appeared in the Lois Lane series. Kara is also a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, where she becomes close to Brainiac 5.\",\n \"Kara is also a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, where she becomes close to Brainiac 5. In addition, Linda has boyfriends from the orphanage (Richard \\\"Dick\\\" Malverne) and from Atlantis (Jerro the merboy). In 1967, Supergirl meets Batgirl for the first time in World's Finest Comics. Developing a strong friendship, the two characters teamed up many times again, as in Superman Family #171, or Adventure #381.\",\n \"Developing a strong friendship, the two characters teamed up many times again, as in Superman Family #171, or Adventure #381. In 1969, Supergirl left Action Comics and became a featured character in Adventure Comics beginning with issue #381 (June 1969). During the 1970s, Supergirl's costume changed frequently, as did her career in her civilian life.\",\n \"During the 1970s, Supergirl's costume changed frequently, as did her career in her civilian life. In her secret identity as Linda Lee Danvers, Kara Zor-El took a variety of jobs including graduate student in acting, television camera operator, and student counselor, and finally became an actress on the TV soap Secret Hearts. Bronze Age After long-time Superman family editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971, the character underwent revitalization under editor Joe Orlando and artist Mike Sekowsky.\",\n \"Bronze Age After long-time Superman family editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971, the character underwent revitalization under editor Joe Orlando and artist Mike Sekowsky. Wearing a series of new outfits, leaving her adopted foster home with the Danvers family, Linda goes on to San Francisco where she works for KSF-TV as a camera operator and develops a crush on her boss, Geoffrey Anderson. These stories introduced Supergirl's most memorable villain from this period: Lex Luthor's niece Nasthalthia, or Nasty.\",\n \"These stories introduced Supergirl's most memorable villain from this period: Lex Luthor's niece Nasthalthia, or Nasty. Nasty had made two appearances towards the end of Linda's college years, then pursued her to KSF-TV, trying to secure proof of her dual identity.\",\n \"Nasty had made two appearances towards the end of Linda's college years, then pursued her to KSF-TV, trying to secure proof of her dual identity. Supergirl starred in her first solo eponymous monthly series beginning in 1972 until October 1974, when her monthly title merged with Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane, and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen to produce a new title: then-highest DC selling series called The Superman Family, where she eventually became the steady lead story.\",\n \"Supergirl starred in her first solo eponymous monthly series beginning in 1972 until October 1974, when her monthly title merged with Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane, and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen to produce a new title: then-highest DC selling series called The Superman Family, where she eventually became the steady lead story. Linda worked as a student advisor at New Athens Experimental School, before leaving for New York to follow a career in acting with daytime soap Secret Hearts.\",\n \"Linda worked as a student advisor at New Athens Experimental School, before leaving for New York to follow a career in acting with daytime soap Secret Hearts. In 1982 Supergirl received a second monthly solo series titled The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl, relocating the character to Chicago as Linda became a mature student of Psychology. Industry legend, and former DC Publisher, Carmine Infantino provided the penciled art (Bob Oksner inked).\",\n \"Industry legend, and former DC Publisher, Carmine Infantino provided the penciled art (Bob Oksner inked). With issue 13 the title was revamped, with a new costume design (sporting a red headband) and the title shortened to just Supergirl. The series ran until sudden cancellation in 1984, only two months before the character's debut in a big-budget Hollywood film starring Helen Slater.\",\n \"The series ran until sudden cancellation in 1984, only two months before the character's debut in a big-budget Hollywood film starring Helen Slater. In the Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985), the greatest heroes from Earth-One, Earth-Two, Earth-Four, Earth-S, and Earth-X join forces in order to defeat the Anti-Monitor. When Superman comes face to face with the Anti-Monitor and is knocked unconscious, Supergirl rushes to save him before he is killed.\",\n \"When Superman comes face to face with the Anti-Monitor and is knocked unconscious, Supergirl rushes to save him before he is killed. She is able to fight him off long enough for Dr. Light to carry her cousin to a safe distance, but is killed by the Anti-Monitor. A public memorial service for Supergirl takes place in Chicago, where Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) delivers the eulogy. In her remarks, she states \\\"Kara is a hero. She will not be forgotten.\\\"\",\n \"She will not be forgotten.\\\" She will not be forgotten.\\\" Superman then gives his late cousin burial by taking her corpse to Rokyn/New Krypton to Zor-El and Allura. A Superman issue the next month reveals that Kara had experienced a premonition about her own passing. However, when the universe is rebooted, the timeline is altered. Kara Zor-El and all memory of her is erased from existence.\",\n \"Kara Zor-El and all memory of her is erased from existence. Echoes After these events, the soul of Kara Zor-El made another appearance in continuity three years later in a story titled \\\"Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot\\\" in Christmas with the Super-Heroes #2 (1989). Within the story, Boston \\\"Deadman\\\" Brand tries to feel the warmth of Christmas by possessing revelers' bodies.\",\n \"Within the story, Boston \\\"Deadman\\\" Brand tries to feel the warmth of Christmas by possessing revelers' bodies. Feeling guilty upon the realization that he has been stealing others' Christmases, he flies off feeling sorry for himself for being denied a reward after a year of helping people. A warmly dressed blonde woman approaches Brand, startling him.\",\n \"A warmly dressed blonde woman approaches Brand, startling him. Somehow seeing the normally invisible Brand, she converses with him, reminding him, She reminds Brand that even though he is dead, he is still human, and he should rejoice because it means his spirit is still alive. As the woman leaves, Brand asks her who she is, to which she replies, \\\"My name is Kara. Though I doubt that will mean anything to you.\\\"\",\n \"Though I doubt that will mean anything to you.\\\" The story, written by Alan Brennert and penciled by Dick Giordano, is dedicated to Otto Binder and Jim Mooney, adding: \\\"We still remember.\\\" Finally, the soul of Kara Zor-El appeared twice during Peter David's run, specifically in issues #48 and #49 when she appears before a defeated and imprisoned then-Supergirl, Linda Danvers from Earth, and comforts her.\",\n \"Finally, the soul of Kara Zor-El appeared twice during Peter David's run, specifically in issues #48 and #49 when she appears before a defeated and imprisoned then-Supergirl, Linda Danvers from Earth, and comforts her. Linda acknowledges she has been helped three times by her phantom-friend, and when she asks her name she is told by the smiling figure: \\\"I have gone by many names, but the one I am most fond of is: Kara!\\\"\",\n \"Linda acknowledges she has been helped three times by her phantom-friend, and when she asks her name she is told by the smiling figure: \\\"I have gone by many names, but the one I am most fond of is: Kara!\\\" Modern Age In 2004, Jeph Loeb reintroduced Kara Zor-El into post-Zero Hour (Birthright timeline) continuity during a storyline in the series Superman/Batman.\",\n \"Modern Age In 2004, Jeph Loeb reintroduced Kara Zor-El into post-Zero Hour (Birthright timeline) continuity during a storyline in the series Superman/Batman. She is the biological cousin of Superman, and although chronologically older than him, the ship in which she traveled to Earth was caught in a large green Kryptonite meteorite which held her in a state of suspended animation for much of the journey, making her have the appearance of a 16-year-old girl.\",\n \"She is the biological cousin of Superman, and although chronologically older than him, the ship in which she traveled to Earth was caught in a large green Kryptonite meteorite which held her in a state of suspended animation for much of the journey, making her have the appearance of a 16-year-old girl. Still, Supergirl sometimes saw Superman as a child, due to last carrying him as a baby. DC Comics relaunched the Supergirl, the first story arc of which was written by Loeb. showcases Supergirl on a journey of self-discovery.\",\n \"showcases Supergirl on a journey of self-discovery. showcases Supergirl on a journey of self-discovery. Along her journey, she encounters Power Girl (Kara Zor-El's counterpart from another universe), the Teen Titans, the Outsiders, the Justice League of America, and arch-villain Lex Luthor. During the company-wide crossover series Infinite Crisis (2005), a sequel to Crisis on Infinite Earths, Supergirl is transported to the 31st century, where she is revered as a member of the Superman family and joins the Legion of Super-Heroes.\",\n \"During the company-wide crossover series Infinite Crisis (2005), a sequel to Crisis on Infinite Earths, Supergirl is transported to the 31st century, where she is revered as a member of the Superman family and joins the Legion of Super-Heroes. DC Comics renamed the monthly series Legion of Super-Heroes to Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes. Beginning with issue #16.\",\n \"Beginning with issue #16. Beginning with issue #16. In the limited series 52, which chronicles the events that took place during the missing year after the end of Infinite Crisis, Donna Troy recalls the original Kara Zor-El and her sacrifice to save the universe. Supergirl returns to the 21st century during the course of 52.\",\n \"Supergirl returns to the 21st century during the course of 52. After briefly filling in for a temporarily depowered Superman as guardian of Metropolis, she assumes the identity of Flamebird to fight crime in the bottle city of Kandor with Power Girl as Nightwing in Greg Rucka's arc Supergirl: Kandor. In 2007, Supergirl appeared in the miniseries Amazons Attack! That same year, she joined the Teen Titans for five issues.\",\n \"That same year, she joined the Teen Titans for five issues. Conversations with other heroes who maintain secret identities lead Kara to the conclusion that she needs to make a deeper connection with human beings. She accepts Lana Lang's proposal to present her to the Daily Planet staff as \\\"Linda Lang\\\", Lana's teenaged niece.\",\n \"She accepts Lana Lang's proposal to present her to the Daily Planet staff as \\\"Linda Lang\\\", Lana's teenaged niece. In the 2008–2009 \\\"New Krypton\\\" story arc, in which Superman discovers and frees the real Kandor and a large number of its citizens, Supergirl is reunited with her father, Zor-El and mother, Alura, though Zor-El is killed by the villain Reactron.\",\n \"In the 2008–2009 \\\"New Krypton\\\" story arc, in which Superman discovers and frees the real Kandor and a large number of its citizens, Supergirl is reunited with her father, Zor-El and mother, Alura, though Zor-El is killed by the villain Reactron. When a planet is formed that the Kryptonians call New Krypton, Kara is torn between her life on Earth, and her obligation to her mother, eventually joining the New Krypton Science Guild.\",\n \"When a planet is formed that the Kryptonians call New Krypton, Kara is torn between her life on Earth, and her obligation to her mother, eventually joining the New Krypton Science Guild. Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2009 miniseries Justice League: Cry for Justice, and the 2009–2010 storyline \\\"Blackest Night\\\".\",\n \"Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2009 miniseries Justice League: Cry for Justice, and the 2009–2010 storyline \\\"Blackest Night\\\". The New Krypton storyline would later be resolved in the \\\"World of New Krypton\\\", \\\"Superman: Last Stand of New Krypton\\\", \\\"War of the Supermen\\\" storylines, resulting in the destruction of New Krypton and seeing Supergirl mourn her people.\",\n \"The New Krypton storyline would later be resolved in the \\\"World of New Krypton\\\", \\\"Superman: Last Stand of New Krypton\\\", \\\"War of the Supermen\\\" storylines, resulting in the destruction of New Krypton and seeing Supergirl mourn her people. Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2010 \\\"Brightest Day\\\" storyline, the follow up to \\\"Blackest Night\\\"., where she joins the Justice League along with Jesse Quick & Jade.\",\n \"Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2010 \\\"Brightest Day\\\" storyline, the follow up to \\\"Blackest Night\\\"., where she joins the Justice League along with Jesse Quick & Jade. The New 52 In this continuity, Kara's ship lands in Smallville, Kansas but hurtles through the Earth and emerges in Siberia. Kara has no memory of the destruction of Krypton, and believes it is only three days since her spacecraft was launched.\",\n \"Kara has no memory of the destruction of Krypton, and believes it is only three days since her spacecraft was launched. She learns the truth about Krypton's destruction from Superman, and later journeys through a wormhole to Argo City, which she finds in orbit around a blue sun. She finds the city in ruins, with no explanation of how it met that fate, and is attacked by a female Worldkiller named Reign before the city plummets into the sun.\",\n \"She finds the city in ruins, with no explanation of how it met that fate, and is attacked by a female Worldkiller named Reign before the city plummets into the sun. When Reign and her fellow Worldkiller plan to enslave the Earth, Supergirl returns there to defeat them, and thus adopts Earth as her new home. After several battles with supervillains, including the Worldkillers, superweapons of Kryptonian design, she accepts Krypton's destruction, but continues to grapple with her grief.\",\n \"After several battles with supervillains, including the Worldkillers, superweapons of Kryptonian design, she accepts Krypton's destruction, but continues to grapple with her grief. Her desire to restore Krypton results in her being manipulated into nearly destroying the Earth by another Kryptonian whom she falls in love with. Upon realizing his manipulation, she kills him by driving Kryptonite through his heart, and succumbs to Kryptonite poisoning. Following her poisoning, Supergirl departs the Earth to die alone.\",\n \"Following her poisoning, Supergirl departs the Earth to die alone. While adrift in interstellar space, she encounters a planet under attack by monsters, and quickly intervenes to save them, unaware that the entire planet is a trap by Brainiac. She is captured and restrained by Cyborg Superman, but after a struggle, manages to escape both Brainiac and Cyborg Superman.\",\n \"She is captured and restrained by Cyborg Superman, but after a struggle, manages to escape both Brainiac and Cyborg Superman. Returning to Earth, she is sent into the past by the Oracle alongside Superman and Superboy, where she ensures that a resurrected H'el cannot save Krypton, and sacrifices the planet and her family in order to save the universe. Back on Earth, she encounters the assassin Lobo.\",\n \"Back on Earth, she encounters the assassin Lobo. Back on Earth, she encounters the assassin Lobo. Initially eager for a peaceful resolution, seeing a kind of kinship with him in their both being lone survivors of their respective worlds (although not truly aware of Lobo's circumstances), Kara's encounter with the Czarnian would reveal deep mental wounds, resulting in the unleashing of her rage and transformation into a Red Lantern.\",\n \"Initially eager for a peaceful resolution, seeing a kind of kinship with him in their both being lone survivors of their respective worlds (although not truly aware of Lobo's circumstances), Kara's encounter with the Czarnian would reveal deep mental wounds, resulting in the unleashing of her rage and transformation into a Red Lantern. Driven insane by rage, Kara wanders space, attacking everyone in her way, until captured by several Green Lanterns and brought to Hal Jordan.\",\n \"Driven insane by rage, Kara wanders space, attacking everyone in her way, until captured by several Green Lanterns and brought to Hal Jordan. Immediately recognizing a Kryptonian and unable to remove the power ring without killing her, he brings her to Guy Gardner, the leader of one of the two Red Lantern factions, who manages to restore her sanity.\",\n \"Immediately recognizing a Kryptonian and unable to remove the power ring without killing her, he brings her to Guy Gardner, the leader of one of the two Red Lantern factions, who manages to restore her sanity. After some time under Guy Gardner's tutelage and protecting the galaxy as a Red Lantern, after being discharged from the Red Lantern Corps (because Guy did not want for her to die needlessly against Atrocitus' splinter group), on her way back to Earth, Kara encounters the leader of the Worldkillers, who are revealed to be parasitic suits of armor.\",\n \"After some time under Guy Gardner's tutelage and protecting the galaxy as a Red Lantern, after being discharged from the Red Lantern Corps (because Guy did not want for her to die needlessly against Atrocitus' splinter group), on her way back to Earth, Kara encounters the leader of the Worldkillers, who are revealed to be parasitic suits of armor. He attempts to assimilate Kara as his host, but she voluntarily subjects herself to Kryptonite poisoning in order to stop him, and eventually flies into the Sun and removes her power ring, killing her and removing him from her body.\",\n \"He attempts to assimilate Kara as his host, but she voluntarily subjects herself to Kryptonite poisoning in order to stop him, and eventually flies into the Sun and removes her power ring, killing her and removing him from her body. However, Kara is revealed to be immortal while in the Sun's core, and is restored to life without the power ring or any Kryptonite poisoning, immediately destroying the Worldkiller. She later helps Guy against Atrocitus and his Red Lantern splinter group.\",\n \"She later helps Guy against Atrocitus and his Red Lantern splinter group. Convergence and return of the Pre-Crisis version During the Convergence story arc, the original Kara Zor-El who had sacrificed her life during Crisis on Infinite Earths makes an appearance on the amalgamated planet of Telos.\",\n \"Convergence and return of the Pre-Crisis version During the Convergence story arc, the original Kara Zor-El who had sacrificed her life during Crisis on Infinite Earths makes an appearance on the amalgamated planet of Telos. At the end of the saga she volunteers herself to once again fight the Anti-Monitor but this time, with the help of her timeline's Barry Allen, the Pre-Flashpoint Superman (in tow with his pregnant wife, Lois Lane), and a repentant Parallax (Zero Hour Hal Jordan), vows to defeat him for the sake of the multiverse's continued existence.\",\n \"At the end of the saga she volunteers herself to once again fight the Anti-Monitor but this time, with the help of her timeline's Barry Allen, the Pre-Flashpoint Superman (in tow with his pregnant wife, Lois Lane), and a repentant Parallax (Zero Hour Hal Jordan), vows to defeat him for the sake of the multiverse's continued existence. Without it being seen, those left on Telos discover the group was successful and all previous timelines (with the mysterious exception of the pre-Flashpoint/pre-New 52 DC universe) from DC history had been re-established, though the fate of the original Kara Zor-El and her fellows went unmentioned.\",\n \"Without it being seen, those left on Telos discover the group was successful and all previous timelines (with the mysterious exception of the pre-Flashpoint/pre-New 52 DC universe) from DC history had been re-established, though the fate of the original Kara Zor-El and her fellows went unmentioned. A few more details of the battle against the Anti-Monitor are later revealed during the New 52 comic mini-series (leading into DC's Rebirth event).\",\n \"A few more details of the battle against the Anti-Monitor are later revealed during the New 52 comic mini-series (leading into DC's Rebirth event). After the defeat of Anti-Monitor, Pre-New 52 Clark and Lois decide to start life anew in the closest universe they can find (mysteriously yet unable to see their old universe even though the rest of the multiverse had been restored) while Pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El, along with her contemporary Barry Allen and Zero Hour Parallax/Hal Jordan, decide to find their place in the universe and go off to do so.\",\n \"After the defeat of Anti-Monitor, Pre-New 52 Clark and Lois decide to start life anew in the closest universe they can find (mysteriously yet unable to see their old universe even though the rest of the multiverse had been restored) while Pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El, along with her contemporary Barry Allen and Zero Hour Parallax/Hal Jordan, decide to find their place in the universe and go off to do so. Her fate as of that story arc is yet to be revealed.\",\n \"Her fate as of that story arc is yet to be revealed. DC Rebirth After the events that led to the death of the New 52 version of Superman, 16-year-old Kara lives in National City with her adoptive parents, D.E.O. agents Jeremiah and Eliza Danvers, where she attends high school and works with the agency as led by Cameron Chase. As part of her civilian identity, Kara receives special glasses that darken her blond hair when posing as Kara Danvers.\",\n \"As part of her civilian identity, Kara receives special glasses that darken her blond hair when posing as Kara Danvers. Kara also goes on an internship at Cat Grant's CATCO alongside Ben Rubel, whom she befriends. In her opening arc \\\"The Reign of the Cyborg Supermen\\\", Kara discovers that the cyborg Zor-El, whom she had battled in her New 52 title, is still active and has rebuilt other Kryptonians (her mother Alura included), planning to take over Earth.\",\n \"In her opening arc \\\"The Reign of the Cyborg Supermen\\\", Kara discovers that the cyborg Zor-El, whom she had battled in her New 52 title, is still active and has rebuilt other Kryptonians (her mother Alura included), planning to take over Earth. Supergirl defeats them but vows to help her father regardless of his actions. After National City discovers Supergirl has kept Zor-El's \\\"living\\\" status a secret, they become untrustful of her.\",\n \"After National City discovers Supergirl has kept Zor-El's \\\"living\\\" status a secret, they become untrustful of her. Director Bones takes advantage of the heroine's impopularity and, after taking control of the D.E.O., sends villains in an attempt to bring Kara down. She defeats all of them and regains trust from National City with Ben's help.\",\n \"She defeats all of them and regains trust from National City with Ben's help. The Supergirl Who Laughs Kara is later infected by The Batman Who Laughs toxin, causing her to turn evil and joining other infected as part of Laughs Secret Six before later being cured. She is fired from CatCo by Cat Grant and starts working at S.T.A.R. Labs. Woman of Tomorrow Journeying throughout the universe with Krypto, Kara celebrates her 21st birthday alone on a distant planet.\",\n \"Woman of Tomorrow Journeying throughout the universe with Krypto, Kara celebrates her 21st birthday alone on a distant planet. Drunk in a bar, she is approached by a little girl named Ruthye and is asked to kill Krem (her father's murderer) in vengeance. Supergirl refuses but, when she is about to leave the planet, Krem attacks and severely wounds both her and Krypto, fleeing in Kara's ship.\",\n \"Supergirl refuses but, when she is about to leave the planet, Krem attacks and severely wounds both her and Krypto, fleeing in Kara's ship. Kara begins her journey alongside Ruthye and, powerless, saves her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon by taking a red kryptonite drug which causes her to manifest flame wings. Powers and abilities Like all Kryptonians under a yellow sun, the current version of Kara Zor-El possesses virtually unlimited strength, stamina, and durability.\",\n \"Powers and abilities Like all Kryptonians under a yellow sun, the current version of Kara Zor-El possesses virtually unlimited strength, stamina, and durability. She is able to fly and with super speed that she can also use on foot, similar to Superman and The Flash. Also like Superman, Supergirl possesses super senses, super-breath, and freeze breathe, as well as multiple forms of supervision (including X-Ray, Infrared, Telescopic, and Microscopic).\",\n \"Also like Superman, Supergirl possesses super senses, super-breath, and freeze breathe, as well as multiple forms of supervision (including X-Ray, Infrared, Telescopic, and Microscopic). Kara also has a bio-electric aura that enhances her near invulnerability and also protects her skin and her costume from dirt and tear; as such, Kara is perpetually clean. The Sun also provides Kara with a longer lifespan than that of a human being, to the point that she is effectively a biological immortal.\",\n \"The Sun also provides Kara with a longer lifespan than that of a human being, to the point that she is effectively a biological immortal. Kara doesn't require food, water, or sleep to survive. She is also immune to most diseases, mental and physical, and would require a very strong strain to have a chance at affecting her. In the rare instances that Kara is harmed by someone matching her strength or by the use of one of her weaknesses, she can heal almost instantaneously.\",\n \"In the rare instances that Kara is harmed by someone matching her strength or by the use of one of her weaknesses, she can heal almost instantaneously. Her power surpasses most other beings, though she can be overpowered by those who rival her strength such as Black Adam, Darkseid, Despero, Doomsday, Bizarro, Wonder Woman, and Superman. In reality, Kara is actually older than her cousin, Clark, and spent time on Krypton before its destruction.\",\n \"In reality, Kara is actually older than her cousin, Clark, and spent time on Krypton before its destruction. As such (unlike Superman), she possesses memories of Kryptonian culture as well as her cousin's parents. Continued exposure to a yellow Sun will slowly increase abilities. Many characters in the DC Universe have noted that Supergirl appears, at times, to be even more powerful than Superman himself.\",\n \"Many characters in the DC Universe have noted that Supergirl appears, at times, to be even more powerful than Superman himself. In answer to this, Superman states that this is because he has spent his entire life subconsciously suppressing his full powers in order to avoid hurting others, having been absorbing solar radiation since his infancy. Kara, not having such practice or experience, simply uses the full magnitude of her powers.\",\n \"Kara, not having such practice or experience, simply uses the full magnitude of her powers. Abilities Unlike her cousin, Kara was taught to fight in Krypton as part of her tests, and at the Crucible Academy, being adept at various Kryptonian fighting styles like Klurkor and Torquasm Rao. Supergirl also learned the art of Bagua under I-Ching's instructions. She practiced how to manipulate her Chi or Qi in order to gain better control of her powers due to them becoming overwhelmed after her conflict with the Fatal Five.\",\n \"She practiced how to manipulate her Chi or Qi in order to gain better control of her powers due to them becoming overwhelmed after her conflict with the Fatal Five. Superman recommended guardianship with I-Ching to Supergirl first. In addition to training in Krypton, Kara was trained by Batman in advanced martial arts and trained with the Amazons in Themyscira in unarmed and armed combat, Amazonas martial arts, fencing, Shield handling, and other Amazon weapons. She trained with Wonder Woman and Artemis extensively.\",\n \"She trained with Wonder Woman and Artemis extensively. She trained with Wonder Woman and Artemis extensively. Other versions There are numerous alternate versions of Supergirl. The most notable is Power Girl (real name Kara Zor-L, also known as Karen Starr) who first appeared in All Star Comics #58 (January/February 1976). Power Girl is the Earth-Two counterpart of Supergirl and the first cousin of Kal-L, Superman of the pre-Crisis Earth-Two. The infant Power Girl's parents enabled her to escape the destruction of Krypton.\",\n \"The infant Power Girl's parents enabled her to escape the destruction of Krypton. Although she left the planet at the same time that Superman did, her ship took much longer to reach Earth-Two. She has superhuman strength and the ability to fly and is the first chairwoman of the Justice Society of America. She sports a bob of blond hair; wears a distinctive white, red, and blue costume; and has an aggressive fighting style.\",\n \"She sports a bob of blond hair; wears a distinctive white, red, and blue costume; and has an aggressive fighting style. Throughout her early appearances in All Star Comics, she is often at odds with Wildcat because his penchant for talking to her as if she were an ordinary human female rather than a superpowered Kryptonian annoys her. She also fought alongside the Sovereign Seven team, replacing Rampart after his death though that series is not considered to be part of canon in the DC universe.\",\n \"She also fought alongside the Sovereign Seven team, replacing Rampart after his death though that series is not considered to be part of canon in the DC universe. The 1985 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths eliminated Earth-Two, causing her origin to change; she became the granddaughter of the Atlantean sorcerer Arion. However, story events culminating in the 2005–2006 Infinite Crisis limited series restored her status as a refugee from the Krypton of the destroyed pre-Crisis Earth-Two universe.\",\n \"However, story events culminating in the 2005–2006 Infinite Crisis limited series restored her status as a refugee from the Krypton of the destroyed pre-Crisis Earth-Two universe. Like the original Kara's Streaky, Power Girl has a cat, featured in a story by Amanda Conner in Wonder Woman #600. Reception This version of Supergirl is ranked as the 153rd-greatest comic book character of all time by Wizard magazine.\",\n \"Reception This version of Supergirl is ranked as the 153rd-greatest comic book character of all time by Wizard magazine. IGN also ranked this version of Supergirl as the 94th-greatest comic book superhero, stating \\\"for a character born of the Silver Age that saw everything from a Super Baby to a Super Monkey, Kara Zor-El grew into something much more than simply another marketing ploy to slap an 'S' on.\\\"\",\n \"IGN also ranked this version of Supergirl as the 94th-greatest comic book superhero, stating \\\"for a character born of the Silver Age that saw everything from a Super Baby to a Super Monkey, Kara Zor-El grew into something much more than simply another marketing ploy to slap an 'S' on.\\\" In 2013 IGN ranked Supergirl as the 17th-greatest DC comic superhero, stating \\\"she was an early example of a female sidekick developing a large fanbase in her own right\\\", and \\\"Supergirl has been one of DC's most powerful heroes, and a standard to hold other female heroes against.\\\"\",\n \"In 2013 IGN ranked Supergirl as the 17th-greatest DC comic superhero, stating \\\"she was an early example of a female sidekick developing a large fanbase in her own right\\\", and \\\"Supergirl has been one of DC's most powerful heroes, and a standard to hold other female heroes against.\\\" Appearances Pre-Crisis 1959 to 1969: Action Comics #252 to #376. 1969 to 1972: Adventure Comics #381 to #424. 1972 to 1974: Supergirl #1 to #10.\",\n \"1972 to 1974: Supergirl #1 to #10. 1974 to 1982: Her comic merges with Jimmy Olsen's and Lois Lane's to become Superman Family #164 to #222. 1982 to 1984: The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl #1 to #13, Supergirl (vol. 2) #14 to #23. 2015: Convergence Kara Zor-El appeared in over 750 stories published by DC from 1959 to 1985.\",\n \"2015: Convergence Kara Zor-El appeared in over 750 stories published by DC from 1959 to 1985. Post-Crisis 2004 to 2005: Superman/Batman #8 to #13 and #19 2005 to 2011: Supergirl (vol. 5) #0 to #67 2006 to 2008: Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes (Legion of Super-Heroes vol. 5) #16 to #37 2007: Action Comics #850 2008: Final Crisis 2011 to 2015: New 52: Supergirl (vol.\",\n \"5) #16 to #37 2007: Action Comics #850 2008: Final Crisis 2011 to 2015: New 52: Supergirl (vol. 6) #1 to #40 2016 to current: Rebirth: Supergirl (vol. 7) #1 to current Kara Zor-El also appears as a supporting character in several issues of other DC Comics, including Superman, Action Comics, Teen Titans, Amazons Attack, World War III, and Wonder Girl.\",\n \"7) #1 to current Kara Zor-El also appears as a supporting character in several issues of other DC Comics, including Superman, Action Comics, Teen Titans, Amazons Attack, World War III, and Wonder Girl. She has also appeared in many issues of Superman, Action Comics, and Superman New Krypton starting with the World Without Superman event in 2009, and continuing with the World Against Superman event going into 2010. Collected editions Listed in chronological order.\",\n \"Collected editions Listed in chronological order. Collected editions Listed in chronological order. All ages titles are not in continuity with the original or modern Kara. In other media Television Live-action Smallville Prior to the seventh season (2007–2008) of the WB/CW show Smallville where she is introduced into the cast and is portrayed by Laura Vandervoort, a woman claiming to be Kara (portrayed by Adrianne Palicki) is briefly introduced in the season 3 finale.\",\n \"In other media Television Live-action Smallville Prior to the seventh season (2007–2008) of the WB/CW show Smallville where she is introduced into the cast and is portrayed by Laura Vandervoort, a woman claiming to be Kara (portrayed by Adrianne Palicki) is briefly introduced in the season 3 finale. It is later revealed her real name is Lindsey Harrison, and had been given false memories and powers by the artificial intelligence of Clark Kent's (Tom Welling) father Jor-El as part of a series of tests.\",\n \"It is later revealed her real name is Lindsey Harrison, and had been given false memories and powers by the artificial intelligence of Clark Kent's (Tom Welling) father Jor-El as part of a series of tests. Vandervoort portrays the real Kara, Clark's cousin whose spaceship had been trapped in stasis until the events of the season 6 finale. Much of season 7 is concerned with Kara's attempts to adjust to life on Earth, especially after learning of Krypton's destruction.\",\n \"Much of season 7 is concerned with Kara's attempts to adjust to life on Earth, especially after learning of Krypton's destruction. Her storyline sees her simultaneously become the object of Lex Luthor's (Michael Rosenbaum) obsessions and Jimmy Olsen's (Aaron Ashmore) affections, suffer a bout of amnesia, discover her father's (Christopher Heyerdahl) sinister motives and become a target of evil android Brainiac (James Marsters). The season finale sees Kara become trapped in the Phantom Zone.\",\n \"The season finale sees Kara become trapped in the Phantom Zone. Starting with season 8, Vandervoort ceases to feature as a series regular, but reprises the role three more times. In her first guest appearance, \\\"Bloodline,\\\" Kara is freed from the Phantom Zone and later departs Clark's hometown of Smallville to search for Kandor, her birthplace, as it is rumored to have survived their home planet's destruction.\",\n \"In her first guest appearance, \\\"Bloodline,\\\" Kara is freed from the Phantom Zone and later departs Clark's hometown of Smallville to search for Kandor, her birthplace, as it is rumored to have survived their home planet's destruction. She appears again in the season 10 episode \\\"Supergirl\\\", in which she formally adopts her superhero moniker. Her off-screen adventures are alluded to thereafter.\",\n \"Her off-screen adventures are alluded to thereafter. Her off-screen adventures are alluded to thereafter. Vandervoort makes a final appearance in the show's penultimate episode, \\\"Prophecy\\\", in which she helps Green Arrow (Justin Hartley) locate the \\\"Bow of Orion\\\" to use against Darkseid. She is then called to the Fortress of Solitude, where she learns from Jor-El that her job on Earth is done. Using a Legion of Super-Heroes flight ring, she travels to the future to seek her own destiny.\",\n \"Using a Legion of Super-Heroes flight ring, she travels to the future to seek her own destiny. The Season Eleven comic book continuation of the show later depicts Kara's continued story in the 31st century, subsequent return to the present and joining the Justice League. Arrowverse In September 2014, a 22-episode television series centered around Supergirl was in development at Warner Bros. Television, set to premiere on CBS with a January 2015 air date. Melissa Benoist was cast as the titular character.\",\n \"Melissa Benoist was cast as the titular character. Melissa Benoist was cast as the titular character. In May 2016, the series moved to The CW and was later integrated into the Arrowverse, a shared universe consisting of shows including Arrow, The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow. In the series, Kara Zor-El was sent to Earth to protect her cousin Kal-El, following her homeworld Krypton's destruction. However, she is knocked into the Phantom Zone, where she is stranded for 24 years.\",\n \"However, she is knocked into the Phantom Zone, where she is stranded for 24 years. She eventually crash lands on Earth and is found by her already grown-up cousin Kal, now known to the world as the iconic superhero \\\"Superman\\\". Superman brings Kara into the custody of Jeremiah Danvers, director of the Department of Extranormal Operations (D.E.O. ), and his daughter Alex. Growing up, Kara struggles to maintain her Kryptonian abilities as well as balancing her relationship with her adoptive sister.\",\n \"Growing up, Kara struggles to maintain her Kryptonian abilities as well as balancing her relationship with her adoptive sister. Eventually, the two bond when Kara's powers are exposed. However, Jeremiah decides it's best to isolate her abilities. As an adult, Kara is forced to use her powers again when her sister's plane almost crashes. She is later dubbed \\\"Supergirl\\\" by the media and dons a costume like her cousin.\",\n \"She is later dubbed \\\"Supergirl\\\" by the media and dons a costume like her cousin. Kara decides to use her abilities to fight alien invaders such as Kara's aunt Astra and her husband Non, Mon-El's rogue parents, the Worldkiller Reign, anti-alien activist Ben Lockwood, and later the shadowy organization Leviathan, with the help of her sister Alex, now an agent of the D.E.O., her best friend and tech-expert Winn Schott, last of the Green Martians J'onn J'onzz / Martian Manhunter, and Kal's best friend Jimmy Olsen.\",\n \"Kara decides to use her abilities to fight alien invaders such as Kara's aunt Astra and her husband Non, Mon-El's rogue parents, the Worldkiller Reign, anti-alien activist Ben Lockwood, and later the shadowy organization Leviathan, with the help of her sister Alex, now an agent of the D.E.O., her best friend and tech-expert Winn Schott, last of the Green Martians J'onn J'onzz / Martian Manhunter, and Kal's best friend Jimmy Olsen. She is later joined by Lex Luthor's sister Lena, Prince of Daxam Mon-El, former Legion of Superheroes member Querl \\\"Brainy\\\" Dox / Brainiac 5, Nia Nal / Dreamer, James' younger sister Kelly, and reporter Willam Dey face against these rival forces.\",\n \"She is later joined by Lex Luthor's sister Lena, Prince of Daxam Mon-El, former Legion of Superheroes member Querl \\\"Brainy\\\" Dox / Brainiac 5, Nia Nal / Dreamer, James' younger sister Kelly, and reporter Willam Dey face against these rival forces. After joining the Arrowverse, which contain annual crossover, Kara assists Barry Allen, Oliver Queen and the Legends of Tomorrow against threats on their designated earth \\\"Earth-1\\\" while Kara’s is designated as \\\"Earth-38.\",\n \"After joining the Arrowverse, which contain annual crossover, Kara assists Barry Allen, Oliver Queen and the Legends of Tomorrow against threats on their designated earth \\\"Earth-1\\\" while Kara’s is designated as \\\"Earth-38. Later, Kara is selected by The Monitor as the Paragon of Hope to participate in the coming crisis and fight against the Anti-Monitor, whose goal is to destroy the multiverse. After doing so, the Paragons are sent to the Vanishing Point where Oliver, now a Spectre, helps them escape.\",\n \"After doing so, the Paragons are sent to the Vanishing Point where Oliver, now a Spectre, helps them escape. The Paragons appear at the dawn of time in the anti-matter universe where they have their final confrontation with the Anti-Monitor. Eventually, Oliver sacrifices himself to kill the Anti-Monitor, and as a result, a new multiverse is born with Earth-38 and Earth-1 merged into \\\"Earth-Prime\\\". Following the crisis, Kara is forced to deal the after-effects of Crisis which include working with Lex, now owning the D.E.O.\",\n \"Following the crisis, Kara is forced to deal the after-effects of Crisis which include working with Lex, now owning the D.E.O. while Leviathan continue their covert operations under Gamemnae. The sixth season sees Kara and her allies expose Lex's crimes, but are then forced to deal with Nyxlygsptlnz, a fifth-dimensional imp who tricked the heroes into releasing her from the Phantom Zone.\",\n \"The sixth season sees Kara and her allies expose Lex's crimes, but are then forced to deal with Nyxlygsptlnz, a fifth-dimensional imp who tricked the heroes into releasing her from the Phantom Zone. Eventually Nyxlygsptlnz joins forces with Lex Luthor and the two kill William, but Kara's assembled allies are able to defeat the two, culminating in Lex and Nyxlygsptlnz being trapped in the Phantom Zone when one of their own plans backfires.\",\n \"Eventually Nyxlygsptlnz joins forces with Lex Luthor and the two kill William, but Kara's assembled allies are able to defeat the two, culminating in Lex and Nyxlygsptlnz being trapped in the Phantom Zone when one of their own plans backfires. The series concludes with Kara revealing her dual identity so that she can live a full life as one person. Animation DC Nation Shorts Supergirl appears with Batgirl and Wonder Girl in Super Best Friends Forever, voiced by Nicole Sullivan.\",\n \"Animation DC Nation Shorts Supergirl appears with Batgirl and Wonder Girl in Super Best Friends Forever, voiced by Nicole Sullivan. DC Super Hero Girls Supergirl appears as a central protagonist in the web series DC Super Hero Girls voiced by Anais Fairweather, and is a student at Super Hero High, is very kind and caring and extremely powerful but she's also very clumsy. She also appears as a central protagonist in the 2019 TV series, with Nicole Sullivan reprising her role from the Super Best Friends Forever shorts.\",\n \"She also appears as a central protagonist in the 2019 TV series, with Nicole Sullivan reprising her role from the Super Best Friends Forever shorts. In this version, she is also a rebel and is known as the \\\"cool kid\\\" in school. She may be tough but she can easily express her emotions and is very open-minded as well. She can be a cool friend and a helpful one, but she can also be jealous sometimes and she dislikes her cousin's prominence.\",\n \"She can be a cool friend and a helpful one, but she can also be jealous sometimes and she dislikes her cousin's prominence. Justice League Action Supergirl appears in Justice League Action, voiced by Joanne Spracklen. She has the appearance of a wide-eyed human teenager with blonde hair and wears her traditional costume except that it has thigh-high boots and a pleated skirt. As a person, she is youthful, responsible, and shows much affection for her cousin Superman.\",\n \"As a person, she is youthful, responsible, and shows much affection for her cousin Superman. In \\\"Party Animal\\\", she appears as a cameo at this Christmas party with the Justice League. In \\\"Keeping up with the Kryptonians\\\", Supergirl becomes a star of the popular reality show \\\"That's So Kara\\\", and Superman a Kasnian who rules from one place to another on Earth, all being a reality caused by Mister Mxyzptlk.\",\n \"In \\\"Keeping up with the Kryptonians\\\", Supergirl becomes a star of the popular reality show \\\"That's So Kara\\\", and Superman a Kasnian who rules from one place to another on Earth, all being a reality caused by Mister Mxyzptlk. In \\\"Unleashed\\\", Supergirl accompanies Justice League in stopping Red Lantern Corps, unaware that it was a distraction made by Dex-Starr to invade Earth, until it was ultimately resolved by Krypto, Streaky, and Plastic Man.\",\n \"In \\\"Unleashed\\\", Supergirl accompanies Justice League in stopping Red Lantern Corps, unaware that it was a distraction made by Dex-Starr to invade Earth, until it was ultimately resolved by Krypto, Streaky, and Plastic Man. In a short \\\"The Goddess Must Be Crazy\\\", Supergirl trains with Wonder Woman in Paradise Island, until she is possessed by Felix Faust, to destroy the island. Film Superman film series A live action depiction of Supergirl first appears in the eponymous 1984 film starring Helen Slater as Supergirl.\",\n \"Film Superman film series A live action depiction of Supergirl first appears in the eponymous 1984 film starring Helen Slater as Supergirl. The film is a spin-off from the Superman film series starring Christopher Reeve, to which it is connected by Marc McClure's character of Jimmy Olsen. DC Extended Universe Kara Zor-El / Linda Danvers / Supergirl exists within the DC Extended Universe, as she was referenced in Man of Steel when Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman discovers an empty pod within the Kryptonian scout spaceship.\",\n \"DC Extended Universe Kara Zor-El / Linda Danvers / Supergirl exists within the DC Extended Universe, as she was referenced in Man of Steel when Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman discovers an empty pod within the Kryptonian scout spaceship. Though Zack Snyder confirmed in August 2018 that even though the character does exist, that pod was not intended for her. In August 2018, a film centered around the character was announced to be in development, with Oren Uziel hired as screenwriter for the project.\",\n \"In August 2018, a film centered around the character was announced to be in development, with Oren Uziel hired as screenwriter for the project. The studio intends to hire a female director, with Reed Morano—who has expressed interest in the project—being its top choice. Filming was expected to start production in early 2020. Sasha Calle will play Supergirl for the DC Extended Universe in The Flash.\",\n \"Sasha Calle will play Supergirl for the DC Extended Universe in The Flash. Animation Summer Glau voices the post-Crisis version of Kara Zor-El in Superman/Batman: Apocalypse, which is based on the Superman/Batman storyline \\\"The Supergirl from Krypton\\\". Despite this, it was confirmed by director Lauren Montgomery that Supergirl's name was removed from the title due to the much slower sales of the previous Wonder Woman animated movie, and the character was not permitted to appear on the cover in her trademark outfit.\",\n \"Despite this, it was confirmed by director Lauren Montgomery that Supergirl's name was removed from the title due to the much slower sales of the previous Wonder Woman animated movie, and the character was not permitted to appear on the cover in her trademark outfit. Molly Quinn voices Supergirl in Superman: Unbound. Supergirl appears in Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League: Cosmic Clash, voiced by Jessica DiCicco. Video games Supergirl appears in DC Universe Online, voiced by Adriene Mishler.\",\n \"Video games Supergirl appears in DC Universe Online, voiced by Adriene Mishler. In the villain campaign, the players help Doctor Psycho capture Supergirl using Kryptonite. In the hero campaign, the players fight Doctor Psycho to save Supergirl. Under the thrall of Brainiac, she must be defeated in the Fortress of Solitude: Power Core raid. Supergirl is unlockable in Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes, voiced by Bridget Hoffman. Supergirl makes a cameo appearance in the IOS version of Injustice: Gods Among Us as a support card.\",\n \"Supergirl makes a cameo appearance in the IOS version of Injustice: Gods Among Us as a support card. Supergirl appears as a playable character in Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham, voiced by Kari Wahlgren. She is playable in her default variant which is designed after her appearance in The New 52 and in her Classic attire.\",\n \"She is playable in her default variant which is designed after her appearance in The New 52 and in her Classic attire. Her Classic variant is unlocked in a VR Mission while her New 52 variant is unlocked in a Hub Quest in Nok where she requests players to defeat a number of enemies she accidentally releases from their cells. Supergirl appears as a playable character in Infinite Crisis, voiced by Camilla Luddington.\",\n \"Supergirl appears as a playable character in Infinite Crisis, voiced by Camilla Luddington. Supergirl appears as a playable character and the central protagonist in Injustice 2 by NetherRealm Studios, the sequel to Injustice: Gods Among Us, voiced by Laura Bailey.\",\n \"Supergirl appears as a playable character and the central protagonist in Injustice 2 by NetherRealm Studios, the sequel to Injustice: Gods Among Us, voiced by Laura Bailey. Here her origin is much like in the comics where she is sent along with her cousin Kal-El to Earth by her mother after Krypton is destroyed but on separate pods where hers veers off-course after sustaining significant damage, stranding her in space for many years until she lands on Earth, unaged.\",\n \"Here her origin is much like in the comics where she is sent along with her cousin Kal-El to Earth by her mother after Krypton is destroyed but on separate pods where hers veers off-course after sustaining significant damage, stranding her in space for many years until she lands on Earth, unaged. When the main storyline starts, she is residing on Black Adam's kingdom of Khandaq, apparently under his and Wonder Woman's protection.\",\n \"When the main storyline starts, she is residing on Black Adam's kingdom of Khandaq, apparently under his and Wonder Woman's protection. When Brainiac who was responsible for Krypton's destruction attacks, she, Wonder Woman, and Black Adam attempt to free Superman and the remaining members of the Regime, while being interrupted in their efforts by new Insurgency recruits Blue Beetle and Firestorm until Batman himself arrives and releases Superman, leading to a temporary alliance between the Regime and Insurgency against the alien warlord.\",\n \"When Brainiac who was responsible for Krypton's destruction attacks, she, Wonder Woman, and Black Adam attempt to free Superman and the remaining members of the Regime, while being interrupted in their efforts by new Insurgency recruits Blue Beetle and Firestorm until Batman himself arrives and releases Superman, leading to a temporary alliance between the Regime and Insurgency against the alien warlord. Over the course of the story, she learns the truth about her cousin's tyranny and at the end of the game sides with Batman, Green Lantern and Flash in letting Brainiac live in order to restore the lost cities but is defeated.\",\n \"Over the course of the story, she learns the truth about her cousin's tyranny and at the end of the game sides with Batman, Green Lantern and Flash in letting Brainiac live in order to restore the lost cities but is defeated. In Batman's ending, she laments her cousin's tyranny and sees him leave to be imprisoned in the Phantom Zone and is offered membership by Batman in his Justice League.\",\n \"In Batman's ending, she laments her cousin's tyranny and sees him leave to be imprisoned in the Phantom Zone and is offered membership by Batman in his Justice League. In Superman's ending, she is imprisoned aboard Brainiac's ship and to her shock discovers her cousin has bonded with it and when she refuses his offer to join him in leading his new legion of imprisoned species. He attempts to coerce her by revealing a brainwashed Batman, who had also been captured, further shocking her.\",\n \"He attempts to coerce her by revealing a brainwashed Batman, who had also been captured, further shocking her. Supergirl appears as a limited-distribution minifigure for the toys-to-life video game Lego Dimensions, with Kari Wahlgren reprising her role. She has the ability to transform between her classic and Red Lantern forms. Supergirl appears as a playable character in DC Unchained. Supergirl appears in the PSP version of Justice League Heroes. Supergirl appears as a playable character in the DC TV Super-Heroes DLC pack in Lego DC Super-Villains.\",\n \"Supergirl appears as a playable character in the DC TV Super-Heroes DLC pack in Lego DC Super-Villains. See also Alternative versions of Supergirl Laurel Gand References External links DC Comics Pre-Crisis Supergirl Chronology Supergirl Characters created by Otto Binder Comics characters introduced in 1958 Comics characters introduced in 1959 DC Comics aliens DC Comics American superheroes DC Comics characters who can move at superhuman speeds DC Comics characters with accelerated healing DC Comics characters with superhuman strength DC Comics deities DC Comics female superheroes DC Comics film characters DC Comics television characters DC Comics extraterrestrial superheroes Female characters in television Fictional characters with superhuman senses Fictional actors Fictional extraterrestrial–human hybrids Fictional orphans Fictional photographers Fictional refugees Fictional reporters Fictional school counselors Fictional American secret agents Fictional waiting staff Kryptonians Superheroes who are adopted Vigilante characters in comics\"\n]"}}},{"rowIdx":392,"cells":{"History":{"kind":"list like","value":["Mike Gravel","Run for Vice President in 1972","Who was Gavel's running mate?","I don't know."],"string":"[\n \"Mike Gravel\",\n \"Run for Vice President in 1972\",\n \"Who was Gavel's running mate?\",\n \"I don't know.\"\n]"},"QuAC_dialog_id":{"kind":"string","value":"C_99b905b192ab4470bbae0787f5f31d5c_1"},"Question":{"kind":"string","value":"Who did he compete against in 1972?"},"Question_no":{"kind":"number","value":2,"string":"2"},"Rewrite":{"kind":"string","value":"Who did Mike Gravel compete against in 1972?"},"true_page_title":{"kind":"string","value":"Mike Gravel"},"true_contexts":{"kind":"string","value":"Gravel \"decided to become a pioneer in a faraway place,\" and moved to pre-statehood Alaska in August 1956, without funds or a job, looking for a place where someone without social or political connections could be a viable candidate for public office. Alaska's voting age of 19, less than most other states' 21, played a role in his decision, as did its newness and cooler climate. Broke when he arrived, he immediately found work in real estate sales until winter arrived. Gravel then was employed as a brakeman for the Alaska Railroad, working the snow-clearing train on the Anchorage-Fairbanks run. Subsequently, he opened a small real estate brokerage in Anchorage (the Territory of Alaska not requiring a license) and saved enough so as not to have to work the railroad again. Gravel joined the Anchorage Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, and continued a sporadic relationship with the movement throughout his life. Gravel married Rita Jeannette Martin, who had been Anchorage's \"Miss Fur Rendezvous\" of 1958, on April 29, 1959. They had two children, Martin Anthony Gravel and Lynne Denise Gravel, born c. 1960 and 1962 respectively. Meanwhile, he went to Washington, D.C. in 1957 to campaign for Alaskan statehood via the \"Tennessee Plan\": dressed as Paul Revere, he rode with a petition to the steps of the U.S. Capitol. Seeing Alaska as a wide-open place with no political establishment or entrenched interests, and using the slogan \"Gravel, the Roadbed to Prosperity\", he ran for the territorial legislature in 1958 but lost. He went on a national speaking tour concerning tax reform in 1959, sponsored by the Jaycees. He ran without avail for the City Council in Anchorage in 1960. During this time, he had become a successful real estate agent; after the 1960 election, he became a property developer in a mobile home park on the outskirts of Anchorage. A partner ran into financial difficulty, however, and the project went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy and Gravel was forced out in 1962. In the late 1960s and early 1970s the U.S. Department of Defense was in the process of performing tests for the nuclear warhead for the Spartan anti-ballistic missile. Two tests, the \"Milrow\" and \"Cannikin\" tests, were planned, involving the detonation of nuclear bombs under Amchitka Island in Alaska. The Milrow test would be a one megaton calibration exercise for the second, and larger five megaton, Cannikin test, which would measure the effectiveness of the warhead. Gravel opposed the tests in Congress. Before the Milrow test took place in October 1969, he wrote that there were significant risks of earthquakes and other adverse consequences, and called for an independent national commission on nuclear and seismic safety to be created; he then made a personal appeal to President Nixon to stop the test. After Milrow was conducted, there was continued pressure on the part of environmental groups against going forward with the larger Cannikin test, while the Federation of American Scientists claimed that the warhead being tested was already obsolete. In May 1971, Gravel sent a letter to U.S. Atomic Energy Commission hearings held in Anchorage, in which he said the risk of the test was not worth taking. Eventually a group not involving Gravel took the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to issue an injunction against it, and the Cannikin test took place as scheduled in November 1971. Gravel had failed to stop the tests (notwithstanding his later claims during his 2008 presidential campaign). Nuclear power was considered an environmentally clean alternative for the commercial generation of electricity and was part of a popular national policy for the peaceful use of atomic energy in the 1950s and 1960s. Gravel publicly opposed this policy; besides the dangers of nuclear testing, he was a vocal critic of the Atomic Energy Commission, which oversaw American nuclear efforts, and of the powerful United States Congress Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, which had a stranglehold on nuclear policy and which Gravel tried to circumvent. In 1971, Gravel sponsored a bill to impose a moratorium on nuclear power plant construction and to make power utilities liable for any nuclear accidents; in 1975, he was still proposing similar moratoriums. By 1974, Gravel was allied with Ralph Nader's organization in opposing nuclear power. Six months before U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's secret mission to the People's Republic of China (P.R.C.) in July 1971, Gravel introduced legislation to recognize and normalize relations with China, including a proposal for unity talks between the P.R.C. and the Republic of China (Taiwan) regarding the Chinese seat on the U.N. Security Council. Gravel reiterated his position in favor of recognition, with four other senators in agreement, during Senate hearings in June 1971. Gravel actively campaigned for the office of Vice President of the United States during the 1972 presidential election, announcing on June 2, 1972, over a month before the 1972 Democratic National Convention began, that he was interested in running for the nomination should the choice be opened up to convention delegates. Towards this end he began soliciting delegates for their support in advance of the convention. He was not alone in this effort, as former Governor of Massachusetts Endicott Peabody had been running a quixotic campaign for the same post since the prior year. Likely presidential nominee George McGovern was in fact considering the unusual move of naming three or four acceptable vice-presidential candidates and letting the delegates choose. At the convention's final day on July 14, 1972, presidential nominee McGovern selected and announced Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri as his vice-presidential choice. Eagleton was unknown to many delegates and the choice seemed to smack of traditional ticket balancing considerations. Thus, there were delegates willing to look elsewhere. Gravel was nominated by Bettye Fahrenkamp, the Democratic National Committeewoman from Alaska. He then seconded his own nomination, breaking down in tears at his own words and maybe trying to withdraw his nomination. In any case he won 226 delegate votes, coming in third behind Eagleton and Frances \"Sissy\" Farenthold of Texas, in chaotic balloting that included several other candidates as well. For his efforts, Gravel attracted some attention: famed writer Norman Mailer would say he \"provided considerable excitement\" and was \"good-looking enough to have played leads in B-films\", while Rolling Stone correspondent Hunter S. Thompson said Gravel \"probably said a few things that might have been worth hearing, under different circumstances ...\" Yet, the whole process had been doubly disastrous for the Democrats. The time consumed with the nominating and seconding and other speeches of all the vice-presidential candidates had lost the attention of the delegates on the floor and pushed McGovern's speech until 3:30 a.m. The haste with which Eagleton had been selected led to surprise when his past mental health treatments were revealed; he withdrew from the ticket soon after the convention, to be replaced by Sargent Shriver. CANNOTANSWER"},"answer":{"kind":"string","value":"former Governor of Massachusetts Endicott Peabody had been running a quixotic campaign for the same post"},"true_contexts_wiki":{"kind":"string","value":"Maurice Robert Gravel ( ; May 13, 1930 – June 26, 2021) was an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Alaska from 1969 to 1981 as a member of the Democratic Party, and who, in later life, twice ran for the presidential nomination of that party.\n\nBorn and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, by French-Canadian immigrant parents, Gravel moved to Alaska in the late 1950s, becoming a real estate developer and entering politics. He served in the Alaska House of Representatives from 1963 to 1967, and also became Speaker of the Alaska House. Gravel was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1968.\n\nAs a senator, Gravel became nationally known for his forceful, but unsuccessful, attempts to end the draft during the War in Vietnam, and for putting the Pentagon Papers into the public record in 1971. He conducted a campaign for the Democratic nomination in 1972 for Vice President of the United States, and then played a crucial role in obtaining Congressional approval for the Trans-Alaska pipeline in 1973. He was re-elected to the Senate in 1974, but was defeated in his bid for a third term in the primary election in 1980.\n\nAn advocate of direct democracy and the National Initiative, Gravel staged a run for the 2008 Democratic nomination for President of the United States. His campaign failed to gain support, and in March 2008, he left the Democratic Party and joined the Libertarian Party to compete unsuccessfully for its presidential nomination and the inclusion of the National Initiative into the Libertarian Platform. He ran for president as a Democrat again in the 2020 election, in a campaign that ended four months after it began. Two years before his death, Gravel and his campaign staff founded the progressive think tank The Gravel Institute.\n\nEarly life, military service, education\nGravel was born on May 13, 1930, in Springfield, Massachusetts, one of five children of French-Canadian immigrant parents, Alphonse and Marie (née Bourassa) Gravel. His parents were part of the Quebec diaspora, and he was raised in a working-class neighborhood during the Great Depression, speaking only French until he was seven years old. Calling him \"Mike\" from an early age, his father valued work above all else, while his mother stressed the importance of education.\n\nGravel was educated in parochial schools as a Roman Catholic. There he struggled, due to what he later said was undiagnosed dyslexia, and was left back in third grade. He completed elementary school in 1945 and his class voted him \"most charming personality\". A summer job as a soda jerk led to Gravel handing out campaign fliers for local candidates on his boss's behalf; Gravel was immediately impressed with \"the awesomeness of political office\".\n\nGravel then boarded at Assumption Preparatory School in Worcester, Massachusetts, where his performance was initially mediocre. By Gravel's telling, in the summer of 1948 he intended to volunteer for the Israel Defense Forces during the 1947–1949 Palestine war, but Alexandra Tolstaya told him to return to school. There an English teacher, the Assumptionist Edgar Bourque, gave him personal attention, improving Gravel's language skills and instructing him in public speaking. Gravel's grades improved measurably in his final year and he graduated in 1949. His sister, Marguerite, became a Holy Cross nun, but Gravel himself struggled with the Catholic faith. He studied for one year at Assumption College, a Catholic school in Worcester, then transferred for his sophomore year to American International College in Springfield. Journalist I. F. Stone and philosopher Bertrand Russell strongly influenced Gravel in their willingness to challenge assumptions and oppose social convention and political authority.\n\nAround May 1951, Gravel saw that he was about to be drafted and instead enlisted in the U.S. Army for a three-year term so that he could get into the Counterintelligence Corps. After basic training and counterintelligence school at Fort Holabird in Maryland and in South Carolina, he went to Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia. While he expected to be sent off to the Korean War when he graduated as a second lieutenant in early 1952, he was instead assigned to Stuttgart, West Germany, as a Special Adjutant in the Army's Communications Intelligence Service. In Germany, Gravel conducted surveillance operations on civilians and paid off spies. After about a year, he transferred to Orléans, France, where his French language abilities (if not his French-Canadian accent) allowed him to infiltrate French communist rallies. He worked as a Special Agent in the Counterintelligence Corps until 1954, eventually becoming a first lieutenant.\n\nFollowing his discharge, Gravel entered the Columbia University School of General Studies in New York City, where he studied economics and received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1956. He moved to New York \"flat broke\" and supported himself by working as a bar boy in a hotel, driving a taxicab, and working in the investment bond department at Bankers Trust. During this time he left the Roman Catholic faith.\n\nMove to Alaska\n\nGravel \"decided to become a pioneer in a faraway place,\" and moved to pre-statehood Alaska in August 1956, without funds or a job, looking for a place where someone without social or political connections could be a viable candidate for public office. Alaska's voting age of 19, less than most other states' 21, played a role in his decision, as did its newness and cooler climate. Broke when he arrived, he immediately found work in real estate sales until winter arrived. Gravel then was employed as a brakeman for the Alaska Railroad, working the snow-clearing train on the Anchorage-to-Fairbanks run. Subsequently, he opened a small real estate brokerage in Anchorage (the Territory of Alaska not requiring a license) and saved enough so as not to have to work the railroad again. The firm was named the M. R. Gravel Real Estate Company. Gravel joined the Anchorage Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, and continued a sporadic relationship with the movement throughout his life.\n\nSeeing Alaska as a wide-open place with no political establishment or entrenched interests, Gravel quickly became part of the civic scene there. By October 1957 he was a Division Chairman for Anchorage for the Democratic Central Committee in the territory, and by June 1958 he was president of the Alaska Young Democrats organization. He also became active in the United States Junior Chamber (Jaycees), and by early 1958 his duties included handing out awards for farmer of the year.\n\nBy early 1958, Gravel was running as Democratic Party primary candidate for a Third Division seat in House of Representative of the territorial legislature. (This was one of the four judicial divisions into which Alaska was sectioned at the time.) Using the slogan \"Gravel, the Roadbed to Prosperity\", he ran but lost. At the same time, he was also an advocate for Alaskan statehood.\n\nGravel went on a 44-state national speaking tour concerning tax reform in 1959, sponsored by the Jaycees, often dressing for events as Paul Revere. Gravel was selected from some two thousand applications for this position. The tour received a good amount of local newspaper coverage at its various stops, with Gravel's first name sometimes given as Mike and other times as Maurice. The tour's general message was an urging of \"lower taxes, more efficiency in government and a system of taxation moderate at all levels of income\". At several stops Gravel stated that the \"tide of socialism\" had to be stopped. He elaborated at another stop, \"It is part of our Jaycee creed that economic justice can best be won by free men through free enterprise. We really want to see that free enterprise become our inheritance.\" The tour was scheduled to conclude in Washington D.C., on Tax Day, April 15, with petition signatures accumulated for reform to be presented to U.S. lawmakers: dressed as Revere, Gravel rode with the petition to the steps of the U.S. Capitol.\n\nThe tour over, Gravel married Rita Jeannette Martin at the First Methodist Church of Anchorage on April 29, 1959. She was a native of Montana who had attended Billings Business College before moving to Alaska two years prior and becoming a secretary in the office of the Anchorage city manager. She had also been named Anchorage's \"Miss Fur Rendezvous\" of 1958. They had two children, Martin Anthony Gravel and Lynne Denise Gravel, born c. 1960 and 1962 respectively.\n\nGravel ran without avail for the City Council in Anchorage in 1960. During this time, he had become a successful real estate agent; after the 1960 election, he became a property developer in a mobile home park on the outskirts of Anchorage. After a partner ran into financial difficulty, however, the project went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and Gravel was forced out in 1962.\n\nState legislator\n\nWith the support of Alaska wholesale grocer Barney Gottstein and supermarket builder Larry Carr, Gravel ran for the Alaska House of Representatives representing Anchorage in 1962, initially assigned the 10th and then 8th districts. Alaska had very crowded primaries that year: Gravel was one of 33 Democrats, along with 21 Republicans, who were running for the chance to compete for the 14 House seats allocated to the 8th district. Gravel made it through the primary, and in November eight Republicans and six Democrats were elected to the House from the district, with Gravel finishing eighth overall and third among with Democrats, with 8,174 votes. Gottstein became Gravel's main financial backer during most of his subsequent campaigns.\n\nGravel served in the Alaska House of Representatives from January 28, 1963 to January 22, 1967, winning reelection in 1964. In his first term, he served as a minority member on two House committees: Commerce, and Labor and Management. He co-authored and sponsored the act that created the Alaska State Commission for Human Rights. Gravel was the chief architect of the law that created a regional high school system for rural Alaska; this allowed Alaska Natives to attend schools near where they lived instead of having to go to schools run by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the lower 48 states.\n\nDuring the half-years that the legislature was not in session, Gravel resumed his real estate work. With Gottstein and Carr's backing, he became quite successful as a property developer on the Kenai Peninsula.\n\nDuring 1965 and 1966, he served as the Speaker of the House, surprising observers by winning that post. Gravel convinced former Speaker Warren A. Taylor to not try for the position against him by promising Taylor chairmanship of the Rules Committee, then reneged on the promise. Gravel denied later press charges that he had promised but not delivered on other committee chairmanships. As Speaker he antagonized fellow lawmakers by imposing his will on the legislature's committees and feuded with Alaska State Senate president Robert J. McNealy.\n\nGravel did not run for reelection in 1966, instead choosing to run for Alaska's seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, losing the primary to four-term incumbent Democrat Ralph Rivers by 1,300 votes and splitting the Democratic Party in the process. Rivers lost the general election that year to Republican state Senator Howard Pollock. Following this defeat, Gravel returned to the real estate business in Anchorage.\n\nU.S. Senator\n\nElection to Senate in 1968\nIn 1968, Gravel ran against 81-year-old incumbent Democratic United States Senator Ernest Gruening, a popular former governor of the Alaska Territory who was considered one of the fathers of Alaska's statehood, for his party's nomination to the U.S. Senate. Gravel's campaign was primarily based on his youth and telegenic appearance rather than issue differences. He hired Joseph Napolitan, the first self-described political consultant, in late 1966. They spent over a year and a half planning a short, nine-day primary election campaign that featured the slogans \"Alaska first\" and \"Let's do something about the state we're in\", the distribution of a collection of essays titled Jobs and More Jobs, and the creation of a half-hour, well-produced, glamorized biographical film of Gravel, Man for Alaska. The film was shown twice a day on every television station in Alaska, and carried by plane and shown on home projectors in hundreds of Alaska Native villages. The heavy showings quickly reversed a 2–to–1 Gruening lead in polls into a Gravel lead. Gravel visited many remote villages by seaplane and showed a thorough understanding of the needs of the bush country and the fishing and oil industries. Gravel also benefited from maintaining a deliberately ambiguous posture about Vietnam policy. Gruening had been one of only two Senators to vote against the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and his opposition to President Lyndon B. Johnson's war policies was harming him among the Democratic electorate; according to Gravel, \"all I had to do was stand up and not deal with the subject, and people would assume that I was to the right of Ernest Gruening, when in point of fact I was to the left of him\". In Man for Alaska, Gravel argued that \"the liberals\" would come to West Germany's defense if it was attacked, and that the same standard should apply to the United States' allies in Asia. During the campaign he also claimed that he was \"more in the mainstream of American thought on Vietnam\" than Gruening, despite the fact that he had written to Gruening to praise his antiwar stance four years earlier. Decades later, Gravel conceded that \"I said what I said [about Vietnam] to advance my career.\"\n\nGravel beat Gruening in the primary by about 2,000 votes. Gruening found \"the unexpected defeat hard to take\" and thought that some aspects of his opponent's biographical film had misled viewers. In the general election, Gravel faced Republican Elmer E. Rasmuson, a banker and former mayor of Anchorage. College students in the state implored Gruening to run a write-in campaign as an Independent, but legal battles prevented him from getting approval for it until only two weeks were left. A late appearance by anti-war presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy did not offset Gruening's lack of funds and endorsements; meanwhile, Gravel and Rasmuson both saturated local media with their filmed biographies. On November 5, 1968, Gravel won the general election with 45 percent of the vote to Rasmuson's 37 percent and Gruening's 18 percent.\n\nSenate assignments and style\nWhen Gravel joined the U.S.Senate in January 1969, he requested and received a seat on the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee, which had direct relevance to Alaskan issues. He also got a spot on the Public Works Committee, which he held throughout his time in the Senate. Finally, he was a member of the Select Committee on Small Business. In 1971 he became chair of the Public Works Committee's Subcommittee on Public Buildings and Grounds, and by 1973 he was chair of its Subcommittee on Water Resources, then later its Subcommittee on Environmental Pollution. Gravel was also initially named to the Joint Committee on Congressional Operations. By 1973 Gravel was off the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee and the Select Small Business Committee and instead a member of the Finance Committee, and by 1977 was chair of that body's Subcommittee on Energy and Foundations. By 1973 he had also been on the ad hoc Special Committee to Study Secret and Confidential Government Documents.\n\nBy his own admission, Gravel was too new and \"too abrasive\" to be effective in the Senate by the usual means of seniority-based committee assignments or negotiating deals with other senators, and was sometimes seen as arrogant or a nuisance by the more senior and tradition-oriented members. Gravel relied on attention-getting gestures to achieve what he wanted, hoping national exposure would force other senators to listen to him. But even senators who agreed with him on issues considered his methods to be showboating.\n\nAs part of this approach, Gravel voted with Southern Democrats to keep the Senate filibuster rule in place, and accordingly supported Russell Long and Robert Byrd but opposed Ted Kennedy in Senate leadership battles. In retrospective assessment, University of Alaska Anchorage history professor Stephen Haycox said, \"Loose cannon is a good description of Gravel's Senate career. He was an off-the-wall guy, and you weren't really ever sure what he would do.\"\n\nNuclear issues and the Cold War\nIn the late 1960s and early 1970s the U.S. Department of Defense was in the process of performing tests for the nuclear warhead for the Spartan anti-ballistic missile. Two tests, the \"Milrow\" and \"Cannikin\" tests, were planned, involving the detonation of nuclear bombs under Amchitka Island in Alaska. The Milrow test would be a one-megaton calibration exercise for the second and larger five-megaton Cannikin test, which would measure the effectiveness of the warhead. Gravel opposed the tests. Before the Milrow test took place in October 1969, he wrote that there were significant risks of earthquakes and other adverse consequences and called for an independent national commission on nuclear and seismic safety; he then made a personal appeal to President Richard Nixon to stop the test.\n\nAfter Milrow was conducted, there was continued pressure on the part of environmental groups against going forward with the Cannikin test, while the Federation of American Scientists claimed that the warhead being tested was already obsolete. In May 1971 Gravel sent a letter to U.S. Atomic Energy Commission hearings held in Anchorage in which he said the risk of the test was not worth taking. Eventually a group not involving Gravel took the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to issue an injunction against it, and the Cannikin test took place as scheduled in November 1971. Gravel had failed to stop the tests (notwithstanding his later claims during his 2008 presidential campaign).\n\nIn 1971 Gravel voted against the Nixon administration's proposed anti-ballistic missile system, the Safeguard Program, having previously vacillated over the issue, suggesting that he might be willing to support it in exchange for federal lands in Alaska being opened up for private oil drilling. His vote alienated Senator Henry \"Scoop\" Jackson, who had raised funds for Gravel's primary campaign.\n\nNuclear power was considered an environmentally clean alternative for commercial generation of electricity and was part of a popular national policy for the peaceful use of atomic energy in the 1950s and 1960s. Gravel publicly opposed this policy; besides the dangers of nuclear testing, he was a vocal critic of the Atomic Energy Commission, which oversaw American nuclear efforts, and of the powerful United States Congress Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, which had a stranglehold on nuclear policy and which Gravel tried to circumvent. In 1971 Gravel sponsored a bill to impose a moratorium on nuclear power plant construction and to make power utilities liable for any nuclear accidents; in 1975 he was still proposing similar moratoriums. By 1974 Gravel was allied with Ralph Nader's organization in opposing nuclear power.\n\nSix months before U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's July 1971 secret mission to the People's Republic of China (P.R.C.), Gravel introduced legislation to recognize and normalize relations with the P.R.C., including a proposal for unity talks between the P.R.C. and the Republic of China (Taiwan) regarding the Chinese seat on the U.N. Security Council. He reiterated his position in favor of recognition, with four other senators in agreement, during Senate hearings in June 1971.\n\nVietnam War, the draft, and the Pentagon Papers\nAlthough he did not campaign against the Vietnam War during his first Senate campaign, by the end of 1970 Gravel was speaking out against United States policy in southeast Asia: in December of that year he persuaded William Fulbright to join him in a spontaneous two-day filibuster against a $155 million military aid package to Cambodia's Khmer Republic government in the Cambodian Civil War.\n\nPresident Richard Nixon had campaigned in 1968 on a promise to end the U.S. military draft, a decision endorsed by the February 1970 report of the Gates Commission.\nThe existing draft law was scheduled to conclude at the end of June 1971, and the Senate faced a contentious debate about whether to extend it as the Vietnam War continued. The Nixon administration announced in February 1971 that it wanted a two-year extension to June 1973, after which the draft would end; Army planners had already been operating under the assumption of a two-year extension, after which an all-volunteer force would be in place. Skeptics such as Senate Armed Services Committee chairman John Stennis thought this unrealistic and wanted a four-year extension, but the two-year proposal is what went forward in Congress. By early May 1971, Gravel had indicated his intention to filibuster the draft renewal legislation, halting conscription and thereby bringing U.S. involvement in the war to a rapid end. During this period he also supported efforts to mobilize and influence public opinion against the war, endorsing the \"Vietnam War Out Now\" rallies in Washington D.C. and San Francisco on April 24, 1971, and financing a broadcast campaign by the antiwar group War No More with a personal loan. In June 1972 he escorted a group of over 100 antiwar protesters, including psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton, actress Candice Bergen, theater producer and director Joseph Papp, and peditrician Dr. Benjamin Spock, into the United States Capitol Building; the group was arrested after blocking a hallway outside the Senate chamber.\n\nBy June 1971, some Democratic senators opposed to the war wanted to limit the renewal to a one-year extension, while others wanted to end it immediately; Gravel reiterated that he was one of the latter, saying, \"It's a senseless war, and one way to do away with it is to do away with the draft.\" A Senate vote on June 4 indicated majority support for the two-year extension. On June 18 Gravel announced again his intention to counteract that by filibustering the renewal legislation, defending the practice against those who associated it only with blocking civil rights legislation. The first filibuster attempt failed on June 23 when, by three votes, the Senate voted cloture for only the fifth time since 1927.\n\nProtracted negotiations took place over House conference negotiations on the bill, revolving in large part around Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield's eventually unsuccessful amendment to tie renewal to a troop withdrawal timetable from Vietnam; during this time the draft law expired and no more were conscripted. On August 5, the Nixon administration pleaded for a renewal before the Senate went on recess, but Gravel blocked Stennis's attempt to limit debate, and no vote was held. Finally on September 21, 1971, the Senate invoked cloture over Gravel's second filibuster attempt by one vote, and then passed the two-year draft extension. Gravel's attempts to stop the draft had failed (notwithstanding Gravel's later claims that he had stopped or shortened the draft, taken at face value in some media reports, during his 2008 presidential campaign).\n\nMeanwhile, on June 13, 1971, The New York Times began printing large portions of the Pentagon Papers. The papers were a large collection of secret government documents and studies pertaining to the Vietnam War, of which former Defense Department analyst Daniel Ellsberg had made unauthorized copies and was determined to make public. Ellsberg had for a year and a half approached members of Congress – such as William Fulbright, George McGovern, Charles Mathias, and Pete McCloskey – about publishing the documents, on the grounds that the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution would give congressional members immunity from prosecution, but all had refused. Instead, Ellsberg gave the documents to the Times.\n\nThe U.S. Justice Department immediately tried to halt publication, on the grounds that the information revealed within the papers harmed the national interest. Within the next two weeks, a federal court injunction halted publication in the Times; The Washington Post and several other newspapers began publishing parts of the documents, with some of them also being halted by injunctions; and the whole matter went to the U.S. Supreme Court for arguments. Looking for an alternate publication mechanism, Ellsberg returned to his idea of having a member of Congress read them, and chose Gravel based on the latter's efforts against the draft; Gravel agreed where previously others had not. Ellsberg arranged for the papers to be given to Gravel on June 26 via an intermediary, Post editor Ben Bagdikian. Gravel used his counter-intelligence experience to choose a midnight transfer in front of the Mayflower Hotel in the center of Washington, D.C.\n\nOn the night of June 29, 1971, Gravel attempted to read the papers on the floor of the Senate as part of his filibuster against the draft, but was thwarted when no quorum could be formed. Gravel instead convened a session of the Buildings and Grounds subcommittee that he chaired. He got New York Congressman John G. Dow to testify that the war had soaked up funding for public buildings, thus making discussion of the war relevant to the committee. He began reading from the papers with the press in attendance, omitting supporting documents that he felt might compromise national security, and declaring, \"It is my constitutional obligation to protect the security of the people by fostering the free flow of information absolutely essential to their democratic decision-making.\"\n\nHe read until 1 a.m., culminating by saying \"Arms are being severed. Metal is clashing through human bodies because of the public policy this government and all its branches continue to support.\" Then with tears and sobs he said that he could no longer physically continue, the previous three nights of sleeplessness and fear about the future having taken their toll. Gravel ended the session by, with no other senators present, establishing unanimous consent to insert 4,100 pages of the Papers into the Congressional Record of his subcommittee. The following day, the Supreme Court's New York Times Co. v. United States decision ruled in favor of the newspapers and publication in the Times and others resumed. In July 1971 Bantam Books published an inexpensive paperback edition of the papers containing the material the Times had published.\n\nGravel, too, wanted to privately publish the portion of the papers he had read into the record, believing that \"immediate disclosure of the contents of these papers will change the policy that supports the war\". After being turned down by many commercial publishers, on August 4 he reached agreement with Beacon Press, the publishing arm of the Unitarian Universalist Association, of which Gravel was a member. Announced on August 17 and published on October 22, 1971, this four-volume, relatively expensive set became the \"Senator Gravel Edition\", which studies from Cornell University and the Annenberg Center for Communication have labeled as the most complete edition of the Pentagon Papers to be published. The \"Gravel Edition\" was edited and annotated by Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn, and included an additional volume of analytical articles on the origins and progress of the war, also edited by Chomsky and Zinn. Beacon Press then was subjected to a FBI investigation; an outgrowth of this was the Gravel v. United States court case, which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled upon in June 1972; it held that the Speech or Debate Clause did grant immunity to Gravel for his reading the papers in his subcommittee, did grant some immunity to Gravel's congressional aide, but granted no immunity to Beacon Press in relation to their publishing the same papers. The U.S. Senate Democratic Caucus backed Gravel in the case, but due to Republican opposition it did not pay Gravel's legal fees, leaving him owing $25,000 (the equivalent of $150,000 in 2019, adjusted for inflation).\n\nThe events of 1971 changed Gravel in the following months from an obscure freshman senator to a nationally visible political figure. He became a sought-after speaker on the college circuit as well as at political fundraisers, opportunities he welcomed as lectures were \"the one honest way a Senator has to supplement his income\". But his speaking tours caused him to accrue one of the worst absentee records in the Senate. The Democratic candidates for the 1972 presidential election sought his endorsement. In January 1972 Gravel endorsed Maine Senator Ed Muskie, hoping that his support would help Muskie with the party's left wing and in ethnic French-Canadian areas during the first primary contest in New Hampshire (Muskie won, but not overwhelmingly, and his campaign faltered soon after). In April 1972 Gravel appeared on all three networks' nightly newscasts to decry the Nixon administration's reliance on Vietnamization by making reference to the secret National Security Study Memorandum 1 document, which stated it would take 8–13 years for the Army of the Republic of Vietnam to defend South Vietnam. Gravel made excerpts from the study public, but senators Robert P. Griffin and William B. Saxbe blocked his attempt to read NSSM 1 into the Congressional Record.\n\nDomestic policy \nIn 1970 Gravel co-sponsored legislation to establish a guaranteed minimum income, entitling poor families to up to $6,300 a year (the equivalent of $42,000 in 2019 after adjustment for inflation). He subsequently voted for a \"work bonus\" program, which would have entitled low-income working families with dependent children if they were paying Social Security or Railroad Retirement taxes to a non-taxable bonus of up to 10 percent of their wages. Gravel also supported extending Social Security to all federal employees and introduced a campaign finance reform bill in 1971 that would have enacted full disclosure of campaign financing, placed limits on large donations, media spending and individual candidate spending.\n\nIn 1969, Gravel was the only Democratic Senator outside of the South to vote for Nixon's Supreme Court nominee Clement Haynsworth. The following year Gravel opposed Nixon's next pick, G. Harrold Carswell.\n\nRun for vice president in 1972\nGravel actively campaigned for the office of Vice President of the United States during the 1972 presidential election, announcing on June 2, 1972, over a month before the 1972 Democratic National Convention began, that he was interested in the nomination should the choice be opened up to convention delegates. Toward this end he began soliciting delegates for their support. He was not alone in this effort, as former Governor of Massachusetts Endicott Peabody had been running a quixotic campaign for the same post since the prior year. Likely presidential nominee George McGovern was in fact considering the unusual move of naming three or four acceptable vice-presidential candidates and letting the delegates choose.\n\nOn the convention's final day, July 14, 1972, McGovern selected and announced Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri as his vice-presidential choice. Eagleton was unknown to many delegates and the choice seemed to smack of traditional ticket balancing considerations. Thus there were delegates willing to look elsewhere. Gravel was nominated by Bettye Fahrenkamp, the Democratic National Committeewoman from Alaska. He then seconded his own nomination, breaking down in tears at his own words and maybe trying to withdraw his nomination. In any case he won 226 delegate votes, coming in third behind Eagleton and Frances \"Sissy\" Farenthold of Texas, in chaotic balloting that included several other candidates.\n\nGravel attracted some attention for his efforts: writer Norman Mailer said he \"provided considerable excitement\" and was \"good-looking enough to have played leads in B-films\", while Rolling Stone correspondent Hunter S. Thompson said Gravel \"probably said a few things that might have been worth hearing, under different circumstances\". Yet the process was doubly disastrous for the Democrats. In the time consumed by nominating and seconding and all the vice-presidential candidates' speeches, the attention of the delegates on the floor was lost and McGovern's speech was pushed to 3:30 a.m. The haste with which Eagleton was selected led to surprise when his past mental health treatments were revealed; he withdrew from the ticket soon after the convention, to be replaced by Sargent Shriver.\n\nReelection to Senate in 1974\nSeveral years earlier, Alaska politicians had speculated that Gravel would have a hard time getting both renominated and elected when his first term expired, given that he was originally elected without a base party organization and tended to focus on national rather than local issues.\n\nNonetheless, after receiving support from national and local labor leaders, securing key earmarks, and producing another half-hour TV advertorial, in 1974 Gravel was reelected to the Senate, with 58 percent of the vote to 42 percent for Republican State Senator C. R. Lewis, who was a national officer of the John Birch Society.\n\nSecond term\nGravel's reelection campaign left him $65,000–$75,000 in debt. In 1975 The Washington Post reported on a memo by his executive assistant laying out a fundraising strategy to tackle this, including raising funds from oil companies, meeting with previous donors and \"inquir[ing] into the governmental priorities of these people and their groups in the coming session\", as well as obtaining further speaking fees to reduce his personal debt. This was followed by a number of stories about links between Gravel, lobbyists and fundraisers, including one that was widely publicized in Alaska about his holding a share in a Colorado resort with two Washington lobbyists he was working with on land and energy legislation. Gravel had been open about the investment and had opposing views to one of the lobbyists on nuclear power. In 1980 the Wall Street Journal published details about his fundraising activities, including writing to individuals and PACs in the oil industry, pledging to kill off proposals for a windfall profits tax on the sector, and traveling in the Middle East with the business partner of one of his donors to sell Alaskan land to businessmen. Gravel suggested that critics of his fundraising were \"naive\".\n\nIn 1975 Gravel introduced an amendment to cut the number of troops overseas by 200,000, but it was defeated on a voice vote.\n\nIn September 1975 Gravel was named as one of several Congressional Advisers to the Seventh Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly, which met to discuss problems related to economic development and international economic cooperation.\n\nIn June 1976 Gravel was the focus of a federal investigation into allegations that he was involved in a sex-for-vote arrangement. Congressional staff clerk Elizabeth Ray (who had already been involved in a sex scandal that led to the downfall of Representative Wayne Hays) said that in August 1972 she had sex with Gravel aboard a houseboat on the Potomac River, under the instruction of Representative Kenneth J. Gray, her boss at the time. Gray allegedly wanted to secure Gravel's support for further funding for construction of the National Visitor Center in Washington, a troubled project that was under the jurisdiction of subcommittees that both members chaired. Another Congressional staffer said she witnessed the boat encounter, but Gravel said at the time that he had never met either of the women. Gravel and Gray strongly denied that they had made any arrangement regarding legislation, and neither was ever charged with any wrongdoing. Decades later Gravel wrote that he had indeed had sex with Ray, but had not changed any votes because of it.\n\nGravel and his main financial backer, Gottstein, had a falling out in 1978, during the Congressional debate over whether to allow a controversial sale of U.S. F-15 fighter aircraft to Saudi Arabia. An ardent backer of Israel, Gottstein opposed the sale and asked Gravel to vote against it. But Gravel not only voted for it but made an emotional speech attacking the anti-sale campaign. Gravel wrote in 2008 that it was the only time Gottstein had ever asked him for a favor, and the rupture resulted in their never speaking to each other again.\n\nAlaskan issues\n\nBy 1971 Gravel was urging construction of the much-argued Trans-Alaska pipeline, addressing environmental concerns by saying that the pipeline's builders and operators should have \"total and absolute\" responsibility for any consequent environmental damage. Two years later the debate over the pipeline came to a crux, with The New York Times describing it as \"environmentalists [in] a holy war with the major oil companies\". In February 1973 the U.S. Court of Appeals blocked the issuance of permits for construction; Gravel and fellow Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens reacted by urging Congress to pass legislation overturning the court's decision. Environmentalists opposed to the pipeline, such as the Environmental Defense Fund and the Sierra Club then sought to use the recently passed National Environmental Policy Act to their advantage; Gravel designed an amendment to the pipeline bill that would immunize the pipeline from any further court challenges under that law, and thus speed its construction. Passage of the amendment became the key battle regarding the pipeline. On July 17, 1973, in a dramatic roll-call vote, the Gravel amendment was approved as a 49–49 tie was broken in favor by Vice President Spiro Agnew. The actual bill enabling the pipeline then passed easily; Gravel had triumphed in what became perhaps his most lasting accomplishment as a senator.\n\nIn opposition to the Alaskan fishing industry, Gravel advocated American participation in the formation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. For two years he opposed legislation that established a Exclusive Economic Zone for marine resources. He was one of only 19 senators to vote against Senate approval for the expanded zone in 1976, saying it would undermine the U.S. position in Law of the Sea negotiations and that nations arbitrarily extending their fishing rights limits would \"produce anarchy of the seas\". The legislation was passed, and the United States has signed but never ratified the Law of the Sea treaty.\n\nGravel accumulated a complicated record on Indian affairs during his time in the Senate. During his first year in the Senate Gravel urged abolition of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, criticizing the agency for the pace of development of schools in Alaska, its paternalistic attitudes and the culturally inappropriate nature of its education, and advocating greater shared decision-making between the federal government and native communities in Alaska. Later, his views changed; in the early 1970s Gravel supported a demonstration project that established links between Alaskan villages and the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, for medical diagnostic communications. In 1971, he fended off accusations from Alaskan natives that he was not spending enough time working on their land claims. Gravel helped secure a private grant to facilitate the first Inuit Circumpolar Conference in 1977, attended by Inuit representatives from Alaska, Canada, and Greenland. These conferences now also include representatives from Russia. In 1977, Gravel helped lead an effort to have the U.S. Interior Department rename Mount McKinley to Denali; this eventually led to Denali National Park being so named. Subsequently, Gravel proposed a never-built \"Denali City\" development above the Tokositna River near the mountain, to consist of a giant Teflon dome enclosing hotels, golf courses, condominiums, and commercial buildings. A related idea of his to build a high-speed rail line to Denali also failed to gain traction.\n\nA key, emotional issue in the state at the time was \"locking up Alaska\", making reference to allocation of its vast, mostly uninhabited land. President Jimmy Carter desired to put large portions of this land under federal protection against development, a move that some Alaskans vociferously opposed.\nIn 1978 Gravel blocked passage, via procedural delays such as walking out of House–Senate conference committee meetings, of a complex bill which represented a compromise on land use policy. The bill would have put some of Alaska's vast federal land holdings under state control while preserving other portions for federal parks and refuges; the blocking action earned Gravel the enmity of fellow Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, who had supported the compromise. In 1980, a new lands bill came up for consideration, that was less favorable to Alaskan interests and more liked by environmentalists; it set aside of Alaska's for national parks, conservation areas, and other restricted federal uses. Gravel blocked it, as not ensuring enough future development in the state. A new compromise version of the 1980 bill came forward, which reduced the land set aside to . Representing Alaskan interests, Gravel tried to stop the bill, including by filibuster. But the Senate voted for cloture and passed the bill. Frustrated, Gravel said, \"the legislation denies Alaska its rights as a state, and denies the U.S. crucial strategic resources,\" and opined that the Senate was \"a little bit like a tank of barracudas\". Nonetheless, the bill, known as the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980, was signed by President Carter shortly before leaving the White House, and led to millions of acres being set aside in the state for national parks, wildlife refuges, and other kinds of areas under protection.\n\nIn 1978 Gravel authored and secured the passage into federal law of the General Stock Ownership Corporation, that became Subchapter U of the Tax Code under the Internal Revenue Code of 1954. This gave states the ability to create corporations that would invest in for-profit enterprises, with all citizens within the state owning shares in the corporation. Gravel's attempt to convince the Alaska state legislature to create such a corporation failed, as did a 1980 state ballot initiative towards the same end, but nevertheless the creation of the General Stock Ownership Corporation in federal law turned out to be significant in the development of binary economics.\n\nLoss of Senate seat in 1980\n\nIn 1980 Gravel was challenged for the Democratic Party's nomination by State Representative Clark Gruening, the grandson of the man Gravel had defeated in a primary 12 years earlier. One of Gruening's supporters was Gravel's former backer Gottstein. Several factors made Gravel vulnerable. As an insurgent candidate in 1968 Gravel had never established a firm party base. Not liking to hunt or fish, he was also always culturally suspect in the state.\n\nThe primary campaign was bitterly fought. A group of Democrats, including future governor Steve Cowper, led the campaign against Gravel, with Gravel's actions in respect to the 1978 and 1980 Alaskan lands bills a major issue. This was especially so given that the 1980 bill's dénouement happened but a week before the primary. The sources of Gravel's campaign funds, some of which Gravel readily acknowledged came from political action committees outside the state, also became an issue in the contest. Gruening had pledged that he would not take special interest group money, but Gravel said that Gruening was \"dishonest\" in accepting individual contributors from Jewish donors living outside the state because to him such contributors comprised \"a special interest group ... that seeks to influence the foreign policy of the U.S.\"\n\nGruening won the primary with about 55 percent of the vote to Gravel's 44 percent. Gravel later conceded that by the time of his defeat, he had alienated \"almost every constituency in Alaska\". Another factor may have been Alaska's blanket primary system of the time, which allowed unlimited voting across party lines and from its many independents; Republicans believed Gruening would be an easier candidate to defeat in the general election.\n\nGruening lost the general election to Republican Frank Murkowski. Gravel was the last Democrat to represent Alaska in Congress for 28 years, until Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich defeated Ted Stevens, by then an aged, iconic figure who had just been convicted of seven felonies for taking unreported gifts, in a very close and protracted election result in 2008. Stevens's conviction was subsequently vacated due to prosecutorial misconduct.\n\nCareer after leaving the Senate\n\nOf his 1980 defeat, Gravel later recalled: \"I had lost my career. I lost my marriage. I was in the doldrums for ten years after my defeat,\" and \"Nobody wanted to hire me for anything important. I felt like I was worthless. I didn't know what I could do.\" By his own later description, Gravel was a womanizer, and had an affair while in the Senate, and in December 1980 he and his wife Rita separated. They filed for divorce in September 1981; she later received all of his Senate pension income.\n\nDuring the 1980s Gravel was a real estate developer in Anchorage and Kenai, Alaska, a consultant, and a stockbroker. One of his real estate ventures, a condominium business, was forced to declare bankruptcy and a lawsuit ensued. In 1986 Gravel worked in partnership with Merrill Lynch Capital Markets to buy losses that financially troubled Alaska Native Corporations could not take as tax deductions and sell them to large national companies looking for tax writeoffs. Gravel also learned computer programming at some point but never practiced it.\n\nIn 1984 Gravel married his second wife, Whitney Stewart Gravel, a former administrative assistant for Senator Jacob Javits.\n\nReturn to politics\n\nIn 1989 Gravel reentered politics. He founded and led The Democracy Foundation, which promotes direct democracy. He established the Philadelphia II corporation, which seeks to replicate the original 1787 Constitutional Convention and have a Second Constitutional Convention to bring about direct democracy Gravel led an effort to get a United States Constitutional amendment to allow voter-initiated federal legislation similar to state ballot initiatives. He argued that Americans are able to legislate responsibly, and that the Act and Amendment in the National Initiative would allow American citizens to become \"law makers\". However such efforts met with little success.\n\nIn 2001, Gravel became director of the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution, where he admired institute co-founder Gregory Fossedal's work on direct democracy in Switzerland. By 2004, Gravel had become chair of the institute, and Fossedal (who in turn was a director of the Democracy Foundation) gave the introduction at Gravel's presidential announcement.\n\nIn 2003 Gravel gave a speech on direct democracy at a conference hosted by the American Free Press. The event was cosponsored by the Barnes Review, a journal that endorses Holocaust denial. After some controversy over his appearance, Gravel apologized, saying he did not realize the group's ties. Gravel said repeatedly that he did not share the group's views on the Holocaust, stating, \"You better believe I know that six million Jews were killed. [The Barnes Review publishers] are nutty as loons if they don't think it happened\". The group invited Gravel to speak again, but he declined.\n\nMike and Whitney Gravel lived in Arlington County, Virginia, until 2010 and then resided in Burlingame, California. They have the two grown children from his first marriage, Martin Gravel and Lynne Gravel Mosier, and four grandchildren. Whitney Gravel's income sustained the couple from 1998 on. In the 2000s, Gravel suffered poor health, requiring three surgeries in 2003 for back pain and neuropathy. Due to unreimbursed medical expenses and debts from his political causes, he declared personal bankruptcy in 2004. He began taking a salary from the non-profit organizations for which he was working; much of that income was lent to his presidential campaign. In 2007, he declared that he had \"zero net worth\".\n\n2008 presidential campaign\n\nDemocratic Party primaries\n\nAt the start of 2006 Gravel decided the best way he could promote direct democracy and the National Initiative was to run for president. On April 17, 2006, Gravel became the first candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2008 election, announcing his run in a speech to the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Short on campaign cash, he took public transportation to get to his announcement. (Gravel called for public financing of elections.) Other principal Gravel positions were the FairTax, as well as withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq within 120 days and a single payer national health care system. \n\nGravel had opposed the Iraq War, and President George W. Bush's rationale for it, from the beginning, and in 2006 said that U.S. troops in Iraq, as in Vietnam, had \"died in vain\". He also favored a regional peace initiative, as well as reparation payments for Iraqis. Gravel also called for a \"U.S. corporate withdrawal from Iraq\", with reconstruction contracts held by U.S. companies to be turned over to Iraqi firms.\n\nGravel campaigned almost full-time in New Hampshire, the first primary state, following his announcement. Opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination showed Gravel with 1 percent or less support. By the end of March 2007, Gravel's campaign had less than $500 in cash on hand against debts of nearly $90,000.\n\nBecause of his time in the Senate, Gravel was invited to many of the early Democratic presidential debates. During the initial one at South Carolina State University on April 26, 2007, he suggested a bill requiring the president to withdraw from Iraq on pain of criminal penalties. He also advocated positions such as opposing preemptive nuclear war. He stated that the Iraq War had the effect of creating more terrorists and that the \"war was lost the day that George Bush invaded Iraq on a fraudulent basis\". Regarding his fellow candidates, he said, \"I got to tell you, after standing up with them, some of these people frighten me – they frighten me.\" In one such exchange, Gravel said, \"Tell me, Barack, who do you want to nuke?\" to which Obama responded, \"I'm not planning to nuke anybody right now, Mike, I promise.\"\n\nMedia stories said that Gravel was responsible for much of whatever \"heat\" and \"flashpoints\" had taken place during the Democratic debates. Gravel gained considerable publicity by shaking up the normally staid multiple-candidate format; The New York Times' media critic said that what Gravel had done was \"steal a debate with outrageous, curmudgeonly statements\". The Internet was a benefit: a YouTube video of his responses in the debate was viewed more than 225,892 times, ranking seventeenth in most views for week and first among news and politics clips; his name became the fifteenth most searched-for in the blogosphere; and his website garnered more traffic than those of frontrunners Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, or John Edwards. Gravel appeared on the popular Colbert Report on television on May 2, and his campaign and career were profiled in national publications such as Salon. Two wordless, Warholesque campaign videos, \"Rock\" and \"Fire\", were released on YouTube in late May and became hits, and eventually gained over 760,000 and 185,000 views respectively. \"Rock\", in turn, was given airtime during an episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Some thirty-five years after he first achieved the national spotlight, he had found it again.\n\nAll this did not improve his performance in the polls; a May 2007 CNN poll showed him with less than 0.5 percent support among Democrats. Gravel was in the next several debates, in one case after CNN reversed a decision to exclude him. Like some of the other second-tier candidates, Gravel did not get as much time as the leaders; during the June 2, 2007, New Hampshire debate, which lasted two hours, he was asked 10 questions and allowed to speak for five minutes and 37 seconds.\n\nDuring the July 23, 2007, CNN-YouTube presidential debate, Gravel responded to audience applause when he had complained of a lack of airtime and said: \"Thank you. Has it been fair thus far?\" Detractors began to liken him to \"the cranky uncle who lives in the attic,\" or \"the angry old guy that just seemed to want to become angrier\". Berkeley political scientist David Terr found that moderator George Stephanopoulos directed roughly five percent of his questions to Gravel; in a poll asking who did the best in the debate, Gravel placed seventh among the eight candidates. National opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination continued to show Gravel with one percent or zero percent numbers. By the end of the third-quarter 2007, Gravel had about $17,500 in cash on hand, had collected a total of about $380,000 during the 2008 election cycle, and was continuing to run a threadbare campaign with minimal staff.\n\nBeginning with the October 30, 2007, Philadelphia event, Gravel was excluded from most of the debates, with the debate sponsors or the Democratic National Committee saying Gravel's campaign had not met fund-raising, polling, or local campaign organizational thresholds. For the Philadelphia exclusion, Gravel blamed corporate censorship on the part of sponsor owner and alleged military-industrial complex member General Electric for his exclusion and mounted a counter-gathering and debate against a video screen a short distance away, but he had lost his easiest publicity. In reaction, supporters organized \"mass donation days\" to try to help the campaign gain momentum and funds, such as on December 5, 2007, the anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition.\n\nGravel did not compete in the initial 2008 vote, the Iowa caucuses, but was still subjected to a false report from MSNBC that he had pulled out of the race afterward. Gravel did focus his attention on the second 2008 vote, the New Hampshire primary. In early January, Mother Jones' investigative reporter James Ridgeway was filmed interviewing and following Gravel in New Hampshire, in which Gravel is interviewed on the phone by Neal Conan for NPR's, Talk of the Nation. He received about 400 votes out of some 280,000 cast in New Hampshire, or 0.14 percent, before taking time off to improve his health. He resumed campaigning, but fared no better in subsequent states. By the end of January 2008, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and Gravel were the only remaining Democrats from the initial debates still running; Gravel vowed to stay in the presidential campaign until November. On March 11, 2008, Gravel continued to remain in the Democratic race but additionally endorsed a Green Party candidate for president, Jesse Johnson, saying he wanted to help Johnson prevail against Green Party rivals Cynthia McKinney and Ralph Nader. By late March, Gravel had almost no fundraising and was only on the ballot in one of the next ten Democratic primaries.\n\nSwitch to Libertarian Party\n\nOn March 25, 2008, Gravel announced that he would leave the Democrats and join the Libertarian Party, saying: \"My libertarian views, as well as my strong stance against war, the military industrial complex and American imperialism, seem not to be tolerated by Democratic Party elites who are out of touch with the average American; elites that reject the empowerment of American citizens I offered to the Democratic Party at the beginning of this presidential campaign with the National Initiative for Democracy.\" The following day Gravel entered the race for the 2008 Libertarian presidential nomination, saying that he would have run as a third-party candidate all along except that he needed the public exposure that came from being in the earlier Democratic debates. Gravel's initial notion of running as a fusion candidate with other parties was met with skepticism.\n\nAs a Libertarian candidate, Gravel faced resistance to his past support of big government initiatives and his unorthodox positions around direct democracy. Nevertheless, he garnered more support than he had as a Democrat, placing second and third in two April 2008 straw polls. In the May 25 balloting at the 2008 Libertarian National Convention in Denver, Gravel finished fourth out of eight candidates on the initial ballot, with 71 votes out of a total 618; he trailed former Congressman and eventual winner Bob Barr, author Mary Ruwart, and businessman Wayne Allyn Root. Gravel's position did not subsequently improve and he was eliminated on the fourth ballot. Afterwards he stated that \"I just ended my political career,\" but he vowed to continue promoting his positions as a writer and lecturer.\n\n2008–early 2019\n\nIn June 2008 Gravel endorsed the NYC 9/11 Ballot Initiative, saying the measure would create a \"citizens commission rather than a government commission\" with subpoena power against top U.S. officials to \"make a true investigation as to what happened\" regarding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. He later said, \"Individuals in and out of government may certainly have participated with the obviously known perpetrators of this dastardly act. Suspicions abound over the analysis presented by government. Obviously an act that has triggered three wars, Afghan, Iraqi and the continuing War on Terror, should be extensively investigated which was not done and which the government avoids addressing.\"\n\nIn August 2008 Gravel was speaking to a crowd of supporters of Sami Al-Arian (who two years earlier had pleaded guilty and been sentenced to prison for a charge of conspiracy in helping Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a \"specially designated terrorist\" organization) when he was caught on tape saying of Al-Arian's prosecutor, \"Find out where he lives, find out where his kids go to school, find out where his office is: picket him all the time. Call him a racist in signs if you see him. Call him an injustice. Call him whatever you want to call him, but in his face all the time.\" Gravel was criticized for potentially involving the children of the prosecutor, and Al-Arian's family disavowed the sentiments.\n\nGravel defended Alaska Governor Sarah Palin after she was chosen as Republican presidential nominee John McCain's running mate in September 2008. He praised Palin's record in standing up to corruption among Alaskan Republicans, thought her national inexperience was an asset not a detriment, and predicted that the \"Troopergate\" investigation into whether she improperly fired a state official would \"come out in her favor\". Gravel made clear he would not support or vote for either McCain–Palin or Obama–Biden in the general election. The following year Gravel said that Palin's politics were \"terrible, but that doesn't detract from the fact that she's a very talented person\". He predicted that Palin would run for president in 2012 and that \"she's going to surprise a lot of people\". Palin did not run, but Gravel's prediction about \"TrooperGate\" was accurate as Palin was found not to have violated ethics laws.\n\nIn 2013, by the invitation of Hamed Ghashghavi, the secretary for international affairs of the 3rd International Conference on Hollywoodism in Tehran, Iran, Gravel attended that event as an Iranian government-organized anti-Hollywood conference. Gravel noted that the conference was attended by \"various elements of extremes\" but said it was necessary to discuss how the U.S. film industry portrayed Iran in order to prevent \"an insane war\" between the two nations.\n\nIn May 2013 Gravel was one of several former members of Congress to accept $20,000 from the Paradigm Research Group, an advocacy group for UFO disclosure, as part of holding what they termed a Citizen Hearing on Disclosure, modeled after congressional hearings, regarding supposed U.S. government suppression of evidence concerning UFOs. Gravel said, \"Something is monitoring the planet, and they are monitoring it very cautiously, because we are a very warlike planet,\" and, \"What we're faced with here is, in areas of the media, and the government too, an effort to marginalize and ridicule people who have specific knowledge.\"\n\nIn December 2014 Gravel was announced as the new CEO of KUSH, a company which makes marijuana-infused products for medicinal and recreational use, and a subsidiary of Cannabis Sativa, Inc. He also became an Independent Director of Cannabis Sativa.\n\nDuring the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries, Gravel praised Bernie Sanders and his campaign, saying \"Bernie is one of the most gifted politicians I have ever observed. He's a person of great integrity and very clever.\" Gravel predicted that Sanders would be elected president but would be unable to get his key reforms through Congress, and thus that Sanders and his supporters should back some of the proposals of the National Initiative.\n\nIn 2016, Gravel said in relation to the September 11 attacks: \"We killed 58,000 American servicemen in the Vietnam War and all they did was die in vain. What's so unusual about killing 3,000 more in order to develop the grist for the mill to empower into infinity the military industrial complex?\" and \"There's no question in my mind that 9/11 was an inside job\". The remarks were later disavowed by even Gravel supporters.\n\nBy 2019 Gravel was living in Seaside, California. He was working on a book, at the time titled Human Governance, about his principal idea for direct democracy, a U.S. Constitutional Amendment to create a \"Legislature of the People\" that would circumvent the existing Congress. The book was self-published at the end of the year by AuthorHouse under the title The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People.\n\n2020 presidential campaign\n\nOn March 19, 2019, Gravel announced that he was considering running in the 2020 Democratic primaries. He said, \"The goal will not be to win, but to bring a critique of American imperialism to the Democratic debate stage.\" An exploratory committee was formed, with filing a statement of organization with the Federal Election Commission on that same day. The filing was the idea of a group of teenagers, led by David Oks and Henry Williams, inspired by the podcast Chapo Trap House, and done with Gravel's consent (after a week spent convincing him of the idea's merits), but without his involvement. Intrigued by the group's commitment to amplifying his long-held policy goals, Gravel (who would be old on Inauguration Day in 2021) said he planned to meet with them in April, and to discuss a 2020 White House run with his wife. On April 2, 2019, Gravel filed to officially run for office. The campaign called itself the \"#Gravelanche\".\n\nGravel's initial stated goal was merely to qualify for debates by getting the required 65,000 small donors. He discouraged people from voting for him and said his preferences were Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard, both of whom favor a non-interventionist foreign policy. But on April 29, Gravel's campaign said he was running to win, not just to participate in debates. In a subsequent interview, though, Gravel emphasized the virtue of Sanders and Gabbard in some order as a presidential ticket. Statements like these caused Vox to call Gravel \"2020's oddest Democratic presidential candidate\". The New York Times Magazine included Gravel as an example in the rise of democratic socialism in the United States also exemplified by Sanders's 2016 race and the 2018 election of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: \"[Gravel's] campaign represents the most absurd form of a legitimate movement on the left that feels little obligation to the Democratic Party.\"\n\nIn June 2019, Gravel touted the endorsement of Muntadher al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who, in December 2008, made headlines after he threw his shoes at President George W. Bush in protest of the U.S. war in Iraq. Al-Zaidi endorsed Gravel based on his promise to improve White House policies regarding Iraq and the Middle East.\n\nOn June 13, 2019, the Democratic Party announced the 20 major candidates who qualified for the first debate later that month. Gravel was one of the four who missed out (the others were Montana Governor Steve Bullock, U.S. Representative Seth Moulton, and Miramar, Florida, Mayor Wayne Messam). Gravel had been unable to get the requisite number of donations, or to score one percent or better in enough polls (many polls did not even include him). Nevertheless, Gravel said he would not drop out and would try to qualify for the July debate. In early July, however, Gravel's campaign said it was still 10,000 contributions short of the 65,000-donor threshold and that it was \"nearing its conclusion\". It solicited suggestions for where to donate $100–150,000 of leftover campaign funds. Gravel added that he had always planned on ending the campaign before the teenagers in charge of it needed to return to school. A few days later the campaign became the first to run an attack ad against Democratic front-runner Joe Biden, using the text \"Is this the best our party has to offer?\"\n\nGravel's campaign crossed the threshold of 65,000 donors on July 12, 2019, meeting the qualification mark for that month's debate. But because 20 other candidates, the maximum allowed to participate, had already met at least the polling criterion, which takes priority over the donor criterion, Gravel was not invited.\n\nThe campaign officially came to a close on August 6, 2019, with Gravel endorsing both Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard for president. Gravel's campaign later stated on Twitter that they never wanted to win but saw the campaign as an \"intimately democratic\" project and expressed honor at working with Gravel. Gravel said he would divide remaining campaign funds between charity and a new think tank which would espouse his ideas.\n\nThe Gravel Institute \n\nGravel used some of the funds remaining from his 2020 presidential campaign to found an eponymous progressive think tank called The Gravel Institute in 2019. As noted by Vice magazine, the institute aims to do battle with PragerU from a left-wing perspective. Launched in September 2020, the new entity said it would \"carry on the life's work of former U.S Senator Mike Gravel in fighting for global peace and democracy. Its mission is to promote bold and forward-looking ideas about a more peaceful and egalitarian world, and to build a robust movement of young people to win it\". Contributors announced include Cornel West and Slavoj Žižek, as well as Lower Brule Indian Reservation activist Nick Estes. Other presenters have included and will include H. Jon Benjamin, Briahna Joy Gray, Bernie Sanders, Chelsea Manning, Richard Wolff, Stephanie Kelton, Zephyr Teachout, David Cross, Jabari Brisport, Zohran Mamdani, and Gravel himself (though it is unknown if his appearance will be cancelled due to his death in June 2021, or if the video has already been recorded).\n\nDeath\nGravel died of multiple myeloma at his home in Seaside, California, on June 26, 2021, at age 91.\n\nThe obituary for him in The New York Times stated that Gravel was \"a two-term Democratic senator from Alaska ... who was perhaps better known as an unabashed attention-getter\" who later become known for \"mounting long-shot presidential runs\". The obituary in The Washington Post was similar, saying that Gravel was \"an Alaska Democrat with a flair for the theatrical who rose from obscurity to brief renown\" and later \"ran quixotic campaigns for the presidency\". The Anchorage Daily News quoted Gravel as saying of himself in 1989, \"I'm an independent kind of guy. A rough and ready kind of guy. My glands work in a certain way that make me stand up, foolishly sometimes, and fight.\"\n\nPolitical positions\n\nAlan Abramowitz and Jeffrey Allan Segal described Gravel as \"a maverick, if not an eccentric, in the Senate.\" His Americans for Democratic Action \"Liberal Quotient\" scores ranged from 81 out of 100 (1971) to 39 out of 100 (1980), with an average of around 61. His American Conservative Union scores ranged from 0 out of 100 (several years, including 1971 and 1972) to 38 out of 100 (1979), with an average of 14. Abramowitz and Segal note that Gravel's lowest ADA ratings coincided with his two Senate re-election bids, and for the most part his highest ACU ratings followed the same pattern.\n\nIn 1972, as a young senator, Gravel published Citizen Power: A People's Platform, a manifesto outlining what Kirkus Reviews termed a \"populist reform [that] would provide 'balanced political power' between the people and government and business interests.\"\n\nCivil rights issues\nOn drug policy, Gravel said in 2007 that he favored decriminalization and treating addiction as a public health matter. During his 2008 presidential candidacy he condemned the War on Drugs as a failure, saying that it did \"nothing but savage our inner cities and put our children at risk\". Gravel called for abolition of capital punishment in his book Citizen Power, and adhered to this position during his 2008 run for president. He supported abortion rights.\n\nDuring the 2008 campaign Gravel was a strong supporter of LGBT rights. He supported same-sex marriage and opposed the Defense of Marriage Act and the U.S. military's \"don't ask, don't tell\" policy. He wrote in 2008 that \"depriving gays and lesbians of equal rights is immoral\".\n\nForeign policy and defense issues\nGravel was a critic of American imperialism.\n\nGravel firmly opposed U.S. military action against Iran and Syria. He voiced opposition to the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, the Military Commissions Act of 2006, the use of torture, indefinite detention, and what he called \"flagrant ignorance\" of the Geneva Convention. In 2014 Gravel called for the release of the full, unredacted Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture.\n\nGravel opposed the use of international sanctions as a policy tool and blamed the ones against Iraq under Saddam Hussein for the deaths of a half-million children in that country. In 2013 Gravel said that sanctions against Iran were \"illegal\".\n\nDuring his 2008 candidacy, Gravel called for a cut in military spending, variously reported to be 15 percent or 50 percent. He called for the savings to boost public education spending. To spur international nuclear nonproliferation efforts, Gravel called for unilateral reductions in the U.S. nuclear arsenal.\n\nIn 2008 Gravel criticized the decision of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to not pursue the efforts to impeach George W. Bush and the attempted impeachment of Dick Cheney, saying also that Bush and Cheney had committed crimes and deserved \"to be prosecuted\" at The Hague. In 2013 he expressed disdain for President Obama, calling him \"a total fraud\" and saying that both Bush and Obama should be tried \"for the crimes and murders they've committed\" in the International Court of Justice. Gravel specifically condemned Obama for the drone strikes in Pakistan and elsewhere.\n\nEconomy, immigration, and environment\nDuring his 2008 candidacy Gravel favored a FairTax scheme, which would abolish the Internal Revenue Service, eliminate the federal income tax (which Gravel called \"corrupt\"), and impose a national sales tax. While Gravel described FairTax as \"progressive\", others have criticized it as \"regressive\", disproportionately benefiting the wealthiest Americans. To offset the new sales taxes on essential goods, Gravel's plan called for monthly government rebate payments to individuals and families. During his 2020 campaign Gravel also voiced support for a third legislative body that would give the people direct control of the budget as well as the implementation of a land value tax.\n\nGravel opposed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) during his 2008 candidacy, calling it unfair and economically harmful and needing renegotiation. Gravel believed that NAFTA was the \"root cause\" of illegal migration to the U.S. He favored a guest worker program and \"setting up naturalization procedures that would fairly bring immigrants into legal status\". In a 2007 interview, Gravel identified himself as \"very much of a globalist\" who believed in open markets and open borders and condemned the scapegoating of undocumented immigrants. Gravel also said that he favored eliminating the cap on H1B visas.\n\nAs a senator from Alaska, Gravel favored drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but opposed it during his 2008 campaign. In 2008, Gravel supported a carbon tax to combat climate change.\n\nGravel spoke in favor of net neutrality during his presidential campaign.\n\nEducation and health care\nGravel called for the cost of college tuition to be borne by the federal government, rather than students. In his 2008 campaign, he called the No Child Left Behind Act \"a failure\" and called for it to be \"reformed and fully funded\". He expressed support for universal pre-kindergarten and the expansion of the Head Start program; and expressed an openness to charter schools and school vouchers. He also suggested extending the school day and the school year, and supported merit pay for teachers.\n\nGravel also called for publicly funded universal health care to replace the current employer-sponsored health insurance system. He supported \"full funding\" of the VA system. When asked in 2007 about naturopathy, homeopathy, and acupuncture, Gravel said that he was \"very very much in favor\" of holistic health care.\n\nAwards and honors\nIn 2008 Gravel received the Columbia University School of General Studies' first annual Isaac Asimov Lifetime Achievement Award.\n\nElectoral history\n\nWritings\n Gravel, Mike. Jobs and More Jobs. Mt. McKinley Publishers, 1968.\n Gravel, Mike. Citizen Power: A People's Platform. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1972. .\n revised and reissued as Citizen Power: A Mandate for Change, AuthorHouse, 2008. .\n Gravel, Mike and Lauria, Joe. A Political Odyssey: The Rise of American Militarism and One Man's Fight to Stop It. Seven Stories Press, 2008. .\n Gravel, Mike and Eisenbach, David. The Kingmakers: How the Media Threatens Our Security and Our Democracy. Phoenix Books, 2008. .\n Gravel, Mike. Voice of a Maverick: The Speeches and Writings of Senator Mike Gravel. Brandywine House, 2008.\n Gravel, Mike. Foreword to Poisoned Power: The Case Against Nuclear Power Plants. John W. Goffman & Arthur R. Tamplin, Rodale Press, Inc., Emmaus, PA, June 1971.\n Gravel, Mike. The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People. AuthorHouse, 2020.\n\nExplanatory notes\n\nReferences\n\nCitations\n\nGeneral references \n The Pentagon Papers Senator Gravel Edition. Vol. Five: Critical Essays. Boston: Beacon Press, 1972. 341p. plus 72p. of Index to Vol. I–IV of the Papers; Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, editors.\n\nExternal links\n\n Mike Gravel official website\n \n \n \n The Gravel Institute\n\n|-\n\n|-\n\n \n1930 births\n2021 deaths\n1972 United States vice-presidential candidates\n20th-century American male writers\n20th-century American non-fiction writers\n20th-century American politicians\n20th-century Roman Catholics\n20th-century Unitarians\n21st-century American male writers\n21st-century American non-fiction writers\n21st-century American politicians\n21st-century Unitarians\n9/11 conspiracy theorists\nAlaska Democrats\nAmerican International College alumni\nAmerican Unitarian Universalists\nAmerican anti–Iraq War activists\nAmerican conspiracy theorists\nAmerican democracy activists\nAmerican male non-fiction writers\nAmerican people of French-Canadian descent\nAmerican political writers\nAmerican real estate businesspeople\nAmerican stockbrokers\nAnti-corporate activists\nAssumption University (Worcester) alumni\nBurials at Arlington National Cemetery\nBusinesspeople from Anchorage, Alaska\nBusinesspeople from Springfield, Massachusetts\nCalifornia Democrats\nCandidates in the 2008 United States presidential election\nCandidates in the 2020 United States presidential election\nColumbia University School of General Studies alumni\nDeaths from cancer in California\nDeaths from multiple myeloma\nDemocratic Party United States senators\nDirect democracy activists\nDrug policy reform activists\nFormer Roman Catholics\nVirginia Libertarians\nMembers of the Alaska House of Representatives\nMilitary personnel from Massachusetts\nNon-interventionism\nPeople from Arlington County, Virginia\nPeople from Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska\nPeople with dyslexia\nPoliticians from Anchorage, Alaska\nPoliticians from Springfield, Massachusetts\nSpeakers of the Alaska House of Representatives\nUnited States Army officers\nUnited States senators from Alaska\nWriters about direct democracy\nWriters from Anchorage, Alaska"},"extractive":{"kind":"string","value":"true"},"retrieved_contexts":{"kind":"list like","value":["Lee Yoo-yeon (; born September 4, 2000) is a South Korean swimmer specialized in freestyle.\n\nCareer\nIn October 2018, he represented South Korea at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics held in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He competed in 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 200m freestyle and mixed 4 × 100m freestyle relay events. In the 50m freestyle heats event, he completed at rank 9, allowing him to advance to compete in the semifinal. In the 50m freestyle semifinal event, he completed at rank 8 with Robin Hanson. In semifinal swim-off against Robin, he completed at rank 2 hence did not advance to compete in the final. In the 100m freestyle heats event, he completed at rank 1, allowing him to advance to compete in the semifinal. In the 100m freestyle semifinal event, he completed at rank 3, allowing him to compete in the final which he completed at rank 5. In the 200m freestyle heats event, he completed at rank 7, allowing him to compete in the final which he completed at rank 8. In the freestyle relay event, the team did not advance to compete in the final.\n\nIn July 2019, he represented South Korea at the 2019 Summer Universiade held in Naples, Italy. He competed in the 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 200m freestyle, 400m freestyle, 4 × 100m freestyle relay, 4 × 200m freestyle relay and 4 × 100m medley relay at the . In the same month, he represented South Korea at the 2019 World Aquatics Championships. He competed in 4 × 200m freestyle relay, the team did not advance to compete in the final and qualify for the 2020 Summer Olympics which are awarded to top 12 teams in the standings.\n\nIn July 2021, he represented South Korea at the 2020 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, Japan. He competed in 4 × 200m freestyle relay event. The team did not advance to compete in the final.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n ()\n\n2000 births\nLiving people\nSouth Korean male freestyle swimmers\nSwimmers at the 2020 Summer Olympics\nOlympic swimmers of South Korea\nPeople from Anyang, Gyeonggi\nSwimmers at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics","Central African Republic competed at the 2019 African Games held from 19 to 31 August 2019 in Rabat, Morocco. In total, athletes representing the country won one medal: Gildas Bangana won the bronze medal in the men's super lightweight boxing event. The country finished last in the medal table, in 41st place, shared with Cape Verde.\n\nMedal summary\n\nMedal table \n\n| style=\"text-align:left; width:78%; vertical-align:top;\"|\n\n| style=\"text-align:left; width:22%; vertical-align:top;\"|\n\nAthletics \n\nTwo athletes represented Central African Republic in athletics.\n\nFrancky-Edgard Mbotto competed in the men's 800 metres event. He competed in one of the heats and did not finish.\n\nJemina Robinei was scheduled to compete in the women's 100 metres and women's 200 metres events but she did not start in either event.\n\nBoxing \n\nFour athletes were scheduled to compete in boxing: Gildas Bangana (men's 63kg), Davy Bogba (men's 69kg), Amondine Ndarata (women's 57kg) and Nadege Niambongui (women's 60kg).\n\nBogba did not compete in his event.\n\nBangana won the bronze medal in the men's super lightweight (63kg) event.\n\nNdarata lost her match against Jalia Nali (representing Uganda).\n\nNiambongui was disqualified in her match against Deedra Arvella Chestnut (representing Sierra Leone).\n\nChess \n\nFour chess players competed: Kourakoumba Florent Desire, Koualet Bebondji Vainney Archeveque, Gamba Merveille Gloria Dan and Daher Khater Rochana.\n\nJudo \n\nTwo athletes represented Central African Republic in judo: Hardi Malot and Loric Syssa-Magale Lagarrigue.\n\nSwimming \n\nChloe Sauvourel was the only swimmer to represent the country in the sport.\n\nTaekwondo \n\nSadia Kembi (women's –46 kg), Philippe Balanga (men's –74 kg) and Jefferson Gbafio (men's –87 kg) competed in Taekwondo.\n\nWrestling \n\nMansour Idriss was scheduled to compete in the men's freestyle 74 kg event but he did not compete in the event.\n\nReferences \n\nNations at the 2019 African Games\n2019\nAfrican Games"],"string":"[\n \"Lee Yoo-yeon (; born September 4, 2000) is a South Korean swimmer specialized in freestyle.\\n\\nCareer\\nIn October 2018, he represented South Korea at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics held in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He competed in 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 200m freestyle and mixed 4 × 100m freestyle relay events. In the 50m freestyle heats event, he completed at rank 9, allowing him to advance to compete in the semifinal. In the 50m freestyle semifinal event, he completed at rank 8 with Robin Hanson. In semifinal swim-off against Robin, he completed at rank 2 hence did not advance to compete in the final. In the 100m freestyle heats event, he completed at rank 1, allowing him to advance to compete in the semifinal. In the 100m freestyle semifinal event, he completed at rank 3, allowing him to compete in the final which he completed at rank 5. In the 200m freestyle heats event, he completed at rank 7, allowing him to compete in the final which he completed at rank 8. In the freestyle relay event, the team did not advance to compete in the final.\\n\\nIn July 2019, he represented South Korea at the 2019 Summer Universiade held in Naples, Italy. He competed in the 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 200m freestyle, 400m freestyle, 4 × 100m freestyle relay, 4 × 200m freestyle relay and 4 × 100m medley relay at the . In the same month, he represented South Korea at the 2019 World Aquatics Championships. He competed in 4 × 200m freestyle relay, the team did not advance to compete in the final and qualify for the 2020 Summer Olympics which are awarded to top 12 teams in the standings.\\n\\nIn July 2021, he represented South Korea at the 2020 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, Japan. He competed in 4 × 200m freestyle relay event. The team did not advance to compete in the final.\\n\\nReferences\\n\\nExternal links\\n \\n ()\\n\\n2000 births\\nLiving people\\nSouth Korean male freestyle swimmers\\nSwimmers at the 2020 Summer Olympics\\nOlympic swimmers of South Korea\\nPeople from Anyang, Gyeonggi\\nSwimmers at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics\",\n \"Central African Republic competed at the 2019 African Games held from 19 to 31 August 2019 in Rabat, Morocco. In total, athletes representing the country won one medal: Gildas Bangana won the bronze medal in the men's super lightweight boxing event. The country finished last in the medal table, in 41st place, shared with Cape Verde.\\n\\nMedal summary\\n\\nMedal table \\n\\n| style=\\\"text-align:left; width:78%; vertical-align:top;\\\"|\\n\\n| style=\\\"text-align:left; width:22%; vertical-align:top;\\\"|\\n\\nAthletics \\n\\nTwo athletes represented Central African Republic in athletics.\\n\\nFrancky-Edgard Mbotto competed in the men's 800 metres event. He competed in one of the heats and did not finish.\\n\\nJemina Robinei was scheduled to compete in the women's 100 metres and women's 200 metres events but she did not start in either event.\\n\\nBoxing \\n\\nFour athletes were scheduled to compete in boxing: Gildas Bangana (men's 63kg), Davy Bogba (men's 69kg), Amondine Ndarata (women's 57kg) and Nadege Niambongui (women's 60kg).\\n\\nBogba did not compete in his event.\\n\\nBangana won the bronze medal in the men's super lightweight (63kg) event.\\n\\nNdarata lost her match against Jalia Nali (representing Uganda).\\n\\nNiambongui was disqualified in her match against Deedra Arvella Chestnut (representing Sierra Leone).\\n\\nChess \\n\\nFour chess players competed: Kourakoumba Florent Desire, Koualet Bebondji Vainney Archeveque, Gamba Merveille Gloria Dan and Daher Khater Rochana.\\n\\nJudo \\n\\nTwo athletes represented Central African Republic in judo: Hardi Malot and Loric Syssa-Magale Lagarrigue.\\n\\nSwimming \\n\\nChloe Sauvourel was the only swimmer to represent the country in the sport.\\n\\nTaekwondo \\n\\nSadia Kembi (women's –46 kg), Philippe Balanga (men's –74 kg) and Jefferson Gbafio (men's –87 kg) competed in Taekwondo.\\n\\nWrestling \\n\\nMansour Idriss was scheduled to compete in the men's freestyle 74 kg event but he did not compete in the event.\\n\\nReferences \\n\\nNations at the 2019 African Games\\n2019\\nAfrican Games\"\n]"},"chunked_article":{"kind":"list like","value":["Maurice Robert Gravel ( ; May 13, 1930 – June 26, 2021) was an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Alaska from 1969 to 1981 as a member of the Democratic Party, and who, in later life, twice ran for the presidential nomination of that party. Born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, by French-Canadian immigrant parents, Gravel moved to Alaska in the late 1950s, becoming a real estate developer and entering politics.","Born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, by French-Canadian immigrant parents, Gravel moved to Alaska in the late 1950s, becoming a real estate developer and entering politics. He served in the Alaska House of Representatives from 1963 to 1967, and also became Speaker of the Alaska House. Gravel was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1968.","Gravel was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1968. Gravel was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1968. As a senator, Gravel became nationally known for his forceful, but unsuccessful, attempts to end the draft during the War in Vietnam, and for putting the Pentagon Papers into the public record in 1971. He conducted a campaign for the Democratic nomination in 1972 for Vice President of the United States, and then played a crucial role in obtaining Congressional approval for the Trans-Alaska pipeline in 1973.","He conducted a campaign for the Democratic nomination in 1972 for Vice President of the United States, and then played a crucial role in obtaining Congressional approval for the Trans-Alaska pipeline in 1973. He was re-elected to the Senate in 1974, but was defeated in his bid for a third term in the primary election in 1980. An advocate of direct democracy and the National Initiative, Gravel staged a run for the 2008 Democratic nomination for President of the United States.","An advocate of direct democracy and the National Initiative, Gravel staged a run for the 2008 Democratic nomination for President of the United States. His campaign failed to gain support, and in March 2008, he left the Democratic Party and joined the Libertarian Party to compete unsuccessfully for its presidential nomination and the inclusion of the National Initiative into the Libertarian Platform. He ran for president as a Democrat again in the 2020 election, in a campaign that ended four months after it began.","He ran for president as a Democrat again in the 2020 election, in a campaign that ended four months after it began. Two years before his death, Gravel and his campaign staff founded the progressive think tank The Gravel Institute. Early life, military service, education Gravel was born on May 13, 1930, in Springfield, Massachusetts, one of five children of French-Canadian immigrant parents, Alphonse and Marie (née Bourassa) Gravel.","Early life, military service, education Gravel was born on May 13, 1930, in Springfield, Massachusetts, one of five children of French-Canadian immigrant parents, Alphonse and Marie (née Bourassa) Gravel. His parents were part of the Quebec diaspora, and he was raised in a working-class neighborhood during the Great Depression, speaking only French until he was seven years old. Calling him \"Mike\" from an early age, his father valued work above all else, while his mother stressed the importance of education.","Calling him \"Mike\" from an early age, his father valued work above all else, while his mother stressed the importance of education. Gravel was educated in parochial schools as a Roman Catholic. There he struggled, due to what he later said was undiagnosed dyslexia, and was left back in third grade. He completed elementary school in 1945 and his class voted him \"most charming personality\".","He completed elementary school in 1945 and his class voted him \"most charming personality\". A summer job as a soda jerk led to Gravel handing out campaign fliers for local candidates on his boss's behalf; Gravel was immediately impressed with \"the awesomeness of political office\". Gravel then boarded at Assumption Preparatory School in Worcester, Massachusetts, where his performance was initially mediocre.","Gravel then boarded at Assumption Preparatory School in Worcester, Massachusetts, where his performance was initially mediocre. By Gravel's telling, in the summer of 1948 he intended to volunteer for the Israel Defense Forces during the 1947–1949 Palestine war, but Alexandra Tolstaya told him to return to school. There an English teacher, the Assumptionist Edgar Bourque, gave him personal attention, improving Gravel's language skills and instructing him in public speaking. Gravel's grades improved measurably in his final year and he graduated in 1949.","Gravel's grades improved measurably in his final year and he graduated in 1949. His sister, Marguerite, became a Holy Cross nun, but Gravel himself struggled with the Catholic faith. He studied for one year at Assumption College, a Catholic school in Worcester, then transferred for his sophomore year to American International College in Springfield. Journalist I. F. Stone and philosopher Bertrand Russell strongly influenced Gravel in their willingness to challenge assumptions and oppose social convention and political authority.","Journalist I. F. Stone and philosopher Bertrand Russell strongly influenced Gravel in their willingness to challenge assumptions and oppose social convention and political authority. Around May 1951, Gravel saw that he was about to be drafted and instead enlisted in the U.S. Army for a three-year term so that he could get into the Counterintelligence Corps. After basic training and counterintelligence school at Fort Holabird in Maryland and in South Carolina, he went to Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia.","After basic training and counterintelligence school at Fort Holabird in Maryland and in South Carolina, he went to Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia. While he expected to be sent off to the Korean War when he graduated as a second lieutenant in early 1952, he was instead assigned to Stuttgart, West Germany, as a Special Adjutant in the Army's Communications Intelligence Service. In Germany, Gravel conducted surveillance operations on civilians and paid off spies.","In Germany, Gravel conducted surveillance operations on civilians and paid off spies. After about a year, he transferred to Orléans, France, where his French language abilities (if not his French-Canadian accent) allowed him to infiltrate French communist rallies. He worked as a Special Agent in the Counterintelligence Corps until 1954, eventually becoming a first lieutenant. Following his discharge, Gravel entered the Columbia University School of General Studies in New York City, where he studied economics and received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1956.","Following his discharge, Gravel entered the Columbia University School of General Studies in New York City, where he studied economics and received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1956. He moved to New York \"flat broke\" and supported himself by working as a bar boy in a hotel, driving a taxicab, and working in the investment bond department at Bankers Trust. During this time he left the Roman Catholic faith.","During this time he left the Roman Catholic faith. During this time he left the Roman Catholic faith. Move to Alaska Gravel \"decided to become a pioneer in a faraway place,\" and moved to pre-statehood Alaska in August 1956, without funds or a job, looking for a place where someone without social or political connections could be a viable candidate for public office.","Move to Alaska Gravel \"decided to become a pioneer in a faraway place,\" and moved to pre-statehood Alaska in August 1956, without funds or a job, looking for a place where someone without social or political connections could be a viable candidate for public office. Alaska's voting age of 19, less than most other states' 21, played a role in his decision, as did its newness and cooler climate. Broke when he arrived, he immediately found work in real estate sales until winter arrived.","Broke when he arrived, he immediately found work in real estate sales until winter arrived. Gravel then was employed as a brakeman for the Alaska Railroad, working the snow-clearing train on the Anchorage-to-Fairbanks run. Subsequently, he opened a small real estate brokerage in Anchorage (the Territory of Alaska not requiring a license) and saved enough so as not to have to work the railroad again. The firm was named the M. R. Gravel Real Estate Company.","The firm was named the M. R. Gravel Real Estate Company. Gravel joined the Anchorage Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, and continued a sporadic relationship with the movement throughout his life. Seeing Alaska as a wide-open place with no political establishment or entrenched interests, Gravel quickly became part of the civic scene there. By October 1957 he was a Division Chairman for Anchorage for the Democratic Central Committee in the territory, and by June 1958 he was president of the Alaska Young Democrats organization.","By October 1957 he was a Division Chairman for Anchorage for the Democratic Central Committee in the territory, and by June 1958 he was president of the Alaska Young Democrats organization. He also became active in the United States Junior Chamber (Jaycees), and by early 1958 his duties included handing out awards for farmer of the year. By early 1958, Gravel was running as Democratic Party primary candidate for a Third Division seat in House of Representative of the territorial legislature.","By early 1958, Gravel was running as Democratic Party primary candidate for a Third Division seat in House of Representative of the territorial legislature. (This was one of the four judicial divisions into which Alaska was sectioned at the time.) Using the slogan \"Gravel, the Roadbed to Prosperity\", he ran but lost. At the same time, he was also an advocate for Alaskan statehood.","At the same time, he was also an advocate for Alaskan statehood. Gravel went on a 44-state national speaking tour concerning tax reform in 1959, sponsored by the Jaycees, often dressing for events as Paul Revere. Gravel was selected from some two thousand applications for this position. The tour received a good amount of local newspaper coverage at its various stops, with Gravel's first name sometimes given as Mike and other times as Maurice.","The tour received a good amount of local newspaper coverage at its various stops, with Gravel's first name sometimes given as Mike and other times as Maurice. The tour's general message was an urging of \"lower taxes, more efficiency in government and a system of taxation moderate at all levels of income\". At several stops Gravel stated that the \"tide of socialism\" had to be stopped.","At several stops Gravel stated that the \"tide of socialism\" had to be stopped. He elaborated at another stop, \"It is part of our Jaycee creed that economic justice can best be won by free men through free enterprise. We really want to see that free enterprise become our inheritance.\"","We really want to see that free enterprise become our inheritance.\" The tour was scheduled to conclude in Washington D.C., on Tax Day, April 15, with petition signatures accumulated for reform to be presented to U.S. lawmakers: dressed as Revere, Gravel rode with the petition to the steps of the U.S. Capitol. The tour over, Gravel married Rita Jeannette Martin at the First Methodist Church of Anchorage on April 29, 1959.","The tour over, Gravel married Rita Jeannette Martin at the First Methodist Church of Anchorage on April 29, 1959. She was a native of Montana who had attended Billings Business College before moving to Alaska two years prior and becoming a secretary in the office of the Anchorage city manager. She had also been named Anchorage's \"Miss Fur Rendezvous\" of 1958. They had two children, Martin Anthony Gravel and Lynne Denise Gravel, born c. 1960 and 1962 respectively.","They had two children, Martin Anthony Gravel and Lynne Denise Gravel, born c. 1960 and 1962 respectively. Gravel ran without avail for the City Council in Anchorage in 1960. During this time, he had become a successful real estate agent; after the 1960 election, he became a property developer in a mobile home park on the outskirts of Anchorage. After a partner ran into financial difficulty, however, the project went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and Gravel was forced out in 1962.","After a partner ran into financial difficulty, however, the project went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and Gravel was forced out in 1962. State legislator With the support of Alaska wholesale grocer Barney Gottstein and supermarket builder Larry Carr, Gravel ran for the Alaska House of Representatives representing Anchorage in 1962, initially assigned the 10th and then 8th districts.","State legislator With the support of Alaska wholesale grocer Barney Gottstein and supermarket builder Larry Carr, Gravel ran for the Alaska House of Representatives representing Anchorage in 1962, initially assigned the 10th and then 8th districts. Alaska had very crowded primaries that year: Gravel was one of 33 Democrats, along with 21 Republicans, who were running for the chance to compete for the 14 House seats allocated to the 8th district.","Alaska had very crowded primaries that year: Gravel was one of 33 Democrats, along with 21 Republicans, who were running for the chance to compete for the 14 House seats allocated to the 8th district. Gravel made it through the primary, and in November eight Republicans and six Democrats were elected to the House from the district, with Gravel finishing eighth overall and third among with Democrats, with 8,174 votes. Gottstein became Gravel's main financial backer during most of his subsequent campaigns.","Gottstein became Gravel's main financial backer during most of his subsequent campaigns. Gravel served in the Alaska House of Representatives from January 28, 1963 to January 22, 1967, winning reelection in 1964. In his first term, he served as a minority member on two House committees: Commerce, and Labor and Management. He co-authored and sponsored the act that created the Alaska State Commission for Human Rights.","He co-authored and sponsored the act that created the Alaska State Commission for Human Rights. Gravel was the chief architect of the law that created a regional high school system for rural Alaska; this allowed Alaska Natives to attend schools near where they lived instead of having to go to schools run by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the lower 48 states. During the half-years that the legislature was not in session, Gravel resumed his real estate work.","During the half-years that the legislature was not in session, Gravel resumed his real estate work. With Gottstein and Carr's backing, he became quite successful as a property developer on the Kenai Peninsula. During 1965 and 1966, he served as the Speaker of the House, surprising observers by winning that post. Gravel convinced former Speaker Warren A. Taylor to not try for the position against him by promising Taylor chairmanship of the Rules Committee, then reneged on the promise.","Gravel convinced former Speaker Warren A. Taylor to not try for the position against him by promising Taylor chairmanship of the Rules Committee, then reneged on the promise. Gravel denied later press charges that he had promised but not delivered on other committee chairmanships. As Speaker he antagonized fellow lawmakers by imposing his will on the legislature's committees and feuded with Alaska State Senate president Robert J. McNealy.","As Speaker he antagonized fellow lawmakers by imposing his will on the legislature's committees and feuded with Alaska State Senate president Robert J. McNealy. Gravel did not run for reelection in 1966, instead choosing to run for Alaska's seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, losing the primary to four-term incumbent Democrat Ralph Rivers by 1,300 votes and splitting the Democratic Party in the process. Rivers lost the general election that year to Republican state Senator Howard Pollock. Following this defeat, Gravel returned to the real estate business in Anchorage.","Following this defeat, Gravel returned to the real estate business in Anchorage. U.S. Senator Election to Senate in 1968 In 1968, Gravel ran against 81-year-old incumbent Democratic United States Senator Ernest Gruening, a popular former governor of the Alaska Territory who was considered one of the fathers of Alaska's statehood, for his party's nomination to the U.S. Senate. Gravel's campaign was primarily based on his youth and telegenic appearance rather than issue differences. He hired Joseph Napolitan, the first self-described political consultant, in late 1966.","He hired Joseph Napolitan, the first self-described political consultant, in late 1966. They spent over a year and a half planning a short, nine-day primary election campaign that featured the slogans \"Alaska first\" and \"Let's do something about the state we're in\", the distribution of a collection of essays titled Jobs and More Jobs, and the creation of a half-hour, well-produced, glamorized biographical film of Gravel, Man for Alaska.","They spent over a year and a half planning a short, nine-day primary election campaign that featured the slogans \"Alaska first\" and \"Let's do something about the state we're in\", the distribution of a collection of essays titled Jobs and More Jobs, and the creation of a half-hour, well-produced, glamorized biographical film of Gravel, Man for Alaska. The film was shown twice a day on every television station in Alaska, and carried by plane and shown on home projectors in hundreds of Alaska Native villages.","The film was shown twice a day on every television station in Alaska, and carried by plane and shown on home projectors in hundreds of Alaska Native villages. The heavy showings quickly reversed a 2–to–1 Gruening lead in polls into a Gravel lead. Gravel visited many remote villages by seaplane and showed a thorough understanding of the needs of the bush country and the fishing and oil industries. Gravel also benefited from maintaining a deliberately ambiguous posture about Vietnam policy.","Gravel also benefited from maintaining a deliberately ambiguous posture about Vietnam policy. Gruening had been one of only two Senators to vote against the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and his opposition to President Lyndon B. Johnson's war policies was harming him among the Democratic electorate; according to Gravel, \"all I had to do was stand up and not deal with the subject, and people would assume that I was to the right of Ernest Gruening, when in point of fact I was to the left of him\".","Gruening had been one of only two Senators to vote against the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and his opposition to President Lyndon B. Johnson's war policies was harming him among the Democratic electorate; according to Gravel, \"all I had to do was stand up and not deal with the subject, and people would assume that I was to the right of Ernest Gruening, when in point of fact I was to the left of him\". In Man for Alaska, Gravel argued that \"the liberals\" would come to West Germany's defense if it was attacked, and that the same standard should apply to the United States' allies in Asia.","In Man for Alaska, Gravel argued that \"the liberals\" would come to West Germany's defense if it was attacked, and that the same standard should apply to the United States' allies in Asia. During the campaign he also claimed that he was \"more in the mainstream of American thought on Vietnam\" than Gruening, despite the fact that he had written to Gruening to praise his antiwar stance four years earlier.","During the campaign he also claimed that he was \"more in the mainstream of American thought on Vietnam\" than Gruening, despite the fact that he had written to Gruening to praise his antiwar stance four years earlier. Decades later, Gravel conceded that \"I said what I said [about Vietnam] to advance my career.\" Gravel beat Gruening in the primary by about 2,000 votes. Gruening found \"the unexpected defeat hard to take\" and thought that some aspects of his opponent's biographical film had misled viewers.","Gruening found \"the unexpected defeat hard to take\" and thought that some aspects of his opponent's biographical film had misled viewers. In the general election, Gravel faced Republican Elmer E. Rasmuson, a banker and former mayor of Anchorage. College students in the state implored Gruening to run a write-in campaign as an Independent, but legal battles prevented him from getting approval for it until only two weeks were left.","College students in the state implored Gruening to run a write-in campaign as an Independent, but legal battles prevented him from getting approval for it until only two weeks were left. A late appearance by anti-war presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy did not offset Gruening's lack of funds and endorsements; meanwhile, Gravel and Rasmuson both saturated local media with their filmed biographies. On November 5, 1968, Gravel won the general election with 45 percent of the vote to Rasmuson's 37 percent and Gruening's 18 percent.","On November 5, 1968, Gravel won the general election with 45 percent of the vote to Rasmuson's 37 percent and Gruening's 18 percent. Senate assignments and style When Gravel joined the U.S.Senate in January 1969, he requested and received a seat on the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee, which had direct relevance to Alaskan issues. He also got a spot on the Public Works Committee, which he held throughout his time in the Senate. Finally, he was a member of the Select Committee on Small Business.","Finally, he was a member of the Select Committee on Small Business. In 1971 he became chair of the Public Works Committee's Subcommittee on Public Buildings and Grounds, and by 1973 he was chair of its Subcommittee on Water Resources, then later its Subcommittee on Environmental Pollution. Gravel was also initially named to the Joint Committee on Congressional Operations.","Gravel was also initially named to the Joint Committee on Congressional Operations. By 1973 Gravel was off the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee and the Select Small Business Committee and instead a member of the Finance Committee, and by 1977 was chair of that body's Subcommittee on Energy and Foundations. By 1973 he had also been on the ad hoc Special Committee to Study Secret and Confidential Government Documents.","By 1973 he had also been on the ad hoc Special Committee to Study Secret and Confidential Government Documents. By his own admission, Gravel was too new and \"too abrasive\" to be effective in the Senate by the usual means of seniority-based committee assignments or negotiating deals with other senators, and was sometimes seen as arrogant or a nuisance by the more senior and tradition-oriented members. Gravel relied on attention-getting gestures to achieve what he wanted, hoping national exposure would force other senators to listen to him.","Gravel relied on attention-getting gestures to achieve what he wanted, hoping national exposure would force other senators to listen to him. But even senators who agreed with him on issues considered his methods to be showboating. As part of this approach, Gravel voted with Southern Democrats to keep the Senate filibuster rule in place, and accordingly supported Russell Long and Robert Byrd but opposed Ted Kennedy in Senate leadership battles.","As part of this approach, Gravel voted with Southern Democrats to keep the Senate filibuster rule in place, and accordingly supported Russell Long and Robert Byrd but opposed Ted Kennedy in Senate leadership battles. In retrospective assessment, University of Alaska Anchorage history professor Stephen Haycox said, \"Loose cannon is a good description of Gravel's Senate career. He was an off-the-wall guy, and you weren't really ever sure what he would do.\"","He was an off-the-wall guy, and you weren't really ever sure what he would do.\" Nuclear issues and the Cold War In the late 1960s and early 1970s the U.S. Department of Defense was in the process of performing tests for the nuclear warhead for the Spartan anti-ballistic missile. Two tests, the \"Milrow\" and \"Cannikin\" tests, were planned, involving the detonation of nuclear bombs under Amchitka Island in Alaska.","Two tests, the \"Milrow\" and \"Cannikin\" tests, were planned, involving the detonation of nuclear bombs under Amchitka Island in Alaska. The Milrow test would be a one-megaton calibration exercise for the second and larger five-megaton Cannikin test, which would measure the effectiveness of the warhead. Gravel opposed the tests.","Gravel opposed the tests. Gravel opposed the tests. Before the Milrow test took place in October 1969, he wrote that there were significant risks of earthquakes and other adverse consequences and called for an independent national commission on nuclear and seismic safety; he then made a personal appeal to President Richard Nixon to stop the test. After Milrow was conducted, there was continued pressure on the part of environmental groups against going forward with the Cannikin test, while the Federation of American Scientists claimed that the warhead being tested was already obsolete.","After Milrow was conducted, there was continued pressure on the part of environmental groups against going forward with the Cannikin test, while the Federation of American Scientists claimed that the warhead being tested was already obsolete. In May 1971 Gravel sent a letter to U.S. Atomic Energy Commission hearings held in Anchorage in which he said the risk of the test was not worth taking.","In May 1971 Gravel sent a letter to U.S. Atomic Energy Commission hearings held in Anchorage in which he said the risk of the test was not worth taking. Eventually a group not involving Gravel took the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to issue an injunction against it, and the Cannikin test took place as scheduled in November 1971. Gravel had failed to stop the tests (notwithstanding his later claims during his 2008 presidential campaign).","Gravel had failed to stop the tests (notwithstanding his later claims during his 2008 presidential campaign). In 1971 Gravel voted against the Nixon administration's proposed anti-ballistic missile system, the Safeguard Program, having previously vacillated over the issue, suggesting that he might be willing to support it in exchange for federal lands in Alaska being opened up for private oil drilling. His vote alienated Senator Henry \"Scoop\" Jackson, who had raised funds for Gravel's primary campaign.","His vote alienated Senator Henry \"Scoop\" Jackson, who had raised funds for Gravel's primary campaign. Nuclear power was considered an environmentally clean alternative for commercial generation of electricity and was part of a popular national policy for the peaceful use of atomic energy in the 1950s and 1960s.","Nuclear power was considered an environmentally clean alternative for commercial generation of electricity and was part of a popular national policy for the peaceful use of atomic energy in the 1950s and 1960s. Gravel publicly opposed this policy; besides the dangers of nuclear testing, he was a vocal critic of the Atomic Energy Commission, which oversaw American nuclear efforts, and of the powerful United States Congress Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, which had a stranglehold on nuclear policy and which Gravel tried to circumvent.","Gravel publicly opposed this policy; besides the dangers of nuclear testing, he was a vocal critic of the Atomic Energy Commission, which oversaw American nuclear efforts, and of the powerful United States Congress Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, which had a stranglehold on nuclear policy and which Gravel tried to circumvent. In 1971 Gravel sponsored a bill to impose a moratorium on nuclear power plant construction and to make power utilities liable for any nuclear accidents; in 1975 he was still proposing similar moratoriums.","In 1971 Gravel sponsored a bill to impose a moratorium on nuclear power plant construction and to make power utilities liable for any nuclear accidents; in 1975 he was still proposing similar moratoriums. By 1974 Gravel was allied with Ralph Nader's organization in opposing nuclear power. Six months before U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's July 1971 secret mission to the People's Republic of China (P.R.C. ), Gravel introduced legislation to recognize and normalize relations with the P.R.C., including a proposal for unity talks between the P.R.C.","), Gravel introduced legislation to recognize and normalize relations with the P.R.C., including a proposal for unity talks between the P.R.C. and the Republic of China (Taiwan) regarding the Chinese seat on the U.N. Security Council. He reiterated his position in favor of recognition, with four other senators in agreement, during Senate hearings in June 1971.","He reiterated his position in favor of recognition, with four other senators in agreement, during Senate hearings in June 1971. Vietnam War, the draft, and the Pentagon Papers Although he did not campaign against the Vietnam War during his first Senate campaign, by the end of 1970 Gravel was speaking out against United States policy in southeast Asia: in December of that year he persuaded William Fulbright to join him in a spontaneous two-day filibuster against a $155 million military aid package to Cambodia's Khmer Republic government in the Cambodian Civil War.","Vietnam War, the draft, and the Pentagon Papers Although he did not campaign against the Vietnam War during his first Senate campaign, by the end of 1970 Gravel was speaking out against United States policy in southeast Asia: in December of that year he persuaded William Fulbright to join him in a spontaneous two-day filibuster against a $155 million military aid package to Cambodia's Khmer Republic government in the Cambodian Civil War. President Richard Nixon had campaigned in 1968 on a promise to end the U.S. military draft, a decision endorsed by the February 1970 report of the Gates Commission.","President Richard Nixon had campaigned in 1968 on a promise to end the U.S. military draft, a decision endorsed by the February 1970 report of the Gates Commission. The existing draft law was scheduled to conclude at the end of June 1971, and the Senate faced a contentious debate about whether to extend it as the Vietnam War continued.","The existing draft law was scheduled to conclude at the end of June 1971, and the Senate faced a contentious debate about whether to extend it as the Vietnam War continued. The Nixon administration announced in February 1971 that it wanted a two-year extension to June 1973, after which the draft would end; Army planners had already been operating under the assumption of a two-year extension, after which an all-volunteer force would be in place.","The Nixon administration announced in February 1971 that it wanted a two-year extension to June 1973, after which the draft would end; Army planners had already been operating under the assumption of a two-year extension, after which an all-volunteer force would be in place. Skeptics such as Senate Armed Services Committee chairman John Stennis thought this unrealistic and wanted a four-year extension, but the two-year proposal is what went forward in Congress.","Skeptics such as Senate Armed Services Committee chairman John Stennis thought this unrealistic and wanted a four-year extension, but the two-year proposal is what went forward in Congress. By early May 1971, Gravel had indicated his intention to filibuster the draft renewal legislation, halting conscription and thereby bringing U.S. involvement in the war to a rapid end.","By early May 1971, Gravel had indicated his intention to filibuster the draft renewal legislation, halting conscription and thereby bringing U.S. involvement in the war to a rapid end. During this period he also supported efforts to mobilize and influence public opinion against the war, endorsing the \"Vietnam War Out Now\" rallies in Washington D.C. and San Francisco on April 24, 1971, and financing a broadcast campaign by the antiwar group War No More with a personal loan.","During this period he also supported efforts to mobilize and influence public opinion against the war, endorsing the \"Vietnam War Out Now\" rallies in Washington D.C. and San Francisco on April 24, 1971, and financing a broadcast campaign by the antiwar group War No More with a personal loan. In June 1972 he escorted a group of over 100 antiwar protesters, including psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton, actress Candice Bergen, theater producer and director Joseph Papp, and peditrician Dr. Benjamin Spock, into the United States Capitol Building; the group was arrested after blocking a hallway outside the Senate chamber.","In June 1972 he escorted a group of over 100 antiwar protesters, including psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton, actress Candice Bergen, theater producer and director Joseph Papp, and peditrician Dr. Benjamin Spock, into the United States Capitol Building; the group was arrested after blocking a hallway outside the Senate chamber. By June 1971, some Democratic senators opposed to the war wanted to limit the renewal to a one-year extension, while others wanted to end it immediately; Gravel reiterated that he was one of the latter, saying, \"It's a senseless war, and one way to do away with it is to do away with the draft.\"","By June 1971, some Democratic senators opposed to the war wanted to limit the renewal to a one-year extension, while others wanted to end it immediately; Gravel reiterated that he was one of the latter, saying, \"It's a senseless war, and one way to do away with it is to do away with the draft.\" A Senate vote on June 4 indicated majority support for the two-year extension.","A Senate vote on June 4 indicated majority support for the two-year extension. On June 18 Gravel announced again his intention to counteract that by filibustering the renewal legislation, defending the practice against those who associated it only with blocking civil rights legislation. The first filibuster attempt failed on June 23 when, by three votes, the Senate voted cloture for only the fifth time since 1927.","The first filibuster attempt failed on June 23 when, by three votes, the Senate voted cloture for only the fifth time since 1927. Protracted negotiations took place over House conference negotiations on the bill, revolving in large part around Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield's eventually unsuccessful amendment to tie renewal to a troop withdrawal timetable from Vietnam; during this time the draft law expired and no more were conscripted.","Protracted negotiations took place over House conference negotiations on the bill, revolving in large part around Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield's eventually unsuccessful amendment to tie renewal to a troop withdrawal timetable from Vietnam; during this time the draft law expired and no more were conscripted. On August 5, the Nixon administration pleaded for a renewal before the Senate went on recess, but Gravel blocked Stennis's attempt to limit debate, and no vote was held.","On August 5, the Nixon administration pleaded for a renewal before the Senate went on recess, but Gravel blocked Stennis's attempt to limit debate, and no vote was held. Finally on September 21, 1971, the Senate invoked cloture over Gravel's second filibuster attempt by one vote, and then passed the two-year draft extension.","Finally on September 21, 1971, the Senate invoked cloture over Gravel's second filibuster attempt by one vote, and then passed the two-year draft extension. Gravel's attempts to stop the draft had failed (notwithstanding Gravel's later claims that he had stopped or shortened the draft, taken at face value in some media reports, during his 2008 presidential campaign). Meanwhile, on June 13, 1971, The New York Times began printing large portions of the Pentagon Papers.","Meanwhile, on June 13, 1971, The New York Times began printing large portions of the Pentagon Papers. The papers were a large collection of secret government documents and studies pertaining to the Vietnam War, of which former Defense Department analyst Daniel Ellsberg had made unauthorized copies and was determined to make public.","The papers were a large collection of secret government documents and studies pertaining to the Vietnam War, of which former Defense Department analyst Daniel Ellsberg had made unauthorized copies and was determined to make public. Ellsberg had for a year and a half approached members of Congress – such as William Fulbright, George McGovern, Charles Mathias, and Pete McCloskey – about publishing the documents, on the grounds that the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution would give congressional members immunity from prosecution, but all had refused.","Ellsberg had for a year and a half approached members of Congress – such as William Fulbright, George McGovern, Charles Mathias, and Pete McCloskey – about publishing the documents, on the grounds that the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution would give congressional members immunity from prosecution, but all had refused. Instead, Ellsberg gave the documents to the Times. The U.S. Justice Department immediately tried to halt publication, on the grounds that the information revealed within the papers harmed the national interest.","The U.S. Justice Department immediately tried to halt publication, on the grounds that the information revealed within the papers harmed the national interest. Within the next two weeks, a federal court injunction halted publication in the Times; The Washington Post and several other newspapers began publishing parts of the documents, with some of them also being halted by injunctions; and the whole matter went to the U.S. Supreme Court for arguments.","Within the next two weeks, a federal court injunction halted publication in the Times; The Washington Post and several other newspapers began publishing parts of the documents, with some of them also being halted by injunctions; and the whole matter went to the U.S. Supreme Court for arguments. Looking for an alternate publication mechanism, Ellsberg returned to his idea of having a member of Congress read them, and chose Gravel based on the latter's efforts against the draft; Gravel agreed where previously others had not.","Looking for an alternate publication mechanism, Ellsberg returned to his idea of having a member of Congress read them, and chose Gravel based on the latter's efforts against the draft; Gravel agreed where previously others had not. Ellsberg arranged for the papers to be given to Gravel on June 26 via an intermediary, Post editor Ben Bagdikian.","Ellsberg arranged for the papers to be given to Gravel on June 26 via an intermediary, Post editor Ben Bagdikian. Gravel used his counter-intelligence experience to choose a midnight transfer in front of the Mayflower Hotel in the center of Washington, D.C. On the night of June 29, 1971, Gravel attempted to read the papers on the floor of the Senate as part of his filibuster against the draft, but was thwarted when no quorum could be formed. Gravel instead convened a session of the Buildings and Grounds subcommittee that he chaired.","Gravel instead convened a session of the Buildings and Grounds subcommittee that he chaired. He got New York Congressman John G. Dow to testify that the war had soaked up funding for public buildings, thus making discussion of the war relevant to the committee.","He got New York Congressman John G. Dow to testify that the war had soaked up funding for public buildings, thus making discussion of the war relevant to the committee. He began reading from the papers with the press in attendance, omitting supporting documents that he felt might compromise national security, and declaring, \"It is my constitutional obligation to protect the security of the people by fostering the free flow of information absolutely essential to their democratic decision-making.\"","He began reading from the papers with the press in attendance, omitting supporting documents that he felt might compromise national security, and declaring, \"It is my constitutional obligation to protect the security of the people by fostering the free flow of information absolutely essential to their democratic decision-making.\" He read until 1 a.m., culminating by saying \"Arms are being severed. Metal is clashing through human bodies because of the public policy this government and all its branches continue to support.\"","Metal is clashing through human bodies because of the public policy this government and all its branches continue to support.\" Then with tears and sobs he said that he could no longer physically continue, the previous three nights of sleeplessness and fear about the future having taken their toll. Gravel ended the session by, with no other senators present, establishing unanimous consent to insert 4,100 pages of the Papers into the Congressional Record of his subcommittee.","Gravel ended the session by, with no other senators present, establishing unanimous consent to insert 4,100 pages of the Papers into the Congressional Record of his subcommittee. The following day, the Supreme Court's New York Times Co. v. United States decision ruled in favor of the newspapers and publication in the Times and others resumed. In July 1971 Bantam Books published an inexpensive paperback edition of the papers containing the material the Times had published.","In July 1971 Bantam Books published an inexpensive paperback edition of the papers containing the material the Times had published. Gravel, too, wanted to privately publish the portion of the papers he had read into the record, believing that \"immediate disclosure of the contents of these papers will change the policy that supports the war\". After being turned down by many commercial publishers, on August 4 he reached agreement with Beacon Press, the publishing arm of the Unitarian Universalist Association, of which Gravel was a member.","After being turned down by many commercial publishers, on August 4 he reached agreement with Beacon Press, the publishing arm of the Unitarian Universalist Association, of which Gravel was a member. Announced on August 17 and published on October 22, 1971, this four-volume, relatively expensive set became the \"Senator Gravel Edition\", which studies from Cornell University and the Annenberg Center for Communication have labeled as the most complete edition of the Pentagon Papers to be published.","Announced on August 17 and published on October 22, 1971, this four-volume, relatively expensive set became the \"Senator Gravel Edition\", which studies from Cornell University and the Annenberg Center for Communication have labeled as the most complete edition of the Pentagon Papers to be published. The \"Gravel Edition\" was edited and annotated by Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn, and included an additional volume of analytical articles on the origins and progress of the war, also edited by Chomsky and Zinn.","The \"Gravel Edition\" was edited and annotated by Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn, and included an additional volume of analytical articles on the origins and progress of the war, also edited by Chomsky and Zinn. Beacon Press then was subjected to a FBI investigation; an outgrowth of this was the Gravel v. United States court case, which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled upon in June 1972; it held that the Speech or Debate Clause did grant immunity to Gravel for his reading the papers in his subcommittee, did grant some immunity to Gravel's congressional aide, but granted no immunity to Beacon Press in relation to their publishing the same papers.","Beacon Press then was subjected to a FBI investigation; an outgrowth of this was the Gravel v. United States court case, which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled upon in June 1972; it held that the Speech or Debate Clause did grant immunity to Gravel for his reading the papers in his subcommittee, did grant some immunity to Gravel's congressional aide, but granted no immunity to Beacon Press in relation to their publishing the same papers. The U.S. Senate Democratic Caucus backed Gravel in the case, but due to Republican opposition it did not pay Gravel's legal fees, leaving him owing $25,000 (the equivalent of $150,000 in 2019, adjusted for inflation).","The U.S. Senate Democratic Caucus backed Gravel in the case, but due to Republican opposition it did not pay Gravel's legal fees, leaving him owing $25,000 (the equivalent of $150,000 in 2019, adjusted for inflation). The events of 1971 changed Gravel in the following months from an obscure freshman senator to a nationally visible political figure.","The events of 1971 changed Gravel in the following months from an obscure freshman senator to a nationally visible political figure. He became a sought-after speaker on the college circuit as well as at political fundraisers, opportunities he welcomed as lectures were \"the one honest way a Senator has to supplement his income\". But his speaking tours caused him to accrue one of the worst absentee records in the Senate. The Democratic candidates for the 1972 presidential election sought his endorsement.","The Democratic candidates for the 1972 presidential election sought his endorsement. In January 1972 Gravel endorsed Maine Senator Ed Muskie, hoping that his support would help Muskie with the party's left wing and in ethnic French-Canadian areas during the first primary contest in New Hampshire (Muskie won, but not overwhelmingly, and his campaign faltered soon after).","In January 1972 Gravel endorsed Maine Senator Ed Muskie, hoping that his support would help Muskie with the party's left wing and in ethnic French-Canadian areas during the first primary contest in New Hampshire (Muskie won, but not overwhelmingly, and his campaign faltered soon after). In April 1972 Gravel appeared on all three networks' nightly newscasts to decry the Nixon administration's reliance on Vietnamization by making reference to the secret National Security Study Memorandum 1 document, which stated it would take 8–13 years for the Army of the Republic of Vietnam to defend South Vietnam.","In April 1972 Gravel appeared on all three networks' nightly newscasts to decry the Nixon administration's reliance on Vietnamization by making reference to the secret National Security Study Memorandum 1 document, which stated it would take 8–13 years for the Army of the Republic of Vietnam to defend South Vietnam. Gravel made excerpts from the study public, but senators Robert P. Griffin and William B. Saxbe blocked his attempt to read NSSM 1 into the Congressional Record.","Gravel made excerpts from the study public, but senators Robert P. Griffin and William B. Saxbe blocked his attempt to read NSSM 1 into the Congressional Record. Domestic policy In 1970 Gravel co-sponsored legislation to establish a guaranteed minimum income, entitling poor families to up to $6,300 a year (the equivalent of $42,000 in 2019 after adjustment for inflation).","Domestic policy In 1970 Gravel co-sponsored legislation to establish a guaranteed minimum income, entitling poor families to up to $6,300 a year (the equivalent of $42,000 in 2019 after adjustment for inflation). He subsequently voted for a \"work bonus\" program, which would have entitled low-income working families with dependent children if they were paying Social Security or Railroad Retirement taxes to a non-taxable bonus of up to 10 percent of their wages.","He subsequently voted for a \"work bonus\" program, which would have entitled low-income working families with dependent children if they were paying Social Security or Railroad Retirement taxes to a non-taxable bonus of up to 10 percent of their wages. Gravel also supported extending Social Security to all federal employees and introduced a campaign finance reform bill in 1971 that would have enacted full disclosure of campaign financing, placed limits on large donations, media spending and individual candidate spending.","Gravel also supported extending Social Security to all federal employees and introduced a campaign finance reform bill in 1971 that would have enacted full disclosure of campaign financing, placed limits on large donations, media spending and individual candidate spending. In 1969, Gravel was the only Democratic Senator outside of the South to vote for Nixon's Supreme Court nominee Clement Haynsworth. The following year Gravel opposed Nixon's next pick, G. Harrold Carswell.","The following year Gravel opposed Nixon's next pick, G. Harrold Carswell. Run for vice president in 1972 Gravel actively campaigned for the office of Vice President of the United States during the 1972 presidential election, announcing on June 2, 1972, over a month before the 1972 Democratic National Convention began, that he was interested in the nomination should the choice be opened up to convention delegates. Toward this end he began soliciting delegates for their support.","Toward this end he began soliciting delegates for their support. He was not alone in this effort, as former Governor of Massachusetts Endicott Peabody had been running a quixotic campaign for the same post since the prior year. Likely presidential nominee George McGovern was in fact considering the unusual move of naming three or four acceptable vice-presidential candidates and letting the delegates choose. On the convention's final day, July 14, 1972, McGovern selected and announced Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri as his vice-presidential choice.","On the convention's final day, July 14, 1972, McGovern selected and announced Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri as his vice-presidential choice. Eagleton was unknown to many delegates and the choice seemed to smack of traditional ticket balancing considerations. Thus there were delegates willing to look elsewhere. Gravel was nominated by Bettye Fahrenkamp, the Democratic National Committeewoman from Alaska. He then seconded his own nomination, breaking down in tears at his own words and maybe trying to withdraw his nomination.","He then seconded his own nomination, breaking down in tears at his own words and maybe trying to withdraw his nomination. In any case he won 226 delegate votes, coming in third behind Eagleton and Frances \"Sissy\" Farenthold of Texas, in chaotic balloting that included several other candidates.","In any case he won 226 delegate votes, coming in third behind Eagleton and Frances \"Sissy\" Farenthold of Texas, in chaotic balloting that included several other candidates. Gravel attracted some attention for his efforts: writer Norman Mailer said he \"provided considerable excitement\" and was \"good-looking enough to have played leads in B-films\", while Rolling Stone correspondent Hunter S. Thompson said Gravel \"probably said a few things that might have been worth hearing, under different circumstances\". Yet the process was doubly disastrous for the Democrats.","Yet the process was doubly disastrous for the Democrats. Yet the process was doubly disastrous for the Democrats. In the time consumed by nominating and seconding and all the vice-presidential candidates' speeches, the attention of the delegates on the floor was lost and McGovern's speech was pushed to 3:30 a.m. The haste with which Eagleton was selected led to surprise when his past mental health treatments were revealed; he withdrew from the ticket soon after the convention, to be replaced by Sargent Shriver.","The haste with which Eagleton was selected led to surprise when his past mental health treatments were revealed; he withdrew from the ticket soon after the convention, to be replaced by Sargent Shriver. Reelection to Senate in 1974 Several years earlier, Alaska politicians had speculated that Gravel would have a hard time getting both renominated and elected when his first term expired, given that he was originally elected without a base party organization and tended to focus on national rather than local issues.","Reelection to Senate in 1974 Several years earlier, Alaska politicians had speculated that Gravel would have a hard time getting both renominated and elected when his first term expired, given that he was originally elected without a base party organization and tended to focus on national rather than local issues. Nonetheless, after receiving support from national and local labor leaders, securing key earmarks, and producing another half-hour TV advertorial, in 1974 Gravel was reelected to the Senate, with 58 percent of the vote to 42 percent for Republican State Senator C. R. Lewis, who was a national officer of the John Birch Society.","Nonetheless, after receiving support from national and local labor leaders, securing key earmarks, and producing another half-hour TV advertorial, in 1974 Gravel was reelected to the Senate, with 58 percent of the vote to 42 percent for Republican State Senator C. R. Lewis, who was a national officer of the John Birch Society. Second term Gravel's reelection campaign left him $65,000–$75,000 in debt.","Second term Gravel's reelection campaign left him $65,000–$75,000 in debt. In 1975 The Washington Post reported on a memo by his executive assistant laying out a fundraising strategy to tackle this, including raising funds from oil companies, meeting with previous donors and \"inquir[ing] into the governmental priorities of these people and their groups in the coming session\", as well as obtaining further speaking fees to reduce his personal debt.","In 1975 The Washington Post reported on a memo by his executive assistant laying out a fundraising strategy to tackle this, including raising funds from oil companies, meeting with previous donors and \"inquir[ing] into the governmental priorities of these people and their groups in the coming session\", as well as obtaining further speaking fees to reduce his personal debt. This was followed by a number of stories about links between Gravel, lobbyists and fundraisers, including one that was widely publicized in Alaska about his holding a share in a Colorado resort with two Washington lobbyists he was working with on land and energy legislation.","This was followed by a number of stories about links between Gravel, lobbyists and fundraisers, including one that was widely publicized in Alaska about his holding a share in a Colorado resort with two Washington lobbyists he was working with on land and energy legislation. Gravel had been open about the investment and had opposing views to one of the lobbyists on nuclear power.","Gravel had been open about the investment and had opposing views to one of the lobbyists on nuclear power. In 1980 the Wall Street Journal published details about his fundraising activities, including writing to individuals and PACs in the oil industry, pledging to kill off proposals for a windfall profits tax on the sector, and traveling in the Middle East with the business partner of one of his donors to sell Alaskan land to businessmen. Gravel suggested that critics of his fundraising were \"naive\".","Gravel suggested that critics of his fundraising were \"naive\". In 1975 Gravel introduced an amendment to cut the number of troops overseas by 200,000, but it was defeated on a voice vote. In September 1975 Gravel was named as one of several Congressional Advisers to the Seventh Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly, which met to discuss problems related to economic development and international economic cooperation. In June 1976 Gravel was the focus of a federal investigation into allegations that he was involved in a sex-for-vote arrangement.","In June 1976 Gravel was the focus of a federal investigation into allegations that he was involved in a sex-for-vote arrangement. Congressional staff clerk Elizabeth Ray (who had already been involved in a sex scandal that led to the downfall of Representative Wayne Hays) said that in August 1972 she had sex with Gravel aboard a houseboat on the Potomac River, under the instruction of Representative Kenneth J. Gray, her boss at the time.","Gray, her boss at the time. Gray, her boss at the time. Gray allegedly wanted to secure Gravel's support for further funding for construction of the National Visitor Center in Washington, a troubled project that was under the jurisdiction of subcommittees that both members chaired. Another Congressional staffer said she witnessed the boat encounter, but Gravel said at the time that he had never met either of the women.","Another Congressional staffer said she witnessed the boat encounter, but Gravel said at the time that he had never met either of the women. Gravel and Gray strongly denied that they had made any arrangement regarding legislation, and neither was ever charged with any wrongdoing. Decades later Gravel wrote that he had indeed had sex with Ray, but had not changed any votes because of it.","Decades later Gravel wrote that he had indeed had sex with Ray, but had not changed any votes because of it. Gravel and his main financial backer, Gottstein, had a falling out in 1978, during the Congressional debate over whether to allow a controversial sale of U.S. F-15 fighter aircraft to Saudi Arabia. An ardent backer of Israel, Gottstein opposed the sale and asked Gravel to vote against it. But Gravel not only voted for it but made an emotional speech attacking the anti-sale campaign.","But Gravel not only voted for it but made an emotional speech attacking the anti-sale campaign. Gravel wrote in 2008 that it was the only time Gottstein had ever asked him for a favor, and the rupture resulted in their never speaking to each other again. Alaskan issues By 1971 Gravel was urging construction of the much-argued Trans-Alaska pipeline, addressing environmental concerns by saying that the pipeline's builders and operators should have \"total and absolute\" responsibility for any consequent environmental damage.","Alaskan issues By 1971 Gravel was urging construction of the much-argued Trans-Alaska pipeline, addressing environmental concerns by saying that the pipeline's builders and operators should have \"total and absolute\" responsibility for any consequent environmental damage. Two years later the debate over the pipeline came to a crux, with The New York Times describing it as \"environmentalists [in] a holy war with the major oil companies\".","Two years later the debate over the pipeline came to a crux, with The New York Times describing it as \"environmentalists [in] a holy war with the major oil companies\". In February 1973 the U.S. Court of Appeals blocked the issuance of permits for construction; Gravel and fellow Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens reacted by urging Congress to pass legislation overturning the court's decision.","In February 1973 the U.S. Court of Appeals blocked the issuance of permits for construction; Gravel and fellow Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens reacted by urging Congress to pass legislation overturning the court's decision. Environmentalists opposed to the pipeline, such as the Environmental Defense Fund and the Sierra Club then sought to use the recently passed National Environmental Policy Act to their advantage; Gravel designed an amendment to the pipeline bill that would immunize the pipeline from any further court challenges under that law, and thus speed its construction.","Environmentalists opposed to the pipeline, such as the Environmental Defense Fund and the Sierra Club then sought to use the recently passed National Environmental Policy Act to their advantage; Gravel designed an amendment to the pipeline bill that would immunize the pipeline from any further court challenges under that law, and thus speed its construction. Passage of the amendment became the key battle regarding the pipeline.","Passage of the amendment became the key battle regarding the pipeline. On July 17, 1973, in a dramatic roll-call vote, the Gravel amendment was approved as a 49–49 tie was broken in favor by Vice President Spiro Agnew. The actual bill enabling the pipeline then passed easily; Gravel had triumphed in what became perhaps his most lasting accomplishment as a senator. In opposition to the Alaskan fishing industry, Gravel advocated American participation in the formation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.","In opposition to the Alaskan fishing industry, Gravel advocated American participation in the formation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. For two years he opposed legislation that established a Exclusive Economic Zone for marine resources. He was one of only 19 senators to vote against Senate approval for the expanded zone in 1976, saying it would undermine the U.S. position in Law of the Sea negotiations and that nations arbitrarily extending their fishing rights limits would \"produce anarchy of the seas\".","He was one of only 19 senators to vote against Senate approval for the expanded zone in 1976, saying it would undermine the U.S. position in Law of the Sea negotiations and that nations arbitrarily extending their fishing rights limits would \"produce anarchy of the seas\". The legislation was passed, and the United States has signed but never ratified the Law of the Sea treaty. Gravel accumulated a complicated record on Indian affairs during his time in the Senate.","Gravel accumulated a complicated record on Indian affairs during his time in the Senate. During his first year in the Senate Gravel urged abolition of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, criticizing the agency for the pace of development of schools in Alaska, its paternalistic attitudes and the culturally inappropriate nature of its education, and advocating greater shared decision-making between the federal government and native communities in Alaska.","During his first year in the Senate Gravel urged abolition of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, criticizing the agency for the pace of development of schools in Alaska, its paternalistic attitudes and the culturally inappropriate nature of its education, and advocating greater shared decision-making between the federal government and native communities in Alaska. Later, his views changed; in the early 1970s Gravel supported a demonstration project that established links between Alaskan villages and the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, for medical diagnostic communications.","Later, his views changed; in the early 1970s Gravel supported a demonstration project that established links between Alaskan villages and the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, for medical diagnostic communications. In 1971, he fended off accusations from Alaskan natives that he was not spending enough time working on their land claims. Gravel helped secure a private grant to facilitate the first Inuit Circumpolar Conference in 1977, attended by Inuit representatives from Alaska, Canada, and Greenland. These conferences now also include representatives from Russia.","These conferences now also include representatives from Russia. These conferences now also include representatives from Russia. In 1977, Gravel helped lead an effort to have the U.S. Interior Department rename Mount McKinley to Denali; this eventually led to Denali National Park being so named. Subsequently, Gravel proposed a never-built \"Denali City\" development above the Tokositna River near the mountain, to consist of a giant Teflon dome enclosing hotels, golf courses, condominiums, and commercial buildings.","Subsequently, Gravel proposed a never-built \"Denali City\" development above the Tokositna River near the mountain, to consist of a giant Teflon dome enclosing hotels, golf courses, condominiums, and commercial buildings. A related idea of his to build a high-speed rail line to Denali also failed to gain traction. A key, emotional issue in the state at the time was \"locking up Alaska\", making reference to allocation of its vast, mostly uninhabited land.","A key, emotional issue in the state at the time was \"locking up Alaska\", making reference to allocation of its vast, mostly uninhabited land. President Jimmy Carter desired to put large portions of this land under federal protection against development, a move that some Alaskans vociferously opposed. In 1978 Gravel blocked passage, via procedural delays such as walking out of House–Senate conference committee meetings, of a complex bill which represented a compromise on land use policy.","In 1978 Gravel blocked passage, via procedural delays such as walking out of House–Senate conference committee meetings, of a complex bill which represented a compromise on land use policy. The bill would have put some of Alaska's vast federal land holdings under state control while preserving other portions for federal parks and refuges; the blocking action earned Gravel the enmity of fellow Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, who had supported the compromise.","The bill would have put some of Alaska's vast federal land holdings under state control while preserving other portions for federal parks and refuges; the blocking action earned Gravel the enmity of fellow Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, who had supported the compromise. In 1980, a new lands bill came up for consideration, that was less favorable to Alaskan interests and more liked by environmentalists; it set aside of Alaska's for national parks, conservation areas, and other restricted federal uses.","In 1980, a new lands bill came up for consideration, that was less favorable to Alaskan interests and more liked by environmentalists; it set aside of Alaska's for national parks, conservation areas, and other restricted federal uses. Gravel blocked it, as not ensuring enough future development in the state. A new compromise version of the 1980 bill came forward, which reduced the land set aside to . Representing Alaskan interests, Gravel tried to stop the bill, including by filibuster.","Representing Alaskan interests, Gravel tried to stop the bill, including by filibuster. But the Senate voted for cloture and passed the bill. Frustrated, Gravel said, \"the legislation denies Alaska its rights as a state, and denies the U.S. crucial strategic resources,\" and opined that the Senate was \"a little bit like a tank of barracudas\".","Frustrated, Gravel said, \"the legislation denies Alaska its rights as a state, and denies the U.S. crucial strategic resources,\" and opined that the Senate was \"a little bit like a tank of barracudas\". Nonetheless, the bill, known as the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980, was signed by President Carter shortly before leaving the White House, and led to millions of acres being set aside in the state for national parks, wildlife refuges, and other kinds of areas under protection.","Nonetheless, the bill, known as the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980, was signed by President Carter shortly before leaving the White House, and led to millions of acres being set aside in the state for national parks, wildlife refuges, and other kinds of areas under protection. In 1978 Gravel authored and secured the passage into federal law of the General Stock Ownership Corporation, that became Subchapter U of the Tax Code under the Internal Revenue Code of 1954.","In 1978 Gravel authored and secured the passage into federal law of the General Stock Ownership Corporation, that became Subchapter U of the Tax Code under the Internal Revenue Code of 1954. This gave states the ability to create corporations that would invest in for-profit enterprises, with all citizens within the state owning shares in the corporation.","This gave states the ability to create corporations that would invest in for-profit enterprises, with all citizens within the state owning shares in the corporation. Gravel's attempt to convince the Alaska state legislature to create such a corporation failed, as did a 1980 state ballot initiative towards the same end, but nevertheless the creation of the General Stock Ownership Corporation in federal law turned out to be significant in the development of binary economics.","Gravel's attempt to convince the Alaska state legislature to create such a corporation failed, as did a 1980 state ballot initiative towards the same end, but nevertheless the creation of the General Stock Ownership Corporation in federal law turned out to be significant in the development of binary economics. Loss of Senate seat in 1980 In 1980 Gravel was challenged for the Democratic Party's nomination by State Representative Clark Gruening, the grandson of the man Gravel had defeated in a primary 12 years earlier.","Loss of Senate seat in 1980 In 1980 Gravel was challenged for the Democratic Party's nomination by State Representative Clark Gruening, the grandson of the man Gravel had defeated in a primary 12 years earlier. One of Gruening's supporters was Gravel's former backer Gottstein. Several factors made Gravel vulnerable. As an insurgent candidate in 1968 Gravel had never established a firm party base. Not liking to hunt or fish, he was also always culturally suspect in the state. The primary campaign was bitterly fought.","The primary campaign was bitterly fought. The primary campaign was bitterly fought. A group of Democrats, including future governor Steve Cowper, led the campaign against Gravel, with Gravel's actions in respect to the 1978 and 1980 Alaskan lands bills a major issue. This was especially so given that the 1980 bill's dénouement happened but a week before the primary. The sources of Gravel's campaign funds, some of which Gravel readily acknowledged came from political action committees outside the state, also became an issue in the contest.","The sources of Gravel's campaign funds, some of which Gravel readily acknowledged came from political action committees outside the state, also became an issue in the contest. Gruening had pledged that he would not take special interest group money, but Gravel said that Gruening was \"dishonest\" in accepting individual contributors from Jewish donors living outside the state because to him such contributors comprised \"a special interest group ... that seeks to influence the foreign policy of the U.S.\" Gruening won the primary with about 55 percent of the vote to Gravel's 44 percent.","Gruening had pledged that he would not take special interest group money, but Gravel said that Gruening was \"dishonest\" in accepting individual contributors from Jewish donors living outside the state because to him such contributors comprised \"a special interest group ... that seeks to influence the foreign policy of the U.S.\" Gruening won the primary with about 55 percent of the vote to Gravel's 44 percent. Gravel later conceded that by the time of his defeat, he had alienated \"almost every constituency in Alaska\".","Gravel later conceded that by the time of his defeat, he had alienated \"almost every constituency in Alaska\". Another factor may have been Alaska's blanket primary system of the time, which allowed unlimited voting across party lines and from its many independents; Republicans believed Gruening would be an easier candidate to defeat in the general election. Gruening lost the general election to Republican Frank Murkowski.","Gruening lost the general election to Republican Frank Murkowski. Gruening lost the general election to Republican Frank Murkowski. Gravel was the last Democrat to represent Alaska in Congress for 28 years, until Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich defeated Ted Stevens, by then an aged, iconic figure who had just been convicted of seven felonies for taking unreported gifts, in a very close and protracted election result in 2008. Stevens's conviction was subsequently vacated due to prosecutorial misconduct.","Stevens's conviction was subsequently vacated due to prosecutorial misconduct. Career after leaving the Senate Of his 1980 defeat, Gravel later recalled: \"I had lost my career. I lost my marriage. I was in the doldrums for ten years after my defeat,\" and \"Nobody wanted to hire me for anything important. I felt like I was worthless. I didn't know what I could do.\"","I didn't know what I could do.\" I didn't know what I could do.\" By his own later description, Gravel was a womanizer, and had an affair while in the Senate, and in December 1980 he and his wife Rita separated. They filed for divorce in September 1981; she later received all of his Senate pension income. During the 1980s Gravel was a real estate developer in Anchorage and Kenai, Alaska, a consultant, and a stockbroker.","During the 1980s Gravel was a real estate developer in Anchorage and Kenai, Alaska, a consultant, and a stockbroker. One of his real estate ventures, a condominium business, was forced to declare bankruptcy and a lawsuit ensued. In 1986 Gravel worked in partnership with Merrill Lynch Capital Markets to buy losses that financially troubled Alaska Native Corporations could not take as tax deductions and sell them to large national companies looking for tax writeoffs. Gravel also learned computer programming at some point but never practiced it.","Gravel also learned computer programming at some point but never practiced it. In 1984 Gravel married his second wife, Whitney Stewart Gravel, a former administrative assistant for Senator Jacob Javits. Return to politics In 1989 Gravel reentered politics. He founded and led The Democracy Foundation, which promotes direct democracy.","He founded and led The Democracy Foundation, which promotes direct democracy. He established the Philadelphia II corporation, which seeks to replicate the original 1787 Constitutional Convention and have a Second Constitutional Convention to bring about direct democracy Gravel led an effort to get a United States Constitutional amendment to allow voter-initiated federal legislation similar to state ballot initiatives. He argued that Americans are able to legislate responsibly, and that the Act and Amendment in the National Initiative would allow American citizens to become \"law makers\".","He argued that Americans are able to legislate responsibly, and that the Act and Amendment in the National Initiative would allow American citizens to become \"law makers\". However such efforts met with little success. In 2001, Gravel became director of the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution, where he admired institute co-founder Gregory Fossedal's work on direct democracy in Switzerland.","In 2001, Gravel became director of the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution, where he admired institute co-founder Gregory Fossedal's work on direct democracy in Switzerland. By 2004, Gravel had become chair of the institute, and Fossedal (who in turn was a director of the Democracy Foundation) gave the introduction at Gravel's presidential announcement. In 2003 Gravel gave a speech on direct democracy at a conference hosted by the American Free Press. The event was cosponsored by the Barnes Review, a journal that endorses Holocaust denial.","The event was cosponsored by the Barnes Review, a journal that endorses Holocaust denial. After some controversy over his appearance, Gravel apologized, saying he did not realize the group's ties. Gravel said repeatedly that he did not share the group's views on the Holocaust, stating, \"You better believe I know that six million Jews were killed. [The Barnes Review publishers] are nutty as loons if they don't think it happened\". The group invited Gravel to speak again, but he declined.","The group invited Gravel to speak again, but he declined. Mike and Whitney Gravel lived in Arlington County, Virginia, until 2010 and then resided in Burlingame, California. They have the two grown children from his first marriage, Martin Gravel and Lynne Gravel Mosier, and four grandchildren. Whitney Gravel's income sustained the couple from 1998 on. In the 2000s, Gravel suffered poor health, requiring three surgeries in 2003 for back pain and neuropathy.","In the 2000s, Gravel suffered poor health, requiring three surgeries in 2003 for back pain and neuropathy. Due to unreimbursed medical expenses and debts from his political causes, he declared personal bankruptcy in 2004. He began taking a salary from the non-profit organizations for which he was working; much of that income was lent to his presidential campaign. In 2007, he declared that he had \"zero net worth\".","In 2007, he declared that he had \"zero net worth\". 2008 presidential campaign Democratic Party primaries At the start of 2006 Gravel decided the best way he could promote direct democracy and the National Initiative was to run for president.","2008 presidential campaign Democratic Party primaries At the start of 2006 Gravel decided the best way he could promote direct democracy and the National Initiative was to run for president. On April 17, 2006, Gravel became the first candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2008 election, announcing his run in a speech to the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Short on campaign cash, he took public transportation to get to his announcement. (Gravel called for public financing of elections.)","(Gravel called for public financing of elections.) (Gravel called for public financing of elections.) Other principal Gravel positions were the FairTax, as well as withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq within 120 days and a single payer national health care system. Gravel had opposed the Iraq War, and President George W. Bush's rationale for it, from the beginning, and in 2006 said that U.S. troops in Iraq, as in Vietnam, had \"died in vain\".","Gravel had opposed the Iraq War, and President George W. Bush's rationale for it, from the beginning, and in 2006 said that U.S. troops in Iraq, as in Vietnam, had \"died in vain\". He also favored a regional peace initiative, as well as reparation payments for Iraqis. Gravel also called for a \"U.S. corporate withdrawal from Iraq\", with reconstruction contracts held by U.S. companies to be turned over to Iraqi firms.","Gravel also called for a \"U.S. corporate withdrawal from Iraq\", with reconstruction contracts held by U.S. companies to be turned over to Iraqi firms. Gravel campaigned almost full-time in New Hampshire, the first primary state, following his announcement. Opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination showed Gravel with 1 percent or less support. By the end of March 2007, Gravel's campaign had less than $500 in cash on hand against debts of nearly $90,000.","By the end of March 2007, Gravel's campaign had less than $500 in cash on hand against debts of nearly $90,000. Because of his time in the Senate, Gravel was invited to many of the early Democratic presidential debates. During the initial one at South Carolina State University on April 26, 2007, he suggested a bill requiring the president to withdraw from Iraq on pain of criminal penalties. He also advocated positions such as opposing preemptive nuclear war.","He also advocated positions such as opposing preemptive nuclear war. He stated that the Iraq War had the effect of creating more terrorists and that the \"war was lost the day that George Bush invaded Iraq on a fraudulent basis\". Regarding his fellow candidates, he said, \"I got to tell you, after standing up with them, some of these people frighten me – they frighten me.\" In one such exchange, Gravel said, \"Tell me, Barack, who do you want to nuke?\"","In one such exchange, Gravel said, \"Tell me, Barack, who do you want to nuke?\" to which Obama responded, \"I'm not planning to nuke anybody right now, Mike, I promise.\" Media stories said that Gravel was responsible for much of whatever \"heat\" and \"flashpoints\" had taken place during the Democratic debates.","Media stories said that Gravel was responsible for much of whatever \"heat\" and \"flashpoints\" had taken place during the Democratic debates. Gravel gained considerable publicity by shaking up the normally staid multiple-candidate format; The New York Times' media critic said that what Gravel had done was \"steal a debate with outrageous, curmudgeonly statements\".","Gravel gained considerable publicity by shaking up the normally staid multiple-candidate format; The New York Times' media critic said that what Gravel had done was \"steal a debate with outrageous, curmudgeonly statements\". The Internet was a benefit: a YouTube video of his responses in the debate was viewed more than 225,892 times, ranking seventeenth in most views for week and first among news and politics clips; his name became the fifteenth most searched-for in the blogosphere; and his website garnered more traffic than those of frontrunners Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, or John Edwards.","The Internet was a benefit: a YouTube video of his responses in the debate was viewed more than 225,892 times, ranking seventeenth in most views for week and first among news and politics clips; his name became the fifteenth most searched-for in the blogosphere; and his website garnered more traffic than those of frontrunners Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, or John Edwards. Gravel appeared on the popular Colbert Report on television on May 2, and his campaign and career were profiled in national publications such as Salon.","Gravel appeared on the popular Colbert Report on television on May 2, and his campaign and career were profiled in national publications such as Salon. Two wordless, Warholesque campaign videos, \"Rock\" and \"Fire\", were released on YouTube in late May and became hits, and eventually gained over 760,000 and 185,000 views respectively. \"Rock\", in turn, was given airtime during an episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.","\"Rock\", in turn, was given airtime during an episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Some thirty-five years after he first achieved the national spotlight, he had found it again. All this did not improve his performance in the polls; a May 2007 CNN poll showed him with less than 0.5 percent support among Democrats. Gravel was in the next several debates, in one case after CNN reversed a decision to exclude him.","Gravel was in the next several debates, in one case after CNN reversed a decision to exclude him. Like some of the other second-tier candidates, Gravel did not get as much time as the leaders; during the June 2, 2007, New Hampshire debate, which lasted two hours, he was asked 10 questions and allowed to speak for five minutes and 37 seconds.","Like some of the other second-tier candidates, Gravel did not get as much time as the leaders; during the June 2, 2007, New Hampshire debate, which lasted two hours, he was asked 10 questions and allowed to speak for five minutes and 37 seconds. During the July 23, 2007, CNN-YouTube presidential debate, Gravel responded to audience applause when he had complained of a lack of airtime and said: \"Thank you. Has it been fair thus far?\"","Has it been fair thus far?\" Has it been fair thus far?\" Detractors began to liken him to \"the cranky uncle who lives in the attic,\" or \"the angry old guy that just seemed to want to become angrier\". Berkeley political scientist David Terr found that moderator George Stephanopoulos directed roughly five percent of his questions to Gravel; in a poll asking who did the best in the debate, Gravel placed seventh among the eight candidates.","Berkeley political scientist David Terr found that moderator George Stephanopoulos directed roughly five percent of his questions to Gravel; in a poll asking who did the best in the debate, Gravel placed seventh among the eight candidates. National opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination continued to show Gravel with one percent or zero percent numbers.","National opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination continued to show Gravel with one percent or zero percent numbers. By the end of the third-quarter 2007, Gravel had about $17,500 in cash on hand, had collected a total of about $380,000 during the 2008 election cycle, and was continuing to run a threadbare campaign with minimal staff.","By the end of the third-quarter 2007, Gravel had about $17,500 in cash on hand, had collected a total of about $380,000 during the 2008 election cycle, and was continuing to run a threadbare campaign with minimal staff. Beginning with the October 30, 2007, Philadelphia event, Gravel was excluded from most of the debates, with the debate sponsors or the Democratic National Committee saying Gravel's campaign had not met fund-raising, polling, or local campaign organizational thresholds.","Beginning with the October 30, 2007, Philadelphia event, Gravel was excluded from most of the debates, with the debate sponsors or the Democratic National Committee saying Gravel's campaign had not met fund-raising, polling, or local campaign organizational thresholds. For the Philadelphia exclusion, Gravel blamed corporate censorship on the part of sponsor owner and alleged military-industrial complex member General Electric for his exclusion and mounted a counter-gathering and debate against a video screen a short distance away, but he had lost his easiest publicity.","For the Philadelphia exclusion, Gravel blamed corporate censorship on the part of sponsor owner and alleged military-industrial complex member General Electric for his exclusion and mounted a counter-gathering and debate against a video screen a short distance away, but he had lost his easiest publicity. In reaction, supporters organized \"mass donation days\" to try to help the campaign gain momentum and funds, such as on December 5, 2007, the anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition.","In reaction, supporters organized \"mass donation days\" to try to help the campaign gain momentum and funds, such as on December 5, 2007, the anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition. Gravel did not compete in the initial 2008 vote, the Iowa caucuses, but was still subjected to a false report from MSNBC that he had pulled out of the race afterward. Gravel did focus his attention on the second 2008 vote, the New Hampshire primary.","Gravel did focus his attention on the second 2008 vote, the New Hampshire primary. In early January, Mother Jones' investigative reporter James Ridgeway was filmed interviewing and following Gravel in New Hampshire, in which Gravel is interviewed on the phone by Neal Conan for NPR's, Talk of the Nation. He received about 400 votes out of some 280,000 cast in New Hampshire, or 0.14 percent, before taking time off to improve his health. He resumed campaigning, but fared no better in subsequent states.","He resumed campaigning, but fared no better in subsequent states. By the end of January 2008, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and Gravel were the only remaining Democrats from the initial debates still running; Gravel vowed to stay in the presidential campaign until November. On March 11, 2008, Gravel continued to remain in the Democratic race but additionally endorsed a Green Party candidate for president, Jesse Johnson, saying he wanted to help Johnson prevail against Green Party rivals Cynthia McKinney and Ralph Nader.","On March 11, 2008, Gravel continued to remain in the Democratic race but additionally endorsed a Green Party candidate for president, Jesse Johnson, saying he wanted to help Johnson prevail against Green Party rivals Cynthia McKinney and Ralph Nader. By late March, Gravel had almost no fundraising and was only on the ballot in one of the next ten Democratic primaries.","By late March, Gravel had almost no fundraising and was only on the ballot in one of the next ten Democratic primaries. Switch to Libertarian Party On March 25, 2008, Gravel announced that he would leave the Democrats and join the Libertarian Party, saying: \"My libertarian views, as well as my strong stance against war, the military industrial complex and American imperialism, seem not to be tolerated by Democratic Party elites who are out of touch with the average American; elites that reject the empowerment of American citizens I offered to the Democratic Party at the beginning of this presidential campaign with the National Initiative for Democracy.\"","Switch to Libertarian Party On March 25, 2008, Gravel announced that he would leave the Democrats and join the Libertarian Party, saying: \"My libertarian views, as well as my strong stance against war, the military industrial complex and American imperialism, seem not to be tolerated by Democratic Party elites who are out of touch with the average American; elites that reject the empowerment of American citizens I offered to the Democratic Party at the beginning of this presidential campaign with the National Initiative for Democracy.\" The following day Gravel entered the race for the 2008 Libertarian presidential nomination, saying that he would have run as a third-party candidate all along except that he needed the public exposure that came from being in the earlier Democratic debates.","The following day Gravel entered the race for the 2008 Libertarian presidential nomination, saying that he would have run as a third-party candidate all along except that he needed the public exposure that came from being in the earlier Democratic debates. Gravel's initial notion of running as a fusion candidate with other parties was met with skepticism. As a Libertarian candidate, Gravel faced resistance to his past support of big government initiatives and his unorthodox positions around direct democracy.","As a Libertarian candidate, Gravel faced resistance to his past support of big government initiatives and his unorthodox positions around direct democracy. Nevertheless, he garnered more support than he had as a Democrat, placing second and third in two April 2008 straw polls.","Nevertheless, he garnered more support than he had as a Democrat, placing second and third in two April 2008 straw polls. In the May 25 balloting at the 2008 Libertarian National Convention in Denver, Gravel finished fourth out of eight candidates on the initial ballot, with 71 votes out of a total 618; he trailed former Congressman and eventual winner Bob Barr, author Mary Ruwart, and businessman Wayne Allyn Root. Gravel's position did not subsequently improve and he was eliminated on the fourth ballot.","Gravel's position did not subsequently improve and he was eliminated on the fourth ballot. Afterwards he stated that \"I just ended my political career,\" but he vowed to continue promoting his positions as a writer and lecturer. 2008–early 2019 In June 2008 Gravel endorsed the NYC 9/11 Ballot Initiative, saying the measure would create a \"citizens commission rather than a government commission\" with subpoena power against top U.S. officials to \"make a true investigation as to what happened\" regarding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.","2008–early 2019 In June 2008 Gravel endorsed the NYC 9/11 Ballot Initiative, saying the measure would create a \"citizens commission rather than a government commission\" with subpoena power against top U.S. officials to \"make a true investigation as to what happened\" regarding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. He later said, \"Individuals in and out of government may certainly have participated with the obviously known perpetrators of this dastardly act. Suspicions abound over the analysis presented by government.","Suspicions abound over the analysis presented by government. Suspicions abound over the analysis presented by government. Obviously an act that has triggered three wars, Afghan, Iraqi and the continuing War on Terror, should be extensively investigated which was not done and which the government avoids addressing.\"","Obviously an act that has triggered three wars, Afghan, Iraqi and the continuing War on Terror, should be extensively investigated which was not done and which the government avoids addressing.\" In August 2008 Gravel was speaking to a crowd of supporters of Sami Al-Arian (who two years earlier had pleaded guilty and been sentenced to prison for a charge of conspiracy in helping Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a \"specially designated terrorist\" organization) when he was caught on tape saying of Al-Arian's prosecutor, \"Find out where he lives, find out where his kids go to school, find out where his office is: picket him all the time.","In August 2008 Gravel was speaking to a crowd of supporters of Sami Al-Arian (who two years earlier had pleaded guilty and been sentenced to prison for a charge of conspiracy in helping Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a \"specially designated terrorist\" organization) when he was caught on tape saying of Al-Arian's prosecutor, \"Find out where he lives, find out where his kids go to school, find out where his office is: picket him all the time. Call him a racist in signs if you see him.","Call him a racist in signs if you see him. Call him an injustice. Call him whatever you want to call him, but in his face all the time.\" Gravel was criticized for potentially involving the children of the prosecutor, and Al-Arian's family disavowed the sentiments. Gravel defended Alaska Governor Sarah Palin after she was chosen as Republican presidential nominee John McCain's running mate in September 2008.","Gravel defended Alaska Governor Sarah Palin after she was chosen as Republican presidential nominee John McCain's running mate in September 2008. He praised Palin's record in standing up to corruption among Alaskan Republicans, thought her national inexperience was an asset not a detriment, and predicted that the \"Troopergate\" investigation into whether she improperly fired a state official would \"come out in her favor\". Gravel made clear he would not support or vote for either McCain–Palin or Obama–Biden in the general election.","Gravel made clear he would not support or vote for either McCain–Palin or Obama–Biden in the general election. The following year Gravel said that Palin's politics were \"terrible, but that doesn't detract from the fact that she's a very talented person\". He predicted that Palin would run for president in 2012 and that \"she's going to surprise a lot of people\". Palin did not run, but Gravel's prediction about \"TrooperGate\" was accurate as Palin was found not to have violated ethics laws.","Palin did not run, but Gravel's prediction about \"TrooperGate\" was accurate as Palin was found not to have violated ethics laws. In 2013, by the invitation of Hamed Ghashghavi, the secretary for international affairs of the 3rd International Conference on Hollywoodism in Tehran, Iran, Gravel attended that event as an Iranian government-organized anti-Hollywood conference.","In 2013, by the invitation of Hamed Ghashghavi, the secretary for international affairs of the 3rd International Conference on Hollywoodism in Tehran, Iran, Gravel attended that event as an Iranian government-organized anti-Hollywood conference. Gravel noted that the conference was attended by \"various elements of extremes\" but said it was necessary to discuss how the U.S. film industry portrayed Iran in order to prevent \"an insane war\" between the two nations.","Gravel noted that the conference was attended by \"various elements of extremes\" but said it was necessary to discuss how the U.S. film industry portrayed Iran in order to prevent \"an insane war\" between the two nations. In May 2013 Gravel was one of several former members of Congress to accept $20,000 from the Paradigm Research Group, an advocacy group for UFO disclosure, as part of holding what they termed a Citizen Hearing on Disclosure, modeled after congressional hearings, regarding supposed U.S. government suppression of evidence concerning UFOs.","In May 2013 Gravel was one of several former members of Congress to accept $20,000 from the Paradigm Research Group, an advocacy group for UFO disclosure, as part of holding what they termed a Citizen Hearing on Disclosure, modeled after congressional hearings, regarding supposed U.S. government suppression of evidence concerning UFOs. Gravel said, \"Something is monitoring the planet, and they are monitoring it very cautiously, because we are a very warlike planet,\" and, \"What we're faced with here is, in areas of the media, and the government too, an effort to marginalize and ridicule people who have specific knowledge.\"","Gravel said, \"Something is monitoring the planet, and they are monitoring it very cautiously, because we are a very warlike planet,\" and, \"What we're faced with here is, in areas of the media, and the government too, an effort to marginalize and ridicule people who have specific knowledge.\" In December 2014 Gravel was announced as the new CEO of KUSH, a company which makes marijuana-infused products for medicinal and recreational use, and a subsidiary of Cannabis Sativa, Inc.","In December 2014 Gravel was announced as the new CEO of KUSH, a company which makes marijuana-infused products for medicinal and recreational use, and a subsidiary of Cannabis Sativa, Inc. He also became an Independent Director of Cannabis Sativa. During the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries, Gravel praised Bernie Sanders and his campaign, saying \"Bernie is one of the most gifted politicians I have ever observed. He's a person of great integrity and very clever.\"","He's a person of great integrity and very clever.\" Gravel predicted that Sanders would be elected president but would be unable to get his key reforms through Congress, and thus that Sanders and his supporters should back some of the proposals of the National Initiative. In 2016, Gravel said in relation to the September 11 attacks: \"We killed 58,000 American servicemen in the Vietnam War and all they did was die in vain.","In 2016, Gravel said in relation to the September 11 attacks: \"We killed 58,000 American servicemen in the Vietnam War and all they did was die in vain. What's so unusual about killing 3,000 more in order to develop the grist for the mill to empower into infinity the military industrial complex?\" and \"There's no question in my mind that 9/11 was an inside job\". The remarks were later disavowed by even Gravel supporters. By 2019 Gravel was living in Seaside, California.","By 2019 Gravel was living in Seaside, California. By 2019 Gravel was living in Seaside, California. He was working on a book, at the time titled Human Governance, about his principal idea for direct democracy, a U.S. Constitutional Amendment to create a \"Legislature of the People\" that would circumvent the existing Congress. The book was self-published at the end of the year by AuthorHouse under the title The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People.","The book was self-published at the end of the year by AuthorHouse under the title The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People. 2020 presidential campaign On March 19, 2019, Gravel announced that he was considering running in the 2020 Democratic primaries. He said, \"The goal will not be to win, but to bring a critique of American imperialism to the Democratic debate stage.\"","He said, \"The goal will not be to win, but to bring a critique of American imperialism to the Democratic debate stage.\" An exploratory committee was formed, with filing a statement of organization with the Federal Election Commission on that same day.","An exploratory committee was formed, with filing a statement of organization with the Federal Election Commission on that same day. The filing was the idea of a group of teenagers, led by David Oks and Henry Williams, inspired by the podcast Chapo Trap House, and done with Gravel's consent (after a week spent convincing him of the idea's merits), but without his involvement.","The filing was the idea of a group of teenagers, led by David Oks and Henry Williams, inspired by the podcast Chapo Trap House, and done with Gravel's consent (after a week spent convincing him of the idea's merits), but without his involvement. Intrigued by the group's commitment to amplifying his long-held policy goals, Gravel (who would be old on Inauguration Day in 2021) said he planned to meet with them in April, and to discuss a 2020 White House run with his wife.","Intrigued by the group's commitment to amplifying his long-held policy goals, Gravel (who would be old on Inauguration Day in 2021) said he planned to meet with them in April, and to discuss a 2020 White House run with his wife. On April 2, 2019, Gravel filed to officially run for office. The campaign called itself the \"#Gravelanche\". Gravel's initial stated goal was merely to qualify for debates by getting the required 65,000 small donors.","Gravel's initial stated goal was merely to qualify for debates by getting the required 65,000 small donors. He discouraged people from voting for him and said his preferences were Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard, both of whom favor a non-interventionist foreign policy. But on April 29, Gravel's campaign said he was running to win, not just to participate in debates. In a subsequent interview, though, Gravel emphasized the virtue of Sanders and Gabbard in some order as a presidential ticket.","In a subsequent interview, though, Gravel emphasized the virtue of Sanders and Gabbard in some order as a presidential ticket. Statements like these caused Vox to call Gravel \"2020's oddest Democratic presidential candidate\".","Statements like these caused Vox to call Gravel \"2020's oddest Democratic presidential candidate\". The New York Times Magazine included Gravel as an example in the rise of democratic socialism in the United States also exemplified by Sanders's 2016 race and the 2018 election of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: \"[Gravel's] campaign represents the most absurd form of a legitimate movement on the left that feels little obligation to the Democratic Party.\"","The New York Times Magazine included Gravel as an example in the rise of democratic socialism in the United States also exemplified by Sanders's 2016 race and the 2018 election of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: \"[Gravel's] campaign represents the most absurd form of a legitimate movement on the left that feels little obligation to the Democratic Party.\" In June 2019, Gravel touted the endorsement of Muntadher al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who, in December 2008, made headlines after he threw his shoes at President George W. Bush in protest of the U.S. war in Iraq.","In June 2019, Gravel touted the endorsement of Muntadher al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who, in December 2008, made headlines after he threw his shoes at President George W. Bush in protest of the U.S. war in Iraq. Al-Zaidi endorsed Gravel based on his promise to improve White House policies regarding Iraq and the Middle East. On June 13, 2019, the Democratic Party announced the 20 major candidates who qualified for the first debate later that month.","On June 13, 2019, the Democratic Party announced the 20 major candidates who qualified for the first debate later that month. Gravel was one of the four who missed out (the others were Montana Governor Steve Bullock, U.S. Representative Seth Moulton, and Miramar, Florida, Mayor Wayne Messam). Gravel had been unable to get the requisite number of donations, or to score one percent or better in enough polls (many polls did not even include him).","Gravel had been unable to get the requisite number of donations, or to score one percent or better in enough polls (many polls did not even include him). Nevertheless, Gravel said he would not drop out and would try to qualify for the July debate. In early July, however, Gravel's campaign said it was still 10,000 contributions short of the 65,000-donor threshold and that it was \"nearing its conclusion\". It solicited suggestions for where to donate $100–150,000 of leftover campaign funds.","It solicited suggestions for where to donate $100–150,000 of leftover campaign funds. Gravel added that he had always planned on ending the campaign before the teenagers in charge of it needed to return to school. A few days later the campaign became the first to run an attack ad against Democratic front-runner Joe Biden, using the text \"Is this the best our party has to offer?\" Gravel's campaign crossed the threshold of 65,000 donors on July 12, 2019, meeting the qualification mark for that month's debate.","Gravel's campaign crossed the threshold of 65,000 donors on July 12, 2019, meeting the qualification mark for that month's debate. But because 20 other candidates, the maximum allowed to participate, had already met at least the polling criterion, which takes priority over the donor criterion, Gravel was not invited. The campaign officially came to a close on August 6, 2019, with Gravel endorsing both Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard for president.","The campaign officially came to a close on August 6, 2019, with Gravel endorsing both Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard for president. Gravel's campaign later stated on Twitter that they never wanted to win but saw the campaign as an \"intimately democratic\" project and expressed honor at working with Gravel. Gravel said he would divide remaining campaign funds between charity and a new think tank which would espouse his ideas.","Gravel said he would divide remaining campaign funds between charity and a new think tank which would espouse his ideas. The Gravel Institute Gravel used some of the funds remaining from his 2020 presidential campaign to found an eponymous progressive think tank called The Gravel Institute in 2019. As noted by Vice magazine, the institute aims to do battle with PragerU from a left-wing perspective.","As noted by Vice magazine, the institute aims to do battle with PragerU from a left-wing perspective. Launched in September 2020, the new entity said it would \"carry on the life's work of former U.S Senator Mike Gravel in fighting for global peace and democracy. Its mission is to promote bold and forward-looking ideas about a more peaceful and egalitarian world, and to build a robust movement of young people to win it\".","Its mission is to promote bold and forward-looking ideas about a more peaceful and egalitarian world, and to build a robust movement of young people to win it\". Contributors announced include Cornel West and Slavoj Žižek, as well as Lower Brule Indian Reservation activist Nick Estes.","Contributors announced include Cornel West and Slavoj Žižek, as well as Lower Brule Indian Reservation activist Nick Estes. Other presenters have included and will include H. Jon Benjamin, Briahna Joy Gray, Bernie Sanders, Chelsea Manning, Richard Wolff, Stephanie Kelton, Zephyr Teachout, David Cross, Jabari Brisport, Zohran Mamdani, and Gravel himself (though it is unknown if his appearance will be cancelled due to his death in June 2021, or if the video has already been recorded).","Other presenters have included and will include H. Jon Benjamin, Briahna Joy Gray, Bernie Sanders, Chelsea Manning, Richard Wolff, Stephanie Kelton, Zephyr Teachout, David Cross, Jabari Brisport, Zohran Mamdani, and Gravel himself (though it is unknown if his appearance will be cancelled due to his death in June 2021, or if the video has already been recorded). Death Gravel died of multiple myeloma at his home in Seaside, California, on June 26, 2021, at age 91.","Death Gravel died of multiple myeloma at his home in Seaside, California, on June 26, 2021, at age 91. The obituary for him in The New York Times stated that Gravel was \"a two-term Democratic senator from Alaska ... who was perhaps better known as an unabashed attention-getter\" who later become known for \"mounting long-shot presidential runs\".","The obituary for him in The New York Times stated that Gravel was \"a two-term Democratic senator from Alaska ... who was perhaps better known as an unabashed attention-getter\" who later become known for \"mounting long-shot presidential runs\". The obituary in The Washington Post was similar, saying that Gravel was \"an Alaska Democrat with a flair for the theatrical who rose from obscurity to brief renown\" and later \"ran quixotic campaigns for the presidency\".","The obituary in The Washington Post was similar, saying that Gravel was \"an Alaska Democrat with a flair for the theatrical who rose from obscurity to brief renown\" and later \"ran quixotic campaigns for the presidency\". The Anchorage Daily News quoted Gravel as saying of himself in 1989, \"I'm an independent kind of guy. A rough and ready kind of guy. My glands work in a certain way that make me stand up, foolishly sometimes, and fight.\"","My glands work in a certain way that make me stand up, foolishly sometimes, and fight.\" Political positions Alan Abramowitz and Jeffrey Allan Segal described Gravel as \"a maverick, if not an eccentric, in the Senate.\" His Americans for Democratic Action \"Liberal Quotient\" scores ranged from 81 out of 100 (1971) to 39 out of 100 (1980), with an average of around 61.","His Americans for Democratic Action \"Liberal Quotient\" scores ranged from 81 out of 100 (1971) to 39 out of 100 (1980), with an average of around 61. His American Conservative Union scores ranged from 0 out of 100 (several years, including 1971 and 1972) to 38 out of 100 (1979), with an average of 14.","His American Conservative Union scores ranged from 0 out of 100 (several years, including 1971 and 1972) to 38 out of 100 (1979), with an average of 14. Abramowitz and Segal note that Gravel's lowest ADA ratings coincided with his two Senate re-election bids, and for the most part his highest ACU ratings followed the same pattern.","Abramowitz and Segal note that Gravel's lowest ADA ratings coincided with his two Senate re-election bids, and for the most part his highest ACU ratings followed the same pattern. In 1972, as a young senator, Gravel published Citizen Power: A People's Platform, a manifesto outlining what Kirkus Reviews termed a \"populist reform [that] would provide 'balanced political power' between the people and government and business interests.\"","In 1972, as a young senator, Gravel published Citizen Power: A People's Platform, a manifesto outlining what Kirkus Reviews termed a \"populist reform [that] would provide 'balanced political power' between the people and government and business interests.\" Civil rights issues On drug policy, Gravel said in 2007 that he favored decriminalization and treating addiction as a public health matter.","Civil rights issues On drug policy, Gravel said in 2007 that he favored decriminalization and treating addiction as a public health matter. During his 2008 presidential candidacy he condemned the War on Drugs as a failure, saying that it did \"nothing but savage our inner cities and put our children at risk\". Gravel called for abolition of capital punishment in his book Citizen Power, and adhered to this position during his 2008 run for president. He supported abortion rights.","He supported abortion rights. He supported abortion rights. During the 2008 campaign Gravel was a strong supporter of LGBT rights. He supported same-sex marriage and opposed the Defense of Marriage Act and the U.S. military's \"don't ask, don't tell\" policy. He wrote in 2008 that \"depriving gays and lesbians of equal rights is immoral\". Foreign policy and defense issues Gravel was a critic of American imperialism. Gravel firmly opposed U.S. military action against Iran and Syria.","Gravel firmly opposed U.S. military action against Iran and Syria. He voiced opposition to the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, the Military Commissions Act of 2006, the use of torture, indefinite detention, and what he called \"flagrant ignorance\" of the Geneva Convention. In 2014 Gravel called for the release of the full, unredacted Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture. Gravel opposed the use of international sanctions as a policy tool and blamed the ones against Iraq under Saddam Hussein for the deaths of a half-million children in that country.","Gravel opposed the use of international sanctions as a policy tool and blamed the ones against Iraq under Saddam Hussein for the deaths of a half-million children in that country. In 2013 Gravel said that sanctions against Iran were \"illegal\". During his 2008 candidacy, Gravel called for a cut in military spending, variously reported to be 15 percent or 50 percent. He called for the savings to boost public education spending. To spur international nuclear nonproliferation efforts, Gravel called for unilateral reductions in the U.S. nuclear arsenal.","To spur international nuclear nonproliferation efforts, Gravel called for unilateral reductions in the U.S. nuclear arsenal. In 2008 Gravel criticized the decision of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to not pursue the efforts to impeach George W. Bush and the attempted impeachment of Dick Cheney, saying also that Bush and Cheney had committed crimes and deserved \"to be prosecuted\" at The Hague.","In 2008 Gravel criticized the decision of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to not pursue the efforts to impeach George W. Bush and the attempted impeachment of Dick Cheney, saying also that Bush and Cheney had committed crimes and deserved \"to be prosecuted\" at The Hague. In 2013 he expressed disdain for President Obama, calling him \"a total fraud\" and saying that both Bush and Obama should be tried \"for the crimes and murders they've committed\" in the International Court of Justice.","In 2013 he expressed disdain for President Obama, calling him \"a total fraud\" and saying that both Bush and Obama should be tried \"for the crimes and murders they've committed\" in the International Court of Justice. Gravel specifically condemned Obama for the drone strikes in Pakistan and elsewhere.","Gravel specifically condemned Obama for the drone strikes in Pakistan and elsewhere. Economy, immigration, and environment During his 2008 candidacy Gravel favored a FairTax scheme, which would abolish the Internal Revenue Service, eliminate the federal income tax (which Gravel called \"corrupt\"), and impose a national sales tax. While Gravel described FairTax as \"progressive\", others have criticized it as \"regressive\", disproportionately benefiting the wealthiest Americans.","While Gravel described FairTax as \"progressive\", others have criticized it as \"regressive\", disproportionately benefiting the wealthiest Americans. To offset the new sales taxes on essential goods, Gravel's plan called for monthly government rebate payments to individuals and families. During his 2020 campaign Gravel also voiced support for a third legislative body that would give the people direct control of the budget as well as the implementation of a land value tax.","During his 2020 campaign Gravel also voiced support for a third legislative body that would give the people direct control of the budget as well as the implementation of a land value tax. Gravel opposed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) during his 2008 candidacy, calling it unfair and economically harmful and needing renegotiation. Gravel believed that NAFTA was the \"root cause\" of illegal migration to the U.S. He favored a guest worker program and \"setting up naturalization procedures that would fairly bring immigrants into legal status\".","He favored a guest worker program and \"setting up naturalization procedures that would fairly bring immigrants into legal status\". In a 2007 interview, Gravel identified himself as \"very much of a globalist\" who believed in open markets and open borders and condemned the scapegoating of undocumented immigrants. Gravel also said that he favored eliminating the cap on H1B visas. As a senator from Alaska, Gravel favored drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but opposed it during his 2008 campaign.","As a senator from Alaska, Gravel favored drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but opposed it during his 2008 campaign. In 2008, Gravel supported a carbon tax to combat climate change. Gravel spoke in favor of net neutrality during his presidential campaign. Education and health care Gravel called for the cost of college tuition to be borne by the federal government, rather than students.","Education and health care Gravel called for the cost of college tuition to be borne by the federal government, rather than students. In his 2008 campaign, he called the No Child Left Behind Act \"a failure\" and called for it to be \"reformed and fully funded\". He expressed support for universal pre-kindergarten and the expansion of the Head Start program; and expressed an openness to charter schools and school vouchers. He also suggested extending the school day and the school year, and supported merit pay for teachers.","He also suggested extending the school day and the school year, and supported merit pay for teachers. Gravel also called for publicly funded universal health care to replace the current employer-sponsored health insurance system. He supported \"full funding\" of the VA system. When asked in 2007 about naturopathy, homeopathy, and acupuncture, Gravel said that he was \"very very much in favor\" of holistic health care. Awards and honors In 2008 Gravel received the Columbia University School of General Studies' first annual Isaac Asimov Lifetime Achievement Award.","Awards and honors In 2008 Gravel received the Columbia University School of General Studies' first annual Isaac Asimov Lifetime Achievement Award. Electoral history Writings Gravel, Mike. Jobs and More Jobs. Mt. McKinley Publishers, 1968. Gravel, Mike. Citizen Power: A People's Platform. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1972. . revised and reissued as Citizen Power: A Mandate for Change, AuthorHouse, 2008. . Gravel, Mike and Lauria, Joe.","Gravel, Mike and Lauria, Joe. Gravel, Mike and Lauria, Joe. A Political Odyssey: The Rise of American Militarism and One Man's Fight to Stop It. Seven Stories Press, 2008. . Gravel, Mike and Eisenbach, David. The Kingmakers: How the Media Threatens Our Security and Our Democracy. Phoenix Books, 2008. . Gravel, Mike. Voice of a Maverick: The Speeches and Writings of Senator Mike Gravel. Brandywine House, 2008. Gravel, Mike.","Brandywine House, 2008. Gravel, Mike. Gravel, Mike. Foreword to Poisoned Power: The Case Against Nuclear Power Plants. John W. Goffman & Arthur R. Tamplin, Rodale Press, Inc., Emmaus, PA, June 1971. Gravel, Mike. The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People. AuthorHouse, 2020. Explanatory notes References Citations General references The Pentagon Papers Senator Gravel Edition. Vol. Five: Critical Essays. Boston: Beacon Press, 1972. 341p. plus 72p.","Five: Critical Essays. Boston: Beacon Press, 1972. 341p. plus 72p. plus 72p. of Index to Vol. I–IV of the Papers; Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, editors.","I–IV of the Papers; Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, editors. External links Mike Gravel official website The Gravel Institute |- |- 1930 births 2021 deaths 1972 United States vice-presidential candidates 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American politicians 20th-century Roman Catholics 20th-century Unitarians 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American politicians 21st-century Unitarians 9/11 conspiracy theorists Alaska Democrats American International College alumni American Unitarian Universalists American anti–Iraq War activists American conspiracy theorists American democracy activists American male non-fiction writers American people of French-Canadian descent American political writers American real estate businesspeople American stockbrokers Anti-corporate activists Assumption University (Worcester) alumni Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Businesspeople from Anchorage, Alaska Businesspeople from Springfield, Massachusetts California Democrats Candidates in the 2008 United States presidential election Candidates in the 2020 United States presidential election Columbia University School of General Studies alumni Deaths from cancer in California Deaths from multiple myeloma Democratic Party United States senators Direct democracy activists Drug policy reform activists Former Roman Catholics Virginia Libertarians Members of the Alaska House of Representatives Military personnel from Massachusetts Non-interventionism People from Arlington County, Virginia People from Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska People with dyslexia Politicians from Anchorage, Alaska Politicians from Springfield, Massachusetts Speakers of the Alaska House of Representatives United States Army officers United States senators from Alaska Writers about direct democracy Writers from Anchorage, Alaska"],"string":"[\n \"Maurice Robert Gravel ( ; May 13, 1930 – June 26, 2021) was an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Alaska from 1969 to 1981 as a member of the Democratic Party, and who, in later life, twice ran for the presidential nomination of that party. Born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, by French-Canadian immigrant parents, Gravel moved to Alaska in the late 1950s, becoming a real estate developer and entering politics.\",\n \"Born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, by French-Canadian immigrant parents, Gravel moved to Alaska in the late 1950s, becoming a real estate developer and entering politics. He served in the Alaska House of Representatives from 1963 to 1967, and also became Speaker of the Alaska House. Gravel was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1968.\",\n \"Gravel was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1968. Gravel was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1968. As a senator, Gravel became nationally known for his forceful, but unsuccessful, attempts to end the draft during the War in Vietnam, and for putting the Pentagon Papers into the public record in 1971. He conducted a campaign for the Democratic nomination in 1972 for Vice President of the United States, and then played a crucial role in obtaining Congressional approval for the Trans-Alaska pipeline in 1973.\",\n \"He conducted a campaign for the Democratic nomination in 1972 for Vice President of the United States, and then played a crucial role in obtaining Congressional approval for the Trans-Alaska pipeline in 1973. He was re-elected to the Senate in 1974, but was defeated in his bid for a third term in the primary election in 1980. An advocate of direct democracy and the National Initiative, Gravel staged a run for the 2008 Democratic nomination for President of the United States.\",\n \"An advocate of direct democracy and the National Initiative, Gravel staged a run for the 2008 Democratic nomination for President of the United States. His campaign failed to gain support, and in March 2008, he left the Democratic Party and joined the Libertarian Party to compete unsuccessfully for its presidential nomination and the inclusion of the National Initiative into the Libertarian Platform. He ran for president as a Democrat again in the 2020 election, in a campaign that ended four months after it began.\",\n \"He ran for president as a Democrat again in the 2020 election, in a campaign that ended four months after it began. Two years before his death, Gravel and his campaign staff founded the progressive think tank The Gravel Institute. Early life, military service, education Gravel was born on May 13, 1930, in Springfield, Massachusetts, one of five children of French-Canadian immigrant parents, Alphonse and Marie (née Bourassa) Gravel.\",\n \"Early life, military service, education Gravel was born on May 13, 1930, in Springfield, Massachusetts, one of five children of French-Canadian immigrant parents, Alphonse and Marie (née Bourassa) Gravel. His parents were part of the Quebec diaspora, and he was raised in a working-class neighborhood during the Great Depression, speaking only French until he was seven years old. Calling him \\\"Mike\\\" from an early age, his father valued work above all else, while his mother stressed the importance of education.\",\n \"Calling him \\\"Mike\\\" from an early age, his father valued work above all else, while his mother stressed the importance of education. Gravel was educated in parochial schools as a Roman Catholic. There he struggled, due to what he later said was undiagnosed dyslexia, and was left back in third grade. He completed elementary school in 1945 and his class voted him \\\"most charming personality\\\".\",\n \"He completed elementary school in 1945 and his class voted him \\\"most charming personality\\\". A summer job as a soda jerk led to Gravel handing out campaign fliers for local candidates on his boss's behalf; Gravel was immediately impressed with \\\"the awesomeness of political office\\\". Gravel then boarded at Assumption Preparatory School in Worcester, Massachusetts, where his performance was initially mediocre.\",\n \"Gravel then boarded at Assumption Preparatory School in Worcester, Massachusetts, where his performance was initially mediocre. By Gravel's telling, in the summer of 1948 he intended to volunteer for the Israel Defense Forces during the 1947–1949 Palestine war, but Alexandra Tolstaya told him to return to school. There an English teacher, the Assumptionist Edgar Bourque, gave him personal attention, improving Gravel's language skills and instructing him in public speaking. Gravel's grades improved measurably in his final year and he graduated in 1949.\",\n \"Gravel's grades improved measurably in his final year and he graduated in 1949. His sister, Marguerite, became a Holy Cross nun, but Gravel himself struggled with the Catholic faith. He studied for one year at Assumption College, a Catholic school in Worcester, then transferred for his sophomore year to American International College in Springfield. Journalist I. F. Stone and philosopher Bertrand Russell strongly influenced Gravel in their willingness to challenge assumptions and oppose social convention and political authority.\",\n \"Journalist I. F. Stone and philosopher Bertrand Russell strongly influenced Gravel in their willingness to challenge assumptions and oppose social convention and political authority. Around May 1951, Gravel saw that he was about to be drafted and instead enlisted in the U.S. Army for a three-year term so that he could get into the Counterintelligence Corps. After basic training and counterintelligence school at Fort Holabird in Maryland and in South Carolina, he went to Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia.\",\n \"After basic training and counterintelligence school at Fort Holabird in Maryland and in South Carolina, he went to Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia. While he expected to be sent off to the Korean War when he graduated as a second lieutenant in early 1952, he was instead assigned to Stuttgart, West Germany, as a Special Adjutant in the Army's Communications Intelligence Service. In Germany, Gravel conducted surveillance operations on civilians and paid off spies.\",\n \"In Germany, Gravel conducted surveillance operations on civilians and paid off spies. After about a year, he transferred to Orléans, France, where his French language abilities (if not his French-Canadian accent) allowed him to infiltrate French communist rallies. He worked as a Special Agent in the Counterintelligence Corps until 1954, eventually becoming a first lieutenant. Following his discharge, Gravel entered the Columbia University School of General Studies in New York City, where he studied economics and received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1956.\",\n \"Following his discharge, Gravel entered the Columbia University School of General Studies in New York City, where he studied economics and received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1956. He moved to New York \\\"flat broke\\\" and supported himself by working as a bar boy in a hotel, driving a taxicab, and working in the investment bond department at Bankers Trust. During this time he left the Roman Catholic faith.\",\n \"During this time he left the Roman Catholic faith. During this time he left the Roman Catholic faith. Move to Alaska Gravel \\\"decided to become a pioneer in a faraway place,\\\" and moved to pre-statehood Alaska in August 1956, without funds or a job, looking for a place where someone without social or political connections could be a viable candidate for public office.\",\n \"Move to Alaska Gravel \\\"decided to become a pioneer in a faraway place,\\\" and moved to pre-statehood Alaska in August 1956, without funds or a job, looking for a place where someone without social or political connections could be a viable candidate for public office. Alaska's voting age of 19, less than most other states' 21, played a role in his decision, as did its newness and cooler climate. Broke when he arrived, he immediately found work in real estate sales until winter arrived.\",\n \"Broke when he arrived, he immediately found work in real estate sales until winter arrived. Gravel then was employed as a brakeman for the Alaska Railroad, working the snow-clearing train on the Anchorage-to-Fairbanks run. Subsequently, he opened a small real estate brokerage in Anchorage (the Territory of Alaska not requiring a license) and saved enough so as not to have to work the railroad again. The firm was named the M. R. Gravel Real Estate Company.\",\n \"The firm was named the M. R. Gravel Real Estate Company. Gravel joined the Anchorage Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, and continued a sporadic relationship with the movement throughout his life. Seeing Alaska as a wide-open place with no political establishment or entrenched interests, Gravel quickly became part of the civic scene there. By October 1957 he was a Division Chairman for Anchorage for the Democratic Central Committee in the territory, and by June 1958 he was president of the Alaska Young Democrats organization.\",\n \"By October 1957 he was a Division Chairman for Anchorage for the Democratic Central Committee in the territory, and by June 1958 he was president of the Alaska Young Democrats organization. He also became active in the United States Junior Chamber (Jaycees), and by early 1958 his duties included handing out awards for farmer of the year. By early 1958, Gravel was running as Democratic Party primary candidate for a Third Division seat in House of Representative of the territorial legislature.\",\n \"By early 1958, Gravel was running as Democratic Party primary candidate for a Third Division seat in House of Representative of the territorial legislature. (This was one of the four judicial divisions into which Alaska was sectioned at the time.) Using the slogan \\\"Gravel, the Roadbed to Prosperity\\\", he ran but lost. At the same time, he was also an advocate for Alaskan statehood.\",\n \"At the same time, he was also an advocate for Alaskan statehood. Gravel went on a 44-state national speaking tour concerning tax reform in 1959, sponsored by the Jaycees, often dressing for events as Paul Revere. Gravel was selected from some two thousand applications for this position. The tour received a good amount of local newspaper coverage at its various stops, with Gravel's first name sometimes given as Mike and other times as Maurice.\",\n \"The tour received a good amount of local newspaper coverage at its various stops, with Gravel's first name sometimes given as Mike and other times as Maurice. The tour's general message was an urging of \\\"lower taxes, more efficiency in government and a system of taxation moderate at all levels of income\\\". At several stops Gravel stated that the \\\"tide of socialism\\\" had to be stopped.\",\n \"At several stops Gravel stated that the \\\"tide of socialism\\\" had to be stopped. He elaborated at another stop, \\\"It is part of our Jaycee creed that economic justice can best be won by free men through free enterprise. We really want to see that free enterprise become our inheritance.\\\"\",\n \"We really want to see that free enterprise become our inheritance.\\\" The tour was scheduled to conclude in Washington D.C., on Tax Day, April 15, with petition signatures accumulated for reform to be presented to U.S. lawmakers: dressed as Revere, Gravel rode with the petition to the steps of the U.S. Capitol. The tour over, Gravel married Rita Jeannette Martin at the First Methodist Church of Anchorage on April 29, 1959.\",\n \"The tour over, Gravel married Rita Jeannette Martin at the First Methodist Church of Anchorage on April 29, 1959. She was a native of Montana who had attended Billings Business College before moving to Alaska two years prior and becoming a secretary in the office of the Anchorage city manager. She had also been named Anchorage's \\\"Miss Fur Rendezvous\\\" of 1958. They had two children, Martin Anthony Gravel and Lynne Denise Gravel, born c. 1960 and 1962 respectively.\",\n \"They had two children, Martin Anthony Gravel and Lynne Denise Gravel, born c. 1960 and 1962 respectively. Gravel ran without avail for the City Council in Anchorage in 1960. During this time, he had become a successful real estate agent; after the 1960 election, he became a property developer in a mobile home park on the outskirts of Anchorage. After a partner ran into financial difficulty, however, the project went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and Gravel was forced out in 1962.\",\n \"After a partner ran into financial difficulty, however, the project went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and Gravel was forced out in 1962. State legislator With the support of Alaska wholesale grocer Barney Gottstein and supermarket builder Larry Carr, Gravel ran for the Alaska House of Representatives representing Anchorage in 1962, initially assigned the 10th and then 8th districts.\",\n \"State legislator With the support of Alaska wholesale grocer Barney Gottstein and supermarket builder Larry Carr, Gravel ran for the Alaska House of Representatives representing Anchorage in 1962, initially assigned the 10th and then 8th districts. Alaska had very crowded primaries that year: Gravel was one of 33 Democrats, along with 21 Republicans, who were running for the chance to compete for the 14 House seats allocated to the 8th district.\",\n \"Alaska had very crowded primaries that year: Gravel was one of 33 Democrats, along with 21 Republicans, who were running for the chance to compete for the 14 House seats allocated to the 8th district. Gravel made it through the primary, and in November eight Republicans and six Democrats were elected to the House from the district, with Gravel finishing eighth overall and third among with Democrats, with 8,174 votes. Gottstein became Gravel's main financial backer during most of his subsequent campaigns.\",\n \"Gottstein became Gravel's main financial backer during most of his subsequent campaigns. Gravel served in the Alaska House of Representatives from January 28, 1963 to January 22, 1967, winning reelection in 1964. In his first term, he served as a minority member on two House committees: Commerce, and Labor and Management. He co-authored and sponsored the act that created the Alaska State Commission for Human Rights.\",\n \"He co-authored and sponsored the act that created the Alaska State Commission for Human Rights. Gravel was the chief architect of the law that created a regional high school system for rural Alaska; this allowed Alaska Natives to attend schools near where they lived instead of having to go to schools run by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the lower 48 states. During the half-years that the legislature was not in session, Gravel resumed his real estate work.\",\n \"During the half-years that the legislature was not in session, Gravel resumed his real estate work. With Gottstein and Carr's backing, he became quite successful as a property developer on the Kenai Peninsula. During 1965 and 1966, he served as the Speaker of the House, surprising observers by winning that post. Gravel convinced former Speaker Warren A. Taylor to not try for the position against him by promising Taylor chairmanship of the Rules Committee, then reneged on the promise.\",\n \"Gravel convinced former Speaker Warren A. Taylor to not try for the position against him by promising Taylor chairmanship of the Rules Committee, then reneged on the promise. Gravel denied later press charges that he had promised but not delivered on other committee chairmanships. As Speaker he antagonized fellow lawmakers by imposing his will on the legislature's committees and feuded with Alaska State Senate president Robert J. McNealy.\",\n \"As Speaker he antagonized fellow lawmakers by imposing his will on the legislature's committees and feuded with Alaska State Senate president Robert J. McNealy. Gravel did not run for reelection in 1966, instead choosing to run for Alaska's seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, losing the primary to four-term incumbent Democrat Ralph Rivers by 1,300 votes and splitting the Democratic Party in the process. Rivers lost the general election that year to Republican state Senator Howard Pollock. Following this defeat, Gravel returned to the real estate business in Anchorage.\",\n \"Following this defeat, Gravel returned to the real estate business in Anchorage. U.S. Senator Election to Senate in 1968 In 1968, Gravel ran against 81-year-old incumbent Democratic United States Senator Ernest Gruening, a popular former governor of the Alaska Territory who was considered one of the fathers of Alaska's statehood, for his party's nomination to the U.S. Senate. Gravel's campaign was primarily based on his youth and telegenic appearance rather than issue differences. He hired Joseph Napolitan, the first self-described political consultant, in late 1966.\",\n \"He hired Joseph Napolitan, the first self-described political consultant, in late 1966. They spent over a year and a half planning a short, nine-day primary election campaign that featured the slogans \\\"Alaska first\\\" and \\\"Let's do something about the state we're in\\\", the distribution of a collection of essays titled Jobs and More Jobs, and the creation of a half-hour, well-produced, glamorized biographical film of Gravel, Man for Alaska.\",\n \"They spent over a year and a half planning a short, nine-day primary election campaign that featured the slogans \\\"Alaska first\\\" and \\\"Let's do something about the state we're in\\\", the distribution of a collection of essays titled Jobs and More Jobs, and the creation of a half-hour, well-produced, glamorized biographical film of Gravel, Man for Alaska. The film was shown twice a day on every television station in Alaska, and carried by plane and shown on home projectors in hundreds of Alaska Native villages.\",\n \"The film was shown twice a day on every television station in Alaska, and carried by plane and shown on home projectors in hundreds of Alaska Native villages. The heavy showings quickly reversed a 2–to–1 Gruening lead in polls into a Gravel lead. Gravel visited many remote villages by seaplane and showed a thorough understanding of the needs of the bush country and the fishing and oil industries. Gravel also benefited from maintaining a deliberately ambiguous posture about Vietnam policy.\",\n \"Gravel also benefited from maintaining a deliberately ambiguous posture about Vietnam policy. Gruening had been one of only two Senators to vote against the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and his opposition to President Lyndon B. Johnson's war policies was harming him among the Democratic electorate; according to Gravel, \\\"all I had to do was stand up and not deal with the subject, and people would assume that I was to the right of Ernest Gruening, when in point of fact I was to the left of him\\\".\",\n \"Gruening had been one of only two Senators to vote against the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and his opposition to President Lyndon B. Johnson's war policies was harming him among the Democratic electorate; according to Gravel, \\\"all I had to do was stand up and not deal with the subject, and people would assume that I was to the right of Ernest Gruening, when in point of fact I was to the left of him\\\". In Man for Alaska, Gravel argued that \\\"the liberals\\\" would come to West Germany's defense if it was attacked, and that the same standard should apply to the United States' allies in Asia.\",\n \"In Man for Alaska, Gravel argued that \\\"the liberals\\\" would come to West Germany's defense if it was attacked, and that the same standard should apply to the United States' allies in Asia. During the campaign he also claimed that he was \\\"more in the mainstream of American thought on Vietnam\\\" than Gruening, despite the fact that he had written to Gruening to praise his antiwar stance four years earlier.\",\n \"During the campaign he also claimed that he was \\\"more in the mainstream of American thought on Vietnam\\\" than Gruening, despite the fact that he had written to Gruening to praise his antiwar stance four years earlier. Decades later, Gravel conceded that \\\"I said what I said [about Vietnam] to advance my career.\\\" Gravel beat Gruening in the primary by about 2,000 votes. Gruening found \\\"the unexpected defeat hard to take\\\" and thought that some aspects of his opponent's biographical film had misled viewers.\",\n \"Gruening found \\\"the unexpected defeat hard to take\\\" and thought that some aspects of his opponent's biographical film had misled viewers. In the general election, Gravel faced Republican Elmer E. Rasmuson, a banker and former mayor of Anchorage. College students in the state implored Gruening to run a write-in campaign as an Independent, but legal battles prevented him from getting approval for it until only two weeks were left.\",\n \"College students in the state implored Gruening to run a write-in campaign as an Independent, but legal battles prevented him from getting approval for it until only two weeks were left. A late appearance by anti-war presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy did not offset Gruening's lack of funds and endorsements; meanwhile, Gravel and Rasmuson both saturated local media with their filmed biographies. On November 5, 1968, Gravel won the general election with 45 percent of the vote to Rasmuson's 37 percent and Gruening's 18 percent.\",\n \"On November 5, 1968, Gravel won the general election with 45 percent of the vote to Rasmuson's 37 percent and Gruening's 18 percent. Senate assignments and style When Gravel joined the U.S.Senate in January 1969, he requested and received a seat on the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee, which had direct relevance to Alaskan issues. He also got a spot on the Public Works Committee, which he held throughout his time in the Senate. Finally, he was a member of the Select Committee on Small Business.\",\n \"Finally, he was a member of the Select Committee on Small Business. In 1971 he became chair of the Public Works Committee's Subcommittee on Public Buildings and Grounds, and by 1973 he was chair of its Subcommittee on Water Resources, then later its Subcommittee on Environmental Pollution. Gravel was also initially named to the Joint Committee on Congressional Operations.\",\n \"Gravel was also initially named to the Joint Committee on Congressional Operations. By 1973 Gravel was off the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee and the Select Small Business Committee and instead a member of the Finance Committee, and by 1977 was chair of that body's Subcommittee on Energy and Foundations. By 1973 he had also been on the ad hoc Special Committee to Study Secret and Confidential Government Documents.\",\n \"By 1973 he had also been on the ad hoc Special Committee to Study Secret and Confidential Government Documents. By his own admission, Gravel was too new and \\\"too abrasive\\\" to be effective in the Senate by the usual means of seniority-based committee assignments or negotiating deals with other senators, and was sometimes seen as arrogant or a nuisance by the more senior and tradition-oriented members. Gravel relied on attention-getting gestures to achieve what he wanted, hoping national exposure would force other senators to listen to him.\",\n \"Gravel relied on attention-getting gestures to achieve what he wanted, hoping national exposure would force other senators to listen to him. But even senators who agreed with him on issues considered his methods to be showboating. As part of this approach, Gravel voted with Southern Democrats to keep the Senate filibuster rule in place, and accordingly supported Russell Long and Robert Byrd but opposed Ted Kennedy in Senate leadership battles.\",\n \"As part of this approach, Gravel voted with Southern Democrats to keep the Senate filibuster rule in place, and accordingly supported Russell Long and Robert Byrd but opposed Ted Kennedy in Senate leadership battles. In retrospective assessment, University of Alaska Anchorage history professor Stephen Haycox said, \\\"Loose cannon is a good description of Gravel's Senate career. He was an off-the-wall guy, and you weren't really ever sure what he would do.\\\"\",\n \"He was an off-the-wall guy, and you weren't really ever sure what he would do.\\\" Nuclear issues and the Cold War In the late 1960s and early 1970s the U.S. Department of Defense was in the process of performing tests for the nuclear warhead for the Spartan anti-ballistic missile. Two tests, the \\\"Milrow\\\" and \\\"Cannikin\\\" tests, were planned, involving the detonation of nuclear bombs under Amchitka Island in Alaska.\",\n \"Two tests, the \\\"Milrow\\\" and \\\"Cannikin\\\" tests, were planned, involving the detonation of nuclear bombs under Amchitka Island in Alaska. The Milrow test would be a one-megaton calibration exercise for the second and larger five-megaton Cannikin test, which would measure the effectiveness of the warhead. Gravel opposed the tests.\",\n \"Gravel opposed the tests. Gravel opposed the tests. Before the Milrow test took place in October 1969, he wrote that there were significant risks of earthquakes and other adverse consequences and called for an independent national commission on nuclear and seismic safety; he then made a personal appeal to President Richard Nixon to stop the test. After Milrow was conducted, there was continued pressure on the part of environmental groups against going forward with the Cannikin test, while the Federation of American Scientists claimed that the warhead being tested was already obsolete.\",\n \"After Milrow was conducted, there was continued pressure on the part of environmental groups against going forward with the Cannikin test, while the Federation of American Scientists claimed that the warhead being tested was already obsolete. In May 1971 Gravel sent a letter to U.S. Atomic Energy Commission hearings held in Anchorage in which he said the risk of the test was not worth taking.\",\n \"In May 1971 Gravel sent a letter to U.S. Atomic Energy Commission hearings held in Anchorage in which he said the risk of the test was not worth taking. Eventually a group not involving Gravel took the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to issue an injunction against it, and the Cannikin test took place as scheduled in November 1971. Gravel had failed to stop the tests (notwithstanding his later claims during his 2008 presidential campaign).\",\n \"Gravel had failed to stop the tests (notwithstanding his later claims during his 2008 presidential campaign). In 1971 Gravel voted against the Nixon administration's proposed anti-ballistic missile system, the Safeguard Program, having previously vacillated over the issue, suggesting that he might be willing to support it in exchange for federal lands in Alaska being opened up for private oil drilling. His vote alienated Senator Henry \\\"Scoop\\\" Jackson, who had raised funds for Gravel's primary campaign.\",\n \"His vote alienated Senator Henry \\\"Scoop\\\" Jackson, who had raised funds for Gravel's primary campaign. Nuclear power was considered an environmentally clean alternative for commercial generation of electricity and was part of a popular national policy for the peaceful use of atomic energy in the 1950s and 1960s.\",\n \"Nuclear power was considered an environmentally clean alternative for commercial generation of electricity and was part of a popular national policy for the peaceful use of atomic energy in the 1950s and 1960s. Gravel publicly opposed this policy; besides the dangers of nuclear testing, he was a vocal critic of the Atomic Energy Commission, which oversaw American nuclear efforts, and of the powerful United States Congress Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, which had a stranglehold on nuclear policy and which Gravel tried to circumvent.\",\n \"Gravel publicly opposed this policy; besides the dangers of nuclear testing, he was a vocal critic of the Atomic Energy Commission, which oversaw American nuclear efforts, and of the powerful United States Congress Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, which had a stranglehold on nuclear policy and which Gravel tried to circumvent. In 1971 Gravel sponsored a bill to impose a moratorium on nuclear power plant construction and to make power utilities liable for any nuclear accidents; in 1975 he was still proposing similar moratoriums.\",\n \"In 1971 Gravel sponsored a bill to impose a moratorium on nuclear power plant construction and to make power utilities liable for any nuclear accidents; in 1975 he was still proposing similar moratoriums. By 1974 Gravel was allied with Ralph Nader's organization in opposing nuclear power. Six months before U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's July 1971 secret mission to the People's Republic of China (P.R.C. ), Gravel introduced legislation to recognize and normalize relations with the P.R.C., including a proposal for unity talks between the P.R.C.\",\n \"), Gravel introduced legislation to recognize and normalize relations with the P.R.C., including a proposal for unity talks between the P.R.C. and the Republic of China (Taiwan) regarding the Chinese seat on the U.N. Security Council. He reiterated his position in favor of recognition, with four other senators in agreement, during Senate hearings in June 1971.\",\n \"He reiterated his position in favor of recognition, with four other senators in agreement, during Senate hearings in June 1971. Vietnam War, the draft, and the Pentagon Papers Although he did not campaign against the Vietnam War during his first Senate campaign, by the end of 1970 Gravel was speaking out against United States policy in southeast Asia: in December of that year he persuaded William Fulbright to join him in a spontaneous two-day filibuster against a $155 million military aid package to Cambodia's Khmer Republic government in the Cambodian Civil War.\",\n \"Vietnam War, the draft, and the Pentagon Papers Although he did not campaign against the Vietnam War during his first Senate campaign, by the end of 1970 Gravel was speaking out against United States policy in southeast Asia: in December of that year he persuaded William Fulbright to join him in a spontaneous two-day filibuster against a $155 million military aid package to Cambodia's Khmer Republic government in the Cambodian Civil War. President Richard Nixon had campaigned in 1968 on a promise to end the U.S. military draft, a decision endorsed by the February 1970 report of the Gates Commission.\",\n \"President Richard Nixon had campaigned in 1968 on a promise to end the U.S. military draft, a decision endorsed by the February 1970 report of the Gates Commission. The existing draft law was scheduled to conclude at the end of June 1971, and the Senate faced a contentious debate about whether to extend it as the Vietnam War continued.\",\n \"The existing draft law was scheduled to conclude at the end of June 1971, and the Senate faced a contentious debate about whether to extend it as the Vietnam War continued. The Nixon administration announced in February 1971 that it wanted a two-year extension to June 1973, after which the draft would end; Army planners had already been operating under the assumption of a two-year extension, after which an all-volunteer force would be in place.\",\n \"The Nixon administration announced in February 1971 that it wanted a two-year extension to June 1973, after which the draft would end; Army planners had already been operating under the assumption of a two-year extension, after which an all-volunteer force would be in place. Skeptics such as Senate Armed Services Committee chairman John Stennis thought this unrealistic and wanted a four-year extension, but the two-year proposal is what went forward in Congress.\",\n \"Skeptics such as Senate Armed Services Committee chairman John Stennis thought this unrealistic and wanted a four-year extension, but the two-year proposal is what went forward in Congress. By early May 1971, Gravel had indicated his intention to filibuster the draft renewal legislation, halting conscription and thereby bringing U.S. involvement in the war to a rapid end.\",\n \"By early May 1971, Gravel had indicated his intention to filibuster the draft renewal legislation, halting conscription and thereby bringing U.S. involvement in the war to a rapid end. During this period he also supported efforts to mobilize and influence public opinion against the war, endorsing the \\\"Vietnam War Out Now\\\" rallies in Washington D.C. and San Francisco on April 24, 1971, and financing a broadcast campaign by the antiwar group War No More with a personal loan.\",\n \"During this period he also supported efforts to mobilize and influence public opinion against the war, endorsing the \\\"Vietnam War Out Now\\\" rallies in Washington D.C. and San Francisco on April 24, 1971, and financing a broadcast campaign by the antiwar group War No More with a personal loan. In June 1972 he escorted a group of over 100 antiwar protesters, including psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton, actress Candice Bergen, theater producer and director Joseph Papp, and peditrician Dr. Benjamin Spock, into the United States Capitol Building; the group was arrested after blocking a hallway outside the Senate chamber.\",\n \"In June 1972 he escorted a group of over 100 antiwar protesters, including psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton, actress Candice Bergen, theater producer and director Joseph Papp, and peditrician Dr. Benjamin Spock, into the United States Capitol Building; the group was arrested after blocking a hallway outside the Senate chamber. By June 1971, some Democratic senators opposed to the war wanted to limit the renewal to a one-year extension, while others wanted to end it immediately; Gravel reiterated that he was one of the latter, saying, \\\"It's a senseless war, and one way to do away with it is to do away with the draft.\\\"\",\n \"By June 1971, some Democratic senators opposed to the war wanted to limit the renewal to a one-year extension, while others wanted to end it immediately; Gravel reiterated that he was one of the latter, saying, \\\"It's a senseless war, and one way to do away with it is to do away with the draft.\\\" A Senate vote on June 4 indicated majority support for the two-year extension.\",\n \"A Senate vote on June 4 indicated majority support for the two-year extension. On June 18 Gravel announced again his intention to counteract that by filibustering the renewal legislation, defending the practice against those who associated it only with blocking civil rights legislation. The first filibuster attempt failed on June 23 when, by three votes, the Senate voted cloture for only the fifth time since 1927.\",\n \"The first filibuster attempt failed on June 23 when, by three votes, the Senate voted cloture for only the fifth time since 1927. Protracted negotiations took place over House conference negotiations on the bill, revolving in large part around Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield's eventually unsuccessful amendment to tie renewal to a troop withdrawal timetable from Vietnam; during this time the draft law expired and no more were conscripted.\",\n \"Protracted negotiations took place over House conference negotiations on the bill, revolving in large part around Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield's eventually unsuccessful amendment to tie renewal to a troop withdrawal timetable from Vietnam; during this time the draft law expired and no more were conscripted. On August 5, the Nixon administration pleaded for a renewal before the Senate went on recess, but Gravel blocked Stennis's attempt to limit debate, and no vote was held.\",\n \"On August 5, the Nixon administration pleaded for a renewal before the Senate went on recess, but Gravel blocked Stennis's attempt to limit debate, and no vote was held. Finally on September 21, 1971, the Senate invoked cloture over Gravel's second filibuster attempt by one vote, and then passed the two-year draft extension.\",\n \"Finally on September 21, 1971, the Senate invoked cloture over Gravel's second filibuster attempt by one vote, and then passed the two-year draft extension. Gravel's attempts to stop the draft had failed (notwithstanding Gravel's later claims that he had stopped or shortened the draft, taken at face value in some media reports, during his 2008 presidential campaign). Meanwhile, on June 13, 1971, The New York Times began printing large portions of the Pentagon Papers.\",\n \"Meanwhile, on June 13, 1971, The New York Times began printing large portions of the Pentagon Papers. The papers were a large collection of secret government documents and studies pertaining to the Vietnam War, of which former Defense Department analyst Daniel Ellsberg had made unauthorized copies and was determined to make public.\",\n \"The papers were a large collection of secret government documents and studies pertaining to the Vietnam War, of which former Defense Department analyst Daniel Ellsberg had made unauthorized copies and was determined to make public. Ellsberg had for a year and a half approached members of Congress – such as William Fulbright, George McGovern, Charles Mathias, and Pete McCloskey – about publishing the documents, on the grounds that the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution would give congressional members immunity from prosecution, but all had refused.\",\n \"Ellsberg had for a year and a half approached members of Congress – such as William Fulbright, George McGovern, Charles Mathias, and Pete McCloskey – about publishing the documents, on the grounds that the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution would give congressional members immunity from prosecution, but all had refused. Instead, Ellsberg gave the documents to the Times. The U.S. Justice Department immediately tried to halt publication, on the grounds that the information revealed within the papers harmed the national interest.\",\n \"The U.S. Justice Department immediately tried to halt publication, on the grounds that the information revealed within the papers harmed the national interest. Within the next two weeks, a federal court injunction halted publication in the Times; The Washington Post and several other newspapers began publishing parts of the documents, with some of them also being halted by injunctions; and the whole matter went to the U.S. Supreme Court for arguments.\",\n \"Within the next two weeks, a federal court injunction halted publication in the Times; The Washington Post and several other newspapers began publishing parts of the documents, with some of them also being halted by injunctions; and the whole matter went to the U.S. Supreme Court for arguments. Looking for an alternate publication mechanism, Ellsberg returned to his idea of having a member of Congress read them, and chose Gravel based on the latter's efforts against the draft; Gravel agreed where previously others had not.\",\n \"Looking for an alternate publication mechanism, Ellsberg returned to his idea of having a member of Congress read them, and chose Gravel based on the latter's efforts against the draft; Gravel agreed where previously others had not. Ellsberg arranged for the papers to be given to Gravel on June 26 via an intermediary, Post editor Ben Bagdikian.\",\n \"Ellsberg arranged for the papers to be given to Gravel on June 26 via an intermediary, Post editor Ben Bagdikian. Gravel used his counter-intelligence experience to choose a midnight transfer in front of the Mayflower Hotel in the center of Washington, D.C. On the night of June 29, 1971, Gravel attempted to read the papers on the floor of the Senate as part of his filibuster against the draft, but was thwarted when no quorum could be formed. Gravel instead convened a session of the Buildings and Grounds subcommittee that he chaired.\",\n \"Gravel instead convened a session of the Buildings and Grounds subcommittee that he chaired. He got New York Congressman John G. Dow to testify that the war had soaked up funding for public buildings, thus making discussion of the war relevant to the committee.\",\n \"He got New York Congressman John G. Dow to testify that the war had soaked up funding for public buildings, thus making discussion of the war relevant to the committee. He began reading from the papers with the press in attendance, omitting supporting documents that he felt might compromise national security, and declaring, \\\"It is my constitutional obligation to protect the security of the people by fostering the free flow of information absolutely essential to their democratic decision-making.\\\"\",\n \"He began reading from the papers with the press in attendance, omitting supporting documents that he felt might compromise national security, and declaring, \\\"It is my constitutional obligation to protect the security of the people by fostering the free flow of information absolutely essential to their democratic decision-making.\\\" He read until 1 a.m., culminating by saying \\\"Arms are being severed. Metal is clashing through human bodies because of the public policy this government and all its branches continue to support.\\\"\",\n \"Metal is clashing through human bodies because of the public policy this government and all its branches continue to support.\\\" Then with tears and sobs he said that he could no longer physically continue, the previous three nights of sleeplessness and fear about the future having taken their toll. Gravel ended the session by, with no other senators present, establishing unanimous consent to insert 4,100 pages of the Papers into the Congressional Record of his subcommittee.\",\n \"Gravel ended the session by, with no other senators present, establishing unanimous consent to insert 4,100 pages of the Papers into the Congressional Record of his subcommittee. The following day, the Supreme Court's New York Times Co. v. United States decision ruled in favor of the newspapers and publication in the Times and others resumed. In July 1971 Bantam Books published an inexpensive paperback edition of the papers containing the material the Times had published.\",\n \"In July 1971 Bantam Books published an inexpensive paperback edition of the papers containing the material the Times had published. Gravel, too, wanted to privately publish the portion of the papers he had read into the record, believing that \\\"immediate disclosure of the contents of these papers will change the policy that supports the war\\\". After being turned down by many commercial publishers, on August 4 he reached agreement with Beacon Press, the publishing arm of the Unitarian Universalist Association, of which Gravel was a member.\",\n \"After being turned down by many commercial publishers, on August 4 he reached agreement with Beacon Press, the publishing arm of the Unitarian Universalist Association, of which Gravel was a member. Announced on August 17 and published on October 22, 1971, this four-volume, relatively expensive set became the \\\"Senator Gravel Edition\\\", which studies from Cornell University and the Annenberg Center for Communication have labeled as the most complete edition of the Pentagon Papers to be published.\",\n \"Announced on August 17 and published on October 22, 1971, this four-volume, relatively expensive set became the \\\"Senator Gravel Edition\\\", which studies from Cornell University and the Annenberg Center for Communication have labeled as the most complete edition of the Pentagon Papers to be published. The \\\"Gravel Edition\\\" was edited and annotated by Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn, and included an additional volume of analytical articles on the origins and progress of the war, also edited by Chomsky and Zinn.\",\n \"The \\\"Gravel Edition\\\" was edited and annotated by Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn, and included an additional volume of analytical articles on the origins and progress of the war, also edited by Chomsky and Zinn. Beacon Press then was subjected to a FBI investigation; an outgrowth of this was the Gravel v. United States court case, which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled upon in June 1972; it held that the Speech or Debate Clause did grant immunity to Gravel for his reading the papers in his subcommittee, did grant some immunity to Gravel's congressional aide, but granted no immunity to Beacon Press in relation to their publishing the same papers.\",\n \"Beacon Press then was subjected to a FBI investigation; an outgrowth of this was the Gravel v. United States court case, which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled upon in June 1972; it held that the Speech or Debate Clause did grant immunity to Gravel for his reading the papers in his subcommittee, did grant some immunity to Gravel's congressional aide, but granted no immunity to Beacon Press in relation to their publishing the same papers. The U.S. Senate Democratic Caucus backed Gravel in the case, but due to Republican opposition it did not pay Gravel's legal fees, leaving him owing $25,000 (the equivalent of $150,000 in 2019, adjusted for inflation).\",\n \"The U.S. Senate Democratic Caucus backed Gravel in the case, but due to Republican opposition it did not pay Gravel's legal fees, leaving him owing $25,000 (the equivalent of $150,000 in 2019, adjusted for inflation). The events of 1971 changed Gravel in the following months from an obscure freshman senator to a nationally visible political figure.\",\n \"The events of 1971 changed Gravel in the following months from an obscure freshman senator to a nationally visible political figure. He became a sought-after speaker on the college circuit as well as at political fundraisers, opportunities he welcomed as lectures were \\\"the one honest way a Senator has to supplement his income\\\". But his speaking tours caused him to accrue one of the worst absentee records in the Senate. The Democratic candidates for the 1972 presidential election sought his endorsement.\",\n \"The Democratic candidates for the 1972 presidential election sought his endorsement. In January 1972 Gravel endorsed Maine Senator Ed Muskie, hoping that his support would help Muskie with the party's left wing and in ethnic French-Canadian areas during the first primary contest in New Hampshire (Muskie won, but not overwhelmingly, and his campaign faltered soon after).\",\n \"In January 1972 Gravel endorsed Maine Senator Ed Muskie, hoping that his support would help Muskie with the party's left wing and in ethnic French-Canadian areas during the first primary contest in New Hampshire (Muskie won, but not overwhelmingly, and his campaign faltered soon after). In April 1972 Gravel appeared on all three networks' nightly newscasts to decry the Nixon administration's reliance on Vietnamization by making reference to the secret National Security Study Memorandum 1 document, which stated it would take 8–13 years for the Army of the Republic of Vietnam to defend South Vietnam.\",\n \"In April 1972 Gravel appeared on all three networks' nightly newscasts to decry the Nixon administration's reliance on Vietnamization by making reference to the secret National Security Study Memorandum 1 document, which stated it would take 8–13 years for the Army of the Republic of Vietnam to defend South Vietnam. Gravel made excerpts from the study public, but senators Robert P. Griffin and William B. Saxbe blocked his attempt to read NSSM 1 into the Congressional Record.\",\n \"Gravel made excerpts from the study public, but senators Robert P. Griffin and William B. Saxbe blocked his attempt to read NSSM 1 into the Congressional Record. Domestic policy In 1970 Gravel co-sponsored legislation to establish a guaranteed minimum income, entitling poor families to up to $6,300 a year (the equivalent of $42,000 in 2019 after adjustment for inflation).\",\n \"Domestic policy In 1970 Gravel co-sponsored legislation to establish a guaranteed minimum income, entitling poor families to up to $6,300 a year (the equivalent of $42,000 in 2019 after adjustment for inflation). He subsequently voted for a \\\"work bonus\\\" program, which would have entitled low-income working families with dependent children if they were paying Social Security or Railroad Retirement taxes to a non-taxable bonus of up to 10 percent of their wages.\",\n \"He subsequently voted for a \\\"work bonus\\\" program, which would have entitled low-income working families with dependent children if they were paying Social Security or Railroad Retirement taxes to a non-taxable bonus of up to 10 percent of their wages. Gravel also supported extending Social Security to all federal employees and introduced a campaign finance reform bill in 1971 that would have enacted full disclosure of campaign financing, placed limits on large donations, media spending and individual candidate spending.\",\n \"Gravel also supported extending Social Security to all federal employees and introduced a campaign finance reform bill in 1971 that would have enacted full disclosure of campaign financing, placed limits on large donations, media spending and individual candidate spending. In 1969, Gravel was the only Democratic Senator outside of the South to vote for Nixon's Supreme Court nominee Clement Haynsworth. The following year Gravel opposed Nixon's next pick, G. Harrold Carswell.\",\n \"The following year Gravel opposed Nixon's next pick, G. Harrold Carswell. Run for vice president in 1972 Gravel actively campaigned for the office of Vice President of the United States during the 1972 presidential election, announcing on June 2, 1972, over a month before the 1972 Democratic National Convention began, that he was interested in the nomination should the choice be opened up to convention delegates. Toward this end he began soliciting delegates for their support.\",\n \"Toward this end he began soliciting delegates for their support. He was not alone in this effort, as former Governor of Massachusetts Endicott Peabody had been running a quixotic campaign for the same post since the prior year. Likely presidential nominee George McGovern was in fact considering the unusual move of naming three or four acceptable vice-presidential candidates and letting the delegates choose. On the convention's final day, July 14, 1972, McGovern selected and announced Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri as his vice-presidential choice.\",\n \"On the convention's final day, July 14, 1972, McGovern selected and announced Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri as his vice-presidential choice. Eagleton was unknown to many delegates and the choice seemed to smack of traditional ticket balancing considerations. Thus there were delegates willing to look elsewhere. Gravel was nominated by Bettye Fahrenkamp, the Democratic National Committeewoman from Alaska. He then seconded his own nomination, breaking down in tears at his own words and maybe trying to withdraw his nomination.\",\n \"He then seconded his own nomination, breaking down in tears at his own words and maybe trying to withdraw his nomination. In any case he won 226 delegate votes, coming in third behind Eagleton and Frances \\\"Sissy\\\" Farenthold of Texas, in chaotic balloting that included several other candidates.\",\n \"In any case he won 226 delegate votes, coming in third behind Eagleton and Frances \\\"Sissy\\\" Farenthold of Texas, in chaotic balloting that included several other candidates. Gravel attracted some attention for his efforts: writer Norman Mailer said he \\\"provided considerable excitement\\\" and was \\\"good-looking enough to have played leads in B-films\\\", while Rolling Stone correspondent Hunter S. Thompson said Gravel \\\"probably said a few things that might have been worth hearing, under different circumstances\\\". Yet the process was doubly disastrous for the Democrats.\",\n \"Yet the process was doubly disastrous for the Democrats. Yet the process was doubly disastrous for the Democrats. In the time consumed by nominating and seconding and all the vice-presidential candidates' speeches, the attention of the delegates on the floor was lost and McGovern's speech was pushed to 3:30 a.m. The haste with which Eagleton was selected led to surprise when his past mental health treatments were revealed; he withdrew from the ticket soon after the convention, to be replaced by Sargent Shriver.\",\n \"The haste with which Eagleton was selected led to surprise when his past mental health treatments were revealed; he withdrew from the ticket soon after the convention, to be replaced by Sargent Shriver. Reelection to Senate in 1974 Several years earlier, Alaska politicians had speculated that Gravel would have a hard time getting both renominated and elected when his first term expired, given that he was originally elected without a base party organization and tended to focus on national rather than local issues.\",\n \"Reelection to Senate in 1974 Several years earlier, Alaska politicians had speculated that Gravel would have a hard time getting both renominated and elected when his first term expired, given that he was originally elected without a base party organization and tended to focus on national rather than local issues. Nonetheless, after receiving support from national and local labor leaders, securing key earmarks, and producing another half-hour TV advertorial, in 1974 Gravel was reelected to the Senate, with 58 percent of the vote to 42 percent for Republican State Senator C. R. Lewis, who was a national officer of the John Birch Society.\",\n \"Nonetheless, after receiving support from national and local labor leaders, securing key earmarks, and producing another half-hour TV advertorial, in 1974 Gravel was reelected to the Senate, with 58 percent of the vote to 42 percent for Republican State Senator C. R. Lewis, who was a national officer of the John Birch Society. Second term Gravel's reelection campaign left him $65,000–$75,000 in debt.\",\n \"Second term Gravel's reelection campaign left him $65,000–$75,000 in debt. In 1975 The Washington Post reported on a memo by his executive assistant laying out a fundraising strategy to tackle this, including raising funds from oil companies, meeting with previous donors and \\\"inquir[ing] into the governmental priorities of these people and their groups in the coming session\\\", as well as obtaining further speaking fees to reduce his personal debt.\",\n \"In 1975 The Washington Post reported on a memo by his executive assistant laying out a fundraising strategy to tackle this, including raising funds from oil companies, meeting with previous donors and \\\"inquir[ing] into the governmental priorities of these people and their groups in the coming session\\\", as well as obtaining further speaking fees to reduce his personal debt. This was followed by a number of stories about links between Gravel, lobbyists and fundraisers, including one that was widely publicized in Alaska about his holding a share in a Colorado resort with two Washington lobbyists he was working with on land and energy legislation.\",\n \"This was followed by a number of stories about links between Gravel, lobbyists and fundraisers, including one that was widely publicized in Alaska about his holding a share in a Colorado resort with two Washington lobbyists he was working with on land and energy legislation. Gravel had been open about the investment and had opposing views to one of the lobbyists on nuclear power.\",\n \"Gravel had been open about the investment and had opposing views to one of the lobbyists on nuclear power. In 1980 the Wall Street Journal published details about his fundraising activities, including writing to individuals and PACs in the oil industry, pledging to kill off proposals for a windfall profits tax on the sector, and traveling in the Middle East with the business partner of one of his donors to sell Alaskan land to businessmen. Gravel suggested that critics of his fundraising were \\\"naive\\\".\",\n \"Gravel suggested that critics of his fundraising were \\\"naive\\\". In 1975 Gravel introduced an amendment to cut the number of troops overseas by 200,000, but it was defeated on a voice vote. In September 1975 Gravel was named as one of several Congressional Advisers to the Seventh Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly, which met to discuss problems related to economic development and international economic cooperation. In June 1976 Gravel was the focus of a federal investigation into allegations that he was involved in a sex-for-vote arrangement.\",\n \"In June 1976 Gravel was the focus of a federal investigation into allegations that he was involved in a sex-for-vote arrangement. Congressional staff clerk Elizabeth Ray (who had already been involved in a sex scandal that led to the downfall of Representative Wayne Hays) said that in August 1972 she had sex with Gravel aboard a houseboat on the Potomac River, under the instruction of Representative Kenneth J. Gray, her boss at the time.\",\n \"Gray, her boss at the time. Gray, her boss at the time. Gray allegedly wanted to secure Gravel's support for further funding for construction of the National Visitor Center in Washington, a troubled project that was under the jurisdiction of subcommittees that both members chaired. Another Congressional staffer said she witnessed the boat encounter, but Gravel said at the time that he had never met either of the women.\",\n \"Another Congressional staffer said she witnessed the boat encounter, but Gravel said at the time that he had never met either of the women. Gravel and Gray strongly denied that they had made any arrangement regarding legislation, and neither was ever charged with any wrongdoing. Decades later Gravel wrote that he had indeed had sex with Ray, but had not changed any votes because of it.\",\n \"Decades later Gravel wrote that he had indeed had sex with Ray, but had not changed any votes because of it. Gravel and his main financial backer, Gottstein, had a falling out in 1978, during the Congressional debate over whether to allow a controversial sale of U.S. F-15 fighter aircraft to Saudi Arabia. An ardent backer of Israel, Gottstein opposed the sale and asked Gravel to vote against it. But Gravel not only voted for it but made an emotional speech attacking the anti-sale campaign.\",\n \"But Gravel not only voted for it but made an emotional speech attacking the anti-sale campaign. Gravel wrote in 2008 that it was the only time Gottstein had ever asked him for a favor, and the rupture resulted in their never speaking to each other again. Alaskan issues By 1971 Gravel was urging construction of the much-argued Trans-Alaska pipeline, addressing environmental concerns by saying that the pipeline's builders and operators should have \\\"total and absolute\\\" responsibility for any consequent environmental damage.\",\n \"Alaskan issues By 1971 Gravel was urging construction of the much-argued Trans-Alaska pipeline, addressing environmental concerns by saying that the pipeline's builders and operators should have \\\"total and absolute\\\" responsibility for any consequent environmental damage. Two years later the debate over the pipeline came to a crux, with The New York Times describing it as \\\"environmentalists [in] a holy war with the major oil companies\\\".\",\n \"Two years later the debate over the pipeline came to a crux, with The New York Times describing it as \\\"environmentalists [in] a holy war with the major oil companies\\\". In February 1973 the U.S. Court of Appeals blocked the issuance of permits for construction; Gravel and fellow Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens reacted by urging Congress to pass legislation overturning the court's decision.\",\n \"In February 1973 the U.S. Court of Appeals blocked the issuance of permits for construction; Gravel and fellow Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens reacted by urging Congress to pass legislation overturning the court's decision. Environmentalists opposed to the pipeline, such as the Environmental Defense Fund and the Sierra Club then sought to use the recently passed National Environmental Policy Act to their advantage; Gravel designed an amendment to the pipeline bill that would immunize the pipeline from any further court challenges under that law, and thus speed its construction.\",\n \"Environmentalists opposed to the pipeline, such as the Environmental Defense Fund and the Sierra Club then sought to use the recently passed National Environmental Policy Act to their advantage; Gravel designed an amendment to the pipeline bill that would immunize the pipeline from any further court challenges under that law, and thus speed its construction. Passage of the amendment became the key battle regarding the pipeline.\",\n \"Passage of the amendment became the key battle regarding the pipeline. On July 17, 1973, in a dramatic roll-call vote, the Gravel amendment was approved as a 49–49 tie was broken in favor by Vice President Spiro Agnew. The actual bill enabling the pipeline then passed easily; Gravel had triumphed in what became perhaps his most lasting accomplishment as a senator. In opposition to the Alaskan fishing industry, Gravel advocated American participation in the formation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.\",\n \"In opposition to the Alaskan fishing industry, Gravel advocated American participation in the formation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. For two years he opposed legislation that established a Exclusive Economic Zone for marine resources. He was one of only 19 senators to vote against Senate approval for the expanded zone in 1976, saying it would undermine the U.S. position in Law of the Sea negotiations and that nations arbitrarily extending their fishing rights limits would \\\"produce anarchy of the seas\\\".\",\n \"He was one of only 19 senators to vote against Senate approval for the expanded zone in 1976, saying it would undermine the U.S. position in Law of the Sea negotiations and that nations arbitrarily extending their fishing rights limits would \\\"produce anarchy of the seas\\\". The legislation was passed, and the United States has signed but never ratified the Law of the Sea treaty. Gravel accumulated a complicated record on Indian affairs during his time in the Senate.\",\n \"Gravel accumulated a complicated record on Indian affairs during his time in the Senate. During his first year in the Senate Gravel urged abolition of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, criticizing the agency for the pace of development of schools in Alaska, its paternalistic attitudes and the culturally inappropriate nature of its education, and advocating greater shared decision-making between the federal government and native communities in Alaska.\",\n \"During his first year in the Senate Gravel urged abolition of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, criticizing the agency for the pace of development of schools in Alaska, its paternalistic attitudes and the culturally inappropriate nature of its education, and advocating greater shared decision-making between the federal government and native communities in Alaska. Later, his views changed; in the early 1970s Gravel supported a demonstration project that established links between Alaskan villages and the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, for medical diagnostic communications.\",\n \"Later, his views changed; in the early 1970s Gravel supported a demonstration project that established links between Alaskan villages and the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, for medical diagnostic communications. In 1971, he fended off accusations from Alaskan natives that he was not spending enough time working on their land claims. Gravel helped secure a private grant to facilitate the first Inuit Circumpolar Conference in 1977, attended by Inuit representatives from Alaska, Canada, and Greenland. These conferences now also include representatives from Russia.\",\n \"These conferences now also include representatives from Russia. These conferences now also include representatives from Russia. In 1977, Gravel helped lead an effort to have the U.S. Interior Department rename Mount McKinley to Denali; this eventually led to Denali National Park being so named. Subsequently, Gravel proposed a never-built \\\"Denali City\\\" development above the Tokositna River near the mountain, to consist of a giant Teflon dome enclosing hotels, golf courses, condominiums, and commercial buildings.\",\n \"Subsequently, Gravel proposed a never-built \\\"Denali City\\\" development above the Tokositna River near the mountain, to consist of a giant Teflon dome enclosing hotels, golf courses, condominiums, and commercial buildings. A related idea of his to build a high-speed rail line to Denali also failed to gain traction. A key, emotional issue in the state at the time was \\\"locking up Alaska\\\", making reference to allocation of its vast, mostly uninhabited land.\",\n \"A key, emotional issue in the state at the time was \\\"locking up Alaska\\\", making reference to allocation of its vast, mostly uninhabited land. President Jimmy Carter desired to put large portions of this land under federal protection against development, a move that some Alaskans vociferously opposed. In 1978 Gravel blocked passage, via procedural delays such as walking out of House–Senate conference committee meetings, of a complex bill which represented a compromise on land use policy.\",\n \"In 1978 Gravel blocked passage, via procedural delays such as walking out of House–Senate conference committee meetings, of a complex bill which represented a compromise on land use policy. The bill would have put some of Alaska's vast federal land holdings under state control while preserving other portions for federal parks and refuges; the blocking action earned Gravel the enmity of fellow Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, who had supported the compromise.\",\n \"The bill would have put some of Alaska's vast federal land holdings under state control while preserving other portions for federal parks and refuges; the blocking action earned Gravel the enmity of fellow Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, who had supported the compromise. In 1980, a new lands bill came up for consideration, that was less favorable to Alaskan interests and more liked by environmentalists; it set aside of Alaska's for national parks, conservation areas, and other restricted federal uses.\",\n \"In 1980, a new lands bill came up for consideration, that was less favorable to Alaskan interests and more liked by environmentalists; it set aside of Alaska's for national parks, conservation areas, and other restricted federal uses. Gravel blocked it, as not ensuring enough future development in the state. A new compromise version of the 1980 bill came forward, which reduced the land set aside to . Representing Alaskan interests, Gravel tried to stop the bill, including by filibuster.\",\n \"Representing Alaskan interests, Gravel tried to stop the bill, including by filibuster. But the Senate voted for cloture and passed the bill. Frustrated, Gravel said, \\\"the legislation denies Alaska its rights as a state, and denies the U.S. crucial strategic resources,\\\" and opined that the Senate was \\\"a little bit like a tank of barracudas\\\".\",\n \"Frustrated, Gravel said, \\\"the legislation denies Alaska its rights as a state, and denies the U.S. crucial strategic resources,\\\" and opined that the Senate was \\\"a little bit like a tank of barracudas\\\". Nonetheless, the bill, known as the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980, was signed by President Carter shortly before leaving the White House, and led to millions of acres being set aside in the state for national parks, wildlife refuges, and other kinds of areas under protection.\",\n \"Nonetheless, the bill, known as the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980, was signed by President Carter shortly before leaving the White House, and led to millions of acres being set aside in the state for national parks, wildlife refuges, and other kinds of areas under protection. In 1978 Gravel authored and secured the passage into federal law of the General Stock Ownership Corporation, that became Subchapter U of the Tax Code under the Internal Revenue Code of 1954.\",\n \"In 1978 Gravel authored and secured the passage into federal law of the General Stock Ownership Corporation, that became Subchapter U of the Tax Code under the Internal Revenue Code of 1954. This gave states the ability to create corporations that would invest in for-profit enterprises, with all citizens within the state owning shares in the corporation.\",\n \"This gave states the ability to create corporations that would invest in for-profit enterprises, with all citizens within the state owning shares in the corporation. Gravel's attempt to convince the Alaska state legislature to create such a corporation failed, as did a 1980 state ballot initiative towards the same end, but nevertheless the creation of the General Stock Ownership Corporation in federal law turned out to be significant in the development of binary economics.\",\n \"Gravel's attempt to convince the Alaska state legislature to create such a corporation failed, as did a 1980 state ballot initiative towards the same end, but nevertheless the creation of the General Stock Ownership Corporation in federal law turned out to be significant in the development of binary economics. Loss of Senate seat in 1980 In 1980 Gravel was challenged for the Democratic Party's nomination by State Representative Clark Gruening, the grandson of the man Gravel had defeated in a primary 12 years earlier.\",\n \"Loss of Senate seat in 1980 In 1980 Gravel was challenged for the Democratic Party's nomination by State Representative Clark Gruening, the grandson of the man Gravel had defeated in a primary 12 years earlier. One of Gruening's supporters was Gravel's former backer Gottstein. Several factors made Gravel vulnerable. As an insurgent candidate in 1968 Gravel had never established a firm party base. Not liking to hunt or fish, he was also always culturally suspect in the state. The primary campaign was bitterly fought.\",\n \"The primary campaign was bitterly fought. The primary campaign was bitterly fought. A group of Democrats, including future governor Steve Cowper, led the campaign against Gravel, with Gravel's actions in respect to the 1978 and 1980 Alaskan lands bills a major issue. This was especially so given that the 1980 bill's dénouement happened but a week before the primary. The sources of Gravel's campaign funds, some of which Gravel readily acknowledged came from political action committees outside the state, also became an issue in the contest.\",\n \"The sources of Gravel's campaign funds, some of which Gravel readily acknowledged came from political action committees outside the state, also became an issue in the contest. Gruening had pledged that he would not take special interest group money, but Gravel said that Gruening was \\\"dishonest\\\" in accepting individual contributors from Jewish donors living outside the state because to him such contributors comprised \\\"a special interest group ... that seeks to influence the foreign policy of the U.S.\\\" Gruening won the primary with about 55 percent of the vote to Gravel's 44 percent.\",\n \"Gruening had pledged that he would not take special interest group money, but Gravel said that Gruening was \\\"dishonest\\\" in accepting individual contributors from Jewish donors living outside the state because to him such contributors comprised \\\"a special interest group ... that seeks to influence the foreign policy of the U.S.\\\" Gruening won the primary with about 55 percent of the vote to Gravel's 44 percent. Gravel later conceded that by the time of his defeat, he had alienated \\\"almost every constituency in Alaska\\\".\",\n \"Gravel later conceded that by the time of his defeat, he had alienated \\\"almost every constituency in Alaska\\\". Another factor may have been Alaska's blanket primary system of the time, which allowed unlimited voting across party lines and from its many independents; Republicans believed Gruening would be an easier candidate to defeat in the general election. Gruening lost the general election to Republican Frank Murkowski.\",\n \"Gruening lost the general election to Republican Frank Murkowski. Gruening lost the general election to Republican Frank Murkowski. Gravel was the last Democrat to represent Alaska in Congress for 28 years, until Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich defeated Ted Stevens, by then an aged, iconic figure who had just been convicted of seven felonies for taking unreported gifts, in a very close and protracted election result in 2008. Stevens's conviction was subsequently vacated due to prosecutorial misconduct.\",\n \"Stevens's conviction was subsequently vacated due to prosecutorial misconduct. Career after leaving the Senate Of his 1980 defeat, Gravel later recalled: \\\"I had lost my career. I lost my marriage. I was in the doldrums for ten years after my defeat,\\\" and \\\"Nobody wanted to hire me for anything important. I felt like I was worthless. I didn't know what I could do.\\\"\",\n \"I didn't know what I could do.\\\" I didn't know what I could do.\\\" By his own later description, Gravel was a womanizer, and had an affair while in the Senate, and in December 1980 he and his wife Rita separated. They filed for divorce in September 1981; she later received all of his Senate pension income. During the 1980s Gravel was a real estate developer in Anchorage and Kenai, Alaska, a consultant, and a stockbroker.\",\n \"During the 1980s Gravel was a real estate developer in Anchorage and Kenai, Alaska, a consultant, and a stockbroker. One of his real estate ventures, a condominium business, was forced to declare bankruptcy and a lawsuit ensued. In 1986 Gravel worked in partnership with Merrill Lynch Capital Markets to buy losses that financially troubled Alaska Native Corporations could not take as tax deductions and sell them to large national companies looking for tax writeoffs. Gravel also learned computer programming at some point but never practiced it.\",\n \"Gravel also learned computer programming at some point but never practiced it. In 1984 Gravel married his second wife, Whitney Stewart Gravel, a former administrative assistant for Senator Jacob Javits. Return to politics In 1989 Gravel reentered politics. He founded and led The Democracy Foundation, which promotes direct democracy.\",\n \"He founded and led The Democracy Foundation, which promotes direct democracy. He established the Philadelphia II corporation, which seeks to replicate the original 1787 Constitutional Convention and have a Second Constitutional Convention to bring about direct democracy Gravel led an effort to get a United States Constitutional amendment to allow voter-initiated federal legislation similar to state ballot initiatives. He argued that Americans are able to legislate responsibly, and that the Act and Amendment in the National Initiative would allow American citizens to become \\\"law makers\\\".\",\n \"He argued that Americans are able to legislate responsibly, and that the Act and Amendment in the National Initiative would allow American citizens to become \\\"law makers\\\". However such efforts met with little success. In 2001, Gravel became director of the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution, where he admired institute co-founder Gregory Fossedal's work on direct democracy in Switzerland.\",\n \"In 2001, Gravel became director of the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution, where he admired institute co-founder Gregory Fossedal's work on direct democracy in Switzerland. By 2004, Gravel had become chair of the institute, and Fossedal (who in turn was a director of the Democracy Foundation) gave the introduction at Gravel's presidential announcement. In 2003 Gravel gave a speech on direct democracy at a conference hosted by the American Free Press. The event was cosponsored by the Barnes Review, a journal that endorses Holocaust denial.\",\n \"The event was cosponsored by the Barnes Review, a journal that endorses Holocaust denial. After some controversy over his appearance, Gravel apologized, saying he did not realize the group's ties. Gravel said repeatedly that he did not share the group's views on the Holocaust, stating, \\\"You better believe I know that six million Jews were killed. [The Barnes Review publishers] are nutty as loons if they don't think it happened\\\". The group invited Gravel to speak again, but he declined.\",\n \"The group invited Gravel to speak again, but he declined. Mike and Whitney Gravel lived in Arlington County, Virginia, until 2010 and then resided in Burlingame, California. They have the two grown children from his first marriage, Martin Gravel and Lynne Gravel Mosier, and four grandchildren. Whitney Gravel's income sustained the couple from 1998 on. In the 2000s, Gravel suffered poor health, requiring three surgeries in 2003 for back pain and neuropathy.\",\n \"In the 2000s, Gravel suffered poor health, requiring three surgeries in 2003 for back pain and neuropathy. Due to unreimbursed medical expenses and debts from his political causes, he declared personal bankruptcy in 2004. He began taking a salary from the non-profit organizations for which he was working; much of that income was lent to his presidential campaign. In 2007, he declared that he had \\\"zero net worth\\\".\",\n \"In 2007, he declared that he had \\\"zero net worth\\\". 2008 presidential campaign Democratic Party primaries At the start of 2006 Gravel decided the best way he could promote direct democracy and the National Initiative was to run for president.\",\n \"2008 presidential campaign Democratic Party primaries At the start of 2006 Gravel decided the best way he could promote direct democracy and the National Initiative was to run for president. On April 17, 2006, Gravel became the first candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2008 election, announcing his run in a speech to the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Short on campaign cash, he took public transportation to get to his announcement. (Gravel called for public financing of elections.)\",\n \"(Gravel called for public financing of elections.) (Gravel called for public financing of elections.) Other principal Gravel positions were the FairTax, as well as withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq within 120 days and a single payer national health care system. Gravel had opposed the Iraq War, and President George W. Bush's rationale for it, from the beginning, and in 2006 said that U.S. troops in Iraq, as in Vietnam, had \\\"died in vain\\\".\",\n \"Gravel had opposed the Iraq War, and President George W. Bush's rationale for it, from the beginning, and in 2006 said that U.S. troops in Iraq, as in Vietnam, had \\\"died in vain\\\". He also favored a regional peace initiative, as well as reparation payments for Iraqis. Gravel also called for a \\\"U.S. corporate withdrawal from Iraq\\\", with reconstruction contracts held by U.S. companies to be turned over to Iraqi firms.\",\n \"Gravel also called for a \\\"U.S. corporate withdrawal from Iraq\\\", with reconstruction contracts held by U.S. companies to be turned over to Iraqi firms. Gravel campaigned almost full-time in New Hampshire, the first primary state, following his announcement. Opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination showed Gravel with 1 percent or less support. By the end of March 2007, Gravel's campaign had less than $500 in cash on hand against debts of nearly $90,000.\",\n \"By the end of March 2007, Gravel's campaign had less than $500 in cash on hand against debts of nearly $90,000. Because of his time in the Senate, Gravel was invited to many of the early Democratic presidential debates. During the initial one at South Carolina State University on April 26, 2007, he suggested a bill requiring the president to withdraw from Iraq on pain of criminal penalties. He also advocated positions such as opposing preemptive nuclear war.\",\n \"He also advocated positions such as opposing preemptive nuclear war. He stated that the Iraq War had the effect of creating more terrorists and that the \\\"war was lost the day that George Bush invaded Iraq on a fraudulent basis\\\". Regarding his fellow candidates, he said, \\\"I got to tell you, after standing up with them, some of these people frighten me – they frighten me.\\\" In one such exchange, Gravel said, \\\"Tell me, Barack, who do you want to nuke?\\\"\",\n \"In one such exchange, Gravel said, \\\"Tell me, Barack, who do you want to nuke?\\\" to which Obama responded, \\\"I'm not planning to nuke anybody right now, Mike, I promise.\\\" Media stories said that Gravel was responsible for much of whatever \\\"heat\\\" and \\\"flashpoints\\\" had taken place during the Democratic debates.\",\n \"Media stories said that Gravel was responsible for much of whatever \\\"heat\\\" and \\\"flashpoints\\\" had taken place during the Democratic debates. Gravel gained considerable publicity by shaking up the normally staid multiple-candidate format; The New York Times' media critic said that what Gravel had done was \\\"steal a debate with outrageous, curmudgeonly statements\\\".\",\n \"Gravel gained considerable publicity by shaking up the normally staid multiple-candidate format; The New York Times' media critic said that what Gravel had done was \\\"steal a debate with outrageous, curmudgeonly statements\\\". The Internet was a benefit: a YouTube video of his responses in the debate was viewed more than 225,892 times, ranking seventeenth in most views for week and first among news and politics clips; his name became the fifteenth most searched-for in the blogosphere; and his website garnered more traffic than those of frontrunners Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, or John Edwards.\",\n \"The Internet was a benefit: a YouTube video of his responses in the debate was viewed more than 225,892 times, ranking seventeenth in most views for week and first among news and politics clips; his name became the fifteenth most searched-for in the blogosphere; and his website garnered more traffic than those of frontrunners Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, or John Edwards. Gravel appeared on the popular Colbert Report on television on May 2, and his campaign and career were profiled in national publications such as Salon.\",\n \"Gravel appeared on the popular Colbert Report on television on May 2, and his campaign and career were profiled in national publications such as Salon. Two wordless, Warholesque campaign videos, \\\"Rock\\\" and \\\"Fire\\\", were released on YouTube in late May and became hits, and eventually gained over 760,000 and 185,000 views respectively. \\\"Rock\\\", in turn, was given airtime during an episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.\",\n \"\\\"Rock\\\", in turn, was given airtime during an episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Some thirty-five years after he first achieved the national spotlight, he had found it again. All this did not improve his performance in the polls; a May 2007 CNN poll showed him with less than 0.5 percent support among Democrats. Gravel was in the next several debates, in one case after CNN reversed a decision to exclude him.\",\n \"Gravel was in the next several debates, in one case after CNN reversed a decision to exclude him. Like some of the other second-tier candidates, Gravel did not get as much time as the leaders; during the June 2, 2007, New Hampshire debate, which lasted two hours, he was asked 10 questions and allowed to speak for five minutes and 37 seconds.\",\n \"Like some of the other second-tier candidates, Gravel did not get as much time as the leaders; during the June 2, 2007, New Hampshire debate, which lasted two hours, he was asked 10 questions and allowed to speak for five minutes and 37 seconds. During the July 23, 2007, CNN-YouTube presidential debate, Gravel responded to audience applause when he had complained of a lack of airtime and said: \\\"Thank you. Has it been fair thus far?\\\"\",\n \"Has it been fair thus far?\\\" Has it been fair thus far?\\\" Detractors began to liken him to \\\"the cranky uncle who lives in the attic,\\\" or \\\"the angry old guy that just seemed to want to become angrier\\\". Berkeley political scientist David Terr found that moderator George Stephanopoulos directed roughly five percent of his questions to Gravel; in a poll asking who did the best in the debate, Gravel placed seventh among the eight candidates.\",\n \"Berkeley political scientist David Terr found that moderator George Stephanopoulos directed roughly five percent of his questions to Gravel; in a poll asking who did the best in the debate, Gravel placed seventh among the eight candidates. National opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination continued to show Gravel with one percent or zero percent numbers.\",\n \"National opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination continued to show Gravel with one percent or zero percent numbers. By the end of the third-quarter 2007, Gravel had about $17,500 in cash on hand, had collected a total of about $380,000 during the 2008 election cycle, and was continuing to run a threadbare campaign with minimal staff.\",\n \"By the end of the third-quarter 2007, Gravel had about $17,500 in cash on hand, had collected a total of about $380,000 during the 2008 election cycle, and was continuing to run a threadbare campaign with minimal staff. Beginning with the October 30, 2007, Philadelphia event, Gravel was excluded from most of the debates, with the debate sponsors or the Democratic National Committee saying Gravel's campaign had not met fund-raising, polling, or local campaign organizational thresholds.\",\n \"Beginning with the October 30, 2007, Philadelphia event, Gravel was excluded from most of the debates, with the debate sponsors or the Democratic National Committee saying Gravel's campaign had not met fund-raising, polling, or local campaign organizational thresholds. For the Philadelphia exclusion, Gravel blamed corporate censorship on the part of sponsor owner and alleged military-industrial complex member General Electric for his exclusion and mounted a counter-gathering and debate against a video screen a short distance away, but he had lost his easiest publicity.\",\n \"For the Philadelphia exclusion, Gravel blamed corporate censorship on the part of sponsor owner and alleged military-industrial complex member General Electric for his exclusion and mounted a counter-gathering and debate against a video screen a short distance away, but he had lost his easiest publicity. In reaction, supporters organized \\\"mass donation days\\\" to try to help the campaign gain momentum and funds, such as on December 5, 2007, the anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition.\",\n \"In reaction, supporters organized \\\"mass donation days\\\" to try to help the campaign gain momentum and funds, such as on December 5, 2007, the anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition. Gravel did not compete in the initial 2008 vote, the Iowa caucuses, but was still subjected to a false report from MSNBC that he had pulled out of the race afterward. Gravel did focus his attention on the second 2008 vote, the New Hampshire primary.\",\n \"Gravel did focus his attention on the second 2008 vote, the New Hampshire primary. In early January, Mother Jones' investigative reporter James Ridgeway was filmed interviewing and following Gravel in New Hampshire, in which Gravel is interviewed on the phone by Neal Conan for NPR's, Talk of the Nation. He received about 400 votes out of some 280,000 cast in New Hampshire, or 0.14 percent, before taking time off to improve his health. He resumed campaigning, but fared no better in subsequent states.\",\n \"He resumed campaigning, but fared no better in subsequent states. By the end of January 2008, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and Gravel were the only remaining Democrats from the initial debates still running; Gravel vowed to stay in the presidential campaign until November. On March 11, 2008, Gravel continued to remain in the Democratic race but additionally endorsed a Green Party candidate for president, Jesse Johnson, saying he wanted to help Johnson prevail against Green Party rivals Cynthia McKinney and Ralph Nader.\",\n \"On March 11, 2008, Gravel continued to remain in the Democratic race but additionally endorsed a Green Party candidate for president, Jesse Johnson, saying he wanted to help Johnson prevail against Green Party rivals Cynthia McKinney and Ralph Nader. By late March, Gravel had almost no fundraising and was only on the ballot in one of the next ten Democratic primaries.\",\n \"By late March, Gravel had almost no fundraising and was only on the ballot in one of the next ten Democratic primaries. Switch to Libertarian Party On March 25, 2008, Gravel announced that he would leave the Democrats and join the Libertarian Party, saying: \\\"My libertarian views, as well as my strong stance against war, the military industrial complex and American imperialism, seem not to be tolerated by Democratic Party elites who are out of touch with the average American; elites that reject the empowerment of American citizens I offered to the Democratic Party at the beginning of this presidential campaign with the National Initiative for Democracy.\\\"\",\n \"Switch to Libertarian Party On March 25, 2008, Gravel announced that he would leave the Democrats and join the Libertarian Party, saying: \\\"My libertarian views, as well as my strong stance against war, the military industrial complex and American imperialism, seem not to be tolerated by Democratic Party elites who are out of touch with the average American; elites that reject the empowerment of American citizens I offered to the Democratic Party at the beginning of this presidential campaign with the National Initiative for Democracy.\\\" The following day Gravel entered the race for the 2008 Libertarian presidential nomination, saying that he would have run as a third-party candidate all along except that he needed the public exposure that came from being in the earlier Democratic debates.\",\n \"The following day Gravel entered the race for the 2008 Libertarian presidential nomination, saying that he would have run as a third-party candidate all along except that he needed the public exposure that came from being in the earlier Democratic debates. Gravel's initial notion of running as a fusion candidate with other parties was met with skepticism. As a Libertarian candidate, Gravel faced resistance to his past support of big government initiatives and his unorthodox positions around direct democracy.\",\n \"As a Libertarian candidate, Gravel faced resistance to his past support of big government initiatives and his unorthodox positions around direct democracy. Nevertheless, he garnered more support than he had as a Democrat, placing second and third in two April 2008 straw polls.\",\n \"Nevertheless, he garnered more support than he had as a Democrat, placing second and third in two April 2008 straw polls. In the May 25 balloting at the 2008 Libertarian National Convention in Denver, Gravel finished fourth out of eight candidates on the initial ballot, with 71 votes out of a total 618; he trailed former Congressman and eventual winner Bob Barr, author Mary Ruwart, and businessman Wayne Allyn Root. Gravel's position did not subsequently improve and he was eliminated on the fourth ballot.\",\n \"Gravel's position did not subsequently improve and he was eliminated on the fourth ballot. Afterwards he stated that \\\"I just ended my political career,\\\" but he vowed to continue promoting his positions as a writer and lecturer. 2008–early 2019 In June 2008 Gravel endorsed the NYC 9/11 Ballot Initiative, saying the measure would create a \\\"citizens commission rather than a government commission\\\" with subpoena power against top U.S. officials to \\\"make a true investigation as to what happened\\\" regarding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.\",\n \"2008–early 2019 In June 2008 Gravel endorsed the NYC 9/11 Ballot Initiative, saying the measure would create a \\\"citizens commission rather than a government commission\\\" with subpoena power against top U.S. officials to \\\"make a true investigation as to what happened\\\" regarding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. He later said, \\\"Individuals in and out of government may certainly have participated with the obviously known perpetrators of this dastardly act. Suspicions abound over the analysis presented by government.\",\n \"Suspicions abound over the analysis presented by government. Suspicions abound over the analysis presented by government. Obviously an act that has triggered three wars, Afghan, Iraqi and the continuing War on Terror, should be extensively investigated which was not done and which the government avoids addressing.\\\"\",\n \"Obviously an act that has triggered three wars, Afghan, Iraqi and the continuing War on Terror, should be extensively investigated which was not done and which the government avoids addressing.\\\" In August 2008 Gravel was speaking to a crowd of supporters of Sami Al-Arian (who two years earlier had pleaded guilty and been sentenced to prison for a charge of conspiracy in helping Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a \\\"specially designated terrorist\\\" organization) when he was caught on tape saying of Al-Arian's prosecutor, \\\"Find out where he lives, find out where his kids go to school, find out where his office is: picket him all the time.\",\n \"In August 2008 Gravel was speaking to a crowd of supporters of Sami Al-Arian (who two years earlier had pleaded guilty and been sentenced to prison for a charge of conspiracy in helping Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a \\\"specially designated terrorist\\\" organization) when he was caught on tape saying of Al-Arian's prosecutor, \\\"Find out where he lives, find out where his kids go to school, find out where his office is: picket him all the time. Call him a racist in signs if you see him.\",\n \"Call him a racist in signs if you see him. Call him an injustice. Call him whatever you want to call him, but in his face all the time.\\\" Gravel was criticized for potentially involving the children of the prosecutor, and Al-Arian's family disavowed the sentiments. Gravel defended Alaska Governor Sarah Palin after she was chosen as Republican presidential nominee John McCain's running mate in September 2008.\",\n \"Gravel defended Alaska Governor Sarah Palin after she was chosen as Republican presidential nominee John McCain's running mate in September 2008. He praised Palin's record in standing up to corruption among Alaskan Republicans, thought her national inexperience was an asset not a detriment, and predicted that the \\\"Troopergate\\\" investigation into whether she improperly fired a state official would \\\"come out in her favor\\\". Gravel made clear he would not support or vote for either McCain–Palin or Obama–Biden in the general election.\",\n \"Gravel made clear he would not support or vote for either McCain–Palin or Obama–Biden in the general election. The following year Gravel said that Palin's politics were \\\"terrible, but that doesn't detract from the fact that she's a very talented person\\\". He predicted that Palin would run for president in 2012 and that \\\"she's going to surprise a lot of people\\\". Palin did not run, but Gravel's prediction about \\\"TrooperGate\\\" was accurate as Palin was found not to have violated ethics laws.\",\n \"Palin did not run, but Gravel's prediction about \\\"TrooperGate\\\" was accurate as Palin was found not to have violated ethics laws. In 2013, by the invitation of Hamed Ghashghavi, the secretary for international affairs of the 3rd International Conference on Hollywoodism in Tehran, Iran, Gravel attended that event as an Iranian government-organized anti-Hollywood conference.\",\n \"In 2013, by the invitation of Hamed Ghashghavi, the secretary for international affairs of the 3rd International Conference on Hollywoodism in Tehran, Iran, Gravel attended that event as an Iranian government-organized anti-Hollywood conference. Gravel noted that the conference was attended by \\\"various elements of extremes\\\" but said it was necessary to discuss how the U.S. film industry portrayed Iran in order to prevent \\\"an insane war\\\" between the two nations.\",\n \"Gravel noted that the conference was attended by \\\"various elements of extremes\\\" but said it was necessary to discuss how the U.S. film industry portrayed Iran in order to prevent \\\"an insane war\\\" between the two nations. In May 2013 Gravel was one of several former members of Congress to accept $20,000 from the Paradigm Research Group, an advocacy group for UFO disclosure, as part of holding what they termed a Citizen Hearing on Disclosure, modeled after congressional hearings, regarding supposed U.S. government suppression of evidence concerning UFOs.\",\n \"In May 2013 Gravel was one of several former members of Congress to accept $20,000 from the Paradigm Research Group, an advocacy group for UFO disclosure, as part of holding what they termed a Citizen Hearing on Disclosure, modeled after congressional hearings, regarding supposed U.S. government suppression of evidence concerning UFOs. Gravel said, \\\"Something is monitoring the planet, and they are monitoring it very cautiously, because we are a very warlike planet,\\\" and, \\\"What we're faced with here is, in areas of the media, and the government too, an effort to marginalize and ridicule people who have specific knowledge.\\\"\",\n \"Gravel said, \\\"Something is monitoring the planet, and they are monitoring it very cautiously, because we are a very warlike planet,\\\" and, \\\"What we're faced with here is, in areas of the media, and the government too, an effort to marginalize and ridicule people who have specific knowledge.\\\" In December 2014 Gravel was announced as the new CEO of KUSH, a company which makes marijuana-infused products for medicinal and recreational use, and a subsidiary of Cannabis Sativa, Inc.\",\n \"In December 2014 Gravel was announced as the new CEO of KUSH, a company which makes marijuana-infused products for medicinal and recreational use, and a subsidiary of Cannabis Sativa, Inc. He also became an Independent Director of Cannabis Sativa. During the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries, Gravel praised Bernie Sanders and his campaign, saying \\\"Bernie is one of the most gifted politicians I have ever observed. He's a person of great integrity and very clever.\\\"\",\n \"He's a person of great integrity and very clever.\\\" Gravel predicted that Sanders would be elected president but would be unable to get his key reforms through Congress, and thus that Sanders and his supporters should back some of the proposals of the National Initiative. In 2016, Gravel said in relation to the September 11 attacks: \\\"We killed 58,000 American servicemen in the Vietnam War and all they did was die in vain.\",\n \"In 2016, Gravel said in relation to the September 11 attacks: \\\"We killed 58,000 American servicemen in the Vietnam War and all they did was die in vain. What's so unusual about killing 3,000 more in order to develop the grist for the mill to empower into infinity the military industrial complex?\\\" and \\\"There's no question in my mind that 9/11 was an inside job\\\". The remarks were later disavowed by even Gravel supporters. By 2019 Gravel was living in Seaside, California.\",\n \"By 2019 Gravel was living in Seaside, California. By 2019 Gravel was living in Seaside, California. He was working on a book, at the time titled Human Governance, about his principal idea for direct democracy, a U.S. Constitutional Amendment to create a \\\"Legislature of the People\\\" that would circumvent the existing Congress. The book was self-published at the end of the year by AuthorHouse under the title The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People.\",\n \"The book was self-published at the end of the year by AuthorHouse under the title The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People. 2020 presidential campaign On March 19, 2019, Gravel announced that he was considering running in the 2020 Democratic primaries. He said, \\\"The goal will not be to win, but to bring a critique of American imperialism to the Democratic debate stage.\\\"\",\n \"He said, \\\"The goal will not be to win, but to bring a critique of American imperialism to the Democratic debate stage.\\\" An exploratory committee was formed, with filing a statement of organization with the Federal Election Commission on that same day.\",\n \"An exploratory committee was formed, with filing a statement of organization with the Federal Election Commission on that same day. The filing was the idea of a group of teenagers, led by David Oks and Henry Williams, inspired by the podcast Chapo Trap House, and done with Gravel's consent (after a week spent convincing him of the idea's merits), but without his involvement.\",\n \"The filing was the idea of a group of teenagers, led by David Oks and Henry Williams, inspired by the podcast Chapo Trap House, and done with Gravel's consent (after a week spent convincing him of the idea's merits), but without his involvement. Intrigued by the group's commitment to amplifying his long-held policy goals, Gravel (who would be old on Inauguration Day in 2021) said he planned to meet with them in April, and to discuss a 2020 White House run with his wife.\",\n \"Intrigued by the group's commitment to amplifying his long-held policy goals, Gravel (who would be old on Inauguration Day in 2021) said he planned to meet with them in April, and to discuss a 2020 White House run with his wife. On April 2, 2019, Gravel filed to officially run for office. The campaign called itself the \\\"#Gravelanche\\\". Gravel's initial stated goal was merely to qualify for debates by getting the required 65,000 small donors.\",\n \"Gravel's initial stated goal was merely to qualify for debates by getting the required 65,000 small donors. He discouraged people from voting for him and said his preferences were Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard, both of whom favor a non-interventionist foreign policy. But on April 29, Gravel's campaign said he was running to win, not just to participate in debates. In a subsequent interview, though, Gravel emphasized the virtue of Sanders and Gabbard in some order as a presidential ticket.\",\n \"In a subsequent interview, though, Gravel emphasized the virtue of Sanders and Gabbard in some order as a presidential ticket. Statements like these caused Vox to call Gravel \\\"2020's oddest Democratic presidential candidate\\\".\",\n \"Statements like these caused Vox to call Gravel \\\"2020's oddest Democratic presidential candidate\\\". The New York Times Magazine included Gravel as an example in the rise of democratic socialism in the United States also exemplified by Sanders's 2016 race and the 2018 election of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: \\\"[Gravel's] campaign represents the most absurd form of a legitimate movement on the left that feels little obligation to the Democratic Party.\\\"\",\n \"The New York Times Magazine included Gravel as an example in the rise of democratic socialism in the United States also exemplified by Sanders's 2016 race and the 2018 election of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: \\\"[Gravel's] campaign represents the most absurd form of a legitimate movement on the left that feels little obligation to the Democratic Party.\\\" In June 2019, Gravel touted the endorsement of Muntadher al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who, in December 2008, made headlines after he threw his shoes at President George W. Bush in protest of the U.S. war in Iraq.\",\n \"In June 2019, Gravel touted the endorsement of Muntadher al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who, in December 2008, made headlines after he threw his shoes at President George W. Bush in protest of the U.S. war in Iraq. Al-Zaidi endorsed Gravel based on his promise to improve White House policies regarding Iraq and the Middle East. On June 13, 2019, the Democratic Party announced the 20 major candidates who qualified for the first debate later that month.\",\n \"On June 13, 2019, the Democratic Party announced the 20 major candidates who qualified for the first debate later that month. Gravel was one of the four who missed out (the others were Montana Governor Steve Bullock, U.S. Representative Seth Moulton, and Miramar, Florida, Mayor Wayne Messam). Gravel had been unable to get the requisite number of donations, or to score one percent or better in enough polls (many polls did not even include him).\",\n \"Gravel had been unable to get the requisite number of donations, or to score one percent or better in enough polls (many polls did not even include him). Nevertheless, Gravel said he would not drop out and would try to qualify for the July debate. In early July, however, Gravel's campaign said it was still 10,000 contributions short of the 65,000-donor threshold and that it was \\\"nearing its conclusion\\\". It solicited suggestions for where to donate $100–150,000 of leftover campaign funds.\",\n \"It solicited suggestions for where to donate $100–150,000 of leftover campaign funds. Gravel added that he had always planned on ending the campaign before the teenagers in charge of it needed to return to school. A few days later the campaign became the first to run an attack ad against Democratic front-runner Joe Biden, using the text \\\"Is this the best our party has to offer?\\\" Gravel's campaign crossed the threshold of 65,000 donors on July 12, 2019, meeting the qualification mark for that month's debate.\",\n \"Gravel's campaign crossed the threshold of 65,000 donors on July 12, 2019, meeting the qualification mark for that month's debate. But because 20 other candidates, the maximum allowed to participate, had already met at least the polling criterion, which takes priority over the donor criterion, Gravel was not invited. The campaign officially came to a close on August 6, 2019, with Gravel endorsing both Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard for president.\",\n \"The campaign officially came to a close on August 6, 2019, with Gravel endorsing both Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard for president. Gravel's campaign later stated on Twitter that they never wanted to win but saw the campaign as an \\\"intimately democratic\\\" project and expressed honor at working with Gravel. Gravel said he would divide remaining campaign funds between charity and a new think tank which would espouse his ideas.\",\n \"Gravel said he would divide remaining campaign funds between charity and a new think tank which would espouse his ideas. The Gravel Institute Gravel used some of the funds remaining from his 2020 presidential campaign to found an eponymous progressive think tank called The Gravel Institute in 2019. As noted by Vice magazine, the institute aims to do battle with PragerU from a left-wing perspective.\",\n \"As noted by Vice magazine, the institute aims to do battle with PragerU from a left-wing perspective. Launched in September 2020, the new entity said it would \\\"carry on the life's work of former U.S Senator Mike Gravel in fighting for global peace and democracy. Its mission is to promote bold and forward-looking ideas about a more peaceful and egalitarian world, and to build a robust movement of young people to win it\\\".\",\n \"Its mission is to promote bold and forward-looking ideas about a more peaceful and egalitarian world, and to build a robust movement of young people to win it\\\". Contributors announced include Cornel West and Slavoj Žižek, as well as Lower Brule Indian Reservation activist Nick Estes.\",\n \"Contributors announced include Cornel West and Slavoj Žižek, as well as Lower Brule Indian Reservation activist Nick Estes. Other presenters have included and will include H. Jon Benjamin, Briahna Joy Gray, Bernie Sanders, Chelsea Manning, Richard Wolff, Stephanie Kelton, Zephyr Teachout, David Cross, Jabari Brisport, Zohran Mamdani, and Gravel himself (though it is unknown if his appearance will be cancelled due to his death in June 2021, or if the video has already been recorded).\",\n \"Other presenters have included and will include H. Jon Benjamin, Briahna Joy Gray, Bernie Sanders, Chelsea Manning, Richard Wolff, Stephanie Kelton, Zephyr Teachout, David Cross, Jabari Brisport, Zohran Mamdani, and Gravel himself (though it is unknown if his appearance will be cancelled due to his death in June 2021, or if the video has already been recorded). Death Gravel died of multiple myeloma at his home in Seaside, California, on June 26, 2021, at age 91.\",\n \"Death Gravel died of multiple myeloma at his home in Seaside, California, on June 26, 2021, at age 91. The obituary for him in The New York Times stated that Gravel was \\\"a two-term Democratic senator from Alaska ... who was perhaps better known as an unabashed attention-getter\\\" who later become known for \\\"mounting long-shot presidential runs\\\".\",\n \"The obituary for him in The New York Times stated that Gravel was \\\"a two-term Democratic senator from Alaska ... who was perhaps better known as an unabashed attention-getter\\\" who later become known for \\\"mounting long-shot presidential runs\\\". The obituary in The Washington Post was similar, saying that Gravel was \\\"an Alaska Democrat with a flair for the theatrical who rose from obscurity to brief renown\\\" and later \\\"ran quixotic campaigns for the presidency\\\".\",\n \"The obituary in The Washington Post was similar, saying that Gravel was \\\"an Alaska Democrat with a flair for the theatrical who rose from obscurity to brief renown\\\" and later \\\"ran quixotic campaigns for the presidency\\\". The Anchorage Daily News quoted Gravel as saying of himself in 1989, \\\"I'm an independent kind of guy. A rough and ready kind of guy. My glands work in a certain way that make me stand up, foolishly sometimes, and fight.\\\"\",\n \"My glands work in a certain way that make me stand up, foolishly sometimes, and fight.\\\" Political positions Alan Abramowitz and Jeffrey Allan Segal described Gravel as \\\"a maverick, if not an eccentric, in the Senate.\\\" His Americans for Democratic Action \\\"Liberal Quotient\\\" scores ranged from 81 out of 100 (1971) to 39 out of 100 (1980), with an average of around 61.\",\n \"His Americans for Democratic Action \\\"Liberal Quotient\\\" scores ranged from 81 out of 100 (1971) to 39 out of 100 (1980), with an average of around 61. His American Conservative Union scores ranged from 0 out of 100 (several years, including 1971 and 1972) to 38 out of 100 (1979), with an average of 14.\",\n \"His American Conservative Union scores ranged from 0 out of 100 (several years, including 1971 and 1972) to 38 out of 100 (1979), with an average of 14. Abramowitz and Segal note that Gravel's lowest ADA ratings coincided with his two Senate re-election bids, and for the most part his highest ACU ratings followed the same pattern.\",\n \"Abramowitz and Segal note that Gravel's lowest ADA ratings coincided with his two Senate re-election bids, and for the most part his highest ACU ratings followed the same pattern. In 1972, as a young senator, Gravel published Citizen Power: A People's Platform, a manifesto outlining what Kirkus Reviews termed a \\\"populist reform [that] would provide 'balanced political power' between the people and government and business interests.\\\"\",\n \"In 1972, as a young senator, Gravel published Citizen Power: A People's Platform, a manifesto outlining what Kirkus Reviews termed a \\\"populist reform [that] would provide 'balanced political power' between the people and government and business interests.\\\" Civil rights issues On drug policy, Gravel said in 2007 that he favored decriminalization and treating addiction as a public health matter.\",\n \"Civil rights issues On drug policy, Gravel said in 2007 that he favored decriminalization and treating addiction as a public health matter. During his 2008 presidential candidacy he condemned the War on Drugs as a failure, saying that it did \\\"nothing but savage our inner cities and put our children at risk\\\". Gravel called for abolition of capital punishment in his book Citizen Power, and adhered to this position during his 2008 run for president. He supported abortion rights.\",\n \"He supported abortion rights. He supported abortion rights. During the 2008 campaign Gravel was a strong supporter of LGBT rights. He supported same-sex marriage and opposed the Defense of Marriage Act and the U.S. military's \\\"don't ask, don't tell\\\" policy. He wrote in 2008 that \\\"depriving gays and lesbians of equal rights is immoral\\\". Foreign policy and defense issues Gravel was a critic of American imperialism. Gravel firmly opposed U.S. military action against Iran and Syria.\",\n \"Gravel firmly opposed U.S. military action against Iran and Syria. He voiced opposition to the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, the Military Commissions Act of 2006, the use of torture, indefinite detention, and what he called \\\"flagrant ignorance\\\" of the Geneva Convention. In 2014 Gravel called for the release of the full, unredacted Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture. Gravel opposed the use of international sanctions as a policy tool and blamed the ones against Iraq under Saddam Hussein for the deaths of a half-million children in that country.\",\n \"Gravel opposed the use of international sanctions as a policy tool and blamed the ones against Iraq under Saddam Hussein for the deaths of a half-million children in that country. In 2013 Gravel said that sanctions against Iran were \\\"illegal\\\". During his 2008 candidacy, Gravel called for a cut in military spending, variously reported to be 15 percent or 50 percent. He called for the savings to boost public education spending. To spur international nuclear nonproliferation efforts, Gravel called for unilateral reductions in the U.S. nuclear arsenal.\",\n \"To spur international nuclear nonproliferation efforts, Gravel called for unilateral reductions in the U.S. nuclear arsenal. In 2008 Gravel criticized the decision of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to not pursue the efforts to impeach George W. Bush and the attempted impeachment of Dick Cheney, saying also that Bush and Cheney had committed crimes and deserved \\\"to be prosecuted\\\" at The Hague.\",\n \"In 2008 Gravel criticized the decision of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to not pursue the efforts to impeach George W. Bush and the attempted impeachment of Dick Cheney, saying also that Bush and Cheney had committed crimes and deserved \\\"to be prosecuted\\\" at The Hague. In 2013 he expressed disdain for President Obama, calling him \\\"a total fraud\\\" and saying that both Bush and Obama should be tried \\\"for the crimes and murders they've committed\\\" in the International Court of Justice.\",\n \"In 2013 he expressed disdain for President Obama, calling him \\\"a total fraud\\\" and saying that both Bush and Obama should be tried \\\"for the crimes and murders they've committed\\\" in the International Court of Justice. Gravel specifically condemned Obama for the drone strikes in Pakistan and elsewhere.\",\n \"Gravel specifically condemned Obama for the drone strikes in Pakistan and elsewhere. Economy, immigration, and environment During his 2008 candidacy Gravel favored a FairTax scheme, which would abolish the Internal Revenue Service, eliminate the federal income tax (which Gravel called \\\"corrupt\\\"), and impose a national sales tax. While Gravel described FairTax as \\\"progressive\\\", others have criticized it as \\\"regressive\\\", disproportionately benefiting the wealthiest Americans.\",\n \"While Gravel described FairTax as \\\"progressive\\\", others have criticized it as \\\"regressive\\\", disproportionately benefiting the wealthiest Americans. To offset the new sales taxes on essential goods, Gravel's plan called for monthly government rebate payments to individuals and families. During his 2020 campaign Gravel also voiced support for a third legislative body that would give the people direct control of the budget as well as the implementation of a land value tax.\",\n \"During his 2020 campaign Gravel also voiced support for a third legislative body that would give the people direct control of the budget as well as the implementation of a land value tax. Gravel opposed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) during his 2008 candidacy, calling it unfair and economically harmful and needing renegotiation. Gravel believed that NAFTA was the \\\"root cause\\\" of illegal migration to the U.S. He favored a guest worker program and \\\"setting up naturalization procedures that would fairly bring immigrants into legal status\\\".\",\n \"He favored a guest worker program and \\\"setting up naturalization procedures that would fairly bring immigrants into legal status\\\". In a 2007 interview, Gravel identified himself as \\\"very much of a globalist\\\" who believed in open markets and open borders and condemned the scapegoating of undocumented immigrants. Gravel also said that he favored eliminating the cap on H1B visas. As a senator from Alaska, Gravel favored drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but opposed it during his 2008 campaign.\",\n \"As a senator from Alaska, Gravel favored drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but opposed it during his 2008 campaign. In 2008, Gravel supported a carbon tax to combat climate change. Gravel spoke in favor of net neutrality during his presidential campaign. Education and health care Gravel called for the cost of college tuition to be borne by the federal government, rather than students.\",\n \"Education and health care Gravel called for the cost of college tuition to be borne by the federal government, rather than students. In his 2008 campaign, he called the No Child Left Behind Act \\\"a failure\\\" and called for it to be \\\"reformed and fully funded\\\". He expressed support for universal pre-kindergarten and the expansion of the Head Start program; and expressed an openness to charter schools and school vouchers. He also suggested extending the school day and the school year, and supported merit pay for teachers.\",\n \"He also suggested extending the school day and the school year, and supported merit pay for teachers. Gravel also called for publicly funded universal health care to replace the current employer-sponsored health insurance system. He supported \\\"full funding\\\" of the VA system. When asked in 2007 about naturopathy, homeopathy, and acupuncture, Gravel said that he was \\\"very very much in favor\\\" of holistic health care. Awards and honors In 2008 Gravel received the Columbia University School of General Studies' first annual Isaac Asimov Lifetime Achievement Award.\",\n \"Awards and honors In 2008 Gravel received the Columbia University School of General Studies' first annual Isaac Asimov Lifetime Achievement Award. Electoral history Writings Gravel, Mike. Jobs and More Jobs. Mt. McKinley Publishers, 1968. Gravel, Mike. Citizen Power: A People's Platform. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1972. . revised and reissued as Citizen Power: A Mandate for Change, AuthorHouse, 2008. . Gravel, Mike and Lauria, Joe.\",\n \"Gravel, Mike and Lauria, Joe. Gravel, Mike and Lauria, Joe. A Political Odyssey: The Rise of American Militarism and One Man's Fight to Stop It. Seven Stories Press, 2008. . Gravel, Mike and Eisenbach, David. The Kingmakers: How the Media Threatens Our Security and Our Democracy. Phoenix Books, 2008. . Gravel, Mike. Voice of a Maverick: The Speeches and Writings of Senator Mike Gravel. Brandywine House, 2008. Gravel, Mike.\",\n \"Brandywine House, 2008. Gravel, Mike. Gravel, Mike. Foreword to Poisoned Power: The Case Against Nuclear Power Plants. John W. Goffman & Arthur R. Tamplin, Rodale Press, Inc., Emmaus, PA, June 1971. Gravel, Mike. The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People. AuthorHouse, 2020. Explanatory notes References Citations General references The Pentagon Papers Senator Gravel Edition. Vol. Five: Critical Essays. Boston: Beacon Press, 1972. 341p. plus 72p.\",\n \"Five: Critical Essays. Boston: Beacon Press, 1972. 341p. plus 72p. plus 72p. of Index to Vol. I–IV of the Papers; Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, editors.\",\n \"I–IV of the Papers; Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, editors. External links Mike Gravel official website The Gravel Institute |- |- 1930 births 2021 deaths 1972 United States vice-presidential candidates 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American politicians 20th-century Roman Catholics 20th-century Unitarians 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American politicians 21st-century Unitarians 9/11 conspiracy theorists Alaska Democrats American International College alumni American Unitarian Universalists American anti–Iraq War activists American conspiracy theorists American democracy activists American male non-fiction writers American people of French-Canadian descent American political writers American real estate businesspeople American stockbrokers Anti-corporate activists Assumption University (Worcester) alumni Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Businesspeople from Anchorage, Alaska Businesspeople from Springfield, Massachusetts California Democrats Candidates in the 2008 United States presidential election Candidates in the 2020 United States presidential election Columbia University School of General Studies alumni Deaths from cancer in California Deaths from multiple myeloma Democratic Party United States senators Direct democracy activists Drug policy reform activists Former Roman Catholics Virginia Libertarians Members of the Alaska House of Representatives Military personnel from Massachusetts Non-interventionism People from Arlington County, Virginia People from Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska People with dyslexia Politicians from Anchorage, Alaska Politicians from Springfield, Massachusetts Speakers of the Alaska House of Representatives United States Army officers United States senators from Alaska Writers about direct democracy Writers from Anchorage, Alaska\"\n]"}}},{"rowIdx":393,"cells":{"History":{"kind":"list like","value":["Mike Gravel","Run for Vice President in 1972","Who was Gavel's running mate?","I don't know.","Who did he compete against in 1972?","former Governor of Massachusetts Endicott Peabody had been running a quixotic campaign for the same post","What significant events happened during the campaign?","At the convention's final day on July 14, 1972, presidential nominee McGovern selected and announced Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri as his vice-presidential choice."],"string":"[\n \"Mike Gravel\",\n \"Run for Vice President in 1972\",\n \"Who was Gavel's running mate?\",\n \"I don't know.\",\n \"Who did he compete against in 1972?\",\n \"former Governor of Massachusetts Endicott Peabody had been running a quixotic campaign for the same post\",\n \"What significant events happened during the campaign?\",\n \"At the convention's final day on July 14, 1972, presidential nominee McGovern selected and announced Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri as his vice-presidential choice.\"\n]"},"QuAC_dialog_id":{"kind":"string","value":"C_99b905b192ab4470bbae0787f5f31d5c_1"},"Question":{"kind":"string","value":"What did Gravel do afterward?"},"Question_no":{"kind":"number","value":4,"string":"4"},"Rewrite":{"kind":"string","value":"What did Mike Gravel do after Senator Thomas Eagleton became McGovern's vice-presidential choice?"},"true_page_title":{"kind":"string","value":"Mike Gravel"},"true_contexts":{"kind":"string","value":"Gravel \"decided to become a pioneer in a faraway place,\" and moved to pre-statehood Alaska in August 1956, without funds or a job, looking for a place where someone without social or political connections could be a viable candidate for public office. Alaska's voting age of 19, less than most other states' 21, played a role in his decision, as did its newness and cooler climate. Broke when he arrived, he immediately found work in real estate sales until winter arrived. Gravel then was employed as a brakeman for the Alaska Railroad, working the snow-clearing train on the Anchorage-Fairbanks run. Subsequently, he opened a small real estate brokerage in Anchorage (the Territory of Alaska not requiring a license) and saved enough so as not to have to work the railroad again. Gravel joined the Anchorage Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, and continued a sporadic relationship with the movement throughout his life. Gravel married Rita Jeannette Martin, who had been Anchorage's \"Miss Fur Rendezvous\" of 1958, on April 29, 1959. They had two children, Martin Anthony Gravel and Lynne Denise Gravel, born c. 1960 and 1962 respectively. Meanwhile, he went to Washington, D.C. in 1957 to campaign for Alaskan statehood via the \"Tennessee Plan\": dressed as Paul Revere, he rode with a petition to the steps of the U.S. Capitol. Seeing Alaska as a wide-open place with no political establishment or entrenched interests, and using the slogan \"Gravel, the Roadbed to Prosperity\", he ran for the territorial legislature in 1958 but lost. He went on a national speaking tour concerning tax reform in 1959, sponsored by the Jaycees. He ran without avail for the City Council in Anchorage in 1960. During this time, he had become a successful real estate agent; after the 1960 election, he became a property developer in a mobile home park on the outskirts of Anchorage. A partner ran into financial difficulty, however, and the project went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy and Gravel was forced out in 1962. In the late 1960s and early 1970s the U.S. Department of Defense was in the process of performing tests for the nuclear warhead for the Spartan anti-ballistic missile. Two tests, the \"Milrow\" and \"Cannikin\" tests, were planned, involving the detonation of nuclear bombs under Amchitka Island in Alaska. The Milrow test would be a one megaton calibration exercise for the second, and larger five megaton, Cannikin test, which would measure the effectiveness of the warhead. Gravel opposed the tests in Congress. Before the Milrow test took place in October 1969, he wrote that there were significant risks of earthquakes and other adverse consequences, and called for an independent national commission on nuclear and seismic safety to be created; he then made a personal appeal to President Nixon to stop the test. After Milrow was conducted, there was continued pressure on the part of environmental groups against going forward with the larger Cannikin test, while the Federation of American Scientists claimed that the warhead being tested was already obsolete. In May 1971, Gravel sent a letter to U.S. Atomic Energy Commission hearings held in Anchorage, in which he said the risk of the test was not worth taking. Eventually a group not involving Gravel took the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to issue an injunction against it, and the Cannikin test took place as scheduled in November 1971. Gravel had failed to stop the tests (notwithstanding his later claims during his 2008 presidential campaign). Nuclear power was considered an environmentally clean alternative for the commercial generation of electricity and was part of a popular national policy for the peaceful use of atomic energy in the 1950s and 1960s. Gravel publicly opposed this policy; besides the dangers of nuclear testing, he was a vocal critic of the Atomic Energy Commission, which oversaw American nuclear efforts, and of the powerful United States Congress Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, which had a stranglehold on nuclear policy and which Gravel tried to circumvent. In 1971, Gravel sponsored a bill to impose a moratorium on nuclear power plant construction and to make power utilities liable for any nuclear accidents; in 1975, he was still proposing similar moratoriums. By 1974, Gravel was allied with Ralph Nader's organization in opposing nuclear power. Six months before U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's secret mission to the People's Republic of China (P.R.C.) in July 1971, Gravel introduced legislation to recognize and normalize relations with China, including a proposal for unity talks between the P.R.C. and the Republic of China (Taiwan) regarding the Chinese seat on the U.N. Security Council. Gravel reiterated his position in favor of recognition, with four other senators in agreement, during Senate hearings in June 1971. Gravel actively campaigned for the office of Vice President of the United States during the 1972 presidential election, announcing on June 2, 1972, over a month before the 1972 Democratic National Convention began, that he was interested in running for the nomination should the choice be opened up to convention delegates. Towards this end he began soliciting delegates for their support in advance of the convention. He was not alone in this effort, as former Governor of Massachusetts Endicott Peabody had been running a quixotic campaign for the same post since the prior year. Likely presidential nominee George McGovern was in fact considering the unusual move of naming three or four acceptable vice-presidential candidates and letting the delegates choose. At the convention's final day on July 14, 1972, presidential nominee McGovern selected and announced Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri as his vice-presidential choice. Eagleton was unknown to many delegates and the choice seemed to smack of traditional ticket balancing considerations. Thus, there were delegates willing to look elsewhere. Gravel was nominated by Bettye Fahrenkamp, the Democratic National Committeewoman from Alaska. He then seconded his own nomination, breaking down in tears at his own words and maybe trying to withdraw his nomination. In any case he won 226 delegate votes, coming in third behind Eagleton and Frances \"Sissy\" Farenthold of Texas, in chaotic balloting that included several other candidates as well. For his efforts, Gravel attracted some attention: famed writer Norman Mailer would say he \"provided considerable excitement\" and was \"good-looking enough to have played leads in B-films\", while Rolling Stone correspondent Hunter S. Thompson said Gravel \"probably said a few things that might have been worth hearing, under different circumstances ...\" Yet, the whole process had been doubly disastrous for the Democrats. The time consumed with the nominating and seconding and other speeches of all the vice-presidential candidates had lost the attention of the delegates on the floor and pushed McGovern's speech until 3:30 a.m. The haste with which Eagleton had been selected led to surprise when his past mental health treatments were revealed; he withdrew from the ticket soon after the convention, to be replaced by Sargent Shriver. CANNOTANSWER"},"answer":{"kind":"string","value":"Gravel was nominated by Bettye Fahrenkamp, the Democratic National Committeewoman from Alaska."},"true_contexts_wiki":{"kind":"string","value":"Maurice Robert Gravel ( ; May 13, 1930 – June 26, 2021) was an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Alaska from 1969 to 1981 as a member of the Democratic Party, and who, in later life, twice ran for the presidential nomination of that party.\n\nBorn and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, by French-Canadian immigrant parents, Gravel moved to Alaska in the late 1950s, becoming a real estate developer and entering politics. He served in the Alaska House of Representatives from 1963 to 1967, and also became Speaker of the Alaska House. Gravel was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1968.\n\nAs a senator, Gravel became nationally known for his forceful, but unsuccessful, attempts to end the draft during the War in Vietnam, and for putting the Pentagon Papers into the public record in 1971. He conducted a campaign for the Democratic nomination in 1972 for Vice President of the United States, and then played a crucial role in obtaining Congressional approval for the Trans-Alaska pipeline in 1973. He was re-elected to the Senate in 1974, but was defeated in his bid for a third term in the primary election in 1980.\n\nAn advocate of direct democracy and the National Initiative, Gravel staged a run for the 2008 Democratic nomination for President of the United States. His campaign failed to gain support, and in March 2008, he left the Democratic Party and joined the Libertarian Party to compete unsuccessfully for its presidential nomination and the inclusion of the National Initiative into the Libertarian Platform. He ran for president as a Democrat again in the 2020 election, in a campaign that ended four months after it began. Two years before his death, Gravel and his campaign staff founded the progressive think tank The Gravel Institute.\n\nEarly life, military service, education\nGravel was born on May 13, 1930, in Springfield, Massachusetts, one of five children of French-Canadian immigrant parents, Alphonse and Marie (née Bourassa) Gravel. His parents were part of the Quebec diaspora, and he was raised in a working-class neighborhood during the Great Depression, speaking only French until he was seven years old. Calling him \"Mike\" from an early age, his father valued work above all else, while his mother stressed the importance of education.\n\nGravel was educated in parochial schools as a Roman Catholic. There he struggled, due to what he later said was undiagnosed dyslexia, and was left back in third grade. He completed elementary school in 1945 and his class voted him \"most charming personality\". A summer job as a soda jerk led to Gravel handing out campaign fliers for local candidates on his boss's behalf; Gravel was immediately impressed with \"the awesomeness of political office\".\n\nGravel then boarded at Assumption Preparatory School in Worcester, Massachusetts, where his performance was initially mediocre. By Gravel's telling, in the summer of 1948 he intended to volunteer for the Israel Defense Forces during the 1947–1949 Palestine war, but Alexandra Tolstaya told him to return to school. There an English teacher, the Assumptionist Edgar Bourque, gave him personal attention, improving Gravel's language skills and instructing him in public speaking. Gravel's grades improved measurably in his final year and he graduated in 1949. His sister, Marguerite, became a Holy Cross nun, but Gravel himself struggled with the Catholic faith. He studied for one year at Assumption College, a Catholic school in Worcester, then transferred for his sophomore year to American International College in Springfield. Journalist I. F. Stone and philosopher Bertrand Russell strongly influenced Gravel in their willingness to challenge assumptions and oppose social convention and political authority.\n\nAround May 1951, Gravel saw that he was about to be drafted and instead enlisted in the U.S. Army for a three-year term so that he could get into the Counterintelligence Corps. After basic training and counterintelligence school at Fort Holabird in Maryland and in South Carolina, he went to Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia. While he expected to be sent off to the Korean War when he graduated as a second lieutenant in early 1952, he was instead assigned to Stuttgart, West Germany, as a Special Adjutant in the Army's Communications Intelligence Service. In Germany, Gravel conducted surveillance operations on civilians and paid off spies. After about a year, he transferred to Orléans, France, where his French language abilities (if not his French-Canadian accent) allowed him to infiltrate French communist rallies. He worked as a Special Agent in the Counterintelligence Corps until 1954, eventually becoming a first lieutenant.\n\nFollowing his discharge, Gravel entered the Columbia University School of General Studies in New York City, where he studied economics and received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1956. He moved to New York \"flat broke\" and supported himself by working as a bar boy in a hotel, driving a taxicab, and working in the investment bond department at Bankers Trust. During this time he left the Roman Catholic faith.\n\nMove to Alaska\n\nGravel \"decided to become a pioneer in a faraway place,\" and moved to pre-statehood Alaska in August 1956, without funds or a job, looking for a place where someone without social or political connections could be a viable candidate for public office. Alaska's voting age of 19, less than most other states' 21, played a role in his decision, as did its newness and cooler climate. Broke when he arrived, he immediately found work in real estate sales until winter arrived. Gravel then was employed as a brakeman for the Alaska Railroad, working the snow-clearing train on the Anchorage-to-Fairbanks run. Subsequently, he opened a small real estate brokerage in Anchorage (the Territory of Alaska not requiring a license) and saved enough so as not to have to work the railroad again. The firm was named the M. R. Gravel Real Estate Company. Gravel joined the Anchorage Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, and continued a sporadic relationship with the movement throughout his life.\n\nSeeing Alaska as a wide-open place with no political establishment or entrenched interests, Gravel quickly became part of the civic scene there. By October 1957 he was a Division Chairman for Anchorage for the Democratic Central Committee in the territory, and by June 1958 he was president of the Alaska Young Democrats organization. He also became active in the United States Junior Chamber (Jaycees), and by early 1958 his duties included handing out awards for farmer of the year.\n\nBy early 1958, Gravel was running as Democratic Party primary candidate for a Third Division seat in House of Representative of the territorial legislature. (This was one of the four judicial divisions into which Alaska was sectioned at the time.) Using the slogan \"Gravel, the Roadbed to Prosperity\", he ran but lost. At the same time, he was also an advocate for Alaskan statehood.\n\nGravel went on a 44-state national speaking tour concerning tax reform in 1959, sponsored by the Jaycees, often dressing for events as Paul Revere. Gravel was selected from some two thousand applications for this position. The tour received a good amount of local newspaper coverage at its various stops, with Gravel's first name sometimes given as Mike and other times as Maurice. The tour's general message was an urging of \"lower taxes, more efficiency in government and a system of taxation moderate at all levels of income\". At several stops Gravel stated that the \"tide of socialism\" had to be stopped. He elaborated at another stop, \"It is part of our Jaycee creed that economic justice can best be won by free men through free enterprise. We really want to see that free enterprise become our inheritance.\" The tour was scheduled to conclude in Washington D.C., on Tax Day, April 15, with petition signatures accumulated for reform to be presented to U.S. lawmakers: dressed as Revere, Gravel rode with the petition to the steps of the U.S. Capitol.\n\nThe tour over, Gravel married Rita Jeannette Martin at the First Methodist Church of Anchorage on April 29, 1959. She was a native of Montana who had attended Billings Business College before moving to Alaska two years prior and becoming a secretary in the office of the Anchorage city manager. She had also been named Anchorage's \"Miss Fur Rendezvous\" of 1958. They had two children, Martin Anthony Gravel and Lynne Denise Gravel, born c. 1960 and 1962 respectively.\n\nGravel ran without avail for the City Council in Anchorage in 1960. During this time, he had become a successful real estate agent; after the 1960 election, he became a property developer in a mobile home park on the outskirts of Anchorage. After a partner ran into financial difficulty, however, the project went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and Gravel was forced out in 1962.\n\nState legislator\n\nWith the support of Alaska wholesale grocer Barney Gottstein and supermarket builder Larry Carr, Gravel ran for the Alaska House of Representatives representing Anchorage in 1962, initially assigned the 10th and then 8th districts. Alaska had very crowded primaries that year: Gravel was one of 33 Democrats, along with 21 Republicans, who were running for the chance to compete for the 14 House seats allocated to the 8th district. Gravel made it through the primary, and in November eight Republicans and six Democrats were elected to the House from the district, with Gravel finishing eighth overall and third among with Democrats, with 8,174 votes. Gottstein became Gravel's main financial backer during most of his subsequent campaigns.\n\nGravel served in the Alaska House of Representatives from January 28, 1963 to January 22, 1967, winning reelection in 1964. In his first term, he served as a minority member on two House committees: Commerce, and Labor and Management. He co-authored and sponsored the act that created the Alaska State Commission for Human Rights. Gravel was the chief architect of the law that created a regional high school system for rural Alaska; this allowed Alaska Natives to attend schools near where they lived instead of having to go to schools run by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the lower 48 states.\n\nDuring the half-years that the legislature was not in session, Gravel resumed his real estate work. With Gottstein and Carr's backing, he became quite successful as a property developer on the Kenai Peninsula.\n\nDuring 1965 and 1966, he served as the Speaker of the House, surprising observers by winning that post. Gravel convinced former Speaker Warren A. Taylor to not try for the position against him by promising Taylor chairmanship of the Rules Committee, then reneged on the promise. Gravel denied later press charges that he had promised but not delivered on other committee chairmanships. As Speaker he antagonized fellow lawmakers by imposing his will on the legislature's committees and feuded with Alaska State Senate president Robert J. McNealy.\n\nGravel did not run for reelection in 1966, instead choosing to run for Alaska's seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, losing the primary to four-term incumbent Democrat Ralph Rivers by 1,300 votes and splitting the Democratic Party in the process. Rivers lost the general election that year to Republican state Senator Howard Pollock. Following this defeat, Gravel returned to the real estate business in Anchorage.\n\nU.S. Senator\n\nElection to Senate in 1968\nIn 1968, Gravel ran against 81-year-old incumbent Democratic United States Senator Ernest Gruening, a popular former governor of the Alaska Territory who was considered one of the fathers of Alaska's statehood, for his party's nomination to the U.S. Senate. Gravel's campaign was primarily based on his youth and telegenic appearance rather than issue differences. He hired Joseph Napolitan, the first self-described political consultant, in late 1966. They spent over a year and a half planning a short, nine-day primary election campaign that featured the slogans \"Alaska first\" and \"Let's do something about the state we're in\", the distribution of a collection of essays titled Jobs and More Jobs, and the creation of a half-hour, well-produced, glamorized biographical film of Gravel, Man for Alaska. The film was shown twice a day on every television station in Alaska, and carried by plane and shown on home projectors in hundreds of Alaska Native villages. The heavy showings quickly reversed a 2–to–1 Gruening lead in polls into a Gravel lead. Gravel visited many remote villages by seaplane and showed a thorough understanding of the needs of the bush country and the fishing and oil industries. Gravel also benefited from maintaining a deliberately ambiguous posture about Vietnam policy. Gruening had been one of only two Senators to vote against the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and his opposition to President Lyndon B. Johnson's war policies was harming him among the Democratic electorate; according to Gravel, \"all I had to do was stand up and not deal with the subject, and people would assume that I was to the right of Ernest Gruening, when in point of fact I was to the left of him\". In Man for Alaska, Gravel argued that \"the liberals\" would come to West Germany's defense if it was attacked, and that the same standard should apply to the United States' allies in Asia. During the campaign he also claimed that he was \"more in the mainstream of American thought on Vietnam\" than Gruening, despite the fact that he had written to Gruening to praise his antiwar stance four years earlier. Decades later, Gravel conceded that \"I said what I said [about Vietnam] to advance my career.\"\n\nGravel beat Gruening in the primary by about 2,000 votes. Gruening found \"the unexpected defeat hard to take\" and thought that some aspects of his opponent's biographical film had misled viewers. In the general election, Gravel faced Republican Elmer E. Rasmuson, a banker and former mayor of Anchorage. College students in the state implored Gruening to run a write-in campaign as an Independent, but legal battles prevented him from getting approval for it until only two weeks were left. A late appearance by anti-war presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy did not offset Gruening's lack of funds and endorsements; meanwhile, Gravel and Rasmuson both saturated local media with their filmed biographies. On November 5, 1968, Gravel won the general election with 45 percent of the vote to Rasmuson's 37 percent and Gruening's 18 percent.\n\nSenate assignments and style\nWhen Gravel joined the U.S.Senate in January 1969, he requested and received a seat on the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee, which had direct relevance to Alaskan issues. He also got a spot on the Public Works Committee, which he held throughout his time in the Senate. Finally, he was a member of the Select Committee on Small Business. In 1971 he became chair of the Public Works Committee's Subcommittee on Public Buildings and Grounds, and by 1973 he was chair of its Subcommittee on Water Resources, then later its Subcommittee on Environmental Pollution. Gravel was also initially named to the Joint Committee on Congressional Operations. By 1973 Gravel was off the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee and the Select Small Business Committee and instead a member of the Finance Committee, and by 1977 was chair of that body's Subcommittee on Energy and Foundations. By 1973 he had also been on the ad hoc Special Committee to Study Secret and Confidential Government Documents.\n\nBy his own admission, Gravel was too new and \"too abrasive\" to be effective in the Senate by the usual means of seniority-based committee assignments or negotiating deals with other senators, and was sometimes seen as arrogant or a nuisance by the more senior and tradition-oriented members. Gravel relied on attention-getting gestures to achieve what he wanted, hoping national exposure would force other senators to listen to him. But even senators who agreed with him on issues considered his methods to be showboating.\n\nAs part of this approach, Gravel voted with Southern Democrats to keep the Senate filibuster rule in place, and accordingly supported Russell Long and Robert Byrd but opposed Ted Kennedy in Senate leadership battles. In retrospective assessment, University of Alaska Anchorage history professor Stephen Haycox said, \"Loose cannon is a good description of Gravel's Senate career. He was an off-the-wall guy, and you weren't really ever sure what he would do.\"\n\nNuclear issues and the Cold War\nIn the late 1960s and early 1970s the U.S. Department of Defense was in the process of performing tests for the nuclear warhead for the Spartan anti-ballistic missile. Two tests, the \"Milrow\" and \"Cannikin\" tests, were planned, involving the detonation of nuclear bombs under Amchitka Island in Alaska. The Milrow test would be a one-megaton calibration exercise for the second and larger five-megaton Cannikin test, which would measure the effectiveness of the warhead. Gravel opposed the tests. Before the Milrow test took place in October 1969, he wrote that there were significant risks of earthquakes and other adverse consequences and called for an independent national commission on nuclear and seismic safety; he then made a personal appeal to President Richard Nixon to stop the test.\n\nAfter Milrow was conducted, there was continued pressure on the part of environmental groups against going forward with the Cannikin test, while the Federation of American Scientists claimed that the warhead being tested was already obsolete. In May 1971 Gravel sent a letter to U.S. Atomic Energy Commission hearings held in Anchorage in which he said the risk of the test was not worth taking. Eventually a group not involving Gravel took the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to issue an injunction against it, and the Cannikin test took place as scheduled in November 1971. Gravel had failed to stop the tests (notwithstanding his later claims during his 2008 presidential campaign).\n\nIn 1971 Gravel voted against the Nixon administration's proposed anti-ballistic missile system, the Safeguard Program, having previously vacillated over the issue, suggesting that he might be willing to support it in exchange for federal lands in Alaska being opened up for private oil drilling. His vote alienated Senator Henry \"Scoop\" Jackson, who had raised funds for Gravel's primary campaign.\n\nNuclear power was considered an environmentally clean alternative for commercial generation of electricity and was part of a popular national policy for the peaceful use of atomic energy in the 1950s and 1960s. Gravel publicly opposed this policy; besides the dangers of nuclear testing, he was a vocal critic of the Atomic Energy Commission, which oversaw American nuclear efforts, and of the powerful United States Congress Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, which had a stranglehold on nuclear policy and which Gravel tried to circumvent. In 1971 Gravel sponsored a bill to impose a moratorium on nuclear power plant construction and to make power utilities liable for any nuclear accidents; in 1975 he was still proposing similar moratoriums. By 1974 Gravel was allied with Ralph Nader's organization in opposing nuclear power.\n\nSix months before U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's July 1971 secret mission to the People's Republic of China (P.R.C.), Gravel introduced legislation to recognize and normalize relations with the P.R.C., including a proposal for unity talks between the P.R.C. and the Republic of China (Taiwan) regarding the Chinese seat on the U.N. Security Council. He reiterated his position in favor of recognition, with four other senators in agreement, during Senate hearings in June 1971.\n\nVietnam War, the draft, and the Pentagon Papers\nAlthough he did not campaign against the Vietnam War during his first Senate campaign, by the end of 1970 Gravel was speaking out against United States policy in southeast Asia: in December of that year he persuaded William Fulbright to join him in a spontaneous two-day filibuster against a $155 million military aid package to Cambodia's Khmer Republic government in the Cambodian Civil War.\n\nPresident Richard Nixon had campaigned in 1968 on a promise to end the U.S. military draft, a decision endorsed by the February 1970 report of the Gates Commission.\nThe existing draft law was scheduled to conclude at the end of June 1971, and the Senate faced a contentious debate about whether to extend it as the Vietnam War continued. The Nixon administration announced in February 1971 that it wanted a two-year extension to June 1973, after which the draft would end; Army planners had already been operating under the assumption of a two-year extension, after which an all-volunteer force would be in place. Skeptics such as Senate Armed Services Committee chairman John Stennis thought this unrealistic and wanted a four-year extension, but the two-year proposal is what went forward in Congress. By early May 1971, Gravel had indicated his intention to filibuster the draft renewal legislation, halting conscription and thereby bringing U.S. involvement in the war to a rapid end. During this period he also supported efforts to mobilize and influence public opinion against the war, endorsing the \"Vietnam War Out Now\" rallies in Washington D.C. and San Francisco on April 24, 1971, and financing a broadcast campaign by the antiwar group War No More with a personal loan. In June 1972 he escorted a group of over 100 antiwar protesters, including psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton, actress Candice Bergen, theater producer and director Joseph Papp, and peditrician Dr. Benjamin Spock, into the United States Capitol Building; the group was arrested after blocking a hallway outside the Senate chamber.\n\nBy June 1971, some Democratic senators opposed to the war wanted to limit the renewal to a one-year extension, while others wanted to end it immediately; Gravel reiterated that he was one of the latter, saying, \"It's a senseless war, and one way to do away with it is to do away with the draft.\" A Senate vote on June 4 indicated majority support for the two-year extension. On June 18 Gravel announced again his intention to counteract that by filibustering the renewal legislation, defending the practice against those who associated it only with blocking civil rights legislation. The first filibuster attempt failed on June 23 when, by three votes, the Senate voted cloture for only the fifth time since 1927.\n\nProtracted negotiations took place over House conference negotiations on the bill, revolving in large part around Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield's eventually unsuccessful amendment to tie renewal to a troop withdrawal timetable from Vietnam; during this time the draft law expired and no more were conscripted. On August 5, the Nixon administration pleaded for a renewal before the Senate went on recess, but Gravel blocked Stennis's attempt to limit debate, and no vote was held. Finally on September 21, 1971, the Senate invoked cloture over Gravel's second filibuster attempt by one vote, and then passed the two-year draft extension. Gravel's attempts to stop the draft had failed (notwithstanding Gravel's later claims that he had stopped or shortened the draft, taken at face value in some media reports, during his 2008 presidential campaign).\n\nMeanwhile, on June 13, 1971, The New York Times began printing large portions of the Pentagon Papers. The papers were a large collection of secret government documents and studies pertaining to the Vietnam War, of which former Defense Department analyst Daniel Ellsberg had made unauthorized copies and was determined to make public. Ellsberg had for a year and a half approached members of Congress – such as William Fulbright, George McGovern, Charles Mathias, and Pete McCloskey – about publishing the documents, on the grounds that the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution would give congressional members immunity from prosecution, but all had refused. Instead, Ellsberg gave the documents to the Times.\n\nThe U.S. Justice Department immediately tried to halt publication, on the grounds that the information revealed within the papers harmed the national interest. Within the next two weeks, a federal court injunction halted publication in the Times; The Washington Post and several other newspapers began publishing parts of the documents, with some of them also being halted by injunctions; and the whole matter went to the U.S. Supreme Court for arguments. Looking for an alternate publication mechanism, Ellsberg returned to his idea of having a member of Congress read them, and chose Gravel based on the latter's efforts against the draft; Gravel agreed where previously others had not. Ellsberg arranged for the papers to be given to Gravel on June 26 via an intermediary, Post editor Ben Bagdikian. Gravel used his counter-intelligence experience to choose a midnight transfer in front of the Mayflower Hotel in the center of Washington, D.C.\n\nOn the night of June 29, 1971, Gravel attempted to read the papers on the floor of the Senate as part of his filibuster against the draft, but was thwarted when no quorum could be formed. Gravel instead convened a session of the Buildings and Grounds subcommittee that he chaired. He got New York Congressman John G. Dow to testify that the war had soaked up funding for public buildings, thus making discussion of the war relevant to the committee. He began reading from the papers with the press in attendance, omitting supporting documents that he felt might compromise national security, and declaring, \"It is my constitutional obligation to protect the security of the people by fostering the free flow of information absolutely essential to their democratic decision-making.\"\n\nHe read until 1 a.m., culminating by saying \"Arms are being severed. Metal is clashing through human bodies because of the public policy this government and all its branches continue to support.\" Then with tears and sobs he said that he could no longer physically continue, the previous three nights of sleeplessness and fear about the future having taken their toll. Gravel ended the session by, with no other senators present, establishing unanimous consent to insert 4,100 pages of the Papers into the Congressional Record of his subcommittee. The following day, the Supreme Court's New York Times Co. v. United States decision ruled in favor of the newspapers and publication in the Times and others resumed. In July 1971 Bantam Books published an inexpensive paperback edition of the papers containing the material the Times had published.\n\nGravel, too, wanted to privately publish the portion of the papers he had read into the record, believing that \"immediate disclosure of the contents of these papers will change the policy that supports the war\". After being turned down by many commercial publishers, on August 4 he reached agreement with Beacon Press, the publishing arm of the Unitarian Universalist Association, of which Gravel was a member. Announced on August 17 and published on October 22, 1971, this four-volume, relatively expensive set became the \"Senator Gravel Edition\", which studies from Cornell University and the Annenberg Center for Communication have labeled as the most complete edition of the Pentagon Papers to be published. The \"Gravel Edition\" was edited and annotated by Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn, and included an additional volume of analytical articles on the origins and progress of the war, also edited by Chomsky and Zinn. Beacon Press then was subjected to a FBI investigation; an outgrowth of this was the Gravel v. United States court case, which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled upon in June 1972; it held that the Speech or Debate Clause did grant immunity to Gravel for his reading the papers in his subcommittee, did grant some immunity to Gravel's congressional aide, but granted no immunity to Beacon Press in relation to their publishing the same papers. The U.S. Senate Democratic Caucus backed Gravel in the case, but due to Republican opposition it did not pay Gravel's legal fees, leaving him owing $25,000 (the equivalent of $150,000 in 2019, adjusted for inflation).\n\nThe events of 1971 changed Gravel in the following months from an obscure freshman senator to a nationally visible political figure. He became a sought-after speaker on the college circuit as well as at political fundraisers, opportunities he welcomed as lectures were \"the one honest way a Senator has to supplement his income\". But his speaking tours caused him to accrue one of the worst absentee records in the Senate. The Democratic candidates for the 1972 presidential election sought his endorsement. In January 1972 Gravel endorsed Maine Senator Ed Muskie, hoping that his support would help Muskie with the party's left wing and in ethnic French-Canadian areas during the first primary contest in New Hampshire (Muskie won, but not overwhelmingly, and his campaign faltered soon after). In April 1972 Gravel appeared on all three networks' nightly newscasts to decry the Nixon administration's reliance on Vietnamization by making reference to the secret National Security Study Memorandum 1 document, which stated it would take 8–13 years for the Army of the Republic of Vietnam to defend South Vietnam. Gravel made excerpts from the study public, but senators Robert P. Griffin and William B. Saxbe blocked his attempt to read NSSM 1 into the Congressional Record.\n\nDomestic policy \nIn 1970 Gravel co-sponsored legislation to establish a guaranteed minimum income, entitling poor families to up to $6,300 a year (the equivalent of $42,000 in 2019 after adjustment for inflation). He subsequently voted for a \"work bonus\" program, which would have entitled low-income working families with dependent children if they were paying Social Security or Railroad Retirement taxes to a non-taxable bonus of up to 10 percent of their wages. Gravel also supported extending Social Security to all federal employees and introduced a campaign finance reform bill in 1971 that would have enacted full disclosure of campaign financing, placed limits on large donations, media spending and individual candidate spending.\n\nIn 1969, Gravel was the only Democratic Senator outside of the South to vote for Nixon's Supreme Court nominee Clement Haynsworth. The following year Gravel opposed Nixon's next pick, G. Harrold Carswell.\n\nRun for vice president in 1972\nGravel actively campaigned for the office of Vice President of the United States during the 1972 presidential election, announcing on June 2, 1972, over a month before the 1972 Democratic National Convention began, that he was interested in the nomination should the choice be opened up to convention delegates. Toward this end he began soliciting delegates for their support. He was not alone in this effort, as former Governor of Massachusetts Endicott Peabody had been running a quixotic campaign for the same post since the prior year. Likely presidential nominee George McGovern was in fact considering the unusual move of naming three or four acceptable vice-presidential candidates and letting the delegates choose.\n\nOn the convention's final day, July 14, 1972, McGovern selected and announced Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri as his vice-presidential choice. Eagleton was unknown to many delegates and the choice seemed to smack of traditional ticket balancing considerations. Thus there were delegates willing to look elsewhere. Gravel was nominated by Bettye Fahrenkamp, the Democratic National Committeewoman from Alaska. He then seconded his own nomination, breaking down in tears at his own words and maybe trying to withdraw his nomination. In any case he won 226 delegate votes, coming in third behind Eagleton and Frances \"Sissy\" Farenthold of Texas, in chaotic balloting that included several other candidates.\n\nGravel attracted some attention for his efforts: writer Norman Mailer said he \"provided considerable excitement\" and was \"good-looking enough to have played leads in B-films\", while Rolling Stone correspondent Hunter S. Thompson said Gravel \"probably said a few things that might have been worth hearing, under different circumstances\". Yet the process was doubly disastrous for the Democrats. In the time consumed by nominating and seconding and all the vice-presidential candidates' speeches, the attention of the delegates on the floor was lost and McGovern's speech was pushed to 3:30 a.m. The haste with which Eagleton was selected led to surprise when his past mental health treatments were revealed; he withdrew from the ticket soon after the convention, to be replaced by Sargent Shriver.\n\nReelection to Senate in 1974\nSeveral years earlier, Alaska politicians had speculated that Gravel would have a hard time getting both renominated and elected when his first term expired, given that he was originally elected without a base party organization and tended to focus on national rather than local issues.\n\nNonetheless, after receiving support from national and local labor leaders, securing key earmarks, and producing another half-hour TV advertorial, in 1974 Gravel was reelected to the Senate, with 58 percent of the vote to 42 percent for Republican State Senator C. R. Lewis, who was a national officer of the John Birch Society.\n\nSecond term\nGravel's reelection campaign left him $65,000–$75,000 in debt. In 1975 The Washington Post reported on a memo by his executive assistant laying out a fundraising strategy to tackle this, including raising funds from oil companies, meeting with previous donors and \"inquir[ing] into the governmental priorities of these people and their groups in the coming session\", as well as obtaining further speaking fees to reduce his personal debt. This was followed by a number of stories about links between Gravel, lobbyists and fundraisers, including one that was widely publicized in Alaska about his holding a share in a Colorado resort with two Washington lobbyists he was working with on land and energy legislation. Gravel had been open about the investment and had opposing views to one of the lobbyists on nuclear power. In 1980 the Wall Street Journal published details about his fundraising activities, including writing to individuals and PACs in the oil industry, pledging to kill off proposals for a windfall profits tax on the sector, and traveling in the Middle East with the business partner of one of his donors to sell Alaskan land to businessmen. Gravel suggested that critics of his fundraising were \"naive\".\n\nIn 1975 Gravel introduced an amendment to cut the number of troops overseas by 200,000, but it was defeated on a voice vote.\n\nIn September 1975 Gravel was named as one of several Congressional Advisers to the Seventh Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly, which met to discuss problems related to economic development and international economic cooperation.\n\nIn June 1976 Gravel was the focus of a federal investigation into allegations that he was involved in a sex-for-vote arrangement. Congressional staff clerk Elizabeth Ray (who had already been involved in a sex scandal that led to the downfall of Representative Wayne Hays) said that in August 1972 she had sex with Gravel aboard a houseboat on the Potomac River, under the instruction of Representative Kenneth J. Gray, her boss at the time. Gray allegedly wanted to secure Gravel's support for further funding for construction of the National Visitor Center in Washington, a troubled project that was under the jurisdiction of subcommittees that both members chaired. Another Congressional staffer said she witnessed the boat encounter, but Gravel said at the time that he had never met either of the women. Gravel and Gray strongly denied that they had made any arrangement regarding legislation, and neither was ever charged with any wrongdoing. Decades later Gravel wrote that he had indeed had sex with Ray, but had not changed any votes because of it.\n\nGravel and his main financial backer, Gottstein, had a falling out in 1978, during the Congressional debate over whether to allow a controversial sale of U.S. F-15 fighter aircraft to Saudi Arabia. An ardent backer of Israel, Gottstein opposed the sale and asked Gravel to vote against it. But Gravel not only voted for it but made an emotional speech attacking the anti-sale campaign. Gravel wrote in 2008 that it was the only time Gottstein had ever asked him for a favor, and the rupture resulted in their never speaking to each other again.\n\nAlaskan issues\n\nBy 1971 Gravel was urging construction of the much-argued Trans-Alaska pipeline, addressing environmental concerns by saying that the pipeline's builders and operators should have \"total and absolute\" responsibility for any consequent environmental damage. Two years later the debate over the pipeline came to a crux, with The New York Times describing it as \"environmentalists [in] a holy war with the major oil companies\". In February 1973 the U.S. Court of Appeals blocked the issuance of permits for construction; Gravel and fellow Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens reacted by urging Congress to pass legislation overturning the court's decision. Environmentalists opposed to the pipeline, such as the Environmental Defense Fund and the Sierra Club then sought to use the recently passed National Environmental Policy Act to their advantage; Gravel designed an amendment to the pipeline bill that would immunize the pipeline from any further court challenges under that law, and thus speed its construction. Passage of the amendment became the key battle regarding the pipeline. On July 17, 1973, in a dramatic roll-call vote, the Gravel amendment was approved as a 49–49 tie was broken in favor by Vice President Spiro Agnew. The actual bill enabling the pipeline then passed easily; Gravel had triumphed in what became perhaps his most lasting accomplishment as a senator.\n\nIn opposition to the Alaskan fishing industry, Gravel advocated American participation in the formation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. For two years he opposed legislation that established a Exclusive Economic Zone for marine resources. He was one of only 19 senators to vote against Senate approval for the expanded zone in 1976, saying it would undermine the U.S. position in Law of the Sea negotiations and that nations arbitrarily extending their fishing rights limits would \"produce anarchy of the seas\". The legislation was passed, and the United States has signed but never ratified the Law of the Sea treaty.\n\nGravel accumulated a complicated record on Indian affairs during his time in the Senate. During his first year in the Senate Gravel urged abolition of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, criticizing the agency for the pace of development of schools in Alaska, its paternalistic attitudes and the culturally inappropriate nature of its education, and advocating greater shared decision-making between the federal government and native communities in Alaska. Later, his views changed; in the early 1970s Gravel supported a demonstration project that established links between Alaskan villages and the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, for medical diagnostic communications. In 1971, he fended off accusations from Alaskan natives that he was not spending enough time working on their land claims. Gravel helped secure a private grant to facilitate the first Inuit Circumpolar Conference in 1977, attended by Inuit representatives from Alaska, Canada, and Greenland. These conferences now also include representatives from Russia. In 1977, Gravel helped lead an effort to have the U.S. Interior Department rename Mount McKinley to Denali; this eventually led to Denali National Park being so named. Subsequently, Gravel proposed a never-built \"Denali City\" development above the Tokositna River near the mountain, to consist of a giant Teflon dome enclosing hotels, golf courses, condominiums, and commercial buildings. A related idea of his to build a high-speed rail line to Denali also failed to gain traction.\n\nA key, emotional issue in the state at the time was \"locking up Alaska\", making reference to allocation of its vast, mostly uninhabited land. President Jimmy Carter desired to put large portions of this land under federal protection against development, a move that some Alaskans vociferously opposed.\nIn 1978 Gravel blocked passage, via procedural delays such as walking out of House–Senate conference committee meetings, of a complex bill which represented a compromise on land use policy. The bill would have put some of Alaska's vast federal land holdings under state control while preserving other portions for federal parks and refuges; the blocking action earned Gravel the enmity of fellow Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, who had supported the compromise. In 1980, a new lands bill came up for consideration, that was less favorable to Alaskan interests and more liked by environmentalists; it set aside of Alaska's for national parks, conservation areas, and other restricted federal uses. Gravel blocked it, as not ensuring enough future development in the state. A new compromise version of the 1980 bill came forward, which reduced the land set aside to . Representing Alaskan interests, Gravel tried to stop the bill, including by filibuster. But the Senate voted for cloture and passed the bill. Frustrated, Gravel said, \"the legislation denies Alaska its rights as a state, and denies the U.S. crucial strategic resources,\" and opined that the Senate was \"a little bit like a tank of barracudas\". Nonetheless, the bill, known as the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980, was signed by President Carter shortly before leaving the White House, and led to millions of acres being set aside in the state for national parks, wildlife refuges, and other kinds of areas under protection.\n\nIn 1978 Gravel authored and secured the passage into federal law of the General Stock Ownership Corporation, that became Subchapter U of the Tax Code under the Internal Revenue Code of 1954. This gave states the ability to create corporations that would invest in for-profit enterprises, with all citizens within the state owning shares in the corporation. Gravel's attempt to convince the Alaska state legislature to create such a corporation failed, as did a 1980 state ballot initiative towards the same end, but nevertheless the creation of the General Stock Ownership Corporation in federal law turned out to be significant in the development of binary economics.\n\nLoss of Senate seat in 1980\n\nIn 1980 Gravel was challenged for the Democratic Party's nomination by State Representative Clark Gruening, the grandson of the man Gravel had defeated in a primary 12 years earlier. One of Gruening's supporters was Gravel's former backer Gottstein. Several factors made Gravel vulnerable. As an insurgent candidate in 1968 Gravel had never established a firm party base. Not liking to hunt or fish, he was also always culturally suspect in the state.\n\nThe primary campaign was bitterly fought. A group of Democrats, including future governor Steve Cowper, led the campaign against Gravel, with Gravel's actions in respect to the 1978 and 1980 Alaskan lands bills a major issue. This was especially so given that the 1980 bill's dénouement happened but a week before the primary. The sources of Gravel's campaign funds, some of which Gravel readily acknowledged came from political action committees outside the state, also became an issue in the contest. Gruening had pledged that he would not take special interest group money, but Gravel said that Gruening was \"dishonest\" in accepting individual contributors from Jewish donors living outside the state because to him such contributors comprised \"a special interest group ... that seeks to influence the foreign policy of the U.S.\"\n\nGruening won the primary with about 55 percent of the vote to Gravel's 44 percent. Gravel later conceded that by the time of his defeat, he had alienated \"almost every constituency in Alaska\". Another factor may have been Alaska's blanket primary system of the time, which allowed unlimited voting across party lines and from its many independents; Republicans believed Gruening would be an easier candidate to defeat in the general election.\n\nGruening lost the general election to Republican Frank Murkowski. Gravel was the last Democrat to represent Alaska in Congress for 28 years, until Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich defeated Ted Stevens, by then an aged, iconic figure who had just been convicted of seven felonies for taking unreported gifts, in a very close and protracted election result in 2008. Stevens's conviction was subsequently vacated due to prosecutorial misconduct.\n\nCareer after leaving the Senate\n\nOf his 1980 defeat, Gravel later recalled: \"I had lost my career. I lost my marriage. I was in the doldrums for ten years after my defeat,\" and \"Nobody wanted to hire me for anything important. I felt like I was worthless. I didn't know what I could do.\" By his own later description, Gravel was a womanizer, and had an affair while in the Senate, and in December 1980 he and his wife Rita separated. They filed for divorce in September 1981; she later received all of his Senate pension income.\n\nDuring the 1980s Gravel was a real estate developer in Anchorage and Kenai, Alaska, a consultant, and a stockbroker. One of his real estate ventures, a condominium business, was forced to declare bankruptcy and a lawsuit ensued. In 1986 Gravel worked in partnership with Merrill Lynch Capital Markets to buy losses that financially troubled Alaska Native Corporations could not take as tax deductions and sell them to large national companies looking for tax writeoffs. Gravel also learned computer programming at some point but never practiced it.\n\nIn 1984 Gravel married his second wife, Whitney Stewart Gravel, a former administrative assistant for Senator Jacob Javits.\n\nReturn to politics\n\nIn 1989 Gravel reentered politics. He founded and led The Democracy Foundation, which promotes direct democracy. He established the Philadelphia II corporation, which seeks to replicate the original 1787 Constitutional Convention and have a Second Constitutional Convention to bring about direct democracy Gravel led an effort to get a United States Constitutional amendment to allow voter-initiated federal legislation similar to state ballot initiatives. He argued that Americans are able to legislate responsibly, and that the Act and Amendment in the National Initiative would allow American citizens to become \"law makers\". However such efforts met with little success.\n\nIn 2001, Gravel became director of the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution, where he admired institute co-founder Gregory Fossedal's work on direct democracy in Switzerland. By 2004, Gravel had become chair of the institute, and Fossedal (who in turn was a director of the Democracy Foundation) gave the introduction at Gravel's presidential announcement.\n\nIn 2003 Gravel gave a speech on direct democracy at a conference hosted by the American Free Press. The event was cosponsored by the Barnes Review, a journal that endorses Holocaust denial. After some controversy over his appearance, Gravel apologized, saying he did not realize the group's ties. Gravel said repeatedly that he did not share the group's views on the Holocaust, stating, \"You better believe I know that six million Jews were killed. [The Barnes Review publishers] are nutty as loons if they don't think it happened\". The group invited Gravel to speak again, but he declined.\n\nMike and Whitney Gravel lived in Arlington County, Virginia, until 2010 and then resided in Burlingame, California. They have the two grown children from his first marriage, Martin Gravel and Lynne Gravel Mosier, and four grandchildren. Whitney Gravel's income sustained the couple from 1998 on. In the 2000s, Gravel suffered poor health, requiring three surgeries in 2003 for back pain and neuropathy. Due to unreimbursed medical expenses and debts from his political causes, he declared personal bankruptcy in 2004. He began taking a salary from the non-profit organizations for which he was working; much of that income was lent to his presidential campaign. In 2007, he declared that he had \"zero net worth\".\n\n2008 presidential campaign\n\nDemocratic Party primaries\n\nAt the start of 2006 Gravel decided the best way he could promote direct democracy and the National Initiative was to run for president. On April 17, 2006, Gravel became the first candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2008 election, announcing his run in a speech to the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Short on campaign cash, he took public transportation to get to his announcement. (Gravel called for public financing of elections.) Other principal Gravel positions were the FairTax, as well as withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq within 120 days and a single payer national health care system. \n\nGravel had opposed the Iraq War, and President George W. Bush's rationale for it, from the beginning, and in 2006 said that U.S. troops in Iraq, as in Vietnam, had \"died in vain\". He also favored a regional peace initiative, as well as reparation payments for Iraqis. Gravel also called for a \"U.S. corporate withdrawal from Iraq\", with reconstruction contracts held by U.S. companies to be turned over to Iraqi firms.\n\nGravel campaigned almost full-time in New Hampshire, the first primary state, following his announcement. Opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination showed Gravel with 1 percent or less support. By the end of March 2007, Gravel's campaign had less than $500 in cash on hand against debts of nearly $90,000.\n\nBecause of his time in the Senate, Gravel was invited to many of the early Democratic presidential debates. During the initial one at South Carolina State University on April 26, 2007, he suggested a bill requiring the president to withdraw from Iraq on pain of criminal penalties. He also advocated positions such as opposing preemptive nuclear war. He stated that the Iraq War had the effect of creating more terrorists and that the \"war was lost the day that George Bush invaded Iraq on a fraudulent basis\". Regarding his fellow candidates, he said, \"I got to tell you, after standing up with them, some of these people frighten me – they frighten me.\" In one such exchange, Gravel said, \"Tell me, Barack, who do you want to nuke?\" to which Obama responded, \"I'm not planning to nuke anybody right now, Mike, I promise.\"\n\nMedia stories said that Gravel was responsible for much of whatever \"heat\" and \"flashpoints\" had taken place during the Democratic debates. Gravel gained considerable publicity by shaking up the normally staid multiple-candidate format; The New York Times' media critic said that what Gravel had done was \"steal a debate with outrageous, curmudgeonly statements\". The Internet was a benefit: a YouTube video of his responses in the debate was viewed more than 225,892 times, ranking seventeenth in most views for week and first among news and politics clips; his name became the fifteenth most searched-for in the blogosphere; and his website garnered more traffic than those of frontrunners Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, or John Edwards. Gravel appeared on the popular Colbert Report on television on May 2, and his campaign and career were profiled in national publications such as Salon. Two wordless, Warholesque campaign videos, \"Rock\" and \"Fire\", were released on YouTube in late May and became hits, and eventually gained over 760,000 and 185,000 views respectively. \"Rock\", in turn, was given airtime during an episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Some thirty-five years after he first achieved the national spotlight, he had found it again.\n\nAll this did not improve his performance in the polls; a May 2007 CNN poll showed him with less than 0.5 percent support among Democrats. Gravel was in the next several debates, in one case after CNN reversed a decision to exclude him. Like some of the other second-tier candidates, Gravel did not get as much time as the leaders; during the June 2, 2007, New Hampshire debate, which lasted two hours, he was asked 10 questions and allowed to speak for five minutes and 37 seconds.\n\nDuring the July 23, 2007, CNN-YouTube presidential debate, Gravel responded to audience applause when he had complained of a lack of airtime and said: \"Thank you. Has it been fair thus far?\" Detractors began to liken him to \"the cranky uncle who lives in the attic,\" or \"the angry old guy that just seemed to want to become angrier\". Berkeley political scientist David Terr found that moderator George Stephanopoulos directed roughly five percent of his questions to Gravel; in a poll asking who did the best in the debate, Gravel placed seventh among the eight candidates. National opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination continued to show Gravel with one percent or zero percent numbers. By the end of the third-quarter 2007, Gravel had about $17,500 in cash on hand, had collected a total of about $380,000 during the 2008 election cycle, and was continuing to run a threadbare campaign with minimal staff.\n\nBeginning with the October 30, 2007, Philadelphia event, Gravel was excluded from most of the debates, with the debate sponsors or the Democratic National Committee saying Gravel's campaign had not met fund-raising, polling, or local campaign organizational thresholds. For the Philadelphia exclusion, Gravel blamed corporate censorship on the part of sponsor owner and alleged military-industrial complex member General Electric for his exclusion and mounted a counter-gathering and debate against a video screen a short distance away, but he had lost his easiest publicity. In reaction, supporters organized \"mass donation days\" to try to help the campaign gain momentum and funds, such as on December 5, 2007, the anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition.\n\nGravel did not compete in the initial 2008 vote, the Iowa caucuses, but was still subjected to a false report from MSNBC that he had pulled out of the race afterward. Gravel did focus his attention on the second 2008 vote, the New Hampshire primary. In early January, Mother Jones' investigative reporter James Ridgeway was filmed interviewing and following Gravel in New Hampshire, in which Gravel is interviewed on the phone by Neal Conan for NPR's, Talk of the Nation. He received about 400 votes out of some 280,000 cast in New Hampshire, or 0.14 percent, before taking time off to improve his health. He resumed campaigning, but fared no better in subsequent states. By the end of January 2008, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and Gravel were the only remaining Democrats from the initial debates still running; Gravel vowed to stay in the presidential campaign until November. On March 11, 2008, Gravel continued to remain in the Democratic race but additionally endorsed a Green Party candidate for president, Jesse Johnson, saying he wanted to help Johnson prevail against Green Party rivals Cynthia McKinney and Ralph Nader. By late March, Gravel had almost no fundraising and was only on the ballot in one of the next ten Democratic primaries.\n\nSwitch to Libertarian Party\n\nOn March 25, 2008, Gravel announced that he would leave the Democrats and join the Libertarian Party, saying: \"My libertarian views, as well as my strong stance against war, the military industrial complex and American imperialism, seem not to be tolerated by Democratic Party elites who are out of touch with the average American; elites that reject the empowerment of American citizens I offered to the Democratic Party at the beginning of this presidential campaign with the National Initiative for Democracy.\" The following day Gravel entered the race for the 2008 Libertarian presidential nomination, saying that he would have run as a third-party candidate all along except that he needed the public exposure that came from being in the earlier Democratic debates. Gravel's initial notion of running as a fusion candidate with other parties was met with skepticism.\n\nAs a Libertarian candidate, Gravel faced resistance to his past support of big government initiatives and his unorthodox positions around direct democracy. Nevertheless, he garnered more support than he had as a Democrat, placing second and third in two April 2008 straw polls. In the May 25 balloting at the 2008 Libertarian National Convention in Denver, Gravel finished fourth out of eight candidates on the initial ballot, with 71 votes out of a total 618; he trailed former Congressman and eventual winner Bob Barr, author Mary Ruwart, and businessman Wayne Allyn Root. Gravel's position did not subsequently improve and he was eliminated on the fourth ballot. Afterwards he stated that \"I just ended my political career,\" but he vowed to continue promoting his positions as a writer and lecturer.\n\n2008–early 2019\n\nIn June 2008 Gravel endorsed the NYC 9/11 Ballot Initiative, saying the measure would create a \"citizens commission rather than a government commission\" with subpoena power against top U.S. officials to \"make a true investigation as to what happened\" regarding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. He later said, \"Individuals in and out of government may certainly have participated with the obviously known perpetrators of this dastardly act. Suspicions abound over the analysis presented by government. Obviously an act that has triggered three wars, Afghan, Iraqi and the continuing War on Terror, should be extensively investigated which was not done and which the government avoids addressing.\"\n\nIn August 2008 Gravel was speaking to a crowd of supporters of Sami Al-Arian (who two years earlier had pleaded guilty and been sentenced to prison for a charge of conspiracy in helping Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a \"specially designated terrorist\" organization) when he was caught on tape saying of Al-Arian's prosecutor, \"Find out where he lives, find out where his kids go to school, find out where his office is: picket him all the time. Call him a racist in signs if you see him. Call him an injustice. Call him whatever you want to call him, but in his face all the time.\" Gravel was criticized for potentially involving the children of the prosecutor, and Al-Arian's family disavowed the sentiments.\n\nGravel defended Alaska Governor Sarah Palin after she was chosen as Republican presidential nominee John McCain's running mate in September 2008. He praised Palin's record in standing up to corruption among Alaskan Republicans, thought her national inexperience was an asset not a detriment, and predicted that the \"Troopergate\" investigation into whether she improperly fired a state official would \"come out in her favor\". Gravel made clear he would not support or vote for either McCain–Palin or Obama–Biden in the general election. The following year Gravel said that Palin's politics were \"terrible, but that doesn't detract from the fact that she's a very talented person\". He predicted that Palin would run for president in 2012 and that \"she's going to surprise a lot of people\". Palin did not run, but Gravel's prediction about \"TrooperGate\" was accurate as Palin was found not to have violated ethics laws.\n\nIn 2013, by the invitation of Hamed Ghashghavi, the secretary for international affairs of the 3rd International Conference on Hollywoodism in Tehran, Iran, Gravel attended that event as an Iranian government-organized anti-Hollywood conference. Gravel noted that the conference was attended by \"various elements of extremes\" but said it was necessary to discuss how the U.S. film industry portrayed Iran in order to prevent \"an insane war\" between the two nations.\n\nIn May 2013 Gravel was one of several former members of Congress to accept $20,000 from the Paradigm Research Group, an advocacy group for UFO disclosure, as part of holding what they termed a Citizen Hearing on Disclosure, modeled after congressional hearings, regarding supposed U.S. government suppression of evidence concerning UFOs. Gravel said, \"Something is monitoring the planet, and they are monitoring it very cautiously, because we are a very warlike planet,\" and, \"What we're faced with here is, in areas of the media, and the government too, an effort to marginalize and ridicule people who have specific knowledge.\"\n\nIn December 2014 Gravel was announced as the new CEO of KUSH, a company which makes marijuana-infused products for medicinal and recreational use, and a subsidiary of Cannabis Sativa, Inc. He also became an Independent Director of Cannabis Sativa.\n\nDuring the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries, Gravel praised Bernie Sanders and his campaign, saying \"Bernie is one of the most gifted politicians I have ever observed. He's a person of great integrity and very clever.\" Gravel predicted that Sanders would be elected president but would be unable to get his key reforms through Congress, and thus that Sanders and his supporters should back some of the proposals of the National Initiative.\n\nIn 2016, Gravel said in relation to the September 11 attacks: \"We killed 58,000 American servicemen in the Vietnam War and all they did was die in vain. What's so unusual about killing 3,000 more in order to develop the grist for the mill to empower into infinity the military industrial complex?\" and \"There's no question in my mind that 9/11 was an inside job\". The remarks were later disavowed by even Gravel supporters.\n\nBy 2019 Gravel was living in Seaside, California. He was working on a book, at the time titled Human Governance, about his principal idea for direct democracy, a U.S. Constitutional Amendment to create a \"Legislature of the People\" that would circumvent the existing Congress. The book was self-published at the end of the year by AuthorHouse under the title The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People.\n\n2020 presidential campaign\n\nOn March 19, 2019, Gravel announced that he was considering running in the 2020 Democratic primaries. He said, \"The goal will not be to win, but to bring a critique of American imperialism to the Democratic debate stage.\" An exploratory committee was formed, with filing a statement of organization with the Federal Election Commission on that same day. The filing was the idea of a group of teenagers, led by David Oks and Henry Williams, inspired by the podcast Chapo Trap House, and done with Gravel's consent (after a week spent convincing him of the idea's merits), but without his involvement. Intrigued by the group's commitment to amplifying his long-held policy goals, Gravel (who would be old on Inauguration Day in 2021) said he planned to meet with them in April, and to discuss a 2020 White House run with his wife. On April 2, 2019, Gravel filed to officially run for office. The campaign called itself the \"#Gravelanche\".\n\nGravel's initial stated goal was merely to qualify for debates by getting the required 65,000 small donors. He discouraged people from voting for him and said his preferences were Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard, both of whom favor a non-interventionist foreign policy. But on April 29, Gravel's campaign said he was running to win, not just to participate in debates. In a subsequent interview, though, Gravel emphasized the virtue of Sanders and Gabbard in some order as a presidential ticket. Statements like these caused Vox to call Gravel \"2020's oddest Democratic presidential candidate\". The New York Times Magazine included Gravel as an example in the rise of democratic socialism in the United States also exemplified by Sanders's 2016 race and the 2018 election of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: \"[Gravel's] campaign represents the most absurd form of a legitimate movement on the left that feels little obligation to the Democratic Party.\"\n\nIn June 2019, Gravel touted the endorsement of Muntadher al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who, in December 2008, made headlines after he threw his shoes at President George W. Bush in protest of the U.S. war in Iraq. Al-Zaidi endorsed Gravel based on his promise to improve White House policies regarding Iraq and the Middle East.\n\nOn June 13, 2019, the Democratic Party announced the 20 major candidates who qualified for the first debate later that month. Gravel was one of the four who missed out (the others were Montana Governor Steve Bullock, U.S. Representative Seth Moulton, and Miramar, Florida, Mayor Wayne Messam). Gravel had been unable to get the requisite number of donations, or to score one percent or better in enough polls (many polls did not even include him). Nevertheless, Gravel said he would not drop out and would try to qualify for the July debate. In early July, however, Gravel's campaign said it was still 10,000 contributions short of the 65,000-donor threshold and that it was \"nearing its conclusion\". It solicited suggestions for where to donate $100–150,000 of leftover campaign funds. Gravel added that he had always planned on ending the campaign before the teenagers in charge of it needed to return to school. A few days later the campaign became the first to run an attack ad against Democratic front-runner Joe Biden, using the text \"Is this the best our party has to offer?\"\n\nGravel's campaign crossed the threshold of 65,000 donors on July 12, 2019, meeting the qualification mark for that month's debate. But because 20 other candidates, the maximum allowed to participate, had already met at least the polling criterion, which takes priority over the donor criterion, Gravel was not invited.\n\nThe campaign officially came to a close on August 6, 2019, with Gravel endorsing both Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard for president. Gravel's campaign later stated on Twitter that they never wanted to win but saw the campaign as an \"intimately democratic\" project and expressed honor at working with Gravel. Gravel said he would divide remaining campaign funds between charity and a new think tank which would espouse his ideas.\n\nThe Gravel Institute \n\nGravel used some of the funds remaining from his 2020 presidential campaign to found an eponymous progressive think tank called The Gravel Institute in 2019. As noted by Vice magazine, the institute aims to do battle with PragerU from a left-wing perspective. Launched in September 2020, the new entity said it would \"carry on the life's work of former U.S Senator Mike Gravel in fighting for global peace and democracy. Its mission is to promote bold and forward-looking ideas about a more peaceful and egalitarian world, and to build a robust movement of young people to win it\". Contributors announced include Cornel West and Slavoj Žižek, as well as Lower Brule Indian Reservation activist Nick Estes. Other presenters have included and will include H. Jon Benjamin, Briahna Joy Gray, Bernie Sanders, Chelsea Manning, Richard Wolff, Stephanie Kelton, Zephyr Teachout, David Cross, Jabari Brisport, Zohran Mamdani, and Gravel himself (though it is unknown if his appearance will be cancelled due to his death in June 2021, or if the video has already been recorded).\n\nDeath\nGravel died of multiple myeloma at his home in Seaside, California, on June 26, 2021, at age 91.\n\nThe obituary for him in The New York Times stated that Gravel was \"a two-term Democratic senator from Alaska ... who was perhaps better known as an unabashed attention-getter\" who later become known for \"mounting long-shot presidential runs\". The obituary in The Washington Post was similar, saying that Gravel was \"an Alaska Democrat with a flair for the theatrical who rose from obscurity to brief renown\" and later \"ran quixotic campaigns for the presidency\". The Anchorage Daily News quoted Gravel as saying of himself in 1989, \"I'm an independent kind of guy. A rough and ready kind of guy. My glands work in a certain way that make me stand up, foolishly sometimes, and fight.\"\n\nPolitical positions\n\nAlan Abramowitz and Jeffrey Allan Segal described Gravel as \"a maverick, if not an eccentric, in the Senate.\" His Americans for Democratic Action \"Liberal Quotient\" scores ranged from 81 out of 100 (1971) to 39 out of 100 (1980), with an average of around 61. His American Conservative Union scores ranged from 0 out of 100 (several years, including 1971 and 1972) to 38 out of 100 (1979), with an average of 14. Abramowitz and Segal note that Gravel's lowest ADA ratings coincided with his two Senate re-election bids, and for the most part his highest ACU ratings followed the same pattern.\n\nIn 1972, as a young senator, Gravel published Citizen Power: A People's Platform, a manifesto outlining what Kirkus Reviews termed a \"populist reform [that] would provide 'balanced political power' between the people and government and business interests.\"\n\nCivil rights issues\nOn drug policy, Gravel said in 2007 that he favored decriminalization and treating addiction as a public health matter. During his 2008 presidential candidacy he condemned the War on Drugs as a failure, saying that it did \"nothing but savage our inner cities and put our children at risk\". Gravel called for abolition of capital punishment in his book Citizen Power, and adhered to this position during his 2008 run for president. He supported abortion rights.\n\nDuring the 2008 campaign Gravel was a strong supporter of LGBT rights. He supported same-sex marriage and opposed the Defense of Marriage Act and the U.S. military's \"don't ask, don't tell\" policy. He wrote in 2008 that \"depriving gays and lesbians of equal rights is immoral\".\n\nForeign policy and defense issues\nGravel was a critic of American imperialism.\n\nGravel firmly opposed U.S. military action against Iran and Syria. He voiced opposition to the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, the Military Commissions Act of 2006, the use of torture, indefinite detention, and what he called \"flagrant ignorance\" of the Geneva Convention. In 2014 Gravel called for the release of the full, unredacted Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture.\n\nGravel opposed the use of international sanctions as a policy tool and blamed the ones against Iraq under Saddam Hussein for the deaths of a half-million children in that country. In 2013 Gravel said that sanctions against Iran were \"illegal\".\n\nDuring his 2008 candidacy, Gravel called for a cut in military spending, variously reported to be 15 percent or 50 percent. He called for the savings to boost public education spending. To spur international nuclear nonproliferation efforts, Gravel called for unilateral reductions in the U.S. nuclear arsenal.\n\nIn 2008 Gravel criticized the decision of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to not pursue the efforts to impeach George W. Bush and the attempted impeachment of Dick Cheney, saying also that Bush and Cheney had committed crimes and deserved \"to be prosecuted\" at The Hague. In 2013 he expressed disdain for President Obama, calling him \"a total fraud\" and saying that both Bush and Obama should be tried \"for the crimes and murders they've committed\" in the International Court of Justice. Gravel specifically condemned Obama for the drone strikes in Pakistan and elsewhere.\n\nEconomy, immigration, and environment\nDuring his 2008 candidacy Gravel favored a FairTax scheme, which would abolish the Internal Revenue Service, eliminate the federal income tax (which Gravel called \"corrupt\"), and impose a national sales tax. While Gravel described FairTax as \"progressive\", others have criticized it as \"regressive\", disproportionately benefiting the wealthiest Americans. To offset the new sales taxes on essential goods, Gravel's plan called for monthly government rebate payments to individuals and families. During his 2020 campaign Gravel also voiced support for a third legislative body that would give the people direct control of the budget as well as the implementation of a land value tax.\n\nGravel opposed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) during his 2008 candidacy, calling it unfair and economically harmful and needing renegotiation. Gravel believed that NAFTA was the \"root cause\" of illegal migration to the U.S. He favored a guest worker program and \"setting up naturalization procedures that would fairly bring immigrants into legal status\". In a 2007 interview, Gravel identified himself as \"very much of a globalist\" who believed in open markets and open borders and condemned the scapegoating of undocumented immigrants. Gravel also said that he favored eliminating the cap on H1B visas.\n\nAs a senator from Alaska, Gravel favored drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but opposed it during his 2008 campaign. In 2008, Gravel supported a carbon tax to combat climate change.\n\nGravel spoke in favor of net neutrality during his presidential campaign.\n\nEducation and health care\nGravel called for the cost of college tuition to be borne by the federal government, rather than students. In his 2008 campaign, he called the No Child Left Behind Act \"a failure\" and called for it to be \"reformed and fully funded\". He expressed support for universal pre-kindergarten and the expansion of the Head Start program; and expressed an openness to charter schools and school vouchers. He also suggested extending the school day and the school year, and supported merit pay for teachers.\n\nGravel also called for publicly funded universal health care to replace the current employer-sponsored health insurance system. He supported \"full funding\" of the VA system. When asked in 2007 about naturopathy, homeopathy, and acupuncture, Gravel said that he was \"very very much in favor\" of holistic health care.\n\nAwards and honors\nIn 2008 Gravel received the Columbia University School of General Studies' first annual Isaac Asimov Lifetime Achievement Award.\n\nElectoral history\n\nWritings\n Gravel, Mike. Jobs and More Jobs. Mt. McKinley Publishers, 1968.\n Gravel, Mike. Citizen Power: A People's Platform. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1972. .\n revised and reissued as Citizen Power: A Mandate for Change, AuthorHouse, 2008. .\n Gravel, Mike and Lauria, Joe. A Political Odyssey: The Rise of American Militarism and One Man's Fight to Stop It. Seven Stories Press, 2008. .\n Gravel, Mike and Eisenbach, David. The Kingmakers: How the Media Threatens Our Security and Our Democracy. Phoenix Books, 2008. .\n Gravel, Mike. Voice of a Maverick: The Speeches and Writings of Senator Mike Gravel. Brandywine House, 2008.\n Gravel, Mike. Foreword to Poisoned Power: The Case Against Nuclear Power Plants. John W. Goffman & Arthur R. Tamplin, Rodale Press, Inc., Emmaus, PA, June 1971.\n Gravel, Mike. The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People. AuthorHouse, 2020.\n\nExplanatory notes\n\nReferences\n\nCitations\n\nGeneral references \n The Pentagon Papers Senator Gravel Edition. Vol. Five: Critical Essays. Boston: Beacon Press, 1972. 341p. plus 72p. of Index to Vol. I–IV of the Papers; Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, editors.\n\nExternal links\n\n Mike Gravel official website\n \n \n \n The Gravel Institute\n\n|-\n\n|-\n\n \n1930 births\n2021 deaths\n1972 United States vice-presidential candidates\n20th-century American male writers\n20th-century American non-fiction writers\n20th-century American politicians\n20th-century Roman Catholics\n20th-century Unitarians\n21st-century American male writers\n21st-century American non-fiction writers\n21st-century American politicians\n21st-century Unitarians\n9/11 conspiracy theorists\nAlaska Democrats\nAmerican International College alumni\nAmerican Unitarian Universalists\nAmerican anti–Iraq War activists\nAmerican conspiracy theorists\nAmerican democracy activists\nAmerican male non-fiction writers\nAmerican people of French-Canadian descent\nAmerican political writers\nAmerican real estate businesspeople\nAmerican stockbrokers\nAnti-corporate activists\nAssumption University (Worcester) alumni\nBurials at Arlington National Cemetery\nBusinesspeople from Anchorage, Alaska\nBusinesspeople from Springfield, Massachusetts\nCalifornia Democrats\nCandidates in the 2008 United States presidential election\nCandidates in the 2020 United States presidential election\nColumbia University School of General Studies alumni\nDeaths from cancer in California\nDeaths from multiple myeloma\nDemocratic Party United States senators\nDirect democracy activists\nDrug policy reform activists\nFormer Roman Catholics\nVirginia Libertarians\nMembers of the Alaska House of Representatives\nMilitary personnel from Massachusetts\nNon-interventionism\nPeople from Arlington County, Virginia\nPeople from Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska\nPeople with dyslexia\nPoliticians from Anchorage, Alaska\nPoliticians from Springfield, Massachusetts\nSpeakers of the Alaska House of Representatives\nUnited States Army officers\nUnited States senators from Alaska\nWriters about direct democracy\nWriters from Anchorage, Alaska"},"extractive":{"kind":"string","value":"true"},"retrieved_contexts":{"kind":"list like","value":["The 2008 presidential campaign of Mike Gravel, former Speaker of the Alaska House of Representatives and United States Senator from Alaska began on April 17, 2006 when he declared his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2008 election, in a speech to the National Press Club.\n\nHis campaign gained an Internet following and national attention due to outspoken debate appearances during 2007, but consistently showed little support in national polls. In the 2008 Democratic caucuses and primaries, he did not win any delegates. Out of the eight candidates for the Democratic nomination for president, he received the fewest votes - less than one percent.\n\nIn March 2008, Gravel announced that he had joined the Libertarian Party and would seek its presidential nomination, instead of further pursuing the Democratic nomination. In May 2008, Gravel finished fourth at the 2008 Libertarian National Convention and ended both his presidential quest and his political career, until his 2020 presidential campaign.\n\nAnnouncement\n\nOn April 17, 2006, Gravel became the first candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2008 election, announcing his run in a speech to the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Short on campaign cash, he took public transportation to get to his announcement.\n\nGravel had spoken out against the war in Iraq since before the invasion of that country began in March 2003. In his announcement he called for immediate cessation of US military involvement in Iraq via his own-drafted U.S. Armed Forces Withdrawal From Iraq Act, and offered a strategy he claimed would get it passed. He unequivocally denounced any possible war with Iran. His announced campaign platform was centered on systemic changes to the U.S. system. Foremost among these were:\n The National Initiative for Democracy, a Constitutional amendment and proposed federal statute that would recognize a fourth branch of the US federal government in addition to the judicial, executive and legislative branches, namely the people via direct democracy, enabled to directly initiate and pass legislation and to amend the Constitution of the United States on their own.\n A national sales tax that would replace the income tax and the Internal Revenue Service.\n\nGravel's initial campaign also emphasized his support for a single-payer national health care system, term limits, nuclear disarmament, and same-sex marriage recognition.\n\nCampaign developments 2006\n\nAlthough Gravel's candidacy was little-noticed by the national media, at its outset he campaigned almost full-time in New Hampshire (the first primary state). He garnered broader awareness and interest through his occasional television appearances, netroots campaigning, participation in Party forums (such as the Democratic Presidential Candidates Forum and Democratic National Committee (DNC) Winter Conference), and up until October 30 in Philadelphia, the string of televised debates sponsored by the DNC and others.\n\nGravel was interviewed for the Blue State Observer weblog on June 27, 2006. On that occasion he expressed his support for constitutional change in aid of citizen-initiated legislation, he declaimed the existence of limitations upon the conduct of stem cell research, and stated he was against the widespread deportation of illegal immigrants then being advocated by conservative talk radio and other elements.\n\nAn August 2006 media release draws attention to the candidate's public opposition to the prospect of war in Iraq expressed as long ago as the early months of 2002.\n\nThe campaign and/or candidate attracted mainstream coverage in The New York Times, The Reno Gazette-Journal, on CBS News, on ABC News, in The Progressive, and in The American Spectator/\n\nGravel delivered an address before the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College in November 2006 which has been recorded and published on video.\n\nThe campaign website included participation forums. A video section of the campaign website linked to videos of some media appearances, his address to the New Hampshire Institute of Politics, a September 2006 appearance at the 'Camp Democracy' activist forum in Washington D.C., as well as the introductory video from his successful 1968 Senate campaign.\n\nThe candidate has maintained his own weblog since October 2006, and began blogging at The Huffington Post in June 2007 as well. The Gravel campaign also had its own YouTube channel featuring more than 80 videos of the candidate's past speeches and campaign appearances.\n\nCampaign developments 2007\n\nFirst quarter\nGravel's address before the DNC National Winter Conference in early February 2007 was received – enthusiastically, claimed campaign advocates – and was broadcast on C-SPAN. In speaking he offered harsh judgments against President Bush and the Senate Democratic leadership, and implicitly his presidential rivals Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, and John Edwards, saying \"anyone who voted for the war on October 11 based upon what President Bush presented to them is not qualified to hold the office of President of the United States.\" Gravel was interviewed on MSNBC at the time. He also appeared as a guest of a video weblog directed from New Jersey answering questions about netroots and the blogosphere.\n\nSenator Gravel was interviewed on Toniq TV where he forthrightly expressed views supporting the lifting of restrictions against the service of identified gays and lesbians in the US military. Calling comparison to President Harry S. Truman's racial desegregation of the US military in 1948, he criticized former President Bill Clinton as 'dead wrong' and 'mousy' for his innovation of the 'don't ask don't tell' policy covering homosexual conduct by military members:\n\nWhen Clinton got to be President, well, the first he's doing is standing there on two legs waffling back and forth, oh, don't tell us you're gay. What are you talking about? If you had any knowledge of history, ancient history, in Sparta they encouraged homosexuality because they fight for the people they love. And if it's your partner and you love them, you're prepared to die for them, and that's the same ethic you see in the military today. It's not the country. It's my partner. Go see the movies on war, and it's always the person next to me who is in my foxhole with me. Well, I got to tell you, extend that a little further and you'll see why the Spartans trained their people to be homosexuals, because they're better fighters.\n\nOn February 11, 2007, the senator addressed the Jefferson County Presidents Day Dinner in Watertown, Wisconsin.\n\nOn February 13, 2007, the senator released a statement outlining his views on the possibility of impeachment proceedings against President George W. Bush, regarding it as 'not sufficient' and favoring a congressional inquiry which could ultimately lead to criminal charges being brought against the President.\n\nSenator Gravel participated in the AFSCME Democratic Presidential Forum on 21 February 2007 in Carson City, Nevada, at the Carson City Community Center. He appears toward the end of the video of the broadcast of the event.\n\nIn the Carson City Forum, he roundly condemned President Bush's policy of military involvement in Iraq and reminded those present of his statements warning of lies and distortions about Iraq's supposed unlawful weapons of mass destruction as far back as early 2002 (the time of the occurrence of the first signs of the Bush Administration's formulation of an agenda for military action against Iraq). He decried the overall level of military spending as opposed to the funding of education and of what he regarded as the consequent, poor educational outcomes achieved.\n\nSenator Gravel called on congressional Democrats to force a 'constitutional crisis' by denying all further budgetary appropriations in aid of continued American military involvement in Iraq. He further argued that the income tax should be 'wiped out' in favor of the FairTax proposal - which imposes a progressive sales tax on newly manufactured items varying from 19% to 23% while providing 'prebates' to 'untax' families spending on necessities, up to the poverty level. He stated his view that experience showed income taxes were successfully 'gamed' by the wealthy at the expense of the poor and middle income earners. And he voiced his support for the constitutional and legal reform necessary to effect the National Initiative as a means of enabling citizen-initiated national lawmaking.\n\nSenator Gravel also spoke in favor of public financial assistance for campaigning presidential candidates.\n\nOn February 26, 2007, Senator Gravel was interviewed about his campaign on the American C-SPAN network's Washington Journal program.\n\nIn a February 25, 2007 Washington Post/ABC News nationwide poll of voters who lean Democratic, 0% supported Gravel for the Democratic presidential nomination. Indeed, through February 2007, such opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination all showed Gravel with a 1% or less support level.\n\nAt the close of the first quarter 2007 reporting period, the campaign committee had $498 in cash against debts and obligations amounting to $88,515.\n\nSecond quarter\nBecause of his time in the Senate, Gravel was invited to many of the early Democratic presidential debates. The first Democratic debate of the pre-primary season was in the evening of April 26, 2007, in Orangeburg, South Carolina, at South Carolina State University. State party chairman Joe Erwin said that he chose South Carolina State because it is an historically black college, noting that African-Americans have been the \"most loyal\" Democrats in the state. The debate was 90 minutes with a 60-second time limit for answers, and no opening or closing statements. It was broadcast via cable television and online video streaming by MSNBC. The debate was moderated by Brian Williams of NBC Nightly News.\n\nGravel appeared with the seven other contenders for the Democratic nomination for president. He stated that the Iraq War had the effect of creating more terrorists and that the \"war was lost the day that George Bush invaded Iraq on a fraudulent basis.\" He maintained that an end to the war could be effected by a bill passed in the House and a Senate filibuster on such a bill defeated by a daily vote on cloture, but that the will to do so was lacking. Further, he suggested a bill requiring the president to withdraw from Iraq on pain of criminal penalties. He said the recent threat of a pre-emptive nuclear strike in the \"war on terror\" was immoral and would be dropped under a Gravel administration, and that America has no important military enemies and it is the influence of the military-industrial complex that has conditioned Americans to think of the world in terms of enemies. He characterized the CIA overthrow of democracy in Iran in the 1950s lies as the root of U.S. problems with that country. Overall, he said that all American armed forces who died in Vietnam died in vain and American armed forces in Iraq were dying in vain. Regarding his fellow candidates, he said, \"I got to tell you, after standing up with them, some of these people frighten me — they frighten me.\"\n\nMedia stories about the debate said that Gravel was responsible for much of whatever \"heat\" and \"flashpoints\" had taken place. Gravel gained considerable publicity by shaking up the normally staid multiple-candidate format; The New York Times' media critic said that what Gravel had done was \"steal a debate with outrageous, curmudgeonly statements.\" The Internet was a benefit: a YouTube video of his responses in the debate was viewed more than 225,892 times, ranking seventeenth in most views for week and first among news and politics clips; his name became the fifteenth most searched-for in the blogosphere; and his website garnered more traffic than those of frontrunners Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, or John Edwards. Gravel appeared on the popular Colbert Report on television on May 2, and his campaign and career were profiled in national publications such as Salon.\n\nAll of this did not help his poll ratings: a May 2007 CNN poll showed him with less than 0.5 percent support among Democrats.\n\nIn late May 2007, two wordless, avant-garde campaign videos, \"Rock\" and \"Fire\", created by Otis College of Art and Design staff Matt Mayes and Guston Sondin-Klausner, were released on YouTube and became hits. The first, nearly three minutes long, showed Gravel staring at the camera silently for more than one minute, then throwing a large rock into a lake and slowly walking away, with a sole graphic showing the campaign website. The second, nearly eight minutes long, briefly showed Gravel walking through a forest collecting wood and looking at the resultant campfire, then for the remaining seven minutes just showed the fire burning, with the website graphic superimposed. These videos would eventually gain over 480,000 and 140,000 views respectively. \"Rock\" was given airtime during an episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.\n\nWMUR-TV, CNN, and the New Hampshire Union Leader hosted both Democratic and Republican debates in Goffstown, New Hampshire, at Saint Anselm College. The Democratic debate was Sunday, June 3, starting at 7 PM EDT and lasting two hours, commercial free. The moderator was Wolf Blitzer, host of Late Edition and The Situation Room. He was joined by Tom Fahey of the Union Leader and Scott Spradling from the local NH television station WMUR. The first half of the debate was a directed question and answer, with candidates at podiums, as in the first debate, responding to questions from Fahey and Spradling.\n\nOn March 17, 2007, CNN, the New Hampshire Union Leader and WMUR-TV had formally decided to exclude former Senator Gravel from debates between Democratic presidential candidates they would be sponsoring in New Hampshire. The decision was decried as \"censorship, unbecoming a free society\", and on May 1 the decision was reversed, and Gravel was invited to be a participant. The venue was Saint Anselm College and the debate was nationally televised on CNN.\n\nGravel reiterated many of his past foreign policy points during the debate, and emphasized that Biden, Clinton, Dodd, and Edwards voted for the resolution under which the invasion and occupation of Iraq were undertaken and Edwards co-sponsored it. Gravel claimed that the history of Southeast Asia after U.S. withdrawal showed Iraq withdrawal would not necessarily be dire, and that the insurgency in Iraq was successful because it had the support of the Iraqi people. He said that the fact that the other candidates knew, or should have known, that there were \"two sets of books\" being kept on intelligence from Iraq, and that they voted the resolution that authorized the war in spite of that fact, indicates that morality plays no part in their political decisions and that lack of moral judgment ought to keep them from the presidency.\n\nTwo of eight candidates, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, were accorded greater talk-time than the moderator. Barack Obama was accorded the greatest talk-time at 16 full minutes, 2.85 times the talk-time accorded Gravel, who was accorded the least talk-time at 5.62 minutes.\n\nOn June 28, 2007 in Washington, D.C., PBS held and televised a debate at Howard University, an historically black college. The moderator was Tavis Smiley. All eight candidates discussed various topics including education, poverty, unemployment, racial discrimination, and health in the black community. The debate drew a record crowd of celebrities, such as Harry Belafonte, Al Sharpton, Dorothy Heights, Jesse Jackson, Terry McMillan, Judge Hatchett, and Mark Ridley-Thomas.\n\nGravel's points in the debate included that the \"war on drugs\" was a failure. He asserted that the prison population of the US had increased 1285% over the past 35 years and that 70% of that population is African-American. Gravel compared the legal basis for the war on drugs to Prohibition, claimed that it made criminals of people who otherwise were not criminals, and that they were disproportionately African-American. Gravel asserted that the money spent on the war in Iraq could have built 4 million houses thus helping victims of hurricane Katrina, or financed 21 million four-year college scholarships, or hired 7.6 million new teachers. Gravel said that the income tax code was especially open to corruption. That the tax code was now so complicated and corrupted that no one alive understood it. He said that with his alternative, progressive sales tax proposal everyone would know what everyone else was paying in taxes. Gravel said that equal justice before the law would only be possible if the people were empowered as lawmakers. Gravel asserted that Free Trade Agreements benefited corporate management and shareholders but hurt most people on both sides to the agreement.\n\nThis was the first debate during which all the candidates were accorded equal time. The earlier debates were heavily biased toward the 'Top-tier' candidates.\n\nBy the second-quarter 2007 close, the committee had $31,141 in cash on hand, and had collected a total of $175,229 in net contributions during the entire 2008 election cycle.\n\nThird quarter\n\nOn July 12, 2007 in Detroit, Michigan, all eight candidates attended a debate held during the NAACP convention. John Edwards and Hillary Clinton were overheard—on stage, over microphones—conferring about weeding those candidates not in the 'Top-tier' out of future debates.\n\nOn July 23, 2007 in Charleston, South Carolina, the CNN-YouTube Presidential Debates took place for the Democrats, on the campus of The Citadel. All questions were selected from among, and posed as videos submitted via YouTube by members of the public; the debate was moderated by Anderson Cooper of Anderson Cooper 360. YouTube and Google streamed the event live. It was also simulcast on CNN en Español.\n\nTwo of eight candidates, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, were accorded greater talk-time than the moderator. Barack Obama was accorded the greatest talk-time at 15.18 minutes, 3.64 times the talk-time accorded Gravel, who was accorded the least talk-time at 4.17 minutes. Gravel responded to audience applause when he had complained of a lack of airtime and said: \"Thank you. Has it been fair thus far?\" Detractors began to liken Gravel to \"the cranky uncle who lives in the attic,\" or \"the angry old guy that just seemed to want to become angrier.\"\n\nOn August 4, 2007, the Yearly Kos Presidential Leadership Forum was held in Chicago, Illinois. This informal discussion was attended by seven of the eight presidential candidates, with Joe Biden not attending due to votes in Congress. New York Times Magazine writer Matt Bai and DailyKos Contributing Editor and Fellow Joan McCarter moderated. The debate was broken down into Domestic Policy, Foreign Policy, and Philosophy and Leadership. Candidates were allotted 90 seconds for each question with 45 second rebuttals, although the time limits were not strictly enforced. After the debate, breakout sessions were held where convention goers could question each candidate individually.\n\nGravel expounded upon the shortcomings of representational government, concluding with, \"So the only answer is for you to realize that the answer is not up here on the dais, the answer is with you, the American people, to acquire lawmaking powers.\" He reiterated that the U.S. Senate had the power to shut down the Iraq War with a series of forced cloture votes if they so chose. And he talked about the effect of the concentration of the media and of money in politics, saying \"You gotta keep in mind that all politicians sort of walk in the mud. You know their head may be up here but they walk in the mud. And you have to understand that, because of the way the system is structured, you have to raise money. We're raising hundreds of millions of dollars on this dais for these people to talk to you, when we all know that money is the corrupting agent of politics, and lo and behold the media, which is now controlled in this country by five corporations, is telling us that these people who raise the most, who technically are the most corrupt, are the ones that should get to be elected.\"\n\nOn August 9, 2007, Gravel participated in an LGBT network Logo hosted debate focusing on LGBT issues, moderated by Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese and singer Melissa Etheridge in Los Angeles, California. Gravel was originally excluded from this debate, the reason given that his campaign had not raised enough money to qualify for participation. Rallying from Gravel's supporters reversed this decision.\n\nOn August 19, 2007 in Des Moines, Iowa, ABC News in conjunction with the Iowa Democratic Party held a debate streamed on This Week moderated by George Stephanopoulos.\n\nDuring the course of the debate Gravel reiterated many of his stances against the Iraq War. Asked if he believed in the efficacy of prayer Gravel replied that he believed in love, that love implements courage, and that courage fosters all the other virtues useful in life. Gravel observed that many of the people who pray are the same ones who want to go to war and thus to kill fellow human beings. Gravel said that more love between individual Americans, individual Iowans, would enable more individual courage, and that more courage would enable Americans to grapple with the problems of governance. Gravel also questioned Americans' view of their country as \"Number 1\" in the world.\n\nFive of eight candidates, Joe Biden, Bill Richardson, John Edwards, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, were accorded greater talk-time than the moderator. Barack Obama was accorded the greatest talk-time at 13.17 minutes, 2.7 times the talk-time accorded Gravel, who was accorded the least talk-time at 4.88 minutes. Berkley political scientist David Terr found that moderator George Stephanopoulos directed roughly five percent of his questions to Gravel; In a poll asking who did the best in the debate, Gravel placed seventh among the eight candidates. National opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination continued to show Gravel with one percent or zero percent numbers.\n\nOn September 9, 2007, Univision hosted a forum in Spanish at the University of Miami's Bank United Center in Coral Gables, Florida and moderated by Univision's anchors Jorge Ramos and Maria Elena Salinas. Joe Biden did not participate in the debate. During the course of the forum Gravel stated that it was wrong that the father of (Pfc. 3rd Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment) Armando Soriano (age 20, of Houston), killed in Iraq (1 Feb 2004, in Haditha), was about to be deported. Along with the other candidates Gravel committed to immigration reform in his first year as president. Gravel then charged that the national immigration issue was in fact a case of scapegoating immigrants for other systemic problems in the US, in education and health care for example. Gravel said he was embarrassed that the US was building a wall on its southern border. Gravel charged that CAFTA and NAFTA were the real causes of many of the problems on both sides of the US borders but confessed that he thought remedying those acts would have to await the enactment of the National Initiative for Democracy and the empowerment of US citizens as legislators. Gravel said that instead he would reach out to Hugo Chávez in Venezuela and to Castro leadership in Cuba as well. Reminded that health problems had forced Gravel into bankruptcy, Gravel was asked how he would apply his personal experience to the problem of health care. Gravel outlined his plan for healthcare vouchers, paid for out of general revenues, to be applied against premiums of up to five private plans and one government plan, each with identical defined benefits, each mandated to allow freedom of choice of provider.\n\nAll candidates were accorded equal talk times at the Univision forum.\n\nA September 11, 2007 Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll found that, among registered South Carolina voters who plan to vote in the Democratic primary or usually vote for Democrats, 2% would vote for Gravel \"if the presidential primary were held today\". Candidates Chris Dodd, Dennis Kucinich, and Bill Richardson each got 1% of respondents to that question. Additionally in the same poll of South Carolina voters, in response to the question, \"Regardless of your choice for president, who do you think has the best chance of beating the Republican candidate in November…?\" Gravel polled 2%, compared to 1% for Joe Biden and Bill Richardson, and 0% for Chris Dodd and Dennis Kucinich.\n\nDuring mid-September 2007, Yahoo!, in partnership with The Huffington Post, produced a \"mashup debate\" with Charlie Rose interviewing the candidates. Segments were recorded on September 12, with the \"mashups\" posted on September 13.\n\nOn September 20, 2007 in Davenport, Iowa, PBS held a forum focused on domestic issues, specifically health care and financial security. It was moderated by Judy Woodruff, and was a joint venture between IPTV and the AARP. Barack Obama rejected PBS's invitation. Gravel and Dennis Kucinich were excluded from the debate on the grounds that they did not have at least one paid staff member or office space in Iowa.\n\nOn September 26, 2007 in Hanover, New Hampshire, MSNBC held a debate at Dartmouth College in conjunction with New England Cable News and New Hampshire Public Radio. During the course of the debate Gravel reiterated many of his familiar positions on Iraq. When asked his opinion Gravel stated that anyone old enough to fight and die for the nation ought to be able to drink alcohol legally.\nAsked if he would tax gasoline to reduce national consumption Gravel said that he would tax all carbon based fuels to eliminate the politicians' and bureaucrats' playing favorites in the implementation of such a scheme. As well, he offered that he thought it futile to try to get the Congress to pass such a law, that it would instead require his proposed National Initiative and the empowering of the people to do so. Further he said that the nation could eliminate gasoline as an energy source in 5 years and all carbon based fuels in 10 years if it could just summon the will to do so, substituting wind generated electricity, for instance, for nuclear reactors as a source of power.\n\nNone of the eight candidates were accorded greater talk-time than the moderator, who accorded himself 19.42 minutes of talk-time. Hillary Clinton was accorded the second greatest amount of talk-time at 17.62 minutes, 4.1 times the talk-time accorded Gravel, who was accorded the least amount of talk-time at 4.33 minutes.\n\nA September 27–30, 2007 American Research Group Poll showed Gravel with 2%, tied with Joe Biden and ahead of Dennis Kucinich.\n\nBy the end of the third-quarter 2007, the committee had $17,526.55 in cash on hand, and had collected a total of $379,794.85 so far during the 2008 election cycle.\n\nFourth quarter\nOn October 1, 2007, Gravel was interviewed on PBS. He described himself as an ordinary guy, and would be more likely to take the train than fly in a private jet. He explained that other leading nations, including Russia, spend just 3%–4% of their budget on defense, while the US defense budget is more than all other nations combined. He then rhetorically asked: \"What are we afraid of?\" He explained that the defense budget is associated with the military industrial complex. He stated that the US military is internationally competitive, but the US schools and health care system are not. Gravel said that Ralph Nader once referred to him as a \"breath of fresh air\".\n\nOn October 19, it was announced that Gravel was excluded from the next Democratic debate – October 30, 2007 in Philadelphia to be televised on NBC News and MSNBC and held at Drexel University – with the debate sponsors or the Democratic National Committee saying Gravel's campaign had not met fund-raising, polling, or local campaign organizational thresholds. For the Philadelphia exclusion, Gravel blamed corporate censorship on the part of sponsor owner and alleged military-industrial complex member General Electric for his exclusion.\n\nSenator Gravel mounted a counter-gathering and debate against a video screen a short distance away, at Philadelphia's \"World Cafe Live\" at the same time as,\nand two blocks from, the Democratic presidential debate from which he was excluded. The debate was shown on a large screen, with Senator Gravel providing a running commentary and later answering audience questions. The event was called \"An Alternate October 30th\" and initially announced on Gravel's YouTube page.\n\nHowever, Gravel's exclusion continued for almost all of the subsequent Democratic debates, and he had thus lost his easiest publicity.\n\nAt some point, none of the major polls were including Gravel's name in their polling. Despite poor polling numbers, Gravel had positive support among young people and Internet users, however his lowest support came from the constituency. Blind polls suggested that he would garner much more voting support if his positions were more well known.\n\nFor the fourth quarter of 2007, Gravel reported no money raised. Following Gravel's exclusion from most of the Democratic debates, and consequent impairment to his monetary turnover, his supporters began organizing \"mass donation days\" to help the campaign gain momentum and necessary funds, in the manner of Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul. Such planned days included:\n October 30, 2007, in response to the exclusion of Gravel from the debate Philadelphia held a day later;\n December 5, 2007, the anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition (this day yielded upwards of $10,000 from donations);\n January 1, 2008, using the phrase \"Gravel Resolution for Revolution\" as a catchphrase and way to publicize; and\n January 27, 2008, the anniversary of the end of U.S. participation in the Vietnam War, in light of Gravel's efforts as a senator.\n\nCaucuses and primaries 2008\nGravel did not compete in the initial January 3, 2008 vote, the Iowa caucuses, choosing to focus on the New Hampshire primary instead, and received no Iowa state delegates. Nevertheless, he was still subjected to a false report from Keith Olbermann of MSNBC that he had pulled out of the race afterward, as had fellow Democratic candidates Chris Dodd and Joe Biden. Later that night, Gravel's campaign issued a press release and YouTube video denying this and making it clear that Gravel intends to continue his campaign and that he does not intend to drop out of the race for presidency. Keith Olbermann later apologized to the Gravel campaign stating that a man named Alex Colvin, Gravel's press secretary, contacted MSNBC news at approximately 11:30 PM. MSNBC double-checked the source and believed the man was who he said he was, and was subsequently read on the air.\n\nGravel did focus much of his attention on the second 2008 vote, the New Hampshire primary held on January 8, and gained some media attention for a pre-election appearance at Phillips Exeter Academy where he told students that using marijuana was safer than drinking alcohol. In the primary he received 402 votes out of some 280,000 cast, or 0.14 percent. Gravel said he would take some time off from campaigning to deal with a respiratory infection. He subsequently resumed campaigning.\n\nOn January 15, 2008, Gravel received 2,363 votes out of 593,837 votes cast in the Michigan primary, or 0.40 percent.\n\nCampaigning was light in the Democratic primary due to an intra-party dispute removing several top candidates' names from the ballot.\n\nGravel did not reach viability in any of the Nevada caucuses in the state on January 19, 2008, and as a result, received no delegates.\n\nOn January 26, 2008, Gravel received 214 votes out of 532,468 votes cast in the South Carolina primary, or 0.04 percent.\n\nOn January 29, 2008, Gravel finished 8th in the Florida primary, with a little over 5,000 votes. He finished behind 4 candidates who had already withdrawn.\nThis primary too was affected by an intra-party dispute causing several candidates not to campaign.\n\nBy the end of January 2008, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and Gravel were the only remaining Democrats from the initial debates still running. Gravel vowed to stay in the presidential campaign until November.\n\nOn March 11, 2008, Gravel continued to remain in the Democratic race but additionally endorsed a Green Party candidate for president, Jesse Johnson, saying he wanted to help Johnson prevail against Green Party rivals Cynthia McKinney and Ralph Nader. As March neared a close, Gravel had almost no fundraising and was only on the ballot in one of the next ten Democratic primaries.\n\nSwitch to Libertarian Party 2008\n\nOn March 26, 2008, Gravel announced that he had abandoned his bid for the Democratic Party nomination and would seek the presidential nomination of the Libertarian Party, stating \"I look forward to advancing my presidential candidacy within the Libertarian Party, which is considerably closer to my values, my foreign policy views and my domestic views.\"\n\nAs a Libertarian candidate, Gravel found more support than he had as a Democrat, placing second and third in two April 2008 straw polls.\n\nIn the May 25 balloting at the 2008 Libertarian National Convention in Denver, Gravel finished fourth out of eight candidates on the initial ballot, with 71 votes out of 618; he trailed former Congressman and eventual winner Bob Barr, author Mary Ruwart, and businessman Wayne Allyn Root. Gravel's position did not improve subsequently and he was eliminated on the fourth ballot. Afterwards he said, \"I just ended my political career. From 15 years old to now, my political career is over, and it's no big deal. I'm a writer, I'm a lecturer, I'm going to push the issues of freedom and liberty. I'm going to push those issues until the day I die.\"\n\nPolitical positions\n\nEndorsements\n\nGravel had the endorsement of campaign finance reform activist Doris Haddock and received financial contributions from actor Mark Ruffalo.\n\nNoted academic and political dissident Noam Chomsky also endorsed Senator Gravel.\n\nNotes\n\nExternal links\n\nCampaign and milestones\n Gravel for President\n Gravel2008 Youtube Channel\n Sen. Mike Gravel for President 2008 Blogspot\n Announcement of Candidacy. National Press Club, 17 April 2006\n First Interview following Announcement. National Press Club, 17 April 2006\n Gravel2008 on MySpace.com - official\n\nInterviews\n Blue State Observer — Interview\n Blue State Observer — Scones with the Senator\n Interview with Mike Gravel — The Eisenthal Report: Part 1, Part 2, Analysis\n Interview with Mike Gravel — CitizenPowerMagazine.net\n Mike Gravel on Antiwar Radio with Scott Horton\n Mike Gravel video interview: part 1, part 2, part 3, and part 4.\n Answering a question about gays in the military\n Conversation' With Mike Gravel\n Mike Gravel on CNN Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer\n Washington Journal interview and call-in on C-SPAN — part 1 part 2 part 3 part 4. Wide range of issues are discussed.\n Interviewed by Harold Channer. Discusses Louis O. Kelso, Binary Economics, National Initiative, and the interplay between the National Initiative, and Binary Economics. The two being the different faces of the same coin.\n Bernie Ward Program KGO Radio San Francisco May 23, 2007\n\nSpeeches and debates\n MP3 audio of speech delivered at the 2007 Democratic Winter conference in Washington, D.C., February 3, 2007. \n A Legislative Plan To End The War In Iraq, May 14, 2007 National Press Club\n\nHistory of libertarianism\n2008 Democratic Party (United States) presidential campaigns\nMike Gravel\nLibertarian Party (United States) presidential campaigns","Kensington Gravel Pits was an old village located at the junction of what are now known as Bayswater Road and Kensington Church Street. This area is now known as Notting Hill Gate. The village was named after gravel quarries located to between the village and the town of Kensington.\n\nReferences\n\nKensington\nNotting Hill"],"string":"[\n \"The 2008 presidential campaign of Mike Gravel, former Speaker of the Alaska House of Representatives and United States Senator from Alaska began on April 17, 2006 when he declared his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2008 election, in a speech to the National Press Club.\\n\\nHis campaign gained an Internet following and national attention due to outspoken debate appearances during 2007, but consistently showed little support in national polls. In the 2008 Democratic caucuses and primaries, he did not win any delegates. Out of the eight candidates for the Democratic nomination for president, he received the fewest votes - less than one percent.\\n\\nIn March 2008, Gravel announced that he had joined the Libertarian Party and would seek its presidential nomination, instead of further pursuing the Democratic nomination. In May 2008, Gravel finished fourth at the 2008 Libertarian National Convention and ended both his presidential quest and his political career, until his 2020 presidential campaign.\\n\\nAnnouncement\\n\\nOn April 17, 2006, Gravel became the first candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2008 election, announcing his run in a speech to the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Short on campaign cash, he took public transportation to get to his announcement.\\n\\nGravel had spoken out against the war in Iraq since before the invasion of that country began in March 2003. In his announcement he called for immediate cessation of US military involvement in Iraq via his own-drafted U.S. Armed Forces Withdrawal From Iraq Act, and offered a strategy he claimed would get it passed. He unequivocally denounced any possible war with Iran. His announced campaign platform was centered on systemic changes to the U.S. system. Foremost among these were:\\n The National Initiative for Democracy, a Constitutional amendment and proposed federal statute that would recognize a fourth branch of the US federal government in addition to the judicial, executive and legislative branches, namely the people via direct democracy, enabled to directly initiate and pass legislation and to amend the Constitution of the United States on their own.\\n A national sales tax that would replace the income tax and the Internal Revenue Service.\\n\\nGravel's initial campaign also emphasized his support for a single-payer national health care system, term limits, nuclear disarmament, and same-sex marriage recognition.\\n\\nCampaign developments 2006\\n\\nAlthough Gravel's candidacy was little-noticed by the national media, at its outset he campaigned almost full-time in New Hampshire (the first primary state). He garnered broader awareness and interest through his occasional television appearances, netroots campaigning, participation in Party forums (such as the Democratic Presidential Candidates Forum and Democratic National Committee (DNC) Winter Conference), and up until October 30 in Philadelphia, the string of televised debates sponsored by the DNC and others.\\n\\nGravel was interviewed for the Blue State Observer weblog on June 27, 2006. On that occasion he expressed his support for constitutional change in aid of citizen-initiated legislation, he declaimed the existence of limitations upon the conduct of stem cell research, and stated he was against the widespread deportation of illegal immigrants then being advocated by conservative talk radio and other elements.\\n\\nAn August 2006 media release draws attention to the candidate's public opposition to the prospect of war in Iraq expressed as long ago as the early months of 2002.\\n\\nThe campaign and/or candidate attracted mainstream coverage in The New York Times, The Reno Gazette-Journal, on CBS News, on ABC News, in The Progressive, and in The American Spectator/\\n\\nGravel delivered an address before the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College in November 2006 which has been recorded and published on video.\\n\\nThe campaign website included participation forums. A video section of the campaign website linked to videos of some media appearances, his address to the New Hampshire Institute of Politics, a September 2006 appearance at the 'Camp Democracy' activist forum in Washington D.C., as well as the introductory video from his successful 1968 Senate campaign.\\n\\nThe candidate has maintained his own weblog since October 2006, and began blogging at The Huffington Post in June 2007 as well. The Gravel campaign also had its own YouTube channel featuring more than 80 videos of the candidate's past speeches and campaign appearances.\\n\\nCampaign developments 2007\\n\\nFirst quarter\\nGravel's address before the DNC National Winter Conference in early February 2007 was received – enthusiastically, claimed campaign advocates – and was broadcast on C-SPAN. In speaking he offered harsh judgments against President Bush and the Senate Democratic leadership, and implicitly his presidential rivals Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, and John Edwards, saying \\\"anyone who voted for the war on October 11 based upon what President Bush presented to them is not qualified to hold the office of President of the United States.\\\" Gravel was interviewed on MSNBC at the time. He also appeared as a guest of a video weblog directed from New Jersey answering questions about netroots and the blogosphere.\\n\\nSenator Gravel was interviewed on Toniq TV where he forthrightly expressed views supporting the lifting of restrictions against the service of identified gays and lesbians in the US military. Calling comparison to President Harry S. Truman's racial desegregation of the US military in 1948, he criticized former President Bill Clinton as 'dead wrong' and 'mousy' for his innovation of the 'don't ask don't tell' policy covering homosexual conduct by military members:\\n\\nWhen Clinton got to be President, well, the first he's doing is standing there on two legs waffling back and forth, oh, don't tell us you're gay. What are you talking about? If you had any knowledge of history, ancient history, in Sparta they encouraged homosexuality because they fight for the people they love. And if it's your partner and you love them, you're prepared to die for them, and that's the same ethic you see in the military today. It's not the country. It's my partner. Go see the movies on war, and it's always the person next to me who is in my foxhole with me. Well, I got to tell you, extend that a little further and you'll see why the Spartans trained their people to be homosexuals, because they're better fighters.\\n\\nOn February 11, 2007, the senator addressed the Jefferson County Presidents Day Dinner in Watertown, Wisconsin.\\n\\nOn February 13, 2007, the senator released a statement outlining his views on the possibility of impeachment proceedings against President George W. Bush, regarding it as 'not sufficient' and favoring a congressional inquiry which could ultimately lead to criminal charges being brought against the President.\\n\\nSenator Gravel participated in the AFSCME Democratic Presidential Forum on 21 February 2007 in Carson City, Nevada, at the Carson City Community Center. He appears toward the end of the video of the broadcast of the event.\\n\\nIn the Carson City Forum, he roundly condemned President Bush's policy of military involvement in Iraq and reminded those present of his statements warning of lies and distortions about Iraq's supposed unlawful weapons of mass destruction as far back as early 2002 (the time of the occurrence of the first signs of the Bush Administration's formulation of an agenda for military action against Iraq). He decried the overall level of military spending as opposed to the funding of education and of what he regarded as the consequent, poor educational outcomes achieved.\\n\\nSenator Gravel called on congressional Democrats to force a 'constitutional crisis' by denying all further budgetary appropriations in aid of continued American military involvement in Iraq. He further argued that the income tax should be 'wiped out' in favor of the FairTax proposal - which imposes a progressive sales tax on newly manufactured items varying from 19% to 23% while providing 'prebates' to 'untax' families spending on necessities, up to the poverty level. He stated his view that experience showed income taxes were successfully 'gamed' by the wealthy at the expense of the poor and middle income earners. And he voiced his support for the constitutional and legal reform necessary to effect the National Initiative as a means of enabling citizen-initiated national lawmaking.\\n\\nSenator Gravel also spoke in favor of public financial assistance for campaigning presidential candidates.\\n\\nOn February 26, 2007, Senator Gravel was interviewed about his campaign on the American C-SPAN network's Washington Journal program.\\n\\nIn a February 25, 2007 Washington Post/ABC News nationwide poll of voters who lean Democratic, 0% supported Gravel for the Democratic presidential nomination. Indeed, through February 2007, such opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination all showed Gravel with a 1% or less support level.\\n\\nAt the close of the first quarter 2007 reporting period, the campaign committee had $498 in cash against debts and obligations amounting to $88,515.\\n\\nSecond quarter\\nBecause of his time in the Senate, Gravel was invited to many of the early Democratic presidential debates. The first Democratic debate of the pre-primary season was in the evening of April 26, 2007, in Orangeburg, South Carolina, at South Carolina State University. State party chairman Joe Erwin said that he chose South Carolina State because it is an historically black college, noting that African-Americans have been the \\\"most loyal\\\" Democrats in the state. The debate was 90 minutes with a 60-second time limit for answers, and no opening or closing statements. It was broadcast via cable television and online video streaming by MSNBC. The debate was moderated by Brian Williams of NBC Nightly News.\\n\\nGravel appeared with the seven other contenders for the Democratic nomination for president. He stated that the Iraq War had the effect of creating more terrorists and that the \\\"war was lost the day that George Bush invaded Iraq on a fraudulent basis.\\\" He maintained that an end to the war could be effected by a bill passed in the House and a Senate filibuster on such a bill defeated by a daily vote on cloture, but that the will to do so was lacking. Further, he suggested a bill requiring the president to withdraw from Iraq on pain of criminal penalties. He said the recent threat of a pre-emptive nuclear strike in the \\\"war on terror\\\" was immoral and would be dropped under a Gravel administration, and that America has no important military enemies and it is the influence of the military-industrial complex that has conditioned Americans to think of the world in terms of enemies. He characterized the CIA overthrow of democracy in Iran in the 1950s lies as the root of U.S. problems with that country. Overall, he said that all American armed forces who died in Vietnam died in vain and American armed forces in Iraq were dying in vain. Regarding his fellow candidates, he said, \\\"I got to tell you, after standing up with them, some of these people frighten me — they frighten me.\\\"\\n\\nMedia stories about the debate said that Gravel was responsible for much of whatever \\\"heat\\\" and \\\"flashpoints\\\" had taken place. Gravel gained considerable publicity by shaking up the normally staid multiple-candidate format; The New York Times' media critic said that what Gravel had done was \\\"steal a debate with outrageous, curmudgeonly statements.\\\" The Internet was a benefit: a YouTube video of his responses in the debate was viewed more than 225,892 times, ranking seventeenth in most views for week and first among news and politics clips; his name became the fifteenth most searched-for in the blogosphere; and his website garnered more traffic than those of frontrunners Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, or John Edwards. Gravel appeared on the popular Colbert Report on television on May 2, and his campaign and career were profiled in national publications such as Salon.\\n\\nAll of this did not help his poll ratings: a May 2007 CNN poll showed him with less than 0.5 percent support among Democrats.\\n\\nIn late May 2007, two wordless, avant-garde campaign videos, \\\"Rock\\\" and \\\"Fire\\\", created by Otis College of Art and Design staff Matt Mayes and Guston Sondin-Klausner, were released on YouTube and became hits. The first, nearly three minutes long, showed Gravel staring at the camera silently for more than one minute, then throwing a large rock into a lake and slowly walking away, with a sole graphic showing the campaign website. The second, nearly eight minutes long, briefly showed Gravel walking through a forest collecting wood and looking at the resultant campfire, then for the remaining seven minutes just showed the fire burning, with the website graphic superimposed. These videos would eventually gain over 480,000 and 140,000 views respectively. \\\"Rock\\\" was given airtime during an episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.\\n\\nWMUR-TV, CNN, and the New Hampshire Union Leader hosted both Democratic and Republican debates in Goffstown, New Hampshire, at Saint Anselm College. The Democratic debate was Sunday, June 3, starting at 7 PM EDT and lasting two hours, commercial free. The moderator was Wolf Blitzer, host of Late Edition and The Situation Room. He was joined by Tom Fahey of the Union Leader and Scott Spradling from the local NH television station WMUR. The first half of the debate was a directed question and answer, with candidates at podiums, as in the first debate, responding to questions from Fahey and Spradling.\\n\\nOn March 17, 2007, CNN, the New Hampshire Union Leader and WMUR-TV had formally decided to exclude former Senator Gravel from debates between Democratic presidential candidates they would be sponsoring in New Hampshire. The decision was decried as \\\"censorship, unbecoming a free society\\\", and on May 1 the decision was reversed, and Gravel was invited to be a participant. The venue was Saint Anselm College and the debate was nationally televised on CNN.\\n\\nGravel reiterated many of his past foreign policy points during the debate, and emphasized that Biden, Clinton, Dodd, and Edwards voted for the resolution under which the invasion and occupation of Iraq were undertaken and Edwards co-sponsored it. Gravel claimed that the history of Southeast Asia after U.S. withdrawal showed Iraq withdrawal would not necessarily be dire, and that the insurgency in Iraq was successful because it had the support of the Iraqi people. He said that the fact that the other candidates knew, or should have known, that there were \\\"two sets of books\\\" being kept on intelligence from Iraq, and that they voted the resolution that authorized the war in spite of that fact, indicates that morality plays no part in their political decisions and that lack of moral judgment ought to keep them from the presidency.\\n\\nTwo of eight candidates, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, were accorded greater talk-time than the moderator. Barack Obama was accorded the greatest talk-time at 16 full minutes, 2.85 times the talk-time accorded Gravel, who was accorded the least talk-time at 5.62 minutes.\\n\\nOn June 28, 2007 in Washington, D.C., PBS held and televised a debate at Howard University, an historically black college. The moderator was Tavis Smiley. All eight candidates discussed various topics including education, poverty, unemployment, racial discrimination, and health in the black community. The debate drew a record crowd of celebrities, such as Harry Belafonte, Al Sharpton, Dorothy Heights, Jesse Jackson, Terry McMillan, Judge Hatchett, and Mark Ridley-Thomas.\\n\\nGravel's points in the debate included that the \\\"war on drugs\\\" was a failure. He asserted that the prison population of the US had increased 1285% over the past 35 years and that 70% of that population is African-American. Gravel compared the legal basis for the war on drugs to Prohibition, claimed that it made criminals of people who otherwise were not criminals, and that they were disproportionately African-American. Gravel asserted that the money spent on the war in Iraq could have built 4 million houses thus helping victims of hurricane Katrina, or financed 21 million four-year college scholarships, or hired 7.6 million new teachers. Gravel said that the income tax code was especially open to corruption. That the tax code was now so complicated and corrupted that no one alive understood it. He said that with his alternative, progressive sales tax proposal everyone would know what everyone else was paying in taxes. Gravel said that equal justice before the law would only be possible if the people were empowered as lawmakers. Gravel asserted that Free Trade Agreements benefited corporate management and shareholders but hurt most people on both sides to the agreement.\\n\\nThis was the first debate during which all the candidates were accorded equal time. The earlier debates were heavily biased toward the 'Top-tier' candidates.\\n\\nBy the second-quarter 2007 close, the committee had $31,141 in cash on hand, and had collected a total of $175,229 in net contributions during the entire 2008 election cycle.\\n\\nThird quarter\\n\\nOn July 12, 2007 in Detroit, Michigan, all eight candidates attended a debate held during the NAACP convention. John Edwards and Hillary Clinton were overheard—on stage, over microphones—conferring about weeding those candidates not in the 'Top-tier' out of future debates.\\n\\nOn July 23, 2007 in Charleston, South Carolina, the CNN-YouTube Presidential Debates took place for the Democrats, on the campus of The Citadel. All questions were selected from among, and posed as videos submitted via YouTube by members of the public; the debate was moderated by Anderson Cooper of Anderson Cooper 360. YouTube and Google streamed the event live. It was also simulcast on CNN en Español.\\n\\nTwo of eight candidates, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, were accorded greater talk-time than the moderator. Barack Obama was accorded the greatest talk-time at 15.18 minutes, 3.64 times the talk-time accorded Gravel, who was accorded the least talk-time at 4.17 minutes. Gravel responded to audience applause when he had complained of a lack of airtime and said: \\\"Thank you. Has it been fair thus far?\\\" Detractors began to liken Gravel to \\\"the cranky uncle who lives in the attic,\\\" or \\\"the angry old guy that just seemed to want to become angrier.\\\"\\n\\nOn August 4, 2007, the Yearly Kos Presidential Leadership Forum was held in Chicago, Illinois. This informal discussion was attended by seven of the eight presidential candidates, with Joe Biden not attending due to votes in Congress. New York Times Magazine writer Matt Bai and DailyKos Contributing Editor and Fellow Joan McCarter moderated. The debate was broken down into Domestic Policy, Foreign Policy, and Philosophy and Leadership. Candidates were allotted 90 seconds for each question with 45 second rebuttals, although the time limits were not strictly enforced. After the debate, breakout sessions were held where convention goers could question each candidate individually.\\n\\nGravel expounded upon the shortcomings of representational government, concluding with, \\\"So the only answer is for you to realize that the answer is not up here on the dais, the answer is with you, the American people, to acquire lawmaking powers.\\\" He reiterated that the U.S. Senate had the power to shut down the Iraq War with a series of forced cloture votes if they so chose. And he talked about the effect of the concentration of the media and of money in politics, saying \\\"You gotta keep in mind that all politicians sort of walk in the mud. You know their head may be up here but they walk in the mud. And you have to understand that, because of the way the system is structured, you have to raise money. We're raising hundreds of millions of dollars on this dais for these people to talk to you, when we all know that money is the corrupting agent of politics, and lo and behold the media, which is now controlled in this country by five corporations, is telling us that these people who raise the most, who technically are the most corrupt, are the ones that should get to be elected.\\\"\\n\\nOn August 9, 2007, Gravel participated in an LGBT network Logo hosted debate focusing on LGBT issues, moderated by Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese and singer Melissa Etheridge in Los Angeles, California. Gravel was originally excluded from this debate, the reason given that his campaign had not raised enough money to qualify for participation. Rallying from Gravel's supporters reversed this decision.\\n\\nOn August 19, 2007 in Des Moines, Iowa, ABC News in conjunction with the Iowa Democratic Party held a debate streamed on This Week moderated by George Stephanopoulos.\\n\\nDuring the course of the debate Gravel reiterated many of his stances against the Iraq War. Asked if he believed in the efficacy of prayer Gravel replied that he believed in love, that love implements courage, and that courage fosters all the other virtues useful in life. Gravel observed that many of the people who pray are the same ones who want to go to war and thus to kill fellow human beings. Gravel said that more love between individual Americans, individual Iowans, would enable more individual courage, and that more courage would enable Americans to grapple with the problems of governance. Gravel also questioned Americans' view of their country as \\\"Number 1\\\" in the world.\\n\\nFive of eight candidates, Joe Biden, Bill Richardson, John Edwards, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, were accorded greater talk-time than the moderator. Barack Obama was accorded the greatest talk-time at 13.17 minutes, 2.7 times the talk-time accorded Gravel, who was accorded the least talk-time at 4.88 minutes. Berkley political scientist David Terr found that moderator George Stephanopoulos directed roughly five percent of his questions to Gravel; In a poll asking who did the best in the debate, Gravel placed seventh among the eight candidates. National opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination continued to show Gravel with one percent or zero percent numbers.\\n\\nOn September 9, 2007, Univision hosted a forum in Spanish at the University of Miami's Bank United Center in Coral Gables, Florida and moderated by Univision's anchors Jorge Ramos and Maria Elena Salinas. Joe Biden did not participate in the debate. During the course of the forum Gravel stated that it was wrong that the father of (Pfc. 3rd Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment) Armando Soriano (age 20, of Houston), killed in Iraq (1 Feb 2004, in Haditha), was about to be deported. Along with the other candidates Gravel committed to immigration reform in his first year as president. Gravel then charged that the national immigration issue was in fact a case of scapegoating immigrants for other systemic problems in the US, in education and health care for example. Gravel said he was embarrassed that the US was building a wall on its southern border. Gravel charged that CAFTA and NAFTA were the real causes of many of the problems on both sides of the US borders but confessed that he thought remedying those acts would have to await the enactment of the National Initiative for Democracy and the empowerment of US citizens as legislators. Gravel said that instead he would reach out to Hugo Chávez in Venezuela and to Castro leadership in Cuba as well. Reminded that health problems had forced Gravel into bankruptcy, Gravel was asked how he would apply his personal experience to the problem of health care. Gravel outlined his plan for healthcare vouchers, paid for out of general revenues, to be applied against premiums of up to five private plans and one government plan, each with identical defined benefits, each mandated to allow freedom of choice of provider.\\n\\nAll candidates were accorded equal talk times at the Univision forum.\\n\\nA September 11, 2007 Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll found that, among registered South Carolina voters who plan to vote in the Democratic primary or usually vote for Democrats, 2% would vote for Gravel \\\"if the presidential primary were held today\\\". Candidates Chris Dodd, Dennis Kucinich, and Bill Richardson each got 1% of respondents to that question. Additionally in the same poll of South Carolina voters, in response to the question, \\\"Regardless of your choice for president, who do you think has the best chance of beating the Republican candidate in November…?\\\" Gravel polled 2%, compared to 1% for Joe Biden and Bill Richardson, and 0% for Chris Dodd and Dennis Kucinich.\\n\\nDuring mid-September 2007, Yahoo!, in partnership with The Huffington Post, produced a \\\"mashup debate\\\" with Charlie Rose interviewing the candidates. Segments were recorded on September 12, with the \\\"mashups\\\" posted on September 13.\\n\\nOn September 20, 2007 in Davenport, Iowa, PBS held a forum focused on domestic issues, specifically health care and financial security. It was moderated by Judy Woodruff, and was a joint venture between IPTV and the AARP. Barack Obama rejected PBS's invitation. Gravel and Dennis Kucinich were excluded from the debate on the grounds that they did not have at least one paid staff member or office space in Iowa.\\n\\nOn September 26, 2007 in Hanover, New Hampshire, MSNBC held a debate at Dartmouth College in conjunction with New England Cable News and New Hampshire Public Radio. During the course of the debate Gravel reiterated many of his familiar positions on Iraq. When asked his opinion Gravel stated that anyone old enough to fight and die for the nation ought to be able to drink alcohol legally.\\nAsked if he would tax gasoline to reduce national consumption Gravel said that he would tax all carbon based fuels to eliminate the politicians' and bureaucrats' playing favorites in the implementation of such a scheme. As well, he offered that he thought it futile to try to get the Congress to pass such a law, that it would instead require his proposed National Initiative and the empowering of the people to do so. Further he said that the nation could eliminate gasoline as an energy source in 5 years and all carbon based fuels in 10 years if it could just summon the will to do so, substituting wind generated electricity, for instance, for nuclear reactors as a source of power.\\n\\nNone of the eight candidates were accorded greater talk-time than the moderator, who accorded himself 19.42 minutes of talk-time. Hillary Clinton was accorded the second greatest amount of talk-time at 17.62 minutes, 4.1 times the talk-time accorded Gravel, who was accorded the least amount of talk-time at 4.33 minutes.\\n\\nA September 27–30, 2007 American Research Group Poll showed Gravel with 2%, tied with Joe Biden and ahead of Dennis Kucinich.\\n\\nBy the end of the third-quarter 2007, the committee had $17,526.55 in cash on hand, and had collected a total of $379,794.85 so far during the 2008 election cycle.\\n\\nFourth quarter\\nOn October 1, 2007, Gravel was interviewed on PBS. He described himself as an ordinary guy, and would be more likely to take the train than fly in a private jet. He explained that other leading nations, including Russia, spend just 3%–4% of their budget on defense, while the US defense budget is more than all other nations combined. He then rhetorically asked: \\\"What are we afraid of?\\\" He explained that the defense budget is associated with the military industrial complex. He stated that the US military is internationally competitive, but the US schools and health care system are not. Gravel said that Ralph Nader once referred to him as a \\\"breath of fresh air\\\".\\n\\nOn October 19, it was announced that Gravel was excluded from the next Democratic debate – October 30, 2007 in Philadelphia to be televised on NBC News and MSNBC and held at Drexel University – with the debate sponsors or the Democratic National Committee saying Gravel's campaign had not met fund-raising, polling, or local campaign organizational thresholds. For the Philadelphia exclusion, Gravel blamed corporate censorship on the part of sponsor owner and alleged military-industrial complex member General Electric for his exclusion.\\n\\nSenator Gravel mounted a counter-gathering and debate against a video screen a short distance away, at Philadelphia's \\\"World Cafe Live\\\" at the same time as,\\nand two blocks from, the Democratic presidential debate from which he was excluded. The debate was shown on a large screen, with Senator Gravel providing a running commentary and later answering audience questions. The event was called \\\"An Alternate October 30th\\\" and initially announced on Gravel's YouTube page.\\n\\nHowever, Gravel's exclusion continued for almost all of the subsequent Democratic debates, and he had thus lost his easiest publicity.\\n\\nAt some point, none of the major polls were including Gravel's name in their polling. Despite poor polling numbers, Gravel had positive support among young people and Internet users, however his lowest support came from the constituency. Blind polls suggested that he would garner much more voting support if his positions were more well known.\\n\\nFor the fourth quarter of 2007, Gravel reported no money raised. Following Gravel's exclusion from most of the Democratic debates, and consequent impairment to his monetary turnover, his supporters began organizing \\\"mass donation days\\\" to help the campaign gain momentum and necessary funds, in the manner of Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul. Such planned days included:\\n October 30, 2007, in response to the exclusion of Gravel from the debate Philadelphia held a day later;\\n December 5, 2007, the anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition (this day yielded upwards of $10,000 from donations);\\n January 1, 2008, using the phrase \\\"Gravel Resolution for Revolution\\\" as a catchphrase and way to publicize; and\\n January 27, 2008, the anniversary of the end of U.S. participation in the Vietnam War, in light of Gravel's efforts as a senator.\\n\\nCaucuses and primaries 2008\\nGravel did not compete in the initial January 3, 2008 vote, the Iowa caucuses, choosing to focus on the New Hampshire primary instead, and received no Iowa state delegates. Nevertheless, he was still subjected to a false report from Keith Olbermann of MSNBC that he had pulled out of the race afterward, as had fellow Democratic candidates Chris Dodd and Joe Biden. Later that night, Gravel's campaign issued a press release and YouTube video denying this and making it clear that Gravel intends to continue his campaign and that he does not intend to drop out of the race for presidency. Keith Olbermann later apologized to the Gravel campaign stating that a man named Alex Colvin, Gravel's press secretary, contacted MSNBC news at approximately 11:30 PM. MSNBC double-checked the source and believed the man was who he said he was, and was subsequently read on the air.\\n\\nGravel did focus much of his attention on the second 2008 vote, the New Hampshire primary held on January 8, and gained some media attention for a pre-election appearance at Phillips Exeter Academy where he told students that using marijuana was safer than drinking alcohol. In the primary he received 402 votes out of some 280,000 cast, or 0.14 percent. Gravel said he would take some time off from campaigning to deal with a respiratory infection. He subsequently resumed campaigning.\\n\\nOn January 15, 2008, Gravel received 2,363 votes out of 593,837 votes cast in the Michigan primary, or 0.40 percent.\\n\\nCampaigning was light in the Democratic primary due to an intra-party dispute removing several top candidates' names from the ballot.\\n\\nGravel did not reach viability in any of the Nevada caucuses in the state on January 19, 2008, and as a result, received no delegates.\\n\\nOn January 26, 2008, Gravel received 214 votes out of 532,468 votes cast in the South Carolina primary, or 0.04 percent.\\n\\nOn January 29, 2008, Gravel finished 8th in the Florida primary, with a little over 5,000 votes. He finished behind 4 candidates who had already withdrawn.\\nThis primary too was affected by an intra-party dispute causing several candidates not to campaign.\\n\\nBy the end of January 2008, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and Gravel were the only remaining Democrats from the initial debates still running. Gravel vowed to stay in the presidential campaign until November.\\n\\nOn March 11, 2008, Gravel continued to remain in the Democratic race but additionally endorsed a Green Party candidate for president, Jesse Johnson, saying he wanted to help Johnson prevail against Green Party rivals Cynthia McKinney and Ralph Nader. As March neared a close, Gravel had almost no fundraising and was only on the ballot in one of the next ten Democratic primaries.\\n\\nSwitch to Libertarian Party 2008\\n\\nOn March 26, 2008, Gravel announced that he had abandoned his bid for the Democratic Party nomination and would seek the presidential nomination of the Libertarian Party, stating \\\"I look forward to advancing my presidential candidacy within the Libertarian Party, which is considerably closer to my values, my foreign policy views and my domestic views.\\\"\\n\\nAs a Libertarian candidate, Gravel found more support than he had as a Democrat, placing second and third in two April 2008 straw polls.\\n\\nIn the May 25 balloting at the 2008 Libertarian National Convention in Denver, Gravel finished fourth out of eight candidates on the initial ballot, with 71 votes out of 618; he trailed former Congressman and eventual winner Bob Barr, author Mary Ruwart, and businessman Wayne Allyn Root. Gravel's position did not improve subsequently and he was eliminated on the fourth ballot. Afterwards he said, \\\"I just ended my political career. From 15 years old to now, my political career is over, and it's no big deal. I'm a writer, I'm a lecturer, I'm going to push the issues of freedom and liberty. I'm going to push those issues until the day I die.\\\"\\n\\nPolitical positions\\n\\nEndorsements\\n\\nGravel had the endorsement of campaign finance reform activist Doris Haddock and received financial contributions from actor Mark Ruffalo.\\n\\nNoted academic and political dissident Noam Chomsky also endorsed Senator Gravel.\\n\\nNotes\\n\\nExternal links\\n\\nCampaign and milestones\\n Gravel for President\\n Gravel2008 Youtube Channel\\n Sen. Mike Gravel for President 2008 Blogspot\\n Announcement of Candidacy. National Press Club, 17 April 2006\\n First Interview following Announcement. National Press Club, 17 April 2006\\n Gravel2008 on MySpace.com - official\\n\\nInterviews\\n Blue State Observer — Interview\\n Blue State Observer — Scones with the Senator\\n Interview with Mike Gravel — The Eisenthal Report: Part 1, Part 2, Analysis\\n Interview with Mike Gravel — CitizenPowerMagazine.net\\n Mike Gravel on Antiwar Radio with Scott Horton\\n Mike Gravel video interview: part 1, part 2, part 3, and part 4.\\n Answering a question about gays in the military\\n Conversation' With Mike Gravel\\n Mike Gravel on CNN Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer\\n Washington Journal interview and call-in on C-SPAN — part 1 part 2 part 3 part 4. Wide range of issues are discussed.\\n Interviewed by Harold Channer. Discusses Louis O. Kelso, Binary Economics, National Initiative, and the interplay between the National Initiative, and Binary Economics. The two being the different faces of the same coin.\\n Bernie Ward Program KGO Radio San Francisco May 23, 2007\\n\\nSpeeches and debates\\n MP3 audio of speech delivered at the 2007 Democratic Winter conference in Washington, D.C., February 3, 2007. \\n A Legislative Plan To End The War In Iraq, May 14, 2007 National Press Club\\n\\nHistory of libertarianism\\n2008 Democratic Party (United States) presidential campaigns\\nMike Gravel\\nLibertarian Party (United States) presidential campaigns\",\n \"Kensington Gravel Pits was an old village located at the junction of what are now known as Bayswater Road and Kensington Church Street. This area is now known as Notting Hill Gate. The village was named after gravel quarries located to between the village and the town of Kensington.\\n\\nReferences\\n\\nKensington\\nNotting Hill\"\n]"},"chunked_article":{"kind":"list like","value":["Maurice Robert Gravel ( ; May 13, 1930 – June 26, 2021) was an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Alaska from 1969 to 1981 as a member of the Democratic Party, and who, in later life, twice ran for the presidential nomination of that party. Born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, by French-Canadian immigrant parents, Gravel moved to Alaska in the late 1950s, becoming a real estate developer and entering politics.","Born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, by French-Canadian immigrant parents, Gravel moved to Alaska in the late 1950s, becoming a real estate developer and entering politics. He served in the Alaska House of Representatives from 1963 to 1967, and also became Speaker of the Alaska House. Gravel was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1968.","Gravel was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1968. Gravel was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1968. As a senator, Gravel became nationally known for his forceful, but unsuccessful, attempts to end the draft during the War in Vietnam, and for putting the Pentagon Papers into the public record in 1971. He conducted a campaign for the Democratic nomination in 1972 for Vice President of the United States, and then played a crucial role in obtaining Congressional approval for the Trans-Alaska pipeline in 1973.","He conducted a campaign for the Democratic nomination in 1972 for Vice President of the United States, and then played a crucial role in obtaining Congressional approval for the Trans-Alaska pipeline in 1973. He was re-elected to the Senate in 1974, but was defeated in his bid for a third term in the primary election in 1980. An advocate of direct democracy and the National Initiative, Gravel staged a run for the 2008 Democratic nomination for President of the United States.","An advocate of direct democracy and the National Initiative, Gravel staged a run for the 2008 Democratic nomination for President of the United States. His campaign failed to gain support, and in March 2008, he left the Democratic Party and joined the Libertarian Party to compete unsuccessfully for its presidential nomination and the inclusion of the National Initiative into the Libertarian Platform. He ran for president as a Democrat again in the 2020 election, in a campaign that ended four months after it began.","He ran for president as a Democrat again in the 2020 election, in a campaign that ended four months after it began. Two years before his death, Gravel and his campaign staff founded the progressive think tank The Gravel Institute. Early life, military service, education Gravel was born on May 13, 1930, in Springfield, Massachusetts, one of five children of French-Canadian immigrant parents, Alphonse and Marie (née Bourassa) Gravel.","Early life, military service, education Gravel was born on May 13, 1930, in Springfield, Massachusetts, one of five children of French-Canadian immigrant parents, Alphonse and Marie (née Bourassa) Gravel. His parents were part of the Quebec diaspora, and he was raised in a working-class neighborhood during the Great Depression, speaking only French until he was seven years old. Calling him \"Mike\" from an early age, his father valued work above all else, while his mother stressed the importance of education.","Calling him \"Mike\" from an early age, his father valued work above all else, while his mother stressed the importance of education. Gravel was educated in parochial schools as a Roman Catholic. There he struggled, due to what he later said was undiagnosed dyslexia, and was left back in third grade. He completed elementary school in 1945 and his class voted him \"most charming personality\".","He completed elementary school in 1945 and his class voted him \"most charming personality\". A summer job as a soda jerk led to Gravel handing out campaign fliers for local candidates on his boss's behalf; Gravel was immediately impressed with \"the awesomeness of political office\". Gravel then boarded at Assumption Preparatory School in Worcester, Massachusetts, where his performance was initially mediocre.","Gravel then boarded at Assumption Preparatory School in Worcester, Massachusetts, where his performance was initially mediocre. By Gravel's telling, in the summer of 1948 he intended to volunteer for the Israel Defense Forces during the 1947–1949 Palestine war, but Alexandra Tolstaya told him to return to school. There an English teacher, the Assumptionist Edgar Bourque, gave him personal attention, improving Gravel's language skills and instructing him in public speaking. Gravel's grades improved measurably in his final year and he graduated in 1949.","Gravel's grades improved measurably in his final year and he graduated in 1949. His sister, Marguerite, became a Holy Cross nun, but Gravel himself struggled with the Catholic faith. He studied for one year at Assumption College, a Catholic school in Worcester, then transferred for his sophomore year to American International College in Springfield. Journalist I. F. Stone and philosopher Bertrand Russell strongly influenced Gravel in their willingness to challenge assumptions and oppose social convention and political authority.","Journalist I. F. Stone and philosopher Bertrand Russell strongly influenced Gravel in their willingness to challenge assumptions and oppose social convention and political authority. Around May 1951, Gravel saw that he was about to be drafted and instead enlisted in the U.S. Army for a three-year term so that he could get into the Counterintelligence Corps. After basic training and counterintelligence school at Fort Holabird in Maryland and in South Carolina, he went to Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia.","After basic training and counterintelligence school at Fort Holabird in Maryland and in South Carolina, he went to Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia. While he expected to be sent off to the Korean War when he graduated as a second lieutenant in early 1952, he was instead assigned to Stuttgart, West Germany, as a Special Adjutant in the Army's Communications Intelligence Service. In Germany, Gravel conducted surveillance operations on civilians and paid off spies.","In Germany, Gravel conducted surveillance operations on civilians and paid off spies. After about a year, he transferred to Orléans, France, where his French language abilities (if not his French-Canadian accent) allowed him to infiltrate French communist rallies. He worked as a Special Agent in the Counterintelligence Corps until 1954, eventually becoming a first lieutenant. Following his discharge, Gravel entered the Columbia University School of General Studies in New York City, where he studied economics and received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1956.","Following his discharge, Gravel entered the Columbia University School of General Studies in New York City, where he studied economics and received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1956. He moved to New York \"flat broke\" and supported himself by working as a bar boy in a hotel, driving a taxicab, and working in the investment bond department at Bankers Trust. During this time he left the Roman Catholic faith.","During this time he left the Roman Catholic faith. During this time he left the Roman Catholic faith. Move to Alaska Gravel \"decided to become a pioneer in a faraway place,\" and moved to pre-statehood Alaska in August 1956, without funds or a job, looking for a place where someone without social or political connections could be a viable candidate for public office.","Move to Alaska Gravel \"decided to become a pioneer in a faraway place,\" and moved to pre-statehood Alaska in August 1956, without funds or a job, looking for a place where someone without social or political connections could be a viable candidate for public office. Alaska's voting age of 19, less than most other states' 21, played a role in his decision, as did its newness and cooler climate. Broke when he arrived, he immediately found work in real estate sales until winter arrived.","Broke when he arrived, he immediately found work in real estate sales until winter arrived. Gravel then was employed as a brakeman for the Alaska Railroad, working the snow-clearing train on the Anchorage-to-Fairbanks run. Subsequently, he opened a small real estate brokerage in Anchorage (the Territory of Alaska not requiring a license) and saved enough so as not to have to work the railroad again. The firm was named the M. R. Gravel Real Estate Company.","The firm was named the M. R. Gravel Real Estate Company. Gravel joined the Anchorage Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, and continued a sporadic relationship with the movement throughout his life. Seeing Alaska as a wide-open place with no political establishment or entrenched interests, Gravel quickly became part of the civic scene there. By October 1957 he was a Division Chairman for Anchorage for the Democratic Central Committee in the territory, and by June 1958 he was president of the Alaska Young Democrats organization.","By October 1957 he was a Division Chairman for Anchorage for the Democratic Central Committee in the territory, and by June 1958 he was president of the Alaska Young Democrats organization. He also became active in the United States Junior Chamber (Jaycees), and by early 1958 his duties included handing out awards for farmer of the year. By early 1958, Gravel was running as Democratic Party primary candidate for a Third Division seat in House of Representative of the territorial legislature.","By early 1958, Gravel was running as Democratic Party primary candidate for a Third Division seat in House of Representative of the territorial legislature. (This was one of the four judicial divisions into which Alaska was sectioned at the time.) Using the slogan \"Gravel, the Roadbed to Prosperity\", he ran but lost. At the same time, he was also an advocate for Alaskan statehood.","At the same time, he was also an advocate for Alaskan statehood. Gravel went on a 44-state national speaking tour concerning tax reform in 1959, sponsored by the Jaycees, often dressing for events as Paul Revere. Gravel was selected from some two thousand applications for this position. The tour received a good amount of local newspaper coverage at its various stops, with Gravel's first name sometimes given as Mike and other times as Maurice.","The tour received a good amount of local newspaper coverage at its various stops, with Gravel's first name sometimes given as Mike and other times as Maurice. The tour's general message was an urging of \"lower taxes, more efficiency in government and a system of taxation moderate at all levels of income\". At several stops Gravel stated that the \"tide of socialism\" had to be stopped.","At several stops Gravel stated that the \"tide of socialism\" had to be stopped. He elaborated at another stop, \"It is part of our Jaycee creed that economic justice can best be won by free men through free enterprise. We really want to see that free enterprise become our inheritance.\"","We really want to see that free enterprise become our inheritance.\" The tour was scheduled to conclude in Washington D.C., on Tax Day, April 15, with petition signatures accumulated for reform to be presented to U.S. lawmakers: dressed as Revere, Gravel rode with the petition to the steps of the U.S. Capitol. The tour over, Gravel married Rita Jeannette Martin at the First Methodist Church of Anchorage on April 29, 1959.","The tour over, Gravel married Rita Jeannette Martin at the First Methodist Church of Anchorage on April 29, 1959. She was a native of Montana who had attended Billings Business College before moving to Alaska two years prior and becoming a secretary in the office of the Anchorage city manager. She had also been named Anchorage's \"Miss Fur Rendezvous\" of 1958. They had two children, Martin Anthony Gravel and Lynne Denise Gravel, born c. 1960 and 1962 respectively.","They had two children, Martin Anthony Gravel and Lynne Denise Gravel, born c. 1960 and 1962 respectively. Gravel ran without avail for the City Council in Anchorage in 1960. During this time, he had become a successful real estate agent; after the 1960 election, he became a property developer in a mobile home park on the outskirts of Anchorage. After a partner ran into financial difficulty, however, the project went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and Gravel was forced out in 1962.","After a partner ran into financial difficulty, however, the project went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and Gravel was forced out in 1962. State legislator With the support of Alaska wholesale grocer Barney Gottstein and supermarket builder Larry Carr, Gravel ran for the Alaska House of Representatives representing Anchorage in 1962, initially assigned the 10th and then 8th districts.","State legislator With the support of Alaska wholesale grocer Barney Gottstein and supermarket builder Larry Carr, Gravel ran for the Alaska House of Representatives representing Anchorage in 1962, initially assigned the 10th and then 8th districts. Alaska had very crowded primaries that year: Gravel was one of 33 Democrats, along with 21 Republicans, who were running for the chance to compete for the 14 House seats allocated to the 8th district.","Alaska had very crowded primaries that year: Gravel was one of 33 Democrats, along with 21 Republicans, who were running for the chance to compete for the 14 House seats allocated to the 8th district. Gravel made it through the primary, and in November eight Republicans and six Democrats were elected to the House from the district, with Gravel finishing eighth overall and third among with Democrats, with 8,174 votes. Gottstein became Gravel's main financial backer during most of his subsequent campaigns.","Gottstein became Gravel's main financial backer during most of his subsequent campaigns. Gravel served in the Alaska House of Representatives from January 28, 1963 to January 22, 1967, winning reelection in 1964. In his first term, he served as a minority member on two House committees: Commerce, and Labor and Management. He co-authored and sponsored the act that created the Alaska State Commission for Human Rights.","He co-authored and sponsored the act that created the Alaska State Commission for Human Rights. Gravel was the chief architect of the law that created a regional high school system for rural Alaska; this allowed Alaska Natives to attend schools near where they lived instead of having to go to schools run by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the lower 48 states. During the half-years that the legislature was not in session, Gravel resumed his real estate work.","During the half-years that the legislature was not in session, Gravel resumed his real estate work. With Gottstein and Carr's backing, he became quite successful as a property developer on the Kenai Peninsula. During 1965 and 1966, he served as the Speaker of the House, surprising observers by winning that post. Gravel convinced former Speaker Warren A. Taylor to not try for the position against him by promising Taylor chairmanship of the Rules Committee, then reneged on the promise.","Gravel convinced former Speaker Warren A. Taylor to not try for the position against him by promising Taylor chairmanship of the Rules Committee, then reneged on the promise. Gravel denied later press charges that he had promised but not delivered on other committee chairmanships. As Speaker he antagonized fellow lawmakers by imposing his will on the legislature's committees and feuded with Alaska State Senate president Robert J. McNealy.","As Speaker he antagonized fellow lawmakers by imposing his will on the legislature's committees and feuded with Alaska State Senate president Robert J. McNealy. Gravel did not run for reelection in 1966, instead choosing to run for Alaska's seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, losing the primary to four-term incumbent Democrat Ralph Rivers by 1,300 votes and splitting the Democratic Party in the process. Rivers lost the general election that year to Republican state Senator Howard Pollock. Following this defeat, Gravel returned to the real estate business in Anchorage.","Following this defeat, Gravel returned to the real estate business in Anchorage. U.S. Senator Election to Senate in 1968 In 1968, Gravel ran against 81-year-old incumbent Democratic United States Senator Ernest Gruening, a popular former governor of the Alaska Territory who was considered one of the fathers of Alaska's statehood, for his party's nomination to the U.S. Senate. Gravel's campaign was primarily based on his youth and telegenic appearance rather than issue differences. He hired Joseph Napolitan, the first self-described political consultant, in late 1966.","He hired Joseph Napolitan, the first self-described political consultant, in late 1966. They spent over a year and a half planning a short, nine-day primary election campaign that featured the slogans \"Alaska first\" and \"Let's do something about the state we're in\", the distribution of a collection of essays titled Jobs and More Jobs, and the creation of a half-hour, well-produced, glamorized biographical film of Gravel, Man for Alaska.","They spent over a year and a half planning a short, nine-day primary election campaign that featured the slogans \"Alaska first\" and \"Let's do something about the state we're in\", the distribution of a collection of essays titled Jobs and More Jobs, and the creation of a half-hour, well-produced, glamorized biographical film of Gravel, Man for Alaska. The film was shown twice a day on every television station in Alaska, and carried by plane and shown on home projectors in hundreds of Alaska Native villages.","The film was shown twice a day on every television station in Alaska, and carried by plane and shown on home projectors in hundreds of Alaska Native villages. The heavy showings quickly reversed a 2–to–1 Gruening lead in polls into a Gravel lead. Gravel visited many remote villages by seaplane and showed a thorough understanding of the needs of the bush country and the fishing and oil industries. Gravel also benefited from maintaining a deliberately ambiguous posture about Vietnam policy.","Gravel also benefited from maintaining a deliberately ambiguous posture about Vietnam policy. Gruening had been one of only two Senators to vote against the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and his opposition to President Lyndon B. Johnson's war policies was harming him among the Democratic electorate; according to Gravel, \"all I had to do was stand up and not deal with the subject, and people would assume that I was to the right of Ernest Gruening, when in point of fact I was to the left of him\".","Gruening had been one of only two Senators to vote against the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and his opposition to President Lyndon B. Johnson's war policies was harming him among the Democratic electorate; according to Gravel, \"all I had to do was stand up and not deal with the subject, and people would assume that I was to the right of Ernest Gruening, when in point of fact I was to the left of him\". In Man for Alaska, Gravel argued that \"the liberals\" would come to West Germany's defense if it was attacked, and that the same standard should apply to the United States' allies in Asia.","In Man for Alaska, Gravel argued that \"the liberals\" would come to West Germany's defense if it was attacked, and that the same standard should apply to the United States' allies in Asia. During the campaign he also claimed that he was \"more in the mainstream of American thought on Vietnam\" than Gruening, despite the fact that he had written to Gruening to praise his antiwar stance four years earlier.","During the campaign he also claimed that he was \"more in the mainstream of American thought on Vietnam\" than Gruening, despite the fact that he had written to Gruening to praise his antiwar stance four years earlier. Decades later, Gravel conceded that \"I said what I said [about Vietnam] to advance my career.\" Gravel beat Gruening in the primary by about 2,000 votes. Gruening found \"the unexpected defeat hard to take\" and thought that some aspects of his opponent's biographical film had misled viewers.","Gruening found \"the unexpected defeat hard to take\" and thought that some aspects of his opponent's biographical film had misled viewers. In the general election, Gravel faced Republican Elmer E. Rasmuson, a banker and former mayor of Anchorage. College students in the state implored Gruening to run a write-in campaign as an Independent, but legal battles prevented him from getting approval for it until only two weeks were left.","College students in the state implored Gruening to run a write-in campaign as an Independent, but legal battles prevented him from getting approval for it until only two weeks were left. A late appearance by anti-war presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy did not offset Gruening's lack of funds and endorsements; meanwhile, Gravel and Rasmuson both saturated local media with their filmed biographies. On November 5, 1968, Gravel won the general election with 45 percent of the vote to Rasmuson's 37 percent and Gruening's 18 percent.","On November 5, 1968, Gravel won the general election with 45 percent of the vote to Rasmuson's 37 percent and Gruening's 18 percent. Senate assignments and style When Gravel joined the U.S.Senate in January 1969, he requested and received a seat on the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee, which had direct relevance to Alaskan issues. He also got a spot on the Public Works Committee, which he held throughout his time in the Senate. Finally, he was a member of the Select Committee on Small Business.","Finally, he was a member of the Select Committee on Small Business. In 1971 he became chair of the Public Works Committee's Subcommittee on Public Buildings and Grounds, and by 1973 he was chair of its Subcommittee on Water Resources, then later its Subcommittee on Environmental Pollution. Gravel was also initially named to the Joint Committee on Congressional Operations.","Gravel was also initially named to the Joint Committee on Congressional Operations. By 1973 Gravel was off the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee and the Select Small Business Committee and instead a member of the Finance Committee, and by 1977 was chair of that body's Subcommittee on Energy and Foundations. By 1973 he had also been on the ad hoc Special Committee to Study Secret and Confidential Government Documents.","By 1973 he had also been on the ad hoc Special Committee to Study Secret and Confidential Government Documents. By his own admission, Gravel was too new and \"too abrasive\" to be effective in the Senate by the usual means of seniority-based committee assignments or negotiating deals with other senators, and was sometimes seen as arrogant or a nuisance by the more senior and tradition-oriented members. Gravel relied on attention-getting gestures to achieve what he wanted, hoping national exposure would force other senators to listen to him.","Gravel relied on attention-getting gestures to achieve what he wanted, hoping national exposure would force other senators to listen to him. But even senators who agreed with him on issues considered his methods to be showboating. As part of this approach, Gravel voted with Southern Democrats to keep the Senate filibuster rule in place, and accordingly supported Russell Long and Robert Byrd but opposed Ted Kennedy in Senate leadership battles.","As part of this approach, Gravel voted with Southern Democrats to keep the Senate filibuster rule in place, and accordingly supported Russell Long and Robert Byrd but opposed Ted Kennedy in Senate leadership battles. In retrospective assessment, University of Alaska Anchorage history professor Stephen Haycox said, \"Loose cannon is a good description of Gravel's Senate career. He was an off-the-wall guy, and you weren't really ever sure what he would do.\"","He was an off-the-wall guy, and you weren't really ever sure what he would do.\" Nuclear issues and the Cold War In the late 1960s and early 1970s the U.S. Department of Defense was in the process of performing tests for the nuclear warhead for the Spartan anti-ballistic missile. Two tests, the \"Milrow\" and \"Cannikin\" tests, were planned, involving the detonation of nuclear bombs under Amchitka Island in Alaska.","Two tests, the \"Milrow\" and \"Cannikin\" tests, were planned, involving the detonation of nuclear bombs under Amchitka Island in Alaska. The Milrow test would be a one-megaton calibration exercise for the second and larger five-megaton Cannikin test, which would measure the effectiveness of the warhead. Gravel opposed the tests.","Gravel opposed the tests. Gravel opposed the tests. Before the Milrow test took place in October 1969, he wrote that there were significant risks of earthquakes and other adverse consequences and called for an independent national commission on nuclear and seismic safety; he then made a personal appeal to President Richard Nixon to stop the test. After Milrow was conducted, there was continued pressure on the part of environmental groups against going forward with the Cannikin test, while the Federation of American Scientists claimed that the warhead being tested was already obsolete.","After Milrow was conducted, there was continued pressure on the part of environmental groups against going forward with the Cannikin test, while the Federation of American Scientists claimed that the warhead being tested was already obsolete. In May 1971 Gravel sent a letter to U.S. Atomic Energy Commission hearings held in Anchorage in which he said the risk of the test was not worth taking.","In May 1971 Gravel sent a letter to U.S. Atomic Energy Commission hearings held in Anchorage in which he said the risk of the test was not worth taking. Eventually a group not involving Gravel took the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to issue an injunction against it, and the Cannikin test took place as scheduled in November 1971. Gravel had failed to stop the tests (notwithstanding his later claims during his 2008 presidential campaign).","Gravel had failed to stop the tests (notwithstanding his later claims during his 2008 presidential campaign). In 1971 Gravel voted against the Nixon administration's proposed anti-ballistic missile system, the Safeguard Program, having previously vacillated over the issue, suggesting that he might be willing to support it in exchange for federal lands in Alaska being opened up for private oil drilling. His vote alienated Senator Henry \"Scoop\" Jackson, who had raised funds for Gravel's primary campaign.","His vote alienated Senator Henry \"Scoop\" Jackson, who had raised funds for Gravel's primary campaign. Nuclear power was considered an environmentally clean alternative for commercial generation of electricity and was part of a popular national policy for the peaceful use of atomic energy in the 1950s and 1960s.","Nuclear power was considered an environmentally clean alternative for commercial generation of electricity and was part of a popular national policy for the peaceful use of atomic energy in the 1950s and 1960s. Gravel publicly opposed this policy; besides the dangers of nuclear testing, he was a vocal critic of the Atomic Energy Commission, which oversaw American nuclear efforts, and of the powerful United States Congress Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, which had a stranglehold on nuclear policy and which Gravel tried to circumvent.","Gravel publicly opposed this policy; besides the dangers of nuclear testing, he was a vocal critic of the Atomic Energy Commission, which oversaw American nuclear efforts, and of the powerful United States Congress Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, which had a stranglehold on nuclear policy and which Gravel tried to circumvent. In 1971 Gravel sponsored a bill to impose a moratorium on nuclear power plant construction and to make power utilities liable for any nuclear accidents; in 1975 he was still proposing similar moratoriums.","In 1971 Gravel sponsored a bill to impose a moratorium on nuclear power plant construction and to make power utilities liable for any nuclear accidents; in 1975 he was still proposing similar moratoriums. By 1974 Gravel was allied with Ralph Nader's organization in opposing nuclear power. Six months before U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's July 1971 secret mission to the People's Republic of China (P.R.C. ), Gravel introduced legislation to recognize and normalize relations with the P.R.C., including a proposal for unity talks between the P.R.C.","), Gravel introduced legislation to recognize and normalize relations with the P.R.C., including a proposal for unity talks between the P.R.C. and the Republic of China (Taiwan) regarding the Chinese seat on the U.N. Security Council. He reiterated his position in favor of recognition, with four other senators in agreement, during Senate hearings in June 1971.","He reiterated his position in favor of recognition, with four other senators in agreement, during Senate hearings in June 1971. Vietnam War, the draft, and the Pentagon Papers Although he did not campaign against the Vietnam War during his first Senate campaign, by the end of 1970 Gravel was speaking out against United States policy in southeast Asia: in December of that year he persuaded William Fulbright to join him in a spontaneous two-day filibuster against a $155 million military aid package to Cambodia's Khmer Republic government in the Cambodian Civil War.","Vietnam War, the draft, and the Pentagon Papers Although he did not campaign against the Vietnam War during his first Senate campaign, by the end of 1970 Gravel was speaking out against United States policy in southeast Asia: in December of that year he persuaded William Fulbright to join him in a spontaneous two-day filibuster against a $155 million military aid package to Cambodia's Khmer Republic government in the Cambodian Civil War. President Richard Nixon had campaigned in 1968 on a promise to end the U.S. military draft, a decision endorsed by the February 1970 report of the Gates Commission.","President Richard Nixon had campaigned in 1968 on a promise to end the U.S. military draft, a decision endorsed by the February 1970 report of the Gates Commission. The existing draft law was scheduled to conclude at the end of June 1971, and the Senate faced a contentious debate about whether to extend it as the Vietnam War continued.","The existing draft law was scheduled to conclude at the end of June 1971, and the Senate faced a contentious debate about whether to extend it as the Vietnam War continued. The Nixon administration announced in February 1971 that it wanted a two-year extension to June 1973, after which the draft would end; Army planners had already been operating under the assumption of a two-year extension, after which an all-volunteer force would be in place.","The Nixon administration announced in February 1971 that it wanted a two-year extension to June 1973, after which the draft would end; Army planners had already been operating under the assumption of a two-year extension, after which an all-volunteer force would be in place. Skeptics such as Senate Armed Services Committee chairman John Stennis thought this unrealistic and wanted a four-year extension, but the two-year proposal is what went forward in Congress.","Skeptics such as Senate Armed Services Committee chairman John Stennis thought this unrealistic and wanted a four-year extension, but the two-year proposal is what went forward in Congress. By early May 1971, Gravel had indicated his intention to filibuster the draft renewal legislation, halting conscription and thereby bringing U.S. involvement in the war to a rapid end.","By early May 1971, Gravel had indicated his intention to filibuster the draft renewal legislation, halting conscription and thereby bringing U.S. involvement in the war to a rapid end. During this period he also supported efforts to mobilize and influence public opinion against the war, endorsing the \"Vietnam War Out Now\" rallies in Washington D.C. and San Francisco on April 24, 1971, and financing a broadcast campaign by the antiwar group War No More with a personal loan.","During this period he also supported efforts to mobilize and influence public opinion against the war, endorsing the \"Vietnam War Out Now\" rallies in Washington D.C. and San Francisco on April 24, 1971, and financing a broadcast campaign by the antiwar group War No More with a personal loan. In June 1972 he escorted a group of over 100 antiwar protesters, including psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton, actress Candice Bergen, theater producer and director Joseph Papp, and peditrician Dr. Benjamin Spock, into the United States Capitol Building; the group was arrested after blocking a hallway outside the Senate chamber.","In June 1972 he escorted a group of over 100 antiwar protesters, including psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton, actress Candice Bergen, theater producer and director Joseph Papp, and peditrician Dr. Benjamin Spock, into the United States Capitol Building; the group was arrested after blocking a hallway outside the Senate chamber. By June 1971, some Democratic senators opposed to the war wanted to limit the renewal to a one-year extension, while others wanted to end it immediately; Gravel reiterated that he was one of the latter, saying, \"It's a senseless war, and one way to do away with it is to do away with the draft.\"","By June 1971, some Democratic senators opposed to the war wanted to limit the renewal to a one-year extension, while others wanted to end it immediately; Gravel reiterated that he was one of the latter, saying, \"It's a senseless war, and one way to do away with it is to do away with the draft.\" A Senate vote on June 4 indicated majority support for the two-year extension.","A Senate vote on June 4 indicated majority support for the two-year extension. On June 18 Gravel announced again his intention to counteract that by filibustering the renewal legislation, defending the practice against those who associated it only with blocking civil rights legislation. The first filibuster attempt failed on June 23 when, by three votes, the Senate voted cloture for only the fifth time since 1927.","The first filibuster attempt failed on June 23 when, by three votes, the Senate voted cloture for only the fifth time since 1927. Protracted negotiations took place over House conference negotiations on the bill, revolving in large part around Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield's eventually unsuccessful amendment to tie renewal to a troop withdrawal timetable from Vietnam; during this time the draft law expired and no more were conscripted.","Protracted negotiations took place over House conference negotiations on the bill, revolving in large part around Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield's eventually unsuccessful amendment to tie renewal to a troop withdrawal timetable from Vietnam; during this time the draft law expired and no more were conscripted. On August 5, the Nixon administration pleaded for a renewal before the Senate went on recess, but Gravel blocked Stennis's attempt to limit debate, and no vote was held.","On August 5, the Nixon administration pleaded for a renewal before the Senate went on recess, but Gravel blocked Stennis's attempt to limit debate, and no vote was held. Finally on September 21, 1971, the Senate invoked cloture over Gravel's second filibuster attempt by one vote, and then passed the two-year draft extension.","Finally on September 21, 1971, the Senate invoked cloture over Gravel's second filibuster attempt by one vote, and then passed the two-year draft extension. Gravel's attempts to stop the draft had failed (notwithstanding Gravel's later claims that he had stopped or shortened the draft, taken at face value in some media reports, during his 2008 presidential campaign). Meanwhile, on June 13, 1971, The New York Times began printing large portions of the Pentagon Papers.","Meanwhile, on June 13, 1971, The New York Times began printing large portions of the Pentagon Papers. The papers were a large collection of secret government documents and studies pertaining to the Vietnam War, of which former Defense Department analyst Daniel Ellsberg had made unauthorized copies and was determined to make public.","The papers were a large collection of secret government documents and studies pertaining to the Vietnam War, of which former Defense Department analyst Daniel Ellsberg had made unauthorized copies and was determined to make public. Ellsberg had for a year and a half approached members of Congress – such as William Fulbright, George McGovern, Charles Mathias, and Pete McCloskey – about publishing the documents, on the grounds that the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution would give congressional members immunity from prosecution, but all had refused.","Ellsberg had for a year and a half approached members of Congress – such as William Fulbright, George McGovern, Charles Mathias, and Pete McCloskey – about publishing the documents, on the grounds that the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution would give congressional members immunity from prosecution, but all had refused. Instead, Ellsberg gave the documents to the Times. The U.S. Justice Department immediately tried to halt publication, on the grounds that the information revealed within the papers harmed the national interest.","The U.S. Justice Department immediately tried to halt publication, on the grounds that the information revealed within the papers harmed the national interest. Within the next two weeks, a federal court injunction halted publication in the Times; The Washington Post and several other newspapers began publishing parts of the documents, with some of them also being halted by injunctions; and the whole matter went to the U.S. Supreme Court for arguments.","Within the next two weeks, a federal court injunction halted publication in the Times; The Washington Post and several other newspapers began publishing parts of the documents, with some of them also being halted by injunctions; and the whole matter went to the U.S. Supreme Court for arguments. Looking for an alternate publication mechanism, Ellsberg returned to his idea of having a member of Congress read them, and chose Gravel based on the latter's efforts against the draft; Gravel agreed where previously others had not.","Looking for an alternate publication mechanism, Ellsberg returned to his idea of having a member of Congress read them, and chose Gravel based on the latter's efforts against the draft; Gravel agreed where previously others had not. Ellsberg arranged for the papers to be given to Gravel on June 26 via an intermediary, Post editor Ben Bagdikian.","Ellsberg arranged for the papers to be given to Gravel on June 26 via an intermediary, Post editor Ben Bagdikian. Gravel used his counter-intelligence experience to choose a midnight transfer in front of the Mayflower Hotel in the center of Washington, D.C. On the night of June 29, 1971, Gravel attempted to read the papers on the floor of the Senate as part of his filibuster against the draft, but was thwarted when no quorum could be formed. Gravel instead convened a session of the Buildings and Grounds subcommittee that he chaired.","Gravel instead convened a session of the Buildings and Grounds subcommittee that he chaired. He got New York Congressman John G. Dow to testify that the war had soaked up funding for public buildings, thus making discussion of the war relevant to the committee.","He got New York Congressman John G. Dow to testify that the war had soaked up funding for public buildings, thus making discussion of the war relevant to the committee. He began reading from the papers with the press in attendance, omitting supporting documents that he felt might compromise national security, and declaring, \"It is my constitutional obligation to protect the security of the people by fostering the free flow of information absolutely essential to their democratic decision-making.\"","He began reading from the papers with the press in attendance, omitting supporting documents that he felt might compromise national security, and declaring, \"It is my constitutional obligation to protect the security of the people by fostering the free flow of information absolutely essential to their democratic decision-making.\" He read until 1 a.m., culminating by saying \"Arms are being severed. Metal is clashing through human bodies because of the public policy this government and all its branches continue to support.\"","Metal is clashing through human bodies because of the public policy this government and all its branches continue to support.\" Then with tears and sobs he said that he could no longer physically continue, the previous three nights of sleeplessness and fear about the future having taken their toll. Gravel ended the session by, with no other senators present, establishing unanimous consent to insert 4,100 pages of the Papers into the Congressional Record of his subcommittee.","Gravel ended the session by, with no other senators present, establishing unanimous consent to insert 4,100 pages of the Papers into the Congressional Record of his subcommittee. The following day, the Supreme Court's New York Times Co. v. United States decision ruled in favor of the newspapers and publication in the Times and others resumed. In July 1971 Bantam Books published an inexpensive paperback edition of the papers containing the material the Times had published.","In July 1971 Bantam Books published an inexpensive paperback edition of the papers containing the material the Times had published. Gravel, too, wanted to privately publish the portion of the papers he had read into the record, believing that \"immediate disclosure of the contents of these papers will change the policy that supports the war\". After being turned down by many commercial publishers, on August 4 he reached agreement with Beacon Press, the publishing arm of the Unitarian Universalist Association, of which Gravel was a member.","After being turned down by many commercial publishers, on August 4 he reached agreement with Beacon Press, the publishing arm of the Unitarian Universalist Association, of which Gravel was a member. Announced on August 17 and published on October 22, 1971, this four-volume, relatively expensive set became the \"Senator Gravel Edition\", which studies from Cornell University and the Annenberg Center for Communication have labeled as the most complete edition of the Pentagon Papers to be published.","Announced on August 17 and published on October 22, 1971, this four-volume, relatively expensive set became the \"Senator Gravel Edition\", which studies from Cornell University and the Annenberg Center for Communication have labeled as the most complete edition of the Pentagon Papers to be published. The \"Gravel Edition\" was edited and annotated by Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn, and included an additional volume of analytical articles on the origins and progress of the war, also edited by Chomsky and Zinn.","The \"Gravel Edition\" was edited and annotated by Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn, and included an additional volume of analytical articles on the origins and progress of the war, also edited by Chomsky and Zinn. Beacon Press then was subjected to a FBI investigation; an outgrowth of this was the Gravel v. United States court case, which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled upon in June 1972; it held that the Speech or Debate Clause did grant immunity to Gravel for his reading the papers in his subcommittee, did grant some immunity to Gravel's congressional aide, but granted no immunity to Beacon Press in relation to their publishing the same papers.","Beacon Press then was subjected to a FBI investigation; an outgrowth of this was the Gravel v. United States court case, which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled upon in June 1972; it held that the Speech or Debate Clause did grant immunity to Gravel for his reading the papers in his subcommittee, did grant some immunity to Gravel's congressional aide, but granted no immunity to Beacon Press in relation to their publishing the same papers. The U.S. Senate Democratic Caucus backed Gravel in the case, but due to Republican opposition it did not pay Gravel's legal fees, leaving him owing $25,000 (the equivalent of $150,000 in 2019, adjusted for inflation).","The U.S. Senate Democratic Caucus backed Gravel in the case, but due to Republican opposition it did not pay Gravel's legal fees, leaving him owing $25,000 (the equivalent of $150,000 in 2019, adjusted for inflation). The events of 1971 changed Gravel in the following months from an obscure freshman senator to a nationally visible political figure.","The events of 1971 changed Gravel in the following months from an obscure freshman senator to a nationally visible political figure. He became a sought-after speaker on the college circuit as well as at political fundraisers, opportunities he welcomed as lectures were \"the one honest way a Senator has to supplement his income\". But his speaking tours caused him to accrue one of the worst absentee records in the Senate. The Democratic candidates for the 1972 presidential election sought his endorsement.","The Democratic candidates for the 1972 presidential election sought his endorsement. In January 1972 Gravel endorsed Maine Senator Ed Muskie, hoping that his support would help Muskie with the party's left wing and in ethnic French-Canadian areas during the first primary contest in New Hampshire (Muskie won, but not overwhelmingly, and his campaign faltered soon after).","In January 1972 Gravel endorsed Maine Senator Ed Muskie, hoping that his support would help Muskie with the party's left wing and in ethnic French-Canadian areas during the first primary contest in New Hampshire (Muskie won, but not overwhelmingly, and his campaign faltered soon after). In April 1972 Gravel appeared on all three networks' nightly newscasts to decry the Nixon administration's reliance on Vietnamization by making reference to the secret National Security Study Memorandum 1 document, which stated it would take 8–13 years for the Army of the Republic of Vietnam to defend South Vietnam.","In April 1972 Gravel appeared on all three networks' nightly newscasts to decry the Nixon administration's reliance on Vietnamization by making reference to the secret National Security Study Memorandum 1 document, which stated it would take 8–13 years for the Army of the Republic of Vietnam to defend South Vietnam. Gravel made excerpts from the study public, but senators Robert P. Griffin and William B. Saxbe blocked his attempt to read NSSM 1 into the Congressional Record.","Gravel made excerpts from the study public, but senators Robert P. Griffin and William B. Saxbe blocked his attempt to read NSSM 1 into the Congressional Record. Domestic policy In 1970 Gravel co-sponsored legislation to establish a guaranteed minimum income, entitling poor families to up to $6,300 a year (the equivalent of $42,000 in 2019 after adjustment for inflation).","Domestic policy In 1970 Gravel co-sponsored legislation to establish a guaranteed minimum income, entitling poor families to up to $6,300 a year (the equivalent of $42,000 in 2019 after adjustment for inflation). He subsequently voted for a \"work bonus\" program, which would have entitled low-income working families with dependent children if they were paying Social Security or Railroad Retirement taxes to a non-taxable bonus of up to 10 percent of their wages.","He subsequently voted for a \"work bonus\" program, which would have entitled low-income working families with dependent children if they were paying Social Security or Railroad Retirement taxes to a non-taxable bonus of up to 10 percent of their wages. Gravel also supported extending Social Security to all federal employees and introduced a campaign finance reform bill in 1971 that would have enacted full disclosure of campaign financing, placed limits on large donations, media spending and individual candidate spending.","Gravel also supported extending Social Security to all federal employees and introduced a campaign finance reform bill in 1971 that would have enacted full disclosure of campaign financing, placed limits on large donations, media spending and individual candidate spending. In 1969, Gravel was the only Democratic Senator outside of the South to vote for Nixon's Supreme Court nominee Clement Haynsworth. The following year Gravel opposed Nixon's next pick, G. Harrold Carswell.","The following year Gravel opposed Nixon's next pick, G. Harrold Carswell. Run for vice president in 1972 Gravel actively campaigned for the office of Vice President of the United States during the 1972 presidential election, announcing on June 2, 1972, over a month before the 1972 Democratic National Convention began, that he was interested in the nomination should the choice be opened up to convention delegates. Toward this end he began soliciting delegates for their support.","Toward this end he began soliciting delegates for their support. He was not alone in this effort, as former Governor of Massachusetts Endicott Peabody had been running a quixotic campaign for the same post since the prior year. Likely presidential nominee George McGovern was in fact considering the unusual move of naming three or four acceptable vice-presidential candidates and letting the delegates choose. On the convention's final day, July 14, 1972, McGovern selected and announced Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri as his vice-presidential choice.","On the convention's final day, July 14, 1972, McGovern selected and announced Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri as his vice-presidential choice. Eagleton was unknown to many delegates and the choice seemed to smack of traditional ticket balancing considerations. Thus there were delegates willing to look elsewhere. Gravel was nominated by Bettye Fahrenkamp, the Democratic National Committeewoman from Alaska. He then seconded his own nomination, breaking down in tears at his own words and maybe trying to withdraw his nomination.","He then seconded his own nomination, breaking down in tears at his own words and maybe trying to withdraw his nomination. In any case he won 226 delegate votes, coming in third behind Eagleton and Frances \"Sissy\" Farenthold of Texas, in chaotic balloting that included several other candidates.","In any case he won 226 delegate votes, coming in third behind Eagleton and Frances \"Sissy\" Farenthold of Texas, in chaotic balloting that included several other candidates. Gravel attracted some attention for his efforts: writer Norman Mailer said he \"provided considerable excitement\" and was \"good-looking enough to have played leads in B-films\", while Rolling Stone correspondent Hunter S. Thompson said Gravel \"probably said a few things that might have been worth hearing, under different circumstances\". Yet the process was doubly disastrous for the Democrats.","Yet the process was doubly disastrous for the Democrats. Yet the process was doubly disastrous for the Democrats. In the time consumed by nominating and seconding and all the vice-presidential candidates' speeches, the attention of the delegates on the floor was lost and McGovern's speech was pushed to 3:30 a.m. The haste with which Eagleton was selected led to surprise when his past mental health treatments were revealed; he withdrew from the ticket soon after the convention, to be replaced by Sargent Shriver.","The haste with which Eagleton was selected led to surprise when his past mental health treatments were revealed; he withdrew from the ticket soon after the convention, to be replaced by Sargent Shriver. Reelection to Senate in 1974 Several years earlier, Alaska politicians had speculated that Gravel would have a hard time getting both renominated and elected when his first term expired, given that he was originally elected without a base party organization and tended to focus on national rather than local issues.","Reelection to Senate in 1974 Several years earlier, Alaska politicians had speculated that Gravel would have a hard time getting both renominated and elected when his first term expired, given that he was originally elected without a base party organization and tended to focus on national rather than local issues. Nonetheless, after receiving support from national and local labor leaders, securing key earmarks, and producing another half-hour TV advertorial, in 1974 Gravel was reelected to the Senate, with 58 percent of the vote to 42 percent for Republican State Senator C. R. Lewis, who was a national officer of the John Birch Society.","Nonetheless, after receiving support from national and local labor leaders, securing key earmarks, and producing another half-hour TV advertorial, in 1974 Gravel was reelected to the Senate, with 58 percent of the vote to 42 percent for Republican State Senator C. R. Lewis, who was a national officer of the John Birch Society. Second term Gravel's reelection campaign left him $65,000–$75,000 in debt.","Second term Gravel's reelection campaign left him $65,000–$75,000 in debt. In 1975 The Washington Post reported on a memo by his executive assistant laying out a fundraising strategy to tackle this, including raising funds from oil companies, meeting with previous donors and \"inquir[ing] into the governmental priorities of these people and their groups in the coming session\", as well as obtaining further speaking fees to reduce his personal debt.","In 1975 The Washington Post reported on a memo by his executive assistant laying out a fundraising strategy to tackle this, including raising funds from oil companies, meeting with previous donors and \"inquir[ing] into the governmental priorities of these people and their groups in the coming session\", as well as obtaining further speaking fees to reduce his personal debt. This was followed by a number of stories about links between Gravel, lobbyists and fundraisers, including one that was widely publicized in Alaska about his holding a share in a Colorado resort with two Washington lobbyists he was working with on land and energy legislation.","This was followed by a number of stories about links between Gravel, lobbyists and fundraisers, including one that was widely publicized in Alaska about his holding a share in a Colorado resort with two Washington lobbyists he was working with on land and energy legislation. Gravel had been open about the investment and had opposing views to one of the lobbyists on nuclear power.","Gravel had been open about the investment and had opposing views to one of the lobbyists on nuclear power. In 1980 the Wall Street Journal published details about his fundraising activities, including writing to individuals and PACs in the oil industry, pledging to kill off proposals for a windfall profits tax on the sector, and traveling in the Middle East with the business partner of one of his donors to sell Alaskan land to businessmen. Gravel suggested that critics of his fundraising were \"naive\".","Gravel suggested that critics of his fundraising were \"naive\". In 1975 Gravel introduced an amendment to cut the number of troops overseas by 200,000, but it was defeated on a voice vote. In September 1975 Gravel was named as one of several Congressional Advisers to the Seventh Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly, which met to discuss problems related to economic development and international economic cooperation. In June 1976 Gravel was the focus of a federal investigation into allegations that he was involved in a sex-for-vote arrangement.","In June 1976 Gravel was the focus of a federal investigation into allegations that he was involved in a sex-for-vote arrangement. Congressional staff clerk Elizabeth Ray (who had already been involved in a sex scandal that led to the downfall of Representative Wayne Hays) said that in August 1972 she had sex with Gravel aboard a houseboat on the Potomac River, under the instruction of Representative Kenneth J. Gray, her boss at the time.","Gray, her boss at the time. Gray, her boss at the time. Gray allegedly wanted to secure Gravel's support for further funding for construction of the National Visitor Center in Washington, a troubled project that was under the jurisdiction of subcommittees that both members chaired. Another Congressional staffer said she witnessed the boat encounter, but Gravel said at the time that he had never met either of the women.","Another Congressional staffer said she witnessed the boat encounter, but Gravel said at the time that he had never met either of the women. Gravel and Gray strongly denied that they had made any arrangement regarding legislation, and neither was ever charged with any wrongdoing. Decades later Gravel wrote that he had indeed had sex with Ray, but had not changed any votes because of it.","Decades later Gravel wrote that he had indeed had sex with Ray, but had not changed any votes because of it. Gravel and his main financial backer, Gottstein, had a falling out in 1978, during the Congressional debate over whether to allow a controversial sale of U.S. F-15 fighter aircraft to Saudi Arabia. An ardent backer of Israel, Gottstein opposed the sale and asked Gravel to vote against it. But Gravel not only voted for it but made an emotional speech attacking the anti-sale campaign.","But Gravel not only voted for it but made an emotional speech attacking the anti-sale campaign. Gravel wrote in 2008 that it was the only time Gottstein had ever asked him for a favor, and the rupture resulted in their never speaking to each other again. Alaskan issues By 1971 Gravel was urging construction of the much-argued Trans-Alaska pipeline, addressing environmental concerns by saying that the pipeline's builders and operators should have \"total and absolute\" responsibility for any consequent environmental damage.","Alaskan issues By 1971 Gravel was urging construction of the much-argued Trans-Alaska pipeline, addressing environmental concerns by saying that the pipeline's builders and operators should have \"total and absolute\" responsibility for any consequent environmental damage. Two years later the debate over the pipeline came to a crux, with The New York Times describing it as \"environmentalists [in] a holy war with the major oil companies\".","Two years later the debate over the pipeline came to a crux, with The New York Times describing it as \"environmentalists [in] a holy war with the major oil companies\". In February 1973 the U.S. Court of Appeals blocked the issuance of permits for construction; Gravel and fellow Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens reacted by urging Congress to pass legislation overturning the court's decision.","In February 1973 the U.S. Court of Appeals blocked the issuance of permits for construction; Gravel and fellow Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens reacted by urging Congress to pass legislation overturning the court's decision. Environmentalists opposed to the pipeline, such as the Environmental Defense Fund and the Sierra Club then sought to use the recently passed National Environmental Policy Act to their advantage; Gravel designed an amendment to the pipeline bill that would immunize the pipeline from any further court challenges under that law, and thus speed its construction.","Environmentalists opposed to the pipeline, such as the Environmental Defense Fund and the Sierra Club then sought to use the recently passed National Environmental Policy Act to their advantage; Gravel designed an amendment to the pipeline bill that would immunize the pipeline from any further court challenges under that law, and thus speed its construction. Passage of the amendment became the key battle regarding the pipeline.","Passage of the amendment became the key battle regarding the pipeline. On July 17, 1973, in a dramatic roll-call vote, the Gravel amendment was approved as a 49–49 tie was broken in favor by Vice President Spiro Agnew. The actual bill enabling the pipeline then passed easily; Gravel had triumphed in what became perhaps his most lasting accomplishment as a senator. In opposition to the Alaskan fishing industry, Gravel advocated American participation in the formation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.","In opposition to the Alaskan fishing industry, Gravel advocated American participation in the formation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. For two years he opposed legislation that established a Exclusive Economic Zone for marine resources. He was one of only 19 senators to vote against Senate approval for the expanded zone in 1976, saying it would undermine the U.S. position in Law of the Sea negotiations and that nations arbitrarily extending their fishing rights limits would \"produce anarchy of the seas\".","He was one of only 19 senators to vote against Senate approval for the expanded zone in 1976, saying it would undermine the U.S. position in Law of the Sea negotiations and that nations arbitrarily extending their fishing rights limits would \"produce anarchy of the seas\". The legislation was passed, and the United States has signed but never ratified the Law of the Sea treaty. Gravel accumulated a complicated record on Indian affairs during his time in the Senate.","Gravel accumulated a complicated record on Indian affairs during his time in the Senate. During his first year in the Senate Gravel urged abolition of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, criticizing the agency for the pace of development of schools in Alaska, its paternalistic attitudes and the culturally inappropriate nature of its education, and advocating greater shared decision-making between the federal government and native communities in Alaska.","During his first year in the Senate Gravel urged abolition of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, criticizing the agency for the pace of development of schools in Alaska, its paternalistic attitudes and the culturally inappropriate nature of its education, and advocating greater shared decision-making between the federal government and native communities in Alaska. Later, his views changed; in the early 1970s Gravel supported a demonstration project that established links between Alaskan villages and the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, for medical diagnostic communications.","Later, his views changed; in the early 1970s Gravel supported a demonstration project that established links between Alaskan villages and the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, for medical diagnostic communications. In 1971, he fended off accusations from Alaskan natives that he was not spending enough time working on their land claims. Gravel helped secure a private grant to facilitate the first Inuit Circumpolar Conference in 1977, attended by Inuit representatives from Alaska, Canada, and Greenland. These conferences now also include representatives from Russia.","These conferences now also include representatives from Russia. These conferences now also include representatives from Russia. In 1977, Gravel helped lead an effort to have the U.S. Interior Department rename Mount McKinley to Denali; this eventually led to Denali National Park being so named. Subsequently, Gravel proposed a never-built \"Denali City\" development above the Tokositna River near the mountain, to consist of a giant Teflon dome enclosing hotels, golf courses, condominiums, and commercial buildings.","Subsequently, Gravel proposed a never-built \"Denali City\" development above the Tokositna River near the mountain, to consist of a giant Teflon dome enclosing hotels, golf courses, condominiums, and commercial buildings. A related idea of his to build a high-speed rail line to Denali also failed to gain traction. A key, emotional issue in the state at the time was \"locking up Alaska\", making reference to allocation of its vast, mostly uninhabited land.","A key, emotional issue in the state at the time was \"locking up Alaska\", making reference to allocation of its vast, mostly uninhabited land. President Jimmy Carter desired to put large portions of this land under federal protection against development, a move that some Alaskans vociferously opposed. In 1978 Gravel blocked passage, via procedural delays such as walking out of House–Senate conference committee meetings, of a complex bill which represented a compromise on land use policy.","In 1978 Gravel blocked passage, via procedural delays such as walking out of House–Senate conference committee meetings, of a complex bill which represented a compromise on land use policy. The bill would have put some of Alaska's vast federal land holdings under state control while preserving other portions for federal parks and refuges; the blocking action earned Gravel the enmity of fellow Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, who had supported the compromise.","The bill would have put some of Alaska's vast federal land holdings under state control while preserving other portions for federal parks and refuges; the blocking action earned Gravel the enmity of fellow Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, who had supported the compromise. In 1980, a new lands bill came up for consideration, that was less favorable to Alaskan interests and more liked by environmentalists; it set aside of Alaska's for national parks, conservation areas, and other restricted federal uses.","In 1980, a new lands bill came up for consideration, that was less favorable to Alaskan interests and more liked by environmentalists; it set aside of Alaska's for national parks, conservation areas, and other restricted federal uses. Gravel blocked it, as not ensuring enough future development in the state. A new compromise version of the 1980 bill came forward, which reduced the land set aside to . Representing Alaskan interests, Gravel tried to stop the bill, including by filibuster.","Representing Alaskan interests, Gravel tried to stop the bill, including by filibuster. But the Senate voted for cloture and passed the bill. Frustrated, Gravel said, \"the legislation denies Alaska its rights as a state, and denies the U.S. crucial strategic resources,\" and opined that the Senate was \"a little bit like a tank of barracudas\".","Frustrated, Gravel said, \"the legislation denies Alaska its rights as a state, and denies the U.S. crucial strategic resources,\" and opined that the Senate was \"a little bit like a tank of barracudas\". Nonetheless, the bill, known as the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980, was signed by President Carter shortly before leaving the White House, and led to millions of acres being set aside in the state for national parks, wildlife refuges, and other kinds of areas under protection.","Nonetheless, the bill, known as the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980, was signed by President Carter shortly before leaving the White House, and led to millions of acres being set aside in the state for national parks, wildlife refuges, and other kinds of areas under protection. In 1978 Gravel authored and secured the passage into federal law of the General Stock Ownership Corporation, that became Subchapter U of the Tax Code under the Internal Revenue Code of 1954.","In 1978 Gravel authored and secured the passage into federal law of the General Stock Ownership Corporation, that became Subchapter U of the Tax Code under the Internal Revenue Code of 1954. This gave states the ability to create corporations that would invest in for-profit enterprises, with all citizens within the state owning shares in the corporation.","This gave states the ability to create corporations that would invest in for-profit enterprises, with all citizens within the state owning shares in the corporation. Gravel's attempt to convince the Alaska state legislature to create such a corporation failed, as did a 1980 state ballot initiative towards the same end, but nevertheless the creation of the General Stock Ownership Corporation in federal law turned out to be significant in the development of binary economics.","Gravel's attempt to convince the Alaska state legislature to create such a corporation failed, as did a 1980 state ballot initiative towards the same end, but nevertheless the creation of the General Stock Ownership Corporation in federal law turned out to be significant in the development of binary economics. Loss of Senate seat in 1980 In 1980 Gravel was challenged for the Democratic Party's nomination by State Representative Clark Gruening, the grandson of the man Gravel had defeated in a primary 12 years earlier.","Loss of Senate seat in 1980 In 1980 Gravel was challenged for the Democratic Party's nomination by State Representative Clark Gruening, the grandson of the man Gravel had defeated in a primary 12 years earlier. One of Gruening's supporters was Gravel's former backer Gottstein. Several factors made Gravel vulnerable. As an insurgent candidate in 1968 Gravel had never established a firm party base. Not liking to hunt or fish, he was also always culturally suspect in the state. The primary campaign was bitterly fought.","The primary campaign was bitterly fought. The primary campaign was bitterly fought. A group of Democrats, including future governor Steve Cowper, led the campaign against Gravel, with Gravel's actions in respect to the 1978 and 1980 Alaskan lands bills a major issue. This was especially so given that the 1980 bill's dénouement happened but a week before the primary. The sources of Gravel's campaign funds, some of which Gravel readily acknowledged came from political action committees outside the state, also became an issue in the contest.","The sources of Gravel's campaign funds, some of which Gravel readily acknowledged came from political action committees outside the state, also became an issue in the contest. Gruening had pledged that he would not take special interest group money, but Gravel said that Gruening was \"dishonest\" in accepting individual contributors from Jewish donors living outside the state because to him such contributors comprised \"a special interest group ... that seeks to influence the foreign policy of the U.S.\" Gruening won the primary with about 55 percent of the vote to Gravel's 44 percent.","Gruening had pledged that he would not take special interest group money, but Gravel said that Gruening was \"dishonest\" in accepting individual contributors from Jewish donors living outside the state because to him such contributors comprised \"a special interest group ... that seeks to influence the foreign policy of the U.S.\" Gruening won the primary with about 55 percent of the vote to Gravel's 44 percent. Gravel later conceded that by the time of his defeat, he had alienated \"almost every constituency in Alaska\".","Gravel later conceded that by the time of his defeat, he had alienated \"almost every constituency in Alaska\". Another factor may have been Alaska's blanket primary system of the time, which allowed unlimited voting across party lines and from its many independents; Republicans believed Gruening would be an easier candidate to defeat in the general election. Gruening lost the general election to Republican Frank Murkowski.","Gruening lost the general election to Republican Frank Murkowski. Gruening lost the general election to Republican Frank Murkowski. Gravel was the last Democrat to represent Alaska in Congress for 28 years, until Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich defeated Ted Stevens, by then an aged, iconic figure who had just been convicted of seven felonies for taking unreported gifts, in a very close and protracted election result in 2008. Stevens's conviction was subsequently vacated due to prosecutorial misconduct.","Stevens's conviction was subsequently vacated due to prosecutorial misconduct. Career after leaving the Senate Of his 1980 defeat, Gravel later recalled: \"I had lost my career. I lost my marriage. I was in the doldrums for ten years after my defeat,\" and \"Nobody wanted to hire me for anything important. I felt like I was worthless. I didn't know what I could do.\"","I didn't know what I could do.\" I didn't know what I could do.\" By his own later description, Gravel was a womanizer, and had an affair while in the Senate, and in December 1980 he and his wife Rita separated. They filed for divorce in September 1981; she later received all of his Senate pension income. During the 1980s Gravel was a real estate developer in Anchorage and Kenai, Alaska, a consultant, and a stockbroker.","During the 1980s Gravel was a real estate developer in Anchorage and Kenai, Alaska, a consultant, and a stockbroker. One of his real estate ventures, a condominium business, was forced to declare bankruptcy and a lawsuit ensued. In 1986 Gravel worked in partnership with Merrill Lynch Capital Markets to buy losses that financially troubled Alaska Native Corporations could not take as tax deductions and sell them to large national companies looking for tax writeoffs. Gravel also learned computer programming at some point but never practiced it.","Gravel also learned computer programming at some point but never practiced it. In 1984 Gravel married his second wife, Whitney Stewart Gravel, a former administrative assistant for Senator Jacob Javits. Return to politics In 1989 Gravel reentered politics. He founded and led The Democracy Foundation, which promotes direct democracy.","He founded and led The Democracy Foundation, which promotes direct democracy. He established the Philadelphia II corporation, which seeks to replicate the original 1787 Constitutional Convention and have a Second Constitutional Convention to bring about direct democracy Gravel led an effort to get a United States Constitutional amendment to allow voter-initiated federal legislation similar to state ballot initiatives. He argued that Americans are able to legislate responsibly, and that the Act and Amendment in the National Initiative would allow American citizens to become \"law makers\".","He argued that Americans are able to legislate responsibly, and that the Act and Amendment in the National Initiative would allow American citizens to become \"law makers\". However such efforts met with little success. In 2001, Gravel became director of the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution, where he admired institute co-founder Gregory Fossedal's work on direct democracy in Switzerland.","In 2001, Gravel became director of the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution, where he admired institute co-founder Gregory Fossedal's work on direct democracy in Switzerland. By 2004, Gravel had become chair of the institute, and Fossedal (who in turn was a director of the Democracy Foundation) gave the introduction at Gravel's presidential announcement. In 2003 Gravel gave a speech on direct democracy at a conference hosted by the American Free Press. The event was cosponsored by the Barnes Review, a journal that endorses Holocaust denial.","The event was cosponsored by the Barnes Review, a journal that endorses Holocaust denial. After some controversy over his appearance, Gravel apologized, saying he did not realize the group's ties. Gravel said repeatedly that he did not share the group's views on the Holocaust, stating, \"You better believe I know that six million Jews were killed. [The Barnes Review publishers] are nutty as loons if they don't think it happened\". The group invited Gravel to speak again, but he declined.","The group invited Gravel to speak again, but he declined. Mike and Whitney Gravel lived in Arlington County, Virginia, until 2010 and then resided in Burlingame, California. They have the two grown children from his first marriage, Martin Gravel and Lynne Gravel Mosier, and four grandchildren. Whitney Gravel's income sustained the couple from 1998 on. In the 2000s, Gravel suffered poor health, requiring three surgeries in 2003 for back pain and neuropathy.","In the 2000s, Gravel suffered poor health, requiring three surgeries in 2003 for back pain and neuropathy. Due to unreimbursed medical expenses and debts from his political causes, he declared personal bankruptcy in 2004. He began taking a salary from the non-profit organizations for which he was working; much of that income was lent to his presidential campaign. In 2007, he declared that he had \"zero net worth\".","In 2007, he declared that he had \"zero net worth\". 2008 presidential campaign Democratic Party primaries At the start of 2006 Gravel decided the best way he could promote direct democracy and the National Initiative was to run for president.","2008 presidential campaign Democratic Party primaries At the start of 2006 Gravel decided the best way he could promote direct democracy and the National Initiative was to run for president. On April 17, 2006, Gravel became the first candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2008 election, announcing his run in a speech to the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Short on campaign cash, he took public transportation to get to his announcement. (Gravel called for public financing of elections.)","(Gravel called for public financing of elections.) (Gravel called for public financing of elections.) Other principal Gravel positions were the FairTax, as well as withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq within 120 days and a single payer national health care system. Gravel had opposed the Iraq War, and President George W. Bush's rationale for it, from the beginning, and in 2006 said that U.S. troops in Iraq, as in Vietnam, had \"died in vain\".","Gravel had opposed the Iraq War, and President George W. Bush's rationale for it, from the beginning, and in 2006 said that U.S. troops in Iraq, as in Vietnam, had \"died in vain\". He also favored a regional peace initiative, as well as reparation payments for Iraqis. Gravel also called for a \"U.S. corporate withdrawal from Iraq\", with reconstruction contracts held by U.S. companies to be turned over to Iraqi firms.","Gravel also called for a \"U.S. corporate withdrawal from Iraq\", with reconstruction contracts held by U.S. companies to be turned over to Iraqi firms. Gravel campaigned almost full-time in New Hampshire, the first primary state, following his announcement. Opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination showed Gravel with 1 percent or less support. By the end of March 2007, Gravel's campaign had less than $500 in cash on hand against debts of nearly $90,000.","By the end of March 2007, Gravel's campaign had less than $500 in cash on hand against debts of nearly $90,000. Because of his time in the Senate, Gravel was invited to many of the early Democratic presidential debates. During the initial one at South Carolina State University on April 26, 2007, he suggested a bill requiring the president to withdraw from Iraq on pain of criminal penalties. He also advocated positions such as opposing preemptive nuclear war.","He also advocated positions such as opposing preemptive nuclear war. He stated that the Iraq War had the effect of creating more terrorists and that the \"war was lost the day that George Bush invaded Iraq on a fraudulent basis\". Regarding his fellow candidates, he said, \"I got to tell you, after standing up with them, some of these people frighten me – they frighten me.\" In one such exchange, Gravel said, \"Tell me, Barack, who do you want to nuke?\"","In one such exchange, Gravel said, \"Tell me, Barack, who do you want to nuke?\" to which Obama responded, \"I'm not planning to nuke anybody right now, Mike, I promise.\" Media stories said that Gravel was responsible for much of whatever \"heat\" and \"flashpoints\" had taken place during the Democratic debates.","Media stories said that Gravel was responsible for much of whatever \"heat\" and \"flashpoints\" had taken place during the Democratic debates. Gravel gained considerable publicity by shaking up the normally staid multiple-candidate format; The New York Times' media critic said that what Gravel had done was \"steal a debate with outrageous, curmudgeonly statements\".","Gravel gained considerable publicity by shaking up the normally staid multiple-candidate format; The New York Times' media critic said that what Gravel had done was \"steal a debate with outrageous, curmudgeonly statements\". The Internet was a benefit: a YouTube video of his responses in the debate was viewed more than 225,892 times, ranking seventeenth in most views for week and first among news and politics clips; his name became the fifteenth most searched-for in the blogosphere; and his website garnered more traffic than those of frontrunners Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, or John Edwards.","The Internet was a benefit: a YouTube video of his responses in the debate was viewed more than 225,892 times, ranking seventeenth in most views for week and first among news and politics clips; his name became the fifteenth most searched-for in the blogosphere; and his website garnered more traffic than those of frontrunners Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, or John Edwards. Gravel appeared on the popular Colbert Report on television on May 2, and his campaign and career were profiled in national publications such as Salon.","Gravel appeared on the popular Colbert Report on television on May 2, and his campaign and career were profiled in national publications such as Salon. Two wordless, Warholesque campaign videos, \"Rock\" and \"Fire\", were released on YouTube in late May and became hits, and eventually gained over 760,000 and 185,000 views respectively. \"Rock\", in turn, was given airtime during an episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.","\"Rock\", in turn, was given airtime during an episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Some thirty-five years after he first achieved the national spotlight, he had found it again. All this did not improve his performance in the polls; a May 2007 CNN poll showed him with less than 0.5 percent support among Democrats. Gravel was in the next several debates, in one case after CNN reversed a decision to exclude him.","Gravel was in the next several debates, in one case after CNN reversed a decision to exclude him. Like some of the other second-tier candidates, Gravel did not get as much time as the leaders; during the June 2, 2007, New Hampshire debate, which lasted two hours, he was asked 10 questions and allowed to speak for five minutes and 37 seconds.","Like some of the other second-tier candidates, Gravel did not get as much time as the leaders; during the June 2, 2007, New Hampshire debate, which lasted two hours, he was asked 10 questions and allowed to speak for five minutes and 37 seconds. During the July 23, 2007, CNN-YouTube presidential debate, Gravel responded to audience applause when he had complained of a lack of airtime and said: \"Thank you. Has it been fair thus far?\"","Has it been fair thus far?\" Has it been fair thus far?\" Detractors began to liken him to \"the cranky uncle who lives in the attic,\" or \"the angry old guy that just seemed to want to become angrier\". Berkeley political scientist David Terr found that moderator George Stephanopoulos directed roughly five percent of his questions to Gravel; in a poll asking who did the best in the debate, Gravel placed seventh among the eight candidates.","Berkeley political scientist David Terr found that moderator George Stephanopoulos directed roughly five percent of his questions to Gravel; in a poll asking who did the best in the debate, Gravel placed seventh among the eight candidates. National opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination continued to show Gravel with one percent or zero percent numbers.","National opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination continued to show Gravel with one percent or zero percent numbers. By the end of the third-quarter 2007, Gravel had about $17,500 in cash on hand, had collected a total of about $380,000 during the 2008 election cycle, and was continuing to run a threadbare campaign with minimal staff.","By the end of the third-quarter 2007, Gravel had about $17,500 in cash on hand, had collected a total of about $380,000 during the 2008 election cycle, and was continuing to run a threadbare campaign with minimal staff. Beginning with the October 30, 2007, Philadelphia event, Gravel was excluded from most of the debates, with the debate sponsors or the Democratic National Committee saying Gravel's campaign had not met fund-raising, polling, or local campaign organizational thresholds.","Beginning with the October 30, 2007, Philadelphia event, Gravel was excluded from most of the debates, with the debate sponsors or the Democratic National Committee saying Gravel's campaign had not met fund-raising, polling, or local campaign organizational thresholds. For the Philadelphia exclusion, Gravel blamed corporate censorship on the part of sponsor owner and alleged military-industrial complex member General Electric for his exclusion and mounted a counter-gathering and debate against a video screen a short distance away, but he had lost his easiest publicity.","For the Philadelphia exclusion, Gravel blamed corporate censorship on the part of sponsor owner and alleged military-industrial complex member General Electric for his exclusion and mounted a counter-gathering and debate against a video screen a short distance away, but he had lost his easiest publicity. In reaction, supporters organized \"mass donation days\" to try to help the campaign gain momentum and funds, such as on December 5, 2007, the anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition.","In reaction, supporters organized \"mass donation days\" to try to help the campaign gain momentum and funds, such as on December 5, 2007, the anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition. Gravel did not compete in the initial 2008 vote, the Iowa caucuses, but was still subjected to a false report from MSNBC that he had pulled out of the race afterward. Gravel did focus his attention on the second 2008 vote, the New Hampshire primary.","Gravel did focus his attention on the second 2008 vote, the New Hampshire primary. In early January, Mother Jones' investigative reporter James Ridgeway was filmed interviewing and following Gravel in New Hampshire, in which Gravel is interviewed on the phone by Neal Conan for NPR's, Talk of the Nation. He received about 400 votes out of some 280,000 cast in New Hampshire, or 0.14 percent, before taking time off to improve his health. He resumed campaigning, but fared no better in subsequent states.","He resumed campaigning, but fared no better in subsequent states. By the end of January 2008, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and Gravel were the only remaining Democrats from the initial debates still running; Gravel vowed to stay in the presidential campaign until November. On March 11, 2008, Gravel continued to remain in the Democratic race but additionally endorsed a Green Party candidate for president, Jesse Johnson, saying he wanted to help Johnson prevail against Green Party rivals Cynthia McKinney and Ralph Nader.","On March 11, 2008, Gravel continued to remain in the Democratic race but additionally endorsed a Green Party candidate for president, Jesse Johnson, saying he wanted to help Johnson prevail against Green Party rivals Cynthia McKinney and Ralph Nader. By late March, Gravel had almost no fundraising and was only on the ballot in one of the next ten Democratic primaries.","By late March, Gravel had almost no fundraising and was only on the ballot in one of the next ten Democratic primaries. Switch to Libertarian Party On March 25, 2008, Gravel announced that he would leave the Democrats and join the Libertarian Party, saying: \"My libertarian views, as well as my strong stance against war, the military industrial complex and American imperialism, seem not to be tolerated by Democratic Party elites who are out of touch with the average American; elites that reject the empowerment of American citizens I offered to the Democratic Party at the beginning of this presidential campaign with the National Initiative for Democracy.\"","Switch to Libertarian Party On March 25, 2008, Gravel announced that he would leave the Democrats and join the Libertarian Party, saying: \"My libertarian views, as well as my strong stance against war, the military industrial complex and American imperialism, seem not to be tolerated by Democratic Party elites who are out of touch with the average American; elites that reject the empowerment of American citizens I offered to the Democratic Party at the beginning of this presidential campaign with the National Initiative for Democracy.\" The following day Gravel entered the race for the 2008 Libertarian presidential nomination, saying that he would have run as a third-party candidate all along except that he needed the public exposure that came from being in the earlier Democratic debates.","The following day Gravel entered the race for the 2008 Libertarian presidential nomination, saying that he would have run as a third-party candidate all along except that he needed the public exposure that came from being in the earlier Democratic debates. Gravel's initial notion of running as a fusion candidate with other parties was met with skepticism. As a Libertarian candidate, Gravel faced resistance to his past support of big government initiatives and his unorthodox positions around direct democracy.","As a Libertarian candidate, Gravel faced resistance to his past support of big government initiatives and his unorthodox positions around direct democracy. Nevertheless, he garnered more support than he had as a Democrat, placing second and third in two April 2008 straw polls.","Nevertheless, he garnered more support than he had as a Democrat, placing second and third in two April 2008 straw polls. In the May 25 balloting at the 2008 Libertarian National Convention in Denver, Gravel finished fourth out of eight candidates on the initial ballot, with 71 votes out of a total 618; he trailed former Congressman and eventual winner Bob Barr, author Mary Ruwart, and businessman Wayne Allyn Root. Gravel's position did not subsequently improve and he was eliminated on the fourth ballot.","Gravel's position did not subsequently improve and he was eliminated on the fourth ballot. Afterwards he stated that \"I just ended my political career,\" but he vowed to continue promoting his positions as a writer and lecturer. 2008–early 2019 In June 2008 Gravel endorsed the NYC 9/11 Ballot Initiative, saying the measure would create a \"citizens commission rather than a government commission\" with subpoena power against top U.S. officials to \"make a true investigation as to what happened\" regarding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.","2008–early 2019 In June 2008 Gravel endorsed the NYC 9/11 Ballot Initiative, saying the measure would create a \"citizens commission rather than a government commission\" with subpoena power against top U.S. officials to \"make a true investigation as to what happened\" regarding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. He later said, \"Individuals in and out of government may certainly have participated with the obviously known perpetrators of this dastardly act. Suspicions abound over the analysis presented by government.","Suspicions abound over the analysis presented by government. Suspicions abound over the analysis presented by government. Obviously an act that has triggered three wars, Afghan, Iraqi and the continuing War on Terror, should be extensively investigated which was not done and which the government avoids addressing.\"","Obviously an act that has triggered three wars, Afghan, Iraqi and the continuing War on Terror, should be extensively investigated which was not done and which the government avoids addressing.\" In August 2008 Gravel was speaking to a crowd of supporters of Sami Al-Arian (who two years earlier had pleaded guilty and been sentenced to prison for a charge of conspiracy in helping Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a \"specially designated terrorist\" organization) when he was caught on tape saying of Al-Arian's prosecutor, \"Find out where he lives, find out where his kids go to school, find out where his office is: picket him all the time.","In August 2008 Gravel was speaking to a crowd of supporters of Sami Al-Arian (who two years earlier had pleaded guilty and been sentenced to prison for a charge of conspiracy in helping Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a \"specially designated terrorist\" organization) when he was caught on tape saying of Al-Arian's prosecutor, \"Find out where he lives, find out where his kids go to school, find out where his office is: picket him all the time. Call him a racist in signs if you see him.","Call him a racist in signs if you see him. Call him an injustice. Call him whatever you want to call him, but in his face all the time.\" Gravel was criticized for potentially involving the children of the prosecutor, and Al-Arian's family disavowed the sentiments. Gravel defended Alaska Governor Sarah Palin after she was chosen as Republican presidential nominee John McCain's running mate in September 2008.","Gravel defended Alaska Governor Sarah Palin after she was chosen as Republican presidential nominee John McCain's running mate in September 2008. He praised Palin's record in standing up to corruption among Alaskan Republicans, thought her national inexperience was an asset not a detriment, and predicted that the \"Troopergate\" investigation into whether she improperly fired a state official would \"come out in her favor\". Gravel made clear he would not support or vote for either McCain–Palin or Obama–Biden in the general election.","Gravel made clear he would not support or vote for either McCain–Palin or Obama–Biden in the general election. The following year Gravel said that Palin's politics were \"terrible, but that doesn't detract from the fact that she's a very talented person\". He predicted that Palin would run for president in 2012 and that \"she's going to surprise a lot of people\". Palin did not run, but Gravel's prediction about \"TrooperGate\" was accurate as Palin was found not to have violated ethics laws.","Palin did not run, but Gravel's prediction about \"TrooperGate\" was accurate as Palin was found not to have violated ethics laws. In 2013, by the invitation of Hamed Ghashghavi, the secretary for international affairs of the 3rd International Conference on Hollywoodism in Tehran, Iran, Gravel attended that event as an Iranian government-organized anti-Hollywood conference.","In 2013, by the invitation of Hamed Ghashghavi, the secretary for international affairs of the 3rd International Conference on Hollywoodism in Tehran, Iran, Gravel attended that event as an Iranian government-organized anti-Hollywood conference. Gravel noted that the conference was attended by \"various elements of extremes\" but said it was necessary to discuss how the U.S. film industry portrayed Iran in order to prevent \"an insane war\" between the two nations.","Gravel noted that the conference was attended by \"various elements of extremes\" but said it was necessary to discuss how the U.S. film industry portrayed Iran in order to prevent \"an insane war\" between the two nations. In May 2013 Gravel was one of several former members of Congress to accept $20,000 from the Paradigm Research Group, an advocacy group for UFO disclosure, as part of holding what they termed a Citizen Hearing on Disclosure, modeled after congressional hearings, regarding supposed U.S. government suppression of evidence concerning UFOs.","In May 2013 Gravel was one of several former members of Congress to accept $20,000 from the Paradigm Research Group, an advocacy group for UFO disclosure, as part of holding what they termed a Citizen Hearing on Disclosure, modeled after congressional hearings, regarding supposed U.S. government suppression of evidence concerning UFOs. Gravel said, \"Something is monitoring the planet, and they are monitoring it very cautiously, because we are a very warlike planet,\" and, \"What we're faced with here is, in areas of the media, and the government too, an effort to marginalize and ridicule people who have specific knowledge.\"","Gravel said, \"Something is monitoring the planet, and they are monitoring it very cautiously, because we are a very warlike planet,\" and, \"What we're faced with here is, in areas of the media, and the government too, an effort to marginalize and ridicule people who have specific knowledge.\" In December 2014 Gravel was announced as the new CEO of KUSH, a company which makes marijuana-infused products for medicinal and recreational use, and a subsidiary of Cannabis Sativa, Inc.","In December 2014 Gravel was announced as the new CEO of KUSH, a company which makes marijuana-infused products for medicinal and recreational use, and a subsidiary of Cannabis Sativa, Inc. He also became an Independent Director of Cannabis Sativa. During the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries, Gravel praised Bernie Sanders and his campaign, saying \"Bernie is one of the most gifted politicians I have ever observed. He's a person of great integrity and very clever.\"","He's a person of great integrity and very clever.\" Gravel predicted that Sanders would be elected president but would be unable to get his key reforms through Congress, and thus that Sanders and his supporters should back some of the proposals of the National Initiative. In 2016, Gravel said in relation to the September 11 attacks: \"We killed 58,000 American servicemen in the Vietnam War and all they did was die in vain.","In 2016, Gravel said in relation to the September 11 attacks: \"We killed 58,000 American servicemen in the Vietnam War and all they did was die in vain. What's so unusual about killing 3,000 more in order to develop the grist for the mill to empower into infinity the military industrial complex?\" and \"There's no question in my mind that 9/11 was an inside job\". The remarks were later disavowed by even Gravel supporters. By 2019 Gravel was living in Seaside, California.","By 2019 Gravel was living in Seaside, California. By 2019 Gravel was living in Seaside, California. He was working on a book, at the time titled Human Governance, about his principal idea for direct democracy, a U.S. Constitutional Amendment to create a \"Legislature of the People\" that would circumvent the existing Congress. The book was self-published at the end of the year by AuthorHouse under the title The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People.","The book was self-published at the end of the year by AuthorHouse under the title The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People. 2020 presidential campaign On March 19, 2019, Gravel announced that he was considering running in the 2020 Democratic primaries. He said, \"The goal will not be to win, but to bring a critique of American imperialism to the Democratic debate stage.\"","He said, \"The goal will not be to win, but to bring a critique of American imperialism to the Democratic debate stage.\" An exploratory committee was formed, with filing a statement of organization with the Federal Election Commission on that same day.","An exploratory committee was formed, with filing a statement of organization with the Federal Election Commission on that same day. The filing was the idea of a group of teenagers, led by David Oks and Henry Williams, inspired by the podcast Chapo Trap House, and done with Gravel's consent (after a week spent convincing him of the idea's merits), but without his involvement.","The filing was the idea of a group of teenagers, led by David Oks and Henry Williams, inspired by the podcast Chapo Trap House, and done with Gravel's consent (after a week spent convincing him of the idea's merits), but without his involvement. Intrigued by the group's commitment to amplifying his long-held policy goals, Gravel (who would be old on Inauguration Day in 2021) said he planned to meet with them in April, and to discuss a 2020 White House run with his wife.","Intrigued by the group's commitment to amplifying his long-held policy goals, Gravel (who would be old on Inauguration Day in 2021) said he planned to meet with them in April, and to discuss a 2020 White House run with his wife. On April 2, 2019, Gravel filed to officially run for office. The campaign called itself the \"#Gravelanche\". Gravel's initial stated goal was merely to qualify for debates by getting the required 65,000 small donors.","Gravel's initial stated goal was merely to qualify for debates by getting the required 65,000 small donors. He discouraged people from voting for him and said his preferences were Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard, both of whom favor a non-interventionist foreign policy. But on April 29, Gravel's campaign said he was running to win, not just to participate in debates. In a subsequent interview, though, Gravel emphasized the virtue of Sanders and Gabbard in some order as a presidential ticket.","In a subsequent interview, though, Gravel emphasized the virtue of Sanders and Gabbard in some order as a presidential ticket. Statements like these caused Vox to call Gravel \"2020's oddest Democratic presidential candidate\".","Statements like these caused Vox to call Gravel \"2020's oddest Democratic presidential candidate\". The New York Times Magazine included Gravel as an example in the rise of democratic socialism in the United States also exemplified by Sanders's 2016 race and the 2018 election of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: \"[Gravel's] campaign represents the most absurd form of a legitimate movement on the left that feels little obligation to the Democratic Party.\"","The New York Times Magazine included Gravel as an example in the rise of democratic socialism in the United States also exemplified by Sanders's 2016 race and the 2018 election of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: \"[Gravel's] campaign represents the most absurd form of a legitimate movement on the left that feels little obligation to the Democratic Party.\" In June 2019, Gravel touted the endorsement of Muntadher al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who, in December 2008, made headlines after he threw his shoes at President George W. Bush in protest of the U.S. war in Iraq.","In June 2019, Gravel touted the endorsement of Muntadher al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who, in December 2008, made headlines after he threw his shoes at President George W. Bush in protest of the U.S. war in Iraq. Al-Zaidi endorsed Gravel based on his promise to improve White House policies regarding Iraq and the Middle East. On June 13, 2019, the Democratic Party announced the 20 major candidates who qualified for the first debate later that month.","On June 13, 2019, the Democratic Party announced the 20 major candidates who qualified for the first debate later that month. Gravel was one of the four who missed out (the others were Montana Governor Steve Bullock, U.S. Representative Seth Moulton, and Miramar, Florida, Mayor Wayne Messam). Gravel had been unable to get the requisite number of donations, or to score one percent or better in enough polls (many polls did not even include him).","Gravel had been unable to get the requisite number of donations, or to score one percent or better in enough polls (many polls did not even include him). Nevertheless, Gravel said he would not drop out and would try to qualify for the July debate. In early July, however, Gravel's campaign said it was still 10,000 contributions short of the 65,000-donor threshold and that it was \"nearing its conclusion\". It solicited suggestions for where to donate $100–150,000 of leftover campaign funds.","It solicited suggestions for where to donate $100–150,000 of leftover campaign funds. Gravel added that he had always planned on ending the campaign before the teenagers in charge of it needed to return to school. A few days later the campaign became the first to run an attack ad against Democratic front-runner Joe Biden, using the text \"Is this the best our party has to offer?\" Gravel's campaign crossed the threshold of 65,000 donors on July 12, 2019, meeting the qualification mark for that month's debate.","Gravel's campaign crossed the threshold of 65,000 donors on July 12, 2019, meeting the qualification mark for that month's debate. But because 20 other candidates, the maximum allowed to participate, had already met at least the polling criterion, which takes priority over the donor criterion, Gravel was not invited. The campaign officially came to a close on August 6, 2019, with Gravel endorsing both Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard for president.","The campaign officially came to a close on August 6, 2019, with Gravel endorsing both Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard for president. Gravel's campaign later stated on Twitter that they never wanted to win but saw the campaign as an \"intimately democratic\" project and expressed honor at working with Gravel. Gravel said he would divide remaining campaign funds between charity and a new think tank which would espouse his ideas.","Gravel said he would divide remaining campaign funds between charity and a new think tank which would espouse his ideas. The Gravel Institute Gravel used some of the funds remaining from his 2020 presidential campaign to found an eponymous progressive think tank called The Gravel Institute in 2019. As noted by Vice magazine, the institute aims to do battle with PragerU from a left-wing perspective.","As noted by Vice magazine, the institute aims to do battle with PragerU from a left-wing perspective. Launched in September 2020, the new entity said it would \"carry on the life's work of former U.S Senator Mike Gravel in fighting for global peace and democracy. Its mission is to promote bold and forward-looking ideas about a more peaceful and egalitarian world, and to build a robust movement of young people to win it\".","Its mission is to promote bold and forward-looking ideas about a more peaceful and egalitarian world, and to build a robust movement of young people to win it\". Contributors announced include Cornel West and Slavoj Žižek, as well as Lower Brule Indian Reservation activist Nick Estes.","Contributors announced include Cornel West and Slavoj Žižek, as well as Lower Brule Indian Reservation activist Nick Estes. Other presenters have included and will include H. Jon Benjamin, Briahna Joy Gray, Bernie Sanders, Chelsea Manning, Richard Wolff, Stephanie Kelton, Zephyr Teachout, David Cross, Jabari Brisport, Zohran Mamdani, and Gravel himself (though it is unknown if his appearance will be cancelled due to his death in June 2021, or if the video has already been recorded).","Other presenters have included and will include H. Jon Benjamin, Briahna Joy Gray, Bernie Sanders, Chelsea Manning, Richard Wolff, Stephanie Kelton, Zephyr Teachout, David Cross, Jabari Brisport, Zohran Mamdani, and Gravel himself (though it is unknown if his appearance will be cancelled due to his death in June 2021, or if the video has already been recorded). Death Gravel died of multiple myeloma at his home in Seaside, California, on June 26, 2021, at age 91.","Death Gravel died of multiple myeloma at his home in Seaside, California, on June 26, 2021, at age 91. The obituary for him in The New York Times stated that Gravel was \"a two-term Democratic senator from Alaska ... who was perhaps better known as an unabashed attention-getter\" who later become known for \"mounting long-shot presidential runs\".","The obituary for him in The New York Times stated that Gravel was \"a two-term Democratic senator from Alaska ... who was perhaps better known as an unabashed attention-getter\" who later become known for \"mounting long-shot presidential runs\". The obituary in The Washington Post was similar, saying that Gravel was \"an Alaska Democrat with a flair for the theatrical who rose from obscurity to brief renown\" and later \"ran quixotic campaigns for the presidency\".","The obituary in The Washington Post was similar, saying that Gravel was \"an Alaska Democrat with a flair for the theatrical who rose from obscurity to brief renown\" and later \"ran quixotic campaigns for the presidency\". The Anchorage Daily News quoted Gravel as saying of himself in 1989, \"I'm an independent kind of guy. A rough and ready kind of guy. My glands work in a certain way that make me stand up, foolishly sometimes, and fight.\"","My glands work in a certain way that make me stand up, foolishly sometimes, and fight.\" Political positions Alan Abramowitz and Jeffrey Allan Segal described Gravel as \"a maverick, if not an eccentric, in the Senate.\" His Americans for Democratic Action \"Liberal Quotient\" scores ranged from 81 out of 100 (1971) to 39 out of 100 (1980), with an average of around 61.","His Americans for Democratic Action \"Liberal Quotient\" scores ranged from 81 out of 100 (1971) to 39 out of 100 (1980), with an average of around 61. His American Conservative Union scores ranged from 0 out of 100 (several years, including 1971 and 1972) to 38 out of 100 (1979), with an average of 14.","His American Conservative Union scores ranged from 0 out of 100 (several years, including 1971 and 1972) to 38 out of 100 (1979), with an average of 14. Abramowitz and Segal note that Gravel's lowest ADA ratings coincided with his two Senate re-election bids, and for the most part his highest ACU ratings followed the same pattern.","Abramowitz and Segal note that Gravel's lowest ADA ratings coincided with his two Senate re-election bids, and for the most part his highest ACU ratings followed the same pattern. In 1972, as a young senator, Gravel published Citizen Power: A People's Platform, a manifesto outlining what Kirkus Reviews termed a \"populist reform [that] would provide 'balanced political power' between the people and government and business interests.\"","In 1972, as a young senator, Gravel published Citizen Power: A People's Platform, a manifesto outlining what Kirkus Reviews termed a \"populist reform [that] would provide 'balanced political power' between the people and government and business interests.\" Civil rights issues On drug policy, Gravel said in 2007 that he favored decriminalization and treating addiction as a public health matter.","Civil rights issues On drug policy, Gravel said in 2007 that he favored decriminalization and treating addiction as a public health matter. During his 2008 presidential candidacy he condemned the War on Drugs as a failure, saying that it did \"nothing but savage our inner cities and put our children at risk\". Gravel called for abolition of capital punishment in his book Citizen Power, and adhered to this position during his 2008 run for president. He supported abortion rights.","He supported abortion rights. He supported abortion rights. During the 2008 campaign Gravel was a strong supporter of LGBT rights. He supported same-sex marriage and opposed the Defense of Marriage Act and the U.S. military's \"don't ask, don't tell\" policy. He wrote in 2008 that \"depriving gays and lesbians of equal rights is immoral\". Foreign policy and defense issues Gravel was a critic of American imperialism. Gravel firmly opposed U.S. military action against Iran and Syria.","Gravel firmly opposed U.S. military action against Iran and Syria. He voiced opposition to the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, the Military Commissions Act of 2006, the use of torture, indefinite detention, and what he called \"flagrant ignorance\" of the Geneva Convention. In 2014 Gravel called for the release of the full, unredacted Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture. Gravel opposed the use of international sanctions as a policy tool and blamed the ones against Iraq under Saddam Hussein for the deaths of a half-million children in that country.","Gravel opposed the use of international sanctions as a policy tool and blamed the ones against Iraq under Saddam Hussein for the deaths of a half-million children in that country. In 2013 Gravel said that sanctions against Iran were \"illegal\". During his 2008 candidacy, Gravel called for a cut in military spending, variously reported to be 15 percent or 50 percent. He called for the savings to boost public education spending. To spur international nuclear nonproliferation efforts, Gravel called for unilateral reductions in the U.S. nuclear arsenal.","To spur international nuclear nonproliferation efforts, Gravel called for unilateral reductions in the U.S. nuclear arsenal. In 2008 Gravel criticized the decision of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to not pursue the efforts to impeach George W. Bush and the attempted impeachment of Dick Cheney, saying also that Bush and Cheney had committed crimes and deserved \"to be prosecuted\" at The Hague.","In 2008 Gravel criticized the decision of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to not pursue the efforts to impeach George W. Bush and the attempted impeachment of Dick Cheney, saying also that Bush and Cheney had committed crimes and deserved \"to be prosecuted\" at The Hague. In 2013 he expressed disdain for President Obama, calling him \"a total fraud\" and saying that both Bush and Obama should be tried \"for the crimes and murders they've committed\" in the International Court of Justice.","In 2013 he expressed disdain for President Obama, calling him \"a total fraud\" and saying that both Bush and Obama should be tried \"for the crimes and murders they've committed\" in the International Court of Justice. Gravel specifically condemned Obama for the drone strikes in Pakistan and elsewhere.","Gravel specifically condemned Obama for the drone strikes in Pakistan and elsewhere. Economy, immigration, and environment During his 2008 candidacy Gravel favored a FairTax scheme, which would abolish the Internal Revenue Service, eliminate the federal income tax (which Gravel called \"corrupt\"), and impose a national sales tax. While Gravel described FairTax as \"progressive\", others have criticized it as \"regressive\", disproportionately benefiting the wealthiest Americans.","While Gravel described FairTax as \"progressive\", others have criticized it as \"regressive\", disproportionately benefiting the wealthiest Americans. To offset the new sales taxes on essential goods, Gravel's plan called for monthly government rebate payments to individuals and families. During his 2020 campaign Gravel also voiced support for a third legislative body that would give the people direct control of the budget as well as the implementation of a land value tax.","During his 2020 campaign Gravel also voiced support for a third legislative body that would give the people direct control of the budget as well as the implementation of a land value tax. Gravel opposed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) during his 2008 candidacy, calling it unfair and economically harmful and needing renegotiation. Gravel believed that NAFTA was the \"root cause\" of illegal migration to the U.S. He favored a guest worker program and \"setting up naturalization procedures that would fairly bring immigrants into legal status\".","He favored a guest worker program and \"setting up naturalization procedures that would fairly bring immigrants into legal status\". In a 2007 interview, Gravel identified himself as \"very much of a globalist\" who believed in open markets and open borders and condemned the scapegoating of undocumented immigrants. Gravel also said that he favored eliminating the cap on H1B visas. As a senator from Alaska, Gravel favored drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but opposed it during his 2008 campaign.","As a senator from Alaska, Gravel favored drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but opposed it during his 2008 campaign. In 2008, Gravel supported a carbon tax to combat climate change. Gravel spoke in favor of net neutrality during his presidential campaign. Education and health care Gravel called for the cost of college tuition to be borne by the federal government, rather than students.","Education and health care Gravel called for the cost of college tuition to be borne by the federal government, rather than students. In his 2008 campaign, he called the No Child Left Behind Act \"a failure\" and called for it to be \"reformed and fully funded\". He expressed support for universal pre-kindergarten and the expansion of the Head Start program; and expressed an openness to charter schools and school vouchers. He also suggested extending the school day and the school year, and supported merit pay for teachers.","He also suggested extending the school day and the school year, and supported merit pay for teachers. Gravel also called for publicly funded universal health care to replace the current employer-sponsored health insurance system. He supported \"full funding\" of the VA system. When asked in 2007 about naturopathy, homeopathy, and acupuncture, Gravel said that he was \"very very much in favor\" of holistic health care. Awards and honors In 2008 Gravel received the Columbia University School of General Studies' first annual Isaac Asimov Lifetime Achievement Award.","Awards and honors In 2008 Gravel received the Columbia University School of General Studies' first annual Isaac Asimov Lifetime Achievement Award. Electoral history Writings Gravel, Mike. Jobs and More Jobs. Mt. McKinley Publishers, 1968. Gravel, Mike. Citizen Power: A People's Platform. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1972. . revised and reissued as Citizen Power: A Mandate for Change, AuthorHouse, 2008. . Gravel, Mike and Lauria, Joe.","Gravel, Mike and Lauria, Joe. Gravel, Mike and Lauria, Joe. A Political Odyssey: The Rise of American Militarism and One Man's Fight to Stop It. Seven Stories Press, 2008. . Gravel, Mike and Eisenbach, David. The Kingmakers: How the Media Threatens Our Security and Our Democracy. Phoenix Books, 2008. . Gravel, Mike. Voice of a Maverick: The Speeches and Writings of Senator Mike Gravel. Brandywine House, 2008. Gravel, Mike.","Brandywine House, 2008. Gravel, Mike. Gravel, Mike. Foreword to Poisoned Power: The Case Against Nuclear Power Plants. John W. Goffman & Arthur R. Tamplin, Rodale Press, Inc., Emmaus, PA, June 1971. Gravel, Mike. The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People. AuthorHouse, 2020. Explanatory notes References Citations General references The Pentagon Papers Senator Gravel Edition. Vol. Five: Critical Essays. Boston: Beacon Press, 1972. 341p. plus 72p.","Five: Critical Essays. Boston: Beacon Press, 1972. 341p. plus 72p. plus 72p. of Index to Vol. I–IV of the Papers; Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, editors.","I–IV of the Papers; Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, editors. External links Mike Gravel official website The Gravel Institute |- |- 1930 births 2021 deaths 1972 United States vice-presidential candidates 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American politicians 20th-century Roman Catholics 20th-century Unitarians 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American politicians 21st-century Unitarians 9/11 conspiracy theorists Alaska Democrats American International College alumni American Unitarian Universalists American anti–Iraq War activists American conspiracy theorists American democracy activists American male non-fiction writers American people of French-Canadian descent American political writers American real estate businesspeople American stockbrokers Anti-corporate activists Assumption University (Worcester) alumni Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Businesspeople from Anchorage, Alaska Businesspeople from Springfield, Massachusetts California Democrats Candidates in the 2008 United States presidential election Candidates in the 2020 United States presidential election Columbia University School of General Studies alumni Deaths from cancer in California Deaths from multiple myeloma Democratic Party United States senators Direct democracy activists Drug policy reform activists Former Roman Catholics Virginia Libertarians Members of the Alaska House of Representatives Military personnel from Massachusetts Non-interventionism People from Arlington County, Virginia People from Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska People with dyslexia Politicians from Anchorage, Alaska Politicians from Springfield, Massachusetts Speakers of the Alaska House of Representatives United States Army officers United States senators from Alaska Writers about direct democracy Writers from Anchorage, Alaska"],"string":"[\n \"Maurice Robert Gravel ( ; May 13, 1930 – June 26, 2021) was an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Alaska from 1969 to 1981 as a member of the Democratic Party, and who, in later life, twice ran for the presidential nomination of that party. Born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, by French-Canadian immigrant parents, Gravel moved to Alaska in the late 1950s, becoming a real estate developer and entering politics.\",\n \"Born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, by French-Canadian immigrant parents, Gravel moved to Alaska in the late 1950s, becoming a real estate developer and entering politics. He served in the Alaska House of Representatives from 1963 to 1967, and also became Speaker of the Alaska House. Gravel was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1968.\",\n \"Gravel was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1968. Gravel was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1968. As a senator, Gravel became nationally known for his forceful, but unsuccessful, attempts to end the draft during the War in Vietnam, and for putting the Pentagon Papers into the public record in 1971. He conducted a campaign for the Democratic nomination in 1972 for Vice President of the United States, and then played a crucial role in obtaining Congressional approval for the Trans-Alaska pipeline in 1973.\",\n \"He conducted a campaign for the Democratic nomination in 1972 for Vice President of the United States, and then played a crucial role in obtaining Congressional approval for the Trans-Alaska pipeline in 1973. He was re-elected to the Senate in 1974, but was defeated in his bid for a third term in the primary election in 1980. An advocate of direct democracy and the National Initiative, Gravel staged a run for the 2008 Democratic nomination for President of the United States.\",\n \"An advocate of direct democracy and the National Initiative, Gravel staged a run for the 2008 Democratic nomination for President of the United States. His campaign failed to gain support, and in March 2008, he left the Democratic Party and joined the Libertarian Party to compete unsuccessfully for its presidential nomination and the inclusion of the National Initiative into the Libertarian Platform. He ran for president as a Democrat again in the 2020 election, in a campaign that ended four months after it began.\",\n \"He ran for president as a Democrat again in the 2020 election, in a campaign that ended four months after it began. Two years before his death, Gravel and his campaign staff founded the progressive think tank The Gravel Institute. Early life, military service, education Gravel was born on May 13, 1930, in Springfield, Massachusetts, one of five children of French-Canadian immigrant parents, Alphonse and Marie (née Bourassa) Gravel.\",\n \"Early life, military service, education Gravel was born on May 13, 1930, in Springfield, Massachusetts, one of five children of French-Canadian immigrant parents, Alphonse and Marie (née Bourassa) Gravel. His parents were part of the Quebec diaspora, and he was raised in a working-class neighborhood during the Great Depression, speaking only French until he was seven years old. Calling him \\\"Mike\\\" from an early age, his father valued work above all else, while his mother stressed the importance of education.\",\n \"Calling him \\\"Mike\\\" from an early age, his father valued work above all else, while his mother stressed the importance of education. Gravel was educated in parochial schools as a Roman Catholic. There he struggled, due to what he later said was undiagnosed dyslexia, and was left back in third grade. He completed elementary school in 1945 and his class voted him \\\"most charming personality\\\".\",\n \"He completed elementary school in 1945 and his class voted him \\\"most charming personality\\\". A summer job as a soda jerk led to Gravel handing out campaign fliers for local candidates on his boss's behalf; Gravel was immediately impressed with \\\"the awesomeness of political office\\\". Gravel then boarded at Assumption Preparatory School in Worcester, Massachusetts, where his performance was initially mediocre.\",\n \"Gravel then boarded at Assumption Preparatory School in Worcester, Massachusetts, where his performance was initially mediocre. By Gravel's telling, in the summer of 1948 he intended to volunteer for the Israel Defense Forces during the 1947–1949 Palestine war, but Alexandra Tolstaya told him to return to school. There an English teacher, the Assumptionist Edgar Bourque, gave him personal attention, improving Gravel's language skills and instructing him in public speaking. Gravel's grades improved measurably in his final year and he graduated in 1949.\",\n \"Gravel's grades improved measurably in his final year and he graduated in 1949. His sister, Marguerite, became a Holy Cross nun, but Gravel himself struggled with the Catholic faith. He studied for one year at Assumption College, a Catholic school in Worcester, then transferred for his sophomore year to American International College in Springfield. Journalist I. F. Stone and philosopher Bertrand Russell strongly influenced Gravel in their willingness to challenge assumptions and oppose social convention and political authority.\",\n \"Journalist I. F. Stone and philosopher Bertrand Russell strongly influenced Gravel in their willingness to challenge assumptions and oppose social convention and political authority. Around May 1951, Gravel saw that he was about to be drafted and instead enlisted in the U.S. Army for a three-year term so that he could get into the Counterintelligence Corps. After basic training and counterintelligence school at Fort Holabird in Maryland and in South Carolina, he went to Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia.\",\n \"After basic training and counterintelligence school at Fort Holabird in Maryland and in South Carolina, he went to Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia. While he expected to be sent off to the Korean War when he graduated as a second lieutenant in early 1952, he was instead assigned to Stuttgart, West Germany, as a Special Adjutant in the Army's Communications Intelligence Service. In Germany, Gravel conducted surveillance operations on civilians and paid off spies.\",\n \"In Germany, Gravel conducted surveillance operations on civilians and paid off spies. After about a year, he transferred to Orléans, France, where his French language abilities (if not his French-Canadian accent) allowed him to infiltrate French communist rallies. He worked as a Special Agent in the Counterintelligence Corps until 1954, eventually becoming a first lieutenant. Following his discharge, Gravel entered the Columbia University School of General Studies in New York City, where he studied economics and received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1956.\",\n \"Following his discharge, Gravel entered the Columbia University School of General Studies in New York City, where he studied economics and received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1956. He moved to New York \\\"flat broke\\\" and supported himself by working as a bar boy in a hotel, driving a taxicab, and working in the investment bond department at Bankers Trust. During this time he left the Roman Catholic faith.\",\n \"During this time he left the Roman Catholic faith. During this time he left the Roman Catholic faith. Move to Alaska Gravel \\\"decided to become a pioneer in a faraway place,\\\" and moved to pre-statehood Alaska in August 1956, without funds or a job, looking for a place where someone without social or political connections could be a viable candidate for public office.\",\n \"Move to Alaska Gravel \\\"decided to become a pioneer in a faraway place,\\\" and moved to pre-statehood Alaska in August 1956, without funds or a job, looking for a place where someone without social or political connections could be a viable candidate for public office. Alaska's voting age of 19, less than most other states' 21, played a role in his decision, as did its newness and cooler climate. Broke when he arrived, he immediately found work in real estate sales until winter arrived.\",\n \"Broke when he arrived, he immediately found work in real estate sales until winter arrived. Gravel then was employed as a brakeman for the Alaska Railroad, working the snow-clearing train on the Anchorage-to-Fairbanks run. Subsequently, he opened a small real estate brokerage in Anchorage (the Territory of Alaska not requiring a license) and saved enough so as not to have to work the railroad again. The firm was named the M. R. Gravel Real Estate Company.\",\n \"The firm was named the M. R. Gravel Real Estate Company. Gravel joined the Anchorage Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, and continued a sporadic relationship with the movement throughout his life. Seeing Alaska as a wide-open place with no political establishment or entrenched interests, Gravel quickly became part of the civic scene there. By October 1957 he was a Division Chairman for Anchorage for the Democratic Central Committee in the territory, and by June 1958 he was president of the Alaska Young Democrats organization.\",\n \"By October 1957 he was a Division Chairman for Anchorage for the Democratic Central Committee in the territory, and by June 1958 he was president of the Alaska Young Democrats organization. He also became active in the United States Junior Chamber (Jaycees), and by early 1958 his duties included handing out awards for farmer of the year. By early 1958, Gravel was running as Democratic Party primary candidate for a Third Division seat in House of Representative of the territorial legislature.\",\n \"By early 1958, Gravel was running as Democratic Party primary candidate for a Third Division seat in House of Representative of the territorial legislature. (This was one of the four judicial divisions into which Alaska was sectioned at the time.) Using the slogan \\\"Gravel, the Roadbed to Prosperity\\\", he ran but lost. At the same time, he was also an advocate for Alaskan statehood.\",\n \"At the same time, he was also an advocate for Alaskan statehood. Gravel went on a 44-state national speaking tour concerning tax reform in 1959, sponsored by the Jaycees, often dressing for events as Paul Revere. Gravel was selected from some two thousand applications for this position. The tour received a good amount of local newspaper coverage at its various stops, with Gravel's first name sometimes given as Mike and other times as Maurice.\",\n \"The tour received a good amount of local newspaper coverage at its various stops, with Gravel's first name sometimes given as Mike and other times as Maurice. The tour's general message was an urging of \\\"lower taxes, more efficiency in government and a system of taxation moderate at all levels of income\\\". At several stops Gravel stated that the \\\"tide of socialism\\\" had to be stopped.\",\n \"At several stops Gravel stated that the \\\"tide of socialism\\\" had to be stopped. He elaborated at another stop, \\\"It is part of our Jaycee creed that economic justice can best be won by free men through free enterprise. We really want to see that free enterprise become our inheritance.\\\"\",\n \"We really want to see that free enterprise become our inheritance.\\\" The tour was scheduled to conclude in Washington D.C., on Tax Day, April 15, with petition signatures accumulated for reform to be presented to U.S. lawmakers: dressed as Revere, Gravel rode with the petition to the steps of the U.S. Capitol. The tour over, Gravel married Rita Jeannette Martin at the First Methodist Church of Anchorage on April 29, 1959.\",\n \"The tour over, Gravel married Rita Jeannette Martin at the First Methodist Church of Anchorage on April 29, 1959. She was a native of Montana who had attended Billings Business College before moving to Alaska two years prior and becoming a secretary in the office of the Anchorage city manager. She had also been named Anchorage's \\\"Miss Fur Rendezvous\\\" of 1958. They had two children, Martin Anthony Gravel and Lynne Denise Gravel, born c. 1960 and 1962 respectively.\",\n \"They had two children, Martin Anthony Gravel and Lynne Denise Gravel, born c. 1960 and 1962 respectively. Gravel ran without avail for the City Council in Anchorage in 1960. During this time, he had become a successful real estate agent; after the 1960 election, he became a property developer in a mobile home park on the outskirts of Anchorage. After a partner ran into financial difficulty, however, the project went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and Gravel was forced out in 1962.\",\n \"After a partner ran into financial difficulty, however, the project went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and Gravel was forced out in 1962. State legislator With the support of Alaska wholesale grocer Barney Gottstein and supermarket builder Larry Carr, Gravel ran for the Alaska House of Representatives representing Anchorage in 1962, initially assigned the 10th and then 8th districts.\",\n \"State legislator With the support of Alaska wholesale grocer Barney Gottstein and supermarket builder Larry Carr, Gravel ran for the Alaska House of Representatives representing Anchorage in 1962, initially assigned the 10th and then 8th districts. Alaska had very crowded primaries that year: Gravel was one of 33 Democrats, along with 21 Republicans, who were running for the chance to compete for the 14 House seats allocated to the 8th district.\",\n \"Alaska had very crowded primaries that year: Gravel was one of 33 Democrats, along with 21 Republicans, who were running for the chance to compete for the 14 House seats allocated to the 8th district. Gravel made it through the primary, and in November eight Republicans and six Democrats were elected to the House from the district, with Gravel finishing eighth overall and third among with Democrats, with 8,174 votes. Gottstein became Gravel's main financial backer during most of his subsequent campaigns.\",\n \"Gottstein became Gravel's main financial backer during most of his subsequent campaigns. Gravel served in the Alaska House of Representatives from January 28, 1963 to January 22, 1967, winning reelection in 1964. In his first term, he served as a minority member on two House committees: Commerce, and Labor and Management. He co-authored and sponsored the act that created the Alaska State Commission for Human Rights.\",\n \"He co-authored and sponsored the act that created the Alaska State Commission for Human Rights. Gravel was the chief architect of the law that created a regional high school system for rural Alaska; this allowed Alaska Natives to attend schools near where they lived instead of having to go to schools run by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the lower 48 states. During the half-years that the legislature was not in session, Gravel resumed his real estate work.\",\n \"During the half-years that the legislature was not in session, Gravel resumed his real estate work. With Gottstein and Carr's backing, he became quite successful as a property developer on the Kenai Peninsula. During 1965 and 1966, he served as the Speaker of the House, surprising observers by winning that post. Gravel convinced former Speaker Warren A. Taylor to not try for the position against him by promising Taylor chairmanship of the Rules Committee, then reneged on the promise.\",\n \"Gravel convinced former Speaker Warren A. Taylor to not try for the position against him by promising Taylor chairmanship of the Rules Committee, then reneged on the promise. Gravel denied later press charges that he had promised but not delivered on other committee chairmanships. As Speaker he antagonized fellow lawmakers by imposing his will on the legislature's committees and feuded with Alaska State Senate president Robert J. McNealy.\",\n \"As Speaker he antagonized fellow lawmakers by imposing his will on the legislature's committees and feuded with Alaska State Senate president Robert J. McNealy. Gravel did not run for reelection in 1966, instead choosing to run for Alaska's seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, losing the primary to four-term incumbent Democrat Ralph Rivers by 1,300 votes and splitting the Democratic Party in the process. Rivers lost the general election that year to Republican state Senator Howard Pollock. Following this defeat, Gravel returned to the real estate business in Anchorage.\",\n \"Following this defeat, Gravel returned to the real estate business in Anchorage. U.S. Senator Election to Senate in 1968 In 1968, Gravel ran against 81-year-old incumbent Democratic United States Senator Ernest Gruening, a popular former governor of the Alaska Territory who was considered one of the fathers of Alaska's statehood, for his party's nomination to the U.S. Senate. Gravel's campaign was primarily based on his youth and telegenic appearance rather than issue differences. He hired Joseph Napolitan, the first self-described political consultant, in late 1966.\",\n \"He hired Joseph Napolitan, the first self-described political consultant, in late 1966. They spent over a year and a half planning a short, nine-day primary election campaign that featured the slogans \\\"Alaska first\\\" and \\\"Let's do something about the state we're in\\\", the distribution of a collection of essays titled Jobs and More Jobs, and the creation of a half-hour, well-produced, glamorized biographical film of Gravel, Man for Alaska.\",\n \"They spent over a year and a half planning a short, nine-day primary election campaign that featured the slogans \\\"Alaska first\\\" and \\\"Let's do something about the state we're in\\\", the distribution of a collection of essays titled Jobs and More Jobs, and the creation of a half-hour, well-produced, glamorized biographical film of Gravel, Man for Alaska. The film was shown twice a day on every television station in Alaska, and carried by plane and shown on home projectors in hundreds of Alaska Native villages.\",\n \"The film was shown twice a day on every television station in Alaska, and carried by plane and shown on home projectors in hundreds of Alaska Native villages. The heavy showings quickly reversed a 2–to–1 Gruening lead in polls into a Gravel lead. Gravel visited many remote villages by seaplane and showed a thorough understanding of the needs of the bush country and the fishing and oil industries. Gravel also benefited from maintaining a deliberately ambiguous posture about Vietnam policy.\",\n \"Gravel also benefited from maintaining a deliberately ambiguous posture about Vietnam policy. Gruening had been one of only two Senators to vote against the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and his opposition to President Lyndon B. Johnson's war policies was harming him among the Democratic electorate; according to Gravel, \\\"all I had to do was stand up and not deal with the subject, and people would assume that I was to the right of Ernest Gruening, when in point of fact I was to the left of him\\\".\",\n \"Gruening had been one of only two Senators to vote against the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and his opposition to President Lyndon B. Johnson's war policies was harming him among the Democratic electorate; according to Gravel, \\\"all I had to do was stand up and not deal with the subject, and people would assume that I was to the right of Ernest Gruening, when in point of fact I was to the left of him\\\". In Man for Alaska, Gravel argued that \\\"the liberals\\\" would come to West Germany's defense if it was attacked, and that the same standard should apply to the United States' allies in Asia.\",\n \"In Man for Alaska, Gravel argued that \\\"the liberals\\\" would come to West Germany's defense if it was attacked, and that the same standard should apply to the United States' allies in Asia. During the campaign he also claimed that he was \\\"more in the mainstream of American thought on Vietnam\\\" than Gruening, despite the fact that he had written to Gruening to praise his antiwar stance four years earlier.\",\n \"During the campaign he also claimed that he was \\\"more in the mainstream of American thought on Vietnam\\\" than Gruening, despite the fact that he had written to Gruening to praise his antiwar stance four years earlier. Decades later, Gravel conceded that \\\"I said what I said [about Vietnam] to advance my career.\\\" Gravel beat Gruening in the primary by about 2,000 votes. Gruening found \\\"the unexpected defeat hard to take\\\" and thought that some aspects of his opponent's biographical film had misled viewers.\",\n \"Gruening found \\\"the unexpected defeat hard to take\\\" and thought that some aspects of his opponent's biographical film had misled viewers. In the general election, Gravel faced Republican Elmer E. Rasmuson, a banker and former mayor of Anchorage. College students in the state implored Gruening to run a write-in campaign as an Independent, but legal battles prevented him from getting approval for it until only two weeks were left.\",\n \"College students in the state implored Gruening to run a write-in campaign as an Independent, but legal battles prevented him from getting approval for it until only two weeks were left. A late appearance by anti-war presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy did not offset Gruening's lack of funds and endorsements; meanwhile, Gravel and Rasmuson both saturated local media with their filmed biographies. On November 5, 1968, Gravel won the general election with 45 percent of the vote to Rasmuson's 37 percent and Gruening's 18 percent.\",\n \"On November 5, 1968, Gravel won the general election with 45 percent of the vote to Rasmuson's 37 percent and Gruening's 18 percent. Senate assignments and style When Gravel joined the U.S.Senate in January 1969, he requested and received a seat on the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee, which had direct relevance to Alaskan issues. He also got a spot on the Public Works Committee, which he held throughout his time in the Senate. Finally, he was a member of the Select Committee on Small Business.\",\n \"Finally, he was a member of the Select Committee on Small Business. In 1971 he became chair of the Public Works Committee's Subcommittee on Public Buildings and Grounds, and by 1973 he was chair of its Subcommittee on Water Resources, then later its Subcommittee on Environmental Pollution. Gravel was also initially named to the Joint Committee on Congressional Operations.\",\n \"Gravel was also initially named to the Joint Committee on Congressional Operations. By 1973 Gravel was off the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee and the Select Small Business Committee and instead a member of the Finance Committee, and by 1977 was chair of that body's Subcommittee on Energy and Foundations. By 1973 he had also been on the ad hoc Special Committee to Study Secret and Confidential Government Documents.\",\n \"By 1973 he had also been on the ad hoc Special Committee to Study Secret and Confidential Government Documents. By his own admission, Gravel was too new and \\\"too abrasive\\\" to be effective in the Senate by the usual means of seniority-based committee assignments or negotiating deals with other senators, and was sometimes seen as arrogant or a nuisance by the more senior and tradition-oriented members. Gravel relied on attention-getting gestures to achieve what he wanted, hoping national exposure would force other senators to listen to him.\",\n \"Gravel relied on attention-getting gestures to achieve what he wanted, hoping national exposure would force other senators to listen to him. But even senators who agreed with him on issues considered his methods to be showboating. As part of this approach, Gravel voted with Southern Democrats to keep the Senate filibuster rule in place, and accordingly supported Russell Long and Robert Byrd but opposed Ted Kennedy in Senate leadership battles.\",\n \"As part of this approach, Gravel voted with Southern Democrats to keep the Senate filibuster rule in place, and accordingly supported Russell Long and Robert Byrd but opposed Ted Kennedy in Senate leadership battles. In retrospective assessment, University of Alaska Anchorage history professor Stephen Haycox said, \\\"Loose cannon is a good description of Gravel's Senate career. He was an off-the-wall guy, and you weren't really ever sure what he would do.\\\"\",\n \"He was an off-the-wall guy, and you weren't really ever sure what he would do.\\\" Nuclear issues and the Cold War In the late 1960s and early 1970s the U.S. Department of Defense was in the process of performing tests for the nuclear warhead for the Spartan anti-ballistic missile. Two tests, the \\\"Milrow\\\" and \\\"Cannikin\\\" tests, were planned, involving the detonation of nuclear bombs under Amchitka Island in Alaska.\",\n \"Two tests, the \\\"Milrow\\\" and \\\"Cannikin\\\" tests, were planned, involving the detonation of nuclear bombs under Amchitka Island in Alaska. The Milrow test would be a one-megaton calibration exercise for the second and larger five-megaton Cannikin test, which would measure the effectiveness of the warhead. Gravel opposed the tests.\",\n \"Gravel opposed the tests. Gravel opposed the tests. Before the Milrow test took place in October 1969, he wrote that there were significant risks of earthquakes and other adverse consequences and called for an independent national commission on nuclear and seismic safety; he then made a personal appeal to President Richard Nixon to stop the test. After Milrow was conducted, there was continued pressure on the part of environmental groups against going forward with the Cannikin test, while the Federation of American Scientists claimed that the warhead being tested was already obsolete.\",\n \"After Milrow was conducted, there was continued pressure on the part of environmental groups against going forward with the Cannikin test, while the Federation of American Scientists claimed that the warhead being tested was already obsolete. In May 1971 Gravel sent a letter to U.S. Atomic Energy Commission hearings held in Anchorage in which he said the risk of the test was not worth taking.\",\n \"In May 1971 Gravel sent a letter to U.S. Atomic Energy Commission hearings held in Anchorage in which he said the risk of the test was not worth taking. Eventually a group not involving Gravel took the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to issue an injunction against it, and the Cannikin test took place as scheduled in November 1971. Gravel had failed to stop the tests (notwithstanding his later claims during his 2008 presidential campaign).\",\n \"Gravel had failed to stop the tests (notwithstanding his later claims during his 2008 presidential campaign). In 1971 Gravel voted against the Nixon administration's proposed anti-ballistic missile system, the Safeguard Program, having previously vacillated over the issue, suggesting that he might be willing to support it in exchange for federal lands in Alaska being opened up for private oil drilling. His vote alienated Senator Henry \\\"Scoop\\\" Jackson, who had raised funds for Gravel's primary campaign.\",\n \"His vote alienated Senator Henry \\\"Scoop\\\" Jackson, who had raised funds for Gravel's primary campaign. Nuclear power was considered an environmentally clean alternative for commercial generation of electricity and was part of a popular national policy for the peaceful use of atomic energy in the 1950s and 1960s.\",\n \"Nuclear power was considered an environmentally clean alternative for commercial generation of electricity and was part of a popular national policy for the peaceful use of atomic energy in the 1950s and 1960s. Gravel publicly opposed this policy; besides the dangers of nuclear testing, he was a vocal critic of the Atomic Energy Commission, which oversaw American nuclear efforts, and of the powerful United States Congress Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, which had a stranglehold on nuclear policy and which Gravel tried to circumvent.\",\n \"Gravel publicly opposed this policy; besides the dangers of nuclear testing, he was a vocal critic of the Atomic Energy Commission, which oversaw American nuclear efforts, and of the powerful United States Congress Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, which had a stranglehold on nuclear policy and which Gravel tried to circumvent. In 1971 Gravel sponsored a bill to impose a moratorium on nuclear power plant construction and to make power utilities liable for any nuclear accidents; in 1975 he was still proposing similar moratoriums.\",\n \"In 1971 Gravel sponsored a bill to impose a moratorium on nuclear power plant construction and to make power utilities liable for any nuclear accidents; in 1975 he was still proposing similar moratoriums. By 1974 Gravel was allied with Ralph Nader's organization in opposing nuclear power. Six months before U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's July 1971 secret mission to the People's Republic of China (P.R.C. ), Gravel introduced legislation to recognize and normalize relations with the P.R.C., including a proposal for unity talks between the P.R.C.\",\n \"), Gravel introduced legislation to recognize and normalize relations with the P.R.C., including a proposal for unity talks between the P.R.C. and the Republic of China (Taiwan) regarding the Chinese seat on the U.N. Security Council. He reiterated his position in favor of recognition, with four other senators in agreement, during Senate hearings in June 1971.\",\n \"He reiterated his position in favor of recognition, with four other senators in agreement, during Senate hearings in June 1971. Vietnam War, the draft, and the Pentagon Papers Although he did not campaign against the Vietnam War during his first Senate campaign, by the end of 1970 Gravel was speaking out against United States policy in southeast Asia: in December of that year he persuaded William Fulbright to join him in a spontaneous two-day filibuster against a $155 million military aid package to Cambodia's Khmer Republic government in the Cambodian Civil War.\",\n \"Vietnam War, the draft, and the Pentagon Papers Although he did not campaign against the Vietnam War during his first Senate campaign, by the end of 1970 Gravel was speaking out against United States policy in southeast Asia: in December of that year he persuaded William Fulbright to join him in a spontaneous two-day filibuster against a $155 million military aid package to Cambodia's Khmer Republic government in the Cambodian Civil War. President Richard Nixon had campaigned in 1968 on a promise to end the U.S. military draft, a decision endorsed by the February 1970 report of the Gates Commission.\",\n \"President Richard Nixon had campaigned in 1968 on a promise to end the U.S. military draft, a decision endorsed by the February 1970 report of the Gates Commission. The existing draft law was scheduled to conclude at the end of June 1971, and the Senate faced a contentious debate about whether to extend it as the Vietnam War continued.\",\n \"The existing draft law was scheduled to conclude at the end of June 1971, and the Senate faced a contentious debate about whether to extend it as the Vietnam War continued. The Nixon administration announced in February 1971 that it wanted a two-year extension to June 1973, after which the draft would end; Army planners had already been operating under the assumption of a two-year extension, after which an all-volunteer force would be in place.\",\n \"The Nixon administration announced in February 1971 that it wanted a two-year extension to June 1973, after which the draft would end; Army planners had already been operating under the assumption of a two-year extension, after which an all-volunteer force would be in place. Skeptics such as Senate Armed Services Committee chairman John Stennis thought this unrealistic and wanted a four-year extension, but the two-year proposal is what went forward in Congress.\",\n \"Skeptics such as Senate Armed Services Committee chairman John Stennis thought this unrealistic and wanted a four-year extension, but the two-year proposal is what went forward in Congress. By early May 1971, Gravel had indicated his intention to filibuster the draft renewal legislation, halting conscription and thereby bringing U.S. involvement in the war to a rapid end.\",\n \"By early May 1971, Gravel had indicated his intention to filibuster the draft renewal legislation, halting conscription and thereby bringing U.S. involvement in the war to a rapid end. During this period he also supported efforts to mobilize and influence public opinion against the war, endorsing the \\\"Vietnam War Out Now\\\" rallies in Washington D.C. and San Francisco on April 24, 1971, and financing a broadcast campaign by the antiwar group War No More with a personal loan.\",\n \"During this period he also supported efforts to mobilize and influence public opinion against the war, endorsing the \\\"Vietnam War Out Now\\\" rallies in Washington D.C. and San Francisco on April 24, 1971, and financing a broadcast campaign by the antiwar group War No More with a personal loan. In June 1972 he escorted a group of over 100 antiwar protesters, including psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton, actress Candice Bergen, theater producer and director Joseph Papp, and peditrician Dr. Benjamin Spock, into the United States Capitol Building; the group was arrested after blocking a hallway outside the Senate chamber.\",\n \"In June 1972 he escorted a group of over 100 antiwar protesters, including psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton, actress Candice Bergen, theater producer and director Joseph Papp, and peditrician Dr. Benjamin Spock, into the United States Capitol Building; the group was arrested after blocking a hallway outside the Senate chamber. By June 1971, some Democratic senators opposed to the war wanted to limit the renewal to a one-year extension, while others wanted to end it immediately; Gravel reiterated that he was one of the latter, saying, \\\"It's a senseless war, and one way to do away with it is to do away with the draft.\\\"\",\n \"By June 1971, some Democratic senators opposed to the war wanted to limit the renewal to a one-year extension, while others wanted to end it immediately; Gravel reiterated that he was one of the latter, saying, \\\"It's a senseless war, and one way to do away with it is to do away with the draft.\\\" A Senate vote on June 4 indicated majority support for the two-year extension.\",\n \"A Senate vote on June 4 indicated majority support for the two-year extension. On June 18 Gravel announced again his intention to counteract that by filibustering the renewal legislation, defending the practice against those who associated it only with blocking civil rights legislation. The first filibuster attempt failed on June 23 when, by three votes, the Senate voted cloture for only the fifth time since 1927.\",\n \"The first filibuster attempt failed on June 23 when, by three votes, the Senate voted cloture for only the fifth time since 1927. Protracted negotiations took place over House conference negotiations on the bill, revolving in large part around Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield's eventually unsuccessful amendment to tie renewal to a troop withdrawal timetable from Vietnam; during this time the draft law expired and no more were conscripted.\",\n \"Protracted negotiations took place over House conference negotiations on the bill, revolving in large part around Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield's eventually unsuccessful amendment to tie renewal to a troop withdrawal timetable from Vietnam; during this time the draft law expired and no more were conscripted. On August 5, the Nixon administration pleaded for a renewal before the Senate went on recess, but Gravel blocked Stennis's attempt to limit debate, and no vote was held.\",\n \"On August 5, the Nixon administration pleaded for a renewal before the Senate went on recess, but Gravel blocked Stennis's attempt to limit debate, and no vote was held. Finally on September 21, 1971, the Senate invoked cloture over Gravel's second filibuster attempt by one vote, and then passed the two-year draft extension.\",\n \"Finally on September 21, 1971, the Senate invoked cloture over Gravel's second filibuster attempt by one vote, and then passed the two-year draft extension. Gravel's attempts to stop the draft had failed (notwithstanding Gravel's later claims that he had stopped or shortened the draft, taken at face value in some media reports, during his 2008 presidential campaign). Meanwhile, on June 13, 1971, The New York Times began printing large portions of the Pentagon Papers.\",\n \"Meanwhile, on June 13, 1971, The New York Times began printing large portions of the Pentagon Papers. The papers were a large collection of secret government documents and studies pertaining to the Vietnam War, of which former Defense Department analyst Daniel Ellsberg had made unauthorized copies and was determined to make public.\",\n \"The papers were a large collection of secret government documents and studies pertaining to the Vietnam War, of which former Defense Department analyst Daniel Ellsberg had made unauthorized copies and was determined to make public. Ellsberg had for a year and a half approached members of Congress – such as William Fulbright, George McGovern, Charles Mathias, and Pete McCloskey – about publishing the documents, on the grounds that the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution would give congressional members immunity from prosecution, but all had refused.\",\n \"Ellsberg had for a year and a half approached members of Congress – such as William Fulbright, George McGovern, Charles Mathias, and Pete McCloskey – about publishing the documents, on the grounds that the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution would give congressional members immunity from prosecution, but all had refused. Instead, Ellsberg gave the documents to the Times. The U.S. Justice Department immediately tried to halt publication, on the grounds that the information revealed within the papers harmed the national interest.\",\n \"The U.S. Justice Department immediately tried to halt publication, on the grounds that the information revealed within the papers harmed the national interest. Within the next two weeks, a federal court injunction halted publication in the Times; The Washington Post and several other newspapers began publishing parts of the documents, with some of them also being halted by injunctions; and the whole matter went to the U.S. Supreme Court for arguments.\",\n \"Within the next two weeks, a federal court injunction halted publication in the Times; The Washington Post and several other newspapers began publishing parts of the documents, with some of them also being halted by injunctions; and the whole matter went to the U.S. Supreme Court for arguments. Looking for an alternate publication mechanism, Ellsberg returned to his idea of having a member of Congress read them, and chose Gravel based on the latter's efforts against the draft; Gravel agreed where previously others had not.\",\n \"Looking for an alternate publication mechanism, Ellsberg returned to his idea of having a member of Congress read them, and chose Gravel based on the latter's efforts against the draft; Gravel agreed where previously others had not. Ellsberg arranged for the papers to be given to Gravel on June 26 via an intermediary, Post editor Ben Bagdikian.\",\n \"Ellsberg arranged for the papers to be given to Gravel on June 26 via an intermediary, Post editor Ben Bagdikian. Gravel used his counter-intelligence experience to choose a midnight transfer in front of the Mayflower Hotel in the center of Washington, D.C. On the night of June 29, 1971, Gravel attempted to read the papers on the floor of the Senate as part of his filibuster against the draft, but was thwarted when no quorum could be formed. Gravel instead convened a session of the Buildings and Grounds subcommittee that he chaired.\",\n \"Gravel instead convened a session of the Buildings and Grounds subcommittee that he chaired. He got New York Congressman John G. Dow to testify that the war had soaked up funding for public buildings, thus making discussion of the war relevant to the committee.\",\n \"He got New York Congressman John G. Dow to testify that the war had soaked up funding for public buildings, thus making discussion of the war relevant to the committee. He began reading from the papers with the press in attendance, omitting supporting documents that he felt might compromise national security, and declaring, \\\"It is my constitutional obligation to protect the security of the people by fostering the free flow of information absolutely essential to their democratic decision-making.\\\"\",\n \"He began reading from the papers with the press in attendance, omitting supporting documents that he felt might compromise national security, and declaring, \\\"It is my constitutional obligation to protect the security of the people by fostering the free flow of information absolutely essential to their democratic decision-making.\\\" He read until 1 a.m., culminating by saying \\\"Arms are being severed. Metal is clashing through human bodies because of the public policy this government and all its branches continue to support.\\\"\",\n \"Metal is clashing through human bodies because of the public policy this government and all its branches continue to support.\\\" Then with tears and sobs he said that he could no longer physically continue, the previous three nights of sleeplessness and fear about the future having taken their toll. Gravel ended the session by, with no other senators present, establishing unanimous consent to insert 4,100 pages of the Papers into the Congressional Record of his subcommittee.\",\n \"Gravel ended the session by, with no other senators present, establishing unanimous consent to insert 4,100 pages of the Papers into the Congressional Record of his subcommittee. The following day, the Supreme Court's New York Times Co. v. United States decision ruled in favor of the newspapers and publication in the Times and others resumed. In July 1971 Bantam Books published an inexpensive paperback edition of the papers containing the material the Times had published.\",\n \"In July 1971 Bantam Books published an inexpensive paperback edition of the papers containing the material the Times had published. Gravel, too, wanted to privately publish the portion of the papers he had read into the record, believing that \\\"immediate disclosure of the contents of these papers will change the policy that supports the war\\\". After being turned down by many commercial publishers, on August 4 he reached agreement with Beacon Press, the publishing arm of the Unitarian Universalist Association, of which Gravel was a member.\",\n \"After being turned down by many commercial publishers, on August 4 he reached agreement with Beacon Press, the publishing arm of the Unitarian Universalist Association, of which Gravel was a member. Announced on August 17 and published on October 22, 1971, this four-volume, relatively expensive set became the \\\"Senator Gravel Edition\\\", which studies from Cornell University and the Annenberg Center for Communication have labeled as the most complete edition of the Pentagon Papers to be published.\",\n \"Announced on August 17 and published on October 22, 1971, this four-volume, relatively expensive set became the \\\"Senator Gravel Edition\\\", which studies from Cornell University and the Annenberg Center for Communication have labeled as the most complete edition of the Pentagon Papers to be published. The \\\"Gravel Edition\\\" was edited and annotated by Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn, and included an additional volume of analytical articles on the origins and progress of the war, also edited by Chomsky and Zinn.\",\n \"The \\\"Gravel Edition\\\" was edited and annotated by Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn, and included an additional volume of analytical articles on the origins and progress of the war, also edited by Chomsky and Zinn. Beacon Press then was subjected to a FBI investigation; an outgrowth of this was the Gravel v. United States court case, which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled upon in June 1972; it held that the Speech or Debate Clause did grant immunity to Gravel for his reading the papers in his subcommittee, did grant some immunity to Gravel's congressional aide, but granted no immunity to Beacon Press in relation to their publishing the same papers.\",\n \"Beacon Press then was subjected to a FBI investigation; an outgrowth of this was the Gravel v. United States court case, which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled upon in June 1972; it held that the Speech or Debate Clause did grant immunity to Gravel for his reading the papers in his subcommittee, did grant some immunity to Gravel's congressional aide, but granted no immunity to Beacon Press in relation to their publishing the same papers. The U.S. Senate Democratic Caucus backed Gravel in the case, but due to Republican opposition it did not pay Gravel's legal fees, leaving him owing $25,000 (the equivalent of $150,000 in 2019, adjusted for inflation).\",\n \"The U.S. Senate Democratic Caucus backed Gravel in the case, but due to Republican opposition it did not pay Gravel's legal fees, leaving him owing $25,000 (the equivalent of $150,000 in 2019, adjusted for inflation). The events of 1971 changed Gravel in the following months from an obscure freshman senator to a nationally visible political figure.\",\n \"The events of 1971 changed Gravel in the following months from an obscure freshman senator to a nationally visible political figure. He became a sought-after speaker on the college circuit as well as at political fundraisers, opportunities he welcomed as lectures were \\\"the one honest way a Senator has to supplement his income\\\". But his speaking tours caused him to accrue one of the worst absentee records in the Senate. The Democratic candidates for the 1972 presidential election sought his endorsement.\",\n \"The Democratic candidates for the 1972 presidential election sought his endorsement. In January 1972 Gravel endorsed Maine Senator Ed Muskie, hoping that his support would help Muskie with the party's left wing and in ethnic French-Canadian areas during the first primary contest in New Hampshire (Muskie won, but not overwhelmingly, and his campaign faltered soon after).\",\n \"In January 1972 Gravel endorsed Maine Senator Ed Muskie, hoping that his support would help Muskie with the party's left wing and in ethnic French-Canadian areas during the first primary contest in New Hampshire (Muskie won, but not overwhelmingly, and his campaign faltered soon after). In April 1972 Gravel appeared on all three networks' nightly newscasts to decry the Nixon administration's reliance on Vietnamization by making reference to the secret National Security Study Memorandum 1 document, which stated it would take 8–13 years for the Army of the Republic of Vietnam to defend South Vietnam.\",\n \"In April 1972 Gravel appeared on all three networks' nightly newscasts to decry the Nixon administration's reliance on Vietnamization by making reference to the secret National Security Study Memorandum 1 document, which stated it would take 8–13 years for the Army of the Republic of Vietnam to defend South Vietnam. Gravel made excerpts from the study public, but senators Robert P. Griffin and William B. Saxbe blocked his attempt to read NSSM 1 into the Congressional Record.\",\n \"Gravel made excerpts from the study public, but senators Robert P. Griffin and William B. Saxbe blocked his attempt to read NSSM 1 into the Congressional Record. Domestic policy In 1970 Gravel co-sponsored legislation to establish a guaranteed minimum income, entitling poor families to up to $6,300 a year (the equivalent of $42,000 in 2019 after adjustment for inflation).\",\n \"Domestic policy In 1970 Gravel co-sponsored legislation to establish a guaranteed minimum income, entitling poor families to up to $6,300 a year (the equivalent of $42,000 in 2019 after adjustment for inflation). He subsequently voted for a \\\"work bonus\\\" program, which would have entitled low-income working families with dependent children if they were paying Social Security or Railroad Retirement taxes to a non-taxable bonus of up to 10 percent of their wages.\",\n \"He subsequently voted for a \\\"work bonus\\\" program, which would have entitled low-income working families with dependent children if they were paying Social Security or Railroad Retirement taxes to a non-taxable bonus of up to 10 percent of their wages. Gravel also supported extending Social Security to all federal employees and introduced a campaign finance reform bill in 1971 that would have enacted full disclosure of campaign financing, placed limits on large donations, media spending and individual candidate spending.\",\n \"Gravel also supported extending Social Security to all federal employees and introduced a campaign finance reform bill in 1971 that would have enacted full disclosure of campaign financing, placed limits on large donations, media spending and individual candidate spending. In 1969, Gravel was the only Democratic Senator outside of the South to vote for Nixon's Supreme Court nominee Clement Haynsworth. The following year Gravel opposed Nixon's next pick, G. Harrold Carswell.\",\n \"The following year Gravel opposed Nixon's next pick, G. Harrold Carswell. Run for vice president in 1972 Gravel actively campaigned for the office of Vice President of the United States during the 1972 presidential election, announcing on June 2, 1972, over a month before the 1972 Democratic National Convention began, that he was interested in the nomination should the choice be opened up to convention delegates. Toward this end he began soliciting delegates for their support.\",\n \"Toward this end he began soliciting delegates for their support. He was not alone in this effort, as former Governor of Massachusetts Endicott Peabody had been running a quixotic campaign for the same post since the prior year. Likely presidential nominee George McGovern was in fact considering the unusual move of naming three or four acceptable vice-presidential candidates and letting the delegates choose. On the convention's final day, July 14, 1972, McGovern selected and announced Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri as his vice-presidential choice.\",\n \"On the convention's final day, July 14, 1972, McGovern selected and announced Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri as his vice-presidential choice. Eagleton was unknown to many delegates and the choice seemed to smack of traditional ticket balancing considerations. Thus there were delegates willing to look elsewhere. Gravel was nominated by Bettye Fahrenkamp, the Democratic National Committeewoman from Alaska. He then seconded his own nomination, breaking down in tears at his own words and maybe trying to withdraw his nomination.\",\n \"He then seconded his own nomination, breaking down in tears at his own words and maybe trying to withdraw his nomination. In any case he won 226 delegate votes, coming in third behind Eagleton and Frances \\\"Sissy\\\" Farenthold of Texas, in chaotic balloting that included several other candidates.\",\n \"In any case he won 226 delegate votes, coming in third behind Eagleton and Frances \\\"Sissy\\\" Farenthold of Texas, in chaotic balloting that included several other candidates. Gravel attracted some attention for his efforts: writer Norman Mailer said he \\\"provided considerable excitement\\\" and was \\\"good-looking enough to have played leads in B-films\\\", while Rolling Stone correspondent Hunter S. Thompson said Gravel \\\"probably said a few things that might have been worth hearing, under different circumstances\\\". Yet the process was doubly disastrous for the Democrats.\",\n \"Yet the process was doubly disastrous for the Democrats. Yet the process was doubly disastrous for the Democrats. In the time consumed by nominating and seconding and all the vice-presidential candidates' speeches, the attention of the delegates on the floor was lost and McGovern's speech was pushed to 3:30 a.m. The haste with which Eagleton was selected led to surprise when his past mental health treatments were revealed; he withdrew from the ticket soon after the convention, to be replaced by Sargent Shriver.\",\n \"The haste with which Eagleton was selected led to surprise when his past mental health treatments were revealed; he withdrew from the ticket soon after the convention, to be replaced by Sargent Shriver. Reelection to Senate in 1974 Several years earlier, Alaska politicians had speculated that Gravel would have a hard time getting both renominated and elected when his first term expired, given that he was originally elected without a base party organization and tended to focus on national rather than local issues.\",\n \"Reelection to Senate in 1974 Several years earlier, Alaska politicians had speculated that Gravel would have a hard time getting both renominated and elected when his first term expired, given that he was originally elected without a base party organization and tended to focus on national rather than local issues. Nonetheless, after receiving support from national and local labor leaders, securing key earmarks, and producing another half-hour TV advertorial, in 1974 Gravel was reelected to the Senate, with 58 percent of the vote to 42 percent for Republican State Senator C. R. Lewis, who was a national officer of the John Birch Society.\",\n \"Nonetheless, after receiving support from national and local labor leaders, securing key earmarks, and producing another half-hour TV advertorial, in 1974 Gravel was reelected to the Senate, with 58 percent of the vote to 42 percent for Republican State Senator C. R. Lewis, who was a national officer of the John Birch Society. Second term Gravel's reelection campaign left him $65,000–$75,000 in debt.\",\n \"Second term Gravel's reelection campaign left him $65,000–$75,000 in debt. In 1975 The Washington Post reported on a memo by his executive assistant laying out a fundraising strategy to tackle this, including raising funds from oil companies, meeting with previous donors and \\\"inquir[ing] into the governmental priorities of these people and their groups in the coming session\\\", as well as obtaining further speaking fees to reduce his personal debt.\",\n \"In 1975 The Washington Post reported on a memo by his executive assistant laying out a fundraising strategy to tackle this, including raising funds from oil companies, meeting with previous donors and \\\"inquir[ing] into the governmental priorities of these people and their groups in the coming session\\\", as well as obtaining further speaking fees to reduce his personal debt. This was followed by a number of stories about links between Gravel, lobbyists and fundraisers, including one that was widely publicized in Alaska about his holding a share in a Colorado resort with two Washington lobbyists he was working with on land and energy legislation.\",\n \"This was followed by a number of stories about links between Gravel, lobbyists and fundraisers, including one that was widely publicized in Alaska about his holding a share in a Colorado resort with two Washington lobbyists he was working with on land and energy legislation. Gravel had been open about the investment and had opposing views to one of the lobbyists on nuclear power.\",\n \"Gravel had been open about the investment and had opposing views to one of the lobbyists on nuclear power. In 1980 the Wall Street Journal published details about his fundraising activities, including writing to individuals and PACs in the oil industry, pledging to kill off proposals for a windfall profits tax on the sector, and traveling in the Middle East with the business partner of one of his donors to sell Alaskan land to businessmen. Gravel suggested that critics of his fundraising were \\\"naive\\\".\",\n \"Gravel suggested that critics of his fundraising were \\\"naive\\\". In 1975 Gravel introduced an amendment to cut the number of troops overseas by 200,000, but it was defeated on a voice vote. In September 1975 Gravel was named as one of several Congressional Advisers to the Seventh Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly, which met to discuss problems related to economic development and international economic cooperation. In June 1976 Gravel was the focus of a federal investigation into allegations that he was involved in a sex-for-vote arrangement.\",\n \"In June 1976 Gravel was the focus of a federal investigation into allegations that he was involved in a sex-for-vote arrangement. Congressional staff clerk Elizabeth Ray (who had already been involved in a sex scandal that led to the downfall of Representative Wayne Hays) said that in August 1972 she had sex with Gravel aboard a houseboat on the Potomac River, under the instruction of Representative Kenneth J. Gray, her boss at the time.\",\n \"Gray, her boss at the time. Gray, her boss at the time. Gray allegedly wanted to secure Gravel's support for further funding for construction of the National Visitor Center in Washington, a troubled project that was under the jurisdiction of subcommittees that both members chaired. Another Congressional staffer said she witnessed the boat encounter, but Gravel said at the time that he had never met either of the women.\",\n \"Another Congressional staffer said she witnessed the boat encounter, but Gravel said at the time that he had never met either of the women. Gravel and Gray strongly denied that they had made any arrangement regarding legislation, and neither was ever charged with any wrongdoing. Decades later Gravel wrote that he had indeed had sex with Ray, but had not changed any votes because of it.\",\n \"Decades later Gravel wrote that he had indeed had sex with Ray, but had not changed any votes because of it. Gravel and his main financial backer, Gottstein, had a falling out in 1978, during the Congressional debate over whether to allow a controversial sale of U.S. F-15 fighter aircraft to Saudi Arabia. An ardent backer of Israel, Gottstein opposed the sale and asked Gravel to vote against it. But Gravel not only voted for it but made an emotional speech attacking the anti-sale campaign.\",\n \"But Gravel not only voted for it but made an emotional speech attacking the anti-sale campaign. Gravel wrote in 2008 that it was the only time Gottstein had ever asked him for a favor, and the rupture resulted in their never speaking to each other again. Alaskan issues By 1971 Gravel was urging construction of the much-argued Trans-Alaska pipeline, addressing environmental concerns by saying that the pipeline's builders and operators should have \\\"total and absolute\\\" responsibility for any consequent environmental damage.\",\n \"Alaskan issues By 1971 Gravel was urging construction of the much-argued Trans-Alaska pipeline, addressing environmental concerns by saying that the pipeline's builders and operators should have \\\"total and absolute\\\" responsibility for any consequent environmental damage. Two years later the debate over the pipeline came to a crux, with The New York Times describing it as \\\"environmentalists [in] a holy war with the major oil companies\\\".\",\n \"Two years later the debate over the pipeline came to a crux, with The New York Times describing it as \\\"environmentalists [in] a holy war with the major oil companies\\\". In February 1973 the U.S. Court of Appeals blocked the issuance of permits for construction; Gravel and fellow Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens reacted by urging Congress to pass legislation overturning the court's decision.\",\n \"In February 1973 the U.S. Court of Appeals blocked the issuance of permits for construction; Gravel and fellow Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens reacted by urging Congress to pass legislation overturning the court's decision. Environmentalists opposed to the pipeline, such as the Environmental Defense Fund and the Sierra Club then sought to use the recently passed National Environmental Policy Act to their advantage; Gravel designed an amendment to the pipeline bill that would immunize the pipeline from any further court challenges under that law, and thus speed its construction.\",\n \"Environmentalists opposed to the pipeline, such as the Environmental Defense Fund and the Sierra Club then sought to use the recently passed National Environmental Policy Act to their advantage; Gravel designed an amendment to the pipeline bill that would immunize the pipeline from any further court challenges under that law, and thus speed its construction. Passage of the amendment became the key battle regarding the pipeline.\",\n \"Passage of the amendment became the key battle regarding the pipeline. On July 17, 1973, in a dramatic roll-call vote, the Gravel amendment was approved as a 49–49 tie was broken in favor by Vice President Spiro Agnew. The actual bill enabling the pipeline then passed easily; Gravel had triumphed in what became perhaps his most lasting accomplishment as a senator. In opposition to the Alaskan fishing industry, Gravel advocated American participation in the formation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.\",\n \"In opposition to the Alaskan fishing industry, Gravel advocated American participation in the formation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. For two years he opposed legislation that established a Exclusive Economic Zone for marine resources. He was one of only 19 senators to vote against Senate approval for the expanded zone in 1976, saying it would undermine the U.S. position in Law of the Sea negotiations and that nations arbitrarily extending their fishing rights limits would \\\"produce anarchy of the seas\\\".\",\n \"He was one of only 19 senators to vote against Senate approval for the expanded zone in 1976, saying it would undermine the U.S. position in Law of the Sea negotiations and that nations arbitrarily extending their fishing rights limits would \\\"produce anarchy of the seas\\\". The legislation was passed, and the United States has signed but never ratified the Law of the Sea treaty. Gravel accumulated a complicated record on Indian affairs during his time in the Senate.\",\n \"Gravel accumulated a complicated record on Indian affairs during his time in the Senate. During his first year in the Senate Gravel urged abolition of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, criticizing the agency for the pace of development of schools in Alaska, its paternalistic attitudes and the culturally inappropriate nature of its education, and advocating greater shared decision-making between the federal government and native communities in Alaska.\",\n \"During his first year in the Senate Gravel urged abolition of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, criticizing the agency for the pace of development of schools in Alaska, its paternalistic attitudes and the culturally inappropriate nature of its education, and advocating greater shared decision-making between the federal government and native communities in Alaska. Later, his views changed; in the early 1970s Gravel supported a demonstration project that established links between Alaskan villages and the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, for medical diagnostic communications.\",\n \"Later, his views changed; in the early 1970s Gravel supported a demonstration project that established links between Alaskan villages and the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, for medical diagnostic communications. In 1971, he fended off accusations from Alaskan natives that he was not spending enough time working on their land claims. Gravel helped secure a private grant to facilitate the first Inuit Circumpolar Conference in 1977, attended by Inuit representatives from Alaska, Canada, and Greenland. These conferences now also include representatives from Russia.\",\n \"These conferences now also include representatives from Russia. These conferences now also include representatives from Russia. In 1977, Gravel helped lead an effort to have the U.S. Interior Department rename Mount McKinley to Denali; this eventually led to Denali National Park being so named. Subsequently, Gravel proposed a never-built \\\"Denali City\\\" development above the Tokositna River near the mountain, to consist of a giant Teflon dome enclosing hotels, golf courses, condominiums, and commercial buildings.\",\n \"Subsequently, Gravel proposed a never-built \\\"Denali City\\\" development above the Tokositna River near the mountain, to consist of a giant Teflon dome enclosing hotels, golf courses, condominiums, and commercial buildings. A related idea of his to build a high-speed rail line to Denali also failed to gain traction. A key, emotional issue in the state at the time was \\\"locking up Alaska\\\", making reference to allocation of its vast, mostly uninhabited land.\",\n \"A key, emotional issue in the state at the time was \\\"locking up Alaska\\\", making reference to allocation of its vast, mostly uninhabited land. President Jimmy Carter desired to put large portions of this land under federal protection against development, a move that some Alaskans vociferously opposed. In 1978 Gravel blocked passage, via procedural delays such as walking out of House–Senate conference committee meetings, of a complex bill which represented a compromise on land use policy.\",\n \"In 1978 Gravel blocked passage, via procedural delays such as walking out of House–Senate conference committee meetings, of a complex bill which represented a compromise on land use policy. The bill would have put some of Alaska's vast federal land holdings under state control while preserving other portions for federal parks and refuges; the blocking action earned Gravel the enmity of fellow Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, who had supported the compromise.\",\n \"The bill would have put some of Alaska's vast federal land holdings under state control while preserving other portions for federal parks and refuges; the blocking action earned Gravel the enmity of fellow Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, who had supported the compromise. In 1980, a new lands bill came up for consideration, that was less favorable to Alaskan interests and more liked by environmentalists; it set aside of Alaska's for national parks, conservation areas, and other restricted federal uses.\",\n \"In 1980, a new lands bill came up for consideration, that was less favorable to Alaskan interests and more liked by environmentalists; it set aside of Alaska's for national parks, conservation areas, and other restricted federal uses. Gravel blocked it, as not ensuring enough future development in the state. A new compromise version of the 1980 bill came forward, which reduced the land set aside to . Representing Alaskan interests, Gravel tried to stop the bill, including by filibuster.\",\n \"Representing Alaskan interests, Gravel tried to stop the bill, including by filibuster. But the Senate voted for cloture and passed the bill. Frustrated, Gravel said, \\\"the legislation denies Alaska its rights as a state, and denies the U.S. crucial strategic resources,\\\" and opined that the Senate was \\\"a little bit like a tank of barracudas\\\".\",\n \"Frustrated, Gravel said, \\\"the legislation denies Alaska its rights as a state, and denies the U.S. crucial strategic resources,\\\" and opined that the Senate was \\\"a little bit like a tank of barracudas\\\". Nonetheless, the bill, known as the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980, was signed by President Carter shortly before leaving the White House, and led to millions of acres being set aside in the state for national parks, wildlife refuges, and other kinds of areas under protection.\",\n \"Nonetheless, the bill, known as the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980, was signed by President Carter shortly before leaving the White House, and led to millions of acres being set aside in the state for national parks, wildlife refuges, and other kinds of areas under protection. In 1978 Gravel authored and secured the passage into federal law of the General Stock Ownership Corporation, that became Subchapter U of the Tax Code under the Internal Revenue Code of 1954.\",\n \"In 1978 Gravel authored and secured the passage into federal law of the General Stock Ownership Corporation, that became Subchapter U of the Tax Code under the Internal Revenue Code of 1954. This gave states the ability to create corporations that would invest in for-profit enterprises, with all citizens within the state owning shares in the corporation.\",\n \"This gave states the ability to create corporations that would invest in for-profit enterprises, with all citizens within the state owning shares in the corporation. Gravel's attempt to convince the Alaska state legislature to create such a corporation failed, as did a 1980 state ballot initiative towards the same end, but nevertheless the creation of the General Stock Ownership Corporation in federal law turned out to be significant in the development of binary economics.\",\n \"Gravel's attempt to convince the Alaska state legislature to create such a corporation failed, as did a 1980 state ballot initiative towards the same end, but nevertheless the creation of the General Stock Ownership Corporation in federal law turned out to be significant in the development of binary economics. Loss of Senate seat in 1980 In 1980 Gravel was challenged for the Democratic Party's nomination by State Representative Clark Gruening, the grandson of the man Gravel had defeated in a primary 12 years earlier.\",\n \"Loss of Senate seat in 1980 In 1980 Gravel was challenged for the Democratic Party's nomination by State Representative Clark Gruening, the grandson of the man Gravel had defeated in a primary 12 years earlier. One of Gruening's supporters was Gravel's former backer Gottstein. Several factors made Gravel vulnerable. As an insurgent candidate in 1968 Gravel had never established a firm party base. Not liking to hunt or fish, he was also always culturally suspect in the state. The primary campaign was bitterly fought.\",\n \"The primary campaign was bitterly fought. The primary campaign was bitterly fought. A group of Democrats, including future governor Steve Cowper, led the campaign against Gravel, with Gravel's actions in respect to the 1978 and 1980 Alaskan lands bills a major issue. This was especially so given that the 1980 bill's dénouement happened but a week before the primary. The sources of Gravel's campaign funds, some of which Gravel readily acknowledged came from political action committees outside the state, also became an issue in the contest.\",\n \"The sources of Gravel's campaign funds, some of which Gravel readily acknowledged came from political action committees outside the state, also became an issue in the contest. Gruening had pledged that he would not take special interest group money, but Gravel said that Gruening was \\\"dishonest\\\" in accepting individual contributors from Jewish donors living outside the state because to him such contributors comprised \\\"a special interest group ... that seeks to influence the foreign policy of the U.S.\\\" Gruening won the primary with about 55 percent of the vote to Gravel's 44 percent.\",\n \"Gruening had pledged that he would not take special interest group money, but Gravel said that Gruening was \\\"dishonest\\\" in accepting individual contributors from Jewish donors living outside the state because to him such contributors comprised \\\"a special interest group ... that seeks to influence the foreign policy of the U.S.\\\" Gruening won the primary with about 55 percent of the vote to Gravel's 44 percent. Gravel later conceded that by the time of his defeat, he had alienated \\\"almost every constituency in Alaska\\\".\",\n \"Gravel later conceded that by the time of his defeat, he had alienated \\\"almost every constituency in Alaska\\\". Another factor may have been Alaska's blanket primary system of the time, which allowed unlimited voting across party lines and from its many independents; Republicans believed Gruening would be an easier candidate to defeat in the general election. Gruening lost the general election to Republican Frank Murkowski.\",\n \"Gruening lost the general election to Republican Frank Murkowski. Gruening lost the general election to Republican Frank Murkowski. Gravel was the last Democrat to represent Alaska in Congress for 28 years, until Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich defeated Ted Stevens, by then an aged, iconic figure who had just been convicted of seven felonies for taking unreported gifts, in a very close and protracted election result in 2008. Stevens's conviction was subsequently vacated due to prosecutorial misconduct.\",\n \"Stevens's conviction was subsequently vacated due to prosecutorial misconduct. Career after leaving the Senate Of his 1980 defeat, Gravel later recalled: \\\"I had lost my career. I lost my marriage. I was in the doldrums for ten years after my defeat,\\\" and \\\"Nobody wanted to hire me for anything important. I felt like I was worthless. I didn't know what I could do.\\\"\",\n \"I didn't know what I could do.\\\" I didn't know what I could do.\\\" By his own later description, Gravel was a womanizer, and had an affair while in the Senate, and in December 1980 he and his wife Rita separated. They filed for divorce in September 1981; she later received all of his Senate pension income. During the 1980s Gravel was a real estate developer in Anchorage and Kenai, Alaska, a consultant, and a stockbroker.\",\n \"During the 1980s Gravel was a real estate developer in Anchorage and Kenai, Alaska, a consultant, and a stockbroker. One of his real estate ventures, a condominium business, was forced to declare bankruptcy and a lawsuit ensued. In 1986 Gravel worked in partnership with Merrill Lynch Capital Markets to buy losses that financially troubled Alaska Native Corporations could not take as tax deductions and sell them to large national companies looking for tax writeoffs. Gravel also learned computer programming at some point but never practiced it.\",\n \"Gravel also learned computer programming at some point but never practiced it. In 1984 Gravel married his second wife, Whitney Stewart Gravel, a former administrative assistant for Senator Jacob Javits. Return to politics In 1989 Gravel reentered politics. He founded and led The Democracy Foundation, which promotes direct democracy.\",\n \"He founded and led The Democracy Foundation, which promotes direct democracy. He established the Philadelphia II corporation, which seeks to replicate the original 1787 Constitutional Convention and have a Second Constitutional Convention to bring about direct democracy Gravel led an effort to get a United States Constitutional amendment to allow voter-initiated federal legislation similar to state ballot initiatives. He argued that Americans are able to legislate responsibly, and that the Act and Amendment in the National Initiative would allow American citizens to become \\\"law makers\\\".\",\n \"He argued that Americans are able to legislate responsibly, and that the Act and Amendment in the National Initiative would allow American citizens to become \\\"law makers\\\". However such efforts met with little success. In 2001, Gravel became director of the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution, where he admired institute co-founder Gregory Fossedal's work on direct democracy in Switzerland.\",\n \"In 2001, Gravel became director of the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution, where he admired institute co-founder Gregory Fossedal's work on direct democracy in Switzerland. By 2004, Gravel had become chair of the institute, and Fossedal (who in turn was a director of the Democracy Foundation) gave the introduction at Gravel's presidential announcement. In 2003 Gravel gave a speech on direct democracy at a conference hosted by the American Free Press. The event was cosponsored by the Barnes Review, a journal that endorses Holocaust denial.\",\n \"The event was cosponsored by the Barnes Review, a journal that endorses Holocaust denial. After some controversy over his appearance, Gravel apologized, saying he did not realize the group's ties. Gravel said repeatedly that he did not share the group's views on the Holocaust, stating, \\\"You better believe I know that six million Jews were killed. [The Barnes Review publishers] are nutty as loons if they don't think it happened\\\". The group invited Gravel to speak again, but he declined.\",\n \"The group invited Gravel to speak again, but he declined. Mike and Whitney Gravel lived in Arlington County, Virginia, until 2010 and then resided in Burlingame, California. They have the two grown children from his first marriage, Martin Gravel and Lynne Gravel Mosier, and four grandchildren. Whitney Gravel's income sustained the couple from 1998 on. In the 2000s, Gravel suffered poor health, requiring three surgeries in 2003 for back pain and neuropathy.\",\n \"In the 2000s, Gravel suffered poor health, requiring three surgeries in 2003 for back pain and neuropathy. Due to unreimbursed medical expenses and debts from his political causes, he declared personal bankruptcy in 2004. He began taking a salary from the non-profit organizations for which he was working; much of that income was lent to his presidential campaign. In 2007, he declared that he had \\\"zero net worth\\\".\",\n \"In 2007, he declared that he had \\\"zero net worth\\\". 2008 presidential campaign Democratic Party primaries At the start of 2006 Gravel decided the best way he could promote direct democracy and the National Initiative was to run for president.\",\n \"2008 presidential campaign Democratic Party primaries At the start of 2006 Gravel decided the best way he could promote direct democracy and the National Initiative was to run for president. On April 17, 2006, Gravel became the first candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2008 election, announcing his run in a speech to the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Short on campaign cash, he took public transportation to get to his announcement. (Gravel called for public financing of elections.)\",\n \"(Gravel called for public financing of elections.) (Gravel called for public financing of elections.) Other principal Gravel positions were the FairTax, as well as withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq within 120 days and a single payer national health care system. Gravel had opposed the Iraq War, and President George W. Bush's rationale for it, from the beginning, and in 2006 said that U.S. troops in Iraq, as in Vietnam, had \\\"died in vain\\\".\",\n \"Gravel had opposed the Iraq War, and President George W. Bush's rationale for it, from the beginning, and in 2006 said that U.S. troops in Iraq, as in Vietnam, had \\\"died in vain\\\". He also favored a regional peace initiative, as well as reparation payments for Iraqis. Gravel also called for a \\\"U.S. corporate withdrawal from Iraq\\\", with reconstruction contracts held by U.S. companies to be turned over to Iraqi firms.\",\n \"Gravel also called for a \\\"U.S. corporate withdrawal from Iraq\\\", with reconstruction contracts held by U.S. companies to be turned over to Iraqi firms. Gravel campaigned almost full-time in New Hampshire, the first primary state, following his announcement. Opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination showed Gravel with 1 percent or less support. By the end of March 2007, Gravel's campaign had less than $500 in cash on hand against debts of nearly $90,000.\",\n \"By the end of March 2007, Gravel's campaign had less than $500 in cash on hand against debts of nearly $90,000. Because of his time in the Senate, Gravel was invited to many of the early Democratic presidential debates. During the initial one at South Carolina State University on April 26, 2007, he suggested a bill requiring the president to withdraw from Iraq on pain of criminal penalties. He also advocated positions such as opposing preemptive nuclear war.\",\n \"He also advocated positions such as opposing preemptive nuclear war. He stated that the Iraq War had the effect of creating more terrorists and that the \\\"war was lost the day that George Bush invaded Iraq on a fraudulent basis\\\". Regarding his fellow candidates, he said, \\\"I got to tell you, after standing up with them, some of these people frighten me – they frighten me.\\\" In one such exchange, Gravel said, \\\"Tell me, Barack, who do you want to nuke?\\\"\",\n \"In one such exchange, Gravel said, \\\"Tell me, Barack, who do you want to nuke?\\\" to which Obama responded, \\\"I'm not planning to nuke anybody right now, Mike, I promise.\\\" Media stories said that Gravel was responsible for much of whatever \\\"heat\\\" and \\\"flashpoints\\\" had taken place during the Democratic debates.\",\n \"Media stories said that Gravel was responsible for much of whatever \\\"heat\\\" and \\\"flashpoints\\\" had taken place during the Democratic debates. Gravel gained considerable publicity by shaking up the normally staid multiple-candidate format; The New York Times' media critic said that what Gravel had done was \\\"steal a debate with outrageous, curmudgeonly statements\\\".\",\n \"Gravel gained considerable publicity by shaking up the normally staid multiple-candidate format; The New York Times' media critic said that what Gravel had done was \\\"steal a debate with outrageous, curmudgeonly statements\\\". The Internet was a benefit: a YouTube video of his responses in the debate was viewed more than 225,892 times, ranking seventeenth in most views for week and first among news and politics clips; his name became the fifteenth most searched-for in the blogosphere; and his website garnered more traffic than those of frontrunners Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, or John Edwards.\",\n \"The Internet was a benefit: a YouTube video of his responses in the debate was viewed more than 225,892 times, ranking seventeenth in most views for week and first among news and politics clips; his name became the fifteenth most searched-for in the blogosphere; and his website garnered more traffic than those of frontrunners Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, or John Edwards. Gravel appeared on the popular Colbert Report on television on May 2, and his campaign and career were profiled in national publications such as Salon.\",\n \"Gravel appeared on the popular Colbert Report on television on May 2, and his campaign and career were profiled in national publications such as Salon. Two wordless, Warholesque campaign videos, \\\"Rock\\\" and \\\"Fire\\\", were released on YouTube in late May and became hits, and eventually gained over 760,000 and 185,000 views respectively. \\\"Rock\\\", in turn, was given airtime during an episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.\",\n \"\\\"Rock\\\", in turn, was given airtime during an episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Some thirty-five years after he first achieved the national spotlight, he had found it again. All this did not improve his performance in the polls; a May 2007 CNN poll showed him with less than 0.5 percent support among Democrats. Gravel was in the next several debates, in one case after CNN reversed a decision to exclude him.\",\n \"Gravel was in the next several debates, in one case after CNN reversed a decision to exclude him. Like some of the other second-tier candidates, Gravel did not get as much time as the leaders; during the June 2, 2007, New Hampshire debate, which lasted two hours, he was asked 10 questions and allowed to speak for five minutes and 37 seconds.\",\n \"Like some of the other second-tier candidates, Gravel did not get as much time as the leaders; during the June 2, 2007, New Hampshire debate, which lasted two hours, he was asked 10 questions and allowed to speak for five minutes and 37 seconds. During the July 23, 2007, CNN-YouTube presidential debate, Gravel responded to audience applause when he had complained of a lack of airtime and said: \\\"Thank you. Has it been fair thus far?\\\"\",\n \"Has it been fair thus far?\\\" Has it been fair thus far?\\\" Detractors began to liken him to \\\"the cranky uncle who lives in the attic,\\\" or \\\"the angry old guy that just seemed to want to become angrier\\\". Berkeley political scientist David Terr found that moderator George Stephanopoulos directed roughly five percent of his questions to Gravel; in a poll asking who did the best in the debate, Gravel placed seventh among the eight candidates.\",\n \"Berkeley political scientist David Terr found that moderator George Stephanopoulos directed roughly five percent of his questions to Gravel; in a poll asking who did the best in the debate, Gravel placed seventh among the eight candidates. National opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination continued to show Gravel with one percent or zero percent numbers.\",\n \"National opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination continued to show Gravel with one percent or zero percent numbers. By the end of the third-quarter 2007, Gravel had about $17,500 in cash on hand, had collected a total of about $380,000 during the 2008 election cycle, and was continuing to run a threadbare campaign with minimal staff.\",\n \"By the end of the third-quarter 2007, Gravel had about $17,500 in cash on hand, had collected a total of about $380,000 during the 2008 election cycle, and was continuing to run a threadbare campaign with minimal staff. Beginning with the October 30, 2007, Philadelphia event, Gravel was excluded from most of the debates, with the debate sponsors or the Democratic National Committee saying Gravel's campaign had not met fund-raising, polling, or local campaign organizational thresholds.\",\n \"Beginning with the October 30, 2007, Philadelphia event, Gravel was excluded from most of the debates, with the debate sponsors or the Democratic National Committee saying Gravel's campaign had not met fund-raising, polling, or local campaign organizational thresholds. For the Philadelphia exclusion, Gravel blamed corporate censorship on the part of sponsor owner and alleged military-industrial complex member General Electric for his exclusion and mounted a counter-gathering and debate against a video screen a short distance away, but he had lost his easiest publicity.\",\n \"For the Philadelphia exclusion, Gravel blamed corporate censorship on the part of sponsor owner and alleged military-industrial complex member General Electric for his exclusion and mounted a counter-gathering and debate against a video screen a short distance away, but he had lost his easiest publicity. In reaction, supporters organized \\\"mass donation days\\\" to try to help the campaign gain momentum and funds, such as on December 5, 2007, the anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition.\",\n \"In reaction, supporters organized \\\"mass donation days\\\" to try to help the campaign gain momentum and funds, such as on December 5, 2007, the anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition. Gravel did not compete in the initial 2008 vote, the Iowa caucuses, but was still subjected to a false report from MSNBC that he had pulled out of the race afterward. Gravel did focus his attention on the second 2008 vote, the New Hampshire primary.\",\n \"Gravel did focus his attention on the second 2008 vote, the New Hampshire primary. In early January, Mother Jones' investigative reporter James Ridgeway was filmed interviewing and following Gravel in New Hampshire, in which Gravel is interviewed on the phone by Neal Conan for NPR's, Talk of the Nation. He received about 400 votes out of some 280,000 cast in New Hampshire, or 0.14 percent, before taking time off to improve his health. He resumed campaigning, but fared no better in subsequent states.\",\n \"He resumed campaigning, but fared no better in subsequent states. By the end of January 2008, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and Gravel were the only remaining Democrats from the initial debates still running; Gravel vowed to stay in the presidential campaign until November. On March 11, 2008, Gravel continued to remain in the Democratic race but additionally endorsed a Green Party candidate for president, Jesse Johnson, saying he wanted to help Johnson prevail against Green Party rivals Cynthia McKinney and Ralph Nader.\",\n \"On March 11, 2008, Gravel continued to remain in the Democratic race but additionally endorsed a Green Party candidate for president, Jesse Johnson, saying he wanted to help Johnson prevail against Green Party rivals Cynthia McKinney and Ralph Nader. By late March, Gravel had almost no fundraising and was only on the ballot in one of the next ten Democratic primaries.\",\n \"By late March, Gravel had almost no fundraising and was only on the ballot in one of the next ten Democratic primaries. Switch to Libertarian Party On March 25, 2008, Gravel announced that he would leave the Democrats and join the Libertarian Party, saying: \\\"My libertarian views, as well as my strong stance against war, the military industrial complex and American imperialism, seem not to be tolerated by Democratic Party elites who are out of touch with the average American; elites that reject the empowerment of American citizens I offered to the Democratic Party at the beginning of this presidential campaign with the National Initiative for Democracy.\\\"\",\n \"Switch to Libertarian Party On March 25, 2008, Gravel announced that he would leave the Democrats and join the Libertarian Party, saying: \\\"My libertarian views, as well as my strong stance against war, the military industrial complex and American imperialism, seem not to be tolerated by Democratic Party elites who are out of touch with the average American; elites that reject the empowerment of American citizens I offered to the Democratic Party at the beginning of this presidential campaign with the National Initiative for Democracy.\\\" The following day Gravel entered the race for the 2008 Libertarian presidential nomination, saying that he would have run as a third-party candidate all along except that he needed the public exposure that came from being in the earlier Democratic debates.\",\n \"The following day Gravel entered the race for the 2008 Libertarian presidential nomination, saying that he would have run as a third-party candidate all along except that he needed the public exposure that came from being in the earlier Democratic debates. Gravel's initial notion of running as a fusion candidate with other parties was met with skepticism. As a Libertarian candidate, Gravel faced resistance to his past support of big government initiatives and his unorthodox positions around direct democracy.\",\n \"As a Libertarian candidate, Gravel faced resistance to his past support of big government initiatives and his unorthodox positions around direct democracy. Nevertheless, he garnered more support than he had as a Democrat, placing second and third in two April 2008 straw polls.\",\n \"Nevertheless, he garnered more support than he had as a Democrat, placing second and third in two April 2008 straw polls. In the May 25 balloting at the 2008 Libertarian National Convention in Denver, Gravel finished fourth out of eight candidates on the initial ballot, with 71 votes out of a total 618; he trailed former Congressman and eventual winner Bob Barr, author Mary Ruwart, and businessman Wayne Allyn Root. Gravel's position did not subsequently improve and he was eliminated on the fourth ballot.\",\n \"Gravel's position did not subsequently improve and he was eliminated on the fourth ballot. Afterwards he stated that \\\"I just ended my political career,\\\" but he vowed to continue promoting his positions as a writer and lecturer. 2008–early 2019 In June 2008 Gravel endorsed the NYC 9/11 Ballot Initiative, saying the measure would create a \\\"citizens commission rather than a government commission\\\" with subpoena power against top U.S. officials to \\\"make a true investigation as to what happened\\\" regarding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.\",\n \"2008–early 2019 In June 2008 Gravel endorsed the NYC 9/11 Ballot Initiative, saying the measure would create a \\\"citizens commission rather than a government commission\\\" with subpoena power against top U.S. officials to \\\"make a true investigation as to what happened\\\" regarding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. He later said, \\\"Individuals in and out of government may certainly have participated with the obviously known perpetrators of this dastardly act. Suspicions abound over the analysis presented by government.\",\n \"Suspicions abound over the analysis presented by government. Suspicions abound over the analysis presented by government. Obviously an act that has triggered three wars, Afghan, Iraqi and the continuing War on Terror, should be extensively investigated which was not done and which the government avoids addressing.\\\"\",\n \"Obviously an act that has triggered three wars, Afghan, Iraqi and the continuing War on Terror, should be extensively investigated which was not done and which the government avoids addressing.\\\" In August 2008 Gravel was speaking to a crowd of supporters of Sami Al-Arian (who two years earlier had pleaded guilty and been sentenced to prison for a charge of conspiracy in helping Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a \\\"specially designated terrorist\\\" organization) when he was caught on tape saying of Al-Arian's prosecutor, \\\"Find out where he lives, find out where his kids go to school, find out where his office is: picket him all the time.\",\n \"In August 2008 Gravel was speaking to a crowd of supporters of Sami Al-Arian (who two years earlier had pleaded guilty and been sentenced to prison for a charge of conspiracy in helping Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a \\\"specially designated terrorist\\\" organization) when he was caught on tape saying of Al-Arian's prosecutor, \\\"Find out where he lives, find out where his kids go to school, find out where his office is: picket him all the time. Call him a racist in signs if you see him.\",\n \"Call him a racist in signs if you see him. Call him an injustice. Call him whatever you want to call him, but in his face all the time.\\\" Gravel was criticized for potentially involving the children of the prosecutor, and Al-Arian's family disavowed the sentiments. Gravel defended Alaska Governor Sarah Palin after she was chosen as Republican presidential nominee John McCain's running mate in September 2008.\",\n \"Gravel defended Alaska Governor Sarah Palin after she was chosen as Republican presidential nominee John McCain's running mate in September 2008. He praised Palin's record in standing up to corruption among Alaskan Republicans, thought her national inexperience was an asset not a detriment, and predicted that the \\\"Troopergate\\\" investigation into whether she improperly fired a state official would \\\"come out in her favor\\\". Gravel made clear he would not support or vote for either McCain–Palin or Obama–Biden in the general election.\",\n \"Gravel made clear he would not support or vote for either McCain–Palin or Obama–Biden in the general election. The following year Gravel said that Palin's politics were \\\"terrible, but that doesn't detract from the fact that she's a very talented person\\\". He predicted that Palin would run for president in 2012 and that \\\"she's going to surprise a lot of people\\\". Palin did not run, but Gravel's prediction about \\\"TrooperGate\\\" was accurate as Palin was found not to have violated ethics laws.\",\n \"Palin did not run, but Gravel's prediction about \\\"TrooperGate\\\" was accurate as Palin was found not to have violated ethics laws. In 2013, by the invitation of Hamed Ghashghavi, the secretary for international affairs of the 3rd International Conference on Hollywoodism in Tehran, Iran, Gravel attended that event as an Iranian government-organized anti-Hollywood conference.\",\n \"In 2013, by the invitation of Hamed Ghashghavi, the secretary for international affairs of the 3rd International Conference on Hollywoodism in Tehran, Iran, Gravel attended that event as an Iranian government-organized anti-Hollywood conference. Gravel noted that the conference was attended by \\\"various elements of extremes\\\" but said it was necessary to discuss how the U.S. film industry portrayed Iran in order to prevent \\\"an insane war\\\" between the two nations.\",\n \"Gravel noted that the conference was attended by \\\"various elements of extremes\\\" but said it was necessary to discuss how the U.S. film industry portrayed Iran in order to prevent \\\"an insane war\\\" between the two nations. In May 2013 Gravel was one of several former members of Congress to accept $20,000 from the Paradigm Research Group, an advocacy group for UFO disclosure, as part of holding what they termed a Citizen Hearing on Disclosure, modeled after congressional hearings, regarding supposed U.S. government suppression of evidence concerning UFOs.\",\n \"In May 2013 Gravel was one of several former members of Congress to accept $20,000 from the Paradigm Research Group, an advocacy group for UFO disclosure, as part of holding what they termed a Citizen Hearing on Disclosure, modeled after congressional hearings, regarding supposed U.S. government suppression of evidence concerning UFOs. Gravel said, \\\"Something is monitoring the planet, and they are monitoring it very cautiously, because we are a very warlike planet,\\\" and, \\\"What we're faced with here is, in areas of the media, and the government too, an effort to marginalize and ridicule people who have specific knowledge.\\\"\",\n \"Gravel said, \\\"Something is monitoring the planet, and they are monitoring it very cautiously, because we are a very warlike planet,\\\" and, \\\"What we're faced with here is, in areas of the media, and the government too, an effort to marginalize and ridicule people who have specific knowledge.\\\" In December 2014 Gravel was announced as the new CEO of KUSH, a company which makes marijuana-infused products for medicinal and recreational use, and a subsidiary of Cannabis Sativa, Inc.\",\n \"In December 2014 Gravel was announced as the new CEO of KUSH, a company which makes marijuana-infused products for medicinal and recreational use, and a subsidiary of Cannabis Sativa, Inc. He also became an Independent Director of Cannabis Sativa. During the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries, Gravel praised Bernie Sanders and his campaign, saying \\\"Bernie is one of the most gifted politicians I have ever observed. He's a person of great integrity and very clever.\\\"\",\n \"He's a person of great integrity and very clever.\\\" Gravel predicted that Sanders would be elected president but would be unable to get his key reforms through Congress, and thus that Sanders and his supporters should back some of the proposals of the National Initiative. In 2016, Gravel said in relation to the September 11 attacks: \\\"We killed 58,000 American servicemen in the Vietnam War and all they did was die in vain.\",\n \"In 2016, Gravel said in relation to the September 11 attacks: \\\"We killed 58,000 American servicemen in the Vietnam War and all they did was die in vain. What's so unusual about killing 3,000 more in order to develop the grist for the mill to empower into infinity the military industrial complex?\\\" and \\\"There's no question in my mind that 9/11 was an inside job\\\". The remarks were later disavowed by even Gravel supporters. By 2019 Gravel was living in Seaside, California.\",\n \"By 2019 Gravel was living in Seaside, California. By 2019 Gravel was living in Seaside, California. He was working on a book, at the time titled Human Governance, about his principal idea for direct democracy, a U.S. Constitutional Amendment to create a \\\"Legislature of the People\\\" that would circumvent the existing Congress. The book was self-published at the end of the year by AuthorHouse under the title The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People.\",\n \"The book was self-published at the end of the year by AuthorHouse under the title The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People. 2020 presidential campaign On March 19, 2019, Gravel announced that he was considering running in the 2020 Democratic primaries. He said, \\\"The goal will not be to win, but to bring a critique of American imperialism to the Democratic debate stage.\\\"\",\n \"He said, \\\"The goal will not be to win, but to bring a critique of American imperialism to the Democratic debate stage.\\\" An exploratory committee was formed, with filing a statement of organization with the Federal Election Commission on that same day.\",\n \"An exploratory committee was formed, with filing a statement of organization with the Federal Election Commission on that same day. The filing was the idea of a group of teenagers, led by David Oks and Henry Williams, inspired by the podcast Chapo Trap House, and done with Gravel's consent (after a week spent convincing him of the idea's merits), but without his involvement.\",\n \"The filing was the idea of a group of teenagers, led by David Oks and Henry Williams, inspired by the podcast Chapo Trap House, and done with Gravel's consent (after a week spent convincing him of the idea's merits), but without his involvement. Intrigued by the group's commitment to amplifying his long-held policy goals, Gravel (who would be old on Inauguration Day in 2021) said he planned to meet with them in April, and to discuss a 2020 White House run with his wife.\",\n \"Intrigued by the group's commitment to amplifying his long-held policy goals, Gravel (who would be old on Inauguration Day in 2021) said he planned to meet with them in April, and to discuss a 2020 White House run with his wife. On April 2, 2019, Gravel filed to officially run for office. The campaign called itself the \\\"#Gravelanche\\\". Gravel's initial stated goal was merely to qualify for debates by getting the required 65,000 small donors.\",\n \"Gravel's initial stated goal was merely to qualify for debates by getting the required 65,000 small donors. He discouraged people from voting for him and said his preferences were Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard, both of whom favor a non-interventionist foreign policy. But on April 29, Gravel's campaign said he was running to win, not just to participate in debates. In a subsequent interview, though, Gravel emphasized the virtue of Sanders and Gabbard in some order as a presidential ticket.\",\n \"In a subsequent interview, though, Gravel emphasized the virtue of Sanders and Gabbard in some order as a presidential ticket. Statements like these caused Vox to call Gravel \\\"2020's oddest Democratic presidential candidate\\\".\",\n \"Statements like these caused Vox to call Gravel \\\"2020's oddest Democratic presidential candidate\\\". The New York Times Magazine included Gravel as an example in the rise of democratic socialism in the United States also exemplified by Sanders's 2016 race and the 2018 election of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: \\\"[Gravel's] campaign represents the most absurd form of a legitimate movement on the left that feels little obligation to the Democratic Party.\\\"\",\n \"The New York Times Magazine included Gravel as an example in the rise of democratic socialism in the United States also exemplified by Sanders's 2016 race and the 2018 election of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: \\\"[Gravel's] campaign represents the most absurd form of a legitimate movement on the left that feels little obligation to the Democratic Party.\\\" In June 2019, Gravel touted the endorsement of Muntadher al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who, in December 2008, made headlines after he threw his shoes at President George W. Bush in protest of the U.S. war in Iraq.\",\n \"In June 2019, Gravel touted the endorsement of Muntadher al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who, in December 2008, made headlines after he threw his shoes at President George W. Bush in protest of the U.S. war in Iraq. Al-Zaidi endorsed Gravel based on his promise to improve White House policies regarding Iraq and the Middle East. On June 13, 2019, the Democratic Party announced the 20 major candidates who qualified for the first debate later that month.\",\n \"On June 13, 2019, the Democratic Party announced the 20 major candidates who qualified for the first debate later that month. Gravel was one of the four who missed out (the others were Montana Governor Steve Bullock, U.S. Representative Seth Moulton, and Miramar, Florida, Mayor Wayne Messam). Gravel had been unable to get the requisite number of donations, or to score one percent or better in enough polls (many polls did not even include him).\",\n \"Gravel had been unable to get the requisite number of donations, or to score one percent or better in enough polls (many polls did not even include him). Nevertheless, Gravel said he would not drop out and would try to qualify for the July debate. In early July, however, Gravel's campaign said it was still 10,000 contributions short of the 65,000-donor threshold and that it was \\\"nearing its conclusion\\\". It solicited suggestions for where to donate $100–150,000 of leftover campaign funds.\",\n \"It solicited suggestions for where to donate $100–150,000 of leftover campaign funds. Gravel added that he had always planned on ending the campaign before the teenagers in charge of it needed to return to school. A few days later the campaign became the first to run an attack ad against Democratic front-runner Joe Biden, using the text \\\"Is this the best our party has to offer?\\\" Gravel's campaign crossed the threshold of 65,000 donors on July 12, 2019, meeting the qualification mark for that month's debate.\",\n \"Gravel's campaign crossed the threshold of 65,000 donors on July 12, 2019, meeting the qualification mark for that month's debate. But because 20 other candidates, the maximum allowed to participate, had already met at least the polling criterion, which takes priority over the donor criterion, Gravel was not invited. The campaign officially came to a close on August 6, 2019, with Gravel endorsing both Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard for president.\",\n \"The campaign officially came to a close on August 6, 2019, with Gravel endorsing both Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard for president. Gravel's campaign later stated on Twitter that they never wanted to win but saw the campaign as an \\\"intimately democratic\\\" project and expressed honor at working with Gravel. Gravel said he would divide remaining campaign funds between charity and a new think tank which would espouse his ideas.\",\n \"Gravel said he would divide remaining campaign funds between charity and a new think tank which would espouse his ideas. The Gravel Institute Gravel used some of the funds remaining from his 2020 presidential campaign to found an eponymous progressive think tank called The Gravel Institute in 2019. As noted by Vice magazine, the institute aims to do battle with PragerU from a left-wing perspective.\",\n \"As noted by Vice magazine, the institute aims to do battle with PragerU from a left-wing perspective. Launched in September 2020, the new entity said it would \\\"carry on the life's work of former U.S Senator Mike Gravel in fighting for global peace and democracy. Its mission is to promote bold and forward-looking ideas about a more peaceful and egalitarian world, and to build a robust movement of young people to win it\\\".\",\n \"Its mission is to promote bold and forward-looking ideas about a more peaceful and egalitarian world, and to build a robust movement of young people to win it\\\". Contributors announced include Cornel West and Slavoj Žižek, as well as Lower Brule Indian Reservation activist Nick Estes.\",\n \"Contributors announced include Cornel West and Slavoj Žižek, as well as Lower Brule Indian Reservation activist Nick Estes. Other presenters have included and will include H. Jon Benjamin, Briahna Joy Gray, Bernie Sanders, Chelsea Manning, Richard Wolff, Stephanie Kelton, Zephyr Teachout, David Cross, Jabari Brisport, Zohran Mamdani, and Gravel himself (though it is unknown if his appearance will be cancelled due to his death in June 2021, or if the video has already been recorded).\",\n \"Other presenters have included and will include H. Jon Benjamin, Briahna Joy Gray, Bernie Sanders, Chelsea Manning, Richard Wolff, Stephanie Kelton, Zephyr Teachout, David Cross, Jabari Brisport, Zohran Mamdani, and Gravel himself (though it is unknown if his appearance will be cancelled due to his death in June 2021, or if the video has already been recorded). Death Gravel died of multiple myeloma at his home in Seaside, California, on June 26, 2021, at age 91.\",\n \"Death Gravel died of multiple myeloma at his home in Seaside, California, on June 26, 2021, at age 91. The obituary for him in The New York Times stated that Gravel was \\\"a two-term Democratic senator from Alaska ... who was perhaps better known as an unabashed attention-getter\\\" who later become known for \\\"mounting long-shot presidential runs\\\".\",\n \"The obituary for him in The New York Times stated that Gravel was \\\"a two-term Democratic senator from Alaska ... who was perhaps better known as an unabashed attention-getter\\\" who later become known for \\\"mounting long-shot presidential runs\\\". The obituary in The Washington Post was similar, saying that Gravel was \\\"an Alaska Democrat with a flair for the theatrical who rose from obscurity to brief renown\\\" and later \\\"ran quixotic campaigns for the presidency\\\".\",\n \"The obituary in The Washington Post was similar, saying that Gravel was \\\"an Alaska Democrat with a flair for the theatrical who rose from obscurity to brief renown\\\" and later \\\"ran quixotic campaigns for the presidency\\\". The Anchorage Daily News quoted Gravel as saying of himself in 1989, \\\"I'm an independent kind of guy. A rough and ready kind of guy. My glands work in a certain way that make me stand up, foolishly sometimes, and fight.\\\"\",\n \"My glands work in a certain way that make me stand up, foolishly sometimes, and fight.\\\" Political positions Alan Abramowitz and Jeffrey Allan Segal described Gravel as \\\"a maverick, if not an eccentric, in the Senate.\\\" His Americans for Democratic Action \\\"Liberal Quotient\\\" scores ranged from 81 out of 100 (1971) to 39 out of 100 (1980), with an average of around 61.\",\n \"His Americans for Democratic Action \\\"Liberal Quotient\\\" scores ranged from 81 out of 100 (1971) to 39 out of 100 (1980), with an average of around 61. His American Conservative Union scores ranged from 0 out of 100 (several years, including 1971 and 1972) to 38 out of 100 (1979), with an average of 14.\",\n \"His American Conservative Union scores ranged from 0 out of 100 (several years, including 1971 and 1972) to 38 out of 100 (1979), with an average of 14. Abramowitz and Segal note that Gravel's lowest ADA ratings coincided with his two Senate re-election bids, and for the most part his highest ACU ratings followed the same pattern.\",\n \"Abramowitz and Segal note that Gravel's lowest ADA ratings coincided with his two Senate re-election bids, and for the most part his highest ACU ratings followed the same pattern. In 1972, as a young senator, Gravel published Citizen Power: A People's Platform, a manifesto outlining what Kirkus Reviews termed a \\\"populist reform [that] would provide 'balanced political power' between the people and government and business interests.\\\"\",\n \"In 1972, as a young senator, Gravel published Citizen Power: A People's Platform, a manifesto outlining what Kirkus Reviews termed a \\\"populist reform [that] would provide 'balanced political power' between the people and government and business interests.\\\" Civil rights issues On drug policy, Gravel said in 2007 that he favored decriminalization and treating addiction as a public health matter.\",\n \"Civil rights issues On drug policy, Gravel said in 2007 that he favored decriminalization and treating addiction as a public health matter. During his 2008 presidential candidacy he condemned the War on Drugs as a failure, saying that it did \\\"nothing but savage our inner cities and put our children at risk\\\". Gravel called for abolition of capital punishment in his book Citizen Power, and adhered to this position during his 2008 run for president. He supported abortion rights.\",\n \"He supported abortion rights. He supported abortion rights. During the 2008 campaign Gravel was a strong supporter of LGBT rights. He supported same-sex marriage and opposed the Defense of Marriage Act and the U.S. military's \\\"don't ask, don't tell\\\" policy. He wrote in 2008 that \\\"depriving gays and lesbians of equal rights is immoral\\\". Foreign policy and defense issues Gravel was a critic of American imperialism. Gravel firmly opposed U.S. military action against Iran and Syria.\",\n \"Gravel firmly opposed U.S. military action against Iran and Syria. He voiced opposition to the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, the Military Commissions Act of 2006, the use of torture, indefinite detention, and what he called \\\"flagrant ignorance\\\" of the Geneva Convention. In 2014 Gravel called for the release of the full, unredacted Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture. Gravel opposed the use of international sanctions as a policy tool and blamed the ones against Iraq under Saddam Hussein for the deaths of a half-million children in that country.\",\n \"Gravel opposed the use of international sanctions as a policy tool and blamed the ones against Iraq under Saddam Hussein for the deaths of a half-million children in that country. In 2013 Gravel said that sanctions against Iran were \\\"illegal\\\". During his 2008 candidacy, Gravel called for a cut in military spending, variously reported to be 15 percent or 50 percent. He called for the savings to boost public education spending. To spur international nuclear nonproliferation efforts, Gravel called for unilateral reductions in the U.S. nuclear arsenal.\",\n \"To spur international nuclear nonproliferation efforts, Gravel called for unilateral reductions in the U.S. nuclear arsenal. In 2008 Gravel criticized the decision of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to not pursue the efforts to impeach George W. Bush and the attempted impeachment of Dick Cheney, saying also that Bush and Cheney had committed crimes and deserved \\\"to be prosecuted\\\" at The Hague.\",\n \"In 2008 Gravel criticized the decision of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to not pursue the efforts to impeach George W. Bush and the attempted impeachment of Dick Cheney, saying also that Bush and Cheney had committed crimes and deserved \\\"to be prosecuted\\\" at The Hague. In 2013 he expressed disdain for President Obama, calling him \\\"a total fraud\\\" and saying that both Bush and Obama should be tried \\\"for the crimes and murders they've committed\\\" in the International Court of Justice.\",\n \"In 2013 he expressed disdain for President Obama, calling him \\\"a total fraud\\\" and saying that both Bush and Obama should be tried \\\"for the crimes and murders they've committed\\\" in the International Court of Justice. Gravel specifically condemned Obama for the drone strikes in Pakistan and elsewhere.\",\n \"Gravel specifically condemned Obama for the drone strikes in Pakistan and elsewhere. Economy, immigration, and environment During his 2008 candidacy Gravel favored a FairTax scheme, which would abolish the Internal Revenue Service, eliminate the federal income tax (which Gravel called \\\"corrupt\\\"), and impose a national sales tax. While Gravel described FairTax as \\\"progressive\\\", others have criticized it as \\\"regressive\\\", disproportionately benefiting the wealthiest Americans.\",\n \"While Gravel described FairTax as \\\"progressive\\\", others have criticized it as \\\"regressive\\\", disproportionately benefiting the wealthiest Americans. To offset the new sales taxes on essential goods, Gravel's plan called for monthly government rebate payments to individuals and families. During his 2020 campaign Gravel also voiced support for a third legislative body that would give the people direct control of the budget as well as the implementation of a land value tax.\",\n \"During his 2020 campaign Gravel also voiced support for a third legislative body that would give the people direct control of the budget as well as the implementation of a land value tax. Gravel opposed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) during his 2008 candidacy, calling it unfair and economically harmful and needing renegotiation. Gravel believed that NAFTA was the \\\"root cause\\\" of illegal migration to the U.S. He favored a guest worker program and \\\"setting up naturalization procedures that would fairly bring immigrants into legal status\\\".\",\n \"He favored a guest worker program and \\\"setting up naturalization procedures that would fairly bring immigrants into legal status\\\". In a 2007 interview, Gravel identified himself as \\\"very much of a globalist\\\" who believed in open markets and open borders and condemned the scapegoating of undocumented immigrants. Gravel also said that he favored eliminating the cap on H1B visas. As a senator from Alaska, Gravel favored drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but opposed it during his 2008 campaign.\",\n \"As a senator from Alaska, Gravel favored drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but opposed it during his 2008 campaign. In 2008, Gravel supported a carbon tax to combat climate change. Gravel spoke in favor of net neutrality during his presidential campaign. Education and health care Gravel called for the cost of college tuition to be borne by the federal government, rather than students.\",\n \"Education and health care Gravel called for the cost of college tuition to be borne by the federal government, rather than students. In his 2008 campaign, he called the No Child Left Behind Act \\\"a failure\\\" and called for it to be \\\"reformed and fully funded\\\". He expressed support for universal pre-kindergarten and the expansion of the Head Start program; and expressed an openness to charter schools and school vouchers. He also suggested extending the school day and the school year, and supported merit pay for teachers.\",\n \"He also suggested extending the school day and the school year, and supported merit pay for teachers. Gravel also called for publicly funded universal health care to replace the current employer-sponsored health insurance system. He supported \\\"full funding\\\" of the VA system. When asked in 2007 about naturopathy, homeopathy, and acupuncture, Gravel said that he was \\\"very very much in favor\\\" of holistic health care. Awards and honors In 2008 Gravel received the Columbia University School of General Studies' first annual Isaac Asimov Lifetime Achievement Award.\",\n \"Awards and honors In 2008 Gravel received the Columbia University School of General Studies' first annual Isaac Asimov Lifetime Achievement Award. Electoral history Writings Gravel, Mike. Jobs and More Jobs. Mt. McKinley Publishers, 1968. Gravel, Mike. Citizen Power: A People's Platform. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1972. . revised and reissued as Citizen Power: A Mandate for Change, AuthorHouse, 2008. . Gravel, Mike and Lauria, Joe.\",\n \"Gravel, Mike and Lauria, Joe. Gravel, Mike and Lauria, Joe. A Political Odyssey: The Rise of American Militarism and One Man's Fight to Stop It. Seven Stories Press, 2008. . Gravel, Mike and Eisenbach, David. The Kingmakers: How the Media Threatens Our Security and Our Democracy. Phoenix Books, 2008. . Gravel, Mike. Voice of a Maverick: The Speeches and Writings of Senator Mike Gravel. Brandywine House, 2008. Gravel, Mike.\",\n \"Brandywine House, 2008. Gravel, Mike. Gravel, Mike. Foreword to Poisoned Power: The Case Against Nuclear Power Plants. John W. Goffman & Arthur R. Tamplin, Rodale Press, Inc., Emmaus, PA, June 1971. Gravel, Mike. The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People. AuthorHouse, 2020. Explanatory notes References Citations General references The Pentagon Papers Senator Gravel Edition. Vol. Five: Critical Essays. Boston: Beacon Press, 1972. 341p. plus 72p.\",\n \"Five: Critical Essays. Boston: Beacon Press, 1972. 341p. plus 72p. plus 72p. of Index to Vol. I–IV of the Papers; Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, editors.\",\n \"I–IV of the Papers; Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, editors. External links Mike Gravel official website The Gravel Institute |- |- 1930 births 2021 deaths 1972 United States vice-presidential candidates 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American politicians 20th-century Roman Catholics 20th-century Unitarians 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American politicians 21st-century Unitarians 9/11 conspiracy theorists Alaska Democrats American International College alumni American Unitarian Universalists American anti–Iraq War activists American conspiracy theorists American democracy activists American male non-fiction writers American people of French-Canadian descent American political writers American real estate businesspeople American stockbrokers Anti-corporate activists Assumption University (Worcester) alumni Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Businesspeople from Anchorage, Alaska Businesspeople from Springfield, Massachusetts California Democrats Candidates in the 2008 United States presidential election Candidates in the 2020 United States presidential election Columbia University School of General Studies alumni Deaths from cancer in California Deaths from multiple myeloma Democratic Party United States senators Direct democracy activists Drug policy reform activists Former Roman Catholics Virginia Libertarians Members of the Alaska House of Representatives Military personnel from Massachusetts Non-interventionism People from Arlington County, Virginia People from Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska People with dyslexia Politicians from Anchorage, Alaska Politicians from Springfield, Massachusetts Speakers of the Alaska House of Representatives United States Army officers United States senators from Alaska Writers about direct democracy Writers from Anchorage, Alaska\"\n]"}}},{"rowIdx":394,"cells":{"History":{"kind":"list like","value":["Mike Gravel","Run for Vice President in 1972","Who was Gavel's running mate?","I don't know.","Who did he compete against in 1972?","former Governor of Massachusetts Endicott Peabody had been running a quixotic campaign for the same post","What significant events happened during the campaign?","At the convention's final day on July 14, 1972, presidential nominee McGovern selected and announced Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri as his vice-presidential choice.","What did Gravel do afterward?","Gravel was nominated by Bettye Fahrenkamp, the Democratic National Committeewoman from Alaska."],"string":"[\n \"Mike Gravel\",\n \"Run for Vice President in 1972\",\n \"Who was Gavel's running mate?\",\n \"I don't know.\",\n \"Who did he compete against in 1972?\",\n \"former Governor of Massachusetts Endicott Peabody had been running a quixotic campaign for the same post\",\n \"What significant events happened during the campaign?\",\n \"At the convention's final day on July 14, 1972, presidential nominee McGovern selected and announced Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri as his vice-presidential choice.\",\n \"What did Gravel do afterward?\",\n \"Gravel was nominated by Bettye Fahrenkamp, the Democratic National Committeewoman from Alaska.\"\n]"},"QuAC_dialog_id":{"kind":"string","value":"C_99b905b192ab4470bbae0787f5f31d5c_1"},"Question":{"kind":"string","value":"What was he nominated for?"},"Question_no":{"kind":"number","value":5,"string":"5"},"Rewrite":{"kind":"string","value":"What was Mike Gravel nominated by Bettye Fahrenkamp for?"},"true_page_title":{"kind":"string","value":"Mike Gravel"},"true_contexts":{"kind":"string","value":"Gravel \"decided to become a pioneer in a faraway place,\" and moved to pre-statehood Alaska in August 1956, without funds or a job, looking for a place where someone without social or political connections could be a viable candidate for public office. Alaska's voting age of 19, less than most other states' 21, played a role in his decision, as did its newness and cooler climate. Broke when he arrived, he immediately found work in real estate sales until winter arrived. Gravel then was employed as a brakeman for the Alaska Railroad, working the snow-clearing train on the Anchorage-Fairbanks run. Subsequently, he opened a small real estate brokerage in Anchorage (the Territory of Alaska not requiring a license) and saved enough so as not to have to work the railroad again. Gravel joined the Anchorage Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, and continued a sporadic relationship with the movement throughout his life. Gravel married Rita Jeannette Martin, who had been Anchorage's \"Miss Fur Rendezvous\" of 1958, on April 29, 1959. They had two children, Martin Anthony Gravel and Lynne Denise Gravel, born c. 1960 and 1962 respectively. Meanwhile, he went to Washington, D.C. in 1957 to campaign for Alaskan statehood via the \"Tennessee Plan\": dressed as Paul Revere, he rode with a petition to the steps of the U.S. Capitol. Seeing Alaska as a wide-open place with no political establishment or entrenched interests, and using the slogan \"Gravel, the Roadbed to Prosperity\", he ran for the territorial legislature in 1958 but lost. He went on a national speaking tour concerning tax reform in 1959, sponsored by the Jaycees. He ran without avail for the City Council in Anchorage in 1960. During this time, he had become a successful real estate agent; after the 1960 election, he became a property developer in a mobile home park on the outskirts of Anchorage. A partner ran into financial difficulty, however, and the project went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy and Gravel was forced out in 1962. In the late 1960s and early 1970s the U.S. Department of Defense was in the process of performing tests for the nuclear warhead for the Spartan anti-ballistic missile. Two tests, the \"Milrow\" and \"Cannikin\" tests, were planned, involving the detonation of nuclear bombs under Amchitka Island in Alaska. The Milrow test would be a one megaton calibration exercise for the second, and larger five megaton, Cannikin test, which would measure the effectiveness of the warhead. Gravel opposed the tests in Congress. Before the Milrow test took place in October 1969, he wrote that there were significant risks of earthquakes and other adverse consequences, and called for an independent national commission on nuclear and seismic safety to be created; he then made a personal appeal to President Nixon to stop the test. After Milrow was conducted, there was continued pressure on the part of environmental groups against going forward with the larger Cannikin test, while the Federation of American Scientists claimed that the warhead being tested was already obsolete. In May 1971, Gravel sent a letter to U.S. Atomic Energy Commission hearings held in Anchorage, in which he said the risk of the test was not worth taking. Eventually a group not involving Gravel took the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to issue an injunction against it, and the Cannikin test took place as scheduled in November 1971. Gravel had failed to stop the tests (notwithstanding his later claims during his 2008 presidential campaign). Nuclear power was considered an environmentally clean alternative for the commercial generation of electricity and was part of a popular national policy for the peaceful use of atomic energy in the 1950s and 1960s. Gravel publicly opposed this policy; besides the dangers of nuclear testing, he was a vocal critic of the Atomic Energy Commission, which oversaw American nuclear efforts, and of the powerful United States Congress Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, which had a stranglehold on nuclear policy and which Gravel tried to circumvent. In 1971, Gravel sponsored a bill to impose a moratorium on nuclear power plant construction and to make power utilities liable for any nuclear accidents; in 1975, he was still proposing similar moratoriums. By 1974, Gravel was allied with Ralph Nader's organization in opposing nuclear power. Six months before U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's secret mission to the People's Republic of China (P.R.C.) in July 1971, Gravel introduced legislation to recognize and normalize relations with China, including a proposal for unity talks between the P.R.C. and the Republic of China (Taiwan) regarding the Chinese seat on the U.N. Security Council. Gravel reiterated his position in favor of recognition, with four other senators in agreement, during Senate hearings in June 1971. Gravel actively campaigned for the office of Vice President of the United States during the 1972 presidential election, announcing on June 2, 1972, over a month before the 1972 Democratic National Convention began, that he was interested in running for the nomination should the choice be opened up to convention delegates. Towards this end he began soliciting delegates for their support in advance of the convention. He was not alone in this effort, as former Governor of Massachusetts Endicott Peabody had been running a quixotic campaign for the same post since the prior year. Likely presidential nominee George McGovern was in fact considering the unusual move of naming three or four acceptable vice-presidential candidates and letting the delegates choose. At the convention's final day on July 14, 1972, presidential nominee McGovern selected and announced Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri as his vice-presidential choice. Eagleton was unknown to many delegates and the choice seemed to smack of traditional ticket balancing considerations. Thus, there were delegates willing to look elsewhere. Gravel was nominated by Bettye Fahrenkamp, the Democratic National Committeewoman from Alaska. He then seconded his own nomination, breaking down in tears at his own words and maybe trying to withdraw his nomination. In any case he won 226 delegate votes, coming in third behind Eagleton and Frances \"Sissy\" Farenthold of Texas, in chaotic balloting that included several other candidates as well. For his efforts, Gravel attracted some attention: famed writer Norman Mailer would say he \"provided considerable excitement\" and was \"good-looking enough to have played leads in B-films\", while Rolling Stone correspondent Hunter S. Thompson said Gravel \"probably said a few things that might have been worth hearing, under different circumstances ...\" Yet, the whole process had been doubly disastrous for the Democrats. The time consumed with the nominating and seconding and other speeches of all the vice-presidential candidates had lost the attention of the delegates on the floor and pushed McGovern's speech until 3:30 a.m. The haste with which Eagleton had been selected led to surprise when his past mental health treatments were revealed; he withdrew from the ticket soon after the convention, to be replaced by Sargent Shriver. CANNOTANSWER"},"answer":{"kind":"string","value":"presidential nominee"},"true_contexts_wiki":{"kind":"string","value":"Maurice Robert Gravel ( ; May 13, 1930 – June 26, 2021) was an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Alaska from 1969 to 1981 as a member of the Democratic Party, and who, in later life, twice ran for the presidential nomination of that party.\n\nBorn and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, by French-Canadian immigrant parents, Gravel moved to Alaska in the late 1950s, becoming a real estate developer and entering politics. He served in the Alaska House of Representatives from 1963 to 1967, and also became Speaker of the Alaska House. Gravel was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1968.\n\nAs a senator, Gravel became nationally known for his forceful, but unsuccessful, attempts to end the draft during the War in Vietnam, and for putting the Pentagon Papers into the public record in 1971. He conducted a campaign for the Democratic nomination in 1972 for Vice President of the United States, and then played a crucial role in obtaining Congressional approval for the Trans-Alaska pipeline in 1973. He was re-elected to the Senate in 1974, but was defeated in his bid for a third term in the primary election in 1980.\n\nAn advocate of direct democracy and the National Initiative, Gravel staged a run for the 2008 Democratic nomination for President of the United States. His campaign failed to gain support, and in March 2008, he left the Democratic Party and joined the Libertarian Party to compete unsuccessfully for its presidential nomination and the inclusion of the National Initiative into the Libertarian Platform. He ran for president as a Democrat again in the 2020 election, in a campaign that ended four months after it began. Two years before his death, Gravel and his campaign staff founded the progressive think tank The Gravel Institute.\n\nEarly life, military service, education\nGravel was born on May 13, 1930, in Springfield, Massachusetts, one of five children of French-Canadian immigrant parents, Alphonse and Marie (née Bourassa) Gravel. His parents were part of the Quebec diaspora, and he was raised in a working-class neighborhood during the Great Depression, speaking only French until he was seven years old. Calling him \"Mike\" from an early age, his father valued work above all else, while his mother stressed the importance of education.\n\nGravel was educated in parochial schools as a Roman Catholic. There he struggled, due to what he later said was undiagnosed dyslexia, and was left back in third grade. He completed elementary school in 1945 and his class voted him \"most charming personality\". A summer job as a soda jerk led to Gravel handing out campaign fliers for local candidates on his boss's behalf; Gravel was immediately impressed with \"the awesomeness of political office\".\n\nGravel then boarded at Assumption Preparatory School in Worcester, Massachusetts, where his performance was initially mediocre. By Gravel's telling, in the summer of 1948 he intended to volunteer for the Israel Defense Forces during the 1947–1949 Palestine war, but Alexandra Tolstaya told him to return to school. There an English teacher, the Assumptionist Edgar Bourque, gave him personal attention, improving Gravel's language skills and instructing him in public speaking. Gravel's grades improved measurably in his final year and he graduated in 1949. His sister, Marguerite, became a Holy Cross nun, but Gravel himself struggled with the Catholic faith. He studied for one year at Assumption College, a Catholic school in Worcester, then transferred for his sophomore year to American International College in Springfield. Journalist I. F. Stone and philosopher Bertrand Russell strongly influenced Gravel in their willingness to challenge assumptions and oppose social convention and political authority.\n\nAround May 1951, Gravel saw that he was about to be drafted and instead enlisted in the U.S. Army for a three-year term so that he could get into the Counterintelligence Corps. After basic training and counterintelligence school at Fort Holabird in Maryland and in South Carolina, he went to Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia. While he expected to be sent off to the Korean War when he graduated as a second lieutenant in early 1952, he was instead assigned to Stuttgart, West Germany, as a Special Adjutant in the Army's Communications Intelligence Service. In Germany, Gravel conducted surveillance operations on civilians and paid off spies. After about a year, he transferred to Orléans, France, where his French language abilities (if not his French-Canadian accent) allowed him to infiltrate French communist rallies. He worked as a Special Agent in the Counterintelligence Corps until 1954, eventually becoming a first lieutenant.\n\nFollowing his discharge, Gravel entered the Columbia University School of General Studies in New York City, where he studied economics and received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1956. He moved to New York \"flat broke\" and supported himself by working as a bar boy in a hotel, driving a taxicab, and working in the investment bond department at Bankers Trust. During this time he left the Roman Catholic faith.\n\nMove to Alaska\n\nGravel \"decided to become a pioneer in a faraway place,\" and moved to pre-statehood Alaska in August 1956, without funds or a job, looking for a place where someone without social or political connections could be a viable candidate for public office. Alaska's voting age of 19, less than most other states' 21, played a role in his decision, as did its newness and cooler climate. Broke when he arrived, he immediately found work in real estate sales until winter arrived. Gravel then was employed as a brakeman for the Alaska Railroad, working the snow-clearing train on the Anchorage-to-Fairbanks run. Subsequently, he opened a small real estate brokerage in Anchorage (the Territory of Alaska not requiring a license) and saved enough so as not to have to work the railroad again. The firm was named the M. R. Gravel Real Estate Company. Gravel joined the Anchorage Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, and continued a sporadic relationship with the movement throughout his life.\n\nSeeing Alaska as a wide-open place with no political establishment or entrenched interests, Gravel quickly became part of the civic scene there. By October 1957 he was a Division Chairman for Anchorage for the Democratic Central Committee in the territory, and by June 1958 he was president of the Alaska Young Democrats organization. He also became active in the United States Junior Chamber (Jaycees), and by early 1958 his duties included handing out awards for farmer of the year.\n\nBy early 1958, Gravel was running as Democratic Party primary candidate for a Third Division seat in House of Representative of the territorial legislature. (This was one of the four judicial divisions into which Alaska was sectioned at the time.) Using the slogan \"Gravel, the Roadbed to Prosperity\", he ran but lost. At the same time, he was also an advocate for Alaskan statehood.\n\nGravel went on a 44-state national speaking tour concerning tax reform in 1959, sponsored by the Jaycees, often dressing for events as Paul Revere. Gravel was selected from some two thousand applications for this position. The tour received a good amount of local newspaper coverage at its various stops, with Gravel's first name sometimes given as Mike and other times as Maurice. The tour's general message was an urging of \"lower taxes, more efficiency in government and a system of taxation moderate at all levels of income\". At several stops Gravel stated that the \"tide of socialism\" had to be stopped. He elaborated at another stop, \"It is part of our Jaycee creed that economic justice can best be won by free men through free enterprise. We really want to see that free enterprise become our inheritance.\" The tour was scheduled to conclude in Washington D.C., on Tax Day, April 15, with petition signatures accumulated for reform to be presented to U.S. lawmakers: dressed as Revere, Gravel rode with the petition to the steps of the U.S. Capitol.\n\nThe tour over, Gravel married Rita Jeannette Martin at the First Methodist Church of Anchorage on April 29, 1959. She was a native of Montana who had attended Billings Business College before moving to Alaska two years prior and becoming a secretary in the office of the Anchorage city manager. She had also been named Anchorage's \"Miss Fur Rendezvous\" of 1958. They had two children, Martin Anthony Gravel and Lynne Denise Gravel, born c. 1960 and 1962 respectively.\n\nGravel ran without avail for the City Council in Anchorage in 1960. During this time, he had become a successful real estate agent; after the 1960 election, he became a property developer in a mobile home park on the outskirts of Anchorage. After a partner ran into financial difficulty, however, the project went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and Gravel was forced out in 1962.\n\nState legislator\n\nWith the support of Alaska wholesale grocer Barney Gottstein and supermarket builder Larry Carr, Gravel ran for the Alaska House of Representatives representing Anchorage in 1962, initially assigned the 10th and then 8th districts. Alaska had very crowded primaries that year: Gravel was one of 33 Democrats, along with 21 Republicans, who were running for the chance to compete for the 14 House seats allocated to the 8th district. Gravel made it through the primary, and in November eight Republicans and six Democrats were elected to the House from the district, with Gravel finishing eighth overall and third among with Democrats, with 8,174 votes. Gottstein became Gravel's main financial backer during most of his subsequent campaigns.\n\nGravel served in the Alaska House of Representatives from January 28, 1963 to January 22, 1967, winning reelection in 1964. In his first term, he served as a minority member on two House committees: Commerce, and Labor and Management. He co-authored and sponsored the act that created the Alaska State Commission for Human Rights. Gravel was the chief architect of the law that created a regional high school system for rural Alaska; this allowed Alaska Natives to attend schools near where they lived instead of having to go to schools run by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the lower 48 states.\n\nDuring the half-years that the legislature was not in session, Gravel resumed his real estate work. With Gottstein and Carr's backing, he became quite successful as a property developer on the Kenai Peninsula.\n\nDuring 1965 and 1966, he served as the Speaker of the House, surprising observers by winning that post. Gravel convinced former Speaker Warren A. Taylor to not try for the position against him by promising Taylor chairmanship of the Rules Committee, then reneged on the promise. Gravel denied later press charges that he had promised but not delivered on other committee chairmanships. As Speaker he antagonized fellow lawmakers by imposing his will on the legislature's committees and feuded with Alaska State Senate president Robert J. McNealy.\n\nGravel did not run for reelection in 1966, instead choosing to run for Alaska's seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, losing the primary to four-term incumbent Democrat Ralph Rivers by 1,300 votes and splitting the Democratic Party in the process. Rivers lost the general election that year to Republican state Senator Howard Pollock. Following this defeat, Gravel returned to the real estate business in Anchorage.\n\nU.S. Senator\n\nElection to Senate in 1968\nIn 1968, Gravel ran against 81-year-old incumbent Democratic United States Senator Ernest Gruening, a popular former governor of the Alaska Territory who was considered one of the fathers of Alaska's statehood, for his party's nomination to the U.S. Senate. Gravel's campaign was primarily based on his youth and telegenic appearance rather than issue differences. He hired Joseph Napolitan, the first self-described political consultant, in late 1966. They spent over a year and a half planning a short, nine-day primary election campaign that featured the slogans \"Alaska first\" and \"Let's do something about the state we're in\", the distribution of a collection of essays titled Jobs and More Jobs, and the creation of a half-hour, well-produced, glamorized biographical film of Gravel, Man for Alaska. The film was shown twice a day on every television station in Alaska, and carried by plane and shown on home projectors in hundreds of Alaska Native villages. The heavy showings quickly reversed a 2–to–1 Gruening lead in polls into a Gravel lead. Gravel visited many remote villages by seaplane and showed a thorough understanding of the needs of the bush country and the fishing and oil industries. Gravel also benefited from maintaining a deliberately ambiguous posture about Vietnam policy. Gruening had been one of only two Senators to vote against the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and his opposition to President Lyndon B. Johnson's war policies was harming him among the Democratic electorate; according to Gravel, \"all I had to do was stand up and not deal with the subject, and people would assume that I was to the right of Ernest Gruening, when in point of fact I was to the left of him\". In Man for Alaska, Gravel argued that \"the liberals\" would come to West Germany's defense if it was attacked, and that the same standard should apply to the United States' allies in Asia. During the campaign he also claimed that he was \"more in the mainstream of American thought on Vietnam\" than Gruening, despite the fact that he had written to Gruening to praise his antiwar stance four years earlier. Decades later, Gravel conceded that \"I said what I said [about Vietnam] to advance my career.\"\n\nGravel beat Gruening in the primary by about 2,000 votes. Gruening found \"the unexpected defeat hard to take\" and thought that some aspects of his opponent's biographical film had misled viewers. In the general election, Gravel faced Republican Elmer E. Rasmuson, a banker and former mayor of Anchorage. College students in the state implored Gruening to run a write-in campaign as an Independent, but legal battles prevented him from getting approval for it until only two weeks were left. A late appearance by anti-war presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy did not offset Gruening's lack of funds and endorsements; meanwhile, Gravel and Rasmuson both saturated local media with their filmed biographies. On November 5, 1968, Gravel won the general election with 45 percent of the vote to Rasmuson's 37 percent and Gruening's 18 percent.\n\nSenate assignments and style\nWhen Gravel joined the U.S.Senate in January 1969, he requested and received a seat on the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee, which had direct relevance to Alaskan issues. He also got a spot on the Public Works Committee, which he held throughout his time in the Senate. Finally, he was a member of the Select Committee on Small Business. In 1971 he became chair of the Public Works Committee's Subcommittee on Public Buildings and Grounds, and by 1973 he was chair of its Subcommittee on Water Resources, then later its Subcommittee on Environmental Pollution. Gravel was also initially named to the Joint Committee on Congressional Operations. By 1973 Gravel was off the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee and the Select Small Business Committee and instead a member of the Finance Committee, and by 1977 was chair of that body's Subcommittee on Energy and Foundations. By 1973 he had also been on the ad hoc Special Committee to Study Secret and Confidential Government Documents.\n\nBy his own admission, Gravel was too new and \"too abrasive\" to be effective in the Senate by the usual means of seniority-based committee assignments or negotiating deals with other senators, and was sometimes seen as arrogant or a nuisance by the more senior and tradition-oriented members. Gravel relied on attention-getting gestures to achieve what he wanted, hoping national exposure would force other senators to listen to him. But even senators who agreed with him on issues considered his methods to be showboating.\n\nAs part of this approach, Gravel voted with Southern Democrats to keep the Senate filibuster rule in place, and accordingly supported Russell Long and Robert Byrd but opposed Ted Kennedy in Senate leadership battles. In retrospective assessment, University of Alaska Anchorage history professor Stephen Haycox said, \"Loose cannon is a good description of Gravel's Senate career. He was an off-the-wall guy, and you weren't really ever sure what he would do.\"\n\nNuclear issues and the Cold War\nIn the late 1960s and early 1970s the U.S. Department of Defense was in the process of performing tests for the nuclear warhead for the Spartan anti-ballistic missile. Two tests, the \"Milrow\" and \"Cannikin\" tests, were planned, involving the detonation of nuclear bombs under Amchitka Island in Alaska. The Milrow test would be a one-megaton calibration exercise for the second and larger five-megaton Cannikin test, which would measure the effectiveness of the warhead. Gravel opposed the tests. Before the Milrow test took place in October 1969, he wrote that there were significant risks of earthquakes and other adverse consequences and called for an independent national commission on nuclear and seismic safety; he then made a personal appeal to President Richard Nixon to stop the test.\n\nAfter Milrow was conducted, there was continued pressure on the part of environmental groups against going forward with the Cannikin test, while the Federation of American Scientists claimed that the warhead being tested was already obsolete. In May 1971 Gravel sent a letter to U.S. Atomic Energy Commission hearings held in Anchorage in which he said the risk of the test was not worth taking. Eventually a group not involving Gravel took the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to issue an injunction against it, and the Cannikin test took place as scheduled in November 1971. Gravel had failed to stop the tests (notwithstanding his later claims during his 2008 presidential campaign).\n\nIn 1971 Gravel voted against the Nixon administration's proposed anti-ballistic missile system, the Safeguard Program, having previously vacillated over the issue, suggesting that he might be willing to support it in exchange for federal lands in Alaska being opened up for private oil drilling. His vote alienated Senator Henry \"Scoop\" Jackson, who had raised funds for Gravel's primary campaign.\n\nNuclear power was considered an environmentally clean alternative for commercial generation of electricity and was part of a popular national policy for the peaceful use of atomic energy in the 1950s and 1960s. Gravel publicly opposed this policy; besides the dangers of nuclear testing, he was a vocal critic of the Atomic Energy Commission, which oversaw American nuclear efforts, and of the powerful United States Congress Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, which had a stranglehold on nuclear policy and which Gravel tried to circumvent. In 1971 Gravel sponsored a bill to impose a moratorium on nuclear power plant construction and to make power utilities liable for any nuclear accidents; in 1975 he was still proposing similar moratoriums. By 1974 Gravel was allied with Ralph Nader's organization in opposing nuclear power.\n\nSix months before U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's July 1971 secret mission to the People's Republic of China (P.R.C.), Gravel introduced legislation to recognize and normalize relations with the P.R.C., including a proposal for unity talks between the P.R.C. and the Republic of China (Taiwan) regarding the Chinese seat on the U.N. Security Council. He reiterated his position in favor of recognition, with four other senators in agreement, during Senate hearings in June 1971.\n\nVietnam War, the draft, and the Pentagon Papers\nAlthough he did not campaign against the Vietnam War during his first Senate campaign, by the end of 1970 Gravel was speaking out against United States policy in southeast Asia: in December of that year he persuaded William Fulbright to join him in a spontaneous two-day filibuster against a $155 million military aid package to Cambodia's Khmer Republic government in the Cambodian Civil War.\n\nPresident Richard Nixon had campaigned in 1968 on a promise to end the U.S. military draft, a decision endorsed by the February 1970 report of the Gates Commission.\nThe existing draft law was scheduled to conclude at the end of June 1971, and the Senate faced a contentious debate about whether to extend it as the Vietnam War continued. The Nixon administration announced in February 1971 that it wanted a two-year extension to June 1973, after which the draft would end; Army planners had already been operating under the assumption of a two-year extension, after which an all-volunteer force would be in place. Skeptics such as Senate Armed Services Committee chairman John Stennis thought this unrealistic and wanted a four-year extension, but the two-year proposal is what went forward in Congress. By early May 1971, Gravel had indicated his intention to filibuster the draft renewal legislation, halting conscription and thereby bringing U.S. involvement in the war to a rapid end. During this period he also supported efforts to mobilize and influence public opinion against the war, endorsing the \"Vietnam War Out Now\" rallies in Washington D.C. and San Francisco on April 24, 1971, and financing a broadcast campaign by the antiwar group War No More with a personal loan. In June 1972 he escorted a group of over 100 antiwar protesters, including psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton, actress Candice Bergen, theater producer and director Joseph Papp, and peditrician Dr. Benjamin Spock, into the United States Capitol Building; the group was arrested after blocking a hallway outside the Senate chamber.\n\nBy June 1971, some Democratic senators opposed to the war wanted to limit the renewal to a one-year extension, while others wanted to end it immediately; Gravel reiterated that he was one of the latter, saying, \"It's a senseless war, and one way to do away with it is to do away with the draft.\" A Senate vote on June 4 indicated majority support for the two-year extension. On June 18 Gravel announced again his intention to counteract that by filibustering the renewal legislation, defending the practice against those who associated it only with blocking civil rights legislation. The first filibuster attempt failed on June 23 when, by three votes, the Senate voted cloture for only the fifth time since 1927.\n\nProtracted negotiations took place over House conference negotiations on the bill, revolving in large part around Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield's eventually unsuccessful amendment to tie renewal to a troop withdrawal timetable from Vietnam; during this time the draft law expired and no more were conscripted. On August 5, the Nixon administration pleaded for a renewal before the Senate went on recess, but Gravel blocked Stennis's attempt to limit debate, and no vote was held. Finally on September 21, 1971, the Senate invoked cloture over Gravel's second filibuster attempt by one vote, and then passed the two-year draft extension. Gravel's attempts to stop the draft had failed (notwithstanding Gravel's later claims that he had stopped or shortened the draft, taken at face value in some media reports, during his 2008 presidential campaign).\n\nMeanwhile, on June 13, 1971, The New York Times began printing large portions of the Pentagon Papers. The papers were a large collection of secret government documents and studies pertaining to the Vietnam War, of which former Defense Department analyst Daniel Ellsberg had made unauthorized copies and was determined to make public. Ellsberg had for a year and a half approached members of Congress – such as William Fulbright, George McGovern, Charles Mathias, and Pete McCloskey – about publishing the documents, on the grounds that the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution would give congressional members immunity from prosecution, but all had refused. Instead, Ellsberg gave the documents to the Times.\n\nThe U.S. Justice Department immediately tried to halt publication, on the grounds that the information revealed within the papers harmed the national interest. Within the next two weeks, a federal court injunction halted publication in the Times; The Washington Post and several other newspapers began publishing parts of the documents, with some of them also being halted by injunctions; and the whole matter went to the U.S. Supreme Court for arguments. Looking for an alternate publication mechanism, Ellsberg returned to his idea of having a member of Congress read them, and chose Gravel based on the latter's efforts against the draft; Gravel agreed where previously others had not. Ellsberg arranged for the papers to be given to Gravel on June 26 via an intermediary, Post editor Ben Bagdikian. Gravel used his counter-intelligence experience to choose a midnight transfer in front of the Mayflower Hotel in the center of Washington, D.C.\n\nOn the night of June 29, 1971, Gravel attempted to read the papers on the floor of the Senate as part of his filibuster against the draft, but was thwarted when no quorum could be formed. Gravel instead convened a session of the Buildings and Grounds subcommittee that he chaired. He got New York Congressman John G. Dow to testify that the war had soaked up funding for public buildings, thus making discussion of the war relevant to the committee. He began reading from the papers with the press in attendance, omitting supporting documents that he felt might compromise national security, and declaring, \"It is my constitutional obligation to protect the security of the people by fostering the free flow of information absolutely essential to their democratic decision-making.\"\n\nHe read until 1 a.m., culminating by saying \"Arms are being severed. Metal is clashing through human bodies because of the public policy this government and all its branches continue to support.\" Then with tears and sobs he said that he could no longer physically continue, the previous three nights of sleeplessness and fear about the future having taken their toll. Gravel ended the session by, with no other senators present, establishing unanimous consent to insert 4,100 pages of the Papers into the Congressional Record of his subcommittee. The following day, the Supreme Court's New York Times Co. v. United States decision ruled in favor of the newspapers and publication in the Times and others resumed. In July 1971 Bantam Books published an inexpensive paperback edition of the papers containing the material the Times had published.\n\nGravel, too, wanted to privately publish the portion of the papers he had read into the record, believing that \"immediate disclosure of the contents of these papers will change the policy that supports the war\". After being turned down by many commercial publishers, on August 4 he reached agreement with Beacon Press, the publishing arm of the Unitarian Universalist Association, of which Gravel was a member. Announced on August 17 and published on October 22, 1971, this four-volume, relatively expensive set became the \"Senator Gravel Edition\", which studies from Cornell University and the Annenberg Center for Communication have labeled as the most complete edition of the Pentagon Papers to be published. The \"Gravel Edition\" was edited and annotated by Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn, and included an additional volume of analytical articles on the origins and progress of the war, also edited by Chomsky and Zinn. Beacon Press then was subjected to a FBI investigation; an outgrowth of this was the Gravel v. United States court case, which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled upon in June 1972; it held that the Speech or Debate Clause did grant immunity to Gravel for his reading the papers in his subcommittee, did grant some immunity to Gravel's congressional aide, but granted no immunity to Beacon Press in relation to their publishing the same papers. The U.S. Senate Democratic Caucus backed Gravel in the case, but due to Republican opposition it did not pay Gravel's legal fees, leaving him owing $25,000 (the equivalent of $150,000 in 2019, adjusted for inflation).\n\nThe events of 1971 changed Gravel in the following months from an obscure freshman senator to a nationally visible political figure. He became a sought-after speaker on the college circuit as well as at political fundraisers, opportunities he welcomed as lectures were \"the one honest way a Senator has to supplement his income\". But his speaking tours caused him to accrue one of the worst absentee records in the Senate. The Democratic candidates for the 1972 presidential election sought his endorsement. In January 1972 Gravel endorsed Maine Senator Ed Muskie, hoping that his support would help Muskie with the party's left wing and in ethnic French-Canadian areas during the first primary contest in New Hampshire (Muskie won, but not overwhelmingly, and his campaign faltered soon after). In April 1972 Gravel appeared on all three networks' nightly newscasts to decry the Nixon administration's reliance on Vietnamization by making reference to the secret National Security Study Memorandum 1 document, which stated it would take 8–13 years for the Army of the Republic of Vietnam to defend South Vietnam. Gravel made excerpts from the study public, but senators Robert P. Griffin and William B. Saxbe blocked his attempt to read NSSM 1 into the Congressional Record.\n\nDomestic policy \nIn 1970 Gravel co-sponsored legislation to establish a guaranteed minimum income, entitling poor families to up to $6,300 a year (the equivalent of $42,000 in 2019 after adjustment for inflation). He subsequently voted for a \"work bonus\" program, which would have entitled low-income working families with dependent children if they were paying Social Security or Railroad Retirement taxes to a non-taxable bonus of up to 10 percent of their wages. Gravel also supported extending Social Security to all federal employees and introduced a campaign finance reform bill in 1971 that would have enacted full disclosure of campaign financing, placed limits on large donations, media spending and individual candidate spending.\n\nIn 1969, Gravel was the only Democratic Senator outside of the South to vote for Nixon's Supreme Court nominee Clement Haynsworth. The following year Gravel opposed Nixon's next pick, G. Harrold Carswell.\n\nRun for vice president in 1972\nGravel actively campaigned for the office of Vice President of the United States during the 1972 presidential election, announcing on June 2, 1972, over a month before the 1972 Democratic National Convention began, that he was interested in the nomination should the choice be opened up to convention delegates. Toward this end he began soliciting delegates for their support. He was not alone in this effort, as former Governor of Massachusetts Endicott Peabody had been running a quixotic campaign for the same post since the prior year. Likely presidential nominee George McGovern was in fact considering the unusual move of naming three or four acceptable vice-presidential candidates and letting the delegates choose.\n\nOn the convention's final day, July 14, 1972, McGovern selected and announced Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri as his vice-presidential choice. Eagleton was unknown to many delegates and the choice seemed to smack of traditional ticket balancing considerations. Thus there were delegates willing to look elsewhere. Gravel was nominated by Bettye Fahrenkamp, the Democratic National Committeewoman from Alaska. He then seconded his own nomination, breaking down in tears at his own words and maybe trying to withdraw his nomination. In any case he won 226 delegate votes, coming in third behind Eagleton and Frances \"Sissy\" Farenthold of Texas, in chaotic balloting that included several other candidates.\n\nGravel attracted some attention for his efforts: writer Norman Mailer said he \"provided considerable excitement\" and was \"good-looking enough to have played leads in B-films\", while Rolling Stone correspondent Hunter S. Thompson said Gravel \"probably said a few things that might have been worth hearing, under different circumstances\". Yet the process was doubly disastrous for the Democrats. In the time consumed by nominating and seconding and all the vice-presidential candidates' speeches, the attention of the delegates on the floor was lost and McGovern's speech was pushed to 3:30 a.m. The haste with which Eagleton was selected led to surprise when his past mental health treatments were revealed; he withdrew from the ticket soon after the convention, to be replaced by Sargent Shriver.\n\nReelection to Senate in 1974\nSeveral years earlier, Alaska politicians had speculated that Gravel would have a hard time getting both renominated and elected when his first term expired, given that he was originally elected without a base party organization and tended to focus on national rather than local issues.\n\nNonetheless, after receiving support from national and local labor leaders, securing key earmarks, and producing another half-hour TV advertorial, in 1974 Gravel was reelected to the Senate, with 58 percent of the vote to 42 percent for Republican State Senator C. R. Lewis, who was a national officer of the John Birch Society.\n\nSecond term\nGravel's reelection campaign left him $65,000–$75,000 in debt. In 1975 The Washington Post reported on a memo by his executive assistant laying out a fundraising strategy to tackle this, including raising funds from oil companies, meeting with previous donors and \"inquir[ing] into the governmental priorities of these people and their groups in the coming session\", as well as obtaining further speaking fees to reduce his personal debt. This was followed by a number of stories about links between Gravel, lobbyists and fundraisers, including one that was widely publicized in Alaska about his holding a share in a Colorado resort with two Washington lobbyists he was working with on land and energy legislation. Gravel had been open about the investment and had opposing views to one of the lobbyists on nuclear power. In 1980 the Wall Street Journal published details about his fundraising activities, including writing to individuals and PACs in the oil industry, pledging to kill off proposals for a windfall profits tax on the sector, and traveling in the Middle East with the business partner of one of his donors to sell Alaskan land to businessmen. Gravel suggested that critics of his fundraising were \"naive\".\n\nIn 1975 Gravel introduced an amendment to cut the number of troops overseas by 200,000, but it was defeated on a voice vote.\n\nIn September 1975 Gravel was named as one of several Congressional Advisers to the Seventh Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly, which met to discuss problems related to economic development and international economic cooperation.\n\nIn June 1976 Gravel was the focus of a federal investigation into allegations that he was involved in a sex-for-vote arrangement. Congressional staff clerk Elizabeth Ray (who had already been involved in a sex scandal that led to the downfall of Representative Wayne Hays) said that in August 1972 she had sex with Gravel aboard a houseboat on the Potomac River, under the instruction of Representative Kenneth J. Gray, her boss at the time. Gray allegedly wanted to secure Gravel's support for further funding for construction of the National Visitor Center in Washington, a troubled project that was under the jurisdiction of subcommittees that both members chaired. Another Congressional staffer said she witnessed the boat encounter, but Gravel said at the time that he had never met either of the women. Gravel and Gray strongly denied that they had made any arrangement regarding legislation, and neither was ever charged with any wrongdoing. Decades later Gravel wrote that he had indeed had sex with Ray, but had not changed any votes because of it.\n\nGravel and his main financial backer, Gottstein, had a falling out in 1978, during the Congressional debate over whether to allow a controversial sale of U.S. F-15 fighter aircraft to Saudi Arabia. An ardent backer of Israel, Gottstein opposed the sale and asked Gravel to vote against it. But Gravel not only voted for it but made an emotional speech attacking the anti-sale campaign. Gravel wrote in 2008 that it was the only time Gottstein had ever asked him for a favor, and the rupture resulted in their never speaking to each other again.\n\nAlaskan issues\n\nBy 1971 Gravel was urging construction of the much-argued Trans-Alaska pipeline, addressing environmental concerns by saying that the pipeline's builders and operators should have \"total and absolute\" responsibility for any consequent environmental damage. Two years later the debate over the pipeline came to a crux, with The New York Times describing it as \"environmentalists [in] a holy war with the major oil companies\". In February 1973 the U.S. Court of Appeals blocked the issuance of permits for construction; Gravel and fellow Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens reacted by urging Congress to pass legislation overturning the court's decision. Environmentalists opposed to the pipeline, such as the Environmental Defense Fund and the Sierra Club then sought to use the recently passed National Environmental Policy Act to their advantage; Gravel designed an amendment to the pipeline bill that would immunize the pipeline from any further court challenges under that law, and thus speed its construction. Passage of the amendment became the key battle regarding the pipeline. On July 17, 1973, in a dramatic roll-call vote, the Gravel amendment was approved as a 49–49 tie was broken in favor by Vice President Spiro Agnew. The actual bill enabling the pipeline then passed easily; Gravel had triumphed in what became perhaps his most lasting accomplishment as a senator.\n\nIn opposition to the Alaskan fishing industry, Gravel advocated American participation in the formation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. For two years he opposed legislation that established a Exclusive Economic Zone for marine resources. He was one of only 19 senators to vote against Senate approval for the expanded zone in 1976, saying it would undermine the U.S. position in Law of the Sea negotiations and that nations arbitrarily extending their fishing rights limits would \"produce anarchy of the seas\". The legislation was passed, and the United States has signed but never ratified the Law of the Sea treaty.\n\nGravel accumulated a complicated record on Indian affairs during his time in the Senate. During his first year in the Senate Gravel urged abolition of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, criticizing the agency for the pace of development of schools in Alaska, its paternalistic attitudes and the culturally inappropriate nature of its education, and advocating greater shared decision-making between the federal government and native communities in Alaska. Later, his views changed; in the early 1970s Gravel supported a demonstration project that established links between Alaskan villages and the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, for medical diagnostic communications. In 1971, he fended off accusations from Alaskan natives that he was not spending enough time working on their land claims. Gravel helped secure a private grant to facilitate the first Inuit Circumpolar Conference in 1977, attended by Inuit representatives from Alaska, Canada, and Greenland. These conferences now also include representatives from Russia. In 1977, Gravel helped lead an effort to have the U.S. Interior Department rename Mount McKinley to Denali; this eventually led to Denali National Park being so named. Subsequently, Gravel proposed a never-built \"Denali City\" development above the Tokositna River near the mountain, to consist of a giant Teflon dome enclosing hotels, golf courses, condominiums, and commercial buildings. A related idea of his to build a high-speed rail line to Denali also failed to gain traction.\n\nA key, emotional issue in the state at the time was \"locking up Alaska\", making reference to allocation of its vast, mostly uninhabited land. President Jimmy Carter desired to put large portions of this land under federal protection against development, a move that some Alaskans vociferously opposed.\nIn 1978 Gravel blocked passage, via procedural delays such as walking out of House–Senate conference committee meetings, of a complex bill which represented a compromise on land use policy. The bill would have put some of Alaska's vast federal land holdings under state control while preserving other portions for federal parks and refuges; the blocking action earned Gravel the enmity of fellow Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, who had supported the compromise. In 1980, a new lands bill came up for consideration, that was less favorable to Alaskan interests and more liked by environmentalists; it set aside of Alaska's for national parks, conservation areas, and other restricted federal uses. Gravel blocked it, as not ensuring enough future development in the state. A new compromise version of the 1980 bill came forward, which reduced the land set aside to . Representing Alaskan interests, Gravel tried to stop the bill, including by filibuster. But the Senate voted for cloture and passed the bill. Frustrated, Gravel said, \"the legislation denies Alaska its rights as a state, and denies the U.S. crucial strategic resources,\" and opined that the Senate was \"a little bit like a tank of barracudas\". Nonetheless, the bill, known as the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980, was signed by President Carter shortly before leaving the White House, and led to millions of acres being set aside in the state for national parks, wildlife refuges, and other kinds of areas under protection.\n\nIn 1978 Gravel authored and secured the passage into federal law of the General Stock Ownership Corporation, that became Subchapter U of the Tax Code under the Internal Revenue Code of 1954. This gave states the ability to create corporations that would invest in for-profit enterprises, with all citizens within the state owning shares in the corporation. Gravel's attempt to convince the Alaska state legislature to create such a corporation failed, as did a 1980 state ballot initiative towards the same end, but nevertheless the creation of the General Stock Ownership Corporation in federal law turned out to be significant in the development of binary economics.\n\nLoss of Senate seat in 1980\n\nIn 1980 Gravel was challenged for the Democratic Party's nomination by State Representative Clark Gruening, the grandson of the man Gravel had defeated in a primary 12 years earlier. One of Gruening's supporters was Gravel's former backer Gottstein. Several factors made Gravel vulnerable. As an insurgent candidate in 1968 Gravel had never established a firm party base. Not liking to hunt or fish, he was also always culturally suspect in the state.\n\nThe primary campaign was bitterly fought. A group of Democrats, including future governor Steve Cowper, led the campaign against Gravel, with Gravel's actions in respect to the 1978 and 1980 Alaskan lands bills a major issue. This was especially so given that the 1980 bill's dénouement happened but a week before the primary. The sources of Gravel's campaign funds, some of which Gravel readily acknowledged came from political action committees outside the state, also became an issue in the contest. Gruening had pledged that he would not take special interest group money, but Gravel said that Gruening was \"dishonest\" in accepting individual contributors from Jewish donors living outside the state because to him such contributors comprised \"a special interest group ... that seeks to influence the foreign policy of the U.S.\"\n\nGruening won the primary with about 55 percent of the vote to Gravel's 44 percent. Gravel later conceded that by the time of his defeat, he had alienated \"almost every constituency in Alaska\". Another factor may have been Alaska's blanket primary system of the time, which allowed unlimited voting across party lines and from its many independents; Republicans believed Gruening would be an easier candidate to defeat in the general election.\n\nGruening lost the general election to Republican Frank Murkowski. Gravel was the last Democrat to represent Alaska in Congress for 28 years, until Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich defeated Ted Stevens, by then an aged, iconic figure who had just been convicted of seven felonies for taking unreported gifts, in a very close and protracted election result in 2008. Stevens's conviction was subsequently vacated due to prosecutorial misconduct.\n\nCareer after leaving the Senate\n\nOf his 1980 defeat, Gravel later recalled: \"I had lost my career. I lost my marriage. I was in the doldrums for ten years after my defeat,\" and \"Nobody wanted to hire me for anything important. I felt like I was worthless. I didn't know what I could do.\" By his own later description, Gravel was a womanizer, and had an affair while in the Senate, and in December 1980 he and his wife Rita separated. They filed for divorce in September 1981; she later received all of his Senate pension income.\n\nDuring the 1980s Gravel was a real estate developer in Anchorage and Kenai, Alaska, a consultant, and a stockbroker. One of his real estate ventures, a condominium business, was forced to declare bankruptcy and a lawsuit ensued. In 1986 Gravel worked in partnership with Merrill Lynch Capital Markets to buy losses that financially troubled Alaska Native Corporations could not take as tax deductions and sell them to large national companies looking for tax writeoffs. Gravel also learned computer programming at some point but never practiced it.\n\nIn 1984 Gravel married his second wife, Whitney Stewart Gravel, a former administrative assistant for Senator Jacob Javits.\n\nReturn to politics\n\nIn 1989 Gravel reentered politics. He founded and led The Democracy Foundation, which promotes direct democracy. He established the Philadelphia II corporation, which seeks to replicate the original 1787 Constitutional Convention and have a Second Constitutional Convention to bring about direct democracy Gravel led an effort to get a United States Constitutional amendment to allow voter-initiated federal legislation similar to state ballot initiatives. He argued that Americans are able to legislate responsibly, and that the Act and Amendment in the National Initiative would allow American citizens to become \"law makers\". However such efforts met with little success.\n\nIn 2001, Gravel became director of the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution, where he admired institute co-founder Gregory Fossedal's work on direct democracy in Switzerland. By 2004, Gravel had become chair of the institute, and Fossedal (who in turn was a director of the Democracy Foundation) gave the introduction at Gravel's presidential announcement.\n\nIn 2003 Gravel gave a speech on direct democracy at a conference hosted by the American Free Press. The event was cosponsored by the Barnes Review, a journal that endorses Holocaust denial. After some controversy over his appearance, Gravel apologized, saying he did not realize the group's ties. Gravel said repeatedly that he did not share the group's views on the Holocaust, stating, \"You better believe I know that six million Jews were killed. [The Barnes Review publishers] are nutty as loons if they don't think it happened\". The group invited Gravel to speak again, but he declined.\n\nMike and Whitney Gravel lived in Arlington County, Virginia, until 2010 and then resided in Burlingame, California. They have the two grown children from his first marriage, Martin Gravel and Lynne Gravel Mosier, and four grandchildren. Whitney Gravel's income sustained the couple from 1998 on. In the 2000s, Gravel suffered poor health, requiring three surgeries in 2003 for back pain and neuropathy. Due to unreimbursed medical expenses and debts from his political causes, he declared personal bankruptcy in 2004. He began taking a salary from the non-profit organizations for which he was working; much of that income was lent to his presidential campaign. In 2007, he declared that he had \"zero net worth\".\n\n2008 presidential campaign\n\nDemocratic Party primaries\n\nAt the start of 2006 Gravel decided the best way he could promote direct democracy and the National Initiative was to run for president. On April 17, 2006, Gravel became the first candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2008 election, announcing his run in a speech to the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Short on campaign cash, he took public transportation to get to his announcement. (Gravel called for public financing of elections.) Other principal Gravel positions were the FairTax, as well as withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq within 120 days and a single payer national health care system. \n\nGravel had opposed the Iraq War, and President George W. Bush's rationale for it, from the beginning, and in 2006 said that U.S. troops in Iraq, as in Vietnam, had \"died in vain\". He also favored a regional peace initiative, as well as reparation payments for Iraqis. Gravel also called for a \"U.S. corporate withdrawal from Iraq\", with reconstruction contracts held by U.S. companies to be turned over to Iraqi firms.\n\nGravel campaigned almost full-time in New Hampshire, the first primary state, following his announcement. Opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination showed Gravel with 1 percent or less support. By the end of March 2007, Gravel's campaign had less than $500 in cash on hand against debts of nearly $90,000.\n\nBecause of his time in the Senate, Gravel was invited to many of the early Democratic presidential debates. During the initial one at South Carolina State University on April 26, 2007, he suggested a bill requiring the president to withdraw from Iraq on pain of criminal penalties. He also advocated positions such as opposing preemptive nuclear war. He stated that the Iraq War had the effect of creating more terrorists and that the \"war was lost the day that George Bush invaded Iraq on a fraudulent basis\". Regarding his fellow candidates, he said, \"I got to tell you, after standing up with them, some of these people frighten me – they frighten me.\" In one such exchange, Gravel said, \"Tell me, Barack, who do you want to nuke?\" to which Obama responded, \"I'm not planning to nuke anybody right now, Mike, I promise.\"\n\nMedia stories said that Gravel was responsible for much of whatever \"heat\" and \"flashpoints\" had taken place during the Democratic debates. Gravel gained considerable publicity by shaking up the normally staid multiple-candidate format; The New York Times' media critic said that what Gravel had done was \"steal a debate with outrageous, curmudgeonly statements\". The Internet was a benefit: a YouTube video of his responses in the debate was viewed more than 225,892 times, ranking seventeenth in most views for week and first among news and politics clips; his name became the fifteenth most searched-for in the blogosphere; and his website garnered more traffic than those of frontrunners Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, or John Edwards. Gravel appeared on the popular Colbert Report on television on May 2, and his campaign and career were profiled in national publications such as Salon. Two wordless, Warholesque campaign videos, \"Rock\" and \"Fire\", were released on YouTube in late May and became hits, and eventually gained over 760,000 and 185,000 views respectively. \"Rock\", in turn, was given airtime during an episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Some thirty-five years after he first achieved the national spotlight, he had found it again.\n\nAll this did not improve his performance in the polls; a May 2007 CNN poll showed him with less than 0.5 percent support among Democrats. Gravel was in the next several debates, in one case after CNN reversed a decision to exclude him. Like some of the other second-tier candidates, Gravel did not get as much time as the leaders; during the June 2, 2007, New Hampshire debate, which lasted two hours, he was asked 10 questions and allowed to speak for five minutes and 37 seconds.\n\nDuring the July 23, 2007, CNN-YouTube presidential debate, Gravel responded to audience applause when he had complained of a lack of airtime and said: \"Thank you. Has it been fair thus far?\" Detractors began to liken him to \"the cranky uncle who lives in the attic,\" or \"the angry old guy that just seemed to want to become angrier\". Berkeley political scientist David Terr found that moderator George Stephanopoulos directed roughly five percent of his questions to Gravel; in a poll asking who did the best in the debate, Gravel placed seventh among the eight candidates. National opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination continued to show Gravel with one percent or zero percent numbers. By the end of the third-quarter 2007, Gravel had about $17,500 in cash on hand, had collected a total of about $380,000 during the 2008 election cycle, and was continuing to run a threadbare campaign with minimal staff.\n\nBeginning with the October 30, 2007, Philadelphia event, Gravel was excluded from most of the debates, with the debate sponsors or the Democratic National Committee saying Gravel's campaign had not met fund-raising, polling, or local campaign organizational thresholds. For the Philadelphia exclusion, Gravel blamed corporate censorship on the part of sponsor owner and alleged military-industrial complex member General Electric for his exclusion and mounted a counter-gathering and debate against a video screen a short distance away, but he had lost his easiest publicity. In reaction, supporters organized \"mass donation days\" to try to help the campaign gain momentum and funds, such as on December 5, 2007, the anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition.\n\nGravel did not compete in the initial 2008 vote, the Iowa caucuses, but was still subjected to a false report from MSNBC that he had pulled out of the race afterward. Gravel did focus his attention on the second 2008 vote, the New Hampshire primary. In early January, Mother Jones' investigative reporter James Ridgeway was filmed interviewing and following Gravel in New Hampshire, in which Gravel is interviewed on the phone by Neal Conan for NPR's, Talk of the Nation. He received about 400 votes out of some 280,000 cast in New Hampshire, or 0.14 percent, before taking time off to improve his health. He resumed campaigning, but fared no better in subsequent states. By the end of January 2008, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and Gravel were the only remaining Democrats from the initial debates still running; Gravel vowed to stay in the presidential campaign until November. On March 11, 2008, Gravel continued to remain in the Democratic race but additionally endorsed a Green Party candidate for president, Jesse Johnson, saying he wanted to help Johnson prevail against Green Party rivals Cynthia McKinney and Ralph Nader. By late March, Gravel had almost no fundraising and was only on the ballot in one of the next ten Democratic primaries.\n\nSwitch to Libertarian Party\n\nOn March 25, 2008, Gravel announced that he would leave the Democrats and join the Libertarian Party, saying: \"My libertarian views, as well as my strong stance against war, the military industrial complex and American imperialism, seem not to be tolerated by Democratic Party elites who are out of touch with the average American; elites that reject the empowerment of American citizens I offered to the Democratic Party at the beginning of this presidential campaign with the National Initiative for Democracy.\" The following day Gravel entered the race for the 2008 Libertarian presidential nomination, saying that he would have run as a third-party candidate all along except that he needed the public exposure that came from being in the earlier Democratic debates. Gravel's initial notion of running as a fusion candidate with other parties was met with skepticism.\n\nAs a Libertarian candidate, Gravel faced resistance to his past support of big government initiatives and his unorthodox positions around direct democracy. Nevertheless, he garnered more support than he had as a Democrat, placing second and third in two April 2008 straw polls. In the May 25 balloting at the 2008 Libertarian National Convention in Denver, Gravel finished fourth out of eight candidates on the initial ballot, with 71 votes out of a total 618; he trailed former Congressman and eventual winner Bob Barr, author Mary Ruwart, and businessman Wayne Allyn Root. Gravel's position did not subsequently improve and he was eliminated on the fourth ballot. Afterwards he stated that \"I just ended my political career,\" but he vowed to continue promoting his positions as a writer and lecturer.\n\n2008–early 2019\n\nIn June 2008 Gravel endorsed the NYC 9/11 Ballot Initiative, saying the measure would create a \"citizens commission rather than a government commission\" with subpoena power against top U.S. officials to \"make a true investigation as to what happened\" regarding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. He later said, \"Individuals in and out of government may certainly have participated with the obviously known perpetrators of this dastardly act. Suspicions abound over the analysis presented by government. Obviously an act that has triggered three wars, Afghan, Iraqi and the continuing War on Terror, should be extensively investigated which was not done and which the government avoids addressing.\"\n\nIn August 2008 Gravel was speaking to a crowd of supporters of Sami Al-Arian (who two years earlier had pleaded guilty and been sentenced to prison for a charge of conspiracy in helping Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a \"specially designated terrorist\" organization) when he was caught on tape saying of Al-Arian's prosecutor, \"Find out where he lives, find out where his kids go to school, find out where his office is: picket him all the time. Call him a racist in signs if you see him. Call him an injustice. Call him whatever you want to call him, but in his face all the time.\" Gravel was criticized for potentially involving the children of the prosecutor, and Al-Arian's family disavowed the sentiments.\n\nGravel defended Alaska Governor Sarah Palin after she was chosen as Republican presidential nominee John McCain's running mate in September 2008. He praised Palin's record in standing up to corruption among Alaskan Republicans, thought her national inexperience was an asset not a detriment, and predicted that the \"Troopergate\" investigation into whether she improperly fired a state official would \"come out in her favor\". Gravel made clear he would not support or vote for either McCain–Palin or Obama–Biden in the general election. The following year Gravel said that Palin's politics were \"terrible, but that doesn't detract from the fact that she's a very talented person\". He predicted that Palin would run for president in 2012 and that \"she's going to surprise a lot of people\". Palin did not run, but Gravel's prediction about \"TrooperGate\" was accurate as Palin was found not to have violated ethics laws.\n\nIn 2013, by the invitation of Hamed Ghashghavi, the secretary for international affairs of the 3rd International Conference on Hollywoodism in Tehran, Iran, Gravel attended that event as an Iranian government-organized anti-Hollywood conference. Gravel noted that the conference was attended by \"various elements of extremes\" but said it was necessary to discuss how the U.S. film industry portrayed Iran in order to prevent \"an insane war\" between the two nations.\n\nIn May 2013 Gravel was one of several former members of Congress to accept $20,000 from the Paradigm Research Group, an advocacy group for UFO disclosure, as part of holding what they termed a Citizen Hearing on Disclosure, modeled after congressional hearings, regarding supposed U.S. government suppression of evidence concerning UFOs. Gravel said, \"Something is monitoring the planet, and they are monitoring it very cautiously, because we are a very warlike planet,\" and, \"What we're faced with here is, in areas of the media, and the government too, an effort to marginalize and ridicule people who have specific knowledge.\"\n\nIn December 2014 Gravel was announced as the new CEO of KUSH, a company which makes marijuana-infused products for medicinal and recreational use, and a subsidiary of Cannabis Sativa, Inc. He also became an Independent Director of Cannabis Sativa.\n\nDuring the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries, Gravel praised Bernie Sanders and his campaign, saying \"Bernie is one of the most gifted politicians I have ever observed. He's a person of great integrity and very clever.\" Gravel predicted that Sanders would be elected president but would be unable to get his key reforms through Congress, and thus that Sanders and his supporters should back some of the proposals of the National Initiative.\n\nIn 2016, Gravel said in relation to the September 11 attacks: \"We killed 58,000 American servicemen in the Vietnam War and all they did was die in vain. What's so unusual about killing 3,000 more in order to develop the grist for the mill to empower into infinity the military industrial complex?\" and \"There's no question in my mind that 9/11 was an inside job\". The remarks were later disavowed by even Gravel supporters.\n\nBy 2019 Gravel was living in Seaside, California. He was working on a book, at the time titled Human Governance, about his principal idea for direct democracy, a U.S. Constitutional Amendment to create a \"Legislature of the People\" that would circumvent the existing Congress. The book was self-published at the end of the year by AuthorHouse under the title The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People.\n\n2020 presidential campaign\n\nOn March 19, 2019, Gravel announced that he was considering running in the 2020 Democratic primaries. He said, \"The goal will not be to win, but to bring a critique of American imperialism to the Democratic debate stage.\" An exploratory committee was formed, with filing a statement of organization with the Federal Election Commission on that same day. The filing was the idea of a group of teenagers, led by David Oks and Henry Williams, inspired by the podcast Chapo Trap House, and done with Gravel's consent (after a week spent convincing him of the idea's merits), but without his involvement. Intrigued by the group's commitment to amplifying his long-held policy goals, Gravel (who would be old on Inauguration Day in 2021) said he planned to meet with them in April, and to discuss a 2020 White House run with his wife. On April 2, 2019, Gravel filed to officially run for office. The campaign called itself the \"#Gravelanche\".\n\nGravel's initial stated goal was merely to qualify for debates by getting the required 65,000 small donors. He discouraged people from voting for him and said his preferences were Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard, both of whom favor a non-interventionist foreign policy. But on April 29, Gravel's campaign said he was running to win, not just to participate in debates. In a subsequent interview, though, Gravel emphasized the virtue of Sanders and Gabbard in some order as a presidential ticket. Statements like these caused Vox to call Gravel \"2020's oddest Democratic presidential candidate\". The New York Times Magazine included Gravel as an example in the rise of democratic socialism in the United States also exemplified by Sanders's 2016 race and the 2018 election of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: \"[Gravel's] campaign represents the most absurd form of a legitimate movement on the left that feels little obligation to the Democratic Party.\"\n\nIn June 2019, Gravel touted the endorsement of Muntadher al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who, in December 2008, made headlines after he threw his shoes at President George W. Bush in protest of the U.S. war in Iraq. Al-Zaidi endorsed Gravel based on his promise to improve White House policies regarding Iraq and the Middle East.\n\nOn June 13, 2019, the Democratic Party announced the 20 major candidates who qualified for the first debate later that month. Gravel was one of the four who missed out (the others were Montana Governor Steve Bullock, U.S. Representative Seth Moulton, and Miramar, Florida, Mayor Wayne Messam). Gravel had been unable to get the requisite number of donations, or to score one percent or better in enough polls (many polls did not even include him). Nevertheless, Gravel said he would not drop out and would try to qualify for the July debate. In early July, however, Gravel's campaign said it was still 10,000 contributions short of the 65,000-donor threshold and that it was \"nearing its conclusion\". It solicited suggestions for where to donate $100–150,000 of leftover campaign funds. Gravel added that he had always planned on ending the campaign before the teenagers in charge of it needed to return to school. A few days later the campaign became the first to run an attack ad against Democratic front-runner Joe Biden, using the text \"Is this the best our party has to offer?\"\n\nGravel's campaign crossed the threshold of 65,000 donors on July 12, 2019, meeting the qualification mark for that month's debate. But because 20 other candidates, the maximum allowed to participate, had already met at least the polling criterion, which takes priority over the donor criterion, Gravel was not invited.\n\nThe campaign officially came to a close on August 6, 2019, with Gravel endorsing both Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard for president. Gravel's campaign later stated on Twitter that they never wanted to win but saw the campaign as an \"intimately democratic\" project and expressed honor at working with Gravel. Gravel said he would divide remaining campaign funds between charity and a new think tank which would espouse his ideas.\n\nThe Gravel Institute \n\nGravel used some of the funds remaining from his 2020 presidential campaign to found an eponymous progressive think tank called The Gravel Institute in 2019. As noted by Vice magazine, the institute aims to do battle with PragerU from a left-wing perspective. Launched in September 2020, the new entity said it would \"carry on the life's work of former U.S Senator Mike Gravel in fighting for global peace and democracy. Its mission is to promote bold and forward-looking ideas about a more peaceful and egalitarian world, and to build a robust movement of young people to win it\". Contributors announced include Cornel West and Slavoj Žižek, as well as Lower Brule Indian Reservation activist Nick Estes. Other presenters have included and will include H. Jon Benjamin, Briahna Joy Gray, Bernie Sanders, Chelsea Manning, Richard Wolff, Stephanie Kelton, Zephyr Teachout, David Cross, Jabari Brisport, Zohran Mamdani, and Gravel himself (though it is unknown if his appearance will be cancelled due to his death in June 2021, or if the video has already been recorded).\n\nDeath\nGravel died of multiple myeloma at his home in Seaside, California, on June 26, 2021, at age 91.\n\nThe obituary for him in The New York Times stated that Gravel was \"a two-term Democratic senator from Alaska ... who was perhaps better known as an unabashed attention-getter\" who later become known for \"mounting long-shot presidential runs\". The obituary in The Washington Post was similar, saying that Gravel was \"an Alaska Democrat with a flair for the theatrical who rose from obscurity to brief renown\" and later \"ran quixotic campaigns for the presidency\". The Anchorage Daily News quoted Gravel as saying of himself in 1989, \"I'm an independent kind of guy. A rough and ready kind of guy. My glands work in a certain way that make me stand up, foolishly sometimes, and fight.\"\n\nPolitical positions\n\nAlan Abramowitz and Jeffrey Allan Segal described Gravel as \"a maverick, if not an eccentric, in the Senate.\" His Americans for Democratic Action \"Liberal Quotient\" scores ranged from 81 out of 100 (1971) to 39 out of 100 (1980), with an average of around 61. His American Conservative Union scores ranged from 0 out of 100 (several years, including 1971 and 1972) to 38 out of 100 (1979), with an average of 14. Abramowitz and Segal note that Gravel's lowest ADA ratings coincided with his two Senate re-election bids, and for the most part his highest ACU ratings followed the same pattern.\n\nIn 1972, as a young senator, Gravel published Citizen Power: A People's Platform, a manifesto outlining what Kirkus Reviews termed a \"populist reform [that] would provide 'balanced political power' between the people and government and business interests.\"\n\nCivil rights issues\nOn drug policy, Gravel said in 2007 that he favored decriminalization and treating addiction as a public health matter. During his 2008 presidential candidacy he condemned the War on Drugs as a failure, saying that it did \"nothing but savage our inner cities and put our children at risk\". Gravel called for abolition of capital punishment in his book Citizen Power, and adhered to this position during his 2008 run for president. He supported abortion rights.\n\nDuring the 2008 campaign Gravel was a strong supporter of LGBT rights. He supported same-sex marriage and opposed the Defense of Marriage Act and the U.S. military's \"don't ask, don't tell\" policy. He wrote in 2008 that \"depriving gays and lesbians of equal rights is immoral\".\n\nForeign policy and defense issues\nGravel was a critic of American imperialism.\n\nGravel firmly opposed U.S. military action against Iran and Syria. He voiced opposition to the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, the Military Commissions Act of 2006, the use of torture, indefinite detention, and what he called \"flagrant ignorance\" of the Geneva Convention. In 2014 Gravel called for the release of the full, unredacted Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture.\n\nGravel opposed the use of international sanctions as a policy tool and blamed the ones against Iraq under Saddam Hussein for the deaths of a half-million children in that country. In 2013 Gravel said that sanctions against Iran were \"illegal\".\n\nDuring his 2008 candidacy, Gravel called for a cut in military spending, variously reported to be 15 percent or 50 percent. He called for the savings to boost public education spending. To spur international nuclear nonproliferation efforts, Gravel called for unilateral reductions in the U.S. nuclear arsenal.\n\nIn 2008 Gravel criticized the decision of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to not pursue the efforts to impeach George W. Bush and the attempted impeachment of Dick Cheney, saying also that Bush and Cheney had committed crimes and deserved \"to be prosecuted\" at The Hague. In 2013 he expressed disdain for President Obama, calling him \"a total fraud\" and saying that both Bush and Obama should be tried \"for the crimes and murders they've committed\" in the International Court of Justice. Gravel specifically condemned Obama for the drone strikes in Pakistan and elsewhere.\n\nEconomy, immigration, and environment\nDuring his 2008 candidacy Gravel favored a FairTax scheme, which would abolish the Internal Revenue Service, eliminate the federal income tax (which Gravel called \"corrupt\"), and impose a national sales tax. While Gravel described FairTax as \"progressive\", others have criticized it as \"regressive\", disproportionately benefiting the wealthiest Americans. To offset the new sales taxes on essential goods, Gravel's plan called for monthly government rebate payments to individuals and families. During his 2020 campaign Gravel also voiced support for a third legislative body that would give the people direct control of the budget as well as the implementation of a land value tax.\n\nGravel opposed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) during his 2008 candidacy, calling it unfair and economically harmful and needing renegotiation. Gravel believed that NAFTA was the \"root cause\" of illegal migration to the U.S. He favored a guest worker program and \"setting up naturalization procedures that would fairly bring immigrants into legal status\". In a 2007 interview, Gravel identified himself as \"very much of a globalist\" who believed in open markets and open borders and condemned the scapegoating of undocumented immigrants. Gravel also said that he favored eliminating the cap on H1B visas.\n\nAs a senator from Alaska, Gravel favored drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but opposed it during his 2008 campaign. In 2008, Gravel supported a carbon tax to combat climate change.\n\nGravel spoke in favor of net neutrality during his presidential campaign.\n\nEducation and health care\nGravel called for the cost of college tuition to be borne by the federal government, rather than students. In his 2008 campaign, he called the No Child Left Behind Act \"a failure\" and called for it to be \"reformed and fully funded\". He expressed support for universal pre-kindergarten and the expansion of the Head Start program; and expressed an openness to charter schools and school vouchers. He also suggested extending the school day and the school year, and supported merit pay for teachers.\n\nGravel also called for publicly funded universal health care to replace the current employer-sponsored health insurance system. He supported \"full funding\" of the VA system. When asked in 2007 about naturopathy, homeopathy, and acupuncture, Gravel said that he was \"very very much in favor\" of holistic health care.\n\nAwards and honors\nIn 2008 Gravel received the Columbia University School of General Studies' first annual Isaac Asimov Lifetime Achievement Award.\n\nElectoral history\n\nWritings\n Gravel, Mike. Jobs and More Jobs. Mt. McKinley Publishers, 1968.\n Gravel, Mike. Citizen Power: A People's Platform. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1972. .\n revised and reissued as Citizen Power: A Mandate for Change, AuthorHouse, 2008. .\n Gravel, Mike and Lauria, Joe. A Political Odyssey: The Rise of American Militarism and One Man's Fight to Stop It. Seven Stories Press, 2008. .\n Gravel, Mike and Eisenbach, David. The Kingmakers: How the Media Threatens Our Security and Our Democracy. Phoenix Books, 2008. .\n Gravel, Mike. Voice of a Maverick: The Speeches and Writings of Senator Mike Gravel. Brandywine House, 2008.\n Gravel, Mike. Foreword to Poisoned Power: The Case Against Nuclear Power Plants. John W. Goffman & Arthur R. Tamplin, Rodale Press, Inc., Emmaus, PA, June 1971.\n Gravel, Mike. The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People. AuthorHouse, 2020.\n\nExplanatory notes\n\nReferences\n\nCitations\n\nGeneral references \n The Pentagon Papers Senator Gravel Edition. Vol. Five: Critical Essays. Boston: Beacon Press, 1972. 341p. plus 72p. of Index to Vol. I–IV of the Papers; Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, editors.\n\nExternal links\n\n Mike Gravel official website\n \n \n \n The Gravel Institute\n\n|-\n\n|-\n\n \n1930 births\n2021 deaths\n1972 United States vice-presidential candidates\n20th-century American male writers\n20th-century American non-fiction writers\n20th-century American politicians\n20th-century Roman Catholics\n20th-century Unitarians\n21st-century American male writers\n21st-century American non-fiction writers\n21st-century American politicians\n21st-century Unitarians\n9/11 conspiracy theorists\nAlaska Democrats\nAmerican International College alumni\nAmerican Unitarian Universalists\nAmerican anti–Iraq War activists\nAmerican conspiracy theorists\nAmerican democracy activists\nAmerican male non-fiction writers\nAmerican people of French-Canadian descent\nAmerican political writers\nAmerican real estate businesspeople\nAmerican stockbrokers\nAnti-corporate activists\nAssumption University (Worcester) alumni\nBurials at Arlington National Cemetery\nBusinesspeople from Anchorage, Alaska\nBusinesspeople from Springfield, Massachusetts\nCalifornia Democrats\nCandidates in the 2008 United States presidential election\nCandidates in the 2020 United States presidential election\nColumbia University School of General Studies alumni\nDeaths from cancer in California\nDeaths from multiple myeloma\nDemocratic Party United States senators\nDirect democracy activists\nDrug policy reform activists\nFormer Roman Catholics\nVirginia Libertarians\nMembers of the Alaska House of Representatives\nMilitary personnel from Massachusetts\nNon-interventionism\nPeople from Arlington County, Virginia\nPeople from Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska\nPeople with dyslexia\nPoliticians from Anchorage, Alaska\nPoliticians from Springfield, Massachusetts\nSpeakers of the Alaska House of Representatives\nUnited States Army officers\nUnited States senators from Alaska\nWriters about direct democracy\nWriters from Anchorage, Alaska"},"extractive":{"kind":"string","value":"true"},"retrieved_contexts":{"kind":"list like","value":["Stuart A. Reiss (July 15, 1921 – December 21, 2014) was an American set decorator. He won two Academy Awards and was nominated for four more in the category Best Art Direction. He worked on more than 100 films from 1947 to 1986.\n\nSelected filmography\nReiss won two Academy Awards for Best Art Direction and was nominated for four more:\n\nWon\n The Diary of Anne Frank (1959)\n Fantastic Voyage (1966)\n\nNominated\n Titanic (1953)\n Teenage Rebel (1956)\n What a Way to Go! (1964)\n Doctor Dolittle (1967)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n \n\n1921 births\n2014 deaths\nAmerican set decorators\nBest Art Direction Academy Award winners\nArtists from Chicago","\"Just What I Do\" is a song recorded by American country music group Trick Pony. It was released in January 2002 as the third single from their debut album Trick Pony. The song was written by group members Keith Burns and Ira Dean, with Burns taking lead vocals.\n\nThe song was nominated for a 2003 Grammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. It was also nominated for Single Record of the Year at the 2003 Academy of Country Music awards while the video was nominated for Music Video of the Year.\n\nMusic video\nThe music video was directed by Peter Zavadil and premiered in April 2002.\n\nChart performance\n\"Just What I Do\" debuted at number 55 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart for the week of January 19, 2002.\n\nYear-end charts\n\nReferences\n\n2002 singles\n2001 songs\nTrick Pony songs\nWarner Records singles\nMusic videos directed by Peter Zavadil"],"string":"[\n \"Stuart A. Reiss (July 15, 1921 – December 21, 2014) was an American set decorator. He won two Academy Awards and was nominated for four more in the category Best Art Direction. He worked on more than 100 films from 1947 to 1986.\\n\\nSelected filmography\\nReiss won two Academy Awards for Best Art Direction and was nominated for four more:\\n\\nWon\\n The Diary of Anne Frank (1959)\\n Fantastic Voyage (1966)\\n\\nNominated\\n Titanic (1953)\\n Teenage Rebel (1956)\\n What a Way to Go! (1964)\\n Doctor Dolittle (1967)\\n\\nReferences\\n\\nExternal links\\n \\n \\n\\n1921 births\\n2014 deaths\\nAmerican set decorators\\nBest Art Direction Academy Award winners\\nArtists from Chicago\",\n \"\\\"Just What I Do\\\" is a song recorded by American country music group Trick Pony. It was released in January 2002 as the third single from their debut album Trick Pony. The song was written by group members Keith Burns and Ira Dean, with Burns taking lead vocals.\\n\\nThe song was nominated for a 2003 Grammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. It was also nominated for Single Record of the Year at the 2003 Academy of Country Music awards while the video was nominated for Music Video of the Year.\\n\\nMusic video\\nThe music video was directed by Peter Zavadil and premiered in April 2002.\\n\\nChart performance\\n\\\"Just What I Do\\\" debuted at number 55 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart for the week of January 19, 2002.\\n\\nYear-end charts\\n\\nReferences\\n\\n2002 singles\\n2001 songs\\nTrick Pony songs\\nWarner Records singles\\nMusic videos directed by Peter Zavadil\"\n]"},"chunked_article":{"kind":"list like","value":["Maurice Robert Gravel ( ; May 13, 1930 – June 26, 2021) was an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Alaska from 1969 to 1981 as a member of the Democratic Party, and who, in later life, twice ran for the presidential nomination of that party. Born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, by French-Canadian immigrant parents, Gravel moved to Alaska in the late 1950s, becoming a real estate developer and entering politics.","Born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, by French-Canadian immigrant parents, Gravel moved to Alaska in the late 1950s, becoming a real estate developer and entering politics. He served in the Alaska House of Representatives from 1963 to 1967, and also became Speaker of the Alaska House. Gravel was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1968.","Gravel was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1968. Gravel was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1968. As a senator, Gravel became nationally known for his forceful, but unsuccessful, attempts to end the draft during the War in Vietnam, and for putting the Pentagon Papers into the public record in 1971. He conducted a campaign for the Democratic nomination in 1972 for Vice President of the United States, and then played a crucial role in obtaining Congressional approval for the Trans-Alaska pipeline in 1973.","He conducted a campaign for the Democratic nomination in 1972 for Vice President of the United States, and then played a crucial role in obtaining Congressional approval for the Trans-Alaska pipeline in 1973. He was re-elected to the Senate in 1974, but was defeated in his bid for a third term in the primary election in 1980. An advocate of direct democracy and the National Initiative, Gravel staged a run for the 2008 Democratic nomination for President of the United States.","An advocate of direct democracy and the National Initiative, Gravel staged a run for the 2008 Democratic nomination for President of the United States. His campaign failed to gain support, and in March 2008, he left the Democratic Party and joined the Libertarian Party to compete unsuccessfully for its presidential nomination and the inclusion of the National Initiative into the Libertarian Platform. He ran for president as a Democrat again in the 2020 election, in a campaign that ended four months after it began.","He ran for president as a Democrat again in the 2020 election, in a campaign that ended four months after it began. Two years before his death, Gravel and his campaign staff founded the progressive think tank The Gravel Institute. Early life, military service, education Gravel was born on May 13, 1930, in Springfield, Massachusetts, one of five children of French-Canadian immigrant parents, Alphonse and Marie (née Bourassa) Gravel.","Early life, military service, education Gravel was born on May 13, 1930, in Springfield, Massachusetts, one of five children of French-Canadian immigrant parents, Alphonse and Marie (née Bourassa) Gravel. His parents were part of the Quebec diaspora, and he was raised in a working-class neighborhood during the Great Depression, speaking only French until he was seven years old. Calling him \"Mike\" from an early age, his father valued work above all else, while his mother stressed the importance of education.","Calling him \"Mike\" from an early age, his father valued work above all else, while his mother stressed the importance of education. Gravel was educated in parochial schools as a Roman Catholic. There he struggled, due to what he later said was undiagnosed dyslexia, and was left back in third grade. He completed elementary school in 1945 and his class voted him \"most charming personality\".","He completed elementary school in 1945 and his class voted him \"most charming personality\". A summer job as a soda jerk led to Gravel handing out campaign fliers for local candidates on his boss's behalf; Gravel was immediately impressed with \"the awesomeness of political office\". Gravel then boarded at Assumption Preparatory School in Worcester, Massachusetts, where his performance was initially mediocre.","Gravel then boarded at Assumption Preparatory School in Worcester, Massachusetts, where his performance was initially mediocre. By Gravel's telling, in the summer of 1948 he intended to volunteer for the Israel Defense Forces during the 1947–1949 Palestine war, but Alexandra Tolstaya told him to return to school. There an English teacher, the Assumptionist Edgar Bourque, gave him personal attention, improving Gravel's language skills and instructing him in public speaking. Gravel's grades improved measurably in his final year and he graduated in 1949.","Gravel's grades improved measurably in his final year and he graduated in 1949. His sister, Marguerite, became a Holy Cross nun, but Gravel himself struggled with the Catholic faith. He studied for one year at Assumption College, a Catholic school in Worcester, then transferred for his sophomore year to American International College in Springfield. Journalist I. F. Stone and philosopher Bertrand Russell strongly influenced Gravel in their willingness to challenge assumptions and oppose social convention and political authority.","Journalist I. F. Stone and philosopher Bertrand Russell strongly influenced Gravel in their willingness to challenge assumptions and oppose social convention and political authority. Around May 1951, Gravel saw that he was about to be drafted and instead enlisted in the U.S. Army for a three-year term so that he could get into the Counterintelligence Corps. After basic training and counterintelligence school at Fort Holabird in Maryland and in South Carolina, he went to Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia.","After basic training and counterintelligence school at Fort Holabird in Maryland and in South Carolina, he went to Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia. While he expected to be sent off to the Korean War when he graduated as a second lieutenant in early 1952, he was instead assigned to Stuttgart, West Germany, as a Special Adjutant in the Army's Communications Intelligence Service. In Germany, Gravel conducted surveillance operations on civilians and paid off spies.","In Germany, Gravel conducted surveillance operations on civilians and paid off spies. After about a year, he transferred to Orléans, France, where his French language abilities (if not his French-Canadian accent) allowed him to infiltrate French communist rallies. He worked as a Special Agent in the Counterintelligence Corps until 1954, eventually becoming a first lieutenant. Following his discharge, Gravel entered the Columbia University School of General Studies in New York City, where he studied economics and received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1956.","Following his discharge, Gravel entered the Columbia University School of General Studies in New York City, where he studied economics and received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1956. He moved to New York \"flat broke\" and supported himself by working as a bar boy in a hotel, driving a taxicab, and working in the investment bond department at Bankers Trust. During this time he left the Roman Catholic faith.","During this time he left the Roman Catholic faith. During this time he left the Roman Catholic faith. Move to Alaska Gravel \"decided to become a pioneer in a faraway place,\" and moved to pre-statehood Alaska in August 1956, without funds or a job, looking for a place where someone without social or political connections could be a viable candidate for public office.","Move to Alaska Gravel \"decided to become a pioneer in a faraway place,\" and moved to pre-statehood Alaska in August 1956, without funds or a job, looking for a place where someone without social or political connections could be a viable candidate for public office. Alaska's voting age of 19, less than most other states' 21, played a role in his decision, as did its newness and cooler climate. Broke when he arrived, he immediately found work in real estate sales until winter arrived.","Broke when he arrived, he immediately found work in real estate sales until winter arrived. Gravel then was employed as a brakeman for the Alaska Railroad, working the snow-clearing train on the Anchorage-to-Fairbanks run. Subsequently, he opened a small real estate brokerage in Anchorage (the Territory of Alaska not requiring a license) and saved enough so as not to have to work the railroad again. The firm was named the M. R. Gravel Real Estate Company.","The firm was named the M. R. Gravel Real Estate Company. Gravel joined the Anchorage Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, and continued a sporadic relationship with the movement throughout his life. Seeing Alaska as a wide-open place with no political establishment or entrenched interests, Gravel quickly became part of the civic scene there. By October 1957 he was a Division Chairman for Anchorage for the Democratic Central Committee in the territory, and by June 1958 he was president of the Alaska Young Democrats organization.","By October 1957 he was a Division Chairman for Anchorage for the Democratic Central Committee in the territory, and by June 1958 he was president of the Alaska Young Democrats organization. He also became active in the United States Junior Chamber (Jaycees), and by early 1958 his duties included handing out awards for farmer of the year. By early 1958, Gravel was running as Democratic Party primary candidate for a Third Division seat in House of Representative of the territorial legislature.","By early 1958, Gravel was running as Democratic Party primary candidate for a Third Division seat in House of Representative of the territorial legislature. (This was one of the four judicial divisions into which Alaska was sectioned at the time.) Using the slogan \"Gravel, the Roadbed to Prosperity\", he ran but lost. At the same time, he was also an advocate for Alaskan statehood.","At the same time, he was also an advocate for Alaskan statehood. Gravel went on a 44-state national speaking tour concerning tax reform in 1959, sponsored by the Jaycees, often dressing for events as Paul Revere. Gravel was selected from some two thousand applications for this position. The tour received a good amount of local newspaper coverage at its various stops, with Gravel's first name sometimes given as Mike and other times as Maurice.","The tour received a good amount of local newspaper coverage at its various stops, with Gravel's first name sometimes given as Mike and other times as Maurice. The tour's general message was an urging of \"lower taxes, more efficiency in government and a system of taxation moderate at all levels of income\". At several stops Gravel stated that the \"tide of socialism\" had to be stopped.","At several stops Gravel stated that the \"tide of socialism\" had to be stopped. He elaborated at another stop, \"It is part of our Jaycee creed that economic justice can best be won by free men through free enterprise. We really want to see that free enterprise become our inheritance.\"","We really want to see that free enterprise become our inheritance.\" The tour was scheduled to conclude in Washington D.C., on Tax Day, April 15, with petition signatures accumulated for reform to be presented to U.S. lawmakers: dressed as Revere, Gravel rode with the petition to the steps of the U.S. Capitol. The tour over, Gravel married Rita Jeannette Martin at the First Methodist Church of Anchorage on April 29, 1959.","The tour over, Gravel married Rita Jeannette Martin at the First Methodist Church of Anchorage on April 29, 1959. She was a native of Montana who had attended Billings Business College before moving to Alaska two years prior and becoming a secretary in the office of the Anchorage city manager. She had also been named Anchorage's \"Miss Fur Rendezvous\" of 1958. They had two children, Martin Anthony Gravel and Lynne Denise Gravel, born c. 1960 and 1962 respectively.","They had two children, Martin Anthony Gravel and Lynne Denise Gravel, born c. 1960 and 1962 respectively. Gravel ran without avail for the City Council in Anchorage in 1960. During this time, he had become a successful real estate agent; after the 1960 election, he became a property developer in a mobile home park on the outskirts of Anchorage. After a partner ran into financial difficulty, however, the project went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and Gravel was forced out in 1962.","After a partner ran into financial difficulty, however, the project went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and Gravel was forced out in 1962. State legislator With the support of Alaska wholesale grocer Barney Gottstein and supermarket builder Larry Carr, Gravel ran for the Alaska House of Representatives representing Anchorage in 1962, initially assigned the 10th and then 8th districts.","State legislator With the support of Alaska wholesale grocer Barney Gottstein and supermarket builder Larry Carr, Gravel ran for the Alaska House of Representatives representing Anchorage in 1962, initially assigned the 10th and then 8th districts. Alaska had very crowded primaries that year: Gravel was one of 33 Democrats, along with 21 Republicans, who were running for the chance to compete for the 14 House seats allocated to the 8th district.","Alaska had very crowded primaries that year: Gravel was one of 33 Democrats, along with 21 Republicans, who were running for the chance to compete for the 14 House seats allocated to the 8th district. Gravel made it through the primary, and in November eight Republicans and six Democrats were elected to the House from the district, with Gravel finishing eighth overall and third among with Democrats, with 8,174 votes. Gottstein became Gravel's main financial backer during most of his subsequent campaigns.","Gottstein became Gravel's main financial backer during most of his subsequent campaigns. Gravel served in the Alaska House of Representatives from January 28, 1963 to January 22, 1967, winning reelection in 1964. In his first term, he served as a minority member on two House committees: Commerce, and Labor and Management. He co-authored and sponsored the act that created the Alaska State Commission for Human Rights.","He co-authored and sponsored the act that created the Alaska State Commission for Human Rights. Gravel was the chief architect of the law that created a regional high school system for rural Alaska; this allowed Alaska Natives to attend schools near where they lived instead of having to go to schools run by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the lower 48 states. During the half-years that the legislature was not in session, Gravel resumed his real estate work.","During the half-years that the legislature was not in session, Gravel resumed his real estate work. With Gottstein and Carr's backing, he became quite successful as a property developer on the Kenai Peninsula. During 1965 and 1966, he served as the Speaker of the House, surprising observers by winning that post. Gravel convinced former Speaker Warren A. Taylor to not try for the position against him by promising Taylor chairmanship of the Rules Committee, then reneged on the promise.","Gravel convinced former Speaker Warren A. Taylor to not try for the position against him by promising Taylor chairmanship of the Rules Committee, then reneged on the promise. Gravel denied later press charges that he had promised but not delivered on other committee chairmanships. As Speaker he antagonized fellow lawmakers by imposing his will on the legislature's committees and feuded with Alaska State Senate president Robert J. McNealy.","As Speaker he antagonized fellow lawmakers by imposing his will on the legislature's committees and feuded with Alaska State Senate president Robert J. McNealy. Gravel did not run for reelection in 1966, instead choosing to run for Alaska's seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, losing the primary to four-term incumbent Democrat Ralph Rivers by 1,300 votes and splitting the Democratic Party in the process. Rivers lost the general election that year to Republican state Senator Howard Pollock. Following this defeat, Gravel returned to the real estate business in Anchorage.","Following this defeat, Gravel returned to the real estate business in Anchorage. U.S. Senator Election to Senate in 1968 In 1968, Gravel ran against 81-year-old incumbent Democratic United States Senator Ernest Gruening, a popular former governor of the Alaska Territory who was considered one of the fathers of Alaska's statehood, for his party's nomination to the U.S. Senate. Gravel's campaign was primarily based on his youth and telegenic appearance rather than issue differences. He hired Joseph Napolitan, the first self-described political consultant, in late 1966.","He hired Joseph Napolitan, the first self-described political consultant, in late 1966. They spent over a year and a half planning a short, nine-day primary election campaign that featured the slogans \"Alaska first\" and \"Let's do something about the state we're in\", the distribution of a collection of essays titled Jobs and More Jobs, and the creation of a half-hour, well-produced, glamorized biographical film of Gravel, Man for Alaska.","They spent over a year and a half planning a short, nine-day primary election campaign that featured the slogans \"Alaska first\" and \"Let's do something about the state we're in\", the distribution of a collection of essays titled Jobs and More Jobs, and the creation of a half-hour, well-produced, glamorized biographical film of Gravel, Man for Alaska. The film was shown twice a day on every television station in Alaska, and carried by plane and shown on home projectors in hundreds of Alaska Native villages.","The film was shown twice a day on every television station in Alaska, and carried by plane and shown on home projectors in hundreds of Alaska Native villages. The heavy showings quickly reversed a 2–to–1 Gruening lead in polls into a Gravel lead. Gravel visited many remote villages by seaplane and showed a thorough understanding of the needs of the bush country and the fishing and oil industries. Gravel also benefited from maintaining a deliberately ambiguous posture about Vietnam policy.","Gravel also benefited from maintaining a deliberately ambiguous posture about Vietnam policy. Gruening had been one of only two Senators to vote against the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and his opposition to President Lyndon B. Johnson's war policies was harming him among the Democratic electorate; according to Gravel, \"all I had to do was stand up and not deal with the subject, and people would assume that I was to the right of Ernest Gruening, when in point of fact I was to the left of him\".","Gruening had been one of only two Senators to vote against the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and his opposition to President Lyndon B. Johnson's war policies was harming him among the Democratic electorate; according to Gravel, \"all I had to do was stand up and not deal with the subject, and people would assume that I was to the right of Ernest Gruening, when in point of fact I was to the left of him\". In Man for Alaska, Gravel argued that \"the liberals\" would come to West Germany's defense if it was attacked, and that the same standard should apply to the United States' allies in Asia.","In Man for Alaska, Gravel argued that \"the liberals\" would come to West Germany's defense if it was attacked, and that the same standard should apply to the United States' allies in Asia. During the campaign he also claimed that he was \"more in the mainstream of American thought on Vietnam\" than Gruening, despite the fact that he had written to Gruening to praise his antiwar stance four years earlier.","During the campaign he also claimed that he was \"more in the mainstream of American thought on Vietnam\" than Gruening, despite the fact that he had written to Gruening to praise his antiwar stance four years earlier. Decades later, Gravel conceded that \"I said what I said [about Vietnam] to advance my career.\" Gravel beat Gruening in the primary by about 2,000 votes. Gruening found \"the unexpected defeat hard to take\" and thought that some aspects of his opponent's biographical film had misled viewers.","Gruening found \"the unexpected defeat hard to take\" and thought that some aspects of his opponent's biographical film had misled viewers. In the general election, Gravel faced Republican Elmer E. Rasmuson, a banker and former mayor of Anchorage. College students in the state implored Gruening to run a write-in campaign as an Independent, but legal battles prevented him from getting approval for it until only two weeks were left.","College students in the state implored Gruening to run a write-in campaign as an Independent, but legal battles prevented him from getting approval for it until only two weeks were left. A late appearance by anti-war presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy did not offset Gruening's lack of funds and endorsements; meanwhile, Gravel and Rasmuson both saturated local media with their filmed biographies. On November 5, 1968, Gravel won the general election with 45 percent of the vote to Rasmuson's 37 percent and Gruening's 18 percent.","On November 5, 1968, Gravel won the general election with 45 percent of the vote to Rasmuson's 37 percent and Gruening's 18 percent. Senate assignments and style When Gravel joined the U.S.Senate in January 1969, he requested and received a seat on the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee, which had direct relevance to Alaskan issues. He also got a spot on the Public Works Committee, which he held throughout his time in the Senate. Finally, he was a member of the Select Committee on Small Business.","Finally, he was a member of the Select Committee on Small Business. In 1971 he became chair of the Public Works Committee's Subcommittee on Public Buildings and Grounds, and by 1973 he was chair of its Subcommittee on Water Resources, then later its Subcommittee on Environmental Pollution. Gravel was also initially named to the Joint Committee on Congressional Operations.","Gravel was also initially named to the Joint Committee on Congressional Operations. By 1973 Gravel was off the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee and the Select Small Business Committee and instead a member of the Finance Committee, and by 1977 was chair of that body's Subcommittee on Energy and Foundations. By 1973 he had also been on the ad hoc Special Committee to Study Secret and Confidential Government Documents.","By 1973 he had also been on the ad hoc Special Committee to Study Secret and Confidential Government Documents. By his own admission, Gravel was too new and \"too abrasive\" to be effective in the Senate by the usual means of seniority-based committee assignments or negotiating deals with other senators, and was sometimes seen as arrogant or a nuisance by the more senior and tradition-oriented members. Gravel relied on attention-getting gestures to achieve what he wanted, hoping national exposure would force other senators to listen to him.","Gravel relied on attention-getting gestures to achieve what he wanted, hoping national exposure would force other senators to listen to him. But even senators who agreed with him on issues considered his methods to be showboating. As part of this approach, Gravel voted with Southern Democrats to keep the Senate filibuster rule in place, and accordingly supported Russell Long and Robert Byrd but opposed Ted Kennedy in Senate leadership battles.","As part of this approach, Gravel voted with Southern Democrats to keep the Senate filibuster rule in place, and accordingly supported Russell Long and Robert Byrd but opposed Ted Kennedy in Senate leadership battles. In retrospective assessment, University of Alaska Anchorage history professor Stephen Haycox said, \"Loose cannon is a good description of Gravel's Senate career. He was an off-the-wall guy, and you weren't really ever sure what he would do.\"","He was an off-the-wall guy, and you weren't really ever sure what he would do.\" Nuclear issues and the Cold War In the late 1960s and early 1970s the U.S. Department of Defense was in the process of performing tests for the nuclear warhead for the Spartan anti-ballistic missile. Two tests, the \"Milrow\" and \"Cannikin\" tests, were planned, involving the detonation of nuclear bombs under Amchitka Island in Alaska.","Two tests, the \"Milrow\" and \"Cannikin\" tests, were planned, involving the detonation of nuclear bombs under Amchitka Island in Alaska. The Milrow test would be a one-megaton calibration exercise for the second and larger five-megaton Cannikin test, which would measure the effectiveness of the warhead. Gravel opposed the tests.","Gravel opposed the tests. Gravel opposed the tests. Before the Milrow test took place in October 1969, he wrote that there were significant risks of earthquakes and other adverse consequences and called for an independent national commission on nuclear and seismic safety; he then made a personal appeal to President Richard Nixon to stop the test. After Milrow was conducted, there was continued pressure on the part of environmental groups against going forward with the Cannikin test, while the Federation of American Scientists claimed that the warhead being tested was already obsolete.","After Milrow was conducted, there was continued pressure on the part of environmental groups against going forward with the Cannikin test, while the Federation of American Scientists claimed that the warhead being tested was already obsolete. In May 1971 Gravel sent a letter to U.S. Atomic Energy Commission hearings held in Anchorage in which he said the risk of the test was not worth taking.","In May 1971 Gravel sent a letter to U.S. Atomic Energy Commission hearings held in Anchorage in which he said the risk of the test was not worth taking. Eventually a group not involving Gravel took the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to issue an injunction against it, and the Cannikin test took place as scheduled in November 1971. Gravel had failed to stop the tests (notwithstanding his later claims during his 2008 presidential campaign).","Gravel had failed to stop the tests (notwithstanding his later claims during his 2008 presidential campaign). In 1971 Gravel voted against the Nixon administration's proposed anti-ballistic missile system, the Safeguard Program, having previously vacillated over the issue, suggesting that he might be willing to support it in exchange for federal lands in Alaska being opened up for private oil drilling. His vote alienated Senator Henry \"Scoop\" Jackson, who had raised funds for Gravel's primary campaign.","His vote alienated Senator Henry \"Scoop\" Jackson, who had raised funds for Gravel's primary campaign. Nuclear power was considered an environmentally clean alternative for commercial generation of electricity and was part of a popular national policy for the peaceful use of atomic energy in the 1950s and 1960s.","Nuclear power was considered an environmentally clean alternative for commercial generation of electricity and was part of a popular national policy for the peaceful use of atomic energy in the 1950s and 1960s. Gravel publicly opposed this policy; besides the dangers of nuclear testing, he was a vocal critic of the Atomic Energy Commission, which oversaw American nuclear efforts, and of the powerful United States Congress Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, which had a stranglehold on nuclear policy and which Gravel tried to circumvent.","Gravel publicly opposed this policy; besides the dangers of nuclear testing, he was a vocal critic of the Atomic Energy Commission, which oversaw American nuclear efforts, and of the powerful United States Congress Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, which had a stranglehold on nuclear policy and which Gravel tried to circumvent. In 1971 Gravel sponsored a bill to impose a moratorium on nuclear power plant construction and to make power utilities liable for any nuclear accidents; in 1975 he was still proposing similar moratoriums.","In 1971 Gravel sponsored a bill to impose a moratorium on nuclear power plant construction and to make power utilities liable for any nuclear accidents; in 1975 he was still proposing similar moratoriums. By 1974 Gravel was allied with Ralph Nader's organization in opposing nuclear power. Six months before U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's July 1971 secret mission to the People's Republic of China (P.R.C. ), Gravel introduced legislation to recognize and normalize relations with the P.R.C., including a proposal for unity talks between the P.R.C.","), Gravel introduced legislation to recognize and normalize relations with the P.R.C., including a proposal for unity talks between the P.R.C. and the Republic of China (Taiwan) regarding the Chinese seat on the U.N. Security Council. He reiterated his position in favor of recognition, with four other senators in agreement, during Senate hearings in June 1971.","He reiterated his position in favor of recognition, with four other senators in agreement, during Senate hearings in June 1971. Vietnam War, the draft, and the Pentagon Papers Although he did not campaign against the Vietnam War during his first Senate campaign, by the end of 1970 Gravel was speaking out against United States policy in southeast Asia: in December of that year he persuaded William Fulbright to join him in a spontaneous two-day filibuster against a $155 million military aid package to Cambodia's Khmer Republic government in the Cambodian Civil War.","Vietnam War, the draft, and the Pentagon Papers Although he did not campaign against the Vietnam War during his first Senate campaign, by the end of 1970 Gravel was speaking out against United States policy in southeast Asia: in December of that year he persuaded William Fulbright to join him in a spontaneous two-day filibuster against a $155 million military aid package to Cambodia's Khmer Republic government in the Cambodian Civil War. President Richard Nixon had campaigned in 1968 on a promise to end the U.S. military draft, a decision endorsed by the February 1970 report of the Gates Commission.","President Richard Nixon had campaigned in 1968 on a promise to end the U.S. military draft, a decision endorsed by the February 1970 report of the Gates Commission. The existing draft law was scheduled to conclude at the end of June 1971, and the Senate faced a contentious debate about whether to extend it as the Vietnam War continued.","The existing draft law was scheduled to conclude at the end of June 1971, and the Senate faced a contentious debate about whether to extend it as the Vietnam War continued. The Nixon administration announced in February 1971 that it wanted a two-year extension to June 1973, after which the draft would end; Army planners had already been operating under the assumption of a two-year extension, after which an all-volunteer force would be in place.","The Nixon administration announced in February 1971 that it wanted a two-year extension to June 1973, after which the draft would end; Army planners had already been operating under the assumption of a two-year extension, after which an all-volunteer force would be in place. Skeptics such as Senate Armed Services Committee chairman John Stennis thought this unrealistic and wanted a four-year extension, but the two-year proposal is what went forward in Congress.","Skeptics such as Senate Armed Services Committee chairman John Stennis thought this unrealistic and wanted a four-year extension, but the two-year proposal is what went forward in Congress. By early May 1971, Gravel had indicated his intention to filibuster the draft renewal legislation, halting conscription and thereby bringing U.S. involvement in the war to a rapid end.","By early May 1971, Gravel had indicated his intention to filibuster the draft renewal legislation, halting conscription and thereby bringing U.S. involvement in the war to a rapid end. During this period he also supported efforts to mobilize and influence public opinion against the war, endorsing the \"Vietnam War Out Now\" rallies in Washington D.C. and San Francisco on April 24, 1971, and financing a broadcast campaign by the antiwar group War No More with a personal loan.","During this period he also supported efforts to mobilize and influence public opinion against the war, endorsing the \"Vietnam War Out Now\" rallies in Washington D.C. and San Francisco on April 24, 1971, and financing a broadcast campaign by the antiwar group War No More with a personal loan. In June 1972 he escorted a group of over 100 antiwar protesters, including psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton, actress Candice Bergen, theater producer and director Joseph Papp, and peditrician Dr. Benjamin Spock, into the United States Capitol Building; the group was arrested after blocking a hallway outside the Senate chamber.","In June 1972 he escorted a group of over 100 antiwar protesters, including psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton, actress Candice Bergen, theater producer and director Joseph Papp, and peditrician Dr. Benjamin Spock, into the United States Capitol Building; the group was arrested after blocking a hallway outside the Senate chamber. By June 1971, some Democratic senators opposed to the war wanted to limit the renewal to a one-year extension, while others wanted to end it immediately; Gravel reiterated that he was one of the latter, saying, \"It's a senseless war, and one way to do away with it is to do away with the draft.\"","By June 1971, some Democratic senators opposed to the war wanted to limit the renewal to a one-year extension, while others wanted to end it immediately; Gravel reiterated that he was one of the latter, saying, \"It's a senseless war, and one way to do away with it is to do away with the draft.\" A Senate vote on June 4 indicated majority support for the two-year extension.","A Senate vote on June 4 indicated majority support for the two-year extension. On June 18 Gravel announced again his intention to counteract that by filibustering the renewal legislation, defending the practice against those who associated it only with blocking civil rights legislation. The first filibuster attempt failed on June 23 when, by three votes, the Senate voted cloture for only the fifth time since 1927.","The first filibuster attempt failed on June 23 when, by three votes, the Senate voted cloture for only the fifth time since 1927. Protracted negotiations took place over House conference negotiations on the bill, revolving in large part around Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield's eventually unsuccessful amendment to tie renewal to a troop withdrawal timetable from Vietnam; during this time the draft law expired and no more were conscripted.","Protracted negotiations took place over House conference negotiations on the bill, revolving in large part around Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield's eventually unsuccessful amendment to tie renewal to a troop withdrawal timetable from Vietnam; during this time the draft law expired and no more were conscripted. On August 5, the Nixon administration pleaded for a renewal before the Senate went on recess, but Gravel blocked Stennis's attempt to limit debate, and no vote was held.","On August 5, the Nixon administration pleaded for a renewal before the Senate went on recess, but Gravel blocked Stennis's attempt to limit debate, and no vote was held. Finally on September 21, 1971, the Senate invoked cloture over Gravel's second filibuster attempt by one vote, and then passed the two-year draft extension.","Finally on September 21, 1971, the Senate invoked cloture over Gravel's second filibuster attempt by one vote, and then passed the two-year draft extension. Gravel's attempts to stop the draft had failed (notwithstanding Gravel's later claims that he had stopped or shortened the draft, taken at face value in some media reports, during his 2008 presidential campaign). Meanwhile, on June 13, 1971, The New York Times began printing large portions of the Pentagon Papers.","Meanwhile, on June 13, 1971, The New York Times began printing large portions of the Pentagon Papers. The papers were a large collection of secret government documents and studies pertaining to the Vietnam War, of which former Defense Department analyst Daniel Ellsberg had made unauthorized copies and was determined to make public.","The papers were a large collection of secret government documents and studies pertaining to the Vietnam War, of which former Defense Department analyst Daniel Ellsberg had made unauthorized copies and was determined to make public. Ellsberg had for a year and a half approached members of Congress – such as William Fulbright, George McGovern, Charles Mathias, and Pete McCloskey – about publishing the documents, on the grounds that the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution would give congressional members immunity from prosecution, but all had refused.","Ellsberg had for a year and a half approached members of Congress – such as William Fulbright, George McGovern, Charles Mathias, and Pete McCloskey – about publishing the documents, on the grounds that the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution would give congressional members immunity from prosecution, but all had refused. Instead, Ellsberg gave the documents to the Times. The U.S. Justice Department immediately tried to halt publication, on the grounds that the information revealed within the papers harmed the national interest.","The U.S. Justice Department immediately tried to halt publication, on the grounds that the information revealed within the papers harmed the national interest. Within the next two weeks, a federal court injunction halted publication in the Times; The Washington Post and several other newspapers began publishing parts of the documents, with some of them also being halted by injunctions; and the whole matter went to the U.S. Supreme Court for arguments.","Within the next two weeks, a federal court injunction halted publication in the Times; The Washington Post and several other newspapers began publishing parts of the documents, with some of them also being halted by injunctions; and the whole matter went to the U.S. Supreme Court for arguments. Looking for an alternate publication mechanism, Ellsberg returned to his idea of having a member of Congress read them, and chose Gravel based on the latter's efforts against the draft; Gravel agreed where previously others had not.","Looking for an alternate publication mechanism, Ellsberg returned to his idea of having a member of Congress read them, and chose Gravel based on the latter's efforts against the draft; Gravel agreed where previously others had not. Ellsberg arranged for the papers to be given to Gravel on June 26 via an intermediary, Post editor Ben Bagdikian.","Ellsberg arranged for the papers to be given to Gravel on June 26 via an intermediary, Post editor Ben Bagdikian. Gravel used his counter-intelligence experience to choose a midnight transfer in front of the Mayflower Hotel in the center of Washington, D.C. On the night of June 29, 1971, Gravel attempted to read the papers on the floor of the Senate as part of his filibuster against the draft, but was thwarted when no quorum could be formed. Gravel instead convened a session of the Buildings and Grounds subcommittee that he chaired.","Gravel instead convened a session of the Buildings and Grounds subcommittee that he chaired. He got New York Congressman John G. Dow to testify that the war had soaked up funding for public buildings, thus making discussion of the war relevant to the committee.","He got New York Congressman John G. Dow to testify that the war had soaked up funding for public buildings, thus making discussion of the war relevant to the committee. He began reading from the papers with the press in attendance, omitting supporting documents that he felt might compromise national security, and declaring, \"It is my constitutional obligation to protect the security of the people by fostering the free flow of information absolutely essential to their democratic decision-making.\"","He began reading from the papers with the press in attendance, omitting supporting documents that he felt might compromise national security, and declaring, \"It is my constitutional obligation to protect the security of the people by fostering the free flow of information absolutely essential to their democratic decision-making.\" He read until 1 a.m., culminating by saying \"Arms are being severed. Metal is clashing through human bodies because of the public policy this government and all its branches continue to support.\"","Metal is clashing through human bodies because of the public policy this government and all its branches continue to support.\" Then with tears and sobs he said that he could no longer physically continue, the previous three nights of sleeplessness and fear about the future having taken their toll. Gravel ended the session by, with no other senators present, establishing unanimous consent to insert 4,100 pages of the Papers into the Congressional Record of his subcommittee.","Gravel ended the session by, with no other senators present, establishing unanimous consent to insert 4,100 pages of the Papers into the Congressional Record of his subcommittee. The following day, the Supreme Court's New York Times Co. v. United States decision ruled in favor of the newspapers and publication in the Times and others resumed. In July 1971 Bantam Books published an inexpensive paperback edition of the papers containing the material the Times had published.","In July 1971 Bantam Books published an inexpensive paperback edition of the papers containing the material the Times had published. Gravel, too, wanted to privately publish the portion of the papers he had read into the record, believing that \"immediate disclosure of the contents of these papers will change the policy that supports the war\". After being turned down by many commercial publishers, on August 4 he reached agreement with Beacon Press, the publishing arm of the Unitarian Universalist Association, of which Gravel was a member.","After being turned down by many commercial publishers, on August 4 he reached agreement with Beacon Press, the publishing arm of the Unitarian Universalist Association, of which Gravel was a member. Announced on August 17 and published on October 22, 1971, this four-volume, relatively expensive set became the \"Senator Gravel Edition\", which studies from Cornell University and the Annenberg Center for Communication have labeled as the most complete edition of the Pentagon Papers to be published.","Announced on August 17 and published on October 22, 1971, this four-volume, relatively expensive set became the \"Senator Gravel Edition\", which studies from Cornell University and the Annenberg Center for Communication have labeled as the most complete edition of the Pentagon Papers to be published. The \"Gravel Edition\" was edited and annotated by Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn, and included an additional volume of analytical articles on the origins and progress of the war, also edited by Chomsky and Zinn.","The \"Gravel Edition\" was edited and annotated by Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn, and included an additional volume of analytical articles on the origins and progress of the war, also edited by Chomsky and Zinn. Beacon Press then was subjected to a FBI investigation; an outgrowth of this was the Gravel v. United States court case, which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled upon in June 1972; it held that the Speech or Debate Clause did grant immunity to Gravel for his reading the papers in his subcommittee, did grant some immunity to Gravel's congressional aide, but granted no immunity to Beacon Press in relation to their publishing the same papers.","Beacon Press then was subjected to a FBI investigation; an outgrowth of this was the Gravel v. United States court case, which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled upon in June 1972; it held that the Speech or Debate Clause did grant immunity to Gravel for his reading the papers in his subcommittee, did grant some immunity to Gravel's congressional aide, but granted no immunity to Beacon Press in relation to their publishing the same papers. The U.S. Senate Democratic Caucus backed Gravel in the case, but due to Republican opposition it did not pay Gravel's legal fees, leaving him owing $25,000 (the equivalent of $150,000 in 2019, adjusted for inflation).","The U.S. Senate Democratic Caucus backed Gravel in the case, but due to Republican opposition it did not pay Gravel's legal fees, leaving him owing $25,000 (the equivalent of $150,000 in 2019, adjusted for inflation). The events of 1971 changed Gravel in the following months from an obscure freshman senator to a nationally visible political figure.","The events of 1971 changed Gravel in the following months from an obscure freshman senator to a nationally visible political figure. He became a sought-after speaker on the college circuit as well as at political fundraisers, opportunities he welcomed as lectures were \"the one honest way a Senator has to supplement his income\". But his speaking tours caused him to accrue one of the worst absentee records in the Senate. The Democratic candidates for the 1972 presidential election sought his endorsement.","The Democratic candidates for the 1972 presidential election sought his endorsement. In January 1972 Gravel endorsed Maine Senator Ed Muskie, hoping that his support would help Muskie with the party's left wing and in ethnic French-Canadian areas during the first primary contest in New Hampshire (Muskie won, but not overwhelmingly, and his campaign faltered soon after).","In January 1972 Gravel endorsed Maine Senator Ed Muskie, hoping that his support would help Muskie with the party's left wing and in ethnic French-Canadian areas during the first primary contest in New Hampshire (Muskie won, but not overwhelmingly, and his campaign faltered soon after). In April 1972 Gravel appeared on all three networks' nightly newscasts to decry the Nixon administration's reliance on Vietnamization by making reference to the secret National Security Study Memorandum 1 document, which stated it would take 8–13 years for the Army of the Republic of Vietnam to defend South Vietnam.","In April 1972 Gravel appeared on all three networks' nightly newscasts to decry the Nixon administration's reliance on Vietnamization by making reference to the secret National Security Study Memorandum 1 document, which stated it would take 8–13 years for the Army of the Republic of Vietnam to defend South Vietnam. Gravel made excerpts from the study public, but senators Robert P. Griffin and William B. Saxbe blocked his attempt to read NSSM 1 into the Congressional Record.","Gravel made excerpts from the study public, but senators Robert P. Griffin and William B. Saxbe blocked his attempt to read NSSM 1 into the Congressional Record. Domestic policy In 1970 Gravel co-sponsored legislation to establish a guaranteed minimum income, entitling poor families to up to $6,300 a year (the equivalent of $42,000 in 2019 after adjustment for inflation).","Domestic policy In 1970 Gravel co-sponsored legislation to establish a guaranteed minimum income, entitling poor families to up to $6,300 a year (the equivalent of $42,000 in 2019 after adjustment for inflation). He subsequently voted for a \"work bonus\" program, which would have entitled low-income working families with dependent children if they were paying Social Security or Railroad Retirement taxes to a non-taxable bonus of up to 10 percent of their wages.","He subsequently voted for a \"work bonus\" program, which would have entitled low-income working families with dependent children if they were paying Social Security or Railroad Retirement taxes to a non-taxable bonus of up to 10 percent of their wages. Gravel also supported extending Social Security to all federal employees and introduced a campaign finance reform bill in 1971 that would have enacted full disclosure of campaign financing, placed limits on large donations, media spending and individual candidate spending.","Gravel also supported extending Social Security to all federal employees and introduced a campaign finance reform bill in 1971 that would have enacted full disclosure of campaign financing, placed limits on large donations, media spending and individual candidate spending. In 1969, Gravel was the only Democratic Senator outside of the South to vote for Nixon's Supreme Court nominee Clement Haynsworth. The following year Gravel opposed Nixon's next pick, G. Harrold Carswell.","The following year Gravel opposed Nixon's next pick, G. Harrold Carswell. Run for vice president in 1972 Gravel actively campaigned for the office of Vice President of the United States during the 1972 presidential election, announcing on June 2, 1972, over a month before the 1972 Democratic National Convention began, that he was interested in the nomination should the choice be opened up to convention delegates. Toward this end he began soliciting delegates for their support.","Toward this end he began soliciting delegates for their support. He was not alone in this effort, as former Governor of Massachusetts Endicott Peabody had been running a quixotic campaign for the same post since the prior year. Likely presidential nominee George McGovern was in fact considering the unusual move of naming three or four acceptable vice-presidential candidates and letting the delegates choose. On the convention's final day, July 14, 1972, McGovern selected and announced Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri as his vice-presidential choice.","On the convention's final day, July 14, 1972, McGovern selected and announced Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri as his vice-presidential choice. Eagleton was unknown to many delegates and the choice seemed to smack of traditional ticket balancing considerations. Thus there were delegates willing to look elsewhere. Gravel was nominated by Bettye Fahrenkamp, the Democratic National Committeewoman from Alaska. He then seconded his own nomination, breaking down in tears at his own words and maybe trying to withdraw his nomination.","He then seconded his own nomination, breaking down in tears at his own words and maybe trying to withdraw his nomination. In any case he won 226 delegate votes, coming in third behind Eagleton and Frances \"Sissy\" Farenthold of Texas, in chaotic balloting that included several other candidates.","In any case he won 226 delegate votes, coming in third behind Eagleton and Frances \"Sissy\" Farenthold of Texas, in chaotic balloting that included several other candidates. Gravel attracted some attention for his efforts: writer Norman Mailer said he \"provided considerable excitement\" and was \"good-looking enough to have played leads in B-films\", while Rolling Stone correspondent Hunter S. Thompson said Gravel \"probably said a few things that might have been worth hearing, under different circumstances\". Yet the process was doubly disastrous for the Democrats.","Yet the process was doubly disastrous for the Democrats. Yet the process was doubly disastrous for the Democrats. In the time consumed by nominating and seconding and all the vice-presidential candidates' speeches, the attention of the delegates on the floor was lost and McGovern's speech was pushed to 3:30 a.m. The haste with which Eagleton was selected led to surprise when his past mental health treatments were revealed; he withdrew from the ticket soon after the convention, to be replaced by Sargent Shriver.","The haste with which Eagleton was selected led to surprise when his past mental health treatments were revealed; he withdrew from the ticket soon after the convention, to be replaced by Sargent Shriver. Reelection to Senate in 1974 Several years earlier, Alaska politicians had speculated that Gravel would have a hard time getting both renominated and elected when his first term expired, given that he was originally elected without a base party organization and tended to focus on national rather than local issues.","Reelection to Senate in 1974 Several years earlier, Alaska politicians had speculated that Gravel would have a hard time getting both renominated and elected when his first term expired, given that he was originally elected without a base party organization and tended to focus on national rather than local issues. Nonetheless, after receiving support from national and local labor leaders, securing key earmarks, and producing another half-hour TV advertorial, in 1974 Gravel was reelected to the Senate, with 58 percent of the vote to 42 percent for Republican State Senator C. R. Lewis, who was a national officer of the John Birch Society.","Nonetheless, after receiving support from national and local labor leaders, securing key earmarks, and producing another half-hour TV advertorial, in 1974 Gravel was reelected to the Senate, with 58 percent of the vote to 42 percent for Republican State Senator C. R. Lewis, who was a national officer of the John Birch Society. Second term Gravel's reelection campaign left him $65,000–$75,000 in debt.","Second term Gravel's reelection campaign left him $65,000–$75,000 in debt. In 1975 The Washington Post reported on a memo by his executive assistant laying out a fundraising strategy to tackle this, including raising funds from oil companies, meeting with previous donors and \"inquir[ing] into the governmental priorities of these people and their groups in the coming session\", as well as obtaining further speaking fees to reduce his personal debt.","In 1975 The Washington Post reported on a memo by his executive assistant laying out a fundraising strategy to tackle this, including raising funds from oil companies, meeting with previous donors and \"inquir[ing] into the governmental priorities of these people and their groups in the coming session\", as well as obtaining further speaking fees to reduce his personal debt. This was followed by a number of stories about links between Gravel, lobbyists and fundraisers, including one that was widely publicized in Alaska about his holding a share in a Colorado resort with two Washington lobbyists he was working with on land and energy legislation.","This was followed by a number of stories about links between Gravel, lobbyists and fundraisers, including one that was widely publicized in Alaska about his holding a share in a Colorado resort with two Washington lobbyists he was working with on land and energy legislation. Gravel had been open about the investment and had opposing views to one of the lobbyists on nuclear power.","Gravel had been open about the investment and had opposing views to one of the lobbyists on nuclear power. In 1980 the Wall Street Journal published details about his fundraising activities, including writing to individuals and PACs in the oil industry, pledging to kill off proposals for a windfall profits tax on the sector, and traveling in the Middle East with the business partner of one of his donors to sell Alaskan land to businessmen. Gravel suggested that critics of his fundraising were \"naive\".","Gravel suggested that critics of his fundraising were \"naive\". In 1975 Gravel introduced an amendment to cut the number of troops overseas by 200,000, but it was defeated on a voice vote. In September 1975 Gravel was named as one of several Congressional Advisers to the Seventh Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly, which met to discuss problems related to economic development and international economic cooperation. In June 1976 Gravel was the focus of a federal investigation into allegations that he was involved in a sex-for-vote arrangement.","In June 1976 Gravel was the focus of a federal investigation into allegations that he was involved in a sex-for-vote arrangement. Congressional staff clerk Elizabeth Ray (who had already been involved in a sex scandal that led to the downfall of Representative Wayne Hays) said that in August 1972 she had sex with Gravel aboard a houseboat on the Potomac River, under the instruction of Representative Kenneth J. Gray, her boss at the time.","Gray, her boss at the time. Gray, her boss at the time. Gray allegedly wanted to secure Gravel's support for further funding for construction of the National Visitor Center in Washington, a troubled project that was under the jurisdiction of subcommittees that both members chaired. Another Congressional staffer said she witnessed the boat encounter, but Gravel said at the time that he had never met either of the women.","Another Congressional staffer said she witnessed the boat encounter, but Gravel said at the time that he had never met either of the women. Gravel and Gray strongly denied that they had made any arrangement regarding legislation, and neither was ever charged with any wrongdoing. Decades later Gravel wrote that he had indeed had sex with Ray, but had not changed any votes because of it.","Decades later Gravel wrote that he had indeed had sex with Ray, but had not changed any votes because of it. Gravel and his main financial backer, Gottstein, had a falling out in 1978, during the Congressional debate over whether to allow a controversial sale of U.S. F-15 fighter aircraft to Saudi Arabia. An ardent backer of Israel, Gottstein opposed the sale and asked Gravel to vote against it. But Gravel not only voted for it but made an emotional speech attacking the anti-sale campaign.","But Gravel not only voted for it but made an emotional speech attacking the anti-sale campaign. Gravel wrote in 2008 that it was the only time Gottstein had ever asked him for a favor, and the rupture resulted in their never speaking to each other again. Alaskan issues By 1971 Gravel was urging construction of the much-argued Trans-Alaska pipeline, addressing environmental concerns by saying that the pipeline's builders and operators should have \"total and absolute\" responsibility for any consequent environmental damage.","Alaskan issues By 1971 Gravel was urging construction of the much-argued Trans-Alaska pipeline, addressing environmental concerns by saying that the pipeline's builders and operators should have \"total and absolute\" responsibility for any consequent environmental damage. Two years later the debate over the pipeline came to a crux, with The New York Times describing it as \"environmentalists [in] a holy war with the major oil companies\".","Two years later the debate over the pipeline came to a crux, with The New York Times describing it as \"environmentalists [in] a holy war with the major oil companies\". In February 1973 the U.S. Court of Appeals blocked the issuance of permits for construction; Gravel and fellow Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens reacted by urging Congress to pass legislation overturning the court's decision.","In February 1973 the U.S. Court of Appeals blocked the issuance of permits for construction; Gravel and fellow Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens reacted by urging Congress to pass legislation overturning the court's decision. Environmentalists opposed to the pipeline, such as the Environmental Defense Fund and the Sierra Club then sought to use the recently passed National Environmental Policy Act to their advantage; Gravel designed an amendment to the pipeline bill that would immunize the pipeline from any further court challenges under that law, and thus speed its construction.","Environmentalists opposed to the pipeline, such as the Environmental Defense Fund and the Sierra Club then sought to use the recently passed National Environmental Policy Act to their advantage; Gravel designed an amendment to the pipeline bill that would immunize the pipeline from any further court challenges under that law, and thus speed its construction. Passage of the amendment became the key battle regarding the pipeline.","Passage of the amendment became the key battle regarding the pipeline. On July 17, 1973, in a dramatic roll-call vote, the Gravel amendment was approved as a 49–49 tie was broken in favor by Vice President Spiro Agnew. The actual bill enabling the pipeline then passed easily; Gravel had triumphed in what became perhaps his most lasting accomplishment as a senator. In opposition to the Alaskan fishing industry, Gravel advocated American participation in the formation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.","In opposition to the Alaskan fishing industry, Gravel advocated American participation in the formation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. For two years he opposed legislation that established a Exclusive Economic Zone for marine resources. He was one of only 19 senators to vote against Senate approval for the expanded zone in 1976, saying it would undermine the U.S. position in Law of the Sea negotiations and that nations arbitrarily extending their fishing rights limits would \"produce anarchy of the seas\".","He was one of only 19 senators to vote against Senate approval for the expanded zone in 1976, saying it would undermine the U.S. position in Law of the Sea negotiations and that nations arbitrarily extending their fishing rights limits would \"produce anarchy of the seas\". The legislation was passed, and the United States has signed but never ratified the Law of the Sea treaty. Gravel accumulated a complicated record on Indian affairs during his time in the Senate.","Gravel accumulated a complicated record on Indian affairs during his time in the Senate. During his first year in the Senate Gravel urged abolition of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, criticizing the agency for the pace of development of schools in Alaska, its paternalistic attitudes and the culturally inappropriate nature of its education, and advocating greater shared decision-making between the federal government and native communities in Alaska.","During his first year in the Senate Gravel urged abolition of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, criticizing the agency for the pace of development of schools in Alaska, its paternalistic attitudes and the culturally inappropriate nature of its education, and advocating greater shared decision-making between the federal government and native communities in Alaska. Later, his views changed; in the early 1970s Gravel supported a demonstration project that established links between Alaskan villages and the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, for medical diagnostic communications.","Later, his views changed; in the early 1970s Gravel supported a demonstration project that established links between Alaskan villages and the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, for medical diagnostic communications. In 1971, he fended off accusations from Alaskan natives that he was not spending enough time working on their land claims. Gravel helped secure a private grant to facilitate the first Inuit Circumpolar Conference in 1977, attended by Inuit representatives from Alaska, Canada, and Greenland. These conferences now also include representatives from Russia.","These conferences now also include representatives from Russia. These conferences now also include representatives from Russia. In 1977, Gravel helped lead an effort to have the U.S. Interior Department rename Mount McKinley to Denali; this eventually led to Denali National Park being so named. Subsequently, Gravel proposed a never-built \"Denali City\" development above the Tokositna River near the mountain, to consist of a giant Teflon dome enclosing hotels, golf courses, condominiums, and commercial buildings.","Subsequently, Gravel proposed a never-built \"Denali City\" development above the Tokositna River near the mountain, to consist of a giant Teflon dome enclosing hotels, golf courses, condominiums, and commercial buildings. A related idea of his to build a high-speed rail line to Denali also failed to gain traction. A key, emotional issue in the state at the time was \"locking up Alaska\", making reference to allocation of its vast, mostly uninhabited land.","A key, emotional issue in the state at the time was \"locking up Alaska\", making reference to allocation of its vast, mostly uninhabited land. President Jimmy Carter desired to put large portions of this land under federal protection against development, a move that some Alaskans vociferously opposed. In 1978 Gravel blocked passage, via procedural delays such as walking out of House–Senate conference committee meetings, of a complex bill which represented a compromise on land use policy.","In 1978 Gravel blocked passage, via procedural delays such as walking out of House–Senate conference committee meetings, of a complex bill which represented a compromise on land use policy. The bill would have put some of Alaska's vast federal land holdings under state control while preserving other portions for federal parks and refuges; the blocking action earned Gravel the enmity of fellow Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, who had supported the compromise.","The bill would have put some of Alaska's vast federal land holdings under state control while preserving other portions for federal parks and refuges; the blocking action earned Gravel the enmity of fellow Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, who had supported the compromise. In 1980, a new lands bill came up for consideration, that was less favorable to Alaskan interests and more liked by environmentalists; it set aside of Alaska's for national parks, conservation areas, and other restricted federal uses.","In 1980, a new lands bill came up for consideration, that was less favorable to Alaskan interests and more liked by environmentalists; it set aside of Alaska's for national parks, conservation areas, and other restricted federal uses. Gravel blocked it, as not ensuring enough future development in the state. A new compromise version of the 1980 bill came forward, which reduced the land set aside to . Representing Alaskan interests, Gravel tried to stop the bill, including by filibuster.","Representing Alaskan interests, Gravel tried to stop the bill, including by filibuster. But the Senate voted for cloture and passed the bill. Frustrated, Gravel said, \"the legislation denies Alaska its rights as a state, and denies the U.S. crucial strategic resources,\" and opined that the Senate was \"a little bit like a tank of barracudas\".","Frustrated, Gravel said, \"the legislation denies Alaska its rights as a state, and denies the U.S. crucial strategic resources,\" and opined that the Senate was \"a little bit like a tank of barracudas\". Nonetheless, the bill, known as the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980, was signed by President Carter shortly before leaving the White House, and led to millions of acres being set aside in the state for national parks, wildlife refuges, and other kinds of areas under protection.","Nonetheless, the bill, known as the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980, was signed by President Carter shortly before leaving the White House, and led to millions of acres being set aside in the state for national parks, wildlife refuges, and other kinds of areas under protection. In 1978 Gravel authored and secured the passage into federal law of the General Stock Ownership Corporation, that became Subchapter U of the Tax Code under the Internal Revenue Code of 1954.","In 1978 Gravel authored and secured the passage into federal law of the General Stock Ownership Corporation, that became Subchapter U of the Tax Code under the Internal Revenue Code of 1954. This gave states the ability to create corporations that would invest in for-profit enterprises, with all citizens within the state owning shares in the corporation.","This gave states the ability to create corporations that would invest in for-profit enterprises, with all citizens within the state owning shares in the corporation. Gravel's attempt to convince the Alaska state legislature to create such a corporation failed, as did a 1980 state ballot initiative towards the same end, but nevertheless the creation of the General Stock Ownership Corporation in federal law turned out to be significant in the development of binary economics.","Gravel's attempt to convince the Alaska state legislature to create such a corporation failed, as did a 1980 state ballot initiative towards the same end, but nevertheless the creation of the General Stock Ownership Corporation in federal law turned out to be significant in the development of binary economics. Loss of Senate seat in 1980 In 1980 Gravel was challenged for the Democratic Party's nomination by State Representative Clark Gruening, the grandson of the man Gravel had defeated in a primary 12 years earlier.","Loss of Senate seat in 1980 In 1980 Gravel was challenged for the Democratic Party's nomination by State Representative Clark Gruening, the grandson of the man Gravel had defeated in a primary 12 years earlier. One of Gruening's supporters was Gravel's former backer Gottstein. Several factors made Gravel vulnerable. As an insurgent candidate in 1968 Gravel had never established a firm party base. Not liking to hunt or fish, he was also always culturally suspect in the state. The primary campaign was bitterly fought.","The primary campaign was bitterly fought. The primary campaign was bitterly fought. A group of Democrats, including future governor Steve Cowper, led the campaign against Gravel, with Gravel's actions in respect to the 1978 and 1980 Alaskan lands bills a major issue. This was especially so given that the 1980 bill's dénouement happened but a week before the primary. The sources of Gravel's campaign funds, some of which Gravel readily acknowledged came from political action committees outside the state, also became an issue in the contest.","The sources of Gravel's campaign funds, some of which Gravel readily acknowledged came from political action committees outside the state, also became an issue in the contest. Gruening had pledged that he would not take special interest group money, but Gravel said that Gruening was \"dishonest\" in accepting individual contributors from Jewish donors living outside the state because to him such contributors comprised \"a special interest group ... that seeks to influence the foreign policy of the U.S.\" Gruening won the primary with about 55 percent of the vote to Gravel's 44 percent.","Gruening had pledged that he would not take special interest group money, but Gravel said that Gruening was \"dishonest\" in accepting individual contributors from Jewish donors living outside the state because to him such contributors comprised \"a special interest group ... that seeks to influence the foreign policy of the U.S.\" Gruening won the primary with about 55 percent of the vote to Gravel's 44 percent. Gravel later conceded that by the time of his defeat, he had alienated \"almost every constituency in Alaska\".","Gravel later conceded that by the time of his defeat, he had alienated \"almost every constituency in Alaska\". Another factor may have been Alaska's blanket primary system of the time, which allowed unlimited voting across party lines and from its many independents; Republicans believed Gruening would be an easier candidate to defeat in the general election. Gruening lost the general election to Republican Frank Murkowski.","Gruening lost the general election to Republican Frank Murkowski. Gruening lost the general election to Republican Frank Murkowski. Gravel was the last Democrat to represent Alaska in Congress for 28 years, until Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich defeated Ted Stevens, by then an aged, iconic figure who had just been convicted of seven felonies for taking unreported gifts, in a very close and protracted election result in 2008. Stevens's conviction was subsequently vacated due to prosecutorial misconduct.","Stevens's conviction was subsequently vacated due to prosecutorial misconduct. Career after leaving the Senate Of his 1980 defeat, Gravel later recalled: \"I had lost my career. I lost my marriage. I was in the doldrums for ten years after my defeat,\" and \"Nobody wanted to hire me for anything important. I felt like I was worthless. I didn't know what I could do.\"","I didn't know what I could do.\" I didn't know what I could do.\" By his own later description, Gravel was a womanizer, and had an affair while in the Senate, and in December 1980 he and his wife Rita separated. They filed for divorce in September 1981; she later received all of his Senate pension income. During the 1980s Gravel was a real estate developer in Anchorage and Kenai, Alaska, a consultant, and a stockbroker.","During the 1980s Gravel was a real estate developer in Anchorage and Kenai, Alaska, a consultant, and a stockbroker. One of his real estate ventures, a condominium business, was forced to declare bankruptcy and a lawsuit ensued. In 1986 Gravel worked in partnership with Merrill Lynch Capital Markets to buy losses that financially troubled Alaska Native Corporations could not take as tax deductions and sell them to large national companies looking for tax writeoffs. Gravel also learned computer programming at some point but never practiced it.","Gravel also learned computer programming at some point but never practiced it. In 1984 Gravel married his second wife, Whitney Stewart Gravel, a former administrative assistant for Senator Jacob Javits. Return to politics In 1989 Gravel reentered politics. He founded and led The Democracy Foundation, which promotes direct democracy.","He founded and led The Democracy Foundation, which promotes direct democracy. He established the Philadelphia II corporation, which seeks to replicate the original 1787 Constitutional Convention and have a Second Constitutional Convention to bring about direct democracy Gravel led an effort to get a United States Constitutional amendment to allow voter-initiated federal legislation similar to state ballot initiatives. He argued that Americans are able to legislate responsibly, and that the Act and Amendment in the National Initiative would allow American citizens to become \"law makers\".","He argued that Americans are able to legislate responsibly, and that the Act and Amendment in the National Initiative would allow American citizens to become \"law makers\". However such efforts met with little success. In 2001, Gravel became director of the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution, where he admired institute co-founder Gregory Fossedal's work on direct democracy in Switzerland.","In 2001, Gravel became director of the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution, where he admired institute co-founder Gregory Fossedal's work on direct democracy in Switzerland. By 2004, Gravel had become chair of the institute, and Fossedal (who in turn was a director of the Democracy Foundation) gave the introduction at Gravel's presidential announcement. In 2003 Gravel gave a speech on direct democracy at a conference hosted by the American Free Press. The event was cosponsored by the Barnes Review, a journal that endorses Holocaust denial.","The event was cosponsored by the Barnes Review, a journal that endorses Holocaust denial. After some controversy over his appearance, Gravel apologized, saying he did not realize the group's ties. Gravel said repeatedly that he did not share the group's views on the Holocaust, stating, \"You better believe I know that six million Jews were killed. [The Barnes Review publishers] are nutty as loons if they don't think it happened\". The group invited Gravel to speak again, but he declined.","The group invited Gravel to speak again, but he declined. Mike and Whitney Gravel lived in Arlington County, Virginia, until 2010 and then resided in Burlingame, California. They have the two grown children from his first marriage, Martin Gravel and Lynne Gravel Mosier, and four grandchildren. Whitney Gravel's income sustained the couple from 1998 on. In the 2000s, Gravel suffered poor health, requiring three surgeries in 2003 for back pain and neuropathy.","In the 2000s, Gravel suffered poor health, requiring three surgeries in 2003 for back pain and neuropathy. Due to unreimbursed medical expenses and debts from his political causes, he declared personal bankruptcy in 2004. He began taking a salary from the non-profit organizations for which he was working; much of that income was lent to his presidential campaign. In 2007, he declared that he had \"zero net worth\".","In 2007, he declared that he had \"zero net worth\". 2008 presidential campaign Democratic Party primaries At the start of 2006 Gravel decided the best way he could promote direct democracy and the National Initiative was to run for president.","2008 presidential campaign Democratic Party primaries At the start of 2006 Gravel decided the best way he could promote direct democracy and the National Initiative was to run for president. On April 17, 2006, Gravel became the first candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2008 election, announcing his run in a speech to the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Short on campaign cash, he took public transportation to get to his announcement. (Gravel called for public financing of elections.)","(Gravel called for public financing of elections.) (Gravel called for public financing of elections.) Other principal Gravel positions were the FairTax, as well as withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq within 120 days and a single payer national health care system. Gravel had opposed the Iraq War, and President George W. Bush's rationale for it, from the beginning, and in 2006 said that U.S. troops in Iraq, as in Vietnam, had \"died in vain\".","Gravel had opposed the Iraq War, and President George W. Bush's rationale for it, from the beginning, and in 2006 said that U.S. troops in Iraq, as in Vietnam, had \"died in vain\". He also favored a regional peace initiative, as well as reparation payments for Iraqis. Gravel also called for a \"U.S. corporate withdrawal from Iraq\", with reconstruction contracts held by U.S. companies to be turned over to Iraqi firms.","Gravel also called for a \"U.S. corporate withdrawal from Iraq\", with reconstruction contracts held by U.S. companies to be turned over to Iraqi firms. Gravel campaigned almost full-time in New Hampshire, the first primary state, following his announcement. Opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination showed Gravel with 1 percent or less support. By the end of March 2007, Gravel's campaign had less than $500 in cash on hand against debts of nearly $90,000.","By the end of March 2007, Gravel's campaign had less than $500 in cash on hand against debts of nearly $90,000. Because of his time in the Senate, Gravel was invited to many of the early Democratic presidential debates. During the initial one at South Carolina State University on April 26, 2007, he suggested a bill requiring the president to withdraw from Iraq on pain of criminal penalties. He also advocated positions such as opposing preemptive nuclear war.","He also advocated positions such as opposing preemptive nuclear war. He stated that the Iraq War had the effect of creating more terrorists and that the \"war was lost the day that George Bush invaded Iraq on a fraudulent basis\". Regarding his fellow candidates, he said, \"I got to tell you, after standing up with them, some of these people frighten me – they frighten me.\" In one such exchange, Gravel said, \"Tell me, Barack, who do you want to nuke?\"","In one such exchange, Gravel said, \"Tell me, Barack, who do you want to nuke?\" to which Obama responded, \"I'm not planning to nuke anybody right now, Mike, I promise.\" Media stories said that Gravel was responsible for much of whatever \"heat\" and \"flashpoints\" had taken place during the Democratic debates.","Media stories said that Gravel was responsible for much of whatever \"heat\" and \"flashpoints\" had taken place during the Democratic debates. Gravel gained considerable publicity by shaking up the normally staid multiple-candidate format; The New York Times' media critic said that what Gravel had done was \"steal a debate with outrageous, curmudgeonly statements\".","Gravel gained considerable publicity by shaking up the normally staid multiple-candidate format; The New York Times' media critic said that what Gravel had done was \"steal a debate with outrageous, curmudgeonly statements\". The Internet was a benefit: a YouTube video of his responses in the debate was viewed more than 225,892 times, ranking seventeenth in most views for week and first among news and politics clips; his name became the fifteenth most searched-for in the blogosphere; and his website garnered more traffic than those of frontrunners Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, or John Edwards.","The Internet was a benefit: a YouTube video of his responses in the debate was viewed more than 225,892 times, ranking seventeenth in most views for week and first among news and politics clips; his name became the fifteenth most searched-for in the blogosphere; and his website garnered more traffic than those of frontrunners Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, or John Edwards. Gravel appeared on the popular Colbert Report on television on May 2, and his campaign and career were profiled in national publications such as Salon.","Gravel appeared on the popular Colbert Report on television on May 2, and his campaign and career were profiled in national publications such as Salon. Two wordless, Warholesque campaign videos, \"Rock\" and \"Fire\", were released on YouTube in late May and became hits, and eventually gained over 760,000 and 185,000 views respectively. \"Rock\", in turn, was given airtime during an episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.","\"Rock\", in turn, was given airtime during an episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Some thirty-five years after he first achieved the national spotlight, he had found it again. All this did not improve his performance in the polls; a May 2007 CNN poll showed him with less than 0.5 percent support among Democrats. Gravel was in the next several debates, in one case after CNN reversed a decision to exclude him.","Gravel was in the next several debates, in one case after CNN reversed a decision to exclude him. Like some of the other second-tier candidates, Gravel did not get as much time as the leaders; during the June 2, 2007, New Hampshire debate, which lasted two hours, he was asked 10 questions and allowed to speak for five minutes and 37 seconds.","Like some of the other second-tier candidates, Gravel did not get as much time as the leaders; during the June 2, 2007, New Hampshire debate, which lasted two hours, he was asked 10 questions and allowed to speak for five minutes and 37 seconds. During the July 23, 2007, CNN-YouTube presidential debate, Gravel responded to audience applause when he had complained of a lack of airtime and said: \"Thank you. Has it been fair thus far?\"","Has it been fair thus far?\" Has it been fair thus far?\" Detractors began to liken him to \"the cranky uncle who lives in the attic,\" or \"the angry old guy that just seemed to want to become angrier\". Berkeley political scientist David Terr found that moderator George Stephanopoulos directed roughly five percent of his questions to Gravel; in a poll asking who did the best in the debate, Gravel placed seventh among the eight candidates.","Berkeley political scientist David Terr found that moderator George Stephanopoulos directed roughly five percent of his questions to Gravel; in a poll asking who did the best in the debate, Gravel placed seventh among the eight candidates. National opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination continued to show Gravel with one percent or zero percent numbers.","National opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination continued to show Gravel with one percent or zero percent numbers. By the end of the third-quarter 2007, Gravel had about $17,500 in cash on hand, had collected a total of about $380,000 during the 2008 election cycle, and was continuing to run a threadbare campaign with minimal staff.","By the end of the third-quarter 2007, Gravel had about $17,500 in cash on hand, had collected a total of about $380,000 during the 2008 election cycle, and was continuing to run a threadbare campaign with minimal staff. Beginning with the October 30, 2007, Philadelphia event, Gravel was excluded from most of the debates, with the debate sponsors or the Democratic National Committee saying Gravel's campaign had not met fund-raising, polling, or local campaign organizational thresholds.","Beginning with the October 30, 2007, Philadelphia event, Gravel was excluded from most of the debates, with the debate sponsors or the Democratic National Committee saying Gravel's campaign had not met fund-raising, polling, or local campaign organizational thresholds. For the Philadelphia exclusion, Gravel blamed corporate censorship on the part of sponsor owner and alleged military-industrial complex member General Electric for his exclusion and mounted a counter-gathering and debate against a video screen a short distance away, but he had lost his easiest publicity.","For the Philadelphia exclusion, Gravel blamed corporate censorship on the part of sponsor owner and alleged military-industrial complex member General Electric for his exclusion and mounted a counter-gathering and debate against a video screen a short distance away, but he had lost his easiest publicity. In reaction, supporters organized \"mass donation days\" to try to help the campaign gain momentum and funds, such as on December 5, 2007, the anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition.","In reaction, supporters organized \"mass donation days\" to try to help the campaign gain momentum and funds, such as on December 5, 2007, the anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition. Gravel did not compete in the initial 2008 vote, the Iowa caucuses, but was still subjected to a false report from MSNBC that he had pulled out of the race afterward. Gravel did focus his attention on the second 2008 vote, the New Hampshire primary.","Gravel did focus his attention on the second 2008 vote, the New Hampshire primary. In early January, Mother Jones' investigative reporter James Ridgeway was filmed interviewing and following Gravel in New Hampshire, in which Gravel is interviewed on the phone by Neal Conan for NPR's, Talk of the Nation. He received about 400 votes out of some 280,000 cast in New Hampshire, or 0.14 percent, before taking time off to improve his health. He resumed campaigning, but fared no better in subsequent states.","He resumed campaigning, but fared no better in subsequent states. By the end of January 2008, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and Gravel were the only remaining Democrats from the initial debates still running; Gravel vowed to stay in the presidential campaign until November. On March 11, 2008, Gravel continued to remain in the Democratic race but additionally endorsed a Green Party candidate for president, Jesse Johnson, saying he wanted to help Johnson prevail against Green Party rivals Cynthia McKinney and Ralph Nader.","On March 11, 2008, Gravel continued to remain in the Democratic race but additionally endorsed a Green Party candidate for president, Jesse Johnson, saying he wanted to help Johnson prevail against Green Party rivals Cynthia McKinney and Ralph Nader. By late March, Gravel had almost no fundraising and was only on the ballot in one of the next ten Democratic primaries.","By late March, Gravel had almost no fundraising and was only on the ballot in one of the next ten Democratic primaries. Switch to Libertarian Party On March 25, 2008, Gravel announced that he would leave the Democrats and join the Libertarian Party, saying: \"My libertarian views, as well as my strong stance against war, the military industrial complex and American imperialism, seem not to be tolerated by Democratic Party elites who are out of touch with the average American; elites that reject the empowerment of American citizens I offered to the Democratic Party at the beginning of this presidential campaign with the National Initiative for Democracy.\"","Switch to Libertarian Party On March 25, 2008, Gravel announced that he would leave the Democrats and join the Libertarian Party, saying: \"My libertarian views, as well as my strong stance against war, the military industrial complex and American imperialism, seem not to be tolerated by Democratic Party elites who are out of touch with the average American; elites that reject the empowerment of American citizens I offered to the Democratic Party at the beginning of this presidential campaign with the National Initiative for Democracy.\" The following day Gravel entered the race for the 2008 Libertarian presidential nomination, saying that he would have run as a third-party candidate all along except that he needed the public exposure that came from being in the earlier Democratic debates.","The following day Gravel entered the race for the 2008 Libertarian presidential nomination, saying that he would have run as a third-party candidate all along except that he needed the public exposure that came from being in the earlier Democratic debates. Gravel's initial notion of running as a fusion candidate with other parties was met with skepticism. As a Libertarian candidate, Gravel faced resistance to his past support of big government initiatives and his unorthodox positions around direct democracy.","As a Libertarian candidate, Gravel faced resistance to his past support of big government initiatives and his unorthodox positions around direct democracy. Nevertheless, he garnered more support than he had as a Democrat, placing second and third in two April 2008 straw polls.","Nevertheless, he garnered more support than he had as a Democrat, placing second and third in two April 2008 straw polls. In the May 25 balloting at the 2008 Libertarian National Convention in Denver, Gravel finished fourth out of eight candidates on the initial ballot, with 71 votes out of a total 618; he trailed former Congressman and eventual winner Bob Barr, author Mary Ruwart, and businessman Wayne Allyn Root. Gravel's position did not subsequently improve and he was eliminated on the fourth ballot.","Gravel's position did not subsequently improve and he was eliminated on the fourth ballot. Afterwards he stated that \"I just ended my political career,\" but he vowed to continue promoting his positions as a writer and lecturer. 2008–early 2019 In June 2008 Gravel endorsed the NYC 9/11 Ballot Initiative, saying the measure would create a \"citizens commission rather than a government commission\" with subpoena power against top U.S. officials to \"make a true investigation as to what happened\" regarding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.","2008–early 2019 In June 2008 Gravel endorsed the NYC 9/11 Ballot Initiative, saying the measure would create a \"citizens commission rather than a government commission\" with subpoena power against top U.S. officials to \"make a true investigation as to what happened\" regarding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. He later said, \"Individuals in and out of government may certainly have participated with the obviously known perpetrators of this dastardly act. Suspicions abound over the analysis presented by government.","Suspicions abound over the analysis presented by government. Suspicions abound over the analysis presented by government. Obviously an act that has triggered three wars, Afghan, Iraqi and the continuing War on Terror, should be extensively investigated which was not done and which the government avoids addressing.\"","Obviously an act that has triggered three wars, Afghan, Iraqi and the continuing War on Terror, should be extensively investigated which was not done and which the government avoids addressing.\" In August 2008 Gravel was speaking to a crowd of supporters of Sami Al-Arian (who two years earlier had pleaded guilty and been sentenced to prison for a charge of conspiracy in helping Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a \"specially designated terrorist\" organization) when he was caught on tape saying of Al-Arian's prosecutor, \"Find out where he lives, find out where his kids go to school, find out where his office is: picket him all the time.","In August 2008 Gravel was speaking to a crowd of supporters of Sami Al-Arian (who two years earlier had pleaded guilty and been sentenced to prison for a charge of conspiracy in helping Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a \"specially designated terrorist\" organization) when he was caught on tape saying of Al-Arian's prosecutor, \"Find out where he lives, find out where his kids go to school, find out where his office is: picket him all the time. Call him a racist in signs if you see him.","Call him a racist in signs if you see him. Call him an injustice. Call him whatever you want to call him, but in his face all the time.\" Gravel was criticized for potentially involving the children of the prosecutor, and Al-Arian's family disavowed the sentiments. Gravel defended Alaska Governor Sarah Palin after she was chosen as Republican presidential nominee John McCain's running mate in September 2008.","Gravel defended Alaska Governor Sarah Palin after she was chosen as Republican presidential nominee John McCain's running mate in September 2008. He praised Palin's record in standing up to corruption among Alaskan Republicans, thought her national inexperience was an asset not a detriment, and predicted that the \"Troopergate\" investigation into whether she improperly fired a state official would \"come out in her favor\". Gravel made clear he would not support or vote for either McCain–Palin or Obama–Biden in the general election.","Gravel made clear he would not support or vote for either McCain–Palin or Obama–Biden in the general election. The following year Gravel said that Palin's politics were \"terrible, but that doesn't detract from the fact that she's a very talented person\". He predicted that Palin would run for president in 2012 and that \"she's going to surprise a lot of people\". Palin did not run, but Gravel's prediction about \"TrooperGate\" was accurate as Palin was found not to have violated ethics laws.","Palin did not run, but Gravel's prediction about \"TrooperGate\" was accurate as Palin was found not to have violated ethics laws. In 2013, by the invitation of Hamed Ghashghavi, the secretary for international affairs of the 3rd International Conference on Hollywoodism in Tehran, Iran, Gravel attended that event as an Iranian government-organized anti-Hollywood conference.","In 2013, by the invitation of Hamed Ghashghavi, the secretary for international affairs of the 3rd International Conference on Hollywoodism in Tehran, Iran, Gravel attended that event as an Iranian government-organized anti-Hollywood conference. Gravel noted that the conference was attended by \"various elements of extremes\" but said it was necessary to discuss how the U.S. film industry portrayed Iran in order to prevent \"an insane war\" between the two nations.","Gravel noted that the conference was attended by \"various elements of extremes\" but said it was necessary to discuss how the U.S. film industry portrayed Iran in order to prevent \"an insane war\" between the two nations. In May 2013 Gravel was one of several former members of Congress to accept $20,000 from the Paradigm Research Group, an advocacy group for UFO disclosure, as part of holding what they termed a Citizen Hearing on Disclosure, modeled after congressional hearings, regarding supposed U.S. government suppression of evidence concerning UFOs.","In May 2013 Gravel was one of several former members of Congress to accept $20,000 from the Paradigm Research Group, an advocacy group for UFO disclosure, as part of holding what they termed a Citizen Hearing on Disclosure, modeled after congressional hearings, regarding supposed U.S. government suppression of evidence concerning UFOs. Gravel said, \"Something is monitoring the planet, and they are monitoring it very cautiously, because we are a very warlike planet,\" and, \"What we're faced with here is, in areas of the media, and the government too, an effort to marginalize and ridicule people who have specific knowledge.\"","Gravel said, \"Something is monitoring the planet, and they are monitoring it very cautiously, because we are a very warlike planet,\" and, \"What we're faced with here is, in areas of the media, and the government too, an effort to marginalize and ridicule people who have specific knowledge.\" In December 2014 Gravel was announced as the new CEO of KUSH, a company which makes marijuana-infused products for medicinal and recreational use, and a subsidiary of Cannabis Sativa, Inc.","In December 2014 Gravel was announced as the new CEO of KUSH, a company which makes marijuana-infused products for medicinal and recreational use, and a subsidiary of Cannabis Sativa, Inc. He also became an Independent Director of Cannabis Sativa. During the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries, Gravel praised Bernie Sanders and his campaign, saying \"Bernie is one of the most gifted politicians I have ever observed. He's a person of great integrity and very clever.\"","He's a person of great integrity and very clever.\" Gravel predicted that Sanders would be elected president but would be unable to get his key reforms through Congress, and thus that Sanders and his supporters should back some of the proposals of the National Initiative. In 2016, Gravel said in relation to the September 11 attacks: \"We killed 58,000 American servicemen in the Vietnam War and all they did was die in vain.","In 2016, Gravel said in relation to the September 11 attacks: \"We killed 58,000 American servicemen in the Vietnam War and all they did was die in vain. What's so unusual about killing 3,000 more in order to develop the grist for the mill to empower into infinity the military industrial complex?\" and \"There's no question in my mind that 9/11 was an inside job\". The remarks were later disavowed by even Gravel supporters. By 2019 Gravel was living in Seaside, California.","By 2019 Gravel was living in Seaside, California. By 2019 Gravel was living in Seaside, California. He was working on a book, at the time titled Human Governance, about his principal idea for direct democracy, a U.S. Constitutional Amendment to create a \"Legislature of the People\" that would circumvent the existing Congress. The book was self-published at the end of the year by AuthorHouse under the title The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People.","The book was self-published at the end of the year by AuthorHouse under the title The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People. 2020 presidential campaign On March 19, 2019, Gravel announced that he was considering running in the 2020 Democratic primaries. He said, \"The goal will not be to win, but to bring a critique of American imperialism to the Democratic debate stage.\"","He said, \"The goal will not be to win, but to bring a critique of American imperialism to the Democratic debate stage.\" An exploratory committee was formed, with filing a statement of organization with the Federal Election Commission on that same day.","An exploratory committee was formed, with filing a statement of organization with the Federal Election Commission on that same day. The filing was the idea of a group of teenagers, led by David Oks and Henry Williams, inspired by the podcast Chapo Trap House, and done with Gravel's consent (after a week spent convincing him of the idea's merits), but without his involvement.","The filing was the idea of a group of teenagers, led by David Oks and Henry Williams, inspired by the podcast Chapo Trap House, and done with Gravel's consent (after a week spent convincing him of the idea's merits), but without his involvement. Intrigued by the group's commitment to amplifying his long-held policy goals, Gravel (who would be old on Inauguration Day in 2021) said he planned to meet with them in April, and to discuss a 2020 White House run with his wife.","Intrigued by the group's commitment to amplifying his long-held policy goals, Gravel (who would be old on Inauguration Day in 2021) said he planned to meet with them in April, and to discuss a 2020 White House run with his wife. On April 2, 2019, Gravel filed to officially run for office. The campaign called itself the \"#Gravelanche\". Gravel's initial stated goal was merely to qualify for debates by getting the required 65,000 small donors.","Gravel's initial stated goal was merely to qualify for debates by getting the required 65,000 small donors. He discouraged people from voting for him and said his preferences were Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard, both of whom favor a non-interventionist foreign policy. But on April 29, Gravel's campaign said he was running to win, not just to participate in debates. In a subsequent interview, though, Gravel emphasized the virtue of Sanders and Gabbard in some order as a presidential ticket.","In a subsequent interview, though, Gravel emphasized the virtue of Sanders and Gabbard in some order as a presidential ticket. Statements like these caused Vox to call Gravel \"2020's oddest Democratic presidential candidate\".","Statements like these caused Vox to call Gravel \"2020's oddest Democratic presidential candidate\". The New York Times Magazine included Gravel as an example in the rise of democratic socialism in the United States also exemplified by Sanders's 2016 race and the 2018 election of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: \"[Gravel's] campaign represents the most absurd form of a legitimate movement on the left that feels little obligation to the Democratic Party.\"","The New York Times Magazine included Gravel as an example in the rise of democratic socialism in the United States also exemplified by Sanders's 2016 race and the 2018 election of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: \"[Gravel's] campaign represents the most absurd form of a legitimate movement on the left that feels little obligation to the Democratic Party.\" In June 2019, Gravel touted the endorsement of Muntadher al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who, in December 2008, made headlines after he threw his shoes at President George W. Bush in protest of the U.S. war in Iraq.","In June 2019, Gravel touted the endorsement of Muntadher al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who, in December 2008, made headlines after he threw his shoes at President George W. Bush in protest of the U.S. war in Iraq. Al-Zaidi endorsed Gravel based on his promise to improve White House policies regarding Iraq and the Middle East. On June 13, 2019, the Democratic Party announced the 20 major candidates who qualified for the first debate later that month.","On June 13, 2019, the Democratic Party announced the 20 major candidates who qualified for the first debate later that month. Gravel was one of the four who missed out (the others were Montana Governor Steve Bullock, U.S. Representative Seth Moulton, and Miramar, Florida, Mayor Wayne Messam). Gravel had been unable to get the requisite number of donations, or to score one percent or better in enough polls (many polls did not even include him).","Gravel had been unable to get the requisite number of donations, or to score one percent or better in enough polls (many polls did not even include him). Nevertheless, Gravel said he would not drop out and would try to qualify for the July debate. In early July, however, Gravel's campaign said it was still 10,000 contributions short of the 65,000-donor threshold and that it was \"nearing its conclusion\". It solicited suggestions for where to donate $100–150,000 of leftover campaign funds.","It solicited suggestions for where to donate $100–150,000 of leftover campaign funds. Gravel added that he had always planned on ending the campaign before the teenagers in charge of it needed to return to school. A few days later the campaign became the first to run an attack ad against Democratic front-runner Joe Biden, using the text \"Is this the best our party has to offer?\" Gravel's campaign crossed the threshold of 65,000 donors on July 12, 2019, meeting the qualification mark for that month's debate.","Gravel's campaign crossed the threshold of 65,000 donors on July 12, 2019, meeting the qualification mark for that month's debate. But because 20 other candidates, the maximum allowed to participate, had already met at least the polling criterion, which takes priority over the donor criterion, Gravel was not invited. The campaign officially came to a close on August 6, 2019, with Gravel endorsing both Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard for president.","The campaign officially came to a close on August 6, 2019, with Gravel endorsing both Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard for president. Gravel's campaign later stated on Twitter that they never wanted to win but saw the campaign as an \"intimately democratic\" project and expressed honor at working with Gravel. Gravel said he would divide remaining campaign funds between charity and a new think tank which would espouse his ideas.","Gravel said he would divide remaining campaign funds between charity and a new think tank which would espouse his ideas. The Gravel Institute Gravel used some of the funds remaining from his 2020 presidential campaign to found an eponymous progressive think tank called The Gravel Institute in 2019. As noted by Vice magazine, the institute aims to do battle with PragerU from a left-wing perspective.","As noted by Vice magazine, the institute aims to do battle with PragerU from a left-wing perspective. Launched in September 2020, the new entity said it would \"carry on the life's work of former U.S Senator Mike Gravel in fighting for global peace and democracy. Its mission is to promote bold and forward-looking ideas about a more peaceful and egalitarian world, and to build a robust movement of young people to win it\".","Its mission is to promote bold and forward-looking ideas about a more peaceful and egalitarian world, and to build a robust movement of young people to win it\". Contributors announced include Cornel West and Slavoj Žižek, as well as Lower Brule Indian Reservation activist Nick Estes.","Contributors announced include Cornel West and Slavoj Žižek, as well as Lower Brule Indian Reservation activist Nick Estes. Other presenters have included and will include H. Jon Benjamin, Briahna Joy Gray, Bernie Sanders, Chelsea Manning, Richard Wolff, Stephanie Kelton, Zephyr Teachout, David Cross, Jabari Brisport, Zohran Mamdani, and Gravel himself (though it is unknown if his appearance will be cancelled due to his death in June 2021, or if the video has already been recorded).","Other presenters have included and will include H. Jon Benjamin, Briahna Joy Gray, Bernie Sanders, Chelsea Manning, Richard Wolff, Stephanie Kelton, Zephyr Teachout, David Cross, Jabari Brisport, Zohran Mamdani, and Gravel himself (though it is unknown if his appearance will be cancelled due to his death in June 2021, or if the video has already been recorded). Death Gravel died of multiple myeloma at his home in Seaside, California, on June 26, 2021, at age 91.","Death Gravel died of multiple myeloma at his home in Seaside, California, on June 26, 2021, at age 91. The obituary for him in The New York Times stated that Gravel was \"a two-term Democratic senator from Alaska ... who was perhaps better known as an unabashed attention-getter\" who later become known for \"mounting long-shot presidential runs\".","The obituary for him in The New York Times stated that Gravel was \"a two-term Democratic senator from Alaska ... who was perhaps better known as an unabashed attention-getter\" who later become known for \"mounting long-shot presidential runs\". The obituary in The Washington Post was similar, saying that Gravel was \"an Alaska Democrat with a flair for the theatrical who rose from obscurity to brief renown\" and later \"ran quixotic campaigns for the presidency\".","The obituary in The Washington Post was similar, saying that Gravel was \"an Alaska Democrat with a flair for the theatrical who rose from obscurity to brief renown\" and later \"ran quixotic campaigns for the presidency\". The Anchorage Daily News quoted Gravel as saying of himself in 1989, \"I'm an independent kind of guy. A rough and ready kind of guy. My glands work in a certain way that make me stand up, foolishly sometimes, and fight.\"","My glands work in a certain way that make me stand up, foolishly sometimes, and fight.\" Political positions Alan Abramowitz and Jeffrey Allan Segal described Gravel as \"a maverick, if not an eccentric, in the Senate.\" His Americans for Democratic Action \"Liberal Quotient\" scores ranged from 81 out of 100 (1971) to 39 out of 100 (1980), with an average of around 61.","His Americans for Democratic Action \"Liberal Quotient\" scores ranged from 81 out of 100 (1971) to 39 out of 100 (1980), with an average of around 61. His American Conservative Union scores ranged from 0 out of 100 (several years, including 1971 and 1972) to 38 out of 100 (1979), with an average of 14.","His American Conservative Union scores ranged from 0 out of 100 (several years, including 1971 and 1972) to 38 out of 100 (1979), with an average of 14. Abramowitz and Segal note that Gravel's lowest ADA ratings coincided with his two Senate re-election bids, and for the most part his highest ACU ratings followed the same pattern.","Abramowitz and Segal note that Gravel's lowest ADA ratings coincided with his two Senate re-election bids, and for the most part his highest ACU ratings followed the same pattern. In 1972, as a young senator, Gravel published Citizen Power: A People's Platform, a manifesto outlining what Kirkus Reviews termed a \"populist reform [that] would provide 'balanced political power' between the people and government and business interests.\"","In 1972, as a young senator, Gravel published Citizen Power: A People's Platform, a manifesto outlining what Kirkus Reviews termed a \"populist reform [that] would provide 'balanced political power' between the people and government and business interests.\" Civil rights issues On drug policy, Gravel said in 2007 that he favored decriminalization and treating addiction as a public health matter.","Civil rights issues On drug policy, Gravel said in 2007 that he favored decriminalization and treating addiction as a public health matter. During his 2008 presidential candidacy he condemned the War on Drugs as a failure, saying that it did \"nothing but savage our inner cities and put our children at risk\". Gravel called for abolition of capital punishment in his book Citizen Power, and adhered to this position during his 2008 run for president. He supported abortion rights.","He supported abortion rights. He supported abortion rights. During the 2008 campaign Gravel was a strong supporter of LGBT rights. He supported same-sex marriage and opposed the Defense of Marriage Act and the U.S. military's \"don't ask, don't tell\" policy. He wrote in 2008 that \"depriving gays and lesbians of equal rights is immoral\". Foreign policy and defense issues Gravel was a critic of American imperialism. Gravel firmly opposed U.S. military action against Iran and Syria.","Gravel firmly opposed U.S. military action against Iran and Syria. He voiced opposition to the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, the Military Commissions Act of 2006, the use of torture, indefinite detention, and what he called \"flagrant ignorance\" of the Geneva Convention. In 2014 Gravel called for the release of the full, unredacted Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture. Gravel opposed the use of international sanctions as a policy tool and blamed the ones against Iraq under Saddam Hussein for the deaths of a half-million children in that country.","Gravel opposed the use of international sanctions as a policy tool and blamed the ones against Iraq under Saddam Hussein for the deaths of a half-million children in that country. In 2013 Gravel said that sanctions against Iran were \"illegal\". During his 2008 candidacy, Gravel called for a cut in military spending, variously reported to be 15 percent or 50 percent. He called for the savings to boost public education spending. To spur international nuclear nonproliferation efforts, Gravel called for unilateral reductions in the U.S. nuclear arsenal.","To spur international nuclear nonproliferation efforts, Gravel called for unilateral reductions in the U.S. nuclear arsenal. In 2008 Gravel criticized the decision of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to not pursue the efforts to impeach George W. Bush and the attempted impeachment of Dick Cheney, saying also that Bush and Cheney had committed crimes and deserved \"to be prosecuted\" at The Hague.","In 2008 Gravel criticized the decision of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to not pursue the efforts to impeach George W. Bush and the attempted impeachment of Dick Cheney, saying also that Bush and Cheney had committed crimes and deserved \"to be prosecuted\" at The Hague. In 2013 he expressed disdain for President Obama, calling him \"a total fraud\" and saying that both Bush and Obama should be tried \"for the crimes and murders they've committed\" in the International Court of Justice.","In 2013 he expressed disdain for President Obama, calling him \"a total fraud\" and saying that both Bush and Obama should be tried \"for the crimes and murders they've committed\" in the International Court of Justice. Gravel specifically condemned Obama for the drone strikes in Pakistan and elsewhere.","Gravel specifically condemned Obama for the drone strikes in Pakistan and elsewhere. Economy, immigration, and environment During his 2008 candidacy Gravel favored a FairTax scheme, which would abolish the Internal Revenue Service, eliminate the federal income tax (which Gravel called \"corrupt\"), and impose a national sales tax. While Gravel described FairTax as \"progressive\", others have criticized it as \"regressive\", disproportionately benefiting the wealthiest Americans.","While Gravel described FairTax as \"progressive\", others have criticized it as \"regressive\", disproportionately benefiting the wealthiest Americans. To offset the new sales taxes on essential goods, Gravel's plan called for monthly government rebate payments to individuals and families. During his 2020 campaign Gravel also voiced support for a third legislative body that would give the people direct control of the budget as well as the implementation of a land value tax.","During his 2020 campaign Gravel also voiced support for a third legislative body that would give the people direct control of the budget as well as the implementation of a land value tax. Gravel opposed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) during his 2008 candidacy, calling it unfair and economically harmful and needing renegotiation. Gravel believed that NAFTA was the \"root cause\" of illegal migration to the U.S. He favored a guest worker program and \"setting up naturalization procedures that would fairly bring immigrants into legal status\".","He favored a guest worker program and \"setting up naturalization procedures that would fairly bring immigrants into legal status\". In a 2007 interview, Gravel identified himself as \"very much of a globalist\" who believed in open markets and open borders and condemned the scapegoating of undocumented immigrants. Gravel also said that he favored eliminating the cap on H1B visas. As a senator from Alaska, Gravel favored drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but opposed it during his 2008 campaign.","As a senator from Alaska, Gravel favored drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but opposed it during his 2008 campaign. In 2008, Gravel supported a carbon tax to combat climate change. Gravel spoke in favor of net neutrality during his presidential campaign. Education and health care Gravel called for the cost of college tuition to be borne by the federal government, rather than students.","Education and health care Gravel called for the cost of college tuition to be borne by the federal government, rather than students. In his 2008 campaign, he called the No Child Left Behind Act \"a failure\" and called for it to be \"reformed and fully funded\". He expressed support for universal pre-kindergarten and the expansion of the Head Start program; and expressed an openness to charter schools and school vouchers. He also suggested extending the school day and the school year, and supported merit pay for teachers.","He also suggested extending the school day and the school year, and supported merit pay for teachers. Gravel also called for publicly funded universal health care to replace the current employer-sponsored health insurance system. He supported \"full funding\" of the VA system. When asked in 2007 about naturopathy, homeopathy, and acupuncture, Gravel said that he was \"very very much in favor\" of holistic health care. Awards and honors In 2008 Gravel received the Columbia University School of General Studies' first annual Isaac Asimov Lifetime Achievement Award.","Awards and honors In 2008 Gravel received the Columbia University School of General Studies' first annual Isaac Asimov Lifetime Achievement Award. Electoral history Writings Gravel, Mike. Jobs and More Jobs. Mt. McKinley Publishers, 1968. Gravel, Mike. Citizen Power: A People's Platform. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1972. . revised and reissued as Citizen Power: A Mandate for Change, AuthorHouse, 2008. . Gravel, Mike and Lauria, Joe.","Gravel, Mike and Lauria, Joe. Gravel, Mike and Lauria, Joe. A Political Odyssey: The Rise of American Militarism and One Man's Fight to Stop It. Seven Stories Press, 2008. . Gravel, Mike and Eisenbach, David. The Kingmakers: How the Media Threatens Our Security and Our Democracy. Phoenix Books, 2008. . Gravel, Mike. Voice of a Maverick: The Speeches and Writings of Senator Mike Gravel. Brandywine House, 2008. Gravel, Mike.","Brandywine House, 2008. Gravel, Mike. Gravel, Mike. Foreword to Poisoned Power: The Case Against Nuclear Power Plants. John W. Goffman & Arthur R. Tamplin, Rodale Press, Inc., Emmaus, PA, June 1971. Gravel, Mike. The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People. AuthorHouse, 2020. Explanatory notes References Citations General references The Pentagon Papers Senator Gravel Edition. Vol. Five: Critical Essays. Boston: Beacon Press, 1972. 341p. plus 72p.","Five: Critical Essays. Boston: Beacon Press, 1972. 341p. plus 72p. plus 72p. of Index to Vol. I–IV of the Papers; Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, editors.","I–IV of the Papers; Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, editors. External links Mike Gravel official website The Gravel Institute |- |- 1930 births 2021 deaths 1972 United States vice-presidential candidates 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American politicians 20th-century Roman Catholics 20th-century Unitarians 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American politicians 21st-century Unitarians 9/11 conspiracy theorists Alaska Democrats American International College alumni American Unitarian Universalists American anti–Iraq War activists American conspiracy theorists American democracy activists American male non-fiction writers American people of French-Canadian descent American political writers American real estate businesspeople American stockbrokers Anti-corporate activists Assumption University (Worcester) alumni Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Businesspeople from Anchorage, Alaska Businesspeople from Springfield, Massachusetts California Democrats Candidates in the 2008 United States presidential election Candidates in the 2020 United States presidential election Columbia University School of General Studies alumni Deaths from cancer in California Deaths from multiple myeloma Democratic Party United States senators Direct democracy activists Drug policy reform activists Former Roman Catholics Virginia Libertarians Members of the Alaska House of Representatives Military personnel from Massachusetts Non-interventionism People from Arlington County, Virginia People from Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska People with dyslexia Politicians from Anchorage, Alaska Politicians from Springfield, Massachusetts Speakers of the Alaska House of Representatives United States Army officers United States senators from Alaska Writers about direct democracy Writers from Anchorage, Alaska"],"string":"[\n \"Maurice Robert Gravel ( ; May 13, 1930 – June 26, 2021) was an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Alaska from 1969 to 1981 as a member of the Democratic Party, and who, in later life, twice ran for the presidential nomination of that party. Born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, by French-Canadian immigrant parents, Gravel moved to Alaska in the late 1950s, becoming a real estate developer and entering politics.\",\n \"Born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, by French-Canadian immigrant parents, Gravel moved to Alaska in the late 1950s, becoming a real estate developer and entering politics. He served in the Alaska House of Representatives from 1963 to 1967, and also became Speaker of the Alaska House. Gravel was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1968.\",\n \"Gravel was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1968. Gravel was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1968. As a senator, Gravel became nationally known for his forceful, but unsuccessful, attempts to end the draft during the War in Vietnam, and for putting the Pentagon Papers into the public record in 1971. He conducted a campaign for the Democratic nomination in 1972 for Vice President of the United States, and then played a crucial role in obtaining Congressional approval for the Trans-Alaska pipeline in 1973.\",\n \"He conducted a campaign for the Democratic nomination in 1972 for Vice President of the United States, and then played a crucial role in obtaining Congressional approval for the Trans-Alaska pipeline in 1973. He was re-elected to the Senate in 1974, but was defeated in his bid for a third term in the primary election in 1980. An advocate of direct democracy and the National Initiative, Gravel staged a run for the 2008 Democratic nomination for President of the United States.\",\n \"An advocate of direct democracy and the National Initiative, Gravel staged a run for the 2008 Democratic nomination for President of the United States. His campaign failed to gain support, and in March 2008, he left the Democratic Party and joined the Libertarian Party to compete unsuccessfully for its presidential nomination and the inclusion of the National Initiative into the Libertarian Platform. He ran for president as a Democrat again in the 2020 election, in a campaign that ended four months after it began.\",\n \"He ran for president as a Democrat again in the 2020 election, in a campaign that ended four months after it began. Two years before his death, Gravel and his campaign staff founded the progressive think tank The Gravel Institute. Early life, military service, education Gravel was born on May 13, 1930, in Springfield, Massachusetts, one of five children of French-Canadian immigrant parents, Alphonse and Marie (née Bourassa) Gravel.\",\n \"Early life, military service, education Gravel was born on May 13, 1930, in Springfield, Massachusetts, one of five children of French-Canadian immigrant parents, Alphonse and Marie (née Bourassa) Gravel. His parents were part of the Quebec diaspora, and he was raised in a working-class neighborhood during the Great Depression, speaking only French until he was seven years old. Calling him \\\"Mike\\\" from an early age, his father valued work above all else, while his mother stressed the importance of education.\",\n \"Calling him \\\"Mike\\\" from an early age, his father valued work above all else, while his mother stressed the importance of education. Gravel was educated in parochial schools as a Roman Catholic. There he struggled, due to what he later said was undiagnosed dyslexia, and was left back in third grade. He completed elementary school in 1945 and his class voted him \\\"most charming personality\\\".\",\n \"He completed elementary school in 1945 and his class voted him \\\"most charming personality\\\". A summer job as a soda jerk led to Gravel handing out campaign fliers for local candidates on his boss's behalf; Gravel was immediately impressed with \\\"the awesomeness of political office\\\". Gravel then boarded at Assumption Preparatory School in Worcester, Massachusetts, where his performance was initially mediocre.\",\n \"Gravel then boarded at Assumption Preparatory School in Worcester, Massachusetts, where his performance was initially mediocre. By Gravel's telling, in the summer of 1948 he intended to volunteer for the Israel Defense Forces during the 1947–1949 Palestine war, but Alexandra Tolstaya told him to return to school. There an English teacher, the Assumptionist Edgar Bourque, gave him personal attention, improving Gravel's language skills and instructing him in public speaking. Gravel's grades improved measurably in his final year and he graduated in 1949.\",\n \"Gravel's grades improved measurably in his final year and he graduated in 1949. His sister, Marguerite, became a Holy Cross nun, but Gravel himself struggled with the Catholic faith. He studied for one year at Assumption College, a Catholic school in Worcester, then transferred for his sophomore year to American International College in Springfield. Journalist I. F. Stone and philosopher Bertrand Russell strongly influenced Gravel in their willingness to challenge assumptions and oppose social convention and political authority.\",\n \"Journalist I. F. Stone and philosopher Bertrand Russell strongly influenced Gravel in their willingness to challenge assumptions and oppose social convention and political authority. Around May 1951, Gravel saw that he was about to be drafted and instead enlisted in the U.S. Army for a three-year term so that he could get into the Counterintelligence Corps. After basic training and counterintelligence school at Fort Holabird in Maryland and in South Carolina, he went to Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia.\",\n \"After basic training and counterintelligence school at Fort Holabird in Maryland and in South Carolina, he went to Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia. While he expected to be sent off to the Korean War when he graduated as a second lieutenant in early 1952, he was instead assigned to Stuttgart, West Germany, as a Special Adjutant in the Army's Communications Intelligence Service. In Germany, Gravel conducted surveillance operations on civilians and paid off spies.\",\n \"In Germany, Gravel conducted surveillance operations on civilians and paid off spies. After about a year, he transferred to Orléans, France, where his French language abilities (if not his French-Canadian accent) allowed him to infiltrate French communist rallies. He worked as a Special Agent in the Counterintelligence Corps until 1954, eventually becoming a first lieutenant. Following his discharge, Gravel entered the Columbia University School of General Studies in New York City, where he studied economics and received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1956.\",\n \"Following his discharge, Gravel entered the Columbia University School of General Studies in New York City, where he studied economics and received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1956. He moved to New York \\\"flat broke\\\" and supported himself by working as a bar boy in a hotel, driving a taxicab, and working in the investment bond department at Bankers Trust. During this time he left the Roman Catholic faith.\",\n \"During this time he left the Roman Catholic faith. During this time he left the Roman Catholic faith. Move to Alaska Gravel \\\"decided to become a pioneer in a faraway place,\\\" and moved to pre-statehood Alaska in August 1956, without funds or a job, looking for a place where someone without social or political connections could be a viable candidate for public office.\",\n \"Move to Alaska Gravel \\\"decided to become a pioneer in a faraway place,\\\" and moved to pre-statehood Alaska in August 1956, without funds or a job, looking for a place where someone without social or political connections could be a viable candidate for public office. Alaska's voting age of 19, less than most other states' 21, played a role in his decision, as did its newness and cooler climate. Broke when he arrived, he immediately found work in real estate sales until winter arrived.\",\n \"Broke when he arrived, he immediately found work in real estate sales until winter arrived. Gravel then was employed as a brakeman for the Alaska Railroad, working the snow-clearing train on the Anchorage-to-Fairbanks run. Subsequently, he opened a small real estate brokerage in Anchorage (the Territory of Alaska not requiring a license) and saved enough so as not to have to work the railroad again. The firm was named the M. R. Gravel Real Estate Company.\",\n \"The firm was named the M. R. Gravel Real Estate Company. Gravel joined the Anchorage Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, and continued a sporadic relationship with the movement throughout his life. Seeing Alaska as a wide-open place with no political establishment or entrenched interests, Gravel quickly became part of the civic scene there. By October 1957 he was a Division Chairman for Anchorage for the Democratic Central Committee in the territory, and by June 1958 he was president of the Alaska Young Democrats organization.\",\n \"By October 1957 he was a Division Chairman for Anchorage for the Democratic Central Committee in the territory, and by June 1958 he was president of the Alaska Young Democrats organization. He also became active in the United States Junior Chamber (Jaycees), and by early 1958 his duties included handing out awards for farmer of the year. By early 1958, Gravel was running as Democratic Party primary candidate for a Third Division seat in House of Representative of the territorial legislature.\",\n \"By early 1958, Gravel was running as Democratic Party primary candidate for a Third Division seat in House of Representative of the territorial legislature. (This was one of the four judicial divisions into which Alaska was sectioned at the time.) Using the slogan \\\"Gravel, the Roadbed to Prosperity\\\", he ran but lost. At the same time, he was also an advocate for Alaskan statehood.\",\n \"At the same time, he was also an advocate for Alaskan statehood. Gravel went on a 44-state national speaking tour concerning tax reform in 1959, sponsored by the Jaycees, often dressing for events as Paul Revere. Gravel was selected from some two thousand applications for this position. The tour received a good amount of local newspaper coverage at its various stops, with Gravel's first name sometimes given as Mike and other times as Maurice.\",\n \"The tour received a good amount of local newspaper coverage at its various stops, with Gravel's first name sometimes given as Mike and other times as Maurice. The tour's general message was an urging of \\\"lower taxes, more efficiency in government and a system of taxation moderate at all levels of income\\\". At several stops Gravel stated that the \\\"tide of socialism\\\" had to be stopped.\",\n \"At several stops Gravel stated that the \\\"tide of socialism\\\" had to be stopped. He elaborated at another stop, \\\"It is part of our Jaycee creed that economic justice can best be won by free men through free enterprise. We really want to see that free enterprise become our inheritance.\\\"\",\n \"We really want to see that free enterprise become our inheritance.\\\" The tour was scheduled to conclude in Washington D.C., on Tax Day, April 15, with petition signatures accumulated for reform to be presented to U.S. lawmakers: dressed as Revere, Gravel rode with the petition to the steps of the U.S. Capitol. The tour over, Gravel married Rita Jeannette Martin at the First Methodist Church of Anchorage on April 29, 1959.\",\n \"The tour over, Gravel married Rita Jeannette Martin at the First Methodist Church of Anchorage on April 29, 1959. She was a native of Montana who had attended Billings Business College before moving to Alaska two years prior and becoming a secretary in the office of the Anchorage city manager. She had also been named Anchorage's \\\"Miss Fur Rendezvous\\\" of 1958. They had two children, Martin Anthony Gravel and Lynne Denise Gravel, born c. 1960 and 1962 respectively.\",\n \"They had two children, Martin Anthony Gravel and Lynne Denise Gravel, born c. 1960 and 1962 respectively. Gravel ran without avail for the City Council in Anchorage in 1960. During this time, he had become a successful real estate agent; after the 1960 election, he became a property developer in a mobile home park on the outskirts of Anchorage. After a partner ran into financial difficulty, however, the project went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and Gravel was forced out in 1962.\",\n \"After a partner ran into financial difficulty, however, the project went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and Gravel was forced out in 1962. State legislator With the support of Alaska wholesale grocer Barney Gottstein and supermarket builder Larry Carr, Gravel ran for the Alaska House of Representatives representing Anchorage in 1962, initially assigned the 10th and then 8th districts.\",\n \"State legislator With the support of Alaska wholesale grocer Barney Gottstein and supermarket builder Larry Carr, Gravel ran for the Alaska House of Representatives representing Anchorage in 1962, initially assigned the 10th and then 8th districts. Alaska had very crowded primaries that year: Gravel was one of 33 Democrats, along with 21 Republicans, who were running for the chance to compete for the 14 House seats allocated to the 8th district.\",\n \"Alaska had very crowded primaries that year: Gravel was one of 33 Democrats, along with 21 Republicans, who were running for the chance to compete for the 14 House seats allocated to the 8th district. Gravel made it through the primary, and in November eight Republicans and six Democrats were elected to the House from the district, with Gravel finishing eighth overall and third among with Democrats, with 8,174 votes. Gottstein became Gravel's main financial backer during most of his subsequent campaigns.\",\n \"Gottstein became Gravel's main financial backer during most of his subsequent campaigns. Gravel served in the Alaska House of Representatives from January 28, 1963 to January 22, 1967, winning reelection in 1964. In his first term, he served as a minority member on two House committees: Commerce, and Labor and Management. He co-authored and sponsored the act that created the Alaska State Commission for Human Rights.\",\n \"He co-authored and sponsored the act that created the Alaska State Commission for Human Rights. Gravel was the chief architect of the law that created a regional high school system for rural Alaska; this allowed Alaska Natives to attend schools near where they lived instead of having to go to schools run by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the lower 48 states. During the half-years that the legislature was not in session, Gravel resumed his real estate work.\",\n \"During the half-years that the legislature was not in session, Gravel resumed his real estate work. With Gottstein and Carr's backing, he became quite successful as a property developer on the Kenai Peninsula. During 1965 and 1966, he served as the Speaker of the House, surprising observers by winning that post. Gravel convinced former Speaker Warren A. Taylor to not try for the position against him by promising Taylor chairmanship of the Rules Committee, then reneged on the promise.\",\n \"Gravel convinced former Speaker Warren A. Taylor to not try for the position against him by promising Taylor chairmanship of the Rules Committee, then reneged on the promise. Gravel denied later press charges that he had promised but not delivered on other committee chairmanships. As Speaker he antagonized fellow lawmakers by imposing his will on the legislature's committees and feuded with Alaska State Senate president Robert J. McNealy.\",\n \"As Speaker he antagonized fellow lawmakers by imposing his will on the legislature's committees and feuded with Alaska State Senate president Robert J. McNealy. Gravel did not run for reelection in 1966, instead choosing to run for Alaska's seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, losing the primary to four-term incumbent Democrat Ralph Rivers by 1,300 votes and splitting the Democratic Party in the process. Rivers lost the general election that year to Republican state Senator Howard Pollock. Following this defeat, Gravel returned to the real estate business in Anchorage.\",\n \"Following this defeat, Gravel returned to the real estate business in Anchorage. U.S. Senator Election to Senate in 1968 In 1968, Gravel ran against 81-year-old incumbent Democratic United States Senator Ernest Gruening, a popular former governor of the Alaska Territory who was considered one of the fathers of Alaska's statehood, for his party's nomination to the U.S. Senate. Gravel's campaign was primarily based on his youth and telegenic appearance rather than issue differences. He hired Joseph Napolitan, the first self-described political consultant, in late 1966.\",\n \"He hired Joseph Napolitan, the first self-described political consultant, in late 1966. They spent over a year and a half planning a short, nine-day primary election campaign that featured the slogans \\\"Alaska first\\\" and \\\"Let's do something about the state we're in\\\", the distribution of a collection of essays titled Jobs and More Jobs, and the creation of a half-hour, well-produced, glamorized biographical film of Gravel, Man for Alaska.\",\n \"They spent over a year and a half planning a short, nine-day primary election campaign that featured the slogans \\\"Alaska first\\\" and \\\"Let's do something about the state we're in\\\", the distribution of a collection of essays titled Jobs and More Jobs, and the creation of a half-hour, well-produced, glamorized biographical film of Gravel, Man for Alaska. The film was shown twice a day on every television station in Alaska, and carried by plane and shown on home projectors in hundreds of Alaska Native villages.\",\n \"The film was shown twice a day on every television station in Alaska, and carried by plane and shown on home projectors in hundreds of Alaska Native villages. The heavy showings quickly reversed a 2–to–1 Gruening lead in polls into a Gravel lead. Gravel visited many remote villages by seaplane and showed a thorough understanding of the needs of the bush country and the fishing and oil industries. Gravel also benefited from maintaining a deliberately ambiguous posture about Vietnam policy.\",\n \"Gravel also benefited from maintaining a deliberately ambiguous posture about Vietnam policy. Gruening had been one of only two Senators to vote against the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and his opposition to President Lyndon B. Johnson's war policies was harming him among the Democratic electorate; according to Gravel, \\\"all I had to do was stand up and not deal with the subject, and people would assume that I was to the right of Ernest Gruening, when in point of fact I was to the left of him\\\".\",\n \"Gruening had been one of only two Senators to vote against the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and his opposition to President Lyndon B. Johnson's war policies was harming him among the Democratic electorate; according to Gravel, \\\"all I had to do was stand up and not deal with the subject, and people would assume that I was to the right of Ernest Gruening, when in point of fact I was to the left of him\\\". In Man for Alaska, Gravel argued that \\\"the liberals\\\" would come to West Germany's defense if it was attacked, and that the same standard should apply to the United States' allies in Asia.\",\n \"In Man for Alaska, Gravel argued that \\\"the liberals\\\" would come to West Germany's defense if it was attacked, and that the same standard should apply to the United States' allies in Asia. During the campaign he also claimed that he was \\\"more in the mainstream of American thought on Vietnam\\\" than Gruening, despite the fact that he had written to Gruening to praise his antiwar stance four years earlier.\",\n \"During the campaign he also claimed that he was \\\"more in the mainstream of American thought on Vietnam\\\" than Gruening, despite the fact that he had written to Gruening to praise his antiwar stance four years earlier. Decades later, Gravel conceded that \\\"I said what I said [about Vietnam] to advance my career.\\\" Gravel beat Gruening in the primary by about 2,000 votes. Gruening found \\\"the unexpected defeat hard to take\\\" and thought that some aspects of his opponent's biographical film had misled viewers.\",\n \"Gruening found \\\"the unexpected defeat hard to take\\\" and thought that some aspects of his opponent's biographical film had misled viewers. In the general election, Gravel faced Republican Elmer E. Rasmuson, a banker and former mayor of Anchorage. College students in the state implored Gruening to run a write-in campaign as an Independent, but legal battles prevented him from getting approval for it until only two weeks were left.\",\n \"College students in the state implored Gruening to run a write-in campaign as an Independent, but legal battles prevented him from getting approval for it until only two weeks were left. A late appearance by anti-war presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy did not offset Gruening's lack of funds and endorsements; meanwhile, Gravel and Rasmuson both saturated local media with their filmed biographies. On November 5, 1968, Gravel won the general election with 45 percent of the vote to Rasmuson's 37 percent and Gruening's 18 percent.\",\n \"On November 5, 1968, Gravel won the general election with 45 percent of the vote to Rasmuson's 37 percent and Gruening's 18 percent. Senate assignments and style When Gravel joined the U.S.Senate in January 1969, he requested and received a seat on the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee, which had direct relevance to Alaskan issues. He also got a spot on the Public Works Committee, which he held throughout his time in the Senate. Finally, he was a member of the Select Committee on Small Business.\",\n \"Finally, he was a member of the Select Committee on Small Business. In 1971 he became chair of the Public Works Committee's Subcommittee on Public Buildings and Grounds, and by 1973 he was chair of its Subcommittee on Water Resources, then later its Subcommittee on Environmental Pollution. Gravel was also initially named to the Joint Committee on Congressional Operations.\",\n \"Gravel was also initially named to the Joint Committee on Congressional Operations. By 1973 Gravel was off the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee and the Select Small Business Committee and instead a member of the Finance Committee, and by 1977 was chair of that body's Subcommittee on Energy and Foundations. By 1973 he had also been on the ad hoc Special Committee to Study Secret and Confidential Government Documents.\",\n \"By 1973 he had also been on the ad hoc Special Committee to Study Secret and Confidential Government Documents. By his own admission, Gravel was too new and \\\"too abrasive\\\" to be effective in the Senate by the usual means of seniority-based committee assignments or negotiating deals with other senators, and was sometimes seen as arrogant or a nuisance by the more senior and tradition-oriented members. Gravel relied on attention-getting gestures to achieve what he wanted, hoping national exposure would force other senators to listen to him.\",\n \"Gravel relied on attention-getting gestures to achieve what he wanted, hoping national exposure would force other senators to listen to him. But even senators who agreed with him on issues considered his methods to be showboating. As part of this approach, Gravel voted with Southern Democrats to keep the Senate filibuster rule in place, and accordingly supported Russell Long and Robert Byrd but opposed Ted Kennedy in Senate leadership battles.\",\n \"As part of this approach, Gravel voted with Southern Democrats to keep the Senate filibuster rule in place, and accordingly supported Russell Long and Robert Byrd but opposed Ted Kennedy in Senate leadership battles. In retrospective assessment, University of Alaska Anchorage history professor Stephen Haycox said, \\\"Loose cannon is a good description of Gravel's Senate career. He was an off-the-wall guy, and you weren't really ever sure what he would do.\\\"\",\n \"He was an off-the-wall guy, and you weren't really ever sure what he would do.\\\" Nuclear issues and the Cold War In the late 1960s and early 1970s the U.S. Department of Defense was in the process of performing tests for the nuclear warhead for the Spartan anti-ballistic missile. Two tests, the \\\"Milrow\\\" and \\\"Cannikin\\\" tests, were planned, involving the detonation of nuclear bombs under Amchitka Island in Alaska.\",\n \"Two tests, the \\\"Milrow\\\" and \\\"Cannikin\\\" tests, were planned, involving the detonation of nuclear bombs under Amchitka Island in Alaska. The Milrow test would be a one-megaton calibration exercise for the second and larger five-megaton Cannikin test, which would measure the effectiveness of the warhead. Gravel opposed the tests.\",\n \"Gravel opposed the tests. Gravel opposed the tests. Before the Milrow test took place in October 1969, he wrote that there were significant risks of earthquakes and other adverse consequences and called for an independent national commission on nuclear and seismic safety; he then made a personal appeal to President Richard Nixon to stop the test. After Milrow was conducted, there was continued pressure on the part of environmental groups against going forward with the Cannikin test, while the Federation of American Scientists claimed that the warhead being tested was already obsolete.\",\n \"After Milrow was conducted, there was continued pressure on the part of environmental groups against going forward with the Cannikin test, while the Federation of American Scientists claimed that the warhead being tested was already obsolete. In May 1971 Gravel sent a letter to U.S. Atomic Energy Commission hearings held in Anchorage in which he said the risk of the test was not worth taking.\",\n \"In May 1971 Gravel sent a letter to U.S. Atomic Energy Commission hearings held in Anchorage in which he said the risk of the test was not worth taking. Eventually a group not involving Gravel took the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to issue an injunction against it, and the Cannikin test took place as scheduled in November 1971. Gravel had failed to stop the tests (notwithstanding his later claims during his 2008 presidential campaign).\",\n \"Gravel had failed to stop the tests (notwithstanding his later claims during his 2008 presidential campaign). In 1971 Gravel voted against the Nixon administration's proposed anti-ballistic missile system, the Safeguard Program, having previously vacillated over the issue, suggesting that he might be willing to support it in exchange for federal lands in Alaska being opened up for private oil drilling. His vote alienated Senator Henry \\\"Scoop\\\" Jackson, who had raised funds for Gravel's primary campaign.\",\n \"His vote alienated Senator Henry \\\"Scoop\\\" Jackson, who had raised funds for Gravel's primary campaign. Nuclear power was considered an environmentally clean alternative for commercial generation of electricity and was part of a popular national policy for the peaceful use of atomic energy in the 1950s and 1960s.\",\n \"Nuclear power was considered an environmentally clean alternative for commercial generation of electricity and was part of a popular national policy for the peaceful use of atomic energy in the 1950s and 1960s. Gravel publicly opposed this policy; besides the dangers of nuclear testing, he was a vocal critic of the Atomic Energy Commission, which oversaw American nuclear efforts, and of the powerful United States Congress Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, which had a stranglehold on nuclear policy and which Gravel tried to circumvent.\",\n \"Gravel publicly opposed this policy; besides the dangers of nuclear testing, he was a vocal critic of the Atomic Energy Commission, which oversaw American nuclear efforts, and of the powerful United States Congress Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, which had a stranglehold on nuclear policy and which Gravel tried to circumvent. In 1971 Gravel sponsored a bill to impose a moratorium on nuclear power plant construction and to make power utilities liable for any nuclear accidents; in 1975 he was still proposing similar moratoriums.\",\n \"In 1971 Gravel sponsored a bill to impose a moratorium on nuclear power plant construction and to make power utilities liable for any nuclear accidents; in 1975 he was still proposing similar moratoriums. By 1974 Gravel was allied with Ralph Nader's organization in opposing nuclear power. Six months before U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's July 1971 secret mission to the People's Republic of China (P.R.C. ), Gravel introduced legislation to recognize and normalize relations with the P.R.C., including a proposal for unity talks between the P.R.C.\",\n \"), Gravel introduced legislation to recognize and normalize relations with the P.R.C., including a proposal for unity talks between the P.R.C. and the Republic of China (Taiwan) regarding the Chinese seat on the U.N. Security Council. He reiterated his position in favor of recognition, with four other senators in agreement, during Senate hearings in June 1971.\",\n \"He reiterated his position in favor of recognition, with four other senators in agreement, during Senate hearings in June 1971. Vietnam War, the draft, and the Pentagon Papers Although he did not campaign against the Vietnam War during his first Senate campaign, by the end of 1970 Gravel was speaking out against United States policy in southeast Asia: in December of that year he persuaded William Fulbright to join him in a spontaneous two-day filibuster against a $155 million military aid package to Cambodia's Khmer Republic government in the Cambodian Civil War.\",\n \"Vietnam War, the draft, and the Pentagon Papers Although he did not campaign against the Vietnam War during his first Senate campaign, by the end of 1970 Gravel was speaking out against United States policy in southeast Asia: in December of that year he persuaded William Fulbright to join him in a spontaneous two-day filibuster against a $155 million military aid package to Cambodia's Khmer Republic government in the Cambodian Civil War. President Richard Nixon had campaigned in 1968 on a promise to end the U.S. military draft, a decision endorsed by the February 1970 report of the Gates Commission.\",\n \"President Richard Nixon had campaigned in 1968 on a promise to end the U.S. military draft, a decision endorsed by the February 1970 report of the Gates Commission. The existing draft law was scheduled to conclude at the end of June 1971, and the Senate faced a contentious debate about whether to extend it as the Vietnam War continued.\",\n \"The existing draft law was scheduled to conclude at the end of June 1971, and the Senate faced a contentious debate about whether to extend it as the Vietnam War continued. The Nixon administration announced in February 1971 that it wanted a two-year extension to June 1973, after which the draft would end; Army planners had already been operating under the assumption of a two-year extension, after which an all-volunteer force would be in place.\",\n \"The Nixon administration announced in February 1971 that it wanted a two-year extension to June 1973, after which the draft would end; Army planners had already been operating under the assumption of a two-year extension, after which an all-volunteer force would be in place. Skeptics such as Senate Armed Services Committee chairman John Stennis thought this unrealistic and wanted a four-year extension, but the two-year proposal is what went forward in Congress.\",\n \"Skeptics such as Senate Armed Services Committee chairman John Stennis thought this unrealistic and wanted a four-year extension, but the two-year proposal is what went forward in Congress. By early May 1971, Gravel had indicated his intention to filibuster the draft renewal legislation, halting conscription and thereby bringing U.S. involvement in the war to a rapid end.\",\n \"By early May 1971, Gravel had indicated his intention to filibuster the draft renewal legislation, halting conscription and thereby bringing U.S. involvement in the war to a rapid end. During this period he also supported efforts to mobilize and influence public opinion against the war, endorsing the \\\"Vietnam War Out Now\\\" rallies in Washington D.C. and San Francisco on April 24, 1971, and financing a broadcast campaign by the antiwar group War No More with a personal loan.\",\n \"During this period he also supported efforts to mobilize and influence public opinion against the war, endorsing the \\\"Vietnam War Out Now\\\" rallies in Washington D.C. and San Francisco on April 24, 1971, and financing a broadcast campaign by the antiwar group War No More with a personal loan. In June 1972 he escorted a group of over 100 antiwar protesters, including psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton, actress Candice Bergen, theater producer and director Joseph Papp, and peditrician Dr. Benjamin Spock, into the United States Capitol Building; the group was arrested after blocking a hallway outside the Senate chamber.\",\n \"In June 1972 he escorted a group of over 100 antiwar protesters, including psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton, actress Candice Bergen, theater producer and director Joseph Papp, and peditrician Dr. Benjamin Spock, into the United States Capitol Building; the group was arrested after blocking a hallway outside the Senate chamber. By June 1971, some Democratic senators opposed to the war wanted to limit the renewal to a one-year extension, while others wanted to end it immediately; Gravel reiterated that he was one of the latter, saying, \\\"It's a senseless war, and one way to do away with it is to do away with the draft.\\\"\",\n \"By June 1971, some Democratic senators opposed to the war wanted to limit the renewal to a one-year extension, while others wanted to end it immediately; Gravel reiterated that he was one of the latter, saying, \\\"It's a senseless war, and one way to do away with it is to do away with the draft.\\\" A Senate vote on June 4 indicated majority support for the two-year extension.\",\n \"A Senate vote on June 4 indicated majority support for the two-year extension. On June 18 Gravel announced again his intention to counteract that by filibustering the renewal legislation, defending the practice against those who associated it only with blocking civil rights legislation. The first filibuster attempt failed on June 23 when, by three votes, the Senate voted cloture for only the fifth time since 1927.\",\n \"The first filibuster attempt failed on June 23 when, by three votes, the Senate voted cloture for only the fifth time since 1927. Protracted negotiations took place over House conference negotiations on the bill, revolving in large part around Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield's eventually unsuccessful amendment to tie renewal to a troop withdrawal timetable from Vietnam; during this time the draft law expired and no more were conscripted.\",\n \"Protracted negotiations took place over House conference negotiations on the bill, revolving in large part around Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield's eventually unsuccessful amendment to tie renewal to a troop withdrawal timetable from Vietnam; during this time the draft law expired and no more were conscripted. On August 5, the Nixon administration pleaded for a renewal before the Senate went on recess, but Gravel blocked Stennis's attempt to limit debate, and no vote was held.\",\n \"On August 5, the Nixon administration pleaded for a renewal before the Senate went on recess, but Gravel blocked Stennis's attempt to limit debate, and no vote was held. Finally on September 21, 1971, the Senate invoked cloture over Gravel's second filibuster attempt by one vote, and then passed the two-year draft extension.\",\n \"Finally on September 21, 1971, the Senate invoked cloture over Gravel's second filibuster attempt by one vote, and then passed the two-year draft extension. Gravel's attempts to stop the draft had failed (notwithstanding Gravel's later claims that he had stopped or shortened the draft, taken at face value in some media reports, during his 2008 presidential campaign). Meanwhile, on June 13, 1971, The New York Times began printing large portions of the Pentagon Papers.\",\n \"Meanwhile, on June 13, 1971, The New York Times began printing large portions of the Pentagon Papers. The papers were a large collection of secret government documents and studies pertaining to the Vietnam War, of which former Defense Department analyst Daniel Ellsberg had made unauthorized copies and was determined to make public.\",\n \"The papers were a large collection of secret government documents and studies pertaining to the Vietnam War, of which former Defense Department analyst Daniel Ellsberg had made unauthorized copies and was determined to make public. Ellsberg had for a year and a half approached members of Congress – such as William Fulbright, George McGovern, Charles Mathias, and Pete McCloskey – about publishing the documents, on the grounds that the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution would give congressional members immunity from prosecution, but all had refused.\",\n \"Ellsberg had for a year and a half approached members of Congress – such as William Fulbright, George McGovern, Charles Mathias, and Pete McCloskey – about publishing the documents, on the grounds that the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution would give congressional members immunity from prosecution, but all had refused. Instead, Ellsberg gave the documents to the Times. The U.S. Justice Department immediately tried to halt publication, on the grounds that the information revealed within the papers harmed the national interest.\",\n \"The U.S. Justice Department immediately tried to halt publication, on the grounds that the information revealed within the papers harmed the national interest. Within the next two weeks, a federal court injunction halted publication in the Times; The Washington Post and several other newspapers began publishing parts of the documents, with some of them also being halted by injunctions; and the whole matter went to the U.S. Supreme Court for arguments.\",\n \"Within the next two weeks, a federal court injunction halted publication in the Times; The Washington Post and several other newspapers began publishing parts of the documents, with some of them also being halted by injunctions; and the whole matter went to the U.S. Supreme Court for arguments. Looking for an alternate publication mechanism, Ellsberg returned to his idea of having a member of Congress read them, and chose Gravel based on the latter's efforts against the draft; Gravel agreed where previously others had not.\",\n \"Looking for an alternate publication mechanism, Ellsberg returned to his idea of having a member of Congress read them, and chose Gravel based on the latter's efforts against the draft; Gravel agreed where previously others had not. Ellsberg arranged for the papers to be given to Gravel on June 26 via an intermediary, Post editor Ben Bagdikian.\",\n \"Ellsberg arranged for the papers to be given to Gravel on June 26 via an intermediary, Post editor Ben Bagdikian. Gravel used his counter-intelligence experience to choose a midnight transfer in front of the Mayflower Hotel in the center of Washington, D.C. On the night of June 29, 1971, Gravel attempted to read the papers on the floor of the Senate as part of his filibuster against the draft, but was thwarted when no quorum could be formed. Gravel instead convened a session of the Buildings and Grounds subcommittee that he chaired.\",\n \"Gravel instead convened a session of the Buildings and Grounds subcommittee that he chaired. He got New York Congressman John G. Dow to testify that the war had soaked up funding for public buildings, thus making discussion of the war relevant to the committee.\",\n \"He got New York Congressman John G. Dow to testify that the war had soaked up funding for public buildings, thus making discussion of the war relevant to the committee. He began reading from the papers with the press in attendance, omitting supporting documents that he felt might compromise national security, and declaring, \\\"It is my constitutional obligation to protect the security of the people by fostering the free flow of information absolutely essential to their democratic decision-making.\\\"\",\n \"He began reading from the papers with the press in attendance, omitting supporting documents that he felt might compromise national security, and declaring, \\\"It is my constitutional obligation to protect the security of the people by fostering the free flow of information absolutely essential to their democratic decision-making.\\\" He read until 1 a.m., culminating by saying \\\"Arms are being severed. Metal is clashing through human bodies because of the public policy this government and all its branches continue to support.\\\"\",\n \"Metal is clashing through human bodies because of the public policy this government and all its branches continue to support.\\\" Then with tears and sobs he said that he could no longer physically continue, the previous three nights of sleeplessness and fear about the future having taken their toll. Gravel ended the session by, with no other senators present, establishing unanimous consent to insert 4,100 pages of the Papers into the Congressional Record of his subcommittee.\",\n \"Gravel ended the session by, with no other senators present, establishing unanimous consent to insert 4,100 pages of the Papers into the Congressional Record of his subcommittee. The following day, the Supreme Court's New York Times Co. v. United States decision ruled in favor of the newspapers and publication in the Times and others resumed. In July 1971 Bantam Books published an inexpensive paperback edition of the papers containing the material the Times had published.\",\n \"In July 1971 Bantam Books published an inexpensive paperback edition of the papers containing the material the Times had published. Gravel, too, wanted to privately publish the portion of the papers he had read into the record, believing that \\\"immediate disclosure of the contents of these papers will change the policy that supports the war\\\". After being turned down by many commercial publishers, on August 4 he reached agreement with Beacon Press, the publishing arm of the Unitarian Universalist Association, of which Gravel was a member.\",\n \"After being turned down by many commercial publishers, on August 4 he reached agreement with Beacon Press, the publishing arm of the Unitarian Universalist Association, of which Gravel was a member. Announced on August 17 and published on October 22, 1971, this four-volume, relatively expensive set became the \\\"Senator Gravel Edition\\\", which studies from Cornell University and the Annenberg Center for Communication have labeled as the most complete edition of the Pentagon Papers to be published.\",\n \"Announced on August 17 and published on October 22, 1971, this four-volume, relatively expensive set became the \\\"Senator Gravel Edition\\\", which studies from Cornell University and the Annenberg Center for Communication have labeled as the most complete edition of the Pentagon Papers to be published. The \\\"Gravel Edition\\\" was edited and annotated by Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn, and included an additional volume of analytical articles on the origins and progress of the war, also edited by Chomsky and Zinn.\",\n \"The \\\"Gravel Edition\\\" was edited and annotated by Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn, and included an additional volume of analytical articles on the origins and progress of the war, also edited by Chomsky and Zinn. Beacon Press then was subjected to a FBI investigation; an outgrowth of this was the Gravel v. United States court case, which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled upon in June 1972; it held that the Speech or Debate Clause did grant immunity to Gravel for his reading the papers in his subcommittee, did grant some immunity to Gravel's congressional aide, but granted no immunity to Beacon Press in relation to their publishing the same papers.\",\n \"Beacon Press then was subjected to a FBI investigation; an outgrowth of this was the Gravel v. United States court case, which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled upon in June 1972; it held that the Speech or Debate Clause did grant immunity to Gravel for his reading the papers in his subcommittee, did grant some immunity to Gravel's congressional aide, but granted no immunity to Beacon Press in relation to their publishing the same papers. The U.S. Senate Democratic Caucus backed Gravel in the case, but due to Republican opposition it did not pay Gravel's legal fees, leaving him owing $25,000 (the equivalent of $150,000 in 2019, adjusted for inflation).\",\n \"The U.S. Senate Democratic Caucus backed Gravel in the case, but due to Republican opposition it did not pay Gravel's legal fees, leaving him owing $25,000 (the equivalent of $150,000 in 2019, adjusted for inflation). The events of 1971 changed Gravel in the following months from an obscure freshman senator to a nationally visible political figure.\",\n \"The events of 1971 changed Gravel in the following months from an obscure freshman senator to a nationally visible political figure. He became a sought-after speaker on the college circuit as well as at political fundraisers, opportunities he welcomed as lectures were \\\"the one honest way a Senator has to supplement his income\\\". But his speaking tours caused him to accrue one of the worst absentee records in the Senate. The Democratic candidates for the 1972 presidential election sought his endorsement.\",\n \"The Democratic candidates for the 1972 presidential election sought his endorsement. In January 1972 Gravel endorsed Maine Senator Ed Muskie, hoping that his support would help Muskie with the party's left wing and in ethnic French-Canadian areas during the first primary contest in New Hampshire (Muskie won, but not overwhelmingly, and his campaign faltered soon after).\",\n \"In January 1972 Gravel endorsed Maine Senator Ed Muskie, hoping that his support would help Muskie with the party's left wing and in ethnic French-Canadian areas during the first primary contest in New Hampshire (Muskie won, but not overwhelmingly, and his campaign faltered soon after). In April 1972 Gravel appeared on all three networks' nightly newscasts to decry the Nixon administration's reliance on Vietnamization by making reference to the secret National Security Study Memorandum 1 document, which stated it would take 8–13 years for the Army of the Republic of Vietnam to defend South Vietnam.\",\n \"In April 1972 Gravel appeared on all three networks' nightly newscasts to decry the Nixon administration's reliance on Vietnamization by making reference to the secret National Security Study Memorandum 1 document, which stated it would take 8–13 years for the Army of the Republic of Vietnam to defend South Vietnam. Gravel made excerpts from the study public, but senators Robert P. Griffin and William B. Saxbe blocked his attempt to read NSSM 1 into the Congressional Record.\",\n \"Gravel made excerpts from the study public, but senators Robert P. Griffin and William B. Saxbe blocked his attempt to read NSSM 1 into the Congressional Record. Domestic policy In 1970 Gravel co-sponsored legislation to establish a guaranteed minimum income, entitling poor families to up to $6,300 a year (the equivalent of $42,000 in 2019 after adjustment for inflation).\",\n \"Domestic policy In 1970 Gravel co-sponsored legislation to establish a guaranteed minimum income, entitling poor families to up to $6,300 a year (the equivalent of $42,000 in 2019 after adjustment for inflation). He subsequently voted for a \\\"work bonus\\\" program, which would have entitled low-income working families with dependent children if they were paying Social Security or Railroad Retirement taxes to a non-taxable bonus of up to 10 percent of their wages.\",\n \"He subsequently voted for a \\\"work bonus\\\" program, which would have entitled low-income working families with dependent children if they were paying Social Security or Railroad Retirement taxes to a non-taxable bonus of up to 10 percent of their wages. Gravel also supported extending Social Security to all federal employees and introduced a campaign finance reform bill in 1971 that would have enacted full disclosure of campaign financing, placed limits on large donations, media spending and individual candidate spending.\",\n \"Gravel also supported extending Social Security to all federal employees and introduced a campaign finance reform bill in 1971 that would have enacted full disclosure of campaign financing, placed limits on large donations, media spending and individual candidate spending. In 1969, Gravel was the only Democratic Senator outside of the South to vote for Nixon's Supreme Court nominee Clement Haynsworth. The following year Gravel opposed Nixon's next pick, G. Harrold Carswell.\",\n \"The following year Gravel opposed Nixon's next pick, G. Harrold Carswell. Run for vice president in 1972 Gravel actively campaigned for the office of Vice President of the United States during the 1972 presidential election, announcing on June 2, 1972, over a month before the 1972 Democratic National Convention began, that he was interested in the nomination should the choice be opened up to convention delegates. Toward this end he began soliciting delegates for their support.\",\n \"Toward this end he began soliciting delegates for their support. He was not alone in this effort, as former Governor of Massachusetts Endicott Peabody had been running a quixotic campaign for the same post since the prior year. Likely presidential nominee George McGovern was in fact considering the unusual move of naming three or four acceptable vice-presidential candidates and letting the delegates choose. On the convention's final day, July 14, 1972, McGovern selected and announced Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri as his vice-presidential choice.\",\n \"On the convention's final day, July 14, 1972, McGovern selected and announced Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri as his vice-presidential choice. Eagleton was unknown to many delegates and the choice seemed to smack of traditional ticket balancing considerations. Thus there were delegates willing to look elsewhere. Gravel was nominated by Bettye Fahrenkamp, the Democratic National Committeewoman from Alaska. He then seconded his own nomination, breaking down in tears at his own words and maybe trying to withdraw his nomination.\",\n \"He then seconded his own nomination, breaking down in tears at his own words and maybe trying to withdraw his nomination. In any case he won 226 delegate votes, coming in third behind Eagleton and Frances \\\"Sissy\\\" Farenthold of Texas, in chaotic balloting that included several other candidates.\",\n \"In any case he won 226 delegate votes, coming in third behind Eagleton and Frances \\\"Sissy\\\" Farenthold of Texas, in chaotic balloting that included several other candidates. Gravel attracted some attention for his efforts: writer Norman Mailer said he \\\"provided considerable excitement\\\" and was \\\"good-looking enough to have played leads in B-films\\\", while Rolling Stone correspondent Hunter S. Thompson said Gravel \\\"probably said a few things that might have been worth hearing, under different circumstances\\\". Yet the process was doubly disastrous for the Democrats.\",\n \"Yet the process was doubly disastrous for the Democrats. Yet the process was doubly disastrous for the Democrats. In the time consumed by nominating and seconding and all the vice-presidential candidates' speeches, the attention of the delegates on the floor was lost and McGovern's speech was pushed to 3:30 a.m. The haste with which Eagleton was selected led to surprise when his past mental health treatments were revealed; he withdrew from the ticket soon after the convention, to be replaced by Sargent Shriver.\",\n \"The haste with which Eagleton was selected led to surprise when his past mental health treatments were revealed; he withdrew from the ticket soon after the convention, to be replaced by Sargent Shriver. Reelection to Senate in 1974 Several years earlier, Alaska politicians had speculated that Gravel would have a hard time getting both renominated and elected when his first term expired, given that he was originally elected without a base party organization and tended to focus on national rather than local issues.\",\n \"Reelection to Senate in 1974 Several years earlier, Alaska politicians had speculated that Gravel would have a hard time getting both renominated and elected when his first term expired, given that he was originally elected without a base party organization and tended to focus on national rather than local issues. Nonetheless, after receiving support from national and local labor leaders, securing key earmarks, and producing another half-hour TV advertorial, in 1974 Gravel was reelected to the Senate, with 58 percent of the vote to 42 percent for Republican State Senator C. R. Lewis, who was a national officer of the John Birch Society.\",\n \"Nonetheless, after receiving support from national and local labor leaders, securing key earmarks, and producing another half-hour TV advertorial, in 1974 Gravel was reelected to the Senate, with 58 percent of the vote to 42 percent for Republican State Senator C. R. Lewis, who was a national officer of the John Birch Society. Second term Gravel's reelection campaign left him $65,000–$75,000 in debt.\",\n \"Second term Gravel's reelection campaign left him $65,000–$75,000 in debt. In 1975 The Washington Post reported on a memo by his executive assistant laying out a fundraising strategy to tackle this, including raising funds from oil companies, meeting with previous donors and \\\"inquir[ing] into the governmental priorities of these people and their groups in the coming session\\\", as well as obtaining further speaking fees to reduce his personal debt.\",\n \"In 1975 The Washington Post reported on a memo by his executive assistant laying out a fundraising strategy to tackle this, including raising funds from oil companies, meeting with previous donors and \\\"inquir[ing] into the governmental priorities of these people and their groups in the coming session\\\", as well as obtaining further speaking fees to reduce his personal debt. This was followed by a number of stories about links between Gravel, lobbyists and fundraisers, including one that was widely publicized in Alaska about his holding a share in a Colorado resort with two Washington lobbyists he was working with on land and energy legislation.\",\n \"This was followed by a number of stories about links between Gravel, lobbyists and fundraisers, including one that was widely publicized in Alaska about his holding a share in a Colorado resort with two Washington lobbyists he was working with on land and energy legislation. Gravel had been open about the investment and had opposing views to one of the lobbyists on nuclear power.\",\n \"Gravel had been open about the investment and had opposing views to one of the lobbyists on nuclear power. In 1980 the Wall Street Journal published details about his fundraising activities, including writing to individuals and PACs in the oil industry, pledging to kill off proposals for a windfall profits tax on the sector, and traveling in the Middle East with the business partner of one of his donors to sell Alaskan land to businessmen. Gravel suggested that critics of his fundraising were \\\"naive\\\".\",\n \"Gravel suggested that critics of his fundraising were \\\"naive\\\". In 1975 Gravel introduced an amendment to cut the number of troops overseas by 200,000, but it was defeated on a voice vote. In September 1975 Gravel was named as one of several Congressional Advisers to the Seventh Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly, which met to discuss problems related to economic development and international economic cooperation. In June 1976 Gravel was the focus of a federal investigation into allegations that he was involved in a sex-for-vote arrangement.\",\n \"In June 1976 Gravel was the focus of a federal investigation into allegations that he was involved in a sex-for-vote arrangement. Congressional staff clerk Elizabeth Ray (who had already been involved in a sex scandal that led to the downfall of Representative Wayne Hays) said that in August 1972 she had sex with Gravel aboard a houseboat on the Potomac River, under the instruction of Representative Kenneth J. Gray, her boss at the time.\",\n \"Gray, her boss at the time. Gray, her boss at the time. Gray allegedly wanted to secure Gravel's support for further funding for construction of the National Visitor Center in Washington, a troubled project that was under the jurisdiction of subcommittees that both members chaired. Another Congressional staffer said she witnessed the boat encounter, but Gravel said at the time that he had never met either of the women.\",\n \"Another Congressional staffer said she witnessed the boat encounter, but Gravel said at the time that he had never met either of the women. Gravel and Gray strongly denied that they had made any arrangement regarding legislation, and neither was ever charged with any wrongdoing. Decades later Gravel wrote that he had indeed had sex with Ray, but had not changed any votes because of it.\",\n \"Decades later Gravel wrote that he had indeed had sex with Ray, but had not changed any votes because of it. Gravel and his main financial backer, Gottstein, had a falling out in 1978, during the Congressional debate over whether to allow a controversial sale of U.S. F-15 fighter aircraft to Saudi Arabia. An ardent backer of Israel, Gottstein opposed the sale and asked Gravel to vote against it. But Gravel not only voted for it but made an emotional speech attacking the anti-sale campaign.\",\n \"But Gravel not only voted for it but made an emotional speech attacking the anti-sale campaign. Gravel wrote in 2008 that it was the only time Gottstein had ever asked him for a favor, and the rupture resulted in their never speaking to each other again. Alaskan issues By 1971 Gravel was urging construction of the much-argued Trans-Alaska pipeline, addressing environmental concerns by saying that the pipeline's builders and operators should have \\\"total and absolute\\\" responsibility for any consequent environmental damage.\",\n \"Alaskan issues By 1971 Gravel was urging construction of the much-argued Trans-Alaska pipeline, addressing environmental concerns by saying that the pipeline's builders and operators should have \\\"total and absolute\\\" responsibility for any consequent environmental damage. Two years later the debate over the pipeline came to a crux, with The New York Times describing it as \\\"environmentalists [in] a holy war with the major oil companies\\\".\",\n \"Two years later the debate over the pipeline came to a crux, with The New York Times describing it as \\\"environmentalists [in] a holy war with the major oil companies\\\". In February 1973 the U.S. Court of Appeals blocked the issuance of permits for construction; Gravel and fellow Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens reacted by urging Congress to pass legislation overturning the court's decision.\",\n \"In February 1973 the U.S. Court of Appeals blocked the issuance of permits for construction; Gravel and fellow Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens reacted by urging Congress to pass legislation overturning the court's decision. Environmentalists opposed to the pipeline, such as the Environmental Defense Fund and the Sierra Club then sought to use the recently passed National Environmental Policy Act to their advantage; Gravel designed an amendment to the pipeline bill that would immunize the pipeline from any further court challenges under that law, and thus speed its construction.\",\n \"Environmentalists opposed to the pipeline, such as the Environmental Defense Fund and the Sierra Club then sought to use the recently passed National Environmental Policy Act to their advantage; Gravel designed an amendment to the pipeline bill that would immunize the pipeline from any further court challenges under that law, and thus speed its construction. Passage of the amendment became the key battle regarding the pipeline.\",\n \"Passage of the amendment became the key battle regarding the pipeline. On July 17, 1973, in a dramatic roll-call vote, the Gravel amendment was approved as a 49–49 tie was broken in favor by Vice President Spiro Agnew. The actual bill enabling the pipeline then passed easily; Gravel had triumphed in what became perhaps his most lasting accomplishment as a senator. In opposition to the Alaskan fishing industry, Gravel advocated American participation in the formation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.\",\n \"In opposition to the Alaskan fishing industry, Gravel advocated American participation in the formation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. For two years he opposed legislation that established a Exclusive Economic Zone for marine resources. He was one of only 19 senators to vote against Senate approval for the expanded zone in 1976, saying it would undermine the U.S. position in Law of the Sea negotiations and that nations arbitrarily extending their fishing rights limits would \\\"produce anarchy of the seas\\\".\",\n \"He was one of only 19 senators to vote against Senate approval for the expanded zone in 1976, saying it would undermine the U.S. position in Law of the Sea negotiations and that nations arbitrarily extending their fishing rights limits would \\\"produce anarchy of the seas\\\". The legislation was passed, and the United States has signed but never ratified the Law of the Sea treaty. Gravel accumulated a complicated record on Indian affairs during his time in the Senate.\",\n \"Gravel accumulated a complicated record on Indian affairs during his time in the Senate. During his first year in the Senate Gravel urged abolition of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, criticizing the agency for the pace of development of schools in Alaska, its paternalistic attitudes and the culturally inappropriate nature of its education, and advocating greater shared decision-making between the federal government and native communities in Alaska.\",\n \"During his first year in the Senate Gravel urged abolition of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, criticizing the agency for the pace of development of schools in Alaska, its paternalistic attitudes and the culturally inappropriate nature of its education, and advocating greater shared decision-making between the federal government and native communities in Alaska. Later, his views changed; in the early 1970s Gravel supported a demonstration project that established links between Alaskan villages and the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, for medical diagnostic communications.\",\n \"Later, his views changed; in the early 1970s Gravel supported a demonstration project that established links between Alaskan villages and the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, for medical diagnostic communications. In 1971, he fended off accusations from Alaskan natives that he was not spending enough time working on their land claims. Gravel helped secure a private grant to facilitate the first Inuit Circumpolar Conference in 1977, attended by Inuit representatives from Alaska, Canada, and Greenland. These conferences now also include representatives from Russia.\",\n \"These conferences now also include representatives from Russia. These conferences now also include representatives from Russia. In 1977, Gravel helped lead an effort to have the U.S. Interior Department rename Mount McKinley to Denali; this eventually led to Denali National Park being so named. Subsequently, Gravel proposed a never-built \\\"Denali City\\\" development above the Tokositna River near the mountain, to consist of a giant Teflon dome enclosing hotels, golf courses, condominiums, and commercial buildings.\",\n \"Subsequently, Gravel proposed a never-built \\\"Denali City\\\" development above the Tokositna River near the mountain, to consist of a giant Teflon dome enclosing hotels, golf courses, condominiums, and commercial buildings. A related idea of his to build a high-speed rail line to Denali also failed to gain traction. A key, emotional issue in the state at the time was \\\"locking up Alaska\\\", making reference to allocation of its vast, mostly uninhabited land.\",\n \"A key, emotional issue in the state at the time was \\\"locking up Alaska\\\", making reference to allocation of its vast, mostly uninhabited land. President Jimmy Carter desired to put large portions of this land under federal protection against development, a move that some Alaskans vociferously opposed. In 1978 Gravel blocked passage, via procedural delays such as walking out of House–Senate conference committee meetings, of a complex bill which represented a compromise on land use policy.\",\n \"In 1978 Gravel blocked passage, via procedural delays such as walking out of House–Senate conference committee meetings, of a complex bill which represented a compromise on land use policy. The bill would have put some of Alaska's vast federal land holdings under state control while preserving other portions for federal parks and refuges; the blocking action earned Gravel the enmity of fellow Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, who had supported the compromise.\",\n \"The bill would have put some of Alaska's vast federal land holdings under state control while preserving other portions for federal parks and refuges; the blocking action earned Gravel the enmity of fellow Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, who had supported the compromise. In 1980, a new lands bill came up for consideration, that was less favorable to Alaskan interests and more liked by environmentalists; it set aside of Alaska's for national parks, conservation areas, and other restricted federal uses.\",\n \"In 1980, a new lands bill came up for consideration, that was less favorable to Alaskan interests and more liked by environmentalists; it set aside of Alaska's for national parks, conservation areas, and other restricted federal uses. Gravel blocked it, as not ensuring enough future development in the state. A new compromise version of the 1980 bill came forward, which reduced the land set aside to . Representing Alaskan interests, Gravel tried to stop the bill, including by filibuster.\",\n \"Representing Alaskan interests, Gravel tried to stop the bill, including by filibuster. But the Senate voted for cloture and passed the bill. Frustrated, Gravel said, \\\"the legislation denies Alaska its rights as a state, and denies the U.S. crucial strategic resources,\\\" and opined that the Senate was \\\"a little bit like a tank of barracudas\\\".\",\n \"Frustrated, Gravel said, \\\"the legislation denies Alaska its rights as a state, and denies the U.S. crucial strategic resources,\\\" and opined that the Senate was \\\"a little bit like a tank of barracudas\\\". Nonetheless, the bill, known as the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980, was signed by President Carter shortly before leaving the White House, and led to millions of acres being set aside in the state for national parks, wildlife refuges, and other kinds of areas under protection.\",\n \"Nonetheless, the bill, known as the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980, was signed by President Carter shortly before leaving the White House, and led to millions of acres being set aside in the state for national parks, wildlife refuges, and other kinds of areas under protection. In 1978 Gravel authored and secured the passage into federal law of the General Stock Ownership Corporation, that became Subchapter U of the Tax Code under the Internal Revenue Code of 1954.\",\n \"In 1978 Gravel authored and secured the passage into federal law of the General Stock Ownership Corporation, that became Subchapter U of the Tax Code under the Internal Revenue Code of 1954. This gave states the ability to create corporations that would invest in for-profit enterprises, with all citizens within the state owning shares in the corporation.\",\n \"This gave states the ability to create corporations that would invest in for-profit enterprises, with all citizens within the state owning shares in the corporation. Gravel's attempt to convince the Alaska state legislature to create such a corporation failed, as did a 1980 state ballot initiative towards the same end, but nevertheless the creation of the General Stock Ownership Corporation in federal law turned out to be significant in the development of binary economics.\",\n \"Gravel's attempt to convince the Alaska state legislature to create such a corporation failed, as did a 1980 state ballot initiative towards the same end, but nevertheless the creation of the General Stock Ownership Corporation in federal law turned out to be significant in the development of binary economics. Loss of Senate seat in 1980 In 1980 Gravel was challenged for the Democratic Party's nomination by State Representative Clark Gruening, the grandson of the man Gravel had defeated in a primary 12 years earlier.\",\n \"Loss of Senate seat in 1980 In 1980 Gravel was challenged for the Democratic Party's nomination by State Representative Clark Gruening, the grandson of the man Gravel had defeated in a primary 12 years earlier. One of Gruening's supporters was Gravel's former backer Gottstein. Several factors made Gravel vulnerable. As an insurgent candidate in 1968 Gravel had never established a firm party base. Not liking to hunt or fish, he was also always culturally suspect in the state. The primary campaign was bitterly fought.\",\n \"The primary campaign was bitterly fought. The primary campaign was bitterly fought. A group of Democrats, including future governor Steve Cowper, led the campaign against Gravel, with Gravel's actions in respect to the 1978 and 1980 Alaskan lands bills a major issue. This was especially so given that the 1980 bill's dénouement happened but a week before the primary. The sources of Gravel's campaign funds, some of which Gravel readily acknowledged came from political action committees outside the state, also became an issue in the contest.\",\n \"The sources of Gravel's campaign funds, some of which Gravel readily acknowledged came from political action committees outside the state, also became an issue in the contest. Gruening had pledged that he would not take special interest group money, but Gravel said that Gruening was \\\"dishonest\\\" in accepting individual contributors from Jewish donors living outside the state because to him such contributors comprised \\\"a special interest group ... that seeks to influence the foreign policy of the U.S.\\\" Gruening won the primary with about 55 percent of the vote to Gravel's 44 percent.\",\n \"Gruening had pledged that he would not take special interest group money, but Gravel said that Gruening was \\\"dishonest\\\" in accepting individual contributors from Jewish donors living outside the state because to him such contributors comprised \\\"a special interest group ... that seeks to influence the foreign policy of the U.S.\\\" Gruening won the primary with about 55 percent of the vote to Gravel's 44 percent. Gravel later conceded that by the time of his defeat, he had alienated \\\"almost every constituency in Alaska\\\".\",\n \"Gravel later conceded that by the time of his defeat, he had alienated \\\"almost every constituency in Alaska\\\". Another factor may have been Alaska's blanket primary system of the time, which allowed unlimited voting across party lines and from its many independents; Republicans believed Gruening would be an easier candidate to defeat in the general election. Gruening lost the general election to Republican Frank Murkowski.\",\n \"Gruening lost the general election to Republican Frank Murkowski. Gruening lost the general election to Republican Frank Murkowski. Gravel was the last Democrat to represent Alaska in Congress for 28 years, until Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich defeated Ted Stevens, by then an aged, iconic figure who had just been convicted of seven felonies for taking unreported gifts, in a very close and protracted election result in 2008. Stevens's conviction was subsequently vacated due to prosecutorial misconduct.\",\n \"Stevens's conviction was subsequently vacated due to prosecutorial misconduct. Career after leaving the Senate Of his 1980 defeat, Gravel later recalled: \\\"I had lost my career. I lost my marriage. I was in the doldrums for ten years after my defeat,\\\" and \\\"Nobody wanted to hire me for anything important. I felt like I was worthless. I didn't know what I could do.\\\"\",\n \"I didn't know what I could do.\\\" I didn't know what I could do.\\\" By his own later description, Gravel was a womanizer, and had an affair while in the Senate, and in December 1980 he and his wife Rita separated. They filed for divorce in September 1981; she later received all of his Senate pension income. During the 1980s Gravel was a real estate developer in Anchorage and Kenai, Alaska, a consultant, and a stockbroker.\",\n \"During the 1980s Gravel was a real estate developer in Anchorage and Kenai, Alaska, a consultant, and a stockbroker. One of his real estate ventures, a condominium business, was forced to declare bankruptcy and a lawsuit ensued. In 1986 Gravel worked in partnership with Merrill Lynch Capital Markets to buy losses that financially troubled Alaska Native Corporations could not take as tax deductions and sell them to large national companies looking for tax writeoffs. Gravel also learned computer programming at some point but never practiced it.\",\n \"Gravel also learned computer programming at some point but never practiced it. In 1984 Gravel married his second wife, Whitney Stewart Gravel, a former administrative assistant for Senator Jacob Javits. Return to politics In 1989 Gravel reentered politics. He founded and led The Democracy Foundation, which promotes direct democracy.\",\n \"He founded and led The Democracy Foundation, which promotes direct democracy. He established the Philadelphia II corporation, which seeks to replicate the original 1787 Constitutional Convention and have a Second Constitutional Convention to bring about direct democracy Gravel led an effort to get a United States Constitutional amendment to allow voter-initiated federal legislation similar to state ballot initiatives. He argued that Americans are able to legislate responsibly, and that the Act and Amendment in the National Initiative would allow American citizens to become \\\"law makers\\\".\",\n \"He argued that Americans are able to legislate responsibly, and that the Act and Amendment in the National Initiative would allow American citizens to become \\\"law makers\\\". However such efforts met with little success. In 2001, Gravel became director of the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution, where he admired institute co-founder Gregory Fossedal's work on direct democracy in Switzerland.\",\n \"In 2001, Gravel became director of the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution, where he admired institute co-founder Gregory Fossedal's work on direct democracy in Switzerland. By 2004, Gravel had become chair of the institute, and Fossedal (who in turn was a director of the Democracy Foundation) gave the introduction at Gravel's presidential announcement. In 2003 Gravel gave a speech on direct democracy at a conference hosted by the American Free Press. The event was cosponsored by the Barnes Review, a journal that endorses Holocaust denial.\",\n \"The event was cosponsored by the Barnes Review, a journal that endorses Holocaust denial. After some controversy over his appearance, Gravel apologized, saying he did not realize the group's ties. Gravel said repeatedly that he did not share the group's views on the Holocaust, stating, \\\"You better believe I know that six million Jews were killed. [The Barnes Review publishers] are nutty as loons if they don't think it happened\\\". The group invited Gravel to speak again, but he declined.\",\n \"The group invited Gravel to speak again, but he declined. Mike and Whitney Gravel lived in Arlington County, Virginia, until 2010 and then resided in Burlingame, California. They have the two grown children from his first marriage, Martin Gravel and Lynne Gravel Mosier, and four grandchildren. Whitney Gravel's income sustained the couple from 1998 on. In the 2000s, Gravel suffered poor health, requiring three surgeries in 2003 for back pain and neuropathy.\",\n \"In the 2000s, Gravel suffered poor health, requiring three surgeries in 2003 for back pain and neuropathy. Due to unreimbursed medical expenses and debts from his political causes, he declared personal bankruptcy in 2004. He began taking a salary from the non-profit organizations for which he was working; much of that income was lent to his presidential campaign. In 2007, he declared that he had \\\"zero net worth\\\".\",\n \"In 2007, he declared that he had \\\"zero net worth\\\". 2008 presidential campaign Democratic Party primaries At the start of 2006 Gravel decided the best way he could promote direct democracy and the National Initiative was to run for president.\",\n \"2008 presidential campaign Democratic Party primaries At the start of 2006 Gravel decided the best way he could promote direct democracy and the National Initiative was to run for president. On April 17, 2006, Gravel became the first candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2008 election, announcing his run in a speech to the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Short on campaign cash, he took public transportation to get to his announcement. (Gravel called for public financing of elections.)\",\n \"(Gravel called for public financing of elections.) (Gravel called for public financing of elections.) Other principal Gravel positions were the FairTax, as well as withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq within 120 days and a single payer national health care system. Gravel had opposed the Iraq War, and President George W. Bush's rationale for it, from the beginning, and in 2006 said that U.S. troops in Iraq, as in Vietnam, had \\\"died in vain\\\".\",\n \"Gravel had opposed the Iraq War, and President George W. Bush's rationale for it, from the beginning, and in 2006 said that U.S. troops in Iraq, as in Vietnam, had \\\"died in vain\\\". He also favored a regional peace initiative, as well as reparation payments for Iraqis. Gravel also called for a \\\"U.S. corporate withdrawal from Iraq\\\", with reconstruction contracts held by U.S. companies to be turned over to Iraqi firms.\",\n \"Gravel also called for a \\\"U.S. corporate withdrawal from Iraq\\\", with reconstruction contracts held by U.S. companies to be turned over to Iraqi firms. Gravel campaigned almost full-time in New Hampshire, the first primary state, following his announcement. Opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination showed Gravel with 1 percent or less support. By the end of March 2007, Gravel's campaign had less than $500 in cash on hand against debts of nearly $90,000.\",\n \"By the end of March 2007, Gravel's campaign had less than $500 in cash on hand against debts of nearly $90,000. Because of his time in the Senate, Gravel was invited to many of the early Democratic presidential debates. During the initial one at South Carolina State University on April 26, 2007, he suggested a bill requiring the president to withdraw from Iraq on pain of criminal penalties. He also advocated positions such as opposing preemptive nuclear war.\",\n \"He also advocated positions such as opposing preemptive nuclear war. He stated that the Iraq War had the effect of creating more terrorists and that the \\\"war was lost the day that George Bush invaded Iraq on a fraudulent basis\\\". Regarding his fellow candidates, he said, \\\"I got to tell you, after standing up with them, some of these people frighten me – they frighten me.\\\" In one such exchange, Gravel said, \\\"Tell me, Barack, who do you want to nuke?\\\"\",\n \"In one such exchange, Gravel said, \\\"Tell me, Barack, who do you want to nuke?\\\" to which Obama responded, \\\"I'm not planning to nuke anybody right now, Mike, I promise.\\\" Media stories said that Gravel was responsible for much of whatever \\\"heat\\\" and \\\"flashpoints\\\" had taken place during the Democratic debates.\",\n \"Media stories said that Gravel was responsible for much of whatever \\\"heat\\\" and \\\"flashpoints\\\" had taken place during the Democratic debates. Gravel gained considerable publicity by shaking up the normally staid multiple-candidate format; The New York Times' media critic said that what Gravel had done was \\\"steal a debate with outrageous, curmudgeonly statements\\\".\",\n \"Gravel gained considerable publicity by shaking up the normally staid multiple-candidate format; The New York Times' media critic said that what Gravel had done was \\\"steal a debate with outrageous, curmudgeonly statements\\\". The Internet was a benefit: a YouTube video of his responses in the debate was viewed more than 225,892 times, ranking seventeenth in most views for week and first among news and politics clips; his name became the fifteenth most searched-for in the blogosphere; and his website garnered more traffic than those of frontrunners Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, or John Edwards.\",\n \"The Internet was a benefit: a YouTube video of his responses in the debate was viewed more than 225,892 times, ranking seventeenth in most views for week and first among news and politics clips; his name became the fifteenth most searched-for in the blogosphere; and his website garnered more traffic than those of frontrunners Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, or John Edwards. Gravel appeared on the popular Colbert Report on television on May 2, and his campaign and career were profiled in national publications such as Salon.\",\n \"Gravel appeared on the popular Colbert Report on television on May 2, and his campaign and career were profiled in national publications such as Salon. Two wordless, Warholesque campaign videos, \\\"Rock\\\" and \\\"Fire\\\", were released on YouTube in late May and became hits, and eventually gained over 760,000 and 185,000 views respectively. \\\"Rock\\\", in turn, was given airtime during an episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.\",\n \"\\\"Rock\\\", in turn, was given airtime during an episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Some thirty-five years after he first achieved the national spotlight, he had found it again. All this did not improve his performance in the polls; a May 2007 CNN poll showed him with less than 0.5 percent support among Democrats. Gravel was in the next several debates, in one case after CNN reversed a decision to exclude him.\",\n \"Gravel was in the next several debates, in one case after CNN reversed a decision to exclude him. Like some of the other second-tier candidates, Gravel did not get as much time as the leaders; during the June 2, 2007, New Hampshire debate, which lasted two hours, he was asked 10 questions and allowed to speak for five minutes and 37 seconds.\",\n \"Like some of the other second-tier candidates, Gravel did not get as much time as the leaders; during the June 2, 2007, New Hampshire debate, which lasted two hours, he was asked 10 questions and allowed to speak for five minutes and 37 seconds. During the July 23, 2007, CNN-YouTube presidential debate, Gravel responded to audience applause when he had complained of a lack of airtime and said: \\\"Thank you. Has it been fair thus far?\\\"\",\n \"Has it been fair thus far?\\\" Has it been fair thus far?\\\" Detractors began to liken him to \\\"the cranky uncle who lives in the attic,\\\" or \\\"the angry old guy that just seemed to want to become angrier\\\". Berkeley political scientist David Terr found that moderator George Stephanopoulos directed roughly five percent of his questions to Gravel; in a poll asking who did the best in the debate, Gravel placed seventh among the eight candidates.\",\n \"Berkeley political scientist David Terr found that moderator George Stephanopoulos directed roughly five percent of his questions to Gravel; in a poll asking who did the best in the debate, Gravel placed seventh among the eight candidates. National opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination continued to show Gravel with one percent or zero percent numbers.\",\n \"National opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination continued to show Gravel with one percent or zero percent numbers. By the end of the third-quarter 2007, Gravel had about $17,500 in cash on hand, had collected a total of about $380,000 during the 2008 election cycle, and was continuing to run a threadbare campaign with minimal staff.\",\n \"By the end of the third-quarter 2007, Gravel had about $17,500 in cash on hand, had collected a total of about $380,000 during the 2008 election cycle, and was continuing to run a threadbare campaign with minimal staff. Beginning with the October 30, 2007, Philadelphia event, Gravel was excluded from most of the debates, with the debate sponsors or the Democratic National Committee saying Gravel's campaign had not met fund-raising, polling, or local campaign organizational thresholds.\",\n \"Beginning with the October 30, 2007, Philadelphia event, Gravel was excluded from most of the debates, with the debate sponsors or the Democratic National Committee saying Gravel's campaign had not met fund-raising, polling, or local campaign organizational thresholds. For the Philadelphia exclusion, Gravel blamed corporate censorship on the part of sponsor owner and alleged military-industrial complex member General Electric for his exclusion and mounted a counter-gathering and debate against a video screen a short distance away, but he had lost his easiest publicity.\",\n \"For the Philadelphia exclusion, Gravel blamed corporate censorship on the part of sponsor owner and alleged military-industrial complex member General Electric for his exclusion and mounted a counter-gathering and debate against a video screen a short distance away, but he had lost his easiest publicity. In reaction, supporters organized \\\"mass donation days\\\" to try to help the campaign gain momentum and funds, such as on December 5, 2007, the anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition.\",\n \"In reaction, supporters organized \\\"mass donation days\\\" to try to help the campaign gain momentum and funds, such as on December 5, 2007, the anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition. Gravel did not compete in the initial 2008 vote, the Iowa caucuses, but was still subjected to a false report from MSNBC that he had pulled out of the race afterward. Gravel did focus his attention on the second 2008 vote, the New Hampshire primary.\",\n \"Gravel did focus his attention on the second 2008 vote, the New Hampshire primary. In early January, Mother Jones' investigative reporter James Ridgeway was filmed interviewing and following Gravel in New Hampshire, in which Gravel is interviewed on the phone by Neal Conan for NPR's, Talk of the Nation. He received about 400 votes out of some 280,000 cast in New Hampshire, or 0.14 percent, before taking time off to improve his health. He resumed campaigning, but fared no better in subsequent states.\",\n \"He resumed campaigning, but fared no better in subsequent states. By the end of January 2008, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and Gravel were the only remaining Democrats from the initial debates still running; Gravel vowed to stay in the presidential campaign until November. On March 11, 2008, Gravel continued to remain in the Democratic race but additionally endorsed a Green Party candidate for president, Jesse Johnson, saying he wanted to help Johnson prevail against Green Party rivals Cynthia McKinney and Ralph Nader.\",\n \"On March 11, 2008, Gravel continued to remain in the Democratic race but additionally endorsed a Green Party candidate for president, Jesse Johnson, saying he wanted to help Johnson prevail against Green Party rivals Cynthia McKinney and Ralph Nader. By late March, Gravel had almost no fundraising and was only on the ballot in one of the next ten Democratic primaries.\",\n \"By late March, Gravel had almost no fundraising and was only on the ballot in one of the next ten Democratic primaries. Switch to Libertarian Party On March 25, 2008, Gravel announced that he would leave the Democrats and join the Libertarian Party, saying: \\\"My libertarian views, as well as my strong stance against war, the military industrial complex and American imperialism, seem not to be tolerated by Democratic Party elites who are out of touch with the average American; elites that reject the empowerment of American citizens I offered to the Democratic Party at the beginning of this presidential campaign with the National Initiative for Democracy.\\\"\",\n \"Switch to Libertarian Party On March 25, 2008, Gravel announced that he would leave the Democrats and join the Libertarian Party, saying: \\\"My libertarian views, as well as my strong stance against war, the military industrial complex and American imperialism, seem not to be tolerated by Democratic Party elites who are out of touch with the average American; elites that reject the empowerment of American citizens I offered to the Democratic Party at the beginning of this presidential campaign with the National Initiative for Democracy.\\\" The following day Gravel entered the race for the 2008 Libertarian presidential nomination, saying that he would have run as a third-party candidate all along except that he needed the public exposure that came from being in the earlier Democratic debates.\",\n \"The following day Gravel entered the race for the 2008 Libertarian presidential nomination, saying that he would have run as a third-party candidate all along except that he needed the public exposure that came from being in the earlier Democratic debates. Gravel's initial notion of running as a fusion candidate with other parties was met with skepticism. As a Libertarian candidate, Gravel faced resistance to his past support of big government initiatives and his unorthodox positions around direct democracy.\",\n \"As a Libertarian candidate, Gravel faced resistance to his past support of big government initiatives and his unorthodox positions around direct democracy. Nevertheless, he garnered more support than he had as a Democrat, placing second and third in two April 2008 straw polls.\",\n \"Nevertheless, he garnered more support than he had as a Democrat, placing second and third in two April 2008 straw polls. In the May 25 balloting at the 2008 Libertarian National Convention in Denver, Gravel finished fourth out of eight candidates on the initial ballot, with 71 votes out of a total 618; he trailed former Congressman and eventual winner Bob Barr, author Mary Ruwart, and businessman Wayne Allyn Root. Gravel's position did not subsequently improve and he was eliminated on the fourth ballot.\",\n \"Gravel's position did not subsequently improve and he was eliminated on the fourth ballot. Afterwards he stated that \\\"I just ended my political career,\\\" but he vowed to continue promoting his positions as a writer and lecturer. 2008–early 2019 In June 2008 Gravel endorsed the NYC 9/11 Ballot Initiative, saying the measure would create a \\\"citizens commission rather than a government commission\\\" with subpoena power against top U.S. officials to \\\"make a true investigation as to what happened\\\" regarding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.\",\n \"2008–early 2019 In June 2008 Gravel endorsed the NYC 9/11 Ballot Initiative, saying the measure would create a \\\"citizens commission rather than a government commission\\\" with subpoena power against top U.S. officials to \\\"make a true investigation as to what happened\\\" regarding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. He later said, \\\"Individuals in and out of government may certainly have participated with the obviously known perpetrators of this dastardly act. Suspicions abound over the analysis presented by government.\",\n \"Suspicions abound over the analysis presented by government. Suspicions abound over the analysis presented by government. Obviously an act that has triggered three wars, Afghan, Iraqi and the continuing War on Terror, should be extensively investigated which was not done and which the government avoids addressing.\\\"\",\n \"Obviously an act that has triggered three wars, Afghan, Iraqi and the continuing War on Terror, should be extensively investigated which was not done and which the government avoids addressing.\\\" In August 2008 Gravel was speaking to a crowd of supporters of Sami Al-Arian (who two years earlier had pleaded guilty and been sentenced to prison for a charge of conspiracy in helping Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a \\\"specially designated terrorist\\\" organization) when he was caught on tape saying of Al-Arian's prosecutor, \\\"Find out where he lives, find out where his kids go to school, find out where his office is: picket him all the time.\",\n \"In August 2008 Gravel was speaking to a crowd of supporters of Sami Al-Arian (who two years earlier had pleaded guilty and been sentenced to prison for a charge of conspiracy in helping Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a \\\"specially designated terrorist\\\" organization) when he was caught on tape saying of Al-Arian's prosecutor, \\\"Find out where he lives, find out where his kids go to school, find out where his office is: picket him all the time. Call him a racist in signs if you see him.\",\n \"Call him a racist in signs if you see him. Call him an injustice. Call him whatever you want to call him, but in his face all the time.\\\" Gravel was criticized for potentially involving the children of the prosecutor, and Al-Arian's family disavowed the sentiments. Gravel defended Alaska Governor Sarah Palin after she was chosen as Republican presidential nominee John McCain's running mate in September 2008.\",\n \"Gravel defended Alaska Governor Sarah Palin after she was chosen as Republican presidential nominee John McCain's running mate in September 2008. He praised Palin's record in standing up to corruption among Alaskan Republicans, thought her national inexperience was an asset not a detriment, and predicted that the \\\"Troopergate\\\" investigation into whether she improperly fired a state official would \\\"come out in her favor\\\". Gravel made clear he would not support or vote for either McCain–Palin or Obama–Biden in the general election.\",\n \"Gravel made clear he would not support or vote for either McCain–Palin or Obama–Biden in the general election. The following year Gravel said that Palin's politics were \\\"terrible, but that doesn't detract from the fact that she's a very talented person\\\". He predicted that Palin would run for president in 2012 and that \\\"she's going to surprise a lot of people\\\". Palin did not run, but Gravel's prediction about \\\"TrooperGate\\\" was accurate as Palin was found not to have violated ethics laws.\",\n \"Palin did not run, but Gravel's prediction about \\\"TrooperGate\\\" was accurate as Palin was found not to have violated ethics laws. In 2013, by the invitation of Hamed Ghashghavi, the secretary for international affairs of the 3rd International Conference on Hollywoodism in Tehran, Iran, Gravel attended that event as an Iranian government-organized anti-Hollywood conference.\",\n \"In 2013, by the invitation of Hamed Ghashghavi, the secretary for international affairs of the 3rd International Conference on Hollywoodism in Tehran, Iran, Gravel attended that event as an Iranian government-organized anti-Hollywood conference. Gravel noted that the conference was attended by \\\"various elements of extremes\\\" but said it was necessary to discuss how the U.S. film industry portrayed Iran in order to prevent \\\"an insane war\\\" between the two nations.\",\n \"Gravel noted that the conference was attended by \\\"various elements of extremes\\\" but said it was necessary to discuss how the U.S. film industry portrayed Iran in order to prevent \\\"an insane war\\\" between the two nations. In May 2013 Gravel was one of several former members of Congress to accept $20,000 from the Paradigm Research Group, an advocacy group for UFO disclosure, as part of holding what they termed a Citizen Hearing on Disclosure, modeled after congressional hearings, regarding supposed U.S. government suppression of evidence concerning UFOs.\",\n \"In May 2013 Gravel was one of several former members of Congress to accept $20,000 from the Paradigm Research Group, an advocacy group for UFO disclosure, as part of holding what they termed a Citizen Hearing on Disclosure, modeled after congressional hearings, regarding supposed U.S. government suppression of evidence concerning UFOs. Gravel said, \\\"Something is monitoring the planet, and they are monitoring it very cautiously, because we are a very warlike planet,\\\" and, \\\"What we're faced with here is, in areas of the media, and the government too, an effort to marginalize and ridicule people who have specific knowledge.\\\"\",\n \"Gravel said, \\\"Something is monitoring the planet, and they are monitoring it very cautiously, because we are a very warlike planet,\\\" and, \\\"What we're faced with here is, in areas of the media, and the government too, an effort to marginalize and ridicule people who have specific knowledge.\\\" In December 2014 Gravel was announced as the new CEO of KUSH, a company which makes marijuana-infused products for medicinal and recreational use, and a subsidiary of Cannabis Sativa, Inc.\",\n \"In December 2014 Gravel was announced as the new CEO of KUSH, a company which makes marijuana-infused products for medicinal and recreational use, and a subsidiary of Cannabis Sativa, Inc. He also became an Independent Director of Cannabis Sativa. During the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries, Gravel praised Bernie Sanders and his campaign, saying \\\"Bernie is one of the most gifted politicians I have ever observed. He's a person of great integrity and very clever.\\\"\",\n \"He's a person of great integrity and very clever.\\\" Gravel predicted that Sanders would be elected president but would be unable to get his key reforms through Congress, and thus that Sanders and his supporters should back some of the proposals of the National Initiative. In 2016, Gravel said in relation to the September 11 attacks: \\\"We killed 58,000 American servicemen in the Vietnam War and all they did was die in vain.\",\n \"In 2016, Gravel said in relation to the September 11 attacks: \\\"We killed 58,000 American servicemen in the Vietnam War and all they did was die in vain. What's so unusual about killing 3,000 more in order to develop the grist for the mill to empower into infinity the military industrial complex?\\\" and \\\"There's no question in my mind that 9/11 was an inside job\\\". The remarks were later disavowed by even Gravel supporters. By 2019 Gravel was living in Seaside, California.\",\n \"By 2019 Gravel was living in Seaside, California. By 2019 Gravel was living in Seaside, California. He was working on a book, at the time titled Human Governance, about his principal idea for direct democracy, a U.S. Constitutional Amendment to create a \\\"Legislature of the People\\\" that would circumvent the existing Congress. The book was self-published at the end of the year by AuthorHouse under the title The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People.\",\n \"The book was self-published at the end of the year by AuthorHouse under the title The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People. 2020 presidential campaign On March 19, 2019, Gravel announced that he was considering running in the 2020 Democratic primaries. He said, \\\"The goal will not be to win, but to bring a critique of American imperialism to the Democratic debate stage.\\\"\",\n \"He said, \\\"The goal will not be to win, but to bring a critique of American imperialism to the Democratic debate stage.\\\" An exploratory committee was formed, with filing a statement of organization with the Federal Election Commission on that same day.\",\n \"An exploratory committee was formed, with filing a statement of organization with the Federal Election Commission on that same day. The filing was the idea of a group of teenagers, led by David Oks and Henry Williams, inspired by the podcast Chapo Trap House, and done with Gravel's consent (after a week spent convincing him of the idea's merits), but without his involvement.\",\n \"The filing was the idea of a group of teenagers, led by David Oks and Henry Williams, inspired by the podcast Chapo Trap House, and done with Gravel's consent (after a week spent convincing him of the idea's merits), but without his involvement. Intrigued by the group's commitment to amplifying his long-held policy goals, Gravel (who would be old on Inauguration Day in 2021) said he planned to meet with them in April, and to discuss a 2020 White House run with his wife.\",\n \"Intrigued by the group's commitment to amplifying his long-held policy goals, Gravel (who would be old on Inauguration Day in 2021) said he planned to meet with them in April, and to discuss a 2020 White House run with his wife. On April 2, 2019, Gravel filed to officially run for office. The campaign called itself the \\\"#Gravelanche\\\". Gravel's initial stated goal was merely to qualify for debates by getting the required 65,000 small donors.\",\n \"Gravel's initial stated goal was merely to qualify for debates by getting the required 65,000 small donors. He discouraged people from voting for him and said his preferences were Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard, both of whom favor a non-interventionist foreign policy. But on April 29, Gravel's campaign said he was running to win, not just to participate in debates. In a subsequent interview, though, Gravel emphasized the virtue of Sanders and Gabbard in some order as a presidential ticket.\",\n \"In a subsequent interview, though, Gravel emphasized the virtue of Sanders and Gabbard in some order as a presidential ticket. Statements like these caused Vox to call Gravel \\\"2020's oddest Democratic presidential candidate\\\".\",\n \"Statements like these caused Vox to call Gravel \\\"2020's oddest Democratic presidential candidate\\\". The New York Times Magazine included Gravel as an example in the rise of democratic socialism in the United States also exemplified by Sanders's 2016 race and the 2018 election of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: \\\"[Gravel's] campaign represents the most absurd form of a legitimate movement on the left that feels little obligation to the Democratic Party.\\\"\",\n \"The New York Times Magazine included Gravel as an example in the rise of democratic socialism in the United States also exemplified by Sanders's 2016 race and the 2018 election of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: \\\"[Gravel's] campaign represents the most absurd form of a legitimate movement on the left that feels little obligation to the Democratic Party.\\\" In June 2019, Gravel touted the endorsement of Muntadher al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who, in December 2008, made headlines after he threw his shoes at President George W. Bush in protest of the U.S. war in Iraq.\",\n \"In June 2019, Gravel touted the endorsement of Muntadher al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who, in December 2008, made headlines after he threw his shoes at President George W. Bush in protest of the U.S. war in Iraq. Al-Zaidi endorsed Gravel based on his promise to improve White House policies regarding Iraq and the Middle East. On June 13, 2019, the Democratic Party announced the 20 major candidates who qualified for the first debate later that month.\",\n \"On June 13, 2019, the Democratic Party announced the 20 major candidates who qualified for the first debate later that month. Gravel was one of the four who missed out (the others were Montana Governor Steve Bullock, U.S. Representative Seth Moulton, and Miramar, Florida, Mayor Wayne Messam). Gravel had been unable to get the requisite number of donations, or to score one percent or better in enough polls (many polls did not even include him).\",\n \"Gravel had been unable to get the requisite number of donations, or to score one percent or better in enough polls (many polls did not even include him). Nevertheless, Gravel said he would not drop out and would try to qualify for the July debate. In early July, however, Gravel's campaign said it was still 10,000 contributions short of the 65,000-donor threshold and that it was \\\"nearing its conclusion\\\". It solicited suggestions for where to donate $100–150,000 of leftover campaign funds.\",\n \"It solicited suggestions for where to donate $100–150,000 of leftover campaign funds. Gravel added that he had always planned on ending the campaign before the teenagers in charge of it needed to return to school. A few days later the campaign became the first to run an attack ad against Democratic front-runner Joe Biden, using the text \\\"Is this the best our party has to offer?\\\" Gravel's campaign crossed the threshold of 65,000 donors on July 12, 2019, meeting the qualification mark for that month's debate.\",\n \"Gravel's campaign crossed the threshold of 65,000 donors on July 12, 2019, meeting the qualification mark for that month's debate. But because 20 other candidates, the maximum allowed to participate, had already met at least the polling criterion, which takes priority over the donor criterion, Gravel was not invited. The campaign officially came to a close on August 6, 2019, with Gravel endorsing both Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard for president.\",\n \"The campaign officially came to a close on August 6, 2019, with Gravel endorsing both Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard for president. Gravel's campaign later stated on Twitter that they never wanted to win but saw the campaign as an \\\"intimately democratic\\\" project and expressed honor at working with Gravel. Gravel said he would divide remaining campaign funds between charity and a new think tank which would espouse his ideas.\",\n \"Gravel said he would divide remaining campaign funds between charity and a new think tank which would espouse his ideas. The Gravel Institute Gravel used some of the funds remaining from his 2020 presidential campaign to found an eponymous progressive think tank called The Gravel Institute in 2019. As noted by Vice magazine, the institute aims to do battle with PragerU from a left-wing perspective.\",\n \"As noted by Vice magazine, the institute aims to do battle with PragerU from a left-wing perspective. Launched in September 2020, the new entity said it would \\\"carry on the life's work of former U.S Senator Mike Gravel in fighting for global peace and democracy. Its mission is to promote bold and forward-looking ideas about a more peaceful and egalitarian world, and to build a robust movement of young people to win it\\\".\",\n \"Its mission is to promote bold and forward-looking ideas about a more peaceful and egalitarian world, and to build a robust movement of young people to win it\\\". Contributors announced include Cornel West and Slavoj Žižek, as well as Lower Brule Indian Reservation activist Nick Estes.\",\n \"Contributors announced include Cornel West and Slavoj Žižek, as well as Lower Brule Indian Reservation activist Nick Estes. Other presenters have included and will include H. Jon Benjamin, Briahna Joy Gray, Bernie Sanders, Chelsea Manning, Richard Wolff, Stephanie Kelton, Zephyr Teachout, David Cross, Jabari Brisport, Zohran Mamdani, and Gravel himself (though it is unknown if his appearance will be cancelled due to his death in June 2021, or if the video has already been recorded).\",\n \"Other presenters have included and will include H. Jon Benjamin, Briahna Joy Gray, Bernie Sanders, Chelsea Manning, Richard Wolff, Stephanie Kelton, Zephyr Teachout, David Cross, Jabari Brisport, Zohran Mamdani, and Gravel himself (though it is unknown if his appearance will be cancelled due to his death in June 2021, or if the video has already been recorded). Death Gravel died of multiple myeloma at his home in Seaside, California, on June 26, 2021, at age 91.\",\n \"Death Gravel died of multiple myeloma at his home in Seaside, California, on June 26, 2021, at age 91. The obituary for him in The New York Times stated that Gravel was \\\"a two-term Democratic senator from Alaska ... who was perhaps better known as an unabashed attention-getter\\\" who later become known for \\\"mounting long-shot presidential runs\\\".\",\n \"The obituary for him in The New York Times stated that Gravel was \\\"a two-term Democratic senator from Alaska ... who was perhaps better known as an unabashed attention-getter\\\" who later become known for \\\"mounting long-shot presidential runs\\\". The obituary in The Washington Post was similar, saying that Gravel was \\\"an Alaska Democrat with a flair for the theatrical who rose from obscurity to brief renown\\\" and later \\\"ran quixotic campaigns for the presidency\\\".\",\n \"The obituary in The Washington Post was similar, saying that Gravel was \\\"an Alaska Democrat with a flair for the theatrical who rose from obscurity to brief renown\\\" and later \\\"ran quixotic campaigns for the presidency\\\". The Anchorage Daily News quoted Gravel as saying of himself in 1989, \\\"I'm an independent kind of guy. A rough and ready kind of guy. My glands work in a certain way that make me stand up, foolishly sometimes, and fight.\\\"\",\n \"My glands work in a certain way that make me stand up, foolishly sometimes, and fight.\\\" Political positions Alan Abramowitz and Jeffrey Allan Segal described Gravel as \\\"a maverick, if not an eccentric, in the Senate.\\\" His Americans for Democratic Action \\\"Liberal Quotient\\\" scores ranged from 81 out of 100 (1971) to 39 out of 100 (1980), with an average of around 61.\",\n \"His Americans for Democratic Action \\\"Liberal Quotient\\\" scores ranged from 81 out of 100 (1971) to 39 out of 100 (1980), with an average of around 61. His American Conservative Union scores ranged from 0 out of 100 (several years, including 1971 and 1972) to 38 out of 100 (1979), with an average of 14.\",\n \"His American Conservative Union scores ranged from 0 out of 100 (several years, including 1971 and 1972) to 38 out of 100 (1979), with an average of 14. Abramowitz and Segal note that Gravel's lowest ADA ratings coincided with his two Senate re-election bids, and for the most part his highest ACU ratings followed the same pattern.\",\n \"Abramowitz and Segal note that Gravel's lowest ADA ratings coincided with his two Senate re-election bids, and for the most part his highest ACU ratings followed the same pattern. In 1972, as a young senator, Gravel published Citizen Power: A People's Platform, a manifesto outlining what Kirkus Reviews termed a \\\"populist reform [that] would provide 'balanced political power' between the people and government and business interests.\\\"\",\n \"In 1972, as a young senator, Gravel published Citizen Power: A People's Platform, a manifesto outlining what Kirkus Reviews termed a \\\"populist reform [that] would provide 'balanced political power' between the people and government and business interests.\\\" Civil rights issues On drug policy, Gravel said in 2007 that he favored decriminalization and treating addiction as a public health matter.\",\n \"Civil rights issues On drug policy, Gravel said in 2007 that he favored decriminalization and treating addiction as a public health matter. During his 2008 presidential candidacy he condemned the War on Drugs as a failure, saying that it did \\\"nothing but savage our inner cities and put our children at risk\\\". Gravel called for abolition of capital punishment in his book Citizen Power, and adhered to this position during his 2008 run for president. He supported abortion rights.\",\n \"He supported abortion rights. He supported abortion rights. During the 2008 campaign Gravel was a strong supporter of LGBT rights. He supported same-sex marriage and opposed the Defense of Marriage Act and the U.S. military's \\\"don't ask, don't tell\\\" policy. He wrote in 2008 that \\\"depriving gays and lesbians of equal rights is immoral\\\". Foreign policy and defense issues Gravel was a critic of American imperialism. Gravel firmly opposed U.S. military action against Iran and Syria.\",\n \"Gravel firmly opposed U.S. military action against Iran and Syria. He voiced opposition to the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, the Military Commissions Act of 2006, the use of torture, indefinite detention, and what he called \\\"flagrant ignorance\\\" of the Geneva Convention. In 2014 Gravel called for the release of the full, unredacted Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture. Gravel opposed the use of international sanctions as a policy tool and blamed the ones against Iraq under Saddam Hussein for the deaths of a half-million children in that country.\",\n \"Gravel opposed the use of international sanctions as a policy tool and blamed the ones against Iraq under Saddam Hussein for the deaths of a half-million children in that country. In 2013 Gravel said that sanctions against Iran were \\\"illegal\\\". During his 2008 candidacy, Gravel called for a cut in military spending, variously reported to be 15 percent or 50 percent. He called for the savings to boost public education spending. To spur international nuclear nonproliferation efforts, Gravel called for unilateral reductions in the U.S. nuclear arsenal.\",\n \"To spur international nuclear nonproliferation efforts, Gravel called for unilateral reductions in the U.S. nuclear arsenal. In 2008 Gravel criticized the decision of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to not pursue the efforts to impeach George W. Bush and the attempted impeachment of Dick Cheney, saying also that Bush and Cheney had committed crimes and deserved \\\"to be prosecuted\\\" at The Hague.\",\n \"In 2008 Gravel criticized the decision of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to not pursue the efforts to impeach George W. Bush and the attempted impeachment of Dick Cheney, saying also that Bush and Cheney had committed crimes and deserved \\\"to be prosecuted\\\" at The Hague. In 2013 he expressed disdain for President Obama, calling him \\\"a total fraud\\\" and saying that both Bush and Obama should be tried \\\"for the crimes and murders they've committed\\\" in the International Court of Justice.\",\n \"In 2013 he expressed disdain for President Obama, calling him \\\"a total fraud\\\" and saying that both Bush and Obama should be tried \\\"for the crimes and murders they've committed\\\" in the International Court of Justice. Gravel specifically condemned Obama for the drone strikes in Pakistan and elsewhere.\",\n \"Gravel specifically condemned Obama for the drone strikes in Pakistan and elsewhere. Economy, immigration, and environment During his 2008 candidacy Gravel favored a FairTax scheme, which would abolish the Internal Revenue Service, eliminate the federal income tax (which Gravel called \\\"corrupt\\\"), and impose a national sales tax. While Gravel described FairTax as \\\"progressive\\\", others have criticized it as \\\"regressive\\\", disproportionately benefiting the wealthiest Americans.\",\n \"While Gravel described FairTax as \\\"progressive\\\", others have criticized it as \\\"regressive\\\", disproportionately benefiting the wealthiest Americans. To offset the new sales taxes on essential goods, Gravel's plan called for monthly government rebate payments to individuals and families. During his 2020 campaign Gravel also voiced support for a third legislative body that would give the people direct control of the budget as well as the implementation of a land value tax.\",\n \"During his 2020 campaign Gravel also voiced support for a third legislative body that would give the people direct control of the budget as well as the implementation of a land value tax. Gravel opposed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) during his 2008 candidacy, calling it unfair and economically harmful and needing renegotiation. Gravel believed that NAFTA was the \\\"root cause\\\" of illegal migration to the U.S. He favored a guest worker program and \\\"setting up naturalization procedures that would fairly bring immigrants into legal status\\\".\",\n \"He favored a guest worker program and \\\"setting up naturalization procedures that would fairly bring immigrants into legal status\\\". In a 2007 interview, Gravel identified himself as \\\"very much of a globalist\\\" who believed in open markets and open borders and condemned the scapegoating of undocumented immigrants. Gravel also said that he favored eliminating the cap on H1B visas. As a senator from Alaska, Gravel favored drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but opposed it during his 2008 campaign.\",\n \"As a senator from Alaska, Gravel favored drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but opposed it during his 2008 campaign. In 2008, Gravel supported a carbon tax to combat climate change. Gravel spoke in favor of net neutrality during his presidential campaign. Education and health care Gravel called for the cost of college tuition to be borne by the federal government, rather than students.\",\n \"Education and health care Gravel called for the cost of college tuition to be borne by the federal government, rather than students. In his 2008 campaign, he called the No Child Left Behind Act \\\"a failure\\\" and called for it to be \\\"reformed and fully funded\\\". He expressed support for universal pre-kindergarten and the expansion of the Head Start program; and expressed an openness to charter schools and school vouchers. He also suggested extending the school day and the school year, and supported merit pay for teachers.\",\n \"He also suggested extending the school day and the school year, and supported merit pay for teachers. Gravel also called for publicly funded universal health care to replace the current employer-sponsored health insurance system. He supported \\\"full funding\\\" of the VA system. When asked in 2007 about naturopathy, homeopathy, and acupuncture, Gravel said that he was \\\"very very much in favor\\\" of holistic health care. Awards and honors In 2008 Gravel received the Columbia University School of General Studies' first annual Isaac Asimov Lifetime Achievement Award.\",\n \"Awards and honors In 2008 Gravel received the Columbia University School of General Studies' first annual Isaac Asimov Lifetime Achievement Award. Electoral history Writings Gravel, Mike. Jobs and More Jobs. Mt. McKinley Publishers, 1968. Gravel, Mike. Citizen Power: A People's Platform. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1972. . revised and reissued as Citizen Power: A Mandate for Change, AuthorHouse, 2008. . Gravel, Mike and Lauria, Joe.\",\n \"Gravel, Mike and Lauria, Joe. Gravel, Mike and Lauria, Joe. A Political Odyssey: The Rise of American Militarism and One Man's Fight to Stop It. Seven Stories Press, 2008. . Gravel, Mike and Eisenbach, David. The Kingmakers: How the Media Threatens Our Security and Our Democracy. Phoenix Books, 2008. . Gravel, Mike. Voice of a Maverick: The Speeches and Writings of Senator Mike Gravel. Brandywine House, 2008. Gravel, Mike.\",\n \"Brandywine House, 2008. Gravel, Mike. Gravel, Mike. Foreword to Poisoned Power: The Case Against Nuclear Power Plants. John W. Goffman & Arthur R. Tamplin, Rodale Press, Inc., Emmaus, PA, June 1971. Gravel, Mike. The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People. AuthorHouse, 2020. Explanatory notes References Citations General references The Pentagon Papers Senator Gravel Edition. Vol. Five: Critical Essays. Boston: Beacon Press, 1972. 341p. plus 72p.\",\n \"Five: Critical Essays. Boston: Beacon Press, 1972. 341p. plus 72p. plus 72p. of Index to Vol. I–IV of the Papers; Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, editors.\",\n \"I–IV of the Papers; Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, editors. External links Mike Gravel official website The Gravel Institute |- |- 1930 births 2021 deaths 1972 United States vice-presidential candidates 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American politicians 20th-century Roman Catholics 20th-century Unitarians 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American politicians 21st-century Unitarians 9/11 conspiracy theorists Alaska Democrats American International College alumni American Unitarian Universalists American anti–Iraq War activists American conspiracy theorists American democracy activists American male non-fiction writers American people of French-Canadian descent American political writers American real estate businesspeople American stockbrokers Anti-corporate activists Assumption University (Worcester) alumni Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Businesspeople from Anchorage, Alaska Businesspeople from Springfield, Massachusetts California Democrats Candidates in the 2008 United States presidential election Candidates in the 2020 United States presidential election Columbia University School of General Studies alumni Deaths from cancer in California Deaths from multiple myeloma Democratic Party United States senators Direct democracy activists Drug policy reform activists Former Roman Catholics Virginia Libertarians Members of the Alaska House of Representatives Military personnel from Massachusetts Non-interventionism People from Arlington County, Virginia People from Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska People with dyslexia Politicians from Anchorage, Alaska Politicians from Springfield, Massachusetts Speakers of the Alaska House of Representatives United States Army officers United States senators from Alaska Writers about direct democracy Writers from Anchorage, Alaska\"\n]"}}},{"rowIdx":395,"cells":{"History":{"kind":"list like","value":["Mike Gravel","Run for Vice President in 1972","Who was Gavel's running mate?","I don't know.","Who did he compete against in 1972?","former Governor of Massachusetts Endicott Peabody had been running a quixotic campaign for the same post","What significant events happened during the campaign?","At the convention's final day on July 14, 1972, presidential nominee McGovern selected and announced Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri as his vice-presidential choice.","What did Gravel do afterward?","Gravel was nominated by Bettye Fahrenkamp, the Democratic National Committeewoman from Alaska.","What was he nominated for?","presidential nominee"],"string":"[\n \"Mike Gravel\",\n \"Run for Vice President in 1972\",\n \"Who was Gavel's running mate?\",\n \"I don't know.\",\n \"Who did he compete against in 1972?\",\n \"former Governor of Massachusetts Endicott Peabody had been running a quixotic campaign for the same post\",\n \"What significant events happened during the campaign?\",\n \"At the convention's final day on July 14, 1972, presidential nominee McGovern selected and announced Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri as his vice-presidential choice.\",\n \"What did Gravel do afterward?\",\n \"Gravel was nominated by Bettye Fahrenkamp, the Democratic National Committeewoman from Alaska.\",\n \"What was he nominated for?\",\n \"presidential nominee\"\n]"},"QuAC_dialog_id":{"kind":"string","value":"C_99b905b192ab4470bbae0787f5f31d5c_1"},"Question":{"kind":"string","value":"Did he have any enemies?"},"Question_no":{"kind":"number","value":6,"string":"6"},"Rewrite":{"kind":"string","value":"Did Mike Gravel have any enemies?"},"true_page_title":{"kind":"string","value":"Mike Gravel"},"true_contexts":{"kind":"string","value":"Gravel \"decided to become a pioneer in a faraway place,\" and moved to pre-statehood Alaska in August 1956, without funds or a job, looking for a place where someone without social or political connections could be a viable candidate for public office. Alaska's voting age of 19, less than most other states' 21, played a role in his decision, as did its newness and cooler climate. Broke when he arrived, he immediately found work in real estate sales until winter arrived. Gravel then was employed as a brakeman for the Alaska Railroad, working the snow-clearing train on the Anchorage-Fairbanks run. Subsequently, he opened a small real estate brokerage in Anchorage (the Territory of Alaska not requiring a license) and saved enough so as not to have to work the railroad again. Gravel joined the Anchorage Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, and continued a sporadic relationship with the movement throughout his life. Gravel married Rita Jeannette Martin, who had been Anchorage's \"Miss Fur Rendezvous\" of 1958, on April 29, 1959. They had two children, Martin Anthony Gravel and Lynne Denise Gravel, born c. 1960 and 1962 respectively. Meanwhile, he went to Washington, D.C. in 1957 to campaign for Alaskan statehood via the \"Tennessee Plan\": dressed as Paul Revere, he rode with a petition to the steps of the U.S. Capitol. Seeing Alaska as a wide-open place with no political establishment or entrenched interests, and using the slogan \"Gravel, the Roadbed to Prosperity\", he ran for the territorial legislature in 1958 but lost. He went on a national speaking tour concerning tax reform in 1959, sponsored by the Jaycees. He ran without avail for the City Council in Anchorage in 1960. During this time, he had become a successful real estate agent; after the 1960 election, he became a property developer in a mobile home park on the outskirts of Anchorage. A partner ran into financial difficulty, however, and the project went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy and Gravel was forced out in 1962. In the late 1960s and early 1970s the U.S. Department of Defense was in the process of performing tests for the nuclear warhead for the Spartan anti-ballistic missile. Two tests, the \"Milrow\" and \"Cannikin\" tests, were planned, involving the detonation of nuclear bombs under Amchitka Island in Alaska. The Milrow test would be a one megaton calibration exercise for the second, and larger five megaton, Cannikin test, which would measure the effectiveness of the warhead. Gravel opposed the tests in Congress. Before the Milrow test took place in October 1969, he wrote that there were significant risks of earthquakes and other adverse consequences, and called for an independent national commission on nuclear and seismic safety to be created; he then made a personal appeal to President Nixon to stop the test. After Milrow was conducted, there was continued pressure on the part of environmental groups against going forward with the larger Cannikin test, while the Federation of American Scientists claimed that the warhead being tested was already obsolete. In May 1971, Gravel sent a letter to U.S. Atomic Energy Commission hearings held in Anchorage, in which he said the risk of the test was not worth taking. Eventually a group not involving Gravel took the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to issue an injunction against it, and the Cannikin test took place as scheduled in November 1971. Gravel had failed to stop the tests (notwithstanding his later claims during his 2008 presidential campaign). Nuclear power was considered an environmentally clean alternative for the commercial generation of electricity and was part of a popular national policy for the peaceful use of atomic energy in the 1950s and 1960s. Gravel publicly opposed this policy; besides the dangers of nuclear testing, he was a vocal critic of the Atomic Energy Commission, which oversaw American nuclear efforts, and of the powerful United States Congress Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, which had a stranglehold on nuclear policy and which Gravel tried to circumvent. In 1971, Gravel sponsored a bill to impose a moratorium on nuclear power plant construction and to make power utilities liable for any nuclear accidents; in 1975, he was still proposing similar moratoriums. By 1974, Gravel was allied with Ralph Nader's organization in opposing nuclear power. Six months before U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's secret mission to the People's Republic of China (P.R.C.) in July 1971, Gravel introduced legislation to recognize and normalize relations with China, including a proposal for unity talks between the P.R.C. and the Republic of China (Taiwan) regarding the Chinese seat on the U.N. Security Council. Gravel reiterated his position in favor of recognition, with four other senators in agreement, during Senate hearings in June 1971. Gravel actively campaigned for the office of Vice President of the United States during the 1972 presidential election, announcing on June 2, 1972, over a month before the 1972 Democratic National Convention began, that he was interested in running for the nomination should the choice be opened up to convention delegates. Towards this end he began soliciting delegates for their support in advance of the convention. He was not alone in this effort, as former Governor of Massachusetts Endicott Peabody had been running a quixotic campaign for the same post since the prior year. Likely presidential nominee George McGovern was in fact considering the unusual move of naming three or four acceptable vice-presidential candidates and letting the delegates choose. At the convention's final day on July 14, 1972, presidential nominee McGovern selected and announced Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri as his vice-presidential choice. Eagleton was unknown to many delegates and the choice seemed to smack of traditional ticket balancing considerations. Thus, there were delegates willing to look elsewhere. Gravel was nominated by Bettye Fahrenkamp, the Democratic National Committeewoman from Alaska. He then seconded his own nomination, breaking down in tears at his own words and maybe trying to withdraw his nomination. In any case he won 226 delegate votes, coming in third behind Eagleton and Frances \"Sissy\" Farenthold of Texas, in chaotic balloting that included several other candidates as well. For his efforts, Gravel attracted some attention: famed writer Norman Mailer would say he \"provided considerable excitement\" and was \"good-looking enough to have played leads in B-films\", while Rolling Stone correspondent Hunter S. Thompson said Gravel \"probably said a few things that might have been worth hearing, under different circumstances ...\" Yet, the whole process had been doubly disastrous for the Democrats. The time consumed with the nominating and seconding and other speeches of all the vice-presidential candidates had lost the attention of the delegates on the floor and pushed McGovern's speech until 3:30 a.m. The haste with which Eagleton had been selected led to surprise when his past mental health treatments were revealed; he withdrew from the ticket soon after the convention, to be replaced by Sargent Shriver. CANNOTANSWER"},"answer":{"kind":"string","value":"Rolling Stone correspondent Hunter S. Thompson said Gravel \"probably said a few things that might have been worth hearing, under different circumstances"},"true_contexts_wiki":{"kind":"string","value":"Maurice Robert Gravel ( ; May 13, 1930 – June 26, 2021) was an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Alaska from 1969 to 1981 as a member of the Democratic Party, and who, in later life, twice ran for the presidential nomination of that party.\n\nBorn and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, by French-Canadian immigrant parents, Gravel moved to Alaska in the late 1950s, becoming a real estate developer and entering politics. He served in the Alaska House of Representatives from 1963 to 1967, and also became Speaker of the Alaska House. Gravel was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1968.\n\nAs a senator, Gravel became nationally known for his forceful, but unsuccessful, attempts to end the draft during the War in Vietnam, and for putting the Pentagon Papers into the public record in 1971. He conducted a campaign for the Democratic nomination in 1972 for Vice President of the United States, and then played a crucial role in obtaining Congressional approval for the Trans-Alaska pipeline in 1973. He was re-elected to the Senate in 1974, but was defeated in his bid for a third term in the primary election in 1980.\n\nAn advocate of direct democracy and the National Initiative, Gravel staged a run for the 2008 Democratic nomination for President of the United States. His campaign failed to gain support, and in March 2008, he left the Democratic Party and joined the Libertarian Party to compete unsuccessfully for its presidential nomination and the inclusion of the National Initiative into the Libertarian Platform. He ran for president as a Democrat again in the 2020 election, in a campaign that ended four months after it began. Two years before his death, Gravel and his campaign staff founded the progressive think tank The Gravel Institute.\n\nEarly life, military service, education\nGravel was born on May 13, 1930, in Springfield, Massachusetts, one of five children of French-Canadian immigrant parents, Alphonse and Marie (née Bourassa) Gravel. His parents were part of the Quebec diaspora, and he was raised in a working-class neighborhood during the Great Depression, speaking only French until he was seven years old. Calling him \"Mike\" from an early age, his father valued work above all else, while his mother stressed the importance of education.\n\nGravel was educated in parochial schools as a Roman Catholic. There he struggled, due to what he later said was undiagnosed dyslexia, and was left back in third grade. He completed elementary school in 1945 and his class voted him \"most charming personality\". A summer job as a soda jerk led to Gravel handing out campaign fliers for local candidates on his boss's behalf; Gravel was immediately impressed with \"the awesomeness of political office\".\n\nGravel then boarded at Assumption Preparatory School in Worcester, Massachusetts, where his performance was initially mediocre. By Gravel's telling, in the summer of 1948 he intended to volunteer for the Israel Defense Forces during the 1947–1949 Palestine war, but Alexandra Tolstaya told him to return to school. There an English teacher, the Assumptionist Edgar Bourque, gave him personal attention, improving Gravel's language skills and instructing him in public speaking. Gravel's grades improved measurably in his final year and he graduated in 1949. His sister, Marguerite, became a Holy Cross nun, but Gravel himself struggled with the Catholic faith. He studied for one year at Assumption College, a Catholic school in Worcester, then transferred for his sophomore year to American International College in Springfield. Journalist I. F. Stone and philosopher Bertrand Russell strongly influenced Gravel in their willingness to challenge assumptions and oppose social convention and political authority.\n\nAround May 1951, Gravel saw that he was about to be drafted and instead enlisted in the U.S. Army for a three-year term so that he could get into the Counterintelligence Corps. After basic training and counterintelligence school at Fort Holabird in Maryland and in South Carolina, he went to Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia. While he expected to be sent off to the Korean War when he graduated as a second lieutenant in early 1952, he was instead assigned to Stuttgart, West Germany, as a Special Adjutant in the Army's Communications Intelligence Service. In Germany, Gravel conducted surveillance operations on civilians and paid off spies. After about a year, he transferred to Orléans, France, where his French language abilities (if not his French-Canadian accent) allowed him to infiltrate French communist rallies. He worked as a Special Agent in the Counterintelligence Corps until 1954, eventually becoming a first lieutenant.\n\nFollowing his discharge, Gravel entered the Columbia University School of General Studies in New York City, where he studied economics and received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1956. He moved to New York \"flat broke\" and supported himself by working as a bar boy in a hotel, driving a taxicab, and working in the investment bond department at Bankers Trust. During this time he left the Roman Catholic faith.\n\nMove to Alaska\n\nGravel \"decided to become a pioneer in a faraway place,\" and moved to pre-statehood Alaska in August 1956, without funds or a job, looking for a place where someone without social or political connections could be a viable candidate for public office. Alaska's voting age of 19, less than most other states' 21, played a role in his decision, as did its newness and cooler climate. Broke when he arrived, he immediately found work in real estate sales until winter arrived. Gravel then was employed as a brakeman for the Alaska Railroad, working the snow-clearing train on the Anchorage-to-Fairbanks run. Subsequently, he opened a small real estate brokerage in Anchorage (the Territory of Alaska not requiring a license) and saved enough so as not to have to work the railroad again. The firm was named the M. R. Gravel Real Estate Company. Gravel joined the Anchorage Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, and continued a sporadic relationship with the movement throughout his life.\n\nSeeing Alaska as a wide-open place with no political establishment or entrenched interests, Gravel quickly became part of the civic scene there. By October 1957 he was a Division Chairman for Anchorage for the Democratic Central Committee in the territory, and by June 1958 he was president of the Alaska Young Democrats organization. He also became active in the United States Junior Chamber (Jaycees), and by early 1958 his duties included handing out awards for farmer of the year.\n\nBy early 1958, Gravel was running as Democratic Party primary candidate for a Third Division seat in House of Representative of the territorial legislature. (This was one of the four judicial divisions into which Alaska was sectioned at the time.) Using the slogan \"Gravel, the Roadbed to Prosperity\", he ran but lost. At the same time, he was also an advocate for Alaskan statehood.\n\nGravel went on a 44-state national speaking tour concerning tax reform in 1959, sponsored by the Jaycees, often dressing for events as Paul Revere. Gravel was selected from some two thousand applications for this position. The tour received a good amount of local newspaper coverage at its various stops, with Gravel's first name sometimes given as Mike and other times as Maurice. The tour's general message was an urging of \"lower taxes, more efficiency in government and a system of taxation moderate at all levels of income\". At several stops Gravel stated that the \"tide of socialism\" had to be stopped. He elaborated at another stop, \"It is part of our Jaycee creed that economic justice can best be won by free men through free enterprise. We really want to see that free enterprise become our inheritance.\" The tour was scheduled to conclude in Washington D.C., on Tax Day, April 15, with petition signatures accumulated for reform to be presented to U.S. lawmakers: dressed as Revere, Gravel rode with the petition to the steps of the U.S. Capitol.\n\nThe tour over, Gravel married Rita Jeannette Martin at the First Methodist Church of Anchorage on April 29, 1959. She was a native of Montana who had attended Billings Business College before moving to Alaska two years prior and becoming a secretary in the office of the Anchorage city manager. She had also been named Anchorage's \"Miss Fur Rendezvous\" of 1958. They had two children, Martin Anthony Gravel and Lynne Denise Gravel, born c. 1960 and 1962 respectively.\n\nGravel ran without avail for the City Council in Anchorage in 1960. During this time, he had become a successful real estate agent; after the 1960 election, he became a property developer in a mobile home park on the outskirts of Anchorage. After a partner ran into financial difficulty, however, the project went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and Gravel was forced out in 1962.\n\nState legislator\n\nWith the support of Alaska wholesale grocer Barney Gottstein and supermarket builder Larry Carr, Gravel ran for the Alaska House of Representatives representing Anchorage in 1962, initially assigned the 10th and then 8th districts. Alaska had very crowded primaries that year: Gravel was one of 33 Democrats, along with 21 Republicans, who were running for the chance to compete for the 14 House seats allocated to the 8th district. Gravel made it through the primary, and in November eight Republicans and six Democrats were elected to the House from the district, with Gravel finishing eighth overall and third among with Democrats, with 8,174 votes. Gottstein became Gravel's main financial backer during most of his subsequent campaigns.\n\nGravel served in the Alaska House of Representatives from January 28, 1963 to January 22, 1967, winning reelection in 1964. In his first term, he served as a minority member on two House committees: Commerce, and Labor and Management. He co-authored and sponsored the act that created the Alaska State Commission for Human Rights. Gravel was the chief architect of the law that created a regional high school system for rural Alaska; this allowed Alaska Natives to attend schools near where they lived instead of having to go to schools run by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the lower 48 states.\n\nDuring the half-years that the legislature was not in session, Gravel resumed his real estate work. With Gottstein and Carr's backing, he became quite successful as a property developer on the Kenai Peninsula.\n\nDuring 1965 and 1966, he served as the Speaker of the House, surprising observers by winning that post. Gravel convinced former Speaker Warren A. Taylor to not try for the position against him by promising Taylor chairmanship of the Rules Committee, then reneged on the promise. Gravel denied later press charges that he had promised but not delivered on other committee chairmanships. As Speaker he antagonized fellow lawmakers by imposing his will on the legislature's committees and feuded with Alaska State Senate president Robert J. McNealy.\n\nGravel did not run for reelection in 1966, instead choosing to run for Alaska's seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, losing the primary to four-term incumbent Democrat Ralph Rivers by 1,300 votes and splitting the Democratic Party in the process. Rivers lost the general election that year to Republican state Senator Howard Pollock. Following this defeat, Gravel returned to the real estate business in Anchorage.\n\nU.S. Senator\n\nElection to Senate in 1968\nIn 1968, Gravel ran against 81-year-old incumbent Democratic United States Senator Ernest Gruening, a popular former governor of the Alaska Territory who was considered one of the fathers of Alaska's statehood, for his party's nomination to the U.S. Senate. Gravel's campaign was primarily based on his youth and telegenic appearance rather than issue differences. He hired Joseph Napolitan, the first self-described political consultant, in late 1966. They spent over a year and a half planning a short, nine-day primary election campaign that featured the slogans \"Alaska first\" and \"Let's do something about the state we're in\", the distribution of a collection of essays titled Jobs and More Jobs, and the creation of a half-hour, well-produced, glamorized biographical film of Gravel, Man for Alaska. The film was shown twice a day on every television station in Alaska, and carried by plane and shown on home projectors in hundreds of Alaska Native villages. The heavy showings quickly reversed a 2–to–1 Gruening lead in polls into a Gravel lead. Gravel visited many remote villages by seaplane and showed a thorough understanding of the needs of the bush country and the fishing and oil industries. Gravel also benefited from maintaining a deliberately ambiguous posture about Vietnam policy. Gruening had been one of only two Senators to vote against the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and his opposition to President Lyndon B. Johnson's war policies was harming him among the Democratic electorate; according to Gravel, \"all I had to do was stand up and not deal with the subject, and people would assume that I was to the right of Ernest Gruening, when in point of fact I was to the left of him\". In Man for Alaska, Gravel argued that \"the liberals\" would come to West Germany's defense if it was attacked, and that the same standard should apply to the United States' allies in Asia. During the campaign he also claimed that he was \"more in the mainstream of American thought on Vietnam\" than Gruening, despite the fact that he had written to Gruening to praise his antiwar stance four years earlier. Decades later, Gravel conceded that \"I said what I said [about Vietnam] to advance my career.\"\n\nGravel beat Gruening in the primary by about 2,000 votes. Gruening found \"the unexpected defeat hard to take\" and thought that some aspects of his opponent's biographical film had misled viewers. In the general election, Gravel faced Republican Elmer E. Rasmuson, a banker and former mayor of Anchorage. College students in the state implored Gruening to run a write-in campaign as an Independent, but legal battles prevented him from getting approval for it until only two weeks were left. A late appearance by anti-war presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy did not offset Gruening's lack of funds and endorsements; meanwhile, Gravel and Rasmuson both saturated local media with their filmed biographies. On November 5, 1968, Gravel won the general election with 45 percent of the vote to Rasmuson's 37 percent and Gruening's 18 percent.\n\nSenate assignments and style\nWhen Gravel joined the U.S.Senate in January 1969, he requested and received a seat on the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee, which had direct relevance to Alaskan issues. He also got a spot on the Public Works Committee, which he held throughout his time in the Senate. Finally, he was a member of the Select Committee on Small Business. In 1971 he became chair of the Public Works Committee's Subcommittee on Public Buildings and Grounds, and by 1973 he was chair of its Subcommittee on Water Resources, then later its Subcommittee on Environmental Pollution. Gravel was also initially named to the Joint Committee on Congressional Operations. By 1973 Gravel was off the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee and the Select Small Business Committee and instead a member of the Finance Committee, and by 1977 was chair of that body's Subcommittee on Energy and Foundations. By 1973 he had also been on the ad hoc Special Committee to Study Secret and Confidential Government Documents.\n\nBy his own admission, Gravel was too new and \"too abrasive\" to be effective in the Senate by the usual means of seniority-based committee assignments or negotiating deals with other senators, and was sometimes seen as arrogant or a nuisance by the more senior and tradition-oriented members. Gravel relied on attention-getting gestures to achieve what he wanted, hoping national exposure would force other senators to listen to him. But even senators who agreed with him on issues considered his methods to be showboating.\n\nAs part of this approach, Gravel voted with Southern Democrats to keep the Senate filibuster rule in place, and accordingly supported Russell Long and Robert Byrd but opposed Ted Kennedy in Senate leadership battles. In retrospective assessment, University of Alaska Anchorage history professor Stephen Haycox said, \"Loose cannon is a good description of Gravel's Senate career. He was an off-the-wall guy, and you weren't really ever sure what he would do.\"\n\nNuclear issues and the Cold War\nIn the late 1960s and early 1970s the U.S. Department of Defense was in the process of performing tests for the nuclear warhead for the Spartan anti-ballistic missile. Two tests, the \"Milrow\" and \"Cannikin\" tests, were planned, involving the detonation of nuclear bombs under Amchitka Island in Alaska. The Milrow test would be a one-megaton calibration exercise for the second and larger five-megaton Cannikin test, which would measure the effectiveness of the warhead. Gravel opposed the tests. Before the Milrow test took place in October 1969, he wrote that there were significant risks of earthquakes and other adverse consequences and called for an independent national commission on nuclear and seismic safety; he then made a personal appeal to President Richard Nixon to stop the test.\n\nAfter Milrow was conducted, there was continued pressure on the part of environmental groups against going forward with the Cannikin test, while the Federation of American Scientists claimed that the warhead being tested was already obsolete. In May 1971 Gravel sent a letter to U.S. Atomic Energy Commission hearings held in Anchorage in which he said the risk of the test was not worth taking. Eventually a group not involving Gravel took the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to issue an injunction against it, and the Cannikin test took place as scheduled in November 1971. Gravel had failed to stop the tests (notwithstanding his later claims during his 2008 presidential campaign).\n\nIn 1971 Gravel voted against the Nixon administration's proposed anti-ballistic missile system, the Safeguard Program, having previously vacillated over the issue, suggesting that he might be willing to support it in exchange for federal lands in Alaska being opened up for private oil drilling. His vote alienated Senator Henry \"Scoop\" Jackson, who had raised funds for Gravel's primary campaign.\n\nNuclear power was considered an environmentally clean alternative for commercial generation of electricity and was part of a popular national policy for the peaceful use of atomic energy in the 1950s and 1960s. Gravel publicly opposed this policy; besides the dangers of nuclear testing, he was a vocal critic of the Atomic Energy Commission, which oversaw American nuclear efforts, and of the powerful United States Congress Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, which had a stranglehold on nuclear policy and which Gravel tried to circumvent. In 1971 Gravel sponsored a bill to impose a moratorium on nuclear power plant construction and to make power utilities liable for any nuclear accidents; in 1975 he was still proposing similar moratoriums. By 1974 Gravel was allied with Ralph Nader's organization in opposing nuclear power.\n\nSix months before U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's July 1971 secret mission to the People's Republic of China (P.R.C.), Gravel introduced legislation to recognize and normalize relations with the P.R.C., including a proposal for unity talks between the P.R.C. and the Republic of China (Taiwan) regarding the Chinese seat on the U.N. Security Council. He reiterated his position in favor of recognition, with four other senators in agreement, during Senate hearings in June 1971.\n\nVietnam War, the draft, and the Pentagon Papers\nAlthough he did not campaign against the Vietnam War during his first Senate campaign, by the end of 1970 Gravel was speaking out against United States policy in southeast Asia: in December of that year he persuaded William Fulbright to join him in a spontaneous two-day filibuster against a $155 million military aid package to Cambodia's Khmer Republic government in the Cambodian Civil War.\n\nPresident Richard Nixon had campaigned in 1968 on a promise to end the U.S. military draft, a decision endorsed by the February 1970 report of the Gates Commission.\nThe existing draft law was scheduled to conclude at the end of June 1971, and the Senate faced a contentious debate about whether to extend it as the Vietnam War continued. The Nixon administration announced in February 1971 that it wanted a two-year extension to June 1973, after which the draft would end; Army planners had already been operating under the assumption of a two-year extension, after which an all-volunteer force would be in place. Skeptics such as Senate Armed Services Committee chairman John Stennis thought this unrealistic and wanted a four-year extension, but the two-year proposal is what went forward in Congress. By early May 1971, Gravel had indicated his intention to filibuster the draft renewal legislation, halting conscription and thereby bringing U.S. involvement in the war to a rapid end. During this period he also supported efforts to mobilize and influence public opinion against the war, endorsing the \"Vietnam War Out Now\" rallies in Washington D.C. and San Francisco on April 24, 1971, and financing a broadcast campaign by the antiwar group War No More with a personal loan. In June 1972 he escorted a group of over 100 antiwar protesters, including psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton, actress Candice Bergen, theater producer and director Joseph Papp, and peditrician Dr. Benjamin Spock, into the United States Capitol Building; the group was arrested after blocking a hallway outside the Senate chamber.\n\nBy June 1971, some Democratic senators opposed to the war wanted to limit the renewal to a one-year extension, while others wanted to end it immediately; Gravel reiterated that he was one of the latter, saying, \"It's a senseless war, and one way to do away with it is to do away with the draft.\" A Senate vote on June 4 indicated majority support for the two-year extension. On June 18 Gravel announced again his intention to counteract that by filibustering the renewal legislation, defending the practice against those who associated it only with blocking civil rights legislation. The first filibuster attempt failed on June 23 when, by three votes, the Senate voted cloture for only the fifth time since 1927.\n\nProtracted negotiations took place over House conference negotiations on the bill, revolving in large part around Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield's eventually unsuccessful amendment to tie renewal to a troop withdrawal timetable from Vietnam; during this time the draft law expired and no more were conscripted. On August 5, the Nixon administration pleaded for a renewal before the Senate went on recess, but Gravel blocked Stennis's attempt to limit debate, and no vote was held. Finally on September 21, 1971, the Senate invoked cloture over Gravel's second filibuster attempt by one vote, and then passed the two-year draft extension. Gravel's attempts to stop the draft had failed (notwithstanding Gravel's later claims that he had stopped or shortened the draft, taken at face value in some media reports, during his 2008 presidential campaign).\n\nMeanwhile, on June 13, 1971, The New York Times began printing large portions of the Pentagon Papers. The papers were a large collection of secret government documents and studies pertaining to the Vietnam War, of which former Defense Department analyst Daniel Ellsberg had made unauthorized copies and was determined to make public. Ellsberg had for a year and a half approached members of Congress – such as William Fulbright, George McGovern, Charles Mathias, and Pete McCloskey – about publishing the documents, on the grounds that the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution would give congressional members immunity from prosecution, but all had refused. Instead, Ellsberg gave the documents to the Times.\n\nThe U.S. Justice Department immediately tried to halt publication, on the grounds that the information revealed within the papers harmed the national interest. Within the next two weeks, a federal court injunction halted publication in the Times; The Washington Post and several other newspapers began publishing parts of the documents, with some of them also being halted by injunctions; and the whole matter went to the U.S. Supreme Court for arguments. Looking for an alternate publication mechanism, Ellsberg returned to his idea of having a member of Congress read them, and chose Gravel based on the latter's efforts against the draft; Gravel agreed where previously others had not. Ellsberg arranged for the papers to be given to Gravel on June 26 via an intermediary, Post editor Ben Bagdikian. Gravel used his counter-intelligence experience to choose a midnight transfer in front of the Mayflower Hotel in the center of Washington, D.C.\n\nOn the night of June 29, 1971, Gravel attempted to read the papers on the floor of the Senate as part of his filibuster against the draft, but was thwarted when no quorum could be formed. Gravel instead convened a session of the Buildings and Grounds subcommittee that he chaired. He got New York Congressman John G. Dow to testify that the war had soaked up funding for public buildings, thus making discussion of the war relevant to the committee. He began reading from the papers with the press in attendance, omitting supporting documents that he felt might compromise national security, and declaring, \"It is my constitutional obligation to protect the security of the people by fostering the free flow of information absolutely essential to their democratic decision-making.\"\n\nHe read until 1 a.m., culminating by saying \"Arms are being severed. Metal is clashing through human bodies because of the public policy this government and all its branches continue to support.\" Then with tears and sobs he said that he could no longer physically continue, the previous three nights of sleeplessness and fear about the future having taken their toll. Gravel ended the session by, with no other senators present, establishing unanimous consent to insert 4,100 pages of the Papers into the Congressional Record of his subcommittee. The following day, the Supreme Court's New York Times Co. v. United States decision ruled in favor of the newspapers and publication in the Times and others resumed. In July 1971 Bantam Books published an inexpensive paperback edition of the papers containing the material the Times had published.\n\nGravel, too, wanted to privately publish the portion of the papers he had read into the record, believing that \"immediate disclosure of the contents of these papers will change the policy that supports the war\". After being turned down by many commercial publishers, on August 4 he reached agreement with Beacon Press, the publishing arm of the Unitarian Universalist Association, of which Gravel was a member. Announced on August 17 and published on October 22, 1971, this four-volume, relatively expensive set became the \"Senator Gravel Edition\", which studies from Cornell University and the Annenberg Center for Communication have labeled as the most complete edition of the Pentagon Papers to be published. The \"Gravel Edition\" was edited and annotated by Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn, and included an additional volume of analytical articles on the origins and progress of the war, also edited by Chomsky and Zinn. Beacon Press then was subjected to a FBI investigation; an outgrowth of this was the Gravel v. United States court case, which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled upon in June 1972; it held that the Speech or Debate Clause did grant immunity to Gravel for his reading the papers in his subcommittee, did grant some immunity to Gravel's congressional aide, but granted no immunity to Beacon Press in relation to their publishing the same papers. The U.S. Senate Democratic Caucus backed Gravel in the case, but due to Republican opposition it did not pay Gravel's legal fees, leaving him owing $25,000 (the equivalent of $150,000 in 2019, adjusted for inflation).\n\nThe events of 1971 changed Gravel in the following months from an obscure freshman senator to a nationally visible political figure. He became a sought-after speaker on the college circuit as well as at political fundraisers, opportunities he welcomed as lectures were \"the one honest way a Senator has to supplement his income\". But his speaking tours caused him to accrue one of the worst absentee records in the Senate. The Democratic candidates for the 1972 presidential election sought his endorsement. In January 1972 Gravel endorsed Maine Senator Ed Muskie, hoping that his support would help Muskie with the party's left wing and in ethnic French-Canadian areas during the first primary contest in New Hampshire (Muskie won, but not overwhelmingly, and his campaign faltered soon after). In April 1972 Gravel appeared on all three networks' nightly newscasts to decry the Nixon administration's reliance on Vietnamization by making reference to the secret National Security Study Memorandum 1 document, which stated it would take 8–13 years for the Army of the Republic of Vietnam to defend South Vietnam. Gravel made excerpts from the study public, but senators Robert P. Griffin and William B. Saxbe blocked his attempt to read NSSM 1 into the Congressional Record.\n\nDomestic policy \nIn 1970 Gravel co-sponsored legislation to establish a guaranteed minimum income, entitling poor families to up to $6,300 a year (the equivalent of $42,000 in 2019 after adjustment for inflation). He subsequently voted for a \"work bonus\" program, which would have entitled low-income working families with dependent children if they were paying Social Security or Railroad Retirement taxes to a non-taxable bonus of up to 10 percent of their wages. Gravel also supported extending Social Security to all federal employees and introduced a campaign finance reform bill in 1971 that would have enacted full disclosure of campaign financing, placed limits on large donations, media spending and individual candidate spending.\n\nIn 1969, Gravel was the only Democratic Senator outside of the South to vote for Nixon's Supreme Court nominee Clement Haynsworth. The following year Gravel opposed Nixon's next pick, G. Harrold Carswell.\n\nRun for vice president in 1972\nGravel actively campaigned for the office of Vice President of the United States during the 1972 presidential election, announcing on June 2, 1972, over a month before the 1972 Democratic National Convention began, that he was interested in the nomination should the choice be opened up to convention delegates. Toward this end he began soliciting delegates for their support. He was not alone in this effort, as former Governor of Massachusetts Endicott Peabody had been running a quixotic campaign for the same post since the prior year. Likely presidential nominee George McGovern was in fact considering the unusual move of naming three or four acceptable vice-presidential candidates and letting the delegates choose.\n\nOn the convention's final day, July 14, 1972, McGovern selected and announced Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri as his vice-presidential choice. Eagleton was unknown to many delegates and the choice seemed to smack of traditional ticket balancing considerations. Thus there were delegates willing to look elsewhere. Gravel was nominated by Bettye Fahrenkamp, the Democratic National Committeewoman from Alaska. He then seconded his own nomination, breaking down in tears at his own words and maybe trying to withdraw his nomination. In any case he won 226 delegate votes, coming in third behind Eagleton and Frances \"Sissy\" Farenthold of Texas, in chaotic balloting that included several other candidates.\n\nGravel attracted some attention for his efforts: writer Norman Mailer said he \"provided considerable excitement\" and was \"good-looking enough to have played leads in B-films\", while Rolling Stone correspondent Hunter S. Thompson said Gravel \"probably said a few things that might have been worth hearing, under different circumstances\". Yet the process was doubly disastrous for the Democrats. In the time consumed by nominating and seconding and all the vice-presidential candidates' speeches, the attention of the delegates on the floor was lost and McGovern's speech was pushed to 3:30 a.m. The haste with which Eagleton was selected led to surprise when his past mental health treatments were revealed; he withdrew from the ticket soon after the convention, to be replaced by Sargent Shriver.\n\nReelection to Senate in 1974\nSeveral years earlier, Alaska politicians had speculated that Gravel would have a hard time getting both renominated and elected when his first term expired, given that he was originally elected without a base party organization and tended to focus on national rather than local issues.\n\nNonetheless, after receiving support from national and local labor leaders, securing key earmarks, and producing another half-hour TV advertorial, in 1974 Gravel was reelected to the Senate, with 58 percent of the vote to 42 percent for Republican State Senator C. R. Lewis, who was a national officer of the John Birch Society.\n\nSecond term\nGravel's reelection campaign left him $65,000–$75,000 in debt. In 1975 The Washington Post reported on a memo by his executive assistant laying out a fundraising strategy to tackle this, including raising funds from oil companies, meeting with previous donors and \"inquir[ing] into the governmental priorities of these people and their groups in the coming session\", as well as obtaining further speaking fees to reduce his personal debt. This was followed by a number of stories about links between Gravel, lobbyists and fundraisers, including one that was widely publicized in Alaska about his holding a share in a Colorado resort with two Washington lobbyists he was working with on land and energy legislation. Gravel had been open about the investment and had opposing views to one of the lobbyists on nuclear power. In 1980 the Wall Street Journal published details about his fundraising activities, including writing to individuals and PACs in the oil industry, pledging to kill off proposals for a windfall profits tax on the sector, and traveling in the Middle East with the business partner of one of his donors to sell Alaskan land to businessmen. Gravel suggested that critics of his fundraising were \"naive\".\n\nIn 1975 Gravel introduced an amendment to cut the number of troops overseas by 200,000, but it was defeated on a voice vote.\n\nIn September 1975 Gravel was named as one of several Congressional Advisers to the Seventh Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly, which met to discuss problems related to economic development and international economic cooperation.\n\nIn June 1976 Gravel was the focus of a federal investigation into allegations that he was involved in a sex-for-vote arrangement. Congressional staff clerk Elizabeth Ray (who had already been involved in a sex scandal that led to the downfall of Representative Wayne Hays) said that in August 1972 she had sex with Gravel aboard a houseboat on the Potomac River, under the instruction of Representative Kenneth J. Gray, her boss at the time. Gray allegedly wanted to secure Gravel's support for further funding for construction of the National Visitor Center in Washington, a troubled project that was under the jurisdiction of subcommittees that both members chaired. Another Congressional staffer said she witnessed the boat encounter, but Gravel said at the time that he had never met either of the women. Gravel and Gray strongly denied that they had made any arrangement regarding legislation, and neither was ever charged with any wrongdoing. Decades later Gravel wrote that he had indeed had sex with Ray, but had not changed any votes because of it.\n\nGravel and his main financial backer, Gottstein, had a falling out in 1978, during the Congressional debate over whether to allow a controversial sale of U.S. F-15 fighter aircraft to Saudi Arabia. An ardent backer of Israel, Gottstein opposed the sale and asked Gravel to vote against it. But Gravel not only voted for it but made an emotional speech attacking the anti-sale campaign. Gravel wrote in 2008 that it was the only time Gottstein had ever asked him for a favor, and the rupture resulted in their never speaking to each other again.\n\nAlaskan issues\n\nBy 1971 Gravel was urging construction of the much-argued Trans-Alaska pipeline, addressing environmental concerns by saying that the pipeline's builders and operators should have \"total and absolute\" responsibility for any consequent environmental damage. Two years later the debate over the pipeline came to a crux, with The New York Times describing it as \"environmentalists [in] a holy war with the major oil companies\". In February 1973 the U.S. Court of Appeals blocked the issuance of permits for construction; Gravel and fellow Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens reacted by urging Congress to pass legislation overturning the court's decision. Environmentalists opposed to the pipeline, such as the Environmental Defense Fund and the Sierra Club then sought to use the recently passed National Environmental Policy Act to their advantage; Gravel designed an amendment to the pipeline bill that would immunize the pipeline from any further court challenges under that law, and thus speed its construction. Passage of the amendment became the key battle regarding the pipeline. On July 17, 1973, in a dramatic roll-call vote, the Gravel amendment was approved as a 49–49 tie was broken in favor by Vice President Spiro Agnew. The actual bill enabling the pipeline then passed easily; Gravel had triumphed in what became perhaps his most lasting accomplishment as a senator.\n\nIn opposition to the Alaskan fishing industry, Gravel advocated American participation in the formation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. For two years he opposed legislation that established a Exclusive Economic Zone for marine resources. He was one of only 19 senators to vote against Senate approval for the expanded zone in 1976, saying it would undermine the U.S. position in Law of the Sea negotiations and that nations arbitrarily extending their fishing rights limits would \"produce anarchy of the seas\". The legislation was passed, and the United States has signed but never ratified the Law of the Sea treaty.\n\nGravel accumulated a complicated record on Indian affairs during his time in the Senate. During his first year in the Senate Gravel urged abolition of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, criticizing the agency for the pace of development of schools in Alaska, its paternalistic attitudes and the culturally inappropriate nature of its education, and advocating greater shared decision-making between the federal government and native communities in Alaska. Later, his views changed; in the early 1970s Gravel supported a demonstration project that established links between Alaskan villages and the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, for medical diagnostic communications. In 1971, he fended off accusations from Alaskan natives that he was not spending enough time working on their land claims. Gravel helped secure a private grant to facilitate the first Inuit Circumpolar Conference in 1977, attended by Inuit representatives from Alaska, Canada, and Greenland. These conferences now also include representatives from Russia. In 1977, Gravel helped lead an effort to have the U.S. Interior Department rename Mount McKinley to Denali; this eventually led to Denali National Park being so named. Subsequently, Gravel proposed a never-built \"Denali City\" development above the Tokositna River near the mountain, to consist of a giant Teflon dome enclosing hotels, golf courses, condominiums, and commercial buildings. A related idea of his to build a high-speed rail line to Denali also failed to gain traction.\n\nA key, emotional issue in the state at the time was \"locking up Alaska\", making reference to allocation of its vast, mostly uninhabited land. President Jimmy Carter desired to put large portions of this land under federal protection against development, a move that some Alaskans vociferously opposed.\nIn 1978 Gravel blocked passage, via procedural delays such as walking out of House–Senate conference committee meetings, of a complex bill which represented a compromise on land use policy. The bill would have put some of Alaska's vast federal land holdings under state control while preserving other portions for federal parks and refuges; the blocking action earned Gravel the enmity of fellow Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, who had supported the compromise. In 1980, a new lands bill came up for consideration, that was less favorable to Alaskan interests and more liked by environmentalists; it set aside of Alaska's for national parks, conservation areas, and other restricted federal uses. Gravel blocked it, as not ensuring enough future development in the state. A new compromise version of the 1980 bill came forward, which reduced the land set aside to . Representing Alaskan interests, Gravel tried to stop the bill, including by filibuster. But the Senate voted for cloture and passed the bill. Frustrated, Gravel said, \"the legislation denies Alaska its rights as a state, and denies the U.S. crucial strategic resources,\" and opined that the Senate was \"a little bit like a tank of barracudas\". Nonetheless, the bill, known as the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980, was signed by President Carter shortly before leaving the White House, and led to millions of acres being set aside in the state for national parks, wildlife refuges, and other kinds of areas under protection.\n\nIn 1978 Gravel authored and secured the passage into federal law of the General Stock Ownership Corporation, that became Subchapter U of the Tax Code under the Internal Revenue Code of 1954. This gave states the ability to create corporations that would invest in for-profit enterprises, with all citizens within the state owning shares in the corporation. Gravel's attempt to convince the Alaska state legislature to create such a corporation failed, as did a 1980 state ballot initiative towards the same end, but nevertheless the creation of the General Stock Ownership Corporation in federal law turned out to be significant in the development of binary economics.\n\nLoss of Senate seat in 1980\n\nIn 1980 Gravel was challenged for the Democratic Party's nomination by State Representative Clark Gruening, the grandson of the man Gravel had defeated in a primary 12 years earlier. One of Gruening's supporters was Gravel's former backer Gottstein. Several factors made Gravel vulnerable. As an insurgent candidate in 1968 Gravel had never established a firm party base. Not liking to hunt or fish, he was also always culturally suspect in the state.\n\nThe primary campaign was bitterly fought. A group of Democrats, including future governor Steve Cowper, led the campaign against Gravel, with Gravel's actions in respect to the 1978 and 1980 Alaskan lands bills a major issue. This was especially so given that the 1980 bill's dénouement happened but a week before the primary. The sources of Gravel's campaign funds, some of which Gravel readily acknowledged came from political action committees outside the state, also became an issue in the contest. Gruening had pledged that he would not take special interest group money, but Gravel said that Gruening was \"dishonest\" in accepting individual contributors from Jewish donors living outside the state because to him such contributors comprised \"a special interest group ... that seeks to influence the foreign policy of the U.S.\"\n\nGruening won the primary with about 55 percent of the vote to Gravel's 44 percent. Gravel later conceded that by the time of his defeat, he had alienated \"almost every constituency in Alaska\". Another factor may have been Alaska's blanket primary system of the time, which allowed unlimited voting across party lines and from its many independents; Republicans believed Gruening would be an easier candidate to defeat in the general election.\n\nGruening lost the general election to Republican Frank Murkowski. Gravel was the last Democrat to represent Alaska in Congress for 28 years, until Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich defeated Ted Stevens, by then an aged, iconic figure who had just been convicted of seven felonies for taking unreported gifts, in a very close and protracted election result in 2008. Stevens's conviction was subsequently vacated due to prosecutorial misconduct.\n\nCareer after leaving the Senate\n\nOf his 1980 defeat, Gravel later recalled: \"I had lost my career. I lost my marriage. I was in the doldrums for ten years after my defeat,\" and \"Nobody wanted to hire me for anything important. I felt like I was worthless. I didn't know what I could do.\" By his own later description, Gravel was a womanizer, and had an affair while in the Senate, and in December 1980 he and his wife Rita separated. They filed for divorce in September 1981; she later received all of his Senate pension income.\n\nDuring the 1980s Gravel was a real estate developer in Anchorage and Kenai, Alaska, a consultant, and a stockbroker. One of his real estate ventures, a condominium business, was forced to declare bankruptcy and a lawsuit ensued. In 1986 Gravel worked in partnership with Merrill Lynch Capital Markets to buy losses that financially troubled Alaska Native Corporations could not take as tax deductions and sell them to large national companies looking for tax writeoffs. Gravel also learned computer programming at some point but never practiced it.\n\nIn 1984 Gravel married his second wife, Whitney Stewart Gravel, a former administrative assistant for Senator Jacob Javits.\n\nReturn to politics\n\nIn 1989 Gravel reentered politics. He founded and led The Democracy Foundation, which promotes direct democracy. He established the Philadelphia II corporation, which seeks to replicate the original 1787 Constitutional Convention and have a Second Constitutional Convention to bring about direct democracy Gravel led an effort to get a United States Constitutional amendment to allow voter-initiated federal legislation similar to state ballot initiatives. He argued that Americans are able to legislate responsibly, and that the Act and Amendment in the National Initiative would allow American citizens to become \"law makers\". However such efforts met with little success.\n\nIn 2001, Gravel became director of the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution, where he admired institute co-founder Gregory Fossedal's work on direct democracy in Switzerland. By 2004, Gravel had become chair of the institute, and Fossedal (who in turn was a director of the Democracy Foundation) gave the introduction at Gravel's presidential announcement.\n\nIn 2003 Gravel gave a speech on direct democracy at a conference hosted by the American Free Press. The event was cosponsored by the Barnes Review, a journal that endorses Holocaust denial. After some controversy over his appearance, Gravel apologized, saying he did not realize the group's ties. Gravel said repeatedly that he did not share the group's views on the Holocaust, stating, \"You better believe I know that six million Jews were killed. [The Barnes Review publishers] are nutty as loons if they don't think it happened\". The group invited Gravel to speak again, but he declined.\n\nMike and Whitney Gravel lived in Arlington County, Virginia, until 2010 and then resided in Burlingame, California. They have the two grown children from his first marriage, Martin Gravel and Lynne Gravel Mosier, and four grandchildren. Whitney Gravel's income sustained the couple from 1998 on. In the 2000s, Gravel suffered poor health, requiring three surgeries in 2003 for back pain and neuropathy. Due to unreimbursed medical expenses and debts from his political causes, he declared personal bankruptcy in 2004. He began taking a salary from the non-profit organizations for which he was working; much of that income was lent to his presidential campaign. In 2007, he declared that he had \"zero net worth\".\n\n2008 presidential campaign\n\nDemocratic Party primaries\n\nAt the start of 2006 Gravel decided the best way he could promote direct democracy and the National Initiative was to run for president. On April 17, 2006, Gravel became the first candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2008 election, announcing his run in a speech to the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Short on campaign cash, he took public transportation to get to his announcement. (Gravel called for public financing of elections.) Other principal Gravel positions were the FairTax, as well as withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq within 120 days and a single payer national health care system. \n\nGravel had opposed the Iraq War, and President George W. Bush's rationale for it, from the beginning, and in 2006 said that U.S. troops in Iraq, as in Vietnam, had \"died in vain\". He also favored a regional peace initiative, as well as reparation payments for Iraqis. Gravel also called for a \"U.S. corporate withdrawal from Iraq\", with reconstruction contracts held by U.S. companies to be turned over to Iraqi firms.\n\nGravel campaigned almost full-time in New Hampshire, the first primary state, following his announcement. Opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination showed Gravel with 1 percent or less support. By the end of March 2007, Gravel's campaign had less than $500 in cash on hand against debts of nearly $90,000.\n\nBecause of his time in the Senate, Gravel was invited to many of the early Democratic presidential debates. During the initial one at South Carolina State University on April 26, 2007, he suggested a bill requiring the president to withdraw from Iraq on pain of criminal penalties. He also advocated positions such as opposing preemptive nuclear war. He stated that the Iraq War had the effect of creating more terrorists and that the \"war was lost the day that George Bush invaded Iraq on a fraudulent basis\". Regarding his fellow candidates, he said, \"I got to tell you, after standing up with them, some of these people frighten me – they frighten me.\" In one such exchange, Gravel said, \"Tell me, Barack, who do you want to nuke?\" to which Obama responded, \"I'm not planning to nuke anybody right now, Mike, I promise.\"\n\nMedia stories said that Gravel was responsible for much of whatever \"heat\" and \"flashpoints\" had taken place during the Democratic debates. Gravel gained considerable publicity by shaking up the normally staid multiple-candidate format; The New York Times' media critic said that what Gravel had done was \"steal a debate with outrageous, curmudgeonly statements\". The Internet was a benefit: a YouTube video of his responses in the debate was viewed more than 225,892 times, ranking seventeenth in most views for week and first among news and politics clips; his name became the fifteenth most searched-for in the blogosphere; and his website garnered more traffic than those of frontrunners Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, or John Edwards. Gravel appeared on the popular Colbert Report on television on May 2, and his campaign and career were profiled in national publications such as Salon. Two wordless, Warholesque campaign videos, \"Rock\" and \"Fire\", were released on YouTube in late May and became hits, and eventually gained over 760,000 and 185,000 views respectively. \"Rock\", in turn, was given airtime during an episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Some thirty-five years after he first achieved the national spotlight, he had found it again.\n\nAll this did not improve his performance in the polls; a May 2007 CNN poll showed him with less than 0.5 percent support among Democrats. Gravel was in the next several debates, in one case after CNN reversed a decision to exclude him. Like some of the other second-tier candidates, Gravel did not get as much time as the leaders; during the June 2, 2007, New Hampshire debate, which lasted two hours, he was asked 10 questions and allowed to speak for five minutes and 37 seconds.\n\nDuring the July 23, 2007, CNN-YouTube presidential debate, Gravel responded to audience applause when he had complained of a lack of airtime and said: \"Thank you. Has it been fair thus far?\" Detractors began to liken him to \"the cranky uncle who lives in the attic,\" or \"the angry old guy that just seemed to want to become angrier\". Berkeley political scientist David Terr found that moderator George Stephanopoulos directed roughly five percent of his questions to Gravel; in a poll asking who did the best in the debate, Gravel placed seventh among the eight candidates. National opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination continued to show Gravel with one percent or zero percent numbers. By the end of the third-quarter 2007, Gravel had about $17,500 in cash on hand, had collected a total of about $380,000 during the 2008 election cycle, and was continuing to run a threadbare campaign with minimal staff.\n\nBeginning with the October 30, 2007, Philadelphia event, Gravel was excluded from most of the debates, with the debate sponsors or the Democratic National Committee saying Gravel's campaign had not met fund-raising, polling, or local campaign organizational thresholds. For the Philadelphia exclusion, Gravel blamed corporate censorship on the part of sponsor owner and alleged military-industrial complex member General Electric for his exclusion and mounted a counter-gathering and debate against a video screen a short distance away, but he had lost his easiest publicity. In reaction, supporters organized \"mass donation days\" to try to help the campaign gain momentum and funds, such as on December 5, 2007, the anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition.\n\nGravel did not compete in the initial 2008 vote, the Iowa caucuses, but was still subjected to a false report from MSNBC that he had pulled out of the race afterward. Gravel did focus his attention on the second 2008 vote, the New Hampshire primary. In early January, Mother Jones' investigative reporter James Ridgeway was filmed interviewing and following Gravel in New Hampshire, in which Gravel is interviewed on the phone by Neal Conan for NPR's, Talk of the Nation. He received about 400 votes out of some 280,000 cast in New Hampshire, or 0.14 percent, before taking time off to improve his health. He resumed campaigning, but fared no better in subsequent states. By the end of January 2008, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and Gravel were the only remaining Democrats from the initial debates still running; Gravel vowed to stay in the presidential campaign until November. On March 11, 2008, Gravel continued to remain in the Democratic race but additionally endorsed a Green Party candidate for president, Jesse Johnson, saying he wanted to help Johnson prevail against Green Party rivals Cynthia McKinney and Ralph Nader. By late March, Gravel had almost no fundraising and was only on the ballot in one of the next ten Democratic primaries.\n\nSwitch to Libertarian Party\n\nOn March 25, 2008, Gravel announced that he would leave the Democrats and join the Libertarian Party, saying: \"My libertarian views, as well as my strong stance against war, the military industrial complex and American imperialism, seem not to be tolerated by Democratic Party elites who are out of touch with the average American; elites that reject the empowerment of American citizens I offered to the Democratic Party at the beginning of this presidential campaign with the National Initiative for Democracy.\" The following day Gravel entered the race for the 2008 Libertarian presidential nomination, saying that he would have run as a third-party candidate all along except that he needed the public exposure that came from being in the earlier Democratic debates. Gravel's initial notion of running as a fusion candidate with other parties was met with skepticism.\n\nAs a Libertarian candidate, Gravel faced resistance to his past support of big government initiatives and his unorthodox positions around direct democracy. Nevertheless, he garnered more support than he had as a Democrat, placing second and third in two April 2008 straw polls. In the May 25 balloting at the 2008 Libertarian National Convention in Denver, Gravel finished fourth out of eight candidates on the initial ballot, with 71 votes out of a total 618; he trailed former Congressman and eventual winner Bob Barr, author Mary Ruwart, and businessman Wayne Allyn Root. Gravel's position did not subsequently improve and he was eliminated on the fourth ballot. Afterwards he stated that \"I just ended my political career,\" but he vowed to continue promoting his positions as a writer and lecturer.\n\n2008–early 2019\n\nIn June 2008 Gravel endorsed the NYC 9/11 Ballot Initiative, saying the measure would create a \"citizens commission rather than a government commission\" with subpoena power against top U.S. officials to \"make a true investigation as to what happened\" regarding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. He later said, \"Individuals in and out of government may certainly have participated with the obviously known perpetrators of this dastardly act. Suspicions abound over the analysis presented by government. Obviously an act that has triggered three wars, Afghan, Iraqi and the continuing War on Terror, should be extensively investigated which was not done and which the government avoids addressing.\"\n\nIn August 2008 Gravel was speaking to a crowd of supporters of Sami Al-Arian (who two years earlier had pleaded guilty and been sentenced to prison for a charge of conspiracy in helping Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a \"specially designated terrorist\" organization) when he was caught on tape saying of Al-Arian's prosecutor, \"Find out where he lives, find out where his kids go to school, find out where his office is: picket him all the time. Call him a racist in signs if you see him. Call him an injustice. Call him whatever you want to call him, but in his face all the time.\" Gravel was criticized for potentially involving the children of the prosecutor, and Al-Arian's family disavowed the sentiments.\n\nGravel defended Alaska Governor Sarah Palin after she was chosen as Republican presidential nominee John McCain's running mate in September 2008. He praised Palin's record in standing up to corruption among Alaskan Republicans, thought her national inexperience was an asset not a detriment, and predicted that the \"Troopergate\" investigation into whether she improperly fired a state official would \"come out in her favor\". Gravel made clear he would not support or vote for either McCain–Palin or Obama–Biden in the general election. The following year Gravel said that Palin's politics were \"terrible, but that doesn't detract from the fact that she's a very talented person\". He predicted that Palin would run for president in 2012 and that \"she's going to surprise a lot of people\". Palin did not run, but Gravel's prediction about \"TrooperGate\" was accurate as Palin was found not to have violated ethics laws.\n\nIn 2013, by the invitation of Hamed Ghashghavi, the secretary for international affairs of the 3rd International Conference on Hollywoodism in Tehran, Iran, Gravel attended that event as an Iranian government-organized anti-Hollywood conference. Gravel noted that the conference was attended by \"various elements of extremes\" but said it was necessary to discuss how the U.S. film industry portrayed Iran in order to prevent \"an insane war\" between the two nations.\n\nIn May 2013 Gravel was one of several former members of Congress to accept $20,000 from the Paradigm Research Group, an advocacy group for UFO disclosure, as part of holding what they termed a Citizen Hearing on Disclosure, modeled after congressional hearings, regarding supposed U.S. government suppression of evidence concerning UFOs. Gravel said, \"Something is monitoring the planet, and they are monitoring it very cautiously, because we are a very warlike planet,\" and, \"What we're faced with here is, in areas of the media, and the government too, an effort to marginalize and ridicule people who have specific knowledge.\"\n\nIn December 2014 Gravel was announced as the new CEO of KUSH, a company which makes marijuana-infused products for medicinal and recreational use, and a subsidiary of Cannabis Sativa, Inc. He also became an Independent Director of Cannabis Sativa.\n\nDuring the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries, Gravel praised Bernie Sanders and his campaign, saying \"Bernie is one of the most gifted politicians I have ever observed. He's a person of great integrity and very clever.\" Gravel predicted that Sanders would be elected president but would be unable to get his key reforms through Congress, and thus that Sanders and his supporters should back some of the proposals of the National Initiative.\n\nIn 2016, Gravel said in relation to the September 11 attacks: \"We killed 58,000 American servicemen in the Vietnam War and all they did was die in vain. What's so unusual about killing 3,000 more in order to develop the grist for the mill to empower into infinity the military industrial complex?\" and \"There's no question in my mind that 9/11 was an inside job\". The remarks were later disavowed by even Gravel supporters.\n\nBy 2019 Gravel was living in Seaside, California. He was working on a book, at the time titled Human Governance, about his principal idea for direct democracy, a U.S. Constitutional Amendment to create a \"Legislature of the People\" that would circumvent the existing Congress. The book was self-published at the end of the year by AuthorHouse under the title The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People.\n\n2020 presidential campaign\n\nOn March 19, 2019, Gravel announced that he was considering running in the 2020 Democratic primaries. He said, \"The goal will not be to win, but to bring a critique of American imperialism to the Democratic debate stage.\" An exploratory committee was formed, with filing a statement of organization with the Federal Election Commission on that same day. The filing was the idea of a group of teenagers, led by David Oks and Henry Williams, inspired by the podcast Chapo Trap House, and done with Gravel's consent (after a week spent convincing him of the idea's merits), but without his involvement. Intrigued by the group's commitment to amplifying his long-held policy goals, Gravel (who would be old on Inauguration Day in 2021) said he planned to meet with them in April, and to discuss a 2020 White House run with his wife. On April 2, 2019, Gravel filed to officially run for office. The campaign called itself the \"#Gravelanche\".\n\nGravel's initial stated goal was merely to qualify for debates by getting the required 65,000 small donors. He discouraged people from voting for him and said his preferences were Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard, both of whom favor a non-interventionist foreign policy. But on April 29, Gravel's campaign said he was running to win, not just to participate in debates. In a subsequent interview, though, Gravel emphasized the virtue of Sanders and Gabbard in some order as a presidential ticket. Statements like these caused Vox to call Gravel \"2020's oddest Democratic presidential candidate\". The New York Times Magazine included Gravel as an example in the rise of democratic socialism in the United States also exemplified by Sanders's 2016 race and the 2018 election of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: \"[Gravel's] campaign represents the most absurd form of a legitimate movement on the left that feels little obligation to the Democratic Party.\"\n\nIn June 2019, Gravel touted the endorsement of Muntadher al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who, in December 2008, made headlines after he threw his shoes at President George W. Bush in protest of the U.S. war in Iraq. Al-Zaidi endorsed Gravel based on his promise to improve White House policies regarding Iraq and the Middle East.\n\nOn June 13, 2019, the Democratic Party announced the 20 major candidates who qualified for the first debate later that month. Gravel was one of the four who missed out (the others were Montana Governor Steve Bullock, U.S. Representative Seth Moulton, and Miramar, Florida, Mayor Wayne Messam). Gravel had been unable to get the requisite number of donations, or to score one percent or better in enough polls (many polls did not even include him). Nevertheless, Gravel said he would not drop out and would try to qualify for the July debate. In early July, however, Gravel's campaign said it was still 10,000 contributions short of the 65,000-donor threshold and that it was \"nearing its conclusion\". It solicited suggestions for where to donate $100–150,000 of leftover campaign funds. Gravel added that he had always planned on ending the campaign before the teenagers in charge of it needed to return to school. A few days later the campaign became the first to run an attack ad against Democratic front-runner Joe Biden, using the text \"Is this the best our party has to offer?\"\n\nGravel's campaign crossed the threshold of 65,000 donors on July 12, 2019, meeting the qualification mark for that month's debate. But because 20 other candidates, the maximum allowed to participate, had already met at least the polling criterion, which takes priority over the donor criterion, Gravel was not invited.\n\nThe campaign officially came to a close on August 6, 2019, with Gravel endorsing both Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard for president. Gravel's campaign later stated on Twitter that they never wanted to win but saw the campaign as an \"intimately democratic\" project and expressed honor at working with Gravel. Gravel said he would divide remaining campaign funds between charity and a new think tank which would espouse his ideas.\n\nThe Gravel Institute \n\nGravel used some of the funds remaining from his 2020 presidential campaign to found an eponymous progressive think tank called The Gravel Institute in 2019. As noted by Vice magazine, the institute aims to do battle with PragerU from a left-wing perspective. Launched in September 2020, the new entity said it would \"carry on the life's work of former U.S Senator Mike Gravel in fighting for global peace and democracy. Its mission is to promote bold and forward-looking ideas about a more peaceful and egalitarian world, and to build a robust movement of young people to win it\". Contributors announced include Cornel West and Slavoj Žižek, as well as Lower Brule Indian Reservation activist Nick Estes. Other presenters have included and will include H. Jon Benjamin, Briahna Joy Gray, Bernie Sanders, Chelsea Manning, Richard Wolff, Stephanie Kelton, Zephyr Teachout, David Cross, Jabari Brisport, Zohran Mamdani, and Gravel himself (though it is unknown if his appearance will be cancelled due to his death in June 2021, or if the video has already been recorded).\n\nDeath\nGravel died of multiple myeloma at his home in Seaside, California, on June 26, 2021, at age 91.\n\nThe obituary for him in The New York Times stated that Gravel was \"a two-term Democratic senator from Alaska ... who was perhaps better known as an unabashed attention-getter\" who later become known for \"mounting long-shot presidential runs\". The obituary in The Washington Post was similar, saying that Gravel was \"an Alaska Democrat with a flair for the theatrical who rose from obscurity to brief renown\" and later \"ran quixotic campaigns for the presidency\". The Anchorage Daily News quoted Gravel as saying of himself in 1989, \"I'm an independent kind of guy. A rough and ready kind of guy. My glands work in a certain way that make me stand up, foolishly sometimes, and fight.\"\n\nPolitical positions\n\nAlan Abramowitz and Jeffrey Allan Segal described Gravel as \"a maverick, if not an eccentric, in the Senate.\" His Americans for Democratic Action \"Liberal Quotient\" scores ranged from 81 out of 100 (1971) to 39 out of 100 (1980), with an average of around 61. His American Conservative Union scores ranged from 0 out of 100 (several years, including 1971 and 1972) to 38 out of 100 (1979), with an average of 14. Abramowitz and Segal note that Gravel's lowest ADA ratings coincided with his two Senate re-election bids, and for the most part his highest ACU ratings followed the same pattern.\n\nIn 1972, as a young senator, Gravel published Citizen Power: A People's Platform, a manifesto outlining what Kirkus Reviews termed a \"populist reform [that] would provide 'balanced political power' between the people and government and business interests.\"\n\nCivil rights issues\nOn drug policy, Gravel said in 2007 that he favored decriminalization and treating addiction as a public health matter. During his 2008 presidential candidacy he condemned the War on Drugs as a failure, saying that it did \"nothing but savage our inner cities and put our children at risk\". Gravel called for abolition of capital punishment in his book Citizen Power, and adhered to this position during his 2008 run for president. He supported abortion rights.\n\nDuring the 2008 campaign Gravel was a strong supporter of LGBT rights. He supported same-sex marriage and opposed the Defense of Marriage Act and the U.S. military's \"don't ask, don't tell\" policy. He wrote in 2008 that \"depriving gays and lesbians of equal rights is immoral\".\n\nForeign policy and defense issues\nGravel was a critic of American imperialism.\n\nGravel firmly opposed U.S. military action against Iran and Syria. He voiced opposition to the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, the Military Commissions Act of 2006, the use of torture, indefinite detention, and what he called \"flagrant ignorance\" of the Geneva Convention. In 2014 Gravel called for the release of the full, unredacted Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture.\n\nGravel opposed the use of international sanctions as a policy tool and blamed the ones against Iraq under Saddam Hussein for the deaths of a half-million children in that country. In 2013 Gravel said that sanctions against Iran were \"illegal\".\n\nDuring his 2008 candidacy, Gravel called for a cut in military spending, variously reported to be 15 percent or 50 percent. He called for the savings to boost public education spending. To spur international nuclear nonproliferation efforts, Gravel called for unilateral reductions in the U.S. nuclear arsenal.\n\nIn 2008 Gravel criticized the decision of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to not pursue the efforts to impeach George W. Bush and the attempted impeachment of Dick Cheney, saying also that Bush and Cheney had committed crimes and deserved \"to be prosecuted\" at The Hague. In 2013 he expressed disdain for President Obama, calling him \"a total fraud\" and saying that both Bush and Obama should be tried \"for the crimes and murders they've committed\" in the International Court of Justice. Gravel specifically condemned Obama for the drone strikes in Pakistan and elsewhere.\n\nEconomy, immigration, and environment\nDuring his 2008 candidacy Gravel favored a FairTax scheme, which would abolish the Internal Revenue Service, eliminate the federal income tax (which Gravel called \"corrupt\"), and impose a national sales tax. While Gravel described FairTax as \"progressive\", others have criticized it as \"regressive\", disproportionately benefiting the wealthiest Americans. To offset the new sales taxes on essential goods, Gravel's plan called for monthly government rebate payments to individuals and families. During his 2020 campaign Gravel also voiced support for a third legislative body that would give the people direct control of the budget as well as the implementation of a land value tax.\n\nGravel opposed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) during his 2008 candidacy, calling it unfair and economically harmful and needing renegotiation. Gravel believed that NAFTA was the \"root cause\" of illegal migration to the U.S. He favored a guest worker program and \"setting up naturalization procedures that would fairly bring immigrants into legal status\". In a 2007 interview, Gravel identified himself as \"very much of a globalist\" who believed in open markets and open borders and condemned the scapegoating of undocumented immigrants. Gravel also said that he favored eliminating the cap on H1B visas.\n\nAs a senator from Alaska, Gravel favored drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but opposed it during his 2008 campaign. In 2008, Gravel supported a carbon tax to combat climate change.\n\nGravel spoke in favor of net neutrality during his presidential campaign.\n\nEducation and health care\nGravel called for the cost of college tuition to be borne by the federal government, rather than students. In his 2008 campaign, he called the No Child Left Behind Act \"a failure\" and called for it to be \"reformed and fully funded\". He expressed support for universal pre-kindergarten and the expansion of the Head Start program; and expressed an openness to charter schools and school vouchers. He also suggested extending the school day and the school year, and supported merit pay for teachers.\n\nGravel also called for publicly funded universal health care to replace the current employer-sponsored health insurance system. He supported \"full funding\" of the VA system. When asked in 2007 about naturopathy, homeopathy, and acupuncture, Gravel said that he was \"very very much in favor\" of holistic health care.\n\nAwards and honors\nIn 2008 Gravel received the Columbia University School of General Studies' first annual Isaac Asimov Lifetime Achievement Award.\n\nElectoral history\n\nWritings\n Gravel, Mike. Jobs and More Jobs. Mt. McKinley Publishers, 1968.\n Gravel, Mike. Citizen Power: A People's Platform. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1972. .\n revised and reissued as Citizen Power: A Mandate for Change, AuthorHouse, 2008. .\n Gravel, Mike and Lauria, Joe. A Political Odyssey: The Rise of American Militarism and One Man's Fight to Stop It. Seven Stories Press, 2008. .\n Gravel, Mike and Eisenbach, David. The Kingmakers: How the Media Threatens Our Security and Our Democracy. Phoenix Books, 2008. .\n Gravel, Mike. Voice of a Maverick: The Speeches and Writings of Senator Mike Gravel. Brandywine House, 2008.\n Gravel, Mike. Foreword to Poisoned Power: The Case Against Nuclear Power Plants. John W. Goffman & Arthur R. Tamplin, Rodale Press, Inc., Emmaus, PA, June 1971.\n Gravel, Mike. The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People. AuthorHouse, 2020.\n\nExplanatory notes\n\nReferences\n\nCitations\n\nGeneral references \n The Pentagon Papers Senator Gravel Edition. Vol. Five: Critical Essays. Boston: Beacon Press, 1972. 341p. plus 72p. of Index to Vol. I–IV of the Papers; Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, editors.\n\nExternal links\n\n Mike Gravel official website\n \n \n \n The Gravel Institute\n\n|-\n\n|-\n\n \n1930 births\n2021 deaths\n1972 United States vice-presidential candidates\n20th-century American male writers\n20th-century American non-fiction writers\n20th-century American politicians\n20th-century Roman Catholics\n20th-century Unitarians\n21st-century American male writers\n21st-century American non-fiction writers\n21st-century American politicians\n21st-century Unitarians\n9/11 conspiracy theorists\nAlaska Democrats\nAmerican International College alumni\nAmerican Unitarian Universalists\nAmerican anti–Iraq War activists\nAmerican conspiracy theorists\nAmerican democracy activists\nAmerican male non-fiction writers\nAmerican people of French-Canadian descent\nAmerican political writers\nAmerican real estate businesspeople\nAmerican stockbrokers\nAnti-corporate activists\nAssumption University (Worcester) alumni\nBurials at Arlington National Cemetery\nBusinesspeople from Anchorage, Alaska\nBusinesspeople from Springfield, Massachusetts\nCalifornia Democrats\nCandidates in the 2008 United States presidential election\nCandidates in the 2020 United States presidential election\nColumbia University School of General Studies alumni\nDeaths from cancer in California\nDeaths from multiple myeloma\nDemocratic Party United States senators\nDirect democracy activists\nDrug policy reform activists\nFormer Roman Catholics\nVirginia Libertarians\nMembers of the Alaska House of Representatives\nMilitary personnel from Massachusetts\nNon-interventionism\nPeople from Arlington County, Virginia\nPeople from Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska\nPeople with dyslexia\nPoliticians from Anchorage, Alaska\nPoliticians from Springfield, Massachusetts\nSpeakers of the Alaska House of Representatives\nUnited States Army officers\nUnited States senators from Alaska\nWriters about direct democracy\nWriters from Anchorage, Alaska"},"extractive":{"kind":"string","value":"true"},"retrieved_contexts":{"kind":"list like","value":["Various enemies of the American comic book superhero Batman have been created over the years for media adaptations that previously did not exist in the comics. This is a list of such enemies, and original enemies that share the same moniker as characters from the comic books are noted.\n\nEnemies originating in TV and films\n\nEnemies introduced in video games\n\nEnemies introduced in novels, theater and radio\n\nTeams\n\nSee also\n List of Batman family enemies\n\nReferences\n\nEnemies\nSuper Friends characters\nEnemies\nLists of DC Comics supervillains\nSuper Friends lists\nBatman: The Animated Series characters","Enemies and Allies is an accessory for the 3rd edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.\n\nContents\nEnemies and Allies contains statistics and descriptions for numerous non-player characters of various types for 3rd edition Dungeons & Dragons.\n\nPublication history\nEnemies and Allies was published in October 2001, and was designed by Bruce R. Cordell, Jeff Grubb, David Noonan, and Skip Williams. Cover art is by Jeff Easley, with interior art by Dennis Cramer, Todd Lockwood, Wayne Reynolds, and Sam Wood.\n\nReception\nShannon Appelcline notes that the NPC book Enemies and Allies was one of many early D&D third edition releases which \"did not have a strong setting\".\n\nReviews\n\nReferences\n\n2001 books\nDungeons & Dragons sourcebooks"],"string":"[\n \"Various enemies of the American comic book superhero Batman have been created over the years for media adaptations that previously did not exist in the comics. This is a list of such enemies, and original enemies that share the same moniker as characters from the comic books are noted.\\n\\nEnemies originating in TV and films\\n\\nEnemies introduced in video games\\n\\nEnemies introduced in novels, theater and radio\\n\\nTeams\\n\\nSee also\\n List of Batman family enemies\\n\\nReferences\\n\\nEnemies\\nSuper Friends characters\\nEnemies\\nLists of DC Comics supervillains\\nSuper Friends lists\\nBatman: The Animated Series characters\",\n \"Enemies and Allies is an accessory for the 3rd edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.\\n\\nContents\\nEnemies and Allies contains statistics and descriptions for numerous non-player characters of various types for 3rd edition Dungeons & Dragons.\\n\\nPublication history\\nEnemies and Allies was published in October 2001, and was designed by Bruce R. Cordell, Jeff Grubb, David Noonan, and Skip Williams. Cover art is by Jeff Easley, with interior art by Dennis Cramer, Todd Lockwood, Wayne Reynolds, and Sam Wood.\\n\\nReception\\nShannon Appelcline notes that the NPC book Enemies and Allies was one of many early D&D third edition releases which \\\"did not have a strong setting\\\".\\n\\nReviews\\n\\nReferences\\n\\n2001 books\\nDungeons & Dragons sourcebooks\"\n]"},"chunked_article":{"kind":"list like","value":["Maurice Robert Gravel ( ; May 13, 1930 – June 26, 2021) was an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Alaska from 1969 to 1981 as a member of the Democratic Party, and who, in later life, twice ran for the presidential nomination of that party. Born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, by French-Canadian immigrant parents, Gravel moved to Alaska in the late 1950s, becoming a real estate developer and entering politics.","Born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, by French-Canadian immigrant parents, Gravel moved to Alaska in the late 1950s, becoming a real estate developer and entering politics. He served in the Alaska House of Representatives from 1963 to 1967, and also became Speaker of the Alaska House. Gravel was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1968.","Gravel was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1968. Gravel was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1968. As a senator, Gravel became nationally known for his forceful, but unsuccessful, attempts to end the draft during the War in Vietnam, and for putting the Pentagon Papers into the public record in 1971. He conducted a campaign for the Democratic nomination in 1972 for Vice President of the United States, and then played a crucial role in obtaining Congressional approval for the Trans-Alaska pipeline in 1973.","He conducted a campaign for the Democratic nomination in 1972 for Vice President of the United States, and then played a crucial role in obtaining Congressional approval for the Trans-Alaska pipeline in 1973. He was re-elected to the Senate in 1974, but was defeated in his bid for a third term in the primary election in 1980. An advocate of direct democracy and the National Initiative, Gravel staged a run for the 2008 Democratic nomination for President of the United States.","An advocate of direct democracy and the National Initiative, Gravel staged a run for the 2008 Democratic nomination for President of the United States. His campaign failed to gain support, and in March 2008, he left the Democratic Party and joined the Libertarian Party to compete unsuccessfully for its presidential nomination and the inclusion of the National Initiative into the Libertarian Platform. He ran for president as a Democrat again in the 2020 election, in a campaign that ended four months after it began.","He ran for president as a Democrat again in the 2020 election, in a campaign that ended four months after it began. Two years before his death, Gravel and his campaign staff founded the progressive think tank The Gravel Institute. Early life, military service, education Gravel was born on May 13, 1930, in Springfield, Massachusetts, one of five children of French-Canadian immigrant parents, Alphonse and Marie (née Bourassa) Gravel.","Early life, military service, education Gravel was born on May 13, 1930, in Springfield, Massachusetts, one of five children of French-Canadian immigrant parents, Alphonse and Marie (née Bourassa) Gravel. His parents were part of the Quebec diaspora, and he was raised in a working-class neighborhood during the Great Depression, speaking only French until he was seven years old. Calling him \"Mike\" from an early age, his father valued work above all else, while his mother stressed the importance of education.","Calling him \"Mike\" from an early age, his father valued work above all else, while his mother stressed the importance of education. Gravel was educated in parochial schools as a Roman Catholic. There he struggled, due to what he later said was undiagnosed dyslexia, and was left back in third grade. He completed elementary school in 1945 and his class voted him \"most charming personality\".","He completed elementary school in 1945 and his class voted him \"most charming personality\". A summer job as a soda jerk led to Gravel handing out campaign fliers for local candidates on his boss's behalf; Gravel was immediately impressed with \"the awesomeness of political office\". Gravel then boarded at Assumption Preparatory School in Worcester, Massachusetts, where his performance was initially mediocre.","Gravel then boarded at Assumption Preparatory School in Worcester, Massachusetts, where his performance was initially mediocre. By Gravel's telling, in the summer of 1948 he intended to volunteer for the Israel Defense Forces during the 1947–1949 Palestine war, but Alexandra Tolstaya told him to return to school. There an English teacher, the Assumptionist Edgar Bourque, gave him personal attention, improving Gravel's language skills and instructing him in public speaking. Gravel's grades improved measurably in his final year and he graduated in 1949.","Gravel's grades improved measurably in his final year and he graduated in 1949. His sister, Marguerite, became a Holy Cross nun, but Gravel himself struggled with the Catholic faith. He studied for one year at Assumption College, a Catholic school in Worcester, then transferred for his sophomore year to American International College in Springfield. Journalist I. F. Stone and philosopher Bertrand Russell strongly influenced Gravel in their willingness to challenge assumptions and oppose social convention and political authority.","Journalist I. F. Stone and philosopher Bertrand Russell strongly influenced Gravel in their willingness to challenge assumptions and oppose social convention and political authority. Around May 1951, Gravel saw that he was about to be drafted and instead enlisted in the U.S. Army for a three-year term so that he could get into the Counterintelligence Corps. After basic training and counterintelligence school at Fort Holabird in Maryland and in South Carolina, he went to Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia.","After basic training and counterintelligence school at Fort Holabird in Maryland and in South Carolina, he went to Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia. While he expected to be sent off to the Korean War when he graduated as a second lieutenant in early 1952, he was instead assigned to Stuttgart, West Germany, as a Special Adjutant in the Army's Communications Intelligence Service. In Germany, Gravel conducted surveillance operations on civilians and paid off spies.","In Germany, Gravel conducted surveillance operations on civilians and paid off spies. After about a year, he transferred to Orléans, France, where his French language abilities (if not his French-Canadian accent) allowed him to infiltrate French communist rallies. He worked as a Special Agent in the Counterintelligence Corps until 1954, eventually becoming a first lieutenant. Following his discharge, Gravel entered the Columbia University School of General Studies in New York City, where he studied economics and received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1956.","Following his discharge, Gravel entered the Columbia University School of General Studies in New York City, where he studied economics and received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1956. He moved to New York \"flat broke\" and supported himself by working as a bar boy in a hotel, driving a taxicab, and working in the investment bond department at Bankers Trust. During this time he left the Roman Catholic faith.","During this time he left the Roman Catholic faith. During this time he left the Roman Catholic faith. Move to Alaska Gravel \"decided to become a pioneer in a faraway place,\" and moved to pre-statehood Alaska in August 1956, without funds or a job, looking for a place where someone without social or political connections could be a viable candidate for public office.","Move to Alaska Gravel \"decided to become a pioneer in a faraway place,\" and moved to pre-statehood Alaska in August 1956, without funds or a job, looking for a place where someone without social or political connections could be a viable candidate for public office. Alaska's voting age of 19, less than most other states' 21, played a role in his decision, as did its newness and cooler climate. Broke when he arrived, he immediately found work in real estate sales until winter arrived.","Broke when he arrived, he immediately found work in real estate sales until winter arrived. Gravel then was employed as a brakeman for the Alaska Railroad, working the snow-clearing train on the Anchorage-to-Fairbanks run. Subsequently, he opened a small real estate brokerage in Anchorage (the Territory of Alaska not requiring a license) and saved enough so as not to have to work the railroad again. The firm was named the M. R. Gravel Real Estate Company.","The firm was named the M. R. Gravel Real Estate Company. Gravel joined the Anchorage Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, and continued a sporadic relationship with the movement throughout his life. Seeing Alaska as a wide-open place with no political establishment or entrenched interests, Gravel quickly became part of the civic scene there. By October 1957 he was a Division Chairman for Anchorage for the Democratic Central Committee in the territory, and by June 1958 he was president of the Alaska Young Democrats organization.","By October 1957 he was a Division Chairman for Anchorage for the Democratic Central Committee in the territory, and by June 1958 he was president of the Alaska Young Democrats organization. He also became active in the United States Junior Chamber (Jaycees), and by early 1958 his duties included handing out awards for farmer of the year. By early 1958, Gravel was running as Democratic Party primary candidate for a Third Division seat in House of Representative of the territorial legislature.","By early 1958, Gravel was running as Democratic Party primary candidate for a Third Division seat in House of Representative of the territorial legislature. (This was one of the four judicial divisions into which Alaska was sectioned at the time.) Using the slogan \"Gravel, the Roadbed to Prosperity\", he ran but lost. At the same time, he was also an advocate for Alaskan statehood.","At the same time, he was also an advocate for Alaskan statehood. Gravel went on a 44-state national speaking tour concerning tax reform in 1959, sponsored by the Jaycees, often dressing for events as Paul Revere. Gravel was selected from some two thousand applications for this position. The tour received a good amount of local newspaper coverage at its various stops, with Gravel's first name sometimes given as Mike and other times as Maurice.","The tour received a good amount of local newspaper coverage at its various stops, with Gravel's first name sometimes given as Mike and other times as Maurice. The tour's general message was an urging of \"lower taxes, more efficiency in government and a system of taxation moderate at all levels of income\". At several stops Gravel stated that the \"tide of socialism\" had to be stopped.","At several stops Gravel stated that the \"tide of socialism\" had to be stopped. He elaborated at another stop, \"It is part of our Jaycee creed that economic justice can best be won by free men through free enterprise. We really want to see that free enterprise become our inheritance.\"","We really want to see that free enterprise become our inheritance.\" The tour was scheduled to conclude in Washington D.C., on Tax Day, April 15, with petition signatures accumulated for reform to be presented to U.S. lawmakers: dressed as Revere, Gravel rode with the petition to the steps of the U.S. Capitol. The tour over, Gravel married Rita Jeannette Martin at the First Methodist Church of Anchorage on April 29, 1959.","The tour over, Gravel married Rita Jeannette Martin at the First Methodist Church of Anchorage on April 29, 1959. She was a native of Montana who had attended Billings Business College before moving to Alaska two years prior and becoming a secretary in the office of the Anchorage city manager. She had also been named Anchorage's \"Miss Fur Rendezvous\" of 1958. They had two children, Martin Anthony Gravel and Lynne Denise Gravel, born c. 1960 and 1962 respectively.","They had two children, Martin Anthony Gravel and Lynne Denise Gravel, born c. 1960 and 1962 respectively. Gravel ran without avail for the City Council in Anchorage in 1960. During this time, he had become a successful real estate agent; after the 1960 election, he became a property developer in a mobile home park on the outskirts of Anchorage. After a partner ran into financial difficulty, however, the project went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and Gravel was forced out in 1962.","After a partner ran into financial difficulty, however, the project went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and Gravel was forced out in 1962. State legislator With the support of Alaska wholesale grocer Barney Gottstein and supermarket builder Larry Carr, Gravel ran for the Alaska House of Representatives representing Anchorage in 1962, initially assigned the 10th and then 8th districts.","State legislator With the support of Alaska wholesale grocer Barney Gottstein and supermarket builder Larry Carr, Gravel ran for the Alaska House of Representatives representing Anchorage in 1962, initially assigned the 10th and then 8th districts. Alaska had very crowded primaries that year: Gravel was one of 33 Democrats, along with 21 Republicans, who were running for the chance to compete for the 14 House seats allocated to the 8th district.","Alaska had very crowded primaries that year: Gravel was one of 33 Democrats, along with 21 Republicans, who were running for the chance to compete for the 14 House seats allocated to the 8th district. Gravel made it through the primary, and in November eight Republicans and six Democrats were elected to the House from the district, with Gravel finishing eighth overall and third among with Democrats, with 8,174 votes. Gottstein became Gravel's main financial backer during most of his subsequent campaigns.","Gottstein became Gravel's main financial backer during most of his subsequent campaigns. Gravel served in the Alaska House of Representatives from January 28, 1963 to January 22, 1967, winning reelection in 1964. In his first term, he served as a minority member on two House committees: Commerce, and Labor and Management. He co-authored and sponsored the act that created the Alaska State Commission for Human Rights.","He co-authored and sponsored the act that created the Alaska State Commission for Human Rights. Gravel was the chief architect of the law that created a regional high school system for rural Alaska; this allowed Alaska Natives to attend schools near where they lived instead of having to go to schools run by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the lower 48 states. During the half-years that the legislature was not in session, Gravel resumed his real estate work.","During the half-years that the legislature was not in session, Gravel resumed his real estate work. With Gottstein and Carr's backing, he became quite successful as a property developer on the Kenai Peninsula. During 1965 and 1966, he served as the Speaker of the House, surprising observers by winning that post. Gravel convinced former Speaker Warren A. Taylor to not try for the position against him by promising Taylor chairmanship of the Rules Committee, then reneged on the promise.","Gravel convinced former Speaker Warren A. Taylor to not try for the position against him by promising Taylor chairmanship of the Rules Committee, then reneged on the promise. Gravel denied later press charges that he had promised but not delivered on other committee chairmanships. As Speaker he antagonized fellow lawmakers by imposing his will on the legislature's committees and feuded with Alaska State Senate president Robert J. McNealy.","As Speaker he antagonized fellow lawmakers by imposing his will on the legislature's committees and feuded with Alaska State Senate president Robert J. McNealy. Gravel did not run for reelection in 1966, instead choosing to run for Alaska's seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, losing the primary to four-term incumbent Democrat Ralph Rivers by 1,300 votes and splitting the Democratic Party in the process. Rivers lost the general election that year to Republican state Senator Howard Pollock. Following this defeat, Gravel returned to the real estate business in Anchorage.","Following this defeat, Gravel returned to the real estate business in Anchorage. U.S. Senator Election to Senate in 1968 In 1968, Gravel ran against 81-year-old incumbent Democratic United States Senator Ernest Gruening, a popular former governor of the Alaska Territory who was considered one of the fathers of Alaska's statehood, for his party's nomination to the U.S. Senate. Gravel's campaign was primarily based on his youth and telegenic appearance rather than issue differences. He hired Joseph Napolitan, the first self-described political consultant, in late 1966.","He hired Joseph Napolitan, the first self-described political consultant, in late 1966. They spent over a year and a half planning a short, nine-day primary election campaign that featured the slogans \"Alaska first\" and \"Let's do something about the state we're in\", the distribution of a collection of essays titled Jobs and More Jobs, and the creation of a half-hour, well-produced, glamorized biographical film of Gravel, Man for Alaska.","They spent over a year and a half planning a short, nine-day primary election campaign that featured the slogans \"Alaska first\" and \"Let's do something about the state we're in\", the distribution of a collection of essays titled Jobs and More Jobs, and the creation of a half-hour, well-produced, glamorized biographical film of Gravel, Man for Alaska. The film was shown twice a day on every television station in Alaska, and carried by plane and shown on home projectors in hundreds of Alaska Native villages.","The film was shown twice a day on every television station in Alaska, and carried by plane and shown on home projectors in hundreds of Alaska Native villages. The heavy showings quickly reversed a 2–to–1 Gruening lead in polls into a Gravel lead. Gravel visited many remote villages by seaplane and showed a thorough understanding of the needs of the bush country and the fishing and oil industries. Gravel also benefited from maintaining a deliberately ambiguous posture about Vietnam policy.","Gravel also benefited from maintaining a deliberately ambiguous posture about Vietnam policy. Gruening had been one of only two Senators to vote against the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and his opposition to President Lyndon B. Johnson's war policies was harming him among the Democratic electorate; according to Gravel, \"all I had to do was stand up and not deal with the subject, and people would assume that I was to the right of Ernest Gruening, when in point of fact I was to the left of him\".","Gruening had been one of only two Senators to vote against the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and his opposition to President Lyndon B. Johnson's war policies was harming him among the Democratic electorate; according to Gravel, \"all I had to do was stand up and not deal with the subject, and people would assume that I was to the right of Ernest Gruening, when in point of fact I was to the left of him\". In Man for Alaska, Gravel argued that \"the liberals\" would come to West Germany's defense if it was attacked, and that the same standard should apply to the United States' allies in Asia.","In Man for Alaska, Gravel argued that \"the liberals\" would come to West Germany's defense if it was attacked, and that the same standard should apply to the United States' allies in Asia. During the campaign he also claimed that he was \"more in the mainstream of American thought on Vietnam\" than Gruening, despite the fact that he had written to Gruening to praise his antiwar stance four years earlier.","During the campaign he also claimed that he was \"more in the mainstream of American thought on Vietnam\" than Gruening, despite the fact that he had written to Gruening to praise his antiwar stance four years earlier. Decades later, Gravel conceded that \"I said what I said [about Vietnam] to advance my career.\" Gravel beat Gruening in the primary by about 2,000 votes. Gruening found \"the unexpected defeat hard to take\" and thought that some aspects of his opponent's biographical film had misled viewers.","Gruening found \"the unexpected defeat hard to take\" and thought that some aspects of his opponent's biographical film had misled viewers. In the general election, Gravel faced Republican Elmer E. Rasmuson, a banker and former mayor of Anchorage. College students in the state implored Gruening to run a write-in campaign as an Independent, but legal battles prevented him from getting approval for it until only two weeks were left.","College students in the state implored Gruening to run a write-in campaign as an Independent, but legal battles prevented him from getting approval for it until only two weeks were left. A late appearance by anti-war presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy did not offset Gruening's lack of funds and endorsements; meanwhile, Gravel and Rasmuson both saturated local media with their filmed biographies. On November 5, 1968, Gravel won the general election with 45 percent of the vote to Rasmuson's 37 percent and Gruening's 18 percent.","On November 5, 1968, Gravel won the general election with 45 percent of the vote to Rasmuson's 37 percent and Gruening's 18 percent. Senate assignments and style When Gravel joined the U.S.Senate in January 1969, he requested and received a seat on the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee, which had direct relevance to Alaskan issues. He also got a spot on the Public Works Committee, which he held throughout his time in the Senate. Finally, he was a member of the Select Committee on Small Business.","Finally, he was a member of the Select Committee on Small Business. In 1971 he became chair of the Public Works Committee's Subcommittee on Public Buildings and Grounds, and by 1973 he was chair of its Subcommittee on Water Resources, then later its Subcommittee on Environmental Pollution. Gravel was also initially named to the Joint Committee on Congressional Operations.","Gravel was also initially named to the Joint Committee on Congressional Operations. By 1973 Gravel was off the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee and the Select Small Business Committee and instead a member of the Finance Committee, and by 1977 was chair of that body's Subcommittee on Energy and Foundations. By 1973 he had also been on the ad hoc Special Committee to Study Secret and Confidential Government Documents.","By 1973 he had also been on the ad hoc Special Committee to Study Secret and Confidential Government Documents. By his own admission, Gravel was too new and \"too abrasive\" to be effective in the Senate by the usual means of seniority-based committee assignments or negotiating deals with other senators, and was sometimes seen as arrogant or a nuisance by the more senior and tradition-oriented members. Gravel relied on attention-getting gestures to achieve what he wanted, hoping national exposure would force other senators to listen to him.","Gravel relied on attention-getting gestures to achieve what he wanted, hoping national exposure would force other senators to listen to him. But even senators who agreed with him on issues considered his methods to be showboating. As part of this approach, Gravel voted with Southern Democrats to keep the Senate filibuster rule in place, and accordingly supported Russell Long and Robert Byrd but opposed Ted Kennedy in Senate leadership battles.","As part of this approach, Gravel voted with Southern Democrats to keep the Senate filibuster rule in place, and accordingly supported Russell Long and Robert Byrd but opposed Ted Kennedy in Senate leadership battles. In retrospective assessment, University of Alaska Anchorage history professor Stephen Haycox said, \"Loose cannon is a good description of Gravel's Senate career. He was an off-the-wall guy, and you weren't really ever sure what he would do.\"","He was an off-the-wall guy, and you weren't really ever sure what he would do.\" Nuclear issues and the Cold War In the late 1960s and early 1970s the U.S. Department of Defense was in the process of performing tests for the nuclear warhead for the Spartan anti-ballistic missile. Two tests, the \"Milrow\" and \"Cannikin\" tests, were planned, involving the detonation of nuclear bombs under Amchitka Island in Alaska.","Two tests, the \"Milrow\" and \"Cannikin\" tests, were planned, involving the detonation of nuclear bombs under Amchitka Island in Alaska. The Milrow test would be a one-megaton calibration exercise for the second and larger five-megaton Cannikin test, which would measure the effectiveness of the warhead. Gravel opposed the tests.","Gravel opposed the tests. Gravel opposed the tests. Before the Milrow test took place in October 1969, he wrote that there were significant risks of earthquakes and other adverse consequences and called for an independent national commission on nuclear and seismic safety; he then made a personal appeal to President Richard Nixon to stop the test. After Milrow was conducted, there was continued pressure on the part of environmental groups against going forward with the Cannikin test, while the Federation of American Scientists claimed that the warhead being tested was already obsolete.","After Milrow was conducted, there was continued pressure on the part of environmental groups against going forward with the Cannikin test, while the Federation of American Scientists claimed that the warhead being tested was already obsolete. In May 1971 Gravel sent a letter to U.S. Atomic Energy Commission hearings held in Anchorage in which he said the risk of the test was not worth taking.","In May 1971 Gravel sent a letter to U.S. Atomic Energy Commission hearings held in Anchorage in which he said the risk of the test was not worth taking. Eventually a group not involving Gravel took the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to issue an injunction against it, and the Cannikin test took place as scheduled in November 1971. Gravel had failed to stop the tests (notwithstanding his later claims during his 2008 presidential campaign).","Gravel had failed to stop the tests (notwithstanding his later claims during his 2008 presidential campaign). In 1971 Gravel voted against the Nixon administration's proposed anti-ballistic missile system, the Safeguard Program, having previously vacillated over the issue, suggesting that he might be willing to support it in exchange for federal lands in Alaska being opened up for private oil drilling. His vote alienated Senator Henry \"Scoop\" Jackson, who had raised funds for Gravel's primary campaign.","His vote alienated Senator Henry \"Scoop\" Jackson, who had raised funds for Gravel's primary campaign. Nuclear power was considered an environmentally clean alternative for commercial generation of electricity and was part of a popular national policy for the peaceful use of atomic energy in the 1950s and 1960s.","Nuclear power was considered an environmentally clean alternative for commercial generation of electricity and was part of a popular national policy for the peaceful use of atomic energy in the 1950s and 1960s. Gravel publicly opposed this policy; besides the dangers of nuclear testing, he was a vocal critic of the Atomic Energy Commission, which oversaw American nuclear efforts, and of the powerful United States Congress Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, which had a stranglehold on nuclear policy and which Gravel tried to circumvent.","Gravel publicly opposed this policy; besides the dangers of nuclear testing, he was a vocal critic of the Atomic Energy Commission, which oversaw American nuclear efforts, and of the powerful United States Congress Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, which had a stranglehold on nuclear policy and which Gravel tried to circumvent. In 1971 Gravel sponsored a bill to impose a moratorium on nuclear power plant construction and to make power utilities liable for any nuclear accidents; in 1975 he was still proposing similar moratoriums.","In 1971 Gravel sponsored a bill to impose a moratorium on nuclear power plant construction and to make power utilities liable for any nuclear accidents; in 1975 he was still proposing similar moratoriums. By 1974 Gravel was allied with Ralph Nader's organization in opposing nuclear power. Six months before U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's July 1971 secret mission to the People's Republic of China (P.R.C. ), Gravel introduced legislation to recognize and normalize relations with the P.R.C., including a proposal for unity talks between the P.R.C.","), Gravel introduced legislation to recognize and normalize relations with the P.R.C., including a proposal for unity talks between the P.R.C. and the Republic of China (Taiwan) regarding the Chinese seat on the U.N. Security Council. He reiterated his position in favor of recognition, with four other senators in agreement, during Senate hearings in June 1971.","He reiterated his position in favor of recognition, with four other senators in agreement, during Senate hearings in June 1971. Vietnam War, the draft, and the Pentagon Papers Although he did not campaign against the Vietnam War during his first Senate campaign, by the end of 1970 Gravel was speaking out against United States policy in southeast Asia: in December of that year he persuaded William Fulbright to join him in a spontaneous two-day filibuster against a $155 million military aid package to Cambodia's Khmer Republic government in the Cambodian Civil War.","Vietnam War, the draft, and the Pentagon Papers Although he did not campaign against the Vietnam War during his first Senate campaign, by the end of 1970 Gravel was speaking out against United States policy in southeast Asia: in December of that year he persuaded William Fulbright to join him in a spontaneous two-day filibuster against a $155 million military aid package to Cambodia's Khmer Republic government in the Cambodian Civil War. President Richard Nixon had campaigned in 1968 on a promise to end the U.S. military draft, a decision endorsed by the February 1970 report of the Gates Commission.","President Richard Nixon had campaigned in 1968 on a promise to end the U.S. military draft, a decision endorsed by the February 1970 report of the Gates Commission. The existing draft law was scheduled to conclude at the end of June 1971, and the Senate faced a contentious debate about whether to extend it as the Vietnam War continued.","The existing draft law was scheduled to conclude at the end of June 1971, and the Senate faced a contentious debate about whether to extend it as the Vietnam War continued. The Nixon administration announced in February 1971 that it wanted a two-year extension to June 1973, after which the draft would end; Army planners had already been operating under the assumption of a two-year extension, after which an all-volunteer force would be in place.","The Nixon administration announced in February 1971 that it wanted a two-year extension to June 1973, after which the draft would end; Army planners had already been operating under the assumption of a two-year extension, after which an all-volunteer force would be in place. Skeptics such as Senate Armed Services Committee chairman John Stennis thought this unrealistic and wanted a four-year extension, but the two-year proposal is what went forward in Congress.","Skeptics such as Senate Armed Services Committee chairman John Stennis thought this unrealistic and wanted a four-year extension, but the two-year proposal is what went forward in Congress. By early May 1971, Gravel had indicated his intention to filibuster the draft renewal legislation, halting conscription and thereby bringing U.S. involvement in the war to a rapid end.","By early May 1971, Gravel had indicated his intention to filibuster the draft renewal legislation, halting conscription and thereby bringing U.S. involvement in the war to a rapid end. During this period he also supported efforts to mobilize and influence public opinion against the war, endorsing the \"Vietnam War Out Now\" rallies in Washington D.C. and San Francisco on April 24, 1971, and financing a broadcast campaign by the antiwar group War No More with a personal loan.","During this period he also supported efforts to mobilize and influence public opinion against the war, endorsing the \"Vietnam War Out Now\" rallies in Washington D.C. and San Francisco on April 24, 1971, and financing a broadcast campaign by the antiwar group War No More with a personal loan. In June 1972 he escorted a group of over 100 antiwar protesters, including psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton, actress Candice Bergen, theater producer and director Joseph Papp, and peditrician Dr. Benjamin Spock, into the United States Capitol Building; the group was arrested after blocking a hallway outside the Senate chamber.","In June 1972 he escorted a group of over 100 antiwar protesters, including psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton, actress Candice Bergen, theater producer and director Joseph Papp, and peditrician Dr. Benjamin Spock, into the United States Capitol Building; the group was arrested after blocking a hallway outside the Senate chamber. By June 1971, some Democratic senators opposed to the war wanted to limit the renewal to a one-year extension, while others wanted to end it immediately; Gravel reiterated that he was one of the latter, saying, \"It's a senseless war, and one way to do away with it is to do away with the draft.\"","By June 1971, some Democratic senators opposed to the war wanted to limit the renewal to a one-year extension, while others wanted to end it immediately; Gravel reiterated that he was one of the latter, saying, \"It's a senseless war, and one way to do away with it is to do away with the draft.\" A Senate vote on June 4 indicated majority support for the two-year extension.","A Senate vote on June 4 indicated majority support for the two-year extension. On June 18 Gravel announced again his intention to counteract that by filibustering the renewal legislation, defending the practice against those who associated it only with blocking civil rights legislation. The first filibuster attempt failed on June 23 when, by three votes, the Senate voted cloture for only the fifth time since 1927.","The first filibuster attempt failed on June 23 when, by three votes, the Senate voted cloture for only the fifth time since 1927. Protracted negotiations took place over House conference negotiations on the bill, revolving in large part around Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield's eventually unsuccessful amendment to tie renewal to a troop withdrawal timetable from Vietnam; during this time the draft law expired and no more were conscripted.","Protracted negotiations took place over House conference negotiations on the bill, revolving in large part around Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield's eventually unsuccessful amendment to tie renewal to a troop withdrawal timetable from Vietnam; during this time the draft law expired and no more were conscripted. On August 5, the Nixon administration pleaded for a renewal before the Senate went on recess, but Gravel blocked Stennis's attempt to limit debate, and no vote was held.","On August 5, the Nixon administration pleaded for a renewal before the Senate went on recess, but Gravel blocked Stennis's attempt to limit debate, and no vote was held. Finally on September 21, 1971, the Senate invoked cloture over Gravel's second filibuster attempt by one vote, and then passed the two-year draft extension.","Finally on September 21, 1971, the Senate invoked cloture over Gravel's second filibuster attempt by one vote, and then passed the two-year draft extension. Gravel's attempts to stop the draft had failed (notwithstanding Gravel's later claims that he had stopped or shortened the draft, taken at face value in some media reports, during his 2008 presidential campaign). Meanwhile, on June 13, 1971, The New York Times began printing large portions of the Pentagon Papers.","Meanwhile, on June 13, 1971, The New York Times began printing large portions of the Pentagon Papers. The papers were a large collection of secret government documents and studies pertaining to the Vietnam War, of which former Defense Department analyst Daniel Ellsberg had made unauthorized copies and was determined to make public.","The papers were a large collection of secret government documents and studies pertaining to the Vietnam War, of which former Defense Department analyst Daniel Ellsberg had made unauthorized copies and was determined to make public. Ellsberg had for a year and a half approached members of Congress – such as William Fulbright, George McGovern, Charles Mathias, and Pete McCloskey – about publishing the documents, on the grounds that the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution would give congressional members immunity from prosecution, but all had refused.","Ellsberg had for a year and a half approached members of Congress – such as William Fulbright, George McGovern, Charles Mathias, and Pete McCloskey – about publishing the documents, on the grounds that the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution would give congressional members immunity from prosecution, but all had refused. Instead, Ellsberg gave the documents to the Times. The U.S. Justice Department immediately tried to halt publication, on the grounds that the information revealed within the papers harmed the national interest.","The U.S. Justice Department immediately tried to halt publication, on the grounds that the information revealed within the papers harmed the national interest. Within the next two weeks, a federal court injunction halted publication in the Times; The Washington Post and several other newspapers began publishing parts of the documents, with some of them also being halted by injunctions; and the whole matter went to the U.S. Supreme Court for arguments.","Within the next two weeks, a federal court injunction halted publication in the Times; The Washington Post and several other newspapers began publishing parts of the documents, with some of them also being halted by injunctions; and the whole matter went to the U.S. Supreme Court for arguments. Looking for an alternate publication mechanism, Ellsberg returned to his idea of having a member of Congress read them, and chose Gravel based on the latter's efforts against the draft; Gravel agreed where previously others had not.","Looking for an alternate publication mechanism, Ellsberg returned to his idea of having a member of Congress read them, and chose Gravel based on the latter's efforts against the draft; Gravel agreed where previously others had not. Ellsberg arranged for the papers to be given to Gravel on June 26 via an intermediary, Post editor Ben Bagdikian.","Ellsberg arranged for the papers to be given to Gravel on June 26 via an intermediary, Post editor Ben Bagdikian. Gravel used his counter-intelligence experience to choose a midnight transfer in front of the Mayflower Hotel in the center of Washington, D.C. On the night of June 29, 1971, Gravel attempted to read the papers on the floor of the Senate as part of his filibuster against the draft, but was thwarted when no quorum could be formed. Gravel instead convened a session of the Buildings and Grounds subcommittee that he chaired.","Gravel instead convened a session of the Buildings and Grounds subcommittee that he chaired. He got New York Congressman John G. Dow to testify that the war had soaked up funding for public buildings, thus making discussion of the war relevant to the committee.","He got New York Congressman John G. Dow to testify that the war had soaked up funding for public buildings, thus making discussion of the war relevant to the committee. He began reading from the papers with the press in attendance, omitting supporting documents that he felt might compromise national security, and declaring, \"It is my constitutional obligation to protect the security of the people by fostering the free flow of information absolutely essential to their democratic decision-making.\"","He began reading from the papers with the press in attendance, omitting supporting documents that he felt might compromise national security, and declaring, \"It is my constitutional obligation to protect the security of the people by fostering the free flow of information absolutely essential to their democratic decision-making.\" He read until 1 a.m., culminating by saying \"Arms are being severed. Metal is clashing through human bodies because of the public policy this government and all its branches continue to support.\"","Metal is clashing through human bodies because of the public policy this government and all its branches continue to support.\" Then with tears and sobs he said that he could no longer physically continue, the previous three nights of sleeplessness and fear about the future having taken their toll. Gravel ended the session by, with no other senators present, establishing unanimous consent to insert 4,100 pages of the Papers into the Congressional Record of his subcommittee.","Gravel ended the session by, with no other senators present, establishing unanimous consent to insert 4,100 pages of the Papers into the Congressional Record of his subcommittee. The following day, the Supreme Court's New York Times Co. v. United States decision ruled in favor of the newspapers and publication in the Times and others resumed. In July 1971 Bantam Books published an inexpensive paperback edition of the papers containing the material the Times had published.","In July 1971 Bantam Books published an inexpensive paperback edition of the papers containing the material the Times had published. Gravel, too, wanted to privately publish the portion of the papers he had read into the record, believing that \"immediate disclosure of the contents of these papers will change the policy that supports the war\". After being turned down by many commercial publishers, on August 4 he reached agreement with Beacon Press, the publishing arm of the Unitarian Universalist Association, of which Gravel was a member.","After being turned down by many commercial publishers, on August 4 he reached agreement with Beacon Press, the publishing arm of the Unitarian Universalist Association, of which Gravel was a member. Announced on August 17 and published on October 22, 1971, this four-volume, relatively expensive set became the \"Senator Gravel Edition\", which studies from Cornell University and the Annenberg Center for Communication have labeled as the most complete edition of the Pentagon Papers to be published.","Announced on August 17 and published on October 22, 1971, this four-volume, relatively expensive set became the \"Senator Gravel Edition\", which studies from Cornell University and the Annenberg Center for Communication have labeled as the most complete edition of the Pentagon Papers to be published. The \"Gravel Edition\" was edited and annotated by Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn, and included an additional volume of analytical articles on the origins and progress of the war, also edited by Chomsky and Zinn.","The \"Gravel Edition\" was edited and annotated by Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn, and included an additional volume of analytical articles on the origins and progress of the war, also edited by Chomsky and Zinn. Beacon Press then was subjected to a FBI investigation; an outgrowth of this was the Gravel v. United States court case, which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled upon in June 1972; it held that the Speech or Debate Clause did grant immunity to Gravel for his reading the papers in his subcommittee, did grant some immunity to Gravel's congressional aide, but granted no immunity to Beacon Press in relation to their publishing the same papers.","Beacon Press then was subjected to a FBI investigation; an outgrowth of this was the Gravel v. United States court case, which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled upon in June 1972; it held that the Speech or Debate Clause did grant immunity to Gravel for his reading the papers in his subcommittee, did grant some immunity to Gravel's congressional aide, but granted no immunity to Beacon Press in relation to their publishing the same papers. The U.S. Senate Democratic Caucus backed Gravel in the case, but due to Republican opposition it did not pay Gravel's legal fees, leaving him owing $25,000 (the equivalent of $150,000 in 2019, adjusted for inflation).","The U.S. Senate Democratic Caucus backed Gravel in the case, but due to Republican opposition it did not pay Gravel's legal fees, leaving him owing $25,000 (the equivalent of $150,000 in 2019, adjusted for inflation). The events of 1971 changed Gravel in the following months from an obscure freshman senator to a nationally visible political figure.","The events of 1971 changed Gravel in the following months from an obscure freshman senator to a nationally visible political figure. He became a sought-after speaker on the college circuit as well as at political fundraisers, opportunities he welcomed as lectures were \"the one honest way a Senator has to supplement his income\". But his speaking tours caused him to accrue one of the worst absentee records in the Senate. The Democratic candidates for the 1972 presidential election sought his endorsement.","The Democratic candidates for the 1972 presidential election sought his endorsement. In January 1972 Gravel endorsed Maine Senator Ed Muskie, hoping that his support would help Muskie with the party's left wing and in ethnic French-Canadian areas during the first primary contest in New Hampshire (Muskie won, but not overwhelmingly, and his campaign faltered soon after).","In January 1972 Gravel endorsed Maine Senator Ed Muskie, hoping that his support would help Muskie with the party's left wing and in ethnic French-Canadian areas during the first primary contest in New Hampshire (Muskie won, but not overwhelmingly, and his campaign faltered soon after). In April 1972 Gravel appeared on all three networks' nightly newscasts to decry the Nixon administration's reliance on Vietnamization by making reference to the secret National Security Study Memorandum 1 document, which stated it would take 8–13 years for the Army of the Republic of Vietnam to defend South Vietnam.","In April 1972 Gravel appeared on all three networks' nightly newscasts to decry the Nixon administration's reliance on Vietnamization by making reference to the secret National Security Study Memorandum 1 document, which stated it would take 8–13 years for the Army of the Republic of Vietnam to defend South Vietnam. Gravel made excerpts from the study public, but senators Robert P. Griffin and William B. Saxbe blocked his attempt to read NSSM 1 into the Congressional Record.","Gravel made excerpts from the study public, but senators Robert P. Griffin and William B. Saxbe blocked his attempt to read NSSM 1 into the Congressional Record. Domestic policy In 1970 Gravel co-sponsored legislation to establish a guaranteed minimum income, entitling poor families to up to $6,300 a year (the equivalent of $42,000 in 2019 after adjustment for inflation).","Domestic policy In 1970 Gravel co-sponsored legislation to establish a guaranteed minimum income, entitling poor families to up to $6,300 a year (the equivalent of $42,000 in 2019 after adjustment for inflation). He subsequently voted for a \"work bonus\" program, which would have entitled low-income working families with dependent children if they were paying Social Security or Railroad Retirement taxes to a non-taxable bonus of up to 10 percent of their wages.","He subsequently voted for a \"work bonus\" program, which would have entitled low-income working families with dependent children if they were paying Social Security or Railroad Retirement taxes to a non-taxable bonus of up to 10 percent of their wages. Gravel also supported extending Social Security to all federal employees and introduced a campaign finance reform bill in 1971 that would have enacted full disclosure of campaign financing, placed limits on large donations, media spending and individual candidate spending.","Gravel also supported extending Social Security to all federal employees and introduced a campaign finance reform bill in 1971 that would have enacted full disclosure of campaign financing, placed limits on large donations, media spending and individual candidate spending. In 1969, Gravel was the only Democratic Senator outside of the South to vote for Nixon's Supreme Court nominee Clement Haynsworth. The following year Gravel opposed Nixon's next pick, G. Harrold Carswell.","The following year Gravel opposed Nixon's next pick, G. Harrold Carswell. Run for vice president in 1972 Gravel actively campaigned for the office of Vice President of the United States during the 1972 presidential election, announcing on June 2, 1972, over a month before the 1972 Democratic National Convention began, that he was interested in the nomination should the choice be opened up to convention delegates. Toward this end he began soliciting delegates for their support.","Toward this end he began soliciting delegates for their support. He was not alone in this effort, as former Governor of Massachusetts Endicott Peabody had been running a quixotic campaign for the same post since the prior year. Likely presidential nominee George McGovern was in fact considering the unusual move of naming three or four acceptable vice-presidential candidates and letting the delegates choose. On the convention's final day, July 14, 1972, McGovern selected and announced Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri as his vice-presidential choice.","On the convention's final day, July 14, 1972, McGovern selected and announced Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri as his vice-presidential choice. Eagleton was unknown to many delegates and the choice seemed to smack of traditional ticket balancing considerations. Thus there were delegates willing to look elsewhere. Gravel was nominated by Bettye Fahrenkamp, the Democratic National Committeewoman from Alaska. He then seconded his own nomination, breaking down in tears at his own words and maybe trying to withdraw his nomination.","He then seconded his own nomination, breaking down in tears at his own words and maybe trying to withdraw his nomination. In any case he won 226 delegate votes, coming in third behind Eagleton and Frances \"Sissy\" Farenthold of Texas, in chaotic balloting that included several other candidates.","In any case he won 226 delegate votes, coming in third behind Eagleton and Frances \"Sissy\" Farenthold of Texas, in chaotic balloting that included several other candidates. Gravel attracted some attention for his efforts: writer Norman Mailer said he \"provided considerable excitement\" and was \"good-looking enough to have played leads in B-films\", while Rolling Stone correspondent Hunter S. Thompson said Gravel \"probably said a few things that might have been worth hearing, under different circumstances\". Yet the process was doubly disastrous for the Democrats.","Yet the process was doubly disastrous for the Democrats. Yet the process was doubly disastrous for the Democrats. In the time consumed by nominating and seconding and all the vice-presidential candidates' speeches, the attention of the delegates on the floor was lost and McGovern's speech was pushed to 3:30 a.m. The haste with which Eagleton was selected led to surprise when his past mental health treatments were revealed; he withdrew from the ticket soon after the convention, to be replaced by Sargent Shriver.","The haste with which Eagleton was selected led to surprise when his past mental health treatments were revealed; he withdrew from the ticket soon after the convention, to be replaced by Sargent Shriver. Reelection to Senate in 1974 Several years earlier, Alaska politicians had speculated that Gravel would have a hard time getting both renominated and elected when his first term expired, given that he was originally elected without a base party organization and tended to focus on national rather than local issues.","Reelection to Senate in 1974 Several years earlier, Alaska politicians had speculated that Gravel would have a hard time getting both renominated and elected when his first term expired, given that he was originally elected without a base party organization and tended to focus on national rather than local issues. Nonetheless, after receiving support from national and local labor leaders, securing key earmarks, and producing another half-hour TV advertorial, in 1974 Gravel was reelected to the Senate, with 58 percent of the vote to 42 percent for Republican State Senator C. R. Lewis, who was a national officer of the John Birch Society.","Nonetheless, after receiving support from national and local labor leaders, securing key earmarks, and producing another half-hour TV advertorial, in 1974 Gravel was reelected to the Senate, with 58 percent of the vote to 42 percent for Republican State Senator C. R. Lewis, who was a national officer of the John Birch Society. Second term Gravel's reelection campaign left him $65,000–$75,000 in debt.","Second term Gravel's reelection campaign left him $65,000–$75,000 in debt. In 1975 The Washington Post reported on a memo by his executive assistant laying out a fundraising strategy to tackle this, including raising funds from oil companies, meeting with previous donors and \"inquir[ing] into the governmental priorities of these people and their groups in the coming session\", as well as obtaining further speaking fees to reduce his personal debt.","In 1975 The Washington Post reported on a memo by his executive assistant laying out a fundraising strategy to tackle this, including raising funds from oil companies, meeting with previous donors and \"inquir[ing] into the governmental priorities of these people and their groups in the coming session\", as well as obtaining further speaking fees to reduce his personal debt. This was followed by a number of stories about links between Gravel, lobbyists and fundraisers, including one that was widely publicized in Alaska about his holding a share in a Colorado resort with two Washington lobbyists he was working with on land and energy legislation.","This was followed by a number of stories about links between Gravel, lobbyists and fundraisers, including one that was widely publicized in Alaska about his holding a share in a Colorado resort with two Washington lobbyists he was working with on land and energy legislation. Gravel had been open about the investment and had opposing views to one of the lobbyists on nuclear power.","Gravel had been open about the investment and had opposing views to one of the lobbyists on nuclear power. In 1980 the Wall Street Journal published details about his fundraising activities, including writing to individuals and PACs in the oil industry, pledging to kill off proposals for a windfall profits tax on the sector, and traveling in the Middle East with the business partner of one of his donors to sell Alaskan land to businessmen. Gravel suggested that critics of his fundraising were \"naive\".","Gravel suggested that critics of his fundraising were \"naive\". In 1975 Gravel introduced an amendment to cut the number of troops overseas by 200,000, but it was defeated on a voice vote. In September 1975 Gravel was named as one of several Congressional Advisers to the Seventh Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly, which met to discuss problems related to economic development and international economic cooperation. In June 1976 Gravel was the focus of a federal investigation into allegations that he was involved in a sex-for-vote arrangement.","In June 1976 Gravel was the focus of a federal investigation into allegations that he was involved in a sex-for-vote arrangement. Congressional staff clerk Elizabeth Ray (who had already been involved in a sex scandal that led to the downfall of Representative Wayne Hays) said that in August 1972 she had sex with Gravel aboard a houseboat on the Potomac River, under the instruction of Representative Kenneth J. Gray, her boss at the time.","Gray, her boss at the time. Gray, her boss at the time. Gray allegedly wanted to secure Gravel's support for further funding for construction of the National Visitor Center in Washington, a troubled project that was under the jurisdiction of subcommittees that both members chaired. Another Congressional staffer said she witnessed the boat encounter, but Gravel said at the time that he had never met either of the women.","Another Congressional staffer said she witnessed the boat encounter, but Gravel said at the time that he had never met either of the women. Gravel and Gray strongly denied that they had made any arrangement regarding legislation, and neither was ever charged with any wrongdoing. Decades later Gravel wrote that he had indeed had sex with Ray, but had not changed any votes because of it.","Decades later Gravel wrote that he had indeed had sex with Ray, but had not changed any votes because of it. Gravel and his main financial backer, Gottstein, had a falling out in 1978, during the Congressional debate over whether to allow a controversial sale of U.S. F-15 fighter aircraft to Saudi Arabia. An ardent backer of Israel, Gottstein opposed the sale and asked Gravel to vote against it. But Gravel not only voted for it but made an emotional speech attacking the anti-sale campaign.","But Gravel not only voted for it but made an emotional speech attacking the anti-sale campaign. Gravel wrote in 2008 that it was the only time Gottstein had ever asked him for a favor, and the rupture resulted in their never speaking to each other again. Alaskan issues By 1971 Gravel was urging construction of the much-argued Trans-Alaska pipeline, addressing environmental concerns by saying that the pipeline's builders and operators should have \"total and absolute\" responsibility for any consequent environmental damage.","Alaskan issues By 1971 Gravel was urging construction of the much-argued Trans-Alaska pipeline, addressing environmental concerns by saying that the pipeline's builders and operators should have \"total and absolute\" responsibility for any consequent environmental damage. Two years later the debate over the pipeline came to a crux, with The New York Times describing it as \"environmentalists [in] a holy war with the major oil companies\".","Two years later the debate over the pipeline came to a crux, with The New York Times describing it as \"environmentalists [in] a holy war with the major oil companies\". In February 1973 the U.S. Court of Appeals blocked the issuance of permits for construction; Gravel and fellow Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens reacted by urging Congress to pass legislation overturning the court's decision.","In February 1973 the U.S. Court of Appeals blocked the issuance of permits for construction; Gravel and fellow Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens reacted by urging Congress to pass legislation overturning the court's decision. Environmentalists opposed to the pipeline, such as the Environmental Defense Fund and the Sierra Club then sought to use the recently passed National Environmental Policy Act to their advantage; Gravel designed an amendment to the pipeline bill that would immunize the pipeline from any further court challenges under that law, and thus speed its construction.","Environmentalists opposed to the pipeline, such as the Environmental Defense Fund and the Sierra Club then sought to use the recently passed National Environmental Policy Act to their advantage; Gravel designed an amendment to the pipeline bill that would immunize the pipeline from any further court challenges under that law, and thus speed its construction. Passage of the amendment became the key battle regarding the pipeline.","Passage of the amendment became the key battle regarding the pipeline. On July 17, 1973, in a dramatic roll-call vote, the Gravel amendment was approved as a 49–49 tie was broken in favor by Vice President Spiro Agnew. The actual bill enabling the pipeline then passed easily; Gravel had triumphed in what became perhaps his most lasting accomplishment as a senator. In opposition to the Alaskan fishing industry, Gravel advocated American participation in the formation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.","In opposition to the Alaskan fishing industry, Gravel advocated American participation in the formation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. For two years he opposed legislation that established a Exclusive Economic Zone for marine resources. He was one of only 19 senators to vote against Senate approval for the expanded zone in 1976, saying it would undermine the U.S. position in Law of the Sea negotiations and that nations arbitrarily extending their fishing rights limits would \"produce anarchy of the seas\".","He was one of only 19 senators to vote against Senate approval for the expanded zone in 1976, saying it would undermine the U.S. position in Law of the Sea negotiations and that nations arbitrarily extending their fishing rights limits would \"produce anarchy of the seas\". The legislation was passed, and the United States has signed but never ratified the Law of the Sea treaty. Gravel accumulated a complicated record on Indian affairs during his time in the Senate.","Gravel accumulated a complicated record on Indian affairs during his time in the Senate. During his first year in the Senate Gravel urged abolition of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, criticizing the agency for the pace of development of schools in Alaska, its paternalistic attitudes and the culturally inappropriate nature of its education, and advocating greater shared decision-making between the federal government and native communities in Alaska.","During his first year in the Senate Gravel urged abolition of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, criticizing the agency for the pace of development of schools in Alaska, its paternalistic attitudes and the culturally inappropriate nature of its education, and advocating greater shared decision-making between the federal government and native communities in Alaska. Later, his views changed; in the early 1970s Gravel supported a demonstration project that established links between Alaskan villages and the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, for medical diagnostic communications.","Later, his views changed; in the early 1970s Gravel supported a demonstration project that established links between Alaskan villages and the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, for medical diagnostic communications. In 1971, he fended off accusations from Alaskan natives that he was not spending enough time working on their land claims. Gravel helped secure a private grant to facilitate the first Inuit Circumpolar Conference in 1977, attended by Inuit representatives from Alaska, Canada, and Greenland. These conferences now also include representatives from Russia.","These conferences now also include representatives from Russia. These conferences now also include representatives from Russia. In 1977, Gravel helped lead an effort to have the U.S. Interior Department rename Mount McKinley to Denali; this eventually led to Denali National Park being so named. Subsequently, Gravel proposed a never-built \"Denali City\" development above the Tokositna River near the mountain, to consist of a giant Teflon dome enclosing hotels, golf courses, condominiums, and commercial buildings.","Subsequently, Gravel proposed a never-built \"Denali City\" development above the Tokositna River near the mountain, to consist of a giant Teflon dome enclosing hotels, golf courses, condominiums, and commercial buildings. A related idea of his to build a high-speed rail line to Denali also failed to gain traction. A key, emotional issue in the state at the time was \"locking up Alaska\", making reference to allocation of its vast, mostly uninhabited land.","A key, emotional issue in the state at the time was \"locking up Alaska\", making reference to allocation of its vast, mostly uninhabited land. President Jimmy Carter desired to put large portions of this land under federal protection against development, a move that some Alaskans vociferously opposed. In 1978 Gravel blocked passage, via procedural delays such as walking out of House–Senate conference committee meetings, of a complex bill which represented a compromise on land use policy.","In 1978 Gravel blocked passage, via procedural delays such as walking out of House–Senate conference committee meetings, of a complex bill which represented a compromise on land use policy. The bill would have put some of Alaska's vast federal land holdings under state control while preserving other portions for federal parks and refuges; the blocking action earned Gravel the enmity of fellow Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, who had supported the compromise.","The bill would have put some of Alaska's vast federal land holdings under state control while preserving other portions for federal parks and refuges; the blocking action earned Gravel the enmity of fellow Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, who had supported the compromise. In 1980, a new lands bill came up for consideration, that was less favorable to Alaskan interests and more liked by environmentalists; it set aside of Alaska's for national parks, conservation areas, and other restricted federal uses.","In 1980, a new lands bill came up for consideration, that was less favorable to Alaskan interests and more liked by environmentalists; it set aside of Alaska's for national parks, conservation areas, and other restricted federal uses. Gravel blocked it, as not ensuring enough future development in the state. A new compromise version of the 1980 bill came forward, which reduced the land set aside to . Representing Alaskan interests, Gravel tried to stop the bill, including by filibuster.","Representing Alaskan interests, Gravel tried to stop the bill, including by filibuster. But the Senate voted for cloture and passed the bill. Frustrated, Gravel said, \"the legislation denies Alaska its rights as a state, and denies the U.S. crucial strategic resources,\" and opined that the Senate was \"a little bit like a tank of barracudas\".","Frustrated, Gravel said, \"the legislation denies Alaska its rights as a state, and denies the U.S. crucial strategic resources,\" and opined that the Senate was \"a little bit like a tank of barracudas\". Nonetheless, the bill, known as the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980, was signed by President Carter shortly before leaving the White House, and led to millions of acres being set aside in the state for national parks, wildlife refuges, and other kinds of areas under protection.","Nonetheless, the bill, known as the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980, was signed by President Carter shortly before leaving the White House, and led to millions of acres being set aside in the state for national parks, wildlife refuges, and other kinds of areas under protection. In 1978 Gravel authored and secured the passage into federal law of the General Stock Ownership Corporation, that became Subchapter U of the Tax Code under the Internal Revenue Code of 1954.","In 1978 Gravel authored and secured the passage into federal law of the General Stock Ownership Corporation, that became Subchapter U of the Tax Code under the Internal Revenue Code of 1954. This gave states the ability to create corporations that would invest in for-profit enterprises, with all citizens within the state owning shares in the corporation.","This gave states the ability to create corporations that would invest in for-profit enterprises, with all citizens within the state owning shares in the corporation. Gravel's attempt to convince the Alaska state legislature to create such a corporation failed, as did a 1980 state ballot initiative towards the same end, but nevertheless the creation of the General Stock Ownership Corporation in federal law turned out to be significant in the development of binary economics.","Gravel's attempt to convince the Alaska state legislature to create such a corporation failed, as did a 1980 state ballot initiative towards the same end, but nevertheless the creation of the General Stock Ownership Corporation in federal law turned out to be significant in the development of binary economics. Loss of Senate seat in 1980 In 1980 Gravel was challenged for the Democratic Party's nomination by State Representative Clark Gruening, the grandson of the man Gravel had defeated in a primary 12 years earlier.","Loss of Senate seat in 1980 In 1980 Gravel was challenged for the Democratic Party's nomination by State Representative Clark Gruening, the grandson of the man Gravel had defeated in a primary 12 years earlier. One of Gruening's supporters was Gravel's former backer Gottstein. Several factors made Gravel vulnerable. As an insurgent candidate in 1968 Gravel had never established a firm party base. Not liking to hunt or fish, he was also always culturally suspect in the state. The primary campaign was bitterly fought.","The primary campaign was bitterly fought. The primary campaign was bitterly fought. A group of Democrats, including future governor Steve Cowper, led the campaign against Gravel, with Gravel's actions in respect to the 1978 and 1980 Alaskan lands bills a major issue. This was especially so given that the 1980 bill's dénouement happened but a week before the primary. The sources of Gravel's campaign funds, some of which Gravel readily acknowledged came from political action committees outside the state, also became an issue in the contest.","The sources of Gravel's campaign funds, some of which Gravel readily acknowledged came from political action committees outside the state, also became an issue in the contest. Gruening had pledged that he would not take special interest group money, but Gravel said that Gruening was \"dishonest\" in accepting individual contributors from Jewish donors living outside the state because to him such contributors comprised \"a special interest group ... that seeks to influence the foreign policy of the U.S.\" Gruening won the primary with about 55 percent of the vote to Gravel's 44 percent.","Gruening had pledged that he would not take special interest group money, but Gravel said that Gruening was \"dishonest\" in accepting individual contributors from Jewish donors living outside the state because to him such contributors comprised \"a special interest group ... that seeks to influence the foreign policy of the U.S.\" Gruening won the primary with about 55 percent of the vote to Gravel's 44 percent. Gravel later conceded that by the time of his defeat, he had alienated \"almost every constituency in Alaska\".","Gravel later conceded that by the time of his defeat, he had alienated \"almost every constituency in Alaska\". Another factor may have been Alaska's blanket primary system of the time, which allowed unlimited voting across party lines and from its many independents; Republicans believed Gruening would be an easier candidate to defeat in the general election. Gruening lost the general election to Republican Frank Murkowski.","Gruening lost the general election to Republican Frank Murkowski. Gruening lost the general election to Republican Frank Murkowski. Gravel was the last Democrat to represent Alaska in Congress for 28 years, until Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich defeated Ted Stevens, by then an aged, iconic figure who had just been convicted of seven felonies for taking unreported gifts, in a very close and protracted election result in 2008. Stevens's conviction was subsequently vacated due to prosecutorial misconduct.","Stevens's conviction was subsequently vacated due to prosecutorial misconduct. Career after leaving the Senate Of his 1980 defeat, Gravel later recalled: \"I had lost my career. I lost my marriage. I was in the doldrums for ten years after my defeat,\" and \"Nobody wanted to hire me for anything important. I felt like I was worthless. I didn't know what I could do.\"","I didn't know what I could do.\" I didn't know what I could do.\" By his own later description, Gravel was a womanizer, and had an affair while in the Senate, and in December 1980 he and his wife Rita separated. They filed for divorce in September 1981; she later received all of his Senate pension income. During the 1980s Gravel was a real estate developer in Anchorage and Kenai, Alaska, a consultant, and a stockbroker.","During the 1980s Gravel was a real estate developer in Anchorage and Kenai, Alaska, a consultant, and a stockbroker. One of his real estate ventures, a condominium business, was forced to declare bankruptcy and a lawsuit ensued. In 1986 Gravel worked in partnership with Merrill Lynch Capital Markets to buy losses that financially troubled Alaska Native Corporations could not take as tax deductions and sell them to large national companies looking for tax writeoffs. Gravel also learned computer programming at some point but never practiced it.","Gravel also learned computer programming at some point but never practiced it. In 1984 Gravel married his second wife, Whitney Stewart Gravel, a former administrative assistant for Senator Jacob Javits. Return to politics In 1989 Gravel reentered politics. He founded and led The Democracy Foundation, which promotes direct democracy.","He founded and led The Democracy Foundation, which promotes direct democracy. He established the Philadelphia II corporation, which seeks to replicate the original 1787 Constitutional Convention and have a Second Constitutional Convention to bring about direct democracy Gravel led an effort to get a United States Constitutional amendment to allow voter-initiated federal legislation similar to state ballot initiatives. He argued that Americans are able to legislate responsibly, and that the Act and Amendment in the National Initiative would allow American citizens to become \"law makers\".","He argued that Americans are able to legislate responsibly, and that the Act and Amendment in the National Initiative would allow American citizens to become \"law makers\". However such efforts met with little success. In 2001, Gravel became director of the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution, where he admired institute co-founder Gregory Fossedal's work on direct democracy in Switzerland.","In 2001, Gravel became director of the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution, where he admired institute co-founder Gregory Fossedal's work on direct democracy in Switzerland. By 2004, Gravel had become chair of the institute, and Fossedal (who in turn was a director of the Democracy Foundation) gave the introduction at Gravel's presidential announcement. In 2003 Gravel gave a speech on direct democracy at a conference hosted by the American Free Press. The event was cosponsored by the Barnes Review, a journal that endorses Holocaust denial.","The event was cosponsored by the Barnes Review, a journal that endorses Holocaust denial. After some controversy over his appearance, Gravel apologized, saying he did not realize the group's ties. Gravel said repeatedly that he did not share the group's views on the Holocaust, stating, \"You better believe I know that six million Jews were killed. [The Barnes Review publishers] are nutty as loons if they don't think it happened\". The group invited Gravel to speak again, but he declined.","The group invited Gravel to speak again, but he declined. Mike and Whitney Gravel lived in Arlington County, Virginia, until 2010 and then resided in Burlingame, California. They have the two grown children from his first marriage, Martin Gravel and Lynne Gravel Mosier, and four grandchildren. Whitney Gravel's income sustained the couple from 1998 on. In the 2000s, Gravel suffered poor health, requiring three surgeries in 2003 for back pain and neuropathy.","In the 2000s, Gravel suffered poor health, requiring three surgeries in 2003 for back pain and neuropathy. Due to unreimbursed medical expenses and debts from his political causes, he declared personal bankruptcy in 2004. He began taking a salary from the non-profit organizations for which he was working; much of that income was lent to his presidential campaign. In 2007, he declared that he had \"zero net worth\".","In 2007, he declared that he had \"zero net worth\". 2008 presidential campaign Democratic Party primaries At the start of 2006 Gravel decided the best way he could promote direct democracy and the National Initiative was to run for president.","2008 presidential campaign Democratic Party primaries At the start of 2006 Gravel decided the best way he could promote direct democracy and the National Initiative was to run for president. On April 17, 2006, Gravel became the first candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2008 election, announcing his run in a speech to the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Short on campaign cash, he took public transportation to get to his announcement. (Gravel called for public financing of elections.)","(Gravel called for public financing of elections.) (Gravel called for public financing of elections.) Other principal Gravel positions were the FairTax, as well as withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq within 120 days and a single payer national health care system. Gravel had opposed the Iraq War, and President George W. Bush's rationale for it, from the beginning, and in 2006 said that U.S. troops in Iraq, as in Vietnam, had \"died in vain\".","Gravel had opposed the Iraq War, and President George W. Bush's rationale for it, from the beginning, and in 2006 said that U.S. troops in Iraq, as in Vietnam, had \"died in vain\". He also favored a regional peace initiative, as well as reparation payments for Iraqis. Gravel also called for a \"U.S. corporate withdrawal from Iraq\", with reconstruction contracts held by U.S. companies to be turned over to Iraqi firms.","Gravel also called for a \"U.S. corporate withdrawal from Iraq\", with reconstruction contracts held by U.S. companies to be turned over to Iraqi firms. Gravel campaigned almost full-time in New Hampshire, the first primary state, following his announcement. Opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination showed Gravel with 1 percent or less support. By the end of March 2007, Gravel's campaign had less than $500 in cash on hand against debts of nearly $90,000.","By the end of March 2007, Gravel's campaign had less than $500 in cash on hand against debts of nearly $90,000. Because of his time in the Senate, Gravel was invited to many of the early Democratic presidential debates. During the initial one at South Carolina State University on April 26, 2007, he suggested a bill requiring the president to withdraw from Iraq on pain of criminal penalties. He also advocated positions such as opposing preemptive nuclear war.","He also advocated positions such as opposing preemptive nuclear war. He stated that the Iraq War had the effect of creating more terrorists and that the \"war was lost the day that George Bush invaded Iraq on a fraudulent basis\". Regarding his fellow candidates, he said, \"I got to tell you, after standing up with them, some of these people frighten me – they frighten me.\" In one such exchange, Gravel said, \"Tell me, Barack, who do you want to nuke?\"","In one such exchange, Gravel said, \"Tell me, Barack, who do you want to nuke?\" to which Obama responded, \"I'm not planning to nuke anybody right now, Mike, I promise.\" Media stories said that Gravel was responsible for much of whatever \"heat\" and \"flashpoints\" had taken place during the Democratic debates.","Media stories said that Gravel was responsible for much of whatever \"heat\" and \"flashpoints\" had taken place during the Democratic debates. Gravel gained considerable publicity by shaking up the normally staid multiple-candidate format; The New York Times' media critic said that what Gravel had done was \"steal a debate with outrageous, curmudgeonly statements\".","Gravel gained considerable publicity by shaking up the normally staid multiple-candidate format; The New York Times' media critic said that what Gravel had done was \"steal a debate with outrageous, curmudgeonly statements\". The Internet was a benefit: a YouTube video of his responses in the debate was viewed more than 225,892 times, ranking seventeenth in most views for week and first among news and politics clips; his name became the fifteenth most searched-for in the blogosphere; and his website garnered more traffic than those of frontrunners Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, or John Edwards.","The Internet was a benefit: a YouTube video of his responses in the debate was viewed more than 225,892 times, ranking seventeenth in most views for week and first among news and politics clips; his name became the fifteenth most searched-for in the blogosphere; and his website garnered more traffic than those of frontrunners Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, or John Edwards. Gravel appeared on the popular Colbert Report on television on May 2, and his campaign and career were profiled in national publications such as Salon.","Gravel appeared on the popular Colbert Report on television on May 2, and his campaign and career were profiled in national publications such as Salon. Two wordless, Warholesque campaign videos, \"Rock\" and \"Fire\", were released on YouTube in late May and became hits, and eventually gained over 760,000 and 185,000 views respectively. \"Rock\", in turn, was given airtime during an episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.","\"Rock\", in turn, was given airtime during an episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Some thirty-five years after he first achieved the national spotlight, he had found it again. All this did not improve his performance in the polls; a May 2007 CNN poll showed him with less than 0.5 percent support among Democrats. Gravel was in the next several debates, in one case after CNN reversed a decision to exclude him.","Gravel was in the next several debates, in one case after CNN reversed a decision to exclude him. Like some of the other second-tier candidates, Gravel did not get as much time as the leaders; during the June 2, 2007, New Hampshire debate, which lasted two hours, he was asked 10 questions and allowed to speak for five minutes and 37 seconds.","Like some of the other second-tier candidates, Gravel did not get as much time as the leaders; during the June 2, 2007, New Hampshire debate, which lasted two hours, he was asked 10 questions and allowed to speak for five minutes and 37 seconds. During the July 23, 2007, CNN-YouTube presidential debate, Gravel responded to audience applause when he had complained of a lack of airtime and said: \"Thank you. Has it been fair thus far?\"","Has it been fair thus far?\" Has it been fair thus far?\" Detractors began to liken him to \"the cranky uncle who lives in the attic,\" or \"the angry old guy that just seemed to want to become angrier\". Berkeley political scientist David Terr found that moderator George Stephanopoulos directed roughly five percent of his questions to Gravel; in a poll asking who did the best in the debate, Gravel placed seventh among the eight candidates.","Berkeley political scientist David Terr found that moderator George Stephanopoulos directed roughly five percent of his questions to Gravel; in a poll asking who did the best in the debate, Gravel placed seventh among the eight candidates. National opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination continued to show Gravel with one percent or zero percent numbers.","National opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination continued to show Gravel with one percent or zero percent numbers. By the end of the third-quarter 2007, Gravel had about $17,500 in cash on hand, had collected a total of about $380,000 during the 2008 election cycle, and was continuing to run a threadbare campaign with minimal staff.","By the end of the third-quarter 2007, Gravel had about $17,500 in cash on hand, had collected a total of about $380,000 during the 2008 election cycle, and was continuing to run a threadbare campaign with minimal staff. Beginning with the October 30, 2007, Philadelphia event, Gravel was excluded from most of the debates, with the debate sponsors or the Democratic National Committee saying Gravel's campaign had not met fund-raising, polling, or local campaign organizational thresholds.","Beginning with the October 30, 2007, Philadelphia event, Gravel was excluded from most of the debates, with the debate sponsors or the Democratic National Committee saying Gravel's campaign had not met fund-raising, polling, or local campaign organizational thresholds. For the Philadelphia exclusion, Gravel blamed corporate censorship on the part of sponsor owner and alleged military-industrial complex member General Electric for his exclusion and mounted a counter-gathering and debate against a video screen a short distance away, but he had lost his easiest publicity.","For the Philadelphia exclusion, Gravel blamed corporate censorship on the part of sponsor owner and alleged military-industrial complex member General Electric for his exclusion and mounted a counter-gathering and debate against a video screen a short distance away, but he had lost his easiest publicity. In reaction, supporters organized \"mass donation days\" to try to help the campaign gain momentum and funds, such as on December 5, 2007, the anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition.","In reaction, supporters organized \"mass donation days\" to try to help the campaign gain momentum and funds, such as on December 5, 2007, the anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition. Gravel did not compete in the initial 2008 vote, the Iowa caucuses, but was still subjected to a false report from MSNBC that he had pulled out of the race afterward. Gravel did focus his attention on the second 2008 vote, the New Hampshire primary.","Gravel did focus his attention on the second 2008 vote, the New Hampshire primary. In early January, Mother Jones' investigative reporter James Ridgeway was filmed interviewing and following Gravel in New Hampshire, in which Gravel is interviewed on the phone by Neal Conan for NPR's, Talk of the Nation. He received about 400 votes out of some 280,000 cast in New Hampshire, or 0.14 percent, before taking time off to improve his health. He resumed campaigning, but fared no better in subsequent states.","He resumed campaigning, but fared no better in subsequent states. By the end of January 2008, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and Gravel were the only remaining Democrats from the initial debates still running; Gravel vowed to stay in the presidential campaign until November. On March 11, 2008, Gravel continued to remain in the Democratic race but additionally endorsed a Green Party candidate for president, Jesse Johnson, saying he wanted to help Johnson prevail against Green Party rivals Cynthia McKinney and Ralph Nader.","On March 11, 2008, Gravel continued to remain in the Democratic race but additionally endorsed a Green Party candidate for president, Jesse Johnson, saying he wanted to help Johnson prevail against Green Party rivals Cynthia McKinney and Ralph Nader. By late March, Gravel had almost no fundraising and was only on the ballot in one of the next ten Democratic primaries.","By late March, Gravel had almost no fundraising and was only on the ballot in one of the next ten Democratic primaries. Switch to Libertarian Party On March 25, 2008, Gravel announced that he would leave the Democrats and join the Libertarian Party, saying: \"My libertarian views, as well as my strong stance against war, the military industrial complex and American imperialism, seem not to be tolerated by Democratic Party elites who are out of touch with the average American; elites that reject the empowerment of American citizens I offered to the Democratic Party at the beginning of this presidential campaign with the National Initiative for Democracy.\"","Switch to Libertarian Party On March 25, 2008, Gravel announced that he would leave the Democrats and join the Libertarian Party, saying: \"My libertarian views, as well as my strong stance against war, the military industrial complex and American imperialism, seem not to be tolerated by Democratic Party elites who are out of touch with the average American; elites that reject the empowerment of American citizens I offered to the Democratic Party at the beginning of this presidential campaign with the National Initiative for Democracy.\" The following day Gravel entered the race for the 2008 Libertarian presidential nomination, saying that he would have run as a third-party candidate all along except that he needed the public exposure that came from being in the earlier Democratic debates.","The following day Gravel entered the race for the 2008 Libertarian presidential nomination, saying that he would have run as a third-party candidate all along except that he needed the public exposure that came from being in the earlier Democratic debates. Gravel's initial notion of running as a fusion candidate with other parties was met with skepticism. As a Libertarian candidate, Gravel faced resistance to his past support of big government initiatives and his unorthodox positions around direct democracy.","As a Libertarian candidate, Gravel faced resistance to his past support of big government initiatives and his unorthodox positions around direct democracy. Nevertheless, he garnered more support than he had as a Democrat, placing second and third in two April 2008 straw polls.","Nevertheless, he garnered more support than he had as a Democrat, placing second and third in two April 2008 straw polls. In the May 25 balloting at the 2008 Libertarian National Convention in Denver, Gravel finished fourth out of eight candidates on the initial ballot, with 71 votes out of a total 618; he trailed former Congressman and eventual winner Bob Barr, author Mary Ruwart, and businessman Wayne Allyn Root. Gravel's position did not subsequently improve and he was eliminated on the fourth ballot.","Gravel's position did not subsequently improve and he was eliminated on the fourth ballot. Afterwards he stated that \"I just ended my political career,\" but he vowed to continue promoting his positions as a writer and lecturer. 2008–early 2019 In June 2008 Gravel endorsed the NYC 9/11 Ballot Initiative, saying the measure would create a \"citizens commission rather than a government commission\" with subpoena power against top U.S. officials to \"make a true investigation as to what happened\" regarding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.","2008–early 2019 In June 2008 Gravel endorsed the NYC 9/11 Ballot Initiative, saying the measure would create a \"citizens commission rather than a government commission\" with subpoena power against top U.S. officials to \"make a true investigation as to what happened\" regarding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. He later said, \"Individuals in and out of government may certainly have participated with the obviously known perpetrators of this dastardly act. Suspicions abound over the analysis presented by government.","Suspicions abound over the analysis presented by government. Suspicions abound over the analysis presented by government. Obviously an act that has triggered three wars, Afghan, Iraqi and the continuing War on Terror, should be extensively investigated which was not done and which the government avoids addressing.\"","Obviously an act that has triggered three wars, Afghan, Iraqi and the continuing War on Terror, should be extensively investigated which was not done and which the government avoids addressing.\" In August 2008 Gravel was speaking to a crowd of supporters of Sami Al-Arian (who two years earlier had pleaded guilty and been sentenced to prison for a charge of conspiracy in helping Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a \"specially designated terrorist\" organization) when he was caught on tape saying of Al-Arian's prosecutor, \"Find out where he lives, find out where his kids go to school, find out where his office is: picket him all the time.","In August 2008 Gravel was speaking to a crowd of supporters of Sami Al-Arian (who two years earlier had pleaded guilty and been sentenced to prison for a charge of conspiracy in helping Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a \"specially designated terrorist\" organization) when he was caught on tape saying of Al-Arian's prosecutor, \"Find out where he lives, find out where his kids go to school, find out where his office is: picket him all the time. Call him a racist in signs if you see him.","Call him a racist in signs if you see him. Call him an injustice. Call him whatever you want to call him, but in his face all the time.\" Gravel was criticized for potentially involving the children of the prosecutor, and Al-Arian's family disavowed the sentiments. Gravel defended Alaska Governor Sarah Palin after she was chosen as Republican presidential nominee John McCain's running mate in September 2008.","Gravel defended Alaska Governor Sarah Palin after she was chosen as Republican presidential nominee John McCain's running mate in September 2008. He praised Palin's record in standing up to corruption among Alaskan Republicans, thought her national inexperience was an asset not a detriment, and predicted that the \"Troopergate\" investigation into whether she improperly fired a state official would \"come out in her favor\". Gravel made clear he would not support or vote for either McCain–Palin or Obama–Biden in the general election.","Gravel made clear he would not support or vote for either McCain–Palin or Obama–Biden in the general election. The following year Gravel said that Palin's politics were \"terrible, but that doesn't detract from the fact that she's a very talented person\". He predicted that Palin would run for president in 2012 and that \"she's going to surprise a lot of people\". Palin did not run, but Gravel's prediction about \"TrooperGate\" was accurate as Palin was found not to have violated ethics laws.","Palin did not run, but Gravel's prediction about \"TrooperGate\" was accurate as Palin was found not to have violated ethics laws. In 2013, by the invitation of Hamed Ghashghavi, the secretary for international affairs of the 3rd International Conference on Hollywoodism in Tehran, Iran, Gravel attended that event as an Iranian government-organized anti-Hollywood conference.","In 2013, by the invitation of Hamed Ghashghavi, the secretary for international affairs of the 3rd International Conference on Hollywoodism in Tehran, Iran, Gravel attended that event as an Iranian government-organized anti-Hollywood conference. Gravel noted that the conference was attended by \"various elements of extremes\" but said it was necessary to discuss how the U.S. film industry portrayed Iran in order to prevent \"an insane war\" between the two nations.","Gravel noted that the conference was attended by \"various elements of extremes\" but said it was necessary to discuss how the U.S. film industry portrayed Iran in order to prevent \"an insane war\" between the two nations. In May 2013 Gravel was one of several former members of Congress to accept $20,000 from the Paradigm Research Group, an advocacy group for UFO disclosure, as part of holding what they termed a Citizen Hearing on Disclosure, modeled after congressional hearings, regarding supposed U.S. government suppression of evidence concerning UFOs.","In May 2013 Gravel was one of several former members of Congress to accept $20,000 from the Paradigm Research Group, an advocacy group for UFO disclosure, as part of holding what they termed a Citizen Hearing on Disclosure, modeled after congressional hearings, regarding supposed U.S. government suppression of evidence concerning UFOs. Gravel said, \"Something is monitoring the planet, and they are monitoring it very cautiously, because we are a very warlike planet,\" and, \"What we're faced with here is, in areas of the media, and the government too, an effort to marginalize and ridicule people who have specific knowledge.\"","Gravel said, \"Something is monitoring the planet, and they are monitoring it very cautiously, because we are a very warlike planet,\" and, \"What we're faced with here is, in areas of the media, and the government too, an effort to marginalize and ridicule people who have specific knowledge.\" In December 2014 Gravel was announced as the new CEO of KUSH, a company which makes marijuana-infused products for medicinal and recreational use, and a subsidiary of Cannabis Sativa, Inc.","In December 2014 Gravel was announced as the new CEO of KUSH, a company which makes marijuana-infused products for medicinal and recreational use, and a subsidiary of Cannabis Sativa, Inc. He also became an Independent Director of Cannabis Sativa. During the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries, Gravel praised Bernie Sanders and his campaign, saying \"Bernie is one of the most gifted politicians I have ever observed. He's a person of great integrity and very clever.\"","He's a person of great integrity and very clever.\" Gravel predicted that Sanders would be elected president but would be unable to get his key reforms through Congress, and thus that Sanders and his supporters should back some of the proposals of the National Initiative. In 2016, Gravel said in relation to the September 11 attacks: \"We killed 58,000 American servicemen in the Vietnam War and all they did was die in vain.","In 2016, Gravel said in relation to the September 11 attacks: \"We killed 58,000 American servicemen in the Vietnam War and all they did was die in vain. What's so unusual about killing 3,000 more in order to develop the grist for the mill to empower into infinity the military industrial complex?\" and \"There's no question in my mind that 9/11 was an inside job\". The remarks were later disavowed by even Gravel supporters. By 2019 Gravel was living in Seaside, California.","By 2019 Gravel was living in Seaside, California. By 2019 Gravel was living in Seaside, California. He was working on a book, at the time titled Human Governance, about his principal idea for direct democracy, a U.S. Constitutional Amendment to create a \"Legislature of the People\" that would circumvent the existing Congress. The book was self-published at the end of the year by AuthorHouse under the title The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People.","The book was self-published at the end of the year by AuthorHouse under the title The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People. 2020 presidential campaign On March 19, 2019, Gravel announced that he was considering running in the 2020 Democratic primaries. He said, \"The goal will not be to win, but to bring a critique of American imperialism to the Democratic debate stage.\"","He said, \"The goal will not be to win, but to bring a critique of American imperialism to the Democratic debate stage.\" An exploratory committee was formed, with filing a statement of organization with the Federal Election Commission on that same day.","An exploratory committee was formed, with filing a statement of organization with the Federal Election Commission on that same day. The filing was the idea of a group of teenagers, led by David Oks and Henry Williams, inspired by the podcast Chapo Trap House, and done with Gravel's consent (after a week spent convincing him of the idea's merits), but without his involvement.","The filing was the idea of a group of teenagers, led by David Oks and Henry Williams, inspired by the podcast Chapo Trap House, and done with Gravel's consent (after a week spent convincing him of the idea's merits), but without his involvement. Intrigued by the group's commitment to amplifying his long-held policy goals, Gravel (who would be old on Inauguration Day in 2021) said he planned to meet with them in April, and to discuss a 2020 White House run with his wife.","Intrigued by the group's commitment to amplifying his long-held policy goals, Gravel (who would be old on Inauguration Day in 2021) said he planned to meet with them in April, and to discuss a 2020 White House run with his wife. On April 2, 2019, Gravel filed to officially run for office. The campaign called itself the \"#Gravelanche\". Gravel's initial stated goal was merely to qualify for debates by getting the required 65,000 small donors.","Gravel's initial stated goal was merely to qualify for debates by getting the required 65,000 small donors. He discouraged people from voting for him and said his preferences were Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard, both of whom favor a non-interventionist foreign policy. But on April 29, Gravel's campaign said he was running to win, not just to participate in debates. In a subsequent interview, though, Gravel emphasized the virtue of Sanders and Gabbard in some order as a presidential ticket.","In a subsequent interview, though, Gravel emphasized the virtue of Sanders and Gabbard in some order as a presidential ticket. Statements like these caused Vox to call Gravel \"2020's oddest Democratic presidential candidate\".","Statements like these caused Vox to call Gravel \"2020's oddest Democratic presidential candidate\". The New York Times Magazine included Gravel as an example in the rise of democratic socialism in the United States also exemplified by Sanders's 2016 race and the 2018 election of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: \"[Gravel's] campaign represents the most absurd form of a legitimate movement on the left that feels little obligation to the Democratic Party.\"","The New York Times Magazine included Gravel as an example in the rise of democratic socialism in the United States also exemplified by Sanders's 2016 race and the 2018 election of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: \"[Gravel's] campaign represents the most absurd form of a legitimate movement on the left that feels little obligation to the Democratic Party.\" In June 2019, Gravel touted the endorsement of Muntadher al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who, in December 2008, made headlines after he threw his shoes at President George W. Bush in protest of the U.S. war in Iraq.","In June 2019, Gravel touted the endorsement of Muntadher al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who, in December 2008, made headlines after he threw his shoes at President George W. Bush in protest of the U.S. war in Iraq. Al-Zaidi endorsed Gravel based on his promise to improve White House policies regarding Iraq and the Middle East. On June 13, 2019, the Democratic Party announced the 20 major candidates who qualified for the first debate later that month.","On June 13, 2019, the Democratic Party announced the 20 major candidates who qualified for the first debate later that month. Gravel was one of the four who missed out (the others were Montana Governor Steve Bullock, U.S. Representative Seth Moulton, and Miramar, Florida, Mayor Wayne Messam). Gravel had been unable to get the requisite number of donations, or to score one percent or better in enough polls (many polls did not even include him).","Gravel had been unable to get the requisite number of donations, or to score one percent or better in enough polls (many polls did not even include him). Nevertheless, Gravel said he would not drop out and would try to qualify for the July debate. In early July, however, Gravel's campaign said it was still 10,000 contributions short of the 65,000-donor threshold and that it was \"nearing its conclusion\". It solicited suggestions for where to donate $100–150,000 of leftover campaign funds.","It solicited suggestions for where to donate $100–150,000 of leftover campaign funds. Gravel added that he had always planned on ending the campaign before the teenagers in charge of it needed to return to school. A few days later the campaign became the first to run an attack ad against Democratic front-runner Joe Biden, using the text \"Is this the best our party has to offer?\" Gravel's campaign crossed the threshold of 65,000 donors on July 12, 2019, meeting the qualification mark for that month's debate.","Gravel's campaign crossed the threshold of 65,000 donors on July 12, 2019, meeting the qualification mark for that month's debate. But because 20 other candidates, the maximum allowed to participate, had already met at least the polling criterion, which takes priority over the donor criterion, Gravel was not invited. The campaign officially came to a close on August 6, 2019, with Gravel endorsing both Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard for president.","The campaign officially came to a close on August 6, 2019, with Gravel endorsing both Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard for president. Gravel's campaign later stated on Twitter that they never wanted to win but saw the campaign as an \"intimately democratic\" project and expressed honor at working with Gravel. Gravel said he would divide remaining campaign funds between charity and a new think tank which would espouse his ideas.","Gravel said he would divide remaining campaign funds between charity and a new think tank which would espouse his ideas. The Gravel Institute Gravel used some of the funds remaining from his 2020 presidential campaign to found an eponymous progressive think tank called The Gravel Institute in 2019. As noted by Vice magazine, the institute aims to do battle with PragerU from a left-wing perspective.","As noted by Vice magazine, the institute aims to do battle with PragerU from a left-wing perspective. Launched in September 2020, the new entity said it would \"carry on the life's work of former U.S Senator Mike Gravel in fighting for global peace and democracy. Its mission is to promote bold and forward-looking ideas about a more peaceful and egalitarian world, and to build a robust movement of young people to win it\".","Its mission is to promote bold and forward-looking ideas about a more peaceful and egalitarian world, and to build a robust movement of young people to win it\". Contributors announced include Cornel West and Slavoj Žižek, as well as Lower Brule Indian Reservation activist Nick Estes.","Contributors announced include Cornel West and Slavoj Žižek, as well as Lower Brule Indian Reservation activist Nick Estes. Other presenters have included and will include H. Jon Benjamin, Briahna Joy Gray, Bernie Sanders, Chelsea Manning, Richard Wolff, Stephanie Kelton, Zephyr Teachout, David Cross, Jabari Brisport, Zohran Mamdani, and Gravel himself (though it is unknown if his appearance will be cancelled due to his death in June 2021, or if the video has already been recorded).","Other presenters have included and will include H. Jon Benjamin, Briahna Joy Gray, Bernie Sanders, Chelsea Manning, Richard Wolff, Stephanie Kelton, Zephyr Teachout, David Cross, Jabari Brisport, Zohran Mamdani, and Gravel himself (though it is unknown if his appearance will be cancelled due to his death in June 2021, or if the video has already been recorded). Death Gravel died of multiple myeloma at his home in Seaside, California, on June 26, 2021, at age 91.","Death Gravel died of multiple myeloma at his home in Seaside, California, on June 26, 2021, at age 91. The obituary for him in The New York Times stated that Gravel was \"a two-term Democratic senator from Alaska ... who was perhaps better known as an unabashed attention-getter\" who later become known for \"mounting long-shot presidential runs\".","The obituary for him in The New York Times stated that Gravel was \"a two-term Democratic senator from Alaska ... who was perhaps better known as an unabashed attention-getter\" who later become known for \"mounting long-shot presidential runs\". The obituary in The Washington Post was similar, saying that Gravel was \"an Alaska Democrat with a flair for the theatrical who rose from obscurity to brief renown\" and later \"ran quixotic campaigns for the presidency\".","The obituary in The Washington Post was similar, saying that Gravel was \"an Alaska Democrat with a flair for the theatrical who rose from obscurity to brief renown\" and later \"ran quixotic campaigns for the presidency\". The Anchorage Daily News quoted Gravel as saying of himself in 1989, \"I'm an independent kind of guy. A rough and ready kind of guy. My glands work in a certain way that make me stand up, foolishly sometimes, and fight.\"","My glands work in a certain way that make me stand up, foolishly sometimes, and fight.\" Political positions Alan Abramowitz and Jeffrey Allan Segal described Gravel as \"a maverick, if not an eccentric, in the Senate.\" His Americans for Democratic Action \"Liberal Quotient\" scores ranged from 81 out of 100 (1971) to 39 out of 100 (1980), with an average of around 61.","His Americans for Democratic Action \"Liberal Quotient\" scores ranged from 81 out of 100 (1971) to 39 out of 100 (1980), with an average of around 61. His American Conservative Union scores ranged from 0 out of 100 (several years, including 1971 and 1972) to 38 out of 100 (1979), with an average of 14.","His American Conservative Union scores ranged from 0 out of 100 (several years, including 1971 and 1972) to 38 out of 100 (1979), with an average of 14. Abramowitz and Segal note that Gravel's lowest ADA ratings coincided with his two Senate re-election bids, and for the most part his highest ACU ratings followed the same pattern.","Abramowitz and Segal note that Gravel's lowest ADA ratings coincided with his two Senate re-election bids, and for the most part his highest ACU ratings followed the same pattern. In 1972, as a young senator, Gravel published Citizen Power: A People's Platform, a manifesto outlining what Kirkus Reviews termed a \"populist reform [that] would provide 'balanced political power' between the people and government and business interests.\"","In 1972, as a young senator, Gravel published Citizen Power: A People's Platform, a manifesto outlining what Kirkus Reviews termed a \"populist reform [that] would provide 'balanced political power' between the people and government and business interests.\" Civil rights issues On drug policy, Gravel said in 2007 that he favored decriminalization and treating addiction as a public health matter.","Civil rights issues On drug policy, Gravel said in 2007 that he favored decriminalization and treating addiction as a public health matter. During his 2008 presidential candidacy he condemned the War on Drugs as a failure, saying that it did \"nothing but savage our inner cities and put our children at risk\". Gravel called for abolition of capital punishment in his book Citizen Power, and adhered to this position during his 2008 run for president. He supported abortion rights.","He supported abortion rights. He supported abortion rights. During the 2008 campaign Gravel was a strong supporter of LGBT rights. He supported same-sex marriage and opposed the Defense of Marriage Act and the U.S. military's \"don't ask, don't tell\" policy. He wrote in 2008 that \"depriving gays and lesbians of equal rights is immoral\". Foreign policy and defense issues Gravel was a critic of American imperialism. Gravel firmly opposed U.S. military action against Iran and Syria.","Gravel firmly opposed U.S. military action against Iran and Syria. He voiced opposition to the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, the Military Commissions Act of 2006, the use of torture, indefinite detention, and what he called \"flagrant ignorance\" of the Geneva Convention. In 2014 Gravel called for the release of the full, unredacted Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture. Gravel opposed the use of international sanctions as a policy tool and blamed the ones against Iraq under Saddam Hussein for the deaths of a half-million children in that country.","Gravel opposed the use of international sanctions as a policy tool and blamed the ones against Iraq under Saddam Hussein for the deaths of a half-million children in that country. In 2013 Gravel said that sanctions against Iran were \"illegal\". During his 2008 candidacy, Gravel called for a cut in military spending, variously reported to be 15 percent or 50 percent. He called for the savings to boost public education spending. To spur international nuclear nonproliferation efforts, Gravel called for unilateral reductions in the U.S. nuclear arsenal.","To spur international nuclear nonproliferation efforts, Gravel called for unilateral reductions in the U.S. nuclear arsenal. In 2008 Gravel criticized the decision of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to not pursue the efforts to impeach George W. Bush and the attempted impeachment of Dick Cheney, saying also that Bush and Cheney had committed crimes and deserved \"to be prosecuted\" at The Hague.","In 2008 Gravel criticized the decision of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to not pursue the efforts to impeach George W. Bush and the attempted impeachment of Dick Cheney, saying also that Bush and Cheney had committed crimes and deserved \"to be prosecuted\" at The Hague. In 2013 he expressed disdain for President Obama, calling him \"a total fraud\" and saying that both Bush and Obama should be tried \"for the crimes and murders they've committed\" in the International Court of Justice.","In 2013 he expressed disdain for President Obama, calling him \"a total fraud\" and saying that both Bush and Obama should be tried \"for the crimes and murders they've committed\" in the International Court of Justice. Gravel specifically condemned Obama for the drone strikes in Pakistan and elsewhere.","Gravel specifically condemned Obama for the drone strikes in Pakistan and elsewhere. Economy, immigration, and environment During his 2008 candidacy Gravel favored a FairTax scheme, which would abolish the Internal Revenue Service, eliminate the federal income tax (which Gravel called \"corrupt\"), and impose a national sales tax. While Gravel described FairTax as \"progressive\", others have criticized it as \"regressive\", disproportionately benefiting the wealthiest Americans.","While Gravel described FairTax as \"progressive\", others have criticized it as \"regressive\", disproportionately benefiting the wealthiest Americans. To offset the new sales taxes on essential goods, Gravel's plan called for monthly government rebate payments to individuals and families. During his 2020 campaign Gravel also voiced support for a third legislative body that would give the people direct control of the budget as well as the implementation of a land value tax.","During his 2020 campaign Gravel also voiced support for a third legislative body that would give the people direct control of the budget as well as the implementation of a land value tax. Gravel opposed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) during his 2008 candidacy, calling it unfair and economically harmful and needing renegotiation. Gravel believed that NAFTA was the \"root cause\" of illegal migration to the U.S. He favored a guest worker program and \"setting up naturalization procedures that would fairly bring immigrants into legal status\".","He favored a guest worker program and \"setting up naturalization procedures that would fairly bring immigrants into legal status\". In a 2007 interview, Gravel identified himself as \"very much of a globalist\" who believed in open markets and open borders and condemned the scapegoating of undocumented immigrants. Gravel also said that he favored eliminating the cap on H1B visas. As a senator from Alaska, Gravel favored drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but opposed it during his 2008 campaign.","As a senator from Alaska, Gravel favored drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but opposed it during his 2008 campaign. In 2008, Gravel supported a carbon tax to combat climate change. Gravel spoke in favor of net neutrality during his presidential campaign. Education and health care Gravel called for the cost of college tuition to be borne by the federal government, rather than students.","Education and health care Gravel called for the cost of college tuition to be borne by the federal government, rather than students. In his 2008 campaign, he called the No Child Left Behind Act \"a failure\" and called for it to be \"reformed and fully funded\". He expressed support for universal pre-kindergarten and the expansion of the Head Start program; and expressed an openness to charter schools and school vouchers. He also suggested extending the school day and the school year, and supported merit pay for teachers.","He also suggested extending the school day and the school year, and supported merit pay for teachers. Gravel also called for publicly funded universal health care to replace the current employer-sponsored health insurance system. He supported \"full funding\" of the VA system. When asked in 2007 about naturopathy, homeopathy, and acupuncture, Gravel said that he was \"very very much in favor\" of holistic health care. Awards and honors In 2008 Gravel received the Columbia University School of General Studies' first annual Isaac Asimov Lifetime Achievement Award.","Awards and honors In 2008 Gravel received the Columbia University School of General Studies' first annual Isaac Asimov Lifetime Achievement Award. Electoral history Writings Gravel, Mike. Jobs and More Jobs. Mt. McKinley Publishers, 1968. Gravel, Mike. Citizen Power: A People's Platform. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1972. . revised and reissued as Citizen Power: A Mandate for Change, AuthorHouse, 2008. . Gravel, Mike and Lauria, Joe.","Gravel, Mike and Lauria, Joe. Gravel, Mike and Lauria, Joe. A Political Odyssey: The Rise of American Militarism and One Man's Fight to Stop It. Seven Stories Press, 2008. . Gravel, Mike and Eisenbach, David. The Kingmakers: How the Media Threatens Our Security and Our Democracy. Phoenix Books, 2008. . Gravel, Mike. Voice of a Maverick: The Speeches and Writings of Senator Mike Gravel. Brandywine House, 2008. Gravel, Mike.","Brandywine House, 2008. Gravel, Mike. Gravel, Mike. Foreword to Poisoned Power: The Case Against Nuclear Power Plants. John W. Goffman & Arthur R. Tamplin, Rodale Press, Inc., Emmaus, PA, June 1971. Gravel, Mike. The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People. AuthorHouse, 2020. Explanatory notes References Citations General references The Pentagon Papers Senator Gravel Edition. Vol. Five: Critical Essays. Boston: Beacon Press, 1972. 341p. plus 72p.","Five: Critical Essays. Boston: Beacon Press, 1972. 341p. plus 72p. plus 72p. of Index to Vol. I–IV of the Papers; Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, editors.","I–IV of the Papers; Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, editors. External links Mike Gravel official website The Gravel Institute |- |- 1930 births 2021 deaths 1972 United States vice-presidential candidates 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American politicians 20th-century Roman Catholics 20th-century Unitarians 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American politicians 21st-century Unitarians 9/11 conspiracy theorists Alaska Democrats American International College alumni American Unitarian Universalists American anti–Iraq War activists American conspiracy theorists American democracy activists American male non-fiction writers American people of French-Canadian descent American political writers American real estate businesspeople American stockbrokers Anti-corporate activists Assumption University (Worcester) alumni Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Businesspeople from Anchorage, Alaska Businesspeople from Springfield, Massachusetts California Democrats Candidates in the 2008 United States presidential election Candidates in the 2020 United States presidential election Columbia University School of General Studies alumni Deaths from cancer in California Deaths from multiple myeloma Democratic Party United States senators Direct democracy activists Drug policy reform activists Former Roman Catholics Virginia Libertarians Members of the Alaska House of Representatives Military personnel from Massachusetts Non-interventionism People from Arlington County, Virginia People from Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska People with dyslexia Politicians from Anchorage, Alaska Politicians from Springfield, Massachusetts Speakers of the Alaska House of Representatives United States Army officers United States senators from Alaska Writers about direct democracy Writers from Anchorage, Alaska"],"string":"[\n \"Maurice Robert Gravel ( ; May 13, 1930 – June 26, 2021) was an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Alaska from 1969 to 1981 as a member of the Democratic Party, and who, in later life, twice ran for the presidential nomination of that party. Born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, by French-Canadian immigrant parents, Gravel moved to Alaska in the late 1950s, becoming a real estate developer and entering politics.\",\n \"Born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, by French-Canadian immigrant parents, Gravel moved to Alaska in the late 1950s, becoming a real estate developer and entering politics. He served in the Alaska House of Representatives from 1963 to 1967, and also became Speaker of the Alaska House. Gravel was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1968.\",\n \"Gravel was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1968. Gravel was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1968. As a senator, Gravel became nationally known for his forceful, but unsuccessful, attempts to end the draft during the War in Vietnam, and for putting the Pentagon Papers into the public record in 1971. He conducted a campaign for the Democratic nomination in 1972 for Vice President of the United States, and then played a crucial role in obtaining Congressional approval for the Trans-Alaska pipeline in 1973.\",\n \"He conducted a campaign for the Democratic nomination in 1972 for Vice President of the United States, and then played a crucial role in obtaining Congressional approval for the Trans-Alaska pipeline in 1973. He was re-elected to the Senate in 1974, but was defeated in his bid for a third term in the primary election in 1980. An advocate of direct democracy and the National Initiative, Gravel staged a run for the 2008 Democratic nomination for President of the United States.\",\n \"An advocate of direct democracy and the National Initiative, Gravel staged a run for the 2008 Democratic nomination for President of the United States. His campaign failed to gain support, and in March 2008, he left the Democratic Party and joined the Libertarian Party to compete unsuccessfully for its presidential nomination and the inclusion of the National Initiative into the Libertarian Platform. He ran for president as a Democrat again in the 2020 election, in a campaign that ended four months after it began.\",\n \"He ran for president as a Democrat again in the 2020 election, in a campaign that ended four months after it began. Two years before his death, Gravel and his campaign staff founded the progressive think tank The Gravel Institute. Early life, military service, education Gravel was born on May 13, 1930, in Springfield, Massachusetts, one of five children of French-Canadian immigrant parents, Alphonse and Marie (née Bourassa) Gravel.\",\n \"Early life, military service, education Gravel was born on May 13, 1930, in Springfield, Massachusetts, one of five children of French-Canadian immigrant parents, Alphonse and Marie (née Bourassa) Gravel. His parents were part of the Quebec diaspora, and he was raised in a working-class neighborhood during the Great Depression, speaking only French until he was seven years old. Calling him \\\"Mike\\\" from an early age, his father valued work above all else, while his mother stressed the importance of education.\",\n \"Calling him \\\"Mike\\\" from an early age, his father valued work above all else, while his mother stressed the importance of education. Gravel was educated in parochial schools as a Roman Catholic. There he struggled, due to what he later said was undiagnosed dyslexia, and was left back in third grade. He completed elementary school in 1945 and his class voted him \\\"most charming personality\\\".\",\n \"He completed elementary school in 1945 and his class voted him \\\"most charming personality\\\". A summer job as a soda jerk led to Gravel handing out campaign fliers for local candidates on his boss's behalf; Gravel was immediately impressed with \\\"the awesomeness of political office\\\". Gravel then boarded at Assumption Preparatory School in Worcester, Massachusetts, where his performance was initially mediocre.\",\n \"Gravel then boarded at Assumption Preparatory School in Worcester, Massachusetts, where his performance was initially mediocre. By Gravel's telling, in the summer of 1948 he intended to volunteer for the Israel Defense Forces during the 1947–1949 Palestine war, but Alexandra Tolstaya told him to return to school. There an English teacher, the Assumptionist Edgar Bourque, gave him personal attention, improving Gravel's language skills and instructing him in public speaking. Gravel's grades improved measurably in his final year and he graduated in 1949.\",\n \"Gravel's grades improved measurably in his final year and he graduated in 1949. His sister, Marguerite, became a Holy Cross nun, but Gravel himself struggled with the Catholic faith. He studied for one year at Assumption College, a Catholic school in Worcester, then transferred for his sophomore year to American International College in Springfield. Journalist I. F. Stone and philosopher Bertrand Russell strongly influenced Gravel in their willingness to challenge assumptions and oppose social convention and political authority.\",\n \"Journalist I. F. Stone and philosopher Bertrand Russell strongly influenced Gravel in their willingness to challenge assumptions and oppose social convention and political authority. Around May 1951, Gravel saw that he was about to be drafted and instead enlisted in the U.S. Army for a three-year term so that he could get into the Counterintelligence Corps. After basic training and counterintelligence school at Fort Holabird in Maryland and in South Carolina, he went to Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia.\",\n \"After basic training and counterintelligence school at Fort Holabird in Maryland and in South Carolina, he went to Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia. While he expected to be sent off to the Korean War when he graduated as a second lieutenant in early 1952, he was instead assigned to Stuttgart, West Germany, as a Special Adjutant in the Army's Communications Intelligence Service. In Germany, Gravel conducted surveillance operations on civilians and paid off spies.\",\n \"In Germany, Gravel conducted surveillance operations on civilians and paid off spies. After about a year, he transferred to Orléans, France, where his French language abilities (if not his French-Canadian accent) allowed him to infiltrate French communist rallies. He worked as a Special Agent in the Counterintelligence Corps until 1954, eventually becoming a first lieutenant. Following his discharge, Gravel entered the Columbia University School of General Studies in New York City, where he studied economics and received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1956.\",\n \"Following his discharge, Gravel entered the Columbia University School of General Studies in New York City, where he studied economics and received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1956. He moved to New York \\\"flat broke\\\" and supported himself by working as a bar boy in a hotel, driving a taxicab, and working in the investment bond department at Bankers Trust. During this time he left the Roman Catholic faith.\",\n \"During this time he left the Roman Catholic faith. During this time he left the Roman Catholic faith. Move to Alaska Gravel \\\"decided to become a pioneer in a faraway place,\\\" and moved to pre-statehood Alaska in August 1956, without funds or a job, looking for a place where someone without social or political connections could be a viable candidate for public office.\",\n \"Move to Alaska Gravel \\\"decided to become a pioneer in a faraway place,\\\" and moved to pre-statehood Alaska in August 1956, without funds or a job, looking for a place where someone without social or political connections could be a viable candidate for public office. Alaska's voting age of 19, less than most other states' 21, played a role in his decision, as did its newness and cooler climate. Broke when he arrived, he immediately found work in real estate sales until winter arrived.\",\n \"Broke when he arrived, he immediately found work in real estate sales until winter arrived. Gravel then was employed as a brakeman for the Alaska Railroad, working the snow-clearing train on the Anchorage-to-Fairbanks run. Subsequently, he opened a small real estate brokerage in Anchorage (the Territory of Alaska not requiring a license) and saved enough so as not to have to work the railroad again. The firm was named the M. R. Gravel Real Estate Company.\",\n \"The firm was named the M. R. Gravel Real Estate Company. Gravel joined the Anchorage Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, and continued a sporadic relationship with the movement throughout his life. Seeing Alaska as a wide-open place with no political establishment or entrenched interests, Gravel quickly became part of the civic scene there. By October 1957 he was a Division Chairman for Anchorage for the Democratic Central Committee in the territory, and by June 1958 he was president of the Alaska Young Democrats organization.\",\n \"By October 1957 he was a Division Chairman for Anchorage for the Democratic Central Committee in the territory, and by June 1958 he was president of the Alaska Young Democrats organization. He also became active in the United States Junior Chamber (Jaycees), and by early 1958 his duties included handing out awards for farmer of the year. By early 1958, Gravel was running as Democratic Party primary candidate for a Third Division seat in House of Representative of the territorial legislature.\",\n \"By early 1958, Gravel was running as Democratic Party primary candidate for a Third Division seat in House of Representative of the territorial legislature. (This was one of the four judicial divisions into which Alaska was sectioned at the time.) Using the slogan \\\"Gravel, the Roadbed to Prosperity\\\", he ran but lost. At the same time, he was also an advocate for Alaskan statehood.\",\n \"At the same time, he was also an advocate for Alaskan statehood. Gravel went on a 44-state national speaking tour concerning tax reform in 1959, sponsored by the Jaycees, often dressing for events as Paul Revere. Gravel was selected from some two thousand applications for this position. The tour received a good amount of local newspaper coverage at its various stops, with Gravel's first name sometimes given as Mike and other times as Maurice.\",\n \"The tour received a good amount of local newspaper coverage at its various stops, with Gravel's first name sometimes given as Mike and other times as Maurice. The tour's general message was an urging of \\\"lower taxes, more efficiency in government and a system of taxation moderate at all levels of income\\\". At several stops Gravel stated that the \\\"tide of socialism\\\" had to be stopped.\",\n \"At several stops Gravel stated that the \\\"tide of socialism\\\" had to be stopped. He elaborated at another stop, \\\"It is part of our Jaycee creed that economic justice can best be won by free men through free enterprise. We really want to see that free enterprise become our inheritance.\\\"\",\n \"We really want to see that free enterprise become our inheritance.\\\" The tour was scheduled to conclude in Washington D.C., on Tax Day, April 15, with petition signatures accumulated for reform to be presented to U.S. lawmakers: dressed as Revere, Gravel rode with the petition to the steps of the U.S. Capitol. The tour over, Gravel married Rita Jeannette Martin at the First Methodist Church of Anchorage on April 29, 1959.\",\n \"The tour over, Gravel married Rita Jeannette Martin at the First Methodist Church of Anchorage on April 29, 1959. She was a native of Montana who had attended Billings Business College before moving to Alaska two years prior and becoming a secretary in the office of the Anchorage city manager. She had also been named Anchorage's \\\"Miss Fur Rendezvous\\\" of 1958. They had two children, Martin Anthony Gravel and Lynne Denise Gravel, born c. 1960 and 1962 respectively.\",\n \"They had two children, Martin Anthony Gravel and Lynne Denise Gravel, born c. 1960 and 1962 respectively. Gravel ran without avail for the City Council in Anchorage in 1960. During this time, he had become a successful real estate agent; after the 1960 election, he became a property developer in a mobile home park on the outskirts of Anchorage. After a partner ran into financial difficulty, however, the project went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and Gravel was forced out in 1962.\",\n \"After a partner ran into financial difficulty, however, the project went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and Gravel was forced out in 1962. State legislator With the support of Alaska wholesale grocer Barney Gottstein and supermarket builder Larry Carr, Gravel ran for the Alaska House of Representatives representing Anchorage in 1962, initially assigned the 10th and then 8th districts.\",\n \"State legislator With the support of Alaska wholesale grocer Barney Gottstein and supermarket builder Larry Carr, Gravel ran for the Alaska House of Representatives representing Anchorage in 1962, initially assigned the 10th and then 8th districts. Alaska had very crowded primaries that year: Gravel was one of 33 Democrats, along with 21 Republicans, who were running for the chance to compete for the 14 House seats allocated to the 8th district.\",\n \"Alaska had very crowded primaries that year: Gravel was one of 33 Democrats, along with 21 Republicans, who were running for the chance to compete for the 14 House seats allocated to the 8th district. Gravel made it through the primary, and in November eight Republicans and six Democrats were elected to the House from the district, with Gravel finishing eighth overall and third among with Democrats, with 8,174 votes. Gottstein became Gravel's main financial backer during most of his subsequent campaigns.\",\n \"Gottstein became Gravel's main financial backer during most of his subsequent campaigns. Gravel served in the Alaska House of Representatives from January 28, 1963 to January 22, 1967, winning reelection in 1964. In his first term, he served as a minority member on two House committees: Commerce, and Labor and Management. He co-authored and sponsored the act that created the Alaska State Commission for Human Rights.\",\n \"He co-authored and sponsored the act that created the Alaska State Commission for Human Rights. Gravel was the chief architect of the law that created a regional high school system for rural Alaska; this allowed Alaska Natives to attend schools near where they lived instead of having to go to schools run by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the lower 48 states. During the half-years that the legislature was not in session, Gravel resumed his real estate work.\",\n \"During the half-years that the legislature was not in session, Gravel resumed his real estate work. With Gottstein and Carr's backing, he became quite successful as a property developer on the Kenai Peninsula. During 1965 and 1966, he served as the Speaker of the House, surprising observers by winning that post. Gravel convinced former Speaker Warren A. Taylor to not try for the position against him by promising Taylor chairmanship of the Rules Committee, then reneged on the promise.\",\n \"Gravel convinced former Speaker Warren A. Taylor to not try for the position against him by promising Taylor chairmanship of the Rules Committee, then reneged on the promise. Gravel denied later press charges that he had promised but not delivered on other committee chairmanships. As Speaker he antagonized fellow lawmakers by imposing his will on the legislature's committees and feuded with Alaska State Senate president Robert J. McNealy.\",\n \"As Speaker he antagonized fellow lawmakers by imposing his will on the legislature's committees and feuded with Alaska State Senate president Robert J. McNealy. Gravel did not run for reelection in 1966, instead choosing to run for Alaska's seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, losing the primary to four-term incumbent Democrat Ralph Rivers by 1,300 votes and splitting the Democratic Party in the process. Rivers lost the general election that year to Republican state Senator Howard Pollock. Following this defeat, Gravel returned to the real estate business in Anchorage.\",\n \"Following this defeat, Gravel returned to the real estate business in Anchorage. U.S. Senator Election to Senate in 1968 In 1968, Gravel ran against 81-year-old incumbent Democratic United States Senator Ernest Gruening, a popular former governor of the Alaska Territory who was considered one of the fathers of Alaska's statehood, for his party's nomination to the U.S. Senate. Gravel's campaign was primarily based on his youth and telegenic appearance rather than issue differences. He hired Joseph Napolitan, the first self-described political consultant, in late 1966.\",\n \"He hired Joseph Napolitan, the first self-described political consultant, in late 1966. They spent over a year and a half planning a short, nine-day primary election campaign that featured the slogans \\\"Alaska first\\\" and \\\"Let's do something about the state we're in\\\", the distribution of a collection of essays titled Jobs and More Jobs, and the creation of a half-hour, well-produced, glamorized biographical film of Gravel, Man for Alaska.\",\n \"They spent over a year and a half planning a short, nine-day primary election campaign that featured the slogans \\\"Alaska first\\\" and \\\"Let's do something about the state we're in\\\", the distribution of a collection of essays titled Jobs and More Jobs, and the creation of a half-hour, well-produced, glamorized biographical film of Gravel, Man for Alaska. The film was shown twice a day on every television station in Alaska, and carried by plane and shown on home projectors in hundreds of Alaska Native villages.\",\n \"The film was shown twice a day on every television station in Alaska, and carried by plane and shown on home projectors in hundreds of Alaska Native villages. The heavy showings quickly reversed a 2–to–1 Gruening lead in polls into a Gravel lead. Gravel visited many remote villages by seaplane and showed a thorough understanding of the needs of the bush country and the fishing and oil industries. Gravel also benefited from maintaining a deliberately ambiguous posture about Vietnam policy.\",\n \"Gravel also benefited from maintaining a deliberately ambiguous posture about Vietnam policy. Gruening had been one of only two Senators to vote against the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and his opposition to President Lyndon B. Johnson's war policies was harming him among the Democratic electorate; according to Gravel, \\\"all I had to do was stand up and not deal with the subject, and people would assume that I was to the right of Ernest Gruening, when in point of fact I was to the left of him\\\".\",\n \"Gruening had been one of only two Senators to vote against the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and his opposition to President Lyndon B. Johnson's war policies was harming him among the Democratic electorate; according to Gravel, \\\"all I had to do was stand up and not deal with the subject, and people would assume that I was to the right of Ernest Gruening, when in point of fact I was to the left of him\\\". In Man for Alaska, Gravel argued that \\\"the liberals\\\" would come to West Germany's defense if it was attacked, and that the same standard should apply to the United States' allies in Asia.\",\n \"In Man for Alaska, Gravel argued that \\\"the liberals\\\" would come to West Germany's defense if it was attacked, and that the same standard should apply to the United States' allies in Asia. During the campaign he also claimed that he was \\\"more in the mainstream of American thought on Vietnam\\\" than Gruening, despite the fact that he had written to Gruening to praise his antiwar stance four years earlier.\",\n \"During the campaign he also claimed that he was \\\"more in the mainstream of American thought on Vietnam\\\" than Gruening, despite the fact that he had written to Gruening to praise his antiwar stance four years earlier. Decades later, Gravel conceded that \\\"I said what I said [about Vietnam] to advance my career.\\\" Gravel beat Gruening in the primary by about 2,000 votes. Gruening found \\\"the unexpected defeat hard to take\\\" and thought that some aspects of his opponent's biographical film had misled viewers.\",\n \"Gruening found \\\"the unexpected defeat hard to take\\\" and thought that some aspects of his opponent's biographical film had misled viewers. In the general election, Gravel faced Republican Elmer E. Rasmuson, a banker and former mayor of Anchorage. College students in the state implored Gruening to run a write-in campaign as an Independent, but legal battles prevented him from getting approval for it until only two weeks were left.\",\n \"College students in the state implored Gruening to run a write-in campaign as an Independent, but legal battles prevented him from getting approval for it until only two weeks were left. A late appearance by anti-war presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy did not offset Gruening's lack of funds and endorsements; meanwhile, Gravel and Rasmuson both saturated local media with their filmed biographies. On November 5, 1968, Gravel won the general election with 45 percent of the vote to Rasmuson's 37 percent and Gruening's 18 percent.\",\n \"On November 5, 1968, Gravel won the general election with 45 percent of the vote to Rasmuson's 37 percent and Gruening's 18 percent. Senate assignments and style When Gravel joined the U.S.Senate in January 1969, he requested and received a seat on the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee, which had direct relevance to Alaskan issues. He also got a spot on the Public Works Committee, which he held throughout his time in the Senate. Finally, he was a member of the Select Committee on Small Business.\",\n \"Finally, he was a member of the Select Committee on Small Business. In 1971 he became chair of the Public Works Committee's Subcommittee on Public Buildings and Grounds, and by 1973 he was chair of its Subcommittee on Water Resources, then later its Subcommittee on Environmental Pollution. Gravel was also initially named to the Joint Committee on Congressional Operations.\",\n \"Gravel was also initially named to the Joint Committee on Congressional Operations. By 1973 Gravel was off the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee and the Select Small Business Committee and instead a member of the Finance Committee, and by 1977 was chair of that body's Subcommittee on Energy and Foundations. By 1973 he had also been on the ad hoc Special Committee to Study Secret and Confidential Government Documents.\",\n \"By 1973 he had also been on the ad hoc Special Committee to Study Secret and Confidential Government Documents. By his own admission, Gravel was too new and \\\"too abrasive\\\" to be effective in the Senate by the usual means of seniority-based committee assignments or negotiating deals with other senators, and was sometimes seen as arrogant or a nuisance by the more senior and tradition-oriented members. Gravel relied on attention-getting gestures to achieve what he wanted, hoping national exposure would force other senators to listen to him.\",\n \"Gravel relied on attention-getting gestures to achieve what he wanted, hoping national exposure would force other senators to listen to him. But even senators who agreed with him on issues considered his methods to be showboating. As part of this approach, Gravel voted with Southern Democrats to keep the Senate filibuster rule in place, and accordingly supported Russell Long and Robert Byrd but opposed Ted Kennedy in Senate leadership battles.\",\n \"As part of this approach, Gravel voted with Southern Democrats to keep the Senate filibuster rule in place, and accordingly supported Russell Long and Robert Byrd but opposed Ted Kennedy in Senate leadership battles. In retrospective assessment, University of Alaska Anchorage history professor Stephen Haycox said, \\\"Loose cannon is a good description of Gravel's Senate career. He was an off-the-wall guy, and you weren't really ever sure what he would do.\\\"\",\n \"He was an off-the-wall guy, and you weren't really ever sure what he would do.\\\" Nuclear issues and the Cold War In the late 1960s and early 1970s the U.S. Department of Defense was in the process of performing tests for the nuclear warhead for the Spartan anti-ballistic missile. Two tests, the \\\"Milrow\\\" and \\\"Cannikin\\\" tests, were planned, involving the detonation of nuclear bombs under Amchitka Island in Alaska.\",\n \"Two tests, the \\\"Milrow\\\" and \\\"Cannikin\\\" tests, were planned, involving the detonation of nuclear bombs under Amchitka Island in Alaska. The Milrow test would be a one-megaton calibration exercise for the second and larger five-megaton Cannikin test, which would measure the effectiveness of the warhead. Gravel opposed the tests.\",\n \"Gravel opposed the tests. Gravel opposed the tests. Before the Milrow test took place in October 1969, he wrote that there were significant risks of earthquakes and other adverse consequences and called for an independent national commission on nuclear and seismic safety; he then made a personal appeal to President Richard Nixon to stop the test. After Milrow was conducted, there was continued pressure on the part of environmental groups against going forward with the Cannikin test, while the Federation of American Scientists claimed that the warhead being tested was already obsolete.\",\n \"After Milrow was conducted, there was continued pressure on the part of environmental groups against going forward with the Cannikin test, while the Federation of American Scientists claimed that the warhead being tested was already obsolete. In May 1971 Gravel sent a letter to U.S. Atomic Energy Commission hearings held in Anchorage in which he said the risk of the test was not worth taking.\",\n \"In May 1971 Gravel sent a letter to U.S. Atomic Energy Commission hearings held in Anchorage in which he said the risk of the test was not worth taking. Eventually a group not involving Gravel took the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to issue an injunction against it, and the Cannikin test took place as scheduled in November 1971. Gravel had failed to stop the tests (notwithstanding his later claims during his 2008 presidential campaign).\",\n \"Gravel had failed to stop the tests (notwithstanding his later claims during his 2008 presidential campaign). In 1971 Gravel voted against the Nixon administration's proposed anti-ballistic missile system, the Safeguard Program, having previously vacillated over the issue, suggesting that he might be willing to support it in exchange for federal lands in Alaska being opened up for private oil drilling. His vote alienated Senator Henry \\\"Scoop\\\" Jackson, who had raised funds for Gravel's primary campaign.\",\n \"His vote alienated Senator Henry \\\"Scoop\\\" Jackson, who had raised funds for Gravel's primary campaign. Nuclear power was considered an environmentally clean alternative for commercial generation of electricity and was part of a popular national policy for the peaceful use of atomic energy in the 1950s and 1960s.\",\n \"Nuclear power was considered an environmentally clean alternative for commercial generation of electricity and was part of a popular national policy for the peaceful use of atomic energy in the 1950s and 1960s. Gravel publicly opposed this policy; besides the dangers of nuclear testing, he was a vocal critic of the Atomic Energy Commission, which oversaw American nuclear efforts, and of the powerful United States Congress Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, which had a stranglehold on nuclear policy and which Gravel tried to circumvent.\",\n \"Gravel publicly opposed this policy; besides the dangers of nuclear testing, he was a vocal critic of the Atomic Energy Commission, which oversaw American nuclear efforts, and of the powerful United States Congress Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, which had a stranglehold on nuclear policy and which Gravel tried to circumvent. In 1971 Gravel sponsored a bill to impose a moratorium on nuclear power plant construction and to make power utilities liable for any nuclear accidents; in 1975 he was still proposing similar moratoriums.\",\n \"In 1971 Gravel sponsored a bill to impose a moratorium on nuclear power plant construction and to make power utilities liable for any nuclear accidents; in 1975 he was still proposing similar moratoriums. By 1974 Gravel was allied with Ralph Nader's organization in opposing nuclear power. Six months before U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's July 1971 secret mission to the People's Republic of China (P.R.C. ), Gravel introduced legislation to recognize and normalize relations with the P.R.C., including a proposal for unity talks between the P.R.C.\",\n \"), Gravel introduced legislation to recognize and normalize relations with the P.R.C., including a proposal for unity talks between the P.R.C. and the Republic of China (Taiwan) regarding the Chinese seat on the U.N. Security Council. He reiterated his position in favor of recognition, with four other senators in agreement, during Senate hearings in June 1971.\",\n \"He reiterated his position in favor of recognition, with four other senators in agreement, during Senate hearings in June 1971. Vietnam War, the draft, and the Pentagon Papers Although he did not campaign against the Vietnam War during his first Senate campaign, by the end of 1970 Gravel was speaking out against United States policy in southeast Asia: in December of that year he persuaded William Fulbright to join him in a spontaneous two-day filibuster against a $155 million military aid package to Cambodia's Khmer Republic government in the Cambodian Civil War.\",\n \"Vietnam War, the draft, and the Pentagon Papers Although he did not campaign against the Vietnam War during his first Senate campaign, by the end of 1970 Gravel was speaking out against United States policy in southeast Asia: in December of that year he persuaded William Fulbright to join him in a spontaneous two-day filibuster against a $155 million military aid package to Cambodia's Khmer Republic government in the Cambodian Civil War. President Richard Nixon had campaigned in 1968 on a promise to end the U.S. military draft, a decision endorsed by the February 1970 report of the Gates Commission.\",\n \"President Richard Nixon had campaigned in 1968 on a promise to end the U.S. military draft, a decision endorsed by the February 1970 report of the Gates Commission. The existing draft law was scheduled to conclude at the end of June 1971, and the Senate faced a contentious debate about whether to extend it as the Vietnam War continued.\",\n \"The existing draft law was scheduled to conclude at the end of June 1971, and the Senate faced a contentious debate about whether to extend it as the Vietnam War continued. The Nixon administration announced in February 1971 that it wanted a two-year extension to June 1973, after which the draft would end; Army planners had already been operating under the assumption of a two-year extension, after which an all-volunteer force would be in place.\",\n \"The Nixon administration announced in February 1971 that it wanted a two-year extension to June 1973, after which the draft would end; Army planners had already been operating under the assumption of a two-year extension, after which an all-volunteer force would be in place. Skeptics such as Senate Armed Services Committee chairman John Stennis thought this unrealistic and wanted a four-year extension, but the two-year proposal is what went forward in Congress.\",\n \"Skeptics such as Senate Armed Services Committee chairman John Stennis thought this unrealistic and wanted a four-year extension, but the two-year proposal is what went forward in Congress. By early May 1971, Gravel had indicated his intention to filibuster the draft renewal legislation, halting conscription and thereby bringing U.S. involvement in the war to a rapid end.\",\n \"By early May 1971, Gravel had indicated his intention to filibuster the draft renewal legislation, halting conscription and thereby bringing U.S. involvement in the war to a rapid end. During this period he also supported efforts to mobilize and influence public opinion against the war, endorsing the \\\"Vietnam War Out Now\\\" rallies in Washington D.C. and San Francisco on April 24, 1971, and financing a broadcast campaign by the antiwar group War No More with a personal loan.\",\n \"During this period he also supported efforts to mobilize and influence public opinion against the war, endorsing the \\\"Vietnam War Out Now\\\" rallies in Washington D.C. and San Francisco on April 24, 1971, and financing a broadcast campaign by the antiwar group War No More with a personal loan. In June 1972 he escorted a group of over 100 antiwar protesters, including psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton, actress Candice Bergen, theater producer and director Joseph Papp, and peditrician Dr. Benjamin Spock, into the United States Capitol Building; the group was arrested after blocking a hallway outside the Senate chamber.\",\n \"In June 1972 he escorted a group of over 100 antiwar protesters, including psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton, actress Candice Bergen, theater producer and director Joseph Papp, and peditrician Dr. Benjamin Spock, into the United States Capitol Building; the group was arrested after blocking a hallway outside the Senate chamber. By June 1971, some Democratic senators opposed to the war wanted to limit the renewal to a one-year extension, while others wanted to end it immediately; Gravel reiterated that he was one of the latter, saying, \\\"It's a senseless war, and one way to do away with it is to do away with the draft.\\\"\",\n \"By June 1971, some Democratic senators opposed to the war wanted to limit the renewal to a one-year extension, while others wanted to end it immediately; Gravel reiterated that he was one of the latter, saying, \\\"It's a senseless war, and one way to do away with it is to do away with the draft.\\\" A Senate vote on June 4 indicated majority support for the two-year extension.\",\n \"A Senate vote on June 4 indicated majority support for the two-year extension. On June 18 Gravel announced again his intention to counteract that by filibustering the renewal legislation, defending the practice against those who associated it only with blocking civil rights legislation. The first filibuster attempt failed on June 23 when, by three votes, the Senate voted cloture for only the fifth time since 1927.\",\n \"The first filibuster attempt failed on June 23 when, by three votes, the Senate voted cloture for only the fifth time since 1927. Protracted negotiations took place over House conference negotiations on the bill, revolving in large part around Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield's eventually unsuccessful amendment to tie renewal to a troop withdrawal timetable from Vietnam; during this time the draft law expired and no more were conscripted.\",\n \"Protracted negotiations took place over House conference negotiations on the bill, revolving in large part around Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield's eventually unsuccessful amendment to tie renewal to a troop withdrawal timetable from Vietnam; during this time the draft law expired and no more were conscripted. On August 5, the Nixon administration pleaded for a renewal before the Senate went on recess, but Gravel blocked Stennis's attempt to limit debate, and no vote was held.\",\n \"On August 5, the Nixon administration pleaded for a renewal before the Senate went on recess, but Gravel blocked Stennis's attempt to limit debate, and no vote was held. Finally on September 21, 1971, the Senate invoked cloture over Gravel's second filibuster attempt by one vote, and then passed the two-year draft extension.\",\n \"Finally on September 21, 1971, the Senate invoked cloture over Gravel's second filibuster attempt by one vote, and then passed the two-year draft extension. Gravel's attempts to stop the draft had failed (notwithstanding Gravel's later claims that he had stopped or shortened the draft, taken at face value in some media reports, during his 2008 presidential campaign). Meanwhile, on June 13, 1971, The New York Times began printing large portions of the Pentagon Papers.\",\n \"Meanwhile, on June 13, 1971, The New York Times began printing large portions of the Pentagon Papers. The papers were a large collection of secret government documents and studies pertaining to the Vietnam War, of which former Defense Department analyst Daniel Ellsberg had made unauthorized copies and was determined to make public.\",\n \"The papers were a large collection of secret government documents and studies pertaining to the Vietnam War, of which former Defense Department analyst Daniel Ellsberg had made unauthorized copies and was determined to make public. Ellsberg had for a year and a half approached members of Congress – such as William Fulbright, George McGovern, Charles Mathias, and Pete McCloskey – about publishing the documents, on the grounds that the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution would give congressional members immunity from prosecution, but all had refused.\",\n \"Ellsberg had for a year and a half approached members of Congress – such as William Fulbright, George McGovern, Charles Mathias, and Pete McCloskey – about publishing the documents, on the grounds that the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution would give congressional members immunity from prosecution, but all had refused. Instead, Ellsberg gave the documents to the Times. The U.S. Justice Department immediately tried to halt publication, on the grounds that the information revealed within the papers harmed the national interest.\",\n \"The U.S. Justice Department immediately tried to halt publication, on the grounds that the information revealed within the papers harmed the national interest. Within the next two weeks, a federal court injunction halted publication in the Times; The Washington Post and several other newspapers began publishing parts of the documents, with some of them also being halted by injunctions; and the whole matter went to the U.S. Supreme Court for arguments.\",\n \"Within the next two weeks, a federal court injunction halted publication in the Times; The Washington Post and several other newspapers began publishing parts of the documents, with some of them also being halted by injunctions; and the whole matter went to the U.S. Supreme Court for arguments. Looking for an alternate publication mechanism, Ellsberg returned to his idea of having a member of Congress read them, and chose Gravel based on the latter's efforts against the draft; Gravel agreed where previously others had not.\",\n \"Looking for an alternate publication mechanism, Ellsberg returned to his idea of having a member of Congress read them, and chose Gravel based on the latter's efforts against the draft; Gravel agreed where previously others had not. Ellsberg arranged for the papers to be given to Gravel on June 26 via an intermediary, Post editor Ben Bagdikian.\",\n \"Ellsberg arranged for the papers to be given to Gravel on June 26 via an intermediary, Post editor Ben Bagdikian. Gravel used his counter-intelligence experience to choose a midnight transfer in front of the Mayflower Hotel in the center of Washington, D.C. On the night of June 29, 1971, Gravel attempted to read the papers on the floor of the Senate as part of his filibuster against the draft, but was thwarted when no quorum could be formed. Gravel instead convened a session of the Buildings and Grounds subcommittee that he chaired.\",\n \"Gravel instead convened a session of the Buildings and Grounds subcommittee that he chaired. He got New York Congressman John G. Dow to testify that the war had soaked up funding for public buildings, thus making discussion of the war relevant to the committee.\",\n \"He got New York Congressman John G. Dow to testify that the war had soaked up funding for public buildings, thus making discussion of the war relevant to the committee. He began reading from the papers with the press in attendance, omitting supporting documents that he felt might compromise national security, and declaring, \\\"It is my constitutional obligation to protect the security of the people by fostering the free flow of information absolutely essential to their democratic decision-making.\\\"\",\n \"He began reading from the papers with the press in attendance, omitting supporting documents that he felt might compromise national security, and declaring, \\\"It is my constitutional obligation to protect the security of the people by fostering the free flow of information absolutely essential to their democratic decision-making.\\\" He read until 1 a.m., culminating by saying \\\"Arms are being severed. Metal is clashing through human bodies because of the public policy this government and all its branches continue to support.\\\"\",\n \"Metal is clashing through human bodies because of the public policy this government and all its branches continue to support.\\\" Then with tears and sobs he said that he could no longer physically continue, the previous three nights of sleeplessness and fear about the future having taken their toll. Gravel ended the session by, with no other senators present, establishing unanimous consent to insert 4,100 pages of the Papers into the Congressional Record of his subcommittee.\",\n \"Gravel ended the session by, with no other senators present, establishing unanimous consent to insert 4,100 pages of the Papers into the Congressional Record of his subcommittee. The following day, the Supreme Court's New York Times Co. v. United States decision ruled in favor of the newspapers and publication in the Times and others resumed. In July 1971 Bantam Books published an inexpensive paperback edition of the papers containing the material the Times had published.\",\n \"In July 1971 Bantam Books published an inexpensive paperback edition of the papers containing the material the Times had published. Gravel, too, wanted to privately publish the portion of the papers he had read into the record, believing that \\\"immediate disclosure of the contents of these papers will change the policy that supports the war\\\". After being turned down by many commercial publishers, on August 4 he reached agreement with Beacon Press, the publishing arm of the Unitarian Universalist Association, of which Gravel was a member.\",\n \"After being turned down by many commercial publishers, on August 4 he reached agreement with Beacon Press, the publishing arm of the Unitarian Universalist Association, of which Gravel was a member. Announced on August 17 and published on October 22, 1971, this four-volume, relatively expensive set became the \\\"Senator Gravel Edition\\\", which studies from Cornell University and the Annenberg Center for Communication have labeled as the most complete edition of the Pentagon Papers to be published.\",\n \"Announced on August 17 and published on October 22, 1971, this four-volume, relatively expensive set became the \\\"Senator Gravel Edition\\\", which studies from Cornell University and the Annenberg Center for Communication have labeled as the most complete edition of the Pentagon Papers to be published. The \\\"Gravel Edition\\\" was edited and annotated by Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn, and included an additional volume of analytical articles on the origins and progress of the war, also edited by Chomsky and Zinn.\",\n \"The \\\"Gravel Edition\\\" was edited and annotated by Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn, and included an additional volume of analytical articles on the origins and progress of the war, also edited by Chomsky and Zinn. Beacon Press then was subjected to a FBI investigation; an outgrowth of this was the Gravel v. United States court case, which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled upon in June 1972; it held that the Speech or Debate Clause did grant immunity to Gravel for his reading the papers in his subcommittee, did grant some immunity to Gravel's congressional aide, but granted no immunity to Beacon Press in relation to their publishing the same papers.\",\n \"Beacon Press then was subjected to a FBI investigation; an outgrowth of this was the Gravel v. United States court case, which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled upon in June 1972; it held that the Speech or Debate Clause did grant immunity to Gravel for his reading the papers in his subcommittee, did grant some immunity to Gravel's congressional aide, but granted no immunity to Beacon Press in relation to their publishing the same papers. The U.S. Senate Democratic Caucus backed Gravel in the case, but due to Republican opposition it did not pay Gravel's legal fees, leaving him owing $25,000 (the equivalent of $150,000 in 2019, adjusted for inflation).\",\n \"The U.S. Senate Democratic Caucus backed Gravel in the case, but due to Republican opposition it did not pay Gravel's legal fees, leaving him owing $25,000 (the equivalent of $150,000 in 2019, adjusted for inflation). The events of 1971 changed Gravel in the following months from an obscure freshman senator to a nationally visible political figure.\",\n \"The events of 1971 changed Gravel in the following months from an obscure freshman senator to a nationally visible political figure. He became a sought-after speaker on the college circuit as well as at political fundraisers, opportunities he welcomed as lectures were \\\"the one honest way a Senator has to supplement his income\\\". But his speaking tours caused him to accrue one of the worst absentee records in the Senate. The Democratic candidates for the 1972 presidential election sought his endorsement.\",\n \"The Democratic candidates for the 1972 presidential election sought his endorsement. In January 1972 Gravel endorsed Maine Senator Ed Muskie, hoping that his support would help Muskie with the party's left wing and in ethnic French-Canadian areas during the first primary contest in New Hampshire (Muskie won, but not overwhelmingly, and his campaign faltered soon after).\",\n \"In January 1972 Gravel endorsed Maine Senator Ed Muskie, hoping that his support would help Muskie with the party's left wing and in ethnic French-Canadian areas during the first primary contest in New Hampshire (Muskie won, but not overwhelmingly, and his campaign faltered soon after). In April 1972 Gravel appeared on all three networks' nightly newscasts to decry the Nixon administration's reliance on Vietnamization by making reference to the secret National Security Study Memorandum 1 document, which stated it would take 8–13 years for the Army of the Republic of Vietnam to defend South Vietnam.\",\n \"In April 1972 Gravel appeared on all three networks' nightly newscasts to decry the Nixon administration's reliance on Vietnamization by making reference to the secret National Security Study Memorandum 1 document, which stated it would take 8–13 years for the Army of the Republic of Vietnam to defend South Vietnam. Gravel made excerpts from the study public, but senators Robert P. Griffin and William B. Saxbe blocked his attempt to read NSSM 1 into the Congressional Record.\",\n \"Gravel made excerpts from the study public, but senators Robert P. Griffin and William B. Saxbe blocked his attempt to read NSSM 1 into the Congressional Record. Domestic policy In 1970 Gravel co-sponsored legislation to establish a guaranteed minimum income, entitling poor families to up to $6,300 a year (the equivalent of $42,000 in 2019 after adjustment for inflation).\",\n \"Domestic policy In 1970 Gravel co-sponsored legislation to establish a guaranteed minimum income, entitling poor families to up to $6,300 a year (the equivalent of $42,000 in 2019 after adjustment for inflation). He subsequently voted for a \\\"work bonus\\\" program, which would have entitled low-income working families with dependent children if they were paying Social Security or Railroad Retirement taxes to a non-taxable bonus of up to 10 percent of their wages.\",\n \"He subsequently voted for a \\\"work bonus\\\" program, which would have entitled low-income working families with dependent children if they were paying Social Security or Railroad Retirement taxes to a non-taxable bonus of up to 10 percent of their wages. Gravel also supported extending Social Security to all federal employees and introduced a campaign finance reform bill in 1971 that would have enacted full disclosure of campaign financing, placed limits on large donations, media spending and individual candidate spending.\",\n \"Gravel also supported extending Social Security to all federal employees and introduced a campaign finance reform bill in 1971 that would have enacted full disclosure of campaign financing, placed limits on large donations, media spending and individual candidate spending. In 1969, Gravel was the only Democratic Senator outside of the South to vote for Nixon's Supreme Court nominee Clement Haynsworth. The following year Gravel opposed Nixon's next pick, G. Harrold Carswell.\",\n \"The following year Gravel opposed Nixon's next pick, G. Harrold Carswell. Run for vice president in 1972 Gravel actively campaigned for the office of Vice President of the United States during the 1972 presidential election, announcing on June 2, 1972, over a month before the 1972 Democratic National Convention began, that he was interested in the nomination should the choice be opened up to convention delegates. Toward this end he began soliciting delegates for their support.\",\n \"Toward this end he began soliciting delegates for their support. He was not alone in this effort, as former Governor of Massachusetts Endicott Peabody had been running a quixotic campaign for the same post since the prior year. Likely presidential nominee George McGovern was in fact considering the unusual move of naming three or four acceptable vice-presidential candidates and letting the delegates choose. On the convention's final day, July 14, 1972, McGovern selected and announced Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri as his vice-presidential choice.\",\n \"On the convention's final day, July 14, 1972, McGovern selected and announced Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri as his vice-presidential choice. Eagleton was unknown to many delegates and the choice seemed to smack of traditional ticket balancing considerations. Thus there were delegates willing to look elsewhere. Gravel was nominated by Bettye Fahrenkamp, the Democratic National Committeewoman from Alaska. He then seconded his own nomination, breaking down in tears at his own words and maybe trying to withdraw his nomination.\",\n \"He then seconded his own nomination, breaking down in tears at his own words and maybe trying to withdraw his nomination. In any case he won 226 delegate votes, coming in third behind Eagleton and Frances \\\"Sissy\\\" Farenthold of Texas, in chaotic balloting that included several other candidates.\",\n \"In any case he won 226 delegate votes, coming in third behind Eagleton and Frances \\\"Sissy\\\" Farenthold of Texas, in chaotic balloting that included several other candidates. Gravel attracted some attention for his efforts: writer Norman Mailer said he \\\"provided considerable excitement\\\" and was \\\"good-looking enough to have played leads in B-films\\\", while Rolling Stone correspondent Hunter S. Thompson said Gravel \\\"probably said a few things that might have been worth hearing, under different circumstances\\\". Yet the process was doubly disastrous for the Democrats.\",\n \"Yet the process was doubly disastrous for the Democrats. Yet the process was doubly disastrous for the Democrats. In the time consumed by nominating and seconding and all the vice-presidential candidates' speeches, the attention of the delegates on the floor was lost and McGovern's speech was pushed to 3:30 a.m. The haste with which Eagleton was selected led to surprise when his past mental health treatments were revealed; he withdrew from the ticket soon after the convention, to be replaced by Sargent Shriver.\",\n \"The haste with which Eagleton was selected led to surprise when his past mental health treatments were revealed; he withdrew from the ticket soon after the convention, to be replaced by Sargent Shriver. Reelection to Senate in 1974 Several years earlier, Alaska politicians had speculated that Gravel would have a hard time getting both renominated and elected when his first term expired, given that he was originally elected without a base party organization and tended to focus on national rather than local issues.\",\n \"Reelection to Senate in 1974 Several years earlier, Alaska politicians had speculated that Gravel would have a hard time getting both renominated and elected when his first term expired, given that he was originally elected without a base party organization and tended to focus on national rather than local issues. Nonetheless, after receiving support from national and local labor leaders, securing key earmarks, and producing another half-hour TV advertorial, in 1974 Gravel was reelected to the Senate, with 58 percent of the vote to 42 percent for Republican State Senator C. R. Lewis, who was a national officer of the John Birch Society.\",\n \"Nonetheless, after receiving support from national and local labor leaders, securing key earmarks, and producing another half-hour TV advertorial, in 1974 Gravel was reelected to the Senate, with 58 percent of the vote to 42 percent for Republican State Senator C. R. Lewis, who was a national officer of the John Birch Society. Second term Gravel's reelection campaign left him $65,000–$75,000 in debt.\",\n \"Second term Gravel's reelection campaign left him $65,000–$75,000 in debt. In 1975 The Washington Post reported on a memo by his executive assistant laying out a fundraising strategy to tackle this, including raising funds from oil companies, meeting with previous donors and \\\"inquir[ing] into the governmental priorities of these people and their groups in the coming session\\\", as well as obtaining further speaking fees to reduce his personal debt.\",\n \"In 1975 The Washington Post reported on a memo by his executive assistant laying out a fundraising strategy to tackle this, including raising funds from oil companies, meeting with previous donors and \\\"inquir[ing] into the governmental priorities of these people and their groups in the coming session\\\", as well as obtaining further speaking fees to reduce his personal debt. This was followed by a number of stories about links between Gravel, lobbyists and fundraisers, including one that was widely publicized in Alaska about his holding a share in a Colorado resort with two Washington lobbyists he was working with on land and energy legislation.\",\n \"This was followed by a number of stories about links between Gravel, lobbyists and fundraisers, including one that was widely publicized in Alaska about his holding a share in a Colorado resort with two Washington lobbyists he was working with on land and energy legislation. Gravel had been open about the investment and had opposing views to one of the lobbyists on nuclear power.\",\n \"Gravel had been open about the investment and had opposing views to one of the lobbyists on nuclear power. In 1980 the Wall Street Journal published details about his fundraising activities, including writing to individuals and PACs in the oil industry, pledging to kill off proposals for a windfall profits tax on the sector, and traveling in the Middle East with the business partner of one of his donors to sell Alaskan land to businessmen. Gravel suggested that critics of his fundraising were \\\"naive\\\".\",\n \"Gravel suggested that critics of his fundraising were \\\"naive\\\". In 1975 Gravel introduced an amendment to cut the number of troops overseas by 200,000, but it was defeated on a voice vote. In September 1975 Gravel was named as one of several Congressional Advisers to the Seventh Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly, which met to discuss problems related to economic development and international economic cooperation. In June 1976 Gravel was the focus of a federal investigation into allegations that he was involved in a sex-for-vote arrangement.\",\n \"In June 1976 Gravel was the focus of a federal investigation into allegations that he was involved in a sex-for-vote arrangement. Congressional staff clerk Elizabeth Ray (who had already been involved in a sex scandal that led to the downfall of Representative Wayne Hays) said that in August 1972 she had sex with Gravel aboard a houseboat on the Potomac River, under the instruction of Representative Kenneth J. Gray, her boss at the time.\",\n \"Gray, her boss at the time. Gray, her boss at the time. Gray allegedly wanted to secure Gravel's support for further funding for construction of the National Visitor Center in Washington, a troubled project that was under the jurisdiction of subcommittees that both members chaired. Another Congressional staffer said she witnessed the boat encounter, but Gravel said at the time that he had never met either of the women.\",\n \"Another Congressional staffer said she witnessed the boat encounter, but Gravel said at the time that he had never met either of the women. Gravel and Gray strongly denied that they had made any arrangement regarding legislation, and neither was ever charged with any wrongdoing. Decades later Gravel wrote that he had indeed had sex with Ray, but had not changed any votes because of it.\",\n \"Decades later Gravel wrote that he had indeed had sex with Ray, but had not changed any votes because of it. Gravel and his main financial backer, Gottstein, had a falling out in 1978, during the Congressional debate over whether to allow a controversial sale of U.S. F-15 fighter aircraft to Saudi Arabia. An ardent backer of Israel, Gottstein opposed the sale and asked Gravel to vote against it. But Gravel not only voted for it but made an emotional speech attacking the anti-sale campaign.\",\n \"But Gravel not only voted for it but made an emotional speech attacking the anti-sale campaign. Gravel wrote in 2008 that it was the only time Gottstein had ever asked him for a favor, and the rupture resulted in their never speaking to each other again. Alaskan issues By 1971 Gravel was urging construction of the much-argued Trans-Alaska pipeline, addressing environmental concerns by saying that the pipeline's builders and operators should have \\\"total and absolute\\\" responsibility for any consequent environmental damage.\",\n \"Alaskan issues By 1971 Gravel was urging construction of the much-argued Trans-Alaska pipeline, addressing environmental concerns by saying that the pipeline's builders and operators should have \\\"total and absolute\\\" responsibility for any consequent environmental damage. Two years later the debate over the pipeline came to a crux, with The New York Times describing it as \\\"environmentalists [in] a holy war with the major oil companies\\\".\",\n \"Two years later the debate over the pipeline came to a crux, with The New York Times describing it as \\\"environmentalists [in] a holy war with the major oil companies\\\". In February 1973 the U.S. Court of Appeals blocked the issuance of permits for construction; Gravel and fellow Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens reacted by urging Congress to pass legislation overturning the court's decision.\",\n \"In February 1973 the U.S. Court of Appeals blocked the issuance of permits for construction; Gravel and fellow Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens reacted by urging Congress to pass legislation overturning the court's decision. Environmentalists opposed to the pipeline, such as the Environmental Defense Fund and the Sierra Club then sought to use the recently passed National Environmental Policy Act to their advantage; Gravel designed an amendment to the pipeline bill that would immunize the pipeline from any further court challenges under that law, and thus speed its construction.\",\n \"Environmentalists opposed to the pipeline, such as the Environmental Defense Fund and the Sierra Club then sought to use the recently passed National Environmental Policy Act to their advantage; Gravel designed an amendment to the pipeline bill that would immunize the pipeline from any further court challenges under that law, and thus speed its construction. Passage of the amendment became the key battle regarding the pipeline.\",\n \"Passage of the amendment became the key battle regarding the pipeline. On July 17, 1973, in a dramatic roll-call vote, the Gravel amendment was approved as a 49–49 tie was broken in favor by Vice President Spiro Agnew. The actual bill enabling the pipeline then passed easily; Gravel had triumphed in what became perhaps his most lasting accomplishment as a senator. In opposition to the Alaskan fishing industry, Gravel advocated American participation in the formation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.\",\n \"In opposition to the Alaskan fishing industry, Gravel advocated American participation in the formation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. For two years he opposed legislation that established a Exclusive Economic Zone for marine resources. He was one of only 19 senators to vote against Senate approval for the expanded zone in 1976, saying it would undermine the U.S. position in Law of the Sea negotiations and that nations arbitrarily extending their fishing rights limits would \\\"produce anarchy of the seas\\\".\",\n \"He was one of only 19 senators to vote against Senate approval for the expanded zone in 1976, saying it would undermine the U.S. position in Law of the Sea negotiations and that nations arbitrarily extending their fishing rights limits would \\\"produce anarchy of the seas\\\". The legislation was passed, and the United States has signed but never ratified the Law of the Sea treaty. Gravel accumulated a complicated record on Indian affairs during his time in the Senate.\",\n \"Gravel accumulated a complicated record on Indian affairs during his time in the Senate. During his first year in the Senate Gravel urged abolition of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, criticizing the agency for the pace of development of schools in Alaska, its paternalistic attitudes and the culturally inappropriate nature of its education, and advocating greater shared decision-making between the federal government and native communities in Alaska.\",\n \"During his first year in the Senate Gravel urged abolition of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, criticizing the agency for the pace of development of schools in Alaska, its paternalistic attitudes and the culturally inappropriate nature of its education, and advocating greater shared decision-making between the federal government and native communities in Alaska. Later, his views changed; in the early 1970s Gravel supported a demonstration project that established links between Alaskan villages and the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, for medical diagnostic communications.\",\n \"Later, his views changed; in the early 1970s Gravel supported a demonstration project that established links between Alaskan villages and the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, for medical diagnostic communications. In 1971, he fended off accusations from Alaskan natives that he was not spending enough time working on their land claims. Gravel helped secure a private grant to facilitate the first Inuit Circumpolar Conference in 1977, attended by Inuit representatives from Alaska, Canada, and Greenland. These conferences now also include representatives from Russia.\",\n \"These conferences now also include representatives from Russia. These conferences now also include representatives from Russia. In 1977, Gravel helped lead an effort to have the U.S. Interior Department rename Mount McKinley to Denali; this eventually led to Denali National Park being so named. Subsequently, Gravel proposed a never-built \\\"Denali City\\\" development above the Tokositna River near the mountain, to consist of a giant Teflon dome enclosing hotels, golf courses, condominiums, and commercial buildings.\",\n \"Subsequently, Gravel proposed a never-built \\\"Denali City\\\" development above the Tokositna River near the mountain, to consist of a giant Teflon dome enclosing hotels, golf courses, condominiums, and commercial buildings. A related idea of his to build a high-speed rail line to Denali also failed to gain traction. A key, emotional issue in the state at the time was \\\"locking up Alaska\\\", making reference to allocation of its vast, mostly uninhabited land.\",\n \"A key, emotional issue in the state at the time was \\\"locking up Alaska\\\", making reference to allocation of its vast, mostly uninhabited land. President Jimmy Carter desired to put large portions of this land under federal protection against development, a move that some Alaskans vociferously opposed. In 1978 Gravel blocked passage, via procedural delays such as walking out of House–Senate conference committee meetings, of a complex bill which represented a compromise on land use policy.\",\n \"In 1978 Gravel blocked passage, via procedural delays such as walking out of House–Senate conference committee meetings, of a complex bill which represented a compromise on land use policy. The bill would have put some of Alaska's vast federal land holdings under state control while preserving other portions for federal parks and refuges; the blocking action earned Gravel the enmity of fellow Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, who had supported the compromise.\",\n \"The bill would have put some of Alaska's vast federal land holdings under state control while preserving other portions for federal parks and refuges; the blocking action earned Gravel the enmity of fellow Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, who had supported the compromise. In 1980, a new lands bill came up for consideration, that was less favorable to Alaskan interests and more liked by environmentalists; it set aside of Alaska's for national parks, conservation areas, and other restricted federal uses.\",\n \"In 1980, a new lands bill came up for consideration, that was less favorable to Alaskan interests and more liked by environmentalists; it set aside of Alaska's for national parks, conservation areas, and other restricted federal uses. Gravel blocked it, as not ensuring enough future development in the state. A new compromise version of the 1980 bill came forward, which reduced the land set aside to . Representing Alaskan interests, Gravel tried to stop the bill, including by filibuster.\",\n \"Representing Alaskan interests, Gravel tried to stop the bill, including by filibuster. But the Senate voted for cloture and passed the bill. Frustrated, Gravel said, \\\"the legislation denies Alaska its rights as a state, and denies the U.S. crucial strategic resources,\\\" and opined that the Senate was \\\"a little bit like a tank of barracudas\\\".\",\n \"Frustrated, Gravel said, \\\"the legislation denies Alaska its rights as a state, and denies the U.S. crucial strategic resources,\\\" and opined that the Senate was \\\"a little bit like a tank of barracudas\\\". Nonetheless, the bill, known as the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980, was signed by President Carter shortly before leaving the White House, and led to millions of acres being set aside in the state for national parks, wildlife refuges, and other kinds of areas under protection.\",\n \"Nonetheless, the bill, known as the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980, was signed by President Carter shortly before leaving the White House, and led to millions of acres being set aside in the state for national parks, wildlife refuges, and other kinds of areas under protection. In 1978 Gravel authored and secured the passage into federal law of the General Stock Ownership Corporation, that became Subchapter U of the Tax Code under the Internal Revenue Code of 1954.\",\n \"In 1978 Gravel authored and secured the passage into federal law of the General Stock Ownership Corporation, that became Subchapter U of the Tax Code under the Internal Revenue Code of 1954. This gave states the ability to create corporations that would invest in for-profit enterprises, with all citizens within the state owning shares in the corporation.\",\n \"This gave states the ability to create corporations that would invest in for-profit enterprises, with all citizens within the state owning shares in the corporation. Gravel's attempt to convince the Alaska state legislature to create such a corporation failed, as did a 1980 state ballot initiative towards the same end, but nevertheless the creation of the General Stock Ownership Corporation in federal law turned out to be significant in the development of binary economics.\",\n \"Gravel's attempt to convince the Alaska state legislature to create such a corporation failed, as did a 1980 state ballot initiative towards the same end, but nevertheless the creation of the General Stock Ownership Corporation in federal law turned out to be significant in the development of binary economics. Loss of Senate seat in 1980 In 1980 Gravel was challenged for the Democratic Party's nomination by State Representative Clark Gruening, the grandson of the man Gravel had defeated in a primary 12 years earlier.\",\n \"Loss of Senate seat in 1980 In 1980 Gravel was challenged for the Democratic Party's nomination by State Representative Clark Gruening, the grandson of the man Gravel had defeated in a primary 12 years earlier. One of Gruening's supporters was Gravel's former backer Gottstein. Several factors made Gravel vulnerable. As an insurgent candidate in 1968 Gravel had never established a firm party base. Not liking to hunt or fish, he was also always culturally suspect in the state. The primary campaign was bitterly fought.\",\n \"The primary campaign was bitterly fought. The primary campaign was bitterly fought. A group of Democrats, including future governor Steve Cowper, led the campaign against Gravel, with Gravel's actions in respect to the 1978 and 1980 Alaskan lands bills a major issue. This was especially so given that the 1980 bill's dénouement happened but a week before the primary. The sources of Gravel's campaign funds, some of which Gravel readily acknowledged came from political action committees outside the state, also became an issue in the contest.\",\n \"The sources of Gravel's campaign funds, some of which Gravel readily acknowledged came from political action committees outside the state, also became an issue in the contest. Gruening had pledged that he would not take special interest group money, but Gravel said that Gruening was \\\"dishonest\\\" in accepting individual contributors from Jewish donors living outside the state because to him such contributors comprised \\\"a special interest group ... that seeks to influence the foreign policy of the U.S.\\\" Gruening won the primary with about 55 percent of the vote to Gravel's 44 percent.\",\n \"Gruening had pledged that he would not take special interest group money, but Gravel said that Gruening was \\\"dishonest\\\" in accepting individual contributors from Jewish donors living outside the state because to him such contributors comprised \\\"a special interest group ... that seeks to influence the foreign policy of the U.S.\\\" Gruening won the primary with about 55 percent of the vote to Gravel's 44 percent. Gravel later conceded that by the time of his defeat, he had alienated \\\"almost every constituency in Alaska\\\".\",\n \"Gravel later conceded that by the time of his defeat, he had alienated \\\"almost every constituency in Alaska\\\". Another factor may have been Alaska's blanket primary system of the time, which allowed unlimited voting across party lines and from its many independents; Republicans believed Gruening would be an easier candidate to defeat in the general election. Gruening lost the general election to Republican Frank Murkowski.\",\n \"Gruening lost the general election to Republican Frank Murkowski. Gruening lost the general election to Republican Frank Murkowski. Gravel was the last Democrat to represent Alaska in Congress for 28 years, until Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich defeated Ted Stevens, by then an aged, iconic figure who had just been convicted of seven felonies for taking unreported gifts, in a very close and protracted election result in 2008. Stevens's conviction was subsequently vacated due to prosecutorial misconduct.\",\n \"Stevens's conviction was subsequently vacated due to prosecutorial misconduct. Career after leaving the Senate Of his 1980 defeat, Gravel later recalled: \\\"I had lost my career. I lost my marriage. I was in the doldrums for ten years after my defeat,\\\" and \\\"Nobody wanted to hire me for anything important. I felt like I was worthless. I didn't know what I could do.\\\"\",\n \"I didn't know what I could do.\\\" I didn't know what I could do.\\\" By his own later description, Gravel was a womanizer, and had an affair while in the Senate, and in December 1980 he and his wife Rita separated. They filed for divorce in September 1981; she later received all of his Senate pension income. During the 1980s Gravel was a real estate developer in Anchorage and Kenai, Alaska, a consultant, and a stockbroker.\",\n \"During the 1980s Gravel was a real estate developer in Anchorage and Kenai, Alaska, a consultant, and a stockbroker. One of his real estate ventures, a condominium business, was forced to declare bankruptcy and a lawsuit ensued. In 1986 Gravel worked in partnership with Merrill Lynch Capital Markets to buy losses that financially troubled Alaska Native Corporations could not take as tax deductions and sell them to large national companies looking for tax writeoffs. Gravel also learned computer programming at some point but never practiced it.\",\n \"Gravel also learned computer programming at some point but never practiced it. In 1984 Gravel married his second wife, Whitney Stewart Gravel, a former administrative assistant for Senator Jacob Javits. Return to politics In 1989 Gravel reentered politics. He founded and led The Democracy Foundation, which promotes direct democracy.\",\n \"He founded and led The Democracy Foundation, which promotes direct democracy. He established the Philadelphia II corporation, which seeks to replicate the original 1787 Constitutional Convention and have a Second Constitutional Convention to bring about direct democracy Gravel led an effort to get a United States Constitutional amendment to allow voter-initiated federal legislation similar to state ballot initiatives. He argued that Americans are able to legislate responsibly, and that the Act and Amendment in the National Initiative would allow American citizens to become \\\"law makers\\\".\",\n \"He argued that Americans are able to legislate responsibly, and that the Act and Amendment in the National Initiative would allow American citizens to become \\\"law makers\\\". However such efforts met with little success. In 2001, Gravel became director of the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution, where he admired institute co-founder Gregory Fossedal's work on direct democracy in Switzerland.\",\n \"In 2001, Gravel became director of the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution, where he admired institute co-founder Gregory Fossedal's work on direct democracy in Switzerland. By 2004, Gravel had become chair of the institute, and Fossedal (who in turn was a director of the Democracy Foundation) gave the introduction at Gravel's presidential announcement. In 2003 Gravel gave a speech on direct democracy at a conference hosted by the American Free Press. The event was cosponsored by the Barnes Review, a journal that endorses Holocaust denial.\",\n \"The event was cosponsored by the Barnes Review, a journal that endorses Holocaust denial. After some controversy over his appearance, Gravel apologized, saying he did not realize the group's ties. Gravel said repeatedly that he did not share the group's views on the Holocaust, stating, \\\"You better believe I know that six million Jews were killed. [The Barnes Review publishers] are nutty as loons if they don't think it happened\\\". The group invited Gravel to speak again, but he declined.\",\n \"The group invited Gravel to speak again, but he declined. Mike and Whitney Gravel lived in Arlington County, Virginia, until 2010 and then resided in Burlingame, California. They have the two grown children from his first marriage, Martin Gravel and Lynne Gravel Mosier, and four grandchildren. Whitney Gravel's income sustained the couple from 1998 on. In the 2000s, Gravel suffered poor health, requiring three surgeries in 2003 for back pain and neuropathy.\",\n \"In the 2000s, Gravel suffered poor health, requiring three surgeries in 2003 for back pain and neuropathy. Due to unreimbursed medical expenses and debts from his political causes, he declared personal bankruptcy in 2004. He began taking a salary from the non-profit organizations for which he was working; much of that income was lent to his presidential campaign. In 2007, he declared that he had \\\"zero net worth\\\".\",\n \"In 2007, he declared that he had \\\"zero net worth\\\". 2008 presidential campaign Democratic Party primaries At the start of 2006 Gravel decided the best way he could promote direct democracy and the National Initiative was to run for president.\",\n \"2008 presidential campaign Democratic Party primaries At the start of 2006 Gravel decided the best way he could promote direct democracy and the National Initiative was to run for president. On April 17, 2006, Gravel became the first candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2008 election, announcing his run in a speech to the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Short on campaign cash, he took public transportation to get to his announcement. (Gravel called for public financing of elections.)\",\n \"(Gravel called for public financing of elections.) (Gravel called for public financing of elections.) Other principal Gravel positions were the FairTax, as well as withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq within 120 days and a single payer national health care system. Gravel had opposed the Iraq War, and President George W. Bush's rationale for it, from the beginning, and in 2006 said that U.S. troops in Iraq, as in Vietnam, had \\\"died in vain\\\".\",\n \"Gravel had opposed the Iraq War, and President George W. Bush's rationale for it, from the beginning, and in 2006 said that U.S. troops in Iraq, as in Vietnam, had \\\"died in vain\\\". He also favored a regional peace initiative, as well as reparation payments for Iraqis. Gravel also called for a \\\"U.S. corporate withdrawal from Iraq\\\", with reconstruction contracts held by U.S. companies to be turned over to Iraqi firms.\",\n \"Gravel also called for a \\\"U.S. corporate withdrawal from Iraq\\\", with reconstruction contracts held by U.S. companies to be turned over to Iraqi firms. Gravel campaigned almost full-time in New Hampshire, the first primary state, following his announcement. Opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination showed Gravel with 1 percent or less support. By the end of March 2007, Gravel's campaign had less than $500 in cash on hand against debts of nearly $90,000.\",\n \"By the end of March 2007, Gravel's campaign had less than $500 in cash on hand against debts of nearly $90,000. Because of his time in the Senate, Gravel was invited to many of the early Democratic presidential debates. During the initial one at South Carolina State University on April 26, 2007, he suggested a bill requiring the president to withdraw from Iraq on pain of criminal penalties. He also advocated positions such as opposing preemptive nuclear war.\",\n \"He also advocated positions such as opposing preemptive nuclear war. He stated that the Iraq War had the effect of creating more terrorists and that the \\\"war was lost the day that George Bush invaded Iraq on a fraudulent basis\\\". Regarding his fellow candidates, he said, \\\"I got to tell you, after standing up with them, some of these people frighten me – they frighten me.\\\" In one such exchange, Gravel said, \\\"Tell me, Barack, who do you want to nuke?\\\"\",\n \"In one such exchange, Gravel said, \\\"Tell me, Barack, who do you want to nuke?\\\" to which Obama responded, \\\"I'm not planning to nuke anybody right now, Mike, I promise.\\\" Media stories said that Gravel was responsible for much of whatever \\\"heat\\\" and \\\"flashpoints\\\" had taken place during the Democratic debates.\",\n \"Media stories said that Gravel was responsible for much of whatever \\\"heat\\\" and \\\"flashpoints\\\" had taken place during the Democratic debates. Gravel gained considerable publicity by shaking up the normally staid multiple-candidate format; The New York Times' media critic said that what Gravel had done was \\\"steal a debate with outrageous, curmudgeonly statements\\\".\",\n \"Gravel gained considerable publicity by shaking up the normally staid multiple-candidate format; The New York Times' media critic said that what Gravel had done was \\\"steal a debate with outrageous, curmudgeonly statements\\\". The Internet was a benefit: a YouTube video of his responses in the debate was viewed more than 225,892 times, ranking seventeenth in most views for week and first among news and politics clips; his name became the fifteenth most searched-for in the blogosphere; and his website garnered more traffic than those of frontrunners Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, or John Edwards.\",\n \"The Internet was a benefit: a YouTube video of his responses in the debate was viewed more than 225,892 times, ranking seventeenth in most views for week and first among news and politics clips; his name became the fifteenth most searched-for in the blogosphere; and his website garnered more traffic than those of frontrunners Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, or John Edwards. Gravel appeared on the popular Colbert Report on television on May 2, and his campaign and career were profiled in national publications such as Salon.\",\n \"Gravel appeared on the popular Colbert Report on television on May 2, and his campaign and career were profiled in national publications such as Salon. Two wordless, Warholesque campaign videos, \\\"Rock\\\" and \\\"Fire\\\", were released on YouTube in late May and became hits, and eventually gained over 760,000 and 185,000 views respectively. \\\"Rock\\\", in turn, was given airtime during an episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.\",\n \"\\\"Rock\\\", in turn, was given airtime during an episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Some thirty-five years after he first achieved the national spotlight, he had found it again. All this did not improve his performance in the polls; a May 2007 CNN poll showed him with less than 0.5 percent support among Democrats. Gravel was in the next several debates, in one case after CNN reversed a decision to exclude him.\",\n \"Gravel was in the next several debates, in one case after CNN reversed a decision to exclude him. Like some of the other second-tier candidates, Gravel did not get as much time as the leaders; during the June 2, 2007, New Hampshire debate, which lasted two hours, he was asked 10 questions and allowed to speak for five minutes and 37 seconds.\",\n \"Like some of the other second-tier candidates, Gravel did not get as much time as the leaders; during the June 2, 2007, New Hampshire debate, which lasted two hours, he was asked 10 questions and allowed to speak for five minutes and 37 seconds. During the July 23, 2007, CNN-YouTube presidential debate, Gravel responded to audience applause when he had complained of a lack of airtime and said: \\\"Thank you. Has it been fair thus far?\\\"\",\n \"Has it been fair thus far?\\\" Has it been fair thus far?\\\" Detractors began to liken him to \\\"the cranky uncle who lives in the attic,\\\" or \\\"the angry old guy that just seemed to want to become angrier\\\". Berkeley political scientist David Terr found that moderator George Stephanopoulos directed roughly five percent of his questions to Gravel; in a poll asking who did the best in the debate, Gravel placed seventh among the eight candidates.\",\n \"Berkeley political scientist David Terr found that moderator George Stephanopoulos directed roughly five percent of his questions to Gravel; in a poll asking who did the best in the debate, Gravel placed seventh among the eight candidates. National opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination continued to show Gravel with one percent or zero percent numbers.\",\n \"National opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination continued to show Gravel with one percent or zero percent numbers. By the end of the third-quarter 2007, Gravel had about $17,500 in cash on hand, had collected a total of about $380,000 during the 2008 election cycle, and was continuing to run a threadbare campaign with minimal staff.\",\n \"By the end of the third-quarter 2007, Gravel had about $17,500 in cash on hand, had collected a total of about $380,000 during the 2008 election cycle, and was continuing to run a threadbare campaign with minimal staff. Beginning with the October 30, 2007, Philadelphia event, Gravel was excluded from most of the debates, with the debate sponsors or the Democratic National Committee saying Gravel's campaign had not met fund-raising, polling, or local campaign organizational thresholds.\",\n \"Beginning with the October 30, 2007, Philadelphia event, Gravel was excluded from most of the debates, with the debate sponsors or the Democratic National Committee saying Gravel's campaign had not met fund-raising, polling, or local campaign organizational thresholds. For the Philadelphia exclusion, Gravel blamed corporate censorship on the part of sponsor owner and alleged military-industrial complex member General Electric for his exclusion and mounted a counter-gathering and debate against a video screen a short distance away, but he had lost his easiest publicity.\",\n \"For the Philadelphia exclusion, Gravel blamed corporate censorship on the part of sponsor owner and alleged military-industrial complex member General Electric for his exclusion and mounted a counter-gathering and debate against a video screen a short distance away, but he had lost his easiest publicity. In reaction, supporters organized \\\"mass donation days\\\" to try to help the campaign gain momentum and funds, such as on December 5, 2007, the anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition.\",\n \"In reaction, supporters organized \\\"mass donation days\\\" to try to help the campaign gain momentum and funds, such as on December 5, 2007, the anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition. Gravel did not compete in the initial 2008 vote, the Iowa caucuses, but was still subjected to a false report from MSNBC that he had pulled out of the race afterward. Gravel did focus his attention on the second 2008 vote, the New Hampshire primary.\",\n \"Gravel did focus his attention on the second 2008 vote, the New Hampshire primary. In early January, Mother Jones' investigative reporter James Ridgeway was filmed interviewing and following Gravel in New Hampshire, in which Gravel is interviewed on the phone by Neal Conan for NPR's, Talk of the Nation. He received about 400 votes out of some 280,000 cast in New Hampshire, or 0.14 percent, before taking time off to improve his health. He resumed campaigning, but fared no better in subsequent states.\",\n \"He resumed campaigning, but fared no better in subsequent states. By the end of January 2008, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and Gravel were the only remaining Democrats from the initial debates still running; Gravel vowed to stay in the presidential campaign until November. On March 11, 2008, Gravel continued to remain in the Democratic race but additionally endorsed a Green Party candidate for president, Jesse Johnson, saying he wanted to help Johnson prevail against Green Party rivals Cynthia McKinney and Ralph Nader.\",\n \"On March 11, 2008, Gravel continued to remain in the Democratic race but additionally endorsed a Green Party candidate for president, Jesse Johnson, saying he wanted to help Johnson prevail against Green Party rivals Cynthia McKinney and Ralph Nader. By late March, Gravel had almost no fundraising and was only on the ballot in one of the next ten Democratic primaries.\",\n \"By late March, Gravel had almost no fundraising and was only on the ballot in one of the next ten Democratic primaries. Switch to Libertarian Party On March 25, 2008, Gravel announced that he would leave the Democrats and join the Libertarian Party, saying: \\\"My libertarian views, as well as my strong stance against war, the military industrial complex and American imperialism, seem not to be tolerated by Democratic Party elites who are out of touch with the average American; elites that reject the empowerment of American citizens I offered to the Democratic Party at the beginning of this presidential campaign with the National Initiative for Democracy.\\\"\",\n \"Switch to Libertarian Party On March 25, 2008, Gravel announced that he would leave the Democrats and join the Libertarian Party, saying: \\\"My libertarian views, as well as my strong stance against war, the military industrial complex and American imperialism, seem not to be tolerated by Democratic Party elites who are out of touch with the average American; elites that reject the empowerment of American citizens I offered to the Democratic Party at the beginning of this presidential campaign with the National Initiative for Democracy.\\\" The following day Gravel entered the race for the 2008 Libertarian presidential nomination, saying that he would have run as a third-party candidate all along except that he needed the public exposure that came from being in the earlier Democratic debates.\",\n \"The following day Gravel entered the race for the 2008 Libertarian presidential nomination, saying that he would have run as a third-party candidate all along except that he needed the public exposure that came from being in the earlier Democratic debates. Gravel's initial notion of running as a fusion candidate with other parties was met with skepticism. As a Libertarian candidate, Gravel faced resistance to his past support of big government initiatives and his unorthodox positions around direct democracy.\",\n \"As a Libertarian candidate, Gravel faced resistance to his past support of big government initiatives and his unorthodox positions around direct democracy. Nevertheless, he garnered more support than he had as a Democrat, placing second and third in two April 2008 straw polls.\",\n \"Nevertheless, he garnered more support than he had as a Democrat, placing second and third in two April 2008 straw polls. In the May 25 balloting at the 2008 Libertarian National Convention in Denver, Gravel finished fourth out of eight candidates on the initial ballot, with 71 votes out of a total 618; he trailed former Congressman and eventual winner Bob Barr, author Mary Ruwart, and businessman Wayne Allyn Root. Gravel's position did not subsequently improve and he was eliminated on the fourth ballot.\",\n \"Gravel's position did not subsequently improve and he was eliminated on the fourth ballot. Afterwards he stated that \\\"I just ended my political career,\\\" but he vowed to continue promoting his positions as a writer and lecturer. 2008–early 2019 In June 2008 Gravel endorsed the NYC 9/11 Ballot Initiative, saying the measure would create a \\\"citizens commission rather than a government commission\\\" with subpoena power against top U.S. officials to \\\"make a true investigation as to what happened\\\" regarding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.\",\n \"2008–early 2019 In June 2008 Gravel endorsed the NYC 9/11 Ballot Initiative, saying the measure would create a \\\"citizens commission rather than a government commission\\\" with subpoena power against top U.S. officials to \\\"make a true investigation as to what happened\\\" regarding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. He later said, \\\"Individuals in and out of government may certainly have participated with the obviously known perpetrators of this dastardly act. Suspicions abound over the analysis presented by government.\",\n \"Suspicions abound over the analysis presented by government. Suspicions abound over the analysis presented by government. Obviously an act that has triggered three wars, Afghan, Iraqi and the continuing War on Terror, should be extensively investigated which was not done and which the government avoids addressing.\\\"\",\n \"Obviously an act that has triggered three wars, Afghan, Iraqi and the continuing War on Terror, should be extensively investigated which was not done and which the government avoids addressing.\\\" In August 2008 Gravel was speaking to a crowd of supporters of Sami Al-Arian (who two years earlier had pleaded guilty and been sentenced to prison for a charge of conspiracy in helping Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a \\\"specially designated terrorist\\\" organization) when he was caught on tape saying of Al-Arian's prosecutor, \\\"Find out where he lives, find out where his kids go to school, find out where his office is: picket him all the time.\",\n \"In August 2008 Gravel was speaking to a crowd of supporters of Sami Al-Arian (who two years earlier had pleaded guilty and been sentenced to prison for a charge of conspiracy in helping Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a \\\"specially designated terrorist\\\" organization) when he was caught on tape saying of Al-Arian's prosecutor, \\\"Find out where he lives, find out where his kids go to school, find out where his office is: picket him all the time. Call him a racist in signs if you see him.\",\n \"Call him a racist in signs if you see him. Call him an injustice. Call him whatever you want to call him, but in his face all the time.\\\" Gravel was criticized for potentially involving the children of the prosecutor, and Al-Arian's family disavowed the sentiments. Gravel defended Alaska Governor Sarah Palin after she was chosen as Republican presidential nominee John McCain's running mate in September 2008.\",\n \"Gravel defended Alaska Governor Sarah Palin after she was chosen as Republican presidential nominee John McCain's running mate in September 2008. He praised Palin's record in standing up to corruption among Alaskan Republicans, thought her national inexperience was an asset not a detriment, and predicted that the \\\"Troopergate\\\" investigation into whether she improperly fired a state official would \\\"come out in her favor\\\". Gravel made clear he would not support or vote for either McCain–Palin or Obama–Biden in the general election.\",\n \"Gravel made clear he would not support or vote for either McCain–Palin or Obama–Biden in the general election. The following year Gravel said that Palin's politics were \\\"terrible, but that doesn't detract from the fact that she's a very talented person\\\". He predicted that Palin would run for president in 2012 and that \\\"she's going to surprise a lot of people\\\". Palin did not run, but Gravel's prediction about \\\"TrooperGate\\\" was accurate as Palin was found not to have violated ethics laws.\",\n \"Palin did not run, but Gravel's prediction about \\\"TrooperGate\\\" was accurate as Palin was found not to have violated ethics laws. In 2013, by the invitation of Hamed Ghashghavi, the secretary for international affairs of the 3rd International Conference on Hollywoodism in Tehran, Iran, Gravel attended that event as an Iranian government-organized anti-Hollywood conference.\",\n \"In 2013, by the invitation of Hamed Ghashghavi, the secretary for international affairs of the 3rd International Conference on Hollywoodism in Tehran, Iran, Gravel attended that event as an Iranian government-organized anti-Hollywood conference. Gravel noted that the conference was attended by \\\"various elements of extremes\\\" but said it was necessary to discuss how the U.S. film industry portrayed Iran in order to prevent \\\"an insane war\\\" between the two nations.\",\n \"Gravel noted that the conference was attended by \\\"various elements of extremes\\\" but said it was necessary to discuss how the U.S. film industry portrayed Iran in order to prevent \\\"an insane war\\\" between the two nations. In May 2013 Gravel was one of several former members of Congress to accept $20,000 from the Paradigm Research Group, an advocacy group for UFO disclosure, as part of holding what they termed a Citizen Hearing on Disclosure, modeled after congressional hearings, regarding supposed U.S. government suppression of evidence concerning UFOs.\",\n \"In May 2013 Gravel was one of several former members of Congress to accept $20,000 from the Paradigm Research Group, an advocacy group for UFO disclosure, as part of holding what they termed a Citizen Hearing on Disclosure, modeled after congressional hearings, regarding supposed U.S. government suppression of evidence concerning UFOs. Gravel said, \\\"Something is monitoring the planet, and they are monitoring it very cautiously, because we are a very warlike planet,\\\" and, \\\"What we're faced with here is, in areas of the media, and the government too, an effort to marginalize and ridicule people who have specific knowledge.\\\"\",\n \"Gravel said, \\\"Something is monitoring the planet, and they are monitoring it very cautiously, because we are a very warlike planet,\\\" and, \\\"What we're faced with here is, in areas of the media, and the government too, an effort to marginalize and ridicule people who have specific knowledge.\\\" In December 2014 Gravel was announced as the new CEO of KUSH, a company which makes marijuana-infused products for medicinal and recreational use, and a subsidiary of Cannabis Sativa, Inc.\",\n \"In December 2014 Gravel was announced as the new CEO of KUSH, a company which makes marijuana-infused products for medicinal and recreational use, and a subsidiary of Cannabis Sativa, Inc. He also became an Independent Director of Cannabis Sativa. During the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries, Gravel praised Bernie Sanders and his campaign, saying \\\"Bernie is one of the most gifted politicians I have ever observed. He's a person of great integrity and very clever.\\\"\",\n \"He's a person of great integrity and very clever.\\\" Gravel predicted that Sanders would be elected president but would be unable to get his key reforms through Congress, and thus that Sanders and his supporters should back some of the proposals of the National Initiative. In 2016, Gravel said in relation to the September 11 attacks: \\\"We killed 58,000 American servicemen in the Vietnam War and all they did was die in vain.\",\n \"In 2016, Gravel said in relation to the September 11 attacks: \\\"We killed 58,000 American servicemen in the Vietnam War and all they did was die in vain. What's so unusual about killing 3,000 more in order to develop the grist for the mill to empower into infinity the military industrial complex?\\\" and \\\"There's no question in my mind that 9/11 was an inside job\\\". The remarks were later disavowed by even Gravel supporters. By 2019 Gravel was living in Seaside, California.\",\n \"By 2019 Gravel was living in Seaside, California. By 2019 Gravel was living in Seaside, California. He was working on a book, at the time titled Human Governance, about his principal idea for direct democracy, a U.S. Constitutional Amendment to create a \\\"Legislature of the People\\\" that would circumvent the existing Congress. The book was self-published at the end of the year by AuthorHouse under the title The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People.\",\n \"The book was self-published at the end of the year by AuthorHouse under the title The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People. 2020 presidential campaign On March 19, 2019, Gravel announced that he was considering running in the 2020 Democratic primaries. He said, \\\"The goal will not be to win, but to bring a critique of American imperialism to the Democratic debate stage.\\\"\",\n \"He said, \\\"The goal will not be to win, but to bring a critique of American imperialism to the Democratic debate stage.\\\" An exploratory committee was formed, with filing a statement of organization with the Federal Election Commission on that same day.\",\n \"An exploratory committee was formed, with filing a statement of organization with the Federal Election Commission on that same day. The filing was the idea of a group of teenagers, led by David Oks and Henry Williams, inspired by the podcast Chapo Trap House, and done with Gravel's consent (after a week spent convincing him of the idea's merits), but without his involvement.\",\n \"The filing was the idea of a group of teenagers, led by David Oks and Henry Williams, inspired by the podcast Chapo Trap House, and done with Gravel's consent (after a week spent convincing him of the idea's merits), but without his involvement. Intrigued by the group's commitment to amplifying his long-held policy goals, Gravel (who would be old on Inauguration Day in 2021) said he planned to meet with them in April, and to discuss a 2020 White House run with his wife.\",\n \"Intrigued by the group's commitment to amplifying his long-held policy goals, Gravel (who would be old on Inauguration Day in 2021) said he planned to meet with them in April, and to discuss a 2020 White House run with his wife. On April 2, 2019, Gravel filed to officially run for office. The campaign called itself the \\\"#Gravelanche\\\". Gravel's initial stated goal was merely to qualify for debates by getting the required 65,000 small donors.\",\n \"Gravel's initial stated goal was merely to qualify for debates by getting the required 65,000 small donors. He discouraged people from voting for him and said his preferences were Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard, both of whom favor a non-interventionist foreign policy. But on April 29, Gravel's campaign said he was running to win, not just to participate in debates. In a subsequent interview, though, Gravel emphasized the virtue of Sanders and Gabbard in some order as a presidential ticket.\",\n \"In a subsequent interview, though, Gravel emphasized the virtue of Sanders and Gabbard in some order as a presidential ticket. Statements like these caused Vox to call Gravel \\\"2020's oddest Democratic presidential candidate\\\".\",\n \"Statements like these caused Vox to call Gravel \\\"2020's oddest Democratic presidential candidate\\\". The New York Times Magazine included Gravel as an example in the rise of democratic socialism in the United States also exemplified by Sanders's 2016 race and the 2018 election of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: \\\"[Gravel's] campaign represents the most absurd form of a legitimate movement on the left that feels little obligation to the Democratic Party.\\\"\",\n \"The New York Times Magazine included Gravel as an example in the rise of democratic socialism in the United States also exemplified by Sanders's 2016 race and the 2018 election of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: \\\"[Gravel's] campaign represents the most absurd form of a legitimate movement on the left that feels little obligation to the Democratic Party.\\\" In June 2019, Gravel touted the endorsement of Muntadher al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who, in December 2008, made headlines after he threw his shoes at President George W. Bush in protest of the U.S. war in Iraq.\",\n \"In June 2019, Gravel touted the endorsement of Muntadher al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who, in December 2008, made headlines after he threw his shoes at President George W. Bush in protest of the U.S. war in Iraq. Al-Zaidi endorsed Gravel based on his promise to improve White House policies regarding Iraq and the Middle East. On June 13, 2019, the Democratic Party announced the 20 major candidates who qualified for the first debate later that month.\",\n \"On June 13, 2019, the Democratic Party announced the 20 major candidates who qualified for the first debate later that month. Gravel was one of the four who missed out (the others were Montana Governor Steve Bullock, U.S. Representative Seth Moulton, and Miramar, Florida, Mayor Wayne Messam). Gravel had been unable to get the requisite number of donations, or to score one percent or better in enough polls (many polls did not even include him).\",\n \"Gravel had been unable to get the requisite number of donations, or to score one percent or better in enough polls (many polls did not even include him). Nevertheless, Gravel said he would not drop out and would try to qualify for the July debate. In early July, however, Gravel's campaign said it was still 10,000 contributions short of the 65,000-donor threshold and that it was \\\"nearing its conclusion\\\". It solicited suggestions for where to donate $100–150,000 of leftover campaign funds.\",\n \"It solicited suggestions for where to donate $100–150,000 of leftover campaign funds. Gravel added that he had always planned on ending the campaign before the teenagers in charge of it needed to return to school. A few days later the campaign became the first to run an attack ad against Democratic front-runner Joe Biden, using the text \\\"Is this the best our party has to offer?\\\" Gravel's campaign crossed the threshold of 65,000 donors on July 12, 2019, meeting the qualification mark for that month's debate.\",\n \"Gravel's campaign crossed the threshold of 65,000 donors on July 12, 2019, meeting the qualification mark for that month's debate. But because 20 other candidates, the maximum allowed to participate, had already met at least the polling criterion, which takes priority over the donor criterion, Gravel was not invited. The campaign officially came to a close on August 6, 2019, with Gravel endorsing both Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard for president.\",\n \"The campaign officially came to a close on August 6, 2019, with Gravel endorsing both Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard for president. Gravel's campaign later stated on Twitter that they never wanted to win but saw the campaign as an \\\"intimately democratic\\\" project and expressed honor at working with Gravel. Gravel said he would divide remaining campaign funds between charity and a new think tank which would espouse his ideas.\",\n \"Gravel said he would divide remaining campaign funds between charity and a new think tank which would espouse his ideas. The Gravel Institute Gravel used some of the funds remaining from his 2020 presidential campaign to found an eponymous progressive think tank called The Gravel Institute in 2019. As noted by Vice magazine, the institute aims to do battle with PragerU from a left-wing perspective.\",\n \"As noted by Vice magazine, the institute aims to do battle with PragerU from a left-wing perspective. Launched in September 2020, the new entity said it would \\\"carry on the life's work of former U.S Senator Mike Gravel in fighting for global peace and democracy. Its mission is to promote bold and forward-looking ideas about a more peaceful and egalitarian world, and to build a robust movement of young people to win it\\\".\",\n \"Its mission is to promote bold and forward-looking ideas about a more peaceful and egalitarian world, and to build a robust movement of young people to win it\\\". Contributors announced include Cornel West and Slavoj Žižek, as well as Lower Brule Indian Reservation activist Nick Estes.\",\n \"Contributors announced include Cornel West and Slavoj Žižek, as well as Lower Brule Indian Reservation activist Nick Estes. Other presenters have included and will include H. Jon Benjamin, Briahna Joy Gray, Bernie Sanders, Chelsea Manning, Richard Wolff, Stephanie Kelton, Zephyr Teachout, David Cross, Jabari Brisport, Zohran Mamdani, and Gravel himself (though it is unknown if his appearance will be cancelled due to his death in June 2021, or if the video has already been recorded).\",\n \"Other presenters have included and will include H. Jon Benjamin, Briahna Joy Gray, Bernie Sanders, Chelsea Manning, Richard Wolff, Stephanie Kelton, Zephyr Teachout, David Cross, Jabari Brisport, Zohran Mamdani, and Gravel himself (though it is unknown if his appearance will be cancelled due to his death in June 2021, or if the video has already been recorded). Death Gravel died of multiple myeloma at his home in Seaside, California, on June 26, 2021, at age 91.\",\n \"Death Gravel died of multiple myeloma at his home in Seaside, California, on June 26, 2021, at age 91. The obituary for him in The New York Times stated that Gravel was \\\"a two-term Democratic senator from Alaska ... who was perhaps better known as an unabashed attention-getter\\\" who later become known for \\\"mounting long-shot presidential runs\\\".\",\n \"The obituary for him in The New York Times stated that Gravel was \\\"a two-term Democratic senator from Alaska ... who was perhaps better known as an unabashed attention-getter\\\" who later become known for \\\"mounting long-shot presidential runs\\\". The obituary in The Washington Post was similar, saying that Gravel was \\\"an Alaska Democrat with a flair for the theatrical who rose from obscurity to brief renown\\\" and later \\\"ran quixotic campaigns for the presidency\\\".\",\n \"The obituary in The Washington Post was similar, saying that Gravel was \\\"an Alaska Democrat with a flair for the theatrical who rose from obscurity to brief renown\\\" and later \\\"ran quixotic campaigns for the presidency\\\". The Anchorage Daily News quoted Gravel as saying of himself in 1989, \\\"I'm an independent kind of guy. A rough and ready kind of guy. My glands work in a certain way that make me stand up, foolishly sometimes, and fight.\\\"\",\n \"My glands work in a certain way that make me stand up, foolishly sometimes, and fight.\\\" Political positions Alan Abramowitz and Jeffrey Allan Segal described Gravel as \\\"a maverick, if not an eccentric, in the Senate.\\\" His Americans for Democratic Action \\\"Liberal Quotient\\\" scores ranged from 81 out of 100 (1971) to 39 out of 100 (1980), with an average of around 61.\",\n \"His Americans for Democratic Action \\\"Liberal Quotient\\\" scores ranged from 81 out of 100 (1971) to 39 out of 100 (1980), with an average of around 61. His American Conservative Union scores ranged from 0 out of 100 (several years, including 1971 and 1972) to 38 out of 100 (1979), with an average of 14.\",\n \"His American Conservative Union scores ranged from 0 out of 100 (several years, including 1971 and 1972) to 38 out of 100 (1979), with an average of 14. Abramowitz and Segal note that Gravel's lowest ADA ratings coincided with his two Senate re-election bids, and for the most part his highest ACU ratings followed the same pattern.\",\n \"Abramowitz and Segal note that Gravel's lowest ADA ratings coincided with his two Senate re-election bids, and for the most part his highest ACU ratings followed the same pattern. In 1972, as a young senator, Gravel published Citizen Power: A People's Platform, a manifesto outlining what Kirkus Reviews termed a \\\"populist reform [that] would provide 'balanced political power' between the people and government and business interests.\\\"\",\n \"In 1972, as a young senator, Gravel published Citizen Power: A People's Platform, a manifesto outlining what Kirkus Reviews termed a \\\"populist reform [that] would provide 'balanced political power' between the people and government and business interests.\\\" Civil rights issues On drug policy, Gravel said in 2007 that he favored decriminalization and treating addiction as a public health matter.\",\n \"Civil rights issues On drug policy, Gravel said in 2007 that he favored decriminalization and treating addiction as a public health matter. During his 2008 presidential candidacy he condemned the War on Drugs as a failure, saying that it did \\\"nothing but savage our inner cities and put our children at risk\\\". Gravel called for abolition of capital punishment in his book Citizen Power, and adhered to this position during his 2008 run for president. He supported abortion rights.\",\n \"He supported abortion rights. He supported abortion rights. During the 2008 campaign Gravel was a strong supporter of LGBT rights. He supported same-sex marriage and opposed the Defense of Marriage Act and the U.S. military's \\\"don't ask, don't tell\\\" policy. He wrote in 2008 that \\\"depriving gays and lesbians of equal rights is immoral\\\". Foreign policy and defense issues Gravel was a critic of American imperialism. Gravel firmly opposed U.S. military action against Iran and Syria.\",\n \"Gravel firmly opposed U.S. military action against Iran and Syria. He voiced opposition to the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, the Military Commissions Act of 2006, the use of torture, indefinite detention, and what he called \\\"flagrant ignorance\\\" of the Geneva Convention. In 2014 Gravel called for the release of the full, unredacted Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture. Gravel opposed the use of international sanctions as a policy tool and blamed the ones against Iraq under Saddam Hussein for the deaths of a half-million children in that country.\",\n \"Gravel opposed the use of international sanctions as a policy tool and blamed the ones against Iraq under Saddam Hussein for the deaths of a half-million children in that country. In 2013 Gravel said that sanctions against Iran were \\\"illegal\\\". During his 2008 candidacy, Gravel called for a cut in military spending, variously reported to be 15 percent or 50 percent. He called for the savings to boost public education spending. To spur international nuclear nonproliferation efforts, Gravel called for unilateral reductions in the U.S. nuclear arsenal.\",\n \"To spur international nuclear nonproliferation efforts, Gravel called for unilateral reductions in the U.S. nuclear arsenal. In 2008 Gravel criticized the decision of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to not pursue the efforts to impeach George W. Bush and the attempted impeachment of Dick Cheney, saying also that Bush and Cheney had committed crimes and deserved \\\"to be prosecuted\\\" at The Hague.\",\n \"In 2008 Gravel criticized the decision of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to not pursue the efforts to impeach George W. Bush and the attempted impeachment of Dick Cheney, saying also that Bush and Cheney had committed crimes and deserved \\\"to be prosecuted\\\" at The Hague. In 2013 he expressed disdain for President Obama, calling him \\\"a total fraud\\\" and saying that both Bush and Obama should be tried \\\"for the crimes and murders they've committed\\\" in the International Court of Justice.\",\n \"In 2013 he expressed disdain for President Obama, calling him \\\"a total fraud\\\" and saying that both Bush and Obama should be tried \\\"for the crimes and murders they've committed\\\" in the International Court of Justice. Gravel specifically condemned Obama for the drone strikes in Pakistan and elsewhere.\",\n \"Gravel specifically condemned Obama for the drone strikes in Pakistan and elsewhere. Economy, immigration, and environment During his 2008 candidacy Gravel favored a FairTax scheme, which would abolish the Internal Revenue Service, eliminate the federal income tax (which Gravel called \\\"corrupt\\\"), and impose a national sales tax. While Gravel described FairTax as \\\"progressive\\\", others have criticized it as \\\"regressive\\\", disproportionately benefiting the wealthiest Americans.\",\n \"While Gravel described FairTax as \\\"progressive\\\", others have criticized it as \\\"regressive\\\", disproportionately benefiting the wealthiest Americans. To offset the new sales taxes on essential goods, Gravel's plan called for monthly government rebate payments to individuals and families. During his 2020 campaign Gravel also voiced support for a third legislative body that would give the people direct control of the budget as well as the implementation of a land value tax.\",\n \"During his 2020 campaign Gravel also voiced support for a third legislative body that would give the people direct control of the budget as well as the implementation of a land value tax. Gravel opposed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) during his 2008 candidacy, calling it unfair and economically harmful and needing renegotiation. Gravel believed that NAFTA was the \\\"root cause\\\" of illegal migration to the U.S. He favored a guest worker program and \\\"setting up naturalization procedures that would fairly bring immigrants into legal status\\\".\",\n \"He favored a guest worker program and \\\"setting up naturalization procedures that would fairly bring immigrants into legal status\\\". In a 2007 interview, Gravel identified himself as \\\"very much of a globalist\\\" who believed in open markets and open borders and condemned the scapegoating of undocumented immigrants. Gravel also said that he favored eliminating the cap on H1B visas. As a senator from Alaska, Gravel favored drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but opposed it during his 2008 campaign.\",\n \"As a senator from Alaska, Gravel favored drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but opposed it during his 2008 campaign. In 2008, Gravel supported a carbon tax to combat climate change. Gravel spoke in favor of net neutrality during his presidential campaign. Education and health care Gravel called for the cost of college tuition to be borne by the federal government, rather than students.\",\n \"Education and health care Gravel called for the cost of college tuition to be borne by the federal government, rather than students. In his 2008 campaign, he called the No Child Left Behind Act \\\"a failure\\\" and called for it to be \\\"reformed and fully funded\\\". He expressed support for universal pre-kindergarten and the expansion of the Head Start program; and expressed an openness to charter schools and school vouchers. He also suggested extending the school day and the school year, and supported merit pay for teachers.\",\n \"He also suggested extending the school day and the school year, and supported merit pay for teachers. Gravel also called for publicly funded universal health care to replace the current employer-sponsored health insurance system. He supported \\\"full funding\\\" of the VA system. When asked in 2007 about naturopathy, homeopathy, and acupuncture, Gravel said that he was \\\"very very much in favor\\\" of holistic health care. Awards and honors In 2008 Gravel received the Columbia University School of General Studies' first annual Isaac Asimov Lifetime Achievement Award.\",\n \"Awards and honors In 2008 Gravel received the Columbia University School of General Studies' first annual Isaac Asimov Lifetime Achievement Award. Electoral history Writings Gravel, Mike. Jobs and More Jobs. Mt. McKinley Publishers, 1968. Gravel, Mike. Citizen Power: A People's Platform. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1972. . revised and reissued as Citizen Power: A Mandate for Change, AuthorHouse, 2008. . Gravel, Mike and Lauria, Joe.\",\n \"Gravel, Mike and Lauria, Joe. Gravel, Mike and Lauria, Joe. A Political Odyssey: The Rise of American Militarism and One Man's Fight to Stop It. Seven Stories Press, 2008. . Gravel, Mike and Eisenbach, David. The Kingmakers: How the Media Threatens Our Security and Our Democracy. Phoenix Books, 2008. . Gravel, Mike. Voice of a Maverick: The Speeches and Writings of Senator Mike Gravel. Brandywine House, 2008. Gravel, Mike.\",\n \"Brandywine House, 2008. Gravel, Mike. Gravel, Mike. Foreword to Poisoned Power: The Case Against Nuclear Power Plants. John W. Goffman & Arthur R. Tamplin, Rodale Press, Inc., Emmaus, PA, June 1971. Gravel, Mike. The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People. AuthorHouse, 2020. Explanatory notes References Citations General references The Pentagon Papers Senator Gravel Edition. Vol. Five: Critical Essays. Boston: Beacon Press, 1972. 341p. plus 72p.\",\n \"Five: Critical Essays. Boston: Beacon Press, 1972. 341p. plus 72p. plus 72p. of Index to Vol. I–IV of the Papers; Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, editors.\",\n \"I–IV of the Papers; Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, editors. External links Mike Gravel official website The Gravel Institute |- |- 1930 births 2021 deaths 1972 United States vice-presidential candidates 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American politicians 20th-century Roman Catholics 20th-century Unitarians 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American politicians 21st-century Unitarians 9/11 conspiracy theorists Alaska Democrats American International College alumni American Unitarian Universalists American anti–Iraq War activists American conspiracy theorists American democracy activists American male non-fiction writers American people of French-Canadian descent American political writers American real estate businesspeople American stockbrokers Anti-corporate activists Assumption University (Worcester) alumni Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Businesspeople from Anchorage, Alaska Businesspeople from Springfield, Massachusetts California Democrats Candidates in the 2008 United States presidential election Candidates in the 2020 United States presidential election Columbia University School of General Studies alumni Deaths from cancer in California Deaths from multiple myeloma Democratic Party United States senators Direct democracy activists Drug policy reform activists Former Roman Catholics Virginia Libertarians Members of the Alaska House of Representatives Military personnel from Massachusetts Non-interventionism People from Arlington County, Virginia People from Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska People with dyslexia Politicians from Anchorage, Alaska Politicians from Springfield, Massachusetts Speakers of the Alaska House of Representatives United States Army officers United States senators from Alaska Writers about direct democracy Writers from Anchorage, Alaska\"\n]"}}},{"rowIdx":396,"cells":{"History":{"kind":"list like","value":["Mike Gravel","Run for Vice President in 1972","Who was Gavel's running mate?","I don't know.","Who did he compete against in 1972?","former Governor of Massachusetts Endicott Peabody had been running a quixotic campaign for the same post","What significant events happened during the campaign?","At the convention's final day on July 14, 1972, presidential nominee McGovern selected and announced Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri as his vice-presidential choice.","What did Gravel do afterward?","Gravel was nominated by Bettye Fahrenkamp, the Democratic National Committeewoman from Alaska.","What was he nominated for?","presidential nominee","Did he have any enemies?","Rolling Stone correspondent Hunter S. Thompson said Gravel \"probably said a few things that might have been worth hearing, under different circumstances","What comments was Rolling Stone referring to?","I don't know."],"string":"[\n \"Mike Gravel\",\n \"Run for Vice President in 1972\",\n \"Who was Gavel's running mate?\",\n \"I don't know.\",\n \"Who did he compete against in 1972?\",\n \"former Governor of Massachusetts Endicott Peabody had been running a quixotic campaign for the same post\",\n \"What significant events happened during the campaign?\",\n \"At the convention's final day on July 14, 1972, presidential nominee McGovern selected and announced Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri as his vice-presidential choice.\",\n \"What did Gravel do afterward?\",\n \"Gravel was nominated by Bettye Fahrenkamp, the Democratic National Committeewoman from Alaska.\",\n \"What was he nominated for?\",\n \"presidential nominee\",\n \"Did he have any enemies?\",\n \"Rolling Stone correspondent Hunter S. Thompson said Gravel \\\"probably said a few things that might have been worth hearing, under different circumstances\",\n \"What comments was Rolling Stone referring to?\",\n \"I don't know.\"\n]"},"QuAC_dialog_id":{"kind":"string","value":"C_99b905b192ab4470bbae0787f5f31d5c_1"},"Question":{"kind":"string","value":"What else can you tell me about Gravel?"},"Question_no":{"kind":"number","value":8,"string":"8"},"Rewrite":{"kind":"string","value":"Besides losing the vice-presidential nomination, what else can you tell me about Mike Gravel?"},"true_page_title":{"kind":"string","value":"Mike Gravel"},"true_contexts":{"kind":"string","value":"Gravel \"decided to become a pioneer in a faraway place,\" and moved to pre-statehood Alaska in August 1956, without funds or a job, looking for a place where someone without social or political connections could be a viable candidate for public office. Alaska's voting age of 19, less than most other states' 21, played a role in his decision, as did its newness and cooler climate. Broke when he arrived, he immediately found work in real estate sales until winter arrived. Gravel then was employed as a brakeman for the Alaska Railroad, working the snow-clearing train on the Anchorage-Fairbanks run. Subsequently, he opened a small real estate brokerage in Anchorage (the Territory of Alaska not requiring a license) and saved enough so as not to have to work the railroad again. Gravel joined the Anchorage Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, and continued a sporadic relationship with the movement throughout his life. Gravel married Rita Jeannette Martin, who had been Anchorage's \"Miss Fur Rendezvous\" of 1958, on April 29, 1959. They had two children, Martin Anthony Gravel and Lynne Denise Gravel, born c. 1960 and 1962 respectively. Meanwhile, he went to Washington, D.C. in 1957 to campaign for Alaskan statehood via the \"Tennessee Plan\": dressed as Paul Revere, he rode with a petition to the steps of the U.S. Capitol. Seeing Alaska as a wide-open place with no political establishment or entrenched interests, and using the slogan \"Gravel, the Roadbed to Prosperity\", he ran for the territorial legislature in 1958 but lost. He went on a national speaking tour concerning tax reform in 1959, sponsored by the Jaycees. He ran without avail for the City Council in Anchorage in 1960. During this time, he had become a successful real estate agent; after the 1960 election, he became a property developer in a mobile home park on the outskirts of Anchorage. A partner ran into financial difficulty, however, and the project went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy and Gravel was forced out in 1962. In the late 1960s and early 1970s the U.S. Department of Defense was in the process of performing tests for the nuclear warhead for the Spartan anti-ballistic missile. Two tests, the \"Milrow\" and \"Cannikin\" tests, were planned, involving the detonation of nuclear bombs under Amchitka Island in Alaska. The Milrow test would be a one megaton calibration exercise for the second, and larger five megaton, Cannikin test, which would measure the effectiveness of the warhead. Gravel opposed the tests in Congress. Before the Milrow test took place in October 1969, he wrote that there were significant risks of earthquakes and other adverse consequences, and called for an independent national commission on nuclear and seismic safety to be created; he then made a personal appeal to President Nixon to stop the test. After Milrow was conducted, there was continued pressure on the part of environmental groups against going forward with the larger Cannikin test, while the Federation of American Scientists claimed that the warhead being tested was already obsolete. In May 1971, Gravel sent a letter to U.S. Atomic Energy Commission hearings held in Anchorage, in which he said the risk of the test was not worth taking. Eventually a group not involving Gravel took the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to issue an injunction against it, and the Cannikin test took place as scheduled in November 1971. Gravel had failed to stop the tests (notwithstanding his later claims during his 2008 presidential campaign). Nuclear power was considered an environmentally clean alternative for the commercial generation of electricity and was part of a popular national policy for the peaceful use of atomic energy in the 1950s and 1960s. Gravel publicly opposed this policy; besides the dangers of nuclear testing, he was a vocal critic of the Atomic Energy Commission, which oversaw American nuclear efforts, and of the powerful United States Congress Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, which had a stranglehold on nuclear policy and which Gravel tried to circumvent. In 1971, Gravel sponsored a bill to impose a moratorium on nuclear power plant construction and to make power utilities liable for any nuclear accidents; in 1975, he was still proposing similar moratoriums. By 1974, Gravel was allied with Ralph Nader's organization in opposing nuclear power. Six months before U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's secret mission to the People's Republic of China (P.R.C.) in July 1971, Gravel introduced legislation to recognize and normalize relations with China, including a proposal for unity talks between the P.R.C. and the Republic of China (Taiwan) regarding the Chinese seat on the U.N. Security Council. Gravel reiterated his position in favor of recognition, with four other senators in agreement, during Senate hearings in June 1971. Gravel actively campaigned for the office of Vice President of the United States during the 1972 presidential election, announcing on June 2, 1972, over a month before the 1972 Democratic National Convention began, that he was interested in running for the nomination should the choice be opened up to convention delegates. Towards this end he began soliciting delegates for their support in advance of the convention. He was not alone in this effort, as former Governor of Massachusetts Endicott Peabody had been running a quixotic campaign for the same post since the prior year. Likely presidential nominee George McGovern was in fact considering the unusual move of naming three or four acceptable vice-presidential candidates and letting the delegates choose. At the convention's final day on July 14, 1972, presidential nominee McGovern selected and announced Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri as his vice-presidential choice. Eagleton was unknown to many delegates and the choice seemed to smack of traditional ticket balancing considerations. Thus, there were delegates willing to look elsewhere. Gravel was nominated by Bettye Fahrenkamp, the Democratic National Committeewoman from Alaska. He then seconded his own nomination, breaking down in tears at his own words and maybe trying to withdraw his nomination. In any case he won 226 delegate votes, coming in third behind Eagleton and Frances \"Sissy\" Farenthold of Texas, in chaotic balloting that included several other candidates as well. For his efforts, Gravel attracted some attention: famed writer Norman Mailer would say he \"provided considerable excitement\" and was \"good-looking enough to have played leads in B-films\", while Rolling Stone correspondent Hunter S. Thompson said Gravel \"probably said a few things that might have been worth hearing, under different circumstances ...\" Yet, the whole process had been doubly disastrous for the Democrats. The time consumed with the nominating and seconding and other speeches of all the vice-presidential candidates had lost the attention of the delegates on the floor and pushed McGovern's speech until 3:30 a.m. The haste with which Eagleton had been selected led to surprise when his past mental health treatments were revealed; he withdrew from the ticket soon after the convention, to be replaced by Sargent Shriver. CANNOTANSWER"},"answer":{"kind":"string","value":"he \"provided considerable excitement\" and was \"good-looking enough to have played leads in B-films\","},"true_contexts_wiki":{"kind":"string","value":"Maurice Robert Gravel ( ; May 13, 1930 – June 26, 2021) was an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Alaska from 1969 to 1981 as a member of the Democratic Party, and who, in later life, twice ran for the presidential nomination of that party.\n\nBorn and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, by French-Canadian immigrant parents, Gravel moved to Alaska in the late 1950s, becoming a real estate developer and entering politics. He served in the Alaska House of Representatives from 1963 to 1967, and also became Speaker of the Alaska House. Gravel was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1968.\n\nAs a senator, Gravel became nationally known for his forceful, but unsuccessful, attempts to end the draft during the War in Vietnam, and for putting the Pentagon Papers into the public record in 1971. He conducted a campaign for the Democratic nomination in 1972 for Vice President of the United States, and then played a crucial role in obtaining Congressional approval for the Trans-Alaska pipeline in 1973. He was re-elected to the Senate in 1974, but was defeated in his bid for a third term in the primary election in 1980.\n\nAn advocate of direct democracy and the National Initiative, Gravel staged a run for the 2008 Democratic nomination for President of the United States. His campaign failed to gain support, and in March 2008, he left the Democratic Party and joined the Libertarian Party to compete unsuccessfully for its presidential nomination and the inclusion of the National Initiative into the Libertarian Platform. He ran for president as a Democrat again in the 2020 election, in a campaign that ended four months after it began. Two years before his death, Gravel and his campaign staff founded the progressive think tank The Gravel Institute.\n\nEarly life, military service, education\nGravel was born on May 13, 1930, in Springfield, Massachusetts, one of five children of French-Canadian immigrant parents, Alphonse and Marie (née Bourassa) Gravel. His parents were part of the Quebec diaspora, and he was raised in a working-class neighborhood during the Great Depression, speaking only French until he was seven years old. Calling him \"Mike\" from an early age, his father valued work above all else, while his mother stressed the importance of education.\n\nGravel was educated in parochial schools as a Roman Catholic. There he struggled, due to what he later said was undiagnosed dyslexia, and was left back in third grade. He completed elementary school in 1945 and his class voted him \"most charming personality\". A summer job as a soda jerk led to Gravel handing out campaign fliers for local candidates on his boss's behalf; Gravel was immediately impressed with \"the awesomeness of political office\".\n\nGravel then boarded at Assumption Preparatory School in Worcester, Massachusetts, where his performance was initially mediocre. By Gravel's telling, in the summer of 1948 he intended to volunteer for the Israel Defense Forces during the 1947–1949 Palestine war, but Alexandra Tolstaya told him to return to school. There an English teacher, the Assumptionist Edgar Bourque, gave him personal attention, improving Gravel's language skills and instructing him in public speaking. Gravel's grades improved measurably in his final year and he graduated in 1949. His sister, Marguerite, became a Holy Cross nun, but Gravel himself struggled with the Catholic faith. He studied for one year at Assumption College, a Catholic school in Worcester, then transferred for his sophomore year to American International College in Springfield. Journalist I. F. Stone and philosopher Bertrand Russell strongly influenced Gravel in their willingness to challenge assumptions and oppose social convention and political authority.\n\nAround May 1951, Gravel saw that he was about to be drafted and instead enlisted in the U.S. Army for a three-year term so that he could get into the Counterintelligence Corps. After basic training and counterintelligence school at Fort Holabird in Maryland and in South Carolina, he went to Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia. While he expected to be sent off to the Korean War when he graduated as a second lieutenant in early 1952, he was instead assigned to Stuttgart, West Germany, as a Special Adjutant in the Army's Communications Intelligence Service. In Germany, Gravel conducted surveillance operations on civilians and paid off spies. After about a year, he transferred to Orléans, France, where his French language abilities (if not his French-Canadian accent) allowed him to infiltrate French communist rallies. He worked as a Special Agent in the Counterintelligence Corps until 1954, eventually becoming a first lieutenant.\n\nFollowing his discharge, Gravel entered the Columbia University School of General Studies in New York City, where he studied economics and received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1956. He moved to New York \"flat broke\" and supported himself by working as a bar boy in a hotel, driving a taxicab, and working in the investment bond department at Bankers Trust. During this time he left the Roman Catholic faith.\n\nMove to Alaska\n\nGravel \"decided to become a pioneer in a faraway place,\" and moved to pre-statehood Alaska in August 1956, without funds or a job, looking for a place where someone without social or political connections could be a viable candidate for public office. Alaska's voting age of 19, less than most other states' 21, played a role in his decision, as did its newness and cooler climate. Broke when he arrived, he immediately found work in real estate sales until winter arrived. Gravel then was employed as a brakeman for the Alaska Railroad, working the snow-clearing train on the Anchorage-to-Fairbanks run. Subsequently, he opened a small real estate brokerage in Anchorage (the Territory of Alaska not requiring a license) and saved enough so as not to have to work the railroad again. The firm was named the M. R. Gravel Real Estate Company. Gravel joined the Anchorage Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, and continued a sporadic relationship with the movement throughout his life.\n\nSeeing Alaska as a wide-open place with no political establishment or entrenched interests, Gravel quickly became part of the civic scene there. By October 1957 he was a Division Chairman for Anchorage for the Democratic Central Committee in the territory, and by June 1958 he was president of the Alaska Young Democrats organization. He also became active in the United States Junior Chamber (Jaycees), and by early 1958 his duties included handing out awards for farmer of the year.\n\nBy early 1958, Gravel was running as Democratic Party primary candidate for a Third Division seat in House of Representative of the territorial legislature. (This was one of the four judicial divisions into which Alaska was sectioned at the time.) Using the slogan \"Gravel, the Roadbed to Prosperity\", he ran but lost. At the same time, he was also an advocate for Alaskan statehood.\n\nGravel went on a 44-state national speaking tour concerning tax reform in 1959, sponsored by the Jaycees, often dressing for events as Paul Revere. Gravel was selected from some two thousand applications for this position. The tour received a good amount of local newspaper coverage at its various stops, with Gravel's first name sometimes given as Mike and other times as Maurice. The tour's general message was an urging of \"lower taxes, more efficiency in government and a system of taxation moderate at all levels of income\". At several stops Gravel stated that the \"tide of socialism\" had to be stopped. He elaborated at another stop, \"It is part of our Jaycee creed that economic justice can best be won by free men through free enterprise. We really want to see that free enterprise become our inheritance.\" The tour was scheduled to conclude in Washington D.C., on Tax Day, April 15, with petition signatures accumulated for reform to be presented to U.S. lawmakers: dressed as Revere, Gravel rode with the petition to the steps of the U.S. Capitol.\n\nThe tour over, Gravel married Rita Jeannette Martin at the First Methodist Church of Anchorage on April 29, 1959. She was a native of Montana who had attended Billings Business College before moving to Alaska two years prior and becoming a secretary in the office of the Anchorage city manager. She had also been named Anchorage's \"Miss Fur Rendezvous\" of 1958. They had two children, Martin Anthony Gravel and Lynne Denise Gravel, born c. 1960 and 1962 respectively.\n\nGravel ran without avail for the City Council in Anchorage in 1960. During this time, he had become a successful real estate agent; after the 1960 election, he became a property developer in a mobile home park on the outskirts of Anchorage. After a partner ran into financial difficulty, however, the project went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and Gravel was forced out in 1962.\n\nState legislator\n\nWith the support of Alaska wholesale grocer Barney Gottstein and supermarket builder Larry Carr, Gravel ran for the Alaska House of Representatives representing Anchorage in 1962, initially assigned the 10th and then 8th districts. Alaska had very crowded primaries that year: Gravel was one of 33 Democrats, along with 21 Republicans, who were running for the chance to compete for the 14 House seats allocated to the 8th district. Gravel made it through the primary, and in November eight Republicans and six Democrats were elected to the House from the district, with Gravel finishing eighth overall and third among with Democrats, with 8,174 votes. Gottstein became Gravel's main financial backer during most of his subsequent campaigns.\n\nGravel served in the Alaska House of Representatives from January 28, 1963 to January 22, 1967, winning reelection in 1964. In his first term, he served as a minority member on two House committees: Commerce, and Labor and Management. He co-authored and sponsored the act that created the Alaska State Commission for Human Rights. Gravel was the chief architect of the law that created a regional high school system for rural Alaska; this allowed Alaska Natives to attend schools near where they lived instead of having to go to schools run by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the lower 48 states.\n\nDuring the half-years that the legislature was not in session, Gravel resumed his real estate work. With Gottstein and Carr's backing, he became quite successful as a property developer on the Kenai Peninsula.\n\nDuring 1965 and 1966, he served as the Speaker of the House, surprising observers by winning that post. Gravel convinced former Speaker Warren A. Taylor to not try for the position against him by promising Taylor chairmanship of the Rules Committee, then reneged on the promise. Gravel denied later press charges that he had promised but not delivered on other committee chairmanships. As Speaker he antagonized fellow lawmakers by imposing his will on the legislature's committees and feuded with Alaska State Senate president Robert J. McNealy.\n\nGravel did not run for reelection in 1966, instead choosing to run for Alaska's seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, losing the primary to four-term incumbent Democrat Ralph Rivers by 1,300 votes and splitting the Democratic Party in the process. Rivers lost the general election that year to Republican state Senator Howard Pollock. Following this defeat, Gravel returned to the real estate business in Anchorage.\n\nU.S. Senator\n\nElection to Senate in 1968\nIn 1968, Gravel ran against 81-year-old incumbent Democratic United States Senator Ernest Gruening, a popular former governor of the Alaska Territory who was considered one of the fathers of Alaska's statehood, for his party's nomination to the U.S. Senate. Gravel's campaign was primarily based on his youth and telegenic appearance rather than issue differences. He hired Joseph Napolitan, the first self-described political consultant, in late 1966. They spent over a year and a half planning a short, nine-day primary election campaign that featured the slogans \"Alaska first\" and \"Let's do something about the state we're in\", the distribution of a collection of essays titled Jobs and More Jobs, and the creation of a half-hour, well-produced, glamorized biographical film of Gravel, Man for Alaska. The film was shown twice a day on every television station in Alaska, and carried by plane and shown on home projectors in hundreds of Alaska Native villages. The heavy showings quickly reversed a 2–to–1 Gruening lead in polls into a Gravel lead. Gravel visited many remote villages by seaplane and showed a thorough understanding of the needs of the bush country and the fishing and oil industries. Gravel also benefited from maintaining a deliberately ambiguous posture about Vietnam policy. Gruening had been one of only two Senators to vote against the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and his opposition to President Lyndon B. Johnson's war policies was harming him among the Democratic electorate; according to Gravel, \"all I had to do was stand up and not deal with the subject, and people would assume that I was to the right of Ernest Gruening, when in point of fact I was to the left of him\". In Man for Alaska, Gravel argued that \"the liberals\" would come to West Germany's defense if it was attacked, and that the same standard should apply to the United States' allies in Asia. During the campaign he also claimed that he was \"more in the mainstream of American thought on Vietnam\" than Gruening, despite the fact that he had written to Gruening to praise his antiwar stance four years earlier. Decades later, Gravel conceded that \"I said what I said [about Vietnam] to advance my career.\"\n\nGravel beat Gruening in the primary by about 2,000 votes. Gruening found \"the unexpected defeat hard to take\" and thought that some aspects of his opponent's biographical film had misled viewers. In the general election, Gravel faced Republican Elmer E. Rasmuson, a banker and former mayor of Anchorage. College students in the state implored Gruening to run a write-in campaign as an Independent, but legal battles prevented him from getting approval for it until only two weeks were left. A late appearance by anti-war presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy did not offset Gruening's lack of funds and endorsements; meanwhile, Gravel and Rasmuson both saturated local media with their filmed biographies. On November 5, 1968, Gravel won the general election with 45 percent of the vote to Rasmuson's 37 percent and Gruening's 18 percent.\n\nSenate assignments and style\nWhen Gravel joined the U.S.Senate in January 1969, he requested and received a seat on the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee, which had direct relevance to Alaskan issues. He also got a spot on the Public Works Committee, which he held throughout his time in the Senate. Finally, he was a member of the Select Committee on Small Business. In 1971 he became chair of the Public Works Committee's Subcommittee on Public Buildings and Grounds, and by 1973 he was chair of its Subcommittee on Water Resources, then later its Subcommittee on Environmental Pollution. Gravel was also initially named to the Joint Committee on Congressional Operations. By 1973 Gravel was off the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee and the Select Small Business Committee and instead a member of the Finance Committee, and by 1977 was chair of that body's Subcommittee on Energy and Foundations. By 1973 he had also been on the ad hoc Special Committee to Study Secret and Confidential Government Documents.\n\nBy his own admission, Gravel was too new and \"too abrasive\" to be effective in the Senate by the usual means of seniority-based committee assignments or negotiating deals with other senators, and was sometimes seen as arrogant or a nuisance by the more senior and tradition-oriented members. Gravel relied on attention-getting gestures to achieve what he wanted, hoping national exposure would force other senators to listen to him. But even senators who agreed with him on issues considered his methods to be showboating.\n\nAs part of this approach, Gravel voted with Southern Democrats to keep the Senate filibuster rule in place, and accordingly supported Russell Long and Robert Byrd but opposed Ted Kennedy in Senate leadership battles. In retrospective assessment, University of Alaska Anchorage history professor Stephen Haycox said, \"Loose cannon is a good description of Gravel's Senate career. He was an off-the-wall guy, and you weren't really ever sure what he would do.\"\n\nNuclear issues and the Cold War\nIn the late 1960s and early 1970s the U.S. Department of Defense was in the process of performing tests for the nuclear warhead for the Spartan anti-ballistic missile. Two tests, the \"Milrow\" and \"Cannikin\" tests, were planned, involving the detonation of nuclear bombs under Amchitka Island in Alaska. The Milrow test would be a one-megaton calibration exercise for the second and larger five-megaton Cannikin test, which would measure the effectiveness of the warhead. Gravel opposed the tests. Before the Milrow test took place in October 1969, he wrote that there were significant risks of earthquakes and other adverse consequences and called for an independent national commission on nuclear and seismic safety; he then made a personal appeal to President Richard Nixon to stop the test.\n\nAfter Milrow was conducted, there was continued pressure on the part of environmental groups against going forward with the Cannikin test, while the Federation of American Scientists claimed that the warhead being tested was already obsolete. In May 1971 Gravel sent a letter to U.S. Atomic Energy Commission hearings held in Anchorage in which he said the risk of the test was not worth taking. Eventually a group not involving Gravel took the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to issue an injunction against it, and the Cannikin test took place as scheduled in November 1971. Gravel had failed to stop the tests (notwithstanding his later claims during his 2008 presidential campaign).\n\nIn 1971 Gravel voted against the Nixon administration's proposed anti-ballistic missile system, the Safeguard Program, having previously vacillated over the issue, suggesting that he might be willing to support it in exchange for federal lands in Alaska being opened up for private oil drilling. His vote alienated Senator Henry \"Scoop\" Jackson, who had raised funds for Gravel's primary campaign.\n\nNuclear power was considered an environmentally clean alternative for commercial generation of electricity and was part of a popular national policy for the peaceful use of atomic energy in the 1950s and 1960s. Gravel publicly opposed this policy; besides the dangers of nuclear testing, he was a vocal critic of the Atomic Energy Commission, which oversaw American nuclear efforts, and of the powerful United States Congress Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, which had a stranglehold on nuclear policy and which Gravel tried to circumvent. In 1971 Gravel sponsored a bill to impose a moratorium on nuclear power plant construction and to make power utilities liable for any nuclear accidents; in 1975 he was still proposing similar moratoriums. By 1974 Gravel was allied with Ralph Nader's organization in opposing nuclear power.\n\nSix months before U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's July 1971 secret mission to the People's Republic of China (P.R.C.), Gravel introduced legislation to recognize and normalize relations with the P.R.C., including a proposal for unity talks between the P.R.C. and the Republic of China (Taiwan) regarding the Chinese seat on the U.N. Security Council. He reiterated his position in favor of recognition, with four other senators in agreement, during Senate hearings in June 1971.\n\nVietnam War, the draft, and the Pentagon Papers\nAlthough he did not campaign against the Vietnam War during his first Senate campaign, by the end of 1970 Gravel was speaking out against United States policy in southeast Asia: in December of that year he persuaded William Fulbright to join him in a spontaneous two-day filibuster against a $155 million military aid package to Cambodia's Khmer Republic government in the Cambodian Civil War.\n\nPresident Richard Nixon had campaigned in 1968 on a promise to end the U.S. military draft, a decision endorsed by the February 1970 report of the Gates Commission.\nThe existing draft law was scheduled to conclude at the end of June 1971, and the Senate faced a contentious debate about whether to extend it as the Vietnam War continued. The Nixon administration announced in February 1971 that it wanted a two-year extension to June 1973, after which the draft would end; Army planners had already been operating under the assumption of a two-year extension, after which an all-volunteer force would be in place. Skeptics such as Senate Armed Services Committee chairman John Stennis thought this unrealistic and wanted a four-year extension, but the two-year proposal is what went forward in Congress. By early May 1971, Gravel had indicated his intention to filibuster the draft renewal legislation, halting conscription and thereby bringing U.S. involvement in the war to a rapid end. During this period he also supported efforts to mobilize and influence public opinion against the war, endorsing the \"Vietnam War Out Now\" rallies in Washington D.C. and San Francisco on April 24, 1971, and financing a broadcast campaign by the antiwar group War No More with a personal loan. In June 1972 he escorted a group of over 100 antiwar protesters, including psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton, actress Candice Bergen, theater producer and director Joseph Papp, and peditrician Dr. Benjamin Spock, into the United States Capitol Building; the group was arrested after blocking a hallway outside the Senate chamber.\n\nBy June 1971, some Democratic senators opposed to the war wanted to limit the renewal to a one-year extension, while others wanted to end it immediately; Gravel reiterated that he was one of the latter, saying, \"It's a senseless war, and one way to do away with it is to do away with the draft.\" A Senate vote on June 4 indicated majority support for the two-year extension. On June 18 Gravel announced again his intention to counteract that by filibustering the renewal legislation, defending the practice against those who associated it only with blocking civil rights legislation. The first filibuster attempt failed on June 23 when, by three votes, the Senate voted cloture for only the fifth time since 1927.\n\nProtracted negotiations took place over House conference negotiations on the bill, revolving in large part around Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield's eventually unsuccessful amendment to tie renewal to a troop withdrawal timetable from Vietnam; during this time the draft law expired and no more were conscripted. On August 5, the Nixon administration pleaded for a renewal before the Senate went on recess, but Gravel blocked Stennis's attempt to limit debate, and no vote was held. Finally on September 21, 1971, the Senate invoked cloture over Gravel's second filibuster attempt by one vote, and then passed the two-year draft extension. Gravel's attempts to stop the draft had failed (notwithstanding Gravel's later claims that he had stopped or shortened the draft, taken at face value in some media reports, during his 2008 presidential campaign).\n\nMeanwhile, on June 13, 1971, The New York Times began printing large portions of the Pentagon Papers. The papers were a large collection of secret government documents and studies pertaining to the Vietnam War, of which former Defense Department analyst Daniel Ellsberg had made unauthorized copies and was determined to make public. Ellsberg had for a year and a half approached members of Congress – such as William Fulbright, George McGovern, Charles Mathias, and Pete McCloskey – about publishing the documents, on the grounds that the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution would give congressional members immunity from prosecution, but all had refused. Instead, Ellsberg gave the documents to the Times.\n\nThe U.S. Justice Department immediately tried to halt publication, on the grounds that the information revealed within the papers harmed the national interest. Within the next two weeks, a federal court injunction halted publication in the Times; The Washington Post and several other newspapers began publishing parts of the documents, with some of them also being halted by injunctions; and the whole matter went to the U.S. Supreme Court for arguments. Looking for an alternate publication mechanism, Ellsberg returned to his idea of having a member of Congress read them, and chose Gravel based on the latter's efforts against the draft; Gravel agreed where previously others had not. Ellsberg arranged for the papers to be given to Gravel on June 26 via an intermediary, Post editor Ben Bagdikian. Gravel used his counter-intelligence experience to choose a midnight transfer in front of the Mayflower Hotel in the center of Washington, D.C.\n\nOn the night of June 29, 1971, Gravel attempted to read the papers on the floor of the Senate as part of his filibuster against the draft, but was thwarted when no quorum could be formed. Gravel instead convened a session of the Buildings and Grounds subcommittee that he chaired. He got New York Congressman John G. Dow to testify that the war had soaked up funding for public buildings, thus making discussion of the war relevant to the committee. He began reading from the papers with the press in attendance, omitting supporting documents that he felt might compromise national security, and declaring, \"It is my constitutional obligation to protect the security of the people by fostering the free flow of information absolutely essential to their democratic decision-making.\"\n\nHe read until 1 a.m., culminating by saying \"Arms are being severed. Metal is clashing through human bodies because of the public policy this government and all its branches continue to support.\" Then with tears and sobs he said that he could no longer physically continue, the previous three nights of sleeplessness and fear about the future having taken their toll. Gravel ended the session by, with no other senators present, establishing unanimous consent to insert 4,100 pages of the Papers into the Congressional Record of his subcommittee. The following day, the Supreme Court's New York Times Co. v. United States decision ruled in favor of the newspapers and publication in the Times and others resumed. In July 1971 Bantam Books published an inexpensive paperback edition of the papers containing the material the Times had published.\n\nGravel, too, wanted to privately publish the portion of the papers he had read into the record, believing that \"immediate disclosure of the contents of these papers will change the policy that supports the war\". After being turned down by many commercial publishers, on August 4 he reached agreement with Beacon Press, the publishing arm of the Unitarian Universalist Association, of which Gravel was a member. Announced on August 17 and published on October 22, 1971, this four-volume, relatively expensive set became the \"Senator Gravel Edition\", which studies from Cornell University and the Annenberg Center for Communication have labeled as the most complete edition of the Pentagon Papers to be published. The \"Gravel Edition\" was edited and annotated by Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn, and included an additional volume of analytical articles on the origins and progress of the war, also edited by Chomsky and Zinn. Beacon Press then was subjected to a FBI investigation; an outgrowth of this was the Gravel v. United States court case, which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled upon in June 1972; it held that the Speech or Debate Clause did grant immunity to Gravel for his reading the papers in his subcommittee, did grant some immunity to Gravel's congressional aide, but granted no immunity to Beacon Press in relation to their publishing the same papers. The U.S. Senate Democratic Caucus backed Gravel in the case, but due to Republican opposition it did not pay Gravel's legal fees, leaving him owing $25,000 (the equivalent of $150,000 in 2019, adjusted for inflation).\n\nThe events of 1971 changed Gravel in the following months from an obscure freshman senator to a nationally visible political figure. He became a sought-after speaker on the college circuit as well as at political fundraisers, opportunities he welcomed as lectures were \"the one honest way a Senator has to supplement his income\". But his speaking tours caused him to accrue one of the worst absentee records in the Senate. The Democratic candidates for the 1972 presidential election sought his endorsement. In January 1972 Gravel endorsed Maine Senator Ed Muskie, hoping that his support would help Muskie with the party's left wing and in ethnic French-Canadian areas during the first primary contest in New Hampshire (Muskie won, but not overwhelmingly, and his campaign faltered soon after). In April 1972 Gravel appeared on all three networks' nightly newscasts to decry the Nixon administration's reliance on Vietnamization by making reference to the secret National Security Study Memorandum 1 document, which stated it would take 8–13 years for the Army of the Republic of Vietnam to defend South Vietnam. Gravel made excerpts from the study public, but senators Robert P. Griffin and William B. Saxbe blocked his attempt to read NSSM 1 into the Congressional Record.\n\nDomestic policy \nIn 1970 Gravel co-sponsored legislation to establish a guaranteed minimum income, entitling poor families to up to $6,300 a year (the equivalent of $42,000 in 2019 after adjustment for inflation). He subsequently voted for a \"work bonus\" program, which would have entitled low-income working families with dependent children if they were paying Social Security or Railroad Retirement taxes to a non-taxable bonus of up to 10 percent of their wages. Gravel also supported extending Social Security to all federal employees and introduced a campaign finance reform bill in 1971 that would have enacted full disclosure of campaign financing, placed limits on large donations, media spending and individual candidate spending.\n\nIn 1969, Gravel was the only Democratic Senator outside of the South to vote for Nixon's Supreme Court nominee Clement Haynsworth. The following year Gravel opposed Nixon's next pick, G. Harrold Carswell.\n\nRun for vice president in 1972\nGravel actively campaigned for the office of Vice President of the United States during the 1972 presidential election, announcing on June 2, 1972, over a month before the 1972 Democratic National Convention began, that he was interested in the nomination should the choice be opened up to convention delegates. Toward this end he began soliciting delegates for their support. He was not alone in this effort, as former Governor of Massachusetts Endicott Peabody had been running a quixotic campaign for the same post since the prior year. Likely presidential nominee George McGovern was in fact considering the unusual move of naming three or four acceptable vice-presidential candidates and letting the delegates choose.\n\nOn the convention's final day, July 14, 1972, McGovern selected and announced Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri as his vice-presidential choice. Eagleton was unknown to many delegates and the choice seemed to smack of traditional ticket balancing considerations. Thus there were delegates willing to look elsewhere. Gravel was nominated by Bettye Fahrenkamp, the Democratic National Committeewoman from Alaska. He then seconded his own nomination, breaking down in tears at his own words and maybe trying to withdraw his nomination. In any case he won 226 delegate votes, coming in third behind Eagleton and Frances \"Sissy\" Farenthold of Texas, in chaotic balloting that included several other candidates.\n\nGravel attracted some attention for his efforts: writer Norman Mailer said he \"provided considerable excitement\" and was \"good-looking enough to have played leads in B-films\", while Rolling Stone correspondent Hunter S. Thompson said Gravel \"probably said a few things that might have been worth hearing, under different circumstances\". Yet the process was doubly disastrous for the Democrats. In the time consumed by nominating and seconding and all the vice-presidential candidates' speeches, the attention of the delegates on the floor was lost and McGovern's speech was pushed to 3:30 a.m. The haste with which Eagleton was selected led to surprise when his past mental health treatments were revealed; he withdrew from the ticket soon after the convention, to be replaced by Sargent Shriver.\n\nReelection to Senate in 1974\nSeveral years earlier, Alaska politicians had speculated that Gravel would have a hard time getting both renominated and elected when his first term expired, given that he was originally elected without a base party organization and tended to focus on national rather than local issues.\n\nNonetheless, after receiving support from national and local labor leaders, securing key earmarks, and producing another half-hour TV advertorial, in 1974 Gravel was reelected to the Senate, with 58 percent of the vote to 42 percent for Republican State Senator C. R. Lewis, who was a national officer of the John Birch Society.\n\nSecond term\nGravel's reelection campaign left him $65,000–$75,000 in debt. In 1975 The Washington Post reported on a memo by his executive assistant laying out a fundraising strategy to tackle this, including raising funds from oil companies, meeting with previous donors and \"inquir[ing] into the governmental priorities of these people and their groups in the coming session\", as well as obtaining further speaking fees to reduce his personal debt. This was followed by a number of stories about links between Gravel, lobbyists and fundraisers, including one that was widely publicized in Alaska about his holding a share in a Colorado resort with two Washington lobbyists he was working with on land and energy legislation. Gravel had been open about the investment and had opposing views to one of the lobbyists on nuclear power. In 1980 the Wall Street Journal published details about his fundraising activities, including writing to individuals and PACs in the oil industry, pledging to kill off proposals for a windfall profits tax on the sector, and traveling in the Middle East with the business partner of one of his donors to sell Alaskan land to businessmen. Gravel suggested that critics of his fundraising were \"naive\".\n\nIn 1975 Gravel introduced an amendment to cut the number of troops overseas by 200,000, but it was defeated on a voice vote.\n\nIn September 1975 Gravel was named as one of several Congressional Advisers to the Seventh Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly, which met to discuss problems related to economic development and international economic cooperation.\n\nIn June 1976 Gravel was the focus of a federal investigation into allegations that he was involved in a sex-for-vote arrangement. Congressional staff clerk Elizabeth Ray (who had already been involved in a sex scandal that led to the downfall of Representative Wayne Hays) said that in August 1972 she had sex with Gravel aboard a houseboat on the Potomac River, under the instruction of Representative Kenneth J. Gray, her boss at the time. Gray allegedly wanted to secure Gravel's support for further funding for construction of the National Visitor Center in Washington, a troubled project that was under the jurisdiction of subcommittees that both members chaired. Another Congressional staffer said she witnessed the boat encounter, but Gravel said at the time that he had never met either of the women. Gravel and Gray strongly denied that they had made any arrangement regarding legislation, and neither was ever charged with any wrongdoing. Decades later Gravel wrote that he had indeed had sex with Ray, but had not changed any votes because of it.\n\nGravel and his main financial backer, Gottstein, had a falling out in 1978, during the Congressional debate over whether to allow a controversial sale of U.S. F-15 fighter aircraft to Saudi Arabia. An ardent backer of Israel, Gottstein opposed the sale and asked Gravel to vote against it. But Gravel not only voted for it but made an emotional speech attacking the anti-sale campaign. Gravel wrote in 2008 that it was the only time Gottstein had ever asked him for a favor, and the rupture resulted in their never speaking to each other again.\n\nAlaskan issues\n\nBy 1971 Gravel was urging construction of the much-argued Trans-Alaska pipeline, addressing environmental concerns by saying that the pipeline's builders and operators should have \"total and absolute\" responsibility for any consequent environmental damage. Two years later the debate over the pipeline came to a crux, with The New York Times describing it as \"environmentalists [in] a holy war with the major oil companies\". In February 1973 the U.S. Court of Appeals blocked the issuance of permits for construction; Gravel and fellow Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens reacted by urging Congress to pass legislation overturning the court's decision. Environmentalists opposed to the pipeline, such as the Environmental Defense Fund and the Sierra Club then sought to use the recently passed National Environmental Policy Act to their advantage; Gravel designed an amendment to the pipeline bill that would immunize the pipeline from any further court challenges under that law, and thus speed its construction. Passage of the amendment became the key battle regarding the pipeline. On July 17, 1973, in a dramatic roll-call vote, the Gravel amendment was approved as a 49–49 tie was broken in favor by Vice President Spiro Agnew. The actual bill enabling the pipeline then passed easily; Gravel had triumphed in what became perhaps his most lasting accomplishment as a senator.\n\nIn opposition to the Alaskan fishing industry, Gravel advocated American participation in the formation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. For two years he opposed legislation that established a Exclusive Economic Zone for marine resources. He was one of only 19 senators to vote against Senate approval for the expanded zone in 1976, saying it would undermine the U.S. position in Law of the Sea negotiations and that nations arbitrarily extending their fishing rights limits would \"produce anarchy of the seas\". The legislation was passed, and the United States has signed but never ratified the Law of the Sea treaty.\n\nGravel accumulated a complicated record on Indian affairs during his time in the Senate. During his first year in the Senate Gravel urged abolition of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, criticizing the agency for the pace of development of schools in Alaska, its paternalistic attitudes and the culturally inappropriate nature of its education, and advocating greater shared decision-making between the federal government and native communities in Alaska. Later, his views changed; in the early 1970s Gravel supported a demonstration project that established links between Alaskan villages and the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, for medical diagnostic communications. In 1971, he fended off accusations from Alaskan natives that he was not spending enough time working on their land claims. Gravel helped secure a private grant to facilitate the first Inuit Circumpolar Conference in 1977, attended by Inuit representatives from Alaska, Canada, and Greenland. These conferences now also include representatives from Russia. In 1977, Gravel helped lead an effort to have the U.S. Interior Department rename Mount McKinley to Denali; this eventually led to Denali National Park being so named. Subsequently, Gravel proposed a never-built \"Denali City\" development above the Tokositna River near the mountain, to consist of a giant Teflon dome enclosing hotels, golf courses, condominiums, and commercial buildings. A related idea of his to build a high-speed rail line to Denali also failed to gain traction.\n\nA key, emotional issue in the state at the time was \"locking up Alaska\", making reference to allocation of its vast, mostly uninhabited land. President Jimmy Carter desired to put large portions of this land under federal protection against development, a move that some Alaskans vociferously opposed.\nIn 1978 Gravel blocked passage, via procedural delays such as walking out of House–Senate conference committee meetings, of a complex bill which represented a compromise on land use policy. The bill would have put some of Alaska's vast federal land holdings under state control while preserving other portions for federal parks and refuges; the blocking action earned Gravel the enmity of fellow Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, who had supported the compromise. In 1980, a new lands bill came up for consideration, that was less favorable to Alaskan interests and more liked by environmentalists; it set aside of Alaska's for national parks, conservation areas, and other restricted federal uses. Gravel blocked it, as not ensuring enough future development in the state. A new compromise version of the 1980 bill came forward, which reduced the land set aside to . Representing Alaskan interests, Gravel tried to stop the bill, including by filibuster. But the Senate voted for cloture and passed the bill. Frustrated, Gravel said, \"the legislation denies Alaska its rights as a state, and denies the U.S. crucial strategic resources,\" and opined that the Senate was \"a little bit like a tank of barracudas\". Nonetheless, the bill, known as the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980, was signed by President Carter shortly before leaving the White House, and led to millions of acres being set aside in the state for national parks, wildlife refuges, and other kinds of areas under protection.\n\nIn 1978 Gravel authored and secured the passage into federal law of the General Stock Ownership Corporation, that became Subchapter U of the Tax Code under the Internal Revenue Code of 1954. This gave states the ability to create corporations that would invest in for-profit enterprises, with all citizens within the state owning shares in the corporation. Gravel's attempt to convince the Alaska state legislature to create such a corporation failed, as did a 1980 state ballot initiative towards the same end, but nevertheless the creation of the General Stock Ownership Corporation in federal law turned out to be significant in the development of binary economics.\n\nLoss of Senate seat in 1980\n\nIn 1980 Gravel was challenged for the Democratic Party's nomination by State Representative Clark Gruening, the grandson of the man Gravel had defeated in a primary 12 years earlier. One of Gruening's supporters was Gravel's former backer Gottstein. Several factors made Gravel vulnerable. As an insurgent candidate in 1968 Gravel had never established a firm party base. Not liking to hunt or fish, he was also always culturally suspect in the state.\n\nThe primary campaign was bitterly fought. A group of Democrats, including future governor Steve Cowper, led the campaign against Gravel, with Gravel's actions in respect to the 1978 and 1980 Alaskan lands bills a major issue. This was especially so given that the 1980 bill's dénouement happened but a week before the primary. The sources of Gravel's campaign funds, some of which Gravel readily acknowledged came from political action committees outside the state, also became an issue in the contest. Gruening had pledged that he would not take special interest group money, but Gravel said that Gruening was \"dishonest\" in accepting individual contributors from Jewish donors living outside the state because to him such contributors comprised \"a special interest group ... that seeks to influence the foreign policy of the U.S.\"\n\nGruening won the primary with about 55 percent of the vote to Gravel's 44 percent. Gravel later conceded that by the time of his defeat, he had alienated \"almost every constituency in Alaska\". Another factor may have been Alaska's blanket primary system of the time, which allowed unlimited voting across party lines and from its many independents; Republicans believed Gruening would be an easier candidate to defeat in the general election.\n\nGruening lost the general election to Republican Frank Murkowski. Gravel was the last Democrat to represent Alaska in Congress for 28 years, until Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich defeated Ted Stevens, by then an aged, iconic figure who had just been convicted of seven felonies for taking unreported gifts, in a very close and protracted election result in 2008. Stevens's conviction was subsequently vacated due to prosecutorial misconduct.\n\nCareer after leaving the Senate\n\nOf his 1980 defeat, Gravel later recalled: \"I had lost my career. I lost my marriage. I was in the doldrums for ten years after my defeat,\" and \"Nobody wanted to hire me for anything important. I felt like I was worthless. I didn't know what I could do.\" By his own later description, Gravel was a womanizer, and had an affair while in the Senate, and in December 1980 he and his wife Rita separated. They filed for divorce in September 1981; she later received all of his Senate pension income.\n\nDuring the 1980s Gravel was a real estate developer in Anchorage and Kenai, Alaska, a consultant, and a stockbroker. One of his real estate ventures, a condominium business, was forced to declare bankruptcy and a lawsuit ensued. In 1986 Gravel worked in partnership with Merrill Lynch Capital Markets to buy losses that financially troubled Alaska Native Corporations could not take as tax deductions and sell them to large national companies looking for tax writeoffs. Gravel also learned computer programming at some point but never practiced it.\n\nIn 1984 Gravel married his second wife, Whitney Stewart Gravel, a former administrative assistant for Senator Jacob Javits.\n\nReturn to politics\n\nIn 1989 Gravel reentered politics. He founded and led The Democracy Foundation, which promotes direct democracy. He established the Philadelphia II corporation, which seeks to replicate the original 1787 Constitutional Convention and have a Second Constitutional Convention to bring about direct democracy Gravel led an effort to get a United States Constitutional amendment to allow voter-initiated federal legislation similar to state ballot initiatives. He argued that Americans are able to legislate responsibly, and that the Act and Amendment in the National Initiative would allow American citizens to become \"law makers\". However such efforts met with little success.\n\nIn 2001, Gravel became director of the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution, where he admired institute co-founder Gregory Fossedal's work on direct democracy in Switzerland. By 2004, Gravel had become chair of the institute, and Fossedal (who in turn was a director of the Democracy Foundation) gave the introduction at Gravel's presidential announcement.\n\nIn 2003 Gravel gave a speech on direct democracy at a conference hosted by the American Free Press. The event was cosponsored by the Barnes Review, a journal that endorses Holocaust denial. After some controversy over his appearance, Gravel apologized, saying he did not realize the group's ties. Gravel said repeatedly that he did not share the group's views on the Holocaust, stating, \"You better believe I know that six million Jews were killed. [The Barnes Review publishers] are nutty as loons if they don't think it happened\". The group invited Gravel to speak again, but he declined.\n\nMike and Whitney Gravel lived in Arlington County, Virginia, until 2010 and then resided in Burlingame, California. They have the two grown children from his first marriage, Martin Gravel and Lynne Gravel Mosier, and four grandchildren. Whitney Gravel's income sustained the couple from 1998 on. In the 2000s, Gravel suffered poor health, requiring three surgeries in 2003 for back pain and neuropathy. Due to unreimbursed medical expenses and debts from his political causes, he declared personal bankruptcy in 2004. He began taking a salary from the non-profit organizations for which he was working; much of that income was lent to his presidential campaign. In 2007, he declared that he had \"zero net worth\".\n\n2008 presidential campaign\n\nDemocratic Party primaries\n\nAt the start of 2006 Gravel decided the best way he could promote direct democracy and the National Initiative was to run for president. On April 17, 2006, Gravel became the first candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2008 election, announcing his run in a speech to the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Short on campaign cash, he took public transportation to get to his announcement. (Gravel called for public financing of elections.) Other principal Gravel positions were the FairTax, as well as withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq within 120 days and a single payer national health care system. \n\nGravel had opposed the Iraq War, and President George W. Bush's rationale for it, from the beginning, and in 2006 said that U.S. troops in Iraq, as in Vietnam, had \"died in vain\". He also favored a regional peace initiative, as well as reparation payments for Iraqis. Gravel also called for a \"U.S. corporate withdrawal from Iraq\", with reconstruction contracts held by U.S. companies to be turned over to Iraqi firms.\n\nGravel campaigned almost full-time in New Hampshire, the first primary state, following his announcement. Opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination showed Gravel with 1 percent or less support. By the end of March 2007, Gravel's campaign had less than $500 in cash on hand against debts of nearly $90,000.\n\nBecause of his time in the Senate, Gravel was invited to many of the early Democratic presidential debates. During the initial one at South Carolina State University on April 26, 2007, he suggested a bill requiring the president to withdraw from Iraq on pain of criminal penalties. He also advocated positions such as opposing preemptive nuclear war. He stated that the Iraq War had the effect of creating more terrorists and that the \"war was lost the day that George Bush invaded Iraq on a fraudulent basis\". Regarding his fellow candidates, he said, \"I got to tell you, after standing up with them, some of these people frighten me – they frighten me.\" In one such exchange, Gravel said, \"Tell me, Barack, who do you want to nuke?\" to which Obama responded, \"I'm not planning to nuke anybody right now, Mike, I promise.\"\n\nMedia stories said that Gravel was responsible for much of whatever \"heat\" and \"flashpoints\" had taken place during the Democratic debates. Gravel gained considerable publicity by shaking up the normally staid multiple-candidate format; The New York Times' media critic said that what Gravel had done was \"steal a debate with outrageous, curmudgeonly statements\". The Internet was a benefit: a YouTube video of his responses in the debate was viewed more than 225,892 times, ranking seventeenth in most views for week and first among news and politics clips; his name became the fifteenth most searched-for in the blogosphere; and his website garnered more traffic than those of frontrunners Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, or John Edwards. Gravel appeared on the popular Colbert Report on television on May 2, and his campaign and career were profiled in national publications such as Salon. Two wordless, Warholesque campaign videos, \"Rock\" and \"Fire\", were released on YouTube in late May and became hits, and eventually gained over 760,000 and 185,000 views respectively. \"Rock\", in turn, was given airtime during an episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Some thirty-five years after he first achieved the national spotlight, he had found it again.\n\nAll this did not improve his performance in the polls; a May 2007 CNN poll showed him with less than 0.5 percent support among Democrats. Gravel was in the next several debates, in one case after CNN reversed a decision to exclude him. Like some of the other second-tier candidates, Gravel did not get as much time as the leaders; during the June 2, 2007, New Hampshire debate, which lasted two hours, he was asked 10 questions and allowed to speak for five minutes and 37 seconds.\n\nDuring the July 23, 2007, CNN-YouTube presidential debate, Gravel responded to audience applause when he had complained of a lack of airtime and said: \"Thank you. Has it been fair thus far?\" Detractors began to liken him to \"the cranky uncle who lives in the attic,\" or \"the angry old guy that just seemed to want to become angrier\". Berkeley political scientist David Terr found that moderator George Stephanopoulos directed roughly five percent of his questions to Gravel; in a poll asking who did the best in the debate, Gravel placed seventh among the eight candidates. National opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination continued to show Gravel with one percent or zero percent numbers. By the end of the third-quarter 2007, Gravel had about $17,500 in cash on hand, had collected a total of about $380,000 during the 2008 election cycle, and was continuing to run a threadbare campaign with minimal staff.\n\nBeginning with the October 30, 2007, Philadelphia event, Gravel was excluded from most of the debates, with the debate sponsors or the Democratic National Committee saying Gravel's campaign had not met fund-raising, polling, or local campaign organizational thresholds. For the Philadelphia exclusion, Gravel blamed corporate censorship on the part of sponsor owner and alleged military-industrial complex member General Electric for his exclusion and mounted a counter-gathering and debate against a video screen a short distance away, but he had lost his easiest publicity. In reaction, supporters organized \"mass donation days\" to try to help the campaign gain momentum and funds, such as on December 5, 2007, the anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition.\n\nGravel did not compete in the initial 2008 vote, the Iowa caucuses, but was still subjected to a false report from MSNBC that he had pulled out of the race afterward. Gravel did focus his attention on the second 2008 vote, the New Hampshire primary. In early January, Mother Jones' investigative reporter James Ridgeway was filmed interviewing and following Gravel in New Hampshire, in which Gravel is interviewed on the phone by Neal Conan for NPR's, Talk of the Nation. He received about 400 votes out of some 280,000 cast in New Hampshire, or 0.14 percent, before taking time off to improve his health. He resumed campaigning, but fared no better in subsequent states. By the end of January 2008, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and Gravel were the only remaining Democrats from the initial debates still running; Gravel vowed to stay in the presidential campaign until November. On March 11, 2008, Gravel continued to remain in the Democratic race but additionally endorsed a Green Party candidate for president, Jesse Johnson, saying he wanted to help Johnson prevail against Green Party rivals Cynthia McKinney and Ralph Nader. By late March, Gravel had almost no fundraising and was only on the ballot in one of the next ten Democratic primaries.\n\nSwitch to Libertarian Party\n\nOn March 25, 2008, Gravel announced that he would leave the Democrats and join the Libertarian Party, saying: \"My libertarian views, as well as my strong stance against war, the military industrial complex and American imperialism, seem not to be tolerated by Democratic Party elites who are out of touch with the average American; elites that reject the empowerment of American citizens I offered to the Democratic Party at the beginning of this presidential campaign with the National Initiative for Democracy.\" The following day Gravel entered the race for the 2008 Libertarian presidential nomination, saying that he would have run as a third-party candidate all along except that he needed the public exposure that came from being in the earlier Democratic debates. Gravel's initial notion of running as a fusion candidate with other parties was met with skepticism.\n\nAs a Libertarian candidate, Gravel faced resistance to his past support of big government initiatives and his unorthodox positions around direct democracy. Nevertheless, he garnered more support than he had as a Democrat, placing second and third in two April 2008 straw polls. In the May 25 balloting at the 2008 Libertarian National Convention in Denver, Gravel finished fourth out of eight candidates on the initial ballot, with 71 votes out of a total 618; he trailed former Congressman and eventual winner Bob Barr, author Mary Ruwart, and businessman Wayne Allyn Root. Gravel's position did not subsequently improve and he was eliminated on the fourth ballot. Afterwards he stated that \"I just ended my political career,\" but he vowed to continue promoting his positions as a writer and lecturer.\n\n2008–early 2019\n\nIn June 2008 Gravel endorsed the NYC 9/11 Ballot Initiative, saying the measure would create a \"citizens commission rather than a government commission\" with subpoena power against top U.S. officials to \"make a true investigation as to what happened\" regarding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. He later said, \"Individuals in and out of government may certainly have participated with the obviously known perpetrators of this dastardly act. Suspicions abound over the analysis presented by government. Obviously an act that has triggered three wars, Afghan, Iraqi and the continuing War on Terror, should be extensively investigated which was not done and which the government avoids addressing.\"\n\nIn August 2008 Gravel was speaking to a crowd of supporters of Sami Al-Arian (who two years earlier had pleaded guilty and been sentenced to prison for a charge of conspiracy in helping Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a \"specially designated terrorist\" organization) when he was caught on tape saying of Al-Arian's prosecutor, \"Find out where he lives, find out where his kids go to school, find out where his office is: picket him all the time. Call him a racist in signs if you see him. Call him an injustice. Call him whatever you want to call him, but in his face all the time.\" Gravel was criticized for potentially involving the children of the prosecutor, and Al-Arian's family disavowed the sentiments.\n\nGravel defended Alaska Governor Sarah Palin after she was chosen as Republican presidential nominee John McCain's running mate in September 2008. He praised Palin's record in standing up to corruption among Alaskan Republicans, thought her national inexperience was an asset not a detriment, and predicted that the \"Troopergate\" investigation into whether she improperly fired a state official would \"come out in her favor\". Gravel made clear he would not support or vote for either McCain–Palin or Obama–Biden in the general election. The following year Gravel said that Palin's politics were \"terrible, but that doesn't detract from the fact that she's a very talented person\". He predicted that Palin would run for president in 2012 and that \"she's going to surprise a lot of people\". Palin did not run, but Gravel's prediction about \"TrooperGate\" was accurate as Palin was found not to have violated ethics laws.\n\nIn 2013, by the invitation of Hamed Ghashghavi, the secretary for international affairs of the 3rd International Conference on Hollywoodism in Tehran, Iran, Gravel attended that event as an Iranian government-organized anti-Hollywood conference. Gravel noted that the conference was attended by \"various elements of extremes\" but said it was necessary to discuss how the U.S. film industry portrayed Iran in order to prevent \"an insane war\" between the two nations.\n\nIn May 2013 Gravel was one of several former members of Congress to accept $20,000 from the Paradigm Research Group, an advocacy group for UFO disclosure, as part of holding what they termed a Citizen Hearing on Disclosure, modeled after congressional hearings, regarding supposed U.S. government suppression of evidence concerning UFOs. Gravel said, \"Something is monitoring the planet, and they are monitoring it very cautiously, because we are a very warlike planet,\" and, \"What we're faced with here is, in areas of the media, and the government too, an effort to marginalize and ridicule people who have specific knowledge.\"\n\nIn December 2014 Gravel was announced as the new CEO of KUSH, a company which makes marijuana-infused products for medicinal and recreational use, and a subsidiary of Cannabis Sativa, Inc. He also became an Independent Director of Cannabis Sativa.\n\nDuring the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries, Gravel praised Bernie Sanders and his campaign, saying \"Bernie is one of the most gifted politicians I have ever observed. He's a person of great integrity and very clever.\" Gravel predicted that Sanders would be elected president but would be unable to get his key reforms through Congress, and thus that Sanders and his supporters should back some of the proposals of the National Initiative.\n\nIn 2016, Gravel said in relation to the September 11 attacks: \"We killed 58,000 American servicemen in the Vietnam War and all they did was die in vain. What's so unusual about killing 3,000 more in order to develop the grist for the mill to empower into infinity the military industrial complex?\" and \"There's no question in my mind that 9/11 was an inside job\". The remarks were later disavowed by even Gravel supporters.\n\nBy 2019 Gravel was living in Seaside, California. He was working on a book, at the time titled Human Governance, about his principal idea for direct democracy, a U.S. Constitutional Amendment to create a \"Legislature of the People\" that would circumvent the existing Congress. The book was self-published at the end of the year by AuthorHouse under the title The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People.\n\n2020 presidential campaign\n\nOn March 19, 2019, Gravel announced that he was considering running in the 2020 Democratic primaries. He said, \"The goal will not be to win, but to bring a critique of American imperialism to the Democratic debate stage.\" An exploratory committee was formed, with filing a statement of organization with the Federal Election Commission on that same day. The filing was the idea of a group of teenagers, led by David Oks and Henry Williams, inspired by the podcast Chapo Trap House, and done with Gravel's consent (after a week spent convincing him of the idea's merits), but without his involvement. Intrigued by the group's commitment to amplifying his long-held policy goals, Gravel (who would be old on Inauguration Day in 2021) said he planned to meet with them in April, and to discuss a 2020 White House run with his wife. On April 2, 2019, Gravel filed to officially run for office. The campaign called itself the \"#Gravelanche\".\n\nGravel's initial stated goal was merely to qualify for debates by getting the required 65,000 small donors. He discouraged people from voting for him and said his preferences were Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard, both of whom favor a non-interventionist foreign policy. But on April 29, Gravel's campaign said he was running to win, not just to participate in debates. In a subsequent interview, though, Gravel emphasized the virtue of Sanders and Gabbard in some order as a presidential ticket. Statements like these caused Vox to call Gravel \"2020's oddest Democratic presidential candidate\". The New York Times Magazine included Gravel as an example in the rise of democratic socialism in the United States also exemplified by Sanders's 2016 race and the 2018 election of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: \"[Gravel's] campaign represents the most absurd form of a legitimate movement on the left that feels little obligation to the Democratic Party.\"\n\nIn June 2019, Gravel touted the endorsement of Muntadher al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who, in December 2008, made headlines after he threw his shoes at President George W. Bush in protest of the U.S. war in Iraq. Al-Zaidi endorsed Gravel based on his promise to improve White House policies regarding Iraq and the Middle East.\n\nOn June 13, 2019, the Democratic Party announced the 20 major candidates who qualified for the first debate later that month. Gravel was one of the four who missed out (the others were Montana Governor Steve Bullock, U.S. Representative Seth Moulton, and Miramar, Florida, Mayor Wayne Messam). Gravel had been unable to get the requisite number of donations, or to score one percent or better in enough polls (many polls did not even include him). Nevertheless, Gravel said he would not drop out and would try to qualify for the July debate. In early July, however, Gravel's campaign said it was still 10,000 contributions short of the 65,000-donor threshold and that it was \"nearing its conclusion\". It solicited suggestions for where to donate $100–150,000 of leftover campaign funds. Gravel added that he had always planned on ending the campaign before the teenagers in charge of it needed to return to school. A few days later the campaign became the first to run an attack ad against Democratic front-runner Joe Biden, using the text \"Is this the best our party has to offer?\"\n\nGravel's campaign crossed the threshold of 65,000 donors on July 12, 2019, meeting the qualification mark for that month's debate. But because 20 other candidates, the maximum allowed to participate, had already met at least the polling criterion, which takes priority over the donor criterion, Gravel was not invited.\n\nThe campaign officially came to a close on August 6, 2019, with Gravel endorsing both Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard for president. Gravel's campaign later stated on Twitter that they never wanted to win but saw the campaign as an \"intimately democratic\" project and expressed honor at working with Gravel. Gravel said he would divide remaining campaign funds between charity and a new think tank which would espouse his ideas.\n\nThe Gravel Institute \n\nGravel used some of the funds remaining from his 2020 presidential campaign to found an eponymous progressive think tank called The Gravel Institute in 2019. As noted by Vice magazine, the institute aims to do battle with PragerU from a left-wing perspective. Launched in September 2020, the new entity said it would \"carry on the life's work of former U.S Senator Mike Gravel in fighting for global peace and democracy. Its mission is to promote bold and forward-looking ideas about a more peaceful and egalitarian world, and to build a robust movement of young people to win it\". Contributors announced include Cornel West and Slavoj Žižek, as well as Lower Brule Indian Reservation activist Nick Estes. Other presenters have included and will include H. Jon Benjamin, Briahna Joy Gray, Bernie Sanders, Chelsea Manning, Richard Wolff, Stephanie Kelton, Zephyr Teachout, David Cross, Jabari Brisport, Zohran Mamdani, and Gravel himself (though it is unknown if his appearance will be cancelled due to his death in June 2021, or if the video has already been recorded).\n\nDeath\nGravel died of multiple myeloma at his home in Seaside, California, on June 26, 2021, at age 91.\n\nThe obituary for him in The New York Times stated that Gravel was \"a two-term Democratic senator from Alaska ... who was perhaps better known as an unabashed attention-getter\" who later become known for \"mounting long-shot presidential runs\". The obituary in The Washington Post was similar, saying that Gravel was \"an Alaska Democrat with a flair for the theatrical who rose from obscurity to brief renown\" and later \"ran quixotic campaigns for the presidency\". The Anchorage Daily News quoted Gravel as saying of himself in 1989, \"I'm an independent kind of guy. A rough and ready kind of guy. My glands work in a certain way that make me stand up, foolishly sometimes, and fight.\"\n\nPolitical positions\n\nAlan Abramowitz and Jeffrey Allan Segal described Gravel as \"a maverick, if not an eccentric, in the Senate.\" His Americans for Democratic Action \"Liberal Quotient\" scores ranged from 81 out of 100 (1971) to 39 out of 100 (1980), with an average of around 61. His American Conservative Union scores ranged from 0 out of 100 (several years, including 1971 and 1972) to 38 out of 100 (1979), with an average of 14. Abramowitz and Segal note that Gravel's lowest ADA ratings coincided with his two Senate re-election bids, and for the most part his highest ACU ratings followed the same pattern.\n\nIn 1972, as a young senator, Gravel published Citizen Power: A People's Platform, a manifesto outlining what Kirkus Reviews termed a \"populist reform [that] would provide 'balanced political power' between the people and government and business interests.\"\n\nCivil rights issues\nOn drug policy, Gravel said in 2007 that he favored decriminalization and treating addiction as a public health matter. During his 2008 presidential candidacy he condemned the War on Drugs as a failure, saying that it did \"nothing but savage our inner cities and put our children at risk\". Gravel called for abolition of capital punishment in his book Citizen Power, and adhered to this position during his 2008 run for president. He supported abortion rights.\n\nDuring the 2008 campaign Gravel was a strong supporter of LGBT rights. He supported same-sex marriage and opposed the Defense of Marriage Act and the U.S. military's \"don't ask, don't tell\" policy. He wrote in 2008 that \"depriving gays and lesbians of equal rights is immoral\".\n\nForeign policy and defense issues\nGravel was a critic of American imperialism.\n\nGravel firmly opposed U.S. military action against Iran and Syria. He voiced opposition to the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, the Military Commissions Act of 2006, the use of torture, indefinite detention, and what he called \"flagrant ignorance\" of the Geneva Convention. In 2014 Gravel called for the release of the full, unredacted Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture.\n\nGravel opposed the use of international sanctions as a policy tool and blamed the ones against Iraq under Saddam Hussein for the deaths of a half-million children in that country. In 2013 Gravel said that sanctions against Iran were \"illegal\".\n\nDuring his 2008 candidacy, Gravel called for a cut in military spending, variously reported to be 15 percent or 50 percent. He called for the savings to boost public education spending. To spur international nuclear nonproliferation efforts, Gravel called for unilateral reductions in the U.S. nuclear arsenal.\n\nIn 2008 Gravel criticized the decision of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to not pursue the efforts to impeach George W. Bush and the attempted impeachment of Dick Cheney, saying also that Bush and Cheney had committed crimes and deserved \"to be prosecuted\" at The Hague. In 2013 he expressed disdain for President Obama, calling him \"a total fraud\" and saying that both Bush and Obama should be tried \"for the crimes and murders they've committed\" in the International Court of Justice. Gravel specifically condemned Obama for the drone strikes in Pakistan and elsewhere.\n\nEconomy, immigration, and environment\nDuring his 2008 candidacy Gravel favored a FairTax scheme, which would abolish the Internal Revenue Service, eliminate the federal income tax (which Gravel called \"corrupt\"), and impose a national sales tax. While Gravel described FairTax as \"progressive\", others have criticized it as \"regressive\", disproportionately benefiting the wealthiest Americans. To offset the new sales taxes on essential goods, Gravel's plan called for monthly government rebate payments to individuals and families. During his 2020 campaign Gravel also voiced support for a third legislative body that would give the people direct control of the budget as well as the implementation of a land value tax.\n\nGravel opposed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) during his 2008 candidacy, calling it unfair and economically harmful and needing renegotiation. Gravel believed that NAFTA was the \"root cause\" of illegal migration to the U.S. He favored a guest worker program and \"setting up naturalization procedures that would fairly bring immigrants into legal status\". In a 2007 interview, Gravel identified himself as \"very much of a globalist\" who believed in open markets and open borders and condemned the scapegoating of undocumented immigrants. Gravel also said that he favored eliminating the cap on H1B visas.\n\nAs a senator from Alaska, Gravel favored drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but opposed it during his 2008 campaign. In 2008, Gravel supported a carbon tax to combat climate change.\n\nGravel spoke in favor of net neutrality during his presidential campaign.\n\nEducation and health care\nGravel called for the cost of college tuition to be borne by the federal government, rather than students. In his 2008 campaign, he called the No Child Left Behind Act \"a failure\" and called for it to be \"reformed and fully funded\". He expressed support for universal pre-kindergarten and the expansion of the Head Start program; and expressed an openness to charter schools and school vouchers. He also suggested extending the school day and the school year, and supported merit pay for teachers.\n\nGravel also called for publicly funded universal health care to replace the current employer-sponsored health insurance system. He supported \"full funding\" of the VA system. When asked in 2007 about naturopathy, homeopathy, and acupuncture, Gravel said that he was \"very very much in favor\" of holistic health care.\n\nAwards and honors\nIn 2008 Gravel received the Columbia University School of General Studies' first annual Isaac Asimov Lifetime Achievement Award.\n\nElectoral history\n\nWritings\n Gravel, Mike. Jobs and More Jobs. Mt. McKinley Publishers, 1968.\n Gravel, Mike. Citizen Power: A People's Platform. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1972. .\n revised and reissued as Citizen Power: A Mandate for Change, AuthorHouse, 2008. .\n Gravel, Mike and Lauria, Joe. A Political Odyssey: The Rise of American Militarism and One Man's Fight to Stop It. Seven Stories Press, 2008. .\n Gravel, Mike and Eisenbach, David. The Kingmakers: How the Media Threatens Our Security and Our Democracy. Phoenix Books, 2008. .\n Gravel, Mike. Voice of a Maverick: The Speeches and Writings of Senator Mike Gravel. Brandywine House, 2008.\n Gravel, Mike. Foreword to Poisoned Power: The Case Against Nuclear Power Plants. John W. Goffman & Arthur R. Tamplin, Rodale Press, Inc., Emmaus, PA, June 1971.\n Gravel, Mike. The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People. AuthorHouse, 2020.\n\nExplanatory notes\n\nReferences\n\nCitations\n\nGeneral references \n The Pentagon Papers Senator Gravel Edition. Vol. Five: Critical Essays. Boston: Beacon Press, 1972. 341p. plus 72p. of Index to Vol. I–IV of the Papers; Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, editors.\n\nExternal links\n\n Mike Gravel official website\n \n \n \n The Gravel Institute\n\n|-\n\n|-\n\n \n1930 births\n2021 deaths\n1972 United States vice-presidential candidates\n20th-century American male writers\n20th-century American non-fiction writers\n20th-century American politicians\n20th-century Roman Catholics\n20th-century Unitarians\n21st-century American male writers\n21st-century American non-fiction writers\n21st-century American politicians\n21st-century Unitarians\n9/11 conspiracy theorists\nAlaska Democrats\nAmerican International College alumni\nAmerican Unitarian Universalists\nAmerican anti–Iraq War activists\nAmerican conspiracy theorists\nAmerican democracy activists\nAmerican male non-fiction writers\nAmerican people of French-Canadian descent\nAmerican political writers\nAmerican real estate businesspeople\nAmerican stockbrokers\nAnti-corporate activists\nAssumption University (Worcester) alumni\nBurials at Arlington National Cemetery\nBusinesspeople from Anchorage, Alaska\nBusinesspeople from Springfield, Massachusetts\nCalifornia Democrats\nCandidates in the 2008 United States presidential election\nCandidates in the 2020 United States presidential election\nColumbia University School of General Studies alumni\nDeaths from cancer in California\nDeaths from multiple myeloma\nDemocratic Party United States senators\nDirect democracy activists\nDrug policy reform activists\nFormer Roman Catholics\nVirginia Libertarians\nMembers of the Alaska House of Representatives\nMilitary personnel from Massachusetts\nNon-interventionism\nPeople from Arlington County, Virginia\nPeople from Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska\nPeople with dyslexia\nPoliticians from Anchorage, Alaska\nPoliticians from Springfield, Massachusetts\nSpeakers of the Alaska House of Representatives\nUnited States Army officers\nUnited States senators from Alaska\nWriters about direct democracy\nWriters from Anchorage, Alaska"},"extractive":{"kind":"string","value":"true"},"retrieved_contexts":{"kind":"list like","value":["Forever Young is Kaysha's album released 2009.\n\nTrack list\n\n Anti Bad Music Police\n Be With You\n Digital Sexyness\n Duro\n Fanta & Avocado\n Forever Young Intro\n Funky Makaku\n Glorious Beautiful\n Heaven\n Hey Girl\n I Give You the Music\n I Still Love You\n Joachim\n Kota Na Piste\n Les Belles Histoires D'amour\n Love You Need You\n Loving and Kissing\n Make More Dollars\n Nobody Else\n On Veut Juste Danser\n Once Again\n Outro\n Paradisio / Inferno\n Pour Toujours\n Pure\n Si Tu T'en Vas\n Simple Pleasures\n Tell Me What We Waiting For\n That African Shit\n The Sweetest Thing\n The Way You Move\n Toi Et Moi\n U My Bb\n Yes You Can\n You + Me\n You're My Baby Girl\n\n2009 albums","\"Tell Me What You Want Me to Do\" is the title of a number-one R&B single by singer Tevin Campbell. To date, the single is Campbell's biggest hit peaking at number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spending one week at number-one on the US R&B chart. The hit song is also Tevin's one and only Adult Contemporary hit, where it peaked at number 43. The song showcases Campbell's four-octave vocal range from a low note of E2 to a D#6 during the bridge of the song.\n\nTrack listings\nUS 7\" vinyl\nA \"Tell Me What You Want Me to Do\" (edit) – 4:16\t\nB \"Tell Me What You Want Me to Do\" (instrumental) – 5:00\n\n12\" vinyl\nA \"Tell Me What You Want Me to Do\" (edit) – 4:16\t\nB \"Tell Me What You Want Me to Do\" (album version) – 5:02\n\nUK CD\n \"Tell Me What You Want Me to Do\" – 4:16\n \"Goodbye\" (7\" Remix Edit) – 3:48\n \"Goodbye\" (Sidub and Listen) – 4:58\n \"Goodbye\" (Tevin's Dub Pt 1 & 2) – 6:53\n\nJapan CD\n \"Tell Me What You Want Me to Do\" – 4:10\n \"Tell Me What You Want Me to Do\" (instrumental version) – 4:10\n\nGermany CD\n \"Tell Me What You Want Me to Do\" (edit) – 4:10\n \"Just Ask Me\" (featuring Chubb Rock) – 4:07\n \"Tomorrow\" (A Better You, Better Me) – 4:46\n\nCharts\n\nWeekly charts\n\nYear-end charts\n\nSee also\nList of number-one R&B singles of 1992 (U.S.)\n\nReferences\n\nTevin Campbell songs\n1991 singles\n1991 songs\nSongs written by Tevin Campbell\nSongs written by Narada Michael Walden\nSong recordings produced by Narada Michael Walden\nWarner Records singles\nContemporary R&B ballads\nPop ballads\nSoul ballads\n1990s ballads"],"string":"[\n \"Forever Young is Kaysha's album released 2009.\\n\\nTrack list\\n\\n Anti Bad Music Police\\n Be With You\\n Digital Sexyness\\n Duro\\n Fanta & Avocado\\n Forever Young Intro\\n Funky Makaku\\n Glorious Beautiful\\n Heaven\\n Hey Girl\\n I Give You the Music\\n I Still Love You\\n Joachim\\n Kota Na Piste\\n Les Belles Histoires D'amour\\n Love You Need You\\n Loving and Kissing\\n Make More Dollars\\n Nobody Else\\n On Veut Juste Danser\\n Once Again\\n Outro\\n Paradisio / Inferno\\n Pour Toujours\\n Pure\\n Si Tu T'en Vas\\n Simple Pleasures\\n Tell Me What We Waiting For\\n That African Shit\\n The Sweetest Thing\\n The Way You Move\\n Toi Et Moi\\n U My Bb\\n Yes You Can\\n You + Me\\n You're My Baby Girl\\n\\n2009 albums\",\n \"\\\"Tell Me What You Want Me to Do\\\" is the title of a number-one R&B single by singer Tevin Campbell. To date, the single is Campbell's biggest hit peaking at number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spending one week at number-one on the US R&B chart. The hit song is also Tevin's one and only Adult Contemporary hit, where it peaked at number 43. The song showcases Campbell's four-octave vocal range from a low note of E2 to a D#6 during the bridge of the song.\\n\\nTrack listings\\nUS 7\\\" vinyl\\nA \\\"Tell Me What You Want Me to Do\\\" (edit) – 4:16\\t\\nB \\\"Tell Me What You Want Me to Do\\\" (instrumental) – 5:00\\n\\n12\\\" vinyl\\nA \\\"Tell Me What You Want Me to Do\\\" (edit) – 4:16\\t\\nB \\\"Tell Me What You Want Me to Do\\\" (album version) – 5:02\\n\\nUK CD\\n \\\"Tell Me What You Want Me to Do\\\" – 4:16\\n \\\"Goodbye\\\" (7\\\" Remix Edit) – 3:48\\n \\\"Goodbye\\\" (Sidub and Listen) – 4:58\\n \\\"Goodbye\\\" (Tevin's Dub Pt 1 & 2) – 6:53\\n\\nJapan CD\\n \\\"Tell Me What You Want Me to Do\\\" – 4:10\\n \\\"Tell Me What You Want Me to Do\\\" (instrumental version) – 4:10\\n\\nGermany CD\\n \\\"Tell Me What You Want Me to Do\\\" (edit) – 4:10\\n \\\"Just Ask Me\\\" (featuring Chubb Rock) – 4:07\\n \\\"Tomorrow\\\" (A Better You, Better Me) – 4:46\\n\\nCharts\\n\\nWeekly charts\\n\\nYear-end charts\\n\\nSee also\\nList of number-one R&B singles of 1992 (U.S.)\\n\\nReferences\\n\\nTevin Campbell songs\\n1991 singles\\n1991 songs\\nSongs written by Tevin Campbell\\nSongs written by Narada Michael Walden\\nSong recordings produced by Narada Michael Walden\\nWarner Records singles\\nContemporary R&B ballads\\nPop ballads\\nSoul ballads\\n1990s ballads\"\n]"},"chunked_article":{"kind":"list like","value":["Maurice Robert Gravel ( ; May 13, 1930 – June 26, 2021) was an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Alaska from 1969 to 1981 as a member of the Democratic Party, and who, in later life, twice ran for the presidential nomination of that party. Born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, by French-Canadian immigrant parents, Gravel moved to Alaska in the late 1950s, becoming a real estate developer and entering politics.","Born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, by French-Canadian immigrant parents, Gravel moved to Alaska in the late 1950s, becoming a real estate developer and entering politics. He served in the Alaska House of Representatives from 1963 to 1967, and also became Speaker of the Alaska House. Gravel was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1968.","Gravel was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1968. Gravel was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1968. As a senator, Gravel became nationally known for his forceful, but unsuccessful, attempts to end the draft during the War in Vietnam, and for putting the Pentagon Papers into the public record in 1971. He conducted a campaign for the Democratic nomination in 1972 for Vice President of the United States, and then played a crucial role in obtaining Congressional approval for the Trans-Alaska pipeline in 1973.","He conducted a campaign for the Democratic nomination in 1972 for Vice President of the United States, and then played a crucial role in obtaining Congressional approval for the Trans-Alaska pipeline in 1973. He was re-elected to the Senate in 1974, but was defeated in his bid for a third term in the primary election in 1980. An advocate of direct democracy and the National Initiative, Gravel staged a run for the 2008 Democratic nomination for President of the United States.","An advocate of direct democracy and the National Initiative, Gravel staged a run for the 2008 Democratic nomination for President of the United States. His campaign failed to gain support, and in March 2008, he left the Democratic Party and joined the Libertarian Party to compete unsuccessfully for its presidential nomination and the inclusion of the National Initiative into the Libertarian Platform. He ran for president as a Democrat again in the 2020 election, in a campaign that ended four months after it began.","He ran for president as a Democrat again in the 2020 election, in a campaign that ended four months after it began. Two years before his death, Gravel and his campaign staff founded the progressive think tank The Gravel Institute. Early life, military service, education Gravel was born on May 13, 1930, in Springfield, Massachusetts, one of five children of French-Canadian immigrant parents, Alphonse and Marie (née Bourassa) Gravel.","Early life, military service, education Gravel was born on May 13, 1930, in Springfield, Massachusetts, one of five children of French-Canadian immigrant parents, Alphonse and Marie (née Bourassa) Gravel. His parents were part of the Quebec diaspora, and he was raised in a working-class neighborhood during the Great Depression, speaking only French until he was seven years old. Calling him \"Mike\" from an early age, his father valued work above all else, while his mother stressed the importance of education.","Calling him \"Mike\" from an early age, his father valued work above all else, while his mother stressed the importance of education. Gravel was educated in parochial schools as a Roman Catholic. There he struggled, due to what he later said was undiagnosed dyslexia, and was left back in third grade. He completed elementary school in 1945 and his class voted him \"most charming personality\".","He completed elementary school in 1945 and his class voted him \"most charming personality\". A summer job as a soda jerk led to Gravel handing out campaign fliers for local candidates on his boss's behalf; Gravel was immediately impressed with \"the awesomeness of political office\". Gravel then boarded at Assumption Preparatory School in Worcester, Massachusetts, where his performance was initially mediocre.","Gravel then boarded at Assumption Preparatory School in Worcester, Massachusetts, where his performance was initially mediocre. By Gravel's telling, in the summer of 1948 he intended to volunteer for the Israel Defense Forces during the 1947–1949 Palestine war, but Alexandra Tolstaya told him to return to school. There an English teacher, the Assumptionist Edgar Bourque, gave him personal attention, improving Gravel's language skills and instructing him in public speaking. Gravel's grades improved measurably in his final year and he graduated in 1949.","Gravel's grades improved measurably in his final year and he graduated in 1949. His sister, Marguerite, became a Holy Cross nun, but Gravel himself struggled with the Catholic faith. He studied for one year at Assumption College, a Catholic school in Worcester, then transferred for his sophomore year to American International College in Springfield. Journalist I. F. Stone and philosopher Bertrand Russell strongly influenced Gravel in their willingness to challenge assumptions and oppose social convention and political authority.","Journalist I. F. Stone and philosopher Bertrand Russell strongly influenced Gravel in their willingness to challenge assumptions and oppose social convention and political authority. Around May 1951, Gravel saw that he was about to be drafted and instead enlisted in the U.S. Army for a three-year term so that he could get into the Counterintelligence Corps. After basic training and counterintelligence school at Fort Holabird in Maryland and in South Carolina, he went to Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia.","After basic training and counterintelligence school at Fort Holabird in Maryland and in South Carolina, he went to Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia. While he expected to be sent off to the Korean War when he graduated as a second lieutenant in early 1952, he was instead assigned to Stuttgart, West Germany, as a Special Adjutant in the Army's Communications Intelligence Service. In Germany, Gravel conducted surveillance operations on civilians and paid off spies.","In Germany, Gravel conducted surveillance operations on civilians and paid off spies. After about a year, he transferred to Orléans, France, where his French language abilities (if not his French-Canadian accent) allowed him to infiltrate French communist rallies. He worked as a Special Agent in the Counterintelligence Corps until 1954, eventually becoming a first lieutenant. Following his discharge, Gravel entered the Columbia University School of General Studies in New York City, where he studied economics and received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1956.","Following his discharge, Gravel entered the Columbia University School of General Studies in New York City, where he studied economics and received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1956. He moved to New York \"flat broke\" and supported himself by working as a bar boy in a hotel, driving a taxicab, and working in the investment bond department at Bankers Trust. During this time he left the Roman Catholic faith.","During this time he left the Roman Catholic faith. During this time he left the Roman Catholic faith. Move to Alaska Gravel \"decided to become a pioneer in a faraway place,\" and moved to pre-statehood Alaska in August 1956, without funds or a job, looking for a place where someone without social or political connections could be a viable candidate for public office.","Move to Alaska Gravel \"decided to become a pioneer in a faraway place,\" and moved to pre-statehood Alaska in August 1956, without funds or a job, looking for a place where someone without social or political connections could be a viable candidate for public office. Alaska's voting age of 19, less than most other states' 21, played a role in his decision, as did its newness and cooler climate. Broke when he arrived, he immediately found work in real estate sales until winter arrived.","Broke when he arrived, he immediately found work in real estate sales until winter arrived. Gravel then was employed as a brakeman for the Alaska Railroad, working the snow-clearing train on the Anchorage-to-Fairbanks run. Subsequently, he opened a small real estate brokerage in Anchorage (the Territory of Alaska not requiring a license) and saved enough so as not to have to work the railroad again. The firm was named the M. R. Gravel Real Estate Company.","The firm was named the M. R. Gravel Real Estate Company. Gravel joined the Anchorage Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, and continued a sporadic relationship with the movement throughout his life. Seeing Alaska as a wide-open place with no political establishment or entrenched interests, Gravel quickly became part of the civic scene there. By October 1957 he was a Division Chairman for Anchorage for the Democratic Central Committee in the territory, and by June 1958 he was president of the Alaska Young Democrats organization.","By October 1957 he was a Division Chairman for Anchorage for the Democratic Central Committee in the territory, and by June 1958 he was president of the Alaska Young Democrats organization. He also became active in the United States Junior Chamber (Jaycees), and by early 1958 his duties included handing out awards for farmer of the year. By early 1958, Gravel was running as Democratic Party primary candidate for a Third Division seat in House of Representative of the territorial legislature.","By early 1958, Gravel was running as Democratic Party primary candidate for a Third Division seat in House of Representative of the territorial legislature. (This was one of the four judicial divisions into which Alaska was sectioned at the time.) Using the slogan \"Gravel, the Roadbed to Prosperity\", he ran but lost. At the same time, he was also an advocate for Alaskan statehood.","At the same time, he was also an advocate for Alaskan statehood. Gravel went on a 44-state national speaking tour concerning tax reform in 1959, sponsored by the Jaycees, often dressing for events as Paul Revere. Gravel was selected from some two thousand applications for this position. The tour received a good amount of local newspaper coverage at its various stops, with Gravel's first name sometimes given as Mike and other times as Maurice.","The tour received a good amount of local newspaper coverage at its various stops, with Gravel's first name sometimes given as Mike and other times as Maurice. The tour's general message was an urging of \"lower taxes, more efficiency in government and a system of taxation moderate at all levels of income\". At several stops Gravel stated that the \"tide of socialism\" had to be stopped.","At several stops Gravel stated that the \"tide of socialism\" had to be stopped. He elaborated at another stop, \"It is part of our Jaycee creed that economic justice can best be won by free men through free enterprise. We really want to see that free enterprise become our inheritance.\"","We really want to see that free enterprise become our inheritance.\" The tour was scheduled to conclude in Washington D.C., on Tax Day, April 15, with petition signatures accumulated for reform to be presented to U.S. lawmakers: dressed as Revere, Gravel rode with the petition to the steps of the U.S. Capitol. The tour over, Gravel married Rita Jeannette Martin at the First Methodist Church of Anchorage on April 29, 1959.","The tour over, Gravel married Rita Jeannette Martin at the First Methodist Church of Anchorage on April 29, 1959. She was a native of Montana who had attended Billings Business College before moving to Alaska two years prior and becoming a secretary in the office of the Anchorage city manager. She had also been named Anchorage's \"Miss Fur Rendezvous\" of 1958. They had two children, Martin Anthony Gravel and Lynne Denise Gravel, born c. 1960 and 1962 respectively.","They had two children, Martin Anthony Gravel and Lynne Denise Gravel, born c. 1960 and 1962 respectively. Gravel ran without avail for the City Council in Anchorage in 1960. During this time, he had become a successful real estate agent; after the 1960 election, he became a property developer in a mobile home park on the outskirts of Anchorage. After a partner ran into financial difficulty, however, the project went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and Gravel was forced out in 1962.","After a partner ran into financial difficulty, however, the project went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and Gravel was forced out in 1962. State legislator With the support of Alaska wholesale grocer Barney Gottstein and supermarket builder Larry Carr, Gravel ran for the Alaska House of Representatives representing Anchorage in 1962, initially assigned the 10th and then 8th districts.","State legislator With the support of Alaska wholesale grocer Barney Gottstein and supermarket builder Larry Carr, Gravel ran for the Alaska House of Representatives representing Anchorage in 1962, initially assigned the 10th and then 8th districts. Alaska had very crowded primaries that year: Gravel was one of 33 Democrats, along with 21 Republicans, who were running for the chance to compete for the 14 House seats allocated to the 8th district.","Alaska had very crowded primaries that year: Gravel was one of 33 Democrats, along with 21 Republicans, who were running for the chance to compete for the 14 House seats allocated to the 8th district. Gravel made it through the primary, and in November eight Republicans and six Democrats were elected to the House from the district, with Gravel finishing eighth overall and third among with Democrats, with 8,174 votes. Gottstein became Gravel's main financial backer during most of his subsequent campaigns.","Gottstein became Gravel's main financial backer during most of his subsequent campaigns. Gravel served in the Alaska House of Representatives from January 28, 1963 to January 22, 1967, winning reelection in 1964. In his first term, he served as a minority member on two House committees: Commerce, and Labor and Management. He co-authored and sponsored the act that created the Alaska State Commission for Human Rights.","He co-authored and sponsored the act that created the Alaska State Commission for Human Rights. Gravel was the chief architect of the law that created a regional high school system for rural Alaska; this allowed Alaska Natives to attend schools near where they lived instead of having to go to schools run by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the lower 48 states. During the half-years that the legislature was not in session, Gravel resumed his real estate work.","During the half-years that the legislature was not in session, Gravel resumed his real estate work. With Gottstein and Carr's backing, he became quite successful as a property developer on the Kenai Peninsula. During 1965 and 1966, he served as the Speaker of the House, surprising observers by winning that post. Gravel convinced former Speaker Warren A. Taylor to not try for the position against him by promising Taylor chairmanship of the Rules Committee, then reneged on the promise.","Gravel convinced former Speaker Warren A. Taylor to not try for the position against him by promising Taylor chairmanship of the Rules Committee, then reneged on the promise. Gravel denied later press charges that he had promised but not delivered on other committee chairmanships. As Speaker he antagonized fellow lawmakers by imposing his will on the legislature's committees and feuded with Alaska State Senate president Robert J. McNealy.","As Speaker he antagonized fellow lawmakers by imposing his will on the legislature's committees and feuded with Alaska State Senate president Robert J. McNealy. Gravel did not run for reelection in 1966, instead choosing to run for Alaska's seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, losing the primary to four-term incumbent Democrat Ralph Rivers by 1,300 votes and splitting the Democratic Party in the process. Rivers lost the general election that year to Republican state Senator Howard Pollock. Following this defeat, Gravel returned to the real estate business in Anchorage.","Following this defeat, Gravel returned to the real estate business in Anchorage. U.S. Senator Election to Senate in 1968 In 1968, Gravel ran against 81-year-old incumbent Democratic United States Senator Ernest Gruening, a popular former governor of the Alaska Territory who was considered one of the fathers of Alaska's statehood, for his party's nomination to the U.S. Senate. Gravel's campaign was primarily based on his youth and telegenic appearance rather than issue differences. He hired Joseph Napolitan, the first self-described political consultant, in late 1966.","He hired Joseph Napolitan, the first self-described political consultant, in late 1966. They spent over a year and a half planning a short, nine-day primary election campaign that featured the slogans \"Alaska first\" and \"Let's do something about the state we're in\", the distribution of a collection of essays titled Jobs and More Jobs, and the creation of a half-hour, well-produced, glamorized biographical film of Gravel, Man for Alaska.","They spent over a year and a half planning a short, nine-day primary election campaign that featured the slogans \"Alaska first\" and \"Let's do something about the state we're in\", the distribution of a collection of essays titled Jobs and More Jobs, and the creation of a half-hour, well-produced, glamorized biographical film of Gravel, Man for Alaska. The film was shown twice a day on every television station in Alaska, and carried by plane and shown on home projectors in hundreds of Alaska Native villages.","The film was shown twice a day on every television station in Alaska, and carried by plane and shown on home projectors in hundreds of Alaska Native villages. The heavy showings quickly reversed a 2–to–1 Gruening lead in polls into a Gravel lead. Gravel visited many remote villages by seaplane and showed a thorough understanding of the needs of the bush country and the fishing and oil industries. Gravel also benefited from maintaining a deliberately ambiguous posture about Vietnam policy.","Gravel also benefited from maintaining a deliberately ambiguous posture about Vietnam policy. Gruening had been one of only two Senators to vote against the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and his opposition to President Lyndon B. Johnson's war policies was harming him among the Democratic electorate; according to Gravel, \"all I had to do was stand up and not deal with the subject, and people would assume that I was to the right of Ernest Gruening, when in point of fact I was to the left of him\".","Gruening had been one of only two Senators to vote against the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and his opposition to President Lyndon B. Johnson's war policies was harming him among the Democratic electorate; according to Gravel, \"all I had to do was stand up and not deal with the subject, and people would assume that I was to the right of Ernest Gruening, when in point of fact I was to the left of him\". In Man for Alaska, Gravel argued that \"the liberals\" would come to West Germany's defense if it was attacked, and that the same standard should apply to the United States' allies in Asia.","In Man for Alaska, Gravel argued that \"the liberals\" would come to West Germany's defense if it was attacked, and that the same standard should apply to the United States' allies in Asia. During the campaign he also claimed that he was \"more in the mainstream of American thought on Vietnam\" than Gruening, despite the fact that he had written to Gruening to praise his antiwar stance four years earlier.","During the campaign he also claimed that he was \"more in the mainstream of American thought on Vietnam\" than Gruening, despite the fact that he had written to Gruening to praise his antiwar stance four years earlier. Decades later, Gravel conceded that \"I said what I said [about Vietnam] to advance my career.\" Gravel beat Gruening in the primary by about 2,000 votes. Gruening found \"the unexpected defeat hard to take\" and thought that some aspects of his opponent's biographical film had misled viewers.","Gruening found \"the unexpected defeat hard to take\" and thought that some aspects of his opponent's biographical film had misled viewers. In the general election, Gravel faced Republican Elmer E. Rasmuson, a banker and former mayor of Anchorage. College students in the state implored Gruening to run a write-in campaign as an Independent, but legal battles prevented him from getting approval for it until only two weeks were left.","College students in the state implored Gruening to run a write-in campaign as an Independent, but legal battles prevented him from getting approval for it until only two weeks were left. A late appearance by anti-war presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy did not offset Gruening's lack of funds and endorsements; meanwhile, Gravel and Rasmuson both saturated local media with their filmed biographies. On November 5, 1968, Gravel won the general election with 45 percent of the vote to Rasmuson's 37 percent and Gruening's 18 percent.","On November 5, 1968, Gravel won the general election with 45 percent of the vote to Rasmuson's 37 percent and Gruening's 18 percent. Senate assignments and style When Gravel joined the U.S.Senate in January 1969, he requested and received a seat on the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee, which had direct relevance to Alaskan issues. He also got a spot on the Public Works Committee, which he held throughout his time in the Senate. Finally, he was a member of the Select Committee on Small Business.","Finally, he was a member of the Select Committee on Small Business. In 1971 he became chair of the Public Works Committee's Subcommittee on Public Buildings and Grounds, and by 1973 he was chair of its Subcommittee on Water Resources, then later its Subcommittee on Environmental Pollution. Gravel was also initially named to the Joint Committee on Congressional Operations.","Gravel was also initially named to the Joint Committee on Congressional Operations. By 1973 Gravel was off the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee and the Select Small Business Committee and instead a member of the Finance Committee, and by 1977 was chair of that body's Subcommittee on Energy and Foundations. By 1973 he had also been on the ad hoc Special Committee to Study Secret and Confidential Government Documents.","By 1973 he had also been on the ad hoc Special Committee to Study Secret and Confidential Government Documents. By his own admission, Gravel was too new and \"too abrasive\" to be effective in the Senate by the usual means of seniority-based committee assignments or negotiating deals with other senators, and was sometimes seen as arrogant or a nuisance by the more senior and tradition-oriented members. Gravel relied on attention-getting gestures to achieve what he wanted, hoping national exposure would force other senators to listen to him.","Gravel relied on attention-getting gestures to achieve what he wanted, hoping national exposure would force other senators to listen to him. But even senators who agreed with him on issues considered his methods to be showboating. As part of this approach, Gravel voted with Southern Democrats to keep the Senate filibuster rule in place, and accordingly supported Russell Long and Robert Byrd but opposed Ted Kennedy in Senate leadership battles.","As part of this approach, Gravel voted with Southern Democrats to keep the Senate filibuster rule in place, and accordingly supported Russell Long and Robert Byrd but opposed Ted Kennedy in Senate leadership battles. In retrospective assessment, University of Alaska Anchorage history professor Stephen Haycox said, \"Loose cannon is a good description of Gravel's Senate career. He was an off-the-wall guy, and you weren't really ever sure what he would do.\"","He was an off-the-wall guy, and you weren't really ever sure what he would do.\" Nuclear issues and the Cold War In the late 1960s and early 1970s the U.S. Department of Defense was in the process of performing tests for the nuclear warhead for the Spartan anti-ballistic missile. Two tests, the \"Milrow\" and \"Cannikin\" tests, were planned, involving the detonation of nuclear bombs under Amchitka Island in Alaska.","Two tests, the \"Milrow\" and \"Cannikin\" tests, were planned, involving the detonation of nuclear bombs under Amchitka Island in Alaska. The Milrow test would be a one-megaton calibration exercise for the second and larger five-megaton Cannikin test, which would measure the effectiveness of the warhead. Gravel opposed the tests.","Gravel opposed the tests. Gravel opposed the tests. Before the Milrow test took place in October 1969, he wrote that there were significant risks of earthquakes and other adverse consequences and called for an independent national commission on nuclear and seismic safety; he then made a personal appeal to President Richard Nixon to stop the test. After Milrow was conducted, there was continued pressure on the part of environmental groups against going forward with the Cannikin test, while the Federation of American Scientists claimed that the warhead being tested was already obsolete.","After Milrow was conducted, there was continued pressure on the part of environmental groups against going forward with the Cannikin test, while the Federation of American Scientists claimed that the warhead being tested was already obsolete. In May 1971 Gravel sent a letter to U.S. Atomic Energy Commission hearings held in Anchorage in which he said the risk of the test was not worth taking.","In May 1971 Gravel sent a letter to U.S. Atomic Energy Commission hearings held in Anchorage in which he said the risk of the test was not worth taking. Eventually a group not involving Gravel took the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to issue an injunction against it, and the Cannikin test took place as scheduled in November 1971. Gravel had failed to stop the tests (notwithstanding his later claims during his 2008 presidential campaign).","Gravel had failed to stop the tests (notwithstanding his later claims during his 2008 presidential campaign). In 1971 Gravel voted against the Nixon administration's proposed anti-ballistic missile system, the Safeguard Program, having previously vacillated over the issue, suggesting that he might be willing to support it in exchange for federal lands in Alaska being opened up for private oil drilling. His vote alienated Senator Henry \"Scoop\" Jackson, who had raised funds for Gravel's primary campaign.","His vote alienated Senator Henry \"Scoop\" Jackson, who had raised funds for Gravel's primary campaign. Nuclear power was considered an environmentally clean alternative for commercial generation of electricity and was part of a popular national policy for the peaceful use of atomic energy in the 1950s and 1960s.","Nuclear power was considered an environmentally clean alternative for commercial generation of electricity and was part of a popular national policy for the peaceful use of atomic energy in the 1950s and 1960s. Gravel publicly opposed this policy; besides the dangers of nuclear testing, he was a vocal critic of the Atomic Energy Commission, which oversaw American nuclear efforts, and of the powerful United States Congress Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, which had a stranglehold on nuclear policy and which Gravel tried to circumvent.","Gravel publicly opposed this policy; besides the dangers of nuclear testing, he was a vocal critic of the Atomic Energy Commission, which oversaw American nuclear efforts, and of the powerful United States Congress Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, which had a stranglehold on nuclear policy and which Gravel tried to circumvent. In 1971 Gravel sponsored a bill to impose a moratorium on nuclear power plant construction and to make power utilities liable for any nuclear accidents; in 1975 he was still proposing similar moratoriums.","In 1971 Gravel sponsored a bill to impose a moratorium on nuclear power plant construction and to make power utilities liable for any nuclear accidents; in 1975 he was still proposing similar moratoriums. By 1974 Gravel was allied with Ralph Nader's organization in opposing nuclear power. Six months before U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's July 1971 secret mission to the People's Republic of China (P.R.C. ), Gravel introduced legislation to recognize and normalize relations with the P.R.C., including a proposal for unity talks between the P.R.C.","), Gravel introduced legislation to recognize and normalize relations with the P.R.C., including a proposal for unity talks between the P.R.C. and the Republic of China (Taiwan) regarding the Chinese seat on the U.N. Security Council. He reiterated his position in favor of recognition, with four other senators in agreement, during Senate hearings in June 1971.","He reiterated his position in favor of recognition, with four other senators in agreement, during Senate hearings in June 1971. Vietnam War, the draft, and the Pentagon Papers Although he did not campaign against the Vietnam War during his first Senate campaign, by the end of 1970 Gravel was speaking out against United States policy in southeast Asia: in December of that year he persuaded William Fulbright to join him in a spontaneous two-day filibuster against a $155 million military aid package to Cambodia's Khmer Republic government in the Cambodian Civil War.","Vietnam War, the draft, and the Pentagon Papers Although he did not campaign against the Vietnam War during his first Senate campaign, by the end of 1970 Gravel was speaking out against United States policy in southeast Asia: in December of that year he persuaded William Fulbright to join him in a spontaneous two-day filibuster against a $155 million military aid package to Cambodia's Khmer Republic government in the Cambodian Civil War. President Richard Nixon had campaigned in 1968 on a promise to end the U.S. military draft, a decision endorsed by the February 1970 report of the Gates Commission.","President Richard Nixon had campaigned in 1968 on a promise to end the U.S. military draft, a decision endorsed by the February 1970 report of the Gates Commission. The existing draft law was scheduled to conclude at the end of June 1971, and the Senate faced a contentious debate about whether to extend it as the Vietnam War continued.","The existing draft law was scheduled to conclude at the end of June 1971, and the Senate faced a contentious debate about whether to extend it as the Vietnam War continued. The Nixon administration announced in February 1971 that it wanted a two-year extension to June 1973, after which the draft would end; Army planners had already been operating under the assumption of a two-year extension, after which an all-volunteer force would be in place.","The Nixon administration announced in February 1971 that it wanted a two-year extension to June 1973, after which the draft would end; Army planners had already been operating under the assumption of a two-year extension, after which an all-volunteer force would be in place. Skeptics such as Senate Armed Services Committee chairman John Stennis thought this unrealistic and wanted a four-year extension, but the two-year proposal is what went forward in Congress.","Skeptics such as Senate Armed Services Committee chairman John Stennis thought this unrealistic and wanted a four-year extension, but the two-year proposal is what went forward in Congress. By early May 1971, Gravel had indicated his intention to filibuster the draft renewal legislation, halting conscription and thereby bringing U.S. involvement in the war to a rapid end.","By early May 1971, Gravel had indicated his intention to filibuster the draft renewal legislation, halting conscription and thereby bringing U.S. involvement in the war to a rapid end. During this period he also supported efforts to mobilize and influence public opinion against the war, endorsing the \"Vietnam War Out Now\" rallies in Washington D.C. and San Francisco on April 24, 1971, and financing a broadcast campaign by the antiwar group War No More with a personal loan.","During this period he also supported efforts to mobilize and influence public opinion against the war, endorsing the \"Vietnam War Out Now\" rallies in Washington D.C. and San Francisco on April 24, 1971, and financing a broadcast campaign by the antiwar group War No More with a personal loan. In June 1972 he escorted a group of over 100 antiwar protesters, including psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton, actress Candice Bergen, theater producer and director Joseph Papp, and peditrician Dr. Benjamin Spock, into the United States Capitol Building; the group was arrested after blocking a hallway outside the Senate chamber.","In June 1972 he escorted a group of over 100 antiwar protesters, including psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton, actress Candice Bergen, theater producer and director Joseph Papp, and peditrician Dr. Benjamin Spock, into the United States Capitol Building; the group was arrested after blocking a hallway outside the Senate chamber. By June 1971, some Democratic senators opposed to the war wanted to limit the renewal to a one-year extension, while others wanted to end it immediately; Gravel reiterated that he was one of the latter, saying, \"It's a senseless war, and one way to do away with it is to do away with the draft.\"","By June 1971, some Democratic senators opposed to the war wanted to limit the renewal to a one-year extension, while others wanted to end it immediately; Gravel reiterated that he was one of the latter, saying, \"It's a senseless war, and one way to do away with it is to do away with the draft.\" A Senate vote on June 4 indicated majority support for the two-year extension.","A Senate vote on June 4 indicated majority support for the two-year extension. On June 18 Gravel announced again his intention to counteract that by filibustering the renewal legislation, defending the practice against those who associated it only with blocking civil rights legislation. The first filibuster attempt failed on June 23 when, by three votes, the Senate voted cloture for only the fifth time since 1927.","The first filibuster attempt failed on June 23 when, by three votes, the Senate voted cloture for only the fifth time since 1927. Protracted negotiations took place over House conference negotiations on the bill, revolving in large part around Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield's eventually unsuccessful amendment to tie renewal to a troop withdrawal timetable from Vietnam; during this time the draft law expired and no more were conscripted.","Protracted negotiations took place over House conference negotiations on the bill, revolving in large part around Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield's eventually unsuccessful amendment to tie renewal to a troop withdrawal timetable from Vietnam; during this time the draft law expired and no more were conscripted. On August 5, the Nixon administration pleaded for a renewal before the Senate went on recess, but Gravel blocked Stennis's attempt to limit debate, and no vote was held.","On August 5, the Nixon administration pleaded for a renewal before the Senate went on recess, but Gravel blocked Stennis's attempt to limit debate, and no vote was held. Finally on September 21, 1971, the Senate invoked cloture over Gravel's second filibuster attempt by one vote, and then passed the two-year draft extension.","Finally on September 21, 1971, the Senate invoked cloture over Gravel's second filibuster attempt by one vote, and then passed the two-year draft extension. Gravel's attempts to stop the draft had failed (notwithstanding Gravel's later claims that he had stopped or shortened the draft, taken at face value in some media reports, during his 2008 presidential campaign). Meanwhile, on June 13, 1971, The New York Times began printing large portions of the Pentagon Papers.","Meanwhile, on June 13, 1971, The New York Times began printing large portions of the Pentagon Papers. The papers were a large collection of secret government documents and studies pertaining to the Vietnam War, of which former Defense Department analyst Daniel Ellsberg had made unauthorized copies and was determined to make public.","The papers were a large collection of secret government documents and studies pertaining to the Vietnam War, of which former Defense Department analyst Daniel Ellsberg had made unauthorized copies and was determined to make public. Ellsberg had for a year and a half approached members of Congress – such as William Fulbright, George McGovern, Charles Mathias, and Pete McCloskey – about publishing the documents, on the grounds that the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution would give congressional members immunity from prosecution, but all had refused.","Ellsberg had for a year and a half approached members of Congress – such as William Fulbright, George McGovern, Charles Mathias, and Pete McCloskey – about publishing the documents, on the grounds that the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution would give congressional members immunity from prosecution, but all had refused. Instead, Ellsberg gave the documents to the Times. The U.S. Justice Department immediately tried to halt publication, on the grounds that the information revealed within the papers harmed the national interest.","The U.S. Justice Department immediately tried to halt publication, on the grounds that the information revealed within the papers harmed the national interest. Within the next two weeks, a federal court injunction halted publication in the Times; The Washington Post and several other newspapers began publishing parts of the documents, with some of them also being halted by injunctions; and the whole matter went to the U.S. Supreme Court for arguments.","Within the next two weeks, a federal court injunction halted publication in the Times; The Washington Post and several other newspapers began publishing parts of the documents, with some of them also being halted by injunctions; and the whole matter went to the U.S. Supreme Court for arguments. Looking for an alternate publication mechanism, Ellsberg returned to his idea of having a member of Congress read them, and chose Gravel based on the latter's efforts against the draft; Gravel agreed where previously others had not.","Looking for an alternate publication mechanism, Ellsberg returned to his idea of having a member of Congress read them, and chose Gravel based on the latter's efforts against the draft; Gravel agreed where previously others had not. Ellsberg arranged for the papers to be given to Gravel on June 26 via an intermediary, Post editor Ben Bagdikian.","Ellsberg arranged for the papers to be given to Gravel on June 26 via an intermediary, Post editor Ben Bagdikian. Gravel used his counter-intelligence experience to choose a midnight transfer in front of the Mayflower Hotel in the center of Washington, D.C. On the night of June 29, 1971, Gravel attempted to read the papers on the floor of the Senate as part of his filibuster against the draft, but was thwarted when no quorum could be formed. Gravel instead convened a session of the Buildings and Grounds subcommittee that he chaired.","Gravel instead convened a session of the Buildings and Grounds subcommittee that he chaired. He got New York Congressman John G. Dow to testify that the war had soaked up funding for public buildings, thus making discussion of the war relevant to the committee.","He got New York Congressman John G. Dow to testify that the war had soaked up funding for public buildings, thus making discussion of the war relevant to the committee. He began reading from the papers with the press in attendance, omitting supporting documents that he felt might compromise national security, and declaring, \"It is my constitutional obligation to protect the security of the people by fostering the free flow of information absolutely essential to their democratic decision-making.\"","He began reading from the papers with the press in attendance, omitting supporting documents that he felt might compromise national security, and declaring, \"It is my constitutional obligation to protect the security of the people by fostering the free flow of information absolutely essential to their democratic decision-making.\" He read until 1 a.m., culminating by saying \"Arms are being severed. Metal is clashing through human bodies because of the public policy this government and all its branches continue to support.\"","Metal is clashing through human bodies because of the public policy this government and all its branches continue to support.\" Then with tears and sobs he said that he could no longer physically continue, the previous three nights of sleeplessness and fear about the future having taken their toll. Gravel ended the session by, with no other senators present, establishing unanimous consent to insert 4,100 pages of the Papers into the Congressional Record of his subcommittee.","Gravel ended the session by, with no other senators present, establishing unanimous consent to insert 4,100 pages of the Papers into the Congressional Record of his subcommittee. The following day, the Supreme Court's New York Times Co. v. United States decision ruled in favor of the newspapers and publication in the Times and others resumed. In July 1971 Bantam Books published an inexpensive paperback edition of the papers containing the material the Times had published.","In July 1971 Bantam Books published an inexpensive paperback edition of the papers containing the material the Times had published. Gravel, too, wanted to privately publish the portion of the papers he had read into the record, believing that \"immediate disclosure of the contents of these papers will change the policy that supports the war\". After being turned down by many commercial publishers, on August 4 he reached agreement with Beacon Press, the publishing arm of the Unitarian Universalist Association, of which Gravel was a member.","After being turned down by many commercial publishers, on August 4 he reached agreement with Beacon Press, the publishing arm of the Unitarian Universalist Association, of which Gravel was a member. Announced on August 17 and published on October 22, 1971, this four-volume, relatively expensive set became the \"Senator Gravel Edition\", which studies from Cornell University and the Annenberg Center for Communication have labeled as the most complete edition of the Pentagon Papers to be published.","Announced on August 17 and published on October 22, 1971, this four-volume, relatively expensive set became the \"Senator Gravel Edition\", which studies from Cornell University and the Annenberg Center for Communication have labeled as the most complete edition of the Pentagon Papers to be published. The \"Gravel Edition\" was edited and annotated by Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn, and included an additional volume of analytical articles on the origins and progress of the war, also edited by Chomsky and Zinn.","The \"Gravel Edition\" was edited and annotated by Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn, and included an additional volume of analytical articles on the origins and progress of the war, also edited by Chomsky and Zinn. Beacon Press then was subjected to a FBI investigation; an outgrowth of this was the Gravel v. United States court case, which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled upon in June 1972; it held that the Speech or Debate Clause did grant immunity to Gravel for his reading the papers in his subcommittee, did grant some immunity to Gravel's congressional aide, but granted no immunity to Beacon Press in relation to their publishing the same papers.","Beacon Press then was subjected to a FBI investigation; an outgrowth of this was the Gravel v. United States court case, which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled upon in June 1972; it held that the Speech or Debate Clause did grant immunity to Gravel for his reading the papers in his subcommittee, did grant some immunity to Gravel's congressional aide, but granted no immunity to Beacon Press in relation to their publishing the same papers. The U.S. Senate Democratic Caucus backed Gravel in the case, but due to Republican opposition it did not pay Gravel's legal fees, leaving him owing $25,000 (the equivalent of $150,000 in 2019, adjusted for inflation).","The U.S. Senate Democratic Caucus backed Gravel in the case, but due to Republican opposition it did not pay Gravel's legal fees, leaving him owing $25,000 (the equivalent of $150,000 in 2019, adjusted for inflation). The events of 1971 changed Gravel in the following months from an obscure freshman senator to a nationally visible political figure.","The events of 1971 changed Gravel in the following months from an obscure freshman senator to a nationally visible political figure. He became a sought-after speaker on the college circuit as well as at political fundraisers, opportunities he welcomed as lectures were \"the one honest way a Senator has to supplement his income\". But his speaking tours caused him to accrue one of the worst absentee records in the Senate. The Democratic candidates for the 1972 presidential election sought his endorsement.","The Democratic candidates for the 1972 presidential election sought his endorsement. In January 1972 Gravel endorsed Maine Senator Ed Muskie, hoping that his support would help Muskie with the party's left wing and in ethnic French-Canadian areas during the first primary contest in New Hampshire (Muskie won, but not overwhelmingly, and his campaign faltered soon after).","In January 1972 Gravel endorsed Maine Senator Ed Muskie, hoping that his support would help Muskie with the party's left wing and in ethnic French-Canadian areas during the first primary contest in New Hampshire (Muskie won, but not overwhelmingly, and his campaign faltered soon after). In April 1972 Gravel appeared on all three networks' nightly newscasts to decry the Nixon administration's reliance on Vietnamization by making reference to the secret National Security Study Memorandum 1 document, which stated it would take 8–13 years for the Army of the Republic of Vietnam to defend South Vietnam.","In April 1972 Gravel appeared on all three networks' nightly newscasts to decry the Nixon administration's reliance on Vietnamization by making reference to the secret National Security Study Memorandum 1 document, which stated it would take 8–13 years for the Army of the Republic of Vietnam to defend South Vietnam. Gravel made excerpts from the study public, but senators Robert P. Griffin and William B. Saxbe blocked his attempt to read NSSM 1 into the Congressional Record.","Gravel made excerpts from the study public, but senators Robert P. Griffin and William B. Saxbe blocked his attempt to read NSSM 1 into the Congressional Record. Domestic policy In 1970 Gravel co-sponsored legislation to establish a guaranteed minimum income, entitling poor families to up to $6,300 a year (the equivalent of $42,000 in 2019 after adjustment for inflation).","Domestic policy In 1970 Gravel co-sponsored legislation to establish a guaranteed minimum income, entitling poor families to up to $6,300 a year (the equivalent of $42,000 in 2019 after adjustment for inflation). He subsequently voted for a \"work bonus\" program, which would have entitled low-income working families with dependent children if they were paying Social Security or Railroad Retirement taxes to a non-taxable bonus of up to 10 percent of their wages.","He subsequently voted for a \"work bonus\" program, which would have entitled low-income working families with dependent children if they were paying Social Security or Railroad Retirement taxes to a non-taxable bonus of up to 10 percent of their wages. Gravel also supported extending Social Security to all federal employees and introduced a campaign finance reform bill in 1971 that would have enacted full disclosure of campaign financing, placed limits on large donations, media spending and individual candidate spending.","Gravel also supported extending Social Security to all federal employees and introduced a campaign finance reform bill in 1971 that would have enacted full disclosure of campaign financing, placed limits on large donations, media spending and individual candidate spending. In 1969, Gravel was the only Democratic Senator outside of the South to vote for Nixon's Supreme Court nominee Clement Haynsworth. The following year Gravel opposed Nixon's next pick, G. Harrold Carswell.","The following year Gravel opposed Nixon's next pick, G. Harrold Carswell. Run for vice president in 1972 Gravel actively campaigned for the office of Vice President of the United States during the 1972 presidential election, announcing on June 2, 1972, over a month before the 1972 Democratic National Convention began, that he was interested in the nomination should the choice be opened up to convention delegates. Toward this end he began soliciting delegates for their support.","Toward this end he began soliciting delegates for their support. He was not alone in this effort, as former Governor of Massachusetts Endicott Peabody had been running a quixotic campaign for the same post since the prior year. Likely presidential nominee George McGovern was in fact considering the unusual move of naming three or four acceptable vice-presidential candidates and letting the delegates choose. On the convention's final day, July 14, 1972, McGovern selected and announced Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri as his vice-presidential choice.","On the convention's final day, July 14, 1972, McGovern selected and announced Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri as his vice-presidential choice. Eagleton was unknown to many delegates and the choice seemed to smack of traditional ticket balancing considerations. Thus there were delegates willing to look elsewhere. Gravel was nominated by Bettye Fahrenkamp, the Democratic National Committeewoman from Alaska. He then seconded his own nomination, breaking down in tears at his own words and maybe trying to withdraw his nomination.","He then seconded his own nomination, breaking down in tears at his own words and maybe trying to withdraw his nomination. In any case he won 226 delegate votes, coming in third behind Eagleton and Frances \"Sissy\" Farenthold of Texas, in chaotic balloting that included several other candidates.","In any case he won 226 delegate votes, coming in third behind Eagleton and Frances \"Sissy\" Farenthold of Texas, in chaotic balloting that included several other candidates. Gravel attracted some attention for his efforts: writer Norman Mailer said he \"provided considerable excitement\" and was \"good-looking enough to have played leads in B-films\", while Rolling Stone correspondent Hunter S. Thompson said Gravel \"probably said a few things that might have been worth hearing, under different circumstances\". Yet the process was doubly disastrous for the Democrats.","Yet the process was doubly disastrous for the Democrats. Yet the process was doubly disastrous for the Democrats. In the time consumed by nominating and seconding and all the vice-presidential candidates' speeches, the attention of the delegates on the floor was lost and McGovern's speech was pushed to 3:30 a.m. The haste with which Eagleton was selected led to surprise when his past mental health treatments were revealed; he withdrew from the ticket soon after the convention, to be replaced by Sargent Shriver.","The haste with which Eagleton was selected led to surprise when his past mental health treatments were revealed; he withdrew from the ticket soon after the convention, to be replaced by Sargent Shriver. Reelection to Senate in 1974 Several years earlier, Alaska politicians had speculated that Gravel would have a hard time getting both renominated and elected when his first term expired, given that he was originally elected without a base party organization and tended to focus on national rather than local issues.","Reelection to Senate in 1974 Several years earlier, Alaska politicians had speculated that Gravel would have a hard time getting both renominated and elected when his first term expired, given that he was originally elected without a base party organization and tended to focus on national rather than local issues. Nonetheless, after receiving support from national and local labor leaders, securing key earmarks, and producing another half-hour TV advertorial, in 1974 Gravel was reelected to the Senate, with 58 percent of the vote to 42 percent for Republican State Senator C. R. Lewis, who was a national officer of the John Birch Society.","Nonetheless, after receiving support from national and local labor leaders, securing key earmarks, and producing another half-hour TV advertorial, in 1974 Gravel was reelected to the Senate, with 58 percent of the vote to 42 percent for Republican State Senator C. R. Lewis, who was a national officer of the John Birch Society. Second term Gravel's reelection campaign left him $65,000–$75,000 in debt.","Second term Gravel's reelection campaign left him $65,000–$75,000 in debt. In 1975 The Washington Post reported on a memo by his executive assistant laying out a fundraising strategy to tackle this, including raising funds from oil companies, meeting with previous donors and \"inquir[ing] into the governmental priorities of these people and their groups in the coming session\", as well as obtaining further speaking fees to reduce his personal debt.","In 1975 The Washington Post reported on a memo by his executive assistant laying out a fundraising strategy to tackle this, including raising funds from oil companies, meeting with previous donors and \"inquir[ing] into the governmental priorities of these people and their groups in the coming session\", as well as obtaining further speaking fees to reduce his personal debt. This was followed by a number of stories about links between Gravel, lobbyists and fundraisers, including one that was widely publicized in Alaska about his holding a share in a Colorado resort with two Washington lobbyists he was working with on land and energy legislation.","This was followed by a number of stories about links between Gravel, lobbyists and fundraisers, including one that was widely publicized in Alaska about his holding a share in a Colorado resort with two Washington lobbyists he was working with on land and energy legislation. Gravel had been open about the investment and had opposing views to one of the lobbyists on nuclear power.","Gravel had been open about the investment and had opposing views to one of the lobbyists on nuclear power. In 1980 the Wall Street Journal published details about his fundraising activities, including writing to individuals and PACs in the oil industry, pledging to kill off proposals for a windfall profits tax on the sector, and traveling in the Middle East with the business partner of one of his donors to sell Alaskan land to businessmen. Gravel suggested that critics of his fundraising were \"naive\".","Gravel suggested that critics of his fundraising were \"naive\". In 1975 Gravel introduced an amendment to cut the number of troops overseas by 200,000, but it was defeated on a voice vote. In September 1975 Gravel was named as one of several Congressional Advisers to the Seventh Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly, which met to discuss problems related to economic development and international economic cooperation. In June 1976 Gravel was the focus of a federal investigation into allegations that he was involved in a sex-for-vote arrangement.","In June 1976 Gravel was the focus of a federal investigation into allegations that he was involved in a sex-for-vote arrangement. Congressional staff clerk Elizabeth Ray (who had already been involved in a sex scandal that led to the downfall of Representative Wayne Hays) said that in August 1972 she had sex with Gravel aboard a houseboat on the Potomac River, under the instruction of Representative Kenneth J. Gray, her boss at the time.","Gray, her boss at the time. Gray, her boss at the time. Gray allegedly wanted to secure Gravel's support for further funding for construction of the National Visitor Center in Washington, a troubled project that was under the jurisdiction of subcommittees that both members chaired. Another Congressional staffer said she witnessed the boat encounter, but Gravel said at the time that he had never met either of the women.","Another Congressional staffer said she witnessed the boat encounter, but Gravel said at the time that he had never met either of the women. Gravel and Gray strongly denied that they had made any arrangement regarding legislation, and neither was ever charged with any wrongdoing. Decades later Gravel wrote that he had indeed had sex with Ray, but had not changed any votes because of it.","Decades later Gravel wrote that he had indeed had sex with Ray, but had not changed any votes because of it. Gravel and his main financial backer, Gottstein, had a falling out in 1978, during the Congressional debate over whether to allow a controversial sale of U.S. F-15 fighter aircraft to Saudi Arabia. An ardent backer of Israel, Gottstein opposed the sale and asked Gravel to vote against it. But Gravel not only voted for it but made an emotional speech attacking the anti-sale campaign.","But Gravel not only voted for it but made an emotional speech attacking the anti-sale campaign. Gravel wrote in 2008 that it was the only time Gottstein had ever asked him for a favor, and the rupture resulted in their never speaking to each other again. Alaskan issues By 1971 Gravel was urging construction of the much-argued Trans-Alaska pipeline, addressing environmental concerns by saying that the pipeline's builders and operators should have \"total and absolute\" responsibility for any consequent environmental damage.","Alaskan issues By 1971 Gravel was urging construction of the much-argued Trans-Alaska pipeline, addressing environmental concerns by saying that the pipeline's builders and operators should have \"total and absolute\" responsibility for any consequent environmental damage. Two years later the debate over the pipeline came to a crux, with The New York Times describing it as \"environmentalists [in] a holy war with the major oil companies\".","Two years later the debate over the pipeline came to a crux, with The New York Times describing it as \"environmentalists [in] a holy war with the major oil companies\". In February 1973 the U.S. Court of Appeals blocked the issuance of permits for construction; Gravel and fellow Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens reacted by urging Congress to pass legislation overturning the court's decision.","In February 1973 the U.S. Court of Appeals blocked the issuance of permits for construction; Gravel and fellow Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens reacted by urging Congress to pass legislation overturning the court's decision. Environmentalists opposed to the pipeline, such as the Environmental Defense Fund and the Sierra Club then sought to use the recently passed National Environmental Policy Act to their advantage; Gravel designed an amendment to the pipeline bill that would immunize the pipeline from any further court challenges under that law, and thus speed its construction.","Environmentalists opposed to the pipeline, such as the Environmental Defense Fund and the Sierra Club then sought to use the recently passed National Environmental Policy Act to their advantage; Gravel designed an amendment to the pipeline bill that would immunize the pipeline from any further court challenges under that law, and thus speed its construction. Passage of the amendment became the key battle regarding the pipeline.","Passage of the amendment became the key battle regarding the pipeline. On July 17, 1973, in a dramatic roll-call vote, the Gravel amendment was approved as a 49–49 tie was broken in favor by Vice President Spiro Agnew. The actual bill enabling the pipeline then passed easily; Gravel had triumphed in what became perhaps his most lasting accomplishment as a senator. In opposition to the Alaskan fishing industry, Gravel advocated American participation in the formation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.","In opposition to the Alaskan fishing industry, Gravel advocated American participation in the formation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. For two years he opposed legislation that established a Exclusive Economic Zone for marine resources. He was one of only 19 senators to vote against Senate approval for the expanded zone in 1976, saying it would undermine the U.S. position in Law of the Sea negotiations and that nations arbitrarily extending their fishing rights limits would \"produce anarchy of the seas\".","He was one of only 19 senators to vote against Senate approval for the expanded zone in 1976, saying it would undermine the U.S. position in Law of the Sea negotiations and that nations arbitrarily extending their fishing rights limits would \"produce anarchy of the seas\". The legislation was passed, and the United States has signed but never ratified the Law of the Sea treaty. Gravel accumulated a complicated record on Indian affairs during his time in the Senate.","Gravel accumulated a complicated record on Indian affairs during his time in the Senate. During his first year in the Senate Gravel urged abolition of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, criticizing the agency for the pace of development of schools in Alaska, its paternalistic attitudes and the culturally inappropriate nature of its education, and advocating greater shared decision-making between the federal government and native communities in Alaska.","During his first year in the Senate Gravel urged abolition of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, criticizing the agency for the pace of development of schools in Alaska, its paternalistic attitudes and the culturally inappropriate nature of its education, and advocating greater shared decision-making between the federal government and native communities in Alaska. Later, his views changed; in the early 1970s Gravel supported a demonstration project that established links between Alaskan villages and the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, for medical diagnostic communications.","Later, his views changed; in the early 1970s Gravel supported a demonstration project that established links between Alaskan villages and the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, for medical diagnostic communications. In 1971, he fended off accusations from Alaskan natives that he was not spending enough time working on their land claims. Gravel helped secure a private grant to facilitate the first Inuit Circumpolar Conference in 1977, attended by Inuit representatives from Alaska, Canada, and Greenland. These conferences now also include representatives from Russia.","These conferences now also include representatives from Russia. These conferences now also include representatives from Russia. In 1977, Gravel helped lead an effort to have the U.S. Interior Department rename Mount McKinley to Denali; this eventually led to Denali National Park being so named. Subsequently, Gravel proposed a never-built \"Denali City\" development above the Tokositna River near the mountain, to consist of a giant Teflon dome enclosing hotels, golf courses, condominiums, and commercial buildings.","Subsequently, Gravel proposed a never-built \"Denali City\" development above the Tokositna River near the mountain, to consist of a giant Teflon dome enclosing hotels, golf courses, condominiums, and commercial buildings. A related idea of his to build a high-speed rail line to Denali also failed to gain traction. A key, emotional issue in the state at the time was \"locking up Alaska\", making reference to allocation of its vast, mostly uninhabited land.","A key, emotional issue in the state at the time was \"locking up Alaska\", making reference to allocation of its vast, mostly uninhabited land. President Jimmy Carter desired to put large portions of this land under federal protection against development, a move that some Alaskans vociferously opposed. In 1978 Gravel blocked passage, via procedural delays such as walking out of House–Senate conference committee meetings, of a complex bill which represented a compromise on land use policy.","In 1978 Gravel blocked passage, via procedural delays such as walking out of House–Senate conference committee meetings, of a complex bill which represented a compromise on land use policy. The bill would have put some of Alaska's vast federal land holdings under state control while preserving other portions for federal parks and refuges; the blocking action earned Gravel the enmity of fellow Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, who had supported the compromise.","The bill would have put some of Alaska's vast federal land holdings under state control while preserving other portions for federal parks and refuges; the blocking action earned Gravel the enmity of fellow Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, who had supported the compromise. In 1980, a new lands bill came up for consideration, that was less favorable to Alaskan interests and more liked by environmentalists; it set aside of Alaska's for national parks, conservation areas, and other restricted federal uses.","In 1980, a new lands bill came up for consideration, that was less favorable to Alaskan interests and more liked by environmentalists; it set aside of Alaska's for national parks, conservation areas, and other restricted federal uses. Gravel blocked it, as not ensuring enough future development in the state. A new compromise version of the 1980 bill came forward, which reduced the land set aside to . Representing Alaskan interests, Gravel tried to stop the bill, including by filibuster.","Representing Alaskan interests, Gravel tried to stop the bill, including by filibuster. But the Senate voted for cloture and passed the bill. Frustrated, Gravel said, \"the legislation denies Alaska its rights as a state, and denies the U.S. crucial strategic resources,\" and opined that the Senate was \"a little bit like a tank of barracudas\".","Frustrated, Gravel said, \"the legislation denies Alaska its rights as a state, and denies the U.S. crucial strategic resources,\" and opined that the Senate was \"a little bit like a tank of barracudas\". Nonetheless, the bill, known as the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980, was signed by President Carter shortly before leaving the White House, and led to millions of acres being set aside in the state for national parks, wildlife refuges, and other kinds of areas under protection.","Nonetheless, the bill, known as the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980, was signed by President Carter shortly before leaving the White House, and led to millions of acres being set aside in the state for national parks, wildlife refuges, and other kinds of areas under protection. In 1978 Gravel authored and secured the passage into federal law of the General Stock Ownership Corporation, that became Subchapter U of the Tax Code under the Internal Revenue Code of 1954.","In 1978 Gravel authored and secured the passage into federal law of the General Stock Ownership Corporation, that became Subchapter U of the Tax Code under the Internal Revenue Code of 1954. This gave states the ability to create corporations that would invest in for-profit enterprises, with all citizens within the state owning shares in the corporation.","This gave states the ability to create corporations that would invest in for-profit enterprises, with all citizens within the state owning shares in the corporation. Gravel's attempt to convince the Alaska state legislature to create such a corporation failed, as did a 1980 state ballot initiative towards the same end, but nevertheless the creation of the General Stock Ownership Corporation in federal law turned out to be significant in the development of binary economics.","Gravel's attempt to convince the Alaska state legislature to create such a corporation failed, as did a 1980 state ballot initiative towards the same end, but nevertheless the creation of the General Stock Ownership Corporation in federal law turned out to be significant in the development of binary economics. Loss of Senate seat in 1980 In 1980 Gravel was challenged for the Democratic Party's nomination by State Representative Clark Gruening, the grandson of the man Gravel had defeated in a primary 12 years earlier.","Loss of Senate seat in 1980 In 1980 Gravel was challenged for the Democratic Party's nomination by State Representative Clark Gruening, the grandson of the man Gravel had defeated in a primary 12 years earlier. One of Gruening's supporters was Gravel's former backer Gottstein. Several factors made Gravel vulnerable. As an insurgent candidate in 1968 Gravel had never established a firm party base. Not liking to hunt or fish, he was also always culturally suspect in the state. The primary campaign was bitterly fought.","The primary campaign was bitterly fought. The primary campaign was bitterly fought. A group of Democrats, including future governor Steve Cowper, led the campaign against Gravel, with Gravel's actions in respect to the 1978 and 1980 Alaskan lands bills a major issue. This was especially so given that the 1980 bill's dénouement happened but a week before the primary. The sources of Gravel's campaign funds, some of which Gravel readily acknowledged came from political action committees outside the state, also became an issue in the contest.","The sources of Gravel's campaign funds, some of which Gravel readily acknowledged came from political action committees outside the state, also became an issue in the contest. Gruening had pledged that he would not take special interest group money, but Gravel said that Gruening was \"dishonest\" in accepting individual contributors from Jewish donors living outside the state because to him such contributors comprised \"a special interest group ... that seeks to influence the foreign policy of the U.S.\" Gruening won the primary with about 55 percent of the vote to Gravel's 44 percent.","Gruening had pledged that he would not take special interest group money, but Gravel said that Gruening was \"dishonest\" in accepting individual contributors from Jewish donors living outside the state because to him such contributors comprised \"a special interest group ... that seeks to influence the foreign policy of the U.S.\" Gruening won the primary with about 55 percent of the vote to Gravel's 44 percent. Gravel later conceded that by the time of his defeat, he had alienated \"almost every constituency in Alaska\".","Gravel later conceded that by the time of his defeat, he had alienated \"almost every constituency in Alaska\". Another factor may have been Alaska's blanket primary system of the time, which allowed unlimited voting across party lines and from its many independents; Republicans believed Gruening would be an easier candidate to defeat in the general election. Gruening lost the general election to Republican Frank Murkowski.","Gruening lost the general election to Republican Frank Murkowski. Gruening lost the general election to Republican Frank Murkowski. Gravel was the last Democrat to represent Alaska in Congress for 28 years, until Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich defeated Ted Stevens, by then an aged, iconic figure who had just been convicted of seven felonies for taking unreported gifts, in a very close and protracted election result in 2008. Stevens's conviction was subsequently vacated due to prosecutorial misconduct.","Stevens's conviction was subsequently vacated due to prosecutorial misconduct. Career after leaving the Senate Of his 1980 defeat, Gravel later recalled: \"I had lost my career. I lost my marriage. I was in the doldrums for ten years after my defeat,\" and \"Nobody wanted to hire me for anything important. I felt like I was worthless. I didn't know what I could do.\"","I didn't know what I could do.\" I didn't know what I could do.\" By his own later description, Gravel was a womanizer, and had an affair while in the Senate, and in December 1980 he and his wife Rita separated. They filed for divorce in September 1981; she later received all of his Senate pension income. During the 1980s Gravel was a real estate developer in Anchorage and Kenai, Alaska, a consultant, and a stockbroker.","During the 1980s Gravel was a real estate developer in Anchorage and Kenai, Alaska, a consultant, and a stockbroker. One of his real estate ventures, a condominium business, was forced to declare bankruptcy and a lawsuit ensued. In 1986 Gravel worked in partnership with Merrill Lynch Capital Markets to buy losses that financially troubled Alaska Native Corporations could not take as tax deductions and sell them to large national companies looking for tax writeoffs. Gravel also learned computer programming at some point but never practiced it.","Gravel also learned computer programming at some point but never practiced it. In 1984 Gravel married his second wife, Whitney Stewart Gravel, a former administrative assistant for Senator Jacob Javits. Return to politics In 1989 Gravel reentered politics. He founded and led The Democracy Foundation, which promotes direct democracy.","He founded and led The Democracy Foundation, which promotes direct democracy. He established the Philadelphia II corporation, which seeks to replicate the original 1787 Constitutional Convention and have a Second Constitutional Convention to bring about direct democracy Gravel led an effort to get a United States Constitutional amendment to allow voter-initiated federal legislation similar to state ballot initiatives. He argued that Americans are able to legislate responsibly, and that the Act and Amendment in the National Initiative would allow American citizens to become \"law makers\".","He argued that Americans are able to legislate responsibly, and that the Act and Amendment in the National Initiative would allow American citizens to become \"law makers\". However such efforts met with little success. In 2001, Gravel became director of the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution, where he admired institute co-founder Gregory Fossedal's work on direct democracy in Switzerland.","In 2001, Gravel became director of the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution, where he admired institute co-founder Gregory Fossedal's work on direct democracy in Switzerland. By 2004, Gravel had become chair of the institute, and Fossedal (who in turn was a director of the Democracy Foundation) gave the introduction at Gravel's presidential announcement. In 2003 Gravel gave a speech on direct democracy at a conference hosted by the American Free Press. The event was cosponsored by the Barnes Review, a journal that endorses Holocaust denial.","The event was cosponsored by the Barnes Review, a journal that endorses Holocaust denial. After some controversy over his appearance, Gravel apologized, saying he did not realize the group's ties. Gravel said repeatedly that he did not share the group's views on the Holocaust, stating, \"You better believe I know that six million Jews were killed. [The Barnes Review publishers] are nutty as loons if they don't think it happened\". The group invited Gravel to speak again, but he declined.","The group invited Gravel to speak again, but he declined. Mike and Whitney Gravel lived in Arlington County, Virginia, until 2010 and then resided in Burlingame, California. They have the two grown children from his first marriage, Martin Gravel and Lynne Gravel Mosier, and four grandchildren. Whitney Gravel's income sustained the couple from 1998 on. In the 2000s, Gravel suffered poor health, requiring three surgeries in 2003 for back pain and neuropathy.","In the 2000s, Gravel suffered poor health, requiring three surgeries in 2003 for back pain and neuropathy. Due to unreimbursed medical expenses and debts from his political causes, he declared personal bankruptcy in 2004. He began taking a salary from the non-profit organizations for which he was working; much of that income was lent to his presidential campaign. In 2007, he declared that he had \"zero net worth\".","In 2007, he declared that he had \"zero net worth\". 2008 presidential campaign Democratic Party primaries At the start of 2006 Gravel decided the best way he could promote direct democracy and the National Initiative was to run for president.","2008 presidential campaign Democratic Party primaries At the start of 2006 Gravel decided the best way he could promote direct democracy and the National Initiative was to run for president. On April 17, 2006, Gravel became the first candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2008 election, announcing his run in a speech to the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Short on campaign cash, he took public transportation to get to his announcement. (Gravel called for public financing of elections.)","(Gravel called for public financing of elections.) (Gravel called for public financing of elections.) Other principal Gravel positions were the FairTax, as well as withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq within 120 days and a single payer national health care system. Gravel had opposed the Iraq War, and President George W. Bush's rationale for it, from the beginning, and in 2006 said that U.S. troops in Iraq, as in Vietnam, had \"died in vain\".","Gravel had opposed the Iraq War, and President George W. Bush's rationale for it, from the beginning, and in 2006 said that U.S. troops in Iraq, as in Vietnam, had \"died in vain\". He also favored a regional peace initiative, as well as reparation payments for Iraqis. Gravel also called for a \"U.S. corporate withdrawal from Iraq\", with reconstruction contracts held by U.S. companies to be turned over to Iraqi firms.","Gravel also called for a \"U.S. corporate withdrawal from Iraq\", with reconstruction contracts held by U.S. companies to be turned over to Iraqi firms. Gravel campaigned almost full-time in New Hampshire, the first primary state, following his announcement. Opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination showed Gravel with 1 percent or less support. By the end of March 2007, Gravel's campaign had less than $500 in cash on hand against debts of nearly $90,000.","By the end of March 2007, Gravel's campaign had less than $500 in cash on hand against debts of nearly $90,000. Because of his time in the Senate, Gravel was invited to many of the early Democratic presidential debates. During the initial one at South Carolina State University on April 26, 2007, he suggested a bill requiring the president to withdraw from Iraq on pain of criminal penalties. He also advocated positions such as opposing preemptive nuclear war.","He also advocated positions such as opposing preemptive nuclear war. He stated that the Iraq War had the effect of creating more terrorists and that the \"war was lost the day that George Bush invaded Iraq on a fraudulent basis\". Regarding his fellow candidates, he said, \"I got to tell you, after standing up with them, some of these people frighten me – they frighten me.\" In one such exchange, Gravel said, \"Tell me, Barack, who do you want to nuke?\"","In one such exchange, Gravel said, \"Tell me, Barack, who do you want to nuke?\" to which Obama responded, \"I'm not planning to nuke anybody right now, Mike, I promise.\" Media stories said that Gravel was responsible for much of whatever \"heat\" and \"flashpoints\" had taken place during the Democratic debates.","Media stories said that Gravel was responsible for much of whatever \"heat\" and \"flashpoints\" had taken place during the Democratic debates. Gravel gained considerable publicity by shaking up the normally staid multiple-candidate format; The New York Times' media critic said that what Gravel had done was \"steal a debate with outrageous, curmudgeonly statements\".","Gravel gained considerable publicity by shaking up the normally staid multiple-candidate format; The New York Times' media critic said that what Gravel had done was \"steal a debate with outrageous, curmudgeonly statements\". The Internet was a benefit: a YouTube video of his responses in the debate was viewed more than 225,892 times, ranking seventeenth in most views for week and first among news and politics clips; his name became the fifteenth most searched-for in the blogosphere; and his website garnered more traffic than those of frontrunners Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, or John Edwards.","The Internet was a benefit: a YouTube video of his responses in the debate was viewed more than 225,892 times, ranking seventeenth in most views for week and first among news and politics clips; his name became the fifteenth most searched-for in the blogosphere; and his website garnered more traffic than those of frontrunners Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, or John Edwards. Gravel appeared on the popular Colbert Report on television on May 2, and his campaign and career were profiled in national publications such as Salon.","Gravel appeared on the popular Colbert Report on television on May 2, and his campaign and career were profiled in national publications such as Salon. Two wordless, Warholesque campaign videos, \"Rock\" and \"Fire\", were released on YouTube in late May and became hits, and eventually gained over 760,000 and 185,000 views respectively. \"Rock\", in turn, was given airtime during an episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.","\"Rock\", in turn, was given airtime during an episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Some thirty-five years after he first achieved the national spotlight, he had found it again. All this did not improve his performance in the polls; a May 2007 CNN poll showed him with less than 0.5 percent support among Democrats. Gravel was in the next several debates, in one case after CNN reversed a decision to exclude him.","Gravel was in the next several debates, in one case after CNN reversed a decision to exclude him. Like some of the other second-tier candidates, Gravel did not get as much time as the leaders; during the June 2, 2007, New Hampshire debate, which lasted two hours, he was asked 10 questions and allowed to speak for five minutes and 37 seconds.","Like some of the other second-tier candidates, Gravel did not get as much time as the leaders; during the June 2, 2007, New Hampshire debate, which lasted two hours, he was asked 10 questions and allowed to speak for five minutes and 37 seconds. During the July 23, 2007, CNN-YouTube presidential debate, Gravel responded to audience applause when he had complained of a lack of airtime and said: \"Thank you. Has it been fair thus far?\"","Has it been fair thus far?\" Has it been fair thus far?\" Detractors began to liken him to \"the cranky uncle who lives in the attic,\" or \"the angry old guy that just seemed to want to become angrier\". Berkeley political scientist David Terr found that moderator George Stephanopoulos directed roughly five percent of his questions to Gravel; in a poll asking who did the best in the debate, Gravel placed seventh among the eight candidates.","Berkeley political scientist David Terr found that moderator George Stephanopoulos directed roughly five percent of his questions to Gravel; in a poll asking who did the best in the debate, Gravel placed seventh among the eight candidates. National opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination continued to show Gravel with one percent or zero percent numbers.","National opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination continued to show Gravel with one percent or zero percent numbers. By the end of the third-quarter 2007, Gravel had about $17,500 in cash on hand, had collected a total of about $380,000 during the 2008 election cycle, and was continuing to run a threadbare campaign with minimal staff.","By the end of the third-quarter 2007, Gravel had about $17,500 in cash on hand, had collected a total of about $380,000 during the 2008 election cycle, and was continuing to run a threadbare campaign with minimal staff. Beginning with the October 30, 2007, Philadelphia event, Gravel was excluded from most of the debates, with the debate sponsors or the Democratic National Committee saying Gravel's campaign had not met fund-raising, polling, or local campaign organizational thresholds.","Beginning with the October 30, 2007, Philadelphia event, Gravel was excluded from most of the debates, with the debate sponsors or the Democratic National Committee saying Gravel's campaign had not met fund-raising, polling, or local campaign organizational thresholds. For the Philadelphia exclusion, Gravel blamed corporate censorship on the part of sponsor owner and alleged military-industrial complex member General Electric for his exclusion and mounted a counter-gathering and debate against a video screen a short distance away, but he had lost his easiest publicity.","For the Philadelphia exclusion, Gravel blamed corporate censorship on the part of sponsor owner and alleged military-industrial complex member General Electric for his exclusion and mounted a counter-gathering and debate against a video screen a short distance away, but he had lost his easiest publicity. In reaction, supporters organized \"mass donation days\" to try to help the campaign gain momentum and funds, such as on December 5, 2007, the anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition.","In reaction, supporters organized \"mass donation days\" to try to help the campaign gain momentum and funds, such as on December 5, 2007, the anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition. Gravel did not compete in the initial 2008 vote, the Iowa caucuses, but was still subjected to a false report from MSNBC that he had pulled out of the race afterward. Gravel did focus his attention on the second 2008 vote, the New Hampshire primary.","Gravel did focus his attention on the second 2008 vote, the New Hampshire primary. In early January, Mother Jones' investigative reporter James Ridgeway was filmed interviewing and following Gravel in New Hampshire, in which Gravel is interviewed on the phone by Neal Conan for NPR's, Talk of the Nation. He received about 400 votes out of some 280,000 cast in New Hampshire, or 0.14 percent, before taking time off to improve his health. He resumed campaigning, but fared no better in subsequent states.","He resumed campaigning, but fared no better in subsequent states. By the end of January 2008, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and Gravel were the only remaining Democrats from the initial debates still running; Gravel vowed to stay in the presidential campaign until November. On March 11, 2008, Gravel continued to remain in the Democratic race but additionally endorsed a Green Party candidate for president, Jesse Johnson, saying he wanted to help Johnson prevail against Green Party rivals Cynthia McKinney and Ralph Nader.","On March 11, 2008, Gravel continued to remain in the Democratic race but additionally endorsed a Green Party candidate for president, Jesse Johnson, saying he wanted to help Johnson prevail against Green Party rivals Cynthia McKinney and Ralph Nader. By late March, Gravel had almost no fundraising and was only on the ballot in one of the next ten Democratic primaries.","By late March, Gravel had almost no fundraising and was only on the ballot in one of the next ten Democratic primaries. Switch to Libertarian Party On March 25, 2008, Gravel announced that he would leave the Democrats and join the Libertarian Party, saying: \"My libertarian views, as well as my strong stance against war, the military industrial complex and American imperialism, seem not to be tolerated by Democratic Party elites who are out of touch with the average American; elites that reject the empowerment of American citizens I offered to the Democratic Party at the beginning of this presidential campaign with the National Initiative for Democracy.\"","Switch to Libertarian Party On March 25, 2008, Gravel announced that he would leave the Democrats and join the Libertarian Party, saying: \"My libertarian views, as well as my strong stance against war, the military industrial complex and American imperialism, seem not to be tolerated by Democratic Party elites who are out of touch with the average American; elites that reject the empowerment of American citizens I offered to the Democratic Party at the beginning of this presidential campaign with the National Initiative for Democracy.\" The following day Gravel entered the race for the 2008 Libertarian presidential nomination, saying that he would have run as a third-party candidate all along except that he needed the public exposure that came from being in the earlier Democratic debates.","The following day Gravel entered the race for the 2008 Libertarian presidential nomination, saying that he would have run as a third-party candidate all along except that he needed the public exposure that came from being in the earlier Democratic debates. Gravel's initial notion of running as a fusion candidate with other parties was met with skepticism. As a Libertarian candidate, Gravel faced resistance to his past support of big government initiatives and his unorthodox positions around direct democracy.","As a Libertarian candidate, Gravel faced resistance to his past support of big government initiatives and his unorthodox positions around direct democracy. Nevertheless, he garnered more support than he had as a Democrat, placing second and third in two April 2008 straw polls.","Nevertheless, he garnered more support than he had as a Democrat, placing second and third in two April 2008 straw polls. In the May 25 balloting at the 2008 Libertarian National Convention in Denver, Gravel finished fourth out of eight candidates on the initial ballot, with 71 votes out of a total 618; he trailed former Congressman and eventual winner Bob Barr, author Mary Ruwart, and businessman Wayne Allyn Root. Gravel's position did not subsequently improve and he was eliminated on the fourth ballot.","Gravel's position did not subsequently improve and he was eliminated on the fourth ballot. Afterwards he stated that \"I just ended my political career,\" but he vowed to continue promoting his positions as a writer and lecturer. 2008–early 2019 In June 2008 Gravel endorsed the NYC 9/11 Ballot Initiative, saying the measure would create a \"citizens commission rather than a government commission\" with subpoena power against top U.S. officials to \"make a true investigation as to what happened\" regarding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.","2008–early 2019 In June 2008 Gravel endorsed the NYC 9/11 Ballot Initiative, saying the measure would create a \"citizens commission rather than a government commission\" with subpoena power against top U.S. officials to \"make a true investigation as to what happened\" regarding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. He later said, \"Individuals in and out of government may certainly have participated with the obviously known perpetrators of this dastardly act. Suspicions abound over the analysis presented by government.","Suspicions abound over the analysis presented by government. Suspicions abound over the analysis presented by government. Obviously an act that has triggered three wars, Afghan, Iraqi and the continuing War on Terror, should be extensively investigated which was not done and which the government avoids addressing.\"","Obviously an act that has triggered three wars, Afghan, Iraqi and the continuing War on Terror, should be extensively investigated which was not done and which the government avoids addressing.\" In August 2008 Gravel was speaking to a crowd of supporters of Sami Al-Arian (who two years earlier had pleaded guilty and been sentenced to prison for a charge of conspiracy in helping Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a \"specially designated terrorist\" organization) when he was caught on tape saying of Al-Arian's prosecutor, \"Find out where he lives, find out where his kids go to school, find out where his office is: picket him all the time.","In August 2008 Gravel was speaking to a crowd of supporters of Sami Al-Arian (who two years earlier had pleaded guilty and been sentenced to prison for a charge of conspiracy in helping Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a \"specially designated terrorist\" organization) when he was caught on tape saying of Al-Arian's prosecutor, \"Find out where he lives, find out where his kids go to school, find out where his office is: picket him all the time. Call him a racist in signs if you see him.","Call him a racist in signs if you see him. Call him an injustice. Call him whatever you want to call him, but in his face all the time.\" Gravel was criticized for potentially involving the children of the prosecutor, and Al-Arian's family disavowed the sentiments. Gravel defended Alaska Governor Sarah Palin after she was chosen as Republican presidential nominee John McCain's running mate in September 2008.","Gravel defended Alaska Governor Sarah Palin after she was chosen as Republican presidential nominee John McCain's running mate in September 2008. He praised Palin's record in standing up to corruption among Alaskan Republicans, thought her national inexperience was an asset not a detriment, and predicted that the \"Troopergate\" investigation into whether she improperly fired a state official would \"come out in her favor\". Gravel made clear he would not support or vote for either McCain–Palin or Obama–Biden in the general election.","Gravel made clear he would not support or vote for either McCain–Palin or Obama–Biden in the general election. The following year Gravel said that Palin's politics were \"terrible, but that doesn't detract from the fact that she's a very talented person\". He predicted that Palin would run for president in 2012 and that \"she's going to surprise a lot of people\". Palin did not run, but Gravel's prediction about \"TrooperGate\" was accurate as Palin was found not to have violated ethics laws.","Palin did not run, but Gravel's prediction about \"TrooperGate\" was accurate as Palin was found not to have violated ethics laws. In 2013, by the invitation of Hamed Ghashghavi, the secretary for international affairs of the 3rd International Conference on Hollywoodism in Tehran, Iran, Gravel attended that event as an Iranian government-organized anti-Hollywood conference.","In 2013, by the invitation of Hamed Ghashghavi, the secretary for international affairs of the 3rd International Conference on Hollywoodism in Tehran, Iran, Gravel attended that event as an Iranian government-organized anti-Hollywood conference. Gravel noted that the conference was attended by \"various elements of extremes\" but said it was necessary to discuss how the U.S. film industry portrayed Iran in order to prevent \"an insane war\" between the two nations.","Gravel noted that the conference was attended by \"various elements of extremes\" but said it was necessary to discuss how the U.S. film industry portrayed Iran in order to prevent \"an insane war\" between the two nations. In May 2013 Gravel was one of several former members of Congress to accept $20,000 from the Paradigm Research Group, an advocacy group for UFO disclosure, as part of holding what they termed a Citizen Hearing on Disclosure, modeled after congressional hearings, regarding supposed U.S. government suppression of evidence concerning UFOs.","In May 2013 Gravel was one of several former members of Congress to accept $20,000 from the Paradigm Research Group, an advocacy group for UFO disclosure, as part of holding what they termed a Citizen Hearing on Disclosure, modeled after congressional hearings, regarding supposed U.S. government suppression of evidence concerning UFOs. Gravel said, \"Something is monitoring the planet, and they are monitoring it very cautiously, because we are a very warlike planet,\" and, \"What we're faced with here is, in areas of the media, and the government too, an effort to marginalize and ridicule people who have specific knowledge.\"","Gravel said, \"Something is monitoring the planet, and they are monitoring it very cautiously, because we are a very warlike planet,\" and, \"What we're faced with here is, in areas of the media, and the government too, an effort to marginalize and ridicule people who have specific knowledge.\" In December 2014 Gravel was announced as the new CEO of KUSH, a company which makes marijuana-infused products for medicinal and recreational use, and a subsidiary of Cannabis Sativa, Inc.","In December 2014 Gravel was announced as the new CEO of KUSH, a company which makes marijuana-infused products for medicinal and recreational use, and a subsidiary of Cannabis Sativa, Inc. He also became an Independent Director of Cannabis Sativa. During the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries, Gravel praised Bernie Sanders and his campaign, saying \"Bernie is one of the most gifted politicians I have ever observed. He's a person of great integrity and very clever.\"","He's a person of great integrity and very clever.\" Gravel predicted that Sanders would be elected president but would be unable to get his key reforms through Congress, and thus that Sanders and his supporters should back some of the proposals of the National Initiative. In 2016, Gravel said in relation to the September 11 attacks: \"We killed 58,000 American servicemen in the Vietnam War and all they did was die in vain.","In 2016, Gravel said in relation to the September 11 attacks: \"We killed 58,000 American servicemen in the Vietnam War and all they did was die in vain. What's so unusual about killing 3,000 more in order to develop the grist for the mill to empower into infinity the military industrial complex?\" and \"There's no question in my mind that 9/11 was an inside job\". The remarks were later disavowed by even Gravel supporters. By 2019 Gravel was living in Seaside, California.","By 2019 Gravel was living in Seaside, California. By 2019 Gravel was living in Seaside, California. He was working on a book, at the time titled Human Governance, about his principal idea for direct democracy, a U.S. Constitutional Amendment to create a \"Legislature of the People\" that would circumvent the existing Congress. The book was self-published at the end of the year by AuthorHouse under the title The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People.","The book was self-published at the end of the year by AuthorHouse under the title The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People. 2020 presidential campaign On March 19, 2019, Gravel announced that he was considering running in the 2020 Democratic primaries. He said, \"The goal will not be to win, but to bring a critique of American imperialism to the Democratic debate stage.\"","He said, \"The goal will not be to win, but to bring a critique of American imperialism to the Democratic debate stage.\" An exploratory committee was formed, with filing a statement of organization with the Federal Election Commission on that same day.","An exploratory committee was formed, with filing a statement of organization with the Federal Election Commission on that same day. The filing was the idea of a group of teenagers, led by David Oks and Henry Williams, inspired by the podcast Chapo Trap House, and done with Gravel's consent (after a week spent convincing him of the idea's merits), but without his involvement.","The filing was the idea of a group of teenagers, led by David Oks and Henry Williams, inspired by the podcast Chapo Trap House, and done with Gravel's consent (after a week spent convincing him of the idea's merits), but without his involvement. Intrigued by the group's commitment to amplifying his long-held policy goals, Gravel (who would be old on Inauguration Day in 2021) said he planned to meet with them in April, and to discuss a 2020 White House run with his wife.","Intrigued by the group's commitment to amplifying his long-held policy goals, Gravel (who would be old on Inauguration Day in 2021) said he planned to meet with them in April, and to discuss a 2020 White House run with his wife. On April 2, 2019, Gravel filed to officially run for office. The campaign called itself the \"#Gravelanche\". Gravel's initial stated goal was merely to qualify for debates by getting the required 65,000 small donors.","Gravel's initial stated goal was merely to qualify for debates by getting the required 65,000 small donors. He discouraged people from voting for him and said his preferences were Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard, both of whom favor a non-interventionist foreign policy. But on April 29, Gravel's campaign said he was running to win, not just to participate in debates. In a subsequent interview, though, Gravel emphasized the virtue of Sanders and Gabbard in some order as a presidential ticket.","In a subsequent interview, though, Gravel emphasized the virtue of Sanders and Gabbard in some order as a presidential ticket. Statements like these caused Vox to call Gravel \"2020's oddest Democratic presidential candidate\".","Statements like these caused Vox to call Gravel \"2020's oddest Democratic presidential candidate\". The New York Times Magazine included Gravel as an example in the rise of democratic socialism in the United States also exemplified by Sanders's 2016 race and the 2018 election of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: \"[Gravel's] campaign represents the most absurd form of a legitimate movement on the left that feels little obligation to the Democratic Party.\"","The New York Times Magazine included Gravel as an example in the rise of democratic socialism in the United States also exemplified by Sanders's 2016 race and the 2018 election of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: \"[Gravel's] campaign represents the most absurd form of a legitimate movement on the left that feels little obligation to the Democratic Party.\" In June 2019, Gravel touted the endorsement of Muntadher al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who, in December 2008, made headlines after he threw his shoes at President George W. Bush in protest of the U.S. war in Iraq.","In June 2019, Gravel touted the endorsement of Muntadher al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who, in December 2008, made headlines after he threw his shoes at President George W. Bush in protest of the U.S. war in Iraq. Al-Zaidi endorsed Gravel based on his promise to improve White House policies regarding Iraq and the Middle East. On June 13, 2019, the Democratic Party announced the 20 major candidates who qualified for the first debate later that month.","On June 13, 2019, the Democratic Party announced the 20 major candidates who qualified for the first debate later that month. Gravel was one of the four who missed out (the others were Montana Governor Steve Bullock, U.S. Representative Seth Moulton, and Miramar, Florida, Mayor Wayne Messam). Gravel had been unable to get the requisite number of donations, or to score one percent or better in enough polls (many polls did not even include him).","Gravel had been unable to get the requisite number of donations, or to score one percent or better in enough polls (many polls did not even include him). Nevertheless, Gravel said he would not drop out and would try to qualify for the July debate. In early July, however, Gravel's campaign said it was still 10,000 contributions short of the 65,000-donor threshold and that it was \"nearing its conclusion\". It solicited suggestions for where to donate $100–150,000 of leftover campaign funds.","It solicited suggestions for where to donate $100–150,000 of leftover campaign funds. Gravel added that he had always planned on ending the campaign before the teenagers in charge of it needed to return to school. A few days later the campaign became the first to run an attack ad against Democratic front-runner Joe Biden, using the text \"Is this the best our party has to offer?\" Gravel's campaign crossed the threshold of 65,000 donors on July 12, 2019, meeting the qualification mark for that month's debate.","Gravel's campaign crossed the threshold of 65,000 donors on July 12, 2019, meeting the qualification mark for that month's debate. But because 20 other candidates, the maximum allowed to participate, had already met at least the polling criterion, which takes priority over the donor criterion, Gravel was not invited. The campaign officially came to a close on August 6, 2019, with Gravel endorsing both Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard for president.","The campaign officially came to a close on August 6, 2019, with Gravel endorsing both Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard for president. Gravel's campaign later stated on Twitter that they never wanted to win but saw the campaign as an \"intimately democratic\" project and expressed honor at working with Gravel. Gravel said he would divide remaining campaign funds between charity and a new think tank which would espouse his ideas.","Gravel said he would divide remaining campaign funds between charity and a new think tank which would espouse his ideas. The Gravel Institute Gravel used some of the funds remaining from his 2020 presidential campaign to found an eponymous progressive think tank called The Gravel Institute in 2019. As noted by Vice magazine, the institute aims to do battle with PragerU from a left-wing perspective.","As noted by Vice magazine, the institute aims to do battle with PragerU from a left-wing perspective. Launched in September 2020, the new entity said it would \"carry on the life's work of former U.S Senator Mike Gravel in fighting for global peace and democracy. Its mission is to promote bold and forward-looking ideas about a more peaceful and egalitarian world, and to build a robust movement of young people to win it\".","Its mission is to promote bold and forward-looking ideas about a more peaceful and egalitarian world, and to build a robust movement of young people to win it\". Contributors announced include Cornel West and Slavoj Žižek, as well as Lower Brule Indian Reservation activist Nick Estes.","Contributors announced include Cornel West and Slavoj Žižek, as well as Lower Brule Indian Reservation activist Nick Estes. Other presenters have included and will include H. Jon Benjamin, Briahna Joy Gray, Bernie Sanders, Chelsea Manning, Richard Wolff, Stephanie Kelton, Zephyr Teachout, David Cross, Jabari Brisport, Zohran Mamdani, and Gravel himself (though it is unknown if his appearance will be cancelled due to his death in June 2021, or if the video has already been recorded).","Other presenters have included and will include H. Jon Benjamin, Briahna Joy Gray, Bernie Sanders, Chelsea Manning, Richard Wolff, Stephanie Kelton, Zephyr Teachout, David Cross, Jabari Brisport, Zohran Mamdani, and Gravel himself (though it is unknown if his appearance will be cancelled due to his death in June 2021, or if the video has already been recorded). Death Gravel died of multiple myeloma at his home in Seaside, California, on June 26, 2021, at age 91.","Death Gravel died of multiple myeloma at his home in Seaside, California, on June 26, 2021, at age 91. The obituary for him in The New York Times stated that Gravel was \"a two-term Democratic senator from Alaska ... who was perhaps better known as an unabashed attention-getter\" who later become known for \"mounting long-shot presidential runs\".","The obituary for him in The New York Times stated that Gravel was \"a two-term Democratic senator from Alaska ... who was perhaps better known as an unabashed attention-getter\" who later become known for \"mounting long-shot presidential runs\". The obituary in The Washington Post was similar, saying that Gravel was \"an Alaska Democrat with a flair for the theatrical who rose from obscurity to brief renown\" and later \"ran quixotic campaigns for the presidency\".","The obituary in The Washington Post was similar, saying that Gravel was \"an Alaska Democrat with a flair for the theatrical who rose from obscurity to brief renown\" and later \"ran quixotic campaigns for the presidency\". The Anchorage Daily News quoted Gravel as saying of himself in 1989, \"I'm an independent kind of guy. A rough and ready kind of guy. My glands work in a certain way that make me stand up, foolishly sometimes, and fight.\"","My glands work in a certain way that make me stand up, foolishly sometimes, and fight.\" Political positions Alan Abramowitz and Jeffrey Allan Segal described Gravel as \"a maverick, if not an eccentric, in the Senate.\" His Americans for Democratic Action \"Liberal Quotient\" scores ranged from 81 out of 100 (1971) to 39 out of 100 (1980), with an average of around 61.","His Americans for Democratic Action \"Liberal Quotient\" scores ranged from 81 out of 100 (1971) to 39 out of 100 (1980), with an average of around 61. His American Conservative Union scores ranged from 0 out of 100 (several years, including 1971 and 1972) to 38 out of 100 (1979), with an average of 14.","His American Conservative Union scores ranged from 0 out of 100 (several years, including 1971 and 1972) to 38 out of 100 (1979), with an average of 14. Abramowitz and Segal note that Gravel's lowest ADA ratings coincided with his two Senate re-election bids, and for the most part his highest ACU ratings followed the same pattern.","Abramowitz and Segal note that Gravel's lowest ADA ratings coincided with his two Senate re-election bids, and for the most part his highest ACU ratings followed the same pattern. In 1972, as a young senator, Gravel published Citizen Power: A People's Platform, a manifesto outlining what Kirkus Reviews termed a \"populist reform [that] would provide 'balanced political power' between the people and government and business interests.\"","In 1972, as a young senator, Gravel published Citizen Power: A People's Platform, a manifesto outlining what Kirkus Reviews termed a \"populist reform [that] would provide 'balanced political power' between the people and government and business interests.\" Civil rights issues On drug policy, Gravel said in 2007 that he favored decriminalization and treating addiction as a public health matter.","Civil rights issues On drug policy, Gravel said in 2007 that he favored decriminalization and treating addiction as a public health matter. During his 2008 presidential candidacy he condemned the War on Drugs as a failure, saying that it did \"nothing but savage our inner cities and put our children at risk\". Gravel called for abolition of capital punishment in his book Citizen Power, and adhered to this position during his 2008 run for president. He supported abortion rights.","He supported abortion rights. He supported abortion rights. During the 2008 campaign Gravel was a strong supporter of LGBT rights. He supported same-sex marriage and opposed the Defense of Marriage Act and the U.S. military's \"don't ask, don't tell\" policy. He wrote in 2008 that \"depriving gays and lesbians of equal rights is immoral\". Foreign policy and defense issues Gravel was a critic of American imperialism. Gravel firmly opposed U.S. military action against Iran and Syria.","Gravel firmly opposed U.S. military action against Iran and Syria. He voiced opposition to the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, the Military Commissions Act of 2006, the use of torture, indefinite detention, and what he called \"flagrant ignorance\" of the Geneva Convention. In 2014 Gravel called for the release of the full, unredacted Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture. Gravel opposed the use of international sanctions as a policy tool and blamed the ones against Iraq under Saddam Hussein for the deaths of a half-million children in that country.","Gravel opposed the use of international sanctions as a policy tool and blamed the ones against Iraq under Saddam Hussein for the deaths of a half-million children in that country. In 2013 Gravel said that sanctions against Iran were \"illegal\". During his 2008 candidacy, Gravel called for a cut in military spending, variously reported to be 15 percent or 50 percent. He called for the savings to boost public education spending. To spur international nuclear nonproliferation efforts, Gravel called for unilateral reductions in the U.S. nuclear arsenal.","To spur international nuclear nonproliferation efforts, Gravel called for unilateral reductions in the U.S. nuclear arsenal. In 2008 Gravel criticized the decision of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to not pursue the efforts to impeach George W. Bush and the attempted impeachment of Dick Cheney, saying also that Bush and Cheney had committed crimes and deserved \"to be prosecuted\" at The Hague.","In 2008 Gravel criticized the decision of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to not pursue the efforts to impeach George W. Bush and the attempted impeachment of Dick Cheney, saying also that Bush and Cheney had committed crimes and deserved \"to be prosecuted\" at The Hague. In 2013 he expressed disdain for President Obama, calling him \"a total fraud\" and saying that both Bush and Obama should be tried \"for the crimes and murders they've committed\" in the International Court of Justice.","In 2013 he expressed disdain for President Obama, calling him \"a total fraud\" and saying that both Bush and Obama should be tried \"for the crimes and murders they've committed\" in the International Court of Justice. Gravel specifically condemned Obama for the drone strikes in Pakistan and elsewhere.","Gravel specifically condemned Obama for the drone strikes in Pakistan and elsewhere. Economy, immigration, and environment During his 2008 candidacy Gravel favored a FairTax scheme, which would abolish the Internal Revenue Service, eliminate the federal income tax (which Gravel called \"corrupt\"), and impose a national sales tax. While Gravel described FairTax as \"progressive\", others have criticized it as \"regressive\", disproportionately benefiting the wealthiest Americans.","While Gravel described FairTax as \"progressive\", others have criticized it as \"regressive\", disproportionately benefiting the wealthiest Americans. To offset the new sales taxes on essential goods, Gravel's plan called for monthly government rebate payments to individuals and families. During his 2020 campaign Gravel also voiced support for a third legislative body that would give the people direct control of the budget as well as the implementation of a land value tax.","During his 2020 campaign Gravel also voiced support for a third legislative body that would give the people direct control of the budget as well as the implementation of a land value tax. Gravel opposed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) during his 2008 candidacy, calling it unfair and economically harmful and needing renegotiation. Gravel believed that NAFTA was the \"root cause\" of illegal migration to the U.S. He favored a guest worker program and \"setting up naturalization procedures that would fairly bring immigrants into legal status\".","He favored a guest worker program and \"setting up naturalization procedures that would fairly bring immigrants into legal status\". In a 2007 interview, Gravel identified himself as \"very much of a globalist\" who believed in open markets and open borders and condemned the scapegoating of undocumented immigrants. Gravel also said that he favored eliminating the cap on H1B visas. As a senator from Alaska, Gravel favored drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but opposed it during his 2008 campaign.","As a senator from Alaska, Gravel favored drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but opposed it during his 2008 campaign. In 2008, Gravel supported a carbon tax to combat climate change. Gravel spoke in favor of net neutrality during his presidential campaign. Education and health care Gravel called for the cost of college tuition to be borne by the federal government, rather than students.","Education and health care Gravel called for the cost of college tuition to be borne by the federal government, rather than students. In his 2008 campaign, he called the No Child Left Behind Act \"a failure\" and called for it to be \"reformed and fully funded\". He expressed support for universal pre-kindergarten and the expansion of the Head Start program; and expressed an openness to charter schools and school vouchers. He also suggested extending the school day and the school year, and supported merit pay for teachers.","He also suggested extending the school day and the school year, and supported merit pay for teachers. Gravel also called for publicly funded universal health care to replace the current employer-sponsored health insurance system. He supported \"full funding\" of the VA system. When asked in 2007 about naturopathy, homeopathy, and acupuncture, Gravel said that he was \"very very much in favor\" of holistic health care. Awards and honors In 2008 Gravel received the Columbia University School of General Studies' first annual Isaac Asimov Lifetime Achievement Award.","Awards and honors In 2008 Gravel received the Columbia University School of General Studies' first annual Isaac Asimov Lifetime Achievement Award. Electoral history Writings Gravel, Mike. Jobs and More Jobs. Mt. McKinley Publishers, 1968. Gravel, Mike. Citizen Power: A People's Platform. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1972. . revised and reissued as Citizen Power: A Mandate for Change, AuthorHouse, 2008. . Gravel, Mike and Lauria, Joe.","Gravel, Mike and Lauria, Joe. Gravel, Mike and Lauria, Joe. A Political Odyssey: The Rise of American Militarism and One Man's Fight to Stop It. Seven Stories Press, 2008. . Gravel, Mike and Eisenbach, David. The Kingmakers: How the Media Threatens Our Security and Our Democracy. Phoenix Books, 2008. . Gravel, Mike. Voice of a Maverick: The Speeches and Writings of Senator Mike Gravel. Brandywine House, 2008. Gravel, Mike.","Brandywine House, 2008. Gravel, Mike. Gravel, Mike. Foreword to Poisoned Power: The Case Against Nuclear Power Plants. John W. Goffman & Arthur R. Tamplin, Rodale Press, Inc., Emmaus, PA, June 1971. Gravel, Mike. The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People. AuthorHouse, 2020. Explanatory notes References Citations General references The Pentagon Papers Senator Gravel Edition. Vol. Five: Critical Essays. Boston: Beacon Press, 1972. 341p. plus 72p.","Five: Critical Essays. Boston: Beacon Press, 1972. 341p. plus 72p. plus 72p. of Index to Vol. I–IV of the Papers; Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, editors.","I–IV of the Papers; Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, editors. External links Mike Gravel official website The Gravel Institute |- |- 1930 births 2021 deaths 1972 United States vice-presidential candidates 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American politicians 20th-century Roman Catholics 20th-century Unitarians 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American politicians 21st-century Unitarians 9/11 conspiracy theorists Alaska Democrats American International College alumni American Unitarian Universalists American anti–Iraq War activists American conspiracy theorists American democracy activists American male non-fiction writers American people of French-Canadian descent American political writers American real estate businesspeople American stockbrokers Anti-corporate activists Assumption University (Worcester) alumni Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Businesspeople from Anchorage, Alaska Businesspeople from Springfield, Massachusetts California Democrats Candidates in the 2008 United States presidential election Candidates in the 2020 United States presidential election Columbia University School of General Studies alumni Deaths from cancer in California Deaths from multiple myeloma Democratic Party United States senators Direct democracy activists Drug policy reform activists Former Roman Catholics Virginia Libertarians Members of the Alaska House of Representatives Military personnel from Massachusetts Non-interventionism People from Arlington County, Virginia People from Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska People with dyslexia Politicians from Anchorage, Alaska Politicians from Springfield, Massachusetts Speakers of the Alaska House of Representatives United States Army officers United States senators from Alaska Writers about direct democracy Writers from Anchorage, Alaska"],"string":"[\n \"Maurice Robert Gravel ( ; May 13, 1930 – June 26, 2021) was an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Alaska from 1969 to 1981 as a member of the Democratic Party, and who, in later life, twice ran for the presidential nomination of that party. Born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, by French-Canadian immigrant parents, Gravel moved to Alaska in the late 1950s, becoming a real estate developer and entering politics.\",\n \"Born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, by French-Canadian immigrant parents, Gravel moved to Alaska in the late 1950s, becoming a real estate developer and entering politics. He served in the Alaska House of Representatives from 1963 to 1967, and also became Speaker of the Alaska House. Gravel was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1968.\",\n \"Gravel was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1968. Gravel was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1968. As a senator, Gravel became nationally known for his forceful, but unsuccessful, attempts to end the draft during the War in Vietnam, and for putting the Pentagon Papers into the public record in 1971. He conducted a campaign for the Democratic nomination in 1972 for Vice President of the United States, and then played a crucial role in obtaining Congressional approval for the Trans-Alaska pipeline in 1973.\",\n \"He conducted a campaign for the Democratic nomination in 1972 for Vice President of the United States, and then played a crucial role in obtaining Congressional approval for the Trans-Alaska pipeline in 1973. He was re-elected to the Senate in 1974, but was defeated in his bid for a third term in the primary election in 1980. An advocate of direct democracy and the National Initiative, Gravel staged a run for the 2008 Democratic nomination for President of the United States.\",\n \"An advocate of direct democracy and the National Initiative, Gravel staged a run for the 2008 Democratic nomination for President of the United States. His campaign failed to gain support, and in March 2008, he left the Democratic Party and joined the Libertarian Party to compete unsuccessfully for its presidential nomination and the inclusion of the National Initiative into the Libertarian Platform. He ran for president as a Democrat again in the 2020 election, in a campaign that ended four months after it began.\",\n \"He ran for president as a Democrat again in the 2020 election, in a campaign that ended four months after it began. Two years before his death, Gravel and his campaign staff founded the progressive think tank The Gravel Institute. Early life, military service, education Gravel was born on May 13, 1930, in Springfield, Massachusetts, one of five children of French-Canadian immigrant parents, Alphonse and Marie (née Bourassa) Gravel.\",\n \"Early life, military service, education Gravel was born on May 13, 1930, in Springfield, Massachusetts, one of five children of French-Canadian immigrant parents, Alphonse and Marie (née Bourassa) Gravel. His parents were part of the Quebec diaspora, and he was raised in a working-class neighborhood during the Great Depression, speaking only French until he was seven years old. Calling him \\\"Mike\\\" from an early age, his father valued work above all else, while his mother stressed the importance of education.\",\n \"Calling him \\\"Mike\\\" from an early age, his father valued work above all else, while his mother stressed the importance of education. Gravel was educated in parochial schools as a Roman Catholic. There he struggled, due to what he later said was undiagnosed dyslexia, and was left back in third grade. He completed elementary school in 1945 and his class voted him \\\"most charming personality\\\".\",\n \"He completed elementary school in 1945 and his class voted him \\\"most charming personality\\\". A summer job as a soda jerk led to Gravel handing out campaign fliers for local candidates on his boss's behalf; Gravel was immediately impressed with \\\"the awesomeness of political office\\\". Gravel then boarded at Assumption Preparatory School in Worcester, Massachusetts, where his performance was initially mediocre.\",\n \"Gravel then boarded at Assumption Preparatory School in Worcester, Massachusetts, where his performance was initially mediocre. By Gravel's telling, in the summer of 1948 he intended to volunteer for the Israel Defense Forces during the 1947–1949 Palestine war, but Alexandra Tolstaya told him to return to school. There an English teacher, the Assumptionist Edgar Bourque, gave him personal attention, improving Gravel's language skills and instructing him in public speaking. Gravel's grades improved measurably in his final year and he graduated in 1949.\",\n \"Gravel's grades improved measurably in his final year and he graduated in 1949. His sister, Marguerite, became a Holy Cross nun, but Gravel himself struggled with the Catholic faith. He studied for one year at Assumption College, a Catholic school in Worcester, then transferred for his sophomore year to American International College in Springfield. Journalist I. F. Stone and philosopher Bertrand Russell strongly influenced Gravel in their willingness to challenge assumptions and oppose social convention and political authority.\",\n \"Journalist I. F. Stone and philosopher Bertrand Russell strongly influenced Gravel in their willingness to challenge assumptions and oppose social convention and political authority. Around May 1951, Gravel saw that he was about to be drafted and instead enlisted in the U.S. Army for a three-year term so that he could get into the Counterintelligence Corps. After basic training and counterintelligence school at Fort Holabird in Maryland and in South Carolina, he went to Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia.\",\n \"After basic training and counterintelligence school at Fort Holabird in Maryland and in South Carolina, he went to Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia. While he expected to be sent off to the Korean War when he graduated as a second lieutenant in early 1952, he was instead assigned to Stuttgart, West Germany, as a Special Adjutant in the Army's Communications Intelligence Service. In Germany, Gravel conducted surveillance operations on civilians and paid off spies.\",\n \"In Germany, Gravel conducted surveillance operations on civilians and paid off spies. After about a year, he transferred to Orléans, France, where his French language abilities (if not his French-Canadian accent) allowed him to infiltrate French communist rallies. He worked as a Special Agent in the Counterintelligence Corps until 1954, eventually becoming a first lieutenant. Following his discharge, Gravel entered the Columbia University School of General Studies in New York City, where he studied economics and received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1956.\",\n \"Following his discharge, Gravel entered the Columbia University School of General Studies in New York City, where he studied economics and received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1956. He moved to New York \\\"flat broke\\\" and supported himself by working as a bar boy in a hotel, driving a taxicab, and working in the investment bond department at Bankers Trust. During this time he left the Roman Catholic faith.\",\n \"During this time he left the Roman Catholic faith. During this time he left the Roman Catholic faith. Move to Alaska Gravel \\\"decided to become a pioneer in a faraway place,\\\" and moved to pre-statehood Alaska in August 1956, without funds or a job, looking for a place where someone without social or political connections could be a viable candidate for public office.\",\n \"Move to Alaska Gravel \\\"decided to become a pioneer in a faraway place,\\\" and moved to pre-statehood Alaska in August 1956, without funds or a job, looking for a place where someone without social or political connections could be a viable candidate for public office. Alaska's voting age of 19, less than most other states' 21, played a role in his decision, as did its newness and cooler climate. Broke when he arrived, he immediately found work in real estate sales until winter arrived.\",\n \"Broke when he arrived, he immediately found work in real estate sales until winter arrived. Gravel then was employed as a brakeman for the Alaska Railroad, working the snow-clearing train on the Anchorage-to-Fairbanks run. Subsequently, he opened a small real estate brokerage in Anchorage (the Territory of Alaska not requiring a license) and saved enough so as not to have to work the railroad again. The firm was named the M. R. Gravel Real Estate Company.\",\n \"The firm was named the M. R. Gravel Real Estate Company. Gravel joined the Anchorage Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, and continued a sporadic relationship with the movement throughout his life. Seeing Alaska as a wide-open place with no political establishment or entrenched interests, Gravel quickly became part of the civic scene there. By October 1957 he was a Division Chairman for Anchorage for the Democratic Central Committee in the territory, and by June 1958 he was president of the Alaska Young Democrats organization.\",\n \"By October 1957 he was a Division Chairman for Anchorage for the Democratic Central Committee in the territory, and by June 1958 he was president of the Alaska Young Democrats organization. He also became active in the United States Junior Chamber (Jaycees), and by early 1958 his duties included handing out awards for farmer of the year. By early 1958, Gravel was running as Democratic Party primary candidate for a Third Division seat in House of Representative of the territorial legislature.\",\n \"By early 1958, Gravel was running as Democratic Party primary candidate for a Third Division seat in House of Representative of the territorial legislature. (This was one of the four judicial divisions into which Alaska was sectioned at the time.) Using the slogan \\\"Gravel, the Roadbed to Prosperity\\\", he ran but lost. At the same time, he was also an advocate for Alaskan statehood.\",\n \"At the same time, he was also an advocate for Alaskan statehood. Gravel went on a 44-state national speaking tour concerning tax reform in 1959, sponsored by the Jaycees, often dressing for events as Paul Revere. Gravel was selected from some two thousand applications for this position. The tour received a good amount of local newspaper coverage at its various stops, with Gravel's first name sometimes given as Mike and other times as Maurice.\",\n \"The tour received a good amount of local newspaper coverage at its various stops, with Gravel's first name sometimes given as Mike and other times as Maurice. The tour's general message was an urging of \\\"lower taxes, more efficiency in government and a system of taxation moderate at all levels of income\\\". At several stops Gravel stated that the \\\"tide of socialism\\\" had to be stopped.\",\n \"At several stops Gravel stated that the \\\"tide of socialism\\\" had to be stopped. He elaborated at another stop, \\\"It is part of our Jaycee creed that economic justice can best be won by free men through free enterprise. We really want to see that free enterprise become our inheritance.\\\"\",\n \"We really want to see that free enterprise become our inheritance.\\\" The tour was scheduled to conclude in Washington D.C., on Tax Day, April 15, with petition signatures accumulated for reform to be presented to U.S. lawmakers: dressed as Revere, Gravel rode with the petition to the steps of the U.S. Capitol. The tour over, Gravel married Rita Jeannette Martin at the First Methodist Church of Anchorage on April 29, 1959.\",\n \"The tour over, Gravel married Rita Jeannette Martin at the First Methodist Church of Anchorage on April 29, 1959. She was a native of Montana who had attended Billings Business College before moving to Alaska two years prior and becoming a secretary in the office of the Anchorage city manager. She had also been named Anchorage's \\\"Miss Fur Rendezvous\\\" of 1958. They had two children, Martin Anthony Gravel and Lynne Denise Gravel, born c. 1960 and 1962 respectively.\",\n \"They had two children, Martin Anthony Gravel and Lynne Denise Gravel, born c. 1960 and 1962 respectively. Gravel ran without avail for the City Council in Anchorage in 1960. During this time, he had become a successful real estate agent; after the 1960 election, he became a property developer in a mobile home park on the outskirts of Anchorage. After a partner ran into financial difficulty, however, the project went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and Gravel was forced out in 1962.\",\n \"After a partner ran into financial difficulty, however, the project went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and Gravel was forced out in 1962. State legislator With the support of Alaska wholesale grocer Barney Gottstein and supermarket builder Larry Carr, Gravel ran for the Alaska House of Representatives representing Anchorage in 1962, initially assigned the 10th and then 8th districts.\",\n \"State legislator With the support of Alaska wholesale grocer Barney Gottstein and supermarket builder Larry Carr, Gravel ran for the Alaska House of Representatives representing Anchorage in 1962, initially assigned the 10th and then 8th districts. Alaska had very crowded primaries that year: Gravel was one of 33 Democrats, along with 21 Republicans, who were running for the chance to compete for the 14 House seats allocated to the 8th district.\",\n \"Alaska had very crowded primaries that year: Gravel was one of 33 Democrats, along with 21 Republicans, who were running for the chance to compete for the 14 House seats allocated to the 8th district. Gravel made it through the primary, and in November eight Republicans and six Democrats were elected to the House from the district, with Gravel finishing eighth overall and third among with Democrats, with 8,174 votes. Gottstein became Gravel's main financial backer during most of his subsequent campaigns.\",\n \"Gottstein became Gravel's main financial backer during most of his subsequent campaigns. Gravel served in the Alaska House of Representatives from January 28, 1963 to January 22, 1967, winning reelection in 1964. In his first term, he served as a minority member on two House committees: Commerce, and Labor and Management. He co-authored and sponsored the act that created the Alaska State Commission for Human Rights.\",\n \"He co-authored and sponsored the act that created the Alaska State Commission for Human Rights. Gravel was the chief architect of the law that created a regional high school system for rural Alaska; this allowed Alaska Natives to attend schools near where they lived instead of having to go to schools run by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the lower 48 states. During the half-years that the legislature was not in session, Gravel resumed his real estate work.\",\n \"During the half-years that the legislature was not in session, Gravel resumed his real estate work. With Gottstein and Carr's backing, he became quite successful as a property developer on the Kenai Peninsula. During 1965 and 1966, he served as the Speaker of the House, surprising observers by winning that post. Gravel convinced former Speaker Warren A. Taylor to not try for the position against him by promising Taylor chairmanship of the Rules Committee, then reneged on the promise.\",\n \"Gravel convinced former Speaker Warren A. Taylor to not try for the position against him by promising Taylor chairmanship of the Rules Committee, then reneged on the promise. Gravel denied later press charges that he had promised but not delivered on other committee chairmanships. As Speaker he antagonized fellow lawmakers by imposing his will on the legislature's committees and feuded with Alaska State Senate president Robert J. McNealy.\",\n \"As Speaker he antagonized fellow lawmakers by imposing his will on the legislature's committees and feuded with Alaska State Senate president Robert J. McNealy. Gravel did not run for reelection in 1966, instead choosing to run for Alaska's seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, losing the primary to four-term incumbent Democrat Ralph Rivers by 1,300 votes and splitting the Democratic Party in the process. Rivers lost the general election that year to Republican state Senator Howard Pollock. Following this defeat, Gravel returned to the real estate business in Anchorage.\",\n \"Following this defeat, Gravel returned to the real estate business in Anchorage. U.S. Senator Election to Senate in 1968 In 1968, Gravel ran against 81-year-old incumbent Democratic United States Senator Ernest Gruening, a popular former governor of the Alaska Territory who was considered one of the fathers of Alaska's statehood, for his party's nomination to the U.S. Senate. Gravel's campaign was primarily based on his youth and telegenic appearance rather than issue differences. He hired Joseph Napolitan, the first self-described political consultant, in late 1966.\",\n \"He hired Joseph Napolitan, the first self-described political consultant, in late 1966. They spent over a year and a half planning a short, nine-day primary election campaign that featured the slogans \\\"Alaska first\\\" and \\\"Let's do something about the state we're in\\\", the distribution of a collection of essays titled Jobs and More Jobs, and the creation of a half-hour, well-produced, glamorized biographical film of Gravel, Man for Alaska.\",\n \"They spent over a year and a half planning a short, nine-day primary election campaign that featured the slogans \\\"Alaska first\\\" and \\\"Let's do something about the state we're in\\\", the distribution of a collection of essays titled Jobs and More Jobs, and the creation of a half-hour, well-produced, glamorized biographical film of Gravel, Man for Alaska. The film was shown twice a day on every television station in Alaska, and carried by plane and shown on home projectors in hundreds of Alaska Native villages.\",\n \"The film was shown twice a day on every television station in Alaska, and carried by plane and shown on home projectors in hundreds of Alaska Native villages. The heavy showings quickly reversed a 2–to–1 Gruening lead in polls into a Gravel lead. Gravel visited many remote villages by seaplane and showed a thorough understanding of the needs of the bush country and the fishing and oil industries. Gravel also benefited from maintaining a deliberately ambiguous posture about Vietnam policy.\",\n \"Gravel also benefited from maintaining a deliberately ambiguous posture about Vietnam policy. Gruening had been one of only two Senators to vote against the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and his opposition to President Lyndon B. Johnson's war policies was harming him among the Democratic electorate; according to Gravel, \\\"all I had to do was stand up and not deal with the subject, and people would assume that I was to the right of Ernest Gruening, when in point of fact I was to the left of him\\\".\",\n \"Gruening had been one of only two Senators to vote against the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and his opposition to President Lyndon B. Johnson's war policies was harming him among the Democratic electorate; according to Gravel, \\\"all I had to do was stand up and not deal with the subject, and people would assume that I was to the right of Ernest Gruening, when in point of fact I was to the left of him\\\". In Man for Alaska, Gravel argued that \\\"the liberals\\\" would come to West Germany's defense if it was attacked, and that the same standard should apply to the United States' allies in Asia.\",\n \"In Man for Alaska, Gravel argued that \\\"the liberals\\\" would come to West Germany's defense if it was attacked, and that the same standard should apply to the United States' allies in Asia. During the campaign he also claimed that he was \\\"more in the mainstream of American thought on Vietnam\\\" than Gruening, despite the fact that he had written to Gruening to praise his antiwar stance four years earlier.\",\n \"During the campaign he also claimed that he was \\\"more in the mainstream of American thought on Vietnam\\\" than Gruening, despite the fact that he had written to Gruening to praise his antiwar stance four years earlier. Decades later, Gravel conceded that \\\"I said what I said [about Vietnam] to advance my career.\\\" Gravel beat Gruening in the primary by about 2,000 votes. Gruening found \\\"the unexpected defeat hard to take\\\" and thought that some aspects of his opponent's biographical film had misled viewers.\",\n \"Gruening found \\\"the unexpected defeat hard to take\\\" and thought that some aspects of his opponent's biographical film had misled viewers. In the general election, Gravel faced Republican Elmer E. Rasmuson, a banker and former mayor of Anchorage. College students in the state implored Gruening to run a write-in campaign as an Independent, but legal battles prevented him from getting approval for it until only two weeks were left.\",\n \"College students in the state implored Gruening to run a write-in campaign as an Independent, but legal battles prevented him from getting approval for it until only two weeks were left. A late appearance by anti-war presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy did not offset Gruening's lack of funds and endorsements; meanwhile, Gravel and Rasmuson both saturated local media with their filmed biographies. On November 5, 1968, Gravel won the general election with 45 percent of the vote to Rasmuson's 37 percent and Gruening's 18 percent.\",\n \"On November 5, 1968, Gravel won the general election with 45 percent of the vote to Rasmuson's 37 percent and Gruening's 18 percent. Senate assignments and style When Gravel joined the U.S.Senate in January 1969, he requested and received a seat on the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee, which had direct relevance to Alaskan issues. He also got a spot on the Public Works Committee, which he held throughout his time in the Senate. Finally, he was a member of the Select Committee on Small Business.\",\n \"Finally, he was a member of the Select Committee on Small Business. In 1971 he became chair of the Public Works Committee's Subcommittee on Public Buildings and Grounds, and by 1973 he was chair of its Subcommittee on Water Resources, then later its Subcommittee on Environmental Pollution. Gravel was also initially named to the Joint Committee on Congressional Operations.\",\n \"Gravel was also initially named to the Joint Committee on Congressional Operations. By 1973 Gravel was off the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee and the Select Small Business Committee and instead a member of the Finance Committee, and by 1977 was chair of that body's Subcommittee on Energy and Foundations. By 1973 he had also been on the ad hoc Special Committee to Study Secret and Confidential Government Documents.\",\n \"By 1973 he had also been on the ad hoc Special Committee to Study Secret and Confidential Government Documents. By his own admission, Gravel was too new and \\\"too abrasive\\\" to be effective in the Senate by the usual means of seniority-based committee assignments or negotiating deals with other senators, and was sometimes seen as arrogant or a nuisance by the more senior and tradition-oriented members. Gravel relied on attention-getting gestures to achieve what he wanted, hoping national exposure would force other senators to listen to him.\",\n \"Gravel relied on attention-getting gestures to achieve what he wanted, hoping national exposure would force other senators to listen to him. But even senators who agreed with him on issues considered his methods to be showboating. As part of this approach, Gravel voted with Southern Democrats to keep the Senate filibuster rule in place, and accordingly supported Russell Long and Robert Byrd but opposed Ted Kennedy in Senate leadership battles.\",\n \"As part of this approach, Gravel voted with Southern Democrats to keep the Senate filibuster rule in place, and accordingly supported Russell Long and Robert Byrd but opposed Ted Kennedy in Senate leadership battles. In retrospective assessment, University of Alaska Anchorage history professor Stephen Haycox said, \\\"Loose cannon is a good description of Gravel's Senate career. He was an off-the-wall guy, and you weren't really ever sure what he would do.\\\"\",\n \"He was an off-the-wall guy, and you weren't really ever sure what he would do.\\\" Nuclear issues and the Cold War In the late 1960s and early 1970s the U.S. Department of Defense was in the process of performing tests for the nuclear warhead for the Spartan anti-ballistic missile. Two tests, the \\\"Milrow\\\" and \\\"Cannikin\\\" tests, were planned, involving the detonation of nuclear bombs under Amchitka Island in Alaska.\",\n \"Two tests, the \\\"Milrow\\\" and \\\"Cannikin\\\" tests, were planned, involving the detonation of nuclear bombs under Amchitka Island in Alaska. The Milrow test would be a one-megaton calibration exercise for the second and larger five-megaton Cannikin test, which would measure the effectiveness of the warhead. Gravel opposed the tests.\",\n \"Gravel opposed the tests. Gravel opposed the tests. Before the Milrow test took place in October 1969, he wrote that there were significant risks of earthquakes and other adverse consequences and called for an independent national commission on nuclear and seismic safety; he then made a personal appeal to President Richard Nixon to stop the test. After Milrow was conducted, there was continued pressure on the part of environmental groups against going forward with the Cannikin test, while the Federation of American Scientists claimed that the warhead being tested was already obsolete.\",\n \"After Milrow was conducted, there was continued pressure on the part of environmental groups against going forward with the Cannikin test, while the Federation of American Scientists claimed that the warhead being tested was already obsolete. In May 1971 Gravel sent a letter to U.S. Atomic Energy Commission hearings held in Anchorage in which he said the risk of the test was not worth taking.\",\n \"In May 1971 Gravel sent a letter to U.S. Atomic Energy Commission hearings held in Anchorage in which he said the risk of the test was not worth taking. Eventually a group not involving Gravel took the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to issue an injunction against it, and the Cannikin test took place as scheduled in November 1971. Gravel had failed to stop the tests (notwithstanding his later claims during his 2008 presidential campaign).\",\n \"Gravel had failed to stop the tests (notwithstanding his later claims during his 2008 presidential campaign). In 1971 Gravel voted against the Nixon administration's proposed anti-ballistic missile system, the Safeguard Program, having previously vacillated over the issue, suggesting that he might be willing to support it in exchange for federal lands in Alaska being opened up for private oil drilling. His vote alienated Senator Henry \\\"Scoop\\\" Jackson, who had raised funds for Gravel's primary campaign.\",\n \"His vote alienated Senator Henry \\\"Scoop\\\" Jackson, who had raised funds for Gravel's primary campaign. Nuclear power was considered an environmentally clean alternative for commercial generation of electricity and was part of a popular national policy for the peaceful use of atomic energy in the 1950s and 1960s.\",\n \"Nuclear power was considered an environmentally clean alternative for commercial generation of electricity and was part of a popular national policy for the peaceful use of atomic energy in the 1950s and 1960s. Gravel publicly opposed this policy; besides the dangers of nuclear testing, he was a vocal critic of the Atomic Energy Commission, which oversaw American nuclear efforts, and of the powerful United States Congress Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, which had a stranglehold on nuclear policy and which Gravel tried to circumvent.\",\n \"Gravel publicly opposed this policy; besides the dangers of nuclear testing, he was a vocal critic of the Atomic Energy Commission, which oversaw American nuclear efforts, and of the powerful United States Congress Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, which had a stranglehold on nuclear policy and which Gravel tried to circumvent. In 1971 Gravel sponsored a bill to impose a moratorium on nuclear power plant construction and to make power utilities liable for any nuclear accidents; in 1975 he was still proposing similar moratoriums.\",\n \"In 1971 Gravel sponsored a bill to impose a moratorium on nuclear power plant construction and to make power utilities liable for any nuclear accidents; in 1975 he was still proposing similar moratoriums. By 1974 Gravel was allied with Ralph Nader's organization in opposing nuclear power. Six months before U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's July 1971 secret mission to the People's Republic of China (P.R.C. ), Gravel introduced legislation to recognize and normalize relations with the P.R.C., including a proposal for unity talks between the P.R.C.\",\n \"), Gravel introduced legislation to recognize and normalize relations with the P.R.C., including a proposal for unity talks between the P.R.C. and the Republic of China (Taiwan) regarding the Chinese seat on the U.N. Security Council. He reiterated his position in favor of recognition, with four other senators in agreement, during Senate hearings in June 1971.\",\n \"He reiterated his position in favor of recognition, with four other senators in agreement, during Senate hearings in June 1971. Vietnam War, the draft, and the Pentagon Papers Although he did not campaign against the Vietnam War during his first Senate campaign, by the end of 1970 Gravel was speaking out against United States policy in southeast Asia: in December of that year he persuaded William Fulbright to join him in a spontaneous two-day filibuster against a $155 million military aid package to Cambodia's Khmer Republic government in the Cambodian Civil War.\",\n \"Vietnam War, the draft, and the Pentagon Papers Although he did not campaign against the Vietnam War during his first Senate campaign, by the end of 1970 Gravel was speaking out against United States policy in southeast Asia: in December of that year he persuaded William Fulbright to join him in a spontaneous two-day filibuster against a $155 million military aid package to Cambodia's Khmer Republic government in the Cambodian Civil War. President Richard Nixon had campaigned in 1968 on a promise to end the U.S. military draft, a decision endorsed by the February 1970 report of the Gates Commission.\",\n \"President Richard Nixon had campaigned in 1968 on a promise to end the U.S. military draft, a decision endorsed by the February 1970 report of the Gates Commission. The existing draft law was scheduled to conclude at the end of June 1971, and the Senate faced a contentious debate about whether to extend it as the Vietnam War continued.\",\n \"The existing draft law was scheduled to conclude at the end of June 1971, and the Senate faced a contentious debate about whether to extend it as the Vietnam War continued. The Nixon administration announced in February 1971 that it wanted a two-year extension to June 1973, after which the draft would end; Army planners had already been operating under the assumption of a two-year extension, after which an all-volunteer force would be in place.\",\n \"The Nixon administration announced in February 1971 that it wanted a two-year extension to June 1973, after which the draft would end; Army planners had already been operating under the assumption of a two-year extension, after which an all-volunteer force would be in place. Skeptics such as Senate Armed Services Committee chairman John Stennis thought this unrealistic and wanted a four-year extension, but the two-year proposal is what went forward in Congress.\",\n \"Skeptics such as Senate Armed Services Committee chairman John Stennis thought this unrealistic and wanted a four-year extension, but the two-year proposal is what went forward in Congress. By early May 1971, Gravel had indicated his intention to filibuster the draft renewal legislation, halting conscription and thereby bringing U.S. involvement in the war to a rapid end.\",\n \"By early May 1971, Gravel had indicated his intention to filibuster the draft renewal legislation, halting conscription and thereby bringing U.S. involvement in the war to a rapid end. During this period he also supported efforts to mobilize and influence public opinion against the war, endorsing the \\\"Vietnam War Out Now\\\" rallies in Washington D.C. and San Francisco on April 24, 1971, and financing a broadcast campaign by the antiwar group War No More with a personal loan.\",\n \"During this period he also supported efforts to mobilize and influence public opinion against the war, endorsing the \\\"Vietnam War Out Now\\\" rallies in Washington D.C. and San Francisco on April 24, 1971, and financing a broadcast campaign by the antiwar group War No More with a personal loan. In June 1972 he escorted a group of over 100 antiwar protesters, including psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton, actress Candice Bergen, theater producer and director Joseph Papp, and peditrician Dr. Benjamin Spock, into the United States Capitol Building; the group was arrested after blocking a hallway outside the Senate chamber.\",\n \"In June 1972 he escorted a group of over 100 antiwar protesters, including psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton, actress Candice Bergen, theater producer and director Joseph Papp, and peditrician Dr. Benjamin Spock, into the United States Capitol Building; the group was arrested after blocking a hallway outside the Senate chamber. By June 1971, some Democratic senators opposed to the war wanted to limit the renewal to a one-year extension, while others wanted to end it immediately; Gravel reiterated that he was one of the latter, saying, \\\"It's a senseless war, and one way to do away with it is to do away with the draft.\\\"\",\n \"By June 1971, some Democratic senators opposed to the war wanted to limit the renewal to a one-year extension, while others wanted to end it immediately; Gravel reiterated that he was one of the latter, saying, \\\"It's a senseless war, and one way to do away with it is to do away with the draft.\\\" A Senate vote on June 4 indicated majority support for the two-year extension.\",\n \"A Senate vote on June 4 indicated majority support for the two-year extension. On June 18 Gravel announced again his intention to counteract that by filibustering the renewal legislation, defending the practice against those who associated it only with blocking civil rights legislation. The first filibuster attempt failed on June 23 when, by three votes, the Senate voted cloture for only the fifth time since 1927.\",\n \"The first filibuster attempt failed on June 23 when, by three votes, the Senate voted cloture for only the fifth time since 1927. Protracted negotiations took place over House conference negotiations on the bill, revolving in large part around Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield's eventually unsuccessful amendment to tie renewal to a troop withdrawal timetable from Vietnam; during this time the draft law expired and no more were conscripted.\",\n \"Protracted negotiations took place over House conference negotiations on the bill, revolving in large part around Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield's eventually unsuccessful amendment to tie renewal to a troop withdrawal timetable from Vietnam; during this time the draft law expired and no more were conscripted. On August 5, the Nixon administration pleaded for a renewal before the Senate went on recess, but Gravel blocked Stennis's attempt to limit debate, and no vote was held.\",\n \"On August 5, the Nixon administration pleaded for a renewal before the Senate went on recess, but Gravel blocked Stennis's attempt to limit debate, and no vote was held. Finally on September 21, 1971, the Senate invoked cloture over Gravel's second filibuster attempt by one vote, and then passed the two-year draft extension.\",\n \"Finally on September 21, 1971, the Senate invoked cloture over Gravel's second filibuster attempt by one vote, and then passed the two-year draft extension. Gravel's attempts to stop the draft had failed (notwithstanding Gravel's later claims that he had stopped or shortened the draft, taken at face value in some media reports, during his 2008 presidential campaign). Meanwhile, on June 13, 1971, The New York Times began printing large portions of the Pentagon Papers.\",\n \"Meanwhile, on June 13, 1971, The New York Times began printing large portions of the Pentagon Papers. The papers were a large collection of secret government documents and studies pertaining to the Vietnam War, of which former Defense Department analyst Daniel Ellsberg had made unauthorized copies and was determined to make public.\",\n \"The papers were a large collection of secret government documents and studies pertaining to the Vietnam War, of which former Defense Department analyst Daniel Ellsberg had made unauthorized copies and was determined to make public. Ellsberg had for a year and a half approached members of Congress – such as William Fulbright, George McGovern, Charles Mathias, and Pete McCloskey – about publishing the documents, on the grounds that the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution would give congressional members immunity from prosecution, but all had refused.\",\n \"Ellsberg had for a year and a half approached members of Congress – such as William Fulbright, George McGovern, Charles Mathias, and Pete McCloskey – about publishing the documents, on the grounds that the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution would give congressional members immunity from prosecution, but all had refused. Instead, Ellsberg gave the documents to the Times. The U.S. Justice Department immediately tried to halt publication, on the grounds that the information revealed within the papers harmed the national interest.\",\n \"The U.S. Justice Department immediately tried to halt publication, on the grounds that the information revealed within the papers harmed the national interest. Within the next two weeks, a federal court injunction halted publication in the Times; The Washington Post and several other newspapers began publishing parts of the documents, with some of them also being halted by injunctions; and the whole matter went to the U.S. Supreme Court for arguments.\",\n \"Within the next two weeks, a federal court injunction halted publication in the Times; The Washington Post and several other newspapers began publishing parts of the documents, with some of them also being halted by injunctions; and the whole matter went to the U.S. Supreme Court for arguments. Looking for an alternate publication mechanism, Ellsberg returned to his idea of having a member of Congress read them, and chose Gravel based on the latter's efforts against the draft; Gravel agreed where previously others had not.\",\n \"Looking for an alternate publication mechanism, Ellsberg returned to his idea of having a member of Congress read them, and chose Gravel based on the latter's efforts against the draft; Gravel agreed where previously others had not. Ellsberg arranged for the papers to be given to Gravel on June 26 via an intermediary, Post editor Ben Bagdikian.\",\n \"Ellsberg arranged for the papers to be given to Gravel on June 26 via an intermediary, Post editor Ben Bagdikian. Gravel used his counter-intelligence experience to choose a midnight transfer in front of the Mayflower Hotel in the center of Washington, D.C. On the night of June 29, 1971, Gravel attempted to read the papers on the floor of the Senate as part of his filibuster against the draft, but was thwarted when no quorum could be formed. Gravel instead convened a session of the Buildings and Grounds subcommittee that he chaired.\",\n \"Gravel instead convened a session of the Buildings and Grounds subcommittee that he chaired. He got New York Congressman John G. Dow to testify that the war had soaked up funding for public buildings, thus making discussion of the war relevant to the committee.\",\n \"He got New York Congressman John G. Dow to testify that the war had soaked up funding for public buildings, thus making discussion of the war relevant to the committee. He began reading from the papers with the press in attendance, omitting supporting documents that he felt might compromise national security, and declaring, \\\"It is my constitutional obligation to protect the security of the people by fostering the free flow of information absolutely essential to their democratic decision-making.\\\"\",\n \"He began reading from the papers with the press in attendance, omitting supporting documents that he felt might compromise national security, and declaring, \\\"It is my constitutional obligation to protect the security of the people by fostering the free flow of information absolutely essential to their democratic decision-making.\\\" He read until 1 a.m., culminating by saying \\\"Arms are being severed. Metal is clashing through human bodies because of the public policy this government and all its branches continue to support.\\\"\",\n \"Metal is clashing through human bodies because of the public policy this government and all its branches continue to support.\\\" Then with tears and sobs he said that he could no longer physically continue, the previous three nights of sleeplessness and fear about the future having taken their toll. Gravel ended the session by, with no other senators present, establishing unanimous consent to insert 4,100 pages of the Papers into the Congressional Record of his subcommittee.\",\n \"Gravel ended the session by, with no other senators present, establishing unanimous consent to insert 4,100 pages of the Papers into the Congressional Record of his subcommittee. The following day, the Supreme Court's New York Times Co. v. United States decision ruled in favor of the newspapers and publication in the Times and others resumed. In July 1971 Bantam Books published an inexpensive paperback edition of the papers containing the material the Times had published.\",\n \"In July 1971 Bantam Books published an inexpensive paperback edition of the papers containing the material the Times had published. Gravel, too, wanted to privately publish the portion of the papers he had read into the record, believing that \\\"immediate disclosure of the contents of these papers will change the policy that supports the war\\\". After being turned down by many commercial publishers, on August 4 he reached agreement with Beacon Press, the publishing arm of the Unitarian Universalist Association, of which Gravel was a member.\",\n \"After being turned down by many commercial publishers, on August 4 he reached agreement with Beacon Press, the publishing arm of the Unitarian Universalist Association, of which Gravel was a member. Announced on August 17 and published on October 22, 1971, this four-volume, relatively expensive set became the \\\"Senator Gravel Edition\\\", which studies from Cornell University and the Annenberg Center for Communication have labeled as the most complete edition of the Pentagon Papers to be published.\",\n \"Announced on August 17 and published on October 22, 1971, this four-volume, relatively expensive set became the \\\"Senator Gravel Edition\\\", which studies from Cornell University and the Annenberg Center for Communication have labeled as the most complete edition of the Pentagon Papers to be published. The \\\"Gravel Edition\\\" was edited and annotated by Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn, and included an additional volume of analytical articles on the origins and progress of the war, also edited by Chomsky and Zinn.\",\n \"The \\\"Gravel Edition\\\" was edited and annotated by Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn, and included an additional volume of analytical articles on the origins and progress of the war, also edited by Chomsky and Zinn. Beacon Press then was subjected to a FBI investigation; an outgrowth of this was the Gravel v. United States court case, which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled upon in June 1972; it held that the Speech or Debate Clause did grant immunity to Gravel for his reading the papers in his subcommittee, did grant some immunity to Gravel's congressional aide, but granted no immunity to Beacon Press in relation to their publishing the same papers.\",\n \"Beacon Press then was subjected to a FBI investigation; an outgrowth of this was the Gravel v. United States court case, which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled upon in June 1972; it held that the Speech or Debate Clause did grant immunity to Gravel for his reading the papers in his subcommittee, did grant some immunity to Gravel's congressional aide, but granted no immunity to Beacon Press in relation to their publishing the same papers. The U.S. Senate Democratic Caucus backed Gravel in the case, but due to Republican opposition it did not pay Gravel's legal fees, leaving him owing $25,000 (the equivalent of $150,000 in 2019, adjusted for inflation).\",\n \"The U.S. Senate Democratic Caucus backed Gravel in the case, but due to Republican opposition it did not pay Gravel's legal fees, leaving him owing $25,000 (the equivalent of $150,000 in 2019, adjusted for inflation). The events of 1971 changed Gravel in the following months from an obscure freshman senator to a nationally visible political figure.\",\n \"The events of 1971 changed Gravel in the following months from an obscure freshman senator to a nationally visible political figure. He became a sought-after speaker on the college circuit as well as at political fundraisers, opportunities he welcomed as lectures were \\\"the one honest way a Senator has to supplement his income\\\". But his speaking tours caused him to accrue one of the worst absentee records in the Senate. The Democratic candidates for the 1972 presidential election sought his endorsement.\",\n \"The Democratic candidates for the 1972 presidential election sought his endorsement. In January 1972 Gravel endorsed Maine Senator Ed Muskie, hoping that his support would help Muskie with the party's left wing and in ethnic French-Canadian areas during the first primary contest in New Hampshire (Muskie won, but not overwhelmingly, and his campaign faltered soon after).\",\n \"In January 1972 Gravel endorsed Maine Senator Ed Muskie, hoping that his support would help Muskie with the party's left wing and in ethnic French-Canadian areas during the first primary contest in New Hampshire (Muskie won, but not overwhelmingly, and his campaign faltered soon after). In April 1972 Gravel appeared on all three networks' nightly newscasts to decry the Nixon administration's reliance on Vietnamization by making reference to the secret National Security Study Memorandum 1 document, which stated it would take 8–13 years for the Army of the Republic of Vietnam to defend South Vietnam.\",\n \"In April 1972 Gravel appeared on all three networks' nightly newscasts to decry the Nixon administration's reliance on Vietnamization by making reference to the secret National Security Study Memorandum 1 document, which stated it would take 8–13 years for the Army of the Republic of Vietnam to defend South Vietnam. Gravel made excerpts from the study public, but senators Robert P. Griffin and William B. Saxbe blocked his attempt to read NSSM 1 into the Congressional Record.\",\n \"Gravel made excerpts from the study public, but senators Robert P. Griffin and William B. Saxbe blocked his attempt to read NSSM 1 into the Congressional Record. Domestic policy In 1970 Gravel co-sponsored legislation to establish a guaranteed minimum income, entitling poor families to up to $6,300 a year (the equivalent of $42,000 in 2019 after adjustment for inflation).\",\n \"Domestic policy In 1970 Gravel co-sponsored legislation to establish a guaranteed minimum income, entitling poor families to up to $6,300 a year (the equivalent of $42,000 in 2019 after adjustment for inflation). He subsequently voted for a \\\"work bonus\\\" program, which would have entitled low-income working families with dependent children if they were paying Social Security or Railroad Retirement taxes to a non-taxable bonus of up to 10 percent of their wages.\",\n \"He subsequently voted for a \\\"work bonus\\\" program, which would have entitled low-income working families with dependent children if they were paying Social Security or Railroad Retirement taxes to a non-taxable bonus of up to 10 percent of their wages. Gravel also supported extending Social Security to all federal employees and introduced a campaign finance reform bill in 1971 that would have enacted full disclosure of campaign financing, placed limits on large donations, media spending and individual candidate spending.\",\n \"Gravel also supported extending Social Security to all federal employees and introduced a campaign finance reform bill in 1971 that would have enacted full disclosure of campaign financing, placed limits on large donations, media spending and individual candidate spending. In 1969, Gravel was the only Democratic Senator outside of the South to vote for Nixon's Supreme Court nominee Clement Haynsworth. The following year Gravel opposed Nixon's next pick, G. Harrold Carswell.\",\n \"The following year Gravel opposed Nixon's next pick, G. Harrold Carswell. Run for vice president in 1972 Gravel actively campaigned for the office of Vice President of the United States during the 1972 presidential election, announcing on June 2, 1972, over a month before the 1972 Democratic National Convention began, that he was interested in the nomination should the choice be opened up to convention delegates. Toward this end he began soliciting delegates for their support.\",\n \"Toward this end he began soliciting delegates for their support. He was not alone in this effort, as former Governor of Massachusetts Endicott Peabody had been running a quixotic campaign for the same post since the prior year. Likely presidential nominee George McGovern was in fact considering the unusual move of naming three or four acceptable vice-presidential candidates and letting the delegates choose. On the convention's final day, July 14, 1972, McGovern selected and announced Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri as his vice-presidential choice.\",\n \"On the convention's final day, July 14, 1972, McGovern selected and announced Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri as his vice-presidential choice. Eagleton was unknown to many delegates and the choice seemed to smack of traditional ticket balancing considerations. Thus there were delegates willing to look elsewhere. Gravel was nominated by Bettye Fahrenkamp, the Democratic National Committeewoman from Alaska. He then seconded his own nomination, breaking down in tears at his own words and maybe trying to withdraw his nomination.\",\n \"He then seconded his own nomination, breaking down in tears at his own words and maybe trying to withdraw his nomination. In any case he won 226 delegate votes, coming in third behind Eagleton and Frances \\\"Sissy\\\" Farenthold of Texas, in chaotic balloting that included several other candidates.\",\n \"In any case he won 226 delegate votes, coming in third behind Eagleton and Frances \\\"Sissy\\\" Farenthold of Texas, in chaotic balloting that included several other candidates. Gravel attracted some attention for his efforts: writer Norman Mailer said he \\\"provided considerable excitement\\\" and was \\\"good-looking enough to have played leads in B-films\\\", while Rolling Stone correspondent Hunter S. Thompson said Gravel \\\"probably said a few things that might have been worth hearing, under different circumstances\\\". Yet the process was doubly disastrous for the Democrats.\",\n \"Yet the process was doubly disastrous for the Democrats. Yet the process was doubly disastrous for the Democrats. In the time consumed by nominating and seconding and all the vice-presidential candidates' speeches, the attention of the delegates on the floor was lost and McGovern's speech was pushed to 3:30 a.m. The haste with which Eagleton was selected led to surprise when his past mental health treatments were revealed; he withdrew from the ticket soon after the convention, to be replaced by Sargent Shriver.\",\n \"The haste with which Eagleton was selected led to surprise when his past mental health treatments were revealed; he withdrew from the ticket soon after the convention, to be replaced by Sargent Shriver. Reelection to Senate in 1974 Several years earlier, Alaska politicians had speculated that Gravel would have a hard time getting both renominated and elected when his first term expired, given that he was originally elected without a base party organization and tended to focus on national rather than local issues.\",\n \"Reelection to Senate in 1974 Several years earlier, Alaska politicians had speculated that Gravel would have a hard time getting both renominated and elected when his first term expired, given that he was originally elected without a base party organization and tended to focus on national rather than local issues. Nonetheless, after receiving support from national and local labor leaders, securing key earmarks, and producing another half-hour TV advertorial, in 1974 Gravel was reelected to the Senate, with 58 percent of the vote to 42 percent for Republican State Senator C. R. Lewis, who was a national officer of the John Birch Society.\",\n \"Nonetheless, after receiving support from national and local labor leaders, securing key earmarks, and producing another half-hour TV advertorial, in 1974 Gravel was reelected to the Senate, with 58 percent of the vote to 42 percent for Republican State Senator C. R. Lewis, who was a national officer of the John Birch Society. Second term Gravel's reelection campaign left him $65,000–$75,000 in debt.\",\n \"Second term Gravel's reelection campaign left him $65,000–$75,000 in debt. In 1975 The Washington Post reported on a memo by his executive assistant laying out a fundraising strategy to tackle this, including raising funds from oil companies, meeting with previous donors and \\\"inquir[ing] into the governmental priorities of these people and their groups in the coming session\\\", as well as obtaining further speaking fees to reduce his personal debt.\",\n \"In 1975 The Washington Post reported on a memo by his executive assistant laying out a fundraising strategy to tackle this, including raising funds from oil companies, meeting with previous donors and \\\"inquir[ing] into the governmental priorities of these people and their groups in the coming session\\\", as well as obtaining further speaking fees to reduce his personal debt. This was followed by a number of stories about links between Gravel, lobbyists and fundraisers, including one that was widely publicized in Alaska about his holding a share in a Colorado resort with two Washington lobbyists he was working with on land and energy legislation.\",\n \"This was followed by a number of stories about links between Gravel, lobbyists and fundraisers, including one that was widely publicized in Alaska about his holding a share in a Colorado resort with two Washington lobbyists he was working with on land and energy legislation. Gravel had been open about the investment and had opposing views to one of the lobbyists on nuclear power.\",\n \"Gravel had been open about the investment and had opposing views to one of the lobbyists on nuclear power. In 1980 the Wall Street Journal published details about his fundraising activities, including writing to individuals and PACs in the oil industry, pledging to kill off proposals for a windfall profits tax on the sector, and traveling in the Middle East with the business partner of one of his donors to sell Alaskan land to businessmen. Gravel suggested that critics of his fundraising were \\\"naive\\\".\",\n \"Gravel suggested that critics of his fundraising were \\\"naive\\\". In 1975 Gravel introduced an amendment to cut the number of troops overseas by 200,000, but it was defeated on a voice vote. In September 1975 Gravel was named as one of several Congressional Advisers to the Seventh Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly, which met to discuss problems related to economic development and international economic cooperation. In June 1976 Gravel was the focus of a federal investigation into allegations that he was involved in a sex-for-vote arrangement.\",\n \"In June 1976 Gravel was the focus of a federal investigation into allegations that he was involved in a sex-for-vote arrangement. Congressional staff clerk Elizabeth Ray (who had already been involved in a sex scandal that led to the downfall of Representative Wayne Hays) said that in August 1972 she had sex with Gravel aboard a houseboat on the Potomac River, under the instruction of Representative Kenneth J. Gray, her boss at the time.\",\n \"Gray, her boss at the time. Gray, her boss at the time. Gray allegedly wanted to secure Gravel's support for further funding for construction of the National Visitor Center in Washington, a troubled project that was under the jurisdiction of subcommittees that both members chaired. Another Congressional staffer said she witnessed the boat encounter, but Gravel said at the time that he had never met either of the women.\",\n \"Another Congressional staffer said she witnessed the boat encounter, but Gravel said at the time that he had never met either of the women. Gravel and Gray strongly denied that they had made any arrangement regarding legislation, and neither was ever charged with any wrongdoing. Decades later Gravel wrote that he had indeed had sex with Ray, but had not changed any votes because of it.\",\n \"Decades later Gravel wrote that he had indeed had sex with Ray, but had not changed any votes because of it. Gravel and his main financial backer, Gottstein, had a falling out in 1978, during the Congressional debate over whether to allow a controversial sale of U.S. F-15 fighter aircraft to Saudi Arabia. An ardent backer of Israel, Gottstein opposed the sale and asked Gravel to vote against it. But Gravel not only voted for it but made an emotional speech attacking the anti-sale campaign.\",\n \"But Gravel not only voted for it but made an emotional speech attacking the anti-sale campaign. Gravel wrote in 2008 that it was the only time Gottstein had ever asked him for a favor, and the rupture resulted in their never speaking to each other again. Alaskan issues By 1971 Gravel was urging construction of the much-argued Trans-Alaska pipeline, addressing environmental concerns by saying that the pipeline's builders and operators should have \\\"total and absolute\\\" responsibility for any consequent environmental damage.\",\n \"Alaskan issues By 1971 Gravel was urging construction of the much-argued Trans-Alaska pipeline, addressing environmental concerns by saying that the pipeline's builders and operators should have \\\"total and absolute\\\" responsibility for any consequent environmental damage. Two years later the debate over the pipeline came to a crux, with The New York Times describing it as \\\"environmentalists [in] a holy war with the major oil companies\\\".\",\n \"Two years later the debate over the pipeline came to a crux, with The New York Times describing it as \\\"environmentalists [in] a holy war with the major oil companies\\\". In February 1973 the U.S. Court of Appeals blocked the issuance of permits for construction; Gravel and fellow Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens reacted by urging Congress to pass legislation overturning the court's decision.\",\n \"In February 1973 the U.S. Court of Appeals blocked the issuance of permits for construction; Gravel and fellow Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens reacted by urging Congress to pass legislation overturning the court's decision. Environmentalists opposed to the pipeline, such as the Environmental Defense Fund and the Sierra Club then sought to use the recently passed National Environmental Policy Act to their advantage; Gravel designed an amendment to the pipeline bill that would immunize the pipeline from any further court challenges under that law, and thus speed its construction.\",\n \"Environmentalists opposed to the pipeline, such as the Environmental Defense Fund and the Sierra Club then sought to use the recently passed National Environmental Policy Act to their advantage; Gravel designed an amendment to the pipeline bill that would immunize the pipeline from any further court challenges under that law, and thus speed its construction. Passage of the amendment became the key battle regarding the pipeline.\",\n \"Passage of the amendment became the key battle regarding the pipeline. On July 17, 1973, in a dramatic roll-call vote, the Gravel amendment was approved as a 49–49 tie was broken in favor by Vice President Spiro Agnew. The actual bill enabling the pipeline then passed easily; Gravel had triumphed in what became perhaps his most lasting accomplishment as a senator. In opposition to the Alaskan fishing industry, Gravel advocated American participation in the formation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.\",\n \"In opposition to the Alaskan fishing industry, Gravel advocated American participation in the formation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. For two years he opposed legislation that established a Exclusive Economic Zone for marine resources. He was one of only 19 senators to vote against Senate approval for the expanded zone in 1976, saying it would undermine the U.S. position in Law of the Sea negotiations and that nations arbitrarily extending their fishing rights limits would \\\"produce anarchy of the seas\\\".\",\n \"He was one of only 19 senators to vote against Senate approval for the expanded zone in 1976, saying it would undermine the U.S. position in Law of the Sea negotiations and that nations arbitrarily extending their fishing rights limits would \\\"produce anarchy of the seas\\\". The legislation was passed, and the United States has signed but never ratified the Law of the Sea treaty. Gravel accumulated a complicated record on Indian affairs during his time in the Senate.\",\n \"Gravel accumulated a complicated record on Indian affairs during his time in the Senate. During his first year in the Senate Gravel urged abolition of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, criticizing the agency for the pace of development of schools in Alaska, its paternalistic attitudes and the culturally inappropriate nature of its education, and advocating greater shared decision-making between the federal government and native communities in Alaska.\",\n \"During his first year in the Senate Gravel urged abolition of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, criticizing the agency for the pace of development of schools in Alaska, its paternalistic attitudes and the culturally inappropriate nature of its education, and advocating greater shared decision-making between the federal government and native communities in Alaska. Later, his views changed; in the early 1970s Gravel supported a demonstration project that established links between Alaskan villages and the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, for medical diagnostic communications.\",\n \"Later, his views changed; in the early 1970s Gravel supported a demonstration project that established links between Alaskan villages and the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, for medical diagnostic communications. In 1971, he fended off accusations from Alaskan natives that he was not spending enough time working on their land claims. Gravel helped secure a private grant to facilitate the first Inuit Circumpolar Conference in 1977, attended by Inuit representatives from Alaska, Canada, and Greenland. These conferences now also include representatives from Russia.\",\n \"These conferences now also include representatives from Russia. These conferences now also include representatives from Russia. In 1977, Gravel helped lead an effort to have the U.S. Interior Department rename Mount McKinley to Denali; this eventually led to Denali National Park being so named. Subsequently, Gravel proposed a never-built \\\"Denali City\\\" development above the Tokositna River near the mountain, to consist of a giant Teflon dome enclosing hotels, golf courses, condominiums, and commercial buildings.\",\n \"Subsequently, Gravel proposed a never-built \\\"Denali City\\\" development above the Tokositna River near the mountain, to consist of a giant Teflon dome enclosing hotels, golf courses, condominiums, and commercial buildings. A related idea of his to build a high-speed rail line to Denali also failed to gain traction. A key, emotional issue in the state at the time was \\\"locking up Alaska\\\", making reference to allocation of its vast, mostly uninhabited land.\",\n \"A key, emotional issue in the state at the time was \\\"locking up Alaska\\\", making reference to allocation of its vast, mostly uninhabited land. President Jimmy Carter desired to put large portions of this land under federal protection against development, a move that some Alaskans vociferously opposed. In 1978 Gravel blocked passage, via procedural delays such as walking out of House–Senate conference committee meetings, of a complex bill which represented a compromise on land use policy.\",\n \"In 1978 Gravel blocked passage, via procedural delays such as walking out of House–Senate conference committee meetings, of a complex bill which represented a compromise on land use policy. The bill would have put some of Alaska's vast federal land holdings under state control while preserving other portions for federal parks and refuges; the blocking action earned Gravel the enmity of fellow Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, who had supported the compromise.\",\n \"The bill would have put some of Alaska's vast federal land holdings under state control while preserving other portions for federal parks and refuges; the blocking action earned Gravel the enmity of fellow Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, who had supported the compromise. In 1980, a new lands bill came up for consideration, that was less favorable to Alaskan interests and more liked by environmentalists; it set aside of Alaska's for national parks, conservation areas, and other restricted federal uses.\",\n \"In 1980, a new lands bill came up for consideration, that was less favorable to Alaskan interests and more liked by environmentalists; it set aside of Alaska's for national parks, conservation areas, and other restricted federal uses. Gravel blocked it, as not ensuring enough future development in the state. A new compromise version of the 1980 bill came forward, which reduced the land set aside to . Representing Alaskan interests, Gravel tried to stop the bill, including by filibuster.\",\n \"Representing Alaskan interests, Gravel tried to stop the bill, including by filibuster. But the Senate voted for cloture and passed the bill. Frustrated, Gravel said, \\\"the legislation denies Alaska its rights as a state, and denies the U.S. crucial strategic resources,\\\" and opined that the Senate was \\\"a little bit like a tank of barracudas\\\".\",\n \"Frustrated, Gravel said, \\\"the legislation denies Alaska its rights as a state, and denies the U.S. crucial strategic resources,\\\" and opined that the Senate was \\\"a little bit like a tank of barracudas\\\". Nonetheless, the bill, known as the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980, was signed by President Carter shortly before leaving the White House, and led to millions of acres being set aside in the state for national parks, wildlife refuges, and other kinds of areas under protection.\",\n \"Nonetheless, the bill, known as the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980, was signed by President Carter shortly before leaving the White House, and led to millions of acres being set aside in the state for national parks, wildlife refuges, and other kinds of areas under protection. In 1978 Gravel authored and secured the passage into federal law of the General Stock Ownership Corporation, that became Subchapter U of the Tax Code under the Internal Revenue Code of 1954.\",\n \"In 1978 Gravel authored and secured the passage into federal law of the General Stock Ownership Corporation, that became Subchapter U of the Tax Code under the Internal Revenue Code of 1954. This gave states the ability to create corporations that would invest in for-profit enterprises, with all citizens within the state owning shares in the corporation.\",\n \"This gave states the ability to create corporations that would invest in for-profit enterprises, with all citizens within the state owning shares in the corporation. Gravel's attempt to convince the Alaska state legislature to create such a corporation failed, as did a 1980 state ballot initiative towards the same end, but nevertheless the creation of the General Stock Ownership Corporation in federal law turned out to be significant in the development of binary economics.\",\n \"Gravel's attempt to convince the Alaska state legislature to create such a corporation failed, as did a 1980 state ballot initiative towards the same end, but nevertheless the creation of the General Stock Ownership Corporation in federal law turned out to be significant in the development of binary economics. Loss of Senate seat in 1980 In 1980 Gravel was challenged for the Democratic Party's nomination by State Representative Clark Gruening, the grandson of the man Gravel had defeated in a primary 12 years earlier.\",\n \"Loss of Senate seat in 1980 In 1980 Gravel was challenged for the Democratic Party's nomination by State Representative Clark Gruening, the grandson of the man Gravel had defeated in a primary 12 years earlier. One of Gruening's supporters was Gravel's former backer Gottstein. Several factors made Gravel vulnerable. As an insurgent candidate in 1968 Gravel had never established a firm party base. Not liking to hunt or fish, he was also always culturally suspect in the state. The primary campaign was bitterly fought.\",\n \"The primary campaign was bitterly fought. The primary campaign was bitterly fought. A group of Democrats, including future governor Steve Cowper, led the campaign against Gravel, with Gravel's actions in respect to the 1978 and 1980 Alaskan lands bills a major issue. This was especially so given that the 1980 bill's dénouement happened but a week before the primary. The sources of Gravel's campaign funds, some of which Gravel readily acknowledged came from political action committees outside the state, also became an issue in the contest.\",\n \"The sources of Gravel's campaign funds, some of which Gravel readily acknowledged came from political action committees outside the state, also became an issue in the contest. Gruening had pledged that he would not take special interest group money, but Gravel said that Gruening was \\\"dishonest\\\" in accepting individual contributors from Jewish donors living outside the state because to him such contributors comprised \\\"a special interest group ... that seeks to influence the foreign policy of the U.S.\\\" Gruening won the primary with about 55 percent of the vote to Gravel's 44 percent.\",\n \"Gruening had pledged that he would not take special interest group money, but Gravel said that Gruening was \\\"dishonest\\\" in accepting individual contributors from Jewish donors living outside the state because to him such contributors comprised \\\"a special interest group ... that seeks to influence the foreign policy of the U.S.\\\" Gruening won the primary with about 55 percent of the vote to Gravel's 44 percent. Gravel later conceded that by the time of his defeat, he had alienated \\\"almost every constituency in Alaska\\\".\",\n \"Gravel later conceded that by the time of his defeat, he had alienated \\\"almost every constituency in Alaska\\\". Another factor may have been Alaska's blanket primary system of the time, which allowed unlimited voting across party lines and from its many independents; Republicans believed Gruening would be an easier candidate to defeat in the general election. Gruening lost the general election to Republican Frank Murkowski.\",\n \"Gruening lost the general election to Republican Frank Murkowski. Gruening lost the general election to Republican Frank Murkowski. Gravel was the last Democrat to represent Alaska in Congress for 28 years, until Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich defeated Ted Stevens, by then an aged, iconic figure who had just been convicted of seven felonies for taking unreported gifts, in a very close and protracted election result in 2008. Stevens's conviction was subsequently vacated due to prosecutorial misconduct.\",\n \"Stevens's conviction was subsequently vacated due to prosecutorial misconduct. Career after leaving the Senate Of his 1980 defeat, Gravel later recalled: \\\"I had lost my career. I lost my marriage. I was in the doldrums for ten years after my defeat,\\\" and \\\"Nobody wanted to hire me for anything important. I felt like I was worthless. I didn't know what I could do.\\\"\",\n \"I didn't know what I could do.\\\" I didn't know what I could do.\\\" By his own later description, Gravel was a womanizer, and had an affair while in the Senate, and in December 1980 he and his wife Rita separated. They filed for divorce in September 1981; she later received all of his Senate pension income. During the 1980s Gravel was a real estate developer in Anchorage and Kenai, Alaska, a consultant, and a stockbroker.\",\n \"During the 1980s Gravel was a real estate developer in Anchorage and Kenai, Alaska, a consultant, and a stockbroker. One of his real estate ventures, a condominium business, was forced to declare bankruptcy and a lawsuit ensued. In 1986 Gravel worked in partnership with Merrill Lynch Capital Markets to buy losses that financially troubled Alaska Native Corporations could not take as tax deductions and sell them to large national companies looking for tax writeoffs. Gravel also learned computer programming at some point but never practiced it.\",\n \"Gravel also learned computer programming at some point but never practiced it. In 1984 Gravel married his second wife, Whitney Stewart Gravel, a former administrative assistant for Senator Jacob Javits. Return to politics In 1989 Gravel reentered politics. He founded and led The Democracy Foundation, which promotes direct democracy.\",\n \"He founded and led The Democracy Foundation, which promotes direct democracy. He established the Philadelphia II corporation, which seeks to replicate the original 1787 Constitutional Convention and have a Second Constitutional Convention to bring about direct democracy Gravel led an effort to get a United States Constitutional amendment to allow voter-initiated federal legislation similar to state ballot initiatives. He argued that Americans are able to legislate responsibly, and that the Act and Amendment in the National Initiative would allow American citizens to become \\\"law makers\\\".\",\n \"He argued that Americans are able to legislate responsibly, and that the Act and Amendment in the National Initiative would allow American citizens to become \\\"law makers\\\". However such efforts met with little success. In 2001, Gravel became director of the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution, where he admired institute co-founder Gregory Fossedal's work on direct democracy in Switzerland.\",\n \"In 2001, Gravel became director of the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution, where he admired institute co-founder Gregory Fossedal's work on direct democracy in Switzerland. By 2004, Gravel had become chair of the institute, and Fossedal (who in turn was a director of the Democracy Foundation) gave the introduction at Gravel's presidential announcement. In 2003 Gravel gave a speech on direct democracy at a conference hosted by the American Free Press. The event was cosponsored by the Barnes Review, a journal that endorses Holocaust denial.\",\n \"The event was cosponsored by the Barnes Review, a journal that endorses Holocaust denial. After some controversy over his appearance, Gravel apologized, saying he did not realize the group's ties. Gravel said repeatedly that he did not share the group's views on the Holocaust, stating, \\\"You better believe I know that six million Jews were killed. [The Barnes Review publishers] are nutty as loons if they don't think it happened\\\". The group invited Gravel to speak again, but he declined.\",\n \"The group invited Gravel to speak again, but he declined. Mike and Whitney Gravel lived in Arlington County, Virginia, until 2010 and then resided in Burlingame, California. They have the two grown children from his first marriage, Martin Gravel and Lynne Gravel Mosier, and four grandchildren. Whitney Gravel's income sustained the couple from 1998 on. In the 2000s, Gravel suffered poor health, requiring three surgeries in 2003 for back pain and neuropathy.\",\n \"In the 2000s, Gravel suffered poor health, requiring three surgeries in 2003 for back pain and neuropathy. Due to unreimbursed medical expenses and debts from his political causes, he declared personal bankruptcy in 2004. He began taking a salary from the non-profit organizations for which he was working; much of that income was lent to his presidential campaign. In 2007, he declared that he had \\\"zero net worth\\\".\",\n \"In 2007, he declared that he had \\\"zero net worth\\\". 2008 presidential campaign Democratic Party primaries At the start of 2006 Gravel decided the best way he could promote direct democracy and the National Initiative was to run for president.\",\n \"2008 presidential campaign Democratic Party primaries At the start of 2006 Gravel decided the best way he could promote direct democracy and the National Initiative was to run for president. On April 17, 2006, Gravel became the first candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2008 election, announcing his run in a speech to the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Short on campaign cash, he took public transportation to get to his announcement. (Gravel called for public financing of elections.)\",\n \"(Gravel called for public financing of elections.) (Gravel called for public financing of elections.) Other principal Gravel positions were the FairTax, as well as withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq within 120 days and a single payer national health care system. Gravel had opposed the Iraq War, and President George W. Bush's rationale for it, from the beginning, and in 2006 said that U.S. troops in Iraq, as in Vietnam, had \\\"died in vain\\\".\",\n \"Gravel had opposed the Iraq War, and President George W. Bush's rationale for it, from the beginning, and in 2006 said that U.S. troops in Iraq, as in Vietnam, had \\\"died in vain\\\". He also favored a regional peace initiative, as well as reparation payments for Iraqis. Gravel also called for a \\\"U.S. corporate withdrawal from Iraq\\\", with reconstruction contracts held by U.S. companies to be turned over to Iraqi firms.\",\n \"Gravel also called for a \\\"U.S. corporate withdrawal from Iraq\\\", with reconstruction contracts held by U.S. companies to be turned over to Iraqi firms. Gravel campaigned almost full-time in New Hampshire, the first primary state, following his announcement. Opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination showed Gravel with 1 percent or less support. By the end of March 2007, Gravel's campaign had less than $500 in cash on hand against debts of nearly $90,000.\",\n \"By the end of March 2007, Gravel's campaign had less than $500 in cash on hand against debts of nearly $90,000. Because of his time in the Senate, Gravel was invited to many of the early Democratic presidential debates. During the initial one at South Carolina State University on April 26, 2007, he suggested a bill requiring the president to withdraw from Iraq on pain of criminal penalties. He also advocated positions such as opposing preemptive nuclear war.\",\n \"He also advocated positions such as opposing preemptive nuclear war. He stated that the Iraq War had the effect of creating more terrorists and that the \\\"war was lost the day that George Bush invaded Iraq on a fraudulent basis\\\". Regarding his fellow candidates, he said, \\\"I got to tell you, after standing up with them, some of these people frighten me – they frighten me.\\\" In one such exchange, Gravel said, \\\"Tell me, Barack, who do you want to nuke?\\\"\",\n \"In one such exchange, Gravel said, \\\"Tell me, Barack, who do you want to nuke?\\\" to which Obama responded, \\\"I'm not planning to nuke anybody right now, Mike, I promise.\\\" Media stories said that Gravel was responsible for much of whatever \\\"heat\\\" and \\\"flashpoints\\\" had taken place during the Democratic debates.\",\n \"Media stories said that Gravel was responsible for much of whatever \\\"heat\\\" and \\\"flashpoints\\\" had taken place during the Democratic debates. Gravel gained considerable publicity by shaking up the normally staid multiple-candidate format; The New York Times' media critic said that what Gravel had done was \\\"steal a debate with outrageous, curmudgeonly statements\\\".\",\n \"Gravel gained considerable publicity by shaking up the normally staid multiple-candidate format; The New York Times' media critic said that what Gravel had done was \\\"steal a debate with outrageous, curmudgeonly statements\\\". The Internet was a benefit: a YouTube video of his responses in the debate was viewed more than 225,892 times, ranking seventeenth in most views for week and first among news and politics clips; his name became the fifteenth most searched-for in the blogosphere; and his website garnered more traffic than those of frontrunners Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, or John Edwards.\",\n \"The Internet was a benefit: a YouTube video of his responses in the debate was viewed more than 225,892 times, ranking seventeenth in most views for week and first among news and politics clips; his name became the fifteenth most searched-for in the blogosphere; and his website garnered more traffic than those of frontrunners Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, or John Edwards. Gravel appeared on the popular Colbert Report on television on May 2, and his campaign and career were profiled in national publications such as Salon.\",\n \"Gravel appeared on the popular Colbert Report on television on May 2, and his campaign and career were profiled in national publications such as Salon. Two wordless, Warholesque campaign videos, \\\"Rock\\\" and \\\"Fire\\\", were released on YouTube in late May and became hits, and eventually gained over 760,000 and 185,000 views respectively. \\\"Rock\\\", in turn, was given airtime during an episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.\",\n \"\\\"Rock\\\", in turn, was given airtime during an episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Some thirty-five years after he first achieved the national spotlight, he had found it again. All this did not improve his performance in the polls; a May 2007 CNN poll showed him with less than 0.5 percent support among Democrats. Gravel was in the next several debates, in one case after CNN reversed a decision to exclude him.\",\n \"Gravel was in the next several debates, in one case after CNN reversed a decision to exclude him. Like some of the other second-tier candidates, Gravel did not get as much time as the leaders; during the June 2, 2007, New Hampshire debate, which lasted two hours, he was asked 10 questions and allowed to speak for five minutes and 37 seconds.\",\n \"Like some of the other second-tier candidates, Gravel did not get as much time as the leaders; during the June 2, 2007, New Hampshire debate, which lasted two hours, he was asked 10 questions and allowed to speak for five minutes and 37 seconds. During the July 23, 2007, CNN-YouTube presidential debate, Gravel responded to audience applause when he had complained of a lack of airtime and said: \\\"Thank you. Has it been fair thus far?\\\"\",\n \"Has it been fair thus far?\\\" Has it been fair thus far?\\\" Detractors began to liken him to \\\"the cranky uncle who lives in the attic,\\\" or \\\"the angry old guy that just seemed to want to become angrier\\\". Berkeley political scientist David Terr found that moderator George Stephanopoulos directed roughly five percent of his questions to Gravel; in a poll asking who did the best in the debate, Gravel placed seventh among the eight candidates.\",\n \"Berkeley political scientist David Terr found that moderator George Stephanopoulos directed roughly five percent of his questions to Gravel; in a poll asking who did the best in the debate, Gravel placed seventh among the eight candidates. National opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination continued to show Gravel with one percent or zero percent numbers.\",\n \"National opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination continued to show Gravel with one percent or zero percent numbers. By the end of the third-quarter 2007, Gravel had about $17,500 in cash on hand, had collected a total of about $380,000 during the 2008 election cycle, and was continuing to run a threadbare campaign with minimal staff.\",\n \"By the end of the third-quarter 2007, Gravel had about $17,500 in cash on hand, had collected a total of about $380,000 during the 2008 election cycle, and was continuing to run a threadbare campaign with minimal staff. Beginning with the October 30, 2007, Philadelphia event, Gravel was excluded from most of the debates, with the debate sponsors or the Democratic National Committee saying Gravel's campaign had not met fund-raising, polling, or local campaign organizational thresholds.\",\n \"Beginning with the October 30, 2007, Philadelphia event, Gravel was excluded from most of the debates, with the debate sponsors or the Democratic National Committee saying Gravel's campaign had not met fund-raising, polling, or local campaign organizational thresholds. For the Philadelphia exclusion, Gravel blamed corporate censorship on the part of sponsor owner and alleged military-industrial complex member General Electric for his exclusion and mounted a counter-gathering and debate against a video screen a short distance away, but he had lost his easiest publicity.\",\n \"For the Philadelphia exclusion, Gravel blamed corporate censorship on the part of sponsor owner and alleged military-industrial complex member General Electric for his exclusion and mounted a counter-gathering and debate against a video screen a short distance away, but he had lost his easiest publicity. In reaction, supporters organized \\\"mass donation days\\\" to try to help the campaign gain momentum and funds, such as on December 5, 2007, the anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition.\",\n \"In reaction, supporters organized \\\"mass donation days\\\" to try to help the campaign gain momentum and funds, such as on December 5, 2007, the anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition. Gravel did not compete in the initial 2008 vote, the Iowa caucuses, but was still subjected to a false report from MSNBC that he had pulled out of the race afterward. Gravel did focus his attention on the second 2008 vote, the New Hampshire primary.\",\n \"Gravel did focus his attention on the second 2008 vote, the New Hampshire primary. In early January, Mother Jones' investigative reporter James Ridgeway was filmed interviewing and following Gravel in New Hampshire, in which Gravel is interviewed on the phone by Neal Conan for NPR's, Talk of the Nation. He received about 400 votes out of some 280,000 cast in New Hampshire, or 0.14 percent, before taking time off to improve his health. He resumed campaigning, but fared no better in subsequent states.\",\n \"He resumed campaigning, but fared no better in subsequent states. By the end of January 2008, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and Gravel were the only remaining Democrats from the initial debates still running; Gravel vowed to stay in the presidential campaign until November. On March 11, 2008, Gravel continued to remain in the Democratic race but additionally endorsed a Green Party candidate for president, Jesse Johnson, saying he wanted to help Johnson prevail against Green Party rivals Cynthia McKinney and Ralph Nader.\",\n \"On March 11, 2008, Gravel continued to remain in the Democratic race but additionally endorsed a Green Party candidate for president, Jesse Johnson, saying he wanted to help Johnson prevail against Green Party rivals Cynthia McKinney and Ralph Nader. By late March, Gravel had almost no fundraising and was only on the ballot in one of the next ten Democratic primaries.\",\n \"By late March, Gravel had almost no fundraising and was only on the ballot in one of the next ten Democratic primaries. Switch to Libertarian Party On March 25, 2008, Gravel announced that he would leave the Democrats and join the Libertarian Party, saying: \\\"My libertarian views, as well as my strong stance against war, the military industrial complex and American imperialism, seem not to be tolerated by Democratic Party elites who are out of touch with the average American; elites that reject the empowerment of American citizens I offered to the Democratic Party at the beginning of this presidential campaign with the National Initiative for Democracy.\\\"\",\n \"Switch to Libertarian Party On March 25, 2008, Gravel announced that he would leave the Democrats and join the Libertarian Party, saying: \\\"My libertarian views, as well as my strong stance against war, the military industrial complex and American imperialism, seem not to be tolerated by Democratic Party elites who are out of touch with the average American; elites that reject the empowerment of American citizens I offered to the Democratic Party at the beginning of this presidential campaign with the National Initiative for Democracy.\\\" The following day Gravel entered the race for the 2008 Libertarian presidential nomination, saying that he would have run as a third-party candidate all along except that he needed the public exposure that came from being in the earlier Democratic debates.\",\n \"The following day Gravel entered the race for the 2008 Libertarian presidential nomination, saying that he would have run as a third-party candidate all along except that he needed the public exposure that came from being in the earlier Democratic debates. Gravel's initial notion of running as a fusion candidate with other parties was met with skepticism. As a Libertarian candidate, Gravel faced resistance to his past support of big government initiatives and his unorthodox positions around direct democracy.\",\n \"As a Libertarian candidate, Gravel faced resistance to his past support of big government initiatives and his unorthodox positions around direct democracy. Nevertheless, he garnered more support than he had as a Democrat, placing second and third in two April 2008 straw polls.\",\n \"Nevertheless, he garnered more support than he had as a Democrat, placing second and third in two April 2008 straw polls. In the May 25 balloting at the 2008 Libertarian National Convention in Denver, Gravel finished fourth out of eight candidates on the initial ballot, with 71 votes out of a total 618; he trailed former Congressman and eventual winner Bob Barr, author Mary Ruwart, and businessman Wayne Allyn Root. Gravel's position did not subsequently improve and he was eliminated on the fourth ballot.\",\n \"Gravel's position did not subsequently improve and he was eliminated on the fourth ballot. Afterwards he stated that \\\"I just ended my political career,\\\" but he vowed to continue promoting his positions as a writer and lecturer. 2008–early 2019 In June 2008 Gravel endorsed the NYC 9/11 Ballot Initiative, saying the measure would create a \\\"citizens commission rather than a government commission\\\" with subpoena power against top U.S. officials to \\\"make a true investigation as to what happened\\\" regarding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.\",\n \"2008–early 2019 In June 2008 Gravel endorsed the NYC 9/11 Ballot Initiative, saying the measure would create a \\\"citizens commission rather than a government commission\\\" with subpoena power against top U.S. officials to \\\"make a true investigation as to what happened\\\" regarding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. He later said, \\\"Individuals in and out of government may certainly have participated with the obviously known perpetrators of this dastardly act. Suspicions abound over the analysis presented by government.\",\n \"Suspicions abound over the analysis presented by government. Suspicions abound over the analysis presented by government. Obviously an act that has triggered three wars, Afghan, Iraqi and the continuing War on Terror, should be extensively investigated which was not done and which the government avoids addressing.\\\"\",\n \"Obviously an act that has triggered three wars, Afghan, Iraqi and the continuing War on Terror, should be extensively investigated which was not done and which the government avoids addressing.\\\" In August 2008 Gravel was speaking to a crowd of supporters of Sami Al-Arian (who two years earlier had pleaded guilty and been sentenced to prison for a charge of conspiracy in helping Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a \\\"specially designated terrorist\\\" organization) when he was caught on tape saying of Al-Arian's prosecutor, \\\"Find out where he lives, find out where his kids go to school, find out where his office is: picket him all the time.\",\n \"In August 2008 Gravel was speaking to a crowd of supporters of Sami Al-Arian (who two years earlier had pleaded guilty and been sentenced to prison for a charge of conspiracy in helping Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a \\\"specially designated terrorist\\\" organization) when he was caught on tape saying of Al-Arian's prosecutor, \\\"Find out where he lives, find out where his kids go to school, find out where his office is: picket him all the time. Call him a racist in signs if you see him.\",\n \"Call him a racist in signs if you see him. Call him an injustice. Call him whatever you want to call him, but in his face all the time.\\\" Gravel was criticized for potentially involving the children of the prosecutor, and Al-Arian's family disavowed the sentiments. Gravel defended Alaska Governor Sarah Palin after she was chosen as Republican presidential nominee John McCain's running mate in September 2008.\",\n \"Gravel defended Alaska Governor Sarah Palin after she was chosen as Republican presidential nominee John McCain's running mate in September 2008. He praised Palin's record in standing up to corruption among Alaskan Republicans, thought her national inexperience was an asset not a detriment, and predicted that the \\\"Troopergate\\\" investigation into whether she improperly fired a state official would \\\"come out in her favor\\\". Gravel made clear he would not support or vote for either McCain–Palin or Obama–Biden in the general election.\",\n \"Gravel made clear he would not support or vote for either McCain–Palin or Obama–Biden in the general election. The following year Gravel said that Palin's politics were \\\"terrible, but that doesn't detract from the fact that she's a very talented person\\\". He predicted that Palin would run for president in 2012 and that \\\"she's going to surprise a lot of people\\\". Palin did not run, but Gravel's prediction about \\\"TrooperGate\\\" was accurate as Palin was found not to have violated ethics laws.\",\n \"Palin did not run, but Gravel's prediction about \\\"TrooperGate\\\" was accurate as Palin was found not to have violated ethics laws. In 2013, by the invitation of Hamed Ghashghavi, the secretary for international affairs of the 3rd International Conference on Hollywoodism in Tehran, Iran, Gravel attended that event as an Iranian government-organized anti-Hollywood conference.\",\n \"In 2013, by the invitation of Hamed Ghashghavi, the secretary for international affairs of the 3rd International Conference on Hollywoodism in Tehran, Iran, Gravel attended that event as an Iranian government-organized anti-Hollywood conference. Gravel noted that the conference was attended by \\\"various elements of extremes\\\" but said it was necessary to discuss how the U.S. film industry portrayed Iran in order to prevent \\\"an insane war\\\" between the two nations.\",\n \"Gravel noted that the conference was attended by \\\"various elements of extremes\\\" but said it was necessary to discuss how the U.S. film industry portrayed Iran in order to prevent \\\"an insane war\\\" between the two nations. In May 2013 Gravel was one of several former members of Congress to accept $20,000 from the Paradigm Research Group, an advocacy group for UFO disclosure, as part of holding what they termed a Citizen Hearing on Disclosure, modeled after congressional hearings, regarding supposed U.S. government suppression of evidence concerning UFOs.\",\n \"In May 2013 Gravel was one of several former members of Congress to accept $20,000 from the Paradigm Research Group, an advocacy group for UFO disclosure, as part of holding what they termed a Citizen Hearing on Disclosure, modeled after congressional hearings, regarding supposed U.S. government suppression of evidence concerning UFOs. Gravel said, \\\"Something is monitoring the planet, and they are monitoring it very cautiously, because we are a very warlike planet,\\\" and, \\\"What we're faced with here is, in areas of the media, and the government too, an effort to marginalize and ridicule people who have specific knowledge.\\\"\",\n \"Gravel said, \\\"Something is monitoring the planet, and they are monitoring it very cautiously, because we are a very warlike planet,\\\" and, \\\"What we're faced with here is, in areas of the media, and the government too, an effort to marginalize and ridicule people who have specific knowledge.\\\" In December 2014 Gravel was announced as the new CEO of KUSH, a company which makes marijuana-infused products for medicinal and recreational use, and a subsidiary of Cannabis Sativa, Inc.\",\n \"In December 2014 Gravel was announced as the new CEO of KUSH, a company which makes marijuana-infused products for medicinal and recreational use, and a subsidiary of Cannabis Sativa, Inc. He also became an Independent Director of Cannabis Sativa. During the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries, Gravel praised Bernie Sanders and his campaign, saying \\\"Bernie is one of the most gifted politicians I have ever observed. He's a person of great integrity and very clever.\\\"\",\n \"He's a person of great integrity and very clever.\\\" Gravel predicted that Sanders would be elected president but would be unable to get his key reforms through Congress, and thus that Sanders and his supporters should back some of the proposals of the National Initiative. In 2016, Gravel said in relation to the September 11 attacks: \\\"We killed 58,000 American servicemen in the Vietnam War and all they did was die in vain.\",\n \"In 2016, Gravel said in relation to the September 11 attacks: \\\"We killed 58,000 American servicemen in the Vietnam War and all they did was die in vain. What's so unusual about killing 3,000 more in order to develop the grist for the mill to empower into infinity the military industrial complex?\\\" and \\\"There's no question in my mind that 9/11 was an inside job\\\". The remarks were later disavowed by even Gravel supporters. By 2019 Gravel was living in Seaside, California.\",\n \"By 2019 Gravel was living in Seaside, California. By 2019 Gravel was living in Seaside, California. He was working on a book, at the time titled Human Governance, about his principal idea for direct democracy, a U.S. Constitutional Amendment to create a \\\"Legislature of the People\\\" that would circumvent the existing Congress. The book was self-published at the end of the year by AuthorHouse under the title The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People.\",\n \"The book was self-published at the end of the year by AuthorHouse under the title The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People. 2020 presidential campaign On March 19, 2019, Gravel announced that he was considering running in the 2020 Democratic primaries. He said, \\\"The goal will not be to win, but to bring a critique of American imperialism to the Democratic debate stage.\\\"\",\n \"He said, \\\"The goal will not be to win, but to bring a critique of American imperialism to the Democratic debate stage.\\\" An exploratory committee was formed, with filing a statement of organization with the Federal Election Commission on that same day.\",\n \"An exploratory committee was formed, with filing a statement of organization with the Federal Election Commission on that same day. The filing was the idea of a group of teenagers, led by David Oks and Henry Williams, inspired by the podcast Chapo Trap House, and done with Gravel's consent (after a week spent convincing him of the idea's merits), but without his involvement.\",\n \"The filing was the idea of a group of teenagers, led by David Oks and Henry Williams, inspired by the podcast Chapo Trap House, and done with Gravel's consent (after a week spent convincing him of the idea's merits), but without his involvement. Intrigued by the group's commitment to amplifying his long-held policy goals, Gravel (who would be old on Inauguration Day in 2021) said he planned to meet with them in April, and to discuss a 2020 White House run with his wife.\",\n \"Intrigued by the group's commitment to amplifying his long-held policy goals, Gravel (who would be old on Inauguration Day in 2021) said he planned to meet with them in April, and to discuss a 2020 White House run with his wife. On April 2, 2019, Gravel filed to officially run for office. The campaign called itself the \\\"#Gravelanche\\\". Gravel's initial stated goal was merely to qualify for debates by getting the required 65,000 small donors.\",\n \"Gravel's initial stated goal was merely to qualify for debates by getting the required 65,000 small donors. He discouraged people from voting for him and said his preferences were Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard, both of whom favor a non-interventionist foreign policy. But on April 29, Gravel's campaign said he was running to win, not just to participate in debates. In a subsequent interview, though, Gravel emphasized the virtue of Sanders and Gabbard in some order as a presidential ticket.\",\n \"In a subsequent interview, though, Gravel emphasized the virtue of Sanders and Gabbard in some order as a presidential ticket. Statements like these caused Vox to call Gravel \\\"2020's oddest Democratic presidential candidate\\\".\",\n \"Statements like these caused Vox to call Gravel \\\"2020's oddest Democratic presidential candidate\\\". The New York Times Magazine included Gravel as an example in the rise of democratic socialism in the United States also exemplified by Sanders's 2016 race and the 2018 election of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: \\\"[Gravel's] campaign represents the most absurd form of a legitimate movement on the left that feels little obligation to the Democratic Party.\\\"\",\n \"The New York Times Magazine included Gravel as an example in the rise of democratic socialism in the United States also exemplified by Sanders's 2016 race and the 2018 election of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: \\\"[Gravel's] campaign represents the most absurd form of a legitimate movement on the left that feels little obligation to the Democratic Party.\\\" In June 2019, Gravel touted the endorsement of Muntadher al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who, in December 2008, made headlines after he threw his shoes at President George W. Bush in protest of the U.S. war in Iraq.\",\n \"In June 2019, Gravel touted the endorsement of Muntadher al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who, in December 2008, made headlines after he threw his shoes at President George W. Bush in protest of the U.S. war in Iraq. Al-Zaidi endorsed Gravel based on his promise to improve White House policies regarding Iraq and the Middle East. On June 13, 2019, the Democratic Party announced the 20 major candidates who qualified for the first debate later that month.\",\n \"On June 13, 2019, the Democratic Party announced the 20 major candidates who qualified for the first debate later that month. Gravel was one of the four who missed out (the others were Montana Governor Steve Bullock, U.S. Representative Seth Moulton, and Miramar, Florida, Mayor Wayne Messam). Gravel had been unable to get the requisite number of donations, or to score one percent or better in enough polls (many polls did not even include him).\",\n \"Gravel had been unable to get the requisite number of donations, or to score one percent or better in enough polls (many polls did not even include him). Nevertheless, Gravel said he would not drop out and would try to qualify for the July debate. In early July, however, Gravel's campaign said it was still 10,000 contributions short of the 65,000-donor threshold and that it was \\\"nearing its conclusion\\\". It solicited suggestions for where to donate $100–150,000 of leftover campaign funds.\",\n \"It solicited suggestions for where to donate $100–150,000 of leftover campaign funds. Gravel added that he had always planned on ending the campaign before the teenagers in charge of it needed to return to school. A few days later the campaign became the first to run an attack ad against Democratic front-runner Joe Biden, using the text \\\"Is this the best our party has to offer?\\\" Gravel's campaign crossed the threshold of 65,000 donors on July 12, 2019, meeting the qualification mark for that month's debate.\",\n \"Gravel's campaign crossed the threshold of 65,000 donors on July 12, 2019, meeting the qualification mark for that month's debate. But because 20 other candidates, the maximum allowed to participate, had already met at least the polling criterion, which takes priority over the donor criterion, Gravel was not invited. The campaign officially came to a close on August 6, 2019, with Gravel endorsing both Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard for president.\",\n \"The campaign officially came to a close on August 6, 2019, with Gravel endorsing both Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard for president. Gravel's campaign later stated on Twitter that they never wanted to win but saw the campaign as an \\\"intimately democratic\\\" project and expressed honor at working with Gravel. Gravel said he would divide remaining campaign funds between charity and a new think tank which would espouse his ideas.\",\n \"Gravel said he would divide remaining campaign funds between charity and a new think tank which would espouse his ideas. The Gravel Institute Gravel used some of the funds remaining from his 2020 presidential campaign to found an eponymous progressive think tank called The Gravel Institute in 2019. As noted by Vice magazine, the institute aims to do battle with PragerU from a left-wing perspective.\",\n \"As noted by Vice magazine, the institute aims to do battle with PragerU from a left-wing perspective. Launched in September 2020, the new entity said it would \\\"carry on the life's work of former U.S Senator Mike Gravel in fighting for global peace and democracy. Its mission is to promote bold and forward-looking ideas about a more peaceful and egalitarian world, and to build a robust movement of young people to win it\\\".\",\n \"Its mission is to promote bold and forward-looking ideas about a more peaceful and egalitarian world, and to build a robust movement of young people to win it\\\". Contributors announced include Cornel West and Slavoj Žižek, as well as Lower Brule Indian Reservation activist Nick Estes.\",\n \"Contributors announced include Cornel West and Slavoj Žižek, as well as Lower Brule Indian Reservation activist Nick Estes. Other presenters have included and will include H. Jon Benjamin, Briahna Joy Gray, Bernie Sanders, Chelsea Manning, Richard Wolff, Stephanie Kelton, Zephyr Teachout, David Cross, Jabari Brisport, Zohran Mamdani, and Gravel himself (though it is unknown if his appearance will be cancelled due to his death in June 2021, or if the video has already been recorded).\",\n \"Other presenters have included and will include H. Jon Benjamin, Briahna Joy Gray, Bernie Sanders, Chelsea Manning, Richard Wolff, Stephanie Kelton, Zephyr Teachout, David Cross, Jabari Brisport, Zohran Mamdani, and Gravel himself (though it is unknown if his appearance will be cancelled due to his death in June 2021, or if the video has already been recorded). Death Gravel died of multiple myeloma at his home in Seaside, California, on June 26, 2021, at age 91.\",\n \"Death Gravel died of multiple myeloma at his home in Seaside, California, on June 26, 2021, at age 91. The obituary for him in The New York Times stated that Gravel was \\\"a two-term Democratic senator from Alaska ... who was perhaps better known as an unabashed attention-getter\\\" who later become known for \\\"mounting long-shot presidential runs\\\".\",\n \"The obituary for him in The New York Times stated that Gravel was \\\"a two-term Democratic senator from Alaska ... who was perhaps better known as an unabashed attention-getter\\\" who later become known for \\\"mounting long-shot presidential runs\\\". The obituary in The Washington Post was similar, saying that Gravel was \\\"an Alaska Democrat with a flair for the theatrical who rose from obscurity to brief renown\\\" and later \\\"ran quixotic campaigns for the presidency\\\".\",\n \"The obituary in The Washington Post was similar, saying that Gravel was \\\"an Alaska Democrat with a flair for the theatrical who rose from obscurity to brief renown\\\" and later \\\"ran quixotic campaigns for the presidency\\\". The Anchorage Daily News quoted Gravel as saying of himself in 1989, \\\"I'm an independent kind of guy. A rough and ready kind of guy. My glands work in a certain way that make me stand up, foolishly sometimes, and fight.\\\"\",\n \"My glands work in a certain way that make me stand up, foolishly sometimes, and fight.\\\" Political positions Alan Abramowitz and Jeffrey Allan Segal described Gravel as \\\"a maverick, if not an eccentric, in the Senate.\\\" His Americans for Democratic Action \\\"Liberal Quotient\\\" scores ranged from 81 out of 100 (1971) to 39 out of 100 (1980), with an average of around 61.\",\n \"His Americans for Democratic Action \\\"Liberal Quotient\\\" scores ranged from 81 out of 100 (1971) to 39 out of 100 (1980), with an average of around 61. His American Conservative Union scores ranged from 0 out of 100 (several years, including 1971 and 1972) to 38 out of 100 (1979), with an average of 14.\",\n \"His American Conservative Union scores ranged from 0 out of 100 (several years, including 1971 and 1972) to 38 out of 100 (1979), with an average of 14. Abramowitz and Segal note that Gravel's lowest ADA ratings coincided with his two Senate re-election bids, and for the most part his highest ACU ratings followed the same pattern.\",\n \"Abramowitz and Segal note that Gravel's lowest ADA ratings coincided with his two Senate re-election bids, and for the most part his highest ACU ratings followed the same pattern. In 1972, as a young senator, Gravel published Citizen Power: A People's Platform, a manifesto outlining what Kirkus Reviews termed a \\\"populist reform [that] would provide 'balanced political power' between the people and government and business interests.\\\"\",\n \"In 1972, as a young senator, Gravel published Citizen Power: A People's Platform, a manifesto outlining what Kirkus Reviews termed a \\\"populist reform [that] would provide 'balanced political power' between the people and government and business interests.\\\" Civil rights issues On drug policy, Gravel said in 2007 that he favored decriminalization and treating addiction as a public health matter.\",\n \"Civil rights issues On drug policy, Gravel said in 2007 that he favored decriminalization and treating addiction as a public health matter. During his 2008 presidential candidacy he condemned the War on Drugs as a failure, saying that it did \\\"nothing but savage our inner cities and put our children at risk\\\". Gravel called for abolition of capital punishment in his book Citizen Power, and adhered to this position during his 2008 run for president. He supported abortion rights.\",\n \"He supported abortion rights. He supported abortion rights. During the 2008 campaign Gravel was a strong supporter of LGBT rights. He supported same-sex marriage and opposed the Defense of Marriage Act and the U.S. military's \\\"don't ask, don't tell\\\" policy. He wrote in 2008 that \\\"depriving gays and lesbians of equal rights is immoral\\\". Foreign policy and defense issues Gravel was a critic of American imperialism. Gravel firmly opposed U.S. military action against Iran and Syria.\",\n \"Gravel firmly opposed U.S. military action against Iran and Syria. He voiced opposition to the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, the Military Commissions Act of 2006, the use of torture, indefinite detention, and what he called \\\"flagrant ignorance\\\" of the Geneva Convention. In 2014 Gravel called for the release of the full, unredacted Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture. Gravel opposed the use of international sanctions as a policy tool and blamed the ones against Iraq under Saddam Hussein for the deaths of a half-million children in that country.\",\n \"Gravel opposed the use of international sanctions as a policy tool and blamed the ones against Iraq under Saddam Hussein for the deaths of a half-million children in that country. In 2013 Gravel said that sanctions against Iran were \\\"illegal\\\". During his 2008 candidacy, Gravel called for a cut in military spending, variously reported to be 15 percent or 50 percent. He called for the savings to boost public education spending. To spur international nuclear nonproliferation efforts, Gravel called for unilateral reductions in the U.S. nuclear arsenal.\",\n \"To spur international nuclear nonproliferation efforts, Gravel called for unilateral reductions in the U.S. nuclear arsenal. In 2008 Gravel criticized the decision of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to not pursue the efforts to impeach George W. Bush and the attempted impeachment of Dick Cheney, saying also that Bush and Cheney had committed crimes and deserved \\\"to be prosecuted\\\" at The Hague.\",\n \"In 2008 Gravel criticized the decision of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to not pursue the efforts to impeach George W. Bush and the attempted impeachment of Dick Cheney, saying also that Bush and Cheney had committed crimes and deserved \\\"to be prosecuted\\\" at The Hague. In 2013 he expressed disdain for President Obama, calling him \\\"a total fraud\\\" and saying that both Bush and Obama should be tried \\\"for the crimes and murders they've committed\\\" in the International Court of Justice.\",\n \"In 2013 he expressed disdain for President Obama, calling him \\\"a total fraud\\\" and saying that both Bush and Obama should be tried \\\"for the crimes and murders they've committed\\\" in the International Court of Justice. Gravel specifically condemned Obama for the drone strikes in Pakistan and elsewhere.\",\n \"Gravel specifically condemned Obama for the drone strikes in Pakistan and elsewhere. Economy, immigration, and environment During his 2008 candidacy Gravel favored a FairTax scheme, which would abolish the Internal Revenue Service, eliminate the federal income tax (which Gravel called \\\"corrupt\\\"), and impose a national sales tax. While Gravel described FairTax as \\\"progressive\\\", others have criticized it as \\\"regressive\\\", disproportionately benefiting the wealthiest Americans.\",\n \"While Gravel described FairTax as \\\"progressive\\\", others have criticized it as \\\"regressive\\\", disproportionately benefiting the wealthiest Americans. To offset the new sales taxes on essential goods, Gravel's plan called for monthly government rebate payments to individuals and families. During his 2020 campaign Gravel also voiced support for a third legislative body that would give the people direct control of the budget as well as the implementation of a land value tax.\",\n \"During his 2020 campaign Gravel also voiced support for a third legislative body that would give the people direct control of the budget as well as the implementation of a land value tax. Gravel opposed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) during his 2008 candidacy, calling it unfair and economically harmful and needing renegotiation. Gravel believed that NAFTA was the \\\"root cause\\\" of illegal migration to the U.S. He favored a guest worker program and \\\"setting up naturalization procedures that would fairly bring immigrants into legal status\\\".\",\n \"He favored a guest worker program and \\\"setting up naturalization procedures that would fairly bring immigrants into legal status\\\". In a 2007 interview, Gravel identified himself as \\\"very much of a globalist\\\" who believed in open markets and open borders and condemned the scapegoating of undocumented immigrants. Gravel also said that he favored eliminating the cap on H1B visas. As a senator from Alaska, Gravel favored drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but opposed it during his 2008 campaign.\",\n \"As a senator from Alaska, Gravel favored drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but opposed it during his 2008 campaign. In 2008, Gravel supported a carbon tax to combat climate change. Gravel spoke in favor of net neutrality during his presidential campaign. Education and health care Gravel called for the cost of college tuition to be borne by the federal government, rather than students.\",\n \"Education and health care Gravel called for the cost of college tuition to be borne by the federal government, rather than students. In his 2008 campaign, he called the No Child Left Behind Act \\\"a failure\\\" and called for it to be \\\"reformed and fully funded\\\". He expressed support for universal pre-kindergarten and the expansion of the Head Start program; and expressed an openness to charter schools and school vouchers. He also suggested extending the school day and the school year, and supported merit pay for teachers.\",\n \"He also suggested extending the school day and the school year, and supported merit pay for teachers. Gravel also called for publicly funded universal health care to replace the current employer-sponsored health insurance system. He supported \\\"full funding\\\" of the VA system. When asked in 2007 about naturopathy, homeopathy, and acupuncture, Gravel said that he was \\\"very very much in favor\\\" of holistic health care. Awards and honors In 2008 Gravel received the Columbia University School of General Studies' first annual Isaac Asimov Lifetime Achievement Award.\",\n \"Awards and honors In 2008 Gravel received the Columbia University School of General Studies' first annual Isaac Asimov Lifetime Achievement Award. Electoral history Writings Gravel, Mike. Jobs and More Jobs. Mt. McKinley Publishers, 1968. Gravel, Mike. Citizen Power: A People's Platform. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1972. . revised and reissued as Citizen Power: A Mandate for Change, AuthorHouse, 2008. . Gravel, Mike and Lauria, Joe.\",\n \"Gravel, Mike and Lauria, Joe. Gravel, Mike and Lauria, Joe. A Political Odyssey: The Rise of American Militarism and One Man's Fight to Stop It. Seven Stories Press, 2008. . Gravel, Mike and Eisenbach, David. The Kingmakers: How the Media Threatens Our Security and Our Democracy. Phoenix Books, 2008. . Gravel, Mike. Voice of a Maverick: The Speeches and Writings of Senator Mike Gravel. Brandywine House, 2008. Gravel, Mike.\",\n \"Brandywine House, 2008. Gravel, Mike. Gravel, Mike. Foreword to Poisoned Power: The Case Against Nuclear Power Plants. John W. Goffman & Arthur R. Tamplin, Rodale Press, Inc., Emmaus, PA, June 1971. Gravel, Mike. The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People. AuthorHouse, 2020. Explanatory notes References Citations General references The Pentagon Papers Senator Gravel Edition. Vol. Five: Critical Essays. Boston: Beacon Press, 1972. 341p. plus 72p.\",\n \"Five: Critical Essays. Boston: Beacon Press, 1972. 341p. plus 72p. plus 72p. of Index to Vol. I–IV of the Papers; Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, editors.\",\n \"I–IV of the Papers; Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, editors. External links Mike Gravel official website The Gravel Institute |- |- 1930 births 2021 deaths 1972 United States vice-presidential candidates 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American politicians 20th-century Roman Catholics 20th-century Unitarians 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American politicians 21st-century Unitarians 9/11 conspiracy theorists Alaska Democrats American International College alumni American Unitarian Universalists American anti–Iraq War activists American conspiracy theorists American democracy activists American male non-fiction writers American people of French-Canadian descent American political writers American real estate businesspeople American stockbrokers Anti-corporate activists Assumption University (Worcester) alumni Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Businesspeople from Anchorage, Alaska Businesspeople from Springfield, Massachusetts California Democrats Candidates in the 2008 United States presidential election Candidates in the 2020 United States presidential election Columbia University School of General Studies alumni Deaths from cancer in California Deaths from multiple myeloma Democratic Party United States senators Direct democracy activists Drug policy reform activists Former Roman Catholics Virginia Libertarians Members of the Alaska House of Representatives Military personnel from Massachusetts Non-interventionism People from Arlington County, Virginia People from Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska People with dyslexia Politicians from Anchorage, Alaska Politicians from Springfield, Massachusetts Speakers of the Alaska House of Representatives United States Army officers United States senators from Alaska Writers about direct democracy Writers from Anchorage, Alaska\"\n]"}}},{"rowIdx":397,"cells":{"History":{"kind":"list like","value":["Dion DiMucci","With the Belmonts: 1957-1960"],"string":"[\n \"Dion DiMucci\",\n \"With the Belmonts: 1957-1960\"\n]"},"QuAC_dialog_id":{"kind":"string","value":"C_57ef3079d2cb4481bdcc3f5beea88674_1"},"Question":{"kind":"string","value":"Who were the other members of the Belmonts?"},"Question_no":{"kind":"number","value":1,"string":"1"},"Rewrite":{"kind":"string","value":"Besides Dion DiMucci, Who were the other members of the Belmonts?"},"true_page_title":{"kind":"string","value":"Dion DiMucci"},"true_contexts":{"kind":"string","value":"Bob and Gene Schwartz also signed Dion's friends, the Belmonts, (Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano, and Angelo D'Aleo), a vocal group named for nearby Belmont Avenue, and teamed them, with Dion singing lead. The new group's breakthrough came in early 1958, when \"I Wonder Why\" (on their newly formed \"Laurie\" label) made No. 22 on the U.S. charts. Dion said of the Belmonts; \"I'd give 'em sounds. I'd give 'em parts and stuff. That's what 'I Wonder Why' was about. We kind of invented this percussive rhythmic sound. If you listen to that song, everybody was doing something different. There's four guys, one guy was doing bass, I was singing lead, one guy's going 'ooh wah ooh,' and another guy's doing tenor. It was totally amazing. When I listen to it today, oftentimes I think, 'man, those kids are talented.'\" Their initial hit was followed by \"No One Knows\" and \"Don't Pity Me,\" which also charted the Billboard Top 100. This success won a place for Dion and the Belmonts on the ill-fated \"The Winter Dance Party\" tour with Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson), Frankie Sardo, and other performers. On February 3, 1959, after a concert stop in Clear Lake, Iowa, Holly and others decided to charter a flight to the next venue rather than travel on the tour bus. Dion was invited to accompany the group but decided that he did not want to spend $36 for the flight, as it was the same monthly rent his parents paid for his childhood apartment and he couldn't justify the indulgence. The plane crashed, killing all on board; Holly, Valens, Richardson, and the pilot Roger Peterson. Dion and the Belmonts continued on the tour, along with Frankie Sardo, while Bobby Vee, then an unknown artist, performed in Holly's place at the very next concert. Later, Jimmy Clanton, Frankie Avalon, and Fabian were added to replace the other now-deceased headliners. Dion and the Belmonts' next single, \"A Teenager in Love,\" was released in March 1959, eventually hitting No. 5 on the U.S. pop charts and No. 28 in the UK. The group's biggest hit, \"Where or When,\" was released in November of that year, and reached No. 3 on the U.S. charts. However, in early 1960, Dion checked into hospital for heroin addiction, a problem he had had since his mid-teens. Further single releases for the group that year were less successful. There were musical, personal and financial differences between Dion and members of the Belmonts, and in October 1960, Dion decided to quit for a solo career. By the time of their breakup, all eight Laurie releases had charted on the Hot 100. CANNOTANSWER"},"answer":{"kind":"string","value":"Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano, and Angelo D'Aleo"},"true_contexts_wiki":{"kind":"string","value":"Dion Francis DiMucci (born July 18, 1939), better known simply as Dion, is an American singer and songwriter whose music has incorporated elements of doo-wop, rock, R&B and blues. Initially as lead singer of Dion and the Belmonts, and then in his solo career, he was one of the most popular American rock and roll performers of the pre-British Invasion era. He had 39 Top 40 hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s as a solo performer, with the Belmonts or with the Del-Satins. He is best remembered for the singles \"Runaround Sue\", \"The Wanderer\", \"Ruby Baby\" and \"Lovers Who Wander\", among other hits.\n\nDion's popularity waned in the mid-1960s. Toward the end of the decade, he shifted his style and produced songs that were more mature and contemplative, such as \"Abraham, Martin and John\". He remained popular in the late 1960s until the mid-1970s, and continues making music. During the 1980s, Dion produced several Christian albums, winning a GMA Dove Award in 1984 for the album I Put Away My Idols. He returned to secular music in the late 1980s with Yo Frankie (1989). Between the mid-2000s and 2021, Dion released six chart-topping blues albums. Critics who had dismissed his early work, labeling him as a teen idol, praised his later work and noted the influence he has had on other musicians.\n\nA Grammy-nominated artist, Dion has released nearly 40 albums and scored eight Top 10 hits (ten including the Belmonts) on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989.\n\nEarly life \nDion was born to an Italian-American family in the Bronx, New York. As a child, he accompanied his father, Pasquale DiMucci, a vaudeville entertainer, on tour, and developed a love of country music – particularly the work of Hank Williams. He also developed a fondness for the blues and doo-wop musicians he heard performing in local bars and on the radio. His singing was honed on the street corners and local clubs of the Bronx, where he and other neighborhood singers created a cappella riffs.\n \nIn early 1957, he auditioned for Bob and Gene Schwartz for their short-lived Mohawk Records label. They asked Dion to sing a song which had been arranged by Hugo Montenegro and recorded featuring Vic Damone doing vocals. At first Dion refused, stating the song would sound like something his old fashioned parents would listen to, but the Schwartzes convinced him to give it a try. The backing vocals were by a group called \"the Timberlanes\", whom Dion had never met. The resulting single, \"The Chosen Few\", was released under the name \"Dion and the Timberlanes\", and became a minor regional hit. Dion himself stated in 2019 during an interview at \"Crashing the Party\" (a radio program related to Norton Records in Brooklyn, New York) that \"The Chosen Few\" hit the Top Ten locally in Boston and enabled him to perform this song on American Bandstand where the kids at the show started screaming during his performance, which gave him his first impression of being a record star. Writing about this experience later, in his autobiography, The Wanderer, Dion said that he had never met the Timberlanes and did not even know who they were. \"The vocal group was so white bread, I went back to my neighborhood and I recruited a bunch of guys – three guys – and we called ourselves Dion and the Belmonts.\"\n\nCareer\n\nBeginnings with the Belmonts: 1957–1960 \n\nBob and Gene Schwartz signed Dion's friends, the Belmonts (Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano, and Angelo D'Aleo), a vocal group named for the Belmont, Bronx neighborhood, and teamed them up with Dion singing lead. The new group's breakthrough came in early 1958, when \"I Wonder Why\" (on their newly formed Laurie Records) made No. 22 on the U.S. charts. Dion said of the Belmonts; \"I'd give 'em sounds. I'd give 'em parts and stuff. That's what 'I Wonder Why' was about. We kind of invented this percussive rhythmic sound. If you listen to that song, everybody was doing something different. There's four guys, one guy was doing bass, I was singing lead, one guy's going 'ooh wah ooh,' and another guy's doing tenor. It was totally amazing. When I listen to it today, oftentimes I think, 'man, those kids are talented.'\"\n\nTheir initial hit was followed by \"No One Knows\" and \"Don't Pity Me\", which also charted the Billboard Top 100. This success won a place for Dion and the Belmonts on the ill-fated \"The Winter Dance Party\" tour with Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson), Frankie Sardo, and other performers. On February 3, 1959, after a concert stop in Clear Lake, Iowa, Holly and others decided to charter a flight to the next venue rather than travel on the tour bus. Dion was invited to accompany the group but decided that he did not want to spend $36 for the flight, as it was the same monthly rent his parents paid for his childhood apartment and he could not justify the indulgence. The plane crashed, killing all on board: Holly, Valens, Richardson, and the pilot Roger Peterson. Dion and the Belmonts continued on the tour, along with Frankie Sardo, while Bobby Vee, then an unknown artist, performed in Holly's place at the very next concert. Later, Jimmy Clanton, Frankie Avalon, and Fabian were added to replace the other now-deceased headliners.\n\nDion and the Belmonts' next single, \"A Teenager in Love\", was released in March 1959, eventually hitting No. 5 on the U.S. pop charts and No. 28 in the UK. The group's biggest hit, \"Where or When\", was released in November of that year, and reached No. 3 on the U.S. charts. However, in early 1960, Dion checked into hospital for heroin addiction, a problem he had had since his mid-teens. Further single releases for the group that year were less successful. There were musical, personal and financial differences between Dion and members of the Belmonts, and in October 1960, Dion decided to quit for a solo career. By the time of their breakup, all eight Laurie releases had charted on the Hot 100.\n\nSolo stardom and touring worldwide: 1960–1964 \nBy the end of 1960, Dion produced his first solo album on Laurie Records, Alone with Dion, released in 1961. The single \"Lonely Teenager\" rose to No. 12 in the US charts. The name on his solo releases was simply \"Dion\". Follow-ups \"Havin' Fun\" and \"Kissin' Game\" had less success, and the signs were that Dion would drift onto the cabaret circuit. However, he then recorded an up-tempo number co-written with Ernie Maresca with a new vocal group, the Del-Satins. The record, \"Runaround Sue\", stormed up the U.S. charts, reaching No. 1 in October 1961, and No. 11 in the UK, where he also toured. \"Runaround Sue\" sold over a million copies, achieving gold disc status.\n\nFor the next single, Laurie promoted the A-side, \"The Majestic\", but it was the B-side, Maresca's \"The Wanderer\", which received more radio play and climbed swiftly up the charts to reach No. 2 in the U.S. in February 1962 and No. 10 in the UK. The 1976 re-release made the UK Top 20.\n\nBy the end of 1961, Dion had become a major star, touring worldwide and making an appearance in the Columbia Pictures musical film Twist Around the Clock. In 1962, he followed with a string of singles he wrote or co-wrote including \"Lovers Who Wander\" (No. 3), \"Little Diane\" (No. 8), \"Love Came to Me\" (No. 10). He also had successful albums with Runaround Sue and Lovers Who Wander.\n\nAt the end of 1962, Dion moved from Laurie to Columbia Records. He was the first rock and roll artist signed to the label, which was an anomaly considering that its then-A&R director, Mitch Miller, loathed that particular genre of music. The first Columbia single, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller's \"Ruby Baby\" (originally a hit for the Drifters) reached No. 2, while \"Donna the Prima Donna\" and \"Drip Drop\" (another remake of a Drifters hit) both reached No. 6 in late 1963. (Dion also recorded an Italian version of \"Donna the Prima Donna\" using the identical backup vocals.) His other Columbia releases were less successful, and problems with his drug addiction and changing public tastes, especially the British Invasion, saw a period of commercial decline.\n\nBelmonts reunion and renewed contract: 1965–1968 \nFollowing a European tour, Dion returned to the U.S. and was introduced to classic blues by Columbia's John Hammond. To the consternation of his management, he began recording more blues-oriented material, including Willie Dixon's \"Hoochie Coochie Man\" and \"Spoonful\", but these releases – some produced by Tom Wilson, with Al Kooper on keyboards – were not commercially successful. In 1965, still with Columbia, Dion formed a new group to back him, The Wanderers, composed of John Falbo on guitar, Pete Baron (Pete Falciglia) on bass, and Carlo Mastrangelo of the Belmonts on drums. They made national appearances on Dick Clark's, Where The Action Is, and The Lloyd Thaxton Show. A number of self-penned tracks were recorded and released unsuccessfully as singles, and did not appear in album format until years later. In June 1965 he recorded fellow Columbia Records's contemporary Bob Dylan's composition \"It's All Over Now, Baby Blue\" a half-year before Them (featuring Van Morrison)'s hit version.\n\nIn 1966–67, Dion briefly reunited with the Belmonts, recording the LP Together Again for ABC Records. The album was unsuccessful, despite one classic self-penned song, \"My Girl the Month of May\". Two singles were released from the LP. While neither charted in the United States, they fared better in the UK. \"My Girl The Month of May\" entered the Radio London \"Fab 40\" at No. 9 the week of December 25, 1966. A 'turntable' hit at London underground clubs like Middle Earth, the disc received a lot of play from pirate radio DJ's John Peel and Kenny Everett. The follow up, \"Movin' Man\", reached No. 17 on the \"Radio London\" charts on Easter Sunday, March 26, 1967. \"My Girl The Month of May\" was later covered by English artists Alan Bown in 1967, and Island Records artists The Bunch (featuring Sandy Denny and other members of Fairport Convention) in April 1972. During their brief mid-60's reunion, Dion and the Belmonts appeared on the popular Clay Cole Show performing \"Berimbau\" and \"My Girl The Month of May\", and occasionally performed at local New York City clubs such as \"The Mardi Gras\" on Staten Island (April 29, 1967) before disbanding. While Dion's career appeared to be nearing an end, he still retained enough credibility to be, along with Bob Dylan, one of only two rock artists featured on the album cover of the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in 1967.\n\nIn April 1968, Dion experienced what he identified as a powerful religious transformation. After getting clean once again from heroin addiction, an experience he documented in his 1970 song \"Your Own Backyard\", he approached Laurie Records for a new contract. They agreed on the condition that he record the song \"Abraham, Martin & John\", written by Dick Holler (also the writer of the Royal Guardsmen's \"Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron\") in response to the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, and those of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy during the spring of 1968. The success of this song (released by Dion in August 1968 and later recorded by many others including Marvin Gaye) which reached No. 4 in the US charts and No. 1 in Canada, resuscitated Dion's career. It sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc.\n\nMature and Christian music period: 1969–1986 \nFor the next few years, Dion's music became radically different, moving to more contemplative and mature material. He released several albums essentially as a singer-songwriter, to moderate sales, moving to the Warner Brothers label in 1969.\n\nThere followed a live reunion show with the Belmonts at Madison Square Garden on June 2, 1972, which was recorded and released as a live album by Warner. A year later, in 1973, Dion and the original Belmonts performed once more, doing a sold-out concert at the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island, New York. However, no recording of the 1973 reunion was released. This was followed in 1975 by the album Born to Be with You produced by Phil Spector. The album was a commercial failure, but has been subsequently praised by such artists as Jason Pierce of Spiritualized and Pete Townshend of The Who with the track \"Only You Know\" being sampled by Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker for his single \"Don't Let Him Waste Your Time\" from his 2006 solo album Jarvis.\n\nIn 1978, Dion released an album drawing on many of his teenage influences, Return of the Wanderer, another commercial failure.\n\nIn December 1979, there was a radical spiritual change in Dion, who had become a born again Christian. Thereafter, his recordings for several years were in a contemporary Christian vein, in which he released five albums on the DaySpring Records label, a division of Word Records in Waco, Texas. These albums reflecting his evangelical Christian convictions were Inside Job (1980), Only Jesus (1981), I Put Away My Idols (1983) which charted at No. 37, Seasons (1984), Kingdom in the Streets (1985) and Velvet & Steel (1986). Several singles were successfully released to Christian radio, notably \"Still in the Spirit\" from Kingdom in the Streets.\n\nIn 1984, Dion won the GMA Dove Award (Christian Music Award) for the album I Put Away My Idols. He was also nominated for Grammy Award for Best Gospel Vocal Performance, Male for the same album.\n\nOn September 24, 1985, Dion was a guest on 100 Huntley Street.\n\nReturn to secular music and RRHOF induction: 1987–1999 \nIn 1987, Dion agreed to do a concert of his old hits at Radio City Music Hall in New York. The two disc CD of this concert was released in 2005, featuring concert photos by Dion's friend, Michael J. Friedman. This concert helped free him to celebrate both his past and his future, and led to a series of special appearances, including a fundraiser for homeless medical relief. There he shared the stage with fans such as Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon and Lou Reed, all of whom cited Dion as one of their prime influences.\n\nDion's autobiography, The Wanderer: Dion's Story, co-authored by Davin Seay, was published in the late-1980s.\n\nIn 1989, DiMucci returned to rock music with the contemporary album Yo Frankie, which included appearances by Paul Simon, Lou Reed, k.d. lang, Patty Smyth and Bryan Adams. Produced by Dave Edmunds (who also played guitar on the album), \"Yo Frankie has a sharp sound while never losing sight of Dion's soulful, doo-wop voice.\" Overall, \"the relevant and nostalgic statement from an artist who helped forge rock & roll's first wave\" found his way back on radio and in music videos during this period (both on VH1 and MTV), as well as touring.\n\nDion was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF) in 1989 (with an introduction by Lou Reed). Controversially, when Dion's solo induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame occurred, the other original members of the Belmonts (Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano, and Angelo D'Aleo) were not inducted. A January 3, 2012 Billboard magazine article stated: \"There was strife between DiMucci and Belmonts members, who were not pleased when DiMucci was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame without them in 1989.\"\n\nDiMucci joined Scott Kempner and Frank Funaro of the Del-Lords and Mike Mesaros of the Smithereens in a short-lived band called Little Kings. A live album was later released, but not widely circulated or promoted.\n\nGrammy Hall of Fame and blues success: 2000–2019 \nDion has released several albums with contemporary rock artists. His Déjà Nu album in 2000 found him covering Bruce Springsteen, a major follower over the years. He joined Springsteen onstage in Miami in 2002 for a performance of \"If I Should Fall Behind\" from Dream on Fire.\n\nIn 2002, Dion was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for \"Runaround Sue\". He continues to perform songs from his albums live, including a concert in 2004 being recorded for release on DVD.\n\nIn January 2006, Dion released Bronx in Blue, an album of blues and country standards, which was nominated for a Grammy Award. It peaked at No. 2 on the Top Blues Albums chart. In November 2007, Dion issued a follow-up album titled Son of Skip James, which peaked at No. 4 on the Top Blues Albums chart.\n\nIn October 2008, DiMucci released Heroes: Giants of Early Guitar Rock, an album of his covers of early rock and roll songs he considers seminal to the genre. The album includes versions of songs originally recorded by Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, Ricky Nelson, Johnny Cash, and many other early rock guitarists.\n\nIn October 2009, Dion performed \"The Wanderer\" with Paul Simon at the 25th Anniversary Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Concert.\n\nAn audiobook and paperback by Dion and Mike Aquilina, titled Dion: The Wanderer Talks Truth (Stories, Humor Music), was published in April 2011. DiMucci shares stories about The Bronx in the 1950s, how he ended up on the cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and his travels with Sam Cooke in the Jim Crow South.\n\nDion released Tank Full of Blues on January 24, 2012. It peaked at No. 3 on the Top Blues Albums chart.\n\nWhile touring on April 5, 2015, Dion performed \"Donna the Prima Donna\" live in Las Vegas. On July 11, 2015, he held a concert in Westbury, New York.\n\nIn 2015, Dion released the single \"New York Is My Home\" with Paul Simon. Dion had previously worked with Simon on his 1989 hit \"Written on the Subway Wall\". The single was followed by the album New York Is My Home, released February 12, 2016. The album peaked at No. 3 on the Top Blues Album chart.\n\nDion planned four concerts in the U.S. during early 2016 and was invited as a keynote speaker for the 2016 SXSW in Texas. He spoke on the topic A Conversation with Dion: Rock's Enduring Voice on March 17, 2016.\n\nDion appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on April 8, 2016.\n\nIn May 2017, Dion released Kickin' Child: The Lost Album 1965 from Norton Records, containing songs recorded in 1965 when he was with Columbia Records but were not previously released. Also in May 2017, Richard Barone's Sorrows & Promises: Greenwich Village in the 1960s was released, which included Dion performing a duet of his 1964 song \"The Road I'm On (Gloria)\" with Barone. The album is a celebration of the New York City scene that Dion was part of during that pivotal era.\n\nRecent albums with KTBA Records: 2020–present \nIn June 2020, Dion released Blues with Friends via Keeping the Blues Alive Records (KTBA), a new record label created by Joe Bonamassa and Roy Weisman for Dion and other blues musicians to showcase their talents. The album features Van Morrison, Jeff Beck, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, and others (including liner notes by Bob Dylan). A digital album (and a double vinyl record set), Dion released a music video for every song from the album on his website and social media platforms such as Facebook and YouTube. The album reached No. 1 on the Billboard Blues Albums chart (9 weeks at No. 1 and 59 weeks total). It also charted in United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Canada and Australia.\n\nAmerican Songwriter magazine honored Dion's \"Song for Sam Cooke (Here in America)\" as the \"Greatest of the Great 2020 Songs\".\n\nDion also released two Christmas songs in 2020: \"Hello Christmas\" (featuring Amy Grant) and \"You Know It's Christmas\" (featuring Bonamassa). Both songs were co-written with Mike Aquilina. Music videos were produced for both songs.\n\nDion's song \"Blues Comin' On\" (with Bonamassa) from Blues with Friends was nominated for a 2021 Blues Music Award.\n\nIn November 2021, Dion released Stomping Ground (with music videos), which includes extensive liner notes written by Pete Townshend. Except for a cover of \"Red House\", the songs were written by Dion and Aquilina. Multiple guest artists participate on the album. The album became Dion's second No. 1 blues album.\n\nThe Wanderer musical \nOn October 13, 2011, an industry-only reading of a new play about Dion's life was performed in New York City.\n\nIn a December 9, 2011 article from The New York Times, Dion and his collaborator (writer/director Charles Messina) discussed details about the project – titled The Wanderer: The Life and Music of Dion – which will focus on the years between 1957 until the late-1960s, and will feature more than 20 songs from that era as well as new/original music. In the article, Dion gave his perspective on the story: \"You know, I always saw my story as a young Sopranos with great music and a Rocky Graziano Somebody Up There Likes Me ending. It's a story of redemption. A rock and roll redemption story!\"\n\nDiMucci revealed that Michael Wartella would be starring in The Wanderer on December 16, 2017. There was a reading of the musical on November 2, 2017 while working on it continued. On December 4, 2019, it was announced that former New Kids on the Block member Joey McIntyre would star as Johnny, Michael Wartella as Dion, and Christy Altomare as wife, Susan. The first performance was scheduled to start on May 28, 2020, at the Paper Mill Playhouse. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the opening performance was rescheduled to March 24, 2022.\n\nPersonal life \nDion lives in Boca Raton, Florida and New York City.\n\nIn the late 1990s, Dion visited his old Bronx parish, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, and returned to Catholicism. Sparking Dion's reversion to Catholicism was \"a chance viewing of The Journey Home program on EWTN.\"\n\nAs a practicing Roman Catholic and having struggled with a heroin addiction during his youth, Dion has been involved in prison religion, reaching out to men going through drug recovery. \n\nDiMucci was a member of the American board of directors for Renewal Ministries in 2004.\n\nDion appeared on The Journey Home and discussed his wanderings from Catholicism to Protestantism and back again on May 1, 2006.\n\nSelective discography \n\nWith the Belmonts\n Presenting Dion and the Belmonts (1959) \n Wish Upon a Star with Dion and the Belmonts (1960) \n Together Again (1966)\n Live at Madison Square Garden 1972 (1973) \n\nSolo albums\n Alone with Dion (1961)\n Runaround Sue (1961)\n Donna the Prima Donna (1963) \n Dion (1968)\n Suite for Late Summer (1972)\n Born to Be with You (1975)\n Streetheart (1976)\n I Put Away My Idols (1983) \n Yo Frankie (1989)\n Son of Skip James (2007)\n Blues with Friends (2020)\n Stomping Ground (2021)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n\n \nComprehensive Rolling Stone profile\nThe Spiritual Journey of the Wanderer Who Came Home By Dion Dimucci\n\n Dion the Wanderer, Back In Blue (an article at NPR.com)\n\n1939 births\nLiving people\nAmerican male singers\nAmerican people of Italian descent\nAmerican male pop singers\nAmerican folk singers\nAmerican rock singers\nMusicians from the Bronx\nAmerican performers of Christian music\nLaurie Records artists\nColumbia Records artists\nSingers from New York City\nDion and the Belmonts members\nDoo-wop musicians\nCatholics from New York (state)"},"extractive":{"kind":"string","value":"true"},"retrieved_contexts":{"kind":"list like","value":["Fred Milano (August 26, 1939 – January 1, 2012) was an American doo-wop singer. Born in the Bronx, New York, he was a member (second tenor) of The Belmonts who became successful in the late 1950s as Dion and the Belmonts, and in the early 1960s. The Belmonts got their name from the street that Milano lived on, Belmont Avenue.\n\nLife\nHe had participated in every one of the Belmonts' recording sessions dating back 54 years. Dion DiMucci said of his death; \"I was shocked, obviously, because it was so sudden. It was already in stage four when he found out there was anything wrong with him. It hit hard because a relationship like we had, it’s ingrained in you. We knew each other from our teenage boyhoods; even though we weren’t close and didn’t talk in later years, what we went through together made us like family. He and the Belmonts — they were the very best. Freddie was almost like a genius with vocal harmony. I was humbled to sing with Freddie, Carlo and Angelo.\"\n\nIn 2000, Dion and the Belmonts were inducted in the Vocal Group Hall of Fame.\n\nMilano died on January 1, 2012, from lung cancer in New York, at the age of 72.\n\nDiscography\n\nSingles\n Mohawk Records \n \"Santa Margherita\" / \"Teen-Age Clementine\" (1957) - The Belmonts\n \"Tag Along\" / \"We Went Away\" (1958) - Dion and the Belmonts\n Laurie Records \n \"I Wonder Why\" / \"Teen Angel\" (1958) - Dion and the Belmonts\n \"No One Knows\" / \"I Can't Go On (Rosalie)\" (1958) - Dion and the Belmonts\n \"Don't Pity Me\" / \"Just You\" (1958) - Dion and the Belmonts\n \"A Teenager in Love\" / \"Ive Cried Before\" (1959) - Dion and the Belmonts\n \"A Lover's Prayer\" / \"Every Little Thing I Do\" (1959) - Dion and the Belmonts\n \"Where or When\" / \"That's My Desire\" (1960) - Dion and the Belmonts\n \"When You Wish upon a Star\" / \"Wonderful Girl\" (1960) - Dion and the Belmonts\n \"In the Still of the Night\" / \"A Funny Feeling\" (1960) - Dion and the Belmonts\n \"We Belong Together\" / \"Such A Long Way\" (1961) - The Belmonts\n \"Story Teller\" / \"A Brand New Song\" (1975) - The Belmonts\n Sabrina/Sabina Records \n \"Tell Me Why\" / \"Smoke From Your Cigarette\" (1961) - The Belmonts\n \"Don't Get Around Much Anymore\" / Searching For A New Love\" (1961) - The Belmonts\n \"I Need Someone\" / \"That American Dance\" (1961) - The Belmonts\n \"I Confess\" / \"Hombre\" (1962) - The Belmonts\n \"Come On Little Angel\" / \"How About Me\" (1962) - The Belmonts\n \"Diddle-Dee-Dum\" / \"Farewell\" (1962) - The Belmonts\n \"Ann-Marie\" / \"Ac-Cent-Tuate-The-Positive\" (1962) - The Belmonts\n \"Let's Call It A Day\" / \"Walk On Boy\" (1963) - The Belmonts\n \"More Important Things To Do\" / \"Walk On Boy\" (1963) - The Belmonts\n \"C'mon Everybody\" / \"Why\" (1963) - The Belmonts\n \"Nothing In Return\" / \"Summertime\" (1964) - The Belmonts\n United Artists Records \n \"I Don't Know Why, I Just Do\" / \"Wintertime\" (1965) - The Belmonts\n \"Today My Love Has Gone Away\" / \"(Then) I Walked Away\" (1965) - The Belmonts\n \"To Be With You\" / \"I Got A Feeling\" (1965) - The Belmonts\n \"You're Like A Mystery\" / \"Come With Me\" (1966) - The Belmonts\n ABC Records \n \"My Girl The Month of May\" / \"Berimbau\" (1966) - Dion and the Belmonts\n \"Movin' Man\" / \"For Bobbie\" (1967) - Dion and the Belmonts\n Dot Records \n \"She Only Wants To Do Her Own Thing\" / \"Reminiscing\" (1968) - The Belmonts\n \"Have You Heard-The Worst That Could Happen\" / \"Answer Me My Love\" (1969) - The Belmonts\n Strawberry Records \n \"I'll Never Fall In Love Again\" / \"Voyager\" (1976) - The Belmonts\n Miasound Records \n \"Let’s Put The Fun Back In Rock n Roll\" / \"Your Mama Ain’t Always Right\" (1981) - The Belmonts with Freddy Cannon\n\nAlbums\n Presenting Dion and the Belmonts (1959)\n Wish Upon A Star with Dion and the Belmonts (1960)\n Together Again (1967) - Dion and the Belmonts\n Summer Love (1969) - The Belmonts\n Cigars, Acappella, Candy (1972) - The Belmonts\n Reunion (1973) - Dion and the Belmonts\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n The Belmonts official website\n\n1939 births\n2012 deaths\nAmerican people of Italian descent\nAmerican male pop singers\nPeople from the Bronx\nDeaths from lung cancer\nDeaths from cancer in New York (state)\nDion and the Belmonts members\nBelmont, Bronx","Dion and the Belmonts were a leading American vocal group of the late 1950s. All of its members were from the Bronx, New York City. In 1957, Dion DiMucci (born July 18, 1939) joined the vocal group The Belmonts. The established trio of Angelo D'Aleo (born February 3, 1940), Carlo Mastrangelo (October 5, 1937April 4, 2016), and Fred Milano (August 26, 1939January 1, 2012), formed a quartet with DiMucci.\n\nHistory\nThe name the Belmonts was derived from the fact that two of the four singers lived on Belmont Avenue in the Bronx, and the other two lived near Belmont Avenue.\n\nAfter unsuccessful singles on Mohawk Records in 1957 and then on Jubilee Records (\"The Chosen Few\"; Dion & the Timberlanes not the Belmonts), Dion was paired with The Belmonts. The group signed with Laurie Records in early 1958. The breakthrough came when their first Laurie release, \"I Wonder Why\", reached No. 22 on the Billboard Top 100 chart, and they appeared for the first time on the nationally televised American Bandstand show, hosted by Dick Clark. Dion said of the Belmonts, \"I'd give 'em sounds. I'd give 'em parts and stuff. That's what 'I Wonder Why' was about. We kind of invented this percussive rhythmic sound. If you listen to that song, everybody was doing something different. It was totally amazing. When I listen to it today, often times I think, 'Man, those kids are talented'.\" Dion and the Belmonts were the sound of the city. Their roots were doo-wop groups like the Flamingos, the Five Satins, the Dells, acts who developed their sound in urban settings on street corners, mimicking instruments with their voices, even complex jazz arrangements.\n\nThey followed the hit with the ballads \"No One Knows\" (No. 19) and \"Don’t Pity Me\" (No. 40), which they also performed on Bandstand. This early success brought them their first major tour in late 1958, with the Coasters, Buddy Holly and Bobby Darin, followed by the historic and tragic Winter Dance Party tour featuring Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper. On February 2, 1959, after playing the Surf Ballroom, Holly arranged to charter a plane. Dion decided he could not afford the $36 cost to fly to the next venue. According to Dion, $36 was the same price his parents paid for monthly rent. He told Holly no. Shortly after midnight, on February 3, 1959, the plane crashed near Clear Lake, Iowa, with Holly, Valens, The Big Bopper, and the pilot, Roger Peterson, all being killed. Bobby Vee, then an unknown artist, performed in Holly's place at the next concert. Later, Jimmy Clanton, Frankie Avalon, and Fabian were hired to finish the tour in place of the three deceased headliners. As of January 11, 2017 with the death of Holly's tour guitarist Tommy Allsup, Dion is the lone surviving member of the original Winter Dance Party lineup. (The lone surviving Belmont, Angelo D'Aleo, was not on the tour, as he was in the US Navy at the time.)\n\nIn March 1959, Dion and the Belmonts’ next single, \"A Teenager in Love\", broke the Top Ten, reaching No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 28 on the UK Singles Chart. Written by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman, it's considered one of the greatest songs in rock and roll history. It was followed by their first album, Presenting Dion and the Belmonts. Their biggest hit, \"Where or When\", was released in November 1959, and reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 with the group making another national appearance on American Bandstand. Although publicity photos show the group as a trio without Angelo D'Aleo, he performed on all of their recorded material; these photos were presented for promotional reasons owing to his departure to serve in the U.S. Navy.\n\nOther singles released for the group that year continued to chart on Billboard, but were less successful. In early 1960, Dion checked into a hospital for heroin addiction, a problem he had since his mid-teens. At the height of the group's success his drug dependency worsened. When, \"Where or When\", peaked, he was in a hospital detoxifying. In addition, there were financial and musical differences between Dion and members of the Belmonts. \"They wanted to get into their harmony thing, and I wanted to rock and roll,\" said Dion. \"The label wanted me doing standards. I got bored with it quickly. I said, I can't do this. I gotta play my guitar. So we split up and I did \"Runaround Sue\", \"The Wanderer\", and \"Ruby Baby\". In October 1960, DiMucci decided to quit for a solo career. Now simply known as \"Dion\", his first major hit, \"Lonely Teenager\" was backed by a female chorus. He eventually chose to work with The Del-Satins, who backed him (uncredited) on all his early Laurie and Columbia Records hits, which, besides the three aforementioned hits Dion quoted, also included \"Donna the Prima Donna\" ,\"Drip Drop\", \"Lovers Who Wander\", and \"Little Diane\". Later reissues of these songs would often be erroneously attributed to Dion and the Belmonts. The Belmonts also continued to release records on their own label, Sabina Records, but with less success, although songs like \"Such a Long Way\", \"Tell Me Why\", \"I Need Someone\", \"I Confess\", and \"Come On Little Angel\" all got significant radio play in the New York City area.\n\nDion and the Belmonts reunited in late 1966 for the album Together Again on ABC Records. Produced by \"DiMont Music\", two singles were released from the LP, \"My Girl The Month of May\" / \"Berimbau\", and \"Movin' Man\" / \"For Bobbie\". Neither charted in the United States, but fared better in England. \"My Girl The Month Of May\" broke the \"Radio London Fab 40\" top ten at No. 9 the week of December 25, 1966. One reviewer stated, \"some British radio DJ's gave it a lot of airplay at the time.\" The follow up, \"Movin Man\", reached No. 17 on the \"Radio London\" chart on March 26, 1967. \"My Girl The Month Of May\", was later covered by English artists Alan Bown in 1967, and by The Bunch (featuring Sandy Denny of Fairport Convention) in April 1972. During their brief mid 1960s reunion, Dion and the Belmonts appeared on the Clay Cole Show performing \"Berimbau\" and \"My Girl The Month of May\", and occasionally performed at local New York City clubs such as \"The Mardi Gras\" on Staten Island (April 29, 1967) before disbanding. The original group reunited once again June 2, 1972 for a show at Madison Square Garden, which was recorded and released as a live album for Warner Brothers. A year later, in 1973, DiMucci, Mastrangelo, Milano and D'Aleo performed once more, doing a sold-out concert at the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island, New York. No recording of the 1973 reunion was ever released.\n\nIn 1968, as a solo performer, Dion recorded \"Abraham, Martin and John\" written by Dick Holler. It is a tribute to social change icons, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy. It was written as a response to the assassination of King in April and the assassination of Robert in June. When producer Phil Gernhard initially presented the song to DiMucci, the latter did not care for it. With the persistence of Gernhard, and Dion's wife Susan, he flew to New York that summer. He recorded the song in just one take. Laurie Records released the single in September of that year and it quickly raced up the chart, peaking at number four in December. DiMucci, now a star again, was invited to sing this comeback hit on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, as well as many other top shows.\n\nIncluding Billboard Hot 100 singles, Dion and the Belmonts charted 856 radio station surveys across the United States during the 1950s and 1960s. In 2000 the group was inducted in the Vocal Group Hall of Fame. Dion (without The Belmonts) was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989.\n\nRock Hall omission\nIn 2012, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame did a mass induction of six deserving pioneering groups that were left out in error when their lead singers were inducted in the Hall of Fame's early years of inductions: the Miracles (Smokey Robinson), the Crickets (Buddy Holly), the Midnighters (Hank Ballard), the Famous Flames (James Brown), the Comets (Bill Haley) and the Blue Caps (Gene Vincent) . Because of the timeline when these groups were successful, it was believed that the Belmonts would be included in this induction, but none was forthcoming. Because the Belmonts scored chart hits for an additional three years after Dion left the group, coupled with the fact that the entire group, including Dion, were inducted intact into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2000, 11 years after Dion's solo induction into the Rock Hall, made their omission even more puzzling. In January 2012, the year of that mass vocal group induction, Fred Milano of the Belmonts died (January 1, 2012). In a Billboard Magazine article, dated January 3, 2012, it was stated: \"There was strife between DiMucci and Belmonts members, who were not pleased when DiMucci was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame without them in 1989.\" Carlo Mastrangelo died on April 4, 2016.\n\nDiscography\n\nAlbums\nDion and the Belmonts released four albums:\nPresenting Dion & The Belmonts (1959) Laurie Records\nWish Upon a Star (1960) Laurie Records\nTogether Again (1966) ABC Records\nReunion: Live at Madison Square Garden (June 2, 1972) Released in 1973 by Warner Brothers Records\n\nThe two Laurie Records LPs are the most collectible, especially the first pressings of \"Presenting Dion and the Belmonts\", issued as Laurie LLP-1002 (later reissued as LLP-2002). There were also later compilations, some of which included the separate hits of The Belmonts, and some that included the hits of Dion, and Dion and The Belmonts.\n\nSingles\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n Dion & The Belmonts II\n VIDEO: Induct The Belmonts into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Dion\n\nAmerican vocal groups\nLaurie Records artists\nMusical groups established in 1957\nMusical groups from the Bronx\nDoo-wop groups\n1957 establishments in New York City"],"string":"[\n \"Fred Milano (August 26, 1939 – January 1, 2012) was an American doo-wop singer. Born in the Bronx, New York, he was a member (second tenor) of The Belmonts who became successful in the late 1950s as Dion and the Belmonts, and in the early 1960s. The Belmonts got their name from the street that Milano lived on, Belmont Avenue.\\n\\nLife\\nHe had participated in every one of the Belmonts' recording sessions dating back 54 years. Dion DiMucci said of his death; \\\"I was shocked, obviously, because it was so sudden. It was already in stage four when he found out there was anything wrong with him. It hit hard because a relationship like we had, it’s ingrained in you. We knew each other from our teenage boyhoods; even though we weren’t close and didn’t talk in later years, what we went through together made us like family. He and the Belmonts — they were the very best. Freddie was almost like a genius with vocal harmony. I was humbled to sing with Freddie, Carlo and Angelo.\\\"\\n\\nIn 2000, Dion and the Belmonts were inducted in the Vocal Group Hall of Fame.\\n\\nMilano died on January 1, 2012, from lung cancer in New York, at the age of 72.\\n\\nDiscography\\n\\nSingles\\n Mohawk Records \\n \\\"Santa Margherita\\\" / \\\"Teen-Age Clementine\\\" (1957) - The Belmonts\\n \\\"Tag Along\\\" / \\\"We Went Away\\\" (1958) - Dion and the Belmonts\\n Laurie Records \\n \\\"I Wonder Why\\\" / \\\"Teen Angel\\\" (1958) - Dion and the Belmonts\\n \\\"No One Knows\\\" / \\\"I Can't Go On (Rosalie)\\\" (1958) - Dion and the Belmonts\\n \\\"Don't Pity Me\\\" / \\\"Just You\\\" (1958) - Dion and the Belmonts\\n \\\"A Teenager in Love\\\" / \\\"Ive Cried Before\\\" (1959) - Dion and the Belmonts\\n \\\"A Lover's Prayer\\\" / \\\"Every Little Thing I Do\\\" (1959) - Dion and the Belmonts\\n \\\"Where or When\\\" / \\\"That's My Desire\\\" (1960) - Dion and the Belmonts\\n \\\"When You Wish upon a Star\\\" / \\\"Wonderful Girl\\\" (1960) - Dion and the Belmonts\\n \\\"In the Still of the Night\\\" / \\\"A Funny Feeling\\\" (1960) - Dion and the Belmonts\\n \\\"We Belong Together\\\" / \\\"Such A Long Way\\\" (1961) - The Belmonts\\n \\\"Story Teller\\\" / \\\"A Brand New Song\\\" (1975) - The Belmonts\\n Sabrina/Sabina Records \\n \\\"Tell Me Why\\\" / \\\"Smoke From Your Cigarette\\\" (1961) - The Belmonts\\n \\\"Don't Get Around Much Anymore\\\" / Searching For A New Love\\\" (1961) - The Belmonts\\n \\\"I Need Someone\\\" / \\\"That American Dance\\\" (1961) - The Belmonts\\n \\\"I Confess\\\" / \\\"Hombre\\\" (1962) - The Belmonts\\n \\\"Come On Little Angel\\\" / \\\"How About Me\\\" (1962) - The Belmonts\\n \\\"Diddle-Dee-Dum\\\" / \\\"Farewell\\\" (1962) - The Belmonts\\n \\\"Ann-Marie\\\" / \\\"Ac-Cent-Tuate-The-Positive\\\" (1962) - The Belmonts\\n \\\"Let's Call It A Day\\\" / \\\"Walk On Boy\\\" (1963) - The Belmonts\\n \\\"More Important Things To Do\\\" / \\\"Walk On Boy\\\" (1963) - The Belmonts\\n \\\"C'mon Everybody\\\" / \\\"Why\\\" (1963) - The Belmonts\\n \\\"Nothing In Return\\\" / \\\"Summertime\\\" (1964) - The Belmonts\\n United Artists Records \\n \\\"I Don't Know Why, I Just Do\\\" / \\\"Wintertime\\\" (1965) - The Belmonts\\n \\\"Today My Love Has Gone Away\\\" / \\\"(Then) I Walked Away\\\" (1965) - The Belmonts\\n \\\"To Be With You\\\" / \\\"I Got A Feeling\\\" (1965) - The Belmonts\\n \\\"You're Like A Mystery\\\" / \\\"Come With Me\\\" (1966) - The Belmonts\\n ABC Records \\n \\\"My Girl The Month of May\\\" / \\\"Berimbau\\\" (1966) - Dion and the Belmonts\\n \\\"Movin' Man\\\" / \\\"For Bobbie\\\" (1967) - Dion and the Belmonts\\n Dot Records \\n \\\"She Only Wants To Do Her Own Thing\\\" / \\\"Reminiscing\\\" (1968) - The Belmonts\\n \\\"Have You Heard-The Worst That Could Happen\\\" / \\\"Answer Me My Love\\\" (1969) - The Belmonts\\n Strawberry Records \\n \\\"I'll Never Fall In Love Again\\\" / \\\"Voyager\\\" (1976) - The Belmonts\\n Miasound Records \\n \\\"Let’s Put The Fun Back In Rock n Roll\\\" / \\\"Your Mama Ain’t Always Right\\\" (1981) - The Belmonts with Freddy Cannon\\n\\nAlbums\\n Presenting Dion and the Belmonts (1959)\\n Wish Upon A Star with Dion and the Belmonts (1960)\\n Together Again (1967) - Dion and the Belmonts\\n Summer Love (1969) - The Belmonts\\n Cigars, Acappella, Candy (1972) - The Belmonts\\n Reunion (1973) - Dion and the Belmonts\\n\\nReferences\\n\\nExternal links\\n The Belmonts official website\\n\\n1939 births\\n2012 deaths\\nAmerican people of Italian descent\\nAmerican male pop singers\\nPeople from the Bronx\\nDeaths from lung cancer\\nDeaths from cancer in New York (state)\\nDion and the Belmonts members\\nBelmont, Bronx\",\n \"Dion and the Belmonts were a leading American vocal group of the late 1950s. All of its members were from the Bronx, New York City. In 1957, Dion DiMucci (born July 18, 1939) joined the vocal group The Belmonts. The established trio of Angelo D'Aleo (born February 3, 1940), Carlo Mastrangelo (October 5, 1937April 4, 2016), and Fred Milano (August 26, 1939January 1, 2012), formed a quartet with DiMucci.\\n\\nHistory\\nThe name the Belmonts was derived from the fact that two of the four singers lived on Belmont Avenue in the Bronx, and the other two lived near Belmont Avenue.\\n\\nAfter unsuccessful singles on Mohawk Records in 1957 and then on Jubilee Records (\\\"The Chosen Few\\\"; Dion & the Timberlanes not the Belmonts), Dion was paired with The Belmonts. The group signed with Laurie Records in early 1958. The breakthrough came when their first Laurie release, \\\"I Wonder Why\\\", reached No. 22 on the Billboard Top 100 chart, and they appeared for the first time on the nationally televised American Bandstand show, hosted by Dick Clark. Dion said of the Belmonts, \\\"I'd give 'em sounds. I'd give 'em parts and stuff. That's what 'I Wonder Why' was about. We kind of invented this percussive rhythmic sound. If you listen to that song, everybody was doing something different. It was totally amazing. When I listen to it today, often times I think, 'Man, those kids are talented'.\\\" Dion and the Belmonts were the sound of the city. Their roots were doo-wop groups like the Flamingos, the Five Satins, the Dells, acts who developed their sound in urban settings on street corners, mimicking instruments with their voices, even complex jazz arrangements.\\n\\nThey followed the hit with the ballads \\\"No One Knows\\\" (No. 19) and \\\"Don’t Pity Me\\\" (No. 40), which they also performed on Bandstand. This early success brought them their first major tour in late 1958, with the Coasters, Buddy Holly and Bobby Darin, followed by the historic and tragic Winter Dance Party tour featuring Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper. On February 2, 1959, after playing the Surf Ballroom, Holly arranged to charter a plane. Dion decided he could not afford the $36 cost to fly to the next venue. According to Dion, $36 was the same price his parents paid for monthly rent. He told Holly no. Shortly after midnight, on February 3, 1959, the plane crashed near Clear Lake, Iowa, with Holly, Valens, The Big Bopper, and the pilot, Roger Peterson, all being killed. Bobby Vee, then an unknown artist, performed in Holly's place at the next concert. Later, Jimmy Clanton, Frankie Avalon, and Fabian were hired to finish the tour in place of the three deceased headliners. As of January 11, 2017 with the death of Holly's tour guitarist Tommy Allsup, Dion is the lone surviving member of the original Winter Dance Party lineup. (The lone surviving Belmont, Angelo D'Aleo, was not on the tour, as he was in the US Navy at the time.)\\n\\nIn March 1959, Dion and the Belmonts’ next single, \\\"A Teenager in Love\\\", broke the Top Ten, reaching No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 28 on the UK Singles Chart. Written by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman, it's considered one of the greatest songs in rock and roll history. It was followed by their first album, Presenting Dion and the Belmonts. Their biggest hit, \\\"Where or When\\\", was released in November 1959, and reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 with the group making another national appearance on American Bandstand. Although publicity photos show the group as a trio without Angelo D'Aleo, he performed on all of their recorded material; these photos were presented for promotional reasons owing to his departure to serve in the U.S. Navy.\\n\\nOther singles released for the group that year continued to chart on Billboard, but were less successful. In early 1960, Dion checked into a hospital for heroin addiction, a problem he had since his mid-teens. At the height of the group's success his drug dependency worsened. When, \\\"Where or When\\\", peaked, he was in a hospital detoxifying. In addition, there were financial and musical differences between Dion and members of the Belmonts. \\\"They wanted to get into their harmony thing, and I wanted to rock and roll,\\\" said Dion. \\\"The label wanted me doing standards. I got bored with it quickly. I said, I can't do this. I gotta play my guitar. So we split up and I did \\\"Runaround Sue\\\", \\\"The Wanderer\\\", and \\\"Ruby Baby\\\". In October 1960, DiMucci decided to quit for a solo career. Now simply known as \\\"Dion\\\", his first major hit, \\\"Lonely Teenager\\\" was backed by a female chorus. He eventually chose to work with The Del-Satins, who backed him (uncredited) on all his early Laurie and Columbia Records hits, which, besides the three aforementioned hits Dion quoted, also included \\\"Donna the Prima Donna\\\" ,\\\"Drip Drop\\\", \\\"Lovers Who Wander\\\", and \\\"Little Diane\\\". Later reissues of these songs would often be erroneously attributed to Dion and the Belmonts. The Belmonts also continued to release records on their own label, Sabina Records, but with less success, although songs like \\\"Such a Long Way\\\", \\\"Tell Me Why\\\", \\\"I Need Someone\\\", \\\"I Confess\\\", and \\\"Come On Little Angel\\\" all got significant radio play in the New York City area.\\n\\nDion and the Belmonts reunited in late 1966 for the album Together Again on ABC Records. Produced by \\\"DiMont Music\\\", two singles were released from the LP, \\\"My Girl The Month of May\\\" / \\\"Berimbau\\\", and \\\"Movin' Man\\\" / \\\"For Bobbie\\\". Neither charted in the United States, but fared better in England. \\\"My Girl The Month Of May\\\" broke the \\\"Radio London Fab 40\\\" top ten at No. 9 the week of December 25, 1966. One reviewer stated, \\\"some British radio DJ's gave it a lot of airplay at the time.\\\" The follow up, \\\"Movin Man\\\", reached No. 17 on the \\\"Radio London\\\" chart on March 26, 1967. \\\"My Girl The Month Of May\\\", was later covered by English artists Alan Bown in 1967, and by The Bunch (featuring Sandy Denny of Fairport Convention) in April 1972. During their brief mid 1960s reunion, Dion and the Belmonts appeared on the Clay Cole Show performing \\\"Berimbau\\\" and \\\"My Girl The Month of May\\\", and occasionally performed at local New York City clubs such as \\\"The Mardi Gras\\\" on Staten Island (April 29, 1967) before disbanding. The original group reunited once again June 2, 1972 for a show at Madison Square Garden, which was recorded and released as a live album for Warner Brothers. A year later, in 1973, DiMucci, Mastrangelo, Milano and D'Aleo performed once more, doing a sold-out concert at the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island, New York. No recording of the 1973 reunion was ever released.\\n\\nIn 1968, as a solo performer, Dion recorded \\\"Abraham, Martin and John\\\" written by Dick Holler. It is a tribute to social change icons, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy. It was written as a response to the assassination of King in April and the assassination of Robert in June. When producer Phil Gernhard initially presented the song to DiMucci, the latter did not care for it. With the persistence of Gernhard, and Dion's wife Susan, he flew to New York that summer. He recorded the song in just one take. Laurie Records released the single in September of that year and it quickly raced up the chart, peaking at number four in December. DiMucci, now a star again, was invited to sing this comeback hit on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, as well as many other top shows.\\n\\nIncluding Billboard Hot 100 singles, Dion and the Belmonts charted 856 radio station surveys across the United States during the 1950s and 1960s. In 2000 the group was inducted in the Vocal Group Hall of Fame. Dion (without The Belmonts) was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989.\\n\\nRock Hall omission\\nIn 2012, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame did a mass induction of six deserving pioneering groups that were left out in error when their lead singers were inducted in the Hall of Fame's early years of inductions: the Miracles (Smokey Robinson), the Crickets (Buddy Holly), the Midnighters (Hank Ballard), the Famous Flames (James Brown), the Comets (Bill Haley) and the Blue Caps (Gene Vincent) . Because of the timeline when these groups were successful, it was believed that the Belmonts would be included in this induction, but none was forthcoming. Because the Belmonts scored chart hits for an additional three years after Dion left the group, coupled with the fact that the entire group, including Dion, were inducted intact into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2000, 11 years after Dion's solo induction into the Rock Hall, made their omission even more puzzling. In January 2012, the year of that mass vocal group induction, Fred Milano of the Belmonts died (January 1, 2012). In a Billboard Magazine article, dated January 3, 2012, it was stated: \\\"There was strife between DiMucci and Belmonts members, who were not pleased when DiMucci was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame without them in 1989.\\\" Carlo Mastrangelo died on April 4, 2016.\\n\\nDiscography\\n\\nAlbums\\nDion and the Belmonts released four albums:\\nPresenting Dion & The Belmonts (1959) Laurie Records\\nWish Upon a Star (1960) Laurie Records\\nTogether Again (1966) ABC Records\\nReunion: Live at Madison Square Garden (June 2, 1972) Released in 1973 by Warner Brothers Records\\n\\nThe two Laurie Records LPs are the most collectible, especially the first pressings of \\\"Presenting Dion and the Belmonts\\\", issued as Laurie LLP-1002 (later reissued as LLP-2002). There were also later compilations, some of which included the separate hits of The Belmonts, and some that included the hits of Dion, and Dion and The Belmonts.\\n\\nSingles\\n\\nReferences\\n\\nExternal links\\n\\n Dion & The Belmonts II\\n VIDEO: Induct The Belmonts into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Dion\\n\\nAmerican vocal groups\\nLaurie Records artists\\nMusical groups established in 1957\\nMusical groups from the Bronx\\nDoo-wop groups\\n1957 establishments in New York City\"\n]"},"chunked_article":{"kind":"list like","value":["Dion Francis DiMucci (born July 18, 1939), better known simply as Dion, is an American singer and songwriter whose music has incorporated elements of doo-wop, rock, R&B and blues. Initially as lead singer of Dion and the Belmonts, and then in his solo career, he was one of the most popular American rock and roll performers of the pre-British Invasion era. He had 39 Top 40 hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s as a solo performer, with the Belmonts or with the Del-Satins.","He had 39 Top 40 hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s as a solo performer, with the Belmonts or with the Del-Satins. He is best remembered for the singles \"Runaround Sue\", \"The Wanderer\", \"Ruby Baby\" and \"Lovers Who Wander\", among other hits. Dion's popularity waned in the mid-1960s. Toward the end of the decade, he shifted his style and produced songs that were more mature and contemplative, such as \"Abraham, Martin and John\".","Toward the end of the decade, he shifted his style and produced songs that were more mature and contemplative, such as \"Abraham, Martin and John\". He remained popular in the late 1960s until the mid-1970s, and continues making music. During the 1980s, Dion produced several Christian albums, winning a GMA Dove Award in 1984 for the album I Put Away My Idols. He returned to secular music in the late 1980s with Yo Frankie (1989).","He returned to secular music in the late 1980s with Yo Frankie (1989). Between the mid-2000s and 2021, Dion released six chart-topping blues albums. Critics who had dismissed his early work, labeling him as a teen idol, praised his later work and noted the influence he has had on other musicians. A Grammy-nominated artist, Dion has released nearly 40 albums and scored eight Top 10 hits (ten including the Belmonts) on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.","A Grammy-nominated artist, Dion has released nearly 40 albums and scored eight Top 10 hits (ten including the Belmonts) on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989. Early life Dion was born to an Italian-American family in the Bronx, New York. As a child, he accompanied his father, Pasquale DiMucci, a vaudeville entertainer, on tour, and developed a love of country music – particularly the work of Hank Williams.","As a child, he accompanied his father, Pasquale DiMucci, a vaudeville entertainer, on tour, and developed a love of country music – particularly the work of Hank Williams. He also developed a fondness for the blues and doo-wop musicians he heard performing in local bars and on the radio. His singing was honed on the street corners and local clubs of the Bronx, where he and other neighborhood singers created a cappella riffs. In early 1957, he auditioned for Bob and Gene Schwartz for their short-lived Mohawk Records label.","In early 1957, he auditioned for Bob and Gene Schwartz for their short-lived Mohawk Records label. They asked Dion to sing a song which had been arranged by Hugo Montenegro and recorded featuring Vic Damone doing vocals. At first Dion refused, stating the song would sound like something his old fashioned parents would listen to, but the Schwartzes convinced him to give it a try. The backing vocals were by a group called \"the Timberlanes\", whom Dion had never met.","The backing vocals were by a group called \"the Timberlanes\", whom Dion had never met. The resulting single, \"The Chosen Few\", was released under the name \"Dion and the Timberlanes\", and became a minor regional hit.","The resulting single, \"The Chosen Few\", was released under the name \"Dion and the Timberlanes\", and became a minor regional hit. Dion himself stated in 2019 during an interview at \"Crashing the Party\" (a radio program related to Norton Records in Brooklyn, New York) that \"The Chosen Few\" hit the Top Ten locally in Boston and enabled him to perform this song on American Bandstand where the kids at the show started screaming during his performance, which gave him his first impression of being a record star.","Dion himself stated in 2019 during an interview at \"Crashing the Party\" (a radio program related to Norton Records in Brooklyn, New York) that \"The Chosen Few\" hit the Top Ten locally in Boston and enabled him to perform this song on American Bandstand where the kids at the show started screaming during his performance, which gave him his first impression of being a record star. Writing about this experience later, in his autobiography, The Wanderer, Dion said that he had never met the Timberlanes and did not even know who they were.","Writing about this experience later, in his autobiography, The Wanderer, Dion said that he had never met the Timberlanes and did not even know who they were. \"The vocal group was so white bread, I went back to my neighborhood and I recruited a bunch of guys – three guys – and we called ourselves Dion and the Belmonts.\"","\"The vocal group was so white bread, I went back to my neighborhood and I recruited a bunch of guys – three guys – and we called ourselves Dion and the Belmonts.\" Career Beginnings with the Belmonts: 1957–1960 Bob and Gene Schwartz signed Dion's friends, the Belmonts (Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano, and Angelo D'Aleo), a vocal group named for the Belmont, Bronx neighborhood, and teamed them up with Dion singing lead.","Career Beginnings with the Belmonts: 1957–1960 Bob and Gene Schwartz signed Dion's friends, the Belmonts (Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano, and Angelo D'Aleo), a vocal group named for the Belmont, Bronx neighborhood, and teamed them up with Dion singing lead. The new group's breakthrough came in early 1958, when \"I Wonder Why\" (on their newly formed Laurie Records) made No. 22 on the U.S. charts. Dion said of the Belmonts; \"I'd give 'em sounds.","Dion said of the Belmonts; \"I'd give 'em sounds. I'd give 'em parts and stuff. That's what 'I Wonder Why' was about. We kind of invented this percussive rhythmic sound. If you listen to that song, everybody was doing something different. There's four guys, one guy was doing bass, I was singing lead, one guy's going 'ooh wah ooh,' and another guy's doing tenor. It was totally amazing.","It was totally amazing. It was totally amazing. When I listen to it today, oftentimes I think, 'man, those kids are talented.'\" Their initial hit was followed by \"No One Knows\" and \"Don't Pity Me\", which also charted the Billboard Top 100. This success won a place for Dion and the Belmonts on the ill-fated \"The Winter Dance Party\" tour with Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson), Frankie Sardo, and other performers.","This success won a place for Dion and the Belmonts on the ill-fated \"The Winter Dance Party\" tour with Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson), Frankie Sardo, and other performers. On February 3, 1959, after a concert stop in Clear Lake, Iowa, Holly and others decided to charter a flight to the next venue rather than travel on the tour bus.","On February 3, 1959, after a concert stop in Clear Lake, Iowa, Holly and others decided to charter a flight to the next venue rather than travel on the tour bus. Dion was invited to accompany the group but decided that he did not want to spend $36 for the flight, as it was the same monthly rent his parents paid for his childhood apartment and he could not justify the indulgence.","Dion was invited to accompany the group but decided that he did not want to spend $36 for the flight, as it was the same monthly rent his parents paid for his childhood apartment and he could not justify the indulgence. The plane crashed, killing all on board: Holly, Valens, Richardson, and the pilot Roger Peterson. Dion and the Belmonts continued on the tour, along with Frankie Sardo, while Bobby Vee, then an unknown artist, performed in Holly's place at the very next concert.","Dion and the Belmonts continued on the tour, along with Frankie Sardo, while Bobby Vee, then an unknown artist, performed in Holly's place at the very next concert. Later, Jimmy Clanton, Frankie Avalon, and Fabian were added to replace the other now-deceased headliners. Dion and the Belmonts' next single, \"A Teenager in Love\", was released in March 1959, eventually hitting No. 5 on the U.S. pop charts and No. 28 in the UK.","5 on the U.S. pop charts and No. 28 in the UK. 28 in the UK. The group's biggest hit, \"Where or When\", was released in November of that year, and reached No. 3 on the U.S. charts. However, in early 1960, Dion checked into hospital for heroin addiction, a problem he had had since his mid-teens. Further single releases for the group that year were less successful.","Further single releases for the group that year were less successful. There were musical, personal and financial differences between Dion and members of the Belmonts, and in October 1960, Dion decided to quit for a solo career. By the time of their breakup, all eight Laurie releases had charted on the Hot 100. Solo stardom and touring worldwide: 1960–1964 By the end of 1960, Dion produced his first solo album on Laurie Records, Alone with Dion, released in 1961.","Solo stardom and touring worldwide: 1960–1964 By the end of 1960, Dion produced his first solo album on Laurie Records, Alone with Dion, released in 1961. The single \"Lonely Teenager\" rose to No. 12 in the US charts. The name on his solo releases was simply \"Dion\". Follow-ups \"Havin' Fun\" and \"Kissin' Game\" had less success, and the signs were that Dion would drift onto the cabaret circuit.","Follow-ups \"Havin' Fun\" and \"Kissin' Game\" had less success, and the signs were that Dion would drift onto the cabaret circuit. However, he then recorded an up-tempo number co-written with Ernie Maresca with a new vocal group, the Del-Satins. The record, \"Runaround Sue\", stormed up the U.S. charts, reaching No. 1 in October 1961, and No. 11 in the UK, where he also toured. \"Runaround Sue\" sold over a million copies, achieving gold disc status.","\"Runaround Sue\" sold over a million copies, achieving gold disc status. For the next single, Laurie promoted the A-side, \"The Majestic\", but it was the B-side, Maresca's \"The Wanderer\", which received more radio play and climbed swiftly up the charts to reach No. 2 in the U.S. in February 1962 and No. 10 in the UK. The 1976 re-release made the UK Top 20.","The 1976 re-release made the UK Top 20. The 1976 re-release made the UK Top 20. By the end of 1961, Dion had become a major star, touring worldwide and making an appearance in the Columbia Pictures musical film Twist Around the Clock. In 1962, he followed with a string of singles he wrote or co-wrote including \"Lovers Who Wander\" (No. 3), \"Little Diane\" (No. 8), \"Love Came to Me\" (No. 10).","8), \"Love Came to Me\" (No. 10). 10). He also had successful albums with Runaround Sue and Lovers Who Wander. At the end of 1962, Dion moved from Laurie to Columbia Records. He was the first rock and roll artist signed to the label, which was an anomaly considering that its then-A&R director, Mitch Miller, loathed that particular genre of music.","He was the first rock and roll artist signed to the label, which was an anomaly considering that its then-A&R director, Mitch Miller, loathed that particular genre of music. The first Columbia single, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller's \"Ruby Baby\" (originally a hit for the Drifters) reached No. 2, while \"Donna the Prima Donna\" and \"Drip Drop\" (another remake of a Drifters hit) both reached No. 6 in late 1963.","6 in late 1963. 6 in late 1963. (Dion also recorded an Italian version of \"Donna the Prima Donna\" using the identical backup vocals.) His other Columbia releases were less successful, and problems with his drug addiction and changing public tastes, especially the British Invasion, saw a period of commercial decline. Belmonts reunion and renewed contract: 1965–1968 Following a European tour, Dion returned to the U.S. and was introduced to classic blues by Columbia's John Hammond.","Belmonts reunion and renewed contract: 1965–1968 Following a European tour, Dion returned to the U.S. and was introduced to classic blues by Columbia's John Hammond. To the consternation of his management, he began recording more blues-oriented material, including Willie Dixon's \"Hoochie Coochie Man\" and \"Spoonful\", but these releases – some produced by Tom Wilson, with Al Kooper on keyboards – were not commercially successful.","To the consternation of his management, he began recording more blues-oriented material, including Willie Dixon's \"Hoochie Coochie Man\" and \"Spoonful\", but these releases – some produced by Tom Wilson, with Al Kooper on keyboards – were not commercially successful. In 1965, still with Columbia, Dion formed a new group to back him, The Wanderers, composed of John Falbo on guitar, Pete Baron (Pete Falciglia) on bass, and Carlo Mastrangelo of the Belmonts on drums.","In 1965, still with Columbia, Dion formed a new group to back him, The Wanderers, composed of John Falbo on guitar, Pete Baron (Pete Falciglia) on bass, and Carlo Mastrangelo of the Belmonts on drums. They made national appearances on Dick Clark's, Where The Action Is, and The Lloyd Thaxton Show. A number of self-penned tracks were recorded and released unsuccessfully as singles, and did not appear in album format until years later.","A number of self-penned tracks were recorded and released unsuccessfully as singles, and did not appear in album format until years later. In June 1965 he recorded fellow Columbia Records's contemporary Bob Dylan's composition \"It's All Over Now, Baby Blue\" a half-year before Them (featuring Van Morrison)'s hit version. In 1966–67, Dion briefly reunited with the Belmonts, recording the LP Together Again for ABC Records. The album was unsuccessful, despite one classic self-penned song, \"My Girl the Month of May\".","The album was unsuccessful, despite one classic self-penned song, \"My Girl the Month of May\". Two singles were released from the LP. While neither charted in the United States, they fared better in the UK. \"My Girl The Month of May\" entered the Radio London \"Fab 40\" at No. 9 the week of December 25, 1966.","9 the week of December 25, 1966. 9 the week of December 25, 1966. A 'turntable' hit at London underground clubs like Middle Earth, the disc received a lot of play from pirate radio DJ's John Peel and Kenny Everett. The follow up, \"Movin' Man\", reached No. 17 on the \"Radio London\" charts on Easter Sunday, March 26, 1967.","17 on the \"Radio London\" charts on Easter Sunday, March 26, 1967. \"My Girl The Month of May\" was later covered by English artists Alan Bown in 1967, and Island Records artists The Bunch (featuring Sandy Denny and other members of Fairport Convention) in April 1972.","\"My Girl The Month of May\" was later covered by English artists Alan Bown in 1967, and Island Records artists The Bunch (featuring Sandy Denny and other members of Fairport Convention) in April 1972. During their brief mid-60's reunion, Dion and the Belmonts appeared on the popular Clay Cole Show performing \"Berimbau\" and \"My Girl The Month of May\", and occasionally performed at local New York City clubs such as \"The Mardi Gras\" on Staten Island (April 29, 1967) before disbanding.","During their brief mid-60's reunion, Dion and the Belmonts appeared on the popular Clay Cole Show performing \"Berimbau\" and \"My Girl The Month of May\", and occasionally performed at local New York City clubs such as \"The Mardi Gras\" on Staten Island (April 29, 1967) before disbanding. While Dion's career appeared to be nearing an end, he still retained enough credibility to be, along with Bob Dylan, one of only two rock artists featured on the album cover of the Beatles' Sgt.","While Dion's career appeared to be nearing an end, he still retained enough credibility to be, along with Bob Dylan, one of only two rock artists featured on the album cover of the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in 1967. In April 1968, Dion experienced what he identified as a powerful religious transformation. After getting clean once again from heroin addiction, an experience he documented in his 1970 song \"Your Own Backyard\", he approached Laurie Records for a new contract.","After getting clean once again from heroin addiction, an experience he documented in his 1970 song \"Your Own Backyard\", he approached Laurie Records for a new contract. They agreed on the condition that he record the song \"Abraham, Martin & John\", written by Dick Holler (also the writer of the Royal Guardsmen's \"Snoopy Vs.","They agreed on the condition that he record the song \"Abraham, Martin & John\", written by Dick Holler (also the writer of the Royal Guardsmen's \"Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron\") in response to the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, and those of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy during the spring of 1968. The success of this song (released by Dion in August 1968 and later recorded by many others including Marvin Gaye) which reached No.","The success of this song (released by Dion in August 1968 and later recorded by many others including Marvin Gaye) which reached No. 4 in the US charts and No. 1 in Canada, resuscitated Dion's career. It sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc. Mature and Christian music period: 1969–1986 For the next few years, Dion's music became radically different, moving to more contemplative and mature material.","Mature and Christian music period: 1969–1986 For the next few years, Dion's music became radically different, moving to more contemplative and mature material. He released several albums essentially as a singer-songwriter, to moderate sales, moving to the Warner Brothers label in 1969. There followed a live reunion show with the Belmonts at Madison Square Garden on June 2, 1972, which was recorded and released as a live album by Warner.","There followed a live reunion show with the Belmonts at Madison Square Garden on June 2, 1972, which was recorded and released as a live album by Warner. A year later, in 1973, Dion and the original Belmonts performed once more, doing a sold-out concert at the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island, New York. However, no recording of the 1973 reunion was released. This was followed in 1975 by the album Born to Be with You produced by Phil Spector.","This was followed in 1975 by the album Born to Be with You produced by Phil Spector. The album was a commercial failure, but has been subsequently praised by such artists as Jason Pierce of Spiritualized and Pete Townshend of The Who with the track \"Only You Know\" being sampled by Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker for his single \"Don't Let Him Waste Your Time\" from his 2006 solo album Jarvis.","The album was a commercial failure, but has been subsequently praised by such artists as Jason Pierce of Spiritualized and Pete Townshend of The Who with the track \"Only You Know\" being sampled by Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker for his single \"Don't Let Him Waste Your Time\" from his 2006 solo album Jarvis. In 1978, Dion released an album drawing on many of his teenage influences, Return of the Wanderer, another commercial failure.","In 1978, Dion released an album drawing on many of his teenage influences, Return of the Wanderer, another commercial failure. In December 1979, there was a radical spiritual change in Dion, who had become a born again Christian. Thereafter, his recordings for several years were in a contemporary Christian vein, in which he released five albums on the DaySpring Records label, a division of Word Records in Waco, Texas.","Thereafter, his recordings for several years were in a contemporary Christian vein, in which he released five albums on the DaySpring Records label, a division of Word Records in Waco, Texas. These albums reflecting his evangelical Christian convictions were Inside Job (1980), Only Jesus (1981), I Put Away My Idols (1983) which charted at No. 37, Seasons (1984), Kingdom in the Streets (1985) and Velvet & Steel (1986).","37, Seasons (1984), Kingdom in the Streets (1985) and Velvet & Steel (1986). Several singles were successfully released to Christian radio, notably \"Still in the Spirit\" from Kingdom in the Streets. In 1984, Dion won the GMA Dove Award (Christian Music Award) for the album I Put Away My Idols. He was also nominated for Grammy Award for Best Gospel Vocal Performance, Male for the same album.","He was also nominated for Grammy Award for Best Gospel Vocal Performance, Male for the same album. On September 24, 1985, Dion was a guest on 100 Huntley Street. Return to secular music and RRHOF induction: 1987–1999 In 1987, Dion agreed to do a concert of his old hits at Radio City Music Hall in New York. The two disc CD of this concert was released in 2005, featuring concert photos by Dion's friend, Michael J. Friedman.","The two disc CD of this concert was released in 2005, featuring concert photos by Dion's friend, Michael J. Friedman. This concert helped free him to celebrate both his past and his future, and led to a series of special appearances, including a fundraiser for homeless medical relief. There he shared the stage with fans such as Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon and Lou Reed, all of whom cited Dion as one of their prime influences.","There he shared the stage with fans such as Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon and Lou Reed, all of whom cited Dion as one of their prime influences. Dion's autobiography, The Wanderer: Dion's Story, co-authored by Davin Seay, was published in the late-1980s. In 1989, DiMucci returned to rock music with the contemporary album Yo Frankie, which included appearances by Paul Simon, Lou Reed, k.d. lang, Patty Smyth and Bryan Adams.","lang, Patty Smyth and Bryan Adams. lang, Patty Smyth and Bryan Adams. Produced by Dave Edmunds (who also played guitar on the album), \"Yo Frankie has a sharp sound while never losing sight of Dion's soulful, doo-wop voice.\" Overall, \"the relevant and nostalgic statement from an artist who helped forge rock & roll's first wave\" found his way back on radio and in music videos during this period (both on VH1 and MTV), as well as touring.","Overall, \"the relevant and nostalgic statement from an artist who helped forge rock & roll's first wave\" found his way back on radio and in music videos during this period (both on VH1 and MTV), as well as touring. Dion was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF) in 1989 (with an introduction by Lou Reed).","Dion was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF) in 1989 (with an introduction by Lou Reed). Controversially, when Dion's solo induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame occurred, the other original members of the Belmonts (Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano, and Angelo D'Aleo) were not inducted.","Controversially, when Dion's solo induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame occurred, the other original members of the Belmonts (Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano, and Angelo D'Aleo) were not inducted. A January 3, 2012 Billboard magazine article stated: \"There was strife between DiMucci and Belmonts members, who were not pleased when DiMucci was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame without them in 1989.\"","A January 3, 2012 Billboard magazine article stated: \"There was strife between DiMucci and Belmonts members, who were not pleased when DiMucci was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame without them in 1989.\" DiMucci joined Scott Kempner and Frank Funaro of the Del-Lords and Mike Mesaros of the Smithereens in a short-lived band called Little Kings. A live album was later released, but not widely circulated or promoted. Grammy Hall of Fame and blues success: 2000–2019 Dion has released several albums with contemporary rock artists.","Grammy Hall of Fame and blues success: 2000–2019 Dion has released several albums with contemporary rock artists. His Déjà Nu album in 2000 found him covering Bruce Springsteen, a major follower over the years. He joined Springsteen onstage in Miami in 2002 for a performance of \"If I Should Fall Behind\" from Dream on Fire. In 2002, Dion was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for \"Runaround Sue\".","In 2002, Dion was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for \"Runaround Sue\". He continues to perform songs from his albums live, including a concert in 2004 being recorded for release on DVD. In January 2006, Dion released Bronx in Blue, an album of blues and country standards, which was nominated for a Grammy Award. It peaked at No. 2 on the Top Blues Albums chart. In November 2007, Dion issued a follow-up album titled Son of Skip James, which peaked at No.","In November 2007, Dion issued a follow-up album titled Son of Skip James, which peaked at No. 4 on the Top Blues Albums chart. In October 2008, DiMucci released Heroes: Giants of Early Guitar Rock, an album of his covers of early rock and roll songs he considers seminal to the genre. The album includes versions of songs originally recorded by Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, Ricky Nelson, Johnny Cash, and many other early rock guitarists.","The album includes versions of songs originally recorded by Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, Ricky Nelson, Johnny Cash, and many other early rock guitarists. In October 2009, Dion performed \"The Wanderer\" with Paul Simon at the 25th Anniversary Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Concert. An audiobook and paperback by Dion and Mike Aquilina, titled Dion: The Wanderer Talks Truth (Stories, Humor Music), was published in April 2011.","An audiobook and paperback by Dion and Mike Aquilina, titled Dion: The Wanderer Talks Truth (Stories, Humor Music), was published in April 2011. DiMucci shares stories about The Bronx in the 1950s, how he ended up on the cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and his travels with Sam Cooke in the Jim Crow South. Dion released Tank Full of Blues on January 24, 2012. It peaked at No. 3 on the Top Blues Albums chart.","3 on the Top Blues Albums chart. 3 on the Top Blues Albums chart. While touring on April 5, 2015, Dion performed \"Donna the Prima Donna\" live in Las Vegas. On July 11, 2015, he held a concert in Westbury, New York. In 2015, Dion released the single \"New York Is My Home\" with Paul Simon. Dion had previously worked with Simon on his 1989 hit \"Written on the Subway Wall\".","Dion had previously worked with Simon on his 1989 hit \"Written on the Subway Wall\". The single was followed by the album New York Is My Home, released February 12, 2016. The album peaked at No. 3 on the Top Blues Album chart. Dion planned four concerts in the U.S. during early 2016 and was invited as a keynote speaker for the 2016 SXSW in Texas. He spoke on the topic A Conversation with Dion: Rock's Enduring Voice on March 17, 2016.","He spoke on the topic A Conversation with Dion: Rock's Enduring Voice on March 17, 2016. Dion appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on April 8, 2016. In May 2017, Dion released Kickin' Child: The Lost Album 1965 from Norton Records, containing songs recorded in 1965 when he was with Columbia Records but were not previously released.","In May 2017, Dion released Kickin' Child: The Lost Album 1965 from Norton Records, containing songs recorded in 1965 when he was with Columbia Records but were not previously released. Also in May 2017, Richard Barone's Sorrows & Promises: Greenwich Village in the 1960s was released, which included Dion performing a duet of his 1964 song \"The Road I'm On (Gloria)\" with Barone. The album is a celebration of the New York City scene that Dion was part of during that pivotal era.","The album is a celebration of the New York City scene that Dion was part of during that pivotal era. Recent albums with KTBA Records: 2020–present In June 2020, Dion released Blues with Friends via Keeping the Blues Alive Records (KTBA), a new record label created by Joe Bonamassa and Roy Weisman for Dion and other blues musicians to showcase their talents. The album features Van Morrison, Jeff Beck, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, and others (including liner notes by Bob Dylan).","The album features Van Morrison, Jeff Beck, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, and others (including liner notes by Bob Dylan). A digital album (and a double vinyl record set), Dion released a music video for every song from the album on his website and social media platforms such as Facebook and YouTube. The album reached No. 1 on the Billboard Blues Albums chart (9 weeks at No. 1 and 59 weeks total).","1 and 59 weeks total). 1 and 59 weeks total). It also charted in United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Canada and Australia. American Songwriter magazine honored Dion's \"Song for Sam Cooke (Here in America)\" as the \"Greatest of the Great 2020 Songs\". Dion also released two Christmas songs in 2020: \"Hello Christmas\" (featuring Amy Grant) and \"You Know It's Christmas\" (featuring Bonamassa). Both songs were co-written with Mike Aquilina.","Both songs were co-written with Mike Aquilina. Both songs were co-written with Mike Aquilina. Music videos were produced for both songs. Dion's song \"Blues Comin' On\" (with Bonamassa) from Blues with Friends was nominated for a 2021 Blues Music Award. In November 2021, Dion released Stomping Ground (with music videos), which includes extensive liner notes written by Pete Townshend. Except for a cover of \"Red House\", the songs were written by Dion and Aquilina.","Except for a cover of \"Red House\", the songs were written by Dion and Aquilina. Multiple guest artists participate on the album. The album became Dion's second No. 1 blues album. The Wanderer musical On October 13, 2011, an industry-only reading of a new play about Dion's life was performed in New York City.","The Wanderer musical On October 13, 2011, an industry-only reading of a new play about Dion's life was performed in New York City. In a December 9, 2011 article from The New York Times, Dion and his collaborator (writer/director Charles Messina) discussed details about the project – titled The Wanderer: The Life and Music of Dion – which will focus on the years between 1957 until the late-1960s, and will feature more than 20 songs from that era as well as new/original music.","In a December 9, 2011 article from The New York Times, Dion and his collaborator (writer/director Charles Messina) discussed details about the project – titled The Wanderer: The Life and Music of Dion – which will focus on the years between 1957 until the late-1960s, and will feature more than 20 songs from that era as well as new/original music. In the article, Dion gave his perspective on the story: \"You know, I always saw my story as a young Sopranos with great music and a Rocky Graziano Somebody Up There Likes Me ending.","In the article, Dion gave his perspective on the story: \"You know, I always saw my story as a young Sopranos with great music and a Rocky Graziano Somebody Up There Likes Me ending. It's a story of redemption. A rock and roll redemption story!\" DiMucci revealed that Michael Wartella would be starring in The Wanderer on December 16, 2017. There was a reading of the musical on November 2, 2017 while working on it continued.","There was a reading of the musical on November 2, 2017 while working on it continued. On December 4, 2019, it was announced that former New Kids on the Block member Joey McIntyre would star as Johnny, Michael Wartella as Dion, and Christy Altomare as wife, Susan. The first performance was scheduled to start on May 28, 2020, at the Paper Mill Playhouse. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the opening performance was rescheduled to March 24, 2022.","Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the opening performance was rescheduled to March 24, 2022. Personal life Dion lives in Boca Raton, Florida and New York City. In the late 1990s, Dion visited his old Bronx parish, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, and returned to Catholicism. Sparking Dion's reversion to Catholicism was \"a chance viewing of The Journey Home program on EWTN.\"","Sparking Dion's reversion to Catholicism was \"a chance viewing of The Journey Home program on EWTN.\" As a practicing Roman Catholic and having struggled with a heroin addiction during his youth, Dion has been involved in prison religion, reaching out to men going through drug recovery. DiMucci was a member of the American board of directors for Renewal Ministries in 2004. Dion appeared on The Journey Home and discussed his wanderings from Catholicism to Protestantism and back again on May 1, 2006.","Dion appeared on The Journey Home and discussed his wanderings from Catholicism to Protestantism and back again on May 1, 2006. Selective discography With the Belmonts Presenting Dion and the Belmonts (1959) Wish Upon a Star with Dion and the Belmonts (1960) Together Again (1966) Live at Madison Square Garden 1972 (1973) Solo albums Alone with Dion (1961) Runaround Sue (1961) Donna the Prima Donna (1963) Dion (1968) Suite for Late Summer (1972) Born to Be with You (1975) Streetheart (1976) I Put Away My Idols (1983) Yo Frankie (1989) Son of Skip James (2007) Blues with Friends (2020) Stomping Ground (2021) References External links Comprehensive Rolling Stone profile The Spiritual Journey of the Wanderer Who Came Home By Dion Dimucci Dion the Wanderer, Back In Blue (an article at NPR.com) 1939 births Living people American male singers American people of Italian descent American male pop singers American folk singers American rock singers Musicians from the Bronx American performers of Christian music Laurie Records artists Columbia Records artists Singers from New York City Dion and the Belmonts members Doo-wop musicians Catholics from New York (state)"],"string":"[\n \"Dion Francis DiMucci (born July 18, 1939), better known simply as Dion, is an American singer and songwriter whose music has incorporated elements of doo-wop, rock, R&B and blues. Initially as lead singer of Dion and the Belmonts, and then in his solo career, he was one of the most popular American rock and roll performers of the pre-British Invasion era. He had 39 Top 40 hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s as a solo performer, with the Belmonts or with the Del-Satins.\",\n \"He had 39 Top 40 hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s as a solo performer, with the Belmonts or with the Del-Satins. He is best remembered for the singles \\\"Runaround Sue\\\", \\\"The Wanderer\\\", \\\"Ruby Baby\\\" and \\\"Lovers Who Wander\\\", among other hits. Dion's popularity waned in the mid-1960s. Toward the end of the decade, he shifted his style and produced songs that were more mature and contemplative, such as \\\"Abraham, Martin and John\\\".\",\n \"Toward the end of the decade, he shifted his style and produced songs that were more mature and contemplative, such as \\\"Abraham, Martin and John\\\". He remained popular in the late 1960s until the mid-1970s, and continues making music. During the 1980s, Dion produced several Christian albums, winning a GMA Dove Award in 1984 for the album I Put Away My Idols. He returned to secular music in the late 1980s with Yo Frankie (1989).\",\n \"He returned to secular music in the late 1980s with Yo Frankie (1989). Between the mid-2000s and 2021, Dion released six chart-topping blues albums. Critics who had dismissed his early work, labeling him as a teen idol, praised his later work and noted the influence he has had on other musicians. A Grammy-nominated artist, Dion has released nearly 40 albums and scored eight Top 10 hits (ten including the Belmonts) on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.\",\n \"A Grammy-nominated artist, Dion has released nearly 40 albums and scored eight Top 10 hits (ten including the Belmonts) on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989. Early life Dion was born to an Italian-American family in the Bronx, New York. As a child, he accompanied his father, Pasquale DiMucci, a vaudeville entertainer, on tour, and developed a love of country music – particularly the work of Hank Williams.\",\n \"As a child, he accompanied his father, Pasquale DiMucci, a vaudeville entertainer, on tour, and developed a love of country music – particularly the work of Hank Williams. He also developed a fondness for the blues and doo-wop musicians he heard performing in local bars and on the radio. His singing was honed on the street corners and local clubs of the Bronx, where he and other neighborhood singers created a cappella riffs. In early 1957, he auditioned for Bob and Gene Schwartz for their short-lived Mohawk Records label.\",\n \"In early 1957, he auditioned for Bob and Gene Schwartz for their short-lived Mohawk Records label. They asked Dion to sing a song which had been arranged by Hugo Montenegro and recorded featuring Vic Damone doing vocals. At first Dion refused, stating the song would sound like something his old fashioned parents would listen to, but the Schwartzes convinced him to give it a try. The backing vocals were by a group called \\\"the Timberlanes\\\", whom Dion had never met.\",\n \"The backing vocals were by a group called \\\"the Timberlanes\\\", whom Dion had never met. The resulting single, \\\"The Chosen Few\\\", was released under the name \\\"Dion and the Timberlanes\\\", and became a minor regional hit.\",\n \"The resulting single, \\\"The Chosen Few\\\", was released under the name \\\"Dion and the Timberlanes\\\", and became a minor regional hit. Dion himself stated in 2019 during an interview at \\\"Crashing the Party\\\" (a radio program related to Norton Records in Brooklyn, New York) that \\\"The Chosen Few\\\" hit the Top Ten locally in Boston and enabled him to perform this song on American Bandstand where the kids at the show started screaming during his performance, which gave him his first impression of being a record star.\",\n \"Dion himself stated in 2019 during an interview at \\\"Crashing the Party\\\" (a radio program related to Norton Records in Brooklyn, New York) that \\\"The Chosen Few\\\" hit the Top Ten locally in Boston and enabled him to perform this song on American Bandstand where the kids at the show started screaming during his performance, which gave him his first impression of being a record star. Writing about this experience later, in his autobiography, The Wanderer, Dion said that he had never met the Timberlanes and did not even know who they were.\",\n \"Writing about this experience later, in his autobiography, The Wanderer, Dion said that he had never met the Timberlanes and did not even know who they were. \\\"The vocal group was so white bread, I went back to my neighborhood and I recruited a bunch of guys – three guys – and we called ourselves Dion and the Belmonts.\\\"\",\n \"\\\"The vocal group was so white bread, I went back to my neighborhood and I recruited a bunch of guys – three guys – and we called ourselves Dion and the Belmonts.\\\" Career Beginnings with the Belmonts: 1957–1960 Bob and Gene Schwartz signed Dion's friends, the Belmonts (Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano, and Angelo D'Aleo), a vocal group named for the Belmont, Bronx neighborhood, and teamed them up with Dion singing lead.\",\n \"Career Beginnings with the Belmonts: 1957–1960 Bob and Gene Schwartz signed Dion's friends, the Belmonts (Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano, and Angelo D'Aleo), a vocal group named for the Belmont, Bronx neighborhood, and teamed them up with Dion singing lead. The new group's breakthrough came in early 1958, when \\\"I Wonder Why\\\" (on their newly formed Laurie Records) made No. 22 on the U.S. charts. Dion said of the Belmonts; \\\"I'd give 'em sounds.\",\n \"Dion said of the Belmonts; \\\"I'd give 'em sounds. I'd give 'em parts and stuff. That's what 'I Wonder Why' was about. We kind of invented this percussive rhythmic sound. If you listen to that song, everybody was doing something different. There's four guys, one guy was doing bass, I was singing lead, one guy's going 'ooh wah ooh,' and another guy's doing tenor. It was totally amazing.\",\n \"It was totally amazing. It was totally amazing. When I listen to it today, oftentimes I think, 'man, those kids are talented.'\\\" Their initial hit was followed by \\\"No One Knows\\\" and \\\"Don't Pity Me\\\", which also charted the Billboard Top 100. This success won a place for Dion and the Belmonts on the ill-fated \\\"The Winter Dance Party\\\" tour with Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson), Frankie Sardo, and other performers.\",\n \"This success won a place for Dion and the Belmonts on the ill-fated \\\"The Winter Dance Party\\\" tour with Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson), Frankie Sardo, and other performers. On February 3, 1959, after a concert stop in Clear Lake, Iowa, Holly and others decided to charter a flight to the next venue rather than travel on the tour bus.\",\n \"On February 3, 1959, after a concert stop in Clear Lake, Iowa, Holly and others decided to charter a flight to the next venue rather than travel on the tour bus. Dion was invited to accompany the group but decided that he did not want to spend $36 for the flight, as it was the same monthly rent his parents paid for his childhood apartment and he could not justify the indulgence.\",\n \"Dion was invited to accompany the group but decided that he did not want to spend $36 for the flight, as it was the same monthly rent his parents paid for his childhood apartment and he could not justify the indulgence. The plane crashed, killing all on board: Holly, Valens, Richardson, and the pilot Roger Peterson. Dion and the Belmonts continued on the tour, along with Frankie Sardo, while Bobby Vee, then an unknown artist, performed in Holly's place at the very next concert.\",\n \"Dion and the Belmonts continued on the tour, along with Frankie Sardo, while Bobby Vee, then an unknown artist, performed in Holly's place at the very next concert. Later, Jimmy Clanton, Frankie Avalon, and Fabian were added to replace the other now-deceased headliners. Dion and the Belmonts' next single, \\\"A Teenager in Love\\\", was released in March 1959, eventually hitting No. 5 on the U.S. pop charts and No. 28 in the UK.\",\n \"5 on the U.S. pop charts and No. 28 in the UK. 28 in the UK. The group's biggest hit, \\\"Where or When\\\", was released in November of that year, and reached No. 3 on the U.S. charts. However, in early 1960, Dion checked into hospital for heroin addiction, a problem he had had since his mid-teens. Further single releases for the group that year were less successful.\",\n \"Further single releases for the group that year were less successful. There were musical, personal and financial differences between Dion and members of the Belmonts, and in October 1960, Dion decided to quit for a solo career. By the time of their breakup, all eight Laurie releases had charted on the Hot 100. Solo stardom and touring worldwide: 1960–1964 By the end of 1960, Dion produced his first solo album on Laurie Records, Alone with Dion, released in 1961.\",\n \"Solo stardom and touring worldwide: 1960–1964 By the end of 1960, Dion produced his first solo album on Laurie Records, Alone with Dion, released in 1961. The single \\\"Lonely Teenager\\\" rose to No. 12 in the US charts. The name on his solo releases was simply \\\"Dion\\\". Follow-ups \\\"Havin' Fun\\\" and \\\"Kissin' Game\\\" had less success, and the signs were that Dion would drift onto the cabaret circuit.\",\n \"Follow-ups \\\"Havin' Fun\\\" and \\\"Kissin' Game\\\" had less success, and the signs were that Dion would drift onto the cabaret circuit. However, he then recorded an up-tempo number co-written with Ernie Maresca with a new vocal group, the Del-Satins. The record, \\\"Runaround Sue\\\", stormed up the U.S. charts, reaching No. 1 in October 1961, and No. 11 in the UK, where he also toured. \\\"Runaround Sue\\\" sold over a million copies, achieving gold disc status.\",\n \"\\\"Runaround Sue\\\" sold over a million copies, achieving gold disc status. For the next single, Laurie promoted the A-side, \\\"The Majestic\\\", but it was the B-side, Maresca's \\\"The Wanderer\\\", which received more radio play and climbed swiftly up the charts to reach No. 2 in the U.S. in February 1962 and No. 10 in the UK. The 1976 re-release made the UK Top 20.\",\n \"The 1976 re-release made the UK Top 20. The 1976 re-release made the UK Top 20. By the end of 1961, Dion had become a major star, touring worldwide and making an appearance in the Columbia Pictures musical film Twist Around the Clock. In 1962, he followed with a string of singles he wrote or co-wrote including \\\"Lovers Who Wander\\\" (No. 3), \\\"Little Diane\\\" (No. 8), \\\"Love Came to Me\\\" (No. 10).\",\n \"8), \\\"Love Came to Me\\\" (No. 10). 10). He also had successful albums with Runaround Sue and Lovers Who Wander. At the end of 1962, Dion moved from Laurie to Columbia Records. He was the first rock and roll artist signed to the label, which was an anomaly considering that its then-A&R director, Mitch Miller, loathed that particular genre of music.\",\n \"He was the first rock and roll artist signed to the label, which was an anomaly considering that its then-A&R director, Mitch Miller, loathed that particular genre of music. The first Columbia single, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller's \\\"Ruby Baby\\\" (originally a hit for the Drifters) reached No. 2, while \\\"Donna the Prima Donna\\\" and \\\"Drip Drop\\\" (another remake of a Drifters hit) both reached No. 6 in late 1963.\",\n \"6 in late 1963. 6 in late 1963. (Dion also recorded an Italian version of \\\"Donna the Prima Donna\\\" using the identical backup vocals.) His other Columbia releases were less successful, and problems with his drug addiction and changing public tastes, especially the British Invasion, saw a period of commercial decline. Belmonts reunion and renewed contract: 1965–1968 Following a European tour, Dion returned to the U.S. and was introduced to classic blues by Columbia's John Hammond.\",\n \"Belmonts reunion and renewed contract: 1965–1968 Following a European tour, Dion returned to the U.S. and was introduced to classic blues by Columbia's John Hammond. To the consternation of his management, he began recording more blues-oriented material, including Willie Dixon's \\\"Hoochie Coochie Man\\\" and \\\"Spoonful\\\", but these releases – some produced by Tom Wilson, with Al Kooper on keyboards – were not commercially successful.\",\n \"To the consternation of his management, he began recording more blues-oriented material, including Willie Dixon's \\\"Hoochie Coochie Man\\\" and \\\"Spoonful\\\", but these releases – some produced by Tom Wilson, with Al Kooper on keyboards – were not commercially successful. In 1965, still with Columbia, Dion formed a new group to back him, The Wanderers, composed of John Falbo on guitar, Pete Baron (Pete Falciglia) on bass, and Carlo Mastrangelo of the Belmonts on drums.\",\n \"In 1965, still with Columbia, Dion formed a new group to back him, The Wanderers, composed of John Falbo on guitar, Pete Baron (Pete Falciglia) on bass, and Carlo Mastrangelo of the Belmonts on drums. They made national appearances on Dick Clark's, Where The Action Is, and The Lloyd Thaxton Show. A number of self-penned tracks were recorded and released unsuccessfully as singles, and did not appear in album format until years later.\",\n \"A number of self-penned tracks were recorded and released unsuccessfully as singles, and did not appear in album format until years later. In June 1965 he recorded fellow Columbia Records's contemporary Bob Dylan's composition \\\"It's All Over Now, Baby Blue\\\" a half-year before Them (featuring Van Morrison)'s hit version. In 1966–67, Dion briefly reunited with the Belmonts, recording the LP Together Again for ABC Records. The album was unsuccessful, despite one classic self-penned song, \\\"My Girl the Month of May\\\".\",\n \"The album was unsuccessful, despite one classic self-penned song, \\\"My Girl the Month of May\\\". Two singles were released from the LP. While neither charted in the United States, they fared better in the UK. \\\"My Girl The Month of May\\\" entered the Radio London \\\"Fab 40\\\" at No. 9 the week of December 25, 1966.\",\n \"9 the week of December 25, 1966. 9 the week of December 25, 1966. A 'turntable' hit at London underground clubs like Middle Earth, the disc received a lot of play from pirate radio DJ's John Peel and Kenny Everett. The follow up, \\\"Movin' Man\\\", reached No. 17 on the \\\"Radio London\\\" charts on Easter Sunday, March 26, 1967.\",\n \"17 on the \\\"Radio London\\\" charts on Easter Sunday, March 26, 1967. \\\"My Girl The Month of May\\\" was later covered by English artists Alan Bown in 1967, and Island Records artists The Bunch (featuring Sandy Denny and other members of Fairport Convention) in April 1972.\",\n \"\\\"My Girl The Month of May\\\" was later covered by English artists Alan Bown in 1967, and Island Records artists The Bunch (featuring Sandy Denny and other members of Fairport Convention) in April 1972. During their brief mid-60's reunion, Dion and the Belmonts appeared on the popular Clay Cole Show performing \\\"Berimbau\\\" and \\\"My Girl The Month of May\\\", and occasionally performed at local New York City clubs such as \\\"The Mardi Gras\\\" on Staten Island (April 29, 1967) before disbanding.\",\n \"During their brief mid-60's reunion, Dion and the Belmonts appeared on the popular Clay Cole Show performing \\\"Berimbau\\\" and \\\"My Girl The Month of May\\\", and occasionally performed at local New York City clubs such as \\\"The Mardi Gras\\\" on Staten Island (April 29, 1967) before disbanding. While Dion's career appeared to be nearing an end, he still retained enough credibility to be, along with Bob Dylan, one of only two rock artists featured on the album cover of the Beatles' Sgt.\",\n \"While Dion's career appeared to be nearing an end, he still retained enough credibility to be, along with Bob Dylan, one of only two rock artists featured on the album cover of the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in 1967. In April 1968, Dion experienced what he identified as a powerful religious transformation. After getting clean once again from heroin addiction, an experience he documented in his 1970 song \\\"Your Own Backyard\\\", he approached Laurie Records for a new contract.\",\n \"After getting clean once again from heroin addiction, an experience he documented in his 1970 song \\\"Your Own Backyard\\\", he approached Laurie Records for a new contract. They agreed on the condition that he record the song \\\"Abraham, Martin & John\\\", written by Dick Holler (also the writer of the Royal Guardsmen's \\\"Snoopy Vs.\",\n \"They agreed on the condition that he record the song \\\"Abraham, Martin & John\\\", written by Dick Holler (also the writer of the Royal Guardsmen's \\\"Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron\\\") in response to the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, and those of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy during the spring of 1968. The success of this song (released by Dion in August 1968 and later recorded by many others including Marvin Gaye) which reached No.\",\n \"The success of this song (released by Dion in August 1968 and later recorded by many others including Marvin Gaye) which reached No. 4 in the US charts and No. 1 in Canada, resuscitated Dion's career. It sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc. Mature and Christian music period: 1969–1986 For the next few years, Dion's music became radically different, moving to more contemplative and mature material.\",\n \"Mature and Christian music period: 1969–1986 For the next few years, Dion's music became radically different, moving to more contemplative and mature material. He released several albums essentially as a singer-songwriter, to moderate sales, moving to the Warner Brothers label in 1969. There followed a live reunion show with the Belmonts at Madison Square Garden on June 2, 1972, which was recorded and released as a live album by Warner.\",\n \"There followed a live reunion show with the Belmonts at Madison Square Garden on June 2, 1972, which was recorded and released as a live album by Warner. A year later, in 1973, Dion and the original Belmonts performed once more, doing a sold-out concert at the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island, New York. However, no recording of the 1973 reunion was released. This was followed in 1975 by the album Born to Be with You produced by Phil Spector.\",\n \"This was followed in 1975 by the album Born to Be with You produced by Phil Spector. The album was a commercial failure, but has been subsequently praised by such artists as Jason Pierce of Spiritualized and Pete Townshend of The Who with the track \\\"Only You Know\\\" being sampled by Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker for his single \\\"Don't Let Him Waste Your Time\\\" from his 2006 solo album Jarvis.\",\n \"The album was a commercial failure, but has been subsequently praised by such artists as Jason Pierce of Spiritualized and Pete Townshend of The Who with the track \\\"Only You Know\\\" being sampled by Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker for his single \\\"Don't Let Him Waste Your Time\\\" from his 2006 solo album Jarvis. In 1978, Dion released an album drawing on many of his teenage influences, Return of the Wanderer, another commercial failure.\",\n \"In 1978, Dion released an album drawing on many of his teenage influences, Return of the Wanderer, another commercial failure. In December 1979, there was a radical spiritual change in Dion, who had become a born again Christian. Thereafter, his recordings for several years were in a contemporary Christian vein, in which he released five albums on the DaySpring Records label, a division of Word Records in Waco, Texas.\",\n \"Thereafter, his recordings for several years were in a contemporary Christian vein, in which he released five albums on the DaySpring Records label, a division of Word Records in Waco, Texas. These albums reflecting his evangelical Christian convictions were Inside Job (1980), Only Jesus (1981), I Put Away My Idols (1983) which charted at No. 37, Seasons (1984), Kingdom in the Streets (1985) and Velvet & Steel (1986).\",\n \"37, Seasons (1984), Kingdom in the Streets (1985) and Velvet & Steel (1986). Several singles were successfully released to Christian radio, notably \\\"Still in the Spirit\\\" from Kingdom in the Streets. In 1984, Dion won the GMA Dove Award (Christian Music Award) for the album I Put Away My Idols. He was also nominated for Grammy Award for Best Gospel Vocal Performance, Male for the same album.\",\n \"He was also nominated for Grammy Award for Best Gospel Vocal Performance, Male for the same album. On September 24, 1985, Dion was a guest on 100 Huntley Street. Return to secular music and RRHOF induction: 1987–1999 In 1987, Dion agreed to do a concert of his old hits at Radio City Music Hall in New York. The two disc CD of this concert was released in 2005, featuring concert photos by Dion's friend, Michael J. Friedman.\",\n \"The two disc CD of this concert was released in 2005, featuring concert photos by Dion's friend, Michael J. Friedman. This concert helped free him to celebrate both his past and his future, and led to a series of special appearances, including a fundraiser for homeless medical relief. There he shared the stage with fans such as Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon and Lou Reed, all of whom cited Dion as one of their prime influences.\",\n \"There he shared the stage with fans such as Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon and Lou Reed, all of whom cited Dion as one of their prime influences. Dion's autobiography, The Wanderer: Dion's Story, co-authored by Davin Seay, was published in the late-1980s. In 1989, DiMucci returned to rock music with the contemporary album Yo Frankie, which included appearances by Paul Simon, Lou Reed, k.d. lang, Patty Smyth and Bryan Adams.\",\n \"lang, Patty Smyth and Bryan Adams. lang, Patty Smyth and Bryan Adams. Produced by Dave Edmunds (who also played guitar on the album), \\\"Yo Frankie has a sharp sound while never losing sight of Dion's soulful, doo-wop voice.\\\" Overall, \\\"the relevant and nostalgic statement from an artist who helped forge rock & roll's first wave\\\" found his way back on radio and in music videos during this period (both on VH1 and MTV), as well as touring.\",\n \"Overall, \\\"the relevant and nostalgic statement from an artist who helped forge rock & roll's first wave\\\" found his way back on radio and in music videos during this period (both on VH1 and MTV), as well as touring. Dion was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF) in 1989 (with an introduction by Lou Reed).\",\n \"Dion was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF) in 1989 (with an introduction by Lou Reed). Controversially, when Dion's solo induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame occurred, the other original members of the Belmonts (Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano, and Angelo D'Aleo) were not inducted.\",\n \"Controversially, when Dion's solo induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame occurred, the other original members of the Belmonts (Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano, and Angelo D'Aleo) were not inducted. A January 3, 2012 Billboard magazine article stated: \\\"There was strife between DiMucci and Belmonts members, who were not pleased when DiMucci was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame without them in 1989.\\\"\",\n \"A January 3, 2012 Billboard magazine article stated: \\\"There was strife between DiMucci and Belmonts members, who were not pleased when DiMucci was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame without them in 1989.\\\" DiMucci joined Scott Kempner and Frank Funaro of the Del-Lords and Mike Mesaros of the Smithereens in a short-lived band called Little Kings. A live album was later released, but not widely circulated or promoted. Grammy Hall of Fame and blues success: 2000–2019 Dion has released several albums with contemporary rock artists.\",\n \"Grammy Hall of Fame and blues success: 2000–2019 Dion has released several albums with contemporary rock artists. His Déjà Nu album in 2000 found him covering Bruce Springsteen, a major follower over the years. He joined Springsteen onstage in Miami in 2002 for a performance of \\\"If I Should Fall Behind\\\" from Dream on Fire. In 2002, Dion was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for \\\"Runaround Sue\\\".\",\n \"In 2002, Dion was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for \\\"Runaround Sue\\\". He continues to perform songs from his albums live, including a concert in 2004 being recorded for release on DVD. In January 2006, Dion released Bronx in Blue, an album of blues and country standards, which was nominated for a Grammy Award. It peaked at No. 2 on the Top Blues Albums chart. In November 2007, Dion issued a follow-up album titled Son of Skip James, which peaked at No.\",\n \"In November 2007, Dion issued a follow-up album titled Son of Skip James, which peaked at No. 4 on the Top Blues Albums chart. In October 2008, DiMucci released Heroes: Giants of Early Guitar Rock, an album of his covers of early rock and roll songs he considers seminal to the genre. The album includes versions of songs originally recorded by Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, Ricky Nelson, Johnny Cash, and many other early rock guitarists.\",\n \"The album includes versions of songs originally recorded by Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, Ricky Nelson, Johnny Cash, and many other early rock guitarists. In October 2009, Dion performed \\\"The Wanderer\\\" with Paul Simon at the 25th Anniversary Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Concert. An audiobook and paperback by Dion and Mike Aquilina, titled Dion: The Wanderer Talks Truth (Stories, Humor Music), was published in April 2011.\",\n \"An audiobook and paperback by Dion and Mike Aquilina, titled Dion: The Wanderer Talks Truth (Stories, Humor Music), was published in April 2011. DiMucci shares stories about The Bronx in the 1950s, how he ended up on the cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and his travels with Sam Cooke in the Jim Crow South. Dion released Tank Full of Blues on January 24, 2012. It peaked at No. 3 on the Top Blues Albums chart.\",\n \"3 on the Top Blues Albums chart. 3 on the Top Blues Albums chart. While touring on April 5, 2015, Dion performed \\\"Donna the Prima Donna\\\" live in Las Vegas. On July 11, 2015, he held a concert in Westbury, New York. In 2015, Dion released the single \\\"New York Is My Home\\\" with Paul Simon. Dion had previously worked with Simon on his 1989 hit \\\"Written on the Subway Wall\\\".\",\n \"Dion had previously worked with Simon on his 1989 hit \\\"Written on the Subway Wall\\\". The single was followed by the album New York Is My Home, released February 12, 2016. The album peaked at No. 3 on the Top Blues Album chart. Dion planned four concerts in the U.S. during early 2016 and was invited as a keynote speaker for the 2016 SXSW in Texas. He spoke on the topic A Conversation with Dion: Rock's Enduring Voice on March 17, 2016.\",\n \"He spoke on the topic A Conversation with Dion: Rock's Enduring Voice on March 17, 2016. Dion appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on April 8, 2016. In May 2017, Dion released Kickin' Child: The Lost Album 1965 from Norton Records, containing songs recorded in 1965 when he was with Columbia Records but were not previously released.\",\n \"In May 2017, Dion released Kickin' Child: The Lost Album 1965 from Norton Records, containing songs recorded in 1965 when he was with Columbia Records but were not previously released. Also in May 2017, Richard Barone's Sorrows & Promises: Greenwich Village in the 1960s was released, which included Dion performing a duet of his 1964 song \\\"The Road I'm On (Gloria)\\\" with Barone. The album is a celebration of the New York City scene that Dion was part of during that pivotal era.\",\n \"The album is a celebration of the New York City scene that Dion was part of during that pivotal era. Recent albums with KTBA Records: 2020–present In June 2020, Dion released Blues with Friends via Keeping the Blues Alive Records (KTBA), a new record label created by Joe Bonamassa and Roy Weisman for Dion and other blues musicians to showcase their talents. The album features Van Morrison, Jeff Beck, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, and others (including liner notes by Bob Dylan).\",\n \"The album features Van Morrison, Jeff Beck, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, and others (including liner notes by Bob Dylan). A digital album (and a double vinyl record set), Dion released a music video for every song from the album on his website and social media platforms such as Facebook and YouTube. The album reached No. 1 on the Billboard Blues Albums chart (9 weeks at No. 1 and 59 weeks total).\",\n \"1 and 59 weeks total). 1 and 59 weeks total). It also charted in United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Canada and Australia. American Songwriter magazine honored Dion's \\\"Song for Sam Cooke (Here in America)\\\" as the \\\"Greatest of the Great 2020 Songs\\\". Dion also released two Christmas songs in 2020: \\\"Hello Christmas\\\" (featuring Amy Grant) and \\\"You Know It's Christmas\\\" (featuring Bonamassa). Both songs were co-written with Mike Aquilina.\",\n \"Both songs were co-written with Mike Aquilina. Both songs were co-written with Mike Aquilina. Music videos were produced for both songs. Dion's song \\\"Blues Comin' On\\\" (with Bonamassa) from Blues with Friends was nominated for a 2021 Blues Music Award. In November 2021, Dion released Stomping Ground (with music videos), which includes extensive liner notes written by Pete Townshend. Except for a cover of \\\"Red House\\\", the songs were written by Dion and Aquilina.\",\n \"Except for a cover of \\\"Red House\\\", the songs were written by Dion and Aquilina. Multiple guest artists participate on the album. The album became Dion's second No. 1 blues album. The Wanderer musical On October 13, 2011, an industry-only reading of a new play about Dion's life was performed in New York City.\",\n \"The Wanderer musical On October 13, 2011, an industry-only reading of a new play about Dion's life was performed in New York City. In a December 9, 2011 article from The New York Times, Dion and his collaborator (writer/director Charles Messina) discussed details about the project – titled The Wanderer: The Life and Music of Dion – which will focus on the years between 1957 until the late-1960s, and will feature more than 20 songs from that era as well as new/original music.\",\n \"In a December 9, 2011 article from The New York Times, Dion and his collaborator (writer/director Charles Messina) discussed details about the project – titled The Wanderer: The Life and Music of Dion – which will focus on the years between 1957 until the late-1960s, and will feature more than 20 songs from that era as well as new/original music. In the article, Dion gave his perspective on the story: \\\"You know, I always saw my story as a young Sopranos with great music and a Rocky Graziano Somebody Up There Likes Me ending.\",\n \"In the article, Dion gave his perspective on the story: \\\"You know, I always saw my story as a young Sopranos with great music and a Rocky Graziano Somebody Up There Likes Me ending. It's a story of redemption. A rock and roll redemption story!\\\" DiMucci revealed that Michael Wartella would be starring in The Wanderer on December 16, 2017. There was a reading of the musical on November 2, 2017 while working on it continued.\",\n \"There was a reading of the musical on November 2, 2017 while working on it continued. On December 4, 2019, it was announced that former New Kids on the Block member Joey McIntyre would star as Johnny, Michael Wartella as Dion, and Christy Altomare as wife, Susan. The first performance was scheduled to start on May 28, 2020, at the Paper Mill Playhouse. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the opening performance was rescheduled to March 24, 2022.\",\n \"Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the opening performance was rescheduled to March 24, 2022. Personal life Dion lives in Boca Raton, Florida and New York City. In the late 1990s, Dion visited his old Bronx parish, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, and returned to Catholicism. Sparking Dion's reversion to Catholicism was \\\"a chance viewing of The Journey Home program on EWTN.\\\"\",\n \"Sparking Dion's reversion to Catholicism was \\\"a chance viewing of The Journey Home program on EWTN.\\\" As a practicing Roman Catholic and having struggled with a heroin addiction during his youth, Dion has been involved in prison religion, reaching out to men going through drug recovery. DiMucci was a member of the American board of directors for Renewal Ministries in 2004. Dion appeared on The Journey Home and discussed his wanderings from Catholicism to Protestantism and back again on May 1, 2006.\",\n \"Dion appeared on The Journey Home and discussed his wanderings from Catholicism to Protestantism and back again on May 1, 2006. Selective discography With the Belmonts Presenting Dion and the Belmonts (1959) Wish Upon a Star with Dion and the Belmonts (1960) Together Again (1966) Live at Madison Square Garden 1972 (1973) Solo albums Alone with Dion (1961) Runaround Sue (1961) Donna the Prima Donna (1963) Dion (1968) Suite for Late Summer (1972) Born to Be with You (1975) Streetheart (1976) I Put Away My Idols (1983) Yo Frankie (1989) Son of Skip James (2007) Blues with Friends (2020) Stomping Ground (2021) References External links Comprehensive Rolling Stone profile The Spiritual Journey of the Wanderer Who Came Home By Dion Dimucci Dion the Wanderer, Back In Blue (an article at NPR.com) 1939 births Living people American male singers American people of Italian descent American male pop singers American folk singers American rock singers Musicians from the Bronx American performers of Christian music Laurie Records artists Columbia Records artists Singers from New York City Dion and the Belmonts members Doo-wop musicians Catholics from New York (state)\"\n]"}}},{"rowIdx":398,"cells":{"History":{"kind":"list like","value":["Dion DiMucci","With the Belmonts: 1957-1960","Who were the other members of the Belmonts?","Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano, and Angelo D'Aleo","Did they know each other from school?","I don't know."],"string":"[\n \"Dion DiMucci\",\n \"With the Belmonts: 1957-1960\",\n \"Who were the other members of the Belmonts?\",\n \"Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano, and Angelo D'Aleo\",\n \"Did they know each other from school?\",\n \"I don't know.\"\n]"},"QuAC_dialog_id":{"kind":"string","value":"C_57ef3079d2cb4481bdcc3f5beea88674_1"},"Question":{"kind":"string","value":"How old were the members of the group?"},"Question_no":{"kind":"number","value":3,"string":"3"},"Rewrite":{"kind":"string","value":"How old were the members of the Belmonts?"},"true_page_title":{"kind":"string","value":"Dion DiMucci"},"true_contexts":{"kind":"string","value":"Bob and Gene Schwartz also signed Dion's friends, the Belmonts, (Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano, and Angelo D'Aleo), a vocal group named for nearby Belmont Avenue, and teamed them, with Dion singing lead. The new group's breakthrough came in early 1958, when \"I Wonder Why\" (on their newly formed \"Laurie\" label) made No. 22 on the U.S. charts. Dion said of the Belmonts; \"I'd give 'em sounds. I'd give 'em parts and stuff. That's what 'I Wonder Why' was about. We kind of invented this percussive rhythmic sound. If you listen to that song, everybody was doing something different. There's four guys, one guy was doing bass, I was singing lead, one guy's going 'ooh wah ooh,' and another guy's doing tenor. It was totally amazing. When I listen to it today, oftentimes I think, 'man, those kids are talented.'\" Their initial hit was followed by \"No One Knows\" and \"Don't Pity Me,\" which also charted the Billboard Top 100. This success won a place for Dion and the Belmonts on the ill-fated \"The Winter Dance Party\" tour with Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson), Frankie Sardo, and other performers. On February 3, 1959, after a concert stop in Clear Lake, Iowa, Holly and others decided to charter a flight to the next venue rather than travel on the tour bus. Dion was invited to accompany the group but decided that he did not want to spend $36 for the flight, as it was the same monthly rent his parents paid for his childhood apartment and he couldn't justify the indulgence. The plane crashed, killing all on board; Holly, Valens, Richardson, and the pilot Roger Peterson. Dion and the Belmonts continued on the tour, along with Frankie Sardo, while Bobby Vee, then an unknown artist, performed in Holly's place at the very next concert. Later, Jimmy Clanton, Frankie Avalon, and Fabian were added to replace the other now-deceased headliners. Dion and the Belmonts' next single, \"A Teenager in Love,\" was released in March 1959, eventually hitting No. 5 on the U.S. pop charts and No. 28 in the UK. The group's biggest hit, \"Where or When,\" was released in November of that year, and reached No. 3 on the U.S. charts. However, in early 1960, Dion checked into hospital for heroin addiction, a problem he had had since his mid-teens. Further single releases for the group that year were less successful. There were musical, personal and financial differences between Dion and members of the Belmonts, and in October 1960, Dion decided to quit for a solo career. By the time of their breakup, all eight Laurie releases had charted on the Hot 100. CANNOTANSWER"},"answer":{"kind":"string","value":"No One Knows"},"true_contexts_wiki":{"kind":"string","value":"Dion Francis DiMucci (born July 18, 1939), better known simply as Dion, is an American singer and songwriter whose music has incorporated elements of doo-wop, rock, R&B and blues. Initially as lead singer of Dion and the Belmonts, and then in his solo career, he was one of the most popular American rock and roll performers of the pre-British Invasion era. He had 39 Top 40 hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s as a solo performer, with the Belmonts or with the Del-Satins. He is best remembered for the singles \"Runaround Sue\", \"The Wanderer\", \"Ruby Baby\" and \"Lovers Who Wander\", among other hits.\n\nDion's popularity waned in the mid-1960s. Toward the end of the decade, he shifted his style and produced songs that were more mature and contemplative, such as \"Abraham, Martin and John\". He remained popular in the late 1960s until the mid-1970s, and continues making music. During the 1980s, Dion produced several Christian albums, winning a GMA Dove Award in 1984 for the album I Put Away My Idols. He returned to secular music in the late 1980s with Yo Frankie (1989). Between the mid-2000s and 2021, Dion released six chart-topping blues albums. Critics who had dismissed his early work, labeling him as a teen idol, praised his later work and noted the influence he has had on other musicians.\n\nA Grammy-nominated artist, Dion has released nearly 40 albums and scored eight Top 10 hits (ten including the Belmonts) on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989.\n\nEarly life \nDion was born to an Italian-American family in the Bronx, New York. As a child, he accompanied his father, Pasquale DiMucci, a vaudeville entertainer, on tour, and developed a love of country music – particularly the work of Hank Williams. He also developed a fondness for the blues and doo-wop musicians he heard performing in local bars and on the radio. His singing was honed on the street corners and local clubs of the Bronx, where he and other neighborhood singers created a cappella riffs.\n \nIn early 1957, he auditioned for Bob and Gene Schwartz for their short-lived Mohawk Records label. They asked Dion to sing a song which had been arranged by Hugo Montenegro and recorded featuring Vic Damone doing vocals. At first Dion refused, stating the song would sound like something his old fashioned parents would listen to, but the Schwartzes convinced him to give it a try. The backing vocals were by a group called \"the Timberlanes\", whom Dion had never met. The resulting single, \"The Chosen Few\", was released under the name \"Dion and the Timberlanes\", and became a minor regional hit. Dion himself stated in 2019 during an interview at \"Crashing the Party\" (a radio program related to Norton Records in Brooklyn, New York) that \"The Chosen Few\" hit the Top Ten locally in Boston and enabled him to perform this song on American Bandstand where the kids at the show started screaming during his performance, which gave him his first impression of being a record star. Writing about this experience later, in his autobiography, The Wanderer, Dion said that he had never met the Timberlanes and did not even know who they were. \"The vocal group was so white bread, I went back to my neighborhood and I recruited a bunch of guys – three guys – and we called ourselves Dion and the Belmonts.\"\n\nCareer\n\nBeginnings with the Belmonts: 1957–1960 \n\nBob and Gene Schwartz signed Dion's friends, the Belmonts (Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano, and Angelo D'Aleo), a vocal group named for the Belmont, Bronx neighborhood, and teamed them up with Dion singing lead. The new group's breakthrough came in early 1958, when \"I Wonder Why\" (on their newly formed Laurie Records) made No. 22 on the U.S. charts. Dion said of the Belmonts; \"I'd give 'em sounds. I'd give 'em parts and stuff. That's what 'I Wonder Why' was about. We kind of invented this percussive rhythmic sound. If you listen to that song, everybody was doing something different. There's four guys, one guy was doing bass, I was singing lead, one guy's going 'ooh wah ooh,' and another guy's doing tenor. It was totally amazing. When I listen to it today, oftentimes I think, 'man, those kids are talented.'\"\n\nTheir initial hit was followed by \"No One Knows\" and \"Don't Pity Me\", which also charted the Billboard Top 100. This success won a place for Dion and the Belmonts on the ill-fated \"The Winter Dance Party\" tour with Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson), Frankie Sardo, and other performers. On February 3, 1959, after a concert stop in Clear Lake, Iowa, Holly and others decided to charter a flight to the next venue rather than travel on the tour bus. Dion was invited to accompany the group but decided that he did not want to spend $36 for the flight, as it was the same monthly rent his parents paid for his childhood apartment and he could not justify the indulgence. The plane crashed, killing all on board: Holly, Valens, Richardson, and the pilot Roger Peterson. Dion and the Belmonts continued on the tour, along with Frankie Sardo, while Bobby Vee, then an unknown artist, performed in Holly's place at the very next concert. Later, Jimmy Clanton, Frankie Avalon, and Fabian were added to replace the other now-deceased headliners.\n\nDion and the Belmonts' next single, \"A Teenager in Love\", was released in March 1959, eventually hitting No. 5 on the U.S. pop charts and No. 28 in the UK. The group's biggest hit, \"Where or When\", was released in November of that year, and reached No. 3 on the U.S. charts. However, in early 1960, Dion checked into hospital for heroin addiction, a problem he had had since his mid-teens. Further single releases for the group that year were less successful. There were musical, personal and financial differences between Dion and members of the Belmonts, and in October 1960, Dion decided to quit for a solo career. By the time of their breakup, all eight Laurie releases had charted on the Hot 100.\n\nSolo stardom and touring worldwide: 1960–1964 \nBy the end of 1960, Dion produced his first solo album on Laurie Records, Alone with Dion, released in 1961. The single \"Lonely Teenager\" rose to No. 12 in the US charts. The name on his solo releases was simply \"Dion\". Follow-ups \"Havin' Fun\" and \"Kissin' Game\" had less success, and the signs were that Dion would drift onto the cabaret circuit. However, he then recorded an up-tempo number co-written with Ernie Maresca with a new vocal group, the Del-Satins. The record, \"Runaround Sue\", stormed up the U.S. charts, reaching No. 1 in October 1961, and No. 11 in the UK, where he also toured. \"Runaround Sue\" sold over a million copies, achieving gold disc status.\n\nFor the next single, Laurie promoted the A-side, \"The Majestic\", but it was the B-side, Maresca's \"The Wanderer\", which received more radio play and climbed swiftly up the charts to reach No. 2 in the U.S. in February 1962 and No. 10 in the UK. The 1976 re-release made the UK Top 20.\n\nBy the end of 1961, Dion had become a major star, touring worldwide and making an appearance in the Columbia Pictures musical film Twist Around the Clock. In 1962, he followed with a string of singles he wrote or co-wrote including \"Lovers Who Wander\" (No. 3), \"Little Diane\" (No. 8), \"Love Came to Me\" (No. 10). He also had successful albums with Runaround Sue and Lovers Who Wander.\n\nAt the end of 1962, Dion moved from Laurie to Columbia Records. He was the first rock and roll artist signed to the label, which was an anomaly considering that its then-A&R director, Mitch Miller, loathed that particular genre of music. The first Columbia single, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller's \"Ruby Baby\" (originally a hit for the Drifters) reached No. 2, while \"Donna the Prima Donna\" and \"Drip Drop\" (another remake of a Drifters hit) both reached No. 6 in late 1963. (Dion also recorded an Italian version of \"Donna the Prima Donna\" using the identical backup vocals.) His other Columbia releases were less successful, and problems with his drug addiction and changing public tastes, especially the British Invasion, saw a period of commercial decline.\n\nBelmonts reunion and renewed contract: 1965–1968 \nFollowing a European tour, Dion returned to the U.S. and was introduced to classic blues by Columbia's John Hammond. To the consternation of his management, he began recording more blues-oriented material, including Willie Dixon's \"Hoochie Coochie Man\" and \"Spoonful\", but these releases – some produced by Tom Wilson, with Al Kooper on keyboards – were not commercially successful. In 1965, still with Columbia, Dion formed a new group to back him, The Wanderers, composed of John Falbo on guitar, Pete Baron (Pete Falciglia) on bass, and Carlo Mastrangelo of the Belmonts on drums. They made national appearances on Dick Clark's, Where The Action Is, and The Lloyd Thaxton Show. A number of self-penned tracks were recorded and released unsuccessfully as singles, and did not appear in album format until years later. In June 1965 he recorded fellow Columbia Records's contemporary Bob Dylan's composition \"It's All Over Now, Baby Blue\" a half-year before Them (featuring Van Morrison)'s hit version.\n\nIn 1966–67, Dion briefly reunited with the Belmonts, recording the LP Together Again for ABC Records. The album was unsuccessful, despite one classic self-penned song, \"My Girl the Month of May\". Two singles were released from the LP. While neither charted in the United States, they fared better in the UK. \"My Girl The Month of May\" entered the Radio London \"Fab 40\" at No. 9 the week of December 25, 1966. A 'turntable' hit at London underground clubs like Middle Earth, the disc received a lot of play from pirate radio DJ's John Peel and Kenny Everett. The follow up, \"Movin' Man\", reached No. 17 on the \"Radio London\" charts on Easter Sunday, March 26, 1967. \"My Girl The Month of May\" was later covered by English artists Alan Bown in 1967, and Island Records artists The Bunch (featuring Sandy Denny and other members of Fairport Convention) in April 1972. During their brief mid-60's reunion, Dion and the Belmonts appeared on the popular Clay Cole Show performing \"Berimbau\" and \"My Girl The Month of May\", and occasionally performed at local New York City clubs such as \"The Mardi Gras\" on Staten Island (April 29, 1967) before disbanding. While Dion's career appeared to be nearing an end, he still retained enough credibility to be, along with Bob Dylan, one of only two rock artists featured on the album cover of the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in 1967.\n\nIn April 1968, Dion experienced what he identified as a powerful religious transformation. After getting clean once again from heroin addiction, an experience he documented in his 1970 song \"Your Own Backyard\", he approached Laurie Records for a new contract. They agreed on the condition that he record the song \"Abraham, Martin & John\", written by Dick Holler (also the writer of the Royal Guardsmen's \"Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron\") in response to the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, and those of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy during the spring of 1968. The success of this song (released by Dion in August 1968 and later recorded by many others including Marvin Gaye) which reached No. 4 in the US charts and No. 1 in Canada, resuscitated Dion's career. It sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc.\n\nMature and Christian music period: 1969–1986 \nFor the next few years, Dion's music became radically different, moving to more contemplative and mature material. He released several albums essentially as a singer-songwriter, to moderate sales, moving to the Warner Brothers label in 1969.\n\nThere followed a live reunion show with the Belmonts at Madison Square Garden on June 2, 1972, which was recorded and released as a live album by Warner. A year later, in 1973, Dion and the original Belmonts performed once more, doing a sold-out concert at the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island, New York. However, no recording of the 1973 reunion was released. This was followed in 1975 by the album Born to Be with You produced by Phil Spector. The album was a commercial failure, but has been subsequently praised by such artists as Jason Pierce of Spiritualized and Pete Townshend of The Who with the track \"Only You Know\" being sampled by Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker for his single \"Don't Let Him Waste Your Time\" from his 2006 solo album Jarvis.\n\nIn 1978, Dion released an album drawing on many of his teenage influences, Return of the Wanderer, another commercial failure.\n\nIn December 1979, there was a radical spiritual change in Dion, who had become a born again Christian. Thereafter, his recordings for several years were in a contemporary Christian vein, in which he released five albums on the DaySpring Records label, a division of Word Records in Waco, Texas. These albums reflecting his evangelical Christian convictions were Inside Job (1980), Only Jesus (1981), I Put Away My Idols (1983) which charted at No. 37, Seasons (1984), Kingdom in the Streets (1985) and Velvet & Steel (1986). Several singles were successfully released to Christian radio, notably \"Still in the Spirit\" from Kingdom in the Streets.\n\nIn 1984, Dion won the GMA Dove Award (Christian Music Award) for the album I Put Away My Idols. He was also nominated for Grammy Award for Best Gospel Vocal Performance, Male for the same album.\n\nOn September 24, 1985, Dion was a guest on 100 Huntley Street.\n\nReturn to secular music and RRHOF induction: 1987–1999 \nIn 1987, Dion agreed to do a concert of his old hits at Radio City Music Hall in New York. The two disc CD of this concert was released in 2005, featuring concert photos by Dion's friend, Michael J. Friedman. This concert helped free him to celebrate both his past and his future, and led to a series of special appearances, including a fundraiser for homeless medical relief. There he shared the stage with fans such as Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon and Lou Reed, all of whom cited Dion as one of their prime influences.\n\nDion's autobiography, The Wanderer: Dion's Story, co-authored by Davin Seay, was published in the late-1980s.\n\nIn 1989, DiMucci returned to rock music with the contemporary album Yo Frankie, which included appearances by Paul Simon, Lou Reed, k.d. lang, Patty Smyth and Bryan Adams. Produced by Dave Edmunds (who also played guitar on the album), \"Yo Frankie has a sharp sound while never losing sight of Dion's soulful, doo-wop voice.\" Overall, \"the relevant and nostalgic statement from an artist who helped forge rock & roll's first wave\" found his way back on radio and in music videos during this period (both on VH1 and MTV), as well as touring.\n\nDion was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF) in 1989 (with an introduction by Lou Reed). Controversially, when Dion's solo induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame occurred, the other original members of the Belmonts (Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano, and Angelo D'Aleo) were not inducted. A January 3, 2012 Billboard magazine article stated: \"There was strife between DiMucci and Belmonts members, who were not pleased when DiMucci was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame without them in 1989.\"\n\nDiMucci joined Scott Kempner and Frank Funaro of the Del-Lords and Mike Mesaros of the Smithereens in a short-lived band called Little Kings. A live album was later released, but not widely circulated or promoted.\n\nGrammy Hall of Fame and blues success: 2000–2019 \nDion has released several albums with contemporary rock artists. His Déjà Nu album in 2000 found him covering Bruce Springsteen, a major follower over the years. He joined Springsteen onstage in Miami in 2002 for a performance of \"If I Should Fall Behind\" from Dream on Fire.\n\nIn 2002, Dion was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for \"Runaround Sue\". He continues to perform songs from his albums live, including a concert in 2004 being recorded for release on DVD.\n\nIn January 2006, Dion released Bronx in Blue, an album of blues and country standards, which was nominated for a Grammy Award. It peaked at No. 2 on the Top Blues Albums chart. In November 2007, Dion issued a follow-up album titled Son of Skip James, which peaked at No. 4 on the Top Blues Albums chart.\n\nIn October 2008, DiMucci released Heroes: Giants of Early Guitar Rock, an album of his covers of early rock and roll songs he considers seminal to the genre. The album includes versions of songs originally recorded by Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, Ricky Nelson, Johnny Cash, and many other early rock guitarists.\n\nIn October 2009, Dion performed \"The Wanderer\" with Paul Simon at the 25th Anniversary Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Concert.\n\nAn audiobook and paperback by Dion and Mike Aquilina, titled Dion: The Wanderer Talks Truth (Stories, Humor Music), was published in April 2011. DiMucci shares stories about The Bronx in the 1950s, how he ended up on the cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and his travels with Sam Cooke in the Jim Crow South.\n\nDion released Tank Full of Blues on January 24, 2012. It peaked at No. 3 on the Top Blues Albums chart.\n\nWhile touring on April 5, 2015, Dion performed \"Donna the Prima Donna\" live in Las Vegas. On July 11, 2015, he held a concert in Westbury, New York.\n\nIn 2015, Dion released the single \"New York Is My Home\" with Paul Simon. Dion had previously worked with Simon on his 1989 hit \"Written on the Subway Wall\". The single was followed by the album New York Is My Home, released February 12, 2016. The album peaked at No. 3 on the Top Blues Album chart.\n\nDion planned four concerts in the U.S. during early 2016 and was invited as a keynote speaker for the 2016 SXSW in Texas. He spoke on the topic A Conversation with Dion: Rock's Enduring Voice on March 17, 2016.\n\nDion appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on April 8, 2016.\n\nIn May 2017, Dion released Kickin' Child: The Lost Album 1965 from Norton Records, containing songs recorded in 1965 when he was with Columbia Records but were not previously released. Also in May 2017, Richard Barone's Sorrows & Promises: Greenwich Village in the 1960s was released, which included Dion performing a duet of his 1964 song \"The Road I'm On (Gloria)\" with Barone. The album is a celebration of the New York City scene that Dion was part of during that pivotal era.\n\nRecent albums with KTBA Records: 2020–present \nIn June 2020, Dion released Blues with Friends via Keeping the Blues Alive Records (KTBA), a new record label created by Joe Bonamassa and Roy Weisman for Dion and other blues musicians to showcase their talents. The album features Van Morrison, Jeff Beck, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, and others (including liner notes by Bob Dylan). A digital album (and a double vinyl record set), Dion released a music video for every song from the album on his website and social media platforms such as Facebook and YouTube. The album reached No. 1 on the Billboard Blues Albums chart (9 weeks at No. 1 and 59 weeks total). It also charted in United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Canada and Australia.\n\nAmerican Songwriter magazine honored Dion's \"Song for Sam Cooke (Here in America)\" as the \"Greatest of the Great 2020 Songs\".\n\nDion also released two Christmas songs in 2020: \"Hello Christmas\" (featuring Amy Grant) and \"You Know It's Christmas\" (featuring Bonamassa). Both songs were co-written with Mike Aquilina. Music videos were produced for both songs.\n\nDion's song \"Blues Comin' On\" (with Bonamassa) from Blues with Friends was nominated for a 2021 Blues Music Award.\n\nIn November 2021, Dion released Stomping Ground (with music videos), which includes extensive liner notes written by Pete Townshend. Except for a cover of \"Red House\", the songs were written by Dion and Aquilina. Multiple guest artists participate on the album. The album became Dion's second No. 1 blues album.\n\nThe Wanderer musical \nOn October 13, 2011, an industry-only reading of a new play about Dion's life was performed in New York City.\n\nIn a December 9, 2011 article from The New York Times, Dion and his collaborator (writer/director Charles Messina) discussed details about the project – titled The Wanderer: The Life and Music of Dion – which will focus on the years between 1957 until the late-1960s, and will feature more than 20 songs from that era as well as new/original music. In the article, Dion gave his perspective on the story: \"You know, I always saw my story as a young Sopranos with great music and a Rocky Graziano Somebody Up There Likes Me ending. It's a story of redemption. A rock and roll redemption story!\"\n\nDiMucci revealed that Michael Wartella would be starring in The Wanderer on December 16, 2017. There was a reading of the musical on November 2, 2017 while working on it continued. On December 4, 2019, it was announced that former New Kids on the Block member Joey McIntyre would star as Johnny, Michael Wartella as Dion, and Christy Altomare as wife, Susan. The first performance was scheduled to start on May 28, 2020, at the Paper Mill Playhouse. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the opening performance was rescheduled to March 24, 2022.\n\nPersonal life \nDion lives in Boca Raton, Florida and New York City.\n\nIn the late 1990s, Dion visited his old Bronx parish, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, and returned to Catholicism. Sparking Dion's reversion to Catholicism was \"a chance viewing of The Journey Home program on EWTN.\"\n\nAs a practicing Roman Catholic and having struggled with a heroin addiction during his youth, Dion has been involved in prison religion, reaching out to men going through drug recovery. \n\nDiMucci was a member of the American board of directors for Renewal Ministries in 2004.\n\nDion appeared on The Journey Home and discussed his wanderings from Catholicism to Protestantism and back again on May 1, 2006.\n\nSelective discography \n\nWith the Belmonts\n Presenting Dion and the Belmonts (1959) \n Wish Upon a Star with Dion and the Belmonts (1960) \n Together Again (1966)\n Live at Madison Square Garden 1972 (1973) \n\nSolo albums\n Alone with Dion (1961)\n Runaround Sue (1961)\n Donna the Prima Donna (1963) \n Dion (1968)\n Suite for Late Summer (1972)\n Born to Be with You (1975)\n Streetheart (1976)\n I Put Away My Idols (1983) \n Yo Frankie (1989)\n Son of Skip James (2007)\n Blues with Friends (2020)\n Stomping Ground (2021)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n\n \nComprehensive Rolling Stone profile\nThe Spiritual Journey of the Wanderer Who Came Home By Dion Dimucci\n\n Dion the Wanderer, Back In Blue (an article at NPR.com)\n\n1939 births\nLiving people\nAmerican male singers\nAmerican people of Italian descent\nAmerican male pop singers\nAmerican folk singers\nAmerican rock singers\nMusicians from the Bronx\nAmerican performers of Christian music\nLaurie Records artists\nColumbia Records artists\nSingers from New York City\nDion and the Belmonts members\nDoo-wop musicians\nCatholics from New York (state)"},"extractive":{"kind":"string","value":"true"},"retrieved_contexts":{"kind":"list like","value":["The Ontario (Old Order) Mennonite Conference is a moderate Old Order Mennonite group in the Canadian province of Ontario, that was formed in 1889 as a reaction to modernizing trends among the Mennonites in Ontario. The members use horse and buggy for transportation. As of 2020, they also have a colony in the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island.\n\nName \nThe Conference is sometimes referred to as Old Order Mennonite Church (e. g. Donald Kraybill)\n, whereas the name given above is used by the Mennonite World Conference and by Stephen Scott\n. A popular name for the members is Woolwich Mennonites or just Woolwichers, because Abraham Weber Martin, the bishop who was the main force behind the formation of the group, resided in Woolwich, Ontario.\n\nHistory \nSince 1871, when six bishops in Ontario declared there should be no association with bishop Jacob Wisler of Ohio, who was dismissed because of his conservative stance, there were tensions among the Mennonites in Ontario about the question how much modern practices like Sunday School, revival meetings, English language preaching etc. should be introduced. The final break between the Old Orders and the modernizers occurred in 1889 when there were two different Conferences, because there was a conflict about the date of the conference.\n\nBelief and practice \nThe members use horse and buggy for transportation. Their stance on technology is quite similar to that of the Groffdale Conference Mennonite Church. The German language is used in worship services and Pennsylvania German is spoken at home and with members of the own group as well as with other Old Order groups.\n\nControversy \nIn November 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario, both the Region of Waterloo Public Health unit and Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health issued orders to close Old Order schools and places of worship in their regions and to limit social interactions. The orders were issued because of extremely high infection rates. In Waterloo Region, the orders applied to sects \"including Markham, Old Colony, and David Martin Mennonite communities\", according to a news report. Both agencies cited a lack of cooperation with public health requirements that were intended to minimize the spread of the virus. In an interview with the Waterloo Region Record, bishop Peter Brubacher, (\"bishop for seven Old Order Mennonite church districts\" in north Waterloo Region according to another news agency), made this comment, \"I guess to be frank and honest, a lot of people really didn’t take it that serious, to isolate\".\n\nMembership\n\nPopulation and distribution\n\nIn 1957 the Old Order Mennonite Conference of Ontario had a membership of 1,061, unbaptized family members not counted. In 1992 there were about 2,200 adult members in 16 congregations. In 2008/9 membership was about 3,200 in 36 congregations. By the year 2018 the population of the community had grown to 6,831 individuals.\n\nSee also\n\n Stauffer Mennonite\n Orthodox Mennonites\n Noah Hoover Mennonite\n David Martin Mennonites\n Reidenbach Old Order Mennonites\n\nLiterature\nDonald B. Kraybill and James P. Hurd: Horse-and-buggy Mennonites: Hoofbeats of Humility in a Postmodern World. University Park, PA 2006.\nStephen Scott: An Introduction to Old Order and Conservative Mennonite Groups. Intercourse, PA 1996.\nDonald Kraybill: Concise Encyclopedia of Amish, Brethren, Hutterites, and Mennonites, Baltimore 2010.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n\"Old Order Mennonite Groups in Ontario\" at Anabaptistwiki.org\n\"Moderate Old Order Mennonite Groups\" at Anabaptistwiki.org\n\nMennonitism in Ontario\nMennonite denominations\nReligious organizations established in 1889\nOld Order Mennonites","Victor Vroom, a professor at Yale University and a scholar on leadership and decision-making, developed the normative model of decision-making. Drawing upon literature from the areas of leadership, group decision-making, and procedural fairness, Vroom’s model predicts the effectiveness of decision-making procedures. Specifically, Vroom’s model takes into account the situation and the importance of the decision to determine which of Vroom’s five decision-making methods will be most effective.\n\nDecision-making processes \nVroom identified five types of decision-making processes, each varying on degree of participation by the leader. \n\nDecide: The leader makes the decision or solves the problem alone and announces his/her decision to the group. The leader may gather information from members of the group.\nConsult (Individually): The leader approaches group members individually and presents them with the problem. The leader records the group member’s suggestions and makes a decision, deciding whether or not to use the information provided by group members.\nConsult (Group): The leader holds a group meeting where he/she presents the problem to the group as a whole. All members are asked to contribute and make suggestions during the meeting. The leader makes his/her decision alone, choosing which information obtained from the group meeting to use or discard.\nFacilitate: The leader holds a group meeting where he/she presents the problem to the group as a whole. This differs from consulting approach as the leader ensures that his/her opinions are not given any more weight than those of the group. The decision is made by group consensus, and not solely by the leader.\nDelegate: The leader does not actively participate in the decision-making process. Instead, the leader provides resources (e.g., information about the problem) and encouragement.\n\nSituational influence of decision-making \nVroom identified seven situational factors that leaders should consider when choosing a decision-making process.\n\nDecision significance: How will the decision affect the project’s success, or the organization as a whole?\nImportance of commitment: Is it important that team members are committed to the final decision?\nLeader’s expertise: How knowledgeable is the leader in regards to the problem(s) at hand?\nLikelihood of commitment: If the leader makes the decision by himself/herself, how committed would the group members be to the decision?\nGroup support for objectives: To what degree do group members support the leader’s and organization’s objectives?\nGroup expertise: How knowledgeable are the group members in regards to the problem(s) at hand?\nTeam competence: How well can group members work together to solve the problem?\n\nVroom created a number of matrices which allow leaders to take into consideration these seven situational influences in order to choose the most effective decision-making process.\n\nApplication \nVroom’s normative model of decision-making has been used in a wide array of organizational settings to help leaders select the best decision-making style and also to describe the behaviours of leaders and group members. Further, Vroom’s model has been applied to research in the areas of gender and leadership style, and cultural influences and leadership style.\n\nReferences \n\nDecision theory"],"string":"[\n \"The Ontario (Old Order) Mennonite Conference is a moderate Old Order Mennonite group in the Canadian province of Ontario, that was formed in 1889 as a reaction to modernizing trends among the Mennonites in Ontario. The members use horse and buggy for transportation. As of 2020, they also have a colony in the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island.\\n\\nName \\nThe Conference is sometimes referred to as Old Order Mennonite Church (e. g. Donald Kraybill)\\n, whereas the name given above is used by the Mennonite World Conference and by Stephen Scott\\n. A popular name for the members is Woolwich Mennonites or just Woolwichers, because Abraham Weber Martin, the bishop who was the main force behind the formation of the group, resided in Woolwich, Ontario.\\n\\nHistory \\nSince 1871, when six bishops in Ontario declared there should be no association with bishop Jacob Wisler of Ohio, who was dismissed because of his conservative stance, there were tensions among the Mennonites in Ontario about the question how much modern practices like Sunday School, revival meetings, English language preaching etc. should be introduced. The final break between the Old Orders and the modernizers occurred in 1889 when there were two different Conferences, because there was a conflict about the date of the conference.\\n\\nBelief and practice \\nThe members use horse and buggy for transportation. Their stance on technology is quite similar to that of the Groffdale Conference Mennonite Church. The German language is used in worship services and Pennsylvania German is spoken at home and with members of the own group as well as with other Old Order groups.\\n\\nControversy \\nIn November 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario, both the Region of Waterloo Public Health unit and Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health issued orders to close Old Order schools and places of worship in their regions and to limit social interactions. The orders were issued because of extremely high infection rates. In Waterloo Region, the orders applied to sects \\\"including Markham, Old Colony, and David Martin Mennonite communities\\\", according to a news report. Both agencies cited a lack of cooperation with public health requirements that were intended to minimize the spread of the virus. In an interview with the Waterloo Region Record, bishop Peter Brubacher, (\\\"bishop for seven Old Order Mennonite church districts\\\" in north Waterloo Region according to another news agency), made this comment, \\\"I guess to be frank and honest, a lot of people really didn’t take it that serious, to isolate\\\".\\n\\nMembership\\n\\nPopulation and distribution\\n\\nIn 1957 the Old Order Mennonite Conference of Ontario had a membership of 1,061, unbaptized family members not counted. In 1992 there were about 2,200 adult members in 16 congregations. In 2008/9 membership was about 3,200 in 36 congregations. By the year 2018 the population of the community had grown to 6,831 individuals.\\n\\nSee also\\n\\n Stauffer Mennonite\\n Orthodox Mennonites\\n Noah Hoover Mennonite\\n David Martin Mennonites\\n Reidenbach Old Order Mennonites\\n\\nLiterature\\nDonald B. Kraybill and James P. Hurd: Horse-and-buggy Mennonites: Hoofbeats of Humility in a Postmodern World. University Park, PA 2006.\\nStephen Scott: An Introduction to Old Order and Conservative Mennonite Groups. Intercourse, PA 1996.\\nDonald Kraybill: Concise Encyclopedia of Amish, Brethren, Hutterites, and Mennonites, Baltimore 2010.\\n\\nReferences\\n\\nExternal links\\n\\n\\\"Old Order Mennonite Groups in Ontario\\\" at Anabaptistwiki.org\\n\\\"Moderate Old Order Mennonite Groups\\\" at Anabaptistwiki.org\\n\\nMennonitism in Ontario\\nMennonite denominations\\nReligious organizations established in 1889\\nOld Order Mennonites\",\n \"Victor Vroom, a professor at Yale University and a scholar on leadership and decision-making, developed the normative model of decision-making. Drawing upon literature from the areas of leadership, group decision-making, and procedural fairness, Vroom’s model predicts the effectiveness of decision-making procedures. Specifically, Vroom’s model takes into account the situation and the importance of the decision to determine which of Vroom’s five decision-making methods will be most effective.\\n\\nDecision-making processes \\nVroom identified five types of decision-making processes, each varying on degree of participation by the leader. \\n\\nDecide: The leader makes the decision or solves the problem alone and announces his/her decision to the group. The leader may gather information from members of the group.\\nConsult (Individually): The leader approaches group members individually and presents them with the problem. The leader records the group member’s suggestions and makes a decision, deciding whether or not to use the information provided by group members.\\nConsult (Group): The leader holds a group meeting where he/she presents the problem to the group as a whole. All members are asked to contribute and make suggestions during the meeting. The leader makes his/her decision alone, choosing which information obtained from the group meeting to use or discard.\\nFacilitate: The leader holds a group meeting where he/she presents the problem to the group as a whole. This differs from consulting approach as the leader ensures that his/her opinions are not given any more weight than those of the group. The decision is made by group consensus, and not solely by the leader.\\nDelegate: The leader does not actively participate in the decision-making process. Instead, the leader provides resources (e.g., information about the problem) and encouragement.\\n\\nSituational influence of decision-making \\nVroom identified seven situational factors that leaders should consider when choosing a decision-making process.\\n\\nDecision significance: How will the decision affect the project’s success, or the organization as a whole?\\nImportance of commitment: Is it important that team members are committed to the final decision?\\nLeader’s expertise: How knowledgeable is the leader in regards to the problem(s) at hand?\\nLikelihood of commitment: If the leader makes the decision by himself/herself, how committed would the group members be to the decision?\\nGroup support for objectives: To what degree do group members support the leader’s and organization’s objectives?\\nGroup expertise: How knowledgeable are the group members in regards to the problem(s) at hand?\\nTeam competence: How well can group members work together to solve the problem?\\n\\nVroom created a number of matrices which allow leaders to take into consideration these seven situational influences in order to choose the most effective decision-making process.\\n\\nApplication \\nVroom’s normative model of decision-making has been used in a wide array of organizational settings to help leaders select the best decision-making style and also to describe the behaviours of leaders and group members. Further, Vroom’s model has been applied to research in the areas of gender and leadership style, and cultural influences and leadership style.\\n\\nReferences \\n\\nDecision theory\"\n]"},"chunked_article":{"kind":"list like","value":["Dion Francis DiMucci (born July 18, 1939), better known simply as Dion, is an American singer and songwriter whose music has incorporated elements of doo-wop, rock, R&B and blues. Initially as lead singer of Dion and the Belmonts, and then in his solo career, he was one of the most popular American rock and roll performers of the pre-British Invasion era. He had 39 Top 40 hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s as a solo performer, with the Belmonts or with the Del-Satins.","He had 39 Top 40 hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s as a solo performer, with the Belmonts or with the Del-Satins. He is best remembered for the singles \"Runaround Sue\", \"The Wanderer\", \"Ruby Baby\" and \"Lovers Who Wander\", among other hits. Dion's popularity waned in the mid-1960s. Toward the end of the decade, he shifted his style and produced songs that were more mature and contemplative, such as \"Abraham, Martin and John\".","Toward the end of the decade, he shifted his style and produced songs that were more mature and contemplative, such as \"Abraham, Martin and John\". He remained popular in the late 1960s until the mid-1970s, and continues making music. During the 1980s, Dion produced several Christian albums, winning a GMA Dove Award in 1984 for the album I Put Away My Idols. He returned to secular music in the late 1980s with Yo Frankie (1989).","He returned to secular music in the late 1980s with Yo Frankie (1989). Between the mid-2000s and 2021, Dion released six chart-topping blues albums. Critics who had dismissed his early work, labeling him as a teen idol, praised his later work and noted the influence he has had on other musicians. A Grammy-nominated artist, Dion has released nearly 40 albums and scored eight Top 10 hits (ten including the Belmonts) on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.","A Grammy-nominated artist, Dion has released nearly 40 albums and scored eight Top 10 hits (ten including the Belmonts) on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989. Early life Dion was born to an Italian-American family in the Bronx, New York. As a child, he accompanied his father, Pasquale DiMucci, a vaudeville entertainer, on tour, and developed a love of country music – particularly the work of Hank Williams.","As a child, he accompanied his father, Pasquale DiMucci, a vaudeville entertainer, on tour, and developed a love of country music – particularly the work of Hank Williams. He also developed a fondness for the blues and doo-wop musicians he heard performing in local bars and on the radio. His singing was honed on the street corners and local clubs of the Bronx, where he and other neighborhood singers created a cappella riffs. In early 1957, he auditioned for Bob and Gene Schwartz for their short-lived Mohawk Records label.","In early 1957, he auditioned for Bob and Gene Schwartz for their short-lived Mohawk Records label. They asked Dion to sing a song which had been arranged by Hugo Montenegro and recorded featuring Vic Damone doing vocals. At first Dion refused, stating the song would sound like something his old fashioned parents would listen to, but the Schwartzes convinced him to give it a try. The backing vocals were by a group called \"the Timberlanes\", whom Dion had never met.","The backing vocals were by a group called \"the Timberlanes\", whom Dion had never met. The resulting single, \"The Chosen Few\", was released under the name \"Dion and the Timberlanes\", and became a minor regional hit.","The resulting single, \"The Chosen Few\", was released under the name \"Dion and the Timberlanes\", and became a minor regional hit. Dion himself stated in 2019 during an interview at \"Crashing the Party\" (a radio program related to Norton Records in Brooklyn, New York) that \"The Chosen Few\" hit the Top Ten locally in Boston and enabled him to perform this song on American Bandstand where the kids at the show started screaming during his performance, which gave him his first impression of being a record star.","Dion himself stated in 2019 during an interview at \"Crashing the Party\" (a radio program related to Norton Records in Brooklyn, New York) that \"The Chosen Few\" hit the Top Ten locally in Boston and enabled him to perform this song on American Bandstand where the kids at the show started screaming during his performance, which gave him his first impression of being a record star. Writing about this experience later, in his autobiography, The Wanderer, Dion said that he had never met the Timberlanes and did not even know who they were.","Writing about this experience later, in his autobiography, The Wanderer, Dion said that he had never met the Timberlanes and did not even know who they were. \"The vocal group was so white bread, I went back to my neighborhood and I recruited a bunch of guys – three guys – and we called ourselves Dion and the Belmonts.\"","\"The vocal group was so white bread, I went back to my neighborhood and I recruited a bunch of guys – three guys – and we called ourselves Dion and the Belmonts.\" Career Beginnings with the Belmonts: 1957–1960 Bob and Gene Schwartz signed Dion's friends, the Belmonts (Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano, and Angelo D'Aleo), a vocal group named for the Belmont, Bronx neighborhood, and teamed them up with Dion singing lead.","Career Beginnings with the Belmonts: 1957–1960 Bob and Gene Schwartz signed Dion's friends, the Belmonts (Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano, and Angelo D'Aleo), a vocal group named for the Belmont, Bronx neighborhood, and teamed them up with Dion singing lead. The new group's breakthrough came in early 1958, when \"I Wonder Why\" (on their newly formed Laurie Records) made No. 22 on the U.S. charts. Dion said of the Belmonts; \"I'd give 'em sounds.","Dion said of the Belmonts; \"I'd give 'em sounds. I'd give 'em parts and stuff. That's what 'I Wonder Why' was about. We kind of invented this percussive rhythmic sound. If you listen to that song, everybody was doing something different. There's four guys, one guy was doing bass, I was singing lead, one guy's going 'ooh wah ooh,' and another guy's doing tenor. It was totally amazing.","It was totally amazing. It was totally amazing. When I listen to it today, oftentimes I think, 'man, those kids are talented.'\" Their initial hit was followed by \"No One Knows\" and \"Don't Pity Me\", which also charted the Billboard Top 100. This success won a place for Dion and the Belmonts on the ill-fated \"The Winter Dance Party\" tour with Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson), Frankie Sardo, and other performers.","This success won a place for Dion and the Belmonts on the ill-fated \"The Winter Dance Party\" tour with Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson), Frankie Sardo, and other performers. On February 3, 1959, after a concert stop in Clear Lake, Iowa, Holly and others decided to charter a flight to the next venue rather than travel on the tour bus.","On February 3, 1959, after a concert stop in Clear Lake, Iowa, Holly and others decided to charter a flight to the next venue rather than travel on the tour bus. Dion was invited to accompany the group but decided that he did not want to spend $36 for the flight, as it was the same monthly rent his parents paid for his childhood apartment and he could not justify the indulgence.","Dion was invited to accompany the group but decided that he did not want to spend $36 for the flight, as it was the same monthly rent his parents paid for his childhood apartment and he could not justify the indulgence. The plane crashed, killing all on board: Holly, Valens, Richardson, and the pilot Roger Peterson. Dion and the Belmonts continued on the tour, along with Frankie Sardo, while Bobby Vee, then an unknown artist, performed in Holly's place at the very next concert.","Dion and the Belmonts continued on the tour, along with Frankie Sardo, while Bobby Vee, then an unknown artist, performed in Holly's place at the very next concert. Later, Jimmy Clanton, Frankie Avalon, and Fabian were added to replace the other now-deceased headliners. Dion and the Belmonts' next single, \"A Teenager in Love\", was released in March 1959, eventually hitting No. 5 on the U.S. pop charts and No. 28 in the UK.","5 on the U.S. pop charts and No. 28 in the UK. 28 in the UK. The group's biggest hit, \"Where or When\", was released in November of that year, and reached No. 3 on the U.S. charts. However, in early 1960, Dion checked into hospital for heroin addiction, a problem he had had since his mid-teens. Further single releases for the group that year were less successful.","Further single releases for the group that year were less successful. There were musical, personal and financial differences between Dion and members of the Belmonts, and in October 1960, Dion decided to quit for a solo career. By the time of their breakup, all eight Laurie releases had charted on the Hot 100. Solo stardom and touring worldwide: 1960–1964 By the end of 1960, Dion produced his first solo album on Laurie Records, Alone with Dion, released in 1961.","Solo stardom and touring worldwide: 1960–1964 By the end of 1960, Dion produced his first solo album on Laurie Records, Alone with Dion, released in 1961. The single \"Lonely Teenager\" rose to No. 12 in the US charts. The name on his solo releases was simply \"Dion\". Follow-ups \"Havin' Fun\" and \"Kissin' Game\" had less success, and the signs were that Dion would drift onto the cabaret circuit.","Follow-ups \"Havin' Fun\" and \"Kissin' Game\" had less success, and the signs were that Dion would drift onto the cabaret circuit. However, he then recorded an up-tempo number co-written with Ernie Maresca with a new vocal group, the Del-Satins. The record, \"Runaround Sue\", stormed up the U.S. charts, reaching No. 1 in October 1961, and No. 11 in the UK, where he also toured. \"Runaround Sue\" sold over a million copies, achieving gold disc status.","\"Runaround Sue\" sold over a million copies, achieving gold disc status. For the next single, Laurie promoted the A-side, \"The Majestic\", but it was the B-side, Maresca's \"The Wanderer\", which received more radio play and climbed swiftly up the charts to reach No. 2 in the U.S. in February 1962 and No. 10 in the UK. The 1976 re-release made the UK Top 20.","The 1976 re-release made the UK Top 20. The 1976 re-release made the UK Top 20. By the end of 1961, Dion had become a major star, touring worldwide and making an appearance in the Columbia Pictures musical film Twist Around the Clock. In 1962, he followed with a string of singles he wrote or co-wrote including \"Lovers Who Wander\" (No. 3), \"Little Diane\" (No. 8), \"Love Came to Me\" (No. 10).","8), \"Love Came to Me\" (No. 10). 10). He also had successful albums with Runaround Sue and Lovers Who Wander. At the end of 1962, Dion moved from Laurie to Columbia Records. He was the first rock and roll artist signed to the label, which was an anomaly considering that its then-A&R director, Mitch Miller, loathed that particular genre of music.","He was the first rock and roll artist signed to the label, which was an anomaly considering that its then-A&R director, Mitch Miller, loathed that particular genre of music. The first Columbia single, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller's \"Ruby Baby\" (originally a hit for the Drifters) reached No. 2, while \"Donna the Prima Donna\" and \"Drip Drop\" (another remake of a Drifters hit) both reached No. 6 in late 1963.","6 in late 1963. 6 in late 1963. (Dion also recorded an Italian version of \"Donna the Prima Donna\" using the identical backup vocals.) His other Columbia releases were less successful, and problems with his drug addiction and changing public tastes, especially the British Invasion, saw a period of commercial decline. Belmonts reunion and renewed contract: 1965–1968 Following a European tour, Dion returned to the U.S. and was introduced to classic blues by Columbia's John Hammond.","Belmonts reunion and renewed contract: 1965–1968 Following a European tour, Dion returned to the U.S. and was introduced to classic blues by Columbia's John Hammond. To the consternation of his management, he began recording more blues-oriented material, including Willie Dixon's \"Hoochie Coochie Man\" and \"Spoonful\", but these releases – some produced by Tom Wilson, with Al Kooper on keyboards – were not commercially successful.","To the consternation of his management, he began recording more blues-oriented material, including Willie Dixon's \"Hoochie Coochie Man\" and \"Spoonful\", but these releases – some produced by Tom Wilson, with Al Kooper on keyboards – were not commercially successful. In 1965, still with Columbia, Dion formed a new group to back him, The Wanderers, composed of John Falbo on guitar, Pete Baron (Pete Falciglia) on bass, and Carlo Mastrangelo of the Belmonts on drums.","In 1965, still with Columbia, Dion formed a new group to back him, The Wanderers, composed of John Falbo on guitar, Pete Baron (Pete Falciglia) on bass, and Carlo Mastrangelo of the Belmonts on drums. They made national appearances on Dick Clark's, Where The Action Is, and The Lloyd Thaxton Show. A number of self-penned tracks were recorded and released unsuccessfully as singles, and did not appear in album format until years later.","A number of self-penned tracks were recorded and released unsuccessfully as singles, and did not appear in album format until years later. In June 1965 he recorded fellow Columbia Records's contemporary Bob Dylan's composition \"It's All Over Now, Baby Blue\" a half-year before Them (featuring Van Morrison)'s hit version. In 1966–67, Dion briefly reunited with the Belmonts, recording the LP Together Again for ABC Records. The album was unsuccessful, despite one classic self-penned song, \"My Girl the Month of May\".","The album was unsuccessful, despite one classic self-penned song, \"My Girl the Month of May\". Two singles were released from the LP. While neither charted in the United States, they fared better in the UK. \"My Girl The Month of May\" entered the Radio London \"Fab 40\" at No. 9 the week of December 25, 1966.","9 the week of December 25, 1966. 9 the week of December 25, 1966. A 'turntable' hit at London underground clubs like Middle Earth, the disc received a lot of play from pirate radio DJ's John Peel and Kenny Everett. The follow up, \"Movin' Man\", reached No. 17 on the \"Radio London\" charts on Easter Sunday, March 26, 1967.","17 on the \"Radio London\" charts on Easter Sunday, March 26, 1967. \"My Girl The Month of May\" was later covered by English artists Alan Bown in 1967, and Island Records artists The Bunch (featuring Sandy Denny and other members of Fairport Convention) in April 1972.","\"My Girl The Month of May\" was later covered by English artists Alan Bown in 1967, and Island Records artists The Bunch (featuring Sandy Denny and other members of Fairport Convention) in April 1972. During their brief mid-60's reunion, Dion and the Belmonts appeared on the popular Clay Cole Show performing \"Berimbau\" and \"My Girl The Month of May\", and occasionally performed at local New York City clubs such as \"The Mardi Gras\" on Staten Island (April 29, 1967) before disbanding.","During their brief mid-60's reunion, Dion and the Belmonts appeared on the popular Clay Cole Show performing \"Berimbau\" and \"My Girl The Month of May\", and occasionally performed at local New York City clubs such as \"The Mardi Gras\" on Staten Island (April 29, 1967) before disbanding. While Dion's career appeared to be nearing an end, he still retained enough credibility to be, along with Bob Dylan, one of only two rock artists featured on the album cover of the Beatles' Sgt.","While Dion's career appeared to be nearing an end, he still retained enough credibility to be, along with Bob Dylan, one of only two rock artists featured on the album cover of the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in 1967. In April 1968, Dion experienced what he identified as a powerful religious transformation. After getting clean once again from heroin addiction, an experience he documented in his 1970 song \"Your Own Backyard\", he approached Laurie Records for a new contract.","After getting clean once again from heroin addiction, an experience he documented in his 1970 song \"Your Own Backyard\", he approached Laurie Records for a new contract. They agreed on the condition that he record the song \"Abraham, Martin & John\", written by Dick Holler (also the writer of the Royal Guardsmen's \"Snoopy Vs.","They agreed on the condition that he record the song \"Abraham, Martin & John\", written by Dick Holler (also the writer of the Royal Guardsmen's \"Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron\") in response to the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, and those of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy during the spring of 1968. The success of this song (released by Dion in August 1968 and later recorded by many others including Marvin Gaye) which reached No.","The success of this song (released by Dion in August 1968 and later recorded by many others including Marvin Gaye) which reached No. 4 in the US charts and No. 1 in Canada, resuscitated Dion's career. It sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc. Mature and Christian music period: 1969–1986 For the next few years, Dion's music became radically different, moving to more contemplative and mature material.","Mature and Christian music period: 1969–1986 For the next few years, Dion's music became radically different, moving to more contemplative and mature material. He released several albums essentially as a singer-songwriter, to moderate sales, moving to the Warner Brothers label in 1969. There followed a live reunion show with the Belmonts at Madison Square Garden on June 2, 1972, which was recorded and released as a live album by Warner.","There followed a live reunion show with the Belmonts at Madison Square Garden on June 2, 1972, which was recorded and released as a live album by Warner. A year later, in 1973, Dion and the original Belmonts performed once more, doing a sold-out concert at the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island, New York. However, no recording of the 1973 reunion was released. This was followed in 1975 by the album Born to Be with You produced by Phil Spector.","This was followed in 1975 by the album Born to Be with You produced by Phil Spector. The album was a commercial failure, but has been subsequently praised by such artists as Jason Pierce of Spiritualized and Pete Townshend of The Who with the track \"Only You Know\" being sampled by Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker for his single \"Don't Let Him Waste Your Time\" from his 2006 solo album Jarvis.","The album was a commercial failure, but has been subsequently praised by such artists as Jason Pierce of Spiritualized and Pete Townshend of The Who with the track \"Only You Know\" being sampled by Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker for his single \"Don't Let Him Waste Your Time\" from his 2006 solo album Jarvis. In 1978, Dion released an album drawing on many of his teenage influences, Return of the Wanderer, another commercial failure.","In 1978, Dion released an album drawing on many of his teenage influences, Return of the Wanderer, another commercial failure. In December 1979, there was a radical spiritual change in Dion, who had become a born again Christian. Thereafter, his recordings for several years were in a contemporary Christian vein, in which he released five albums on the DaySpring Records label, a division of Word Records in Waco, Texas.","Thereafter, his recordings for several years were in a contemporary Christian vein, in which he released five albums on the DaySpring Records label, a division of Word Records in Waco, Texas. These albums reflecting his evangelical Christian convictions were Inside Job (1980), Only Jesus (1981), I Put Away My Idols (1983) which charted at No. 37, Seasons (1984), Kingdom in the Streets (1985) and Velvet & Steel (1986).","37, Seasons (1984), Kingdom in the Streets (1985) and Velvet & Steel (1986). Several singles were successfully released to Christian radio, notably \"Still in the Spirit\" from Kingdom in the Streets. In 1984, Dion won the GMA Dove Award (Christian Music Award) for the album I Put Away My Idols. He was also nominated for Grammy Award for Best Gospel Vocal Performance, Male for the same album.","He was also nominated for Grammy Award for Best Gospel Vocal Performance, Male for the same album. On September 24, 1985, Dion was a guest on 100 Huntley Street. Return to secular music and RRHOF induction: 1987–1999 In 1987, Dion agreed to do a concert of his old hits at Radio City Music Hall in New York. The two disc CD of this concert was released in 2005, featuring concert photos by Dion's friend, Michael J. Friedman.","The two disc CD of this concert was released in 2005, featuring concert photos by Dion's friend, Michael J. Friedman. This concert helped free him to celebrate both his past and his future, and led to a series of special appearances, including a fundraiser for homeless medical relief. There he shared the stage with fans such as Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon and Lou Reed, all of whom cited Dion as one of their prime influences.","There he shared the stage with fans such as Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon and Lou Reed, all of whom cited Dion as one of their prime influences. Dion's autobiography, The Wanderer: Dion's Story, co-authored by Davin Seay, was published in the late-1980s. In 1989, DiMucci returned to rock music with the contemporary album Yo Frankie, which included appearances by Paul Simon, Lou Reed, k.d. lang, Patty Smyth and Bryan Adams.","lang, Patty Smyth and Bryan Adams. lang, Patty Smyth and Bryan Adams. Produced by Dave Edmunds (who also played guitar on the album), \"Yo Frankie has a sharp sound while never losing sight of Dion's soulful, doo-wop voice.\" Overall, \"the relevant and nostalgic statement from an artist who helped forge rock & roll's first wave\" found his way back on radio and in music videos during this period (both on VH1 and MTV), as well as touring.","Overall, \"the relevant and nostalgic statement from an artist who helped forge rock & roll's first wave\" found his way back on radio and in music videos during this period (both on VH1 and MTV), as well as touring. Dion was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF) in 1989 (with an introduction by Lou Reed).","Dion was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF) in 1989 (with an introduction by Lou Reed). Controversially, when Dion's solo induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame occurred, the other original members of the Belmonts (Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano, and Angelo D'Aleo) were not inducted.","Controversially, when Dion's solo induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame occurred, the other original members of the Belmonts (Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano, and Angelo D'Aleo) were not inducted. A January 3, 2012 Billboard magazine article stated: \"There was strife between DiMucci and Belmonts members, who were not pleased when DiMucci was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame without them in 1989.\"","A January 3, 2012 Billboard magazine article stated: \"There was strife between DiMucci and Belmonts members, who were not pleased when DiMucci was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame without them in 1989.\" DiMucci joined Scott Kempner and Frank Funaro of the Del-Lords and Mike Mesaros of the Smithereens in a short-lived band called Little Kings. A live album was later released, but not widely circulated or promoted. Grammy Hall of Fame and blues success: 2000–2019 Dion has released several albums with contemporary rock artists.","Grammy Hall of Fame and blues success: 2000–2019 Dion has released several albums with contemporary rock artists. His Déjà Nu album in 2000 found him covering Bruce Springsteen, a major follower over the years. He joined Springsteen onstage in Miami in 2002 for a performance of \"If I Should Fall Behind\" from Dream on Fire. In 2002, Dion was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for \"Runaround Sue\".","In 2002, Dion was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for \"Runaround Sue\". He continues to perform songs from his albums live, including a concert in 2004 being recorded for release on DVD. In January 2006, Dion released Bronx in Blue, an album of blues and country standards, which was nominated for a Grammy Award. It peaked at No. 2 on the Top Blues Albums chart. In November 2007, Dion issued a follow-up album titled Son of Skip James, which peaked at No.","In November 2007, Dion issued a follow-up album titled Son of Skip James, which peaked at No. 4 on the Top Blues Albums chart. In October 2008, DiMucci released Heroes: Giants of Early Guitar Rock, an album of his covers of early rock and roll songs he considers seminal to the genre. The album includes versions of songs originally recorded by Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, Ricky Nelson, Johnny Cash, and many other early rock guitarists.","The album includes versions of songs originally recorded by Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, Ricky Nelson, Johnny Cash, and many other early rock guitarists. In October 2009, Dion performed \"The Wanderer\" with Paul Simon at the 25th Anniversary Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Concert. An audiobook and paperback by Dion and Mike Aquilina, titled Dion: The Wanderer Talks Truth (Stories, Humor Music), was published in April 2011.","An audiobook and paperback by Dion and Mike Aquilina, titled Dion: The Wanderer Talks Truth (Stories, Humor Music), was published in April 2011. DiMucci shares stories about The Bronx in the 1950s, how he ended up on the cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and his travels with Sam Cooke in the Jim Crow South. Dion released Tank Full of Blues on January 24, 2012. It peaked at No. 3 on the Top Blues Albums chart.","3 on the Top Blues Albums chart. 3 on the Top Blues Albums chart. While touring on April 5, 2015, Dion performed \"Donna the Prima Donna\" live in Las Vegas. On July 11, 2015, he held a concert in Westbury, New York. In 2015, Dion released the single \"New York Is My Home\" with Paul Simon. Dion had previously worked with Simon on his 1989 hit \"Written on the Subway Wall\".","Dion had previously worked with Simon on his 1989 hit \"Written on the Subway Wall\". The single was followed by the album New York Is My Home, released February 12, 2016. The album peaked at No. 3 on the Top Blues Album chart. Dion planned four concerts in the U.S. during early 2016 and was invited as a keynote speaker for the 2016 SXSW in Texas. He spoke on the topic A Conversation with Dion: Rock's Enduring Voice on March 17, 2016.","He spoke on the topic A Conversation with Dion: Rock's Enduring Voice on March 17, 2016. Dion appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on April 8, 2016. In May 2017, Dion released Kickin' Child: The Lost Album 1965 from Norton Records, containing songs recorded in 1965 when he was with Columbia Records but were not previously released.","In May 2017, Dion released Kickin' Child: The Lost Album 1965 from Norton Records, containing songs recorded in 1965 when he was with Columbia Records but were not previously released. Also in May 2017, Richard Barone's Sorrows & Promises: Greenwich Village in the 1960s was released, which included Dion performing a duet of his 1964 song \"The Road I'm On (Gloria)\" with Barone. The album is a celebration of the New York City scene that Dion was part of during that pivotal era.","The album is a celebration of the New York City scene that Dion was part of during that pivotal era. Recent albums with KTBA Records: 2020–present In June 2020, Dion released Blues with Friends via Keeping the Blues Alive Records (KTBA), a new record label created by Joe Bonamassa and Roy Weisman for Dion and other blues musicians to showcase their talents. The album features Van Morrison, Jeff Beck, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, and others (including liner notes by Bob Dylan).","The album features Van Morrison, Jeff Beck, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, and others (including liner notes by Bob Dylan). A digital album (and a double vinyl record set), Dion released a music video for every song from the album on his website and social media platforms such as Facebook and YouTube. The album reached No. 1 on the Billboard Blues Albums chart (9 weeks at No. 1 and 59 weeks total).","1 and 59 weeks total). 1 and 59 weeks total). It also charted in United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Canada and Australia. American Songwriter magazine honored Dion's \"Song for Sam Cooke (Here in America)\" as the \"Greatest of the Great 2020 Songs\". Dion also released two Christmas songs in 2020: \"Hello Christmas\" (featuring Amy Grant) and \"You Know It's Christmas\" (featuring Bonamassa). Both songs were co-written with Mike Aquilina.","Both songs were co-written with Mike Aquilina. Both songs were co-written with Mike Aquilina. Music videos were produced for both songs. Dion's song \"Blues Comin' On\" (with Bonamassa) from Blues with Friends was nominated for a 2021 Blues Music Award. In November 2021, Dion released Stomping Ground (with music videos), which includes extensive liner notes written by Pete Townshend. Except for a cover of \"Red House\", the songs were written by Dion and Aquilina.","Except for a cover of \"Red House\", the songs were written by Dion and Aquilina. Multiple guest artists participate on the album. The album became Dion's second No. 1 blues album. The Wanderer musical On October 13, 2011, an industry-only reading of a new play about Dion's life was performed in New York City.","The Wanderer musical On October 13, 2011, an industry-only reading of a new play about Dion's life was performed in New York City. In a December 9, 2011 article from The New York Times, Dion and his collaborator (writer/director Charles Messina) discussed details about the project – titled The Wanderer: The Life and Music of Dion – which will focus on the years between 1957 until the late-1960s, and will feature more than 20 songs from that era as well as new/original music.","In a December 9, 2011 article from The New York Times, Dion and his collaborator (writer/director Charles Messina) discussed details about the project – titled The Wanderer: The Life and Music of Dion – which will focus on the years between 1957 until the late-1960s, and will feature more than 20 songs from that era as well as new/original music. In the article, Dion gave his perspective on the story: \"You know, I always saw my story as a young Sopranos with great music and a Rocky Graziano Somebody Up There Likes Me ending.","In the article, Dion gave his perspective on the story: \"You know, I always saw my story as a young Sopranos with great music and a Rocky Graziano Somebody Up There Likes Me ending. It's a story of redemption. A rock and roll redemption story!\" DiMucci revealed that Michael Wartella would be starring in The Wanderer on December 16, 2017. There was a reading of the musical on November 2, 2017 while working on it continued.","There was a reading of the musical on November 2, 2017 while working on it continued. On December 4, 2019, it was announced that former New Kids on the Block member Joey McIntyre would star as Johnny, Michael Wartella as Dion, and Christy Altomare as wife, Susan. The first performance was scheduled to start on May 28, 2020, at the Paper Mill Playhouse. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the opening performance was rescheduled to March 24, 2022.","Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the opening performance was rescheduled to March 24, 2022. Personal life Dion lives in Boca Raton, Florida and New York City. In the late 1990s, Dion visited his old Bronx parish, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, and returned to Catholicism. Sparking Dion's reversion to Catholicism was \"a chance viewing of The Journey Home program on EWTN.\"","Sparking Dion's reversion to Catholicism was \"a chance viewing of The Journey Home program on EWTN.\" As a practicing Roman Catholic and having struggled with a heroin addiction during his youth, Dion has been involved in prison religion, reaching out to men going through drug recovery. DiMucci was a member of the American board of directors for Renewal Ministries in 2004. Dion appeared on The Journey Home and discussed his wanderings from Catholicism to Protestantism and back again on May 1, 2006.","Dion appeared on The Journey Home and discussed his wanderings from Catholicism to Protestantism and back again on May 1, 2006. Selective discography With the Belmonts Presenting Dion and the Belmonts (1959) Wish Upon a Star with Dion and the Belmonts (1960) Together Again (1966) Live at Madison Square Garden 1972 (1973) Solo albums Alone with Dion (1961) Runaround Sue (1961) Donna the Prima Donna (1963) Dion (1968) Suite for Late Summer (1972) Born to Be with You (1975) Streetheart (1976) I Put Away My Idols (1983) Yo Frankie (1989) Son of Skip James (2007) Blues with Friends (2020) Stomping Ground (2021) References External links Comprehensive Rolling Stone profile The Spiritual Journey of the Wanderer Who Came Home By Dion Dimucci Dion the Wanderer, Back In Blue (an article at NPR.com) 1939 births Living people American male singers American people of Italian descent American male pop singers American folk singers American rock singers Musicians from the Bronx American performers of Christian music Laurie Records artists Columbia Records artists Singers from New York City Dion and the Belmonts members Doo-wop musicians Catholics from New York (state)"],"string":"[\n \"Dion Francis DiMucci (born July 18, 1939), better known simply as Dion, is an American singer and songwriter whose music has incorporated elements of doo-wop, rock, R&B and blues. Initially as lead singer of Dion and the Belmonts, and then in his solo career, he was one of the most popular American rock and roll performers of the pre-British Invasion era. He had 39 Top 40 hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s as a solo performer, with the Belmonts or with the Del-Satins.\",\n \"He had 39 Top 40 hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s as a solo performer, with the Belmonts or with the Del-Satins. He is best remembered for the singles \\\"Runaround Sue\\\", \\\"The Wanderer\\\", \\\"Ruby Baby\\\" and \\\"Lovers Who Wander\\\", among other hits. Dion's popularity waned in the mid-1960s. Toward the end of the decade, he shifted his style and produced songs that were more mature and contemplative, such as \\\"Abraham, Martin and John\\\".\",\n \"Toward the end of the decade, he shifted his style and produced songs that were more mature and contemplative, such as \\\"Abraham, Martin and John\\\". He remained popular in the late 1960s until the mid-1970s, and continues making music. During the 1980s, Dion produced several Christian albums, winning a GMA Dove Award in 1984 for the album I Put Away My Idols. He returned to secular music in the late 1980s with Yo Frankie (1989).\",\n \"He returned to secular music in the late 1980s with Yo Frankie (1989). Between the mid-2000s and 2021, Dion released six chart-topping blues albums. Critics who had dismissed his early work, labeling him as a teen idol, praised his later work and noted the influence he has had on other musicians. A Grammy-nominated artist, Dion has released nearly 40 albums and scored eight Top 10 hits (ten including the Belmonts) on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.\",\n \"A Grammy-nominated artist, Dion has released nearly 40 albums and scored eight Top 10 hits (ten including the Belmonts) on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989. Early life Dion was born to an Italian-American family in the Bronx, New York. As a child, he accompanied his father, Pasquale DiMucci, a vaudeville entertainer, on tour, and developed a love of country music – particularly the work of Hank Williams.\",\n \"As a child, he accompanied his father, Pasquale DiMucci, a vaudeville entertainer, on tour, and developed a love of country music – particularly the work of Hank Williams. He also developed a fondness for the blues and doo-wop musicians he heard performing in local bars and on the radio. His singing was honed on the street corners and local clubs of the Bronx, where he and other neighborhood singers created a cappella riffs. In early 1957, he auditioned for Bob and Gene Schwartz for their short-lived Mohawk Records label.\",\n \"In early 1957, he auditioned for Bob and Gene Schwartz for their short-lived Mohawk Records label. They asked Dion to sing a song which had been arranged by Hugo Montenegro and recorded featuring Vic Damone doing vocals. At first Dion refused, stating the song would sound like something his old fashioned parents would listen to, but the Schwartzes convinced him to give it a try. The backing vocals were by a group called \\\"the Timberlanes\\\", whom Dion had never met.\",\n \"The backing vocals were by a group called \\\"the Timberlanes\\\", whom Dion had never met. The resulting single, \\\"The Chosen Few\\\", was released under the name \\\"Dion and the Timberlanes\\\", and became a minor regional hit.\",\n \"The resulting single, \\\"The Chosen Few\\\", was released under the name \\\"Dion and the Timberlanes\\\", and became a minor regional hit. Dion himself stated in 2019 during an interview at \\\"Crashing the Party\\\" (a radio program related to Norton Records in Brooklyn, New York) that \\\"The Chosen Few\\\" hit the Top Ten locally in Boston and enabled him to perform this song on American Bandstand where the kids at the show started screaming during his performance, which gave him his first impression of being a record star.\",\n \"Dion himself stated in 2019 during an interview at \\\"Crashing the Party\\\" (a radio program related to Norton Records in Brooklyn, New York) that \\\"The Chosen Few\\\" hit the Top Ten locally in Boston and enabled him to perform this song on American Bandstand where the kids at the show started screaming during his performance, which gave him his first impression of being a record star. Writing about this experience later, in his autobiography, The Wanderer, Dion said that he had never met the Timberlanes and did not even know who they were.\",\n \"Writing about this experience later, in his autobiography, The Wanderer, Dion said that he had never met the Timberlanes and did not even know who they were. \\\"The vocal group was so white bread, I went back to my neighborhood and I recruited a bunch of guys – three guys – and we called ourselves Dion and the Belmonts.\\\"\",\n \"\\\"The vocal group was so white bread, I went back to my neighborhood and I recruited a bunch of guys – three guys – and we called ourselves Dion and the Belmonts.\\\" Career Beginnings with the Belmonts: 1957–1960 Bob and Gene Schwartz signed Dion's friends, the Belmonts (Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano, and Angelo D'Aleo), a vocal group named for the Belmont, Bronx neighborhood, and teamed them up with Dion singing lead.\",\n \"Career Beginnings with the Belmonts: 1957–1960 Bob and Gene Schwartz signed Dion's friends, the Belmonts (Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano, and Angelo D'Aleo), a vocal group named for the Belmont, Bronx neighborhood, and teamed them up with Dion singing lead. The new group's breakthrough came in early 1958, when \\\"I Wonder Why\\\" (on their newly formed Laurie Records) made No. 22 on the U.S. charts. Dion said of the Belmonts; \\\"I'd give 'em sounds.\",\n \"Dion said of the Belmonts; \\\"I'd give 'em sounds. I'd give 'em parts and stuff. That's what 'I Wonder Why' was about. We kind of invented this percussive rhythmic sound. If you listen to that song, everybody was doing something different. There's four guys, one guy was doing bass, I was singing lead, one guy's going 'ooh wah ooh,' and another guy's doing tenor. It was totally amazing.\",\n \"It was totally amazing. It was totally amazing. When I listen to it today, oftentimes I think, 'man, those kids are talented.'\\\" Their initial hit was followed by \\\"No One Knows\\\" and \\\"Don't Pity Me\\\", which also charted the Billboard Top 100. This success won a place for Dion and the Belmonts on the ill-fated \\\"The Winter Dance Party\\\" tour with Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson), Frankie Sardo, and other performers.\",\n \"This success won a place for Dion and the Belmonts on the ill-fated \\\"The Winter Dance Party\\\" tour with Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson), Frankie Sardo, and other performers. On February 3, 1959, after a concert stop in Clear Lake, Iowa, Holly and others decided to charter a flight to the next venue rather than travel on the tour bus.\",\n \"On February 3, 1959, after a concert stop in Clear Lake, Iowa, Holly and others decided to charter a flight to the next venue rather than travel on the tour bus. Dion was invited to accompany the group but decided that he did not want to spend $36 for the flight, as it was the same monthly rent his parents paid for his childhood apartment and he could not justify the indulgence.\",\n \"Dion was invited to accompany the group but decided that he did not want to spend $36 for the flight, as it was the same monthly rent his parents paid for his childhood apartment and he could not justify the indulgence. The plane crashed, killing all on board: Holly, Valens, Richardson, and the pilot Roger Peterson. Dion and the Belmonts continued on the tour, along with Frankie Sardo, while Bobby Vee, then an unknown artist, performed in Holly's place at the very next concert.\",\n \"Dion and the Belmonts continued on the tour, along with Frankie Sardo, while Bobby Vee, then an unknown artist, performed in Holly's place at the very next concert. Later, Jimmy Clanton, Frankie Avalon, and Fabian were added to replace the other now-deceased headliners. Dion and the Belmonts' next single, \\\"A Teenager in Love\\\", was released in March 1959, eventually hitting No. 5 on the U.S. pop charts and No. 28 in the UK.\",\n \"5 on the U.S. pop charts and No. 28 in the UK. 28 in the UK. The group's biggest hit, \\\"Where or When\\\", was released in November of that year, and reached No. 3 on the U.S. charts. However, in early 1960, Dion checked into hospital for heroin addiction, a problem he had had since his mid-teens. Further single releases for the group that year were less successful.\",\n \"Further single releases for the group that year were less successful. There were musical, personal and financial differences between Dion and members of the Belmonts, and in October 1960, Dion decided to quit for a solo career. By the time of their breakup, all eight Laurie releases had charted on the Hot 100. Solo stardom and touring worldwide: 1960–1964 By the end of 1960, Dion produced his first solo album on Laurie Records, Alone with Dion, released in 1961.\",\n \"Solo stardom and touring worldwide: 1960–1964 By the end of 1960, Dion produced his first solo album on Laurie Records, Alone with Dion, released in 1961. The single \\\"Lonely Teenager\\\" rose to No. 12 in the US charts. The name on his solo releases was simply \\\"Dion\\\". Follow-ups \\\"Havin' Fun\\\" and \\\"Kissin' Game\\\" had less success, and the signs were that Dion would drift onto the cabaret circuit.\",\n \"Follow-ups \\\"Havin' Fun\\\" and \\\"Kissin' Game\\\" had less success, and the signs were that Dion would drift onto the cabaret circuit. However, he then recorded an up-tempo number co-written with Ernie Maresca with a new vocal group, the Del-Satins. The record, \\\"Runaround Sue\\\", stormed up the U.S. charts, reaching No. 1 in October 1961, and No. 11 in the UK, where he also toured. \\\"Runaround Sue\\\" sold over a million copies, achieving gold disc status.\",\n \"\\\"Runaround Sue\\\" sold over a million copies, achieving gold disc status. For the next single, Laurie promoted the A-side, \\\"The Majestic\\\", but it was the B-side, Maresca's \\\"The Wanderer\\\", which received more radio play and climbed swiftly up the charts to reach No. 2 in the U.S. in February 1962 and No. 10 in the UK. The 1976 re-release made the UK Top 20.\",\n \"The 1976 re-release made the UK Top 20. The 1976 re-release made the UK Top 20. By the end of 1961, Dion had become a major star, touring worldwide and making an appearance in the Columbia Pictures musical film Twist Around the Clock. In 1962, he followed with a string of singles he wrote or co-wrote including \\\"Lovers Who Wander\\\" (No. 3), \\\"Little Diane\\\" (No. 8), \\\"Love Came to Me\\\" (No. 10).\",\n \"8), \\\"Love Came to Me\\\" (No. 10). 10). He also had successful albums with Runaround Sue and Lovers Who Wander. At the end of 1962, Dion moved from Laurie to Columbia Records. He was the first rock and roll artist signed to the label, which was an anomaly considering that its then-A&R director, Mitch Miller, loathed that particular genre of music.\",\n \"He was the first rock and roll artist signed to the label, which was an anomaly considering that its then-A&R director, Mitch Miller, loathed that particular genre of music. The first Columbia single, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller's \\\"Ruby Baby\\\" (originally a hit for the Drifters) reached No. 2, while \\\"Donna the Prima Donna\\\" and \\\"Drip Drop\\\" (another remake of a Drifters hit) both reached No. 6 in late 1963.\",\n \"6 in late 1963. 6 in late 1963. (Dion also recorded an Italian version of \\\"Donna the Prima Donna\\\" using the identical backup vocals.) His other Columbia releases were less successful, and problems with his drug addiction and changing public tastes, especially the British Invasion, saw a period of commercial decline. Belmonts reunion and renewed contract: 1965–1968 Following a European tour, Dion returned to the U.S. and was introduced to classic blues by Columbia's John Hammond.\",\n \"Belmonts reunion and renewed contract: 1965–1968 Following a European tour, Dion returned to the U.S. and was introduced to classic blues by Columbia's John Hammond. To the consternation of his management, he began recording more blues-oriented material, including Willie Dixon's \\\"Hoochie Coochie Man\\\" and \\\"Spoonful\\\", but these releases – some produced by Tom Wilson, with Al Kooper on keyboards – were not commercially successful.\",\n \"To the consternation of his management, he began recording more blues-oriented material, including Willie Dixon's \\\"Hoochie Coochie Man\\\" and \\\"Spoonful\\\", but these releases – some produced by Tom Wilson, with Al Kooper on keyboards – were not commercially successful. In 1965, still with Columbia, Dion formed a new group to back him, The Wanderers, composed of John Falbo on guitar, Pete Baron (Pete Falciglia) on bass, and Carlo Mastrangelo of the Belmonts on drums.\",\n \"In 1965, still with Columbia, Dion formed a new group to back him, The Wanderers, composed of John Falbo on guitar, Pete Baron (Pete Falciglia) on bass, and Carlo Mastrangelo of the Belmonts on drums. They made national appearances on Dick Clark's, Where The Action Is, and The Lloyd Thaxton Show. A number of self-penned tracks were recorded and released unsuccessfully as singles, and did not appear in album format until years later.\",\n \"A number of self-penned tracks were recorded and released unsuccessfully as singles, and did not appear in album format until years later. In June 1965 he recorded fellow Columbia Records's contemporary Bob Dylan's composition \\\"It's All Over Now, Baby Blue\\\" a half-year before Them (featuring Van Morrison)'s hit version. In 1966–67, Dion briefly reunited with the Belmonts, recording the LP Together Again for ABC Records. The album was unsuccessful, despite one classic self-penned song, \\\"My Girl the Month of May\\\".\",\n \"The album was unsuccessful, despite one classic self-penned song, \\\"My Girl the Month of May\\\". Two singles were released from the LP. While neither charted in the United States, they fared better in the UK. \\\"My Girl The Month of May\\\" entered the Radio London \\\"Fab 40\\\" at No. 9 the week of December 25, 1966.\",\n \"9 the week of December 25, 1966. 9 the week of December 25, 1966. A 'turntable' hit at London underground clubs like Middle Earth, the disc received a lot of play from pirate radio DJ's John Peel and Kenny Everett. The follow up, \\\"Movin' Man\\\", reached No. 17 on the \\\"Radio London\\\" charts on Easter Sunday, March 26, 1967.\",\n \"17 on the \\\"Radio London\\\" charts on Easter Sunday, March 26, 1967. \\\"My Girl The Month of May\\\" was later covered by English artists Alan Bown in 1967, and Island Records artists The Bunch (featuring Sandy Denny and other members of Fairport Convention) in April 1972.\",\n \"\\\"My Girl The Month of May\\\" was later covered by English artists Alan Bown in 1967, and Island Records artists The Bunch (featuring Sandy Denny and other members of Fairport Convention) in April 1972. During their brief mid-60's reunion, Dion and the Belmonts appeared on the popular Clay Cole Show performing \\\"Berimbau\\\" and \\\"My Girl The Month of May\\\", and occasionally performed at local New York City clubs such as \\\"The Mardi Gras\\\" on Staten Island (April 29, 1967) before disbanding.\",\n \"During their brief mid-60's reunion, Dion and the Belmonts appeared on the popular Clay Cole Show performing \\\"Berimbau\\\" and \\\"My Girl The Month of May\\\", and occasionally performed at local New York City clubs such as \\\"The Mardi Gras\\\" on Staten Island (April 29, 1967) before disbanding. While Dion's career appeared to be nearing an end, he still retained enough credibility to be, along with Bob Dylan, one of only two rock artists featured on the album cover of the Beatles' Sgt.\",\n \"While Dion's career appeared to be nearing an end, he still retained enough credibility to be, along with Bob Dylan, one of only two rock artists featured on the album cover of the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in 1967. In April 1968, Dion experienced what he identified as a powerful religious transformation. After getting clean once again from heroin addiction, an experience he documented in his 1970 song \\\"Your Own Backyard\\\", he approached Laurie Records for a new contract.\",\n \"After getting clean once again from heroin addiction, an experience he documented in his 1970 song \\\"Your Own Backyard\\\", he approached Laurie Records for a new contract. They agreed on the condition that he record the song \\\"Abraham, Martin & John\\\", written by Dick Holler (also the writer of the Royal Guardsmen's \\\"Snoopy Vs.\",\n \"They agreed on the condition that he record the song \\\"Abraham, Martin & John\\\", written by Dick Holler (also the writer of the Royal Guardsmen's \\\"Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron\\\") in response to the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, and those of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy during the spring of 1968. The success of this song (released by Dion in August 1968 and later recorded by many others including Marvin Gaye) which reached No.\",\n \"The success of this song (released by Dion in August 1968 and later recorded by many others including Marvin Gaye) which reached No. 4 in the US charts and No. 1 in Canada, resuscitated Dion's career. It sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc. Mature and Christian music period: 1969–1986 For the next few years, Dion's music became radically different, moving to more contemplative and mature material.\",\n \"Mature and Christian music period: 1969–1986 For the next few years, Dion's music became radically different, moving to more contemplative and mature material. He released several albums essentially as a singer-songwriter, to moderate sales, moving to the Warner Brothers label in 1969. There followed a live reunion show with the Belmonts at Madison Square Garden on June 2, 1972, which was recorded and released as a live album by Warner.\",\n \"There followed a live reunion show with the Belmonts at Madison Square Garden on June 2, 1972, which was recorded and released as a live album by Warner. A year later, in 1973, Dion and the original Belmonts performed once more, doing a sold-out concert at the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island, New York. However, no recording of the 1973 reunion was released. This was followed in 1975 by the album Born to Be with You produced by Phil Spector.\",\n \"This was followed in 1975 by the album Born to Be with You produced by Phil Spector. The album was a commercial failure, but has been subsequently praised by such artists as Jason Pierce of Spiritualized and Pete Townshend of The Who with the track \\\"Only You Know\\\" being sampled by Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker for his single \\\"Don't Let Him Waste Your Time\\\" from his 2006 solo album Jarvis.\",\n \"The album was a commercial failure, but has been subsequently praised by such artists as Jason Pierce of Spiritualized and Pete Townshend of The Who with the track \\\"Only You Know\\\" being sampled by Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker for his single \\\"Don't Let Him Waste Your Time\\\" from his 2006 solo album Jarvis. In 1978, Dion released an album drawing on many of his teenage influences, Return of the Wanderer, another commercial failure.\",\n \"In 1978, Dion released an album drawing on many of his teenage influences, Return of the Wanderer, another commercial failure. In December 1979, there was a radical spiritual change in Dion, who had become a born again Christian. Thereafter, his recordings for several years were in a contemporary Christian vein, in which he released five albums on the DaySpring Records label, a division of Word Records in Waco, Texas.\",\n \"Thereafter, his recordings for several years were in a contemporary Christian vein, in which he released five albums on the DaySpring Records label, a division of Word Records in Waco, Texas. These albums reflecting his evangelical Christian convictions were Inside Job (1980), Only Jesus (1981), I Put Away My Idols (1983) which charted at No. 37, Seasons (1984), Kingdom in the Streets (1985) and Velvet & Steel (1986).\",\n \"37, Seasons (1984), Kingdom in the Streets (1985) and Velvet & Steel (1986). Several singles were successfully released to Christian radio, notably \\\"Still in the Spirit\\\" from Kingdom in the Streets. In 1984, Dion won the GMA Dove Award (Christian Music Award) for the album I Put Away My Idols. He was also nominated for Grammy Award for Best Gospel Vocal Performance, Male for the same album.\",\n \"He was also nominated for Grammy Award for Best Gospel Vocal Performance, Male for the same album. On September 24, 1985, Dion was a guest on 100 Huntley Street. Return to secular music and RRHOF induction: 1987–1999 In 1987, Dion agreed to do a concert of his old hits at Radio City Music Hall in New York. The two disc CD of this concert was released in 2005, featuring concert photos by Dion's friend, Michael J. Friedman.\",\n \"The two disc CD of this concert was released in 2005, featuring concert photos by Dion's friend, Michael J. Friedman. This concert helped free him to celebrate both his past and his future, and led to a series of special appearances, including a fundraiser for homeless medical relief. There he shared the stage with fans such as Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon and Lou Reed, all of whom cited Dion as one of their prime influences.\",\n \"There he shared the stage with fans such as Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon and Lou Reed, all of whom cited Dion as one of their prime influences. Dion's autobiography, The Wanderer: Dion's Story, co-authored by Davin Seay, was published in the late-1980s. In 1989, DiMucci returned to rock music with the contemporary album Yo Frankie, which included appearances by Paul Simon, Lou Reed, k.d. lang, Patty Smyth and Bryan Adams.\",\n \"lang, Patty Smyth and Bryan Adams. lang, Patty Smyth and Bryan Adams. Produced by Dave Edmunds (who also played guitar on the album), \\\"Yo Frankie has a sharp sound while never losing sight of Dion's soulful, doo-wop voice.\\\" Overall, \\\"the relevant and nostalgic statement from an artist who helped forge rock & roll's first wave\\\" found his way back on radio and in music videos during this period (both on VH1 and MTV), as well as touring.\",\n \"Overall, \\\"the relevant and nostalgic statement from an artist who helped forge rock & roll's first wave\\\" found his way back on radio and in music videos during this period (both on VH1 and MTV), as well as touring. Dion was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF) in 1989 (with an introduction by Lou Reed).\",\n \"Dion was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF) in 1989 (with an introduction by Lou Reed). Controversially, when Dion's solo induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame occurred, the other original members of the Belmonts (Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano, and Angelo D'Aleo) were not inducted.\",\n \"Controversially, when Dion's solo induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame occurred, the other original members of the Belmonts (Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano, and Angelo D'Aleo) were not inducted. A January 3, 2012 Billboard magazine article stated: \\\"There was strife between DiMucci and Belmonts members, who were not pleased when DiMucci was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame without them in 1989.\\\"\",\n \"A January 3, 2012 Billboard magazine article stated: \\\"There was strife between DiMucci and Belmonts members, who were not pleased when DiMucci was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame without them in 1989.\\\" DiMucci joined Scott Kempner and Frank Funaro of the Del-Lords and Mike Mesaros of the Smithereens in a short-lived band called Little Kings. A live album was later released, but not widely circulated or promoted. Grammy Hall of Fame and blues success: 2000–2019 Dion has released several albums with contemporary rock artists.\",\n \"Grammy Hall of Fame and blues success: 2000–2019 Dion has released several albums with contemporary rock artists. His Déjà Nu album in 2000 found him covering Bruce Springsteen, a major follower over the years. He joined Springsteen onstage in Miami in 2002 for a performance of \\\"If I Should Fall Behind\\\" from Dream on Fire. In 2002, Dion was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for \\\"Runaround Sue\\\".\",\n \"In 2002, Dion was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for \\\"Runaround Sue\\\". He continues to perform songs from his albums live, including a concert in 2004 being recorded for release on DVD. In January 2006, Dion released Bronx in Blue, an album of blues and country standards, which was nominated for a Grammy Award. It peaked at No. 2 on the Top Blues Albums chart. In November 2007, Dion issued a follow-up album titled Son of Skip James, which peaked at No.\",\n \"In November 2007, Dion issued a follow-up album titled Son of Skip James, which peaked at No. 4 on the Top Blues Albums chart. In October 2008, DiMucci released Heroes: Giants of Early Guitar Rock, an album of his covers of early rock and roll songs he considers seminal to the genre. The album includes versions of songs originally recorded by Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, Ricky Nelson, Johnny Cash, and many other early rock guitarists.\",\n \"The album includes versions of songs originally recorded by Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, Ricky Nelson, Johnny Cash, and many other early rock guitarists. In October 2009, Dion performed \\\"The Wanderer\\\" with Paul Simon at the 25th Anniversary Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Concert. An audiobook and paperback by Dion and Mike Aquilina, titled Dion: The Wanderer Talks Truth (Stories, Humor Music), was published in April 2011.\",\n \"An audiobook and paperback by Dion and Mike Aquilina, titled Dion: The Wanderer Talks Truth (Stories, Humor Music), was published in April 2011. DiMucci shares stories about The Bronx in the 1950s, how he ended up on the cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and his travels with Sam Cooke in the Jim Crow South. Dion released Tank Full of Blues on January 24, 2012. It peaked at No. 3 on the Top Blues Albums chart.\",\n \"3 on the Top Blues Albums chart. 3 on the Top Blues Albums chart. While touring on April 5, 2015, Dion performed \\\"Donna the Prima Donna\\\" live in Las Vegas. On July 11, 2015, he held a concert in Westbury, New York. In 2015, Dion released the single \\\"New York Is My Home\\\" with Paul Simon. Dion had previously worked with Simon on his 1989 hit \\\"Written on the Subway Wall\\\".\",\n \"Dion had previously worked with Simon on his 1989 hit \\\"Written on the Subway Wall\\\". The single was followed by the album New York Is My Home, released February 12, 2016. The album peaked at No. 3 on the Top Blues Album chart. Dion planned four concerts in the U.S. during early 2016 and was invited as a keynote speaker for the 2016 SXSW in Texas. He spoke on the topic A Conversation with Dion: Rock's Enduring Voice on March 17, 2016.\",\n \"He spoke on the topic A Conversation with Dion: Rock's Enduring Voice on March 17, 2016. Dion appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on April 8, 2016. In May 2017, Dion released Kickin' Child: The Lost Album 1965 from Norton Records, containing songs recorded in 1965 when he was with Columbia Records but were not previously released.\",\n \"In May 2017, Dion released Kickin' Child: The Lost Album 1965 from Norton Records, containing songs recorded in 1965 when he was with Columbia Records but were not previously released. Also in May 2017, Richard Barone's Sorrows & Promises: Greenwich Village in the 1960s was released, which included Dion performing a duet of his 1964 song \\\"The Road I'm On (Gloria)\\\" with Barone. The album is a celebration of the New York City scene that Dion was part of during that pivotal era.\",\n \"The album is a celebration of the New York City scene that Dion was part of during that pivotal era. Recent albums with KTBA Records: 2020–present In June 2020, Dion released Blues with Friends via Keeping the Blues Alive Records (KTBA), a new record label created by Joe Bonamassa and Roy Weisman for Dion and other blues musicians to showcase their talents. The album features Van Morrison, Jeff Beck, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, and others (including liner notes by Bob Dylan).\",\n \"The album features Van Morrison, Jeff Beck, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, and others (including liner notes by Bob Dylan). A digital album (and a double vinyl record set), Dion released a music video for every song from the album on his website and social media platforms such as Facebook and YouTube. The album reached No. 1 on the Billboard Blues Albums chart (9 weeks at No. 1 and 59 weeks total).\",\n \"1 and 59 weeks total). 1 and 59 weeks total). It also charted in United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Canada and Australia. American Songwriter magazine honored Dion's \\\"Song for Sam Cooke (Here in America)\\\" as the \\\"Greatest of the Great 2020 Songs\\\". Dion also released two Christmas songs in 2020: \\\"Hello Christmas\\\" (featuring Amy Grant) and \\\"You Know It's Christmas\\\" (featuring Bonamassa). Both songs were co-written with Mike Aquilina.\",\n \"Both songs were co-written with Mike Aquilina. Both songs were co-written with Mike Aquilina. Music videos were produced for both songs. Dion's song \\\"Blues Comin' On\\\" (with Bonamassa) from Blues with Friends was nominated for a 2021 Blues Music Award. In November 2021, Dion released Stomping Ground (with music videos), which includes extensive liner notes written by Pete Townshend. Except for a cover of \\\"Red House\\\", the songs were written by Dion and Aquilina.\",\n \"Except for a cover of \\\"Red House\\\", the songs were written by Dion and Aquilina. Multiple guest artists participate on the album. The album became Dion's second No. 1 blues album. The Wanderer musical On October 13, 2011, an industry-only reading of a new play about Dion's life was performed in New York City.\",\n \"The Wanderer musical On October 13, 2011, an industry-only reading of a new play about Dion's life was performed in New York City. In a December 9, 2011 article from The New York Times, Dion and his collaborator (writer/director Charles Messina) discussed details about the project – titled The Wanderer: The Life and Music of Dion – which will focus on the years between 1957 until the late-1960s, and will feature more than 20 songs from that era as well as new/original music.\",\n \"In a December 9, 2011 article from The New York Times, Dion and his collaborator (writer/director Charles Messina) discussed details about the project – titled The Wanderer: The Life and Music of Dion – which will focus on the years between 1957 until the late-1960s, and will feature more than 20 songs from that era as well as new/original music. In the article, Dion gave his perspective on the story: \\\"You know, I always saw my story as a young Sopranos with great music and a Rocky Graziano Somebody Up There Likes Me ending.\",\n \"In the article, Dion gave his perspective on the story: \\\"You know, I always saw my story as a young Sopranos with great music and a Rocky Graziano Somebody Up There Likes Me ending. It's a story of redemption. A rock and roll redemption story!\\\" DiMucci revealed that Michael Wartella would be starring in The Wanderer on December 16, 2017. There was a reading of the musical on November 2, 2017 while working on it continued.\",\n \"There was a reading of the musical on November 2, 2017 while working on it continued. On December 4, 2019, it was announced that former New Kids on the Block member Joey McIntyre would star as Johnny, Michael Wartella as Dion, and Christy Altomare as wife, Susan. The first performance was scheduled to start on May 28, 2020, at the Paper Mill Playhouse. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the opening performance was rescheduled to March 24, 2022.\",\n \"Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the opening performance was rescheduled to March 24, 2022. Personal life Dion lives in Boca Raton, Florida and New York City. In the late 1990s, Dion visited his old Bronx parish, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, and returned to Catholicism. Sparking Dion's reversion to Catholicism was \\\"a chance viewing of The Journey Home program on EWTN.\\\"\",\n \"Sparking Dion's reversion to Catholicism was \\\"a chance viewing of The Journey Home program on EWTN.\\\" As a practicing Roman Catholic and having struggled with a heroin addiction during his youth, Dion has been involved in prison religion, reaching out to men going through drug recovery. DiMucci was a member of the American board of directors for Renewal Ministries in 2004. Dion appeared on The Journey Home and discussed his wanderings from Catholicism to Protestantism and back again on May 1, 2006.\",\n \"Dion appeared on The Journey Home and discussed his wanderings from Catholicism to Protestantism and back again on May 1, 2006. Selective discography With the Belmonts Presenting Dion and the Belmonts (1959) Wish Upon a Star with Dion and the Belmonts (1960) Together Again (1966) Live at Madison Square Garden 1972 (1973) Solo albums Alone with Dion (1961) Runaround Sue (1961) Donna the Prima Donna (1963) Dion (1968) Suite for Late Summer (1972) Born to Be with You (1975) Streetheart (1976) I Put Away My Idols (1983) Yo Frankie (1989) Son of Skip James (2007) Blues with Friends (2020) Stomping Ground (2021) References External links Comprehensive Rolling Stone profile The Spiritual Journey of the Wanderer Who Came Home By Dion Dimucci Dion the Wanderer, Back In Blue (an article at NPR.com) 1939 births Living people American male singers American people of Italian descent American male pop singers American folk singers American rock singers Musicians from the Bronx American performers of Christian music Laurie Records artists Columbia Records artists Singers from New York City Dion and the Belmonts members Doo-wop musicians Catholics from New York (state)\"\n]"}}},{"rowIdx":399,"cells":{"History":{"kind":"list like","value":["Dion DiMucci","With the Belmonts: 1957-1960","Who were the other members of the Belmonts?","Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano, and Angelo D'Aleo","Did they know each other from school?","I don't know.","How old were the members of the group?","No One Knows","what was the groups most popular song?","I Wonder Why\" (on their newly formed \"Laurie\" label) made No. 22 on the U.S. charts."],"string":"[\n \"Dion DiMucci\",\n \"With the Belmonts: 1957-1960\",\n \"Who were the other members of the Belmonts?\",\n \"Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano, and Angelo D'Aleo\",\n \"Did they know each other from school?\",\n \"I don't know.\",\n \"How old were the members of the group?\",\n \"No One Knows\",\n \"what was the groups most popular song?\",\n \"I Wonder Why\\\" (on their newly formed \\\"Laurie\\\" label) made No. 22 on the U.S. charts.\"\n]"},"QuAC_dialog_id":{"kind":"string","value":"C_57ef3079d2cb4481bdcc3f5beea88674_1"},"Question":{"kind":"string","value":"when did the group split up?"},"Question_no":{"kind":"number","value":5,"string":"5"},"Rewrite":{"kind":"string","value":"when did the Belmonts split up?"},"true_page_title":{"kind":"string","value":"Dion DiMucci"},"true_contexts":{"kind":"string","value":"Bob and Gene Schwartz also signed Dion's friends, the Belmonts, (Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano, and Angelo D'Aleo), a vocal group named for nearby Belmont Avenue, and teamed them, with Dion singing lead. The new group's breakthrough came in early 1958, when \"I Wonder Why\" (on their newly formed \"Laurie\" label) made No. 22 on the U.S. charts. Dion said of the Belmonts; \"I'd give 'em sounds. I'd give 'em parts and stuff. That's what 'I Wonder Why' was about. We kind of invented this percussive rhythmic sound. If you listen to that song, everybody was doing something different. There's four guys, one guy was doing bass, I was singing lead, one guy's going 'ooh wah ooh,' and another guy's doing tenor. It was totally amazing. When I listen to it today, oftentimes I think, 'man, those kids are talented.'\" Their initial hit was followed by \"No One Knows\" and \"Don't Pity Me,\" which also charted the Billboard Top 100. This success won a place for Dion and the Belmonts on the ill-fated \"The Winter Dance Party\" tour with Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson), Frankie Sardo, and other performers. On February 3, 1959, after a concert stop in Clear Lake, Iowa, Holly and others decided to charter a flight to the next venue rather than travel on the tour bus. Dion was invited to accompany the group but decided that he did not want to spend $36 for the flight, as it was the same monthly rent his parents paid for his childhood apartment and he couldn't justify the indulgence. The plane crashed, killing all on board; Holly, Valens, Richardson, and the pilot Roger Peterson. Dion and the Belmonts continued on the tour, along with Frankie Sardo, while Bobby Vee, then an unknown artist, performed in Holly's place at the very next concert. Later, Jimmy Clanton, Frankie Avalon, and Fabian were added to replace the other now-deceased headliners. Dion and the Belmonts' next single, \"A Teenager in Love,\" was released in March 1959, eventually hitting No. 5 on the U.S. pop charts and No. 28 in the UK. The group's biggest hit, \"Where or When,\" was released in November of that year, and reached No. 3 on the U.S. charts. However, in early 1960, Dion checked into hospital for heroin addiction, a problem he had had since his mid-teens. Further single releases for the group that year were less successful. There were musical, personal and financial differences between Dion and members of the Belmonts, and in October 1960, Dion decided to quit for a solo career. By the time of their breakup, all eight Laurie releases had charted on the Hot 100. CANNOTANSWER"},"answer":{"kind":"string","value":"in October 1960, Dion decided to quit for a solo career."},"true_contexts_wiki":{"kind":"string","value":"Dion Francis DiMucci (born July 18, 1939), better known simply as Dion, is an American singer and songwriter whose music has incorporated elements of doo-wop, rock, R&B and blues. Initially as lead singer of Dion and the Belmonts, and then in his solo career, he was one of the most popular American rock and roll performers of the pre-British Invasion era. He had 39 Top 40 hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s as a solo performer, with the Belmonts or with the Del-Satins. He is best remembered for the singles \"Runaround Sue\", \"The Wanderer\", \"Ruby Baby\" and \"Lovers Who Wander\", among other hits.\n\nDion's popularity waned in the mid-1960s. Toward the end of the decade, he shifted his style and produced songs that were more mature and contemplative, such as \"Abraham, Martin and John\". He remained popular in the late 1960s until the mid-1970s, and continues making music. During the 1980s, Dion produced several Christian albums, winning a GMA Dove Award in 1984 for the album I Put Away My Idols. He returned to secular music in the late 1980s with Yo Frankie (1989). Between the mid-2000s and 2021, Dion released six chart-topping blues albums. Critics who had dismissed his early work, labeling him as a teen idol, praised his later work and noted the influence he has had on other musicians.\n\nA Grammy-nominated artist, Dion has released nearly 40 albums and scored eight Top 10 hits (ten including the Belmonts) on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989.\n\nEarly life \nDion was born to an Italian-American family in the Bronx, New York. As a child, he accompanied his father, Pasquale DiMucci, a vaudeville entertainer, on tour, and developed a love of country music – particularly the work of Hank Williams. He also developed a fondness for the blues and doo-wop musicians he heard performing in local bars and on the radio. His singing was honed on the street corners and local clubs of the Bronx, where he and other neighborhood singers created a cappella riffs.\n \nIn early 1957, he auditioned for Bob and Gene Schwartz for their short-lived Mohawk Records label. They asked Dion to sing a song which had been arranged by Hugo Montenegro and recorded featuring Vic Damone doing vocals. At first Dion refused, stating the song would sound like something his old fashioned parents would listen to, but the Schwartzes convinced him to give it a try. The backing vocals were by a group called \"the Timberlanes\", whom Dion had never met. The resulting single, \"The Chosen Few\", was released under the name \"Dion and the Timberlanes\", and became a minor regional hit. Dion himself stated in 2019 during an interview at \"Crashing the Party\" (a radio program related to Norton Records in Brooklyn, New York) that \"The Chosen Few\" hit the Top Ten locally in Boston and enabled him to perform this song on American Bandstand where the kids at the show started screaming during his performance, which gave him his first impression of being a record star. Writing about this experience later, in his autobiography, The Wanderer, Dion said that he had never met the Timberlanes and did not even know who they were. \"The vocal group was so white bread, I went back to my neighborhood and I recruited a bunch of guys – three guys – and we called ourselves Dion and the Belmonts.\"\n\nCareer\n\nBeginnings with the Belmonts: 1957–1960 \n\nBob and Gene Schwartz signed Dion's friends, the Belmonts (Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano, and Angelo D'Aleo), a vocal group named for the Belmont, Bronx neighborhood, and teamed them up with Dion singing lead. The new group's breakthrough came in early 1958, when \"I Wonder Why\" (on their newly formed Laurie Records) made No. 22 on the U.S. charts. Dion said of the Belmonts; \"I'd give 'em sounds. I'd give 'em parts and stuff. That's what 'I Wonder Why' was about. We kind of invented this percussive rhythmic sound. If you listen to that song, everybody was doing something different. There's four guys, one guy was doing bass, I was singing lead, one guy's going 'ooh wah ooh,' and another guy's doing tenor. It was totally amazing. When I listen to it today, oftentimes I think, 'man, those kids are talented.'\"\n\nTheir initial hit was followed by \"No One Knows\" and \"Don't Pity Me\", which also charted the Billboard Top 100. This success won a place for Dion and the Belmonts on the ill-fated \"The Winter Dance Party\" tour with Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson), Frankie Sardo, and other performers. On February 3, 1959, after a concert stop in Clear Lake, Iowa, Holly and others decided to charter a flight to the next venue rather than travel on the tour bus. Dion was invited to accompany the group but decided that he did not want to spend $36 for the flight, as it was the same monthly rent his parents paid for his childhood apartment and he could not justify the indulgence. The plane crashed, killing all on board: Holly, Valens, Richardson, and the pilot Roger Peterson. Dion and the Belmonts continued on the tour, along with Frankie Sardo, while Bobby Vee, then an unknown artist, performed in Holly's place at the very next concert. Later, Jimmy Clanton, Frankie Avalon, and Fabian were added to replace the other now-deceased headliners.\n\nDion and the Belmonts' next single, \"A Teenager in Love\", was released in March 1959, eventually hitting No. 5 on the U.S. pop charts and No. 28 in the UK. The group's biggest hit, \"Where or When\", was released in November of that year, and reached No. 3 on the U.S. charts. However, in early 1960, Dion checked into hospital for heroin addiction, a problem he had had since his mid-teens. Further single releases for the group that year were less successful. There were musical, personal and financial differences between Dion and members of the Belmonts, and in October 1960, Dion decided to quit for a solo career. By the time of their breakup, all eight Laurie releases had charted on the Hot 100.\n\nSolo stardom and touring worldwide: 1960–1964 \nBy the end of 1960, Dion produced his first solo album on Laurie Records, Alone with Dion, released in 1961. The single \"Lonely Teenager\" rose to No. 12 in the US charts. The name on his solo releases was simply \"Dion\". Follow-ups \"Havin' Fun\" and \"Kissin' Game\" had less success, and the signs were that Dion would drift onto the cabaret circuit. However, he then recorded an up-tempo number co-written with Ernie Maresca with a new vocal group, the Del-Satins. The record, \"Runaround Sue\", stormed up the U.S. charts, reaching No. 1 in October 1961, and No. 11 in the UK, where he also toured. \"Runaround Sue\" sold over a million copies, achieving gold disc status.\n\nFor the next single, Laurie promoted the A-side, \"The Majestic\", but it was the B-side, Maresca's \"The Wanderer\", which received more radio play and climbed swiftly up the charts to reach No. 2 in the U.S. in February 1962 and No. 10 in the UK. The 1976 re-release made the UK Top 20.\n\nBy the end of 1961, Dion had become a major star, touring worldwide and making an appearance in the Columbia Pictures musical film Twist Around the Clock. In 1962, he followed with a string of singles he wrote or co-wrote including \"Lovers Who Wander\" (No. 3), \"Little Diane\" (No. 8), \"Love Came to Me\" (No. 10). He also had successful albums with Runaround Sue and Lovers Who Wander.\n\nAt the end of 1962, Dion moved from Laurie to Columbia Records. He was the first rock and roll artist signed to the label, which was an anomaly considering that its then-A&R director, Mitch Miller, loathed that particular genre of music. The first Columbia single, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller's \"Ruby Baby\" (originally a hit for the Drifters) reached No. 2, while \"Donna the Prima Donna\" and \"Drip Drop\" (another remake of a Drifters hit) both reached No. 6 in late 1963. (Dion also recorded an Italian version of \"Donna the Prima Donna\" using the identical backup vocals.) His other Columbia releases were less successful, and problems with his drug addiction and changing public tastes, especially the British Invasion, saw a period of commercial decline.\n\nBelmonts reunion and renewed contract: 1965–1968 \nFollowing a European tour, Dion returned to the U.S. and was introduced to classic blues by Columbia's John Hammond. To the consternation of his management, he began recording more blues-oriented material, including Willie Dixon's \"Hoochie Coochie Man\" and \"Spoonful\", but these releases – some produced by Tom Wilson, with Al Kooper on keyboards – were not commercially successful. In 1965, still with Columbia, Dion formed a new group to back him, The Wanderers, composed of John Falbo on guitar, Pete Baron (Pete Falciglia) on bass, and Carlo Mastrangelo of the Belmonts on drums. They made national appearances on Dick Clark's, Where The Action Is, and The Lloyd Thaxton Show. A number of self-penned tracks were recorded and released unsuccessfully as singles, and did not appear in album format until years later. In June 1965 he recorded fellow Columbia Records's contemporary Bob Dylan's composition \"It's All Over Now, Baby Blue\" a half-year before Them (featuring Van Morrison)'s hit version.\n\nIn 1966–67, Dion briefly reunited with the Belmonts, recording the LP Together Again for ABC Records. The album was unsuccessful, despite one classic self-penned song, \"My Girl the Month of May\". Two singles were released from the LP. While neither charted in the United States, they fared better in the UK. \"My Girl The Month of May\" entered the Radio London \"Fab 40\" at No. 9 the week of December 25, 1966. A 'turntable' hit at London underground clubs like Middle Earth, the disc received a lot of play from pirate radio DJ's John Peel and Kenny Everett. The follow up, \"Movin' Man\", reached No. 17 on the \"Radio London\" charts on Easter Sunday, March 26, 1967. \"My Girl The Month of May\" was later covered by English artists Alan Bown in 1967, and Island Records artists The Bunch (featuring Sandy Denny and other members of Fairport Convention) in April 1972. During their brief mid-60's reunion, Dion and the Belmonts appeared on the popular Clay Cole Show performing \"Berimbau\" and \"My Girl The Month of May\", and occasionally performed at local New York City clubs such as \"The Mardi Gras\" on Staten Island (April 29, 1967) before disbanding. While Dion's career appeared to be nearing an end, he still retained enough credibility to be, along with Bob Dylan, one of only two rock artists featured on the album cover of the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in 1967.\n\nIn April 1968, Dion experienced what he identified as a powerful religious transformation. After getting clean once again from heroin addiction, an experience he documented in his 1970 song \"Your Own Backyard\", he approached Laurie Records for a new contract. They agreed on the condition that he record the song \"Abraham, Martin & John\", written by Dick Holler (also the writer of the Royal Guardsmen's \"Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron\") in response to the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, and those of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy during the spring of 1968. The success of this song (released by Dion in August 1968 and later recorded by many others including Marvin Gaye) which reached No. 4 in the US charts and No. 1 in Canada, resuscitated Dion's career. It sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc.\n\nMature and Christian music period: 1969–1986 \nFor the next few years, Dion's music became radically different, moving to more contemplative and mature material. He released several albums essentially as a singer-songwriter, to moderate sales, moving to the Warner Brothers label in 1969.\n\nThere followed a live reunion show with the Belmonts at Madison Square Garden on June 2, 1972, which was recorded and released as a live album by Warner. A year later, in 1973, Dion and the original Belmonts performed once more, doing a sold-out concert at the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island, New York. However, no recording of the 1973 reunion was released. This was followed in 1975 by the album Born to Be with You produced by Phil Spector. The album was a commercial failure, but has been subsequently praised by such artists as Jason Pierce of Spiritualized and Pete Townshend of The Who with the track \"Only You Know\" being sampled by Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker for his single \"Don't Let Him Waste Your Time\" from his 2006 solo album Jarvis.\n\nIn 1978, Dion released an album drawing on many of his teenage influences, Return of the Wanderer, another commercial failure.\n\nIn December 1979, there was a radical spiritual change in Dion, who had become a born again Christian. Thereafter, his recordings for several years were in a contemporary Christian vein, in which he released five albums on the DaySpring Records label, a division of Word Records in Waco, Texas. These albums reflecting his evangelical Christian convictions were Inside Job (1980), Only Jesus (1981), I Put Away My Idols (1983) which charted at No. 37, Seasons (1984), Kingdom in the Streets (1985) and Velvet & Steel (1986). Several singles were successfully released to Christian radio, notably \"Still in the Spirit\" from Kingdom in the Streets.\n\nIn 1984, Dion won the GMA Dove Award (Christian Music Award) for the album I Put Away My Idols. He was also nominated for Grammy Award for Best Gospel Vocal Performance, Male for the same album.\n\nOn September 24, 1985, Dion was a guest on 100 Huntley Street.\n\nReturn to secular music and RRHOF induction: 1987–1999 \nIn 1987, Dion agreed to do a concert of his old hits at Radio City Music Hall in New York. The two disc CD of this concert was released in 2005, featuring concert photos by Dion's friend, Michael J. Friedman. This concert helped free him to celebrate both his past and his future, and led to a series of special appearances, including a fundraiser for homeless medical relief. There he shared the stage with fans such as Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon and Lou Reed, all of whom cited Dion as one of their prime influences.\n\nDion's autobiography, The Wanderer: Dion's Story, co-authored by Davin Seay, was published in the late-1980s.\n\nIn 1989, DiMucci returned to rock music with the contemporary album Yo Frankie, which included appearances by Paul Simon, Lou Reed, k.d. lang, Patty Smyth and Bryan Adams. Produced by Dave Edmunds (who also played guitar on the album), \"Yo Frankie has a sharp sound while never losing sight of Dion's soulful, doo-wop voice.\" Overall, \"the relevant and nostalgic statement from an artist who helped forge rock & roll's first wave\" found his way back on radio and in music videos during this period (both on VH1 and MTV), as well as touring.\n\nDion was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF) in 1989 (with an introduction by Lou Reed). Controversially, when Dion's solo induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame occurred, the other original members of the Belmonts (Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano, and Angelo D'Aleo) were not inducted. A January 3, 2012 Billboard magazine article stated: \"There was strife between DiMucci and Belmonts members, who were not pleased when DiMucci was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame without them in 1989.\"\n\nDiMucci joined Scott Kempner and Frank Funaro of the Del-Lords and Mike Mesaros of the Smithereens in a short-lived band called Little Kings. A live album was later released, but not widely circulated or promoted.\n\nGrammy Hall of Fame and blues success: 2000–2019 \nDion has released several albums with contemporary rock artists. His Déjà Nu album in 2000 found him covering Bruce Springsteen, a major follower over the years. He joined Springsteen onstage in Miami in 2002 for a performance of \"If I Should Fall Behind\" from Dream on Fire.\n\nIn 2002, Dion was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for \"Runaround Sue\". He continues to perform songs from his albums live, including a concert in 2004 being recorded for release on DVD.\n\nIn January 2006, Dion released Bronx in Blue, an album of blues and country standards, which was nominated for a Grammy Award. It peaked at No. 2 on the Top Blues Albums chart. In November 2007, Dion issued a follow-up album titled Son of Skip James, which peaked at No. 4 on the Top Blues Albums chart.\n\nIn October 2008, DiMucci released Heroes: Giants of Early Guitar Rock, an album of his covers of early rock and roll songs he considers seminal to the genre. The album includes versions of songs originally recorded by Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, Ricky Nelson, Johnny Cash, and many other early rock guitarists.\n\nIn October 2009, Dion performed \"The Wanderer\" with Paul Simon at the 25th Anniversary Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Concert.\n\nAn audiobook and paperback by Dion and Mike Aquilina, titled Dion: The Wanderer Talks Truth (Stories, Humor Music), was published in April 2011. DiMucci shares stories about The Bronx in the 1950s, how he ended up on the cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and his travels with Sam Cooke in the Jim Crow South.\n\nDion released Tank Full of Blues on January 24, 2012. It peaked at No. 3 on the Top Blues Albums chart.\n\nWhile touring on April 5, 2015, Dion performed \"Donna the Prima Donna\" live in Las Vegas. On July 11, 2015, he held a concert in Westbury, New York.\n\nIn 2015, Dion released the single \"New York Is My Home\" with Paul Simon. Dion had previously worked with Simon on his 1989 hit \"Written on the Subway Wall\". The single was followed by the album New York Is My Home, released February 12, 2016. The album peaked at No. 3 on the Top Blues Album chart.\n\nDion planned four concerts in the U.S. during early 2016 and was invited as a keynote speaker for the 2016 SXSW in Texas. He spoke on the topic A Conversation with Dion: Rock's Enduring Voice on March 17, 2016.\n\nDion appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on April 8, 2016.\n\nIn May 2017, Dion released Kickin' Child: The Lost Album 1965 from Norton Records, containing songs recorded in 1965 when he was with Columbia Records but were not previously released. Also in May 2017, Richard Barone's Sorrows & Promises: Greenwich Village in the 1960s was released, which included Dion performing a duet of his 1964 song \"The Road I'm On (Gloria)\" with Barone. The album is a celebration of the New York City scene that Dion was part of during that pivotal era.\n\nRecent albums with KTBA Records: 2020–present \nIn June 2020, Dion released Blues with Friends via Keeping the Blues Alive Records (KTBA), a new record label created by Joe Bonamassa and Roy Weisman for Dion and other blues musicians to showcase their talents. The album features Van Morrison, Jeff Beck, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, and others (including liner notes by Bob Dylan). A digital album (and a double vinyl record set), Dion released a music video for every song from the album on his website and social media platforms such as Facebook and YouTube. The album reached No. 1 on the Billboard Blues Albums chart (9 weeks at No. 1 and 59 weeks total). It also charted in United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Canada and Australia.\n\nAmerican Songwriter magazine honored Dion's \"Song for Sam Cooke (Here in America)\" as the \"Greatest of the Great 2020 Songs\".\n\nDion also released two Christmas songs in 2020: \"Hello Christmas\" (featuring Amy Grant) and \"You Know It's Christmas\" (featuring Bonamassa). Both songs were co-written with Mike Aquilina. Music videos were produced for both songs.\n\nDion's song \"Blues Comin' On\" (with Bonamassa) from Blues with Friends was nominated for a 2021 Blues Music Award.\n\nIn November 2021, Dion released Stomping Ground (with music videos), which includes extensive liner notes written by Pete Townshend. Except for a cover of \"Red House\", the songs were written by Dion and Aquilina. Multiple guest artists participate on the album. The album became Dion's second No. 1 blues album.\n\nThe Wanderer musical \nOn October 13, 2011, an industry-only reading of a new play about Dion's life was performed in New York City.\n\nIn a December 9, 2011 article from The New York Times, Dion and his collaborator (writer/director Charles Messina) discussed details about the project – titled The Wanderer: The Life and Music of Dion – which will focus on the years between 1957 until the late-1960s, and will feature more than 20 songs from that era as well as new/original music. In the article, Dion gave his perspective on the story: \"You know, I always saw my story as a young Sopranos with great music and a Rocky Graziano Somebody Up There Likes Me ending. It's a story of redemption. A rock and roll redemption story!\"\n\nDiMucci revealed that Michael Wartella would be starring in The Wanderer on December 16, 2017. There was a reading of the musical on November 2, 2017 while working on it continued. On December 4, 2019, it was announced that former New Kids on the Block member Joey McIntyre would star as Johnny, Michael Wartella as Dion, and Christy Altomare as wife, Susan. The first performance was scheduled to start on May 28, 2020, at the Paper Mill Playhouse. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the opening performance was rescheduled to March 24, 2022.\n\nPersonal life \nDion lives in Boca Raton, Florida and New York City.\n\nIn the late 1990s, Dion visited his old Bronx parish, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, and returned to Catholicism. Sparking Dion's reversion to Catholicism was \"a chance viewing of The Journey Home program on EWTN.\"\n\nAs a practicing Roman Catholic and having struggled with a heroin addiction during his youth, Dion has been involved in prison religion, reaching out to men going through drug recovery. \n\nDiMucci was a member of the American board of directors for Renewal Ministries in 2004.\n\nDion appeared on The Journey Home and discussed his wanderings from Catholicism to Protestantism and back again on May 1, 2006.\n\nSelective discography \n\nWith the Belmonts\n Presenting Dion and the Belmonts (1959) \n Wish Upon a Star with Dion and the Belmonts (1960) \n Together Again (1966)\n Live at Madison Square Garden 1972 (1973) \n\nSolo albums\n Alone with Dion (1961)\n Runaround Sue (1961)\n Donna the Prima Donna (1963) \n Dion (1968)\n Suite for Late Summer (1972)\n Born to Be with You (1975)\n Streetheart (1976)\n I Put Away My Idols (1983) \n Yo Frankie (1989)\n Son of Skip James (2007)\n Blues with Friends (2020)\n Stomping Ground (2021)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n\n \nComprehensive Rolling Stone profile\nThe Spiritual Journey of the Wanderer Who Came Home By Dion Dimucci\n\n Dion the Wanderer, Back In Blue (an article at NPR.com)\n\n1939 births\nLiving people\nAmerican male singers\nAmerican people of Italian descent\nAmerican male pop singers\nAmerican folk singers\nAmerican rock singers\nMusicians from the Bronx\nAmerican performers of Christian music\nLaurie Records artists\nColumbia Records artists\nSingers from New York City\nDion and the Belmonts members\nDoo-wop musicians\nCatholics from New York (state)"},"extractive":{"kind":"string","value":"true"},"retrieved_contexts":{"kind":"list like","value":["This is a list of seasons played by Northamptonshire County Cricket Club in English cricket, from the club's formation to the most recent completed season. It details the club's achievements in major competitions, and the top run-scorers and wicket-takers for each season.\n\nSeasons\n\nKey\n\nDivision shown in bold when it changes due to promotion, relegation or league reorganisation. Top run scorer/wicket taker shown in bold when he was the leading run scorer/wicket taker in the country.\n\nKey to league record:\nDiv - division played in\nP – games played\nW – games won\nL – games lost\nD – games drawn\nNR – games with no result\nAbnd – games abandoned\nPts – points\nPos – final position\n\nKey to rounds:\nPR - preliminary round\nR1 – first round\nR2 – second round, etc.\nQF – quarter-final\nSF – semi-final\nGrp – group stage\nRU - runners-up\nn/a – not applicable\n\nNotes\nA. The National League competition did not start until the 1969 season, and ran until 2010. It was replaced, along with the Friends Provident Trophy, by the group format Clydesdale Bank 40.\nB. The Friends Provident Trophy competition did not start until the 1963 season, and for the 2010 was replaced by a group format named the Clydesdale Bank 40.\nC. The Benson & Hedges Cup competition did not start until the 1972 season, and ran until 2002.\nD. The Twenty20 Cup competition did not start until the 2003 season, and for the 2010 season changed to the FP T20.\nE. In County Championship matches only.\nF. The County Championship was split into two divisions in 2000.\nG. The National League was split into two divisions in 1999.\nH. Owing to the 1999 Cricket World Cup, the Benson & Hedges Cup was replaced by the Benson & Hedges Super Cup, which featured the top eight teams from the 1998 County Championship. Northamptonshire, finishing 15, did not qualify.\n\nReferences\n\nSeasons\nNorthamptonshire-related lists\nSeasons, Northamptonshire County Cricket Club","Supernatural was a Swedish pop group that consisted of the winners of the second season of the Swedish reality TV show Popstars. In Sweden the show was broadcast on Kanal5 in 2003.\nThe band had several hits with songs like Supernatural and Rock U. Supernatural was expected to take part in the Swedish precursor selections for the Eurovision Song Contest in 2003 but its record label did not publicize the band sufficiently and the members subsequently split up in 2004 after arguments with their record label.\n\nMembers\nMathilda Carmbrant\nLinda Eriksson (aka Linda Varg)\nSandra Leto\nRobert Skowronski\nSebastian Zelle\n\nAfter split-up\nThe members of Supernatural started a new band, this time with the name Caught Up, but it did not experience the same success.\n\nDiscography\n\nAlbums\n\nSingles\n\nReferences\n\nPopstars winners\nSwedish pop music groups"],"string":"[\n \"This is a list of seasons played by Northamptonshire County Cricket Club in English cricket, from the club's formation to the most recent completed season. It details the club's achievements in major competitions, and the top run-scorers and wicket-takers for each season.\\n\\nSeasons\\n\\nKey\\n\\nDivision shown in bold when it changes due to promotion, relegation or league reorganisation. Top run scorer/wicket taker shown in bold when he was the leading run scorer/wicket taker in the country.\\n\\nKey to league record:\\nDiv - division played in\\nP – games played\\nW – games won\\nL – games lost\\nD – games drawn\\nNR – games with no result\\nAbnd – games abandoned\\nPts – points\\nPos – final position\\n\\nKey to rounds:\\nPR - preliminary round\\nR1 – first round\\nR2 – second round, etc.\\nQF – quarter-final\\nSF – semi-final\\nGrp – group stage\\nRU - runners-up\\nn/a – not applicable\\n\\nNotes\\nA. The National League competition did not start until the 1969 season, and ran until 2010. It was replaced, along with the Friends Provident Trophy, by the group format Clydesdale Bank 40.\\nB. The Friends Provident Trophy competition did not start until the 1963 season, and for the 2010 was replaced by a group format named the Clydesdale Bank 40.\\nC. The Benson & Hedges Cup competition did not start until the 1972 season, and ran until 2002.\\nD. The Twenty20 Cup competition did not start until the 2003 season, and for the 2010 season changed to the FP T20.\\nE. In County Championship matches only.\\nF. The County Championship was split into two divisions in 2000.\\nG. The National League was split into two divisions in 1999.\\nH. Owing to the 1999 Cricket World Cup, the Benson & Hedges Cup was replaced by the Benson & Hedges Super Cup, which featured the top eight teams from the 1998 County Championship. Northamptonshire, finishing 15, did not qualify.\\n\\nReferences\\n\\nSeasons\\nNorthamptonshire-related lists\\nSeasons, Northamptonshire County Cricket Club\",\n \"Supernatural was a Swedish pop group that consisted of the winners of the second season of the Swedish reality TV show Popstars. In Sweden the show was broadcast on Kanal5 in 2003.\\nThe band had several hits with songs like Supernatural and Rock U. Supernatural was expected to take part in the Swedish precursor selections for the Eurovision Song Contest in 2003 but its record label did not publicize the band sufficiently and the members subsequently split up in 2004 after arguments with their record label.\\n\\nMembers\\nMathilda Carmbrant\\nLinda Eriksson (aka Linda Varg)\\nSandra Leto\\nRobert Skowronski\\nSebastian Zelle\\n\\nAfter split-up\\nThe members of Supernatural started a new band, this time with the name Caught Up, but it did not experience the same success.\\n\\nDiscography\\n\\nAlbums\\n\\nSingles\\n\\nReferences\\n\\nPopstars winners\\nSwedish pop music groups\"\n]"},"chunked_article":{"kind":"list like","value":["Dion Francis DiMucci (born July 18, 1939), better known simply as Dion, is an American singer and songwriter whose music has incorporated elements of doo-wop, rock, R&B and blues. Initially as lead singer of Dion and the Belmonts, and then in his solo career, he was one of the most popular American rock and roll performers of the pre-British Invasion era. He had 39 Top 40 hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s as a solo performer, with the Belmonts or with the Del-Satins.","He had 39 Top 40 hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s as a solo performer, with the Belmonts or with the Del-Satins. He is best remembered for the singles \"Runaround Sue\", \"The Wanderer\", \"Ruby Baby\" and \"Lovers Who Wander\", among other hits. Dion's popularity waned in the mid-1960s. Toward the end of the decade, he shifted his style and produced songs that were more mature and contemplative, such as \"Abraham, Martin and John\".","Toward the end of the decade, he shifted his style and produced songs that were more mature and contemplative, such as \"Abraham, Martin and John\". He remained popular in the late 1960s until the mid-1970s, and continues making music. During the 1980s, Dion produced several Christian albums, winning a GMA Dove Award in 1984 for the album I Put Away My Idols. He returned to secular music in the late 1980s with Yo Frankie (1989).","He returned to secular music in the late 1980s with Yo Frankie (1989). Between the mid-2000s and 2021, Dion released six chart-topping blues albums. Critics who had dismissed his early work, labeling him as a teen idol, praised his later work and noted the influence he has had on other musicians. A Grammy-nominated artist, Dion has released nearly 40 albums and scored eight Top 10 hits (ten including the Belmonts) on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.","A Grammy-nominated artist, Dion has released nearly 40 albums and scored eight Top 10 hits (ten including the Belmonts) on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989. Early life Dion was born to an Italian-American family in the Bronx, New York. As a child, he accompanied his father, Pasquale DiMucci, a vaudeville entertainer, on tour, and developed a love of country music – particularly the work of Hank Williams.","As a child, he accompanied his father, Pasquale DiMucci, a vaudeville entertainer, on tour, and developed a love of country music – particularly the work of Hank Williams. He also developed a fondness for the blues and doo-wop musicians he heard performing in local bars and on the radio. His singing was honed on the street corners and local clubs of the Bronx, where he and other neighborhood singers created a cappella riffs. In early 1957, he auditioned for Bob and Gene Schwartz for their short-lived Mohawk Records label.","In early 1957, he auditioned for Bob and Gene Schwartz for their short-lived Mohawk Records label. They asked Dion to sing a song which had been arranged by Hugo Montenegro and recorded featuring Vic Damone doing vocals. At first Dion refused, stating the song would sound like something his old fashioned parents would listen to, but the Schwartzes convinced him to give it a try. The backing vocals were by a group called \"the Timberlanes\", whom Dion had never met.","The backing vocals were by a group called \"the Timberlanes\", whom Dion had never met. The resulting single, \"The Chosen Few\", was released under the name \"Dion and the Timberlanes\", and became a minor regional hit.","The resulting single, \"The Chosen Few\", was released under the name \"Dion and the Timberlanes\", and became a minor regional hit. Dion himself stated in 2019 during an interview at \"Crashing the Party\" (a radio program related to Norton Records in Brooklyn, New York) that \"The Chosen Few\" hit the Top Ten locally in Boston and enabled him to perform this song on American Bandstand where the kids at the show started screaming during his performance, which gave him his first impression of being a record star.","Dion himself stated in 2019 during an interview at \"Crashing the Party\" (a radio program related to Norton Records in Brooklyn, New York) that \"The Chosen Few\" hit the Top Ten locally in Boston and enabled him to perform this song on American Bandstand where the kids at the show started screaming during his performance, which gave him his first impression of being a record star. Writing about this experience later, in his autobiography, The Wanderer, Dion said that he had never met the Timberlanes and did not even know who they were.","Writing about this experience later, in his autobiography, The Wanderer, Dion said that he had never met the Timberlanes and did not even know who they were. \"The vocal group was so white bread, I went back to my neighborhood and I recruited a bunch of guys – three guys – and we called ourselves Dion and the Belmonts.\"","\"The vocal group was so white bread, I went back to my neighborhood and I recruited a bunch of guys – three guys – and we called ourselves Dion and the Belmonts.\" Career Beginnings with the Belmonts: 1957–1960 Bob and Gene Schwartz signed Dion's friends, the Belmonts (Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano, and Angelo D'Aleo), a vocal group named for the Belmont, Bronx neighborhood, and teamed them up with Dion singing lead.","Career Beginnings with the Belmonts: 1957–1960 Bob and Gene Schwartz signed Dion's friends, the Belmonts (Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano, and Angelo D'Aleo), a vocal group named for the Belmont, Bronx neighborhood, and teamed them up with Dion singing lead. The new group's breakthrough came in early 1958, when \"I Wonder Why\" (on their newly formed Laurie Records) made No. 22 on the U.S. charts. Dion said of the Belmonts; \"I'd give 'em sounds.","Dion said of the Belmonts; \"I'd give 'em sounds. I'd give 'em parts and stuff. That's what 'I Wonder Why' was about. We kind of invented this percussive rhythmic sound. If you listen to that song, everybody was doing something different. There's four guys, one guy was doing bass, I was singing lead, one guy's going 'ooh wah ooh,' and another guy's doing tenor. It was totally amazing.","It was totally amazing. It was totally amazing. When I listen to it today, oftentimes I think, 'man, those kids are talented.'\" Their initial hit was followed by \"No One Knows\" and \"Don't Pity Me\", which also charted the Billboard Top 100. This success won a place for Dion and the Belmonts on the ill-fated \"The Winter Dance Party\" tour with Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson), Frankie Sardo, and other performers.","This success won a place for Dion and the Belmonts on the ill-fated \"The Winter Dance Party\" tour with Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson), Frankie Sardo, and other performers. On February 3, 1959, after a concert stop in Clear Lake, Iowa, Holly and others decided to charter a flight to the next venue rather than travel on the tour bus.","On February 3, 1959, after a concert stop in Clear Lake, Iowa, Holly and others decided to charter a flight to the next venue rather than travel on the tour bus. Dion was invited to accompany the group but decided that he did not want to spend $36 for the flight, as it was the same monthly rent his parents paid for his childhood apartment and he could not justify the indulgence.","Dion was invited to accompany the group but decided that he did not want to spend $36 for the flight, as it was the same monthly rent his parents paid for his childhood apartment and he could not justify the indulgence. The plane crashed, killing all on board: Holly, Valens, Richardson, and the pilot Roger Peterson. Dion and the Belmonts continued on the tour, along with Frankie Sardo, while Bobby Vee, then an unknown artist, performed in Holly's place at the very next concert.","Dion and the Belmonts continued on the tour, along with Frankie Sardo, while Bobby Vee, then an unknown artist, performed in Holly's place at the very next concert. Later, Jimmy Clanton, Frankie Avalon, and Fabian were added to replace the other now-deceased headliners. Dion and the Belmonts' next single, \"A Teenager in Love\", was released in March 1959, eventually hitting No. 5 on the U.S. pop charts and No. 28 in the UK.","5 on the U.S. pop charts and No. 28 in the UK. 28 in the UK. The group's biggest hit, \"Where or When\", was released in November of that year, and reached No. 3 on the U.S. charts. However, in early 1960, Dion checked into hospital for heroin addiction, a problem he had had since his mid-teens. Further single releases for the group that year were less successful.","Further single releases for the group that year were less successful. There were musical, personal and financial differences between Dion and members of the Belmonts, and in October 1960, Dion decided to quit for a solo career. By the time of their breakup, all eight Laurie releases had charted on the Hot 100. Solo stardom and touring worldwide: 1960–1964 By the end of 1960, Dion produced his first solo album on Laurie Records, Alone with Dion, released in 1961.","Solo stardom and touring worldwide: 1960–1964 By the end of 1960, Dion produced his first solo album on Laurie Records, Alone with Dion, released in 1961. The single \"Lonely Teenager\" rose to No. 12 in the US charts. The name on his solo releases was simply \"Dion\". Follow-ups \"Havin' Fun\" and \"Kissin' Game\" had less success, and the signs were that Dion would drift onto the cabaret circuit.","Follow-ups \"Havin' Fun\" and \"Kissin' Game\" had less success, and the signs were that Dion would drift onto the cabaret circuit. However, he then recorded an up-tempo number co-written with Ernie Maresca with a new vocal group, the Del-Satins. The record, \"Runaround Sue\", stormed up the U.S. charts, reaching No. 1 in October 1961, and No. 11 in the UK, where he also toured. \"Runaround Sue\" sold over a million copies, achieving gold disc status.","\"Runaround Sue\" sold over a million copies, achieving gold disc status. For the next single, Laurie promoted the A-side, \"The Majestic\", but it was the B-side, Maresca's \"The Wanderer\", which received more radio play and climbed swiftly up the charts to reach No. 2 in the U.S. in February 1962 and No. 10 in the UK. The 1976 re-release made the UK Top 20.","The 1976 re-release made the UK Top 20. The 1976 re-release made the UK Top 20. By the end of 1961, Dion had become a major star, touring worldwide and making an appearance in the Columbia Pictures musical film Twist Around the Clock. In 1962, he followed with a string of singles he wrote or co-wrote including \"Lovers Who Wander\" (No. 3), \"Little Diane\" (No. 8), \"Love Came to Me\" (No. 10).","8), \"Love Came to Me\" (No. 10). 10). He also had successful albums with Runaround Sue and Lovers Who Wander. At the end of 1962, Dion moved from Laurie to Columbia Records. He was the first rock and roll artist signed to the label, which was an anomaly considering that its then-A&R director, Mitch Miller, loathed that particular genre of music.","He was the first rock and roll artist signed to the label, which was an anomaly considering that its then-A&R director, Mitch Miller, loathed that particular genre of music. The first Columbia single, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller's \"Ruby Baby\" (originally a hit for the Drifters) reached No. 2, while \"Donna the Prima Donna\" and \"Drip Drop\" (another remake of a Drifters hit) both reached No. 6 in late 1963.","6 in late 1963. 6 in late 1963. (Dion also recorded an Italian version of \"Donna the Prima Donna\" using the identical backup vocals.) His other Columbia releases were less successful, and problems with his drug addiction and changing public tastes, especially the British Invasion, saw a period of commercial decline. Belmonts reunion and renewed contract: 1965–1968 Following a European tour, Dion returned to the U.S. and was introduced to classic blues by Columbia's John Hammond.","Belmonts reunion and renewed contract: 1965–1968 Following a European tour, Dion returned to the U.S. and was introduced to classic blues by Columbia's John Hammond. To the consternation of his management, he began recording more blues-oriented material, including Willie Dixon's \"Hoochie Coochie Man\" and \"Spoonful\", but these releases – some produced by Tom Wilson, with Al Kooper on keyboards – were not commercially successful.","To the consternation of his management, he began recording more blues-oriented material, including Willie Dixon's \"Hoochie Coochie Man\" and \"Spoonful\", but these releases – some produced by Tom Wilson, with Al Kooper on keyboards – were not commercially successful. In 1965, still with Columbia, Dion formed a new group to back him, The Wanderers, composed of John Falbo on guitar, Pete Baron (Pete Falciglia) on bass, and Carlo Mastrangelo of the Belmonts on drums.","In 1965, still with Columbia, Dion formed a new group to back him, The Wanderers, composed of John Falbo on guitar, Pete Baron (Pete Falciglia) on bass, and Carlo Mastrangelo of the Belmonts on drums. They made national appearances on Dick Clark's, Where The Action Is, and The Lloyd Thaxton Show. A number of self-penned tracks were recorded and released unsuccessfully as singles, and did not appear in album format until years later.","A number of self-penned tracks were recorded and released unsuccessfully as singles, and did not appear in album format until years later. In June 1965 he recorded fellow Columbia Records's contemporary Bob Dylan's composition \"It's All Over Now, Baby Blue\" a half-year before Them (featuring Van Morrison)'s hit version. In 1966–67, Dion briefly reunited with the Belmonts, recording the LP Together Again for ABC Records. The album was unsuccessful, despite one classic self-penned song, \"My Girl the Month of May\".","The album was unsuccessful, despite one classic self-penned song, \"My Girl the Month of May\". Two singles were released from the LP. While neither charted in the United States, they fared better in the UK. \"My Girl The Month of May\" entered the Radio London \"Fab 40\" at No. 9 the week of December 25, 1966.","9 the week of December 25, 1966. 9 the week of December 25, 1966. A 'turntable' hit at London underground clubs like Middle Earth, the disc received a lot of play from pirate radio DJ's John Peel and Kenny Everett. The follow up, \"Movin' Man\", reached No. 17 on the \"Radio London\" charts on Easter Sunday, March 26, 1967.","17 on the \"Radio London\" charts on Easter Sunday, March 26, 1967. \"My Girl The Month of May\" was later covered by English artists Alan Bown in 1967, and Island Records artists The Bunch (featuring Sandy Denny and other members of Fairport Convention) in April 1972.","\"My Girl The Month of May\" was later covered by English artists Alan Bown in 1967, and Island Records artists The Bunch (featuring Sandy Denny and other members of Fairport Convention) in April 1972. During their brief mid-60's reunion, Dion and the Belmonts appeared on the popular Clay Cole Show performing \"Berimbau\" and \"My Girl The Month of May\", and occasionally performed at local New York City clubs such as \"The Mardi Gras\" on Staten Island (April 29, 1967) before disbanding.","During their brief mid-60's reunion, Dion and the Belmonts appeared on the popular Clay Cole Show performing \"Berimbau\" and \"My Girl The Month of May\", and occasionally performed at local New York City clubs such as \"The Mardi Gras\" on Staten Island (April 29, 1967) before disbanding. While Dion's career appeared to be nearing an end, he still retained enough credibility to be, along with Bob Dylan, one of only two rock artists featured on the album cover of the Beatles' Sgt.","While Dion's career appeared to be nearing an end, he still retained enough credibility to be, along with Bob Dylan, one of only two rock artists featured on the album cover of the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in 1967. In April 1968, Dion experienced what he identified as a powerful religious transformation. After getting clean once again from heroin addiction, an experience he documented in his 1970 song \"Your Own Backyard\", he approached Laurie Records for a new contract.","After getting clean once again from heroin addiction, an experience he documented in his 1970 song \"Your Own Backyard\", he approached Laurie Records for a new contract. They agreed on the condition that he record the song \"Abraham, Martin & John\", written by Dick Holler (also the writer of the Royal Guardsmen's \"Snoopy Vs.","They agreed on the condition that he record the song \"Abraham, Martin & John\", written by Dick Holler (also the writer of the Royal Guardsmen's \"Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron\") in response to the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, and those of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy during the spring of 1968. The success of this song (released by Dion in August 1968 and later recorded by many others including Marvin Gaye) which reached No.","The success of this song (released by Dion in August 1968 and later recorded by many others including Marvin Gaye) which reached No. 4 in the US charts and No. 1 in Canada, resuscitated Dion's career. It sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc. Mature and Christian music period: 1969–1986 For the next few years, Dion's music became radically different, moving to more contemplative and mature material.","Mature and Christian music period: 1969–1986 For the next few years, Dion's music became radically different, moving to more contemplative and mature material. He released several albums essentially as a singer-songwriter, to moderate sales, moving to the Warner Brothers label in 1969. There followed a live reunion show with the Belmonts at Madison Square Garden on June 2, 1972, which was recorded and released as a live album by Warner.","There followed a live reunion show with the Belmonts at Madison Square Garden on June 2, 1972, which was recorded and released as a live album by Warner. A year later, in 1973, Dion and the original Belmonts performed once more, doing a sold-out concert at the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island, New York. However, no recording of the 1973 reunion was released. This was followed in 1975 by the album Born to Be with You produced by Phil Spector.","This was followed in 1975 by the album Born to Be with You produced by Phil Spector. The album was a commercial failure, but has been subsequently praised by such artists as Jason Pierce of Spiritualized and Pete Townshend of The Who with the track \"Only You Know\" being sampled by Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker for his single \"Don't Let Him Waste Your Time\" from his 2006 solo album Jarvis.","The album was a commercial failure, but has been subsequently praised by such artists as Jason Pierce of Spiritualized and Pete Townshend of The Who with the track \"Only You Know\" being sampled by Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker for his single \"Don't Let Him Waste Your Time\" from his 2006 solo album Jarvis. In 1978, Dion released an album drawing on many of his teenage influences, Return of the Wanderer, another commercial failure.","In 1978, Dion released an album drawing on many of his teenage influences, Return of the Wanderer, another commercial failure. In December 1979, there was a radical spiritual change in Dion, who had become a born again Christian. Thereafter, his recordings for several years were in a contemporary Christian vein, in which he released five albums on the DaySpring Records label, a division of Word Records in Waco, Texas.","Thereafter, his recordings for several years were in a contemporary Christian vein, in which he released five albums on the DaySpring Records label, a division of Word Records in Waco, Texas. These albums reflecting his evangelical Christian convictions were Inside Job (1980), Only Jesus (1981), I Put Away My Idols (1983) which charted at No. 37, Seasons (1984), Kingdom in the Streets (1985) and Velvet & Steel (1986).","37, Seasons (1984), Kingdom in the Streets (1985) and Velvet & Steel (1986). Several singles were successfully released to Christian radio, notably \"Still in the Spirit\" from Kingdom in the Streets. In 1984, Dion won the GMA Dove Award (Christian Music Award) for the album I Put Away My Idols. He was also nominated for Grammy Award for Best Gospel Vocal Performance, Male for the same album.","He was also nominated for Grammy Award for Best Gospel Vocal Performance, Male for the same album. On September 24, 1985, Dion was a guest on 100 Huntley Street. Return to secular music and RRHOF induction: 1987–1999 In 1987, Dion agreed to do a concert of his old hits at Radio City Music Hall in New York. The two disc CD of this concert was released in 2005, featuring concert photos by Dion's friend, Michael J. Friedman.","The two disc CD of this concert was released in 2005, featuring concert photos by Dion's friend, Michael J. Friedman. This concert helped free him to celebrate both his past and his future, and led to a series of special appearances, including a fundraiser for homeless medical relief. There he shared the stage with fans such as Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon and Lou Reed, all of whom cited Dion as one of their prime influences.","There he shared the stage with fans such as Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon and Lou Reed, all of whom cited Dion as one of their prime influences. Dion's autobiography, The Wanderer: Dion's Story, co-authored by Davin Seay, was published in the late-1980s. In 1989, DiMucci returned to rock music with the contemporary album Yo Frankie, which included appearances by Paul Simon, Lou Reed, k.d. lang, Patty Smyth and Bryan Adams.","lang, Patty Smyth and Bryan Adams. lang, Patty Smyth and Bryan Adams. Produced by Dave Edmunds (who also played guitar on the album), \"Yo Frankie has a sharp sound while never losing sight of Dion's soulful, doo-wop voice.\" Overall, \"the relevant and nostalgic statement from an artist who helped forge rock & roll's first wave\" found his way back on radio and in music videos during this period (both on VH1 and MTV), as well as touring.","Overall, \"the relevant and nostalgic statement from an artist who helped forge rock & roll's first wave\" found his way back on radio and in music videos during this period (both on VH1 and MTV), as well as touring. Dion was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF) in 1989 (with an introduction by Lou Reed).","Dion was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF) in 1989 (with an introduction by Lou Reed). Controversially, when Dion's solo induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame occurred, the other original members of the Belmonts (Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano, and Angelo D'Aleo) were not inducted.","Controversially, when Dion's solo induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame occurred, the other original members of the Belmonts (Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano, and Angelo D'Aleo) were not inducted. A January 3, 2012 Billboard magazine article stated: \"There was strife between DiMucci and Belmonts members, who were not pleased when DiMucci was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame without them in 1989.\"","A January 3, 2012 Billboard magazine article stated: \"There was strife between DiMucci and Belmonts members, who were not pleased when DiMucci was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame without them in 1989.\" DiMucci joined Scott Kempner and Frank Funaro of the Del-Lords and Mike Mesaros of the Smithereens in a short-lived band called Little Kings. A live album was later released, but not widely circulated or promoted. Grammy Hall of Fame and blues success: 2000–2019 Dion has released several albums with contemporary rock artists.","Grammy Hall of Fame and blues success: 2000–2019 Dion has released several albums with contemporary rock artists. His Déjà Nu album in 2000 found him covering Bruce Springsteen, a major follower over the years. He joined Springsteen onstage in Miami in 2002 for a performance of \"If I Should Fall Behind\" from Dream on Fire. In 2002, Dion was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for \"Runaround Sue\".","In 2002, Dion was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for \"Runaround Sue\". He continues to perform songs from his albums live, including a concert in 2004 being recorded for release on DVD. In January 2006, Dion released Bronx in Blue, an album of blues and country standards, which was nominated for a Grammy Award. It peaked at No. 2 on the Top Blues Albums chart. In November 2007, Dion issued a follow-up album titled Son of Skip James, which peaked at No.","In November 2007, Dion issued a follow-up album titled Son of Skip James, which peaked at No. 4 on the Top Blues Albums chart. In October 2008, DiMucci released Heroes: Giants of Early Guitar Rock, an album of his covers of early rock and roll songs he considers seminal to the genre. The album includes versions of songs originally recorded by Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, Ricky Nelson, Johnny Cash, and many other early rock guitarists.","The album includes versions of songs originally recorded by Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, Ricky Nelson, Johnny Cash, and many other early rock guitarists. In October 2009, Dion performed \"The Wanderer\" with Paul Simon at the 25th Anniversary Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Concert. An audiobook and paperback by Dion and Mike Aquilina, titled Dion: The Wanderer Talks Truth (Stories, Humor Music), was published in April 2011.","An audiobook and paperback by Dion and Mike Aquilina, titled Dion: The Wanderer Talks Truth (Stories, Humor Music), was published in April 2011. DiMucci shares stories about The Bronx in the 1950s, how he ended up on the cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and his travels with Sam Cooke in the Jim Crow South. Dion released Tank Full of Blues on January 24, 2012. It peaked at No. 3 on the Top Blues Albums chart.","3 on the Top Blues Albums chart. 3 on the Top Blues Albums chart. While touring on April 5, 2015, Dion performed \"Donna the Prima Donna\" live in Las Vegas. On July 11, 2015, he held a concert in Westbury, New York. In 2015, Dion released the single \"New York Is My Home\" with Paul Simon. Dion had previously worked with Simon on his 1989 hit \"Written on the Subway Wall\".","Dion had previously worked with Simon on his 1989 hit \"Written on the Subway Wall\". The single was followed by the album New York Is My Home, released February 12, 2016. The album peaked at No. 3 on the Top Blues Album chart. Dion planned four concerts in the U.S. during early 2016 and was invited as a keynote speaker for the 2016 SXSW in Texas. He spoke on the topic A Conversation with Dion: Rock's Enduring Voice on March 17, 2016.","He spoke on the topic A Conversation with Dion: Rock's Enduring Voice on March 17, 2016. Dion appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on April 8, 2016. In May 2017, Dion released Kickin' Child: The Lost Album 1965 from Norton Records, containing songs recorded in 1965 when he was with Columbia Records but were not previously released.","In May 2017, Dion released Kickin' Child: The Lost Album 1965 from Norton Records, containing songs recorded in 1965 when he was with Columbia Records but were not previously released. Also in May 2017, Richard Barone's Sorrows & Promises: Greenwich Village in the 1960s was released, which included Dion performing a duet of his 1964 song \"The Road I'm On (Gloria)\" with Barone. The album is a celebration of the New York City scene that Dion was part of during that pivotal era.","The album is a celebration of the New York City scene that Dion was part of during that pivotal era. Recent albums with KTBA Records: 2020–present In June 2020, Dion released Blues with Friends via Keeping the Blues Alive Records (KTBA), a new record label created by Joe Bonamassa and Roy Weisman for Dion and other blues musicians to showcase their talents. The album features Van Morrison, Jeff Beck, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, and others (including liner notes by Bob Dylan).","The album features Van Morrison, Jeff Beck, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, and others (including liner notes by Bob Dylan). A digital album (and a double vinyl record set), Dion released a music video for every song from the album on his website and social media platforms such as Facebook and YouTube. The album reached No. 1 on the Billboard Blues Albums chart (9 weeks at No. 1 and 59 weeks total).","1 and 59 weeks total). 1 and 59 weeks total). It also charted in United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Canada and Australia. American Songwriter magazine honored Dion's \"Song for Sam Cooke (Here in America)\" as the \"Greatest of the Great 2020 Songs\". Dion also released two Christmas songs in 2020: \"Hello Christmas\" (featuring Amy Grant) and \"You Know It's Christmas\" (featuring Bonamassa). Both songs were co-written with Mike Aquilina.","Both songs were co-written with Mike Aquilina. Both songs were co-written with Mike Aquilina. Music videos were produced for both songs. Dion's song \"Blues Comin' On\" (with Bonamassa) from Blues with Friends was nominated for a 2021 Blues Music Award. In November 2021, Dion released Stomping Ground (with music videos), which includes extensive liner notes written by Pete Townshend. Except for a cover of \"Red House\", the songs were written by Dion and Aquilina.","Except for a cover of \"Red House\", the songs were written by Dion and Aquilina. Multiple guest artists participate on the album. The album became Dion's second No. 1 blues album. The Wanderer musical On October 13, 2011, an industry-only reading of a new play about Dion's life was performed in New York City.","The Wanderer musical On October 13, 2011, an industry-only reading of a new play about Dion's life was performed in New York City. In a December 9, 2011 article from The New York Times, Dion and his collaborator (writer/director Charles Messina) discussed details about the project – titled The Wanderer: The Life and Music of Dion – which will focus on the years between 1957 until the late-1960s, and will feature more than 20 songs from that era as well as new/original music.","In a December 9, 2011 article from The New York Times, Dion and his collaborator (writer/director Charles Messina) discussed details about the project – titled The Wanderer: The Life and Music of Dion – which will focus on the years between 1957 until the late-1960s, and will feature more than 20 songs from that era as well as new/original music. In the article, Dion gave his perspective on the story: \"You know, I always saw my story as a young Sopranos with great music and a Rocky Graziano Somebody Up There Likes Me ending.","In the article, Dion gave his perspective on the story: \"You know, I always saw my story as a young Sopranos with great music and a Rocky Graziano Somebody Up There Likes Me ending. It's a story of redemption. A rock and roll redemption story!\" DiMucci revealed that Michael Wartella would be starring in The Wanderer on December 16, 2017. There was a reading of the musical on November 2, 2017 while working on it continued.","There was a reading of the musical on November 2, 2017 while working on it continued. On December 4, 2019, it was announced that former New Kids on the Block member Joey McIntyre would star as Johnny, Michael Wartella as Dion, and Christy Altomare as wife, Susan. The first performance was scheduled to start on May 28, 2020, at the Paper Mill Playhouse. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the opening performance was rescheduled to March 24, 2022.","Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the opening performance was rescheduled to March 24, 2022. Personal life Dion lives in Boca Raton, Florida and New York City. In the late 1990s, Dion visited his old Bronx parish, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, and returned to Catholicism. Sparking Dion's reversion to Catholicism was \"a chance viewing of The Journey Home program on EWTN.\"","Sparking Dion's reversion to Catholicism was \"a chance viewing of The Journey Home program on EWTN.\" As a practicing Roman Catholic and having struggled with a heroin addiction during his youth, Dion has been involved in prison religion, reaching out to men going through drug recovery. DiMucci was a member of the American board of directors for Renewal Ministries in 2004. Dion appeared on The Journey Home and discussed his wanderings from Catholicism to Protestantism and back again on May 1, 2006.","Dion appeared on The Journey Home and discussed his wanderings from Catholicism to Protestantism and back again on May 1, 2006. Selective discography With the Belmonts Presenting Dion and the Belmonts (1959) Wish Upon a Star with Dion and the Belmonts (1960) Together Again (1966) Live at Madison Square Garden 1972 (1973) Solo albums Alone with Dion (1961) Runaround Sue (1961) Donna the Prima Donna (1963) Dion (1968) Suite for Late Summer (1972) Born to Be with You (1975) Streetheart (1976) I Put Away My Idols (1983) Yo Frankie (1989) Son of Skip James (2007) Blues with Friends (2020) Stomping Ground (2021) References External links Comprehensive Rolling Stone profile The Spiritual Journey of the Wanderer Who Came Home By Dion Dimucci Dion the Wanderer, Back In Blue (an article at NPR.com) 1939 births Living people American male singers American people of Italian descent American male pop singers American folk singers American rock singers Musicians from the Bronx American performers of Christian music Laurie Records artists Columbia Records artists Singers from New York City Dion and the Belmonts members Doo-wop musicians Catholics from New York (state)"],"string":"[\n \"Dion Francis DiMucci (born July 18, 1939), better known simply as Dion, is an American singer and songwriter whose music has incorporated elements of doo-wop, rock, R&B and blues. Initially as lead singer of Dion and the Belmonts, and then in his solo career, he was one of the most popular American rock and roll performers of the pre-British Invasion era. He had 39 Top 40 hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s as a solo performer, with the Belmonts or with the Del-Satins.\",\n \"He had 39 Top 40 hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s as a solo performer, with the Belmonts or with the Del-Satins. He is best remembered for the singles \\\"Runaround Sue\\\", \\\"The Wanderer\\\", \\\"Ruby Baby\\\" and \\\"Lovers Who Wander\\\", among other hits. Dion's popularity waned in the mid-1960s. Toward the end of the decade, he shifted his style and produced songs that were more mature and contemplative, such as \\\"Abraham, Martin and John\\\".\",\n \"Toward the end of the decade, he shifted his style and produced songs that were more mature and contemplative, such as \\\"Abraham, Martin and John\\\". He remained popular in the late 1960s until the mid-1970s, and continues making music. During the 1980s, Dion produced several Christian albums, winning a GMA Dove Award in 1984 for the album I Put Away My Idols. He returned to secular music in the late 1980s with Yo Frankie (1989).\",\n \"He returned to secular music in the late 1980s with Yo Frankie (1989). Between the mid-2000s and 2021, Dion released six chart-topping blues albums. Critics who had dismissed his early work, labeling him as a teen idol, praised his later work and noted the influence he has had on other musicians. A Grammy-nominated artist, Dion has released nearly 40 albums and scored eight Top 10 hits (ten including the Belmonts) on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.\",\n \"A Grammy-nominated artist, Dion has released nearly 40 albums and scored eight Top 10 hits (ten including the Belmonts) on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989. Early life Dion was born to an Italian-American family in the Bronx, New York. As a child, he accompanied his father, Pasquale DiMucci, a vaudeville entertainer, on tour, and developed a love of country music – particularly the work of Hank Williams.\",\n \"As a child, he accompanied his father, Pasquale DiMucci, a vaudeville entertainer, on tour, and developed a love of country music – particularly the work of Hank Williams. He also developed a fondness for the blues and doo-wop musicians he heard performing in local bars and on the radio. His singing was honed on the street corners and local clubs of the Bronx, where he and other neighborhood singers created a cappella riffs. In early 1957, he auditioned for Bob and Gene Schwartz for their short-lived Mohawk Records label.\",\n \"In early 1957, he auditioned for Bob and Gene Schwartz for their short-lived Mohawk Records label. They asked Dion to sing a song which had been arranged by Hugo Montenegro and recorded featuring Vic Damone doing vocals. At first Dion refused, stating the song would sound like something his old fashioned parents would listen to, but the Schwartzes convinced him to give it a try. The backing vocals were by a group called \\\"the Timberlanes\\\", whom Dion had never met.\",\n \"The backing vocals were by a group called \\\"the Timberlanes\\\", whom Dion had never met. The resulting single, \\\"The Chosen Few\\\", was released under the name \\\"Dion and the Timberlanes\\\", and became a minor regional hit.\",\n \"The resulting single, \\\"The Chosen Few\\\", was released under the name \\\"Dion and the Timberlanes\\\", and became a minor regional hit. Dion himself stated in 2019 during an interview at \\\"Crashing the Party\\\" (a radio program related to Norton Records in Brooklyn, New York) that \\\"The Chosen Few\\\" hit the Top Ten locally in Boston and enabled him to perform this song on American Bandstand where the kids at the show started screaming during his performance, which gave him his first impression of being a record star.\",\n \"Dion himself stated in 2019 during an interview at \\\"Crashing the Party\\\" (a radio program related to Norton Records in Brooklyn, New York) that \\\"The Chosen Few\\\" hit the Top Ten locally in Boston and enabled him to perform this song on American Bandstand where the kids at the show started screaming during his performance, which gave him his first impression of being a record star. Writing about this experience later, in his autobiography, The Wanderer, Dion said that he had never met the Timberlanes and did not even know who they were.\",\n \"Writing about this experience later, in his autobiography, The Wanderer, Dion said that he had never met the Timberlanes and did not even know who they were. \\\"The vocal group was so white bread, I went back to my neighborhood and I recruited a bunch of guys – three guys – and we called ourselves Dion and the Belmonts.\\\"\",\n \"\\\"The vocal group was so white bread, I went back to my neighborhood and I recruited a bunch of guys – three guys – and we called ourselves Dion and the Belmonts.\\\" Career Beginnings with the Belmonts: 1957–1960 Bob and Gene Schwartz signed Dion's friends, the Belmonts (Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano, and Angelo D'Aleo), a vocal group named for the Belmont, Bronx neighborhood, and teamed them up with Dion singing lead.\",\n \"Career Beginnings with the Belmonts: 1957–1960 Bob and Gene Schwartz signed Dion's friends, the Belmonts (Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano, and Angelo D'Aleo), a vocal group named for the Belmont, Bronx neighborhood, and teamed them up with Dion singing lead. The new group's breakthrough came in early 1958, when \\\"I Wonder Why\\\" (on their newly formed Laurie Records) made No. 22 on the U.S. charts. Dion said of the Belmonts; \\\"I'd give 'em sounds.\",\n \"Dion said of the Belmonts; \\\"I'd give 'em sounds. I'd give 'em parts and stuff. That's what 'I Wonder Why' was about. We kind of invented this percussive rhythmic sound. If you listen to that song, everybody was doing something different. There's four guys, one guy was doing bass, I was singing lead, one guy's going 'ooh wah ooh,' and another guy's doing tenor. It was totally amazing.\",\n \"It was totally amazing. It was totally amazing. When I listen to it today, oftentimes I think, 'man, those kids are talented.'\\\" Their initial hit was followed by \\\"No One Knows\\\" and \\\"Don't Pity Me\\\", which also charted the Billboard Top 100. This success won a place for Dion and the Belmonts on the ill-fated \\\"The Winter Dance Party\\\" tour with Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson), Frankie Sardo, and other performers.\",\n \"This success won a place for Dion and the Belmonts on the ill-fated \\\"The Winter Dance Party\\\" tour with Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson), Frankie Sardo, and other performers. On February 3, 1959, after a concert stop in Clear Lake, Iowa, Holly and others decided to charter a flight to the next venue rather than travel on the tour bus.\",\n \"On February 3, 1959, after a concert stop in Clear Lake, Iowa, Holly and others decided to charter a flight to the next venue rather than travel on the tour bus. Dion was invited to accompany the group but decided that he did not want to spend $36 for the flight, as it was the same monthly rent his parents paid for his childhood apartment and he could not justify the indulgence.\",\n \"Dion was invited to accompany the group but decided that he did not want to spend $36 for the flight, as it was the same monthly rent his parents paid for his childhood apartment and he could not justify the indulgence. The plane crashed, killing all on board: Holly, Valens, Richardson, and the pilot Roger Peterson. Dion and the Belmonts continued on the tour, along with Frankie Sardo, while Bobby Vee, then an unknown artist, performed in Holly's place at the very next concert.\",\n \"Dion and the Belmonts continued on the tour, along with Frankie Sardo, while Bobby Vee, then an unknown artist, performed in Holly's place at the very next concert. Later, Jimmy Clanton, Frankie Avalon, and Fabian were added to replace the other now-deceased headliners. Dion and the Belmonts' next single, \\\"A Teenager in Love\\\", was released in March 1959, eventually hitting No. 5 on the U.S. pop charts and No. 28 in the UK.\",\n \"5 on the U.S. pop charts and No. 28 in the UK. 28 in the UK. The group's biggest hit, \\\"Where or When\\\", was released in November of that year, and reached No. 3 on the U.S. charts. However, in early 1960, Dion checked into hospital for heroin addiction, a problem he had had since his mid-teens. Further single releases for the group that year were less successful.\",\n \"Further single releases for the group that year were less successful. There were musical, personal and financial differences between Dion and members of the Belmonts, and in October 1960, Dion decided to quit for a solo career. By the time of their breakup, all eight Laurie releases had charted on the Hot 100. Solo stardom and touring worldwide: 1960–1964 By the end of 1960, Dion produced his first solo album on Laurie Records, Alone with Dion, released in 1961.\",\n \"Solo stardom and touring worldwide: 1960–1964 By the end of 1960, Dion produced his first solo album on Laurie Records, Alone with Dion, released in 1961. The single \\\"Lonely Teenager\\\" rose to No. 12 in the US charts. The name on his solo releases was simply \\\"Dion\\\". Follow-ups \\\"Havin' Fun\\\" and \\\"Kissin' Game\\\" had less success, and the signs were that Dion would drift onto the cabaret circuit.\",\n \"Follow-ups \\\"Havin' Fun\\\" and \\\"Kissin' Game\\\" had less success, and the signs were that Dion would drift onto the cabaret circuit. However, he then recorded an up-tempo number co-written with Ernie Maresca with a new vocal group, the Del-Satins. The record, \\\"Runaround Sue\\\", stormed up the U.S. charts, reaching No. 1 in October 1961, and No. 11 in the UK, where he also toured. \\\"Runaround Sue\\\" sold over a million copies, achieving gold disc status.\",\n \"\\\"Runaround Sue\\\" sold over a million copies, achieving gold disc status. For the next single, Laurie promoted the A-side, \\\"The Majestic\\\", but it was the B-side, Maresca's \\\"The Wanderer\\\", which received more radio play and climbed swiftly up the charts to reach No. 2 in the U.S. in February 1962 and No. 10 in the UK. The 1976 re-release made the UK Top 20.\",\n \"The 1976 re-release made the UK Top 20. The 1976 re-release made the UK Top 20. By the end of 1961, Dion had become a major star, touring worldwide and making an appearance in the Columbia Pictures musical film Twist Around the Clock. In 1962, he followed with a string of singles he wrote or co-wrote including \\\"Lovers Who Wander\\\" (No. 3), \\\"Little Diane\\\" (No. 8), \\\"Love Came to Me\\\" (No. 10).\",\n \"8), \\\"Love Came to Me\\\" (No. 10). 10). He also had successful albums with Runaround Sue and Lovers Who Wander. At the end of 1962, Dion moved from Laurie to Columbia Records. He was the first rock and roll artist signed to the label, which was an anomaly considering that its then-A&R director, Mitch Miller, loathed that particular genre of music.\",\n \"He was the first rock and roll artist signed to the label, which was an anomaly considering that its then-A&R director, Mitch Miller, loathed that particular genre of music. The first Columbia single, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller's \\\"Ruby Baby\\\" (originally a hit for the Drifters) reached No. 2, while \\\"Donna the Prima Donna\\\" and \\\"Drip Drop\\\" (another remake of a Drifters hit) both reached No. 6 in late 1963.\",\n \"6 in late 1963. 6 in late 1963. (Dion also recorded an Italian version of \\\"Donna the Prima Donna\\\" using the identical backup vocals.) His other Columbia releases were less successful, and problems with his drug addiction and changing public tastes, especially the British Invasion, saw a period of commercial decline. Belmonts reunion and renewed contract: 1965–1968 Following a European tour, Dion returned to the U.S. and was introduced to classic blues by Columbia's John Hammond.\",\n \"Belmonts reunion and renewed contract: 1965–1968 Following a European tour, Dion returned to the U.S. and was introduced to classic blues by Columbia's John Hammond. To the consternation of his management, he began recording more blues-oriented material, including Willie Dixon's \\\"Hoochie Coochie Man\\\" and \\\"Spoonful\\\", but these releases – some produced by Tom Wilson, with Al Kooper on keyboards – were not commercially successful.\",\n \"To the consternation of his management, he began recording more blues-oriented material, including Willie Dixon's \\\"Hoochie Coochie Man\\\" and \\\"Spoonful\\\", but these releases – some produced by Tom Wilson, with Al Kooper on keyboards – were not commercially successful. In 1965, still with Columbia, Dion formed a new group to back him, The Wanderers, composed of John Falbo on guitar, Pete Baron (Pete Falciglia) on bass, and Carlo Mastrangelo of the Belmonts on drums.\",\n \"In 1965, still with Columbia, Dion formed a new group to back him, The Wanderers, composed of John Falbo on guitar, Pete Baron (Pete Falciglia) on bass, and Carlo Mastrangelo of the Belmonts on drums. They made national appearances on Dick Clark's, Where The Action Is, and The Lloyd Thaxton Show. A number of self-penned tracks were recorded and released unsuccessfully as singles, and did not appear in album format until years later.\",\n \"A number of self-penned tracks were recorded and released unsuccessfully as singles, and did not appear in album format until years later. In June 1965 he recorded fellow Columbia Records's contemporary Bob Dylan's composition \\\"It's All Over Now, Baby Blue\\\" a half-year before Them (featuring Van Morrison)'s hit version. In 1966–67, Dion briefly reunited with the Belmonts, recording the LP Together Again for ABC Records. The album was unsuccessful, despite one classic self-penned song, \\\"My Girl the Month of May\\\".\",\n \"The album was unsuccessful, despite one classic self-penned song, \\\"My Girl the Month of May\\\". Two singles were released from the LP. While neither charted in the United States, they fared better in the UK. \\\"My Girl The Month of May\\\" entered the Radio London \\\"Fab 40\\\" at No. 9 the week of December 25, 1966.\",\n \"9 the week of December 25, 1966. 9 the week of December 25, 1966. A 'turntable' hit at London underground clubs like Middle Earth, the disc received a lot of play from pirate radio DJ's John Peel and Kenny Everett. The follow up, \\\"Movin' Man\\\", reached No. 17 on the \\\"Radio London\\\" charts on Easter Sunday, March 26, 1967.\",\n \"17 on the \\\"Radio London\\\" charts on Easter Sunday, March 26, 1967. \\\"My Girl The Month of May\\\" was later covered by English artists Alan Bown in 1967, and Island Records artists The Bunch (featuring Sandy Denny and other members of Fairport Convention) in April 1972.\",\n \"\\\"My Girl The Month of May\\\" was later covered by English artists Alan Bown in 1967, and Island Records artists The Bunch (featuring Sandy Denny and other members of Fairport Convention) in April 1972. During their brief mid-60's reunion, Dion and the Belmonts appeared on the popular Clay Cole Show performing \\\"Berimbau\\\" and \\\"My Girl The Month of May\\\", and occasionally performed at local New York City clubs such as \\\"The Mardi Gras\\\" on Staten Island (April 29, 1967) before disbanding.\",\n \"During their brief mid-60's reunion, Dion and the Belmonts appeared on the popular Clay Cole Show performing \\\"Berimbau\\\" and \\\"My Girl The Month of May\\\", and occasionally performed at local New York City clubs such as \\\"The Mardi Gras\\\" on Staten Island (April 29, 1967) before disbanding. While Dion's career appeared to be nearing an end, he still retained enough credibility to be, along with Bob Dylan, one of only two rock artists featured on the album cover of the Beatles' Sgt.\",\n \"While Dion's career appeared to be nearing an end, he still retained enough credibility to be, along with Bob Dylan, one of only two rock artists featured on the album cover of the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in 1967. In April 1968, Dion experienced what he identified as a powerful religious transformation. After getting clean once again from heroin addiction, an experience he documented in his 1970 song \\\"Your Own Backyard\\\", he approached Laurie Records for a new contract.\",\n \"After getting clean once again from heroin addiction, an experience he documented in his 1970 song \\\"Your Own Backyard\\\", he approached Laurie Records for a new contract. They agreed on the condition that he record the song \\\"Abraham, Martin & John\\\", written by Dick Holler (also the writer of the Royal Guardsmen's \\\"Snoopy Vs.\",\n \"They agreed on the condition that he record the song \\\"Abraham, Martin & John\\\", written by Dick Holler (also the writer of the Royal Guardsmen's \\\"Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron\\\") in response to the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, and those of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy during the spring of 1968. The success of this song (released by Dion in August 1968 and later recorded by many others including Marvin Gaye) which reached No.\",\n \"The success of this song (released by Dion in August 1968 and later recorded by many others including Marvin Gaye) which reached No. 4 in the US charts and No. 1 in Canada, resuscitated Dion's career. It sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc. Mature and Christian music period: 1969–1986 For the next few years, Dion's music became radically different, moving to more contemplative and mature material.\",\n \"Mature and Christian music period: 1969–1986 For the next few years, Dion's music became radically different, moving to more contemplative and mature material. He released several albums essentially as a singer-songwriter, to moderate sales, moving to the Warner Brothers label in 1969. There followed a live reunion show with the Belmonts at Madison Square Garden on June 2, 1972, which was recorded and released as a live album by Warner.\",\n \"There followed a live reunion show with the Belmonts at Madison Square Garden on June 2, 1972, which was recorded and released as a live album by Warner. A year later, in 1973, Dion and the original Belmonts performed once more, doing a sold-out concert at the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island, New York. However, no recording of the 1973 reunion was released. This was followed in 1975 by the album Born to Be with You produced by Phil Spector.\",\n \"This was followed in 1975 by the album Born to Be with You produced by Phil Spector. The album was a commercial failure, but has been subsequently praised by such artists as Jason Pierce of Spiritualized and Pete Townshend of The Who with the track \\\"Only You Know\\\" being sampled by Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker for his single \\\"Don't Let Him Waste Your Time\\\" from his 2006 solo album Jarvis.\",\n \"The album was a commercial failure, but has been subsequently praised by such artists as Jason Pierce of Spiritualized and Pete Townshend of The Who with the track \\\"Only You Know\\\" being sampled by Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker for his single \\\"Don't Let Him Waste Your Time\\\" from his 2006 solo album Jarvis. In 1978, Dion released an album drawing on many of his teenage influences, Return of the Wanderer, another commercial failure.\",\n \"In 1978, Dion released an album drawing on many of his teenage influences, Return of the Wanderer, another commercial failure. In December 1979, there was a radical spiritual change in Dion, who had become a born again Christian. Thereafter, his recordings for several years were in a contemporary Christian vein, in which he released five albums on the DaySpring Records label, a division of Word Records in Waco, Texas.\",\n \"Thereafter, his recordings for several years were in a contemporary Christian vein, in which he released five albums on the DaySpring Records label, a division of Word Records in Waco, Texas. These albums reflecting his evangelical Christian convictions were Inside Job (1980), Only Jesus (1981), I Put Away My Idols (1983) which charted at No. 37, Seasons (1984), Kingdom in the Streets (1985) and Velvet & Steel (1986).\",\n \"37, Seasons (1984), Kingdom in the Streets (1985) and Velvet & Steel (1986). Several singles were successfully released to Christian radio, notably \\\"Still in the Spirit\\\" from Kingdom in the Streets. In 1984, Dion won the GMA Dove Award (Christian Music Award) for the album I Put Away My Idols. He was also nominated for Grammy Award for Best Gospel Vocal Performance, Male for the same album.\",\n \"He was also nominated for Grammy Award for Best Gospel Vocal Performance, Male for the same album. On September 24, 1985, Dion was a guest on 100 Huntley Street. Return to secular music and RRHOF induction: 1987–1999 In 1987, Dion agreed to do a concert of his old hits at Radio City Music Hall in New York. The two disc CD of this concert was released in 2005, featuring concert photos by Dion's friend, Michael J. Friedman.\",\n \"The two disc CD of this concert was released in 2005, featuring concert photos by Dion's friend, Michael J. Friedman. This concert helped free him to celebrate both his past and his future, and led to a series of special appearances, including a fundraiser for homeless medical relief. There he shared the stage with fans such as Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon and Lou Reed, all of whom cited Dion as one of their prime influences.\",\n \"There he shared the stage with fans such as Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon and Lou Reed, all of whom cited Dion as one of their prime influences. Dion's autobiography, The Wanderer: Dion's Story, co-authored by Davin Seay, was published in the late-1980s. In 1989, DiMucci returned to rock music with the contemporary album Yo Frankie, which included appearances by Paul Simon, Lou Reed, k.d. lang, Patty Smyth and Bryan Adams.\",\n \"lang, Patty Smyth and Bryan Adams. lang, Patty Smyth and Bryan Adams. Produced by Dave Edmunds (who also played guitar on the album), \\\"Yo Frankie has a sharp sound while never losing sight of Dion's soulful, doo-wop voice.\\\" Overall, \\\"the relevant and nostalgic statement from an artist who helped forge rock & roll's first wave\\\" found his way back on radio and in music videos during this period (both on VH1 and MTV), as well as touring.\",\n \"Overall, \\\"the relevant and nostalgic statement from an artist who helped forge rock & roll's first wave\\\" found his way back on radio and in music videos during this period (both on VH1 and MTV), as well as touring. Dion was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF) in 1989 (with an introduction by Lou Reed).\",\n \"Dion was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF) in 1989 (with an introduction by Lou Reed). Controversially, when Dion's solo induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame occurred, the other original members of the Belmonts (Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano, and Angelo D'Aleo) were not inducted.\",\n \"Controversially, when Dion's solo induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame occurred, the other original members of the Belmonts (Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano, and Angelo D'Aleo) were not inducted. A January 3, 2012 Billboard magazine article stated: \\\"There was strife between DiMucci and Belmonts members, who were not pleased when DiMucci was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame without them in 1989.\\\"\",\n \"A January 3, 2012 Billboard magazine article stated: \\\"There was strife between DiMucci and Belmonts members, who were not pleased when DiMucci was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame without them in 1989.\\\" DiMucci joined Scott Kempner and Frank Funaro of the Del-Lords and Mike Mesaros of the Smithereens in a short-lived band called Little Kings. A live album was later released, but not widely circulated or promoted. Grammy Hall of Fame and blues success: 2000–2019 Dion has released several albums with contemporary rock artists.\",\n \"Grammy Hall of Fame and blues success: 2000–2019 Dion has released several albums with contemporary rock artists. His Déjà Nu album in 2000 found him covering Bruce Springsteen, a major follower over the years. He joined Springsteen onstage in Miami in 2002 for a performance of \\\"If I Should Fall Behind\\\" from Dream on Fire. In 2002, Dion was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for \\\"Runaround Sue\\\".\",\n \"In 2002, Dion was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for \\\"Runaround Sue\\\". He continues to perform songs from his albums live, including a concert in 2004 being recorded for release on DVD. In January 2006, Dion released Bronx in Blue, an album of blues and country standards, which was nominated for a Grammy Award. It peaked at No. 2 on the Top Blues Albums chart. In November 2007, Dion issued a follow-up album titled Son of Skip James, which peaked at No.\",\n \"In November 2007, Dion issued a follow-up album titled Son of Skip James, which peaked at No. 4 on the Top Blues Albums chart. In October 2008, DiMucci released Heroes: Giants of Early Guitar Rock, an album of his covers of early rock and roll songs he considers seminal to the genre. The album includes versions of songs originally recorded by Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, Ricky Nelson, Johnny Cash, and many other early rock guitarists.\",\n \"The album includes versions of songs originally recorded by Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, Ricky Nelson, Johnny Cash, and many other early rock guitarists. In October 2009, Dion performed \\\"The Wanderer\\\" with Paul Simon at the 25th Anniversary Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Concert. An audiobook and paperback by Dion and Mike Aquilina, titled Dion: The Wanderer Talks Truth (Stories, Humor Music), was published in April 2011.\",\n \"An audiobook and paperback by Dion and Mike Aquilina, titled Dion: The Wanderer Talks Truth (Stories, Humor Music), was published in April 2011. DiMucci shares stories about The Bronx in the 1950s, how he ended up on the cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and his travels with Sam Cooke in the Jim Crow South. Dion released Tank Full of Blues on January 24, 2012. It peaked at No. 3 on the Top Blues Albums chart.\",\n \"3 on the Top Blues Albums chart. 3 on the Top Blues Albums chart. While touring on April 5, 2015, Dion performed \\\"Donna the Prima Donna\\\" live in Las Vegas. On July 11, 2015, he held a concert in Westbury, New York. In 2015, Dion released the single \\\"New York Is My Home\\\" with Paul Simon. Dion had previously worked with Simon on his 1989 hit \\\"Written on the Subway Wall\\\".\",\n \"Dion had previously worked with Simon on his 1989 hit \\\"Written on the Subway Wall\\\". The single was followed by the album New York Is My Home, released February 12, 2016. The album peaked at No. 3 on the Top Blues Album chart. Dion planned four concerts in the U.S. during early 2016 and was invited as a keynote speaker for the 2016 SXSW in Texas. He spoke on the topic A Conversation with Dion: Rock's Enduring Voice on March 17, 2016.\",\n \"He spoke on the topic A Conversation with Dion: Rock's Enduring Voice on March 17, 2016. Dion appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on April 8, 2016. In May 2017, Dion released Kickin' Child: The Lost Album 1965 from Norton Records, containing songs recorded in 1965 when he was with Columbia Records but were not previously released.\",\n \"In May 2017, Dion released Kickin' Child: The Lost Album 1965 from Norton Records, containing songs recorded in 1965 when he was with Columbia Records but were not previously released. Also in May 2017, Richard Barone's Sorrows & Promises: Greenwich Village in the 1960s was released, which included Dion performing a duet of his 1964 song \\\"The Road I'm On (Gloria)\\\" with Barone. The album is a celebration of the New York City scene that Dion was part of during that pivotal era.\",\n \"The album is a celebration of the New York City scene that Dion was part of during that pivotal era. Recent albums with KTBA Records: 2020–present In June 2020, Dion released Blues with Friends via Keeping the Blues Alive Records (KTBA), a new record label created by Joe Bonamassa and Roy Weisman for Dion and other blues musicians to showcase their talents. The album features Van Morrison, Jeff Beck, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, and others (including liner notes by Bob Dylan).\",\n \"The album features Van Morrison, Jeff Beck, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, and others (including liner notes by Bob Dylan). A digital album (and a double vinyl record set), Dion released a music video for every song from the album on his website and social media platforms such as Facebook and YouTube. The album reached No. 1 on the Billboard Blues Albums chart (9 weeks at No. 1 and 59 weeks total).\",\n \"1 and 59 weeks total). 1 and 59 weeks total). It also charted in United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Canada and Australia. American Songwriter magazine honored Dion's \\\"Song for Sam Cooke (Here in America)\\\" as the \\\"Greatest of the Great 2020 Songs\\\". Dion also released two Christmas songs in 2020: \\\"Hello Christmas\\\" (featuring Amy Grant) and \\\"You Know It's Christmas\\\" (featuring Bonamassa). Both songs were co-written with Mike Aquilina.\",\n \"Both songs were co-written with Mike Aquilina. Both songs were co-written with Mike Aquilina. Music videos were produced for both songs. Dion's song \\\"Blues Comin' On\\\" (with Bonamassa) from Blues with Friends was nominated for a 2021 Blues Music Award. In November 2021, Dion released Stomping Ground (with music videos), which includes extensive liner notes written by Pete Townshend. Except for a cover of \\\"Red House\\\", the songs were written by Dion and Aquilina.\",\n \"Except for a cover of \\\"Red House\\\", the songs were written by Dion and Aquilina. Multiple guest artists participate on the album. The album became Dion's second No. 1 blues album. The Wanderer musical On October 13, 2011, an industry-only reading of a new play about Dion's life was performed in New York City.\",\n \"The Wanderer musical On October 13, 2011, an industry-only reading of a new play about Dion's life was performed in New York City. In a December 9, 2011 article from The New York Times, Dion and his collaborator (writer/director Charles Messina) discussed details about the project – titled The Wanderer: The Life and Music of Dion – which will focus on the years between 1957 until the late-1960s, and will feature more than 20 songs from that era as well as new/original music.\",\n \"In a December 9, 2011 article from The New York Times, Dion and his collaborator (writer/director Charles Messina) discussed details about the project – titled The Wanderer: The Life and Music of Dion – which will focus on the years between 1957 until the late-1960s, and will feature more than 20 songs from that era as well as new/original music. In the article, Dion gave his perspective on the story: \\\"You know, I always saw my story as a young Sopranos with great music and a Rocky Graziano Somebody Up There Likes Me ending.\",\n \"In the article, Dion gave his perspective on the story: \\\"You know, I always saw my story as a young Sopranos with great music and a Rocky Graziano Somebody Up There Likes Me ending. It's a story of redemption. A rock and roll redemption story!\\\" DiMucci revealed that Michael Wartella would be starring in The Wanderer on December 16, 2017. There was a reading of the musical on November 2, 2017 while working on it continued.\",\n \"There was a reading of the musical on November 2, 2017 while working on it continued. On December 4, 2019, it was announced that former New Kids on the Block member Joey McIntyre would star as Johnny, Michael Wartella as Dion, and Christy Altomare as wife, Susan. The first performance was scheduled to start on May 28, 2020, at the Paper Mill Playhouse. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the opening performance was rescheduled to March 24, 2022.\",\n \"Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the opening performance was rescheduled to March 24, 2022. Personal life Dion lives in Boca Raton, Florida and New York City. In the late 1990s, Dion visited his old Bronx parish, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, and returned to Catholicism. Sparking Dion's reversion to Catholicism was \\\"a chance viewing of The Journey Home program on EWTN.\\\"\",\n \"Sparking Dion's reversion to Catholicism was \\\"a chance viewing of The Journey Home program on EWTN.\\\" As a practicing Roman Catholic and having struggled with a heroin addiction during his youth, Dion has been involved in prison religion, reaching out to men going through drug recovery. DiMucci was a member of the American board of directors for Renewal Ministries in 2004. Dion appeared on The Journey Home and discussed his wanderings from Catholicism to Protestantism and back again on May 1, 2006.\",\n \"Dion appeared on The Journey Home and discussed his wanderings from Catholicism to Protestantism and back again on May 1, 2006. Selective discography With the Belmonts Presenting Dion and the Belmonts (1959) Wish Upon a Star with Dion and the Belmonts (1960) Together Again (1966) Live at Madison Square Garden 1972 (1973) Solo albums Alone with Dion (1961) Runaround Sue (1961) Donna the Prima Donna (1963) Dion (1968) Suite for Late Summer (1972) Born to Be with You (1975) Streetheart (1976) I Put Away My Idols (1983) Yo Frankie (1989) Son of Skip James (2007) Blues with Friends (2020) Stomping Ground (2021) References External links Comprehensive Rolling Stone profile The Spiritual Journey of the Wanderer Who Came Home By Dion Dimucci Dion the Wanderer, Back In Blue (an article at NPR.com) 1939 births Living people American male singers American people of Italian descent American male pop singers American folk singers American rock singers Musicians from the Bronx American performers of Christian music Laurie Records artists Columbia Records artists Singers from New York City Dion and the Belmonts members Doo-wop musicians Catholics from New York (state)\"\n]"}}}],"truncated":false,"partial":false},"paginationData":{"pageIndex":3,"numItemsPerPage":100,"numTotalItems":17183,"offset":300,"length":100}},"jwt":"eyJhbGciOiJFZERTQSJ9.eyJyZWFkIjp0cnVlLCJwZXJtaXNzaW9ucyI6eyJyZXBvLmNvbnRlbnQucmVhZCI6dHJ1ZX0sImlhdCI6MTcyNzY1MTk4MSwic3ViIjoiL2RhdGFzZXRzL2xlZ2FjeTEwNy93aWtpcGVkaWEtYXVnbWVudGVkLWNodW5rZWQtMTI4IiwiZXhwIjoxNzI3NjU1NTgxLCJpc3MiOiJodHRwczovL2h1Z2dpbmdmYWNlLmNvIn0.y3urJLVBlM3doAy9yw3P_y9m9FrSqGGDlAFpvzzgM5wDV2RuQr8rcF2oXMVP_j232arv5M87TRD6QBGgxkyoAw","displayUrls":true},"discussionsStats":{"closed":0,"open":1,"total":1},"fullWidth":true,"hasGatedAccess":true,"hasFullAccess":true,"isEmbedded":false}">
History
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[
"Mark Ronson",
"2010-12: Record Collection",
"When was the Record Collection released?",
"September 2010.",
"Is this an album?",
"Ronson confirmed the name of his new album Record Collection,",
"Did this album do well?",
"I don't know.",
"Were there any hit songs?",
"The first single \"Bang Bang Bang\". which featured rapper Q-Tip and singer MNDR was released on 12 July 2010, where it peaked at number 6 on the UK Singles Chart,",
"What other songs reached the charts?",
"The second single from the album, \"The Bike Song\", was 19 September 2010",
"Were there any other successes/",
"He provided the score for the 2011 film Arthur."
] | C_d5d7c57a056e48fbb1667f80ffeb5358_0 | What else did he do during this time? | 7 | What else did Mark Ronson do during 2011, besides providing the score for the film Arthur? | Mark Ronson | In the Spring of 2010, Ronson confirmed the name of his new album Record Collection, and said that he hoped to have it out by September 2010. Additionally, Ronson announced the name of his new band, "The Business Intl.'", which is the alias adopted by Ronson on the third studio album. The first single "Bang Bang Bang". which featured rapper Q-Tip and singer MNDR was released on 12 July 2010, where it peaked at number 6 on the UK Singles Chart, giving Ronson his fourth Top 10 single. The single also entered the Irish Singles Chart, where it peaked at number 18. The second single from the album, "The Bike Song", was 19 September 2010 and features Kyle Falconer from The View and Spank Rock. The album was released on 27 September 2010. This is the first Ronson albums on which he features as a singer. Although Ronson had never met Michael Jackson he was given the vocal track to a song titled "Lovely Way", sung by Michael Jackson, in 2010 to produce for Jackson's posthumous album Michael. He submitted the track, but it did not make the track listing for Michael. Ronson said about the rumours surrounding the vocals on the track (due to the controversy surrounding the Cascio tracks on that same album), "It was definitely him singing. I was given a vocal track to work with but I never actually met Michael. [...] It's in the vein of Elton John's 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road' and John Lennon's 'Imagine'." He provided the score for the 2011 film Arthur. Ronson was one of the artists featured in the 2012 documentary Re:GENERATION Music Project. His song "A La Modeliste" features Mos Def, Erykah Badu, Trombone Shorty, members of The Dap-Kings, and Zigaboo Modeliste. CANNOTANSWER | Ronson was one of the artists featured in the 2012 documentary Re:GENERATION Music Project. | Mark Daniel Ronson (born 4 September 1975) is an English-American DJ, songwriter, record producer, and record executive. He is best known for his collaborations with artists such as Duran Duran, Amy Winehouse, Adele, Lady Gaga, Lily Allen, Robbie Williams, Miley Cyrus, Queens of the Stone Age, Kevin Parker and Bruno Mars. He has received seven Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year for Winehouse's album Back to Black and two for Record of the Year singles "Rehab" and "Uptown Funk". He received an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award and a Grammy Award for co-writing the song "Shallow" (performed by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper) for the film A Star is Born (2018).
Ronson was born in London and raised in New York City. His stepfather is Foreigner guitarist Mick Jones, which contributed to a childhood surrounded by music. While attending New York University, Ronson became a popular DJ in the hip-hop scene. His debut album Here Comes the Fuzz failed to have an effect on the charts. In 2006, he received acclaim for producing albums for Lily Allen, Christina Aguilera, and Amy Winehouse. In 2007, Ronson released his second album, Version. The album reached number two in the UK and included three top ten singles and earned him the Brit Award for British Male Solo Artist. He subsequently released his third studio album, Record Collection, peaking at number two in the UK.
In 2014, Ronson released his single "Uptown Funk" featuring vocals from Bruno Mars. The single spent 14 consecutive weeks at number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, seven non-consecutive weeks at number one on the UK Singles Chart and became one of the best-selling singles of all-time. His fourth studio album, Uptown Special, became his most successful album to date. In 2018, he founded his own label, Zelig Records (an imprint of Columbia Records), and formed the duo Silk City with fellow producer Diplo, they released their debut single "Electricity" featuring Dua Lipa for which he received the Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording.
In 2015, he became a patron of the Amy Winehouse Foundation, which helps disadvantaged youth through music. He has also worked with the End the Silence campaign to raise money and awareness for the Hope and Homes for Children charity and served as an artist mentor at Turnaround Arts, a national program of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, which helped low-performing schools through arts education.
Early life
Mark Daniel Ronson was born in Notting Hill, London, England, to Laurence Ronson, a then music manager and publisher, now real estate developer, and Ann Dexter-Jones (née Dexter), a writer, jewelry designer, and socialite. His Ashkenazi Jewish ancestors emigrated from Austria, Lithuania, and Russia. He was brought up in a Conservative Jewish household and celebrated his Bar Mitzvah.
After his parents' divorce, his mother married Foreigner guitarist Mick Jones. Of note, Jones wrote Foreigner's hit song "I Want to Know What Love Is" about his burgeoning relationship with Dexter-Jones.
Ronson, along with his mother, stepfather, and sisters, moved to New York City when he was eight years old. Living on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, he counted Sean Lennon among his childhood friends. At twelve, being a self-described music nerd, he pestered Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner into an internship at the magazine. He attended high school at the private Collegiate School in Manhattan before attending Vassar College and then New York University. In 2008, he obtained American citizenship so that he could vote in that year's election.
Family
He was born into the Ronson family, formerly one of Britain's wealthiest families and founders of Heron International; following success in the 1980s, they lost $1 billion of their wealth in the property crash of the early 1990s. He is the nephew of businessman Gerald Ronson.
Through his mother, he is distantly related to British Conservative politicians Sir Malcolm Rifkind and Leon Brittan, and Odeon Cinemas founder Oscar Deutsch.
Ronson's has two younger sisters, twins Charlotte Ronson, a fashion designer, and Samantha Ronson, a singer and DJ. Through his mother's second marriage to Mick Jones he has two elder step-siblings and two half-siblings, including actress Annabelle Dexter-Jones. Through his father's second marriage, he has three other half-siblings.
Career
While attending New York University, Ronson became a regular in the downtown hip hop night life. He became known as a DJ on the New York club scene by 1993, charging $50 per job. He was known for his diverse, genre-spanning selection. He attracted a wide audience by fusing funk, hip hop, and rock and roll into his setlists, and playing songs that were popular in both the United States and the United Kingdom. He was soon popular and sought-after DJ in New York City, frequently booked for high-profile events and private parties. In 1999, Ronson was featured in an ad wearing Tommy Hilfiger denim in the recording studio for an ad campaign for the company.
2001–05: Here Comes the Fuzz and initial producing
Mark made the leap from DJ to producer after Nikka Costa's manager, Dominique Trenier, heard one of his sets and introduced the musicians. Ronson produced Costa's song "Everybody Got Their Something," and Ronson soon signed a record contract with Elektra Records. He had already produced tracks for Hilfiger ads and, in 2001, used the connection to have Costa's single "Like a Feather" used in an advertisement.
Ronson's debut album, Here Comes the Fuzz, was released in 2003. Despite poor initial sales, it was generally well received by critics. As well as writing the songs on the album, Ronson created the beats, played guitar, keyboards, and bass. The album featured performances from artists from diverse genres, including Mos Def, Jack White, Sean Paul, Nappy Roots and Rivers Cuomo. The lead single and best known song from the album, "Ooh Wee," samples "Sunny" by Boney M and features the rappers Nate Dogg, Ghostface Killah, Trife Da God, and Saigon. The song charted at number 15 on the UK Singles Chart and was used in a number of films, including in Honey (2003) and on its soundtrack. Two weeks after releasing Here Comes the Fuzz, Elektra Records dropped him.
In 2004, Ronson formed his own record label, Allido Records, a subsidiary of Sony BMG's J Records, along with his longtime manager Rich Kleiman. The first artist he signed to Allido was rapper Saigon, who later left to sign with Just Blaze's Fort Knox Entertainment. He has signed Rhymefest, most well known for winning the Grammy for co-writing Kanye West's "Jesus Walks."
2006–09: Version
On 2 April 2007, Ronson released a cover of The Smiths' track "Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before" under the title "Stop Me", featuring singer Daniel Merriweather. It reached number 2 in the UK singles charts, giving Ronson his highest-peaking single until 2014's "Uptown Funk". Ronson remixed the Bob Dylan song "Most Likely You Go Your Way And I'll Go Mine" in promotion for the three-disc Bob Dylan set titled Dylan released October 2007. Ronson has also produced Candie Payne's "One More Chance (Ronson mix)" in 2007.
The album Version was well received by critics particularly in the UK and US. In May 2007 it was awarded the title Album of the Month by the British dance music magazine, Mixmag. On 23 June, Ronson made the cover of The Guardian newspaper's Guide magazine, alongside singer Lily Allen.
In June 2007, Ronson signed DC hip hop artist Wale to Allido Records. In late 2007, he focused on production, working with Daniel Merriweather on his debut album, and recording again with Amy Winehouse and Robbie Williams.
On 24 October 2007, Ronson performed a one-off set at The Roundhouse in Camden, London as part of the BBC Electric Proms 2007. The performance featured the BBC Concert Orchestra and included special guests Terry Hall, Sean Lennon, Tim Burgess, Alex Greenwald, Ricky Wilson, Charlie Waller, Adele and Kyle Falconer.
In December 2007, Ronson received his first Grammy Award nomination, for 'Producer of the Year, Non-Classical'. Ronson's work with Amy Winehouse also received substantial accolades, gaining 6 nominations. Winehouse's "Back to Black" album, mostly produced by Ronson, was nominated for 'Album of the Year' and 'Best Pop Vocal Album'. Her song "Rehab" received nods for 'Best Female Pop Vocal Performance', 'Song of the Year' and 'Record of the Year'. Ronson would go on to win three Grammys: 'Producer of the Year' as well as 'Best Pop Vocal Album' and 'Record of the Year' (the latter two of which he shared with Amy Winehouse) in early February 2008.
Ronson is credited as producer on a mixtape album called Man in the Mirror, released in January 2008 by the rapper Rhymefest which is a tribute to the pop star Michael Jackson. The album features Rhymefest appearing to speak to Michael Jackson using archive audio from interviews with the pop star. The same month Ronson received three nominations for the Brit Awards, including 'Best Male Solo Artist,' 'Best Album' (Version) and 'Song of the Year' ("Valerie"). Ronson won his first Brit for 'Best Male Solo Artist' in mid-February 2008 over favourite Mika. He also performed a medley of Coldplay's "God Put a Smile upon Your Face" with Adele, "Stop Me" with Daniel Merriweather, and "Valerie" with Amy Winehouse.
The performance allowed for a large boost in sales in the iTunes UK Top 100. "Valerie" would jump almost 30 spots in the days after the event, while "Just", "Stop Me" and "Oh My God" all appeared in the chart as well. That same week, Ronson appeared twice in the UK Top 40, with "Valerie" rebounding to number 13 and "Just" at number 31, his fourth Top 40 entry from "Version". The Brits performance also allowed for "Version" to climb 18 spots to number 4.
Around this time, Ronson received his first number one on an international chart (Dutch Top 40) for "Valerie," which spent four consecutive weeks at the top of the chart. He collaborated with Kaiser Chiefs on their third album.
Ronson toured the album "Version" extensively through both the UK and Europe during 2008. Notable sold-out performances at The Hammersmith Apollo and Brixton Academy. Ronson is known to champion new upcoming artists on the road with him, such as Sam Sparro and Julian Perretta. Ronson's string backing was provided by the all-female string quartet Demon Strings.
On 2 July 2008, in Paris, Mark Ronson performed live with Duran Duran for an invited audience. They played new arrangements by Ronson of some Duran Duran songs, along with tracks from the band's new album, Red Carpet Massacre. Ronson & the Version Players also performed songs from his album Version. Simon LeBon sang. As of March 2009, Ronson was working with the group on their 13th album. The Album, titled All You Need Is Now, was released digitally exclusively via Apple's iTunes on 21 December 2010, while the physical CD was released in March 2011 with additional tracks. In 2013–14 Ronson was once again in the studio producing Duran Duran's 14th album, Paper Gods, making it the first time the band has worked with the same producer on consecutive albums since Colin Thurston produced their first two albums in the 1980s.
2010–12: Record Collection
In the Spring of 2010, Ronson confirmed the name of his new album Record Collection, and said that he hoped to have it out by September 2010. Additionally, Ronson announced the name of his new band, "The Business Intl.'", which is the alias adopted by Ronson on the third studio album. The first single "Bang Bang Bang". which featured rapper Q-Tip and singer MNDR was released on 12 July 2010, where it peaked at number 6 on the UK Singles Chart, giving Ronson his fourth Top 10 single. The single also entered the Irish Singles Chart, where it peaked at number 18. The second single from the album, "The Bike Song", was released on 19 September 2010, and features Kyle Falconer from The View and Spank Rock. The album was released on 27 September 2010. This is the first Ronson album on which he features as a singer.
Although Ronson had never met Michael Jackson he was given the vocal track to a song titled "Lovely Way", sung by Michael Jackson, in 2010 to produce for Jackson's posthumous album Michael. He submitted the track, but it did not make the tracklisting for Michael. Ronson said about the rumours surrounding the vocals on the track (due to the controversy surrounding the Cascio tracks on that same album), "It was definitely him singing. I was given a vocal track to work with but I never actually met Michael. [...] It's in the vein of Elton John's 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road' and John Lennon's 'Imagine'."
He provided the score for the 2011 film Arthur. Ronson was one of the artists featured in the 2012 documentary Re:GENERATION Music Project. His song "A La Modeliste" features Mos Def, Erykah Badu, Trombone Shorty, members of The Dap-Kings, and Zigaboo Modeliste.
2013–2017: Uptown Special and Amy
On 30 October 2014, Ronson announced, via Twitter, a new single from his upcoming album, to be released on 10 November 2014. The single, "Uptown Funk," features Bruno Mars on vocals. On 22 November 2014, Ronson and Mars appeared as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live performing "Uptown Funk" and "Feel Right" (featuring Mystikal). "Uptown Funk" reached number one in the UK and US singles charts, and also became the all-time most streamed track in a single week in the UK, having been streamed a record 2.49 million times in a week. "Uptown Funk" reached the top 10 in nearly every country it charted; it spent fifteen weeks at number one on the Canadian Hot 100, fourteen weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and seven weeks at number one on the UK Singles Chart. In February 2015 the song won Ronson the Brit Award for British Single of the Year. As of November 2021, the song's music video on YouTube has amassed over 4.3 billion views.
In 2015, Ronson starred in the documentary film Amy about his late friend Amy Winehouse. His voice features in the film where he talks about his career and relationship with Winehouse and there is footage of Ronson from the recording session of the single "Back to Black" from March 2006 and also at Winehouse's funeral in London in July 2011. On 16 October 2015, Ronson became a patron of the Amy Winehouse Foundation. In January 2016, Ronson was nominated for two Brit Awards; Best British Male Solo Artist, and British Producer of the Year, at the 2016 Brit Awards.
At the 2016 Grammy Awards Ronson won two awards for "Uptown Funk", including Record of the Year. Jason Iley, the head of Sony Music UK and Ronson's UK label Columbia Records, hailed Ronson as "a true gentleman" and "one of the most considerate, kind and humble artists in our industry." He added, "the monumental success of Uptown Funk is so thoroughly deserved and has established itself as, not only one of the Records of the Year but of our lifetime."
He went on to executive produce Lady Gaga's fifth album Joanne.
Ronson produced the Queens of the Stone Age's 2017 album Villains.
2018–present: Silk City, "Shallow" and Late Night Feelings
In 2018, Ronson founded his own label, Zelig Records, an imprint of Columbia Records and the first artist he signed was singer King Princess. He also formed the duo Silk City with fellow producer Diplo. Their first single "Electricity" featuring Dua Lipa was released on 6 September and peaked at the US Dance Club Songs and received the Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards.
In May 2018, it was revealed that Ronson was working with Miley Cyrus in the studio. Their first collaboration "Nothing Breaks Like a Heart" was released in November 2018. Ronson also co-wrote the song "Shallow" for the film A Star Is Born with his frequent collaborators Lady Gaga, Andrew Wyatt, and Anthony Rossomando. The song earned Ronson an Academy Award and the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, as well as two Grammy nominations, winning the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media.
On 12 April 2019, it was announced that Mark Ronson would release his fifth album Late Night Feelings, on 26 June 2019. The album features Miley Cyrus, Angel Olsen, Lykke Li and Camila Cabello. Ronson has described the album as a collection of "sad bangers," with the title track laying down a warm mid-tempo dance groove under Li's melancholy vocals.
On 12 October 2019, BBC Two broadcast the documentary Mark Ronson: From the Heart, directed by Carl Hindmarch.
In June of 2021, Ronson, along with Foo Fighters shared a "re-verson" of the Foo Fighters then latest single Making a Fire.
Personal life
Ronson divides his time between London, Los Angeles, and New York. Since childhood, he has been a fan of English Premier League football club Chelsea F.C. and is also a fan of the New York Knicks basketball team.
In 2009, Ronson was voted the most stylish man in the UK by GQ magazine.
In 2011, a portrait of Ronson was painted by British artist Joe Simpson; the painting was exhibited around the UK, including a solo exhibition at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
In 2015 he was named one of the magazine's 50 best dressed British men. >
On 20 August 2019, Ronson, along with several other celebrities, invested in a funding round for Lowell Herb Co, a California cannabis brand. He is known to be "a dedicated cannabis consumer".
Relationships
In 2002, Ronson began dating the actress-singer Rashida Jones. They became engaged in March 2003, with Ronson proposing by creating a crossword puzzle with the message "Will you marry me." Their relationship ended approximately one year later.
On 3 September 2011, Ronson married French actress and singer Joséphine de La Baume, who had previously appeared in the music video for "The Bike Song". On 16 May 2017, it was reported that de La Baume had filed for divorce from Ronson, listing the separation date as 21 April 2017. The divorce was finalized in October 2018. On 4 September 2021, Ronson announced his marriage to actress Grace Gummer, after a year of dating.
Lawsuit
In 2017, Lastrada Entertainment claimed that "Uptown Funk" infringed the copyright of Zapp & Roger's 1980 hit song "More Bounce to the Ounce". A total of three lawsuits had been filed by different parties.
Discography
Here Comes the Fuzz (2003)
Version (2007)
Record Collection (with The Business Intl.) (2010)
Uptown Special (2015)
Late Night Feelings (2019)
Filmography
Zoolander (2001) – Himself
Amy (2015) – Himself
Gaga: Five Foot Two (2017) – Himself
Spies in Disguise (2019) – Agency Control Room Technician (cameo)
Videos
Ronson created a video, along with directors Gary Breslin and Jordan Galland, called Circuit Breaker, which was an homage to the video game The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. In 2001, Ronson appeared in the Aaliyah music video "More Than a Woman" as a DJ. On 30 July 2021, the documentary series Watch the Sound with Mark Ronson was released on Apple TV+.
Production discography
Adapted from AllMusic. Bold denotes a commercial single.
Other singles
1997: Posse-O – "It's Up to You..."*
1998: Powerule – "Heatin' Up"*
1998: Powerule – "Rhymes to Bust" / "It's Your Right"*
2002: J-Live – "School's In"*
2004: Daniel Merriweather – "City Rules"*
2004: Daniel Merriweather – "She's Got Me"*
2005: Rhymefest – "These Days"*
2005: Rhymefest – "Brand New"*
2007: Candie Payne – "One More Chance"*
2007: Bob Dylan – "Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine) (Mark Ronson Re-version)"*
2008: Leon Jean-Marie – "Bed of Nails"*
2008: Kaiser Chiefs – "Never Miss a Beat"*
2008: Wiley – "Cash in My Pocket"*
2008: Kaiser Chiefs – "Good Days Bad Days"*
2009: Daniel Merriweather – "Change"*
2009: Daniel Merriweather – "Red"*
2009: Daniel Merriweather – "Impossible"
2012: Rufus Wainwright – "Out of the Game"*
2012: Rufus Wainwright – "Jericho"*
2013: Giggs – "(Is It Gangsta?) Yes Yes Yes"*
2015: Duran Duran featuring Janelle Monáe and Nile Rodgers – "Pressure Off"*
2016: Various Artists – "Hands"*
2018: Michael Jackson - "Diamonds Are Invincible"* (Mash-Up)
2018: Silk City - "Electricity"* featuring Dua Lipa, Diplo and Mark Ronson
2018: Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper – "Shallow"*
2020: Troye Sivan featuring Kacey Musgraves and Mark Ronson - "Easy"*
Awards and nominations
References
External links
Mark Ronson and Boy George
1975 births
20th-century English musicians
21st-century English musicians
Allido Records artists
APRA Award winners
British Ashkenazi Jews
Best Original Song Academy Award-winning songwriters
Brit Award winners
British alternative rock musicians
British hip hop DJs
Collegiate School (New York) alumni
English DJs
DJs from London
English emigrants to the United States
English people of Austrian-Jewish descent
English people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent
English people of Russian-Jewish descent
English multi-instrumentalists
English record producers
English songwriters
Golden Globe Award-winning musicians
Grammy Award winners
Hip hop record producers
Jewish English musicians
Jewish hip hop record producers
Jewish singers
Living people
People from Notting Hill
People from the Upper West Side
M
Mark Ronson
Silk City (duo) members
Sony Music UK artists
The Flip Squad members
Tisch School of the Arts alumni | true | [
"This is the discography of R&B/Hip hop soul trio, Total.\n\nAlbums\n\nStudio albums\n\nSingles\n\n Notes\n Did not chart on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart (Billboard rules at the time prevented album cuts from charting). Chart peak listed represents the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart.\n\nFeatured singles\n\nGuest appearances\n\nSoundtracks\n\nVideography\n From Total (1996)\n No One Else\n No One Else (Puff Daddy Remix)\n Kissin' You\n Kissin' You / Oh Honey\n Can't You See\n Can't You See (Bad Boy Remix)\n Do You Think About Us\n From Kima, Keisha, and Pam (1998)\n Trippin'\n Sitting Home\n From Soul Food (soundtrack) (1997)\n What About Us? (1997)\n As Guest Artists\n LL Cool J - Loungin' (Who Do U Love?) (1995)\nNotorious B.I.G. \"Hypnotize\" (Pam)\nNotorious B.I.G \"Juicy\" (Keisha & Kima)\n Mase - What You Want (1997)\n Foxy Brown - I Can't (1998)\n Tony Touch - I Wonder Why (He's The Greatest DJ) (2000)\n Cameos\n Craig Mack - Flava In Ya Ear (Remix) (Keisha from Total) (1994)\n The Notorious B.I.G. - One More Chance/Stay With Me (1994)\nSoul For Real - Every Little Thing I Do (1995)\n 112 - Only You - Bad Boy Remix (Keisha from Total) (1996)\n Missy Elliott - The Rain (Supa Supa Fly) (1997)\n Jerome - Too Old For Me (Keisha from Total) (1997)\nLil' Kim - Not Tonight (Remix) (1997)\nThe Lox - We'll Always Love Big Poppa (1998)\nThe Bad Boy Family - You (2001) [Featuring Pam & Keisha]\n\nReferences\n\nTotal discography\nHip hop discographies\nRhythm and blues discographies",
"What Else Do You Do? (A Compilation of Quiet Music) is a various artists compilation album, released in 1990 by Shimmy Disc.\n\nTrack listing\n\nPersonnel \nAdapted from the What Else Do You Do? (A Compilation of Quiet Music) liner notes.\n Kramer – production, engineering\n\nRelease history\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n \n\n1990 compilation albums\nAlbums produced by Kramer (musician)\nShimmy Disc compilation albums"
] | [
"Mark Daniel Ronson (born 4 September 1975) is an English-American DJ, songwriter, record producer, and record executive. He is best known for his collaborations with artists such as Duran Duran, Amy Winehouse, Adele, Lady Gaga, Lily Allen, Robbie Williams, Miley Cyrus, Queens of the Stone Age, Kevin Parker and Bruno Mars.",
"He is best known for his collaborations with artists such as Duran Duran, Amy Winehouse, Adele, Lady Gaga, Lily Allen, Robbie Williams, Miley Cyrus, Queens of the Stone Age, Kevin Parker and Bruno Mars. He has received seven Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year for Winehouse's album Back to Black and two for Record of the Year singles \"Rehab\" and \"Uptown Funk\".",
"He has received seven Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year for Winehouse's album Back to Black and two for Record of the Year singles \"Rehab\" and \"Uptown Funk\". He received an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award and a Grammy Award for co-writing the song \"Shallow\" (performed by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper) for the film A Star is Born (2018). Ronson was born in London and raised in New York City.",
"Ronson was born in London and raised in New York City. His stepfather is Foreigner guitarist Mick Jones, which contributed to a childhood surrounded by music. While attending New York University, Ronson became a popular DJ in the hip-hop scene. His debut album Here Comes the Fuzz failed to have an effect on the charts. In 2006, he received acclaim for producing albums for Lily Allen, Christina Aguilera, and Amy Winehouse. In 2007, Ronson released his second album, Version.",
"In 2007, Ronson released his second album, Version. The album reached number two in the UK and included three top ten singles and earned him the Brit Award for British Male Solo Artist. He subsequently released his third studio album, Record Collection, peaking at number two in the UK. In 2014, Ronson released his single \"Uptown Funk\" featuring vocals from Bruno Mars. The single spent 14 consecutive weeks at number one on the U.S.",
"The single spent 14 consecutive weeks at number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, seven non-consecutive weeks at number one on the UK Singles Chart and became one of the best-selling singles of all-time. His fourth studio album, Uptown Special, became his most successful album to date.",
"His fourth studio album, Uptown Special, became his most successful album to date. In 2018, he founded his own label, Zelig Records (an imprint of Columbia Records), and formed the duo Silk City with fellow producer Diplo, they released their debut single \"Electricity\" featuring Dua Lipa for which he received the Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording. In 2015, he became a patron of the Amy Winehouse Foundation, which helps disadvantaged youth through music.",
"In 2015, he became a patron of the Amy Winehouse Foundation, which helps disadvantaged youth through music. He has also worked with the End the Silence campaign to raise money and awareness for the Hope and Homes for Children charity and served as an artist mentor at Turnaround Arts, a national program of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, which helped low-performing schools through arts education.",
"He has also worked with the End the Silence campaign to raise money and awareness for the Hope and Homes for Children charity and served as an artist mentor at Turnaround Arts, a national program of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, which helped low-performing schools through arts education. Early life Mark Daniel Ronson was born in Notting Hill, London, England, to Laurence Ronson, a then music manager and publisher, now real estate developer, and Ann Dexter-Jones (née Dexter), a writer, jewelry designer, and socialite.",
"Early life Mark Daniel Ronson was born in Notting Hill, London, England, to Laurence Ronson, a then music manager and publisher, now real estate developer, and Ann Dexter-Jones (née Dexter), a writer, jewelry designer, and socialite. His Ashkenazi Jewish ancestors emigrated from Austria, Lithuania, and Russia. He was brought up in a Conservative Jewish household and celebrated his Bar Mitzvah. After his parents' divorce, his mother married Foreigner guitarist Mick Jones.",
"After his parents' divorce, his mother married Foreigner guitarist Mick Jones. Of note, Jones wrote Foreigner's hit song \"I Want to Know What Love Is\" about his burgeoning relationship with Dexter-Jones. Ronson, along with his mother, stepfather, and sisters, moved to New York City when he was eight years old. Living on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, he counted Sean Lennon among his childhood friends.",
"Living on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, he counted Sean Lennon among his childhood friends. At twelve, being a self-described music nerd, he pestered Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner into an internship at the magazine. He attended high school at the private Collegiate School in Manhattan before attending Vassar College and then New York University. In 2008, he obtained American citizenship so that he could vote in that year's election.",
"In 2008, he obtained American citizenship so that he could vote in that year's election. Family He was born into the Ronson family, formerly one of Britain's wealthiest families and founders of Heron International; following success in the 1980s, they lost $1 billion of their wealth in the property crash of the early 1990s. He is the nephew of businessman Gerald Ronson. Through his mother, he is distantly related to British Conservative politicians Sir Malcolm Rifkind and Leon Brittan, and Odeon Cinemas founder Oscar Deutsch.",
"Through his mother, he is distantly related to British Conservative politicians Sir Malcolm Rifkind and Leon Brittan, and Odeon Cinemas founder Oscar Deutsch. Ronson's has two younger sisters, twins Charlotte Ronson, a fashion designer, and Samantha Ronson, a singer and DJ. Through his mother's second marriage to Mick Jones he has two elder step-siblings and two half-siblings, including actress Annabelle Dexter-Jones. Through his father's second marriage, he has three other half-siblings.",
"Through his father's second marriage, he has three other half-siblings. Career While attending New York University, Ronson became a regular in the downtown hip hop night life. He became known as a DJ on the New York club scene by 1993, charging $50 per job. He was known for his diverse, genre-spanning selection. He attracted a wide audience by fusing funk, hip hop, and rock and roll into his setlists, and playing songs that were popular in both the United States and the United Kingdom.",
"He attracted a wide audience by fusing funk, hip hop, and rock and roll into his setlists, and playing songs that were popular in both the United States and the United Kingdom. He was soon popular and sought-after DJ in New York City, frequently booked for high-profile events and private parties. In 1999, Ronson was featured in an ad wearing Tommy Hilfiger denim in the recording studio for an ad campaign for the company.",
"In 1999, Ronson was featured in an ad wearing Tommy Hilfiger denim in the recording studio for an ad campaign for the company. 2001–05: Here Comes the Fuzz and initial producing Mark made the leap from DJ to producer after Nikka Costa's manager, Dominique Trenier, heard one of his sets and introduced the musicians. Ronson produced Costa's song \"Everybody Got Their Something,\" and Ronson soon signed a record contract with Elektra Records.",
"Ronson produced Costa's song \"Everybody Got Their Something,\" and Ronson soon signed a record contract with Elektra Records. He had already produced tracks for Hilfiger ads and, in 2001, used the connection to have Costa's single \"Like a Feather\" used in an advertisement. Ronson's debut album, Here Comes the Fuzz, was released in 2003. Despite poor initial sales, it was generally well received by critics.",
"Despite poor initial sales, it was generally well received by critics. As well as writing the songs on the album, Ronson created the beats, played guitar, keyboards, and bass. The album featured performances from artists from diverse genres, including Mos Def, Jack White, Sean Paul, Nappy Roots and Rivers Cuomo.",
"The album featured performances from artists from diverse genres, including Mos Def, Jack White, Sean Paul, Nappy Roots and Rivers Cuomo. The lead single and best known song from the album, \"Ooh Wee,\" samples \"Sunny\" by Boney M and features the rappers Nate Dogg, Ghostface Killah, Trife Da God, and Saigon. The song charted at number 15 on the UK Singles Chart and was used in a number of films, including in Honey (2003) and on its soundtrack.",
"The song charted at number 15 on the UK Singles Chart and was used in a number of films, including in Honey (2003) and on its soundtrack. Two weeks after releasing Here Comes the Fuzz, Elektra Records dropped him. In 2004, Ronson formed his own record label, Allido Records, a subsidiary of Sony BMG's J Records, along with his longtime manager Rich Kleiman. The first artist he signed to Allido was rapper Saigon, who later left to sign with Just Blaze's Fort Knox Entertainment.",
"The first artist he signed to Allido was rapper Saigon, who later left to sign with Just Blaze's Fort Knox Entertainment. He has signed Rhymefest, most well known for winning the Grammy for co-writing Kanye West's \"Jesus Walks.\" 2006–09: Version On 2 April 2007, Ronson released a cover of The Smiths' track \"Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before\" under the title \"Stop Me\", featuring singer Daniel Merriweather.",
"2006–09: Version On 2 April 2007, Ronson released a cover of The Smiths' track \"Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before\" under the title \"Stop Me\", featuring singer Daniel Merriweather. It reached number 2 in the UK singles charts, giving Ronson his highest-peaking single until 2014's \"Uptown Funk\". Ronson remixed the Bob Dylan song \"Most Likely You Go Your Way And I'll Go Mine\" in promotion for the three-disc Bob Dylan set titled Dylan released October 2007.",
"Ronson remixed the Bob Dylan song \"Most Likely You Go Your Way And I'll Go Mine\" in promotion for the three-disc Bob Dylan set titled Dylan released October 2007. Ronson has also produced Candie Payne's \"One More Chance (Ronson mix)\" in 2007. The album Version was well received by critics particularly in the UK and US. In May 2007 it was awarded the title Album of the Month by the British dance music magazine, Mixmag.",
"In May 2007 it was awarded the title Album of the Month by the British dance music magazine, Mixmag. On 23 June, Ronson made the cover of The Guardian newspaper's Guide magazine, alongside singer Lily Allen. In June 2007, Ronson signed DC hip hop artist Wale to Allido Records. In late 2007, he focused on production, working with Daniel Merriweather on his debut album, and recording again with Amy Winehouse and Robbie Williams.",
"In late 2007, he focused on production, working with Daniel Merriweather on his debut album, and recording again with Amy Winehouse and Robbie Williams. On 24 October 2007, Ronson performed a one-off set at The Roundhouse in Camden, London as part of the BBC Electric Proms 2007. The performance featured the BBC Concert Orchestra and included special guests Terry Hall, Sean Lennon, Tim Burgess, Alex Greenwald, Ricky Wilson, Charlie Waller, Adele and Kyle Falconer.",
"The performance featured the BBC Concert Orchestra and included special guests Terry Hall, Sean Lennon, Tim Burgess, Alex Greenwald, Ricky Wilson, Charlie Waller, Adele and Kyle Falconer. In December 2007, Ronson received his first Grammy Award nomination, for 'Producer of the Year, Non-Classical'. Ronson's work with Amy Winehouse also received substantial accolades, gaining 6 nominations. Winehouse's \"Back to Black\" album, mostly produced by Ronson, was nominated for 'Album of the Year' and 'Best Pop Vocal Album'.",
"Winehouse's \"Back to Black\" album, mostly produced by Ronson, was nominated for 'Album of the Year' and 'Best Pop Vocal Album'. Her song \"Rehab\" received nods for 'Best Female Pop Vocal Performance', 'Song of the Year' and 'Record of the Year'.",
"Her song \"Rehab\" received nods for 'Best Female Pop Vocal Performance', 'Song of the Year' and 'Record of the Year'. Ronson would go on to win three Grammys: 'Producer of the Year' as well as 'Best Pop Vocal Album' and 'Record of the Year' (the latter two of which he shared with Amy Winehouse) in early February 2008.",
"Ronson would go on to win three Grammys: 'Producer of the Year' as well as 'Best Pop Vocal Album' and 'Record of the Year' (the latter two of which he shared with Amy Winehouse) in early February 2008. Ronson is credited as producer on a mixtape album called Man in the Mirror, released in January 2008 by the rapper Rhymefest which is a tribute to the pop star Michael Jackson. The album features Rhymefest appearing to speak to Michael Jackson using archive audio from interviews with the pop star.",
"The album features Rhymefest appearing to speak to Michael Jackson using archive audio from interviews with the pop star. The same month Ronson received three nominations for the Brit Awards, including 'Best Male Solo Artist,' 'Best Album' (Version) and 'Song of the Year' (\"Valerie\"). Ronson won his first Brit for 'Best Male Solo Artist' in mid-February 2008 over favourite Mika.",
"Ronson won his first Brit for 'Best Male Solo Artist' in mid-February 2008 over favourite Mika. He also performed a medley of Coldplay's \"God Put a Smile upon Your Face\" with Adele, \"Stop Me\" with Daniel Merriweather, and \"Valerie\" with Amy Winehouse. The performance allowed for a large boost in sales in the iTunes UK Top 100.",
"The performance allowed for a large boost in sales in the iTunes UK Top 100. \"Valerie\" would jump almost 30 spots in the days after the event, while \"Just\", \"Stop Me\" and \"Oh My God\" all appeared in the chart as well. That same week, Ronson appeared twice in the UK Top 40, with \"Valerie\" rebounding to number 13 and \"Just\" at number 31, his fourth Top 40 entry from \"Version\".",
"That same week, Ronson appeared twice in the UK Top 40, with \"Valerie\" rebounding to number 13 and \"Just\" at number 31, his fourth Top 40 entry from \"Version\". The Brits performance also allowed for \"Version\" to climb 18 spots to number 4. Around this time, Ronson received his first number one on an international chart (Dutch Top 40) for \"Valerie,\" which spent four consecutive weeks at the top of the chart.",
"Around this time, Ronson received his first number one on an international chart (Dutch Top 40) for \"Valerie,\" which spent four consecutive weeks at the top of the chart. He collaborated with Kaiser Chiefs on their third album. Ronson toured the album \"Version\" extensively through both the UK and Europe during 2008. Notable sold-out performances at The Hammersmith Apollo and Brixton Academy. Ronson is known to champion new upcoming artists on the road with him, such as Sam Sparro and Julian Perretta.",
"Ronson is known to champion new upcoming artists on the road with him, such as Sam Sparro and Julian Perretta. Ronson's string backing was provided by the all-female string quartet Demon Strings. On 2 July 2008, in Paris, Mark Ronson performed live with Duran Duran for an invited audience. They played new arrangements by Ronson of some Duran Duran songs, along with tracks from the band's new album, Red Carpet Massacre. Ronson & the Version Players also performed songs from his album Version. Simon LeBon sang.",
"Simon LeBon sang. Simon LeBon sang. As of March 2009, Ronson was working with the group on their 13th album. The Album, titled All You Need Is Now, was released digitally exclusively via Apple's iTunes on 21 December 2010, while the physical CD was released in March 2011 with additional tracks.",
"The Album, titled All You Need Is Now, was released digitally exclusively via Apple's iTunes on 21 December 2010, while the physical CD was released in March 2011 with additional tracks. In 2013–14 Ronson was once again in the studio producing Duran Duran's 14th album, Paper Gods, making it the first time the band has worked with the same producer on consecutive albums since Colin Thurston produced their first two albums in the 1980s.",
"In 2013–14 Ronson was once again in the studio producing Duran Duran's 14th album, Paper Gods, making it the first time the band has worked with the same producer on consecutive albums since Colin Thurston produced their first two albums in the 1980s. 2010–12: Record Collection In the Spring of 2010, Ronson confirmed the name of his new album Record Collection, and said that he hoped to have it out by September 2010. Additionally, Ronson announced the name of his new band, \"The Business Intl.",
"Additionally, Ronson announced the name of his new band, \"The Business Intl. '\", which is the alias adopted by Ronson on the third studio album. The first single \"Bang Bang Bang\". which featured rapper Q-Tip and singer MNDR was released on 12 July 2010, where it peaked at number 6 on the UK Singles Chart, giving Ronson his fourth Top 10 single. The single also entered the Irish Singles Chart, where it peaked at number 18.",
"The single also entered the Irish Singles Chart, where it peaked at number 18. The second single from the album, \"The Bike Song\", was released on 19 September 2010, and features Kyle Falconer from The View and Spank Rock. The album was released on 27 September 2010. This is the first Ronson album on which he features as a singer.",
"This is the first Ronson album on which he features as a singer. Although Ronson had never met Michael Jackson he was given the vocal track to a song titled \"Lovely Way\", sung by Michael Jackson, in 2010 to produce for Jackson's posthumous album Michael. He submitted the track, but it did not make the tracklisting for Michael. Ronson said about the rumours surrounding the vocals on the track (due to the controversy surrounding the Cascio tracks on that same album), \"It was definitely him singing.",
"Ronson said about the rumours surrounding the vocals on the track (due to the controversy surrounding the Cascio tracks on that same album), \"It was definitely him singing. I was given a vocal track to work with but I never actually met Michael. [...] It's in the vein of Elton John's 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road' and John Lennon's 'Imagine'.\" He provided the score for the 2011 film Arthur.",
"He provided the score for the 2011 film Arthur. He provided the score for the 2011 film Arthur. Ronson was one of the artists featured in the 2012 documentary Re:GENERATION Music Project. His song \"A La Modeliste\" features Mos Def, Erykah Badu, Trombone Shorty, members of The Dap-Kings, and Zigaboo Modeliste. 2013–2017: Uptown Special and Amy On 30 October 2014, Ronson announced, via Twitter, a new single from his upcoming album, to be released on 10 November 2014.",
"2013–2017: Uptown Special and Amy On 30 October 2014, Ronson announced, via Twitter, a new single from his upcoming album, to be released on 10 November 2014. The single, \"Uptown Funk,\" features Bruno Mars on vocals. On 22 November 2014, Ronson and Mars appeared as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live performing \"Uptown Funk\" and \"Feel Right\" (featuring Mystikal).",
"On 22 November 2014, Ronson and Mars appeared as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live performing \"Uptown Funk\" and \"Feel Right\" (featuring Mystikal). \"Uptown Funk\" reached number one in the UK and US singles charts, and also became the all-time most streamed track in a single week in the UK, having been streamed a record 2.49 million times in a week.",
"\"Uptown Funk\" reached number one in the UK and US singles charts, and also became the all-time most streamed track in a single week in the UK, having been streamed a record 2.49 million times in a week. \"Uptown Funk\" reached the top 10 in nearly every country it charted; it spent fifteen weeks at number one on the Canadian Hot 100, fourteen weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and seven weeks at number one on the UK Singles Chart.",
"\"Uptown Funk\" reached the top 10 in nearly every country it charted; it spent fifteen weeks at number one on the Canadian Hot 100, fourteen weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and seven weeks at number one on the UK Singles Chart. In February 2015 the song won Ronson the Brit Award for British Single of the Year. As of November 2021, the song's music video on YouTube has amassed over 4.3 billion views.",
"As of November 2021, the song's music video on YouTube has amassed over 4.3 billion views. In 2015, Ronson starred in the documentary film Amy about his late friend Amy Winehouse. His voice features in the film where he talks about his career and relationship with Winehouse and there is footage of Ronson from the recording session of the single \"Back to Black\" from March 2006 and also at Winehouse's funeral in London in July 2011. On 16 October 2015, Ronson became a patron of the Amy Winehouse Foundation.",
"On 16 October 2015, Ronson became a patron of the Amy Winehouse Foundation. In January 2016, Ronson was nominated for two Brit Awards; Best British Male Solo Artist, and British Producer of the Year, at the 2016 Brit Awards. At the 2016 Grammy Awards Ronson won two awards for \"Uptown Funk\", including Record of the Year.",
"At the 2016 Grammy Awards Ronson won two awards for \"Uptown Funk\", including Record of the Year. Jason Iley, the head of Sony Music UK and Ronson's UK label Columbia Records, hailed Ronson as \"a true gentleman\" and \"one of the most considerate, kind and humble artists in our industry.\" He added, \"the monumental success of Uptown Funk is so thoroughly deserved and has established itself as, not only one of the Records of the Year but of our lifetime.\"",
"He added, \"the monumental success of Uptown Funk is so thoroughly deserved and has established itself as, not only one of the Records of the Year but of our lifetime.\" He went on to executive produce Lady Gaga's fifth album Joanne. Ronson produced the Queens of the Stone Age's 2017 album Villains.",
"Ronson produced the Queens of the Stone Age's 2017 album Villains. 2018–present: Silk City, \"Shallow\" and Late Night Feelings In 2018, Ronson founded his own label, Zelig Records, an imprint of Columbia Records and the first artist he signed was singer King Princess. He also formed the duo Silk City with fellow producer Diplo.",
"He also formed the duo Silk City with fellow producer Diplo. Their first single \"Electricity\" featuring Dua Lipa was released on 6 September and peaked at the US Dance Club Songs and received the Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards. In May 2018, it was revealed that Ronson was working with Miley Cyrus in the studio. Their first collaboration \"Nothing Breaks Like a Heart\" was released in November 2018.",
"Their first collaboration \"Nothing Breaks Like a Heart\" was released in November 2018. Ronson also co-wrote the song \"Shallow\" for the film A Star Is Born with his frequent collaborators Lady Gaga, Andrew Wyatt, and Anthony Rossomando. The song earned Ronson an Academy Award and the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, as well as two Grammy nominations, winning the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media.",
"The song earned Ronson an Academy Award and the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, as well as two Grammy nominations, winning the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media. On 12 April 2019, it was announced that Mark Ronson would release his fifth album Late Night Feelings, on 26 June 2019. The album features Miley Cyrus, Angel Olsen, Lykke Li and Camila Cabello.",
"The album features Miley Cyrus, Angel Olsen, Lykke Li and Camila Cabello. Ronson has described the album as a collection of \"sad bangers,\" with the title track laying down a warm mid-tempo dance groove under Li's melancholy vocals. On 12 October 2019, BBC Two broadcast the documentary Mark Ronson: From the Heart, directed by Carl Hindmarch. In June of 2021, Ronson, along with Foo Fighters shared a \"re-verson\" of the Foo Fighters then latest single Making a Fire.",
"In June of 2021, Ronson, along with Foo Fighters shared a \"re-verson\" of the Foo Fighters then latest single Making a Fire. Personal life Ronson divides his time between London, Los Angeles, and New York. Since childhood, he has been a fan of English Premier League football club Chelsea F.C. and is also a fan of the New York Knicks basketball team. In 2009, Ronson was voted the most stylish man in the UK by GQ magazine.",
"In 2009, Ronson was voted the most stylish man in the UK by GQ magazine. In 2011, a portrait of Ronson was painted by British artist Joe Simpson; the painting was exhibited around the UK, including a solo exhibition at the Royal Albert Hall in London. In 2015 he was named one of the magazine's 50 best dressed British men. > On 20 August 2019, Ronson, along with several other celebrities, invested in a funding round for Lowell Herb Co, a California cannabis brand.",
"> On 20 August 2019, Ronson, along with several other celebrities, invested in a funding round for Lowell Herb Co, a California cannabis brand. He is known to be \"a dedicated cannabis consumer\". Relationships In 2002, Ronson began dating the actress-singer Rashida Jones. They became engaged in March 2003, with Ronson proposing by creating a crossword puzzle with the message \"Will you marry me.\" Their relationship ended approximately one year later.",
"Their relationship ended approximately one year later. Their relationship ended approximately one year later. On 3 September 2011, Ronson married French actress and singer Joséphine de La Baume, who had previously appeared in the music video for \"The Bike Song\". On 16 May 2017, it was reported that de La Baume had filed for divorce from Ronson, listing the separation date as 21 April 2017. The divorce was finalized in October 2018.",
"The divorce was finalized in October 2018. The divorce was finalized in October 2018. On 4 September 2021, Ronson announced his marriage to actress Grace Gummer, after a year of dating. Lawsuit In 2017, Lastrada Entertainment claimed that \"Uptown Funk\" infringed the copyright of Zapp & Roger's 1980 hit song \"More Bounce to the Ounce\". A total of three lawsuits had been filed by different parties. Discography Here Comes the Fuzz (2003) Version (2007) Record Collection (with The Business Intl.)",
"Discography Here Comes the Fuzz (2003) Version (2007) Record Collection (with The Business Intl.) (2010) Uptown Special (2015) Late Night Feelings (2019) Filmography Zoolander (2001) – Himself Amy (2015) – Himself Gaga: Five Foot Two (2017) – Himself Spies in Disguise (2019) – Agency Control Room Technician (cameo) Videos Ronson created a video, along with directors Gary Breslin and Jordan Galland, called Circuit Breaker, which was an homage to the video game The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.",
"(2010) Uptown Special (2015) Late Night Feelings (2019) Filmography Zoolander (2001) – Himself Amy (2015) – Himself Gaga: Five Foot Two (2017) – Himself Spies in Disguise (2019) – Agency Control Room Technician (cameo) Videos Ronson created a video, along with directors Gary Breslin and Jordan Galland, called Circuit Breaker, which was an homage to the video game The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. In 2001, Ronson appeared in the Aaliyah music video \"More Than a Woman\" as a DJ.",
"In 2001, Ronson appeared in the Aaliyah music video \"More Than a Woman\" as a DJ. On 30 July 2021, the documentary series Watch the Sound with Mark Ronson was released on Apple TV+. Production discography Adapted from AllMusic. Bold denotes a commercial single.",
"Production discography Adapted from AllMusic. Bold denotes a commercial single. Bold denotes a commercial single. Other singles 1997: Posse-O – \"It's Up to You...\"* 1998: Powerule – \"Heatin' Up\"* 1998: Powerule – \"Rhymes to Bust\" / \"It's Your Right\"* 2002: J-Live – \"School's In\"* 2004: Daniel Merriweather – \"City Rules\"* 2004: Daniel Merriweather – \"She's Got Me\"* 2005: Rhymefest – \"These Days\"* 2005: Rhymefest – \"Brand New\"* 2007: Candie Payne – \"One More Chance\"* 2007: Bob Dylan – \"Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine) (Mark Ronson Re-version)\"* 2008: Leon Jean-Marie – \"Bed of Nails\"* 2008: Kaiser Chiefs – \"Never Miss a Beat\"* 2008: Wiley – \"Cash in My Pocket\"* 2008: Kaiser Chiefs – \"Good Days Bad Days\"* 2009: Daniel Merriweather – \"Change\"* 2009: Daniel Merriweather – \"Red\"* 2009: Daniel Merriweather – \"Impossible\" 2012: Rufus Wainwright – \"Out of the Game\"* 2012: Rufus Wainwright – \"Jericho\"* 2013: Giggs – \"(Is It Gangsta?)",
"Other singles 1997: Posse-O – \"It's Up to You...\"* 1998: Powerule – \"Heatin' Up\"* 1998: Powerule – \"Rhymes to Bust\" / \"It's Your Right\"* 2002: J-Live – \"School's In\"* 2004: Daniel Merriweather – \"City Rules\"* 2004: Daniel Merriweather – \"She's Got Me\"* 2005: Rhymefest – \"These Days\"* 2005: Rhymefest – \"Brand New\"* 2007: Candie Payne – \"One More Chance\"* 2007: Bob Dylan – \"Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine) (Mark Ronson Re-version)\"* 2008: Leon Jean-Marie – \"Bed of Nails\"* 2008: Kaiser Chiefs – \"Never Miss a Beat\"* 2008: Wiley – \"Cash in My Pocket\"* 2008: Kaiser Chiefs – \"Good Days Bad Days\"* 2009: Daniel Merriweather – \"Change\"* 2009: Daniel Merriweather – \"Red\"* 2009: Daniel Merriweather – \"Impossible\" 2012: Rufus Wainwright – \"Out of the Game\"* 2012: Rufus Wainwright – \"Jericho\"* 2013: Giggs – \"(Is It Gangsta?) Yes Yes Yes\"* 2015: Duran Duran featuring Janelle Monáe and Nile Rodgers – \"Pressure Off\"* 2016: Various Artists – \"Hands\"* 2018: Michael Jackson - \"Diamonds Are Invincible\"* (Mash-Up) 2018: Silk City - \"Electricity\"* featuring Dua Lipa, Diplo and Mark Ronson 2018: Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper – \"Shallow\"* 2020: Troye Sivan featuring Kacey Musgraves and Mark Ronson - \"Easy\"* Awards and nominations References External links Mark Ronson and Boy George 1975 births 20th-century English musicians 21st-century English musicians Allido Records artists APRA Award winners British Ashkenazi Jews Best Original Song Academy Award-winning songwriters Brit Award winners British alternative rock musicians British hip hop DJs Collegiate School (New York) alumni English DJs DJs from London English emigrants to the United States English people of Austrian-Jewish descent English people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent English people of Russian-Jewish descent English multi-instrumentalists English record producers English songwriters Golden Globe Award-winning musicians Grammy Award winners Hip hop record producers Jewish English musicians Jewish hip hop record producers Jewish singers Living people People from Notting Hill People from the Upper West Side M Mark Ronson Silk City (duo) members Sony Music UK artists The Flip Squad members Tisch School of the Arts alumni"
] |
[
"Mark Ronson",
"2010-12: Record Collection",
"When was the Record Collection released?",
"September 2010.",
"Is this an album?",
"Ronson confirmed the name of his new album Record Collection,",
"Did this album do well?",
"I don't know.",
"Were there any hit songs?",
"The first single \"Bang Bang Bang\". which featured rapper Q-Tip and singer MNDR was released on 12 July 2010, where it peaked at number 6 on the UK Singles Chart,",
"What other songs reached the charts?",
"The second single from the album, \"The Bike Song\", was 19 September 2010",
"Were there any other successes/",
"He provided the score for the 2011 film Arthur.",
"What else did he do during this time?",
"Ronson was one of the artists featured in the 2012 documentary Re:GENERATION Music Project."
] | C_d5d7c57a056e48fbb1667f80ffeb5358_0 | Did this do well? | 8 | Did the 2012 documentary Re:GENERATION Music Project do well? | Mark Ronson | In the Spring of 2010, Ronson confirmed the name of his new album Record Collection, and said that he hoped to have it out by September 2010. Additionally, Ronson announced the name of his new band, "The Business Intl.'", which is the alias adopted by Ronson on the third studio album. The first single "Bang Bang Bang". which featured rapper Q-Tip and singer MNDR was released on 12 July 2010, where it peaked at number 6 on the UK Singles Chart, giving Ronson his fourth Top 10 single. The single also entered the Irish Singles Chart, where it peaked at number 18. The second single from the album, "The Bike Song", was 19 September 2010 and features Kyle Falconer from The View and Spank Rock. The album was released on 27 September 2010. This is the first Ronson albums on which he features as a singer. Although Ronson had never met Michael Jackson he was given the vocal track to a song titled "Lovely Way", sung by Michael Jackson, in 2010 to produce for Jackson's posthumous album Michael. He submitted the track, but it did not make the track listing for Michael. Ronson said about the rumours surrounding the vocals on the track (due to the controversy surrounding the Cascio tracks on that same album), "It was definitely him singing. I was given a vocal track to work with but I never actually met Michael. [...] It's in the vein of Elton John's 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road' and John Lennon's 'Imagine'." He provided the score for the 2011 film Arthur. Ronson was one of the artists featured in the 2012 documentary Re:GENERATION Music Project. His song "A La Modeliste" features Mos Def, Erykah Badu, Trombone Shorty, members of The Dap-Kings, and Zigaboo Modeliste. CANNOTANSWER | His song "A La Modeliste" features Mos Def, Erykah Badu, Trombone Shorty, members of The Dap-Kings, and Zigaboo Modeliste. | Mark Daniel Ronson (born 4 September 1975) is an English-American DJ, songwriter, record producer, and record executive. He is best known for his collaborations with artists such as Duran Duran, Amy Winehouse, Adele, Lady Gaga, Lily Allen, Robbie Williams, Miley Cyrus, Queens of the Stone Age, Kevin Parker and Bruno Mars. He has received seven Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year for Winehouse's album Back to Black and two for Record of the Year singles "Rehab" and "Uptown Funk". He received an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award and a Grammy Award for co-writing the song "Shallow" (performed by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper) for the film A Star is Born (2018).
Ronson was born in London and raised in New York City. His stepfather is Foreigner guitarist Mick Jones, which contributed to a childhood surrounded by music. While attending New York University, Ronson became a popular DJ in the hip-hop scene. His debut album Here Comes the Fuzz failed to have an effect on the charts. In 2006, he received acclaim for producing albums for Lily Allen, Christina Aguilera, and Amy Winehouse. In 2007, Ronson released his second album, Version. The album reached number two in the UK and included three top ten singles and earned him the Brit Award for British Male Solo Artist. He subsequently released his third studio album, Record Collection, peaking at number two in the UK.
In 2014, Ronson released his single "Uptown Funk" featuring vocals from Bruno Mars. The single spent 14 consecutive weeks at number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, seven non-consecutive weeks at number one on the UK Singles Chart and became one of the best-selling singles of all-time. His fourth studio album, Uptown Special, became his most successful album to date. In 2018, he founded his own label, Zelig Records (an imprint of Columbia Records), and formed the duo Silk City with fellow producer Diplo, they released their debut single "Electricity" featuring Dua Lipa for which he received the Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording.
In 2015, he became a patron of the Amy Winehouse Foundation, which helps disadvantaged youth through music. He has also worked with the End the Silence campaign to raise money and awareness for the Hope and Homes for Children charity and served as an artist mentor at Turnaround Arts, a national program of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, which helped low-performing schools through arts education.
Early life
Mark Daniel Ronson was born in Notting Hill, London, England, to Laurence Ronson, a then music manager and publisher, now real estate developer, and Ann Dexter-Jones (née Dexter), a writer, jewelry designer, and socialite. His Ashkenazi Jewish ancestors emigrated from Austria, Lithuania, and Russia. He was brought up in a Conservative Jewish household and celebrated his Bar Mitzvah.
After his parents' divorce, his mother married Foreigner guitarist Mick Jones. Of note, Jones wrote Foreigner's hit song "I Want to Know What Love Is" about his burgeoning relationship with Dexter-Jones.
Ronson, along with his mother, stepfather, and sisters, moved to New York City when he was eight years old. Living on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, he counted Sean Lennon among his childhood friends. At twelve, being a self-described music nerd, he pestered Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner into an internship at the magazine. He attended high school at the private Collegiate School in Manhattan before attending Vassar College and then New York University. In 2008, he obtained American citizenship so that he could vote in that year's election.
Family
He was born into the Ronson family, formerly one of Britain's wealthiest families and founders of Heron International; following success in the 1980s, they lost $1 billion of their wealth in the property crash of the early 1990s. He is the nephew of businessman Gerald Ronson.
Through his mother, he is distantly related to British Conservative politicians Sir Malcolm Rifkind and Leon Brittan, and Odeon Cinemas founder Oscar Deutsch.
Ronson's has two younger sisters, twins Charlotte Ronson, a fashion designer, and Samantha Ronson, a singer and DJ. Through his mother's second marriage to Mick Jones he has two elder step-siblings and two half-siblings, including actress Annabelle Dexter-Jones. Through his father's second marriage, he has three other half-siblings.
Career
While attending New York University, Ronson became a regular in the downtown hip hop night life. He became known as a DJ on the New York club scene by 1993, charging $50 per job. He was known for his diverse, genre-spanning selection. He attracted a wide audience by fusing funk, hip hop, and rock and roll into his setlists, and playing songs that were popular in both the United States and the United Kingdom. He was soon popular and sought-after DJ in New York City, frequently booked for high-profile events and private parties. In 1999, Ronson was featured in an ad wearing Tommy Hilfiger denim in the recording studio for an ad campaign for the company.
2001–05: Here Comes the Fuzz and initial producing
Mark made the leap from DJ to producer after Nikka Costa's manager, Dominique Trenier, heard one of his sets and introduced the musicians. Ronson produced Costa's song "Everybody Got Their Something," and Ronson soon signed a record contract with Elektra Records. He had already produced tracks for Hilfiger ads and, in 2001, used the connection to have Costa's single "Like a Feather" used in an advertisement.
Ronson's debut album, Here Comes the Fuzz, was released in 2003. Despite poor initial sales, it was generally well received by critics. As well as writing the songs on the album, Ronson created the beats, played guitar, keyboards, and bass. The album featured performances from artists from diverse genres, including Mos Def, Jack White, Sean Paul, Nappy Roots and Rivers Cuomo. The lead single and best known song from the album, "Ooh Wee," samples "Sunny" by Boney M and features the rappers Nate Dogg, Ghostface Killah, Trife Da God, and Saigon. The song charted at number 15 on the UK Singles Chart and was used in a number of films, including in Honey (2003) and on its soundtrack. Two weeks after releasing Here Comes the Fuzz, Elektra Records dropped him.
In 2004, Ronson formed his own record label, Allido Records, a subsidiary of Sony BMG's J Records, along with his longtime manager Rich Kleiman. The first artist he signed to Allido was rapper Saigon, who later left to sign with Just Blaze's Fort Knox Entertainment. He has signed Rhymefest, most well known for winning the Grammy for co-writing Kanye West's "Jesus Walks."
2006–09: Version
On 2 April 2007, Ronson released a cover of The Smiths' track "Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before" under the title "Stop Me", featuring singer Daniel Merriweather. It reached number 2 in the UK singles charts, giving Ronson his highest-peaking single until 2014's "Uptown Funk". Ronson remixed the Bob Dylan song "Most Likely You Go Your Way And I'll Go Mine" in promotion for the three-disc Bob Dylan set titled Dylan released October 2007. Ronson has also produced Candie Payne's "One More Chance (Ronson mix)" in 2007.
The album Version was well received by critics particularly in the UK and US. In May 2007 it was awarded the title Album of the Month by the British dance music magazine, Mixmag. On 23 June, Ronson made the cover of The Guardian newspaper's Guide magazine, alongside singer Lily Allen.
In June 2007, Ronson signed DC hip hop artist Wale to Allido Records. In late 2007, he focused on production, working with Daniel Merriweather on his debut album, and recording again with Amy Winehouse and Robbie Williams.
On 24 October 2007, Ronson performed a one-off set at The Roundhouse in Camden, London as part of the BBC Electric Proms 2007. The performance featured the BBC Concert Orchestra and included special guests Terry Hall, Sean Lennon, Tim Burgess, Alex Greenwald, Ricky Wilson, Charlie Waller, Adele and Kyle Falconer.
In December 2007, Ronson received his first Grammy Award nomination, for 'Producer of the Year, Non-Classical'. Ronson's work with Amy Winehouse also received substantial accolades, gaining 6 nominations. Winehouse's "Back to Black" album, mostly produced by Ronson, was nominated for 'Album of the Year' and 'Best Pop Vocal Album'. Her song "Rehab" received nods for 'Best Female Pop Vocal Performance', 'Song of the Year' and 'Record of the Year'. Ronson would go on to win three Grammys: 'Producer of the Year' as well as 'Best Pop Vocal Album' and 'Record of the Year' (the latter two of which he shared with Amy Winehouse) in early February 2008.
Ronson is credited as producer on a mixtape album called Man in the Mirror, released in January 2008 by the rapper Rhymefest which is a tribute to the pop star Michael Jackson. The album features Rhymefest appearing to speak to Michael Jackson using archive audio from interviews with the pop star. The same month Ronson received three nominations for the Brit Awards, including 'Best Male Solo Artist,' 'Best Album' (Version) and 'Song of the Year' ("Valerie"). Ronson won his first Brit for 'Best Male Solo Artist' in mid-February 2008 over favourite Mika. He also performed a medley of Coldplay's "God Put a Smile upon Your Face" with Adele, "Stop Me" with Daniel Merriweather, and "Valerie" with Amy Winehouse.
The performance allowed for a large boost in sales in the iTunes UK Top 100. "Valerie" would jump almost 30 spots in the days after the event, while "Just", "Stop Me" and "Oh My God" all appeared in the chart as well. That same week, Ronson appeared twice in the UK Top 40, with "Valerie" rebounding to number 13 and "Just" at number 31, his fourth Top 40 entry from "Version". The Brits performance also allowed for "Version" to climb 18 spots to number 4.
Around this time, Ronson received his first number one on an international chart (Dutch Top 40) for "Valerie," which spent four consecutive weeks at the top of the chart. He collaborated with Kaiser Chiefs on their third album.
Ronson toured the album "Version" extensively through both the UK and Europe during 2008. Notable sold-out performances at The Hammersmith Apollo and Brixton Academy. Ronson is known to champion new upcoming artists on the road with him, such as Sam Sparro and Julian Perretta. Ronson's string backing was provided by the all-female string quartet Demon Strings.
On 2 July 2008, in Paris, Mark Ronson performed live with Duran Duran for an invited audience. They played new arrangements by Ronson of some Duran Duran songs, along with tracks from the band's new album, Red Carpet Massacre. Ronson & the Version Players also performed songs from his album Version. Simon LeBon sang. As of March 2009, Ronson was working with the group on their 13th album. The Album, titled All You Need Is Now, was released digitally exclusively via Apple's iTunes on 21 December 2010, while the physical CD was released in March 2011 with additional tracks. In 2013–14 Ronson was once again in the studio producing Duran Duran's 14th album, Paper Gods, making it the first time the band has worked with the same producer on consecutive albums since Colin Thurston produced their first two albums in the 1980s.
2010–12: Record Collection
In the Spring of 2010, Ronson confirmed the name of his new album Record Collection, and said that he hoped to have it out by September 2010. Additionally, Ronson announced the name of his new band, "The Business Intl.'", which is the alias adopted by Ronson on the third studio album. The first single "Bang Bang Bang". which featured rapper Q-Tip and singer MNDR was released on 12 July 2010, where it peaked at number 6 on the UK Singles Chart, giving Ronson his fourth Top 10 single. The single also entered the Irish Singles Chart, where it peaked at number 18. The second single from the album, "The Bike Song", was released on 19 September 2010, and features Kyle Falconer from The View and Spank Rock. The album was released on 27 September 2010. This is the first Ronson album on which he features as a singer.
Although Ronson had never met Michael Jackson he was given the vocal track to a song titled "Lovely Way", sung by Michael Jackson, in 2010 to produce for Jackson's posthumous album Michael. He submitted the track, but it did not make the tracklisting for Michael. Ronson said about the rumours surrounding the vocals on the track (due to the controversy surrounding the Cascio tracks on that same album), "It was definitely him singing. I was given a vocal track to work with but I never actually met Michael. [...] It's in the vein of Elton John's 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road' and John Lennon's 'Imagine'."
He provided the score for the 2011 film Arthur. Ronson was one of the artists featured in the 2012 documentary Re:GENERATION Music Project. His song "A La Modeliste" features Mos Def, Erykah Badu, Trombone Shorty, members of The Dap-Kings, and Zigaboo Modeliste.
2013–2017: Uptown Special and Amy
On 30 October 2014, Ronson announced, via Twitter, a new single from his upcoming album, to be released on 10 November 2014. The single, "Uptown Funk," features Bruno Mars on vocals. On 22 November 2014, Ronson and Mars appeared as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live performing "Uptown Funk" and "Feel Right" (featuring Mystikal). "Uptown Funk" reached number one in the UK and US singles charts, and also became the all-time most streamed track in a single week in the UK, having been streamed a record 2.49 million times in a week. "Uptown Funk" reached the top 10 in nearly every country it charted; it spent fifteen weeks at number one on the Canadian Hot 100, fourteen weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and seven weeks at number one on the UK Singles Chart. In February 2015 the song won Ronson the Brit Award for British Single of the Year. As of November 2021, the song's music video on YouTube has amassed over 4.3 billion views.
In 2015, Ronson starred in the documentary film Amy about his late friend Amy Winehouse. His voice features in the film where he talks about his career and relationship with Winehouse and there is footage of Ronson from the recording session of the single "Back to Black" from March 2006 and also at Winehouse's funeral in London in July 2011. On 16 October 2015, Ronson became a patron of the Amy Winehouse Foundation. In January 2016, Ronson was nominated for two Brit Awards; Best British Male Solo Artist, and British Producer of the Year, at the 2016 Brit Awards.
At the 2016 Grammy Awards Ronson won two awards for "Uptown Funk", including Record of the Year. Jason Iley, the head of Sony Music UK and Ronson's UK label Columbia Records, hailed Ronson as "a true gentleman" and "one of the most considerate, kind and humble artists in our industry." He added, "the monumental success of Uptown Funk is so thoroughly deserved and has established itself as, not only one of the Records of the Year but of our lifetime."
He went on to executive produce Lady Gaga's fifth album Joanne.
Ronson produced the Queens of the Stone Age's 2017 album Villains.
2018–present: Silk City, "Shallow" and Late Night Feelings
In 2018, Ronson founded his own label, Zelig Records, an imprint of Columbia Records and the first artist he signed was singer King Princess. He also formed the duo Silk City with fellow producer Diplo. Their first single "Electricity" featuring Dua Lipa was released on 6 September and peaked at the US Dance Club Songs and received the Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards.
In May 2018, it was revealed that Ronson was working with Miley Cyrus in the studio. Their first collaboration "Nothing Breaks Like a Heart" was released in November 2018. Ronson also co-wrote the song "Shallow" for the film A Star Is Born with his frequent collaborators Lady Gaga, Andrew Wyatt, and Anthony Rossomando. The song earned Ronson an Academy Award and the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, as well as two Grammy nominations, winning the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media.
On 12 April 2019, it was announced that Mark Ronson would release his fifth album Late Night Feelings, on 26 June 2019. The album features Miley Cyrus, Angel Olsen, Lykke Li and Camila Cabello. Ronson has described the album as a collection of "sad bangers," with the title track laying down a warm mid-tempo dance groove under Li's melancholy vocals.
On 12 October 2019, BBC Two broadcast the documentary Mark Ronson: From the Heart, directed by Carl Hindmarch.
In June of 2021, Ronson, along with Foo Fighters shared a "re-verson" of the Foo Fighters then latest single Making a Fire.
Personal life
Ronson divides his time between London, Los Angeles, and New York. Since childhood, he has been a fan of English Premier League football club Chelsea F.C. and is also a fan of the New York Knicks basketball team.
In 2009, Ronson was voted the most stylish man in the UK by GQ magazine.
In 2011, a portrait of Ronson was painted by British artist Joe Simpson; the painting was exhibited around the UK, including a solo exhibition at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
In 2015 he was named one of the magazine's 50 best dressed British men. >
On 20 August 2019, Ronson, along with several other celebrities, invested in a funding round for Lowell Herb Co, a California cannabis brand. He is known to be "a dedicated cannabis consumer".
Relationships
In 2002, Ronson began dating the actress-singer Rashida Jones. They became engaged in March 2003, with Ronson proposing by creating a crossword puzzle with the message "Will you marry me." Their relationship ended approximately one year later.
On 3 September 2011, Ronson married French actress and singer Joséphine de La Baume, who had previously appeared in the music video for "The Bike Song". On 16 May 2017, it was reported that de La Baume had filed for divorce from Ronson, listing the separation date as 21 April 2017. The divorce was finalized in October 2018. On 4 September 2021, Ronson announced his marriage to actress Grace Gummer, after a year of dating.
Lawsuit
In 2017, Lastrada Entertainment claimed that "Uptown Funk" infringed the copyright of Zapp & Roger's 1980 hit song "More Bounce to the Ounce". A total of three lawsuits had been filed by different parties.
Discography
Here Comes the Fuzz (2003)
Version (2007)
Record Collection (with The Business Intl.) (2010)
Uptown Special (2015)
Late Night Feelings (2019)
Filmography
Zoolander (2001) – Himself
Amy (2015) – Himself
Gaga: Five Foot Two (2017) – Himself
Spies in Disguise (2019) – Agency Control Room Technician (cameo)
Videos
Ronson created a video, along with directors Gary Breslin and Jordan Galland, called Circuit Breaker, which was an homage to the video game The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. In 2001, Ronson appeared in the Aaliyah music video "More Than a Woman" as a DJ. On 30 July 2021, the documentary series Watch the Sound with Mark Ronson was released on Apple TV+.
Production discography
Adapted from AllMusic. Bold denotes a commercial single.
Other singles
1997: Posse-O – "It's Up to You..."*
1998: Powerule – "Heatin' Up"*
1998: Powerule – "Rhymes to Bust" / "It's Your Right"*
2002: J-Live – "School's In"*
2004: Daniel Merriweather – "City Rules"*
2004: Daniel Merriweather – "She's Got Me"*
2005: Rhymefest – "These Days"*
2005: Rhymefest – "Brand New"*
2007: Candie Payne – "One More Chance"*
2007: Bob Dylan – "Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine) (Mark Ronson Re-version)"*
2008: Leon Jean-Marie – "Bed of Nails"*
2008: Kaiser Chiefs – "Never Miss a Beat"*
2008: Wiley – "Cash in My Pocket"*
2008: Kaiser Chiefs – "Good Days Bad Days"*
2009: Daniel Merriweather – "Change"*
2009: Daniel Merriweather – "Red"*
2009: Daniel Merriweather – "Impossible"
2012: Rufus Wainwright – "Out of the Game"*
2012: Rufus Wainwright – "Jericho"*
2013: Giggs – "(Is It Gangsta?) Yes Yes Yes"*
2015: Duran Duran featuring Janelle Monáe and Nile Rodgers – "Pressure Off"*
2016: Various Artists – "Hands"*
2018: Michael Jackson - "Diamonds Are Invincible"* (Mash-Up)
2018: Silk City - "Electricity"* featuring Dua Lipa, Diplo and Mark Ronson
2018: Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper – "Shallow"*
2020: Troye Sivan featuring Kacey Musgraves and Mark Ronson - "Easy"*
Awards and nominations
References
External links
Mark Ronson and Boy George
1975 births
20th-century English musicians
21st-century English musicians
Allido Records artists
APRA Award winners
British Ashkenazi Jews
Best Original Song Academy Award-winning songwriters
Brit Award winners
British alternative rock musicians
British hip hop DJs
Collegiate School (New York) alumni
English DJs
DJs from London
English emigrants to the United States
English people of Austrian-Jewish descent
English people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent
English people of Russian-Jewish descent
English multi-instrumentalists
English record producers
English songwriters
Golden Globe Award-winning musicians
Grammy Award winners
Hip hop record producers
Jewish English musicians
Jewish hip hop record producers
Jewish singers
Living people
People from Notting Hill
People from the Upper West Side
M
Mark Ronson
Silk City (duo) members
Sony Music UK artists
The Flip Squad members
Tisch School of the Arts alumni | true | [
"This One's for You is the sixth album by R&B crooner Teddy Pendergrass. It was released just after a bad car accident Pendergrass was involved in, which left him paralyzed from the waist down due to a spinal cord injury. The album did not do as well as his previous albums did on the Billboard 200, peaking at only #59, but it did do well on the R&B album chart, reaching #6. Only one single was released, \"I Can't Win for Losing\", which peaked at only #32 on the R&B charts.\n\nTrack listing\n \"I Can't Win for Losing\" 4:16 (Victor Carstarphen, Gene McFadden, John Whitehead)\n \"This One's for You\" 6:18 (Barry Manilow, Marty Panzer)\n \"Loving You Was Good\" 3:35 (LeRoy Bell, Casey James)\n \"This Gift of Life\" 4:27 (Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff)\n \"Now Tell Me That You Love Me\" 5:15 (Gamble, Huff)\n \"It's Up to You (What You Do With Your Life)\" 5:37 (Gamble, Huff)\n \"Don't Leave Me out Along the Road\" 3:34 (Richard Roebuck)\n \"Only to You\" 3:53 (Nickolas Ashford, Valerie Simpson)\n\nReferences\n\n1982 albums\nTeddy Pendergrass albums\nAlbums produced by Kenneth Gamble\nAlbums produced by Leon Huff\nAlbums produced by Thom Bell\nAlbums produced by Ashford & Simpson\nAlbums arranged by Bobby Martin\nAlbums recorded at Sigma Sound Studios\nPhiladelphia International Records albums",
"Zhou Xiaoping (; born 24 April 1981) is a Chinese essayist and popular blogger. His most well-known works are Please Do Not Fail This Era!, Young, do you really know about this country?, Where did our heroes go?, and Nine Tricks of the United States Cultural Cold War. He is a supporter of communist party rule and has expressed nationalist, anti-American and anti-Western sentiment. Zhou is noted for praising by Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping at a conference on art and literature. Xi lauded Zhou for spreading \"positive energy\" in 2014.\n\nLife\nZhou was born and raised in Zigong, Sichuan, after junior high school, he started to publish works in 1996. \"Cutlassfish Zhou\" () became the nickname for his nationalist, pro-Communist, pro-Chinese government and anti-American writing. Zhou has been praised by General Secretary Xi Jinping for his \"positive energy\".\n\nWorks\n Please Do Not Fail This Era! ()\n Young, do you really know about this country? ()\n Where did our heroes go? ()\n Nine Tricks of the United States Cultural Cold War ()\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n1981 births\nWriters from Zigong\nLiving people\nArchibald Prize Salon des Refusés People's Choice Award winners\nPeople's Republic of China writers\nChinese bloggers"
] | [
"Mark Daniel Ronson (born 4 September 1975) is an English-American DJ, songwriter, record producer, and record executive. He is best known for his collaborations with artists such as Duran Duran, Amy Winehouse, Adele, Lady Gaga, Lily Allen, Robbie Williams, Miley Cyrus, Queens of the Stone Age, Kevin Parker and Bruno Mars.",
"He is best known for his collaborations with artists such as Duran Duran, Amy Winehouse, Adele, Lady Gaga, Lily Allen, Robbie Williams, Miley Cyrus, Queens of the Stone Age, Kevin Parker and Bruno Mars. He has received seven Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year for Winehouse's album Back to Black and two for Record of the Year singles \"Rehab\" and \"Uptown Funk\".",
"He has received seven Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year for Winehouse's album Back to Black and two for Record of the Year singles \"Rehab\" and \"Uptown Funk\". He received an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award and a Grammy Award for co-writing the song \"Shallow\" (performed by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper) for the film A Star is Born (2018). Ronson was born in London and raised in New York City.",
"Ronson was born in London and raised in New York City. His stepfather is Foreigner guitarist Mick Jones, which contributed to a childhood surrounded by music. While attending New York University, Ronson became a popular DJ in the hip-hop scene. His debut album Here Comes the Fuzz failed to have an effect on the charts. In 2006, he received acclaim for producing albums for Lily Allen, Christina Aguilera, and Amy Winehouse. In 2007, Ronson released his second album, Version.",
"In 2007, Ronson released his second album, Version. The album reached number two in the UK and included three top ten singles and earned him the Brit Award for British Male Solo Artist. He subsequently released his third studio album, Record Collection, peaking at number two in the UK. In 2014, Ronson released his single \"Uptown Funk\" featuring vocals from Bruno Mars. The single spent 14 consecutive weeks at number one on the U.S.",
"The single spent 14 consecutive weeks at number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, seven non-consecutive weeks at number one on the UK Singles Chart and became one of the best-selling singles of all-time. His fourth studio album, Uptown Special, became his most successful album to date.",
"His fourth studio album, Uptown Special, became his most successful album to date. In 2018, he founded his own label, Zelig Records (an imprint of Columbia Records), and formed the duo Silk City with fellow producer Diplo, they released their debut single \"Electricity\" featuring Dua Lipa for which he received the Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording. In 2015, he became a patron of the Amy Winehouse Foundation, which helps disadvantaged youth through music.",
"In 2015, he became a patron of the Amy Winehouse Foundation, which helps disadvantaged youth through music. He has also worked with the End the Silence campaign to raise money and awareness for the Hope and Homes for Children charity and served as an artist mentor at Turnaround Arts, a national program of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, which helped low-performing schools through arts education.",
"He has also worked with the End the Silence campaign to raise money and awareness for the Hope and Homes for Children charity and served as an artist mentor at Turnaround Arts, a national program of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, which helped low-performing schools through arts education. Early life Mark Daniel Ronson was born in Notting Hill, London, England, to Laurence Ronson, a then music manager and publisher, now real estate developer, and Ann Dexter-Jones (née Dexter), a writer, jewelry designer, and socialite.",
"Early life Mark Daniel Ronson was born in Notting Hill, London, England, to Laurence Ronson, a then music manager and publisher, now real estate developer, and Ann Dexter-Jones (née Dexter), a writer, jewelry designer, and socialite. His Ashkenazi Jewish ancestors emigrated from Austria, Lithuania, and Russia. He was brought up in a Conservative Jewish household and celebrated his Bar Mitzvah. After his parents' divorce, his mother married Foreigner guitarist Mick Jones.",
"After his parents' divorce, his mother married Foreigner guitarist Mick Jones. Of note, Jones wrote Foreigner's hit song \"I Want to Know What Love Is\" about his burgeoning relationship with Dexter-Jones. Ronson, along with his mother, stepfather, and sisters, moved to New York City when he was eight years old. Living on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, he counted Sean Lennon among his childhood friends.",
"Living on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, he counted Sean Lennon among his childhood friends. At twelve, being a self-described music nerd, he pestered Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner into an internship at the magazine. He attended high school at the private Collegiate School in Manhattan before attending Vassar College and then New York University. In 2008, he obtained American citizenship so that he could vote in that year's election.",
"In 2008, he obtained American citizenship so that he could vote in that year's election. Family He was born into the Ronson family, formerly one of Britain's wealthiest families and founders of Heron International; following success in the 1980s, they lost $1 billion of their wealth in the property crash of the early 1990s. He is the nephew of businessman Gerald Ronson. Through his mother, he is distantly related to British Conservative politicians Sir Malcolm Rifkind and Leon Brittan, and Odeon Cinemas founder Oscar Deutsch.",
"Through his mother, he is distantly related to British Conservative politicians Sir Malcolm Rifkind and Leon Brittan, and Odeon Cinemas founder Oscar Deutsch. Ronson's has two younger sisters, twins Charlotte Ronson, a fashion designer, and Samantha Ronson, a singer and DJ. Through his mother's second marriage to Mick Jones he has two elder step-siblings and two half-siblings, including actress Annabelle Dexter-Jones. Through his father's second marriage, he has three other half-siblings.",
"Through his father's second marriage, he has three other half-siblings. Career While attending New York University, Ronson became a regular in the downtown hip hop night life. He became known as a DJ on the New York club scene by 1993, charging $50 per job. He was known for his diverse, genre-spanning selection. He attracted a wide audience by fusing funk, hip hop, and rock and roll into his setlists, and playing songs that were popular in both the United States and the United Kingdom.",
"He attracted a wide audience by fusing funk, hip hop, and rock and roll into his setlists, and playing songs that were popular in both the United States and the United Kingdom. He was soon popular and sought-after DJ in New York City, frequently booked for high-profile events and private parties. In 1999, Ronson was featured in an ad wearing Tommy Hilfiger denim in the recording studio for an ad campaign for the company.",
"In 1999, Ronson was featured in an ad wearing Tommy Hilfiger denim in the recording studio for an ad campaign for the company. 2001–05: Here Comes the Fuzz and initial producing Mark made the leap from DJ to producer after Nikka Costa's manager, Dominique Trenier, heard one of his sets and introduced the musicians. Ronson produced Costa's song \"Everybody Got Their Something,\" and Ronson soon signed a record contract with Elektra Records.",
"Ronson produced Costa's song \"Everybody Got Their Something,\" and Ronson soon signed a record contract with Elektra Records. He had already produced tracks for Hilfiger ads and, in 2001, used the connection to have Costa's single \"Like a Feather\" used in an advertisement. Ronson's debut album, Here Comes the Fuzz, was released in 2003. Despite poor initial sales, it was generally well received by critics.",
"Despite poor initial sales, it was generally well received by critics. As well as writing the songs on the album, Ronson created the beats, played guitar, keyboards, and bass. The album featured performances from artists from diverse genres, including Mos Def, Jack White, Sean Paul, Nappy Roots and Rivers Cuomo.",
"The album featured performances from artists from diverse genres, including Mos Def, Jack White, Sean Paul, Nappy Roots and Rivers Cuomo. The lead single and best known song from the album, \"Ooh Wee,\" samples \"Sunny\" by Boney M and features the rappers Nate Dogg, Ghostface Killah, Trife Da God, and Saigon. The song charted at number 15 on the UK Singles Chart and was used in a number of films, including in Honey (2003) and on its soundtrack.",
"The song charted at number 15 on the UK Singles Chart and was used in a number of films, including in Honey (2003) and on its soundtrack. Two weeks after releasing Here Comes the Fuzz, Elektra Records dropped him. In 2004, Ronson formed his own record label, Allido Records, a subsidiary of Sony BMG's J Records, along with his longtime manager Rich Kleiman. The first artist he signed to Allido was rapper Saigon, who later left to sign with Just Blaze's Fort Knox Entertainment.",
"The first artist he signed to Allido was rapper Saigon, who later left to sign with Just Blaze's Fort Knox Entertainment. He has signed Rhymefest, most well known for winning the Grammy for co-writing Kanye West's \"Jesus Walks.\" 2006–09: Version On 2 April 2007, Ronson released a cover of The Smiths' track \"Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before\" under the title \"Stop Me\", featuring singer Daniel Merriweather.",
"2006–09: Version On 2 April 2007, Ronson released a cover of The Smiths' track \"Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before\" under the title \"Stop Me\", featuring singer Daniel Merriweather. It reached number 2 in the UK singles charts, giving Ronson his highest-peaking single until 2014's \"Uptown Funk\". Ronson remixed the Bob Dylan song \"Most Likely You Go Your Way And I'll Go Mine\" in promotion for the three-disc Bob Dylan set titled Dylan released October 2007.",
"Ronson remixed the Bob Dylan song \"Most Likely You Go Your Way And I'll Go Mine\" in promotion for the three-disc Bob Dylan set titled Dylan released October 2007. Ronson has also produced Candie Payne's \"One More Chance (Ronson mix)\" in 2007. The album Version was well received by critics particularly in the UK and US. In May 2007 it was awarded the title Album of the Month by the British dance music magazine, Mixmag.",
"In May 2007 it was awarded the title Album of the Month by the British dance music magazine, Mixmag. On 23 June, Ronson made the cover of The Guardian newspaper's Guide magazine, alongside singer Lily Allen. In June 2007, Ronson signed DC hip hop artist Wale to Allido Records. In late 2007, he focused on production, working with Daniel Merriweather on his debut album, and recording again with Amy Winehouse and Robbie Williams.",
"In late 2007, he focused on production, working with Daniel Merriweather on his debut album, and recording again with Amy Winehouse and Robbie Williams. On 24 October 2007, Ronson performed a one-off set at The Roundhouse in Camden, London as part of the BBC Electric Proms 2007. The performance featured the BBC Concert Orchestra and included special guests Terry Hall, Sean Lennon, Tim Burgess, Alex Greenwald, Ricky Wilson, Charlie Waller, Adele and Kyle Falconer.",
"The performance featured the BBC Concert Orchestra and included special guests Terry Hall, Sean Lennon, Tim Burgess, Alex Greenwald, Ricky Wilson, Charlie Waller, Adele and Kyle Falconer. In December 2007, Ronson received his first Grammy Award nomination, for 'Producer of the Year, Non-Classical'. Ronson's work with Amy Winehouse also received substantial accolades, gaining 6 nominations. Winehouse's \"Back to Black\" album, mostly produced by Ronson, was nominated for 'Album of the Year' and 'Best Pop Vocal Album'.",
"Winehouse's \"Back to Black\" album, mostly produced by Ronson, was nominated for 'Album of the Year' and 'Best Pop Vocal Album'. Her song \"Rehab\" received nods for 'Best Female Pop Vocal Performance', 'Song of the Year' and 'Record of the Year'.",
"Her song \"Rehab\" received nods for 'Best Female Pop Vocal Performance', 'Song of the Year' and 'Record of the Year'. Ronson would go on to win three Grammys: 'Producer of the Year' as well as 'Best Pop Vocal Album' and 'Record of the Year' (the latter two of which he shared with Amy Winehouse) in early February 2008.",
"Ronson would go on to win three Grammys: 'Producer of the Year' as well as 'Best Pop Vocal Album' and 'Record of the Year' (the latter two of which he shared with Amy Winehouse) in early February 2008. Ronson is credited as producer on a mixtape album called Man in the Mirror, released in January 2008 by the rapper Rhymefest which is a tribute to the pop star Michael Jackson. The album features Rhymefest appearing to speak to Michael Jackson using archive audio from interviews with the pop star.",
"The album features Rhymefest appearing to speak to Michael Jackson using archive audio from interviews with the pop star. The same month Ronson received three nominations for the Brit Awards, including 'Best Male Solo Artist,' 'Best Album' (Version) and 'Song of the Year' (\"Valerie\"). Ronson won his first Brit for 'Best Male Solo Artist' in mid-February 2008 over favourite Mika.",
"Ronson won his first Brit for 'Best Male Solo Artist' in mid-February 2008 over favourite Mika. He also performed a medley of Coldplay's \"God Put a Smile upon Your Face\" with Adele, \"Stop Me\" with Daniel Merriweather, and \"Valerie\" with Amy Winehouse. The performance allowed for a large boost in sales in the iTunes UK Top 100.",
"The performance allowed for a large boost in sales in the iTunes UK Top 100. \"Valerie\" would jump almost 30 spots in the days after the event, while \"Just\", \"Stop Me\" and \"Oh My God\" all appeared in the chart as well. That same week, Ronson appeared twice in the UK Top 40, with \"Valerie\" rebounding to number 13 and \"Just\" at number 31, his fourth Top 40 entry from \"Version\".",
"That same week, Ronson appeared twice in the UK Top 40, with \"Valerie\" rebounding to number 13 and \"Just\" at number 31, his fourth Top 40 entry from \"Version\". The Brits performance also allowed for \"Version\" to climb 18 spots to number 4. Around this time, Ronson received his first number one on an international chart (Dutch Top 40) for \"Valerie,\" which spent four consecutive weeks at the top of the chart.",
"Around this time, Ronson received his first number one on an international chart (Dutch Top 40) for \"Valerie,\" which spent four consecutive weeks at the top of the chart. He collaborated with Kaiser Chiefs on their third album. Ronson toured the album \"Version\" extensively through both the UK and Europe during 2008. Notable sold-out performances at The Hammersmith Apollo and Brixton Academy. Ronson is known to champion new upcoming artists on the road with him, such as Sam Sparro and Julian Perretta.",
"Ronson is known to champion new upcoming artists on the road with him, such as Sam Sparro and Julian Perretta. Ronson's string backing was provided by the all-female string quartet Demon Strings. On 2 July 2008, in Paris, Mark Ronson performed live with Duran Duran for an invited audience. They played new arrangements by Ronson of some Duran Duran songs, along with tracks from the band's new album, Red Carpet Massacre. Ronson & the Version Players also performed songs from his album Version. Simon LeBon sang.",
"Simon LeBon sang. Simon LeBon sang. As of March 2009, Ronson was working with the group on their 13th album. The Album, titled All You Need Is Now, was released digitally exclusively via Apple's iTunes on 21 December 2010, while the physical CD was released in March 2011 with additional tracks.",
"The Album, titled All You Need Is Now, was released digitally exclusively via Apple's iTunes on 21 December 2010, while the physical CD was released in March 2011 with additional tracks. In 2013–14 Ronson was once again in the studio producing Duran Duran's 14th album, Paper Gods, making it the first time the band has worked with the same producer on consecutive albums since Colin Thurston produced their first two albums in the 1980s.",
"In 2013–14 Ronson was once again in the studio producing Duran Duran's 14th album, Paper Gods, making it the first time the band has worked with the same producer on consecutive albums since Colin Thurston produced their first two albums in the 1980s. 2010–12: Record Collection In the Spring of 2010, Ronson confirmed the name of his new album Record Collection, and said that he hoped to have it out by September 2010. Additionally, Ronson announced the name of his new band, \"The Business Intl.",
"Additionally, Ronson announced the name of his new band, \"The Business Intl. '\", which is the alias adopted by Ronson on the third studio album. The first single \"Bang Bang Bang\". which featured rapper Q-Tip and singer MNDR was released on 12 July 2010, where it peaked at number 6 on the UK Singles Chart, giving Ronson his fourth Top 10 single. The single also entered the Irish Singles Chart, where it peaked at number 18.",
"The single also entered the Irish Singles Chart, where it peaked at number 18. The second single from the album, \"The Bike Song\", was released on 19 September 2010, and features Kyle Falconer from The View and Spank Rock. The album was released on 27 September 2010. This is the first Ronson album on which he features as a singer.",
"This is the first Ronson album on which he features as a singer. Although Ronson had never met Michael Jackson he was given the vocal track to a song titled \"Lovely Way\", sung by Michael Jackson, in 2010 to produce for Jackson's posthumous album Michael. He submitted the track, but it did not make the tracklisting for Michael. Ronson said about the rumours surrounding the vocals on the track (due to the controversy surrounding the Cascio tracks on that same album), \"It was definitely him singing.",
"Ronson said about the rumours surrounding the vocals on the track (due to the controversy surrounding the Cascio tracks on that same album), \"It was definitely him singing. I was given a vocal track to work with but I never actually met Michael. [...] It's in the vein of Elton John's 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road' and John Lennon's 'Imagine'.\" He provided the score for the 2011 film Arthur.",
"He provided the score for the 2011 film Arthur. He provided the score for the 2011 film Arthur. Ronson was one of the artists featured in the 2012 documentary Re:GENERATION Music Project. His song \"A La Modeliste\" features Mos Def, Erykah Badu, Trombone Shorty, members of The Dap-Kings, and Zigaboo Modeliste. 2013–2017: Uptown Special and Amy On 30 October 2014, Ronson announced, via Twitter, a new single from his upcoming album, to be released on 10 November 2014.",
"2013–2017: Uptown Special and Amy On 30 October 2014, Ronson announced, via Twitter, a new single from his upcoming album, to be released on 10 November 2014. The single, \"Uptown Funk,\" features Bruno Mars on vocals. On 22 November 2014, Ronson and Mars appeared as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live performing \"Uptown Funk\" and \"Feel Right\" (featuring Mystikal).",
"On 22 November 2014, Ronson and Mars appeared as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live performing \"Uptown Funk\" and \"Feel Right\" (featuring Mystikal). \"Uptown Funk\" reached number one in the UK and US singles charts, and also became the all-time most streamed track in a single week in the UK, having been streamed a record 2.49 million times in a week.",
"\"Uptown Funk\" reached number one in the UK and US singles charts, and also became the all-time most streamed track in a single week in the UK, having been streamed a record 2.49 million times in a week. \"Uptown Funk\" reached the top 10 in nearly every country it charted; it spent fifteen weeks at number one on the Canadian Hot 100, fourteen weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and seven weeks at number one on the UK Singles Chart.",
"\"Uptown Funk\" reached the top 10 in nearly every country it charted; it spent fifteen weeks at number one on the Canadian Hot 100, fourteen weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and seven weeks at number one on the UK Singles Chart. In February 2015 the song won Ronson the Brit Award for British Single of the Year. As of November 2021, the song's music video on YouTube has amassed over 4.3 billion views.",
"As of November 2021, the song's music video on YouTube has amassed over 4.3 billion views. In 2015, Ronson starred in the documentary film Amy about his late friend Amy Winehouse. His voice features in the film where he talks about his career and relationship with Winehouse and there is footage of Ronson from the recording session of the single \"Back to Black\" from March 2006 and also at Winehouse's funeral in London in July 2011. On 16 October 2015, Ronson became a patron of the Amy Winehouse Foundation.",
"On 16 October 2015, Ronson became a patron of the Amy Winehouse Foundation. In January 2016, Ronson was nominated for two Brit Awards; Best British Male Solo Artist, and British Producer of the Year, at the 2016 Brit Awards. At the 2016 Grammy Awards Ronson won two awards for \"Uptown Funk\", including Record of the Year.",
"At the 2016 Grammy Awards Ronson won two awards for \"Uptown Funk\", including Record of the Year. Jason Iley, the head of Sony Music UK and Ronson's UK label Columbia Records, hailed Ronson as \"a true gentleman\" and \"one of the most considerate, kind and humble artists in our industry.\" He added, \"the monumental success of Uptown Funk is so thoroughly deserved and has established itself as, not only one of the Records of the Year but of our lifetime.\"",
"He added, \"the monumental success of Uptown Funk is so thoroughly deserved and has established itself as, not only one of the Records of the Year but of our lifetime.\" He went on to executive produce Lady Gaga's fifth album Joanne. Ronson produced the Queens of the Stone Age's 2017 album Villains.",
"Ronson produced the Queens of the Stone Age's 2017 album Villains. 2018–present: Silk City, \"Shallow\" and Late Night Feelings In 2018, Ronson founded his own label, Zelig Records, an imprint of Columbia Records and the first artist he signed was singer King Princess. He also formed the duo Silk City with fellow producer Diplo.",
"He also formed the duo Silk City with fellow producer Diplo. Their first single \"Electricity\" featuring Dua Lipa was released on 6 September and peaked at the US Dance Club Songs and received the Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards. In May 2018, it was revealed that Ronson was working with Miley Cyrus in the studio. Their first collaboration \"Nothing Breaks Like a Heart\" was released in November 2018.",
"Their first collaboration \"Nothing Breaks Like a Heart\" was released in November 2018. Ronson also co-wrote the song \"Shallow\" for the film A Star Is Born with his frequent collaborators Lady Gaga, Andrew Wyatt, and Anthony Rossomando. The song earned Ronson an Academy Award and the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, as well as two Grammy nominations, winning the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media.",
"The song earned Ronson an Academy Award and the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, as well as two Grammy nominations, winning the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media. On 12 April 2019, it was announced that Mark Ronson would release his fifth album Late Night Feelings, on 26 June 2019. The album features Miley Cyrus, Angel Olsen, Lykke Li and Camila Cabello.",
"The album features Miley Cyrus, Angel Olsen, Lykke Li and Camila Cabello. Ronson has described the album as a collection of \"sad bangers,\" with the title track laying down a warm mid-tempo dance groove under Li's melancholy vocals. On 12 October 2019, BBC Two broadcast the documentary Mark Ronson: From the Heart, directed by Carl Hindmarch. In June of 2021, Ronson, along with Foo Fighters shared a \"re-verson\" of the Foo Fighters then latest single Making a Fire.",
"In June of 2021, Ronson, along with Foo Fighters shared a \"re-verson\" of the Foo Fighters then latest single Making a Fire. Personal life Ronson divides his time between London, Los Angeles, and New York. Since childhood, he has been a fan of English Premier League football club Chelsea F.C. and is also a fan of the New York Knicks basketball team. In 2009, Ronson was voted the most stylish man in the UK by GQ magazine.",
"In 2009, Ronson was voted the most stylish man in the UK by GQ magazine. In 2011, a portrait of Ronson was painted by British artist Joe Simpson; the painting was exhibited around the UK, including a solo exhibition at the Royal Albert Hall in London. In 2015 he was named one of the magazine's 50 best dressed British men. > On 20 August 2019, Ronson, along with several other celebrities, invested in a funding round for Lowell Herb Co, a California cannabis brand.",
"> On 20 August 2019, Ronson, along with several other celebrities, invested in a funding round for Lowell Herb Co, a California cannabis brand. He is known to be \"a dedicated cannabis consumer\". Relationships In 2002, Ronson began dating the actress-singer Rashida Jones. They became engaged in March 2003, with Ronson proposing by creating a crossword puzzle with the message \"Will you marry me.\" Their relationship ended approximately one year later.",
"Their relationship ended approximately one year later. Their relationship ended approximately one year later. On 3 September 2011, Ronson married French actress and singer Joséphine de La Baume, who had previously appeared in the music video for \"The Bike Song\". On 16 May 2017, it was reported that de La Baume had filed for divorce from Ronson, listing the separation date as 21 April 2017. The divorce was finalized in October 2018.",
"The divorce was finalized in October 2018. The divorce was finalized in October 2018. On 4 September 2021, Ronson announced his marriage to actress Grace Gummer, after a year of dating. Lawsuit In 2017, Lastrada Entertainment claimed that \"Uptown Funk\" infringed the copyright of Zapp & Roger's 1980 hit song \"More Bounce to the Ounce\". A total of three lawsuits had been filed by different parties. Discography Here Comes the Fuzz (2003) Version (2007) Record Collection (with The Business Intl.)",
"Discography Here Comes the Fuzz (2003) Version (2007) Record Collection (with The Business Intl.) (2010) Uptown Special (2015) Late Night Feelings (2019) Filmography Zoolander (2001) – Himself Amy (2015) – Himself Gaga: Five Foot Two (2017) – Himself Spies in Disguise (2019) – Agency Control Room Technician (cameo) Videos Ronson created a video, along with directors Gary Breslin and Jordan Galland, called Circuit Breaker, which was an homage to the video game The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.",
"(2010) Uptown Special (2015) Late Night Feelings (2019) Filmography Zoolander (2001) – Himself Amy (2015) – Himself Gaga: Five Foot Two (2017) – Himself Spies in Disguise (2019) – Agency Control Room Technician (cameo) Videos Ronson created a video, along with directors Gary Breslin and Jordan Galland, called Circuit Breaker, which was an homage to the video game The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. In 2001, Ronson appeared in the Aaliyah music video \"More Than a Woman\" as a DJ.",
"In 2001, Ronson appeared in the Aaliyah music video \"More Than a Woman\" as a DJ. On 30 July 2021, the documentary series Watch the Sound with Mark Ronson was released on Apple TV+. Production discography Adapted from AllMusic. Bold denotes a commercial single.",
"Production discography Adapted from AllMusic. Bold denotes a commercial single. Bold denotes a commercial single. Other singles 1997: Posse-O – \"It's Up to You...\"* 1998: Powerule – \"Heatin' Up\"* 1998: Powerule – \"Rhymes to Bust\" / \"It's Your Right\"* 2002: J-Live – \"School's In\"* 2004: Daniel Merriweather – \"City Rules\"* 2004: Daniel Merriweather – \"She's Got Me\"* 2005: Rhymefest – \"These Days\"* 2005: Rhymefest – \"Brand New\"* 2007: Candie Payne – \"One More Chance\"* 2007: Bob Dylan – \"Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine) (Mark Ronson Re-version)\"* 2008: Leon Jean-Marie – \"Bed of Nails\"* 2008: Kaiser Chiefs – \"Never Miss a Beat\"* 2008: Wiley – \"Cash in My Pocket\"* 2008: Kaiser Chiefs – \"Good Days Bad Days\"* 2009: Daniel Merriweather – \"Change\"* 2009: Daniel Merriweather – \"Red\"* 2009: Daniel Merriweather – \"Impossible\" 2012: Rufus Wainwright – \"Out of the Game\"* 2012: Rufus Wainwright – \"Jericho\"* 2013: Giggs – \"(Is It Gangsta?)",
"Other singles 1997: Posse-O – \"It's Up to You...\"* 1998: Powerule – \"Heatin' Up\"* 1998: Powerule – \"Rhymes to Bust\" / \"It's Your Right\"* 2002: J-Live – \"School's In\"* 2004: Daniel Merriweather – \"City Rules\"* 2004: Daniel Merriweather – \"She's Got Me\"* 2005: Rhymefest – \"These Days\"* 2005: Rhymefest – \"Brand New\"* 2007: Candie Payne – \"One More Chance\"* 2007: Bob Dylan – \"Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine) (Mark Ronson Re-version)\"* 2008: Leon Jean-Marie – \"Bed of Nails\"* 2008: Kaiser Chiefs – \"Never Miss a Beat\"* 2008: Wiley – \"Cash in My Pocket\"* 2008: Kaiser Chiefs – \"Good Days Bad Days\"* 2009: Daniel Merriweather – \"Change\"* 2009: Daniel Merriweather – \"Red\"* 2009: Daniel Merriweather – \"Impossible\" 2012: Rufus Wainwright – \"Out of the Game\"* 2012: Rufus Wainwright – \"Jericho\"* 2013: Giggs – \"(Is It Gangsta?) Yes Yes Yes\"* 2015: Duran Duran featuring Janelle Monáe and Nile Rodgers – \"Pressure Off\"* 2016: Various Artists – \"Hands\"* 2018: Michael Jackson - \"Diamonds Are Invincible\"* (Mash-Up) 2018: Silk City - \"Electricity\"* featuring Dua Lipa, Diplo and Mark Ronson 2018: Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper – \"Shallow\"* 2020: Troye Sivan featuring Kacey Musgraves and Mark Ronson - \"Easy\"* Awards and nominations References External links Mark Ronson and Boy George 1975 births 20th-century English musicians 21st-century English musicians Allido Records artists APRA Award winners British Ashkenazi Jews Best Original Song Academy Award-winning songwriters Brit Award winners British alternative rock musicians British hip hop DJs Collegiate School (New York) alumni English DJs DJs from London English emigrants to the United States English people of Austrian-Jewish descent English people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent English people of Russian-Jewish descent English multi-instrumentalists English record producers English songwriters Golden Globe Award-winning musicians Grammy Award winners Hip hop record producers Jewish English musicians Jewish hip hop record producers Jewish singers Living people People from Notting Hill People from the Upper West Side M Mark Ronson Silk City (duo) members Sony Music UK artists The Flip Squad members Tisch School of the Arts alumni"
] |
[
"Mark Ronson",
"2010-12: Record Collection",
"When was the Record Collection released?",
"September 2010.",
"Is this an album?",
"Ronson confirmed the name of his new album Record Collection,",
"Did this album do well?",
"I don't know.",
"Were there any hit songs?",
"The first single \"Bang Bang Bang\". which featured rapper Q-Tip and singer MNDR was released on 12 July 2010, where it peaked at number 6 on the UK Singles Chart,",
"What other songs reached the charts?",
"The second single from the album, \"The Bike Song\", was 19 September 2010",
"Were there any other successes/",
"He provided the score for the 2011 film Arthur.",
"What else did he do during this time?",
"Ronson was one of the artists featured in the 2012 documentary Re:GENERATION Music Project.",
"Did this do well?",
"His song \"A La Modeliste\" features Mos Def, Erykah Badu, Trombone Shorty, members of The Dap-Kings, and Zigaboo Modeliste."
] | C_d5d7c57a056e48fbb1667f80ffeb5358_0 | What other achievements did he have/ | 9 | What other achievements did Mark Ronson have, besides providing the score for the 2011 film Arthur? | Mark Ronson | In the Spring of 2010, Ronson confirmed the name of his new album Record Collection, and said that he hoped to have it out by September 2010. Additionally, Ronson announced the name of his new band, "The Business Intl.'", which is the alias adopted by Ronson on the third studio album. The first single "Bang Bang Bang". which featured rapper Q-Tip and singer MNDR was released on 12 July 2010, where it peaked at number 6 on the UK Singles Chart, giving Ronson his fourth Top 10 single. The single also entered the Irish Singles Chart, where it peaked at number 18. The second single from the album, "The Bike Song", was 19 September 2010 and features Kyle Falconer from The View and Spank Rock. The album was released on 27 September 2010. This is the first Ronson albums on which he features as a singer. Although Ronson had never met Michael Jackson he was given the vocal track to a song titled "Lovely Way", sung by Michael Jackson, in 2010 to produce for Jackson's posthumous album Michael. He submitted the track, but it did not make the track listing for Michael. Ronson said about the rumours surrounding the vocals on the track (due to the controversy surrounding the Cascio tracks on that same album), "It was definitely him singing. I was given a vocal track to work with but I never actually met Michael. [...] It's in the vein of Elton John's 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road' and John Lennon's 'Imagine'." He provided the score for the 2011 film Arthur. Ronson was one of the artists featured in the 2012 documentary Re:GENERATION Music Project. His song "A La Modeliste" features Mos Def, Erykah Badu, Trombone Shorty, members of The Dap-Kings, and Zigaboo Modeliste. CANNOTANSWER | he was given the vocal track to a song titled "Lovely Way", sung by Michael Jackson, in 2010 to produce for Jackson's posthumous album | Mark Daniel Ronson (born 4 September 1975) is an English-American DJ, songwriter, record producer, and record executive. He is best known for his collaborations with artists such as Duran Duran, Amy Winehouse, Adele, Lady Gaga, Lily Allen, Robbie Williams, Miley Cyrus, Queens of the Stone Age, Kevin Parker and Bruno Mars. He has received seven Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year for Winehouse's album Back to Black and two for Record of the Year singles "Rehab" and "Uptown Funk". He received an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award and a Grammy Award for co-writing the song "Shallow" (performed by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper) for the film A Star is Born (2018).
Ronson was born in London and raised in New York City. His stepfather is Foreigner guitarist Mick Jones, which contributed to a childhood surrounded by music. While attending New York University, Ronson became a popular DJ in the hip-hop scene. His debut album Here Comes the Fuzz failed to have an effect on the charts. In 2006, he received acclaim for producing albums for Lily Allen, Christina Aguilera, and Amy Winehouse. In 2007, Ronson released his second album, Version. The album reached number two in the UK and included three top ten singles and earned him the Brit Award for British Male Solo Artist. He subsequently released his third studio album, Record Collection, peaking at number two in the UK.
In 2014, Ronson released his single "Uptown Funk" featuring vocals from Bruno Mars. The single spent 14 consecutive weeks at number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, seven non-consecutive weeks at number one on the UK Singles Chart and became one of the best-selling singles of all-time. His fourth studio album, Uptown Special, became his most successful album to date. In 2018, he founded his own label, Zelig Records (an imprint of Columbia Records), and formed the duo Silk City with fellow producer Diplo, they released their debut single "Electricity" featuring Dua Lipa for which he received the Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording.
In 2015, he became a patron of the Amy Winehouse Foundation, which helps disadvantaged youth through music. He has also worked with the End the Silence campaign to raise money and awareness for the Hope and Homes for Children charity and served as an artist mentor at Turnaround Arts, a national program of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, which helped low-performing schools through arts education.
Early life
Mark Daniel Ronson was born in Notting Hill, London, England, to Laurence Ronson, a then music manager and publisher, now real estate developer, and Ann Dexter-Jones (née Dexter), a writer, jewelry designer, and socialite. His Ashkenazi Jewish ancestors emigrated from Austria, Lithuania, and Russia. He was brought up in a Conservative Jewish household and celebrated his Bar Mitzvah.
After his parents' divorce, his mother married Foreigner guitarist Mick Jones. Of note, Jones wrote Foreigner's hit song "I Want to Know What Love Is" about his burgeoning relationship with Dexter-Jones.
Ronson, along with his mother, stepfather, and sisters, moved to New York City when he was eight years old. Living on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, he counted Sean Lennon among his childhood friends. At twelve, being a self-described music nerd, he pestered Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner into an internship at the magazine. He attended high school at the private Collegiate School in Manhattan before attending Vassar College and then New York University. In 2008, he obtained American citizenship so that he could vote in that year's election.
Family
He was born into the Ronson family, formerly one of Britain's wealthiest families and founders of Heron International; following success in the 1980s, they lost $1 billion of their wealth in the property crash of the early 1990s. He is the nephew of businessman Gerald Ronson.
Through his mother, he is distantly related to British Conservative politicians Sir Malcolm Rifkind and Leon Brittan, and Odeon Cinemas founder Oscar Deutsch.
Ronson's has two younger sisters, twins Charlotte Ronson, a fashion designer, and Samantha Ronson, a singer and DJ. Through his mother's second marriage to Mick Jones he has two elder step-siblings and two half-siblings, including actress Annabelle Dexter-Jones. Through his father's second marriage, he has three other half-siblings.
Career
While attending New York University, Ronson became a regular in the downtown hip hop night life. He became known as a DJ on the New York club scene by 1993, charging $50 per job. He was known for his diverse, genre-spanning selection. He attracted a wide audience by fusing funk, hip hop, and rock and roll into his setlists, and playing songs that were popular in both the United States and the United Kingdom. He was soon popular and sought-after DJ in New York City, frequently booked for high-profile events and private parties. In 1999, Ronson was featured in an ad wearing Tommy Hilfiger denim in the recording studio for an ad campaign for the company.
2001–05: Here Comes the Fuzz and initial producing
Mark made the leap from DJ to producer after Nikka Costa's manager, Dominique Trenier, heard one of his sets and introduced the musicians. Ronson produced Costa's song "Everybody Got Their Something," and Ronson soon signed a record contract with Elektra Records. He had already produced tracks for Hilfiger ads and, in 2001, used the connection to have Costa's single "Like a Feather" used in an advertisement.
Ronson's debut album, Here Comes the Fuzz, was released in 2003. Despite poor initial sales, it was generally well received by critics. As well as writing the songs on the album, Ronson created the beats, played guitar, keyboards, and bass. The album featured performances from artists from diverse genres, including Mos Def, Jack White, Sean Paul, Nappy Roots and Rivers Cuomo. The lead single and best known song from the album, "Ooh Wee," samples "Sunny" by Boney M and features the rappers Nate Dogg, Ghostface Killah, Trife Da God, and Saigon. The song charted at number 15 on the UK Singles Chart and was used in a number of films, including in Honey (2003) and on its soundtrack. Two weeks after releasing Here Comes the Fuzz, Elektra Records dropped him.
In 2004, Ronson formed his own record label, Allido Records, a subsidiary of Sony BMG's J Records, along with his longtime manager Rich Kleiman. The first artist he signed to Allido was rapper Saigon, who later left to sign with Just Blaze's Fort Knox Entertainment. He has signed Rhymefest, most well known for winning the Grammy for co-writing Kanye West's "Jesus Walks."
2006–09: Version
On 2 April 2007, Ronson released a cover of The Smiths' track "Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before" under the title "Stop Me", featuring singer Daniel Merriweather. It reached number 2 in the UK singles charts, giving Ronson his highest-peaking single until 2014's "Uptown Funk". Ronson remixed the Bob Dylan song "Most Likely You Go Your Way And I'll Go Mine" in promotion for the three-disc Bob Dylan set titled Dylan released October 2007. Ronson has also produced Candie Payne's "One More Chance (Ronson mix)" in 2007.
The album Version was well received by critics particularly in the UK and US. In May 2007 it was awarded the title Album of the Month by the British dance music magazine, Mixmag. On 23 June, Ronson made the cover of The Guardian newspaper's Guide magazine, alongside singer Lily Allen.
In June 2007, Ronson signed DC hip hop artist Wale to Allido Records. In late 2007, he focused on production, working with Daniel Merriweather on his debut album, and recording again with Amy Winehouse and Robbie Williams.
On 24 October 2007, Ronson performed a one-off set at The Roundhouse in Camden, London as part of the BBC Electric Proms 2007. The performance featured the BBC Concert Orchestra and included special guests Terry Hall, Sean Lennon, Tim Burgess, Alex Greenwald, Ricky Wilson, Charlie Waller, Adele and Kyle Falconer.
In December 2007, Ronson received his first Grammy Award nomination, for 'Producer of the Year, Non-Classical'. Ronson's work with Amy Winehouse also received substantial accolades, gaining 6 nominations. Winehouse's "Back to Black" album, mostly produced by Ronson, was nominated for 'Album of the Year' and 'Best Pop Vocal Album'. Her song "Rehab" received nods for 'Best Female Pop Vocal Performance', 'Song of the Year' and 'Record of the Year'. Ronson would go on to win three Grammys: 'Producer of the Year' as well as 'Best Pop Vocal Album' and 'Record of the Year' (the latter two of which he shared with Amy Winehouse) in early February 2008.
Ronson is credited as producer on a mixtape album called Man in the Mirror, released in January 2008 by the rapper Rhymefest which is a tribute to the pop star Michael Jackson. The album features Rhymefest appearing to speak to Michael Jackson using archive audio from interviews with the pop star. The same month Ronson received three nominations for the Brit Awards, including 'Best Male Solo Artist,' 'Best Album' (Version) and 'Song of the Year' ("Valerie"). Ronson won his first Brit for 'Best Male Solo Artist' in mid-February 2008 over favourite Mika. He also performed a medley of Coldplay's "God Put a Smile upon Your Face" with Adele, "Stop Me" with Daniel Merriweather, and "Valerie" with Amy Winehouse.
The performance allowed for a large boost in sales in the iTunes UK Top 100. "Valerie" would jump almost 30 spots in the days after the event, while "Just", "Stop Me" and "Oh My God" all appeared in the chart as well. That same week, Ronson appeared twice in the UK Top 40, with "Valerie" rebounding to number 13 and "Just" at number 31, his fourth Top 40 entry from "Version". The Brits performance also allowed for "Version" to climb 18 spots to number 4.
Around this time, Ronson received his first number one on an international chart (Dutch Top 40) for "Valerie," which spent four consecutive weeks at the top of the chart. He collaborated with Kaiser Chiefs on their third album.
Ronson toured the album "Version" extensively through both the UK and Europe during 2008. Notable sold-out performances at The Hammersmith Apollo and Brixton Academy. Ronson is known to champion new upcoming artists on the road with him, such as Sam Sparro and Julian Perretta. Ronson's string backing was provided by the all-female string quartet Demon Strings.
On 2 July 2008, in Paris, Mark Ronson performed live with Duran Duran for an invited audience. They played new arrangements by Ronson of some Duran Duran songs, along with tracks from the band's new album, Red Carpet Massacre. Ronson & the Version Players also performed songs from his album Version. Simon LeBon sang. As of March 2009, Ronson was working with the group on their 13th album. The Album, titled All You Need Is Now, was released digitally exclusively via Apple's iTunes on 21 December 2010, while the physical CD was released in March 2011 with additional tracks. In 2013–14 Ronson was once again in the studio producing Duran Duran's 14th album, Paper Gods, making it the first time the band has worked with the same producer on consecutive albums since Colin Thurston produced their first two albums in the 1980s.
2010–12: Record Collection
In the Spring of 2010, Ronson confirmed the name of his new album Record Collection, and said that he hoped to have it out by September 2010. Additionally, Ronson announced the name of his new band, "The Business Intl.'", which is the alias adopted by Ronson on the third studio album. The first single "Bang Bang Bang". which featured rapper Q-Tip and singer MNDR was released on 12 July 2010, where it peaked at number 6 on the UK Singles Chart, giving Ronson his fourth Top 10 single. The single also entered the Irish Singles Chart, where it peaked at number 18. The second single from the album, "The Bike Song", was released on 19 September 2010, and features Kyle Falconer from The View and Spank Rock. The album was released on 27 September 2010. This is the first Ronson album on which he features as a singer.
Although Ronson had never met Michael Jackson he was given the vocal track to a song titled "Lovely Way", sung by Michael Jackson, in 2010 to produce for Jackson's posthumous album Michael. He submitted the track, but it did not make the tracklisting for Michael. Ronson said about the rumours surrounding the vocals on the track (due to the controversy surrounding the Cascio tracks on that same album), "It was definitely him singing. I was given a vocal track to work with but I never actually met Michael. [...] It's in the vein of Elton John's 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road' and John Lennon's 'Imagine'."
He provided the score for the 2011 film Arthur. Ronson was one of the artists featured in the 2012 documentary Re:GENERATION Music Project. His song "A La Modeliste" features Mos Def, Erykah Badu, Trombone Shorty, members of The Dap-Kings, and Zigaboo Modeliste.
2013–2017: Uptown Special and Amy
On 30 October 2014, Ronson announced, via Twitter, a new single from his upcoming album, to be released on 10 November 2014. The single, "Uptown Funk," features Bruno Mars on vocals. On 22 November 2014, Ronson and Mars appeared as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live performing "Uptown Funk" and "Feel Right" (featuring Mystikal). "Uptown Funk" reached number one in the UK and US singles charts, and also became the all-time most streamed track in a single week in the UK, having been streamed a record 2.49 million times in a week. "Uptown Funk" reached the top 10 in nearly every country it charted; it spent fifteen weeks at number one on the Canadian Hot 100, fourteen weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and seven weeks at number one on the UK Singles Chart. In February 2015 the song won Ronson the Brit Award for British Single of the Year. As of November 2021, the song's music video on YouTube has amassed over 4.3 billion views.
In 2015, Ronson starred in the documentary film Amy about his late friend Amy Winehouse. His voice features in the film where he talks about his career and relationship with Winehouse and there is footage of Ronson from the recording session of the single "Back to Black" from March 2006 and also at Winehouse's funeral in London in July 2011. On 16 October 2015, Ronson became a patron of the Amy Winehouse Foundation. In January 2016, Ronson was nominated for two Brit Awards; Best British Male Solo Artist, and British Producer of the Year, at the 2016 Brit Awards.
At the 2016 Grammy Awards Ronson won two awards for "Uptown Funk", including Record of the Year. Jason Iley, the head of Sony Music UK and Ronson's UK label Columbia Records, hailed Ronson as "a true gentleman" and "one of the most considerate, kind and humble artists in our industry." He added, "the monumental success of Uptown Funk is so thoroughly deserved and has established itself as, not only one of the Records of the Year but of our lifetime."
He went on to executive produce Lady Gaga's fifth album Joanne.
Ronson produced the Queens of the Stone Age's 2017 album Villains.
2018–present: Silk City, "Shallow" and Late Night Feelings
In 2018, Ronson founded his own label, Zelig Records, an imprint of Columbia Records and the first artist he signed was singer King Princess. He also formed the duo Silk City with fellow producer Diplo. Their first single "Electricity" featuring Dua Lipa was released on 6 September and peaked at the US Dance Club Songs and received the Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards.
In May 2018, it was revealed that Ronson was working with Miley Cyrus in the studio. Their first collaboration "Nothing Breaks Like a Heart" was released in November 2018. Ronson also co-wrote the song "Shallow" for the film A Star Is Born with his frequent collaborators Lady Gaga, Andrew Wyatt, and Anthony Rossomando. The song earned Ronson an Academy Award and the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, as well as two Grammy nominations, winning the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media.
On 12 April 2019, it was announced that Mark Ronson would release his fifth album Late Night Feelings, on 26 June 2019. The album features Miley Cyrus, Angel Olsen, Lykke Li and Camila Cabello. Ronson has described the album as a collection of "sad bangers," with the title track laying down a warm mid-tempo dance groove under Li's melancholy vocals.
On 12 October 2019, BBC Two broadcast the documentary Mark Ronson: From the Heart, directed by Carl Hindmarch.
In June of 2021, Ronson, along with Foo Fighters shared a "re-verson" of the Foo Fighters then latest single Making a Fire.
Personal life
Ronson divides his time between London, Los Angeles, and New York. Since childhood, he has been a fan of English Premier League football club Chelsea F.C. and is also a fan of the New York Knicks basketball team.
In 2009, Ronson was voted the most stylish man in the UK by GQ magazine.
In 2011, a portrait of Ronson was painted by British artist Joe Simpson; the painting was exhibited around the UK, including a solo exhibition at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
In 2015 he was named one of the magazine's 50 best dressed British men. >
On 20 August 2019, Ronson, along with several other celebrities, invested in a funding round for Lowell Herb Co, a California cannabis brand. He is known to be "a dedicated cannabis consumer".
Relationships
In 2002, Ronson began dating the actress-singer Rashida Jones. They became engaged in March 2003, with Ronson proposing by creating a crossword puzzle with the message "Will you marry me." Their relationship ended approximately one year later.
On 3 September 2011, Ronson married French actress and singer Joséphine de La Baume, who had previously appeared in the music video for "The Bike Song". On 16 May 2017, it was reported that de La Baume had filed for divorce from Ronson, listing the separation date as 21 April 2017. The divorce was finalized in October 2018. On 4 September 2021, Ronson announced his marriage to actress Grace Gummer, after a year of dating.
Lawsuit
In 2017, Lastrada Entertainment claimed that "Uptown Funk" infringed the copyright of Zapp & Roger's 1980 hit song "More Bounce to the Ounce". A total of three lawsuits had been filed by different parties.
Discography
Here Comes the Fuzz (2003)
Version (2007)
Record Collection (with The Business Intl.) (2010)
Uptown Special (2015)
Late Night Feelings (2019)
Filmography
Zoolander (2001) – Himself
Amy (2015) – Himself
Gaga: Five Foot Two (2017) – Himself
Spies in Disguise (2019) – Agency Control Room Technician (cameo)
Videos
Ronson created a video, along with directors Gary Breslin and Jordan Galland, called Circuit Breaker, which was an homage to the video game The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. In 2001, Ronson appeared in the Aaliyah music video "More Than a Woman" as a DJ. On 30 July 2021, the documentary series Watch the Sound with Mark Ronson was released on Apple TV+.
Production discography
Adapted from AllMusic. Bold denotes a commercial single.
Other singles
1997: Posse-O – "It's Up to You..."*
1998: Powerule – "Heatin' Up"*
1998: Powerule – "Rhymes to Bust" / "It's Your Right"*
2002: J-Live – "School's In"*
2004: Daniel Merriweather – "City Rules"*
2004: Daniel Merriweather – "She's Got Me"*
2005: Rhymefest – "These Days"*
2005: Rhymefest – "Brand New"*
2007: Candie Payne – "One More Chance"*
2007: Bob Dylan – "Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine) (Mark Ronson Re-version)"*
2008: Leon Jean-Marie – "Bed of Nails"*
2008: Kaiser Chiefs – "Never Miss a Beat"*
2008: Wiley – "Cash in My Pocket"*
2008: Kaiser Chiefs – "Good Days Bad Days"*
2009: Daniel Merriweather – "Change"*
2009: Daniel Merriweather – "Red"*
2009: Daniel Merriweather – "Impossible"
2012: Rufus Wainwright – "Out of the Game"*
2012: Rufus Wainwright – "Jericho"*
2013: Giggs – "(Is It Gangsta?) Yes Yes Yes"*
2015: Duran Duran featuring Janelle Monáe and Nile Rodgers – "Pressure Off"*
2016: Various Artists – "Hands"*
2018: Michael Jackson - "Diamonds Are Invincible"* (Mash-Up)
2018: Silk City - "Electricity"* featuring Dua Lipa, Diplo and Mark Ronson
2018: Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper – "Shallow"*
2020: Troye Sivan featuring Kacey Musgraves and Mark Ronson - "Easy"*
Awards and nominations
References
External links
Mark Ronson and Boy George
1975 births
20th-century English musicians
21st-century English musicians
Allido Records artists
APRA Award winners
British Ashkenazi Jews
Best Original Song Academy Award-winning songwriters
Brit Award winners
British alternative rock musicians
British hip hop DJs
Collegiate School (New York) alumni
English DJs
DJs from London
English emigrants to the United States
English people of Austrian-Jewish descent
English people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent
English people of Russian-Jewish descent
English multi-instrumentalists
English record producers
English songwriters
Golden Globe Award-winning musicians
Grammy Award winners
Hip hop record producers
Jewish English musicians
Jewish hip hop record producers
Jewish singers
Living people
People from Notting Hill
People from the Upper West Side
M
Mark Ronson
Silk City (duo) members
Sony Music UK artists
The Flip Squad members
Tisch School of the Arts alumni | true | [
"Nabor Castillo Pérez (born October 4, 1990 in Pachuca, Hidalgo) is a judoka from Mexico.\n\nAfter winning gold in Pan American Judo Championships he said that before championships he had hoped to win a medal but did not know what color it would be. His primary intention when entering was to gain points to qualify for the 2012 Summer Olympics. He did so, and reached the third round in London, beating Khom Ratanakmony before losing to Elio Verde.\n\nCastillo was the first Mexican judoka to win a medal at a World Judo Grand Prix event.\n\nAchievements\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\nMexican male judoka\n1990 births\nLiving people\nJudoka at the 2011 Pan American Games\nJudoka at the 2012 Summer Olympics\nOlympic judoka of Mexico\nPan American Games medalists in judo\nPan American Games silver medalists for Mexico\nMedalists at the 2011 Pan American Games",
"In video gaming parlance, an achievement, also sometimes known as a trophy, badge, advancement, award, stamp, medal, challenge, cheevo or in game achievement, is a meta-goal defined outside a game's parameters. Unlike the in-game systems of quests, tasks, and/or levels that usually define the goals of a video game and have a direct effect on further gameplay, the management of achievements usually takes place outside the confines of the game environment and architecture. Meeting the fulfillment conditions, and receiving recognition of fulfillment by the game, is referred to as unlocking the achievement.\n\nPurpose and motivation\nAchievements are included within games to extend the title's longevity and provide players with the impetus to do more than simply complete the game but to also find all of its secrets and complete all of its challenges. They are effectively arbitrary challenges laid out by the developer to be met by the player. These achievements may coincide with the inherent goals of the game itself, when completing a standard milestone in the game (such as achievements for beating each level of a game), with secondary goals such as finding secret power-ups or hidden levels, or may also be independent of the game's primary or secondary goals and earned via completing a game in an especially difficult or non-standard fashion (such as speedrunning a game (e.g., Braid)) or playing without killing any enemies (e.g., Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Dishonored), playing a certain number of times, viewing an in-game video, and/or beating a certain number of online opponents. Certain achievements may refer to other achievements—many games have one achievement that requires the player to have gained every other achievement.\n\nUnlike secrets, which traditionally provided some kind of direct benefit to the player in the form of easier gameplay (such as the warp pipe in Super Mario Bros.) or additional gameplay features (such as hidden weapons or levels in first-person shooters like Doom) even though they might have criteria similar to achievements in order to unlock, the narrative-independent nature of achievements allows them to be fulfilled without needing to provide the player with any direct, in-game benefit or additional feature. In addition, the achievements used in modern gaming are usually visible outside the game environment (on the Internet) and form part of the online profile for the player (Gamertag for Microsoft's Live Anywhere network, combining Xbox 360/Xbox One/Xbox Series X|S titles, PC games using Games for Windows – Live and Xbox Live on Windows 8 and Windows 10, and Xbox Live-enabled games on other platforms; PSN ID for PlayStation Network (PSN); User Profile Achievement Showcases for Steam; Armory Profiles for World of Warcraft; and Lodestone Profiles for Final Fantasy XIV).\n\nThe motivation for the player to gain achievements lies in maximizing their own general cross-title score (known as Gamerscore on Live, Trophy Level on PSN, and the Achievement Showcase for Steam User Profiles) and obtaining recognition for their performance due to the publication of their achievement/trophy profiles. Some players pursue the unlocking of achievements as a goal in itself, without especially seeking to enjoy the game that awards them—this community of players typically refer to themselves as \"achievement hunters\".\n\nSome implementations use a system of achievements that provide direct, in-game benefits to the gameplay, although the award is usually not congruent with the achievement itself. One example of such an implementation are \"challenges\" found in the multiplayer portions of the later Call of Duty titles. Challenges here may include a certain number of headshots or kills and are rewarded not only with the completion of the achievement but also a bonus item that can be equipped. Team Fortress 2 features 3 milestones for each of the nine classes. When a milestone is reached by obtaining a specific number of achievements for each class, the player will be awarded a non-tradable weapon unique to that class.\n\nOrigins and implementations\n\nSingle-game achievements \nThe idea for game achievements can be traced back to 1982, with Activision's patches for high scores. This was a system by which game manuals instructed players to achieve a particular high score, take a photo of score display on the television, and send in the photo to receive a physical, iron-on style patch in a fashion somewhat similar to a Boy Scout earning a Scout badge. This system was set up across many Activision titles regardless of platform, and though most of their games were on the popular Atari 2600, games on the Intellivision, ColecoVision, Atari 5200, and at least one title on the Commodore 64 also included similar instructions with patches as a reward. Patches would be sent with a letter from the company, often written as if from a fictional character, like Pitfall Harry, congratulating the player on the achievement. By the end of 1983, Activision's new games no longer included these achievements, but the company would still honor the process for their older games.\n\nThe game E-Motion on the Amiga from 1990 was one of the earliest games that had some form of achievements programmed into the game itself. The game called these \"secret bonuses\". The game had five such bonuses, for achievements such as completing a level without rotating to the right, or completely failing certain levels.\nA number of individual games have included their own in-game achievements system, separate from any overall platform. Most modern massively multiplayer online role-playing games have implemented their own in-game system of achievements; in some cases such as World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy XIV, these achievements are accessible outside the game when viewing user profiles on the game websites and the game may offer an API for achievement data to be pulled and used on other sites.\n\nPlatform (multi-game) achievement systems\n\nAlthough many other individual games would develop their own \"secret bonuses\" and internal achievements, the first implementation of an easily accessible and multi-game achievement system is widely considered to be Microsoft's Xbox 360 Gamerscore system, introduced at E3 in 2005. Microsoft extended Gamerscore support to the Games for Windows – Live scheme in 2007 by including support for Achievements in Halo 2.\n\nIn 2007, Valve became the second large publisher to release a platform-based, multi-game achievement system for their Steam platform, eventually capturing a wide number of Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and SteamOS based games.\n\nIn 2008, Sony followed suit by offering Trophies for the PlayStation 3. There was no Trophy support for the PlayStation Portable, even though the device does have PSN connection capability. By 2011, the successor to the PlayStation Portable, the PlayStation Vita, and all PlayStation Vita games had universal support for the Trophy system, as well as the later PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 and their games.\n\nApple added achievements to Game Center on October 12, 2011, with the release of the iOS 4, for mobile platform for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch.\nAchievements are available on Android via Google Play Games.\n\nMicrosoft's mobile OSes, Windows Phone 7 and Windows Phone 8, included Xbox Live support, including Achievements when first launched worldwide on October 21, 2010.\n\nAmazon Kindle provided the GameCircle service starting July 11, 2012, which tracks achievements and leaderboards for some games adapted to the Kindle platform.\n\nKongregate, a browser games hosting site, features Badges, which earn the user points, similar to Xbox Live's Gamerscore and PlayStation Network's Trophy system. Much like PSN's Trophies, points work towards increasing a player's level. The site FAQ explains, \"Your level will automatically rise as you earn points. We're still working out the details of what kind of privileges and potential prizes that points and levels could be used to unlock.\"\n\nRetroAchievements started in 2012 to retroactivily adding achievements to old game-systems for use in Emulation software like RetroArch. Users add indicatiors which trigger when a certain value changes in emulating the rom.\n\nGame achievements as satire\nThe advent of achievement-driven gaming was satirized in the Flash game Achievement Unlocked. The game is a simple platformer; it takes place on a single non-scrolling screen, and has only simple walking and jumping controls. It has no clearly defined victory condition aside from earning all 100 achievements, from the trivial (\"move left\", \"click the play field\") to the complex (\"touch every square\", \"find and travel to three particular locations in order\"). The game spawned two sequels.\n\nAchievements as part of gamification\nNSA information-gathering program XKeyscore uses achievements awarding \"skilz\" points to assist in training new analysts as a form of gamification of learning.\n\nSee also\n Xbox Live\n PlayStation Network\n Steam\n Game Center\n Google Play Games\n Unlockable (video games)\n New Game Plus\n\nReferences\n\nPlayer progress tracking in video games\nVideo game terminology"
] | [
"Mark Daniel Ronson (born 4 September 1975) is an English-American DJ, songwriter, record producer, and record executive. He is best known for his collaborations with artists such as Duran Duran, Amy Winehouse, Adele, Lady Gaga, Lily Allen, Robbie Williams, Miley Cyrus, Queens of the Stone Age, Kevin Parker and Bruno Mars.",
"He is best known for his collaborations with artists such as Duran Duran, Amy Winehouse, Adele, Lady Gaga, Lily Allen, Robbie Williams, Miley Cyrus, Queens of the Stone Age, Kevin Parker and Bruno Mars. He has received seven Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year for Winehouse's album Back to Black and two for Record of the Year singles \"Rehab\" and \"Uptown Funk\".",
"He has received seven Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year for Winehouse's album Back to Black and two for Record of the Year singles \"Rehab\" and \"Uptown Funk\". He received an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award and a Grammy Award for co-writing the song \"Shallow\" (performed by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper) for the film A Star is Born (2018). Ronson was born in London and raised in New York City.",
"Ronson was born in London and raised in New York City. His stepfather is Foreigner guitarist Mick Jones, which contributed to a childhood surrounded by music. While attending New York University, Ronson became a popular DJ in the hip-hop scene. His debut album Here Comes the Fuzz failed to have an effect on the charts. In 2006, he received acclaim for producing albums for Lily Allen, Christina Aguilera, and Amy Winehouse. In 2007, Ronson released his second album, Version.",
"In 2007, Ronson released his second album, Version. The album reached number two in the UK and included three top ten singles and earned him the Brit Award for British Male Solo Artist. He subsequently released his third studio album, Record Collection, peaking at number two in the UK. In 2014, Ronson released his single \"Uptown Funk\" featuring vocals from Bruno Mars. The single spent 14 consecutive weeks at number one on the U.S.",
"The single spent 14 consecutive weeks at number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, seven non-consecutive weeks at number one on the UK Singles Chart and became one of the best-selling singles of all-time. His fourth studio album, Uptown Special, became his most successful album to date.",
"His fourth studio album, Uptown Special, became his most successful album to date. In 2018, he founded his own label, Zelig Records (an imprint of Columbia Records), and formed the duo Silk City with fellow producer Diplo, they released their debut single \"Electricity\" featuring Dua Lipa for which he received the Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording. In 2015, he became a patron of the Amy Winehouse Foundation, which helps disadvantaged youth through music.",
"In 2015, he became a patron of the Amy Winehouse Foundation, which helps disadvantaged youth through music. He has also worked with the End the Silence campaign to raise money and awareness for the Hope and Homes for Children charity and served as an artist mentor at Turnaround Arts, a national program of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, which helped low-performing schools through arts education.",
"He has also worked with the End the Silence campaign to raise money and awareness for the Hope and Homes for Children charity and served as an artist mentor at Turnaround Arts, a national program of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, which helped low-performing schools through arts education. Early life Mark Daniel Ronson was born in Notting Hill, London, England, to Laurence Ronson, a then music manager and publisher, now real estate developer, and Ann Dexter-Jones (née Dexter), a writer, jewelry designer, and socialite.",
"Early life Mark Daniel Ronson was born in Notting Hill, London, England, to Laurence Ronson, a then music manager and publisher, now real estate developer, and Ann Dexter-Jones (née Dexter), a writer, jewelry designer, and socialite. His Ashkenazi Jewish ancestors emigrated from Austria, Lithuania, and Russia. He was brought up in a Conservative Jewish household and celebrated his Bar Mitzvah. After his parents' divorce, his mother married Foreigner guitarist Mick Jones.",
"After his parents' divorce, his mother married Foreigner guitarist Mick Jones. Of note, Jones wrote Foreigner's hit song \"I Want to Know What Love Is\" about his burgeoning relationship with Dexter-Jones. Ronson, along with his mother, stepfather, and sisters, moved to New York City when he was eight years old. Living on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, he counted Sean Lennon among his childhood friends.",
"Living on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, he counted Sean Lennon among his childhood friends. At twelve, being a self-described music nerd, he pestered Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner into an internship at the magazine. He attended high school at the private Collegiate School in Manhattan before attending Vassar College and then New York University. In 2008, he obtained American citizenship so that he could vote in that year's election.",
"In 2008, he obtained American citizenship so that he could vote in that year's election. Family He was born into the Ronson family, formerly one of Britain's wealthiest families and founders of Heron International; following success in the 1980s, they lost $1 billion of their wealth in the property crash of the early 1990s. He is the nephew of businessman Gerald Ronson. Through his mother, he is distantly related to British Conservative politicians Sir Malcolm Rifkind and Leon Brittan, and Odeon Cinemas founder Oscar Deutsch.",
"Through his mother, he is distantly related to British Conservative politicians Sir Malcolm Rifkind and Leon Brittan, and Odeon Cinemas founder Oscar Deutsch. Ronson's has two younger sisters, twins Charlotte Ronson, a fashion designer, and Samantha Ronson, a singer and DJ. Through his mother's second marriage to Mick Jones he has two elder step-siblings and two half-siblings, including actress Annabelle Dexter-Jones. Through his father's second marriage, he has three other half-siblings.",
"Through his father's second marriage, he has three other half-siblings. Career While attending New York University, Ronson became a regular in the downtown hip hop night life. He became known as a DJ on the New York club scene by 1993, charging $50 per job. He was known for his diverse, genre-spanning selection. He attracted a wide audience by fusing funk, hip hop, and rock and roll into his setlists, and playing songs that were popular in both the United States and the United Kingdom.",
"He attracted a wide audience by fusing funk, hip hop, and rock and roll into his setlists, and playing songs that were popular in both the United States and the United Kingdom. He was soon popular and sought-after DJ in New York City, frequently booked for high-profile events and private parties. In 1999, Ronson was featured in an ad wearing Tommy Hilfiger denim in the recording studio for an ad campaign for the company.",
"In 1999, Ronson was featured in an ad wearing Tommy Hilfiger denim in the recording studio for an ad campaign for the company. 2001–05: Here Comes the Fuzz and initial producing Mark made the leap from DJ to producer after Nikka Costa's manager, Dominique Trenier, heard one of his sets and introduced the musicians. Ronson produced Costa's song \"Everybody Got Their Something,\" and Ronson soon signed a record contract with Elektra Records.",
"Ronson produced Costa's song \"Everybody Got Their Something,\" and Ronson soon signed a record contract with Elektra Records. He had already produced tracks for Hilfiger ads and, in 2001, used the connection to have Costa's single \"Like a Feather\" used in an advertisement. Ronson's debut album, Here Comes the Fuzz, was released in 2003. Despite poor initial sales, it was generally well received by critics.",
"Despite poor initial sales, it was generally well received by critics. As well as writing the songs on the album, Ronson created the beats, played guitar, keyboards, and bass. The album featured performances from artists from diverse genres, including Mos Def, Jack White, Sean Paul, Nappy Roots and Rivers Cuomo.",
"The album featured performances from artists from diverse genres, including Mos Def, Jack White, Sean Paul, Nappy Roots and Rivers Cuomo. The lead single and best known song from the album, \"Ooh Wee,\" samples \"Sunny\" by Boney M and features the rappers Nate Dogg, Ghostface Killah, Trife Da God, and Saigon. The song charted at number 15 on the UK Singles Chart and was used in a number of films, including in Honey (2003) and on its soundtrack.",
"The song charted at number 15 on the UK Singles Chart and was used in a number of films, including in Honey (2003) and on its soundtrack. Two weeks after releasing Here Comes the Fuzz, Elektra Records dropped him. In 2004, Ronson formed his own record label, Allido Records, a subsidiary of Sony BMG's J Records, along with his longtime manager Rich Kleiman. The first artist he signed to Allido was rapper Saigon, who later left to sign with Just Blaze's Fort Knox Entertainment.",
"The first artist he signed to Allido was rapper Saigon, who later left to sign with Just Blaze's Fort Knox Entertainment. He has signed Rhymefest, most well known for winning the Grammy for co-writing Kanye West's \"Jesus Walks.\" 2006–09: Version On 2 April 2007, Ronson released a cover of The Smiths' track \"Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before\" under the title \"Stop Me\", featuring singer Daniel Merriweather.",
"2006–09: Version On 2 April 2007, Ronson released a cover of The Smiths' track \"Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before\" under the title \"Stop Me\", featuring singer Daniel Merriweather. It reached number 2 in the UK singles charts, giving Ronson his highest-peaking single until 2014's \"Uptown Funk\". Ronson remixed the Bob Dylan song \"Most Likely You Go Your Way And I'll Go Mine\" in promotion for the three-disc Bob Dylan set titled Dylan released October 2007.",
"Ronson remixed the Bob Dylan song \"Most Likely You Go Your Way And I'll Go Mine\" in promotion for the three-disc Bob Dylan set titled Dylan released October 2007. Ronson has also produced Candie Payne's \"One More Chance (Ronson mix)\" in 2007. The album Version was well received by critics particularly in the UK and US. In May 2007 it was awarded the title Album of the Month by the British dance music magazine, Mixmag.",
"In May 2007 it was awarded the title Album of the Month by the British dance music magazine, Mixmag. On 23 June, Ronson made the cover of The Guardian newspaper's Guide magazine, alongside singer Lily Allen. In June 2007, Ronson signed DC hip hop artist Wale to Allido Records. In late 2007, he focused on production, working with Daniel Merriweather on his debut album, and recording again with Amy Winehouse and Robbie Williams.",
"In late 2007, he focused on production, working with Daniel Merriweather on his debut album, and recording again with Amy Winehouse and Robbie Williams. On 24 October 2007, Ronson performed a one-off set at The Roundhouse in Camden, London as part of the BBC Electric Proms 2007. The performance featured the BBC Concert Orchestra and included special guests Terry Hall, Sean Lennon, Tim Burgess, Alex Greenwald, Ricky Wilson, Charlie Waller, Adele and Kyle Falconer.",
"The performance featured the BBC Concert Orchestra and included special guests Terry Hall, Sean Lennon, Tim Burgess, Alex Greenwald, Ricky Wilson, Charlie Waller, Adele and Kyle Falconer. In December 2007, Ronson received his first Grammy Award nomination, for 'Producer of the Year, Non-Classical'. Ronson's work with Amy Winehouse also received substantial accolades, gaining 6 nominations. Winehouse's \"Back to Black\" album, mostly produced by Ronson, was nominated for 'Album of the Year' and 'Best Pop Vocal Album'.",
"Winehouse's \"Back to Black\" album, mostly produced by Ronson, was nominated for 'Album of the Year' and 'Best Pop Vocal Album'. Her song \"Rehab\" received nods for 'Best Female Pop Vocal Performance', 'Song of the Year' and 'Record of the Year'.",
"Her song \"Rehab\" received nods for 'Best Female Pop Vocal Performance', 'Song of the Year' and 'Record of the Year'. Ronson would go on to win three Grammys: 'Producer of the Year' as well as 'Best Pop Vocal Album' and 'Record of the Year' (the latter two of which he shared with Amy Winehouse) in early February 2008.",
"Ronson would go on to win three Grammys: 'Producer of the Year' as well as 'Best Pop Vocal Album' and 'Record of the Year' (the latter two of which he shared with Amy Winehouse) in early February 2008. Ronson is credited as producer on a mixtape album called Man in the Mirror, released in January 2008 by the rapper Rhymefest which is a tribute to the pop star Michael Jackson. The album features Rhymefest appearing to speak to Michael Jackson using archive audio from interviews with the pop star.",
"The album features Rhymefest appearing to speak to Michael Jackson using archive audio from interviews with the pop star. The same month Ronson received three nominations for the Brit Awards, including 'Best Male Solo Artist,' 'Best Album' (Version) and 'Song of the Year' (\"Valerie\"). Ronson won his first Brit for 'Best Male Solo Artist' in mid-February 2008 over favourite Mika.",
"Ronson won his first Brit for 'Best Male Solo Artist' in mid-February 2008 over favourite Mika. He also performed a medley of Coldplay's \"God Put a Smile upon Your Face\" with Adele, \"Stop Me\" with Daniel Merriweather, and \"Valerie\" with Amy Winehouse. The performance allowed for a large boost in sales in the iTunes UK Top 100.",
"The performance allowed for a large boost in sales in the iTunes UK Top 100. \"Valerie\" would jump almost 30 spots in the days after the event, while \"Just\", \"Stop Me\" and \"Oh My God\" all appeared in the chart as well. That same week, Ronson appeared twice in the UK Top 40, with \"Valerie\" rebounding to number 13 and \"Just\" at number 31, his fourth Top 40 entry from \"Version\".",
"That same week, Ronson appeared twice in the UK Top 40, with \"Valerie\" rebounding to number 13 and \"Just\" at number 31, his fourth Top 40 entry from \"Version\". The Brits performance also allowed for \"Version\" to climb 18 spots to number 4. Around this time, Ronson received his first number one on an international chart (Dutch Top 40) for \"Valerie,\" which spent four consecutive weeks at the top of the chart.",
"Around this time, Ronson received his first number one on an international chart (Dutch Top 40) for \"Valerie,\" which spent four consecutive weeks at the top of the chart. He collaborated with Kaiser Chiefs on their third album. Ronson toured the album \"Version\" extensively through both the UK and Europe during 2008. Notable sold-out performances at The Hammersmith Apollo and Brixton Academy. Ronson is known to champion new upcoming artists on the road with him, such as Sam Sparro and Julian Perretta.",
"Ronson is known to champion new upcoming artists on the road with him, such as Sam Sparro and Julian Perretta. Ronson's string backing was provided by the all-female string quartet Demon Strings. On 2 July 2008, in Paris, Mark Ronson performed live with Duran Duran for an invited audience. They played new arrangements by Ronson of some Duran Duran songs, along with tracks from the band's new album, Red Carpet Massacre. Ronson & the Version Players also performed songs from his album Version. Simon LeBon sang.",
"Simon LeBon sang. Simon LeBon sang. As of March 2009, Ronson was working with the group on their 13th album. The Album, titled All You Need Is Now, was released digitally exclusively via Apple's iTunes on 21 December 2010, while the physical CD was released in March 2011 with additional tracks.",
"The Album, titled All You Need Is Now, was released digitally exclusively via Apple's iTunes on 21 December 2010, while the physical CD was released in March 2011 with additional tracks. In 2013–14 Ronson was once again in the studio producing Duran Duran's 14th album, Paper Gods, making it the first time the band has worked with the same producer on consecutive albums since Colin Thurston produced their first two albums in the 1980s.",
"In 2013–14 Ronson was once again in the studio producing Duran Duran's 14th album, Paper Gods, making it the first time the band has worked with the same producer on consecutive albums since Colin Thurston produced their first two albums in the 1980s. 2010–12: Record Collection In the Spring of 2010, Ronson confirmed the name of his new album Record Collection, and said that he hoped to have it out by September 2010. Additionally, Ronson announced the name of his new band, \"The Business Intl.",
"Additionally, Ronson announced the name of his new band, \"The Business Intl. '\", which is the alias adopted by Ronson on the third studio album. The first single \"Bang Bang Bang\". which featured rapper Q-Tip and singer MNDR was released on 12 July 2010, where it peaked at number 6 on the UK Singles Chart, giving Ronson his fourth Top 10 single. The single also entered the Irish Singles Chart, where it peaked at number 18.",
"The single also entered the Irish Singles Chart, where it peaked at number 18. The second single from the album, \"The Bike Song\", was released on 19 September 2010, and features Kyle Falconer from The View and Spank Rock. The album was released on 27 September 2010. This is the first Ronson album on which he features as a singer.",
"This is the first Ronson album on which he features as a singer. Although Ronson had never met Michael Jackson he was given the vocal track to a song titled \"Lovely Way\", sung by Michael Jackson, in 2010 to produce for Jackson's posthumous album Michael. He submitted the track, but it did not make the tracklisting for Michael. Ronson said about the rumours surrounding the vocals on the track (due to the controversy surrounding the Cascio tracks on that same album), \"It was definitely him singing.",
"Ronson said about the rumours surrounding the vocals on the track (due to the controversy surrounding the Cascio tracks on that same album), \"It was definitely him singing. I was given a vocal track to work with but I never actually met Michael. [...] It's in the vein of Elton John's 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road' and John Lennon's 'Imagine'.\" He provided the score for the 2011 film Arthur.",
"He provided the score for the 2011 film Arthur. He provided the score for the 2011 film Arthur. Ronson was one of the artists featured in the 2012 documentary Re:GENERATION Music Project. His song \"A La Modeliste\" features Mos Def, Erykah Badu, Trombone Shorty, members of The Dap-Kings, and Zigaboo Modeliste. 2013–2017: Uptown Special and Amy On 30 October 2014, Ronson announced, via Twitter, a new single from his upcoming album, to be released on 10 November 2014.",
"2013–2017: Uptown Special and Amy On 30 October 2014, Ronson announced, via Twitter, a new single from his upcoming album, to be released on 10 November 2014. The single, \"Uptown Funk,\" features Bruno Mars on vocals. On 22 November 2014, Ronson and Mars appeared as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live performing \"Uptown Funk\" and \"Feel Right\" (featuring Mystikal).",
"On 22 November 2014, Ronson and Mars appeared as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live performing \"Uptown Funk\" and \"Feel Right\" (featuring Mystikal). \"Uptown Funk\" reached number one in the UK and US singles charts, and also became the all-time most streamed track in a single week in the UK, having been streamed a record 2.49 million times in a week.",
"\"Uptown Funk\" reached number one in the UK and US singles charts, and also became the all-time most streamed track in a single week in the UK, having been streamed a record 2.49 million times in a week. \"Uptown Funk\" reached the top 10 in nearly every country it charted; it spent fifteen weeks at number one on the Canadian Hot 100, fourteen weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and seven weeks at number one on the UK Singles Chart.",
"\"Uptown Funk\" reached the top 10 in nearly every country it charted; it spent fifteen weeks at number one on the Canadian Hot 100, fourteen weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and seven weeks at number one on the UK Singles Chart. In February 2015 the song won Ronson the Brit Award for British Single of the Year. As of November 2021, the song's music video on YouTube has amassed over 4.3 billion views.",
"As of November 2021, the song's music video on YouTube has amassed over 4.3 billion views. In 2015, Ronson starred in the documentary film Amy about his late friend Amy Winehouse. His voice features in the film where he talks about his career and relationship with Winehouse and there is footage of Ronson from the recording session of the single \"Back to Black\" from March 2006 and also at Winehouse's funeral in London in July 2011. On 16 October 2015, Ronson became a patron of the Amy Winehouse Foundation.",
"On 16 October 2015, Ronson became a patron of the Amy Winehouse Foundation. In January 2016, Ronson was nominated for two Brit Awards; Best British Male Solo Artist, and British Producer of the Year, at the 2016 Brit Awards. At the 2016 Grammy Awards Ronson won two awards for \"Uptown Funk\", including Record of the Year.",
"At the 2016 Grammy Awards Ronson won two awards for \"Uptown Funk\", including Record of the Year. Jason Iley, the head of Sony Music UK and Ronson's UK label Columbia Records, hailed Ronson as \"a true gentleman\" and \"one of the most considerate, kind and humble artists in our industry.\" He added, \"the monumental success of Uptown Funk is so thoroughly deserved and has established itself as, not only one of the Records of the Year but of our lifetime.\"",
"He added, \"the monumental success of Uptown Funk is so thoroughly deserved and has established itself as, not only one of the Records of the Year but of our lifetime.\" He went on to executive produce Lady Gaga's fifth album Joanne. Ronson produced the Queens of the Stone Age's 2017 album Villains.",
"Ronson produced the Queens of the Stone Age's 2017 album Villains. 2018–present: Silk City, \"Shallow\" and Late Night Feelings In 2018, Ronson founded his own label, Zelig Records, an imprint of Columbia Records and the first artist he signed was singer King Princess. He also formed the duo Silk City with fellow producer Diplo.",
"He also formed the duo Silk City with fellow producer Diplo. Their first single \"Electricity\" featuring Dua Lipa was released on 6 September and peaked at the US Dance Club Songs and received the Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards. In May 2018, it was revealed that Ronson was working with Miley Cyrus in the studio. Their first collaboration \"Nothing Breaks Like a Heart\" was released in November 2018.",
"Their first collaboration \"Nothing Breaks Like a Heart\" was released in November 2018. Ronson also co-wrote the song \"Shallow\" for the film A Star Is Born with his frequent collaborators Lady Gaga, Andrew Wyatt, and Anthony Rossomando. The song earned Ronson an Academy Award and the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, as well as two Grammy nominations, winning the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media.",
"The song earned Ronson an Academy Award and the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, as well as two Grammy nominations, winning the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media. On 12 April 2019, it was announced that Mark Ronson would release his fifth album Late Night Feelings, on 26 June 2019. The album features Miley Cyrus, Angel Olsen, Lykke Li and Camila Cabello.",
"The album features Miley Cyrus, Angel Olsen, Lykke Li and Camila Cabello. Ronson has described the album as a collection of \"sad bangers,\" with the title track laying down a warm mid-tempo dance groove under Li's melancholy vocals. On 12 October 2019, BBC Two broadcast the documentary Mark Ronson: From the Heart, directed by Carl Hindmarch. In June of 2021, Ronson, along with Foo Fighters shared a \"re-verson\" of the Foo Fighters then latest single Making a Fire.",
"In June of 2021, Ronson, along with Foo Fighters shared a \"re-verson\" of the Foo Fighters then latest single Making a Fire. Personal life Ronson divides his time between London, Los Angeles, and New York. Since childhood, he has been a fan of English Premier League football club Chelsea F.C. and is also a fan of the New York Knicks basketball team. In 2009, Ronson was voted the most stylish man in the UK by GQ magazine.",
"In 2009, Ronson was voted the most stylish man in the UK by GQ magazine. In 2011, a portrait of Ronson was painted by British artist Joe Simpson; the painting was exhibited around the UK, including a solo exhibition at the Royal Albert Hall in London. In 2015 he was named one of the magazine's 50 best dressed British men. > On 20 August 2019, Ronson, along with several other celebrities, invested in a funding round for Lowell Herb Co, a California cannabis brand.",
"> On 20 August 2019, Ronson, along with several other celebrities, invested in a funding round for Lowell Herb Co, a California cannabis brand. He is known to be \"a dedicated cannabis consumer\". Relationships In 2002, Ronson began dating the actress-singer Rashida Jones. They became engaged in March 2003, with Ronson proposing by creating a crossword puzzle with the message \"Will you marry me.\" Their relationship ended approximately one year later.",
"Their relationship ended approximately one year later. Their relationship ended approximately one year later. On 3 September 2011, Ronson married French actress and singer Joséphine de La Baume, who had previously appeared in the music video for \"The Bike Song\". On 16 May 2017, it was reported that de La Baume had filed for divorce from Ronson, listing the separation date as 21 April 2017. The divorce was finalized in October 2018.",
"The divorce was finalized in October 2018. The divorce was finalized in October 2018. On 4 September 2021, Ronson announced his marriage to actress Grace Gummer, after a year of dating. Lawsuit In 2017, Lastrada Entertainment claimed that \"Uptown Funk\" infringed the copyright of Zapp & Roger's 1980 hit song \"More Bounce to the Ounce\". A total of three lawsuits had been filed by different parties. Discography Here Comes the Fuzz (2003) Version (2007) Record Collection (with The Business Intl.)",
"Discography Here Comes the Fuzz (2003) Version (2007) Record Collection (with The Business Intl.) (2010) Uptown Special (2015) Late Night Feelings (2019) Filmography Zoolander (2001) – Himself Amy (2015) – Himself Gaga: Five Foot Two (2017) – Himself Spies in Disguise (2019) – Agency Control Room Technician (cameo) Videos Ronson created a video, along with directors Gary Breslin and Jordan Galland, called Circuit Breaker, which was an homage to the video game The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.",
"(2010) Uptown Special (2015) Late Night Feelings (2019) Filmography Zoolander (2001) – Himself Amy (2015) – Himself Gaga: Five Foot Two (2017) – Himself Spies in Disguise (2019) – Agency Control Room Technician (cameo) Videos Ronson created a video, along with directors Gary Breslin and Jordan Galland, called Circuit Breaker, which was an homage to the video game The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. In 2001, Ronson appeared in the Aaliyah music video \"More Than a Woman\" as a DJ.",
"In 2001, Ronson appeared in the Aaliyah music video \"More Than a Woman\" as a DJ. On 30 July 2021, the documentary series Watch the Sound with Mark Ronson was released on Apple TV+. Production discography Adapted from AllMusic. Bold denotes a commercial single.",
"Production discography Adapted from AllMusic. Bold denotes a commercial single. Bold denotes a commercial single. Other singles 1997: Posse-O – \"It's Up to You...\"* 1998: Powerule – \"Heatin' Up\"* 1998: Powerule – \"Rhymes to Bust\" / \"It's Your Right\"* 2002: J-Live – \"School's In\"* 2004: Daniel Merriweather – \"City Rules\"* 2004: Daniel Merriweather – \"She's Got Me\"* 2005: Rhymefest – \"These Days\"* 2005: Rhymefest – \"Brand New\"* 2007: Candie Payne – \"One More Chance\"* 2007: Bob Dylan – \"Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine) (Mark Ronson Re-version)\"* 2008: Leon Jean-Marie – \"Bed of Nails\"* 2008: Kaiser Chiefs – \"Never Miss a Beat\"* 2008: Wiley – \"Cash in My Pocket\"* 2008: Kaiser Chiefs – \"Good Days Bad Days\"* 2009: Daniel Merriweather – \"Change\"* 2009: Daniel Merriweather – \"Red\"* 2009: Daniel Merriweather – \"Impossible\" 2012: Rufus Wainwright – \"Out of the Game\"* 2012: Rufus Wainwright – \"Jericho\"* 2013: Giggs – \"(Is It Gangsta?)",
"Other singles 1997: Posse-O – \"It's Up to You...\"* 1998: Powerule – \"Heatin' Up\"* 1998: Powerule – \"Rhymes to Bust\" / \"It's Your Right\"* 2002: J-Live – \"School's In\"* 2004: Daniel Merriweather – \"City Rules\"* 2004: Daniel Merriweather – \"She's Got Me\"* 2005: Rhymefest – \"These Days\"* 2005: Rhymefest – \"Brand New\"* 2007: Candie Payne – \"One More Chance\"* 2007: Bob Dylan – \"Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine) (Mark Ronson Re-version)\"* 2008: Leon Jean-Marie – \"Bed of Nails\"* 2008: Kaiser Chiefs – \"Never Miss a Beat\"* 2008: Wiley – \"Cash in My Pocket\"* 2008: Kaiser Chiefs – \"Good Days Bad Days\"* 2009: Daniel Merriweather – \"Change\"* 2009: Daniel Merriweather – \"Red\"* 2009: Daniel Merriweather – \"Impossible\" 2012: Rufus Wainwright – \"Out of the Game\"* 2012: Rufus Wainwright – \"Jericho\"* 2013: Giggs – \"(Is It Gangsta?) Yes Yes Yes\"* 2015: Duran Duran featuring Janelle Monáe and Nile Rodgers – \"Pressure Off\"* 2016: Various Artists – \"Hands\"* 2018: Michael Jackson - \"Diamonds Are Invincible\"* (Mash-Up) 2018: Silk City - \"Electricity\"* featuring Dua Lipa, Diplo and Mark Ronson 2018: Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper – \"Shallow\"* 2020: Troye Sivan featuring Kacey Musgraves and Mark Ronson - \"Easy\"* Awards and nominations References External links Mark Ronson and Boy George 1975 births 20th-century English musicians 21st-century English musicians Allido Records artists APRA Award winners British Ashkenazi Jews Best Original Song Academy Award-winning songwriters Brit Award winners British alternative rock musicians British hip hop DJs Collegiate School (New York) alumni English DJs DJs from London English emigrants to the United States English people of Austrian-Jewish descent English people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent English people of Russian-Jewish descent English multi-instrumentalists English record producers English songwriters Golden Globe Award-winning musicians Grammy Award winners Hip hop record producers Jewish English musicians Jewish hip hop record producers Jewish singers Living people People from Notting Hill People from the Upper West Side M Mark Ronson Silk City (duo) members Sony Music UK artists The Flip Squad members Tisch School of the Arts alumni"
] |
[
"Dan Aykroyd",
"Personal life"
] | C_e34fb9d03ce64858b218a779a10ed504_0 | Where did he grow up? | 1 | Where did Dan Aykroyd grow up? | Dan Aykroyd | Aykroyd was briefly engaged to actress Carrie Fisher. He proposed to her on the set of The Blues Brothers (1980), in which she appeared as a spurned girlfriend of John Belushi's Jake Blues who was trying to kill both brothers. The engagement ended when she reconciled with her former boyfriend, musician Paul Simon. In 1983, he married actress Donna Dixon, with whom he starred in the movies Doctor Detroit (1983), on whose set they first met; Spies Like Us (1985); and The Couch Trip (1988). They have three daughters, Danielle, Stella and Belle. Aykroyd maintains his Canadian roots as a longtime resident of Sydenham, Ontario, with his estate on Loughborough Lake. In a 2004 NPR interview with host Terry Gross, Aykroyd said that he had been diagnosed in childhood with Tourette syndrome (TS) as well as Asperger syndrome (AS). He stated that his TS was successfully treated with therapy. In 2015, he stated during a HuffPost Show interview with hosts Roy Sekoff and Marc Lamont Hill that his AS was "never diagnosed" but was "sort of a self-diagnosis" based on several of his own characteristics. Aykroyd is a former reserve commander for the police department in Harahan, Louisiana, working for Chief of Police Peter Dale. Aykroyd would carry his badge with him at all times. He currently serves as a Reserve Deputy of the Hinds County Sheriff's Department in Hinds County, Mississippi. He supports the Reserves with a fundraiser concert along with other Blues and Gospel singers in the State of Mississippi. CANNOTANSWER | Aykroyd maintains his Canadian roots as a longtime resident of Sydenham, Ontario, | Daniel Edward Aykroyd ( ; born July 1, 1952) is a Canadian actor, comedian, producer, musician and writer. He was an original member of the "Not Ready for Prime Time Players" on Saturday Night Live (1975–1979). He performed with his friend John Belushi in a musical sketch on SNL, the Blues Brothers, which they turned into an actual performing band and then featured in the 1980 film The Blues Brothers. Aykroyd also conceived the premise for, and starred as Dr. Raymond Stantz in, Ghostbusters (1984), which spawned a sequel and eventually an entire media franchise.
During his tenure on SNL, Aykroyd appeared in a recurring series of sketches about the Coneheads, a family of aliens stranded on Earth, which eventually spawned a feature film. After his departure, Aykroyd has occasionally returned to the show as guest appearances or cameos. In 1990, Aykroyd was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Boolie Werthan in the 1989 film Driving Miss Daisy. He wrote, directed and starred in the 1991 film Nothing but Trouble, his only directing credit. He starred as Reverend Mike Weber in his own sitcom, Soul Man (1997–1998). Aykroyd is also a businessman, having co-founded the House of Blues chain of music venues and the Crystal Head Vodka brand.
Early life
Aykroyd was born on July 1, 1952 (Canada Day) at The Ottawa Hospital in Ottawa, Ontario. He grew up in Ottawa, Canada's capital, where his father, Samuel Cuthbert Peter Hugh Aykroyd (1922 – 2020), a civil engineer, worked as a policy adviser to Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. His mother, Lorraine Hélène Marie (née Gougeon; April 27, 1918 – February 8, 2018), was a secretary. His mother was of French Canadian descent and his father was of English, Scottish, Irish, French, and Dutch ancestry. His brother, Peter, was also an actor.
He attended St. Pius X and St. Patrick's high schools, and studied criminology and sociology at Carleton University, but dropped out before completing his degree. He worked as a comedian in various Canadian nightclubs and ran an after-hours speakeasy, Club 505, in Toronto for several years.
Aykroyd is a heterochromiac syndactylite - he has webbed middle toes on both feet and he has different coloured eyes: one is brown and one is green.
Aykroyd developed his musical career in Ottawa, particularly through his regular attendances at Le Hibou, a club that featured many blues artists. He describes these influences as follows:
Aykroyd's first professional experience, which he gained at the age of 17, was as a member of the cast of the short-lived Canadian sketch comedy series The Hart and Lorne Terrific Hour with Lorne Michaels, among others. He was a member of the Second City comedy troupe in 1973 in both Toronto and Chicago.
Saturday Night Live
Aykroyd gained fame on the American late-night comedy show Saturday Night Live (SNL). He was originally hired, and paid $278 a week, as a writer for the show, but became a part of the cast before the series premiered. The original cast was referred to on the show as "The Not Ready For Prime Time Players". Aykroyd was the youngest member of the cast, and appeared on the show for its first four seasons, from 1975 to 1979. He brought a unique sensibility to the show, combining youth, unusual interests, talent as an impersonator, and an almost lunatic intensity. Guest host Eric Idle of Monty Python said that Aykroyd's ability to write and act out characters flawlessly made him the only member of the SNL cast capable of being a Python.
He was known for his impersonations of celebrities such as Jimmy Carter, Vincent Price, Richard Nixon, Rod Serling, Tom Snyder, Julia Child, and others. He was also known for his recurring roles, such as Beldar, father of the Coneheads family; with Steve Martin, Yortuk Festrunk, one of the "Two Wild and Crazy Guys" brothers from Bratislava, Slovakia; sleazy late-night cable TV host E. Buzz Miller and his cousin, corrupt maker of children's toys and costumes Irwin Mainway (who extolled the virtues and defended the safety of the "Bag-o-Glass" toy); Fred Garvin – male prostitute; and high-bred but low-brow critic Leonard Pinth-Garnell. Aykroyd and Jane Curtin famously parodied the Point/Counterpoint segment on the CBS news show 60 Minutes, which featured the liberal Shana Alexander and the conservative segregationist James Kilpatrick, by portraying the two as hating one another; Aykroyd's first words in response to Curtin's point were, "Jane, you ignorant slut!".
Aykroyd's eccentric talent was recognized by others in the highly competitive SNL environment; when he first presented his famous "Super Bass-O-Matic '76" sketch, a fake TV commercial in which a garish, hyper-pitchman (based on Ron Popeil) touts a food blender that turns an entire bass into liquid pulp, the other writers and cast members considered the sketch "so exhilaratingly strange that many remember sitting and listening, open-mouthed ... Nobody felt jealous of it because they couldn't imagine writing anything remotely like it." Aykroyd later revealed that the inspiration for the sketch was seeing his aunt Helene Gougeon (a noted culinary writer and food columnist in Montreal) pop a bass into a blender in order to make a bouillabaisse when he was 12 years old.
While Aykroyd was a close friend and partner with fellow cast member John Belushi and shared some of the same sensibilities, Aykroyd was more reserved and less self-destructive. Aykroyd later recalled that, unlike Belushi and other of his peers, he was uninterested in recreational drug use.
In 1977, he received an Emmy Award for writing on SNL; he later received two more nominations for writing and one for acting. In Rolling Stones February 2015 appraisal of all 141 SNL cast members to date, Aykroyd was ranked fifth (behind Belushi, Eddie Murphy, Tina Fey, and Mike Myers). "Of all the original [SNL] greats, Aykroyd is the least imitated", they wrote, "because nobody else can do what he did."
In later decades, Aykroyd made occasional guest appearances and unannounced cameos on SNL, often impersonating the American politician Bob Dole. He also brought back past characters including Irwin Mainway and Leonard Pinth-Garnell. In 1995, he appeared on the show to introduce a performance by Canadian rock band The Tragically Hip. Aykroyd, who is a fan of the band, had personally lobbied Lorne Michaels to book them as musical guests.
During some guest appearances, he resurrected the Blues Brothers musical act with frequent host John Goodman in place of Belushi. He became the second member of the original cast to host SNL in May 2003, when he appeared in the season finale. During his monologue, he performed a musical number with James Belushi similar to the Blues Brothers, but neither Aykroyd nor Belushi donned the famous black suit and sunglasses. On March 24, 2007, Aykroyd appeared as a crying fan of American Idol finalist Sanjaya Malakar (played by Andy Samberg) during "Weekend Update". On February 14, 2009, he appeared as U.S. House Minority leader John Boehner. Aykroyd also made a surprise guest appearance, along with many other SNL alumni, on the show of March 9, 2013.
The Blues Brothers
Aykroyd was a close friend of John Belushi. According to Aykroyd, their first meeting helped spark the Blues Brothers act. When they met in a club that Aykroyd frequented, he played a blues record in the background, and it stimulated a fascination with blues in Belushi, who was primarily a fan of heavy rock bands at the time. Aykroyd educated Belushi on the finer points of blues music, and with a little encouragement from then-SNL music director Paul Shaffer, it led to the creation of their Blues Brothers characters.
Backed by such experienced professional R&B sidemen as lead guitarist Steve Cropper, sax man Lou Marini, trumpeter Alan Rubin, and bass guitarist Donald "Duck" Dunn, the Blues Brothers proved more than an SNL novelty. Taking off with the public as a legitimate musical act, they performed live gigs and in 1978 released the hit album Briefcase Full of Blues (drawn from the fact that Aykroyd, as "Elwood Blues", carried his blues harmonicas in a briefcase that he kept handcuffed to his wrist, in the manner of a CIA courier; Belushi originally carried the key to those handcuffs). Briefcase Full of Blues eventually sold 3.5 million copies, and is one of the highest-selling blues albums of all time. The band was much further popularized in the 1980 film The Blues Brothers, which Aykroyd co-wrote. A sequel, titled Blues Brothers 2000, was released in 1998 and featured John Goodman as Belushi's replacement.
Cherokee Studios in Los Angeles was a regular haunt for the original Blues Brothers in the early days of the band. Belushi and Aykroyd became fixtures at the recording studio, while fellow Blues Brother Steve Cropper called Cherokee his producing home. Whenever they needed a bass player, they were joined by another Blues Brother, Donald "Duck" Dunn. During this time, Cropper, along with producing partner and Cherokee owner Bruce Robb, worked on a number of music projects with the two comedians/musicians, including Belushi's favorite band, Fear, and later Aykroyd's movie Dragnet.
The Blues Brothers Band continues to tour today, both with and without Aykroyd. The band features original members Cropper and Marini, along with vocalist Eddie Floyd. Aykroyd sometimes performs as Elwood, along with Belushi's younger brother Jim Belushi, who plays "Brother Zee" on stage. They are most frequently backed by the Sacred Hearts Band.
Other film and television work
Concurrent with his work in Saturday Night Live, Aykroyd played the role of Purvis Bickle, lift operator at the fictitious office block 99 Sumach Street in the CBC Television series Coming Up Rosie.
After leaving SNL, Aykroyd starred in a number of films, mostly comedies, with uneven results both commercially and artistically. His first three American feature films all co-starred Belushi. The first, 1941 (1979), directed by Steven Spielberg, was a box-office disappointment. The second, The Blues Brothers (1980), which he co-wrote with director John Landis, was a massive hit. The third, Neighbors (1981) had mixed critical reaction, but was another box-office hit. One of his best-received performances was as a blueblood-turned-wretch in the 1983 comedy Trading Places, in which he co-starred with fellow SNL alumnus Eddie Murphy and Jamie Lee Curtis.
In the early 1980s, Aykroyd began work on a script for the film that eventually became Ghostbusters, inspired by his fascination with parapsychology. The script initially included a much greater fantasy element, including time travel, but this was toned down substantially through work on the script with Harold Ramis (who became a co-writer) and director Ivan Reitman. Aykroyd originally wrote the role of Dr. Peter Venkman with Belushi in mind, but rewrote it for Bill Murray after Belushi's death. Aykroyd joked that the green ghost, later known as "Slimer", was "the ghost of John Belushi" and was based on Belushi's party-animal personality. Ghostbusters was released in 1984 and became a huge success for Aykroyd, who also appeared as one of the lead actors; the film earned nearly on a budget.
Aykroyd's next major film role was in the 1985 spy comedy film Spies Like Us, which like The Blues Brothers was co-conceived and co-written by Aykroyd, and directed by Landis. Aykroyd had again intended for Belushi to be the other lead in the film; the part was instead given to SNL alumnus Chevy Chase. The film was intended as an homage to the Bob Hope/Bing Crosby Road to ... movies of the 1940s to 1960s. Bob Hope made a cameo appearance in the film.
Dragnet, in which Aykroyd co-starred (with Tom Hanks) and co-wrote, was released in 1987. The film was both an homage and a satire of the previous Dragnet series, with Aykroyd playing Sgt. Joe Friday as a police officer whose law-and-order attitude is at odds with modern sensibilities.
Aykroyd appeared in five films released in 1988, all of them critical and commercial failures. A sequel to Ghostbusters, Ghostbusters II, was released in 1989; Aykroyd and the other co-creators were reluctant to make another Ghostbusters film, but succumbed to pressure from the film's studio, Columbia Pictures. The film, while considered inferior to the original, was another big hit, earning . Aykroyd was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for 1989's Driving Miss Daisy. He was the second SNL cast member to be nominated for an Oscar, the first being Joan Cusack.
Aykroyd's directorial debut was 1991's Nothing but Trouble starring Demi Moore, Chevy Chase, John Candy, and Aykroyd, sporting a bulbous prosthetic nose. The film was a critical and box-office flop. Aykroyd's other films in the 1990s were mostly similarly poorly received, including Coneheads (also based on a SNL skit), Exit to Eden, Blues Brothers 2000, and Getting Away with Murder. Two exceptions were Tommy Boy (1995), which starred SNL alumni David Spade and Chris Farley, in which Aykroyd played the role of Ray Zalinsky, and Grosse Pointe Blank (1997), in which Aykroyd had a well-received role as a rival hit man.
In 1994, Aykroyd made a guest appearance in an episode of the sitcom The Nanny as a refrigerator repairman. In 1997, he starred as an Episcopal priest in the ABC sitcom Soul Man, which lasted two seasons. In 1998, Aykroyd voiced the role of Chip, a wasp, in Antz. In 2001, he starred in the Woody Allen film The Curse of the Jade Scorpion. Most of his film roles since then have tended to be small character parts in big-budget productions, such as a signals analyst in Pearl Harbor and a neurologist in 50 First Dates.
In 2009, Aykroyd and Ramis wrote and appeared in Ghostbusters: The Video Game, which also featured Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts, William Atherton, and Brian Doyle-Murray. In 2010, he played the voice of the title character, Yogi Bear, in the live-action/CGI-animated-film Yogi Bear. That same year, Aykroyd and Chevy Chase guest-starred in the Family Guy episode "Spies Reminiscent of Us", an homage to Spies Like Us.
Aykroyd appeared in two February 2011 episodes of CBS's The Defenders as Judge Max Hunter, which also starred Jim Belushi. He also appeared on Top Chef Canada as a guest judge.
In 2013, Aykroyd voiced the role of Scarecrow in Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return. In 2015, he appeared in a State Farm insurance commercial along with Jane Curtin and Laraine Newman, as the Coneheads, talking to "Jake", a State Farm agent.
Aykroyd was one of the executive producers of Ghostbusters, a long-discussed reboot of the Ghostbusters franchise, which was released in 2016. Aykroyd had a cameo appearance in the film, along with many of the rest of the original Ghostbusters cast.
In early 2021, he provided the voice of the Postage Stamp Fellow in the episode The Dad-Feelings Limited in the TV series The Simpsons. He also reprised his role of Dr. Ray Stantz in the movie Ghostbusters: Afterlife. Though Sony has not confirmed any further sequels to Afterlife, Aykroyd expressed interest in having the surviving three actors of the original Ghostbusters team continuing to reprise their roles for as many sequels as possible while they were alive.
Other musical endeavours
Aykroyd participated in the recording of "We Are the World" in 1985, as a member of the chorus. He wrote the liner notes for fellow Ottawa-born blues musician JW-Jones's album Bluelisted in 2008. Until its ending in 2018, he hosted the internationally syndicated radio show "Elwood's BluesMobile", formerly known as the House of Blues Radio Hour, under his Blues Brothers moniker Elwood Blues.
Business ventures
In 1992, Aykroyd and Hard Rock Cafe co-founder Isaac Tigrett founded the House of Blues, a chain of music venues, with the mission to promote African-American cultural contributions of blues music and folk art.
Many other music and Hollywood personalities helped to finance it at its start. It began as a single location in Cambridge, Massachusetts, although other locations quickly followed, starting with a venue in New Orleans in 1994. In 2004, House of Blues became the second-largest live music promoter in the world, with seven venues and 22 amphitheatres in the United States and Canada. It was bought by Live Nation in 2006.
On New Year's Eve, 1994, Aykroyd opened the Aykroyd's Ghetto House Cafe on Princess Street in Kingston, Ontario.
In 2007, Aykroyd and artist John Alexander founded Crystal Head Vodka, a brand of high-end vodka known for its distinctive skull-shaped bottle and for being filtered through Herkimer diamond crystals.
Aykroyd is also part owner of several wineries in Canada's Niagara Peninsula, and the company that distributes Patrón tequila in Canada.
In 2016, Aykroyd partnered with TV producers Eric Bischoff and Jason Hervey and game developer Ike McFadden to release an online-casino game that features the Blues Brothers. Aykroyd provided the in-game voice of his Elwood Blues character via voiceover.
Charitable works
In 2009, Aykroyd contributed a series of reminiscences on his upbringing in Canada for a charity album titled Dan Aykroyd's Canada. He helped start the Blue Line Foundation, which is redeveloping flood-damaged lots in New Orleans and helping first responders buy them at reduced prices. Coastal Blue Line LLC, hopes to eventually rebuild 400 properties in New Orleans.
Aykroyd is a member of Canadian charity Artists Against Racism.
Personal life
Aykroyd was briefly engaged to actress Carrie Fisher. He proposed to her on the set of The Blues Brothers film, in which she appeared as a spurned girlfriend of John Belushi's Jake Blues. The engagement ended when she reconciled with her former boyfriend, musician Paul Simon. In 1983, he married actress Donna Dixon; they met on the set of Doctor Detroit released the same year. They appeared together in four additional films: Spies Like Us (1985); Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983); The Couch Trip (1988); and Exit to Eden (1994). They have three daughters, Danielle (known by her stage name, Vera Sola), Stella, and Belle.
Aykroyd maintains his Canadian roots as a longtime resident of Sydenham, Ontario, with his estate on Loughborough Lake.
In a 2004 NPR interview with host Terry Gross, Aykroyd said that he had been diagnosed in childhood with Tourette syndrome (TS) as well as Asperger syndrome (AS). He stated that his TS was successfully treated with therapy. In 2015, he stated during a HuffPost Show interview with hosts Roy Sekoff and Marc Lamont Hill that his AS was "never diagnosed", but was "sort of a self-diagnosis" based on several of his own characteristics.
Aykroyd is a former reserve commander for the police department in Harahan, Louisiana, working for Chief of Police Peter Dale. Aykroyd carried his badge with him at all times. He currently serves as a reserve deputy of the Hinds County Sheriff's Department in Hinds County, Mississippi. He supports the reserves with a fundraiser concert along with other blues and gospel singers in Mississippi.
Aykroyd is passionate about the outdoors, geology and paleontology which he attributes to watching his father work on constructing the Gatineau Parkway which included blasting through granite rock formations to run the highway. This passion has led Aykroyd to join renowned Canadian paleontologist Dr. Philip J. Currie on a number of digs, including fundraising digs and galas as fundraisers for the construction of the Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum in Wembley, Alberta. In recognition of Aykroyd's contributions, the museum's theatre was named the Aykroyd Family Theatre.
Friendship with John Belushi
In an appearance on the Today show, Aykroyd referred to John Belushi and himself as "kindred spirits." In the biography Belushi, Aykroyd claims that Belushi was the only man with whom he could ever dance. Aykroyd and Belushi were scheduled to present the Academy Award for Visual Effects in 1982, but Belushi died only a few weeks prior to the ceremony. Though devastated by his friend's death, Aykroyd presented the award alone, remarking from the stage: "My partner would have loved to have been here to present this, given that he was something of a visual effect himself."
Aykroyd was openly hostile to the 1989 film Wired, a biopic of Belushi which was based on the 1984 book of the same name by journalist Bob Woodward, starred Michael Chiklis in his film debut as Belushi, and featured him as a character played by actor Gary Groomes. Along with Belushi's widow Judith and brother Jim, and many other friends, associates and relatives of Belushi, he boycotted the film and the associated book for misrepresenting Belushi's life, and expressed his desire that the film would flop at the box office, which it ultimately did. During an interview for MTV's The Big Picture in June 1988, he said, "I have witches working now to jinx the thing... I hope it never gets seen and I am going to hurl all the negative energy I can and muster all my hell energies [against them]. My thunderbolts are out on this one, quite truthfully." He had actor J. T. Walsh removed from the film Loose Cannons after Walsh had already done two days of filming, after finding out that Walsh had been in the cast of Wired. Walsh was replaced by fellow Canadian Paul Koslo, causing the film a $125,000 production delay.
Beliefs
Aykroyd considers himself a Spiritualist, stating:
I am a Spiritualist, a proud wearer of the Spiritualist badge. Mediums and psychic research have gone on for many, many years ... Loads of people have seen spirits, heard a voice, or felt the cold temperature. I believe that they are between here and there, that they exist between the fourth and fifth dimensions, and that they visit us frequently.
Aykroyd's great-grandfather, a dentist, was a mystic who corresponded with author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle on the subject of Spiritualism, and was a member of the Lily Dale Society. Other than Spiritualism, Aykroyd is also interested in various other aspects of the paranormal, particularly UFOlogy. He is a lifetime member of and official Hollywood consultant for the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON). Along these lines, he served, from 1996 to 2000, as host of Psi Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal, which claimed to describe cases drawn from the archives of "The Office of Scientific Investigation and Research". In 2005, Aykroyd produced the DVD Dan Aykroyd: Unplugged on UFOs.
Aykroyd is interviewed for 80 minutes by UFOlogist David Sereda discussing in depth many aspects of the UFO phenomenon.
On September 29, 2009, Peter Aykroyd Sr., Dan's father, published a book entitled A History of Ghosts. This book chronicled the family's historical involvement in the Spiritualist movement, to which Aykroyd readily refers. Aykroyd wrote the introduction and accompanied his father on a series of promotional activities, including launches in New York and Toronto, appearances on Larry King Live and Coast to Coast AM, and various other public-relations initiatives. Aykroyd also read the introduction for the audio version of the book. In 1997, the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry awarded Aykroyd in absentia the Snuffed Candle Award for hosting Psi Factor and being a "long-time promoter ... of paranormal claims". Following the awards, Joe Nickell wrote to Aykroyd asking for the research behind the "cases" presented on Psi Factor, particularly a claim that NASA scientists were "killed while investigating a meteor crash and giant eggs were found and incubated, yielding a flea the size of a hog".
Filmography
Film
Television
Video games
Guest appearances on SNL
Awards and nominations
In 1977, Aykroyd received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy-Variety or Music Series for his collaborative work on Saturday Night Live. In 1994, he received an honorary Doctor of Literature degree from Carleton University. In 1999, Aykroyd was made a Member of the Order of Canada. He was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame in 2002. In 2017, he was made a member of the Order of Ontario in recognition for being "one of the world's most popular entertainers, well-known for his time on Saturday Night Live and the 1984 classic movie Ghostbusters."
See also
List of Canadian actors
List of celebrities who own wineries and vineyards
Saturday Night Live cast members
References
Further reading
Hill, Doug, and Weingrad, Jeff, Saturday Night: A Backstage History of Saturday Night Live. Vintage Books, 1986. .
External links
Dan Aykroyd, Still Full of the 'Blues' – interview on NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross – originally aired November 22, 2004
1952 births
20th-century American comedians
20th-century American male actors
20th-century Canadian comedians
20th-century Canadian male actors
20th-century Canadian male writers
20th-century Canadian writers
21st-century American comedians
21st-century American male actors
21st-century Canadian comedians
21st-century Canadian male actors
American impressionists (entertainers)
American male comedians
American male film actors
American male television actors
American male television writers
American male voice actors
American people of Dutch descent
American people of English descent
American people of French-Canadian descent
American people of Irish descent
American people of Scottish descent
American male screenwriters
American sketch comedians
American spiritualists
American television personalities
American television writers
Businesspeople from Ottawa
Canadian conspiracy theorists
Canadian emigrants to the United States
Canadian impressionists (entertainers)
Canadian male comedians
Canadian male film actors
Canadian male television actors
Canadian male voice actors
Canadian people of Dutch descent
Canadian people of English descent
Canadian people of French descent
Canadian people of Irish descent
Canadian people of Scottish descent
Canadian male screenwriters
Canadian sketch comedians
Canadian spiritualists
Canadian television personalities
Canadian television writers
Carleton University alumni
Comedians from Ontario
Golden Raspberry Award winners
Living people
Male actors from Ottawa
Members of the Order of Canada
Members of the Order of Ontario
People from Harahan, Louisiana
People with Tourette syndrome
Primetime Emmy Award winners
The Blues Brothers members
Ufologists
UFO conspiracy theorists
Writers from Ottawa | true | [
"Grow Up may refer to:\nAdvance in age\nProgress toward psychological maturity\nGrow Up (book), a 2007 book by Keith Allen\nGrow Up (video game), 2016 video game\n\nMusic\nGrow Up (Desperate Journalist album), 2017\nGrow Up (The Queers album), 1990\nGrow Up (Svoy album), 2011\nGrow Up, a 2015 EP by HALO\n\"Grow Up\" (Olly Murs song)\n\"Grow Up\" (Paramore song)\n\"Grow Up\" (Simple Plan song)\n\"Grow Up\", a song by Rockwell\n\"Grow Up\", a song from the Bratz album Rock Angelz\n\"Grow Up\", a song by Cher Lloyd from Sticks and Stones\n\nSee also\nGrowing Up (disambiguation)\nGrow Up, Tony Phillips, a 2013 film by Emily Hagins",
"\"When I Grow Up\" is the second single from Swedish recording artist Fever Ray's self-titled debut album, Fever Ray (2009).\n\nCritical reception\nPitchfork Media placed \"When I Grow Up\" at number 36 on the website's list of The Top 100 Tracks of 2009.\n\nMusic video\nThe music video for \"When I Grow Up\" was directed by Martin de Thurah. He said of the video's visual statement:\n\n\"That initial idea was something about something coming out of water—something which was about to take form – a state turning into something new. And a double headed creature not deciding which to turn. But the idea had to take a simpler form, to let the song grow by itself. I remembered a photo I took in Croatia two years ago, a swimming pool with its shining blue color in a grey foggy autumn landscape.\"\n\nThe video premiered on Fever Ray's YouTube channel on 19 February 2009. It has received over 12 million views as of March 2016.\n\n\"When I Grow Up\" was placed at number three on Spins list of The 20 Best Videos of 2009.\n\nTrack listings\niTunes single\n\"When I Grow Up\" – 4:31\n\"When I Grow Up\" (Håkan Lidbo's Encephalitis Remix) – 5:59\n\"When I Grow Up\" (D. Lissvik) – 4:28\n\"Memories from When I Grew Up (Remembered by The Subliminal Kid)\" – 16:41\n\"When I Grow Up\" (Van Rivers Dark Sails on the Horizon Mix) – 9:16\n\"When I Grow Up\" (We Grow Apart Vocal Version by Pär Grindvik) – 6:02\n\"When I Grow Up\" (We Grow Apart Inspiration - Take 2 - By Pär Grindvik) – 7:59\n\"When I Grow Up\" (Scuba's High Up Mix) – 6:17\n\"When I Grow Up\" (Scuba's Straight Down Mix) – 5:54\n\"When I Grow Up\" (Video) – 4:04\n\nSwedish 12\" single \nA1. \"When I Grow Up\" (Van Rivers Dark Sails on the Horizon Mix) – 9:10\nA2. \"When I Grow Up\" (D. Lissvik) – 4:28\nB1. \"Memories from When I Grew Up (Remembered by The Subliminal Kid)\" – 16:41\n\nUK promo CD single \n\"When I Grow Up\" (Edit) – 3:42\n\"When I Grow Up\" (D. Lissvik Radio Edit) – 3:19\n\nNominations\n\nAppearances in other media\nThe song was used as part of the soundtrack for the video game Pro Evolution Soccer 2011.\n\nReferences\n\n2009 singles\n2009 songs\nFever Ray songs\nSongs written by Karin Dreijer"
] | [
"Daniel Edward Aykroyd ( ; born July 1, 1952) is a Canadian actor, comedian, producer, musician and writer. He was an original member of the \"Not Ready for Prime Time Players\" on Saturday Night Live (1975–1979). He performed with his friend John Belushi in a musical sketch on SNL, the Blues Brothers, which they turned into an actual performing band and then featured in the 1980 film The Blues Brothers.",
"He performed with his friend John Belushi in a musical sketch on SNL, the Blues Brothers, which they turned into an actual performing band and then featured in the 1980 film The Blues Brothers. Aykroyd also conceived the premise for, and starred as Dr. Raymond Stantz in, Ghostbusters (1984), which spawned a sequel and eventually an entire media franchise.",
"Aykroyd also conceived the premise for, and starred as Dr. Raymond Stantz in, Ghostbusters (1984), which spawned a sequel and eventually an entire media franchise. During his tenure on SNL, Aykroyd appeared in a recurring series of sketches about the Coneheads, a family of aliens stranded on Earth, which eventually spawned a feature film. After his departure, Aykroyd has occasionally returned to the show as guest appearances or cameos.",
"After his departure, Aykroyd has occasionally returned to the show as guest appearances or cameos. In 1990, Aykroyd was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Boolie Werthan in the 1989 film Driving Miss Daisy. He wrote, directed and starred in the 1991 film Nothing but Trouble, his only directing credit. He starred as Reverend Mike Weber in his own sitcom, Soul Man (1997–1998).",
"He starred as Reverend Mike Weber in his own sitcom, Soul Man (1997–1998). Aykroyd is also a businessman, having co-founded the House of Blues chain of music venues and the Crystal Head Vodka brand. Early life Aykroyd was born on July 1, 1952 (Canada Day) at The Ottawa Hospital in Ottawa, Ontario.",
"Early life Aykroyd was born on July 1, 1952 (Canada Day) at The Ottawa Hospital in Ottawa, Ontario. He grew up in Ottawa, Canada's capital, where his father, Samuel Cuthbert Peter Hugh Aykroyd (1922 – 2020), a civil engineer, worked as a policy adviser to Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. His mother, Lorraine Hélène Marie (née Gougeon; April 27, 1918 – February 8, 2018), was a secretary.",
"His mother, Lorraine Hélène Marie (née Gougeon; April 27, 1918 – February 8, 2018), was a secretary. His mother was of French Canadian descent and his father was of English, Scottish, Irish, French, and Dutch ancestry. His brother, Peter, was also an actor. He attended St. Pius X and St. Patrick's high schools, and studied criminology and sociology at Carleton University, but dropped out before completing his degree.",
"He attended St. Pius X and St. Patrick's high schools, and studied criminology and sociology at Carleton University, but dropped out before completing his degree. He worked as a comedian in various Canadian nightclubs and ran an after-hours speakeasy, Club 505, in Toronto for several years. Aykroyd is a heterochromiac syndactylite - he has webbed middle toes on both feet and he has different coloured eyes: one is brown and one is green.",
"Aykroyd is a heterochromiac syndactylite - he has webbed middle toes on both feet and he has different coloured eyes: one is brown and one is green. Aykroyd developed his musical career in Ottawa, particularly through his regular attendances at Le Hibou, a club that featured many blues artists.",
"Aykroyd developed his musical career in Ottawa, particularly through his regular attendances at Le Hibou, a club that featured many blues artists. He describes these influences as follows: Aykroyd's first professional experience, which he gained at the age of 17, was as a member of the cast of the short-lived Canadian sketch comedy series The Hart and Lorne Terrific Hour with Lorne Michaels, among others. He was a member of the Second City comedy troupe in 1973 in both Toronto and Chicago.",
"He was a member of the Second City comedy troupe in 1973 in both Toronto and Chicago. Saturday Night Live Aykroyd gained fame on the American late-night comedy show Saturday Night Live (SNL). He was originally hired, and paid $278 a week, as a writer for the show, but became a part of the cast before the series premiered. The original cast was referred to on the show as \"The Not Ready For Prime Time Players\".",
"The original cast was referred to on the show as \"The Not Ready For Prime Time Players\". Aykroyd was the youngest member of the cast, and appeared on the show for its first four seasons, from 1975 to 1979. He brought a unique sensibility to the show, combining youth, unusual interests, talent as an impersonator, and an almost lunatic intensity.",
"He brought a unique sensibility to the show, combining youth, unusual interests, talent as an impersonator, and an almost lunatic intensity. Guest host Eric Idle of Monty Python said that Aykroyd's ability to write and act out characters flawlessly made him the only member of the SNL cast capable of being a Python. He was known for his impersonations of celebrities such as Jimmy Carter, Vincent Price, Richard Nixon, Rod Serling, Tom Snyder, Julia Child, and others.",
"He was known for his impersonations of celebrities such as Jimmy Carter, Vincent Price, Richard Nixon, Rod Serling, Tom Snyder, Julia Child, and others. He was also known for his recurring roles, such as Beldar, father of the Coneheads family; with Steve Martin, Yortuk Festrunk, one of the \"Two Wild and Crazy Guys\" brothers from Bratislava, Slovakia; sleazy late-night cable TV host E. Buzz Miller and his cousin, corrupt maker of children's toys and costumes Irwin Mainway (who extolled the virtues and defended the safety of the \"Bag-o-Glass\" toy); Fred Garvin – male prostitute; and high-bred but low-brow critic Leonard Pinth-Garnell.",
"He was also known for his recurring roles, such as Beldar, father of the Coneheads family; with Steve Martin, Yortuk Festrunk, one of the \"Two Wild and Crazy Guys\" brothers from Bratislava, Slovakia; sleazy late-night cable TV host E. Buzz Miller and his cousin, corrupt maker of children's toys and costumes Irwin Mainway (who extolled the virtues and defended the safety of the \"Bag-o-Glass\" toy); Fred Garvin – male prostitute; and high-bred but low-brow critic Leonard Pinth-Garnell. Aykroyd and Jane Curtin famously parodied the Point/Counterpoint segment on the CBS news show 60 Minutes, which featured the liberal Shana Alexander and the conservative segregationist James Kilpatrick, by portraying the two as hating one another; Aykroyd's first words in response to Curtin's point were, \"Jane, you ignorant slut!\".",
"Aykroyd and Jane Curtin famously parodied the Point/Counterpoint segment on the CBS news show 60 Minutes, which featured the liberal Shana Alexander and the conservative segregationist James Kilpatrick, by portraying the two as hating one another; Aykroyd's first words in response to Curtin's point were, \"Jane, you ignorant slut!\". Aykroyd's eccentric talent was recognized by others in the highly competitive SNL environment; when he first presented his famous \"Super Bass-O-Matic '76\" sketch, a fake TV commercial in which a garish, hyper-pitchman (based on Ron Popeil) touts a food blender that turns an entire bass into liquid pulp, the other writers and cast members considered the sketch \"so exhilaratingly strange that many remember sitting and listening, open-mouthed ... Nobody felt jealous of it because they couldn't imagine writing anything remotely like it.\"",
"Aykroyd's eccentric talent was recognized by others in the highly competitive SNL environment; when he first presented his famous \"Super Bass-O-Matic '76\" sketch, a fake TV commercial in which a garish, hyper-pitchman (based on Ron Popeil) touts a food blender that turns an entire bass into liquid pulp, the other writers and cast members considered the sketch \"so exhilaratingly strange that many remember sitting and listening, open-mouthed ... Nobody felt jealous of it because they couldn't imagine writing anything remotely like it.\" Aykroyd later revealed that the inspiration for the sketch was seeing his aunt Helene Gougeon (a noted culinary writer and food columnist in Montreal) pop a bass into a blender in order to make a bouillabaisse when he was 12 years old.",
"Aykroyd later revealed that the inspiration for the sketch was seeing his aunt Helene Gougeon (a noted culinary writer and food columnist in Montreal) pop a bass into a blender in order to make a bouillabaisse when he was 12 years old. While Aykroyd was a close friend and partner with fellow cast member John Belushi and shared some of the same sensibilities, Aykroyd was more reserved and less self-destructive. Aykroyd later recalled that, unlike Belushi and other of his peers, he was uninterested in recreational drug use.",
"Aykroyd later recalled that, unlike Belushi and other of his peers, he was uninterested in recreational drug use. In 1977, he received an Emmy Award for writing on SNL; he later received two more nominations for writing and one for acting. In Rolling Stones February 2015 appraisal of all 141 SNL cast members to date, Aykroyd was ranked fifth (behind Belushi, Eddie Murphy, Tina Fey, and Mike Myers).",
"In Rolling Stones February 2015 appraisal of all 141 SNL cast members to date, Aykroyd was ranked fifth (behind Belushi, Eddie Murphy, Tina Fey, and Mike Myers). \"Of all the original [SNL] greats, Aykroyd is the least imitated\", they wrote, \"because nobody else can do what he did.\" In later decades, Aykroyd made occasional guest appearances and unannounced cameos on SNL, often impersonating the American politician Bob Dole.",
"In later decades, Aykroyd made occasional guest appearances and unannounced cameos on SNL, often impersonating the American politician Bob Dole. He also brought back past characters including Irwin Mainway and Leonard Pinth-Garnell. In 1995, he appeared on the show to introduce a performance by Canadian rock band The Tragically Hip. Aykroyd, who is a fan of the band, had personally lobbied Lorne Michaels to book them as musical guests. During some guest appearances, he resurrected the Blues Brothers musical act with frequent host John Goodman in place of Belushi.",
"During some guest appearances, he resurrected the Blues Brothers musical act with frequent host John Goodman in place of Belushi. He became the second member of the original cast to host SNL in May 2003, when he appeared in the season finale. During his monologue, he performed a musical number with James Belushi similar to the Blues Brothers, but neither Aykroyd nor Belushi donned the famous black suit and sunglasses.",
"During his monologue, he performed a musical number with James Belushi similar to the Blues Brothers, but neither Aykroyd nor Belushi donned the famous black suit and sunglasses. On March 24, 2007, Aykroyd appeared as a crying fan of American Idol finalist Sanjaya Malakar (played by Andy Samberg) during \"Weekend Update\". On February 14, 2009, he appeared as U.S. House Minority leader John Boehner.",
"On February 14, 2009, he appeared as U.S. House Minority leader John Boehner. Aykroyd also made a surprise guest appearance, along with many other SNL alumni, on the show of March 9, 2013. The Blues Brothers Aykroyd was a close friend of John Belushi. According to Aykroyd, their first meeting helped spark the Blues Brothers act.",
"According to Aykroyd, their first meeting helped spark the Blues Brothers act. When they met in a club that Aykroyd frequented, he played a blues record in the background, and it stimulated a fascination with blues in Belushi, who was primarily a fan of heavy rock bands at the time. Aykroyd educated Belushi on the finer points of blues music, and with a little encouragement from then-SNL music director Paul Shaffer, it led to the creation of their Blues Brothers characters.",
"Aykroyd educated Belushi on the finer points of blues music, and with a little encouragement from then-SNL music director Paul Shaffer, it led to the creation of their Blues Brothers characters. Backed by such experienced professional R&B sidemen as lead guitarist Steve Cropper, sax man Lou Marini, trumpeter Alan Rubin, and bass guitarist Donald \"Duck\" Dunn, the Blues Brothers proved more than an SNL novelty.",
"Backed by such experienced professional R&B sidemen as lead guitarist Steve Cropper, sax man Lou Marini, trumpeter Alan Rubin, and bass guitarist Donald \"Duck\" Dunn, the Blues Brothers proved more than an SNL novelty. Taking off with the public as a legitimate musical act, they performed live gigs and in 1978 released the hit album Briefcase Full of Blues (drawn from the fact that Aykroyd, as \"Elwood Blues\", carried his blues harmonicas in a briefcase that he kept handcuffed to his wrist, in the manner of a CIA courier; Belushi originally carried the key to those handcuffs).",
"Taking off with the public as a legitimate musical act, they performed live gigs and in 1978 released the hit album Briefcase Full of Blues (drawn from the fact that Aykroyd, as \"Elwood Blues\", carried his blues harmonicas in a briefcase that he kept handcuffed to his wrist, in the manner of a CIA courier; Belushi originally carried the key to those handcuffs). Briefcase Full of Blues eventually sold 3.5 million copies, and is one of the highest-selling blues albums of all time.",
"Briefcase Full of Blues eventually sold 3.5 million copies, and is one of the highest-selling blues albums of all time. The band was much further popularized in the 1980 film The Blues Brothers, which Aykroyd co-wrote. A sequel, titled Blues Brothers 2000, was released in 1998 and featured John Goodman as Belushi's replacement. Cherokee Studios in Los Angeles was a regular haunt for the original Blues Brothers in the early days of the band.",
"Cherokee Studios in Los Angeles was a regular haunt for the original Blues Brothers in the early days of the band. Belushi and Aykroyd became fixtures at the recording studio, while fellow Blues Brother Steve Cropper called Cherokee his producing home. Whenever they needed a bass player, they were joined by another Blues Brother, Donald \"Duck\" Dunn.",
"Whenever they needed a bass player, they were joined by another Blues Brother, Donald \"Duck\" Dunn. During this time, Cropper, along with producing partner and Cherokee owner Bruce Robb, worked on a number of music projects with the two comedians/musicians, including Belushi's favorite band, Fear, and later Aykroyd's movie Dragnet. The Blues Brothers Band continues to tour today, both with and without Aykroyd. The band features original members Cropper and Marini, along with vocalist Eddie Floyd.",
"The band features original members Cropper and Marini, along with vocalist Eddie Floyd. Aykroyd sometimes performs as Elwood, along with Belushi's younger brother Jim Belushi, who plays \"Brother Zee\" on stage. They are most frequently backed by the Sacred Hearts Band. Other film and television work Concurrent with his work in Saturday Night Live, Aykroyd played the role of Purvis Bickle, lift operator at the fictitious office block 99 Sumach Street in the CBC Television series Coming Up Rosie.",
"Other film and television work Concurrent with his work in Saturday Night Live, Aykroyd played the role of Purvis Bickle, lift operator at the fictitious office block 99 Sumach Street in the CBC Television series Coming Up Rosie. After leaving SNL, Aykroyd starred in a number of films, mostly comedies, with uneven results both commercially and artistically. His first three American feature films all co-starred Belushi. The first, 1941 (1979), directed by Steven Spielberg, was a box-office disappointment.",
"The first, 1941 (1979), directed by Steven Spielberg, was a box-office disappointment. The second, The Blues Brothers (1980), which he co-wrote with director John Landis, was a massive hit. The third, Neighbors (1981) had mixed critical reaction, but was another box-office hit. One of his best-received performances was as a blueblood-turned-wretch in the 1983 comedy Trading Places, in which he co-starred with fellow SNL alumnus Eddie Murphy and Jamie Lee Curtis.",
"One of his best-received performances was as a blueblood-turned-wretch in the 1983 comedy Trading Places, in which he co-starred with fellow SNL alumnus Eddie Murphy and Jamie Lee Curtis. In the early 1980s, Aykroyd began work on a script for the film that eventually became Ghostbusters, inspired by his fascination with parapsychology. The script initially included a much greater fantasy element, including time travel, but this was toned down substantially through work on the script with Harold Ramis (who became a co-writer) and director Ivan Reitman.",
"The script initially included a much greater fantasy element, including time travel, but this was toned down substantially through work on the script with Harold Ramis (who became a co-writer) and director Ivan Reitman. Aykroyd originally wrote the role of Dr. Peter Venkman with Belushi in mind, but rewrote it for Bill Murray after Belushi's death. Aykroyd joked that the green ghost, later known as \"Slimer\", was \"the ghost of John Belushi\" and was based on Belushi's party-animal personality.",
"Aykroyd joked that the green ghost, later known as \"Slimer\", was \"the ghost of John Belushi\" and was based on Belushi's party-animal personality. Ghostbusters was released in 1984 and became a huge success for Aykroyd, who also appeared as one of the lead actors; the film earned nearly on a budget. Aykroyd's next major film role was in the 1985 spy comedy film Spies Like Us, which like The Blues Brothers was co-conceived and co-written by Aykroyd, and directed by Landis.",
"Aykroyd's next major film role was in the 1985 spy comedy film Spies Like Us, which like The Blues Brothers was co-conceived and co-written by Aykroyd, and directed by Landis. Aykroyd had again intended for Belushi to be the other lead in the film; the part was instead given to SNL alumnus Chevy Chase. The film was intended as an homage to the Bob Hope/Bing Crosby Road to ... movies of the 1940s to 1960s. Bob Hope made a cameo appearance in the film.",
"Bob Hope made a cameo appearance in the film. Bob Hope made a cameo appearance in the film. Dragnet, in which Aykroyd co-starred (with Tom Hanks) and co-wrote, was released in 1987. The film was both an homage and a satire of the previous Dragnet series, with Aykroyd playing Sgt. Joe Friday as a police officer whose law-and-order attitude is at odds with modern sensibilities. Aykroyd appeared in five films released in 1988, all of them critical and commercial failures.",
"Aykroyd appeared in five films released in 1988, all of them critical and commercial failures. A sequel to Ghostbusters, Ghostbusters II, was released in 1989; Aykroyd and the other co-creators were reluctant to make another Ghostbusters film, but succumbed to pressure from the film's studio, Columbia Pictures. The film, while considered inferior to the original, was another big hit, earning . Aykroyd was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for 1989's Driving Miss Daisy.",
"Aykroyd was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for 1989's Driving Miss Daisy. He was the second SNL cast member to be nominated for an Oscar, the first being Joan Cusack. Aykroyd's directorial debut was 1991's Nothing but Trouble starring Demi Moore, Chevy Chase, John Candy, and Aykroyd, sporting a bulbous prosthetic nose. The film was a critical and box-office flop.",
"The film was a critical and box-office flop. The film was a critical and box-office flop. Aykroyd's other films in the 1990s were mostly similarly poorly received, including Coneheads (also based on a SNL skit), Exit to Eden, Blues Brothers 2000, and Getting Away with Murder.",
"Aykroyd's other films in the 1990s were mostly similarly poorly received, including Coneheads (also based on a SNL skit), Exit to Eden, Blues Brothers 2000, and Getting Away with Murder. Two exceptions were Tommy Boy (1995), which starred SNL alumni David Spade and Chris Farley, in which Aykroyd played the role of Ray Zalinsky, and Grosse Pointe Blank (1997), in which Aykroyd had a well-received role as a rival hit man.",
"Two exceptions were Tommy Boy (1995), which starred SNL alumni David Spade and Chris Farley, in which Aykroyd played the role of Ray Zalinsky, and Grosse Pointe Blank (1997), in which Aykroyd had a well-received role as a rival hit man. In 1994, Aykroyd made a guest appearance in an episode of the sitcom The Nanny as a refrigerator repairman. In 1997, he starred as an Episcopal priest in the ABC sitcom Soul Man, which lasted two seasons.",
"In 1997, he starred as an Episcopal priest in the ABC sitcom Soul Man, which lasted two seasons. In 1998, Aykroyd voiced the role of Chip, a wasp, in Antz. In 2001, he starred in the Woody Allen film The Curse of the Jade Scorpion. Most of his film roles since then have tended to be small character parts in big-budget productions, such as a signals analyst in Pearl Harbor and a neurologist in 50 First Dates.",
"Most of his film roles since then have tended to be small character parts in big-budget productions, such as a signals analyst in Pearl Harbor and a neurologist in 50 First Dates. In 2009, Aykroyd and Ramis wrote and appeared in Ghostbusters: The Video Game, which also featured Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts, William Atherton, and Brian Doyle-Murray. In 2010, he played the voice of the title character, Yogi Bear, in the live-action/CGI-animated-film Yogi Bear.",
"In 2010, he played the voice of the title character, Yogi Bear, in the live-action/CGI-animated-film Yogi Bear. That same year, Aykroyd and Chevy Chase guest-starred in the Family Guy episode \"Spies Reminiscent of Us\", an homage to Spies Like Us. Aykroyd appeared in two February 2011 episodes of CBS's The Defenders as Judge Max Hunter, which also starred Jim Belushi. He also appeared on Top Chef Canada as a guest judge.",
"He also appeared on Top Chef Canada as a guest judge. In 2013, Aykroyd voiced the role of Scarecrow in Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return. In 2015, he appeared in a State Farm insurance commercial along with Jane Curtin and Laraine Newman, as the Coneheads, talking to \"Jake\", a State Farm agent. Aykroyd was one of the executive producers of Ghostbusters, a long-discussed reboot of the Ghostbusters franchise, which was released in 2016.",
"Aykroyd was one of the executive producers of Ghostbusters, a long-discussed reboot of the Ghostbusters franchise, which was released in 2016. Aykroyd had a cameo appearance in the film, along with many of the rest of the original Ghostbusters cast. In early 2021, he provided the voice of the Postage Stamp Fellow in the episode The Dad-Feelings Limited in the TV series The Simpsons. He also reprised his role of Dr. Ray Stantz in the movie Ghostbusters: Afterlife.",
"He also reprised his role of Dr. Ray Stantz in the movie Ghostbusters: Afterlife. Though Sony has not confirmed any further sequels to Afterlife, Aykroyd expressed interest in having the surviving three actors of the original Ghostbusters team continuing to reprise their roles for as many sequels as possible while they were alive. Other musical endeavours Aykroyd participated in the recording of \"We Are the World\" in 1985, as a member of the chorus. He wrote the liner notes for fellow Ottawa-born blues musician JW-Jones's album Bluelisted in 2008.",
"He wrote the liner notes for fellow Ottawa-born blues musician JW-Jones's album Bluelisted in 2008. Until its ending in 2018, he hosted the internationally syndicated radio show \"Elwood's BluesMobile\", formerly known as the House of Blues Radio Hour, under his Blues Brothers moniker Elwood Blues. Business ventures In 1992, Aykroyd and Hard Rock Cafe co-founder Isaac Tigrett founded the House of Blues, a chain of music venues, with the mission to promote African-American cultural contributions of blues music and folk art.",
"Business ventures In 1992, Aykroyd and Hard Rock Cafe co-founder Isaac Tigrett founded the House of Blues, a chain of music venues, with the mission to promote African-American cultural contributions of blues music and folk art. Many other music and Hollywood personalities helped to finance it at its start. It began as a single location in Cambridge, Massachusetts, although other locations quickly followed, starting with a venue in New Orleans in 1994.",
"It began as a single location in Cambridge, Massachusetts, although other locations quickly followed, starting with a venue in New Orleans in 1994. In 2004, House of Blues became the second-largest live music promoter in the world, with seven venues and 22 amphitheatres in the United States and Canada. It was bought by Live Nation in 2006. On New Year's Eve, 1994, Aykroyd opened the Aykroyd's Ghetto House Cafe on Princess Street in Kingston, Ontario.",
"On New Year's Eve, 1994, Aykroyd opened the Aykroyd's Ghetto House Cafe on Princess Street in Kingston, Ontario. In 2007, Aykroyd and artist John Alexander founded Crystal Head Vodka, a brand of high-end vodka known for its distinctive skull-shaped bottle and for being filtered through Herkimer diamond crystals. Aykroyd is also part owner of several wineries in Canada's Niagara Peninsula, and the company that distributes Patrón tequila in Canada.",
"Aykroyd is also part owner of several wineries in Canada's Niagara Peninsula, and the company that distributes Patrón tequila in Canada. In 2016, Aykroyd partnered with TV producers Eric Bischoff and Jason Hervey and game developer Ike McFadden to release an online-casino game that features the Blues Brothers. Aykroyd provided the in-game voice of his Elwood Blues character via voiceover. Charitable works In 2009, Aykroyd contributed a series of reminiscences on his upbringing in Canada for a charity album titled Dan Aykroyd's Canada.",
"Charitable works In 2009, Aykroyd contributed a series of reminiscences on his upbringing in Canada for a charity album titled Dan Aykroyd's Canada. He helped start the Blue Line Foundation, which is redeveloping flood-damaged lots in New Orleans and helping first responders buy them at reduced prices. Coastal Blue Line LLC, hopes to eventually rebuild 400 properties in New Orleans. Aykroyd is a member of Canadian charity Artists Against Racism. Personal life Aykroyd was briefly engaged to actress Carrie Fisher.",
"Personal life Aykroyd was briefly engaged to actress Carrie Fisher. He proposed to her on the set of The Blues Brothers film, in which she appeared as a spurned girlfriend of John Belushi's Jake Blues. The engagement ended when she reconciled with her former boyfriend, musician Paul Simon. In 1983, he married actress Donna Dixon; they met on the set of Doctor Detroit released the same year.",
"In 1983, he married actress Donna Dixon; they met on the set of Doctor Detroit released the same year. They appeared together in four additional films: Spies Like Us (1985); Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983); The Couch Trip (1988); and Exit to Eden (1994). They have three daughters, Danielle (known by her stage name, Vera Sola), Stella, and Belle.",
"They have three daughters, Danielle (known by her stage name, Vera Sola), Stella, and Belle. Aykroyd maintains his Canadian roots as a longtime resident of Sydenham, Ontario, with his estate on Loughborough Lake. In a 2004 NPR interview with host Terry Gross, Aykroyd said that he had been diagnosed in childhood with Tourette syndrome (TS) as well as Asperger syndrome (AS). He stated that his TS was successfully treated with therapy.",
"He stated that his TS was successfully treated with therapy. In 2015, he stated during a HuffPost Show interview with hosts Roy Sekoff and Marc Lamont Hill that his AS was \"never diagnosed\", but was \"sort of a self-diagnosis\" based on several of his own characteristics. Aykroyd is a former reserve commander for the police department in Harahan, Louisiana, working for Chief of Police Peter Dale. Aykroyd carried his badge with him at all times.",
"Aykroyd carried his badge with him at all times. Aykroyd carried his badge with him at all times. He currently serves as a reserve deputy of the Hinds County Sheriff's Department in Hinds County, Mississippi. He supports the reserves with a fundraiser concert along with other blues and gospel singers in Mississippi. Aykroyd is passionate about the outdoors, geology and paleontology which he attributes to watching his father work on constructing the Gatineau Parkway which included blasting through granite rock formations to run the highway.",
"Aykroyd is passionate about the outdoors, geology and paleontology which he attributes to watching his father work on constructing the Gatineau Parkway which included blasting through granite rock formations to run the highway. This passion has led Aykroyd to join renowned Canadian paleontologist Dr. Philip J. Currie on a number of digs, including fundraising digs and galas as fundraisers for the construction of the Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum in Wembley, Alberta. In recognition of Aykroyd's contributions, the museum's theatre was named the Aykroyd Family Theatre.",
"In recognition of Aykroyd's contributions, the museum's theatre was named the Aykroyd Family Theatre. Friendship with John Belushi In an appearance on the Today show, Aykroyd referred to John Belushi and himself as \"kindred spirits.\" In the biography Belushi, Aykroyd claims that Belushi was the only man with whom he could ever dance. Aykroyd and Belushi were scheduled to present the Academy Award for Visual Effects in 1982, but Belushi died only a few weeks prior to the ceremony.",
"Aykroyd and Belushi were scheduled to present the Academy Award for Visual Effects in 1982, but Belushi died only a few weeks prior to the ceremony. Though devastated by his friend's death, Aykroyd presented the award alone, remarking from the stage: \"My partner would have loved to have been here to present this, given that he was something of a visual effect himself.\"",
"Though devastated by his friend's death, Aykroyd presented the award alone, remarking from the stage: \"My partner would have loved to have been here to present this, given that he was something of a visual effect himself.\" Aykroyd was openly hostile to the 1989 film Wired, a biopic of Belushi which was based on the 1984 book of the same name by journalist Bob Woodward, starred Michael Chiklis in his film debut as Belushi, and featured him as a character played by actor Gary Groomes.",
"Aykroyd was openly hostile to the 1989 film Wired, a biopic of Belushi which was based on the 1984 book of the same name by journalist Bob Woodward, starred Michael Chiklis in his film debut as Belushi, and featured him as a character played by actor Gary Groomes. Along with Belushi's widow Judith and brother Jim, and many other friends, associates and relatives of Belushi, he boycotted the film and the associated book for misrepresenting Belushi's life, and expressed his desire that the film would flop at the box office, which it ultimately did.",
"Along with Belushi's widow Judith and brother Jim, and many other friends, associates and relatives of Belushi, he boycotted the film and the associated book for misrepresenting Belushi's life, and expressed his desire that the film would flop at the box office, which it ultimately did. During an interview for MTV's The Big Picture in June 1988, he said, \"I have witches working now to jinx the thing...",
"During an interview for MTV's The Big Picture in June 1988, he said, \"I have witches working now to jinx the thing... I hope it never gets seen and I am going to hurl all the negative energy I can and muster all my hell energies [against them]. My thunderbolts are out on this one, quite truthfully.\"",
"My thunderbolts are out on this one, quite truthfully.\" He had actor J. T. Walsh removed from the film Loose Cannons after Walsh had already done two days of filming, after finding out that Walsh had been in the cast of Wired. Walsh was replaced by fellow Canadian Paul Koslo, causing the film a $125,000 production delay. Beliefs Aykroyd considers himself a Spiritualist, stating: I am a Spiritualist, a proud wearer of the Spiritualist badge.",
"Beliefs Aykroyd considers himself a Spiritualist, stating: I am a Spiritualist, a proud wearer of the Spiritualist badge. Mediums and psychic research have gone on for many, many years ... Loads of people have seen spirits, heard a voice, or felt the cold temperature. I believe that they are between here and there, that they exist between the fourth and fifth dimensions, and that they visit us frequently.",
"I believe that they are between here and there, that they exist between the fourth and fifth dimensions, and that they visit us frequently. Aykroyd's great-grandfather, a dentist, was a mystic who corresponded with author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle on the subject of Spiritualism, and was a member of the Lily Dale Society. Other than Spiritualism, Aykroyd is also interested in various other aspects of the paranormal, particularly UFOlogy. He is a lifetime member of and official Hollywood consultant for the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON).",
"He is a lifetime member of and official Hollywood consultant for the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON). Along these lines, he served, from 1996 to 2000, as host of Psi Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal, which claimed to describe cases drawn from the archives of \"The Office of Scientific Investigation and Research\". In 2005, Aykroyd produced the DVD Dan Aykroyd: Unplugged on UFOs. Aykroyd is interviewed for 80 minutes by UFOlogist David Sereda discussing in depth many aspects of the UFO phenomenon.",
"Aykroyd is interviewed for 80 minutes by UFOlogist David Sereda discussing in depth many aspects of the UFO phenomenon. On September 29, 2009, Peter Aykroyd Sr., Dan's father, published a book entitled A History of Ghosts. This book chronicled the family's historical involvement in the Spiritualist movement, to which Aykroyd readily refers.",
"This book chronicled the family's historical involvement in the Spiritualist movement, to which Aykroyd readily refers. Aykroyd wrote the introduction and accompanied his father on a series of promotional activities, including launches in New York and Toronto, appearances on Larry King Live and Coast to Coast AM, and various other public-relations initiatives. Aykroyd also read the introduction for the audio version of the book.",
"Aykroyd also read the introduction for the audio version of the book. In 1997, the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry awarded Aykroyd in absentia the Snuffed Candle Award for hosting Psi Factor and being a \"long-time promoter ... of paranormal claims\". Following the awards, Joe Nickell wrote to Aykroyd asking for the research behind the \"cases\" presented on Psi Factor, particularly a claim that NASA scientists were \"killed while investigating a meteor crash and giant eggs were found and incubated, yielding a flea the size of a hog\".",
"Following the awards, Joe Nickell wrote to Aykroyd asking for the research behind the \"cases\" presented on Psi Factor, particularly a claim that NASA scientists were \"killed while investigating a meteor crash and giant eggs were found and incubated, yielding a flea the size of a hog\". Filmography Film Television Video games Guest appearances on SNL Awards and nominations In 1977, Aykroyd received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy-Variety or Music Series for his collaborative work on Saturday Night Live.",
"Filmography Film Television Video games Guest appearances on SNL Awards and nominations In 1977, Aykroyd received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy-Variety or Music Series for his collaborative work on Saturday Night Live. In 1994, he received an honorary Doctor of Literature degree from Carleton University. In 1999, Aykroyd was made a Member of the Order of Canada. He was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame in 2002.",
"He was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame in 2002. In 2017, he was made a member of the Order of Ontario in recognition for being \"one of the world's most popular entertainers, well-known for his time on Saturday Night Live and the 1984 classic movie Ghostbusters.\" See also List of Canadian actors List of celebrities who own wineries and vineyards Saturday Night Live cast members References Further reading Hill, Doug, and Weingrad, Jeff, Saturday Night: A Backstage History of Saturday Night Live.",
"See also List of Canadian actors List of celebrities who own wineries and vineyards Saturday Night Live cast members References Further reading Hill, Doug, and Weingrad, Jeff, Saturday Night: A Backstage History of Saturday Night Live. Vintage Books, 1986. .",
"Vintage Books, 1986. . Vintage Books, 1986. . External links Dan Aykroyd, Still Full of the 'Blues' – interview on NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross – originally aired November 22, 2004 1952 births 20th-century American comedians 20th-century American male actors 20th-century Canadian comedians 20th-century Canadian male actors 20th-century Canadian male writers 20th-century Canadian writers 21st-century American comedians 21st-century American male actors 21st-century Canadian comedians 21st-century Canadian male actors American impressionists (entertainers) American male comedians American male film actors American male television actors American male television writers American male voice actors American people of Dutch descent American people of English descent American people of French-Canadian descent American people of Irish descent American people of Scottish descent American male screenwriters American sketch comedians American spiritualists American television personalities American television writers Businesspeople from Ottawa Canadian conspiracy theorists Canadian emigrants to the United States Canadian impressionists (entertainers) Canadian male comedians Canadian male film actors Canadian male television actors Canadian male voice actors Canadian people of Dutch descent Canadian people of English descent Canadian people of French descent Canadian people of Irish descent Canadian people of Scottish descent Canadian male screenwriters Canadian sketch comedians Canadian spiritualists Canadian television personalities Canadian television writers Carleton University alumni Comedians from Ontario Golden Raspberry Award winners Living people Male actors from Ottawa Members of the Order of Canada Members of the Order of Ontario People from Harahan, Louisiana People with Tourette syndrome Primetime Emmy Award winners The Blues Brothers members Ufologists UFO conspiracy theorists Writers from Ottawa"
] |
[
"Dan Aykroyd",
"Personal life",
"Where did he grow up?",
"Aykroyd maintains his Canadian roots as a longtime resident of Sydenham, Ontario,",
"Was he married?",
"In 1983, he married actress Donna Dixon,",
"Was that his only wife?",
"They have three daughters, Danielle, Stella and Belle."
] | C_e34fb9d03ce64858b218a779a10ed504_0 | What were his hobbies? | 4 | What were Dan Aykroyd's hobbies? | Dan Aykroyd | Aykroyd was briefly engaged to actress Carrie Fisher. He proposed to her on the set of The Blues Brothers (1980), in which she appeared as a spurned girlfriend of John Belushi's Jake Blues who was trying to kill both brothers. The engagement ended when she reconciled with her former boyfriend, musician Paul Simon. In 1983, he married actress Donna Dixon, with whom he starred in the movies Doctor Detroit (1983), on whose set they first met; Spies Like Us (1985); and The Couch Trip (1988). They have three daughters, Danielle, Stella and Belle. Aykroyd maintains his Canadian roots as a longtime resident of Sydenham, Ontario, with his estate on Loughborough Lake. In a 2004 NPR interview with host Terry Gross, Aykroyd said that he had been diagnosed in childhood with Tourette syndrome (TS) as well as Asperger syndrome (AS). He stated that his TS was successfully treated with therapy. In 2015, he stated during a HuffPost Show interview with hosts Roy Sekoff and Marc Lamont Hill that his AS was "never diagnosed" but was "sort of a self-diagnosis" based on several of his own characteristics. Aykroyd is a former reserve commander for the police department in Harahan, Louisiana, working for Chief of Police Peter Dale. Aykroyd would carry his badge with him at all times. He currently serves as a Reserve Deputy of the Hinds County Sheriff's Department in Hinds County, Mississippi. He supports the Reserves with a fundraiser concert along with other Blues and Gospel singers in the State of Mississippi. CANNOTANSWER | serves as a Reserve Deputy of the Hinds County Sheriff's Department in Hinds County, Mississippi. | Daniel Edward Aykroyd ( ; born July 1, 1952) is a Canadian actor, comedian, producer, musician and writer. He was an original member of the "Not Ready for Prime Time Players" on Saturday Night Live (1975–1979). He performed with his friend John Belushi in a musical sketch on SNL, the Blues Brothers, which they turned into an actual performing band and then featured in the 1980 film The Blues Brothers. Aykroyd also conceived the premise for, and starred as Dr. Raymond Stantz in, Ghostbusters (1984), which spawned a sequel and eventually an entire media franchise.
During his tenure on SNL, Aykroyd appeared in a recurring series of sketches about the Coneheads, a family of aliens stranded on Earth, which eventually spawned a feature film. After his departure, Aykroyd has occasionally returned to the show as guest appearances or cameos. In 1990, Aykroyd was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Boolie Werthan in the 1989 film Driving Miss Daisy. He wrote, directed and starred in the 1991 film Nothing but Trouble, his only directing credit. He starred as Reverend Mike Weber in his own sitcom, Soul Man (1997–1998). Aykroyd is also a businessman, having co-founded the House of Blues chain of music venues and the Crystal Head Vodka brand.
Early life
Aykroyd was born on July 1, 1952 (Canada Day) at The Ottawa Hospital in Ottawa, Ontario. He grew up in Ottawa, Canada's capital, where his father, Samuel Cuthbert Peter Hugh Aykroyd (1922 – 2020), a civil engineer, worked as a policy adviser to Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. His mother, Lorraine Hélène Marie (née Gougeon; April 27, 1918 – February 8, 2018), was a secretary. His mother was of French Canadian descent and his father was of English, Scottish, Irish, French, and Dutch ancestry. His brother, Peter, was also an actor.
He attended St. Pius X and St. Patrick's high schools, and studied criminology and sociology at Carleton University, but dropped out before completing his degree. He worked as a comedian in various Canadian nightclubs and ran an after-hours speakeasy, Club 505, in Toronto for several years.
Aykroyd is a heterochromiac syndactylite - he has webbed middle toes on both feet and he has different coloured eyes: one is brown and one is green.
Aykroyd developed his musical career in Ottawa, particularly through his regular attendances at Le Hibou, a club that featured many blues artists. He describes these influences as follows:
Aykroyd's first professional experience, which he gained at the age of 17, was as a member of the cast of the short-lived Canadian sketch comedy series The Hart and Lorne Terrific Hour with Lorne Michaels, among others. He was a member of the Second City comedy troupe in 1973 in both Toronto and Chicago.
Saturday Night Live
Aykroyd gained fame on the American late-night comedy show Saturday Night Live (SNL). He was originally hired, and paid $278 a week, as a writer for the show, but became a part of the cast before the series premiered. The original cast was referred to on the show as "The Not Ready For Prime Time Players". Aykroyd was the youngest member of the cast, and appeared on the show for its first four seasons, from 1975 to 1979. He brought a unique sensibility to the show, combining youth, unusual interests, talent as an impersonator, and an almost lunatic intensity. Guest host Eric Idle of Monty Python said that Aykroyd's ability to write and act out characters flawlessly made him the only member of the SNL cast capable of being a Python.
He was known for his impersonations of celebrities such as Jimmy Carter, Vincent Price, Richard Nixon, Rod Serling, Tom Snyder, Julia Child, and others. He was also known for his recurring roles, such as Beldar, father of the Coneheads family; with Steve Martin, Yortuk Festrunk, one of the "Two Wild and Crazy Guys" brothers from Bratislava, Slovakia; sleazy late-night cable TV host E. Buzz Miller and his cousin, corrupt maker of children's toys and costumes Irwin Mainway (who extolled the virtues and defended the safety of the "Bag-o-Glass" toy); Fred Garvin – male prostitute; and high-bred but low-brow critic Leonard Pinth-Garnell. Aykroyd and Jane Curtin famously parodied the Point/Counterpoint segment on the CBS news show 60 Minutes, which featured the liberal Shana Alexander and the conservative segregationist James Kilpatrick, by portraying the two as hating one another; Aykroyd's first words in response to Curtin's point were, "Jane, you ignorant slut!".
Aykroyd's eccentric talent was recognized by others in the highly competitive SNL environment; when he first presented his famous "Super Bass-O-Matic '76" sketch, a fake TV commercial in which a garish, hyper-pitchman (based on Ron Popeil) touts a food blender that turns an entire bass into liquid pulp, the other writers and cast members considered the sketch "so exhilaratingly strange that many remember sitting and listening, open-mouthed ... Nobody felt jealous of it because they couldn't imagine writing anything remotely like it." Aykroyd later revealed that the inspiration for the sketch was seeing his aunt Helene Gougeon (a noted culinary writer and food columnist in Montreal) pop a bass into a blender in order to make a bouillabaisse when he was 12 years old.
While Aykroyd was a close friend and partner with fellow cast member John Belushi and shared some of the same sensibilities, Aykroyd was more reserved and less self-destructive. Aykroyd later recalled that, unlike Belushi and other of his peers, he was uninterested in recreational drug use.
In 1977, he received an Emmy Award for writing on SNL; he later received two more nominations for writing and one for acting. In Rolling Stones February 2015 appraisal of all 141 SNL cast members to date, Aykroyd was ranked fifth (behind Belushi, Eddie Murphy, Tina Fey, and Mike Myers). "Of all the original [SNL] greats, Aykroyd is the least imitated", they wrote, "because nobody else can do what he did."
In later decades, Aykroyd made occasional guest appearances and unannounced cameos on SNL, often impersonating the American politician Bob Dole. He also brought back past characters including Irwin Mainway and Leonard Pinth-Garnell. In 1995, he appeared on the show to introduce a performance by Canadian rock band The Tragically Hip. Aykroyd, who is a fan of the band, had personally lobbied Lorne Michaels to book them as musical guests.
During some guest appearances, he resurrected the Blues Brothers musical act with frequent host John Goodman in place of Belushi. He became the second member of the original cast to host SNL in May 2003, when he appeared in the season finale. During his monologue, he performed a musical number with James Belushi similar to the Blues Brothers, but neither Aykroyd nor Belushi donned the famous black suit and sunglasses. On March 24, 2007, Aykroyd appeared as a crying fan of American Idol finalist Sanjaya Malakar (played by Andy Samberg) during "Weekend Update". On February 14, 2009, he appeared as U.S. House Minority leader John Boehner. Aykroyd also made a surprise guest appearance, along with many other SNL alumni, on the show of March 9, 2013.
The Blues Brothers
Aykroyd was a close friend of John Belushi. According to Aykroyd, their first meeting helped spark the Blues Brothers act. When they met in a club that Aykroyd frequented, he played a blues record in the background, and it stimulated a fascination with blues in Belushi, who was primarily a fan of heavy rock bands at the time. Aykroyd educated Belushi on the finer points of blues music, and with a little encouragement from then-SNL music director Paul Shaffer, it led to the creation of their Blues Brothers characters.
Backed by such experienced professional R&B sidemen as lead guitarist Steve Cropper, sax man Lou Marini, trumpeter Alan Rubin, and bass guitarist Donald "Duck" Dunn, the Blues Brothers proved more than an SNL novelty. Taking off with the public as a legitimate musical act, they performed live gigs and in 1978 released the hit album Briefcase Full of Blues (drawn from the fact that Aykroyd, as "Elwood Blues", carried his blues harmonicas in a briefcase that he kept handcuffed to his wrist, in the manner of a CIA courier; Belushi originally carried the key to those handcuffs). Briefcase Full of Blues eventually sold 3.5 million copies, and is one of the highest-selling blues albums of all time. The band was much further popularized in the 1980 film The Blues Brothers, which Aykroyd co-wrote. A sequel, titled Blues Brothers 2000, was released in 1998 and featured John Goodman as Belushi's replacement.
Cherokee Studios in Los Angeles was a regular haunt for the original Blues Brothers in the early days of the band. Belushi and Aykroyd became fixtures at the recording studio, while fellow Blues Brother Steve Cropper called Cherokee his producing home. Whenever they needed a bass player, they were joined by another Blues Brother, Donald "Duck" Dunn. During this time, Cropper, along with producing partner and Cherokee owner Bruce Robb, worked on a number of music projects with the two comedians/musicians, including Belushi's favorite band, Fear, and later Aykroyd's movie Dragnet.
The Blues Brothers Band continues to tour today, both with and without Aykroyd. The band features original members Cropper and Marini, along with vocalist Eddie Floyd. Aykroyd sometimes performs as Elwood, along with Belushi's younger brother Jim Belushi, who plays "Brother Zee" on stage. They are most frequently backed by the Sacred Hearts Band.
Other film and television work
Concurrent with his work in Saturday Night Live, Aykroyd played the role of Purvis Bickle, lift operator at the fictitious office block 99 Sumach Street in the CBC Television series Coming Up Rosie.
After leaving SNL, Aykroyd starred in a number of films, mostly comedies, with uneven results both commercially and artistically. His first three American feature films all co-starred Belushi. The first, 1941 (1979), directed by Steven Spielberg, was a box-office disappointment. The second, The Blues Brothers (1980), which he co-wrote with director John Landis, was a massive hit. The third, Neighbors (1981) had mixed critical reaction, but was another box-office hit. One of his best-received performances was as a blueblood-turned-wretch in the 1983 comedy Trading Places, in which he co-starred with fellow SNL alumnus Eddie Murphy and Jamie Lee Curtis.
In the early 1980s, Aykroyd began work on a script for the film that eventually became Ghostbusters, inspired by his fascination with parapsychology. The script initially included a much greater fantasy element, including time travel, but this was toned down substantially through work on the script with Harold Ramis (who became a co-writer) and director Ivan Reitman. Aykroyd originally wrote the role of Dr. Peter Venkman with Belushi in mind, but rewrote it for Bill Murray after Belushi's death. Aykroyd joked that the green ghost, later known as "Slimer", was "the ghost of John Belushi" and was based on Belushi's party-animal personality. Ghostbusters was released in 1984 and became a huge success for Aykroyd, who also appeared as one of the lead actors; the film earned nearly on a budget.
Aykroyd's next major film role was in the 1985 spy comedy film Spies Like Us, which like The Blues Brothers was co-conceived and co-written by Aykroyd, and directed by Landis. Aykroyd had again intended for Belushi to be the other lead in the film; the part was instead given to SNL alumnus Chevy Chase. The film was intended as an homage to the Bob Hope/Bing Crosby Road to ... movies of the 1940s to 1960s. Bob Hope made a cameo appearance in the film.
Dragnet, in which Aykroyd co-starred (with Tom Hanks) and co-wrote, was released in 1987. The film was both an homage and a satire of the previous Dragnet series, with Aykroyd playing Sgt. Joe Friday as a police officer whose law-and-order attitude is at odds with modern sensibilities.
Aykroyd appeared in five films released in 1988, all of them critical and commercial failures. A sequel to Ghostbusters, Ghostbusters II, was released in 1989; Aykroyd and the other co-creators were reluctant to make another Ghostbusters film, but succumbed to pressure from the film's studio, Columbia Pictures. The film, while considered inferior to the original, was another big hit, earning . Aykroyd was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for 1989's Driving Miss Daisy. He was the second SNL cast member to be nominated for an Oscar, the first being Joan Cusack.
Aykroyd's directorial debut was 1991's Nothing but Trouble starring Demi Moore, Chevy Chase, John Candy, and Aykroyd, sporting a bulbous prosthetic nose. The film was a critical and box-office flop. Aykroyd's other films in the 1990s were mostly similarly poorly received, including Coneheads (also based on a SNL skit), Exit to Eden, Blues Brothers 2000, and Getting Away with Murder. Two exceptions were Tommy Boy (1995), which starred SNL alumni David Spade and Chris Farley, in which Aykroyd played the role of Ray Zalinsky, and Grosse Pointe Blank (1997), in which Aykroyd had a well-received role as a rival hit man.
In 1994, Aykroyd made a guest appearance in an episode of the sitcom The Nanny as a refrigerator repairman. In 1997, he starred as an Episcopal priest in the ABC sitcom Soul Man, which lasted two seasons. In 1998, Aykroyd voiced the role of Chip, a wasp, in Antz. In 2001, he starred in the Woody Allen film The Curse of the Jade Scorpion. Most of his film roles since then have tended to be small character parts in big-budget productions, such as a signals analyst in Pearl Harbor and a neurologist in 50 First Dates.
In 2009, Aykroyd and Ramis wrote and appeared in Ghostbusters: The Video Game, which also featured Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts, William Atherton, and Brian Doyle-Murray. In 2010, he played the voice of the title character, Yogi Bear, in the live-action/CGI-animated-film Yogi Bear. That same year, Aykroyd and Chevy Chase guest-starred in the Family Guy episode "Spies Reminiscent of Us", an homage to Spies Like Us.
Aykroyd appeared in two February 2011 episodes of CBS's The Defenders as Judge Max Hunter, which also starred Jim Belushi. He also appeared on Top Chef Canada as a guest judge.
In 2013, Aykroyd voiced the role of Scarecrow in Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return. In 2015, he appeared in a State Farm insurance commercial along with Jane Curtin and Laraine Newman, as the Coneheads, talking to "Jake", a State Farm agent.
Aykroyd was one of the executive producers of Ghostbusters, a long-discussed reboot of the Ghostbusters franchise, which was released in 2016. Aykroyd had a cameo appearance in the film, along with many of the rest of the original Ghostbusters cast.
In early 2021, he provided the voice of the Postage Stamp Fellow in the episode The Dad-Feelings Limited in the TV series The Simpsons. He also reprised his role of Dr. Ray Stantz in the movie Ghostbusters: Afterlife. Though Sony has not confirmed any further sequels to Afterlife, Aykroyd expressed interest in having the surviving three actors of the original Ghostbusters team continuing to reprise their roles for as many sequels as possible while they were alive.
Other musical endeavours
Aykroyd participated in the recording of "We Are the World" in 1985, as a member of the chorus. He wrote the liner notes for fellow Ottawa-born blues musician JW-Jones's album Bluelisted in 2008. Until its ending in 2018, he hosted the internationally syndicated radio show "Elwood's BluesMobile", formerly known as the House of Blues Radio Hour, under his Blues Brothers moniker Elwood Blues.
Business ventures
In 1992, Aykroyd and Hard Rock Cafe co-founder Isaac Tigrett founded the House of Blues, a chain of music venues, with the mission to promote African-American cultural contributions of blues music and folk art.
Many other music and Hollywood personalities helped to finance it at its start. It began as a single location in Cambridge, Massachusetts, although other locations quickly followed, starting with a venue in New Orleans in 1994. In 2004, House of Blues became the second-largest live music promoter in the world, with seven venues and 22 amphitheatres in the United States and Canada. It was bought by Live Nation in 2006.
On New Year's Eve, 1994, Aykroyd opened the Aykroyd's Ghetto House Cafe on Princess Street in Kingston, Ontario.
In 2007, Aykroyd and artist John Alexander founded Crystal Head Vodka, a brand of high-end vodka known for its distinctive skull-shaped bottle and for being filtered through Herkimer diamond crystals.
Aykroyd is also part owner of several wineries in Canada's Niagara Peninsula, and the company that distributes Patrón tequila in Canada.
In 2016, Aykroyd partnered with TV producers Eric Bischoff and Jason Hervey and game developer Ike McFadden to release an online-casino game that features the Blues Brothers. Aykroyd provided the in-game voice of his Elwood Blues character via voiceover.
Charitable works
In 2009, Aykroyd contributed a series of reminiscences on his upbringing in Canada for a charity album titled Dan Aykroyd's Canada. He helped start the Blue Line Foundation, which is redeveloping flood-damaged lots in New Orleans and helping first responders buy them at reduced prices. Coastal Blue Line LLC, hopes to eventually rebuild 400 properties in New Orleans.
Aykroyd is a member of Canadian charity Artists Against Racism.
Personal life
Aykroyd was briefly engaged to actress Carrie Fisher. He proposed to her on the set of The Blues Brothers film, in which she appeared as a spurned girlfriend of John Belushi's Jake Blues. The engagement ended when she reconciled with her former boyfriend, musician Paul Simon. In 1983, he married actress Donna Dixon; they met on the set of Doctor Detroit released the same year. They appeared together in four additional films: Spies Like Us (1985); Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983); The Couch Trip (1988); and Exit to Eden (1994). They have three daughters, Danielle (known by her stage name, Vera Sola), Stella, and Belle.
Aykroyd maintains his Canadian roots as a longtime resident of Sydenham, Ontario, with his estate on Loughborough Lake.
In a 2004 NPR interview with host Terry Gross, Aykroyd said that he had been diagnosed in childhood with Tourette syndrome (TS) as well as Asperger syndrome (AS). He stated that his TS was successfully treated with therapy. In 2015, he stated during a HuffPost Show interview with hosts Roy Sekoff and Marc Lamont Hill that his AS was "never diagnosed", but was "sort of a self-diagnosis" based on several of his own characteristics.
Aykroyd is a former reserve commander for the police department in Harahan, Louisiana, working for Chief of Police Peter Dale. Aykroyd carried his badge with him at all times. He currently serves as a reserve deputy of the Hinds County Sheriff's Department in Hinds County, Mississippi. He supports the reserves with a fundraiser concert along with other blues and gospel singers in Mississippi.
Aykroyd is passionate about the outdoors, geology and paleontology which he attributes to watching his father work on constructing the Gatineau Parkway which included blasting through granite rock formations to run the highway. This passion has led Aykroyd to join renowned Canadian paleontologist Dr. Philip J. Currie on a number of digs, including fundraising digs and galas as fundraisers for the construction of the Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum in Wembley, Alberta. In recognition of Aykroyd's contributions, the museum's theatre was named the Aykroyd Family Theatre.
Friendship with John Belushi
In an appearance on the Today show, Aykroyd referred to John Belushi and himself as "kindred spirits." In the biography Belushi, Aykroyd claims that Belushi was the only man with whom he could ever dance. Aykroyd and Belushi were scheduled to present the Academy Award for Visual Effects in 1982, but Belushi died only a few weeks prior to the ceremony. Though devastated by his friend's death, Aykroyd presented the award alone, remarking from the stage: "My partner would have loved to have been here to present this, given that he was something of a visual effect himself."
Aykroyd was openly hostile to the 1989 film Wired, a biopic of Belushi which was based on the 1984 book of the same name by journalist Bob Woodward, starred Michael Chiklis in his film debut as Belushi, and featured him as a character played by actor Gary Groomes. Along with Belushi's widow Judith and brother Jim, and many other friends, associates and relatives of Belushi, he boycotted the film and the associated book for misrepresenting Belushi's life, and expressed his desire that the film would flop at the box office, which it ultimately did. During an interview for MTV's The Big Picture in June 1988, he said, "I have witches working now to jinx the thing... I hope it never gets seen and I am going to hurl all the negative energy I can and muster all my hell energies [against them]. My thunderbolts are out on this one, quite truthfully." He had actor J. T. Walsh removed from the film Loose Cannons after Walsh had already done two days of filming, after finding out that Walsh had been in the cast of Wired. Walsh was replaced by fellow Canadian Paul Koslo, causing the film a $125,000 production delay.
Beliefs
Aykroyd considers himself a Spiritualist, stating:
I am a Spiritualist, a proud wearer of the Spiritualist badge. Mediums and psychic research have gone on for many, many years ... Loads of people have seen spirits, heard a voice, or felt the cold temperature. I believe that they are between here and there, that they exist between the fourth and fifth dimensions, and that they visit us frequently.
Aykroyd's great-grandfather, a dentist, was a mystic who corresponded with author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle on the subject of Spiritualism, and was a member of the Lily Dale Society. Other than Spiritualism, Aykroyd is also interested in various other aspects of the paranormal, particularly UFOlogy. He is a lifetime member of and official Hollywood consultant for the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON). Along these lines, he served, from 1996 to 2000, as host of Psi Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal, which claimed to describe cases drawn from the archives of "The Office of Scientific Investigation and Research". In 2005, Aykroyd produced the DVD Dan Aykroyd: Unplugged on UFOs.
Aykroyd is interviewed for 80 minutes by UFOlogist David Sereda discussing in depth many aspects of the UFO phenomenon.
On September 29, 2009, Peter Aykroyd Sr., Dan's father, published a book entitled A History of Ghosts. This book chronicled the family's historical involvement in the Spiritualist movement, to which Aykroyd readily refers. Aykroyd wrote the introduction and accompanied his father on a series of promotional activities, including launches in New York and Toronto, appearances on Larry King Live and Coast to Coast AM, and various other public-relations initiatives. Aykroyd also read the introduction for the audio version of the book. In 1997, the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry awarded Aykroyd in absentia the Snuffed Candle Award for hosting Psi Factor and being a "long-time promoter ... of paranormal claims". Following the awards, Joe Nickell wrote to Aykroyd asking for the research behind the "cases" presented on Psi Factor, particularly a claim that NASA scientists were "killed while investigating a meteor crash and giant eggs were found and incubated, yielding a flea the size of a hog".
Filmography
Film
Television
Video games
Guest appearances on SNL
Awards and nominations
In 1977, Aykroyd received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy-Variety or Music Series for his collaborative work on Saturday Night Live. In 1994, he received an honorary Doctor of Literature degree from Carleton University. In 1999, Aykroyd was made a Member of the Order of Canada. He was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame in 2002. In 2017, he was made a member of the Order of Ontario in recognition for being "one of the world's most popular entertainers, well-known for his time on Saturday Night Live and the 1984 classic movie Ghostbusters."
See also
List of Canadian actors
List of celebrities who own wineries and vineyards
Saturday Night Live cast members
References
Further reading
Hill, Doug, and Weingrad, Jeff, Saturday Night: A Backstage History of Saturday Night Live. Vintage Books, 1986. .
External links
Dan Aykroyd, Still Full of the 'Blues' – interview on NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross – originally aired November 22, 2004
1952 births
20th-century American comedians
20th-century American male actors
20th-century Canadian comedians
20th-century Canadian male actors
20th-century Canadian male writers
20th-century Canadian writers
21st-century American comedians
21st-century American male actors
21st-century Canadian comedians
21st-century Canadian male actors
American impressionists (entertainers)
American male comedians
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American male television actors
American male television writers
American male voice actors
American people of Dutch descent
American people of English descent
American people of French-Canadian descent
American people of Irish descent
American people of Scottish descent
American male screenwriters
American sketch comedians
American spiritualists
American television personalities
American television writers
Businesspeople from Ottawa
Canadian conspiracy theorists
Canadian emigrants to the United States
Canadian impressionists (entertainers)
Canadian male comedians
Canadian male film actors
Canadian male television actors
Canadian male voice actors
Canadian people of Dutch descent
Canadian people of English descent
Canadian people of French descent
Canadian people of Irish descent
Canadian people of Scottish descent
Canadian male screenwriters
Canadian sketch comedians
Canadian spiritualists
Canadian television personalities
Canadian television writers
Carleton University alumni
Comedians from Ontario
Golden Raspberry Award winners
Living people
Male actors from Ottawa
Members of the Order of Canada
Members of the Order of Ontario
People from Harahan, Louisiana
People with Tourette syndrome
Primetime Emmy Award winners
The Blues Brothers members
Ufologists
UFO conspiracy theorists
Writers from Ottawa | true | [
"This is a partial list of hobbies. A hobby is an activity, interest, or pastime that is undertaken for pleasure or relaxation, done during one's own leisure time.\n\nGeneral hobbies\n\nOutdoors and sports\n\nEducational hobbies\n\nCollection hobbies\n\nIndoors\n\nOutdoors\n\nCompetitive hobbies\n\nIndoors\n\nOutdoors\n\nObservation hobbies\n\nIndoors\n\nOutdoors\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\nEntertainment lists",
"Making waxed paper roses was a favourite hobby among Sri Lankan women. This hobby lasted until the late sixties. Most women were homebound housewives who got involved in many such hobbies.\n\nUntil recent decades few housewives were employed outside the home. These women found hobbies to occupy themselves during the day when the house chores were finished. Today most of these hobbies have become commercialized and are conducted as businesses.\n\nThese roses brought income to the housewives. The waxed paper roses adorned many homes. Unlike in previous years most of the materials needed for such hobbies are now freely available at hardware stores and bookshops.\n\nReferences \n\nKulathunga, P. (1999). Making Paper Waxed Roses . Sri Lankan Homemade art. p. 54. .\n\nSri Lankan games"
] | [
"Daniel Edward Aykroyd ( ; born July 1, 1952) is a Canadian actor, comedian, producer, musician and writer. He was an original member of the \"Not Ready for Prime Time Players\" on Saturday Night Live (1975–1979). He performed with his friend John Belushi in a musical sketch on SNL, the Blues Brothers, which they turned into an actual performing band and then featured in the 1980 film The Blues Brothers.",
"He performed with his friend John Belushi in a musical sketch on SNL, the Blues Brothers, which they turned into an actual performing band and then featured in the 1980 film The Blues Brothers. Aykroyd also conceived the premise for, and starred as Dr. Raymond Stantz in, Ghostbusters (1984), which spawned a sequel and eventually an entire media franchise.",
"Aykroyd also conceived the premise for, and starred as Dr. Raymond Stantz in, Ghostbusters (1984), which spawned a sequel and eventually an entire media franchise. During his tenure on SNL, Aykroyd appeared in a recurring series of sketches about the Coneheads, a family of aliens stranded on Earth, which eventually spawned a feature film. After his departure, Aykroyd has occasionally returned to the show as guest appearances or cameos.",
"After his departure, Aykroyd has occasionally returned to the show as guest appearances or cameos. In 1990, Aykroyd was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Boolie Werthan in the 1989 film Driving Miss Daisy. He wrote, directed and starred in the 1991 film Nothing but Trouble, his only directing credit. He starred as Reverend Mike Weber in his own sitcom, Soul Man (1997–1998).",
"He starred as Reverend Mike Weber in his own sitcom, Soul Man (1997–1998). Aykroyd is also a businessman, having co-founded the House of Blues chain of music venues and the Crystal Head Vodka brand. Early life Aykroyd was born on July 1, 1952 (Canada Day) at The Ottawa Hospital in Ottawa, Ontario.",
"Early life Aykroyd was born on July 1, 1952 (Canada Day) at The Ottawa Hospital in Ottawa, Ontario. He grew up in Ottawa, Canada's capital, where his father, Samuel Cuthbert Peter Hugh Aykroyd (1922 – 2020), a civil engineer, worked as a policy adviser to Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. His mother, Lorraine Hélène Marie (née Gougeon; April 27, 1918 – February 8, 2018), was a secretary.",
"His mother, Lorraine Hélène Marie (née Gougeon; April 27, 1918 – February 8, 2018), was a secretary. His mother was of French Canadian descent and his father was of English, Scottish, Irish, French, and Dutch ancestry. His brother, Peter, was also an actor. He attended St. Pius X and St. Patrick's high schools, and studied criminology and sociology at Carleton University, but dropped out before completing his degree.",
"He attended St. Pius X and St. Patrick's high schools, and studied criminology and sociology at Carleton University, but dropped out before completing his degree. He worked as a comedian in various Canadian nightclubs and ran an after-hours speakeasy, Club 505, in Toronto for several years. Aykroyd is a heterochromiac syndactylite - he has webbed middle toes on both feet and he has different coloured eyes: one is brown and one is green.",
"Aykroyd is a heterochromiac syndactylite - he has webbed middle toes on both feet and he has different coloured eyes: one is brown and one is green. Aykroyd developed his musical career in Ottawa, particularly through his regular attendances at Le Hibou, a club that featured many blues artists.",
"Aykroyd developed his musical career in Ottawa, particularly through his regular attendances at Le Hibou, a club that featured many blues artists. He describes these influences as follows: Aykroyd's first professional experience, which he gained at the age of 17, was as a member of the cast of the short-lived Canadian sketch comedy series The Hart and Lorne Terrific Hour with Lorne Michaels, among others. He was a member of the Second City comedy troupe in 1973 in both Toronto and Chicago.",
"He was a member of the Second City comedy troupe in 1973 in both Toronto and Chicago. Saturday Night Live Aykroyd gained fame on the American late-night comedy show Saturday Night Live (SNL). He was originally hired, and paid $278 a week, as a writer for the show, but became a part of the cast before the series premiered. The original cast was referred to on the show as \"The Not Ready For Prime Time Players\".",
"The original cast was referred to on the show as \"The Not Ready For Prime Time Players\". Aykroyd was the youngest member of the cast, and appeared on the show for its first four seasons, from 1975 to 1979. He brought a unique sensibility to the show, combining youth, unusual interests, talent as an impersonator, and an almost lunatic intensity.",
"He brought a unique sensibility to the show, combining youth, unusual interests, talent as an impersonator, and an almost lunatic intensity. Guest host Eric Idle of Monty Python said that Aykroyd's ability to write and act out characters flawlessly made him the only member of the SNL cast capable of being a Python. He was known for his impersonations of celebrities such as Jimmy Carter, Vincent Price, Richard Nixon, Rod Serling, Tom Snyder, Julia Child, and others.",
"He was known for his impersonations of celebrities such as Jimmy Carter, Vincent Price, Richard Nixon, Rod Serling, Tom Snyder, Julia Child, and others. He was also known for his recurring roles, such as Beldar, father of the Coneheads family; with Steve Martin, Yortuk Festrunk, one of the \"Two Wild and Crazy Guys\" brothers from Bratislava, Slovakia; sleazy late-night cable TV host E. Buzz Miller and his cousin, corrupt maker of children's toys and costumes Irwin Mainway (who extolled the virtues and defended the safety of the \"Bag-o-Glass\" toy); Fred Garvin – male prostitute; and high-bred but low-brow critic Leonard Pinth-Garnell.",
"He was also known for his recurring roles, such as Beldar, father of the Coneheads family; with Steve Martin, Yortuk Festrunk, one of the \"Two Wild and Crazy Guys\" brothers from Bratislava, Slovakia; sleazy late-night cable TV host E. Buzz Miller and his cousin, corrupt maker of children's toys and costumes Irwin Mainway (who extolled the virtues and defended the safety of the \"Bag-o-Glass\" toy); Fred Garvin – male prostitute; and high-bred but low-brow critic Leonard Pinth-Garnell. Aykroyd and Jane Curtin famously parodied the Point/Counterpoint segment on the CBS news show 60 Minutes, which featured the liberal Shana Alexander and the conservative segregationist James Kilpatrick, by portraying the two as hating one another; Aykroyd's first words in response to Curtin's point were, \"Jane, you ignorant slut!\".",
"Aykroyd and Jane Curtin famously parodied the Point/Counterpoint segment on the CBS news show 60 Minutes, which featured the liberal Shana Alexander and the conservative segregationist James Kilpatrick, by portraying the two as hating one another; Aykroyd's first words in response to Curtin's point were, \"Jane, you ignorant slut!\". Aykroyd's eccentric talent was recognized by others in the highly competitive SNL environment; when he first presented his famous \"Super Bass-O-Matic '76\" sketch, a fake TV commercial in which a garish, hyper-pitchman (based on Ron Popeil) touts a food blender that turns an entire bass into liquid pulp, the other writers and cast members considered the sketch \"so exhilaratingly strange that many remember sitting and listening, open-mouthed ... Nobody felt jealous of it because they couldn't imagine writing anything remotely like it.\"",
"Aykroyd's eccentric talent was recognized by others in the highly competitive SNL environment; when he first presented his famous \"Super Bass-O-Matic '76\" sketch, a fake TV commercial in which a garish, hyper-pitchman (based on Ron Popeil) touts a food blender that turns an entire bass into liquid pulp, the other writers and cast members considered the sketch \"so exhilaratingly strange that many remember sitting and listening, open-mouthed ... Nobody felt jealous of it because they couldn't imagine writing anything remotely like it.\" Aykroyd later revealed that the inspiration for the sketch was seeing his aunt Helene Gougeon (a noted culinary writer and food columnist in Montreal) pop a bass into a blender in order to make a bouillabaisse when he was 12 years old.",
"Aykroyd later revealed that the inspiration for the sketch was seeing his aunt Helene Gougeon (a noted culinary writer and food columnist in Montreal) pop a bass into a blender in order to make a bouillabaisse when he was 12 years old. While Aykroyd was a close friend and partner with fellow cast member John Belushi and shared some of the same sensibilities, Aykroyd was more reserved and less self-destructive. Aykroyd later recalled that, unlike Belushi and other of his peers, he was uninterested in recreational drug use.",
"Aykroyd later recalled that, unlike Belushi and other of his peers, he was uninterested in recreational drug use. In 1977, he received an Emmy Award for writing on SNL; he later received two more nominations for writing and one for acting. In Rolling Stones February 2015 appraisal of all 141 SNL cast members to date, Aykroyd was ranked fifth (behind Belushi, Eddie Murphy, Tina Fey, and Mike Myers).",
"In Rolling Stones February 2015 appraisal of all 141 SNL cast members to date, Aykroyd was ranked fifth (behind Belushi, Eddie Murphy, Tina Fey, and Mike Myers). \"Of all the original [SNL] greats, Aykroyd is the least imitated\", they wrote, \"because nobody else can do what he did.\" In later decades, Aykroyd made occasional guest appearances and unannounced cameos on SNL, often impersonating the American politician Bob Dole.",
"In later decades, Aykroyd made occasional guest appearances and unannounced cameos on SNL, often impersonating the American politician Bob Dole. He also brought back past characters including Irwin Mainway and Leonard Pinth-Garnell. In 1995, he appeared on the show to introduce a performance by Canadian rock band The Tragically Hip. Aykroyd, who is a fan of the band, had personally lobbied Lorne Michaels to book them as musical guests. During some guest appearances, he resurrected the Blues Brothers musical act with frequent host John Goodman in place of Belushi.",
"During some guest appearances, he resurrected the Blues Brothers musical act with frequent host John Goodman in place of Belushi. He became the second member of the original cast to host SNL in May 2003, when he appeared in the season finale. During his monologue, he performed a musical number with James Belushi similar to the Blues Brothers, but neither Aykroyd nor Belushi donned the famous black suit and sunglasses.",
"During his monologue, he performed a musical number with James Belushi similar to the Blues Brothers, but neither Aykroyd nor Belushi donned the famous black suit and sunglasses. On March 24, 2007, Aykroyd appeared as a crying fan of American Idol finalist Sanjaya Malakar (played by Andy Samberg) during \"Weekend Update\". On February 14, 2009, he appeared as U.S. House Minority leader John Boehner.",
"On February 14, 2009, he appeared as U.S. House Minority leader John Boehner. Aykroyd also made a surprise guest appearance, along with many other SNL alumni, on the show of March 9, 2013. The Blues Brothers Aykroyd was a close friend of John Belushi. According to Aykroyd, their first meeting helped spark the Blues Brothers act.",
"According to Aykroyd, their first meeting helped spark the Blues Brothers act. When they met in a club that Aykroyd frequented, he played a blues record in the background, and it stimulated a fascination with blues in Belushi, who was primarily a fan of heavy rock bands at the time. Aykroyd educated Belushi on the finer points of blues music, and with a little encouragement from then-SNL music director Paul Shaffer, it led to the creation of their Blues Brothers characters.",
"Aykroyd educated Belushi on the finer points of blues music, and with a little encouragement from then-SNL music director Paul Shaffer, it led to the creation of their Blues Brothers characters. Backed by such experienced professional R&B sidemen as lead guitarist Steve Cropper, sax man Lou Marini, trumpeter Alan Rubin, and bass guitarist Donald \"Duck\" Dunn, the Blues Brothers proved more than an SNL novelty.",
"Backed by such experienced professional R&B sidemen as lead guitarist Steve Cropper, sax man Lou Marini, trumpeter Alan Rubin, and bass guitarist Donald \"Duck\" Dunn, the Blues Brothers proved more than an SNL novelty. Taking off with the public as a legitimate musical act, they performed live gigs and in 1978 released the hit album Briefcase Full of Blues (drawn from the fact that Aykroyd, as \"Elwood Blues\", carried his blues harmonicas in a briefcase that he kept handcuffed to his wrist, in the manner of a CIA courier; Belushi originally carried the key to those handcuffs).",
"Taking off with the public as a legitimate musical act, they performed live gigs and in 1978 released the hit album Briefcase Full of Blues (drawn from the fact that Aykroyd, as \"Elwood Blues\", carried his blues harmonicas in a briefcase that he kept handcuffed to his wrist, in the manner of a CIA courier; Belushi originally carried the key to those handcuffs). Briefcase Full of Blues eventually sold 3.5 million copies, and is one of the highest-selling blues albums of all time.",
"Briefcase Full of Blues eventually sold 3.5 million copies, and is one of the highest-selling blues albums of all time. The band was much further popularized in the 1980 film The Blues Brothers, which Aykroyd co-wrote. A sequel, titled Blues Brothers 2000, was released in 1998 and featured John Goodman as Belushi's replacement. Cherokee Studios in Los Angeles was a regular haunt for the original Blues Brothers in the early days of the band.",
"Cherokee Studios in Los Angeles was a regular haunt for the original Blues Brothers in the early days of the band. Belushi and Aykroyd became fixtures at the recording studio, while fellow Blues Brother Steve Cropper called Cherokee his producing home. Whenever they needed a bass player, they were joined by another Blues Brother, Donald \"Duck\" Dunn.",
"Whenever they needed a bass player, they were joined by another Blues Brother, Donald \"Duck\" Dunn. During this time, Cropper, along with producing partner and Cherokee owner Bruce Robb, worked on a number of music projects with the two comedians/musicians, including Belushi's favorite band, Fear, and later Aykroyd's movie Dragnet. The Blues Brothers Band continues to tour today, both with and without Aykroyd. The band features original members Cropper and Marini, along with vocalist Eddie Floyd.",
"The band features original members Cropper and Marini, along with vocalist Eddie Floyd. Aykroyd sometimes performs as Elwood, along with Belushi's younger brother Jim Belushi, who plays \"Brother Zee\" on stage. They are most frequently backed by the Sacred Hearts Band. Other film and television work Concurrent with his work in Saturday Night Live, Aykroyd played the role of Purvis Bickle, lift operator at the fictitious office block 99 Sumach Street in the CBC Television series Coming Up Rosie.",
"Other film and television work Concurrent with his work in Saturday Night Live, Aykroyd played the role of Purvis Bickle, lift operator at the fictitious office block 99 Sumach Street in the CBC Television series Coming Up Rosie. After leaving SNL, Aykroyd starred in a number of films, mostly comedies, with uneven results both commercially and artistically. His first three American feature films all co-starred Belushi. The first, 1941 (1979), directed by Steven Spielberg, was a box-office disappointment.",
"The first, 1941 (1979), directed by Steven Spielberg, was a box-office disappointment. The second, The Blues Brothers (1980), which he co-wrote with director John Landis, was a massive hit. The third, Neighbors (1981) had mixed critical reaction, but was another box-office hit. One of his best-received performances was as a blueblood-turned-wretch in the 1983 comedy Trading Places, in which he co-starred with fellow SNL alumnus Eddie Murphy and Jamie Lee Curtis.",
"One of his best-received performances was as a blueblood-turned-wretch in the 1983 comedy Trading Places, in which he co-starred with fellow SNL alumnus Eddie Murphy and Jamie Lee Curtis. In the early 1980s, Aykroyd began work on a script for the film that eventually became Ghostbusters, inspired by his fascination with parapsychology. The script initially included a much greater fantasy element, including time travel, but this was toned down substantially through work on the script with Harold Ramis (who became a co-writer) and director Ivan Reitman.",
"The script initially included a much greater fantasy element, including time travel, but this was toned down substantially through work on the script with Harold Ramis (who became a co-writer) and director Ivan Reitman. Aykroyd originally wrote the role of Dr. Peter Venkman with Belushi in mind, but rewrote it for Bill Murray after Belushi's death. Aykroyd joked that the green ghost, later known as \"Slimer\", was \"the ghost of John Belushi\" and was based on Belushi's party-animal personality.",
"Aykroyd joked that the green ghost, later known as \"Slimer\", was \"the ghost of John Belushi\" and was based on Belushi's party-animal personality. Ghostbusters was released in 1984 and became a huge success for Aykroyd, who also appeared as one of the lead actors; the film earned nearly on a budget. Aykroyd's next major film role was in the 1985 spy comedy film Spies Like Us, which like The Blues Brothers was co-conceived and co-written by Aykroyd, and directed by Landis.",
"Aykroyd's next major film role was in the 1985 spy comedy film Spies Like Us, which like The Blues Brothers was co-conceived and co-written by Aykroyd, and directed by Landis. Aykroyd had again intended for Belushi to be the other lead in the film; the part was instead given to SNL alumnus Chevy Chase. The film was intended as an homage to the Bob Hope/Bing Crosby Road to ... movies of the 1940s to 1960s. Bob Hope made a cameo appearance in the film.",
"Bob Hope made a cameo appearance in the film. Bob Hope made a cameo appearance in the film. Dragnet, in which Aykroyd co-starred (with Tom Hanks) and co-wrote, was released in 1987. The film was both an homage and a satire of the previous Dragnet series, with Aykroyd playing Sgt. Joe Friday as a police officer whose law-and-order attitude is at odds with modern sensibilities. Aykroyd appeared in five films released in 1988, all of them critical and commercial failures.",
"Aykroyd appeared in five films released in 1988, all of them critical and commercial failures. A sequel to Ghostbusters, Ghostbusters II, was released in 1989; Aykroyd and the other co-creators were reluctant to make another Ghostbusters film, but succumbed to pressure from the film's studio, Columbia Pictures. The film, while considered inferior to the original, was another big hit, earning . Aykroyd was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for 1989's Driving Miss Daisy.",
"Aykroyd was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for 1989's Driving Miss Daisy. He was the second SNL cast member to be nominated for an Oscar, the first being Joan Cusack. Aykroyd's directorial debut was 1991's Nothing but Trouble starring Demi Moore, Chevy Chase, John Candy, and Aykroyd, sporting a bulbous prosthetic nose. The film was a critical and box-office flop.",
"The film was a critical and box-office flop. The film was a critical and box-office flop. Aykroyd's other films in the 1990s were mostly similarly poorly received, including Coneheads (also based on a SNL skit), Exit to Eden, Blues Brothers 2000, and Getting Away with Murder.",
"Aykroyd's other films in the 1990s were mostly similarly poorly received, including Coneheads (also based on a SNL skit), Exit to Eden, Blues Brothers 2000, and Getting Away with Murder. Two exceptions were Tommy Boy (1995), which starred SNL alumni David Spade and Chris Farley, in which Aykroyd played the role of Ray Zalinsky, and Grosse Pointe Blank (1997), in which Aykroyd had a well-received role as a rival hit man.",
"Two exceptions were Tommy Boy (1995), which starred SNL alumni David Spade and Chris Farley, in which Aykroyd played the role of Ray Zalinsky, and Grosse Pointe Blank (1997), in which Aykroyd had a well-received role as a rival hit man. In 1994, Aykroyd made a guest appearance in an episode of the sitcom The Nanny as a refrigerator repairman. In 1997, he starred as an Episcopal priest in the ABC sitcom Soul Man, which lasted two seasons.",
"In 1997, he starred as an Episcopal priest in the ABC sitcom Soul Man, which lasted two seasons. In 1998, Aykroyd voiced the role of Chip, a wasp, in Antz. In 2001, he starred in the Woody Allen film The Curse of the Jade Scorpion. Most of his film roles since then have tended to be small character parts in big-budget productions, such as a signals analyst in Pearl Harbor and a neurologist in 50 First Dates.",
"Most of his film roles since then have tended to be small character parts in big-budget productions, such as a signals analyst in Pearl Harbor and a neurologist in 50 First Dates. In 2009, Aykroyd and Ramis wrote and appeared in Ghostbusters: The Video Game, which also featured Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts, William Atherton, and Brian Doyle-Murray. In 2010, he played the voice of the title character, Yogi Bear, in the live-action/CGI-animated-film Yogi Bear.",
"In 2010, he played the voice of the title character, Yogi Bear, in the live-action/CGI-animated-film Yogi Bear. That same year, Aykroyd and Chevy Chase guest-starred in the Family Guy episode \"Spies Reminiscent of Us\", an homage to Spies Like Us. Aykroyd appeared in two February 2011 episodes of CBS's The Defenders as Judge Max Hunter, which also starred Jim Belushi. He also appeared on Top Chef Canada as a guest judge.",
"He also appeared on Top Chef Canada as a guest judge. In 2013, Aykroyd voiced the role of Scarecrow in Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return. In 2015, he appeared in a State Farm insurance commercial along with Jane Curtin and Laraine Newman, as the Coneheads, talking to \"Jake\", a State Farm agent. Aykroyd was one of the executive producers of Ghostbusters, a long-discussed reboot of the Ghostbusters franchise, which was released in 2016.",
"Aykroyd was one of the executive producers of Ghostbusters, a long-discussed reboot of the Ghostbusters franchise, which was released in 2016. Aykroyd had a cameo appearance in the film, along with many of the rest of the original Ghostbusters cast. In early 2021, he provided the voice of the Postage Stamp Fellow in the episode The Dad-Feelings Limited in the TV series The Simpsons. He also reprised his role of Dr. Ray Stantz in the movie Ghostbusters: Afterlife.",
"He also reprised his role of Dr. Ray Stantz in the movie Ghostbusters: Afterlife. Though Sony has not confirmed any further sequels to Afterlife, Aykroyd expressed interest in having the surviving three actors of the original Ghostbusters team continuing to reprise their roles for as many sequels as possible while they were alive. Other musical endeavours Aykroyd participated in the recording of \"We Are the World\" in 1985, as a member of the chorus. He wrote the liner notes for fellow Ottawa-born blues musician JW-Jones's album Bluelisted in 2008.",
"He wrote the liner notes for fellow Ottawa-born blues musician JW-Jones's album Bluelisted in 2008. Until its ending in 2018, he hosted the internationally syndicated radio show \"Elwood's BluesMobile\", formerly known as the House of Blues Radio Hour, under his Blues Brothers moniker Elwood Blues. Business ventures In 1992, Aykroyd and Hard Rock Cafe co-founder Isaac Tigrett founded the House of Blues, a chain of music venues, with the mission to promote African-American cultural contributions of blues music and folk art.",
"Business ventures In 1992, Aykroyd and Hard Rock Cafe co-founder Isaac Tigrett founded the House of Blues, a chain of music venues, with the mission to promote African-American cultural contributions of blues music and folk art. Many other music and Hollywood personalities helped to finance it at its start. It began as a single location in Cambridge, Massachusetts, although other locations quickly followed, starting with a venue in New Orleans in 1994.",
"It began as a single location in Cambridge, Massachusetts, although other locations quickly followed, starting with a venue in New Orleans in 1994. In 2004, House of Blues became the second-largest live music promoter in the world, with seven venues and 22 amphitheatres in the United States and Canada. It was bought by Live Nation in 2006. On New Year's Eve, 1994, Aykroyd opened the Aykroyd's Ghetto House Cafe on Princess Street in Kingston, Ontario.",
"On New Year's Eve, 1994, Aykroyd opened the Aykroyd's Ghetto House Cafe on Princess Street in Kingston, Ontario. In 2007, Aykroyd and artist John Alexander founded Crystal Head Vodka, a brand of high-end vodka known for its distinctive skull-shaped bottle and for being filtered through Herkimer diamond crystals. Aykroyd is also part owner of several wineries in Canada's Niagara Peninsula, and the company that distributes Patrón tequila in Canada.",
"Aykroyd is also part owner of several wineries in Canada's Niagara Peninsula, and the company that distributes Patrón tequila in Canada. In 2016, Aykroyd partnered with TV producers Eric Bischoff and Jason Hervey and game developer Ike McFadden to release an online-casino game that features the Blues Brothers. Aykroyd provided the in-game voice of his Elwood Blues character via voiceover. Charitable works In 2009, Aykroyd contributed a series of reminiscences on his upbringing in Canada for a charity album titled Dan Aykroyd's Canada.",
"Charitable works In 2009, Aykroyd contributed a series of reminiscences on his upbringing in Canada for a charity album titled Dan Aykroyd's Canada. He helped start the Blue Line Foundation, which is redeveloping flood-damaged lots in New Orleans and helping first responders buy them at reduced prices. Coastal Blue Line LLC, hopes to eventually rebuild 400 properties in New Orleans. Aykroyd is a member of Canadian charity Artists Against Racism. Personal life Aykroyd was briefly engaged to actress Carrie Fisher.",
"Personal life Aykroyd was briefly engaged to actress Carrie Fisher. He proposed to her on the set of The Blues Brothers film, in which she appeared as a spurned girlfriend of John Belushi's Jake Blues. The engagement ended when she reconciled with her former boyfriend, musician Paul Simon. In 1983, he married actress Donna Dixon; they met on the set of Doctor Detroit released the same year.",
"In 1983, he married actress Donna Dixon; they met on the set of Doctor Detroit released the same year. They appeared together in four additional films: Spies Like Us (1985); Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983); The Couch Trip (1988); and Exit to Eden (1994). They have three daughters, Danielle (known by her stage name, Vera Sola), Stella, and Belle.",
"They have three daughters, Danielle (known by her stage name, Vera Sola), Stella, and Belle. Aykroyd maintains his Canadian roots as a longtime resident of Sydenham, Ontario, with his estate on Loughborough Lake. In a 2004 NPR interview with host Terry Gross, Aykroyd said that he had been diagnosed in childhood with Tourette syndrome (TS) as well as Asperger syndrome (AS). He stated that his TS was successfully treated with therapy.",
"He stated that his TS was successfully treated with therapy. In 2015, he stated during a HuffPost Show interview with hosts Roy Sekoff and Marc Lamont Hill that his AS was \"never diagnosed\", but was \"sort of a self-diagnosis\" based on several of his own characteristics. Aykroyd is a former reserve commander for the police department in Harahan, Louisiana, working for Chief of Police Peter Dale. Aykroyd carried his badge with him at all times.",
"Aykroyd carried his badge with him at all times. Aykroyd carried his badge with him at all times. He currently serves as a reserve deputy of the Hinds County Sheriff's Department in Hinds County, Mississippi. He supports the reserves with a fundraiser concert along with other blues and gospel singers in Mississippi. Aykroyd is passionate about the outdoors, geology and paleontology which he attributes to watching his father work on constructing the Gatineau Parkway which included blasting through granite rock formations to run the highway.",
"Aykroyd is passionate about the outdoors, geology and paleontology which he attributes to watching his father work on constructing the Gatineau Parkway which included blasting through granite rock formations to run the highway. This passion has led Aykroyd to join renowned Canadian paleontologist Dr. Philip J. Currie on a number of digs, including fundraising digs and galas as fundraisers for the construction of the Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum in Wembley, Alberta. In recognition of Aykroyd's contributions, the museum's theatre was named the Aykroyd Family Theatre.",
"In recognition of Aykroyd's contributions, the museum's theatre was named the Aykroyd Family Theatre. Friendship with John Belushi In an appearance on the Today show, Aykroyd referred to John Belushi and himself as \"kindred spirits.\" In the biography Belushi, Aykroyd claims that Belushi was the only man with whom he could ever dance. Aykroyd and Belushi were scheduled to present the Academy Award for Visual Effects in 1982, but Belushi died only a few weeks prior to the ceremony.",
"Aykroyd and Belushi were scheduled to present the Academy Award for Visual Effects in 1982, but Belushi died only a few weeks prior to the ceremony. Though devastated by his friend's death, Aykroyd presented the award alone, remarking from the stage: \"My partner would have loved to have been here to present this, given that he was something of a visual effect himself.\"",
"Though devastated by his friend's death, Aykroyd presented the award alone, remarking from the stage: \"My partner would have loved to have been here to present this, given that he was something of a visual effect himself.\" Aykroyd was openly hostile to the 1989 film Wired, a biopic of Belushi which was based on the 1984 book of the same name by journalist Bob Woodward, starred Michael Chiklis in his film debut as Belushi, and featured him as a character played by actor Gary Groomes.",
"Aykroyd was openly hostile to the 1989 film Wired, a biopic of Belushi which was based on the 1984 book of the same name by journalist Bob Woodward, starred Michael Chiklis in his film debut as Belushi, and featured him as a character played by actor Gary Groomes. Along with Belushi's widow Judith and brother Jim, and many other friends, associates and relatives of Belushi, he boycotted the film and the associated book for misrepresenting Belushi's life, and expressed his desire that the film would flop at the box office, which it ultimately did.",
"Along with Belushi's widow Judith and brother Jim, and many other friends, associates and relatives of Belushi, he boycotted the film and the associated book for misrepresenting Belushi's life, and expressed his desire that the film would flop at the box office, which it ultimately did. During an interview for MTV's The Big Picture in June 1988, he said, \"I have witches working now to jinx the thing...",
"During an interview for MTV's The Big Picture in June 1988, he said, \"I have witches working now to jinx the thing... I hope it never gets seen and I am going to hurl all the negative energy I can and muster all my hell energies [against them]. My thunderbolts are out on this one, quite truthfully.\"",
"My thunderbolts are out on this one, quite truthfully.\" He had actor J. T. Walsh removed from the film Loose Cannons after Walsh had already done two days of filming, after finding out that Walsh had been in the cast of Wired. Walsh was replaced by fellow Canadian Paul Koslo, causing the film a $125,000 production delay. Beliefs Aykroyd considers himself a Spiritualist, stating: I am a Spiritualist, a proud wearer of the Spiritualist badge.",
"Beliefs Aykroyd considers himself a Spiritualist, stating: I am a Spiritualist, a proud wearer of the Spiritualist badge. Mediums and psychic research have gone on for many, many years ... Loads of people have seen spirits, heard a voice, or felt the cold temperature. I believe that they are between here and there, that they exist between the fourth and fifth dimensions, and that they visit us frequently.",
"I believe that they are between here and there, that they exist between the fourth and fifth dimensions, and that they visit us frequently. Aykroyd's great-grandfather, a dentist, was a mystic who corresponded with author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle on the subject of Spiritualism, and was a member of the Lily Dale Society. Other than Spiritualism, Aykroyd is also interested in various other aspects of the paranormal, particularly UFOlogy. He is a lifetime member of and official Hollywood consultant for the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON).",
"He is a lifetime member of and official Hollywood consultant for the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON). Along these lines, he served, from 1996 to 2000, as host of Psi Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal, which claimed to describe cases drawn from the archives of \"The Office of Scientific Investigation and Research\". In 2005, Aykroyd produced the DVD Dan Aykroyd: Unplugged on UFOs. Aykroyd is interviewed for 80 minutes by UFOlogist David Sereda discussing in depth many aspects of the UFO phenomenon.",
"Aykroyd is interviewed for 80 minutes by UFOlogist David Sereda discussing in depth many aspects of the UFO phenomenon. On September 29, 2009, Peter Aykroyd Sr., Dan's father, published a book entitled A History of Ghosts. This book chronicled the family's historical involvement in the Spiritualist movement, to which Aykroyd readily refers.",
"This book chronicled the family's historical involvement in the Spiritualist movement, to which Aykroyd readily refers. Aykroyd wrote the introduction and accompanied his father on a series of promotional activities, including launches in New York and Toronto, appearances on Larry King Live and Coast to Coast AM, and various other public-relations initiatives. Aykroyd also read the introduction for the audio version of the book.",
"Aykroyd also read the introduction for the audio version of the book. In 1997, the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry awarded Aykroyd in absentia the Snuffed Candle Award for hosting Psi Factor and being a \"long-time promoter ... of paranormal claims\". Following the awards, Joe Nickell wrote to Aykroyd asking for the research behind the \"cases\" presented on Psi Factor, particularly a claim that NASA scientists were \"killed while investigating a meteor crash and giant eggs were found and incubated, yielding a flea the size of a hog\".",
"Following the awards, Joe Nickell wrote to Aykroyd asking for the research behind the \"cases\" presented on Psi Factor, particularly a claim that NASA scientists were \"killed while investigating a meteor crash and giant eggs were found and incubated, yielding a flea the size of a hog\". Filmography Film Television Video games Guest appearances on SNL Awards and nominations In 1977, Aykroyd received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy-Variety or Music Series for his collaborative work on Saturday Night Live.",
"Filmography Film Television Video games Guest appearances on SNL Awards and nominations In 1977, Aykroyd received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy-Variety or Music Series for his collaborative work on Saturday Night Live. In 1994, he received an honorary Doctor of Literature degree from Carleton University. In 1999, Aykroyd was made a Member of the Order of Canada. He was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame in 2002.",
"He was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame in 2002. In 2017, he was made a member of the Order of Ontario in recognition for being \"one of the world's most popular entertainers, well-known for his time on Saturday Night Live and the 1984 classic movie Ghostbusters.\" See also List of Canadian actors List of celebrities who own wineries and vineyards Saturday Night Live cast members References Further reading Hill, Doug, and Weingrad, Jeff, Saturday Night: A Backstage History of Saturday Night Live.",
"See also List of Canadian actors List of celebrities who own wineries and vineyards Saturday Night Live cast members References Further reading Hill, Doug, and Weingrad, Jeff, Saturday Night: A Backstage History of Saturday Night Live. Vintage Books, 1986. .",
"Vintage Books, 1986. . Vintage Books, 1986. . External links Dan Aykroyd, Still Full of the 'Blues' – interview on NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross – originally aired November 22, 2004 1952 births 20th-century American comedians 20th-century American male actors 20th-century Canadian comedians 20th-century Canadian male actors 20th-century Canadian male writers 20th-century Canadian writers 21st-century American comedians 21st-century American male actors 21st-century Canadian comedians 21st-century Canadian male actors American impressionists (entertainers) American male comedians American male film actors American male television actors American male television writers American male voice actors American people of Dutch descent American people of English descent American people of French-Canadian descent American people of Irish descent American people of Scottish descent American male screenwriters American sketch comedians American spiritualists American television personalities American television writers Businesspeople from Ottawa Canadian conspiracy theorists Canadian emigrants to the United States Canadian impressionists (entertainers) Canadian male comedians Canadian male film actors Canadian male television actors Canadian male voice actors Canadian people of Dutch descent Canadian people of English descent Canadian people of French descent Canadian people of Irish descent Canadian people of Scottish descent Canadian male screenwriters Canadian sketch comedians Canadian spiritualists Canadian television personalities Canadian television writers Carleton University alumni Comedians from Ontario Golden Raspberry Award winners Living people Male actors from Ottawa Members of the Order of Canada Members of the Order of Ontario People from Harahan, Louisiana People with Tourette syndrome Primetime Emmy Award winners The Blues Brothers members Ufologists UFO conspiracy theorists Writers from Ottawa"
] |
[
"Ricky Martin",
"1983-1990: Menudo",
"What did he gain fame for",
"After achieving modest fame in Puerto Rico for his work in television commercials, Martin auditioned for membership in the Puerto Rican boy band Menudo."
] | C_fe907a545efb49ad960c0a3908a4292c_1 | How did his auditions go | 2 | How did Ricky Martin's auditions in Menudo go? | Ricky Martin | After achieving modest fame in Puerto Rico for his work in television commercials, Martin auditioned for membership in the Puerto Rican boy band Menudo. Although the executives enjoyed his dancing and singing at his first two auditions, Martin was rejected because he was too short. By the third audition, his persistence impressed executives, and in 1984, 12-year-old Martin became a member. A month after joining Menudo, he made his debut performance with the group at the Luis A. Ferre Performing Arts Center in San Juan. During this performance, he inadvertently disobeyed the choreography by walking around the stage, when it was planned that he would stay still, and was chastised by the band manager after the show: "The mistake was such a big deal that from that moment on, never again did I move when I wasn't supposed to move...That was the discipline of Menudo: You either did things the way you were told or you were not part of the group." The song "Asignatura Pendiente" from Almas del Silencio (2003) was inspired by the first time Martin left Puerto Rico to tour with Menudo. Although Martin enjoyed traveling and performing onstage with Menudo, he found the band's busy schedule and strict management exhausting, and later reflected that the experience "cost" him his childhood. He considered leaving the group while on tour in Brazil, but ultimately decided to stay out of fear of media backlash and being sued for breach of contract. Martin also began struggling with his sexuality, noting the stark contrast between his status as a sex symbol and his own emotions. Despite this, Martin acknowledged his "opportunity to have so many amazing experiences with so many amazing people" during his time with the group. He developed an interest in philanthropy when the group became UNICEF ambassadors, often working with impoverished children in third world countries. His experiences as an ambassador affected him greatly and inspired him to continue working with charities later in life. By 1987, Menudo's record sales began to decline, and the group changed its image, adopting an edgier look and performing more rock-influenced songs. The band released the album Somos Los Hijos del Rock in Spanish, and to appeal to the Menudo's Filipino fanbase, the group released In Action, recording songs in both English and Tagalog. After recording 11 albums with the group, Martin left Menudo in July 1989, at age 17, hoping to rest and evaluate his career path. He performed his final show with the group at the same venue where he'd performed his first performance as a member. Martin returned to Puerto Rico to graduate from high school, and 13 days after turning 18, he moved to New York City to celebrate his financial independence; since he was a minor during his time as a member of Menudo, Martin was not allowed to access his own bank accounts. He was accepted into New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, but months before classes began, Martin dropped out and moved to Mexico City to perform in the play Mama Ama el Rock (Mom Loves Rock). CANNOTANSWER | Although the executives enjoyed his dancing and singing at his first two auditions, Martin was rejected because he was too short. | Enrique Martín Morales (born December 24, 1971), known professionally as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican singer, songwriter, and actor. He is known for his musical versatility, as his discography spans multiple genres, including Latin pop, pop, dance, reggaeton, and salsa. Dubbed the "King of Latin Pop", the "King of Latin Music", and the "Latin Pop God", he is regarded as one of the most influential artists in the world. Born in San Juan, Martin began appearing in television commercials at the age of 9 and began his musical career at age 12, as a member of Puerto Rican boy band Menudo. He started his solo career in 1991 while in Sony Music Mexico, gaining recognition in Latin America with the release of his first two studio albums, Ricky Martin (1991) and Me Amaras (1993), both of which were focused on ballads.
Martin's third album, A Medio Vivir (1995), helped him rose to prominence in European countries. The chart-topping single "María", incorporated a mixture of Latin music genres and became his first international hit. His international success was further solidified with his fourth album, Vuelve (1998). The album, which earned Martin his first Grammy Award, spawned chart-topping hits "Vuelve" and "La Copa de la Vida". Martin performed the latter at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards, which was greeted with a massive standing ovation and is known as a game-changer for Latin music worldwide. His first English album, Ricky Martin (1999) became his first US Billboard 200 number one. The lead single "Livin' la Vida Loca" is considered to be Martin's biggest hit, topping both the Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart. Martin's success in the late '90s is generally seen as the beginning of the "Latin explosion". He has been credited for getting Latin pop music genre to mainstream recognition, paving the way for a large number of Latin artists to achieve a global success.
Martin has since established his status as a sex symbol and a pop icon, releasing several successful albums, including all-time Latin bestsellers Almas del Silencio (2003) and MTV Unplugged (2006), as well as Grammy Award winner A Quien Quiera Escuchar (2015). He has also amassed many successful singles and chart-topper hits, including "She Bangs", "Nobody Wants to Be Lonely", "Tal Vez", "Tu Recuerdo", "La Mordidita", "Vente Pa' Ca", and "Canción Bonita". As an actor, Martin gained popularity and stardom for his role in the hit soap opera General Hospital (1994-1996), while his portrayal of Antonio D'Amico in The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story (2018) marked the acting opportunity of his career, garnering him an Emmy nomination. He also starred as Ché in the Broadway revival of the musical Evita in 2012, which broke the theatre's box-office sales record seven times.
Having sold over 70 million records worldwide, Martin is one of the best-selling Latin music artists of all time. He has scored 11 Billboard Hot Latin Songs number-one songs, and won over 200 awards (most awarded male Latin artist), including two Grammy Awards, five Latin Grammy Awards, five MTV Video Music Awards (tied for most wins by a Latin artist), two American Music Awards, two Latin American Music Awards, three Billboard Music Awards, nine Billboard Latin Music Awards, eight World Music Awards, fourteen Lo Nuestro Awards, a Guinness World Record, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He is ranked among the Greatest Latin Artists of All Time, the Greatest Music Video Artists of All Time, and the Most Influential Latin Artists of All Time by Billboard. His philanthropy and activism focus on LGBT rights and fighting against human trafficking; in 2004, he founded The Ricky Martin Foundation, a non-profit, non-governmental organization that focuses on denouncing human trafficking and educating about the crime's existence.
Life and career
1971–1982: Early life
Enrique Martín Morales was born on December 24, 1971, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. His mother, Doña Nereida Morales, is a former accountant; his father, Enrique Martín Negroni, is a former psychologist who previously worked as a regional supervisor for a Puerto Rican mental-health agency. His parents divorced when he was two years old, and although his mother had custody of Martin, he could also move freely between his father's house in the middle-class suburb of University Gardens in San Juan, and his paternal grandmother's house nearby. In an interview with People, he told the magazine the he "never had to make decisions" about who he loved more, and he was "always happy". Martin has two older maternal half-brothers, Fernando and Ángel Fernández, two younger paternal half-brothers, Eric and Daniel Martín, and a younger paternal half-sister, Vanessa Martín. Martin has Spanish heritage of Basque and Canarian descent. As he explained to ABC, the Martins traveled from Spain to Puerto Rico in 1779. He also has some Corsican origin through his paternal grandmother.
Martin grew up Catholic. The people closest to him called him "Kiki" (a nickname that comes from Enrique). He began singing at age six, using wooden kitchen spoons as make-believe microphones; he often sang songs by Puerto Rican boy band Menudo, as well as English-language rock groups such as Led Zeppelin, Journey, and REO Speedwagon. His mother's side of the family was musically inclined and his maternal grandfather was a poet. Martin later reflected on his time spent with his family as a child: "Every time I find myself in front of an audience, be it twenty people or one hundred thousand, once again I feel the energy that consumed me back at the family gatherings of my youth." He attended Colegio Sagrado Corazón, a bilingual Catholic grade school in University Gardens since fourth grade and was an "average" student there. When he was nine years old, he began appearing in television commercials for products such as soft drinks, toothpaste, and fast food restaurants, most notably Orange Crush and Burger King. In a year and a half, he starred in 11 commercials.
1983–1989: Menudo
After achieving moderate fame in his country for his appearances in television commercials, Martin auditioned for membership in Menudo. Formed in Puerto Rico in 1977, Menudo members were usually replaced when they hit 16 in order to keep the band "full of fresh-faced members". Although the executives enjoyed his dancing and singing at his first two auditions, Martin was rejected because he was too short. By the third audition, his persistence impressed executives, and in 1984, 12-year-old Martin became a member. A month after joining Menudo, he made his debut performance with the group at the Luis A. Ferré Performing Arts Center in San Juan. During this performance, he inadvertently disobeyed the choreography by walking around the stage, when it was planned that he would stay still, and was chastised by the band manager after the show: "The mistake was such a big deal that from that moment on, never again did I move when I wasn't supposed to move. That was the discipline of Menudo: You either did things the way you were told or you were not part of the group." Although Martin enjoyed traveling and performing onstage with Menudo, he found the band's busy schedule and strict management exhausting, and later reflected that the experience "cost" him his childhood. Despite this, Martin acknowledged his "opportunity to have so many amazing experiences with so many amazing people" during his time with the group.
During his time with Menudo, he became a "key-member of the group" and a "fan-favorite", while the band released 11 albums, including the Grammy-nominated Evolución () (1984) and their highest-charting and longest-running album on the US Billboard 200, Menudo (1985). The former featured Martin's debut single, "Rayo de Luna" () and the latter included the hit single "Hold Me". "Hold Me" became the group's first and only entry on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at number 62. It was ranked among the "100 Greatest Boy Band Songs of All Time" by Billboard, the "75 Greatest Boy Band Songs of All Time" by Rolling Stone, and the "30 Best Boy Band Songs" by Complex. Besides the musical career, Martin appeared with other members of Menudo in the American romantic comedy/drama television series, The Love Boat (1985), and the Argentine soap opera, Por Siempre Amigos (1987). He also developed an interest in philanthropy when the group became UNICEF ambassadors, often working with impoverished children in third world countries. His experiences as an ambassador affected him greatly and inspired him to continue working with charities later in his life.
Finally, Martin left the band in July 1989, at age 17, hoping to rest and evaluate his career path; he stayed a few extra months after his "age-mandated retirement" came around. He performed his final show with the group at the same venue where he had performed his first performance as a member. Referred to as the "Most Iconic Latino Pop Music Band", Menudo was ranked as one of the Biggest Boy Bands of All Time by Us Weekly in 2021. The group has sold around 20 million records worldwide, and has been acknowledged as the "Most Successful Latin Boy Band of All Time" by Billboard. Martin returned to Puerto Rico to "get a break from the pressures of the group, the promotional tours, and the constant stress of work", but although his parents' divorce had not affected him before, suddenly began to affect him; his parents "began fighting more than ever" and they were forcing him to "choose between the two people in the world" he loved most. As he understood they did this because they loved him and wanted the best for him, he "forgave all of the pain and anger they caused" him. He graduated from the high school, and 13 days after turning 18, he moved to New York City to celebrate his financial independence; since he was a minor during his time with Menudo, Martin was not allowed to access his own bank accounts.
1990–1994: Acting and first solo albums
Martin was accepted into New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in 1990, but before classes began, his friend invited him to Mexico City. He attended the musical comedy play, Mama Ama el Rock () there, and was offered to stay and replace one of the actors. He accepted the offer, dropped out the university and moved from New York to Mexico City to perform in the play. While he was performing onstage in Mama Ama el Rock, a producer in the audience took notice of Martin's acting and offered him a role in the Mexican telenovela Alcanzar una estrella () (1990). Martin also joined the cast for the second season of the show, titled Alcanzar una estrella II (1991). A film based on the TV series, titled Más que alcanzar una estrella () (1992), was also produced in which Martin starred, and earned him an El Heraldo Award for his role.
A Sony Discos executive noticed Martin's acting in the soap operas and offered him his first solo music recording contract. Eager to record his first solo album and hustled by the executive, Martin signed the contract without reading its conditions and inadvertently signed a deal in which he would only be paid one cent for each album sold! Despite viewing the contract as unfair, Martin referred to the record as "the start of something phenomenal" for him. After working "around the clock" to finish filming Alcanzar una estrella II and recording music, he released his debut solo album, Ricky Martin, on November 26, 1991. The album peaked at number five on the US Billboard Latin Pop Albums chart and spent a total of 41 weeks on the list. It sold over 500,000 copies worldwide, was certified gold in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Puerto Rico, and spawned his first solo hit singles, "Fuego Contra Fuego" (), "El Amor de Mi Vida" (), and "Dime Que Me Quieres" (). Both "Fuego Contra Fuego" and "El Amor de Mi Vida" reached the top 10 on the US Billboard Hot Latin Tracks, peaking at numbers three and eight, respectively. To promote the album, Martin embarked on a successful Latin American tour, breaking box office records, which the singer referred to as "an indescribable feeling, almost like coming home".
After the success of Ricky Martin and its subsequent tour, Martin's record company met him with the Spanish musician Juan Carlos Calderón to work on his second studio album, Me Amaras () (1993). Although Martin felt "very grateful" for the opportunity to work with Calderón, he noted, "I always felt that that record was more his than mine." The album sold over one million copies worldwide and was certified triple-platinum in Chile. In 1994, Martin's agent encouraged him to move to Los Angeles to act in an American sitcom called Getting By. The show was canceled after two seasons, but soon afterward, Martin was given the role of Miguel Morez on the popular hit soap opera General Hospital; Morez, a bartender and singer, known for his long and flowing hair, was a Puerto Rican citizen hiding in the United States from his lover's criminal mastermind father and created a love triangle with his fiancé Lily Rivera and Brenda. Martin portrayed the role for two years and gained huge popularity and stardom, becoming "one of the most-talked about actors on the soap opera". Despite this, Martin felt he lacked chemistry with the rest of the General Hospital cast and observed that people treated him differently because of his Puerto Rican accent. At the time, it was relatively uncommon for Latin actors to appear on American television, and people suggested that he take accent reduction classes, which he refused.
1995–1997: Breakthrough with A Medio Vivir
In 1995, Martin refocused on his music career, and began working on his third studio album, A Medio Vivir (). The album was released on September 12, 1995, and became a huge success; it sold over three million copies or even seven million copies worldwide, according to different sources, being certified gold in the United States, platinum in France, 4× platinum in Spain, and 6× platinum in Argentina, as well as many other certifications in Latin American countries. It spawned several successful hits, including "Te Extraño, Te Olvido, Te Amo" (), "María", and "Volverás" (). On "María", which was released as the second single from the album, Martin allowed himself "to go into a very Latin, African sound". He created a mix of different Latin music genres instead of singing a romantic ballad, the style that he focused on it in his first two albums, while Latin pop music in general was mainly made up of it at the time. Although Martin was satisfied with the track and he describes it as a song that he is "extremely proud of", the first time he played it for a record label executive, the man said: "Are you crazy? You have ruined your career! I can't believe you are showing me this. You're finished — this is going to be your last album." Despite this, the track became Martin's breakthrough song and his first international hit. It topped the charts in 20 countries, and has sold over five million physical copies worldwide. As a result, the song was featured in the 1999 edition of The Guinness Book of Records as the biggest Latin hit. It was also the Song of the Summer in Spain in 1996 and was the second best-selling single in the world that year.
In Australia, "María" spent six weeks at number one, topped the country's year-end chart in 1998, and was certified platinum. The song also spent nine weeks at number one in France, and was certified diamond. It has sold over 1.4 million copies in France. Additionally, the track reached the top 10 in the United Kingdom, and became Martin's first entry on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. To promote A Medio Vivir, he embarked on the worldwide A Medio Vivir Tour, that lasted for more than two years, through which he performed 63 shows and visited Europe, Latin America and the United States. During an interview with The Miami Herald in 1996, Martin expressed an interest in performing on Broadway. In a few days, he received a phone call from producer Richard Jay-Alexander, and was offered the role of Marius Pontmercy in the play Les Misérables. After the conclusion of the A Medio Vivir Tour in Latin America, Martin returned to New York to appear in the play in an eleven-week run. He greatly enjoyed the experience, calling his time in the play an "honor" and "the role of [his] life". Martin continued to tour after the conclusion of the show's run, and noted that his audiences were growing in both size and enthusiasm.
1998–1999: Vuelve
While the A Medio Vivir Tour had not been concluded yet, Martin returned to the studio to record his fourth album Vuelve (). He called the experience of touring and recording at the same time "brutal and incredibly intense". As he was finishing the record in 1997, "María" caught the attention of FIFA. They contacted Martin and asked him to create a song as the 1998 FIFA World Cup anthem. He stated about the request: "I have to admit that the challenge made me a bit nervous, but the massive growth potential for my career was such that I decided to accept." Following his acceptance, musicians K.C. Porter, Robi Rosa, and Desmond Child joined him and they started working on a song titled "La Copa de la Vida" (English: "The Cup of Life"). Martin wrote about the recording:
"La Copa de la Vida" was included as the eighth track on Vuelve, released February 12, 1998, The album became a huge success; it sold over eight million copies worldwide, becoming the best-selling Spanish-language album in history, according to his label. Also, some sources have reported the album's sales as six million copies worldwide. It spent 26 weeks atop the US Billboard Top Latin Albums chart and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). In Canada, the album peaked at number three and was certified double platinum. Vuelve spawned big hits, including the title track, "La Copa de la Vida", "Perdido Sin Ti" (), and "La Bomba" (). "La Copa de la Vida" grew to be an international success, appearing on the charts in more than 60 countries, and reaching number one in 30 countries, Both "Vuelve" and "Perdido Sin Ti" peaked at number one on the US Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart; the former also reached number one in On July 12, 1998, Martin performed "La Copa de la Vida" as the official anthem at the 1998 FIFA World Cup Final in France, in front of more than a billion TV viewers around the world.
To promote Vuelve, Martin embarked on the worldwide Vuelve Tour; he performed in Asia, Australia, Europe, Mexico, South America, and the United States. Although Latin music was not important to the Recording Academy or the mainstream music industry at the time, Tommy Mottola, then-chief of Columbia Records, was certain about Martin's stardom and pushed hard to have him on the Grammy Awards ceremony. During an interview with Billboard, Mottola told the magazine about it: "There was tremendous resistance from the Grammys. They did not want an 'unknown' to perform, yet we he had already sold 10 million copies of Vuelve worldwide. To me, that was absolutely UNACCEPTABLE." Finally, on February 24, 1999, cavorting with a 15-piece band alongside and a large number of dancers and percussionists, Martin performed a bilingual version of "La Copa de La Vida" at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards, which was greeted with a massive standing ovation and met with acclaim from music critics. At the same night, Vuelve earned Martin his first Grammy award, for Best Latin Pop Performance. After he accepted the award and expressed how important it was to the Latin community, the American singer-songwriter Madonna came on the stage and hugged him.
1999–2000: Crossover to English
In October 1998, CNN confirmed that Martin has been working on his first English language album, following the huge success of Vuelve. In April 1999, Billboard revealed the album's title as Ricky Martin in an article, mentioning that the album was initially set for retail on May 25, 1999. However, the huge interest in the disc, following Martin's performance at the Grammy Awards, encouraged Columbia Records to decide to rush the album to release two weeks ahead of schedule, on May 11. Tom Corson, the senior vice president of marketing at Columbia explained: "Quite simply, the market has demanded it. People have been wanting this record for a while, and it's now reached the point where we have to get it out there immediately." Tim Devin, the general manager of Tower Records in New York added about Martin: "He's always been one of our strongest Latin artists, but interest in him has picked up considerably since that performance."
Ricky Martin debuted atop the US Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 661,000 copies, according to data compiled by Nielsen SoundScan, becoming the largest sales week by any album in 1999. It also broke the record as the largest first-week sales for any pop or Latin artist in history, as well as any Columbia Records artist during the SoundScan era. With this album, Martin became the first male Latin act in history to debut at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart. It was certified 7× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), denoting shipments of over seven million copies in the US and breaking the record as the best-selling album by a Latin artist in the country. Only within three months, Ricky Martin became the best-selling album ever by a Latin artist. According to different sources, the album has sold over 15 million copies or even 17 million copies worldwide. It was nominated for Best Pop Album at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards.
The album was supported by four singles; the lead single "Livin' la Vida Loca" () topped the charts in more than 20 countries and is considered to be Martin's biggest hit, and one of the best-selling singles of all time. In the United States, it topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for five consecutive weeks, becoming Martin's first number one single on the chart. Additionally, it broke several records on Billboard charts. It also spent eight consecutive weeks atop the Canada Top Singles chart and topped the country's year-end chart. In the United Kingdom, it debuted at number one and stayed there for three weeks, making Martin the first Puerto Rican artist in history to hit number one. The track was ranked as the best '90s pop song by Elle, and was listed among the Best Latin Songs of All Time by Billboard. It was nominated for four categories at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards, including Record of the Year and Song of the Year. Its Spanish version reached the summit of the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart in the United States, and was nominated for Record of the Year at the 2000 Latin Grammy Awards.
"She's All I Ever Had" was released as the second single from the album in June 1999. It peaked at numbers two and three on the US Billboard Hot 100 and Canada Top Singles charts, respectively. The Spanish version, "Bella" () topped the charts in five countries, as well as Billboards Hot Latin Tracks chart. To further promote Ricky Martin, he embarked on the worldwide Livin' la Vida Loca Tour. In the United States, the Livin' la Vida Loca Tour was the highest-grossing tour of 2000 by a Latin artist, earning over $36.3 million with 44 dates and drawing 617,488 fans. According to Billboard Boxscore, the tour grossed $51.3 million in Canada, Mexico, and the United States, with 60 shows and drawing an audience of 875,151. International dates were not reported to Boxscore and would push the tour's grosses higher.
2000–2005: Sound Loaded, Almas del Silencio, and Life
While the Livin' la Vida Loca Tour had not been concluded yet, Martin returned to the studio to record his sixth studio album, Sound Loaded. The album was released on November 14, 2000. It debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 318,000 copies, according to data compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The album has sold over seven million copies or even eight million copies worldwide, according to different sources, being certified double platinum in the US. The album featured two hit singles, "She Bangs" and "Nobody Wants to Be Lonely". The former reached number one in seven countries, including Italy and Sweden, as well as the top five in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and several other countries. It was nominated for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance at the 43rd Annual Grammy Awards. The Spanish-language version of "She Bangs" reached the summit of the Hot Latin Tracks chart and won the Latin Grammy Award for Best Music Video at the 2nd Annual Latin Grammy Awards. "Nobody Wants to Be Lonely" was re-recorded along with American singer Christina Aguilera, peaking at number one in five countries, as well as the top five in Italy, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom, among others. It was nominated for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals at the 44th Annual Grammy Awards. The solo Spanish version, entitled "Sólo Quiero Amarte" topped the Hot Latin Tracks chart. Both "She Bangs" and "Nobody Wants to Be Lonely" are certified silver in the UK. In February 2001, Martin released a Spanish compilation album entitled La Historia (), which spent five weeks at number one on the Top Latin Albums chart, topped the charts in Argentina and Sweden, and was certified quadruple Latin platinum in the United States.
Following the success of Ricky Martin and Sound Loaded, he initially planned to release the third English-language album as his seventh studio album, which was supposed to be his first complete work in the field of songwriting. Despite Sony Music Entertainment's original plan, he decided to release a Spanish-language album: "I woke up five months ago, and I said 'We're doing an album in Spanish.' Everyone went nuts. They said, 'You don't have time; you have to release an album in English because of timing issues with your career.' And that's fine. But I told them, 'In five months, you'll have a kick-ass album' [in Spanish]. Martin's seventh studio album, Almas del Silencio () was released in May 2003. It debuted atop the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart with first-week sales of 65,000 copies, according to data compiled by Nielsen SoundScan, breaking the record as the largest first-week sales for a Spanish-language album in the US. The album also debuted at number 12 on Billboard 200, tying the 2002 album, Quizás () as the chart's highest Spanish-language debut. The album also debuted at number one in "at least 13 Latin American markets" and sold over two million copies worldwide.
Almas del Silencio spawned three Hot Latin Tracks chart-topper hits: "Tal Vez" (), "Jaleo", and "Y Todo Queda en Nada" (). "Tal Vez" debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart on the week of April 12, 2003, marking the first number one debut since February 1998, and becoming the sixth song overall in the chart's history to do so. It spent a total of 11 weeks at this position, surpassing "Livin' la Vida Loca" as Martin's longest number-one single on the chart, and was the longest-running number one of 2003. It also topped the charts in several Latin American markets. In October 2005, Martin released his third English album, Life. He commented on the album: "I was really in touch with my emotions. I think this album is very multi-layered, just like life is. It's about feeling anger. It's about feeling joy. It's about feeling uncertainty. It's about feeling. And all my emotions are part of this production". To promote Life, Martin embarked on the worldwide One Night Only with Ricky Martin tour.
2006–2012: MTV Unplugged, Música + Alma + Sexo, and Evita
Although Martin's team and MTV had discussed an MTV Unplugged for years, but it became more serious after Martin's the One Night Only tour, which featured an acoustic segment. Finally, Martin taped his MTV Unplugged set in Miami in August 2006, performing both romantic ballads and up-tempo tropical dance songs. During the performance, he debuted three new tracks, including "Tu Recuerdo" (), which was released to radio stations as the lead single from his debut live album MTV Unplugged (2006). The album debuted at number one on the Top Latin Albums chart and sold over two million copies worldwide, marking his highest-certified album in Mexico. It won two Latin Grammy awards and was nominated for Album of the Year. "Tu Recuerdo" reached number one in five countries, as well as the Billboards Hot Latin Songs and Latin Pop Airplay charts. The track was certified quadruple platinum in Mexico and was nominated for Record of the Year at the 8th Annual Latin Grammy Awards. The artist then embarked on the Black and White Tour in 2007, including four sold-out shows at the José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum in Puerto Rico. The concerts in Puerto Rico were compiled into his second live album Ricky Martin... Live Black & White Tour (2007). Later that year, he released his first Italian song, "Non siamo soli" () as a duet with Italian singer Eros Ramazzotti. The song debuted at number one in Italy and spent eleven consecutive weeks atop the chart.
In January 2011, Martin launched his ninth studio album, Música + Alma + Sexo (). The album debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200 chart, becoming the highest-charting primarily-Spanish language set since Dreaming of You (1995) by American singer Selena. It holds the record as the highest-charting Latin album of the 2010s, and represents the highest-ever chart debut on the Billboard 200 for a Sony Music Latin release. Música + Alma + Sexo also peaked at number one in Argentina and Venezuela, as well as Billboards Top Latin Albums. Its lead single, "Lo Mejor de Mi Vida Eres Tú" (English: "The Best Thing About Me Is You") reached number one on the US Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart and was nominated for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Short Form Music Video at the 12th Annual Latin Grammy Awards. To promote the album, Martin embarked on the Música + Alma + Sexo World Tour in 2011. In February 2012, he appeared as Spanish teacher David Martinez on the twelfth episode of the third season of the American musical television series Glee, The Spanish Teacher. Martin starred as Ché in the Broadway revival of the musical Evita from March 2012 to January 2013. The show became a hit, breaking the theatre's box-office sales record after only six performances. Sine then, it broke its own record six times and was nominated for Best Revival of a Musical at the 66th Tony Awards. The show's soundtrack album debuted at number one on Billboards cast album chart.
2013–2018: The Voice, A Quien Quiera Escuchar, and The Assassination of Gianni Versace
Martin served as a coach on the second season of the Australian singing competition television series The Voice in 2013. In the same year, he released a compilation album, entitled Greatest Hits: Souvenir Edition, which reached number two in Australia, as well as a new single, entitled "Come with Me", which debuted at number three in the country. The artist then embarked on the
Ricky Martin Live tour in Australia in October 2013. He continued serving as a coach on both the third and fourth seasons of The Voice Australia in 2014 and 2015, respectively. In 2014, Lars Brandle from Billboard stated in an article: "Through his high-profile slot on The Voice, Ricky's profile in Australia has never been as big as it is right now." On February 25, 2014, Wisin released a song titled "Adrenalina" () from his album El Regreso del Sobreviviente (), which featured Jennifer Lopez and Martin, and became the Univision's 2014 World Cup song. It received commercial success, peaking in the top-five of Bulgaria, Mexico, Spain, and Billboards Hot Latin Songs chart. Its accompanying music video has accumulated over 850 million views on YouTube. Later that year, Martin released his single "Vida" () for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The song reached the top five in Spain and on the US Hot Latin Songs chart. Also in 2014, he served as a coach on the fourth season of The Voice Mexico, and embarked on the Live in Mexico tour.
In February 2015, Martin released his tenth studio album, A Quien Quiera Escuchar (). The album debuted at number one on Billboards Top Latin Albums chart and peaked at number one in Argentina. It won the award for Best Latin Pop Album at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards and Album of the Year at the 1st Latin American Music Awards. The album spawned three Hot Latin Songs top-10 hits: "Adiós" (), "Disparo al Corazón" (), and "La Mordidita" (). "Disparo al Corazón" was nominated for both Record of the Year and Song of the Year at the 16th Annual Latin Grammy Awards. "La Mordidita" experienced huge commercial success, being certified 15× Latin platinum in the United States. Its accompanying music video has received over 1.2 billion views on YouTube. To promote the album, Martin embarked on the One World Tour from 2015 to 2017. He served as an executive producer and a judge on the American singing competition series La Banda (), which premiered in 2015 and 2016 on Univision. The first season was "looking for the next Latin boy band", while the second season was looking for a Latin girl band. The contestants would compete for a recording deal with Sony Music Latin and Syco Music. CNCO, known as the first boy band to make reggaeton, was the winner of the first season. Martin became their manager and produced the band's debut album, Primera Cita () (2016), along with Wisin; the album debuted at number one on Top Latin Albums and featured the hit single "Reggaetón Lento (Bailemos)" (). CNCO opened many dates on One World Tour in 2016. In 2020, Leila Cobo from Billboard compared the group with Menudo, noting: "Not since Menudo had a Latin boy band melted our hearts or made us dance quite like CNCO".
On September 23, 2016, Martin released a song called "Vente Pa' Ca" (), featuring Colombian singer Maluma. The song became one of the biggest Spanish-language songs of 2016, reaching number one in seven countries, as well as Billboards Latin Airplay, Latin Pop Airplay, and Tropical Airplay charts. It also reached top five in Spain and on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs, being certified quadruple platinum in Spain and diamond in Mexico. The track was nominated for both Record of the Year and Song of the Year at the 18th Annual Latin Grammy Awards. The accompanying music video has received over 1.75 billion views on YouTube. Martin signed a concert residency, named All In, to perform at the Monte Carlo Resort and Casino in Las Vegas in 2017 and 2018. He portrayed fashion designer Gianni Versace's partner Antonio D'Amico in the FX true crime anthology television series The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, marking "the acting opportunity of his career". The role garnered him a nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Limited Series Or Movie at the 70th Primetime Emmy Awards. Running from January to March 2018, The Assassination of Gianni Versace received generally favorable reviews and numerous awards and nominations, including three Primetime Emmy Awards, four Creative Arts Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, two Critics' Choice Television Awards, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. In February 2018, Martin released a song titled "Fiebre" (), featuring Wisin & Yandel. The song was commercially successful in Latin America, reaching number one in Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, and Uruguay. It also reached the summit of the Billboard Latin Airplay and Latin Rhythm Airplay charts.
2019–present: Amici di Maria De Filippi, PausaPlay, and Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey
At the 61st Annual Grammy Awards, Martin performed "Havana", "Pégate" (), and "Mi Gente" (), alongside Camila Cabello, J Balvin, Young Thug, and Arturo Sandoval, as the opening performance. Martin served as a coach on the eighteenth season of the Italian talent show Amici di Maria De Filippi () in 2019. In the same year, Maluma released a song called "No Se Me Quita" () from his album 11:11, which featured Martin. The song reached number one in Mexico and was certified quadruple platinum in the country. Martin hosted the 20th Annual Latin Grammy Awards in November 2019, along with Roselyn Sánchez and Paz Vega. The artist started recording his eleventh studio album, initially titled Movimiento (), in the second half of 2019, inspired by the 2019 political protests in Puerto Rico. He embarked on the Movimiento Tour in 2020. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent personal experiences, he decided to split the tour's associated album in two extended plays, Pausa () and Play; the former was released in May 2020, while the latter is set to release as his eleventh studio album.
Pausa was nominated for Album of the Year and won the award for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 21st Annual Latin Grammy Awards. The second single from the EP, "Tiburones" () reached number one in Argentina and Puerto Rico, and was also nominated for Song of the Year at the 21st Annual Latin Grammy Awards. Martin starred as the voice of villainous miniature figure Don Juan Diego in the American Christmas musical fantasy film Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey. The film was released on Netflix on November 13, 2020, and received generally favorable reviews. In April 2021, Martin released his hit single "Canción Bonita" () with Colombian singer Carlos Vives, which experienced huge commercial success in Latin America, reaching number one in 12 countries. It was also nominated for Song of the Year and Best Pop Song at the 22nd Annual Latin Grammy Awards. Later that year, he released "Qué Rico Fuera" () with Chilean-American singer Paloma Mami, as the lead single from Play. The song peaked at number one in four countries, as well as the top 10 on Billboards Latin Pop Airplay. In the same year, he embarked on his first co-headlining tour, the Enrique Iglesias and Ricky Martin Live in Concert alongside Spanish singer Enrique Iglesias.
Artistry
Influences
As a child, Martin used to sing songs by Menudo and American rock bands such as Led Zeppelin, Journey, and REO Speedwagon, which were what his "older siblings were listening to at the time". While Martin and his brothers spent their time listening to classic rock, their mother would interrupt them to make them listen to Latin music. She brought him CDs of Fania All-Stars, Celia Cruz, El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, and Gilberto Santa Rosa that slowly made him appreciate the richness of Puerto Rican culture. Also, she once took them to a Fania All-Stars concert, which Martin is "beyond grateful" for it. He expresses that thanks to her mother, those influences had a "profound effect" on his musical career. Martin has also cited Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Michael Jackson, and Madonna for teaching him "the beauty of pop". He stated about Madonna: "I was very influenced by her and her music. I know every choreography of Madonna." Additionally, he mentions Carlos Santana, José Feliciano, Celia Cruz, and Gloria Estefan as the artists who paved the way for him, naming Feliciano as one of the people who inspired him when he was a teenager: "I was always fascinated with his music." In addition to the musical influences, Martin is inspired by David Bowie's "ambiguous sexuality". While growing up, he used to ask himself if he wanted to be like the openly gay singer Elton John or he just liked him, admiring his music, colors, and wigs.
Musical styles and themes
Considered to be a versatile artist, Martin describes his music as Latin pop, saying: "When you say 'Latin pop', the spectrum is so broad, It's inevitable to not be influenced by everything that’s happening in the industry, but always keeping your identity firm by knowing who you are." He has also described his music as fusion, while noting that he does not "ride the waves that are in fashion at the moment". Music critics have described his songs as Latin pop, pop, dance, ballad, reggaeton, Latin, African, rock, salsa, flamenco, urban, samba, cumbia, merengue, rumba, Latin funk, bomba, batucada, vallenato, dancehall, mambo, Europop, house, disco, EDM, dance-pop, electro, techno, dubstep, world music, Middle Eastern, folk-pop, bossa nova, pop rock, soft pop, soft rock, R&B, gospel, jazz, trap, hip hop, doo-wop, ska, and rock' n' roll. Martin sings in Spanish, English, Portuguese, Italian, and French. About his lyrics, Martin has emphasized that although his music will always make the listener dance, it does not mean his lyrics "have to be meaningless" and he sings about love and heartbreak, as well as "things that are good for a society", such as "freedom, freedom of expression, and social justice". He has also declared that as a Latino, he is not afraid of sexuality and sings about sexuality and sensuality, bringing his culture with him onstage.
Voice
Martin possesses a dramatic tenor vocal range. Peter Gilstrap from Variety commented that his "powerful voice" is "capable of belt or lilt", while The Jerusalem Posts Noa Amouyal described his voice as "soulful" and "very powerful". In 1995, Enrique Lopetegui of the Los Angeles Times noted Martin's "improved vocal skills" on A Medio Vivir. Also from the Los Angeles Times, Ernesto Lechner later praised his vocal for being "charismatic enough to handle both ballads and up-tempo tunes". Similarly, Billboards Chuck Taylor expressed "She's All I Ever Had" boasts "a versatility that contrasts nicely" with Martin's previous single, "Livin' la Vida Loca", labeling his vocal on the former "tender and heartfelt". Steve Gerrard of the Montreal Rocks complimented "his vocal maturity" on A Quien Quiera Escuchar.
Music videos and performances
Billboard labeled Martin "a video icon", and ranked him as the 79th Greatest Music Video Artist of All Time in 2020, stating: "From the moment he sashayed up to the mic in 'Livin La Vida Loca' all dressed in black, and gave us that look, the Menudo alum became the most memorable and watchable drop-dead handsome guy in pop music." He has collaborated with various directors to produce his music videos, including Carlos Perez, Wayne Isham, Jessy Terrero, Simón Brand, Gustavo Garzón, Nigel Dick, Kacho Lopez, and Memo del Bosque. "Livin' la Vida Loca" was nominated for Video of the Year at the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards, making Martin the first Latin artist in history to receive a nomination in this category. It won two primary awards for Best Pop Video and Best Dance Video, and was voted three additional awards in the International Viewer's Choice categories, making it rank among the videos with most wins in the history of the MTV Video Music Awards. The explicit sexual scenes of the music video for "She Bangs" were met with criticism from the audience; several American television stations cut the scenes when airing the video. According to the Daily Records John Dingwall, with the visual, Martin ditched his teen idol image by transforming to a more mature one. It was consequently banned in several Latin American countries, such as the Dominican Republic. Martin told MTV News that the video represented freedom rather than his sexuality. The video was awarded Best Music Video at the 2nd Annual Latin Grammy Awards, Best Clip of the Year — Latin at the 2001 Billboard Music Video Awards, and Video of the Year at the 13th Lo Nuestro Awards.
Martin has been noticed for "dance moves of his own" and his "bon-bon shaking dance moves". Carol Sandoval from VIX named him the "best dancer on any stage worldwide", highlighting his hips movement and "successful turns". He was ranked as the ninth best male dancer by the Evening Standard and the tenth Male Singer Who Can Dance by WatchMojo, being the only Latin entertainer on both lists. Writing for The Hollywood Reporter, Scott Feinberg introduced Martin as "an incredible dancer". Billboards Jessica Roiz labeled him "a true showman", noting his "many outfit changes", "various dance performances", and "different stage set for each song". Jon Pareles of The New York Times described him as "an all-around showman" and Varietys Peter Gilstrap called him "every inch the showman", both recognizing his vocal abilities, while the former also commented he is "a dancer as muscular and hard-working as anyone in his troupe", mentioning his "likable, good-hearted character" and "steadfast Puerto Rican pride". Music critics have mostly praised his concerts for the choreographies, video screens, visual effects, stage, Latin influences, and Martin's vocals, costume changes, energy, sensuality, dance moves, and gestures, while the quality of sounds and sound mixes have received mixed reviews. Billboards Marjua Estevez described Martin's performance of "La Copa de la Vida" at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards as "the most memorable Latin performance at a Grammy Awards show", and the publication ranked it as the 54th Greatest Award Show Performance of All Time on their 2017 list. The performance was additionally placed on a 2017 unranked list of "Top 20 Best Grammy Performances of All Time" by Gold Derby, and on a 2019 list of "The Most Unforgettable Grammys Performances of All Time" by InStyle.
Public image
Martin became a teen idol with his debut as a member of Menudo, and a pop icon following global fame as a solo artist. Journalists have written about his humble personality and "beautiful soul". Writing for The Hollywood Reporter, Scott Feinberg introduced Martin as "one of the most acclaimed and admired creative artists ever". La República staff described him as "one of the most admired and desired singers", while authors of ¡Hola! described him as "one of the most respected Latin stars in the world", "one of the most prodigious voices in music in Spanish", and "one of the most beloved talents in the entertainment industry worldwide". Also from ¡Hola!, Cristina Noé named him "one of the most loved artists in the world", while a writer of Clarín named him "one of the most applauded Latin singers on the planet". Metro Puerto Rico stated that he "raised the name of Puerto Rico internationally". He was ranked as one of the top-10 "emerging personalities" of 2010 by Google Zeitgeist. In 2014, Gay Star News referred to Martin as "the most famous Latin pop star in the world", while Variety described him as "Puerto Rico's arguably most famous son" in 2021. He is ranked as the second-most famous Latin music artist in the United States, according to YouGov surveys in 2021.
During the 2000s, Martin was known for "guarding his private life" and being "uncomfortable discussing intimate aspects of his personal life"; he used to insist on asking public to focus on his music and "steered interviewers away from his personal life". However, he chose to live both his "professional and personal life", making his private life public since the early 2010s. In 2021, he went on the cover of People with the title "No More Secrets" and told the magazine that he is "a man with no secrets", stating that he is "more comfortable in his own skin than ever before". Martin is one of the most followed celebrities on social media, with accounts on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok. He stated about social media that he wishes he had "something as powerful as" them since his debut: "Obviously I like to have direct contact with the public, with the media. It's extremely important, but today, from my home, I can talk to millions of people and see their immediate reaction." He is noticed for his friendly interactions with his fans, who are called "Sexy Souls". Wax statues of Martin are on display at the Madame Tussauds wax museums in San Francisco, Sydney, and Orlando. The last one was moved from Las Vegas to Orlando for the opening of the museum in spring 2015.
Fashion
Martin is considered to be a sex symbol, and journalists describe him as "the Latin heartthrob". His fashion and style evolution, from "as '80s as you'd expect" during his time with Menudo to "a style groove, often opting for sharp, tailored suits with clean lines" since 2009, has been noticed by the media. Natalia Trejo from ¡Hola! described him as "one of the most stylish Latin men in the entertainment industry", highlighting his "baggy leather pants", "tailored suits", and "color-block blazers" that have marked "some of the noteworthy trends of each decade". The reviewer also commented that Martin is "an example of mixing business with casual" and has "always had a personal sense of style". JD Institute of Fashion Technology views Martin as a fashion icon, praising him for "pushing the fashion boundaries with every new look". In 1997, he went on the cover of People en Españols first edition of 25 Most Beautiful; he has since "been a constant presence" on their 25 or 50 Most Beautiful lists. Two years later, he was featured on the cover of both Rolling Stone and Time magazines.
Martin is considered to be one of the sexiest men in the world, according to various publications. In 2012, he was voted the sexiest man alive on Broadway.com. The following year, VH1 ranked him as the 28th Sexiest Artist of All Time, stating: "Ricky looks like the model in the magazine ads you stare at in awe thinking, 'There's no way he's that perfect in person'." In 2014, Entertainment Tonight listed him among the Sexiest Men Alive, while Revista Estilo placed him on the list of "the 10 Sexiest Singers" in 2016. He was ranked at number 16 on the list of "the 50 Hottest Men of All Time" by Harper's Bazaar in 2018, being the only Latin man on their list. In 2019, TN described Martin as "the sexiest man in the world". He has been noted for looking younger than his age, with Billboards Chris Payne labeling him "ageless". The singer has attended several fashion shows, including the Giorgio Armani show at Milan Fashion Week in 2011, the Marc Jacobs show in 2013, the Berluti menswear spring-summer 2020 show at Paris Fashion Week, the Dior men's pre-fall 2020 show, and the Virgil Abloh Spring-Summer 2022 show held by Louis Vuitton.
Personal life
Sexual orientation and early relationships
According to an interview with Rolling Stone in 1999, Martin experienced his first kiss at age 13 and lost his virginity at age 14 in Argentina. In 1990, shortly after he had arrived in Mexico to star in Mama Ama el Rock, he met a woman, who was the host of a television show. They began dating quickly and broke up a few months later. In 1992, he fell in love with Mexican singer Alejandra Guzmán, who was separated from her husband at the time. They began dating together until Guzmán returned to her husband and pretended Martin was her assistant on a phone call, while she was sleeping with her husband. In an interview with Univision, Martin admitted that she broke his heart. In the same year, Martin was rumored to have a relationship with Argentine tennis player Gabriela Sabatini. Sabatini's sister-in-law, Catherine Fulop confirmed the rumor in 2020. During the time he was playing in General Hospital, he met a "very handsome" man at a radio station, "stopped fearing [his] sexuality", and started dating him. Martin's mother supported him when she discovered that he was in love with a man, saying: "I love you, my son, I'm so happy for you. Bring it on. I'm right behind you." However, after the relationship ended, Martin "locked [his] feelings even deeper inside" and began dating women again. He recalls: "I already felt it was hard to be a Latino in Hollywood; what could have been more difficult than being Latino and gay?" Martin began dating Mexican television host Rebecca de Alba in 1994; they were in an on-and-off relationship until 2005. In May 2021, Alba revealed that she became pregnant several times in her life, but lost all of the embryos, expressing that one of them belonged to Martin. Martin also had relationships with Lilly Melgar, Adriana Biega, Maital Saban, and Inés Misan during his break-up times with Alba in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He declared that "there was chemistry with them" and he "wasn't fooling anyone".
In August 2008, Martin became a father to twin boys named Matteo and Valentino, born via gestational surrogacy. He explained that he chose surrogacy to become a parent for being "intriguing and faster" than adoption, which was complicated and could take a long time. In March 2010, Martin publicly came out as gay via a message on his website, stating: "I am proud to say that I am a fortunate homosexual man. I am very blessed to be who I am." Years later, he revealed that although his music was "heard all over the world" and he "could high five God" in 1999, he "wasn't living to the fullest" and was sad and depressed. He kept asking himself, "Am I gay? Am I bisexual? Am I confused? What am I?", explaining: "Sexuality is one complicated thing. It's not black and white. It's filled with colors. When I was dating women, I was in love with women. It felt right, it felt beautiful." In an interview with Vanity Fair, he declared: "There was love, passion. I do not regret anything, any of the relationships I lived, they taught me a lot, both men and women." Martin also told Fama!: "I know that I like both men and women, I'm against sexual labels, we are simply human beings with emotional and sexual needs. I like to enjoy sex in total freedom, so I'm open to having sex with a woman if I feel desire." Despite this, he expressed that he wouldn't be interested in "an ongoing relationship with a woman", stating: "Men are my thing". In 2000, American broadcast journalist Barbara Walters asked Martin about his sexuality on national television: "You could stop these rumors. You could say, 'Yes I am gay or no I'm not.'" In 2021, Martin, who answered with "I just don't feel like it" at the time, revealed that her question made him "felt violated", since he "was just not ready to come out" and was "very afraid"; he said that it resulted "a little PTSD" that "still haunts him". Martin dated Puerto Rican economist Carlos González Abella from 2010 to 2014, as his first relationship with a man after his coming out as gay.
Marriage
Syrian-Swedish painter Jwan Yosef shared a photo of himself and Martin on Instagram on March 30, 2016, with the caption: "Obviously we're starting a band." Soon it was rumored that Yosef is Martin's new boyfriend. Martin confirmed their relationship on April 18, 2016, and they made their red carpet debut as a couple at the amfAR Inspiration Gala. Martin later revealed that he met Yosef on Instagram and they "were talking for like six months without [him] hearing his voice". Subsequently, Martin went to London, where Yosef were living, and they met each other. On November 15, 2016, during an interview on The Ellen Show, he announced that he has proposed to Yosef and they are engaged. In January 2018, Martin confirmed that he has secretly married Yosef: "I'm a husband, but we're doing a heavy party in a couple of months, I'll let you know." On December 31, 2018, they announced that they have welcomed their first daughter together, named Lucia Martin-Yosef. Martin later explained that Lucia was born on December 24, coinciding with his 47th birthday. In September 2019, while accepting an award at the 23rd annual Human Rights Campaign (HRC) National Dinner, he announced that they are expecting their fourth child. On October 29, 2019, he shared a photo of himself, Yosef, and their new-born son, named Renn Martin-Yosef, with the caption: "Our son Renn Martin-Yosef has been born."
Beliefs and religion
During an interview with People in 2002, Martin expressed that he believes in "love", "the power of healing", and "God", thanks to his parents. The name he chose for his son Matteo means "gift from God". According to his statements in a 2021 interview, he still believes in God. He was raised Catholic but he said is not "the person who would ever look down upon one religion". He expressed that he also admires and likes Buddhist philosophy, but does not subscribe to the religion, since if he does, he cannot "be of anything else"; he does not want to be limited in certain aspects and follow a religion's specific rules. He tries to remain "open to everything" and makes "a concerted effort to always find new teachings and new paths" everywhere he goes and in every situation he finds himself in. Martin believes that everyone can "decide what makes them happy" and although "everyone needs to accept the life they were given", it does not mean they "should not live it as fully as possible".
Health and sports
Martin began practicing yoga after a trip to Thailand in 1997. He also began practicing meditation following a trip to India. In 2021, he explained that he gets up every morning at 5:30, before his family and puts himself in a lotus position and oxygenates his body. He also expressed that has a gym in his house, saying: "If I have space to see myself in the mirror and put on my products, then I also have to have space for my body." During an appearance on The Dr. Oz Show in 2017, Martin revealed that he "was diagnosed with high cholesterol" at age 18. Although he did not pay attention to the high cholesterol at the time, it made him decide to become a vegetarian since 2013 to reduce cholesterol, despite loving meat as "a Latin man". In 2020, he opened up that he suffered from anxiety for the first time in his life, following the COVID-19 lockdowns, stating that making music became his "medicine".
Real estate
In March 2001, Martin purchased a 7,082-square-feet house in Miami Beach for $6.4 million; he sold the unit for $10.6 million in 2005. In September 2004, he paid $11.9 million for a 11,000-square-feet Mediterranean-style villa in Los Angeles, which he sold in 2006 for $15 million. In May 2005, he purchased a 9,491-square-feet house in Miami Beach for $10 million; he sold the villa for $10.6 million in 2012. In 2007, he paid $16.2 million for a mansion in Golden Beach. He sold the property in 2012 for $12.8 million, incurring a loss. In the same year, he bought a 3,147-square-feet condominium in New York City for $5.9 million; he sold the condo for $7.1 million in 2017. In 2014, he rented a 900-square-metre mansion in Sydney, which became famous as "the Bronte Wave House" and was sold for $16 million in May 2015, marking one of the most expensive properties sold in the city that year. In December 2016, he purchased a 11,300-square-feet mansion in Beverly Hills. The estate, which is Martin's current house, has seven bedrooms and eight bathrooms with outdoor seating areas scattered throughout a 33,000-square-feet. It is a "private getaway in the middle of the city", located up the street from the Beverly Hills Hotel. Martin also owns a property in Puerto Rico and a private 19.7-acre island in Brazil. He purchased the latter for $8 million in 2008.
Legacy and influence
Martin has been regarded as the "King of Latin Pop" by various publications, such as the Grammy Awards, Billboard, Rolling Stone, Time, People, Vogue, The Independent, Entertainment Weekly, Entertainment Tonight Canada, NBC News, and ABC News. Additionally, he has been referred to as the "King of Latin Music", the "Latin Pop God", the "Latin King of Pop", the "Latin American King of Pop", the "Latin King", the "Crossover Latin King", the "Puerto Rican Pop King", the "Salsa-Pop King", and the "King of World Cup". Martin is known as one of the most influential artists in the world. Billboard ranked him as one of the 30 Most Influential Latin Artists of All Time, while NBC News introduced him as an "influential Latin celebrity". In 2014, he won the award for the most influential international artist at the 18th China Music Awards. He was ranked among "25 musicians who broke barriers" by Stacker in 2019, while in 2020, Spin ranked him at number 27 on the list of "most influential artists of the past 35 years", as the only Latin artist on their list. In 2022, Show News named him "the most influential global artist in history".
Martin's song "María (Pablo Flores Remix)", which was ranked among the "Greatest Latin Pop Song of All Time" by Rolling Stone, and "11 remixes of classic Latin hits" by Billboard, "launched the Latin and dance music crossover of the '90s", according to the latter. Olivier Pérou from Le Point commented that "some have even learned, thanks to him, to count to three in Spanish" following the popularity of the song. "La Copa de la Vida", which has been hailed as the Best World Cup Anthem of All-Time by multiple sources,
became a "musical template" for World Cup anthems, and Martin's Latin and dance crossover style has been much copied in the anthems, as well as soccer chant "Ole! Ole! Ole!" in the lyrics, according to The Hollywood Reporter. As believed by Esquire, the song "inaugurated this musical subgenre" of Latin. Joy Bhattacharjya from The Economic Times wrote about "La Copa de la Vida" that it was the first World Cup anthem to have a video just "as ubiquitous as the song", going on to write: "Since then, official songs have an important part to play in every World Cup." In his review for Pitchfork, Corban Goble wrote that if World Cup anthems someday would be "given their own textbook", "La Copa de la Vida" would be "the standard-bearer for the whole genre".
Martin is known as the pioneer in getting Latin pop music genre to mainstream recognition. Following his performance of "The Cup of Life" at the Grammys, and the success of "Livin' la Vida Loca" and Ricky Martin (1999), he opened the gates for many Latin artists such as Jennifer Lopez, Shakira, Christina Aguilera, Marc Anthony, Santana, and Enrique Iglesias who released their crossover albums and followed him onto the top of the charts. His performance of "The Cup of Life" at the Grammys not only changed the course of his career, but also altered how people regard Latin music in America. It has been known as a game-changer for Latin music worldwide, that effectively ushered in the "Latin explosion". Then-United Talent Agency head Rob Prinz described the rendition as "the single biggest game changing moment for any artist in the history of the Grammys". According to Billboard, it has been cited as the beginning of the "Latin Pop invasion", which powerfully affected the US mainstream. Jesús Triviño Alarcón from Tidal Magazine stated, "that single performance opened up the mainstream market for the Latinx legends", mentioning the names of Anthony, Shakira, and Lopez. InStyle staff wrote about it: "With his leather pants, big smile and energetic performance of 'The Cup of Life', Ricky Martin almost personally kicked off the so-called Latin Explosion of the late '90s." Mariana Best of San Antonio Express-News commented that the performance "is recognized for bringing Latin pop to the forefront of the U.S. music scene". In 2018, Diego Urdaneta from Vice credited the song as "one of those that laid the first stones so that J Balvin and Bad Bunnys of today can be at the top of the pyramid", labeling it "a milestone for Latin music".
According to Entertainment Tonight, "Livin' la Vida Loca" paved the way for a large number of other Latin artists, and is "credited as the song that helped other Latin artists break through to English-speaking markets". As believed by Spin, the song "lit the fuse for the Latin pop explosion of the '90s". Lucas Villa from Spin wrote about it: "When the world went loca for Ricky, he led the way for other Latin music superstars like Spain's Enrique Iglesias, Colombia's Shakira and Nuyoricans like Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony to make their marks beyond the Spanish-speaking crowds." He also described Martin as "a trailblazer in globalizing Latinx culture" in his Grammy.com article. Also from Grammy.com, Ernesto Lechner described "Livin' la Vida Loca" as "the manifesto for all the fun-loving, tropically tinged Latin hit singles that followed", stating that Martin led "the Latin music explosion that took over the U.S. at the tail end of the '90s". According to The Independent, the single is "widely regarded as the song that began the first Latin pop explosion". Peoples Jason Sheeler credited it as the song that "led the way for the late-'90s so-called 'Latin explosion' that dominated pop music into the new century: Shakira, Enrique Iglesias, Marc Anthony, and Jennifer Lopez".
Angie Romero from Billboard wrote: "If you look up 'crossover' in the dictionary, there should be a photo of Ricky shaking his bon bon and/or 'Livin' la Vida Loca'." Leila Cobo named "Livin' la Vida Loca" one of the genre's biggest singles of the past 50 years in his 2021 book Decoding "Despacito": An Oral History of Latin Music. She also wrote about his impact in Shakira's "Whenever, Wherever" chapter: "Ricky Martin’s phenomenal success opened the door for a string of Latin artists who waved the flags of their heritage, but who sang in English." Additionally, she compared Martin's song with Luis Fonsi's "Despacito" (2017) in one of her Billboard articles: "'Livin', like 'Despacito', became not just a global hit but a cultural phenomena that transcended all barriers of language and nationality." In another article, she described it as the song that "ignited the late-'90s Latin explosion". Also from Billboard, Gary Trust wrote: "The song helmed a Latin pop boom in the U.S., with Jenner Lopez, Marc Anthony and others crossing over, as well." Writing for LiveAbout.com, Bill Lamb credited the song as "the record which kicked off a wave of major Latin performers hitting the pop mainstream".
Jim Farber from Daily News noted that Ricky Martin "provides a textbook example of how to mix Latin beats with pop tunes and rock intonations". St. Louis Post-Dispatch critic Kevin C. Johnson described Martin as Latin music's "pretty-faced poster boy" who is "taking the music to places Jon Secada, Selena and Santana never could". He also mentioned that even "Gloria Estefan at her peak, failed to muster up the kind of hype and hoopla surrounding Martin". Celia San Miguel of Tidal Magazine stated that Martin "highlighted the public's thirst for a different kind of pop" in 1999, noting the album's "fusion-heavy" and "hip-shaking rhythms associated with Latin music". She mentioned that the album "spawned 1999's Latin music boom", emphasizing the fact that Martin created the "spark" of the "Latin Pop Explosion", which was followed by 1999 albums, On the 6 by Lopez, Enrique by Iglesias, and Anthony's eponymous album. She continued crediting "Martin and the paths he created" responsible for the Latin music and Spanish and Spanglish lyrics being "a commonplace phenomenon on English-language radio" in 2019. In her review for Grammy.com, Ana Monroy Yglesias said Martin led a "major music moment in 1999" with Ricky Martin, and along with him, "the first major boom of Spanish-language artists", such as Shakira and Lopez, came into the "U.S. pop landscape".
The late '90s Latin explosion also resulted in the launch of the Latin Recording Academy. Gabriel Abaroa Jr., the president and chief executive officer of the Latin Recording Academy, expressed that the plan of its launch was "immediately after the Ricky Martin success". Cuban American musician and producer Emilio Estefan added: "After the success with Ricky Martin, everybody opened their eyes and realized how important it was to bring diversity and multiethnic elements into [mainstream American] music." Many artists have cited Martin as an influence or declared themselves as his fan, including Abraham Mateo, Bad Bunny, Camila Cabello, Camilo, Carla Morrison, Christian Chávez, CNCO, Danna Paola, Enrique Iglesias, J Balvin, J-Hope, Jimin, Karol G, India Martínez, Luis Fonsi, Maite Perroni, Maluma, Neha Mahajan, Pedro Capó, Prince Royce, Rauw Alejandro, Rosalía, Sebastián Ligarde, Sebastián Yatra, Shakira, Tini, Vadhir Derbez, William Hung, Wisin, and Ximena Sariñana.
Both Maluma and J Balvin have described Martin as a "teacher" and credited him as an artist who "opened the doors" for them, while Maluma has also expressed: "Ricky Martin is one of the artists I wanted to be growing up. He's my idol in the industry".Citations regarding J Balvin's statements about Martin:
Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny talked about Martin's legacy during an episode of Behind the Music: "There's no doubt that he opened the door for an entire generation of Latin artists. I am doing great things today in the music industry thanks to those doors that he opened." He also mentioned that he is inspired by Martin's coming out as gay: "You don't have to be gay to be inspired by that action of honesty and freedom, of being yourself against the world despite everything you deserve. I look at it like a very inspiring moment for anybody. At least for me, it's very inspirational." Brazilian singer-songwriter Anitta explained to The Guardian that "some Latin stars such as Maluma and Bad Bunny sing in their native language" and do not need to sing in English to get noticed, because they already had representatives like Shakira, Martin, and Jennifer Lopez, but since her country "hasn't had a major international pop star before", she uses "whatever language will get the market's attention".
Portrayal in television
In July 2019, SOMOS Productions, Endemol Shine Boomdog, and Piñolywood Studios announced the production of a biographical web television series about Menudo, titled Subete a Mi Moto. Consisting of 15 episodes of 60 minutes each, the series premiered on Amazon Prime Video on October 9, 2020 in Mexico, Latin America, and Spain. It was filmed in Mexico and Puerto Rico, and Martin was portrayed by actors Felipe Albors and Ethan Schwartz. The series premiered in the United States on February 14, 2021 on Estrella TV. On the review aggregation website Tomatazos, the first season has a positive score of 75%. The website's critical consensus summary states, "A good trip to the past that recalls a band that defined the youth of a certain public, but that doesn't ignore the darkest moments in the lives of its members."
Other ventures
Books
On August 19, 2010, Martin announced that he had been working on his memoir, mentioning its title as Me and publish date as November 2, 2010. He expressed that writing the book was "one of the reasons" he decided to come out earlier that year. The book also had a Spanish edition title Yo (), which was published simultaneously by Celebra. He stated that writing his memoir allowed him "to explore the different paths and experiences" that have led him to be who he is, noting that it "was not easy but allowed for an incredible spiritual journey". Me spent several weeks at number one on the New York Times Best Seller list. In 2019, ¡Hola! staff ranked the book among "12 Books by Celebrities to Inspire and Motivate You", while Book Riot placed it on an unranked list of the "Best Celebrity Books You Should Read This Year" in 2020. Martin's first children's book Santiago the Dreamer in Land Among the Stars was published by Celebra and illustrated by Patricia Castelao in November 2013 for ages between five to nine. Its Spanish-language edition, Santiago El Soñador en Entre Las Estrellas, was published simultaneously. Martin expressed that the book was inspired by his "personal life, with fantasy added to it", as well as "a lot of cartoons".
Products and endorsements
Martin endorsed the 2012 Viva Glam campaign with Trinidadian rapper Nicki Minaj, which raised $270 million for the Mac AIDS Fund. In October 2020, Martin announced that he would launch his company, Martin Music Lab in partnership with music engineers Jaycen Joshua and Michael Seaberg. The company is centered around a new audio technique called "Orbital Audio", that "creates a new type of immersive, headphone listening experience". Martin used the technique on his EP Pausa, while several artists including Bad Bunny, Residente, Myke Towers, and A$AP Rocky are going to work with the company. The latter plans to release his whole upcoming studio album, using "Orbital Audio". Martin is going to expand the technique "beyond the music industry and tap into the movies, sports and, most notably, the wellness and meditation space". In 2021, Martin partnered with skin care company Kumiko. The skincare line, created by Chilean cosmetologist Catalina Aguirre, is the first to combine "mesotherapy, matcha, and cutting-edge European technology into unique multi-action formulas that penetrate the dermis with powerful anti-aging properties and lifting benefits".
Activism
Philanthropy
While on a trip to India in 2002, Martin witnessed three minor girls who were about to be sold into prostitution and rescued them. The following year, he became a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and then met with activists and decided to fight against human trafficking, which is the second-most lucrative crime in the world. In 2004, Martin launched the Ricky Martin Foundation, a non-profit, non-governmental organization that focuses on denouncing human trafficking and educating about the crime's "existence through research and community initiatives, anchored in the defense of children and youth rights". In the same year, he appealed to the United Nations for international help to fight against sex tourism. In January 2005, following the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, Martin visited Thailand to assess the needs of the minor survivors who were "extremely vulnerable to traffickers". Later that year, the Ricky Martin Foundation signed an alliance in partnership with Habitat for Humanity to construct 224 homes for the tsunami-affected families. The project was completed in December 2006. In March 2006, the foundation collaborated with the International Organization for Migration in the Llama y Vive () campaign, which focuses on facilitating "the prevention of human trafficking and the protection of young people, victims of child trafficking and prosecution of traffickers".
In January 2010, along with many celebrities, Martin operated the charity telethon Hope for Haiti Now to raise donations for the 2010 Haiti earthquake. Later that year, the Ricky Martin Foundation created the first program of community social action against child trafficking in Martin's native Puerto Rico, titled "Se Trata" (). In 2012, the foundation participated in the making of the Child Protection Model Law on the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children. In 2016, Martin visited Syrian refugees in Lebanon and played with the children and talked to them in an informal refugee camp. Following the Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico in 2017, the Ricky Martin Foundation helped people and handed over homes that were rebuilt after the losses; Martin launched a viral campaign of selling a black T-shirt with the Puerto Rican flag stamped on it in order to raise the funds. The T-shirts were designed by Martin's twin boys Matteo and Valentino, while many celebrities including Will Smith, Bad Bunny, Marc Anthony, Luis Fonsi, and Maluma supported the campaign. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Martin created a campaign to help health care workers through the non-profit organization Project Hope. He expressed: "As you know, health care professionals are extremely vulnerable and professionals around the world don’t have personal protection equipment they need to prevent them getting infected." In February 2021, Martin collaborated with Antonia Novello to launch mass vaccination events in Puerto Rico. Following the murder of George Floyd and Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, Martin honored an effort called "Black Out Tuesday" and launched the hashtag #knowthestruggle, giving his social media to the voices of the community that are "looking for justice", to learn more about what is happening.
For his humanitarian efforts and fighting against human trafficking, Martin has been honored with numerous accolades, including the Peace Summit Award by the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates, the TIP Report Hero Award by the United States Department of State, the Spirit of Hope Award by Billboard Latin Music Awards, the Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year Award, the Award of Inspiration by amfAR Gala, the Leader of Change Award by the Foundation for Social Change, the Humanitarian Award by the Global Gift Foundation, the Humanitarian Award by the Hispanic Federation, the Corazón Latino Award by the iHeartRadio Fiesta Latina, the International Humanitarian Award by the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the Agent of Change Award by the International Peace Honors, the PODER Social Leadership Awards, and the Agent of Change Award by the Premios Juventud.
Politics
On January 20, 2001, during the first inauguration of George W. Bush, Martin performed "The Cup of Life" and danced with him. Martin's view of Bush changed over the Iraq War, as expressed in his declaration to BBC News that he will "always condemn war and those who promulgate it". He also stuck up his middle finger while singing the president's name in his 2003 song "Asignatura Pendiente" at a concert. At the 2010 Billboard Latin Music Awards, Martin expressed his disagreement with the Arizona SB 1070 bill, a proposed law that would have required police officers to request documents from individuals whom they suspected to be illegal immigrants. Martin campaigned for the 44th president of the United States Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, and thanked him for an "outstanding presidency" in 2016, while calling him "an amazing leader". Also in 2016, he was an active ally to the Democratic Party presidential candidate Hillary Clinton campaign, while condemning Donald Trump's hateful comments about immigrants. He also performed his hits during the "Hillary Clinton: She's With Us" concert at the Greek Theatre on June 6, 2016.
Telegramgate, also known as Chatgate, was a political scandal involving Ricardo Rosselló, then Governor of Puerto Rico, which began on July 8, 2019, with the leak of hundreds of pages of a group chat on the messaging application Telegram between Rosselló and members of his cabinet. The messages were considered vulgar, misogynistic, and homophobic toward several individuals and groups, including Martin. Therefore, Martin, Bad Bunny, Residente and several other artists, and more than half a million Puerto Ricans led the call to take to the streets of Puerto Rico, demanding Rosselló's resignation. In September 2020, Martin, Luis Fonsi, and actress Eva Longoria attended a campaign event in Kissimmee, Florida to support the Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden for the 2020 United States presidential election. During an interview with Variety, Martin stated: "I've been supporting Biden forever, I think he is the only option we have and he is great and he has been in politics all his life. This is the moment. We all need to get together and be loud about the course of this nation." Following the election of Biden as 45th president of the United States, Martin said "Bye-bye" to Trump on social media, and shared a photo of himself along with Biden on Instagram.
In May 2021, Martin demonstrated his support for the Ni una menos movement, condemning femicides and violence against women in Puerto Rico, while calling authorities to protect women. He further expressed that no woman should fear for her safety and urged authorities to take steps in order to prevent these acts. In the same month, he supported the 2021 Colombian protests. Later that year, the singer raised his voice in support of the 2021 Cuban protests against the Castro regime for the restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic crisis, stating: "This is very important. Our brothers and sisters in Cuba need us to inform the world what they are experiencing today. Let's fill the networks before they remove the internet in the country. Humanitarian aid for Cuba NOW."
LGBT advocacy
As a gay man, Martin actively supports LGBT rights worldwide since his coming out in 2010. Even before coming out, he was noted by the mainstream media for being popular among gay men and having a large gay fan base. He also went on the cover of the American LGBT-interest magazine The Advocate in July 1999. Despite this, he admitted that he felt homosexuality was evil since he was raised as a Catholic and targeted his anger toward others, especially gay men: "I was very angry, very rebellious. I used to look at gay men and think, 'I'm not like that, I don't want to be like that, that's not me.' I was ashamed." He added that he "had internalized homophobia" back then. He is currently considered to be a gay icon, with PinkNews labeling him "a strong advocate of LGBT rights" who "expressed support for equal marriage" since coming out.
As the first mainstream Latin music artist to come out, Martin's coming out was a game-changer for "Latin Pride". Billboards Lucas Villa stated: "With Martin's announcement, gay artists, who had long kept their sexual identities a secret, finally had a beacon of hope. If Martin could come out with his career unscathed, there was hope for other artists in Latin music to start doing the same." He added that since then, "a growing number of Latin artists have either come out after years in the spotlight, or many have simply started their careers by embracing their gay identities". In 2010, GLAAD then-president Jarrett Barrios expressed that Martin's coming out as gay leads "hundreds of millions of people" to have "a cultural connection with an artist, a celebrity and, perhaps most importantly, a father who happens to be gay", adding that "his decision to model this kind of openness and honesty can lead to greater acceptance for countless gay people in U.S., in Latin America and worldwide". In 2019, Human Rights Campaign then-president Alphonso David expressed that Martin "has used his international stage to advocate for LGBTQ people around the world" with his "unique voice and passionate activism". The following year, Suzy Exposito from Rolling Stone argued that with risking his career and coming out, Martin "set the scene for Bad Bunny to be free in many ways that, during his own breakthrough moment, he could not".
Martin expressed support for same-sex marriage during an interview on Larry King Live in 2010. He has then delivered speeches about LGBT rights at the United Nations Homophobia Conference, the GLAAD Media Awards, and the Human Rights Campaign. He also raised his voice to support gay marriage in Puerto Rico before its legalization in 2015. In March 2016, Martin met with Chilean LGBT rights group Fundación Iguales to learn about the challenges LGBT citizens face there. AT the meeting, he said that he wants "equal marriage rights for Chile" and he wants his sons to grow up in a world where "there are no second-class citizens". Following the Colombia's highest court voting against an anti same-sex marriage proposal in April 2016, Martin tweeted: "Love and equality win, Colombia says YES to same-sex marriage." During an interview with Vulture, Martin talked about his role in The Assassination of Gianni Versace and how he wanted his portrayal to help "normalize open relationships". In June 2019, he published an open letter slamming the religious liberty bill, saying: "As a defender of human rights and a member of the LGBTT community, I am vehemently opposed to the proposed measure imposed upon us under the guise of religious freedom, that projects us to the world as a backwards country." Puerto Rico's then-governor backed down and withdrew his support of the bill following Martin's statement. In June 2020, Martin performed his song "Recuerdo" with Carla Morrison for a virtual event, Can't Cancel Pride: Helping LGBTQ+ People in Need, to raise visibility and funds for LGBTQ+ communities. He appeared at the virtual event in the following year as well. In February 2021, Martin was named national spokesperson for the onePULSE Foundation, a non-profit organization that focuses on managing "the design and construction of the permanent national memorial and museum dedicated to the Pulse nightclub tragedy". Later that year, he expressed that he wants to "normalize families like" his, in an interview with People.
Several of Martin's music videos feature diversity in sexual orientations and same-sex couples, including "The Best Thing About Me Is You", "Disparo al Corazón", "Fiebre", and "Tiburones". For his activism and advocacy for LGBTQ community, Martin has been honored with numerous accolades, including the GLAAD Vito Russo Award, the Gala Vanguard Award by the Los Angeles LGBT Center, the International Icon Award by the British LGBT Awards, the National Visibility Award by the Human Rights Campaign, the Trailblazer Award by the LGBT Center Dinner, the Celebrity Activist of the Year by LGBTQ Nation, and the Legacy Award by Attitude Awards.
Achievements
Throughout his career, Martin has won over 200 awards (most awarded male Latin artist), including two Grammy Awards, five Latin Grammy Awards, five MTV Video Music Awards (tied for most wins by a Latin artist), two American Music Awards, two Latin American Music Awards, three Billboard Music Awards, a Billboard Music Video Award, nine Billboard Latin Music Awards, eight World Music Awards, fourteen Lo Nuestro Awards (including the Excellence Award), and a Guinness World Record. As an actor, he was nominated for an Emmy Award. In 2007, Martin was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, located at 6901 Hollywood Blvd.
Martin is ranked among the Greatest Latin Artists of All Time and the Greatest Hot Latin Songs Artists of All Time by Billboard, while his album Vuelve was placed at number five on Billboards Top 20 Latin Albums Of All Time in 2018. In 1998, his song, "Perdido Sin Ti" reached the top of the Latin Pop Airplay chart, displacing Martin's own "Vuelve", making him the first artist on the chart's history to replace himself. His song "Livin' la Vida Loca" became the first number-one song on Billboard Hot 100, which was made entirely in Pro Tools, and achieved the first number one hit for his label, Columbia. It also became the first song in history to top Billboards Adult Pop Airplay, Pop Airplay, and Rhythmic Airplay charts, holding its record as the only song to do so for 14 years. On May 15, 1999, it became the first single ever to rule four different Billboard charts and made Martin the first act to simultaneously scale a pop, Latin, and dance chart. Two weeks later, he became the first artist to simultaneously top the Billboard 200, Hot Latin Tracks, Hot Dance Music/Club Play, Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales, Top 40 Tracks, and the Billboard Hot 100. His song "Tal Vez" (2003) marked the first number one debut on Billboard Hot Latin Songs in the 21st century. Martin is the first and only artist with Spanish-language entries on Billboard Hot 100 in three decades. In 2020, he became the first and only artist in history to enter the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart across five decades, including his work as part of Menudo. The following year, he became the first male Latin artist in history to have 4 songs from different decades to have over 100 million streams on Spotify. He owns the record as the artist with most top 20s on the US Latin Pop Airplay chart, with 51 songs, and is the runner-up of most top 10s. He is the fourth artist with the most number one songs in the history of the Hot Latin Songs chart. Additionally, he holds the record as the most Spanish-language entries on ARIA top 50 singles chart, with three.
On October 11, 2007, then-mayor of Miami Beach, Florida David Dermer awarded him the key to the city of Miami Beach. Puerto Rico named August 31 the "International Ricky Martin Day" in 2008. The Government of Spain granted Spanish nationality to Martin in 2011, for being "recognized in different artistic facets". In 2018, in recognition of "his dedication to the island and people of Puerto Rico, his philanthropic work to eliminate human trafficking across the Caribbean, and his commitment to the arts", the singer received a proclamation naming June 7 the "Ricky Martin Day" in New York City. Throughout his career, Martin has sold over 70 million records making him one of the best-selling Latin music artists of all time. In 2020, La Opinión estimated his net worth at US$120 million.
Discography
Ricky Martin (1991)
Me Amaras (1993)
A Medio Vivir (1995)
Vuelve (1998)
Ricky Martin (1999)
Sound Loaded (2000)
Almas del Silencio (2003)
Life (2005)
Música + Alma + Sexo (2011)
A Quien Quiera Escuchar (2015)
Filmography
Mas Que Alcanzar una estrella (1992)
Hercules – Latin American dub (1997)
Idle Hands (1999)
Ricky Martin: One Night Only (1999)
Minions – Latin American dub (2015)
The Latin Explosion: A New America (2015)
Ricky Martin: Behind the Vegas Residency (2017)
Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey (2020)
El cuartito (2021)
Theatre
Les Misérables (1996), Broadway – Marius Pontmercy
Evita (2012), Broadway – Ché
Tours and residenciesHeadlining tours Ricky Martin Tour (1992)
Me Amaras Tour (1993–1994)
A Medio Vivir Tour (1995–1997)
Vuelve World Tour (1998)
Livin' la Vida Loca Tour (1999–2000)
One Night Only with Ricky Martin (2005–2006)
Black and White Tour (2007)
Música + Alma + Sexo World Tour (2011)
Ricky Martin Live (2013–2014)
Live in Mexico (2014)
One World Tour (2015–2018)
Ricky Martin en Concierto (2018-2019)
Movimiento Tour (2020-2022)Co-headlining tour Enrique Iglesias and Ricky Martin Live in Concert (with Enrique Iglesias) (2021)Residency'
All In (2017–2018)
See also
Honorific nicknames in popular music
List of artists who reached number one in the United States
List of artists who reached number one on the UK Singles Chart
List of Latin pop artists
List of multilingual bands and artists
List of Puerto Rican Grammy Award winners and nominees
List of Puerto Ricans
List of Urbano artists
Notes
References
Book sources
External links
1971 births
Living people
20th-century LGBT people
20th-century Puerto Rican male actors
20th-century Puerto Rican male singers
20th-century Puerto Rican singers
21st-century LGBT people
21st-century Puerto Rican male actors
21st-century Puerto Rican male singers
21st-century Puerto Rican singers
American gay actors
American gay musicians
American humanitarians
American male pop singers
American male singer-songwriters
Columbia Records artists
Echo (music award) winners
Grammy Award winners
Hispanic and Latino American male actors
Hispanic and Latino American musicians
Latin Grammy Award winners
Latin music songwriters
Latin pop singers
Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year honorees
LGBT entertainers from Puerto Rico
LGBT Hispanic and Latino American people
LGBT Latin musicians
LGBT rights activists from the United States
LGBT singers from the United States
Male actors from San Juan, Puerto Rico
Menudo (band) members
MTV Europe Music Award winners
Naturalised citizens of Spain
Puerto Rican activists
Puerto Rican expatriates in Australia
Puerto Rican expatriates in Mexico
Puerto Rican expatriates in Spain
Puerto Rican male film actors
Puerto Rican male soap opera actors
Puerto Rican male television actors
Puerto Rican people of Basque descent
Puerto Rican people of Canarian descent
Puerto Rican people of Corsican descent
Puerto Rican people of Spanish descent
Puerto Rican philanthropists
Puerto Rican pop singers
Puerto Rican record producers
Puerto Rican singer-songwriters
Singers from San Juan, Puerto Rico
Sony Music Latin artists
Sony Music Spain artists
Spanish-language singers of the United States
UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors
World Music Awards winners | true | [
"\n\nAuditions\n\nPre-Auditions\n\nTheatre Auditions \nActs who were accepted in the pre-auditions, make it through to the theatre audition, where it is televised with a live audience.\nFor the theatre auditions, there are 6 episodes where hundreds of acts are put through to have a chance to get to the next round - the semi finals, although only 21 acts will get through.\n\nTop 21 Acts\nAfter the theatre auditions, the judges decide which 21 acts will go through to the live shows. There are 3 semi-finals and 1 final each with its own results show. Only 2 acts from each semi-final will advance to the final.\n\nTop 21 List Summary\n\nSemi Finals\n\nSemi Final 1 (22 October) \n\nResults Show 1 Guest: Bhizer&Busiswa\n\nSemi Final 2 (29 October) \n\nResults Show 2 Guest: Amanda Black\n\nSemi Final 3 (5 November) \n\nResults Show 3 Guest: Just Robyn\n\nFinals\n\nFinale (12 November) \n\nFinal Results Show Guest: Sketchy Bongo \n \n\nGot Talent\n2017 South African television seasons",
"The seventh season of India's Got Talent premiered on 30 April 2016. Bharti Singh and Sidharth Shukla returned to present the show. Malaika Arora Khan and Karan Johar returned for their fourth season, while Kirron Kher returned for her seventh season. The show is presented by Maruti Suzuki and powered by L'Oréal Paris once again. The show was broadcast every weekend, Saturday-Sunday at 9 pm (IST) and had its Grand Finale on July 9, 2016; with Suleiman being declared as the latest winner of the series.\n\nGolden Buzzer\nThe golden buzzer returned for its third series. This year. the golden buzzer acts will go straight to a round called \"Golden Buzzer Semi Final\", all 7 golden buzzer acts will perform in this round and the judges, not the public, will choose 3 to advance to the finale, while the others will compete a place in the finals with the other semifinalists, although the judges choose 4 acts to go to the finale directly at the end.\n\nNrityam Angels\n\nAuditions\nAuditions are mostly held in the studio, while some auditions are held outside due to the dangerous of the act. \nThe judges did not have buzzers in the outdoor studio, instead each of them have a red \"X\" sign.\n\nFinals\nThe season finale was aired on 9 July 2016. Anil Kapoor, Varun Dhawan, Jacqueline Fernandez, John Abraham were the Guest of Grand Finale.\nSuleiman was the winner of the season and second position was got by Papaya And Antara.\n\nIndian television series\nGot Talent\n2016 Indian television seasons"
] | [
"Enrique Martín Morales (born December 24, 1971), known professionally as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican singer, songwriter, and actor. He is known for his musical versatility, as his discography spans multiple genres, including Latin pop, pop, dance, reggaeton, and salsa. Dubbed the \"King of Latin Pop\", the \"King of Latin Music\", and the \"Latin Pop God\", he is regarded as one of the most influential artists in the world.",
"Dubbed the \"King of Latin Pop\", the \"King of Latin Music\", and the \"Latin Pop God\", he is regarded as one of the most influential artists in the world. Born in San Juan, Martin began appearing in television commercials at the age of 9 and began his musical career at age 12, as a member of Puerto Rican boy band Menudo.",
"Born in San Juan, Martin began appearing in television commercials at the age of 9 and began his musical career at age 12, as a member of Puerto Rican boy band Menudo. He started his solo career in 1991 while in Sony Music Mexico, gaining recognition in Latin America with the release of his first two studio albums, Ricky Martin (1991) and Me Amaras (1993), both of which were focused on ballads.",
"He started his solo career in 1991 while in Sony Music Mexico, gaining recognition in Latin America with the release of his first two studio albums, Ricky Martin (1991) and Me Amaras (1993), both of which were focused on ballads. Martin's third album, A Medio Vivir (1995), helped him rose to prominence in European countries. The chart-topping single \"María\", incorporated a mixture of Latin music genres and became his first international hit.",
"The chart-topping single \"María\", incorporated a mixture of Latin music genres and became his first international hit. His international success was further solidified with his fourth album, Vuelve (1998). The album, which earned Martin his first Grammy Award, spawned chart-topping hits \"Vuelve\" and \"La Copa de la Vida\". Martin performed the latter at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards, which was greeted with a massive standing ovation and is known as a game-changer for Latin music worldwide.",
"Martin performed the latter at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards, which was greeted with a massive standing ovation and is known as a game-changer for Latin music worldwide. His first English album, Ricky Martin (1999) became his first US Billboard 200 number one. The lead single \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" is considered to be Martin's biggest hit, topping both the Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart. Martin's success in the late '90s is generally seen as the beginning of the \"Latin explosion\".",
"Martin's success in the late '90s is generally seen as the beginning of the \"Latin explosion\". He has been credited for getting Latin pop music genre to mainstream recognition, paving the way for a large number of Latin artists to achieve a global success.",
"He has been credited for getting Latin pop music genre to mainstream recognition, paving the way for a large number of Latin artists to achieve a global success. Martin has since established his status as a sex symbol and a pop icon, releasing several successful albums, including all-time Latin bestsellers Almas del Silencio (2003) and MTV Unplugged (2006), as well as Grammy Award winner A Quien Quiera Escuchar (2015).",
"Martin has since established his status as a sex symbol and a pop icon, releasing several successful albums, including all-time Latin bestsellers Almas del Silencio (2003) and MTV Unplugged (2006), as well as Grammy Award winner A Quien Quiera Escuchar (2015). He has also amassed many successful singles and chart-topper hits, including \"She Bangs\", \"Nobody Wants to Be Lonely\", \"Tal Vez\", \"Tu Recuerdo\", \"La Mordidita\", \"Vente Pa' Ca\", and \"Canción Bonita\".",
"He has also amassed many successful singles and chart-topper hits, including \"She Bangs\", \"Nobody Wants to Be Lonely\", \"Tal Vez\", \"Tu Recuerdo\", \"La Mordidita\", \"Vente Pa' Ca\", and \"Canción Bonita\". As an actor, Martin gained popularity and stardom for his role in the hit soap opera General Hospital (1994-1996), while his portrayal of Antonio D'Amico in The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story (2018) marked the acting opportunity of his career, garnering him an Emmy nomination.",
"As an actor, Martin gained popularity and stardom for his role in the hit soap opera General Hospital (1994-1996), while his portrayal of Antonio D'Amico in The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story (2018) marked the acting opportunity of his career, garnering him an Emmy nomination. He also starred as Ché in the Broadway revival of the musical Evita in 2012, which broke the theatre's box-office sales record seven times.",
"He also starred as Ché in the Broadway revival of the musical Evita in 2012, which broke the theatre's box-office sales record seven times. Having sold over 70 million records worldwide, Martin is one of the best-selling Latin music artists of all time.",
"Having sold over 70 million records worldwide, Martin is one of the best-selling Latin music artists of all time. He has scored 11 Billboard Hot Latin Songs number-one songs, and won over 200 awards (most awarded male Latin artist), including two Grammy Awards, five Latin Grammy Awards, five MTV Video Music Awards (tied for most wins by a Latin artist), two American Music Awards, two Latin American Music Awards, three Billboard Music Awards, nine Billboard Latin Music Awards, eight World Music Awards, fourteen Lo Nuestro Awards, a Guinness World Record, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.",
"He has scored 11 Billboard Hot Latin Songs number-one songs, and won over 200 awards (most awarded male Latin artist), including two Grammy Awards, five Latin Grammy Awards, five MTV Video Music Awards (tied for most wins by a Latin artist), two American Music Awards, two Latin American Music Awards, three Billboard Music Awards, nine Billboard Latin Music Awards, eight World Music Awards, fourteen Lo Nuestro Awards, a Guinness World Record, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He is ranked among the Greatest Latin Artists of All Time, the Greatest Music Video Artists of All Time, and the Most Influential Latin Artists of All Time by Billboard.",
"He is ranked among the Greatest Latin Artists of All Time, the Greatest Music Video Artists of All Time, and the Most Influential Latin Artists of All Time by Billboard. His philanthropy and activism focus on LGBT rights and fighting against human trafficking; in 2004, he founded The Ricky Martin Foundation, a non-profit, non-governmental organization that focuses on denouncing human trafficking and educating about the crime's existence.",
"His philanthropy and activism focus on LGBT rights and fighting against human trafficking; in 2004, he founded The Ricky Martin Foundation, a non-profit, non-governmental organization that focuses on denouncing human trafficking and educating about the crime's existence. Life and career 1971–1982: Early life Enrique Martín Morales was born on December 24, 1971, in San Juan, Puerto Rico.",
"Life and career 1971–1982: Early life Enrique Martín Morales was born on December 24, 1971, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. His mother, Doña Nereida Morales, is a former accountant; his father, Enrique Martín Negroni, is a former psychologist who previously worked as a regional supervisor for a Puerto Rican mental-health agency.",
"His mother, Doña Nereida Morales, is a former accountant; his father, Enrique Martín Negroni, is a former psychologist who previously worked as a regional supervisor for a Puerto Rican mental-health agency. His parents divorced when he was two years old, and although his mother had custody of Martin, he could also move freely between his father's house in the middle-class suburb of University Gardens in San Juan, and his paternal grandmother's house nearby.",
"His parents divorced when he was two years old, and although his mother had custody of Martin, he could also move freely between his father's house in the middle-class suburb of University Gardens in San Juan, and his paternal grandmother's house nearby. In an interview with People, he told the magazine the he \"never had to make decisions\" about who he loved more, and he was \"always happy\".",
"In an interview with People, he told the magazine the he \"never had to make decisions\" about who he loved more, and he was \"always happy\". Martin has two older maternal half-brothers, Fernando and Ángel Fernández, two younger paternal half-brothers, Eric and Daniel Martín, and a younger paternal half-sister, Vanessa Martín. Martin has Spanish heritage of Basque and Canarian descent. As he explained to ABC, the Martins traveled from Spain to Puerto Rico in 1779.",
"As he explained to ABC, the Martins traveled from Spain to Puerto Rico in 1779. He also has some Corsican origin through his paternal grandmother. Martin grew up Catholic. The people closest to him called him \"Kiki\" (a nickname that comes from Enrique). He began singing at age six, using wooden kitchen spoons as make-believe microphones; he often sang songs by Puerto Rican boy band Menudo, as well as English-language rock groups such as Led Zeppelin, Journey, and REO Speedwagon.",
"He began singing at age six, using wooden kitchen spoons as make-believe microphones; he often sang songs by Puerto Rican boy band Menudo, as well as English-language rock groups such as Led Zeppelin, Journey, and REO Speedwagon. His mother's side of the family was musically inclined and his maternal grandfather was a poet.",
"His mother's side of the family was musically inclined and his maternal grandfather was a poet. Martin later reflected on his time spent with his family as a child: \"Every time I find myself in front of an audience, be it twenty people or one hundred thousand, once again I feel the energy that consumed me back at the family gatherings of my youth.\" He attended Colegio Sagrado Corazón, a bilingual Catholic grade school in University Gardens since fourth grade and was an \"average\" student there.",
"He attended Colegio Sagrado Corazón, a bilingual Catholic grade school in University Gardens since fourth grade and was an \"average\" student there. When he was nine years old, he began appearing in television commercials for products such as soft drinks, toothpaste, and fast food restaurants, most notably Orange Crush and Burger King. In a year and a half, he starred in 11 commercials. 1983–1989: Menudo After achieving moderate fame in his country for his appearances in television commercials, Martin auditioned for membership in Menudo.",
"1983–1989: Menudo After achieving moderate fame in his country for his appearances in television commercials, Martin auditioned for membership in Menudo. Formed in Puerto Rico in 1977, Menudo members were usually replaced when they hit 16 in order to keep the band \"full of fresh-faced members\". Although the executives enjoyed his dancing and singing at his first two auditions, Martin was rejected because he was too short. By the third audition, his persistence impressed executives, and in 1984, 12-year-old Martin became a member.",
"By the third audition, his persistence impressed executives, and in 1984, 12-year-old Martin became a member. A month after joining Menudo, he made his debut performance with the group at the Luis A. Ferré Performing Arts Center in San Juan.",
"A month after joining Menudo, he made his debut performance with the group at the Luis A. Ferré Performing Arts Center in San Juan. During this performance, he inadvertently disobeyed the choreography by walking around the stage, when it was planned that he would stay still, and was chastised by the band manager after the show: \"The mistake was such a big deal that from that moment on, never again did I move when I wasn't supposed to move.",
"During this performance, he inadvertently disobeyed the choreography by walking around the stage, when it was planned that he would stay still, and was chastised by the band manager after the show: \"The mistake was such a big deal that from that moment on, never again did I move when I wasn't supposed to move. That was the discipline of Menudo: You either did things the way you were told or you were not part of the group.\"",
"That was the discipline of Menudo: You either did things the way you were told or you were not part of the group.\" Although Martin enjoyed traveling and performing onstage with Menudo, he found the band's busy schedule and strict management exhausting, and later reflected that the experience \"cost\" him his childhood. Despite this, Martin acknowledged his \"opportunity to have so many amazing experiences with so many amazing people\" during his time with the group.",
"Despite this, Martin acknowledged his \"opportunity to have so many amazing experiences with so many amazing people\" during his time with the group. During his time with Menudo, he became a \"key-member of the group\" and a \"fan-favorite\", while the band released 11 albums, including the Grammy-nominated Evolución () (1984) and their highest-charting and longest-running album on the US Billboard 200, Menudo (1985).",
"During his time with Menudo, he became a \"key-member of the group\" and a \"fan-favorite\", while the band released 11 albums, including the Grammy-nominated Evolución () (1984) and their highest-charting and longest-running album on the US Billboard 200, Menudo (1985). The former featured Martin's debut single, \"Rayo de Luna\" () and the latter included the hit single \"Hold Me\".",
"The former featured Martin's debut single, \"Rayo de Luna\" () and the latter included the hit single \"Hold Me\". \"Hold Me\" became the group's first and only entry on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at number 62. It was ranked among the \"100 Greatest Boy Band Songs of All Time\" by Billboard, the \"75 Greatest Boy Band Songs of All Time\" by Rolling Stone, and the \"30 Best Boy Band Songs\" by Complex.",
"It was ranked among the \"100 Greatest Boy Band Songs of All Time\" by Billboard, the \"75 Greatest Boy Band Songs of All Time\" by Rolling Stone, and the \"30 Best Boy Band Songs\" by Complex. Besides the musical career, Martin appeared with other members of Menudo in the American romantic comedy/drama television series, The Love Boat (1985), and the Argentine soap opera, Por Siempre Amigos (1987).",
"Besides the musical career, Martin appeared with other members of Menudo in the American romantic comedy/drama television series, The Love Boat (1985), and the Argentine soap opera, Por Siempre Amigos (1987). He also developed an interest in philanthropy when the group became UNICEF ambassadors, often working with impoverished children in third world countries. His experiences as an ambassador affected him greatly and inspired him to continue working with charities later in his life.",
"His experiences as an ambassador affected him greatly and inspired him to continue working with charities later in his life. Finally, Martin left the band in July 1989, at age 17, hoping to rest and evaluate his career path; he stayed a few extra months after his \"age-mandated retirement\" came around. He performed his final show with the group at the same venue where he had performed his first performance as a member.",
"He performed his final show with the group at the same venue where he had performed his first performance as a member. Referred to as the \"Most Iconic Latino Pop Music Band\", Menudo was ranked as one of the Biggest Boy Bands of All Time by Us Weekly in 2021. The group has sold around 20 million records worldwide, and has been acknowledged as the \"Most Successful Latin Boy Band of All Time\" by Billboard.",
"The group has sold around 20 million records worldwide, and has been acknowledged as the \"Most Successful Latin Boy Band of All Time\" by Billboard. Martin returned to Puerto Rico to \"get a break from the pressures of the group, the promotional tours, and the constant stress of work\", but although his parents' divorce had not affected him before, suddenly began to affect him; his parents \"began fighting more than ever\" and they were forcing him to \"choose between the two people in the world\" he loved most.",
"Martin returned to Puerto Rico to \"get a break from the pressures of the group, the promotional tours, and the constant stress of work\", but although his parents' divorce had not affected him before, suddenly began to affect him; his parents \"began fighting more than ever\" and they were forcing him to \"choose between the two people in the world\" he loved most. As he understood they did this because they loved him and wanted the best for him, he \"forgave all of the pain and anger they caused\" him.",
"As he understood they did this because they loved him and wanted the best for him, he \"forgave all of the pain and anger they caused\" him. He graduated from the high school, and 13 days after turning 18, he moved to New York City to celebrate his financial independence; since he was a minor during his time with Menudo, Martin was not allowed to access his own bank accounts.",
"He graduated from the high school, and 13 days after turning 18, he moved to New York City to celebrate his financial independence; since he was a minor during his time with Menudo, Martin was not allowed to access his own bank accounts. 1990–1994: Acting and first solo albums Martin was accepted into New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in 1990, but before classes began, his friend invited him to Mexico City.",
"1990–1994: Acting and first solo albums Martin was accepted into New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in 1990, but before classes began, his friend invited him to Mexico City. He attended the musical comedy play, Mama Ama el Rock () there, and was offered to stay and replace one of the actors. He accepted the offer, dropped out the university and moved from New York to Mexico City to perform in the play.",
"He accepted the offer, dropped out the university and moved from New York to Mexico City to perform in the play. While he was performing onstage in Mama Ama el Rock, a producer in the audience took notice of Martin's acting and offered him a role in the Mexican telenovela Alcanzar una estrella () (1990). Martin also joined the cast for the second season of the show, titled Alcanzar una estrella II (1991).",
"Martin also joined the cast for the second season of the show, titled Alcanzar una estrella II (1991). A film based on the TV series, titled Más que alcanzar una estrella () (1992), was also produced in which Martin starred, and earned him an El Heraldo Award for his role. A Sony Discos executive noticed Martin's acting in the soap operas and offered him his first solo music recording contract.",
"A Sony Discos executive noticed Martin's acting in the soap operas and offered him his first solo music recording contract. Eager to record his first solo album and hustled by the executive, Martin signed the contract without reading its conditions and inadvertently signed a deal in which he would only be paid one cent for each album sold! Despite viewing the contract as unfair, Martin referred to the record as \"the start of something phenomenal\" for him.",
"Despite viewing the contract as unfair, Martin referred to the record as \"the start of something phenomenal\" for him. After working \"around the clock\" to finish filming Alcanzar una estrella II and recording music, he released his debut solo album, Ricky Martin, on November 26, 1991. The album peaked at number five on the US Billboard Latin Pop Albums chart and spent a total of 41 weeks on the list.",
"The album peaked at number five on the US Billboard Latin Pop Albums chart and spent a total of 41 weeks on the list. It sold over 500,000 copies worldwide, was certified gold in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Puerto Rico, and spawned his first solo hit singles, \"Fuego Contra Fuego\" (), \"El Amor de Mi Vida\" (), and \"Dime Que Me Quieres\" ().",
"It sold over 500,000 copies worldwide, was certified gold in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Puerto Rico, and spawned his first solo hit singles, \"Fuego Contra Fuego\" (), \"El Amor de Mi Vida\" (), and \"Dime Que Me Quieres\" (). Both \"Fuego Contra Fuego\" and \"El Amor de Mi Vida\" reached the top 10 on the US Billboard Hot Latin Tracks, peaking at numbers three and eight, respectively.",
"Both \"Fuego Contra Fuego\" and \"El Amor de Mi Vida\" reached the top 10 on the US Billboard Hot Latin Tracks, peaking at numbers three and eight, respectively. To promote the album, Martin embarked on a successful Latin American tour, breaking box office records, which the singer referred to as \"an indescribable feeling, almost like coming home\".",
"To promote the album, Martin embarked on a successful Latin American tour, breaking box office records, which the singer referred to as \"an indescribable feeling, almost like coming home\". After the success of Ricky Martin and its subsequent tour, Martin's record company met him with the Spanish musician Juan Carlos Calderón to work on his second studio album, Me Amaras () (1993).",
"After the success of Ricky Martin and its subsequent tour, Martin's record company met him with the Spanish musician Juan Carlos Calderón to work on his second studio album, Me Amaras () (1993). Although Martin felt \"very grateful\" for the opportunity to work with Calderón, he noted, \"I always felt that that record was more his than mine.\" The album sold over one million copies worldwide and was certified triple-platinum in Chile.",
"The album sold over one million copies worldwide and was certified triple-platinum in Chile. In 1994, Martin's agent encouraged him to move to Los Angeles to act in an American sitcom called Getting By.",
"In 1994, Martin's agent encouraged him to move to Los Angeles to act in an American sitcom called Getting By. The show was canceled after two seasons, but soon afterward, Martin was given the role of Miguel Morez on the popular hit soap opera General Hospital; Morez, a bartender and singer, known for his long and flowing hair, was a Puerto Rican citizen hiding in the United States from his lover's criminal mastermind father and created a love triangle with his fiancé Lily Rivera and Brenda.",
"The show was canceled after two seasons, but soon afterward, Martin was given the role of Miguel Morez on the popular hit soap opera General Hospital; Morez, a bartender and singer, known for his long and flowing hair, was a Puerto Rican citizen hiding in the United States from his lover's criminal mastermind father and created a love triangle with his fiancé Lily Rivera and Brenda. Martin portrayed the role for two years and gained huge popularity and stardom, becoming \"one of the most-talked about actors on the soap opera\".",
"Martin portrayed the role for two years and gained huge popularity and stardom, becoming \"one of the most-talked about actors on the soap opera\". Despite this, Martin felt he lacked chemistry with the rest of the General Hospital cast and observed that people treated him differently because of his Puerto Rican accent. At the time, it was relatively uncommon for Latin actors to appear on American television, and people suggested that he take accent reduction classes, which he refused.",
"At the time, it was relatively uncommon for Latin actors to appear on American television, and people suggested that he take accent reduction classes, which he refused. 1995–1997: Breakthrough with A Medio Vivir In 1995, Martin refocused on his music career, and began working on his third studio album, A Medio Vivir ().",
"1995–1997: Breakthrough with A Medio Vivir In 1995, Martin refocused on his music career, and began working on his third studio album, A Medio Vivir (). The album was released on September 12, 1995, and became a huge success; it sold over three million copies or even seven million copies worldwide, according to different sources, being certified gold in the United States, platinum in France, 4× platinum in Spain, and 6× platinum in Argentina, as well as many other certifications in Latin American countries.",
"The album was released on September 12, 1995, and became a huge success; it sold over three million copies or even seven million copies worldwide, according to different sources, being certified gold in the United States, platinum in France, 4× platinum in Spain, and 6× platinum in Argentina, as well as many other certifications in Latin American countries. It spawned several successful hits, including \"Te Extraño, Te Olvido, Te Amo\" (), \"María\", and \"Volverás\" ().",
"It spawned several successful hits, including \"Te Extraño, Te Olvido, Te Amo\" (), \"María\", and \"Volverás\" (). On \"María\", which was released as the second single from the album, Martin allowed himself \"to go into a very Latin, African sound\".",
"On \"María\", which was released as the second single from the album, Martin allowed himself \"to go into a very Latin, African sound\". He created a mix of different Latin music genres instead of singing a romantic ballad, the style that he focused on it in his first two albums, while Latin pop music in general was mainly made up of it at the time.",
"He created a mix of different Latin music genres instead of singing a romantic ballad, the style that he focused on it in his first two albums, while Latin pop music in general was mainly made up of it at the time. Although Martin was satisfied with the track and he describes it as a song that he is \"extremely proud of\", the first time he played it for a record label executive, the man said: \"Are you crazy? You have ruined your career!",
"You have ruined your career! You have ruined your career! I can't believe you are showing me this. You're finished — this is going to be your last album.\" Despite this, the track became Martin's breakthrough song and his first international hit. It topped the charts in 20 countries, and has sold over five million physical copies worldwide. As a result, the song was featured in the 1999 edition of The Guinness Book of Records as the biggest Latin hit.",
"As a result, the song was featured in the 1999 edition of The Guinness Book of Records as the biggest Latin hit. It was also the Song of the Summer in Spain in 1996 and was the second best-selling single in the world that year. In Australia, \"María\" spent six weeks at number one, topped the country's year-end chart in 1998, and was certified platinum. The song also spent nine weeks at number one in France, and was certified diamond.",
"The song also spent nine weeks at number one in France, and was certified diamond. It has sold over 1.4 million copies in France. Additionally, the track reached the top 10 in the United Kingdom, and became Martin's first entry on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. To promote A Medio Vivir, he embarked on the worldwide A Medio Vivir Tour, that lasted for more than two years, through which he performed 63 shows and visited Europe, Latin America and the United States.",
"To promote A Medio Vivir, he embarked on the worldwide A Medio Vivir Tour, that lasted for more than two years, through which he performed 63 shows and visited Europe, Latin America and the United States. During an interview with The Miami Herald in 1996, Martin expressed an interest in performing on Broadway. In a few days, he received a phone call from producer Richard Jay-Alexander, and was offered the role of Marius Pontmercy in the play Les Misérables.",
"In a few days, he received a phone call from producer Richard Jay-Alexander, and was offered the role of Marius Pontmercy in the play Les Misérables. After the conclusion of the A Medio Vivir Tour in Latin America, Martin returned to New York to appear in the play in an eleven-week run. He greatly enjoyed the experience, calling his time in the play an \"honor\" and \"the role of [his] life\".",
"He greatly enjoyed the experience, calling his time in the play an \"honor\" and \"the role of [his] life\". Martin continued to tour after the conclusion of the show's run, and noted that his audiences were growing in both size and enthusiasm. 1998–1999: Vuelve While the A Medio Vivir Tour had not been concluded yet, Martin returned to the studio to record his fourth album Vuelve ().",
"1998–1999: Vuelve While the A Medio Vivir Tour had not been concluded yet, Martin returned to the studio to record his fourth album Vuelve (). He called the experience of touring and recording at the same time \"brutal and incredibly intense\". As he was finishing the record in 1997, \"María\" caught the attention of FIFA. They contacted Martin and asked him to create a song as the 1998 FIFA World Cup anthem.",
"They contacted Martin and asked him to create a song as the 1998 FIFA World Cup anthem. He stated about the request: \"I have to admit that the challenge made me a bit nervous, but the massive growth potential for my career was such that I decided to accept.\" Following his acceptance, musicians K.C. Porter, Robi Rosa, and Desmond Child joined him and they started working on a song titled \"La Copa de la Vida\" (English: \"The Cup of Life\").",
"Porter, Robi Rosa, and Desmond Child joined him and they started working on a song titled \"La Copa de la Vida\" (English: \"The Cup of Life\"). Martin wrote about the recording: \"La Copa de la Vida\" was included as the eighth track on Vuelve, released February 12, 1998, The album became a huge success; it sold over eight million copies worldwide, becoming the best-selling Spanish-language album in history, according to his label.",
"Martin wrote about the recording: \"La Copa de la Vida\" was included as the eighth track on Vuelve, released February 12, 1998, The album became a huge success; it sold over eight million copies worldwide, becoming the best-selling Spanish-language album in history, according to his label. Also, some sources have reported the album's sales as six million copies worldwide. It spent 26 weeks atop the US Billboard Top Latin Albums chart and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).",
"It spent 26 weeks atop the US Billboard Top Latin Albums chart and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). In Canada, the album peaked at number three and was certified double platinum. Vuelve spawned big hits, including the title track, \"La Copa de la Vida\", \"Perdido Sin Ti\" (), and \"La Bomba\" ().",
"Vuelve spawned big hits, including the title track, \"La Copa de la Vida\", \"Perdido Sin Ti\" (), and \"La Bomba\" (). \"La Copa de la Vida\" grew to be an international success, appearing on the charts in more than 60 countries, and reaching number one in 30 countries, Both \"Vuelve\" and \"Perdido Sin Ti\" peaked at number one on the US Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart; the former also reached number one in On July 12, 1998, Martin performed \"La Copa de la Vida\" as the official anthem at the 1998 FIFA World Cup Final in France, in front of more than a billion TV viewers around the world.",
"\"La Copa de la Vida\" grew to be an international success, appearing on the charts in more than 60 countries, and reaching number one in 30 countries, Both \"Vuelve\" and \"Perdido Sin Ti\" peaked at number one on the US Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart; the former also reached number one in On July 12, 1998, Martin performed \"La Copa de la Vida\" as the official anthem at the 1998 FIFA World Cup Final in France, in front of more than a billion TV viewers around the world. To promote Vuelve, Martin embarked on the worldwide Vuelve Tour; he performed in Asia, Australia, Europe, Mexico, South America, and the United States.",
"To promote Vuelve, Martin embarked on the worldwide Vuelve Tour; he performed in Asia, Australia, Europe, Mexico, South America, and the United States. Although Latin music was not important to the Recording Academy or the mainstream music industry at the time, Tommy Mottola, then-chief of Columbia Records, was certain about Martin's stardom and pushed hard to have him on the Grammy Awards ceremony. During an interview with Billboard, Mottola told the magazine about it: \"There was tremendous resistance from the Grammys.",
"During an interview with Billboard, Mottola told the magazine about it: \"There was tremendous resistance from the Grammys. They did not want an 'unknown' to perform, yet we he had already sold 10 million copies of Vuelve worldwide. To me, that was absolutely UNACCEPTABLE.\"",
"To me, that was absolutely UNACCEPTABLE.\" To me, that was absolutely UNACCEPTABLE.\" Finally, on February 24, 1999, cavorting with a 15-piece band alongside and a large number of dancers and percussionists, Martin performed a bilingual version of \"La Copa de La Vida\" at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards, which was greeted with a massive standing ovation and met with acclaim from music critics. At the same night, Vuelve earned Martin his first Grammy award, for Best Latin Pop Performance.",
"At the same night, Vuelve earned Martin his first Grammy award, for Best Latin Pop Performance. After he accepted the award and expressed how important it was to the Latin community, the American singer-songwriter Madonna came on the stage and hugged him. 1999–2000: Crossover to English In October 1998, CNN confirmed that Martin has been working on his first English language album, following the huge success of Vuelve.",
"1999–2000: Crossover to English In October 1998, CNN confirmed that Martin has been working on his first English language album, following the huge success of Vuelve. In April 1999, Billboard revealed the album's title as Ricky Martin in an article, mentioning that the album was initially set for retail on May 25, 1999.",
"In April 1999, Billboard revealed the album's title as Ricky Martin in an article, mentioning that the album was initially set for retail on May 25, 1999. However, the huge interest in the disc, following Martin's performance at the Grammy Awards, encouraged Columbia Records to decide to rush the album to release two weeks ahead of schedule, on May 11. Tom Corson, the senior vice president of marketing at Columbia explained: \"Quite simply, the market has demanded it.",
"Tom Corson, the senior vice president of marketing at Columbia explained: \"Quite simply, the market has demanded it. People have been wanting this record for a while, and it's now reached the point where we have to get it out there immediately.\" Tim Devin, the general manager of Tower Records in New York added about Martin: \"He's always been one of our strongest Latin artists, but interest in him has picked up considerably since that performance.\"",
"Tim Devin, the general manager of Tower Records in New York added about Martin: \"He's always been one of our strongest Latin artists, but interest in him has picked up considerably since that performance.\" Ricky Martin debuted atop the US Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 661,000 copies, according to data compiled by Nielsen SoundScan, becoming the largest sales week by any album in 1999.",
"Ricky Martin debuted atop the US Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 661,000 copies, according to data compiled by Nielsen SoundScan, becoming the largest sales week by any album in 1999. It also broke the record as the largest first-week sales for any pop or Latin artist in history, as well as any Columbia Records artist during the SoundScan era. With this album, Martin became the first male Latin act in history to debut at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart.",
"With this album, Martin became the first male Latin act in history to debut at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart. It was certified 7× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), denoting shipments of over seven million copies in the US and breaking the record as the best-selling album by a Latin artist in the country. Only within three months, Ricky Martin became the best-selling album ever by a Latin artist.",
"Only within three months, Ricky Martin became the best-selling album ever by a Latin artist. According to different sources, the album has sold over 15 million copies or even 17 million copies worldwide. It was nominated for Best Pop Album at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards. The album was supported by four singles; the lead single \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" () topped the charts in more than 20 countries and is considered to be Martin's biggest hit, and one of the best-selling singles of all time.",
"The album was supported by four singles; the lead single \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" () topped the charts in more than 20 countries and is considered to be Martin's biggest hit, and one of the best-selling singles of all time. In the United States, it topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for five consecutive weeks, becoming Martin's first number one single on the chart. Additionally, it broke several records on Billboard charts.",
"Additionally, it broke several records on Billboard charts. Additionally, it broke several records on Billboard charts. It also spent eight consecutive weeks atop the Canada Top Singles chart and topped the country's year-end chart. In the United Kingdom, it debuted at number one and stayed there for three weeks, making Martin the first Puerto Rican artist in history to hit number one. The track was ranked as the best '90s pop song by Elle, and was listed among the Best Latin Songs of All Time by Billboard.",
"The track was ranked as the best '90s pop song by Elle, and was listed among the Best Latin Songs of All Time by Billboard. It was nominated for four categories at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards, including Record of the Year and Song of the Year. Its Spanish version reached the summit of the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart in the United States, and was nominated for Record of the Year at the 2000 Latin Grammy Awards.",
"Its Spanish version reached the summit of the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart in the United States, and was nominated for Record of the Year at the 2000 Latin Grammy Awards. \"She's All I Ever Had\" was released as the second single from the album in June 1999. It peaked at numbers two and three on the US Billboard Hot 100 and Canada Top Singles charts, respectively. The Spanish version, \"Bella\" () topped the charts in five countries, as well as Billboards Hot Latin Tracks chart.",
"The Spanish version, \"Bella\" () topped the charts in five countries, as well as Billboards Hot Latin Tracks chart. To further promote Ricky Martin, he embarked on the worldwide Livin' la Vida Loca Tour. In the United States, the Livin' la Vida Loca Tour was the highest-grossing tour of 2000 by a Latin artist, earning over $36.3 million with 44 dates and drawing 617,488 fans.",
"In the United States, the Livin' la Vida Loca Tour was the highest-grossing tour of 2000 by a Latin artist, earning over $36.3 million with 44 dates and drawing 617,488 fans. According to Billboard Boxscore, the tour grossed $51.3 million in Canada, Mexico, and the United States, with 60 shows and drawing an audience of 875,151. International dates were not reported to Boxscore and would push the tour's grosses higher.",
"According to Billboard Boxscore, the tour grossed $51.3 million in Canada, Mexico, and the United States, with 60 shows and drawing an audience of 875,151. International dates were not reported to Boxscore and would push the tour's grosses higher. 2000–2005: Sound Loaded, Almas del Silencio, and Life While the Livin' la Vida Loca Tour had not been concluded yet, Martin returned to the studio to record his sixth studio album, Sound Loaded. The album was released on November 14, 2000.",
"The album was released on November 14, 2000. The album was released on November 14, 2000. It debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 318,000 copies, according to data compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The album has sold over seven million copies or even eight million copies worldwide, according to different sources, being certified double platinum in the US. The album featured two hit singles, \"She Bangs\" and \"Nobody Wants to Be Lonely\".",
"The album featured two hit singles, \"She Bangs\" and \"Nobody Wants to Be Lonely\". The former reached number one in seven countries, including Italy and Sweden, as well as the top five in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and several other countries. It was nominated for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance at the 43rd Annual Grammy Awards.",
"It was nominated for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance at the 43rd Annual Grammy Awards. The Spanish-language version of \"She Bangs\" reached the summit of the Hot Latin Tracks chart and won the Latin Grammy Award for Best Music Video at the 2nd Annual Latin Grammy Awards. \"Nobody Wants to Be Lonely\" was re-recorded along with American singer Christina Aguilera, peaking at number one in five countries, as well as the top five in Italy, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom, among others.",
"\"Nobody Wants to Be Lonely\" was re-recorded along with American singer Christina Aguilera, peaking at number one in five countries, as well as the top five in Italy, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom, among others. It was nominated for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals at the 44th Annual Grammy Awards. The solo Spanish version, entitled \"Sólo Quiero Amarte\" topped the Hot Latin Tracks chart. Both \"She Bangs\" and \"Nobody Wants to Be Lonely\" are certified silver in the UK.",
"Both \"She Bangs\" and \"Nobody Wants to Be Lonely\" are certified silver in the UK. In February 2001, Martin released a Spanish compilation album entitled La Historia (), which spent five weeks at number one on the Top Latin Albums chart, topped the charts in Argentina and Sweden, and was certified quadruple Latin platinum in the United States.",
"In February 2001, Martin released a Spanish compilation album entitled La Historia (), which spent five weeks at number one on the Top Latin Albums chart, topped the charts in Argentina and Sweden, and was certified quadruple Latin platinum in the United States. Following the success of Ricky Martin and Sound Loaded, he initially planned to release the third English-language album as his seventh studio album, which was supposed to be his first complete work in the field of songwriting.",
"Following the success of Ricky Martin and Sound Loaded, he initially planned to release the third English-language album as his seventh studio album, which was supposed to be his first complete work in the field of songwriting. Despite Sony Music Entertainment's original plan, he decided to release a Spanish-language album: \"I woke up five months ago, and I said 'We're doing an album in Spanish.' Everyone went nuts.",
"Everyone went nuts. Everyone went nuts. They said, 'You don't have time; you have to release an album in English because of timing issues with your career.' And that's fine. But I told them, 'In five months, you'll have a kick-ass album' [in Spanish]. Martin's seventh studio album, Almas del Silencio () was released in May 2003.",
"Martin's seventh studio album, Almas del Silencio () was released in May 2003. It debuted atop the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart with first-week sales of 65,000 copies, according to data compiled by Nielsen SoundScan, breaking the record as the largest first-week sales for a Spanish-language album in the US. The album also debuted at number 12 on Billboard 200, tying the 2002 album, Quizás () as the chart's highest Spanish-language debut.",
"The album also debuted at number 12 on Billboard 200, tying the 2002 album, Quizás () as the chart's highest Spanish-language debut. The album also debuted at number one in \"at least 13 Latin American markets\" and sold over two million copies worldwide. Almas del Silencio spawned three Hot Latin Tracks chart-topper hits: \"Tal Vez\" (), \"Jaleo\", and \"Y Todo Queda en Nada\" ().",
"Almas del Silencio spawned three Hot Latin Tracks chart-topper hits: \"Tal Vez\" (), \"Jaleo\", and \"Y Todo Queda en Nada\" (). \"Tal Vez\" debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart on the week of April 12, 2003, marking the first number one debut since February 1998, and becoming the sixth song overall in the chart's history to do so.",
"\"Tal Vez\" debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart on the week of April 12, 2003, marking the first number one debut since February 1998, and becoming the sixth song overall in the chart's history to do so. It spent a total of 11 weeks at this position, surpassing \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" as Martin's longest number-one single on the chart, and was the longest-running number one of 2003. It also topped the charts in several Latin American markets.",
"It also topped the charts in several Latin American markets. In October 2005, Martin released his third English album, Life. He commented on the album: \"I was really in touch with my emotions. I think this album is very multi-layered, just like life is. It's about feeling anger. It's about feeling joy. It's about feeling uncertainty. It's about feeling. And all my emotions are part of this production\".",
"And all my emotions are part of this production\". To promote Life, Martin embarked on the worldwide One Night Only with Ricky Martin tour. 2006–2012: MTV Unplugged, Música + Alma + Sexo, and Evita Although Martin's team and MTV had discussed an MTV Unplugged for years, but it became more serious after Martin's the One Night Only tour, which featured an acoustic segment. Finally, Martin taped his MTV Unplugged set in Miami in August 2006, performing both romantic ballads and up-tempo tropical dance songs.",
"Finally, Martin taped his MTV Unplugged set in Miami in August 2006, performing both romantic ballads and up-tempo tropical dance songs. During the performance, he debuted three new tracks, including \"Tu Recuerdo\" (), which was released to radio stations as the lead single from his debut live album MTV Unplugged (2006). The album debuted at number one on the Top Latin Albums chart and sold over two million copies worldwide, marking his highest-certified album in Mexico.",
"The album debuted at number one on the Top Latin Albums chart and sold over two million copies worldwide, marking his highest-certified album in Mexico. It won two Latin Grammy awards and was nominated for Album of the Year. \"Tu Recuerdo\" reached number one in five countries, as well as the Billboards Hot Latin Songs and Latin Pop Airplay charts. The track was certified quadruple platinum in Mexico and was nominated for Record of the Year at the 8th Annual Latin Grammy Awards.",
"The track was certified quadruple platinum in Mexico and was nominated for Record of the Year at the 8th Annual Latin Grammy Awards. The artist then embarked on the Black and White Tour in 2007, including four sold-out shows at the José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum in Puerto Rico. The concerts in Puerto Rico were compiled into his second live album Ricky Martin... Live Black & White Tour (2007).",
"The concerts in Puerto Rico were compiled into his second live album Ricky Martin... Live Black & White Tour (2007). Later that year, he released his first Italian song, \"Non siamo soli\" () as a duet with Italian singer Eros Ramazzotti. The song debuted at number one in Italy and spent eleven consecutive weeks atop the chart. In January 2011, Martin launched his ninth studio album, Música + Alma + Sexo ().",
"In January 2011, Martin launched his ninth studio album, Música + Alma + Sexo (). The album debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200 chart, becoming the highest-charting primarily-Spanish language set since Dreaming of You (1995) by American singer Selena. It holds the record as the highest-charting Latin album of the 2010s, and represents the highest-ever chart debut on the Billboard 200 for a Sony Music Latin release.",
"It holds the record as the highest-charting Latin album of the 2010s, and represents the highest-ever chart debut on the Billboard 200 for a Sony Music Latin release. Música + Alma + Sexo also peaked at number one in Argentina and Venezuela, as well as Billboards Top Latin Albums.",
"Música + Alma + Sexo also peaked at number one in Argentina and Venezuela, as well as Billboards Top Latin Albums. Its lead single, \"Lo Mejor de Mi Vida Eres Tú\" (English: \"The Best Thing About Me Is You\") reached number one on the US Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart and was nominated for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Short Form Music Video at the 12th Annual Latin Grammy Awards.",
"Its lead single, \"Lo Mejor de Mi Vida Eres Tú\" (English: \"The Best Thing About Me Is You\") reached number one on the US Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart and was nominated for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Short Form Music Video at the 12th Annual Latin Grammy Awards. To promote the album, Martin embarked on the Música + Alma + Sexo World Tour in 2011.",
"To promote the album, Martin embarked on the Música + Alma + Sexo World Tour in 2011. In February 2012, he appeared as Spanish teacher David Martinez on the twelfth episode of the third season of the American musical television series Glee, The Spanish Teacher. Martin starred as Ché in the Broadway revival of the musical Evita from March 2012 to January 2013. The show became a hit, breaking the theatre's box-office sales record after only six performances.",
"The show became a hit, breaking the theatre's box-office sales record after only six performances. Sine then, it broke its own record six times and was nominated for Best Revival of a Musical at the 66th Tony Awards. The show's soundtrack album debuted at number one on Billboards cast album chart. 2013–2018: The Voice, A Quien Quiera Escuchar, and The Assassination of Gianni Versace Martin served as a coach on the second season of the Australian singing competition television series The Voice in 2013.",
"2013–2018: The Voice, A Quien Quiera Escuchar, and The Assassination of Gianni Versace Martin served as a coach on the second season of the Australian singing competition television series The Voice in 2013. In the same year, he released a compilation album, entitled Greatest Hits: Souvenir Edition, which reached number two in Australia, as well as a new single, entitled \"Come with Me\", which debuted at number three in the country.",
"In the same year, he released a compilation album, entitled Greatest Hits: Souvenir Edition, which reached number two in Australia, as well as a new single, entitled \"Come with Me\", which debuted at number three in the country. The artist then embarked on the Ricky Martin Live tour in Australia in October 2013. He continued serving as a coach on both the third and fourth seasons of The Voice Australia in 2014 and 2015, respectively.",
"He continued serving as a coach on both the third and fourth seasons of The Voice Australia in 2014 and 2015, respectively. In 2014, Lars Brandle from Billboard stated in an article: \"Through his high-profile slot on The Voice, Ricky's profile in Australia has never been as big as it is right now.\"",
"In 2014, Lars Brandle from Billboard stated in an article: \"Through his high-profile slot on The Voice, Ricky's profile in Australia has never been as big as it is right now.\" On February 25, 2014, Wisin released a song titled \"Adrenalina\" () from his album El Regreso del Sobreviviente (), which featured Jennifer Lopez and Martin, and became the Univision's 2014 World Cup song.",
"On February 25, 2014, Wisin released a song titled \"Adrenalina\" () from his album El Regreso del Sobreviviente (), which featured Jennifer Lopez and Martin, and became the Univision's 2014 World Cup song. It received commercial success, peaking in the top-five of Bulgaria, Mexico, Spain, and Billboards Hot Latin Songs chart. Its accompanying music video has accumulated over 850 million views on YouTube. Later that year, Martin released his single \"Vida\" () for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.",
"Later that year, Martin released his single \"Vida\" () for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The song reached the top five in Spain and on the US Hot Latin Songs chart. Also in 2014, he served as a coach on the fourth season of The Voice Mexico, and embarked on the Live in Mexico tour. In February 2015, Martin released his tenth studio album, A Quien Quiera Escuchar ().",
"In February 2015, Martin released his tenth studio album, A Quien Quiera Escuchar (). The album debuted at number one on Billboards Top Latin Albums chart and peaked at number one in Argentina. It won the award for Best Latin Pop Album at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards and Album of the Year at the 1st Latin American Music Awards. The album spawned three Hot Latin Songs top-10 hits: \"Adiós\" (), \"Disparo al Corazón\" (), and \"La Mordidita\" ().",
"The album spawned three Hot Latin Songs top-10 hits: \"Adiós\" (), \"Disparo al Corazón\" (), and \"La Mordidita\" (). \"Disparo al Corazón\" was nominated for both Record of the Year and Song of the Year at the 16th Annual Latin Grammy Awards. \"La Mordidita\" experienced huge commercial success, being certified 15× Latin platinum in the United States. Its accompanying music video has received over 1.2 billion views on YouTube.",
"Its accompanying music video has received over 1.2 billion views on YouTube. To promote the album, Martin embarked on the One World Tour from 2015 to 2017. He served as an executive producer and a judge on the American singing competition series La Banda (), which premiered in 2015 and 2016 on Univision. The first season was \"looking for the next Latin boy band\", while the second season was looking for a Latin girl band.",
"The first season was \"looking for the next Latin boy band\", while the second season was looking for a Latin girl band. The contestants would compete for a recording deal with Sony Music Latin and Syco Music. CNCO, known as the first boy band to make reggaeton, was the winner of the first season.",
"CNCO, known as the first boy band to make reggaeton, was the winner of the first season. Martin became their manager and produced the band's debut album, Primera Cita () (2016), along with Wisin; the album debuted at number one on Top Latin Albums and featured the hit single \"Reggaetón Lento (Bailemos)\" (). CNCO opened many dates on One World Tour in 2016.",
"CNCO opened many dates on One World Tour in 2016. In 2020, Leila Cobo from Billboard compared the group with Menudo, noting: \"Not since Menudo had a Latin boy band melted our hearts or made us dance quite like CNCO\". On September 23, 2016, Martin released a song called \"Vente Pa' Ca\" (), featuring Colombian singer Maluma.",
"On September 23, 2016, Martin released a song called \"Vente Pa' Ca\" (), featuring Colombian singer Maluma. The song became one of the biggest Spanish-language songs of 2016, reaching number one in seven countries, as well as Billboards Latin Airplay, Latin Pop Airplay, and Tropical Airplay charts. It also reached top five in Spain and on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs, being certified quadruple platinum in Spain and diamond in Mexico.",
"It also reached top five in Spain and on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs, being certified quadruple platinum in Spain and diamond in Mexico. The track was nominated for both Record of the Year and Song of the Year at the 18th Annual Latin Grammy Awards. The accompanying music video has received over 1.75 billion views on YouTube. Martin signed a concert residency, named All In, to perform at the Monte Carlo Resort and Casino in Las Vegas in 2017 and 2018.",
"Martin signed a concert residency, named All In, to perform at the Monte Carlo Resort and Casino in Las Vegas in 2017 and 2018. He portrayed fashion designer Gianni Versace's partner Antonio D'Amico in the FX true crime anthology television series The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, marking \"the acting opportunity of his career\". The role garnered him a nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Limited Series Or Movie at the 70th Primetime Emmy Awards.",
"The role garnered him a nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Limited Series Or Movie at the 70th Primetime Emmy Awards. Running from January to March 2018, The Assassination of Gianni Versace received generally favorable reviews and numerous awards and nominations, including three Primetime Emmy Awards, four Creative Arts Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, two Critics' Choice Television Awards, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. In February 2018, Martin released a song titled \"Fiebre\" (), featuring Wisin & Yandel.",
"In February 2018, Martin released a song titled \"Fiebre\" (), featuring Wisin & Yandel. The song was commercially successful in Latin America, reaching number one in Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, and Uruguay. It also reached the summit of the Billboard Latin Airplay and Latin Rhythm Airplay charts.",
"It also reached the summit of the Billboard Latin Airplay and Latin Rhythm Airplay charts. 2019–present: Amici di Maria De Filippi, PausaPlay, and Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey At the 61st Annual Grammy Awards, Martin performed \"Havana\", \"Pégate\" (), and \"Mi Gente\" (), alongside Camila Cabello, J Balvin, Young Thug, and Arturo Sandoval, as the opening performance.",
"2019–present: Amici di Maria De Filippi, PausaPlay, and Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey At the 61st Annual Grammy Awards, Martin performed \"Havana\", \"Pégate\" (), and \"Mi Gente\" (), alongside Camila Cabello, J Balvin, Young Thug, and Arturo Sandoval, as the opening performance. Martin served as a coach on the eighteenth season of the Italian talent show Amici di Maria De Filippi () in 2019.",
"Martin served as a coach on the eighteenth season of the Italian talent show Amici di Maria De Filippi () in 2019. In the same year, Maluma released a song called \"No Se Me Quita\" () from his album 11:11, which featured Martin. The song reached number one in Mexico and was certified quadruple platinum in the country. Martin hosted the 20th Annual Latin Grammy Awards in November 2019, along with Roselyn Sánchez and Paz Vega.",
"Martin hosted the 20th Annual Latin Grammy Awards in November 2019, along with Roselyn Sánchez and Paz Vega. The artist started recording his eleventh studio album, initially titled Movimiento (), in the second half of 2019, inspired by the 2019 political protests in Puerto Rico. He embarked on the Movimiento Tour in 2020.",
"He embarked on the Movimiento Tour in 2020. He embarked on the Movimiento Tour in 2020. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent personal experiences, he decided to split the tour's associated album in two extended plays, Pausa () and Play; the former was released in May 2020, while the latter is set to release as his eleventh studio album. Pausa was nominated for Album of the Year and won the award for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 21st Annual Latin Grammy Awards.",
"Pausa was nominated for Album of the Year and won the award for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 21st Annual Latin Grammy Awards. The second single from the EP, \"Tiburones\" () reached number one in Argentina and Puerto Rico, and was also nominated for Song of the Year at the 21st Annual Latin Grammy Awards. Martin starred as the voice of villainous miniature figure Don Juan Diego in the American Christmas musical fantasy film Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey.",
"Martin starred as the voice of villainous miniature figure Don Juan Diego in the American Christmas musical fantasy film Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey. The film was released on Netflix on November 13, 2020, and received generally favorable reviews. In April 2021, Martin released his hit single \"Canción Bonita\" () with Colombian singer Carlos Vives, which experienced huge commercial success in Latin America, reaching number one in 12 countries.",
"In April 2021, Martin released his hit single \"Canción Bonita\" () with Colombian singer Carlos Vives, which experienced huge commercial success in Latin America, reaching number one in 12 countries. It was also nominated for Song of the Year and Best Pop Song at the 22nd Annual Latin Grammy Awards. Later that year, he released \"Qué Rico Fuera\" () with Chilean-American singer Paloma Mami, as the lead single from Play.",
"Later that year, he released \"Qué Rico Fuera\" () with Chilean-American singer Paloma Mami, as the lead single from Play. The song peaked at number one in four countries, as well as the top 10 on Billboards Latin Pop Airplay. In the same year, he embarked on his first co-headlining tour, the Enrique Iglesias and Ricky Martin Live in Concert alongside Spanish singer Enrique Iglesias.",
"In the same year, he embarked on his first co-headlining tour, the Enrique Iglesias and Ricky Martin Live in Concert alongside Spanish singer Enrique Iglesias. Artistry Influences As a child, Martin used to sing songs by Menudo and American rock bands such as Led Zeppelin, Journey, and REO Speedwagon, which were what his \"older siblings were listening to at the time\". While Martin and his brothers spent their time listening to classic rock, their mother would interrupt them to make them listen to Latin music.",
"While Martin and his brothers spent their time listening to classic rock, their mother would interrupt them to make them listen to Latin music. She brought him CDs of Fania All-Stars, Celia Cruz, El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, and Gilberto Santa Rosa that slowly made him appreciate the richness of Puerto Rican culture. Also, she once took them to a Fania All-Stars concert, which Martin is \"beyond grateful\" for it.",
"Also, she once took them to a Fania All-Stars concert, which Martin is \"beyond grateful\" for it. He expresses that thanks to her mother, those influences had a \"profound effect\" on his musical career. Martin has also cited Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Michael Jackson, and Madonna for teaching him \"the beauty of pop\". He stated about Madonna: \"I was very influenced by her and her music. I know every choreography of Madonna.\"",
"I know every choreography of Madonna.\" I know every choreography of Madonna.\" Additionally, he mentions Carlos Santana, José Feliciano, Celia Cruz, and Gloria Estefan as the artists who paved the way for him, naming Feliciano as one of the people who inspired him when he was a teenager: \"I was always fascinated with his music.\" In addition to the musical influences, Martin is inspired by David Bowie's \"ambiguous sexuality\".",
"In addition to the musical influences, Martin is inspired by David Bowie's \"ambiguous sexuality\". While growing up, he used to ask himself if he wanted to be like the openly gay singer Elton John or he just liked him, admiring his music, colors, and wigs.",
"While growing up, he used to ask himself if he wanted to be like the openly gay singer Elton John or he just liked him, admiring his music, colors, and wigs. Musical styles and themes Considered to be a versatile artist, Martin describes his music as Latin pop, saying: \"When you say 'Latin pop', the spectrum is so broad, It's inevitable to not be influenced by everything that’s happening in the industry, but always keeping your identity firm by knowing who you are.\"",
"Musical styles and themes Considered to be a versatile artist, Martin describes his music as Latin pop, saying: \"When you say 'Latin pop', the spectrum is so broad, It's inevitable to not be influenced by everything that’s happening in the industry, but always keeping your identity firm by knowing who you are.\" He has also described his music as fusion, while noting that he does not \"ride the waves that are in fashion at the moment\".",
"He has also described his music as fusion, while noting that he does not \"ride the waves that are in fashion at the moment\". Music critics have described his songs as Latin pop, pop, dance, ballad, reggaeton, Latin, African, rock, salsa, flamenco, urban, samba, cumbia, merengue, rumba, Latin funk, bomba, batucada, vallenato, dancehall, mambo, Europop, house, disco, EDM, dance-pop, electro, techno, dubstep, world music, Middle Eastern, folk-pop, bossa nova, pop rock, soft pop, soft rock, R&B, gospel, jazz, trap, hip hop, doo-wop, ska, and rock' n' roll.",
"Music critics have described his songs as Latin pop, pop, dance, ballad, reggaeton, Latin, African, rock, salsa, flamenco, urban, samba, cumbia, merengue, rumba, Latin funk, bomba, batucada, vallenato, dancehall, mambo, Europop, house, disco, EDM, dance-pop, electro, techno, dubstep, world music, Middle Eastern, folk-pop, bossa nova, pop rock, soft pop, soft rock, R&B, gospel, jazz, trap, hip hop, doo-wop, ska, and rock' n' roll. Martin sings in Spanish, English, Portuguese, Italian, and French.",
"Martin sings in Spanish, English, Portuguese, Italian, and French. About his lyrics, Martin has emphasized that although his music will always make the listener dance, it does not mean his lyrics \"have to be meaningless\" and he sings about love and heartbreak, as well as \"things that are good for a society\", such as \"freedom, freedom of expression, and social justice\".",
"About his lyrics, Martin has emphasized that although his music will always make the listener dance, it does not mean his lyrics \"have to be meaningless\" and he sings about love and heartbreak, as well as \"things that are good for a society\", such as \"freedom, freedom of expression, and social justice\". He has also declared that as a Latino, he is not afraid of sexuality and sings about sexuality and sensuality, bringing his culture with him onstage.",
"He has also declared that as a Latino, he is not afraid of sexuality and sings about sexuality and sensuality, bringing his culture with him onstage. Voice Martin possesses a dramatic tenor vocal range. Peter Gilstrap from Variety commented that his \"powerful voice\" is \"capable of belt or lilt\", while The Jerusalem Posts Noa Amouyal described his voice as \"soulful\" and \"very powerful\". In 1995, Enrique Lopetegui of the Los Angeles Times noted Martin's \"improved vocal skills\" on A Medio Vivir.",
"In 1995, Enrique Lopetegui of the Los Angeles Times noted Martin's \"improved vocal skills\" on A Medio Vivir. Also from the Los Angeles Times, Ernesto Lechner later praised his vocal for being \"charismatic enough to handle both ballads and up-tempo tunes\". Similarly, Billboards Chuck Taylor expressed \"She's All I Ever Had\" boasts \"a versatility that contrasts nicely\" with Martin's previous single, \"Livin' la Vida Loca\", labeling his vocal on the former \"tender and heartfelt\".",
"Similarly, Billboards Chuck Taylor expressed \"She's All I Ever Had\" boasts \"a versatility that contrasts nicely\" with Martin's previous single, \"Livin' la Vida Loca\", labeling his vocal on the former \"tender and heartfelt\". Steve Gerrard of the Montreal Rocks complimented \"his vocal maturity\" on A Quien Quiera Escuchar.",
"Steve Gerrard of the Montreal Rocks complimented \"his vocal maturity\" on A Quien Quiera Escuchar. Music videos and performances Billboard labeled Martin \"a video icon\", and ranked him as the 79th Greatest Music Video Artist of All Time in 2020, stating: \"From the moment he sashayed up to the mic in 'Livin La Vida Loca' all dressed in black, and gave us that look, the Menudo alum became the most memorable and watchable drop-dead handsome guy in pop music.\"",
"Music videos and performances Billboard labeled Martin \"a video icon\", and ranked him as the 79th Greatest Music Video Artist of All Time in 2020, stating: \"From the moment he sashayed up to the mic in 'Livin La Vida Loca' all dressed in black, and gave us that look, the Menudo alum became the most memorable and watchable drop-dead handsome guy in pop music.\" He has collaborated with various directors to produce his music videos, including Carlos Perez, Wayne Isham, Jessy Terrero, Simón Brand, Gustavo Garzón, Nigel Dick, Kacho Lopez, and Memo del Bosque.",
"He has collaborated with various directors to produce his music videos, including Carlos Perez, Wayne Isham, Jessy Terrero, Simón Brand, Gustavo Garzón, Nigel Dick, Kacho Lopez, and Memo del Bosque. \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" was nominated for Video of the Year at the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards, making Martin the first Latin artist in history to receive a nomination in this category.",
"\"Livin' la Vida Loca\" was nominated for Video of the Year at the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards, making Martin the first Latin artist in history to receive a nomination in this category. It won two primary awards for Best Pop Video and Best Dance Video, and was voted three additional awards in the International Viewer's Choice categories, making it rank among the videos with most wins in the history of the MTV Video Music Awards.",
"It won two primary awards for Best Pop Video and Best Dance Video, and was voted three additional awards in the International Viewer's Choice categories, making it rank among the videos with most wins in the history of the MTV Video Music Awards. The explicit sexual scenes of the music video for \"She Bangs\" were met with criticism from the audience; several American television stations cut the scenes when airing the video.",
"The explicit sexual scenes of the music video for \"She Bangs\" were met with criticism from the audience; several American television stations cut the scenes when airing the video. According to the Daily Records John Dingwall, with the visual, Martin ditched his teen idol image by transforming to a more mature one. It was consequently banned in several Latin American countries, such as the Dominican Republic. Martin told MTV News that the video represented freedom rather than his sexuality.",
"Martin told MTV News that the video represented freedom rather than his sexuality. The video was awarded Best Music Video at the 2nd Annual Latin Grammy Awards, Best Clip of the Year — Latin at the 2001 Billboard Music Video Awards, and Video of the Year at the 13th Lo Nuestro Awards. Martin has been noticed for \"dance moves of his own\" and his \"bon-bon shaking dance moves\".",
"Martin has been noticed for \"dance moves of his own\" and his \"bon-bon shaking dance moves\". Carol Sandoval from VIX named him the \"best dancer on any stage worldwide\", highlighting his hips movement and \"successful turns\". He was ranked as the ninth best male dancer by the Evening Standard and the tenth Male Singer Who Can Dance by WatchMojo, being the only Latin entertainer on both lists. Writing for The Hollywood Reporter, Scott Feinberg introduced Martin as \"an incredible dancer\".",
"Writing for The Hollywood Reporter, Scott Feinberg introduced Martin as \"an incredible dancer\". Billboards Jessica Roiz labeled him \"a true showman\", noting his \"many outfit changes\", \"various dance performances\", and \"different stage set for each song\".",
"Billboards Jessica Roiz labeled him \"a true showman\", noting his \"many outfit changes\", \"various dance performances\", and \"different stage set for each song\". Jon Pareles of The New York Times described him as \"an all-around showman\" and Varietys Peter Gilstrap called him \"every inch the showman\", both recognizing his vocal abilities, while the former also commented he is \"a dancer as muscular and hard-working as anyone in his troupe\", mentioning his \"likable, good-hearted character\" and \"steadfast Puerto Rican pride\".",
"Jon Pareles of The New York Times described him as \"an all-around showman\" and Varietys Peter Gilstrap called him \"every inch the showman\", both recognizing his vocal abilities, while the former also commented he is \"a dancer as muscular and hard-working as anyone in his troupe\", mentioning his \"likable, good-hearted character\" and \"steadfast Puerto Rican pride\". Music critics have mostly praised his concerts for the choreographies, video screens, visual effects, stage, Latin influences, and Martin's vocals, costume changes, energy, sensuality, dance moves, and gestures, while the quality of sounds and sound mixes have received mixed reviews.",
"Music critics have mostly praised his concerts for the choreographies, video screens, visual effects, stage, Latin influences, and Martin's vocals, costume changes, energy, sensuality, dance moves, and gestures, while the quality of sounds and sound mixes have received mixed reviews. Billboards Marjua Estevez described Martin's performance of \"La Copa de la Vida\" at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards as \"the most memorable Latin performance at a Grammy Awards show\", and the publication ranked it as the 54th Greatest Award Show Performance of All Time on their 2017 list.",
"Billboards Marjua Estevez described Martin's performance of \"La Copa de la Vida\" at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards as \"the most memorable Latin performance at a Grammy Awards show\", and the publication ranked it as the 54th Greatest Award Show Performance of All Time on their 2017 list. The performance was additionally placed on a 2017 unranked list of \"Top 20 Best Grammy Performances of All Time\" by Gold Derby, and on a 2019 list of \"The Most Unforgettable Grammys Performances of All Time\" by InStyle.",
"The performance was additionally placed on a 2017 unranked list of \"Top 20 Best Grammy Performances of All Time\" by Gold Derby, and on a 2019 list of \"The Most Unforgettable Grammys Performances of All Time\" by InStyle. Public image Martin became a teen idol with his debut as a member of Menudo, and a pop icon following global fame as a solo artist. Journalists have written about his humble personality and \"beautiful soul\".",
"Journalists have written about his humble personality and \"beautiful soul\". Writing for The Hollywood Reporter, Scott Feinberg introduced Martin as \"one of the most acclaimed and admired creative artists ever\". La República staff described him as \"one of the most admired and desired singers\", while authors of ¡Hola!",
"La República staff described him as \"one of the most admired and desired singers\", while authors of ¡Hola! described him as \"one of the most respected Latin stars in the world\", \"one of the most prodigious voices in music in Spanish\", and \"one of the most beloved talents in the entertainment industry worldwide\".",
"described him as \"one of the most respected Latin stars in the world\", \"one of the most prodigious voices in music in Spanish\", and \"one of the most beloved talents in the entertainment industry worldwide\". Also from ¡Hola!, Cristina Noé named him \"one of the most loved artists in the world\", while a writer of Clarín named him \"one of the most applauded Latin singers on the planet\".",
"Also from ¡Hola!, Cristina Noé named him \"one of the most loved artists in the world\", while a writer of Clarín named him \"one of the most applauded Latin singers on the planet\". Metro Puerto Rico stated that he \"raised the name of Puerto Rico internationally\". He was ranked as one of the top-10 \"emerging personalities\" of 2010 by Google Zeitgeist.",
"He was ranked as one of the top-10 \"emerging personalities\" of 2010 by Google Zeitgeist. In 2014, Gay Star News referred to Martin as \"the most famous Latin pop star in the world\", while Variety described him as \"Puerto Rico's arguably most famous son\" in 2021. He is ranked as the second-most famous Latin music artist in the United States, according to YouGov surveys in 2021.",
"He is ranked as the second-most famous Latin music artist in the United States, according to YouGov surveys in 2021. During the 2000s, Martin was known for \"guarding his private life\" and being \"uncomfortable discussing intimate aspects of his personal life\"; he used to insist on asking public to focus on his music and \"steered interviewers away from his personal life\". However, he chose to live both his \"professional and personal life\", making his private life public since the early 2010s.",
"However, he chose to live both his \"professional and personal life\", making his private life public since the early 2010s. In 2021, he went on the cover of People with the title \"No More Secrets\" and told the magazine that he is \"a man with no secrets\", stating that he is \"more comfortable in his own skin than ever before\". Martin is one of the most followed celebrities on social media, with accounts on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok.",
"Martin is one of the most followed celebrities on social media, with accounts on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok. He stated about social media that he wishes he had \"something as powerful as\" them since his debut: \"Obviously I like to have direct contact with the public, with the media. It's extremely important, but today, from my home, I can talk to millions of people and see their immediate reaction.\"",
"It's extremely important, but today, from my home, I can talk to millions of people and see their immediate reaction.\" He is noticed for his friendly interactions with his fans, who are called \"Sexy Souls\". Wax statues of Martin are on display at the Madame Tussauds wax museums in San Francisco, Sydney, and Orlando. The last one was moved from Las Vegas to Orlando for the opening of the museum in spring 2015.",
"The last one was moved from Las Vegas to Orlando for the opening of the museum in spring 2015. Fashion Martin is considered to be a sex symbol, and journalists describe him as \"the Latin heartthrob\". His fashion and style evolution, from \"as '80s as you'd expect\" during his time with Menudo to \"a style groove, often opting for sharp, tailored suits with clean lines\" since 2009, has been noticed by the media. Natalia Trejo from ¡Hola!",
"Natalia Trejo from ¡Hola! Natalia Trejo from ¡Hola! described him as \"one of the most stylish Latin men in the entertainment industry\", highlighting his \"baggy leather pants\", \"tailored suits\", and \"color-block blazers\" that have marked \"some of the noteworthy trends of each decade\". The reviewer also commented that Martin is \"an example of mixing business with casual\" and has \"always had a personal sense of style\".",
"The reviewer also commented that Martin is \"an example of mixing business with casual\" and has \"always had a personal sense of style\". JD Institute of Fashion Technology views Martin as a fashion icon, praising him for \"pushing the fashion boundaries with every new look\". In 1997, he went on the cover of People en Españols first edition of 25 Most Beautiful; he has since \"been a constant presence\" on their 25 or 50 Most Beautiful lists.",
"In 1997, he went on the cover of People en Españols first edition of 25 Most Beautiful; he has since \"been a constant presence\" on their 25 or 50 Most Beautiful lists. Two years later, he was featured on the cover of both Rolling Stone and Time magazines. Martin is considered to be one of the sexiest men in the world, according to various publications. In 2012, he was voted the sexiest man alive on Broadway.com.",
"In 2012, he was voted the sexiest man alive on Broadway.com. The following year, VH1 ranked him as the 28th Sexiest Artist of All Time, stating: \"Ricky looks like the model in the magazine ads you stare at in awe thinking, 'There's no way he's that perfect in person'.\" In 2014, Entertainment Tonight listed him among the Sexiest Men Alive, while Revista Estilo placed him on the list of \"the 10 Sexiest Singers\" in 2016.",
"In 2014, Entertainment Tonight listed him among the Sexiest Men Alive, while Revista Estilo placed him on the list of \"the 10 Sexiest Singers\" in 2016. He was ranked at number 16 on the list of \"the 50 Hottest Men of All Time\" by Harper's Bazaar in 2018, being the only Latin man on their list. In 2019, TN described Martin as \"the sexiest man in the world\".",
"In 2019, TN described Martin as \"the sexiest man in the world\". He has been noted for looking younger than his age, with Billboards Chris Payne labeling him \"ageless\". The singer has attended several fashion shows, including the Giorgio Armani show at Milan Fashion Week in 2011, the Marc Jacobs show in 2013, the Berluti menswear spring-summer 2020 show at Paris Fashion Week, the Dior men's pre-fall 2020 show, and the Virgil Abloh Spring-Summer 2022 show held by Louis Vuitton.",
"The singer has attended several fashion shows, including the Giorgio Armani show at Milan Fashion Week in 2011, the Marc Jacobs show in 2013, the Berluti menswear spring-summer 2020 show at Paris Fashion Week, the Dior men's pre-fall 2020 show, and the Virgil Abloh Spring-Summer 2022 show held by Louis Vuitton. Personal life Sexual orientation and early relationships According to an interview with Rolling Stone in 1999, Martin experienced his first kiss at age 13 and lost his virginity at age 14 in Argentina.",
"Personal life Sexual orientation and early relationships According to an interview with Rolling Stone in 1999, Martin experienced his first kiss at age 13 and lost his virginity at age 14 in Argentina. In 1990, shortly after he had arrived in Mexico to star in Mama Ama el Rock, he met a woman, who was the host of a television show. They began dating quickly and broke up a few months later.",
"They began dating quickly and broke up a few months later. In 1992, he fell in love with Mexican singer Alejandra Guzmán, who was separated from her husband at the time. They began dating together until Guzmán returned to her husband and pretended Martin was her assistant on a phone call, while she was sleeping with her husband. In an interview with Univision, Martin admitted that she broke his heart. In the same year, Martin was rumored to have a relationship with Argentine tennis player Gabriela Sabatini.",
"In the same year, Martin was rumored to have a relationship with Argentine tennis player Gabriela Sabatini. Sabatini's sister-in-law, Catherine Fulop confirmed the rumor in 2020. During the time he was playing in General Hospital, he met a \"very handsome\" man at a radio station, \"stopped fearing [his] sexuality\", and started dating him.",
"During the time he was playing in General Hospital, he met a \"very handsome\" man at a radio station, \"stopped fearing [his] sexuality\", and started dating him. Martin's mother supported him when she discovered that he was in love with a man, saying: \"I love you, my son, I'm so happy for you. Bring it on. I'm right behind you.\"",
"Bring it on. I'm right behind you.\" I'm right behind you.\" However, after the relationship ended, Martin \"locked [his] feelings even deeper inside\" and began dating women again. He recalls: \"I already felt it was hard to be a Latino in Hollywood; what could have been more difficult than being Latino and gay?\" Martin began dating Mexican television host Rebecca de Alba in 1994; they were in an on-and-off relationship until 2005.",
"Martin began dating Mexican television host Rebecca de Alba in 1994; they were in an on-and-off relationship until 2005. In May 2021, Alba revealed that she became pregnant several times in her life, but lost all of the embryos, expressing that one of them belonged to Martin. Martin also had relationships with Lilly Melgar, Adriana Biega, Maital Saban, and Inés Misan during his break-up times with Alba in the late 1990s and early 2000s.",
"Martin also had relationships with Lilly Melgar, Adriana Biega, Maital Saban, and Inés Misan during his break-up times with Alba in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He declared that \"there was chemistry with them\" and he \"wasn't fooling anyone\". In August 2008, Martin became a father to twin boys named Matteo and Valentino, born via gestational surrogacy.",
"In August 2008, Martin became a father to twin boys named Matteo and Valentino, born via gestational surrogacy. He explained that he chose surrogacy to become a parent for being \"intriguing and faster\" than adoption, which was complicated and could take a long time. In March 2010, Martin publicly came out as gay via a message on his website, stating: \"I am proud to say that I am a fortunate homosexual man. I am very blessed to be who I am.\"",
"I am very blessed to be who I am.\" Years later, he revealed that although his music was \"heard all over the world\" and he \"could high five God\" in 1999, he \"wasn't living to the fullest\" and was sad and depressed. He kept asking himself, \"Am I gay? Am I bisexual? Am I confused? What am I? \", explaining: \"Sexuality is one complicated thing. It's not black and white. It's filled with colors.",
"It's not black and white. It's filled with colors. It's filled with colors. When I was dating women, I was in love with women. It felt right, it felt beautiful.\" In an interview with Vanity Fair, he declared: \"There was love, passion. I do not regret anything, any of the relationships I lived, they taught me a lot, both men and women.\" Martin also told Fama!",
"Martin also told Fama! Martin also told Fama! : \"I know that I like both men and women, I'm against sexual labels, we are simply human beings with emotional and sexual needs. I like to enjoy sex in total freedom, so I'm open to having sex with a woman if I feel desire.\" Despite this, he expressed that he wouldn't be interested in \"an ongoing relationship with a woman\", stating: \"Men are my thing\".",
"Despite this, he expressed that he wouldn't be interested in \"an ongoing relationship with a woman\", stating: \"Men are my thing\". In 2000, American broadcast journalist Barbara Walters asked Martin about his sexuality on national television: \"You could stop these rumors. You could say, 'Yes I am gay or no I'm not.'\"",
"You could say, 'Yes I am gay or no I'm not.'\" In 2021, Martin, who answered with \"I just don't feel like it\" at the time, revealed that her question made him \"felt violated\", since he \"was just not ready to come out\" and was \"very afraid\"; he said that it resulted \"a little PTSD\" that \"still haunts him\".",
"In 2021, Martin, who answered with \"I just don't feel like it\" at the time, revealed that her question made him \"felt violated\", since he \"was just not ready to come out\" and was \"very afraid\"; he said that it resulted \"a little PTSD\" that \"still haunts him\". Martin dated Puerto Rican economist Carlos González Abella from 2010 to 2014, as his first relationship with a man after his coming out as gay.",
"Martin dated Puerto Rican economist Carlos González Abella from 2010 to 2014, as his first relationship with a man after his coming out as gay. Marriage Syrian-Swedish painter Jwan Yosef shared a photo of himself and Martin on Instagram on March 30, 2016, with the caption: \"Obviously we're starting a band.\" Soon it was rumored that Yosef is Martin's new boyfriend. Martin confirmed their relationship on April 18, 2016, and they made their red carpet debut as a couple at the amfAR Inspiration Gala.",
"Martin confirmed their relationship on April 18, 2016, and they made their red carpet debut as a couple at the amfAR Inspiration Gala. Martin later revealed that he met Yosef on Instagram and they \"were talking for like six months without [him] hearing his voice\". Subsequently, Martin went to London, where Yosef were living, and they met each other. On November 15, 2016, during an interview on The Ellen Show, he announced that he has proposed to Yosef and they are engaged.",
"On November 15, 2016, during an interview on The Ellen Show, he announced that he has proposed to Yosef and they are engaged. In January 2018, Martin confirmed that he has secretly married Yosef: \"I'm a husband, but we're doing a heavy party in a couple of months, I'll let you know.\" On December 31, 2018, they announced that they have welcomed their first daughter together, named Lucia Martin-Yosef.",
"On December 31, 2018, they announced that they have welcomed their first daughter together, named Lucia Martin-Yosef. Martin later explained that Lucia was born on December 24, coinciding with his 47th birthday. In September 2019, while accepting an award at the 23rd annual Human Rights Campaign (HRC) National Dinner, he announced that they are expecting their fourth child.",
"In September 2019, while accepting an award at the 23rd annual Human Rights Campaign (HRC) National Dinner, he announced that they are expecting their fourth child. On October 29, 2019, he shared a photo of himself, Yosef, and their new-born son, named Renn Martin-Yosef, with the caption: \"Our son Renn Martin-Yosef has been born.\"",
"On October 29, 2019, he shared a photo of himself, Yosef, and their new-born son, named Renn Martin-Yosef, with the caption: \"Our son Renn Martin-Yosef has been born.\" Beliefs and religion During an interview with People in 2002, Martin expressed that he believes in \"love\", \"the power of healing\", and \"God\", thanks to his parents. The name he chose for his son Matteo means \"gift from God\".",
"The name he chose for his son Matteo means \"gift from God\". According to his statements in a 2021 interview, he still believes in God. He was raised Catholic but he said is not \"the person who would ever look down upon one religion\".",
"He was raised Catholic but he said is not \"the person who would ever look down upon one religion\". He expressed that he also admires and likes Buddhist philosophy, but does not subscribe to the religion, since if he does, he cannot \"be of anything else\"; he does not want to be limited in certain aspects and follow a religion's specific rules.",
"He expressed that he also admires and likes Buddhist philosophy, but does not subscribe to the religion, since if he does, he cannot \"be of anything else\"; he does not want to be limited in certain aspects and follow a religion's specific rules. He tries to remain \"open to everything\" and makes \"a concerted effort to always find new teachings and new paths\" everywhere he goes and in every situation he finds himself in.",
"He tries to remain \"open to everything\" and makes \"a concerted effort to always find new teachings and new paths\" everywhere he goes and in every situation he finds himself in. Martin believes that everyone can \"decide what makes them happy\" and although \"everyone needs to accept the life they were given\", it does not mean they \"should not live it as fully as possible\". Health and sports Martin began practicing yoga after a trip to Thailand in 1997.",
"Health and sports Martin began practicing yoga after a trip to Thailand in 1997. He also began practicing meditation following a trip to India. In 2021, he explained that he gets up every morning at 5:30, before his family and puts himself in a lotus position and oxygenates his body. He also expressed that has a gym in his house, saying: \"If I have space to see myself in the mirror and put on my products, then I also have to have space for my body.\"",
"He also expressed that has a gym in his house, saying: \"If I have space to see myself in the mirror and put on my products, then I also have to have space for my body.\" During an appearance on The Dr. Oz Show in 2017, Martin revealed that he \"was diagnosed with high cholesterol\" at age 18.",
"During an appearance on The Dr. Oz Show in 2017, Martin revealed that he \"was diagnosed with high cholesterol\" at age 18. Although he did not pay attention to the high cholesterol at the time, it made him decide to become a vegetarian since 2013 to reduce cholesterol, despite loving meat as \"a Latin man\". In 2020, he opened up that he suffered from anxiety for the first time in his life, following the COVID-19 lockdowns, stating that making music became his \"medicine\".",
"In 2020, he opened up that he suffered from anxiety for the first time in his life, following the COVID-19 lockdowns, stating that making music became his \"medicine\". Real estate In March 2001, Martin purchased a 7,082-square-feet house in Miami Beach for $6.4 million; he sold the unit for $10.6 million in 2005. In September 2004, he paid $11.9 million for a 11,000-square-feet Mediterranean-style villa in Los Angeles, which he sold in 2006 for $15 million.",
"In September 2004, he paid $11.9 million for a 11,000-square-feet Mediterranean-style villa in Los Angeles, which he sold in 2006 for $15 million. In May 2005, he purchased a 9,491-square-feet house in Miami Beach for $10 million; he sold the villa for $10.6 million in 2012. In 2007, he paid $16.2 million for a mansion in Golden Beach. He sold the property in 2012 for $12.8 million, incurring a loss.",
"He sold the property in 2012 for $12.8 million, incurring a loss. In the same year, he bought a 3,147-square-feet condominium in New York City for $5.9 million; he sold the condo for $7.1 million in 2017. In 2014, he rented a 900-square-metre mansion in Sydney, which became famous as \"the Bronte Wave House\" and was sold for $16 million in May 2015, marking one of the most expensive properties sold in the city that year.",
"In 2014, he rented a 900-square-metre mansion in Sydney, which became famous as \"the Bronte Wave House\" and was sold for $16 million in May 2015, marking one of the most expensive properties sold in the city that year. In December 2016, he purchased a 11,300-square-feet mansion in Beverly Hills. The estate, which is Martin's current house, has seven bedrooms and eight bathrooms with outdoor seating areas scattered throughout a 33,000-square-feet.",
"The estate, which is Martin's current house, has seven bedrooms and eight bathrooms with outdoor seating areas scattered throughout a 33,000-square-feet. It is a \"private getaway in the middle of the city\", located up the street from the Beverly Hills Hotel. Martin also owns a property in Puerto Rico and a private 19.7-acre island in Brazil. He purchased the latter for $8 million in 2008.",
"He purchased the latter for $8 million in 2008. Legacy and influence Martin has been regarded as the \"King of Latin Pop\" by various publications, such as the Grammy Awards, Billboard, Rolling Stone, Time, People, Vogue, The Independent, Entertainment Weekly, Entertainment Tonight Canada, NBC News, and ABC News.",
"Legacy and influence Martin has been regarded as the \"King of Latin Pop\" by various publications, such as the Grammy Awards, Billboard, Rolling Stone, Time, People, Vogue, The Independent, Entertainment Weekly, Entertainment Tonight Canada, NBC News, and ABC News. Additionally, he has been referred to as the \"King of Latin Music\", the \"Latin Pop God\", the \"Latin King of Pop\", the \"Latin American King of Pop\", the \"Latin King\", the \"Crossover Latin King\", the \"Puerto Rican Pop King\", the \"Salsa-Pop King\", and the \"King of World Cup\".",
"Additionally, he has been referred to as the \"King of Latin Music\", the \"Latin Pop God\", the \"Latin King of Pop\", the \"Latin American King of Pop\", the \"Latin King\", the \"Crossover Latin King\", the \"Puerto Rican Pop King\", the \"Salsa-Pop King\", and the \"King of World Cup\". Martin is known as one of the most influential artists in the world.",
"Martin is known as one of the most influential artists in the world. Billboard ranked him as one of the 30 Most Influential Latin Artists of All Time, while NBC News introduced him as an \"influential Latin celebrity\". In 2014, he won the award for the most influential international artist at the 18th China Music Awards.",
"In 2014, he won the award for the most influential international artist at the 18th China Music Awards. He was ranked among \"25 musicians who broke barriers\" by Stacker in 2019, while in 2020, Spin ranked him at number 27 on the list of \"most influential artists of the past 35 years\", as the only Latin artist on their list. In 2022, Show News named him \"the most influential global artist in history\".",
"In 2022, Show News named him \"the most influential global artist in history\". Martin's song \"María (Pablo Flores Remix)\", which was ranked among the \"Greatest Latin Pop Song of All Time\" by Rolling Stone, and \"11 remixes of classic Latin hits\" by Billboard, \"launched the Latin and dance music crossover of the '90s\", according to the latter.",
"Martin's song \"María (Pablo Flores Remix)\", which was ranked among the \"Greatest Latin Pop Song of All Time\" by Rolling Stone, and \"11 remixes of classic Latin hits\" by Billboard, \"launched the Latin and dance music crossover of the '90s\", according to the latter. Olivier Pérou from Le Point commented that \"some have even learned, thanks to him, to count to three in Spanish\" following the popularity of the song.",
"Olivier Pérou from Le Point commented that \"some have even learned, thanks to him, to count to three in Spanish\" following the popularity of the song. \"La Copa de la Vida\", which has been hailed as the Best World Cup Anthem of All-Time by multiple sources, became a \"musical template\" for World Cup anthems, and Martin's Latin and dance crossover style has been much copied in the anthems, as well as soccer chant \"Ole! Ole! Ole!\"",
"Ole! Ole!\" Ole!\" in the lyrics, according to The Hollywood Reporter. As believed by Esquire, the song \"inaugurated this musical subgenre\" of Latin. Joy Bhattacharjya from The Economic Times wrote about \"La Copa de la Vida\" that it was the first World Cup anthem to have a video just \"as ubiquitous as the song\", going on to write: \"Since then, official songs have an important part to play in every World Cup.\"",
"Joy Bhattacharjya from The Economic Times wrote about \"La Copa de la Vida\" that it was the first World Cup anthem to have a video just \"as ubiquitous as the song\", going on to write: \"Since then, official songs have an important part to play in every World Cup.\" In his review for Pitchfork, Corban Goble wrote that if World Cup anthems someday would be \"given their own textbook\", \"La Copa de la Vida\" would be \"the standard-bearer for the whole genre\".",
"In his review for Pitchfork, Corban Goble wrote that if World Cup anthems someday would be \"given their own textbook\", \"La Copa de la Vida\" would be \"the standard-bearer for the whole genre\". Martin is known as the pioneer in getting Latin pop music genre to mainstream recognition.",
"Martin is known as the pioneer in getting Latin pop music genre to mainstream recognition. Following his performance of \"The Cup of Life\" at the Grammys, and the success of \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" and Ricky Martin (1999), he opened the gates for many Latin artists such as Jennifer Lopez, Shakira, Christina Aguilera, Marc Anthony, Santana, and Enrique Iglesias who released their crossover albums and followed him onto the top of the charts.",
"Following his performance of \"The Cup of Life\" at the Grammys, and the success of \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" and Ricky Martin (1999), he opened the gates for many Latin artists such as Jennifer Lopez, Shakira, Christina Aguilera, Marc Anthony, Santana, and Enrique Iglesias who released their crossover albums and followed him onto the top of the charts. His performance of \"The Cup of Life\" at the Grammys not only changed the course of his career, but also altered how people regard Latin music in America.",
"His performance of \"The Cup of Life\" at the Grammys not only changed the course of his career, but also altered how people regard Latin music in America. It has been known as a game-changer for Latin music worldwide, that effectively ushered in the \"Latin explosion\". Then-United Talent Agency head Rob Prinz described the rendition as \"the single biggest game changing moment for any artist in the history of the Grammys\".",
"Then-United Talent Agency head Rob Prinz described the rendition as \"the single biggest game changing moment for any artist in the history of the Grammys\". According to Billboard, it has been cited as the beginning of the \"Latin Pop invasion\", which powerfully affected the US mainstream. Jesús Triviño Alarcón from Tidal Magazine stated, \"that single performance opened up the mainstream market for the Latinx legends\", mentioning the names of Anthony, Shakira, and Lopez.",
"Jesús Triviño Alarcón from Tidal Magazine stated, \"that single performance opened up the mainstream market for the Latinx legends\", mentioning the names of Anthony, Shakira, and Lopez. InStyle staff wrote about it: \"With his leather pants, big smile and energetic performance of 'The Cup of Life', Ricky Martin almost personally kicked off the so-called Latin Explosion of the late '90s.\"",
"InStyle staff wrote about it: \"With his leather pants, big smile and energetic performance of 'The Cup of Life', Ricky Martin almost personally kicked off the so-called Latin Explosion of the late '90s.\" Mariana Best of San Antonio Express-News commented that the performance \"is recognized for bringing Latin pop to the forefront of the U.S. music scene\".",
"Mariana Best of San Antonio Express-News commented that the performance \"is recognized for bringing Latin pop to the forefront of the U.S. music scene\". In 2018, Diego Urdaneta from Vice credited the song as \"one of those that laid the first stones so that J Balvin and Bad Bunnys of today can be at the top of the pyramid\", labeling it \"a milestone for Latin music\".",
"In 2018, Diego Urdaneta from Vice credited the song as \"one of those that laid the first stones so that J Balvin and Bad Bunnys of today can be at the top of the pyramid\", labeling it \"a milestone for Latin music\". According to Entertainment Tonight, \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" paved the way for a large number of other Latin artists, and is \"credited as the song that helped other Latin artists break through to English-speaking markets\".",
"According to Entertainment Tonight, \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" paved the way for a large number of other Latin artists, and is \"credited as the song that helped other Latin artists break through to English-speaking markets\". As believed by Spin, the song \"lit the fuse for the Latin pop explosion of the '90s\".",
"As believed by Spin, the song \"lit the fuse for the Latin pop explosion of the '90s\". Lucas Villa from Spin wrote about it: \"When the world went loca for Ricky, he led the way for other Latin music superstars like Spain's Enrique Iglesias, Colombia's Shakira and Nuyoricans like Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony to make their marks beyond the Spanish-speaking crowds.\" He also described Martin as \"a trailblazer in globalizing Latinx culture\" in his Grammy.com article.",
"He also described Martin as \"a trailblazer in globalizing Latinx culture\" in his Grammy.com article. Also from Grammy.com, Ernesto Lechner described \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" as \"the manifesto for all the fun-loving, tropically tinged Latin hit singles that followed\", stating that Martin led \"the Latin music explosion that took over the U.S. at the tail end of the '90s\". According to The Independent, the single is \"widely regarded as the song that began the first Latin pop explosion\".",
"According to The Independent, the single is \"widely regarded as the song that began the first Latin pop explosion\". Peoples Jason Sheeler credited it as the song that \"led the way for the late-'90s so-called 'Latin explosion' that dominated pop music into the new century: Shakira, Enrique Iglesias, Marc Anthony, and Jennifer Lopez\".",
"Peoples Jason Sheeler credited it as the song that \"led the way for the late-'90s so-called 'Latin explosion' that dominated pop music into the new century: Shakira, Enrique Iglesias, Marc Anthony, and Jennifer Lopez\". Angie Romero from Billboard wrote: \"If you look up 'crossover' in the dictionary, there should be a photo of Ricky shaking his bon bon and/or 'Livin' la Vida Loca'.\"",
"Angie Romero from Billboard wrote: \"If you look up 'crossover' in the dictionary, there should be a photo of Ricky shaking his bon bon and/or 'Livin' la Vida Loca'.\" Leila Cobo named \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" one of the genre's biggest singles of the past 50 years in his 2021 book Decoding \"Despacito\": An Oral History of Latin Music.",
"Leila Cobo named \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" one of the genre's biggest singles of the past 50 years in his 2021 book Decoding \"Despacito\": An Oral History of Latin Music. She also wrote about his impact in Shakira's \"Whenever, Wherever\" chapter: \"Ricky Martin’s phenomenal success opened the door for a string of Latin artists who waved the flags of their heritage, but who sang in English.\"",
"She also wrote about his impact in Shakira's \"Whenever, Wherever\" chapter: \"Ricky Martin’s phenomenal success opened the door for a string of Latin artists who waved the flags of their heritage, but who sang in English.\" Additionally, she compared Martin's song with Luis Fonsi's \"Despacito\" (2017) in one of her Billboard articles: \"'Livin', like 'Despacito', became not just a global hit but a cultural phenomena that transcended all barriers of language and nationality.\"",
"Additionally, she compared Martin's song with Luis Fonsi's \"Despacito\" (2017) in one of her Billboard articles: \"'Livin', like 'Despacito', became not just a global hit but a cultural phenomena that transcended all barriers of language and nationality.\" In another article, she described it as the song that \"ignited the late-'90s Latin explosion\".",
"In another article, she described it as the song that \"ignited the late-'90s Latin explosion\". Also from Billboard, Gary Trust wrote: \"The song helmed a Latin pop boom in the U.S., with Jenner Lopez, Marc Anthony and others crossing over, as well.\" Writing for LiveAbout.com, Bill Lamb credited the song as \"the record which kicked off a wave of major Latin performers hitting the pop mainstream\".",
"Writing for LiveAbout.com, Bill Lamb credited the song as \"the record which kicked off a wave of major Latin performers hitting the pop mainstream\". Jim Farber from Daily News noted that Ricky Martin \"provides a textbook example of how to mix Latin beats with pop tunes and rock intonations\". St. Louis Post-Dispatch critic Kevin C. Johnson described Martin as Latin music's \"pretty-faced poster boy\" who is \"taking the music to places Jon Secada, Selena and Santana never could\".",
"St. Louis Post-Dispatch critic Kevin C. Johnson described Martin as Latin music's \"pretty-faced poster boy\" who is \"taking the music to places Jon Secada, Selena and Santana never could\". He also mentioned that even \"Gloria Estefan at her peak, failed to muster up the kind of hype and hoopla surrounding Martin\".",
"He also mentioned that even \"Gloria Estefan at her peak, failed to muster up the kind of hype and hoopla surrounding Martin\". Celia San Miguel of Tidal Magazine stated that Martin \"highlighted the public's thirst for a different kind of pop\" in 1999, noting the album's \"fusion-heavy\" and \"hip-shaking rhythms associated with Latin music\".",
"Celia San Miguel of Tidal Magazine stated that Martin \"highlighted the public's thirst for a different kind of pop\" in 1999, noting the album's \"fusion-heavy\" and \"hip-shaking rhythms associated with Latin music\". She mentioned that the album \"spawned 1999's Latin music boom\", emphasizing the fact that Martin created the \"spark\" of the \"Latin Pop Explosion\", which was followed by 1999 albums, On the 6 by Lopez, Enrique by Iglesias, and Anthony's eponymous album.",
"She mentioned that the album \"spawned 1999's Latin music boom\", emphasizing the fact that Martin created the \"spark\" of the \"Latin Pop Explosion\", which was followed by 1999 albums, On the 6 by Lopez, Enrique by Iglesias, and Anthony's eponymous album. She continued crediting \"Martin and the paths he created\" responsible for the Latin music and Spanish and Spanglish lyrics being \"a commonplace phenomenon on English-language radio\" in 2019.",
"She continued crediting \"Martin and the paths he created\" responsible for the Latin music and Spanish and Spanglish lyrics being \"a commonplace phenomenon on English-language radio\" in 2019. In her review for Grammy.com, Ana Monroy Yglesias said Martin led a \"major music moment in 1999\" with Ricky Martin, and along with him, \"the first major boom of Spanish-language artists\", such as Shakira and Lopez, came into the \"U.S. pop landscape\".",
"In her review for Grammy.com, Ana Monroy Yglesias said Martin led a \"major music moment in 1999\" with Ricky Martin, and along with him, \"the first major boom of Spanish-language artists\", such as Shakira and Lopez, came into the \"U.S. pop landscape\". The late '90s Latin explosion also resulted in the launch of the Latin Recording Academy.",
"The late '90s Latin explosion also resulted in the launch of the Latin Recording Academy. Gabriel Abaroa Jr., the president and chief executive officer of the Latin Recording Academy, expressed that the plan of its launch was \"immediately after the Ricky Martin success\". Cuban American musician and producer Emilio Estefan added: \"After the success with Ricky Martin, everybody opened their eyes and realized how important it was to bring diversity and multiethnic elements into [mainstream American] music.\"",
"Cuban American musician and producer Emilio Estefan added: \"After the success with Ricky Martin, everybody opened their eyes and realized how important it was to bring diversity and multiethnic elements into [mainstream American] music.\" Many artists have cited Martin as an influence or declared themselves as his fan, including Abraham Mateo, Bad Bunny, Camila Cabello, Camilo, Carla Morrison, Christian Chávez, CNCO, Danna Paola, Enrique Iglesias, J Balvin, J-Hope, Jimin, Karol G, India Martínez, Luis Fonsi, Maite Perroni, Maluma, Neha Mahajan, Pedro Capó, Prince Royce, Rauw Alejandro, Rosalía, Sebastián Ligarde, Sebastián Yatra, Shakira, Tini, Vadhir Derbez, William Hung, Wisin, and Ximena Sariñana.",
"Many artists have cited Martin as an influence or declared themselves as his fan, including Abraham Mateo, Bad Bunny, Camila Cabello, Camilo, Carla Morrison, Christian Chávez, CNCO, Danna Paola, Enrique Iglesias, J Balvin, J-Hope, Jimin, Karol G, India Martínez, Luis Fonsi, Maite Perroni, Maluma, Neha Mahajan, Pedro Capó, Prince Royce, Rauw Alejandro, Rosalía, Sebastián Ligarde, Sebastián Yatra, Shakira, Tini, Vadhir Derbez, William Hung, Wisin, and Ximena Sariñana. Both Maluma and J Balvin have described Martin as a \"teacher\" and credited him as an artist who \"opened the doors\" for them, while Maluma has also expressed: \"Ricky Martin is one of the artists I wanted to be growing up.",
"Both Maluma and J Balvin have described Martin as a \"teacher\" and credited him as an artist who \"opened the doors\" for them, while Maluma has also expressed: \"Ricky Martin is one of the artists I wanted to be growing up. He's my idol in the industry\".Citations regarding J Balvin's statements about Martin: Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny talked about Martin's legacy during an episode of Behind the Music: \"There's no doubt that he opened the door for an entire generation of Latin artists.",
"He's my idol in the industry\".Citations regarding J Balvin's statements about Martin: Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny talked about Martin's legacy during an episode of Behind the Music: \"There's no doubt that he opened the door for an entire generation of Latin artists. I am doing great things today in the music industry thanks to those doors that he opened.\"",
"I am doing great things today in the music industry thanks to those doors that he opened.\" He also mentioned that he is inspired by Martin's coming out as gay: \"You don't have to be gay to be inspired by that action of honesty and freedom, of being yourself against the world despite everything you deserve. I look at it like a very inspiring moment for anybody. At least for me, it's very inspirational.\"",
"At least for me, it's very inspirational.\" Brazilian singer-songwriter Anitta explained to The Guardian that \"some Latin stars such as Maluma and Bad Bunny sing in their native language\" and do not need to sing in English to get noticed, because they already had representatives like Shakira, Martin, and Jennifer Lopez, but since her country \"hasn't had a major international pop star before\", she uses \"whatever language will get the market's attention\".",
"Brazilian singer-songwriter Anitta explained to The Guardian that \"some Latin stars such as Maluma and Bad Bunny sing in their native language\" and do not need to sing in English to get noticed, because they already had representatives like Shakira, Martin, and Jennifer Lopez, but since her country \"hasn't had a major international pop star before\", she uses \"whatever language will get the market's attention\". Portrayal in television In July 2019, SOMOS Productions, Endemol Shine Boomdog, and Piñolywood Studios announced the production of a biographical web television series about Menudo, titled Subete a Mi Moto.",
"Portrayal in television In July 2019, SOMOS Productions, Endemol Shine Boomdog, and Piñolywood Studios announced the production of a biographical web television series about Menudo, titled Subete a Mi Moto. Consisting of 15 episodes of 60 minutes each, the series premiered on Amazon Prime Video on October 9, 2020 in Mexico, Latin America, and Spain. It was filmed in Mexico and Puerto Rico, and Martin was portrayed by actors Felipe Albors and Ethan Schwartz.",
"It was filmed in Mexico and Puerto Rico, and Martin was portrayed by actors Felipe Albors and Ethan Schwartz. The series premiered in the United States on February 14, 2021 on Estrella TV. On the review aggregation website Tomatazos, the first season has a positive score of 75%. The website's critical consensus summary states, \"A good trip to the past that recalls a band that defined the youth of a certain public, but that doesn't ignore the darkest moments in the lives of its members.\"",
"The website's critical consensus summary states, \"A good trip to the past that recalls a band that defined the youth of a certain public, but that doesn't ignore the darkest moments in the lives of its members.\" Other ventures Books On August 19, 2010, Martin announced that he had been working on his memoir, mentioning its title as Me and publish date as November 2, 2010. He expressed that writing the book was \"one of the reasons\" he decided to come out earlier that year.",
"He expressed that writing the book was \"one of the reasons\" he decided to come out earlier that year. The book also had a Spanish edition title Yo (), which was published simultaneously by Celebra. He stated that writing his memoir allowed him \"to explore the different paths and experiences\" that have led him to be who he is, noting that it \"was not easy but allowed for an incredible spiritual journey\". Me spent several weeks at number one on the New York Times Best Seller list.",
"Me spent several weeks at number one on the New York Times Best Seller list. In 2019, ¡Hola! staff ranked the book among \"12 Books by Celebrities to Inspire and Motivate You\", while Book Riot placed it on an unranked list of the \"Best Celebrity Books You Should Read This Year\" in 2020. Martin's first children's book Santiago the Dreamer in Land Among the Stars was published by Celebra and illustrated by Patricia Castelao in November 2013 for ages between five to nine.",
"Martin's first children's book Santiago the Dreamer in Land Among the Stars was published by Celebra and illustrated by Patricia Castelao in November 2013 for ages between five to nine. Its Spanish-language edition, Santiago El Soñador en Entre Las Estrellas, was published simultaneously. Martin expressed that the book was inspired by his \"personal life, with fantasy added to it\", as well as \"a lot of cartoons\".",
"Martin expressed that the book was inspired by his \"personal life, with fantasy added to it\", as well as \"a lot of cartoons\". Products and endorsements Martin endorsed the 2012 Viva Glam campaign with Trinidadian rapper Nicki Minaj, which raised $270 million for the Mac AIDS Fund. In October 2020, Martin announced that he would launch his company, Martin Music Lab in partnership with music engineers Jaycen Joshua and Michael Seaberg.",
"In October 2020, Martin announced that he would launch his company, Martin Music Lab in partnership with music engineers Jaycen Joshua and Michael Seaberg. The company is centered around a new audio technique called \"Orbital Audio\", that \"creates a new type of immersive, headphone listening experience\". Martin used the technique on his EP Pausa, while several artists including Bad Bunny, Residente, Myke Towers, and A$AP Rocky are going to work with the company.",
"Martin used the technique on his EP Pausa, while several artists including Bad Bunny, Residente, Myke Towers, and A$AP Rocky are going to work with the company. The latter plans to release his whole upcoming studio album, using \"Orbital Audio\". Martin is going to expand the technique \"beyond the music industry and tap into the movies, sports and, most notably, the wellness and meditation space\". In 2021, Martin partnered with skin care company Kumiko.",
"In 2021, Martin partnered with skin care company Kumiko. The skincare line, created by Chilean cosmetologist Catalina Aguirre, is the first to combine \"mesotherapy, matcha, and cutting-edge European technology into unique multi-action formulas that penetrate the dermis with powerful anti-aging properties and lifting benefits\". Activism Philanthropy While on a trip to India in 2002, Martin witnessed three minor girls who were about to be sold into prostitution and rescued them.",
"Activism Philanthropy While on a trip to India in 2002, Martin witnessed three minor girls who were about to be sold into prostitution and rescued them. The following year, he became a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and then met with activists and decided to fight against human trafficking, which is the second-most lucrative crime in the world.",
"The following year, he became a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and then met with activists and decided to fight against human trafficking, which is the second-most lucrative crime in the world. In 2004, Martin launched the Ricky Martin Foundation, a non-profit, non-governmental organization that focuses on denouncing human trafficking and educating about the crime's \"existence through research and community initiatives, anchored in the defense of children and youth rights\". In the same year, he appealed to the United Nations for international help to fight against sex tourism.",
"In the same year, he appealed to the United Nations for international help to fight against sex tourism. In January 2005, following the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, Martin visited Thailand to assess the needs of the minor survivors who were \"extremely vulnerable to traffickers\". Later that year, the Ricky Martin Foundation signed an alliance in partnership with Habitat for Humanity to construct 224 homes for the tsunami-affected families. The project was completed in December 2006.",
"The project was completed in December 2006. The project was completed in December 2006. In March 2006, the foundation collaborated with the International Organization for Migration in the Llama y Vive () campaign, which focuses on facilitating \"the prevention of human trafficking and the protection of young people, victims of child trafficking and prosecution of traffickers\". In January 2010, along with many celebrities, Martin operated the charity telethon Hope for Haiti Now to raise donations for the 2010 Haiti earthquake.",
"In January 2010, along with many celebrities, Martin operated the charity telethon Hope for Haiti Now to raise donations for the 2010 Haiti earthquake. Later that year, the Ricky Martin Foundation created the first program of community social action against child trafficking in Martin's native Puerto Rico, titled \"Se Trata\" (). In 2012, the foundation participated in the making of the Child Protection Model Law on the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children.",
"In 2012, the foundation participated in the making of the Child Protection Model Law on the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children. In 2016, Martin visited Syrian refugees in Lebanon and played with the children and talked to them in an informal refugee camp.",
"In 2016, Martin visited Syrian refugees in Lebanon and played with the children and talked to them in an informal refugee camp. Following the Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico in 2017, the Ricky Martin Foundation helped people and handed over homes that were rebuilt after the losses; Martin launched a viral campaign of selling a black T-shirt with the Puerto Rican flag stamped on it in order to raise the funds.",
"Following the Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico in 2017, the Ricky Martin Foundation helped people and handed over homes that were rebuilt after the losses; Martin launched a viral campaign of selling a black T-shirt with the Puerto Rican flag stamped on it in order to raise the funds. The T-shirts were designed by Martin's twin boys Matteo and Valentino, while many celebrities including Will Smith, Bad Bunny, Marc Anthony, Luis Fonsi, and Maluma supported the campaign.",
"The T-shirts were designed by Martin's twin boys Matteo and Valentino, while many celebrities including Will Smith, Bad Bunny, Marc Anthony, Luis Fonsi, and Maluma supported the campaign. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Martin created a campaign to help health care workers through the non-profit organization Project Hope. He expressed: \"As you know, health care professionals are extremely vulnerable and professionals around the world don’t have personal protection equipment they need to prevent them getting infected.\"",
"He expressed: \"As you know, health care professionals are extremely vulnerable and professionals around the world don’t have personal protection equipment they need to prevent them getting infected.\" In February 2021, Martin collaborated with Antonia Novello to launch mass vaccination events in Puerto Rico.",
"In February 2021, Martin collaborated with Antonia Novello to launch mass vaccination events in Puerto Rico. Following the murder of George Floyd and Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, Martin honored an effort called \"Black Out Tuesday\" and launched the hashtag #knowthestruggle, giving his social media to the voices of the community that are \"looking for justice\", to learn more about what is happening.",
"Following the murder of George Floyd and Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, Martin honored an effort called \"Black Out Tuesday\" and launched the hashtag #knowthestruggle, giving his social media to the voices of the community that are \"looking for justice\", to learn more about what is happening. For his humanitarian efforts and fighting against human trafficking, Martin has been honored with numerous accolades, including the Peace Summit Award by the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates, the TIP Report Hero Award by the United States Department of State, the Spirit of Hope Award by Billboard Latin Music Awards, the Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year Award, the Award of Inspiration by amfAR Gala, the Leader of Change Award by the Foundation for Social Change, the Humanitarian Award by the Global Gift Foundation, the Humanitarian Award by the Hispanic Federation, the Corazón Latino Award by the iHeartRadio Fiesta Latina, the International Humanitarian Award by the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the Agent of Change Award by the International Peace Honors, the PODER Social Leadership Awards, and the Agent of Change Award by the Premios Juventud.",
"For his humanitarian efforts and fighting against human trafficking, Martin has been honored with numerous accolades, including the Peace Summit Award by the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates, the TIP Report Hero Award by the United States Department of State, the Spirit of Hope Award by Billboard Latin Music Awards, the Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year Award, the Award of Inspiration by amfAR Gala, the Leader of Change Award by the Foundation for Social Change, the Humanitarian Award by the Global Gift Foundation, the Humanitarian Award by the Hispanic Federation, the Corazón Latino Award by the iHeartRadio Fiesta Latina, the International Humanitarian Award by the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the Agent of Change Award by the International Peace Honors, the PODER Social Leadership Awards, and the Agent of Change Award by the Premios Juventud. Politics On January 20, 2001, during the first inauguration of George W. Bush, Martin performed \"The Cup of Life\" and danced with him.",
"Politics On January 20, 2001, during the first inauguration of George W. Bush, Martin performed \"The Cup of Life\" and danced with him. Martin's view of Bush changed over the Iraq War, as expressed in his declaration to BBC News that he will \"always condemn war and those who promulgate it\". He also stuck up his middle finger while singing the president's name in his 2003 song \"Asignatura Pendiente\" at a concert.",
"He also stuck up his middle finger while singing the president's name in his 2003 song \"Asignatura Pendiente\" at a concert. At the 2010 Billboard Latin Music Awards, Martin expressed his disagreement with the Arizona SB 1070 bill, a proposed law that would have required police officers to request documents from individuals whom they suspected to be illegal immigrants.",
"At the 2010 Billboard Latin Music Awards, Martin expressed his disagreement with the Arizona SB 1070 bill, a proposed law that would have required police officers to request documents from individuals whom they suspected to be illegal immigrants. Martin campaigned for the 44th president of the United States Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, and thanked him for an \"outstanding presidency\" in 2016, while calling him \"an amazing leader\".",
"Martin campaigned for the 44th president of the United States Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, and thanked him for an \"outstanding presidency\" in 2016, while calling him \"an amazing leader\". Also in 2016, he was an active ally to the Democratic Party presidential candidate Hillary Clinton campaign, while condemning Donald Trump's hateful comments about immigrants. He also performed his hits during the \"Hillary Clinton: She's With Us\" concert at the Greek Theatre on June 6, 2016.",
"He also performed his hits during the \"Hillary Clinton: She's With Us\" concert at the Greek Theatre on June 6, 2016. Telegramgate, also known as Chatgate, was a political scandal involving Ricardo Rosselló, then Governor of Puerto Rico, which began on July 8, 2019, with the leak of hundreds of pages of a group chat on the messaging application Telegram between Rosselló and members of his cabinet. The messages were considered vulgar, misogynistic, and homophobic toward several individuals and groups, including Martin.",
"The messages were considered vulgar, misogynistic, and homophobic toward several individuals and groups, including Martin. Therefore, Martin, Bad Bunny, Residente and several other artists, and more than half a million Puerto Ricans led the call to take to the streets of Puerto Rico, demanding Rosselló's resignation. In September 2020, Martin, Luis Fonsi, and actress Eva Longoria attended a campaign event in Kissimmee, Florida to support the Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden for the 2020 United States presidential election.",
"In September 2020, Martin, Luis Fonsi, and actress Eva Longoria attended a campaign event in Kissimmee, Florida to support the Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden for the 2020 United States presidential election. During an interview with Variety, Martin stated: \"I've been supporting Biden forever, I think he is the only option we have and he is great and he has been in politics all his life. This is the moment. We all need to get together and be loud about the course of this nation.\"",
"We all need to get together and be loud about the course of this nation.\" Following the election of Biden as 45th president of the United States, Martin said \"Bye-bye\" to Trump on social media, and shared a photo of himself along with Biden on Instagram. In May 2021, Martin demonstrated his support for the Ni una menos movement, condemning femicides and violence against women in Puerto Rico, while calling authorities to protect women.",
"In May 2021, Martin demonstrated his support for the Ni una menos movement, condemning femicides and violence against women in Puerto Rico, while calling authorities to protect women. He further expressed that no woman should fear for her safety and urged authorities to take steps in order to prevent these acts. In the same month, he supported the 2021 Colombian protests.",
"In the same month, he supported the 2021 Colombian protests. Later that year, the singer raised his voice in support of the 2021 Cuban protests against the Castro regime for the restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic crisis, stating: \"This is very important. Our brothers and sisters in Cuba need us to inform the world what they are experiencing today. Let's fill the networks before they remove the internet in the country. Humanitarian aid for Cuba NOW.\"",
"Humanitarian aid for Cuba NOW.\" Humanitarian aid for Cuba NOW.\" LGBT advocacy As a gay man, Martin actively supports LGBT rights worldwide since his coming out in 2010. Even before coming out, he was noted by the mainstream media for being popular among gay men and having a large gay fan base. He also went on the cover of the American LGBT-interest magazine The Advocate in July 1999.",
"He also went on the cover of the American LGBT-interest magazine The Advocate in July 1999. Despite this, he admitted that he felt homosexuality was evil since he was raised as a Catholic and targeted his anger toward others, especially gay men: \"I was very angry, very rebellious. I used to look at gay men and think, 'I'm not like that, I don't want to be like that, that's not me.' I was ashamed.\"",
"I was ashamed.\" I was ashamed.\" He added that he \"had internalized homophobia\" back then. He is currently considered to be a gay icon, with PinkNews labeling him \"a strong advocate of LGBT rights\" who \"expressed support for equal marriage\" since coming out. As the first mainstream Latin music artist to come out, Martin's coming out was a game-changer for \"Latin Pride\".",
"As the first mainstream Latin music artist to come out, Martin's coming out was a game-changer for \"Latin Pride\". Billboards Lucas Villa stated: \"With Martin's announcement, gay artists, who had long kept their sexual identities a secret, finally had a beacon of hope. If Martin could come out with his career unscathed, there was hope for other artists in Latin music to start doing the same.\"",
"If Martin could come out with his career unscathed, there was hope for other artists in Latin music to start doing the same.\" He added that since then, \"a growing number of Latin artists have either come out after years in the spotlight, or many have simply started their careers by embracing their gay identities\".",
"He added that since then, \"a growing number of Latin artists have either come out after years in the spotlight, or many have simply started their careers by embracing their gay identities\". In 2010, GLAAD then-president Jarrett Barrios expressed that Martin's coming out as gay leads \"hundreds of millions of people\" to have \"a cultural connection with an artist, a celebrity and, perhaps most importantly, a father who happens to be gay\", adding that \"his decision to model this kind of openness and honesty can lead to greater acceptance for countless gay people in U.S., in Latin America and worldwide\".",
"In 2010, GLAAD then-president Jarrett Barrios expressed that Martin's coming out as gay leads \"hundreds of millions of people\" to have \"a cultural connection with an artist, a celebrity and, perhaps most importantly, a father who happens to be gay\", adding that \"his decision to model this kind of openness and honesty can lead to greater acceptance for countless gay people in U.S., in Latin America and worldwide\". In 2019, Human Rights Campaign then-president Alphonso David expressed that Martin \"has used his international stage to advocate for LGBTQ people around the world\" with his \"unique voice and passionate activism\".",
"In 2019, Human Rights Campaign then-president Alphonso David expressed that Martin \"has used his international stage to advocate for LGBTQ people around the world\" with his \"unique voice and passionate activism\". The following year, Suzy Exposito from Rolling Stone argued that with risking his career and coming out, Martin \"set the scene for Bad Bunny to be free in many ways that, during his own breakthrough moment, he could not\". Martin expressed support for same-sex marriage during an interview on Larry King Live in 2010.",
"Martin expressed support for same-sex marriage during an interview on Larry King Live in 2010. He has then delivered speeches about LGBT rights at the United Nations Homophobia Conference, the GLAAD Media Awards, and the Human Rights Campaign. He also raised his voice to support gay marriage in Puerto Rico before its legalization in 2015. In March 2016, Martin met with Chilean LGBT rights group Fundación Iguales to learn about the challenges LGBT citizens face there.",
"In March 2016, Martin met with Chilean LGBT rights group Fundación Iguales to learn about the challenges LGBT citizens face there. AT the meeting, he said that he wants \"equal marriage rights for Chile\" and he wants his sons to grow up in a world where \"there are no second-class citizens\". Following the Colombia's highest court voting against an anti same-sex marriage proposal in April 2016, Martin tweeted: \"Love and equality win, Colombia says YES to same-sex marriage.\"",
"Following the Colombia's highest court voting against an anti same-sex marriage proposal in April 2016, Martin tweeted: \"Love and equality win, Colombia says YES to same-sex marriage.\" During an interview with Vulture, Martin talked about his role in The Assassination of Gianni Versace and how he wanted his portrayal to help \"normalize open relationships\".",
"During an interview with Vulture, Martin talked about his role in The Assassination of Gianni Versace and how he wanted his portrayal to help \"normalize open relationships\". In June 2019, he published an open letter slamming the religious liberty bill, saying: \"As a defender of human rights and a member of the LGBTT community, I am vehemently opposed to the proposed measure imposed upon us under the guise of religious freedom, that projects us to the world as a backwards country.\"",
"In June 2019, he published an open letter slamming the religious liberty bill, saying: \"As a defender of human rights and a member of the LGBTT community, I am vehemently opposed to the proposed measure imposed upon us under the guise of religious freedom, that projects us to the world as a backwards country.\" Puerto Rico's then-governor backed down and withdrew his support of the bill following Martin's statement.",
"Puerto Rico's then-governor backed down and withdrew his support of the bill following Martin's statement. In June 2020, Martin performed his song \"Recuerdo\" with Carla Morrison for a virtual event, Can't Cancel Pride: Helping LGBTQ+ People in Need, to raise visibility and funds for LGBTQ+ communities. He appeared at the virtual event in the following year as well.",
"He appeared at the virtual event in the following year as well. In February 2021, Martin was named national spokesperson for the onePULSE Foundation, a non-profit organization that focuses on managing \"the design and construction of the permanent national memorial and museum dedicated to the Pulse nightclub tragedy\". Later that year, he expressed that he wants to \"normalize families like\" his, in an interview with People.",
"Later that year, he expressed that he wants to \"normalize families like\" his, in an interview with People. Several of Martin's music videos feature diversity in sexual orientations and same-sex couples, including \"The Best Thing About Me Is You\", \"Disparo al Corazón\", \"Fiebre\", and \"Tiburones\".",
"Several of Martin's music videos feature diversity in sexual orientations and same-sex couples, including \"The Best Thing About Me Is You\", \"Disparo al Corazón\", \"Fiebre\", and \"Tiburones\". For his activism and advocacy for LGBTQ community, Martin has been honored with numerous accolades, including the GLAAD Vito Russo Award, the Gala Vanguard Award by the Los Angeles LGBT Center, the International Icon Award by the British LGBT Awards, the National Visibility Award by the Human Rights Campaign, the Trailblazer Award by the LGBT Center Dinner, the Celebrity Activist of the Year by LGBTQ Nation, and the Legacy Award by Attitude Awards.",
"For his activism and advocacy for LGBTQ community, Martin has been honored with numerous accolades, including the GLAAD Vito Russo Award, the Gala Vanguard Award by the Los Angeles LGBT Center, the International Icon Award by the British LGBT Awards, the National Visibility Award by the Human Rights Campaign, the Trailblazer Award by the LGBT Center Dinner, the Celebrity Activist of the Year by LGBTQ Nation, and the Legacy Award by Attitude Awards. Achievements Throughout his career, Martin has won over 200 awards (most awarded male Latin artist), including two Grammy Awards, five Latin Grammy Awards, five MTV Video Music Awards (tied for most wins by a Latin artist), two American Music Awards, two Latin American Music Awards, three Billboard Music Awards, a Billboard Music Video Award, nine Billboard Latin Music Awards, eight World Music Awards, fourteen Lo Nuestro Awards (including the Excellence Award), and a Guinness World Record.",
"Achievements Throughout his career, Martin has won over 200 awards (most awarded male Latin artist), including two Grammy Awards, five Latin Grammy Awards, five MTV Video Music Awards (tied for most wins by a Latin artist), two American Music Awards, two Latin American Music Awards, three Billboard Music Awards, a Billboard Music Video Award, nine Billboard Latin Music Awards, eight World Music Awards, fourteen Lo Nuestro Awards (including the Excellence Award), and a Guinness World Record. As an actor, he was nominated for an Emmy Award.",
"As an actor, he was nominated for an Emmy Award. In 2007, Martin was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, located at 6901 Hollywood Blvd. Martin is ranked among the Greatest Latin Artists of All Time and the Greatest Hot Latin Songs Artists of All Time by Billboard, while his album Vuelve was placed at number five on Billboards Top 20 Latin Albums Of All Time in 2018.",
"Martin is ranked among the Greatest Latin Artists of All Time and the Greatest Hot Latin Songs Artists of All Time by Billboard, while his album Vuelve was placed at number five on Billboards Top 20 Latin Albums Of All Time in 2018. In 1998, his song, \"Perdido Sin Ti\" reached the top of the Latin Pop Airplay chart, displacing Martin's own \"Vuelve\", making him the first artist on the chart's history to replace himself.",
"In 1998, his song, \"Perdido Sin Ti\" reached the top of the Latin Pop Airplay chart, displacing Martin's own \"Vuelve\", making him the first artist on the chart's history to replace himself. His song \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" became the first number-one song on Billboard Hot 100, which was made entirely in Pro Tools, and achieved the first number one hit for his label, Columbia.",
"His song \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" became the first number-one song on Billboard Hot 100, which was made entirely in Pro Tools, and achieved the first number one hit for his label, Columbia. It also became the first song in history to top Billboards Adult Pop Airplay, Pop Airplay, and Rhythmic Airplay charts, holding its record as the only song to do so for 14 years.",
"It also became the first song in history to top Billboards Adult Pop Airplay, Pop Airplay, and Rhythmic Airplay charts, holding its record as the only song to do so for 14 years. On May 15, 1999, it became the first single ever to rule four different Billboard charts and made Martin the first act to simultaneously scale a pop, Latin, and dance chart.",
"On May 15, 1999, it became the first single ever to rule four different Billboard charts and made Martin the first act to simultaneously scale a pop, Latin, and dance chart. Two weeks later, he became the first artist to simultaneously top the Billboard 200, Hot Latin Tracks, Hot Dance Music/Club Play, Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales, Top 40 Tracks, and the Billboard Hot 100.",
"Two weeks later, he became the first artist to simultaneously top the Billboard 200, Hot Latin Tracks, Hot Dance Music/Club Play, Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales, Top 40 Tracks, and the Billboard Hot 100. His song \"Tal Vez\" (2003) marked the first number one debut on Billboard Hot Latin Songs in the 21st century. Martin is the first and only artist with Spanish-language entries on Billboard Hot 100 in three decades.",
"Martin is the first and only artist with Spanish-language entries on Billboard Hot 100 in three decades. In 2020, he became the first and only artist in history to enter the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart across five decades, including his work as part of Menudo. The following year, he became the first male Latin artist in history to have 4 songs from different decades to have over 100 million streams on Spotify.",
"The following year, he became the first male Latin artist in history to have 4 songs from different decades to have over 100 million streams on Spotify. He owns the record as the artist with most top 20s on the US Latin Pop Airplay chart, with 51 songs, and is the runner-up of most top 10s. He is the fourth artist with the most number one songs in the history of the Hot Latin Songs chart.",
"He is the fourth artist with the most number one songs in the history of the Hot Latin Songs chart. Additionally, he holds the record as the most Spanish-language entries on ARIA top 50 singles chart, with three. On October 11, 2007, then-mayor of Miami Beach, Florida David Dermer awarded him the key to the city of Miami Beach. Puerto Rico named August 31 the \"International Ricky Martin Day\" in 2008.",
"Puerto Rico named August 31 the \"International Ricky Martin Day\" in 2008. The Government of Spain granted Spanish nationality to Martin in 2011, for being \"recognized in different artistic facets\". In 2018, in recognition of \"his dedication to the island and people of Puerto Rico, his philanthropic work to eliminate human trafficking across the Caribbean, and his commitment to the arts\", the singer received a proclamation naming June 7 the \"Ricky Martin Day\" in New York City.",
"In 2018, in recognition of \"his dedication to the island and people of Puerto Rico, his philanthropic work to eliminate human trafficking across the Caribbean, and his commitment to the arts\", the singer received a proclamation naming June 7 the \"Ricky Martin Day\" in New York City. Throughout his career, Martin has sold over 70 million records making him one of the best-selling Latin music artists of all time. In 2020, La Opinión estimated his net worth at US$120 million.",
"In 2020, La Opinión estimated his net worth at US$120 million. Discography Ricky Martin (1991) Me Amaras (1993) A Medio Vivir (1995) Vuelve (1998) Ricky Martin (1999) Sound Loaded (2000) Almas del Silencio (2003) Life (2005) Música + Alma + Sexo (2011) A Quien Quiera Escuchar (2015) Filmography Mas Que Alcanzar una estrella (1992) Hercules – Latin American dub (1997) Idle Hands (1999) Ricky Martin: One Night Only (1999) Minions – Latin American dub (2015) The Latin Explosion: A New America (2015) Ricky Martin: Behind the Vegas Residency (2017) Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey (2020) El cuartito (2021) Theatre Les Misérables (1996), Broadway – Marius Pontmercy Evita (2012), Broadway – Ché Tours and residenciesHeadlining tours Ricky Martin Tour (1992) Me Amaras Tour (1993–1994) A Medio Vivir Tour (1995–1997) Vuelve World Tour (1998) Livin' la Vida Loca Tour (1999–2000) One Night Only with Ricky Martin (2005–2006) Black and White Tour (2007) Música + Alma + Sexo World Tour (2011) Ricky Martin Live (2013–2014) Live in Mexico (2014) One World Tour (2015–2018) Ricky Martin en Concierto (2018-2019) Movimiento Tour (2020-2022)Co-headlining tour Enrique Iglesias and Ricky Martin Live in Concert (with Enrique Iglesias) (2021)Residency' All In (2017–2018) See also Honorific nicknames in popular music List of artists who reached number one in the United States List of artists who reached number one on the UK Singles Chart List of Latin pop artists List of multilingual bands and artists List of Puerto Rican Grammy Award winners and nominees List of Puerto Ricans List of Urbano artists Notes References Book sources External links 1971 births Living people 20th-century LGBT people 20th-century Puerto Rican male actors 20th-century Puerto Rican male singers 20th-century Puerto Rican singers 21st-century LGBT people 21st-century Puerto Rican male actors 21st-century Puerto Rican male singers 21st-century Puerto Rican singers American gay actors American gay musicians American humanitarians American male pop singers American male singer-songwriters Columbia Records artists Echo (music award) winners Grammy Award winners Hispanic and Latino American male actors Hispanic and Latino American musicians Latin Grammy Award winners Latin music songwriters Latin pop singers Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year honorees LGBT entertainers from Puerto Rico LGBT Hispanic and Latino American people LGBT Latin musicians LGBT rights activists from the United States LGBT singers from the United States Male actors from San Juan, Puerto Rico Menudo (band) members MTV Europe Music Award winners Naturalised citizens of Spain Puerto Rican activists Puerto Rican expatriates in Australia Puerto Rican expatriates in Mexico Puerto Rican expatriates in Spain Puerto Rican male film actors Puerto Rican male soap opera actors Puerto Rican male television actors Puerto Rican people of Basque descent Puerto Rican people of Canarian descent Puerto Rican people of Corsican descent Puerto Rican people of Spanish descent Puerto Rican philanthropists Puerto Rican pop singers Puerto Rican record producers Puerto Rican singer-songwriters Singers from San Juan, Puerto Rico Sony Music Latin artists Sony Music Spain artists Spanish-language singers of the United States UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors World Music Awards winners"
] |
[
"Ricky Martin",
"1983-1990: Menudo",
"What did he gain fame for",
"After achieving modest fame in Puerto Rico for his work in television commercials, Martin auditioned for membership in the Puerto Rican boy band Menudo.",
"How did his auditions go",
"Although the executives enjoyed his dancing and singing at his first two auditions, Martin was rejected because he was too short."
] | C_fe907a545efb49ad960c0a3908a4292c_1 | Did he try again | 3 | Did Ricky Martin try again for Menudo? | Ricky Martin | After achieving modest fame in Puerto Rico for his work in television commercials, Martin auditioned for membership in the Puerto Rican boy band Menudo. Although the executives enjoyed his dancing and singing at his first two auditions, Martin was rejected because he was too short. By the third audition, his persistence impressed executives, and in 1984, 12-year-old Martin became a member. A month after joining Menudo, he made his debut performance with the group at the Luis A. Ferre Performing Arts Center in San Juan. During this performance, he inadvertently disobeyed the choreography by walking around the stage, when it was planned that he would stay still, and was chastised by the band manager after the show: "The mistake was such a big deal that from that moment on, never again did I move when I wasn't supposed to move...That was the discipline of Menudo: You either did things the way you were told or you were not part of the group." The song "Asignatura Pendiente" from Almas del Silencio (2003) was inspired by the first time Martin left Puerto Rico to tour with Menudo. Although Martin enjoyed traveling and performing onstage with Menudo, he found the band's busy schedule and strict management exhausting, and later reflected that the experience "cost" him his childhood. He considered leaving the group while on tour in Brazil, but ultimately decided to stay out of fear of media backlash and being sued for breach of contract. Martin also began struggling with his sexuality, noting the stark contrast between his status as a sex symbol and his own emotions. Despite this, Martin acknowledged his "opportunity to have so many amazing experiences with so many amazing people" during his time with the group. He developed an interest in philanthropy when the group became UNICEF ambassadors, often working with impoverished children in third world countries. His experiences as an ambassador affected him greatly and inspired him to continue working with charities later in life. By 1987, Menudo's record sales began to decline, and the group changed its image, adopting an edgier look and performing more rock-influenced songs. The band released the album Somos Los Hijos del Rock in Spanish, and to appeal to the Menudo's Filipino fanbase, the group released In Action, recording songs in both English and Tagalog. After recording 11 albums with the group, Martin left Menudo in July 1989, at age 17, hoping to rest and evaluate his career path. He performed his final show with the group at the same venue where he'd performed his first performance as a member. Martin returned to Puerto Rico to graduate from high school, and 13 days after turning 18, he moved to New York City to celebrate his financial independence; since he was a minor during his time as a member of Menudo, Martin was not allowed to access his own bank accounts. He was accepted into New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, but months before classes began, Martin dropped out and moved to Mexico City to perform in the play Mama Ama el Rock (Mom Loves Rock). CANNOTANSWER | By the third audition, his persistence impressed executives, and in 1984, 12-year-old Martin became a member. | Enrique Martín Morales (born December 24, 1971), known professionally as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican singer, songwriter, and actor. He is known for his musical versatility, as his discography spans multiple genres, including Latin pop, pop, dance, reggaeton, and salsa. Dubbed the "King of Latin Pop", the "King of Latin Music", and the "Latin Pop God", he is regarded as one of the most influential artists in the world. Born in San Juan, Martin began appearing in television commercials at the age of 9 and began his musical career at age 12, as a member of Puerto Rican boy band Menudo. He started his solo career in 1991 while in Sony Music Mexico, gaining recognition in Latin America with the release of his first two studio albums, Ricky Martin (1991) and Me Amaras (1993), both of which were focused on ballads.
Martin's third album, A Medio Vivir (1995), helped him rose to prominence in European countries. The chart-topping single "María", incorporated a mixture of Latin music genres and became his first international hit. His international success was further solidified with his fourth album, Vuelve (1998). The album, which earned Martin his first Grammy Award, spawned chart-topping hits "Vuelve" and "La Copa de la Vida". Martin performed the latter at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards, which was greeted with a massive standing ovation and is known as a game-changer for Latin music worldwide. His first English album, Ricky Martin (1999) became his first US Billboard 200 number one. The lead single "Livin' la Vida Loca" is considered to be Martin's biggest hit, topping both the Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart. Martin's success in the late '90s is generally seen as the beginning of the "Latin explosion". He has been credited for getting Latin pop music genre to mainstream recognition, paving the way for a large number of Latin artists to achieve a global success.
Martin has since established his status as a sex symbol and a pop icon, releasing several successful albums, including all-time Latin bestsellers Almas del Silencio (2003) and MTV Unplugged (2006), as well as Grammy Award winner A Quien Quiera Escuchar (2015). He has also amassed many successful singles and chart-topper hits, including "She Bangs", "Nobody Wants to Be Lonely", "Tal Vez", "Tu Recuerdo", "La Mordidita", "Vente Pa' Ca", and "Canción Bonita". As an actor, Martin gained popularity and stardom for his role in the hit soap opera General Hospital (1994-1996), while his portrayal of Antonio D'Amico in The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story (2018) marked the acting opportunity of his career, garnering him an Emmy nomination. He also starred as Ché in the Broadway revival of the musical Evita in 2012, which broke the theatre's box-office sales record seven times.
Having sold over 70 million records worldwide, Martin is one of the best-selling Latin music artists of all time. He has scored 11 Billboard Hot Latin Songs number-one songs, and won over 200 awards (most awarded male Latin artist), including two Grammy Awards, five Latin Grammy Awards, five MTV Video Music Awards (tied for most wins by a Latin artist), two American Music Awards, two Latin American Music Awards, three Billboard Music Awards, nine Billboard Latin Music Awards, eight World Music Awards, fourteen Lo Nuestro Awards, a Guinness World Record, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He is ranked among the Greatest Latin Artists of All Time, the Greatest Music Video Artists of All Time, and the Most Influential Latin Artists of All Time by Billboard. His philanthropy and activism focus on LGBT rights and fighting against human trafficking; in 2004, he founded The Ricky Martin Foundation, a non-profit, non-governmental organization that focuses on denouncing human trafficking and educating about the crime's existence.
Life and career
1971–1982: Early life
Enrique Martín Morales was born on December 24, 1971, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. His mother, Doña Nereida Morales, is a former accountant; his father, Enrique Martín Negroni, is a former psychologist who previously worked as a regional supervisor for a Puerto Rican mental-health agency. His parents divorced when he was two years old, and although his mother had custody of Martin, he could also move freely between his father's house in the middle-class suburb of University Gardens in San Juan, and his paternal grandmother's house nearby. In an interview with People, he told the magazine the he "never had to make decisions" about who he loved more, and he was "always happy". Martin has two older maternal half-brothers, Fernando and Ángel Fernández, two younger paternal half-brothers, Eric and Daniel Martín, and a younger paternal half-sister, Vanessa Martín. Martin has Spanish heritage of Basque and Canarian descent. As he explained to ABC, the Martins traveled from Spain to Puerto Rico in 1779. He also has some Corsican origin through his paternal grandmother.
Martin grew up Catholic. The people closest to him called him "Kiki" (a nickname that comes from Enrique). He began singing at age six, using wooden kitchen spoons as make-believe microphones; he often sang songs by Puerto Rican boy band Menudo, as well as English-language rock groups such as Led Zeppelin, Journey, and REO Speedwagon. His mother's side of the family was musically inclined and his maternal grandfather was a poet. Martin later reflected on his time spent with his family as a child: "Every time I find myself in front of an audience, be it twenty people or one hundred thousand, once again I feel the energy that consumed me back at the family gatherings of my youth." He attended Colegio Sagrado Corazón, a bilingual Catholic grade school in University Gardens since fourth grade and was an "average" student there. When he was nine years old, he began appearing in television commercials for products such as soft drinks, toothpaste, and fast food restaurants, most notably Orange Crush and Burger King. In a year and a half, he starred in 11 commercials.
1983–1989: Menudo
After achieving moderate fame in his country for his appearances in television commercials, Martin auditioned for membership in Menudo. Formed in Puerto Rico in 1977, Menudo members were usually replaced when they hit 16 in order to keep the band "full of fresh-faced members". Although the executives enjoyed his dancing and singing at his first two auditions, Martin was rejected because he was too short. By the third audition, his persistence impressed executives, and in 1984, 12-year-old Martin became a member. A month after joining Menudo, he made his debut performance with the group at the Luis A. Ferré Performing Arts Center in San Juan. During this performance, he inadvertently disobeyed the choreography by walking around the stage, when it was planned that he would stay still, and was chastised by the band manager after the show: "The mistake was such a big deal that from that moment on, never again did I move when I wasn't supposed to move. That was the discipline of Menudo: You either did things the way you were told or you were not part of the group." Although Martin enjoyed traveling and performing onstage with Menudo, he found the band's busy schedule and strict management exhausting, and later reflected that the experience "cost" him his childhood. Despite this, Martin acknowledged his "opportunity to have so many amazing experiences with so many amazing people" during his time with the group.
During his time with Menudo, he became a "key-member of the group" and a "fan-favorite", while the band released 11 albums, including the Grammy-nominated Evolución () (1984) and their highest-charting and longest-running album on the US Billboard 200, Menudo (1985). The former featured Martin's debut single, "Rayo de Luna" () and the latter included the hit single "Hold Me". "Hold Me" became the group's first and only entry on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at number 62. It was ranked among the "100 Greatest Boy Band Songs of All Time" by Billboard, the "75 Greatest Boy Band Songs of All Time" by Rolling Stone, and the "30 Best Boy Band Songs" by Complex. Besides the musical career, Martin appeared with other members of Menudo in the American romantic comedy/drama television series, The Love Boat (1985), and the Argentine soap opera, Por Siempre Amigos (1987). He also developed an interest in philanthropy when the group became UNICEF ambassadors, often working with impoverished children in third world countries. His experiences as an ambassador affected him greatly and inspired him to continue working with charities later in his life.
Finally, Martin left the band in July 1989, at age 17, hoping to rest and evaluate his career path; he stayed a few extra months after his "age-mandated retirement" came around. He performed his final show with the group at the same venue where he had performed his first performance as a member. Referred to as the "Most Iconic Latino Pop Music Band", Menudo was ranked as one of the Biggest Boy Bands of All Time by Us Weekly in 2021. The group has sold around 20 million records worldwide, and has been acknowledged as the "Most Successful Latin Boy Band of All Time" by Billboard. Martin returned to Puerto Rico to "get a break from the pressures of the group, the promotional tours, and the constant stress of work", but although his parents' divorce had not affected him before, suddenly began to affect him; his parents "began fighting more than ever" and they were forcing him to "choose between the two people in the world" he loved most. As he understood they did this because they loved him and wanted the best for him, he "forgave all of the pain and anger they caused" him. He graduated from the high school, and 13 days after turning 18, he moved to New York City to celebrate his financial independence; since he was a minor during his time with Menudo, Martin was not allowed to access his own bank accounts.
1990–1994: Acting and first solo albums
Martin was accepted into New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in 1990, but before classes began, his friend invited him to Mexico City. He attended the musical comedy play, Mama Ama el Rock () there, and was offered to stay and replace one of the actors. He accepted the offer, dropped out the university and moved from New York to Mexico City to perform in the play. While he was performing onstage in Mama Ama el Rock, a producer in the audience took notice of Martin's acting and offered him a role in the Mexican telenovela Alcanzar una estrella () (1990). Martin also joined the cast for the second season of the show, titled Alcanzar una estrella II (1991). A film based on the TV series, titled Más que alcanzar una estrella () (1992), was also produced in which Martin starred, and earned him an El Heraldo Award for his role.
A Sony Discos executive noticed Martin's acting in the soap operas and offered him his first solo music recording contract. Eager to record his first solo album and hustled by the executive, Martin signed the contract without reading its conditions and inadvertently signed a deal in which he would only be paid one cent for each album sold! Despite viewing the contract as unfair, Martin referred to the record as "the start of something phenomenal" for him. After working "around the clock" to finish filming Alcanzar una estrella II and recording music, he released his debut solo album, Ricky Martin, on November 26, 1991. The album peaked at number five on the US Billboard Latin Pop Albums chart and spent a total of 41 weeks on the list. It sold over 500,000 copies worldwide, was certified gold in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Puerto Rico, and spawned his first solo hit singles, "Fuego Contra Fuego" (), "El Amor de Mi Vida" (), and "Dime Que Me Quieres" (). Both "Fuego Contra Fuego" and "El Amor de Mi Vida" reached the top 10 on the US Billboard Hot Latin Tracks, peaking at numbers three and eight, respectively. To promote the album, Martin embarked on a successful Latin American tour, breaking box office records, which the singer referred to as "an indescribable feeling, almost like coming home".
After the success of Ricky Martin and its subsequent tour, Martin's record company met him with the Spanish musician Juan Carlos Calderón to work on his second studio album, Me Amaras () (1993). Although Martin felt "very grateful" for the opportunity to work with Calderón, he noted, "I always felt that that record was more his than mine." The album sold over one million copies worldwide and was certified triple-platinum in Chile. In 1994, Martin's agent encouraged him to move to Los Angeles to act in an American sitcom called Getting By. The show was canceled after two seasons, but soon afterward, Martin was given the role of Miguel Morez on the popular hit soap opera General Hospital; Morez, a bartender and singer, known for his long and flowing hair, was a Puerto Rican citizen hiding in the United States from his lover's criminal mastermind father and created a love triangle with his fiancé Lily Rivera and Brenda. Martin portrayed the role for two years and gained huge popularity and stardom, becoming "one of the most-talked about actors on the soap opera". Despite this, Martin felt he lacked chemistry with the rest of the General Hospital cast and observed that people treated him differently because of his Puerto Rican accent. At the time, it was relatively uncommon for Latin actors to appear on American television, and people suggested that he take accent reduction classes, which he refused.
1995–1997: Breakthrough with A Medio Vivir
In 1995, Martin refocused on his music career, and began working on his third studio album, A Medio Vivir (). The album was released on September 12, 1995, and became a huge success; it sold over three million copies or even seven million copies worldwide, according to different sources, being certified gold in the United States, platinum in France, 4× platinum in Spain, and 6× platinum in Argentina, as well as many other certifications in Latin American countries. It spawned several successful hits, including "Te Extraño, Te Olvido, Te Amo" (), "María", and "Volverás" (). On "María", which was released as the second single from the album, Martin allowed himself "to go into a very Latin, African sound". He created a mix of different Latin music genres instead of singing a romantic ballad, the style that he focused on it in his first two albums, while Latin pop music in general was mainly made up of it at the time. Although Martin was satisfied with the track and he describes it as a song that he is "extremely proud of", the first time he played it for a record label executive, the man said: "Are you crazy? You have ruined your career! I can't believe you are showing me this. You're finished — this is going to be your last album." Despite this, the track became Martin's breakthrough song and his first international hit. It topped the charts in 20 countries, and has sold over five million physical copies worldwide. As a result, the song was featured in the 1999 edition of The Guinness Book of Records as the biggest Latin hit. It was also the Song of the Summer in Spain in 1996 and was the second best-selling single in the world that year.
In Australia, "María" spent six weeks at number one, topped the country's year-end chart in 1998, and was certified platinum. The song also spent nine weeks at number one in France, and was certified diamond. It has sold over 1.4 million copies in France. Additionally, the track reached the top 10 in the United Kingdom, and became Martin's first entry on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. To promote A Medio Vivir, he embarked on the worldwide A Medio Vivir Tour, that lasted for more than two years, through which he performed 63 shows and visited Europe, Latin America and the United States. During an interview with The Miami Herald in 1996, Martin expressed an interest in performing on Broadway. In a few days, he received a phone call from producer Richard Jay-Alexander, and was offered the role of Marius Pontmercy in the play Les Misérables. After the conclusion of the A Medio Vivir Tour in Latin America, Martin returned to New York to appear in the play in an eleven-week run. He greatly enjoyed the experience, calling his time in the play an "honor" and "the role of [his] life". Martin continued to tour after the conclusion of the show's run, and noted that his audiences were growing in both size and enthusiasm.
1998–1999: Vuelve
While the A Medio Vivir Tour had not been concluded yet, Martin returned to the studio to record his fourth album Vuelve (). He called the experience of touring and recording at the same time "brutal and incredibly intense". As he was finishing the record in 1997, "María" caught the attention of FIFA. They contacted Martin and asked him to create a song as the 1998 FIFA World Cup anthem. He stated about the request: "I have to admit that the challenge made me a bit nervous, but the massive growth potential for my career was such that I decided to accept." Following his acceptance, musicians K.C. Porter, Robi Rosa, and Desmond Child joined him and they started working on a song titled "La Copa de la Vida" (English: "The Cup of Life"). Martin wrote about the recording:
"La Copa de la Vida" was included as the eighth track on Vuelve, released February 12, 1998, The album became a huge success; it sold over eight million copies worldwide, becoming the best-selling Spanish-language album in history, according to his label. Also, some sources have reported the album's sales as six million copies worldwide. It spent 26 weeks atop the US Billboard Top Latin Albums chart and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). In Canada, the album peaked at number three and was certified double platinum. Vuelve spawned big hits, including the title track, "La Copa de la Vida", "Perdido Sin Ti" (), and "La Bomba" (). "La Copa de la Vida" grew to be an international success, appearing on the charts in more than 60 countries, and reaching number one in 30 countries, Both "Vuelve" and "Perdido Sin Ti" peaked at number one on the US Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart; the former also reached number one in On July 12, 1998, Martin performed "La Copa de la Vida" as the official anthem at the 1998 FIFA World Cup Final in France, in front of more than a billion TV viewers around the world.
To promote Vuelve, Martin embarked on the worldwide Vuelve Tour; he performed in Asia, Australia, Europe, Mexico, South America, and the United States. Although Latin music was not important to the Recording Academy or the mainstream music industry at the time, Tommy Mottola, then-chief of Columbia Records, was certain about Martin's stardom and pushed hard to have him on the Grammy Awards ceremony. During an interview with Billboard, Mottola told the magazine about it: "There was tremendous resistance from the Grammys. They did not want an 'unknown' to perform, yet we he had already sold 10 million copies of Vuelve worldwide. To me, that was absolutely UNACCEPTABLE." Finally, on February 24, 1999, cavorting with a 15-piece band alongside and a large number of dancers and percussionists, Martin performed a bilingual version of "La Copa de La Vida" at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards, which was greeted with a massive standing ovation and met with acclaim from music critics. At the same night, Vuelve earned Martin his first Grammy award, for Best Latin Pop Performance. After he accepted the award and expressed how important it was to the Latin community, the American singer-songwriter Madonna came on the stage and hugged him.
1999–2000: Crossover to English
In October 1998, CNN confirmed that Martin has been working on his first English language album, following the huge success of Vuelve. In April 1999, Billboard revealed the album's title as Ricky Martin in an article, mentioning that the album was initially set for retail on May 25, 1999. However, the huge interest in the disc, following Martin's performance at the Grammy Awards, encouraged Columbia Records to decide to rush the album to release two weeks ahead of schedule, on May 11. Tom Corson, the senior vice president of marketing at Columbia explained: "Quite simply, the market has demanded it. People have been wanting this record for a while, and it's now reached the point where we have to get it out there immediately." Tim Devin, the general manager of Tower Records in New York added about Martin: "He's always been one of our strongest Latin artists, but interest in him has picked up considerably since that performance."
Ricky Martin debuted atop the US Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 661,000 copies, according to data compiled by Nielsen SoundScan, becoming the largest sales week by any album in 1999. It also broke the record as the largest first-week sales for any pop or Latin artist in history, as well as any Columbia Records artist during the SoundScan era. With this album, Martin became the first male Latin act in history to debut at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart. It was certified 7× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), denoting shipments of over seven million copies in the US and breaking the record as the best-selling album by a Latin artist in the country. Only within three months, Ricky Martin became the best-selling album ever by a Latin artist. According to different sources, the album has sold over 15 million copies or even 17 million copies worldwide. It was nominated for Best Pop Album at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards.
The album was supported by four singles; the lead single "Livin' la Vida Loca" () topped the charts in more than 20 countries and is considered to be Martin's biggest hit, and one of the best-selling singles of all time. In the United States, it topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for five consecutive weeks, becoming Martin's first number one single on the chart. Additionally, it broke several records on Billboard charts. It also spent eight consecutive weeks atop the Canada Top Singles chart and topped the country's year-end chart. In the United Kingdom, it debuted at number one and stayed there for three weeks, making Martin the first Puerto Rican artist in history to hit number one. The track was ranked as the best '90s pop song by Elle, and was listed among the Best Latin Songs of All Time by Billboard. It was nominated for four categories at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards, including Record of the Year and Song of the Year. Its Spanish version reached the summit of the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart in the United States, and was nominated for Record of the Year at the 2000 Latin Grammy Awards.
"She's All I Ever Had" was released as the second single from the album in June 1999. It peaked at numbers two and three on the US Billboard Hot 100 and Canada Top Singles charts, respectively. The Spanish version, "Bella" () topped the charts in five countries, as well as Billboards Hot Latin Tracks chart. To further promote Ricky Martin, he embarked on the worldwide Livin' la Vida Loca Tour. In the United States, the Livin' la Vida Loca Tour was the highest-grossing tour of 2000 by a Latin artist, earning over $36.3 million with 44 dates and drawing 617,488 fans. According to Billboard Boxscore, the tour grossed $51.3 million in Canada, Mexico, and the United States, with 60 shows and drawing an audience of 875,151. International dates were not reported to Boxscore and would push the tour's grosses higher.
2000–2005: Sound Loaded, Almas del Silencio, and Life
While the Livin' la Vida Loca Tour had not been concluded yet, Martin returned to the studio to record his sixth studio album, Sound Loaded. The album was released on November 14, 2000. It debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 318,000 copies, according to data compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The album has sold over seven million copies or even eight million copies worldwide, according to different sources, being certified double platinum in the US. The album featured two hit singles, "She Bangs" and "Nobody Wants to Be Lonely". The former reached number one in seven countries, including Italy and Sweden, as well as the top five in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and several other countries. It was nominated for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance at the 43rd Annual Grammy Awards. The Spanish-language version of "She Bangs" reached the summit of the Hot Latin Tracks chart and won the Latin Grammy Award for Best Music Video at the 2nd Annual Latin Grammy Awards. "Nobody Wants to Be Lonely" was re-recorded along with American singer Christina Aguilera, peaking at number one in five countries, as well as the top five in Italy, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom, among others. It was nominated for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals at the 44th Annual Grammy Awards. The solo Spanish version, entitled "Sólo Quiero Amarte" topped the Hot Latin Tracks chart. Both "She Bangs" and "Nobody Wants to Be Lonely" are certified silver in the UK. In February 2001, Martin released a Spanish compilation album entitled La Historia (), which spent five weeks at number one on the Top Latin Albums chart, topped the charts in Argentina and Sweden, and was certified quadruple Latin platinum in the United States.
Following the success of Ricky Martin and Sound Loaded, he initially planned to release the third English-language album as his seventh studio album, which was supposed to be his first complete work in the field of songwriting. Despite Sony Music Entertainment's original plan, he decided to release a Spanish-language album: "I woke up five months ago, and I said 'We're doing an album in Spanish.' Everyone went nuts. They said, 'You don't have time; you have to release an album in English because of timing issues with your career.' And that's fine. But I told them, 'In five months, you'll have a kick-ass album' [in Spanish]. Martin's seventh studio album, Almas del Silencio () was released in May 2003. It debuted atop the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart with first-week sales of 65,000 copies, according to data compiled by Nielsen SoundScan, breaking the record as the largest first-week sales for a Spanish-language album in the US. The album also debuted at number 12 on Billboard 200, tying the 2002 album, Quizás () as the chart's highest Spanish-language debut. The album also debuted at number one in "at least 13 Latin American markets" and sold over two million copies worldwide.
Almas del Silencio spawned three Hot Latin Tracks chart-topper hits: "Tal Vez" (), "Jaleo", and "Y Todo Queda en Nada" (). "Tal Vez" debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart on the week of April 12, 2003, marking the first number one debut since February 1998, and becoming the sixth song overall in the chart's history to do so. It spent a total of 11 weeks at this position, surpassing "Livin' la Vida Loca" as Martin's longest number-one single on the chart, and was the longest-running number one of 2003. It also topped the charts in several Latin American markets. In October 2005, Martin released his third English album, Life. He commented on the album: "I was really in touch with my emotions. I think this album is very multi-layered, just like life is. It's about feeling anger. It's about feeling joy. It's about feeling uncertainty. It's about feeling. And all my emotions are part of this production". To promote Life, Martin embarked on the worldwide One Night Only with Ricky Martin tour.
2006–2012: MTV Unplugged, Música + Alma + Sexo, and Evita
Although Martin's team and MTV had discussed an MTV Unplugged for years, but it became more serious after Martin's the One Night Only tour, which featured an acoustic segment. Finally, Martin taped his MTV Unplugged set in Miami in August 2006, performing both romantic ballads and up-tempo tropical dance songs. During the performance, he debuted three new tracks, including "Tu Recuerdo" (), which was released to radio stations as the lead single from his debut live album MTV Unplugged (2006). The album debuted at number one on the Top Latin Albums chart and sold over two million copies worldwide, marking his highest-certified album in Mexico. It won two Latin Grammy awards and was nominated for Album of the Year. "Tu Recuerdo" reached number one in five countries, as well as the Billboards Hot Latin Songs and Latin Pop Airplay charts. The track was certified quadruple platinum in Mexico and was nominated for Record of the Year at the 8th Annual Latin Grammy Awards. The artist then embarked on the Black and White Tour in 2007, including four sold-out shows at the José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum in Puerto Rico. The concerts in Puerto Rico were compiled into his second live album Ricky Martin... Live Black & White Tour (2007). Later that year, he released his first Italian song, "Non siamo soli" () as a duet with Italian singer Eros Ramazzotti. The song debuted at number one in Italy and spent eleven consecutive weeks atop the chart.
In January 2011, Martin launched his ninth studio album, Música + Alma + Sexo (). The album debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200 chart, becoming the highest-charting primarily-Spanish language set since Dreaming of You (1995) by American singer Selena. It holds the record as the highest-charting Latin album of the 2010s, and represents the highest-ever chart debut on the Billboard 200 for a Sony Music Latin release. Música + Alma + Sexo also peaked at number one in Argentina and Venezuela, as well as Billboards Top Latin Albums. Its lead single, "Lo Mejor de Mi Vida Eres Tú" (English: "The Best Thing About Me Is You") reached number one on the US Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart and was nominated for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Short Form Music Video at the 12th Annual Latin Grammy Awards. To promote the album, Martin embarked on the Música + Alma + Sexo World Tour in 2011. In February 2012, he appeared as Spanish teacher David Martinez on the twelfth episode of the third season of the American musical television series Glee, The Spanish Teacher. Martin starred as Ché in the Broadway revival of the musical Evita from March 2012 to January 2013. The show became a hit, breaking the theatre's box-office sales record after only six performances. Sine then, it broke its own record six times and was nominated for Best Revival of a Musical at the 66th Tony Awards. The show's soundtrack album debuted at number one on Billboards cast album chart.
2013–2018: The Voice, A Quien Quiera Escuchar, and The Assassination of Gianni Versace
Martin served as a coach on the second season of the Australian singing competition television series The Voice in 2013. In the same year, he released a compilation album, entitled Greatest Hits: Souvenir Edition, which reached number two in Australia, as well as a new single, entitled "Come with Me", which debuted at number three in the country. The artist then embarked on the
Ricky Martin Live tour in Australia in October 2013. He continued serving as a coach on both the third and fourth seasons of The Voice Australia in 2014 and 2015, respectively. In 2014, Lars Brandle from Billboard stated in an article: "Through his high-profile slot on The Voice, Ricky's profile in Australia has never been as big as it is right now." On February 25, 2014, Wisin released a song titled "Adrenalina" () from his album El Regreso del Sobreviviente (), which featured Jennifer Lopez and Martin, and became the Univision's 2014 World Cup song. It received commercial success, peaking in the top-five of Bulgaria, Mexico, Spain, and Billboards Hot Latin Songs chart. Its accompanying music video has accumulated over 850 million views on YouTube. Later that year, Martin released his single "Vida" () for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The song reached the top five in Spain and on the US Hot Latin Songs chart. Also in 2014, he served as a coach on the fourth season of The Voice Mexico, and embarked on the Live in Mexico tour.
In February 2015, Martin released his tenth studio album, A Quien Quiera Escuchar (). The album debuted at number one on Billboards Top Latin Albums chart and peaked at number one in Argentina. It won the award for Best Latin Pop Album at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards and Album of the Year at the 1st Latin American Music Awards. The album spawned three Hot Latin Songs top-10 hits: "Adiós" (), "Disparo al Corazón" (), and "La Mordidita" (). "Disparo al Corazón" was nominated for both Record of the Year and Song of the Year at the 16th Annual Latin Grammy Awards. "La Mordidita" experienced huge commercial success, being certified 15× Latin platinum in the United States. Its accompanying music video has received over 1.2 billion views on YouTube. To promote the album, Martin embarked on the One World Tour from 2015 to 2017. He served as an executive producer and a judge on the American singing competition series La Banda (), which premiered in 2015 and 2016 on Univision. The first season was "looking for the next Latin boy band", while the second season was looking for a Latin girl band. The contestants would compete for a recording deal with Sony Music Latin and Syco Music. CNCO, known as the first boy band to make reggaeton, was the winner of the first season. Martin became their manager and produced the band's debut album, Primera Cita () (2016), along with Wisin; the album debuted at number one on Top Latin Albums and featured the hit single "Reggaetón Lento (Bailemos)" (). CNCO opened many dates on One World Tour in 2016. In 2020, Leila Cobo from Billboard compared the group with Menudo, noting: "Not since Menudo had a Latin boy band melted our hearts or made us dance quite like CNCO".
On September 23, 2016, Martin released a song called "Vente Pa' Ca" (), featuring Colombian singer Maluma. The song became one of the biggest Spanish-language songs of 2016, reaching number one in seven countries, as well as Billboards Latin Airplay, Latin Pop Airplay, and Tropical Airplay charts. It also reached top five in Spain and on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs, being certified quadruple platinum in Spain and diamond in Mexico. The track was nominated for both Record of the Year and Song of the Year at the 18th Annual Latin Grammy Awards. The accompanying music video has received over 1.75 billion views on YouTube. Martin signed a concert residency, named All In, to perform at the Monte Carlo Resort and Casino in Las Vegas in 2017 and 2018. He portrayed fashion designer Gianni Versace's partner Antonio D'Amico in the FX true crime anthology television series The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, marking "the acting opportunity of his career". The role garnered him a nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Limited Series Or Movie at the 70th Primetime Emmy Awards. Running from January to March 2018, The Assassination of Gianni Versace received generally favorable reviews and numerous awards and nominations, including three Primetime Emmy Awards, four Creative Arts Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, two Critics' Choice Television Awards, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. In February 2018, Martin released a song titled "Fiebre" (), featuring Wisin & Yandel. The song was commercially successful in Latin America, reaching number one in Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, and Uruguay. It also reached the summit of the Billboard Latin Airplay and Latin Rhythm Airplay charts.
2019–present: Amici di Maria De Filippi, PausaPlay, and Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey
At the 61st Annual Grammy Awards, Martin performed "Havana", "Pégate" (), and "Mi Gente" (), alongside Camila Cabello, J Balvin, Young Thug, and Arturo Sandoval, as the opening performance. Martin served as a coach on the eighteenth season of the Italian talent show Amici di Maria De Filippi () in 2019. In the same year, Maluma released a song called "No Se Me Quita" () from his album 11:11, which featured Martin. The song reached number one in Mexico and was certified quadruple platinum in the country. Martin hosted the 20th Annual Latin Grammy Awards in November 2019, along with Roselyn Sánchez and Paz Vega. The artist started recording his eleventh studio album, initially titled Movimiento (), in the second half of 2019, inspired by the 2019 political protests in Puerto Rico. He embarked on the Movimiento Tour in 2020. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent personal experiences, he decided to split the tour's associated album in two extended plays, Pausa () and Play; the former was released in May 2020, while the latter is set to release as his eleventh studio album.
Pausa was nominated for Album of the Year and won the award for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 21st Annual Latin Grammy Awards. The second single from the EP, "Tiburones" () reached number one in Argentina and Puerto Rico, and was also nominated for Song of the Year at the 21st Annual Latin Grammy Awards. Martin starred as the voice of villainous miniature figure Don Juan Diego in the American Christmas musical fantasy film Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey. The film was released on Netflix on November 13, 2020, and received generally favorable reviews. In April 2021, Martin released his hit single "Canción Bonita" () with Colombian singer Carlos Vives, which experienced huge commercial success in Latin America, reaching number one in 12 countries. It was also nominated for Song of the Year and Best Pop Song at the 22nd Annual Latin Grammy Awards. Later that year, he released "Qué Rico Fuera" () with Chilean-American singer Paloma Mami, as the lead single from Play. The song peaked at number one in four countries, as well as the top 10 on Billboards Latin Pop Airplay. In the same year, he embarked on his first co-headlining tour, the Enrique Iglesias and Ricky Martin Live in Concert alongside Spanish singer Enrique Iglesias.
Artistry
Influences
As a child, Martin used to sing songs by Menudo and American rock bands such as Led Zeppelin, Journey, and REO Speedwagon, which were what his "older siblings were listening to at the time". While Martin and his brothers spent their time listening to classic rock, their mother would interrupt them to make them listen to Latin music. She brought him CDs of Fania All-Stars, Celia Cruz, El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, and Gilberto Santa Rosa that slowly made him appreciate the richness of Puerto Rican culture. Also, she once took them to a Fania All-Stars concert, which Martin is "beyond grateful" for it. He expresses that thanks to her mother, those influences had a "profound effect" on his musical career. Martin has also cited Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Michael Jackson, and Madonna for teaching him "the beauty of pop". He stated about Madonna: "I was very influenced by her and her music. I know every choreography of Madonna." Additionally, he mentions Carlos Santana, José Feliciano, Celia Cruz, and Gloria Estefan as the artists who paved the way for him, naming Feliciano as one of the people who inspired him when he was a teenager: "I was always fascinated with his music." In addition to the musical influences, Martin is inspired by David Bowie's "ambiguous sexuality". While growing up, he used to ask himself if he wanted to be like the openly gay singer Elton John or he just liked him, admiring his music, colors, and wigs.
Musical styles and themes
Considered to be a versatile artist, Martin describes his music as Latin pop, saying: "When you say 'Latin pop', the spectrum is so broad, It's inevitable to not be influenced by everything that’s happening in the industry, but always keeping your identity firm by knowing who you are." He has also described his music as fusion, while noting that he does not "ride the waves that are in fashion at the moment". Music critics have described his songs as Latin pop, pop, dance, ballad, reggaeton, Latin, African, rock, salsa, flamenco, urban, samba, cumbia, merengue, rumba, Latin funk, bomba, batucada, vallenato, dancehall, mambo, Europop, house, disco, EDM, dance-pop, electro, techno, dubstep, world music, Middle Eastern, folk-pop, bossa nova, pop rock, soft pop, soft rock, R&B, gospel, jazz, trap, hip hop, doo-wop, ska, and rock' n' roll. Martin sings in Spanish, English, Portuguese, Italian, and French. About his lyrics, Martin has emphasized that although his music will always make the listener dance, it does not mean his lyrics "have to be meaningless" and he sings about love and heartbreak, as well as "things that are good for a society", such as "freedom, freedom of expression, and social justice". He has also declared that as a Latino, he is not afraid of sexuality and sings about sexuality and sensuality, bringing his culture with him onstage.
Voice
Martin possesses a dramatic tenor vocal range. Peter Gilstrap from Variety commented that his "powerful voice" is "capable of belt or lilt", while The Jerusalem Posts Noa Amouyal described his voice as "soulful" and "very powerful". In 1995, Enrique Lopetegui of the Los Angeles Times noted Martin's "improved vocal skills" on A Medio Vivir. Also from the Los Angeles Times, Ernesto Lechner later praised his vocal for being "charismatic enough to handle both ballads and up-tempo tunes". Similarly, Billboards Chuck Taylor expressed "She's All I Ever Had" boasts "a versatility that contrasts nicely" with Martin's previous single, "Livin' la Vida Loca", labeling his vocal on the former "tender and heartfelt". Steve Gerrard of the Montreal Rocks complimented "his vocal maturity" on A Quien Quiera Escuchar.
Music videos and performances
Billboard labeled Martin "a video icon", and ranked him as the 79th Greatest Music Video Artist of All Time in 2020, stating: "From the moment he sashayed up to the mic in 'Livin La Vida Loca' all dressed in black, and gave us that look, the Menudo alum became the most memorable and watchable drop-dead handsome guy in pop music." He has collaborated with various directors to produce his music videos, including Carlos Perez, Wayne Isham, Jessy Terrero, Simón Brand, Gustavo Garzón, Nigel Dick, Kacho Lopez, and Memo del Bosque. "Livin' la Vida Loca" was nominated for Video of the Year at the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards, making Martin the first Latin artist in history to receive a nomination in this category. It won two primary awards for Best Pop Video and Best Dance Video, and was voted three additional awards in the International Viewer's Choice categories, making it rank among the videos with most wins in the history of the MTV Video Music Awards. The explicit sexual scenes of the music video for "She Bangs" were met with criticism from the audience; several American television stations cut the scenes when airing the video. According to the Daily Records John Dingwall, with the visual, Martin ditched his teen idol image by transforming to a more mature one. It was consequently banned in several Latin American countries, such as the Dominican Republic. Martin told MTV News that the video represented freedom rather than his sexuality. The video was awarded Best Music Video at the 2nd Annual Latin Grammy Awards, Best Clip of the Year — Latin at the 2001 Billboard Music Video Awards, and Video of the Year at the 13th Lo Nuestro Awards.
Martin has been noticed for "dance moves of his own" and his "bon-bon shaking dance moves". Carol Sandoval from VIX named him the "best dancer on any stage worldwide", highlighting his hips movement and "successful turns". He was ranked as the ninth best male dancer by the Evening Standard and the tenth Male Singer Who Can Dance by WatchMojo, being the only Latin entertainer on both lists. Writing for The Hollywood Reporter, Scott Feinberg introduced Martin as "an incredible dancer". Billboards Jessica Roiz labeled him "a true showman", noting his "many outfit changes", "various dance performances", and "different stage set for each song". Jon Pareles of The New York Times described him as "an all-around showman" and Varietys Peter Gilstrap called him "every inch the showman", both recognizing his vocal abilities, while the former also commented he is "a dancer as muscular and hard-working as anyone in his troupe", mentioning his "likable, good-hearted character" and "steadfast Puerto Rican pride". Music critics have mostly praised his concerts for the choreographies, video screens, visual effects, stage, Latin influences, and Martin's vocals, costume changes, energy, sensuality, dance moves, and gestures, while the quality of sounds and sound mixes have received mixed reviews. Billboards Marjua Estevez described Martin's performance of "La Copa de la Vida" at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards as "the most memorable Latin performance at a Grammy Awards show", and the publication ranked it as the 54th Greatest Award Show Performance of All Time on their 2017 list. The performance was additionally placed on a 2017 unranked list of "Top 20 Best Grammy Performances of All Time" by Gold Derby, and on a 2019 list of "The Most Unforgettable Grammys Performances of All Time" by InStyle.
Public image
Martin became a teen idol with his debut as a member of Menudo, and a pop icon following global fame as a solo artist. Journalists have written about his humble personality and "beautiful soul". Writing for The Hollywood Reporter, Scott Feinberg introduced Martin as "one of the most acclaimed and admired creative artists ever". La República staff described him as "one of the most admired and desired singers", while authors of ¡Hola! described him as "one of the most respected Latin stars in the world", "one of the most prodigious voices in music in Spanish", and "one of the most beloved talents in the entertainment industry worldwide". Also from ¡Hola!, Cristina Noé named him "one of the most loved artists in the world", while a writer of Clarín named him "one of the most applauded Latin singers on the planet". Metro Puerto Rico stated that he "raised the name of Puerto Rico internationally". He was ranked as one of the top-10 "emerging personalities" of 2010 by Google Zeitgeist. In 2014, Gay Star News referred to Martin as "the most famous Latin pop star in the world", while Variety described him as "Puerto Rico's arguably most famous son" in 2021. He is ranked as the second-most famous Latin music artist in the United States, according to YouGov surveys in 2021.
During the 2000s, Martin was known for "guarding his private life" and being "uncomfortable discussing intimate aspects of his personal life"; he used to insist on asking public to focus on his music and "steered interviewers away from his personal life". However, he chose to live both his "professional and personal life", making his private life public since the early 2010s. In 2021, he went on the cover of People with the title "No More Secrets" and told the magazine that he is "a man with no secrets", stating that he is "more comfortable in his own skin than ever before". Martin is one of the most followed celebrities on social media, with accounts on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok. He stated about social media that he wishes he had "something as powerful as" them since his debut: "Obviously I like to have direct contact with the public, with the media. It's extremely important, but today, from my home, I can talk to millions of people and see their immediate reaction." He is noticed for his friendly interactions with his fans, who are called "Sexy Souls". Wax statues of Martin are on display at the Madame Tussauds wax museums in San Francisco, Sydney, and Orlando. The last one was moved from Las Vegas to Orlando for the opening of the museum in spring 2015.
Fashion
Martin is considered to be a sex symbol, and journalists describe him as "the Latin heartthrob". His fashion and style evolution, from "as '80s as you'd expect" during his time with Menudo to "a style groove, often opting for sharp, tailored suits with clean lines" since 2009, has been noticed by the media. Natalia Trejo from ¡Hola! described him as "one of the most stylish Latin men in the entertainment industry", highlighting his "baggy leather pants", "tailored suits", and "color-block blazers" that have marked "some of the noteworthy trends of each decade". The reviewer also commented that Martin is "an example of mixing business with casual" and has "always had a personal sense of style". JD Institute of Fashion Technology views Martin as a fashion icon, praising him for "pushing the fashion boundaries with every new look". In 1997, he went on the cover of People en Españols first edition of 25 Most Beautiful; he has since "been a constant presence" on their 25 or 50 Most Beautiful lists. Two years later, he was featured on the cover of both Rolling Stone and Time magazines.
Martin is considered to be one of the sexiest men in the world, according to various publications. In 2012, he was voted the sexiest man alive on Broadway.com. The following year, VH1 ranked him as the 28th Sexiest Artist of All Time, stating: "Ricky looks like the model in the magazine ads you stare at in awe thinking, 'There's no way he's that perfect in person'." In 2014, Entertainment Tonight listed him among the Sexiest Men Alive, while Revista Estilo placed him on the list of "the 10 Sexiest Singers" in 2016. He was ranked at number 16 on the list of "the 50 Hottest Men of All Time" by Harper's Bazaar in 2018, being the only Latin man on their list. In 2019, TN described Martin as "the sexiest man in the world". He has been noted for looking younger than his age, with Billboards Chris Payne labeling him "ageless". The singer has attended several fashion shows, including the Giorgio Armani show at Milan Fashion Week in 2011, the Marc Jacobs show in 2013, the Berluti menswear spring-summer 2020 show at Paris Fashion Week, the Dior men's pre-fall 2020 show, and the Virgil Abloh Spring-Summer 2022 show held by Louis Vuitton.
Personal life
Sexual orientation and early relationships
According to an interview with Rolling Stone in 1999, Martin experienced his first kiss at age 13 and lost his virginity at age 14 in Argentina. In 1990, shortly after he had arrived in Mexico to star in Mama Ama el Rock, he met a woman, who was the host of a television show. They began dating quickly and broke up a few months later. In 1992, he fell in love with Mexican singer Alejandra Guzmán, who was separated from her husband at the time. They began dating together until Guzmán returned to her husband and pretended Martin was her assistant on a phone call, while she was sleeping with her husband. In an interview with Univision, Martin admitted that she broke his heart. In the same year, Martin was rumored to have a relationship with Argentine tennis player Gabriela Sabatini. Sabatini's sister-in-law, Catherine Fulop confirmed the rumor in 2020. During the time he was playing in General Hospital, he met a "very handsome" man at a radio station, "stopped fearing [his] sexuality", and started dating him. Martin's mother supported him when she discovered that he was in love with a man, saying: "I love you, my son, I'm so happy for you. Bring it on. I'm right behind you." However, after the relationship ended, Martin "locked [his] feelings even deeper inside" and began dating women again. He recalls: "I already felt it was hard to be a Latino in Hollywood; what could have been more difficult than being Latino and gay?" Martin began dating Mexican television host Rebecca de Alba in 1994; they were in an on-and-off relationship until 2005. In May 2021, Alba revealed that she became pregnant several times in her life, but lost all of the embryos, expressing that one of them belonged to Martin. Martin also had relationships with Lilly Melgar, Adriana Biega, Maital Saban, and Inés Misan during his break-up times with Alba in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He declared that "there was chemistry with them" and he "wasn't fooling anyone".
In August 2008, Martin became a father to twin boys named Matteo and Valentino, born via gestational surrogacy. He explained that he chose surrogacy to become a parent for being "intriguing and faster" than adoption, which was complicated and could take a long time. In March 2010, Martin publicly came out as gay via a message on his website, stating: "I am proud to say that I am a fortunate homosexual man. I am very blessed to be who I am." Years later, he revealed that although his music was "heard all over the world" and he "could high five God" in 1999, he "wasn't living to the fullest" and was sad and depressed. He kept asking himself, "Am I gay? Am I bisexual? Am I confused? What am I?", explaining: "Sexuality is one complicated thing. It's not black and white. It's filled with colors. When I was dating women, I was in love with women. It felt right, it felt beautiful." In an interview with Vanity Fair, he declared: "There was love, passion. I do not regret anything, any of the relationships I lived, they taught me a lot, both men and women." Martin also told Fama!: "I know that I like both men and women, I'm against sexual labels, we are simply human beings with emotional and sexual needs. I like to enjoy sex in total freedom, so I'm open to having sex with a woman if I feel desire." Despite this, he expressed that he wouldn't be interested in "an ongoing relationship with a woman", stating: "Men are my thing". In 2000, American broadcast journalist Barbara Walters asked Martin about his sexuality on national television: "You could stop these rumors. You could say, 'Yes I am gay or no I'm not.'" In 2021, Martin, who answered with "I just don't feel like it" at the time, revealed that her question made him "felt violated", since he "was just not ready to come out" and was "very afraid"; he said that it resulted "a little PTSD" that "still haunts him". Martin dated Puerto Rican economist Carlos González Abella from 2010 to 2014, as his first relationship with a man after his coming out as gay.
Marriage
Syrian-Swedish painter Jwan Yosef shared a photo of himself and Martin on Instagram on March 30, 2016, with the caption: "Obviously we're starting a band." Soon it was rumored that Yosef is Martin's new boyfriend. Martin confirmed their relationship on April 18, 2016, and they made their red carpet debut as a couple at the amfAR Inspiration Gala. Martin later revealed that he met Yosef on Instagram and they "were talking for like six months without [him] hearing his voice". Subsequently, Martin went to London, where Yosef were living, and they met each other. On November 15, 2016, during an interview on The Ellen Show, he announced that he has proposed to Yosef and they are engaged. In January 2018, Martin confirmed that he has secretly married Yosef: "I'm a husband, but we're doing a heavy party in a couple of months, I'll let you know." On December 31, 2018, they announced that they have welcomed their first daughter together, named Lucia Martin-Yosef. Martin later explained that Lucia was born on December 24, coinciding with his 47th birthday. In September 2019, while accepting an award at the 23rd annual Human Rights Campaign (HRC) National Dinner, he announced that they are expecting their fourth child. On October 29, 2019, he shared a photo of himself, Yosef, and their new-born son, named Renn Martin-Yosef, with the caption: "Our son Renn Martin-Yosef has been born."
Beliefs and religion
During an interview with People in 2002, Martin expressed that he believes in "love", "the power of healing", and "God", thanks to his parents. The name he chose for his son Matteo means "gift from God". According to his statements in a 2021 interview, he still believes in God. He was raised Catholic but he said is not "the person who would ever look down upon one religion". He expressed that he also admires and likes Buddhist philosophy, but does not subscribe to the religion, since if he does, he cannot "be of anything else"; he does not want to be limited in certain aspects and follow a religion's specific rules. He tries to remain "open to everything" and makes "a concerted effort to always find new teachings and new paths" everywhere he goes and in every situation he finds himself in. Martin believes that everyone can "decide what makes them happy" and although "everyone needs to accept the life they were given", it does not mean they "should not live it as fully as possible".
Health and sports
Martin began practicing yoga after a trip to Thailand in 1997. He also began practicing meditation following a trip to India. In 2021, he explained that he gets up every morning at 5:30, before his family and puts himself in a lotus position and oxygenates his body. He also expressed that has a gym in his house, saying: "If I have space to see myself in the mirror and put on my products, then I also have to have space for my body." During an appearance on The Dr. Oz Show in 2017, Martin revealed that he "was diagnosed with high cholesterol" at age 18. Although he did not pay attention to the high cholesterol at the time, it made him decide to become a vegetarian since 2013 to reduce cholesterol, despite loving meat as "a Latin man". In 2020, he opened up that he suffered from anxiety for the first time in his life, following the COVID-19 lockdowns, stating that making music became his "medicine".
Real estate
In March 2001, Martin purchased a 7,082-square-feet house in Miami Beach for $6.4 million; he sold the unit for $10.6 million in 2005. In September 2004, he paid $11.9 million for a 11,000-square-feet Mediterranean-style villa in Los Angeles, which he sold in 2006 for $15 million. In May 2005, he purchased a 9,491-square-feet house in Miami Beach for $10 million; he sold the villa for $10.6 million in 2012. In 2007, he paid $16.2 million for a mansion in Golden Beach. He sold the property in 2012 for $12.8 million, incurring a loss. In the same year, he bought a 3,147-square-feet condominium in New York City for $5.9 million; he sold the condo for $7.1 million in 2017. In 2014, he rented a 900-square-metre mansion in Sydney, which became famous as "the Bronte Wave House" and was sold for $16 million in May 2015, marking one of the most expensive properties sold in the city that year. In December 2016, he purchased a 11,300-square-feet mansion in Beverly Hills. The estate, which is Martin's current house, has seven bedrooms and eight bathrooms with outdoor seating areas scattered throughout a 33,000-square-feet. It is a "private getaway in the middle of the city", located up the street from the Beverly Hills Hotel. Martin also owns a property in Puerto Rico and a private 19.7-acre island in Brazil. He purchased the latter for $8 million in 2008.
Legacy and influence
Martin has been regarded as the "King of Latin Pop" by various publications, such as the Grammy Awards, Billboard, Rolling Stone, Time, People, Vogue, The Independent, Entertainment Weekly, Entertainment Tonight Canada, NBC News, and ABC News. Additionally, he has been referred to as the "King of Latin Music", the "Latin Pop God", the "Latin King of Pop", the "Latin American King of Pop", the "Latin King", the "Crossover Latin King", the "Puerto Rican Pop King", the "Salsa-Pop King", and the "King of World Cup". Martin is known as one of the most influential artists in the world. Billboard ranked him as one of the 30 Most Influential Latin Artists of All Time, while NBC News introduced him as an "influential Latin celebrity". In 2014, he won the award for the most influential international artist at the 18th China Music Awards. He was ranked among "25 musicians who broke barriers" by Stacker in 2019, while in 2020, Spin ranked him at number 27 on the list of "most influential artists of the past 35 years", as the only Latin artist on their list. In 2022, Show News named him "the most influential global artist in history".
Martin's song "María (Pablo Flores Remix)", which was ranked among the "Greatest Latin Pop Song of All Time" by Rolling Stone, and "11 remixes of classic Latin hits" by Billboard, "launched the Latin and dance music crossover of the '90s", according to the latter. Olivier Pérou from Le Point commented that "some have even learned, thanks to him, to count to three in Spanish" following the popularity of the song. "La Copa de la Vida", which has been hailed as the Best World Cup Anthem of All-Time by multiple sources,
became a "musical template" for World Cup anthems, and Martin's Latin and dance crossover style has been much copied in the anthems, as well as soccer chant "Ole! Ole! Ole!" in the lyrics, according to The Hollywood Reporter. As believed by Esquire, the song "inaugurated this musical subgenre" of Latin. Joy Bhattacharjya from The Economic Times wrote about "La Copa de la Vida" that it was the first World Cup anthem to have a video just "as ubiquitous as the song", going on to write: "Since then, official songs have an important part to play in every World Cup." In his review for Pitchfork, Corban Goble wrote that if World Cup anthems someday would be "given their own textbook", "La Copa de la Vida" would be "the standard-bearer for the whole genre".
Martin is known as the pioneer in getting Latin pop music genre to mainstream recognition. Following his performance of "The Cup of Life" at the Grammys, and the success of "Livin' la Vida Loca" and Ricky Martin (1999), he opened the gates for many Latin artists such as Jennifer Lopez, Shakira, Christina Aguilera, Marc Anthony, Santana, and Enrique Iglesias who released their crossover albums and followed him onto the top of the charts. His performance of "The Cup of Life" at the Grammys not only changed the course of his career, but also altered how people regard Latin music in America. It has been known as a game-changer for Latin music worldwide, that effectively ushered in the "Latin explosion". Then-United Talent Agency head Rob Prinz described the rendition as "the single biggest game changing moment for any artist in the history of the Grammys". According to Billboard, it has been cited as the beginning of the "Latin Pop invasion", which powerfully affected the US mainstream. Jesús Triviño Alarcón from Tidal Magazine stated, "that single performance opened up the mainstream market for the Latinx legends", mentioning the names of Anthony, Shakira, and Lopez. InStyle staff wrote about it: "With his leather pants, big smile and energetic performance of 'The Cup of Life', Ricky Martin almost personally kicked off the so-called Latin Explosion of the late '90s." Mariana Best of San Antonio Express-News commented that the performance "is recognized for bringing Latin pop to the forefront of the U.S. music scene". In 2018, Diego Urdaneta from Vice credited the song as "one of those that laid the first stones so that J Balvin and Bad Bunnys of today can be at the top of the pyramid", labeling it "a milestone for Latin music".
According to Entertainment Tonight, "Livin' la Vida Loca" paved the way for a large number of other Latin artists, and is "credited as the song that helped other Latin artists break through to English-speaking markets". As believed by Spin, the song "lit the fuse for the Latin pop explosion of the '90s". Lucas Villa from Spin wrote about it: "When the world went loca for Ricky, he led the way for other Latin music superstars like Spain's Enrique Iglesias, Colombia's Shakira and Nuyoricans like Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony to make their marks beyond the Spanish-speaking crowds." He also described Martin as "a trailblazer in globalizing Latinx culture" in his Grammy.com article. Also from Grammy.com, Ernesto Lechner described "Livin' la Vida Loca" as "the manifesto for all the fun-loving, tropically tinged Latin hit singles that followed", stating that Martin led "the Latin music explosion that took over the U.S. at the tail end of the '90s". According to The Independent, the single is "widely regarded as the song that began the first Latin pop explosion". Peoples Jason Sheeler credited it as the song that "led the way for the late-'90s so-called 'Latin explosion' that dominated pop music into the new century: Shakira, Enrique Iglesias, Marc Anthony, and Jennifer Lopez".
Angie Romero from Billboard wrote: "If you look up 'crossover' in the dictionary, there should be a photo of Ricky shaking his bon bon and/or 'Livin' la Vida Loca'." Leila Cobo named "Livin' la Vida Loca" one of the genre's biggest singles of the past 50 years in his 2021 book Decoding "Despacito": An Oral History of Latin Music. She also wrote about his impact in Shakira's "Whenever, Wherever" chapter: "Ricky Martin’s phenomenal success opened the door for a string of Latin artists who waved the flags of their heritage, but who sang in English." Additionally, she compared Martin's song with Luis Fonsi's "Despacito" (2017) in one of her Billboard articles: "'Livin', like 'Despacito', became not just a global hit but a cultural phenomena that transcended all barriers of language and nationality." In another article, she described it as the song that "ignited the late-'90s Latin explosion". Also from Billboard, Gary Trust wrote: "The song helmed a Latin pop boom in the U.S., with Jenner Lopez, Marc Anthony and others crossing over, as well." Writing for LiveAbout.com, Bill Lamb credited the song as "the record which kicked off a wave of major Latin performers hitting the pop mainstream".
Jim Farber from Daily News noted that Ricky Martin "provides a textbook example of how to mix Latin beats with pop tunes and rock intonations". St. Louis Post-Dispatch critic Kevin C. Johnson described Martin as Latin music's "pretty-faced poster boy" who is "taking the music to places Jon Secada, Selena and Santana never could". He also mentioned that even "Gloria Estefan at her peak, failed to muster up the kind of hype and hoopla surrounding Martin". Celia San Miguel of Tidal Magazine stated that Martin "highlighted the public's thirst for a different kind of pop" in 1999, noting the album's "fusion-heavy" and "hip-shaking rhythms associated with Latin music". She mentioned that the album "spawned 1999's Latin music boom", emphasizing the fact that Martin created the "spark" of the "Latin Pop Explosion", which was followed by 1999 albums, On the 6 by Lopez, Enrique by Iglesias, and Anthony's eponymous album. She continued crediting "Martin and the paths he created" responsible for the Latin music and Spanish and Spanglish lyrics being "a commonplace phenomenon on English-language radio" in 2019. In her review for Grammy.com, Ana Monroy Yglesias said Martin led a "major music moment in 1999" with Ricky Martin, and along with him, "the first major boom of Spanish-language artists", such as Shakira and Lopez, came into the "U.S. pop landscape".
The late '90s Latin explosion also resulted in the launch of the Latin Recording Academy. Gabriel Abaroa Jr., the president and chief executive officer of the Latin Recording Academy, expressed that the plan of its launch was "immediately after the Ricky Martin success". Cuban American musician and producer Emilio Estefan added: "After the success with Ricky Martin, everybody opened their eyes and realized how important it was to bring diversity and multiethnic elements into [mainstream American] music." Many artists have cited Martin as an influence or declared themselves as his fan, including Abraham Mateo, Bad Bunny, Camila Cabello, Camilo, Carla Morrison, Christian Chávez, CNCO, Danna Paola, Enrique Iglesias, J Balvin, J-Hope, Jimin, Karol G, India Martínez, Luis Fonsi, Maite Perroni, Maluma, Neha Mahajan, Pedro Capó, Prince Royce, Rauw Alejandro, Rosalía, Sebastián Ligarde, Sebastián Yatra, Shakira, Tini, Vadhir Derbez, William Hung, Wisin, and Ximena Sariñana.
Both Maluma and J Balvin have described Martin as a "teacher" and credited him as an artist who "opened the doors" for them, while Maluma has also expressed: "Ricky Martin is one of the artists I wanted to be growing up. He's my idol in the industry".Citations regarding J Balvin's statements about Martin:
Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny talked about Martin's legacy during an episode of Behind the Music: "There's no doubt that he opened the door for an entire generation of Latin artists. I am doing great things today in the music industry thanks to those doors that he opened." He also mentioned that he is inspired by Martin's coming out as gay: "You don't have to be gay to be inspired by that action of honesty and freedom, of being yourself against the world despite everything you deserve. I look at it like a very inspiring moment for anybody. At least for me, it's very inspirational." Brazilian singer-songwriter Anitta explained to The Guardian that "some Latin stars such as Maluma and Bad Bunny sing in their native language" and do not need to sing in English to get noticed, because they already had representatives like Shakira, Martin, and Jennifer Lopez, but since her country "hasn't had a major international pop star before", she uses "whatever language will get the market's attention".
Portrayal in television
In July 2019, SOMOS Productions, Endemol Shine Boomdog, and Piñolywood Studios announced the production of a biographical web television series about Menudo, titled Subete a Mi Moto. Consisting of 15 episodes of 60 minutes each, the series premiered on Amazon Prime Video on October 9, 2020 in Mexico, Latin America, and Spain. It was filmed in Mexico and Puerto Rico, and Martin was portrayed by actors Felipe Albors and Ethan Schwartz. The series premiered in the United States on February 14, 2021 on Estrella TV. On the review aggregation website Tomatazos, the first season has a positive score of 75%. The website's critical consensus summary states, "A good trip to the past that recalls a band that defined the youth of a certain public, but that doesn't ignore the darkest moments in the lives of its members."
Other ventures
Books
On August 19, 2010, Martin announced that he had been working on his memoir, mentioning its title as Me and publish date as November 2, 2010. He expressed that writing the book was "one of the reasons" he decided to come out earlier that year. The book also had a Spanish edition title Yo (), which was published simultaneously by Celebra. He stated that writing his memoir allowed him "to explore the different paths and experiences" that have led him to be who he is, noting that it "was not easy but allowed for an incredible spiritual journey". Me spent several weeks at number one on the New York Times Best Seller list. In 2019, ¡Hola! staff ranked the book among "12 Books by Celebrities to Inspire and Motivate You", while Book Riot placed it on an unranked list of the "Best Celebrity Books You Should Read This Year" in 2020. Martin's first children's book Santiago the Dreamer in Land Among the Stars was published by Celebra and illustrated by Patricia Castelao in November 2013 for ages between five to nine. Its Spanish-language edition, Santiago El Soñador en Entre Las Estrellas, was published simultaneously. Martin expressed that the book was inspired by his "personal life, with fantasy added to it", as well as "a lot of cartoons".
Products and endorsements
Martin endorsed the 2012 Viva Glam campaign with Trinidadian rapper Nicki Minaj, which raised $270 million for the Mac AIDS Fund. In October 2020, Martin announced that he would launch his company, Martin Music Lab in partnership with music engineers Jaycen Joshua and Michael Seaberg. The company is centered around a new audio technique called "Orbital Audio", that "creates a new type of immersive, headphone listening experience". Martin used the technique on his EP Pausa, while several artists including Bad Bunny, Residente, Myke Towers, and A$AP Rocky are going to work with the company. The latter plans to release his whole upcoming studio album, using "Orbital Audio". Martin is going to expand the technique "beyond the music industry and tap into the movies, sports and, most notably, the wellness and meditation space". In 2021, Martin partnered with skin care company Kumiko. The skincare line, created by Chilean cosmetologist Catalina Aguirre, is the first to combine "mesotherapy, matcha, and cutting-edge European technology into unique multi-action formulas that penetrate the dermis with powerful anti-aging properties and lifting benefits".
Activism
Philanthropy
While on a trip to India in 2002, Martin witnessed three minor girls who were about to be sold into prostitution and rescued them. The following year, he became a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and then met with activists and decided to fight against human trafficking, which is the second-most lucrative crime in the world. In 2004, Martin launched the Ricky Martin Foundation, a non-profit, non-governmental organization that focuses on denouncing human trafficking and educating about the crime's "existence through research and community initiatives, anchored in the defense of children and youth rights". In the same year, he appealed to the United Nations for international help to fight against sex tourism. In January 2005, following the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, Martin visited Thailand to assess the needs of the minor survivors who were "extremely vulnerable to traffickers". Later that year, the Ricky Martin Foundation signed an alliance in partnership with Habitat for Humanity to construct 224 homes for the tsunami-affected families. The project was completed in December 2006. In March 2006, the foundation collaborated with the International Organization for Migration in the Llama y Vive () campaign, which focuses on facilitating "the prevention of human trafficking and the protection of young people, victims of child trafficking and prosecution of traffickers".
In January 2010, along with many celebrities, Martin operated the charity telethon Hope for Haiti Now to raise donations for the 2010 Haiti earthquake. Later that year, the Ricky Martin Foundation created the first program of community social action against child trafficking in Martin's native Puerto Rico, titled "Se Trata" (). In 2012, the foundation participated in the making of the Child Protection Model Law on the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children. In 2016, Martin visited Syrian refugees in Lebanon and played with the children and talked to them in an informal refugee camp. Following the Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico in 2017, the Ricky Martin Foundation helped people and handed over homes that were rebuilt after the losses; Martin launched a viral campaign of selling a black T-shirt with the Puerto Rican flag stamped on it in order to raise the funds. The T-shirts were designed by Martin's twin boys Matteo and Valentino, while many celebrities including Will Smith, Bad Bunny, Marc Anthony, Luis Fonsi, and Maluma supported the campaign. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Martin created a campaign to help health care workers through the non-profit organization Project Hope. He expressed: "As you know, health care professionals are extremely vulnerable and professionals around the world don’t have personal protection equipment they need to prevent them getting infected." In February 2021, Martin collaborated with Antonia Novello to launch mass vaccination events in Puerto Rico. Following the murder of George Floyd and Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, Martin honored an effort called "Black Out Tuesday" and launched the hashtag #knowthestruggle, giving his social media to the voices of the community that are "looking for justice", to learn more about what is happening.
For his humanitarian efforts and fighting against human trafficking, Martin has been honored with numerous accolades, including the Peace Summit Award by the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates, the TIP Report Hero Award by the United States Department of State, the Spirit of Hope Award by Billboard Latin Music Awards, the Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year Award, the Award of Inspiration by amfAR Gala, the Leader of Change Award by the Foundation for Social Change, the Humanitarian Award by the Global Gift Foundation, the Humanitarian Award by the Hispanic Federation, the Corazón Latino Award by the iHeartRadio Fiesta Latina, the International Humanitarian Award by the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the Agent of Change Award by the International Peace Honors, the PODER Social Leadership Awards, and the Agent of Change Award by the Premios Juventud.
Politics
On January 20, 2001, during the first inauguration of George W. Bush, Martin performed "The Cup of Life" and danced with him. Martin's view of Bush changed over the Iraq War, as expressed in his declaration to BBC News that he will "always condemn war and those who promulgate it". He also stuck up his middle finger while singing the president's name in his 2003 song "Asignatura Pendiente" at a concert. At the 2010 Billboard Latin Music Awards, Martin expressed his disagreement with the Arizona SB 1070 bill, a proposed law that would have required police officers to request documents from individuals whom they suspected to be illegal immigrants. Martin campaigned for the 44th president of the United States Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, and thanked him for an "outstanding presidency" in 2016, while calling him "an amazing leader". Also in 2016, he was an active ally to the Democratic Party presidential candidate Hillary Clinton campaign, while condemning Donald Trump's hateful comments about immigrants. He also performed his hits during the "Hillary Clinton: She's With Us" concert at the Greek Theatre on June 6, 2016.
Telegramgate, also known as Chatgate, was a political scandal involving Ricardo Rosselló, then Governor of Puerto Rico, which began on July 8, 2019, with the leak of hundreds of pages of a group chat on the messaging application Telegram between Rosselló and members of his cabinet. The messages were considered vulgar, misogynistic, and homophobic toward several individuals and groups, including Martin. Therefore, Martin, Bad Bunny, Residente and several other artists, and more than half a million Puerto Ricans led the call to take to the streets of Puerto Rico, demanding Rosselló's resignation. In September 2020, Martin, Luis Fonsi, and actress Eva Longoria attended a campaign event in Kissimmee, Florida to support the Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden for the 2020 United States presidential election. During an interview with Variety, Martin stated: "I've been supporting Biden forever, I think he is the only option we have and he is great and he has been in politics all his life. This is the moment. We all need to get together and be loud about the course of this nation." Following the election of Biden as 45th president of the United States, Martin said "Bye-bye" to Trump on social media, and shared a photo of himself along with Biden on Instagram.
In May 2021, Martin demonstrated his support for the Ni una menos movement, condemning femicides and violence against women in Puerto Rico, while calling authorities to protect women. He further expressed that no woman should fear for her safety and urged authorities to take steps in order to prevent these acts. In the same month, he supported the 2021 Colombian protests. Later that year, the singer raised his voice in support of the 2021 Cuban protests against the Castro regime for the restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic crisis, stating: "This is very important. Our brothers and sisters in Cuba need us to inform the world what they are experiencing today. Let's fill the networks before they remove the internet in the country. Humanitarian aid for Cuba NOW."
LGBT advocacy
As a gay man, Martin actively supports LGBT rights worldwide since his coming out in 2010. Even before coming out, he was noted by the mainstream media for being popular among gay men and having a large gay fan base. He also went on the cover of the American LGBT-interest magazine The Advocate in July 1999. Despite this, he admitted that he felt homosexuality was evil since he was raised as a Catholic and targeted his anger toward others, especially gay men: "I was very angry, very rebellious. I used to look at gay men and think, 'I'm not like that, I don't want to be like that, that's not me.' I was ashamed." He added that he "had internalized homophobia" back then. He is currently considered to be a gay icon, with PinkNews labeling him "a strong advocate of LGBT rights" who "expressed support for equal marriage" since coming out.
As the first mainstream Latin music artist to come out, Martin's coming out was a game-changer for "Latin Pride". Billboards Lucas Villa stated: "With Martin's announcement, gay artists, who had long kept their sexual identities a secret, finally had a beacon of hope. If Martin could come out with his career unscathed, there was hope for other artists in Latin music to start doing the same." He added that since then, "a growing number of Latin artists have either come out after years in the spotlight, or many have simply started their careers by embracing their gay identities". In 2010, GLAAD then-president Jarrett Barrios expressed that Martin's coming out as gay leads "hundreds of millions of people" to have "a cultural connection with an artist, a celebrity and, perhaps most importantly, a father who happens to be gay", adding that "his decision to model this kind of openness and honesty can lead to greater acceptance for countless gay people in U.S., in Latin America and worldwide". In 2019, Human Rights Campaign then-president Alphonso David expressed that Martin "has used his international stage to advocate for LGBTQ people around the world" with his "unique voice and passionate activism". The following year, Suzy Exposito from Rolling Stone argued that with risking his career and coming out, Martin "set the scene for Bad Bunny to be free in many ways that, during his own breakthrough moment, he could not".
Martin expressed support for same-sex marriage during an interview on Larry King Live in 2010. He has then delivered speeches about LGBT rights at the United Nations Homophobia Conference, the GLAAD Media Awards, and the Human Rights Campaign. He also raised his voice to support gay marriage in Puerto Rico before its legalization in 2015. In March 2016, Martin met with Chilean LGBT rights group Fundación Iguales to learn about the challenges LGBT citizens face there. AT the meeting, he said that he wants "equal marriage rights for Chile" and he wants his sons to grow up in a world where "there are no second-class citizens". Following the Colombia's highest court voting against an anti same-sex marriage proposal in April 2016, Martin tweeted: "Love and equality win, Colombia says YES to same-sex marriage." During an interview with Vulture, Martin talked about his role in The Assassination of Gianni Versace and how he wanted his portrayal to help "normalize open relationships". In June 2019, he published an open letter slamming the religious liberty bill, saying: "As a defender of human rights and a member of the LGBTT community, I am vehemently opposed to the proposed measure imposed upon us under the guise of religious freedom, that projects us to the world as a backwards country." Puerto Rico's then-governor backed down and withdrew his support of the bill following Martin's statement. In June 2020, Martin performed his song "Recuerdo" with Carla Morrison for a virtual event, Can't Cancel Pride: Helping LGBTQ+ People in Need, to raise visibility and funds for LGBTQ+ communities. He appeared at the virtual event in the following year as well. In February 2021, Martin was named national spokesperson for the onePULSE Foundation, a non-profit organization that focuses on managing "the design and construction of the permanent national memorial and museum dedicated to the Pulse nightclub tragedy". Later that year, he expressed that he wants to "normalize families like" his, in an interview with People.
Several of Martin's music videos feature diversity in sexual orientations and same-sex couples, including "The Best Thing About Me Is You", "Disparo al Corazón", "Fiebre", and "Tiburones". For his activism and advocacy for LGBTQ community, Martin has been honored with numerous accolades, including the GLAAD Vito Russo Award, the Gala Vanguard Award by the Los Angeles LGBT Center, the International Icon Award by the British LGBT Awards, the National Visibility Award by the Human Rights Campaign, the Trailblazer Award by the LGBT Center Dinner, the Celebrity Activist of the Year by LGBTQ Nation, and the Legacy Award by Attitude Awards.
Achievements
Throughout his career, Martin has won over 200 awards (most awarded male Latin artist), including two Grammy Awards, five Latin Grammy Awards, five MTV Video Music Awards (tied for most wins by a Latin artist), two American Music Awards, two Latin American Music Awards, three Billboard Music Awards, a Billboard Music Video Award, nine Billboard Latin Music Awards, eight World Music Awards, fourteen Lo Nuestro Awards (including the Excellence Award), and a Guinness World Record. As an actor, he was nominated for an Emmy Award. In 2007, Martin was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, located at 6901 Hollywood Blvd.
Martin is ranked among the Greatest Latin Artists of All Time and the Greatest Hot Latin Songs Artists of All Time by Billboard, while his album Vuelve was placed at number five on Billboards Top 20 Latin Albums Of All Time in 2018. In 1998, his song, "Perdido Sin Ti" reached the top of the Latin Pop Airplay chart, displacing Martin's own "Vuelve", making him the first artist on the chart's history to replace himself. His song "Livin' la Vida Loca" became the first number-one song on Billboard Hot 100, which was made entirely in Pro Tools, and achieved the first number one hit for his label, Columbia. It also became the first song in history to top Billboards Adult Pop Airplay, Pop Airplay, and Rhythmic Airplay charts, holding its record as the only song to do so for 14 years. On May 15, 1999, it became the first single ever to rule four different Billboard charts and made Martin the first act to simultaneously scale a pop, Latin, and dance chart. Two weeks later, he became the first artist to simultaneously top the Billboard 200, Hot Latin Tracks, Hot Dance Music/Club Play, Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales, Top 40 Tracks, and the Billboard Hot 100. His song "Tal Vez" (2003) marked the first number one debut on Billboard Hot Latin Songs in the 21st century. Martin is the first and only artist with Spanish-language entries on Billboard Hot 100 in three decades. In 2020, he became the first and only artist in history to enter the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart across five decades, including his work as part of Menudo. The following year, he became the first male Latin artist in history to have 4 songs from different decades to have over 100 million streams on Spotify. He owns the record as the artist with most top 20s on the US Latin Pop Airplay chart, with 51 songs, and is the runner-up of most top 10s. He is the fourth artist with the most number one songs in the history of the Hot Latin Songs chart. Additionally, he holds the record as the most Spanish-language entries on ARIA top 50 singles chart, with three.
On October 11, 2007, then-mayor of Miami Beach, Florida David Dermer awarded him the key to the city of Miami Beach. Puerto Rico named August 31 the "International Ricky Martin Day" in 2008. The Government of Spain granted Spanish nationality to Martin in 2011, for being "recognized in different artistic facets". In 2018, in recognition of "his dedication to the island and people of Puerto Rico, his philanthropic work to eliminate human trafficking across the Caribbean, and his commitment to the arts", the singer received a proclamation naming June 7 the "Ricky Martin Day" in New York City. Throughout his career, Martin has sold over 70 million records making him one of the best-selling Latin music artists of all time. In 2020, La Opinión estimated his net worth at US$120 million.
Discography
Ricky Martin (1991)
Me Amaras (1993)
A Medio Vivir (1995)
Vuelve (1998)
Ricky Martin (1999)
Sound Loaded (2000)
Almas del Silencio (2003)
Life (2005)
Música + Alma + Sexo (2011)
A Quien Quiera Escuchar (2015)
Filmography
Mas Que Alcanzar una estrella (1992)
Hercules – Latin American dub (1997)
Idle Hands (1999)
Ricky Martin: One Night Only (1999)
Minions – Latin American dub (2015)
The Latin Explosion: A New America (2015)
Ricky Martin: Behind the Vegas Residency (2017)
Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey (2020)
El cuartito (2021)
Theatre
Les Misérables (1996), Broadway – Marius Pontmercy
Evita (2012), Broadway – Ché
Tours and residenciesHeadlining tours Ricky Martin Tour (1992)
Me Amaras Tour (1993–1994)
A Medio Vivir Tour (1995–1997)
Vuelve World Tour (1998)
Livin' la Vida Loca Tour (1999–2000)
One Night Only with Ricky Martin (2005–2006)
Black and White Tour (2007)
Música + Alma + Sexo World Tour (2011)
Ricky Martin Live (2013–2014)
Live in Mexico (2014)
One World Tour (2015–2018)
Ricky Martin en Concierto (2018-2019)
Movimiento Tour (2020-2022)Co-headlining tour Enrique Iglesias and Ricky Martin Live in Concert (with Enrique Iglesias) (2021)Residency'
All In (2017–2018)
See also
Honorific nicknames in popular music
List of artists who reached number one in the United States
List of artists who reached number one on the UK Singles Chart
List of Latin pop artists
List of multilingual bands and artists
List of Puerto Rican Grammy Award winners and nominees
List of Puerto Ricans
List of Urbano artists
Notes
References
Book sources
External links
1971 births
Living people
20th-century LGBT people
20th-century Puerto Rican male actors
20th-century Puerto Rican male singers
20th-century Puerto Rican singers
21st-century LGBT people
21st-century Puerto Rican male actors
21st-century Puerto Rican male singers
21st-century Puerto Rican singers
American gay actors
American gay musicians
American humanitarians
American male pop singers
American male singer-songwriters
Columbia Records artists
Echo (music award) winners
Grammy Award winners
Hispanic and Latino American male actors
Hispanic and Latino American musicians
Latin Grammy Award winners
Latin music songwriters
Latin pop singers
Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year honorees
LGBT entertainers from Puerto Rico
LGBT Hispanic and Latino American people
LGBT Latin musicians
LGBT rights activists from the United States
LGBT singers from the United States
Male actors from San Juan, Puerto Rico
Menudo (band) members
MTV Europe Music Award winners
Naturalised citizens of Spain
Puerto Rican activists
Puerto Rican expatriates in Australia
Puerto Rican expatriates in Mexico
Puerto Rican expatriates in Spain
Puerto Rican male film actors
Puerto Rican male soap opera actors
Puerto Rican male television actors
Puerto Rican people of Basque descent
Puerto Rican people of Canarian descent
Puerto Rican people of Corsican descent
Puerto Rican people of Spanish descent
Puerto Rican philanthropists
Puerto Rican pop singers
Puerto Rican record producers
Puerto Rican singer-songwriters
Singers from San Juan, Puerto Rico
Sony Music Latin artists
Sony Music Spain artists
Spanish-language singers of the United States
UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors
World Music Awards winners | true | [
"Try, Try Again may refer to:\n\nIn television episodes:\n \"Try, Try Again\" (Bigfoot Presents: Meteor and the Mighty Monster Trucks)\n \"Try, Try Again\" (The Brady Bunch)\n \"Try, Try Again\" (Eureka)\n \"Try, Try Again\" (Gawayn)\n \"Try, Try Again\" (Little People, Big World)\n\nIn other uses:\n Try, Try Again (film), a 1922 film starring James Parrott\n \"Try Try Again\", a song by Hank Williams, Jr. from Greatest Hits\n Try Try Again, a Thoroughbred racehorse whose offspring include Ribot\n\nSee also \n \"Try Try Try Again\", a song by Dressy Bessy from Electrified\n \"Try Again, Again\" a 2006 song by Brian Posehn\n Try Again (disambiguation)",
"Try Again may refer to:\n\n\"Try Again\" (Aaliyah song), 2000\n\"Try Again\" (Champaign song), 1983\n\"Try Again\" (Dilba song), 2011\n\"Try Again\" (Keane song), 2006\n\"Try Again\" (Mai Kuraki song), 2013\n\"Try Again\", a song by Big Star from #1 Record, 1972\n\"Try Again\", a song by Dean Martin, 1954\n\"Try Again\", a song by Kip Moore from Slowheart, 2017\n\"Try Again\", a song by Patsy Cline, 1957\n\"Try Again\", a song by Supertramp from Supertramp, 1970\n\"Try Again\", a song by Teyana Taylor from The Album, 2020\n\"Try Again\", a song by Westlife from Westlife, 1999\n\nSee also\nTry, Try Again (disambiguation)\n\nEnglish phrases"
] | [
"Enrique Martín Morales (born December 24, 1971), known professionally as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican singer, songwriter, and actor. He is known for his musical versatility, as his discography spans multiple genres, including Latin pop, pop, dance, reggaeton, and salsa. Dubbed the \"King of Latin Pop\", the \"King of Latin Music\", and the \"Latin Pop God\", he is regarded as one of the most influential artists in the world.",
"Dubbed the \"King of Latin Pop\", the \"King of Latin Music\", and the \"Latin Pop God\", he is regarded as one of the most influential artists in the world. Born in San Juan, Martin began appearing in television commercials at the age of 9 and began his musical career at age 12, as a member of Puerto Rican boy band Menudo.",
"Born in San Juan, Martin began appearing in television commercials at the age of 9 and began his musical career at age 12, as a member of Puerto Rican boy band Menudo. He started his solo career in 1991 while in Sony Music Mexico, gaining recognition in Latin America with the release of his first two studio albums, Ricky Martin (1991) and Me Amaras (1993), both of which were focused on ballads.",
"He started his solo career in 1991 while in Sony Music Mexico, gaining recognition in Latin America with the release of his first two studio albums, Ricky Martin (1991) and Me Amaras (1993), both of which were focused on ballads. Martin's third album, A Medio Vivir (1995), helped him rose to prominence in European countries. The chart-topping single \"María\", incorporated a mixture of Latin music genres and became his first international hit.",
"The chart-topping single \"María\", incorporated a mixture of Latin music genres and became his first international hit. His international success was further solidified with his fourth album, Vuelve (1998). The album, which earned Martin his first Grammy Award, spawned chart-topping hits \"Vuelve\" and \"La Copa de la Vida\". Martin performed the latter at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards, which was greeted with a massive standing ovation and is known as a game-changer for Latin music worldwide.",
"Martin performed the latter at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards, which was greeted with a massive standing ovation and is known as a game-changer for Latin music worldwide. His first English album, Ricky Martin (1999) became his first US Billboard 200 number one. The lead single \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" is considered to be Martin's biggest hit, topping both the Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart. Martin's success in the late '90s is generally seen as the beginning of the \"Latin explosion\".",
"Martin's success in the late '90s is generally seen as the beginning of the \"Latin explosion\". He has been credited for getting Latin pop music genre to mainstream recognition, paving the way for a large number of Latin artists to achieve a global success.",
"He has been credited for getting Latin pop music genre to mainstream recognition, paving the way for a large number of Latin artists to achieve a global success. Martin has since established his status as a sex symbol and a pop icon, releasing several successful albums, including all-time Latin bestsellers Almas del Silencio (2003) and MTV Unplugged (2006), as well as Grammy Award winner A Quien Quiera Escuchar (2015).",
"Martin has since established his status as a sex symbol and a pop icon, releasing several successful albums, including all-time Latin bestsellers Almas del Silencio (2003) and MTV Unplugged (2006), as well as Grammy Award winner A Quien Quiera Escuchar (2015). He has also amassed many successful singles and chart-topper hits, including \"She Bangs\", \"Nobody Wants to Be Lonely\", \"Tal Vez\", \"Tu Recuerdo\", \"La Mordidita\", \"Vente Pa' Ca\", and \"Canción Bonita\".",
"He has also amassed many successful singles and chart-topper hits, including \"She Bangs\", \"Nobody Wants to Be Lonely\", \"Tal Vez\", \"Tu Recuerdo\", \"La Mordidita\", \"Vente Pa' Ca\", and \"Canción Bonita\". As an actor, Martin gained popularity and stardom for his role in the hit soap opera General Hospital (1994-1996), while his portrayal of Antonio D'Amico in The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story (2018) marked the acting opportunity of his career, garnering him an Emmy nomination.",
"As an actor, Martin gained popularity and stardom for his role in the hit soap opera General Hospital (1994-1996), while his portrayal of Antonio D'Amico in The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story (2018) marked the acting opportunity of his career, garnering him an Emmy nomination. He also starred as Ché in the Broadway revival of the musical Evita in 2012, which broke the theatre's box-office sales record seven times.",
"He also starred as Ché in the Broadway revival of the musical Evita in 2012, which broke the theatre's box-office sales record seven times. Having sold over 70 million records worldwide, Martin is one of the best-selling Latin music artists of all time.",
"Having sold over 70 million records worldwide, Martin is one of the best-selling Latin music artists of all time. He has scored 11 Billboard Hot Latin Songs number-one songs, and won over 200 awards (most awarded male Latin artist), including two Grammy Awards, five Latin Grammy Awards, five MTV Video Music Awards (tied for most wins by a Latin artist), two American Music Awards, two Latin American Music Awards, three Billboard Music Awards, nine Billboard Latin Music Awards, eight World Music Awards, fourteen Lo Nuestro Awards, a Guinness World Record, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.",
"He has scored 11 Billboard Hot Latin Songs number-one songs, and won over 200 awards (most awarded male Latin artist), including two Grammy Awards, five Latin Grammy Awards, five MTV Video Music Awards (tied for most wins by a Latin artist), two American Music Awards, two Latin American Music Awards, three Billboard Music Awards, nine Billboard Latin Music Awards, eight World Music Awards, fourteen Lo Nuestro Awards, a Guinness World Record, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He is ranked among the Greatest Latin Artists of All Time, the Greatest Music Video Artists of All Time, and the Most Influential Latin Artists of All Time by Billboard.",
"He is ranked among the Greatest Latin Artists of All Time, the Greatest Music Video Artists of All Time, and the Most Influential Latin Artists of All Time by Billboard. His philanthropy and activism focus on LGBT rights and fighting against human trafficking; in 2004, he founded The Ricky Martin Foundation, a non-profit, non-governmental organization that focuses on denouncing human trafficking and educating about the crime's existence.",
"His philanthropy and activism focus on LGBT rights and fighting against human trafficking; in 2004, he founded The Ricky Martin Foundation, a non-profit, non-governmental organization that focuses on denouncing human trafficking and educating about the crime's existence. Life and career 1971–1982: Early life Enrique Martín Morales was born on December 24, 1971, in San Juan, Puerto Rico.",
"Life and career 1971–1982: Early life Enrique Martín Morales was born on December 24, 1971, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. His mother, Doña Nereida Morales, is a former accountant; his father, Enrique Martín Negroni, is a former psychologist who previously worked as a regional supervisor for a Puerto Rican mental-health agency.",
"His mother, Doña Nereida Morales, is a former accountant; his father, Enrique Martín Negroni, is a former psychologist who previously worked as a regional supervisor for a Puerto Rican mental-health agency. His parents divorced when he was two years old, and although his mother had custody of Martin, he could also move freely between his father's house in the middle-class suburb of University Gardens in San Juan, and his paternal grandmother's house nearby.",
"His parents divorced when he was two years old, and although his mother had custody of Martin, he could also move freely between his father's house in the middle-class suburb of University Gardens in San Juan, and his paternal grandmother's house nearby. In an interview with People, he told the magazine the he \"never had to make decisions\" about who he loved more, and he was \"always happy\".",
"In an interview with People, he told the magazine the he \"never had to make decisions\" about who he loved more, and he was \"always happy\". Martin has two older maternal half-brothers, Fernando and Ángel Fernández, two younger paternal half-brothers, Eric and Daniel Martín, and a younger paternal half-sister, Vanessa Martín. Martin has Spanish heritage of Basque and Canarian descent. As he explained to ABC, the Martins traveled from Spain to Puerto Rico in 1779.",
"As he explained to ABC, the Martins traveled from Spain to Puerto Rico in 1779. He also has some Corsican origin through his paternal grandmother. Martin grew up Catholic. The people closest to him called him \"Kiki\" (a nickname that comes from Enrique). He began singing at age six, using wooden kitchen spoons as make-believe microphones; he often sang songs by Puerto Rican boy band Menudo, as well as English-language rock groups such as Led Zeppelin, Journey, and REO Speedwagon.",
"He began singing at age six, using wooden kitchen spoons as make-believe microphones; he often sang songs by Puerto Rican boy band Menudo, as well as English-language rock groups such as Led Zeppelin, Journey, and REO Speedwagon. His mother's side of the family was musically inclined and his maternal grandfather was a poet.",
"His mother's side of the family was musically inclined and his maternal grandfather was a poet. Martin later reflected on his time spent with his family as a child: \"Every time I find myself in front of an audience, be it twenty people or one hundred thousand, once again I feel the energy that consumed me back at the family gatherings of my youth.\" He attended Colegio Sagrado Corazón, a bilingual Catholic grade school in University Gardens since fourth grade and was an \"average\" student there.",
"He attended Colegio Sagrado Corazón, a bilingual Catholic grade school in University Gardens since fourth grade and was an \"average\" student there. When he was nine years old, he began appearing in television commercials for products such as soft drinks, toothpaste, and fast food restaurants, most notably Orange Crush and Burger King. In a year and a half, he starred in 11 commercials. 1983–1989: Menudo After achieving moderate fame in his country for his appearances in television commercials, Martin auditioned for membership in Menudo.",
"1983–1989: Menudo After achieving moderate fame in his country for his appearances in television commercials, Martin auditioned for membership in Menudo. Formed in Puerto Rico in 1977, Menudo members were usually replaced when they hit 16 in order to keep the band \"full of fresh-faced members\". Although the executives enjoyed his dancing and singing at his first two auditions, Martin was rejected because he was too short. By the third audition, his persistence impressed executives, and in 1984, 12-year-old Martin became a member.",
"By the third audition, his persistence impressed executives, and in 1984, 12-year-old Martin became a member. A month after joining Menudo, he made his debut performance with the group at the Luis A. Ferré Performing Arts Center in San Juan.",
"A month after joining Menudo, he made his debut performance with the group at the Luis A. Ferré Performing Arts Center in San Juan. During this performance, he inadvertently disobeyed the choreography by walking around the stage, when it was planned that he would stay still, and was chastised by the band manager after the show: \"The mistake was such a big deal that from that moment on, never again did I move when I wasn't supposed to move.",
"During this performance, he inadvertently disobeyed the choreography by walking around the stage, when it was planned that he would stay still, and was chastised by the band manager after the show: \"The mistake was such a big deal that from that moment on, never again did I move when I wasn't supposed to move. That was the discipline of Menudo: You either did things the way you were told or you were not part of the group.\"",
"That was the discipline of Menudo: You either did things the way you were told or you were not part of the group.\" Although Martin enjoyed traveling and performing onstage with Menudo, he found the band's busy schedule and strict management exhausting, and later reflected that the experience \"cost\" him his childhood. Despite this, Martin acknowledged his \"opportunity to have so many amazing experiences with so many amazing people\" during his time with the group.",
"Despite this, Martin acknowledged his \"opportunity to have so many amazing experiences with so many amazing people\" during his time with the group. During his time with Menudo, he became a \"key-member of the group\" and a \"fan-favorite\", while the band released 11 albums, including the Grammy-nominated Evolución () (1984) and their highest-charting and longest-running album on the US Billboard 200, Menudo (1985).",
"During his time with Menudo, he became a \"key-member of the group\" and a \"fan-favorite\", while the band released 11 albums, including the Grammy-nominated Evolución () (1984) and their highest-charting and longest-running album on the US Billboard 200, Menudo (1985). The former featured Martin's debut single, \"Rayo de Luna\" () and the latter included the hit single \"Hold Me\".",
"The former featured Martin's debut single, \"Rayo de Luna\" () and the latter included the hit single \"Hold Me\". \"Hold Me\" became the group's first and only entry on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at number 62. It was ranked among the \"100 Greatest Boy Band Songs of All Time\" by Billboard, the \"75 Greatest Boy Band Songs of All Time\" by Rolling Stone, and the \"30 Best Boy Band Songs\" by Complex.",
"It was ranked among the \"100 Greatest Boy Band Songs of All Time\" by Billboard, the \"75 Greatest Boy Band Songs of All Time\" by Rolling Stone, and the \"30 Best Boy Band Songs\" by Complex. Besides the musical career, Martin appeared with other members of Menudo in the American romantic comedy/drama television series, The Love Boat (1985), and the Argentine soap opera, Por Siempre Amigos (1987).",
"Besides the musical career, Martin appeared with other members of Menudo in the American romantic comedy/drama television series, The Love Boat (1985), and the Argentine soap opera, Por Siempre Amigos (1987). He also developed an interest in philanthropy when the group became UNICEF ambassadors, often working with impoverished children in third world countries. His experiences as an ambassador affected him greatly and inspired him to continue working with charities later in his life.",
"His experiences as an ambassador affected him greatly and inspired him to continue working with charities later in his life. Finally, Martin left the band in July 1989, at age 17, hoping to rest and evaluate his career path; he stayed a few extra months after his \"age-mandated retirement\" came around. He performed his final show with the group at the same venue where he had performed his first performance as a member.",
"He performed his final show with the group at the same venue where he had performed his first performance as a member. Referred to as the \"Most Iconic Latino Pop Music Band\", Menudo was ranked as one of the Biggest Boy Bands of All Time by Us Weekly in 2021. The group has sold around 20 million records worldwide, and has been acknowledged as the \"Most Successful Latin Boy Band of All Time\" by Billboard.",
"The group has sold around 20 million records worldwide, and has been acknowledged as the \"Most Successful Latin Boy Band of All Time\" by Billboard. Martin returned to Puerto Rico to \"get a break from the pressures of the group, the promotional tours, and the constant stress of work\", but although his parents' divorce had not affected him before, suddenly began to affect him; his parents \"began fighting more than ever\" and they were forcing him to \"choose between the two people in the world\" he loved most.",
"Martin returned to Puerto Rico to \"get a break from the pressures of the group, the promotional tours, and the constant stress of work\", but although his parents' divorce had not affected him before, suddenly began to affect him; his parents \"began fighting more than ever\" and they were forcing him to \"choose between the two people in the world\" he loved most. As he understood they did this because they loved him and wanted the best for him, he \"forgave all of the pain and anger they caused\" him.",
"As he understood they did this because they loved him and wanted the best for him, he \"forgave all of the pain and anger they caused\" him. He graduated from the high school, and 13 days after turning 18, he moved to New York City to celebrate his financial independence; since he was a minor during his time with Menudo, Martin was not allowed to access his own bank accounts.",
"He graduated from the high school, and 13 days after turning 18, he moved to New York City to celebrate his financial independence; since he was a minor during his time with Menudo, Martin was not allowed to access his own bank accounts. 1990–1994: Acting and first solo albums Martin was accepted into New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in 1990, but before classes began, his friend invited him to Mexico City.",
"1990–1994: Acting and first solo albums Martin was accepted into New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in 1990, but before classes began, his friend invited him to Mexico City. He attended the musical comedy play, Mama Ama el Rock () there, and was offered to stay and replace one of the actors. He accepted the offer, dropped out the university and moved from New York to Mexico City to perform in the play.",
"He accepted the offer, dropped out the university and moved from New York to Mexico City to perform in the play. While he was performing onstage in Mama Ama el Rock, a producer in the audience took notice of Martin's acting and offered him a role in the Mexican telenovela Alcanzar una estrella () (1990). Martin also joined the cast for the second season of the show, titled Alcanzar una estrella II (1991).",
"Martin also joined the cast for the second season of the show, titled Alcanzar una estrella II (1991). A film based on the TV series, titled Más que alcanzar una estrella () (1992), was also produced in which Martin starred, and earned him an El Heraldo Award for his role. A Sony Discos executive noticed Martin's acting in the soap operas and offered him his first solo music recording contract.",
"A Sony Discos executive noticed Martin's acting in the soap operas and offered him his first solo music recording contract. Eager to record his first solo album and hustled by the executive, Martin signed the contract without reading its conditions and inadvertently signed a deal in which he would only be paid one cent for each album sold! Despite viewing the contract as unfair, Martin referred to the record as \"the start of something phenomenal\" for him.",
"Despite viewing the contract as unfair, Martin referred to the record as \"the start of something phenomenal\" for him. After working \"around the clock\" to finish filming Alcanzar una estrella II and recording music, he released his debut solo album, Ricky Martin, on November 26, 1991. The album peaked at number five on the US Billboard Latin Pop Albums chart and spent a total of 41 weeks on the list.",
"The album peaked at number five on the US Billboard Latin Pop Albums chart and spent a total of 41 weeks on the list. It sold over 500,000 copies worldwide, was certified gold in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Puerto Rico, and spawned his first solo hit singles, \"Fuego Contra Fuego\" (), \"El Amor de Mi Vida\" (), and \"Dime Que Me Quieres\" ().",
"It sold over 500,000 copies worldwide, was certified gold in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Puerto Rico, and spawned his first solo hit singles, \"Fuego Contra Fuego\" (), \"El Amor de Mi Vida\" (), and \"Dime Que Me Quieres\" (). Both \"Fuego Contra Fuego\" and \"El Amor de Mi Vida\" reached the top 10 on the US Billboard Hot Latin Tracks, peaking at numbers three and eight, respectively.",
"Both \"Fuego Contra Fuego\" and \"El Amor de Mi Vida\" reached the top 10 on the US Billboard Hot Latin Tracks, peaking at numbers three and eight, respectively. To promote the album, Martin embarked on a successful Latin American tour, breaking box office records, which the singer referred to as \"an indescribable feeling, almost like coming home\".",
"To promote the album, Martin embarked on a successful Latin American tour, breaking box office records, which the singer referred to as \"an indescribable feeling, almost like coming home\". After the success of Ricky Martin and its subsequent tour, Martin's record company met him with the Spanish musician Juan Carlos Calderón to work on his second studio album, Me Amaras () (1993).",
"After the success of Ricky Martin and its subsequent tour, Martin's record company met him with the Spanish musician Juan Carlos Calderón to work on his second studio album, Me Amaras () (1993). Although Martin felt \"very grateful\" for the opportunity to work with Calderón, he noted, \"I always felt that that record was more his than mine.\" The album sold over one million copies worldwide and was certified triple-platinum in Chile.",
"The album sold over one million copies worldwide and was certified triple-platinum in Chile. In 1994, Martin's agent encouraged him to move to Los Angeles to act in an American sitcom called Getting By.",
"In 1994, Martin's agent encouraged him to move to Los Angeles to act in an American sitcom called Getting By. The show was canceled after two seasons, but soon afterward, Martin was given the role of Miguel Morez on the popular hit soap opera General Hospital; Morez, a bartender and singer, known for his long and flowing hair, was a Puerto Rican citizen hiding in the United States from his lover's criminal mastermind father and created a love triangle with his fiancé Lily Rivera and Brenda.",
"The show was canceled after two seasons, but soon afterward, Martin was given the role of Miguel Morez on the popular hit soap opera General Hospital; Morez, a bartender and singer, known for his long and flowing hair, was a Puerto Rican citizen hiding in the United States from his lover's criminal mastermind father and created a love triangle with his fiancé Lily Rivera and Brenda. Martin portrayed the role for two years and gained huge popularity and stardom, becoming \"one of the most-talked about actors on the soap opera\".",
"Martin portrayed the role for two years and gained huge popularity and stardom, becoming \"one of the most-talked about actors on the soap opera\". Despite this, Martin felt he lacked chemistry with the rest of the General Hospital cast and observed that people treated him differently because of his Puerto Rican accent. At the time, it was relatively uncommon for Latin actors to appear on American television, and people suggested that he take accent reduction classes, which he refused.",
"At the time, it was relatively uncommon for Latin actors to appear on American television, and people suggested that he take accent reduction classes, which he refused. 1995–1997: Breakthrough with A Medio Vivir In 1995, Martin refocused on his music career, and began working on his third studio album, A Medio Vivir ().",
"1995–1997: Breakthrough with A Medio Vivir In 1995, Martin refocused on his music career, and began working on his third studio album, A Medio Vivir (). The album was released on September 12, 1995, and became a huge success; it sold over three million copies or even seven million copies worldwide, according to different sources, being certified gold in the United States, platinum in France, 4× platinum in Spain, and 6× platinum in Argentina, as well as many other certifications in Latin American countries.",
"The album was released on September 12, 1995, and became a huge success; it sold over three million copies or even seven million copies worldwide, according to different sources, being certified gold in the United States, platinum in France, 4× platinum in Spain, and 6× platinum in Argentina, as well as many other certifications in Latin American countries. It spawned several successful hits, including \"Te Extraño, Te Olvido, Te Amo\" (), \"María\", and \"Volverás\" ().",
"It spawned several successful hits, including \"Te Extraño, Te Olvido, Te Amo\" (), \"María\", and \"Volverás\" (). On \"María\", which was released as the second single from the album, Martin allowed himself \"to go into a very Latin, African sound\".",
"On \"María\", which was released as the second single from the album, Martin allowed himself \"to go into a very Latin, African sound\". He created a mix of different Latin music genres instead of singing a romantic ballad, the style that he focused on it in his first two albums, while Latin pop music in general was mainly made up of it at the time.",
"He created a mix of different Latin music genres instead of singing a romantic ballad, the style that he focused on it in his first two albums, while Latin pop music in general was mainly made up of it at the time. Although Martin was satisfied with the track and he describes it as a song that he is \"extremely proud of\", the first time he played it for a record label executive, the man said: \"Are you crazy? You have ruined your career!",
"You have ruined your career! You have ruined your career! I can't believe you are showing me this. You're finished — this is going to be your last album.\" Despite this, the track became Martin's breakthrough song and his first international hit. It topped the charts in 20 countries, and has sold over five million physical copies worldwide. As a result, the song was featured in the 1999 edition of The Guinness Book of Records as the biggest Latin hit.",
"As a result, the song was featured in the 1999 edition of The Guinness Book of Records as the biggest Latin hit. It was also the Song of the Summer in Spain in 1996 and was the second best-selling single in the world that year. In Australia, \"María\" spent six weeks at number one, topped the country's year-end chart in 1998, and was certified platinum. The song also spent nine weeks at number one in France, and was certified diamond.",
"The song also spent nine weeks at number one in France, and was certified diamond. It has sold over 1.4 million copies in France. Additionally, the track reached the top 10 in the United Kingdom, and became Martin's first entry on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. To promote A Medio Vivir, he embarked on the worldwide A Medio Vivir Tour, that lasted for more than two years, through which he performed 63 shows and visited Europe, Latin America and the United States.",
"To promote A Medio Vivir, he embarked on the worldwide A Medio Vivir Tour, that lasted for more than two years, through which he performed 63 shows and visited Europe, Latin America and the United States. During an interview with The Miami Herald in 1996, Martin expressed an interest in performing on Broadway. In a few days, he received a phone call from producer Richard Jay-Alexander, and was offered the role of Marius Pontmercy in the play Les Misérables.",
"In a few days, he received a phone call from producer Richard Jay-Alexander, and was offered the role of Marius Pontmercy in the play Les Misérables. After the conclusion of the A Medio Vivir Tour in Latin America, Martin returned to New York to appear in the play in an eleven-week run. He greatly enjoyed the experience, calling his time in the play an \"honor\" and \"the role of [his] life\".",
"He greatly enjoyed the experience, calling his time in the play an \"honor\" and \"the role of [his] life\". Martin continued to tour after the conclusion of the show's run, and noted that his audiences were growing in both size and enthusiasm. 1998–1999: Vuelve While the A Medio Vivir Tour had not been concluded yet, Martin returned to the studio to record his fourth album Vuelve ().",
"1998–1999: Vuelve While the A Medio Vivir Tour had not been concluded yet, Martin returned to the studio to record his fourth album Vuelve (). He called the experience of touring and recording at the same time \"brutal and incredibly intense\". As he was finishing the record in 1997, \"María\" caught the attention of FIFA. They contacted Martin and asked him to create a song as the 1998 FIFA World Cup anthem.",
"They contacted Martin and asked him to create a song as the 1998 FIFA World Cup anthem. He stated about the request: \"I have to admit that the challenge made me a bit nervous, but the massive growth potential for my career was such that I decided to accept.\" Following his acceptance, musicians K.C. Porter, Robi Rosa, and Desmond Child joined him and they started working on a song titled \"La Copa de la Vida\" (English: \"The Cup of Life\").",
"Porter, Robi Rosa, and Desmond Child joined him and they started working on a song titled \"La Copa de la Vida\" (English: \"The Cup of Life\"). Martin wrote about the recording: \"La Copa de la Vida\" was included as the eighth track on Vuelve, released February 12, 1998, The album became a huge success; it sold over eight million copies worldwide, becoming the best-selling Spanish-language album in history, according to his label.",
"Martin wrote about the recording: \"La Copa de la Vida\" was included as the eighth track on Vuelve, released February 12, 1998, The album became a huge success; it sold over eight million copies worldwide, becoming the best-selling Spanish-language album in history, according to his label. Also, some sources have reported the album's sales as six million copies worldwide. It spent 26 weeks atop the US Billboard Top Latin Albums chart and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).",
"It spent 26 weeks atop the US Billboard Top Latin Albums chart and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). In Canada, the album peaked at number three and was certified double platinum. Vuelve spawned big hits, including the title track, \"La Copa de la Vida\", \"Perdido Sin Ti\" (), and \"La Bomba\" ().",
"Vuelve spawned big hits, including the title track, \"La Copa de la Vida\", \"Perdido Sin Ti\" (), and \"La Bomba\" (). \"La Copa de la Vida\" grew to be an international success, appearing on the charts in more than 60 countries, and reaching number one in 30 countries, Both \"Vuelve\" and \"Perdido Sin Ti\" peaked at number one on the US Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart; the former also reached number one in On July 12, 1998, Martin performed \"La Copa de la Vida\" as the official anthem at the 1998 FIFA World Cup Final in France, in front of more than a billion TV viewers around the world.",
"\"La Copa de la Vida\" grew to be an international success, appearing on the charts in more than 60 countries, and reaching number one in 30 countries, Both \"Vuelve\" and \"Perdido Sin Ti\" peaked at number one on the US Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart; the former also reached number one in On July 12, 1998, Martin performed \"La Copa de la Vida\" as the official anthem at the 1998 FIFA World Cup Final in France, in front of more than a billion TV viewers around the world. To promote Vuelve, Martin embarked on the worldwide Vuelve Tour; he performed in Asia, Australia, Europe, Mexico, South America, and the United States.",
"To promote Vuelve, Martin embarked on the worldwide Vuelve Tour; he performed in Asia, Australia, Europe, Mexico, South America, and the United States. Although Latin music was not important to the Recording Academy or the mainstream music industry at the time, Tommy Mottola, then-chief of Columbia Records, was certain about Martin's stardom and pushed hard to have him on the Grammy Awards ceremony. During an interview with Billboard, Mottola told the magazine about it: \"There was tremendous resistance from the Grammys.",
"During an interview with Billboard, Mottola told the magazine about it: \"There was tremendous resistance from the Grammys. They did not want an 'unknown' to perform, yet we he had already sold 10 million copies of Vuelve worldwide. To me, that was absolutely UNACCEPTABLE.\"",
"To me, that was absolutely UNACCEPTABLE.\" To me, that was absolutely UNACCEPTABLE.\" Finally, on February 24, 1999, cavorting with a 15-piece band alongside and a large number of dancers and percussionists, Martin performed a bilingual version of \"La Copa de La Vida\" at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards, which was greeted with a massive standing ovation and met with acclaim from music critics. At the same night, Vuelve earned Martin his first Grammy award, for Best Latin Pop Performance.",
"At the same night, Vuelve earned Martin his first Grammy award, for Best Latin Pop Performance. After he accepted the award and expressed how important it was to the Latin community, the American singer-songwriter Madonna came on the stage and hugged him. 1999–2000: Crossover to English In October 1998, CNN confirmed that Martin has been working on his first English language album, following the huge success of Vuelve.",
"1999–2000: Crossover to English In October 1998, CNN confirmed that Martin has been working on his first English language album, following the huge success of Vuelve. In April 1999, Billboard revealed the album's title as Ricky Martin in an article, mentioning that the album was initially set for retail on May 25, 1999.",
"In April 1999, Billboard revealed the album's title as Ricky Martin in an article, mentioning that the album was initially set for retail on May 25, 1999. However, the huge interest in the disc, following Martin's performance at the Grammy Awards, encouraged Columbia Records to decide to rush the album to release two weeks ahead of schedule, on May 11. Tom Corson, the senior vice president of marketing at Columbia explained: \"Quite simply, the market has demanded it.",
"Tom Corson, the senior vice president of marketing at Columbia explained: \"Quite simply, the market has demanded it. People have been wanting this record for a while, and it's now reached the point where we have to get it out there immediately.\" Tim Devin, the general manager of Tower Records in New York added about Martin: \"He's always been one of our strongest Latin artists, but interest in him has picked up considerably since that performance.\"",
"Tim Devin, the general manager of Tower Records in New York added about Martin: \"He's always been one of our strongest Latin artists, but interest in him has picked up considerably since that performance.\" Ricky Martin debuted atop the US Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 661,000 copies, according to data compiled by Nielsen SoundScan, becoming the largest sales week by any album in 1999.",
"Ricky Martin debuted atop the US Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 661,000 copies, according to data compiled by Nielsen SoundScan, becoming the largest sales week by any album in 1999. It also broke the record as the largest first-week sales for any pop or Latin artist in history, as well as any Columbia Records artist during the SoundScan era. With this album, Martin became the first male Latin act in history to debut at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart.",
"With this album, Martin became the first male Latin act in history to debut at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart. It was certified 7× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), denoting shipments of over seven million copies in the US and breaking the record as the best-selling album by a Latin artist in the country. Only within three months, Ricky Martin became the best-selling album ever by a Latin artist.",
"Only within three months, Ricky Martin became the best-selling album ever by a Latin artist. According to different sources, the album has sold over 15 million copies or even 17 million copies worldwide. It was nominated for Best Pop Album at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards. The album was supported by four singles; the lead single \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" () topped the charts in more than 20 countries and is considered to be Martin's biggest hit, and one of the best-selling singles of all time.",
"The album was supported by four singles; the lead single \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" () topped the charts in more than 20 countries and is considered to be Martin's biggest hit, and one of the best-selling singles of all time. In the United States, it topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for five consecutive weeks, becoming Martin's first number one single on the chart. Additionally, it broke several records on Billboard charts.",
"Additionally, it broke several records on Billboard charts. Additionally, it broke several records on Billboard charts. It also spent eight consecutive weeks atop the Canada Top Singles chart and topped the country's year-end chart. In the United Kingdom, it debuted at number one and stayed there for three weeks, making Martin the first Puerto Rican artist in history to hit number one. The track was ranked as the best '90s pop song by Elle, and was listed among the Best Latin Songs of All Time by Billboard.",
"The track was ranked as the best '90s pop song by Elle, and was listed among the Best Latin Songs of All Time by Billboard. It was nominated for four categories at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards, including Record of the Year and Song of the Year. Its Spanish version reached the summit of the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart in the United States, and was nominated for Record of the Year at the 2000 Latin Grammy Awards.",
"Its Spanish version reached the summit of the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart in the United States, and was nominated for Record of the Year at the 2000 Latin Grammy Awards. \"She's All I Ever Had\" was released as the second single from the album in June 1999. It peaked at numbers two and three on the US Billboard Hot 100 and Canada Top Singles charts, respectively. The Spanish version, \"Bella\" () topped the charts in five countries, as well as Billboards Hot Latin Tracks chart.",
"The Spanish version, \"Bella\" () topped the charts in five countries, as well as Billboards Hot Latin Tracks chart. To further promote Ricky Martin, he embarked on the worldwide Livin' la Vida Loca Tour. In the United States, the Livin' la Vida Loca Tour was the highest-grossing tour of 2000 by a Latin artist, earning over $36.3 million with 44 dates and drawing 617,488 fans.",
"In the United States, the Livin' la Vida Loca Tour was the highest-grossing tour of 2000 by a Latin artist, earning over $36.3 million with 44 dates and drawing 617,488 fans. According to Billboard Boxscore, the tour grossed $51.3 million in Canada, Mexico, and the United States, with 60 shows and drawing an audience of 875,151. International dates were not reported to Boxscore and would push the tour's grosses higher.",
"According to Billboard Boxscore, the tour grossed $51.3 million in Canada, Mexico, and the United States, with 60 shows and drawing an audience of 875,151. International dates were not reported to Boxscore and would push the tour's grosses higher. 2000–2005: Sound Loaded, Almas del Silencio, and Life While the Livin' la Vida Loca Tour had not been concluded yet, Martin returned to the studio to record his sixth studio album, Sound Loaded. The album was released on November 14, 2000.",
"The album was released on November 14, 2000. The album was released on November 14, 2000. It debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 318,000 copies, according to data compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The album has sold over seven million copies or even eight million copies worldwide, according to different sources, being certified double platinum in the US. The album featured two hit singles, \"She Bangs\" and \"Nobody Wants to Be Lonely\".",
"The album featured two hit singles, \"She Bangs\" and \"Nobody Wants to Be Lonely\". The former reached number one in seven countries, including Italy and Sweden, as well as the top five in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and several other countries. It was nominated for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance at the 43rd Annual Grammy Awards.",
"It was nominated for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance at the 43rd Annual Grammy Awards. The Spanish-language version of \"She Bangs\" reached the summit of the Hot Latin Tracks chart and won the Latin Grammy Award for Best Music Video at the 2nd Annual Latin Grammy Awards. \"Nobody Wants to Be Lonely\" was re-recorded along with American singer Christina Aguilera, peaking at number one in five countries, as well as the top five in Italy, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom, among others.",
"\"Nobody Wants to Be Lonely\" was re-recorded along with American singer Christina Aguilera, peaking at number one in five countries, as well as the top five in Italy, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom, among others. It was nominated for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals at the 44th Annual Grammy Awards. The solo Spanish version, entitled \"Sólo Quiero Amarte\" topped the Hot Latin Tracks chart. Both \"She Bangs\" and \"Nobody Wants to Be Lonely\" are certified silver in the UK.",
"Both \"She Bangs\" and \"Nobody Wants to Be Lonely\" are certified silver in the UK. In February 2001, Martin released a Spanish compilation album entitled La Historia (), which spent five weeks at number one on the Top Latin Albums chart, topped the charts in Argentina and Sweden, and was certified quadruple Latin platinum in the United States.",
"In February 2001, Martin released a Spanish compilation album entitled La Historia (), which spent five weeks at number one on the Top Latin Albums chart, topped the charts in Argentina and Sweden, and was certified quadruple Latin platinum in the United States. Following the success of Ricky Martin and Sound Loaded, he initially planned to release the third English-language album as his seventh studio album, which was supposed to be his first complete work in the field of songwriting.",
"Following the success of Ricky Martin and Sound Loaded, he initially planned to release the third English-language album as his seventh studio album, which was supposed to be his first complete work in the field of songwriting. Despite Sony Music Entertainment's original plan, he decided to release a Spanish-language album: \"I woke up five months ago, and I said 'We're doing an album in Spanish.' Everyone went nuts.",
"Everyone went nuts. Everyone went nuts. They said, 'You don't have time; you have to release an album in English because of timing issues with your career.' And that's fine. But I told them, 'In five months, you'll have a kick-ass album' [in Spanish]. Martin's seventh studio album, Almas del Silencio () was released in May 2003.",
"Martin's seventh studio album, Almas del Silencio () was released in May 2003. It debuted atop the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart with first-week sales of 65,000 copies, according to data compiled by Nielsen SoundScan, breaking the record as the largest first-week sales for a Spanish-language album in the US. The album also debuted at number 12 on Billboard 200, tying the 2002 album, Quizás () as the chart's highest Spanish-language debut.",
"The album also debuted at number 12 on Billboard 200, tying the 2002 album, Quizás () as the chart's highest Spanish-language debut. The album also debuted at number one in \"at least 13 Latin American markets\" and sold over two million copies worldwide. Almas del Silencio spawned three Hot Latin Tracks chart-topper hits: \"Tal Vez\" (), \"Jaleo\", and \"Y Todo Queda en Nada\" ().",
"Almas del Silencio spawned three Hot Latin Tracks chart-topper hits: \"Tal Vez\" (), \"Jaleo\", and \"Y Todo Queda en Nada\" (). \"Tal Vez\" debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart on the week of April 12, 2003, marking the first number one debut since February 1998, and becoming the sixth song overall in the chart's history to do so.",
"\"Tal Vez\" debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart on the week of April 12, 2003, marking the first number one debut since February 1998, and becoming the sixth song overall in the chart's history to do so. It spent a total of 11 weeks at this position, surpassing \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" as Martin's longest number-one single on the chart, and was the longest-running number one of 2003. It also topped the charts in several Latin American markets.",
"It also topped the charts in several Latin American markets. In October 2005, Martin released his third English album, Life. He commented on the album: \"I was really in touch with my emotions. I think this album is very multi-layered, just like life is. It's about feeling anger. It's about feeling joy. It's about feeling uncertainty. It's about feeling. And all my emotions are part of this production\".",
"And all my emotions are part of this production\". To promote Life, Martin embarked on the worldwide One Night Only with Ricky Martin tour. 2006–2012: MTV Unplugged, Música + Alma + Sexo, and Evita Although Martin's team and MTV had discussed an MTV Unplugged for years, but it became more serious after Martin's the One Night Only tour, which featured an acoustic segment. Finally, Martin taped his MTV Unplugged set in Miami in August 2006, performing both romantic ballads and up-tempo tropical dance songs.",
"Finally, Martin taped his MTV Unplugged set in Miami in August 2006, performing both romantic ballads and up-tempo tropical dance songs. During the performance, he debuted three new tracks, including \"Tu Recuerdo\" (), which was released to radio stations as the lead single from his debut live album MTV Unplugged (2006). The album debuted at number one on the Top Latin Albums chart and sold over two million copies worldwide, marking his highest-certified album in Mexico.",
"The album debuted at number one on the Top Latin Albums chart and sold over two million copies worldwide, marking his highest-certified album in Mexico. It won two Latin Grammy awards and was nominated for Album of the Year. \"Tu Recuerdo\" reached number one in five countries, as well as the Billboards Hot Latin Songs and Latin Pop Airplay charts. The track was certified quadruple platinum in Mexico and was nominated for Record of the Year at the 8th Annual Latin Grammy Awards.",
"The track was certified quadruple platinum in Mexico and was nominated for Record of the Year at the 8th Annual Latin Grammy Awards. The artist then embarked on the Black and White Tour in 2007, including four sold-out shows at the José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum in Puerto Rico. The concerts in Puerto Rico were compiled into his second live album Ricky Martin... Live Black & White Tour (2007).",
"The concerts in Puerto Rico were compiled into his second live album Ricky Martin... Live Black & White Tour (2007). Later that year, he released his first Italian song, \"Non siamo soli\" () as a duet with Italian singer Eros Ramazzotti. The song debuted at number one in Italy and spent eleven consecutive weeks atop the chart. In January 2011, Martin launched his ninth studio album, Música + Alma + Sexo ().",
"In January 2011, Martin launched his ninth studio album, Música + Alma + Sexo (). The album debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200 chart, becoming the highest-charting primarily-Spanish language set since Dreaming of You (1995) by American singer Selena. It holds the record as the highest-charting Latin album of the 2010s, and represents the highest-ever chart debut on the Billboard 200 for a Sony Music Latin release.",
"It holds the record as the highest-charting Latin album of the 2010s, and represents the highest-ever chart debut on the Billboard 200 for a Sony Music Latin release. Música + Alma + Sexo also peaked at number one in Argentina and Venezuela, as well as Billboards Top Latin Albums.",
"Música + Alma + Sexo also peaked at number one in Argentina and Venezuela, as well as Billboards Top Latin Albums. Its lead single, \"Lo Mejor de Mi Vida Eres Tú\" (English: \"The Best Thing About Me Is You\") reached number one on the US Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart and was nominated for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Short Form Music Video at the 12th Annual Latin Grammy Awards.",
"Its lead single, \"Lo Mejor de Mi Vida Eres Tú\" (English: \"The Best Thing About Me Is You\") reached number one on the US Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart and was nominated for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Short Form Music Video at the 12th Annual Latin Grammy Awards. To promote the album, Martin embarked on the Música + Alma + Sexo World Tour in 2011.",
"To promote the album, Martin embarked on the Música + Alma + Sexo World Tour in 2011. In February 2012, he appeared as Spanish teacher David Martinez on the twelfth episode of the third season of the American musical television series Glee, The Spanish Teacher. Martin starred as Ché in the Broadway revival of the musical Evita from March 2012 to January 2013. The show became a hit, breaking the theatre's box-office sales record after only six performances.",
"The show became a hit, breaking the theatre's box-office sales record after only six performances. Sine then, it broke its own record six times and was nominated for Best Revival of a Musical at the 66th Tony Awards. The show's soundtrack album debuted at number one on Billboards cast album chart. 2013–2018: The Voice, A Quien Quiera Escuchar, and The Assassination of Gianni Versace Martin served as a coach on the second season of the Australian singing competition television series The Voice in 2013.",
"2013–2018: The Voice, A Quien Quiera Escuchar, and The Assassination of Gianni Versace Martin served as a coach on the second season of the Australian singing competition television series The Voice in 2013. In the same year, he released a compilation album, entitled Greatest Hits: Souvenir Edition, which reached number two in Australia, as well as a new single, entitled \"Come with Me\", which debuted at number three in the country.",
"In the same year, he released a compilation album, entitled Greatest Hits: Souvenir Edition, which reached number two in Australia, as well as a new single, entitled \"Come with Me\", which debuted at number three in the country. The artist then embarked on the Ricky Martin Live tour in Australia in October 2013. He continued serving as a coach on both the third and fourth seasons of The Voice Australia in 2014 and 2015, respectively.",
"He continued serving as a coach on both the third and fourth seasons of The Voice Australia in 2014 and 2015, respectively. In 2014, Lars Brandle from Billboard stated in an article: \"Through his high-profile slot on The Voice, Ricky's profile in Australia has never been as big as it is right now.\"",
"In 2014, Lars Brandle from Billboard stated in an article: \"Through his high-profile slot on The Voice, Ricky's profile in Australia has never been as big as it is right now.\" On February 25, 2014, Wisin released a song titled \"Adrenalina\" () from his album El Regreso del Sobreviviente (), which featured Jennifer Lopez and Martin, and became the Univision's 2014 World Cup song.",
"On February 25, 2014, Wisin released a song titled \"Adrenalina\" () from his album El Regreso del Sobreviviente (), which featured Jennifer Lopez and Martin, and became the Univision's 2014 World Cup song. It received commercial success, peaking in the top-five of Bulgaria, Mexico, Spain, and Billboards Hot Latin Songs chart. Its accompanying music video has accumulated over 850 million views on YouTube. Later that year, Martin released his single \"Vida\" () for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.",
"Later that year, Martin released his single \"Vida\" () for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The song reached the top five in Spain and on the US Hot Latin Songs chart. Also in 2014, he served as a coach on the fourth season of The Voice Mexico, and embarked on the Live in Mexico tour. In February 2015, Martin released his tenth studio album, A Quien Quiera Escuchar ().",
"In February 2015, Martin released his tenth studio album, A Quien Quiera Escuchar (). The album debuted at number one on Billboards Top Latin Albums chart and peaked at number one in Argentina. It won the award for Best Latin Pop Album at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards and Album of the Year at the 1st Latin American Music Awards. The album spawned three Hot Latin Songs top-10 hits: \"Adiós\" (), \"Disparo al Corazón\" (), and \"La Mordidita\" ().",
"The album spawned three Hot Latin Songs top-10 hits: \"Adiós\" (), \"Disparo al Corazón\" (), and \"La Mordidita\" (). \"Disparo al Corazón\" was nominated for both Record of the Year and Song of the Year at the 16th Annual Latin Grammy Awards. \"La Mordidita\" experienced huge commercial success, being certified 15× Latin platinum in the United States. Its accompanying music video has received over 1.2 billion views on YouTube.",
"Its accompanying music video has received over 1.2 billion views on YouTube. To promote the album, Martin embarked on the One World Tour from 2015 to 2017. He served as an executive producer and a judge on the American singing competition series La Banda (), which premiered in 2015 and 2016 on Univision. The first season was \"looking for the next Latin boy band\", while the second season was looking for a Latin girl band.",
"The first season was \"looking for the next Latin boy band\", while the second season was looking for a Latin girl band. The contestants would compete for a recording deal with Sony Music Latin and Syco Music. CNCO, known as the first boy band to make reggaeton, was the winner of the first season.",
"CNCO, known as the first boy band to make reggaeton, was the winner of the first season. Martin became their manager and produced the band's debut album, Primera Cita () (2016), along with Wisin; the album debuted at number one on Top Latin Albums and featured the hit single \"Reggaetón Lento (Bailemos)\" (). CNCO opened many dates on One World Tour in 2016.",
"CNCO opened many dates on One World Tour in 2016. In 2020, Leila Cobo from Billboard compared the group with Menudo, noting: \"Not since Menudo had a Latin boy band melted our hearts or made us dance quite like CNCO\". On September 23, 2016, Martin released a song called \"Vente Pa' Ca\" (), featuring Colombian singer Maluma.",
"On September 23, 2016, Martin released a song called \"Vente Pa' Ca\" (), featuring Colombian singer Maluma. The song became one of the biggest Spanish-language songs of 2016, reaching number one in seven countries, as well as Billboards Latin Airplay, Latin Pop Airplay, and Tropical Airplay charts. It also reached top five in Spain and on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs, being certified quadruple platinum in Spain and diamond in Mexico.",
"It also reached top five in Spain and on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs, being certified quadruple platinum in Spain and diamond in Mexico. The track was nominated for both Record of the Year and Song of the Year at the 18th Annual Latin Grammy Awards. The accompanying music video has received over 1.75 billion views on YouTube. Martin signed a concert residency, named All In, to perform at the Monte Carlo Resort and Casino in Las Vegas in 2017 and 2018.",
"Martin signed a concert residency, named All In, to perform at the Monte Carlo Resort and Casino in Las Vegas in 2017 and 2018. He portrayed fashion designer Gianni Versace's partner Antonio D'Amico in the FX true crime anthology television series The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, marking \"the acting opportunity of his career\". The role garnered him a nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Limited Series Or Movie at the 70th Primetime Emmy Awards.",
"The role garnered him a nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Limited Series Or Movie at the 70th Primetime Emmy Awards. Running from January to March 2018, The Assassination of Gianni Versace received generally favorable reviews and numerous awards and nominations, including three Primetime Emmy Awards, four Creative Arts Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, two Critics' Choice Television Awards, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. In February 2018, Martin released a song titled \"Fiebre\" (), featuring Wisin & Yandel.",
"In February 2018, Martin released a song titled \"Fiebre\" (), featuring Wisin & Yandel. The song was commercially successful in Latin America, reaching number one in Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, and Uruguay. It also reached the summit of the Billboard Latin Airplay and Latin Rhythm Airplay charts.",
"It also reached the summit of the Billboard Latin Airplay and Latin Rhythm Airplay charts. 2019–present: Amici di Maria De Filippi, PausaPlay, and Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey At the 61st Annual Grammy Awards, Martin performed \"Havana\", \"Pégate\" (), and \"Mi Gente\" (), alongside Camila Cabello, J Balvin, Young Thug, and Arturo Sandoval, as the opening performance.",
"2019–present: Amici di Maria De Filippi, PausaPlay, and Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey At the 61st Annual Grammy Awards, Martin performed \"Havana\", \"Pégate\" (), and \"Mi Gente\" (), alongside Camila Cabello, J Balvin, Young Thug, and Arturo Sandoval, as the opening performance. Martin served as a coach on the eighteenth season of the Italian talent show Amici di Maria De Filippi () in 2019.",
"Martin served as a coach on the eighteenth season of the Italian talent show Amici di Maria De Filippi () in 2019. In the same year, Maluma released a song called \"No Se Me Quita\" () from his album 11:11, which featured Martin. The song reached number one in Mexico and was certified quadruple platinum in the country. Martin hosted the 20th Annual Latin Grammy Awards in November 2019, along with Roselyn Sánchez and Paz Vega.",
"Martin hosted the 20th Annual Latin Grammy Awards in November 2019, along with Roselyn Sánchez and Paz Vega. The artist started recording his eleventh studio album, initially titled Movimiento (), in the second half of 2019, inspired by the 2019 political protests in Puerto Rico. He embarked on the Movimiento Tour in 2020.",
"He embarked on the Movimiento Tour in 2020. He embarked on the Movimiento Tour in 2020. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent personal experiences, he decided to split the tour's associated album in two extended plays, Pausa () and Play; the former was released in May 2020, while the latter is set to release as his eleventh studio album. Pausa was nominated for Album of the Year and won the award for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 21st Annual Latin Grammy Awards.",
"Pausa was nominated for Album of the Year and won the award for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 21st Annual Latin Grammy Awards. The second single from the EP, \"Tiburones\" () reached number one in Argentina and Puerto Rico, and was also nominated for Song of the Year at the 21st Annual Latin Grammy Awards. Martin starred as the voice of villainous miniature figure Don Juan Diego in the American Christmas musical fantasy film Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey.",
"Martin starred as the voice of villainous miniature figure Don Juan Diego in the American Christmas musical fantasy film Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey. The film was released on Netflix on November 13, 2020, and received generally favorable reviews. In April 2021, Martin released his hit single \"Canción Bonita\" () with Colombian singer Carlos Vives, which experienced huge commercial success in Latin America, reaching number one in 12 countries.",
"In April 2021, Martin released his hit single \"Canción Bonita\" () with Colombian singer Carlos Vives, which experienced huge commercial success in Latin America, reaching number one in 12 countries. It was also nominated for Song of the Year and Best Pop Song at the 22nd Annual Latin Grammy Awards. Later that year, he released \"Qué Rico Fuera\" () with Chilean-American singer Paloma Mami, as the lead single from Play.",
"Later that year, he released \"Qué Rico Fuera\" () with Chilean-American singer Paloma Mami, as the lead single from Play. The song peaked at number one in four countries, as well as the top 10 on Billboards Latin Pop Airplay. In the same year, he embarked on his first co-headlining tour, the Enrique Iglesias and Ricky Martin Live in Concert alongside Spanish singer Enrique Iglesias.",
"In the same year, he embarked on his first co-headlining tour, the Enrique Iglesias and Ricky Martin Live in Concert alongside Spanish singer Enrique Iglesias. Artistry Influences As a child, Martin used to sing songs by Menudo and American rock bands such as Led Zeppelin, Journey, and REO Speedwagon, which were what his \"older siblings were listening to at the time\". While Martin and his brothers spent their time listening to classic rock, their mother would interrupt them to make them listen to Latin music.",
"While Martin and his brothers spent their time listening to classic rock, their mother would interrupt them to make them listen to Latin music. She brought him CDs of Fania All-Stars, Celia Cruz, El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, and Gilberto Santa Rosa that slowly made him appreciate the richness of Puerto Rican culture. Also, she once took them to a Fania All-Stars concert, which Martin is \"beyond grateful\" for it.",
"Also, she once took them to a Fania All-Stars concert, which Martin is \"beyond grateful\" for it. He expresses that thanks to her mother, those influences had a \"profound effect\" on his musical career. Martin has also cited Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Michael Jackson, and Madonna for teaching him \"the beauty of pop\". He stated about Madonna: \"I was very influenced by her and her music. I know every choreography of Madonna.\"",
"I know every choreography of Madonna.\" I know every choreography of Madonna.\" Additionally, he mentions Carlos Santana, José Feliciano, Celia Cruz, and Gloria Estefan as the artists who paved the way for him, naming Feliciano as one of the people who inspired him when he was a teenager: \"I was always fascinated with his music.\" In addition to the musical influences, Martin is inspired by David Bowie's \"ambiguous sexuality\".",
"In addition to the musical influences, Martin is inspired by David Bowie's \"ambiguous sexuality\". While growing up, he used to ask himself if he wanted to be like the openly gay singer Elton John or he just liked him, admiring his music, colors, and wigs.",
"While growing up, he used to ask himself if he wanted to be like the openly gay singer Elton John or he just liked him, admiring his music, colors, and wigs. Musical styles and themes Considered to be a versatile artist, Martin describes his music as Latin pop, saying: \"When you say 'Latin pop', the spectrum is so broad, It's inevitable to not be influenced by everything that’s happening in the industry, but always keeping your identity firm by knowing who you are.\"",
"Musical styles and themes Considered to be a versatile artist, Martin describes his music as Latin pop, saying: \"When you say 'Latin pop', the spectrum is so broad, It's inevitable to not be influenced by everything that’s happening in the industry, but always keeping your identity firm by knowing who you are.\" He has also described his music as fusion, while noting that he does not \"ride the waves that are in fashion at the moment\".",
"He has also described his music as fusion, while noting that he does not \"ride the waves that are in fashion at the moment\". Music critics have described his songs as Latin pop, pop, dance, ballad, reggaeton, Latin, African, rock, salsa, flamenco, urban, samba, cumbia, merengue, rumba, Latin funk, bomba, batucada, vallenato, dancehall, mambo, Europop, house, disco, EDM, dance-pop, electro, techno, dubstep, world music, Middle Eastern, folk-pop, bossa nova, pop rock, soft pop, soft rock, R&B, gospel, jazz, trap, hip hop, doo-wop, ska, and rock' n' roll.",
"Music critics have described his songs as Latin pop, pop, dance, ballad, reggaeton, Latin, African, rock, salsa, flamenco, urban, samba, cumbia, merengue, rumba, Latin funk, bomba, batucada, vallenato, dancehall, mambo, Europop, house, disco, EDM, dance-pop, electro, techno, dubstep, world music, Middle Eastern, folk-pop, bossa nova, pop rock, soft pop, soft rock, R&B, gospel, jazz, trap, hip hop, doo-wop, ska, and rock' n' roll. Martin sings in Spanish, English, Portuguese, Italian, and French.",
"Martin sings in Spanish, English, Portuguese, Italian, and French. About his lyrics, Martin has emphasized that although his music will always make the listener dance, it does not mean his lyrics \"have to be meaningless\" and he sings about love and heartbreak, as well as \"things that are good for a society\", such as \"freedom, freedom of expression, and social justice\".",
"About his lyrics, Martin has emphasized that although his music will always make the listener dance, it does not mean his lyrics \"have to be meaningless\" and he sings about love and heartbreak, as well as \"things that are good for a society\", such as \"freedom, freedom of expression, and social justice\". He has also declared that as a Latino, he is not afraid of sexuality and sings about sexuality and sensuality, bringing his culture with him onstage.",
"He has also declared that as a Latino, he is not afraid of sexuality and sings about sexuality and sensuality, bringing his culture with him onstage. Voice Martin possesses a dramatic tenor vocal range. Peter Gilstrap from Variety commented that his \"powerful voice\" is \"capable of belt or lilt\", while The Jerusalem Posts Noa Amouyal described his voice as \"soulful\" and \"very powerful\". In 1995, Enrique Lopetegui of the Los Angeles Times noted Martin's \"improved vocal skills\" on A Medio Vivir.",
"In 1995, Enrique Lopetegui of the Los Angeles Times noted Martin's \"improved vocal skills\" on A Medio Vivir. Also from the Los Angeles Times, Ernesto Lechner later praised his vocal for being \"charismatic enough to handle both ballads and up-tempo tunes\". Similarly, Billboards Chuck Taylor expressed \"She's All I Ever Had\" boasts \"a versatility that contrasts nicely\" with Martin's previous single, \"Livin' la Vida Loca\", labeling his vocal on the former \"tender and heartfelt\".",
"Similarly, Billboards Chuck Taylor expressed \"She's All I Ever Had\" boasts \"a versatility that contrasts nicely\" with Martin's previous single, \"Livin' la Vida Loca\", labeling his vocal on the former \"tender and heartfelt\". Steve Gerrard of the Montreal Rocks complimented \"his vocal maturity\" on A Quien Quiera Escuchar.",
"Steve Gerrard of the Montreal Rocks complimented \"his vocal maturity\" on A Quien Quiera Escuchar. Music videos and performances Billboard labeled Martin \"a video icon\", and ranked him as the 79th Greatest Music Video Artist of All Time in 2020, stating: \"From the moment he sashayed up to the mic in 'Livin La Vida Loca' all dressed in black, and gave us that look, the Menudo alum became the most memorable and watchable drop-dead handsome guy in pop music.\"",
"Music videos and performances Billboard labeled Martin \"a video icon\", and ranked him as the 79th Greatest Music Video Artist of All Time in 2020, stating: \"From the moment he sashayed up to the mic in 'Livin La Vida Loca' all dressed in black, and gave us that look, the Menudo alum became the most memorable and watchable drop-dead handsome guy in pop music.\" He has collaborated with various directors to produce his music videos, including Carlos Perez, Wayne Isham, Jessy Terrero, Simón Brand, Gustavo Garzón, Nigel Dick, Kacho Lopez, and Memo del Bosque.",
"He has collaborated with various directors to produce his music videos, including Carlos Perez, Wayne Isham, Jessy Terrero, Simón Brand, Gustavo Garzón, Nigel Dick, Kacho Lopez, and Memo del Bosque. \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" was nominated for Video of the Year at the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards, making Martin the first Latin artist in history to receive a nomination in this category.",
"\"Livin' la Vida Loca\" was nominated for Video of the Year at the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards, making Martin the first Latin artist in history to receive a nomination in this category. It won two primary awards for Best Pop Video and Best Dance Video, and was voted three additional awards in the International Viewer's Choice categories, making it rank among the videos with most wins in the history of the MTV Video Music Awards.",
"It won two primary awards for Best Pop Video and Best Dance Video, and was voted three additional awards in the International Viewer's Choice categories, making it rank among the videos with most wins in the history of the MTV Video Music Awards. The explicit sexual scenes of the music video for \"She Bangs\" were met with criticism from the audience; several American television stations cut the scenes when airing the video.",
"The explicit sexual scenes of the music video for \"She Bangs\" were met with criticism from the audience; several American television stations cut the scenes when airing the video. According to the Daily Records John Dingwall, with the visual, Martin ditched his teen idol image by transforming to a more mature one. It was consequently banned in several Latin American countries, such as the Dominican Republic. Martin told MTV News that the video represented freedom rather than his sexuality.",
"Martin told MTV News that the video represented freedom rather than his sexuality. The video was awarded Best Music Video at the 2nd Annual Latin Grammy Awards, Best Clip of the Year — Latin at the 2001 Billboard Music Video Awards, and Video of the Year at the 13th Lo Nuestro Awards. Martin has been noticed for \"dance moves of his own\" and his \"bon-bon shaking dance moves\".",
"Martin has been noticed for \"dance moves of his own\" and his \"bon-bon shaking dance moves\". Carol Sandoval from VIX named him the \"best dancer on any stage worldwide\", highlighting his hips movement and \"successful turns\". He was ranked as the ninth best male dancer by the Evening Standard and the tenth Male Singer Who Can Dance by WatchMojo, being the only Latin entertainer on both lists. Writing for The Hollywood Reporter, Scott Feinberg introduced Martin as \"an incredible dancer\".",
"Writing for The Hollywood Reporter, Scott Feinberg introduced Martin as \"an incredible dancer\". Billboards Jessica Roiz labeled him \"a true showman\", noting his \"many outfit changes\", \"various dance performances\", and \"different stage set for each song\".",
"Billboards Jessica Roiz labeled him \"a true showman\", noting his \"many outfit changes\", \"various dance performances\", and \"different stage set for each song\". Jon Pareles of The New York Times described him as \"an all-around showman\" and Varietys Peter Gilstrap called him \"every inch the showman\", both recognizing his vocal abilities, while the former also commented he is \"a dancer as muscular and hard-working as anyone in his troupe\", mentioning his \"likable, good-hearted character\" and \"steadfast Puerto Rican pride\".",
"Jon Pareles of The New York Times described him as \"an all-around showman\" and Varietys Peter Gilstrap called him \"every inch the showman\", both recognizing his vocal abilities, while the former also commented he is \"a dancer as muscular and hard-working as anyone in his troupe\", mentioning his \"likable, good-hearted character\" and \"steadfast Puerto Rican pride\". Music critics have mostly praised his concerts for the choreographies, video screens, visual effects, stage, Latin influences, and Martin's vocals, costume changes, energy, sensuality, dance moves, and gestures, while the quality of sounds and sound mixes have received mixed reviews.",
"Music critics have mostly praised his concerts for the choreographies, video screens, visual effects, stage, Latin influences, and Martin's vocals, costume changes, energy, sensuality, dance moves, and gestures, while the quality of sounds and sound mixes have received mixed reviews. Billboards Marjua Estevez described Martin's performance of \"La Copa de la Vida\" at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards as \"the most memorable Latin performance at a Grammy Awards show\", and the publication ranked it as the 54th Greatest Award Show Performance of All Time on their 2017 list.",
"Billboards Marjua Estevez described Martin's performance of \"La Copa de la Vida\" at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards as \"the most memorable Latin performance at a Grammy Awards show\", and the publication ranked it as the 54th Greatest Award Show Performance of All Time on their 2017 list. The performance was additionally placed on a 2017 unranked list of \"Top 20 Best Grammy Performances of All Time\" by Gold Derby, and on a 2019 list of \"The Most Unforgettable Grammys Performances of All Time\" by InStyle.",
"The performance was additionally placed on a 2017 unranked list of \"Top 20 Best Grammy Performances of All Time\" by Gold Derby, and on a 2019 list of \"The Most Unforgettable Grammys Performances of All Time\" by InStyle. Public image Martin became a teen idol with his debut as a member of Menudo, and a pop icon following global fame as a solo artist. Journalists have written about his humble personality and \"beautiful soul\".",
"Journalists have written about his humble personality and \"beautiful soul\". Writing for The Hollywood Reporter, Scott Feinberg introduced Martin as \"one of the most acclaimed and admired creative artists ever\". La República staff described him as \"one of the most admired and desired singers\", while authors of ¡Hola!",
"La República staff described him as \"one of the most admired and desired singers\", while authors of ¡Hola! described him as \"one of the most respected Latin stars in the world\", \"one of the most prodigious voices in music in Spanish\", and \"one of the most beloved talents in the entertainment industry worldwide\".",
"described him as \"one of the most respected Latin stars in the world\", \"one of the most prodigious voices in music in Spanish\", and \"one of the most beloved talents in the entertainment industry worldwide\". Also from ¡Hola!, Cristina Noé named him \"one of the most loved artists in the world\", while a writer of Clarín named him \"one of the most applauded Latin singers on the planet\".",
"Also from ¡Hola!, Cristina Noé named him \"one of the most loved artists in the world\", while a writer of Clarín named him \"one of the most applauded Latin singers on the planet\". Metro Puerto Rico stated that he \"raised the name of Puerto Rico internationally\". He was ranked as one of the top-10 \"emerging personalities\" of 2010 by Google Zeitgeist.",
"He was ranked as one of the top-10 \"emerging personalities\" of 2010 by Google Zeitgeist. In 2014, Gay Star News referred to Martin as \"the most famous Latin pop star in the world\", while Variety described him as \"Puerto Rico's arguably most famous son\" in 2021. He is ranked as the second-most famous Latin music artist in the United States, according to YouGov surveys in 2021.",
"He is ranked as the second-most famous Latin music artist in the United States, according to YouGov surveys in 2021. During the 2000s, Martin was known for \"guarding his private life\" and being \"uncomfortable discussing intimate aspects of his personal life\"; he used to insist on asking public to focus on his music and \"steered interviewers away from his personal life\". However, he chose to live both his \"professional and personal life\", making his private life public since the early 2010s.",
"However, he chose to live both his \"professional and personal life\", making his private life public since the early 2010s. In 2021, he went on the cover of People with the title \"No More Secrets\" and told the magazine that he is \"a man with no secrets\", stating that he is \"more comfortable in his own skin than ever before\". Martin is one of the most followed celebrities on social media, with accounts on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok.",
"Martin is one of the most followed celebrities on social media, with accounts on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok. He stated about social media that he wishes he had \"something as powerful as\" them since his debut: \"Obviously I like to have direct contact with the public, with the media. It's extremely important, but today, from my home, I can talk to millions of people and see their immediate reaction.\"",
"It's extremely important, but today, from my home, I can talk to millions of people and see their immediate reaction.\" He is noticed for his friendly interactions with his fans, who are called \"Sexy Souls\". Wax statues of Martin are on display at the Madame Tussauds wax museums in San Francisco, Sydney, and Orlando. The last one was moved from Las Vegas to Orlando for the opening of the museum in spring 2015.",
"The last one was moved from Las Vegas to Orlando for the opening of the museum in spring 2015. Fashion Martin is considered to be a sex symbol, and journalists describe him as \"the Latin heartthrob\". His fashion and style evolution, from \"as '80s as you'd expect\" during his time with Menudo to \"a style groove, often opting for sharp, tailored suits with clean lines\" since 2009, has been noticed by the media. Natalia Trejo from ¡Hola!",
"Natalia Trejo from ¡Hola! Natalia Trejo from ¡Hola! described him as \"one of the most stylish Latin men in the entertainment industry\", highlighting his \"baggy leather pants\", \"tailored suits\", and \"color-block blazers\" that have marked \"some of the noteworthy trends of each decade\". The reviewer also commented that Martin is \"an example of mixing business with casual\" and has \"always had a personal sense of style\".",
"The reviewer also commented that Martin is \"an example of mixing business with casual\" and has \"always had a personal sense of style\". JD Institute of Fashion Technology views Martin as a fashion icon, praising him for \"pushing the fashion boundaries with every new look\". In 1997, he went on the cover of People en Españols first edition of 25 Most Beautiful; he has since \"been a constant presence\" on their 25 or 50 Most Beautiful lists.",
"In 1997, he went on the cover of People en Españols first edition of 25 Most Beautiful; he has since \"been a constant presence\" on their 25 or 50 Most Beautiful lists. Two years later, he was featured on the cover of both Rolling Stone and Time magazines. Martin is considered to be one of the sexiest men in the world, according to various publications. In 2012, he was voted the sexiest man alive on Broadway.com.",
"In 2012, he was voted the sexiest man alive on Broadway.com. The following year, VH1 ranked him as the 28th Sexiest Artist of All Time, stating: \"Ricky looks like the model in the magazine ads you stare at in awe thinking, 'There's no way he's that perfect in person'.\" In 2014, Entertainment Tonight listed him among the Sexiest Men Alive, while Revista Estilo placed him on the list of \"the 10 Sexiest Singers\" in 2016.",
"In 2014, Entertainment Tonight listed him among the Sexiest Men Alive, while Revista Estilo placed him on the list of \"the 10 Sexiest Singers\" in 2016. He was ranked at number 16 on the list of \"the 50 Hottest Men of All Time\" by Harper's Bazaar in 2018, being the only Latin man on their list. In 2019, TN described Martin as \"the sexiest man in the world\".",
"In 2019, TN described Martin as \"the sexiest man in the world\". He has been noted for looking younger than his age, with Billboards Chris Payne labeling him \"ageless\". The singer has attended several fashion shows, including the Giorgio Armani show at Milan Fashion Week in 2011, the Marc Jacobs show in 2013, the Berluti menswear spring-summer 2020 show at Paris Fashion Week, the Dior men's pre-fall 2020 show, and the Virgil Abloh Spring-Summer 2022 show held by Louis Vuitton.",
"The singer has attended several fashion shows, including the Giorgio Armani show at Milan Fashion Week in 2011, the Marc Jacobs show in 2013, the Berluti menswear spring-summer 2020 show at Paris Fashion Week, the Dior men's pre-fall 2020 show, and the Virgil Abloh Spring-Summer 2022 show held by Louis Vuitton. Personal life Sexual orientation and early relationships According to an interview with Rolling Stone in 1999, Martin experienced his first kiss at age 13 and lost his virginity at age 14 in Argentina.",
"Personal life Sexual orientation and early relationships According to an interview with Rolling Stone in 1999, Martin experienced his first kiss at age 13 and lost his virginity at age 14 in Argentina. In 1990, shortly after he had arrived in Mexico to star in Mama Ama el Rock, he met a woman, who was the host of a television show. They began dating quickly and broke up a few months later.",
"They began dating quickly and broke up a few months later. In 1992, he fell in love with Mexican singer Alejandra Guzmán, who was separated from her husband at the time. They began dating together until Guzmán returned to her husband and pretended Martin was her assistant on a phone call, while she was sleeping with her husband. In an interview with Univision, Martin admitted that she broke his heart. In the same year, Martin was rumored to have a relationship with Argentine tennis player Gabriela Sabatini.",
"In the same year, Martin was rumored to have a relationship with Argentine tennis player Gabriela Sabatini. Sabatini's sister-in-law, Catherine Fulop confirmed the rumor in 2020. During the time he was playing in General Hospital, he met a \"very handsome\" man at a radio station, \"stopped fearing [his] sexuality\", and started dating him.",
"During the time he was playing in General Hospital, he met a \"very handsome\" man at a radio station, \"stopped fearing [his] sexuality\", and started dating him. Martin's mother supported him when she discovered that he was in love with a man, saying: \"I love you, my son, I'm so happy for you. Bring it on. I'm right behind you.\"",
"Bring it on. I'm right behind you.\" I'm right behind you.\" However, after the relationship ended, Martin \"locked [his] feelings even deeper inside\" and began dating women again. He recalls: \"I already felt it was hard to be a Latino in Hollywood; what could have been more difficult than being Latino and gay?\" Martin began dating Mexican television host Rebecca de Alba in 1994; they were in an on-and-off relationship until 2005.",
"Martin began dating Mexican television host Rebecca de Alba in 1994; they were in an on-and-off relationship until 2005. In May 2021, Alba revealed that she became pregnant several times in her life, but lost all of the embryos, expressing that one of them belonged to Martin. Martin also had relationships with Lilly Melgar, Adriana Biega, Maital Saban, and Inés Misan during his break-up times with Alba in the late 1990s and early 2000s.",
"Martin also had relationships with Lilly Melgar, Adriana Biega, Maital Saban, and Inés Misan during his break-up times with Alba in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He declared that \"there was chemistry with them\" and he \"wasn't fooling anyone\". In August 2008, Martin became a father to twin boys named Matteo and Valentino, born via gestational surrogacy.",
"In August 2008, Martin became a father to twin boys named Matteo and Valentino, born via gestational surrogacy. He explained that he chose surrogacy to become a parent for being \"intriguing and faster\" than adoption, which was complicated and could take a long time. In March 2010, Martin publicly came out as gay via a message on his website, stating: \"I am proud to say that I am a fortunate homosexual man. I am very blessed to be who I am.\"",
"I am very blessed to be who I am.\" Years later, he revealed that although his music was \"heard all over the world\" and he \"could high five God\" in 1999, he \"wasn't living to the fullest\" and was sad and depressed. He kept asking himself, \"Am I gay? Am I bisexual? Am I confused? What am I? \", explaining: \"Sexuality is one complicated thing. It's not black and white. It's filled with colors.",
"It's not black and white. It's filled with colors. It's filled with colors. When I was dating women, I was in love with women. It felt right, it felt beautiful.\" In an interview with Vanity Fair, he declared: \"There was love, passion. I do not regret anything, any of the relationships I lived, they taught me a lot, both men and women.\" Martin also told Fama!",
"Martin also told Fama! Martin also told Fama! : \"I know that I like both men and women, I'm against sexual labels, we are simply human beings with emotional and sexual needs. I like to enjoy sex in total freedom, so I'm open to having sex with a woman if I feel desire.\" Despite this, he expressed that he wouldn't be interested in \"an ongoing relationship with a woman\", stating: \"Men are my thing\".",
"Despite this, he expressed that he wouldn't be interested in \"an ongoing relationship with a woman\", stating: \"Men are my thing\". In 2000, American broadcast journalist Barbara Walters asked Martin about his sexuality on national television: \"You could stop these rumors. You could say, 'Yes I am gay or no I'm not.'\"",
"You could say, 'Yes I am gay or no I'm not.'\" In 2021, Martin, who answered with \"I just don't feel like it\" at the time, revealed that her question made him \"felt violated\", since he \"was just not ready to come out\" and was \"very afraid\"; he said that it resulted \"a little PTSD\" that \"still haunts him\".",
"In 2021, Martin, who answered with \"I just don't feel like it\" at the time, revealed that her question made him \"felt violated\", since he \"was just not ready to come out\" and was \"very afraid\"; he said that it resulted \"a little PTSD\" that \"still haunts him\". Martin dated Puerto Rican economist Carlos González Abella from 2010 to 2014, as his first relationship with a man after his coming out as gay.",
"Martin dated Puerto Rican economist Carlos González Abella from 2010 to 2014, as his first relationship with a man after his coming out as gay. Marriage Syrian-Swedish painter Jwan Yosef shared a photo of himself and Martin on Instagram on March 30, 2016, with the caption: \"Obviously we're starting a band.\" Soon it was rumored that Yosef is Martin's new boyfriend. Martin confirmed their relationship on April 18, 2016, and they made their red carpet debut as a couple at the amfAR Inspiration Gala.",
"Martin confirmed their relationship on April 18, 2016, and they made their red carpet debut as a couple at the amfAR Inspiration Gala. Martin later revealed that he met Yosef on Instagram and they \"were talking for like six months without [him] hearing his voice\". Subsequently, Martin went to London, where Yosef were living, and they met each other. On November 15, 2016, during an interview on The Ellen Show, he announced that he has proposed to Yosef and they are engaged.",
"On November 15, 2016, during an interview on The Ellen Show, he announced that he has proposed to Yosef and they are engaged. In January 2018, Martin confirmed that he has secretly married Yosef: \"I'm a husband, but we're doing a heavy party in a couple of months, I'll let you know.\" On December 31, 2018, they announced that they have welcomed their first daughter together, named Lucia Martin-Yosef.",
"On December 31, 2018, they announced that they have welcomed their first daughter together, named Lucia Martin-Yosef. Martin later explained that Lucia was born on December 24, coinciding with his 47th birthday. In September 2019, while accepting an award at the 23rd annual Human Rights Campaign (HRC) National Dinner, he announced that they are expecting their fourth child.",
"In September 2019, while accepting an award at the 23rd annual Human Rights Campaign (HRC) National Dinner, he announced that they are expecting their fourth child. On October 29, 2019, he shared a photo of himself, Yosef, and their new-born son, named Renn Martin-Yosef, with the caption: \"Our son Renn Martin-Yosef has been born.\"",
"On October 29, 2019, he shared a photo of himself, Yosef, and their new-born son, named Renn Martin-Yosef, with the caption: \"Our son Renn Martin-Yosef has been born.\" Beliefs and religion During an interview with People in 2002, Martin expressed that he believes in \"love\", \"the power of healing\", and \"God\", thanks to his parents. The name he chose for his son Matteo means \"gift from God\".",
"The name he chose for his son Matteo means \"gift from God\". According to his statements in a 2021 interview, he still believes in God. He was raised Catholic but he said is not \"the person who would ever look down upon one religion\".",
"He was raised Catholic but he said is not \"the person who would ever look down upon one religion\". He expressed that he also admires and likes Buddhist philosophy, but does not subscribe to the religion, since if he does, he cannot \"be of anything else\"; he does not want to be limited in certain aspects and follow a religion's specific rules.",
"He expressed that he also admires and likes Buddhist philosophy, but does not subscribe to the religion, since if he does, he cannot \"be of anything else\"; he does not want to be limited in certain aspects and follow a religion's specific rules. He tries to remain \"open to everything\" and makes \"a concerted effort to always find new teachings and new paths\" everywhere he goes and in every situation he finds himself in.",
"He tries to remain \"open to everything\" and makes \"a concerted effort to always find new teachings and new paths\" everywhere he goes and in every situation he finds himself in. Martin believes that everyone can \"decide what makes them happy\" and although \"everyone needs to accept the life they were given\", it does not mean they \"should not live it as fully as possible\". Health and sports Martin began practicing yoga after a trip to Thailand in 1997.",
"Health and sports Martin began practicing yoga after a trip to Thailand in 1997. He also began practicing meditation following a trip to India. In 2021, he explained that he gets up every morning at 5:30, before his family and puts himself in a lotus position and oxygenates his body. He also expressed that has a gym in his house, saying: \"If I have space to see myself in the mirror and put on my products, then I also have to have space for my body.\"",
"He also expressed that has a gym in his house, saying: \"If I have space to see myself in the mirror and put on my products, then I also have to have space for my body.\" During an appearance on The Dr. Oz Show in 2017, Martin revealed that he \"was diagnosed with high cholesterol\" at age 18.",
"During an appearance on The Dr. Oz Show in 2017, Martin revealed that he \"was diagnosed with high cholesterol\" at age 18. Although he did not pay attention to the high cholesterol at the time, it made him decide to become a vegetarian since 2013 to reduce cholesterol, despite loving meat as \"a Latin man\". In 2020, he opened up that he suffered from anxiety for the first time in his life, following the COVID-19 lockdowns, stating that making music became his \"medicine\".",
"In 2020, he opened up that he suffered from anxiety for the first time in his life, following the COVID-19 lockdowns, stating that making music became his \"medicine\". Real estate In March 2001, Martin purchased a 7,082-square-feet house in Miami Beach for $6.4 million; he sold the unit for $10.6 million in 2005. In September 2004, he paid $11.9 million for a 11,000-square-feet Mediterranean-style villa in Los Angeles, which he sold in 2006 for $15 million.",
"In September 2004, he paid $11.9 million for a 11,000-square-feet Mediterranean-style villa in Los Angeles, which he sold in 2006 for $15 million. In May 2005, he purchased a 9,491-square-feet house in Miami Beach for $10 million; he sold the villa for $10.6 million in 2012. In 2007, he paid $16.2 million for a mansion in Golden Beach. He sold the property in 2012 for $12.8 million, incurring a loss.",
"He sold the property in 2012 for $12.8 million, incurring a loss. In the same year, he bought a 3,147-square-feet condominium in New York City for $5.9 million; he sold the condo for $7.1 million in 2017. In 2014, he rented a 900-square-metre mansion in Sydney, which became famous as \"the Bronte Wave House\" and was sold for $16 million in May 2015, marking one of the most expensive properties sold in the city that year.",
"In 2014, he rented a 900-square-metre mansion in Sydney, which became famous as \"the Bronte Wave House\" and was sold for $16 million in May 2015, marking one of the most expensive properties sold in the city that year. In December 2016, he purchased a 11,300-square-feet mansion in Beverly Hills. The estate, which is Martin's current house, has seven bedrooms and eight bathrooms with outdoor seating areas scattered throughout a 33,000-square-feet.",
"The estate, which is Martin's current house, has seven bedrooms and eight bathrooms with outdoor seating areas scattered throughout a 33,000-square-feet. It is a \"private getaway in the middle of the city\", located up the street from the Beverly Hills Hotel. Martin also owns a property in Puerto Rico and a private 19.7-acre island in Brazil. He purchased the latter for $8 million in 2008.",
"He purchased the latter for $8 million in 2008. Legacy and influence Martin has been regarded as the \"King of Latin Pop\" by various publications, such as the Grammy Awards, Billboard, Rolling Stone, Time, People, Vogue, The Independent, Entertainment Weekly, Entertainment Tonight Canada, NBC News, and ABC News.",
"Legacy and influence Martin has been regarded as the \"King of Latin Pop\" by various publications, such as the Grammy Awards, Billboard, Rolling Stone, Time, People, Vogue, The Independent, Entertainment Weekly, Entertainment Tonight Canada, NBC News, and ABC News. Additionally, he has been referred to as the \"King of Latin Music\", the \"Latin Pop God\", the \"Latin King of Pop\", the \"Latin American King of Pop\", the \"Latin King\", the \"Crossover Latin King\", the \"Puerto Rican Pop King\", the \"Salsa-Pop King\", and the \"King of World Cup\".",
"Additionally, he has been referred to as the \"King of Latin Music\", the \"Latin Pop God\", the \"Latin King of Pop\", the \"Latin American King of Pop\", the \"Latin King\", the \"Crossover Latin King\", the \"Puerto Rican Pop King\", the \"Salsa-Pop King\", and the \"King of World Cup\". Martin is known as one of the most influential artists in the world.",
"Martin is known as one of the most influential artists in the world. Billboard ranked him as one of the 30 Most Influential Latin Artists of All Time, while NBC News introduced him as an \"influential Latin celebrity\". In 2014, he won the award for the most influential international artist at the 18th China Music Awards.",
"In 2014, he won the award for the most influential international artist at the 18th China Music Awards. He was ranked among \"25 musicians who broke barriers\" by Stacker in 2019, while in 2020, Spin ranked him at number 27 on the list of \"most influential artists of the past 35 years\", as the only Latin artist on their list. In 2022, Show News named him \"the most influential global artist in history\".",
"In 2022, Show News named him \"the most influential global artist in history\". Martin's song \"María (Pablo Flores Remix)\", which was ranked among the \"Greatest Latin Pop Song of All Time\" by Rolling Stone, and \"11 remixes of classic Latin hits\" by Billboard, \"launched the Latin and dance music crossover of the '90s\", according to the latter.",
"Martin's song \"María (Pablo Flores Remix)\", which was ranked among the \"Greatest Latin Pop Song of All Time\" by Rolling Stone, and \"11 remixes of classic Latin hits\" by Billboard, \"launched the Latin and dance music crossover of the '90s\", according to the latter. Olivier Pérou from Le Point commented that \"some have even learned, thanks to him, to count to three in Spanish\" following the popularity of the song.",
"Olivier Pérou from Le Point commented that \"some have even learned, thanks to him, to count to three in Spanish\" following the popularity of the song. \"La Copa de la Vida\", which has been hailed as the Best World Cup Anthem of All-Time by multiple sources, became a \"musical template\" for World Cup anthems, and Martin's Latin and dance crossover style has been much copied in the anthems, as well as soccer chant \"Ole! Ole! Ole!\"",
"Ole! Ole!\" Ole!\" in the lyrics, according to The Hollywood Reporter. As believed by Esquire, the song \"inaugurated this musical subgenre\" of Latin. Joy Bhattacharjya from The Economic Times wrote about \"La Copa de la Vida\" that it was the first World Cup anthem to have a video just \"as ubiquitous as the song\", going on to write: \"Since then, official songs have an important part to play in every World Cup.\"",
"Joy Bhattacharjya from The Economic Times wrote about \"La Copa de la Vida\" that it was the first World Cup anthem to have a video just \"as ubiquitous as the song\", going on to write: \"Since then, official songs have an important part to play in every World Cup.\" In his review for Pitchfork, Corban Goble wrote that if World Cup anthems someday would be \"given their own textbook\", \"La Copa de la Vida\" would be \"the standard-bearer for the whole genre\".",
"In his review for Pitchfork, Corban Goble wrote that if World Cup anthems someday would be \"given their own textbook\", \"La Copa de la Vida\" would be \"the standard-bearer for the whole genre\". Martin is known as the pioneer in getting Latin pop music genre to mainstream recognition.",
"Martin is known as the pioneer in getting Latin pop music genre to mainstream recognition. Following his performance of \"The Cup of Life\" at the Grammys, and the success of \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" and Ricky Martin (1999), he opened the gates for many Latin artists such as Jennifer Lopez, Shakira, Christina Aguilera, Marc Anthony, Santana, and Enrique Iglesias who released their crossover albums and followed him onto the top of the charts.",
"Following his performance of \"The Cup of Life\" at the Grammys, and the success of \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" and Ricky Martin (1999), he opened the gates for many Latin artists such as Jennifer Lopez, Shakira, Christina Aguilera, Marc Anthony, Santana, and Enrique Iglesias who released their crossover albums and followed him onto the top of the charts. His performance of \"The Cup of Life\" at the Grammys not only changed the course of his career, but also altered how people regard Latin music in America.",
"His performance of \"The Cup of Life\" at the Grammys not only changed the course of his career, but also altered how people regard Latin music in America. It has been known as a game-changer for Latin music worldwide, that effectively ushered in the \"Latin explosion\". Then-United Talent Agency head Rob Prinz described the rendition as \"the single biggest game changing moment for any artist in the history of the Grammys\".",
"Then-United Talent Agency head Rob Prinz described the rendition as \"the single biggest game changing moment for any artist in the history of the Grammys\". According to Billboard, it has been cited as the beginning of the \"Latin Pop invasion\", which powerfully affected the US mainstream. Jesús Triviño Alarcón from Tidal Magazine stated, \"that single performance opened up the mainstream market for the Latinx legends\", mentioning the names of Anthony, Shakira, and Lopez.",
"Jesús Triviño Alarcón from Tidal Magazine stated, \"that single performance opened up the mainstream market for the Latinx legends\", mentioning the names of Anthony, Shakira, and Lopez. InStyle staff wrote about it: \"With his leather pants, big smile and energetic performance of 'The Cup of Life', Ricky Martin almost personally kicked off the so-called Latin Explosion of the late '90s.\"",
"InStyle staff wrote about it: \"With his leather pants, big smile and energetic performance of 'The Cup of Life', Ricky Martin almost personally kicked off the so-called Latin Explosion of the late '90s.\" Mariana Best of San Antonio Express-News commented that the performance \"is recognized for bringing Latin pop to the forefront of the U.S. music scene\".",
"Mariana Best of San Antonio Express-News commented that the performance \"is recognized for bringing Latin pop to the forefront of the U.S. music scene\". In 2018, Diego Urdaneta from Vice credited the song as \"one of those that laid the first stones so that J Balvin and Bad Bunnys of today can be at the top of the pyramid\", labeling it \"a milestone for Latin music\".",
"In 2018, Diego Urdaneta from Vice credited the song as \"one of those that laid the first stones so that J Balvin and Bad Bunnys of today can be at the top of the pyramid\", labeling it \"a milestone for Latin music\". According to Entertainment Tonight, \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" paved the way for a large number of other Latin artists, and is \"credited as the song that helped other Latin artists break through to English-speaking markets\".",
"According to Entertainment Tonight, \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" paved the way for a large number of other Latin artists, and is \"credited as the song that helped other Latin artists break through to English-speaking markets\". As believed by Spin, the song \"lit the fuse for the Latin pop explosion of the '90s\".",
"As believed by Spin, the song \"lit the fuse for the Latin pop explosion of the '90s\". Lucas Villa from Spin wrote about it: \"When the world went loca for Ricky, he led the way for other Latin music superstars like Spain's Enrique Iglesias, Colombia's Shakira and Nuyoricans like Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony to make their marks beyond the Spanish-speaking crowds.\" He also described Martin as \"a trailblazer in globalizing Latinx culture\" in his Grammy.com article.",
"He also described Martin as \"a trailblazer in globalizing Latinx culture\" in his Grammy.com article. Also from Grammy.com, Ernesto Lechner described \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" as \"the manifesto for all the fun-loving, tropically tinged Latin hit singles that followed\", stating that Martin led \"the Latin music explosion that took over the U.S. at the tail end of the '90s\". According to The Independent, the single is \"widely regarded as the song that began the first Latin pop explosion\".",
"According to The Independent, the single is \"widely regarded as the song that began the first Latin pop explosion\". Peoples Jason Sheeler credited it as the song that \"led the way for the late-'90s so-called 'Latin explosion' that dominated pop music into the new century: Shakira, Enrique Iglesias, Marc Anthony, and Jennifer Lopez\".",
"Peoples Jason Sheeler credited it as the song that \"led the way for the late-'90s so-called 'Latin explosion' that dominated pop music into the new century: Shakira, Enrique Iglesias, Marc Anthony, and Jennifer Lopez\". Angie Romero from Billboard wrote: \"If you look up 'crossover' in the dictionary, there should be a photo of Ricky shaking his bon bon and/or 'Livin' la Vida Loca'.\"",
"Angie Romero from Billboard wrote: \"If you look up 'crossover' in the dictionary, there should be a photo of Ricky shaking his bon bon and/or 'Livin' la Vida Loca'.\" Leila Cobo named \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" one of the genre's biggest singles of the past 50 years in his 2021 book Decoding \"Despacito\": An Oral History of Latin Music.",
"Leila Cobo named \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" one of the genre's biggest singles of the past 50 years in his 2021 book Decoding \"Despacito\": An Oral History of Latin Music. She also wrote about his impact in Shakira's \"Whenever, Wherever\" chapter: \"Ricky Martin’s phenomenal success opened the door for a string of Latin artists who waved the flags of their heritage, but who sang in English.\"",
"She also wrote about his impact in Shakira's \"Whenever, Wherever\" chapter: \"Ricky Martin’s phenomenal success opened the door for a string of Latin artists who waved the flags of their heritage, but who sang in English.\" Additionally, she compared Martin's song with Luis Fonsi's \"Despacito\" (2017) in one of her Billboard articles: \"'Livin', like 'Despacito', became not just a global hit but a cultural phenomena that transcended all barriers of language and nationality.\"",
"Additionally, she compared Martin's song with Luis Fonsi's \"Despacito\" (2017) in one of her Billboard articles: \"'Livin', like 'Despacito', became not just a global hit but a cultural phenomena that transcended all barriers of language and nationality.\" In another article, she described it as the song that \"ignited the late-'90s Latin explosion\".",
"In another article, she described it as the song that \"ignited the late-'90s Latin explosion\". Also from Billboard, Gary Trust wrote: \"The song helmed a Latin pop boom in the U.S., with Jenner Lopez, Marc Anthony and others crossing over, as well.\" Writing for LiveAbout.com, Bill Lamb credited the song as \"the record which kicked off a wave of major Latin performers hitting the pop mainstream\".",
"Writing for LiveAbout.com, Bill Lamb credited the song as \"the record which kicked off a wave of major Latin performers hitting the pop mainstream\". Jim Farber from Daily News noted that Ricky Martin \"provides a textbook example of how to mix Latin beats with pop tunes and rock intonations\". St. Louis Post-Dispatch critic Kevin C. Johnson described Martin as Latin music's \"pretty-faced poster boy\" who is \"taking the music to places Jon Secada, Selena and Santana never could\".",
"St. Louis Post-Dispatch critic Kevin C. Johnson described Martin as Latin music's \"pretty-faced poster boy\" who is \"taking the music to places Jon Secada, Selena and Santana never could\". He also mentioned that even \"Gloria Estefan at her peak, failed to muster up the kind of hype and hoopla surrounding Martin\".",
"He also mentioned that even \"Gloria Estefan at her peak, failed to muster up the kind of hype and hoopla surrounding Martin\". Celia San Miguel of Tidal Magazine stated that Martin \"highlighted the public's thirst for a different kind of pop\" in 1999, noting the album's \"fusion-heavy\" and \"hip-shaking rhythms associated with Latin music\".",
"Celia San Miguel of Tidal Magazine stated that Martin \"highlighted the public's thirst for a different kind of pop\" in 1999, noting the album's \"fusion-heavy\" and \"hip-shaking rhythms associated with Latin music\". She mentioned that the album \"spawned 1999's Latin music boom\", emphasizing the fact that Martin created the \"spark\" of the \"Latin Pop Explosion\", which was followed by 1999 albums, On the 6 by Lopez, Enrique by Iglesias, and Anthony's eponymous album.",
"She mentioned that the album \"spawned 1999's Latin music boom\", emphasizing the fact that Martin created the \"spark\" of the \"Latin Pop Explosion\", which was followed by 1999 albums, On the 6 by Lopez, Enrique by Iglesias, and Anthony's eponymous album. She continued crediting \"Martin and the paths he created\" responsible for the Latin music and Spanish and Spanglish lyrics being \"a commonplace phenomenon on English-language radio\" in 2019.",
"She continued crediting \"Martin and the paths he created\" responsible for the Latin music and Spanish and Spanglish lyrics being \"a commonplace phenomenon on English-language radio\" in 2019. In her review for Grammy.com, Ana Monroy Yglesias said Martin led a \"major music moment in 1999\" with Ricky Martin, and along with him, \"the first major boom of Spanish-language artists\", such as Shakira and Lopez, came into the \"U.S. pop landscape\".",
"In her review for Grammy.com, Ana Monroy Yglesias said Martin led a \"major music moment in 1999\" with Ricky Martin, and along with him, \"the first major boom of Spanish-language artists\", such as Shakira and Lopez, came into the \"U.S. pop landscape\". The late '90s Latin explosion also resulted in the launch of the Latin Recording Academy.",
"The late '90s Latin explosion also resulted in the launch of the Latin Recording Academy. Gabriel Abaroa Jr., the president and chief executive officer of the Latin Recording Academy, expressed that the plan of its launch was \"immediately after the Ricky Martin success\". Cuban American musician and producer Emilio Estefan added: \"After the success with Ricky Martin, everybody opened their eyes and realized how important it was to bring diversity and multiethnic elements into [mainstream American] music.\"",
"Cuban American musician and producer Emilio Estefan added: \"After the success with Ricky Martin, everybody opened their eyes and realized how important it was to bring diversity and multiethnic elements into [mainstream American] music.\" Many artists have cited Martin as an influence or declared themselves as his fan, including Abraham Mateo, Bad Bunny, Camila Cabello, Camilo, Carla Morrison, Christian Chávez, CNCO, Danna Paola, Enrique Iglesias, J Balvin, J-Hope, Jimin, Karol G, India Martínez, Luis Fonsi, Maite Perroni, Maluma, Neha Mahajan, Pedro Capó, Prince Royce, Rauw Alejandro, Rosalía, Sebastián Ligarde, Sebastián Yatra, Shakira, Tini, Vadhir Derbez, William Hung, Wisin, and Ximena Sariñana.",
"Many artists have cited Martin as an influence or declared themselves as his fan, including Abraham Mateo, Bad Bunny, Camila Cabello, Camilo, Carla Morrison, Christian Chávez, CNCO, Danna Paola, Enrique Iglesias, J Balvin, J-Hope, Jimin, Karol G, India Martínez, Luis Fonsi, Maite Perroni, Maluma, Neha Mahajan, Pedro Capó, Prince Royce, Rauw Alejandro, Rosalía, Sebastián Ligarde, Sebastián Yatra, Shakira, Tini, Vadhir Derbez, William Hung, Wisin, and Ximena Sariñana. Both Maluma and J Balvin have described Martin as a \"teacher\" and credited him as an artist who \"opened the doors\" for them, while Maluma has also expressed: \"Ricky Martin is one of the artists I wanted to be growing up.",
"Both Maluma and J Balvin have described Martin as a \"teacher\" and credited him as an artist who \"opened the doors\" for them, while Maluma has also expressed: \"Ricky Martin is one of the artists I wanted to be growing up. He's my idol in the industry\".Citations regarding J Balvin's statements about Martin: Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny talked about Martin's legacy during an episode of Behind the Music: \"There's no doubt that he opened the door for an entire generation of Latin artists.",
"He's my idol in the industry\".Citations regarding J Balvin's statements about Martin: Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny talked about Martin's legacy during an episode of Behind the Music: \"There's no doubt that he opened the door for an entire generation of Latin artists. I am doing great things today in the music industry thanks to those doors that he opened.\"",
"I am doing great things today in the music industry thanks to those doors that he opened.\" He also mentioned that he is inspired by Martin's coming out as gay: \"You don't have to be gay to be inspired by that action of honesty and freedom, of being yourself against the world despite everything you deserve. I look at it like a very inspiring moment for anybody. At least for me, it's very inspirational.\"",
"At least for me, it's very inspirational.\" Brazilian singer-songwriter Anitta explained to The Guardian that \"some Latin stars such as Maluma and Bad Bunny sing in their native language\" and do not need to sing in English to get noticed, because they already had representatives like Shakira, Martin, and Jennifer Lopez, but since her country \"hasn't had a major international pop star before\", she uses \"whatever language will get the market's attention\".",
"Brazilian singer-songwriter Anitta explained to The Guardian that \"some Latin stars such as Maluma and Bad Bunny sing in their native language\" and do not need to sing in English to get noticed, because they already had representatives like Shakira, Martin, and Jennifer Lopez, but since her country \"hasn't had a major international pop star before\", she uses \"whatever language will get the market's attention\". Portrayal in television In July 2019, SOMOS Productions, Endemol Shine Boomdog, and Piñolywood Studios announced the production of a biographical web television series about Menudo, titled Subete a Mi Moto.",
"Portrayal in television In July 2019, SOMOS Productions, Endemol Shine Boomdog, and Piñolywood Studios announced the production of a biographical web television series about Menudo, titled Subete a Mi Moto. Consisting of 15 episodes of 60 minutes each, the series premiered on Amazon Prime Video on October 9, 2020 in Mexico, Latin America, and Spain. It was filmed in Mexico and Puerto Rico, and Martin was portrayed by actors Felipe Albors and Ethan Schwartz.",
"It was filmed in Mexico and Puerto Rico, and Martin was portrayed by actors Felipe Albors and Ethan Schwartz. The series premiered in the United States on February 14, 2021 on Estrella TV. On the review aggregation website Tomatazos, the first season has a positive score of 75%. The website's critical consensus summary states, \"A good trip to the past that recalls a band that defined the youth of a certain public, but that doesn't ignore the darkest moments in the lives of its members.\"",
"The website's critical consensus summary states, \"A good trip to the past that recalls a band that defined the youth of a certain public, but that doesn't ignore the darkest moments in the lives of its members.\" Other ventures Books On August 19, 2010, Martin announced that he had been working on his memoir, mentioning its title as Me and publish date as November 2, 2010. He expressed that writing the book was \"one of the reasons\" he decided to come out earlier that year.",
"He expressed that writing the book was \"one of the reasons\" he decided to come out earlier that year. The book also had a Spanish edition title Yo (), which was published simultaneously by Celebra. He stated that writing his memoir allowed him \"to explore the different paths and experiences\" that have led him to be who he is, noting that it \"was not easy but allowed for an incredible spiritual journey\". Me spent several weeks at number one on the New York Times Best Seller list.",
"Me spent several weeks at number one on the New York Times Best Seller list. In 2019, ¡Hola! staff ranked the book among \"12 Books by Celebrities to Inspire and Motivate You\", while Book Riot placed it on an unranked list of the \"Best Celebrity Books You Should Read This Year\" in 2020. Martin's first children's book Santiago the Dreamer in Land Among the Stars was published by Celebra and illustrated by Patricia Castelao in November 2013 for ages between five to nine.",
"Martin's first children's book Santiago the Dreamer in Land Among the Stars was published by Celebra and illustrated by Patricia Castelao in November 2013 for ages between five to nine. Its Spanish-language edition, Santiago El Soñador en Entre Las Estrellas, was published simultaneously. Martin expressed that the book was inspired by his \"personal life, with fantasy added to it\", as well as \"a lot of cartoons\".",
"Martin expressed that the book was inspired by his \"personal life, with fantasy added to it\", as well as \"a lot of cartoons\". Products and endorsements Martin endorsed the 2012 Viva Glam campaign with Trinidadian rapper Nicki Minaj, which raised $270 million for the Mac AIDS Fund. In October 2020, Martin announced that he would launch his company, Martin Music Lab in partnership with music engineers Jaycen Joshua and Michael Seaberg.",
"In October 2020, Martin announced that he would launch his company, Martin Music Lab in partnership with music engineers Jaycen Joshua and Michael Seaberg. The company is centered around a new audio technique called \"Orbital Audio\", that \"creates a new type of immersive, headphone listening experience\". Martin used the technique on his EP Pausa, while several artists including Bad Bunny, Residente, Myke Towers, and A$AP Rocky are going to work with the company.",
"Martin used the technique on his EP Pausa, while several artists including Bad Bunny, Residente, Myke Towers, and A$AP Rocky are going to work with the company. The latter plans to release his whole upcoming studio album, using \"Orbital Audio\". Martin is going to expand the technique \"beyond the music industry and tap into the movies, sports and, most notably, the wellness and meditation space\". In 2021, Martin partnered with skin care company Kumiko.",
"In 2021, Martin partnered with skin care company Kumiko. The skincare line, created by Chilean cosmetologist Catalina Aguirre, is the first to combine \"mesotherapy, matcha, and cutting-edge European technology into unique multi-action formulas that penetrate the dermis with powerful anti-aging properties and lifting benefits\". Activism Philanthropy While on a trip to India in 2002, Martin witnessed three minor girls who were about to be sold into prostitution and rescued them.",
"Activism Philanthropy While on a trip to India in 2002, Martin witnessed three minor girls who were about to be sold into prostitution and rescued them. The following year, he became a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and then met with activists and decided to fight against human trafficking, which is the second-most lucrative crime in the world.",
"The following year, he became a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and then met with activists and decided to fight against human trafficking, which is the second-most lucrative crime in the world. In 2004, Martin launched the Ricky Martin Foundation, a non-profit, non-governmental organization that focuses on denouncing human trafficking and educating about the crime's \"existence through research and community initiatives, anchored in the defense of children and youth rights\". In the same year, he appealed to the United Nations for international help to fight against sex tourism.",
"In the same year, he appealed to the United Nations for international help to fight against sex tourism. In January 2005, following the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, Martin visited Thailand to assess the needs of the minor survivors who were \"extremely vulnerable to traffickers\". Later that year, the Ricky Martin Foundation signed an alliance in partnership with Habitat for Humanity to construct 224 homes for the tsunami-affected families. The project was completed in December 2006.",
"The project was completed in December 2006. The project was completed in December 2006. In March 2006, the foundation collaborated with the International Organization for Migration in the Llama y Vive () campaign, which focuses on facilitating \"the prevention of human trafficking and the protection of young people, victims of child trafficking and prosecution of traffickers\". In January 2010, along with many celebrities, Martin operated the charity telethon Hope for Haiti Now to raise donations for the 2010 Haiti earthquake.",
"In January 2010, along with many celebrities, Martin operated the charity telethon Hope for Haiti Now to raise donations for the 2010 Haiti earthquake. Later that year, the Ricky Martin Foundation created the first program of community social action against child trafficking in Martin's native Puerto Rico, titled \"Se Trata\" (). In 2012, the foundation participated in the making of the Child Protection Model Law on the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children.",
"In 2012, the foundation participated in the making of the Child Protection Model Law on the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children. In 2016, Martin visited Syrian refugees in Lebanon and played with the children and talked to them in an informal refugee camp.",
"In 2016, Martin visited Syrian refugees in Lebanon and played with the children and talked to them in an informal refugee camp. Following the Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico in 2017, the Ricky Martin Foundation helped people and handed over homes that were rebuilt after the losses; Martin launched a viral campaign of selling a black T-shirt with the Puerto Rican flag stamped on it in order to raise the funds.",
"Following the Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico in 2017, the Ricky Martin Foundation helped people and handed over homes that were rebuilt after the losses; Martin launched a viral campaign of selling a black T-shirt with the Puerto Rican flag stamped on it in order to raise the funds. The T-shirts were designed by Martin's twin boys Matteo and Valentino, while many celebrities including Will Smith, Bad Bunny, Marc Anthony, Luis Fonsi, and Maluma supported the campaign.",
"The T-shirts were designed by Martin's twin boys Matteo and Valentino, while many celebrities including Will Smith, Bad Bunny, Marc Anthony, Luis Fonsi, and Maluma supported the campaign. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Martin created a campaign to help health care workers through the non-profit organization Project Hope. He expressed: \"As you know, health care professionals are extremely vulnerable and professionals around the world don’t have personal protection equipment they need to prevent them getting infected.\"",
"He expressed: \"As you know, health care professionals are extremely vulnerable and professionals around the world don’t have personal protection equipment they need to prevent them getting infected.\" In February 2021, Martin collaborated with Antonia Novello to launch mass vaccination events in Puerto Rico.",
"In February 2021, Martin collaborated with Antonia Novello to launch mass vaccination events in Puerto Rico. Following the murder of George Floyd and Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, Martin honored an effort called \"Black Out Tuesday\" and launched the hashtag #knowthestruggle, giving his social media to the voices of the community that are \"looking for justice\", to learn more about what is happening.",
"Following the murder of George Floyd and Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, Martin honored an effort called \"Black Out Tuesday\" and launched the hashtag #knowthestruggle, giving his social media to the voices of the community that are \"looking for justice\", to learn more about what is happening. For his humanitarian efforts and fighting against human trafficking, Martin has been honored with numerous accolades, including the Peace Summit Award by the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates, the TIP Report Hero Award by the United States Department of State, the Spirit of Hope Award by Billboard Latin Music Awards, the Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year Award, the Award of Inspiration by amfAR Gala, the Leader of Change Award by the Foundation for Social Change, the Humanitarian Award by the Global Gift Foundation, the Humanitarian Award by the Hispanic Federation, the Corazón Latino Award by the iHeartRadio Fiesta Latina, the International Humanitarian Award by the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the Agent of Change Award by the International Peace Honors, the PODER Social Leadership Awards, and the Agent of Change Award by the Premios Juventud.",
"For his humanitarian efforts and fighting against human trafficking, Martin has been honored with numerous accolades, including the Peace Summit Award by the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates, the TIP Report Hero Award by the United States Department of State, the Spirit of Hope Award by Billboard Latin Music Awards, the Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year Award, the Award of Inspiration by amfAR Gala, the Leader of Change Award by the Foundation for Social Change, the Humanitarian Award by the Global Gift Foundation, the Humanitarian Award by the Hispanic Federation, the Corazón Latino Award by the iHeartRadio Fiesta Latina, the International Humanitarian Award by the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the Agent of Change Award by the International Peace Honors, the PODER Social Leadership Awards, and the Agent of Change Award by the Premios Juventud. Politics On January 20, 2001, during the first inauguration of George W. Bush, Martin performed \"The Cup of Life\" and danced with him.",
"Politics On January 20, 2001, during the first inauguration of George W. Bush, Martin performed \"The Cup of Life\" and danced with him. Martin's view of Bush changed over the Iraq War, as expressed in his declaration to BBC News that he will \"always condemn war and those who promulgate it\". He also stuck up his middle finger while singing the president's name in his 2003 song \"Asignatura Pendiente\" at a concert.",
"He also stuck up his middle finger while singing the president's name in his 2003 song \"Asignatura Pendiente\" at a concert. At the 2010 Billboard Latin Music Awards, Martin expressed his disagreement with the Arizona SB 1070 bill, a proposed law that would have required police officers to request documents from individuals whom they suspected to be illegal immigrants.",
"At the 2010 Billboard Latin Music Awards, Martin expressed his disagreement with the Arizona SB 1070 bill, a proposed law that would have required police officers to request documents from individuals whom they suspected to be illegal immigrants. Martin campaigned for the 44th president of the United States Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, and thanked him for an \"outstanding presidency\" in 2016, while calling him \"an amazing leader\".",
"Martin campaigned for the 44th president of the United States Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, and thanked him for an \"outstanding presidency\" in 2016, while calling him \"an amazing leader\". Also in 2016, he was an active ally to the Democratic Party presidential candidate Hillary Clinton campaign, while condemning Donald Trump's hateful comments about immigrants. He also performed his hits during the \"Hillary Clinton: She's With Us\" concert at the Greek Theatre on June 6, 2016.",
"He also performed his hits during the \"Hillary Clinton: She's With Us\" concert at the Greek Theatre on June 6, 2016. Telegramgate, also known as Chatgate, was a political scandal involving Ricardo Rosselló, then Governor of Puerto Rico, which began on July 8, 2019, with the leak of hundreds of pages of a group chat on the messaging application Telegram between Rosselló and members of his cabinet. The messages were considered vulgar, misogynistic, and homophobic toward several individuals and groups, including Martin.",
"The messages were considered vulgar, misogynistic, and homophobic toward several individuals and groups, including Martin. Therefore, Martin, Bad Bunny, Residente and several other artists, and more than half a million Puerto Ricans led the call to take to the streets of Puerto Rico, demanding Rosselló's resignation. In September 2020, Martin, Luis Fonsi, and actress Eva Longoria attended a campaign event in Kissimmee, Florida to support the Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden for the 2020 United States presidential election.",
"In September 2020, Martin, Luis Fonsi, and actress Eva Longoria attended a campaign event in Kissimmee, Florida to support the Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden for the 2020 United States presidential election. During an interview with Variety, Martin stated: \"I've been supporting Biden forever, I think he is the only option we have and he is great and he has been in politics all his life. This is the moment. We all need to get together and be loud about the course of this nation.\"",
"We all need to get together and be loud about the course of this nation.\" Following the election of Biden as 45th president of the United States, Martin said \"Bye-bye\" to Trump on social media, and shared a photo of himself along with Biden on Instagram. In May 2021, Martin demonstrated his support for the Ni una menos movement, condemning femicides and violence against women in Puerto Rico, while calling authorities to protect women.",
"In May 2021, Martin demonstrated his support for the Ni una menos movement, condemning femicides and violence against women in Puerto Rico, while calling authorities to protect women. He further expressed that no woman should fear for her safety and urged authorities to take steps in order to prevent these acts. In the same month, he supported the 2021 Colombian protests.",
"In the same month, he supported the 2021 Colombian protests. Later that year, the singer raised his voice in support of the 2021 Cuban protests against the Castro regime for the restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic crisis, stating: \"This is very important. Our brothers and sisters in Cuba need us to inform the world what they are experiencing today. Let's fill the networks before they remove the internet in the country. Humanitarian aid for Cuba NOW.\"",
"Humanitarian aid for Cuba NOW.\" Humanitarian aid for Cuba NOW.\" LGBT advocacy As a gay man, Martin actively supports LGBT rights worldwide since his coming out in 2010. Even before coming out, he was noted by the mainstream media for being popular among gay men and having a large gay fan base. He also went on the cover of the American LGBT-interest magazine The Advocate in July 1999.",
"He also went on the cover of the American LGBT-interest magazine The Advocate in July 1999. Despite this, he admitted that he felt homosexuality was evil since he was raised as a Catholic and targeted his anger toward others, especially gay men: \"I was very angry, very rebellious. I used to look at gay men and think, 'I'm not like that, I don't want to be like that, that's not me.' I was ashamed.\"",
"I was ashamed.\" I was ashamed.\" He added that he \"had internalized homophobia\" back then. He is currently considered to be a gay icon, with PinkNews labeling him \"a strong advocate of LGBT rights\" who \"expressed support for equal marriage\" since coming out. As the first mainstream Latin music artist to come out, Martin's coming out was a game-changer for \"Latin Pride\".",
"As the first mainstream Latin music artist to come out, Martin's coming out was a game-changer for \"Latin Pride\". Billboards Lucas Villa stated: \"With Martin's announcement, gay artists, who had long kept their sexual identities a secret, finally had a beacon of hope. If Martin could come out with his career unscathed, there was hope for other artists in Latin music to start doing the same.\"",
"If Martin could come out with his career unscathed, there was hope for other artists in Latin music to start doing the same.\" He added that since then, \"a growing number of Latin artists have either come out after years in the spotlight, or many have simply started their careers by embracing their gay identities\".",
"He added that since then, \"a growing number of Latin artists have either come out after years in the spotlight, or many have simply started their careers by embracing their gay identities\". In 2010, GLAAD then-president Jarrett Barrios expressed that Martin's coming out as gay leads \"hundreds of millions of people\" to have \"a cultural connection with an artist, a celebrity and, perhaps most importantly, a father who happens to be gay\", adding that \"his decision to model this kind of openness and honesty can lead to greater acceptance for countless gay people in U.S., in Latin America and worldwide\".",
"In 2010, GLAAD then-president Jarrett Barrios expressed that Martin's coming out as gay leads \"hundreds of millions of people\" to have \"a cultural connection with an artist, a celebrity and, perhaps most importantly, a father who happens to be gay\", adding that \"his decision to model this kind of openness and honesty can lead to greater acceptance for countless gay people in U.S., in Latin America and worldwide\". In 2019, Human Rights Campaign then-president Alphonso David expressed that Martin \"has used his international stage to advocate for LGBTQ people around the world\" with his \"unique voice and passionate activism\".",
"In 2019, Human Rights Campaign then-president Alphonso David expressed that Martin \"has used his international stage to advocate for LGBTQ people around the world\" with his \"unique voice and passionate activism\". The following year, Suzy Exposito from Rolling Stone argued that with risking his career and coming out, Martin \"set the scene for Bad Bunny to be free in many ways that, during his own breakthrough moment, he could not\". Martin expressed support for same-sex marriage during an interview on Larry King Live in 2010.",
"Martin expressed support for same-sex marriage during an interview on Larry King Live in 2010. He has then delivered speeches about LGBT rights at the United Nations Homophobia Conference, the GLAAD Media Awards, and the Human Rights Campaign. He also raised his voice to support gay marriage in Puerto Rico before its legalization in 2015. In March 2016, Martin met with Chilean LGBT rights group Fundación Iguales to learn about the challenges LGBT citizens face there.",
"In March 2016, Martin met with Chilean LGBT rights group Fundación Iguales to learn about the challenges LGBT citizens face there. AT the meeting, he said that he wants \"equal marriage rights for Chile\" and he wants his sons to grow up in a world where \"there are no second-class citizens\". Following the Colombia's highest court voting against an anti same-sex marriage proposal in April 2016, Martin tweeted: \"Love and equality win, Colombia says YES to same-sex marriage.\"",
"Following the Colombia's highest court voting against an anti same-sex marriage proposal in April 2016, Martin tweeted: \"Love and equality win, Colombia says YES to same-sex marriage.\" During an interview with Vulture, Martin talked about his role in The Assassination of Gianni Versace and how he wanted his portrayal to help \"normalize open relationships\".",
"During an interview with Vulture, Martin talked about his role in The Assassination of Gianni Versace and how he wanted his portrayal to help \"normalize open relationships\". In June 2019, he published an open letter slamming the religious liberty bill, saying: \"As a defender of human rights and a member of the LGBTT community, I am vehemently opposed to the proposed measure imposed upon us under the guise of religious freedom, that projects us to the world as a backwards country.\"",
"In June 2019, he published an open letter slamming the religious liberty bill, saying: \"As a defender of human rights and a member of the LGBTT community, I am vehemently opposed to the proposed measure imposed upon us under the guise of religious freedom, that projects us to the world as a backwards country.\" Puerto Rico's then-governor backed down and withdrew his support of the bill following Martin's statement.",
"Puerto Rico's then-governor backed down and withdrew his support of the bill following Martin's statement. In June 2020, Martin performed his song \"Recuerdo\" with Carla Morrison for a virtual event, Can't Cancel Pride: Helping LGBTQ+ People in Need, to raise visibility and funds for LGBTQ+ communities. He appeared at the virtual event in the following year as well.",
"He appeared at the virtual event in the following year as well. In February 2021, Martin was named national spokesperson for the onePULSE Foundation, a non-profit organization that focuses on managing \"the design and construction of the permanent national memorial and museum dedicated to the Pulse nightclub tragedy\". Later that year, he expressed that he wants to \"normalize families like\" his, in an interview with People.",
"Later that year, he expressed that he wants to \"normalize families like\" his, in an interview with People. Several of Martin's music videos feature diversity in sexual orientations and same-sex couples, including \"The Best Thing About Me Is You\", \"Disparo al Corazón\", \"Fiebre\", and \"Tiburones\".",
"Several of Martin's music videos feature diversity in sexual orientations and same-sex couples, including \"The Best Thing About Me Is You\", \"Disparo al Corazón\", \"Fiebre\", and \"Tiburones\". For his activism and advocacy for LGBTQ community, Martin has been honored with numerous accolades, including the GLAAD Vito Russo Award, the Gala Vanguard Award by the Los Angeles LGBT Center, the International Icon Award by the British LGBT Awards, the National Visibility Award by the Human Rights Campaign, the Trailblazer Award by the LGBT Center Dinner, the Celebrity Activist of the Year by LGBTQ Nation, and the Legacy Award by Attitude Awards.",
"For his activism and advocacy for LGBTQ community, Martin has been honored with numerous accolades, including the GLAAD Vito Russo Award, the Gala Vanguard Award by the Los Angeles LGBT Center, the International Icon Award by the British LGBT Awards, the National Visibility Award by the Human Rights Campaign, the Trailblazer Award by the LGBT Center Dinner, the Celebrity Activist of the Year by LGBTQ Nation, and the Legacy Award by Attitude Awards. Achievements Throughout his career, Martin has won over 200 awards (most awarded male Latin artist), including two Grammy Awards, five Latin Grammy Awards, five MTV Video Music Awards (tied for most wins by a Latin artist), two American Music Awards, two Latin American Music Awards, three Billboard Music Awards, a Billboard Music Video Award, nine Billboard Latin Music Awards, eight World Music Awards, fourteen Lo Nuestro Awards (including the Excellence Award), and a Guinness World Record.",
"Achievements Throughout his career, Martin has won over 200 awards (most awarded male Latin artist), including two Grammy Awards, five Latin Grammy Awards, five MTV Video Music Awards (tied for most wins by a Latin artist), two American Music Awards, two Latin American Music Awards, three Billboard Music Awards, a Billboard Music Video Award, nine Billboard Latin Music Awards, eight World Music Awards, fourteen Lo Nuestro Awards (including the Excellence Award), and a Guinness World Record. As an actor, he was nominated for an Emmy Award.",
"As an actor, he was nominated for an Emmy Award. In 2007, Martin was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, located at 6901 Hollywood Blvd. Martin is ranked among the Greatest Latin Artists of All Time and the Greatest Hot Latin Songs Artists of All Time by Billboard, while his album Vuelve was placed at number five on Billboards Top 20 Latin Albums Of All Time in 2018.",
"Martin is ranked among the Greatest Latin Artists of All Time and the Greatest Hot Latin Songs Artists of All Time by Billboard, while his album Vuelve was placed at number five on Billboards Top 20 Latin Albums Of All Time in 2018. In 1998, his song, \"Perdido Sin Ti\" reached the top of the Latin Pop Airplay chart, displacing Martin's own \"Vuelve\", making him the first artist on the chart's history to replace himself.",
"In 1998, his song, \"Perdido Sin Ti\" reached the top of the Latin Pop Airplay chart, displacing Martin's own \"Vuelve\", making him the first artist on the chart's history to replace himself. His song \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" became the first number-one song on Billboard Hot 100, which was made entirely in Pro Tools, and achieved the first number one hit for his label, Columbia.",
"His song \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" became the first number-one song on Billboard Hot 100, which was made entirely in Pro Tools, and achieved the first number one hit for his label, Columbia. It also became the first song in history to top Billboards Adult Pop Airplay, Pop Airplay, and Rhythmic Airplay charts, holding its record as the only song to do so for 14 years.",
"It also became the first song in history to top Billboards Adult Pop Airplay, Pop Airplay, and Rhythmic Airplay charts, holding its record as the only song to do so for 14 years. On May 15, 1999, it became the first single ever to rule four different Billboard charts and made Martin the first act to simultaneously scale a pop, Latin, and dance chart.",
"On May 15, 1999, it became the first single ever to rule four different Billboard charts and made Martin the first act to simultaneously scale a pop, Latin, and dance chart. Two weeks later, he became the first artist to simultaneously top the Billboard 200, Hot Latin Tracks, Hot Dance Music/Club Play, Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales, Top 40 Tracks, and the Billboard Hot 100.",
"Two weeks later, he became the first artist to simultaneously top the Billboard 200, Hot Latin Tracks, Hot Dance Music/Club Play, Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales, Top 40 Tracks, and the Billboard Hot 100. His song \"Tal Vez\" (2003) marked the first number one debut on Billboard Hot Latin Songs in the 21st century. Martin is the first and only artist with Spanish-language entries on Billboard Hot 100 in three decades.",
"Martin is the first and only artist with Spanish-language entries on Billboard Hot 100 in three decades. In 2020, he became the first and only artist in history to enter the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart across five decades, including his work as part of Menudo. The following year, he became the first male Latin artist in history to have 4 songs from different decades to have over 100 million streams on Spotify.",
"The following year, he became the first male Latin artist in history to have 4 songs from different decades to have over 100 million streams on Spotify. He owns the record as the artist with most top 20s on the US Latin Pop Airplay chart, with 51 songs, and is the runner-up of most top 10s. He is the fourth artist with the most number one songs in the history of the Hot Latin Songs chart.",
"He is the fourth artist with the most number one songs in the history of the Hot Latin Songs chart. Additionally, he holds the record as the most Spanish-language entries on ARIA top 50 singles chart, with three. On October 11, 2007, then-mayor of Miami Beach, Florida David Dermer awarded him the key to the city of Miami Beach. Puerto Rico named August 31 the \"International Ricky Martin Day\" in 2008.",
"Puerto Rico named August 31 the \"International Ricky Martin Day\" in 2008. The Government of Spain granted Spanish nationality to Martin in 2011, for being \"recognized in different artistic facets\". In 2018, in recognition of \"his dedication to the island and people of Puerto Rico, his philanthropic work to eliminate human trafficking across the Caribbean, and his commitment to the arts\", the singer received a proclamation naming June 7 the \"Ricky Martin Day\" in New York City.",
"In 2018, in recognition of \"his dedication to the island and people of Puerto Rico, his philanthropic work to eliminate human trafficking across the Caribbean, and his commitment to the arts\", the singer received a proclamation naming June 7 the \"Ricky Martin Day\" in New York City. Throughout his career, Martin has sold over 70 million records making him one of the best-selling Latin music artists of all time. In 2020, La Opinión estimated his net worth at US$120 million.",
"In 2020, La Opinión estimated his net worth at US$120 million. Discography Ricky Martin (1991) Me Amaras (1993) A Medio Vivir (1995) Vuelve (1998) Ricky Martin (1999) Sound Loaded (2000) Almas del Silencio (2003) Life (2005) Música + Alma + Sexo (2011) A Quien Quiera Escuchar (2015) Filmography Mas Que Alcanzar una estrella (1992) Hercules – Latin American dub (1997) Idle Hands (1999) Ricky Martin: One Night Only (1999) Minions – Latin American dub (2015) The Latin Explosion: A New America (2015) Ricky Martin: Behind the Vegas Residency (2017) Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey (2020) El cuartito (2021) Theatre Les Misérables (1996), Broadway – Marius Pontmercy Evita (2012), Broadway – Ché Tours and residenciesHeadlining tours Ricky Martin Tour (1992) Me Amaras Tour (1993–1994) A Medio Vivir Tour (1995–1997) Vuelve World Tour (1998) Livin' la Vida Loca Tour (1999–2000) One Night Only with Ricky Martin (2005–2006) Black and White Tour (2007) Música + Alma + Sexo World Tour (2011) Ricky Martin Live (2013–2014) Live in Mexico (2014) One World Tour (2015–2018) Ricky Martin en Concierto (2018-2019) Movimiento Tour (2020-2022)Co-headlining tour Enrique Iglesias and Ricky Martin Live in Concert (with Enrique Iglesias) (2021)Residency' All In (2017–2018) See also Honorific nicknames in popular music List of artists who reached number one in the United States List of artists who reached number one on the UK Singles Chart List of Latin pop artists List of multilingual bands and artists List of Puerto Rican Grammy Award winners and nominees List of Puerto Ricans List of Urbano artists Notes References Book sources External links 1971 births Living people 20th-century LGBT people 20th-century Puerto Rican male actors 20th-century Puerto Rican male singers 20th-century Puerto Rican singers 21st-century LGBT people 21st-century Puerto Rican male actors 21st-century Puerto Rican male singers 21st-century Puerto Rican singers American gay actors American gay musicians American humanitarians American male pop singers American male singer-songwriters Columbia Records artists Echo (music award) winners Grammy Award winners Hispanic and Latino American male actors Hispanic and Latino American musicians Latin Grammy Award winners Latin music songwriters Latin pop singers Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year honorees LGBT entertainers from Puerto Rico LGBT Hispanic and Latino American people LGBT Latin musicians LGBT rights activists from the United States LGBT singers from the United States Male actors from San Juan, Puerto Rico Menudo (band) members MTV Europe Music Award winners Naturalised citizens of Spain Puerto Rican activists Puerto Rican expatriates in Australia Puerto Rican expatriates in Mexico Puerto Rican expatriates in Spain Puerto Rican male film actors Puerto Rican male soap opera actors Puerto Rican male television actors Puerto Rican people of Basque descent Puerto Rican people of Canarian descent Puerto Rican people of Corsican descent Puerto Rican people of Spanish descent Puerto Rican philanthropists Puerto Rican pop singers Puerto Rican record producers Puerto Rican singer-songwriters Singers from San Juan, Puerto Rico Sony Music Latin artists Sony Music Spain artists Spanish-language singers of the United States UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors World Music Awards winners"
] |
[
"Ricky Martin",
"1983-1990: Menudo",
"What did he gain fame for",
"After achieving modest fame in Puerto Rico for his work in television commercials, Martin auditioned for membership in the Puerto Rican boy band Menudo.",
"How did his auditions go",
"Although the executives enjoyed his dancing and singing at his first two auditions, Martin was rejected because he was too short.",
"Did he try again",
"By the third audition, his persistence impressed executives, and in 1984, 12-year-old Martin became a member.",
"What happened when he was on tour",
"he made his debut performance with the group at the Luis A. Ferre Performing Arts Center in San Juan. During this performance, he inadvertently disobeyed the choreography"
] | C_fe907a545efb49ad960c0a3908a4292c_1 | What did he do to disobey | 5 | What did Ricky Martin do to disobey the choreography? | Ricky Martin | After achieving modest fame in Puerto Rico for his work in television commercials, Martin auditioned for membership in the Puerto Rican boy band Menudo. Although the executives enjoyed his dancing and singing at his first two auditions, Martin was rejected because he was too short. By the third audition, his persistence impressed executives, and in 1984, 12-year-old Martin became a member. A month after joining Menudo, he made his debut performance with the group at the Luis A. Ferre Performing Arts Center in San Juan. During this performance, he inadvertently disobeyed the choreography by walking around the stage, when it was planned that he would stay still, and was chastised by the band manager after the show: "The mistake was such a big deal that from that moment on, never again did I move when I wasn't supposed to move...That was the discipline of Menudo: You either did things the way you were told or you were not part of the group." The song "Asignatura Pendiente" from Almas del Silencio (2003) was inspired by the first time Martin left Puerto Rico to tour with Menudo. Although Martin enjoyed traveling and performing onstage with Menudo, he found the band's busy schedule and strict management exhausting, and later reflected that the experience "cost" him his childhood. He considered leaving the group while on tour in Brazil, but ultimately decided to stay out of fear of media backlash and being sued for breach of contract. Martin also began struggling with his sexuality, noting the stark contrast between his status as a sex symbol and his own emotions. Despite this, Martin acknowledged his "opportunity to have so many amazing experiences with so many amazing people" during his time with the group. He developed an interest in philanthropy when the group became UNICEF ambassadors, often working with impoverished children in third world countries. His experiences as an ambassador affected him greatly and inspired him to continue working with charities later in life. By 1987, Menudo's record sales began to decline, and the group changed its image, adopting an edgier look and performing more rock-influenced songs. The band released the album Somos Los Hijos del Rock in Spanish, and to appeal to the Menudo's Filipino fanbase, the group released In Action, recording songs in both English and Tagalog. After recording 11 albums with the group, Martin left Menudo in July 1989, at age 17, hoping to rest and evaluate his career path. He performed his final show with the group at the same venue where he'd performed his first performance as a member. Martin returned to Puerto Rico to graduate from high school, and 13 days after turning 18, he moved to New York City to celebrate his financial independence; since he was a minor during his time as a member of Menudo, Martin was not allowed to access his own bank accounts. He was accepted into New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, but months before classes began, Martin dropped out and moved to Mexico City to perform in the play Mama Ama el Rock (Mom Loves Rock). CANNOTANSWER | he inadvertently disobeyed the choreography by walking around the stage, when it was planned that he would stay still, | Enrique Martín Morales (born December 24, 1971), known professionally as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican singer, songwriter, and actor. He is known for his musical versatility, as his discography spans multiple genres, including Latin pop, pop, dance, reggaeton, and salsa. Dubbed the "King of Latin Pop", the "King of Latin Music", and the "Latin Pop God", he is regarded as one of the most influential artists in the world. Born in San Juan, Martin began appearing in television commercials at the age of 9 and began his musical career at age 12, as a member of Puerto Rican boy band Menudo. He started his solo career in 1991 while in Sony Music Mexico, gaining recognition in Latin America with the release of his first two studio albums, Ricky Martin (1991) and Me Amaras (1993), both of which were focused on ballads.
Martin's third album, A Medio Vivir (1995), helped him rose to prominence in European countries. The chart-topping single "María", incorporated a mixture of Latin music genres and became his first international hit. His international success was further solidified with his fourth album, Vuelve (1998). The album, which earned Martin his first Grammy Award, spawned chart-topping hits "Vuelve" and "La Copa de la Vida". Martin performed the latter at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards, which was greeted with a massive standing ovation and is known as a game-changer for Latin music worldwide. His first English album, Ricky Martin (1999) became his first US Billboard 200 number one. The lead single "Livin' la Vida Loca" is considered to be Martin's biggest hit, topping both the Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart. Martin's success in the late '90s is generally seen as the beginning of the "Latin explosion". He has been credited for getting Latin pop music genre to mainstream recognition, paving the way for a large number of Latin artists to achieve a global success.
Martin has since established his status as a sex symbol and a pop icon, releasing several successful albums, including all-time Latin bestsellers Almas del Silencio (2003) and MTV Unplugged (2006), as well as Grammy Award winner A Quien Quiera Escuchar (2015). He has also amassed many successful singles and chart-topper hits, including "She Bangs", "Nobody Wants to Be Lonely", "Tal Vez", "Tu Recuerdo", "La Mordidita", "Vente Pa' Ca", and "Canción Bonita". As an actor, Martin gained popularity and stardom for his role in the hit soap opera General Hospital (1994-1996), while his portrayal of Antonio D'Amico in The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story (2018) marked the acting opportunity of his career, garnering him an Emmy nomination. He also starred as Ché in the Broadway revival of the musical Evita in 2012, which broke the theatre's box-office sales record seven times.
Having sold over 70 million records worldwide, Martin is one of the best-selling Latin music artists of all time. He has scored 11 Billboard Hot Latin Songs number-one songs, and won over 200 awards (most awarded male Latin artist), including two Grammy Awards, five Latin Grammy Awards, five MTV Video Music Awards (tied for most wins by a Latin artist), two American Music Awards, two Latin American Music Awards, three Billboard Music Awards, nine Billboard Latin Music Awards, eight World Music Awards, fourteen Lo Nuestro Awards, a Guinness World Record, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He is ranked among the Greatest Latin Artists of All Time, the Greatest Music Video Artists of All Time, and the Most Influential Latin Artists of All Time by Billboard. His philanthropy and activism focus on LGBT rights and fighting against human trafficking; in 2004, he founded The Ricky Martin Foundation, a non-profit, non-governmental organization that focuses on denouncing human trafficking and educating about the crime's existence.
Life and career
1971–1982: Early life
Enrique Martín Morales was born on December 24, 1971, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. His mother, Doña Nereida Morales, is a former accountant; his father, Enrique Martín Negroni, is a former psychologist who previously worked as a regional supervisor for a Puerto Rican mental-health agency. His parents divorced when he was two years old, and although his mother had custody of Martin, he could also move freely between his father's house in the middle-class suburb of University Gardens in San Juan, and his paternal grandmother's house nearby. In an interview with People, he told the magazine the he "never had to make decisions" about who he loved more, and he was "always happy". Martin has two older maternal half-brothers, Fernando and Ángel Fernández, two younger paternal half-brothers, Eric and Daniel Martín, and a younger paternal half-sister, Vanessa Martín. Martin has Spanish heritage of Basque and Canarian descent. As he explained to ABC, the Martins traveled from Spain to Puerto Rico in 1779. He also has some Corsican origin through his paternal grandmother.
Martin grew up Catholic. The people closest to him called him "Kiki" (a nickname that comes from Enrique). He began singing at age six, using wooden kitchen spoons as make-believe microphones; he often sang songs by Puerto Rican boy band Menudo, as well as English-language rock groups such as Led Zeppelin, Journey, and REO Speedwagon. His mother's side of the family was musically inclined and his maternal grandfather was a poet. Martin later reflected on his time spent with his family as a child: "Every time I find myself in front of an audience, be it twenty people or one hundred thousand, once again I feel the energy that consumed me back at the family gatherings of my youth." He attended Colegio Sagrado Corazón, a bilingual Catholic grade school in University Gardens since fourth grade and was an "average" student there. When he was nine years old, he began appearing in television commercials for products such as soft drinks, toothpaste, and fast food restaurants, most notably Orange Crush and Burger King. In a year and a half, he starred in 11 commercials.
1983–1989: Menudo
After achieving moderate fame in his country for his appearances in television commercials, Martin auditioned for membership in Menudo. Formed in Puerto Rico in 1977, Menudo members were usually replaced when they hit 16 in order to keep the band "full of fresh-faced members". Although the executives enjoyed his dancing and singing at his first two auditions, Martin was rejected because he was too short. By the third audition, his persistence impressed executives, and in 1984, 12-year-old Martin became a member. A month after joining Menudo, he made his debut performance with the group at the Luis A. Ferré Performing Arts Center in San Juan. During this performance, he inadvertently disobeyed the choreography by walking around the stage, when it was planned that he would stay still, and was chastised by the band manager after the show: "The mistake was such a big deal that from that moment on, never again did I move when I wasn't supposed to move. That was the discipline of Menudo: You either did things the way you were told or you were not part of the group." Although Martin enjoyed traveling and performing onstage with Menudo, he found the band's busy schedule and strict management exhausting, and later reflected that the experience "cost" him his childhood. Despite this, Martin acknowledged his "opportunity to have so many amazing experiences with so many amazing people" during his time with the group.
During his time with Menudo, he became a "key-member of the group" and a "fan-favorite", while the band released 11 albums, including the Grammy-nominated Evolución () (1984) and their highest-charting and longest-running album on the US Billboard 200, Menudo (1985). The former featured Martin's debut single, "Rayo de Luna" () and the latter included the hit single "Hold Me". "Hold Me" became the group's first and only entry on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at number 62. It was ranked among the "100 Greatest Boy Band Songs of All Time" by Billboard, the "75 Greatest Boy Band Songs of All Time" by Rolling Stone, and the "30 Best Boy Band Songs" by Complex. Besides the musical career, Martin appeared with other members of Menudo in the American romantic comedy/drama television series, The Love Boat (1985), and the Argentine soap opera, Por Siempre Amigos (1987). He also developed an interest in philanthropy when the group became UNICEF ambassadors, often working with impoverished children in third world countries. His experiences as an ambassador affected him greatly and inspired him to continue working with charities later in his life.
Finally, Martin left the band in July 1989, at age 17, hoping to rest and evaluate his career path; he stayed a few extra months after his "age-mandated retirement" came around. He performed his final show with the group at the same venue where he had performed his first performance as a member. Referred to as the "Most Iconic Latino Pop Music Band", Menudo was ranked as one of the Biggest Boy Bands of All Time by Us Weekly in 2021. The group has sold around 20 million records worldwide, and has been acknowledged as the "Most Successful Latin Boy Band of All Time" by Billboard. Martin returned to Puerto Rico to "get a break from the pressures of the group, the promotional tours, and the constant stress of work", but although his parents' divorce had not affected him before, suddenly began to affect him; his parents "began fighting more than ever" and they were forcing him to "choose between the two people in the world" he loved most. As he understood they did this because they loved him and wanted the best for him, he "forgave all of the pain and anger they caused" him. He graduated from the high school, and 13 days after turning 18, he moved to New York City to celebrate his financial independence; since he was a minor during his time with Menudo, Martin was not allowed to access his own bank accounts.
1990–1994: Acting and first solo albums
Martin was accepted into New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in 1990, but before classes began, his friend invited him to Mexico City. He attended the musical comedy play, Mama Ama el Rock () there, and was offered to stay and replace one of the actors. He accepted the offer, dropped out the university and moved from New York to Mexico City to perform in the play. While he was performing onstage in Mama Ama el Rock, a producer in the audience took notice of Martin's acting and offered him a role in the Mexican telenovela Alcanzar una estrella () (1990). Martin also joined the cast for the second season of the show, titled Alcanzar una estrella II (1991). A film based on the TV series, titled Más que alcanzar una estrella () (1992), was also produced in which Martin starred, and earned him an El Heraldo Award for his role.
A Sony Discos executive noticed Martin's acting in the soap operas and offered him his first solo music recording contract. Eager to record his first solo album and hustled by the executive, Martin signed the contract without reading its conditions and inadvertently signed a deal in which he would only be paid one cent for each album sold! Despite viewing the contract as unfair, Martin referred to the record as "the start of something phenomenal" for him. After working "around the clock" to finish filming Alcanzar una estrella II and recording music, he released his debut solo album, Ricky Martin, on November 26, 1991. The album peaked at number five on the US Billboard Latin Pop Albums chart and spent a total of 41 weeks on the list. It sold over 500,000 copies worldwide, was certified gold in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Puerto Rico, and spawned his first solo hit singles, "Fuego Contra Fuego" (), "El Amor de Mi Vida" (), and "Dime Que Me Quieres" (). Both "Fuego Contra Fuego" and "El Amor de Mi Vida" reached the top 10 on the US Billboard Hot Latin Tracks, peaking at numbers three and eight, respectively. To promote the album, Martin embarked on a successful Latin American tour, breaking box office records, which the singer referred to as "an indescribable feeling, almost like coming home".
After the success of Ricky Martin and its subsequent tour, Martin's record company met him with the Spanish musician Juan Carlos Calderón to work on his second studio album, Me Amaras () (1993). Although Martin felt "very grateful" for the opportunity to work with Calderón, he noted, "I always felt that that record was more his than mine." The album sold over one million copies worldwide and was certified triple-platinum in Chile. In 1994, Martin's agent encouraged him to move to Los Angeles to act in an American sitcom called Getting By. The show was canceled after two seasons, but soon afterward, Martin was given the role of Miguel Morez on the popular hit soap opera General Hospital; Morez, a bartender and singer, known for his long and flowing hair, was a Puerto Rican citizen hiding in the United States from his lover's criminal mastermind father and created a love triangle with his fiancé Lily Rivera and Brenda. Martin portrayed the role for two years and gained huge popularity and stardom, becoming "one of the most-talked about actors on the soap opera". Despite this, Martin felt he lacked chemistry with the rest of the General Hospital cast and observed that people treated him differently because of his Puerto Rican accent. At the time, it was relatively uncommon for Latin actors to appear on American television, and people suggested that he take accent reduction classes, which he refused.
1995–1997: Breakthrough with A Medio Vivir
In 1995, Martin refocused on his music career, and began working on his third studio album, A Medio Vivir (). The album was released on September 12, 1995, and became a huge success; it sold over three million copies or even seven million copies worldwide, according to different sources, being certified gold in the United States, platinum in France, 4× platinum in Spain, and 6× platinum in Argentina, as well as many other certifications in Latin American countries. It spawned several successful hits, including "Te Extraño, Te Olvido, Te Amo" (), "María", and "Volverás" (). On "María", which was released as the second single from the album, Martin allowed himself "to go into a very Latin, African sound". He created a mix of different Latin music genres instead of singing a romantic ballad, the style that he focused on it in his first two albums, while Latin pop music in general was mainly made up of it at the time. Although Martin was satisfied with the track and he describes it as a song that he is "extremely proud of", the first time he played it for a record label executive, the man said: "Are you crazy? You have ruined your career! I can't believe you are showing me this. You're finished — this is going to be your last album." Despite this, the track became Martin's breakthrough song and his first international hit. It topped the charts in 20 countries, and has sold over five million physical copies worldwide. As a result, the song was featured in the 1999 edition of The Guinness Book of Records as the biggest Latin hit. It was also the Song of the Summer in Spain in 1996 and was the second best-selling single in the world that year.
In Australia, "María" spent six weeks at number one, topped the country's year-end chart in 1998, and was certified platinum. The song also spent nine weeks at number one in France, and was certified diamond. It has sold over 1.4 million copies in France. Additionally, the track reached the top 10 in the United Kingdom, and became Martin's first entry on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. To promote A Medio Vivir, he embarked on the worldwide A Medio Vivir Tour, that lasted for more than two years, through which he performed 63 shows and visited Europe, Latin America and the United States. During an interview with The Miami Herald in 1996, Martin expressed an interest in performing on Broadway. In a few days, he received a phone call from producer Richard Jay-Alexander, and was offered the role of Marius Pontmercy in the play Les Misérables. After the conclusion of the A Medio Vivir Tour in Latin America, Martin returned to New York to appear in the play in an eleven-week run. He greatly enjoyed the experience, calling his time in the play an "honor" and "the role of [his] life". Martin continued to tour after the conclusion of the show's run, and noted that his audiences were growing in both size and enthusiasm.
1998–1999: Vuelve
While the A Medio Vivir Tour had not been concluded yet, Martin returned to the studio to record his fourth album Vuelve (). He called the experience of touring and recording at the same time "brutal and incredibly intense". As he was finishing the record in 1997, "María" caught the attention of FIFA. They contacted Martin and asked him to create a song as the 1998 FIFA World Cup anthem. He stated about the request: "I have to admit that the challenge made me a bit nervous, but the massive growth potential for my career was such that I decided to accept." Following his acceptance, musicians K.C. Porter, Robi Rosa, and Desmond Child joined him and they started working on a song titled "La Copa de la Vida" (English: "The Cup of Life"). Martin wrote about the recording:
"La Copa de la Vida" was included as the eighth track on Vuelve, released February 12, 1998, The album became a huge success; it sold over eight million copies worldwide, becoming the best-selling Spanish-language album in history, according to his label. Also, some sources have reported the album's sales as six million copies worldwide. It spent 26 weeks atop the US Billboard Top Latin Albums chart and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). In Canada, the album peaked at number three and was certified double platinum. Vuelve spawned big hits, including the title track, "La Copa de la Vida", "Perdido Sin Ti" (), and "La Bomba" (). "La Copa de la Vida" grew to be an international success, appearing on the charts in more than 60 countries, and reaching number one in 30 countries, Both "Vuelve" and "Perdido Sin Ti" peaked at number one on the US Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart; the former also reached number one in On July 12, 1998, Martin performed "La Copa de la Vida" as the official anthem at the 1998 FIFA World Cup Final in France, in front of more than a billion TV viewers around the world.
To promote Vuelve, Martin embarked on the worldwide Vuelve Tour; he performed in Asia, Australia, Europe, Mexico, South America, and the United States. Although Latin music was not important to the Recording Academy or the mainstream music industry at the time, Tommy Mottola, then-chief of Columbia Records, was certain about Martin's stardom and pushed hard to have him on the Grammy Awards ceremony. During an interview with Billboard, Mottola told the magazine about it: "There was tremendous resistance from the Grammys. They did not want an 'unknown' to perform, yet we he had already sold 10 million copies of Vuelve worldwide. To me, that was absolutely UNACCEPTABLE." Finally, on February 24, 1999, cavorting with a 15-piece band alongside and a large number of dancers and percussionists, Martin performed a bilingual version of "La Copa de La Vida" at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards, which was greeted with a massive standing ovation and met with acclaim from music critics. At the same night, Vuelve earned Martin his first Grammy award, for Best Latin Pop Performance. After he accepted the award and expressed how important it was to the Latin community, the American singer-songwriter Madonna came on the stage and hugged him.
1999–2000: Crossover to English
In October 1998, CNN confirmed that Martin has been working on his first English language album, following the huge success of Vuelve. In April 1999, Billboard revealed the album's title as Ricky Martin in an article, mentioning that the album was initially set for retail on May 25, 1999. However, the huge interest in the disc, following Martin's performance at the Grammy Awards, encouraged Columbia Records to decide to rush the album to release two weeks ahead of schedule, on May 11. Tom Corson, the senior vice president of marketing at Columbia explained: "Quite simply, the market has demanded it. People have been wanting this record for a while, and it's now reached the point where we have to get it out there immediately." Tim Devin, the general manager of Tower Records in New York added about Martin: "He's always been one of our strongest Latin artists, but interest in him has picked up considerably since that performance."
Ricky Martin debuted atop the US Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 661,000 copies, according to data compiled by Nielsen SoundScan, becoming the largest sales week by any album in 1999. It also broke the record as the largest first-week sales for any pop or Latin artist in history, as well as any Columbia Records artist during the SoundScan era. With this album, Martin became the first male Latin act in history to debut at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart. It was certified 7× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), denoting shipments of over seven million copies in the US and breaking the record as the best-selling album by a Latin artist in the country. Only within three months, Ricky Martin became the best-selling album ever by a Latin artist. According to different sources, the album has sold over 15 million copies or even 17 million copies worldwide. It was nominated for Best Pop Album at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards.
The album was supported by four singles; the lead single "Livin' la Vida Loca" () topped the charts in more than 20 countries and is considered to be Martin's biggest hit, and one of the best-selling singles of all time. In the United States, it topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for five consecutive weeks, becoming Martin's first number one single on the chart. Additionally, it broke several records on Billboard charts. It also spent eight consecutive weeks atop the Canada Top Singles chart and topped the country's year-end chart. In the United Kingdom, it debuted at number one and stayed there for three weeks, making Martin the first Puerto Rican artist in history to hit number one. The track was ranked as the best '90s pop song by Elle, and was listed among the Best Latin Songs of All Time by Billboard. It was nominated for four categories at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards, including Record of the Year and Song of the Year. Its Spanish version reached the summit of the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart in the United States, and was nominated for Record of the Year at the 2000 Latin Grammy Awards.
"She's All I Ever Had" was released as the second single from the album in June 1999. It peaked at numbers two and three on the US Billboard Hot 100 and Canada Top Singles charts, respectively. The Spanish version, "Bella" () topped the charts in five countries, as well as Billboards Hot Latin Tracks chart. To further promote Ricky Martin, he embarked on the worldwide Livin' la Vida Loca Tour. In the United States, the Livin' la Vida Loca Tour was the highest-grossing tour of 2000 by a Latin artist, earning over $36.3 million with 44 dates and drawing 617,488 fans. According to Billboard Boxscore, the tour grossed $51.3 million in Canada, Mexico, and the United States, with 60 shows and drawing an audience of 875,151. International dates were not reported to Boxscore and would push the tour's grosses higher.
2000–2005: Sound Loaded, Almas del Silencio, and Life
While the Livin' la Vida Loca Tour had not been concluded yet, Martin returned to the studio to record his sixth studio album, Sound Loaded. The album was released on November 14, 2000. It debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 318,000 copies, according to data compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The album has sold over seven million copies or even eight million copies worldwide, according to different sources, being certified double platinum in the US. The album featured two hit singles, "She Bangs" and "Nobody Wants to Be Lonely". The former reached number one in seven countries, including Italy and Sweden, as well as the top five in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and several other countries. It was nominated for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance at the 43rd Annual Grammy Awards. The Spanish-language version of "She Bangs" reached the summit of the Hot Latin Tracks chart and won the Latin Grammy Award for Best Music Video at the 2nd Annual Latin Grammy Awards. "Nobody Wants to Be Lonely" was re-recorded along with American singer Christina Aguilera, peaking at number one in five countries, as well as the top five in Italy, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom, among others. It was nominated for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals at the 44th Annual Grammy Awards. The solo Spanish version, entitled "Sólo Quiero Amarte" topped the Hot Latin Tracks chart. Both "She Bangs" and "Nobody Wants to Be Lonely" are certified silver in the UK. In February 2001, Martin released a Spanish compilation album entitled La Historia (), which spent five weeks at number one on the Top Latin Albums chart, topped the charts in Argentina and Sweden, and was certified quadruple Latin platinum in the United States.
Following the success of Ricky Martin and Sound Loaded, he initially planned to release the third English-language album as his seventh studio album, which was supposed to be his first complete work in the field of songwriting. Despite Sony Music Entertainment's original plan, he decided to release a Spanish-language album: "I woke up five months ago, and I said 'We're doing an album in Spanish.' Everyone went nuts. They said, 'You don't have time; you have to release an album in English because of timing issues with your career.' And that's fine. But I told them, 'In five months, you'll have a kick-ass album' [in Spanish]. Martin's seventh studio album, Almas del Silencio () was released in May 2003. It debuted atop the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart with first-week sales of 65,000 copies, according to data compiled by Nielsen SoundScan, breaking the record as the largest first-week sales for a Spanish-language album in the US. The album also debuted at number 12 on Billboard 200, tying the 2002 album, Quizás () as the chart's highest Spanish-language debut. The album also debuted at number one in "at least 13 Latin American markets" and sold over two million copies worldwide.
Almas del Silencio spawned three Hot Latin Tracks chart-topper hits: "Tal Vez" (), "Jaleo", and "Y Todo Queda en Nada" (). "Tal Vez" debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart on the week of April 12, 2003, marking the first number one debut since February 1998, and becoming the sixth song overall in the chart's history to do so. It spent a total of 11 weeks at this position, surpassing "Livin' la Vida Loca" as Martin's longest number-one single on the chart, and was the longest-running number one of 2003. It also topped the charts in several Latin American markets. In October 2005, Martin released his third English album, Life. He commented on the album: "I was really in touch with my emotions. I think this album is very multi-layered, just like life is. It's about feeling anger. It's about feeling joy. It's about feeling uncertainty. It's about feeling. And all my emotions are part of this production". To promote Life, Martin embarked on the worldwide One Night Only with Ricky Martin tour.
2006–2012: MTV Unplugged, Música + Alma + Sexo, and Evita
Although Martin's team and MTV had discussed an MTV Unplugged for years, but it became more serious after Martin's the One Night Only tour, which featured an acoustic segment. Finally, Martin taped his MTV Unplugged set in Miami in August 2006, performing both romantic ballads and up-tempo tropical dance songs. During the performance, he debuted three new tracks, including "Tu Recuerdo" (), which was released to radio stations as the lead single from his debut live album MTV Unplugged (2006). The album debuted at number one on the Top Latin Albums chart and sold over two million copies worldwide, marking his highest-certified album in Mexico. It won two Latin Grammy awards and was nominated for Album of the Year. "Tu Recuerdo" reached number one in five countries, as well as the Billboards Hot Latin Songs and Latin Pop Airplay charts. The track was certified quadruple platinum in Mexico and was nominated for Record of the Year at the 8th Annual Latin Grammy Awards. The artist then embarked on the Black and White Tour in 2007, including four sold-out shows at the José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum in Puerto Rico. The concerts in Puerto Rico were compiled into his second live album Ricky Martin... Live Black & White Tour (2007). Later that year, he released his first Italian song, "Non siamo soli" () as a duet with Italian singer Eros Ramazzotti. The song debuted at number one in Italy and spent eleven consecutive weeks atop the chart.
In January 2011, Martin launched his ninth studio album, Música + Alma + Sexo (). The album debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200 chart, becoming the highest-charting primarily-Spanish language set since Dreaming of You (1995) by American singer Selena. It holds the record as the highest-charting Latin album of the 2010s, and represents the highest-ever chart debut on the Billboard 200 for a Sony Music Latin release. Música + Alma + Sexo also peaked at number one in Argentina and Venezuela, as well as Billboards Top Latin Albums. Its lead single, "Lo Mejor de Mi Vida Eres Tú" (English: "The Best Thing About Me Is You") reached number one on the US Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart and was nominated for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Short Form Music Video at the 12th Annual Latin Grammy Awards. To promote the album, Martin embarked on the Música + Alma + Sexo World Tour in 2011. In February 2012, he appeared as Spanish teacher David Martinez on the twelfth episode of the third season of the American musical television series Glee, The Spanish Teacher. Martin starred as Ché in the Broadway revival of the musical Evita from March 2012 to January 2013. The show became a hit, breaking the theatre's box-office sales record after only six performances. Sine then, it broke its own record six times and was nominated for Best Revival of a Musical at the 66th Tony Awards. The show's soundtrack album debuted at number one on Billboards cast album chart.
2013–2018: The Voice, A Quien Quiera Escuchar, and The Assassination of Gianni Versace
Martin served as a coach on the second season of the Australian singing competition television series The Voice in 2013. In the same year, he released a compilation album, entitled Greatest Hits: Souvenir Edition, which reached number two in Australia, as well as a new single, entitled "Come with Me", which debuted at number three in the country. The artist then embarked on the
Ricky Martin Live tour in Australia in October 2013. He continued serving as a coach on both the third and fourth seasons of The Voice Australia in 2014 and 2015, respectively. In 2014, Lars Brandle from Billboard stated in an article: "Through his high-profile slot on The Voice, Ricky's profile in Australia has never been as big as it is right now." On February 25, 2014, Wisin released a song titled "Adrenalina" () from his album El Regreso del Sobreviviente (), which featured Jennifer Lopez and Martin, and became the Univision's 2014 World Cup song. It received commercial success, peaking in the top-five of Bulgaria, Mexico, Spain, and Billboards Hot Latin Songs chart. Its accompanying music video has accumulated over 850 million views on YouTube. Later that year, Martin released his single "Vida" () for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The song reached the top five in Spain and on the US Hot Latin Songs chart. Also in 2014, he served as a coach on the fourth season of The Voice Mexico, and embarked on the Live in Mexico tour.
In February 2015, Martin released his tenth studio album, A Quien Quiera Escuchar (). The album debuted at number one on Billboards Top Latin Albums chart and peaked at number one in Argentina. It won the award for Best Latin Pop Album at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards and Album of the Year at the 1st Latin American Music Awards. The album spawned three Hot Latin Songs top-10 hits: "Adiós" (), "Disparo al Corazón" (), and "La Mordidita" (). "Disparo al Corazón" was nominated for both Record of the Year and Song of the Year at the 16th Annual Latin Grammy Awards. "La Mordidita" experienced huge commercial success, being certified 15× Latin platinum in the United States. Its accompanying music video has received over 1.2 billion views on YouTube. To promote the album, Martin embarked on the One World Tour from 2015 to 2017. He served as an executive producer and a judge on the American singing competition series La Banda (), which premiered in 2015 and 2016 on Univision. The first season was "looking for the next Latin boy band", while the second season was looking for a Latin girl band. The contestants would compete for a recording deal with Sony Music Latin and Syco Music. CNCO, known as the first boy band to make reggaeton, was the winner of the first season. Martin became their manager and produced the band's debut album, Primera Cita () (2016), along with Wisin; the album debuted at number one on Top Latin Albums and featured the hit single "Reggaetón Lento (Bailemos)" (). CNCO opened many dates on One World Tour in 2016. In 2020, Leila Cobo from Billboard compared the group with Menudo, noting: "Not since Menudo had a Latin boy band melted our hearts or made us dance quite like CNCO".
On September 23, 2016, Martin released a song called "Vente Pa' Ca" (), featuring Colombian singer Maluma. The song became one of the biggest Spanish-language songs of 2016, reaching number one in seven countries, as well as Billboards Latin Airplay, Latin Pop Airplay, and Tropical Airplay charts. It also reached top five in Spain and on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs, being certified quadruple platinum in Spain and diamond in Mexico. The track was nominated for both Record of the Year and Song of the Year at the 18th Annual Latin Grammy Awards. The accompanying music video has received over 1.75 billion views on YouTube. Martin signed a concert residency, named All In, to perform at the Monte Carlo Resort and Casino in Las Vegas in 2017 and 2018. He portrayed fashion designer Gianni Versace's partner Antonio D'Amico in the FX true crime anthology television series The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, marking "the acting opportunity of his career". The role garnered him a nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Limited Series Or Movie at the 70th Primetime Emmy Awards. Running from January to March 2018, The Assassination of Gianni Versace received generally favorable reviews and numerous awards and nominations, including three Primetime Emmy Awards, four Creative Arts Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, two Critics' Choice Television Awards, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. In February 2018, Martin released a song titled "Fiebre" (), featuring Wisin & Yandel. The song was commercially successful in Latin America, reaching number one in Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, and Uruguay. It also reached the summit of the Billboard Latin Airplay and Latin Rhythm Airplay charts.
2019–present: Amici di Maria De Filippi, PausaPlay, and Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey
At the 61st Annual Grammy Awards, Martin performed "Havana", "Pégate" (), and "Mi Gente" (), alongside Camila Cabello, J Balvin, Young Thug, and Arturo Sandoval, as the opening performance. Martin served as a coach on the eighteenth season of the Italian talent show Amici di Maria De Filippi () in 2019. In the same year, Maluma released a song called "No Se Me Quita" () from his album 11:11, which featured Martin. The song reached number one in Mexico and was certified quadruple platinum in the country. Martin hosted the 20th Annual Latin Grammy Awards in November 2019, along with Roselyn Sánchez and Paz Vega. The artist started recording his eleventh studio album, initially titled Movimiento (), in the second half of 2019, inspired by the 2019 political protests in Puerto Rico. He embarked on the Movimiento Tour in 2020. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent personal experiences, he decided to split the tour's associated album in two extended plays, Pausa () and Play; the former was released in May 2020, while the latter is set to release as his eleventh studio album.
Pausa was nominated for Album of the Year and won the award for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 21st Annual Latin Grammy Awards. The second single from the EP, "Tiburones" () reached number one in Argentina and Puerto Rico, and was also nominated for Song of the Year at the 21st Annual Latin Grammy Awards. Martin starred as the voice of villainous miniature figure Don Juan Diego in the American Christmas musical fantasy film Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey. The film was released on Netflix on November 13, 2020, and received generally favorable reviews. In April 2021, Martin released his hit single "Canción Bonita" () with Colombian singer Carlos Vives, which experienced huge commercial success in Latin America, reaching number one in 12 countries. It was also nominated for Song of the Year and Best Pop Song at the 22nd Annual Latin Grammy Awards. Later that year, he released "Qué Rico Fuera" () with Chilean-American singer Paloma Mami, as the lead single from Play. The song peaked at number one in four countries, as well as the top 10 on Billboards Latin Pop Airplay. In the same year, he embarked on his first co-headlining tour, the Enrique Iglesias and Ricky Martin Live in Concert alongside Spanish singer Enrique Iglesias.
Artistry
Influences
As a child, Martin used to sing songs by Menudo and American rock bands such as Led Zeppelin, Journey, and REO Speedwagon, which were what his "older siblings were listening to at the time". While Martin and his brothers spent their time listening to classic rock, their mother would interrupt them to make them listen to Latin music. She brought him CDs of Fania All-Stars, Celia Cruz, El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, and Gilberto Santa Rosa that slowly made him appreciate the richness of Puerto Rican culture. Also, she once took them to a Fania All-Stars concert, which Martin is "beyond grateful" for it. He expresses that thanks to her mother, those influences had a "profound effect" on his musical career. Martin has also cited Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Michael Jackson, and Madonna for teaching him "the beauty of pop". He stated about Madonna: "I was very influenced by her and her music. I know every choreography of Madonna." Additionally, he mentions Carlos Santana, José Feliciano, Celia Cruz, and Gloria Estefan as the artists who paved the way for him, naming Feliciano as one of the people who inspired him when he was a teenager: "I was always fascinated with his music." In addition to the musical influences, Martin is inspired by David Bowie's "ambiguous sexuality". While growing up, he used to ask himself if he wanted to be like the openly gay singer Elton John or he just liked him, admiring his music, colors, and wigs.
Musical styles and themes
Considered to be a versatile artist, Martin describes his music as Latin pop, saying: "When you say 'Latin pop', the spectrum is so broad, It's inevitable to not be influenced by everything that’s happening in the industry, but always keeping your identity firm by knowing who you are." He has also described his music as fusion, while noting that he does not "ride the waves that are in fashion at the moment". Music critics have described his songs as Latin pop, pop, dance, ballad, reggaeton, Latin, African, rock, salsa, flamenco, urban, samba, cumbia, merengue, rumba, Latin funk, bomba, batucada, vallenato, dancehall, mambo, Europop, house, disco, EDM, dance-pop, electro, techno, dubstep, world music, Middle Eastern, folk-pop, bossa nova, pop rock, soft pop, soft rock, R&B, gospel, jazz, trap, hip hop, doo-wop, ska, and rock' n' roll. Martin sings in Spanish, English, Portuguese, Italian, and French. About his lyrics, Martin has emphasized that although his music will always make the listener dance, it does not mean his lyrics "have to be meaningless" and he sings about love and heartbreak, as well as "things that are good for a society", such as "freedom, freedom of expression, and social justice". He has also declared that as a Latino, he is not afraid of sexuality and sings about sexuality and sensuality, bringing his culture with him onstage.
Voice
Martin possesses a dramatic tenor vocal range. Peter Gilstrap from Variety commented that his "powerful voice" is "capable of belt or lilt", while The Jerusalem Posts Noa Amouyal described his voice as "soulful" and "very powerful". In 1995, Enrique Lopetegui of the Los Angeles Times noted Martin's "improved vocal skills" on A Medio Vivir. Also from the Los Angeles Times, Ernesto Lechner later praised his vocal for being "charismatic enough to handle both ballads and up-tempo tunes". Similarly, Billboards Chuck Taylor expressed "She's All I Ever Had" boasts "a versatility that contrasts nicely" with Martin's previous single, "Livin' la Vida Loca", labeling his vocal on the former "tender and heartfelt". Steve Gerrard of the Montreal Rocks complimented "his vocal maturity" on A Quien Quiera Escuchar.
Music videos and performances
Billboard labeled Martin "a video icon", and ranked him as the 79th Greatest Music Video Artist of All Time in 2020, stating: "From the moment he sashayed up to the mic in 'Livin La Vida Loca' all dressed in black, and gave us that look, the Menudo alum became the most memorable and watchable drop-dead handsome guy in pop music." He has collaborated with various directors to produce his music videos, including Carlos Perez, Wayne Isham, Jessy Terrero, Simón Brand, Gustavo Garzón, Nigel Dick, Kacho Lopez, and Memo del Bosque. "Livin' la Vida Loca" was nominated for Video of the Year at the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards, making Martin the first Latin artist in history to receive a nomination in this category. It won two primary awards for Best Pop Video and Best Dance Video, and was voted three additional awards in the International Viewer's Choice categories, making it rank among the videos with most wins in the history of the MTV Video Music Awards. The explicit sexual scenes of the music video for "She Bangs" were met with criticism from the audience; several American television stations cut the scenes when airing the video. According to the Daily Records John Dingwall, with the visual, Martin ditched his teen idol image by transforming to a more mature one. It was consequently banned in several Latin American countries, such as the Dominican Republic. Martin told MTV News that the video represented freedom rather than his sexuality. The video was awarded Best Music Video at the 2nd Annual Latin Grammy Awards, Best Clip of the Year — Latin at the 2001 Billboard Music Video Awards, and Video of the Year at the 13th Lo Nuestro Awards.
Martin has been noticed for "dance moves of his own" and his "bon-bon shaking dance moves". Carol Sandoval from VIX named him the "best dancer on any stage worldwide", highlighting his hips movement and "successful turns". He was ranked as the ninth best male dancer by the Evening Standard and the tenth Male Singer Who Can Dance by WatchMojo, being the only Latin entertainer on both lists. Writing for The Hollywood Reporter, Scott Feinberg introduced Martin as "an incredible dancer". Billboards Jessica Roiz labeled him "a true showman", noting his "many outfit changes", "various dance performances", and "different stage set for each song". Jon Pareles of The New York Times described him as "an all-around showman" and Varietys Peter Gilstrap called him "every inch the showman", both recognizing his vocal abilities, while the former also commented he is "a dancer as muscular and hard-working as anyone in his troupe", mentioning his "likable, good-hearted character" and "steadfast Puerto Rican pride". Music critics have mostly praised his concerts for the choreographies, video screens, visual effects, stage, Latin influences, and Martin's vocals, costume changes, energy, sensuality, dance moves, and gestures, while the quality of sounds and sound mixes have received mixed reviews. Billboards Marjua Estevez described Martin's performance of "La Copa de la Vida" at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards as "the most memorable Latin performance at a Grammy Awards show", and the publication ranked it as the 54th Greatest Award Show Performance of All Time on their 2017 list. The performance was additionally placed on a 2017 unranked list of "Top 20 Best Grammy Performances of All Time" by Gold Derby, and on a 2019 list of "The Most Unforgettable Grammys Performances of All Time" by InStyle.
Public image
Martin became a teen idol with his debut as a member of Menudo, and a pop icon following global fame as a solo artist. Journalists have written about his humble personality and "beautiful soul". Writing for The Hollywood Reporter, Scott Feinberg introduced Martin as "one of the most acclaimed and admired creative artists ever". La República staff described him as "one of the most admired and desired singers", while authors of ¡Hola! described him as "one of the most respected Latin stars in the world", "one of the most prodigious voices in music in Spanish", and "one of the most beloved talents in the entertainment industry worldwide". Also from ¡Hola!, Cristina Noé named him "one of the most loved artists in the world", while a writer of Clarín named him "one of the most applauded Latin singers on the planet". Metro Puerto Rico stated that he "raised the name of Puerto Rico internationally". He was ranked as one of the top-10 "emerging personalities" of 2010 by Google Zeitgeist. In 2014, Gay Star News referred to Martin as "the most famous Latin pop star in the world", while Variety described him as "Puerto Rico's arguably most famous son" in 2021. He is ranked as the second-most famous Latin music artist in the United States, according to YouGov surveys in 2021.
During the 2000s, Martin was known for "guarding his private life" and being "uncomfortable discussing intimate aspects of his personal life"; he used to insist on asking public to focus on his music and "steered interviewers away from his personal life". However, he chose to live both his "professional and personal life", making his private life public since the early 2010s. In 2021, he went on the cover of People with the title "No More Secrets" and told the magazine that he is "a man with no secrets", stating that he is "more comfortable in his own skin than ever before". Martin is one of the most followed celebrities on social media, with accounts on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok. He stated about social media that he wishes he had "something as powerful as" them since his debut: "Obviously I like to have direct contact with the public, with the media. It's extremely important, but today, from my home, I can talk to millions of people and see their immediate reaction." He is noticed for his friendly interactions with his fans, who are called "Sexy Souls". Wax statues of Martin are on display at the Madame Tussauds wax museums in San Francisco, Sydney, and Orlando. The last one was moved from Las Vegas to Orlando for the opening of the museum in spring 2015.
Fashion
Martin is considered to be a sex symbol, and journalists describe him as "the Latin heartthrob". His fashion and style evolution, from "as '80s as you'd expect" during his time with Menudo to "a style groove, often opting for sharp, tailored suits with clean lines" since 2009, has been noticed by the media. Natalia Trejo from ¡Hola! described him as "one of the most stylish Latin men in the entertainment industry", highlighting his "baggy leather pants", "tailored suits", and "color-block blazers" that have marked "some of the noteworthy trends of each decade". The reviewer also commented that Martin is "an example of mixing business with casual" and has "always had a personal sense of style". JD Institute of Fashion Technology views Martin as a fashion icon, praising him for "pushing the fashion boundaries with every new look". In 1997, he went on the cover of People en Españols first edition of 25 Most Beautiful; he has since "been a constant presence" on their 25 or 50 Most Beautiful lists. Two years later, he was featured on the cover of both Rolling Stone and Time magazines.
Martin is considered to be one of the sexiest men in the world, according to various publications. In 2012, he was voted the sexiest man alive on Broadway.com. The following year, VH1 ranked him as the 28th Sexiest Artist of All Time, stating: "Ricky looks like the model in the magazine ads you stare at in awe thinking, 'There's no way he's that perfect in person'." In 2014, Entertainment Tonight listed him among the Sexiest Men Alive, while Revista Estilo placed him on the list of "the 10 Sexiest Singers" in 2016. He was ranked at number 16 on the list of "the 50 Hottest Men of All Time" by Harper's Bazaar in 2018, being the only Latin man on their list. In 2019, TN described Martin as "the sexiest man in the world". He has been noted for looking younger than his age, with Billboards Chris Payne labeling him "ageless". The singer has attended several fashion shows, including the Giorgio Armani show at Milan Fashion Week in 2011, the Marc Jacobs show in 2013, the Berluti menswear spring-summer 2020 show at Paris Fashion Week, the Dior men's pre-fall 2020 show, and the Virgil Abloh Spring-Summer 2022 show held by Louis Vuitton.
Personal life
Sexual orientation and early relationships
According to an interview with Rolling Stone in 1999, Martin experienced his first kiss at age 13 and lost his virginity at age 14 in Argentina. In 1990, shortly after he had arrived in Mexico to star in Mama Ama el Rock, he met a woman, who was the host of a television show. They began dating quickly and broke up a few months later. In 1992, he fell in love with Mexican singer Alejandra Guzmán, who was separated from her husband at the time. They began dating together until Guzmán returned to her husband and pretended Martin was her assistant on a phone call, while she was sleeping with her husband. In an interview with Univision, Martin admitted that she broke his heart. In the same year, Martin was rumored to have a relationship with Argentine tennis player Gabriela Sabatini. Sabatini's sister-in-law, Catherine Fulop confirmed the rumor in 2020. During the time he was playing in General Hospital, he met a "very handsome" man at a radio station, "stopped fearing [his] sexuality", and started dating him. Martin's mother supported him when she discovered that he was in love with a man, saying: "I love you, my son, I'm so happy for you. Bring it on. I'm right behind you." However, after the relationship ended, Martin "locked [his] feelings even deeper inside" and began dating women again. He recalls: "I already felt it was hard to be a Latino in Hollywood; what could have been more difficult than being Latino and gay?" Martin began dating Mexican television host Rebecca de Alba in 1994; they were in an on-and-off relationship until 2005. In May 2021, Alba revealed that she became pregnant several times in her life, but lost all of the embryos, expressing that one of them belonged to Martin. Martin also had relationships with Lilly Melgar, Adriana Biega, Maital Saban, and Inés Misan during his break-up times with Alba in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He declared that "there was chemistry with them" and he "wasn't fooling anyone".
In August 2008, Martin became a father to twin boys named Matteo and Valentino, born via gestational surrogacy. He explained that he chose surrogacy to become a parent for being "intriguing and faster" than adoption, which was complicated and could take a long time. In March 2010, Martin publicly came out as gay via a message on his website, stating: "I am proud to say that I am a fortunate homosexual man. I am very blessed to be who I am." Years later, he revealed that although his music was "heard all over the world" and he "could high five God" in 1999, he "wasn't living to the fullest" and was sad and depressed. He kept asking himself, "Am I gay? Am I bisexual? Am I confused? What am I?", explaining: "Sexuality is one complicated thing. It's not black and white. It's filled with colors. When I was dating women, I was in love with women. It felt right, it felt beautiful." In an interview with Vanity Fair, he declared: "There was love, passion. I do not regret anything, any of the relationships I lived, they taught me a lot, both men and women." Martin also told Fama!: "I know that I like both men and women, I'm against sexual labels, we are simply human beings with emotional and sexual needs. I like to enjoy sex in total freedom, so I'm open to having sex with a woman if I feel desire." Despite this, he expressed that he wouldn't be interested in "an ongoing relationship with a woman", stating: "Men are my thing". In 2000, American broadcast journalist Barbara Walters asked Martin about his sexuality on national television: "You could stop these rumors. You could say, 'Yes I am gay or no I'm not.'" In 2021, Martin, who answered with "I just don't feel like it" at the time, revealed that her question made him "felt violated", since he "was just not ready to come out" and was "very afraid"; he said that it resulted "a little PTSD" that "still haunts him". Martin dated Puerto Rican economist Carlos González Abella from 2010 to 2014, as his first relationship with a man after his coming out as gay.
Marriage
Syrian-Swedish painter Jwan Yosef shared a photo of himself and Martin on Instagram on March 30, 2016, with the caption: "Obviously we're starting a band." Soon it was rumored that Yosef is Martin's new boyfriend. Martin confirmed their relationship on April 18, 2016, and they made their red carpet debut as a couple at the amfAR Inspiration Gala. Martin later revealed that he met Yosef on Instagram and they "were talking for like six months without [him] hearing his voice". Subsequently, Martin went to London, where Yosef were living, and they met each other. On November 15, 2016, during an interview on The Ellen Show, he announced that he has proposed to Yosef and they are engaged. In January 2018, Martin confirmed that he has secretly married Yosef: "I'm a husband, but we're doing a heavy party in a couple of months, I'll let you know." On December 31, 2018, they announced that they have welcomed their first daughter together, named Lucia Martin-Yosef. Martin later explained that Lucia was born on December 24, coinciding with his 47th birthday. In September 2019, while accepting an award at the 23rd annual Human Rights Campaign (HRC) National Dinner, he announced that they are expecting their fourth child. On October 29, 2019, he shared a photo of himself, Yosef, and their new-born son, named Renn Martin-Yosef, with the caption: "Our son Renn Martin-Yosef has been born."
Beliefs and religion
During an interview with People in 2002, Martin expressed that he believes in "love", "the power of healing", and "God", thanks to his parents. The name he chose for his son Matteo means "gift from God". According to his statements in a 2021 interview, he still believes in God. He was raised Catholic but he said is not "the person who would ever look down upon one religion". He expressed that he also admires and likes Buddhist philosophy, but does not subscribe to the religion, since if he does, he cannot "be of anything else"; he does not want to be limited in certain aspects and follow a religion's specific rules. He tries to remain "open to everything" and makes "a concerted effort to always find new teachings and new paths" everywhere he goes and in every situation he finds himself in. Martin believes that everyone can "decide what makes them happy" and although "everyone needs to accept the life they were given", it does not mean they "should not live it as fully as possible".
Health and sports
Martin began practicing yoga after a trip to Thailand in 1997. He also began practicing meditation following a trip to India. In 2021, he explained that he gets up every morning at 5:30, before his family and puts himself in a lotus position and oxygenates his body. He also expressed that has a gym in his house, saying: "If I have space to see myself in the mirror and put on my products, then I also have to have space for my body." During an appearance on The Dr. Oz Show in 2017, Martin revealed that he "was diagnosed with high cholesterol" at age 18. Although he did not pay attention to the high cholesterol at the time, it made him decide to become a vegetarian since 2013 to reduce cholesterol, despite loving meat as "a Latin man". In 2020, he opened up that he suffered from anxiety for the first time in his life, following the COVID-19 lockdowns, stating that making music became his "medicine".
Real estate
In March 2001, Martin purchased a 7,082-square-feet house in Miami Beach for $6.4 million; he sold the unit for $10.6 million in 2005. In September 2004, he paid $11.9 million for a 11,000-square-feet Mediterranean-style villa in Los Angeles, which he sold in 2006 for $15 million. In May 2005, he purchased a 9,491-square-feet house in Miami Beach for $10 million; he sold the villa for $10.6 million in 2012. In 2007, he paid $16.2 million for a mansion in Golden Beach. He sold the property in 2012 for $12.8 million, incurring a loss. In the same year, he bought a 3,147-square-feet condominium in New York City for $5.9 million; he sold the condo for $7.1 million in 2017. In 2014, he rented a 900-square-metre mansion in Sydney, which became famous as "the Bronte Wave House" and was sold for $16 million in May 2015, marking one of the most expensive properties sold in the city that year. In December 2016, he purchased a 11,300-square-feet mansion in Beverly Hills. The estate, which is Martin's current house, has seven bedrooms and eight bathrooms with outdoor seating areas scattered throughout a 33,000-square-feet. It is a "private getaway in the middle of the city", located up the street from the Beverly Hills Hotel. Martin also owns a property in Puerto Rico and a private 19.7-acre island in Brazil. He purchased the latter for $8 million in 2008.
Legacy and influence
Martin has been regarded as the "King of Latin Pop" by various publications, such as the Grammy Awards, Billboard, Rolling Stone, Time, People, Vogue, The Independent, Entertainment Weekly, Entertainment Tonight Canada, NBC News, and ABC News. Additionally, he has been referred to as the "King of Latin Music", the "Latin Pop God", the "Latin King of Pop", the "Latin American King of Pop", the "Latin King", the "Crossover Latin King", the "Puerto Rican Pop King", the "Salsa-Pop King", and the "King of World Cup". Martin is known as one of the most influential artists in the world. Billboard ranked him as one of the 30 Most Influential Latin Artists of All Time, while NBC News introduced him as an "influential Latin celebrity". In 2014, he won the award for the most influential international artist at the 18th China Music Awards. He was ranked among "25 musicians who broke barriers" by Stacker in 2019, while in 2020, Spin ranked him at number 27 on the list of "most influential artists of the past 35 years", as the only Latin artist on their list. In 2022, Show News named him "the most influential global artist in history".
Martin's song "María (Pablo Flores Remix)", which was ranked among the "Greatest Latin Pop Song of All Time" by Rolling Stone, and "11 remixes of classic Latin hits" by Billboard, "launched the Latin and dance music crossover of the '90s", according to the latter. Olivier Pérou from Le Point commented that "some have even learned, thanks to him, to count to three in Spanish" following the popularity of the song. "La Copa de la Vida", which has been hailed as the Best World Cup Anthem of All-Time by multiple sources,
became a "musical template" for World Cup anthems, and Martin's Latin and dance crossover style has been much copied in the anthems, as well as soccer chant "Ole! Ole! Ole!" in the lyrics, according to The Hollywood Reporter. As believed by Esquire, the song "inaugurated this musical subgenre" of Latin. Joy Bhattacharjya from The Economic Times wrote about "La Copa de la Vida" that it was the first World Cup anthem to have a video just "as ubiquitous as the song", going on to write: "Since then, official songs have an important part to play in every World Cup." In his review for Pitchfork, Corban Goble wrote that if World Cup anthems someday would be "given their own textbook", "La Copa de la Vida" would be "the standard-bearer for the whole genre".
Martin is known as the pioneer in getting Latin pop music genre to mainstream recognition. Following his performance of "The Cup of Life" at the Grammys, and the success of "Livin' la Vida Loca" and Ricky Martin (1999), he opened the gates for many Latin artists such as Jennifer Lopez, Shakira, Christina Aguilera, Marc Anthony, Santana, and Enrique Iglesias who released their crossover albums and followed him onto the top of the charts. His performance of "The Cup of Life" at the Grammys not only changed the course of his career, but also altered how people regard Latin music in America. It has been known as a game-changer for Latin music worldwide, that effectively ushered in the "Latin explosion". Then-United Talent Agency head Rob Prinz described the rendition as "the single biggest game changing moment for any artist in the history of the Grammys". According to Billboard, it has been cited as the beginning of the "Latin Pop invasion", which powerfully affected the US mainstream. Jesús Triviño Alarcón from Tidal Magazine stated, "that single performance opened up the mainstream market for the Latinx legends", mentioning the names of Anthony, Shakira, and Lopez. InStyle staff wrote about it: "With his leather pants, big smile and energetic performance of 'The Cup of Life', Ricky Martin almost personally kicked off the so-called Latin Explosion of the late '90s." Mariana Best of San Antonio Express-News commented that the performance "is recognized for bringing Latin pop to the forefront of the U.S. music scene". In 2018, Diego Urdaneta from Vice credited the song as "one of those that laid the first stones so that J Balvin and Bad Bunnys of today can be at the top of the pyramid", labeling it "a milestone for Latin music".
According to Entertainment Tonight, "Livin' la Vida Loca" paved the way for a large number of other Latin artists, and is "credited as the song that helped other Latin artists break through to English-speaking markets". As believed by Spin, the song "lit the fuse for the Latin pop explosion of the '90s". Lucas Villa from Spin wrote about it: "When the world went loca for Ricky, he led the way for other Latin music superstars like Spain's Enrique Iglesias, Colombia's Shakira and Nuyoricans like Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony to make their marks beyond the Spanish-speaking crowds." He also described Martin as "a trailblazer in globalizing Latinx culture" in his Grammy.com article. Also from Grammy.com, Ernesto Lechner described "Livin' la Vida Loca" as "the manifesto for all the fun-loving, tropically tinged Latin hit singles that followed", stating that Martin led "the Latin music explosion that took over the U.S. at the tail end of the '90s". According to The Independent, the single is "widely regarded as the song that began the first Latin pop explosion". Peoples Jason Sheeler credited it as the song that "led the way for the late-'90s so-called 'Latin explosion' that dominated pop music into the new century: Shakira, Enrique Iglesias, Marc Anthony, and Jennifer Lopez".
Angie Romero from Billboard wrote: "If you look up 'crossover' in the dictionary, there should be a photo of Ricky shaking his bon bon and/or 'Livin' la Vida Loca'." Leila Cobo named "Livin' la Vida Loca" one of the genre's biggest singles of the past 50 years in his 2021 book Decoding "Despacito": An Oral History of Latin Music. She also wrote about his impact in Shakira's "Whenever, Wherever" chapter: "Ricky Martin’s phenomenal success opened the door for a string of Latin artists who waved the flags of their heritage, but who sang in English." Additionally, she compared Martin's song with Luis Fonsi's "Despacito" (2017) in one of her Billboard articles: "'Livin', like 'Despacito', became not just a global hit but a cultural phenomena that transcended all barriers of language and nationality." In another article, she described it as the song that "ignited the late-'90s Latin explosion". Also from Billboard, Gary Trust wrote: "The song helmed a Latin pop boom in the U.S., with Jenner Lopez, Marc Anthony and others crossing over, as well." Writing for LiveAbout.com, Bill Lamb credited the song as "the record which kicked off a wave of major Latin performers hitting the pop mainstream".
Jim Farber from Daily News noted that Ricky Martin "provides a textbook example of how to mix Latin beats with pop tunes and rock intonations". St. Louis Post-Dispatch critic Kevin C. Johnson described Martin as Latin music's "pretty-faced poster boy" who is "taking the music to places Jon Secada, Selena and Santana never could". He also mentioned that even "Gloria Estefan at her peak, failed to muster up the kind of hype and hoopla surrounding Martin". Celia San Miguel of Tidal Magazine stated that Martin "highlighted the public's thirst for a different kind of pop" in 1999, noting the album's "fusion-heavy" and "hip-shaking rhythms associated with Latin music". She mentioned that the album "spawned 1999's Latin music boom", emphasizing the fact that Martin created the "spark" of the "Latin Pop Explosion", which was followed by 1999 albums, On the 6 by Lopez, Enrique by Iglesias, and Anthony's eponymous album. She continued crediting "Martin and the paths he created" responsible for the Latin music and Spanish and Spanglish lyrics being "a commonplace phenomenon on English-language radio" in 2019. In her review for Grammy.com, Ana Monroy Yglesias said Martin led a "major music moment in 1999" with Ricky Martin, and along with him, "the first major boom of Spanish-language artists", such as Shakira and Lopez, came into the "U.S. pop landscape".
The late '90s Latin explosion also resulted in the launch of the Latin Recording Academy. Gabriel Abaroa Jr., the president and chief executive officer of the Latin Recording Academy, expressed that the plan of its launch was "immediately after the Ricky Martin success". Cuban American musician and producer Emilio Estefan added: "After the success with Ricky Martin, everybody opened their eyes and realized how important it was to bring diversity and multiethnic elements into [mainstream American] music." Many artists have cited Martin as an influence or declared themselves as his fan, including Abraham Mateo, Bad Bunny, Camila Cabello, Camilo, Carla Morrison, Christian Chávez, CNCO, Danna Paola, Enrique Iglesias, J Balvin, J-Hope, Jimin, Karol G, India Martínez, Luis Fonsi, Maite Perroni, Maluma, Neha Mahajan, Pedro Capó, Prince Royce, Rauw Alejandro, Rosalía, Sebastián Ligarde, Sebastián Yatra, Shakira, Tini, Vadhir Derbez, William Hung, Wisin, and Ximena Sariñana.
Both Maluma and J Balvin have described Martin as a "teacher" and credited him as an artist who "opened the doors" for them, while Maluma has also expressed: "Ricky Martin is one of the artists I wanted to be growing up. He's my idol in the industry".Citations regarding J Balvin's statements about Martin:
Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny talked about Martin's legacy during an episode of Behind the Music: "There's no doubt that he opened the door for an entire generation of Latin artists. I am doing great things today in the music industry thanks to those doors that he opened." He also mentioned that he is inspired by Martin's coming out as gay: "You don't have to be gay to be inspired by that action of honesty and freedom, of being yourself against the world despite everything you deserve. I look at it like a very inspiring moment for anybody. At least for me, it's very inspirational." Brazilian singer-songwriter Anitta explained to The Guardian that "some Latin stars such as Maluma and Bad Bunny sing in their native language" and do not need to sing in English to get noticed, because they already had representatives like Shakira, Martin, and Jennifer Lopez, but since her country "hasn't had a major international pop star before", she uses "whatever language will get the market's attention".
Portrayal in television
In July 2019, SOMOS Productions, Endemol Shine Boomdog, and Piñolywood Studios announced the production of a biographical web television series about Menudo, titled Subete a Mi Moto. Consisting of 15 episodes of 60 minutes each, the series premiered on Amazon Prime Video on October 9, 2020 in Mexico, Latin America, and Spain. It was filmed in Mexico and Puerto Rico, and Martin was portrayed by actors Felipe Albors and Ethan Schwartz. The series premiered in the United States on February 14, 2021 on Estrella TV. On the review aggregation website Tomatazos, the first season has a positive score of 75%. The website's critical consensus summary states, "A good trip to the past that recalls a band that defined the youth of a certain public, but that doesn't ignore the darkest moments in the lives of its members."
Other ventures
Books
On August 19, 2010, Martin announced that he had been working on his memoir, mentioning its title as Me and publish date as November 2, 2010. He expressed that writing the book was "one of the reasons" he decided to come out earlier that year. The book also had a Spanish edition title Yo (), which was published simultaneously by Celebra. He stated that writing his memoir allowed him "to explore the different paths and experiences" that have led him to be who he is, noting that it "was not easy but allowed for an incredible spiritual journey". Me spent several weeks at number one on the New York Times Best Seller list. In 2019, ¡Hola! staff ranked the book among "12 Books by Celebrities to Inspire and Motivate You", while Book Riot placed it on an unranked list of the "Best Celebrity Books You Should Read This Year" in 2020. Martin's first children's book Santiago the Dreamer in Land Among the Stars was published by Celebra and illustrated by Patricia Castelao in November 2013 for ages between five to nine. Its Spanish-language edition, Santiago El Soñador en Entre Las Estrellas, was published simultaneously. Martin expressed that the book was inspired by his "personal life, with fantasy added to it", as well as "a lot of cartoons".
Products and endorsements
Martin endorsed the 2012 Viva Glam campaign with Trinidadian rapper Nicki Minaj, which raised $270 million for the Mac AIDS Fund. In October 2020, Martin announced that he would launch his company, Martin Music Lab in partnership with music engineers Jaycen Joshua and Michael Seaberg. The company is centered around a new audio technique called "Orbital Audio", that "creates a new type of immersive, headphone listening experience". Martin used the technique on his EP Pausa, while several artists including Bad Bunny, Residente, Myke Towers, and A$AP Rocky are going to work with the company. The latter plans to release his whole upcoming studio album, using "Orbital Audio". Martin is going to expand the technique "beyond the music industry and tap into the movies, sports and, most notably, the wellness and meditation space". In 2021, Martin partnered with skin care company Kumiko. The skincare line, created by Chilean cosmetologist Catalina Aguirre, is the first to combine "mesotherapy, matcha, and cutting-edge European technology into unique multi-action formulas that penetrate the dermis with powerful anti-aging properties and lifting benefits".
Activism
Philanthropy
While on a trip to India in 2002, Martin witnessed three minor girls who were about to be sold into prostitution and rescued them. The following year, he became a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and then met with activists and decided to fight against human trafficking, which is the second-most lucrative crime in the world. In 2004, Martin launched the Ricky Martin Foundation, a non-profit, non-governmental organization that focuses on denouncing human trafficking and educating about the crime's "existence through research and community initiatives, anchored in the defense of children and youth rights". In the same year, he appealed to the United Nations for international help to fight against sex tourism. In January 2005, following the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, Martin visited Thailand to assess the needs of the minor survivors who were "extremely vulnerable to traffickers". Later that year, the Ricky Martin Foundation signed an alliance in partnership with Habitat for Humanity to construct 224 homes for the tsunami-affected families. The project was completed in December 2006. In March 2006, the foundation collaborated with the International Organization for Migration in the Llama y Vive () campaign, which focuses on facilitating "the prevention of human trafficking and the protection of young people, victims of child trafficking and prosecution of traffickers".
In January 2010, along with many celebrities, Martin operated the charity telethon Hope for Haiti Now to raise donations for the 2010 Haiti earthquake. Later that year, the Ricky Martin Foundation created the first program of community social action against child trafficking in Martin's native Puerto Rico, titled "Se Trata" (). In 2012, the foundation participated in the making of the Child Protection Model Law on the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children. In 2016, Martin visited Syrian refugees in Lebanon and played with the children and talked to them in an informal refugee camp. Following the Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico in 2017, the Ricky Martin Foundation helped people and handed over homes that were rebuilt after the losses; Martin launched a viral campaign of selling a black T-shirt with the Puerto Rican flag stamped on it in order to raise the funds. The T-shirts were designed by Martin's twin boys Matteo and Valentino, while many celebrities including Will Smith, Bad Bunny, Marc Anthony, Luis Fonsi, and Maluma supported the campaign. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Martin created a campaign to help health care workers through the non-profit organization Project Hope. He expressed: "As you know, health care professionals are extremely vulnerable and professionals around the world don’t have personal protection equipment they need to prevent them getting infected." In February 2021, Martin collaborated with Antonia Novello to launch mass vaccination events in Puerto Rico. Following the murder of George Floyd and Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, Martin honored an effort called "Black Out Tuesday" and launched the hashtag #knowthestruggle, giving his social media to the voices of the community that are "looking for justice", to learn more about what is happening.
For his humanitarian efforts and fighting against human trafficking, Martin has been honored with numerous accolades, including the Peace Summit Award by the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates, the TIP Report Hero Award by the United States Department of State, the Spirit of Hope Award by Billboard Latin Music Awards, the Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year Award, the Award of Inspiration by amfAR Gala, the Leader of Change Award by the Foundation for Social Change, the Humanitarian Award by the Global Gift Foundation, the Humanitarian Award by the Hispanic Federation, the Corazón Latino Award by the iHeartRadio Fiesta Latina, the International Humanitarian Award by the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the Agent of Change Award by the International Peace Honors, the PODER Social Leadership Awards, and the Agent of Change Award by the Premios Juventud.
Politics
On January 20, 2001, during the first inauguration of George W. Bush, Martin performed "The Cup of Life" and danced with him. Martin's view of Bush changed over the Iraq War, as expressed in his declaration to BBC News that he will "always condemn war and those who promulgate it". He also stuck up his middle finger while singing the president's name in his 2003 song "Asignatura Pendiente" at a concert. At the 2010 Billboard Latin Music Awards, Martin expressed his disagreement with the Arizona SB 1070 bill, a proposed law that would have required police officers to request documents from individuals whom they suspected to be illegal immigrants. Martin campaigned for the 44th president of the United States Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, and thanked him for an "outstanding presidency" in 2016, while calling him "an amazing leader". Also in 2016, he was an active ally to the Democratic Party presidential candidate Hillary Clinton campaign, while condemning Donald Trump's hateful comments about immigrants. He also performed his hits during the "Hillary Clinton: She's With Us" concert at the Greek Theatre on June 6, 2016.
Telegramgate, also known as Chatgate, was a political scandal involving Ricardo Rosselló, then Governor of Puerto Rico, which began on July 8, 2019, with the leak of hundreds of pages of a group chat on the messaging application Telegram between Rosselló and members of his cabinet. The messages were considered vulgar, misogynistic, and homophobic toward several individuals and groups, including Martin. Therefore, Martin, Bad Bunny, Residente and several other artists, and more than half a million Puerto Ricans led the call to take to the streets of Puerto Rico, demanding Rosselló's resignation. In September 2020, Martin, Luis Fonsi, and actress Eva Longoria attended a campaign event in Kissimmee, Florida to support the Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden for the 2020 United States presidential election. During an interview with Variety, Martin stated: "I've been supporting Biden forever, I think he is the only option we have and he is great and he has been in politics all his life. This is the moment. We all need to get together and be loud about the course of this nation." Following the election of Biden as 45th president of the United States, Martin said "Bye-bye" to Trump on social media, and shared a photo of himself along with Biden on Instagram.
In May 2021, Martin demonstrated his support for the Ni una menos movement, condemning femicides and violence against women in Puerto Rico, while calling authorities to protect women. He further expressed that no woman should fear for her safety and urged authorities to take steps in order to prevent these acts. In the same month, he supported the 2021 Colombian protests. Later that year, the singer raised his voice in support of the 2021 Cuban protests against the Castro regime for the restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic crisis, stating: "This is very important. Our brothers and sisters in Cuba need us to inform the world what they are experiencing today. Let's fill the networks before they remove the internet in the country. Humanitarian aid for Cuba NOW."
LGBT advocacy
As a gay man, Martin actively supports LGBT rights worldwide since his coming out in 2010. Even before coming out, he was noted by the mainstream media for being popular among gay men and having a large gay fan base. He also went on the cover of the American LGBT-interest magazine The Advocate in July 1999. Despite this, he admitted that he felt homosexuality was evil since he was raised as a Catholic and targeted his anger toward others, especially gay men: "I was very angry, very rebellious. I used to look at gay men and think, 'I'm not like that, I don't want to be like that, that's not me.' I was ashamed." He added that he "had internalized homophobia" back then. He is currently considered to be a gay icon, with PinkNews labeling him "a strong advocate of LGBT rights" who "expressed support for equal marriage" since coming out.
As the first mainstream Latin music artist to come out, Martin's coming out was a game-changer for "Latin Pride". Billboards Lucas Villa stated: "With Martin's announcement, gay artists, who had long kept their sexual identities a secret, finally had a beacon of hope. If Martin could come out with his career unscathed, there was hope for other artists in Latin music to start doing the same." He added that since then, "a growing number of Latin artists have either come out after years in the spotlight, or many have simply started their careers by embracing their gay identities". In 2010, GLAAD then-president Jarrett Barrios expressed that Martin's coming out as gay leads "hundreds of millions of people" to have "a cultural connection with an artist, a celebrity and, perhaps most importantly, a father who happens to be gay", adding that "his decision to model this kind of openness and honesty can lead to greater acceptance for countless gay people in U.S., in Latin America and worldwide". In 2019, Human Rights Campaign then-president Alphonso David expressed that Martin "has used his international stage to advocate for LGBTQ people around the world" with his "unique voice and passionate activism". The following year, Suzy Exposito from Rolling Stone argued that with risking his career and coming out, Martin "set the scene for Bad Bunny to be free in many ways that, during his own breakthrough moment, he could not".
Martin expressed support for same-sex marriage during an interview on Larry King Live in 2010. He has then delivered speeches about LGBT rights at the United Nations Homophobia Conference, the GLAAD Media Awards, and the Human Rights Campaign. He also raised his voice to support gay marriage in Puerto Rico before its legalization in 2015. In March 2016, Martin met with Chilean LGBT rights group Fundación Iguales to learn about the challenges LGBT citizens face there. AT the meeting, he said that he wants "equal marriage rights for Chile" and he wants his sons to grow up in a world where "there are no second-class citizens". Following the Colombia's highest court voting against an anti same-sex marriage proposal in April 2016, Martin tweeted: "Love and equality win, Colombia says YES to same-sex marriage." During an interview with Vulture, Martin talked about his role in The Assassination of Gianni Versace and how he wanted his portrayal to help "normalize open relationships". In June 2019, he published an open letter slamming the religious liberty bill, saying: "As a defender of human rights and a member of the LGBTT community, I am vehemently opposed to the proposed measure imposed upon us under the guise of religious freedom, that projects us to the world as a backwards country." Puerto Rico's then-governor backed down and withdrew his support of the bill following Martin's statement. In June 2020, Martin performed his song "Recuerdo" with Carla Morrison for a virtual event, Can't Cancel Pride: Helping LGBTQ+ People in Need, to raise visibility and funds for LGBTQ+ communities. He appeared at the virtual event in the following year as well. In February 2021, Martin was named national spokesperson for the onePULSE Foundation, a non-profit organization that focuses on managing "the design and construction of the permanent national memorial and museum dedicated to the Pulse nightclub tragedy". Later that year, he expressed that he wants to "normalize families like" his, in an interview with People.
Several of Martin's music videos feature diversity in sexual orientations and same-sex couples, including "The Best Thing About Me Is You", "Disparo al Corazón", "Fiebre", and "Tiburones". For his activism and advocacy for LGBTQ community, Martin has been honored with numerous accolades, including the GLAAD Vito Russo Award, the Gala Vanguard Award by the Los Angeles LGBT Center, the International Icon Award by the British LGBT Awards, the National Visibility Award by the Human Rights Campaign, the Trailblazer Award by the LGBT Center Dinner, the Celebrity Activist of the Year by LGBTQ Nation, and the Legacy Award by Attitude Awards.
Achievements
Throughout his career, Martin has won over 200 awards (most awarded male Latin artist), including two Grammy Awards, five Latin Grammy Awards, five MTV Video Music Awards (tied for most wins by a Latin artist), two American Music Awards, two Latin American Music Awards, three Billboard Music Awards, a Billboard Music Video Award, nine Billboard Latin Music Awards, eight World Music Awards, fourteen Lo Nuestro Awards (including the Excellence Award), and a Guinness World Record. As an actor, he was nominated for an Emmy Award. In 2007, Martin was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, located at 6901 Hollywood Blvd.
Martin is ranked among the Greatest Latin Artists of All Time and the Greatest Hot Latin Songs Artists of All Time by Billboard, while his album Vuelve was placed at number five on Billboards Top 20 Latin Albums Of All Time in 2018. In 1998, his song, "Perdido Sin Ti" reached the top of the Latin Pop Airplay chart, displacing Martin's own "Vuelve", making him the first artist on the chart's history to replace himself. His song "Livin' la Vida Loca" became the first number-one song on Billboard Hot 100, which was made entirely in Pro Tools, and achieved the first number one hit for his label, Columbia. It also became the first song in history to top Billboards Adult Pop Airplay, Pop Airplay, and Rhythmic Airplay charts, holding its record as the only song to do so for 14 years. On May 15, 1999, it became the first single ever to rule four different Billboard charts and made Martin the first act to simultaneously scale a pop, Latin, and dance chart. Two weeks later, he became the first artist to simultaneously top the Billboard 200, Hot Latin Tracks, Hot Dance Music/Club Play, Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales, Top 40 Tracks, and the Billboard Hot 100. His song "Tal Vez" (2003) marked the first number one debut on Billboard Hot Latin Songs in the 21st century. Martin is the first and only artist with Spanish-language entries on Billboard Hot 100 in three decades. In 2020, he became the first and only artist in history to enter the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart across five decades, including his work as part of Menudo. The following year, he became the first male Latin artist in history to have 4 songs from different decades to have over 100 million streams on Spotify. He owns the record as the artist with most top 20s on the US Latin Pop Airplay chart, with 51 songs, and is the runner-up of most top 10s. He is the fourth artist with the most number one songs in the history of the Hot Latin Songs chart. Additionally, he holds the record as the most Spanish-language entries on ARIA top 50 singles chart, with three.
On October 11, 2007, then-mayor of Miami Beach, Florida David Dermer awarded him the key to the city of Miami Beach. Puerto Rico named August 31 the "International Ricky Martin Day" in 2008. The Government of Spain granted Spanish nationality to Martin in 2011, for being "recognized in different artistic facets". In 2018, in recognition of "his dedication to the island and people of Puerto Rico, his philanthropic work to eliminate human trafficking across the Caribbean, and his commitment to the arts", the singer received a proclamation naming June 7 the "Ricky Martin Day" in New York City. Throughout his career, Martin has sold over 70 million records making him one of the best-selling Latin music artists of all time. In 2020, La Opinión estimated his net worth at US$120 million.
Discography
Ricky Martin (1991)
Me Amaras (1993)
A Medio Vivir (1995)
Vuelve (1998)
Ricky Martin (1999)
Sound Loaded (2000)
Almas del Silencio (2003)
Life (2005)
Música + Alma + Sexo (2011)
A Quien Quiera Escuchar (2015)
Filmography
Mas Que Alcanzar una estrella (1992)
Hercules – Latin American dub (1997)
Idle Hands (1999)
Ricky Martin: One Night Only (1999)
Minions – Latin American dub (2015)
The Latin Explosion: A New America (2015)
Ricky Martin: Behind the Vegas Residency (2017)
Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey (2020)
El cuartito (2021)
Theatre
Les Misérables (1996), Broadway – Marius Pontmercy
Evita (2012), Broadway – Ché
Tours and residenciesHeadlining tours Ricky Martin Tour (1992)
Me Amaras Tour (1993–1994)
A Medio Vivir Tour (1995–1997)
Vuelve World Tour (1998)
Livin' la Vida Loca Tour (1999–2000)
One Night Only with Ricky Martin (2005–2006)
Black and White Tour (2007)
Música + Alma + Sexo World Tour (2011)
Ricky Martin Live (2013–2014)
Live in Mexico (2014)
One World Tour (2015–2018)
Ricky Martin en Concierto (2018-2019)
Movimiento Tour (2020-2022)Co-headlining tour Enrique Iglesias and Ricky Martin Live in Concert (with Enrique Iglesias) (2021)Residency'
All In (2017–2018)
See also
Honorific nicknames in popular music
List of artists who reached number one in the United States
List of artists who reached number one on the UK Singles Chart
List of Latin pop artists
List of multilingual bands and artists
List of Puerto Rican Grammy Award winners and nominees
List of Puerto Ricans
List of Urbano artists
Notes
References
Book sources
External links
1971 births
Living people
20th-century LGBT people
20th-century Puerto Rican male actors
20th-century Puerto Rican male singers
20th-century Puerto Rican singers
21st-century LGBT people
21st-century Puerto Rican male actors
21st-century Puerto Rican male singers
21st-century Puerto Rican singers
American gay actors
American gay musicians
American humanitarians
American male pop singers
American male singer-songwriters
Columbia Records artists
Echo (music award) winners
Grammy Award winners
Hispanic and Latino American male actors
Hispanic and Latino American musicians
Latin Grammy Award winners
Latin music songwriters
Latin pop singers
Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year honorees
LGBT entertainers from Puerto Rico
LGBT Hispanic and Latino American people
LGBT Latin musicians
LGBT rights activists from the United States
LGBT singers from the United States
Male actors from San Juan, Puerto Rico
Menudo (band) members
MTV Europe Music Award winners
Naturalised citizens of Spain
Puerto Rican activists
Puerto Rican expatriates in Australia
Puerto Rican expatriates in Mexico
Puerto Rican expatriates in Spain
Puerto Rican male film actors
Puerto Rican male soap opera actors
Puerto Rican male television actors
Puerto Rican people of Basque descent
Puerto Rican people of Canarian descent
Puerto Rican people of Corsican descent
Puerto Rican people of Spanish descent
Puerto Rican philanthropists
Puerto Rican pop singers
Puerto Rican record producers
Puerto Rican singer-songwriters
Singers from San Juan, Puerto Rico
Sony Music Latin artists
Sony Music Spain artists
Spanish-language singers of the United States
UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors
World Music Awards winners | true | [
"\"What Did I Do to You?\" is a song recorded by British singer Lisa Stansfield for her 1989 album, Affection. It was written by Stansfield, Ian Devaney and Andy Morris, and produced by Devaney and Morris. The song was released as the fourth European single on 30 April 1990. It included three previously unreleased songs written by Stansfield, Devaney and Morris: \"My Apple Heart,\" \"Lay Me Down\" and \"Something's Happenin'.\" \"What Did I Do to You?\" was remixed by Mark Saunders and by the Grammy Award-winning American house music DJ and producer, David Morales. The single became a top forty hit in the European countries reaching number eighteen in Finland, number twenty in Ireland and number twenty-five in the United Kingdom. \"What Did I Do to You?\" was also released in Japan.\n\nIn 2014, the remixes of \"What Did I Do to You?\" were included on the deluxe 2CD + DVD re-release of Affection and on People Hold On ... The Remix Anthology. They were also featured on The Collection 1989–2003 box set (2014), including previously unreleased Red Zone Mix by David Morales.\n\nCritical reception\nThe song received positive reviews from music critics. Matthew Hocter from Albumism viewed it as a \"upbeat offering\". David Giles from Music Week said it is \"beautifully performed\" by Stansfield. A reviewer from Reading Eagle wrote that \"What Did I Do to You?\" \"would be right at home on the \"Saturday Night Fever\" soundtrack.\"\n\nMusic video\nA music video was produced to promote the single, directed by Philip Richardson, who had previously directed the videos for \"All Around the World\" and \"Live Together\". It features Stansfield with her kiss curls, dressed in a white outfit and performing with her band on a stage in front of a jumping audience. The video was later published on Stansfield's official YouTube channel in November 2009. It has amassed more than 1,6 million views as of October 2021.\n\nTrack listings\n\n European/UK 7\" single\n\"What Did I Do to You?\" (Mark Saunders Remix Edit) – 4:20\n\"Something's Happenin'\" – 3:59\n\n European/UK/Japanese CD single\n\"What Did I Do to You?\" (Mark Saunders Remix Edit) – 4:20\n\"My Apple Heart\" – 5:19\n\"Lay Me Down\" – 4:17\n\"Something's Happenin'\" – 3:59\n\n UK 10\" single\n\"What Did I Do to You?\" (Mark Saunders Remix) – 5:52\n\"My Apple Heart\" – 5:19\n\"Lay Me Down\" – 4:17\n\"Something's Happenin'\" – 3:59\n\n European/UK 12\" single\n\"What Did I Do to You?\" (Morales Mix) – 7:59\n\"My Apple Heart\" – 4:22\n\"Lay Me Down\" – 3:19\n\"Something's Happenin'\" – 3:15\n\n UK 12\" promotional single\n\"What Did I Do to You?\" (Morales Mix) – 7:59\n\"What Did I Do to You?\" (Anti Poll Tax Dub) – 6:31\n\n Other remixes\n\"What Did I Do to You?\" (Red Zone Mix) – 7:45\n\nCharts\n\nReferences\n\nLisa Stansfield songs\n1990 singles\nSongs written by Lisa Stansfield\n1989 songs\nArista Records singles\nSongs written by Ian Devaney\nSongs written by Andy Morris (musician)",
"Esterman v NALGO [1974] ICR 625 is a UK labour law case, concerning trade union regulation.\n\nFacts\nMiss Esterman was a senior legal assistant in Islington LBC. NALGO balloted members for a strike, to increase the London weighting. Of those who voted, 49% were in favour of selected strikes, and 48% were against, and 3% did not answer. It got the employer to agree but was vetoed by government under its counter-inflation policy. The union in Islington was instructed to do selective strikes, where 64% voted in favour. This was to boycott the elections in May 1974. Miss Esterman refused to comply with the instruction and was disciplined according to NALGO’s rules. She sought an interlocutory injunction to prevent expulsion.\n\nJudgment\nTempleman J held that Miss Esterman could get an injunction against the disciplinary proceeding. It was ‘impossible to convict any member of NALGO of conduct which rendered him unfit to be a member... on the ground that the member did not comply with the instructions’ to not co-operate with the election. The union had to have clear authority in the rules, and the member must have no reason to question whether the instruction was lawful. There were doubts whether the union executive could ‘take the serious step of interfering’ with the member’s right to do work outside normal employment. Templeman J said a member ‘cannot be found guilty on that account of conduct which renders him unfit to be a member of NALGO.’ There could, however, be ‘special circumstances’ where a union member could disobey a lawful instruction.\n\nSee also\n\nUK labour law\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n\nUnited Kingdom labour case law"
] | [
"Enrique Martín Morales (born December 24, 1971), known professionally as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican singer, songwriter, and actor. He is known for his musical versatility, as his discography spans multiple genres, including Latin pop, pop, dance, reggaeton, and salsa. Dubbed the \"King of Latin Pop\", the \"King of Latin Music\", and the \"Latin Pop God\", he is regarded as one of the most influential artists in the world.",
"Dubbed the \"King of Latin Pop\", the \"King of Latin Music\", and the \"Latin Pop God\", he is regarded as one of the most influential artists in the world. Born in San Juan, Martin began appearing in television commercials at the age of 9 and began his musical career at age 12, as a member of Puerto Rican boy band Menudo.",
"Born in San Juan, Martin began appearing in television commercials at the age of 9 and began his musical career at age 12, as a member of Puerto Rican boy band Menudo. He started his solo career in 1991 while in Sony Music Mexico, gaining recognition in Latin America with the release of his first two studio albums, Ricky Martin (1991) and Me Amaras (1993), both of which were focused on ballads.",
"He started his solo career in 1991 while in Sony Music Mexico, gaining recognition in Latin America with the release of his first two studio albums, Ricky Martin (1991) and Me Amaras (1993), both of which were focused on ballads. Martin's third album, A Medio Vivir (1995), helped him rose to prominence in European countries. The chart-topping single \"María\", incorporated a mixture of Latin music genres and became his first international hit.",
"The chart-topping single \"María\", incorporated a mixture of Latin music genres and became his first international hit. His international success was further solidified with his fourth album, Vuelve (1998). The album, which earned Martin his first Grammy Award, spawned chart-topping hits \"Vuelve\" and \"La Copa de la Vida\". Martin performed the latter at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards, which was greeted with a massive standing ovation and is known as a game-changer for Latin music worldwide.",
"Martin performed the latter at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards, which was greeted with a massive standing ovation and is known as a game-changer for Latin music worldwide. His first English album, Ricky Martin (1999) became his first US Billboard 200 number one. The lead single \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" is considered to be Martin's biggest hit, topping both the Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart. Martin's success in the late '90s is generally seen as the beginning of the \"Latin explosion\".",
"Martin's success in the late '90s is generally seen as the beginning of the \"Latin explosion\". He has been credited for getting Latin pop music genre to mainstream recognition, paving the way for a large number of Latin artists to achieve a global success.",
"He has been credited for getting Latin pop music genre to mainstream recognition, paving the way for a large number of Latin artists to achieve a global success. Martin has since established his status as a sex symbol and a pop icon, releasing several successful albums, including all-time Latin bestsellers Almas del Silencio (2003) and MTV Unplugged (2006), as well as Grammy Award winner A Quien Quiera Escuchar (2015).",
"Martin has since established his status as a sex symbol and a pop icon, releasing several successful albums, including all-time Latin bestsellers Almas del Silencio (2003) and MTV Unplugged (2006), as well as Grammy Award winner A Quien Quiera Escuchar (2015). He has also amassed many successful singles and chart-topper hits, including \"She Bangs\", \"Nobody Wants to Be Lonely\", \"Tal Vez\", \"Tu Recuerdo\", \"La Mordidita\", \"Vente Pa' Ca\", and \"Canción Bonita\".",
"He has also amassed many successful singles and chart-topper hits, including \"She Bangs\", \"Nobody Wants to Be Lonely\", \"Tal Vez\", \"Tu Recuerdo\", \"La Mordidita\", \"Vente Pa' Ca\", and \"Canción Bonita\". As an actor, Martin gained popularity and stardom for his role in the hit soap opera General Hospital (1994-1996), while his portrayal of Antonio D'Amico in The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story (2018) marked the acting opportunity of his career, garnering him an Emmy nomination.",
"As an actor, Martin gained popularity and stardom for his role in the hit soap opera General Hospital (1994-1996), while his portrayal of Antonio D'Amico in The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story (2018) marked the acting opportunity of his career, garnering him an Emmy nomination. He also starred as Ché in the Broadway revival of the musical Evita in 2012, which broke the theatre's box-office sales record seven times.",
"He also starred as Ché in the Broadway revival of the musical Evita in 2012, which broke the theatre's box-office sales record seven times. Having sold over 70 million records worldwide, Martin is one of the best-selling Latin music artists of all time.",
"Having sold over 70 million records worldwide, Martin is one of the best-selling Latin music artists of all time. He has scored 11 Billboard Hot Latin Songs number-one songs, and won over 200 awards (most awarded male Latin artist), including two Grammy Awards, five Latin Grammy Awards, five MTV Video Music Awards (tied for most wins by a Latin artist), two American Music Awards, two Latin American Music Awards, three Billboard Music Awards, nine Billboard Latin Music Awards, eight World Music Awards, fourteen Lo Nuestro Awards, a Guinness World Record, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.",
"He has scored 11 Billboard Hot Latin Songs number-one songs, and won over 200 awards (most awarded male Latin artist), including two Grammy Awards, five Latin Grammy Awards, five MTV Video Music Awards (tied for most wins by a Latin artist), two American Music Awards, two Latin American Music Awards, three Billboard Music Awards, nine Billboard Latin Music Awards, eight World Music Awards, fourteen Lo Nuestro Awards, a Guinness World Record, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He is ranked among the Greatest Latin Artists of All Time, the Greatest Music Video Artists of All Time, and the Most Influential Latin Artists of All Time by Billboard.",
"He is ranked among the Greatest Latin Artists of All Time, the Greatest Music Video Artists of All Time, and the Most Influential Latin Artists of All Time by Billboard. His philanthropy and activism focus on LGBT rights and fighting against human trafficking; in 2004, he founded The Ricky Martin Foundation, a non-profit, non-governmental organization that focuses on denouncing human trafficking and educating about the crime's existence.",
"His philanthropy and activism focus on LGBT rights and fighting against human trafficking; in 2004, he founded The Ricky Martin Foundation, a non-profit, non-governmental organization that focuses on denouncing human trafficking and educating about the crime's existence. Life and career 1971–1982: Early life Enrique Martín Morales was born on December 24, 1971, in San Juan, Puerto Rico.",
"Life and career 1971–1982: Early life Enrique Martín Morales was born on December 24, 1971, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. His mother, Doña Nereida Morales, is a former accountant; his father, Enrique Martín Negroni, is a former psychologist who previously worked as a regional supervisor for a Puerto Rican mental-health agency.",
"His mother, Doña Nereida Morales, is a former accountant; his father, Enrique Martín Negroni, is a former psychologist who previously worked as a regional supervisor for a Puerto Rican mental-health agency. His parents divorced when he was two years old, and although his mother had custody of Martin, he could also move freely between his father's house in the middle-class suburb of University Gardens in San Juan, and his paternal grandmother's house nearby.",
"His parents divorced when he was two years old, and although his mother had custody of Martin, he could also move freely between his father's house in the middle-class suburb of University Gardens in San Juan, and his paternal grandmother's house nearby. In an interview with People, he told the magazine the he \"never had to make decisions\" about who he loved more, and he was \"always happy\".",
"In an interview with People, he told the magazine the he \"never had to make decisions\" about who he loved more, and he was \"always happy\". Martin has two older maternal half-brothers, Fernando and Ángel Fernández, two younger paternal half-brothers, Eric and Daniel Martín, and a younger paternal half-sister, Vanessa Martín. Martin has Spanish heritage of Basque and Canarian descent. As he explained to ABC, the Martins traveled from Spain to Puerto Rico in 1779.",
"As he explained to ABC, the Martins traveled from Spain to Puerto Rico in 1779. He also has some Corsican origin through his paternal grandmother. Martin grew up Catholic. The people closest to him called him \"Kiki\" (a nickname that comes from Enrique). He began singing at age six, using wooden kitchen spoons as make-believe microphones; he often sang songs by Puerto Rican boy band Menudo, as well as English-language rock groups such as Led Zeppelin, Journey, and REO Speedwagon.",
"He began singing at age six, using wooden kitchen spoons as make-believe microphones; he often sang songs by Puerto Rican boy band Menudo, as well as English-language rock groups such as Led Zeppelin, Journey, and REO Speedwagon. His mother's side of the family was musically inclined and his maternal grandfather was a poet.",
"His mother's side of the family was musically inclined and his maternal grandfather was a poet. Martin later reflected on his time spent with his family as a child: \"Every time I find myself in front of an audience, be it twenty people or one hundred thousand, once again I feel the energy that consumed me back at the family gatherings of my youth.\" He attended Colegio Sagrado Corazón, a bilingual Catholic grade school in University Gardens since fourth grade and was an \"average\" student there.",
"He attended Colegio Sagrado Corazón, a bilingual Catholic grade school in University Gardens since fourth grade and was an \"average\" student there. When he was nine years old, he began appearing in television commercials for products such as soft drinks, toothpaste, and fast food restaurants, most notably Orange Crush and Burger King. In a year and a half, he starred in 11 commercials. 1983–1989: Menudo After achieving moderate fame in his country for his appearances in television commercials, Martin auditioned for membership in Menudo.",
"1983–1989: Menudo After achieving moderate fame in his country for his appearances in television commercials, Martin auditioned for membership in Menudo. Formed in Puerto Rico in 1977, Menudo members were usually replaced when they hit 16 in order to keep the band \"full of fresh-faced members\". Although the executives enjoyed his dancing and singing at his first two auditions, Martin was rejected because he was too short. By the third audition, his persistence impressed executives, and in 1984, 12-year-old Martin became a member.",
"By the third audition, his persistence impressed executives, and in 1984, 12-year-old Martin became a member. A month after joining Menudo, he made his debut performance with the group at the Luis A. Ferré Performing Arts Center in San Juan.",
"A month after joining Menudo, he made his debut performance with the group at the Luis A. Ferré Performing Arts Center in San Juan. During this performance, he inadvertently disobeyed the choreography by walking around the stage, when it was planned that he would stay still, and was chastised by the band manager after the show: \"The mistake was such a big deal that from that moment on, never again did I move when I wasn't supposed to move.",
"During this performance, he inadvertently disobeyed the choreography by walking around the stage, when it was planned that he would stay still, and was chastised by the band manager after the show: \"The mistake was such a big deal that from that moment on, never again did I move when I wasn't supposed to move. That was the discipline of Menudo: You either did things the way you were told or you were not part of the group.\"",
"That was the discipline of Menudo: You either did things the way you were told or you were not part of the group.\" Although Martin enjoyed traveling and performing onstage with Menudo, he found the band's busy schedule and strict management exhausting, and later reflected that the experience \"cost\" him his childhood. Despite this, Martin acknowledged his \"opportunity to have so many amazing experiences with so many amazing people\" during his time with the group.",
"Despite this, Martin acknowledged his \"opportunity to have so many amazing experiences with so many amazing people\" during his time with the group. During his time with Menudo, he became a \"key-member of the group\" and a \"fan-favorite\", while the band released 11 albums, including the Grammy-nominated Evolución () (1984) and their highest-charting and longest-running album on the US Billboard 200, Menudo (1985).",
"During his time with Menudo, he became a \"key-member of the group\" and a \"fan-favorite\", while the band released 11 albums, including the Grammy-nominated Evolución () (1984) and their highest-charting and longest-running album on the US Billboard 200, Menudo (1985). The former featured Martin's debut single, \"Rayo de Luna\" () and the latter included the hit single \"Hold Me\".",
"The former featured Martin's debut single, \"Rayo de Luna\" () and the latter included the hit single \"Hold Me\". \"Hold Me\" became the group's first and only entry on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at number 62. It was ranked among the \"100 Greatest Boy Band Songs of All Time\" by Billboard, the \"75 Greatest Boy Band Songs of All Time\" by Rolling Stone, and the \"30 Best Boy Band Songs\" by Complex.",
"It was ranked among the \"100 Greatest Boy Band Songs of All Time\" by Billboard, the \"75 Greatest Boy Band Songs of All Time\" by Rolling Stone, and the \"30 Best Boy Band Songs\" by Complex. Besides the musical career, Martin appeared with other members of Menudo in the American romantic comedy/drama television series, The Love Boat (1985), and the Argentine soap opera, Por Siempre Amigos (1987).",
"Besides the musical career, Martin appeared with other members of Menudo in the American romantic comedy/drama television series, The Love Boat (1985), and the Argentine soap opera, Por Siempre Amigos (1987). He also developed an interest in philanthropy when the group became UNICEF ambassadors, often working with impoverished children in third world countries. His experiences as an ambassador affected him greatly and inspired him to continue working with charities later in his life.",
"His experiences as an ambassador affected him greatly and inspired him to continue working with charities later in his life. Finally, Martin left the band in July 1989, at age 17, hoping to rest and evaluate his career path; he stayed a few extra months after his \"age-mandated retirement\" came around. He performed his final show with the group at the same venue where he had performed his first performance as a member.",
"He performed his final show with the group at the same venue where he had performed his first performance as a member. Referred to as the \"Most Iconic Latino Pop Music Band\", Menudo was ranked as one of the Biggest Boy Bands of All Time by Us Weekly in 2021. The group has sold around 20 million records worldwide, and has been acknowledged as the \"Most Successful Latin Boy Band of All Time\" by Billboard.",
"The group has sold around 20 million records worldwide, and has been acknowledged as the \"Most Successful Latin Boy Band of All Time\" by Billboard. Martin returned to Puerto Rico to \"get a break from the pressures of the group, the promotional tours, and the constant stress of work\", but although his parents' divorce had not affected him before, suddenly began to affect him; his parents \"began fighting more than ever\" and they were forcing him to \"choose between the two people in the world\" he loved most.",
"Martin returned to Puerto Rico to \"get a break from the pressures of the group, the promotional tours, and the constant stress of work\", but although his parents' divorce had not affected him before, suddenly began to affect him; his parents \"began fighting more than ever\" and they were forcing him to \"choose between the two people in the world\" he loved most. As he understood they did this because they loved him and wanted the best for him, he \"forgave all of the pain and anger they caused\" him.",
"As he understood they did this because they loved him and wanted the best for him, he \"forgave all of the pain and anger they caused\" him. He graduated from the high school, and 13 days after turning 18, he moved to New York City to celebrate his financial independence; since he was a minor during his time with Menudo, Martin was not allowed to access his own bank accounts.",
"He graduated from the high school, and 13 days after turning 18, he moved to New York City to celebrate his financial independence; since he was a minor during his time with Menudo, Martin was not allowed to access his own bank accounts. 1990–1994: Acting and first solo albums Martin was accepted into New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in 1990, but before classes began, his friend invited him to Mexico City.",
"1990–1994: Acting and first solo albums Martin was accepted into New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in 1990, but before classes began, his friend invited him to Mexico City. He attended the musical comedy play, Mama Ama el Rock () there, and was offered to stay and replace one of the actors. He accepted the offer, dropped out the university and moved from New York to Mexico City to perform in the play.",
"He accepted the offer, dropped out the university and moved from New York to Mexico City to perform in the play. While he was performing onstage in Mama Ama el Rock, a producer in the audience took notice of Martin's acting and offered him a role in the Mexican telenovela Alcanzar una estrella () (1990). Martin also joined the cast for the second season of the show, titled Alcanzar una estrella II (1991).",
"Martin also joined the cast for the second season of the show, titled Alcanzar una estrella II (1991). A film based on the TV series, titled Más que alcanzar una estrella () (1992), was also produced in which Martin starred, and earned him an El Heraldo Award for his role. A Sony Discos executive noticed Martin's acting in the soap operas and offered him his first solo music recording contract.",
"A Sony Discos executive noticed Martin's acting in the soap operas and offered him his first solo music recording contract. Eager to record his first solo album and hustled by the executive, Martin signed the contract without reading its conditions and inadvertently signed a deal in which he would only be paid one cent for each album sold! Despite viewing the contract as unfair, Martin referred to the record as \"the start of something phenomenal\" for him.",
"Despite viewing the contract as unfair, Martin referred to the record as \"the start of something phenomenal\" for him. After working \"around the clock\" to finish filming Alcanzar una estrella II and recording music, he released his debut solo album, Ricky Martin, on November 26, 1991. The album peaked at number five on the US Billboard Latin Pop Albums chart and spent a total of 41 weeks on the list.",
"The album peaked at number five on the US Billboard Latin Pop Albums chart and spent a total of 41 weeks on the list. It sold over 500,000 copies worldwide, was certified gold in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Puerto Rico, and spawned his first solo hit singles, \"Fuego Contra Fuego\" (), \"El Amor de Mi Vida\" (), and \"Dime Que Me Quieres\" ().",
"It sold over 500,000 copies worldwide, was certified gold in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Puerto Rico, and spawned his first solo hit singles, \"Fuego Contra Fuego\" (), \"El Amor de Mi Vida\" (), and \"Dime Que Me Quieres\" (). Both \"Fuego Contra Fuego\" and \"El Amor de Mi Vida\" reached the top 10 on the US Billboard Hot Latin Tracks, peaking at numbers three and eight, respectively.",
"Both \"Fuego Contra Fuego\" and \"El Amor de Mi Vida\" reached the top 10 on the US Billboard Hot Latin Tracks, peaking at numbers three and eight, respectively. To promote the album, Martin embarked on a successful Latin American tour, breaking box office records, which the singer referred to as \"an indescribable feeling, almost like coming home\".",
"To promote the album, Martin embarked on a successful Latin American tour, breaking box office records, which the singer referred to as \"an indescribable feeling, almost like coming home\". After the success of Ricky Martin and its subsequent tour, Martin's record company met him with the Spanish musician Juan Carlos Calderón to work on his second studio album, Me Amaras () (1993).",
"After the success of Ricky Martin and its subsequent tour, Martin's record company met him with the Spanish musician Juan Carlos Calderón to work on his second studio album, Me Amaras () (1993). Although Martin felt \"very grateful\" for the opportunity to work with Calderón, he noted, \"I always felt that that record was more his than mine.\" The album sold over one million copies worldwide and was certified triple-platinum in Chile.",
"The album sold over one million copies worldwide and was certified triple-platinum in Chile. In 1994, Martin's agent encouraged him to move to Los Angeles to act in an American sitcom called Getting By.",
"In 1994, Martin's agent encouraged him to move to Los Angeles to act in an American sitcom called Getting By. The show was canceled after two seasons, but soon afterward, Martin was given the role of Miguel Morez on the popular hit soap opera General Hospital; Morez, a bartender and singer, known for his long and flowing hair, was a Puerto Rican citizen hiding in the United States from his lover's criminal mastermind father and created a love triangle with his fiancé Lily Rivera and Brenda.",
"The show was canceled after two seasons, but soon afterward, Martin was given the role of Miguel Morez on the popular hit soap opera General Hospital; Morez, a bartender and singer, known for his long and flowing hair, was a Puerto Rican citizen hiding in the United States from his lover's criminal mastermind father and created a love triangle with his fiancé Lily Rivera and Brenda. Martin portrayed the role for two years and gained huge popularity and stardom, becoming \"one of the most-talked about actors on the soap opera\".",
"Martin portrayed the role for two years and gained huge popularity and stardom, becoming \"one of the most-talked about actors on the soap opera\". Despite this, Martin felt he lacked chemistry with the rest of the General Hospital cast and observed that people treated him differently because of his Puerto Rican accent. At the time, it was relatively uncommon for Latin actors to appear on American television, and people suggested that he take accent reduction classes, which he refused.",
"At the time, it was relatively uncommon for Latin actors to appear on American television, and people suggested that he take accent reduction classes, which he refused. 1995–1997: Breakthrough with A Medio Vivir In 1995, Martin refocused on his music career, and began working on his third studio album, A Medio Vivir ().",
"1995–1997: Breakthrough with A Medio Vivir In 1995, Martin refocused on his music career, and began working on his third studio album, A Medio Vivir (). The album was released on September 12, 1995, and became a huge success; it sold over three million copies or even seven million copies worldwide, according to different sources, being certified gold in the United States, platinum in France, 4× platinum in Spain, and 6× platinum in Argentina, as well as many other certifications in Latin American countries.",
"The album was released on September 12, 1995, and became a huge success; it sold over three million copies or even seven million copies worldwide, according to different sources, being certified gold in the United States, platinum in France, 4× platinum in Spain, and 6× platinum in Argentina, as well as many other certifications in Latin American countries. It spawned several successful hits, including \"Te Extraño, Te Olvido, Te Amo\" (), \"María\", and \"Volverás\" ().",
"It spawned several successful hits, including \"Te Extraño, Te Olvido, Te Amo\" (), \"María\", and \"Volverás\" (). On \"María\", which was released as the second single from the album, Martin allowed himself \"to go into a very Latin, African sound\".",
"On \"María\", which was released as the second single from the album, Martin allowed himself \"to go into a very Latin, African sound\". He created a mix of different Latin music genres instead of singing a romantic ballad, the style that he focused on it in his first two albums, while Latin pop music in general was mainly made up of it at the time.",
"He created a mix of different Latin music genres instead of singing a romantic ballad, the style that he focused on it in his first two albums, while Latin pop music in general was mainly made up of it at the time. Although Martin was satisfied with the track and he describes it as a song that he is \"extremely proud of\", the first time he played it for a record label executive, the man said: \"Are you crazy? You have ruined your career!",
"You have ruined your career! You have ruined your career! I can't believe you are showing me this. You're finished — this is going to be your last album.\" Despite this, the track became Martin's breakthrough song and his first international hit. It topped the charts in 20 countries, and has sold over five million physical copies worldwide. As a result, the song was featured in the 1999 edition of The Guinness Book of Records as the biggest Latin hit.",
"As a result, the song was featured in the 1999 edition of The Guinness Book of Records as the biggest Latin hit. It was also the Song of the Summer in Spain in 1996 and was the second best-selling single in the world that year. In Australia, \"María\" spent six weeks at number one, topped the country's year-end chart in 1998, and was certified platinum. The song also spent nine weeks at number one in France, and was certified diamond.",
"The song also spent nine weeks at number one in France, and was certified diamond. It has sold over 1.4 million copies in France. Additionally, the track reached the top 10 in the United Kingdom, and became Martin's first entry on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. To promote A Medio Vivir, he embarked on the worldwide A Medio Vivir Tour, that lasted for more than two years, through which he performed 63 shows and visited Europe, Latin America and the United States.",
"To promote A Medio Vivir, he embarked on the worldwide A Medio Vivir Tour, that lasted for more than two years, through which he performed 63 shows and visited Europe, Latin America and the United States. During an interview with The Miami Herald in 1996, Martin expressed an interest in performing on Broadway. In a few days, he received a phone call from producer Richard Jay-Alexander, and was offered the role of Marius Pontmercy in the play Les Misérables.",
"In a few days, he received a phone call from producer Richard Jay-Alexander, and was offered the role of Marius Pontmercy in the play Les Misérables. After the conclusion of the A Medio Vivir Tour in Latin America, Martin returned to New York to appear in the play in an eleven-week run. He greatly enjoyed the experience, calling his time in the play an \"honor\" and \"the role of [his] life\".",
"He greatly enjoyed the experience, calling his time in the play an \"honor\" and \"the role of [his] life\". Martin continued to tour after the conclusion of the show's run, and noted that his audiences were growing in both size and enthusiasm. 1998–1999: Vuelve While the A Medio Vivir Tour had not been concluded yet, Martin returned to the studio to record his fourth album Vuelve ().",
"1998–1999: Vuelve While the A Medio Vivir Tour had not been concluded yet, Martin returned to the studio to record his fourth album Vuelve (). He called the experience of touring and recording at the same time \"brutal and incredibly intense\". As he was finishing the record in 1997, \"María\" caught the attention of FIFA. They contacted Martin and asked him to create a song as the 1998 FIFA World Cup anthem.",
"They contacted Martin and asked him to create a song as the 1998 FIFA World Cup anthem. He stated about the request: \"I have to admit that the challenge made me a bit nervous, but the massive growth potential for my career was such that I decided to accept.\" Following his acceptance, musicians K.C. Porter, Robi Rosa, and Desmond Child joined him and they started working on a song titled \"La Copa de la Vida\" (English: \"The Cup of Life\").",
"Porter, Robi Rosa, and Desmond Child joined him and they started working on a song titled \"La Copa de la Vida\" (English: \"The Cup of Life\"). Martin wrote about the recording: \"La Copa de la Vida\" was included as the eighth track on Vuelve, released February 12, 1998, The album became a huge success; it sold over eight million copies worldwide, becoming the best-selling Spanish-language album in history, according to his label.",
"Martin wrote about the recording: \"La Copa de la Vida\" was included as the eighth track on Vuelve, released February 12, 1998, The album became a huge success; it sold over eight million copies worldwide, becoming the best-selling Spanish-language album in history, according to his label. Also, some sources have reported the album's sales as six million copies worldwide. It spent 26 weeks atop the US Billboard Top Latin Albums chart and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).",
"It spent 26 weeks atop the US Billboard Top Latin Albums chart and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). In Canada, the album peaked at number three and was certified double platinum. Vuelve spawned big hits, including the title track, \"La Copa de la Vida\", \"Perdido Sin Ti\" (), and \"La Bomba\" ().",
"Vuelve spawned big hits, including the title track, \"La Copa de la Vida\", \"Perdido Sin Ti\" (), and \"La Bomba\" (). \"La Copa de la Vida\" grew to be an international success, appearing on the charts in more than 60 countries, and reaching number one in 30 countries, Both \"Vuelve\" and \"Perdido Sin Ti\" peaked at number one on the US Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart; the former also reached number one in On July 12, 1998, Martin performed \"La Copa de la Vida\" as the official anthem at the 1998 FIFA World Cup Final in France, in front of more than a billion TV viewers around the world.",
"\"La Copa de la Vida\" grew to be an international success, appearing on the charts in more than 60 countries, and reaching number one in 30 countries, Both \"Vuelve\" and \"Perdido Sin Ti\" peaked at number one on the US Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart; the former also reached number one in On July 12, 1998, Martin performed \"La Copa de la Vida\" as the official anthem at the 1998 FIFA World Cup Final in France, in front of more than a billion TV viewers around the world. To promote Vuelve, Martin embarked on the worldwide Vuelve Tour; he performed in Asia, Australia, Europe, Mexico, South America, and the United States.",
"To promote Vuelve, Martin embarked on the worldwide Vuelve Tour; he performed in Asia, Australia, Europe, Mexico, South America, and the United States. Although Latin music was not important to the Recording Academy or the mainstream music industry at the time, Tommy Mottola, then-chief of Columbia Records, was certain about Martin's stardom and pushed hard to have him on the Grammy Awards ceremony. During an interview with Billboard, Mottola told the magazine about it: \"There was tremendous resistance from the Grammys.",
"During an interview with Billboard, Mottola told the magazine about it: \"There was tremendous resistance from the Grammys. They did not want an 'unknown' to perform, yet we he had already sold 10 million copies of Vuelve worldwide. To me, that was absolutely UNACCEPTABLE.\"",
"To me, that was absolutely UNACCEPTABLE.\" To me, that was absolutely UNACCEPTABLE.\" Finally, on February 24, 1999, cavorting with a 15-piece band alongside and a large number of dancers and percussionists, Martin performed a bilingual version of \"La Copa de La Vida\" at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards, which was greeted with a massive standing ovation and met with acclaim from music critics. At the same night, Vuelve earned Martin his first Grammy award, for Best Latin Pop Performance.",
"At the same night, Vuelve earned Martin his first Grammy award, for Best Latin Pop Performance. After he accepted the award and expressed how important it was to the Latin community, the American singer-songwriter Madonna came on the stage and hugged him. 1999–2000: Crossover to English In October 1998, CNN confirmed that Martin has been working on his first English language album, following the huge success of Vuelve.",
"1999–2000: Crossover to English In October 1998, CNN confirmed that Martin has been working on his first English language album, following the huge success of Vuelve. In April 1999, Billboard revealed the album's title as Ricky Martin in an article, mentioning that the album was initially set for retail on May 25, 1999.",
"In April 1999, Billboard revealed the album's title as Ricky Martin in an article, mentioning that the album was initially set for retail on May 25, 1999. However, the huge interest in the disc, following Martin's performance at the Grammy Awards, encouraged Columbia Records to decide to rush the album to release two weeks ahead of schedule, on May 11. Tom Corson, the senior vice president of marketing at Columbia explained: \"Quite simply, the market has demanded it.",
"Tom Corson, the senior vice president of marketing at Columbia explained: \"Quite simply, the market has demanded it. People have been wanting this record for a while, and it's now reached the point where we have to get it out there immediately.\" Tim Devin, the general manager of Tower Records in New York added about Martin: \"He's always been one of our strongest Latin artists, but interest in him has picked up considerably since that performance.\"",
"Tim Devin, the general manager of Tower Records in New York added about Martin: \"He's always been one of our strongest Latin artists, but interest in him has picked up considerably since that performance.\" Ricky Martin debuted atop the US Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 661,000 copies, according to data compiled by Nielsen SoundScan, becoming the largest sales week by any album in 1999.",
"Ricky Martin debuted atop the US Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 661,000 copies, according to data compiled by Nielsen SoundScan, becoming the largest sales week by any album in 1999. It also broke the record as the largest first-week sales for any pop or Latin artist in history, as well as any Columbia Records artist during the SoundScan era. With this album, Martin became the first male Latin act in history to debut at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart.",
"With this album, Martin became the first male Latin act in history to debut at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart. It was certified 7× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), denoting shipments of over seven million copies in the US and breaking the record as the best-selling album by a Latin artist in the country. Only within three months, Ricky Martin became the best-selling album ever by a Latin artist.",
"Only within three months, Ricky Martin became the best-selling album ever by a Latin artist. According to different sources, the album has sold over 15 million copies or even 17 million copies worldwide. It was nominated for Best Pop Album at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards. The album was supported by four singles; the lead single \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" () topped the charts in more than 20 countries and is considered to be Martin's biggest hit, and one of the best-selling singles of all time.",
"The album was supported by four singles; the lead single \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" () topped the charts in more than 20 countries and is considered to be Martin's biggest hit, and one of the best-selling singles of all time. In the United States, it topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for five consecutive weeks, becoming Martin's first number one single on the chart. Additionally, it broke several records on Billboard charts.",
"Additionally, it broke several records on Billboard charts. Additionally, it broke several records on Billboard charts. It also spent eight consecutive weeks atop the Canada Top Singles chart and topped the country's year-end chart. In the United Kingdom, it debuted at number one and stayed there for three weeks, making Martin the first Puerto Rican artist in history to hit number one. The track was ranked as the best '90s pop song by Elle, and was listed among the Best Latin Songs of All Time by Billboard.",
"The track was ranked as the best '90s pop song by Elle, and was listed among the Best Latin Songs of All Time by Billboard. It was nominated for four categories at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards, including Record of the Year and Song of the Year. Its Spanish version reached the summit of the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart in the United States, and was nominated for Record of the Year at the 2000 Latin Grammy Awards.",
"Its Spanish version reached the summit of the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart in the United States, and was nominated for Record of the Year at the 2000 Latin Grammy Awards. \"She's All I Ever Had\" was released as the second single from the album in June 1999. It peaked at numbers two and three on the US Billboard Hot 100 and Canada Top Singles charts, respectively. The Spanish version, \"Bella\" () topped the charts in five countries, as well as Billboards Hot Latin Tracks chart.",
"The Spanish version, \"Bella\" () topped the charts in five countries, as well as Billboards Hot Latin Tracks chart. To further promote Ricky Martin, he embarked on the worldwide Livin' la Vida Loca Tour. In the United States, the Livin' la Vida Loca Tour was the highest-grossing tour of 2000 by a Latin artist, earning over $36.3 million with 44 dates and drawing 617,488 fans.",
"In the United States, the Livin' la Vida Loca Tour was the highest-grossing tour of 2000 by a Latin artist, earning over $36.3 million with 44 dates and drawing 617,488 fans. According to Billboard Boxscore, the tour grossed $51.3 million in Canada, Mexico, and the United States, with 60 shows and drawing an audience of 875,151. International dates were not reported to Boxscore and would push the tour's grosses higher.",
"According to Billboard Boxscore, the tour grossed $51.3 million in Canada, Mexico, and the United States, with 60 shows and drawing an audience of 875,151. International dates were not reported to Boxscore and would push the tour's grosses higher. 2000–2005: Sound Loaded, Almas del Silencio, and Life While the Livin' la Vida Loca Tour had not been concluded yet, Martin returned to the studio to record his sixth studio album, Sound Loaded. The album was released on November 14, 2000.",
"The album was released on November 14, 2000. The album was released on November 14, 2000. It debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 318,000 copies, according to data compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The album has sold over seven million copies or even eight million copies worldwide, according to different sources, being certified double platinum in the US. The album featured two hit singles, \"She Bangs\" and \"Nobody Wants to Be Lonely\".",
"The album featured two hit singles, \"She Bangs\" and \"Nobody Wants to Be Lonely\". The former reached number one in seven countries, including Italy and Sweden, as well as the top five in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and several other countries. It was nominated for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance at the 43rd Annual Grammy Awards.",
"It was nominated for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance at the 43rd Annual Grammy Awards. The Spanish-language version of \"She Bangs\" reached the summit of the Hot Latin Tracks chart and won the Latin Grammy Award for Best Music Video at the 2nd Annual Latin Grammy Awards. \"Nobody Wants to Be Lonely\" was re-recorded along with American singer Christina Aguilera, peaking at number one in five countries, as well as the top five in Italy, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom, among others.",
"\"Nobody Wants to Be Lonely\" was re-recorded along with American singer Christina Aguilera, peaking at number one in five countries, as well as the top five in Italy, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom, among others. It was nominated for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals at the 44th Annual Grammy Awards. The solo Spanish version, entitled \"Sólo Quiero Amarte\" topped the Hot Latin Tracks chart. Both \"She Bangs\" and \"Nobody Wants to Be Lonely\" are certified silver in the UK.",
"Both \"She Bangs\" and \"Nobody Wants to Be Lonely\" are certified silver in the UK. In February 2001, Martin released a Spanish compilation album entitled La Historia (), which spent five weeks at number one on the Top Latin Albums chart, topped the charts in Argentina and Sweden, and was certified quadruple Latin platinum in the United States.",
"In February 2001, Martin released a Spanish compilation album entitled La Historia (), which spent five weeks at number one on the Top Latin Albums chart, topped the charts in Argentina and Sweden, and was certified quadruple Latin platinum in the United States. Following the success of Ricky Martin and Sound Loaded, he initially planned to release the third English-language album as his seventh studio album, which was supposed to be his first complete work in the field of songwriting.",
"Following the success of Ricky Martin and Sound Loaded, he initially planned to release the third English-language album as his seventh studio album, which was supposed to be his first complete work in the field of songwriting. Despite Sony Music Entertainment's original plan, he decided to release a Spanish-language album: \"I woke up five months ago, and I said 'We're doing an album in Spanish.' Everyone went nuts.",
"Everyone went nuts. Everyone went nuts. They said, 'You don't have time; you have to release an album in English because of timing issues with your career.' And that's fine. But I told them, 'In five months, you'll have a kick-ass album' [in Spanish]. Martin's seventh studio album, Almas del Silencio () was released in May 2003.",
"Martin's seventh studio album, Almas del Silencio () was released in May 2003. It debuted atop the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart with first-week sales of 65,000 copies, according to data compiled by Nielsen SoundScan, breaking the record as the largest first-week sales for a Spanish-language album in the US. The album also debuted at number 12 on Billboard 200, tying the 2002 album, Quizás () as the chart's highest Spanish-language debut.",
"The album also debuted at number 12 on Billboard 200, tying the 2002 album, Quizás () as the chart's highest Spanish-language debut. The album also debuted at number one in \"at least 13 Latin American markets\" and sold over two million copies worldwide. Almas del Silencio spawned three Hot Latin Tracks chart-topper hits: \"Tal Vez\" (), \"Jaleo\", and \"Y Todo Queda en Nada\" ().",
"Almas del Silencio spawned three Hot Latin Tracks chart-topper hits: \"Tal Vez\" (), \"Jaleo\", and \"Y Todo Queda en Nada\" (). \"Tal Vez\" debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart on the week of April 12, 2003, marking the first number one debut since February 1998, and becoming the sixth song overall in the chart's history to do so.",
"\"Tal Vez\" debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart on the week of April 12, 2003, marking the first number one debut since February 1998, and becoming the sixth song overall in the chart's history to do so. It spent a total of 11 weeks at this position, surpassing \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" as Martin's longest number-one single on the chart, and was the longest-running number one of 2003. It also topped the charts in several Latin American markets.",
"It also topped the charts in several Latin American markets. In October 2005, Martin released his third English album, Life. He commented on the album: \"I was really in touch with my emotions. I think this album is very multi-layered, just like life is. It's about feeling anger. It's about feeling joy. It's about feeling uncertainty. It's about feeling. And all my emotions are part of this production\".",
"And all my emotions are part of this production\". To promote Life, Martin embarked on the worldwide One Night Only with Ricky Martin tour. 2006–2012: MTV Unplugged, Música + Alma + Sexo, and Evita Although Martin's team and MTV had discussed an MTV Unplugged for years, but it became more serious after Martin's the One Night Only tour, which featured an acoustic segment. Finally, Martin taped his MTV Unplugged set in Miami in August 2006, performing both romantic ballads and up-tempo tropical dance songs.",
"Finally, Martin taped his MTV Unplugged set in Miami in August 2006, performing both romantic ballads and up-tempo tropical dance songs. During the performance, he debuted three new tracks, including \"Tu Recuerdo\" (), which was released to radio stations as the lead single from his debut live album MTV Unplugged (2006). The album debuted at number one on the Top Latin Albums chart and sold over two million copies worldwide, marking his highest-certified album in Mexico.",
"The album debuted at number one on the Top Latin Albums chart and sold over two million copies worldwide, marking his highest-certified album in Mexico. It won two Latin Grammy awards and was nominated for Album of the Year. \"Tu Recuerdo\" reached number one in five countries, as well as the Billboards Hot Latin Songs and Latin Pop Airplay charts. The track was certified quadruple platinum in Mexico and was nominated for Record of the Year at the 8th Annual Latin Grammy Awards.",
"The track was certified quadruple platinum in Mexico and was nominated for Record of the Year at the 8th Annual Latin Grammy Awards. The artist then embarked on the Black and White Tour in 2007, including four sold-out shows at the José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum in Puerto Rico. The concerts in Puerto Rico were compiled into his second live album Ricky Martin... Live Black & White Tour (2007).",
"The concerts in Puerto Rico were compiled into his second live album Ricky Martin... Live Black & White Tour (2007). Later that year, he released his first Italian song, \"Non siamo soli\" () as a duet with Italian singer Eros Ramazzotti. The song debuted at number one in Italy and spent eleven consecutive weeks atop the chart. In January 2011, Martin launched his ninth studio album, Música + Alma + Sexo ().",
"In January 2011, Martin launched his ninth studio album, Música + Alma + Sexo (). The album debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200 chart, becoming the highest-charting primarily-Spanish language set since Dreaming of You (1995) by American singer Selena. It holds the record as the highest-charting Latin album of the 2010s, and represents the highest-ever chart debut on the Billboard 200 for a Sony Music Latin release.",
"It holds the record as the highest-charting Latin album of the 2010s, and represents the highest-ever chart debut on the Billboard 200 for a Sony Music Latin release. Música + Alma + Sexo also peaked at number one in Argentina and Venezuela, as well as Billboards Top Latin Albums.",
"Música + Alma + Sexo also peaked at number one in Argentina and Venezuela, as well as Billboards Top Latin Albums. Its lead single, \"Lo Mejor de Mi Vida Eres Tú\" (English: \"The Best Thing About Me Is You\") reached number one on the US Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart and was nominated for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Short Form Music Video at the 12th Annual Latin Grammy Awards.",
"Its lead single, \"Lo Mejor de Mi Vida Eres Tú\" (English: \"The Best Thing About Me Is You\") reached number one on the US Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart and was nominated for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Short Form Music Video at the 12th Annual Latin Grammy Awards. To promote the album, Martin embarked on the Música + Alma + Sexo World Tour in 2011.",
"To promote the album, Martin embarked on the Música + Alma + Sexo World Tour in 2011. In February 2012, he appeared as Spanish teacher David Martinez on the twelfth episode of the third season of the American musical television series Glee, The Spanish Teacher. Martin starred as Ché in the Broadway revival of the musical Evita from March 2012 to January 2013. The show became a hit, breaking the theatre's box-office sales record after only six performances.",
"The show became a hit, breaking the theatre's box-office sales record after only six performances. Sine then, it broke its own record six times and was nominated for Best Revival of a Musical at the 66th Tony Awards. The show's soundtrack album debuted at number one on Billboards cast album chart. 2013–2018: The Voice, A Quien Quiera Escuchar, and The Assassination of Gianni Versace Martin served as a coach on the second season of the Australian singing competition television series The Voice in 2013.",
"2013–2018: The Voice, A Quien Quiera Escuchar, and The Assassination of Gianni Versace Martin served as a coach on the second season of the Australian singing competition television series The Voice in 2013. In the same year, he released a compilation album, entitled Greatest Hits: Souvenir Edition, which reached number two in Australia, as well as a new single, entitled \"Come with Me\", which debuted at number three in the country.",
"In the same year, he released a compilation album, entitled Greatest Hits: Souvenir Edition, which reached number two in Australia, as well as a new single, entitled \"Come with Me\", which debuted at number three in the country. The artist then embarked on the Ricky Martin Live tour in Australia in October 2013. He continued serving as a coach on both the third and fourth seasons of The Voice Australia in 2014 and 2015, respectively.",
"He continued serving as a coach on both the third and fourth seasons of The Voice Australia in 2014 and 2015, respectively. In 2014, Lars Brandle from Billboard stated in an article: \"Through his high-profile slot on The Voice, Ricky's profile in Australia has never been as big as it is right now.\"",
"In 2014, Lars Brandle from Billboard stated in an article: \"Through his high-profile slot on The Voice, Ricky's profile in Australia has never been as big as it is right now.\" On February 25, 2014, Wisin released a song titled \"Adrenalina\" () from his album El Regreso del Sobreviviente (), which featured Jennifer Lopez and Martin, and became the Univision's 2014 World Cup song.",
"On February 25, 2014, Wisin released a song titled \"Adrenalina\" () from his album El Regreso del Sobreviviente (), which featured Jennifer Lopez and Martin, and became the Univision's 2014 World Cup song. It received commercial success, peaking in the top-five of Bulgaria, Mexico, Spain, and Billboards Hot Latin Songs chart. Its accompanying music video has accumulated over 850 million views on YouTube. Later that year, Martin released his single \"Vida\" () for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.",
"Later that year, Martin released his single \"Vida\" () for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The song reached the top five in Spain and on the US Hot Latin Songs chart. Also in 2014, he served as a coach on the fourth season of The Voice Mexico, and embarked on the Live in Mexico tour. In February 2015, Martin released his tenth studio album, A Quien Quiera Escuchar ().",
"In February 2015, Martin released his tenth studio album, A Quien Quiera Escuchar (). The album debuted at number one on Billboards Top Latin Albums chart and peaked at number one in Argentina. It won the award for Best Latin Pop Album at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards and Album of the Year at the 1st Latin American Music Awards. The album spawned three Hot Latin Songs top-10 hits: \"Adiós\" (), \"Disparo al Corazón\" (), and \"La Mordidita\" ().",
"The album spawned three Hot Latin Songs top-10 hits: \"Adiós\" (), \"Disparo al Corazón\" (), and \"La Mordidita\" (). \"Disparo al Corazón\" was nominated for both Record of the Year and Song of the Year at the 16th Annual Latin Grammy Awards. \"La Mordidita\" experienced huge commercial success, being certified 15× Latin platinum in the United States. Its accompanying music video has received over 1.2 billion views on YouTube.",
"Its accompanying music video has received over 1.2 billion views on YouTube. To promote the album, Martin embarked on the One World Tour from 2015 to 2017. He served as an executive producer and a judge on the American singing competition series La Banda (), which premiered in 2015 and 2016 on Univision. The first season was \"looking for the next Latin boy band\", while the second season was looking for a Latin girl band.",
"The first season was \"looking for the next Latin boy band\", while the second season was looking for a Latin girl band. The contestants would compete for a recording deal with Sony Music Latin and Syco Music. CNCO, known as the first boy band to make reggaeton, was the winner of the first season.",
"CNCO, known as the first boy band to make reggaeton, was the winner of the first season. Martin became their manager and produced the band's debut album, Primera Cita () (2016), along with Wisin; the album debuted at number one on Top Latin Albums and featured the hit single \"Reggaetón Lento (Bailemos)\" (). CNCO opened many dates on One World Tour in 2016.",
"CNCO opened many dates on One World Tour in 2016. In 2020, Leila Cobo from Billboard compared the group with Menudo, noting: \"Not since Menudo had a Latin boy band melted our hearts or made us dance quite like CNCO\". On September 23, 2016, Martin released a song called \"Vente Pa' Ca\" (), featuring Colombian singer Maluma.",
"On September 23, 2016, Martin released a song called \"Vente Pa' Ca\" (), featuring Colombian singer Maluma. The song became one of the biggest Spanish-language songs of 2016, reaching number one in seven countries, as well as Billboards Latin Airplay, Latin Pop Airplay, and Tropical Airplay charts. It also reached top five in Spain and on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs, being certified quadruple platinum in Spain and diamond in Mexico.",
"It also reached top five in Spain and on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs, being certified quadruple platinum in Spain and diamond in Mexico. The track was nominated for both Record of the Year and Song of the Year at the 18th Annual Latin Grammy Awards. The accompanying music video has received over 1.75 billion views on YouTube. Martin signed a concert residency, named All In, to perform at the Monte Carlo Resort and Casino in Las Vegas in 2017 and 2018.",
"Martin signed a concert residency, named All In, to perform at the Monte Carlo Resort and Casino in Las Vegas in 2017 and 2018. He portrayed fashion designer Gianni Versace's partner Antonio D'Amico in the FX true crime anthology television series The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, marking \"the acting opportunity of his career\". The role garnered him a nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Limited Series Or Movie at the 70th Primetime Emmy Awards.",
"The role garnered him a nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Limited Series Or Movie at the 70th Primetime Emmy Awards. Running from January to March 2018, The Assassination of Gianni Versace received generally favorable reviews and numerous awards and nominations, including three Primetime Emmy Awards, four Creative Arts Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, two Critics' Choice Television Awards, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. In February 2018, Martin released a song titled \"Fiebre\" (), featuring Wisin & Yandel.",
"In February 2018, Martin released a song titled \"Fiebre\" (), featuring Wisin & Yandel. The song was commercially successful in Latin America, reaching number one in Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, and Uruguay. It also reached the summit of the Billboard Latin Airplay and Latin Rhythm Airplay charts.",
"It also reached the summit of the Billboard Latin Airplay and Latin Rhythm Airplay charts. 2019–present: Amici di Maria De Filippi, PausaPlay, and Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey At the 61st Annual Grammy Awards, Martin performed \"Havana\", \"Pégate\" (), and \"Mi Gente\" (), alongside Camila Cabello, J Balvin, Young Thug, and Arturo Sandoval, as the opening performance.",
"2019–present: Amici di Maria De Filippi, PausaPlay, and Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey At the 61st Annual Grammy Awards, Martin performed \"Havana\", \"Pégate\" (), and \"Mi Gente\" (), alongside Camila Cabello, J Balvin, Young Thug, and Arturo Sandoval, as the opening performance. Martin served as a coach on the eighteenth season of the Italian talent show Amici di Maria De Filippi () in 2019.",
"Martin served as a coach on the eighteenth season of the Italian talent show Amici di Maria De Filippi () in 2019. In the same year, Maluma released a song called \"No Se Me Quita\" () from his album 11:11, which featured Martin. The song reached number one in Mexico and was certified quadruple platinum in the country. Martin hosted the 20th Annual Latin Grammy Awards in November 2019, along with Roselyn Sánchez and Paz Vega.",
"Martin hosted the 20th Annual Latin Grammy Awards in November 2019, along with Roselyn Sánchez and Paz Vega. The artist started recording his eleventh studio album, initially titled Movimiento (), in the second half of 2019, inspired by the 2019 political protests in Puerto Rico. He embarked on the Movimiento Tour in 2020.",
"He embarked on the Movimiento Tour in 2020. He embarked on the Movimiento Tour in 2020. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent personal experiences, he decided to split the tour's associated album in two extended plays, Pausa () and Play; the former was released in May 2020, while the latter is set to release as his eleventh studio album. Pausa was nominated for Album of the Year and won the award for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 21st Annual Latin Grammy Awards.",
"Pausa was nominated for Album of the Year and won the award for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 21st Annual Latin Grammy Awards. The second single from the EP, \"Tiburones\" () reached number one in Argentina and Puerto Rico, and was also nominated for Song of the Year at the 21st Annual Latin Grammy Awards. Martin starred as the voice of villainous miniature figure Don Juan Diego in the American Christmas musical fantasy film Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey.",
"Martin starred as the voice of villainous miniature figure Don Juan Diego in the American Christmas musical fantasy film Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey. The film was released on Netflix on November 13, 2020, and received generally favorable reviews. In April 2021, Martin released his hit single \"Canción Bonita\" () with Colombian singer Carlos Vives, which experienced huge commercial success in Latin America, reaching number one in 12 countries.",
"In April 2021, Martin released his hit single \"Canción Bonita\" () with Colombian singer Carlos Vives, which experienced huge commercial success in Latin America, reaching number one in 12 countries. It was also nominated for Song of the Year and Best Pop Song at the 22nd Annual Latin Grammy Awards. Later that year, he released \"Qué Rico Fuera\" () with Chilean-American singer Paloma Mami, as the lead single from Play.",
"Later that year, he released \"Qué Rico Fuera\" () with Chilean-American singer Paloma Mami, as the lead single from Play. The song peaked at number one in four countries, as well as the top 10 on Billboards Latin Pop Airplay. In the same year, he embarked on his first co-headlining tour, the Enrique Iglesias and Ricky Martin Live in Concert alongside Spanish singer Enrique Iglesias.",
"In the same year, he embarked on his first co-headlining tour, the Enrique Iglesias and Ricky Martin Live in Concert alongside Spanish singer Enrique Iglesias. Artistry Influences As a child, Martin used to sing songs by Menudo and American rock bands such as Led Zeppelin, Journey, and REO Speedwagon, which were what his \"older siblings were listening to at the time\". While Martin and his brothers spent their time listening to classic rock, their mother would interrupt them to make them listen to Latin music.",
"While Martin and his brothers spent their time listening to classic rock, their mother would interrupt them to make them listen to Latin music. She brought him CDs of Fania All-Stars, Celia Cruz, El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, and Gilberto Santa Rosa that slowly made him appreciate the richness of Puerto Rican culture. Also, she once took them to a Fania All-Stars concert, which Martin is \"beyond grateful\" for it.",
"Also, she once took them to a Fania All-Stars concert, which Martin is \"beyond grateful\" for it. He expresses that thanks to her mother, those influences had a \"profound effect\" on his musical career. Martin has also cited Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Michael Jackson, and Madonna for teaching him \"the beauty of pop\". He stated about Madonna: \"I was very influenced by her and her music. I know every choreography of Madonna.\"",
"I know every choreography of Madonna.\" I know every choreography of Madonna.\" Additionally, he mentions Carlos Santana, José Feliciano, Celia Cruz, and Gloria Estefan as the artists who paved the way for him, naming Feliciano as one of the people who inspired him when he was a teenager: \"I was always fascinated with his music.\" In addition to the musical influences, Martin is inspired by David Bowie's \"ambiguous sexuality\".",
"In addition to the musical influences, Martin is inspired by David Bowie's \"ambiguous sexuality\". While growing up, he used to ask himself if he wanted to be like the openly gay singer Elton John or he just liked him, admiring his music, colors, and wigs.",
"While growing up, he used to ask himself if he wanted to be like the openly gay singer Elton John or he just liked him, admiring his music, colors, and wigs. Musical styles and themes Considered to be a versatile artist, Martin describes his music as Latin pop, saying: \"When you say 'Latin pop', the spectrum is so broad, It's inevitable to not be influenced by everything that’s happening in the industry, but always keeping your identity firm by knowing who you are.\"",
"Musical styles and themes Considered to be a versatile artist, Martin describes his music as Latin pop, saying: \"When you say 'Latin pop', the spectrum is so broad, It's inevitable to not be influenced by everything that’s happening in the industry, but always keeping your identity firm by knowing who you are.\" He has also described his music as fusion, while noting that he does not \"ride the waves that are in fashion at the moment\".",
"He has also described his music as fusion, while noting that he does not \"ride the waves that are in fashion at the moment\". Music critics have described his songs as Latin pop, pop, dance, ballad, reggaeton, Latin, African, rock, salsa, flamenco, urban, samba, cumbia, merengue, rumba, Latin funk, bomba, batucada, vallenato, dancehall, mambo, Europop, house, disco, EDM, dance-pop, electro, techno, dubstep, world music, Middle Eastern, folk-pop, bossa nova, pop rock, soft pop, soft rock, R&B, gospel, jazz, trap, hip hop, doo-wop, ska, and rock' n' roll.",
"Music critics have described his songs as Latin pop, pop, dance, ballad, reggaeton, Latin, African, rock, salsa, flamenco, urban, samba, cumbia, merengue, rumba, Latin funk, bomba, batucada, vallenato, dancehall, mambo, Europop, house, disco, EDM, dance-pop, electro, techno, dubstep, world music, Middle Eastern, folk-pop, bossa nova, pop rock, soft pop, soft rock, R&B, gospel, jazz, trap, hip hop, doo-wop, ska, and rock' n' roll. Martin sings in Spanish, English, Portuguese, Italian, and French.",
"Martin sings in Spanish, English, Portuguese, Italian, and French. About his lyrics, Martin has emphasized that although his music will always make the listener dance, it does not mean his lyrics \"have to be meaningless\" and he sings about love and heartbreak, as well as \"things that are good for a society\", such as \"freedom, freedom of expression, and social justice\".",
"About his lyrics, Martin has emphasized that although his music will always make the listener dance, it does not mean his lyrics \"have to be meaningless\" and he sings about love and heartbreak, as well as \"things that are good for a society\", such as \"freedom, freedom of expression, and social justice\". He has also declared that as a Latino, he is not afraid of sexuality and sings about sexuality and sensuality, bringing his culture with him onstage.",
"He has also declared that as a Latino, he is not afraid of sexuality and sings about sexuality and sensuality, bringing his culture with him onstage. Voice Martin possesses a dramatic tenor vocal range. Peter Gilstrap from Variety commented that his \"powerful voice\" is \"capable of belt or lilt\", while The Jerusalem Posts Noa Amouyal described his voice as \"soulful\" and \"very powerful\". In 1995, Enrique Lopetegui of the Los Angeles Times noted Martin's \"improved vocal skills\" on A Medio Vivir.",
"In 1995, Enrique Lopetegui of the Los Angeles Times noted Martin's \"improved vocal skills\" on A Medio Vivir. Also from the Los Angeles Times, Ernesto Lechner later praised his vocal for being \"charismatic enough to handle both ballads and up-tempo tunes\". Similarly, Billboards Chuck Taylor expressed \"She's All I Ever Had\" boasts \"a versatility that contrasts nicely\" with Martin's previous single, \"Livin' la Vida Loca\", labeling his vocal on the former \"tender and heartfelt\".",
"Similarly, Billboards Chuck Taylor expressed \"She's All I Ever Had\" boasts \"a versatility that contrasts nicely\" with Martin's previous single, \"Livin' la Vida Loca\", labeling his vocal on the former \"tender and heartfelt\". Steve Gerrard of the Montreal Rocks complimented \"his vocal maturity\" on A Quien Quiera Escuchar.",
"Steve Gerrard of the Montreal Rocks complimented \"his vocal maturity\" on A Quien Quiera Escuchar. Music videos and performances Billboard labeled Martin \"a video icon\", and ranked him as the 79th Greatest Music Video Artist of All Time in 2020, stating: \"From the moment he sashayed up to the mic in 'Livin La Vida Loca' all dressed in black, and gave us that look, the Menudo alum became the most memorable and watchable drop-dead handsome guy in pop music.\"",
"Music videos and performances Billboard labeled Martin \"a video icon\", and ranked him as the 79th Greatest Music Video Artist of All Time in 2020, stating: \"From the moment he sashayed up to the mic in 'Livin La Vida Loca' all dressed in black, and gave us that look, the Menudo alum became the most memorable and watchable drop-dead handsome guy in pop music.\" He has collaborated with various directors to produce his music videos, including Carlos Perez, Wayne Isham, Jessy Terrero, Simón Brand, Gustavo Garzón, Nigel Dick, Kacho Lopez, and Memo del Bosque.",
"He has collaborated with various directors to produce his music videos, including Carlos Perez, Wayne Isham, Jessy Terrero, Simón Brand, Gustavo Garzón, Nigel Dick, Kacho Lopez, and Memo del Bosque. \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" was nominated for Video of the Year at the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards, making Martin the first Latin artist in history to receive a nomination in this category.",
"\"Livin' la Vida Loca\" was nominated for Video of the Year at the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards, making Martin the first Latin artist in history to receive a nomination in this category. It won two primary awards for Best Pop Video and Best Dance Video, and was voted three additional awards in the International Viewer's Choice categories, making it rank among the videos with most wins in the history of the MTV Video Music Awards.",
"It won two primary awards for Best Pop Video and Best Dance Video, and was voted three additional awards in the International Viewer's Choice categories, making it rank among the videos with most wins in the history of the MTV Video Music Awards. The explicit sexual scenes of the music video for \"She Bangs\" were met with criticism from the audience; several American television stations cut the scenes when airing the video.",
"The explicit sexual scenes of the music video for \"She Bangs\" were met with criticism from the audience; several American television stations cut the scenes when airing the video. According to the Daily Records John Dingwall, with the visual, Martin ditched his teen idol image by transforming to a more mature one. It was consequently banned in several Latin American countries, such as the Dominican Republic. Martin told MTV News that the video represented freedom rather than his sexuality.",
"Martin told MTV News that the video represented freedom rather than his sexuality. The video was awarded Best Music Video at the 2nd Annual Latin Grammy Awards, Best Clip of the Year — Latin at the 2001 Billboard Music Video Awards, and Video of the Year at the 13th Lo Nuestro Awards. Martin has been noticed for \"dance moves of his own\" and his \"bon-bon shaking dance moves\".",
"Martin has been noticed for \"dance moves of his own\" and his \"bon-bon shaking dance moves\". Carol Sandoval from VIX named him the \"best dancer on any stage worldwide\", highlighting his hips movement and \"successful turns\". He was ranked as the ninth best male dancer by the Evening Standard and the tenth Male Singer Who Can Dance by WatchMojo, being the only Latin entertainer on both lists. Writing for The Hollywood Reporter, Scott Feinberg introduced Martin as \"an incredible dancer\".",
"Writing for The Hollywood Reporter, Scott Feinberg introduced Martin as \"an incredible dancer\". Billboards Jessica Roiz labeled him \"a true showman\", noting his \"many outfit changes\", \"various dance performances\", and \"different stage set for each song\".",
"Billboards Jessica Roiz labeled him \"a true showman\", noting his \"many outfit changes\", \"various dance performances\", and \"different stage set for each song\". Jon Pareles of The New York Times described him as \"an all-around showman\" and Varietys Peter Gilstrap called him \"every inch the showman\", both recognizing his vocal abilities, while the former also commented he is \"a dancer as muscular and hard-working as anyone in his troupe\", mentioning his \"likable, good-hearted character\" and \"steadfast Puerto Rican pride\".",
"Jon Pareles of The New York Times described him as \"an all-around showman\" and Varietys Peter Gilstrap called him \"every inch the showman\", both recognizing his vocal abilities, while the former also commented he is \"a dancer as muscular and hard-working as anyone in his troupe\", mentioning his \"likable, good-hearted character\" and \"steadfast Puerto Rican pride\". Music critics have mostly praised his concerts for the choreographies, video screens, visual effects, stage, Latin influences, and Martin's vocals, costume changes, energy, sensuality, dance moves, and gestures, while the quality of sounds and sound mixes have received mixed reviews.",
"Music critics have mostly praised his concerts for the choreographies, video screens, visual effects, stage, Latin influences, and Martin's vocals, costume changes, energy, sensuality, dance moves, and gestures, while the quality of sounds and sound mixes have received mixed reviews. Billboards Marjua Estevez described Martin's performance of \"La Copa de la Vida\" at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards as \"the most memorable Latin performance at a Grammy Awards show\", and the publication ranked it as the 54th Greatest Award Show Performance of All Time on their 2017 list.",
"Billboards Marjua Estevez described Martin's performance of \"La Copa de la Vida\" at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards as \"the most memorable Latin performance at a Grammy Awards show\", and the publication ranked it as the 54th Greatest Award Show Performance of All Time on their 2017 list. The performance was additionally placed on a 2017 unranked list of \"Top 20 Best Grammy Performances of All Time\" by Gold Derby, and on a 2019 list of \"The Most Unforgettable Grammys Performances of All Time\" by InStyle.",
"The performance was additionally placed on a 2017 unranked list of \"Top 20 Best Grammy Performances of All Time\" by Gold Derby, and on a 2019 list of \"The Most Unforgettable Grammys Performances of All Time\" by InStyle. Public image Martin became a teen idol with his debut as a member of Menudo, and a pop icon following global fame as a solo artist. Journalists have written about his humble personality and \"beautiful soul\".",
"Journalists have written about his humble personality and \"beautiful soul\". Writing for The Hollywood Reporter, Scott Feinberg introduced Martin as \"one of the most acclaimed and admired creative artists ever\". La República staff described him as \"one of the most admired and desired singers\", while authors of ¡Hola!",
"La República staff described him as \"one of the most admired and desired singers\", while authors of ¡Hola! described him as \"one of the most respected Latin stars in the world\", \"one of the most prodigious voices in music in Spanish\", and \"one of the most beloved talents in the entertainment industry worldwide\".",
"described him as \"one of the most respected Latin stars in the world\", \"one of the most prodigious voices in music in Spanish\", and \"one of the most beloved talents in the entertainment industry worldwide\". Also from ¡Hola!, Cristina Noé named him \"one of the most loved artists in the world\", while a writer of Clarín named him \"one of the most applauded Latin singers on the planet\".",
"Also from ¡Hola!, Cristina Noé named him \"one of the most loved artists in the world\", while a writer of Clarín named him \"one of the most applauded Latin singers on the planet\". Metro Puerto Rico stated that he \"raised the name of Puerto Rico internationally\". He was ranked as one of the top-10 \"emerging personalities\" of 2010 by Google Zeitgeist.",
"He was ranked as one of the top-10 \"emerging personalities\" of 2010 by Google Zeitgeist. In 2014, Gay Star News referred to Martin as \"the most famous Latin pop star in the world\", while Variety described him as \"Puerto Rico's arguably most famous son\" in 2021. He is ranked as the second-most famous Latin music artist in the United States, according to YouGov surveys in 2021.",
"He is ranked as the second-most famous Latin music artist in the United States, according to YouGov surveys in 2021. During the 2000s, Martin was known for \"guarding his private life\" and being \"uncomfortable discussing intimate aspects of his personal life\"; he used to insist on asking public to focus on his music and \"steered interviewers away from his personal life\". However, he chose to live both his \"professional and personal life\", making his private life public since the early 2010s.",
"However, he chose to live both his \"professional and personal life\", making his private life public since the early 2010s. In 2021, he went on the cover of People with the title \"No More Secrets\" and told the magazine that he is \"a man with no secrets\", stating that he is \"more comfortable in his own skin than ever before\". Martin is one of the most followed celebrities on social media, with accounts on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok.",
"Martin is one of the most followed celebrities on social media, with accounts on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok. He stated about social media that he wishes he had \"something as powerful as\" them since his debut: \"Obviously I like to have direct contact with the public, with the media. It's extremely important, but today, from my home, I can talk to millions of people and see their immediate reaction.\"",
"It's extremely important, but today, from my home, I can talk to millions of people and see their immediate reaction.\" He is noticed for his friendly interactions with his fans, who are called \"Sexy Souls\". Wax statues of Martin are on display at the Madame Tussauds wax museums in San Francisco, Sydney, and Orlando. The last one was moved from Las Vegas to Orlando for the opening of the museum in spring 2015.",
"The last one was moved from Las Vegas to Orlando for the opening of the museum in spring 2015. Fashion Martin is considered to be a sex symbol, and journalists describe him as \"the Latin heartthrob\". His fashion and style evolution, from \"as '80s as you'd expect\" during his time with Menudo to \"a style groove, often opting for sharp, tailored suits with clean lines\" since 2009, has been noticed by the media. Natalia Trejo from ¡Hola!",
"Natalia Trejo from ¡Hola! Natalia Trejo from ¡Hola! described him as \"one of the most stylish Latin men in the entertainment industry\", highlighting his \"baggy leather pants\", \"tailored suits\", and \"color-block blazers\" that have marked \"some of the noteworthy trends of each decade\". The reviewer also commented that Martin is \"an example of mixing business with casual\" and has \"always had a personal sense of style\".",
"The reviewer also commented that Martin is \"an example of mixing business with casual\" and has \"always had a personal sense of style\". JD Institute of Fashion Technology views Martin as a fashion icon, praising him for \"pushing the fashion boundaries with every new look\". In 1997, he went on the cover of People en Españols first edition of 25 Most Beautiful; he has since \"been a constant presence\" on their 25 or 50 Most Beautiful lists.",
"In 1997, he went on the cover of People en Españols first edition of 25 Most Beautiful; he has since \"been a constant presence\" on their 25 or 50 Most Beautiful lists. Two years later, he was featured on the cover of both Rolling Stone and Time magazines. Martin is considered to be one of the sexiest men in the world, according to various publications. In 2012, he was voted the sexiest man alive on Broadway.com.",
"In 2012, he was voted the sexiest man alive on Broadway.com. The following year, VH1 ranked him as the 28th Sexiest Artist of All Time, stating: \"Ricky looks like the model in the magazine ads you stare at in awe thinking, 'There's no way he's that perfect in person'.\" In 2014, Entertainment Tonight listed him among the Sexiest Men Alive, while Revista Estilo placed him on the list of \"the 10 Sexiest Singers\" in 2016.",
"In 2014, Entertainment Tonight listed him among the Sexiest Men Alive, while Revista Estilo placed him on the list of \"the 10 Sexiest Singers\" in 2016. He was ranked at number 16 on the list of \"the 50 Hottest Men of All Time\" by Harper's Bazaar in 2018, being the only Latin man on their list. In 2019, TN described Martin as \"the sexiest man in the world\".",
"In 2019, TN described Martin as \"the sexiest man in the world\". He has been noted for looking younger than his age, with Billboards Chris Payne labeling him \"ageless\". The singer has attended several fashion shows, including the Giorgio Armani show at Milan Fashion Week in 2011, the Marc Jacobs show in 2013, the Berluti menswear spring-summer 2020 show at Paris Fashion Week, the Dior men's pre-fall 2020 show, and the Virgil Abloh Spring-Summer 2022 show held by Louis Vuitton.",
"The singer has attended several fashion shows, including the Giorgio Armani show at Milan Fashion Week in 2011, the Marc Jacobs show in 2013, the Berluti menswear spring-summer 2020 show at Paris Fashion Week, the Dior men's pre-fall 2020 show, and the Virgil Abloh Spring-Summer 2022 show held by Louis Vuitton. Personal life Sexual orientation and early relationships According to an interview with Rolling Stone in 1999, Martin experienced his first kiss at age 13 and lost his virginity at age 14 in Argentina.",
"Personal life Sexual orientation and early relationships According to an interview with Rolling Stone in 1999, Martin experienced his first kiss at age 13 and lost his virginity at age 14 in Argentina. In 1990, shortly after he had arrived in Mexico to star in Mama Ama el Rock, he met a woman, who was the host of a television show. They began dating quickly and broke up a few months later.",
"They began dating quickly and broke up a few months later. In 1992, he fell in love with Mexican singer Alejandra Guzmán, who was separated from her husband at the time. They began dating together until Guzmán returned to her husband and pretended Martin was her assistant on a phone call, while she was sleeping with her husband. In an interview with Univision, Martin admitted that she broke his heart. In the same year, Martin was rumored to have a relationship with Argentine tennis player Gabriela Sabatini.",
"In the same year, Martin was rumored to have a relationship with Argentine tennis player Gabriela Sabatini. Sabatini's sister-in-law, Catherine Fulop confirmed the rumor in 2020. During the time he was playing in General Hospital, he met a \"very handsome\" man at a radio station, \"stopped fearing [his] sexuality\", and started dating him.",
"During the time he was playing in General Hospital, he met a \"very handsome\" man at a radio station, \"stopped fearing [his] sexuality\", and started dating him. Martin's mother supported him when she discovered that he was in love with a man, saying: \"I love you, my son, I'm so happy for you. Bring it on. I'm right behind you.\"",
"Bring it on. I'm right behind you.\" I'm right behind you.\" However, after the relationship ended, Martin \"locked [his] feelings even deeper inside\" and began dating women again. He recalls: \"I already felt it was hard to be a Latino in Hollywood; what could have been more difficult than being Latino and gay?\" Martin began dating Mexican television host Rebecca de Alba in 1994; they were in an on-and-off relationship until 2005.",
"Martin began dating Mexican television host Rebecca de Alba in 1994; they were in an on-and-off relationship until 2005. In May 2021, Alba revealed that she became pregnant several times in her life, but lost all of the embryos, expressing that one of them belonged to Martin. Martin also had relationships with Lilly Melgar, Adriana Biega, Maital Saban, and Inés Misan during his break-up times with Alba in the late 1990s and early 2000s.",
"Martin also had relationships with Lilly Melgar, Adriana Biega, Maital Saban, and Inés Misan during his break-up times with Alba in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He declared that \"there was chemistry with them\" and he \"wasn't fooling anyone\". In August 2008, Martin became a father to twin boys named Matteo and Valentino, born via gestational surrogacy.",
"In August 2008, Martin became a father to twin boys named Matteo and Valentino, born via gestational surrogacy. He explained that he chose surrogacy to become a parent for being \"intriguing and faster\" than adoption, which was complicated and could take a long time. In March 2010, Martin publicly came out as gay via a message on his website, stating: \"I am proud to say that I am a fortunate homosexual man. I am very blessed to be who I am.\"",
"I am very blessed to be who I am.\" Years later, he revealed that although his music was \"heard all over the world\" and he \"could high five God\" in 1999, he \"wasn't living to the fullest\" and was sad and depressed. He kept asking himself, \"Am I gay? Am I bisexual? Am I confused? What am I? \", explaining: \"Sexuality is one complicated thing. It's not black and white. It's filled with colors.",
"It's not black and white. It's filled with colors. It's filled with colors. When I was dating women, I was in love with women. It felt right, it felt beautiful.\" In an interview with Vanity Fair, he declared: \"There was love, passion. I do not regret anything, any of the relationships I lived, they taught me a lot, both men and women.\" Martin also told Fama!",
"Martin also told Fama! Martin also told Fama! : \"I know that I like both men and women, I'm against sexual labels, we are simply human beings with emotional and sexual needs. I like to enjoy sex in total freedom, so I'm open to having sex with a woman if I feel desire.\" Despite this, he expressed that he wouldn't be interested in \"an ongoing relationship with a woman\", stating: \"Men are my thing\".",
"Despite this, he expressed that he wouldn't be interested in \"an ongoing relationship with a woman\", stating: \"Men are my thing\". In 2000, American broadcast journalist Barbara Walters asked Martin about his sexuality on national television: \"You could stop these rumors. You could say, 'Yes I am gay or no I'm not.'\"",
"You could say, 'Yes I am gay or no I'm not.'\" In 2021, Martin, who answered with \"I just don't feel like it\" at the time, revealed that her question made him \"felt violated\", since he \"was just not ready to come out\" and was \"very afraid\"; he said that it resulted \"a little PTSD\" that \"still haunts him\".",
"In 2021, Martin, who answered with \"I just don't feel like it\" at the time, revealed that her question made him \"felt violated\", since he \"was just not ready to come out\" and was \"very afraid\"; he said that it resulted \"a little PTSD\" that \"still haunts him\". Martin dated Puerto Rican economist Carlos González Abella from 2010 to 2014, as his first relationship with a man after his coming out as gay.",
"Martin dated Puerto Rican economist Carlos González Abella from 2010 to 2014, as his first relationship with a man after his coming out as gay. Marriage Syrian-Swedish painter Jwan Yosef shared a photo of himself and Martin on Instagram on March 30, 2016, with the caption: \"Obviously we're starting a band.\" Soon it was rumored that Yosef is Martin's new boyfriend. Martin confirmed their relationship on April 18, 2016, and they made their red carpet debut as a couple at the amfAR Inspiration Gala.",
"Martin confirmed their relationship on April 18, 2016, and they made their red carpet debut as a couple at the amfAR Inspiration Gala. Martin later revealed that he met Yosef on Instagram and they \"were talking for like six months without [him] hearing his voice\". Subsequently, Martin went to London, where Yosef were living, and they met each other. On November 15, 2016, during an interview on The Ellen Show, he announced that he has proposed to Yosef and they are engaged.",
"On November 15, 2016, during an interview on The Ellen Show, he announced that he has proposed to Yosef and they are engaged. In January 2018, Martin confirmed that he has secretly married Yosef: \"I'm a husband, but we're doing a heavy party in a couple of months, I'll let you know.\" On December 31, 2018, they announced that they have welcomed their first daughter together, named Lucia Martin-Yosef.",
"On December 31, 2018, they announced that they have welcomed their first daughter together, named Lucia Martin-Yosef. Martin later explained that Lucia was born on December 24, coinciding with his 47th birthday. In September 2019, while accepting an award at the 23rd annual Human Rights Campaign (HRC) National Dinner, he announced that they are expecting their fourth child.",
"In September 2019, while accepting an award at the 23rd annual Human Rights Campaign (HRC) National Dinner, he announced that they are expecting their fourth child. On October 29, 2019, he shared a photo of himself, Yosef, and their new-born son, named Renn Martin-Yosef, with the caption: \"Our son Renn Martin-Yosef has been born.\"",
"On October 29, 2019, he shared a photo of himself, Yosef, and their new-born son, named Renn Martin-Yosef, with the caption: \"Our son Renn Martin-Yosef has been born.\" Beliefs and religion During an interview with People in 2002, Martin expressed that he believes in \"love\", \"the power of healing\", and \"God\", thanks to his parents. The name he chose for his son Matteo means \"gift from God\".",
"The name he chose for his son Matteo means \"gift from God\". According to his statements in a 2021 interview, he still believes in God. He was raised Catholic but he said is not \"the person who would ever look down upon one religion\".",
"He was raised Catholic but he said is not \"the person who would ever look down upon one religion\". He expressed that he also admires and likes Buddhist philosophy, but does not subscribe to the religion, since if he does, he cannot \"be of anything else\"; he does not want to be limited in certain aspects and follow a religion's specific rules.",
"He expressed that he also admires and likes Buddhist philosophy, but does not subscribe to the religion, since if he does, he cannot \"be of anything else\"; he does not want to be limited in certain aspects and follow a religion's specific rules. He tries to remain \"open to everything\" and makes \"a concerted effort to always find new teachings and new paths\" everywhere he goes and in every situation he finds himself in.",
"He tries to remain \"open to everything\" and makes \"a concerted effort to always find new teachings and new paths\" everywhere he goes and in every situation he finds himself in. Martin believes that everyone can \"decide what makes them happy\" and although \"everyone needs to accept the life they were given\", it does not mean they \"should not live it as fully as possible\". Health and sports Martin began practicing yoga after a trip to Thailand in 1997.",
"Health and sports Martin began practicing yoga after a trip to Thailand in 1997. He also began practicing meditation following a trip to India. In 2021, he explained that he gets up every morning at 5:30, before his family and puts himself in a lotus position and oxygenates his body. He also expressed that has a gym in his house, saying: \"If I have space to see myself in the mirror and put on my products, then I also have to have space for my body.\"",
"He also expressed that has a gym in his house, saying: \"If I have space to see myself in the mirror and put on my products, then I also have to have space for my body.\" During an appearance on The Dr. Oz Show in 2017, Martin revealed that he \"was diagnosed with high cholesterol\" at age 18.",
"During an appearance on The Dr. Oz Show in 2017, Martin revealed that he \"was diagnosed with high cholesterol\" at age 18. Although he did not pay attention to the high cholesterol at the time, it made him decide to become a vegetarian since 2013 to reduce cholesterol, despite loving meat as \"a Latin man\". In 2020, he opened up that he suffered from anxiety for the first time in his life, following the COVID-19 lockdowns, stating that making music became his \"medicine\".",
"In 2020, he opened up that he suffered from anxiety for the first time in his life, following the COVID-19 lockdowns, stating that making music became his \"medicine\". Real estate In March 2001, Martin purchased a 7,082-square-feet house in Miami Beach for $6.4 million; he sold the unit for $10.6 million in 2005. In September 2004, he paid $11.9 million for a 11,000-square-feet Mediterranean-style villa in Los Angeles, which he sold in 2006 for $15 million.",
"In September 2004, he paid $11.9 million for a 11,000-square-feet Mediterranean-style villa in Los Angeles, which he sold in 2006 for $15 million. In May 2005, he purchased a 9,491-square-feet house in Miami Beach for $10 million; he sold the villa for $10.6 million in 2012. In 2007, he paid $16.2 million for a mansion in Golden Beach. He sold the property in 2012 for $12.8 million, incurring a loss.",
"He sold the property in 2012 for $12.8 million, incurring a loss. In the same year, he bought a 3,147-square-feet condominium in New York City for $5.9 million; he sold the condo for $7.1 million in 2017. In 2014, he rented a 900-square-metre mansion in Sydney, which became famous as \"the Bronte Wave House\" and was sold for $16 million in May 2015, marking one of the most expensive properties sold in the city that year.",
"In 2014, he rented a 900-square-metre mansion in Sydney, which became famous as \"the Bronte Wave House\" and was sold for $16 million in May 2015, marking one of the most expensive properties sold in the city that year. In December 2016, he purchased a 11,300-square-feet mansion in Beverly Hills. The estate, which is Martin's current house, has seven bedrooms and eight bathrooms with outdoor seating areas scattered throughout a 33,000-square-feet.",
"The estate, which is Martin's current house, has seven bedrooms and eight bathrooms with outdoor seating areas scattered throughout a 33,000-square-feet. It is a \"private getaway in the middle of the city\", located up the street from the Beverly Hills Hotel. Martin also owns a property in Puerto Rico and a private 19.7-acre island in Brazil. He purchased the latter for $8 million in 2008.",
"He purchased the latter for $8 million in 2008. Legacy and influence Martin has been regarded as the \"King of Latin Pop\" by various publications, such as the Grammy Awards, Billboard, Rolling Stone, Time, People, Vogue, The Independent, Entertainment Weekly, Entertainment Tonight Canada, NBC News, and ABC News.",
"Legacy and influence Martin has been regarded as the \"King of Latin Pop\" by various publications, such as the Grammy Awards, Billboard, Rolling Stone, Time, People, Vogue, The Independent, Entertainment Weekly, Entertainment Tonight Canada, NBC News, and ABC News. Additionally, he has been referred to as the \"King of Latin Music\", the \"Latin Pop God\", the \"Latin King of Pop\", the \"Latin American King of Pop\", the \"Latin King\", the \"Crossover Latin King\", the \"Puerto Rican Pop King\", the \"Salsa-Pop King\", and the \"King of World Cup\".",
"Additionally, he has been referred to as the \"King of Latin Music\", the \"Latin Pop God\", the \"Latin King of Pop\", the \"Latin American King of Pop\", the \"Latin King\", the \"Crossover Latin King\", the \"Puerto Rican Pop King\", the \"Salsa-Pop King\", and the \"King of World Cup\". Martin is known as one of the most influential artists in the world.",
"Martin is known as one of the most influential artists in the world. Billboard ranked him as one of the 30 Most Influential Latin Artists of All Time, while NBC News introduced him as an \"influential Latin celebrity\". In 2014, he won the award for the most influential international artist at the 18th China Music Awards.",
"In 2014, he won the award for the most influential international artist at the 18th China Music Awards. He was ranked among \"25 musicians who broke barriers\" by Stacker in 2019, while in 2020, Spin ranked him at number 27 on the list of \"most influential artists of the past 35 years\", as the only Latin artist on their list. In 2022, Show News named him \"the most influential global artist in history\".",
"In 2022, Show News named him \"the most influential global artist in history\". Martin's song \"María (Pablo Flores Remix)\", which was ranked among the \"Greatest Latin Pop Song of All Time\" by Rolling Stone, and \"11 remixes of classic Latin hits\" by Billboard, \"launched the Latin and dance music crossover of the '90s\", according to the latter.",
"Martin's song \"María (Pablo Flores Remix)\", which was ranked among the \"Greatest Latin Pop Song of All Time\" by Rolling Stone, and \"11 remixes of classic Latin hits\" by Billboard, \"launched the Latin and dance music crossover of the '90s\", according to the latter. Olivier Pérou from Le Point commented that \"some have even learned, thanks to him, to count to three in Spanish\" following the popularity of the song.",
"Olivier Pérou from Le Point commented that \"some have even learned, thanks to him, to count to three in Spanish\" following the popularity of the song. \"La Copa de la Vida\", which has been hailed as the Best World Cup Anthem of All-Time by multiple sources, became a \"musical template\" for World Cup anthems, and Martin's Latin and dance crossover style has been much copied in the anthems, as well as soccer chant \"Ole! Ole! Ole!\"",
"Ole! Ole!\" Ole!\" in the lyrics, according to The Hollywood Reporter. As believed by Esquire, the song \"inaugurated this musical subgenre\" of Latin. Joy Bhattacharjya from The Economic Times wrote about \"La Copa de la Vida\" that it was the first World Cup anthem to have a video just \"as ubiquitous as the song\", going on to write: \"Since then, official songs have an important part to play in every World Cup.\"",
"Joy Bhattacharjya from The Economic Times wrote about \"La Copa de la Vida\" that it was the first World Cup anthem to have a video just \"as ubiquitous as the song\", going on to write: \"Since then, official songs have an important part to play in every World Cup.\" In his review for Pitchfork, Corban Goble wrote that if World Cup anthems someday would be \"given their own textbook\", \"La Copa de la Vida\" would be \"the standard-bearer for the whole genre\".",
"In his review for Pitchfork, Corban Goble wrote that if World Cup anthems someday would be \"given their own textbook\", \"La Copa de la Vida\" would be \"the standard-bearer for the whole genre\". Martin is known as the pioneer in getting Latin pop music genre to mainstream recognition.",
"Martin is known as the pioneer in getting Latin pop music genre to mainstream recognition. Following his performance of \"The Cup of Life\" at the Grammys, and the success of \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" and Ricky Martin (1999), he opened the gates for many Latin artists such as Jennifer Lopez, Shakira, Christina Aguilera, Marc Anthony, Santana, and Enrique Iglesias who released their crossover albums and followed him onto the top of the charts.",
"Following his performance of \"The Cup of Life\" at the Grammys, and the success of \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" and Ricky Martin (1999), he opened the gates for many Latin artists such as Jennifer Lopez, Shakira, Christina Aguilera, Marc Anthony, Santana, and Enrique Iglesias who released their crossover albums and followed him onto the top of the charts. His performance of \"The Cup of Life\" at the Grammys not only changed the course of his career, but also altered how people regard Latin music in America.",
"His performance of \"The Cup of Life\" at the Grammys not only changed the course of his career, but also altered how people regard Latin music in America. It has been known as a game-changer for Latin music worldwide, that effectively ushered in the \"Latin explosion\". Then-United Talent Agency head Rob Prinz described the rendition as \"the single biggest game changing moment for any artist in the history of the Grammys\".",
"Then-United Talent Agency head Rob Prinz described the rendition as \"the single biggest game changing moment for any artist in the history of the Grammys\". According to Billboard, it has been cited as the beginning of the \"Latin Pop invasion\", which powerfully affected the US mainstream. Jesús Triviño Alarcón from Tidal Magazine stated, \"that single performance opened up the mainstream market for the Latinx legends\", mentioning the names of Anthony, Shakira, and Lopez.",
"Jesús Triviño Alarcón from Tidal Magazine stated, \"that single performance opened up the mainstream market for the Latinx legends\", mentioning the names of Anthony, Shakira, and Lopez. InStyle staff wrote about it: \"With his leather pants, big smile and energetic performance of 'The Cup of Life', Ricky Martin almost personally kicked off the so-called Latin Explosion of the late '90s.\"",
"InStyle staff wrote about it: \"With his leather pants, big smile and energetic performance of 'The Cup of Life', Ricky Martin almost personally kicked off the so-called Latin Explosion of the late '90s.\" Mariana Best of San Antonio Express-News commented that the performance \"is recognized for bringing Latin pop to the forefront of the U.S. music scene\".",
"Mariana Best of San Antonio Express-News commented that the performance \"is recognized for bringing Latin pop to the forefront of the U.S. music scene\". In 2018, Diego Urdaneta from Vice credited the song as \"one of those that laid the first stones so that J Balvin and Bad Bunnys of today can be at the top of the pyramid\", labeling it \"a milestone for Latin music\".",
"In 2018, Diego Urdaneta from Vice credited the song as \"one of those that laid the first stones so that J Balvin and Bad Bunnys of today can be at the top of the pyramid\", labeling it \"a milestone for Latin music\". According to Entertainment Tonight, \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" paved the way for a large number of other Latin artists, and is \"credited as the song that helped other Latin artists break through to English-speaking markets\".",
"According to Entertainment Tonight, \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" paved the way for a large number of other Latin artists, and is \"credited as the song that helped other Latin artists break through to English-speaking markets\". As believed by Spin, the song \"lit the fuse for the Latin pop explosion of the '90s\".",
"As believed by Spin, the song \"lit the fuse for the Latin pop explosion of the '90s\". Lucas Villa from Spin wrote about it: \"When the world went loca for Ricky, he led the way for other Latin music superstars like Spain's Enrique Iglesias, Colombia's Shakira and Nuyoricans like Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony to make their marks beyond the Spanish-speaking crowds.\" He also described Martin as \"a trailblazer in globalizing Latinx culture\" in his Grammy.com article.",
"He also described Martin as \"a trailblazer in globalizing Latinx culture\" in his Grammy.com article. Also from Grammy.com, Ernesto Lechner described \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" as \"the manifesto for all the fun-loving, tropically tinged Latin hit singles that followed\", stating that Martin led \"the Latin music explosion that took over the U.S. at the tail end of the '90s\". According to The Independent, the single is \"widely regarded as the song that began the first Latin pop explosion\".",
"According to The Independent, the single is \"widely regarded as the song that began the first Latin pop explosion\". Peoples Jason Sheeler credited it as the song that \"led the way for the late-'90s so-called 'Latin explosion' that dominated pop music into the new century: Shakira, Enrique Iglesias, Marc Anthony, and Jennifer Lopez\".",
"Peoples Jason Sheeler credited it as the song that \"led the way for the late-'90s so-called 'Latin explosion' that dominated pop music into the new century: Shakira, Enrique Iglesias, Marc Anthony, and Jennifer Lopez\". Angie Romero from Billboard wrote: \"If you look up 'crossover' in the dictionary, there should be a photo of Ricky shaking his bon bon and/or 'Livin' la Vida Loca'.\"",
"Angie Romero from Billboard wrote: \"If you look up 'crossover' in the dictionary, there should be a photo of Ricky shaking his bon bon and/or 'Livin' la Vida Loca'.\" Leila Cobo named \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" one of the genre's biggest singles of the past 50 years in his 2021 book Decoding \"Despacito\": An Oral History of Latin Music.",
"Leila Cobo named \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" one of the genre's biggest singles of the past 50 years in his 2021 book Decoding \"Despacito\": An Oral History of Latin Music. She also wrote about his impact in Shakira's \"Whenever, Wherever\" chapter: \"Ricky Martin’s phenomenal success opened the door for a string of Latin artists who waved the flags of their heritage, but who sang in English.\"",
"She also wrote about his impact in Shakira's \"Whenever, Wherever\" chapter: \"Ricky Martin’s phenomenal success opened the door for a string of Latin artists who waved the flags of their heritage, but who sang in English.\" Additionally, she compared Martin's song with Luis Fonsi's \"Despacito\" (2017) in one of her Billboard articles: \"'Livin', like 'Despacito', became not just a global hit but a cultural phenomena that transcended all barriers of language and nationality.\"",
"Additionally, she compared Martin's song with Luis Fonsi's \"Despacito\" (2017) in one of her Billboard articles: \"'Livin', like 'Despacito', became not just a global hit but a cultural phenomena that transcended all barriers of language and nationality.\" In another article, she described it as the song that \"ignited the late-'90s Latin explosion\".",
"In another article, she described it as the song that \"ignited the late-'90s Latin explosion\". Also from Billboard, Gary Trust wrote: \"The song helmed a Latin pop boom in the U.S., with Jenner Lopez, Marc Anthony and others crossing over, as well.\" Writing for LiveAbout.com, Bill Lamb credited the song as \"the record which kicked off a wave of major Latin performers hitting the pop mainstream\".",
"Writing for LiveAbout.com, Bill Lamb credited the song as \"the record which kicked off a wave of major Latin performers hitting the pop mainstream\". Jim Farber from Daily News noted that Ricky Martin \"provides a textbook example of how to mix Latin beats with pop tunes and rock intonations\". St. Louis Post-Dispatch critic Kevin C. Johnson described Martin as Latin music's \"pretty-faced poster boy\" who is \"taking the music to places Jon Secada, Selena and Santana never could\".",
"St. Louis Post-Dispatch critic Kevin C. Johnson described Martin as Latin music's \"pretty-faced poster boy\" who is \"taking the music to places Jon Secada, Selena and Santana never could\". He also mentioned that even \"Gloria Estefan at her peak, failed to muster up the kind of hype and hoopla surrounding Martin\".",
"He also mentioned that even \"Gloria Estefan at her peak, failed to muster up the kind of hype and hoopla surrounding Martin\". Celia San Miguel of Tidal Magazine stated that Martin \"highlighted the public's thirst for a different kind of pop\" in 1999, noting the album's \"fusion-heavy\" and \"hip-shaking rhythms associated with Latin music\".",
"Celia San Miguel of Tidal Magazine stated that Martin \"highlighted the public's thirst for a different kind of pop\" in 1999, noting the album's \"fusion-heavy\" and \"hip-shaking rhythms associated with Latin music\". She mentioned that the album \"spawned 1999's Latin music boom\", emphasizing the fact that Martin created the \"spark\" of the \"Latin Pop Explosion\", which was followed by 1999 albums, On the 6 by Lopez, Enrique by Iglesias, and Anthony's eponymous album.",
"She mentioned that the album \"spawned 1999's Latin music boom\", emphasizing the fact that Martin created the \"spark\" of the \"Latin Pop Explosion\", which was followed by 1999 albums, On the 6 by Lopez, Enrique by Iglesias, and Anthony's eponymous album. She continued crediting \"Martin and the paths he created\" responsible for the Latin music and Spanish and Spanglish lyrics being \"a commonplace phenomenon on English-language radio\" in 2019.",
"She continued crediting \"Martin and the paths he created\" responsible for the Latin music and Spanish and Spanglish lyrics being \"a commonplace phenomenon on English-language radio\" in 2019. In her review for Grammy.com, Ana Monroy Yglesias said Martin led a \"major music moment in 1999\" with Ricky Martin, and along with him, \"the first major boom of Spanish-language artists\", such as Shakira and Lopez, came into the \"U.S. pop landscape\".",
"In her review for Grammy.com, Ana Monroy Yglesias said Martin led a \"major music moment in 1999\" with Ricky Martin, and along with him, \"the first major boom of Spanish-language artists\", such as Shakira and Lopez, came into the \"U.S. pop landscape\". The late '90s Latin explosion also resulted in the launch of the Latin Recording Academy.",
"The late '90s Latin explosion also resulted in the launch of the Latin Recording Academy. Gabriel Abaroa Jr., the president and chief executive officer of the Latin Recording Academy, expressed that the plan of its launch was \"immediately after the Ricky Martin success\". Cuban American musician and producer Emilio Estefan added: \"After the success with Ricky Martin, everybody opened their eyes and realized how important it was to bring diversity and multiethnic elements into [mainstream American] music.\"",
"Cuban American musician and producer Emilio Estefan added: \"After the success with Ricky Martin, everybody opened their eyes and realized how important it was to bring diversity and multiethnic elements into [mainstream American] music.\" Many artists have cited Martin as an influence or declared themselves as his fan, including Abraham Mateo, Bad Bunny, Camila Cabello, Camilo, Carla Morrison, Christian Chávez, CNCO, Danna Paola, Enrique Iglesias, J Balvin, J-Hope, Jimin, Karol G, India Martínez, Luis Fonsi, Maite Perroni, Maluma, Neha Mahajan, Pedro Capó, Prince Royce, Rauw Alejandro, Rosalía, Sebastián Ligarde, Sebastián Yatra, Shakira, Tini, Vadhir Derbez, William Hung, Wisin, and Ximena Sariñana.",
"Many artists have cited Martin as an influence or declared themselves as his fan, including Abraham Mateo, Bad Bunny, Camila Cabello, Camilo, Carla Morrison, Christian Chávez, CNCO, Danna Paola, Enrique Iglesias, J Balvin, J-Hope, Jimin, Karol G, India Martínez, Luis Fonsi, Maite Perroni, Maluma, Neha Mahajan, Pedro Capó, Prince Royce, Rauw Alejandro, Rosalía, Sebastián Ligarde, Sebastián Yatra, Shakira, Tini, Vadhir Derbez, William Hung, Wisin, and Ximena Sariñana. Both Maluma and J Balvin have described Martin as a \"teacher\" and credited him as an artist who \"opened the doors\" for them, while Maluma has also expressed: \"Ricky Martin is one of the artists I wanted to be growing up.",
"Both Maluma and J Balvin have described Martin as a \"teacher\" and credited him as an artist who \"opened the doors\" for them, while Maluma has also expressed: \"Ricky Martin is one of the artists I wanted to be growing up. He's my idol in the industry\".Citations regarding J Balvin's statements about Martin: Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny talked about Martin's legacy during an episode of Behind the Music: \"There's no doubt that he opened the door for an entire generation of Latin artists.",
"He's my idol in the industry\".Citations regarding J Balvin's statements about Martin: Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny talked about Martin's legacy during an episode of Behind the Music: \"There's no doubt that he opened the door for an entire generation of Latin artists. I am doing great things today in the music industry thanks to those doors that he opened.\"",
"I am doing great things today in the music industry thanks to those doors that he opened.\" He also mentioned that he is inspired by Martin's coming out as gay: \"You don't have to be gay to be inspired by that action of honesty and freedom, of being yourself against the world despite everything you deserve. I look at it like a very inspiring moment for anybody. At least for me, it's very inspirational.\"",
"At least for me, it's very inspirational.\" Brazilian singer-songwriter Anitta explained to The Guardian that \"some Latin stars such as Maluma and Bad Bunny sing in their native language\" and do not need to sing in English to get noticed, because they already had representatives like Shakira, Martin, and Jennifer Lopez, but since her country \"hasn't had a major international pop star before\", she uses \"whatever language will get the market's attention\".",
"Brazilian singer-songwriter Anitta explained to The Guardian that \"some Latin stars such as Maluma and Bad Bunny sing in their native language\" and do not need to sing in English to get noticed, because they already had representatives like Shakira, Martin, and Jennifer Lopez, but since her country \"hasn't had a major international pop star before\", she uses \"whatever language will get the market's attention\". Portrayal in television In July 2019, SOMOS Productions, Endemol Shine Boomdog, and Piñolywood Studios announced the production of a biographical web television series about Menudo, titled Subete a Mi Moto.",
"Portrayal in television In July 2019, SOMOS Productions, Endemol Shine Boomdog, and Piñolywood Studios announced the production of a biographical web television series about Menudo, titled Subete a Mi Moto. Consisting of 15 episodes of 60 minutes each, the series premiered on Amazon Prime Video on October 9, 2020 in Mexico, Latin America, and Spain. It was filmed in Mexico and Puerto Rico, and Martin was portrayed by actors Felipe Albors and Ethan Schwartz.",
"It was filmed in Mexico and Puerto Rico, and Martin was portrayed by actors Felipe Albors and Ethan Schwartz. The series premiered in the United States on February 14, 2021 on Estrella TV. On the review aggregation website Tomatazos, the first season has a positive score of 75%. The website's critical consensus summary states, \"A good trip to the past that recalls a band that defined the youth of a certain public, but that doesn't ignore the darkest moments in the lives of its members.\"",
"The website's critical consensus summary states, \"A good trip to the past that recalls a band that defined the youth of a certain public, but that doesn't ignore the darkest moments in the lives of its members.\" Other ventures Books On August 19, 2010, Martin announced that he had been working on his memoir, mentioning its title as Me and publish date as November 2, 2010. He expressed that writing the book was \"one of the reasons\" he decided to come out earlier that year.",
"He expressed that writing the book was \"one of the reasons\" he decided to come out earlier that year. The book also had a Spanish edition title Yo (), which was published simultaneously by Celebra. He stated that writing his memoir allowed him \"to explore the different paths and experiences\" that have led him to be who he is, noting that it \"was not easy but allowed for an incredible spiritual journey\". Me spent several weeks at number one on the New York Times Best Seller list.",
"Me spent several weeks at number one on the New York Times Best Seller list. In 2019, ¡Hola! staff ranked the book among \"12 Books by Celebrities to Inspire and Motivate You\", while Book Riot placed it on an unranked list of the \"Best Celebrity Books You Should Read This Year\" in 2020. Martin's first children's book Santiago the Dreamer in Land Among the Stars was published by Celebra and illustrated by Patricia Castelao in November 2013 for ages between five to nine.",
"Martin's first children's book Santiago the Dreamer in Land Among the Stars was published by Celebra and illustrated by Patricia Castelao in November 2013 for ages between five to nine. Its Spanish-language edition, Santiago El Soñador en Entre Las Estrellas, was published simultaneously. Martin expressed that the book was inspired by his \"personal life, with fantasy added to it\", as well as \"a lot of cartoons\".",
"Martin expressed that the book was inspired by his \"personal life, with fantasy added to it\", as well as \"a lot of cartoons\". Products and endorsements Martin endorsed the 2012 Viva Glam campaign with Trinidadian rapper Nicki Minaj, which raised $270 million for the Mac AIDS Fund. In October 2020, Martin announced that he would launch his company, Martin Music Lab in partnership with music engineers Jaycen Joshua and Michael Seaberg.",
"In October 2020, Martin announced that he would launch his company, Martin Music Lab in partnership with music engineers Jaycen Joshua and Michael Seaberg. The company is centered around a new audio technique called \"Orbital Audio\", that \"creates a new type of immersive, headphone listening experience\". Martin used the technique on his EP Pausa, while several artists including Bad Bunny, Residente, Myke Towers, and A$AP Rocky are going to work with the company.",
"Martin used the technique on his EP Pausa, while several artists including Bad Bunny, Residente, Myke Towers, and A$AP Rocky are going to work with the company. The latter plans to release his whole upcoming studio album, using \"Orbital Audio\". Martin is going to expand the technique \"beyond the music industry and tap into the movies, sports and, most notably, the wellness and meditation space\". In 2021, Martin partnered with skin care company Kumiko.",
"In 2021, Martin partnered with skin care company Kumiko. The skincare line, created by Chilean cosmetologist Catalina Aguirre, is the first to combine \"mesotherapy, matcha, and cutting-edge European technology into unique multi-action formulas that penetrate the dermis with powerful anti-aging properties and lifting benefits\". Activism Philanthropy While on a trip to India in 2002, Martin witnessed three minor girls who were about to be sold into prostitution and rescued them.",
"Activism Philanthropy While on a trip to India in 2002, Martin witnessed three minor girls who were about to be sold into prostitution and rescued them. The following year, he became a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and then met with activists and decided to fight against human trafficking, which is the second-most lucrative crime in the world.",
"The following year, he became a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and then met with activists and decided to fight against human trafficking, which is the second-most lucrative crime in the world. In 2004, Martin launched the Ricky Martin Foundation, a non-profit, non-governmental organization that focuses on denouncing human trafficking and educating about the crime's \"existence through research and community initiatives, anchored in the defense of children and youth rights\". In the same year, he appealed to the United Nations for international help to fight against sex tourism.",
"In the same year, he appealed to the United Nations for international help to fight against sex tourism. In January 2005, following the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, Martin visited Thailand to assess the needs of the minor survivors who were \"extremely vulnerable to traffickers\". Later that year, the Ricky Martin Foundation signed an alliance in partnership with Habitat for Humanity to construct 224 homes for the tsunami-affected families. The project was completed in December 2006.",
"The project was completed in December 2006. The project was completed in December 2006. In March 2006, the foundation collaborated with the International Organization for Migration in the Llama y Vive () campaign, which focuses on facilitating \"the prevention of human trafficking and the protection of young people, victims of child trafficking and prosecution of traffickers\". In January 2010, along with many celebrities, Martin operated the charity telethon Hope for Haiti Now to raise donations for the 2010 Haiti earthquake.",
"In January 2010, along with many celebrities, Martin operated the charity telethon Hope for Haiti Now to raise donations for the 2010 Haiti earthquake. Later that year, the Ricky Martin Foundation created the first program of community social action against child trafficking in Martin's native Puerto Rico, titled \"Se Trata\" (). In 2012, the foundation participated in the making of the Child Protection Model Law on the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children.",
"In 2012, the foundation participated in the making of the Child Protection Model Law on the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children. In 2016, Martin visited Syrian refugees in Lebanon and played with the children and talked to them in an informal refugee camp.",
"In 2016, Martin visited Syrian refugees in Lebanon and played with the children and talked to them in an informal refugee camp. Following the Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico in 2017, the Ricky Martin Foundation helped people and handed over homes that were rebuilt after the losses; Martin launched a viral campaign of selling a black T-shirt with the Puerto Rican flag stamped on it in order to raise the funds.",
"Following the Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico in 2017, the Ricky Martin Foundation helped people and handed over homes that were rebuilt after the losses; Martin launched a viral campaign of selling a black T-shirt with the Puerto Rican flag stamped on it in order to raise the funds. The T-shirts were designed by Martin's twin boys Matteo and Valentino, while many celebrities including Will Smith, Bad Bunny, Marc Anthony, Luis Fonsi, and Maluma supported the campaign.",
"The T-shirts were designed by Martin's twin boys Matteo and Valentino, while many celebrities including Will Smith, Bad Bunny, Marc Anthony, Luis Fonsi, and Maluma supported the campaign. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Martin created a campaign to help health care workers through the non-profit organization Project Hope. He expressed: \"As you know, health care professionals are extremely vulnerable and professionals around the world don’t have personal protection equipment they need to prevent them getting infected.\"",
"He expressed: \"As you know, health care professionals are extremely vulnerable and professionals around the world don’t have personal protection equipment they need to prevent them getting infected.\" In February 2021, Martin collaborated with Antonia Novello to launch mass vaccination events in Puerto Rico.",
"In February 2021, Martin collaborated with Antonia Novello to launch mass vaccination events in Puerto Rico. Following the murder of George Floyd and Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, Martin honored an effort called \"Black Out Tuesday\" and launched the hashtag #knowthestruggle, giving his social media to the voices of the community that are \"looking for justice\", to learn more about what is happening.",
"Following the murder of George Floyd and Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, Martin honored an effort called \"Black Out Tuesday\" and launched the hashtag #knowthestruggle, giving his social media to the voices of the community that are \"looking for justice\", to learn more about what is happening. For his humanitarian efforts and fighting against human trafficking, Martin has been honored with numerous accolades, including the Peace Summit Award by the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates, the TIP Report Hero Award by the United States Department of State, the Spirit of Hope Award by Billboard Latin Music Awards, the Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year Award, the Award of Inspiration by amfAR Gala, the Leader of Change Award by the Foundation for Social Change, the Humanitarian Award by the Global Gift Foundation, the Humanitarian Award by the Hispanic Federation, the Corazón Latino Award by the iHeartRadio Fiesta Latina, the International Humanitarian Award by the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the Agent of Change Award by the International Peace Honors, the PODER Social Leadership Awards, and the Agent of Change Award by the Premios Juventud.",
"For his humanitarian efforts and fighting against human trafficking, Martin has been honored with numerous accolades, including the Peace Summit Award by the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates, the TIP Report Hero Award by the United States Department of State, the Spirit of Hope Award by Billboard Latin Music Awards, the Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year Award, the Award of Inspiration by amfAR Gala, the Leader of Change Award by the Foundation for Social Change, the Humanitarian Award by the Global Gift Foundation, the Humanitarian Award by the Hispanic Federation, the Corazón Latino Award by the iHeartRadio Fiesta Latina, the International Humanitarian Award by the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the Agent of Change Award by the International Peace Honors, the PODER Social Leadership Awards, and the Agent of Change Award by the Premios Juventud. Politics On January 20, 2001, during the first inauguration of George W. Bush, Martin performed \"The Cup of Life\" and danced with him.",
"Politics On January 20, 2001, during the first inauguration of George W. Bush, Martin performed \"The Cup of Life\" and danced with him. Martin's view of Bush changed over the Iraq War, as expressed in his declaration to BBC News that he will \"always condemn war and those who promulgate it\". He also stuck up his middle finger while singing the president's name in his 2003 song \"Asignatura Pendiente\" at a concert.",
"He also stuck up his middle finger while singing the president's name in his 2003 song \"Asignatura Pendiente\" at a concert. At the 2010 Billboard Latin Music Awards, Martin expressed his disagreement with the Arizona SB 1070 bill, a proposed law that would have required police officers to request documents from individuals whom they suspected to be illegal immigrants.",
"At the 2010 Billboard Latin Music Awards, Martin expressed his disagreement with the Arizona SB 1070 bill, a proposed law that would have required police officers to request documents from individuals whom they suspected to be illegal immigrants. Martin campaigned for the 44th president of the United States Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, and thanked him for an \"outstanding presidency\" in 2016, while calling him \"an amazing leader\".",
"Martin campaigned for the 44th president of the United States Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, and thanked him for an \"outstanding presidency\" in 2016, while calling him \"an amazing leader\". Also in 2016, he was an active ally to the Democratic Party presidential candidate Hillary Clinton campaign, while condemning Donald Trump's hateful comments about immigrants. He also performed his hits during the \"Hillary Clinton: She's With Us\" concert at the Greek Theatre on June 6, 2016.",
"He also performed his hits during the \"Hillary Clinton: She's With Us\" concert at the Greek Theatre on June 6, 2016. Telegramgate, also known as Chatgate, was a political scandal involving Ricardo Rosselló, then Governor of Puerto Rico, which began on July 8, 2019, with the leak of hundreds of pages of a group chat on the messaging application Telegram between Rosselló and members of his cabinet. The messages were considered vulgar, misogynistic, and homophobic toward several individuals and groups, including Martin.",
"The messages were considered vulgar, misogynistic, and homophobic toward several individuals and groups, including Martin. Therefore, Martin, Bad Bunny, Residente and several other artists, and more than half a million Puerto Ricans led the call to take to the streets of Puerto Rico, demanding Rosselló's resignation. In September 2020, Martin, Luis Fonsi, and actress Eva Longoria attended a campaign event in Kissimmee, Florida to support the Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden for the 2020 United States presidential election.",
"In September 2020, Martin, Luis Fonsi, and actress Eva Longoria attended a campaign event in Kissimmee, Florida to support the Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden for the 2020 United States presidential election. During an interview with Variety, Martin stated: \"I've been supporting Biden forever, I think he is the only option we have and he is great and he has been in politics all his life. This is the moment. We all need to get together and be loud about the course of this nation.\"",
"We all need to get together and be loud about the course of this nation.\" Following the election of Biden as 45th president of the United States, Martin said \"Bye-bye\" to Trump on social media, and shared a photo of himself along with Biden on Instagram. In May 2021, Martin demonstrated his support for the Ni una menos movement, condemning femicides and violence against women in Puerto Rico, while calling authorities to protect women.",
"In May 2021, Martin demonstrated his support for the Ni una menos movement, condemning femicides and violence against women in Puerto Rico, while calling authorities to protect women. He further expressed that no woman should fear for her safety and urged authorities to take steps in order to prevent these acts. In the same month, he supported the 2021 Colombian protests.",
"In the same month, he supported the 2021 Colombian protests. Later that year, the singer raised his voice in support of the 2021 Cuban protests against the Castro regime for the restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic crisis, stating: \"This is very important. Our brothers and sisters in Cuba need us to inform the world what they are experiencing today. Let's fill the networks before they remove the internet in the country. Humanitarian aid for Cuba NOW.\"",
"Humanitarian aid for Cuba NOW.\" Humanitarian aid for Cuba NOW.\" LGBT advocacy As a gay man, Martin actively supports LGBT rights worldwide since his coming out in 2010. Even before coming out, he was noted by the mainstream media for being popular among gay men and having a large gay fan base. He also went on the cover of the American LGBT-interest magazine The Advocate in July 1999.",
"He also went on the cover of the American LGBT-interest magazine The Advocate in July 1999. Despite this, he admitted that he felt homosexuality was evil since he was raised as a Catholic and targeted his anger toward others, especially gay men: \"I was very angry, very rebellious. I used to look at gay men and think, 'I'm not like that, I don't want to be like that, that's not me.' I was ashamed.\"",
"I was ashamed.\" I was ashamed.\" He added that he \"had internalized homophobia\" back then. He is currently considered to be a gay icon, with PinkNews labeling him \"a strong advocate of LGBT rights\" who \"expressed support for equal marriage\" since coming out. As the first mainstream Latin music artist to come out, Martin's coming out was a game-changer for \"Latin Pride\".",
"As the first mainstream Latin music artist to come out, Martin's coming out was a game-changer for \"Latin Pride\". Billboards Lucas Villa stated: \"With Martin's announcement, gay artists, who had long kept their sexual identities a secret, finally had a beacon of hope. If Martin could come out with his career unscathed, there was hope for other artists in Latin music to start doing the same.\"",
"If Martin could come out with his career unscathed, there was hope for other artists in Latin music to start doing the same.\" He added that since then, \"a growing number of Latin artists have either come out after years in the spotlight, or many have simply started their careers by embracing their gay identities\".",
"He added that since then, \"a growing number of Latin artists have either come out after years in the spotlight, or many have simply started their careers by embracing their gay identities\". In 2010, GLAAD then-president Jarrett Barrios expressed that Martin's coming out as gay leads \"hundreds of millions of people\" to have \"a cultural connection with an artist, a celebrity and, perhaps most importantly, a father who happens to be gay\", adding that \"his decision to model this kind of openness and honesty can lead to greater acceptance for countless gay people in U.S., in Latin America and worldwide\".",
"In 2010, GLAAD then-president Jarrett Barrios expressed that Martin's coming out as gay leads \"hundreds of millions of people\" to have \"a cultural connection with an artist, a celebrity and, perhaps most importantly, a father who happens to be gay\", adding that \"his decision to model this kind of openness and honesty can lead to greater acceptance for countless gay people in U.S., in Latin America and worldwide\". In 2019, Human Rights Campaign then-president Alphonso David expressed that Martin \"has used his international stage to advocate for LGBTQ people around the world\" with his \"unique voice and passionate activism\".",
"In 2019, Human Rights Campaign then-president Alphonso David expressed that Martin \"has used his international stage to advocate for LGBTQ people around the world\" with his \"unique voice and passionate activism\". The following year, Suzy Exposito from Rolling Stone argued that with risking his career and coming out, Martin \"set the scene for Bad Bunny to be free in many ways that, during his own breakthrough moment, he could not\". Martin expressed support for same-sex marriage during an interview on Larry King Live in 2010.",
"Martin expressed support for same-sex marriage during an interview on Larry King Live in 2010. He has then delivered speeches about LGBT rights at the United Nations Homophobia Conference, the GLAAD Media Awards, and the Human Rights Campaign. He also raised his voice to support gay marriage in Puerto Rico before its legalization in 2015. In March 2016, Martin met with Chilean LGBT rights group Fundación Iguales to learn about the challenges LGBT citizens face there.",
"In March 2016, Martin met with Chilean LGBT rights group Fundación Iguales to learn about the challenges LGBT citizens face there. AT the meeting, he said that he wants \"equal marriage rights for Chile\" and he wants his sons to grow up in a world where \"there are no second-class citizens\". Following the Colombia's highest court voting against an anti same-sex marriage proposal in April 2016, Martin tweeted: \"Love and equality win, Colombia says YES to same-sex marriage.\"",
"Following the Colombia's highest court voting against an anti same-sex marriage proposal in April 2016, Martin tweeted: \"Love and equality win, Colombia says YES to same-sex marriage.\" During an interview with Vulture, Martin talked about his role in The Assassination of Gianni Versace and how he wanted his portrayal to help \"normalize open relationships\".",
"During an interview with Vulture, Martin talked about his role in The Assassination of Gianni Versace and how he wanted his portrayal to help \"normalize open relationships\". In June 2019, he published an open letter slamming the religious liberty bill, saying: \"As a defender of human rights and a member of the LGBTT community, I am vehemently opposed to the proposed measure imposed upon us under the guise of religious freedom, that projects us to the world as a backwards country.\"",
"In June 2019, he published an open letter slamming the religious liberty bill, saying: \"As a defender of human rights and a member of the LGBTT community, I am vehemently opposed to the proposed measure imposed upon us under the guise of religious freedom, that projects us to the world as a backwards country.\" Puerto Rico's then-governor backed down and withdrew his support of the bill following Martin's statement.",
"Puerto Rico's then-governor backed down and withdrew his support of the bill following Martin's statement. In June 2020, Martin performed his song \"Recuerdo\" with Carla Morrison for a virtual event, Can't Cancel Pride: Helping LGBTQ+ People in Need, to raise visibility and funds for LGBTQ+ communities. He appeared at the virtual event in the following year as well.",
"He appeared at the virtual event in the following year as well. In February 2021, Martin was named national spokesperson for the onePULSE Foundation, a non-profit organization that focuses on managing \"the design and construction of the permanent national memorial and museum dedicated to the Pulse nightclub tragedy\". Later that year, he expressed that he wants to \"normalize families like\" his, in an interview with People.",
"Later that year, he expressed that he wants to \"normalize families like\" his, in an interview with People. Several of Martin's music videos feature diversity in sexual orientations and same-sex couples, including \"The Best Thing About Me Is You\", \"Disparo al Corazón\", \"Fiebre\", and \"Tiburones\".",
"Several of Martin's music videos feature diversity in sexual orientations and same-sex couples, including \"The Best Thing About Me Is You\", \"Disparo al Corazón\", \"Fiebre\", and \"Tiburones\". For his activism and advocacy for LGBTQ community, Martin has been honored with numerous accolades, including the GLAAD Vito Russo Award, the Gala Vanguard Award by the Los Angeles LGBT Center, the International Icon Award by the British LGBT Awards, the National Visibility Award by the Human Rights Campaign, the Trailblazer Award by the LGBT Center Dinner, the Celebrity Activist of the Year by LGBTQ Nation, and the Legacy Award by Attitude Awards.",
"For his activism and advocacy for LGBTQ community, Martin has been honored with numerous accolades, including the GLAAD Vito Russo Award, the Gala Vanguard Award by the Los Angeles LGBT Center, the International Icon Award by the British LGBT Awards, the National Visibility Award by the Human Rights Campaign, the Trailblazer Award by the LGBT Center Dinner, the Celebrity Activist of the Year by LGBTQ Nation, and the Legacy Award by Attitude Awards. Achievements Throughout his career, Martin has won over 200 awards (most awarded male Latin artist), including two Grammy Awards, five Latin Grammy Awards, five MTV Video Music Awards (tied for most wins by a Latin artist), two American Music Awards, two Latin American Music Awards, three Billboard Music Awards, a Billboard Music Video Award, nine Billboard Latin Music Awards, eight World Music Awards, fourteen Lo Nuestro Awards (including the Excellence Award), and a Guinness World Record.",
"Achievements Throughout his career, Martin has won over 200 awards (most awarded male Latin artist), including two Grammy Awards, five Latin Grammy Awards, five MTV Video Music Awards (tied for most wins by a Latin artist), two American Music Awards, two Latin American Music Awards, three Billboard Music Awards, a Billboard Music Video Award, nine Billboard Latin Music Awards, eight World Music Awards, fourteen Lo Nuestro Awards (including the Excellence Award), and a Guinness World Record. As an actor, he was nominated for an Emmy Award.",
"As an actor, he was nominated for an Emmy Award. In 2007, Martin was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, located at 6901 Hollywood Blvd. Martin is ranked among the Greatest Latin Artists of All Time and the Greatest Hot Latin Songs Artists of All Time by Billboard, while his album Vuelve was placed at number five on Billboards Top 20 Latin Albums Of All Time in 2018.",
"Martin is ranked among the Greatest Latin Artists of All Time and the Greatest Hot Latin Songs Artists of All Time by Billboard, while his album Vuelve was placed at number five on Billboards Top 20 Latin Albums Of All Time in 2018. In 1998, his song, \"Perdido Sin Ti\" reached the top of the Latin Pop Airplay chart, displacing Martin's own \"Vuelve\", making him the first artist on the chart's history to replace himself.",
"In 1998, his song, \"Perdido Sin Ti\" reached the top of the Latin Pop Airplay chart, displacing Martin's own \"Vuelve\", making him the first artist on the chart's history to replace himself. His song \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" became the first number-one song on Billboard Hot 100, which was made entirely in Pro Tools, and achieved the first number one hit for his label, Columbia.",
"His song \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" became the first number-one song on Billboard Hot 100, which was made entirely in Pro Tools, and achieved the first number one hit for his label, Columbia. It also became the first song in history to top Billboards Adult Pop Airplay, Pop Airplay, and Rhythmic Airplay charts, holding its record as the only song to do so for 14 years.",
"It also became the first song in history to top Billboards Adult Pop Airplay, Pop Airplay, and Rhythmic Airplay charts, holding its record as the only song to do so for 14 years. On May 15, 1999, it became the first single ever to rule four different Billboard charts and made Martin the first act to simultaneously scale a pop, Latin, and dance chart.",
"On May 15, 1999, it became the first single ever to rule four different Billboard charts and made Martin the first act to simultaneously scale a pop, Latin, and dance chart. Two weeks later, he became the first artist to simultaneously top the Billboard 200, Hot Latin Tracks, Hot Dance Music/Club Play, Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales, Top 40 Tracks, and the Billboard Hot 100.",
"Two weeks later, he became the first artist to simultaneously top the Billboard 200, Hot Latin Tracks, Hot Dance Music/Club Play, Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales, Top 40 Tracks, and the Billboard Hot 100. His song \"Tal Vez\" (2003) marked the first number one debut on Billboard Hot Latin Songs in the 21st century. Martin is the first and only artist with Spanish-language entries on Billboard Hot 100 in three decades.",
"Martin is the first and only artist with Spanish-language entries on Billboard Hot 100 in three decades. In 2020, he became the first and only artist in history to enter the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart across five decades, including his work as part of Menudo. The following year, he became the first male Latin artist in history to have 4 songs from different decades to have over 100 million streams on Spotify.",
"The following year, he became the first male Latin artist in history to have 4 songs from different decades to have over 100 million streams on Spotify. He owns the record as the artist with most top 20s on the US Latin Pop Airplay chart, with 51 songs, and is the runner-up of most top 10s. He is the fourth artist with the most number one songs in the history of the Hot Latin Songs chart.",
"He is the fourth artist with the most number one songs in the history of the Hot Latin Songs chart. Additionally, he holds the record as the most Spanish-language entries on ARIA top 50 singles chart, with three. On October 11, 2007, then-mayor of Miami Beach, Florida David Dermer awarded him the key to the city of Miami Beach. Puerto Rico named August 31 the \"International Ricky Martin Day\" in 2008.",
"Puerto Rico named August 31 the \"International Ricky Martin Day\" in 2008. The Government of Spain granted Spanish nationality to Martin in 2011, for being \"recognized in different artistic facets\". In 2018, in recognition of \"his dedication to the island and people of Puerto Rico, his philanthropic work to eliminate human trafficking across the Caribbean, and his commitment to the arts\", the singer received a proclamation naming June 7 the \"Ricky Martin Day\" in New York City.",
"In 2018, in recognition of \"his dedication to the island and people of Puerto Rico, his philanthropic work to eliminate human trafficking across the Caribbean, and his commitment to the arts\", the singer received a proclamation naming June 7 the \"Ricky Martin Day\" in New York City. Throughout his career, Martin has sold over 70 million records making him one of the best-selling Latin music artists of all time. In 2020, La Opinión estimated his net worth at US$120 million.",
"In 2020, La Opinión estimated his net worth at US$120 million. Discography Ricky Martin (1991) Me Amaras (1993) A Medio Vivir (1995) Vuelve (1998) Ricky Martin (1999) Sound Loaded (2000) Almas del Silencio (2003) Life (2005) Música + Alma + Sexo (2011) A Quien Quiera Escuchar (2015) Filmography Mas Que Alcanzar una estrella (1992) Hercules – Latin American dub (1997) Idle Hands (1999) Ricky Martin: One Night Only (1999) Minions – Latin American dub (2015) The Latin Explosion: A New America (2015) Ricky Martin: Behind the Vegas Residency (2017) Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey (2020) El cuartito (2021) Theatre Les Misérables (1996), Broadway – Marius Pontmercy Evita (2012), Broadway – Ché Tours and residenciesHeadlining tours Ricky Martin Tour (1992) Me Amaras Tour (1993–1994) A Medio Vivir Tour (1995–1997) Vuelve World Tour (1998) Livin' la Vida Loca Tour (1999–2000) One Night Only with Ricky Martin (2005–2006) Black and White Tour (2007) Música + Alma + Sexo World Tour (2011) Ricky Martin Live (2013–2014) Live in Mexico (2014) One World Tour (2015–2018) Ricky Martin en Concierto (2018-2019) Movimiento Tour (2020-2022)Co-headlining tour Enrique Iglesias and Ricky Martin Live in Concert (with Enrique Iglesias) (2021)Residency' All In (2017–2018) See also Honorific nicknames in popular music List of artists who reached number one in the United States List of artists who reached number one on the UK Singles Chart List of Latin pop artists List of multilingual bands and artists List of Puerto Rican Grammy Award winners and nominees List of Puerto Ricans List of Urbano artists Notes References Book sources External links 1971 births Living people 20th-century LGBT people 20th-century Puerto Rican male actors 20th-century Puerto Rican male singers 20th-century Puerto Rican singers 21st-century LGBT people 21st-century Puerto Rican male actors 21st-century Puerto Rican male singers 21st-century Puerto Rican singers American gay actors American gay musicians American humanitarians American male pop singers American male singer-songwriters Columbia Records artists Echo (music award) winners Grammy Award winners Hispanic and Latino American male actors Hispanic and Latino American musicians Latin Grammy Award winners Latin music songwriters Latin pop singers Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year honorees LGBT entertainers from Puerto Rico LGBT Hispanic and Latino American people LGBT Latin musicians LGBT rights activists from the United States LGBT singers from the United States Male actors from San Juan, Puerto Rico Menudo (band) members MTV Europe Music Award winners Naturalised citizens of Spain Puerto Rican activists Puerto Rican expatriates in Australia Puerto Rican expatriates in Mexico Puerto Rican expatriates in Spain Puerto Rican male film actors Puerto Rican male soap opera actors Puerto Rican male television actors Puerto Rican people of Basque descent Puerto Rican people of Canarian descent Puerto Rican people of Corsican descent Puerto Rican people of Spanish descent Puerto Rican philanthropists Puerto Rican pop singers Puerto Rican record producers Puerto Rican singer-songwriters Singers from San Juan, Puerto Rico Sony Music Latin artists Sony Music Spain artists Spanish-language singers of the United States UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors World Music Awards winners"
] |
[
"Ricky Martin",
"1983-1990: Menudo",
"What did he gain fame for",
"After achieving modest fame in Puerto Rico for his work in television commercials, Martin auditioned for membership in the Puerto Rican boy band Menudo.",
"How did his auditions go",
"Although the executives enjoyed his dancing and singing at his first two auditions, Martin was rejected because he was too short.",
"Did he try again",
"By the third audition, his persistence impressed executives, and in 1984, 12-year-old Martin became a member.",
"What happened when he was on tour",
"he made his debut performance with the group at the Luis A. Ferre Performing Arts Center in San Juan. During this performance, he inadvertently disobeyed the choreography",
"What did he do to disobey",
"he inadvertently disobeyed the choreography by walking around the stage, when it was planned that he would stay still,",
"what did he say about it",
"The mistake was such a big deal that from that moment on, never again did I move when I wasn't supposed to move...That was the discipline of Menudo:"
] | C_fe907a545efb49ad960c0a3908a4292c_1 | What was said if this didnt happen | 7 | What was said if following the choreography in Menudo didnt happen? | Ricky Martin | After achieving modest fame in Puerto Rico for his work in television commercials, Martin auditioned for membership in the Puerto Rican boy band Menudo. Although the executives enjoyed his dancing and singing at his first two auditions, Martin was rejected because he was too short. By the third audition, his persistence impressed executives, and in 1984, 12-year-old Martin became a member. A month after joining Menudo, he made his debut performance with the group at the Luis A. Ferre Performing Arts Center in San Juan. During this performance, he inadvertently disobeyed the choreography by walking around the stage, when it was planned that he would stay still, and was chastised by the band manager after the show: "The mistake was such a big deal that from that moment on, never again did I move when I wasn't supposed to move...That was the discipline of Menudo: You either did things the way you were told or you were not part of the group." The song "Asignatura Pendiente" from Almas del Silencio (2003) was inspired by the first time Martin left Puerto Rico to tour with Menudo. Although Martin enjoyed traveling and performing onstage with Menudo, he found the band's busy schedule and strict management exhausting, and later reflected that the experience "cost" him his childhood. He considered leaving the group while on tour in Brazil, but ultimately decided to stay out of fear of media backlash and being sued for breach of contract. Martin also began struggling with his sexuality, noting the stark contrast between his status as a sex symbol and his own emotions. Despite this, Martin acknowledged his "opportunity to have so many amazing experiences with so many amazing people" during his time with the group. He developed an interest in philanthropy when the group became UNICEF ambassadors, often working with impoverished children in third world countries. His experiences as an ambassador affected him greatly and inspired him to continue working with charities later in life. By 1987, Menudo's record sales began to decline, and the group changed its image, adopting an edgier look and performing more rock-influenced songs. The band released the album Somos Los Hijos del Rock in Spanish, and to appeal to the Menudo's Filipino fanbase, the group released In Action, recording songs in both English and Tagalog. After recording 11 albums with the group, Martin left Menudo in July 1989, at age 17, hoping to rest and evaluate his career path. He performed his final show with the group at the same venue where he'd performed his first performance as a member. Martin returned to Puerto Rico to graduate from high school, and 13 days after turning 18, he moved to New York City to celebrate his financial independence; since he was a minor during his time as a member of Menudo, Martin was not allowed to access his own bank accounts. He was accepted into New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, but months before classes began, Martin dropped out and moved to Mexico City to perform in the play Mama Ama el Rock (Mom Loves Rock). CANNOTANSWER | That was the discipline of Menudo: You either did things the way you were told or you were not part of the group. | Enrique Martín Morales (born December 24, 1971), known professionally as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican singer, songwriter, and actor. He is known for his musical versatility, as his discography spans multiple genres, including Latin pop, pop, dance, reggaeton, and salsa. Dubbed the "King of Latin Pop", the "King of Latin Music", and the "Latin Pop God", he is regarded as one of the most influential artists in the world. Born in San Juan, Martin began appearing in television commercials at the age of 9 and began his musical career at age 12, as a member of Puerto Rican boy band Menudo. He started his solo career in 1991 while in Sony Music Mexico, gaining recognition in Latin America with the release of his first two studio albums, Ricky Martin (1991) and Me Amaras (1993), both of which were focused on ballads.
Martin's third album, A Medio Vivir (1995), helped him rose to prominence in European countries. The chart-topping single "María", incorporated a mixture of Latin music genres and became his first international hit. His international success was further solidified with his fourth album, Vuelve (1998). The album, which earned Martin his first Grammy Award, spawned chart-topping hits "Vuelve" and "La Copa de la Vida". Martin performed the latter at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards, which was greeted with a massive standing ovation and is known as a game-changer for Latin music worldwide. His first English album, Ricky Martin (1999) became his first US Billboard 200 number one. The lead single "Livin' la Vida Loca" is considered to be Martin's biggest hit, topping both the Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart. Martin's success in the late '90s is generally seen as the beginning of the "Latin explosion". He has been credited for getting Latin pop music genre to mainstream recognition, paving the way for a large number of Latin artists to achieve a global success.
Martin has since established his status as a sex symbol and a pop icon, releasing several successful albums, including all-time Latin bestsellers Almas del Silencio (2003) and MTV Unplugged (2006), as well as Grammy Award winner A Quien Quiera Escuchar (2015). He has also amassed many successful singles and chart-topper hits, including "She Bangs", "Nobody Wants to Be Lonely", "Tal Vez", "Tu Recuerdo", "La Mordidita", "Vente Pa' Ca", and "Canción Bonita". As an actor, Martin gained popularity and stardom for his role in the hit soap opera General Hospital (1994-1996), while his portrayal of Antonio D'Amico in The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story (2018) marked the acting opportunity of his career, garnering him an Emmy nomination. He also starred as Ché in the Broadway revival of the musical Evita in 2012, which broke the theatre's box-office sales record seven times.
Having sold over 70 million records worldwide, Martin is one of the best-selling Latin music artists of all time. He has scored 11 Billboard Hot Latin Songs number-one songs, and won over 200 awards (most awarded male Latin artist), including two Grammy Awards, five Latin Grammy Awards, five MTV Video Music Awards (tied for most wins by a Latin artist), two American Music Awards, two Latin American Music Awards, three Billboard Music Awards, nine Billboard Latin Music Awards, eight World Music Awards, fourteen Lo Nuestro Awards, a Guinness World Record, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He is ranked among the Greatest Latin Artists of All Time, the Greatest Music Video Artists of All Time, and the Most Influential Latin Artists of All Time by Billboard. His philanthropy and activism focus on LGBT rights and fighting against human trafficking; in 2004, he founded The Ricky Martin Foundation, a non-profit, non-governmental organization that focuses on denouncing human trafficking and educating about the crime's existence.
Life and career
1971–1982: Early life
Enrique Martín Morales was born on December 24, 1971, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. His mother, Doña Nereida Morales, is a former accountant; his father, Enrique Martín Negroni, is a former psychologist who previously worked as a regional supervisor for a Puerto Rican mental-health agency. His parents divorced when he was two years old, and although his mother had custody of Martin, he could also move freely between his father's house in the middle-class suburb of University Gardens in San Juan, and his paternal grandmother's house nearby. In an interview with People, he told the magazine the he "never had to make decisions" about who he loved more, and he was "always happy". Martin has two older maternal half-brothers, Fernando and Ángel Fernández, two younger paternal half-brothers, Eric and Daniel Martín, and a younger paternal half-sister, Vanessa Martín. Martin has Spanish heritage of Basque and Canarian descent. As he explained to ABC, the Martins traveled from Spain to Puerto Rico in 1779. He also has some Corsican origin through his paternal grandmother.
Martin grew up Catholic. The people closest to him called him "Kiki" (a nickname that comes from Enrique). He began singing at age six, using wooden kitchen spoons as make-believe microphones; he often sang songs by Puerto Rican boy band Menudo, as well as English-language rock groups such as Led Zeppelin, Journey, and REO Speedwagon. His mother's side of the family was musically inclined and his maternal grandfather was a poet. Martin later reflected on his time spent with his family as a child: "Every time I find myself in front of an audience, be it twenty people or one hundred thousand, once again I feel the energy that consumed me back at the family gatherings of my youth." He attended Colegio Sagrado Corazón, a bilingual Catholic grade school in University Gardens since fourth grade and was an "average" student there. When he was nine years old, he began appearing in television commercials for products such as soft drinks, toothpaste, and fast food restaurants, most notably Orange Crush and Burger King. In a year and a half, he starred in 11 commercials.
1983–1989: Menudo
After achieving moderate fame in his country for his appearances in television commercials, Martin auditioned for membership in Menudo. Formed in Puerto Rico in 1977, Menudo members were usually replaced when they hit 16 in order to keep the band "full of fresh-faced members". Although the executives enjoyed his dancing and singing at his first two auditions, Martin was rejected because he was too short. By the third audition, his persistence impressed executives, and in 1984, 12-year-old Martin became a member. A month after joining Menudo, he made his debut performance with the group at the Luis A. Ferré Performing Arts Center in San Juan. During this performance, he inadvertently disobeyed the choreography by walking around the stage, when it was planned that he would stay still, and was chastised by the band manager after the show: "The mistake was such a big deal that from that moment on, never again did I move when I wasn't supposed to move. That was the discipline of Menudo: You either did things the way you were told or you were not part of the group." Although Martin enjoyed traveling and performing onstage with Menudo, he found the band's busy schedule and strict management exhausting, and later reflected that the experience "cost" him his childhood. Despite this, Martin acknowledged his "opportunity to have so many amazing experiences with so many amazing people" during his time with the group.
During his time with Menudo, he became a "key-member of the group" and a "fan-favorite", while the band released 11 albums, including the Grammy-nominated Evolución () (1984) and their highest-charting and longest-running album on the US Billboard 200, Menudo (1985). The former featured Martin's debut single, "Rayo de Luna" () and the latter included the hit single "Hold Me". "Hold Me" became the group's first and only entry on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at number 62. It was ranked among the "100 Greatest Boy Band Songs of All Time" by Billboard, the "75 Greatest Boy Band Songs of All Time" by Rolling Stone, and the "30 Best Boy Band Songs" by Complex. Besides the musical career, Martin appeared with other members of Menudo in the American romantic comedy/drama television series, The Love Boat (1985), and the Argentine soap opera, Por Siempre Amigos (1987). He also developed an interest in philanthropy when the group became UNICEF ambassadors, often working with impoverished children in third world countries. His experiences as an ambassador affected him greatly and inspired him to continue working with charities later in his life.
Finally, Martin left the band in July 1989, at age 17, hoping to rest and evaluate his career path; he stayed a few extra months after his "age-mandated retirement" came around. He performed his final show with the group at the same venue where he had performed his first performance as a member. Referred to as the "Most Iconic Latino Pop Music Band", Menudo was ranked as one of the Biggest Boy Bands of All Time by Us Weekly in 2021. The group has sold around 20 million records worldwide, and has been acknowledged as the "Most Successful Latin Boy Band of All Time" by Billboard. Martin returned to Puerto Rico to "get a break from the pressures of the group, the promotional tours, and the constant stress of work", but although his parents' divorce had not affected him before, suddenly began to affect him; his parents "began fighting more than ever" and they were forcing him to "choose between the two people in the world" he loved most. As he understood they did this because they loved him and wanted the best for him, he "forgave all of the pain and anger they caused" him. He graduated from the high school, and 13 days after turning 18, he moved to New York City to celebrate his financial independence; since he was a minor during his time with Menudo, Martin was not allowed to access his own bank accounts.
1990–1994: Acting and first solo albums
Martin was accepted into New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in 1990, but before classes began, his friend invited him to Mexico City. He attended the musical comedy play, Mama Ama el Rock () there, and was offered to stay and replace one of the actors. He accepted the offer, dropped out the university and moved from New York to Mexico City to perform in the play. While he was performing onstage in Mama Ama el Rock, a producer in the audience took notice of Martin's acting and offered him a role in the Mexican telenovela Alcanzar una estrella () (1990). Martin also joined the cast for the second season of the show, titled Alcanzar una estrella II (1991). A film based on the TV series, titled Más que alcanzar una estrella () (1992), was also produced in which Martin starred, and earned him an El Heraldo Award for his role.
A Sony Discos executive noticed Martin's acting in the soap operas and offered him his first solo music recording contract. Eager to record his first solo album and hustled by the executive, Martin signed the contract without reading its conditions and inadvertently signed a deal in which he would only be paid one cent for each album sold! Despite viewing the contract as unfair, Martin referred to the record as "the start of something phenomenal" for him. After working "around the clock" to finish filming Alcanzar una estrella II and recording music, he released his debut solo album, Ricky Martin, on November 26, 1991. The album peaked at number five on the US Billboard Latin Pop Albums chart and spent a total of 41 weeks on the list. It sold over 500,000 copies worldwide, was certified gold in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Puerto Rico, and spawned his first solo hit singles, "Fuego Contra Fuego" (), "El Amor de Mi Vida" (), and "Dime Que Me Quieres" (). Both "Fuego Contra Fuego" and "El Amor de Mi Vida" reached the top 10 on the US Billboard Hot Latin Tracks, peaking at numbers three and eight, respectively. To promote the album, Martin embarked on a successful Latin American tour, breaking box office records, which the singer referred to as "an indescribable feeling, almost like coming home".
After the success of Ricky Martin and its subsequent tour, Martin's record company met him with the Spanish musician Juan Carlos Calderón to work on his second studio album, Me Amaras () (1993). Although Martin felt "very grateful" for the opportunity to work with Calderón, he noted, "I always felt that that record was more his than mine." The album sold over one million copies worldwide and was certified triple-platinum in Chile. In 1994, Martin's agent encouraged him to move to Los Angeles to act in an American sitcom called Getting By. The show was canceled after two seasons, but soon afterward, Martin was given the role of Miguel Morez on the popular hit soap opera General Hospital; Morez, a bartender and singer, known for his long and flowing hair, was a Puerto Rican citizen hiding in the United States from his lover's criminal mastermind father and created a love triangle with his fiancé Lily Rivera and Brenda. Martin portrayed the role for two years and gained huge popularity and stardom, becoming "one of the most-talked about actors on the soap opera". Despite this, Martin felt he lacked chemistry with the rest of the General Hospital cast and observed that people treated him differently because of his Puerto Rican accent. At the time, it was relatively uncommon for Latin actors to appear on American television, and people suggested that he take accent reduction classes, which he refused.
1995–1997: Breakthrough with A Medio Vivir
In 1995, Martin refocused on his music career, and began working on his third studio album, A Medio Vivir (). The album was released on September 12, 1995, and became a huge success; it sold over three million copies or even seven million copies worldwide, according to different sources, being certified gold in the United States, platinum in France, 4× platinum in Spain, and 6× platinum in Argentina, as well as many other certifications in Latin American countries. It spawned several successful hits, including "Te Extraño, Te Olvido, Te Amo" (), "María", and "Volverás" (). On "María", which was released as the second single from the album, Martin allowed himself "to go into a very Latin, African sound". He created a mix of different Latin music genres instead of singing a romantic ballad, the style that he focused on it in his first two albums, while Latin pop music in general was mainly made up of it at the time. Although Martin was satisfied with the track and he describes it as a song that he is "extremely proud of", the first time he played it for a record label executive, the man said: "Are you crazy? You have ruined your career! I can't believe you are showing me this. You're finished — this is going to be your last album." Despite this, the track became Martin's breakthrough song and his first international hit. It topped the charts in 20 countries, and has sold over five million physical copies worldwide. As a result, the song was featured in the 1999 edition of The Guinness Book of Records as the biggest Latin hit. It was also the Song of the Summer in Spain in 1996 and was the second best-selling single in the world that year.
In Australia, "María" spent six weeks at number one, topped the country's year-end chart in 1998, and was certified platinum. The song also spent nine weeks at number one in France, and was certified diamond. It has sold over 1.4 million copies in France. Additionally, the track reached the top 10 in the United Kingdom, and became Martin's first entry on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. To promote A Medio Vivir, he embarked on the worldwide A Medio Vivir Tour, that lasted for more than two years, through which he performed 63 shows and visited Europe, Latin America and the United States. During an interview with The Miami Herald in 1996, Martin expressed an interest in performing on Broadway. In a few days, he received a phone call from producer Richard Jay-Alexander, and was offered the role of Marius Pontmercy in the play Les Misérables. After the conclusion of the A Medio Vivir Tour in Latin America, Martin returned to New York to appear in the play in an eleven-week run. He greatly enjoyed the experience, calling his time in the play an "honor" and "the role of [his] life". Martin continued to tour after the conclusion of the show's run, and noted that his audiences were growing in both size and enthusiasm.
1998–1999: Vuelve
While the A Medio Vivir Tour had not been concluded yet, Martin returned to the studio to record his fourth album Vuelve (). He called the experience of touring and recording at the same time "brutal and incredibly intense". As he was finishing the record in 1997, "María" caught the attention of FIFA. They contacted Martin and asked him to create a song as the 1998 FIFA World Cup anthem. He stated about the request: "I have to admit that the challenge made me a bit nervous, but the massive growth potential for my career was such that I decided to accept." Following his acceptance, musicians K.C. Porter, Robi Rosa, and Desmond Child joined him and they started working on a song titled "La Copa de la Vida" (English: "The Cup of Life"). Martin wrote about the recording:
"La Copa de la Vida" was included as the eighth track on Vuelve, released February 12, 1998, The album became a huge success; it sold over eight million copies worldwide, becoming the best-selling Spanish-language album in history, according to his label. Also, some sources have reported the album's sales as six million copies worldwide. It spent 26 weeks atop the US Billboard Top Latin Albums chart and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). In Canada, the album peaked at number three and was certified double platinum. Vuelve spawned big hits, including the title track, "La Copa de la Vida", "Perdido Sin Ti" (), and "La Bomba" (). "La Copa de la Vida" grew to be an international success, appearing on the charts in more than 60 countries, and reaching number one in 30 countries, Both "Vuelve" and "Perdido Sin Ti" peaked at number one on the US Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart; the former also reached number one in On July 12, 1998, Martin performed "La Copa de la Vida" as the official anthem at the 1998 FIFA World Cup Final in France, in front of more than a billion TV viewers around the world.
To promote Vuelve, Martin embarked on the worldwide Vuelve Tour; he performed in Asia, Australia, Europe, Mexico, South America, and the United States. Although Latin music was not important to the Recording Academy or the mainstream music industry at the time, Tommy Mottola, then-chief of Columbia Records, was certain about Martin's stardom and pushed hard to have him on the Grammy Awards ceremony. During an interview with Billboard, Mottola told the magazine about it: "There was tremendous resistance from the Grammys. They did not want an 'unknown' to perform, yet we he had already sold 10 million copies of Vuelve worldwide. To me, that was absolutely UNACCEPTABLE." Finally, on February 24, 1999, cavorting with a 15-piece band alongside and a large number of dancers and percussionists, Martin performed a bilingual version of "La Copa de La Vida" at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards, which was greeted with a massive standing ovation and met with acclaim from music critics. At the same night, Vuelve earned Martin his first Grammy award, for Best Latin Pop Performance. After he accepted the award and expressed how important it was to the Latin community, the American singer-songwriter Madonna came on the stage and hugged him.
1999–2000: Crossover to English
In October 1998, CNN confirmed that Martin has been working on his first English language album, following the huge success of Vuelve. In April 1999, Billboard revealed the album's title as Ricky Martin in an article, mentioning that the album was initially set for retail on May 25, 1999. However, the huge interest in the disc, following Martin's performance at the Grammy Awards, encouraged Columbia Records to decide to rush the album to release two weeks ahead of schedule, on May 11. Tom Corson, the senior vice president of marketing at Columbia explained: "Quite simply, the market has demanded it. People have been wanting this record for a while, and it's now reached the point where we have to get it out there immediately." Tim Devin, the general manager of Tower Records in New York added about Martin: "He's always been one of our strongest Latin artists, but interest in him has picked up considerably since that performance."
Ricky Martin debuted atop the US Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 661,000 copies, according to data compiled by Nielsen SoundScan, becoming the largest sales week by any album in 1999. It also broke the record as the largest first-week sales for any pop or Latin artist in history, as well as any Columbia Records artist during the SoundScan era. With this album, Martin became the first male Latin act in history to debut at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart. It was certified 7× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), denoting shipments of over seven million copies in the US and breaking the record as the best-selling album by a Latin artist in the country. Only within three months, Ricky Martin became the best-selling album ever by a Latin artist. According to different sources, the album has sold over 15 million copies or even 17 million copies worldwide. It was nominated for Best Pop Album at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards.
The album was supported by four singles; the lead single "Livin' la Vida Loca" () topped the charts in more than 20 countries and is considered to be Martin's biggest hit, and one of the best-selling singles of all time. In the United States, it topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for five consecutive weeks, becoming Martin's first number one single on the chart. Additionally, it broke several records on Billboard charts. It also spent eight consecutive weeks atop the Canada Top Singles chart and topped the country's year-end chart. In the United Kingdom, it debuted at number one and stayed there for three weeks, making Martin the first Puerto Rican artist in history to hit number one. The track was ranked as the best '90s pop song by Elle, and was listed among the Best Latin Songs of All Time by Billboard. It was nominated for four categories at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards, including Record of the Year and Song of the Year. Its Spanish version reached the summit of the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart in the United States, and was nominated for Record of the Year at the 2000 Latin Grammy Awards.
"She's All I Ever Had" was released as the second single from the album in June 1999. It peaked at numbers two and three on the US Billboard Hot 100 and Canada Top Singles charts, respectively. The Spanish version, "Bella" () topped the charts in five countries, as well as Billboards Hot Latin Tracks chart. To further promote Ricky Martin, he embarked on the worldwide Livin' la Vida Loca Tour. In the United States, the Livin' la Vida Loca Tour was the highest-grossing tour of 2000 by a Latin artist, earning over $36.3 million with 44 dates and drawing 617,488 fans. According to Billboard Boxscore, the tour grossed $51.3 million in Canada, Mexico, and the United States, with 60 shows and drawing an audience of 875,151. International dates were not reported to Boxscore and would push the tour's grosses higher.
2000–2005: Sound Loaded, Almas del Silencio, and Life
While the Livin' la Vida Loca Tour had not been concluded yet, Martin returned to the studio to record his sixth studio album, Sound Loaded. The album was released on November 14, 2000. It debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 318,000 copies, according to data compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The album has sold over seven million copies or even eight million copies worldwide, according to different sources, being certified double platinum in the US. The album featured two hit singles, "She Bangs" and "Nobody Wants to Be Lonely". The former reached number one in seven countries, including Italy and Sweden, as well as the top five in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and several other countries. It was nominated for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance at the 43rd Annual Grammy Awards. The Spanish-language version of "She Bangs" reached the summit of the Hot Latin Tracks chart and won the Latin Grammy Award for Best Music Video at the 2nd Annual Latin Grammy Awards. "Nobody Wants to Be Lonely" was re-recorded along with American singer Christina Aguilera, peaking at number one in five countries, as well as the top five in Italy, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom, among others. It was nominated for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals at the 44th Annual Grammy Awards. The solo Spanish version, entitled "Sólo Quiero Amarte" topped the Hot Latin Tracks chart. Both "She Bangs" and "Nobody Wants to Be Lonely" are certified silver in the UK. In February 2001, Martin released a Spanish compilation album entitled La Historia (), which spent five weeks at number one on the Top Latin Albums chart, topped the charts in Argentina and Sweden, and was certified quadruple Latin platinum in the United States.
Following the success of Ricky Martin and Sound Loaded, he initially planned to release the third English-language album as his seventh studio album, which was supposed to be his first complete work in the field of songwriting. Despite Sony Music Entertainment's original plan, he decided to release a Spanish-language album: "I woke up five months ago, and I said 'We're doing an album in Spanish.' Everyone went nuts. They said, 'You don't have time; you have to release an album in English because of timing issues with your career.' And that's fine. But I told them, 'In five months, you'll have a kick-ass album' [in Spanish]. Martin's seventh studio album, Almas del Silencio () was released in May 2003. It debuted atop the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart with first-week sales of 65,000 copies, according to data compiled by Nielsen SoundScan, breaking the record as the largest first-week sales for a Spanish-language album in the US. The album also debuted at number 12 on Billboard 200, tying the 2002 album, Quizás () as the chart's highest Spanish-language debut. The album also debuted at number one in "at least 13 Latin American markets" and sold over two million copies worldwide.
Almas del Silencio spawned three Hot Latin Tracks chart-topper hits: "Tal Vez" (), "Jaleo", and "Y Todo Queda en Nada" (). "Tal Vez" debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart on the week of April 12, 2003, marking the first number one debut since February 1998, and becoming the sixth song overall in the chart's history to do so. It spent a total of 11 weeks at this position, surpassing "Livin' la Vida Loca" as Martin's longest number-one single on the chart, and was the longest-running number one of 2003. It also topped the charts in several Latin American markets. In October 2005, Martin released his third English album, Life. He commented on the album: "I was really in touch with my emotions. I think this album is very multi-layered, just like life is. It's about feeling anger. It's about feeling joy. It's about feeling uncertainty. It's about feeling. And all my emotions are part of this production". To promote Life, Martin embarked on the worldwide One Night Only with Ricky Martin tour.
2006–2012: MTV Unplugged, Música + Alma + Sexo, and Evita
Although Martin's team and MTV had discussed an MTV Unplugged for years, but it became more serious after Martin's the One Night Only tour, which featured an acoustic segment. Finally, Martin taped his MTV Unplugged set in Miami in August 2006, performing both romantic ballads and up-tempo tropical dance songs. During the performance, he debuted three new tracks, including "Tu Recuerdo" (), which was released to radio stations as the lead single from his debut live album MTV Unplugged (2006). The album debuted at number one on the Top Latin Albums chart and sold over two million copies worldwide, marking his highest-certified album in Mexico. It won two Latin Grammy awards and was nominated for Album of the Year. "Tu Recuerdo" reached number one in five countries, as well as the Billboards Hot Latin Songs and Latin Pop Airplay charts. The track was certified quadruple platinum in Mexico and was nominated for Record of the Year at the 8th Annual Latin Grammy Awards. The artist then embarked on the Black and White Tour in 2007, including four sold-out shows at the José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum in Puerto Rico. The concerts in Puerto Rico were compiled into his second live album Ricky Martin... Live Black & White Tour (2007). Later that year, he released his first Italian song, "Non siamo soli" () as a duet with Italian singer Eros Ramazzotti. The song debuted at number one in Italy and spent eleven consecutive weeks atop the chart.
In January 2011, Martin launched his ninth studio album, Música + Alma + Sexo (). The album debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200 chart, becoming the highest-charting primarily-Spanish language set since Dreaming of You (1995) by American singer Selena. It holds the record as the highest-charting Latin album of the 2010s, and represents the highest-ever chart debut on the Billboard 200 for a Sony Music Latin release. Música + Alma + Sexo also peaked at number one in Argentina and Venezuela, as well as Billboards Top Latin Albums. Its lead single, "Lo Mejor de Mi Vida Eres Tú" (English: "The Best Thing About Me Is You") reached number one on the US Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart and was nominated for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Short Form Music Video at the 12th Annual Latin Grammy Awards. To promote the album, Martin embarked on the Música + Alma + Sexo World Tour in 2011. In February 2012, he appeared as Spanish teacher David Martinez on the twelfth episode of the third season of the American musical television series Glee, The Spanish Teacher. Martin starred as Ché in the Broadway revival of the musical Evita from March 2012 to January 2013. The show became a hit, breaking the theatre's box-office sales record after only six performances. Sine then, it broke its own record six times and was nominated for Best Revival of a Musical at the 66th Tony Awards. The show's soundtrack album debuted at number one on Billboards cast album chart.
2013–2018: The Voice, A Quien Quiera Escuchar, and The Assassination of Gianni Versace
Martin served as a coach on the second season of the Australian singing competition television series The Voice in 2013. In the same year, he released a compilation album, entitled Greatest Hits: Souvenir Edition, which reached number two in Australia, as well as a new single, entitled "Come with Me", which debuted at number three in the country. The artist then embarked on the
Ricky Martin Live tour in Australia in October 2013. He continued serving as a coach on both the third and fourth seasons of The Voice Australia in 2014 and 2015, respectively. In 2014, Lars Brandle from Billboard stated in an article: "Through his high-profile slot on The Voice, Ricky's profile in Australia has never been as big as it is right now." On February 25, 2014, Wisin released a song titled "Adrenalina" () from his album El Regreso del Sobreviviente (), which featured Jennifer Lopez and Martin, and became the Univision's 2014 World Cup song. It received commercial success, peaking in the top-five of Bulgaria, Mexico, Spain, and Billboards Hot Latin Songs chart. Its accompanying music video has accumulated over 850 million views on YouTube. Later that year, Martin released his single "Vida" () for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The song reached the top five in Spain and on the US Hot Latin Songs chart. Also in 2014, he served as a coach on the fourth season of The Voice Mexico, and embarked on the Live in Mexico tour.
In February 2015, Martin released his tenth studio album, A Quien Quiera Escuchar (). The album debuted at number one on Billboards Top Latin Albums chart and peaked at number one in Argentina. It won the award for Best Latin Pop Album at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards and Album of the Year at the 1st Latin American Music Awards. The album spawned three Hot Latin Songs top-10 hits: "Adiós" (), "Disparo al Corazón" (), and "La Mordidita" (). "Disparo al Corazón" was nominated for both Record of the Year and Song of the Year at the 16th Annual Latin Grammy Awards. "La Mordidita" experienced huge commercial success, being certified 15× Latin platinum in the United States. Its accompanying music video has received over 1.2 billion views on YouTube. To promote the album, Martin embarked on the One World Tour from 2015 to 2017. He served as an executive producer and a judge on the American singing competition series La Banda (), which premiered in 2015 and 2016 on Univision. The first season was "looking for the next Latin boy band", while the second season was looking for a Latin girl band. The contestants would compete for a recording deal with Sony Music Latin and Syco Music. CNCO, known as the first boy band to make reggaeton, was the winner of the first season. Martin became their manager and produced the band's debut album, Primera Cita () (2016), along with Wisin; the album debuted at number one on Top Latin Albums and featured the hit single "Reggaetón Lento (Bailemos)" (). CNCO opened many dates on One World Tour in 2016. In 2020, Leila Cobo from Billboard compared the group with Menudo, noting: "Not since Menudo had a Latin boy band melted our hearts or made us dance quite like CNCO".
On September 23, 2016, Martin released a song called "Vente Pa' Ca" (), featuring Colombian singer Maluma. The song became one of the biggest Spanish-language songs of 2016, reaching number one in seven countries, as well as Billboards Latin Airplay, Latin Pop Airplay, and Tropical Airplay charts. It also reached top five in Spain and on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs, being certified quadruple platinum in Spain and diamond in Mexico. The track was nominated for both Record of the Year and Song of the Year at the 18th Annual Latin Grammy Awards. The accompanying music video has received over 1.75 billion views on YouTube. Martin signed a concert residency, named All In, to perform at the Monte Carlo Resort and Casino in Las Vegas in 2017 and 2018. He portrayed fashion designer Gianni Versace's partner Antonio D'Amico in the FX true crime anthology television series The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, marking "the acting opportunity of his career". The role garnered him a nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Limited Series Or Movie at the 70th Primetime Emmy Awards. Running from January to March 2018, The Assassination of Gianni Versace received generally favorable reviews and numerous awards and nominations, including three Primetime Emmy Awards, four Creative Arts Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, two Critics' Choice Television Awards, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. In February 2018, Martin released a song titled "Fiebre" (), featuring Wisin & Yandel. The song was commercially successful in Latin America, reaching number one in Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, and Uruguay. It also reached the summit of the Billboard Latin Airplay and Latin Rhythm Airplay charts.
2019–present: Amici di Maria De Filippi, PausaPlay, and Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey
At the 61st Annual Grammy Awards, Martin performed "Havana", "Pégate" (), and "Mi Gente" (), alongside Camila Cabello, J Balvin, Young Thug, and Arturo Sandoval, as the opening performance. Martin served as a coach on the eighteenth season of the Italian talent show Amici di Maria De Filippi () in 2019. In the same year, Maluma released a song called "No Se Me Quita" () from his album 11:11, which featured Martin. The song reached number one in Mexico and was certified quadruple platinum in the country. Martin hosted the 20th Annual Latin Grammy Awards in November 2019, along with Roselyn Sánchez and Paz Vega. The artist started recording his eleventh studio album, initially titled Movimiento (), in the second half of 2019, inspired by the 2019 political protests in Puerto Rico. He embarked on the Movimiento Tour in 2020. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent personal experiences, he decided to split the tour's associated album in two extended plays, Pausa () and Play; the former was released in May 2020, while the latter is set to release as his eleventh studio album.
Pausa was nominated for Album of the Year and won the award for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 21st Annual Latin Grammy Awards. The second single from the EP, "Tiburones" () reached number one in Argentina and Puerto Rico, and was also nominated for Song of the Year at the 21st Annual Latin Grammy Awards. Martin starred as the voice of villainous miniature figure Don Juan Diego in the American Christmas musical fantasy film Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey. The film was released on Netflix on November 13, 2020, and received generally favorable reviews. In April 2021, Martin released his hit single "Canción Bonita" () with Colombian singer Carlos Vives, which experienced huge commercial success in Latin America, reaching number one in 12 countries. It was also nominated for Song of the Year and Best Pop Song at the 22nd Annual Latin Grammy Awards. Later that year, he released "Qué Rico Fuera" () with Chilean-American singer Paloma Mami, as the lead single from Play. The song peaked at number one in four countries, as well as the top 10 on Billboards Latin Pop Airplay. In the same year, he embarked on his first co-headlining tour, the Enrique Iglesias and Ricky Martin Live in Concert alongside Spanish singer Enrique Iglesias.
Artistry
Influences
As a child, Martin used to sing songs by Menudo and American rock bands such as Led Zeppelin, Journey, and REO Speedwagon, which were what his "older siblings were listening to at the time". While Martin and his brothers spent their time listening to classic rock, their mother would interrupt them to make them listen to Latin music. She brought him CDs of Fania All-Stars, Celia Cruz, El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, and Gilberto Santa Rosa that slowly made him appreciate the richness of Puerto Rican culture. Also, she once took them to a Fania All-Stars concert, which Martin is "beyond grateful" for it. He expresses that thanks to her mother, those influences had a "profound effect" on his musical career. Martin has also cited Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Michael Jackson, and Madonna for teaching him "the beauty of pop". He stated about Madonna: "I was very influenced by her and her music. I know every choreography of Madonna." Additionally, he mentions Carlos Santana, José Feliciano, Celia Cruz, and Gloria Estefan as the artists who paved the way for him, naming Feliciano as one of the people who inspired him when he was a teenager: "I was always fascinated with his music." In addition to the musical influences, Martin is inspired by David Bowie's "ambiguous sexuality". While growing up, he used to ask himself if he wanted to be like the openly gay singer Elton John or he just liked him, admiring his music, colors, and wigs.
Musical styles and themes
Considered to be a versatile artist, Martin describes his music as Latin pop, saying: "When you say 'Latin pop', the spectrum is so broad, It's inevitable to not be influenced by everything that’s happening in the industry, but always keeping your identity firm by knowing who you are." He has also described his music as fusion, while noting that he does not "ride the waves that are in fashion at the moment". Music critics have described his songs as Latin pop, pop, dance, ballad, reggaeton, Latin, African, rock, salsa, flamenco, urban, samba, cumbia, merengue, rumba, Latin funk, bomba, batucada, vallenato, dancehall, mambo, Europop, house, disco, EDM, dance-pop, electro, techno, dubstep, world music, Middle Eastern, folk-pop, bossa nova, pop rock, soft pop, soft rock, R&B, gospel, jazz, trap, hip hop, doo-wop, ska, and rock' n' roll. Martin sings in Spanish, English, Portuguese, Italian, and French. About his lyrics, Martin has emphasized that although his music will always make the listener dance, it does not mean his lyrics "have to be meaningless" and he sings about love and heartbreak, as well as "things that are good for a society", such as "freedom, freedom of expression, and social justice". He has also declared that as a Latino, he is not afraid of sexuality and sings about sexuality and sensuality, bringing his culture with him onstage.
Voice
Martin possesses a dramatic tenor vocal range. Peter Gilstrap from Variety commented that his "powerful voice" is "capable of belt or lilt", while The Jerusalem Posts Noa Amouyal described his voice as "soulful" and "very powerful". In 1995, Enrique Lopetegui of the Los Angeles Times noted Martin's "improved vocal skills" on A Medio Vivir. Also from the Los Angeles Times, Ernesto Lechner later praised his vocal for being "charismatic enough to handle both ballads and up-tempo tunes". Similarly, Billboards Chuck Taylor expressed "She's All I Ever Had" boasts "a versatility that contrasts nicely" with Martin's previous single, "Livin' la Vida Loca", labeling his vocal on the former "tender and heartfelt". Steve Gerrard of the Montreal Rocks complimented "his vocal maturity" on A Quien Quiera Escuchar.
Music videos and performances
Billboard labeled Martin "a video icon", and ranked him as the 79th Greatest Music Video Artist of All Time in 2020, stating: "From the moment he sashayed up to the mic in 'Livin La Vida Loca' all dressed in black, and gave us that look, the Menudo alum became the most memorable and watchable drop-dead handsome guy in pop music." He has collaborated with various directors to produce his music videos, including Carlos Perez, Wayne Isham, Jessy Terrero, Simón Brand, Gustavo Garzón, Nigel Dick, Kacho Lopez, and Memo del Bosque. "Livin' la Vida Loca" was nominated for Video of the Year at the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards, making Martin the first Latin artist in history to receive a nomination in this category. It won two primary awards for Best Pop Video and Best Dance Video, and was voted three additional awards in the International Viewer's Choice categories, making it rank among the videos with most wins in the history of the MTV Video Music Awards. The explicit sexual scenes of the music video for "She Bangs" were met with criticism from the audience; several American television stations cut the scenes when airing the video. According to the Daily Records John Dingwall, with the visual, Martin ditched his teen idol image by transforming to a more mature one. It was consequently banned in several Latin American countries, such as the Dominican Republic. Martin told MTV News that the video represented freedom rather than his sexuality. The video was awarded Best Music Video at the 2nd Annual Latin Grammy Awards, Best Clip of the Year — Latin at the 2001 Billboard Music Video Awards, and Video of the Year at the 13th Lo Nuestro Awards.
Martin has been noticed for "dance moves of his own" and his "bon-bon shaking dance moves". Carol Sandoval from VIX named him the "best dancer on any stage worldwide", highlighting his hips movement and "successful turns". He was ranked as the ninth best male dancer by the Evening Standard and the tenth Male Singer Who Can Dance by WatchMojo, being the only Latin entertainer on both lists. Writing for The Hollywood Reporter, Scott Feinberg introduced Martin as "an incredible dancer". Billboards Jessica Roiz labeled him "a true showman", noting his "many outfit changes", "various dance performances", and "different stage set for each song". Jon Pareles of The New York Times described him as "an all-around showman" and Varietys Peter Gilstrap called him "every inch the showman", both recognizing his vocal abilities, while the former also commented he is "a dancer as muscular and hard-working as anyone in his troupe", mentioning his "likable, good-hearted character" and "steadfast Puerto Rican pride". Music critics have mostly praised his concerts for the choreographies, video screens, visual effects, stage, Latin influences, and Martin's vocals, costume changes, energy, sensuality, dance moves, and gestures, while the quality of sounds and sound mixes have received mixed reviews. Billboards Marjua Estevez described Martin's performance of "La Copa de la Vida" at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards as "the most memorable Latin performance at a Grammy Awards show", and the publication ranked it as the 54th Greatest Award Show Performance of All Time on their 2017 list. The performance was additionally placed on a 2017 unranked list of "Top 20 Best Grammy Performances of All Time" by Gold Derby, and on a 2019 list of "The Most Unforgettable Grammys Performances of All Time" by InStyle.
Public image
Martin became a teen idol with his debut as a member of Menudo, and a pop icon following global fame as a solo artist. Journalists have written about his humble personality and "beautiful soul". Writing for The Hollywood Reporter, Scott Feinberg introduced Martin as "one of the most acclaimed and admired creative artists ever". La República staff described him as "one of the most admired and desired singers", while authors of ¡Hola! described him as "one of the most respected Latin stars in the world", "one of the most prodigious voices in music in Spanish", and "one of the most beloved talents in the entertainment industry worldwide". Also from ¡Hola!, Cristina Noé named him "one of the most loved artists in the world", while a writer of Clarín named him "one of the most applauded Latin singers on the planet". Metro Puerto Rico stated that he "raised the name of Puerto Rico internationally". He was ranked as one of the top-10 "emerging personalities" of 2010 by Google Zeitgeist. In 2014, Gay Star News referred to Martin as "the most famous Latin pop star in the world", while Variety described him as "Puerto Rico's arguably most famous son" in 2021. He is ranked as the second-most famous Latin music artist in the United States, according to YouGov surveys in 2021.
During the 2000s, Martin was known for "guarding his private life" and being "uncomfortable discussing intimate aspects of his personal life"; he used to insist on asking public to focus on his music and "steered interviewers away from his personal life". However, he chose to live both his "professional and personal life", making his private life public since the early 2010s. In 2021, he went on the cover of People with the title "No More Secrets" and told the magazine that he is "a man with no secrets", stating that he is "more comfortable in his own skin than ever before". Martin is one of the most followed celebrities on social media, with accounts on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok. He stated about social media that he wishes he had "something as powerful as" them since his debut: "Obviously I like to have direct contact with the public, with the media. It's extremely important, but today, from my home, I can talk to millions of people and see their immediate reaction." He is noticed for his friendly interactions with his fans, who are called "Sexy Souls". Wax statues of Martin are on display at the Madame Tussauds wax museums in San Francisco, Sydney, and Orlando. The last one was moved from Las Vegas to Orlando for the opening of the museum in spring 2015.
Fashion
Martin is considered to be a sex symbol, and journalists describe him as "the Latin heartthrob". His fashion and style evolution, from "as '80s as you'd expect" during his time with Menudo to "a style groove, often opting for sharp, tailored suits with clean lines" since 2009, has been noticed by the media. Natalia Trejo from ¡Hola! described him as "one of the most stylish Latin men in the entertainment industry", highlighting his "baggy leather pants", "tailored suits", and "color-block blazers" that have marked "some of the noteworthy trends of each decade". The reviewer also commented that Martin is "an example of mixing business with casual" and has "always had a personal sense of style". JD Institute of Fashion Technology views Martin as a fashion icon, praising him for "pushing the fashion boundaries with every new look". In 1997, he went on the cover of People en Españols first edition of 25 Most Beautiful; he has since "been a constant presence" on their 25 or 50 Most Beautiful lists. Two years later, he was featured on the cover of both Rolling Stone and Time magazines.
Martin is considered to be one of the sexiest men in the world, according to various publications. In 2012, he was voted the sexiest man alive on Broadway.com. The following year, VH1 ranked him as the 28th Sexiest Artist of All Time, stating: "Ricky looks like the model in the magazine ads you stare at in awe thinking, 'There's no way he's that perfect in person'." In 2014, Entertainment Tonight listed him among the Sexiest Men Alive, while Revista Estilo placed him on the list of "the 10 Sexiest Singers" in 2016. He was ranked at number 16 on the list of "the 50 Hottest Men of All Time" by Harper's Bazaar in 2018, being the only Latin man on their list. In 2019, TN described Martin as "the sexiest man in the world". He has been noted for looking younger than his age, with Billboards Chris Payne labeling him "ageless". The singer has attended several fashion shows, including the Giorgio Armani show at Milan Fashion Week in 2011, the Marc Jacobs show in 2013, the Berluti menswear spring-summer 2020 show at Paris Fashion Week, the Dior men's pre-fall 2020 show, and the Virgil Abloh Spring-Summer 2022 show held by Louis Vuitton.
Personal life
Sexual orientation and early relationships
According to an interview with Rolling Stone in 1999, Martin experienced his first kiss at age 13 and lost his virginity at age 14 in Argentina. In 1990, shortly after he had arrived in Mexico to star in Mama Ama el Rock, he met a woman, who was the host of a television show. They began dating quickly and broke up a few months later. In 1992, he fell in love with Mexican singer Alejandra Guzmán, who was separated from her husband at the time. They began dating together until Guzmán returned to her husband and pretended Martin was her assistant on a phone call, while she was sleeping with her husband. In an interview with Univision, Martin admitted that she broke his heart. In the same year, Martin was rumored to have a relationship with Argentine tennis player Gabriela Sabatini. Sabatini's sister-in-law, Catherine Fulop confirmed the rumor in 2020. During the time he was playing in General Hospital, he met a "very handsome" man at a radio station, "stopped fearing [his] sexuality", and started dating him. Martin's mother supported him when she discovered that he was in love with a man, saying: "I love you, my son, I'm so happy for you. Bring it on. I'm right behind you." However, after the relationship ended, Martin "locked [his] feelings even deeper inside" and began dating women again. He recalls: "I already felt it was hard to be a Latino in Hollywood; what could have been more difficult than being Latino and gay?" Martin began dating Mexican television host Rebecca de Alba in 1994; they were in an on-and-off relationship until 2005. In May 2021, Alba revealed that she became pregnant several times in her life, but lost all of the embryos, expressing that one of them belonged to Martin. Martin also had relationships with Lilly Melgar, Adriana Biega, Maital Saban, and Inés Misan during his break-up times with Alba in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He declared that "there was chemistry with them" and he "wasn't fooling anyone".
In August 2008, Martin became a father to twin boys named Matteo and Valentino, born via gestational surrogacy. He explained that he chose surrogacy to become a parent for being "intriguing and faster" than adoption, which was complicated and could take a long time. In March 2010, Martin publicly came out as gay via a message on his website, stating: "I am proud to say that I am a fortunate homosexual man. I am very blessed to be who I am." Years later, he revealed that although his music was "heard all over the world" and he "could high five God" in 1999, he "wasn't living to the fullest" and was sad and depressed. He kept asking himself, "Am I gay? Am I bisexual? Am I confused? What am I?", explaining: "Sexuality is one complicated thing. It's not black and white. It's filled with colors. When I was dating women, I was in love with women. It felt right, it felt beautiful." In an interview with Vanity Fair, he declared: "There was love, passion. I do not regret anything, any of the relationships I lived, they taught me a lot, both men and women." Martin also told Fama!: "I know that I like both men and women, I'm against sexual labels, we are simply human beings with emotional and sexual needs. I like to enjoy sex in total freedom, so I'm open to having sex with a woman if I feel desire." Despite this, he expressed that he wouldn't be interested in "an ongoing relationship with a woman", stating: "Men are my thing". In 2000, American broadcast journalist Barbara Walters asked Martin about his sexuality on national television: "You could stop these rumors. You could say, 'Yes I am gay or no I'm not.'" In 2021, Martin, who answered with "I just don't feel like it" at the time, revealed that her question made him "felt violated", since he "was just not ready to come out" and was "very afraid"; he said that it resulted "a little PTSD" that "still haunts him". Martin dated Puerto Rican economist Carlos González Abella from 2010 to 2014, as his first relationship with a man after his coming out as gay.
Marriage
Syrian-Swedish painter Jwan Yosef shared a photo of himself and Martin on Instagram on March 30, 2016, with the caption: "Obviously we're starting a band." Soon it was rumored that Yosef is Martin's new boyfriend. Martin confirmed their relationship on April 18, 2016, and they made their red carpet debut as a couple at the amfAR Inspiration Gala. Martin later revealed that he met Yosef on Instagram and they "were talking for like six months without [him] hearing his voice". Subsequently, Martin went to London, where Yosef were living, and they met each other. On November 15, 2016, during an interview on The Ellen Show, he announced that he has proposed to Yosef and they are engaged. In January 2018, Martin confirmed that he has secretly married Yosef: "I'm a husband, but we're doing a heavy party in a couple of months, I'll let you know." On December 31, 2018, they announced that they have welcomed their first daughter together, named Lucia Martin-Yosef. Martin later explained that Lucia was born on December 24, coinciding with his 47th birthday. In September 2019, while accepting an award at the 23rd annual Human Rights Campaign (HRC) National Dinner, he announced that they are expecting their fourth child. On October 29, 2019, he shared a photo of himself, Yosef, and their new-born son, named Renn Martin-Yosef, with the caption: "Our son Renn Martin-Yosef has been born."
Beliefs and religion
During an interview with People in 2002, Martin expressed that he believes in "love", "the power of healing", and "God", thanks to his parents. The name he chose for his son Matteo means "gift from God". According to his statements in a 2021 interview, he still believes in God. He was raised Catholic but he said is not "the person who would ever look down upon one religion". He expressed that he also admires and likes Buddhist philosophy, but does not subscribe to the religion, since if he does, he cannot "be of anything else"; he does not want to be limited in certain aspects and follow a religion's specific rules. He tries to remain "open to everything" and makes "a concerted effort to always find new teachings and new paths" everywhere he goes and in every situation he finds himself in. Martin believes that everyone can "decide what makes them happy" and although "everyone needs to accept the life they were given", it does not mean they "should not live it as fully as possible".
Health and sports
Martin began practicing yoga after a trip to Thailand in 1997. He also began practicing meditation following a trip to India. In 2021, he explained that he gets up every morning at 5:30, before his family and puts himself in a lotus position and oxygenates his body. He also expressed that has a gym in his house, saying: "If I have space to see myself in the mirror and put on my products, then I also have to have space for my body." During an appearance on The Dr. Oz Show in 2017, Martin revealed that he "was diagnosed with high cholesterol" at age 18. Although he did not pay attention to the high cholesterol at the time, it made him decide to become a vegetarian since 2013 to reduce cholesterol, despite loving meat as "a Latin man". In 2020, he opened up that he suffered from anxiety for the first time in his life, following the COVID-19 lockdowns, stating that making music became his "medicine".
Real estate
In March 2001, Martin purchased a 7,082-square-feet house in Miami Beach for $6.4 million; he sold the unit for $10.6 million in 2005. In September 2004, he paid $11.9 million for a 11,000-square-feet Mediterranean-style villa in Los Angeles, which he sold in 2006 for $15 million. In May 2005, he purchased a 9,491-square-feet house in Miami Beach for $10 million; he sold the villa for $10.6 million in 2012. In 2007, he paid $16.2 million for a mansion in Golden Beach. He sold the property in 2012 for $12.8 million, incurring a loss. In the same year, he bought a 3,147-square-feet condominium in New York City for $5.9 million; he sold the condo for $7.1 million in 2017. In 2014, he rented a 900-square-metre mansion in Sydney, which became famous as "the Bronte Wave House" and was sold for $16 million in May 2015, marking one of the most expensive properties sold in the city that year. In December 2016, he purchased a 11,300-square-feet mansion in Beverly Hills. The estate, which is Martin's current house, has seven bedrooms and eight bathrooms with outdoor seating areas scattered throughout a 33,000-square-feet. It is a "private getaway in the middle of the city", located up the street from the Beverly Hills Hotel. Martin also owns a property in Puerto Rico and a private 19.7-acre island in Brazil. He purchased the latter for $8 million in 2008.
Legacy and influence
Martin has been regarded as the "King of Latin Pop" by various publications, such as the Grammy Awards, Billboard, Rolling Stone, Time, People, Vogue, The Independent, Entertainment Weekly, Entertainment Tonight Canada, NBC News, and ABC News. Additionally, he has been referred to as the "King of Latin Music", the "Latin Pop God", the "Latin King of Pop", the "Latin American King of Pop", the "Latin King", the "Crossover Latin King", the "Puerto Rican Pop King", the "Salsa-Pop King", and the "King of World Cup". Martin is known as one of the most influential artists in the world. Billboard ranked him as one of the 30 Most Influential Latin Artists of All Time, while NBC News introduced him as an "influential Latin celebrity". In 2014, he won the award for the most influential international artist at the 18th China Music Awards. He was ranked among "25 musicians who broke barriers" by Stacker in 2019, while in 2020, Spin ranked him at number 27 on the list of "most influential artists of the past 35 years", as the only Latin artist on their list. In 2022, Show News named him "the most influential global artist in history".
Martin's song "María (Pablo Flores Remix)", which was ranked among the "Greatest Latin Pop Song of All Time" by Rolling Stone, and "11 remixes of classic Latin hits" by Billboard, "launched the Latin and dance music crossover of the '90s", according to the latter. Olivier Pérou from Le Point commented that "some have even learned, thanks to him, to count to three in Spanish" following the popularity of the song. "La Copa de la Vida", which has been hailed as the Best World Cup Anthem of All-Time by multiple sources,
became a "musical template" for World Cup anthems, and Martin's Latin and dance crossover style has been much copied in the anthems, as well as soccer chant "Ole! Ole! Ole!" in the lyrics, according to The Hollywood Reporter. As believed by Esquire, the song "inaugurated this musical subgenre" of Latin. Joy Bhattacharjya from The Economic Times wrote about "La Copa de la Vida" that it was the first World Cup anthem to have a video just "as ubiquitous as the song", going on to write: "Since then, official songs have an important part to play in every World Cup." In his review for Pitchfork, Corban Goble wrote that if World Cup anthems someday would be "given their own textbook", "La Copa de la Vida" would be "the standard-bearer for the whole genre".
Martin is known as the pioneer in getting Latin pop music genre to mainstream recognition. Following his performance of "The Cup of Life" at the Grammys, and the success of "Livin' la Vida Loca" and Ricky Martin (1999), he opened the gates for many Latin artists such as Jennifer Lopez, Shakira, Christina Aguilera, Marc Anthony, Santana, and Enrique Iglesias who released their crossover albums and followed him onto the top of the charts. His performance of "The Cup of Life" at the Grammys not only changed the course of his career, but also altered how people regard Latin music in America. It has been known as a game-changer for Latin music worldwide, that effectively ushered in the "Latin explosion". Then-United Talent Agency head Rob Prinz described the rendition as "the single biggest game changing moment for any artist in the history of the Grammys". According to Billboard, it has been cited as the beginning of the "Latin Pop invasion", which powerfully affected the US mainstream. Jesús Triviño Alarcón from Tidal Magazine stated, "that single performance opened up the mainstream market for the Latinx legends", mentioning the names of Anthony, Shakira, and Lopez. InStyle staff wrote about it: "With his leather pants, big smile and energetic performance of 'The Cup of Life', Ricky Martin almost personally kicked off the so-called Latin Explosion of the late '90s." Mariana Best of San Antonio Express-News commented that the performance "is recognized for bringing Latin pop to the forefront of the U.S. music scene". In 2018, Diego Urdaneta from Vice credited the song as "one of those that laid the first stones so that J Balvin and Bad Bunnys of today can be at the top of the pyramid", labeling it "a milestone for Latin music".
According to Entertainment Tonight, "Livin' la Vida Loca" paved the way for a large number of other Latin artists, and is "credited as the song that helped other Latin artists break through to English-speaking markets". As believed by Spin, the song "lit the fuse for the Latin pop explosion of the '90s". Lucas Villa from Spin wrote about it: "When the world went loca for Ricky, he led the way for other Latin music superstars like Spain's Enrique Iglesias, Colombia's Shakira and Nuyoricans like Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony to make their marks beyond the Spanish-speaking crowds." He also described Martin as "a trailblazer in globalizing Latinx culture" in his Grammy.com article. Also from Grammy.com, Ernesto Lechner described "Livin' la Vida Loca" as "the manifesto for all the fun-loving, tropically tinged Latin hit singles that followed", stating that Martin led "the Latin music explosion that took over the U.S. at the tail end of the '90s". According to The Independent, the single is "widely regarded as the song that began the first Latin pop explosion". Peoples Jason Sheeler credited it as the song that "led the way for the late-'90s so-called 'Latin explosion' that dominated pop music into the new century: Shakira, Enrique Iglesias, Marc Anthony, and Jennifer Lopez".
Angie Romero from Billboard wrote: "If you look up 'crossover' in the dictionary, there should be a photo of Ricky shaking his bon bon and/or 'Livin' la Vida Loca'." Leila Cobo named "Livin' la Vida Loca" one of the genre's biggest singles of the past 50 years in his 2021 book Decoding "Despacito": An Oral History of Latin Music. She also wrote about his impact in Shakira's "Whenever, Wherever" chapter: "Ricky Martin’s phenomenal success opened the door for a string of Latin artists who waved the flags of their heritage, but who sang in English." Additionally, she compared Martin's song with Luis Fonsi's "Despacito" (2017) in one of her Billboard articles: "'Livin', like 'Despacito', became not just a global hit but a cultural phenomena that transcended all barriers of language and nationality." In another article, she described it as the song that "ignited the late-'90s Latin explosion". Also from Billboard, Gary Trust wrote: "The song helmed a Latin pop boom in the U.S., with Jenner Lopez, Marc Anthony and others crossing over, as well." Writing for LiveAbout.com, Bill Lamb credited the song as "the record which kicked off a wave of major Latin performers hitting the pop mainstream".
Jim Farber from Daily News noted that Ricky Martin "provides a textbook example of how to mix Latin beats with pop tunes and rock intonations". St. Louis Post-Dispatch critic Kevin C. Johnson described Martin as Latin music's "pretty-faced poster boy" who is "taking the music to places Jon Secada, Selena and Santana never could". He also mentioned that even "Gloria Estefan at her peak, failed to muster up the kind of hype and hoopla surrounding Martin". Celia San Miguel of Tidal Magazine stated that Martin "highlighted the public's thirst for a different kind of pop" in 1999, noting the album's "fusion-heavy" and "hip-shaking rhythms associated with Latin music". She mentioned that the album "spawned 1999's Latin music boom", emphasizing the fact that Martin created the "spark" of the "Latin Pop Explosion", which was followed by 1999 albums, On the 6 by Lopez, Enrique by Iglesias, and Anthony's eponymous album. She continued crediting "Martin and the paths he created" responsible for the Latin music and Spanish and Spanglish lyrics being "a commonplace phenomenon on English-language radio" in 2019. In her review for Grammy.com, Ana Monroy Yglesias said Martin led a "major music moment in 1999" with Ricky Martin, and along with him, "the first major boom of Spanish-language artists", such as Shakira and Lopez, came into the "U.S. pop landscape".
The late '90s Latin explosion also resulted in the launch of the Latin Recording Academy. Gabriel Abaroa Jr., the president and chief executive officer of the Latin Recording Academy, expressed that the plan of its launch was "immediately after the Ricky Martin success". Cuban American musician and producer Emilio Estefan added: "After the success with Ricky Martin, everybody opened their eyes and realized how important it was to bring diversity and multiethnic elements into [mainstream American] music." Many artists have cited Martin as an influence or declared themselves as his fan, including Abraham Mateo, Bad Bunny, Camila Cabello, Camilo, Carla Morrison, Christian Chávez, CNCO, Danna Paola, Enrique Iglesias, J Balvin, J-Hope, Jimin, Karol G, India Martínez, Luis Fonsi, Maite Perroni, Maluma, Neha Mahajan, Pedro Capó, Prince Royce, Rauw Alejandro, Rosalía, Sebastián Ligarde, Sebastián Yatra, Shakira, Tini, Vadhir Derbez, William Hung, Wisin, and Ximena Sariñana.
Both Maluma and J Balvin have described Martin as a "teacher" and credited him as an artist who "opened the doors" for them, while Maluma has also expressed: "Ricky Martin is one of the artists I wanted to be growing up. He's my idol in the industry".Citations regarding J Balvin's statements about Martin:
Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny talked about Martin's legacy during an episode of Behind the Music: "There's no doubt that he opened the door for an entire generation of Latin artists. I am doing great things today in the music industry thanks to those doors that he opened." He also mentioned that he is inspired by Martin's coming out as gay: "You don't have to be gay to be inspired by that action of honesty and freedom, of being yourself against the world despite everything you deserve. I look at it like a very inspiring moment for anybody. At least for me, it's very inspirational." Brazilian singer-songwriter Anitta explained to The Guardian that "some Latin stars such as Maluma and Bad Bunny sing in their native language" and do not need to sing in English to get noticed, because they already had representatives like Shakira, Martin, and Jennifer Lopez, but since her country "hasn't had a major international pop star before", she uses "whatever language will get the market's attention".
Portrayal in television
In July 2019, SOMOS Productions, Endemol Shine Boomdog, and Piñolywood Studios announced the production of a biographical web television series about Menudo, titled Subete a Mi Moto. Consisting of 15 episodes of 60 minutes each, the series premiered on Amazon Prime Video on October 9, 2020 in Mexico, Latin America, and Spain. It was filmed in Mexico and Puerto Rico, and Martin was portrayed by actors Felipe Albors and Ethan Schwartz. The series premiered in the United States on February 14, 2021 on Estrella TV. On the review aggregation website Tomatazos, the first season has a positive score of 75%. The website's critical consensus summary states, "A good trip to the past that recalls a band that defined the youth of a certain public, but that doesn't ignore the darkest moments in the lives of its members."
Other ventures
Books
On August 19, 2010, Martin announced that he had been working on his memoir, mentioning its title as Me and publish date as November 2, 2010. He expressed that writing the book was "one of the reasons" he decided to come out earlier that year. The book also had a Spanish edition title Yo (), which was published simultaneously by Celebra. He stated that writing his memoir allowed him "to explore the different paths and experiences" that have led him to be who he is, noting that it "was not easy but allowed for an incredible spiritual journey". Me spent several weeks at number one on the New York Times Best Seller list. In 2019, ¡Hola! staff ranked the book among "12 Books by Celebrities to Inspire and Motivate You", while Book Riot placed it on an unranked list of the "Best Celebrity Books You Should Read This Year" in 2020. Martin's first children's book Santiago the Dreamer in Land Among the Stars was published by Celebra and illustrated by Patricia Castelao in November 2013 for ages between five to nine. Its Spanish-language edition, Santiago El Soñador en Entre Las Estrellas, was published simultaneously. Martin expressed that the book was inspired by his "personal life, with fantasy added to it", as well as "a lot of cartoons".
Products and endorsements
Martin endorsed the 2012 Viva Glam campaign with Trinidadian rapper Nicki Minaj, which raised $270 million for the Mac AIDS Fund. In October 2020, Martin announced that he would launch his company, Martin Music Lab in partnership with music engineers Jaycen Joshua and Michael Seaberg. The company is centered around a new audio technique called "Orbital Audio", that "creates a new type of immersive, headphone listening experience". Martin used the technique on his EP Pausa, while several artists including Bad Bunny, Residente, Myke Towers, and A$AP Rocky are going to work with the company. The latter plans to release his whole upcoming studio album, using "Orbital Audio". Martin is going to expand the technique "beyond the music industry and tap into the movies, sports and, most notably, the wellness and meditation space". In 2021, Martin partnered with skin care company Kumiko. The skincare line, created by Chilean cosmetologist Catalina Aguirre, is the first to combine "mesotherapy, matcha, and cutting-edge European technology into unique multi-action formulas that penetrate the dermis with powerful anti-aging properties and lifting benefits".
Activism
Philanthropy
While on a trip to India in 2002, Martin witnessed three minor girls who were about to be sold into prostitution and rescued them. The following year, he became a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and then met with activists and decided to fight against human trafficking, which is the second-most lucrative crime in the world. In 2004, Martin launched the Ricky Martin Foundation, a non-profit, non-governmental organization that focuses on denouncing human trafficking and educating about the crime's "existence through research and community initiatives, anchored in the defense of children and youth rights". In the same year, he appealed to the United Nations for international help to fight against sex tourism. In January 2005, following the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, Martin visited Thailand to assess the needs of the minor survivors who were "extremely vulnerable to traffickers". Later that year, the Ricky Martin Foundation signed an alliance in partnership with Habitat for Humanity to construct 224 homes for the tsunami-affected families. The project was completed in December 2006. In March 2006, the foundation collaborated with the International Organization for Migration in the Llama y Vive () campaign, which focuses on facilitating "the prevention of human trafficking and the protection of young people, victims of child trafficking and prosecution of traffickers".
In January 2010, along with many celebrities, Martin operated the charity telethon Hope for Haiti Now to raise donations for the 2010 Haiti earthquake. Later that year, the Ricky Martin Foundation created the first program of community social action against child trafficking in Martin's native Puerto Rico, titled "Se Trata" (). In 2012, the foundation participated in the making of the Child Protection Model Law on the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children. In 2016, Martin visited Syrian refugees in Lebanon and played with the children and talked to them in an informal refugee camp. Following the Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico in 2017, the Ricky Martin Foundation helped people and handed over homes that were rebuilt after the losses; Martin launched a viral campaign of selling a black T-shirt with the Puerto Rican flag stamped on it in order to raise the funds. The T-shirts were designed by Martin's twin boys Matteo and Valentino, while many celebrities including Will Smith, Bad Bunny, Marc Anthony, Luis Fonsi, and Maluma supported the campaign. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Martin created a campaign to help health care workers through the non-profit organization Project Hope. He expressed: "As you know, health care professionals are extremely vulnerable and professionals around the world don’t have personal protection equipment they need to prevent them getting infected." In February 2021, Martin collaborated with Antonia Novello to launch mass vaccination events in Puerto Rico. Following the murder of George Floyd and Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, Martin honored an effort called "Black Out Tuesday" and launched the hashtag #knowthestruggle, giving his social media to the voices of the community that are "looking for justice", to learn more about what is happening.
For his humanitarian efforts and fighting against human trafficking, Martin has been honored with numerous accolades, including the Peace Summit Award by the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates, the TIP Report Hero Award by the United States Department of State, the Spirit of Hope Award by Billboard Latin Music Awards, the Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year Award, the Award of Inspiration by amfAR Gala, the Leader of Change Award by the Foundation for Social Change, the Humanitarian Award by the Global Gift Foundation, the Humanitarian Award by the Hispanic Federation, the Corazón Latino Award by the iHeartRadio Fiesta Latina, the International Humanitarian Award by the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the Agent of Change Award by the International Peace Honors, the PODER Social Leadership Awards, and the Agent of Change Award by the Premios Juventud.
Politics
On January 20, 2001, during the first inauguration of George W. Bush, Martin performed "The Cup of Life" and danced with him. Martin's view of Bush changed over the Iraq War, as expressed in his declaration to BBC News that he will "always condemn war and those who promulgate it". He also stuck up his middle finger while singing the president's name in his 2003 song "Asignatura Pendiente" at a concert. At the 2010 Billboard Latin Music Awards, Martin expressed his disagreement with the Arizona SB 1070 bill, a proposed law that would have required police officers to request documents from individuals whom they suspected to be illegal immigrants. Martin campaigned for the 44th president of the United States Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, and thanked him for an "outstanding presidency" in 2016, while calling him "an amazing leader". Also in 2016, he was an active ally to the Democratic Party presidential candidate Hillary Clinton campaign, while condemning Donald Trump's hateful comments about immigrants. He also performed his hits during the "Hillary Clinton: She's With Us" concert at the Greek Theatre on June 6, 2016.
Telegramgate, also known as Chatgate, was a political scandal involving Ricardo Rosselló, then Governor of Puerto Rico, which began on July 8, 2019, with the leak of hundreds of pages of a group chat on the messaging application Telegram between Rosselló and members of his cabinet. The messages were considered vulgar, misogynistic, and homophobic toward several individuals and groups, including Martin. Therefore, Martin, Bad Bunny, Residente and several other artists, and more than half a million Puerto Ricans led the call to take to the streets of Puerto Rico, demanding Rosselló's resignation. In September 2020, Martin, Luis Fonsi, and actress Eva Longoria attended a campaign event in Kissimmee, Florida to support the Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden for the 2020 United States presidential election. During an interview with Variety, Martin stated: "I've been supporting Biden forever, I think he is the only option we have and he is great and he has been in politics all his life. This is the moment. We all need to get together and be loud about the course of this nation." Following the election of Biden as 45th president of the United States, Martin said "Bye-bye" to Trump on social media, and shared a photo of himself along with Biden on Instagram.
In May 2021, Martin demonstrated his support for the Ni una menos movement, condemning femicides and violence against women in Puerto Rico, while calling authorities to protect women. He further expressed that no woman should fear for her safety and urged authorities to take steps in order to prevent these acts. In the same month, he supported the 2021 Colombian protests. Later that year, the singer raised his voice in support of the 2021 Cuban protests against the Castro regime for the restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic crisis, stating: "This is very important. Our brothers and sisters in Cuba need us to inform the world what they are experiencing today. Let's fill the networks before they remove the internet in the country. Humanitarian aid for Cuba NOW."
LGBT advocacy
As a gay man, Martin actively supports LGBT rights worldwide since his coming out in 2010. Even before coming out, he was noted by the mainstream media for being popular among gay men and having a large gay fan base. He also went on the cover of the American LGBT-interest magazine The Advocate in July 1999. Despite this, he admitted that he felt homosexuality was evil since he was raised as a Catholic and targeted his anger toward others, especially gay men: "I was very angry, very rebellious. I used to look at gay men and think, 'I'm not like that, I don't want to be like that, that's not me.' I was ashamed." He added that he "had internalized homophobia" back then. He is currently considered to be a gay icon, with PinkNews labeling him "a strong advocate of LGBT rights" who "expressed support for equal marriage" since coming out.
As the first mainstream Latin music artist to come out, Martin's coming out was a game-changer for "Latin Pride". Billboards Lucas Villa stated: "With Martin's announcement, gay artists, who had long kept their sexual identities a secret, finally had a beacon of hope. If Martin could come out with his career unscathed, there was hope for other artists in Latin music to start doing the same." He added that since then, "a growing number of Latin artists have either come out after years in the spotlight, or many have simply started their careers by embracing their gay identities". In 2010, GLAAD then-president Jarrett Barrios expressed that Martin's coming out as gay leads "hundreds of millions of people" to have "a cultural connection with an artist, a celebrity and, perhaps most importantly, a father who happens to be gay", adding that "his decision to model this kind of openness and honesty can lead to greater acceptance for countless gay people in U.S., in Latin America and worldwide". In 2019, Human Rights Campaign then-president Alphonso David expressed that Martin "has used his international stage to advocate for LGBTQ people around the world" with his "unique voice and passionate activism". The following year, Suzy Exposito from Rolling Stone argued that with risking his career and coming out, Martin "set the scene for Bad Bunny to be free in many ways that, during his own breakthrough moment, he could not".
Martin expressed support for same-sex marriage during an interview on Larry King Live in 2010. He has then delivered speeches about LGBT rights at the United Nations Homophobia Conference, the GLAAD Media Awards, and the Human Rights Campaign. He also raised his voice to support gay marriage in Puerto Rico before its legalization in 2015. In March 2016, Martin met with Chilean LGBT rights group Fundación Iguales to learn about the challenges LGBT citizens face there. AT the meeting, he said that he wants "equal marriage rights for Chile" and he wants his sons to grow up in a world where "there are no second-class citizens". Following the Colombia's highest court voting against an anti same-sex marriage proposal in April 2016, Martin tweeted: "Love and equality win, Colombia says YES to same-sex marriage." During an interview with Vulture, Martin talked about his role in The Assassination of Gianni Versace and how he wanted his portrayal to help "normalize open relationships". In June 2019, he published an open letter slamming the religious liberty bill, saying: "As a defender of human rights and a member of the LGBTT community, I am vehemently opposed to the proposed measure imposed upon us under the guise of religious freedom, that projects us to the world as a backwards country." Puerto Rico's then-governor backed down and withdrew his support of the bill following Martin's statement. In June 2020, Martin performed his song "Recuerdo" with Carla Morrison for a virtual event, Can't Cancel Pride: Helping LGBTQ+ People in Need, to raise visibility and funds for LGBTQ+ communities. He appeared at the virtual event in the following year as well. In February 2021, Martin was named national spokesperson for the onePULSE Foundation, a non-profit organization that focuses on managing "the design and construction of the permanent national memorial and museum dedicated to the Pulse nightclub tragedy". Later that year, he expressed that he wants to "normalize families like" his, in an interview with People.
Several of Martin's music videos feature diversity in sexual orientations and same-sex couples, including "The Best Thing About Me Is You", "Disparo al Corazón", "Fiebre", and "Tiburones". For his activism and advocacy for LGBTQ community, Martin has been honored with numerous accolades, including the GLAAD Vito Russo Award, the Gala Vanguard Award by the Los Angeles LGBT Center, the International Icon Award by the British LGBT Awards, the National Visibility Award by the Human Rights Campaign, the Trailblazer Award by the LGBT Center Dinner, the Celebrity Activist of the Year by LGBTQ Nation, and the Legacy Award by Attitude Awards.
Achievements
Throughout his career, Martin has won over 200 awards (most awarded male Latin artist), including two Grammy Awards, five Latin Grammy Awards, five MTV Video Music Awards (tied for most wins by a Latin artist), two American Music Awards, two Latin American Music Awards, three Billboard Music Awards, a Billboard Music Video Award, nine Billboard Latin Music Awards, eight World Music Awards, fourteen Lo Nuestro Awards (including the Excellence Award), and a Guinness World Record. As an actor, he was nominated for an Emmy Award. In 2007, Martin was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, located at 6901 Hollywood Blvd.
Martin is ranked among the Greatest Latin Artists of All Time and the Greatest Hot Latin Songs Artists of All Time by Billboard, while his album Vuelve was placed at number five on Billboards Top 20 Latin Albums Of All Time in 2018. In 1998, his song, "Perdido Sin Ti" reached the top of the Latin Pop Airplay chart, displacing Martin's own "Vuelve", making him the first artist on the chart's history to replace himself. His song "Livin' la Vida Loca" became the first number-one song on Billboard Hot 100, which was made entirely in Pro Tools, and achieved the first number one hit for his label, Columbia. It also became the first song in history to top Billboards Adult Pop Airplay, Pop Airplay, and Rhythmic Airplay charts, holding its record as the only song to do so for 14 years. On May 15, 1999, it became the first single ever to rule four different Billboard charts and made Martin the first act to simultaneously scale a pop, Latin, and dance chart. Two weeks later, he became the first artist to simultaneously top the Billboard 200, Hot Latin Tracks, Hot Dance Music/Club Play, Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales, Top 40 Tracks, and the Billboard Hot 100. His song "Tal Vez" (2003) marked the first number one debut on Billboard Hot Latin Songs in the 21st century. Martin is the first and only artist with Spanish-language entries on Billboard Hot 100 in three decades. In 2020, he became the first and only artist in history to enter the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart across five decades, including his work as part of Menudo. The following year, he became the first male Latin artist in history to have 4 songs from different decades to have over 100 million streams on Spotify. He owns the record as the artist with most top 20s on the US Latin Pop Airplay chart, with 51 songs, and is the runner-up of most top 10s. He is the fourth artist with the most number one songs in the history of the Hot Latin Songs chart. Additionally, he holds the record as the most Spanish-language entries on ARIA top 50 singles chart, with three.
On October 11, 2007, then-mayor of Miami Beach, Florida David Dermer awarded him the key to the city of Miami Beach. Puerto Rico named August 31 the "International Ricky Martin Day" in 2008. The Government of Spain granted Spanish nationality to Martin in 2011, for being "recognized in different artistic facets". In 2018, in recognition of "his dedication to the island and people of Puerto Rico, his philanthropic work to eliminate human trafficking across the Caribbean, and his commitment to the arts", the singer received a proclamation naming June 7 the "Ricky Martin Day" in New York City. Throughout his career, Martin has sold over 70 million records making him one of the best-selling Latin music artists of all time. In 2020, La Opinión estimated his net worth at US$120 million.
Discography
Ricky Martin (1991)
Me Amaras (1993)
A Medio Vivir (1995)
Vuelve (1998)
Ricky Martin (1999)
Sound Loaded (2000)
Almas del Silencio (2003)
Life (2005)
Música + Alma + Sexo (2011)
A Quien Quiera Escuchar (2015)
Filmography
Mas Que Alcanzar una estrella (1992)
Hercules – Latin American dub (1997)
Idle Hands (1999)
Ricky Martin: One Night Only (1999)
Minions – Latin American dub (2015)
The Latin Explosion: A New America (2015)
Ricky Martin: Behind the Vegas Residency (2017)
Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey (2020)
El cuartito (2021)
Theatre
Les Misérables (1996), Broadway – Marius Pontmercy
Evita (2012), Broadway – Ché
Tours and residenciesHeadlining tours Ricky Martin Tour (1992)
Me Amaras Tour (1993–1994)
A Medio Vivir Tour (1995–1997)
Vuelve World Tour (1998)
Livin' la Vida Loca Tour (1999–2000)
One Night Only with Ricky Martin (2005–2006)
Black and White Tour (2007)
Música + Alma + Sexo World Tour (2011)
Ricky Martin Live (2013–2014)
Live in Mexico (2014)
One World Tour (2015–2018)
Ricky Martin en Concierto (2018-2019)
Movimiento Tour (2020-2022)Co-headlining tour Enrique Iglesias and Ricky Martin Live in Concert (with Enrique Iglesias) (2021)Residency'
All In (2017–2018)
See also
Honorific nicknames in popular music
List of artists who reached number one in the United States
List of artists who reached number one on the UK Singles Chart
List of Latin pop artists
List of multilingual bands and artists
List of Puerto Rican Grammy Award winners and nominees
List of Puerto Ricans
List of Urbano artists
Notes
References
Book sources
External links
1971 births
Living people
20th-century LGBT people
20th-century Puerto Rican male actors
20th-century Puerto Rican male singers
20th-century Puerto Rican singers
21st-century LGBT people
21st-century Puerto Rican male actors
21st-century Puerto Rican male singers
21st-century Puerto Rican singers
American gay actors
American gay musicians
American humanitarians
American male pop singers
American male singer-songwriters
Columbia Records artists
Echo (music award) winners
Grammy Award winners
Hispanic and Latino American male actors
Hispanic and Latino American musicians
Latin Grammy Award winners
Latin music songwriters
Latin pop singers
Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year honorees
LGBT entertainers from Puerto Rico
LGBT Hispanic and Latino American people
LGBT Latin musicians
LGBT rights activists from the United States
LGBT singers from the United States
Male actors from San Juan, Puerto Rico
Menudo (band) members
MTV Europe Music Award winners
Naturalised citizens of Spain
Puerto Rican activists
Puerto Rican expatriates in Australia
Puerto Rican expatriates in Mexico
Puerto Rican expatriates in Spain
Puerto Rican male film actors
Puerto Rican male soap opera actors
Puerto Rican male television actors
Puerto Rican people of Basque descent
Puerto Rican people of Canarian descent
Puerto Rican people of Corsican descent
Puerto Rican people of Spanish descent
Puerto Rican philanthropists
Puerto Rican pop singers
Puerto Rican record producers
Puerto Rican singer-songwriters
Singers from San Juan, Puerto Rico
Sony Music Latin artists
Sony Music Spain artists
Spanish-language singers of the United States
UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors
World Music Awards winners | true | [
"Ray Hunt (August 31, 1929 – March 12, 2009) was an American horse trainer and clinician of significant influence in the natural horsemanship field. He had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.\n\nNatural horsemanship\nHunt is widely regarded as one of the original proponents of what became known as natural horsemanship. His views about horse-human relations were embraced by inspirational writers about human relations. Lance Secretan wrote that \"We may respect a leader, but the ones we love are servant-leaders.\" In the beginning, Hunt said,\"I was working in the mind of a lot of people who didnt want to believe the horse had a mind. Get a bigger bit. Get a bigger stick. That was their approach.\" \n\nRay Hunt is said to be Tom Dorrance's best-known student. They met around 1960, at a fair in Elko, Nevada. While Dorrance avoided media attention and clinics, by the mid 1970s Hunt was giving clinics far and wide. Ray Hunt is famous for starting each clinic with the statement \"I'm here for the horse, to help him get a better deal.\" He also liked to say \"make the wrong thing difficult and the right thing easy.\" His philosophy has been interpreted as \"If you get bucked off or kicked or bitten, you obviously did something wrong . . . The horse, on the other hand, is never wrong\".\n\nThe idea that \"the horse is never wrong\" is often misunderstood by people who think Ray was talking about the horse's behaviour, he was rather meaning the horse's reaction to human behaviour. The horse always interprets human actions in the moment, they don't think about the past or future in the way that people do. So, their reactions to what is happening in the moment is always pure, they reflect what the human did with the utmost integrity. If we want to change the horse, we should first change ourselves. As Ray said \"it's easy to change the horse, but it's hard to change the human\".\n\nRay Hunt was a mentor and teacher of Buck Brannaman.\n\nWorks\n1978 Think Harmony with Horses: An In-depth Study of Horse/man Relationship\n1992 Turning loose with Ray Hunt (video)\n1996 Colt starting with Ray Hunt (video)\n2001 The Fort Worth Benefit with Ray Hunt (video)\nBack To The Beginning (video)\nRay Hunt Appreciation Clinic: 2005 Western Horseman of the Year (video)\nRay Hunt: Cowboy Logic\n\nSee also\nTom and Bill Dorrance\n\nReferences\n\nFurther reading\n\nExternal links\nOfficial website\n\nAmerican horse trainers\n1929 births\n2009 deaths",
"What Did You Think Was Going to Happen? is the debut studio album from Los Angeles band 2AM Club. It was released September 14, 2010 by RCA Records.\n\nCritical reception\n\nMatt Collar of AllMusic stated that with this album \"2AM Club reveal themselves as the best and brightest of the nu-eyed-soul set\".\n\nTrack listing\n\nOn May 31, the band released a song named \"Baseline\" that was a bonus track on What Did You Think Was Going to Happen? (sold on iTunes). It was advertised by them via Twitter, and was available for free download through a file sharing website, Hulk Share.\n\nCharts\n\nReferences\n\n2010 albums\nPop rock albums by American artists"
] | [
"Enrique Martín Morales (born December 24, 1971), known professionally as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican singer, songwriter, and actor. He is known for his musical versatility, as his discography spans multiple genres, including Latin pop, pop, dance, reggaeton, and salsa. Dubbed the \"King of Latin Pop\", the \"King of Latin Music\", and the \"Latin Pop God\", he is regarded as one of the most influential artists in the world.",
"Dubbed the \"King of Latin Pop\", the \"King of Latin Music\", and the \"Latin Pop God\", he is regarded as one of the most influential artists in the world. Born in San Juan, Martin began appearing in television commercials at the age of 9 and began his musical career at age 12, as a member of Puerto Rican boy band Menudo.",
"Born in San Juan, Martin began appearing in television commercials at the age of 9 and began his musical career at age 12, as a member of Puerto Rican boy band Menudo. He started his solo career in 1991 while in Sony Music Mexico, gaining recognition in Latin America with the release of his first two studio albums, Ricky Martin (1991) and Me Amaras (1993), both of which were focused on ballads.",
"He started his solo career in 1991 while in Sony Music Mexico, gaining recognition in Latin America with the release of his first two studio albums, Ricky Martin (1991) and Me Amaras (1993), both of which were focused on ballads. Martin's third album, A Medio Vivir (1995), helped him rose to prominence in European countries. The chart-topping single \"María\", incorporated a mixture of Latin music genres and became his first international hit.",
"The chart-topping single \"María\", incorporated a mixture of Latin music genres and became his first international hit. His international success was further solidified with his fourth album, Vuelve (1998). The album, which earned Martin his first Grammy Award, spawned chart-topping hits \"Vuelve\" and \"La Copa de la Vida\". Martin performed the latter at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards, which was greeted with a massive standing ovation and is known as a game-changer for Latin music worldwide.",
"Martin performed the latter at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards, which was greeted with a massive standing ovation and is known as a game-changer for Latin music worldwide. His first English album, Ricky Martin (1999) became his first US Billboard 200 number one. The lead single \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" is considered to be Martin's biggest hit, topping both the Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart. Martin's success in the late '90s is generally seen as the beginning of the \"Latin explosion\".",
"Martin's success in the late '90s is generally seen as the beginning of the \"Latin explosion\". He has been credited for getting Latin pop music genre to mainstream recognition, paving the way for a large number of Latin artists to achieve a global success.",
"He has been credited for getting Latin pop music genre to mainstream recognition, paving the way for a large number of Latin artists to achieve a global success. Martin has since established his status as a sex symbol and a pop icon, releasing several successful albums, including all-time Latin bestsellers Almas del Silencio (2003) and MTV Unplugged (2006), as well as Grammy Award winner A Quien Quiera Escuchar (2015).",
"Martin has since established his status as a sex symbol and a pop icon, releasing several successful albums, including all-time Latin bestsellers Almas del Silencio (2003) and MTV Unplugged (2006), as well as Grammy Award winner A Quien Quiera Escuchar (2015). He has also amassed many successful singles and chart-topper hits, including \"She Bangs\", \"Nobody Wants to Be Lonely\", \"Tal Vez\", \"Tu Recuerdo\", \"La Mordidita\", \"Vente Pa' Ca\", and \"Canción Bonita\".",
"He has also amassed many successful singles and chart-topper hits, including \"She Bangs\", \"Nobody Wants to Be Lonely\", \"Tal Vez\", \"Tu Recuerdo\", \"La Mordidita\", \"Vente Pa' Ca\", and \"Canción Bonita\". As an actor, Martin gained popularity and stardom for his role in the hit soap opera General Hospital (1994-1996), while his portrayal of Antonio D'Amico in The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story (2018) marked the acting opportunity of his career, garnering him an Emmy nomination.",
"As an actor, Martin gained popularity and stardom for his role in the hit soap opera General Hospital (1994-1996), while his portrayal of Antonio D'Amico in The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story (2018) marked the acting opportunity of his career, garnering him an Emmy nomination. He also starred as Ché in the Broadway revival of the musical Evita in 2012, which broke the theatre's box-office sales record seven times.",
"He also starred as Ché in the Broadway revival of the musical Evita in 2012, which broke the theatre's box-office sales record seven times. Having sold over 70 million records worldwide, Martin is one of the best-selling Latin music artists of all time.",
"Having sold over 70 million records worldwide, Martin is one of the best-selling Latin music artists of all time. He has scored 11 Billboard Hot Latin Songs number-one songs, and won over 200 awards (most awarded male Latin artist), including two Grammy Awards, five Latin Grammy Awards, five MTV Video Music Awards (tied for most wins by a Latin artist), two American Music Awards, two Latin American Music Awards, three Billboard Music Awards, nine Billboard Latin Music Awards, eight World Music Awards, fourteen Lo Nuestro Awards, a Guinness World Record, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.",
"He has scored 11 Billboard Hot Latin Songs number-one songs, and won over 200 awards (most awarded male Latin artist), including two Grammy Awards, five Latin Grammy Awards, five MTV Video Music Awards (tied for most wins by a Latin artist), two American Music Awards, two Latin American Music Awards, three Billboard Music Awards, nine Billboard Latin Music Awards, eight World Music Awards, fourteen Lo Nuestro Awards, a Guinness World Record, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He is ranked among the Greatest Latin Artists of All Time, the Greatest Music Video Artists of All Time, and the Most Influential Latin Artists of All Time by Billboard.",
"He is ranked among the Greatest Latin Artists of All Time, the Greatest Music Video Artists of All Time, and the Most Influential Latin Artists of All Time by Billboard. His philanthropy and activism focus on LGBT rights and fighting against human trafficking; in 2004, he founded The Ricky Martin Foundation, a non-profit, non-governmental organization that focuses on denouncing human trafficking and educating about the crime's existence.",
"His philanthropy and activism focus on LGBT rights and fighting against human trafficking; in 2004, he founded The Ricky Martin Foundation, a non-profit, non-governmental organization that focuses on denouncing human trafficking and educating about the crime's existence. Life and career 1971–1982: Early life Enrique Martín Morales was born on December 24, 1971, in San Juan, Puerto Rico.",
"Life and career 1971–1982: Early life Enrique Martín Morales was born on December 24, 1971, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. His mother, Doña Nereida Morales, is a former accountant; his father, Enrique Martín Negroni, is a former psychologist who previously worked as a regional supervisor for a Puerto Rican mental-health agency.",
"His mother, Doña Nereida Morales, is a former accountant; his father, Enrique Martín Negroni, is a former psychologist who previously worked as a regional supervisor for a Puerto Rican mental-health agency. His parents divorced when he was two years old, and although his mother had custody of Martin, he could also move freely between his father's house in the middle-class suburb of University Gardens in San Juan, and his paternal grandmother's house nearby.",
"His parents divorced when he was two years old, and although his mother had custody of Martin, he could also move freely between his father's house in the middle-class suburb of University Gardens in San Juan, and his paternal grandmother's house nearby. In an interview with People, he told the magazine the he \"never had to make decisions\" about who he loved more, and he was \"always happy\".",
"In an interview with People, he told the magazine the he \"never had to make decisions\" about who he loved more, and he was \"always happy\". Martin has two older maternal half-brothers, Fernando and Ángel Fernández, two younger paternal half-brothers, Eric and Daniel Martín, and a younger paternal half-sister, Vanessa Martín. Martin has Spanish heritage of Basque and Canarian descent. As he explained to ABC, the Martins traveled from Spain to Puerto Rico in 1779.",
"As he explained to ABC, the Martins traveled from Spain to Puerto Rico in 1779. He also has some Corsican origin through his paternal grandmother. Martin grew up Catholic. The people closest to him called him \"Kiki\" (a nickname that comes from Enrique). He began singing at age six, using wooden kitchen spoons as make-believe microphones; he often sang songs by Puerto Rican boy band Menudo, as well as English-language rock groups such as Led Zeppelin, Journey, and REO Speedwagon.",
"He began singing at age six, using wooden kitchen spoons as make-believe microphones; he often sang songs by Puerto Rican boy band Menudo, as well as English-language rock groups such as Led Zeppelin, Journey, and REO Speedwagon. His mother's side of the family was musically inclined and his maternal grandfather was a poet.",
"His mother's side of the family was musically inclined and his maternal grandfather was a poet. Martin later reflected on his time spent with his family as a child: \"Every time I find myself in front of an audience, be it twenty people or one hundred thousand, once again I feel the energy that consumed me back at the family gatherings of my youth.\" He attended Colegio Sagrado Corazón, a bilingual Catholic grade school in University Gardens since fourth grade and was an \"average\" student there.",
"He attended Colegio Sagrado Corazón, a bilingual Catholic grade school in University Gardens since fourth grade and was an \"average\" student there. When he was nine years old, he began appearing in television commercials for products such as soft drinks, toothpaste, and fast food restaurants, most notably Orange Crush and Burger King. In a year and a half, he starred in 11 commercials. 1983–1989: Menudo After achieving moderate fame in his country for his appearances in television commercials, Martin auditioned for membership in Menudo.",
"1983–1989: Menudo After achieving moderate fame in his country for his appearances in television commercials, Martin auditioned for membership in Menudo. Formed in Puerto Rico in 1977, Menudo members were usually replaced when they hit 16 in order to keep the band \"full of fresh-faced members\". Although the executives enjoyed his dancing and singing at his first two auditions, Martin was rejected because he was too short. By the third audition, his persistence impressed executives, and in 1984, 12-year-old Martin became a member.",
"By the third audition, his persistence impressed executives, and in 1984, 12-year-old Martin became a member. A month after joining Menudo, he made his debut performance with the group at the Luis A. Ferré Performing Arts Center in San Juan.",
"A month after joining Menudo, he made his debut performance with the group at the Luis A. Ferré Performing Arts Center in San Juan. During this performance, he inadvertently disobeyed the choreography by walking around the stage, when it was planned that he would stay still, and was chastised by the band manager after the show: \"The mistake was such a big deal that from that moment on, never again did I move when I wasn't supposed to move.",
"During this performance, he inadvertently disobeyed the choreography by walking around the stage, when it was planned that he would stay still, and was chastised by the band manager after the show: \"The mistake was such a big deal that from that moment on, never again did I move when I wasn't supposed to move. That was the discipline of Menudo: You either did things the way you were told or you were not part of the group.\"",
"That was the discipline of Menudo: You either did things the way you were told or you were not part of the group.\" Although Martin enjoyed traveling and performing onstage with Menudo, he found the band's busy schedule and strict management exhausting, and later reflected that the experience \"cost\" him his childhood. Despite this, Martin acknowledged his \"opportunity to have so many amazing experiences with so many amazing people\" during his time with the group.",
"Despite this, Martin acknowledged his \"opportunity to have so many amazing experiences with so many amazing people\" during his time with the group. During his time with Menudo, he became a \"key-member of the group\" and a \"fan-favorite\", while the band released 11 albums, including the Grammy-nominated Evolución () (1984) and their highest-charting and longest-running album on the US Billboard 200, Menudo (1985).",
"During his time with Menudo, he became a \"key-member of the group\" and a \"fan-favorite\", while the band released 11 albums, including the Grammy-nominated Evolución () (1984) and their highest-charting and longest-running album on the US Billboard 200, Menudo (1985). The former featured Martin's debut single, \"Rayo de Luna\" () and the latter included the hit single \"Hold Me\".",
"The former featured Martin's debut single, \"Rayo de Luna\" () and the latter included the hit single \"Hold Me\". \"Hold Me\" became the group's first and only entry on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at number 62. It was ranked among the \"100 Greatest Boy Band Songs of All Time\" by Billboard, the \"75 Greatest Boy Band Songs of All Time\" by Rolling Stone, and the \"30 Best Boy Band Songs\" by Complex.",
"It was ranked among the \"100 Greatest Boy Band Songs of All Time\" by Billboard, the \"75 Greatest Boy Band Songs of All Time\" by Rolling Stone, and the \"30 Best Boy Band Songs\" by Complex. Besides the musical career, Martin appeared with other members of Menudo in the American romantic comedy/drama television series, The Love Boat (1985), and the Argentine soap opera, Por Siempre Amigos (1987).",
"Besides the musical career, Martin appeared with other members of Menudo in the American romantic comedy/drama television series, The Love Boat (1985), and the Argentine soap opera, Por Siempre Amigos (1987). He also developed an interest in philanthropy when the group became UNICEF ambassadors, often working with impoverished children in third world countries. His experiences as an ambassador affected him greatly and inspired him to continue working with charities later in his life.",
"His experiences as an ambassador affected him greatly and inspired him to continue working with charities later in his life. Finally, Martin left the band in July 1989, at age 17, hoping to rest and evaluate his career path; he stayed a few extra months after his \"age-mandated retirement\" came around. He performed his final show with the group at the same venue where he had performed his first performance as a member.",
"He performed his final show with the group at the same venue where he had performed his first performance as a member. Referred to as the \"Most Iconic Latino Pop Music Band\", Menudo was ranked as one of the Biggest Boy Bands of All Time by Us Weekly in 2021. The group has sold around 20 million records worldwide, and has been acknowledged as the \"Most Successful Latin Boy Band of All Time\" by Billboard.",
"The group has sold around 20 million records worldwide, and has been acknowledged as the \"Most Successful Latin Boy Band of All Time\" by Billboard. Martin returned to Puerto Rico to \"get a break from the pressures of the group, the promotional tours, and the constant stress of work\", but although his parents' divorce had not affected him before, suddenly began to affect him; his parents \"began fighting more than ever\" and they were forcing him to \"choose between the two people in the world\" he loved most.",
"Martin returned to Puerto Rico to \"get a break from the pressures of the group, the promotional tours, and the constant stress of work\", but although his parents' divorce had not affected him before, suddenly began to affect him; his parents \"began fighting more than ever\" and they were forcing him to \"choose between the two people in the world\" he loved most. As he understood they did this because they loved him and wanted the best for him, he \"forgave all of the pain and anger they caused\" him.",
"As he understood they did this because they loved him and wanted the best for him, he \"forgave all of the pain and anger they caused\" him. He graduated from the high school, and 13 days after turning 18, he moved to New York City to celebrate his financial independence; since he was a minor during his time with Menudo, Martin was not allowed to access his own bank accounts.",
"He graduated from the high school, and 13 days after turning 18, he moved to New York City to celebrate his financial independence; since he was a minor during his time with Menudo, Martin was not allowed to access his own bank accounts. 1990–1994: Acting and first solo albums Martin was accepted into New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in 1990, but before classes began, his friend invited him to Mexico City.",
"1990–1994: Acting and first solo albums Martin was accepted into New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in 1990, but before classes began, his friend invited him to Mexico City. He attended the musical comedy play, Mama Ama el Rock () there, and was offered to stay and replace one of the actors. He accepted the offer, dropped out the university and moved from New York to Mexico City to perform in the play.",
"He accepted the offer, dropped out the university and moved from New York to Mexico City to perform in the play. While he was performing onstage in Mama Ama el Rock, a producer in the audience took notice of Martin's acting and offered him a role in the Mexican telenovela Alcanzar una estrella () (1990). Martin also joined the cast for the second season of the show, titled Alcanzar una estrella II (1991).",
"Martin also joined the cast for the second season of the show, titled Alcanzar una estrella II (1991). A film based on the TV series, titled Más que alcanzar una estrella () (1992), was also produced in which Martin starred, and earned him an El Heraldo Award for his role. A Sony Discos executive noticed Martin's acting in the soap operas and offered him his first solo music recording contract.",
"A Sony Discos executive noticed Martin's acting in the soap operas and offered him his first solo music recording contract. Eager to record his first solo album and hustled by the executive, Martin signed the contract without reading its conditions and inadvertently signed a deal in which he would only be paid one cent for each album sold! Despite viewing the contract as unfair, Martin referred to the record as \"the start of something phenomenal\" for him.",
"Despite viewing the contract as unfair, Martin referred to the record as \"the start of something phenomenal\" for him. After working \"around the clock\" to finish filming Alcanzar una estrella II and recording music, he released his debut solo album, Ricky Martin, on November 26, 1991. The album peaked at number five on the US Billboard Latin Pop Albums chart and spent a total of 41 weeks on the list.",
"The album peaked at number five on the US Billboard Latin Pop Albums chart and spent a total of 41 weeks on the list. It sold over 500,000 copies worldwide, was certified gold in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Puerto Rico, and spawned his first solo hit singles, \"Fuego Contra Fuego\" (), \"El Amor de Mi Vida\" (), and \"Dime Que Me Quieres\" ().",
"It sold over 500,000 copies worldwide, was certified gold in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Puerto Rico, and spawned his first solo hit singles, \"Fuego Contra Fuego\" (), \"El Amor de Mi Vida\" (), and \"Dime Que Me Quieres\" (). Both \"Fuego Contra Fuego\" and \"El Amor de Mi Vida\" reached the top 10 on the US Billboard Hot Latin Tracks, peaking at numbers three and eight, respectively.",
"Both \"Fuego Contra Fuego\" and \"El Amor de Mi Vida\" reached the top 10 on the US Billboard Hot Latin Tracks, peaking at numbers three and eight, respectively. To promote the album, Martin embarked on a successful Latin American tour, breaking box office records, which the singer referred to as \"an indescribable feeling, almost like coming home\".",
"To promote the album, Martin embarked on a successful Latin American tour, breaking box office records, which the singer referred to as \"an indescribable feeling, almost like coming home\". After the success of Ricky Martin and its subsequent tour, Martin's record company met him with the Spanish musician Juan Carlos Calderón to work on his second studio album, Me Amaras () (1993).",
"After the success of Ricky Martin and its subsequent tour, Martin's record company met him with the Spanish musician Juan Carlos Calderón to work on his second studio album, Me Amaras () (1993). Although Martin felt \"very grateful\" for the opportunity to work with Calderón, he noted, \"I always felt that that record was more his than mine.\" The album sold over one million copies worldwide and was certified triple-platinum in Chile.",
"The album sold over one million copies worldwide and was certified triple-platinum in Chile. In 1994, Martin's agent encouraged him to move to Los Angeles to act in an American sitcom called Getting By.",
"In 1994, Martin's agent encouraged him to move to Los Angeles to act in an American sitcom called Getting By. The show was canceled after two seasons, but soon afterward, Martin was given the role of Miguel Morez on the popular hit soap opera General Hospital; Morez, a bartender and singer, known for his long and flowing hair, was a Puerto Rican citizen hiding in the United States from his lover's criminal mastermind father and created a love triangle with his fiancé Lily Rivera and Brenda.",
"The show was canceled after two seasons, but soon afterward, Martin was given the role of Miguel Morez on the popular hit soap opera General Hospital; Morez, a bartender and singer, known for his long and flowing hair, was a Puerto Rican citizen hiding in the United States from his lover's criminal mastermind father and created a love triangle with his fiancé Lily Rivera and Brenda. Martin portrayed the role for two years and gained huge popularity and stardom, becoming \"one of the most-talked about actors on the soap opera\".",
"Martin portrayed the role for two years and gained huge popularity and stardom, becoming \"one of the most-talked about actors on the soap opera\". Despite this, Martin felt he lacked chemistry with the rest of the General Hospital cast and observed that people treated him differently because of his Puerto Rican accent. At the time, it was relatively uncommon for Latin actors to appear on American television, and people suggested that he take accent reduction classes, which he refused.",
"At the time, it was relatively uncommon for Latin actors to appear on American television, and people suggested that he take accent reduction classes, which he refused. 1995–1997: Breakthrough with A Medio Vivir In 1995, Martin refocused on his music career, and began working on his third studio album, A Medio Vivir ().",
"1995–1997: Breakthrough with A Medio Vivir In 1995, Martin refocused on his music career, and began working on his third studio album, A Medio Vivir (). The album was released on September 12, 1995, and became a huge success; it sold over three million copies or even seven million copies worldwide, according to different sources, being certified gold in the United States, platinum in France, 4× platinum in Spain, and 6× platinum in Argentina, as well as many other certifications in Latin American countries.",
"The album was released on September 12, 1995, and became a huge success; it sold over three million copies or even seven million copies worldwide, according to different sources, being certified gold in the United States, platinum in France, 4× platinum in Spain, and 6× platinum in Argentina, as well as many other certifications in Latin American countries. It spawned several successful hits, including \"Te Extraño, Te Olvido, Te Amo\" (), \"María\", and \"Volverás\" ().",
"It spawned several successful hits, including \"Te Extraño, Te Olvido, Te Amo\" (), \"María\", and \"Volverás\" (). On \"María\", which was released as the second single from the album, Martin allowed himself \"to go into a very Latin, African sound\".",
"On \"María\", which was released as the second single from the album, Martin allowed himself \"to go into a very Latin, African sound\". He created a mix of different Latin music genres instead of singing a romantic ballad, the style that he focused on it in his first two albums, while Latin pop music in general was mainly made up of it at the time.",
"He created a mix of different Latin music genres instead of singing a romantic ballad, the style that he focused on it in his first two albums, while Latin pop music in general was mainly made up of it at the time. Although Martin was satisfied with the track and he describes it as a song that he is \"extremely proud of\", the first time he played it for a record label executive, the man said: \"Are you crazy? You have ruined your career!",
"You have ruined your career! You have ruined your career! I can't believe you are showing me this. You're finished — this is going to be your last album.\" Despite this, the track became Martin's breakthrough song and his first international hit. It topped the charts in 20 countries, and has sold over five million physical copies worldwide. As a result, the song was featured in the 1999 edition of The Guinness Book of Records as the biggest Latin hit.",
"As a result, the song was featured in the 1999 edition of The Guinness Book of Records as the biggest Latin hit. It was also the Song of the Summer in Spain in 1996 and was the second best-selling single in the world that year. In Australia, \"María\" spent six weeks at number one, topped the country's year-end chart in 1998, and was certified platinum. The song also spent nine weeks at number one in France, and was certified diamond.",
"The song also spent nine weeks at number one in France, and was certified diamond. It has sold over 1.4 million copies in France. Additionally, the track reached the top 10 in the United Kingdom, and became Martin's first entry on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. To promote A Medio Vivir, he embarked on the worldwide A Medio Vivir Tour, that lasted for more than two years, through which he performed 63 shows and visited Europe, Latin America and the United States.",
"To promote A Medio Vivir, he embarked on the worldwide A Medio Vivir Tour, that lasted for more than two years, through which he performed 63 shows and visited Europe, Latin America and the United States. During an interview with The Miami Herald in 1996, Martin expressed an interest in performing on Broadway. In a few days, he received a phone call from producer Richard Jay-Alexander, and was offered the role of Marius Pontmercy in the play Les Misérables.",
"In a few days, he received a phone call from producer Richard Jay-Alexander, and was offered the role of Marius Pontmercy in the play Les Misérables. After the conclusion of the A Medio Vivir Tour in Latin America, Martin returned to New York to appear in the play in an eleven-week run. He greatly enjoyed the experience, calling his time in the play an \"honor\" and \"the role of [his] life\".",
"He greatly enjoyed the experience, calling his time in the play an \"honor\" and \"the role of [his] life\". Martin continued to tour after the conclusion of the show's run, and noted that his audiences were growing in both size and enthusiasm. 1998–1999: Vuelve While the A Medio Vivir Tour had not been concluded yet, Martin returned to the studio to record his fourth album Vuelve ().",
"1998–1999: Vuelve While the A Medio Vivir Tour had not been concluded yet, Martin returned to the studio to record his fourth album Vuelve (). He called the experience of touring and recording at the same time \"brutal and incredibly intense\". As he was finishing the record in 1997, \"María\" caught the attention of FIFA. They contacted Martin and asked him to create a song as the 1998 FIFA World Cup anthem.",
"They contacted Martin and asked him to create a song as the 1998 FIFA World Cup anthem. He stated about the request: \"I have to admit that the challenge made me a bit nervous, but the massive growth potential for my career was such that I decided to accept.\" Following his acceptance, musicians K.C. Porter, Robi Rosa, and Desmond Child joined him and they started working on a song titled \"La Copa de la Vida\" (English: \"The Cup of Life\").",
"Porter, Robi Rosa, and Desmond Child joined him and they started working on a song titled \"La Copa de la Vida\" (English: \"The Cup of Life\"). Martin wrote about the recording: \"La Copa de la Vida\" was included as the eighth track on Vuelve, released February 12, 1998, The album became a huge success; it sold over eight million copies worldwide, becoming the best-selling Spanish-language album in history, according to his label.",
"Martin wrote about the recording: \"La Copa de la Vida\" was included as the eighth track on Vuelve, released February 12, 1998, The album became a huge success; it sold over eight million copies worldwide, becoming the best-selling Spanish-language album in history, according to his label. Also, some sources have reported the album's sales as six million copies worldwide. It spent 26 weeks atop the US Billboard Top Latin Albums chart and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).",
"It spent 26 weeks atop the US Billboard Top Latin Albums chart and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). In Canada, the album peaked at number three and was certified double platinum. Vuelve spawned big hits, including the title track, \"La Copa de la Vida\", \"Perdido Sin Ti\" (), and \"La Bomba\" ().",
"Vuelve spawned big hits, including the title track, \"La Copa de la Vida\", \"Perdido Sin Ti\" (), and \"La Bomba\" (). \"La Copa de la Vida\" grew to be an international success, appearing on the charts in more than 60 countries, and reaching number one in 30 countries, Both \"Vuelve\" and \"Perdido Sin Ti\" peaked at number one on the US Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart; the former also reached number one in On July 12, 1998, Martin performed \"La Copa de la Vida\" as the official anthem at the 1998 FIFA World Cup Final in France, in front of more than a billion TV viewers around the world.",
"\"La Copa de la Vida\" grew to be an international success, appearing on the charts in more than 60 countries, and reaching number one in 30 countries, Both \"Vuelve\" and \"Perdido Sin Ti\" peaked at number one on the US Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart; the former also reached number one in On July 12, 1998, Martin performed \"La Copa de la Vida\" as the official anthem at the 1998 FIFA World Cup Final in France, in front of more than a billion TV viewers around the world. To promote Vuelve, Martin embarked on the worldwide Vuelve Tour; he performed in Asia, Australia, Europe, Mexico, South America, and the United States.",
"To promote Vuelve, Martin embarked on the worldwide Vuelve Tour; he performed in Asia, Australia, Europe, Mexico, South America, and the United States. Although Latin music was not important to the Recording Academy or the mainstream music industry at the time, Tommy Mottola, then-chief of Columbia Records, was certain about Martin's stardom and pushed hard to have him on the Grammy Awards ceremony. During an interview with Billboard, Mottola told the magazine about it: \"There was tremendous resistance from the Grammys.",
"During an interview with Billboard, Mottola told the magazine about it: \"There was tremendous resistance from the Grammys. They did not want an 'unknown' to perform, yet we he had already sold 10 million copies of Vuelve worldwide. To me, that was absolutely UNACCEPTABLE.\"",
"To me, that was absolutely UNACCEPTABLE.\" To me, that was absolutely UNACCEPTABLE.\" Finally, on February 24, 1999, cavorting with a 15-piece band alongside and a large number of dancers and percussionists, Martin performed a bilingual version of \"La Copa de La Vida\" at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards, which was greeted with a massive standing ovation and met with acclaim from music critics. At the same night, Vuelve earned Martin his first Grammy award, for Best Latin Pop Performance.",
"At the same night, Vuelve earned Martin his first Grammy award, for Best Latin Pop Performance. After he accepted the award and expressed how important it was to the Latin community, the American singer-songwriter Madonna came on the stage and hugged him. 1999–2000: Crossover to English In October 1998, CNN confirmed that Martin has been working on his first English language album, following the huge success of Vuelve.",
"1999–2000: Crossover to English In October 1998, CNN confirmed that Martin has been working on his first English language album, following the huge success of Vuelve. In April 1999, Billboard revealed the album's title as Ricky Martin in an article, mentioning that the album was initially set for retail on May 25, 1999.",
"In April 1999, Billboard revealed the album's title as Ricky Martin in an article, mentioning that the album was initially set for retail on May 25, 1999. However, the huge interest in the disc, following Martin's performance at the Grammy Awards, encouraged Columbia Records to decide to rush the album to release two weeks ahead of schedule, on May 11. Tom Corson, the senior vice president of marketing at Columbia explained: \"Quite simply, the market has demanded it.",
"Tom Corson, the senior vice president of marketing at Columbia explained: \"Quite simply, the market has demanded it. People have been wanting this record for a while, and it's now reached the point where we have to get it out there immediately.\" Tim Devin, the general manager of Tower Records in New York added about Martin: \"He's always been one of our strongest Latin artists, but interest in him has picked up considerably since that performance.\"",
"Tim Devin, the general manager of Tower Records in New York added about Martin: \"He's always been one of our strongest Latin artists, but interest in him has picked up considerably since that performance.\" Ricky Martin debuted atop the US Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 661,000 copies, according to data compiled by Nielsen SoundScan, becoming the largest sales week by any album in 1999.",
"Ricky Martin debuted atop the US Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 661,000 copies, according to data compiled by Nielsen SoundScan, becoming the largest sales week by any album in 1999. It also broke the record as the largest first-week sales for any pop or Latin artist in history, as well as any Columbia Records artist during the SoundScan era. With this album, Martin became the first male Latin act in history to debut at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart.",
"With this album, Martin became the first male Latin act in history to debut at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart. It was certified 7× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), denoting shipments of over seven million copies in the US and breaking the record as the best-selling album by a Latin artist in the country. Only within three months, Ricky Martin became the best-selling album ever by a Latin artist.",
"Only within three months, Ricky Martin became the best-selling album ever by a Latin artist. According to different sources, the album has sold over 15 million copies or even 17 million copies worldwide. It was nominated for Best Pop Album at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards. The album was supported by four singles; the lead single \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" () topped the charts in more than 20 countries and is considered to be Martin's biggest hit, and one of the best-selling singles of all time.",
"The album was supported by four singles; the lead single \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" () topped the charts in more than 20 countries and is considered to be Martin's biggest hit, and one of the best-selling singles of all time. In the United States, it topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for five consecutive weeks, becoming Martin's first number one single on the chart. Additionally, it broke several records on Billboard charts.",
"Additionally, it broke several records on Billboard charts. Additionally, it broke several records on Billboard charts. It also spent eight consecutive weeks atop the Canada Top Singles chart and topped the country's year-end chart. In the United Kingdom, it debuted at number one and stayed there for three weeks, making Martin the first Puerto Rican artist in history to hit number one. The track was ranked as the best '90s pop song by Elle, and was listed among the Best Latin Songs of All Time by Billboard.",
"The track was ranked as the best '90s pop song by Elle, and was listed among the Best Latin Songs of All Time by Billboard. It was nominated for four categories at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards, including Record of the Year and Song of the Year. Its Spanish version reached the summit of the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart in the United States, and was nominated for Record of the Year at the 2000 Latin Grammy Awards.",
"Its Spanish version reached the summit of the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart in the United States, and was nominated for Record of the Year at the 2000 Latin Grammy Awards. \"She's All I Ever Had\" was released as the second single from the album in June 1999. It peaked at numbers two and three on the US Billboard Hot 100 and Canada Top Singles charts, respectively. The Spanish version, \"Bella\" () topped the charts in five countries, as well as Billboards Hot Latin Tracks chart.",
"The Spanish version, \"Bella\" () topped the charts in five countries, as well as Billboards Hot Latin Tracks chart. To further promote Ricky Martin, he embarked on the worldwide Livin' la Vida Loca Tour. In the United States, the Livin' la Vida Loca Tour was the highest-grossing tour of 2000 by a Latin artist, earning over $36.3 million with 44 dates and drawing 617,488 fans.",
"In the United States, the Livin' la Vida Loca Tour was the highest-grossing tour of 2000 by a Latin artist, earning over $36.3 million with 44 dates and drawing 617,488 fans. According to Billboard Boxscore, the tour grossed $51.3 million in Canada, Mexico, and the United States, with 60 shows and drawing an audience of 875,151. International dates were not reported to Boxscore and would push the tour's grosses higher.",
"According to Billboard Boxscore, the tour grossed $51.3 million in Canada, Mexico, and the United States, with 60 shows and drawing an audience of 875,151. International dates were not reported to Boxscore and would push the tour's grosses higher. 2000–2005: Sound Loaded, Almas del Silencio, and Life While the Livin' la Vida Loca Tour had not been concluded yet, Martin returned to the studio to record his sixth studio album, Sound Loaded. The album was released on November 14, 2000.",
"The album was released on November 14, 2000. The album was released on November 14, 2000. It debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 318,000 copies, according to data compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The album has sold over seven million copies or even eight million copies worldwide, according to different sources, being certified double platinum in the US. The album featured two hit singles, \"She Bangs\" and \"Nobody Wants to Be Lonely\".",
"The album featured two hit singles, \"She Bangs\" and \"Nobody Wants to Be Lonely\". The former reached number one in seven countries, including Italy and Sweden, as well as the top five in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and several other countries. It was nominated for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance at the 43rd Annual Grammy Awards.",
"It was nominated for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance at the 43rd Annual Grammy Awards. The Spanish-language version of \"She Bangs\" reached the summit of the Hot Latin Tracks chart and won the Latin Grammy Award for Best Music Video at the 2nd Annual Latin Grammy Awards. \"Nobody Wants to Be Lonely\" was re-recorded along with American singer Christina Aguilera, peaking at number one in five countries, as well as the top five in Italy, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom, among others.",
"\"Nobody Wants to Be Lonely\" was re-recorded along with American singer Christina Aguilera, peaking at number one in five countries, as well as the top five in Italy, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom, among others. It was nominated for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals at the 44th Annual Grammy Awards. The solo Spanish version, entitled \"Sólo Quiero Amarte\" topped the Hot Latin Tracks chart. Both \"She Bangs\" and \"Nobody Wants to Be Lonely\" are certified silver in the UK.",
"Both \"She Bangs\" and \"Nobody Wants to Be Lonely\" are certified silver in the UK. In February 2001, Martin released a Spanish compilation album entitled La Historia (), which spent five weeks at number one on the Top Latin Albums chart, topped the charts in Argentina and Sweden, and was certified quadruple Latin platinum in the United States.",
"In February 2001, Martin released a Spanish compilation album entitled La Historia (), which spent five weeks at number one on the Top Latin Albums chart, topped the charts in Argentina and Sweden, and was certified quadruple Latin platinum in the United States. Following the success of Ricky Martin and Sound Loaded, he initially planned to release the third English-language album as his seventh studio album, which was supposed to be his first complete work in the field of songwriting.",
"Following the success of Ricky Martin and Sound Loaded, he initially planned to release the third English-language album as his seventh studio album, which was supposed to be his first complete work in the field of songwriting. Despite Sony Music Entertainment's original plan, he decided to release a Spanish-language album: \"I woke up five months ago, and I said 'We're doing an album in Spanish.' Everyone went nuts.",
"Everyone went nuts. Everyone went nuts. They said, 'You don't have time; you have to release an album in English because of timing issues with your career.' And that's fine. But I told them, 'In five months, you'll have a kick-ass album' [in Spanish]. Martin's seventh studio album, Almas del Silencio () was released in May 2003.",
"Martin's seventh studio album, Almas del Silencio () was released in May 2003. It debuted atop the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart with first-week sales of 65,000 copies, according to data compiled by Nielsen SoundScan, breaking the record as the largest first-week sales for a Spanish-language album in the US. The album also debuted at number 12 on Billboard 200, tying the 2002 album, Quizás () as the chart's highest Spanish-language debut.",
"The album also debuted at number 12 on Billboard 200, tying the 2002 album, Quizás () as the chart's highest Spanish-language debut. The album also debuted at number one in \"at least 13 Latin American markets\" and sold over two million copies worldwide. Almas del Silencio spawned three Hot Latin Tracks chart-topper hits: \"Tal Vez\" (), \"Jaleo\", and \"Y Todo Queda en Nada\" ().",
"Almas del Silencio spawned three Hot Latin Tracks chart-topper hits: \"Tal Vez\" (), \"Jaleo\", and \"Y Todo Queda en Nada\" (). \"Tal Vez\" debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart on the week of April 12, 2003, marking the first number one debut since February 1998, and becoming the sixth song overall in the chart's history to do so.",
"\"Tal Vez\" debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart on the week of April 12, 2003, marking the first number one debut since February 1998, and becoming the sixth song overall in the chart's history to do so. It spent a total of 11 weeks at this position, surpassing \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" as Martin's longest number-one single on the chart, and was the longest-running number one of 2003. It also topped the charts in several Latin American markets.",
"It also topped the charts in several Latin American markets. In October 2005, Martin released his third English album, Life. He commented on the album: \"I was really in touch with my emotions. I think this album is very multi-layered, just like life is. It's about feeling anger. It's about feeling joy. It's about feeling uncertainty. It's about feeling. And all my emotions are part of this production\".",
"And all my emotions are part of this production\". To promote Life, Martin embarked on the worldwide One Night Only with Ricky Martin tour. 2006–2012: MTV Unplugged, Música + Alma + Sexo, and Evita Although Martin's team and MTV had discussed an MTV Unplugged for years, but it became more serious after Martin's the One Night Only tour, which featured an acoustic segment. Finally, Martin taped his MTV Unplugged set in Miami in August 2006, performing both romantic ballads and up-tempo tropical dance songs.",
"Finally, Martin taped his MTV Unplugged set in Miami in August 2006, performing both romantic ballads and up-tempo tropical dance songs. During the performance, he debuted three new tracks, including \"Tu Recuerdo\" (), which was released to radio stations as the lead single from his debut live album MTV Unplugged (2006). The album debuted at number one on the Top Latin Albums chart and sold over two million copies worldwide, marking his highest-certified album in Mexico.",
"The album debuted at number one on the Top Latin Albums chart and sold over two million copies worldwide, marking his highest-certified album in Mexico. It won two Latin Grammy awards and was nominated for Album of the Year. \"Tu Recuerdo\" reached number one in five countries, as well as the Billboards Hot Latin Songs and Latin Pop Airplay charts. The track was certified quadruple platinum in Mexico and was nominated for Record of the Year at the 8th Annual Latin Grammy Awards.",
"The track was certified quadruple platinum in Mexico and was nominated for Record of the Year at the 8th Annual Latin Grammy Awards. The artist then embarked on the Black and White Tour in 2007, including four sold-out shows at the José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum in Puerto Rico. The concerts in Puerto Rico were compiled into his second live album Ricky Martin... Live Black & White Tour (2007).",
"The concerts in Puerto Rico were compiled into his second live album Ricky Martin... Live Black & White Tour (2007). Later that year, he released his first Italian song, \"Non siamo soli\" () as a duet with Italian singer Eros Ramazzotti. The song debuted at number one in Italy and spent eleven consecutive weeks atop the chart. In January 2011, Martin launched his ninth studio album, Música + Alma + Sexo ().",
"In January 2011, Martin launched his ninth studio album, Música + Alma + Sexo (). The album debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200 chart, becoming the highest-charting primarily-Spanish language set since Dreaming of You (1995) by American singer Selena. It holds the record as the highest-charting Latin album of the 2010s, and represents the highest-ever chart debut on the Billboard 200 for a Sony Music Latin release.",
"It holds the record as the highest-charting Latin album of the 2010s, and represents the highest-ever chart debut on the Billboard 200 for a Sony Music Latin release. Música + Alma + Sexo also peaked at number one in Argentina and Venezuela, as well as Billboards Top Latin Albums.",
"Música + Alma + Sexo also peaked at number one in Argentina and Venezuela, as well as Billboards Top Latin Albums. Its lead single, \"Lo Mejor de Mi Vida Eres Tú\" (English: \"The Best Thing About Me Is You\") reached number one on the US Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart and was nominated for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Short Form Music Video at the 12th Annual Latin Grammy Awards.",
"Its lead single, \"Lo Mejor de Mi Vida Eres Tú\" (English: \"The Best Thing About Me Is You\") reached number one on the US Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart and was nominated for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Short Form Music Video at the 12th Annual Latin Grammy Awards. To promote the album, Martin embarked on the Música + Alma + Sexo World Tour in 2011.",
"To promote the album, Martin embarked on the Música + Alma + Sexo World Tour in 2011. In February 2012, he appeared as Spanish teacher David Martinez on the twelfth episode of the third season of the American musical television series Glee, The Spanish Teacher. Martin starred as Ché in the Broadway revival of the musical Evita from March 2012 to January 2013. The show became a hit, breaking the theatre's box-office sales record after only six performances.",
"The show became a hit, breaking the theatre's box-office sales record after only six performances. Sine then, it broke its own record six times and was nominated for Best Revival of a Musical at the 66th Tony Awards. The show's soundtrack album debuted at number one on Billboards cast album chart. 2013–2018: The Voice, A Quien Quiera Escuchar, and The Assassination of Gianni Versace Martin served as a coach on the second season of the Australian singing competition television series The Voice in 2013.",
"2013–2018: The Voice, A Quien Quiera Escuchar, and The Assassination of Gianni Versace Martin served as a coach on the second season of the Australian singing competition television series The Voice in 2013. In the same year, he released a compilation album, entitled Greatest Hits: Souvenir Edition, which reached number two in Australia, as well as a new single, entitled \"Come with Me\", which debuted at number three in the country.",
"In the same year, he released a compilation album, entitled Greatest Hits: Souvenir Edition, which reached number two in Australia, as well as a new single, entitled \"Come with Me\", which debuted at number three in the country. The artist then embarked on the Ricky Martin Live tour in Australia in October 2013. He continued serving as a coach on both the third and fourth seasons of The Voice Australia in 2014 and 2015, respectively.",
"He continued serving as a coach on both the third and fourth seasons of The Voice Australia in 2014 and 2015, respectively. In 2014, Lars Brandle from Billboard stated in an article: \"Through his high-profile slot on The Voice, Ricky's profile in Australia has never been as big as it is right now.\"",
"In 2014, Lars Brandle from Billboard stated in an article: \"Through his high-profile slot on The Voice, Ricky's profile in Australia has never been as big as it is right now.\" On February 25, 2014, Wisin released a song titled \"Adrenalina\" () from his album El Regreso del Sobreviviente (), which featured Jennifer Lopez and Martin, and became the Univision's 2014 World Cup song.",
"On February 25, 2014, Wisin released a song titled \"Adrenalina\" () from his album El Regreso del Sobreviviente (), which featured Jennifer Lopez and Martin, and became the Univision's 2014 World Cup song. It received commercial success, peaking in the top-five of Bulgaria, Mexico, Spain, and Billboards Hot Latin Songs chart. Its accompanying music video has accumulated over 850 million views on YouTube. Later that year, Martin released his single \"Vida\" () for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.",
"Later that year, Martin released his single \"Vida\" () for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The song reached the top five in Spain and on the US Hot Latin Songs chart. Also in 2014, he served as a coach on the fourth season of The Voice Mexico, and embarked on the Live in Mexico tour. In February 2015, Martin released his tenth studio album, A Quien Quiera Escuchar ().",
"In February 2015, Martin released his tenth studio album, A Quien Quiera Escuchar (). The album debuted at number one on Billboards Top Latin Albums chart and peaked at number one in Argentina. It won the award for Best Latin Pop Album at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards and Album of the Year at the 1st Latin American Music Awards. The album spawned three Hot Latin Songs top-10 hits: \"Adiós\" (), \"Disparo al Corazón\" (), and \"La Mordidita\" ().",
"The album spawned three Hot Latin Songs top-10 hits: \"Adiós\" (), \"Disparo al Corazón\" (), and \"La Mordidita\" (). \"Disparo al Corazón\" was nominated for both Record of the Year and Song of the Year at the 16th Annual Latin Grammy Awards. \"La Mordidita\" experienced huge commercial success, being certified 15× Latin platinum in the United States. Its accompanying music video has received over 1.2 billion views on YouTube.",
"Its accompanying music video has received over 1.2 billion views on YouTube. To promote the album, Martin embarked on the One World Tour from 2015 to 2017. He served as an executive producer and a judge on the American singing competition series La Banda (), which premiered in 2015 and 2016 on Univision. The first season was \"looking for the next Latin boy band\", while the second season was looking for a Latin girl band.",
"The first season was \"looking for the next Latin boy band\", while the second season was looking for a Latin girl band. The contestants would compete for a recording deal with Sony Music Latin and Syco Music. CNCO, known as the first boy band to make reggaeton, was the winner of the first season.",
"CNCO, known as the first boy band to make reggaeton, was the winner of the first season. Martin became their manager and produced the band's debut album, Primera Cita () (2016), along with Wisin; the album debuted at number one on Top Latin Albums and featured the hit single \"Reggaetón Lento (Bailemos)\" (). CNCO opened many dates on One World Tour in 2016.",
"CNCO opened many dates on One World Tour in 2016. In 2020, Leila Cobo from Billboard compared the group with Menudo, noting: \"Not since Menudo had a Latin boy band melted our hearts or made us dance quite like CNCO\". On September 23, 2016, Martin released a song called \"Vente Pa' Ca\" (), featuring Colombian singer Maluma.",
"On September 23, 2016, Martin released a song called \"Vente Pa' Ca\" (), featuring Colombian singer Maluma. The song became one of the biggest Spanish-language songs of 2016, reaching number one in seven countries, as well as Billboards Latin Airplay, Latin Pop Airplay, and Tropical Airplay charts. It also reached top five in Spain and on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs, being certified quadruple platinum in Spain and diamond in Mexico.",
"It also reached top five in Spain and on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs, being certified quadruple platinum in Spain and diamond in Mexico. The track was nominated for both Record of the Year and Song of the Year at the 18th Annual Latin Grammy Awards. The accompanying music video has received over 1.75 billion views on YouTube. Martin signed a concert residency, named All In, to perform at the Monte Carlo Resort and Casino in Las Vegas in 2017 and 2018.",
"Martin signed a concert residency, named All In, to perform at the Monte Carlo Resort and Casino in Las Vegas in 2017 and 2018. He portrayed fashion designer Gianni Versace's partner Antonio D'Amico in the FX true crime anthology television series The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, marking \"the acting opportunity of his career\". The role garnered him a nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Limited Series Or Movie at the 70th Primetime Emmy Awards.",
"The role garnered him a nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Limited Series Or Movie at the 70th Primetime Emmy Awards. Running from January to March 2018, The Assassination of Gianni Versace received generally favorable reviews and numerous awards and nominations, including three Primetime Emmy Awards, four Creative Arts Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, two Critics' Choice Television Awards, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. In February 2018, Martin released a song titled \"Fiebre\" (), featuring Wisin & Yandel.",
"In February 2018, Martin released a song titled \"Fiebre\" (), featuring Wisin & Yandel. The song was commercially successful in Latin America, reaching number one in Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, and Uruguay. It also reached the summit of the Billboard Latin Airplay and Latin Rhythm Airplay charts.",
"It also reached the summit of the Billboard Latin Airplay and Latin Rhythm Airplay charts. 2019–present: Amici di Maria De Filippi, PausaPlay, and Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey At the 61st Annual Grammy Awards, Martin performed \"Havana\", \"Pégate\" (), and \"Mi Gente\" (), alongside Camila Cabello, J Balvin, Young Thug, and Arturo Sandoval, as the opening performance.",
"2019–present: Amici di Maria De Filippi, PausaPlay, and Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey At the 61st Annual Grammy Awards, Martin performed \"Havana\", \"Pégate\" (), and \"Mi Gente\" (), alongside Camila Cabello, J Balvin, Young Thug, and Arturo Sandoval, as the opening performance. Martin served as a coach on the eighteenth season of the Italian talent show Amici di Maria De Filippi () in 2019.",
"Martin served as a coach on the eighteenth season of the Italian talent show Amici di Maria De Filippi () in 2019. In the same year, Maluma released a song called \"No Se Me Quita\" () from his album 11:11, which featured Martin. The song reached number one in Mexico and was certified quadruple platinum in the country. Martin hosted the 20th Annual Latin Grammy Awards in November 2019, along with Roselyn Sánchez and Paz Vega.",
"Martin hosted the 20th Annual Latin Grammy Awards in November 2019, along with Roselyn Sánchez and Paz Vega. The artist started recording his eleventh studio album, initially titled Movimiento (), in the second half of 2019, inspired by the 2019 political protests in Puerto Rico. He embarked on the Movimiento Tour in 2020.",
"He embarked on the Movimiento Tour in 2020. He embarked on the Movimiento Tour in 2020. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent personal experiences, he decided to split the tour's associated album in two extended plays, Pausa () and Play; the former was released in May 2020, while the latter is set to release as his eleventh studio album. Pausa was nominated for Album of the Year and won the award for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 21st Annual Latin Grammy Awards.",
"Pausa was nominated for Album of the Year and won the award for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 21st Annual Latin Grammy Awards. The second single from the EP, \"Tiburones\" () reached number one in Argentina and Puerto Rico, and was also nominated for Song of the Year at the 21st Annual Latin Grammy Awards. Martin starred as the voice of villainous miniature figure Don Juan Diego in the American Christmas musical fantasy film Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey.",
"Martin starred as the voice of villainous miniature figure Don Juan Diego in the American Christmas musical fantasy film Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey. The film was released on Netflix on November 13, 2020, and received generally favorable reviews. In April 2021, Martin released his hit single \"Canción Bonita\" () with Colombian singer Carlos Vives, which experienced huge commercial success in Latin America, reaching number one in 12 countries.",
"In April 2021, Martin released his hit single \"Canción Bonita\" () with Colombian singer Carlos Vives, which experienced huge commercial success in Latin America, reaching number one in 12 countries. It was also nominated for Song of the Year and Best Pop Song at the 22nd Annual Latin Grammy Awards. Later that year, he released \"Qué Rico Fuera\" () with Chilean-American singer Paloma Mami, as the lead single from Play.",
"Later that year, he released \"Qué Rico Fuera\" () with Chilean-American singer Paloma Mami, as the lead single from Play. The song peaked at number one in four countries, as well as the top 10 on Billboards Latin Pop Airplay. In the same year, he embarked on his first co-headlining tour, the Enrique Iglesias and Ricky Martin Live in Concert alongside Spanish singer Enrique Iglesias.",
"In the same year, he embarked on his first co-headlining tour, the Enrique Iglesias and Ricky Martin Live in Concert alongside Spanish singer Enrique Iglesias. Artistry Influences As a child, Martin used to sing songs by Menudo and American rock bands such as Led Zeppelin, Journey, and REO Speedwagon, which were what his \"older siblings were listening to at the time\". While Martin and his brothers spent their time listening to classic rock, their mother would interrupt them to make them listen to Latin music.",
"While Martin and his brothers spent their time listening to classic rock, their mother would interrupt them to make them listen to Latin music. She brought him CDs of Fania All-Stars, Celia Cruz, El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, and Gilberto Santa Rosa that slowly made him appreciate the richness of Puerto Rican culture. Also, she once took them to a Fania All-Stars concert, which Martin is \"beyond grateful\" for it.",
"Also, she once took them to a Fania All-Stars concert, which Martin is \"beyond grateful\" for it. He expresses that thanks to her mother, those influences had a \"profound effect\" on his musical career. Martin has also cited Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Michael Jackson, and Madonna for teaching him \"the beauty of pop\". He stated about Madonna: \"I was very influenced by her and her music. I know every choreography of Madonna.\"",
"I know every choreography of Madonna.\" I know every choreography of Madonna.\" Additionally, he mentions Carlos Santana, José Feliciano, Celia Cruz, and Gloria Estefan as the artists who paved the way for him, naming Feliciano as one of the people who inspired him when he was a teenager: \"I was always fascinated with his music.\" In addition to the musical influences, Martin is inspired by David Bowie's \"ambiguous sexuality\".",
"In addition to the musical influences, Martin is inspired by David Bowie's \"ambiguous sexuality\". While growing up, he used to ask himself if he wanted to be like the openly gay singer Elton John or he just liked him, admiring his music, colors, and wigs.",
"While growing up, he used to ask himself if he wanted to be like the openly gay singer Elton John or he just liked him, admiring his music, colors, and wigs. Musical styles and themes Considered to be a versatile artist, Martin describes his music as Latin pop, saying: \"When you say 'Latin pop', the spectrum is so broad, It's inevitable to not be influenced by everything that’s happening in the industry, but always keeping your identity firm by knowing who you are.\"",
"Musical styles and themes Considered to be a versatile artist, Martin describes his music as Latin pop, saying: \"When you say 'Latin pop', the spectrum is so broad, It's inevitable to not be influenced by everything that’s happening in the industry, but always keeping your identity firm by knowing who you are.\" He has also described his music as fusion, while noting that he does not \"ride the waves that are in fashion at the moment\".",
"He has also described his music as fusion, while noting that he does not \"ride the waves that are in fashion at the moment\". Music critics have described his songs as Latin pop, pop, dance, ballad, reggaeton, Latin, African, rock, salsa, flamenco, urban, samba, cumbia, merengue, rumba, Latin funk, bomba, batucada, vallenato, dancehall, mambo, Europop, house, disco, EDM, dance-pop, electro, techno, dubstep, world music, Middle Eastern, folk-pop, bossa nova, pop rock, soft pop, soft rock, R&B, gospel, jazz, trap, hip hop, doo-wop, ska, and rock' n' roll.",
"Music critics have described his songs as Latin pop, pop, dance, ballad, reggaeton, Latin, African, rock, salsa, flamenco, urban, samba, cumbia, merengue, rumba, Latin funk, bomba, batucada, vallenato, dancehall, mambo, Europop, house, disco, EDM, dance-pop, electro, techno, dubstep, world music, Middle Eastern, folk-pop, bossa nova, pop rock, soft pop, soft rock, R&B, gospel, jazz, trap, hip hop, doo-wop, ska, and rock' n' roll. Martin sings in Spanish, English, Portuguese, Italian, and French.",
"Martin sings in Spanish, English, Portuguese, Italian, and French. About his lyrics, Martin has emphasized that although his music will always make the listener dance, it does not mean his lyrics \"have to be meaningless\" and he sings about love and heartbreak, as well as \"things that are good for a society\", such as \"freedom, freedom of expression, and social justice\".",
"About his lyrics, Martin has emphasized that although his music will always make the listener dance, it does not mean his lyrics \"have to be meaningless\" and he sings about love and heartbreak, as well as \"things that are good for a society\", such as \"freedom, freedom of expression, and social justice\". He has also declared that as a Latino, he is not afraid of sexuality and sings about sexuality and sensuality, bringing his culture with him onstage.",
"He has also declared that as a Latino, he is not afraid of sexuality and sings about sexuality and sensuality, bringing his culture with him onstage. Voice Martin possesses a dramatic tenor vocal range. Peter Gilstrap from Variety commented that his \"powerful voice\" is \"capable of belt or lilt\", while The Jerusalem Posts Noa Amouyal described his voice as \"soulful\" and \"very powerful\". In 1995, Enrique Lopetegui of the Los Angeles Times noted Martin's \"improved vocal skills\" on A Medio Vivir.",
"In 1995, Enrique Lopetegui of the Los Angeles Times noted Martin's \"improved vocal skills\" on A Medio Vivir. Also from the Los Angeles Times, Ernesto Lechner later praised his vocal for being \"charismatic enough to handle both ballads and up-tempo tunes\". Similarly, Billboards Chuck Taylor expressed \"She's All I Ever Had\" boasts \"a versatility that contrasts nicely\" with Martin's previous single, \"Livin' la Vida Loca\", labeling his vocal on the former \"tender and heartfelt\".",
"Similarly, Billboards Chuck Taylor expressed \"She's All I Ever Had\" boasts \"a versatility that contrasts nicely\" with Martin's previous single, \"Livin' la Vida Loca\", labeling his vocal on the former \"tender and heartfelt\". Steve Gerrard of the Montreal Rocks complimented \"his vocal maturity\" on A Quien Quiera Escuchar.",
"Steve Gerrard of the Montreal Rocks complimented \"his vocal maturity\" on A Quien Quiera Escuchar. Music videos and performances Billboard labeled Martin \"a video icon\", and ranked him as the 79th Greatest Music Video Artist of All Time in 2020, stating: \"From the moment he sashayed up to the mic in 'Livin La Vida Loca' all dressed in black, and gave us that look, the Menudo alum became the most memorable and watchable drop-dead handsome guy in pop music.\"",
"Music videos and performances Billboard labeled Martin \"a video icon\", and ranked him as the 79th Greatest Music Video Artist of All Time in 2020, stating: \"From the moment he sashayed up to the mic in 'Livin La Vida Loca' all dressed in black, and gave us that look, the Menudo alum became the most memorable and watchable drop-dead handsome guy in pop music.\" He has collaborated with various directors to produce his music videos, including Carlos Perez, Wayne Isham, Jessy Terrero, Simón Brand, Gustavo Garzón, Nigel Dick, Kacho Lopez, and Memo del Bosque.",
"He has collaborated with various directors to produce his music videos, including Carlos Perez, Wayne Isham, Jessy Terrero, Simón Brand, Gustavo Garzón, Nigel Dick, Kacho Lopez, and Memo del Bosque. \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" was nominated for Video of the Year at the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards, making Martin the first Latin artist in history to receive a nomination in this category.",
"\"Livin' la Vida Loca\" was nominated for Video of the Year at the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards, making Martin the first Latin artist in history to receive a nomination in this category. It won two primary awards for Best Pop Video and Best Dance Video, and was voted three additional awards in the International Viewer's Choice categories, making it rank among the videos with most wins in the history of the MTV Video Music Awards.",
"It won two primary awards for Best Pop Video and Best Dance Video, and was voted three additional awards in the International Viewer's Choice categories, making it rank among the videos with most wins in the history of the MTV Video Music Awards. The explicit sexual scenes of the music video for \"She Bangs\" were met with criticism from the audience; several American television stations cut the scenes when airing the video.",
"The explicit sexual scenes of the music video for \"She Bangs\" were met with criticism from the audience; several American television stations cut the scenes when airing the video. According to the Daily Records John Dingwall, with the visual, Martin ditched his teen idol image by transforming to a more mature one. It was consequently banned in several Latin American countries, such as the Dominican Republic. Martin told MTV News that the video represented freedom rather than his sexuality.",
"Martin told MTV News that the video represented freedom rather than his sexuality. The video was awarded Best Music Video at the 2nd Annual Latin Grammy Awards, Best Clip of the Year — Latin at the 2001 Billboard Music Video Awards, and Video of the Year at the 13th Lo Nuestro Awards. Martin has been noticed for \"dance moves of his own\" and his \"bon-bon shaking dance moves\".",
"Martin has been noticed for \"dance moves of his own\" and his \"bon-bon shaking dance moves\". Carol Sandoval from VIX named him the \"best dancer on any stage worldwide\", highlighting his hips movement and \"successful turns\". He was ranked as the ninth best male dancer by the Evening Standard and the tenth Male Singer Who Can Dance by WatchMojo, being the only Latin entertainer on both lists. Writing for The Hollywood Reporter, Scott Feinberg introduced Martin as \"an incredible dancer\".",
"Writing for The Hollywood Reporter, Scott Feinberg introduced Martin as \"an incredible dancer\". Billboards Jessica Roiz labeled him \"a true showman\", noting his \"many outfit changes\", \"various dance performances\", and \"different stage set for each song\".",
"Billboards Jessica Roiz labeled him \"a true showman\", noting his \"many outfit changes\", \"various dance performances\", and \"different stage set for each song\". Jon Pareles of The New York Times described him as \"an all-around showman\" and Varietys Peter Gilstrap called him \"every inch the showman\", both recognizing his vocal abilities, while the former also commented he is \"a dancer as muscular and hard-working as anyone in his troupe\", mentioning his \"likable, good-hearted character\" and \"steadfast Puerto Rican pride\".",
"Jon Pareles of The New York Times described him as \"an all-around showman\" and Varietys Peter Gilstrap called him \"every inch the showman\", both recognizing his vocal abilities, while the former also commented he is \"a dancer as muscular and hard-working as anyone in his troupe\", mentioning his \"likable, good-hearted character\" and \"steadfast Puerto Rican pride\". Music critics have mostly praised his concerts for the choreographies, video screens, visual effects, stage, Latin influences, and Martin's vocals, costume changes, energy, sensuality, dance moves, and gestures, while the quality of sounds and sound mixes have received mixed reviews.",
"Music critics have mostly praised his concerts for the choreographies, video screens, visual effects, stage, Latin influences, and Martin's vocals, costume changes, energy, sensuality, dance moves, and gestures, while the quality of sounds and sound mixes have received mixed reviews. Billboards Marjua Estevez described Martin's performance of \"La Copa de la Vida\" at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards as \"the most memorable Latin performance at a Grammy Awards show\", and the publication ranked it as the 54th Greatest Award Show Performance of All Time on their 2017 list.",
"Billboards Marjua Estevez described Martin's performance of \"La Copa de la Vida\" at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards as \"the most memorable Latin performance at a Grammy Awards show\", and the publication ranked it as the 54th Greatest Award Show Performance of All Time on their 2017 list. The performance was additionally placed on a 2017 unranked list of \"Top 20 Best Grammy Performances of All Time\" by Gold Derby, and on a 2019 list of \"The Most Unforgettable Grammys Performances of All Time\" by InStyle.",
"The performance was additionally placed on a 2017 unranked list of \"Top 20 Best Grammy Performances of All Time\" by Gold Derby, and on a 2019 list of \"The Most Unforgettable Grammys Performances of All Time\" by InStyle. Public image Martin became a teen idol with his debut as a member of Menudo, and a pop icon following global fame as a solo artist. Journalists have written about his humble personality and \"beautiful soul\".",
"Journalists have written about his humble personality and \"beautiful soul\". Writing for The Hollywood Reporter, Scott Feinberg introduced Martin as \"one of the most acclaimed and admired creative artists ever\". La República staff described him as \"one of the most admired and desired singers\", while authors of ¡Hola!",
"La República staff described him as \"one of the most admired and desired singers\", while authors of ¡Hola! described him as \"one of the most respected Latin stars in the world\", \"one of the most prodigious voices in music in Spanish\", and \"one of the most beloved talents in the entertainment industry worldwide\".",
"described him as \"one of the most respected Latin stars in the world\", \"one of the most prodigious voices in music in Spanish\", and \"one of the most beloved talents in the entertainment industry worldwide\". Also from ¡Hola!, Cristina Noé named him \"one of the most loved artists in the world\", while a writer of Clarín named him \"one of the most applauded Latin singers on the planet\".",
"Also from ¡Hola!, Cristina Noé named him \"one of the most loved artists in the world\", while a writer of Clarín named him \"one of the most applauded Latin singers on the planet\". Metro Puerto Rico stated that he \"raised the name of Puerto Rico internationally\". He was ranked as one of the top-10 \"emerging personalities\" of 2010 by Google Zeitgeist.",
"He was ranked as one of the top-10 \"emerging personalities\" of 2010 by Google Zeitgeist. In 2014, Gay Star News referred to Martin as \"the most famous Latin pop star in the world\", while Variety described him as \"Puerto Rico's arguably most famous son\" in 2021. He is ranked as the second-most famous Latin music artist in the United States, according to YouGov surveys in 2021.",
"He is ranked as the second-most famous Latin music artist in the United States, according to YouGov surveys in 2021. During the 2000s, Martin was known for \"guarding his private life\" and being \"uncomfortable discussing intimate aspects of his personal life\"; he used to insist on asking public to focus on his music and \"steered interviewers away from his personal life\". However, he chose to live both his \"professional and personal life\", making his private life public since the early 2010s.",
"However, he chose to live both his \"professional and personal life\", making his private life public since the early 2010s. In 2021, he went on the cover of People with the title \"No More Secrets\" and told the magazine that he is \"a man with no secrets\", stating that he is \"more comfortable in his own skin than ever before\". Martin is one of the most followed celebrities on social media, with accounts on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok.",
"Martin is one of the most followed celebrities on social media, with accounts on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok. He stated about social media that he wishes he had \"something as powerful as\" them since his debut: \"Obviously I like to have direct contact with the public, with the media. It's extremely important, but today, from my home, I can talk to millions of people and see their immediate reaction.\"",
"It's extremely important, but today, from my home, I can talk to millions of people and see their immediate reaction.\" He is noticed for his friendly interactions with his fans, who are called \"Sexy Souls\". Wax statues of Martin are on display at the Madame Tussauds wax museums in San Francisco, Sydney, and Orlando. The last one was moved from Las Vegas to Orlando for the opening of the museum in spring 2015.",
"The last one was moved from Las Vegas to Orlando for the opening of the museum in spring 2015. Fashion Martin is considered to be a sex symbol, and journalists describe him as \"the Latin heartthrob\". His fashion and style evolution, from \"as '80s as you'd expect\" during his time with Menudo to \"a style groove, often opting for sharp, tailored suits with clean lines\" since 2009, has been noticed by the media. Natalia Trejo from ¡Hola!",
"Natalia Trejo from ¡Hola! Natalia Trejo from ¡Hola! described him as \"one of the most stylish Latin men in the entertainment industry\", highlighting his \"baggy leather pants\", \"tailored suits\", and \"color-block blazers\" that have marked \"some of the noteworthy trends of each decade\". The reviewer also commented that Martin is \"an example of mixing business with casual\" and has \"always had a personal sense of style\".",
"The reviewer also commented that Martin is \"an example of mixing business with casual\" and has \"always had a personal sense of style\". JD Institute of Fashion Technology views Martin as a fashion icon, praising him for \"pushing the fashion boundaries with every new look\". In 1997, he went on the cover of People en Españols first edition of 25 Most Beautiful; he has since \"been a constant presence\" on their 25 or 50 Most Beautiful lists.",
"In 1997, he went on the cover of People en Españols first edition of 25 Most Beautiful; he has since \"been a constant presence\" on their 25 or 50 Most Beautiful lists. Two years later, he was featured on the cover of both Rolling Stone and Time magazines. Martin is considered to be one of the sexiest men in the world, according to various publications. In 2012, he was voted the sexiest man alive on Broadway.com.",
"In 2012, he was voted the sexiest man alive on Broadway.com. The following year, VH1 ranked him as the 28th Sexiest Artist of All Time, stating: \"Ricky looks like the model in the magazine ads you stare at in awe thinking, 'There's no way he's that perfect in person'.\" In 2014, Entertainment Tonight listed him among the Sexiest Men Alive, while Revista Estilo placed him on the list of \"the 10 Sexiest Singers\" in 2016.",
"In 2014, Entertainment Tonight listed him among the Sexiest Men Alive, while Revista Estilo placed him on the list of \"the 10 Sexiest Singers\" in 2016. He was ranked at number 16 on the list of \"the 50 Hottest Men of All Time\" by Harper's Bazaar in 2018, being the only Latin man on their list. In 2019, TN described Martin as \"the sexiest man in the world\".",
"In 2019, TN described Martin as \"the sexiest man in the world\". He has been noted for looking younger than his age, with Billboards Chris Payne labeling him \"ageless\". The singer has attended several fashion shows, including the Giorgio Armani show at Milan Fashion Week in 2011, the Marc Jacobs show in 2013, the Berluti menswear spring-summer 2020 show at Paris Fashion Week, the Dior men's pre-fall 2020 show, and the Virgil Abloh Spring-Summer 2022 show held by Louis Vuitton.",
"The singer has attended several fashion shows, including the Giorgio Armani show at Milan Fashion Week in 2011, the Marc Jacobs show in 2013, the Berluti menswear spring-summer 2020 show at Paris Fashion Week, the Dior men's pre-fall 2020 show, and the Virgil Abloh Spring-Summer 2022 show held by Louis Vuitton. Personal life Sexual orientation and early relationships According to an interview with Rolling Stone in 1999, Martin experienced his first kiss at age 13 and lost his virginity at age 14 in Argentina.",
"Personal life Sexual orientation and early relationships According to an interview with Rolling Stone in 1999, Martin experienced his first kiss at age 13 and lost his virginity at age 14 in Argentina. In 1990, shortly after he had arrived in Mexico to star in Mama Ama el Rock, he met a woman, who was the host of a television show. They began dating quickly and broke up a few months later.",
"They began dating quickly and broke up a few months later. In 1992, he fell in love with Mexican singer Alejandra Guzmán, who was separated from her husband at the time. They began dating together until Guzmán returned to her husband and pretended Martin was her assistant on a phone call, while she was sleeping with her husband. In an interview with Univision, Martin admitted that she broke his heart. In the same year, Martin was rumored to have a relationship with Argentine tennis player Gabriela Sabatini.",
"In the same year, Martin was rumored to have a relationship with Argentine tennis player Gabriela Sabatini. Sabatini's sister-in-law, Catherine Fulop confirmed the rumor in 2020. During the time he was playing in General Hospital, he met a \"very handsome\" man at a radio station, \"stopped fearing [his] sexuality\", and started dating him.",
"During the time he was playing in General Hospital, he met a \"very handsome\" man at a radio station, \"stopped fearing [his] sexuality\", and started dating him. Martin's mother supported him when she discovered that he was in love with a man, saying: \"I love you, my son, I'm so happy for you. Bring it on. I'm right behind you.\"",
"Bring it on. I'm right behind you.\" I'm right behind you.\" However, after the relationship ended, Martin \"locked [his] feelings even deeper inside\" and began dating women again. He recalls: \"I already felt it was hard to be a Latino in Hollywood; what could have been more difficult than being Latino and gay?\" Martin began dating Mexican television host Rebecca de Alba in 1994; they were in an on-and-off relationship until 2005.",
"Martin began dating Mexican television host Rebecca de Alba in 1994; they were in an on-and-off relationship until 2005. In May 2021, Alba revealed that she became pregnant several times in her life, but lost all of the embryos, expressing that one of them belonged to Martin. Martin also had relationships with Lilly Melgar, Adriana Biega, Maital Saban, and Inés Misan during his break-up times with Alba in the late 1990s and early 2000s.",
"Martin also had relationships with Lilly Melgar, Adriana Biega, Maital Saban, and Inés Misan during his break-up times with Alba in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He declared that \"there was chemistry with them\" and he \"wasn't fooling anyone\". In August 2008, Martin became a father to twin boys named Matteo and Valentino, born via gestational surrogacy.",
"In August 2008, Martin became a father to twin boys named Matteo and Valentino, born via gestational surrogacy. He explained that he chose surrogacy to become a parent for being \"intriguing and faster\" than adoption, which was complicated and could take a long time. In March 2010, Martin publicly came out as gay via a message on his website, stating: \"I am proud to say that I am a fortunate homosexual man. I am very blessed to be who I am.\"",
"I am very blessed to be who I am.\" Years later, he revealed that although his music was \"heard all over the world\" and he \"could high five God\" in 1999, he \"wasn't living to the fullest\" and was sad and depressed. He kept asking himself, \"Am I gay? Am I bisexual? Am I confused? What am I? \", explaining: \"Sexuality is one complicated thing. It's not black and white. It's filled with colors.",
"It's not black and white. It's filled with colors. It's filled with colors. When I was dating women, I was in love with women. It felt right, it felt beautiful.\" In an interview with Vanity Fair, he declared: \"There was love, passion. I do not regret anything, any of the relationships I lived, they taught me a lot, both men and women.\" Martin also told Fama!",
"Martin also told Fama! Martin also told Fama! : \"I know that I like both men and women, I'm against sexual labels, we are simply human beings with emotional and sexual needs. I like to enjoy sex in total freedom, so I'm open to having sex with a woman if I feel desire.\" Despite this, he expressed that he wouldn't be interested in \"an ongoing relationship with a woman\", stating: \"Men are my thing\".",
"Despite this, he expressed that he wouldn't be interested in \"an ongoing relationship with a woman\", stating: \"Men are my thing\". In 2000, American broadcast journalist Barbara Walters asked Martin about his sexuality on national television: \"You could stop these rumors. You could say, 'Yes I am gay or no I'm not.'\"",
"You could say, 'Yes I am gay or no I'm not.'\" In 2021, Martin, who answered with \"I just don't feel like it\" at the time, revealed that her question made him \"felt violated\", since he \"was just not ready to come out\" and was \"very afraid\"; he said that it resulted \"a little PTSD\" that \"still haunts him\".",
"In 2021, Martin, who answered with \"I just don't feel like it\" at the time, revealed that her question made him \"felt violated\", since he \"was just not ready to come out\" and was \"very afraid\"; he said that it resulted \"a little PTSD\" that \"still haunts him\". Martin dated Puerto Rican economist Carlos González Abella from 2010 to 2014, as his first relationship with a man after his coming out as gay.",
"Martin dated Puerto Rican economist Carlos González Abella from 2010 to 2014, as his first relationship with a man after his coming out as gay. Marriage Syrian-Swedish painter Jwan Yosef shared a photo of himself and Martin on Instagram on March 30, 2016, with the caption: \"Obviously we're starting a band.\" Soon it was rumored that Yosef is Martin's new boyfriend. Martin confirmed their relationship on April 18, 2016, and they made their red carpet debut as a couple at the amfAR Inspiration Gala.",
"Martin confirmed their relationship on April 18, 2016, and they made their red carpet debut as a couple at the amfAR Inspiration Gala. Martin later revealed that he met Yosef on Instagram and they \"were talking for like six months without [him] hearing his voice\". Subsequently, Martin went to London, where Yosef were living, and they met each other. On November 15, 2016, during an interview on The Ellen Show, he announced that he has proposed to Yosef and they are engaged.",
"On November 15, 2016, during an interview on The Ellen Show, he announced that he has proposed to Yosef and they are engaged. In January 2018, Martin confirmed that he has secretly married Yosef: \"I'm a husband, but we're doing a heavy party in a couple of months, I'll let you know.\" On December 31, 2018, they announced that they have welcomed their first daughter together, named Lucia Martin-Yosef.",
"On December 31, 2018, they announced that they have welcomed their first daughter together, named Lucia Martin-Yosef. Martin later explained that Lucia was born on December 24, coinciding with his 47th birthday. In September 2019, while accepting an award at the 23rd annual Human Rights Campaign (HRC) National Dinner, he announced that they are expecting their fourth child.",
"In September 2019, while accepting an award at the 23rd annual Human Rights Campaign (HRC) National Dinner, he announced that they are expecting their fourth child. On October 29, 2019, he shared a photo of himself, Yosef, and their new-born son, named Renn Martin-Yosef, with the caption: \"Our son Renn Martin-Yosef has been born.\"",
"On October 29, 2019, he shared a photo of himself, Yosef, and their new-born son, named Renn Martin-Yosef, with the caption: \"Our son Renn Martin-Yosef has been born.\" Beliefs and religion During an interview with People in 2002, Martin expressed that he believes in \"love\", \"the power of healing\", and \"God\", thanks to his parents. The name he chose for his son Matteo means \"gift from God\".",
"The name he chose for his son Matteo means \"gift from God\". According to his statements in a 2021 interview, he still believes in God. He was raised Catholic but he said is not \"the person who would ever look down upon one religion\".",
"He was raised Catholic but he said is not \"the person who would ever look down upon one religion\". He expressed that he also admires and likes Buddhist philosophy, but does not subscribe to the religion, since if he does, he cannot \"be of anything else\"; he does not want to be limited in certain aspects and follow a religion's specific rules.",
"He expressed that he also admires and likes Buddhist philosophy, but does not subscribe to the religion, since if he does, he cannot \"be of anything else\"; he does not want to be limited in certain aspects and follow a religion's specific rules. He tries to remain \"open to everything\" and makes \"a concerted effort to always find new teachings and new paths\" everywhere he goes and in every situation he finds himself in.",
"He tries to remain \"open to everything\" and makes \"a concerted effort to always find new teachings and new paths\" everywhere he goes and in every situation he finds himself in. Martin believes that everyone can \"decide what makes them happy\" and although \"everyone needs to accept the life they were given\", it does not mean they \"should not live it as fully as possible\". Health and sports Martin began practicing yoga after a trip to Thailand in 1997.",
"Health and sports Martin began practicing yoga after a trip to Thailand in 1997. He also began practicing meditation following a trip to India. In 2021, he explained that he gets up every morning at 5:30, before his family and puts himself in a lotus position and oxygenates his body. He also expressed that has a gym in his house, saying: \"If I have space to see myself in the mirror and put on my products, then I also have to have space for my body.\"",
"He also expressed that has a gym in his house, saying: \"If I have space to see myself in the mirror and put on my products, then I also have to have space for my body.\" During an appearance on The Dr. Oz Show in 2017, Martin revealed that he \"was diagnosed with high cholesterol\" at age 18.",
"During an appearance on The Dr. Oz Show in 2017, Martin revealed that he \"was diagnosed with high cholesterol\" at age 18. Although he did not pay attention to the high cholesterol at the time, it made him decide to become a vegetarian since 2013 to reduce cholesterol, despite loving meat as \"a Latin man\". In 2020, he opened up that he suffered from anxiety for the first time in his life, following the COVID-19 lockdowns, stating that making music became his \"medicine\".",
"In 2020, he opened up that he suffered from anxiety for the first time in his life, following the COVID-19 lockdowns, stating that making music became his \"medicine\". Real estate In March 2001, Martin purchased a 7,082-square-feet house in Miami Beach for $6.4 million; he sold the unit for $10.6 million in 2005. In September 2004, he paid $11.9 million for a 11,000-square-feet Mediterranean-style villa in Los Angeles, which he sold in 2006 for $15 million.",
"In September 2004, he paid $11.9 million for a 11,000-square-feet Mediterranean-style villa in Los Angeles, which he sold in 2006 for $15 million. In May 2005, he purchased a 9,491-square-feet house in Miami Beach for $10 million; he sold the villa for $10.6 million in 2012. In 2007, he paid $16.2 million for a mansion in Golden Beach. He sold the property in 2012 for $12.8 million, incurring a loss.",
"He sold the property in 2012 for $12.8 million, incurring a loss. In the same year, he bought a 3,147-square-feet condominium in New York City for $5.9 million; he sold the condo for $7.1 million in 2017. In 2014, he rented a 900-square-metre mansion in Sydney, which became famous as \"the Bronte Wave House\" and was sold for $16 million in May 2015, marking one of the most expensive properties sold in the city that year.",
"In 2014, he rented a 900-square-metre mansion in Sydney, which became famous as \"the Bronte Wave House\" and was sold for $16 million in May 2015, marking one of the most expensive properties sold in the city that year. In December 2016, he purchased a 11,300-square-feet mansion in Beverly Hills. The estate, which is Martin's current house, has seven bedrooms and eight bathrooms with outdoor seating areas scattered throughout a 33,000-square-feet.",
"The estate, which is Martin's current house, has seven bedrooms and eight bathrooms with outdoor seating areas scattered throughout a 33,000-square-feet. It is a \"private getaway in the middle of the city\", located up the street from the Beverly Hills Hotel. Martin also owns a property in Puerto Rico and a private 19.7-acre island in Brazil. He purchased the latter for $8 million in 2008.",
"He purchased the latter for $8 million in 2008. Legacy and influence Martin has been regarded as the \"King of Latin Pop\" by various publications, such as the Grammy Awards, Billboard, Rolling Stone, Time, People, Vogue, The Independent, Entertainment Weekly, Entertainment Tonight Canada, NBC News, and ABC News.",
"Legacy and influence Martin has been regarded as the \"King of Latin Pop\" by various publications, such as the Grammy Awards, Billboard, Rolling Stone, Time, People, Vogue, The Independent, Entertainment Weekly, Entertainment Tonight Canada, NBC News, and ABC News. Additionally, he has been referred to as the \"King of Latin Music\", the \"Latin Pop God\", the \"Latin King of Pop\", the \"Latin American King of Pop\", the \"Latin King\", the \"Crossover Latin King\", the \"Puerto Rican Pop King\", the \"Salsa-Pop King\", and the \"King of World Cup\".",
"Additionally, he has been referred to as the \"King of Latin Music\", the \"Latin Pop God\", the \"Latin King of Pop\", the \"Latin American King of Pop\", the \"Latin King\", the \"Crossover Latin King\", the \"Puerto Rican Pop King\", the \"Salsa-Pop King\", and the \"King of World Cup\". Martin is known as one of the most influential artists in the world.",
"Martin is known as one of the most influential artists in the world. Billboard ranked him as one of the 30 Most Influential Latin Artists of All Time, while NBC News introduced him as an \"influential Latin celebrity\". In 2014, he won the award for the most influential international artist at the 18th China Music Awards.",
"In 2014, he won the award for the most influential international artist at the 18th China Music Awards. He was ranked among \"25 musicians who broke barriers\" by Stacker in 2019, while in 2020, Spin ranked him at number 27 on the list of \"most influential artists of the past 35 years\", as the only Latin artist on their list. In 2022, Show News named him \"the most influential global artist in history\".",
"In 2022, Show News named him \"the most influential global artist in history\". Martin's song \"María (Pablo Flores Remix)\", which was ranked among the \"Greatest Latin Pop Song of All Time\" by Rolling Stone, and \"11 remixes of classic Latin hits\" by Billboard, \"launched the Latin and dance music crossover of the '90s\", according to the latter.",
"Martin's song \"María (Pablo Flores Remix)\", which was ranked among the \"Greatest Latin Pop Song of All Time\" by Rolling Stone, and \"11 remixes of classic Latin hits\" by Billboard, \"launched the Latin and dance music crossover of the '90s\", according to the latter. Olivier Pérou from Le Point commented that \"some have even learned, thanks to him, to count to three in Spanish\" following the popularity of the song.",
"Olivier Pérou from Le Point commented that \"some have even learned, thanks to him, to count to three in Spanish\" following the popularity of the song. \"La Copa de la Vida\", which has been hailed as the Best World Cup Anthem of All-Time by multiple sources, became a \"musical template\" for World Cup anthems, and Martin's Latin and dance crossover style has been much copied in the anthems, as well as soccer chant \"Ole! Ole! Ole!\"",
"Ole! Ole!\" Ole!\" in the lyrics, according to The Hollywood Reporter. As believed by Esquire, the song \"inaugurated this musical subgenre\" of Latin. Joy Bhattacharjya from The Economic Times wrote about \"La Copa de la Vida\" that it was the first World Cup anthem to have a video just \"as ubiquitous as the song\", going on to write: \"Since then, official songs have an important part to play in every World Cup.\"",
"Joy Bhattacharjya from The Economic Times wrote about \"La Copa de la Vida\" that it was the first World Cup anthem to have a video just \"as ubiquitous as the song\", going on to write: \"Since then, official songs have an important part to play in every World Cup.\" In his review for Pitchfork, Corban Goble wrote that if World Cup anthems someday would be \"given their own textbook\", \"La Copa de la Vida\" would be \"the standard-bearer for the whole genre\".",
"In his review for Pitchfork, Corban Goble wrote that if World Cup anthems someday would be \"given their own textbook\", \"La Copa de la Vida\" would be \"the standard-bearer for the whole genre\". Martin is known as the pioneer in getting Latin pop music genre to mainstream recognition.",
"Martin is known as the pioneer in getting Latin pop music genre to mainstream recognition. Following his performance of \"The Cup of Life\" at the Grammys, and the success of \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" and Ricky Martin (1999), he opened the gates for many Latin artists such as Jennifer Lopez, Shakira, Christina Aguilera, Marc Anthony, Santana, and Enrique Iglesias who released their crossover albums and followed him onto the top of the charts.",
"Following his performance of \"The Cup of Life\" at the Grammys, and the success of \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" and Ricky Martin (1999), he opened the gates for many Latin artists such as Jennifer Lopez, Shakira, Christina Aguilera, Marc Anthony, Santana, and Enrique Iglesias who released their crossover albums and followed him onto the top of the charts. His performance of \"The Cup of Life\" at the Grammys not only changed the course of his career, but also altered how people regard Latin music in America.",
"His performance of \"The Cup of Life\" at the Grammys not only changed the course of his career, but also altered how people regard Latin music in America. It has been known as a game-changer for Latin music worldwide, that effectively ushered in the \"Latin explosion\". Then-United Talent Agency head Rob Prinz described the rendition as \"the single biggest game changing moment for any artist in the history of the Grammys\".",
"Then-United Talent Agency head Rob Prinz described the rendition as \"the single biggest game changing moment for any artist in the history of the Grammys\". According to Billboard, it has been cited as the beginning of the \"Latin Pop invasion\", which powerfully affected the US mainstream. Jesús Triviño Alarcón from Tidal Magazine stated, \"that single performance opened up the mainstream market for the Latinx legends\", mentioning the names of Anthony, Shakira, and Lopez.",
"Jesús Triviño Alarcón from Tidal Magazine stated, \"that single performance opened up the mainstream market for the Latinx legends\", mentioning the names of Anthony, Shakira, and Lopez. InStyle staff wrote about it: \"With his leather pants, big smile and energetic performance of 'The Cup of Life', Ricky Martin almost personally kicked off the so-called Latin Explosion of the late '90s.\"",
"InStyle staff wrote about it: \"With his leather pants, big smile and energetic performance of 'The Cup of Life', Ricky Martin almost personally kicked off the so-called Latin Explosion of the late '90s.\" Mariana Best of San Antonio Express-News commented that the performance \"is recognized for bringing Latin pop to the forefront of the U.S. music scene\".",
"Mariana Best of San Antonio Express-News commented that the performance \"is recognized for bringing Latin pop to the forefront of the U.S. music scene\". In 2018, Diego Urdaneta from Vice credited the song as \"one of those that laid the first stones so that J Balvin and Bad Bunnys of today can be at the top of the pyramid\", labeling it \"a milestone for Latin music\".",
"In 2018, Diego Urdaneta from Vice credited the song as \"one of those that laid the first stones so that J Balvin and Bad Bunnys of today can be at the top of the pyramid\", labeling it \"a milestone for Latin music\". According to Entertainment Tonight, \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" paved the way for a large number of other Latin artists, and is \"credited as the song that helped other Latin artists break through to English-speaking markets\".",
"According to Entertainment Tonight, \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" paved the way for a large number of other Latin artists, and is \"credited as the song that helped other Latin artists break through to English-speaking markets\". As believed by Spin, the song \"lit the fuse for the Latin pop explosion of the '90s\".",
"As believed by Spin, the song \"lit the fuse for the Latin pop explosion of the '90s\". Lucas Villa from Spin wrote about it: \"When the world went loca for Ricky, he led the way for other Latin music superstars like Spain's Enrique Iglesias, Colombia's Shakira and Nuyoricans like Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony to make their marks beyond the Spanish-speaking crowds.\" He also described Martin as \"a trailblazer in globalizing Latinx culture\" in his Grammy.com article.",
"He also described Martin as \"a trailblazer in globalizing Latinx culture\" in his Grammy.com article. Also from Grammy.com, Ernesto Lechner described \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" as \"the manifesto for all the fun-loving, tropically tinged Latin hit singles that followed\", stating that Martin led \"the Latin music explosion that took over the U.S. at the tail end of the '90s\". According to The Independent, the single is \"widely regarded as the song that began the first Latin pop explosion\".",
"According to The Independent, the single is \"widely regarded as the song that began the first Latin pop explosion\". Peoples Jason Sheeler credited it as the song that \"led the way for the late-'90s so-called 'Latin explosion' that dominated pop music into the new century: Shakira, Enrique Iglesias, Marc Anthony, and Jennifer Lopez\".",
"Peoples Jason Sheeler credited it as the song that \"led the way for the late-'90s so-called 'Latin explosion' that dominated pop music into the new century: Shakira, Enrique Iglesias, Marc Anthony, and Jennifer Lopez\". Angie Romero from Billboard wrote: \"If you look up 'crossover' in the dictionary, there should be a photo of Ricky shaking his bon bon and/or 'Livin' la Vida Loca'.\"",
"Angie Romero from Billboard wrote: \"If you look up 'crossover' in the dictionary, there should be a photo of Ricky shaking his bon bon and/or 'Livin' la Vida Loca'.\" Leila Cobo named \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" one of the genre's biggest singles of the past 50 years in his 2021 book Decoding \"Despacito\": An Oral History of Latin Music.",
"Leila Cobo named \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" one of the genre's biggest singles of the past 50 years in his 2021 book Decoding \"Despacito\": An Oral History of Latin Music. She also wrote about his impact in Shakira's \"Whenever, Wherever\" chapter: \"Ricky Martin’s phenomenal success opened the door for a string of Latin artists who waved the flags of their heritage, but who sang in English.\"",
"She also wrote about his impact in Shakira's \"Whenever, Wherever\" chapter: \"Ricky Martin’s phenomenal success opened the door for a string of Latin artists who waved the flags of their heritage, but who sang in English.\" Additionally, she compared Martin's song with Luis Fonsi's \"Despacito\" (2017) in one of her Billboard articles: \"'Livin', like 'Despacito', became not just a global hit but a cultural phenomena that transcended all barriers of language and nationality.\"",
"Additionally, she compared Martin's song with Luis Fonsi's \"Despacito\" (2017) in one of her Billboard articles: \"'Livin', like 'Despacito', became not just a global hit but a cultural phenomena that transcended all barriers of language and nationality.\" In another article, she described it as the song that \"ignited the late-'90s Latin explosion\".",
"In another article, she described it as the song that \"ignited the late-'90s Latin explosion\". Also from Billboard, Gary Trust wrote: \"The song helmed a Latin pop boom in the U.S., with Jenner Lopez, Marc Anthony and others crossing over, as well.\" Writing for LiveAbout.com, Bill Lamb credited the song as \"the record which kicked off a wave of major Latin performers hitting the pop mainstream\".",
"Writing for LiveAbout.com, Bill Lamb credited the song as \"the record which kicked off a wave of major Latin performers hitting the pop mainstream\". Jim Farber from Daily News noted that Ricky Martin \"provides a textbook example of how to mix Latin beats with pop tunes and rock intonations\". St. Louis Post-Dispatch critic Kevin C. Johnson described Martin as Latin music's \"pretty-faced poster boy\" who is \"taking the music to places Jon Secada, Selena and Santana never could\".",
"St. Louis Post-Dispatch critic Kevin C. Johnson described Martin as Latin music's \"pretty-faced poster boy\" who is \"taking the music to places Jon Secada, Selena and Santana never could\". He also mentioned that even \"Gloria Estefan at her peak, failed to muster up the kind of hype and hoopla surrounding Martin\".",
"He also mentioned that even \"Gloria Estefan at her peak, failed to muster up the kind of hype and hoopla surrounding Martin\". Celia San Miguel of Tidal Magazine stated that Martin \"highlighted the public's thirst for a different kind of pop\" in 1999, noting the album's \"fusion-heavy\" and \"hip-shaking rhythms associated with Latin music\".",
"Celia San Miguel of Tidal Magazine stated that Martin \"highlighted the public's thirst for a different kind of pop\" in 1999, noting the album's \"fusion-heavy\" and \"hip-shaking rhythms associated with Latin music\". She mentioned that the album \"spawned 1999's Latin music boom\", emphasizing the fact that Martin created the \"spark\" of the \"Latin Pop Explosion\", which was followed by 1999 albums, On the 6 by Lopez, Enrique by Iglesias, and Anthony's eponymous album.",
"She mentioned that the album \"spawned 1999's Latin music boom\", emphasizing the fact that Martin created the \"spark\" of the \"Latin Pop Explosion\", which was followed by 1999 albums, On the 6 by Lopez, Enrique by Iglesias, and Anthony's eponymous album. She continued crediting \"Martin and the paths he created\" responsible for the Latin music and Spanish and Spanglish lyrics being \"a commonplace phenomenon on English-language radio\" in 2019.",
"She continued crediting \"Martin and the paths he created\" responsible for the Latin music and Spanish and Spanglish lyrics being \"a commonplace phenomenon on English-language radio\" in 2019. In her review for Grammy.com, Ana Monroy Yglesias said Martin led a \"major music moment in 1999\" with Ricky Martin, and along with him, \"the first major boom of Spanish-language artists\", such as Shakira and Lopez, came into the \"U.S. pop landscape\".",
"In her review for Grammy.com, Ana Monroy Yglesias said Martin led a \"major music moment in 1999\" with Ricky Martin, and along with him, \"the first major boom of Spanish-language artists\", such as Shakira and Lopez, came into the \"U.S. pop landscape\". The late '90s Latin explosion also resulted in the launch of the Latin Recording Academy.",
"The late '90s Latin explosion also resulted in the launch of the Latin Recording Academy. Gabriel Abaroa Jr., the president and chief executive officer of the Latin Recording Academy, expressed that the plan of its launch was \"immediately after the Ricky Martin success\". Cuban American musician and producer Emilio Estefan added: \"After the success with Ricky Martin, everybody opened their eyes and realized how important it was to bring diversity and multiethnic elements into [mainstream American] music.\"",
"Cuban American musician and producer Emilio Estefan added: \"After the success with Ricky Martin, everybody opened their eyes and realized how important it was to bring diversity and multiethnic elements into [mainstream American] music.\" Many artists have cited Martin as an influence or declared themselves as his fan, including Abraham Mateo, Bad Bunny, Camila Cabello, Camilo, Carla Morrison, Christian Chávez, CNCO, Danna Paola, Enrique Iglesias, J Balvin, J-Hope, Jimin, Karol G, India Martínez, Luis Fonsi, Maite Perroni, Maluma, Neha Mahajan, Pedro Capó, Prince Royce, Rauw Alejandro, Rosalía, Sebastián Ligarde, Sebastián Yatra, Shakira, Tini, Vadhir Derbez, William Hung, Wisin, and Ximena Sariñana.",
"Many artists have cited Martin as an influence or declared themselves as his fan, including Abraham Mateo, Bad Bunny, Camila Cabello, Camilo, Carla Morrison, Christian Chávez, CNCO, Danna Paola, Enrique Iglesias, J Balvin, J-Hope, Jimin, Karol G, India Martínez, Luis Fonsi, Maite Perroni, Maluma, Neha Mahajan, Pedro Capó, Prince Royce, Rauw Alejandro, Rosalía, Sebastián Ligarde, Sebastián Yatra, Shakira, Tini, Vadhir Derbez, William Hung, Wisin, and Ximena Sariñana. Both Maluma and J Balvin have described Martin as a \"teacher\" and credited him as an artist who \"opened the doors\" for them, while Maluma has also expressed: \"Ricky Martin is one of the artists I wanted to be growing up.",
"Both Maluma and J Balvin have described Martin as a \"teacher\" and credited him as an artist who \"opened the doors\" for them, while Maluma has also expressed: \"Ricky Martin is one of the artists I wanted to be growing up. He's my idol in the industry\".Citations regarding J Balvin's statements about Martin: Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny talked about Martin's legacy during an episode of Behind the Music: \"There's no doubt that he opened the door for an entire generation of Latin artists.",
"He's my idol in the industry\".Citations regarding J Balvin's statements about Martin: Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny talked about Martin's legacy during an episode of Behind the Music: \"There's no doubt that he opened the door for an entire generation of Latin artists. I am doing great things today in the music industry thanks to those doors that he opened.\"",
"I am doing great things today in the music industry thanks to those doors that he opened.\" He also mentioned that he is inspired by Martin's coming out as gay: \"You don't have to be gay to be inspired by that action of honesty and freedom, of being yourself against the world despite everything you deserve. I look at it like a very inspiring moment for anybody. At least for me, it's very inspirational.\"",
"At least for me, it's very inspirational.\" Brazilian singer-songwriter Anitta explained to The Guardian that \"some Latin stars such as Maluma and Bad Bunny sing in their native language\" and do not need to sing in English to get noticed, because they already had representatives like Shakira, Martin, and Jennifer Lopez, but since her country \"hasn't had a major international pop star before\", she uses \"whatever language will get the market's attention\".",
"Brazilian singer-songwriter Anitta explained to The Guardian that \"some Latin stars such as Maluma and Bad Bunny sing in their native language\" and do not need to sing in English to get noticed, because they already had representatives like Shakira, Martin, and Jennifer Lopez, but since her country \"hasn't had a major international pop star before\", she uses \"whatever language will get the market's attention\". Portrayal in television In July 2019, SOMOS Productions, Endemol Shine Boomdog, and Piñolywood Studios announced the production of a biographical web television series about Menudo, titled Subete a Mi Moto.",
"Portrayal in television In July 2019, SOMOS Productions, Endemol Shine Boomdog, and Piñolywood Studios announced the production of a biographical web television series about Menudo, titled Subete a Mi Moto. Consisting of 15 episodes of 60 minutes each, the series premiered on Amazon Prime Video on October 9, 2020 in Mexico, Latin America, and Spain. It was filmed in Mexico and Puerto Rico, and Martin was portrayed by actors Felipe Albors and Ethan Schwartz.",
"It was filmed in Mexico and Puerto Rico, and Martin was portrayed by actors Felipe Albors and Ethan Schwartz. The series premiered in the United States on February 14, 2021 on Estrella TV. On the review aggregation website Tomatazos, the first season has a positive score of 75%. The website's critical consensus summary states, \"A good trip to the past that recalls a band that defined the youth of a certain public, but that doesn't ignore the darkest moments in the lives of its members.\"",
"The website's critical consensus summary states, \"A good trip to the past that recalls a band that defined the youth of a certain public, but that doesn't ignore the darkest moments in the lives of its members.\" Other ventures Books On August 19, 2010, Martin announced that he had been working on his memoir, mentioning its title as Me and publish date as November 2, 2010. He expressed that writing the book was \"one of the reasons\" he decided to come out earlier that year.",
"He expressed that writing the book was \"one of the reasons\" he decided to come out earlier that year. The book also had a Spanish edition title Yo (), which was published simultaneously by Celebra. He stated that writing his memoir allowed him \"to explore the different paths and experiences\" that have led him to be who he is, noting that it \"was not easy but allowed for an incredible spiritual journey\". Me spent several weeks at number one on the New York Times Best Seller list.",
"Me spent several weeks at number one on the New York Times Best Seller list. In 2019, ¡Hola! staff ranked the book among \"12 Books by Celebrities to Inspire and Motivate You\", while Book Riot placed it on an unranked list of the \"Best Celebrity Books You Should Read This Year\" in 2020. Martin's first children's book Santiago the Dreamer in Land Among the Stars was published by Celebra and illustrated by Patricia Castelao in November 2013 for ages between five to nine.",
"Martin's first children's book Santiago the Dreamer in Land Among the Stars was published by Celebra and illustrated by Patricia Castelao in November 2013 for ages between five to nine. Its Spanish-language edition, Santiago El Soñador en Entre Las Estrellas, was published simultaneously. Martin expressed that the book was inspired by his \"personal life, with fantasy added to it\", as well as \"a lot of cartoons\".",
"Martin expressed that the book was inspired by his \"personal life, with fantasy added to it\", as well as \"a lot of cartoons\". Products and endorsements Martin endorsed the 2012 Viva Glam campaign with Trinidadian rapper Nicki Minaj, which raised $270 million for the Mac AIDS Fund. In October 2020, Martin announced that he would launch his company, Martin Music Lab in partnership with music engineers Jaycen Joshua and Michael Seaberg.",
"In October 2020, Martin announced that he would launch his company, Martin Music Lab in partnership with music engineers Jaycen Joshua and Michael Seaberg. The company is centered around a new audio technique called \"Orbital Audio\", that \"creates a new type of immersive, headphone listening experience\". Martin used the technique on his EP Pausa, while several artists including Bad Bunny, Residente, Myke Towers, and A$AP Rocky are going to work with the company.",
"Martin used the technique on his EP Pausa, while several artists including Bad Bunny, Residente, Myke Towers, and A$AP Rocky are going to work with the company. The latter plans to release his whole upcoming studio album, using \"Orbital Audio\". Martin is going to expand the technique \"beyond the music industry and tap into the movies, sports and, most notably, the wellness and meditation space\". In 2021, Martin partnered with skin care company Kumiko.",
"In 2021, Martin partnered with skin care company Kumiko. The skincare line, created by Chilean cosmetologist Catalina Aguirre, is the first to combine \"mesotherapy, matcha, and cutting-edge European technology into unique multi-action formulas that penetrate the dermis with powerful anti-aging properties and lifting benefits\". Activism Philanthropy While on a trip to India in 2002, Martin witnessed three minor girls who were about to be sold into prostitution and rescued them.",
"Activism Philanthropy While on a trip to India in 2002, Martin witnessed three minor girls who were about to be sold into prostitution and rescued them. The following year, he became a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and then met with activists and decided to fight against human trafficking, which is the second-most lucrative crime in the world.",
"The following year, he became a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and then met with activists and decided to fight against human trafficking, which is the second-most lucrative crime in the world. In 2004, Martin launched the Ricky Martin Foundation, a non-profit, non-governmental organization that focuses on denouncing human trafficking and educating about the crime's \"existence through research and community initiatives, anchored in the defense of children and youth rights\". In the same year, he appealed to the United Nations for international help to fight against sex tourism.",
"In the same year, he appealed to the United Nations for international help to fight against sex tourism. In January 2005, following the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, Martin visited Thailand to assess the needs of the minor survivors who were \"extremely vulnerable to traffickers\". Later that year, the Ricky Martin Foundation signed an alliance in partnership with Habitat for Humanity to construct 224 homes for the tsunami-affected families. The project was completed in December 2006.",
"The project was completed in December 2006. The project was completed in December 2006. In March 2006, the foundation collaborated with the International Organization for Migration in the Llama y Vive () campaign, which focuses on facilitating \"the prevention of human trafficking and the protection of young people, victims of child trafficking and prosecution of traffickers\". In January 2010, along with many celebrities, Martin operated the charity telethon Hope for Haiti Now to raise donations for the 2010 Haiti earthquake.",
"In January 2010, along with many celebrities, Martin operated the charity telethon Hope for Haiti Now to raise donations for the 2010 Haiti earthquake. Later that year, the Ricky Martin Foundation created the first program of community social action against child trafficking in Martin's native Puerto Rico, titled \"Se Trata\" (). In 2012, the foundation participated in the making of the Child Protection Model Law on the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children.",
"In 2012, the foundation participated in the making of the Child Protection Model Law on the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children. In 2016, Martin visited Syrian refugees in Lebanon and played with the children and talked to them in an informal refugee camp.",
"In 2016, Martin visited Syrian refugees in Lebanon and played with the children and talked to them in an informal refugee camp. Following the Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico in 2017, the Ricky Martin Foundation helped people and handed over homes that were rebuilt after the losses; Martin launched a viral campaign of selling a black T-shirt with the Puerto Rican flag stamped on it in order to raise the funds.",
"Following the Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico in 2017, the Ricky Martin Foundation helped people and handed over homes that were rebuilt after the losses; Martin launched a viral campaign of selling a black T-shirt with the Puerto Rican flag stamped on it in order to raise the funds. The T-shirts were designed by Martin's twin boys Matteo and Valentino, while many celebrities including Will Smith, Bad Bunny, Marc Anthony, Luis Fonsi, and Maluma supported the campaign.",
"The T-shirts were designed by Martin's twin boys Matteo and Valentino, while many celebrities including Will Smith, Bad Bunny, Marc Anthony, Luis Fonsi, and Maluma supported the campaign. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Martin created a campaign to help health care workers through the non-profit organization Project Hope. He expressed: \"As you know, health care professionals are extremely vulnerable and professionals around the world don’t have personal protection equipment they need to prevent them getting infected.\"",
"He expressed: \"As you know, health care professionals are extremely vulnerable and professionals around the world don’t have personal protection equipment they need to prevent them getting infected.\" In February 2021, Martin collaborated with Antonia Novello to launch mass vaccination events in Puerto Rico.",
"In February 2021, Martin collaborated with Antonia Novello to launch mass vaccination events in Puerto Rico. Following the murder of George Floyd and Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, Martin honored an effort called \"Black Out Tuesday\" and launched the hashtag #knowthestruggle, giving his social media to the voices of the community that are \"looking for justice\", to learn more about what is happening.",
"Following the murder of George Floyd and Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, Martin honored an effort called \"Black Out Tuesday\" and launched the hashtag #knowthestruggle, giving his social media to the voices of the community that are \"looking for justice\", to learn more about what is happening. For his humanitarian efforts and fighting against human trafficking, Martin has been honored with numerous accolades, including the Peace Summit Award by the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates, the TIP Report Hero Award by the United States Department of State, the Spirit of Hope Award by Billboard Latin Music Awards, the Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year Award, the Award of Inspiration by amfAR Gala, the Leader of Change Award by the Foundation for Social Change, the Humanitarian Award by the Global Gift Foundation, the Humanitarian Award by the Hispanic Federation, the Corazón Latino Award by the iHeartRadio Fiesta Latina, the International Humanitarian Award by the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the Agent of Change Award by the International Peace Honors, the PODER Social Leadership Awards, and the Agent of Change Award by the Premios Juventud.",
"For his humanitarian efforts and fighting against human trafficking, Martin has been honored with numerous accolades, including the Peace Summit Award by the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates, the TIP Report Hero Award by the United States Department of State, the Spirit of Hope Award by Billboard Latin Music Awards, the Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year Award, the Award of Inspiration by amfAR Gala, the Leader of Change Award by the Foundation for Social Change, the Humanitarian Award by the Global Gift Foundation, the Humanitarian Award by the Hispanic Federation, the Corazón Latino Award by the iHeartRadio Fiesta Latina, the International Humanitarian Award by the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the Agent of Change Award by the International Peace Honors, the PODER Social Leadership Awards, and the Agent of Change Award by the Premios Juventud. Politics On January 20, 2001, during the first inauguration of George W. Bush, Martin performed \"The Cup of Life\" and danced with him.",
"Politics On January 20, 2001, during the first inauguration of George W. Bush, Martin performed \"The Cup of Life\" and danced with him. Martin's view of Bush changed over the Iraq War, as expressed in his declaration to BBC News that he will \"always condemn war and those who promulgate it\". He also stuck up his middle finger while singing the president's name in his 2003 song \"Asignatura Pendiente\" at a concert.",
"He also stuck up his middle finger while singing the president's name in his 2003 song \"Asignatura Pendiente\" at a concert. At the 2010 Billboard Latin Music Awards, Martin expressed his disagreement with the Arizona SB 1070 bill, a proposed law that would have required police officers to request documents from individuals whom they suspected to be illegal immigrants.",
"At the 2010 Billboard Latin Music Awards, Martin expressed his disagreement with the Arizona SB 1070 bill, a proposed law that would have required police officers to request documents from individuals whom they suspected to be illegal immigrants. Martin campaigned for the 44th president of the United States Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, and thanked him for an \"outstanding presidency\" in 2016, while calling him \"an amazing leader\".",
"Martin campaigned for the 44th president of the United States Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, and thanked him for an \"outstanding presidency\" in 2016, while calling him \"an amazing leader\". Also in 2016, he was an active ally to the Democratic Party presidential candidate Hillary Clinton campaign, while condemning Donald Trump's hateful comments about immigrants. He also performed his hits during the \"Hillary Clinton: She's With Us\" concert at the Greek Theatre on June 6, 2016.",
"He also performed his hits during the \"Hillary Clinton: She's With Us\" concert at the Greek Theatre on June 6, 2016. Telegramgate, also known as Chatgate, was a political scandal involving Ricardo Rosselló, then Governor of Puerto Rico, which began on July 8, 2019, with the leak of hundreds of pages of a group chat on the messaging application Telegram between Rosselló and members of his cabinet. The messages were considered vulgar, misogynistic, and homophobic toward several individuals and groups, including Martin.",
"The messages were considered vulgar, misogynistic, and homophobic toward several individuals and groups, including Martin. Therefore, Martin, Bad Bunny, Residente and several other artists, and more than half a million Puerto Ricans led the call to take to the streets of Puerto Rico, demanding Rosselló's resignation. In September 2020, Martin, Luis Fonsi, and actress Eva Longoria attended a campaign event in Kissimmee, Florida to support the Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden for the 2020 United States presidential election.",
"In September 2020, Martin, Luis Fonsi, and actress Eva Longoria attended a campaign event in Kissimmee, Florida to support the Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden for the 2020 United States presidential election. During an interview with Variety, Martin stated: \"I've been supporting Biden forever, I think he is the only option we have and he is great and he has been in politics all his life. This is the moment. We all need to get together and be loud about the course of this nation.\"",
"We all need to get together and be loud about the course of this nation.\" Following the election of Biden as 45th president of the United States, Martin said \"Bye-bye\" to Trump on social media, and shared a photo of himself along with Biden on Instagram. In May 2021, Martin demonstrated his support for the Ni una menos movement, condemning femicides and violence against women in Puerto Rico, while calling authorities to protect women.",
"In May 2021, Martin demonstrated his support for the Ni una menos movement, condemning femicides and violence against women in Puerto Rico, while calling authorities to protect women. He further expressed that no woman should fear for her safety and urged authorities to take steps in order to prevent these acts. In the same month, he supported the 2021 Colombian protests.",
"In the same month, he supported the 2021 Colombian protests. Later that year, the singer raised his voice in support of the 2021 Cuban protests against the Castro regime for the restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic crisis, stating: \"This is very important. Our brothers and sisters in Cuba need us to inform the world what they are experiencing today. Let's fill the networks before they remove the internet in the country. Humanitarian aid for Cuba NOW.\"",
"Humanitarian aid for Cuba NOW.\" Humanitarian aid for Cuba NOW.\" LGBT advocacy As a gay man, Martin actively supports LGBT rights worldwide since his coming out in 2010. Even before coming out, he was noted by the mainstream media for being popular among gay men and having a large gay fan base. He also went on the cover of the American LGBT-interest magazine The Advocate in July 1999.",
"He also went on the cover of the American LGBT-interest magazine The Advocate in July 1999. Despite this, he admitted that he felt homosexuality was evil since he was raised as a Catholic and targeted his anger toward others, especially gay men: \"I was very angry, very rebellious. I used to look at gay men and think, 'I'm not like that, I don't want to be like that, that's not me.' I was ashamed.\"",
"I was ashamed.\" I was ashamed.\" He added that he \"had internalized homophobia\" back then. He is currently considered to be a gay icon, with PinkNews labeling him \"a strong advocate of LGBT rights\" who \"expressed support for equal marriage\" since coming out. As the first mainstream Latin music artist to come out, Martin's coming out was a game-changer for \"Latin Pride\".",
"As the first mainstream Latin music artist to come out, Martin's coming out was a game-changer for \"Latin Pride\". Billboards Lucas Villa stated: \"With Martin's announcement, gay artists, who had long kept their sexual identities a secret, finally had a beacon of hope. If Martin could come out with his career unscathed, there was hope for other artists in Latin music to start doing the same.\"",
"If Martin could come out with his career unscathed, there was hope for other artists in Latin music to start doing the same.\" He added that since then, \"a growing number of Latin artists have either come out after years in the spotlight, or many have simply started their careers by embracing their gay identities\".",
"He added that since then, \"a growing number of Latin artists have either come out after years in the spotlight, or many have simply started their careers by embracing their gay identities\". In 2010, GLAAD then-president Jarrett Barrios expressed that Martin's coming out as gay leads \"hundreds of millions of people\" to have \"a cultural connection with an artist, a celebrity and, perhaps most importantly, a father who happens to be gay\", adding that \"his decision to model this kind of openness and honesty can lead to greater acceptance for countless gay people in U.S., in Latin America and worldwide\".",
"In 2010, GLAAD then-president Jarrett Barrios expressed that Martin's coming out as gay leads \"hundreds of millions of people\" to have \"a cultural connection with an artist, a celebrity and, perhaps most importantly, a father who happens to be gay\", adding that \"his decision to model this kind of openness and honesty can lead to greater acceptance for countless gay people in U.S., in Latin America and worldwide\". In 2019, Human Rights Campaign then-president Alphonso David expressed that Martin \"has used his international stage to advocate for LGBTQ people around the world\" with his \"unique voice and passionate activism\".",
"In 2019, Human Rights Campaign then-president Alphonso David expressed that Martin \"has used his international stage to advocate for LGBTQ people around the world\" with his \"unique voice and passionate activism\". The following year, Suzy Exposito from Rolling Stone argued that with risking his career and coming out, Martin \"set the scene for Bad Bunny to be free in many ways that, during his own breakthrough moment, he could not\". Martin expressed support for same-sex marriage during an interview on Larry King Live in 2010.",
"Martin expressed support for same-sex marriage during an interview on Larry King Live in 2010. He has then delivered speeches about LGBT rights at the United Nations Homophobia Conference, the GLAAD Media Awards, and the Human Rights Campaign. He also raised his voice to support gay marriage in Puerto Rico before its legalization in 2015. In March 2016, Martin met with Chilean LGBT rights group Fundación Iguales to learn about the challenges LGBT citizens face there.",
"In March 2016, Martin met with Chilean LGBT rights group Fundación Iguales to learn about the challenges LGBT citizens face there. AT the meeting, he said that he wants \"equal marriage rights for Chile\" and he wants his sons to grow up in a world where \"there are no second-class citizens\". Following the Colombia's highest court voting against an anti same-sex marriage proposal in April 2016, Martin tweeted: \"Love and equality win, Colombia says YES to same-sex marriage.\"",
"Following the Colombia's highest court voting against an anti same-sex marriage proposal in April 2016, Martin tweeted: \"Love and equality win, Colombia says YES to same-sex marriage.\" During an interview with Vulture, Martin talked about his role in The Assassination of Gianni Versace and how he wanted his portrayal to help \"normalize open relationships\".",
"During an interview with Vulture, Martin talked about his role in The Assassination of Gianni Versace and how he wanted his portrayal to help \"normalize open relationships\". In June 2019, he published an open letter slamming the religious liberty bill, saying: \"As a defender of human rights and a member of the LGBTT community, I am vehemently opposed to the proposed measure imposed upon us under the guise of religious freedom, that projects us to the world as a backwards country.\"",
"In June 2019, he published an open letter slamming the religious liberty bill, saying: \"As a defender of human rights and a member of the LGBTT community, I am vehemently opposed to the proposed measure imposed upon us under the guise of religious freedom, that projects us to the world as a backwards country.\" Puerto Rico's then-governor backed down and withdrew his support of the bill following Martin's statement.",
"Puerto Rico's then-governor backed down and withdrew his support of the bill following Martin's statement. In June 2020, Martin performed his song \"Recuerdo\" with Carla Morrison for a virtual event, Can't Cancel Pride: Helping LGBTQ+ People in Need, to raise visibility and funds for LGBTQ+ communities. He appeared at the virtual event in the following year as well.",
"He appeared at the virtual event in the following year as well. In February 2021, Martin was named national spokesperson for the onePULSE Foundation, a non-profit organization that focuses on managing \"the design and construction of the permanent national memorial and museum dedicated to the Pulse nightclub tragedy\". Later that year, he expressed that he wants to \"normalize families like\" his, in an interview with People.",
"Later that year, he expressed that he wants to \"normalize families like\" his, in an interview with People. Several of Martin's music videos feature diversity in sexual orientations and same-sex couples, including \"The Best Thing About Me Is You\", \"Disparo al Corazón\", \"Fiebre\", and \"Tiburones\".",
"Several of Martin's music videos feature diversity in sexual orientations and same-sex couples, including \"The Best Thing About Me Is You\", \"Disparo al Corazón\", \"Fiebre\", and \"Tiburones\". For his activism and advocacy for LGBTQ community, Martin has been honored with numerous accolades, including the GLAAD Vito Russo Award, the Gala Vanguard Award by the Los Angeles LGBT Center, the International Icon Award by the British LGBT Awards, the National Visibility Award by the Human Rights Campaign, the Trailblazer Award by the LGBT Center Dinner, the Celebrity Activist of the Year by LGBTQ Nation, and the Legacy Award by Attitude Awards.",
"For his activism and advocacy for LGBTQ community, Martin has been honored with numerous accolades, including the GLAAD Vito Russo Award, the Gala Vanguard Award by the Los Angeles LGBT Center, the International Icon Award by the British LGBT Awards, the National Visibility Award by the Human Rights Campaign, the Trailblazer Award by the LGBT Center Dinner, the Celebrity Activist of the Year by LGBTQ Nation, and the Legacy Award by Attitude Awards. Achievements Throughout his career, Martin has won over 200 awards (most awarded male Latin artist), including two Grammy Awards, five Latin Grammy Awards, five MTV Video Music Awards (tied for most wins by a Latin artist), two American Music Awards, two Latin American Music Awards, three Billboard Music Awards, a Billboard Music Video Award, nine Billboard Latin Music Awards, eight World Music Awards, fourteen Lo Nuestro Awards (including the Excellence Award), and a Guinness World Record.",
"Achievements Throughout his career, Martin has won over 200 awards (most awarded male Latin artist), including two Grammy Awards, five Latin Grammy Awards, five MTV Video Music Awards (tied for most wins by a Latin artist), two American Music Awards, two Latin American Music Awards, three Billboard Music Awards, a Billboard Music Video Award, nine Billboard Latin Music Awards, eight World Music Awards, fourteen Lo Nuestro Awards (including the Excellence Award), and a Guinness World Record. As an actor, he was nominated for an Emmy Award.",
"As an actor, he was nominated for an Emmy Award. In 2007, Martin was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, located at 6901 Hollywood Blvd. Martin is ranked among the Greatest Latin Artists of All Time and the Greatest Hot Latin Songs Artists of All Time by Billboard, while his album Vuelve was placed at number five on Billboards Top 20 Latin Albums Of All Time in 2018.",
"Martin is ranked among the Greatest Latin Artists of All Time and the Greatest Hot Latin Songs Artists of All Time by Billboard, while his album Vuelve was placed at number five on Billboards Top 20 Latin Albums Of All Time in 2018. In 1998, his song, \"Perdido Sin Ti\" reached the top of the Latin Pop Airplay chart, displacing Martin's own \"Vuelve\", making him the first artist on the chart's history to replace himself.",
"In 1998, his song, \"Perdido Sin Ti\" reached the top of the Latin Pop Airplay chart, displacing Martin's own \"Vuelve\", making him the first artist on the chart's history to replace himself. His song \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" became the first number-one song on Billboard Hot 100, which was made entirely in Pro Tools, and achieved the first number one hit for his label, Columbia.",
"His song \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" became the first number-one song on Billboard Hot 100, which was made entirely in Pro Tools, and achieved the first number one hit for his label, Columbia. It also became the first song in history to top Billboards Adult Pop Airplay, Pop Airplay, and Rhythmic Airplay charts, holding its record as the only song to do so for 14 years.",
"It also became the first song in history to top Billboards Adult Pop Airplay, Pop Airplay, and Rhythmic Airplay charts, holding its record as the only song to do so for 14 years. On May 15, 1999, it became the first single ever to rule four different Billboard charts and made Martin the first act to simultaneously scale a pop, Latin, and dance chart.",
"On May 15, 1999, it became the first single ever to rule four different Billboard charts and made Martin the first act to simultaneously scale a pop, Latin, and dance chart. Two weeks later, he became the first artist to simultaneously top the Billboard 200, Hot Latin Tracks, Hot Dance Music/Club Play, Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales, Top 40 Tracks, and the Billboard Hot 100.",
"Two weeks later, he became the first artist to simultaneously top the Billboard 200, Hot Latin Tracks, Hot Dance Music/Club Play, Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales, Top 40 Tracks, and the Billboard Hot 100. His song \"Tal Vez\" (2003) marked the first number one debut on Billboard Hot Latin Songs in the 21st century. Martin is the first and only artist with Spanish-language entries on Billboard Hot 100 in three decades.",
"Martin is the first and only artist with Spanish-language entries on Billboard Hot 100 in three decades. In 2020, he became the first and only artist in history to enter the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart across five decades, including his work as part of Menudo. The following year, he became the first male Latin artist in history to have 4 songs from different decades to have over 100 million streams on Spotify.",
"The following year, he became the first male Latin artist in history to have 4 songs from different decades to have over 100 million streams on Spotify. He owns the record as the artist with most top 20s on the US Latin Pop Airplay chart, with 51 songs, and is the runner-up of most top 10s. He is the fourth artist with the most number one songs in the history of the Hot Latin Songs chart.",
"He is the fourth artist with the most number one songs in the history of the Hot Latin Songs chart. Additionally, he holds the record as the most Spanish-language entries on ARIA top 50 singles chart, with three. On October 11, 2007, then-mayor of Miami Beach, Florida David Dermer awarded him the key to the city of Miami Beach. Puerto Rico named August 31 the \"International Ricky Martin Day\" in 2008.",
"Puerto Rico named August 31 the \"International Ricky Martin Day\" in 2008. The Government of Spain granted Spanish nationality to Martin in 2011, for being \"recognized in different artistic facets\". In 2018, in recognition of \"his dedication to the island and people of Puerto Rico, his philanthropic work to eliminate human trafficking across the Caribbean, and his commitment to the arts\", the singer received a proclamation naming June 7 the \"Ricky Martin Day\" in New York City.",
"In 2018, in recognition of \"his dedication to the island and people of Puerto Rico, his philanthropic work to eliminate human trafficking across the Caribbean, and his commitment to the arts\", the singer received a proclamation naming June 7 the \"Ricky Martin Day\" in New York City. Throughout his career, Martin has sold over 70 million records making him one of the best-selling Latin music artists of all time. In 2020, La Opinión estimated his net worth at US$120 million.",
"In 2020, La Opinión estimated his net worth at US$120 million. Discography Ricky Martin (1991) Me Amaras (1993) A Medio Vivir (1995) Vuelve (1998) Ricky Martin (1999) Sound Loaded (2000) Almas del Silencio (2003) Life (2005) Música + Alma + Sexo (2011) A Quien Quiera Escuchar (2015) Filmography Mas Que Alcanzar una estrella (1992) Hercules – Latin American dub (1997) Idle Hands (1999) Ricky Martin: One Night Only (1999) Minions – Latin American dub (2015) The Latin Explosion: A New America (2015) Ricky Martin: Behind the Vegas Residency (2017) Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey (2020) El cuartito (2021) Theatre Les Misérables (1996), Broadway – Marius Pontmercy Evita (2012), Broadway – Ché Tours and residenciesHeadlining tours Ricky Martin Tour (1992) Me Amaras Tour (1993–1994) A Medio Vivir Tour (1995–1997) Vuelve World Tour (1998) Livin' la Vida Loca Tour (1999–2000) One Night Only with Ricky Martin (2005–2006) Black and White Tour (2007) Música + Alma + Sexo World Tour (2011) Ricky Martin Live (2013–2014) Live in Mexico (2014) One World Tour (2015–2018) Ricky Martin en Concierto (2018-2019) Movimiento Tour (2020-2022)Co-headlining tour Enrique Iglesias and Ricky Martin Live in Concert (with Enrique Iglesias) (2021)Residency' All In (2017–2018) See also Honorific nicknames in popular music List of artists who reached number one in the United States List of artists who reached number one on the UK Singles Chart List of Latin pop artists List of multilingual bands and artists List of Puerto Rican Grammy Award winners and nominees List of Puerto Ricans List of Urbano artists Notes References Book sources External links 1971 births Living people 20th-century LGBT people 20th-century Puerto Rican male actors 20th-century Puerto Rican male singers 20th-century Puerto Rican singers 21st-century LGBT people 21st-century Puerto Rican male actors 21st-century Puerto Rican male singers 21st-century Puerto Rican singers American gay actors American gay musicians American humanitarians American male pop singers American male singer-songwriters Columbia Records artists Echo (music award) winners Grammy Award winners Hispanic and Latino American male actors Hispanic and Latino American musicians Latin Grammy Award winners Latin music songwriters Latin pop singers Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year honorees LGBT entertainers from Puerto Rico LGBT Hispanic and Latino American people LGBT Latin musicians LGBT rights activists from the United States LGBT singers from the United States Male actors from San Juan, Puerto Rico Menudo (band) members MTV Europe Music Award winners Naturalised citizens of Spain Puerto Rican activists Puerto Rican expatriates in Australia Puerto Rican expatriates in Mexico Puerto Rican expatriates in Spain Puerto Rican male film actors Puerto Rican male soap opera actors Puerto Rican male television actors Puerto Rican people of Basque descent Puerto Rican people of Canarian descent Puerto Rican people of Corsican descent Puerto Rican people of Spanish descent Puerto Rican philanthropists Puerto Rican pop singers Puerto Rican record producers Puerto Rican singer-songwriters Singers from San Juan, Puerto Rico Sony Music Latin artists Sony Music Spain artists Spanish-language singers of the United States UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors World Music Awards winners"
] |
[
"Ricky Martin",
"1983-1990: Menudo",
"What did he gain fame for",
"After achieving modest fame in Puerto Rico for his work in television commercials, Martin auditioned for membership in the Puerto Rican boy band Menudo.",
"How did his auditions go",
"Although the executives enjoyed his dancing and singing at his first two auditions, Martin was rejected because he was too short.",
"Did he try again",
"By the third audition, his persistence impressed executives, and in 1984, 12-year-old Martin became a member.",
"What happened when he was on tour",
"he made his debut performance with the group at the Luis A. Ferre Performing Arts Center in San Juan. During this performance, he inadvertently disobeyed the choreography",
"What did he do to disobey",
"he inadvertently disobeyed the choreography by walking around the stage, when it was planned that he would stay still,",
"what did he say about it",
"The mistake was such a big deal that from that moment on, never again did I move when I wasn't supposed to move...That was the discipline of Menudo:",
"What was said if this didnt happen",
"That was the discipline of Menudo: You either did things the way you were told or you were not part of the group.",
"What was a song they wrote",
"The song \"Asignatura Pendiente\" from Almas del Silencio (2003) was inspired by the first time Martin left Puerto Rico to tour with Menudo."
] | C_fe907a545efb49ad960c0a3908a4292c_1 | What did this do to them | 9 | What did touring in Puerto Rico with Menudo do to Ricky Martin? | Ricky Martin | After achieving modest fame in Puerto Rico for his work in television commercials, Martin auditioned for membership in the Puerto Rican boy band Menudo. Although the executives enjoyed his dancing and singing at his first two auditions, Martin was rejected because he was too short. By the third audition, his persistence impressed executives, and in 1984, 12-year-old Martin became a member. A month after joining Menudo, he made his debut performance with the group at the Luis A. Ferre Performing Arts Center in San Juan. During this performance, he inadvertently disobeyed the choreography by walking around the stage, when it was planned that he would stay still, and was chastised by the band manager after the show: "The mistake was such a big deal that from that moment on, never again did I move when I wasn't supposed to move...That was the discipline of Menudo: You either did things the way you were told or you were not part of the group." The song "Asignatura Pendiente" from Almas del Silencio (2003) was inspired by the first time Martin left Puerto Rico to tour with Menudo. Although Martin enjoyed traveling and performing onstage with Menudo, he found the band's busy schedule and strict management exhausting, and later reflected that the experience "cost" him his childhood. He considered leaving the group while on tour in Brazil, but ultimately decided to stay out of fear of media backlash and being sued for breach of contract. Martin also began struggling with his sexuality, noting the stark contrast between his status as a sex symbol and his own emotions. Despite this, Martin acknowledged his "opportunity to have so many amazing experiences with so many amazing people" during his time with the group. He developed an interest in philanthropy when the group became UNICEF ambassadors, often working with impoverished children in third world countries. His experiences as an ambassador affected him greatly and inspired him to continue working with charities later in life. By 1987, Menudo's record sales began to decline, and the group changed its image, adopting an edgier look and performing more rock-influenced songs. The band released the album Somos Los Hijos del Rock in Spanish, and to appeal to the Menudo's Filipino fanbase, the group released In Action, recording songs in both English and Tagalog. After recording 11 albums with the group, Martin left Menudo in July 1989, at age 17, hoping to rest and evaluate his career path. He performed his final show with the group at the same venue where he'd performed his first performance as a member. Martin returned to Puerto Rico to graduate from high school, and 13 days after turning 18, he moved to New York City to celebrate his financial independence; since he was a minor during his time as a member of Menudo, Martin was not allowed to access his own bank accounts. He was accepted into New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, but months before classes began, Martin dropped out and moved to Mexico City to perform in the play Mama Ama el Rock (Mom Loves Rock). CANNOTANSWER | Although Martin enjoyed traveling and performing onstage with Menudo, he found the band's busy schedule and strict management exhausting, | Enrique Martín Morales (born December 24, 1971), known professionally as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican singer, songwriter, and actor. He is known for his musical versatility, as his discography spans multiple genres, including Latin pop, pop, dance, reggaeton, and salsa. Dubbed the "King of Latin Pop", the "King of Latin Music", and the "Latin Pop God", he is regarded as one of the most influential artists in the world. Born in San Juan, Martin began appearing in television commercials at the age of 9 and began his musical career at age 12, as a member of Puerto Rican boy band Menudo. He started his solo career in 1991 while in Sony Music Mexico, gaining recognition in Latin America with the release of his first two studio albums, Ricky Martin (1991) and Me Amaras (1993), both of which were focused on ballads.
Martin's third album, A Medio Vivir (1995), helped him rose to prominence in European countries. The chart-topping single "María", incorporated a mixture of Latin music genres and became his first international hit. His international success was further solidified with his fourth album, Vuelve (1998). The album, which earned Martin his first Grammy Award, spawned chart-topping hits "Vuelve" and "La Copa de la Vida". Martin performed the latter at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards, which was greeted with a massive standing ovation and is known as a game-changer for Latin music worldwide. His first English album, Ricky Martin (1999) became his first US Billboard 200 number one. The lead single "Livin' la Vida Loca" is considered to be Martin's biggest hit, topping both the Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart. Martin's success in the late '90s is generally seen as the beginning of the "Latin explosion". He has been credited for getting Latin pop music genre to mainstream recognition, paving the way for a large number of Latin artists to achieve a global success.
Martin has since established his status as a sex symbol and a pop icon, releasing several successful albums, including all-time Latin bestsellers Almas del Silencio (2003) and MTV Unplugged (2006), as well as Grammy Award winner A Quien Quiera Escuchar (2015). He has also amassed many successful singles and chart-topper hits, including "She Bangs", "Nobody Wants to Be Lonely", "Tal Vez", "Tu Recuerdo", "La Mordidita", "Vente Pa' Ca", and "Canción Bonita". As an actor, Martin gained popularity and stardom for his role in the hit soap opera General Hospital (1994-1996), while his portrayal of Antonio D'Amico in The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story (2018) marked the acting opportunity of his career, garnering him an Emmy nomination. He also starred as Ché in the Broadway revival of the musical Evita in 2012, which broke the theatre's box-office sales record seven times.
Having sold over 70 million records worldwide, Martin is one of the best-selling Latin music artists of all time. He has scored 11 Billboard Hot Latin Songs number-one songs, and won over 200 awards (most awarded male Latin artist), including two Grammy Awards, five Latin Grammy Awards, five MTV Video Music Awards (tied for most wins by a Latin artist), two American Music Awards, two Latin American Music Awards, three Billboard Music Awards, nine Billboard Latin Music Awards, eight World Music Awards, fourteen Lo Nuestro Awards, a Guinness World Record, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He is ranked among the Greatest Latin Artists of All Time, the Greatest Music Video Artists of All Time, and the Most Influential Latin Artists of All Time by Billboard. His philanthropy and activism focus on LGBT rights and fighting against human trafficking; in 2004, he founded The Ricky Martin Foundation, a non-profit, non-governmental organization that focuses on denouncing human trafficking and educating about the crime's existence.
Life and career
1971–1982: Early life
Enrique Martín Morales was born on December 24, 1971, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. His mother, Doña Nereida Morales, is a former accountant; his father, Enrique Martín Negroni, is a former psychologist who previously worked as a regional supervisor for a Puerto Rican mental-health agency. His parents divorced when he was two years old, and although his mother had custody of Martin, he could also move freely between his father's house in the middle-class suburb of University Gardens in San Juan, and his paternal grandmother's house nearby. In an interview with People, he told the magazine the he "never had to make decisions" about who he loved more, and he was "always happy". Martin has two older maternal half-brothers, Fernando and Ángel Fernández, two younger paternal half-brothers, Eric and Daniel Martín, and a younger paternal half-sister, Vanessa Martín. Martin has Spanish heritage of Basque and Canarian descent. As he explained to ABC, the Martins traveled from Spain to Puerto Rico in 1779. He also has some Corsican origin through his paternal grandmother.
Martin grew up Catholic. The people closest to him called him "Kiki" (a nickname that comes from Enrique). He began singing at age six, using wooden kitchen spoons as make-believe microphones; he often sang songs by Puerto Rican boy band Menudo, as well as English-language rock groups such as Led Zeppelin, Journey, and REO Speedwagon. His mother's side of the family was musically inclined and his maternal grandfather was a poet. Martin later reflected on his time spent with his family as a child: "Every time I find myself in front of an audience, be it twenty people or one hundred thousand, once again I feel the energy that consumed me back at the family gatherings of my youth." He attended Colegio Sagrado Corazón, a bilingual Catholic grade school in University Gardens since fourth grade and was an "average" student there. When he was nine years old, he began appearing in television commercials for products such as soft drinks, toothpaste, and fast food restaurants, most notably Orange Crush and Burger King. In a year and a half, he starred in 11 commercials.
1983–1989: Menudo
After achieving moderate fame in his country for his appearances in television commercials, Martin auditioned for membership in Menudo. Formed in Puerto Rico in 1977, Menudo members were usually replaced when they hit 16 in order to keep the band "full of fresh-faced members". Although the executives enjoyed his dancing and singing at his first two auditions, Martin was rejected because he was too short. By the third audition, his persistence impressed executives, and in 1984, 12-year-old Martin became a member. A month after joining Menudo, he made his debut performance with the group at the Luis A. Ferré Performing Arts Center in San Juan. During this performance, he inadvertently disobeyed the choreography by walking around the stage, when it was planned that he would stay still, and was chastised by the band manager after the show: "The mistake was such a big deal that from that moment on, never again did I move when I wasn't supposed to move. That was the discipline of Menudo: You either did things the way you were told or you were not part of the group." Although Martin enjoyed traveling and performing onstage with Menudo, he found the band's busy schedule and strict management exhausting, and later reflected that the experience "cost" him his childhood. Despite this, Martin acknowledged his "opportunity to have so many amazing experiences with so many amazing people" during his time with the group.
During his time with Menudo, he became a "key-member of the group" and a "fan-favorite", while the band released 11 albums, including the Grammy-nominated Evolución () (1984) and their highest-charting and longest-running album on the US Billboard 200, Menudo (1985). The former featured Martin's debut single, "Rayo de Luna" () and the latter included the hit single "Hold Me". "Hold Me" became the group's first and only entry on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at number 62. It was ranked among the "100 Greatest Boy Band Songs of All Time" by Billboard, the "75 Greatest Boy Band Songs of All Time" by Rolling Stone, and the "30 Best Boy Band Songs" by Complex. Besides the musical career, Martin appeared with other members of Menudo in the American romantic comedy/drama television series, The Love Boat (1985), and the Argentine soap opera, Por Siempre Amigos (1987). He also developed an interest in philanthropy when the group became UNICEF ambassadors, often working with impoverished children in third world countries. His experiences as an ambassador affected him greatly and inspired him to continue working with charities later in his life.
Finally, Martin left the band in July 1989, at age 17, hoping to rest and evaluate his career path; he stayed a few extra months after his "age-mandated retirement" came around. He performed his final show with the group at the same venue where he had performed his first performance as a member. Referred to as the "Most Iconic Latino Pop Music Band", Menudo was ranked as one of the Biggest Boy Bands of All Time by Us Weekly in 2021. The group has sold around 20 million records worldwide, and has been acknowledged as the "Most Successful Latin Boy Band of All Time" by Billboard. Martin returned to Puerto Rico to "get a break from the pressures of the group, the promotional tours, and the constant stress of work", but although his parents' divorce had not affected him before, suddenly began to affect him; his parents "began fighting more than ever" and they were forcing him to "choose between the two people in the world" he loved most. As he understood they did this because they loved him and wanted the best for him, he "forgave all of the pain and anger they caused" him. He graduated from the high school, and 13 days after turning 18, he moved to New York City to celebrate his financial independence; since he was a minor during his time with Menudo, Martin was not allowed to access his own bank accounts.
1990–1994: Acting and first solo albums
Martin was accepted into New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in 1990, but before classes began, his friend invited him to Mexico City. He attended the musical comedy play, Mama Ama el Rock () there, and was offered to stay and replace one of the actors. He accepted the offer, dropped out the university and moved from New York to Mexico City to perform in the play. While he was performing onstage in Mama Ama el Rock, a producer in the audience took notice of Martin's acting and offered him a role in the Mexican telenovela Alcanzar una estrella () (1990). Martin also joined the cast for the second season of the show, titled Alcanzar una estrella II (1991). A film based on the TV series, titled Más que alcanzar una estrella () (1992), was also produced in which Martin starred, and earned him an El Heraldo Award for his role.
A Sony Discos executive noticed Martin's acting in the soap operas and offered him his first solo music recording contract. Eager to record his first solo album and hustled by the executive, Martin signed the contract without reading its conditions and inadvertently signed a deal in which he would only be paid one cent for each album sold! Despite viewing the contract as unfair, Martin referred to the record as "the start of something phenomenal" for him. After working "around the clock" to finish filming Alcanzar una estrella II and recording music, he released his debut solo album, Ricky Martin, on November 26, 1991. The album peaked at number five on the US Billboard Latin Pop Albums chart and spent a total of 41 weeks on the list. It sold over 500,000 copies worldwide, was certified gold in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Puerto Rico, and spawned his first solo hit singles, "Fuego Contra Fuego" (), "El Amor de Mi Vida" (), and "Dime Que Me Quieres" (). Both "Fuego Contra Fuego" and "El Amor de Mi Vida" reached the top 10 on the US Billboard Hot Latin Tracks, peaking at numbers three and eight, respectively. To promote the album, Martin embarked on a successful Latin American tour, breaking box office records, which the singer referred to as "an indescribable feeling, almost like coming home".
After the success of Ricky Martin and its subsequent tour, Martin's record company met him with the Spanish musician Juan Carlos Calderón to work on his second studio album, Me Amaras () (1993). Although Martin felt "very grateful" for the opportunity to work with Calderón, he noted, "I always felt that that record was more his than mine." The album sold over one million copies worldwide and was certified triple-platinum in Chile. In 1994, Martin's agent encouraged him to move to Los Angeles to act in an American sitcom called Getting By. The show was canceled after two seasons, but soon afterward, Martin was given the role of Miguel Morez on the popular hit soap opera General Hospital; Morez, a bartender and singer, known for his long and flowing hair, was a Puerto Rican citizen hiding in the United States from his lover's criminal mastermind father and created a love triangle with his fiancé Lily Rivera and Brenda. Martin portrayed the role for two years and gained huge popularity and stardom, becoming "one of the most-talked about actors on the soap opera". Despite this, Martin felt he lacked chemistry with the rest of the General Hospital cast and observed that people treated him differently because of his Puerto Rican accent. At the time, it was relatively uncommon for Latin actors to appear on American television, and people suggested that he take accent reduction classes, which he refused.
1995–1997: Breakthrough with A Medio Vivir
In 1995, Martin refocused on his music career, and began working on his third studio album, A Medio Vivir (). The album was released on September 12, 1995, and became a huge success; it sold over three million copies or even seven million copies worldwide, according to different sources, being certified gold in the United States, platinum in France, 4× platinum in Spain, and 6× platinum in Argentina, as well as many other certifications in Latin American countries. It spawned several successful hits, including "Te Extraño, Te Olvido, Te Amo" (), "María", and "Volverás" (). On "María", which was released as the second single from the album, Martin allowed himself "to go into a very Latin, African sound". He created a mix of different Latin music genres instead of singing a romantic ballad, the style that he focused on it in his first two albums, while Latin pop music in general was mainly made up of it at the time. Although Martin was satisfied with the track and he describes it as a song that he is "extremely proud of", the first time he played it for a record label executive, the man said: "Are you crazy? You have ruined your career! I can't believe you are showing me this. You're finished — this is going to be your last album." Despite this, the track became Martin's breakthrough song and his first international hit. It topped the charts in 20 countries, and has sold over five million physical copies worldwide. As a result, the song was featured in the 1999 edition of The Guinness Book of Records as the biggest Latin hit. It was also the Song of the Summer in Spain in 1996 and was the second best-selling single in the world that year.
In Australia, "María" spent six weeks at number one, topped the country's year-end chart in 1998, and was certified platinum. The song also spent nine weeks at number one in France, and was certified diamond. It has sold over 1.4 million copies in France. Additionally, the track reached the top 10 in the United Kingdom, and became Martin's first entry on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. To promote A Medio Vivir, he embarked on the worldwide A Medio Vivir Tour, that lasted for more than two years, through which he performed 63 shows and visited Europe, Latin America and the United States. During an interview with The Miami Herald in 1996, Martin expressed an interest in performing on Broadway. In a few days, he received a phone call from producer Richard Jay-Alexander, and was offered the role of Marius Pontmercy in the play Les Misérables. After the conclusion of the A Medio Vivir Tour in Latin America, Martin returned to New York to appear in the play in an eleven-week run. He greatly enjoyed the experience, calling his time in the play an "honor" and "the role of [his] life". Martin continued to tour after the conclusion of the show's run, and noted that his audiences were growing in both size and enthusiasm.
1998–1999: Vuelve
While the A Medio Vivir Tour had not been concluded yet, Martin returned to the studio to record his fourth album Vuelve (). He called the experience of touring and recording at the same time "brutal and incredibly intense". As he was finishing the record in 1997, "María" caught the attention of FIFA. They contacted Martin and asked him to create a song as the 1998 FIFA World Cup anthem. He stated about the request: "I have to admit that the challenge made me a bit nervous, but the massive growth potential for my career was such that I decided to accept." Following his acceptance, musicians K.C. Porter, Robi Rosa, and Desmond Child joined him and they started working on a song titled "La Copa de la Vida" (English: "The Cup of Life"). Martin wrote about the recording:
"La Copa de la Vida" was included as the eighth track on Vuelve, released February 12, 1998, The album became a huge success; it sold over eight million copies worldwide, becoming the best-selling Spanish-language album in history, according to his label. Also, some sources have reported the album's sales as six million copies worldwide. It spent 26 weeks atop the US Billboard Top Latin Albums chart and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). In Canada, the album peaked at number three and was certified double platinum. Vuelve spawned big hits, including the title track, "La Copa de la Vida", "Perdido Sin Ti" (), and "La Bomba" (). "La Copa de la Vida" grew to be an international success, appearing on the charts in more than 60 countries, and reaching number one in 30 countries, Both "Vuelve" and "Perdido Sin Ti" peaked at number one on the US Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart; the former also reached number one in On July 12, 1998, Martin performed "La Copa de la Vida" as the official anthem at the 1998 FIFA World Cup Final in France, in front of more than a billion TV viewers around the world.
To promote Vuelve, Martin embarked on the worldwide Vuelve Tour; he performed in Asia, Australia, Europe, Mexico, South America, and the United States. Although Latin music was not important to the Recording Academy or the mainstream music industry at the time, Tommy Mottola, then-chief of Columbia Records, was certain about Martin's stardom and pushed hard to have him on the Grammy Awards ceremony. During an interview with Billboard, Mottola told the magazine about it: "There was tremendous resistance from the Grammys. They did not want an 'unknown' to perform, yet we he had already sold 10 million copies of Vuelve worldwide. To me, that was absolutely UNACCEPTABLE." Finally, on February 24, 1999, cavorting with a 15-piece band alongside and a large number of dancers and percussionists, Martin performed a bilingual version of "La Copa de La Vida" at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards, which was greeted with a massive standing ovation and met with acclaim from music critics. At the same night, Vuelve earned Martin his first Grammy award, for Best Latin Pop Performance. After he accepted the award and expressed how important it was to the Latin community, the American singer-songwriter Madonna came on the stage and hugged him.
1999–2000: Crossover to English
In October 1998, CNN confirmed that Martin has been working on his first English language album, following the huge success of Vuelve. In April 1999, Billboard revealed the album's title as Ricky Martin in an article, mentioning that the album was initially set for retail on May 25, 1999. However, the huge interest in the disc, following Martin's performance at the Grammy Awards, encouraged Columbia Records to decide to rush the album to release two weeks ahead of schedule, on May 11. Tom Corson, the senior vice president of marketing at Columbia explained: "Quite simply, the market has demanded it. People have been wanting this record for a while, and it's now reached the point where we have to get it out there immediately." Tim Devin, the general manager of Tower Records in New York added about Martin: "He's always been one of our strongest Latin artists, but interest in him has picked up considerably since that performance."
Ricky Martin debuted atop the US Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 661,000 copies, according to data compiled by Nielsen SoundScan, becoming the largest sales week by any album in 1999. It also broke the record as the largest first-week sales for any pop or Latin artist in history, as well as any Columbia Records artist during the SoundScan era. With this album, Martin became the first male Latin act in history to debut at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart. It was certified 7× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), denoting shipments of over seven million copies in the US and breaking the record as the best-selling album by a Latin artist in the country. Only within three months, Ricky Martin became the best-selling album ever by a Latin artist. According to different sources, the album has sold over 15 million copies or even 17 million copies worldwide. It was nominated for Best Pop Album at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards.
The album was supported by four singles; the lead single "Livin' la Vida Loca" () topped the charts in more than 20 countries and is considered to be Martin's biggest hit, and one of the best-selling singles of all time. In the United States, it topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for five consecutive weeks, becoming Martin's first number one single on the chart. Additionally, it broke several records on Billboard charts. It also spent eight consecutive weeks atop the Canada Top Singles chart and topped the country's year-end chart. In the United Kingdom, it debuted at number one and stayed there for three weeks, making Martin the first Puerto Rican artist in history to hit number one. The track was ranked as the best '90s pop song by Elle, and was listed among the Best Latin Songs of All Time by Billboard. It was nominated for four categories at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards, including Record of the Year and Song of the Year. Its Spanish version reached the summit of the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart in the United States, and was nominated for Record of the Year at the 2000 Latin Grammy Awards.
"She's All I Ever Had" was released as the second single from the album in June 1999. It peaked at numbers two and three on the US Billboard Hot 100 and Canada Top Singles charts, respectively. The Spanish version, "Bella" () topped the charts in five countries, as well as Billboards Hot Latin Tracks chart. To further promote Ricky Martin, he embarked on the worldwide Livin' la Vida Loca Tour. In the United States, the Livin' la Vida Loca Tour was the highest-grossing tour of 2000 by a Latin artist, earning over $36.3 million with 44 dates and drawing 617,488 fans. According to Billboard Boxscore, the tour grossed $51.3 million in Canada, Mexico, and the United States, with 60 shows and drawing an audience of 875,151. International dates were not reported to Boxscore and would push the tour's grosses higher.
2000–2005: Sound Loaded, Almas del Silencio, and Life
While the Livin' la Vida Loca Tour had not been concluded yet, Martin returned to the studio to record his sixth studio album, Sound Loaded. The album was released on November 14, 2000. It debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 318,000 copies, according to data compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The album has sold over seven million copies or even eight million copies worldwide, according to different sources, being certified double platinum in the US. The album featured two hit singles, "She Bangs" and "Nobody Wants to Be Lonely". The former reached number one in seven countries, including Italy and Sweden, as well as the top five in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and several other countries. It was nominated for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance at the 43rd Annual Grammy Awards. The Spanish-language version of "She Bangs" reached the summit of the Hot Latin Tracks chart and won the Latin Grammy Award for Best Music Video at the 2nd Annual Latin Grammy Awards. "Nobody Wants to Be Lonely" was re-recorded along with American singer Christina Aguilera, peaking at number one in five countries, as well as the top five in Italy, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom, among others. It was nominated for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals at the 44th Annual Grammy Awards. The solo Spanish version, entitled "Sólo Quiero Amarte" topped the Hot Latin Tracks chart. Both "She Bangs" and "Nobody Wants to Be Lonely" are certified silver in the UK. In February 2001, Martin released a Spanish compilation album entitled La Historia (), which spent five weeks at number one on the Top Latin Albums chart, topped the charts in Argentina and Sweden, and was certified quadruple Latin platinum in the United States.
Following the success of Ricky Martin and Sound Loaded, he initially planned to release the third English-language album as his seventh studio album, which was supposed to be his first complete work in the field of songwriting. Despite Sony Music Entertainment's original plan, he decided to release a Spanish-language album: "I woke up five months ago, and I said 'We're doing an album in Spanish.' Everyone went nuts. They said, 'You don't have time; you have to release an album in English because of timing issues with your career.' And that's fine. But I told them, 'In five months, you'll have a kick-ass album' [in Spanish]. Martin's seventh studio album, Almas del Silencio () was released in May 2003. It debuted atop the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart with first-week sales of 65,000 copies, according to data compiled by Nielsen SoundScan, breaking the record as the largest first-week sales for a Spanish-language album in the US. The album also debuted at number 12 on Billboard 200, tying the 2002 album, Quizás () as the chart's highest Spanish-language debut. The album also debuted at number one in "at least 13 Latin American markets" and sold over two million copies worldwide.
Almas del Silencio spawned three Hot Latin Tracks chart-topper hits: "Tal Vez" (), "Jaleo", and "Y Todo Queda en Nada" (). "Tal Vez" debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart on the week of April 12, 2003, marking the first number one debut since February 1998, and becoming the sixth song overall in the chart's history to do so. It spent a total of 11 weeks at this position, surpassing "Livin' la Vida Loca" as Martin's longest number-one single on the chart, and was the longest-running number one of 2003. It also topped the charts in several Latin American markets. In October 2005, Martin released his third English album, Life. He commented on the album: "I was really in touch with my emotions. I think this album is very multi-layered, just like life is. It's about feeling anger. It's about feeling joy. It's about feeling uncertainty. It's about feeling. And all my emotions are part of this production". To promote Life, Martin embarked on the worldwide One Night Only with Ricky Martin tour.
2006–2012: MTV Unplugged, Música + Alma + Sexo, and Evita
Although Martin's team and MTV had discussed an MTV Unplugged for years, but it became more serious after Martin's the One Night Only tour, which featured an acoustic segment. Finally, Martin taped his MTV Unplugged set in Miami in August 2006, performing both romantic ballads and up-tempo tropical dance songs. During the performance, he debuted three new tracks, including "Tu Recuerdo" (), which was released to radio stations as the lead single from his debut live album MTV Unplugged (2006). The album debuted at number one on the Top Latin Albums chart and sold over two million copies worldwide, marking his highest-certified album in Mexico. It won two Latin Grammy awards and was nominated for Album of the Year. "Tu Recuerdo" reached number one in five countries, as well as the Billboards Hot Latin Songs and Latin Pop Airplay charts. The track was certified quadruple platinum in Mexico and was nominated for Record of the Year at the 8th Annual Latin Grammy Awards. The artist then embarked on the Black and White Tour in 2007, including four sold-out shows at the José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum in Puerto Rico. The concerts in Puerto Rico were compiled into his second live album Ricky Martin... Live Black & White Tour (2007). Later that year, he released his first Italian song, "Non siamo soli" () as a duet with Italian singer Eros Ramazzotti. The song debuted at number one in Italy and spent eleven consecutive weeks atop the chart.
In January 2011, Martin launched his ninth studio album, Música + Alma + Sexo (). The album debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200 chart, becoming the highest-charting primarily-Spanish language set since Dreaming of You (1995) by American singer Selena. It holds the record as the highest-charting Latin album of the 2010s, and represents the highest-ever chart debut on the Billboard 200 for a Sony Music Latin release. Música + Alma + Sexo also peaked at number one in Argentina and Venezuela, as well as Billboards Top Latin Albums. Its lead single, "Lo Mejor de Mi Vida Eres Tú" (English: "The Best Thing About Me Is You") reached number one on the US Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart and was nominated for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Short Form Music Video at the 12th Annual Latin Grammy Awards. To promote the album, Martin embarked on the Música + Alma + Sexo World Tour in 2011. In February 2012, he appeared as Spanish teacher David Martinez on the twelfth episode of the third season of the American musical television series Glee, The Spanish Teacher. Martin starred as Ché in the Broadway revival of the musical Evita from March 2012 to January 2013. The show became a hit, breaking the theatre's box-office sales record after only six performances. Sine then, it broke its own record six times and was nominated for Best Revival of a Musical at the 66th Tony Awards. The show's soundtrack album debuted at number one on Billboards cast album chart.
2013–2018: The Voice, A Quien Quiera Escuchar, and The Assassination of Gianni Versace
Martin served as a coach on the second season of the Australian singing competition television series The Voice in 2013. In the same year, he released a compilation album, entitled Greatest Hits: Souvenir Edition, which reached number two in Australia, as well as a new single, entitled "Come with Me", which debuted at number three in the country. The artist then embarked on the
Ricky Martin Live tour in Australia in October 2013. He continued serving as a coach on both the third and fourth seasons of The Voice Australia in 2014 and 2015, respectively. In 2014, Lars Brandle from Billboard stated in an article: "Through his high-profile slot on The Voice, Ricky's profile in Australia has never been as big as it is right now." On February 25, 2014, Wisin released a song titled "Adrenalina" () from his album El Regreso del Sobreviviente (), which featured Jennifer Lopez and Martin, and became the Univision's 2014 World Cup song. It received commercial success, peaking in the top-five of Bulgaria, Mexico, Spain, and Billboards Hot Latin Songs chart. Its accompanying music video has accumulated over 850 million views on YouTube. Later that year, Martin released his single "Vida" () for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The song reached the top five in Spain and on the US Hot Latin Songs chart. Also in 2014, he served as a coach on the fourth season of The Voice Mexico, and embarked on the Live in Mexico tour.
In February 2015, Martin released his tenth studio album, A Quien Quiera Escuchar (). The album debuted at number one on Billboards Top Latin Albums chart and peaked at number one in Argentina. It won the award for Best Latin Pop Album at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards and Album of the Year at the 1st Latin American Music Awards. The album spawned three Hot Latin Songs top-10 hits: "Adiós" (), "Disparo al Corazón" (), and "La Mordidita" (). "Disparo al Corazón" was nominated for both Record of the Year and Song of the Year at the 16th Annual Latin Grammy Awards. "La Mordidita" experienced huge commercial success, being certified 15× Latin platinum in the United States. Its accompanying music video has received over 1.2 billion views on YouTube. To promote the album, Martin embarked on the One World Tour from 2015 to 2017. He served as an executive producer and a judge on the American singing competition series La Banda (), which premiered in 2015 and 2016 on Univision. The first season was "looking for the next Latin boy band", while the second season was looking for a Latin girl band. The contestants would compete for a recording deal with Sony Music Latin and Syco Music. CNCO, known as the first boy band to make reggaeton, was the winner of the first season. Martin became their manager and produced the band's debut album, Primera Cita () (2016), along with Wisin; the album debuted at number one on Top Latin Albums and featured the hit single "Reggaetón Lento (Bailemos)" (). CNCO opened many dates on One World Tour in 2016. In 2020, Leila Cobo from Billboard compared the group with Menudo, noting: "Not since Menudo had a Latin boy band melted our hearts or made us dance quite like CNCO".
On September 23, 2016, Martin released a song called "Vente Pa' Ca" (), featuring Colombian singer Maluma. The song became one of the biggest Spanish-language songs of 2016, reaching number one in seven countries, as well as Billboards Latin Airplay, Latin Pop Airplay, and Tropical Airplay charts. It also reached top five in Spain and on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs, being certified quadruple platinum in Spain and diamond in Mexico. The track was nominated for both Record of the Year and Song of the Year at the 18th Annual Latin Grammy Awards. The accompanying music video has received over 1.75 billion views on YouTube. Martin signed a concert residency, named All In, to perform at the Monte Carlo Resort and Casino in Las Vegas in 2017 and 2018. He portrayed fashion designer Gianni Versace's partner Antonio D'Amico in the FX true crime anthology television series The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, marking "the acting opportunity of his career". The role garnered him a nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Limited Series Or Movie at the 70th Primetime Emmy Awards. Running from January to March 2018, The Assassination of Gianni Versace received generally favorable reviews and numerous awards and nominations, including three Primetime Emmy Awards, four Creative Arts Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, two Critics' Choice Television Awards, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. In February 2018, Martin released a song titled "Fiebre" (), featuring Wisin & Yandel. The song was commercially successful in Latin America, reaching number one in Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, and Uruguay. It also reached the summit of the Billboard Latin Airplay and Latin Rhythm Airplay charts.
2019–present: Amici di Maria De Filippi, PausaPlay, and Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey
At the 61st Annual Grammy Awards, Martin performed "Havana", "Pégate" (), and "Mi Gente" (), alongside Camila Cabello, J Balvin, Young Thug, and Arturo Sandoval, as the opening performance. Martin served as a coach on the eighteenth season of the Italian talent show Amici di Maria De Filippi () in 2019. In the same year, Maluma released a song called "No Se Me Quita" () from his album 11:11, which featured Martin. The song reached number one in Mexico and was certified quadruple platinum in the country. Martin hosted the 20th Annual Latin Grammy Awards in November 2019, along with Roselyn Sánchez and Paz Vega. The artist started recording his eleventh studio album, initially titled Movimiento (), in the second half of 2019, inspired by the 2019 political protests in Puerto Rico. He embarked on the Movimiento Tour in 2020. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent personal experiences, he decided to split the tour's associated album in two extended plays, Pausa () and Play; the former was released in May 2020, while the latter is set to release as his eleventh studio album.
Pausa was nominated for Album of the Year and won the award for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 21st Annual Latin Grammy Awards. The second single from the EP, "Tiburones" () reached number one in Argentina and Puerto Rico, and was also nominated for Song of the Year at the 21st Annual Latin Grammy Awards. Martin starred as the voice of villainous miniature figure Don Juan Diego in the American Christmas musical fantasy film Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey. The film was released on Netflix on November 13, 2020, and received generally favorable reviews. In April 2021, Martin released his hit single "Canción Bonita" () with Colombian singer Carlos Vives, which experienced huge commercial success in Latin America, reaching number one in 12 countries. It was also nominated for Song of the Year and Best Pop Song at the 22nd Annual Latin Grammy Awards. Later that year, he released "Qué Rico Fuera" () with Chilean-American singer Paloma Mami, as the lead single from Play. The song peaked at number one in four countries, as well as the top 10 on Billboards Latin Pop Airplay. In the same year, he embarked on his first co-headlining tour, the Enrique Iglesias and Ricky Martin Live in Concert alongside Spanish singer Enrique Iglesias.
Artistry
Influences
As a child, Martin used to sing songs by Menudo and American rock bands such as Led Zeppelin, Journey, and REO Speedwagon, which were what his "older siblings were listening to at the time". While Martin and his brothers spent their time listening to classic rock, their mother would interrupt them to make them listen to Latin music. She brought him CDs of Fania All-Stars, Celia Cruz, El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, and Gilberto Santa Rosa that slowly made him appreciate the richness of Puerto Rican culture. Also, she once took them to a Fania All-Stars concert, which Martin is "beyond grateful" for it. He expresses that thanks to her mother, those influences had a "profound effect" on his musical career. Martin has also cited Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Michael Jackson, and Madonna for teaching him "the beauty of pop". He stated about Madonna: "I was very influenced by her and her music. I know every choreography of Madonna." Additionally, he mentions Carlos Santana, José Feliciano, Celia Cruz, and Gloria Estefan as the artists who paved the way for him, naming Feliciano as one of the people who inspired him when he was a teenager: "I was always fascinated with his music." In addition to the musical influences, Martin is inspired by David Bowie's "ambiguous sexuality". While growing up, he used to ask himself if he wanted to be like the openly gay singer Elton John or he just liked him, admiring his music, colors, and wigs.
Musical styles and themes
Considered to be a versatile artist, Martin describes his music as Latin pop, saying: "When you say 'Latin pop', the spectrum is so broad, It's inevitable to not be influenced by everything that’s happening in the industry, but always keeping your identity firm by knowing who you are." He has also described his music as fusion, while noting that he does not "ride the waves that are in fashion at the moment". Music critics have described his songs as Latin pop, pop, dance, ballad, reggaeton, Latin, African, rock, salsa, flamenco, urban, samba, cumbia, merengue, rumba, Latin funk, bomba, batucada, vallenato, dancehall, mambo, Europop, house, disco, EDM, dance-pop, electro, techno, dubstep, world music, Middle Eastern, folk-pop, bossa nova, pop rock, soft pop, soft rock, R&B, gospel, jazz, trap, hip hop, doo-wop, ska, and rock' n' roll. Martin sings in Spanish, English, Portuguese, Italian, and French. About his lyrics, Martin has emphasized that although his music will always make the listener dance, it does not mean his lyrics "have to be meaningless" and he sings about love and heartbreak, as well as "things that are good for a society", such as "freedom, freedom of expression, and social justice". He has also declared that as a Latino, he is not afraid of sexuality and sings about sexuality and sensuality, bringing his culture with him onstage.
Voice
Martin possesses a dramatic tenor vocal range. Peter Gilstrap from Variety commented that his "powerful voice" is "capable of belt or lilt", while The Jerusalem Posts Noa Amouyal described his voice as "soulful" and "very powerful". In 1995, Enrique Lopetegui of the Los Angeles Times noted Martin's "improved vocal skills" on A Medio Vivir. Also from the Los Angeles Times, Ernesto Lechner later praised his vocal for being "charismatic enough to handle both ballads and up-tempo tunes". Similarly, Billboards Chuck Taylor expressed "She's All I Ever Had" boasts "a versatility that contrasts nicely" with Martin's previous single, "Livin' la Vida Loca", labeling his vocal on the former "tender and heartfelt". Steve Gerrard of the Montreal Rocks complimented "his vocal maturity" on A Quien Quiera Escuchar.
Music videos and performances
Billboard labeled Martin "a video icon", and ranked him as the 79th Greatest Music Video Artist of All Time in 2020, stating: "From the moment he sashayed up to the mic in 'Livin La Vida Loca' all dressed in black, and gave us that look, the Menudo alum became the most memorable and watchable drop-dead handsome guy in pop music." He has collaborated with various directors to produce his music videos, including Carlos Perez, Wayne Isham, Jessy Terrero, Simón Brand, Gustavo Garzón, Nigel Dick, Kacho Lopez, and Memo del Bosque. "Livin' la Vida Loca" was nominated for Video of the Year at the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards, making Martin the first Latin artist in history to receive a nomination in this category. It won two primary awards for Best Pop Video and Best Dance Video, and was voted three additional awards in the International Viewer's Choice categories, making it rank among the videos with most wins in the history of the MTV Video Music Awards. The explicit sexual scenes of the music video for "She Bangs" were met with criticism from the audience; several American television stations cut the scenes when airing the video. According to the Daily Records John Dingwall, with the visual, Martin ditched his teen idol image by transforming to a more mature one. It was consequently banned in several Latin American countries, such as the Dominican Republic. Martin told MTV News that the video represented freedom rather than his sexuality. The video was awarded Best Music Video at the 2nd Annual Latin Grammy Awards, Best Clip of the Year — Latin at the 2001 Billboard Music Video Awards, and Video of the Year at the 13th Lo Nuestro Awards.
Martin has been noticed for "dance moves of his own" and his "bon-bon shaking dance moves". Carol Sandoval from VIX named him the "best dancer on any stage worldwide", highlighting his hips movement and "successful turns". He was ranked as the ninth best male dancer by the Evening Standard and the tenth Male Singer Who Can Dance by WatchMojo, being the only Latin entertainer on both lists. Writing for The Hollywood Reporter, Scott Feinberg introduced Martin as "an incredible dancer". Billboards Jessica Roiz labeled him "a true showman", noting his "many outfit changes", "various dance performances", and "different stage set for each song". Jon Pareles of The New York Times described him as "an all-around showman" and Varietys Peter Gilstrap called him "every inch the showman", both recognizing his vocal abilities, while the former also commented he is "a dancer as muscular and hard-working as anyone in his troupe", mentioning his "likable, good-hearted character" and "steadfast Puerto Rican pride". Music critics have mostly praised his concerts for the choreographies, video screens, visual effects, stage, Latin influences, and Martin's vocals, costume changes, energy, sensuality, dance moves, and gestures, while the quality of sounds and sound mixes have received mixed reviews. Billboards Marjua Estevez described Martin's performance of "La Copa de la Vida" at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards as "the most memorable Latin performance at a Grammy Awards show", and the publication ranked it as the 54th Greatest Award Show Performance of All Time on their 2017 list. The performance was additionally placed on a 2017 unranked list of "Top 20 Best Grammy Performances of All Time" by Gold Derby, and on a 2019 list of "The Most Unforgettable Grammys Performances of All Time" by InStyle.
Public image
Martin became a teen idol with his debut as a member of Menudo, and a pop icon following global fame as a solo artist. Journalists have written about his humble personality and "beautiful soul". Writing for The Hollywood Reporter, Scott Feinberg introduced Martin as "one of the most acclaimed and admired creative artists ever". La República staff described him as "one of the most admired and desired singers", while authors of ¡Hola! described him as "one of the most respected Latin stars in the world", "one of the most prodigious voices in music in Spanish", and "one of the most beloved talents in the entertainment industry worldwide". Also from ¡Hola!, Cristina Noé named him "one of the most loved artists in the world", while a writer of Clarín named him "one of the most applauded Latin singers on the planet". Metro Puerto Rico stated that he "raised the name of Puerto Rico internationally". He was ranked as one of the top-10 "emerging personalities" of 2010 by Google Zeitgeist. In 2014, Gay Star News referred to Martin as "the most famous Latin pop star in the world", while Variety described him as "Puerto Rico's arguably most famous son" in 2021. He is ranked as the second-most famous Latin music artist in the United States, according to YouGov surveys in 2021.
During the 2000s, Martin was known for "guarding his private life" and being "uncomfortable discussing intimate aspects of his personal life"; he used to insist on asking public to focus on his music and "steered interviewers away from his personal life". However, he chose to live both his "professional and personal life", making his private life public since the early 2010s. In 2021, he went on the cover of People with the title "No More Secrets" and told the magazine that he is "a man with no secrets", stating that he is "more comfortable in his own skin than ever before". Martin is one of the most followed celebrities on social media, with accounts on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok. He stated about social media that he wishes he had "something as powerful as" them since his debut: "Obviously I like to have direct contact with the public, with the media. It's extremely important, but today, from my home, I can talk to millions of people and see their immediate reaction." He is noticed for his friendly interactions with his fans, who are called "Sexy Souls". Wax statues of Martin are on display at the Madame Tussauds wax museums in San Francisco, Sydney, and Orlando. The last one was moved from Las Vegas to Orlando for the opening of the museum in spring 2015.
Fashion
Martin is considered to be a sex symbol, and journalists describe him as "the Latin heartthrob". His fashion and style evolution, from "as '80s as you'd expect" during his time with Menudo to "a style groove, often opting for sharp, tailored suits with clean lines" since 2009, has been noticed by the media. Natalia Trejo from ¡Hola! described him as "one of the most stylish Latin men in the entertainment industry", highlighting his "baggy leather pants", "tailored suits", and "color-block blazers" that have marked "some of the noteworthy trends of each decade". The reviewer also commented that Martin is "an example of mixing business with casual" and has "always had a personal sense of style". JD Institute of Fashion Technology views Martin as a fashion icon, praising him for "pushing the fashion boundaries with every new look". In 1997, he went on the cover of People en Españols first edition of 25 Most Beautiful; he has since "been a constant presence" on their 25 or 50 Most Beautiful lists. Two years later, he was featured on the cover of both Rolling Stone and Time magazines.
Martin is considered to be one of the sexiest men in the world, according to various publications. In 2012, he was voted the sexiest man alive on Broadway.com. The following year, VH1 ranked him as the 28th Sexiest Artist of All Time, stating: "Ricky looks like the model in the magazine ads you stare at in awe thinking, 'There's no way he's that perfect in person'." In 2014, Entertainment Tonight listed him among the Sexiest Men Alive, while Revista Estilo placed him on the list of "the 10 Sexiest Singers" in 2016. He was ranked at number 16 on the list of "the 50 Hottest Men of All Time" by Harper's Bazaar in 2018, being the only Latin man on their list. In 2019, TN described Martin as "the sexiest man in the world". He has been noted for looking younger than his age, with Billboards Chris Payne labeling him "ageless". The singer has attended several fashion shows, including the Giorgio Armani show at Milan Fashion Week in 2011, the Marc Jacobs show in 2013, the Berluti menswear spring-summer 2020 show at Paris Fashion Week, the Dior men's pre-fall 2020 show, and the Virgil Abloh Spring-Summer 2022 show held by Louis Vuitton.
Personal life
Sexual orientation and early relationships
According to an interview with Rolling Stone in 1999, Martin experienced his first kiss at age 13 and lost his virginity at age 14 in Argentina. In 1990, shortly after he had arrived in Mexico to star in Mama Ama el Rock, he met a woman, who was the host of a television show. They began dating quickly and broke up a few months later. In 1992, he fell in love with Mexican singer Alejandra Guzmán, who was separated from her husband at the time. They began dating together until Guzmán returned to her husband and pretended Martin was her assistant on a phone call, while she was sleeping with her husband. In an interview with Univision, Martin admitted that she broke his heart. In the same year, Martin was rumored to have a relationship with Argentine tennis player Gabriela Sabatini. Sabatini's sister-in-law, Catherine Fulop confirmed the rumor in 2020. During the time he was playing in General Hospital, he met a "very handsome" man at a radio station, "stopped fearing [his] sexuality", and started dating him. Martin's mother supported him when she discovered that he was in love with a man, saying: "I love you, my son, I'm so happy for you. Bring it on. I'm right behind you." However, after the relationship ended, Martin "locked [his] feelings even deeper inside" and began dating women again. He recalls: "I already felt it was hard to be a Latino in Hollywood; what could have been more difficult than being Latino and gay?" Martin began dating Mexican television host Rebecca de Alba in 1994; they were in an on-and-off relationship until 2005. In May 2021, Alba revealed that she became pregnant several times in her life, but lost all of the embryos, expressing that one of them belonged to Martin. Martin also had relationships with Lilly Melgar, Adriana Biega, Maital Saban, and Inés Misan during his break-up times with Alba in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He declared that "there was chemistry with them" and he "wasn't fooling anyone".
In August 2008, Martin became a father to twin boys named Matteo and Valentino, born via gestational surrogacy. He explained that he chose surrogacy to become a parent for being "intriguing and faster" than adoption, which was complicated and could take a long time. In March 2010, Martin publicly came out as gay via a message on his website, stating: "I am proud to say that I am a fortunate homosexual man. I am very blessed to be who I am." Years later, he revealed that although his music was "heard all over the world" and he "could high five God" in 1999, he "wasn't living to the fullest" and was sad and depressed. He kept asking himself, "Am I gay? Am I bisexual? Am I confused? What am I?", explaining: "Sexuality is one complicated thing. It's not black and white. It's filled with colors. When I was dating women, I was in love with women. It felt right, it felt beautiful." In an interview with Vanity Fair, he declared: "There was love, passion. I do not regret anything, any of the relationships I lived, they taught me a lot, both men and women." Martin also told Fama!: "I know that I like both men and women, I'm against sexual labels, we are simply human beings with emotional and sexual needs. I like to enjoy sex in total freedom, so I'm open to having sex with a woman if I feel desire." Despite this, he expressed that he wouldn't be interested in "an ongoing relationship with a woman", stating: "Men are my thing". In 2000, American broadcast journalist Barbara Walters asked Martin about his sexuality on national television: "You could stop these rumors. You could say, 'Yes I am gay or no I'm not.'" In 2021, Martin, who answered with "I just don't feel like it" at the time, revealed that her question made him "felt violated", since he "was just not ready to come out" and was "very afraid"; he said that it resulted "a little PTSD" that "still haunts him". Martin dated Puerto Rican economist Carlos González Abella from 2010 to 2014, as his first relationship with a man after his coming out as gay.
Marriage
Syrian-Swedish painter Jwan Yosef shared a photo of himself and Martin on Instagram on March 30, 2016, with the caption: "Obviously we're starting a band." Soon it was rumored that Yosef is Martin's new boyfriend. Martin confirmed their relationship on April 18, 2016, and they made their red carpet debut as a couple at the amfAR Inspiration Gala. Martin later revealed that he met Yosef on Instagram and they "were talking for like six months without [him] hearing his voice". Subsequently, Martin went to London, where Yosef were living, and they met each other. On November 15, 2016, during an interview on The Ellen Show, he announced that he has proposed to Yosef and they are engaged. In January 2018, Martin confirmed that he has secretly married Yosef: "I'm a husband, but we're doing a heavy party in a couple of months, I'll let you know." On December 31, 2018, they announced that they have welcomed their first daughter together, named Lucia Martin-Yosef. Martin later explained that Lucia was born on December 24, coinciding with his 47th birthday. In September 2019, while accepting an award at the 23rd annual Human Rights Campaign (HRC) National Dinner, he announced that they are expecting their fourth child. On October 29, 2019, he shared a photo of himself, Yosef, and their new-born son, named Renn Martin-Yosef, with the caption: "Our son Renn Martin-Yosef has been born."
Beliefs and religion
During an interview with People in 2002, Martin expressed that he believes in "love", "the power of healing", and "God", thanks to his parents. The name he chose for his son Matteo means "gift from God". According to his statements in a 2021 interview, he still believes in God. He was raised Catholic but he said is not "the person who would ever look down upon one religion". He expressed that he also admires and likes Buddhist philosophy, but does not subscribe to the religion, since if he does, he cannot "be of anything else"; he does not want to be limited in certain aspects and follow a religion's specific rules. He tries to remain "open to everything" and makes "a concerted effort to always find new teachings and new paths" everywhere he goes and in every situation he finds himself in. Martin believes that everyone can "decide what makes them happy" and although "everyone needs to accept the life they were given", it does not mean they "should not live it as fully as possible".
Health and sports
Martin began practicing yoga after a trip to Thailand in 1997. He also began practicing meditation following a trip to India. In 2021, he explained that he gets up every morning at 5:30, before his family and puts himself in a lotus position and oxygenates his body. He also expressed that has a gym in his house, saying: "If I have space to see myself in the mirror and put on my products, then I also have to have space for my body." During an appearance on The Dr. Oz Show in 2017, Martin revealed that he "was diagnosed with high cholesterol" at age 18. Although he did not pay attention to the high cholesterol at the time, it made him decide to become a vegetarian since 2013 to reduce cholesterol, despite loving meat as "a Latin man". In 2020, he opened up that he suffered from anxiety for the first time in his life, following the COVID-19 lockdowns, stating that making music became his "medicine".
Real estate
In March 2001, Martin purchased a 7,082-square-feet house in Miami Beach for $6.4 million; he sold the unit for $10.6 million in 2005. In September 2004, he paid $11.9 million for a 11,000-square-feet Mediterranean-style villa in Los Angeles, which he sold in 2006 for $15 million. In May 2005, he purchased a 9,491-square-feet house in Miami Beach for $10 million; he sold the villa for $10.6 million in 2012. In 2007, he paid $16.2 million for a mansion in Golden Beach. He sold the property in 2012 for $12.8 million, incurring a loss. In the same year, he bought a 3,147-square-feet condominium in New York City for $5.9 million; he sold the condo for $7.1 million in 2017. In 2014, he rented a 900-square-metre mansion in Sydney, which became famous as "the Bronte Wave House" and was sold for $16 million in May 2015, marking one of the most expensive properties sold in the city that year. In December 2016, he purchased a 11,300-square-feet mansion in Beverly Hills. The estate, which is Martin's current house, has seven bedrooms and eight bathrooms with outdoor seating areas scattered throughout a 33,000-square-feet. It is a "private getaway in the middle of the city", located up the street from the Beverly Hills Hotel. Martin also owns a property in Puerto Rico and a private 19.7-acre island in Brazil. He purchased the latter for $8 million in 2008.
Legacy and influence
Martin has been regarded as the "King of Latin Pop" by various publications, such as the Grammy Awards, Billboard, Rolling Stone, Time, People, Vogue, The Independent, Entertainment Weekly, Entertainment Tonight Canada, NBC News, and ABC News. Additionally, he has been referred to as the "King of Latin Music", the "Latin Pop God", the "Latin King of Pop", the "Latin American King of Pop", the "Latin King", the "Crossover Latin King", the "Puerto Rican Pop King", the "Salsa-Pop King", and the "King of World Cup". Martin is known as one of the most influential artists in the world. Billboard ranked him as one of the 30 Most Influential Latin Artists of All Time, while NBC News introduced him as an "influential Latin celebrity". In 2014, he won the award for the most influential international artist at the 18th China Music Awards. He was ranked among "25 musicians who broke barriers" by Stacker in 2019, while in 2020, Spin ranked him at number 27 on the list of "most influential artists of the past 35 years", as the only Latin artist on their list. In 2022, Show News named him "the most influential global artist in history".
Martin's song "María (Pablo Flores Remix)", which was ranked among the "Greatest Latin Pop Song of All Time" by Rolling Stone, and "11 remixes of classic Latin hits" by Billboard, "launched the Latin and dance music crossover of the '90s", according to the latter. Olivier Pérou from Le Point commented that "some have even learned, thanks to him, to count to three in Spanish" following the popularity of the song. "La Copa de la Vida", which has been hailed as the Best World Cup Anthem of All-Time by multiple sources,
became a "musical template" for World Cup anthems, and Martin's Latin and dance crossover style has been much copied in the anthems, as well as soccer chant "Ole! Ole! Ole!" in the lyrics, according to The Hollywood Reporter. As believed by Esquire, the song "inaugurated this musical subgenre" of Latin. Joy Bhattacharjya from The Economic Times wrote about "La Copa de la Vida" that it was the first World Cup anthem to have a video just "as ubiquitous as the song", going on to write: "Since then, official songs have an important part to play in every World Cup." In his review for Pitchfork, Corban Goble wrote that if World Cup anthems someday would be "given their own textbook", "La Copa de la Vida" would be "the standard-bearer for the whole genre".
Martin is known as the pioneer in getting Latin pop music genre to mainstream recognition. Following his performance of "The Cup of Life" at the Grammys, and the success of "Livin' la Vida Loca" and Ricky Martin (1999), he opened the gates for many Latin artists such as Jennifer Lopez, Shakira, Christina Aguilera, Marc Anthony, Santana, and Enrique Iglesias who released their crossover albums and followed him onto the top of the charts. His performance of "The Cup of Life" at the Grammys not only changed the course of his career, but also altered how people regard Latin music in America. It has been known as a game-changer for Latin music worldwide, that effectively ushered in the "Latin explosion". Then-United Talent Agency head Rob Prinz described the rendition as "the single biggest game changing moment for any artist in the history of the Grammys". According to Billboard, it has been cited as the beginning of the "Latin Pop invasion", which powerfully affected the US mainstream. Jesús Triviño Alarcón from Tidal Magazine stated, "that single performance opened up the mainstream market for the Latinx legends", mentioning the names of Anthony, Shakira, and Lopez. InStyle staff wrote about it: "With his leather pants, big smile and energetic performance of 'The Cup of Life', Ricky Martin almost personally kicked off the so-called Latin Explosion of the late '90s." Mariana Best of San Antonio Express-News commented that the performance "is recognized for bringing Latin pop to the forefront of the U.S. music scene". In 2018, Diego Urdaneta from Vice credited the song as "one of those that laid the first stones so that J Balvin and Bad Bunnys of today can be at the top of the pyramid", labeling it "a milestone for Latin music".
According to Entertainment Tonight, "Livin' la Vida Loca" paved the way for a large number of other Latin artists, and is "credited as the song that helped other Latin artists break through to English-speaking markets". As believed by Spin, the song "lit the fuse for the Latin pop explosion of the '90s". Lucas Villa from Spin wrote about it: "When the world went loca for Ricky, he led the way for other Latin music superstars like Spain's Enrique Iglesias, Colombia's Shakira and Nuyoricans like Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony to make their marks beyond the Spanish-speaking crowds." He also described Martin as "a trailblazer in globalizing Latinx culture" in his Grammy.com article. Also from Grammy.com, Ernesto Lechner described "Livin' la Vida Loca" as "the manifesto for all the fun-loving, tropically tinged Latin hit singles that followed", stating that Martin led "the Latin music explosion that took over the U.S. at the tail end of the '90s". According to The Independent, the single is "widely regarded as the song that began the first Latin pop explosion". Peoples Jason Sheeler credited it as the song that "led the way for the late-'90s so-called 'Latin explosion' that dominated pop music into the new century: Shakira, Enrique Iglesias, Marc Anthony, and Jennifer Lopez".
Angie Romero from Billboard wrote: "If you look up 'crossover' in the dictionary, there should be a photo of Ricky shaking his bon bon and/or 'Livin' la Vida Loca'." Leila Cobo named "Livin' la Vida Loca" one of the genre's biggest singles of the past 50 years in his 2021 book Decoding "Despacito": An Oral History of Latin Music. She also wrote about his impact in Shakira's "Whenever, Wherever" chapter: "Ricky Martin’s phenomenal success opened the door for a string of Latin artists who waved the flags of their heritage, but who sang in English." Additionally, she compared Martin's song with Luis Fonsi's "Despacito" (2017) in one of her Billboard articles: "'Livin', like 'Despacito', became not just a global hit but a cultural phenomena that transcended all barriers of language and nationality." In another article, she described it as the song that "ignited the late-'90s Latin explosion". Also from Billboard, Gary Trust wrote: "The song helmed a Latin pop boom in the U.S., with Jenner Lopez, Marc Anthony and others crossing over, as well." Writing for LiveAbout.com, Bill Lamb credited the song as "the record which kicked off a wave of major Latin performers hitting the pop mainstream".
Jim Farber from Daily News noted that Ricky Martin "provides a textbook example of how to mix Latin beats with pop tunes and rock intonations". St. Louis Post-Dispatch critic Kevin C. Johnson described Martin as Latin music's "pretty-faced poster boy" who is "taking the music to places Jon Secada, Selena and Santana never could". He also mentioned that even "Gloria Estefan at her peak, failed to muster up the kind of hype and hoopla surrounding Martin". Celia San Miguel of Tidal Magazine stated that Martin "highlighted the public's thirst for a different kind of pop" in 1999, noting the album's "fusion-heavy" and "hip-shaking rhythms associated with Latin music". She mentioned that the album "spawned 1999's Latin music boom", emphasizing the fact that Martin created the "spark" of the "Latin Pop Explosion", which was followed by 1999 albums, On the 6 by Lopez, Enrique by Iglesias, and Anthony's eponymous album. She continued crediting "Martin and the paths he created" responsible for the Latin music and Spanish and Spanglish lyrics being "a commonplace phenomenon on English-language radio" in 2019. In her review for Grammy.com, Ana Monroy Yglesias said Martin led a "major music moment in 1999" with Ricky Martin, and along with him, "the first major boom of Spanish-language artists", such as Shakira and Lopez, came into the "U.S. pop landscape".
The late '90s Latin explosion also resulted in the launch of the Latin Recording Academy. Gabriel Abaroa Jr., the president and chief executive officer of the Latin Recording Academy, expressed that the plan of its launch was "immediately after the Ricky Martin success". Cuban American musician and producer Emilio Estefan added: "After the success with Ricky Martin, everybody opened their eyes and realized how important it was to bring diversity and multiethnic elements into [mainstream American] music." Many artists have cited Martin as an influence or declared themselves as his fan, including Abraham Mateo, Bad Bunny, Camila Cabello, Camilo, Carla Morrison, Christian Chávez, CNCO, Danna Paola, Enrique Iglesias, J Balvin, J-Hope, Jimin, Karol G, India Martínez, Luis Fonsi, Maite Perroni, Maluma, Neha Mahajan, Pedro Capó, Prince Royce, Rauw Alejandro, Rosalía, Sebastián Ligarde, Sebastián Yatra, Shakira, Tini, Vadhir Derbez, William Hung, Wisin, and Ximena Sariñana.
Both Maluma and J Balvin have described Martin as a "teacher" and credited him as an artist who "opened the doors" for them, while Maluma has also expressed: "Ricky Martin is one of the artists I wanted to be growing up. He's my idol in the industry".Citations regarding J Balvin's statements about Martin:
Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny talked about Martin's legacy during an episode of Behind the Music: "There's no doubt that he opened the door for an entire generation of Latin artists. I am doing great things today in the music industry thanks to those doors that he opened." He also mentioned that he is inspired by Martin's coming out as gay: "You don't have to be gay to be inspired by that action of honesty and freedom, of being yourself against the world despite everything you deserve. I look at it like a very inspiring moment for anybody. At least for me, it's very inspirational." Brazilian singer-songwriter Anitta explained to The Guardian that "some Latin stars such as Maluma and Bad Bunny sing in their native language" and do not need to sing in English to get noticed, because they already had representatives like Shakira, Martin, and Jennifer Lopez, but since her country "hasn't had a major international pop star before", she uses "whatever language will get the market's attention".
Portrayal in television
In July 2019, SOMOS Productions, Endemol Shine Boomdog, and Piñolywood Studios announced the production of a biographical web television series about Menudo, titled Subete a Mi Moto. Consisting of 15 episodes of 60 minutes each, the series premiered on Amazon Prime Video on October 9, 2020 in Mexico, Latin America, and Spain. It was filmed in Mexico and Puerto Rico, and Martin was portrayed by actors Felipe Albors and Ethan Schwartz. The series premiered in the United States on February 14, 2021 on Estrella TV. On the review aggregation website Tomatazos, the first season has a positive score of 75%. The website's critical consensus summary states, "A good trip to the past that recalls a band that defined the youth of a certain public, but that doesn't ignore the darkest moments in the lives of its members."
Other ventures
Books
On August 19, 2010, Martin announced that he had been working on his memoir, mentioning its title as Me and publish date as November 2, 2010. He expressed that writing the book was "one of the reasons" he decided to come out earlier that year. The book also had a Spanish edition title Yo (), which was published simultaneously by Celebra. He stated that writing his memoir allowed him "to explore the different paths and experiences" that have led him to be who he is, noting that it "was not easy but allowed for an incredible spiritual journey". Me spent several weeks at number one on the New York Times Best Seller list. In 2019, ¡Hola! staff ranked the book among "12 Books by Celebrities to Inspire and Motivate You", while Book Riot placed it on an unranked list of the "Best Celebrity Books You Should Read This Year" in 2020. Martin's first children's book Santiago the Dreamer in Land Among the Stars was published by Celebra and illustrated by Patricia Castelao in November 2013 for ages between five to nine. Its Spanish-language edition, Santiago El Soñador en Entre Las Estrellas, was published simultaneously. Martin expressed that the book was inspired by his "personal life, with fantasy added to it", as well as "a lot of cartoons".
Products and endorsements
Martin endorsed the 2012 Viva Glam campaign with Trinidadian rapper Nicki Minaj, which raised $270 million for the Mac AIDS Fund. In October 2020, Martin announced that he would launch his company, Martin Music Lab in partnership with music engineers Jaycen Joshua and Michael Seaberg. The company is centered around a new audio technique called "Orbital Audio", that "creates a new type of immersive, headphone listening experience". Martin used the technique on his EP Pausa, while several artists including Bad Bunny, Residente, Myke Towers, and A$AP Rocky are going to work with the company. The latter plans to release his whole upcoming studio album, using "Orbital Audio". Martin is going to expand the technique "beyond the music industry and tap into the movies, sports and, most notably, the wellness and meditation space". In 2021, Martin partnered with skin care company Kumiko. The skincare line, created by Chilean cosmetologist Catalina Aguirre, is the first to combine "mesotherapy, matcha, and cutting-edge European technology into unique multi-action formulas that penetrate the dermis with powerful anti-aging properties and lifting benefits".
Activism
Philanthropy
While on a trip to India in 2002, Martin witnessed three minor girls who were about to be sold into prostitution and rescued them. The following year, he became a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and then met with activists and decided to fight against human trafficking, which is the second-most lucrative crime in the world. In 2004, Martin launched the Ricky Martin Foundation, a non-profit, non-governmental organization that focuses on denouncing human trafficking and educating about the crime's "existence through research and community initiatives, anchored in the defense of children and youth rights". In the same year, he appealed to the United Nations for international help to fight against sex tourism. In January 2005, following the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, Martin visited Thailand to assess the needs of the minor survivors who were "extremely vulnerable to traffickers". Later that year, the Ricky Martin Foundation signed an alliance in partnership with Habitat for Humanity to construct 224 homes for the tsunami-affected families. The project was completed in December 2006. In March 2006, the foundation collaborated with the International Organization for Migration in the Llama y Vive () campaign, which focuses on facilitating "the prevention of human trafficking and the protection of young people, victims of child trafficking and prosecution of traffickers".
In January 2010, along with many celebrities, Martin operated the charity telethon Hope for Haiti Now to raise donations for the 2010 Haiti earthquake. Later that year, the Ricky Martin Foundation created the first program of community social action against child trafficking in Martin's native Puerto Rico, titled "Se Trata" (). In 2012, the foundation participated in the making of the Child Protection Model Law on the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children. In 2016, Martin visited Syrian refugees in Lebanon and played with the children and talked to them in an informal refugee camp. Following the Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico in 2017, the Ricky Martin Foundation helped people and handed over homes that were rebuilt after the losses; Martin launched a viral campaign of selling a black T-shirt with the Puerto Rican flag stamped on it in order to raise the funds. The T-shirts were designed by Martin's twin boys Matteo and Valentino, while many celebrities including Will Smith, Bad Bunny, Marc Anthony, Luis Fonsi, and Maluma supported the campaign. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Martin created a campaign to help health care workers through the non-profit organization Project Hope. He expressed: "As you know, health care professionals are extremely vulnerable and professionals around the world don’t have personal protection equipment they need to prevent them getting infected." In February 2021, Martin collaborated with Antonia Novello to launch mass vaccination events in Puerto Rico. Following the murder of George Floyd and Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, Martin honored an effort called "Black Out Tuesday" and launched the hashtag #knowthestruggle, giving his social media to the voices of the community that are "looking for justice", to learn more about what is happening.
For his humanitarian efforts and fighting against human trafficking, Martin has been honored with numerous accolades, including the Peace Summit Award by the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates, the TIP Report Hero Award by the United States Department of State, the Spirit of Hope Award by Billboard Latin Music Awards, the Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year Award, the Award of Inspiration by amfAR Gala, the Leader of Change Award by the Foundation for Social Change, the Humanitarian Award by the Global Gift Foundation, the Humanitarian Award by the Hispanic Federation, the Corazón Latino Award by the iHeartRadio Fiesta Latina, the International Humanitarian Award by the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the Agent of Change Award by the International Peace Honors, the PODER Social Leadership Awards, and the Agent of Change Award by the Premios Juventud.
Politics
On January 20, 2001, during the first inauguration of George W. Bush, Martin performed "The Cup of Life" and danced with him. Martin's view of Bush changed over the Iraq War, as expressed in his declaration to BBC News that he will "always condemn war and those who promulgate it". He also stuck up his middle finger while singing the president's name in his 2003 song "Asignatura Pendiente" at a concert. At the 2010 Billboard Latin Music Awards, Martin expressed his disagreement with the Arizona SB 1070 bill, a proposed law that would have required police officers to request documents from individuals whom they suspected to be illegal immigrants. Martin campaigned for the 44th president of the United States Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, and thanked him for an "outstanding presidency" in 2016, while calling him "an amazing leader". Also in 2016, he was an active ally to the Democratic Party presidential candidate Hillary Clinton campaign, while condemning Donald Trump's hateful comments about immigrants. He also performed his hits during the "Hillary Clinton: She's With Us" concert at the Greek Theatre on June 6, 2016.
Telegramgate, also known as Chatgate, was a political scandal involving Ricardo Rosselló, then Governor of Puerto Rico, which began on July 8, 2019, with the leak of hundreds of pages of a group chat on the messaging application Telegram between Rosselló and members of his cabinet. The messages were considered vulgar, misogynistic, and homophobic toward several individuals and groups, including Martin. Therefore, Martin, Bad Bunny, Residente and several other artists, and more than half a million Puerto Ricans led the call to take to the streets of Puerto Rico, demanding Rosselló's resignation. In September 2020, Martin, Luis Fonsi, and actress Eva Longoria attended a campaign event in Kissimmee, Florida to support the Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden for the 2020 United States presidential election. During an interview with Variety, Martin stated: "I've been supporting Biden forever, I think he is the only option we have and he is great and he has been in politics all his life. This is the moment. We all need to get together and be loud about the course of this nation." Following the election of Biden as 45th president of the United States, Martin said "Bye-bye" to Trump on social media, and shared a photo of himself along with Biden on Instagram.
In May 2021, Martin demonstrated his support for the Ni una menos movement, condemning femicides and violence against women in Puerto Rico, while calling authorities to protect women. He further expressed that no woman should fear for her safety and urged authorities to take steps in order to prevent these acts. In the same month, he supported the 2021 Colombian protests. Later that year, the singer raised his voice in support of the 2021 Cuban protests against the Castro regime for the restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic crisis, stating: "This is very important. Our brothers and sisters in Cuba need us to inform the world what they are experiencing today. Let's fill the networks before they remove the internet in the country. Humanitarian aid for Cuba NOW."
LGBT advocacy
As a gay man, Martin actively supports LGBT rights worldwide since his coming out in 2010. Even before coming out, he was noted by the mainstream media for being popular among gay men and having a large gay fan base. He also went on the cover of the American LGBT-interest magazine The Advocate in July 1999. Despite this, he admitted that he felt homosexuality was evil since he was raised as a Catholic and targeted his anger toward others, especially gay men: "I was very angry, very rebellious. I used to look at gay men and think, 'I'm not like that, I don't want to be like that, that's not me.' I was ashamed." He added that he "had internalized homophobia" back then. He is currently considered to be a gay icon, with PinkNews labeling him "a strong advocate of LGBT rights" who "expressed support for equal marriage" since coming out.
As the first mainstream Latin music artist to come out, Martin's coming out was a game-changer for "Latin Pride". Billboards Lucas Villa stated: "With Martin's announcement, gay artists, who had long kept their sexual identities a secret, finally had a beacon of hope. If Martin could come out with his career unscathed, there was hope for other artists in Latin music to start doing the same." He added that since then, "a growing number of Latin artists have either come out after years in the spotlight, or many have simply started their careers by embracing their gay identities". In 2010, GLAAD then-president Jarrett Barrios expressed that Martin's coming out as gay leads "hundreds of millions of people" to have "a cultural connection with an artist, a celebrity and, perhaps most importantly, a father who happens to be gay", adding that "his decision to model this kind of openness and honesty can lead to greater acceptance for countless gay people in U.S., in Latin America and worldwide". In 2019, Human Rights Campaign then-president Alphonso David expressed that Martin "has used his international stage to advocate for LGBTQ people around the world" with his "unique voice and passionate activism". The following year, Suzy Exposito from Rolling Stone argued that with risking his career and coming out, Martin "set the scene for Bad Bunny to be free in many ways that, during his own breakthrough moment, he could not".
Martin expressed support for same-sex marriage during an interview on Larry King Live in 2010. He has then delivered speeches about LGBT rights at the United Nations Homophobia Conference, the GLAAD Media Awards, and the Human Rights Campaign. He also raised his voice to support gay marriage in Puerto Rico before its legalization in 2015. In March 2016, Martin met with Chilean LGBT rights group Fundación Iguales to learn about the challenges LGBT citizens face there. AT the meeting, he said that he wants "equal marriage rights for Chile" and he wants his sons to grow up in a world where "there are no second-class citizens". Following the Colombia's highest court voting against an anti same-sex marriage proposal in April 2016, Martin tweeted: "Love and equality win, Colombia says YES to same-sex marriage." During an interview with Vulture, Martin talked about his role in The Assassination of Gianni Versace and how he wanted his portrayal to help "normalize open relationships". In June 2019, he published an open letter slamming the religious liberty bill, saying: "As a defender of human rights and a member of the LGBTT community, I am vehemently opposed to the proposed measure imposed upon us under the guise of religious freedom, that projects us to the world as a backwards country." Puerto Rico's then-governor backed down and withdrew his support of the bill following Martin's statement. In June 2020, Martin performed his song "Recuerdo" with Carla Morrison for a virtual event, Can't Cancel Pride: Helping LGBTQ+ People in Need, to raise visibility and funds for LGBTQ+ communities. He appeared at the virtual event in the following year as well. In February 2021, Martin was named national spokesperson for the onePULSE Foundation, a non-profit organization that focuses on managing "the design and construction of the permanent national memorial and museum dedicated to the Pulse nightclub tragedy". Later that year, he expressed that he wants to "normalize families like" his, in an interview with People.
Several of Martin's music videos feature diversity in sexual orientations and same-sex couples, including "The Best Thing About Me Is You", "Disparo al Corazón", "Fiebre", and "Tiburones". For his activism and advocacy for LGBTQ community, Martin has been honored with numerous accolades, including the GLAAD Vito Russo Award, the Gala Vanguard Award by the Los Angeles LGBT Center, the International Icon Award by the British LGBT Awards, the National Visibility Award by the Human Rights Campaign, the Trailblazer Award by the LGBT Center Dinner, the Celebrity Activist of the Year by LGBTQ Nation, and the Legacy Award by Attitude Awards.
Achievements
Throughout his career, Martin has won over 200 awards (most awarded male Latin artist), including two Grammy Awards, five Latin Grammy Awards, five MTV Video Music Awards (tied for most wins by a Latin artist), two American Music Awards, two Latin American Music Awards, three Billboard Music Awards, a Billboard Music Video Award, nine Billboard Latin Music Awards, eight World Music Awards, fourteen Lo Nuestro Awards (including the Excellence Award), and a Guinness World Record. As an actor, he was nominated for an Emmy Award. In 2007, Martin was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, located at 6901 Hollywood Blvd.
Martin is ranked among the Greatest Latin Artists of All Time and the Greatest Hot Latin Songs Artists of All Time by Billboard, while his album Vuelve was placed at number five on Billboards Top 20 Latin Albums Of All Time in 2018. In 1998, his song, "Perdido Sin Ti" reached the top of the Latin Pop Airplay chart, displacing Martin's own "Vuelve", making him the first artist on the chart's history to replace himself. His song "Livin' la Vida Loca" became the first number-one song on Billboard Hot 100, which was made entirely in Pro Tools, and achieved the first number one hit for his label, Columbia. It also became the first song in history to top Billboards Adult Pop Airplay, Pop Airplay, and Rhythmic Airplay charts, holding its record as the only song to do so for 14 years. On May 15, 1999, it became the first single ever to rule four different Billboard charts and made Martin the first act to simultaneously scale a pop, Latin, and dance chart. Two weeks later, he became the first artist to simultaneously top the Billboard 200, Hot Latin Tracks, Hot Dance Music/Club Play, Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales, Top 40 Tracks, and the Billboard Hot 100. His song "Tal Vez" (2003) marked the first number one debut on Billboard Hot Latin Songs in the 21st century. Martin is the first and only artist with Spanish-language entries on Billboard Hot 100 in three decades. In 2020, he became the first and only artist in history to enter the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart across five decades, including his work as part of Menudo. The following year, he became the first male Latin artist in history to have 4 songs from different decades to have over 100 million streams on Spotify. He owns the record as the artist with most top 20s on the US Latin Pop Airplay chart, with 51 songs, and is the runner-up of most top 10s. He is the fourth artist with the most number one songs in the history of the Hot Latin Songs chart. Additionally, he holds the record as the most Spanish-language entries on ARIA top 50 singles chart, with three.
On October 11, 2007, then-mayor of Miami Beach, Florida David Dermer awarded him the key to the city of Miami Beach. Puerto Rico named August 31 the "International Ricky Martin Day" in 2008. The Government of Spain granted Spanish nationality to Martin in 2011, for being "recognized in different artistic facets". In 2018, in recognition of "his dedication to the island and people of Puerto Rico, his philanthropic work to eliminate human trafficking across the Caribbean, and his commitment to the arts", the singer received a proclamation naming June 7 the "Ricky Martin Day" in New York City. Throughout his career, Martin has sold over 70 million records making him one of the best-selling Latin music artists of all time. In 2020, La Opinión estimated his net worth at US$120 million.
Discography
Ricky Martin (1991)
Me Amaras (1993)
A Medio Vivir (1995)
Vuelve (1998)
Ricky Martin (1999)
Sound Loaded (2000)
Almas del Silencio (2003)
Life (2005)
Música + Alma + Sexo (2011)
A Quien Quiera Escuchar (2015)
Filmography
Mas Que Alcanzar una estrella (1992)
Hercules – Latin American dub (1997)
Idle Hands (1999)
Ricky Martin: One Night Only (1999)
Minions – Latin American dub (2015)
The Latin Explosion: A New America (2015)
Ricky Martin: Behind the Vegas Residency (2017)
Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey (2020)
El cuartito (2021)
Theatre
Les Misérables (1996), Broadway – Marius Pontmercy
Evita (2012), Broadway – Ché
Tours and residenciesHeadlining tours Ricky Martin Tour (1992)
Me Amaras Tour (1993–1994)
A Medio Vivir Tour (1995–1997)
Vuelve World Tour (1998)
Livin' la Vida Loca Tour (1999–2000)
One Night Only with Ricky Martin (2005–2006)
Black and White Tour (2007)
Música + Alma + Sexo World Tour (2011)
Ricky Martin Live (2013–2014)
Live in Mexico (2014)
One World Tour (2015–2018)
Ricky Martin en Concierto (2018-2019)
Movimiento Tour (2020-2022)Co-headlining tour Enrique Iglesias and Ricky Martin Live in Concert (with Enrique Iglesias) (2021)Residency'
All In (2017–2018)
See also
Honorific nicknames in popular music
List of artists who reached number one in the United States
List of artists who reached number one on the UK Singles Chart
List of Latin pop artists
List of multilingual bands and artists
List of Puerto Rican Grammy Award winners and nominees
List of Puerto Ricans
List of Urbano artists
Notes
References
Book sources
External links
1971 births
Living people
20th-century LGBT people
20th-century Puerto Rican male actors
20th-century Puerto Rican male singers
20th-century Puerto Rican singers
21st-century LGBT people
21st-century Puerto Rican male actors
21st-century Puerto Rican male singers
21st-century Puerto Rican singers
American gay actors
American gay musicians
American humanitarians
American male pop singers
American male singer-songwriters
Columbia Records artists
Echo (music award) winners
Grammy Award winners
Hispanic and Latino American male actors
Hispanic and Latino American musicians
Latin Grammy Award winners
Latin music songwriters
Latin pop singers
Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year honorees
LGBT entertainers from Puerto Rico
LGBT Hispanic and Latino American people
LGBT Latin musicians
LGBT rights activists from the United States
LGBT singers from the United States
Male actors from San Juan, Puerto Rico
Menudo (band) members
MTV Europe Music Award winners
Naturalised citizens of Spain
Puerto Rican activists
Puerto Rican expatriates in Australia
Puerto Rican expatriates in Mexico
Puerto Rican expatriates in Spain
Puerto Rican male film actors
Puerto Rican male soap opera actors
Puerto Rican male television actors
Puerto Rican people of Basque descent
Puerto Rican people of Canarian descent
Puerto Rican people of Corsican descent
Puerto Rican people of Spanish descent
Puerto Rican philanthropists
Puerto Rican pop singers
Puerto Rican record producers
Puerto Rican singer-songwriters
Singers from San Juan, Puerto Rico
Sony Music Latin artists
Sony Music Spain artists
Spanish-language singers of the United States
UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors
World Music Awards winners | true | [
"\"What Did I Do to You?\" is a song recorded by British singer Lisa Stansfield for her 1989 album, Affection. It was written by Stansfield, Ian Devaney and Andy Morris, and produced by Devaney and Morris. The song was released as the fourth European single on 30 April 1990. It included three previously unreleased songs written by Stansfield, Devaney and Morris: \"My Apple Heart,\" \"Lay Me Down\" and \"Something's Happenin'.\" \"What Did I Do to You?\" was remixed by Mark Saunders and by the Grammy Award-winning American house music DJ and producer, David Morales. The single became a top forty hit in the European countries reaching number eighteen in Finland, number twenty in Ireland and number twenty-five in the United Kingdom. \"What Did I Do to You?\" was also released in Japan.\n\nIn 2014, the remixes of \"What Did I Do to You?\" were included on the deluxe 2CD + DVD re-release of Affection and on People Hold On ... The Remix Anthology. They were also featured on The Collection 1989–2003 box set (2014), including previously unreleased Red Zone Mix by David Morales.\n\nCritical reception\nThe song received positive reviews from music critics. Matthew Hocter from Albumism viewed it as a \"upbeat offering\". David Giles from Music Week said it is \"beautifully performed\" by Stansfield. A reviewer from Reading Eagle wrote that \"What Did I Do to You?\" \"would be right at home on the \"Saturday Night Fever\" soundtrack.\"\n\nMusic video\nA music video was produced to promote the single, directed by Philip Richardson, who had previously directed the videos for \"All Around the World\" and \"Live Together\". It features Stansfield with her kiss curls, dressed in a white outfit and performing with her band on a stage in front of a jumping audience. The video was later published on Stansfield's official YouTube channel in November 2009. It has amassed more than 1,6 million views as of October 2021.\n\nTrack listings\n\n European/UK 7\" single\n\"What Did I Do to You?\" (Mark Saunders Remix Edit) – 4:20\n\"Something's Happenin'\" – 3:59\n\n European/UK/Japanese CD single\n\"What Did I Do to You?\" (Mark Saunders Remix Edit) – 4:20\n\"My Apple Heart\" – 5:19\n\"Lay Me Down\" – 4:17\n\"Something's Happenin'\" – 3:59\n\n UK 10\" single\n\"What Did I Do to You?\" (Mark Saunders Remix) – 5:52\n\"My Apple Heart\" – 5:19\n\"Lay Me Down\" – 4:17\n\"Something's Happenin'\" – 3:59\n\n European/UK 12\" single\n\"What Did I Do to You?\" (Morales Mix) – 7:59\n\"My Apple Heart\" – 4:22\n\"Lay Me Down\" – 3:19\n\"Something's Happenin'\" – 3:15\n\n UK 12\" promotional single\n\"What Did I Do to You?\" (Morales Mix) – 7:59\n\"What Did I Do to You?\" (Anti Poll Tax Dub) – 6:31\n\n Other remixes\n\"What Did I Do to You?\" (Red Zone Mix) – 7:45\n\nCharts\n\nReferences\n\nLisa Stansfield songs\n1990 singles\nSongs written by Lisa Stansfield\n1989 songs\nArista Records singles\nSongs written by Ian Devaney\nSongs written by Andy Morris (musician)",
"What Did I Do To Deserve This My Lord!? 2 (formerly known as Holy Invasion Of Privacy, Badman! 2: Time To Tighten Up Security!, known as Yūsha no Kuse ni Namaiki da or2, 勇者のくせになまいきだor2, literally \"For a hero, [you are] quite impudent/cheeky/bold] 2)\" in Japan) is a real-time strategy/god game for the PlayStation Portable, sequel to What Did I Do to Deserve This, My Lord?.\n\nThe game was released in Japan in 2008, and was announced for a North American release during Tokyo Game Show 2009. This release was delayed until May 4, 2010, due to NIS America changing the game's name from Holy Invasion Of Privacy, Badman! 2: Time to Tighten Up Security! to What Did I Do to Deserve This, My Lord!? 2 to avoid conflict with the Batman license.. The UMD release includes the first game.\n\nGameplay \nThe gameplay is almost identical to the first game, with a few different additions and changes. These include 'Mutation' (monsters can mutate in three forms: by deformity, by obesity and by gigantism) and 'The Overlord's Chamber', where you can grow monsters and observe their evolution.\nWhat Did I Do To Deserve This, My Lord!? 2 contains \"4 times more stages, 3.3 times more monsters and 2.3 times more heroes\" than the first game.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Official website\n\n2008 video games\nGod games\nPlayStation Portable games\nPlayStation Portable-only games\nReal-time strategy video games\nSony Interactive Entertainment games\nVideo game sequels\nVideo games developed in Japan"
] | [
"Enrique Martín Morales (born December 24, 1971), known professionally as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican singer, songwriter, and actor. He is known for his musical versatility, as his discography spans multiple genres, including Latin pop, pop, dance, reggaeton, and salsa. Dubbed the \"King of Latin Pop\", the \"King of Latin Music\", and the \"Latin Pop God\", he is regarded as one of the most influential artists in the world.",
"Dubbed the \"King of Latin Pop\", the \"King of Latin Music\", and the \"Latin Pop God\", he is regarded as one of the most influential artists in the world. Born in San Juan, Martin began appearing in television commercials at the age of 9 and began his musical career at age 12, as a member of Puerto Rican boy band Menudo.",
"Born in San Juan, Martin began appearing in television commercials at the age of 9 and began his musical career at age 12, as a member of Puerto Rican boy band Menudo. He started his solo career in 1991 while in Sony Music Mexico, gaining recognition in Latin America with the release of his first two studio albums, Ricky Martin (1991) and Me Amaras (1993), both of which were focused on ballads.",
"He started his solo career in 1991 while in Sony Music Mexico, gaining recognition in Latin America with the release of his first two studio albums, Ricky Martin (1991) and Me Amaras (1993), both of which were focused on ballads. Martin's third album, A Medio Vivir (1995), helped him rose to prominence in European countries. The chart-topping single \"María\", incorporated a mixture of Latin music genres and became his first international hit.",
"The chart-topping single \"María\", incorporated a mixture of Latin music genres and became his first international hit. His international success was further solidified with his fourth album, Vuelve (1998). The album, which earned Martin his first Grammy Award, spawned chart-topping hits \"Vuelve\" and \"La Copa de la Vida\". Martin performed the latter at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards, which was greeted with a massive standing ovation and is known as a game-changer for Latin music worldwide.",
"Martin performed the latter at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards, which was greeted with a massive standing ovation and is known as a game-changer for Latin music worldwide. His first English album, Ricky Martin (1999) became his first US Billboard 200 number one. The lead single \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" is considered to be Martin's biggest hit, topping both the Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart. Martin's success in the late '90s is generally seen as the beginning of the \"Latin explosion\".",
"Martin's success in the late '90s is generally seen as the beginning of the \"Latin explosion\". He has been credited for getting Latin pop music genre to mainstream recognition, paving the way for a large number of Latin artists to achieve a global success.",
"He has been credited for getting Latin pop music genre to mainstream recognition, paving the way for a large number of Latin artists to achieve a global success. Martin has since established his status as a sex symbol and a pop icon, releasing several successful albums, including all-time Latin bestsellers Almas del Silencio (2003) and MTV Unplugged (2006), as well as Grammy Award winner A Quien Quiera Escuchar (2015).",
"Martin has since established his status as a sex symbol and a pop icon, releasing several successful albums, including all-time Latin bestsellers Almas del Silencio (2003) and MTV Unplugged (2006), as well as Grammy Award winner A Quien Quiera Escuchar (2015). He has also amassed many successful singles and chart-topper hits, including \"She Bangs\", \"Nobody Wants to Be Lonely\", \"Tal Vez\", \"Tu Recuerdo\", \"La Mordidita\", \"Vente Pa' Ca\", and \"Canción Bonita\".",
"He has also amassed many successful singles and chart-topper hits, including \"She Bangs\", \"Nobody Wants to Be Lonely\", \"Tal Vez\", \"Tu Recuerdo\", \"La Mordidita\", \"Vente Pa' Ca\", and \"Canción Bonita\". As an actor, Martin gained popularity and stardom for his role in the hit soap opera General Hospital (1994-1996), while his portrayal of Antonio D'Amico in The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story (2018) marked the acting opportunity of his career, garnering him an Emmy nomination.",
"As an actor, Martin gained popularity and stardom for his role in the hit soap opera General Hospital (1994-1996), while his portrayal of Antonio D'Amico in The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story (2018) marked the acting opportunity of his career, garnering him an Emmy nomination. He also starred as Ché in the Broadway revival of the musical Evita in 2012, which broke the theatre's box-office sales record seven times.",
"He also starred as Ché in the Broadway revival of the musical Evita in 2012, which broke the theatre's box-office sales record seven times. Having sold over 70 million records worldwide, Martin is one of the best-selling Latin music artists of all time.",
"Having sold over 70 million records worldwide, Martin is one of the best-selling Latin music artists of all time. He has scored 11 Billboard Hot Latin Songs number-one songs, and won over 200 awards (most awarded male Latin artist), including two Grammy Awards, five Latin Grammy Awards, five MTV Video Music Awards (tied for most wins by a Latin artist), two American Music Awards, two Latin American Music Awards, three Billboard Music Awards, nine Billboard Latin Music Awards, eight World Music Awards, fourteen Lo Nuestro Awards, a Guinness World Record, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.",
"He has scored 11 Billboard Hot Latin Songs number-one songs, and won over 200 awards (most awarded male Latin artist), including two Grammy Awards, five Latin Grammy Awards, five MTV Video Music Awards (tied for most wins by a Latin artist), two American Music Awards, two Latin American Music Awards, three Billboard Music Awards, nine Billboard Latin Music Awards, eight World Music Awards, fourteen Lo Nuestro Awards, a Guinness World Record, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He is ranked among the Greatest Latin Artists of All Time, the Greatest Music Video Artists of All Time, and the Most Influential Latin Artists of All Time by Billboard.",
"He is ranked among the Greatest Latin Artists of All Time, the Greatest Music Video Artists of All Time, and the Most Influential Latin Artists of All Time by Billboard. His philanthropy and activism focus on LGBT rights and fighting against human trafficking; in 2004, he founded The Ricky Martin Foundation, a non-profit, non-governmental organization that focuses on denouncing human trafficking and educating about the crime's existence.",
"His philanthropy and activism focus on LGBT rights and fighting against human trafficking; in 2004, he founded The Ricky Martin Foundation, a non-profit, non-governmental organization that focuses on denouncing human trafficking and educating about the crime's existence. Life and career 1971–1982: Early life Enrique Martín Morales was born on December 24, 1971, in San Juan, Puerto Rico.",
"Life and career 1971–1982: Early life Enrique Martín Morales was born on December 24, 1971, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. His mother, Doña Nereida Morales, is a former accountant; his father, Enrique Martín Negroni, is a former psychologist who previously worked as a regional supervisor for a Puerto Rican mental-health agency.",
"His mother, Doña Nereida Morales, is a former accountant; his father, Enrique Martín Negroni, is a former psychologist who previously worked as a regional supervisor for a Puerto Rican mental-health agency. His parents divorced when he was two years old, and although his mother had custody of Martin, he could also move freely between his father's house in the middle-class suburb of University Gardens in San Juan, and his paternal grandmother's house nearby.",
"His parents divorced when he was two years old, and although his mother had custody of Martin, he could also move freely between his father's house in the middle-class suburb of University Gardens in San Juan, and his paternal grandmother's house nearby. In an interview with People, he told the magazine the he \"never had to make decisions\" about who he loved more, and he was \"always happy\".",
"In an interview with People, he told the magazine the he \"never had to make decisions\" about who he loved more, and he was \"always happy\". Martin has two older maternal half-brothers, Fernando and Ángel Fernández, two younger paternal half-brothers, Eric and Daniel Martín, and a younger paternal half-sister, Vanessa Martín. Martin has Spanish heritage of Basque and Canarian descent. As he explained to ABC, the Martins traveled from Spain to Puerto Rico in 1779.",
"As he explained to ABC, the Martins traveled from Spain to Puerto Rico in 1779. He also has some Corsican origin through his paternal grandmother. Martin grew up Catholic. The people closest to him called him \"Kiki\" (a nickname that comes from Enrique). He began singing at age six, using wooden kitchen spoons as make-believe microphones; he often sang songs by Puerto Rican boy band Menudo, as well as English-language rock groups such as Led Zeppelin, Journey, and REO Speedwagon.",
"He began singing at age six, using wooden kitchen spoons as make-believe microphones; he often sang songs by Puerto Rican boy band Menudo, as well as English-language rock groups such as Led Zeppelin, Journey, and REO Speedwagon. His mother's side of the family was musically inclined and his maternal grandfather was a poet.",
"His mother's side of the family was musically inclined and his maternal grandfather was a poet. Martin later reflected on his time spent with his family as a child: \"Every time I find myself in front of an audience, be it twenty people or one hundred thousand, once again I feel the energy that consumed me back at the family gatherings of my youth.\" He attended Colegio Sagrado Corazón, a bilingual Catholic grade school in University Gardens since fourth grade and was an \"average\" student there.",
"He attended Colegio Sagrado Corazón, a bilingual Catholic grade school in University Gardens since fourth grade and was an \"average\" student there. When he was nine years old, he began appearing in television commercials for products such as soft drinks, toothpaste, and fast food restaurants, most notably Orange Crush and Burger King. In a year and a half, he starred in 11 commercials. 1983–1989: Menudo After achieving moderate fame in his country for his appearances in television commercials, Martin auditioned for membership in Menudo.",
"1983–1989: Menudo After achieving moderate fame in his country for his appearances in television commercials, Martin auditioned for membership in Menudo. Formed in Puerto Rico in 1977, Menudo members were usually replaced when they hit 16 in order to keep the band \"full of fresh-faced members\". Although the executives enjoyed his dancing and singing at his first two auditions, Martin was rejected because he was too short. By the third audition, his persistence impressed executives, and in 1984, 12-year-old Martin became a member.",
"By the third audition, his persistence impressed executives, and in 1984, 12-year-old Martin became a member. A month after joining Menudo, he made his debut performance with the group at the Luis A. Ferré Performing Arts Center in San Juan.",
"A month after joining Menudo, he made his debut performance with the group at the Luis A. Ferré Performing Arts Center in San Juan. During this performance, he inadvertently disobeyed the choreography by walking around the stage, when it was planned that he would stay still, and was chastised by the band manager after the show: \"The mistake was such a big deal that from that moment on, never again did I move when I wasn't supposed to move.",
"During this performance, he inadvertently disobeyed the choreography by walking around the stage, when it was planned that he would stay still, and was chastised by the band manager after the show: \"The mistake was such a big deal that from that moment on, never again did I move when I wasn't supposed to move. That was the discipline of Menudo: You either did things the way you were told or you were not part of the group.\"",
"That was the discipline of Menudo: You either did things the way you were told or you were not part of the group.\" Although Martin enjoyed traveling and performing onstage with Menudo, he found the band's busy schedule and strict management exhausting, and later reflected that the experience \"cost\" him his childhood. Despite this, Martin acknowledged his \"opportunity to have so many amazing experiences with so many amazing people\" during his time with the group.",
"Despite this, Martin acknowledged his \"opportunity to have so many amazing experiences with so many amazing people\" during his time with the group. During his time with Menudo, he became a \"key-member of the group\" and a \"fan-favorite\", while the band released 11 albums, including the Grammy-nominated Evolución () (1984) and their highest-charting and longest-running album on the US Billboard 200, Menudo (1985).",
"During his time with Menudo, he became a \"key-member of the group\" and a \"fan-favorite\", while the band released 11 albums, including the Grammy-nominated Evolución () (1984) and their highest-charting and longest-running album on the US Billboard 200, Menudo (1985). The former featured Martin's debut single, \"Rayo de Luna\" () and the latter included the hit single \"Hold Me\".",
"The former featured Martin's debut single, \"Rayo de Luna\" () and the latter included the hit single \"Hold Me\". \"Hold Me\" became the group's first and only entry on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at number 62. It was ranked among the \"100 Greatest Boy Band Songs of All Time\" by Billboard, the \"75 Greatest Boy Band Songs of All Time\" by Rolling Stone, and the \"30 Best Boy Band Songs\" by Complex.",
"It was ranked among the \"100 Greatest Boy Band Songs of All Time\" by Billboard, the \"75 Greatest Boy Band Songs of All Time\" by Rolling Stone, and the \"30 Best Boy Band Songs\" by Complex. Besides the musical career, Martin appeared with other members of Menudo in the American romantic comedy/drama television series, The Love Boat (1985), and the Argentine soap opera, Por Siempre Amigos (1987).",
"Besides the musical career, Martin appeared with other members of Menudo in the American romantic comedy/drama television series, The Love Boat (1985), and the Argentine soap opera, Por Siempre Amigos (1987). He also developed an interest in philanthropy when the group became UNICEF ambassadors, often working with impoverished children in third world countries. His experiences as an ambassador affected him greatly and inspired him to continue working with charities later in his life.",
"His experiences as an ambassador affected him greatly and inspired him to continue working with charities later in his life. Finally, Martin left the band in July 1989, at age 17, hoping to rest and evaluate his career path; he stayed a few extra months after his \"age-mandated retirement\" came around. He performed his final show with the group at the same venue where he had performed his first performance as a member.",
"He performed his final show with the group at the same venue where he had performed his first performance as a member. Referred to as the \"Most Iconic Latino Pop Music Band\", Menudo was ranked as one of the Biggest Boy Bands of All Time by Us Weekly in 2021. The group has sold around 20 million records worldwide, and has been acknowledged as the \"Most Successful Latin Boy Band of All Time\" by Billboard.",
"The group has sold around 20 million records worldwide, and has been acknowledged as the \"Most Successful Latin Boy Band of All Time\" by Billboard. Martin returned to Puerto Rico to \"get a break from the pressures of the group, the promotional tours, and the constant stress of work\", but although his parents' divorce had not affected him before, suddenly began to affect him; his parents \"began fighting more than ever\" and they were forcing him to \"choose between the two people in the world\" he loved most.",
"Martin returned to Puerto Rico to \"get a break from the pressures of the group, the promotional tours, and the constant stress of work\", but although his parents' divorce had not affected him before, suddenly began to affect him; his parents \"began fighting more than ever\" and they were forcing him to \"choose between the two people in the world\" he loved most. As he understood they did this because they loved him and wanted the best for him, he \"forgave all of the pain and anger they caused\" him.",
"As he understood they did this because they loved him and wanted the best for him, he \"forgave all of the pain and anger they caused\" him. He graduated from the high school, and 13 days after turning 18, he moved to New York City to celebrate his financial independence; since he was a minor during his time with Menudo, Martin was not allowed to access his own bank accounts.",
"He graduated from the high school, and 13 days after turning 18, he moved to New York City to celebrate his financial independence; since he was a minor during his time with Menudo, Martin was not allowed to access his own bank accounts. 1990–1994: Acting and first solo albums Martin was accepted into New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in 1990, but before classes began, his friend invited him to Mexico City.",
"1990–1994: Acting and first solo albums Martin was accepted into New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in 1990, but before classes began, his friend invited him to Mexico City. He attended the musical comedy play, Mama Ama el Rock () there, and was offered to stay and replace one of the actors. He accepted the offer, dropped out the university and moved from New York to Mexico City to perform in the play.",
"He accepted the offer, dropped out the university and moved from New York to Mexico City to perform in the play. While he was performing onstage in Mama Ama el Rock, a producer in the audience took notice of Martin's acting and offered him a role in the Mexican telenovela Alcanzar una estrella () (1990). Martin also joined the cast for the second season of the show, titled Alcanzar una estrella II (1991).",
"Martin also joined the cast for the second season of the show, titled Alcanzar una estrella II (1991). A film based on the TV series, titled Más que alcanzar una estrella () (1992), was also produced in which Martin starred, and earned him an El Heraldo Award for his role. A Sony Discos executive noticed Martin's acting in the soap operas and offered him his first solo music recording contract.",
"A Sony Discos executive noticed Martin's acting in the soap operas and offered him his first solo music recording contract. Eager to record his first solo album and hustled by the executive, Martin signed the contract without reading its conditions and inadvertently signed a deal in which he would only be paid one cent for each album sold! Despite viewing the contract as unfair, Martin referred to the record as \"the start of something phenomenal\" for him.",
"Despite viewing the contract as unfair, Martin referred to the record as \"the start of something phenomenal\" for him. After working \"around the clock\" to finish filming Alcanzar una estrella II and recording music, he released his debut solo album, Ricky Martin, on November 26, 1991. The album peaked at number five on the US Billboard Latin Pop Albums chart and spent a total of 41 weeks on the list.",
"The album peaked at number five on the US Billboard Latin Pop Albums chart and spent a total of 41 weeks on the list. It sold over 500,000 copies worldwide, was certified gold in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Puerto Rico, and spawned his first solo hit singles, \"Fuego Contra Fuego\" (), \"El Amor de Mi Vida\" (), and \"Dime Que Me Quieres\" ().",
"It sold over 500,000 copies worldwide, was certified gold in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Puerto Rico, and spawned his first solo hit singles, \"Fuego Contra Fuego\" (), \"El Amor de Mi Vida\" (), and \"Dime Que Me Quieres\" (). Both \"Fuego Contra Fuego\" and \"El Amor de Mi Vida\" reached the top 10 on the US Billboard Hot Latin Tracks, peaking at numbers three and eight, respectively.",
"Both \"Fuego Contra Fuego\" and \"El Amor de Mi Vida\" reached the top 10 on the US Billboard Hot Latin Tracks, peaking at numbers three and eight, respectively. To promote the album, Martin embarked on a successful Latin American tour, breaking box office records, which the singer referred to as \"an indescribable feeling, almost like coming home\".",
"To promote the album, Martin embarked on a successful Latin American tour, breaking box office records, which the singer referred to as \"an indescribable feeling, almost like coming home\". After the success of Ricky Martin and its subsequent tour, Martin's record company met him with the Spanish musician Juan Carlos Calderón to work on his second studio album, Me Amaras () (1993).",
"After the success of Ricky Martin and its subsequent tour, Martin's record company met him with the Spanish musician Juan Carlos Calderón to work on his second studio album, Me Amaras () (1993). Although Martin felt \"very grateful\" for the opportunity to work with Calderón, he noted, \"I always felt that that record was more his than mine.\" The album sold over one million copies worldwide and was certified triple-platinum in Chile.",
"The album sold over one million copies worldwide and was certified triple-platinum in Chile. In 1994, Martin's agent encouraged him to move to Los Angeles to act in an American sitcom called Getting By.",
"In 1994, Martin's agent encouraged him to move to Los Angeles to act in an American sitcom called Getting By. The show was canceled after two seasons, but soon afterward, Martin was given the role of Miguel Morez on the popular hit soap opera General Hospital; Morez, a bartender and singer, known for his long and flowing hair, was a Puerto Rican citizen hiding in the United States from his lover's criminal mastermind father and created a love triangle with his fiancé Lily Rivera and Brenda.",
"The show was canceled after two seasons, but soon afterward, Martin was given the role of Miguel Morez on the popular hit soap opera General Hospital; Morez, a bartender and singer, known for his long and flowing hair, was a Puerto Rican citizen hiding in the United States from his lover's criminal mastermind father and created a love triangle with his fiancé Lily Rivera and Brenda. Martin portrayed the role for two years and gained huge popularity and stardom, becoming \"one of the most-talked about actors on the soap opera\".",
"Martin portrayed the role for two years and gained huge popularity and stardom, becoming \"one of the most-talked about actors on the soap opera\". Despite this, Martin felt he lacked chemistry with the rest of the General Hospital cast and observed that people treated him differently because of his Puerto Rican accent. At the time, it was relatively uncommon for Latin actors to appear on American television, and people suggested that he take accent reduction classes, which he refused.",
"At the time, it was relatively uncommon for Latin actors to appear on American television, and people suggested that he take accent reduction classes, which he refused. 1995–1997: Breakthrough with A Medio Vivir In 1995, Martin refocused on his music career, and began working on his third studio album, A Medio Vivir ().",
"1995–1997: Breakthrough with A Medio Vivir In 1995, Martin refocused on his music career, and began working on his third studio album, A Medio Vivir (). The album was released on September 12, 1995, and became a huge success; it sold over three million copies or even seven million copies worldwide, according to different sources, being certified gold in the United States, platinum in France, 4× platinum in Spain, and 6× platinum in Argentina, as well as many other certifications in Latin American countries.",
"The album was released on September 12, 1995, and became a huge success; it sold over three million copies or even seven million copies worldwide, according to different sources, being certified gold in the United States, platinum in France, 4× platinum in Spain, and 6× platinum in Argentina, as well as many other certifications in Latin American countries. It spawned several successful hits, including \"Te Extraño, Te Olvido, Te Amo\" (), \"María\", and \"Volverás\" ().",
"It spawned several successful hits, including \"Te Extraño, Te Olvido, Te Amo\" (), \"María\", and \"Volverás\" (). On \"María\", which was released as the second single from the album, Martin allowed himself \"to go into a very Latin, African sound\".",
"On \"María\", which was released as the second single from the album, Martin allowed himself \"to go into a very Latin, African sound\". He created a mix of different Latin music genres instead of singing a romantic ballad, the style that he focused on it in his first two albums, while Latin pop music in general was mainly made up of it at the time.",
"He created a mix of different Latin music genres instead of singing a romantic ballad, the style that he focused on it in his first two albums, while Latin pop music in general was mainly made up of it at the time. Although Martin was satisfied with the track and he describes it as a song that he is \"extremely proud of\", the first time he played it for a record label executive, the man said: \"Are you crazy? You have ruined your career!",
"You have ruined your career! You have ruined your career! I can't believe you are showing me this. You're finished — this is going to be your last album.\" Despite this, the track became Martin's breakthrough song and his first international hit. It topped the charts in 20 countries, and has sold over five million physical copies worldwide. As a result, the song was featured in the 1999 edition of The Guinness Book of Records as the biggest Latin hit.",
"As a result, the song was featured in the 1999 edition of The Guinness Book of Records as the biggest Latin hit. It was also the Song of the Summer in Spain in 1996 and was the second best-selling single in the world that year. In Australia, \"María\" spent six weeks at number one, topped the country's year-end chart in 1998, and was certified platinum. The song also spent nine weeks at number one in France, and was certified diamond.",
"The song also spent nine weeks at number one in France, and was certified diamond. It has sold over 1.4 million copies in France. Additionally, the track reached the top 10 in the United Kingdom, and became Martin's first entry on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. To promote A Medio Vivir, he embarked on the worldwide A Medio Vivir Tour, that lasted for more than two years, through which he performed 63 shows and visited Europe, Latin America and the United States.",
"To promote A Medio Vivir, he embarked on the worldwide A Medio Vivir Tour, that lasted for more than two years, through which he performed 63 shows and visited Europe, Latin America and the United States. During an interview with The Miami Herald in 1996, Martin expressed an interest in performing on Broadway. In a few days, he received a phone call from producer Richard Jay-Alexander, and was offered the role of Marius Pontmercy in the play Les Misérables.",
"In a few days, he received a phone call from producer Richard Jay-Alexander, and was offered the role of Marius Pontmercy in the play Les Misérables. After the conclusion of the A Medio Vivir Tour in Latin America, Martin returned to New York to appear in the play in an eleven-week run. He greatly enjoyed the experience, calling his time in the play an \"honor\" and \"the role of [his] life\".",
"He greatly enjoyed the experience, calling his time in the play an \"honor\" and \"the role of [his] life\". Martin continued to tour after the conclusion of the show's run, and noted that his audiences were growing in both size and enthusiasm. 1998–1999: Vuelve While the A Medio Vivir Tour had not been concluded yet, Martin returned to the studio to record his fourth album Vuelve ().",
"1998–1999: Vuelve While the A Medio Vivir Tour had not been concluded yet, Martin returned to the studio to record his fourth album Vuelve (). He called the experience of touring and recording at the same time \"brutal and incredibly intense\". As he was finishing the record in 1997, \"María\" caught the attention of FIFA. They contacted Martin and asked him to create a song as the 1998 FIFA World Cup anthem.",
"They contacted Martin and asked him to create a song as the 1998 FIFA World Cup anthem. He stated about the request: \"I have to admit that the challenge made me a bit nervous, but the massive growth potential for my career was such that I decided to accept.\" Following his acceptance, musicians K.C. Porter, Robi Rosa, and Desmond Child joined him and they started working on a song titled \"La Copa de la Vida\" (English: \"The Cup of Life\").",
"Porter, Robi Rosa, and Desmond Child joined him and they started working on a song titled \"La Copa de la Vida\" (English: \"The Cup of Life\"). Martin wrote about the recording: \"La Copa de la Vida\" was included as the eighth track on Vuelve, released February 12, 1998, The album became a huge success; it sold over eight million copies worldwide, becoming the best-selling Spanish-language album in history, according to his label.",
"Martin wrote about the recording: \"La Copa de la Vida\" was included as the eighth track on Vuelve, released February 12, 1998, The album became a huge success; it sold over eight million copies worldwide, becoming the best-selling Spanish-language album in history, according to his label. Also, some sources have reported the album's sales as six million copies worldwide. It spent 26 weeks atop the US Billboard Top Latin Albums chart and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).",
"It spent 26 weeks atop the US Billboard Top Latin Albums chart and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). In Canada, the album peaked at number three and was certified double platinum. Vuelve spawned big hits, including the title track, \"La Copa de la Vida\", \"Perdido Sin Ti\" (), and \"La Bomba\" ().",
"Vuelve spawned big hits, including the title track, \"La Copa de la Vida\", \"Perdido Sin Ti\" (), and \"La Bomba\" (). \"La Copa de la Vida\" grew to be an international success, appearing on the charts in more than 60 countries, and reaching number one in 30 countries, Both \"Vuelve\" and \"Perdido Sin Ti\" peaked at number one on the US Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart; the former also reached number one in On July 12, 1998, Martin performed \"La Copa de la Vida\" as the official anthem at the 1998 FIFA World Cup Final in France, in front of more than a billion TV viewers around the world.",
"\"La Copa de la Vida\" grew to be an international success, appearing on the charts in more than 60 countries, and reaching number one in 30 countries, Both \"Vuelve\" and \"Perdido Sin Ti\" peaked at number one on the US Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart; the former also reached number one in On July 12, 1998, Martin performed \"La Copa de la Vida\" as the official anthem at the 1998 FIFA World Cup Final in France, in front of more than a billion TV viewers around the world. To promote Vuelve, Martin embarked on the worldwide Vuelve Tour; he performed in Asia, Australia, Europe, Mexico, South America, and the United States.",
"To promote Vuelve, Martin embarked on the worldwide Vuelve Tour; he performed in Asia, Australia, Europe, Mexico, South America, and the United States. Although Latin music was not important to the Recording Academy or the mainstream music industry at the time, Tommy Mottola, then-chief of Columbia Records, was certain about Martin's stardom and pushed hard to have him on the Grammy Awards ceremony. During an interview with Billboard, Mottola told the magazine about it: \"There was tremendous resistance from the Grammys.",
"During an interview with Billboard, Mottola told the magazine about it: \"There was tremendous resistance from the Grammys. They did not want an 'unknown' to perform, yet we he had already sold 10 million copies of Vuelve worldwide. To me, that was absolutely UNACCEPTABLE.\"",
"To me, that was absolutely UNACCEPTABLE.\" To me, that was absolutely UNACCEPTABLE.\" Finally, on February 24, 1999, cavorting with a 15-piece band alongside and a large number of dancers and percussionists, Martin performed a bilingual version of \"La Copa de La Vida\" at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards, which was greeted with a massive standing ovation and met with acclaim from music critics. At the same night, Vuelve earned Martin his first Grammy award, for Best Latin Pop Performance.",
"At the same night, Vuelve earned Martin his first Grammy award, for Best Latin Pop Performance. After he accepted the award and expressed how important it was to the Latin community, the American singer-songwriter Madonna came on the stage and hugged him. 1999–2000: Crossover to English In October 1998, CNN confirmed that Martin has been working on his first English language album, following the huge success of Vuelve.",
"1999–2000: Crossover to English In October 1998, CNN confirmed that Martin has been working on his first English language album, following the huge success of Vuelve. In April 1999, Billboard revealed the album's title as Ricky Martin in an article, mentioning that the album was initially set for retail on May 25, 1999.",
"In April 1999, Billboard revealed the album's title as Ricky Martin in an article, mentioning that the album was initially set for retail on May 25, 1999. However, the huge interest in the disc, following Martin's performance at the Grammy Awards, encouraged Columbia Records to decide to rush the album to release two weeks ahead of schedule, on May 11. Tom Corson, the senior vice president of marketing at Columbia explained: \"Quite simply, the market has demanded it.",
"Tom Corson, the senior vice president of marketing at Columbia explained: \"Quite simply, the market has demanded it. People have been wanting this record for a while, and it's now reached the point where we have to get it out there immediately.\" Tim Devin, the general manager of Tower Records in New York added about Martin: \"He's always been one of our strongest Latin artists, but interest in him has picked up considerably since that performance.\"",
"Tim Devin, the general manager of Tower Records in New York added about Martin: \"He's always been one of our strongest Latin artists, but interest in him has picked up considerably since that performance.\" Ricky Martin debuted atop the US Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 661,000 copies, according to data compiled by Nielsen SoundScan, becoming the largest sales week by any album in 1999.",
"Ricky Martin debuted atop the US Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 661,000 copies, according to data compiled by Nielsen SoundScan, becoming the largest sales week by any album in 1999. It also broke the record as the largest first-week sales for any pop or Latin artist in history, as well as any Columbia Records artist during the SoundScan era. With this album, Martin became the first male Latin act in history to debut at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart.",
"With this album, Martin became the first male Latin act in history to debut at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart. It was certified 7× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), denoting shipments of over seven million copies in the US and breaking the record as the best-selling album by a Latin artist in the country. Only within three months, Ricky Martin became the best-selling album ever by a Latin artist.",
"Only within three months, Ricky Martin became the best-selling album ever by a Latin artist. According to different sources, the album has sold over 15 million copies or even 17 million copies worldwide. It was nominated for Best Pop Album at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards. The album was supported by four singles; the lead single \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" () topped the charts in more than 20 countries and is considered to be Martin's biggest hit, and one of the best-selling singles of all time.",
"The album was supported by four singles; the lead single \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" () topped the charts in more than 20 countries and is considered to be Martin's biggest hit, and one of the best-selling singles of all time. In the United States, it topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for five consecutive weeks, becoming Martin's first number one single on the chart. Additionally, it broke several records on Billboard charts.",
"Additionally, it broke several records on Billboard charts. Additionally, it broke several records on Billboard charts. It also spent eight consecutive weeks atop the Canada Top Singles chart and topped the country's year-end chart. In the United Kingdom, it debuted at number one and stayed there for three weeks, making Martin the first Puerto Rican artist in history to hit number one. The track was ranked as the best '90s pop song by Elle, and was listed among the Best Latin Songs of All Time by Billboard.",
"The track was ranked as the best '90s pop song by Elle, and was listed among the Best Latin Songs of All Time by Billboard. It was nominated for four categories at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards, including Record of the Year and Song of the Year. Its Spanish version reached the summit of the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart in the United States, and was nominated for Record of the Year at the 2000 Latin Grammy Awards.",
"Its Spanish version reached the summit of the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart in the United States, and was nominated for Record of the Year at the 2000 Latin Grammy Awards. \"She's All I Ever Had\" was released as the second single from the album in June 1999. It peaked at numbers two and three on the US Billboard Hot 100 and Canada Top Singles charts, respectively. The Spanish version, \"Bella\" () topped the charts in five countries, as well as Billboards Hot Latin Tracks chart.",
"The Spanish version, \"Bella\" () topped the charts in five countries, as well as Billboards Hot Latin Tracks chart. To further promote Ricky Martin, he embarked on the worldwide Livin' la Vida Loca Tour. In the United States, the Livin' la Vida Loca Tour was the highest-grossing tour of 2000 by a Latin artist, earning over $36.3 million with 44 dates and drawing 617,488 fans.",
"In the United States, the Livin' la Vida Loca Tour was the highest-grossing tour of 2000 by a Latin artist, earning over $36.3 million with 44 dates and drawing 617,488 fans. According to Billboard Boxscore, the tour grossed $51.3 million in Canada, Mexico, and the United States, with 60 shows and drawing an audience of 875,151. International dates were not reported to Boxscore and would push the tour's grosses higher.",
"According to Billboard Boxscore, the tour grossed $51.3 million in Canada, Mexico, and the United States, with 60 shows and drawing an audience of 875,151. International dates were not reported to Boxscore and would push the tour's grosses higher. 2000–2005: Sound Loaded, Almas del Silencio, and Life While the Livin' la Vida Loca Tour had not been concluded yet, Martin returned to the studio to record his sixth studio album, Sound Loaded. The album was released on November 14, 2000.",
"The album was released on November 14, 2000. The album was released on November 14, 2000. It debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 318,000 copies, according to data compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The album has sold over seven million copies or even eight million copies worldwide, according to different sources, being certified double platinum in the US. The album featured two hit singles, \"She Bangs\" and \"Nobody Wants to Be Lonely\".",
"The album featured two hit singles, \"She Bangs\" and \"Nobody Wants to Be Lonely\". The former reached number one in seven countries, including Italy and Sweden, as well as the top five in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and several other countries. It was nominated for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance at the 43rd Annual Grammy Awards.",
"It was nominated for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance at the 43rd Annual Grammy Awards. The Spanish-language version of \"She Bangs\" reached the summit of the Hot Latin Tracks chart and won the Latin Grammy Award for Best Music Video at the 2nd Annual Latin Grammy Awards. \"Nobody Wants to Be Lonely\" was re-recorded along with American singer Christina Aguilera, peaking at number one in five countries, as well as the top five in Italy, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom, among others.",
"\"Nobody Wants to Be Lonely\" was re-recorded along with American singer Christina Aguilera, peaking at number one in five countries, as well as the top five in Italy, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom, among others. It was nominated for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals at the 44th Annual Grammy Awards. The solo Spanish version, entitled \"Sólo Quiero Amarte\" topped the Hot Latin Tracks chart. Both \"She Bangs\" and \"Nobody Wants to Be Lonely\" are certified silver in the UK.",
"Both \"She Bangs\" and \"Nobody Wants to Be Lonely\" are certified silver in the UK. In February 2001, Martin released a Spanish compilation album entitled La Historia (), which spent five weeks at number one on the Top Latin Albums chart, topped the charts in Argentina and Sweden, and was certified quadruple Latin platinum in the United States.",
"In February 2001, Martin released a Spanish compilation album entitled La Historia (), which spent five weeks at number one on the Top Latin Albums chart, topped the charts in Argentina and Sweden, and was certified quadruple Latin platinum in the United States. Following the success of Ricky Martin and Sound Loaded, he initially planned to release the third English-language album as his seventh studio album, which was supposed to be his first complete work in the field of songwriting.",
"Following the success of Ricky Martin and Sound Loaded, he initially planned to release the third English-language album as his seventh studio album, which was supposed to be his first complete work in the field of songwriting. Despite Sony Music Entertainment's original plan, he decided to release a Spanish-language album: \"I woke up five months ago, and I said 'We're doing an album in Spanish.' Everyone went nuts.",
"Everyone went nuts. Everyone went nuts. They said, 'You don't have time; you have to release an album in English because of timing issues with your career.' And that's fine. But I told them, 'In five months, you'll have a kick-ass album' [in Spanish]. Martin's seventh studio album, Almas del Silencio () was released in May 2003.",
"Martin's seventh studio album, Almas del Silencio () was released in May 2003. It debuted atop the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart with first-week sales of 65,000 copies, according to data compiled by Nielsen SoundScan, breaking the record as the largest first-week sales for a Spanish-language album in the US. The album also debuted at number 12 on Billboard 200, tying the 2002 album, Quizás () as the chart's highest Spanish-language debut.",
"The album also debuted at number 12 on Billboard 200, tying the 2002 album, Quizás () as the chart's highest Spanish-language debut. The album also debuted at number one in \"at least 13 Latin American markets\" and sold over two million copies worldwide. Almas del Silencio spawned three Hot Latin Tracks chart-topper hits: \"Tal Vez\" (), \"Jaleo\", and \"Y Todo Queda en Nada\" ().",
"Almas del Silencio spawned three Hot Latin Tracks chart-topper hits: \"Tal Vez\" (), \"Jaleo\", and \"Y Todo Queda en Nada\" (). \"Tal Vez\" debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart on the week of April 12, 2003, marking the first number one debut since February 1998, and becoming the sixth song overall in the chart's history to do so.",
"\"Tal Vez\" debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart on the week of April 12, 2003, marking the first number one debut since February 1998, and becoming the sixth song overall in the chart's history to do so. It spent a total of 11 weeks at this position, surpassing \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" as Martin's longest number-one single on the chart, and was the longest-running number one of 2003. It also topped the charts in several Latin American markets.",
"It also topped the charts in several Latin American markets. In October 2005, Martin released his third English album, Life. He commented on the album: \"I was really in touch with my emotions. I think this album is very multi-layered, just like life is. It's about feeling anger. It's about feeling joy. It's about feeling uncertainty. It's about feeling. And all my emotions are part of this production\".",
"And all my emotions are part of this production\". To promote Life, Martin embarked on the worldwide One Night Only with Ricky Martin tour. 2006–2012: MTV Unplugged, Música + Alma + Sexo, and Evita Although Martin's team and MTV had discussed an MTV Unplugged for years, but it became more serious after Martin's the One Night Only tour, which featured an acoustic segment. Finally, Martin taped his MTV Unplugged set in Miami in August 2006, performing both romantic ballads and up-tempo tropical dance songs.",
"Finally, Martin taped his MTV Unplugged set in Miami in August 2006, performing both romantic ballads and up-tempo tropical dance songs. During the performance, he debuted three new tracks, including \"Tu Recuerdo\" (), which was released to radio stations as the lead single from his debut live album MTV Unplugged (2006). The album debuted at number one on the Top Latin Albums chart and sold over two million copies worldwide, marking his highest-certified album in Mexico.",
"The album debuted at number one on the Top Latin Albums chart and sold over two million copies worldwide, marking his highest-certified album in Mexico. It won two Latin Grammy awards and was nominated for Album of the Year. \"Tu Recuerdo\" reached number one in five countries, as well as the Billboards Hot Latin Songs and Latin Pop Airplay charts. The track was certified quadruple platinum in Mexico and was nominated for Record of the Year at the 8th Annual Latin Grammy Awards.",
"The track was certified quadruple platinum in Mexico and was nominated for Record of the Year at the 8th Annual Latin Grammy Awards. The artist then embarked on the Black and White Tour in 2007, including four sold-out shows at the José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum in Puerto Rico. The concerts in Puerto Rico were compiled into his second live album Ricky Martin... Live Black & White Tour (2007).",
"The concerts in Puerto Rico were compiled into his second live album Ricky Martin... Live Black & White Tour (2007). Later that year, he released his first Italian song, \"Non siamo soli\" () as a duet with Italian singer Eros Ramazzotti. The song debuted at number one in Italy and spent eleven consecutive weeks atop the chart. In January 2011, Martin launched his ninth studio album, Música + Alma + Sexo ().",
"In January 2011, Martin launched his ninth studio album, Música + Alma + Sexo (). The album debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200 chart, becoming the highest-charting primarily-Spanish language set since Dreaming of You (1995) by American singer Selena. It holds the record as the highest-charting Latin album of the 2010s, and represents the highest-ever chart debut on the Billboard 200 for a Sony Music Latin release.",
"It holds the record as the highest-charting Latin album of the 2010s, and represents the highest-ever chart debut on the Billboard 200 for a Sony Music Latin release. Música + Alma + Sexo also peaked at number one in Argentina and Venezuela, as well as Billboards Top Latin Albums.",
"Música + Alma + Sexo also peaked at number one in Argentina and Venezuela, as well as Billboards Top Latin Albums. Its lead single, \"Lo Mejor de Mi Vida Eres Tú\" (English: \"The Best Thing About Me Is You\") reached number one on the US Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart and was nominated for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Short Form Music Video at the 12th Annual Latin Grammy Awards.",
"Its lead single, \"Lo Mejor de Mi Vida Eres Tú\" (English: \"The Best Thing About Me Is You\") reached number one on the US Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart and was nominated for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Short Form Music Video at the 12th Annual Latin Grammy Awards. To promote the album, Martin embarked on the Música + Alma + Sexo World Tour in 2011.",
"To promote the album, Martin embarked on the Música + Alma + Sexo World Tour in 2011. In February 2012, he appeared as Spanish teacher David Martinez on the twelfth episode of the third season of the American musical television series Glee, The Spanish Teacher. Martin starred as Ché in the Broadway revival of the musical Evita from March 2012 to January 2013. The show became a hit, breaking the theatre's box-office sales record after only six performances.",
"The show became a hit, breaking the theatre's box-office sales record after only six performances. Sine then, it broke its own record six times and was nominated for Best Revival of a Musical at the 66th Tony Awards. The show's soundtrack album debuted at number one on Billboards cast album chart. 2013–2018: The Voice, A Quien Quiera Escuchar, and The Assassination of Gianni Versace Martin served as a coach on the second season of the Australian singing competition television series The Voice in 2013.",
"2013–2018: The Voice, A Quien Quiera Escuchar, and The Assassination of Gianni Versace Martin served as a coach on the second season of the Australian singing competition television series The Voice in 2013. In the same year, he released a compilation album, entitled Greatest Hits: Souvenir Edition, which reached number two in Australia, as well as a new single, entitled \"Come with Me\", which debuted at number three in the country.",
"In the same year, he released a compilation album, entitled Greatest Hits: Souvenir Edition, which reached number two in Australia, as well as a new single, entitled \"Come with Me\", which debuted at number three in the country. The artist then embarked on the Ricky Martin Live tour in Australia in October 2013. He continued serving as a coach on both the third and fourth seasons of The Voice Australia in 2014 and 2015, respectively.",
"He continued serving as a coach on both the third and fourth seasons of The Voice Australia in 2014 and 2015, respectively. In 2014, Lars Brandle from Billboard stated in an article: \"Through his high-profile slot on The Voice, Ricky's profile in Australia has never been as big as it is right now.\"",
"In 2014, Lars Brandle from Billboard stated in an article: \"Through his high-profile slot on The Voice, Ricky's profile in Australia has never been as big as it is right now.\" On February 25, 2014, Wisin released a song titled \"Adrenalina\" () from his album El Regreso del Sobreviviente (), which featured Jennifer Lopez and Martin, and became the Univision's 2014 World Cup song.",
"On February 25, 2014, Wisin released a song titled \"Adrenalina\" () from his album El Regreso del Sobreviviente (), which featured Jennifer Lopez and Martin, and became the Univision's 2014 World Cup song. It received commercial success, peaking in the top-five of Bulgaria, Mexico, Spain, and Billboards Hot Latin Songs chart. Its accompanying music video has accumulated over 850 million views on YouTube. Later that year, Martin released his single \"Vida\" () for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.",
"Later that year, Martin released his single \"Vida\" () for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The song reached the top five in Spain and on the US Hot Latin Songs chart. Also in 2014, he served as a coach on the fourth season of The Voice Mexico, and embarked on the Live in Mexico tour. In February 2015, Martin released his tenth studio album, A Quien Quiera Escuchar ().",
"In February 2015, Martin released his tenth studio album, A Quien Quiera Escuchar (). The album debuted at number one on Billboards Top Latin Albums chart and peaked at number one in Argentina. It won the award for Best Latin Pop Album at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards and Album of the Year at the 1st Latin American Music Awards. The album spawned three Hot Latin Songs top-10 hits: \"Adiós\" (), \"Disparo al Corazón\" (), and \"La Mordidita\" ().",
"The album spawned three Hot Latin Songs top-10 hits: \"Adiós\" (), \"Disparo al Corazón\" (), and \"La Mordidita\" (). \"Disparo al Corazón\" was nominated for both Record of the Year and Song of the Year at the 16th Annual Latin Grammy Awards. \"La Mordidita\" experienced huge commercial success, being certified 15× Latin platinum in the United States. Its accompanying music video has received over 1.2 billion views on YouTube.",
"Its accompanying music video has received over 1.2 billion views on YouTube. To promote the album, Martin embarked on the One World Tour from 2015 to 2017. He served as an executive producer and a judge on the American singing competition series La Banda (), which premiered in 2015 and 2016 on Univision. The first season was \"looking for the next Latin boy band\", while the second season was looking for a Latin girl band.",
"The first season was \"looking for the next Latin boy band\", while the second season was looking for a Latin girl band. The contestants would compete for a recording deal with Sony Music Latin and Syco Music. CNCO, known as the first boy band to make reggaeton, was the winner of the first season.",
"CNCO, known as the first boy band to make reggaeton, was the winner of the first season. Martin became their manager and produced the band's debut album, Primera Cita () (2016), along with Wisin; the album debuted at number one on Top Latin Albums and featured the hit single \"Reggaetón Lento (Bailemos)\" (). CNCO opened many dates on One World Tour in 2016.",
"CNCO opened many dates on One World Tour in 2016. In 2020, Leila Cobo from Billboard compared the group with Menudo, noting: \"Not since Menudo had a Latin boy band melted our hearts or made us dance quite like CNCO\". On September 23, 2016, Martin released a song called \"Vente Pa' Ca\" (), featuring Colombian singer Maluma.",
"On September 23, 2016, Martin released a song called \"Vente Pa' Ca\" (), featuring Colombian singer Maluma. The song became one of the biggest Spanish-language songs of 2016, reaching number one in seven countries, as well as Billboards Latin Airplay, Latin Pop Airplay, and Tropical Airplay charts. It also reached top five in Spain and on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs, being certified quadruple platinum in Spain and diamond in Mexico.",
"It also reached top five in Spain and on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs, being certified quadruple platinum in Spain and diamond in Mexico. The track was nominated for both Record of the Year and Song of the Year at the 18th Annual Latin Grammy Awards. The accompanying music video has received over 1.75 billion views on YouTube. Martin signed a concert residency, named All In, to perform at the Monte Carlo Resort and Casino in Las Vegas in 2017 and 2018.",
"Martin signed a concert residency, named All In, to perform at the Monte Carlo Resort and Casino in Las Vegas in 2017 and 2018. He portrayed fashion designer Gianni Versace's partner Antonio D'Amico in the FX true crime anthology television series The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, marking \"the acting opportunity of his career\". The role garnered him a nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Limited Series Or Movie at the 70th Primetime Emmy Awards.",
"The role garnered him a nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Limited Series Or Movie at the 70th Primetime Emmy Awards. Running from January to March 2018, The Assassination of Gianni Versace received generally favorable reviews and numerous awards and nominations, including three Primetime Emmy Awards, four Creative Arts Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, two Critics' Choice Television Awards, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. In February 2018, Martin released a song titled \"Fiebre\" (), featuring Wisin & Yandel.",
"In February 2018, Martin released a song titled \"Fiebre\" (), featuring Wisin & Yandel. The song was commercially successful in Latin America, reaching number one in Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, and Uruguay. It also reached the summit of the Billboard Latin Airplay and Latin Rhythm Airplay charts.",
"It also reached the summit of the Billboard Latin Airplay and Latin Rhythm Airplay charts. 2019–present: Amici di Maria De Filippi, PausaPlay, and Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey At the 61st Annual Grammy Awards, Martin performed \"Havana\", \"Pégate\" (), and \"Mi Gente\" (), alongside Camila Cabello, J Balvin, Young Thug, and Arturo Sandoval, as the opening performance.",
"2019–present: Amici di Maria De Filippi, PausaPlay, and Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey At the 61st Annual Grammy Awards, Martin performed \"Havana\", \"Pégate\" (), and \"Mi Gente\" (), alongside Camila Cabello, J Balvin, Young Thug, and Arturo Sandoval, as the opening performance. Martin served as a coach on the eighteenth season of the Italian talent show Amici di Maria De Filippi () in 2019.",
"Martin served as a coach on the eighteenth season of the Italian talent show Amici di Maria De Filippi () in 2019. In the same year, Maluma released a song called \"No Se Me Quita\" () from his album 11:11, which featured Martin. The song reached number one in Mexico and was certified quadruple platinum in the country. Martin hosted the 20th Annual Latin Grammy Awards in November 2019, along with Roselyn Sánchez and Paz Vega.",
"Martin hosted the 20th Annual Latin Grammy Awards in November 2019, along with Roselyn Sánchez and Paz Vega. The artist started recording his eleventh studio album, initially titled Movimiento (), in the second half of 2019, inspired by the 2019 political protests in Puerto Rico. He embarked on the Movimiento Tour in 2020.",
"He embarked on the Movimiento Tour in 2020. He embarked on the Movimiento Tour in 2020. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent personal experiences, he decided to split the tour's associated album in two extended plays, Pausa () and Play; the former was released in May 2020, while the latter is set to release as his eleventh studio album. Pausa was nominated for Album of the Year and won the award for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 21st Annual Latin Grammy Awards.",
"Pausa was nominated for Album of the Year and won the award for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 21st Annual Latin Grammy Awards. The second single from the EP, \"Tiburones\" () reached number one in Argentina and Puerto Rico, and was also nominated for Song of the Year at the 21st Annual Latin Grammy Awards. Martin starred as the voice of villainous miniature figure Don Juan Diego in the American Christmas musical fantasy film Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey.",
"Martin starred as the voice of villainous miniature figure Don Juan Diego in the American Christmas musical fantasy film Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey. The film was released on Netflix on November 13, 2020, and received generally favorable reviews. In April 2021, Martin released his hit single \"Canción Bonita\" () with Colombian singer Carlos Vives, which experienced huge commercial success in Latin America, reaching number one in 12 countries.",
"In April 2021, Martin released his hit single \"Canción Bonita\" () with Colombian singer Carlos Vives, which experienced huge commercial success in Latin America, reaching number one in 12 countries. It was also nominated for Song of the Year and Best Pop Song at the 22nd Annual Latin Grammy Awards. Later that year, he released \"Qué Rico Fuera\" () with Chilean-American singer Paloma Mami, as the lead single from Play.",
"Later that year, he released \"Qué Rico Fuera\" () with Chilean-American singer Paloma Mami, as the lead single from Play. The song peaked at number one in four countries, as well as the top 10 on Billboards Latin Pop Airplay. In the same year, he embarked on his first co-headlining tour, the Enrique Iglesias and Ricky Martin Live in Concert alongside Spanish singer Enrique Iglesias.",
"In the same year, he embarked on his first co-headlining tour, the Enrique Iglesias and Ricky Martin Live in Concert alongside Spanish singer Enrique Iglesias. Artistry Influences As a child, Martin used to sing songs by Menudo and American rock bands such as Led Zeppelin, Journey, and REO Speedwagon, which were what his \"older siblings were listening to at the time\". While Martin and his brothers spent their time listening to classic rock, their mother would interrupt them to make them listen to Latin music.",
"While Martin and his brothers spent their time listening to classic rock, their mother would interrupt them to make them listen to Latin music. She brought him CDs of Fania All-Stars, Celia Cruz, El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, and Gilberto Santa Rosa that slowly made him appreciate the richness of Puerto Rican culture. Also, she once took them to a Fania All-Stars concert, which Martin is \"beyond grateful\" for it.",
"Also, she once took them to a Fania All-Stars concert, which Martin is \"beyond grateful\" for it. He expresses that thanks to her mother, those influences had a \"profound effect\" on his musical career. Martin has also cited Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Michael Jackson, and Madonna for teaching him \"the beauty of pop\". He stated about Madonna: \"I was very influenced by her and her music. I know every choreography of Madonna.\"",
"I know every choreography of Madonna.\" I know every choreography of Madonna.\" Additionally, he mentions Carlos Santana, José Feliciano, Celia Cruz, and Gloria Estefan as the artists who paved the way for him, naming Feliciano as one of the people who inspired him when he was a teenager: \"I was always fascinated with his music.\" In addition to the musical influences, Martin is inspired by David Bowie's \"ambiguous sexuality\".",
"In addition to the musical influences, Martin is inspired by David Bowie's \"ambiguous sexuality\". While growing up, he used to ask himself if he wanted to be like the openly gay singer Elton John or he just liked him, admiring his music, colors, and wigs.",
"While growing up, he used to ask himself if he wanted to be like the openly gay singer Elton John or he just liked him, admiring his music, colors, and wigs. Musical styles and themes Considered to be a versatile artist, Martin describes his music as Latin pop, saying: \"When you say 'Latin pop', the spectrum is so broad, It's inevitable to not be influenced by everything that’s happening in the industry, but always keeping your identity firm by knowing who you are.\"",
"Musical styles and themes Considered to be a versatile artist, Martin describes his music as Latin pop, saying: \"When you say 'Latin pop', the spectrum is so broad, It's inevitable to not be influenced by everything that’s happening in the industry, but always keeping your identity firm by knowing who you are.\" He has also described his music as fusion, while noting that he does not \"ride the waves that are in fashion at the moment\".",
"He has also described his music as fusion, while noting that he does not \"ride the waves that are in fashion at the moment\". Music critics have described his songs as Latin pop, pop, dance, ballad, reggaeton, Latin, African, rock, salsa, flamenco, urban, samba, cumbia, merengue, rumba, Latin funk, bomba, batucada, vallenato, dancehall, mambo, Europop, house, disco, EDM, dance-pop, electro, techno, dubstep, world music, Middle Eastern, folk-pop, bossa nova, pop rock, soft pop, soft rock, R&B, gospel, jazz, trap, hip hop, doo-wop, ska, and rock' n' roll.",
"Music critics have described his songs as Latin pop, pop, dance, ballad, reggaeton, Latin, African, rock, salsa, flamenco, urban, samba, cumbia, merengue, rumba, Latin funk, bomba, batucada, vallenato, dancehall, mambo, Europop, house, disco, EDM, dance-pop, electro, techno, dubstep, world music, Middle Eastern, folk-pop, bossa nova, pop rock, soft pop, soft rock, R&B, gospel, jazz, trap, hip hop, doo-wop, ska, and rock' n' roll. Martin sings in Spanish, English, Portuguese, Italian, and French.",
"Martin sings in Spanish, English, Portuguese, Italian, and French. About his lyrics, Martin has emphasized that although his music will always make the listener dance, it does not mean his lyrics \"have to be meaningless\" and he sings about love and heartbreak, as well as \"things that are good for a society\", such as \"freedom, freedom of expression, and social justice\".",
"About his lyrics, Martin has emphasized that although his music will always make the listener dance, it does not mean his lyrics \"have to be meaningless\" and he sings about love and heartbreak, as well as \"things that are good for a society\", such as \"freedom, freedom of expression, and social justice\". He has also declared that as a Latino, he is not afraid of sexuality and sings about sexuality and sensuality, bringing his culture with him onstage.",
"He has also declared that as a Latino, he is not afraid of sexuality and sings about sexuality and sensuality, bringing his culture with him onstage. Voice Martin possesses a dramatic tenor vocal range. Peter Gilstrap from Variety commented that his \"powerful voice\" is \"capable of belt or lilt\", while The Jerusalem Posts Noa Amouyal described his voice as \"soulful\" and \"very powerful\". In 1995, Enrique Lopetegui of the Los Angeles Times noted Martin's \"improved vocal skills\" on A Medio Vivir.",
"In 1995, Enrique Lopetegui of the Los Angeles Times noted Martin's \"improved vocal skills\" on A Medio Vivir. Also from the Los Angeles Times, Ernesto Lechner later praised his vocal for being \"charismatic enough to handle both ballads and up-tempo tunes\". Similarly, Billboards Chuck Taylor expressed \"She's All I Ever Had\" boasts \"a versatility that contrasts nicely\" with Martin's previous single, \"Livin' la Vida Loca\", labeling his vocal on the former \"tender and heartfelt\".",
"Similarly, Billboards Chuck Taylor expressed \"She's All I Ever Had\" boasts \"a versatility that contrasts nicely\" with Martin's previous single, \"Livin' la Vida Loca\", labeling his vocal on the former \"tender and heartfelt\". Steve Gerrard of the Montreal Rocks complimented \"his vocal maturity\" on A Quien Quiera Escuchar.",
"Steve Gerrard of the Montreal Rocks complimented \"his vocal maturity\" on A Quien Quiera Escuchar. Music videos and performances Billboard labeled Martin \"a video icon\", and ranked him as the 79th Greatest Music Video Artist of All Time in 2020, stating: \"From the moment he sashayed up to the mic in 'Livin La Vida Loca' all dressed in black, and gave us that look, the Menudo alum became the most memorable and watchable drop-dead handsome guy in pop music.\"",
"Music videos and performances Billboard labeled Martin \"a video icon\", and ranked him as the 79th Greatest Music Video Artist of All Time in 2020, stating: \"From the moment he sashayed up to the mic in 'Livin La Vida Loca' all dressed in black, and gave us that look, the Menudo alum became the most memorable and watchable drop-dead handsome guy in pop music.\" He has collaborated with various directors to produce his music videos, including Carlos Perez, Wayne Isham, Jessy Terrero, Simón Brand, Gustavo Garzón, Nigel Dick, Kacho Lopez, and Memo del Bosque.",
"He has collaborated with various directors to produce his music videos, including Carlos Perez, Wayne Isham, Jessy Terrero, Simón Brand, Gustavo Garzón, Nigel Dick, Kacho Lopez, and Memo del Bosque. \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" was nominated for Video of the Year at the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards, making Martin the first Latin artist in history to receive a nomination in this category.",
"\"Livin' la Vida Loca\" was nominated for Video of the Year at the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards, making Martin the first Latin artist in history to receive a nomination in this category. It won two primary awards for Best Pop Video and Best Dance Video, and was voted three additional awards in the International Viewer's Choice categories, making it rank among the videos with most wins in the history of the MTV Video Music Awards.",
"It won two primary awards for Best Pop Video and Best Dance Video, and was voted three additional awards in the International Viewer's Choice categories, making it rank among the videos with most wins in the history of the MTV Video Music Awards. The explicit sexual scenes of the music video for \"She Bangs\" were met with criticism from the audience; several American television stations cut the scenes when airing the video.",
"The explicit sexual scenes of the music video for \"She Bangs\" were met with criticism from the audience; several American television stations cut the scenes when airing the video. According to the Daily Records John Dingwall, with the visual, Martin ditched his teen idol image by transforming to a more mature one. It was consequently banned in several Latin American countries, such as the Dominican Republic. Martin told MTV News that the video represented freedom rather than his sexuality.",
"Martin told MTV News that the video represented freedom rather than his sexuality. The video was awarded Best Music Video at the 2nd Annual Latin Grammy Awards, Best Clip of the Year — Latin at the 2001 Billboard Music Video Awards, and Video of the Year at the 13th Lo Nuestro Awards. Martin has been noticed for \"dance moves of his own\" and his \"bon-bon shaking dance moves\".",
"Martin has been noticed for \"dance moves of his own\" and his \"bon-bon shaking dance moves\". Carol Sandoval from VIX named him the \"best dancer on any stage worldwide\", highlighting his hips movement and \"successful turns\". He was ranked as the ninth best male dancer by the Evening Standard and the tenth Male Singer Who Can Dance by WatchMojo, being the only Latin entertainer on both lists. Writing for The Hollywood Reporter, Scott Feinberg introduced Martin as \"an incredible dancer\".",
"Writing for The Hollywood Reporter, Scott Feinberg introduced Martin as \"an incredible dancer\". Billboards Jessica Roiz labeled him \"a true showman\", noting his \"many outfit changes\", \"various dance performances\", and \"different stage set for each song\".",
"Billboards Jessica Roiz labeled him \"a true showman\", noting his \"many outfit changes\", \"various dance performances\", and \"different stage set for each song\". Jon Pareles of The New York Times described him as \"an all-around showman\" and Varietys Peter Gilstrap called him \"every inch the showman\", both recognizing his vocal abilities, while the former also commented he is \"a dancer as muscular and hard-working as anyone in his troupe\", mentioning his \"likable, good-hearted character\" and \"steadfast Puerto Rican pride\".",
"Jon Pareles of The New York Times described him as \"an all-around showman\" and Varietys Peter Gilstrap called him \"every inch the showman\", both recognizing his vocal abilities, while the former also commented he is \"a dancer as muscular and hard-working as anyone in his troupe\", mentioning his \"likable, good-hearted character\" and \"steadfast Puerto Rican pride\". Music critics have mostly praised his concerts for the choreographies, video screens, visual effects, stage, Latin influences, and Martin's vocals, costume changes, energy, sensuality, dance moves, and gestures, while the quality of sounds and sound mixes have received mixed reviews.",
"Music critics have mostly praised his concerts for the choreographies, video screens, visual effects, stage, Latin influences, and Martin's vocals, costume changes, energy, sensuality, dance moves, and gestures, while the quality of sounds and sound mixes have received mixed reviews. Billboards Marjua Estevez described Martin's performance of \"La Copa de la Vida\" at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards as \"the most memorable Latin performance at a Grammy Awards show\", and the publication ranked it as the 54th Greatest Award Show Performance of All Time on their 2017 list.",
"Billboards Marjua Estevez described Martin's performance of \"La Copa de la Vida\" at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards as \"the most memorable Latin performance at a Grammy Awards show\", and the publication ranked it as the 54th Greatest Award Show Performance of All Time on their 2017 list. The performance was additionally placed on a 2017 unranked list of \"Top 20 Best Grammy Performances of All Time\" by Gold Derby, and on a 2019 list of \"The Most Unforgettable Grammys Performances of All Time\" by InStyle.",
"The performance was additionally placed on a 2017 unranked list of \"Top 20 Best Grammy Performances of All Time\" by Gold Derby, and on a 2019 list of \"The Most Unforgettable Grammys Performances of All Time\" by InStyle. Public image Martin became a teen idol with his debut as a member of Menudo, and a pop icon following global fame as a solo artist. Journalists have written about his humble personality and \"beautiful soul\".",
"Journalists have written about his humble personality and \"beautiful soul\". Writing for The Hollywood Reporter, Scott Feinberg introduced Martin as \"one of the most acclaimed and admired creative artists ever\". La República staff described him as \"one of the most admired and desired singers\", while authors of ¡Hola!",
"La República staff described him as \"one of the most admired and desired singers\", while authors of ¡Hola! described him as \"one of the most respected Latin stars in the world\", \"one of the most prodigious voices in music in Spanish\", and \"one of the most beloved talents in the entertainment industry worldwide\".",
"described him as \"one of the most respected Latin stars in the world\", \"one of the most prodigious voices in music in Spanish\", and \"one of the most beloved talents in the entertainment industry worldwide\". Also from ¡Hola!, Cristina Noé named him \"one of the most loved artists in the world\", while a writer of Clarín named him \"one of the most applauded Latin singers on the planet\".",
"Also from ¡Hola!, Cristina Noé named him \"one of the most loved artists in the world\", while a writer of Clarín named him \"one of the most applauded Latin singers on the planet\". Metro Puerto Rico stated that he \"raised the name of Puerto Rico internationally\". He was ranked as one of the top-10 \"emerging personalities\" of 2010 by Google Zeitgeist.",
"He was ranked as one of the top-10 \"emerging personalities\" of 2010 by Google Zeitgeist. In 2014, Gay Star News referred to Martin as \"the most famous Latin pop star in the world\", while Variety described him as \"Puerto Rico's arguably most famous son\" in 2021. He is ranked as the second-most famous Latin music artist in the United States, according to YouGov surveys in 2021.",
"He is ranked as the second-most famous Latin music artist in the United States, according to YouGov surveys in 2021. During the 2000s, Martin was known for \"guarding his private life\" and being \"uncomfortable discussing intimate aspects of his personal life\"; he used to insist on asking public to focus on his music and \"steered interviewers away from his personal life\". However, he chose to live both his \"professional and personal life\", making his private life public since the early 2010s.",
"However, he chose to live both his \"professional and personal life\", making his private life public since the early 2010s. In 2021, he went on the cover of People with the title \"No More Secrets\" and told the magazine that he is \"a man with no secrets\", stating that he is \"more comfortable in his own skin than ever before\". Martin is one of the most followed celebrities on social media, with accounts on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok.",
"Martin is one of the most followed celebrities on social media, with accounts on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok. He stated about social media that he wishes he had \"something as powerful as\" them since his debut: \"Obviously I like to have direct contact with the public, with the media. It's extremely important, but today, from my home, I can talk to millions of people and see their immediate reaction.\"",
"It's extremely important, but today, from my home, I can talk to millions of people and see their immediate reaction.\" He is noticed for his friendly interactions with his fans, who are called \"Sexy Souls\". Wax statues of Martin are on display at the Madame Tussauds wax museums in San Francisco, Sydney, and Orlando. The last one was moved from Las Vegas to Orlando for the opening of the museum in spring 2015.",
"The last one was moved from Las Vegas to Orlando for the opening of the museum in spring 2015. Fashion Martin is considered to be a sex symbol, and journalists describe him as \"the Latin heartthrob\". His fashion and style evolution, from \"as '80s as you'd expect\" during his time with Menudo to \"a style groove, often opting for sharp, tailored suits with clean lines\" since 2009, has been noticed by the media. Natalia Trejo from ¡Hola!",
"Natalia Trejo from ¡Hola! Natalia Trejo from ¡Hola! described him as \"one of the most stylish Latin men in the entertainment industry\", highlighting his \"baggy leather pants\", \"tailored suits\", and \"color-block blazers\" that have marked \"some of the noteworthy trends of each decade\". The reviewer also commented that Martin is \"an example of mixing business with casual\" and has \"always had a personal sense of style\".",
"The reviewer also commented that Martin is \"an example of mixing business with casual\" and has \"always had a personal sense of style\". JD Institute of Fashion Technology views Martin as a fashion icon, praising him for \"pushing the fashion boundaries with every new look\". In 1997, he went on the cover of People en Españols first edition of 25 Most Beautiful; he has since \"been a constant presence\" on their 25 or 50 Most Beautiful lists.",
"In 1997, he went on the cover of People en Españols first edition of 25 Most Beautiful; he has since \"been a constant presence\" on their 25 or 50 Most Beautiful lists. Two years later, he was featured on the cover of both Rolling Stone and Time magazines. Martin is considered to be one of the sexiest men in the world, according to various publications. In 2012, he was voted the sexiest man alive on Broadway.com.",
"In 2012, he was voted the sexiest man alive on Broadway.com. The following year, VH1 ranked him as the 28th Sexiest Artist of All Time, stating: \"Ricky looks like the model in the magazine ads you stare at in awe thinking, 'There's no way he's that perfect in person'.\" In 2014, Entertainment Tonight listed him among the Sexiest Men Alive, while Revista Estilo placed him on the list of \"the 10 Sexiest Singers\" in 2016.",
"In 2014, Entertainment Tonight listed him among the Sexiest Men Alive, while Revista Estilo placed him on the list of \"the 10 Sexiest Singers\" in 2016. He was ranked at number 16 on the list of \"the 50 Hottest Men of All Time\" by Harper's Bazaar in 2018, being the only Latin man on their list. In 2019, TN described Martin as \"the sexiest man in the world\".",
"In 2019, TN described Martin as \"the sexiest man in the world\". He has been noted for looking younger than his age, with Billboards Chris Payne labeling him \"ageless\". The singer has attended several fashion shows, including the Giorgio Armani show at Milan Fashion Week in 2011, the Marc Jacobs show in 2013, the Berluti menswear spring-summer 2020 show at Paris Fashion Week, the Dior men's pre-fall 2020 show, and the Virgil Abloh Spring-Summer 2022 show held by Louis Vuitton.",
"The singer has attended several fashion shows, including the Giorgio Armani show at Milan Fashion Week in 2011, the Marc Jacobs show in 2013, the Berluti menswear spring-summer 2020 show at Paris Fashion Week, the Dior men's pre-fall 2020 show, and the Virgil Abloh Spring-Summer 2022 show held by Louis Vuitton. Personal life Sexual orientation and early relationships According to an interview with Rolling Stone in 1999, Martin experienced his first kiss at age 13 and lost his virginity at age 14 in Argentina.",
"Personal life Sexual orientation and early relationships According to an interview with Rolling Stone in 1999, Martin experienced his first kiss at age 13 and lost his virginity at age 14 in Argentina. In 1990, shortly after he had arrived in Mexico to star in Mama Ama el Rock, he met a woman, who was the host of a television show. They began dating quickly and broke up a few months later.",
"They began dating quickly and broke up a few months later. In 1992, he fell in love with Mexican singer Alejandra Guzmán, who was separated from her husband at the time. They began dating together until Guzmán returned to her husband and pretended Martin was her assistant on a phone call, while she was sleeping with her husband. In an interview with Univision, Martin admitted that she broke his heart. In the same year, Martin was rumored to have a relationship with Argentine tennis player Gabriela Sabatini.",
"In the same year, Martin was rumored to have a relationship with Argentine tennis player Gabriela Sabatini. Sabatini's sister-in-law, Catherine Fulop confirmed the rumor in 2020. During the time he was playing in General Hospital, he met a \"very handsome\" man at a radio station, \"stopped fearing [his] sexuality\", and started dating him.",
"During the time he was playing in General Hospital, he met a \"very handsome\" man at a radio station, \"stopped fearing [his] sexuality\", and started dating him. Martin's mother supported him when she discovered that he was in love with a man, saying: \"I love you, my son, I'm so happy for you. Bring it on. I'm right behind you.\"",
"Bring it on. I'm right behind you.\" I'm right behind you.\" However, after the relationship ended, Martin \"locked [his] feelings even deeper inside\" and began dating women again. He recalls: \"I already felt it was hard to be a Latino in Hollywood; what could have been more difficult than being Latino and gay?\" Martin began dating Mexican television host Rebecca de Alba in 1994; they were in an on-and-off relationship until 2005.",
"Martin began dating Mexican television host Rebecca de Alba in 1994; they were in an on-and-off relationship until 2005. In May 2021, Alba revealed that she became pregnant several times in her life, but lost all of the embryos, expressing that one of them belonged to Martin. Martin also had relationships with Lilly Melgar, Adriana Biega, Maital Saban, and Inés Misan during his break-up times with Alba in the late 1990s and early 2000s.",
"Martin also had relationships with Lilly Melgar, Adriana Biega, Maital Saban, and Inés Misan during his break-up times with Alba in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He declared that \"there was chemistry with them\" and he \"wasn't fooling anyone\". In August 2008, Martin became a father to twin boys named Matteo and Valentino, born via gestational surrogacy.",
"In August 2008, Martin became a father to twin boys named Matteo and Valentino, born via gestational surrogacy. He explained that he chose surrogacy to become a parent for being \"intriguing and faster\" than adoption, which was complicated and could take a long time. In March 2010, Martin publicly came out as gay via a message on his website, stating: \"I am proud to say that I am a fortunate homosexual man. I am very blessed to be who I am.\"",
"I am very blessed to be who I am.\" Years later, he revealed that although his music was \"heard all over the world\" and he \"could high five God\" in 1999, he \"wasn't living to the fullest\" and was sad and depressed. He kept asking himself, \"Am I gay? Am I bisexual? Am I confused? What am I? \", explaining: \"Sexuality is one complicated thing. It's not black and white. It's filled with colors.",
"It's not black and white. It's filled with colors. It's filled with colors. When I was dating women, I was in love with women. It felt right, it felt beautiful.\" In an interview with Vanity Fair, he declared: \"There was love, passion. I do not regret anything, any of the relationships I lived, they taught me a lot, both men and women.\" Martin also told Fama!",
"Martin also told Fama! Martin also told Fama! : \"I know that I like both men and women, I'm against sexual labels, we are simply human beings with emotional and sexual needs. I like to enjoy sex in total freedom, so I'm open to having sex with a woman if I feel desire.\" Despite this, he expressed that he wouldn't be interested in \"an ongoing relationship with a woman\", stating: \"Men are my thing\".",
"Despite this, he expressed that he wouldn't be interested in \"an ongoing relationship with a woman\", stating: \"Men are my thing\". In 2000, American broadcast journalist Barbara Walters asked Martin about his sexuality on national television: \"You could stop these rumors. You could say, 'Yes I am gay or no I'm not.'\"",
"You could say, 'Yes I am gay or no I'm not.'\" In 2021, Martin, who answered with \"I just don't feel like it\" at the time, revealed that her question made him \"felt violated\", since he \"was just not ready to come out\" and was \"very afraid\"; he said that it resulted \"a little PTSD\" that \"still haunts him\".",
"In 2021, Martin, who answered with \"I just don't feel like it\" at the time, revealed that her question made him \"felt violated\", since he \"was just not ready to come out\" and was \"very afraid\"; he said that it resulted \"a little PTSD\" that \"still haunts him\". Martin dated Puerto Rican economist Carlos González Abella from 2010 to 2014, as his first relationship with a man after his coming out as gay.",
"Martin dated Puerto Rican economist Carlos González Abella from 2010 to 2014, as his first relationship with a man after his coming out as gay. Marriage Syrian-Swedish painter Jwan Yosef shared a photo of himself and Martin on Instagram on March 30, 2016, with the caption: \"Obviously we're starting a band.\" Soon it was rumored that Yosef is Martin's new boyfriend. Martin confirmed their relationship on April 18, 2016, and they made their red carpet debut as a couple at the amfAR Inspiration Gala.",
"Martin confirmed their relationship on April 18, 2016, and they made their red carpet debut as a couple at the amfAR Inspiration Gala. Martin later revealed that he met Yosef on Instagram and they \"were talking for like six months without [him] hearing his voice\". Subsequently, Martin went to London, where Yosef were living, and they met each other. On November 15, 2016, during an interview on The Ellen Show, he announced that he has proposed to Yosef and they are engaged.",
"On November 15, 2016, during an interview on The Ellen Show, he announced that he has proposed to Yosef and they are engaged. In January 2018, Martin confirmed that he has secretly married Yosef: \"I'm a husband, but we're doing a heavy party in a couple of months, I'll let you know.\" On December 31, 2018, they announced that they have welcomed their first daughter together, named Lucia Martin-Yosef.",
"On December 31, 2018, they announced that they have welcomed their first daughter together, named Lucia Martin-Yosef. Martin later explained that Lucia was born on December 24, coinciding with his 47th birthday. In September 2019, while accepting an award at the 23rd annual Human Rights Campaign (HRC) National Dinner, he announced that they are expecting their fourth child.",
"In September 2019, while accepting an award at the 23rd annual Human Rights Campaign (HRC) National Dinner, he announced that they are expecting their fourth child. On October 29, 2019, he shared a photo of himself, Yosef, and their new-born son, named Renn Martin-Yosef, with the caption: \"Our son Renn Martin-Yosef has been born.\"",
"On October 29, 2019, he shared a photo of himself, Yosef, and their new-born son, named Renn Martin-Yosef, with the caption: \"Our son Renn Martin-Yosef has been born.\" Beliefs and religion During an interview with People in 2002, Martin expressed that he believes in \"love\", \"the power of healing\", and \"God\", thanks to his parents. The name he chose for his son Matteo means \"gift from God\".",
"The name he chose for his son Matteo means \"gift from God\". According to his statements in a 2021 interview, he still believes in God. He was raised Catholic but he said is not \"the person who would ever look down upon one religion\".",
"He was raised Catholic but he said is not \"the person who would ever look down upon one religion\". He expressed that he also admires and likes Buddhist philosophy, but does not subscribe to the religion, since if he does, he cannot \"be of anything else\"; he does not want to be limited in certain aspects and follow a religion's specific rules.",
"He expressed that he also admires and likes Buddhist philosophy, but does not subscribe to the religion, since if he does, he cannot \"be of anything else\"; he does not want to be limited in certain aspects and follow a religion's specific rules. He tries to remain \"open to everything\" and makes \"a concerted effort to always find new teachings and new paths\" everywhere he goes and in every situation he finds himself in.",
"He tries to remain \"open to everything\" and makes \"a concerted effort to always find new teachings and new paths\" everywhere he goes and in every situation he finds himself in. Martin believes that everyone can \"decide what makes them happy\" and although \"everyone needs to accept the life they were given\", it does not mean they \"should not live it as fully as possible\". Health and sports Martin began practicing yoga after a trip to Thailand in 1997.",
"Health and sports Martin began practicing yoga after a trip to Thailand in 1997. He also began practicing meditation following a trip to India. In 2021, he explained that he gets up every morning at 5:30, before his family and puts himself in a lotus position and oxygenates his body. He also expressed that has a gym in his house, saying: \"If I have space to see myself in the mirror and put on my products, then I also have to have space for my body.\"",
"He also expressed that has a gym in his house, saying: \"If I have space to see myself in the mirror and put on my products, then I also have to have space for my body.\" During an appearance on The Dr. Oz Show in 2017, Martin revealed that he \"was diagnosed with high cholesterol\" at age 18.",
"During an appearance on The Dr. Oz Show in 2017, Martin revealed that he \"was diagnosed with high cholesterol\" at age 18. Although he did not pay attention to the high cholesterol at the time, it made him decide to become a vegetarian since 2013 to reduce cholesterol, despite loving meat as \"a Latin man\". In 2020, he opened up that he suffered from anxiety for the first time in his life, following the COVID-19 lockdowns, stating that making music became his \"medicine\".",
"In 2020, he opened up that he suffered from anxiety for the first time in his life, following the COVID-19 lockdowns, stating that making music became his \"medicine\". Real estate In March 2001, Martin purchased a 7,082-square-feet house in Miami Beach for $6.4 million; he sold the unit for $10.6 million in 2005. In September 2004, he paid $11.9 million for a 11,000-square-feet Mediterranean-style villa in Los Angeles, which he sold in 2006 for $15 million.",
"In September 2004, he paid $11.9 million for a 11,000-square-feet Mediterranean-style villa in Los Angeles, which he sold in 2006 for $15 million. In May 2005, he purchased a 9,491-square-feet house in Miami Beach for $10 million; he sold the villa for $10.6 million in 2012. In 2007, he paid $16.2 million for a mansion in Golden Beach. He sold the property in 2012 for $12.8 million, incurring a loss.",
"He sold the property in 2012 for $12.8 million, incurring a loss. In the same year, he bought a 3,147-square-feet condominium in New York City for $5.9 million; he sold the condo for $7.1 million in 2017. In 2014, he rented a 900-square-metre mansion in Sydney, which became famous as \"the Bronte Wave House\" and was sold for $16 million in May 2015, marking one of the most expensive properties sold in the city that year.",
"In 2014, he rented a 900-square-metre mansion in Sydney, which became famous as \"the Bronte Wave House\" and was sold for $16 million in May 2015, marking one of the most expensive properties sold in the city that year. In December 2016, he purchased a 11,300-square-feet mansion in Beverly Hills. The estate, which is Martin's current house, has seven bedrooms and eight bathrooms with outdoor seating areas scattered throughout a 33,000-square-feet.",
"The estate, which is Martin's current house, has seven bedrooms and eight bathrooms with outdoor seating areas scattered throughout a 33,000-square-feet. It is a \"private getaway in the middle of the city\", located up the street from the Beverly Hills Hotel. Martin also owns a property in Puerto Rico and a private 19.7-acre island in Brazil. He purchased the latter for $8 million in 2008.",
"He purchased the latter for $8 million in 2008. Legacy and influence Martin has been regarded as the \"King of Latin Pop\" by various publications, such as the Grammy Awards, Billboard, Rolling Stone, Time, People, Vogue, The Independent, Entertainment Weekly, Entertainment Tonight Canada, NBC News, and ABC News.",
"Legacy and influence Martin has been regarded as the \"King of Latin Pop\" by various publications, such as the Grammy Awards, Billboard, Rolling Stone, Time, People, Vogue, The Independent, Entertainment Weekly, Entertainment Tonight Canada, NBC News, and ABC News. Additionally, he has been referred to as the \"King of Latin Music\", the \"Latin Pop God\", the \"Latin King of Pop\", the \"Latin American King of Pop\", the \"Latin King\", the \"Crossover Latin King\", the \"Puerto Rican Pop King\", the \"Salsa-Pop King\", and the \"King of World Cup\".",
"Additionally, he has been referred to as the \"King of Latin Music\", the \"Latin Pop God\", the \"Latin King of Pop\", the \"Latin American King of Pop\", the \"Latin King\", the \"Crossover Latin King\", the \"Puerto Rican Pop King\", the \"Salsa-Pop King\", and the \"King of World Cup\". Martin is known as one of the most influential artists in the world.",
"Martin is known as one of the most influential artists in the world. Billboard ranked him as one of the 30 Most Influential Latin Artists of All Time, while NBC News introduced him as an \"influential Latin celebrity\". In 2014, he won the award for the most influential international artist at the 18th China Music Awards.",
"In 2014, he won the award for the most influential international artist at the 18th China Music Awards. He was ranked among \"25 musicians who broke barriers\" by Stacker in 2019, while in 2020, Spin ranked him at number 27 on the list of \"most influential artists of the past 35 years\", as the only Latin artist on their list. In 2022, Show News named him \"the most influential global artist in history\".",
"In 2022, Show News named him \"the most influential global artist in history\". Martin's song \"María (Pablo Flores Remix)\", which was ranked among the \"Greatest Latin Pop Song of All Time\" by Rolling Stone, and \"11 remixes of classic Latin hits\" by Billboard, \"launched the Latin and dance music crossover of the '90s\", according to the latter.",
"Martin's song \"María (Pablo Flores Remix)\", which was ranked among the \"Greatest Latin Pop Song of All Time\" by Rolling Stone, and \"11 remixes of classic Latin hits\" by Billboard, \"launched the Latin and dance music crossover of the '90s\", according to the latter. Olivier Pérou from Le Point commented that \"some have even learned, thanks to him, to count to three in Spanish\" following the popularity of the song.",
"Olivier Pérou from Le Point commented that \"some have even learned, thanks to him, to count to three in Spanish\" following the popularity of the song. \"La Copa de la Vida\", which has been hailed as the Best World Cup Anthem of All-Time by multiple sources, became a \"musical template\" for World Cup anthems, and Martin's Latin and dance crossover style has been much copied in the anthems, as well as soccer chant \"Ole! Ole! Ole!\"",
"Ole! Ole!\" Ole!\" in the lyrics, according to The Hollywood Reporter. As believed by Esquire, the song \"inaugurated this musical subgenre\" of Latin. Joy Bhattacharjya from The Economic Times wrote about \"La Copa de la Vida\" that it was the first World Cup anthem to have a video just \"as ubiquitous as the song\", going on to write: \"Since then, official songs have an important part to play in every World Cup.\"",
"Joy Bhattacharjya from The Economic Times wrote about \"La Copa de la Vida\" that it was the first World Cup anthem to have a video just \"as ubiquitous as the song\", going on to write: \"Since then, official songs have an important part to play in every World Cup.\" In his review for Pitchfork, Corban Goble wrote that if World Cup anthems someday would be \"given their own textbook\", \"La Copa de la Vida\" would be \"the standard-bearer for the whole genre\".",
"In his review for Pitchfork, Corban Goble wrote that if World Cup anthems someday would be \"given their own textbook\", \"La Copa de la Vida\" would be \"the standard-bearer for the whole genre\". Martin is known as the pioneer in getting Latin pop music genre to mainstream recognition.",
"Martin is known as the pioneer in getting Latin pop music genre to mainstream recognition. Following his performance of \"The Cup of Life\" at the Grammys, and the success of \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" and Ricky Martin (1999), he opened the gates for many Latin artists such as Jennifer Lopez, Shakira, Christina Aguilera, Marc Anthony, Santana, and Enrique Iglesias who released their crossover albums and followed him onto the top of the charts.",
"Following his performance of \"The Cup of Life\" at the Grammys, and the success of \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" and Ricky Martin (1999), he opened the gates for many Latin artists such as Jennifer Lopez, Shakira, Christina Aguilera, Marc Anthony, Santana, and Enrique Iglesias who released their crossover albums and followed him onto the top of the charts. His performance of \"The Cup of Life\" at the Grammys not only changed the course of his career, but also altered how people regard Latin music in America.",
"His performance of \"The Cup of Life\" at the Grammys not only changed the course of his career, but also altered how people regard Latin music in America. It has been known as a game-changer for Latin music worldwide, that effectively ushered in the \"Latin explosion\". Then-United Talent Agency head Rob Prinz described the rendition as \"the single biggest game changing moment for any artist in the history of the Grammys\".",
"Then-United Talent Agency head Rob Prinz described the rendition as \"the single biggest game changing moment for any artist in the history of the Grammys\". According to Billboard, it has been cited as the beginning of the \"Latin Pop invasion\", which powerfully affected the US mainstream. Jesús Triviño Alarcón from Tidal Magazine stated, \"that single performance opened up the mainstream market for the Latinx legends\", mentioning the names of Anthony, Shakira, and Lopez.",
"Jesús Triviño Alarcón from Tidal Magazine stated, \"that single performance opened up the mainstream market for the Latinx legends\", mentioning the names of Anthony, Shakira, and Lopez. InStyle staff wrote about it: \"With his leather pants, big smile and energetic performance of 'The Cup of Life', Ricky Martin almost personally kicked off the so-called Latin Explosion of the late '90s.\"",
"InStyle staff wrote about it: \"With his leather pants, big smile and energetic performance of 'The Cup of Life', Ricky Martin almost personally kicked off the so-called Latin Explosion of the late '90s.\" Mariana Best of San Antonio Express-News commented that the performance \"is recognized for bringing Latin pop to the forefront of the U.S. music scene\".",
"Mariana Best of San Antonio Express-News commented that the performance \"is recognized for bringing Latin pop to the forefront of the U.S. music scene\". In 2018, Diego Urdaneta from Vice credited the song as \"one of those that laid the first stones so that J Balvin and Bad Bunnys of today can be at the top of the pyramid\", labeling it \"a milestone for Latin music\".",
"In 2018, Diego Urdaneta from Vice credited the song as \"one of those that laid the first stones so that J Balvin and Bad Bunnys of today can be at the top of the pyramid\", labeling it \"a milestone for Latin music\". According to Entertainment Tonight, \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" paved the way for a large number of other Latin artists, and is \"credited as the song that helped other Latin artists break through to English-speaking markets\".",
"According to Entertainment Tonight, \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" paved the way for a large number of other Latin artists, and is \"credited as the song that helped other Latin artists break through to English-speaking markets\". As believed by Spin, the song \"lit the fuse for the Latin pop explosion of the '90s\".",
"As believed by Spin, the song \"lit the fuse for the Latin pop explosion of the '90s\". Lucas Villa from Spin wrote about it: \"When the world went loca for Ricky, he led the way for other Latin music superstars like Spain's Enrique Iglesias, Colombia's Shakira and Nuyoricans like Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony to make their marks beyond the Spanish-speaking crowds.\" He also described Martin as \"a trailblazer in globalizing Latinx culture\" in his Grammy.com article.",
"He also described Martin as \"a trailblazer in globalizing Latinx culture\" in his Grammy.com article. Also from Grammy.com, Ernesto Lechner described \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" as \"the manifesto for all the fun-loving, tropically tinged Latin hit singles that followed\", stating that Martin led \"the Latin music explosion that took over the U.S. at the tail end of the '90s\". According to The Independent, the single is \"widely regarded as the song that began the first Latin pop explosion\".",
"According to The Independent, the single is \"widely regarded as the song that began the first Latin pop explosion\". Peoples Jason Sheeler credited it as the song that \"led the way for the late-'90s so-called 'Latin explosion' that dominated pop music into the new century: Shakira, Enrique Iglesias, Marc Anthony, and Jennifer Lopez\".",
"Peoples Jason Sheeler credited it as the song that \"led the way for the late-'90s so-called 'Latin explosion' that dominated pop music into the new century: Shakira, Enrique Iglesias, Marc Anthony, and Jennifer Lopez\". Angie Romero from Billboard wrote: \"If you look up 'crossover' in the dictionary, there should be a photo of Ricky shaking his bon bon and/or 'Livin' la Vida Loca'.\"",
"Angie Romero from Billboard wrote: \"If you look up 'crossover' in the dictionary, there should be a photo of Ricky shaking his bon bon and/or 'Livin' la Vida Loca'.\" Leila Cobo named \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" one of the genre's biggest singles of the past 50 years in his 2021 book Decoding \"Despacito\": An Oral History of Latin Music.",
"Leila Cobo named \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" one of the genre's biggest singles of the past 50 years in his 2021 book Decoding \"Despacito\": An Oral History of Latin Music. She also wrote about his impact in Shakira's \"Whenever, Wherever\" chapter: \"Ricky Martin’s phenomenal success opened the door for a string of Latin artists who waved the flags of their heritage, but who sang in English.\"",
"She also wrote about his impact in Shakira's \"Whenever, Wherever\" chapter: \"Ricky Martin’s phenomenal success opened the door for a string of Latin artists who waved the flags of their heritage, but who sang in English.\" Additionally, she compared Martin's song with Luis Fonsi's \"Despacito\" (2017) in one of her Billboard articles: \"'Livin', like 'Despacito', became not just a global hit but a cultural phenomena that transcended all barriers of language and nationality.\"",
"Additionally, she compared Martin's song with Luis Fonsi's \"Despacito\" (2017) in one of her Billboard articles: \"'Livin', like 'Despacito', became not just a global hit but a cultural phenomena that transcended all barriers of language and nationality.\" In another article, she described it as the song that \"ignited the late-'90s Latin explosion\".",
"In another article, she described it as the song that \"ignited the late-'90s Latin explosion\". Also from Billboard, Gary Trust wrote: \"The song helmed a Latin pop boom in the U.S., with Jenner Lopez, Marc Anthony and others crossing over, as well.\" Writing for LiveAbout.com, Bill Lamb credited the song as \"the record which kicked off a wave of major Latin performers hitting the pop mainstream\".",
"Writing for LiveAbout.com, Bill Lamb credited the song as \"the record which kicked off a wave of major Latin performers hitting the pop mainstream\". Jim Farber from Daily News noted that Ricky Martin \"provides a textbook example of how to mix Latin beats with pop tunes and rock intonations\". St. Louis Post-Dispatch critic Kevin C. Johnson described Martin as Latin music's \"pretty-faced poster boy\" who is \"taking the music to places Jon Secada, Selena and Santana never could\".",
"St. Louis Post-Dispatch critic Kevin C. Johnson described Martin as Latin music's \"pretty-faced poster boy\" who is \"taking the music to places Jon Secada, Selena and Santana never could\". He also mentioned that even \"Gloria Estefan at her peak, failed to muster up the kind of hype and hoopla surrounding Martin\".",
"He also mentioned that even \"Gloria Estefan at her peak, failed to muster up the kind of hype and hoopla surrounding Martin\". Celia San Miguel of Tidal Magazine stated that Martin \"highlighted the public's thirst for a different kind of pop\" in 1999, noting the album's \"fusion-heavy\" and \"hip-shaking rhythms associated with Latin music\".",
"Celia San Miguel of Tidal Magazine stated that Martin \"highlighted the public's thirst for a different kind of pop\" in 1999, noting the album's \"fusion-heavy\" and \"hip-shaking rhythms associated with Latin music\". She mentioned that the album \"spawned 1999's Latin music boom\", emphasizing the fact that Martin created the \"spark\" of the \"Latin Pop Explosion\", which was followed by 1999 albums, On the 6 by Lopez, Enrique by Iglesias, and Anthony's eponymous album.",
"She mentioned that the album \"spawned 1999's Latin music boom\", emphasizing the fact that Martin created the \"spark\" of the \"Latin Pop Explosion\", which was followed by 1999 albums, On the 6 by Lopez, Enrique by Iglesias, and Anthony's eponymous album. She continued crediting \"Martin and the paths he created\" responsible for the Latin music and Spanish and Spanglish lyrics being \"a commonplace phenomenon on English-language radio\" in 2019.",
"She continued crediting \"Martin and the paths he created\" responsible for the Latin music and Spanish and Spanglish lyrics being \"a commonplace phenomenon on English-language radio\" in 2019. In her review for Grammy.com, Ana Monroy Yglesias said Martin led a \"major music moment in 1999\" with Ricky Martin, and along with him, \"the first major boom of Spanish-language artists\", such as Shakira and Lopez, came into the \"U.S. pop landscape\".",
"In her review for Grammy.com, Ana Monroy Yglesias said Martin led a \"major music moment in 1999\" with Ricky Martin, and along with him, \"the first major boom of Spanish-language artists\", such as Shakira and Lopez, came into the \"U.S. pop landscape\". The late '90s Latin explosion also resulted in the launch of the Latin Recording Academy.",
"The late '90s Latin explosion also resulted in the launch of the Latin Recording Academy. Gabriel Abaroa Jr., the president and chief executive officer of the Latin Recording Academy, expressed that the plan of its launch was \"immediately after the Ricky Martin success\". Cuban American musician and producer Emilio Estefan added: \"After the success with Ricky Martin, everybody opened their eyes and realized how important it was to bring diversity and multiethnic elements into [mainstream American] music.\"",
"Cuban American musician and producer Emilio Estefan added: \"After the success with Ricky Martin, everybody opened their eyes and realized how important it was to bring diversity and multiethnic elements into [mainstream American] music.\" Many artists have cited Martin as an influence or declared themselves as his fan, including Abraham Mateo, Bad Bunny, Camila Cabello, Camilo, Carla Morrison, Christian Chávez, CNCO, Danna Paola, Enrique Iglesias, J Balvin, J-Hope, Jimin, Karol G, India Martínez, Luis Fonsi, Maite Perroni, Maluma, Neha Mahajan, Pedro Capó, Prince Royce, Rauw Alejandro, Rosalía, Sebastián Ligarde, Sebastián Yatra, Shakira, Tini, Vadhir Derbez, William Hung, Wisin, and Ximena Sariñana.",
"Many artists have cited Martin as an influence or declared themselves as his fan, including Abraham Mateo, Bad Bunny, Camila Cabello, Camilo, Carla Morrison, Christian Chávez, CNCO, Danna Paola, Enrique Iglesias, J Balvin, J-Hope, Jimin, Karol G, India Martínez, Luis Fonsi, Maite Perroni, Maluma, Neha Mahajan, Pedro Capó, Prince Royce, Rauw Alejandro, Rosalía, Sebastián Ligarde, Sebastián Yatra, Shakira, Tini, Vadhir Derbez, William Hung, Wisin, and Ximena Sariñana. Both Maluma and J Balvin have described Martin as a \"teacher\" and credited him as an artist who \"opened the doors\" for them, while Maluma has also expressed: \"Ricky Martin is one of the artists I wanted to be growing up.",
"Both Maluma and J Balvin have described Martin as a \"teacher\" and credited him as an artist who \"opened the doors\" for them, while Maluma has also expressed: \"Ricky Martin is one of the artists I wanted to be growing up. He's my idol in the industry\".Citations regarding J Balvin's statements about Martin: Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny talked about Martin's legacy during an episode of Behind the Music: \"There's no doubt that he opened the door for an entire generation of Latin artists.",
"He's my idol in the industry\".Citations regarding J Balvin's statements about Martin: Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny talked about Martin's legacy during an episode of Behind the Music: \"There's no doubt that he opened the door for an entire generation of Latin artists. I am doing great things today in the music industry thanks to those doors that he opened.\"",
"I am doing great things today in the music industry thanks to those doors that he opened.\" He also mentioned that he is inspired by Martin's coming out as gay: \"You don't have to be gay to be inspired by that action of honesty and freedom, of being yourself against the world despite everything you deserve. I look at it like a very inspiring moment for anybody. At least for me, it's very inspirational.\"",
"At least for me, it's very inspirational.\" Brazilian singer-songwriter Anitta explained to The Guardian that \"some Latin stars such as Maluma and Bad Bunny sing in their native language\" and do not need to sing in English to get noticed, because they already had representatives like Shakira, Martin, and Jennifer Lopez, but since her country \"hasn't had a major international pop star before\", she uses \"whatever language will get the market's attention\".",
"Brazilian singer-songwriter Anitta explained to The Guardian that \"some Latin stars such as Maluma and Bad Bunny sing in their native language\" and do not need to sing in English to get noticed, because they already had representatives like Shakira, Martin, and Jennifer Lopez, but since her country \"hasn't had a major international pop star before\", she uses \"whatever language will get the market's attention\". Portrayal in television In July 2019, SOMOS Productions, Endemol Shine Boomdog, and Piñolywood Studios announced the production of a biographical web television series about Menudo, titled Subete a Mi Moto.",
"Portrayal in television In July 2019, SOMOS Productions, Endemol Shine Boomdog, and Piñolywood Studios announced the production of a biographical web television series about Menudo, titled Subete a Mi Moto. Consisting of 15 episodes of 60 minutes each, the series premiered on Amazon Prime Video on October 9, 2020 in Mexico, Latin America, and Spain. It was filmed in Mexico and Puerto Rico, and Martin was portrayed by actors Felipe Albors and Ethan Schwartz.",
"It was filmed in Mexico and Puerto Rico, and Martin was portrayed by actors Felipe Albors and Ethan Schwartz. The series premiered in the United States on February 14, 2021 on Estrella TV. On the review aggregation website Tomatazos, the first season has a positive score of 75%. The website's critical consensus summary states, \"A good trip to the past that recalls a band that defined the youth of a certain public, but that doesn't ignore the darkest moments in the lives of its members.\"",
"The website's critical consensus summary states, \"A good trip to the past that recalls a band that defined the youth of a certain public, but that doesn't ignore the darkest moments in the lives of its members.\" Other ventures Books On August 19, 2010, Martin announced that he had been working on his memoir, mentioning its title as Me and publish date as November 2, 2010. He expressed that writing the book was \"one of the reasons\" he decided to come out earlier that year.",
"He expressed that writing the book was \"one of the reasons\" he decided to come out earlier that year. The book also had a Spanish edition title Yo (), which was published simultaneously by Celebra. He stated that writing his memoir allowed him \"to explore the different paths and experiences\" that have led him to be who he is, noting that it \"was not easy but allowed for an incredible spiritual journey\". Me spent several weeks at number one on the New York Times Best Seller list.",
"Me spent several weeks at number one on the New York Times Best Seller list. In 2019, ¡Hola! staff ranked the book among \"12 Books by Celebrities to Inspire and Motivate You\", while Book Riot placed it on an unranked list of the \"Best Celebrity Books You Should Read This Year\" in 2020. Martin's first children's book Santiago the Dreamer in Land Among the Stars was published by Celebra and illustrated by Patricia Castelao in November 2013 for ages between five to nine.",
"Martin's first children's book Santiago the Dreamer in Land Among the Stars was published by Celebra and illustrated by Patricia Castelao in November 2013 for ages between five to nine. Its Spanish-language edition, Santiago El Soñador en Entre Las Estrellas, was published simultaneously. Martin expressed that the book was inspired by his \"personal life, with fantasy added to it\", as well as \"a lot of cartoons\".",
"Martin expressed that the book was inspired by his \"personal life, with fantasy added to it\", as well as \"a lot of cartoons\". Products and endorsements Martin endorsed the 2012 Viva Glam campaign with Trinidadian rapper Nicki Minaj, which raised $270 million for the Mac AIDS Fund. In October 2020, Martin announced that he would launch his company, Martin Music Lab in partnership with music engineers Jaycen Joshua and Michael Seaberg.",
"In October 2020, Martin announced that he would launch his company, Martin Music Lab in partnership with music engineers Jaycen Joshua and Michael Seaberg. The company is centered around a new audio technique called \"Orbital Audio\", that \"creates a new type of immersive, headphone listening experience\". Martin used the technique on his EP Pausa, while several artists including Bad Bunny, Residente, Myke Towers, and A$AP Rocky are going to work with the company.",
"Martin used the technique on his EP Pausa, while several artists including Bad Bunny, Residente, Myke Towers, and A$AP Rocky are going to work with the company. The latter plans to release his whole upcoming studio album, using \"Orbital Audio\". Martin is going to expand the technique \"beyond the music industry and tap into the movies, sports and, most notably, the wellness and meditation space\". In 2021, Martin partnered with skin care company Kumiko.",
"In 2021, Martin partnered with skin care company Kumiko. The skincare line, created by Chilean cosmetologist Catalina Aguirre, is the first to combine \"mesotherapy, matcha, and cutting-edge European technology into unique multi-action formulas that penetrate the dermis with powerful anti-aging properties and lifting benefits\". Activism Philanthropy While on a trip to India in 2002, Martin witnessed three minor girls who were about to be sold into prostitution and rescued them.",
"Activism Philanthropy While on a trip to India in 2002, Martin witnessed three minor girls who were about to be sold into prostitution and rescued them. The following year, he became a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and then met with activists and decided to fight against human trafficking, which is the second-most lucrative crime in the world.",
"The following year, he became a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and then met with activists and decided to fight against human trafficking, which is the second-most lucrative crime in the world. In 2004, Martin launched the Ricky Martin Foundation, a non-profit, non-governmental organization that focuses on denouncing human trafficking and educating about the crime's \"existence through research and community initiatives, anchored in the defense of children and youth rights\". In the same year, he appealed to the United Nations for international help to fight against sex tourism.",
"In the same year, he appealed to the United Nations for international help to fight against sex tourism. In January 2005, following the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, Martin visited Thailand to assess the needs of the minor survivors who were \"extremely vulnerable to traffickers\". Later that year, the Ricky Martin Foundation signed an alliance in partnership with Habitat for Humanity to construct 224 homes for the tsunami-affected families. The project was completed in December 2006.",
"The project was completed in December 2006. The project was completed in December 2006. In March 2006, the foundation collaborated with the International Organization for Migration in the Llama y Vive () campaign, which focuses on facilitating \"the prevention of human trafficking and the protection of young people, victims of child trafficking and prosecution of traffickers\". In January 2010, along with many celebrities, Martin operated the charity telethon Hope for Haiti Now to raise donations for the 2010 Haiti earthquake.",
"In January 2010, along with many celebrities, Martin operated the charity telethon Hope for Haiti Now to raise donations for the 2010 Haiti earthquake. Later that year, the Ricky Martin Foundation created the first program of community social action against child trafficking in Martin's native Puerto Rico, titled \"Se Trata\" (). In 2012, the foundation participated in the making of the Child Protection Model Law on the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children.",
"In 2012, the foundation participated in the making of the Child Protection Model Law on the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children. In 2016, Martin visited Syrian refugees in Lebanon and played with the children and talked to them in an informal refugee camp.",
"In 2016, Martin visited Syrian refugees in Lebanon and played with the children and talked to them in an informal refugee camp. Following the Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico in 2017, the Ricky Martin Foundation helped people and handed over homes that were rebuilt after the losses; Martin launched a viral campaign of selling a black T-shirt with the Puerto Rican flag stamped on it in order to raise the funds.",
"Following the Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico in 2017, the Ricky Martin Foundation helped people and handed over homes that were rebuilt after the losses; Martin launched a viral campaign of selling a black T-shirt with the Puerto Rican flag stamped on it in order to raise the funds. The T-shirts were designed by Martin's twin boys Matteo and Valentino, while many celebrities including Will Smith, Bad Bunny, Marc Anthony, Luis Fonsi, and Maluma supported the campaign.",
"The T-shirts were designed by Martin's twin boys Matteo and Valentino, while many celebrities including Will Smith, Bad Bunny, Marc Anthony, Luis Fonsi, and Maluma supported the campaign. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Martin created a campaign to help health care workers through the non-profit organization Project Hope. He expressed: \"As you know, health care professionals are extremely vulnerable and professionals around the world don’t have personal protection equipment they need to prevent them getting infected.\"",
"He expressed: \"As you know, health care professionals are extremely vulnerable and professionals around the world don’t have personal protection equipment they need to prevent them getting infected.\" In February 2021, Martin collaborated with Antonia Novello to launch mass vaccination events in Puerto Rico.",
"In February 2021, Martin collaborated with Antonia Novello to launch mass vaccination events in Puerto Rico. Following the murder of George Floyd and Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, Martin honored an effort called \"Black Out Tuesday\" and launched the hashtag #knowthestruggle, giving his social media to the voices of the community that are \"looking for justice\", to learn more about what is happening.",
"Following the murder of George Floyd and Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, Martin honored an effort called \"Black Out Tuesday\" and launched the hashtag #knowthestruggle, giving his social media to the voices of the community that are \"looking for justice\", to learn more about what is happening. For his humanitarian efforts and fighting against human trafficking, Martin has been honored with numerous accolades, including the Peace Summit Award by the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates, the TIP Report Hero Award by the United States Department of State, the Spirit of Hope Award by Billboard Latin Music Awards, the Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year Award, the Award of Inspiration by amfAR Gala, the Leader of Change Award by the Foundation for Social Change, the Humanitarian Award by the Global Gift Foundation, the Humanitarian Award by the Hispanic Federation, the Corazón Latino Award by the iHeartRadio Fiesta Latina, the International Humanitarian Award by the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the Agent of Change Award by the International Peace Honors, the PODER Social Leadership Awards, and the Agent of Change Award by the Premios Juventud.",
"For his humanitarian efforts and fighting against human trafficking, Martin has been honored with numerous accolades, including the Peace Summit Award by the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates, the TIP Report Hero Award by the United States Department of State, the Spirit of Hope Award by Billboard Latin Music Awards, the Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year Award, the Award of Inspiration by amfAR Gala, the Leader of Change Award by the Foundation for Social Change, the Humanitarian Award by the Global Gift Foundation, the Humanitarian Award by the Hispanic Federation, the Corazón Latino Award by the iHeartRadio Fiesta Latina, the International Humanitarian Award by the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the Agent of Change Award by the International Peace Honors, the PODER Social Leadership Awards, and the Agent of Change Award by the Premios Juventud. Politics On January 20, 2001, during the first inauguration of George W. Bush, Martin performed \"The Cup of Life\" and danced with him.",
"Politics On January 20, 2001, during the first inauguration of George W. Bush, Martin performed \"The Cup of Life\" and danced with him. Martin's view of Bush changed over the Iraq War, as expressed in his declaration to BBC News that he will \"always condemn war and those who promulgate it\". He also stuck up his middle finger while singing the president's name in his 2003 song \"Asignatura Pendiente\" at a concert.",
"He also stuck up his middle finger while singing the president's name in his 2003 song \"Asignatura Pendiente\" at a concert. At the 2010 Billboard Latin Music Awards, Martin expressed his disagreement with the Arizona SB 1070 bill, a proposed law that would have required police officers to request documents from individuals whom they suspected to be illegal immigrants.",
"At the 2010 Billboard Latin Music Awards, Martin expressed his disagreement with the Arizona SB 1070 bill, a proposed law that would have required police officers to request documents from individuals whom they suspected to be illegal immigrants. Martin campaigned for the 44th president of the United States Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, and thanked him for an \"outstanding presidency\" in 2016, while calling him \"an amazing leader\".",
"Martin campaigned for the 44th president of the United States Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, and thanked him for an \"outstanding presidency\" in 2016, while calling him \"an amazing leader\". Also in 2016, he was an active ally to the Democratic Party presidential candidate Hillary Clinton campaign, while condemning Donald Trump's hateful comments about immigrants. He also performed his hits during the \"Hillary Clinton: She's With Us\" concert at the Greek Theatre on June 6, 2016.",
"He also performed his hits during the \"Hillary Clinton: She's With Us\" concert at the Greek Theatre on June 6, 2016. Telegramgate, also known as Chatgate, was a political scandal involving Ricardo Rosselló, then Governor of Puerto Rico, which began on July 8, 2019, with the leak of hundreds of pages of a group chat on the messaging application Telegram between Rosselló and members of his cabinet. The messages were considered vulgar, misogynistic, and homophobic toward several individuals and groups, including Martin.",
"The messages were considered vulgar, misogynistic, and homophobic toward several individuals and groups, including Martin. Therefore, Martin, Bad Bunny, Residente and several other artists, and more than half a million Puerto Ricans led the call to take to the streets of Puerto Rico, demanding Rosselló's resignation. In September 2020, Martin, Luis Fonsi, and actress Eva Longoria attended a campaign event in Kissimmee, Florida to support the Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden for the 2020 United States presidential election.",
"In September 2020, Martin, Luis Fonsi, and actress Eva Longoria attended a campaign event in Kissimmee, Florida to support the Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden for the 2020 United States presidential election. During an interview with Variety, Martin stated: \"I've been supporting Biden forever, I think he is the only option we have and he is great and he has been in politics all his life. This is the moment. We all need to get together and be loud about the course of this nation.\"",
"We all need to get together and be loud about the course of this nation.\" Following the election of Biden as 45th president of the United States, Martin said \"Bye-bye\" to Trump on social media, and shared a photo of himself along with Biden on Instagram. In May 2021, Martin demonstrated his support for the Ni una menos movement, condemning femicides and violence against women in Puerto Rico, while calling authorities to protect women.",
"In May 2021, Martin demonstrated his support for the Ni una menos movement, condemning femicides and violence against women in Puerto Rico, while calling authorities to protect women. He further expressed that no woman should fear for her safety and urged authorities to take steps in order to prevent these acts. In the same month, he supported the 2021 Colombian protests.",
"In the same month, he supported the 2021 Colombian protests. Later that year, the singer raised his voice in support of the 2021 Cuban protests against the Castro regime for the restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic crisis, stating: \"This is very important. Our brothers and sisters in Cuba need us to inform the world what they are experiencing today. Let's fill the networks before they remove the internet in the country. Humanitarian aid for Cuba NOW.\"",
"Humanitarian aid for Cuba NOW.\" Humanitarian aid for Cuba NOW.\" LGBT advocacy As a gay man, Martin actively supports LGBT rights worldwide since his coming out in 2010. Even before coming out, he was noted by the mainstream media for being popular among gay men and having a large gay fan base. He also went on the cover of the American LGBT-interest magazine The Advocate in July 1999.",
"He also went on the cover of the American LGBT-interest magazine The Advocate in July 1999. Despite this, he admitted that he felt homosexuality was evil since he was raised as a Catholic and targeted his anger toward others, especially gay men: \"I was very angry, very rebellious. I used to look at gay men and think, 'I'm not like that, I don't want to be like that, that's not me.' I was ashamed.\"",
"I was ashamed.\" I was ashamed.\" He added that he \"had internalized homophobia\" back then. He is currently considered to be a gay icon, with PinkNews labeling him \"a strong advocate of LGBT rights\" who \"expressed support for equal marriage\" since coming out. As the first mainstream Latin music artist to come out, Martin's coming out was a game-changer for \"Latin Pride\".",
"As the first mainstream Latin music artist to come out, Martin's coming out was a game-changer for \"Latin Pride\". Billboards Lucas Villa stated: \"With Martin's announcement, gay artists, who had long kept their sexual identities a secret, finally had a beacon of hope. If Martin could come out with his career unscathed, there was hope for other artists in Latin music to start doing the same.\"",
"If Martin could come out with his career unscathed, there was hope for other artists in Latin music to start doing the same.\" He added that since then, \"a growing number of Latin artists have either come out after years in the spotlight, or many have simply started their careers by embracing their gay identities\".",
"He added that since then, \"a growing number of Latin artists have either come out after years in the spotlight, or many have simply started their careers by embracing their gay identities\". In 2010, GLAAD then-president Jarrett Barrios expressed that Martin's coming out as gay leads \"hundreds of millions of people\" to have \"a cultural connection with an artist, a celebrity and, perhaps most importantly, a father who happens to be gay\", adding that \"his decision to model this kind of openness and honesty can lead to greater acceptance for countless gay people in U.S., in Latin America and worldwide\".",
"In 2010, GLAAD then-president Jarrett Barrios expressed that Martin's coming out as gay leads \"hundreds of millions of people\" to have \"a cultural connection with an artist, a celebrity and, perhaps most importantly, a father who happens to be gay\", adding that \"his decision to model this kind of openness and honesty can lead to greater acceptance for countless gay people in U.S., in Latin America and worldwide\". In 2019, Human Rights Campaign then-president Alphonso David expressed that Martin \"has used his international stage to advocate for LGBTQ people around the world\" with his \"unique voice and passionate activism\".",
"In 2019, Human Rights Campaign then-president Alphonso David expressed that Martin \"has used his international stage to advocate for LGBTQ people around the world\" with his \"unique voice and passionate activism\". The following year, Suzy Exposito from Rolling Stone argued that with risking his career and coming out, Martin \"set the scene for Bad Bunny to be free in many ways that, during his own breakthrough moment, he could not\". Martin expressed support for same-sex marriage during an interview on Larry King Live in 2010.",
"Martin expressed support for same-sex marriage during an interview on Larry King Live in 2010. He has then delivered speeches about LGBT rights at the United Nations Homophobia Conference, the GLAAD Media Awards, and the Human Rights Campaign. He also raised his voice to support gay marriage in Puerto Rico before its legalization in 2015. In March 2016, Martin met with Chilean LGBT rights group Fundación Iguales to learn about the challenges LGBT citizens face there.",
"In March 2016, Martin met with Chilean LGBT rights group Fundación Iguales to learn about the challenges LGBT citizens face there. AT the meeting, he said that he wants \"equal marriage rights for Chile\" and he wants his sons to grow up in a world where \"there are no second-class citizens\". Following the Colombia's highest court voting against an anti same-sex marriage proposal in April 2016, Martin tweeted: \"Love and equality win, Colombia says YES to same-sex marriage.\"",
"Following the Colombia's highest court voting against an anti same-sex marriage proposal in April 2016, Martin tweeted: \"Love and equality win, Colombia says YES to same-sex marriage.\" During an interview with Vulture, Martin talked about his role in The Assassination of Gianni Versace and how he wanted his portrayal to help \"normalize open relationships\".",
"During an interview with Vulture, Martin talked about his role in The Assassination of Gianni Versace and how he wanted his portrayal to help \"normalize open relationships\". In June 2019, he published an open letter slamming the religious liberty bill, saying: \"As a defender of human rights and a member of the LGBTT community, I am vehemently opposed to the proposed measure imposed upon us under the guise of religious freedom, that projects us to the world as a backwards country.\"",
"In June 2019, he published an open letter slamming the religious liberty bill, saying: \"As a defender of human rights and a member of the LGBTT community, I am vehemently opposed to the proposed measure imposed upon us under the guise of religious freedom, that projects us to the world as a backwards country.\" Puerto Rico's then-governor backed down and withdrew his support of the bill following Martin's statement.",
"Puerto Rico's then-governor backed down and withdrew his support of the bill following Martin's statement. In June 2020, Martin performed his song \"Recuerdo\" with Carla Morrison for a virtual event, Can't Cancel Pride: Helping LGBTQ+ People in Need, to raise visibility and funds for LGBTQ+ communities. He appeared at the virtual event in the following year as well.",
"He appeared at the virtual event in the following year as well. In February 2021, Martin was named national spokesperson for the onePULSE Foundation, a non-profit organization that focuses on managing \"the design and construction of the permanent national memorial and museum dedicated to the Pulse nightclub tragedy\". Later that year, he expressed that he wants to \"normalize families like\" his, in an interview with People.",
"Later that year, he expressed that he wants to \"normalize families like\" his, in an interview with People. Several of Martin's music videos feature diversity in sexual orientations and same-sex couples, including \"The Best Thing About Me Is You\", \"Disparo al Corazón\", \"Fiebre\", and \"Tiburones\".",
"Several of Martin's music videos feature diversity in sexual orientations and same-sex couples, including \"The Best Thing About Me Is You\", \"Disparo al Corazón\", \"Fiebre\", and \"Tiburones\". For his activism and advocacy for LGBTQ community, Martin has been honored with numerous accolades, including the GLAAD Vito Russo Award, the Gala Vanguard Award by the Los Angeles LGBT Center, the International Icon Award by the British LGBT Awards, the National Visibility Award by the Human Rights Campaign, the Trailblazer Award by the LGBT Center Dinner, the Celebrity Activist of the Year by LGBTQ Nation, and the Legacy Award by Attitude Awards.",
"For his activism and advocacy for LGBTQ community, Martin has been honored with numerous accolades, including the GLAAD Vito Russo Award, the Gala Vanguard Award by the Los Angeles LGBT Center, the International Icon Award by the British LGBT Awards, the National Visibility Award by the Human Rights Campaign, the Trailblazer Award by the LGBT Center Dinner, the Celebrity Activist of the Year by LGBTQ Nation, and the Legacy Award by Attitude Awards. Achievements Throughout his career, Martin has won over 200 awards (most awarded male Latin artist), including two Grammy Awards, five Latin Grammy Awards, five MTV Video Music Awards (tied for most wins by a Latin artist), two American Music Awards, two Latin American Music Awards, three Billboard Music Awards, a Billboard Music Video Award, nine Billboard Latin Music Awards, eight World Music Awards, fourteen Lo Nuestro Awards (including the Excellence Award), and a Guinness World Record.",
"Achievements Throughout his career, Martin has won over 200 awards (most awarded male Latin artist), including two Grammy Awards, five Latin Grammy Awards, five MTV Video Music Awards (tied for most wins by a Latin artist), two American Music Awards, two Latin American Music Awards, three Billboard Music Awards, a Billboard Music Video Award, nine Billboard Latin Music Awards, eight World Music Awards, fourteen Lo Nuestro Awards (including the Excellence Award), and a Guinness World Record. As an actor, he was nominated for an Emmy Award.",
"As an actor, he was nominated for an Emmy Award. In 2007, Martin was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, located at 6901 Hollywood Blvd. Martin is ranked among the Greatest Latin Artists of All Time and the Greatest Hot Latin Songs Artists of All Time by Billboard, while his album Vuelve was placed at number five on Billboards Top 20 Latin Albums Of All Time in 2018.",
"Martin is ranked among the Greatest Latin Artists of All Time and the Greatest Hot Latin Songs Artists of All Time by Billboard, while his album Vuelve was placed at number five on Billboards Top 20 Latin Albums Of All Time in 2018. In 1998, his song, \"Perdido Sin Ti\" reached the top of the Latin Pop Airplay chart, displacing Martin's own \"Vuelve\", making him the first artist on the chart's history to replace himself.",
"In 1998, his song, \"Perdido Sin Ti\" reached the top of the Latin Pop Airplay chart, displacing Martin's own \"Vuelve\", making him the first artist on the chart's history to replace himself. His song \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" became the first number-one song on Billboard Hot 100, which was made entirely in Pro Tools, and achieved the first number one hit for his label, Columbia.",
"His song \"Livin' la Vida Loca\" became the first number-one song on Billboard Hot 100, which was made entirely in Pro Tools, and achieved the first number one hit for his label, Columbia. It also became the first song in history to top Billboards Adult Pop Airplay, Pop Airplay, and Rhythmic Airplay charts, holding its record as the only song to do so for 14 years.",
"It also became the first song in history to top Billboards Adult Pop Airplay, Pop Airplay, and Rhythmic Airplay charts, holding its record as the only song to do so for 14 years. On May 15, 1999, it became the first single ever to rule four different Billboard charts and made Martin the first act to simultaneously scale a pop, Latin, and dance chart.",
"On May 15, 1999, it became the first single ever to rule four different Billboard charts and made Martin the first act to simultaneously scale a pop, Latin, and dance chart. Two weeks later, he became the first artist to simultaneously top the Billboard 200, Hot Latin Tracks, Hot Dance Music/Club Play, Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales, Top 40 Tracks, and the Billboard Hot 100.",
"Two weeks later, he became the first artist to simultaneously top the Billboard 200, Hot Latin Tracks, Hot Dance Music/Club Play, Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales, Top 40 Tracks, and the Billboard Hot 100. His song \"Tal Vez\" (2003) marked the first number one debut on Billboard Hot Latin Songs in the 21st century. Martin is the first and only artist with Spanish-language entries on Billboard Hot 100 in three decades.",
"Martin is the first and only artist with Spanish-language entries on Billboard Hot 100 in three decades. In 2020, he became the first and only artist in history to enter the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart across five decades, including his work as part of Menudo. The following year, he became the first male Latin artist in history to have 4 songs from different decades to have over 100 million streams on Spotify.",
"The following year, he became the first male Latin artist in history to have 4 songs from different decades to have over 100 million streams on Spotify. He owns the record as the artist with most top 20s on the US Latin Pop Airplay chart, with 51 songs, and is the runner-up of most top 10s. He is the fourth artist with the most number one songs in the history of the Hot Latin Songs chart.",
"He is the fourth artist with the most number one songs in the history of the Hot Latin Songs chart. Additionally, he holds the record as the most Spanish-language entries on ARIA top 50 singles chart, with three. On October 11, 2007, then-mayor of Miami Beach, Florida David Dermer awarded him the key to the city of Miami Beach. Puerto Rico named August 31 the \"International Ricky Martin Day\" in 2008.",
"Puerto Rico named August 31 the \"International Ricky Martin Day\" in 2008. The Government of Spain granted Spanish nationality to Martin in 2011, for being \"recognized in different artistic facets\". In 2018, in recognition of \"his dedication to the island and people of Puerto Rico, his philanthropic work to eliminate human trafficking across the Caribbean, and his commitment to the arts\", the singer received a proclamation naming June 7 the \"Ricky Martin Day\" in New York City.",
"In 2018, in recognition of \"his dedication to the island and people of Puerto Rico, his philanthropic work to eliminate human trafficking across the Caribbean, and his commitment to the arts\", the singer received a proclamation naming June 7 the \"Ricky Martin Day\" in New York City. Throughout his career, Martin has sold over 70 million records making him one of the best-selling Latin music artists of all time. In 2020, La Opinión estimated his net worth at US$120 million.",
"In 2020, La Opinión estimated his net worth at US$120 million. Discography Ricky Martin (1991) Me Amaras (1993) A Medio Vivir (1995) Vuelve (1998) Ricky Martin (1999) Sound Loaded (2000) Almas del Silencio (2003) Life (2005) Música + Alma + Sexo (2011) A Quien Quiera Escuchar (2015) Filmography Mas Que Alcanzar una estrella (1992) Hercules – Latin American dub (1997) Idle Hands (1999) Ricky Martin: One Night Only (1999) Minions – Latin American dub (2015) The Latin Explosion: A New America (2015) Ricky Martin: Behind the Vegas Residency (2017) Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey (2020) El cuartito (2021) Theatre Les Misérables (1996), Broadway – Marius Pontmercy Evita (2012), Broadway – Ché Tours and residenciesHeadlining tours Ricky Martin Tour (1992) Me Amaras Tour (1993–1994) A Medio Vivir Tour (1995–1997) Vuelve World Tour (1998) Livin' la Vida Loca Tour (1999–2000) One Night Only with Ricky Martin (2005–2006) Black and White Tour (2007) Música + Alma + Sexo World Tour (2011) Ricky Martin Live (2013–2014) Live in Mexico (2014) One World Tour (2015–2018) Ricky Martin en Concierto (2018-2019) Movimiento Tour (2020-2022)Co-headlining tour Enrique Iglesias and Ricky Martin Live in Concert (with Enrique Iglesias) (2021)Residency' All In (2017–2018) See also Honorific nicknames in popular music List of artists who reached number one in the United States List of artists who reached number one on the UK Singles Chart List of Latin pop artists List of multilingual bands and artists List of Puerto Rican Grammy Award winners and nominees List of Puerto Ricans List of Urbano artists Notes References Book sources External links 1971 births Living people 20th-century LGBT people 20th-century Puerto Rican male actors 20th-century Puerto Rican male singers 20th-century Puerto Rican singers 21st-century LGBT people 21st-century Puerto Rican male actors 21st-century Puerto Rican male singers 21st-century Puerto Rican singers American gay actors American gay musicians American humanitarians American male pop singers American male singer-songwriters Columbia Records artists Echo (music award) winners Grammy Award winners Hispanic and Latino American male actors Hispanic and Latino American musicians Latin Grammy Award winners Latin music songwriters Latin pop singers Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year honorees LGBT entertainers from Puerto Rico LGBT Hispanic and Latino American people LGBT Latin musicians LGBT rights activists from the United States LGBT singers from the United States Male actors from San Juan, Puerto Rico Menudo (band) members MTV Europe Music Award winners Naturalised citizens of Spain Puerto Rican activists Puerto Rican expatriates in Australia Puerto Rican expatriates in Mexico Puerto Rican expatriates in Spain Puerto Rican male film actors Puerto Rican male soap opera actors Puerto Rican male television actors Puerto Rican people of Basque descent Puerto Rican people of Canarian descent Puerto Rican people of Corsican descent Puerto Rican people of Spanish descent Puerto Rican philanthropists Puerto Rican pop singers Puerto Rican record producers Puerto Rican singer-songwriters Singers from San Juan, Puerto Rico Sony Music Latin artists Sony Music Spain artists Spanish-language singers of the United States UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors World Music Awards winners"
] |
[
"Anwar al-Awlaki",
"Other connections"
] | C_a9dbf6539ea04ea1aa2c40cc18303c22_1 | What were some of his connections? | 1 | What were some of Anwar al-Awlaki's connections? | Anwar al-Awlaki | FBI agents identified al-Awlaki as a known, important "senior recruiter for al Qaeda", and a spiritual motivator. His name came up in a dozen terrorism plots in the US, UK, and Canada. The cases included suicide bombers in the 2005 London bombings, radical Islamic terrorists in the 2006 Toronto terrorism case, radical Islamic terrorists in the 2007 Fort Dix attack plot, the jihadist killer in the 2009 Little Rock military recruiting office shooting, and the 2010 Times Square bomber. In each case the suspects were devoted to al-Awlaki's message, which they listened to online and on CDs. Al-Awlaki's recorded lectures were heard by Islamist fundamentalists in at least six terror cells in the UK through 2009. Michael Finton (Talib Islam), who attempted in September 2009 to bomb the Federal Building and the adjacent offices of Congressman Aaron Schock in Springfield, Illinois, admired al-Awlaki and quoted him on his Myspace page. In addition to his website, al-Awlaki had a Facebook fan page with "fans" in the US, many of whom were high school students. Al-Awlaki also set up a website and blog on which he shared his views. Al-Awlaki influenced several other extremists to join terrorist organizations overseas and to carry out terrorist attacks in their home countries. Mohamed Alessa and Carlos Almonte, two American citizens from New Jersey who attempted to travel to Somalia in June 2010 to join the al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group Al Shabaab, allegedly watched several al-Awlaki videos and sermons in which he warned of future attacks against Americans in the US and abroad. Zachary Chesser, an American citizen who was arrested for attempting to provide material support to Al Shabaab, told federal authorities that he watched online videos featuring al-Awlaki and that he exchanged several e-mails with al-Awlaki. In July 2010, Paul Rockwood was sentenced to eight years in prison for creating a list of 15 potential targets in the US, people he felt had desecrated Islam. Rockwood was a devoted follower of al-Awlaki, and had studied his works Constants on the Path to Jihad and 44 Ways to Jihad. In October 2008, Charles Allen, US Under-Secretary of Homeland Security for Intelligence and Analysis, warned that al-Awlaki "targets U.S. Muslims with radical online lectures encouraging terrorist attacks from his new home in Yemen." Responding to Allen, al-Awlaki wrote on his website in December 2008: "I would challenge him to come up with just one such lecture where I encourage 'terrorist attacks'". CANNOTANSWER | Al-Awlaki influenced several other extremists to join terrorist organizations overseas and to carry out terrorist attacks in their home countries. | Anwar Nasser al-Awlaki (also spelled al-Aulaqi, al-Awlaqi; ; April 21 or 22, 1971 – September 30, 2011) was a Yemeni-American imam who was killed in 2011 in Yemen by an American drone strike ordered by President Barack Obama. Al-Awlaki became the first U.S. citizen to be targeted and killed by a U.S. drone strike without the rights of due process being afforded. US government officials argued that Awlaki was a key organizer for the Islamist terrorist group al-Qaeda, and in June 2014, a previously classified memorandum issued by the U.S. Department of Justice was released, justifying al-Awlaki's death as a lawful act of war. Civil liberties advocates have described the incident as "an extrajudicial execution" that breached al-Awlaki's right to due process, including a trial.
Al-Awlaki was born in Las Cruces, New Mexico, in 1971 to parents from Yemen. Growing up partially in the United States and partially in Yemen, he attended various universities across the United States in the 1990s and early 2000s while also working as an imam, despite having no religious qualifications and almost no religious education. Al-Awlaki returned to Yemen in early 2004 and became a university lecturer after a brief stint as a public speaker in the United Kingdom. He was detained by Yemeni authorities in 2006, where he spent 18 months in prison before being released without facing trial. Following his release, Al-Awlaki's message started to become overtly supportive of violence, as he condemned United States foreign policy against Muslims.
The Yemeni government tried him in absentia in November 2010, for plotting to kill foreigners and being a member of al-Qaeda. A Yemeni judge ordered that he be captured "dead or alive". U.S. officials said that in 2009, al-Awlaki was promoted to the rank of "regional commander" within al-Qaeda, although they described his role as more "inspirational" than "operational." He repeatedly called for jihad against the United States. In April 2010, al-Awlaki was placed on a CIA kill list by President Barack Obama due to his alleged terrorist activities. Al-Awlaki's father and civil rights groups challenged the order in court. Al-Awlaki was believed to be in hiding in southeast Yemen in the last years of his life. The U.S. deployed unmanned aircraft (drones) in Yemen to search for and kill him, firing at and failing to kill him at least once; he was successfully killed on September 30, 2011. Two weeks later, al-Awlaki's 16-year-old son, Abdulrahman al-Awlaki, a U.S. citizen who was born in Denver, Colorado, was also killed by a CIA-led drone strike in Yemen. His daughter, 8-year old Nawar al-Awlaki, was killed during a raid against Al Qaeda ordered by President Donald Trump in 2017.<ref name="uk.reuters.com">Ghobari, Mohammed and Phil Stewart. "Commando dies in U.S. raid in Yemen, first military op OK'd by Trump", Reuters, January 29, 2017. Retrieved January 29, 2017.</ref> The New York Times wrote in 2015 that al-Awlaki's public statements and videos have been more influential in inspiring acts of Islamic terrorism in the wake of his killing than before his death.
Early life
Al-Awlaki was born in Las Cruces, New Mexico, in 1971 to parents from Yemen, while his father, Nasser al-Awlaki, was doing graduate work at U.S. universities. His father was a Fulbright Scholar who earned a master's degree in agricultural economics at New Mexico State University in 1971, received a doctorate at the University of Nebraska, and worked at the University of Minnesota from 1975 to 1977. Nasser al-Awlaki served as Agriculture Minister in Ali Abdullah Saleh's government. He was also President of Sana'a University. Yemen's prime minister from 2007 to 2011, Ali Mohammed Mujur, was a relative.
The family returned to Yemen in 1978, when al-Awlaki was seven years old. He lived there for 11 years, and studied at Azal Modern School.
Life in the United States 1990–2002
Education
In 1991, al-Awlaki returned to the U.S. to attend college. He earned a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Colorado State University (1994), where he was president of the Muslim Student Association.
In 1993, while still a college student in Colorado State's civil engineering program, al-Awlaki visited Afghanistan in the aftermath of the Soviet occupation. He spent some time training with the mujahideen who had fought the Soviets. He was depressed by the country's poverty and hunger, and "wouldn't have gone with al-Qaeda," according to friends from Colorado State, who said he was profoundly affected by the trip. Mullah Mohammed Omar did not form the Taliban until 1994. When Al-Awlaki returned to campus, he showed increased interest in religion and politics. Al-Awlaki studied Education Leadership at San Diego State University, but did not complete his degree. He worked on a doctorate in Human Resource Development at The George Washington University Graduate School of Education and Human Development from January to December 2001.
Time as imam
In 1994, al-Awlaki married a cousin from Yemen, and began service as a part-time imam of the Denver Islamic Society. In 1996, he was chastised by an elder for encouraging a Saudi student to fight in Chechnya against the Russians. He left Denver soon after, moving to San Diego.
From 1996 to 2000, al-Awlaki was imam of the Masjid Ar-Ribat al-Islami mosque in San Diego, California, where he had a following of 200–300 people. U.S. officials later alleged that Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar, hijackers of American Airlines Flight 77, attended his sermons and personally met him during this period. Hazmi later lived in Northern Virginia and attended al-Awlaki's mosque there. The 9/11 Commission Report said that the hijackers "reportedly respected [al-Awlaki] as a religious figure". While in San Diego, al-Awlaki volunteered with youth organizations, fished, discussed his travels with friends, and created a popular and lucrative series of recorded lectures.
In August 1996 and in April 1997, al-Awlaki was arrested in San Diego and charged with soliciting prostitutes. The first time, in 1996, he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and was fined $400 and required to attend informational sessions about AIDS. The second time, in 1997, he pleaded guilty and was fined $240, ordered to perform 12 days of community service, and received three years' probation. From November 2001 to January 2002 the FBI observed him visiting a number of prostitutes, and interviewed them, establishing that he had paid for sex acts. No prosecution was brought.
In 1998 and 1999, he served as vice-president for the Charitable Society for Social Welfare. In 2004, the FBI described this group as a "front organization to funnel money to terrorists". Although the FBI investigated al-Awlaki from June 1999 through March 2000 for possible links to Hamas, the Bin Laden contact Ziyad Khaleel, and a visit by an associate of Omar Abdel Rahman, it did not find sufficient evidence for a criminal prosecution. Al-Awlaki told reporters that he resigned from leading the San Diego mosque "after an uneventful four years," and took a brief sabbatical, traveling overseas to various countries.
In January 2001, al-Awlaki returned to the U.S., settling in the Washington metropolitan area. There, he was imam at the Dar al-Hijrah mosque near Falls Church, Virginia, and his services were attended by Nawaf al-Hazmi and a third hijacker, Hani Hanjour. He led academic discussions frequented by FBI Director of Counter-Intelligence for the Middle East Gordon M. Snow. Al-Awlaki also served as the Muslim chaplain at George Washington University, where he was hired by Esam Omeish. Omeish said in 2004 that he was convinced that al-Awlaki was not involved in terrorism.
His proficiency as a public speaker and command of the English language helped him attract followers who did not speak Arabic. "He was the magic bullet", according to the mosque spokesman Johari Abdul-Malik. "He had everything all in a box." "He had an allure. He was charming."
When police investigating the 9/11 attacks raided the Hamburg apartment of Ramzi bin al-Shibh, they found the telephone number of al-Awlaki among bin al-Shibh's personal contacts. The FBI interviewed al-Awlaki four times in the eight days following the 9/11 attacks. One detective later told the 9/11 Commission he believed al-Awlaki "was at the center of the 9/11 story". And an FBI agent said, "if anyone had knowledge of the plot, it would have been" him, since "someone had to be in the U.S. and keep the hijackers spiritually focused". One 9/11 Commission staff member said: "Do I think he played a role in helping the hijackers here, knowing they were up to something? Yes. Do I think he was sent here for that purpose? I have no evidence for it." A separate Congressional Joint Inquiry into the 9/11 attacks suggested that al-Awlaki may have been connected to the hijackers, according to its director, Eleanor Hill. In 2003, Representative Anna Eshoo, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said, "In my view, he is more than a coincidental figure."
Six days after the 9/11 attacks, al-Awlaki suggested in writing on the IslamOnline.net website that Israeli intelligence agents might have been responsible for the attacks, and that the FBI "went into the roster of the airplanes, and whoever has a Muslim or Arab name became the hijacker by default".
Soon after the 9/11 attacks, al-Awlaki was sought in Washington, D.C., by the media to answer questions about Islam, its rituals, and its relation to the attacks. He was interviewed by National Geographic, The New York Times, and other media. Al-Awlaki condemned the attacks. According to an NPR report in 2010, in 2001 al-Awlaki appeared to be a moderate who could "bridge the gap between the United States and the worldwide community of Muslims." The New York Times said at the time that he was "held up as a new generation of Muslim leader capable of merging East and West." In 2010, Fox News and the New York Daily News reported that some months after the 9/11 attacks, a Pentagon employee invited al-Awlaki to a luncheon in the Secretary's Office of General Counsel. The U.S. Secretary of the Army had suggested that a moderate Muslim be invited to give a talk.
In 2002, al-Awlaki was the first imam to conduct a prayer service for the Congressional Muslim Staffer Association at the U.S. Capitol. That year, Nidal Hasan visited al-Awlaki's mosque for his mother's funeral, at which al-Awlaki presided. In November 2009, Hasan killed 13 and wounded 32 in the Fort Hood shooting. Hasan usually attended a mosque in Maryland closer to where he lived while working at the Walter Reed Medical Center (2003–09).
Later in 2002, al-Awlaki posted an essay in Arabic on the Islam Today website titled "Why Muslims Love Death", lauding the fervor of Palestinian suicide bombers. He expressed a similar opinion in a speech at a London mosque later that year. By July 2002, al-Awlaki was under investigation in the United States for having received money from the subject of a U.S. Joint Terrorism Task Force investigation. His name was added to the list of terrorism suspects.
Passport fraud issues
In June 2002, a Denver federal judge signed an arrest warrant for al-Awlaki for passport fraud. On October 9, the Denver U.S. Attorney's Office filed a motion to dismiss the complaint and vacate the arrest warrant. Prosecutors believed that they lacked sufficient evidence of a crime, according to U.S. Attorney Dave Gaouette, who authorized its withdrawal. Al-Awlaki had listed Yemen rather than the United States as his place of birth on his 1990 application for a U.S. Social Security number, soon after arriving in the US. Al-Awlaki used this documentation to obtain a passport in 1993. He later corrected his place of birth to Las Cruces, New Mexico. "The bizarre thing is if you put Yemen down (on the application), it would be harder to get a Social Security number than to say you are a native-born citizen of Las Cruces", Gaouette said.
Prosecutors could not charge him in October 2002, when he returned from a trip abroad, because a 10-year statute of limitations on lying to the Social Security Administration had expired. According to a 2012 investigative report by Fox News, the arrest warrant for passport fraud was still in effect on the morning of October 10, 2002, when FBI Agent Wade Ammerman ordered al-Awlaki's release. U.S. Congressman Frank Wolf (R-VA) and several congressional committees urged FBI Director Robert Mueller to provide an explanation about the bureau's interactions with al-Awlaki, including why he was released from federal custody when there was an outstanding warrant for his arrest. The motion for rescinding the arrest warrant was approved by a magistrate judge on October 10 and filed on October 11.ABC News reported in 2009 that the Joint Terrorism Task Force in San Diego disagreed with the decision to cancel the warrant. They were monitoring al-Awlaki and wanted to "look at him under a microscope". But U.S. Attorney Gaouette said that no objection had been raised to the rescinding of the warrant during a meeting that included Ray Fournier, the San Diego federal diplomatic security agent whose allegation had set in motion the effort to obtain a warrant. Gaouette said that if al-Awlaki had been convicted at the time, he would have faced about six months in custody.The New York Times suggested later that al-Awlaki had claimed birth in Yemen (his family's place of origin) to qualify for scholarship money granted to foreign citizens. U.S. Congressman Frank R. Wolf (R-VA) wrote in May 2010 that by claiming to be foreign-born, al-Awlaki fraudulently obtained more than $20,000 in scholarship funds reserved for foreign students.
While living in Northern Virginia, al-Awlaki visited Ali al-Timimi, later known as a radical Islamic cleric. Al-Timimi was convicted in 2005 and is now serving a life sentence for leading the Virginia Jihad Network, inciting Muslim followers to fight with the Taliban against the US.
In the United Kingdom 2002–04
Al-Awlaki left the United States before the end of 2002, because of a "climate of fear and intimidation" according to Imam Johari Abdul-Malik of the Dar al-Hijrah mosque.
He lived in the UK for several months, where he gave talks attended by up to 200 people. He urged young Muslim followers: "The important lesson to learn here is never, ever trust a kuffar [disbeliever]. Do not trust them! [Their leaders] are plotting to kill this religion. They're plotting night and day." "He was the main man who translated the jihad into English," said a student who attended his lectures in 2003.
He gave a series of lectures in December 2002 and January 2003 at the London Masjid al-Tawhid mosque, describing the rewards martyrs (Shahid) receive in paradise (Jannah). He began to gain supporters, particularly among young Muslims, and undertook a lecture tour of England and Scotland in 2002 in conjunction with the Muslim Association of Britain. He also lectured at "ExpoIslamia", an event held by Islamic Forum Europe. At the East London Mosque he told his audience: "A Muslim is a brother of a Muslim... he does not betray him, and he does not hand him over... You don't hand over a Muslim to the enemies."
In Britain's Parliament in 2003, Louise Ellman, MP for Liverpool Riverside, discussed the relationship between al-Awlaki and the Muslim Association of Britain, an alleged Muslim Brotherhood front organization founded by Kemal el-Helbawy, a senior member of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood.
Return to Yemen 2004–11
Al-Awlaki returned to Yemen in early 2004, where he lived in Shabwah Governorate with his wife and five children. He lectured at Iman University, headed by Abdul Majeed al-Zindani. The latter has been included on the UN 1267 Committee's list of individuals belonging to or associated with al-Qaeda. Al-Zindani denied having any influence over al-Awlaki, or that he had been his "direct teacher". Some believe that the school's curriculum deals mostly, if not exclusively, with radical Islamic studies, and promotes radicalism. American convert John Walker Lindh and other alumni have been associated with terrorist groups.
On August 31, 2006, al-Awlaki was arrested with four others on charges of kidnapping a Shiite teenager for ransom, and participating in an al-Qaeda plot to kidnap a U.S. military attaché. He was imprisoned in 2006 and 2007. He was interviewed around September 2007 by two FBI agents with regard to the 9/11 attacks and other subjects. John Negroponte, the U.S. Director of National Intelligence, told Yemeni officials he did not object to al-Awlaki's detention.
His name was on a list of 100 prisoners whose release was sought by al-Qaeda-linked militants in Yemen. After 18 months in a Yemeni prison, al-Awlaki was released on December 12, 2007, following the intercession of his tribe. According to a Yemeni security official, he was released because he had repented. He moved to his family home in Saeed, a hamlet in the Shabwa mountains.
Moazzam Begg's Cageprisoners, an organization representing former Guantanamo detainees, campaigned for al-Awlaki's release when he was in prison in Yemen. Al-Awlaki told Begg in an interview shortly after his release that prior to his incarceration in Yemen, he had condemned the 9/11 attacks.
In December 2008, al-Awlaki sent a communique to the Somali terrorist group, al-Shabaab, congratulating them.
Al-Awlaki provided al-Qaeda members in Yemen with the protection of his powerful tribe, the Awlakis, against the government. The tribal code required it to protect those who seek refuge and assistance. This imperative has greater force when the person is a member of the tribe or a tribesman's friend. The tribe's motto is "We are the sparks of Hell; whoever interferes with us will be burned." Al-Awlaki also reportedly helped negotiate deals with leaders of other tribes.
Sought by Yemeni authorities who were investigating his al-Qaeda ties, al-Awlaki went into hiding in approximately March 2009, according to his father. By December 2009, al-Awlaki was on the Yemeni government's most-wanted list. He was believed to be hiding in Yemen's Shabwa or Mareb regions, which are part of the so-called "triangle of evil". The area has attracted al-Qaeda militants, who seek refuge among local tribes unhappy with Yemen's central government.
Yemeni sources originally said al-Awlaki might have been killed in a pre-dawn air strike by Yemeni Air Force fighter jets on a meeting of senior al-Qaeda leaders at a hideout in Rafd in eastern Shabwa, on December 24, 2009. But he survived. Pravda reported that the planes, using Saudi and U.S. intelligence, killed at least 30 al-Qaeda members from Yemen and abroad, and that an al-Awlaki house was "raided and demolished". On December 28 The Washington Post reported that U.S. and Yemeni officials said that al-Awlaki had been present at the meeting. Abdul Elah al-Shaya, a Yemeni journalist, said al-Awlaki called him on December 28 to report that he was well and had not attended the al-Qaeda meeting. Al-Shaya said that al-Awlaki was not tied to al-Qaeda.
In March 2010, a tape featuring al-Awlaki was released in which he urged Muslims residing in the United States to attack their country of residence.
Reaching out to the United Kingdom
After 2006, al-Awlaki was banned from entering the United Kingdom. He broadcast lectures to mosques and other venues there via video-link from 2007 to 2009, on at least seven occasions at five locations in Britain. Noor Pro Media Events held a conference at the East London Mosque on January 1, 2009, showing a videotaped lecture by al-Awlaki; former Shadow Home Secretary Dominic Grieve expressed concern over his being featured.
He gave video-link talks in England to an Islamic student society at the University of Westminster in September 2008, an arts center in East London in April 2009 (after the Tower Hamlets council gave its approval), worshippers at the Al Huda Mosque in Bradford, and a dinner of the Cageprisoners organization in September 2008 at the Wandsworth Civic Centre in South London. On August 23, 2009, al-Awlaki was banned by local authorities in Kensington and Chelsea, London, from speaking at Kensington Town Hall via videolink to a fundraiser dinner for Guantanamo detainees promoted by Cageprisoners. His videos, which discuss his Islamist theories, have circulated across the United Kingdom. Until February 2010, hundreds of audio tapes of his sermons were available at the Tower Hamlets public libraries. In 2009, the London-based Islam Channel carried advertisements for his DVDs and at least two of his video conference lectures.
Other connections
FBI agents identified al-Awlaki as a known, important "senior recruiter for al Qaeda", and a spiritual motivator. His name came up in a dozen terrorism plots in the US, UK, and Canada. The cases included suicide bombers in the 2005 London bombings, radical Islamic terrorists in the 2006 Toronto terrorism case, radical Islamic terrorists in the 2007 Fort Dix attack plot, the jihadist killer in the 2009 Little Rock military recruiting office shooting, and the 2010 Times Square bomber. In each case the suspects were devoted to al-Awlaki's message, which they listened to online and on CDs.
Al-Awlaki's recorded lectures were heard by Islamist fundamentalists in at least six terror cells in the UK through 2009. Michael Finton (Talib Islam), who attempted in September 2009 to bomb the Federal Building and the adjacent offices of Congressman Aaron Schock in Springfield, Illinois, admired al-Awlaki and quoted him on his Myspace page. In addition to his website, al-Awlaki had a Facebook fan page with "fans" in the US, many of whom were high school students. Al-Awlaki also set up a website and blog on which he shared his views.
Al-Awlaki influenced several other extremists to join terrorist organizations overseas and to carry out terrorist attacks in their home countries. Mohamed Alessa and Carlos Almonte, two American citizens from New Jersey who attempted to travel to Somalia in June 2010 to join the al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group Al Shabaab, allegedly watched several al-Awlaki videos and sermons in which he warned of future attacks against Americans in the United States and abroad. Zachary Chesser, an American citizen who was arrested for attempting to provide material support to Al Shabaab, told federal authorities that he watched online videos featuring al-Awlaki and that he exchanged several e-mails with al-Awlaki. In July 2010, Paul Rockwood was sentenced to eight years in prison for creating a list of 15 potential targets in the US, people he felt had desecrated Islam. Rockwood was a devoted follower of al-Awlaki, and had studied his works Constants on the Path to Jihad and 44 Ways to Jihad.
In October 2008, Charles Allen, U.S. Under-Secretary of Homeland Security for Intelligence and Analysis, warned that al-Awlaki "targets U.S. Muslims with radical online lectures encouraging terrorist attacks from his new home in Yemen." Responding to Allen, al-Awlaki wrote on his website in December 2008: "I would challenge him to come up with just one such lecture where I encourage 'terrorist attacks'".
Fort Hood shooter
Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan was investigated by the FBI after intelligence agencies intercepted at least 18 e-mails between him and al-Awlaki between December 2008 and June 2009. Even before the contents of the e-mails were revealed, terrorism expert Jarret Brachman said that Hasan's contacts with al-Awlaki should have raised "huge red flags", because of his influence on radical English-speaking jihadis. Charles Allen, no longer in government, noted that there was no work-related reason for Hasan to be in touch with al-Awlaki. Former CIA officer Bruce Riedel opined: "E-mailing a known al-Qaeda sympathizer should have set off alarm bells. Even if he was exchanging recipes, the bureau should have put out an alert." A DC-based Joint Terrorism Task Force operating under the FBI was notified of the e-mails and reviewed the information. Army employees were informed of the e-mails, but they didn't perceive any terrorist threat in Hasan's questions. Instead, they viewed them as general questions about spiritual guidance with regard to conflicts between Islam and military service and judged them to be consistent with legitimate mental health research about Muslims in the armed services. The assessment was that there was not sufficient information for a larger investigation. In one of the e-mails, Hasan wrote al-Awlaki: "I can't wait to join you [in the afterlife]". "It sounds like code words," said Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer, a military analyst at the Center for Advanced Defense Studies. "That he's actually either offering himself up, or that he's already crossed that line in his own mind."
Yemeni journalist Abdulelah Hider Shaea interviewed al-Awlaki in November 2009. Al-Awlaki acknowledged his correspondence with Hasan. He said he "neither ordered nor pressured ... Hasan to harm Americans." Al-Awlaki said Hasan first e-mailed him December 17, 2008, introducing himself by writing: "Do you remember me? I used to pray with you at the Virginia mosque." Hasan said he had become a devout Muslim around the time al-Awlaki was preaching at Dar al-Hijrah, in 2001 and 2002, and al-Awlaki said 'Maybe Nidal was affected by one of my lectures.'" He added: "It was clear from his e-mails that Nidal trusted me. Nidal told me: 'I speak with you about issues that I never speak with anyone else.'" Al-Awlaki said Hasan arrived at his own conclusions regarding the acceptability of violence in Islam and said he was not the one to initiate this. Shaea said, "Nidal was providing evidence to Anwar, not vice versa."
Asked whether Hasan mentioned Fort Hood as a target in his e-mails, Shaea declined to comment. Al-Awlaki said the shooting was acceptable in Islam, however, because it was a form of jihad, as the West began the hostilities with the Muslims. Al-Awlaki said he "blessed the act because it was against a military target. And the soldiers who were killed were ... those who were trained and prepared to go to Iraq and Afghanistan".
Al-Awlaki's e-mail conversations with Hasan were not released, and he was not placed on the FBI Most Wanted list, indicted for treason, or officially named as a co-conspirator with Hasan. The U.S. government was reluctant to classify the Fort Hood shooting as a terrorist incident, or identify any motive. The Wall Street Journal reported in January 2010 that al-Awlaki had not "played a direct role" in any of the attacks, and noted he had never been charged with a crime in the US.
One of his fellow officers at Fort Hood said Hasan was enthusiastic about al-Awlaki. Some investigators believe al-Awlaki's teachings may have been instrumental in Hasan's decision to stage the attack. On his now-disabled website, al-Awlaki praised Hasan's actions, describing him as a hero.
Christmas Day "Underwear Bomber"
According to a number of sources, Al-Awlaki and Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the convicted al-Qaeda attempted bomber of Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on December 25, 2009, had contacts. In January 2010, CNN reported that U.S. "security sources" said that there is concrete evidence that al-Awlaki was Abdulmutallab's recruiter and one of his trainers, and met with him prior to the attack. In February 2010, al-Awlaki admitted in an interview published in al-Jazeera that he taught and corresponded with Abdulmutallab, but denied having ordered the attack.
Representative Pete Hoekstra, the senior Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, said officials in the Obama administration and officials with access to law enforcement information told him the suspect "may have had contact [with al-Awlaki]".The Sunday Times established that Abdulmutallab first met al-Awlaki in 2005 in Yemen, while he was studying Arabic. During that time the suspect attended lectures by al-Awlaki.NPR reported that according to unnamed U.S. intelligence officials he attended a sermon by al-Awlaki at the Finsbury Park Mosque. Khalid Mahmood, the Labour MP for Birmingham Perry Barr, a former trustee of the mosque, expressed "grave misgivings" with regard to its stewardship. A spokesperson of the mosque stated that al-Awlaki had never spoken there or had even to his knowledge entered the building.
Abdulmutallab was also reported by CBS News, The Daily Telegraph, and The Sunday Telegraph to have attended a talk by al-Awlaki at the East London Mosque, which al-Awlaki may have attended by video teleconference. The Sunday Telegraph later removed the report from its website following a complaint by the East London Mosque, which stated that "Anwar Al Awlaki did not deliver any talks at the ELM between 2005 and 2008, which is when the newspaper had falsely alleged that Abdullmutallab had attended such talks".
Investigators who searched flats connected to Abdulmutallab in London said that he was a "big fan" of al-Awlaki, as al-Awlaki's blog and website had repeatedly been visited from those locations.
According to federal sources, Abdulmutallab and al-Awlaki repeatedly communicated with one another in the year prior to the attack. "Voice-to-voice communication" between the two was intercepted during the fall of 2009, and one government source said al-Awlaki "was in some way involved in facilitating [Abdulmutallab]'s transportation or trip through Yemen. It could be training, a host of things." NPR reported that intelligence officials suspected al-Awlaki may have told Abdulmutallab to go to Yemen for al-Qaeda training.
Abdulmutallab told the FBI that al-Awlaki was one of his al-Qaeda trainers in Yemen. Others reported that Abdulmutallab met with al-Awlaki in the weeks leading up to the attack. The Los Angeles Times reported that according to a U.S. intelligence official, intercepts and other information point to connections between the two:
Some of the information ... comes from Abdulmutallab, who ... said that he met with al-Awlaki and senior al-Qaeda members during an extended trip to Yemen this year and that the cleric was involved in some elements of planning or preparing the attack and in providing religious justification for it. Other intelligence linking the two became apparent after the attempted bombing, including communications intercepted by the National Security Agency indicating that the cleric was meeting with "a Nigerian" in preparation for some kind of operation.
Yemen's Deputy Prime Minister for Defense and Security Affairs, Rashad Mohammed al-Alimi, said Yemeni investigators believe that Abdulmutallab traveled to Shabwa in October 2009. Investigators believe he obtained his explosives and received training there. He met there with al-Qaeda members in a house built by al-Awlaki. A top Yemen government official said the two met with each other.
In January 2010, al-Awlaki acknowledged that he met and spoke with Abdulmutallab in Yemen in the fall of 2009. In an interview, al-Awlaki said: "Umar Farouk is one of my students; I had communications with him. And I support what he did." He also said: "I did not tell him to do this operation, but I support it". Fox News reported in early February 2010 that Abdulmutallab told federal investigators that al-Awlaki directed him to carry out the bombing.
In June 2010 Michael Leiter, the Director of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), said al-Awlaki had a "direct operational role" in the plot.
Sharif Mobley
Sharif Mobley had acknowledged contact with Anwar al-Awlaki. The Mobley family claims the contact was for spiritual guidance in further studies of Islam.
The Mobley family went to Yemen and resided there for several years. They decided to return to the United States and went to the U.S. Embassy to update the family travel documents. While waiting for their travel documents, Sharif Mobley was kidnapped by Yemen Security Services and shot on January 26, 2010. He was then held in Yemen's Central Prison. Mobley disappeared from the Central Prison on February 27, 2014. His current location is known to the U.S. Embassy in Yemen (currently closed 2015) but is withheld from his family and legal advisers based on U.S. State Department Regulations on "U.S. Citizens Missing Abroad".
All charges related to "terrorism/terrorist activity" were dropped by the Yemen government. There are no charges relating to allegations of "killing a guard during an escape attempt from the hospital" and there are no other legal proceedings against him in Yemen.
Times Square bomber
Faisal Shahzad, convicted of the 2010 Times Square car bombing attempt, told interrogators that he was a "fan and follower" of al-Awlaki, and his writings were one of the inspirations for the attack. On May 6, 2010 ABC News reported that unknown sources told them Shahzad made contact with al-Awlaki over the internet, a claim that could not be independently verified.
Stabbing of British former minister Stephen Timms
Roshonara Choudhry, who stabbed former British Cabinet Minister Stephen Timms in May 2010, and was found guilty of his attempted murder in November 2010, claimed to have become radicalized by listening to online sermons of al-Awlaki.
Seattle Weekly cartoonist death threat
In 2010, after Everybody Draw Mohammed Day, cartoonist Molly Norris at Seattle Weekly had to stop publishing, and at the suggestion of the FBI changed her name, moved, and went into hiding due to a fatwā issued by al-Awlaki calling for her death. In the June 2010 issue of Inspire, an English-language al-Qaeda magazine, al-Awlaki cursed her and eight others for "blasphemous caricatures" of Muhammad. "The medicine prescribed by the Messenger of Allah is the execution of those involved", he wrote. Daniel Pipes observed in an article entitled "Dueling Fatwas", "Awlaki stands at an unprecedented crossroads of death declarations, with his targeting Norris even as the U.S. government targets him."
Cargo planes bomb plotThe Guardian, The New York Times, and The Daily Telegraph reported that U.S. and British counter-terrorism officials believed that al-Awlaki was behind the cargo plane PETN bombs that were sent from Yemen to Chicago in October 2010.Yemen bomb scare 'mastermind' lived in London | World news. The Guardian. Retrieved on October 1, 2011. When U.S. Homeland Security official John Brennan was asked about al-Awlaki's suspected involvement in the plot, he said: "Anybody associated with al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is a subject of concern." U.S. Ambassador to Yemen Gerald Feierstein said "al-Awlaki was behind the two bombs."
Final years
Al-Awlaki's father, tribe, and supporters denied his alleged associations with Al-Qaeda and Islamist terrorism. Al-Awlaki's father proclaimed his son's innocence in an interview with CNN's Paula Newton, saying: "I am now afraid of what they will do with my son. He's not Osama bin Laden, they want to make something out of him that he's not." Responding to a Yemeni official's assertions that his son had taken refuge with al-Qaeda, Nasser said: "He's dead wrong. What do you expect my son to do? There are missiles raining down on the village. He has to hide. But he is not hiding with al-Qaeda; our tribe is protecting him right now."
The Yemeni government attempted to get the tribal leaders to release al-Awlaki to their custody. They promised they would not turn him over to U.S. authorities for questioning. The governor of Shabwa said in January 2010 that al-Awlaki was on the move with members of al-Qaeda, including Fahd al-Quso, who was wanted in connection with the bombing of the USS Cole.
In January 2010, White House lawyers debated whether or not it was legal to kill al-Awlaki, given his U.S. citizenship. U.S. officials stated that international law allows targeted killing in the event that the subject is an "imminent threat". Because he was a U.S. citizen, his killing had to be approved by the National Security Council. Such action against a U.S. citizen is extremely rare. As a military enemy of the US, al-Awlaki was not subject to Executive Order 11905, which bans assassination for political reasons. The authorization was nevertheless controversial.
By February 4, 2010, the New York Daily News reported that al-Awlaki was "now on a targeting list signed off on by the Obama administration". On April 6, The New York Times reported that President Obama had authorized the killing of al-Awlaki.
The al-Awalik tribe responded: "We warn against cooperating with America to kill Sheikh Anwar al-Awlaki. We will not stand by idly and watch." Al-Awlaki's tribe wrote that it would "not remain with arms crossed if a hair of Anwar al-Awlaki is touched, or if anyone plots or spies against him. Whoever risks denouncing our son (Awlaki) will be the target of Al-Awalik weapons", and gave warning "against co-operating with the Americans" in the capture or killing of al-Awlaki. Abu Bakr al-Qirbi, the Yemeni foreign minister, announced that the Yemeni government had not received any evidence from the US, and that "Anwar al-Awlaki has always been looked at as a preacher rather than a terrorist and shouldn't be considered as a terrorist unless the Americans have evidence that he has been involved in terrorism".
In a video clip bearing the imprint of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, issued on April 16 in al-Qaeda's monthly magazine Sada Al-Malahem, al-Awlaki said: "What am I accused of? Of calling for the truth? Of calling for jihad for the sake of Allah? Of calling to defend the causes of the Islamic nation?" In the video he also praises both Abdulmutallab and Hasan, and describes both as his "students".
In late April, Representative Charlie Dent (R-PA) introduced a resolution urging the U.S. State Department to withdraw al-Awlaki's U.S. citizenship. By May, U.S. officials believed he had become directly involved in terrorist activities. Former colleague Abdul-Malik said he "is a terrorist, in my book", and advised shops not to carry any of his publications. In an editorial, Investor's Business Daily called al-Awlaki the "world's most dangerous man", and recommended that he be added to the FBI's most-wanted terrorist list, a bounty put on his head, that he be designated a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, charged with treason, and extradition papers filed with the Yemeni government. IBD criticized the Justice Department for stonewalling Senator Joe Lieberman's security panel's investigation of al-Awlaki's role in the Fort Hood massacre.
On July 16, the U.S. Treasury Department added him to its list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists. Stuart Levey, Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, called him "extraordinarily dangerous", and said al-Awlaki was involved in several organizational aspects of terrorism, including recruiting, training, fundraising, and planning individual attacks.
A few days later, the United Nations Security Council placed al-Awlaki on its UN Security Council Resolution 1267 list of individuals associated with al-Qaeda, describing him as a leader, recruiter, and trainer for al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. The resolution stipulates that U.N. members must freeze the assets of anyone on the list, and prevent them from travelling or obtaining weapons. The following week, Canadian banks were ordered to seize any assets belonging to al-Awlaki. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police's senior counter-terrorism officer Gilles Michaud described him as a "major, major factor in radicalization". In September 2010, Jonathan Evans, the Director General of the United Kingdom's domestic security and counter-intelligence agency (MI5), said that al-Awlaki was the West's Public Enemy No 1.
In October 2010, U.S. Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-NY) urged YouTube to take down al-Awlaki's videos from its website, saying that by hosting al-Awlaki's messages, "We are facilitating the recruitment of homegrown terror." Pauline Neville-Jones, British security minister, said "These Web sites ... incite cold-blooded murder." YouTube began removing the material in November 2010.
Al-Awlaki was charged in absentia in Sana'a, Yemen, on November 2 with plotting to kill foreigners and being a member of al-Qaeda. Ali al-Saneaa, the head of the prosecutor's office, announced the charges during the trial of Hisham Assem, who had been accused of killing Jacques Spagnolo, an oil industry worker. He said that al-Awlaki and Assem had been in contact for months, and that al-Awlaki had encouraged Assem to commit terrorism. Al-Awlaki's lawyer said that his client was not connected to Spagnolo's death. On November 6, Yemeni Judge Mohsen Alwan ordered that al-Awlaki be caught "dead or alive".
In his book Ticking Time Bomb: Counter-Terrorism Lessons from the U.S. Government's Failure to Prevent the Fort Hood Attack (2011), former U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman described al-Awlaki, Australian Muslim preacher Feiz Mohammad, Muslim cleric Abdullah el-Faisal, and Pakistani-American Samir Khan as "virtual spiritual sanctioners" who use the internet to offer religious justification for Islamist terrorism.
Lawsuit against the US
In July 2010, al-Awlaki's father, Nasser al-Awlaki, contacted the Center for Constitutional Rights and the American Civil Liberties Union to represent his son in a lawsuit that sought to remove Anwar from the targeted killing list. ACLU's Jameel Jaffer said:
the United States is not at war in Yemen, and the government doesn't have a blank check to kill terrorism suspects wherever they are in the world. Among the arguments we'll be making is that, outside actual war zones, the authority to use lethal force is narrowly circumscribed, and preserving the rule of law depends on keeping this authority narrow.
Lawyers for Specially Designated Global Terrorists must obtain a special license from the U.S. Treasury Department before they can represent their clients in court. The lawyers were granted the license on August 4, 2010.
On August 30, 2010, the groups filed a "targeted killing" lawsuit, naming President Obama, CIA Director Leon Panetta, and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates as defendants. They sought an injunction preventing the targeted killing of al-Awlaki, and also sought to require the government to disclose the standards under which U.S. citizens may be "targeted for death". Judge John D. Bates dismissed the lawsuit in an 83-page ruling, holding that the father did not have legal standing to bring the lawsuit, and that his claims were judicially unreviewable under the political question doctrine inasmuch as he was questioning a decision that the U.S. Constitution committed to the political branches.
On May 5, 2011, the United States tried but failed to kill al-Awlaki by firing a missile from an unmanned drone at a car in Yemen. A Yemeni security official said that two al-Qaeda operatives in the car died.
Death
On September 30, 2011, al-Awlaki was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Al Jawf Governorate, Yemen, according to U.S. sources, the strike was carried out by Joint Special Operations Command, under the direction of the CIA. A witness said the group had stopped to eat breakfast while traveling to Ma'rib Governorate. The occupants of the vehicle spotted the drone and attempted to flee in the vehicle before Hellfire missiles were fired Yemen's Defense Ministry announced that al-Awlaki had been killed. Also killed was Samir Khan, an American born in Saudi Arabia, thought to be behind al-Qaeda's English-language web magazine Inspire. U.S. President Barack Obama said:
The death of Awlaki is a major blow to Al-Qaeda's most active operational affiliate. He took the lead in planning and directing efforts to murder innocent Americans ... and he repeatedly called on individuals in the United States and around the globe to kill innocent men, women and children to advance a murderous agenda. [The strike] is further proof that Al-Qaeda and its affiliates will find no safe haven anywhere in the world.
Journalist and author Glenn Greenwald argued on Salon.com that killing al-Awlaki violated his First Amendment right of free speech and that doing so outside of a criminal proceeding violated the Constitution's due process clause, specifically citing the 1969 Supreme Court decision in Brandenburg v. Ohio that "the constitutional guarantees of free speech and free press do not permit a State to forbid or proscribe advocacy of the use of force." He mentioned doubt among Yemeni experts about al-Awlaki's role in al-Qaeda, and called U.S. government accusations against him unverified and lacking in evidence.
In a letter dated May 22, 2013, to the chairman of the U.S. Senate Judiciary committee, Patrick J. Leahy, U.S. attorney general Eric Holder wrote that
high-level U.S. government officials [...] concluded that al-Aulaqi posed a continuing and imminent threat of violent attack against the United States. Before carrying out the operation that killed al-Aulaqi, senior officials also determined, based on a careful evaluation of the circumstances at the time, that it was not feasible to capture al-Aulaqi. In addition, senior officials determined that the operation would be conducted consistent with applicable law of war principles, including the cardinal principles of (1) necessity – the requirement that the target have definite military value; (2) distinction – the idea that only military objectives may be intentionally targeted and that civilians are protected from being intentionally targeted; (3) proportionality – the notion that the anticipated collateral damage of an action cannot be excessive in relation to the anticipated concrete and direct military advantage; and (4) humanity – a principle that requires us to use weapons that will not inflict unnecessary suffering. The operation was also undertaken consistent with Yemeni sovereignty. [...] The decision to target Anwar al-Aulaqi was lawful, it was considered, and it was just.
On April 21, 2014, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal ruled that the Obama administration must release documents justifying its drone killings of foreigners and Americans, including Anwar al-Awlaki. In June 2014, the United States Department of Justice disclosed a 2010 memorandum written by the acting head of the department's Office of Legal Counsel, David J. Barron. The memo stated that Anwar al-Awlaki was a significant threat with an infeasible probability of capture. Barron therefore justified the killing as legal, as "the Constitution would not require the government to provide further process". The New York Times Editorial Board dismissed the memo's rationale for al-Awlaki's killing, saying it "provides little confidence that the lethal action was taken with real care", instead describing it as "a slapdash pastiche of legal theories—some based on obscure interpretations of British and Israeli law—that was clearly tailored to the desired result." A lawyer for the ACLU described the memo as "disturbing" and "ultimately an argument that the president can order targeted killings of Americans without ever having to account to anyone outside the executive branch."
Legacy
Seth Jones, who as a political scientist specializes in al-Qaida, considers that the continuing relevance of al-Awlaki is due to his fluency in the English language as well as his charisma, precising that "he had a disarming aura and unnerving confidence, with an easy smile and a soothing, eloquent voice. He stood a lanky six feet, one inch tall, weighed 160 pounds, and had a thick black beard, an oversized nose, and wire-rimmed glasses. He spoke in a clear, almost hypnotic voice."
Awlaki's videos and writings remain highly popular on the internet, where they continue to be readily accessible. Those who viewed and still view his videos are estimated by journalist Scott Shane to number in the hundreds of thousands, while his father Dr. Nasser Awlaqi says that "five million preaching tapes of Anwar Awlaqi have been sold in the West." And thus, even following his death, Awlaki has continued to inspire his devotees to carry out terrorist attacks, including the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, the 2015 San Bernardino attack, and the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting. According to the Counter Extremism Project (CEP), 88 "extremists," 54 in the U.S. and 34 in Europe, have been influenced by Awlaki. Because "his work has inspired countless plots and attacks," CEP has "called on YouTube and other platforms to permanently ban Mr. Awlaki's material, including his early, mainstream lectures."
FOIA documents
During the FBI investigation of the 9/11 attacks, it was discovered that a few of the attackers had attended the mosques in San Diego and Falls Church with which al-Awlaki was associated. Interviews with members of the San Diego mosque showed that Nawaz al-Hazmi, one of the attackers, may have had a private conversation with him. On that basis he was placed under 24-hour surveillance. It was discovered that he regularly patronized prostitutes. It was through FBI interrogation of prostitutes and escort service operators that al-Awlaki was tipped off in 2002 about FBI surveillance. Shortly thereafter, he left the United States.
In January 2013, Fox News announced that FBI documents obtained by Judicial Watch through a Freedom of Information Act request showed possible connections between al-Awlaki and the September 11 attackers. According to Judicial Watch, the documents show that the FBI knew that al-Awlaki had bought tickets for three of the hijackers to fly into Florida and Las Vegas. Judicial Watch further stated that al-Awlaki "was a central focus of the FBI's investigation of 9/11. They show he wasn't cooperative. And they show that he was under surveillance."
When queried by Fox News, the FBI denied having evidence connecting al-Awlaki and the September 11 attacks: "The FBI cautions against drawing conclusions from redacted FOIA documents. The FBI and investigating bodies have not found evidence connecting Anwar al-Awlaki and the attack on September 11, 2001. The document referenced does not link Anwar al-Awlaki with any purchase of airline tickets for the hijackers."
Family
Abdulrahman al-Awlaki
Anwar al-Awlaki and Egyptian-born Gihan Mohsen Baker had a son, Abdulrahman Anwar al-Awlaki, born August 26, 1995, in Denver, who was an American citizen. Abdulrahman al-Awlaki was killed on October 14, 2011, in Yemen at the age of 16 in an American drone strike. Nine other people were killed in the same CIA-initiated attack, including a 17-year-old cousin of Abdulrahman. According to his relatives, shortly before his father's death, Abdulrahman had left the family home in Sana'a and travelled to Shabwa in search of his father who was believed to be in hiding in that area (though he was actually hundreds of miles away at the time ). Abdulrahman was sitting in an open-air cafe in Shabwa when killed. According to U.S. officials, the killing of Abdulrahman al-Awlaki was a mistake; the intended target was an Egyptian, Ibrahim al-Banna, who was not at the targeted location at the time of the attack. Human rights groups have raised questions as to why an American citizen was killed by the United States in a country with which the United States is not officially at war. Abdulrahman al-Awlaki was not known to have any independent connection to terrorism.
Nasser al-Awlaki
Nasser al-Awlaki is the father of Anwar and grandfather of Abdulrahman al-Awlaki. Al-Awlaki stated he believed his son had been wrongly accused and was not a member of Al Qaeda. After the deaths of his son and grandson, Nasser in an interview in Time magazine called the killings a crime and condemned U.S. President Obama directly, saying: "I urge the American people to bring the killers to justice. I urge them to expose the hypocrisy of the 2009 Nobel Prize laureate. To some, he may be that. To me and my family, he is nothing more than a child killer."
In 2013, Nasser al-Awlaki published an op-ed in The New York Times stating that two years after killing his grandson, the Obama administration still declines to provide an explanation. In 2012, Nasser al-Awlaki filed a lawsuit, Al-Aulaqi v. Panetta, challenging the constitutionality of the drone killings of his son and grandson. This lawsuit was dismissed in April 2014 by D.C. District Court Judge Rosemary M. Collyer.
Tariq al-Dahab
Tariq al-Dahab, who led al-Qaeda insurgents in Yemen, was a brother-in-law of al-Awlaki. On February 16, 2012, the terrorist organization stated that he had been killed by agents, although media reports contain speculation that he was killed by his brother in a bloody family feud.
Nawar al-Awlaki
On January 29, 2017, Anwar al-Awlaki's 8-year-old daughter, Nawar al-Awlaki, who was an American citizen, was killed in a DEVGRU operation authorized by President Donald Trump."1 US service member killed, 3 wounded in Yemen raid" , WPVI-TV, 6 ABC Action News, Philadelphia, PA. January 29, 2017. Retrieved January 29, 2017.
Islamic education
Al-Awlaki's Islamic education was primarily informal, and consisted of intermittent months with various scholars reading and contemplating Islamic scholarly works. Despite having no religious qualifications and almost no religious education, Al-Awlaki made a name for himself as a public speaker who released popular audio recordings.Some Muslim scholars said they did not understand alAwlaki's popularity, because while he spoke fluent English and could therefore reach a large non-Arabic-speaking audience, he lacked formal Islamic training and study.
Ideology
While imprisoned in Yemen after 2004, al-Awlaki was influenced by the works of Sayyid Qutb, described by The New York Times as an originator of the contemporary "anti-Western Jihadist movement". He read 150 to 200 pages a day of Qutb's works, and described himself as "so immersed with the author I would feel Sayyid was with me in my cell speaking to me directly".
Terrorism consultant Evan Kohlmann in 2009 referred to al-Awlaki as "one of the principal jihadi luminaries for would-be homegrown terrorists. His fluency with English, his unabashed advocacy of jihad and mujahideen organizations, and his Web-savvy approach are a powerful combination." He called al-Awlaki's lecture, "Constants on the Path of Jihad", which he says was based on a similar document written by al-Qaeda's founder, the "virtual bible for lone-wolf Muslim extremists". Philip Mudd, formerly of the CIA's National Counterterrorism Center and the FBI's top intelligence adviser, called him "a magnetic character ... a powerful orator." He attracted young men to his lectures, especially US-based and UK-based Muslims.
U.S. officials and some U.S. media sources called al-Awlaki an Islamic fundamentalist and accused him of encouraging terrorism. According to documents recovered from bin Laden's hideout, the al-Qaeda leader was unsure about al-Awlaki's qualifications.
Works
The Nine Eleven Finding Answers Foundation said al-Awlaki's ability to write and speak in fluent English enabled him to incite English-speaking Muslims to terrorism. Al-Awlaki notes in 44 Ways to Support Jihad that most reading material on the subject is in Arabic.
Written works
44 Ways to Support Jihad: Essay (January 2009). In it, al-Awlaki states that "The hatred of kuffar is a central element of our military creed" and that all Muslims are obligated to participate in jihad, either by committing the acts themselves or supporting others who do so. He says all Muslims must remain physically fit so as to be prepared for conflict. According to U.S. officials, it is considered a key text for al-Qaeda members.
Al-Awlaki wrote for Jihad Recollections, an English language online publication published by Al-Fursan Media.
Allah is Preparing Us for Victory – short book (2009).
Lectures
Lectures on the book Constants on the Path of Jihad by Yusef al-Ayeri—concerns leaderless jihad.
In 2009, the UK government found 1,910 of his videos had been posted to YouTube. One of them had been viewed 164,420 times.
The Battle of Hearts and Minds The Dust Will Never Settle Down Dreams & Interpretations The Hereafter—16 CDs—Al Basheer Productions
Life of Muhammad: Makkan Period—16 CDs—Al Basheer Productions
Life of Muhammad: Medinan Period—Lecture in 2 Parts—18 CDs—Al Basheer Productions
Lives of the Prophets (AS)—16 CDs—Al Basheer Productions
Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (RA): His Life & Times—15 CDs—Al Basheer Productions
Umar ibn al-Khattāb (RA): His Life & Times—18 CDs—Al Basheer Productions
25 Promises from Allah to the Believer—2 CDs—Noor Productions
Companions of the Ditch & Lessons from the Life of Musa (AS)—2 CDs—Noor Productions
Remembrance of Allah & the Greatest Ayah—2 CDs—Noor Productions
Stories from Hadith—4 CDs—Center for Islamic Information and Education ("CIIE")
Hellfire & The Day of Judgment—CD—CIIE
Quest for Truth: The Story of Salman Al-Farsi (RA)—CD—CIIE
Trials & Lessons for Muslim Minorities—CD—CIIE
Young Ayesha (RA) & Mothers of the Believers (RA)—CD—CIIE
Understanding the Quran—CD—CIIE
Lessons from the Companions (RA) Living as a Minority—CD—CIIE
Virtues of the Sahabah—video lecture series promoted by the al-Wasatiyyah Foundation
Website
Al-Awlaki maintained a website and blog on which he shared his views. On December 11, 2008, he said Muslims should not seek to "serve in the armies of the disbelievers and fight against his brothers".
In "44 Ways to Support Jihad", posted on his blog in February 2009, al-Awlaki encouraged others to "fight jihad", and explained how to give money to the mujahideen or their families. Al-Awlaki's sermon encourages others to conduct weapons training, and raise children "on the love of Jihad". Also that month, he wrote: "I pray that Allah destroys America and all its allies." He wrote as well: "We will implement the rule of Allah on Earth by the tip of the sword, whether the masses like it or not." On July 14, he said that Muslim countries should not offer military assistance to the US. "The blame should be placed on the soldier who is willing to follow orders ... who sells his religion for a few dollars," he said. In blog post dated July 15, 2009, entitled "Fighting Against Government Armies in the Muslim World", al-Awlaki wrote, "Blessed are those who fight against [American soldiers], and blessed are those shuhada [martyrs] who are killed by them."
In a video posted to the internet on November 8, 2010, al-Awlaki called for Muslims to kill Americans "without hesitation", and overthrow Arab governments that cooperate with the US. "Don't consult with anyone in fighting the Americans, fighting the devil doesn't require consultation or prayers or seeking divine guidance. They are the party of the devils", al-Awlaki said. That month, Intelligence Research Specialist Kevin Yorke of the New York Police Department's Counterterrorism Division called him "the most dangerous man in the world".
See also
Church Committee
Executive Order 12333
Extrajudicial killing
International counter-terrorism activities of the CIA
Protocol I
References
Further reading
al-Ashanti, AbdulHaq and Sloan, Abu Ameenah AbdurRahman. (2011) A Critique of the Methodology of Anwar al-Awlaki and his Errors in the Fiqh of Jihad. London: Jamiah Media, 2011
External links
Ruling of Judge Bates in Al Aulaqi v Obama
Statements
Interviews
"Exclusive; Ray Suarez: My Post-9/11 Interview With Anwar al-Awlaki", PBS, October 30, 2001
"Al-Jazeera Satellite Network Interview with Yemeni-American Cleric Shaykh Anwar al-Awlaki Regarding his Alleged Role in Radicalizing Maj. Malik Nidal Hasan", The NEFA Foundation, December 24, 2009
Media coverage
The imam's very curious story: A skirt-chasing mullah is just one more mystery for the 9/11 panel, Ragavan, Chitra, US News and World Report'', June 13, 2004
DBI.gov
1971 births
2011 deaths
20th-century imams
21st-century imams
Abdullah Yusuf Azzam
Al-Qaeda propagandists
Assassinated al-Qaeda leaders
American al-Qaeda members
American expatriates in the United Kingdom
American expatriates in Yemen
American imams
American Islamists
American people of Yemeni descent
Colorado State University alumni
George Washington University Graduate School of Education and Human Development alumni
People associated with the September 11 attacks
People from Las Cruces, New Mexico
San Diego State University alumni
Yemeni imams
Yemeni al-Qaeda members
Yemeni Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam
Yemeni Sunni Muslims
Deaths by drone strikes of the Central Intelligence Agency in Yemen
Islam-related controversies
People designated by the Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee
American male criminals
Yemeni criminals
Yemeni Islamists
Yemeni expatriates in the United Kingdom
Shafi'is
American Muslim activists
Assassinated Yemeni people
Yemeni propagandists
United States military killing of American civilians | true | [
"Mark Scharenbroich ( ; born 1953) is an American motivational speaker, humorist, and author.\n\nEarly life \nIn the 1970s Scharenbroich attended St. Cloud State University in St. Cloud, Minnesota where he earned a degree in mass communications. While there he toured high schools and colleges with a comedy troupe called Mom’s Apple Pie.\n\nCareer \nIn 1979, Scharenbroich was hired by Jostens to speak at high schools throughout North America. He was featured in the film The Greatest Days of Your Life …So Far, for which Scharenbroich won the Golden Apple and Silver Screen film awards for writing and performing. He won an Emmy Award as writer/producer for an ABC TV special and is the recipient of several international film awards.\n\nIn 1984, he established Scharenbroich & Associates, a communications and production company. Certified by the National Speaker’s Association as a Certified Speaking Professional (CSP), in 2003, Scharenbroich was inducted into the National Speaker’s Association Hall of Fame, receiving the CPAE award — NSA’s Council of Peers Award of Excellence.\n\nScharenbroich published \"Nice Bike: Making Meaningful Connections on the Road of Life\" in 2010. In his book he teaches how to “Nice Bike” someone by acknowledging, honoring, and connecting with them.\n\nSince 2013 Scharenbroich has co-hosted a yearly \"Keynote Kamp\" with Eric Chester where they instruct other speakers on how to better write and deliver a keynote address.\n\nPublications\n\nBooks \nScharenbroich, Mark (2010). Nice Bike: Making Meaningful Connections on the Road of Life. Minneapolis: Echo Bay Publishing. pp 168 pages.\n\nFilms/DVD programs \n The Greatest Days of Your Life . . . So Far. Minneapolis: Jostens, 1981.\n T is for Teacher. Minneapolis: Jostens, 1983.\n One of a Kind. Minneapolis: Scharenbroich & Associates, 1984.\n Pathways to Performance. Minneapolis: Scharenbroich & Associates, 1986.\n Choose to Lead. Minneapolis: Scharenbroich & Associates, 1987.\n Is this your first? Minneapolis: Scharenbroich & Associates, 1995.\n Building Connections to Improve School Climate. Minneapolis: Scharenbroich & Associates, 2000.\n Building Connections: 100+ Ideas to Improve School Climate. Minneapolis: Scharenbroich & Associates, 2004.\n What’s It About?. Minneapolis: Scharenbroich & Associates, 2005.\n Building Connections to Improve Student Achievement. Minneapolis: Scharenbroich & Associates, 2010.\n\nAwards and honors\n Gold Medal (2011) for Nice Bike, Axiom Business Book Awards\n National Speaker’s Association (2003) Hall of Fame, CPAE\n National Speaker’s Association (2003) Certified Speaking Professional (CSP)\n Silver Screen Award (1982) for The Greatest Days of Your Life…So Far\n National Council on Family Relations (1985), 1st Place for One of A Kind\n Golden Apple Award (1989) for The Greatest Days of Your Life…So Far\n Telly Award (2004) for Building Connections\n Telly Award (2005) for What’s it About? (Writer/Producer)\n Aurora Awards (2004, Gold Award) for What’s it About?\n International Health and Medical Film award (2005) for What’s it About?, and Building Connections (finalist)\n International Davey Award (2005, Gold Winner – Education) for What’s it About?\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n The official website of Mark Scharenbroich\n The official website of Nice Bike Honors Veterans\n \n\nPeople from Minnesota\nLiving people\n1953 births\nAmerican male writers\nAmerican motivational speakers",
"City networks are a geographical concept studying connections between cities by placing the cities as nodes on a network. In modern conceptions of cities, these networks play an important role in understanding the nature of cities. City networks can identify physical connections to other places, such as railways, canals, scheduled flights, or telecommunication networks, typically done using graph theory. City networks also exist in immaterial form, such as trade, global finance, markets, migration, cultural links, shared social spaces or shared histories. There are also networks of religious nature, in particular through pilgrimage.\n\nThe city itself is then regarded as the node where different networks run together. Some urban thinkers have argued that cities can only be understood if the context of the city's connections is understood.\n\nIt has been argued that city networks are a key ingredient of what defines a city, along with the number of people (density) and the particular way of life in cities.\n\nReferences\nTaylor, P. J. (2001), Specification of the World City Network. Geographical Analysis, 33: 181-194. doi:10.1111/j.1538-4632.2001.tb00443.x\n\nCity\nNetworks\nSocial networks\nUrban studies and planning terminology"
] | [
"Anwar Nasser al-Awlaki (also spelled al-Aulaqi, al-Awlaqi; ; April 21 or 22, 1971 – September 30, 2011) was a Yemeni-American imam who was killed in 2011 in Yemen by an American drone strike ordered by President Barack Obama. Al-Awlaki became the first U.S. citizen to be targeted and killed by a U.S. drone strike without the rights of due process being afforded.",
"Al-Awlaki became the first U.S. citizen to be targeted and killed by a U.S. drone strike without the rights of due process being afforded. US government officials argued that Awlaki was a key organizer for the Islamist terrorist group al-Qaeda, and in June 2014, a previously classified memorandum issued by the U.S. Department of Justice was released, justifying al-Awlaki's death as a lawful act of war. Civil liberties advocates have described the incident as \"an extrajudicial execution\" that breached al-Awlaki's right to due process, including a trial.",
"Civil liberties advocates have described the incident as \"an extrajudicial execution\" that breached al-Awlaki's right to due process, including a trial. Al-Awlaki was born in Las Cruces, New Mexico, in 1971 to parents from Yemen. Growing up partially in the United States and partially in Yemen, he attended various universities across the United States in the 1990s and early 2000s while also working as an imam, despite having no religious qualifications and almost no religious education.",
"Growing up partially in the United States and partially in Yemen, he attended various universities across the United States in the 1990s and early 2000s while also working as an imam, despite having no religious qualifications and almost no religious education. Al-Awlaki returned to Yemen in early 2004 and became a university lecturer after a brief stint as a public speaker in the United Kingdom. He was detained by Yemeni authorities in 2006, where he spent 18 months in prison before being released without facing trial.",
"He was detained by Yemeni authorities in 2006, where he spent 18 months in prison before being released without facing trial. Following his release, Al-Awlaki's message started to become overtly supportive of violence, as he condemned United States foreign policy against Muslims. The Yemeni government tried him in absentia in November 2010, for plotting to kill foreigners and being a member of al-Qaeda. A Yemeni judge ordered that he be captured \"dead or alive\".",
"A Yemeni judge ordered that he be captured \"dead or alive\". U.S. officials said that in 2009, al-Awlaki was promoted to the rank of \"regional commander\" within al-Qaeda, although they described his role as more \"inspirational\" than \"operational.\" He repeatedly called for jihad against the United States. In April 2010, al-Awlaki was placed on a CIA kill list by President Barack Obama due to his alleged terrorist activities. Al-Awlaki's father and civil rights groups challenged the order in court.",
"Al-Awlaki's father and civil rights groups challenged the order in court. Al-Awlaki was believed to be in hiding in southeast Yemen in the last years of his life. The U.S. deployed unmanned aircraft (drones) in Yemen to search for and kill him, firing at and failing to kill him at least once; he was successfully killed on September 30, 2011.",
"The U.S. deployed unmanned aircraft (drones) in Yemen to search for and kill him, firing at and failing to kill him at least once; he was successfully killed on September 30, 2011. Two weeks later, al-Awlaki's 16-year-old son, Abdulrahman al-Awlaki, a U.S. citizen who was born in Denver, Colorado, was also killed by a CIA-led drone strike in Yemen.",
"Two weeks later, al-Awlaki's 16-year-old son, Abdulrahman al-Awlaki, a U.S. citizen who was born in Denver, Colorado, was also killed by a CIA-led drone strike in Yemen. His daughter, 8-year old Nawar al-Awlaki, was killed during a raid against Al Qaeda ordered by President Donald Trump in 2017.<ref name=\"uk.reuters.com\">Ghobari, Mohammed and Phil Stewart. \"Commando dies in U.S. raid in Yemen, first military op OK'd by Trump\", Reuters, January 29, 2017.",
"\"Commando dies in U.S. raid in Yemen, first military op OK'd by Trump\", Reuters, January 29, 2017. Retrieved January 29, 2017.</ref> The New York Times wrote in 2015 that al-Awlaki's public statements and videos have been more influential in inspiring acts of Islamic terrorism in the wake of his killing than before his death.",
"Retrieved January 29, 2017.</ref> The New York Times wrote in 2015 that al-Awlaki's public statements and videos have been more influential in inspiring acts of Islamic terrorism in the wake of his killing than before his death. Early life Al-Awlaki was born in Las Cruces, New Mexico, in 1971 to parents from Yemen, while his father, Nasser al-Awlaki, was doing graduate work at U.S. universities.",
"Early life Al-Awlaki was born in Las Cruces, New Mexico, in 1971 to parents from Yemen, while his father, Nasser al-Awlaki, was doing graduate work at U.S. universities. His father was a Fulbright Scholar who earned a master's degree in agricultural economics at New Mexico State University in 1971, received a doctorate at the University of Nebraska, and worked at the University of Minnesota from 1975 to 1977. Nasser al-Awlaki served as Agriculture Minister in Ali Abdullah Saleh's government. He was also President of Sana'a University.",
"He was also President of Sana'a University. He was also President of Sana'a University. Yemen's prime minister from 2007 to 2011, Ali Mohammed Mujur, was a relative. The family returned to Yemen in 1978, when al-Awlaki was seven years old. He lived there for 11 years, and studied at Azal Modern School. Life in the United States 1990–2002 Education In 1991, al-Awlaki returned to the U.S. to attend college. He earned a B.S.",
"He earned a B.S. He earned a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Colorado State University (1994), where he was president of the Muslim Student Association. In 1993, while still a college student in Colorado State's civil engineering program, al-Awlaki visited Afghanistan in the aftermath of the Soviet occupation. He spent some time training with the mujahideen who had fought the Soviets.",
"He spent some time training with the mujahideen who had fought the Soviets. He was depressed by the country's poverty and hunger, and \"wouldn't have gone with al-Qaeda,\" according to friends from Colorado State, who said he was profoundly affected by the trip. Mullah Mohammed Omar did not form the Taliban until 1994. When Al-Awlaki returned to campus, he showed increased interest in religion and politics. Al-Awlaki studied Education Leadership at San Diego State University, but did not complete his degree.",
"Al-Awlaki studied Education Leadership at San Diego State University, but did not complete his degree. He worked on a doctorate in Human Resource Development at The George Washington University Graduate School of Education and Human Development from January to December 2001. Time as imam In 1994, al-Awlaki married a cousin from Yemen, and began service as a part-time imam of the Denver Islamic Society. In 1996, he was chastised by an elder for encouraging a Saudi student to fight in Chechnya against the Russians.",
"In 1996, he was chastised by an elder for encouraging a Saudi student to fight in Chechnya against the Russians. He left Denver soon after, moving to San Diego. From 1996 to 2000, al-Awlaki was imam of the Masjid Ar-Ribat al-Islami mosque in San Diego, California, where he had a following of 200–300 people. U.S. officials later alleged that Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar, hijackers of American Airlines Flight 77, attended his sermons and personally met him during this period.",
"U.S. officials later alleged that Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar, hijackers of American Airlines Flight 77, attended his sermons and personally met him during this period. Hazmi later lived in Northern Virginia and attended al-Awlaki's mosque there. The 9/11 Commission Report said that the hijackers \"reportedly respected [al-Awlaki] as a religious figure\". While in San Diego, al-Awlaki volunteered with youth organizations, fished, discussed his travels with friends, and created a popular and lucrative series of recorded lectures.",
"While in San Diego, al-Awlaki volunteered with youth organizations, fished, discussed his travels with friends, and created a popular and lucrative series of recorded lectures. In August 1996 and in April 1997, al-Awlaki was arrested in San Diego and charged with soliciting prostitutes. The first time, in 1996, he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and was fined $400 and required to attend informational sessions about AIDS.",
"The first time, in 1996, he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and was fined $400 and required to attend informational sessions about AIDS. The second time, in 1997, he pleaded guilty and was fined $240, ordered to perform 12 days of community service, and received three years' probation. From November 2001 to January 2002 the FBI observed him visiting a number of prostitutes, and interviewed them, establishing that he had paid for sex acts. No prosecution was brought.",
"No prosecution was brought. No prosecution was brought. In 1998 and 1999, he served as vice-president for the Charitable Society for Social Welfare. In 2004, the FBI described this group as a \"front organization to funnel money to terrorists\". Although the FBI investigated al-Awlaki from June 1999 through March 2000 for possible links to Hamas, the Bin Laden contact Ziyad Khaleel, and a visit by an associate of Omar Abdel Rahman, it did not find sufficient evidence for a criminal prosecution.",
"Although the FBI investigated al-Awlaki from June 1999 through March 2000 for possible links to Hamas, the Bin Laden contact Ziyad Khaleel, and a visit by an associate of Omar Abdel Rahman, it did not find sufficient evidence for a criminal prosecution. Al-Awlaki told reporters that he resigned from leading the San Diego mosque \"after an uneventful four years,\" and took a brief sabbatical, traveling overseas to various countries. In January 2001, al-Awlaki returned to the U.S., settling in the Washington metropolitan area.",
"In January 2001, al-Awlaki returned to the U.S., settling in the Washington metropolitan area. There, he was imam at the Dar al-Hijrah mosque near Falls Church, Virginia, and his services were attended by Nawaf al-Hazmi and a third hijacker, Hani Hanjour. He led academic discussions frequented by FBI Director of Counter-Intelligence for the Middle East Gordon M. Snow. Al-Awlaki also served as the Muslim chaplain at George Washington University, where he was hired by Esam Omeish.",
"Al-Awlaki also served as the Muslim chaplain at George Washington University, where he was hired by Esam Omeish. Omeish said in 2004 that he was convinced that al-Awlaki was not involved in terrorism. His proficiency as a public speaker and command of the English language helped him attract followers who did not speak Arabic. \"He was the magic bullet\", according to the mosque spokesman Johari Abdul-Malik. \"He had everything all in a box.\" \"He had an allure. He was charming.\"",
"\"He had an allure. He was charming.\" He was charming.\" When police investigating the 9/11 attacks raided the Hamburg apartment of Ramzi bin al-Shibh, they found the telephone number of al-Awlaki among bin al-Shibh's personal contacts. The FBI interviewed al-Awlaki four times in the eight days following the 9/11 attacks. One detective later told the 9/11 Commission he believed al-Awlaki \"was at the center of the 9/11 story\".",
"One detective later told the 9/11 Commission he believed al-Awlaki \"was at the center of the 9/11 story\". And an FBI agent said, \"if anyone had knowledge of the plot, it would have been\" him, since \"someone had to be in the U.S. and keep the hijackers spiritually focused\". One 9/11 Commission staff member said: \"Do I think he played a role in helping the hijackers here, knowing they were up to something? Yes.",
"Yes. Yes. Do I think he was sent here for that purpose? I have no evidence for it.\" A separate Congressional Joint Inquiry into the 9/11 attacks suggested that al-Awlaki may have been connected to the hijackers, according to its director, Eleanor Hill. In 2003, Representative Anna Eshoo, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said, \"In my view, he is more than a coincidental figure.\"",
"In 2003, Representative Anna Eshoo, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said, \"In my view, he is more than a coincidental figure.\" Six days after the 9/11 attacks, al-Awlaki suggested in writing on the IslamOnline.net website that Israeli intelligence agents might have been responsible for the attacks, and that the FBI \"went into the roster of the airplanes, and whoever has a Muslim or Arab name became the hijacker by default\".",
"Six days after the 9/11 attacks, al-Awlaki suggested in writing on the IslamOnline.net website that Israeli intelligence agents might have been responsible for the attacks, and that the FBI \"went into the roster of the airplanes, and whoever has a Muslim or Arab name became the hijacker by default\". Soon after the 9/11 attacks, al-Awlaki was sought in Washington, D.C., by the media to answer questions about Islam, its rituals, and its relation to the attacks.",
"Soon after the 9/11 attacks, al-Awlaki was sought in Washington, D.C., by the media to answer questions about Islam, its rituals, and its relation to the attacks. He was interviewed by National Geographic, The New York Times, and other media. Al-Awlaki condemned the attacks. According to an NPR report in 2010, in 2001 al-Awlaki appeared to be a moderate who could \"bridge the gap between the United States and the worldwide community of Muslims.\"",
"According to an NPR report in 2010, in 2001 al-Awlaki appeared to be a moderate who could \"bridge the gap between the United States and the worldwide community of Muslims.\" The New York Times said at the time that he was \"held up as a new generation of Muslim leader capable of merging East and West.\" In 2010, Fox News and the New York Daily News reported that some months after the 9/11 attacks, a Pentagon employee invited al-Awlaki to a luncheon in the Secretary's Office of General Counsel.",
"In 2010, Fox News and the New York Daily News reported that some months after the 9/11 attacks, a Pentagon employee invited al-Awlaki to a luncheon in the Secretary's Office of General Counsel. The U.S. Secretary of the Army had suggested that a moderate Muslim be invited to give a talk. In 2002, al-Awlaki was the first imam to conduct a prayer service for the Congressional Muslim Staffer Association at the U.S. Capitol. That year, Nidal Hasan visited al-Awlaki's mosque for his mother's funeral, at which al-Awlaki presided.",
"That year, Nidal Hasan visited al-Awlaki's mosque for his mother's funeral, at which al-Awlaki presided. In November 2009, Hasan killed 13 and wounded 32 in the Fort Hood shooting. Hasan usually attended a mosque in Maryland closer to where he lived while working at the Walter Reed Medical Center (2003–09). Later in 2002, al-Awlaki posted an essay in Arabic on the Islam Today website titled \"Why Muslims Love Death\", lauding the fervor of Palestinian suicide bombers.",
"Later in 2002, al-Awlaki posted an essay in Arabic on the Islam Today website titled \"Why Muslims Love Death\", lauding the fervor of Palestinian suicide bombers. He expressed a similar opinion in a speech at a London mosque later that year. By July 2002, al-Awlaki was under investigation in the United States for having received money from the subject of a U.S. Joint Terrorism Task Force investigation. His name was added to the list of terrorism suspects.",
"His name was added to the list of terrorism suspects. Passport fraud issues In June 2002, a Denver federal judge signed an arrest warrant for al-Awlaki for passport fraud. On October 9, the Denver U.S. Attorney's Office filed a motion to dismiss the complaint and vacate the arrest warrant. Prosecutors believed that they lacked sufficient evidence of a crime, according to U.S. Attorney Dave Gaouette, who authorized its withdrawal.",
"Prosecutors believed that they lacked sufficient evidence of a crime, according to U.S. Attorney Dave Gaouette, who authorized its withdrawal. Al-Awlaki had listed Yemen rather than the United States as his place of birth on his 1990 application for a U.S. Social Security number, soon after arriving in the US. Al-Awlaki used this documentation to obtain a passport in 1993. He later corrected his place of birth to Las Cruces, New Mexico.",
"He later corrected his place of birth to Las Cruces, New Mexico. \"The bizarre thing is if you put Yemen down (on the application), it would be harder to get a Social Security number than to say you are a native-born citizen of Las Cruces\", Gaouette said. Prosecutors could not charge him in October 2002, when he returned from a trip abroad, because a 10-year statute of limitations on lying to the Social Security Administration had expired.",
"Prosecutors could not charge him in October 2002, when he returned from a trip abroad, because a 10-year statute of limitations on lying to the Social Security Administration had expired. According to a 2012 investigative report by Fox News, the arrest warrant for passport fraud was still in effect on the morning of October 10, 2002, when FBI Agent Wade Ammerman ordered al-Awlaki's release. U.S.",
"U.S. U.S. Congressman Frank Wolf (R-VA) and several congressional committees urged FBI Director Robert Mueller to provide an explanation about the bureau's interactions with al-Awlaki, including why he was released from federal custody when there was an outstanding warrant for his arrest. The motion for rescinding the arrest warrant was approved by a magistrate judge on October 10 and filed on October 11.ABC News reported in 2009 that the Joint Terrorism Task Force in San Diego disagreed with the decision to cancel the warrant.",
"The motion for rescinding the arrest warrant was approved by a magistrate judge on October 10 and filed on October 11.ABC News reported in 2009 that the Joint Terrorism Task Force in San Diego disagreed with the decision to cancel the warrant. They were monitoring al-Awlaki and wanted to \"look at him under a microscope\".",
"They were monitoring al-Awlaki and wanted to \"look at him under a microscope\". But U.S. Attorney Gaouette said that no objection had been raised to the rescinding of the warrant during a meeting that included Ray Fournier, the San Diego federal diplomatic security agent whose allegation had set in motion the effort to obtain a warrant.",
"But U.S. Attorney Gaouette said that no objection had been raised to the rescinding of the warrant during a meeting that included Ray Fournier, the San Diego federal diplomatic security agent whose allegation had set in motion the effort to obtain a warrant. Gaouette said that if al-Awlaki had been convicted at the time, he would have faced about six months in custody.The New York Times suggested later that al-Awlaki had claimed birth in Yemen (his family's place of origin) to qualify for scholarship money granted to foreign citizens. U.S.",
"U.S. U.S. Congressman Frank R. Wolf (R-VA) wrote in May 2010 that by claiming to be foreign-born, al-Awlaki fraudulently obtained more than $20,000 in scholarship funds reserved for foreign students. While living in Northern Virginia, al-Awlaki visited Ali al-Timimi, later known as a radical Islamic cleric. Al-Timimi was convicted in 2005 and is now serving a life sentence for leading the Virginia Jihad Network, inciting Muslim followers to fight with the Taliban against the US.",
"Al-Timimi was convicted in 2005 and is now serving a life sentence for leading the Virginia Jihad Network, inciting Muslim followers to fight with the Taliban against the US. In the United Kingdom 2002–04 Al-Awlaki left the United States before the end of 2002, because of a \"climate of fear and intimidation\" according to Imam Johari Abdul-Malik of the Dar al-Hijrah mosque. He lived in the UK for several months, where he gave talks attended by up to 200 people.",
"He lived in the UK for several months, where he gave talks attended by up to 200 people. He urged young Muslim followers: \"The important lesson to learn here is never, ever trust a kuffar [disbeliever]. Do not trust them! [Their leaders] are plotting to kill this religion. They're plotting night and day.\" \"He was the main man who translated the jihad into English,\" said a student who attended his lectures in 2003.",
"\"He was the main man who translated the jihad into English,\" said a student who attended his lectures in 2003. He gave a series of lectures in December 2002 and January 2003 at the London Masjid al-Tawhid mosque, describing the rewards martyrs (Shahid) receive in paradise (Jannah). He began to gain supporters, particularly among young Muslims, and undertook a lecture tour of England and Scotland in 2002 in conjunction with the Muslim Association of Britain.",
"He began to gain supporters, particularly among young Muslims, and undertook a lecture tour of England and Scotland in 2002 in conjunction with the Muslim Association of Britain. He also lectured at \"ExpoIslamia\", an event held by Islamic Forum Europe. At the East London Mosque he told his audience: \"A Muslim is a brother of a Muslim... he does not betray him, and he does not hand him over... You don't hand over a Muslim to the enemies.\"",
"At the East London Mosque he told his audience: \"A Muslim is a brother of a Muslim... he does not betray him, and he does not hand him over... You don't hand over a Muslim to the enemies.\" In Britain's Parliament in 2003, Louise Ellman, MP for Liverpool Riverside, discussed the relationship between al-Awlaki and the Muslim Association of Britain, an alleged Muslim Brotherhood front organization founded by Kemal el-Helbawy, a senior member of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood.",
"In Britain's Parliament in 2003, Louise Ellman, MP for Liverpool Riverside, discussed the relationship between al-Awlaki and the Muslim Association of Britain, an alleged Muslim Brotherhood front organization founded by Kemal el-Helbawy, a senior member of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. Return to Yemen 2004–11 Al-Awlaki returned to Yemen in early 2004, where he lived in Shabwah Governorate with his wife and five children. He lectured at Iman University, headed by Abdul Majeed al-Zindani.",
"He lectured at Iman University, headed by Abdul Majeed al-Zindani. The latter has been included on the UN 1267 Committee's list of individuals belonging to or associated with al-Qaeda. Al-Zindani denied having any influence over al-Awlaki, or that he had been his \"direct teacher\". Some believe that the school's curriculum deals mostly, if not exclusively, with radical Islamic studies, and promotes radicalism. American convert John Walker Lindh and other alumni have been associated with terrorist groups.",
"American convert John Walker Lindh and other alumni have been associated with terrorist groups. On August 31, 2006, al-Awlaki was arrested with four others on charges of kidnapping a Shiite teenager for ransom, and participating in an al-Qaeda plot to kidnap a U.S. military attaché. He was imprisoned in 2006 and 2007. He was interviewed around September 2007 by two FBI agents with regard to the 9/11 attacks and other subjects. John Negroponte, the U.S. Director of National Intelligence, told Yemeni officials he did not object to al-Awlaki's detention.",
"John Negroponte, the U.S. Director of National Intelligence, told Yemeni officials he did not object to al-Awlaki's detention. His name was on a list of 100 prisoners whose release was sought by al-Qaeda-linked militants in Yemen. After 18 months in a Yemeni prison, al-Awlaki was released on December 12, 2007, following the intercession of his tribe. According to a Yemeni security official, he was released because he had repented. He moved to his family home in Saeed, a hamlet in the Shabwa mountains.",
"He moved to his family home in Saeed, a hamlet in the Shabwa mountains. Moazzam Begg's Cageprisoners, an organization representing former Guantanamo detainees, campaigned for al-Awlaki's release when he was in prison in Yemen. Al-Awlaki told Begg in an interview shortly after his release that prior to his incarceration in Yemen, he had condemned the 9/11 attacks. In December 2008, al-Awlaki sent a communique to the Somali terrorist group, al-Shabaab, congratulating them.",
"In December 2008, al-Awlaki sent a communique to the Somali terrorist group, al-Shabaab, congratulating them. Al-Awlaki provided al-Qaeda members in Yemen with the protection of his powerful tribe, the Awlakis, against the government. The tribal code required it to protect those who seek refuge and assistance. This imperative has greater force when the person is a member of the tribe or a tribesman's friend. The tribe's motto is \"We are the sparks of Hell; whoever interferes with us will be burned.\"",
"The tribe's motto is \"We are the sparks of Hell; whoever interferes with us will be burned.\" Al-Awlaki also reportedly helped negotiate deals with leaders of other tribes. Sought by Yemeni authorities who were investigating his al-Qaeda ties, al-Awlaki went into hiding in approximately March 2009, according to his father. By December 2009, al-Awlaki was on the Yemeni government's most-wanted list. He was believed to be hiding in Yemen's Shabwa or Mareb regions, which are part of the so-called \"triangle of evil\".",
"He was believed to be hiding in Yemen's Shabwa or Mareb regions, which are part of the so-called \"triangle of evil\". The area has attracted al-Qaeda militants, who seek refuge among local tribes unhappy with Yemen's central government. Yemeni sources originally said al-Awlaki might have been killed in a pre-dawn air strike by Yemeni Air Force fighter jets on a meeting of senior al-Qaeda leaders at a hideout in Rafd in eastern Shabwa, on December 24, 2009. But he survived.",
"But he survived. But he survived. Pravda reported that the planes, using Saudi and U.S. intelligence, killed at least 30 al-Qaeda members from Yemen and abroad, and that an al-Awlaki house was \"raided and demolished\". On December 28 The Washington Post reported that U.S. and Yemeni officials said that al-Awlaki had been present at the meeting. Abdul Elah al-Shaya, a Yemeni journalist, said al-Awlaki called him on December 28 to report that he was well and had not attended the al-Qaeda meeting.",
"Abdul Elah al-Shaya, a Yemeni journalist, said al-Awlaki called him on December 28 to report that he was well and had not attended the al-Qaeda meeting. Al-Shaya said that al-Awlaki was not tied to al-Qaeda. In March 2010, a tape featuring al-Awlaki was released in which he urged Muslims residing in the United States to attack their country of residence. Reaching out to the United Kingdom After 2006, al-Awlaki was banned from entering the United Kingdom.",
"Reaching out to the United Kingdom After 2006, al-Awlaki was banned from entering the United Kingdom. He broadcast lectures to mosques and other venues there via video-link from 2007 to 2009, on at least seven occasions at five locations in Britain. Noor Pro Media Events held a conference at the East London Mosque on January 1, 2009, showing a videotaped lecture by al-Awlaki; former Shadow Home Secretary Dominic Grieve expressed concern over his being featured.",
"Noor Pro Media Events held a conference at the East London Mosque on January 1, 2009, showing a videotaped lecture by al-Awlaki; former Shadow Home Secretary Dominic Grieve expressed concern over his being featured. He gave video-link talks in England to an Islamic student society at the University of Westminster in September 2008, an arts center in East London in April 2009 (after the Tower Hamlets council gave its approval), worshippers at the Al Huda Mosque in Bradford, and a dinner of the Cageprisoners organization in September 2008 at the Wandsworth Civic Centre in South London.",
"He gave video-link talks in England to an Islamic student society at the University of Westminster in September 2008, an arts center in East London in April 2009 (after the Tower Hamlets council gave its approval), worshippers at the Al Huda Mosque in Bradford, and a dinner of the Cageprisoners organization in September 2008 at the Wandsworth Civic Centre in South London. On August 23, 2009, al-Awlaki was banned by local authorities in Kensington and Chelsea, London, from speaking at Kensington Town Hall via videolink to a fundraiser dinner for Guantanamo detainees promoted by Cageprisoners.",
"On August 23, 2009, al-Awlaki was banned by local authorities in Kensington and Chelsea, London, from speaking at Kensington Town Hall via videolink to a fundraiser dinner for Guantanamo detainees promoted by Cageprisoners. His videos, which discuss his Islamist theories, have circulated across the United Kingdom. Until February 2010, hundreds of audio tapes of his sermons were available at the Tower Hamlets public libraries. In 2009, the London-based Islam Channel carried advertisements for his DVDs and at least two of his video conference lectures.",
"In 2009, the London-based Islam Channel carried advertisements for his DVDs and at least two of his video conference lectures. Other connections FBI agents identified al-Awlaki as a known, important \"senior recruiter for al Qaeda\", and a spiritual motivator. His name came up in a dozen terrorism plots in the US, UK, and Canada.",
"His name came up in a dozen terrorism plots in the US, UK, and Canada. The cases included suicide bombers in the 2005 London bombings, radical Islamic terrorists in the 2006 Toronto terrorism case, radical Islamic terrorists in the 2007 Fort Dix attack plot, the jihadist killer in the 2009 Little Rock military recruiting office shooting, and the 2010 Times Square bomber. In each case the suspects were devoted to al-Awlaki's message, which they listened to online and on CDs.",
"In each case the suspects were devoted to al-Awlaki's message, which they listened to online and on CDs. Al-Awlaki's recorded lectures were heard by Islamist fundamentalists in at least six terror cells in the UK through 2009. Michael Finton (Talib Islam), who attempted in September 2009 to bomb the Federal Building and the adjacent offices of Congressman Aaron Schock in Springfield, Illinois, admired al-Awlaki and quoted him on his Myspace page.",
"Michael Finton (Talib Islam), who attempted in September 2009 to bomb the Federal Building and the adjacent offices of Congressman Aaron Schock in Springfield, Illinois, admired al-Awlaki and quoted him on his Myspace page. In addition to his website, al-Awlaki had a Facebook fan page with \"fans\" in the US, many of whom were high school students. Al-Awlaki also set up a website and blog on which he shared his views.",
"Al-Awlaki also set up a website and blog on which he shared his views. Al-Awlaki influenced several other extremists to join terrorist organizations overseas and to carry out terrorist attacks in their home countries. Mohamed Alessa and Carlos Almonte, two American citizens from New Jersey who attempted to travel to Somalia in June 2010 to join the al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group Al Shabaab, allegedly watched several al-Awlaki videos and sermons in which he warned of future attacks against Americans in the United States and abroad.",
"Mohamed Alessa and Carlos Almonte, two American citizens from New Jersey who attempted to travel to Somalia in June 2010 to join the al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group Al Shabaab, allegedly watched several al-Awlaki videos and sermons in which he warned of future attacks against Americans in the United States and abroad. Zachary Chesser, an American citizen who was arrested for attempting to provide material support to Al Shabaab, told federal authorities that he watched online videos featuring al-Awlaki and that he exchanged several e-mails with al-Awlaki.",
"Zachary Chesser, an American citizen who was arrested for attempting to provide material support to Al Shabaab, told federal authorities that he watched online videos featuring al-Awlaki and that he exchanged several e-mails with al-Awlaki. In July 2010, Paul Rockwood was sentenced to eight years in prison for creating a list of 15 potential targets in the US, people he felt had desecrated Islam. Rockwood was a devoted follower of al-Awlaki, and had studied his works Constants on the Path to Jihad and 44 Ways to Jihad.",
"Rockwood was a devoted follower of al-Awlaki, and had studied his works Constants on the Path to Jihad and 44 Ways to Jihad. In October 2008, Charles Allen, U.S. Under-Secretary of Homeland Security for Intelligence and Analysis, warned that al-Awlaki \"targets U.S. Muslims with radical online lectures encouraging terrorist attacks from his new home in Yemen.\" Responding to Allen, al-Awlaki wrote on his website in December 2008: \"I would challenge him to come up with just one such lecture where I encourage 'terrorist attacks'\".",
"Responding to Allen, al-Awlaki wrote on his website in December 2008: \"I would challenge him to come up with just one such lecture where I encourage 'terrorist attacks'\". Fort Hood shooter Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan was investigated by the FBI after intelligence agencies intercepted at least 18 e-mails between him and al-Awlaki between December 2008 and June 2009.",
"Fort Hood shooter Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan was investigated by the FBI after intelligence agencies intercepted at least 18 e-mails between him and al-Awlaki between December 2008 and June 2009. Even before the contents of the e-mails were revealed, terrorism expert Jarret Brachman said that Hasan's contacts with al-Awlaki should have raised \"huge red flags\", because of his influence on radical English-speaking jihadis. Charles Allen, no longer in government, noted that there was no work-related reason for Hasan to be in touch with al-Awlaki.",
"Charles Allen, no longer in government, noted that there was no work-related reason for Hasan to be in touch with al-Awlaki. Former CIA officer Bruce Riedel opined: \"E-mailing a known al-Qaeda sympathizer should have set off alarm bells. Even if he was exchanging recipes, the bureau should have put out an alert.\" A DC-based Joint Terrorism Task Force operating under the FBI was notified of the e-mails and reviewed the information.",
"A DC-based Joint Terrorism Task Force operating under the FBI was notified of the e-mails and reviewed the information. Army employees were informed of the e-mails, but they didn't perceive any terrorist threat in Hasan's questions. Instead, they viewed them as general questions about spiritual guidance with regard to conflicts between Islam and military service and judged them to be consistent with legitimate mental health research about Muslims in the armed services. The assessment was that there was not sufficient information for a larger investigation.",
"The assessment was that there was not sufficient information for a larger investigation. In one of the e-mails, Hasan wrote al-Awlaki: \"I can't wait to join you [in the afterlife]\". \"It sounds like code words,\" said Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer, a military analyst at the Center for Advanced Defense Studies. \"That he's actually either offering himself up, or that he's already crossed that line in his own mind.\" Yemeni journalist Abdulelah Hider Shaea interviewed al-Awlaki in November 2009.",
"Yemeni journalist Abdulelah Hider Shaea interviewed al-Awlaki in November 2009. Al-Awlaki acknowledged his correspondence with Hasan. He said he \"neither ordered nor pressured ... Hasan to harm Americans.\" Al-Awlaki said Hasan first e-mailed him December 17, 2008, introducing himself by writing: \"Do you remember me? I used to pray with you at the Virginia mosque.\"",
"I used to pray with you at the Virginia mosque.\" Hasan said he had become a devout Muslim around the time al-Awlaki was preaching at Dar al-Hijrah, in 2001 and 2002, and al-Awlaki said 'Maybe Nidal was affected by one of my lectures.'\" He added: \"It was clear from his e-mails that Nidal trusted me. Nidal told me: 'I speak with you about issues that I never speak with anyone else.'\"",
"Nidal told me: 'I speak with you about issues that I never speak with anyone else.'\" Al-Awlaki said Hasan arrived at his own conclusions regarding the acceptability of violence in Islam and said he was not the one to initiate this. Shaea said, \"Nidal was providing evidence to Anwar, not vice versa.\" Asked whether Hasan mentioned Fort Hood as a target in his e-mails, Shaea declined to comment.",
"Asked whether Hasan mentioned Fort Hood as a target in his e-mails, Shaea declined to comment. Al-Awlaki said the shooting was acceptable in Islam, however, because it was a form of jihad, as the West began the hostilities with the Muslims. Al-Awlaki said he \"blessed the act because it was against a military target. And the soldiers who were killed were ... those who were trained and prepared to go to Iraq and Afghanistan\".",
"And the soldiers who were killed were ... those who were trained and prepared to go to Iraq and Afghanistan\". Al-Awlaki's e-mail conversations with Hasan were not released, and he was not placed on the FBI Most Wanted list, indicted for treason, or officially named as a co-conspirator with Hasan. The U.S. government was reluctant to classify the Fort Hood shooting as a terrorist incident, or identify any motive.",
"The U.S. government was reluctant to classify the Fort Hood shooting as a terrorist incident, or identify any motive. The Wall Street Journal reported in January 2010 that al-Awlaki had not \"played a direct role\" in any of the attacks, and noted he had never been charged with a crime in the US. One of his fellow officers at Fort Hood said Hasan was enthusiastic about al-Awlaki. Some investigators believe al-Awlaki's teachings may have been instrumental in Hasan's decision to stage the attack.",
"Some investigators believe al-Awlaki's teachings may have been instrumental in Hasan's decision to stage the attack. On his now-disabled website, al-Awlaki praised Hasan's actions, describing him as a hero. Christmas Day \"Underwear Bomber\" According to a number of sources, Al-Awlaki and Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the convicted al-Qaeda attempted bomber of Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on December 25, 2009, had contacts.",
"Christmas Day \"Underwear Bomber\" According to a number of sources, Al-Awlaki and Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the convicted al-Qaeda attempted bomber of Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on December 25, 2009, had contacts. In January 2010, CNN reported that U.S. \"security sources\" said that there is concrete evidence that al-Awlaki was Abdulmutallab's recruiter and one of his trainers, and met with him prior to the attack.",
"In January 2010, CNN reported that U.S. \"security sources\" said that there is concrete evidence that al-Awlaki was Abdulmutallab's recruiter and one of his trainers, and met with him prior to the attack. In February 2010, al-Awlaki admitted in an interview published in al-Jazeera that he taught and corresponded with Abdulmutallab, but denied having ordered the attack.",
"In February 2010, al-Awlaki admitted in an interview published in al-Jazeera that he taught and corresponded with Abdulmutallab, but denied having ordered the attack. Representative Pete Hoekstra, the senior Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, said officials in the Obama administration and officials with access to law enforcement information told him the suspect \"may have had contact [with al-Awlaki]\".The Sunday Times established that Abdulmutallab first met al-Awlaki in 2005 in Yemen, while he was studying Arabic.",
"Representative Pete Hoekstra, the senior Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, said officials in the Obama administration and officials with access to law enforcement information told him the suspect \"may have had contact [with al-Awlaki]\".The Sunday Times established that Abdulmutallab first met al-Awlaki in 2005 in Yemen, while he was studying Arabic. During that time the suspect attended lectures by al-Awlaki.NPR reported that according to unnamed U.S. intelligence officials he attended a sermon by al-Awlaki at the Finsbury Park Mosque.",
"During that time the suspect attended lectures by al-Awlaki.NPR reported that according to unnamed U.S. intelligence officials he attended a sermon by al-Awlaki at the Finsbury Park Mosque. Khalid Mahmood, the Labour MP for Birmingham Perry Barr, a former trustee of the mosque, expressed \"grave misgivings\" with regard to its stewardship. A spokesperson of the mosque stated that al-Awlaki had never spoken there or had even to his knowledge entered the building.",
"A spokesperson of the mosque stated that al-Awlaki had never spoken there or had even to his knowledge entered the building. Abdulmutallab was also reported by CBS News, The Daily Telegraph, and The Sunday Telegraph to have attended a talk by al-Awlaki at the East London Mosque, which al-Awlaki may have attended by video teleconference.",
"Abdulmutallab was also reported by CBS News, The Daily Telegraph, and The Sunday Telegraph to have attended a talk by al-Awlaki at the East London Mosque, which al-Awlaki may have attended by video teleconference. The Sunday Telegraph later removed the report from its website following a complaint by the East London Mosque, which stated that \"Anwar Al Awlaki did not deliver any talks at the ELM between 2005 and 2008, which is when the newspaper had falsely alleged that Abdullmutallab had attended such talks\".",
"The Sunday Telegraph later removed the report from its website following a complaint by the East London Mosque, which stated that \"Anwar Al Awlaki did not deliver any talks at the ELM between 2005 and 2008, which is when the newspaper had falsely alleged that Abdullmutallab had attended such talks\". Investigators who searched flats connected to Abdulmutallab in London said that he was a \"big fan\" of al-Awlaki, as al-Awlaki's blog and website had repeatedly been visited from those locations.",
"Investigators who searched flats connected to Abdulmutallab in London said that he was a \"big fan\" of al-Awlaki, as al-Awlaki's blog and website had repeatedly been visited from those locations. According to federal sources, Abdulmutallab and al-Awlaki repeatedly communicated with one another in the year prior to the attack. \"Voice-to-voice communication\" between the two was intercepted during the fall of 2009, and one government source said al-Awlaki \"was in some way involved in facilitating [Abdulmutallab]'s transportation or trip through Yemen.",
"\"Voice-to-voice communication\" between the two was intercepted during the fall of 2009, and one government source said al-Awlaki \"was in some way involved in facilitating [Abdulmutallab]'s transportation or trip through Yemen. It could be training, a host of things.\" NPR reported that intelligence officials suspected al-Awlaki may have told Abdulmutallab to go to Yemen for al-Qaeda training. Abdulmutallab told the FBI that al-Awlaki was one of his al-Qaeda trainers in Yemen. Others reported that Abdulmutallab met with al-Awlaki in the weeks leading up to the attack.",
"Others reported that Abdulmutallab met with al-Awlaki in the weeks leading up to the attack. The Los Angeles Times reported that according to a U.S. intelligence official, intercepts and other information point to connections between the two: Some of the information ... comes from Abdulmutallab, who ... said that he met with al-Awlaki and senior al-Qaeda members during an extended trip to Yemen this year and that the cleric was involved in some elements of planning or preparing the attack and in providing religious justification for it.",
"The Los Angeles Times reported that according to a U.S. intelligence official, intercepts and other information point to connections between the two: Some of the information ... comes from Abdulmutallab, who ... said that he met with al-Awlaki and senior al-Qaeda members during an extended trip to Yemen this year and that the cleric was involved in some elements of planning or preparing the attack and in providing religious justification for it. Other intelligence linking the two became apparent after the attempted bombing, including communications intercepted by the National Security Agency indicating that the cleric was meeting with \"a Nigerian\" in preparation for some kind of operation.",
"Other intelligence linking the two became apparent after the attempted bombing, including communications intercepted by the National Security Agency indicating that the cleric was meeting with \"a Nigerian\" in preparation for some kind of operation. Yemen's Deputy Prime Minister for Defense and Security Affairs, Rashad Mohammed al-Alimi, said Yemeni investigators believe that Abdulmutallab traveled to Shabwa in October 2009. Investigators believe he obtained his explosives and received training there. He met there with al-Qaeda members in a house built by al-Awlaki.",
"He met there with al-Qaeda members in a house built by al-Awlaki. A top Yemen government official said the two met with each other. In January 2010, al-Awlaki acknowledged that he met and spoke with Abdulmutallab in Yemen in the fall of 2009. In an interview, al-Awlaki said: \"Umar Farouk is one of my students; I had communications with him. And I support what he did.\" He also said: \"I did not tell him to do this operation, but I support it\".",
"He also said: \"I did not tell him to do this operation, but I support it\". Fox News reported in early February 2010 that Abdulmutallab told federal investigators that al-Awlaki directed him to carry out the bombing. In June 2010 Michael Leiter, the Director of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), said al-Awlaki had a \"direct operational role\" in the plot. Sharif Mobley Sharif Mobley had acknowledged contact with Anwar al-Awlaki.",
"Sharif Mobley Sharif Mobley had acknowledged contact with Anwar al-Awlaki. The Mobley family claims the contact was for spiritual guidance in further studies of Islam. The Mobley family went to Yemen and resided there for several years. They decided to return to the United States and went to the U.S. Embassy to update the family travel documents. While waiting for their travel documents, Sharif Mobley was kidnapped by Yemen Security Services and shot on January 26, 2010. He was then held in Yemen's Central Prison.",
"He was then held in Yemen's Central Prison. He was then held in Yemen's Central Prison. Mobley disappeared from the Central Prison on February 27, 2014. His current location is known to the U.S. Embassy in Yemen (currently closed 2015) but is withheld from his family and legal advisers based on U.S. State Department Regulations on \"U.S. Citizens Missing Abroad\". All charges related to \"terrorism/terrorist activity\" were dropped by the Yemen government.",
"All charges related to \"terrorism/terrorist activity\" were dropped by the Yemen government. There are no charges relating to allegations of \"killing a guard during an escape attempt from the hospital\" and there are no other legal proceedings against him in Yemen. Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad, convicted of the 2010 Times Square car bombing attempt, told interrogators that he was a \"fan and follower\" of al-Awlaki, and his writings were one of the inspirations for the attack.",
"Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad, convicted of the 2010 Times Square car bombing attempt, told interrogators that he was a \"fan and follower\" of al-Awlaki, and his writings were one of the inspirations for the attack. On May 6, 2010 ABC News reported that unknown sources told them Shahzad made contact with al-Awlaki over the internet, a claim that could not be independently verified.",
"On May 6, 2010 ABC News reported that unknown sources told them Shahzad made contact with al-Awlaki over the internet, a claim that could not be independently verified. Stabbing of British former minister Stephen Timms Roshonara Choudhry, who stabbed former British Cabinet Minister Stephen Timms in May 2010, and was found guilty of his attempted murder in November 2010, claimed to have become radicalized by listening to online sermons of al-Awlaki.",
"Stabbing of British former minister Stephen Timms Roshonara Choudhry, who stabbed former British Cabinet Minister Stephen Timms in May 2010, and was found guilty of his attempted murder in November 2010, claimed to have become radicalized by listening to online sermons of al-Awlaki. Seattle Weekly cartoonist death threat In 2010, after Everybody Draw Mohammed Day, cartoonist Molly Norris at Seattle Weekly had to stop publishing, and at the suggestion of the FBI changed her name, moved, and went into hiding due to a fatwā issued by al-Awlaki calling for her death.",
"Seattle Weekly cartoonist death threat In 2010, after Everybody Draw Mohammed Day, cartoonist Molly Norris at Seattle Weekly had to stop publishing, and at the suggestion of the FBI changed her name, moved, and went into hiding due to a fatwā issued by al-Awlaki calling for her death. In the June 2010 issue of Inspire, an English-language al-Qaeda magazine, al-Awlaki cursed her and eight others for \"blasphemous caricatures\" of Muhammad.",
"In the June 2010 issue of Inspire, an English-language al-Qaeda magazine, al-Awlaki cursed her and eight others for \"blasphemous caricatures\" of Muhammad. \"The medicine prescribed by the Messenger of Allah is the execution of those involved\", he wrote. Daniel Pipes observed in an article entitled \"Dueling Fatwas\", \"Awlaki stands at an unprecedented crossroads of death declarations, with his targeting Norris even as the U.S. government targets him.\"",
"Daniel Pipes observed in an article entitled \"Dueling Fatwas\", \"Awlaki stands at an unprecedented crossroads of death declarations, with his targeting Norris even as the U.S. government targets him.\" Cargo planes bomb plotThe Guardian, The New York Times, and The Daily Telegraph reported that U.S. and British counter-terrorism officials believed that al-Awlaki was behind the cargo plane PETN bombs that were sent from Yemen to Chicago in October 2010.Yemen bomb scare 'mastermind' lived in London | World news. The Guardian. Retrieved on October 1, 2011.",
"The Guardian. Retrieved on October 1, 2011. Retrieved on October 1, 2011. When U.S. Homeland Security official John Brennan was asked about al-Awlaki's suspected involvement in the plot, he said: \"Anybody associated with al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is a subject of concern.\" U.S. Ambassador to Yemen Gerald Feierstein said \"al-Awlaki was behind the two bombs.\" Final years Al-Awlaki's father, tribe, and supporters denied his alleged associations with Al-Qaeda and Islamist terrorism.",
"Final years Al-Awlaki's father, tribe, and supporters denied his alleged associations with Al-Qaeda and Islamist terrorism. Al-Awlaki's father proclaimed his son's innocence in an interview with CNN's Paula Newton, saying: \"I am now afraid of what they will do with my son. He's not Osama bin Laden, they want to make something out of him that he's not.\" Responding to a Yemeni official's assertions that his son had taken refuge with al-Qaeda, Nasser said: \"He's dead wrong.",
"Responding to a Yemeni official's assertions that his son had taken refuge with al-Qaeda, Nasser said: \"He's dead wrong. What do you expect my son to do? There are missiles raining down on the village. He has to hide. But he is not hiding with al-Qaeda; our tribe is protecting him right now.\" The Yemeni government attempted to get the tribal leaders to release al-Awlaki to their custody. They promised they would not turn him over to U.S. authorities for questioning.",
"They promised they would not turn him over to U.S. authorities for questioning. The governor of Shabwa said in January 2010 that al-Awlaki was on the move with members of al-Qaeda, including Fahd al-Quso, who was wanted in connection with the bombing of the USS Cole. In January 2010, White House lawyers debated whether or not it was legal to kill al-Awlaki, given his U.S. citizenship. U.S. officials stated that international law allows targeted killing in the event that the subject is an \"imminent threat\".",
"U.S. officials stated that international law allows targeted killing in the event that the subject is an \"imminent threat\". Because he was a U.S. citizen, his killing had to be approved by the National Security Council. Such action against a U.S. citizen is extremely rare. As a military enemy of the US, al-Awlaki was not subject to Executive Order 11905, which bans assassination for political reasons. The authorization was nevertheless controversial.",
"The authorization was nevertheless controversial. The authorization was nevertheless controversial. By February 4, 2010, the New York Daily News reported that al-Awlaki was \"now on a targeting list signed off on by the Obama administration\". On April 6, The New York Times reported that President Obama had authorized the killing of al-Awlaki. The al-Awalik tribe responded: \"We warn against cooperating with America to kill Sheikh Anwar al-Awlaki. We will not stand by idly and watch.\"",
"We will not stand by idly and watch.\" We will not stand by idly and watch.\" Al-Awlaki's tribe wrote that it would \"not remain with arms crossed if a hair of Anwar al-Awlaki is touched, or if anyone plots or spies against him. Whoever risks denouncing our son (Awlaki) will be the target of Al-Awalik weapons\", and gave warning \"against co-operating with the Americans\" in the capture or killing of al-Awlaki.",
"Whoever risks denouncing our son (Awlaki) will be the target of Al-Awalik weapons\", and gave warning \"against co-operating with the Americans\" in the capture or killing of al-Awlaki. Abu Bakr al-Qirbi, the Yemeni foreign minister, announced that the Yemeni government had not received any evidence from the US, and that \"Anwar al-Awlaki has always been looked at as a preacher rather than a terrorist and shouldn't be considered as a terrorist unless the Americans have evidence that he has been involved in terrorism\".",
"Abu Bakr al-Qirbi, the Yemeni foreign minister, announced that the Yemeni government had not received any evidence from the US, and that \"Anwar al-Awlaki has always been looked at as a preacher rather than a terrorist and shouldn't be considered as a terrorist unless the Americans have evidence that he has been involved in terrorism\". In a video clip bearing the imprint of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, issued on April 16 in al-Qaeda's monthly magazine Sada Al-Malahem, al-Awlaki said: \"What am I accused of?",
"In a video clip bearing the imprint of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, issued on April 16 in al-Qaeda's monthly magazine Sada Al-Malahem, al-Awlaki said: \"What am I accused of? Of calling for the truth? Of calling for jihad for the sake of Allah? Of calling to defend the causes of the Islamic nation?\" In the video he also praises both Abdulmutallab and Hasan, and describes both as his \"students\".",
"In the video he also praises both Abdulmutallab and Hasan, and describes both as his \"students\". In late April, Representative Charlie Dent (R-PA) introduced a resolution urging the U.S. State Department to withdraw al-Awlaki's U.S. citizenship. By May, U.S. officials believed he had become directly involved in terrorist activities. Former colleague Abdul-Malik said he \"is a terrorist, in my book\", and advised shops not to carry any of his publications.",
"Former colleague Abdul-Malik said he \"is a terrorist, in my book\", and advised shops not to carry any of his publications. In an editorial, Investor's Business Daily called al-Awlaki the \"world's most dangerous man\", and recommended that he be added to the FBI's most-wanted terrorist list, a bounty put on his head, that he be designated a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, charged with treason, and extradition papers filed with the Yemeni government.",
"In an editorial, Investor's Business Daily called al-Awlaki the \"world's most dangerous man\", and recommended that he be added to the FBI's most-wanted terrorist list, a bounty put on his head, that he be designated a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, charged with treason, and extradition papers filed with the Yemeni government. IBD criticized the Justice Department for stonewalling Senator Joe Lieberman's security panel's investigation of al-Awlaki's role in the Fort Hood massacre.",
"IBD criticized the Justice Department for stonewalling Senator Joe Lieberman's security panel's investigation of al-Awlaki's role in the Fort Hood massacre. On July 16, the U.S. Treasury Department added him to its list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists. Stuart Levey, Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, called him \"extraordinarily dangerous\", and said al-Awlaki was involved in several organizational aspects of terrorism, including recruiting, training, fundraising, and planning individual attacks.",
"Stuart Levey, Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, called him \"extraordinarily dangerous\", and said al-Awlaki was involved in several organizational aspects of terrorism, including recruiting, training, fundraising, and planning individual attacks. A few days later, the United Nations Security Council placed al-Awlaki on its UN Security Council Resolution 1267 list of individuals associated with al-Qaeda, describing him as a leader, recruiter, and trainer for al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.",
"A few days later, the United Nations Security Council placed al-Awlaki on its UN Security Council Resolution 1267 list of individuals associated with al-Qaeda, describing him as a leader, recruiter, and trainer for al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. The resolution stipulates that U.N. members must freeze the assets of anyone on the list, and prevent them from travelling or obtaining weapons. The following week, Canadian banks were ordered to seize any assets belonging to al-Awlaki.",
"The following week, Canadian banks were ordered to seize any assets belonging to al-Awlaki. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police's senior counter-terrorism officer Gilles Michaud described him as a \"major, major factor in radicalization\". In September 2010, Jonathan Evans, the Director General of the United Kingdom's domestic security and counter-intelligence agency (MI5), said that al-Awlaki was the West's Public Enemy No 1. In October 2010, U.S.",
"In October 2010, U.S. In October 2010, U.S. Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-NY) urged YouTube to take down al-Awlaki's videos from its website, saying that by hosting al-Awlaki's messages, \"We are facilitating the recruitment of homegrown terror.\" Pauline Neville-Jones, British security minister, said \"These Web sites ... incite cold-blooded murder.\" YouTube began removing the material in November 2010.",
"YouTube began removing the material in November 2010. YouTube began removing the material in November 2010. Al-Awlaki was charged in absentia in Sana'a, Yemen, on November 2 with plotting to kill foreigners and being a member of al-Qaeda. Ali al-Saneaa, the head of the prosecutor's office, announced the charges during the trial of Hisham Assem, who had been accused of killing Jacques Spagnolo, an oil industry worker.",
"Ali al-Saneaa, the head of the prosecutor's office, announced the charges during the trial of Hisham Assem, who had been accused of killing Jacques Spagnolo, an oil industry worker. He said that al-Awlaki and Assem had been in contact for months, and that al-Awlaki had encouraged Assem to commit terrorism. Al-Awlaki's lawyer said that his client was not connected to Spagnolo's death. On November 6, Yemeni Judge Mohsen Alwan ordered that al-Awlaki be caught \"dead or alive\".",
"On November 6, Yemeni Judge Mohsen Alwan ordered that al-Awlaki be caught \"dead or alive\". In his book Ticking Time Bomb: Counter-Terrorism Lessons from the U.S. Government's Failure to Prevent the Fort Hood Attack (2011), former U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman described al-Awlaki, Australian Muslim preacher Feiz Mohammad, Muslim cleric Abdullah el-Faisal, and Pakistani-American Samir Khan as \"virtual spiritual sanctioners\" who use the internet to offer religious justification for Islamist terrorism.",
"Senator Joe Lieberman described al-Awlaki, Australian Muslim preacher Feiz Mohammad, Muslim cleric Abdullah el-Faisal, and Pakistani-American Samir Khan as \"virtual spiritual sanctioners\" who use the internet to offer religious justification for Islamist terrorism. Lawsuit against the US In July 2010, al-Awlaki's father, Nasser al-Awlaki, contacted the Center for Constitutional Rights and the American Civil Liberties Union to represent his son in a lawsuit that sought to remove Anwar from the targeted killing list.",
"Lawsuit against the US In July 2010, al-Awlaki's father, Nasser al-Awlaki, contacted the Center for Constitutional Rights and the American Civil Liberties Union to represent his son in a lawsuit that sought to remove Anwar from the targeted killing list. ACLU's Jameel Jaffer said: the United States is not at war in Yemen, and the government doesn't have a blank check to kill terrorism suspects wherever they are in the world.",
"ACLU's Jameel Jaffer said: the United States is not at war in Yemen, and the government doesn't have a blank check to kill terrorism suspects wherever they are in the world. Among the arguments we'll be making is that, outside actual war zones, the authority to use lethal force is narrowly circumscribed, and preserving the rule of law depends on keeping this authority narrow. Lawyers for Specially Designated Global Terrorists must obtain a special license from the U.S. Treasury Department before they can represent their clients in court.",
"Lawyers for Specially Designated Global Terrorists must obtain a special license from the U.S. Treasury Department before they can represent their clients in court. The lawyers were granted the license on August 4, 2010. On August 30, 2010, the groups filed a \"targeted killing\" lawsuit, naming President Obama, CIA Director Leon Panetta, and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates as defendants.",
"On August 30, 2010, the groups filed a \"targeted killing\" lawsuit, naming President Obama, CIA Director Leon Panetta, and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates as defendants. They sought an injunction preventing the targeted killing of al-Awlaki, and also sought to require the government to disclose the standards under which U.S. citizens may be \"targeted for death\".",
"They sought an injunction preventing the targeted killing of al-Awlaki, and also sought to require the government to disclose the standards under which U.S. citizens may be \"targeted for death\". Judge John D. Bates dismissed the lawsuit in an 83-page ruling, holding that the father did not have legal standing to bring the lawsuit, and that his claims were judicially unreviewable under the political question doctrine inasmuch as he was questioning a decision that the U.S. Constitution committed to the political branches.",
"Judge John D. Bates dismissed the lawsuit in an 83-page ruling, holding that the father did not have legal standing to bring the lawsuit, and that his claims were judicially unreviewable under the political question doctrine inasmuch as he was questioning a decision that the U.S. Constitution committed to the political branches. On May 5, 2011, the United States tried but failed to kill al-Awlaki by firing a missile from an unmanned drone at a car in Yemen. A Yemeni security official said that two al-Qaeda operatives in the car died.",
"A Yemeni security official said that two al-Qaeda operatives in the car died. Death On September 30, 2011, al-Awlaki was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Al Jawf Governorate, Yemen, according to U.S. sources, the strike was carried out by Joint Special Operations Command, under the direction of the CIA. A witness said the group had stopped to eat breakfast while traveling to Ma'rib Governorate.",
"A witness said the group had stopped to eat breakfast while traveling to Ma'rib Governorate. The occupants of the vehicle spotted the drone and attempted to flee in the vehicle before Hellfire missiles were fired Yemen's Defense Ministry announced that al-Awlaki had been killed. Also killed was Samir Khan, an American born in Saudi Arabia, thought to be behind al-Qaeda's English-language web magazine Inspire. U.S. President Barack Obama said: The death of Awlaki is a major blow to Al-Qaeda's most active operational affiliate.",
"U.S. President Barack Obama said: The death of Awlaki is a major blow to Al-Qaeda's most active operational affiliate. He took the lead in planning and directing efforts to murder innocent Americans ... and he repeatedly called on individuals in the United States and around the globe to kill innocent men, women and children to advance a murderous agenda. [The strike] is further proof that Al-Qaeda and its affiliates will find no safe haven anywhere in the world.",
"[The strike] is further proof that Al-Qaeda and its affiliates will find no safe haven anywhere in the world. Journalist and author Glenn Greenwald argued on Salon.com that killing al-Awlaki violated his First Amendment right of free speech and that doing so outside of a criminal proceeding violated the Constitution's due process clause, specifically citing the 1969 Supreme Court decision in Brandenburg v. Ohio that \"the constitutional guarantees of free speech and free press do not permit a State to forbid or proscribe advocacy of the use of force.\"",
"Journalist and author Glenn Greenwald argued on Salon.com that killing al-Awlaki violated his First Amendment right of free speech and that doing so outside of a criminal proceeding violated the Constitution's due process clause, specifically citing the 1969 Supreme Court decision in Brandenburg v. Ohio that \"the constitutional guarantees of free speech and free press do not permit a State to forbid or proscribe advocacy of the use of force.\" He mentioned doubt among Yemeni experts about al-Awlaki's role in al-Qaeda, and called U.S. government accusations against him unverified and lacking in evidence.",
"He mentioned doubt among Yemeni experts about al-Awlaki's role in al-Qaeda, and called U.S. government accusations against him unverified and lacking in evidence. In a letter dated May 22, 2013, to the chairman of the U.S. Senate Judiciary committee, Patrick J. Leahy, U.S. attorney general Eric Holder wrote that high-level U.S. government officials [...] concluded that al-Aulaqi posed a continuing and imminent threat of violent attack against the United States.",
"In a letter dated May 22, 2013, to the chairman of the U.S. Senate Judiciary committee, Patrick J. Leahy, U.S. attorney general Eric Holder wrote that high-level U.S. government officials [...] concluded that al-Aulaqi posed a continuing and imminent threat of violent attack against the United States. Before carrying out the operation that killed al-Aulaqi, senior officials also determined, based on a careful evaluation of the circumstances at the time, that it was not feasible to capture al-Aulaqi.",
"Before carrying out the operation that killed al-Aulaqi, senior officials also determined, based on a careful evaluation of the circumstances at the time, that it was not feasible to capture al-Aulaqi. In addition, senior officials determined that the operation would be conducted consistent with applicable law of war principles, including the cardinal principles of (1) necessity – the requirement that the target have definite military value; (2) distinction – the idea that only military objectives may be intentionally targeted and that civilians are protected from being intentionally targeted; (3) proportionality – the notion that the anticipated collateral damage of an action cannot be excessive in relation to the anticipated concrete and direct military advantage; and (4) humanity – a principle that requires us to use weapons that will not inflict unnecessary suffering.",
"In addition, senior officials determined that the operation would be conducted consistent with applicable law of war principles, including the cardinal principles of (1) necessity – the requirement that the target have definite military value; (2) distinction – the idea that only military objectives may be intentionally targeted and that civilians are protected from being intentionally targeted; (3) proportionality – the notion that the anticipated collateral damage of an action cannot be excessive in relation to the anticipated concrete and direct military advantage; and (4) humanity – a principle that requires us to use weapons that will not inflict unnecessary suffering. The operation was also undertaken consistent with Yemeni sovereignty.",
"The operation was also undertaken consistent with Yemeni sovereignty. The operation was also undertaken consistent with Yemeni sovereignty. [...] The decision to target Anwar al-Aulaqi was lawful, it was considered, and it was just. On April 21, 2014, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal ruled that the Obama administration must release documents justifying its drone killings of foreigners and Americans, including Anwar al-Awlaki.",
"Circuit Court of Appeal ruled that the Obama administration must release documents justifying its drone killings of foreigners and Americans, including Anwar al-Awlaki. In June 2014, the United States Department of Justice disclosed a 2010 memorandum written by the acting head of the department's Office of Legal Counsel, David J. Barron. The memo stated that Anwar al-Awlaki was a significant threat with an infeasible probability of capture. Barron therefore justified the killing as legal, as \"the Constitution would not require the government to provide further process\".",
"Barron therefore justified the killing as legal, as \"the Constitution would not require the government to provide further process\". The New York Times Editorial Board dismissed the memo's rationale for al-Awlaki's killing, saying it \"provides little confidence that the lethal action was taken with real care\", instead describing it as \"a slapdash pastiche of legal theories—some based on obscure interpretations of British and Israeli law—that was clearly tailored to the desired result.\"",
"The New York Times Editorial Board dismissed the memo's rationale for al-Awlaki's killing, saying it \"provides little confidence that the lethal action was taken with real care\", instead describing it as \"a slapdash pastiche of legal theories—some based on obscure interpretations of British and Israeli law—that was clearly tailored to the desired result.\" A lawyer for the ACLU described the memo as \"disturbing\" and \"ultimately an argument that the president can order targeted killings of Americans without ever having to account to anyone outside the executive branch.\"",
"A lawyer for the ACLU described the memo as \"disturbing\" and \"ultimately an argument that the president can order targeted killings of Americans without ever having to account to anyone outside the executive branch.\" Legacy Seth Jones, who as a political scientist specializes in al-Qaida, considers that the continuing relevance of al-Awlaki is due to his fluency in the English language as well as his charisma, precising that \"he had a disarming aura and unnerving confidence, with an easy smile and a soothing, eloquent voice.",
"Legacy Seth Jones, who as a political scientist specializes in al-Qaida, considers that the continuing relevance of al-Awlaki is due to his fluency in the English language as well as his charisma, precising that \"he had a disarming aura and unnerving confidence, with an easy smile and a soothing, eloquent voice. He stood a lanky six feet, one inch tall, weighed 160 pounds, and had a thick black beard, an oversized nose, and wire-rimmed glasses. He spoke in a clear, almost hypnotic voice.\"",
"He spoke in a clear, almost hypnotic voice.\" Awlaki's videos and writings remain highly popular on the internet, where they continue to be readily accessible. Those who viewed and still view his videos are estimated by journalist Scott Shane to number in the hundreds of thousands, while his father Dr. Nasser Awlaqi says that \"five million preaching tapes of Anwar Awlaqi have been sold in the West.\"",
"Those who viewed and still view his videos are estimated by journalist Scott Shane to number in the hundreds of thousands, while his father Dr. Nasser Awlaqi says that \"five million preaching tapes of Anwar Awlaqi have been sold in the West.\" And thus, even following his death, Awlaki has continued to inspire his devotees to carry out terrorist attacks, including the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, the 2015 San Bernardino attack, and the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting.",
"And thus, even following his death, Awlaki has continued to inspire his devotees to carry out terrorist attacks, including the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, the 2015 San Bernardino attack, and the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting. According to the Counter Extremism Project (CEP), 88 \"extremists,\" 54 in the U.S. and 34 in Europe, have been influenced by Awlaki.",
"According to the Counter Extremism Project (CEP), 88 \"extremists,\" 54 in the U.S. and 34 in Europe, have been influenced by Awlaki. Because \"his work has inspired countless plots and attacks,\" CEP has \"called on YouTube and other platforms to permanently ban Mr. Awlaki's material, including his early, mainstream lectures.\"",
"Because \"his work has inspired countless plots and attacks,\" CEP has \"called on YouTube and other platforms to permanently ban Mr. Awlaki's material, including his early, mainstream lectures.\" FOIA documents During the FBI investigation of the 9/11 attacks, it was discovered that a few of the attackers had attended the mosques in San Diego and Falls Church with which al-Awlaki was associated. Interviews with members of the San Diego mosque showed that Nawaz al-Hazmi, one of the attackers, may have had a private conversation with him.",
"Interviews with members of the San Diego mosque showed that Nawaz al-Hazmi, one of the attackers, may have had a private conversation with him. On that basis he was placed under 24-hour surveillance. It was discovered that he regularly patronized prostitutes. It was through FBI interrogation of prostitutes and escort service operators that al-Awlaki was tipped off in 2002 about FBI surveillance. Shortly thereafter, he left the United States.",
"Shortly thereafter, he left the United States. Shortly thereafter, he left the United States. In January 2013, Fox News announced that FBI documents obtained by Judicial Watch through a Freedom of Information Act request showed possible connections between al-Awlaki and the September 11 attackers. According to Judicial Watch, the documents show that the FBI knew that al-Awlaki had bought tickets for three of the hijackers to fly into Florida and Las Vegas. Judicial Watch further stated that al-Awlaki \"was a central focus of the FBI's investigation of 9/11.",
"Judicial Watch further stated that al-Awlaki \"was a central focus of the FBI's investigation of 9/11. They show he wasn't cooperative. And they show that he was under surveillance.\" When queried by Fox News, the FBI denied having evidence connecting al-Awlaki and the September 11 attacks: \"The FBI cautions against drawing conclusions from redacted FOIA documents. The FBI and investigating bodies have not found evidence connecting Anwar al-Awlaki and the attack on September 11, 2001.",
"The FBI and investigating bodies have not found evidence connecting Anwar al-Awlaki and the attack on September 11, 2001. The document referenced does not link Anwar al-Awlaki with any purchase of airline tickets for the hijackers.\" Family Abdulrahman al-Awlaki Anwar al-Awlaki and Egyptian-born Gihan Mohsen Baker had a son, Abdulrahman Anwar al-Awlaki, born August 26, 1995, in Denver, who was an American citizen. Abdulrahman al-Awlaki was killed on October 14, 2011, in Yemen at the age of 16 in an American drone strike.",
"Abdulrahman al-Awlaki was killed on October 14, 2011, in Yemen at the age of 16 in an American drone strike. Nine other people were killed in the same CIA-initiated attack, including a 17-year-old cousin of Abdulrahman. According to his relatives, shortly before his father's death, Abdulrahman had left the family home in Sana'a and travelled to Shabwa in search of his father who was believed to be in hiding in that area (though he was actually hundreds of miles away at the time ).",
"According to his relatives, shortly before his father's death, Abdulrahman had left the family home in Sana'a and travelled to Shabwa in search of his father who was believed to be in hiding in that area (though he was actually hundreds of miles away at the time ). Abdulrahman was sitting in an open-air cafe in Shabwa when killed.",
"Abdulrahman was sitting in an open-air cafe in Shabwa when killed. According to U.S. officials, the killing of Abdulrahman al-Awlaki was a mistake; the intended target was an Egyptian, Ibrahim al-Banna, who was not at the targeted location at the time of the attack. Human rights groups have raised questions as to why an American citizen was killed by the United States in a country with which the United States is not officially at war. Abdulrahman al-Awlaki was not known to have any independent connection to terrorism.",
"Abdulrahman al-Awlaki was not known to have any independent connection to terrorism. Nasser al-Awlaki Nasser al-Awlaki is the father of Anwar and grandfather of Abdulrahman al-Awlaki. Al-Awlaki stated he believed his son had been wrongly accused and was not a member of Al Qaeda. After the deaths of his son and grandson, Nasser in an interview in Time magazine called the killings a crime and condemned U.S. President Obama directly, saying: \"I urge the American people to bring the killers to justice.",
"After the deaths of his son and grandson, Nasser in an interview in Time magazine called the killings a crime and condemned U.S. President Obama directly, saying: \"I urge the American people to bring the killers to justice. I urge them to expose the hypocrisy of the 2009 Nobel Prize laureate. To some, he may be that. To me and my family, he is nothing more than a child killer.\"",
"To me and my family, he is nothing more than a child killer.\" In 2013, Nasser al-Awlaki published an op-ed in The New York Times stating that two years after killing his grandson, the Obama administration still declines to provide an explanation. In 2012, Nasser al-Awlaki filed a lawsuit, Al-Aulaqi v. Panetta, challenging the constitutionality of the drone killings of his son and grandson. This lawsuit was dismissed in April 2014 by D.C. District Court Judge Rosemary M. Collyer.",
"This lawsuit was dismissed in April 2014 by D.C. District Court Judge Rosemary M. Collyer. Tariq al-Dahab Tariq al-Dahab, who led al-Qaeda insurgents in Yemen, was a brother-in-law of al-Awlaki. On February 16, 2012, the terrorist organization stated that he had been killed by agents, although media reports contain speculation that he was killed by his brother in a bloody family feud.",
"On February 16, 2012, the terrorist organization stated that he had been killed by agents, although media reports contain speculation that he was killed by his brother in a bloody family feud. Nawar al-Awlaki On January 29, 2017, Anwar al-Awlaki's 8-year-old daughter, Nawar al-Awlaki, who was an American citizen, was killed in a DEVGRU operation authorized by President Donald Trump. \"1 US service member killed, 3 wounded in Yemen raid\" , WPVI-TV, 6 ABC Action News, Philadelphia, PA. January 29, 2017.",
"\"1 US service member killed, 3 wounded in Yemen raid\" , WPVI-TV, 6 ABC Action News, Philadelphia, PA. January 29, 2017. Retrieved January 29, 2017. Islamic education Al-Awlaki's Islamic education was primarily informal, and consisted of intermittent months with various scholars reading and contemplating Islamic scholarly works.",
"Islamic education Al-Awlaki's Islamic education was primarily informal, and consisted of intermittent months with various scholars reading and contemplating Islamic scholarly works. Despite having no religious qualifications and almost no religious education, Al-Awlaki made a name for himself as a public speaker who released popular audio recordings.Some Muslim scholars said they did not understand alAwlaki's popularity, because while he spoke fluent English and could therefore reach a large non-Arabic-speaking audience, he lacked formal Islamic training and study.",
"Despite having no religious qualifications and almost no religious education, Al-Awlaki made a name for himself as a public speaker who released popular audio recordings.Some Muslim scholars said they did not understand alAwlaki's popularity, because while he spoke fluent English and could therefore reach a large non-Arabic-speaking audience, he lacked formal Islamic training and study. Ideology While imprisoned in Yemen after 2004, al-Awlaki was influenced by the works of Sayyid Qutb, described by The New York Times as an originator of the contemporary \"anti-Western Jihadist movement\".",
"Ideology While imprisoned in Yemen after 2004, al-Awlaki was influenced by the works of Sayyid Qutb, described by The New York Times as an originator of the contemporary \"anti-Western Jihadist movement\". He read 150 to 200 pages a day of Qutb's works, and described himself as \"so immersed with the author I would feel Sayyid was with me in my cell speaking to me directly\". Terrorism consultant Evan Kohlmann in 2009 referred to al-Awlaki as \"one of the principal jihadi luminaries for would-be homegrown terrorists.",
"Terrorism consultant Evan Kohlmann in 2009 referred to al-Awlaki as \"one of the principal jihadi luminaries for would-be homegrown terrorists. His fluency with English, his unabashed advocacy of jihad and mujahideen organizations, and his Web-savvy approach are a powerful combination.\" He called al-Awlaki's lecture, \"Constants on the Path of Jihad\", which he says was based on a similar document written by al-Qaeda's founder, the \"virtual bible for lone-wolf Muslim extremists\".",
"He called al-Awlaki's lecture, \"Constants on the Path of Jihad\", which he says was based on a similar document written by al-Qaeda's founder, the \"virtual bible for lone-wolf Muslim extremists\". Philip Mudd, formerly of the CIA's National Counterterrorism Center and the FBI's top intelligence adviser, called him \"a magnetic character ... a powerful orator.\" He attracted young men to his lectures, especially US-based and UK-based Muslims.",
"He attracted young men to his lectures, especially US-based and UK-based Muslims. U.S. officials and some U.S. media sources called al-Awlaki an Islamic fundamentalist and accused him of encouraging terrorism. According to documents recovered from bin Laden's hideout, the al-Qaeda leader was unsure about al-Awlaki's qualifications. Works The Nine Eleven Finding Answers Foundation said al-Awlaki's ability to write and speak in fluent English enabled him to incite English-speaking Muslims to terrorism. Al-Awlaki notes in 44 Ways to Support Jihad that most reading material on the subject is in Arabic.",
"Al-Awlaki notes in 44 Ways to Support Jihad that most reading material on the subject is in Arabic. Written works 44 Ways to Support Jihad: Essay (January 2009). In it, al-Awlaki states that \"The hatred of kuffar is a central element of our military creed\" and that all Muslims are obligated to participate in jihad, either by committing the acts themselves or supporting others who do so. He says all Muslims must remain physically fit so as to be prepared for conflict.",
"He says all Muslims must remain physically fit so as to be prepared for conflict. According to U.S. officials, it is considered a key text for al-Qaeda members. Al-Awlaki wrote for Jihad Recollections, an English language online publication published by Al-Fursan Media. Allah is Preparing Us for Victory – short book (2009). Lectures Lectures on the book Constants on the Path of Jihad by Yusef al-Ayeri—concerns leaderless jihad. In 2009, the UK government found 1,910 of his videos had been posted to YouTube.",
"In 2009, the UK government found 1,910 of his videos had been posted to YouTube. One of them had been viewed 164,420 times.",
"One of them had been viewed 164,420 times. One of them had been viewed 164,420 times. The Battle of Hearts and Minds The Dust Will Never Settle Down Dreams & Interpretations The Hereafter—16 CDs—Al Basheer Productions Life of Muhammad: Makkan Period—16 CDs—Al Basheer Productions Life of Muhammad: Medinan Period—Lecture in 2 Parts—18 CDs—Al Basheer Productions Lives of the Prophets (AS)—16 CDs—Al Basheer Productions Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (RA): His Life & Times—15 CDs—Al Basheer Productions Umar ibn al-Khattāb (RA): His Life & Times—18 CDs—Al Basheer Productions 25 Promises from Allah to the Believer—2 CDs—Noor Productions Companions of the Ditch & Lessons from the Life of Musa (AS)—2 CDs—Noor Productions Remembrance of Allah & the Greatest Ayah—2 CDs—Noor Productions Stories from Hadith—4 CDs—Center for Islamic Information and Education (\"CIIE\") Hellfire & The Day of Judgment—CD—CIIE Quest for Truth: The Story of Salman Al-Farsi (RA)—CD—CIIE Trials & Lessons for Muslim Minorities—CD—CIIE Young Ayesha (RA) & Mothers of the Believers (RA)—CD—CIIE Understanding the Quran—CD—CIIE Lessons from the Companions (RA) Living as a Minority—CD—CIIE Virtues of the Sahabah—video lecture series promoted by the al-Wasatiyyah Foundation Website Al-Awlaki maintained a website and blog on which he shared his views.",
"The Battle of Hearts and Minds The Dust Will Never Settle Down Dreams & Interpretations The Hereafter—16 CDs—Al Basheer Productions Life of Muhammad: Makkan Period—16 CDs—Al Basheer Productions Life of Muhammad: Medinan Period—Lecture in 2 Parts—18 CDs—Al Basheer Productions Lives of the Prophets (AS)—16 CDs—Al Basheer Productions Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (RA): His Life & Times—15 CDs—Al Basheer Productions Umar ibn al-Khattāb (RA): His Life & Times—18 CDs—Al Basheer Productions 25 Promises from Allah to the Believer—2 CDs—Noor Productions Companions of the Ditch & Lessons from the Life of Musa (AS)—2 CDs—Noor Productions Remembrance of Allah & the Greatest Ayah—2 CDs—Noor Productions Stories from Hadith—4 CDs—Center for Islamic Information and Education (\"CIIE\") Hellfire & The Day of Judgment—CD—CIIE Quest for Truth: The Story of Salman Al-Farsi (RA)—CD—CIIE Trials & Lessons for Muslim Minorities—CD—CIIE Young Ayesha (RA) & Mothers of the Believers (RA)—CD—CIIE Understanding the Quran—CD—CIIE Lessons from the Companions (RA) Living as a Minority—CD—CIIE Virtues of the Sahabah—video lecture series promoted by the al-Wasatiyyah Foundation Website Al-Awlaki maintained a website and blog on which he shared his views. On December 11, 2008, he said Muslims should not seek to \"serve in the armies of the disbelievers and fight against his brothers\".",
"On December 11, 2008, he said Muslims should not seek to \"serve in the armies of the disbelievers and fight against his brothers\". In \"44 Ways to Support Jihad\", posted on his blog in February 2009, al-Awlaki encouraged others to \"fight jihad\", and explained how to give money to the mujahideen or their families. Al-Awlaki's sermon encourages others to conduct weapons training, and raise children \"on the love of Jihad\".",
"Al-Awlaki's sermon encourages others to conduct weapons training, and raise children \"on the love of Jihad\". Also that month, he wrote: \"I pray that Allah destroys America and all its allies.\" He wrote as well: \"We will implement the rule of Allah on Earth by the tip of the sword, whether the masses like it or not.\" On July 14, he said that Muslim countries should not offer military assistance to the US.",
"On July 14, he said that Muslim countries should not offer military assistance to the US. \"The blame should be placed on the soldier who is willing to follow orders ... who sells his religion for a few dollars,\" he said. In blog post dated July 15, 2009, entitled \"Fighting Against Government Armies in the Muslim World\", al-Awlaki wrote, \"Blessed are those who fight against [American soldiers], and blessed are those shuhada [martyrs] who are killed by them.\"",
"In blog post dated July 15, 2009, entitled \"Fighting Against Government Armies in the Muslim World\", al-Awlaki wrote, \"Blessed are those who fight against [American soldiers], and blessed are those shuhada [martyrs] who are killed by them.\" In a video posted to the internet on November 8, 2010, al-Awlaki called for Muslims to kill Americans \"without hesitation\", and overthrow Arab governments that cooperate with the US.",
"In a video posted to the internet on November 8, 2010, al-Awlaki called for Muslims to kill Americans \"without hesitation\", and overthrow Arab governments that cooperate with the US. \"Don't consult with anyone in fighting the Americans, fighting the devil doesn't require consultation or prayers or seeking divine guidance. They are the party of the devils\", al-Awlaki said.",
"They are the party of the devils\", al-Awlaki said. That month, Intelligence Research Specialist Kevin Yorke of the New York Police Department's Counterterrorism Division called him \"the most dangerous man in the world\". See also Church Committee Executive Order 12333 Extrajudicial killing International counter-terrorism activities of the CIA Protocol I References Further reading al-Ashanti, AbdulHaq and Sloan, Abu Ameenah AbdurRahman. (2011) A Critique of the Methodology of Anwar al-Awlaki and his Errors in the Fiqh of Jihad.",
"(2011) A Critique of the Methodology of Anwar al-Awlaki and his Errors in the Fiqh of Jihad. London: Jamiah Media, 2011 External links Ruling of Judge Bates in Al Aulaqi v Obama Statements Interviews \"Exclusive; Ray Suarez: My Post-9/11 Interview With Anwar al-Awlaki\", PBS, October 30, 2001 \"Al-Jazeera Satellite Network Interview with Yemeni-American Cleric Shaykh Anwar al-Awlaki Regarding his Alleged Role in Radicalizing Maj. Malik Nidal Hasan\", The NEFA Foundation, December 24, 2009 Media coverage The imam's very curious story: A skirt-chasing mullah is just one more mystery for the 9/11 panel, Ragavan, Chitra, US News and World Report'', June 13, 2004 DBI.gov 1971 births 2011 deaths 20th-century imams 21st-century imams Abdullah Yusuf Azzam Al-Qaeda propagandists Assassinated al-Qaeda leaders American al-Qaeda members American expatriates in the United Kingdom American expatriates in Yemen American imams American Islamists American people of Yemeni descent Colorado State University alumni George Washington University Graduate School of Education and Human Development alumni People associated with the September 11 attacks People from Las Cruces, New Mexico San Diego State University alumni Yemeni imams Yemeni al-Qaeda members Yemeni Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam Yemeni Sunni Muslims Deaths by drone strikes of the Central Intelligence Agency in Yemen Islam-related controversies People designated by the Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee American male criminals Yemeni criminals Yemeni Islamists Yemeni expatriates in the United Kingdom Shafi'is American Muslim activists Assassinated Yemeni people Yemeni propagandists United States military killing of American civilians"
] |
[
"Anwar al-Awlaki",
"Other connections",
"What were some of his connections?",
"Al-Awlaki influenced several other extremists to join terrorist organizations overseas and to carry out terrorist attacks in their home countries."
] | C_a9dbf6539ea04ea1aa2c40cc18303c22_1 | What countries was he going after? | 2 | What countries was Anwar al-Awlaki going after? | Anwar al-Awlaki | FBI agents identified al-Awlaki as a known, important "senior recruiter for al Qaeda", and a spiritual motivator. His name came up in a dozen terrorism plots in the US, UK, and Canada. The cases included suicide bombers in the 2005 London bombings, radical Islamic terrorists in the 2006 Toronto terrorism case, radical Islamic terrorists in the 2007 Fort Dix attack plot, the jihadist killer in the 2009 Little Rock military recruiting office shooting, and the 2010 Times Square bomber. In each case the suspects were devoted to al-Awlaki's message, which they listened to online and on CDs. Al-Awlaki's recorded lectures were heard by Islamist fundamentalists in at least six terror cells in the UK through 2009. Michael Finton (Talib Islam), who attempted in September 2009 to bomb the Federal Building and the adjacent offices of Congressman Aaron Schock in Springfield, Illinois, admired al-Awlaki and quoted him on his Myspace page. In addition to his website, al-Awlaki had a Facebook fan page with "fans" in the US, many of whom were high school students. Al-Awlaki also set up a website and blog on which he shared his views. Al-Awlaki influenced several other extremists to join terrorist organizations overseas and to carry out terrorist attacks in their home countries. Mohamed Alessa and Carlos Almonte, two American citizens from New Jersey who attempted to travel to Somalia in June 2010 to join the al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group Al Shabaab, allegedly watched several al-Awlaki videos and sermons in which he warned of future attacks against Americans in the US and abroad. Zachary Chesser, an American citizen who was arrested for attempting to provide material support to Al Shabaab, told federal authorities that he watched online videos featuring al-Awlaki and that he exchanged several e-mails with al-Awlaki. In July 2010, Paul Rockwood was sentenced to eight years in prison for creating a list of 15 potential targets in the US, people he felt had desecrated Islam. Rockwood was a devoted follower of al-Awlaki, and had studied his works Constants on the Path to Jihad and 44 Ways to Jihad. In October 2008, Charles Allen, US Under-Secretary of Homeland Security for Intelligence and Analysis, warned that al-Awlaki "targets U.S. Muslims with radical online lectures encouraging terrorist attacks from his new home in Yemen." Responding to Allen, al-Awlaki wrote on his website in December 2008: "I would challenge him to come up with just one such lecture where I encourage 'terrorist attacks'". CANNOTANSWER | The cases included suicide bombers in the 2005 London bombings, radical Islamic terrorists in the 2006 Toronto terrorism case, radical Islamic terrorists in the 2007 Fort Dix attack plot, | Anwar Nasser al-Awlaki (also spelled al-Aulaqi, al-Awlaqi; ; April 21 or 22, 1971 – September 30, 2011) was a Yemeni-American imam who was killed in 2011 in Yemen by an American drone strike ordered by President Barack Obama. Al-Awlaki became the first U.S. citizen to be targeted and killed by a U.S. drone strike without the rights of due process being afforded. US government officials argued that Awlaki was a key organizer for the Islamist terrorist group al-Qaeda, and in June 2014, a previously classified memorandum issued by the U.S. Department of Justice was released, justifying al-Awlaki's death as a lawful act of war. Civil liberties advocates have described the incident as "an extrajudicial execution" that breached al-Awlaki's right to due process, including a trial.
Al-Awlaki was born in Las Cruces, New Mexico, in 1971 to parents from Yemen. Growing up partially in the United States and partially in Yemen, he attended various universities across the United States in the 1990s and early 2000s while also working as an imam, despite having no religious qualifications and almost no religious education. Al-Awlaki returned to Yemen in early 2004 and became a university lecturer after a brief stint as a public speaker in the United Kingdom. He was detained by Yemeni authorities in 2006, where he spent 18 months in prison before being released without facing trial. Following his release, Al-Awlaki's message started to become overtly supportive of violence, as he condemned United States foreign policy against Muslims.
The Yemeni government tried him in absentia in November 2010, for plotting to kill foreigners and being a member of al-Qaeda. A Yemeni judge ordered that he be captured "dead or alive". U.S. officials said that in 2009, al-Awlaki was promoted to the rank of "regional commander" within al-Qaeda, although they described his role as more "inspirational" than "operational." He repeatedly called for jihad against the United States. In April 2010, al-Awlaki was placed on a CIA kill list by President Barack Obama due to his alleged terrorist activities. Al-Awlaki's father and civil rights groups challenged the order in court. Al-Awlaki was believed to be in hiding in southeast Yemen in the last years of his life. The U.S. deployed unmanned aircraft (drones) in Yemen to search for and kill him, firing at and failing to kill him at least once; he was successfully killed on September 30, 2011. Two weeks later, al-Awlaki's 16-year-old son, Abdulrahman al-Awlaki, a U.S. citizen who was born in Denver, Colorado, was also killed by a CIA-led drone strike in Yemen. His daughter, 8-year old Nawar al-Awlaki, was killed during a raid against Al Qaeda ordered by President Donald Trump in 2017.<ref name="uk.reuters.com">Ghobari, Mohammed and Phil Stewart. "Commando dies in U.S. raid in Yemen, first military op OK'd by Trump", Reuters, January 29, 2017. Retrieved January 29, 2017.</ref> The New York Times wrote in 2015 that al-Awlaki's public statements and videos have been more influential in inspiring acts of Islamic terrorism in the wake of his killing than before his death.
Early life
Al-Awlaki was born in Las Cruces, New Mexico, in 1971 to parents from Yemen, while his father, Nasser al-Awlaki, was doing graduate work at U.S. universities. His father was a Fulbright Scholar who earned a master's degree in agricultural economics at New Mexico State University in 1971, received a doctorate at the University of Nebraska, and worked at the University of Minnesota from 1975 to 1977. Nasser al-Awlaki served as Agriculture Minister in Ali Abdullah Saleh's government. He was also President of Sana'a University. Yemen's prime minister from 2007 to 2011, Ali Mohammed Mujur, was a relative.
The family returned to Yemen in 1978, when al-Awlaki was seven years old. He lived there for 11 years, and studied at Azal Modern School.
Life in the United States 1990–2002
Education
In 1991, al-Awlaki returned to the U.S. to attend college. He earned a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Colorado State University (1994), where he was president of the Muslim Student Association.
In 1993, while still a college student in Colorado State's civil engineering program, al-Awlaki visited Afghanistan in the aftermath of the Soviet occupation. He spent some time training with the mujahideen who had fought the Soviets. He was depressed by the country's poverty and hunger, and "wouldn't have gone with al-Qaeda," according to friends from Colorado State, who said he was profoundly affected by the trip. Mullah Mohammed Omar did not form the Taliban until 1994. When Al-Awlaki returned to campus, he showed increased interest in religion and politics. Al-Awlaki studied Education Leadership at San Diego State University, but did not complete his degree. He worked on a doctorate in Human Resource Development at The George Washington University Graduate School of Education and Human Development from January to December 2001.
Time as imam
In 1994, al-Awlaki married a cousin from Yemen, and began service as a part-time imam of the Denver Islamic Society. In 1996, he was chastised by an elder for encouraging a Saudi student to fight in Chechnya against the Russians. He left Denver soon after, moving to San Diego.
From 1996 to 2000, al-Awlaki was imam of the Masjid Ar-Ribat al-Islami mosque in San Diego, California, where he had a following of 200–300 people. U.S. officials later alleged that Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar, hijackers of American Airlines Flight 77, attended his sermons and personally met him during this period. Hazmi later lived in Northern Virginia and attended al-Awlaki's mosque there. The 9/11 Commission Report said that the hijackers "reportedly respected [al-Awlaki] as a religious figure". While in San Diego, al-Awlaki volunteered with youth organizations, fished, discussed his travels with friends, and created a popular and lucrative series of recorded lectures.
In August 1996 and in April 1997, al-Awlaki was arrested in San Diego and charged with soliciting prostitutes. The first time, in 1996, he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and was fined $400 and required to attend informational sessions about AIDS. The second time, in 1997, he pleaded guilty and was fined $240, ordered to perform 12 days of community service, and received three years' probation. From November 2001 to January 2002 the FBI observed him visiting a number of prostitutes, and interviewed them, establishing that he had paid for sex acts. No prosecution was brought.
In 1998 and 1999, he served as vice-president for the Charitable Society for Social Welfare. In 2004, the FBI described this group as a "front organization to funnel money to terrorists". Although the FBI investigated al-Awlaki from June 1999 through March 2000 for possible links to Hamas, the Bin Laden contact Ziyad Khaleel, and a visit by an associate of Omar Abdel Rahman, it did not find sufficient evidence for a criminal prosecution. Al-Awlaki told reporters that he resigned from leading the San Diego mosque "after an uneventful four years," and took a brief sabbatical, traveling overseas to various countries.
In January 2001, al-Awlaki returned to the U.S., settling in the Washington metropolitan area. There, he was imam at the Dar al-Hijrah mosque near Falls Church, Virginia, and his services were attended by Nawaf al-Hazmi and a third hijacker, Hani Hanjour. He led academic discussions frequented by FBI Director of Counter-Intelligence for the Middle East Gordon M. Snow. Al-Awlaki also served as the Muslim chaplain at George Washington University, where he was hired by Esam Omeish. Omeish said in 2004 that he was convinced that al-Awlaki was not involved in terrorism.
His proficiency as a public speaker and command of the English language helped him attract followers who did not speak Arabic. "He was the magic bullet", according to the mosque spokesman Johari Abdul-Malik. "He had everything all in a box." "He had an allure. He was charming."
When police investigating the 9/11 attacks raided the Hamburg apartment of Ramzi bin al-Shibh, they found the telephone number of al-Awlaki among bin al-Shibh's personal contacts. The FBI interviewed al-Awlaki four times in the eight days following the 9/11 attacks. One detective later told the 9/11 Commission he believed al-Awlaki "was at the center of the 9/11 story". And an FBI agent said, "if anyone had knowledge of the plot, it would have been" him, since "someone had to be in the U.S. and keep the hijackers spiritually focused". One 9/11 Commission staff member said: "Do I think he played a role in helping the hijackers here, knowing they were up to something? Yes. Do I think he was sent here for that purpose? I have no evidence for it." A separate Congressional Joint Inquiry into the 9/11 attacks suggested that al-Awlaki may have been connected to the hijackers, according to its director, Eleanor Hill. In 2003, Representative Anna Eshoo, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said, "In my view, he is more than a coincidental figure."
Six days after the 9/11 attacks, al-Awlaki suggested in writing on the IslamOnline.net website that Israeli intelligence agents might have been responsible for the attacks, and that the FBI "went into the roster of the airplanes, and whoever has a Muslim or Arab name became the hijacker by default".
Soon after the 9/11 attacks, al-Awlaki was sought in Washington, D.C., by the media to answer questions about Islam, its rituals, and its relation to the attacks. He was interviewed by National Geographic, The New York Times, and other media. Al-Awlaki condemned the attacks. According to an NPR report in 2010, in 2001 al-Awlaki appeared to be a moderate who could "bridge the gap between the United States and the worldwide community of Muslims." The New York Times said at the time that he was "held up as a new generation of Muslim leader capable of merging East and West." In 2010, Fox News and the New York Daily News reported that some months after the 9/11 attacks, a Pentagon employee invited al-Awlaki to a luncheon in the Secretary's Office of General Counsel. The U.S. Secretary of the Army had suggested that a moderate Muslim be invited to give a talk.
In 2002, al-Awlaki was the first imam to conduct a prayer service for the Congressional Muslim Staffer Association at the U.S. Capitol. That year, Nidal Hasan visited al-Awlaki's mosque for his mother's funeral, at which al-Awlaki presided. In November 2009, Hasan killed 13 and wounded 32 in the Fort Hood shooting. Hasan usually attended a mosque in Maryland closer to where he lived while working at the Walter Reed Medical Center (2003–09).
Later in 2002, al-Awlaki posted an essay in Arabic on the Islam Today website titled "Why Muslims Love Death", lauding the fervor of Palestinian suicide bombers. He expressed a similar opinion in a speech at a London mosque later that year. By July 2002, al-Awlaki was under investigation in the United States for having received money from the subject of a U.S. Joint Terrorism Task Force investigation. His name was added to the list of terrorism suspects.
Passport fraud issues
In June 2002, a Denver federal judge signed an arrest warrant for al-Awlaki for passport fraud. On October 9, the Denver U.S. Attorney's Office filed a motion to dismiss the complaint and vacate the arrest warrant. Prosecutors believed that they lacked sufficient evidence of a crime, according to U.S. Attorney Dave Gaouette, who authorized its withdrawal. Al-Awlaki had listed Yemen rather than the United States as his place of birth on his 1990 application for a U.S. Social Security number, soon after arriving in the US. Al-Awlaki used this documentation to obtain a passport in 1993. He later corrected his place of birth to Las Cruces, New Mexico. "The bizarre thing is if you put Yemen down (on the application), it would be harder to get a Social Security number than to say you are a native-born citizen of Las Cruces", Gaouette said.
Prosecutors could not charge him in October 2002, when he returned from a trip abroad, because a 10-year statute of limitations on lying to the Social Security Administration had expired. According to a 2012 investigative report by Fox News, the arrest warrant for passport fraud was still in effect on the morning of October 10, 2002, when FBI Agent Wade Ammerman ordered al-Awlaki's release. U.S. Congressman Frank Wolf (R-VA) and several congressional committees urged FBI Director Robert Mueller to provide an explanation about the bureau's interactions with al-Awlaki, including why he was released from federal custody when there was an outstanding warrant for his arrest. The motion for rescinding the arrest warrant was approved by a magistrate judge on October 10 and filed on October 11.ABC News reported in 2009 that the Joint Terrorism Task Force in San Diego disagreed with the decision to cancel the warrant. They were monitoring al-Awlaki and wanted to "look at him under a microscope". But U.S. Attorney Gaouette said that no objection had been raised to the rescinding of the warrant during a meeting that included Ray Fournier, the San Diego federal diplomatic security agent whose allegation had set in motion the effort to obtain a warrant. Gaouette said that if al-Awlaki had been convicted at the time, he would have faced about six months in custody.The New York Times suggested later that al-Awlaki had claimed birth in Yemen (his family's place of origin) to qualify for scholarship money granted to foreign citizens. U.S. Congressman Frank R. Wolf (R-VA) wrote in May 2010 that by claiming to be foreign-born, al-Awlaki fraudulently obtained more than $20,000 in scholarship funds reserved for foreign students.
While living in Northern Virginia, al-Awlaki visited Ali al-Timimi, later known as a radical Islamic cleric. Al-Timimi was convicted in 2005 and is now serving a life sentence for leading the Virginia Jihad Network, inciting Muslim followers to fight with the Taliban against the US.
In the United Kingdom 2002–04
Al-Awlaki left the United States before the end of 2002, because of a "climate of fear and intimidation" according to Imam Johari Abdul-Malik of the Dar al-Hijrah mosque.
He lived in the UK for several months, where he gave talks attended by up to 200 people. He urged young Muslim followers: "The important lesson to learn here is never, ever trust a kuffar [disbeliever]. Do not trust them! [Their leaders] are plotting to kill this religion. They're plotting night and day." "He was the main man who translated the jihad into English," said a student who attended his lectures in 2003.
He gave a series of lectures in December 2002 and January 2003 at the London Masjid al-Tawhid mosque, describing the rewards martyrs (Shahid) receive in paradise (Jannah). He began to gain supporters, particularly among young Muslims, and undertook a lecture tour of England and Scotland in 2002 in conjunction with the Muslim Association of Britain. He also lectured at "ExpoIslamia", an event held by Islamic Forum Europe. At the East London Mosque he told his audience: "A Muslim is a brother of a Muslim... he does not betray him, and he does not hand him over... You don't hand over a Muslim to the enemies."
In Britain's Parliament in 2003, Louise Ellman, MP for Liverpool Riverside, discussed the relationship between al-Awlaki and the Muslim Association of Britain, an alleged Muslim Brotherhood front organization founded by Kemal el-Helbawy, a senior member of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood.
Return to Yemen 2004–11
Al-Awlaki returned to Yemen in early 2004, where he lived in Shabwah Governorate with his wife and five children. He lectured at Iman University, headed by Abdul Majeed al-Zindani. The latter has been included on the UN 1267 Committee's list of individuals belonging to or associated with al-Qaeda. Al-Zindani denied having any influence over al-Awlaki, or that he had been his "direct teacher". Some believe that the school's curriculum deals mostly, if not exclusively, with radical Islamic studies, and promotes radicalism. American convert John Walker Lindh and other alumni have been associated with terrorist groups.
On August 31, 2006, al-Awlaki was arrested with four others on charges of kidnapping a Shiite teenager for ransom, and participating in an al-Qaeda plot to kidnap a U.S. military attaché. He was imprisoned in 2006 and 2007. He was interviewed around September 2007 by two FBI agents with regard to the 9/11 attacks and other subjects. John Negroponte, the U.S. Director of National Intelligence, told Yemeni officials he did not object to al-Awlaki's detention.
His name was on a list of 100 prisoners whose release was sought by al-Qaeda-linked militants in Yemen. After 18 months in a Yemeni prison, al-Awlaki was released on December 12, 2007, following the intercession of his tribe. According to a Yemeni security official, he was released because he had repented. He moved to his family home in Saeed, a hamlet in the Shabwa mountains.
Moazzam Begg's Cageprisoners, an organization representing former Guantanamo detainees, campaigned for al-Awlaki's release when he was in prison in Yemen. Al-Awlaki told Begg in an interview shortly after his release that prior to his incarceration in Yemen, he had condemned the 9/11 attacks.
In December 2008, al-Awlaki sent a communique to the Somali terrorist group, al-Shabaab, congratulating them.
Al-Awlaki provided al-Qaeda members in Yemen with the protection of his powerful tribe, the Awlakis, against the government. The tribal code required it to protect those who seek refuge and assistance. This imperative has greater force when the person is a member of the tribe or a tribesman's friend. The tribe's motto is "We are the sparks of Hell; whoever interferes with us will be burned." Al-Awlaki also reportedly helped negotiate deals with leaders of other tribes.
Sought by Yemeni authorities who were investigating his al-Qaeda ties, al-Awlaki went into hiding in approximately March 2009, according to his father. By December 2009, al-Awlaki was on the Yemeni government's most-wanted list. He was believed to be hiding in Yemen's Shabwa or Mareb regions, which are part of the so-called "triangle of evil". The area has attracted al-Qaeda militants, who seek refuge among local tribes unhappy with Yemen's central government.
Yemeni sources originally said al-Awlaki might have been killed in a pre-dawn air strike by Yemeni Air Force fighter jets on a meeting of senior al-Qaeda leaders at a hideout in Rafd in eastern Shabwa, on December 24, 2009. But he survived. Pravda reported that the planes, using Saudi and U.S. intelligence, killed at least 30 al-Qaeda members from Yemen and abroad, and that an al-Awlaki house was "raided and demolished". On December 28 The Washington Post reported that U.S. and Yemeni officials said that al-Awlaki had been present at the meeting. Abdul Elah al-Shaya, a Yemeni journalist, said al-Awlaki called him on December 28 to report that he was well and had not attended the al-Qaeda meeting. Al-Shaya said that al-Awlaki was not tied to al-Qaeda.
In March 2010, a tape featuring al-Awlaki was released in which he urged Muslims residing in the United States to attack their country of residence.
Reaching out to the United Kingdom
After 2006, al-Awlaki was banned from entering the United Kingdom. He broadcast lectures to mosques and other venues there via video-link from 2007 to 2009, on at least seven occasions at five locations in Britain. Noor Pro Media Events held a conference at the East London Mosque on January 1, 2009, showing a videotaped lecture by al-Awlaki; former Shadow Home Secretary Dominic Grieve expressed concern over his being featured.
He gave video-link talks in England to an Islamic student society at the University of Westminster in September 2008, an arts center in East London in April 2009 (after the Tower Hamlets council gave its approval), worshippers at the Al Huda Mosque in Bradford, and a dinner of the Cageprisoners organization in September 2008 at the Wandsworth Civic Centre in South London. On August 23, 2009, al-Awlaki was banned by local authorities in Kensington and Chelsea, London, from speaking at Kensington Town Hall via videolink to a fundraiser dinner for Guantanamo detainees promoted by Cageprisoners. His videos, which discuss his Islamist theories, have circulated across the United Kingdom. Until February 2010, hundreds of audio tapes of his sermons were available at the Tower Hamlets public libraries. In 2009, the London-based Islam Channel carried advertisements for his DVDs and at least two of his video conference lectures.
Other connections
FBI agents identified al-Awlaki as a known, important "senior recruiter for al Qaeda", and a spiritual motivator. His name came up in a dozen terrorism plots in the US, UK, and Canada. The cases included suicide bombers in the 2005 London bombings, radical Islamic terrorists in the 2006 Toronto terrorism case, radical Islamic terrorists in the 2007 Fort Dix attack plot, the jihadist killer in the 2009 Little Rock military recruiting office shooting, and the 2010 Times Square bomber. In each case the suspects were devoted to al-Awlaki's message, which they listened to online and on CDs.
Al-Awlaki's recorded lectures were heard by Islamist fundamentalists in at least six terror cells in the UK through 2009. Michael Finton (Talib Islam), who attempted in September 2009 to bomb the Federal Building and the adjacent offices of Congressman Aaron Schock in Springfield, Illinois, admired al-Awlaki and quoted him on his Myspace page. In addition to his website, al-Awlaki had a Facebook fan page with "fans" in the US, many of whom were high school students. Al-Awlaki also set up a website and blog on which he shared his views.
Al-Awlaki influenced several other extremists to join terrorist organizations overseas and to carry out terrorist attacks in their home countries. Mohamed Alessa and Carlos Almonte, two American citizens from New Jersey who attempted to travel to Somalia in June 2010 to join the al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group Al Shabaab, allegedly watched several al-Awlaki videos and sermons in which he warned of future attacks against Americans in the United States and abroad. Zachary Chesser, an American citizen who was arrested for attempting to provide material support to Al Shabaab, told federal authorities that he watched online videos featuring al-Awlaki and that he exchanged several e-mails with al-Awlaki. In July 2010, Paul Rockwood was sentenced to eight years in prison for creating a list of 15 potential targets in the US, people he felt had desecrated Islam. Rockwood was a devoted follower of al-Awlaki, and had studied his works Constants on the Path to Jihad and 44 Ways to Jihad.
In October 2008, Charles Allen, U.S. Under-Secretary of Homeland Security for Intelligence and Analysis, warned that al-Awlaki "targets U.S. Muslims with radical online lectures encouraging terrorist attacks from his new home in Yemen." Responding to Allen, al-Awlaki wrote on his website in December 2008: "I would challenge him to come up with just one such lecture where I encourage 'terrorist attacks'".
Fort Hood shooter
Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan was investigated by the FBI after intelligence agencies intercepted at least 18 e-mails between him and al-Awlaki between December 2008 and June 2009. Even before the contents of the e-mails were revealed, terrorism expert Jarret Brachman said that Hasan's contacts with al-Awlaki should have raised "huge red flags", because of his influence on radical English-speaking jihadis. Charles Allen, no longer in government, noted that there was no work-related reason for Hasan to be in touch with al-Awlaki. Former CIA officer Bruce Riedel opined: "E-mailing a known al-Qaeda sympathizer should have set off alarm bells. Even if he was exchanging recipes, the bureau should have put out an alert." A DC-based Joint Terrorism Task Force operating under the FBI was notified of the e-mails and reviewed the information. Army employees were informed of the e-mails, but they didn't perceive any terrorist threat in Hasan's questions. Instead, they viewed them as general questions about spiritual guidance with regard to conflicts between Islam and military service and judged them to be consistent with legitimate mental health research about Muslims in the armed services. The assessment was that there was not sufficient information for a larger investigation. In one of the e-mails, Hasan wrote al-Awlaki: "I can't wait to join you [in the afterlife]". "It sounds like code words," said Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer, a military analyst at the Center for Advanced Defense Studies. "That he's actually either offering himself up, or that he's already crossed that line in his own mind."
Yemeni journalist Abdulelah Hider Shaea interviewed al-Awlaki in November 2009. Al-Awlaki acknowledged his correspondence with Hasan. He said he "neither ordered nor pressured ... Hasan to harm Americans." Al-Awlaki said Hasan first e-mailed him December 17, 2008, introducing himself by writing: "Do you remember me? I used to pray with you at the Virginia mosque." Hasan said he had become a devout Muslim around the time al-Awlaki was preaching at Dar al-Hijrah, in 2001 and 2002, and al-Awlaki said 'Maybe Nidal was affected by one of my lectures.'" He added: "It was clear from his e-mails that Nidal trusted me. Nidal told me: 'I speak with you about issues that I never speak with anyone else.'" Al-Awlaki said Hasan arrived at his own conclusions regarding the acceptability of violence in Islam and said he was not the one to initiate this. Shaea said, "Nidal was providing evidence to Anwar, not vice versa."
Asked whether Hasan mentioned Fort Hood as a target in his e-mails, Shaea declined to comment. Al-Awlaki said the shooting was acceptable in Islam, however, because it was a form of jihad, as the West began the hostilities with the Muslims. Al-Awlaki said he "blessed the act because it was against a military target. And the soldiers who were killed were ... those who were trained and prepared to go to Iraq and Afghanistan".
Al-Awlaki's e-mail conversations with Hasan were not released, and he was not placed on the FBI Most Wanted list, indicted for treason, or officially named as a co-conspirator with Hasan. The U.S. government was reluctant to classify the Fort Hood shooting as a terrorist incident, or identify any motive. The Wall Street Journal reported in January 2010 that al-Awlaki had not "played a direct role" in any of the attacks, and noted he had never been charged with a crime in the US.
One of his fellow officers at Fort Hood said Hasan was enthusiastic about al-Awlaki. Some investigators believe al-Awlaki's teachings may have been instrumental in Hasan's decision to stage the attack. On his now-disabled website, al-Awlaki praised Hasan's actions, describing him as a hero.
Christmas Day "Underwear Bomber"
According to a number of sources, Al-Awlaki and Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the convicted al-Qaeda attempted bomber of Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on December 25, 2009, had contacts. In January 2010, CNN reported that U.S. "security sources" said that there is concrete evidence that al-Awlaki was Abdulmutallab's recruiter and one of his trainers, and met with him prior to the attack. In February 2010, al-Awlaki admitted in an interview published in al-Jazeera that he taught and corresponded with Abdulmutallab, but denied having ordered the attack.
Representative Pete Hoekstra, the senior Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, said officials in the Obama administration and officials with access to law enforcement information told him the suspect "may have had contact [with al-Awlaki]".The Sunday Times established that Abdulmutallab first met al-Awlaki in 2005 in Yemen, while he was studying Arabic. During that time the suspect attended lectures by al-Awlaki.NPR reported that according to unnamed U.S. intelligence officials he attended a sermon by al-Awlaki at the Finsbury Park Mosque. Khalid Mahmood, the Labour MP for Birmingham Perry Barr, a former trustee of the mosque, expressed "grave misgivings" with regard to its stewardship. A spokesperson of the mosque stated that al-Awlaki had never spoken there or had even to his knowledge entered the building.
Abdulmutallab was also reported by CBS News, The Daily Telegraph, and The Sunday Telegraph to have attended a talk by al-Awlaki at the East London Mosque, which al-Awlaki may have attended by video teleconference. The Sunday Telegraph later removed the report from its website following a complaint by the East London Mosque, which stated that "Anwar Al Awlaki did not deliver any talks at the ELM between 2005 and 2008, which is when the newspaper had falsely alleged that Abdullmutallab had attended such talks".
Investigators who searched flats connected to Abdulmutallab in London said that he was a "big fan" of al-Awlaki, as al-Awlaki's blog and website had repeatedly been visited from those locations.
According to federal sources, Abdulmutallab and al-Awlaki repeatedly communicated with one another in the year prior to the attack. "Voice-to-voice communication" between the two was intercepted during the fall of 2009, and one government source said al-Awlaki "was in some way involved in facilitating [Abdulmutallab]'s transportation or trip through Yemen. It could be training, a host of things." NPR reported that intelligence officials suspected al-Awlaki may have told Abdulmutallab to go to Yemen for al-Qaeda training.
Abdulmutallab told the FBI that al-Awlaki was one of his al-Qaeda trainers in Yemen. Others reported that Abdulmutallab met with al-Awlaki in the weeks leading up to the attack. The Los Angeles Times reported that according to a U.S. intelligence official, intercepts and other information point to connections between the two:
Some of the information ... comes from Abdulmutallab, who ... said that he met with al-Awlaki and senior al-Qaeda members during an extended trip to Yemen this year and that the cleric was involved in some elements of planning or preparing the attack and in providing religious justification for it. Other intelligence linking the two became apparent after the attempted bombing, including communications intercepted by the National Security Agency indicating that the cleric was meeting with "a Nigerian" in preparation for some kind of operation.
Yemen's Deputy Prime Minister for Defense and Security Affairs, Rashad Mohammed al-Alimi, said Yemeni investigators believe that Abdulmutallab traveled to Shabwa in October 2009. Investigators believe he obtained his explosives and received training there. He met there with al-Qaeda members in a house built by al-Awlaki. A top Yemen government official said the two met with each other.
In January 2010, al-Awlaki acknowledged that he met and spoke with Abdulmutallab in Yemen in the fall of 2009. In an interview, al-Awlaki said: "Umar Farouk is one of my students; I had communications with him. And I support what he did." He also said: "I did not tell him to do this operation, but I support it". Fox News reported in early February 2010 that Abdulmutallab told federal investigators that al-Awlaki directed him to carry out the bombing.
In June 2010 Michael Leiter, the Director of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), said al-Awlaki had a "direct operational role" in the plot.
Sharif Mobley
Sharif Mobley had acknowledged contact with Anwar al-Awlaki. The Mobley family claims the contact was for spiritual guidance in further studies of Islam.
The Mobley family went to Yemen and resided there for several years. They decided to return to the United States and went to the U.S. Embassy to update the family travel documents. While waiting for their travel documents, Sharif Mobley was kidnapped by Yemen Security Services and shot on January 26, 2010. He was then held in Yemen's Central Prison. Mobley disappeared from the Central Prison on February 27, 2014. His current location is known to the U.S. Embassy in Yemen (currently closed 2015) but is withheld from his family and legal advisers based on U.S. State Department Regulations on "U.S. Citizens Missing Abroad".
All charges related to "terrorism/terrorist activity" were dropped by the Yemen government. There are no charges relating to allegations of "killing a guard during an escape attempt from the hospital" and there are no other legal proceedings against him in Yemen.
Times Square bomber
Faisal Shahzad, convicted of the 2010 Times Square car bombing attempt, told interrogators that he was a "fan and follower" of al-Awlaki, and his writings were one of the inspirations for the attack. On May 6, 2010 ABC News reported that unknown sources told them Shahzad made contact with al-Awlaki over the internet, a claim that could not be independently verified.
Stabbing of British former minister Stephen Timms
Roshonara Choudhry, who stabbed former British Cabinet Minister Stephen Timms in May 2010, and was found guilty of his attempted murder in November 2010, claimed to have become radicalized by listening to online sermons of al-Awlaki.
Seattle Weekly cartoonist death threat
In 2010, after Everybody Draw Mohammed Day, cartoonist Molly Norris at Seattle Weekly had to stop publishing, and at the suggestion of the FBI changed her name, moved, and went into hiding due to a fatwā issued by al-Awlaki calling for her death. In the June 2010 issue of Inspire, an English-language al-Qaeda magazine, al-Awlaki cursed her and eight others for "blasphemous caricatures" of Muhammad. "The medicine prescribed by the Messenger of Allah is the execution of those involved", he wrote. Daniel Pipes observed in an article entitled "Dueling Fatwas", "Awlaki stands at an unprecedented crossroads of death declarations, with his targeting Norris even as the U.S. government targets him."
Cargo planes bomb plotThe Guardian, The New York Times, and The Daily Telegraph reported that U.S. and British counter-terrorism officials believed that al-Awlaki was behind the cargo plane PETN bombs that were sent from Yemen to Chicago in October 2010.Yemen bomb scare 'mastermind' lived in London | World news. The Guardian. Retrieved on October 1, 2011. When U.S. Homeland Security official John Brennan was asked about al-Awlaki's suspected involvement in the plot, he said: "Anybody associated with al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is a subject of concern." U.S. Ambassador to Yemen Gerald Feierstein said "al-Awlaki was behind the two bombs."
Final years
Al-Awlaki's father, tribe, and supporters denied his alleged associations with Al-Qaeda and Islamist terrorism. Al-Awlaki's father proclaimed his son's innocence in an interview with CNN's Paula Newton, saying: "I am now afraid of what they will do with my son. He's not Osama bin Laden, they want to make something out of him that he's not." Responding to a Yemeni official's assertions that his son had taken refuge with al-Qaeda, Nasser said: "He's dead wrong. What do you expect my son to do? There are missiles raining down on the village. He has to hide. But he is not hiding with al-Qaeda; our tribe is protecting him right now."
The Yemeni government attempted to get the tribal leaders to release al-Awlaki to their custody. They promised they would not turn him over to U.S. authorities for questioning. The governor of Shabwa said in January 2010 that al-Awlaki was on the move with members of al-Qaeda, including Fahd al-Quso, who was wanted in connection with the bombing of the USS Cole.
In January 2010, White House lawyers debated whether or not it was legal to kill al-Awlaki, given his U.S. citizenship. U.S. officials stated that international law allows targeted killing in the event that the subject is an "imminent threat". Because he was a U.S. citizen, his killing had to be approved by the National Security Council. Such action against a U.S. citizen is extremely rare. As a military enemy of the US, al-Awlaki was not subject to Executive Order 11905, which bans assassination for political reasons. The authorization was nevertheless controversial.
By February 4, 2010, the New York Daily News reported that al-Awlaki was "now on a targeting list signed off on by the Obama administration". On April 6, The New York Times reported that President Obama had authorized the killing of al-Awlaki.
The al-Awalik tribe responded: "We warn against cooperating with America to kill Sheikh Anwar al-Awlaki. We will not stand by idly and watch." Al-Awlaki's tribe wrote that it would "not remain with arms crossed if a hair of Anwar al-Awlaki is touched, or if anyone plots or spies against him. Whoever risks denouncing our son (Awlaki) will be the target of Al-Awalik weapons", and gave warning "against co-operating with the Americans" in the capture or killing of al-Awlaki. Abu Bakr al-Qirbi, the Yemeni foreign minister, announced that the Yemeni government had not received any evidence from the US, and that "Anwar al-Awlaki has always been looked at as a preacher rather than a terrorist and shouldn't be considered as a terrorist unless the Americans have evidence that he has been involved in terrorism".
In a video clip bearing the imprint of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, issued on April 16 in al-Qaeda's monthly magazine Sada Al-Malahem, al-Awlaki said: "What am I accused of? Of calling for the truth? Of calling for jihad for the sake of Allah? Of calling to defend the causes of the Islamic nation?" In the video he also praises both Abdulmutallab and Hasan, and describes both as his "students".
In late April, Representative Charlie Dent (R-PA) introduced a resolution urging the U.S. State Department to withdraw al-Awlaki's U.S. citizenship. By May, U.S. officials believed he had become directly involved in terrorist activities. Former colleague Abdul-Malik said he "is a terrorist, in my book", and advised shops not to carry any of his publications. In an editorial, Investor's Business Daily called al-Awlaki the "world's most dangerous man", and recommended that he be added to the FBI's most-wanted terrorist list, a bounty put on his head, that he be designated a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, charged with treason, and extradition papers filed with the Yemeni government. IBD criticized the Justice Department for stonewalling Senator Joe Lieberman's security panel's investigation of al-Awlaki's role in the Fort Hood massacre.
On July 16, the U.S. Treasury Department added him to its list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists. Stuart Levey, Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, called him "extraordinarily dangerous", and said al-Awlaki was involved in several organizational aspects of terrorism, including recruiting, training, fundraising, and planning individual attacks.
A few days later, the United Nations Security Council placed al-Awlaki on its UN Security Council Resolution 1267 list of individuals associated with al-Qaeda, describing him as a leader, recruiter, and trainer for al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. The resolution stipulates that U.N. members must freeze the assets of anyone on the list, and prevent them from travelling or obtaining weapons. The following week, Canadian banks were ordered to seize any assets belonging to al-Awlaki. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police's senior counter-terrorism officer Gilles Michaud described him as a "major, major factor in radicalization". In September 2010, Jonathan Evans, the Director General of the United Kingdom's domestic security and counter-intelligence agency (MI5), said that al-Awlaki was the West's Public Enemy No 1.
In October 2010, U.S. Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-NY) urged YouTube to take down al-Awlaki's videos from its website, saying that by hosting al-Awlaki's messages, "We are facilitating the recruitment of homegrown terror." Pauline Neville-Jones, British security minister, said "These Web sites ... incite cold-blooded murder." YouTube began removing the material in November 2010.
Al-Awlaki was charged in absentia in Sana'a, Yemen, on November 2 with plotting to kill foreigners and being a member of al-Qaeda. Ali al-Saneaa, the head of the prosecutor's office, announced the charges during the trial of Hisham Assem, who had been accused of killing Jacques Spagnolo, an oil industry worker. He said that al-Awlaki and Assem had been in contact for months, and that al-Awlaki had encouraged Assem to commit terrorism. Al-Awlaki's lawyer said that his client was not connected to Spagnolo's death. On November 6, Yemeni Judge Mohsen Alwan ordered that al-Awlaki be caught "dead or alive".
In his book Ticking Time Bomb: Counter-Terrorism Lessons from the U.S. Government's Failure to Prevent the Fort Hood Attack (2011), former U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman described al-Awlaki, Australian Muslim preacher Feiz Mohammad, Muslim cleric Abdullah el-Faisal, and Pakistani-American Samir Khan as "virtual spiritual sanctioners" who use the internet to offer religious justification for Islamist terrorism.
Lawsuit against the US
In July 2010, al-Awlaki's father, Nasser al-Awlaki, contacted the Center for Constitutional Rights and the American Civil Liberties Union to represent his son in a lawsuit that sought to remove Anwar from the targeted killing list. ACLU's Jameel Jaffer said:
the United States is not at war in Yemen, and the government doesn't have a blank check to kill terrorism suspects wherever they are in the world. Among the arguments we'll be making is that, outside actual war zones, the authority to use lethal force is narrowly circumscribed, and preserving the rule of law depends on keeping this authority narrow.
Lawyers for Specially Designated Global Terrorists must obtain a special license from the U.S. Treasury Department before they can represent their clients in court. The lawyers were granted the license on August 4, 2010.
On August 30, 2010, the groups filed a "targeted killing" lawsuit, naming President Obama, CIA Director Leon Panetta, and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates as defendants. They sought an injunction preventing the targeted killing of al-Awlaki, and also sought to require the government to disclose the standards under which U.S. citizens may be "targeted for death". Judge John D. Bates dismissed the lawsuit in an 83-page ruling, holding that the father did not have legal standing to bring the lawsuit, and that his claims were judicially unreviewable under the political question doctrine inasmuch as he was questioning a decision that the U.S. Constitution committed to the political branches.
On May 5, 2011, the United States tried but failed to kill al-Awlaki by firing a missile from an unmanned drone at a car in Yemen. A Yemeni security official said that two al-Qaeda operatives in the car died.
Death
On September 30, 2011, al-Awlaki was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Al Jawf Governorate, Yemen, according to U.S. sources, the strike was carried out by Joint Special Operations Command, under the direction of the CIA. A witness said the group had stopped to eat breakfast while traveling to Ma'rib Governorate. The occupants of the vehicle spotted the drone and attempted to flee in the vehicle before Hellfire missiles were fired Yemen's Defense Ministry announced that al-Awlaki had been killed. Also killed was Samir Khan, an American born in Saudi Arabia, thought to be behind al-Qaeda's English-language web magazine Inspire. U.S. President Barack Obama said:
The death of Awlaki is a major blow to Al-Qaeda's most active operational affiliate. He took the lead in planning and directing efforts to murder innocent Americans ... and he repeatedly called on individuals in the United States and around the globe to kill innocent men, women and children to advance a murderous agenda. [The strike] is further proof that Al-Qaeda and its affiliates will find no safe haven anywhere in the world.
Journalist and author Glenn Greenwald argued on Salon.com that killing al-Awlaki violated his First Amendment right of free speech and that doing so outside of a criminal proceeding violated the Constitution's due process clause, specifically citing the 1969 Supreme Court decision in Brandenburg v. Ohio that "the constitutional guarantees of free speech and free press do not permit a State to forbid or proscribe advocacy of the use of force." He mentioned doubt among Yemeni experts about al-Awlaki's role in al-Qaeda, and called U.S. government accusations against him unverified and lacking in evidence.
In a letter dated May 22, 2013, to the chairman of the U.S. Senate Judiciary committee, Patrick J. Leahy, U.S. attorney general Eric Holder wrote that
high-level U.S. government officials [...] concluded that al-Aulaqi posed a continuing and imminent threat of violent attack against the United States. Before carrying out the operation that killed al-Aulaqi, senior officials also determined, based on a careful evaluation of the circumstances at the time, that it was not feasible to capture al-Aulaqi. In addition, senior officials determined that the operation would be conducted consistent with applicable law of war principles, including the cardinal principles of (1) necessity – the requirement that the target have definite military value; (2) distinction – the idea that only military objectives may be intentionally targeted and that civilians are protected from being intentionally targeted; (3) proportionality – the notion that the anticipated collateral damage of an action cannot be excessive in relation to the anticipated concrete and direct military advantage; and (4) humanity – a principle that requires us to use weapons that will not inflict unnecessary suffering. The operation was also undertaken consistent with Yemeni sovereignty. [...] The decision to target Anwar al-Aulaqi was lawful, it was considered, and it was just.
On April 21, 2014, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal ruled that the Obama administration must release documents justifying its drone killings of foreigners and Americans, including Anwar al-Awlaki. In June 2014, the United States Department of Justice disclosed a 2010 memorandum written by the acting head of the department's Office of Legal Counsel, David J. Barron. The memo stated that Anwar al-Awlaki was a significant threat with an infeasible probability of capture. Barron therefore justified the killing as legal, as "the Constitution would not require the government to provide further process". The New York Times Editorial Board dismissed the memo's rationale for al-Awlaki's killing, saying it "provides little confidence that the lethal action was taken with real care", instead describing it as "a slapdash pastiche of legal theories—some based on obscure interpretations of British and Israeli law—that was clearly tailored to the desired result." A lawyer for the ACLU described the memo as "disturbing" and "ultimately an argument that the president can order targeted killings of Americans without ever having to account to anyone outside the executive branch."
Legacy
Seth Jones, who as a political scientist specializes in al-Qaida, considers that the continuing relevance of al-Awlaki is due to his fluency in the English language as well as his charisma, precising that "he had a disarming aura and unnerving confidence, with an easy smile and a soothing, eloquent voice. He stood a lanky six feet, one inch tall, weighed 160 pounds, and had a thick black beard, an oversized nose, and wire-rimmed glasses. He spoke in a clear, almost hypnotic voice."
Awlaki's videos and writings remain highly popular on the internet, where they continue to be readily accessible. Those who viewed and still view his videos are estimated by journalist Scott Shane to number in the hundreds of thousands, while his father Dr. Nasser Awlaqi says that "five million preaching tapes of Anwar Awlaqi have been sold in the West." And thus, even following his death, Awlaki has continued to inspire his devotees to carry out terrorist attacks, including the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, the 2015 San Bernardino attack, and the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting. According to the Counter Extremism Project (CEP), 88 "extremists," 54 in the U.S. and 34 in Europe, have been influenced by Awlaki. Because "his work has inspired countless plots and attacks," CEP has "called on YouTube and other platforms to permanently ban Mr. Awlaki's material, including his early, mainstream lectures."
FOIA documents
During the FBI investigation of the 9/11 attacks, it was discovered that a few of the attackers had attended the mosques in San Diego and Falls Church with which al-Awlaki was associated. Interviews with members of the San Diego mosque showed that Nawaz al-Hazmi, one of the attackers, may have had a private conversation with him. On that basis he was placed under 24-hour surveillance. It was discovered that he regularly patronized prostitutes. It was through FBI interrogation of prostitutes and escort service operators that al-Awlaki was tipped off in 2002 about FBI surveillance. Shortly thereafter, he left the United States.
In January 2013, Fox News announced that FBI documents obtained by Judicial Watch through a Freedom of Information Act request showed possible connections between al-Awlaki and the September 11 attackers. According to Judicial Watch, the documents show that the FBI knew that al-Awlaki had bought tickets for three of the hijackers to fly into Florida and Las Vegas. Judicial Watch further stated that al-Awlaki "was a central focus of the FBI's investigation of 9/11. They show he wasn't cooperative. And they show that he was under surveillance."
When queried by Fox News, the FBI denied having evidence connecting al-Awlaki and the September 11 attacks: "The FBI cautions against drawing conclusions from redacted FOIA documents. The FBI and investigating bodies have not found evidence connecting Anwar al-Awlaki and the attack on September 11, 2001. The document referenced does not link Anwar al-Awlaki with any purchase of airline tickets for the hijackers."
Family
Abdulrahman al-Awlaki
Anwar al-Awlaki and Egyptian-born Gihan Mohsen Baker had a son, Abdulrahman Anwar al-Awlaki, born August 26, 1995, in Denver, who was an American citizen. Abdulrahman al-Awlaki was killed on October 14, 2011, in Yemen at the age of 16 in an American drone strike. Nine other people were killed in the same CIA-initiated attack, including a 17-year-old cousin of Abdulrahman. According to his relatives, shortly before his father's death, Abdulrahman had left the family home in Sana'a and travelled to Shabwa in search of his father who was believed to be in hiding in that area (though he was actually hundreds of miles away at the time ). Abdulrahman was sitting in an open-air cafe in Shabwa when killed. According to U.S. officials, the killing of Abdulrahman al-Awlaki was a mistake; the intended target was an Egyptian, Ibrahim al-Banna, who was not at the targeted location at the time of the attack. Human rights groups have raised questions as to why an American citizen was killed by the United States in a country with which the United States is not officially at war. Abdulrahman al-Awlaki was not known to have any independent connection to terrorism.
Nasser al-Awlaki
Nasser al-Awlaki is the father of Anwar and grandfather of Abdulrahman al-Awlaki. Al-Awlaki stated he believed his son had been wrongly accused and was not a member of Al Qaeda. After the deaths of his son and grandson, Nasser in an interview in Time magazine called the killings a crime and condemned U.S. President Obama directly, saying: "I urge the American people to bring the killers to justice. I urge them to expose the hypocrisy of the 2009 Nobel Prize laureate. To some, he may be that. To me and my family, he is nothing more than a child killer."
In 2013, Nasser al-Awlaki published an op-ed in The New York Times stating that two years after killing his grandson, the Obama administration still declines to provide an explanation. In 2012, Nasser al-Awlaki filed a lawsuit, Al-Aulaqi v. Panetta, challenging the constitutionality of the drone killings of his son and grandson. This lawsuit was dismissed in April 2014 by D.C. District Court Judge Rosemary M. Collyer.
Tariq al-Dahab
Tariq al-Dahab, who led al-Qaeda insurgents in Yemen, was a brother-in-law of al-Awlaki. On February 16, 2012, the terrorist organization stated that he had been killed by agents, although media reports contain speculation that he was killed by his brother in a bloody family feud.
Nawar al-Awlaki
On January 29, 2017, Anwar al-Awlaki's 8-year-old daughter, Nawar al-Awlaki, who was an American citizen, was killed in a DEVGRU operation authorized by President Donald Trump."1 US service member killed, 3 wounded in Yemen raid" , WPVI-TV, 6 ABC Action News, Philadelphia, PA. January 29, 2017. Retrieved January 29, 2017.
Islamic education
Al-Awlaki's Islamic education was primarily informal, and consisted of intermittent months with various scholars reading and contemplating Islamic scholarly works. Despite having no religious qualifications and almost no religious education, Al-Awlaki made a name for himself as a public speaker who released popular audio recordings.Some Muslim scholars said they did not understand alAwlaki's popularity, because while he spoke fluent English and could therefore reach a large non-Arabic-speaking audience, he lacked formal Islamic training and study.
Ideology
While imprisoned in Yemen after 2004, al-Awlaki was influenced by the works of Sayyid Qutb, described by The New York Times as an originator of the contemporary "anti-Western Jihadist movement". He read 150 to 200 pages a day of Qutb's works, and described himself as "so immersed with the author I would feel Sayyid was with me in my cell speaking to me directly".
Terrorism consultant Evan Kohlmann in 2009 referred to al-Awlaki as "one of the principal jihadi luminaries for would-be homegrown terrorists. His fluency with English, his unabashed advocacy of jihad and mujahideen organizations, and his Web-savvy approach are a powerful combination." He called al-Awlaki's lecture, "Constants on the Path of Jihad", which he says was based on a similar document written by al-Qaeda's founder, the "virtual bible for lone-wolf Muslim extremists". Philip Mudd, formerly of the CIA's National Counterterrorism Center and the FBI's top intelligence adviser, called him "a magnetic character ... a powerful orator." He attracted young men to his lectures, especially US-based and UK-based Muslims.
U.S. officials and some U.S. media sources called al-Awlaki an Islamic fundamentalist and accused him of encouraging terrorism. According to documents recovered from bin Laden's hideout, the al-Qaeda leader was unsure about al-Awlaki's qualifications.
Works
The Nine Eleven Finding Answers Foundation said al-Awlaki's ability to write and speak in fluent English enabled him to incite English-speaking Muslims to terrorism. Al-Awlaki notes in 44 Ways to Support Jihad that most reading material on the subject is in Arabic.
Written works
44 Ways to Support Jihad: Essay (January 2009). In it, al-Awlaki states that "The hatred of kuffar is a central element of our military creed" and that all Muslims are obligated to participate in jihad, either by committing the acts themselves or supporting others who do so. He says all Muslims must remain physically fit so as to be prepared for conflict. According to U.S. officials, it is considered a key text for al-Qaeda members.
Al-Awlaki wrote for Jihad Recollections, an English language online publication published by Al-Fursan Media.
Allah is Preparing Us for Victory – short book (2009).
Lectures
Lectures on the book Constants on the Path of Jihad by Yusef al-Ayeri—concerns leaderless jihad.
In 2009, the UK government found 1,910 of his videos had been posted to YouTube. One of them had been viewed 164,420 times.
The Battle of Hearts and Minds The Dust Will Never Settle Down Dreams & Interpretations The Hereafter—16 CDs—Al Basheer Productions
Life of Muhammad: Makkan Period—16 CDs—Al Basheer Productions
Life of Muhammad: Medinan Period—Lecture in 2 Parts—18 CDs—Al Basheer Productions
Lives of the Prophets (AS)—16 CDs—Al Basheer Productions
Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (RA): His Life & Times—15 CDs—Al Basheer Productions
Umar ibn al-Khattāb (RA): His Life & Times—18 CDs—Al Basheer Productions
25 Promises from Allah to the Believer—2 CDs—Noor Productions
Companions of the Ditch & Lessons from the Life of Musa (AS)—2 CDs—Noor Productions
Remembrance of Allah & the Greatest Ayah—2 CDs—Noor Productions
Stories from Hadith—4 CDs—Center for Islamic Information and Education ("CIIE")
Hellfire & The Day of Judgment—CD—CIIE
Quest for Truth: The Story of Salman Al-Farsi (RA)—CD—CIIE
Trials & Lessons for Muslim Minorities—CD—CIIE
Young Ayesha (RA) & Mothers of the Believers (RA)—CD—CIIE
Understanding the Quran—CD—CIIE
Lessons from the Companions (RA) Living as a Minority—CD—CIIE
Virtues of the Sahabah—video lecture series promoted by the al-Wasatiyyah Foundation
Website
Al-Awlaki maintained a website and blog on which he shared his views. On December 11, 2008, he said Muslims should not seek to "serve in the armies of the disbelievers and fight against his brothers".
In "44 Ways to Support Jihad", posted on his blog in February 2009, al-Awlaki encouraged others to "fight jihad", and explained how to give money to the mujahideen or their families. Al-Awlaki's sermon encourages others to conduct weapons training, and raise children "on the love of Jihad". Also that month, he wrote: "I pray that Allah destroys America and all its allies." He wrote as well: "We will implement the rule of Allah on Earth by the tip of the sword, whether the masses like it or not." On July 14, he said that Muslim countries should not offer military assistance to the US. "The blame should be placed on the soldier who is willing to follow orders ... who sells his religion for a few dollars," he said. In blog post dated July 15, 2009, entitled "Fighting Against Government Armies in the Muslim World", al-Awlaki wrote, "Blessed are those who fight against [American soldiers], and blessed are those shuhada [martyrs] who are killed by them."
In a video posted to the internet on November 8, 2010, al-Awlaki called for Muslims to kill Americans "without hesitation", and overthrow Arab governments that cooperate with the US. "Don't consult with anyone in fighting the Americans, fighting the devil doesn't require consultation or prayers or seeking divine guidance. They are the party of the devils", al-Awlaki said. That month, Intelligence Research Specialist Kevin Yorke of the New York Police Department's Counterterrorism Division called him "the most dangerous man in the world".
See also
Church Committee
Executive Order 12333
Extrajudicial killing
International counter-terrorism activities of the CIA
Protocol I
References
Further reading
al-Ashanti, AbdulHaq and Sloan, Abu Ameenah AbdurRahman. (2011) A Critique of the Methodology of Anwar al-Awlaki and his Errors in the Fiqh of Jihad. London: Jamiah Media, 2011
External links
Ruling of Judge Bates in Al Aulaqi v Obama
Statements
Interviews
"Exclusive; Ray Suarez: My Post-9/11 Interview With Anwar al-Awlaki", PBS, October 30, 2001
"Al-Jazeera Satellite Network Interview with Yemeni-American Cleric Shaykh Anwar al-Awlaki Regarding his Alleged Role in Radicalizing Maj. Malik Nidal Hasan", The NEFA Foundation, December 24, 2009
Media coverage
The imam's very curious story: A skirt-chasing mullah is just one more mystery for the 9/11 panel, Ragavan, Chitra, US News and World Report'', June 13, 2004
DBI.gov
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United States military killing of American civilians | true | [
"Clifford Brown MBE (22 July 1916 – 16 December 1993) was a British television editor and director who became the second European Broadcasting Union (EBU) head of the Eurovision Song Contest serving as supervising director of the show from 1966 to 1977.\n\nBrown was born in 1916 in Inverness, Scotland, after joining the army he started working for Scottish Television and ITV. In 1966, he was appointed to be director for the Eurovision Song Contest and moved to Geneva to work at the EBU.\n\nOver his tenure the song contest grew from one hosted in hotel ballrooms to an event filling large concert halls. It also became too expensive for smaller countries to host and after winning both Monaco and Luxembourg declined hosting. His era also saw the introduction of the douze points voting system that has become the Eurovision standard.\n\nWhile serving as head of Eurovision he appeared on the broadcasts as the adjudicator and scrutineer of the voting. In 1969 when the Contest was held in Spain there was a four-way tie between France, Spain, UK and the Netherlands. Before the show the presenter (Laura Valenzuela) had asked Brown what would happen if there was a tie, his reply was \"Madam, that never happened before, and that's never going to happen\", as noted in The Eurovision Song Contest — The Official History by author and historian John Kennedy O'Connor, Brown admitted in a BBC documentary in 1992 that the result caused disgust among many people, not least the Scandinavian countries.\n\nBrown stepped down as scrutineer in 1977 and was awarded the MBE award in 1990. He died in December 1993 after a period of ill health.\n\nReferences\n\n1916 births\n1993 deaths\nPeople from Inverness\nScottish television directors\nEurovision Song Contest people\nMembers of the Order of the British Empire\nBritish Army personnel of World War II",
"\"What's Going On\" is a song by American singer-songwriter Marvin Gaye, released in 1971 on the Motown subsidiary Tamla. Originally inspired by a police brutality incident witnessed by Renaldo \"Obie\" Benson, the song was composed by Benson, Al Cleveland, and Gaye and produced by Gaye himself. The song marked Gaye's departure from the Motown Sound towards more personal material. Later topping the Hot Soul Singles chart for five weeks and crossing over to number two on the Billboard Hot 100, it would sell over two million copies, becoming Gaye's second-most successful Motown song to date. It was ranked at number 4 in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of all Time in 2004 and 2010.\n\nInspiration and writing\nThe song's inspiration came from Renaldo \"Obie\" Benson, a member of the Motown vocal group the Four Tops, after he and the group's tour bus arrived at Berkeley on May 15, 1969. While there, Benson witnessed police brutality and violence in the city's People's Park during a protest held by anti-war activists in what was hailed later as \"Bloody Thursday\". Upset by the situation, Benson said to author Ben Edmonds that as he saw this, he asked, \"'What is happening here?' One question led to another. Why are they sending kids so far away from their families overseas? Why are they attacking their own children in the streets?\"\n\nUpset, he discussed what he witnessed with friend and songwriter Al Cleveland, who in turn wrote and composed a song to reflect Benson's concerns. Benson wanted to give the song to his group but the other Four Tops turned down the request. \"My partners told me it was a protest song\", Benson said later, \"I said 'no man, it's a love song, about love and understanding. I'm not protesting, I want to know what's going on.'\" In 1970, Benson presented the untitled song to Marvin Gaye, who added a new melody and revised the song to his liking, adding in his own lyrics. Benson later said Gaye tweaked and enriched the song, \"added some things that were more ghetto, more natural, which made it seem like a story than a song... we measured him for the suit and he tailored the hell out of it.\" Gaye titled it \"What's Going On\". When Gaye initially thought the song's moody feel would be appropriate to be recorded by The Originals, Benson convinced Gaye to record it as his own song.\n\nGaye, himself, had been inspired by social ills committed in the United States, citing the 1965 Watts Riot as a turning point in his life in which he asked himself, \"'With the world exploding around me, how am I supposed to keep singing love songs?'\" Gaye was also influenced by emotional conversations shared between him and his brother Frankie, who had returned from three years of service at the Vietnam War and his namesake cousin's death while serving troops. During phone conversations with Berry Gordy, who was vacationing in the Bahamas at the time, Gaye had told Gordy that he wanted to record a protest record, to which Gordy said in response, \"Marvin, don't be ridiculous. That's taking things too far.\"\n\nRecording\nGaye entered the recording studio, Hitsville USA, on June 1, 1970, to record \"What's Going On\". Instead of relying on other producers to help him with the song, Gaye, inspired by recent successes of his productions for the vocal act, the Originals, decided to produce the song himself, mixing up original Motown in-house studio musicians such as James Jamerson and Eddie Brown with musicians he recruited himself. The opening soprano saxophone line, provided by musician Eli Fontaine, was not originally intended. Once Gaye heard Fontaine's riff, he told Fontaine to go home. When Fontaine protested that he was just \"goofing around\", Gaye replied \"you goof off exquisitely, thank you.\" The laid-back atmosphere in the studio was brought on by constant marijuana smoking by Gaye and other musicians.\n\nJamerson was pulled into the session after Gaye located him playing with a band at a local bar. Respected Motown arranger and conductor David Van De Pitte said later to Ben Edmonds that Jamerson \"always kept a bottle of [the Greek spirit] Metaxa in his bass case. He could really put that stuff away, and then sit down and still be able to play. His tolerance was incredible. It took a hell a lot to get him smashed.\" The night Jamerson entered the studio to record the bass lines to the song, Jamerson could not sit properly in his seat and, according to one of the members of the Funk Brothers, lay on the floor playing his bass riffs. De Pitte recalled that it was a track that Jamerson greatly respected: \"On 'What's Going On' though, he just read the [bass] part down like I wrote it. He loved it because I had written Jamerson licks for Jamerson.\" Annie Jamerson recalls that when he returned home that night, he declared that the song they had been working on was a \"masterpiece\", one of the few occasions where he had discussed his work so passionately with her. Gaye also added his own instrumentation, playing piano and keyboards while also playing a box drum to help accentuate Chet Forest's drumming.\n\nTo add more to the song's laid-back approach, Gaye invited the Detroit Lions players Mel Farr and Lem Barney to Motown Studio B and, along with Gaye and the Funk Brothers, added in vocal chatter, engaging in a mock conversation. Musician and songwriter Elgie Stover, who later served as a caterer for Bill Clinton and was then a Motown staffer and confidante of Gaye's, was the man who opened the song's track with the words, \"hey, man, what's happening?\" and \"everything is everything\". Later Gaye brought Lem Barney and Mel Farr as well as Bobby Rogers of the Miracles to record the song's background vocal track. The rhythm tracks and the song's overdubs were done at Hitsville, while strings, horns, lead and background vocals were recorded at Studio B. The song was mixed in stereo at Motown Center studio on Woodward Avenue.\n\nOn hearing a playback of the song, Gaye asked his engineer Kenneth Sands to give him his two vocal leads to compare what he wanted to use for the song's release. Sands ended up mixing the leads together, by accident. However, when he heard it, Gaye was so impressed with the double-lead feel that he kept it, influencing his later recordings in which he mastered vocal multi-layering adding in three different vocal parts. Before presenting the song to Gordy, he produced a false fade to the song, bringing the song back for a few seconds after it was initially to have ended. The song was also notable for its use of major seventh and minor seventh chords, which was uncommon at the time. Gaye recorded the song's B-side, \"God Is Love\", on the same day.\n\nAfter Gordy heard the song when Gaye presented it to him in California, he turned down Gaye's request to release it, telling Gaye that he felt it was \"the worst thing I ever heard in my life.\" When Harry Balk requested the song to be released, Gordy told him the song featured \"that Dizzy Gillespie stuff in the middle, that scatting, it's old.\" Gaye responded to this rejection by refusing to record further unless the song was released, going on strike until, he felt, Gordy saw sense in releasing it.\n\nCommercial performance\nAnxious for Marvin Gaye product, Balk got Motown's sales vice president Barney Ales to release the song on January 17, 1971, pressing 100,000 copies and promoting the single to radio stations across the country. The initial success of this led to a further 100,000 to answer demand, selling over 200,000 copies within a week. Though it was issued without Gordy's knowledge, he was satisfied with the high-volume sales. The song eventually became a huge success, reaching the top of the charts within a month in March of the year, staying at number one for five weeks on the Billboard R&B charts and one week at number one on the Cashbox pop chart. On the Billboard Hot 100, it reached number two, behind both \"Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)\" by the Temptations and \"Joy to the World\" by Three Dog Night. Billboard ranked it as the No. 21 song for 1971. The song eventually sold more than two million copies, becoming the fastest-selling Motown single at the time. The song's success forced Gordy to allow Gaye to produce his own music, giving him an ultimatum to complete an album by the end of March, later resulting in the What's Going On album itself.\n\nCritical reception and legacy\nThe song was reviewed by Slant magazine as a song that presented a contradictory sound, with the song's mournful tone going in contrast to the party atmosphere of the vocal chatter. In reviewing the What's Going On album, Rolling Stone critic Vince Aletti stated that while the song's lyrics were \"hardly brilliant\", the song itself helped to set the mood for the rest of the album, and that \"without overreaching they capture a certain aching dissatisfaction that is part of the album's mood.\"\n\n\"What's Going On\" was nominated for two Grammy Awards in 1972 including Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s), but failed to win in any of the categories.\n\nIn 2004 and 2010, \"What's Going On\" was ranked number 4 on the Rolling Stone list of \"The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time\", making it the highest Marvin Gaye song on the list. It was ranked number 6 in Rolling Stone's 2021 edition of the list. In 2016, it was voted number 2 in \"Detroit's 100 Greatest Songs\", a project based on voting by music experts and the public, conducted by the Detroit Free Press.\n\nIn 1999, music writers Paul Gambaccini and Kevin Howlett listed the song number 74 on BBC Radio 2's Songs of the Century. In 2003, Q magazine placed the song 64th out of its 1001 Best Songs Ever. In 2004, the Detroit publication Metro Times named it the \"Greatest Detroit Song of All Time\" out of 100 songs on the list. It also reached number 14 on VH1's 100 Greatest Rock Songs of All Time. In March 2012, New Musical Express named it the number 33 Greatest 1970s song on their list.\n\nThe song topped Detroit's Metro Times list of the 100 Greatest Detroit Songs of All Time, and in 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked it the fourth-greatest song of all time; in its updated 2011 list, the song remained at that position. It is included in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll list, along with two other songs by the singer. It was also listed at number fourteen on VH-1's 100 Greatest Rock Songs.\n\nCharts\n\nWeekly charts\n\nYear-end charts\n\nCertifications\n\nAccolades\n\nPersonnel\n Marvin Gaye – lead and backing vocals, piano and box drum \n Backing vocals by Marvin Gaye, Mel Farr, Lem Barney, Elgie Stover, Kenneth Stover, Bobby Rogers, and the Funk Brothers\n Instrumentation by the Funk Brothers and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra including:\nEli Fountain – alto saxophone\nRobert White – guitar\nJames Jamerson – bass\nChet Forest – drums\nEddie \"Bongo\" Brown – bongos, congas\nJack Ashford – tambourine, percussion\nProduction\n Marvin Gaye – producer, composer\n Renaldo \"Obie\" Benson – composer\n Al Cleveland – composer\n David Van De Pitte – arranger\n Steve Smith – recording engineer\n Mike McLean – recording engineer\n Ken Sands – recording and mix engineer\n\nCyndi Lauper version\n\nCyndi Lauper covered \"What's Going On\" on her second album, True Colors, in 1986. In March 1987, it was released as the third single from the album. On the album version, the song starts off with a series of gunshots in reference to the Vietnam War while the single release is a remix with an alternate vocal used in the intro. It is the single version that most often appears on Lauper compilations. Lauper's cover was a modest hit worldwide. Thanks to club remixes by Shep Pettibone, the song reached number 17 on the U.S. dance chart. However, the song failed to reach the US top ten unlike Lauper's previous two singles from her True Colors album including the title track and \"Change of Heart\", reaching number 12. The video for the song, directed by Andy Morahan, was nominated for an MTV Video Music Award.\n\nChart performance\n\nTrack listing\n7\"\n\"What's Going On\" (Single Version) - 3:51\n\"One Track Mind\" - 3:39\n\n12\"\n\"What's Going On\" (club version) – 6:20 \n\"What's Going On\" (long version) – 6:22 \n\"What's Going On\" (instrumental) – 6:25 \n\"One Track Mind\" – 3:39\n\nOfficial versions\nAlbum version – 4:39\nClub version – 6:30\nInstrumental – 6:25\nLong version – 6:22\nSpecial version – 3:51\n\nCharity versions\n\nLive Aid Armenia cover\n\nThe remake of \"What's Going On\" was the first of the Rock Aid Armenia releases in aid of those suffering from the 1988 Armenian earthquake. The version credited to Live Aid Armenia featured Aswad, Errol Brown, Richard Darbyshire, Gail Ann Dorsey, Boy George, David Gilmour, Nick Heyward, Mykaell S. Riley, Labi Siffre, Helen Terry, Ruby Turner, Elizabeth Westwood and the Reggae Philharmonic Orchestra. The B-side was \"A Cool Wind Is Blowing\", Armenian duduk music played by Djivan Gasparyan. The record was produced by Steve Levine and the executive producers were Fraser Kennedy and Jon Dee. This was released as a single on Island Records.\n\nTrack listings\n7\" Single\n What's Going On - 8:48\n\n12\" Single\n What's Going On - 8:48\n\nMusic Relief '94\n\nIn 1994, the song was covered in the Music Relief '94. This cover was released as a benefit single released in memory of the Rwandan genocide and is also on the album Now That's What I Call Music! 29 to find. All singers who participated in the project are: C. J. Lewis, Andrew Roachford, Yazz, Aswad, Edwin Starr, Peter Cunnah of D Ream, Kim Appleby, MAD Jones of BAD, Rozalla, Tony Di Bart, Paul Young, Paul Carrack, Angie Brown of Ramona 55, Jimmy Ruffin, Omar Lye-Fook, Apache Indian, Worlds Apart, Kaos, The Pasadenas, Gus Isidore, Jools Holland, Mark King of Level 42, Nik Kershaw, Larry Adler and Dannii Minogue.\n\nTrack listings\nCD-Maxi\n What's Going On - 3:52\n\nCharts\n\nArtists Against AIDS Worldwide cover\n\nOn October 30, 2001, a group of popular recording artists under the name \"Artists Against AIDS Worldwide\" released a single containing multiple versions of \"What's Going On\" to benefit AIDS programs in Africa and other impoverished regions. The single contains \"What's Going On\" along with eight additional remixes. The song was recorded shortly before the September 11, 2001 attacks, and it was decided afterwards that a portion of the song's proceeds would benefit the American Red Cross' September 11 fund as well.\n\nJermaine Dupri and Bono produced the radio single version, whose performers included Destiny's Child, Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, NSYNC, Darren Hayes of Savage Garden, Jennifer Lopez, Ja Rule, Nas, Lil' Kim, Sean Combs, Mary J Blige, Alicia Keys, Eve, Gwen Stefani, Nelly Furtado, Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit, Aaron Lewis of Staind, Michael Stipe of R.E.M., Wyclef Jean and Gaye's own daughter Nona, among other artists.\n\nThe collaboration was a success worldwide, peaking within the top 10 on the charts of Denmark, Ireland, and the United Kingdom and the top 20 on the charts of Flanders, Ireland, New Zealand, Sweden and Switzerland. In New Zealand, it went Gold for selling over 5,000 units. On the US Billboard Hot 100, the cover peaked at number 27, and it additionally reached number 24 on both the Billboard Mainstream Top 40 and Rhythmic charts. A music video was directed by Jake Scott.\n\nTrack listings\nUS maxi-CD single\n \"What's Going On\" (Dupri original mix)\n \"What's Going On\" (The London version)\n \"What's Going On\" (Moby's version)\n \"What's Going On\" (Fred Durst's Reality Check Mix)\n \"What's Going On\" (Mangini/Pop Rox Mix)\n \"What's Going On\" (Mick Guzauski's Pop Mix)\n \"What's Going On\" (Dupri R&B Mix)\n \"What's Going On\" (The Neptunes This One's for You Mix)\n \"What's Going On\" (Junior Vasquez's Club Mix)\n\nUK CD single\n \"What's Going On\" (Dupri original mix) – 4:19\n \"What's Going On\" (Fred Durst's Reality Check Mix) – 5:14\n \"What's Going On\" (The London version) – 3:55\n\nUK cassette single\n \"What's Going On\" (Dupri original mix) – 4:19\n \"What's Going On\" (Moby's version) – 4:36\n\nEuropean CD single\n \"What's Going On\" (Dupri original mix)\n \"What's Going On\" (Fred Durst's Reality Check Mix)\n\nCharts\n\nWeekly charts\n\nYear-end charts\n\nCertifications\n\nRelease history\n\nOther notable cover versions\nChaka Khan performed a version of the song with the Funk Brothers on the documentary, Standing in the Shadows of Motown, in 2002. The performance resulted in a win at the 45th annual Grammy awards for Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance.\n\nSee also\n List of anti-war songs\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Marvin Gaye's \"What's Going On\": Songs We Love at NPR\n List of cover versions of \"What's Going On\" at SecondHandSongs.com\n\n1970 songs\n1971 singles\n1987 singles\n1989 singles\n1994 singles\n2001 singles\nAnti-war songs\nA Perfect Circle songs\nCashbox number-one singles\nCharity singles\nCharity singles following the September 11 attacks\nChristina Aguilera songs\nCivil rights movement in popular culture\nColumbia Records singles\nCyndi Lauper songs\nDarren Hayes songs\nDestiny's Child songs\nEpic Records singles\nEve (rapper) songs\nFunk ballads\nGrammy Award for Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance\nGwen Stefani songs\nLil' Kim songs\nMarvin Gaye songs\nMotown singles\nMusic videos directed by Andy Morahan\nMusic videos directed by Jake Scott (director)\nNas songs\nNelly Furtado songs\nProtest songs\nSean Combs songs\nSongs against racism and xenophobia\nSongs of the Vietnam War\nSongs written by Al Cleveland\nSongs written by Marvin Gaye\nSongs written by Renaldo Benson\nSoul ballads\nSong recordings produced by Marvin Gaye\nSong recordings produced by Steve Levine\nTamla Records singles\nVirgin Records singles"
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"Anwar Nasser al-Awlaki (also spelled al-Aulaqi, al-Awlaqi; ; April 21 or 22, 1971 – September 30, 2011) was a Yemeni-American imam who was killed in 2011 in Yemen by an American drone strike ordered by President Barack Obama. Al-Awlaki became the first U.S. citizen to be targeted and killed by a U.S. drone strike without the rights of due process being afforded.",
"Al-Awlaki became the first U.S. citizen to be targeted and killed by a U.S. drone strike without the rights of due process being afforded. US government officials argued that Awlaki was a key organizer for the Islamist terrorist group al-Qaeda, and in June 2014, a previously classified memorandum issued by the U.S. Department of Justice was released, justifying al-Awlaki's death as a lawful act of war. Civil liberties advocates have described the incident as \"an extrajudicial execution\" that breached al-Awlaki's right to due process, including a trial.",
"Civil liberties advocates have described the incident as \"an extrajudicial execution\" that breached al-Awlaki's right to due process, including a trial. Al-Awlaki was born in Las Cruces, New Mexico, in 1971 to parents from Yemen. Growing up partially in the United States and partially in Yemen, he attended various universities across the United States in the 1990s and early 2000s while also working as an imam, despite having no religious qualifications and almost no religious education.",
"Growing up partially in the United States and partially in Yemen, he attended various universities across the United States in the 1990s and early 2000s while also working as an imam, despite having no religious qualifications and almost no religious education. Al-Awlaki returned to Yemen in early 2004 and became a university lecturer after a brief stint as a public speaker in the United Kingdom. He was detained by Yemeni authorities in 2006, where he spent 18 months in prison before being released without facing trial.",
"He was detained by Yemeni authorities in 2006, where he spent 18 months in prison before being released without facing trial. Following his release, Al-Awlaki's message started to become overtly supportive of violence, as he condemned United States foreign policy against Muslims. The Yemeni government tried him in absentia in November 2010, for plotting to kill foreigners and being a member of al-Qaeda. A Yemeni judge ordered that he be captured \"dead or alive\".",
"A Yemeni judge ordered that he be captured \"dead or alive\". U.S. officials said that in 2009, al-Awlaki was promoted to the rank of \"regional commander\" within al-Qaeda, although they described his role as more \"inspirational\" than \"operational.\" He repeatedly called for jihad against the United States. In April 2010, al-Awlaki was placed on a CIA kill list by President Barack Obama due to his alleged terrorist activities. Al-Awlaki's father and civil rights groups challenged the order in court.",
"Al-Awlaki's father and civil rights groups challenged the order in court. Al-Awlaki was believed to be in hiding in southeast Yemen in the last years of his life. The U.S. deployed unmanned aircraft (drones) in Yemen to search for and kill him, firing at and failing to kill him at least once; he was successfully killed on September 30, 2011.",
"The U.S. deployed unmanned aircraft (drones) in Yemen to search for and kill him, firing at and failing to kill him at least once; he was successfully killed on September 30, 2011. Two weeks later, al-Awlaki's 16-year-old son, Abdulrahman al-Awlaki, a U.S. citizen who was born in Denver, Colorado, was also killed by a CIA-led drone strike in Yemen.",
"Two weeks later, al-Awlaki's 16-year-old son, Abdulrahman al-Awlaki, a U.S. citizen who was born in Denver, Colorado, was also killed by a CIA-led drone strike in Yemen. His daughter, 8-year old Nawar al-Awlaki, was killed during a raid against Al Qaeda ordered by President Donald Trump in 2017.<ref name=\"uk.reuters.com\">Ghobari, Mohammed and Phil Stewart. \"Commando dies in U.S. raid in Yemen, first military op OK'd by Trump\", Reuters, January 29, 2017.",
"\"Commando dies in U.S. raid in Yemen, first military op OK'd by Trump\", Reuters, January 29, 2017. Retrieved January 29, 2017.</ref> The New York Times wrote in 2015 that al-Awlaki's public statements and videos have been more influential in inspiring acts of Islamic terrorism in the wake of his killing than before his death.",
"Retrieved January 29, 2017.</ref> The New York Times wrote in 2015 that al-Awlaki's public statements and videos have been more influential in inspiring acts of Islamic terrorism in the wake of his killing than before his death. Early life Al-Awlaki was born in Las Cruces, New Mexico, in 1971 to parents from Yemen, while his father, Nasser al-Awlaki, was doing graduate work at U.S. universities.",
"Early life Al-Awlaki was born in Las Cruces, New Mexico, in 1971 to parents from Yemen, while his father, Nasser al-Awlaki, was doing graduate work at U.S. universities. His father was a Fulbright Scholar who earned a master's degree in agricultural economics at New Mexico State University in 1971, received a doctorate at the University of Nebraska, and worked at the University of Minnesota from 1975 to 1977. Nasser al-Awlaki served as Agriculture Minister in Ali Abdullah Saleh's government. He was also President of Sana'a University.",
"He was also President of Sana'a University. He was also President of Sana'a University. Yemen's prime minister from 2007 to 2011, Ali Mohammed Mujur, was a relative. The family returned to Yemen in 1978, when al-Awlaki was seven years old. He lived there for 11 years, and studied at Azal Modern School. Life in the United States 1990–2002 Education In 1991, al-Awlaki returned to the U.S. to attend college. He earned a B.S.",
"He earned a B.S. He earned a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Colorado State University (1994), where he was president of the Muslim Student Association. In 1993, while still a college student in Colorado State's civil engineering program, al-Awlaki visited Afghanistan in the aftermath of the Soviet occupation. He spent some time training with the mujahideen who had fought the Soviets.",
"He spent some time training with the mujahideen who had fought the Soviets. He was depressed by the country's poverty and hunger, and \"wouldn't have gone with al-Qaeda,\" according to friends from Colorado State, who said he was profoundly affected by the trip. Mullah Mohammed Omar did not form the Taliban until 1994. When Al-Awlaki returned to campus, he showed increased interest in religion and politics. Al-Awlaki studied Education Leadership at San Diego State University, but did not complete his degree.",
"Al-Awlaki studied Education Leadership at San Diego State University, but did not complete his degree. He worked on a doctorate in Human Resource Development at The George Washington University Graduate School of Education and Human Development from January to December 2001. Time as imam In 1994, al-Awlaki married a cousin from Yemen, and began service as a part-time imam of the Denver Islamic Society. In 1996, he was chastised by an elder for encouraging a Saudi student to fight in Chechnya against the Russians.",
"In 1996, he was chastised by an elder for encouraging a Saudi student to fight in Chechnya against the Russians. He left Denver soon after, moving to San Diego. From 1996 to 2000, al-Awlaki was imam of the Masjid Ar-Ribat al-Islami mosque in San Diego, California, where he had a following of 200–300 people. U.S. officials later alleged that Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar, hijackers of American Airlines Flight 77, attended his sermons and personally met him during this period.",
"U.S. officials later alleged that Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar, hijackers of American Airlines Flight 77, attended his sermons and personally met him during this period. Hazmi later lived in Northern Virginia and attended al-Awlaki's mosque there. The 9/11 Commission Report said that the hijackers \"reportedly respected [al-Awlaki] as a religious figure\". While in San Diego, al-Awlaki volunteered with youth organizations, fished, discussed his travels with friends, and created a popular and lucrative series of recorded lectures.",
"While in San Diego, al-Awlaki volunteered with youth organizations, fished, discussed his travels with friends, and created a popular and lucrative series of recorded lectures. In August 1996 and in April 1997, al-Awlaki was arrested in San Diego and charged with soliciting prostitutes. The first time, in 1996, he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and was fined $400 and required to attend informational sessions about AIDS.",
"The first time, in 1996, he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and was fined $400 and required to attend informational sessions about AIDS. The second time, in 1997, he pleaded guilty and was fined $240, ordered to perform 12 days of community service, and received three years' probation. From November 2001 to January 2002 the FBI observed him visiting a number of prostitutes, and interviewed them, establishing that he had paid for sex acts. No prosecution was brought.",
"No prosecution was brought. No prosecution was brought. In 1998 and 1999, he served as vice-president for the Charitable Society for Social Welfare. In 2004, the FBI described this group as a \"front organization to funnel money to terrorists\". Although the FBI investigated al-Awlaki from June 1999 through March 2000 for possible links to Hamas, the Bin Laden contact Ziyad Khaleel, and a visit by an associate of Omar Abdel Rahman, it did not find sufficient evidence for a criminal prosecution.",
"Although the FBI investigated al-Awlaki from June 1999 through March 2000 for possible links to Hamas, the Bin Laden contact Ziyad Khaleel, and a visit by an associate of Omar Abdel Rahman, it did not find sufficient evidence for a criminal prosecution. Al-Awlaki told reporters that he resigned from leading the San Diego mosque \"after an uneventful four years,\" and took a brief sabbatical, traveling overseas to various countries. In January 2001, al-Awlaki returned to the U.S., settling in the Washington metropolitan area.",
"In January 2001, al-Awlaki returned to the U.S., settling in the Washington metropolitan area. There, he was imam at the Dar al-Hijrah mosque near Falls Church, Virginia, and his services were attended by Nawaf al-Hazmi and a third hijacker, Hani Hanjour. He led academic discussions frequented by FBI Director of Counter-Intelligence for the Middle East Gordon M. Snow. Al-Awlaki also served as the Muslim chaplain at George Washington University, where he was hired by Esam Omeish.",
"Al-Awlaki also served as the Muslim chaplain at George Washington University, where he was hired by Esam Omeish. Omeish said in 2004 that he was convinced that al-Awlaki was not involved in terrorism. His proficiency as a public speaker and command of the English language helped him attract followers who did not speak Arabic. \"He was the magic bullet\", according to the mosque spokesman Johari Abdul-Malik. \"He had everything all in a box.\" \"He had an allure. He was charming.\"",
"\"He had an allure. He was charming.\" He was charming.\" When police investigating the 9/11 attacks raided the Hamburg apartment of Ramzi bin al-Shibh, they found the telephone number of al-Awlaki among bin al-Shibh's personal contacts. The FBI interviewed al-Awlaki four times in the eight days following the 9/11 attacks. One detective later told the 9/11 Commission he believed al-Awlaki \"was at the center of the 9/11 story\".",
"One detective later told the 9/11 Commission he believed al-Awlaki \"was at the center of the 9/11 story\". And an FBI agent said, \"if anyone had knowledge of the plot, it would have been\" him, since \"someone had to be in the U.S. and keep the hijackers spiritually focused\". One 9/11 Commission staff member said: \"Do I think he played a role in helping the hijackers here, knowing they were up to something? Yes.",
"Yes. Yes. Do I think he was sent here for that purpose? I have no evidence for it.\" A separate Congressional Joint Inquiry into the 9/11 attacks suggested that al-Awlaki may have been connected to the hijackers, according to its director, Eleanor Hill. In 2003, Representative Anna Eshoo, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said, \"In my view, he is more than a coincidental figure.\"",
"In 2003, Representative Anna Eshoo, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said, \"In my view, he is more than a coincidental figure.\" Six days after the 9/11 attacks, al-Awlaki suggested in writing on the IslamOnline.net website that Israeli intelligence agents might have been responsible for the attacks, and that the FBI \"went into the roster of the airplanes, and whoever has a Muslim or Arab name became the hijacker by default\".",
"Six days after the 9/11 attacks, al-Awlaki suggested in writing on the IslamOnline.net website that Israeli intelligence agents might have been responsible for the attacks, and that the FBI \"went into the roster of the airplanes, and whoever has a Muslim or Arab name became the hijacker by default\". Soon after the 9/11 attacks, al-Awlaki was sought in Washington, D.C., by the media to answer questions about Islam, its rituals, and its relation to the attacks.",
"Soon after the 9/11 attacks, al-Awlaki was sought in Washington, D.C., by the media to answer questions about Islam, its rituals, and its relation to the attacks. He was interviewed by National Geographic, The New York Times, and other media. Al-Awlaki condemned the attacks. According to an NPR report in 2010, in 2001 al-Awlaki appeared to be a moderate who could \"bridge the gap between the United States and the worldwide community of Muslims.\"",
"According to an NPR report in 2010, in 2001 al-Awlaki appeared to be a moderate who could \"bridge the gap between the United States and the worldwide community of Muslims.\" The New York Times said at the time that he was \"held up as a new generation of Muslim leader capable of merging East and West.\" In 2010, Fox News and the New York Daily News reported that some months after the 9/11 attacks, a Pentagon employee invited al-Awlaki to a luncheon in the Secretary's Office of General Counsel.",
"In 2010, Fox News and the New York Daily News reported that some months after the 9/11 attacks, a Pentagon employee invited al-Awlaki to a luncheon in the Secretary's Office of General Counsel. The U.S. Secretary of the Army had suggested that a moderate Muslim be invited to give a talk. In 2002, al-Awlaki was the first imam to conduct a prayer service for the Congressional Muslim Staffer Association at the U.S. Capitol. That year, Nidal Hasan visited al-Awlaki's mosque for his mother's funeral, at which al-Awlaki presided.",
"That year, Nidal Hasan visited al-Awlaki's mosque for his mother's funeral, at which al-Awlaki presided. In November 2009, Hasan killed 13 and wounded 32 in the Fort Hood shooting. Hasan usually attended a mosque in Maryland closer to where he lived while working at the Walter Reed Medical Center (2003–09). Later in 2002, al-Awlaki posted an essay in Arabic on the Islam Today website titled \"Why Muslims Love Death\", lauding the fervor of Palestinian suicide bombers.",
"Later in 2002, al-Awlaki posted an essay in Arabic on the Islam Today website titled \"Why Muslims Love Death\", lauding the fervor of Palestinian suicide bombers. He expressed a similar opinion in a speech at a London mosque later that year. By July 2002, al-Awlaki was under investigation in the United States for having received money from the subject of a U.S. Joint Terrorism Task Force investigation. His name was added to the list of terrorism suspects.",
"His name was added to the list of terrorism suspects. Passport fraud issues In June 2002, a Denver federal judge signed an arrest warrant for al-Awlaki for passport fraud. On October 9, the Denver U.S. Attorney's Office filed a motion to dismiss the complaint and vacate the arrest warrant. Prosecutors believed that they lacked sufficient evidence of a crime, according to U.S. Attorney Dave Gaouette, who authorized its withdrawal.",
"Prosecutors believed that they lacked sufficient evidence of a crime, according to U.S. Attorney Dave Gaouette, who authorized its withdrawal. Al-Awlaki had listed Yemen rather than the United States as his place of birth on his 1990 application for a U.S. Social Security number, soon after arriving in the US. Al-Awlaki used this documentation to obtain a passport in 1993. He later corrected his place of birth to Las Cruces, New Mexico.",
"He later corrected his place of birth to Las Cruces, New Mexico. \"The bizarre thing is if you put Yemen down (on the application), it would be harder to get a Social Security number than to say you are a native-born citizen of Las Cruces\", Gaouette said. Prosecutors could not charge him in October 2002, when he returned from a trip abroad, because a 10-year statute of limitations on lying to the Social Security Administration had expired.",
"Prosecutors could not charge him in October 2002, when he returned from a trip abroad, because a 10-year statute of limitations on lying to the Social Security Administration had expired. According to a 2012 investigative report by Fox News, the arrest warrant for passport fraud was still in effect on the morning of October 10, 2002, when FBI Agent Wade Ammerman ordered al-Awlaki's release. U.S.",
"U.S. U.S. Congressman Frank Wolf (R-VA) and several congressional committees urged FBI Director Robert Mueller to provide an explanation about the bureau's interactions with al-Awlaki, including why he was released from federal custody when there was an outstanding warrant for his arrest. The motion for rescinding the arrest warrant was approved by a magistrate judge on October 10 and filed on October 11.ABC News reported in 2009 that the Joint Terrorism Task Force in San Diego disagreed with the decision to cancel the warrant.",
"The motion for rescinding the arrest warrant was approved by a magistrate judge on October 10 and filed on October 11.ABC News reported in 2009 that the Joint Terrorism Task Force in San Diego disagreed with the decision to cancel the warrant. They were monitoring al-Awlaki and wanted to \"look at him under a microscope\".",
"They were monitoring al-Awlaki and wanted to \"look at him under a microscope\". But U.S. Attorney Gaouette said that no objection had been raised to the rescinding of the warrant during a meeting that included Ray Fournier, the San Diego federal diplomatic security agent whose allegation had set in motion the effort to obtain a warrant.",
"But U.S. Attorney Gaouette said that no objection had been raised to the rescinding of the warrant during a meeting that included Ray Fournier, the San Diego federal diplomatic security agent whose allegation had set in motion the effort to obtain a warrant. Gaouette said that if al-Awlaki had been convicted at the time, he would have faced about six months in custody.The New York Times suggested later that al-Awlaki had claimed birth in Yemen (his family's place of origin) to qualify for scholarship money granted to foreign citizens. U.S.",
"U.S. U.S. Congressman Frank R. Wolf (R-VA) wrote in May 2010 that by claiming to be foreign-born, al-Awlaki fraudulently obtained more than $20,000 in scholarship funds reserved for foreign students. While living in Northern Virginia, al-Awlaki visited Ali al-Timimi, later known as a radical Islamic cleric. Al-Timimi was convicted in 2005 and is now serving a life sentence for leading the Virginia Jihad Network, inciting Muslim followers to fight with the Taliban against the US.",
"Al-Timimi was convicted in 2005 and is now serving a life sentence for leading the Virginia Jihad Network, inciting Muslim followers to fight with the Taliban against the US. In the United Kingdom 2002–04 Al-Awlaki left the United States before the end of 2002, because of a \"climate of fear and intimidation\" according to Imam Johari Abdul-Malik of the Dar al-Hijrah mosque. He lived in the UK for several months, where he gave talks attended by up to 200 people.",
"He lived in the UK for several months, where he gave talks attended by up to 200 people. He urged young Muslim followers: \"The important lesson to learn here is never, ever trust a kuffar [disbeliever]. Do not trust them! [Their leaders] are plotting to kill this religion. They're plotting night and day.\" \"He was the main man who translated the jihad into English,\" said a student who attended his lectures in 2003.",
"\"He was the main man who translated the jihad into English,\" said a student who attended his lectures in 2003. He gave a series of lectures in December 2002 and January 2003 at the London Masjid al-Tawhid mosque, describing the rewards martyrs (Shahid) receive in paradise (Jannah). He began to gain supporters, particularly among young Muslims, and undertook a lecture tour of England and Scotland in 2002 in conjunction with the Muslim Association of Britain.",
"He began to gain supporters, particularly among young Muslims, and undertook a lecture tour of England and Scotland in 2002 in conjunction with the Muslim Association of Britain. He also lectured at \"ExpoIslamia\", an event held by Islamic Forum Europe. At the East London Mosque he told his audience: \"A Muslim is a brother of a Muslim... he does not betray him, and he does not hand him over... You don't hand over a Muslim to the enemies.\"",
"At the East London Mosque he told his audience: \"A Muslim is a brother of a Muslim... he does not betray him, and he does not hand him over... You don't hand over a Muslim to the enemies.\" In Britain's Parliament in 2003, Louise Ellman, MP for Liverpool Riverside, discussed the relationship between al-Awlaki and the Muslim Association of Britain, an alleged Muslim Brotherhood front organization founded by Kemal el-Helbawy, a senior member of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood.",
"In Britain's Parliament in 2003, Louise Ellman, MP for Liverpool Riverside, discussed the relationship between al-Awlaki and the Muslim Association of Britain, an alleged Muslim Brotherhood front organization founded by Kemal el-Helbawy, a senior member of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. Return to Yemen 2004–11 Al-Awlaki returned to Yemen in early 2004, where he lived in Shabwah Governorate with his wife and five children. He lectured at Iman University, headed by Abdul Majeed al-Zindani.",
"He lectured at Iman University, headed by Abdul Majeed al-Zindani. The latter has been included on the UN 1267 Committee's list of individuals belonging to or associated with al-Qaeda. Al-Zindani denied having any influence over al-Awlaki, or that he had been his \"direct teacher\". Some believe that the school's curriculum deals mostly, if not exclusively, with radical Islamic studies, and promotes radicalism. American convert John Walker Lindh and other alumni have been associated with terrorist groups.",
"American convert John Walker Lindh and other alumni have been associated with terrorist groups. On August 31, 2006, al-Awlaki was arrested with four others on charges of kidnapping a Shiite teenager for ransom, and participating in an al-Qaeda plot to kidnap a U.S. military attaché. He was imprisoned in 2006 and 2007. He was interviewed around September 2007 by two FBI agents with regard to the 9/11 attacks and other subjects. John Negroponte, the U.S. Director of National Intelligence, told Yemeni officials he did not object to al-Awlaki's detention.",
"John Negroponte, the U.S. Director of National Intelligence, told Yemeni officials he did not object to al-Awlaki's detention. His name was on a list of 100 prisoners whose release was sought by al-Qaeda-linked militants in Yemen. After 18 months in a Yemeni prison, al-Awlaki was released on December 12, 2007, following the intercession of his tribe. According to a Yemeni security official, he was released because he had repented. He moved to his family home in Saeed, a hamlet in the Shabwa mountains.",
"He moved to his family home in Saeed, a hamlet in the Shabwa mountains. Moazzam Begg's Cageprisoners, an organization representing former Guantanamo detainees, campaigned for al-Awlaki's release when he was in prison in Yemen. Al-Awlaki told Begg in an interview shortly after his release that prior to his incarceration in Yemen, he had condemned the 9/11 attacks. In December 2008, al-Awlaki sent a communique to the Somali terrorist group, al-Shabaab, congratulating them.",
"In December 2008, al-Awlaki sent a communique to the Somali terrorist group, al-Shabaab, congratulating them. Al-Awlaki provided al-Qaeda members in Yemen with the protection of his powerful tribe, the Awlakis, against the government. The tribal code required it to protect those who seek refuge and assistance. This imperative has greater force when the person is a member of the tribe or a tribesman's friend. The tribe's motto is \"We are the sparks of Hell; whoever interferes with us will be burned.\"",
"The tribe's motto is \"We are the sparks of Hell; whoever interferes with us will be burned.\" Al-Awlaki also reportedly helped negotiate deals with leaders of other tribes. Sought by Yemeni authorities who were investigating his al-Qaeda ties, al-Awlaki went into hiding in approximately March 2009, according to his father. By December 2009, al-Awlaki was on the Yemeni government's most-wanted list. He was believed to be hiding in Yemen's Shabwa or Mareb regions, which are part of the so-called \"triangle of evil\".",
"He was believed to be hiding in Yemen's Shabwa or Mareb regions, which are part of the so-called \"triangle of evil\". The area has attracted al-Qaeda militants, who seek refuge among local tribes unhappy with Yemen's central government. Yemeni sources originally said al-Awlaki might have been killed in a pre-dawn air strike by Yemeni Air Force fighter jets on a meeting of senior al-Qaeda leaders at a hideout in Rafd in eastern Shabwa, on December 24, 2009. But he survived.",
"But he survived. But he survived. Pravda reported that the planes, using Saudi and U.S. intelligence, killed at least 30 al-Qaeda members from Yemen and abroad, and that an al-Awlaki house was \"raided and demolished\". On December 28 The Washington Post reported that U.S. and Yemeni officials said that al-Awlaki had been present at the meeting. Abdul Elah al-Shaya, a Yemeni journalist, said al-Awlaki called him on December 28 to report that he was well and had not attended the al-Qaeda meeting.",
"Abdul Elah al-Shaya, a Yemeni journalist, said al-Awlaki called him on December 28 to report that he was well and had not attended the al-Qaeda meeting. Al-Shaya said that al-Awlaki was not tied to al-Qaeda. In March 2010, a tape featuring al-Awlaki was released in which he urged Muslims residing in the United States to attack their country of residence. Reaching out to the United Kingdom After 2006, al-Awlaki was banned from entering the United Kingdom.",
"Reaching out to the United Kingdom After 2006, al-Awlaki was banned from entering the United Kingdom. He broadcast lectures to mosques and other venues there via video-link from 2007 to 2009, on at least seven occasions at five locations in Britain. Noor Pro Media Events held a conference at the East London Mosque on January 1, 2009, showing a videotaped lecture by al-Awlaki; former Shadow Home Secretary Dominic Grieve expressed concern over his being featured.",
"Noor Pro Media Events held a conference at the East London Mosque on January 1, 2009, showing a videotaped lecture by al-Awlaki; former Shadow Home Secretary Dominic Grieve expressed concern over his being featured. He gave video-link talks in England to an Islamic student society at the University of Westminster in September 2008, an arts center in East London in April 2009 (after the Tower Hamlets council gave its approval), worshippers at the Al Huda Mosque in Bradford, and a dinner of the Cageprisoners organization in September 2008 at the Wandsworth Civic Centre in South London.",
"He gave video-link talks in England to an Islamic student society at the University of Westminster in September 2008, an arts center in East London in April 2009 (after the Tower Hamlets council gave its approval), worshippers at the Al Huda Mosque in Bradford, and a dinner of the Cageprisoners organization in September 2008 at the Wandsworth Civic Centre in South London. On August 23, 2009, al-Awlaki was banned by local authorities in Kensington and Chelsea, London, from speaking at Kensington Town Hall via videolink to a fundraiser dinner for Guantanamo detainees promoted by Cageprisoners.",
"On August 23, 2009, al-Awlaki was banned by local authorities in Kensington and Chelsea, London, from speaking at Kensington Town Hall via videolink to a fundraiser dinner for Guantanamo detainees promoted by Cageprisoners. His videos, which discuss his Islamist theories, have circulated across the United Kingdom. Until February 2010, hundreds of audio tapes of his sermons were available at the Tower Hamlets public libraries. In 2009, the London-based Islam Channel carried advertisements for his DVDs and at least two of his video conference lectures.",
"In 2009, the London-based Islam Channel carried advertisements for his DVDs and at least two of his video conference lectures. Other connections FBI agents identified al-Awlaki as a known, important \"senior recruiter for al Qaeda\", and a spiritual motivator. His name came up in a dozen terrorism plots in the US, UK, and Canada.",
"His name came up in a dozen terrorism plots in the US, UK, and Canada. The cases included suicide bombers in the 2005 London bombings, radical Islamic terrorists in the 2006 Toronto terrorism case, radical Islamic terrorists in the 2007 Fort Dix attack plot, the jihadist killer in the 2009 Little Rock military recruiting office shooting, and the 2010 Times Square bomber. In each case the suspects were devoted to al-Awlaki's message, which they listened to online and on CDs.",
"In each case the suspects were devoted to al-Awlaki's message, which they listened to online and on CDs. Al-Awlaki's recorded lectures were heard by Islamist fundamentalists in at least six terror cells in the UK through 2009. Michael Finton (Talib Islam), who attempted in September 2009 to bomb the Federal Building and the adjacent offices of Congressman Aaron Schock in Springfield, Illinois, admired al-Awlaki and quoted him on his Myspace page.",
"Michael Finton (Talib Islam), who attempted in September 2009 to bomb the Federal Building and the adjacent offices of Congressman Aaron Schock in Springfield, Illinois, admired al-Awlaki and quoted him on his Myspace page. In addition to his website, al-Awlaki had a Facebook fan page with \"fans\" in the US, many of whom were high school students. Al-Awlaki also set up a website and blog on which he shared his views.",
"Al-Awlaki also set up a website and blog on which he shared his views. Al-Awlaki influenced several other extremists to join terrorist organizations overseas and to carry out terrorist attacks in their home countries. Mohamed Alessa and Carlos Almonte, two American citizens from New Jersey who attempted to travel to Somalia in June 2010 to join the al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group Al Shabaab, allegedly watched several al-Awlaki videos and sermons in which he warned of future attacks against Americans in the United States and abroad.",
"Mohamed Alessa and Carlos Almonte, two American citizens from New Jersey who attempted to travel to Somalia in June 2010 to join the al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group Al Shabaab, allegedly watched several al-Awlaki videos and sermons in which he warned of future attacks against Americans in the United States and abroad. Zachary Chesser, an American citizen who was arrested for attempting to provide material support to Al Shabaab, told federal authorities that he watched online videos featuring al-Awlaki and that he exchanged several e-mails with al-Awlaki.",
"Zachary Chesser, an American citizen who was arrested for attempting to provide material support to Al Shabaab, told federal authorities that he watched online videos featuring al-Awlaki and that he exchanged several e-mails with al-Awlaki. In July 2010, Paul Rockwood was sentenced to eight years in prison for creating a list of 15 potential targets in the US, people he felt had desecrated Islam. Rockwood was a devoted follower of al-Awlaki, and had studied his works Constants on the Path to Jihad and 44 Ways to Jihad.",
"Rockwood was a devoted follower of al-Awlaki, and had studied his works Constants on the Path to Jihad and 44 Ways to Jihad. In October 2008, Charles Allen, U.S. Under-Secretary of Homeland Security for Intelligence and Analysis, warned that al-Awlaki \"targets U.S. Muslims with radical online lectures encouraging terrorist attacks from his new home in Yemen.\" Responding to Allen, al-Awlaki wrote on his website in December 2008: \"I would challenge him to come up with just one such lecture where I encourage 'terrorist attacks'\".",
"Responding to Allen, al-Awlaki wrote on his website in December 2008: \"I would challenge him to come up with just one such lecture where I encourage 'terrorist attacks'\". Fort Hood shooter Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan was investigated by the FBI after intelligence agencies intercepted at least 18 e-mails between him and al-Awlaki between December 2008 and June 2009.",
"Fort Hood shooter Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan was investigated by the FBI after intelligence agencies intercepted at least 18 e-mails between him and al-Awlaki between December 2008 and June 2009. Even before the contents of the e-mails were revealed, terrorism expert Jarret Brachman said that Hasan's contacts with al-Awlaki should have raised \"huge red flags\", because of his influence on radical English-speaking jihadis. Charles Allen, no longer in government, noted that there was no work-related reason for Hasan to be in touch with al-Awlaki.",
"Charles Allen, no longer in government, noted that there was no work-related reason for Hasan to be in touch with al-Awlaki. Former CIA officer Bruce Riedel opined: \"E-mailing a known al-Qaeda sympathizer should have set off alarm bells. Even if he was exchanging recipes, the bureau should have put out an alert.\" A DC-based Joint Terrorism Task Force operating under the FBI was notified of the e-mails and reviewed the information.",
"A DC-based Joint Terrorism Task Force operating under the FBI was notified of the e-mails and reviewed the information. Army employees were informed of the e-mails, but they didn't perceive any terrorist threat in Hasan's questions. Instead, they viewed them as general questions about spiritual guidance with regard to conflicts between Islam and military service and judged them to be consistent with legitimate mental health research about Muslims in the armed services. The assessment was that there was not sufficient information for a larger investigation.",
"The assessment was that there was not sufficient information for a larger investigation. In one of the e-mails, Hasan wrote al-Awlaki: \"I can't wait to join you [in the afterlife]\". \"It sounds like code words,\" said Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer, a military analyst at the Center for Advanced Defense Studies. \"That he's actually either offering himself up, or that he's already crossed that line in his own mind.\" Yemeni journalist Abdulelah Hider Shaea interviewed al-Awlaki in November 2009.",
"Yemeni journalist Abdulelah Hider Shaea interviewed al-Awlaki in November 2009. Al-Awlaki acknowledged his correspondence with Hasan. He said he \"neither ordered nor pressured ... Hasan to harm Americans.\" Al-Awlaki said Hasan first e-mailed him December 17, 2008, introducing himself by writing: \"Do you remember me? I used to pray with you at the Virginia mosque.\"",
"I used to pray with you at the Virginia mosque.\" Hasan said he had become a devout Muslim around the time al-Awlaki was preaching at Dar al-Hijrah, in 2001 and 2002, and al-Awlaki said 'Maybe Nidal was affected by one of my lectures.'\" He added: \"It was clear from his e-mails that Nidal trusted me. Nidal told me: 'I speak with you about issues that I never speak with anyone else.'\"",
"Nidal told me: 'I speak with you about issues that I never speak with anyone else.'\" Al-Awlaki said Hasan arrived at his own conclusions regarding the acceptability of violence in Islam and said he was not the one to initiate this. Shaea said, \"Nidal was providing evidence to Anwar, not vice versa.\" Asked whether Hasan mentioned Fort Hood as a target in his e-mails, Shaea declined to comment.",
"Asked whether Hasan mentioned Fort Hood as a target in his e-mails, Shaea declined to comment. Al-Awlaki said the shooting was acceptable in Islam, however, because it was a form of jihad, as the West began the hostilities with the Muslims. Al-Awlaki said he \"blessed the act because it was against a military target. And the soldiers who were killed were ... those who were trained and prepared to go to Iraq and Afghanistan\".",
"And the soldiers who were killed were ... those who were trained and prepared to go to Iraq and Afghanistan\". Al-Awlaki's e-mail conversations with Hasan were not released, and he was not placed on the FBI Most Wanted list, indicted for treason, or officially named as a co-conspirator with Hasan. The U.S. government was reluctant to classify the Fort Hood shooting as a terrorist incident, or identify any motive.",
"The U.S. government was reluctant to classify the Fort Hood shooting as a terrorist incident, or identify any motive. The Wall Street Journal reported in January 2010 that al-Awlaki had not \"played a direct role\" in any of the attacks, and noted he had never been charged with a crime in the US. One of his fellow officers at Fort Hood said Hasan was enthusiastic about al-Awlaki. Some investigators believe al-Awlaki's teachings may have been instrumental in Hasan's decision to stage the attack.",
"Some investigators believe al-Awlaki's teachings may have been instrumental in Hasan's decision to stage the attack. On his now-disabled website, al-Awlaki praised Hasan's actions, describing him as a hero. Christmas Day \"Underwear Bomber\" According to a number of sources, Al-Awlaki and Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the convicted al-Qaeda attempted bomber of Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on December 25, 2009, had contacts.",
"Christmas Day \"Underwear Bomber\" According to a number of sources, Al-Awlaki and Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the convicted al-Qaeda attempted bomber of Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on December 25, 2009, had contacts. In January 2010, CNN reported that U.S. \"security sources\" said that there is concrete evidence that al-Awlaki was Abdulmutallab's recruiter and one of his trainers, and met with him prior to the attack.",
"In January 2010, CNN reported that U.S. \"security sources\" said that there is concrete evidence that al-Awlaki was Abdulmutallab's recruiter and one of his trainers, and met with him prior to the attack. In February 2010, al-Awlaki admitted in an interview published in al-Jazeera that he taught and corresponded with Abdulmutallab, but denied having ordered the attack.",
"In February 2010, al-Awlaki admitted in an interview published in al-Jazeera that he taught and corresponded with Abdulmutallab, but denied having ordered the attack. Representative Pete Hoekstra, the senior Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, said officials in the Obama administration and officials with access to law enforcement information told him the suspect \"may have had contact [with al-Awlaki]\".The Sunday Times established that Abdulmutallab first met al-Awlaki in 2005 in Yemen, while he was studying Arabic.",
"Representative Pete Hoekstra, the senior Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, said officials in the Obama administration and officials with access to law enforcement information told him the suspect \"may have had contact [with al-Awlaki]\".The Sunday Times established that Abdulmutallab first met al-Awlaki in 2005 in Yemen, while he was studying Arabic. During that time the suspect attended lectures by al-Awlaki.NPR reported that according to unnamed U.S. intelligence officials he attended a sermon by al-Awlaki at the Finsbury Park Mosque.",
"During that time the suspect attended lectures by al-Awlaki.NPR reported that according to unnamed U.S. intelligence officials he attended a sermon by al-Awlaki at the Finsbury Park Mosque. Khalid Mahmood, the Labour MP for Birmingham Perry Barr, a former trustee of the mosque, expressed \"grave misgivings\" with regard to its stewardship. A spokesperson of the mosque stated that al-Awlaki had never spoken there or had even to his knowledge entered the building.",
"A spokesperson of the mosque stated that al-Awlaki had never spoken there or had even to his knowledge entered the building. Abdulmutallab was also reported by CBS News, The Daily Telegraph, and The Sunday Telegraph to have attended a talk by al-Awlaki at the East London Mosque, which al-Awlaki may have attended by video teleconference.",
"Abdulmutallab was also reported by CBS News, The Daily Telegraph, and The Sunday Telegraph to have attended a talk by al-Awlaki at the East London Mosque, which al-Awlaki may have attended by video teleconference. The Sunday Telegraph later removed the report from its website following a complaint by the East London Mosque, which stated that \"Anwar Al Awlaki did not deliver any talks at the ELM between 2005 and 2008, which is when the newspaper had falsely alleged that Abdullmutallab had attended such talks\".",
"The Sunday Telegraph later removed the report from its website following a complaint by the East London Mosque, which stated that \"Anwar Al Awlaki did not deliver any talks at the ELM between 2005 and 2008, which is when the newspaper had falsely alleged that Abdullmutallab had attended such talks\". Investigators who searched flats connected to Abdulmutallab in London said that he was a \"big fan\" of al-Awlaki, as al-Awlaki's blog and website had repeatedly been visited from those locations.",
"Investigators who searched flats connected to Abdulmutallab in London said that he was a \"big fan\" of al-Awlaki, as al-Awlaki's blog and website had repeatedly been visited from those locations. According to federal sources, Abdulmutallab and al-Awlaki repeatedly communicated with one another in the year prior to the attack. \"Voice-to-voice communication\" between the two was intercepted during the fall of 2009, and one government source said al-Awlaki \"was in some way involved in facilitating [Abdulmutallab]'s transportation or trip through Yemen.",
"\"Voice-to-voice communication\" between the two was intercepted during the fall of 2009, and one government source said al-Awlaki \"was in some way involved in facilitating [Abdulmutallab]'s transportation or trip through Yemen. It could be training, a host of things.\" NPR reported that intelligence officials suspected al-Awlaki may have told Abdulmutallab to go to Yemen for al-Qaeda training. Abdulmutallab told the FBI that al-Awlaki was one of his al-Qaeda trainers in Yemen. Others reported that Abdulmutallab met with al-Awlaki in the weeks leading up to the attack.",
"Others reported that Abdulmutallab met with al-Awlaki in the weeks leading up to the attack. The Los Angeles Times reported that according to a U.S. intelligence official, intercepts and other information point to connections between the two: Some of the information ... comes from Abdulmutallab, who ... said that he met with al-Awlaki and senior al-Qaeda members during an extended trip to Yemen this year and that the cleric was involved in some elements of planning or preparing the attack and in providing religious justification for it.",
"The Los Angeles Times reported that according to a U.S. intelligence official, intercepts and other information point to connections between the two: Some of the information ... comes from Abdulmutallab, who ... said that he met with al-Awlaki and senior al-Qaeda members during an extended trip to Yemen this year and that the cleric was involved in some elements of planning or preparing the attack and in providing religious justification for it. Other intelligence linking the two became apparent after the attempted bombing, including communications intercepted by the National Security Agency indicating that the cleric was meeting with \"a Nigerian\" in preparation for some kind of operation.",
"Other intelligence linking the two became apparent after the attempted bombing, including communications intercepted by the National Security Agency indicating that the cleric was meeting with \"a Nigerian\" in preparation for some kind of operation. Yemen's Deputy Prime Minister for Defense and Security Affairs, Rashad Mohammed al-Alimi, said Yemeni investigators believe that Abdulmutallab traveled to Shabwa in October 2009. Investigators believe he obtained his explosives and received training there. He met there with al-Qaeda members in a house built by al-Awlaki.",
"He met there with al-Qaeda members in a house built by al-Awlaki. A top Yemen government official said the two met with each other. In January 2010, al-Awlaki acknowledged that he met and spoke with Abdulmutallab in Yemen in the fall of 2009. In an interview, al-Awlaki said: \"Umar Farouk is one of my students; I had communications with him. And I support what he did.\" He also said: \"I did not tell him to do this operation, but I support it\".",
"He also said: \"I did not tell him to do this operation, but I support it\". Fox News reported in early February 2010 that Abdulmutallab told federal investigators that al-Awlaki directed him to carry out the bombing. In June 2010 Michael Leiter, the Director of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), said al-Awlaki had a \"direct operational role\" in the plot. Sharif Mobley Sharif Mobley had acknowledged contact with Anwar al-Awlaki.",
"Sharif Mobley Sharif Mobley had acknowledged contact with Anwar al-Awlaki. The Mobley family claims the contact was for spiritual guidance in further studies of Islam. The Mobley family went to Yemen and resided there for several years. They decided to return to the United States and went to the U.S. Embassy to update the family travel documents. While waiting for their travel documents, Sharif Mobley was kidnapped by Yemen Security Services and shot on January 26, 2010. He was then held in Yemen's Central Prison.",
"He was then held in Yemen's Central Prison. He was then held in Yemen's Central Prison. Mobley disappeared from the Central Prison on February 27, 2014. His current location is known to the U.S. Embassy in Yemen (currently closed 2015) but is withheld from his family and legal advisers based on U.S. State Department Regulations on \"U.S. Citizens Missing Abroad\". All charges related to \"terrorism/terrorist activity\" were dropped by the Yemen government.",
"All charges related to \"terrorism/terrorist activity\" were dropped by the Yemen government. There are no charges relating to allegations of \"killing a guard during an escape attempt from the hospital\" and there are no other legal proceedings against him in Yemen. Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad, convicted of the 2010 Times Square car bombing attempt, told interrogators that he was a \"fan and follower\" of al-Awlaki, and his writings were one of the inspirations for the attack.",
"Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad, convicted of the 2010 Times Square car bombing attempt, told interrogators that he was a \"fan and follower\" of al-Awlaki, and his writings were one of the inspirations for the attack. On May 6, 2010 ABC News reported that unknown sources told them Shahzad made contact with al-Awlaki over the internet, a claim that could not be independently verified.",
"On May 6, 2010 ABC News reported that unknown sources told them Shahzad made contact with al-Awlaki over the internet, a claim that could not be independently verified. Stabbing of British former minister Stephen Timms Roshonara Choudhry, who stabbed former British Cabinet Minister Stephen Timms in May 2010, and was found guilty of his attempted murder in November 2010, claimed to have become radicalized by listening to online sermons of al-Awlaki.",
"Stabbing of British former minister Stephen Timms Roshonara Choudhry, who stabbed former British Cabinet Minister Stephen Timms in May 2010, and was found guilty of his attempted murder in November 2010, claimed to have become radicalized by listening to online sermons of al-Awlaki. Seattle Weekly cartoonist death threat In 2010, after Everybody Draw Mohammed Day, cartoonist Molly Norris at Seattle Weekly had to stop publishing, and at the suggestion of the FBI changed her name, moved, and went into hiding due to a fatwā issued by al-Awlaki calling for her death.",
"Seattle Weekly cartoonist death threat In 2010, after Everybody Draw Mohammed Day, cartoonist Molly Norris at Seattle Weekly had to stop publishing, and at the suggestion of the FBI changed her name, moved, and went into hiding due to a fatwā issued by al-Awlaki calling for her death. In the June 2010 issue of Inspire, an English-language al-Qaeda magazine, al-Awlaki cursed her and eight others for \"blasphemous caricatures\" of Muhammad.",
"In the June 2010 issue of Inspire, an English-language al-Qaeda magazine, al-Awlaki cursed her and eight others for \"blasphemous caricatures\" of Muhammad. \"The medicine prescribed by the Messenger of Allah is the execution of those involved\", he wrote. Daniel Pipes observed in an article entitled \"Dueling Fatwas\", \"Awlaki stands at an unprecedented crossroads of death declarations, with his targeting Norris even as the U.S. government targets him.\"",
"Daniel Pipes observed in an article entitled \"Dueling Fatwas\", \"Awlaki stands at an unprecedented crossroads of death declarations, with his targeting Norris even as the U.S. government targets him.\" Cargo planes bomb plotThe Guardian, The New York Times, and The Daily Telegraph reported that U.S. and British counter-terrorism officials believed that al-Awlaki was behind the cargo plane PETN bombs that were sent from Yemen to Chicago in October 2010.Yemen bomb scare 'mastermind' lived in London | World news. The Guardian. Retrieved on October 1, 2011.",
"The Guardian. Retrieved on October 1, 2011. Retrieved on October 1, 2011. When U.S. Homeland Security official John Brennan was asked about al-Awlaki's suspected involvement in the plot, he said: \"Anybody associated with al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is a subject of concern.\" U.S. Ambassador to Yemen Gerald Feierstein said \"al-Awlaki was behind the two bombs.\" Final years Al-Awlaki's father, tribe, and supporters denied his alleged associations with Al-Qaeda and Islamist terrorism.",
"Final years Al-Awlaki's father, tribe, and supporters denied his alleged associations with Al-Qaeda and Islamist terrorism. Al-Awlaki's father proclaimed his son's innocence in an interview with CNN's Paula Newton, saying: \"I am now afraid of what they will do with my son. He's not Osama bin Laden, they want to make something out of him that he's not.\" Responding to a Yemeni official's assertions that his son had taken refuge with al-Qaeda, Nasser said: \"He's dead wrong.",
"Responding to a Yemeni official's assertions that his son had taken refuge with al-Qaeda, Nasser said: \"He's dead wrong. What do you expect my son to do? There are missiles raining down on the village. He has to hide. But he is not hiding with al-Qaeda; our tribe is protecting him right now.\" The Yemeni government attempted to get the tribal leaders to release al-Awlaki to their custody. They promised they would not turn him over to U.S. authorities for questioning.",
"They promised they would not turn him over to U.S. authorities for questioning. The governor of Shabwa said in January 2010 that al-Awlaki was on the move with members of al-Qaeda, including Fahd al-Quso, who was wanted in connection with the bombing of the USS Cole. In January 2010, White House lawyers debated whether or not it was legal to kill al-Awlaki, given his U.S. citizenship. U.S. officials stated that international law allows targeted killing in the event that the subject is an \"imminent threat\".",
"U.S. officials stated that international law allows targeted killing in the event that the subject is an \"imminent threat\". Because he was a U.S. citizen, his killing had to be approved by the National Security Council. Such action against a U.S. citizen is extremely rare. As a military enemy of the US, al-Awlaki was not subject to Executive Order 11905, which bans assassination for political reasons. The authorization was nevertheless controversial.",
"The authorization was nevertheless controversial. The authorization was nevertheless controversial. By February 4, 2010, the New York Daily News reported that al-Awlaki was \"now on a targeting list signed off on by the Obama administration\". On April 6, The New York Times reported that President Obama had authorized the killing of al-Awlaki. The al-Awalik tribe responded: \"We warn against cooperating with America to kill Sheikh Anwar al-Awlaki. We will not stand by idly and watch.\"",
"We will not stand by idly and watch.\" We will not stand by idly and watch.\" Al-Awlaki's tribe wrote that it would \"not remain with arms crossed if a hair of Anwar al-Awlaki is touched, or if anyone plots or spies against him. Whoever risks denouncing our son (Awlaki) will be the target of Al-Awalik weapons\", and gave warning \"against co-operating with the Americans\" in the capture or killing of al-Awlaki.",
"Whoever risks denouncing our son (Awlaki) will be the target of Al-Awalik weapons\", and gave warning \"against co-operating with the Americans\" in the capture or killing of al-Awlaki. Abu Bakr al-Qirbi, the Yemeni foreign minister, announced that the Yemeni government had not received any evidence from the US, and that \"Anwar al-Awlaki has always been looked at as a preacher rather than a terrorist and shouldn't be considered as a terrorist unless the Americans have evidence that he has been involved in terrorism\".",
"Abu Bakr al-Qirbi, the Yemeni foreign minister, announced that the Yemeni government had not received any evidence from the US, and that \"Anwar al-Awlaki has always been looked at as a preacher rather than a terrorist and shouldn't be considered as a terrorist unless the Americans have evidence that he has been involved in terrorism\". In a video clip bearing the imprint of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, issued on April 16 in al-Qaeda's monthly magazine Sada Al-Malahem, al-Awlaki said: \"What am I accused of?",
"In a video clip bearing the imprint of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, issued on April 16 in al-Qaeda's monthly magazine Sada Al-Malahem, al-Awlaki said: \"What am I accused of? Of calling for the truth? Of calling for jihad for the sake of Allah? Of calling to defend the causes of the Islamic nation?\" In the video he also praises both Abdulmutallab and Hasan, and describes both as his \"students\".",
"In the video he also praises both Abdulmutallab and Hasan, and describes both as his \"students\". In late April, Representative Charlie Dent (R-PA) introduced a resolution urging the U.S. State Department to withdraw al-Awlaki's U.S. citizenship. By May, U.S. officials believed he had become directly involved in terrorist activities. Former colleague Abdul-Malik said he \"is a terrorist, in my book\", and advised shops not to carry any of his publications.",
"Former colleague Abdul-Malik said he \"is a terrorist, in my book\", and advised shops not to carry any of his publications. In an editorial, Investor's Business Daily called al-Awlaki the \"world's most dangerous man\", and recommended that he be added to the FBI's most-wanted terrorist list, a bounty put on his head, that he be designated a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, charged with treason, and extradition papers filed with the Yemeni government.",
"In an editorial, Investor's Business Daily called al-Awlaki the \"world's most dangerous man\", and recommended that he be added to the FBI's most-wanted terrorist list, a bounty put on his head, that he be designated a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, charged with treason, and extradition papers filed with the Yemeni government. IBD criticized the Justice Department for stonewalling Senator Joe Lieberman's security panel's investigation of al-Awlaki's role in the Fort Hood massacre.",
"IBD criticized the Justice Department for stonewalling Senator Joe Lieberman's security panel's investigation of al-Awlaki's role in the Fort Hood massacre. On July 16, the U.S. Treasury Department added him to its list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists. Stuart Levey, Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, called him \"extraordinarily dangerous\", and said al-Awlaki was involved in several organizational aspects of terrorism, including recruiting, training, fundraising, and planning individual attacks.",
"Stuart Levey, Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, called him \"extraordinarily dangerous\", and said al-Awlaki was involved in several organizational aspects of terrorism, including recruiting, training, fundraising, and planning individual attacks. A few days later, the United Nations Security Council placed al-Awlaki on its UN Security Council Resolution 1267 list of individuals associated with al-Qaeda, describing him as a leader, recruiter, and trainer for al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.",
"A few days later, the United Nations Security Council placed al-Awlaki on its UN Security Council Resolution 1267 list of individuals associated with al-Qaeda, describing him as a leader, recruiter, and trainer for al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. The resolution stipulates that U.N. members must freeze the assets of anyone on the list, and prevent them from travelling or obtaining weapons. The following week, Canadian banks were ordered to seize any assets belonging to al-Awlaki.",
"The following week, Canadian banks were ordered to seize any assets belonging to al-Awlaki. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police's senior counter-terrorism officer Gilles Michaud described him as a \"major, major factor in radicalization\". In September 2010, Jonathan Evans, the Director General of the United Kingdom's domestic security and counter-intelligence agency (MI5), said that al-Awlaki was the West's Public Enemy No 1. In October 2010, U.S.",
"In October 2010, U.S. In October 2010, U.S. Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-NY) urged YouTube to take down al-Awlaki's videos from its website, saying that by hosting al-Awlaki's messages, \"We are facilitating the recruitment of homegrown terror.\" Pauline Neville-Jones, British security minister, said \"These Web sites ... incite cold-blooded murder.\" YouTube began removing the material in November 2010.",
"YouTube began removing the material in November 2010. YouTube began removing the material in November 2010. Al-Awlaki was charged in absentia in Sana'a, Yemen, on November 2 with plotting to kill foreigners and being a member of al-Qaeda. Ali al-Saneaa, the head of the prosecutor's office, announced the charges during the trial of Hisham Assem, who had been accused of killing Jacques Spagnolo, an oil industry worker.",
"Ali al-Saneaa, the head of the prosecutor's office, announced the charges during the trial of Hisham Assem, who had been accused of killing Jacques Spagnolo, an oil industry worker. He said that al-Awlaki and Assem had been in contact for months, and that al-Awlaki had encouraged Assem to commit terrorism. Al-Awlaki's lawyer said that his client was not connected to Spagnolo's death. On November 6, Yemeni Judge Mohsen Alwan ordered that al-Awlaki be caught \"dead or alive\".",
"On November 6, Yemeni Judge Mohsen Alwan ordered that al-Awlaki be caught \"dead or alive\". In his book Ticking Time Bomb: Counter-Terrorism Lessons from the U.S. Government's Failure to Prevent the Fort Hood Attack (2011), former U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman described al-Awlaki, Australian Muslim preacher Feiz Mohammad, Muslim cleric Abdullah el-Faisal, and Pakistani-American Samir Khan as \"virtual spiritual sanctioners\" who use the internet to offer religious justification for Islamist terrorism.",
"Senator Joe Lieberman described al-Awlaki, Australian Muslim preacher Feiz Mohammad, Muslim cleric Abdullah el-Faisal, and Pakistani-American Samir Khan as \"virtual spiritual sanctioners\" who use the internet to offer religious justification for Islamist terrorism. Lawsuit against the US In July 2010, al-Awlaki's father, Nasser al-Awlaki, contacted the Center for Constitutional Rights and the American Civil Liberties Union to represent his son in a lawsuit that sought to remove Anwar from the targeted killing list.",
"Lawsuit against the US In July 2010, al-Awlaki's father, Nasser al-Awlaki, contacted the Center for Constitutional Rights and the American Civil Liberties Union to represent his son in a lawsuit that sought to remove Anwar from the targeted killing list. ACLU's Jameel Jaffer said: the United States is not at war in Yemen, and the government doesn't have a blank check to kill terrorism suspects wherever they are in the world.",
"ACLU's Jameel Jaffer said: the United States is not at war in Yemen, and the government doesn't have a blank check to kill terrorism suspects wherever they are in the world. Among the arguments we'll be making is that, outside actual war zones, the authority to use lethal force is narrowly circumscribed, and preserving the rule of law depends on keeping this authority narrow. Lawyers for Specially Designated Global Terrorists must obtain a special license from the U.S. Treasury Department before they can represent their clients in court.",
"Lawyers for Specially Designated Global Terrorists must obtain a special license from the U.S. Treasury Department before they can represent their clients in court. The lawyers were granted the license on August 4, 2010. On August 30, 2010, the groups filed a \"targeted killing\" lawsuit, naming President Obama, CIA Director Leon Panetta, and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates as defendants.",
"On August 30, 2010, the groups filed a \"targeted killing\" lawsuit, naming President Obama, CIA Director Leon Panetta, and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates as defendants. They sought an injunction preventing the targeted killing of al-Awlaki, and also sought to require the government to disclose the standards under which U.S. citizens may be \"targeted for death\".",
"They sought an injunction preventing the targeted killing of al-Awlaki, and also sought to require the government to disclose the standards under which U.S. citizens may be \"targeted for death\". Judge John D. Bates dismissed the lawsuit in an 83-page ruling, holding that the father did not have legal standing to bring the lawsuit, and that his claims were judicially unreviewable under the political question doctrine inasmuch as he was questioning a decision that the U.S. Constitution committed to the political branches.",
"Judge John D. Bates dismissed the lawsuit in an 83-page ruling, holding that the father did not have legal standing to bring the lawsuit, and that his claims were judicially unreviewable under the political question doctrine inasmuch as he was questioning a decision that the U.S. Constitution committed to the political branches. On May 5, 2011, the United States tried but failed to kill al-Awlaki by firing a missile from an unmanned drone at a car in Yemen. A Yemeni security official said that two al-Qaeda operatives in the car died.",
"A Yemeni security official said that two al-Qaeda operatives in the car died. Death On September 30, 2011, al-Awlaki was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Al Jawf Governorate, Yemen, according to U.S. sources, the strike was carried out by Joint Special Operations Command, under the direction of the CIA. A witness said the group had stopped to eat breakfast while traveling to Ma'rib Governorate.",
"A witness said the group had stopped to eat breakfast while traveling to Ma'rib Governorate. The occupants of the vehicle spotted the drone and attempted to flee in the vehicle before Hellfire missiles were fired Yemen's Defense Ministry announced that al-Awlaki had been killed. Also killed was Samir Khan, an American born in Saudi Arabia, thought to be behind al-Qaeda's English-language web magazine Inspire. U.S. President Barack Obama said: The death of Awlaki is a major blow to Al-Qaeda's most active operational affiliate.",
"U.S. President Barack Obama said: The death of Awlaki is a major blow to Al-Qaeda's most active operational affiliate. He took the lead in planning and directing efforts to murder innocent Americans ... and he repeatedly called on individuals in the United States and around the globe to kill innocent men, women and children to advance a murderous agenda. [The strike] is further proof that Al-Qaeda and its affiliates will find no safe haven anywhere in the world.",
"[The strike] is further proof that Al-Qaeda and its affiliates will find no safe haven anywhere in the world. Journalist and author Glenn Greenwald argued on Salon.com that killing al-Awlaki violated his First Amendment right of free speech and that doing so outside of a criminal proceeding violated the Constitution's due process clause, specifically citing the 1969 Supreme Court decision in Brandenburg v. Ohio that \"the constitutional guarantees of free speech and free press do not permit a State to forbid or proscribe advocacy of the use of force.\"",
"Journalist and author Glenn Greenwald argued on Salon.com that killing al-Awlaki violated his First Amendment right of free speech and that doing so outside of a criminal proceeding violated the Constitution's due process clause, specifically citing the 1969 Supreme Court decision in Brandenburg v. Ohio that \"the constitutional guarantees of free speech and free press do not permit a State to forbid or proscribe advocacy of the use of force.\" He mentioned doubt among Yemeni experts about al-Awlaki's role in al-Qaeda, and called U.S. government accusations against him unverified and lacking in evidence.",
"He mentioned doubt among Yemeni experts about al-Awlaki's role in al-Qaeda, and called U.S. government accusations against him unverified and lacking in evidence. In a letter dated May 22, 2013, to the chairman of the U.S. Senate Judiciary committee, Patrick J. Leahy, U.S. attorney general Eric Holder wrote that high-level U.S. government officials [...] concluded that al-Aulaqi posed a continuing and imminent threat of violent attack against the United States.",
"In a letter dated May 22, 2013, to the chairman of the U.S. Senate Judiciary committee, Patrick J. Leahy, U.S. attorney general Eric Holder wrote that high-level U.S. government officials [...] concluded that al-Aulaqi posed a continuing and imminent threat of violent attack against the United States. Before carrying out the operation that killed al-Aulaqi, senior officials also determined, based on a careful evaluation of the circumstances at the time, that it was not feasible to capture al-Aulaqi.",
"Before carrying out the operation that killed al-Aulaqi, senior officials also determined, based on a careful evaluation of the circumstances at the time, that it was not feasible to capture al-Aulaqi. In addition, senior officials determined that the operation would be conducted consistent with applicable law of war principles, including the cardinal principles of (1) necessity – the requirement that the target have definite military value; (2) distinction – the idea that only military objectives may be intentionally targeted and that civilians are protected from being intentionally targeted; (3) proportionality – the notion that the anticipated collateral damage of an action cannot be excessive in relation to the anticipated concrete and direct military advantage; and (4) humanity – a principle that requires us to use weapons that will not inflict unnecessary suffering.",
"In addition, senior officials determined that the operation would be conducted consistent with applicable law of war principles, including the cardinal principles of (1) necessity – the requirement that the target have definite military value; (2) distinction – the idea that only military objectives may be intentionally targeted and that civilians are protected from being intentionally targeted; (3) proportionality – the notion that the anticipated collateral damage of an action cannot be excessive in relation to the anticipated concrete and direct military advantage; and (4) humanity – a principle that requires us to use weapons that will not inflict unnecessary suffering. The operation was also undertaken consistent with Yemeni sovereignty.",
"The operation was also undertaken consistent with Yemeni sovereignty. The operation was also undertaken consistent with Yemeni sovereignty. [...] The decision to target Anwar al-Aulaqi was lawful, it was considered, and it was just. On April 21, 2014, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal ruled that the Obama administration must release documents justifying its drone killings of foreigners and Americans, including Anwar al-Awlaki.",
"Circuit Court of Appeal ruled that the Obama administration must release documents justifying its drone killings of foreigners and Americans, including Anwar al-Awlaki. In June 2014, the United States Department of Justice disclosed a 2010 memorandum written by the acting head of the department's Office of Legal Counsel, David J. Barron. The memo stated that Anwar al-Awlaki was a significant threat with an infeasible probability of capture. Barron therefore justified the killing as legal, as \"the Constitution would not require the government to provide further process\".",
"Barron therefore justified the killing as legal, as \"the Constitution would not require the government to provide further process\". The New York Times Editorial Board dismissed the memo's rationale for al-Awlaki's killing, saying it \"provides little confidence that the lethal action was taken with real care\", instead describing it as \"a slapdash pastiche of legal theories—some based on obscure interpretations of British and Israeli law—that was clearly tailored to the desired result.\"",
"The New York Times Editorial Board dismissed the memo's rationale for al-Awlaki's killing, saying it \"provides little confidence that the lethal action was taken with real care\", instead describing it as \"a slapdash pastiche of legal theories—some based on obscure interpretations of British and Israeli law—that was clearly tailored to the desired result.\" A lawyer for the ACLU described the memo as \"disturbing\" and \"ultimately an argument that the president can order targeted killings of Americans without ever having to account to anyone outside the executive branch.\"",
"A lawyer for the ACLU described the memo as \"disturbing\" and \"ultimately an argument that the president can order targeted killings of Americans without ever having to account to anyone outside the executive branch.\" Legacy Seth Jones, who as a political scientist specializes in al-Qaida, considers that the continuing relevance of al-Awlaki is due to his fluency in the English language as well as his charisma, precising that \"he had a disarming aura and unnerving confidence, with an easy smile and a soothing, eloquent voice.",
"Legacy Seth Jones, who as a political scientist specializes in al-Qaida, considers that the continuing relevance of al-Awlaki is due to his fluency in the English language as well as his charisma, precising that \"he had a disarming aura and unnerving confidence, with an easy smile and a soothing, eloquent voice. He stood a lanky six feet, one inch tall, weighed 160 pounds, and had a thick black beard, an oversized nose, and wire-rimmed glasses. He spoke in a clear, almost hypnotic voice.\"",
"He spoke in a clear, almost hypnotic voice.\" Awlaki's videos and writings remain highly popular on the internet, where they continue to be readily accessible. Those who viewed and still view his videos are estimated by journalist Scott Shane to number in the hundreds of thousands, while his father Dr. Nasser Awlaqi says that \"five million preaching tapes of Anwar Awlaqi have been sold in the West.\"",
"Those who viewed and still view his videos are estimated by journalist Scott Shane to number in the hundreds of thousands, while his father Dr. Nasser Awlaqi says that \"five million preaching tapes of Anwar Awlaqi have been sold in the West.\" And thus, even following his death, Awlaki has continued to inspire his devotees to carry out terrorist attacks, including the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, the 2015 San Bernardino attack, and the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting.",
"And thus, even following his death, Awlaki has continued to inspire his devotees to carry out terrorist attacks, including the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, the 2015 San Bernardino attack, and the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting. According to the Counter Extremism Project (CEP), 88 \"extremists,\" 54 in the U.S. and 34 in Europe, have been influenced by Awlaki.",
"According to the Counter Extremism Project (CEP), 88 \"extremists,\" 54 in the U.S. and 34 in Europe, have been influenced by Awlaki. Because \"his work has inspired countless plots and attacks,\" CEP has \"called on YouTube and other platforms to permanently ban Mr. Awlaki's material, including his early, mainstream lectures.\"",
"Because \"his work has inspired countless plots and attacks,\" CEP has \"called on YouTube and other platforms to permanently ban Mr. Awlaki's material, including his early, mainstream lectures.\" FOIA documents During the FBI investigation of the 9/11 attacks, it was discovered that a few of the attackers had attended the mosques in San Diego and Falls Church with which al-Awlaki was associated. Interviews with members of the San Diego mosque showed that Nawaz al-Hazmi, one of the attackers, may have had a private conversation with him.",
"Interviews with members of the San Diego mosque showed that Nawaz al-Hazmi, one of the attackers, may have had a private conversation with him. On that basis he was placed under 24-hour surveillance. It was discovered that he regularly patronized prostitutes. It was through FBI interrogation of prostitutes and escort service operators that al-Awlaki was tipped off in 2002 about FBI surveillance. Shortly thereafter, he left the United States.",
"Shortly thereafter, he left the United States. Shortly thereafter, he left the United States. In January 2013, Fox News announced that FBI documents obtained by Judicial Watch through a Freedom of Information Act request showed possible connections between al-Awlaki and the September 11 attackers. According to Judicial Watch, the documents show that the FBI knew that al-Awlaki had bought tickets for three of the hijackers to fly into Florida and Las Vegas. Judicial Watch further stated that al-Awlaki \"was a central focus of the FBI's investigation of 9/11.",
"Judicial Watch further stated that al-Awlaki \"was a central focus of the FBI's investigation of 9/11. They show he wasn't cooperative. And they show that he was under surveillance.\" When queried by Fox News, the FBI denied having evidence connecting al-Awlaki and the September 11 attacks: \"The FBI cautions against drawing conclusions from redacted FOIA documents. The FBI and investigating bodies have not found evidence connecting Anwar al-Awlaki and the attack on September 11, 2001.",
"The FBI and investigating bodies have not found evidence connecting Anwar al-Awlaki and the attack on September 11, 2001. The document referenced does not link Anwar al-Awlaki with any purchase of airline tickets for the hijackers.\" Family Abdulrahman al-Awlaki Anwar al-Awlaki and Egyptian-born Gihan Mohsen Baker had a son, Abdulrahman Anwar al-Awlaki, born August 26, 1995, in Denver, who was an American citizen. Abdulrahman al-Awlaki was killed on October 14, 2011, in Yemen at the age of 16 in an American drone strike.",
"Abdulrahman al-Awlaki was killed on October 14, 2011, in Yemen at the age of 16 in an American drone strike. Nine other people were killed in the same CIA-initiated attack, including a 17-year-old cousin of Abdulrahman. According to his relatives, shortly before his father's death, Abdulrahman had left the family home in Sana'a and travelled to Shabwa in search of his father who was believed to be in hiding in that area (though he was actually hundreds of miles away at the time ).",
"According to his relatives, shortly before his father's death, Abdulrahman had left the family home in Sana'a and travelled to Shabwa in search of his father who was believed to be in hiding in that area (though he was actually hundreds of miles away at the time ). Abdulrahman was sitting in an open-air cafe in Shabwa when killed.",
"Abdulrahman was sitting in an open-air cafe in Shabwa when killed. According to U.S. officials, the killing of Abdulrahman al-Awlaki was a mistake; the intended target was an Egyptian, Ibrahim al-Banna, who was not at the targeted location at the time of the attack. Human rights groups have raised questions as to why an American citizen was killed by the United States in a country with which the United States is not officially at war. Abdulrahman al-Awlaki was not known to have any independent connection to terrorism.",
"Abdulrahman al-Awlaki was not known to have any independent connection to terrorism. Nasser al-Awlaki Nasser al-Awlaki is the father of Anwar and grandfather of Abdulrahman al-Awlaki. Al-Awlaki stated he believed his son had been wrongly accused and was not a member of Al Qaeda. After the deaths of his son and grandson, Nasser in an interview in Time magazine called the killings a crime and condemned U.S. President Obama directly, saying: \"I urge the American people to bring the killers to justice.",
"After the deaths of his son and grandson, Nasser in an interview in Time magazine called the killings a crime and condemned U.S. President Obama directly, saying: \"I urge the American people to bring the killers to justice. I urge them to expose the hypocrisy of the 2009 Nobel Prize laureate. To some, he may be that. To me and my family, he is nothing more than a child killer.\"",
"To me and my family, he is nothing more than a child killer.\" In 2013, Nasser al-Awlaki published an op-ed in The New York Times stating that two years after killing his grandson, the Obama administration still declines to provide an explanation. In 2012, Nasser al-Awlaki filed a lawsuit, Al-Aulaqi v. Panetta, challenging the constitutionality of the drone killings of his son and grandson. This lawsuit was dismissed in April 2014 by D.C. District Court Judge Rosemary M. Collyer.",
"This lawsuit was dismissed in April 2014 by D.C. District Court Judge Rosemary M. Collyer. Tariq al-Dahab Tariq al-Dahab, who led al-Qaeda insurgents in Yemen, was a brother-in-law of al-Awlaki. On February 16, 2012, the terrorist organization stated that he had been killed by agents, although media reports contain speculation that he was killed by his brother in a bloody family feud.",
"On February 16, 2012, the terrorist organization stated that he had been killed by agents, although media reports contain speculation that he was killed by his brother in a bloody family feud. Nawar al-Awlaki On January 29, 2017, Anwar al-Awlaki's 8-year-old daughter, Nawar al-Awlaki, who was an American citizen, was killed in a DEVGRU operation authorized by President Donald Trump. \"1 US service member killed, 3 wounded in Yemen raid\" , WPVI-TV, 6 ABC Action News, Philadelphia, PA. January 29, 2017.",
"\"1 US service member killed, 3 wounded in Yemen raid\" , WPVI-TV, 6 ABC Action News, Philadelphia, PA. January 29, 2017. Retrieved January 29, 2017. Islamic education Al-Awlaki's Islamic education was primarily informal, and consisted of intermittent months with various scholars reading and contemplating Islamic scholarly works.",
"Islamic education Al-Awlaki's Islamic education was primarily informal, and consisted of intermittent months with various scholars reading and contemplating Islamic scholarly works. Despite having no religious qualifications and almost no religious education, Al-Awlaki made a name for himself as a public speaker who released popular audio recordings.Some Muslim scholars said they did not understand alAwlaki's popularity, because while he spoke fluent English and could therefore reach a large non-Arabic-speaking audience, he lacked formal Islamic training and study.",
"Despite having no religious qualifications and almost no religious education, Al-Awlaki made a name for himself as a public speaker who released popular audio recordings.Some Muslim scholars said they did not understand alAwlaki's popularity, because while he spoke fluent English and could therefore reach a large non-Arabic-speaking audience, he lacked formal Islamic training and study. Ideology While imprisoned in Yemen after 2004, al-Awlaki was influenced by the works of Sayyid Qutb, described by The New York Times as an originator of the contemporary \"anti-Western Jihadist movement\".",
"Ideology While imprisoned in Yemen after 2004, al-Awlaki was influenced by the works of Sayyid Qutb, described by The New York Times as an originator of the contemporary \"anti-Western Jihadist movement\". He read 150 to 200 pages a day of Qutb's works, and described himself as \"so immersed with the author I would feel Sayyid was with me in my cell speaking to me directly\". Terrorism consultant Evan Kohlmann in 2009 referred to al-Awlaki as \"one of the principal jihadi luminaries for would-be homegrown terrorists.",
"Terrorism consultant Evan Kohlmann in 2009 referred to al-Awlaki as \"one of the principal jihadi luminaries for would-be homegrown terrorists. His fluency with English, his unabashed advocacy of jihad and mujahideen organizations, and his Web-savvy approach are a powerful combination.\" He called al-Awlaki's lecture, \"Constants on the Path of Jihad\", which he says was based on a similar document written by al-Qaeda's founder, the \"virtual bible for lone-wolf Muslim extremists\".",
"He called al-Awlaki's lecture, \"Constants on the Path of Jihad\", which he says was based on a similar document written by al-Qaeda's founder, the \"virtual bible for lone-wolf Muslim extremists\". Philip Mudd, formerly of the CIA's National Counterterrorism Center and the FBI's top intelligence adviser, called him \"a magnetic character ... a powerful orator.\" He attracted young men to his lectures, especially US-based and UK-based Muslims.",
"He attracted young men to his lectures, especially US-based and UK-based Muslims. U.S. officials and some U.S. media sources called al-Awlaki an Islamic fundamentalist and accused him of encouraging terrorism. According to documents recovered from bin Laden's hideout, the al-Qaeda leader was unsure about al-Awlaki's qualifications. Works The Nine Eleven Finding Answers Foundation said al-Awlaki's ability to write and speak in fluent English enabled him to incite English-speaking Muslims to terrorism. Al-Awlaki notes in 44 Ways to Support Jihad that most reading material on the subject is in Arabic.",
"Al-Awlaki notes in 44 Ways to Support Jihad that most reading material on the subject is in Arabic. Written works 44 Ways to Support Jihad: Essay (January 2009). In it, al-Awlaki states that \"The hatred of kuffar is a central element of our military creed\" and that all Muslims are obligated to participate in jihad, either by committing the acts themselves or supporting others who do so. He says all Muslims must remain physically fit so as to be prepared for conflict.",
"He says all Muslims must remain physically fit so as to be prepared for conflict. According to U.S. officials, it is considered a key text for al-Qaeda members. Al-Awlaki wrote for Jihad Recollections, an English language online publication published by Al-Fursan Media. Allah is Preparing Us for Victory – short book (2009). Lectures Lectures on the book Constants on the Path of Jihad by Yusef al-Ayeri—concerns leaderless jihad. In 2009, the UK government found 1,910 of his videos had been posted to YouTube.",
"In 2009, the UK government found 1,910 of his videos had been posted to YouTube. One of them had been viewed 164,420 times.",
"One of them had been viewed 164,420 times. One of them had been viewed 164,420 times. The Battle of Hearts and Minds The Dust Will Never Settle Down Dreams & Interpretations The Hereafter—16 CDs—Al Basheer Productions Life of Muhammad: Makkan Period—16 CDs—Al Basheer Productions Life of Muhammad: Medinan Period—Lecture in 2 Parts—18 CDs—Al Basheer Productions Lives of the Prophets (AS)—16 CDs—Al Basheer Productions Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (RA): His Life & Times—15 CDs—Al Basheer Productions Umar ibn al-Khattāb (RA): His Life & Times—18 CDs—Al Basheer Productions 25 Promises from Allah to the Believer—2 CDs—Noor Productions Companions of the Ditch & Lessons from the Life of Musa (AS)—2 CDs—Noor Productions Remembrance of Allah & the Greatest Ayah—2 CDs—Noor Productions Stories from Hadith—4 CDs—Center for Islamic Information and Education (\"CIIE\") Hellfire & The Day of Judgment—CD—CIIE Quest for Truth: The Story of Salman Al-Farsi (RA)—CD—CIIE Trials & Lessons for Muslim Minorities—CD—CIIE Young Ayesha (RA) & Mothers of the Believers (RA)—CD—CIIE Understanding the Quran—CD—CIIE Lessons from the Companions (RA) Living as a Minority—CD—CIIE Virtues of the Sahabah—video lecture series promoted by the al-Wasatiyyah Foundation Website Al-Awlaki maintained a website and blog on which he shared his views.",
"The Battle of Hearts and Minds The Dust Will Never Settle Down Dreams & Interpretations The Hereafter—16 CDs—Al Basheer Productions Life of Muhammad: Makkan Period—16 CDs—Al Basheer Productions Life of Muhammad: Medinan Period—Lecture in 2 Parts—18 CDs—Al Basheer Productions Lives of the Prophets (AS)—16 CDs—Al Basheer Productions Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (RA): His Life & Times—15 CDs—Al Basheer Productions Umar ibn al-Khattāb (RA): His Life & Times—18 CDs—Al Basheer Productions 25 Promises from Allah to the Believer—2 CDs—Noor Productions Companions of the Ditch & Lessons from the Life of Musa (AS)—2 CDs—Noor Productions Remembrance of Allah & the Greatest Ayah—2 CDs—Noor Productions Stories from Hadith—4 CDs—Center for Islamic Information and Education (\"CIIE\") Hellfire & The Day of Judgment—CD—CIIE Quest for Truth: The Story of Salman Al-Farsi (RA)—CD—CIIE Trials & Lessons for Muslim Minorities—CD—CIIE Young Ayesha (RA) & Mothers of the Believers (RA)—CD—CIIE Understanding the Quran—CD—CIIE Lessons from the Companions (RA) Living as a Minority—CD—CIIE Virtues of the Sahabah—video lecture series promoted by the al-Wasatiyyah Foundation Website Al-Awlaki maintained a website and blog on which he shared his views. On December 11, 2008, he said Muslims should not seek to \"serve in the armies of the disbelievers and fight against his brothers\".",
"On December 11, 2008, he said Muslims should not seek to \"serve in the armies of the disbelievers and fight against his brothers\". In \"44 Ways to Support Jihad\", posted on his blog in February 2009, al-Awlaki encouraged others to \"fight jihad\", and explained how to give money to the mujahideen or their families. Al-Awlaki's sermon encourages others to conduct weapons training, and raise children \"on the love of Jihad\".",
"Al-Awlaki's sermon encourages others to conduct weapons training, and raise children \"on the love of Jihad\". Also that month, he wrote: \"I pray that Allah destroys America and all its allies.\" He wrote as well: \"We will implement the rule of Allah on Earth by the tip of the sword, whether the masses like it or not.\" On July 14, he said that Muslim countries should not offer military assistance to the US.",
"On July 14, he said that Muslim countries should not offer military assistance to the US. \"The blame should be placed on the soldier who is willing to follow orders ... who sells his religion for a few dollars,\" he said. In blog post dated July 15, 2009, entitled \"Fighting Against Government Armies in the Muslim World\", al-Awlaki wrote, \"Blessed are those who fight against [American soldiers], and blessed are those shuhada [martyrs] who are killed by them.\"",
"In blog post dated July 15, 2009, entitled \"Fighting Against Government Armies in the Muslim World\", al-Awlaki wrote, \"Blessed are those who fight against [American soldiers], and blessed are those shuhada [martyrs] who are killed by them.\" In a video posted to the internet on November 8, 2010, al-Awlaki called for Muslims to kill Americans \"without hesitation\", and overthrow Arab governments that cooperate with the US.",
"In a video posted to the internet on November 8, 2010, al-Awlaki called for Muslims to kill Americans \"without hesitation\", and overthrow Arab governments that cooperate with the US. \"Don't consult with anyone in fighting the Americans, fighting the devil doesn't require consultation or prayers or seeking divine guidance. They are the party of the devils\", al-Awlaki said.",
"They are the party of the devils\", al-Awlaki said. That month, Intelligence Research Specialist Kevin Yorke of the New York Police Department's Counterterrorism Division called him \"the most dangerous man in the world\". See also Church Committee Executive Order 12333 Extrajudicial killing International counter-terrorism activities of the CIA Protocol I References Further reading al-Ashanti, AbdulHaq and Sloan, Abu Ameenah AbdurRahman. (2011) A Critique of the Methodology of Anwar al-Awlaki and his Errors in the Fiqh of Jihad.",
"(2011) A Critique of the Methodology of Anwar al-Awlaki and his Errors in the Fiqh of Jihad. London: Jamiah Media, 2011 External links Ruling of Judge Bates in Al Aulaqi v Obama Statements Interviews \"Exclusive; Ray Suarez: My Post-9/11 Interview With Anwar al-Awlaki\", PBS, October 30, 2001 \"Al-Jazeera Satellite Network Interview with Yemeni-American Cleric Shaykh Anwar al-Awlaki Regarding his Alleged Role in Radicalizing Maj. Malik Nidal Hasan\", The NEFA Foundation, December 24, 2009 Media coverage The imam's very curious story: A skirt-chasing mullah is just one more mystery for the 9/11 panel, Ragavan, Chitra, US News and World Report'', June 13, 2004 DBI.gov 1971 births 2011 deaths 20th-century imams 21st-century imams Abdullah Yusuf Azzam Al-Qaeda propagandists Assassinated al-Qaeda leaders American al-Qaeda members American expatriates in the United Kingdom American expatriates in Yemen American imams American Islamists American people of Yemeni descent Colorado State University alumni George Washington University Graduate School of Education and Human Development alumni People associated with the September 11 attacks People from Las Cruces, New Mexico San Diego State University alumni Yemeni imams Yemeni al-Qaeda members Yemeni Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam Yemeni Sunni Muslims Deaths by drone strikes of the Central Intelligence Agency in Yemen Islam-related controversies People designated by the Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee American male criminals Yemeni criminals Yemeni Islamists Yemeni expatriates in the United Kingdom Shafi'is American Muslim activists Assassinated Yemeni people Yemeni propagandists United States military killing of American civilians"
] |
[
"Anwar al-Awlaki",
"Other connections",
"What were some of his connections?",
"Al-Awlaki influenced several other extremists to join terrorist organizations overseas and to carry out terrorist attacks in their home countries.",
"What countries was he going after?",
"The cases included suicide bombers in the 2005 London bombings, radical Islamic terrorists in the 2006 Toronto terrorism case, radical Islamic terrorists in the 2007 Fort Dix attack plot,"
] | C_a9dbf6539ea04ea1aa2c40cc18303c22_1 | Were there others? | 3 | Were there any other countries Anwar al-Awlaki went after? | Anwar al-Awlaki | FBI agents identified al-Awlaki as a known, important "senior recruiter for al Qaeda", and a spiritual motivator. His name came up in a dozen terrorism plots in the US, UK, and Canada. The cases included suicide bombers in the 2005 London bombings, radical Islamic terrorists in the 2006 Toronto terrorism case, radical Islamic terrorists in the 2007 Fort Dix attack plot, the jihadist killer in the 2009 Little Rock military recruiting office shooting, and the 2010 Times Square bomber. In each case the suspects were devoted to al-Awlaki's message, which they listened to online and on CDs. Al-Awlaki's recorded lectures were heard by Islamist fundamentalists in at least six terror cells in the UK through 2009. Michael Finton (Talib Islam), who attempted in September 2009 to bomb the Federal Building and the adjacent offices of Congressman Aaron Schock in Springfield, Illinois, admired al-Awlaki and quoted him on his Myspace page. In addition to his website, al-Awlaki had a Facebook fan page with "fans" in the US, many of whom were high school students. Al-Awlaki also set up a website and blog on which he shared his views. Al-Awlaki influenced several other extremists to join terrorist organizations overseas and to carry out terrorist attacks in their home countries. Mohamed Alessa and Carlos Almonte, two American citizens from New Jersey who attempted to travel to Somalia in June 2010 to join the al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group Al Shabaab, allegedly watched several al-Awlaki videos and sermons in which he warned of future attacks against Americans in the US and abroad. Zachary Chesser, an American citizen who was arrested for attempting to provide material support to Al Shabaab, told federal authorities that he watched online videos featuring al-Awlaki and that he exchanged several e-mails with al-Awlaki. In July 2010, Paul Rockwood was sentenced to eight years in prison for creating a list of 15 potential targets in the US, people he felt had desecrated Islam. Rockwood was a devoted follower of al-Awlaki, and had studied his works Constants on the Path to Jihad and 44 Ways to Jihad. In October 2008, Charles Allen, US Under-Secretary of Homeland Security for Intelligence and Analysis, warned that al-Awlaki "targets U.S. Muslims with radical online lectures encouraging terrorist attacks from his new home in Yemen." Responding to Allen, al-Awlaki wrote on his website in December 2008: "I would challenge him to come up with just one such lecture where I encourage 'terrorist attacks'". CANNOTANSWER | the jihadist killer in the 2009 Little Rock military recruiting office shooting, and the 2010 Times Square bomber. | Anwar Nasser al-Awlaki (also spelled al-Aulaqi, al-Awlaqi; ; April 21 or 22, 1971 – September 30, 2011) was a Yemeni-American imam who was killed in 2011 in Yemen by an American drone strike ordered by President Barack Obama. Al-Awlaki became the first U.S. citizen to be targeted and killed by a U.S. drone strike without the rights of due process being afforded. US government officials argued that Awlaki was a key organizer for the Islamist terrorist group al-Qaeda, and in June 2014, a previously classified memorandum issued by the U.S. Department of Justice was released, justifying al-Awlaki's death as a lawful act of war. Civil liberties advocates have described the incident as "an extrajudicial execution" that breached al-Awlaki's right to due process, including a trial.
Al-Awlaki was born in Las Cruces, New Mexico, in 1971 to parents from Yemen. Growing up partially in the United States and partially in Yemen, he attended various universities across the United States in the 1990s and early 2000s while also working as an imam, despite having no religious qualifications and almost no religious education. Al-Awlaki returned to Yemen in early 2004 and became a university lecturer after a brief stint as a public speaker in the United Kingdom. He was detained by Yemeni authorities in 2006, where he spent 18 months in prison before being released without facing trial. Following his release, Al-Awlaki's message started to become overtly supportive of violence, as he condemned United States foreign policy against Muslims.
The Yemeni government tried him in absentia in November 2010, for plotting to kill foreigners and being a member of al-Qaeda. A Yemeni judge ordered that he be captured "dead or alive". U.S. officials said that in 2009, al-Awlaki was promoted to the rank of "regional commander" within al-Qaeda, although they described his role as more "inspirational" than "operational." He repeatedly called for jihad against the United States. In April 2010, al-Awlaki was placed on a CIA kill list by President Barack Obama due to his alleged terrorist activities. Al-Awlaki's father and civil rights groups challenged the order in court. Al-Awlaki was believed to be in hiding in southeast Yemen in the last years of his life. The U.S. deployed unmanned aircraft (drones) in Yemen to search for and kill him, firing at and failing to kill him at least once; he was successfully killed on September 30, 2011. Two weeks later, al-Awlaki's 16-year-old son, Abdulrahman al-Awlaki, a U.S. citizen who was born in Denver, Colorado, was also killed by a CIA-led drone strike in Yemen. His daughter, 8-year old Nawar al-Awlaki, was killed during a raid against Al Qaeda ordered by President Donald Trump in 2017.<ref name="uk.reuters.com">Ghobari, Mohammed and Phil Stewart. "Commando dies in U.S. raid in Yemen, first military op OK'd by Trump", Reuters, January 29, 2017. Retrieved January 29, 2017.</ref> The New York Times wrote in 2015 that al-Awlaki's public statements and videos have been more influential in inspiring acts of Islamic terrorism in the wake of his killing than before his death.
Early life
Al-Awlaki was born in Las Cruces, New Mexico, in 1971 to parents from Yemen, while his father, Nasser al-Awlaki, was doing graduate work at U.S. universities. His father was a Fulbright Scholar who earned a master's degree in agricultural economics at New Mexico State University in 1971, received a doctorate at the University of Nebraska, and worked at the University of Minnesota from 1975 to 1977. Nasser al-Awlaki served as Agriculture Minister in Ali Abdullah Saleh's government. He was also President of Sana'a University. Yemen's prime minister from 2007 to 2011, Ali Mohammed Mujur, was a relative.
The family returned to Yemen in 1978, when al-Awlaki was seven years old. He lived there for 11 years, and studied at Azal Modern School.
Life in the United States 1990–2002
Education
In 1991, al-Awlaki returned to the U.S. to attend college. He earned a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Colorado State University (1994), where he was president of the Muslim Student Association.
In 1993, while still a college student in Colorado State's civil engineering program, al-Awlaki visited Afghanistan in the aftermath of the Soviet occupation. He spent some time training with the mujahideen who had fought the Soviets. He was depressed by the country's poverty and hunger, and "wouldn't have gone with al-Qaeda," according to friends from Colorado State, who said he was profoundly affected by the trip. Mullah Mohammed Omar did not form the Taliban until 1994. When Al-Awlaki returned to campus, he showed increased interest in religion and politics. Al-Awlaki studied Education Leadership at San Diego State University, but did not complete his degree. He worked on a doctorate in Human Resource Development at The George Washington University Graduate School of Education and Human Development from January to December 2001.
Time as imam
In 1994, al-Awlaki married a cousin from Yemen, and began service as a part-time imam of the Denver Islamic Society. In 1996, he was chastised by an elder for encouraging a Saudi student to fight in Chechnya against the Russians. He left Denver soon after, moving to San Diego.
From 1996 to 2000, al-Awlaki was imam of the Masjid Ar-Ribat al-Islami mosque in San Diego, California, where he had a following of 200–300 people. U.S. officials later alleged that Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar, hijackers of American Airlines Flight 77, attended his sermons and personally met him during this period. Hazmi later lived in Northern Virginia and attended al-Awlaki's mosque there. The 9/11 Commission Report said that the hijackers "reportedly respected [al-Awlaki] as a religious figure". While in San Diego, al-Awlaki volunteered with youth organizations, fished, discussed his travels with friends, and created a popular and lucrative series of recorded lectures.
In August 1996 and in April 1997, al-Awlaki was arrested in San Diego and charged with soliciting prostitutes. The first time, in 1996, he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and was fined $400 and required to attend informational sessions about AIDS. The second time, in 1997, he pleaded guilty and was fined $240, ordered to perform 12 days of community service, and received three years' probation. From November 2001 to January 2002 the FBI observed him visiting a number of prostitutes, and interviewed them, establishing that he had paid for sex acts. No prosecution was brought.
In 1998 and 1999, he served as vice-president for the Charitable Society for Social Welfare. In 2004, the FBI described this group as a "front organization to funnel money to terrorists". Although the FBI investigated al-Awlaki from June 1999 through March 2000 for possible links to Hamas, the Bin Laden contact Ziyad Khaleel, and a visit by an associate of Omar Abdel Rahman, it did not find sufficient evidence for a criminal prosecution. Al-Awlaki told reporters that he resigned from leading the San Diego mosque "after an uneventful four years," and took a brief sabbatical, traveling overseas to various countries.
In January 2001, al-Awlaki returned to the U.S., settling in the Washington metropolitan area. There, he was imam at the Dar al-Hijrah mosque near Falls Church, Virginia, and his services were attended by Nawaf al-Hazmi and a third hijacker, Hani Hanjour. He led academic discussions frequented by FBI Director of Counter-Intelligence for the Middle East Gordon M. Snow. Al-Awlaki also served as the Muslim chaplain at George Washington University, where he was hired by Esam Omeish. Omeish said in 2004 that he was convinced that al-Awlaki was not involved in terrorism.
His proficiency as a public speaker and command of the English language helped him attract followers who did not speak Arabic. "He was the magic bullet", according to the mosque spokesman Johari Abdul-Malik. "He had everything all in a box." "He had an allure. He was charming."
When police investigating the 9/11 attacks raided the Hamburg apartment of Ramzi bin al-Shibh, they found the telephone number of al-Awlaki among bin al-Shibh's personal contacts. The FBI interviewed al-Awlaki four times in the eight days following the 9/11 attacks. One detective later told the 9/11 Commission he believed al-Awlaki "was at the center of the 9/11 story". And an FBI agent said, "if anyone had knowledge of the plot, it would have been" him, since "someone had to be in the U.S. and keep the hijackers spiritually focused". One 9/11 Commission staff member said: "Do I think he played a role in helping the hijackers here, knowing they were up to something? Yes. Do I think he was sent here for that purpose? I have no evidence for it." A separate Congressional Joint Inquiry into the 9/11 attacks suggested that al-Awlaki may have been connected to the hijackers, according to its director, Eleanor Hill. In 2003, Representative Anna Eshoo, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said, "In my view, he is more than a coincidental figure."
Six days after the 9/11 attacks, al-Awlaki suggested in writing on the IslamOnline.net website that Israeli intelligence agents might have been responsible for the attacks, and that the FBI "went into the roster of the airplanes, and whoever has a Muslim or Arab name became the hijacker by default".
Soon after the 9/11 attacks, al-Awlaki was sought in Washington, D.C., by the media to answer questions about Islam, its rituals, and its relation to the attacks. He was interviewed by National Geographic, The New York Times, and other media. Al-Awlaki condemned the attacks. According to an NPR report in 2010, in 2001 al-Awlaki appeared to be a moderate who could "bridge the gap between the United States and the worldwide community of Muslims." The New York Times said at the time that he was "held up as a new generation of Muslim leader capable of merging East and West." In 2010, Fox News and the New York Daily News reported that some months after the 9/11 attacks, a Pentagon employee invited al-Awlaki to a luncheon in the Secretary's Office of General Counsel. The U.S. Secretary of the Army had suggested that a moderate Muslim be invited to give a talk.
In 2002, al-Awlaki was the first imam to conduct a prayer service for the Congressional Muslim Staffer Association at the U.S. Capitol. That year, Nidal Hasan visited al-Awlaki's mosque for his mother's funeral, at which al-Awlaki presided. In November 2009, Hasan killed 13 and wounded 32 in the Fort Hood shooting. Hasan usually attended a mosque in Maryland closer to where he lived while working at the Walter Reed Medical Center (2003–09).
Later in 2002, al-Awlaki posted an essay in Arabic on the Islam Today website titled "Why Muslims Love Death", lauding the fervor of Palestinian suicide bombers. He expressed a similar opinion in a speech at a London mosque later that year. By July 2002, al-Awlaki was under investigation in the United States for having received money from the subject of a U.S. Joint Terrorism Task Force investigation. His name was added to the list of terrorism suspects.
Passport fraud issues
In June 2002, a Denver federal judge signed an arrest warrant for al-Awlaki for passport fraud. On October 9, the Denver U.S. Attorney's Office filed a motion to dismiss the complaint and vacate the arrest warrant. Prosecutors believed that they lacked sufficient evidence of a crime, according to U.S. Attorney Dave Gaouette, who authorized its withdrawal. Al-Awlaki had listed Yemen rather than the United States as his place of birth on his 1990 application for a U.S. Social Security number, soon after arriving in the US. Al-Awlaki used this documentation to obtain a passport in 1993. He later corrected his place of birth to Las Cruces, New Mexico. "The bizarre thing is if you put Yemen down (on the application), it would be harder to get a Social Security number than to say you are a native-born citizen of Las Cruces", Gaouette said.
Prosecutors could not charge him in October 2002, when he returned from a trip abroad, because a 10-year statute of limitations on lying to the Social Security Administration had expired. According to a 2012 investigative report by Fox News, the arrest warrant for passport fraud was still in effect on the morning of October 10, 2002, when FBI Agent Wade Ammerman ordered al-Awlaki's release. U.S. Congressman Frank Wolf (R-VA) and several congressional committees urged FBI Director Robert Mueller to provide an explanation about the bureau's interactions with al-Awlaki, including why he was released from federal custody when there was an outstanding warrant for his arrest. The motion for rescinding the arrest warrant was approved by a magistrate judge on October 10 and filed on October 11.ABC News reported in 2009 that the Joint Terrorism Task Force in San Diego disagreed with the decision to cancel the warrant. They were monitoring al-Awlaki and wanted to "look at him under a microscope". But U.S. Attorney Gaouette said that no objection had been raised to the rescinding of the warrant during a meeting that included Ray Fournier, the San Diego federal diplomatic security agent whose allegation had set in motion the effort to obtain a warrant. Gaouette said that if al-Awlaki had been convicted at the time, he would have faced about six months in custody.The New York Times suggested later that al-Awlaki had claimed birth in Yemen (his family's place of origin) to qualify for scholarship money granted to foreign citizens. U.S. Congressman Frank R. Wolf (R-VA) wrote in May 2010 that by claiming to be foreign-born, al-Awlaki fraudulently obtained more than $20,000 in scholarship funds reserved for foreign students.
While living in Northern Virginia, al-Awlaki visited Ali al-Timimi, later known as a radical Islamic cleric. Al-Timimi was convicted in 2005 and is now serving a life sentence for leading the Virginia Jihad Network, inciting Muslim followers to fight with the Taliban against the US.
In the United Kingdom 2002–04
Al-Awlaki left the United States before the end of 2002, because of a "climate of fear and intimidation" according to Imam Johari Abdul-Malik of the Dar al-Hijrah mosque.
He lived in the UK for several months, where he gave talks attended by up to 200 people. He urged young Muslim followers: "The important lesson to learn here is never, ever trust a kuffar [disbeliever]. Do not trust them! [Their leaders] are plotting to kill this religion. They're plotting night and day." "He was the main man who translated the jihad into English," said a student who attended his lectures in 2003.
He gave a series of lectures in December 2002 and January 2003 at the London Masjid al-Tawhid mosque, describing the rewards martyrs (Shahid) receive in paradise (Jannah). He began to gain supporters, particularly among young Muslims, and undertook a lecture tour of England and Scotland in 2002 in conjunction with the Muslim Association of Britain. He also lectured at "ExpoIslamia", an event held by Islamic Forum Europe. At the East London Mosque he told his audience: "A Muslim is a brother of a Muslim... he does not betray him, and he does not hand him over... You don't hand over a Muslim to the enemies."
In Britain's Parliament in 2003, Louise Ellman, MP for Liverpool Riverside, discussed the relationship between al-Awlaki and the Muslim Association of Britain, an alleged Muslim Brotherhood front organization founded by Kemal el-Helbawy, a senior member of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood.
Return to Yemen 2004–11
Al-Awlaki returned to Yemen in early 2004, where he lived in Shabwah Governorate with his wife and five children. He lectured at Iman University, headed by Abdul Majeed al-Zindani. The latter has been included on the UN 1267 Committee's list of individuals belonging to or associated with al-Qaeda. Al-Zindani denied having any influence over al-Awlaki, or that he had been his "direct teacher". Some believe that the school's curriculum deals mostly, if not exclusively, with radical Islamic studies, and promotes radicalism. American convert John Walker Lindh and other alumni have been associated with terrorist groups.
On August 31, 2006, al-Awlaki was arrested with four others on charges of kidnapping a Shiite teenager for ransom, and participating in an al-Qaeda plot to kidnap a U.S. military attaché. He was imprisoned in 2006 and 2007. He was interviewed around September 2007 by two FBI agents with regard to the 9/11 attacks and other subjects. John Negroponte, the U.S. Director of National Intelligence, told Yemeni officials he did not object to al-Awlaki's detention.
His name was on a list of 100 prisoners whose release was sought by al-Qaeda-linked militants in Yemen. After 18 months in a Yemeni prison, al-Awlaki was released on December 12, 2007, following the intercession of his tribe. According to a Yemeni security official, he was released because he had repented. He moved to his family home in Saeed, a hamlet in the Shabwa mountains.
Moazzam Begg's Cageprisoners, an organization representing former Guantanamo detainees, campaigned for al-Awlaki's release when he was in prison in Yemen. Al-Awlaki told Begg in an interview shortly after his release that prior to his incarceration in Yemen, he had condemned the 9/11 attacks.
In December 2008, al-Awlaki sent a communique to the Somali terrorist group, al-Shabaab, congratulating them.
Al-Awlaki provided al-Qaeda members in Yemen with the protection of his powerful tribe, the Awlakis, against the government. The tribal code required it to protect those who seek refuge and assistance. This imperative has greater force when the person is a member of the tribe or a tribesman's friend. The tribe's motto is "We are the sparks of Hell; whoever interferes with us will be burned." Al-Awlaki also reportedly helped negotiate deals with leaders of other tribes.
Sought by Yemeni authorities who were investigating his al-Qaeda ties, al-Awlaki went into hiding in approximately March 2009, according to his father. By December 2009, al-Awlaki was on the Yemeni government's most-wanted list. He was believed to be hiding in Yemen's Shabwa or Mareb regions, which are part of the so-called "triangle of evil". The area has attracted al-Qaeda militants, who seek refuge among local tribes unhappy with Yemen's central government.
Yemeni sources originally said al-Awlaki might have been killed in a pre-dawn air strike by Yemeni Air Force fighter jets on a meeting of senior al-Qaeda leaders at a hideout in Rafd in eastern Shabwa, on December 24, 2009. But he survived. Pravda reported that the planes, using Saudi and U.S. intelligence, killed at least 30 al-Qaeda members from Yemen and abroad, and that an al-Awlaki house was "raided and demolished". On December 28 The Washington Post reported that U.S. and Yemeni officials said that al-Awlaki had been present at the meeting. Abdul Elah al-Shaya, a Yemeni journalist, said al-Awlaki called him on December 28 to report that he was well and had not attended the al-Qaeda meeting. Al-Shaya said that al-Awlaki was not tied to al-Qaeda.
In March 2010, a tape featuring al-Awlaki was released in which he urged Muslims residing in the United States to attack their country of residence.
Reaching out to the United Kingdom
After 2006, al-Awlaki was banned from entering the United Kingdom. He broadcast lectures to mosques and other venues there via video-link from 2007 to 2009, on at least seven occasions at five locations in Britain. Noor Pro Media Events held a conference at the East London Mosque on January 1, 2009, showing a videotaped lecture by al-Awlaki; former Shadow Home Secretary Dominic Grieve expressed concern over his being featured.
He gave video-link talks in England to an Islamic student society at the University of Westminster in September 2008, an arts center in East London in April 2009 (after the Tower Hamlets council gave its approval), worshippers at the Al Huda Mosque in Bradford, and a dinner of the Cageprisoners organization in September 2008 at the Wandsworth Civic Centre in South London. On August 23, 2009, al-Awlaki was banned by local authorities in Kensington and Chelsea, London, from speaking at Kensington Town Hall via videolink to a fundraiser dinner for Guantanamo detainees promoted by Cageprisoners. His videos, which discuss his Islamist theories, have circulated across the United Kingdom. Until February 2010, hundreds of audio tapes of his sermons were available at the Tower Hamlets public libraries. In 2009, the London-based Islam Channel carried advertisements for his DVDs and at least two of his video conference lectures.
Other connections
FBI agents identified al-Awlaki as a known, important "senior recruiter for al Qaeda", and a spiritual motivator. His name came up in a dozen terrorism plots in the US, UK, and Canada. The cases included suicide bombers in the 2005 London bombings, radical Islamic terrorists in the 2006 Toronto terrorism case, radical Islamic terrorists in the 2007 Fort Dix attack plot, the jihadist killer in the 2009 Little Rock military recruiting office shooting, and the 2010 Times Square bomber. In each case the suspects were devoted to al-Awlaki's message, which they listened to online and on CDs.
Al-Awlaki's recorded lectures were heard by Islamist fundamentalists in at least six terror cells in the UK through 2009. Michael Finton (Talib Islam), who attempted in September 2009 to bomb the Federal Building and the adjacent offices of Congressman Aaron Schock in Springfield, Illinois, admired al-Awlaki and quoted him on his Myspace page. In addition to his website, al-Awlaki had a Facebook fan page with "fans" in the US, many of whom were high school students. Al-Awlaki also set up a website and blog on which he shared his views.
Al-Awlaki influenced several other extremists to join terrorist organizations overseas and to carry out terrorist attacks in their home countries. Mohamed Alessa and Carlos Almonte, two American citizens from New Jersey who attempted to travel to Somalia in June 2010 to join the al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group Al Shabaab, allegedly watched several al-Awlaki videos and sermons in which he warned of future attacks against Americans in the United States and abroad. Zachary Chesser, an American citizen who was arrested for attempting to provide material support to Al Shabaab, told federal authorities that he watched online videos featuring al-Awlaki and that he exchanged several e-mails with al-Awlaki. In July 2010, Paul Rockwood was sentenced to eight years in prison for creating a list of 15 potential targets in the US, people he felt had desecrated Islam. Rockwood was a devoted follower of al-Awlaki, and had studied his works Constants on the Path to Jihad and 44 Ways to Jihad.
In October 2008, Charles Allen, U.S. Under-Secretary of Homeland Security for Intelligence and Analysis, warned that al-Awlaki "targets U.S. Muslims with radical online lectures encouraging terrorist attacks from his new home in Yemen." Responding to Allen, al-Awlaki wrote on his website in December 2008: "I would challenge him to come up with just one such lecture where I encourage 'terrorist attacks'".
Fort Hood shooter
Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan was investigated by the FBI after intelligence agencies intercepted at least 18 e-mails between him and al-Awlaki between December 2008 and June 2009. Even before the contents of the e-mails were revealed, terrorism expert Jarret Brachman said that Hasan's contacts with al-Awlaki should have raised "huge red flags", because of his influence on radical English-speaking jihadis. Charles Allen, no longer in government, noted that there was no work-related reason for Hasan to be in touch with al-Awlaki. Former CIA officer Bruce Riedel opined: "E-mailing a known al-Qaeda sympathizer should have set off alarm bells. Even if he was exchanging recipes, the bureau should have put out an alert." A DC-based Joint Terrorism Task Force operating under the FBI was notified of the e-mails and reviewed the information. Army employees were informed of the e-mails, but they didn't perceive any terrorist threat in Hasan's questions. Instead, they viewed them as general questions about spiritual guidance with regard to conflicts between Islam and military service and judged them to be consistent with legitimate mental health research about Muslims in the armed services. The assessment was that there was not sufficient information for a larger investigation. In one of the e-mails, Hasan wrote al-Awlaki: "I can't wait to join you [in the afterlife]". "It sounds like code words," said Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer, a military analyst at the Center for Advanced Defense Studies. "That he's actually either offering himself up, or that he's already crossed that line in his own mind."
Yemeni journalist Abdulelah Hider Shaea interviewed al-Awlaki in November 2009. Al-Awlaki acknowledged his correspondence with Hasan. He said he "neither ordered nor pressured ... Hasan to harm Americans." Al-Awlaki said Hasan first e-mailed him December 17, 2008, introducing himself by writing: "Do you remember me? I used to pray with you at the Virginia mosque." Hasan said he had become a devout Muslim around the time al-Awlaki was preaching at Dar al-Hijrah, in 2001 and 2002, and al-Awlaki said 'Maybe Nidal was affected by one of my lectures.'" He added: "It was clear from his e-mails that Nidal trusted me. Nidal told me: 'I speak with you about issues that I never speak with anyone else.'" Al-Awlaki said Hasan arrived at his own conclusions regarding the acceptability of violence in Islam and said he was not the one to initiate this. Shaea said, "Nidal was providing evidence to Anwar, not vice versa."
Asked whether Hasan mentioned Fort Hood as a target in his e-mails, Shaea declined to comment. Al-Awlaki said the shooting was acceptable in Islam, however, because it was a form of jihad, as the West began the hostilities with the Muslims. Al-Awlaki said he "blessed the act because it was against a military target. And the soldiers who were killed were ... those who were trained and prepared to go to Iraq and Afghanistan".
Al-Awlaki's e-mail conversations with Hasan were not released, and he was not placed on the FBI Most Wanted list, indicted for treason, or officially named as a co-conspirator with Hasan. The U.S. government was reluctant to classify the Fort Hood shooting as a terrorist incident, or identify any motive. The Wall Street Journal reported in January 2010 that al-Awlaki had not "played a direct role" in any of the attacks, and noted he had never been charged with a crime in the US.
One of his fellow officers at Fort Hood said Hasan was enthusiastic about al-Awlaki. Some investigators believe al-Awlaki's teachings may have been instrumental in Hasan's decision to stage the attack. On his now-disabled website, al-Awlaki praised Hasan's actions, describing him as a hero.
Christmas Day "Underwear Bomber"
According to a number of sources, Al-Awlaki and Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the convicted al-Qaeda attempted bomber of Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on December 25, 2009, had contacts. In January 2010, CNN reported that U.S. "security sources" said that there is concrete evidence that al-Awlaki was Abdulmutallab's recruiter and one of his trainers, and met with him prior to the attack. In February 2010, al-Awlaki admitted in an interview published in al-Jazeera that he taught and corresponded with Abdulmutallab, but denied having ordered the attack.
Representative Pete Hoekstra, the senior Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, said officials in the Obama administration and officials with access to law enforcement information told him the suspect "may have had contact [with al-Awlaki]".The Sunday Times established that Abdulmutallab first met al-Awlaki in 2005 in Yemen, while he was studying Arabic. During that time the suspect attended lectures by al-Awlaki.NPR reported that according to unnamed U.S. intelligence officials he attended a sermon by al-Awlaki at the Finsbury Park Mosque. Khalid Mahmood, the Labour MP for Birmingham Perry Barr, a former trustee of the mosque, expressed "grave misgivings" with regard to its stewardship. A spokesperson of the mosque stated that al-Awlaki had never spoken there or had even to his knowledge entered the building.
Abdulmutallab was also reported by CBS News, The Daily Telegraph, and The Sunday Telegraph to have attended a talk by al-Awlaki at the East London Mosque, which al-Awlaki may have attended by video teleconference. The Sunday Telegraph later removed the report from its website following a complaint by the East London Mosque, which stated that "Anwar Al Awlaki did not deliver any talks at the ELM between 2005 and 2008, which is when the newspaper had falsely alleged that Abdullmutallab had attended such talks".
Investigators who searched flats connected to Abdulmutallab in London said that he was a "big fan" of al-Awlaki, as al-Awlaki's blog and website had repeatedly been visited from those locations.
According to federal sources, Abdulmutallab and al-Awlaki repeatedly communicated with one another in the year prior to the attack. "Voice-to-voice communication" between the two was intercepted during the fall of 2009, and one government source said al-Awlaki "was in some way involved in facilitating [Abdulmutallab]'s transportation or trip through Yemen. It could be training, a host of things." NPR reported that intelligence officials suspected al-Awlaki may have told Abdulmutallab to go to Yemen for al-Qaeda training.
Abdulmutallab told the FBI that al-Awlaki was one of his al-Qaeda trainers in Yemen. Others reported that Abdulmutallab met with al-Awlaki in the weeks leading up to the attack. The Los Angeles Times reported that according to a U.S. intelligence official, intercepts and other information point to connections between the two:
Some of the information ... comes from Abdulmutallab, who ... said that he met with al-Awlaki and senior al-Qaeda members during an extended trip to Yemen this year and that the cleric was involved in some elements of planning or preparing the attack and in providing religious justification for it. Other intelligence linking the two became apparent after the attempted bombing, including communications intercepted by the National Security Agency indicating that the cleric was meeting with "a Nigerian" in preparation for some kind of operation.
Yemen's Deputy Prime Minister for Defense and Security Affairs, Rashad Mohammed al-Alimi, said Yemeni investigators believe that Abdulmutallab traveled to Shabwa in October 2009. Investigators believe he obtained his explosives and received training there. He met there with al-Qaeda members in a house built by al-Awlaki. A top Yemen government official said the two met with each other.
In January 2010, al-Awlaki acknowledged that he met and spoke with Abdulmutallab in Yemen in the fall of 2009. In an interview, al-Awlaki said: "Umar Farouk is one of my students; I had communications with him. And I support what he did." He also said: "I did not tell him to do this operation, but I support it". Fox News reported in early February 2010 that Abdulmutallab told federal investigators that al-Awlaki directed him to carry out the bombing.
In June 2010 Michael Leiter, the Director of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), said al-Awlaki had a "direct operational role" in the plot.
Sharif Mobley
Sharif Mobley had acknowledged contact with Anwar al-Awlaki. The Mobley family claims the contact was for spiritual guidance in further studies of Islam.
The Mobley family went to Yemen and resided there for several years. They decided to return to the United States and went to the U.S. Embassy to update the family travel documents. While waiting for their travel documents, Sharif Mobley was kidnapped by Yemen Security Services and shot on January 26, 2010. He was then held in Yemen's Central Prison. Mobley disappeared from the Central Prison on February 27, 2014. His current location is known to the U.S. Embassy in Yemen (currently closed 2015) but is withheld from his family and legal advisers based on U.S. State Department Regulations on "U.S. Citizens Missing Abroad".
All charges related to "terrorism/terrorist activity" were dropped by the Yemen government. There are no charges relating to allegations of "killing a guard during an escape attempt from the hospital" and there are no other legal proceedings against him in Yemen.
Times Square bomber
Faisal Shahzad, convicted of the 2010 Times Square car bombing attempt, told interrogators that he was a "fan and follower" of al-Awlaki, and his writings were one of the inspirations for the attack. On May 6, 2010 ABC News reported that unknown sources told them Shahzad made contact with al-Awlaki over the internet, a claim that could not be independently verified.
Stabbing of British former minister Stephen Timms
Roshonara Choudhry, who stabbed former British Cabinet Minister Stephen Timms in May 2010, and was found guilty of his attempted murder in November 2010, claimed to have become radicalized by listening to online sermons of al-Awlaki.
Seattle Weekly cartoonist death threat
In 2010, after Everybody Draw Mohammed Day, cartoonist Molly Norris at Seattle Weekly had to stop publishing, and at the suggestion of the FBI changed her name, moved, and went into hiding due to a fatwā issued by al-Awlaki calling for her death. In the June 2010 issue of Inspire, an English-language al-Qaeda magazine, al-Awlaki cursed her and eight others for "blasphemous caricatures" of Muhammad. "The medicine prescribed by the Messenger of Allah is the execution of those involved", he wrote. Daniel Pipes observed in an article entitled "Dueling Fatwas", "Awlaki stands at an unprecedented crossroads of death declarations, with his targeting Norris even as the U.S. government targets him."
Cargo planes bomb plotThe Guardian, The New York Times, and The Daily Telegraph reported that U.S. and British counter-terrorism officials believed that al-Awlaki was behind the cargo plane PETN bombs that were sent from Yemen to Chicago in October 2010.Yemen bomb scare 'mastermind' lived in London | World news. The Guardian. Retrieved on October 1, 2011. When U.S. Homeland Security official John Brennan was asked about al-Awlaki's suspected involvement in the plot, he said: "Anybody associated with al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is a subject of concern." U.S. Ambassador to Yemen Gerald Feierstein said "al-Awlaki was behind the two bombs."
Final years
Al-Awlaki's father, tribe, and supporters denied his alleged associations with Al-Qaeda and Islamist terrorism. Al-Awlaki's father proclaimed his son's innocence in an interview with CNN's Paula Newton, saying: "I am now afraid of what they will do with my son. He's not Osama bin Laden, they want to make something out of him that he's not." Responding to a Yemeni official's assertions that his son had taken refuge with al-Qaeda, Nasser said: "He's dead wrong. What do you expect my son to do? There are missiles raining down on the village. He has to hide. But he is not hiding with al-Qaeda; our tribe is protecting him right now."
The Yemeni government attempted to get the tribal leaders to release al-Awlaki to their custody. They promised they would not turn him over to U.S. authorities for questioning. The governor of Shabwa said in January 2010 that al-Awlaki was on the move with members of al-Qaeda, including Fahd al-Quso, who was wanted in connection with the bombing of the USS Cole.
In January 2010, White House lawyers debated whether or not it was legal to kill al-Awlaki, given his U.S. citizenship. U.S. officials stated that international law allows targeted killing in the event that the subject is an "imminent threat". Because he was a U.S. citizen, his killing had to be approved by the National Security Council. Such action against a U.S. citizen is extremely rare. As a military enemy of the US, al-Awlaki was not subject to Executive Order 11905, which bans assassination for political reasons. The authorization was nevertheless controversial.
By February 4, 2010, the New York Daily News reported that al-Awlaki was "now on a targeting list signed off on by the Obama administration". On April 6, The New York Times reported that President Obama had authorized the killing of al-Awlaki.
The al-Awalik tribe responded: "We warn against cooperating with America to kill Sheikh Anwar al-Awlaki. We will not stand by idly and watch." Al-Awlaki's tribe wrote that it would "not remain with arms crossed if a hair of Anwar al-Awlaki is touched, or if anyone plots or spies against him. Whoever risks denouncing our son (Awlaki) will be the target of Al-Awalik weapons", and gave warning "against co-operating with the Americans" in the capture or killing of al-Awlaki. Abu Bakr al-Qirbi, the Yemeni foreign minister, announced that the Yemeni government had not received any evidence from the US, and that "Anwar al-Awlaki has always been looked at as a preacher rather than a terrorist and shouldn't be considered as a terrorist unless the Americans have evidence that he has been involved in terrorism".
In a video clip bearing the imprint of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, issued on April 16 in al-Qaeda's monthly magazine Sada Al-Malahem, al-Awlaki said: "What am I accused of? Of calling for the truth? Of calling for jihad for the sake of Allah? Of calling to defend the causes of the Islamic nation?" In the video he also praises both Abdulmutallab and Hasan, and describes both as his "students".
In late April, Representative Charlie Dent (R-PA) introduced a resolution urging the U.S. State Department to withdraw al-Awlaki's U.S. citizenship. By May, U.S. officials believed he had become directly involved in terrorist activities. Former colleague Abdul-Malik said he "is a terrorist, in my book", and advised shops not to carry any of his publications. In an editorial, Investor's Business Daily called al-Awlaki the "world's most dangerous man", and recommended that he be added to the FBI's most-wanted terrorist list, a bounty put on his head, that he be designated a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, charged with treason, and extradition papers filed with the Yemeni government. IBD criticized the Justice Department for stonewalling Senator Joe Lieberman's security panel's investigation of al-Awlaki's role in the Fort Hood massacre.
On July 16, the U.S. Treasury Department added him to its list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists. Stuart Levey, Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, called him "extraordinarily dangerous", and said al-Awlaki was involved in several organizational aspects of terrorism, including recruiting, training, fundraising, and planning individual attacks.
A few days later, the United Nations Security Council placed al-Awlaki on its UN Security Council Resolution 1267 list of individuals associated with al-Qaeda, describing him as a leader, recruiter, and trainer for al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. The resolution stipulates that U.N. members must freeze the assets of anyone on the list, and prevent them from travelling or obtaining weapons. The following week, Canadian banks were ordered to seize any assets belonging to al-Awlaki. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police's senior counter-terrorism officer Gilles Michaud described him as a "major, major factor in radicalization". In September 2010, Jonathan Evans, the Director General of the United Kingdom's domestic security and counter-intelligence agency (MI5), said that al-Awlaki was the West's Public Enemy No 1.
In October 2010, U.S. Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-NY) urged YouTube to take down al-Awlaki's videos from its website, saying that by hosting al-Awlaki's messages, "We are facilitating the recruitment of homegrown terror." Pauline Neville-Jones, British security minister, said "These Web sites ... incite cold-blooded murder." YouTube began removing the material in November 2010.
Al-Awlaki was charged in absentia in Sana'a, Yemen, on November 2 with plotting to kill foreigners and being a member of al-Qaeda. Ali al-Saneaa, the head of the prosecutor's office, announced the charges during the trial of Hisham Assem, who had been accused of killing Jacques Spagnolo, an oil industry worker. He said that al-Awlaki and Assem had been in contact for months, and that al-Awlaki had encouraged Assem to commit terrorism. Al-Awlaki's lawyer said that his client was not connected to Spagnolo's death. On November 6, Yemeni Judge Mohsen Alwan ordered that al-Awlaki be caught "dead or alive".
In his book Ticking Time Bomb: Counter-Terrorism Lessons from the U.S. Government's Failure to Prevent the Fort Hood Attack (2011), former U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman described al-Awlaki, Australian Muslim preacher Feiz Mohammad, Muslim cleric Abdullah el-Faisal, and Pakistani-American Samir Khan as "virtual spiritual sanctioners" who use the internet to offer religious justification for Islamist terrorism.
Lawsuit against the US
In July 2010, al-Awlaki's father, Nasser al-Awlaki, contacted the Center for Constitutional Rights and the American Civil Liberties Union to represent his son in a lawsuit that sought to remove Anwar from the targeted killing list. ACLU's Jameel Jaffer said:
the United States is not at war in Yemen, and the government doesn't have a blank check to kill terrorism suspects wherever they are in the world. Among the arguments we'll be making is that, outside actual war zones, the authority to use lethal force is narrowly circumscribed, and preserving the rule of law depends on keeping this authority narrow.
Lawyers for Specially Designated Global Terrorists must obtain a special license from the U.S. Treasury Department before they can represent their clients in court. The lawyers were granted the license on August 4, 2010.
On August 30, 2010, the groups filed a "targeted killing" lawsuit, naming President Obama, CIA Director Leon Panetta, and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates as defendants. They sought an injunction preventing the targeted killing of al-Awlaki, and also sought to require the government to disclose the standards under which U.S. citizens may be "targeted for death". Judge John D. Bates dismissed the lawsuit in an 83-page ruling, holding that the father did not have legal standing to bring the lawsuit, and that his claims were judicially unreviewable under the political question doctrine inasmuch as he was questioning a decision that the U.S. Constitution committed to the political branches.
On May 5, 2011, the United States tried but failed to kill al-Awlaki by firing a missile from an unmanned drone at a car in Yemen. A Yemeni security official said that two al-Qaeda operatives in the car died.
Death
On September 30, 2011, al-Awlaki was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Al Jawf Governorate, Yemen, according to U.S. sources, the strike was carried out by Joint Special Operations Command, under the direction of the CIA. A witness said the group had stopped to eat breakfast while traveling to Ma'rib Governorate. The occupants of the vehicle spotted the drone and attempted to flee in the vehicle before Hellfire missiles were fired Yemen's Defense Ministry announced that al-Awlaki had been killed. Also killed was Samir Khan, an American born in Saudi Arabia, thought to be behind al-Qaeda's English-language web magazine Inspire. U.S. President Barack Obama said:
The death of Awlaki is a major blow to Al-Qaeda's most active operational affiliate. He took the lead in planning and directing efforts to murder innocent Americans ... and he repeatedly called on individuals in the United States and around the globe to kill innocent men, women and children to advance a murderous agenda. [The strike] is further proof that Al-Qaeda and its affiliates will find no safe haven anywhere in the world.
Journalist and author Glenn Greenwald argued on Salon.com that killing al-Awlaki violated his First Amendment right of free speech and that doing so outside of a criminal proceeding violated the Constitution's due process clause, specifically citing the 1969 Supreme Court decision in Brandenburg v. Ohio that "the constitutional guarantees of free speech and free press do not permit a State to forbid or proscribe advocacy of the use of force." He mentioned doubt among Yemeni experts about al-Awlaki's role in al-Qaeda, and called U.S. government accusations against him unverified and lacking in evidence.
In a letter dated May 22, 2013, to the chairman of the U.S. Senate Judiciary committee, Patrick J. Leahy, U.S. attorney general Eric Holder wrote that
high-level U.S. government officials [...] concluded that al-Aulaqi posed a continuing and imminent threat of violent attack against the United States. Before carrying out the operation that killed al-Aulaqi, senior officials also determined, based on a careful evaluation of the circumstances at the time, that it was not feasible to capture al-Aulaqi. In addition, senior officials determined that the operation would be conducted consistent with applicable law of war principles, including the cardinal principles of (1) necessity – the requirement that the target have definite military value; (2) distinction – the idea that only military objectives may be intentionally targeted and that civilians are protected from being intentionally targeted; (3) proportionality – the notion that the anticipated collateral damage of an action cannot be excessive in relation to the anticipated concrete and direct military advantage; and (4) humanity – a principle that requires us to use weapons that will not inflict unnecessary suffering. The operation was also undertaken consistent with Yemeni sovereignty. [...] The decision to target Anwar al-Aulaqi was lawful, it was considered, and it was just.
On April 21, 2014, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal ruled that the Obama administration must release documents justifying its drone killings of foreigners and Americans, including Anwar al-Awlaki. In June 2014, the United States Department of Justice disclosed a 2010 memorandum written by the acting head of the department's Office of Legal Counsel, David J. Barron. The memo stated that Anwar al-Awlaki was a significant threat with an infeasible probability of capture. Barron therefore justified the killing as legal, as "the Constitution would not require the government to provide further process". The New York Times Editorial Board dismissed the memo's rationale for al-Awlaki's killing, saying it "provides little confidence that the lethal action was taken with real care", instead describing it as "a slapdash pastiche of legal theories—some based on obscure interpretations of British and Israeli law—that was clearly tailored to the desired result." A lawyer for the ACLU described the memo as "disturbing" and "ultimately an argument that the president can order targeted killings of Americans without ever having to account to anyone outside the executive branch."
Legacy
Seth Jones, who as a political scientist specializes in al-Qaida, considers that the continuing relevance of al-Awlaki is due to his fluency in the English language as well as his charisma, precising that "he had a disarming aura and unnerving confidence, with an easy smile and a soothing, eloquent voice. He stood a lanky six feet, one inch tall, weighed 160 pounds, and had a thick black beard, an oversized nose, and wire-rimmed glasses. He spoke in a clear, almost hypnotic voice."
Awlaki's videos and writings remain highly popular on the internet, where they continue to be readily accessible. Those who viewed and still view his videos are estimated by journalist Scott Shane to number in the hundreds of thousands, while his father Dr. Nasser Awlaqi says that "five million preaching tapes of Anwar Awlaqi have been sold in the West." And thus, even following his death, Awlaki has continued to inspire his devotees to carry out terrorist attacks, including the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, the 2015 San Bernardino attack, and the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting. According to the Counter Extremism Project (CEP), 88 "extremists," 54 in the U.S. and 34 in Europe, have been influenced by Awlaki. Because "his work has inspired countless plots and attacks," CEP has "called on YouTube and other platforms to permanently ban Mr. Awlaki's material, including his early, mainstream lectures."
FOIA documents
During the FBI investigation of the 9/11 attacks, it was discovered that a few of the attackers had attended the mosques in San Diego and Falls Church with which al-Awlaki was associated. Interviews with members of the San Diego mosque showed that Nawaz al-Hazmi, one of the attackers, may have had a private conversation with him. On that basis he was placed under 24-hour surveillance. It was discovered that he regularly patronized prostitutes. It was through FBI interrogation of prostitutes and escort service operators that al-Awlaki was tipped off in 2002 about FBI surveillance. Shortly thereafter, he left the United States.
In January 2013, Fox News announced that FBI documents obtained by Judicial Watch through a Freedom of Information Act request showed possible connections between al-Awlaki and the September 11 attackers. According to Judicial Watch, the documents show that the FBI knew that al-Awlaki had bought tickets for three of the hijackers to fly into Florida and Las Vegas. Judicial Watch further stated that al-Awlaki "was a central focus of the FBI's investigation of 9/11. They show he wasn't cooperative. And they show that he was under surveillance."
When queried by Fox News, the FBI denied having evidence connecting al-Awlaki and the September 11 attacks: "The FBI cautions against drawing conclusions from redacted FOIA documents. The FBI and investigating bodies have not found evidence connecting Anwar al-Awlaki and the attack on September 11, 2001. The document referenced does not link Anwar al-Awlaki with any purchase of airline tickets for the hijackers."
Family
Abdulrahman al-Awlaki
Anwar al-Awlaki and Egyptian-born Gihan Mohsen Baker had a son, Abdulrahman Anwar al-Awlaki, born August 26, 1995, in Denver, who was an American citizen. Abdulrahman al-Awlaki was killed on October 14, 2011, in Yemen at the age of 16 in an American drone strike. Nine other people were killed in the same CIA-initiated attack, including a 17-year-old cousin of Abdulrahman. According to his relatives, shortly before his father's death, Abdulrahman had left the family home in Sana'a and travelled to Shabwa in search of his father who was believed to be in hiding in that area (though he was actually hundreds of miles away at the time ). Abdulrahman was sitting in an open-air cafe in Shabwa when killed. According to U.S. officials, the killing of Abdulrahman al-Awlaki was a mistake; the intended target was an Egyptian, Ibrahim al-Banna, who was not at the targeted location at the time of the attack. Human rights groups have raised questions as to why an American citizen was killed by the United States in a country with which the United States is not officially at war. Abdulrahman al-Awlaki was not known to have any independent connection to terrorism.
Nasser al-Awlaki
Nasser al-Awlaki is the father of Anwar and grandfather of Abdulrahman al-Awlaki. Al-Awlaki stated he believed his son had been wrongly accused and was not a member of Al Qaeda. After the deaths of his son and grandson, Nasser in an interview in Time magazine called the killings a crime and condemned U.S. President Obama directly, saying: "I urge the American people to bring the killers to justice. I urge them to expose the hypocrisy of the 2009 Nobel Prize laureate. To some, he may be that. To me and my family, he is nothing more than a child killer."
In 2013, Nasser al-Awlaki published an op-ed in The New York Times stating that two years after killing his grandson, the Obama administration still declines to provide an explanation. In 2012, Nasser al-Awlaki filed a lawsuit, Al-Aulaqi v. Panetta, challenging the constitutionality of the drone killings of his son and grandson. This lawsuit was dismissed in April 2014 by D.C. District Court Judge Rosemary M. Collyer.
Tariq al-Dahab
Tariq al-Dahab, who led al-Qaeda insurgents in Yemen, was a brother-in-law of al-Awlaki. On February 16, 2012, the terrorist organization stated that he had been killed by agents, although media reports contain speculation that he was killed by his brother in a bloody family feud.
Nawar al-Awlaki
On January 29, 2017, Anwar al-Awlaki's 8-year-old daughter, Nawar al-Awlaki, who was an American citizen, was killed in a DEVGRU operation authorized by President Donald Trump."1 US service member killed, 3 wounded in Yemen raid" , WPVI-TV, 6 ABC Action News, Philadelphia, PA. January 29, 2017. Retrieved January 29, 2017.
Islamic education
Al-Awlaki's Islamic education was primarily informal, and consisted of intermittent months with various scholars reading and contemplating Islamic scholarly works. Despite having no religious qualifications and almost no religious education, Al-Awlaki made a name for himself as a public speaker who released popular audio recordings.Some Muslim scholars said they did not understand alAwlaki's popularity, because while he spoke fluent English and could therefore reach a large non-Arabic-speaking audience, he lacked formal Islamic training and study.
Ideology
While imprisoned in Yemen after 2004, al-Awlaki was influenced by the works of Sayyid Qutb, described by The New York Times as an originator of the contemporary "anti-Western Jihadist movement". He read 150 to 200 pages a day of Qutb's works, and described himself as "so immersed with the author I would feel Sayyid was with me in my cell speaking to me directly".
Terrorism consultant Evan Kohlmann in 2009 referred to al-Awlaki as "one of the principal jihadi luminaries for would-be homegrown terrorists. His fluency with English, his unabashed advocacy of jihad and mujahideen organizations, and his Web-savvy approach are a powerful combination." He called al-Awlaki's lecture, "Constants on the Path of Jihad", which he says was based on a similar document written by al-Qaeda's founder, the "virtual bible for lone-wolf Muslim extremists". Philip Mudd, formerly of the CIA's National Counterterrorism Center and the FBI's top intelligence adviser, called him "a magnetic character ... a powerful orator." He attracted young men to his lectures, especially US-based and UK-based Muslims.
U.S. officials and some U.S. media sources called al-Awlaki an Islamic fundamentalist and accused him of encouraging terrorism. According to documents recovered from bin Laden's hideout, the al-Qaeda leader was unsure about al-Awlaki's qualifications.
Works
The Nine Eleven Finding Answers Foundation said al-Awlaki's ability to write and speak in fluent English enabled him to incite English-speaking Muslims to terrorism. Al-Awlaki notes in 44 Ways to Support Jihad that most reading material on the subject is in Arabic.
Written works
44 Ways to Support Jihad: Essay (January 2009). In it, al-Awlaki states that "The hatred of kuffar is a central element of our military creed" and that all Muslims are obligated to participate in jihad, either by committing the acts themselves or supporting others who do so. He says all Muslims must remain physically fit so as to be prepared for conflict. According to U.S. officials, it is considered a key text for al-Qaeda members.
Al-Awlaki wrote for Jihad Recollections, an English language online publication published by Al-Fursan Media.
Allah is Preparing Us for Victory – short book (2009).
Lectures
Lectures on the book Constants on the Path of Jihad by Yusef al-Ayeri—concerns leaderless jihad.
In 2009, the UK government found 1,910 of his videos had been posted to YouTube. One of them had been viewed 164,420 times.
The Battle of Hearts and Minds The Dust Will Never Settle Down Dreams & Interpretations The Hereafter—16 CDs—Al Basheer Productions
Life of Muhammad: Makkan Period—16 CDs—Al Basheer Productions
Life of Muhammad: Medinan Period—Lecture in 2 Parts—18 CDs—Al Basheer Productions
Lives of the Prophets (AS)—16 CDs—Al Basheer Productions
Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (RA): His Life & Times—15 CDs—Al Basheer Productions
Umar ibn al-Khattāb (RA): His Life & Times—18 CDs—Al Basheer Productions
25 Promises from Allah to the Believer—2 CDs—Noor Productions
Companions of the Ditch & Lessons from the Life of Musa (AS)—2 CDs—Noor Productions
Remembrance of Allah & the Greatest Ayah—2 CDs—Noor Productions
Stories from Hadith—4 CDs—Center for Islamic Information and Education ("CIIE")
Hellfire & The Day of Judgment—CD—CIIE
Quest for Truth: The Story of Salman Al-Farsi (RA)—CD—CIIE
Trials & Lessons for Muslim Minorities—CD—CIIE
Young Ayesha (RA) & Mothers of the Believers (RA)—CD—CIIE
Understanding the Quran—CD—CIIE
Lessons from the Companions (RA) Living as a Minority—CD—CIIE
Virtues of the Sahabah—video lecture series promoted by the al-Wasatiyyah Foundation
Website
Al-Awlaki maintained a website and blog on which he shared his views. On December 11, 2008, he said Muslims should not seek to "serve in the armies of the disbelievers and fight against his brothers".
In "44 Ways to Support Jihad", posted on his blog in February 2009, al-Awlaki encouraged others to "fight jihad", and explained how to give money to the mujahideen or their families. Al-Awlaki's sermon encourages others to conduct weapons training, and raise children "on the love of Jihad". Also that month, he wrote: "I pray that Allah destroys America and all its allies." He wrote as well: "We will implement the rule of Allah on Earth by the tip of the sword, whether the masses like it or not." On July 14, he said that Muslim countries should not offer military assistance to the US. "The blame should be placed on the soldier who is willing to follow orders ... who sells his religion for a few dollars," he said. In blog post dated July 15, 2009, entitled "Fighting Against Government Armies in the Muslim World", al-Awlaki wrote, "Blessed are those who fight against [American soldiers], and blessed are those shuhada [martyrs] who are killed by them."
In a video posted to the internet on November 8, 2010, al-Awlaki called for Muslims to kill Americans "without hesitation", and overthrow Arab governments that cooperate with the US. "Don't consult with anyone in fighting the Americans, fighting the devil doesn't require consultation or prayers or seeking divine guidance. They are the party of the devils", al-Awlaki said. That month, Intelligence Research Specialist Kevin Yorke of the New York Police Department's Counterterrorism Division called him "the most dangerous man in the world".
See also
Church Committee
Executive Order 12333
Extrajudicial killing
International counter-terrorism activities of the CIA
Protocol I
References
Further reading
al-Ashanti, AbdulHaq and Sloan, Abu Ameenah AbdurRahman. (2011) A Critique of the Methodology of Anwar al-Awlaki and his Errors in the Fiqh of Jihad. London: Jamiah Media, 2011
External links
Ruling of Judge Bates in Al Aulaqi v Obama
Statements
Interviews
"Exclusive; Ray Suarez: My Post-9/11 Interview With Anwar al-Awlaki", PBS, October 30, 2001
"Al-Jazeera Satellite Network Interview with Yemeni-American Cleric Shaykh Anwar al-Awlaki Regarding his Alleged Role in Radicalizing Maj. Malik Nidal Hasan", The NEFA Foundation, December 24, 2009
Media coverage
The imam's very curious story: A skirt-chasing mullah is just one more mystery for the 9/11 panel, Ragavan, Chitra, US News and World Report'', June 13, 2004
DBI.gov
1971 births
2011 deaths
20th-century imams
21st-century imams
Abdullah Yusuf Azzam
Al-Qaeda propagandists
Assassinated al-Qaeda leaders
American al-Qaeda members
American expatriates in the United Kingdom
American expatriates in Yemen
American imams
American Islamists
American people of Yemeni descent
Colorado State University alumni
George Washington University Graduate School of Education and Human Development alumni
People associated with the September 11 attacks
People from Las Cruces, New Mexico
San Diego State University alumni
Yemeni imams
Yemeni al-Qaeda members
Yemeni Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam
Yemeni Sunni Muslims
Deaths by drone strikes of the Central Intelligence Agency in Yemen
Islam-related controversies
People designated by the Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee
American male criminals
Yemeni criminals
Yemeni Islamists
Yemeni expatriates in the United Kingdom
Shafi'is
American Muslim activists
Assassinated Yemeni people
Yemeni propagandists
United States military killing of American civilians | true | [
"Purana Kassapa (; Pali: Pūraṇa Kassapa) was an Indian ascetic teacher who lived around the 6th century BCE, contemporaneous with Mahavira and the Buddha.\n\nBiography \n\nPurana taught a theory of \"non-action\" (Pāli, Skt.: akiriyāvāda) whereby the body acts independent of the soul, merit or demerit. In the Pali Canon, Purana (along with the ascetic Makkhali Gosala) is identified as an ahetuvadin, \"denier of a cause\" (of merit).\n\nAs an example of Purana's beliefs, in the Samannaphala Sutta (DN 2) it is reported that Purana said:\n\"...[I]n acting or getting others to act, in mutilating or getting others to mutilate, in torturing or getting others to torture, in inflicting sorrow or in getting others to inflict sorrow, in tormenting or getting others to torment, in intimidating or getting others to intimidate, in taking life, taking what is not given, breaking into houses, plundering wealth, committing burglary, ambushing highways, committing adultery, speaking falsehood — one does no evil. If with a razor-edged disk one were to turn all the living beings on this earth to a single heap of flesh, a single pile of flesh, there would be no evil from that cause, no coming of evil. Even if one were to go along the right bank of the Ganges, killing and getting others to kill, mutilating and getting others to mutilate, torturing and getting others to torture, there would be no evil from that cause, no coming of evil. Even if one were to go along the left bank of the Ganges, giving and getting others to give, making sacrifices and getting others to make sacrifices, there would be no merit from that cause, no coming of merit. Through generosity, self-control, restraint, and truthful speech there is no merit from that cause, no coming of merit.'\n\nThe Anguttara Nikaya also reports that Purana claimed to be omniscient. The Dhammapada commentary claims that Purana committed suicide by drowning.\n\nSee also \n Merit (Buddhism)\n Shramana\n Samannaphala Sutta\n\nNotes\n\nSources \n Bhaskar, Bhagchandra Jain (1972). Jainism in Buddhist Literature. Alok Prakashan: Nagpur. On-line http://jainfriends.tripod.com/books/jiblcontents.html.\n Ñāṇamoli, Bhikkhu (trans.) and Bodhi, Bhikkhu (ed.) (2001). The Middle-Length Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Majjhima Nikāya. Boston: Wisdom Publications. .\n Rhys Davids, T.W. & William Stede (eds.) (1921-5). The Pali Text Society's Pali–English Dictionary. Chipstead: Pali Text Society. On-line version http://dsal.uchicago.edu/dictionaries/pali/.\n Thanissaro Bhikkhu (trans.) (1997). Samaññaphala Sutta: The Fruits of the Contemplative Life (DN 2). On-line http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/dn/dn.02.0.than.html.\n Walshe, Maurice O'Connell (trans.) (1995). The Long Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Dīgha Nikāya. Somerville: Wisdom Publications. .\n\nSpiritual teachers\nYear of birth unknown\nYear of death unknown\nAgnosticism\n6th-century BC Indian philosophers",
"Tropical Storm Luke, known in the Philippines as Tropical Storm Pepang, was a short-lived tropical storm that brushed Japan during September 1991. Tropical Storm Luke formed from a disturbance that moved through the Northern Marianas and became a tropical depression on September 14 just to the west of the islands. The depression began to slowly intensify as it moved towards the west-northwest and Tropical Storm Luke was named on September 15. Luke reached peak intensity prior to recurving to the northeast and weakening due to increased shear. Tropical Storm Luke then paralleled the southeastern Japan coastline before transitioning into an extratropical cyclone. Overall, 12 people were killed and 23 others were injured. A total of 225 houses were destroyed while 52,662 others were flooded. There were reports of 644 landslides and roads were damaged at 418 locations. Rivers crested at 18 spots and six bridges were washed away. Greater than 40 domestic flights were cancelled. A total of 103 bullet trains were cancelled and 160 others delayed between Tokyo and Osaka, which left 315,000 people stranded. Additionally, 11,999 trains were halted in eastern and northern Japan, stranding 750,000 passengers. Two ships as well as of farmland were damaged. Monetary damage totaled ¥24.2 billion yen (US$179 million).\n\nMeteorological history\n\nAn area of disturbed weather that would later become Tropical Storm Luke was first noted by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) early on September 13. The disturbance was upgraded into a tropical depression by the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) the following morning. As the disturbance tracked west-northwestward, passing near Saipan, improved upper-level anticyclonic outflow and falling surface pressures led to the issuance of a Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert at 11:30 UTC on September 14. At 18:00 UTC, the JTWC designated the system Tropical Depression 20W, based on synoptic data that indicated the disturbance developed a closed surface circulation. At the time of the upgrade, the depression's structure resembled that of a monsoon depression, with a ring of winds surrounding a large area of light and variable winds, indicating a broad and ill-defined circulation. Early on September 15, the JTWC upgraded the depression into Tropical Storm Luke, with the JMA following suit six hours later.\n\nThe cyclone continued to slowly intensity over the next 48 hours as it tracked west-northwestward. On September 17, satellite imagery indicated that the circulation had become less defined and the overall system had lost organization. Despite this, the JTWC increased the intensity of the storm to , its peak intensity. Meanwhile, the JMA upgraded Luke into a severe tropical storm. At 18:00 UTC, the JMA estimated that Luke reached its peak intensity of . Luke turned north-northwestward, only to make a turn to the east as a midtropospheric trough caused the subtropical ridge, which had been holding the system to a westward track, to recede eastward. Meanwhile, the vertical wind shear caused by westerlies increased, causing Luke to transition into an extratropical cyclone. The JTWC issued its final warning at noon on September 19, with the JMA declaring Luke extratropical that evening. It was last noted late on September 21.\n\nImpact\nEven though Luke did not attain typhoon intensity, its broad monsoonal structure resulted in large circumference of gale-force winds while torrential rains inundated large portions of western Japan. A peak rainfall total of occurred at Owase, including in a 24-hour time frame. A peak hourly rainfall total of was observed in Fuijsakatoge in Mie Prefecture. A wind gust of was recorded in Erimo.\n\nIn Wakayama Prefecture, the storm, in conjunction with a cold front, dropped heavy rains, which damaged 59 homes and roads in 94 locations. Seven people were displaced from their homes. Damage in the prefecture reached ¥1.1 billion. A house collapsed and buried a person alive in Atsugi. Two people died in Yokohama after a fence fell, where 52 houses were damaged. Thirty-one structures were damaged in Totsuka-ku. A total of 496 dwellings were damaged in Kawaski and 243 others were damaged in Sagamihara. Overall, three people were wounded and 1,451 people were left homeless in Kanagawa Prefecture. Landslides collapsed three dwellings in Tokyo. One person was killed in Shizuoka Prefecture and another was hurt. A total of 301 homes were damaged and an additional 107 were destroyed, resulting in 438 homeless. There were 99 landslides and roads were damaged in 131 locations. Two people were killed in Kumano. A landslide shattered a house in Mie Prefecture, burying an elderly couple who were subsequently rescued. A total of 1,032 homes were damaged and 147 homes were demolished across the prefecture. Seven construction workers were trapped in Chiba Prefecture after water flooded the tunnel they were working in. There, four people were wounded. A total of 1,595 homes were damaged and 336 others were destroyed. Damage was estimated at ¥1.31 billion. In Yamanashi Prefecture, two people were killed, with two others also injured. A total of 632 homes were damaged and 94 others were destroyed, which resulted in 2,321 homeless. A middle school student was found dead in Aichi Prefecture after being swept away via floodwaters. A total of 8,797 homes were destroyed and 4,618 were damaged. There, 121 landslides were also reported. One hundred-thirty-nine homes were damaged and two more were destroyed in Gifu Prefecture, which resulted in nine people homeless. Damage there amounted to ¥732 million. Two people sustained injuries in Ibaraki Prefecture. There, a total of 2,782 homes were damaged and 466 others were destroyed, resulting in almost 65,000 individuals displaced from their homes. Nearly of farmland were damaged in Saitama Prefecture, totaling ¥1.96 billion. Fifteen homes sustained damage in Gunma prefecture while one hundred sixty-eight others were damaged in Tochigi Prefecture. One person died in Nagano Prefecture. A total of 146 homes were damaged and destroyed there. Damage amounted to ¥4.5 billion. A total of 657 dwellings were damaged and 75 other homes were demolished. Further north, thirty-two homes were damaged and nine were destroyed in Iwate Prefecture. Damage there was assessed at ¥2.02 billion.\n\nNationwide, 12 fatalities were reported and 23 others sustained injuries. A total of 225 houses were destroyed while 52,662 others were flooded. Over 20,000 dwellings were damaged. More than 40 domestic flights were cancelled. Twelve Toyota plants were closed due to the storm. Rivers crested at eighteen points and six bridges were washed away. A total of 103 bullet trains were cancelled and 160 others were delayed between Tokyo and Osaka, which disrupted travel plans of 315,000 people. In addition, 11,999 trains were halted in eastern and northern Japan, inconveniencing 750,000 passengers. By September 20, however, train service was restored to most of the impacted area. There were 644 landslides and roads were damaged at 418 points. Two ships along with of farmland were damaged. Authorities estimated damage at ¥24.2 billion (US$79 million).\n\nSee also\n\nTropical Storm Luke (1994) - other system named Luke\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n\n1991 Pacific typhoon season\nTyphoons in Japan\n1991 in Japan\nWestern Pacific severe tropical storms"
] | [
"Anwar Nasser al-Awlaki (also spelled al-Aulaqi, al-Awlaqi; ; April 21 or 22, 1971 – September 30, 2011) was a Yemeni-American imam who was killed in 2011 in Yemen by an American drone strike ordered by President Barack Obama. Al-Awlaki became the first U.S. citizen to be targeted and killed by a U.S. drone strike without the rights of due process being afforded.",
"Al-Awlaki became the first U.S. citizen to be targeted and killed by a U.S. drone strike without the rights of due process being afforded. US government officials argued that Awlaki was a key organizer for the Islamist terrorist group al-Qaeda, and in June 2014, a previously classified memorandum issued by the U.S. Department of Justice was released, justifying al-Awlaki's death as a lawful act of war. Civil liberties advocates have described the incident as \"an extrajudicial execution\" that breached al-Awlaki's right to due process, including a trial.",
"Civil liberties advocates have described the incident as \"an extrajudicial execution\" that breached al-Awlaki's right to due process, including a trial. Al-Awlaki was born in Las Cruces, New Mexico, in 1971 to parents from Yemen. Growing up partially in the United States and partially in Yemen, he attended various universities across the United States in the 1990s and early 2000s while also working as an imam, despite having no religious qualifications and almost no religious education.",
"Growing up partially in the United States and partially in Yemen, he attended various universities across the United States in the 1990s and early 2000s while also working as an imam, despite having no religious qualifications and almost no religious education. Al-Awlaki returned to Yemen in early 2004 and became a university lecturer after a brief stint as a public speaker in the United Kingdom. He was detained by Yemeni authorities in 2006, where he spent 18 months in prison before being released without facing trial.",
"He was detained by Yemeni authorities in 2006, where he spent 18 months in prison before being released without facing trial. Following his release, Al-Awlaki's message started to become overtly supportive of violence, as he condemned United States foreign policy against Muslims. The Yemeni government tried him in absentia in November 2010, for plotting to kill foreigners and being a member of al-Qaeda. A Yemeni judge ordered that he be captured \"dead or alive\".",
"A Yemeni judge ordered that he be captured \"dead or alive\". U.S. officials said that in 2009, al-Awlaki was promoted to the rank of \"regional commander\" within al-Qaeda, although they described his role as more \"inspirational\" than \"operational.\" He repeatedly called for jihad against the United States. In April 2010, al-Awlaki was placed on a CIA kill list by President Barack Obama due to his alleged terrorist activities. Al-Awlaki's father and civil rights groups challenged the order in court.",
"Al-Awlaki's father and civil rights groups challenged the order in court. Al-Awlaki was believed to be in hiding in southeast Yemen in the last years of his life. The U.S. deployed unmanned aircraft (drones) in Yemen to search for and kill him, firing at and failing to kill him at least once; he was successfully killed on September 30, 2011.",
"The U.S. deployed unmanned aircraft (drones) in Yemen to search for and kill him, firing at and failing to kill him at least once; he was successfully killed on September 30, 2011. Two weeks later, al-Awlaki's 16-year-old son, Abdulrahman al-Awlaki, a U.S. citizen who was born in Denver, Colorado, was also killed by a CIA-led drone strike in Yemen.",
"Two weeks later, al-Awlaki's 16-year-old son, Abdulrahman al-Awlaki, a U.S. citizen who was born in Denver, Colorado, was also killed by a CIA-led drone strike in Yemen. His daughter, 8-year old Nawar al-Awlaki, was killed during a raid against Al Qaeda ordered by President Donald Trump in 2017.<ref name=\"uk.reuters.com\">Ghobari, Mohammed and Phil Stewart. \"Commando dies in U.S. raid in Yemen, first military op OK'd by Trump\", Reuters, January 29, 2017.",
"\"Commando dies in U.S. raid in Yemen, first military op OK'd by Trump\", Reuters, January 29, 2017. Retrieved January 29, 2017.</ref> The New York Times wrote in 2015 that al-Awlaki's public statements and videos have been more influential in inspiring acts of Islamic terrorism in the wake of his killing than before his death.",
"Retrieved January 29, 2017.</ref> The New York Times wrote in 2015 that al-Awlaki's public statements and videos have been more influential in inspiring acts of Islamic terrorism in the wake of his killing than before his death. Early life Al-Awlaki was born in Las Cruces, New Mexico, in 1971 to parents from Yemen, while his father, Nasser al-Awlaki, was doing graduate work at U.S. universities.",
"Early life Al-Awlaki was born in Las Cruces, New Mexico, in 1971 to parents from Yemen, while his father, Nasser al-Awlaki, was doing graduate work at U.S. universities. His father was a Fulbright Scholar who earned a master's degree in agricultural economics at New Mexico State University in 1971, received a doctorate at the University of Nebraska, and worked at the University of Minnesota from 1975 to 1977. Nasser al-Awlaki served as Agriculture Minister in Ali Abdullah Saleh's government. He was also President of Sana'a University.",
"He was also President of Sana'a University. He was also President of Sana'a University. Yemen's prime minister from 2007 to 2011, Ali Mohammed Mujur, was a relative. The family returned to Yemen in 1978, when al-Awlaki was seven years old. He lived there for 11 years, and studied at Azal Modern School. Life in the United States 1990–2002 Education In 1991, al-Awlaki returned to the U.S. to attend college. He earned a B.S.",
"He earned a B.S. He earned a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Colorado State University (1994), where he was president of the Muslim Student Association. In 1993, while still a college student in Colorado State's civil engineering program, al-Awlaki visited Afghanistan in the aftermath of the Soviet occupation. He spent some time training with the mujahideen who had fought the Soviets.",
"He spent some time training with the mujahideen who had fought the Soviets. He was depressed by the country's poverty and hunger, and \"wouldn't have gone with al-Qaeda,\" according to friends from Colorado State, who said he was profoundly affected by the trip. Mullah Mohammed Omar did not form the Taliban until 1994. When Al-Awlaki returned to campus, he showed increased interest in religion and politics. Al-Awlaki studied Education Leadership at San Diego State University, but did not complete his degree.",
"Al-Awlaki studied Education Leadership at San Diego State University, but did not complete his degree. He worked on a doctorate in Human Resource Development at The George Washington University Graduate School of Education and Human Development from January to December 2001. Time as imam In 1994, al-Awlaki married a cousin from Yemen, and began service as a part-time imam of the Denver Islamic Society. In 1996, he was chastised by an elder for encouraging a Saudi student to fight in Chechnya against the Russians.",
"In 1996, he was chastised by an elder for encouraging a Saudi student to fight in Chechnya against the Russians. He left Denver soon after, moving to San Diego. From 1996 to 2000, al-Awlaki was imam of the Masjid Ar-Ribat al-Islami mosque in San Diego, California, where he had a following of 200–300 people. U.S. officials later alleged that Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar, hijackers of American Airlines Flight 77, attended his sermons and personally met him during this period.",
"U.S. officials later alleged that Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar, hijackers of American Airlines Flight 77, attended his sermons and personally met him during this period. Hazmi later lived in Northern Virginia and attended al-Awlaki's mosque there. The 9/11 Commission Report said that the hijackers \"reportedly respected [al-Awlaki] as a religious figure\". While in San Diego, al-Awlaki volunteered with youth organizations, fished, discussed his travels with friends, and created a popular and lucrative series of recorded lectures.",
"While in San Diego, al-Awlaki volunteered with youth organizations, fished, discussed his travels with friends, and created a popular and lucrative series of recorded lectures. In August 1996 and in April 1997, al-Awlaki was arrested in San Diego and charged with soliciting prostitutes. The first time, in 1996, he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and was fined $400 and required to attend informational sessions about AIDS.",
"The first time, in 1996, he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and was fined $400 and required to attend informational sessions about AIDS. The second time, in 1997, he pleaded guilty and was fined $240, ordered to perform 12 days of community service, and received three years' probation. From November 2001 to January 2002 the FBI observed him visiting a number of prostitutes, and interviewed them, establishing that he had paid for sex acts. No prosecution was brought.",
"No prosecution was brought. No prosecution was brought. In 1998 and 1999, he served as vice-president for the Charitable Society for Social Welfare. In 2004, the FBI described this group as a \"front organization to funnel money to terrorists\". Although the FBI investigated al-Awlaki from June 1999 through March 2000 for possible links to Hamas, the Bin Laden contact Ziyad Khaleel, and a visit by an associate of Omar Abdel Rahman, it did not find sufficient evidence for a criminal prosecution.",
"Although the FBI investigated al-Awlaki from June 1999 through March 2000 for possible links to Hamas, the Bin Laden contact Ziyad Khaleel, and a visit by an associate of Omar Abdel Rahman, it did not find sufficient evidence for a criminal prosecution. Al-Awlaki told reporters that he resigned from leading the San Diego mosque \"after an uneventful four years,\" and took a brief sabbatical, traveling overseas to various countries. In January 2001, al-Awlaki returned to the U.S., settling in the Washington metropolitan area.",
"In January 2001, al-Awlaki returned to the U.S., settling in the Washington metropolitan area. There, he was imam at the Dar al-Hijrah mosque near Falls Church, Virginia, and his services were attended by Nawaf al-Hazmi and a third hijacker, Hani Hanjour. He led academic discussions frequented by FBI Director of Counter-Intelligence for the Middle East Gordon M. Snow. Al-Awlaki also served as the Muslim chaplain at George Washington University, where he was hired by Esam Omeish.",
"Al-Awlaki also served as the Muslim chaplain at George Washington University, where he was hired by Esam Omeish. Omeish said in 2004 that he was convinced that al-Awlaki was not involved in terrorism. His proficiency as a public speaker and command of the English language helped him attract followers who did not speak Arabic. \"He was the magic bullet\", according to the mosque spokesman Johari Abdul-Malik. \"He had everything all in a box.\" \"He had an allure. He was charming.\"",
"\"He had an allure. He was charming.\" He was charming.\" When police investigating the 9/11 attacks raided the Hamburg apartment of Ramzi bin al-Shibh, they found the telephone number of al-Awlaki among bin al-Shibh's personal contacts. The FBI interviewed al-Awlaki four times in the eight days following the 9/11 attacks. One detective later told the 9/11 Commission he believed al-Awlaki \"was at the center of the 9/11 story\".",
"One detective later told the 9/11 Commission he believed al-Awlaki \"was at the center of the 9/11 story\". And an FBI agent said, \"if anyone had knowledge of the plot, it would have been\" him, since \"someone had to be in the U.S. and keep the hijackers spiritually focused\". One 9/11 Commission staff member said: \"Do I think he played a role in helping the hijackers here, knowing they were up to something? Yes.",
"Yes. Yes. Do I think he was sent here for that purpose? I have no evidence for it.\" A separate Congressional Joint Inquiry into the 9/11 attacks suggested that al-Awlaki may have been connected to the hijackers, according to its director, Eleanor Hill. In 2003, Representative Anna Eshoo, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said, \"In my view, he is more than a coincidental figure.\"",
"In 2003, Representative Anna Eshoo, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said, \"In my view, he is more than a coincidental figure.\" Six days after the 9/11 attacks, al-Awlaki suggested in writing on the IslamOnline.net website that Israeli intelligence agents might have been responsible for the attacks, and that the FBI \"went into the roster of the airplanes, and whoever has a Muslim or Arab name became the hijacker by default\".",
"Six days after the 9/11 attacks, al-Awlaki suggested in writing on the IslamOnline.net website that Israeli intelligence agents might have been responsible for the attacks, and that the FBI \"went into the roster of the airplanes, and whoever has a Muslim or Arab name became the hijacker by default\". Soon after the 9/11 attacks, al-Awlaki was sought in Washington, D.C., by the media to answer questions about Islam, its rituals, and its relation to the attacks.",
"Soon after the 9/11 attacks, al-Awlaki was sought in Washington, D.C., by the media to answer questions about Islam, its rituals, and its relation to the attacks. He was interviewed by National Geographic, The New York Times, and other media. Al-Awlaki condemned the attacks. According to an NPR report in 2010, in 2001 al-Awlaki appeared to be a moderate who could \"bridge the gap between the United States and the worldwide community of Muslims.\"",
"According to an NPR report in 2010, in 2001 al-Awlaki appeared to be a moderate who could \"bridge the gap between the United States and the worldwide community of Muslims.\" The New York Times said at the time that he was \"held up as a new generation of Muslim leader capable of merging East and West.\" In 2010, Fox News and the New York Daily News reported that some months after the 9/11 attacks, a Pentagon employee invited al-Awlaki to a luncheon in the Secretary's Office of General Counsel.",
"In 2010, Fox News and the New York Daily News reported that some months after the 9/11 attacks, a Pentagon employee invited al-Awlaki to a luncheon in the Secretary's Office of General Counsel. The U.S. Secretary of the Army had suggested that a moderate Muslim be invited to give a talk. In 2002, al-Awlaki was the first imam to conduct a prayer service for the Congressional Muslim Staffer Association at the U.S. Capitol. That year, Nidal Hasan visited al-Awlaki's mosque for his mother's funeral, at which al-Awlaki presided.",
"That year, Nidal Hasan visited al-Awlaki's mosque for his mother's funeral, at which al-Awlaki presided. In November 2009, Hasan killed 13 and wounded 32 in the Fort Hood shooting. Hasan usually attended a mosque in Maryland closer to where he lived while working at the Walter Reed Medical Center (2003–09). Later in 2002, al-Awlaki posted an essay in Arabic on the Islam Today website titled \"Why Muslims Love Death\", lauding the fervor of Palestinian suicide bombers.",
"Later in 2002, al-Awlaki posted an essay in Arabic on the Islam Today website titled \"Why Muslims Love Death\", lauding the fervor of Palestinian suicide bombers. He expressed a similar opinion in a speech at a London mosque later that year. By July 2002, al-Awlaki was under investigation in the United States for having received money from the subject of a U.S. Joint Terrorism Task Force investigation. His name was added to the list of terrorism suspects.",
"His name was added to the list of terrorism suspects. Passport fraud issues In June 2002, a Denver federal judge signed an arrest warrant for al-Awlaki for passport fraud. On October 9, the Denver U.S. Attorney's Office filed a motion to dismiss the complaint and vacate the arrest warrant. Prosecutors believed that they lacked sufficient evidence of a crime, according to U.S. Attorney Dave Gaouette, who authorized its withdrawal.",
"Prosecutors believed that they lacked sufficient evidence of a crime, according to U.S. Attorney Dave Gaouette, who authorized its withdrawal. Al-Awlaki had listed Yemen rather than the United States as his place of birth on his 1990 application for a U.S. Social Security number, soon after arriving in the US. Al-Awlaki used this documentation to obtain a passport in 1993. He later corrected his place of birth to Las Cruces, New Mexico.",
"He later corrected his place of birth to Las Cruces, New Mexico. \"The bizarre thing is if you put Yemen down (on the application), it would be harder to get a Social Security number than to say you are a native-born citizen of Las Cruces\", Gaouette said. Prosecutors could not charge him in October 2002, when he returned from a trip abroad, because a 10-year statute of limitations on lying to the Social Security Administration had expired.",
"Prosecutors could not charge him in October 2002, when he returned from a trip abroad, because a 10-year statute of limitations on lying to the Social Security Administration had expired. According to a 2012 investigative report by Fox News, the arrest warrant for passport fraud was still in effect on the morning of October 10, 2002, when FBI Agent Wade Ammerman ordered al-Awlaki's release. U.S.",
"U.S. U.S. Congressman Frank Wolf (R-VA) and several congressional committees urged FBI Director Robert Mueller to provide an explanation about the bureau's interactions with al-Awlaki, including why he was released from federal custody when there was an outstanding warrant for his arrest. The motion for rescinding the arrest warrant was approved by a magistrate judge on October 10 and filed on October 11.ABC News reported in 2009 that the Joint Terrorism Task Force in San Diego disagreed with the decision to cancel the warrant.",
"The motion for rescinding the arrest warrant was approved by a magistrate judge on October 10 and filed on October 11.ABC News reported in 2009 that the Joint Terrorism Task Force in San Diego disagreed with the decision to cancel the warrant. They were monitoring al-Awlaki and wanted to \"look at him under a microscope\".",
"They were monitoring al-Awlaki and wanted to \"look at him under a microscope\". But U.S. Attorney Gaouette said that no objection had been raised to the rescinding of the warrant during a meeting that included Ray Fournier, the San Diego federal diplomatic security agent whose allegation had set in motion the effort to obtain a warrant.",
"But U.S. Attorney Gaouette said that no objection had been raised to the rescinding of the warrant during a meeting that included Ray Fournier, the San Diego federal diplomatic security agent whose allegation had set in motion the effort to obtain a warrant. Gaouette said that if al-Awlaki had been convicted at the time, he would have faced about six months in custody.The New York Times suggested later that al-Awlaki had claimed birth in Yemen (his family's place of origin) to qualify for scholarship money granted to foreign citizens. U.S.",
"U.S. U.S. Congressman Frank R. Wolf (R-VA) wrote in May 2010 that by claiming to be foreign-born, al-Awlaki fraudulently obtained more than $20,000 in scholarship funds reserved for foreign students. While living in Northern Virginia, al-Awlaki visited Ali al-Timimi, later known as a radical Islamic cleric. Al-Timimi was convicted in 2005 and is now serving a life sentence for leading the Virginia Jihad Network, inciting Muslim followers to fight with the Taliban against the US.",
"Al-Timimi was convicted in 2005 and is now serving a life sentence for leading the Virginia Jihad Network, inciting Muslim followers to fight with the Taliban against the US. In the United Kingdom 2002–04 Al-Awlaki left the United States before the end of 2002, because of a \"climate of fear and intimidation\" according to Imam Johari Abdul-Malik of the Dar al-Hijrah mosque. He lived in the UK for several months, where he gave talks attended by up to 200 people.",
"He lived in the UK for several months, where he gave talks attended by up to 200 people. He urged young Muslim followers: \"The important lesson to learn here is never, ever trust a kuffar [disbeliever]. Do not trust them! [Their leaders] are plotting to kill this religion. They're plotting night and day.\" \"He was the main man who translated the jihad into English,\" said a student who attended his lectures in 2003.",
"\"He was the main man who translated the jihad into English,\" said a student who attended his lectures in 2003. He gave a series of lectures in December 2002 and January 2003 at the London Masjid al-Tawhid mosque, describing the rewards martyrs (Shahid) receive in paradise (Jannah). He began to gain supporters, particularly among young Muslims, and undertook a lecture tour of England and Scotland in 2002 in conjunction with the Muslim Association of Britain.",
"He began to gain supporters, particularly among young Muslims, and undertook a lecture tour of England and Scotland in 2002 in conjunction with the Muslim Association of Britain. He also lectured at \"ExpoIslamia\", an event held by Islamic Forum Europe. At the East London Mosque he told his audience: \"A Muslim is a brother of a Muslim... he does not betray him, and he does not hand him over... You don't hand over a Muslim to the enemies.\"",
"At the East London Mosque he told his audience: \"A Muslim is a brother of a Muslim... he does not betray him, and he does not hand him over... You don't hand over a Muslim to the enemies.\" In Britain's Parliament in 2003, Louise Ellman, MP for Liverpool Riverside, discussed the relationship between al-Awlaki and the Muslim Association of Britain, an alleged Muslim Brotherhood front organization founded by Kemal el-Helbawy, a senior member of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood.",
"In Britain's Parliament in 2003, Louise Ellman, MP for Liverpool Riverside, discussed the relationship between al-Awlaki and the Muslim Association of Britain, an alleged Muslim Brotherhood front organization founded by Kemal el-Helbawy, a senior member of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. Return to Yemen 2004–11 Al-Awlaki returned to Yemen in early 2004, where he lived in Shabwah Governorate with his wife and five children. He lectured at Iman University, headed by Abdul Majeed al-Zindani.",
"He lectured at Iman University, headed by Abdul Majeed al-Zindani. The latter has been included on the UN 1267 Committee's list of individuals belonging to or associated with al-Qaeda. Al-Zindani denied having any influence over al-Awlaki, or that he had been his \"direct teacher\". Some believe that the school's curriculum deals mostly, if not exclusively, with radical Islamic studies, and promotes radicalism. American convert John Walker Lindh and other alumni have been associated with terrorist groups.",
"American convert John Walker Lindh and other alumni have been associated with terrorist groups. On August 31, 2006, al-Awlaki was arrested with four others on charges of kidnapping a Shiite teenager for ransom, and participating in an al-Qaeda plot to kidnap a U.S. military attaché. He was imprisoned in 2006 and 2007. He was interviewed around September 2007 by two FBI agents with regard to the 9/11 attacks and other subjects. John Negroponte, the U.S. Director of National Intelligence, told Yemeni officials he did not object to al-Awlaki's detention.",
"John Negroponte, the U.S. Director of National Intelligence, told Yemeni officials he did not object to al-Awlaki's detention. His name was on a list of 100 prisoners whose release was sought by al-Qaeda-linked militants in Yemen. After 18 months in a Yemeni prison, al-Awlaki was released on December 12, 2007, following the intercession of his tribe. According to a Yemeni security official, he was released because he had repented. He moved to his family home in Saeed, a hamlet in the Shabwa mountains.",
"He moved to his family home in Saeed, a hamlet in the Shabwa mountains. Moazzam Begg's Cageprisoners, an organization representing former Guantanamo detainees, campaigned for al-Awlaki's release when he was in prison in Yemen. Al-Awlaki told Begg in an interview shortly after his release that prior to his incarceration in Yemen, he had condemned the 9/11 attacks. In December 2008, al-Awlaki sent a communique to the Somali terrorist group, al-Shabaab, congratulating them.",
"In December 2008, al-Awlaki sent a communique to the Somali terrorist group, al-Shabaab, congratulating them. Al-Awlaki provided al-Qaeda members in Yemen with the protection of his powerful tribe, the Awlakis, against the government. The tribal code required it to protect those who seek refuge and assistance. This imperative has greater force when the person is a member of the tribe or a tribesman's friend. The tribe's motto is \"We are the sparks of Hell; whoever interferes with us will be burned.\"",
"The tribe's motto is \"We are the sparks of Hell; whoever interferes with us will be burned.\" Al-Awlaki also reportedly helped negotiate deals with leaders of other tribes. Sought by Yemeni authorities who were investigating his al-Qaeda ties, al-Awlaki went into hiding in approximately March 2009, according to his father. By December 2009, al-Awlaki was on the Yemeni government's most-wanted list. He was believed to be hiding in Yemen's Shabwa or Mareb regions, which are part of the so-called \"triangle of evil\".",
"He was believed to be hiding in Yemen's Shabwa or Mareb regions, which are part of the so-called \"triangle of evil\". The area has attracted al-Qaeda militants, who seek refuge among local tribes unhappy with Yemen's central government. Yemeni sources originally said al-Awlaki might have been killed in a pre-dawn air strike by Yemeni Air Force fighter jets on a meeting of senior al-Qaeda leaders at a hideout in Rafd in eastern Shabwa, on December 24, 2009. But he survived.",
"But he survived. But he survived. Pravda reported that the planes, using Saudi and U.S. intelligence, killed at least 30 al-Qaeda members from Yemen and abroad, and that an al-Awlaki house was \"raided and demolished\". On December 28 The Washington Post reported that U.S. and Yemeni officials said that al-Awlaki had been present at the meeting. Abdul Elah al-Shaya, a Yemeni journalist, said al-Awlaki called him on December 28 to report that he was well and had not attended the al-Qaeda meeting.",
"Abdul Elah al-Shaya, a Yemeni journalist, said al-Awlaki called him on December 28 to report that he was well and had not attended the al-Qaeda meeting. Al-Shaya said that al-Awlaki was not tied to al-Qaeda. In March 2010, a tape featuring al-Awlaki was released in which he urged Muslims residing in the United States to attack their country of residence. Reaching out to the United Kingdom After 2006, al-Awlaki was banned from entering the United Kingdom.",
"Reaching out to the United Kingdom After 2006, al-Awlaki was banned from entering the United Kingdom. He broadcast lectures to mosques and other venues there via video-link from 2007 to 2009, on at least seven occasions at five locations in Britain. Noor Pro Media Events held a conference at the East London Mosque on January 1, 2009, showing a videotaped lecture by al-Awlaki; former Shadow Home Secretary Dominic Grieve expressed concern over his being featured.",
"Noor Pro Media Events held a conference at the East London Mosque on January 1, 2009, showing a videotaped lecture by al-Awlaki; former Shadow Home Secretary Dominic Grieve expressed concern over his being featured. He gave video-link talks in England to an Islamic student society at the University of Westminster in September 2008, an arts center in East London in April 2009 (after the Tower Hamlets council gave its approval), worshippers at the Al Huda Mosque in Bradford, and a dinner of the Cageprisoners organization in September 2008 at the Wandsworth Civic Centre in South London.",
"He gave video-link talks in England to an Islamic student society at the University of Westminster in September 2008, an arts center in East London in April 2009 (after the Tower Hamlets council gave its approval), worshippers at the Al Huda Mosque in Bradford, and a dinner of the Cageprisoners organization in September 2008 at the Wandsworth Civic Centre in South London. On August 23, 2009, al-Awlaki was banned by local authorities in Kensington and Chelsea, London, from speaking at Kensington Town Hall via videolink to a fundraiser dinner for Guantanamo detainees promoted by Cageprisoners.",
"On August 23, 2009, al-Awlaki was banned by local authorities in Kensington and Chelsea, London, from speaking at Kensington Town Hall via videolink to a fundraiser dinner for Guantanamo detainees promoted by Cageprisoners. His videos, which discuss his Islamist theories, have circulated across the United Kingdom. Until February 2010, hundreds of audio tapes of his sermons were available at the Tower Hamlets public libraries. In 2009, the London-based Islam Channel carried advertisements for his DVDs and at least two of his video conference lectures.",
"In 2009, the London-based Islam Channel carried advertisements for his DVDs and at least two of his video conference lectures. Other connections FBI agents identified al-Awlaki as a known, important \"senior recruiter for al Qaeda\", and a spiritual motivator. His name came up in a dozen terrorism plots in the US, UK, and Canada.",
"His name came up in a dozen terrorism plots in the US, UK, and Canada. The cases included suicide bombers in the 2005 London bombings, radical Islamic terrorists in the 2006 Toronto terrorism case, radical Islamic terrorists in the 2007 Fort Dix attack plot, the jihadist killer in the 2009 Little Rock military recruiting office shooting, and the 2010 Times Square bomber. In each case the suspects were devoted to al-Awlaki's message, which they listened to online and on CDs.",
"In each case the suspects were devoted to al-Awlaki's message, which they listened to online and on CDs. Al-Awlaki's recorded lectures were heard by Islamist fundamentalists in at least six terror cells in the UK through 2009. Michael Finton (Talib Islam), who attempted in September 2009 to bomb the Federal Building and the adjacent offices of Congressman Aaron Schock in Springfield, Illinois, admired al-Awlaki and quoted him on his Myspace page.",
"Michael Finton (Talib Islam), who attempted in September 2009 to bomb the Federal Building and the adjacent offices of Congressman Aaron Schock in Springfield, Illinois, admired al-Awlaki and quoted him on his Myspace page. In addition to his website, al-Awlaki had a Facebook fan page with \"fans\" in the US, many of whom were high school students. Al-Awlaki also set up a website and blog on which he shared his views.",
"Al-Awlaki also set up a website and blog on which he shared his views. Al-Awlaki influenced several other extremists to join terrorist organizations overseas and to carry out terrorist attacks in their home countries. Mohamed Alessa and Carlos Almonte, two American citizens from New Jersey who attempted to travel to Somalia in June 2010 to join the al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group Al Shabaab, allegedly watched several al-Awlaki videos and sermons in which he warned of future attacks against Americans in the United States and abroad.",
"Mohamed Alessa and Carlos Almonte, two American citizens from New Jersey who attempted to travel to Somalia in June 2010 to join the al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group Al Shabaab, allegedly watched several al-Awlaki videos and sermons in which he warned of future attacks against Americans in the United States and abroad. Zachary Chesser, an American citizen who was arrested for attempting to provide material support to Al Shabaab, told federal authorities that he watched online videos featuring al-Awlaki and that he exchanged several e-mails with al-Awlaki.",
"Zachary Chesser, an American citizen who was arrested for attempting to provide material support to Al Shabaab, told federal authorities that he watched online videos featuring al-Awlaki and that he exchanged several e-mails with al-Awlaki. In July 2010, Paul Rockwood was sentenced to eight years in prison for creating a list of 15 potential targets in the US, people he felt had desecrated Islam. Rockwood was a devoted follower of al-Awlaki, and had studied his works Constants on the Path to Jihad and 44 Ways to Jihad.",
"Rockwood was a devoted follower of al-Awlaki, and had studied his works Constants on the Path to Jihad and 44 Ways to Jihad. In October 2008, Charles Allen, U.S. Under-Secretary of Homeland Security for Intelligence and Analysis, warned that al-Awlaki \"targets U.S. Muslims with radical online lectures encouraging terrorist attacks from his new home in Yemen.\" Responding to Allen, al-Awlaki wrote on his website in December 2008: \"I would challenge him to come up with just one such lecture where I encourage 'terrorist attacks'\".",
"Responding to Allen, al-Awlaki wrote on his website in December 2008: \"I would challenge him to come up with just one such lecture where I encourage 'terrorist attacks'\". Fort Hood shooter Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan was investigated by the FBI after intelligence agencies intercepted at least 18 e-mails between him and al-Awlaki between December 2008 and June 2009.",
"Fort Hood shooter Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan was investigated by the FBI after intelligence agencies intercepted at least 18 e-mails between him and al-Awlaki between December 2008 and June 2009. Even before the contents of the e-mails were revealed, terrorism expert Jarret Brachman said that Hasan's contacts with al-Awlaki should have raised \"huge red flags\", because of his influence on radical English-speaking jihadis. Charles Allen, no longer in government, noted that there was no work-related reason for Hasan to be in touch with al-Awlaki.",
"Charles Allen, no longer in government, noted that there was no work-related reason for Hasan to be in touch with al-Awlaki. Former CIA officer Bruce Riedel opined: \"E-mailing a known al-Qaeda sympathizer should have set off alarm bells. Even if he was exchanging recipes, the bureau should have put out an alert.\" A DC-based Joint Terrorism Task Force operating under the FBI was notified of the e-mails and reviewed the information.",
"A DC-based Joint Terrorism Task Force operating under the FBI was notified of the e-mails and reviewed the information. Army employees were informed of the e-mails, but they didn't perceive any terrorist threat in Hasan's questions. Instead, they viewed them as general questions about spiritual guidance with regard to conflicts between Islam and military service and judged them to be consistent with legitimate mental health research about Muslims in the armed services. The assessment was that there was not sufficient information for a larger investigation.",
"The assessment was that there was not sufficient information for a larger investigation. In one of the e-mails, Hasan wrote al-Awlaki: \"I can't wait to join you [in the afterlife]\". \"It sounds like code words,\" said Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer, a military analyst at the Center for Advanced Defense Studies. \"That he's actually either offering himself up, or that he's already crossed that line in his own mind.\" Yemeni journalist Abdulelah Hider Shaea interviewed al-Awlaki in November 2009.",
"Yemeni journalist Abdulelah Hider Shaea interviewed al-Awlaki in November 2009. Al-Awlaki acknowledged his correspondence with Hasan. He said he \"neither ordered nor pressured ... Hasan to harm Americans.\" Al-Awlaki said Hasan first e-mailed him December 17, 2008, introducing himself by writing: \"Do you remember me? I used to pray with you at the Virginia mosque.\"",
"I used to pray with you at the Virginia mosque.\" Hasan said he had become a devout Muslim around the time al-Awlaki was preaching at Dar al-Hijrah, in 2001 and 2002, and al-Awlaki said 'Maybe Nidal was affected by one of my lectures.'\" He added: \"It was clear from his e-mails that Nidal trusted me. Nidal told me: 'I speak with you about issues that I never speak with anyone else.'\"",
"Nidal told me: 'I speak with you about issues that I never speak with anyone else.'\" Al-Awlaki said Hasan arrived at his own conclusions regarding the acceptability of violence in Islam and said he was not the one to initiate this. Shaea said, \"Nidal was providing evidence to Anwar, not vice versa.\" Asked whether Hasan mentioned Fort Hood as a target in his e-mails, Shaea declined to comment.",
"Asked whether Hasan mentioned Fort Hood as a target in his e-mails, Shaea declined to comment. Al-Awlaki said the shooting was acceptable in Islam, however, because it was a form of jihad, as the West began the hostilities with the Muslims. Al-Awlaki said he \"blessed the act because it was against a military target. And the soldiers who were killed were ... those who were trained and prepared to go to Iraq and Afghanistan\".",
"And the soldiers who were killed were ... those who were trained and prepared to go to Iraq and Afghanistan\". Al-Awlaki's e-mail conversations with Hasan were not released, and he was not placed on the FBI Most Wanted list, indicted for treason, or officially named as a co-conspirator with Hasan. The U.S. government was reluctant to classify the Fort Hood shooting as a terrorist incident, or identify any motive.",
"The U.S. government was reluctant to classify the Fort Hood shooting as a terrorist incident, or identify any motive. The Wall Street Journal reported in January 2010 that al-Awlaki had not \"played a direct role\" in any of the attacks, and noted he had never been charged with a crime in the US. One of his fellow officers at Fort Hood said Hasan was enthusiastic about al-Awlaki. Some investigators believe al-Awlaki's teachings may have been instrumental in Hasan's decision to stage the attack.",
"Some investigators believe al-Awlaki's teachings may have been instrumental in Hasan's decision to stage the attack. On his now-disabled website, al-Awlaki praised Hasan's actions, describing him as a hero. Christmas Day \"Underwear Bomber\" According to a number of sources, Al-Awlaki and Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the convicted al-Qaeda attempted bomber of Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on December 25, 2009, had contacts.",
"Christmas Day \"Underwear Bomber\" According to a number of sources, Al-Awlaki and Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the convicted al-Qaeda attempted bomber of Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on December 25, 2009, had contacts. In January 2010, CNN reported that U.S. \"security sources\" said that there is concrete evidence that al-Awlaki was Abdulmutallab's recruiter and one of his trainers, and met with him prior to the attack.",
"In January 2010, CNN reported that U.S. \"security sources\" said that there is concrete evidence that al-Awlaki was Abdulmutallab's recruiter and one of his trainers, and met with him prior to the attack. In February 2010, al-Awlaki admitted in an interview published in al-Jazeera that he taught and corresponded with Abdulmutallab, but denied having ordered the attack.",
"In February 2010, al-Awlaki admitted in an interview published in al-Jazeera that he taught and corresponded with Abdulmutallab, but denied having ordered the attack. Representative Pete Hoekstra, the senior Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, said officials in the Obama administration and officials with access to law enforcement information told him the suspect \"may have had contact [with al-Awlaki]\".The Sunday Times established that Abdulmutallab first met al-Awlaki in 2005 in Yemen, while he was studying Arabic.",
"Representative Pete Hoekstra, the senior Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, said officials in the Obama administration and officials with access to law enforcement information told him the suspect \"may have had contact [with al-Awlaki]\".The Sunday Times established that Abdulmutallab first met al-Awlaki in 2005 in Yemen, while he was studying Arabic. During that time the suspect attended lectures by al-Awlaki.NPR reported that according to unnamed U.S. intelligence officials he attended a sermon by al-Awlaki at the Finsbury Park Mosque.",
"During that time the suspect attended lectures by al-Awlaki.NPR reported that according to unnamed U.S. intelligence officials he attended a sermon by al-Awlaki at the Finsbury Park Mosque. Khalid Mahmood, the Labour MP for Birmingham Perry Barr, a former trustee of the mosque, expressed \"grave misgivings\" with regard to its stewardship. A spokesperson of the mosque stated that al-Awlaki had never spoken there or had even to his knowledge entered the building.",
"A spokesperson of the mosque stated that al-Awlaki had never spoken there or had even to his knowledge entered the building. Abdulmutallab was also reported by CBS News, The Daily Telegraph, and The Sunday Telegraph to have attended a talk by al-Awlaki at the East London Mosque, which al-Awlaki may have attended by video teleconference.",
"Abdulmutallab was also reported by CBS News, The Daily Telegraph, and The Sunday Telegraph to have attended a talk by al-Awlaki at the East London Mosque, which al-Awlaki may have attended by video teleconference. The Sunday Telegraph later removed the report from its website following a complaint by the East London Mosque, which stated that \"Anwar Al Awlaki did not deliver any talks at the ELM between 2005 and 2008, which is when the newspaper had falsely alleged that Abdullmutallab had attended such talks\".",
"The Sunday Telegraph later removed the report from its website following a complaint by the East London Mosque, which stated that \"Anwar Al Awlaki did not deliver any talks at the ELM between 2005 and 2008, which is when the newspaper had falsely alleged that Abdullmutallab had attended such talks\". Investigators who searched flats connected to Abdulmutallab in London said that he was a \"big fan\" of al-Awlaki, as al-Awlaki's blog and website had repeatedly been visited from those locations.",
"Investigators who searched flats connected to Abdulmutallab in London said that he was a \"big fan\" of al-Awlaki, as al-Awlaki's blog and website had repeatedly been visited from those locations. According to federal sources, Abdulmutallab and al-Awlaki repeatedly communicated with one another in the year prior to the attack. \"Voice-to-voice communication\" between the two was intercepted during the fall of 2009, and one government source said al-Awlaki \"was in some way involved in facilitating [Abdulmutallab]'s transportation or trip through Yemen.",
"\"Voice-to-voice communication\" between the two was intercepted during the fall of 2009, and one government source said al-Awlaki \"was in some way involved in facilitating [Abdulmutallab]'s transportation or trip through Yemen. It could be training, a host of things.\" NPR reported that intelligence officials suspected al-Awlaki may have told Abdulmutallab to go to Yemen for al-Qaeda training. Abdulmutallab told the FBI that al-Awlaki was one of his al-Qaeda trainers in Yemen. Others reported that Abdulmutallab met with al-Awlaki in the weeks leading up to the attack.",
"Others reported that Abdulmutallab met with al-Awlaki in the weeks leading up to the attack. The Los Angeles Times reported that according to a U.S. intelligence official, intercepts and other information point to connections between the two: Some of the information ... comes from Abdulmutallab, who ... said that he met with al-Awlaki and senior al-Qaeda members during an extended trip to Yemen this year and that the cleric was involved in some elements of planning or preparing the attack and in providing religious justification for it.",
"The Los Angeles Times reported that according to a U.S. intelligence official, intercepts and other information point to connections between the two: Some of the information ... comes from Abdulmutallab, who ... said that he met with al-Awlaki and senior al-Qaeda members during an extended trip to Yemen this year and that the cleric was involved in some elements of planning or preparing the attack and in providing religious justification for it. Other intelligence linking the two became apparent after the attempted bombing, including communications intercepted by the National Security Agency indicating that the cleric was meeting with \"a Nigerian\" in preparation for some kind of operation.",
"Other intelligence linking the two became apparent after the attempted bombing, including communications intercepted by the National Security Agency indicating that the cleric was meeting with \"a Nigerian\" in preparation for some kind of operation. Yemen's Deputy Prime Minister for Defense and Security Affairs, Rashad Mohammed al-Alimi, said Yemeni investigators believe that Abdulmutallab traveled to Shabwa in October 2009. Investigators believe he obtained his explosives and received training there. He met there with al-Qaeda members in a house built by al-Awlaki.",
"He met there with al-Qaeda members in a house built by al-Awlaki. A top Yemen government official said the two met with each other. In January 2010, al-Awlaki acknowledged that he met and spoke with Abdulmutallab in Yemen in the fall of 2009. In an interview, al-Awlaki said: \"Umar Farouk is one of my students; I had communications with him. And I support what he did.\" He also said: \"I did not tell him to do this operation, but I support it\".",
"He also said: \"I did not tell him to do this operation, but I support it\". Fox News reported in early February 2010 that Abdulmutallab told federal investigators that al-Awlaki directed him to carry out the bombing. In June 2010 Michael Leiter, the Director of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), said al-Awlaki had a \"direct operational role\" in the plot. Sharif Mobley Sharif Mobley had acknowledged contact with Anwar al-Awlaki.",
"Sharif Mobley Sharif Mobley had acknowledged contact with Anwar al-Awlaki. The Mobley family claims the contact was for spiritual guidance in further studies of Islam. The Mobley family went to Yemen and resided there for several years. They decided to return to the United States and went to the U.S. Embassy to update the family travel documents. While waiting for their travel documents, Sharif Mobley was kidnapped by Yemen Security Services and shot on January 26, 2010. He was then held in Yemen's Central Prison.",
"He was then held in Yemen's Central Prison. He was then held in Yemen's Central Prison. Mobley disappeared from the Central Prison on February 27, 2014. His current location is known to the U.S. Embassy in Yemen (currently closed 2015) but is withheld from his family and legal advisers based on U.S. State Department Regulations on \"U.S. Citizens Missing Abroad\". All charges related to \"terrorism/terrorist activity\" were dropped by the Yemen government.",
"All charges related to \"terrorism/terrorist activity\" were dropped by the Yemen government. There are no charges relating to allegations of \"killing a guard during an escape attempt from the hospital\" and there are no other legal proceedings against him in Yemen. Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad, convicted of the 2010 Times Square car bombing attempt, told interrogators that he was a \"fan and follower\" of al-Awlaki, and his writings were one of the inspirations for the attack.",
"Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad, convicted of the 2010 Times Square car bombing attempt, told interrogators that he was a \"fan and follower\" of al-Awlaki, and his writings were one of the inspirations for the attack. On May 6, 2010 ABC News reported that unknown sources told them Shahzad made contact with al-Awlaki over the internet, a claim that could not be independently verified.",
"On May 6, 2010 ABC News reported that unknown sources told them Shahzad made contact with al-Awlaki over the internet, a claim that could not be independently verified. Stabbing of British former minister Stephen Timms Roshonara Choudhry, who stabbed former British Cabinet Minister Stephen Timms in May 2010, and was found guilty of his attempted murder in November 2010, claimed to have become radicalized by listening to online sermons of al-Awlaki.",
"Stabbing of British former minister Stephen Timms Roshonara Choudhry, who stabbed former British Cabinet Minister Stephen Timms in May 2010, and was found guilty of his attempted murder in November 2010, claimed to have become radicalized by listening to online sermons of al-Awlaki. Seattle Weekly cartoonist death threat In 2010, after Everybody Draw Mohammed Day, cartoonist Molly Norris at Seattle Weekly had to stop publishing, and at the suggestion of the FBI changed her name, moved, and went into hiding due to a fatwā issued by al-Awlaki calling for her death.",
"Seattle Weekly cartoonist death threat In 2010, after Everybody Draw Mohammed Day, cartoonist Molly Norris at Seattle Weekly had to stop publishing, and at the suggestion of the FBI changed her name, moved, and went into hiding due to a fatwā issued by al-Awlaki calling for her death. In the June 2010 issue of Inspire, an English-language al-Qaeda magazine, al-Awlaki cursed her and eight others for \"blasphemous caricatures\" of Muhammad.",
"In the June 2010 issue of Inspire, an English-language al-Qaeda magazine, al-Awlaki cursed her and eight others for \"blasphemous caricatures\" of Muhammad. \"The medicine prescribed by the Messenger of Allah is the execution of those involved\", he wrote. Daniel Pipes observed in an article entitled \"Dueling Fatwas\", \"Awlaki stands at an unprecedented crossroads of death declarations, with his targeting Norris even as the U.S. government targets him.\"",
"Daniel Pipes observed in an article entitled \"Dueling Fatwas\", \"Awlaki stands at an unprecedented crossroads of death declarations, with his targeting Norris even as the U.S. government targets him.\" Cargo planes bomb plotThe Guardian, The New York Times, and The Daily Telegraph reported that U.S. and British counter-terrorism officials believed that al-Awlaki was behind the cargo plane PETN bombs that were sent from Yemen to Chicago in October 2010.Yemen bomb scare 'mastermind' lived in London | World news. The Guardian. Retrieved on October 1, 2011.",
"The Guardian. Retrieved on October 1, 2011. Retrieved on October 1, 2011. When U.S. Homeland Security official John Brennan was asked about al-Awlaki's suspected involvement in the plot, he said: \"Anybody associated with al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is a subject of concern.\" U.S. Ambassador to Yemen Gerald Feierstein said \"al-Awlaki was behind the two bombs.\" Final years Al-Awlaki's father, tribe, and supporters denied his alleged associations with Al-Qaeda and Islamist terrorism.",
"Final years Al-Awlaki's father, tribe, and supporters denied his alleged associations with Al-Qaeda and Islamist terrorism. Al-Awlaki's father proclaimed his son's innocence in an interview with CNN's Paula Newton, saying: \"I am now afraid of what they will do with my son. He's not Osama bin Laden, they want to make something out of him that he's not.\" Responding to a Yemeni official's assertions that his son had taken refuge with al-Qaeda, Nasser said: \"He's dead wrong.",
"Responding to a Yemeni official's assertions that his son had taken refuge with al-Qaeda, Nasser said: \"He's dead wrong. What do you expect my son to do? There are missiles raining down on the village. He has to hide. But he is not hiding with al-Qaeda; our tribe is protecting him right now.\" The Yemeni government attempted to get the tribal leaders to release al-Awlaki to their custody. They promised they would not turn him over to U.S. authorities for questioning.",
"They promised they would not turn him over to U.S. authorities for questioning. The governor of Shabwa said in January 2010 that al-Awlaki was on the move with members of al-Qaeda, including Fahd al-Quso, who was wanted in connection with the bombing of the USS Cole. In January 2010, White House lawyers debated whether or not it was legal to kill al-Awlaki, given his U.S. citizenship. U.S. officials stated that international law allows targeted killing in the event that the subject is an \"imminent threat\".",
"U.S. officials stated that international law allows targeted killing in the event that the subject is an \"imminent threat\". Because he was a U.S. citizen, his killing had to be approved by the National Security Council. Such action against a U.S. citizen is extremely rare. As a military enemy of the US, al-Awlaki was not subject to Executive Order 11905, which bans assassination for political reasons. The authorization was nevertheless controversial.",
"The authorization was nevertheless controversial. The authorization was nevertheless controversial. By February 4, 2010, the New York Daily News reported that al-Awlaki was \"now on a targeting list signed off on by the Obama administration\". On April 6, The New York Times reported that President Obama had authorized the killing of al-Awlaki. The al-Awalik tribe responded: \"We warn against cooperating with America to kill Sheikh Anwar al-Awlaki. We will not stand by idly and watch.\"",
"We will not stand by idly and watch.\" We will not stand by idly and watch.\" Al-Awlaki's tribe wrote that it would \"not remain with arms crossed if a hair of Anwar al-Awlaki is touched, or if anyone plots or spies against him. Whoever risks denouncing our son (Awlaki) will be the target of Al-Awalik weapons\", and gave warning \"against co-operating with the Americans\" in the capture or killing of al-Awlaki.",
"Whoever risks denouncing our son (Awlaki) will be the target of Al-Awalik weapons\", and gave warning \"against co-operating with the Americans\" in the capture or killing of al-Awlaki. Abu Bakr al-Qirbi, the Yemeni foreign minister, announced that the Yemeni government had not received any evidence from the US, and that \"Anwar al-Awlaki has always been looked at as a preacher rather than a terrorist and shouldn't be considered as a terrorist unless the Americans have evidence that he has been involved in terrorism\".",
"Abu Bakr al-Qirbi, the Yemeni foreign minister, announced that the Yemeni government had not received any evidence from the US, and that \"Anwar al-Awlaki has always been looked at as a preacher rather than a terrorist and shouldn't be considered as a terrorist unless the Americans have evidence that he has been involved in terrorism\". In a video clip bearing the imprint of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, issued on April 16 in al-Qaeda's monthly magazine Sada Al-Malahem, al-Awlaki said: \"What am I accused of?",
"In a video clip bearing the imprint of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, issued on April 16 in al-Qaeda's monthly magazine Sada Al-Malahem, al-Awlaki said: \"What am I accused of? Of calling for the truth? Of calling for jihad for the sake of Allah? Of calling to defend the causes of the Islamic nation?\" In the video he also praises both Abdulmutallab and Hasan, and describes both as his \"students\".",
"In the video he also praises both Abdulmutallab and Hasan, and describes both as his \"students\". In late April, Representative Charlie Dent (R-PA) introduced a resolution urging the U.S. State Department to withdraw al-Awlaki's U.S. citizenship. By May, U.S. officials believed he had become directly involved in terrorist activities. Former colleague Abdul-Malik said he \"is a terrorist, in my book\", and advised shops not to carry any of his publications.",
"Former colleague Abdul-Malik said he \"is a terrorist, in my book\", and advised shops not to carry any of his publications. In an editorial, Investor's Business Daily called al-Awlaki the \"world's most dangerous man\", and recommended that he be added to the FBI's most-wanted terrorist list, a bounty put on his head, that he be designated a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, charged with treason, and extradition papers filed with the Yemeni government.",
"In an editorial, Investor's Business Daily called al-Awlaki the \"world's most dangerous man\", and recommended that he be added to the FBI's most-wanted terrorist list, a bounty put on his head, that he be designated a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, charged with treason, and extradition papers filed with the Yemeni government. IBD criticized the Justice Department for stonewalling Senator Joe Lieberman's security panel's investigation of al-Awlaki's role in the Fort Hood massacre.",
"IBD criticized the Justice Department for stonewalling Senator Joe Lieberman's security panel's investigation of al-Awlaki's role in the Fort Hood massacre. On July 16, the U.S. Treasury Department added him to its list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists. Stuart Levey, Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, called him \"extraordinarily dangerous\", and said al-Awlaki was involved in several organizational aspects of terrorism, including recruiting, training, fundraising, and planning individual attacks.",
"Stuart Levey, Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, called him \"extraordinarily dangerous\", and said al-Awlaki was involved in several organizational aspects of terrorism, including recruiting, training, fundraising, and planning individual attacks. A few days later, the United Nations Security Council placed al-Awlaki on its UN Security Council Resolution 1267 list of individuals associated with al-Qaeda, describing him as a leader, recruiter, and trainer for al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.",
"A few days later, the United Nations Security Council placed al-Awlaki on its UN Security Council Resolution 1267 list of individuals associated with al-Qaeda, describing him as a leader, recruiter, and trainer for al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. The resolution stipulates that U.N. members must freeze the assets of anyone on the list, and prevent them from travelling or obtaining weapons. The following week, Canadian banks were ordered to seize any assets belonging to al-Awlaki.",
"The following week, Canadian banks were ordered to seize any assets belonging to al-Awlaki. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police's senior counter-terrorism officer Gilles Michaud described him as a \"major, major factor in radicalization\". In September 2010, Jonathan Evans, the Director General of the United Kingdom's domestic security and counter-intelligence agency (MI5), said that al-Awlaki was the West's Public Enemy No 1. In October 2010, U.S.",
"In October 2010, U.S. In October 2010, U.S. Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-NY) urged YouTube to take down al-Awlaki's videos from its website, saying that by hosting al-Awlaki's messages, \"We are facilitating the recruitment of homegrown terror.\" Pauline Neville-Jones, British security minister, said \"These Web sites ... incite cold-blooded murder.\" YouTube began removing the material in November 2010.",
"YouTube began removing the material in November 2010. YouTube began removing the material in November 2010. Al-Awlaki was charged in absentia in Sana'a, Yemen, on November 2 with plotting to kill foreigners and being a member of al-Qaeda. Ali al-Saneaa, the head of the prosecutor's office, announced the charges during the trial of Hisham Assem, who had been accused of killing Jacques Spagnolo, an oil industry worker.",
"Ali al-Saneaa, the head of the prosecutor's office, announced the charges during the trial of Hisham Assem, who had been accused of killing Jacques Spagnolo, an oil industry worker. He said that al-Awlaki and Assem had been in contact for months, and that al-Awlaki had encouraged Assem to commit terrorism. Al-Awlaki's lawyer said that his client was not connected to Spagnolo's death. On November 6, Yemeni Judge Mohsen Alwan ordered that al-Awlaki be caught \"dead or alive\".",
"On November 6, Yemeni Judge Mohsen Alwan ordered that al-Awlaki be caught \"dead or alive\". In his book Ticking Time Bomb: Counter-Terrorism Lessons from the U.S. Government's Failure to Prevent the Fort Hood Attack (2011), former U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman described al-Awlaki, Australian Muslim preacher Feiz Mohammad, Muslim cleric Abdullah el-Faisal, and Pakistani-American Samir Khan as \"virtual spiritual sanctioners\" who use the internet to offer religious justification for Islamist terrorism.",
"Senator Joe Lieberman described al-Awlaki, Australian Muslim preacher Feiz Mohammad, Muslim cleric Abdullah el-Faisal, and Pakistani-American Samir Khan as \"virtual spiritual sanctioners\" who use the internet to offer religious justification for Islamist terrorism. Lawsuit against the US In July 2010, al-Awlaki's father, Nasser al-Awlaki, contacted the Center for Constitutional Rights and the American Civil Liberties Union to represent his son in a lawsuit that sought to remove Anwar from the targeted killing list.",
"Lawsuit against the US In July 2010, al-Awlaki's father, Nasser al-Awlaki, contacted the Center for Constitutional Rights and the American Civil Liberties Union to represent his son in a lawsuit that sought to remove Anwar from the targeted killing list. ACLU's Jameel Jaffer said: the United States is not at war in Yemen, and the government doesn't have a blank check to kill terrorism suspects wherever they are in the world.",
"ACLU's Jameel Jaffer said: the United States is not at war in Yemen, and the government doesn't have a blank check to kill terrorism suspects wherever they are in the world. Among the arguments we'll be making is that, outside actual war zones, the authority to use lethal force is narrowly circumscribed, and preserving the rule of law depends on keeping this authority narrow. Lawyers for Specially Designated Global Terrorists must obtain a special license from the U.S. Treasury Department before they can represent their clients in court.",
"Lawyers for Specially Designated Global Terrorists must obtain a special license from the U.S. Treasury Department before they can represent their clients in court. The lawyers were granted the license on August 4, 2010. On August 30, 2010, the groups filed a \"targeted killing\" lawsuit, naming President Obama, CIA Director Leon Panetta, and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates as defendants.",
"On August 30, 2010, the groups filed a \"targeted killing\" lawsuit, naming President Obama, CIA Director Leon Panetta, and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates as defendants. They sought an injunction preventing the targeted killing of al-Awlaki, and also sought to require the government to disclose the standards under which U.S. citizens may be \"targeted for death\".",
"They sought an injunction preventing the targeted killing of al-Awlaki, and also sought to require the government to disclose the standards under which U.S. citizens may be \"targeted for death\". Judge John D. Bates dismissed the lawsuit in an 83-page ruling, holding that the father did not have legal standing to bring the lawsuit, and that his claims were judicially unreviewable under the political question doctrine inasmuch as he was questioning a decision that the U.S. Constitution committed to the political branches.",
"Judge John D. Bates dismissed the lawsuit in an 83-page ruling, holding that the father did not have legal standing to bring the lawsuit, and that his claims were judicially unreviewable under the political question doctrine inasmuch as he was questioning a decision that the U.S. Constitution committed to the political branches. On May 5, 2011, the United States tried but failed to kill al-Awlaki by firing a missile from an unmanned drone at a car in Yemen. A Yemeni security official said that two al-Qaeda operatives in the car died.",
"A Yemeni security official said that two al-Qaeda operatives in the car died. Death On September 30, 2011, al-Awlaki was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Al Jawf Governorate, Yemen, according to U.S. sources, the strike was carried out by Joint Special Operations Command, under the direction of the CIA. A witness said the group had stopped to eat breakfast while traveling to Ma'rib Governorate.",
"A witness said the group had stopped to eat breakfast while traveling to Ma'rib Governorate. The occupants of the vehicle spotted the drone and attempted to flee in the vehicle before Hellfire missiles were fired Yemen's Defense Ministry announced that al-Awlaki had been killed. Also killed was Samir Khan, an American born in Saudi Arabia, thought to be behind al-Qaeda's English-language web magazine Inspire. U.S. President Barack Obama said: The death of Awlaki is a major blow to Al-Qaeda's most active operational affiliate.",
"U.S. President Barack Obama said: The death of Awlaki is a major blow to Al-Qaeda's most active operational affiliate. He took the lead in planning and directing efforts to murder innocent Americans ... and he repeatedly called on individuals in the United States and around the globe to kill innocent men, women and children to advance a murderous agenda. [The strike] is further proof that Al-Qaeda and its affiliates will find no safe haven anywhere in the world.",
"[The strike] is further proof that Al-Qaeda and its affiliates will find no safe haven anywhere in the world. Journalist and author Glenn Greenwald argued on Salon.com that killing al-Awlaki violated his First Amendment right of free speech and that doing so outside of a criminal proceeding violated the Constitution's due process clause, specifically citing the 1969 Supreme Court decision in Brandenburg v. Ohio that \"the constitutional guarantees of free speech and free press do not permit a State to forbid or proscribe advocacy of the use of force.\"",
"Journalist and author Glenn Greenwald argued on Salon.com that killing al-Awlaki violated his First Amendment right of free speech and that doing so outside of a criminal proceeding violated the Constitution's due process clause, specifically citing the 1969 Supreme Court decision in Brandenburg v. Ohio that \"the constitutional guarantees of free speech and free press do not permit a State to forbid or proscribe advocacy of the use of force.\" He mentioned doubt among Yemeni experts about al-Awlaki's role in al-Qaeda, and called U.S. government accusations against him unverified and lacking in evidence.",
"He mentioned doubt among Yemeni experts about al-Awlaki's role in al-Qaeda, and called U.S. government accusations against him unverified and lacking in evidence. In a letter dated May 22, 2013, to the chairman of the U.S. Senate Judiciary committee, Patrick J. Leahy, U.S. attorney general Eric Holder wrote that high-level U.S. government officials [...] concluded that al-Aulaqi posed a continuing and imminent threat of violent attack against the United States.",
"In a letter dated May 22, 2013, to the chairman of the U.S. Senate Judiciary committee, Patrick J. Leahy, U.S. attorney general Eric Holder wrote that high-level U.S. government officials [...] concluded that al-Aulaqi posed a continuing and imminent threat of violent attack against the United States. Before carrying out the operation that killed al-Aulaqi, senior officials also determined, based on a careful evaluation of the circumstances at the time, that it was not feasible to capture al-Aulaqi.",
"Before carrying out the operation that killed al-Aulaqi, senior officials also determined, based on a careful evaluation of the circumstances at the time, that it was not feasible to capture al-Aulaqi. In addition, senior officials determined that the operation would be conducted consistent with applicable law of war principles, including the cardinal principles of (1) necessity – the requirement that the target have definite military value; (2) distinction – the idea that only military objectives may be intentionally targeted and that civilians are protected from being intentionally targeted; (3) proportionality – the notion that the anticipated collateral damage of an action cannot be excessive in relation to the anticipated concrete and direct military advantage; and (4) humanity – a principle that requires us to use weapons that will not inflict unnecessary suffering.",
"In addition, senior officials determined that the operation would be conducted consistent with applicable law of war principles, including the cardinal principles of (1) necessity – the requirement that the target have definite military value; (2) distinction – the idea that only military objectives may be intentionally targeted and that civilians are protected from being intentionally targeted; (3) proportionality – the notion that the anticipated collateral damage of an action cannot be excessive in relation to the anticipated concrete and direct military advantage; and (4) humanity – a principle that requires us to use weapons that will not inflict unnecessary suffering. The operation was also undertaken consistent with Yemeni sovereignty.",
"The operation was also undertaken consistent with Yemeni sovereignty. The operation was also undertaken consistent with Yemeni sovereignty. [...] The decision to target Anwar al-Aulaqi was lawful, it was considered, and it was just. On April 21, 2014, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal ruled that the Obama administration must release documents justifying its drone killings of foreigners and Americans, including Anwar al-Awlaki.",
"Circuit Court of Appeal ruled that the Obama administration must release documents justifying its drone killings of foreigners and Americans, including Anwar al-Awlaki. In June 2014, the United States Department of Justice disclosed a 2010 memorandum written by the acting head of the department's Office of Legal Counsel, David J. Barron. The memo stated that Anwar al-Awlaki was a significant threat with an infeasible probability of capture. Barron therefore justified the killing as legal, as \"the Constitution would not require the government to provide further process\".",
"Barron therefore justified the killing as legal, as \"the Constitution would not require the government to provide further process\". The New York Times Editorial Board dismissed the memo's rationale for al-Awlaki's killing, saying it \"provides little confidence that the lethal action was taken with real care\", instead describing it as \"a slapdash pastiche of legal theories—some based on obscure interpretations of British and Israeli law—that was clearly tailored to the desired result.\"",
"The New York Times Editorial Board dismissed the memo's rationale for al-Awlaki's killing, saying it \"provides little confidence that the lethal action was taken with real care\", instead describing it as \"a slapdash pastiche of legal theories—some based on obscure interpretations of British and Israeli law—that was clearly tailored to the desired result.\" A lawyer for the ACLU described the memo as \"disturbing\" and \"ultimately an argument that the president can order targeted killings of Americans without ever having to account to anyone outside the executive branch.\"",
"A lawyer for the ACLU described the memo as \"disturbing\" and \"ultimately an argument that the president can order targeted killings of Americans without ever having to account to anyone outside the executive branch.\" Legacy Seth Jones, who as a political scientist specializes in al-Qaida, considers that the continuing relevance of al-Awlaki is due to his fluency in the English language as well as his charisma, precising that \"he had a disarming aura and unnerving confidence, with an easy smile and a soothing, eloquent voice.",
"Legacy Seth Jones, who as a political scientist specializes in al-Qaida, considers that the continuing relevance of al-Awlaki is due to his fluency in the English language as well as his charisma, precising that \"he had a disarming aura and unnerving confidence, with an easy smile and a soothing, eloquent voice. He stood a lanky six feet, one inch tall, weighed 160 pounds, and had a thick black beard, an oversized nose, and wire-rimmed glasses. He spoke in a clear, almost hypnotic voice.\"",
"He spoke in a clear, almost hypnotic voice.\" Awlaki's videos and writings remain highly popular on the internet, where they continue to be readily accessible. Those who viewed and still view his videos are estimated by journalist Scott Shane to number in the hundreds of thousands, while his father Dr. Nasser Awlaqi says that \"five million preaching tapes of Anwar Awlaqi have been sold in the West.\"",
"Those who viewed and still view his videos are estimated by journalist Scott Shane to number in the hundreds of thousands, while his father Dr. Nasser Awlaqi says that \"five million preaching tapes of Anwar Awlaqi have been sold in the West.\" And thus, even following his death, Awlaki has continued to inspire his devotees to carry out terrorist attacks, including the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, the 2015 San Bernardino attack, and the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting.",
"And thus, even following his death, Awlaki has continued to inspire his devotees to carry out terrorist attacks, including the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, the 2015 San Bernardino attack, and the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting. According to the Counter Extremism Project (CEP), 88 \"extremists,\" 54 in the U.S. and 34 in Europe, have been influenced by Awlaki.",
"According to the Counter Extremism Project (CEP), 88 \"extremists,\" 54 in the U.S. and 34 in Europe, have been influenced by Awlaki. Because \"his work has inspired countless plots and attacks,\" CEP has \"called on YouTube and other platforms to permanently ban Mr. Awlaki's material, including his early, mainstream lectures.\"",
"Because \"his work has inspired countless plots and attacks,\" CEP has \"called on YouTube and other platforms to permanently ban Mr. Awlaki's material, including his early, mainstream lectures.\" FOIA documents During the FBI investigation of the 9/11 attacks, it was discovered that a few of the attackers had attended the mosques in San Diego and Falls Church with which al-Awlaki was associated. Interviews with members of the San Diego mosque showed that Nawaz al-Hazmi, one of the attackers, may have had a private conversation with him.",
"Interviews with members of the San Diego mosque showed that Nawaz al-Hazmi, one of the attackers, may have had a private conversation with him. On that basis he was placed under 24-hour surveillance. It was discovered that he regularly patronized prostitutes. It was through FBI interrogation of prostitutes and escort service operators that al-Awlaki was tipped off in 2002 about FBI surveillance. Shortly thereafter, he left the United States.",
"Shortly thereafter, he left the United States. Shortly thereafter, he left the United States. In January 2013, Fox News announced that FBI documents obtained by Judicial Watch through a Freedom of Information Act request showed possible connections between al-Awlaki and the September 11 attackers. According to Judicial Watch, the documents show that the FBI knew that al-Awlaki had bought tickets for three of the hijackers to fly into Florida and Las Vegas. Judicial Watch further stated that al-Awlaki \"was a central focus of the FBI's investigation of 9/11.",
"Judicial Watch further stated that al-Awlaki \"was a central focus of the FBI's investigation of 9/11. They show he wasn't cooperative. And they show that he was under surveillance.\" When queried by Fox News, the FBI denied having evidence connecting al-Awlaki and the September 11 attacks: \"The FBI cautions against drawing conclusions from redacted FOIA documents. The FBI and investigating bodies have not found evidence connecting Anwar al-Awlaki and the attack on September 11, 2001.",
"The FBI and investigating bodies have not found evidence connecting Anwar al-Awlaki and the attack on September 11, 2001. The document referenced does not link Anwar al-Awlaki with any purchase of airline tickets for the hijackers.\" Family Abdulrahman al-Awlaki Anwar al-Awlaki and Egyptian-born Gihan Mohsen Baker had a son, Abdulrahman Anwar al-Awlaki, born August 26, 1995, in Denver, who was an American citizen. Abdulrahman al-Awlaki was killed on October 14, 2011, in Yemen at the age of 16 in an American drone strike.",
"Abdulrahman al-Awlaki was killed on October 14, 2011, in Yemen at the age of 16 in an American drone strike. Nine other people were killed in the same CIA-initiated attack, including a 17-year-old cousin of Abdulrahman. According to his relatives, shortly before his father's death, Abdulrahman had left the family home in Sana'a and travelled to Shabwa in search of his father who was believed to be in hiding in that area (though he was actually hundreds of miles away at the time ).",
"According to his relatives, shortly before his father's death, Abdulrahman had left the family home in Sana'a and travelled to Shabwa in search of his father who was believed to be in hiding in that area (though he was actually hundreds of miles away at the time ). Abdulrahman was sitting in an open-air cafe in Shabwa when killed.",
"Abdulrahman was sitting in an open-air cafe in Shabwa when killed. According to U.S. officials, the killing of Abdulrahman al-Awlaki was a mistake; the intended target was an Egyptian, Ibrahim al-Banna, who was not at the targeted location at the time of the attack. Human rights groups have raised questions as to why an American citizen was killed by the United States in a country with which the United States is not officially at war. Abdulrahman al-Awlaki was not known to have any independent connection to terrorism.",
"Abdulrahman al-Awlaki was not known to have any independent connection to terrorism. Nasser al-Awlaki Nasser al-Awlaki is the father of Anwar and grandfather of Abdulrahman al-Awlaki. Al-Awlaki stated he believed his son had been wrongly accused and was not a member of Al Qaeda. After the deaths of his son and grandson, Nasser in an interview in Time magazine called the killings a crime and condemned U.S. President Obama directly, saying: \"I urge the American people to bring the killers to justice.",
"After the deaths of his son and grandson, Nasser in an interview in Time magazine called the killings a crime and condemned U.S. President Obama directly, saying: \"I urge the American people to bring the killers to justice. I urge them to expose the hypocrisy of the 2009 Nobel Prize laureate. To some, he may be that. To me and my family, he is nothing more than a child killer.\"",
"To me and my family, he is nothing more than a child killer.\" In 2013, Nasser al-Awlaki published an op-ed in The New York Times stating that two years after killing his grandson, the Obama administration still declines to provide an explanation. In 2012, Nasser al-Awlaki filed a lawsuit, Al-Aulaqi v. Panetta, challenging the constitutionality of the drone killings of his son and grandson. This lawsuit was dismissed in April 2014 by D.C. District Court Judge Rosemary M. Collyer.",
"This lawsuit was dismissed in April 2014 by D.C. District Court Judge Rosemary M. Collyer. Tariq al-Dahab Tariq al-Dahab, who led al-Qaeda insurgents in Yemen, was a brother-in-law of al-Awlaki. On February 16, 2012, the terrorist organization stated that he had been killed by agents, although media reports contain speculation that he was killed by his brother in a bloody family feud.",
"On February 16, 2012, the terrorist organization stated that he had been killed by agents, although media reports contain speculation that he was killed by his brother in a bloody family feud. Nawar al-Awlaki On January 29, 2017, Anwar al-Awlaki's 8-year-old daughter, Nawar al-Awlaki, who was an American citizen, was killed in a DEVGRU operation authorized by President Donald Trump. \"1 US service member killed, 3 wounded in Yemen raid\" , WPVI-TV, 6 ABC Action News, Philadelphia, PA. January 29, 2017.",
"\"1 US service member killed, 3 wounded in Yemen raid\" , WPVI-TV, 6 ABC Action News, Philadelphia, PA. January 29, 2017. Retrieved January 29, 2017. Islamic education Al-Awlaki's Islamic education was primarily informal, and consisted of intermittent months with various scholars reading and contemplating Islamic scholarly works.",
"Islamic education Al-Awlaki's Islamic education was primarily informal, and consisted of intermittent months with various scholars reading and contemplating Islamic scholarly works. Despite having no religious qualifications and almost no religious education, Al-Awlaki made a name for himself as a public speaker who released popular audio recordings.Some Muslim scholars said they did not understand alAwlaki's popularity, because while he spoke fluent English and could therefore reach a large non-Arabic-speaking audience, he lacked formal Islamic training and study.",
"Despite having no religious qualifications and almost no religious education, Al-Awlaki made a name for himself as a public speaker who released popular audio recordings.Some Muslim scholars said they did not understand alAwlaki's popularity, because while he spoke fluent English and could therefore reach a large non-Arabic-speaking audience, he lacked formal Islamic training and study. Ideology While imprisoned in Yemen after 2004, al-Awlaki was influenced by the works of Sayyid Qutb, described by The New York Times as an originator of the contemporary \"anti-Western Jihadist movement\".",
"Ideology While imprisoned in Yemen after 2004, al-Awlaki was influenced by the works of Sayyid Qutb, described by The New York Times as an originator of the contemporary \"anti-Western Jihadist movement\". He read 150 to 200 pages a day of Qutb's works, and described himself as \"so immersed with the author I would feel Sayyid was with me in my cell speaking to me directly\". Terrorism consultant Evan Kohlmann in 2009 referred to al-Awlaki as \"one of the principal jihadi luminaries for would-be homegrown terrorists.",
"Terrorism consultant Evan Kohlmann in 2009 referred to al-Awlaki as \"one of the principal jihadi luminaries for would-be homegrown terrorists. His fluency with English, his unabashed advocacy of jihad and mujahideen organizations, and his Web-savvy approach are a powerful combination.\" He called al-Awlaki's lecture, \"Constants on the Path of Jihad\", which he says was based on a similar document written by al-Qaeda's founder, the \"virtual bible for lone-wolf Muslim extremists\".",
"He called al-Awlaki's lecture, \"Constants on the Path of Jihad\", which he says was based on a similar document written by al-Qaeda's founder, the \"virtual bible for lone-wolf Muslim extremists\". Philip Mudd, formerly of the CIA's National Counterterrorism Center and the FBI's top intelligence adviser, called him \"a magnetic character ... a powerful orator.\" He attracted young men to his lectures, especially US-based and UK-based Muslims.",
"He attracted young men to his lectures, especially US-based and UK-based Muslims. U.S. officials and some U.S. media sources called al-Awlaki an Islamic fundamentalist and accused him of encouraging terrorism. According to documents recovered from bin Laden's hideout, the al-Qaeda leader was unsure about al-Awlaki's qualifications. Works The Nine Eleven Finding Answers Foundation said al-Awlaki's ability to write and speak in fluent English enabled him to incite English-speaking Muslims to terrorism. Al-Awlaki notes in 44 Ways to Support Jihad that most reading material on the subject is in Arabic.",
"Al-Awlaki notes in 44 Ways to Support Jihad that most reading material on the subject is in Arabic. Written works 44 Ways to Support Jihad: Essay (January 2009). In it, al-Awlaki states that \"The hatred of kuffar is a central element of our military creed\" and that all Muslims are obligated to participate in jihad, either by committing the acts themselves or supporting others who do so. He says all Muslims must remain physically fit so as to be prepared for conflict.",
"He says all Muslims must remain physically fit so as to be prepared for conflict. According to U.S. officials, it is considered a key text for al-Qaeda members. Al-Awlaki wrote for Jihad Recollections, an English language online publication published by Al-Fursan Media. Allah is Preparing Us for Victory – short book (2009). Lectures Lectures on the book Constants on the Path of Jihad by Yusef al-Ayeri—concerns leaderless jihad. In 2009, the UK government found 1,910 of his videos had been posted to YouTube.",
"In 2009, the UK government found 1,910 of his videos had been posted to YouTube. One of them had been viewed 164,420 times.",
"One of them had been viewed 164,420 times. One of them had been viewed 164,420 times. The Battle of Hearts and Minds The Dust Will Never Settle Down Dreams & Interpretations The Hereafter—16 CDs—Al Basheer Productions Life of Muhammad: Makkan Period—16 CDs—Al Basheer Productions Life of Muhammad: Medinan Period—Lecture in 2 Parts—18 CDs—Al Basheer Productions Lives of the Prophets (AS)—16 CDs—Al Basheer Productions Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (RA): His Life & Times—15 CDs—Al Basheer Productions Umar ibn al-Khattāb (RA): His Life & Times—18 CDs—Al Basheer Productions 25 Promises from Allah to the Believer—2 CDs—Noor Productions Companions of the Ditch & Lessons from the Life of Musa (AS)—2 CDs—Noor Productions Remembrance of Allah & the Greatest Ayah—2 CDs—Noor Productions Stories from Hadith—4 CDs—Center for Islamic Information and Education (\"CIIE\") Hellfire & The Day of Judgment—CD—CIIE Quest for Truth: The Story of Salman Al-Farsi (RA)—CD—CIIE Trials & Lessons for Muslim Minorities—CD—CIIE Young Ayesha (RA) & Mothers of the Believers (RA)—CD—CIIE Understanding the Quran—CD—CIIE Lessons from the Companions (RA) Living as a Minority—CD—CIIE Virtues of the Sahabah—video lecture series promoted by the al-Wasatiyyah Foundation Website Al-Awlaki maintained a website and blog on which he shared his views.",
"The Battle of Hearts and Minds The Dust Will Never Settle Down Dreams & Interpretations The Hereafter—16 CDs—Al Basheer Productions Life of Muhammad: Makkan Period—16 CDs—Al Basheer Productions Life of Muhammad: Medinan Period—Lecture in 2 Parts—18 CDs—Al Basheer Productions Lives of the Prophets (AS)—16 CDs—Al Basheer Productions Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (RA): His Life & Times—15 CDs—Al Basheer Productions Umar ibn al-Khattāb (RA): His Life & Times—18 CDs—Al Basheer Productions 25 Promises from Allah to the Believer—2 CDs—Noor Productions Companions of the Ditch & Lessons from the Life of Musa (AS)—2 CDs—Noor Productions Remembrance of Allah & the Greatest Ayah—2 CDs—Noor Productions Stories from Hadith—4 CDs—Center for Islamic Information and Education (\"CIIE\") Hellfire & The Day of Judgment—CD—CIIE Quest for Truth: The Story of Salman Al-Farsi (RA)—CD—CIIE Trials & Lessons for Muslim Minorities—CD—CIIE Young Ayesha (RA) & Mothers of the Believers (RA)—CD—CIIE Understanding the Quran—CD—CIIE Lessons from the Companions (RA) Living as a Minority—CD—CIIE Virtues of the Sahabah—video lecture series promoted by the al-Wasatiyyah Foundation Website Al-Awlaki maintained a website and blog on which he shared his views. On December 11, 2008, he said Muslims should not seek to \"serve in the armies of the disbelievers and fight against his brothers\".",
"On December 11, 2008, he said Muslims should not seek to \"serve in the armies of the disbelievers and fight against his brothers\". In \"44 Ways to Support Jihad\", posted on his blog in February 2009, al-Awlaki encouraged others to \"fight jihad\", and explained how to give money to the mujahideen or their families. Al-Awlaki's sermon encourages others to conduct weapons training, and raise children \"on the love of Jihad\".",
"Al-Awlaki's sermon encourages others to conduct weapons training, and raise children \"on the love of Jihad\". Also that month, he wrote: \"I pray that Allah destroys America and all its allies.\" He wrote as well: \"We will implement the rule of Allah on Earth by the tip of the sword, whether the masses like it or not.\" On July 14, he said that Muslim countries should not offer military assistance to the US.",
"On July 14, he said that Muslim countries should not offer military assistance to the US. \"The blame should be placed on the soldier who is willing to follow orders ... who sells his religion for a few dollars,\" he said. In blog post dated July 15, 2009, entitled \"Fighting Against Government Armies in the Muslim World\", al-Awlaki wrote, \"Blessed are those who fight against [American soldiers], and blessed are those shuhada [martyrs] who are killed by them.\"",
"In blog post dated July 15, 2009, entitled \"Fighting Against Government Armies in the Muslim World\", al-Awlaki wrote, \"Blessed are those who fight against [American soldiers], and blessed are those shuhada [martyrs] who are killed by them.\" In a video posted to the internet on November 8, 2010, al-Awlaki called for Muslims to kill Americans \"without hesitation\", and overthrow Arab governments that cooperate with the US.",
"In a video posted to the internet on November 8, 2010, al-Awlaki called for Muslims to kill Americans \"without hesitation\", and overthrow Arab governments that cooperate with the US. \"Don't consult with anyone in fighting the Americans, fighting the devil doesn't require consultation or prayers or seeking divine guidance. They are the party of the devils\", al-Awlaki said.",
"They are the party of the devils\", al-Awlaki said. That month, Intelligence Research Specialist Kevin Yorke of the New York Police Department's Counterterrorism Division called him \"the most dangerous man in the world\". See also Church Committee Executive Order 12333 Extrajudicial killing International counter-terrorism activities of the CIA Protocol I References Further reading al-Ashanti, AbdulHaq and Sloan, Abu Ameenah AbdurRahman. (2011) A Critique of the Methodology of Anwar al-Awlaki and his Errors in the Fiqh of Jihad.",
"(2011) A Critique of the Methodology of Anwar al-Awlaki and his Errors in the Fiqh of Jihad. London: Jamiah Media, 2011 External links Ruling of Judge Bates in Al Aulaqi v Obama Statements Interviews \"Exclusive; Ray Suarez: My Post-9/11 Interview With Anwar al-Awlaki\", PBS, October 30, 2001 \"Al-Jazeera Satellite Network Interview with Yemeni-American Cleric Shaykh Anwar al-Awlaki Regarding his Alleged Role in Radicalizing Maj. Malik Nidal Hasan\", The NEFA Foundation, December 24, 2009 Media coverage The imam's very curious story: A skirt-chasing mullah is just one more mystery for the 9/11 panel, Ragavan, Chitra, US News and World Report'', June 13, 2004 DBI.gov 1971 births 2011 deaths 20th-century imams 21st-century imams Abdullah Yusuf Azzam Al-Qaeda propagandists Assassinated al-Qaeda leaders American al-Qaeda members American expatriates in the United Kingdom American expatriates in Yemen American imams American Islamists American people of Yemeni descent Colorado State University alumni George Washington University Graduate School of Education and Human Development alumni People associated with the September 11 attacks People from Las Cruces, New Mexico San Diego State University alumni Yemeni imams Yemeni al-Qaeda members Yemeni Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam Yemeni Sunni Muslims Deaths by drone strikes of the Central Intelligence Agency in Yemen Islam-related controversies People designated by the Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee American male criminals Yemeni criminals Yemeni Islamists Yemeni expatriates in the United Kingdom Shafi'is American Muslim activists Assassinated Yemeni people Yemeni propagandists United States military killing of American civilians"
] |
[
"Anwar al-Awlaki",
"Other connections",
"What were some of his connections?",
"Al-Awlaki influenced several other extremists to join terrorist organizations overseas and to carry out terrorist attacks in their home countries.",
"What countries was he going after?",
"The cases included suicide bombers in the 2005 London bombings, radical Islamic terrorists in the 2006 Toronto terrorism case, radical Islamic terrorists in the 2007 Fort Dix attack plot,",
"Were there others?",
"the jihadist killer in the 2009 Little Rock military recruiting office shooting, and the 2010 Times Square bomber."
] | C_a9dbf6539ea04ea1aa2c40cc18303c22_1 | How was he contacting these people? | 4 | How was Anwar al-Awlaki contacting the terrorists? | Anwar al-Awlaki | FBI agents identified al-Awlaki as a known, important "senior recruiter for al Qaeda", and a spiritual motivator. His name came up in a dozen terrorism plots in the US, UK, and Canada. The cases included suicide bombers in the 2005 London bombings, radical Islamic terrorists in the 2006 Toronto terrorism case, radical Islamic terrorists in the 2007 Fort Dix attack plot, the jihadist killer in the 2009 Little Rock military recruiting office shooting, and the 2010 Times Square bomber. In each case the suspects were devoted to al-Awlaki's message, which they listened to online and on CDs. Al-Awlaki's recorded lectures were heard by Islamist fundamentalists in at least six terror cells in the UK through 2009. Michael Finton (Talib Islam), who attempted in September 2009 to bomb the Federal Building and the adjacent offices of Congressman Aaron Schock in Springfield, Illinois, admired al-Awlaki and quoted him on his Myspace page. In addition to his website, al-Awlaki had a Facebook fan page with "fans" in the US, many of whom were high school students. Al-Awlaki also set up a website and blog on which he shared his views. Al-Awlaki influenced several other extremists to join terrorist organizations overseas and to carry out terrorist attacks in their home countries. Mohamed Alessa and Carlos Almonte, two American citizens from New Jersey who attempted to travel to Somalia in June 2010 to join the al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group Al Shabaab, allegedly watched several al-Awlaki videos and sermons in which he warned of future attacks against Americans in the US and abroad. Zachary Chesser, an American citizen who was arrested for attempting to provide material support to Al Shabaab, told federal authorities that he watched online videos featuring al-Awlaki and that he exchanged several e-mails with al-Awlaki. In July 2010, Paul Rockwood was sentenced to eight years in prison for creating a list of 15 potential targets in the US, people he felt had desecrated Islam. Rockwood was a devoted follower of al-Awlaki, and had studied his works Constants on the Path to Jihad and 44 Ways to Jihad. In October 2008, Charles Allen, US Under-Secretary of Homeland Security for Intelligence and Analysis, warned that al-Awlaki "targets U.S. Muslims with radical online lectures encouraging terrorist attacks from his new home in Yemen." Responding to Allen, al-Awlaki wrote on his website in December 2008: "I would challenge him to come up with just one such lecture where I encourage 'terrorist attacks'". CANNOTANSWER | In each case the suspects were devoted to al-Awlaki's message, which they listened to online and on CDs. | Anwar Nasser al-Awlaki (also spelled al-Aulaqi, al-Awlaqi; ; April 21 or 22, 1971 – September 30, 2011) was a Yemeni-American imam who was killed in 2011 in Yemen by an American drone strike ordered by President Barack Obama. Al-Awlaki became the first U.S. citizen to be targeted and killed by a U.S. drone strike without the rights of due process being afforded. US government officials argued that Awlaki was a key organizer for the Islamist terrorist group al-Qaeda, and in June 2014, a previously classified memorandum issued by the U.S. Department of Justice was released, justifying al-Awlaki's death as a lawful act of war. Civil liberties advocates have described the incident as "an extrajudicial execution" that breached al-Awlaki's right to due process, including a trial.
Al-Awlaki was born in Las Cruces, New Mexico, in 1971 to parents from Yemen. Growing up partially in the United States and partially in Yemen, he attended various universities across the United States in the 1990s and early 2000s while also working as an imam, despite having no religious qualifications and almost no religious education. Al-Awlaki returned to Yemen in early 2004 and became a university lecturer after a brief stint as a public speaker in the United Kingdom. He was detained by Yemeni authorities in 2006, where he spent 18 months in prison before being released without facing trial. Following his release, Al-Awlaki's message started to become overtly supportive of violence, as he condemned United States foreign policy against Muslims.
The Yemeni government tried him in absentia in November 2010, for plotting to kill foreigners and being a member of al-Qaeda. A Yemeni judge ordered that he be captured "dead or alive". U.S. officials said that in 2009, al-Awlaki was promoted to the rank of "regional commander" within al-Qaeda, although they described his role as more "inspirational" than "operational." He repeatedly called for jihad against the United States. In April 2010, al-Awlaki was placed on a CIA kill list by President Barack Obama due to his alleged terrorist activities. Al-Awlaki's father and civil rights groups challenged the order in court. Al-Awlaki was believed to be in hiding in southeast Yemen in the last years of his life. The U.S. deployed unmanned aircraft (drones) in Yemen to search for and kill him, firing at and failing to kill him at least once; he was successfully killed on September 30, 2011. Two weeks later, al-Awlaki's 16-year-old son, Abdulrahman al-Awlaki, a U.S. citizen who was born in Denver, Colorado, was also killed by a CIA-led drone strike in Yemen. His daughter, 8-year old Nawar al-Awlaki, was killed during a raid against Al Qaeda ordered by President Donald Trump in 2017.<ref name="uk.reuters.com">Ghobari, Mohammed and Phil Stewart. "Commando dies in U.S. raid in Yemen, first military op OK'd by Trump", Reuters, January 29, 2017. Retrieved January 29, 2017.</ref> The New York Times wrote in 2015 that al-Awlaki's public statements and videos have been more influential in inspiring acts of Islamic terrorism in the wake of his killing than before his death.
Early life
Al-Awlaki was born in Las Cruces, New Mexico, in 1971 to parents from Yemen, while his father, Nasser al-Awlaki, was doing graduate work at U.S. universities. His father was a Fulbright Scholar who earned a master's degree in agricultural economics at New Mexico State University in 1971, received a doctorate at the University of Nebraska, and worked at the University of Minnesota from 1975 to 1977. Nasser al-Awlaki served as Agriculture Minister in Ali Abdullah Saleh's government. He was also President of Sana'a University. Yemen's prime minister from 2007 to 2011, Ali Mohammed Mujur, was a relative.
The family returned to Yemen in 1978, when al-Awlaki was seven years old. He lived there for 11 years, and studied at Azal Modern School.
Life in the United States 1990–2002
Education
In 1991, al-Awlaki returned to the U.S. to attend college. He earned a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Colorado State University (1994), where he was president of the Muslim Student Association.
In 1993, while still a college student in Colorado State's civil engineering program, al-Awlaki visited Afghanistan in the aftermath of the Soviet occupation. He spent some time training with the mujahideen who had fought the Soviets. He was depressed by the country's poverty and hunger, and "wouldn't have gone with al-Qaeda," according to friends from Colorado State, who said he was profoundly affected by the trip. Mullah Mohammed Omar did not form the Taliban until 1994. When Al-Awlaki returned to campus, he showed increased interest in religion and politics. Al-Awlaki studied Education Leadership at San Diego State University, but did not complete his degree. He worked on a doctorate in Human Resource Development at The George Washington University Graduate School of Education and Human Development from January to December 2001.
Time as imam
In 1994, al-Awlaki married a cousin from Yemen, and began service as a part-time imam of the Denver Islamic Society. In 1996, he was chastised by an elder for encouraging a Saudi student to fight in Chechnya against the Russians. He left Denver soon after, moving to San Diego.
From 1996 to 2000, al-Awlaki was imam of the Masjid Ar-Ribat al-Islami mosque in San Diego, California, where he had a following of 200–300 people. U.S. officials later alleged that Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar, hijackers of American Airlines Flight 77, attended his sermons and personally met him during this period. Hazmi later lived in Northern Virginia and attended al-Awlaki's mosque there. The 9/11 Commission Report said that the hijackers "reportedly respected [al-Awlaki] as a religious figure". While in San Diego, al-Awlaki volunteered with youth organizations, fished, discussed his travels with friends, and created a popular and lucrative series of recorded lectures.
In August 1996 and in April 1997, al-Awlaki was arrested in San Diego and charged with soliciting prostitutes. The first time, in 1996, he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and was fined $400 and required to attend informational sessions about AIDS. The second time, in 1997, he pleaded guilty and was fined $240, ordered to perform 12 days of community service, and received three years' probation. From November 2001 to January 2002 the FBI observed him visiting a number of prostitutes, and interviewed them, establishing that he had paid for sex acts. No prosecution was brought.
In 1998 and 1999, he served as vice-president for the Charitable Society for Social Welfare. In 2004, the FBI described this group as a "front organization to funnel money to terrorists". Although the FBI investigated al-Awlaki from June 1999 through March 2000 for possible links to Hamas, the Bin Laden contact Ziyad Khaleel, and a visit by an associate of Omar Abdel Rahman, it did not find sufficient evidence for a criminal prosecution. Al-Awlaki told reporters that he resigned from leading the San Diego mosque "after an uneventful four years," and took a brief sabbatical, traveling overseas to various countries.
In January 2001, al-Awlaki returned to the U.S., settling in the Washington metropolitan area. There, he was imam at the Dar al-Hijrah mosque near Falls Church, Virginia, and his services were attended by Nawaf al-Hazmi and a third hijacker, Hani Hanjour. He led academic discussions frequented by FBI Director of Counter-Intelligence for the Middle East Gordon M. Snow. Al-Awlaki also served as the Muslim chaplain at George Washington University, where he was hired by Esam Omeish. Omeish said in 2004 that he was convinced that al-Awlaki was not involved in terrorism.
His proficiency as a public speaker and command of the English language helped him attract followers who did not speak Arabic. "He was the magic bullet", according to the mosque spokesman Johari Abdul-Malik. "He had everything all in a box." "He had an allure. He was charming."
When police investigating the 9/11 attacks raided the Hamburg apartment of Ramzi bin al-Shibh, they found the telephone number of al-Awlaki among bin al-Shibh's personal contacts. The FBI interviewed al-Awlaki four times in the eight days following the 9/11 attacks. One detective later told the 9/11 Commission he believed al-Awlaki "was at the center of the 9/11 story". And an FBI agent said, "if anyone had knowledge of the plot, it would have been" him, since "someone had to be in the U.S. and keep the hijackers spiritually focused". One 9/11 Commission staff member said: "Do I think he played a role in helping the hijackers here, knowing they were up to something? Yes. Do I think he was sent here for that purpose? I have no evidence for it." A separate Congressional Joint Inquiry into the 9/11 attacks suggested that al-Awlaki may have been connected to the hijackers, according to its director, Eleanor Hill. In 2003, Representative Anna Eshoo, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said, "In my view, he is more than a coincidental figure."
Six days after the 9/11 attacks, al-Awlaki suggested in writing on the IslamOnline.net website that Israeli intelligence agents might have been responsible for the attacks, and that the FBI "went into the roster of the airplanes, and whoever has a Muslim or Arab name became the hijacker by default".
Soon after the 9/11 attacks, al-Awlaki was sought in Washington, D.C., by the media to answer questions about Islam, its rituals, and its relation to the attacks. He was interviewed by National Geographic, The New York Times, and other media. Al-Awlaki condemned the attacks. According to an NPR report in 2010, in 2001 al-Awlaki appeared to be a moderate who could "bridge the gap between the United States and the worldwide community of Muslims." The New York Times said at the time that he was "held up as a new generation of Muslim leader capable of merging East and West." In 2010, Fox News and the New York Daily News reported that some months after the 9/11 attacks, a Pentagon employee invited al-Awlaki to a luncheon in the Secretary's Office of General Counsel. The U.S. Secretary of the Army had suggested that a moderate Muslim be invited to give a talk.
In 2002, al-Awlaki was the first imam to conduct a prayer service for the Congressional Muslim Staffer Association at the U.S. Capitol. That year, Nidal Hasan visited al-Awlaki's mosque for his mother's funeral, at which al-Awlaki presided. In November 2009, Hasan killed 13 and wounded 32 in the Fort Hood shooting. Hasan usually attended a mosque in Maryland closer to where he lived while working at the Walter Reed Medical Center (2003–09).
Later in 2002, al-Awlaki posted an essay in Arabic on the Islam Today website titled "Why Muslims Love Death", lauding the fervor of Palestinian suicide bombers. He expressed a similar opinion in a speech at a London mosque later that year. By July 2002, al-Awlaki was under investigation in the United States for having received money from the subject of a U.S. Joint Terrorism Task Force investigation. His name was added to the list of terrorism suspects.
Passport fraud issues
In June 2002, a Denver federal judge signed an arrest warrant for al-Awlaki for passport fraud. On October 9, the Denver U.S. Attorney's Office filed a motion to dismiss the complaint and vacate the arrest warrant. Prosecutors believed that they lacked sufficient evidence of a crime, according to U.S. Attorney Dave Gaouette, who authorized its withdrawal. Al-Awlaki had listed Yemen rather than the United States as his place of birth on his 1990 application for a U.S. Social Security number, soon after arriving in the US. Al-Awlaki used this documentation to obtain a passport in 1993. He later corrected his place of birth to Las Cruces, New Mexico. "The bizarre thing is if you put Yemen down (on the application), it would be harder to get a Social Security number than to say you are a native-born citizen of Las Cruces", Gaouette said.
Prosecutors could not charge him in October 2002, when he returned from a trip abroad, because a 10-year statute of limitations on lying to the Social Security Administration had expired. According to a 2012 investigative report by Fox News, the arrest warrant for passport fraud was still in effect on the morning of October 10, 2002, when FBI Agent Wade Ammerman ordered al-Awlaki's release. U.S. Congressman Frank Wolf (R-VA) and several congressional committees urged FBI Director Robert Mueller to provide an explanation about the bureau's interactions with al-Awlaki, including why he was released from federal custody when there was an outstanding warrant for his arrest. The motion for rescinding the arrest warrant was approved by a magistrate judge on October 10 and filed on October 11.ABC News reported in 2009 that the Joint Terrorism Task Force in San Diego disagreed with the decision to cancel the warrant. They were monitoring al-Awlaki and wanted to "look at him under a microscope". But U.S. Attorney Gaouette said that no objection had been raised to the rescinding of the warrant during a meeting that included Ray Fournier, the San Diego federal diplomatic security agent whose allegation had set in motion the effort to obtain a warrant. Gaouette said that if al-Awlaki had been convicted at the time, he would have faced about six months in custody.The New York Times suggested later that al-Awlaki had claimed birth in Yemen (his family's place of origin) to qualify for scholarship money granted to foreign citizens. U.S. Congressman Frank R. Wolf (R-VA) wrote in May 2010 that by claiming to be foreign-born, al-Awlaki fraudulently obtained more than $20,000 in scholarship funds reserved for foreign students.
While living in Northern Virginia, al-Awlaki visited Ali al-Timimi, later known as a radical Islamic cleric. Al-Timimi was convicted in 2005 and is now serving a life sentence for leading the Virginia Jihad Network, inciting Muslim followers to fight with the Taliban against the US.
In the United Kingdom 2002–04
Al-Awlaki left the United States before the end of 2002, because of a "climate of fear and intimidation" according to Imam Johari Abdul-Malik of the Dar al-Hijrah mosque.
He lived in the UK for several months, where he gave talks attended by up to 200 people. He urged young Muslim followers: "The important lesson to learn here is never, ever trust a kuffar [disbeliever]. Do not trust them! [Their leaders] are plotting to kill this religion. They're plotting night and day." "He was the main man who translated the jihad into English," said a student who attended his lectures in 2003.
He gave a series of lectures in December 2002 and January 2003 at the London Masjid al-Tawhid mosque, describing the rewards martyrs (Shahid) receive in paradise (Jannah). He began to gain supporters, particularly among young Muslims, and undertook a lecture tour of England and Scotland in 2002 in conjunction with the Muslim Association of Britain. He also lectured at "ExpoIslamia", an event held by Islamic Forum Europe. At the East London Mosque he told his audience: "A Muslim is a brother of a Muslim... he does not betray him, and he does not hand him over... You don't hand over a Muslim to the enemies."
In Britain's Parliament in 2003, Louise Ellman, MP for Liverpool Riverside, discussed the relationship between al-Awlaki and the Muslim Association of Britain, an alleged Muslim Brotherhood front organization founded by Kemal el-Helbawy, a senior member of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood.
Return to Yemen 2004–11
Al-Awlaki returned to Yemen in early 2004, where he lived in Shabwah Governorate with his wife and five children. He lectured at Iman University, headed by Abdul Majeed al-Zindani. The latter has been included on the UN 1267 Committee's list of individuals belonging to or associated with al-Qaeda. Al-Zindani denied having any influence over al-Awlaki, or that he had been his "direct teacher". Some believe that the school's curriculum deals mostly, if not exclusively, with radical Islamic studies, and promotes radicalism. American convert John Walker Lindh and other alumni have been associated with terrorist groups.
On August 31, 2006, al-Awlaki was arrested with four others on charges of kidnapping a Shiite teenager for ransom, and participating in an al-Qaeda plot to kidnap a U.S. military attaché. He was imprisoned in 2006 and 2007. He was interviewed around September 2007 by two FBI agents with regard to the 9/11 attacks and other subjects. John Negroponte, the U.S. Director of National Intelligence, told Yemeni officials he did not object to al-Awlaki's detention.
His name was on a list of 100 prisoners whose release was sought by al-Qaeda-linked militants in Yemen. After 18 months in a Yemeni prison, al-Awlaki was released on December 12, 2007, following the intercession of his tribe. According to a Yemeni security official, he was released because he had repented. He moved to his family home in Saeed, a hamlet in the Shabwa mountains.
Moazzam Begg's Cageprisoners, an organization representing former Guantanamo detainees, campaigned for al-Awlaki's release when he was in prison in Yemen. Al-Awlaki told Begg in an interview shortly after his release that prior to his incarceration in Yemen, he had condemned the 9/11 attacks.
In December 2008, al-Awlaki sent a communique to the Somali terrorist group, al-Shabaab, congratulating them.
Al-Awlaki provided al-Qaeda members in Yemen with the protection of his powerful tribe, the Awlakis, against the government. The tribal code required it to protect those who seek refuge and assistance. This imperative has greater force when the person is a member of the tribe or a tribesman's friend. The tribe's motto is "We are the sparks of Hell; whoever interferes with us will be burned." Al-Awlaki also reportedly helped negotiate deals with leaders of other tribes.
Sought by Yemeni authorities who were investigating his al-Qaeda ties, al-Awlaki went into hiding in approximately March 2009, according to his father. By December 2009, al-Awlaki was on the Yemeni government's most-wanted list. He was believed to be hiding in Yemen's Shabwa or Mareb regions, which are part of the so-called "triangle of evil". The area has attracted al-Qaeda militants, who seek refuge among local tribes unhappy with Yemen's central government.
Yemeni sources originally said al-Awlaki might have been killed in a pre-dawn air strike by Yemeni Air Force fighter jets on a meeting of senior al-Qaeda leaders at a hideout in Rafd in eastern Shabwa, on December 24, 2009. But he survived. Pravda reported that the planes, using Saudi and U.S. intelligence, killed at least 30 al-Qaeda members from Yemen and abroad, and that an al-Awlaki house was "raided and demolished". On December 28 The Washington Post reported that U.S. and Yemeni officials said that al-Awlaki had been present at the meeting. Abdul Elah al-Shaya, a Yemeni journalist, said al-Awlaki called him on December 28 to report that he was well and had not attended the al-Qaeda meeting. Al-Shaya said that al-Awlaki was not tied to al-Qaeda.
In March 2010, a tape featuring al-Awlaki was released in which he urged Muslims residing in the United States to attack their country of residence.
Reaching out to the United Kingdom
After 2006, al-Awlaki was banned from entering the United Kingdom. He broadcast lectures to mosques and other venues there via video-link from 2007 to 2009, on at least seven occasions at five locations in Britain. Noor Pro Media Events held a conference at the East London Mosque on January 1, 2009, showing a videotaped lecture by al-Awlaki; former Shadow Home Secretary Dominic Grieve expressed concern over his being featured.
He gave video-link talks in England to an Islamic student society at the University of Westminster in September 2008, an arts center in East London in April 2009 (after the Tower Hamlets council gave its approval), worshippers at the Al Huda Mosque in Bradford, and a dinner of the Cageprisoners organization in September 2008 at the Wandsworth Civic Centre in South London. On August 23, 2009, al-Awlaki was banned by local authorities in Kensington and Chelsea, London, from speaking at Kensington Town Hall via videolink to a fundraiser dinner for Guantanamo detainees promoted by Cageprisoners. His videos, which discuss his Islamist theories, have circulated across the United Kingdom. Until February 2010, hundreds of audio tapes of his sermons were available at the Tower Hamlets public libraries. In 2009, the London-based Islam Channel carried advertisements for his DVDs and at least two of his video conference lectures.
Other connections
FBI agents identified al-Awlaki as a known, important "senior recruiter for al Qaeda", and a spiritual motivator. His name came up in a dozen terrorism plots in the US, UK, and Canada. The cases included suicide bombers in the 2005 London bombings, radical Islamic terrorists in the 2006 Toronto terrorism case, radical Islamic terrorists in the 2007 Fort Dix attack plot, the jihadist killer in the 2009 Little Rock military recruiting office shooting, and the 2010 Times Square bomber. In each case the suspects were devoted to al-Awlaki's message, which they listened to online and on CDs.
Al-Awlaki's recorded lectures were heard by Islamist fundamentalists in at least six terror cells in the UK through 2009. Michael Finton (Talib Islam), who attempted in September 2009 to bomb the Federal Building and the adjacent offices of Congressman Aaron Schock in Springfield, Illinois, admired al-Awlaki and quoted him on his Myspace page. In addition to his website, al-Awlaki had a Facebook fan page with "fans" in the US, many of whom were high school students. Al-Awlaki also set up a website and blog on which he shared his views.
Al-Awlaki influenced several other extremists to join terrorist organizations overseas and to carry out terrorist attacks in their home countries. Mohamed Alessa and Carlos Almonte, two American citizens from New Jersey who attempted to travel to Somalia in June 2010 to join the al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group Al Shabaab, allegedly watched several al-Awlaki videos and sermons in which he warned of future attacks against Americans in the United States and abroad. Zachary Chesser, an American citizen who was arrested for attempting to provide material support to Al Shabaab, told federal authorities that he watched online videos featuring al-Awlaki and that he exchanged several e-mails with al-Awlaki. In July 2010, Paul Rockwood was sentenced to eight years in prison for creating a list of 15 potential targets in the US, people he felt had desecrated Islam. Rockwood was a devoted follower of al-Awlaki, and had studied his works Constants on the Path to Jihad and 44 Ways to Jihad.
In October 2008, Charles Allen, U.S. Under-Secretary of Homeland Security for Intelligence and Analysis, warned that al-Awlaki "targets U.S. Muslims with radical online lectures encouraging terrorist attacks from his new home in Yemen." Responding to Allen, al-Awlaki wrote on his website in December 2008: "I would challenge him to come up with just one such lecture where I encourage 'terrorist attacks'".
Fort Hood shooter
Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan was investigated by the FBI after intelligence agencies intercepted at least 18 e-mails between him and al-Awlaki between December 2008 and June 2009. Even before the contents of the e-mails were revealed, terrorism expert Jarret Brachman said that Hasan's contacts with al-Awlaki should have raised "huge red flags", because of his influence on radical English-speaking jihadis. Charles Allen, no longer in government, noted that there was no work-related reason for Hasan to be in touch with al-Awlaki. Former CIA officer Bruce Riedel opined: "E-mailing a known al-Qaeda sympathizer should have set off alarm bells. Even if he was exchanging recipes, the bureau should have put out an alert." A DC-based Joint Terrorism Task Force operating under the FBI was notified of the e-mails and reviewed the information. Army employees were informed of the e-mails, but they didn't perceive any terrorist threat in Hasan's questions. Instead, they viewed them as general questions about spiritual guidance with regard to conflicts between Islam and military service and judged them to be consistent with legitimate mental health research about Muslims in the armed services. The assessment was that there was not sufficient information for a larger investigation. In one of the e-mails, Hasan wrote al-Awlaki: "I can't wait to join you [in the afterlife]". "It sounds like code words," said Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer, a military analyst at the Center for Advanced Defense Studies. "That he's actually either offering himself up, or that he's already crossed that line in his own mind."
Yemeni journalist Abdulelah Hider Shaea interviewed al-Awlaki in November 2009. Al-Awlaki acknowledged his correspondence with Hasan. He said he "neither ordered nor pressured ... Hasan to harm Americans." Al-Awlaki said Hasan first e-mailed him December 17, 2008, introducing himself by writing: "Do you remember me? I used to pray with you at the Virginia mosque." Hasan said he had become a devout Muslim around the time al-Awlaki was preaching at Dar al-Hijrah, in 2001 and 2002, and al-Awlaki said 'Maybe Nidal was affected by one of my lectures.'" He added: "It was clear from his e-mails that Nidal trusted me. Nidal told me: 'I speak with you about issues that I never speak with anyone else.'" Al-Awlaki said Hasan arrived at his own conclusions regarding the acceptability of violence in Islam and said he was not the one to initiate this. Shaea said, "Nidal was providing evidence to Anwar, not vice versa."
Asked whether Hasan mentioned Fort Hood as a target in his e-mails, Shaea declined to comment. Al-Awlaki said the shooting was acceptable in Islam, however, because it was a form of jihad, as the West began the hostilities with the Muslims. Al-Awlaki said he "blessed the act because it was against a military target. And the soldiers who were killed were ... those who were trained and prepared to go to Iraq and Afghanistan".
Al-Awlaki's e-mail conversations with Hasan were not released, and he was not placed on the FBI Most Wanted list, indicted for treason, or officially named as a co-conspirator with Hasan. The U.S. government was reluctant to classify the Fort Hood shooting as a terrorist incident, or identify any motive. The Wall Street Journal reported in January 2010 that al-Awlaki had not "played a direct role" in any of the attacks, and noted he had never been charged with a crime in the US.
One of his fellow officers at Fort Hood said Hasan was enthusiastic about al-Awlaki. Some investigators believe al-Awlaki's teachings may have been instrumental in Hasan's decision to stage the attack. On his now-disabled website, al-Awlaki praised Hasan's actions, describing him as a hero.
Christmas Day "Underwear Bomber"
According to a number of sources, Al-Awlaki and Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the convicted al-Qaeda attempted bomber of Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on December 25, 2009, had contacts. In January 2010, CNN reported that U.S. "security sources" said that there is concrete evidence that al-Awlaki was Abdulmutallab's recruiter and one of his trainers, and met with him prior to the attack. In February 2010, al-Awlaki admitted in an interview published in al-Jazeera that he taught and corresponded with Abdulmutallab, but denied having ordered the attack.
Representative Pete Hoekstra, the senior Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, said officials in the Obama administration and officials with access to law enforcement information told him the suspect "may have had contact [with al-Awlaki]".The Sunday Times established that Abdulmutallab first met al-Awlaki in 2005 in Yemen, while he was studying Arabic. During that time the suspect attended lectures by al-Awlaki.NPR reported that according to unnamed U.S. intelligence officials he attended a sermon by al-Awlaki at the Finsbury Park Mosque. Khalid Mahmood, the Labour MP for Birmingham Perry Barr, a former trustee of the mosque, expressed "grave misgivings" with regard to its stewardship. A spokesperson of the mosque stated that al-Awlaki had never spoken there or had even to his knowledge entered the building.
Abdulmutallab was also reported by CBS News, The Daily Telegraph, and The Sunday Telegraph to have attended a talk by al-Awlaki at the East London Mosque, which al-Awlaki may have attended by video teleconference. The Sunday Telegraph later removed the report from its website following a complaint by the East London Mosque, which stated that "Anwar Al Awlaki did not deliver any talks at the ELM between 2005 and 2008, which is when the newspaper had falsely alleged that Abdullmutallab had attended such talks".
Investigators who searched flats connected to Abdulmutallab in London said that he was a "big fan" of al-Awlaki, as al-Awlaki's blog and website had repeatedly been visited from those locations.
According to federal sources, Abdulmutallab and al-Awlaki repeatedly communicated with one another in the year prior to the attack. "Voice-to-voice communication" between the two was intercepted during the fall of 2009, and one government source said al-Awlaki "was in some way involved in facilitating [Abdulmutallab]'s transportation or trip through Yemen. It could be training, a host of things." NPR reported that intelligence officials suspected al-Awlaki may have told Abdulmutallab to go to Yemen for al-Qaeda training.
Abdulmutallab told the FBI that al-Awlaki was one of his al-Qaeda trainers in Yemen. Others reported that Abdulmutallab met with al-Awlaki in the weeks leading up to the attack. The Los Angeles Times reported that according to a U.S. intelligence official, intercepts and other information point to connections between the two:
Some of the information ... comes from Abdulmutallab, who ... said that he met with al-Awlaki and senior al-Qaeda members during an extended trip to Yemen this year and that the cleric was involved in some elements of planning or preparing the attack and in providing religious justification for it. Other intelligence linking the two became apparent after the attempted bombing, including communications intercepted by the National Security Agency indicating that the cleric was meeting with "a Nigerian" in preparation for some kind of operation.
Yemen's Deputy Prime Minister for Defense and Security Affairs, Rashad Mohammed al-Alimi, said Yemeni investigators believe that Abdulmutallab traveled to Shabwa in October 2009. Investigators believe he obtained his explosives and received training there. He met there with al-Qaeda members in a house built by al-Awlaki. A top Yemen government official said the two met with each other.
In January 2010, al-Awlaki acknowledged that he met and spoke with Abdulmutallab in Yemen in the fall of 2009. In an interview, al-Awlaki said: "Umar Farouk is one of my students; I had communications with him. And I support what he did." He also said: "I did not tell him to do this operation, but I support it". Fox News reported in early February 2010 that Abdulmutallab told federal investigators that al-Awlaki directed him to carry out the bombing.
In June 2010 Michael Leiter, the Director of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), said al-Awlaki had a "direct operational role" in the plot.
Sharif Mobley
Sharif Mobley had acknowledged contact with Anwar al-Awlaki. The Mobley family claims the contact was for spiritual guidance in further studies of Islam.
The Mobley family went to Yemen and resided there for several years. They decided to return to the United States and went to the U.S. Embassy to update the family travel documents. While waiting for their travel documents, Sharif Mobley was kidnapped by Yemen Security Services and shot on January 26, 2010. He was then held in Yemen's Central Prison. Mobley disappeared from the Central Prison on February 27, 2014. His current location is known to the U.S. Embassy in Yemen (currently closed 2015) but is withheld from his family and legal advisers based on U.S. State Department Regulations on "U.S. Citizens Missing Abroad".
All charges related to "terrorism/terrorist activity" were dropped by the Yemen government. There are no charges relating to allegations of "killing a guard during an escape attempt from the hospital" and there are no other legal proceedings against him in Yemen.
Times Square bomber
Faisal Shahzad, convicted of the 2010 Times Square car bombing attempt, told interrogators that he was a "fan and follower" of al-Awlaki, and his writings were one of the inspirations for the attack. On May 6, 2010 ABC News reported that unknown sources told them Shahzad made contact with al-Awlaki over the internet, a claim that could not be independently verified.
Stabbing of British former minister Stephen Timms
Roshonara Choudhry, who stabbed former British Cabinet Minister Stephen Timms in May 2010, and was found guilty of his attempted murder in November 2010, claimed to have become radicalized by listening to online sermons of al-Awlaki.
Seattle Weekly cartoonist death threat
In 2010, after Everybody Draw Mohammed Day, cartoonist Molly Norris at Seattle Weekly had to stop publishing, and at the suggestion of the FBI changed her name, moved, and went into hiding due to a fatwā issued by al-Awlaki calling for her death. In the June 2010 issue of Inspire, an English-language al-Qaeda magazine, al-Awlaki cursed her and eight others for "blasphemous caricatures" of Muhammad. "The medicine prescribed by the Messenger of Allah is the execution of those involved", he wrote. Daniel Pipes observed in an article entitled "Dueling Fatwas", "Awlaki stands at an unprecedented crossroads of death declarations, with his targeting Norris even as the U.S. government targets him."
Cargo planes bomb plotThe Guardian, The New York Times, and The Daily Telegraph reported that U.S. and British counter-terrorism officials believed that al-Awlaki was behind the cargo plane PETN bombs that were sent from Yemen to Chicago in October 2010.Yemen bomb scare 'mastermind' lived in London | World news. The Guardian. Retrieved on October 1, 2011. When U.S. Homeland Security official John Brennan was asked about al-Awlaki's suspected involvement in the plot, he said: "Anybody associated with al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is a subject of concern." U.S. Ambassador to Yemen Gerald Feierstein said "al-Awlaki was behind the two bombs."
Final years
Al-Awlaki's father, tribe, and supporters denied his alleged associations with Al-Qaeda and Islamist terrorism. Al-Awlaki's father proclaimed his son's innocence in an interview with CNN's Paula Newton, saying: "I am now afraid of what they will do with my son. He's not Osama bin Laden, they want to make something out of him that he's not." Responding to a Yemeni official's assertions that his son had taken refuge with al-Qaeda, Nasser said: "He's dead wrong. What do you expect my son to do? There are missiles raining down on the village. He has to hide. But he is not hiding with al-Qaeda; our tribe is protecting him right now."
The Yemeni government attempted to get the tribal leaders to release al-Awlaki to their custody. They promised they would not turn him over to U.S. authorities for questioning. The governor of Shabwa said in January 2010 that al-Awlaki was on the move with members of al-Qaeda, including Fahd al-Quso, who was wanted in connection with the bombing of the USS Cole.
In January 2010, White House lawyers debated whether or not it was legal to kill al-Awlaki, given his U.S. citizenship. U.S. officials stated that international law allows targeted killing in the event that the subject is an "imminent threat". Because he was a U.S. citizen, his killing had to be approved by the National Security Council. Such action against a U.S. citizen is extremely rare. As a military enemy of the US, al-Awlaki was not subject to Executive Order 11905, which bans assassination for political reasons. The authorization was nevertheless controversial.
By February 4, 2010, the New York Daily News reported that al-Awlaki was "now on a targeting list signed off on by the Obama administration". On April 6, The New York Times reported that President Obama had authorized the killing of al-Awlaki.
The al-Awalik tribe responded: "We warn against cooperating with America to kill Sheikh Anwar al-Awlaki. We will not stand by idly and watch." Al-Awlaki's tribe wrote that it would "not remain with arms crossed if a hair of Anwar al-Awlaki is touched, or if anyone plots or spies against him. Whoever risks denouncing our son (Awlaki) will be the target of Al-Awalik weapons", and gave warning "against co-operating with the Americans" in the capture or killing of al-Awlaki. Abu Bakr al-Qirbi, the Yemeni foreign minister, announced that the Yemeni government had not received any evidence from the US, and that "Anwar al-Awlaki has always been looked at as a preacher rather than a terrorist and shouldn't be considered as a terrorist unless the Americans have evidence that he has been involved in terrorism".
In a video clip bearing the imprint of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, issued on April 16 in al-Qaeda's monthly magazine Sada Al-Malahem, al-Awlaki said: "What am I accused of? Of calling for the truth? Of calling for jihad for the sake of Allah? Of calling to defend the causes of the Islamic nation?" In the video he also praises both Abdulmutallab and Hasan, and describes both as his "students".
In late April, Representative Charlie Dent (R-PA) introduced a resolution urging the U.S. State Department to withdraw al-Awlaki's U.S. citizenship. By May, U.S. officials believed he had become directly involved in terrorist activities. Former colleague Abdul-Malik said he "is a terrorist, in my book", and advised shops not to carry any of his publications. In an editorial, Investor's Business Daily called al-Awlaki the "world's most dangerous man", and recommended that he be added to the FBI's most-wanted terrorist list, a bounty put on his head, that he be designated a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, charged with treason, and extradition papers filed with the Yemeni government. IBD criticized the Justice Department for stonewalling Senator Joe Lieberman's security panel's investigation of al-Awlaki's role in the Fort Hood massacre.
On July 16, the U.S. Treasury Department added him to its list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists. Stuart Levey, Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, called him "extraordinarily dangerous", and said al-Awlaki was involved in several organizational aspects of terrorism, including recruiting, training, fundraising, and planning individual attacks.
A few days later, the United Nations Security Council placed al-Awlaki on its UN Security Council Resolution 1267 list of individuals associated with al-Qaeda, describing him as a leader, recruiter, and trainer for al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. The resolution stipulates that U.N. members must freeze the assets of anyone on the list, and prevent them from travelling or obtaining weapons. The following week, Canadian banks were ordered to seize any assets belonging to al-Awlaki. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police's senior counter-terrorism officer Gilles Michaud described him as a "major, major factor in radicalization". In September 2010, Jonathan Evans, the Director General of the United Kingdom's domestic security and counter-intelligence agency (MI5), said that al-Awlaki was the West's Public Enemy No 1.
In October 2010, U.S. Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-NY) urged YouTube to take down al-Awlaki's videos from its website, saying that by hosting al-Awlaki's messages, "We are facilitating the recruitment of homegrown terror." Pauline Neville-Jones, British security minister, said "These Web sites ... incite cold-blooded murder." YouTube began removing the material in November 2010.
Al-Awlaki was charged in absentia in Sana'a, Yemen, on November 2 with plotting to kill foreigners and being a member of al-Qaeda. Ali al-Saneaa, the head of the prosecutor's office, announced the charges during the trial of Hisham Assem, who had been accused of killing Jacques Spagnolo, an oil industry worker. He said that al-Awlaki and Assem had been in contact for months, and that al-Awlaki had encouraged Assem to commit terrorism. Al-Awlaki's lawyer said that his client was not connected to Spagnolo's death. On November 6, Yemeni Judge Mohsen Alwan ordered that al-Awlaki be caught "dead or alive".
In his book Ticking Time Bomb: Counter-Terrorism Lessons from the U.S. Government's Failure to Prevent the Fort Hood Attack (2011), former U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman described al-Awlaki, Australian Muslim preacher Feiz Mohammad, Muslim cleric Abdullah el-Faisal, and Pakistani-American Samir Khan as "virtual spiritual sanctioners" who use the internet to offer religious justification for Islamist terrorism.
Lawsuit against the US
In July 2010, al-Awlaki's father, Nasser al-Awlaki, contacted the Center for Constitutional Rights and the American Civil Liberties Union to represent his son in a lawsuit that sought to remove Anwar from the targeted killing list. ACLU's Jameel Jaffer said:
the United States is not at war in Yemen, and the government doesn't have a blank check to kill terrorism suspects wherever they are in the world. Among the arguments we'll be making is that, outside actual war zones, the authority to use lethal force is narrowly circumscribed, and preserving the rule of law depends on keeping this authority narrow.
Lawyers for Specially Designated Global Terrorists must obtain a special license from the U.S. Treasury Department before they can represent their clients in court. The lawyers were granted the license on August 4, 2010.
On August 30, 2010, the groups filed a "targeted killing" lawsuit, naming President Obama, CIA Director Leon Panetta, and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates as defendants. They sought an injunction preventing the targeted killing of al-Awlaki, and also sought to require the government to disclose the standards under which U.S. citizens may be "targeted for death". Judge John D. Bates dismissed the lawsuit in an 83-page ruling, holding that the father did not have legal standing to bring the lawsuit, and that his claims were judicially unreviewable under the political question doctrine inasmuch as he was questioning a decision that the U.S. Constitution committed to the political branches.
On May 5, 2011, the United States tried but failed to kill al-Awlaki by firing a missile from an unmanned drone at a car in Yemen. A Yemeni security official said that two al-Qaeda operatives in the car died.
Death
On September 30, 2011, al-Awlaki was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Al Jawf Governorate, Yemen, according to U.S. sources, the strike was carried out by Joint Special Operations Command, under the direction of the CIA. A witness said the group had stopped to eat breakfast while traveling to Ma'rib Governorate. The occupants of the vehicle spotted the drone and attempted to flee in the vehicle before Hellfire missiles were fired Yemen's Defense Ministry announced that al-Awlaki had been killed. Also killed was Samir Khan, an American born in Saudi Arabia, thought to be behind al-Qaeda's English-language web magazine Inspire. U.S. President Barack Obama said:
The death of Awlaki is a major blow to Al-Qaeda's most active operational affiliate. He took the lead in planning and directing efforts to murder innocent Americans ... and he repeatedly called on individuals in the United States and around the globe to kill innocent men, women and children to advance a murderous agenda. [The strike] is further proof that Al-Qaeda and its affiliates will find no safe haven anywhere in the world.
Journalist and author Glenn Greenwald argued on Salon.com that killing al-Awlaki violated his First Amendment right of free speech and that doing so outside of a criminal proceeding violated the Constitution's due process clause, specifically citing the 1969 Supreme Court decision in Brandenburg v. Ohio that "the constitutional guarantees of free speech and free press do not permit a State to forbid or proscribe advocacy of the use of force." He mentioned doubt among Yemeni experts about al-Awlaki's role in al-Qaeda, and called U.S. government accusations against him unverified and lacking in evidence.
In a letter dated May 22, 2013, to the chairman of the U.S. Senate Judiciary committee, Patrick J. Leahy, U.S. attorney general Eric Holder wrote that
high-level U.S. government officials [...] concluded that al-Aulaqi posed a continuing and imminent threat of violent attack against the United States. Before carrying out the operation that killed al-Aulaqi, senior officials also determined, based on a careful evaluation of the circumstances at the time, that it was not feasible to capture al-Aulaqi. In addition, senior officials determined that the operation would be conducted consistent with applicable law of war principles, including the cardinal principles of (1) necessity – the requirement that the target have definite military value; (2) distinction – the idea that only military objectives may be intentionally targeted and that civilians are protected from being intentionally targeted; (3) proportionality – the notion that the anticipated collateral damage of an action cannot be excessive in relation to the anticipated concrete and direct military advantage; and (4) humanity – a principle that requires us to use weapons that will not inflict unnecessary suffering. The operation was also undertaken consistent with Yemeni sovereignty. [...] The decision to target Anwar al-Aulaqi was lawful, it was considered, and it was just.
On April 21, 2014, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal ruled that the Obama administration must release documents justifying its drone killings of foreigners and Americans, including Anwar al-Awlaki. In June 2014, the United States Department of Justice disclosed a 2010 memorandum written by the acting head of the department's Office of Legal Counsel, David J. Barron. The memo stated that Anwar al-Awlaki was a significant threat with an infeasible probability of capture. Barron therefore justified the killing as legal, as "the Constitution would not require the government to provide further process". The New York Times Editorial Board dismissed the memo's rationale for al-Awlaki's killing, saying it "provides little confidence that the lethal action was taken with real care", instead describing it as "a slapdash pastiche of legal theories—some based on obscure interpretations of British and Israeli law—that was clearly tailored to the desired result." A lawyer for the ACLU described the memo as "disturbing" and "ultimately an argument that the president can order targeted killings of Americans without ever having to account to anyone outside the executive branch."
Legacy
Seth Jones, who as a political scientist specializes in al-Qaida, considers that the continuing relevance of al-Awlaki is due to his fluency in the English language as well as his charisma, precising that "he had a disarming aura and unnerving confidence, with an easy smile and a soothing, eloquent voice. He stood a lanky six feet, one inch tall, weighed 160 pounds, and had a thick black beard, an oversized nose, and wire-rimmed glasses. He spoke in a clear, almost hypnotic voice."
Awlaki's videos and writings remain highly popular on the internet, where they continue to be readily accessible. Those who viewed and still view his videos are estimated by journalist Scott Shane to number in the hundreds of thousands, while his father Dr. Nasser Awlaqi says that "five million preaching tapes of Anwar Awlaqi have been sold in the West." And thus, even following his death, Awlaki has continued to inspire his devotees to carry out terrorist attacks, including the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, the 2015 San Bernardino attack, and the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting. According to the Counter Extremism Project (CEP), 88 "extremists," 54 in the U.S. and 34 in Europe, have been influenced by Awlaki. Because "his work has inspired countless plots and attacks," CEP has "called on YouTube and other platforms to permanently ban Mr. Awlaki's material, including his early, mainstream lectures."
FOIA documents
During the FBI investigation of the 9/11 attacks, it was discovered that a few of the attackers had attended the mosques in San Diego and Falls Church with which al-Awlaki was associated. Interviews with members of the San Diego mosque showed that Nawaz al-Hazmi, one of the attackers, may have had a private conversation with him. On that basis he was placed under 24-hour surveillance. It was discovered that he regularly patronized prostitutes. It was through FBI interrogation of prostitutes and escort service operators that al-Awlaki was tipped off in 2002 about FBI surveillance. Shortly thereafter, he left the United States.
In January 2013, Fox News announced that FBI documents obtained by Judicial Watch through a Freedom of Information Act request showed possible connections between al-Awlaki and the September 11 attackers. According to Judicial Watch, the documents show that the FBI knew that al-Awlaki had bought tickets for three of the hijackers to fly into Florida and Las Vegas. Judicial Watch further stated that al-Awlaki "was a central focus of the FBI's investigation of 9/11. They show he wasn't cooperative. And they show that he was under surveillance."
When queried by Fox News, the FBI denied having evidence connecting al-Awlaki and the September 11 attacks: "The FBI cautions against drawing conclusions from redacted FOIA documents. The FBI and investigating bodies have not found evidence connecting Anwar al-Awlaki and the attack on September 11, 2001. The document referenced does not link Anwar al-Awlaki with any purchase of airline tickets for the hijackers."
Family
Abdulrahman al-Awlaki
Anwar al-Awlaki and Egyptian-born Gihan Mohsen Baker had a son, Abdulrahman Anwar al-Awlaki, born August 26, 1995, in Denver, who was an American citizen. Abdulrahman al-Awlaki was killed on October 14, 2011, in Yemen at the age of 16 in an American drone strike. Nine other people were killed in the same CIA-initiated attack, including a 17-year-old cousin of Abdulrahman. According to his relatives, shortly before his father's death, Abdulrahman had left the family home in Sana'a and travelled to Shabwa in search of his father who was believed to be in hiding in that area (though he was actually hundreds of miles away at the time ). Abdulrahman was sitting in an open-air cafe in Shabwa when killed. According to U.S. officials, the killing of Abdulrahman al-Awlaki was a mistake; the intended target was an Egyptian, Ibrahim al-Banna, who was not at the targeted location at the time of the attack. Human rights groups have raised questions as to why an American citizen was killed by the United States in a country with which the United States is not officially at war. Abdulrahman al-Awlaki was not known to have any independent connection to terrorism.
Nasser al-Awlaki
Nasser al-Awlaki is the father of Anwar and grandfather of Abdulrahman al-Awlaki. Al-Awlaki stated he believed his son had been wrongly accused and was not a member of Al Qaeda. After the deaths of his son and grandson, Nasser in an interview in Time magazine called the killings a crime and condemned U.S. President Obama directly, saying: "I urge the American people to bring the killers to justice. I urge them to expose the hypocrisy of the 2009 Nobel Prize laureate. To some, he may be that. To me and my family, he is nothing more than a child killer."
In 2013, Nasser al-Awlaki published an op-ed in The New York Times stating that two years after killing his grandson, the Obama administration still declines to provide an explanation. In 2012, Nasser al-Awlaki filed a lawsuit, Al-Aulaqi v. Panetta, challenging the constitutionality of the drone killings of his son and grandson. This lawsuit was dismissed in April 2014 by D.C. District Court Judge Rosemary M. Collyer.
Tariq al-Dahab
Tariq al-Dahab, who led al-Qaeda insurgents in Yemen, was a brother-in-law of al-Awlaki. On February 16, 2012, the terrorist organization stated that he had been killed by agents, although media reports contain speculation that he was killed by his brother in a bloody family feud.
Nawar al-Awlaki
On January 29, 2017, Anwar al-Awlaki's 8-year-old daughter, Nawar al-Awlaki, who was an American citizen, was killed in a DEVGRU operation authorized by President Donald Trump."1 US service member killed, 3 wounded in Yemen raid" , WPVI-TV, 6 ABC Action News, Philadelphia, PA. January 29, 2017. Retrieved January 29, 2017.
Islamic education
Al-Awlaki's Islamic education was primarily informal, and consisted of intermittent months with various scholars reading and contemplating Islamic scholarly works. Despite having no religious qualifications and almost no religious education, Al-Awlaki made a name for himself as a public speaker who released popular audio recordings.Some Muslim scholars said they did not understand alAwlaki's popularity, because while he spoke fluent English and could therefore reach a large non-Arabic-speaking audience, he lacked formal Islamic training and study.
Ideology
While imprisoned in Yemen after 2004, al-Awlaki was influenced by the works of Sayyid Qutb, described by The New York Times as an originator of the contemporary "anti-Western Jihadist movement". He read 150 to 200 pages a day of Qutb's works, and described himself as "so immersed with the author I would feel Sayyid was with me in my cell speaking to me directly".
Terrorism consultant Evan Kohlmann in 2009 referred to al-Awlaki as "one of the principal jihadi luminaries for would-be homegrown terrorists. His fluency with English, his unabashed advocacy of jihad and mujahideen organizations, and his Web-savvy approach are a powerful combination." He called al-Awlaki's lecture, "Constants on the Path of Jihad", which he says was based on a similar document written by al-Qaeda's founder, the "virtual bible for lone-wolf Muslim extremists". Philip Mudd, formerly of the CIA's National Counterterrorism Center and the FBI's top intelligence adviser, called him "a magnetic character ... a powerful orator." He attracted young men to his lectures, especially US-based and UK-based Muslims.
U.S. officials and some U.S. media sources called al-Awlaki an Islamic fundamentalist and accused him of encouraging terrorism. According to documents recovered from bin Laden's hideout, the al-Qaeda leader was unsure about al-Awlaki's qualifications.
Works
The Nine Eleven Finding Answers Foundation said al-Awlaki's ability to write and speak in fluent English enabled him to incite English-speaking Muslims to terrorism. Al-Awlaki notes in 44 Ways to Support Jihad that most reading material on the subject is in Arabic.
Written works
44 Ways to Support Jihad: Essay (January 2009). In it, al-Awlaki states that "The hatred of kuffar is a central element of our military creed" and that all Muslims are obligated to participate in jihad, either by committing the acts themselves or supporting others who do so. He says all Muslims must remain physically fit so as to be prepared for conflict. According to U.S. officials, it is considered a key text for al-Qaeda members.
Al-Awlaki wrote for Jihad Recollections, an English language online publication published by Al-Fursan Media.
Allah is Preparing Us for Victory – short book (2009).
Lectures
Lectures on the book Constants on the Path of Jihad by Yusef al-Ayeri—concerns leaderless jihad.
In 2009, the UK government found 1,910 of his videos had been posted to YouTube. One of them had been viewed 164,420 times.
The Battle of Hearts and Minds The Dust Will Never Settle Down Dreams & Interpretations The Hereafter—16 CDs—Al Basheer Productions
Life of Muhammad: Makkan Period—16 CDs—Al Basheer Productions
Life of Muhammad: Medinan Period—Lecture in 2 Parts—18 CDs—Al Basheer Productions
Lives of the Prophets (AS)—16 CDs—Al Basheer Productions
Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (RA): His Life & Times—15 CDs—Al Basheer Productions
Umar ibn al-Khattāb (RA): His Life & Times—18 CDs—Al Basheer Productions
25 Promises from Allah to the Believer—2 CDs—Noor Productions
Companions of the Ditch & Lessons from the Life of Musa (AS)—2 CDs—Noor Productions
Remembrance of Allah & the Greatest Ayah—2 CDs—Noor Productions
Stories from Hadith—4 CDs—Center for Islamic Information and Education ("CIIE")
Hellfire & The Day of Judgment—CD—CIIE
Quest for Truth: The Story of Salman Al-Farsi (RA)—CD—CIIE
Trials & Lessons for Muslim Minorities—CD—CIIE
Young Ayesha (RA) & Mothers of the Believers (RA)—CD—CIIE
Understanding the Quran—CD—CIIE
Lessons from the Companions (RA) Living as a Minority—CD—CIIE
Virtues of the Sahabah—video lecture series promoted by the al-Wasatiyyah Foundation
Website
Al-Awlaki maintained a website and blog on which he shared his views. On December 11, 2008, he said Muslims should not seek to "serve in the armies of the disbelievers and fight against his brothers".
In "44 Ways to Support Jihad", posted on his blog in February 2009, al-Awlaki encouraged others to "fight jihad", and explained how to give money to the mujahideen or their families. Al-Awlaki's sermon encourages others to conduct weapons training, and raise children "on the love of Jihad". Also that month, he wrote: "I pray that Allah destroys America and all its allies." He wrote as well: "We will implement the rule of Allah on Earth by the tip of the sword, whether the masses like it or not." On July 14, he said that Muslim countries should not offer military assistance to the US. "The blame should be placed on the soldier who is willing to follow orders ... who sells his religion for a few dollars," he said. In blog post dated July 15, 2009, entitled "Fighting Against Government Armies in the Muslim World", al-Awlaki wrote, "Blessed are those who fight against [American soldiers], and blessed are those shuhada [martyrs] who are killed by them."
In a video posted to the internet on November 8, 2010, al-Awlaki called for Muslims to kill Americans "without hesitation", and overthrow Arab governments that cooperate with the US. "Don't consult with anyone in fighting the Americans, fighting the devil doesn't require consultation or prayers or seeking divine guidance. They are the party of the devils", al-Awlaki said. That month, Intelligence Research Specialist Kevin Yorke of the New York Police Department's Counterterrorism Division called him "the most dangerous man in the world".
See also
Church Committee
Executive Order 12333
Extrajudicial killing
International counter-terrorism activities of the CIA
Protocol I
References
Further reading
al-Ashanti, AbdulHaq and Sloan, Abu Ameenah AbdurRahman. (2011) A Critique of the Methodology of Anwar al-Awlaki and his Errors in the Fiqh of Jihad. London: Jamiah Media, 2011
External links
Ruling of Judge Bates in Al Aulaqi v Obama
Statements
Interviews
"Exclusive; Ray Suarez: My Post-9/11 Interview With Anwar al-Awlaki", PBS, October 30, 2001
"Al-Jazeera Satellite Network Interview with Yemeni-American Cleric Shaykh Anwar al-Awlaki Regarding his Alleged Role in Radicalizing Maj. Malik Nidal Hasan", The NEFA Foundation, December 24, 2009
Media coverage
The imam's very curious story: A skirt-chasing mullah is just one more mystery for the 9/11 panel, Ragavan, Chitra, US News and World Report'', June 13, 2004
DBI.gov
1971 births
2011 deaths
20th-century imams
21st-century imams
Abdullah Yusuf Azzam
Al-Qaeda propagandists
Assassinated al-Qaeda leaders
American al-Qaeda members
American expatriates in the United Kingdom
American expatriates in Yemen
American imams
American Islamists
American people of Yemeni descent
Colorado State University alumni
George Washington University Graduate School of Education and Human Development alumni
People associated with the September 11 attacks
People from Las Cruces, New Mexico
San Diego State University alumni
Yemeni imams
Yemeni al-Qaeda members
Yemeni Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam
Yemeni Sunni Muslims
Deaths by drone strikes of the Central Intelligence Agency in Yemen
Islam-related controversies
People designated by the Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee
American male criminals
Yemeni criminals
Yemeni Islamists
Yemeni expatriates in the United Kingdom
Shafi'is
American Muslim activists
Assassinated Yemeni people
Yemeni propagandists
United States military killing of American civilians | true | [
"Contact is an arts organisation in Manchester that focuses on youth leadership.\n\nHistory\nContact was founded in 1972 by Barry Sheppard (General Manager of what was then Manchester University Theatre) and Hugh Hunt (Professor of Drama), as Manchester Young People's Theatre as part of the University of Manchester. Following a £5 million investment from Arts Council England, Contact was reopened in 1999 as an arts venue for young people. It is funded by Arts Council England, the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities, Manchester City Council and the University of Manchester, but it is independently run. Apart from traditional theatre, it now covers dance, music, poetry, spoken word, hip hop and art. Its programme includes touring work and in-house productions, co-productions and collaborations developed with Key Partner Companies and young people.\n\nContact is a registered charity.\n\nArtistic Directors\n Paul Clements (founding artistic director) \n John McGrath 1999–2008\n Baba Israel 2009–2012\n Matt Fenton 2013-current\n\nAwards\n Stirling Royal Institute of British Architects Building Of The Year (1999)\n Arts Council Breakthrough Award: In Recognition of the Pioneering work achieved with Young People\n TMA Eclipse Award for Cultural Diversity\n Arts Council England Art04 Outstanding Achievement Award\n Arts Council England Art07 Rising Star\n TMA Award for Diversity 2013\n Co-operative RESPECT Inclusive Venue of the Year 2013\n Lever Prize Winner 2014\n\nArchitecture\nContact's distinctive building was designed by architect Alan Short and Associates as part of the venue's 1999 redesign. Arts Council England contributed £4.5 million toward the building, with matched funding from English Partnerships and land donated by the University of Manchester. It is located on Devas Street, Chorlton-on-Medlock, near the university's School of Education and Department of Drama. The main 320-seat auditorium (Space 1) was refitted and an 80-seat studio (Space 2) was added in the newly built turret.\n\nContacting The World\nSince 2002 Contact has hosted Contacting The World, a biannual international project which brings together young people from around the world to create new theatre. Twinning companies so they can collaborate, exchange members and share ideas Contacting The World culminates in a Festival Week in July.\n\nContacting The World has featured companies from Malaysia, Trinidad, Nigeria, Rwanda, Palestine, Brazil, Poland, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Jordan, Bangladesh, Syria, Iran, South Africa, New Zealand, The Philippines, Nepal, Zambia, Germany, Turkey, the UK and USA.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n Contact Theatre official website\n Contacting The World\n\nTheatres in Manchester\n1972 establishments in England",
"Antoninus (Greek: Άντονίνoς) was a member of the Household Cavalry under Emperor Constantius II, and later an advisor to the Sasanian king (shah) Shapur II. He played a key role in providing intelligence to the shah, culminating in the sack of Amida in 359 AD.\n\nLife\n\nAmmianus Marcellinus is the only source on Antoninus:\n\n\"There was a certain Antoninus, at first a rich merchant, then an accountant in the service of the governor of Mesopotamia, and finally one of his body-guard, a man of experience and sagacity.\"\n\nAmmianus then goes on to describe how Antoninus had been mistreated by the imperial authorities of Constantius II. Having grown tired of losing property and wealth to corruption, Antoninus decided to become turncoat. After contacting the Sasanian authorities, he crossed the Tigris river and joined Sasanians. Antoninus later met Ursicinus in the turn of events leading to the siege of Amida. Ammianus (who was present) noted how Antoninus had come to adopt the dress and customs of the Sasanian court. \n\nThere is nothing else known about Antoninus' life, aside from the high position in the court of Shapur II. This may in part have been because he spoke both Greek and Latin.\n\nReferences\n\nYear of birth missing\nYear of death missing\n4th-century Romans\nDefectors\nPeople of the Roman–Sasanian Wars\nPeople of the Sasanian Empire\nShapur II"
] | [
"Anwar Nasser al-Awlaki (also spelled al-Aulaqi, al-Awlaqi; ; April 21 or 22, 1971 – September 30, 2011) was a Yemeni-American imam who was killed in 2011 in Yemen by an American drone strike ordered by President Barack Obama. Al-Awlaki became the first U.S. citizen to be targeted and killed by a U.S. drone strike without the rights of due process being afforded.",
"Al-Awlaki became the first U.S. citizen to be targeted and killed by a U.S. drone strike without the rights of due process being afforded. US government officials argued that Awlaki was a key organizer for the Islamist terrorist group al-Qaeda, and in June 2014, a previously classified memorandum issued by the U.S. Department of Justice was released, justifying al-Awlaki's death as a lawful act of war. Civil liberties advocates have described the incident as \"an extrajudicial execution\" that breached al-Awlaki's right to due process, including a trial.",
"Civil liberties advocates have described the incident as \"an extrajudicial execution\" that breached al-Awlaki's right to due process, including a trial. Al-Awlaki was born in Las Cruces, New Mexico, in 1971 to parents from Yemen. Growing up partially in the United States and partially in Yemen, he attended various universities across the United States in the 1990s and early 2000s while also working as an imam, despite having no religious qualifications and almost no religious education.",
"Growing up partially in the United States and partially in Yemen, he attended various universities across the United States in the 1990s and early 2000s while also working as an imam, despite having no religious qualifications and almost no religious education. Al-Awlaki returned to Yemen in early 2004 and became a university lecturer after a brief stint as a public speaker in the United Kingdom. He was detained by Yemeni authorities in 2006, where he spent 18 months in prison before being released without facing trial.",
"He was detained by Yemeni authorities in 2006, where he spent 18 months in prison before being released without facing trial. Following his release, Al-Awlaki's message started to become overtly supportive of violence, as he condemned United States foreign policy against Muslims. The Yemeni government tried him in absentia in November 2010, for plotting to kill foreigners and being a member of al-Qaeda. A Yemeni judge ordered that he be captured \"dead or alive\".",
"A Yemeni judge ordered that he be captured \"dead or alive\". U.S. officials said that in 2009, al-Awlaki was promoted to the rank of \"regional commander\" within al-Qaeda, although they described his role as more \"inspirational\" than \"operational.\" He repeatedly called for jihad against the United States. In April 2010, al-Awlaki was placed on a CIA kill list by President Barack Obama due to his alleged terrorist activities. Al-Awlaki's father and civil rights groups challenged the order in court.",
"Al-Awlaki's father and civil rights groups challenged the order in court. Al-Awlaki was believed to be in hiding in southeast Yemen in the last years of his life. The U.S. deployed unmanned aircraft (drones) in Yemen to search for and kill him, firing at and failing to kill him at least once; he was successfully killed on September 30, 2011.",
"The U.S. deployed unmanned aircraft (drones) in Yemen to search for and kill him, firing at and failing to kill him at least once; he was successfully killed on September 30, 2011. Two weeks later, al-Awlaki's 16-year-old son, Abdulrahman al-Awlaki, a U.S. citizen who was born in Denver, Colorado, was also killed by a CIA-led drone strike in Yemen.",
"Two weeks later, al-Awlaki's 16-year-old son, Abdulrahman al-Awlaki, a U.S. citizen who was born in Denver, Colorado, was also killed by a CIA-led drone strike in Yemen. His daughter, 8-year old Nawar al-Awlaki, was killed during a raid against Al Qaeda ordered by President Donald Trump in 2017.<ref name=\"uk.reuters.com\">Ghobari, Mohammed and Phil Stewart. \"Commando dies in U.S. raid in Yemen, first military op OK'd by Trump\", Reuters, January 29, 2017.",
"\"Commando dies in U.S. raid in Yemen, first military op OK'd by Trump\", Reuters, January 29, 2017. Retrieved January 29, 2017.</ref> The New York Times wrote in 2015 that al-Awlaki's public statements and videos have been more influential in inspiring acts of Islamic terrorism in the wake of his killing than before his death.",
"Retrieved January 29, 2017.</ref> The New York Times wrote in 2015 that al-Awlaki's public statements and videos have been more influential in inspiring acts of Islamic terrorism in the wake of his killing than before his death. Early life Al-Awlaki was born in Las Cruces, New Mexico, in 1971 to parents from Yemen, while his father, Nasser al-Awlaki, was doing graduate work at U.S. universities.",
"Early life Al-Awlaki was born in Las Cruces, New Mexico, in 1971 to parents from Yemen, while his father, Nasser al-Awlaki, was doing graduate work at U.S. universities. His father was a Fulbright Scholar who earned a master's degree in agricultural economics at New Mexico State University in 1971, received a doctorate at the University of Nebraska, and worked at the University of Minnesota from 1975 to 1977. Nasser al-Awlaki served as Agriculture Minister in Ali Abdullah Saleh's government. He was also President of Sana'a University.",
"He was also President of Sana'a University. He was also President of Sana'a University. Yemen's prime minister from 2007 to 2011, Ali Mohammed Mujur, was a relative. The family returned to Yemen in 1978, when al-Awlaki was seven years old. He lived there for 11 years, and studied at Azal Modern School. Life in the United States 1990–2002 Education In 1991, al-Awlaki returned to the U.S. to attend college. He earned a B.S.",
"He earned a B.S. He earned a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Colorado State University (1994), where he was president of the Muslim Student Association. In 1993, while still a college student in Colorado State's civil engineering program, al-Awlaki visited Afghanistan in the aftermath of the Soviet occupation. He spent some time training with the mujahideen who had fought the Soviets.",
"He spent some time training with the mujahideen who had fought the Soviets. He was depressed by the country's poverty and hunger, and \"wouldn't have gone with al-Qaeda,\" according to friends from Colorado State, who said he was profoundly affected by the trip. Mullah Mohammed Omar did not form the Taliban until 1994. When Al-Awlaki returned to campus, he showed increased interest in religion and politics. Al-Awlaki studied Education Leadership at San Diego State University, but did not complete his degree.",
"Al-Awlaki studied Education Leadership at San Diego State University, but did not complete his degree. He worked on a doctorate in Human Resource Development at The George Washington University Graduate School of Education and Human Development from January to December 2001. Time as imam In 1994, al-Awlaki married a cousin from Yemen, and began service as a part-time imam of the Denver Islamic Society. In 1996, he was chastised by an elder for encouraging a Saudi student to fight in Chechnya against the Russians.",
"In 1996, he was chastised by an elder for encouraging a Saudi student to fight in Chechnya against the Russians. He left Denver soon after, moving to San Diego. From 1996 to 2000, al-Awlaki was imam of the Masjid Ar-Ribat al-Islami mosque in San Diego, California, where he had a following of 200–300 people. U.S. officials later alleged that Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar, hijackers of American Airlines Flight 77, attended his sermons and personally met him during this period.",
"U.S. officials later alleged that Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar, hijackers of American Airlines Flight 77, attended his sermons and personally met him during this period. Hazmi later lived in Northern Virginia and attended al-Awlaki's mosque there. The 9/11 Commission Report said that the hijackers \"reportedly respected [al-Awlaki] as a religious figure\". While in San Diego, al-Awlaki volunteered with youth organizations, fished, discussed his travels with friends, and created a popular and lucrative series of recorded lectures.",
"While in San Diego, al-Awlaki volunteered with youth organizations, fished, discussed his travels with friends, and created a popular and lucrative series of recorded lectures. In August 1996 and in April 1997, al-Awlaki was arrested in San Diego and charged with soliciting prostitutes. The first time, in 1996, he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and was fined $400 and required to attend informational sessions about AIDS.",
"The first time, in 1996, he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and was fined $400 and required to attend informational sessions about AIDS. The second time, in 1997, he pleaded guilty and was fined $240, ordered to perform 12 days of community service, and received three years' probation. From November 2001 to January 2002 the FBI observed him visiting a number of prostitutes, and interviewed them, establishing that he had paid for sex acts. No prosecution was brought.",
"No prosecution was brought. No prosecution was brought. In 1998 and 1999, he served as vice-president for the Charitable Society for Social Welfare. In 2004, the FBI described this group as a \"front organization to funnel money to terrorists\". Although the FBI investigated al-Awlaki from June 1999 through March 2000 for possible links to Hamas, the Bin Laden contact Ziyad Khaleel, and a visit by an associate of Omar Abdel Rahman, it did not find sufficient evidence for a criminal prosecution.",
"Although the FBI investigated al-Awlaki from June 1999 through March 2000 for possible links to Hamas, the Bin Laden contact Ziyad Khaleel, and a visit by an associate of Omar Abdel Rahman, it did not find sufficient evidence for a criminal prosecution. Al-Awlaki told reporters that he resigned from leading the San Diego mosque \"after an uneventful four years,\" and took a brief sabbatical, traveling overseas to various countries. In January 2001, al-Awlaki returned to the U.S., settling in the Washington metropolitan area.",
"In January 2001, al-Awlaki returned to the U.S., settling in the Washington metropolitan area. There, he was imam at the Dar al-Hijrah mosque near Falls Church, Virginia, and his services were attended by Nawaf al-Hazmi and a third hijacker, Hani Hanjour. He led academic discussions frequented by FBI Director of Counter-Intelligence for the Middle East Gordon M. Snow. Al-Awlaki also served as the Muslim chaplain at George Washington University, where he was hired by Esam Omeish.",
"Al-Awlaki also served as the Muslim chaplain at George Washington University, where he was hired by Esam Omeish. Omeish said in 2004 that he was convinced that al-Awlaki was not involved in terrorism. His proficiency as a public speaker and command of the English language helped him attract followers who did not speak Arabic. \"He was the magic bullet\", according to the mosque spokesman Johari Abdul-Malik. \"He had everything all in a box.\" \"He had an allure. He was charming.\"",
"\"He had an allure. He was charming.\" He was charming.\" When police investigating the 9/11 attacks raided the Hamburg apartment of Ramzi bin al-Shibh, they found the telephone number of al-Awlaki among bin al-Shibh's personal contacts. The FBI interviewed al-Awlaki four times in the eight days following the 9/11 attacks. One detective later told the 9/11 Commission he believed al-Awlaki \"was at the center of the 9/11 story\".",
"One detective later told the 9/11 Commission he believed al-Awlaki \"was at the center of the 9/11 story\". And an FBI agent said, \"if anyone had knowledge of the plot, it would have been\" him, since \"someone had to be in the U.S. and keep the hijackers spiritually focused\". One 9/11 Commission staff member said: \"Do I think he played a role in helping the hijackers here, knowing they were up to something? Yes.",
"Yes. Yes. Do I think he was sent here for that purpose? I have no evidence for it.\" A separate Congressional Joint Inquiry into the 9/11 attacks suggested that al-Awlaki may have been connected to the hijackers, according to its director, Eleanor Hill. In 2003, Representative Anna Eshoo, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said, \"In my view, he is more than a coincidental figure.\"",
"In 2003, Representative Anna Eshoo, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said, \"In my view, he is more than a coincidental figure.\" Six days after the 9/11 attacks, al-Awlaki suggested in writing on the IslamOnline.net website that Israeli intelligence agents might have been responsible for the attacks, and that the FBI \"went into the roster of the airplanes, and whoever has a Muslim or Arab name became the hijacker by default\".",
"Six days after the 9/11 attacks, al-Awlaki suggested in writing on the IslamOnline.net website that Israeli intelligence agents might have been responsible for the attacks, and that the FBI \"went into the roster of the airplanes, and whoever has a Muslim or Arab name became the hijacker by default\". Soon after the 9/11 attacks, al-Awlaki was sought in Washington, D.C., by the media to answer questions about Islam, its rituals, and its relation to the attacks.",
"Soon after the 9/11 attacks, al-Awlaki was sought in Washington, D.C., by the media to answer questions about Islam, its rituals, and its relation to the attacks. He was interviewed by National Geographic, The New York Times, and other media. Al-Awlaki condemned the attacks. According to an NPR report in 2010, in 2001 al-Awlaki appeared to be a moderate who could \"bridge the gap between the United States and the worldwide community of Muslims.\"",
"According to an NPR report in 2010, in 2001 al-Awlaki appeared to be a moderate who could \"bridge the gap between the United States and the worldwide community of Muslims.\" The New York Times said at the time that he was \"held up as a new generation of Muslim leader capable of merging East and West.\" In 2010, Fox News and the New York Daily News reported that some months after the 9/11 attacks, a Pentagon employee invited al-Awlaki to a luncheon in the Secretary's Office of General Counsel.",
"In 2010, Fox News and the New York Daily News reported that some months after the 9/11 attacks, a Pentagon employee invited al-Awlaki to a luncheon in the Secretary's Office of General Counsel. The U.S. Secretary of the Army had suggested that a moderate Muslim be invited to give a talk. In 2002, al-Awlaki was the first imam to conduct a prayer service for the Congressional Muslim Staffer Association at the U.S. Capitol. That year, Nidal Hasan visited al-Awlaki's mosque for his mother's funeral, at which al-Awlaki presided.",
"That year, Nidal Hasan visited al-Awlaki's mosque for his mother's funeral, at which al-Awlaki presided. In November 2009, Hasan killed 13 and wounded 32 in the Fort Hood shooting. Hasan usually attended a mosque in Maryland closer to where he lived while working at the Walter Reed Medical Center (2003–09). Later in 2002, al-Awlaki posted an essay in Arabic on the Islam Today website titled \"Why Muslims Love Death\", lauding the fervor of Palestinian suicide bombers.",
"Later in 2002, al-Awlaki posted an essay in Arabic on the Islam Today website titled \"Why Muslims Love Death\", lauding the fervor of Palestinian suicide bombers. He expressed a similar opinion in a speech at a London mosque later that year. By July 2002, al-Awlaki was under investigation in the United States for having received money from the subject of a U.S. Joint Terrorism Task Force investigation. His name was added to the list of terrorism suspects.",
"His name was added to the list of terrorism suspects. Passport fraud issues In June 2002, a Denver federal judge signed an arrest warrant for al-Awlaki for passport fraud. On October 9, the Denver U.S. Attorney's Office filed a motion to dismiss the complaint and vacate the arrest warrant. Prosecutors believed that they lacked sufficient evidence of a crime, according to U.S. Attorney Dave Gaouette, who authorized its withdrawal.",
"Prosecutors believed that they lacked sufficient evidence of a crime, according to U.S. Attorney Dave Gaouette, who authorized its withdrawal. Al-Awlaki had listed Yemen rather than the United States as his place of birth on his 1990 application for a U.S. Social Security number, soon after arriving in the US. Al-Awlaki used this documentation to obtain a passport in 1993. He later corrected his place of birth to Las Cruces, New Mexico.",
"He later corrected his place of birth to Las Cruces, New Mexico. \"The bizarre thing is if you put Yemen down (on the application), it would be harder to get a Social Security number than to say you are a native-born citizen of Las Cruces\", Gaouette said. Prosecutors could not charge him in October 2002, when he returned from a trip abroad, because a 10-year statute of limitations on lying to the Social Security Administration had expired.",
"Prosecutors could not charge him in October 2002, when he returned from a trip abroad, because a 10-year statute of limitations on lying to the Social Security Administration had expired. According to a 2012 investigative report by Fox News, the arrest warrant for passport fraud was still in effect on the morning of October 10, 2002, when FBI Agent Wade Ammerman ordered al-Awlaki's release. U.S.",
"U.S. U.S. Congressman Frank Wolf (R-VA) and several congressional committees urged FBI Director Robert Mueller to provide an explanation about the bureau's interactions with al-Awlaki, including why he was released from federal custody when there was an outstanding warrant for his arrest. The motion for rescinding the arrest warrant was approved by a magistrate judge on October 10 and filed on October 11.ABC News reported in 2009 that the Joint Terrorism Task Force in San Diego disagreed with the decision to cancel the warrant.",
"The motion for rescinding the arrest warrant was approved by a magistrate judge on October 10 and filed on October 11.ABC News reported in 2009 that the Joint Terrorism Task Force in San Diego disagreed with the decision to cancel the warrant. They were monitoring al-Awlaki and wanted to \"look at him under a microscope\".",
"They were monitoring al-Awlaki and wanted to \"look at him under a microscope\". But U.S. Attorney Gaouette said that no objection had been raised to the rescinding of the warrant during a meeting that included Ray Fournier, the San Diego federal diplomatic security agent whose allegation had set in motion the effort to obtain a warrant.",
"But U.S. Attorney Gaouette said that no objection had been raised to the rescinding of the warrant during a meeting that included Ray Fournier, the San Diego federal diplomatic security agent whose allegation had set in motion the effort to obtain a warrant. Gaouette said that if al-Awlaki had been convicted at the time, he would have faced about six months in custody.The New York Times suggested later that al-Awlaki had claimed birth in Yemen (his family's place of origin) to qualify for scholarship money granted to foreign citizens. U.S.",
"U.S. U.S. Congressman Frank R. Wolf (R-VA) wrote in May 2010 that by claiming to be foreign-born, al-Awlaki fraudulently obtained more than $20,000 in scholarship funds reserved for foreign students. While living in Northern Virginia, al-Awlaki visited Ali al-Timimi, later known as a radical Islamic cleric. Al-Timimi was convicted in 2005 and is now serving a life sentence for leading the Virginia Jihad Network, inciting Muslim followers to fight with the Taliban against the US.",
"Al-Timimi was convicted in 2005 and is now serving a life sentence for leading the Virginia Jihad Network, inciting Muslim followers to fight with the Taliban against the US. In the United Kingdom 2002–04 Al-Awlaki left the United States before the end of 2002, because of a \"climate of fear and intimidation\" according to Imam Johari Abdul-Malik of the Dar al-Hijrah mosque. He lived in the UK for several months, where he gave talks attended by up to 200 people.",
"He lived in the UK for several months, where he gave talks attended by up to 200 people. He urged young Muslim followers: \"The important lesson to learn here is never, ever trust a kuffar [disbeliever]. Do not trust them! [Their leaders] are plotting to kill this religion. They're plotting night and day.\" \"He was the main man who translated the jihad into English,\" said a student who attended his lectures in 2003.",
"\"He was the main man who translated the jihad into English,\" said a student who attended his lectures in 2003. He gave a series of lectures in December 2002 and January 2003 at the London Masjid al-Tawhid mosque, describing the rewards martyrs (Shahid) receive in paradise (Jannah). He began to gain supporters, particularly among young Muslims, and undertook a lecture tour of England and Scotland in 2002 in conjunction with the Muslim Association of Britain.",
"He began to gain supporters, particularly among young Muslims, and undertook a lecture tour of England and Scotland in 2002 in conjunction with the Muslim Association of Britain. He also lectured at \"ExpoIslamia\", an event held by Islamic Forum Europe. At the East London Mosque he told his audience: \"A Muslim is a brother of a Muslim... he does not betray him, and he does not hand him over... You don't hand over a Muslim to the enemies.\"",
"At the East London Mosque he told his audience: \"A Muslim is a brother of a Muslim... he does not betray him, and he does not hand him over... You don't hand over a Muslim to the enemies.\" In Britain's Parliament in 2003, Louise Ellman, MP for Liverpool Riverside, discussed the relationship between al-Awlaki and the Muslim Association of Britain, an alleged Muslim Brotherhood front organization founded by Kemal el-Helbawy, a senior member of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood.",
"In Britain's Parliament in 2003, Louise Ellman, MP for Liverpool Riverside, discussed the relationship between al-Awlaki and the Muslim Association of Britain, an alleged Muslim Brotherhood front organization founded by Kemal el-Helbawy, a senior member of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. Return to Yemen 2004–11 Al-Awlaki returned to Yemen in early 2004, where he lived in Shabwah Governorate with his wife and five children. He lectured at Iman University, headed by Abdul Majeed al-Zindani.",
"He lectured at Iman University, headed by Abdul Majeed al-Zindani. The latter has been included on the UN 1267 Committee's list of individuals belonging to or associated with al-Qaeda. Al-Zindani denied having any influence over al-Awlaki, or that he had been his \"direct teacher\". Some believe that the school's curriculum deals mostly, if not exclusively, with radical Islamic studies, and promotes radicalism. American convert John Walker Lindh and other alumni have been associated with terrorist groups.",
"American convert John Walker Lindh and other alumni have been associated with terrorist groups. On August 31, 2006, al-Awlaki was arrested with four others on charges of kidnapping a Shiite teenager for ransom, and participating in an al-Qaeda plot to kidnap a U.S. military attaché. He was imprisoned in 2006 and 2007. He was interviewed around September 2007 by two FBI agents with regard to the 9/11 attacks and other subjects. John Negroponte, the U.S. Director of National Intelligence, told Yemeni officials he did not object to al-Awlaki's detention.",
"John Negroponte, the U.S. Director of National Intelligence, told Yemeni officials he did not object to al-Awlaki's detention. His name was on a list of 100 prisoners whose release was sought by al-Qaeda-linked militants in Yemen. After 18 months in a Yemeni prison, al-Awlaki was released on December 12, 2007, following the intercession of his tribe. According to a Yemeni security official, he was released because he had repented. He moved to his family home in Saeed, a hamlet in the Shabwa mountains.",
"He moved to his family home in Saeed, a hamlet in the Shabwa mountains. Moazzam Begg's Cageprisoners, an organization representing former Guantanamo detainees, campaigned for al-Awlaki's release when he was in prison in Yemen. Al-Awlaki told Begg in an interview shortly after his release that prior to his incarceration in Yemen, he had condemned the 9/11 attacks. In December 2008, al-Awlaki sent a communique to the Somali terrorist group, al-Shabaab, congratulating them.",
"In December 2008, al-Awlaki sent a communique to the Somali terrorist group, al-Shabaab, congratulating them. Al-Awlaki provided al-Qaeda members in Yemen with the protection of his powerful tribe, the Awlakis, against the government. The tribal code required it to protect those who seek refuge and assistance. This imperative has greater force when the person is a member of the tribe or a tribesman's friend. The tribe's motto is \"We are the sparks of Hell; whoever interferes with us will be burned.\"",
"The tribe's motto is \"We are the sparks of Hell; whoever interferes with us will be burned.\" Al-Awlaki also reportedly helped negotiate deals with leaders of other tribes. Sought by Yemeni authorities who were investigating his al-Qaeda ties, al-Awlaki went into hiding in approximately March 2009, according to his father. By December 2009, al-Awlaki was on the Yemeni government's most-wanted list. He was believed to be hiding in Yemen's Shabwa or Mareb regions, which are part of the so-called \"triangle of evil\".",
"He was believed to be hiding in Yemen's Shabwa or Mareb regions, which are part of the so-called \"triangle of evil\". The area has attracted al-Qaeda militants, who seek refuge among local tribes unhappy with Yemen's central government. Yemeni sources originally said al-Awlaki might have been killed in a pre-dawn air strike by Yemeni Air Force fighter jets on a meeting of senior al-Qaeda leaders at a hideout in Rafd in eastern Shabwa, on December 24, 2009. But he survived.",
"But he survived. But he survived. Pravda reported that the planes, using Saudi and U.S. intelligence, killed at least 30 al-Qaeda members from Yemen and abroad, and that an al-Awlaki house was \"raided and demolished\". On December 28 The Washington Post reported that U.S. and Yemeni officials said that al-Awlaki had been present at the meeting. Abdul Elah al-Shaya, a Yemeni journalist, said al-Awlaki called him on December 28 to report that he was well and had not attended the al-Qaeda meeting.",
"Abdul Elah al-Shaya, a Yemeni journalist, said al-Awlaki called him on December 28 to report that he was well and had not attended the al-Qaeda meeting. Al-Shaya said that al-Awlaki was not tied to al-Qaeda. In March 2010, a tape featuring al-Awlaki was released in which he urged Muslims residing in the United States to attack their country of residence. Reaching out to the United Kingdom After 2006, al-Awlaki was banned from entering the United Kingdom.",
"Reaching out to the United Kingdom After 2006, al-Awlaki was banned from entering the United Kingdom. He broadcast lectures to mosques and other venues there via video-link from 2007 to 2009, on at least seven occasions at five locations in Britain. Noor Pro Media Events held a conference at the East London Mosque on January 1, 2009, showing a videotaped lecture by al-Awlaki; former Shadow Home Secretary Dominic Grieve expressed concern over his being featured.",
"Noor Pro Media Events held a conference at the East London Mosque on January 1, 2009, showing a videotaped lecture by al-Awlaki; former Shadow Home Secretary Dominic Grieve expressed concern over his being featured. He gave video-link talks in England to an Islamic student society at the University of Westminster in September 2008, an arts center in East London in April 2009 (after the Tower Hamlets council gave its approval), worshippers at the Al Huda Mosque in Bradford, and a dinner of the Cageprisoners organization in September 2008 at the Wandsworth Civic Centre in South London.",
"He gave video-link talks in England to an Islamic student society at the University of Westminster in September 2008, an arts center in East London in April 2009 (after the Tower Hamlets council gave its approval), worshippers at the Al Huda Mosque in Bradford, and a dinner of the Cageprisoners organization in September 2008 at the Wandsworth Civic Centre in South London. On August 23, 2009, al-Awlaki was banned by local authorities in Kensington and Chelsea, London, from speaking at Kensington Town Hall via videolink to a fundraiser dinner for Guantanamo detainees promoted by Cageprisoners.",
"On August 23, 2009, al-Awlaki was banned by local authorities in Kensington and Chelsea, London, from speaking at Kensington Town Hall via videolink to a fundraiser dinner for Guantanamo detainees promoted by Cageprisoners. His videos, which discuss his Islamist theories, have circulated across the United Kingdom. Until February 2010, hundreds of audio tapes of his sermons were available at the Tower Hamlets public libraries. In 2009, the London-based Islam Channel carried advertisements for his DVDs and at least two of his video conference lectures.",
"In 2009, the London-based Islam Channel carried advertisements for his DVDs and at least two of his video conference lectures. Other connections FBI agents identified al-Awlaki as a known, important \"senior recruiter for al Qaeda\", and a spiritual motivator. His name came up in a dozen terrorism plots in the US, UK, and Canada.",
"His name came up in a dozen terrorism plots in the US, UK, and Canada. The cases included suicide bombers in the 2005 London bombings, radical Islamic terrorists in the 2006 Toronto terrorism case, radical Islamic terrorists in the 2007 Fort Dix attack plot, the jihadist killer in the 2009 Little Rock military recruiting office shooting, and the 2010 Times Square bomber. In each case the suspects were devoted to al-Awlaki's message, which they listened to online and on CDs.",
"In each case the suspects were devoted to al-Awlaki's message, which they listened to online and on CDs. Al-Awlaki's recorded lectures were heard by Islamist fundamentalists in at least six terror cells in the UK through 2009. Michael Finton (Talib Islam), who attempted in September 2009 to bomb the Federal Building and the adjacent offices of Congressman Aaron Schock in Springfield, Illinois, admired al-Awlaki and quoted him on his Myspace page.",
"Michael Finton (Talib Islam), who attempted in September 2009 to bomb the Federal Building and the adjacent offices of Congressman Aaron Schock in Springfield, Illinois, admired al-Awlaki and quoted him on his Myspace page. In addition to his website, al-Awlaki had a Facebook fan page with \"fans\" in the US, many of whom were high school students. Al-Awlaki also set up a website and blog on which he shared his views.",
"Al-Awlaki also set up a website and blog on which he shared his views. Al-Awlaki influenced several other extremists to join terrorist organizations overseas and to carry out terrorist attacks in their home countries. Mohamed Alessa and Carlos Almonte, two American citizens from New Jersey who attempted to travel to Somalia in June 2010 to join the al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group Al Shabaab, allegedly watched several al-Awlaki videos and sermons in which he warned of future attacks against Americans in the United States and abroad.",
"Mohamed Alessa and Carlos Almonte, two American citizens from New Jersey who attempted to travel to Somalia in June 2010 to join the al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group Al Shabaab, allegedly watched several al-Awlaki videos and sermons in which he warned of future attacks against Americans in the United States and abroad. Zachary Chesser, an American citizen who was arrested for attempting to provide material support to Al Shabaab, told federal authorities that he watched online videos featuring al-Awlaki and that he exchanged several e-mails with al-Awlaki.",
"Zachary Chesser, an American citizen who was arrested for attempting to provide material support to Al Shabaab, told federal authorities that he watched online videos featuring al-Awlaki and that he exchanged several e-mails with al-Awlaki. In July 2010, Paul Rockwood was sentenced to eight years in prison for creating a list of 15 potential targets in the US, people he felt had desecrated Islam. Rockwood was a devoted follower of al-Awlaki, and had studied his works Constants on the Path to Jihad and 44 Ways to Jihad.",
"Rockwood was a devoted follower of al-Awlaki, and had studied his works Constants on the Path to Jihad and 44 Ways to Jihad. In October 2008, Charles Allen, U.S. Under-Secretary of Homeland Security for Intelligence and Analysis, warned that al-Awlaki \"targets U.S. Muslims with radical online lectures encouraging terrorist attacks from his new home in Yemen.\" Responding to Allen, al-Awlaki wrote on his website in December 2008: \"I would challenge him to come up with just one such lecture where I encourage 'terrorist attacks'\".",
"Responding to Allen, al-Awlaki wrote on his website in December 2008: \"I would challenge him to come up with just one such lecture where I encourage 'terrorist attacks'\". Fort Hood shooter Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan was investigated by the FBI after intelligence agencies intercepted at least 18 e-mails between him and al-Awlaki between December 2008 and June 2009.",
"Fort Hood shooter Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan was investigated by the FBI after intelligence agencies intercepted at least 18 e-mails between him and al-Awlaki between December 2008 and June 2009. Even before the contents of the e-mails were revealed, terrorism expert Jarret Brachman said that Hasan's contacts with al-Awlaki should have raised \"huge red flags\", because of his influence on radical English-speaking jihadis. Charles Allen, no longer in government, noted that there was no work-related reason for Hasan to be in touch with al-Awlaki.",
"Charles Allen, no longer in government, noted that there was no work-related reason for Hasan to be in touch with al-Awlaki. Former CIA officer Bruce Riedel opined: \"E-mailing a known al-Qaeda sympathizer should have set off alarm bells. Even if he was exchanging recipes, the bureau should have put out an alert.\" A DC-based Joint Terrorism Task Force operating under the FBI was notified of the e-mails and reviewed the information.",
"A DC-based Joint Terrorism Task Force operating under the FBI was notified of the e-mails and reviewed the information. Army employees were informed of the e-mails, but they didn't perceive any terrorist threat in Hasan's questions. Instead, they viewed them as general questions about spiritual guidance with regard to conflicts between Islam and military service and judged them to be consistent with legitimate mental health research about Muslims in the armed services. The assessment was that there was not sufficient information for a larger investigation.",
"The assessment was that there was not sufficient information for a larger investigation. In one of the e-mails, Hasan wrote al-Awlaki: \"I can't wait to join you [in the afterlife]\". \"It sounds like code words,\" said Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer, a military analyst at the Center for Advanced Defense Studies. \"That he's actually either offering himself up, or that he's already crossed that line in his own mind.\" Yemeni journalist Abdulelah Hider Shaea interviewed al-Awlaki in November 2009.",
"Yemeni journalist Abdulelah Hider Shaea interviewed al-Awlaki in November 2009. Al-Awlaki acknowledged his correspondence with Hasan. He said he \"neither ordered nor pressured ... Hasan to harm Americans.\" Al-Awlaki said Hasan first e-mailed him December 17, 2008, introducing himself by writing: \"Do you remember me? I used to pray with you at the Virginia mosque.\"",
"I used to pray with you at the Virginia mosque.\" Hasan said he had become a devout Muslim around the time al-Awlaki was preaching at Dar al-Hijrah, in 2001 and 2002, and al-Awlaki said 'Maybe Nidal was affected by one of my lectures.'\" He added: \"It was clear from his e-mails that Nidal trusted me. Nidal told me: 'I speak with you about issues that I never speak with anyone else.'\"",
"Nidal told me: 'I speak with you about issues that I never speak with anyone else.'\" Al-Awlaki said Hasan arrived at his own conclusions regarding the acceptability of violence in Islam and said he was not the one to initiate this. Shaea said, \"Nidal was providing evidence to Anwar, not vice versa.\" Asked whether Hasan mentioned Fort Hood as a target in his e-mails, Shaea declined to comment.",
"Asked whether Hasan mentioned Fort Hood as a target in his e-mails, Shaea declined to comment. Al-Awlaki said the shooting was acceptable in Islam, however, because it was a form of jihad, as the West began the hostilities with the Muslims. Al-Awlaki said he \"blessed the act because it was against a military target. And the soldiers who were killed were ... those who were trained and prepared to go to Iraq and Afghanistan\".",
"And the soldiers who were killed were ... those who were trained and prepared to go to Iraq and Afghanistan\". Al-Awlaki's e-mail conversations with Hasan were not released, and he was not placed on the FBI Most Wanted list, indicted for treason, or officially named as a co-conspirator with Hasan. The U.S. government was reluctant to classify the Fort Hood shooting as a terrorist incident, or identify any motive.",
"The U.S. government was reluctant to classify the Fort Hood shooting as a terrorist incident, or identify any motive. The Wall Street Journal reported in January 2010 that al-Awlaki had not \"played a direct role\" in any of the attacks, and noted he had never been charged with a crime in the US. One of his fellow officers at Fort Hood said Hasan was enthusiastic about al-Awlaki. Some investigators believe al-Awlaki's teachings may have been instrumental in Hasan's decision to stage the attack.",
"Some investigators believe al-Awlaki's teachings may have been instrumental in Hasan's decision to stage the attack. On his now-disabled website, al-Awlaki praised Hasan's actions, describing him as a hero. Christmas Day \"Underwear Bomber\" According to a number of sources, Al-Awlaki and Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the convicted al-Qaeda attempted bomber of Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on December 25, 2009, had contacts.",
"Christmas Day \"Underwear Bomber\" According to a number of sources, Al-Awlaki and Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the convicted al-Qaeda attempted bomber of Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on December 25, 2009, had contacts. In January 2010, CNN reported that U.S. \"security sources\" said that there is concrete evidence that al-Awlaki was Abdulmutallab's recruiter and one of his trainers, and met with him prior to the attack.",
"In January 2010, CNN reported that U.S. \"security sources\" said that there is concrete evidence that al-Awlaki was Abdulmutallab's recruiter and one of his trainers, and met with him prior to the attack. In February 2010, al-Awlaki admitted in an interview published in al-Jazeera that he taught and corresponded with Abdulmutallab, but denied having ordered the attack.",
"In February 2010, al-Awlaki admitted in an interview published in al-Jazeera that he taught and corresponded with Abdulmutallab, but denied having ordered the attack. Representative Pete Hoekstra, the senior Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, said officials in the Obama administration and officials with access to law enforcement information told him the suspect \"may have had contact [with al-Awlaki]\".The Sunday Times established that Abdulmutallab first met al-Awlaki in 2005 in Yemen, while he was studying Arabic.",
"Representative Pete Hoekstra, the senior Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, said officials in the Obama administration and officials with access to law enforcement information told him the suspect \"may have had contact [with al-Awlaki]\".The Sunday Times established that Abdulmutallab first met al-Awlaki in 2005 in Yemen, while he was studying Arabic. During that time the suspect attended lectures by al-Awlaki.NPR reported that according to unnamed U.S. intelligence officials he attended a sermon by al-Awlaki at the Finsbury Park Mosque.",
"During that time the suspect attended lectures by al-Awlaki.NPR reported that according to unnamed U.S. intelligence officials he attended a sermon by al-Awlaki at the Finsbury Park Mosque. Khalid Mahmood, the Labour MP for Birmingham Perry Barr, a former trustee of the mosque, expressed \"grave misgivings\" with regard to its stewardship. A spokesperson of the mosque stated that al-Awlaki had never spoken there or had even to his knowledge entered the building.",
"A spokesperson of the mosque stated that al-Awlaki had never spoken there or had even to his knowledge entered the building. Abdulmutallab was also reported by CBS News, The Daily Telegraph, and The Sunday Telegraph to have attended a talk by al-Awlaki at the East London Mosque, which al-Awlaki may have attended by video teleconference.",
"Abdulmutallab was also reported by CBS News, The Daily Telegraph, and The Sunday Telegraph to have attended a talk by al-Awlaki at the East London Mosque, which al-Awlaki may have attended by video teleconference. The Sunday Telegraph later removed the report from its website following a complaint by the East London Mosque, which stated that \"Anwar Al Awlaki did not deliver any talks at the ELM between 2005 and 2008, which is when the newspaper had falsely alleged that Abdullmutallab had attended such talks\".",
"The Sunday Telegraph later removed the report from its website following a complaint by the East London Mosque, which stated that \"Anwar Al Awlaki did not deliver any talks at the ELM between 2005 and 2008, which is when the newspaper had falsely alleged that Abdullmutallab had attended such talks\". Investigators who searched flats connected to Abdulmutallab in London said that he was a \"big fan\" of al-Awlaki, as al-Awlaki's blog and website had repeatedly been visited from those locations.",
"Investigators who searched flats connected to Abdulmutallab in London said that he was a \"big fan\" of al-Awlaki, as al-Awlaki's blog and website had repeatedly been visited from those locations. According to federal sources, Abdulmutallab and al-Awlaki repeatedly communicated with one another in the year prior to the attack. \"Voice-to-voice communication\" between the two was intercepted during the fall of 2009, and one government source said al-Awlaki \"was in some way involved in facilitating [Abdulmutallab]'s transportation or trip through Yemen.",
"\"Voice-to-voice communication\" between the two was intercepted during the fall of 2009, and one government source said al-Awlaki \"was in some way involved in facilitating [Abdulmutallab]'s transportation or trip through Yemen. It could be training, a host of things.\" NPR reported that intelligence officials suspected al-Awlaki may have told Abdulmutallab to go to Yemen for al-Qaeda training. Abdulmutallab told the FBI that al-Awlaki was one of his al-Qaeda trainers in Yemen. Others reported that Abdulmutallab met with al-Awlaki in the weeks leading up to the attack.",
"Others reported that Abdulmutallab met with al-Awlaki in the weeks leading up to the attack. The Los Angeles Times reported that according to a U.S. intelligence official, intercepts and other information point to connections between the two: Some of the information ... comes from Abdulmutallab, who ... said that he met with al-Awlaki and senior al-Qaeda members during an extended trip to Yemen this year and that the cleric was involved in some elements of planning or preparing the attack and in providing religious justification for it.",
"The Los Angeles Times reported that according to a U.S. intelligence official, intercepts and other information point to connections between the two: Some of the information ... comes from Abdulmutallab, who ... said that he met with al-Awlaki and senior al-Qaeda members during an extended trip to Yemen this year and that the cleric was involved in some elements of planning or preparing the attack and in providing religious justification for it. Other intelligence linking the two became apparent after the attempted bombing, including communications intercepted by the National Security Agency indicating that the cleric was meeting with \"a Nigerian\" in preparation for some kind of operation.",
"Other intelligence linking the two became apparent after the attempted bombing, including communications intercepted by the National Security Agency indicating that the cleric was meeting with \"a Nigerian\" in preparation for some kind of operation. Yemen's Deputy Prime Minister for Defense and Security Affairs, Rashad Mohammed al-Alimi, said Yemeni investigators believe that Abdulmutallab traveled to Shabwa in October 2009. Investigators believe he obtained his explosives and received training there. He met there with al-Qaeda members in a house built by al-Awlaki.",
"He met there with al-Qaeda members in a house built by al-Awlaki. A top Yemen government official said the two met with each other. In January 2010, al-Awlaki acknowledged that he met and spoke with Abdulmutallab in Yemen in the fall of 2009. In an interview, al-Awlaki said: \"Umar Farouk is one of my students; I had communications with him. And I support what he did.\" He also said: \"I did not tell him to do this operation, but I support it\".",
"He also said: \"I did not tell him to do this operation, but I support it\". Fox News reported in early February 2010 that Abdulmutallab told federal investigators that al-Awlaki directed him to carry out the bombing. In June 2010 Michael Leiter, the Director of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), said al-Awlaki had a \"direct operational role\" in the plot. Sharif Mobley Sharif Mobley had acknowledged contact with Anwar al-Awlaki.",
"Sharif Mobley Sharif Mobley had acknowledged contact with Anwar al-Awlaki. The Mobley family claims the contact was for spiritual guidance in further studies of Islam. The Mobley family went to Yemen and resided there for several years. They decided to return to the United States and went to the U.S. Embassy to update the family travel documents. While waiting for their travel documents, Sharif Mobley was kidnapped by Yemen Security Services and shot on January 26, 2010. He was then held in Yemen's Central Prison.",
"He was then held in Yemen's Central Prison. He was then held in Yemen's Central Prison. Mobley disappeared from the Central Prison on February 27, 2014. His current location is known to the U.S. Embassy in Yemen (currently closed 2015) but is withheld from his family and legal advisers based on U.S. State Department Regulations on \"U.S. Citizens Missing Abroad\". All charges related to \"terrorism/terrorist activity\" were dropped by the Yemen government.",
"All charges related to \"terrorism/terrorist activity\" were dropped by the Yemen government. There are no charges relating to allegations of \"killing a guard during an escape attempt from the hospital\" and there are no other legal proceedings against him in Yemen. Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad, convicted of the 2010 Times Square car bombing attempt, told interrogators that he was a \"fan and follower\" of al-Awlaki, and his writings were one of the inspirations for the attack.",
"Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad, convicted of the 2010 Times Square car bombing attempt, told interrogators that he was a \"fan and follower\" of al-Awlaki, and his writings were one of the inspirations for the attack. On May 6, 2010 ABC News reported that unknown sources told them Shahzad made contact with al-Awlaki over the internet, a claim that could not be independently verified.",
"On May 6, 2010 ABC News reported that unknown sources told them Shahzad made contact with al-Awlaki over the internet, a claim that could not be independently verified. Stabbing of British former minister Stephen Timms Roshonara Choudhry, who stabbed former British Cabinet Minister Stephen Timms in May 2010, and was found guilty of his attempted murder in November 2010, claimed to have become radicalized by listening to online sermons of al-Awlaki.",
"Stabbing of British former minister Stephen Timms Roshonara Choudhry, who stabbed former British Cabinet Minister Stephen Timms in May 2010, and was found guilty of his attempted murder in November 2010, claimed to have become radicalized by listening to online sermons of al-Awlaki. Seattle Weekly cartoonist death threat In 2010, after Everybody Draw Mohammed Day, cartoonist Molly Norris at Seattle Weekly had to stop publishing, and at the suggestion of the FBI changed her name, moved, and went into hiding due to a fatwā issued by al-Awlaki calling for her death.",
"Seattle Weekly cartoonist death threat In 2010, after Everybody Draw Mohammed Day, cartoonist Molly Norris at Seattle Weekly had to stop publishing, and at the suggestion of the FBI changed her name, moved, and went into hiding due to a fatwā issued by al-Awlaki calling for her death. In the June 2010 issue of Inspire, an English-language al-Qaeda magazine, al-Awlaki cursed her and eight others for \"blasphemous caricatures\" of Muhammad.",
"In the June 2010 issue of Inspire, an English-language al-Qaeda magazine, al-Awlaki cursed her and eight others for \"blasphemous caricatures\" of Muhammad. \"The medicine prescribed by the Messenger of Allah is the execution of those involved\", he wrote. Daniel Pipes observed in an article entitled \"Dueling Fatwas\", \"Awlaki stands at an unprecedented crossroads of death declarations, with his targeting Norris even as the U.S. government targets him.\"",
"Daniel Pipes observed in an article entitled \"Dueling Fatwas\", \"Awlaki stands at an unprecedented crossroads of death declarations, with his targeting Norris even as the U.S. government targets him.\" Cargo planes bomb plotThe Guardian, The New York Times, and The Daily Telegraph reported that U.S. and British counter-terrorism officials believed that al-Awlaki was behind the cargo plane PETN bombs that were sent from Yemen to Chicago in October 2010.Yemen bomb scare 'mastermind' lived in London | World news. The Guardian. Retrieved on October 1, 2011.",
"The Guardian. Retrieved on October 1, 2011. Retrieved on October 1, 2011. When U.S. Homeland Security official John Brennan was asked about al-Awlaki's suspected involvement in the plot, he said: \"Anybody associated with al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is a subject of concern.\" U.S. Ambassador to Yemen Gerald Feierstein said \"al-Awlaki was behind the two bombs.\" Final years Al-Awlaki's father, tribe, and supporters denied his alleged associations with Al-Qaeda and Islamist terrorism.",
"Final years Al-Awlaki's father, tribe, and supporters denied his alleged associations with Al-Qaeda and Islamist terrorism. Al-Awlaki's father proclaimed his son's innocence in an interview with CNN's Paula Newton, saying: \"I am now afraid of what they will do with my son. He's not Osama bin Laden, they want to make something out of him that he's not.\" Responding to a Yemeni official's assertions that his son had taken refuge with al-Qaeda, Nasser said: \"He's dead wrong.",
"Responding to a Yemeni official's assertions that his son had taken refuge with al-Qaeda, Nasser said: \"He's dead wrong. What do you expect my son to do? There are missiles raining down on the village. He has to hide. But he is not hiding with al-Qaeda; our tribe is protecting him right now.\" The Yemeni government attempted to get the tribal leaders to release al-Awlaki to their custody. They promised they would not turn him over to U.S. authorities for questioning.",
"They promised they would not turn him over to U.S. authorities for questioning. The governor of Shabwa said in January 2010 that al-Awlaki was on the move with members of al-Qaeda, including Fahd al-Quso, who was wanted in connection with the bombing of the USS Cole. In January 2010, White House lawyers debated whether or not it was legal to kill al-Awlaki, given his U.S. citizenship. U.S. officials stated that international law allows targeted killing in the event that the subject is an \"imminent threat\".",
"U.S. officials stated that international law allows targeted killing in the event that the subject is an \"imminent threat\". Because he was a U.S. citizen, his killing had to be approved by the National Security Council. Such action against a U.S. citizen is extremely rare. As a military enemy of the US, al-Awlaki was not subject to Executive Order 11905, which bans assassination for political reasons. The authorization was nevertheless controversial.",
"The authorization was nevertheless controversial. The authorization was nevertheless controversial. By February 4, 2010, the New York Daily News reported that al-Awlaki was \"now on a targeting list signed off on by the Obama administration\". On April 6, The New York Times reported that President Obama had authorized the killing of al-Awlaki. The al-Awalik tribe responded: \"We warn against cooperating with America to kill Sheikh Anwar al-Awlaki. We will not stand by idly and watch.\"",
"We will not stand by idly and watch.\" We will not stand by idly and watch.\" Al-Awlaki's tribe wrote that it would \"not remain with arms crossed if a hair of Anwar al-Awlaki is touched, or if anyone plots or spies against him. Whoever risks denouncing our son (Awlaki) will be the target of Al-Awalik weapons\", and gave warning \"against co-operating with the Americans\" in the capture or killing of al-Awlaki.",
"Whoever risks denouncing our son (Awlaki) will be the target of Al-Awalik weapons\", and gave warning \"against co-operating with the Americans\" in the capture or killing of al-Awlaki. Abu Bakr al-Qirbi, the Yemeni foreign minister, announced that the Yemeni government had not received any evidence from the US, and that \"Anwar al-Awlaki has always been looked at as a preacher rather than a terrorist and shouldn't be considered as a terrorist unless the Americans have evidence that he has been involved in terrorism\".",
"Abu Bakr al-Qirbi, the Yemeni foreign minister, announced that the Yemeni government had not received any evidence from the US, and that \"Anwar al-Awlaki has always been looked at as a preacher rather than a terrorist and shouldn't be considered as a terrorist unless the Americans have evidence that he has been involved in terrorism\". In a video clip bearing the imprint of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, issued on April 16 in al-Qaeda's monthly magazine Sada Al-Malahem, al-Awlaki said: \"What am I accused of?",
"In a video clip bearing the imprint of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, issued on April 16 in al-Qaeda's monthly magazine Sada Al-Malahem, al-Awlaki said: \"What am I accused of? Of calling for the truth? Of calling for jihad for the sake of Allah? Of calling to defend the causes of the Islamic nation?\" In the video he also praises both Abdulmutallab and Hasan, and describes both as his \"students\".",
"In the video he also praises both Abdulmutallab and Hasan, and describes both as his \"students\". In late April, Representative Charlie Dent (R-PA) introduced a resolution urging the U.S. State Department to withdraw al-Awlaki's U.S. citizenship. By May, U.S. officials believed he had become directly involved in terrorist activities. Former colleague Abdul-Malik said he \"is a terrorist, in my book\", and advised shops not to carry any of his publications.",
"Former colleague Abdul-Malik said he \"is a terrorist, in my book\", and advised shops not to carry any of his publications. In an editorial, Investor's Business Daily called al-Awlaki the \"world's most dangerous man\", and recommended that he be added to the FBI's most-wanted terrorist list, a bounty put on his head, that he be designated a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, charged with treason, and extradition papers filed with the Yemeni government.",
"In an editorial, Investor's Business Daily called al-Awlaki the \"world's most dangerous man\", and recommended that he be added to the FBI's most-wanted terrorist list, a bounty put on his head, that he be designated a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, charged with treason, and extradition papers filed with the Yemeni government. IBD criticized the Justice Department for stonewalling Senator Joe Lieberman's security panel's investigation of al-Awlaki's role in the Fort Hood massacre.",
"IBD criticized the Justice Department for stonewalling Senator Joe Lieberman's security panel's investigation of al-Awlaki's role in the Fort Hood massacre. On July 16, the U.S. Treasury Department added him to its list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists. Stuart Levey, Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, called him \"extraordinarily dangerous\", and said al-Awlaki was involved in several organizational aspects of terrorism, including recruiting, training, fundraising, and planning individual attacks.",
"Stuart Levey, Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, called him \"extraordinarily dangerous\", and said al-Awlaki was involved in several organizational aspects of terrorism, including recruiting, training, fundraising, and planning individual attacks. A few days later, the United Nations Security Council placed al-Awlaki on its UN Security Council Resolution 1267 list of individuals associated with al-Qaeda, describing him as a leader, recruiter, and trainer for al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.",
"A few days later, the United Nations Security Council placed al-Awlaki on its UN Security Council Resolution 1267 list of individuals associated with al-Qaeda, describing him as a leader, recruiter, and trainer for al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. The resolution stipulates that U.N. members must freeze the assets of anyone on the list, and prevent them from travelling or obtaining weapons. The following week, Canadian banks were ordered to seize any assets belonging to al-Awlaki.",
"The following week, Canadian banks were ordered to seize any assets belonging to al-Awlaki. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police's senior counter-terrorism officer Gilles Michaud described him as a \"major, major factor in radicalization\". In September 2010, Jonathan Evans, the Director General of the United Kingdom's domestic security and counter-intelligence agency (MI5), said that al-Awlaki was the West's Public Enemy No 1. In October 2010, U.S.",
"In October 2010, U.S. In October 2010, U.S. Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-NY) urged YouTube to take down al-Awlaki's videos from its website, saying that by hosting al-Awlaki's messages, \"We are facilitating the recruitment of homegrown terror.\" Pauline Neville-Jones, British security minister, said \"These Web sites ... incite cold-blooded murder.\" YouTube began removing the material in November 2010.",
"YouTube began removing the material in November 2010. YouTube began removing the material in November 2010. Al-Awlaki was charged in absentia in Sana'a, Yemen, on November 2 with plotting to kill foreigners and being a member of al-Qaeda. Ali al-Saneaa, the head of the prosecutor's office, announced the charges during the trial of Hisham Assem, who had been accused of killing Jacques Spagnolo, an oil industry worker.",
"Ali al-Saneaa, the head of the prosecutor's office, announced the charges during the trial of Hisham Assem, who had been accused of killing Jacques Spagnolo, an oil industry worker. He said that al-Awlaki and Assem had been in contact for months, and that al-Awlaki had encouraged Assem to commit terrorism. Al-Awlaki's lawyer said that his client was not connected to Spagnolo's death. On November 6, Yemeni Judge Mohsen Alwan ordered that al-Awlaki be caught \"dead or alive\".",
"On November 6, Yemeni Judge Mohsen Alwan ordered that al-Awlaki be caught \"dead or alive\". In his book Ticking Time Bomb: Counter-Terrorism Lessons from the U.S. Government's Failure to Prevent the Fort Hood Attack (2011), former U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman described al-Awlaki, Australian Muslim preacher Feiz Mohammad, Muslim cleric Abdullah el-Faisal, and Pakistani-American Samir Khan as \"virtual spiritual sanctioners\" who use the internet to offer religious justification for Islamist terrorism.",
"Senator Joe Lieberman described al-Awlaki, Australian Muslim preacher Feiz Mohammad, Muslim cleric Abdullah el-Faisal, and Pakistani-American Samir Khan as \"virtual spiritual sanctioners\" who use the internet to offer religious justification for Islamist terrorism. Lawsuit against the US In July 2010, al-Awlaki's father, Nasser al-Awlaki, contacted the Center for Constitutional Rights and the American Civil Liberties Union to represent his son in a lawsuit that sought to remove Anwar from the targeted killing list.",
"Lawsuit against the US In July 2010, al-Awlaki's father, Nasser al-Awlaki, contacted the Center for Constitutional Rights and the American Civil Liberties Union to represent his son in a lawsuit that sought to remove Anwar from the targeted killing list. ACLU's Jameel Jaffer said: the United States is not at war in Yemen, and the government doesn't have a blank check to kill terrorism suspects wherever they are in the world.",
"ACLU's Jameel Jaffer said: the United States is not at war in Yemen, and the government doesn't have a blank check to kill terrorism suspects wherever they are in the world. Among the arguments we'll be making is that, outside actual war zones, the authority to use lethal force is narrowly circumscribed, and preserving the rule of law depends on keeping this authority narrow. Lawyers for Specially Designated Global Terrorists must obtain a special license from the U.S. Treasury Department before they can represent their clients in court.",
"Lawyers for Specially Designated Global Terrorists must obtain a special license from the U.S. Treasury Department before they can represent their clients in court. The lawyers were granted the license on August 4, 2010. On August 30, 2010, the groups filed a \"targeted killing\" lawsuit, naming President Obama, CIA Director Leon Panetta, and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates as defendants.",
"On August 30, 2010, the groups filed a \"targeted killing\" lawsuit, naming President Obama, CIA Director Leon Panetta, and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates as defendants. They sought an injunction preventing the targeted killing of al-Awlaki, and also sought to require the government to disclose the standards under which U.S. citizens may be \"targeted for death\".",
"They sought an injunction preventing the targeted killing of al-Awlaki, and also sought to require the government to disclose the standards under which U.S. citizens may be \"targeted for death\". Judge John D. Bates dismissed the lawsuit in an 83-page ruling, holding that the father did not have legal standing to bring the lawsuit, and that his claims were judicially unreviewable under the political question doctrine inasmuch as he was questioning a decision that the U.S. Constitution committed to the political branches.",
"Judge John D. Bates dismissed the lawsuit in an 83-page ruling, holding that the father did not have legal standing to bring the lawsuit, and that his claims were judicially unreviewable under the political question doctrine inasmuch as he was questioning a decision that the U.S. Constitution committed to the political branches. On May 5, 2011, the United States tried but failed to kill al-Awlaki by firing a missile from an unmanned drone at a car in Yemen. A Yemeni security official said that two al-Qaeda operatives in the car died.",
"A Yemeni security official said that two al-Qaeda operatives in the car died. Death On September 30, 2011, al-Awlaki was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Al Jawf Governorate, Yemen, according to U.S. sources, the strike was carried out by Joint Special Operations Command, under the direction of the CIA. A witness said the group had stopped to eat breakfast while traveling to Ma'rib Governorate.",
"A witness said the group had stopped to eat breakfast while traveling to Ma'rib Governorate. The occupants of the vehicle spotted the drone and attempted to flee in the vehicle before Hellfire missiles were fired Yemen's Defense Ministry announced that al-Awlaki had been killed. Also killed was Samir Khan, an American born in Saudi Arabia, thought to be behind al-Qaeda's English-language web magazine Inspire. U.S. President Barack Obama said: The death of Awlaki is a major blow to Al-Qaeda's most active operational affiliate.",
"U.S. President Barack Obama said: The death of Awlaki is a major blow to Al-Qaeda's most active operational affiliate. He took the lead in planning and directing efforts to murder innocent Americans ... and he repeatedly called on individuals in the United States and around the globe to kill innocent men, women and children to advance a murderous agenda. [The strike] is further proof that Al-Qaeda and its affiliates will find no safe haven anywhere in the world.",
"[The strike] is further proof that Al-Qaeda and its affiliates will find no safe haven anywhere in the world. Journalist and author Glenn Greenwald argued on Salon.com that killing al-Awlaki violated his First Amendment right of free speech and that doing so outside of a criminal proceeding violated the Constitution's due process clause, specifically citing the 1969 Supreme Court decision in Brandenburg v. Ohio that \"the constitutional guarantees of free speech and free press do not permit a State to forbid or proscribe advocacy of the use of force.\"",
"Journalist and author Glenn Greenwald argued on Salon.com that killing al-Awlaki violated his First Amendment right of free speech and that doing so outside of a criminal proceeding violated the Constitution's due process clause, specifically citing the 1969 Supreme Court decision in Brandenburg v. Ohio that \"the constitutional guarantees of free speech and free press do not permit a State to forbid or proscribe advocacy of the use of force.\" He mentioned doubt among Yemeni experts about al-Awlaki's role in al-Qaeda, and called U.S. government accusations against him unverified and lacking in evidence.",
"He mentioned doubt among Yemeni experts about al-Awlaki's role in al-Qaeda, and called U.S. government accusations against him unverified and lacking in evidence. In a letter dated May 22, 2013, to the chairman of the U.S. Senate Judiciary committee, Patrick J. Leahy, U.S. attorney general Eric Holder wrote that high-level U.S. government officials [...] concluded that al-Aulaqi posed a continuing and imminent threat of violent attack against the United States.",
"In a letter dated May 22, 2013, to the chairman of the U.S. Senate Judiciary committee, Patrick J. Leahy, U.S. attorney general Eric Holder wrote that high-level U.S. government officials [...] concluded that al-Aulaqi posed a continuing and imminent threat of violent attack against the United States. Before carrying out the operation that killed al-Aulaqi, senior officials also determined, based on a careful evaluation of the circumstances at the time, that it was not feasible to capture al-Aulaqi.",
"Before carrying out the operation that killed al-Aulaqi, senior officials also determined, based on a careful evaluation of the circumstances at the time, that it was not feasible to capture al-Aulaqi. In addition, senior officials determined that the operation would be conducted consistent with applicable law of war principles, including the cardinal principles of (1) necessity – the requirement that the target have definite military value; (2) distinction – the idea that only military objectives may be intentionally targeted and that civilians are protected from being intentionally targeted; (3) proportionality – the notion that the anticipated collateral damage of an action cannot be excessive in relation to the anticipated concrete and direct military advantage; and (4) humanity – a principle that requires us to use weapons that will not inflict unnecessary suffering.",
"In addition, senior officials determined that the operation would be conducted consistent with applicable law of war principles, including the cardinal principles of (1) necessity – the requirement that the target have definite military value; (2) distinction – the idea that only military objectives may be intentionally targeted and that civilians are protected from being intentionally targeted; (3) proportionality – the notion that the anticipated collateral damage of an action cannot be excessive in relation to the anticipated concrete and direct military advantage; and (4) humanity – a principle that requires us to use weapons that will not inflict unnecessary suffering. The operation was also undertaken consistent with Yemeni sovereignty.",
"The operation was also undertaken consistent with Yemeni sovereignty. The operation was also undertaken consistent with Yemeni sovereignty. [...] The decision to target Anwar al-Aulaqi was lawful, it was considered, and it was just. On April 21, 2014, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal ruled that the Obama administration must release documents justifying its drone killings of foreigners and Americans, including Anwar al-Awlaki.",
"Circuit Court of Appeal ruled that the Obama administration must release documents justifying its drone killings of foreigners and Americans, including Anwar al-Awlaki. In June 2014, the United States Department of Justice disclosed a 2010 memorandum written by the acting head of the department's Office of Legal Counsel, David J. Barron. The memo stated that Anwar al-Awlaki was a significant threat with an infeasible probability of capture. Barron therefore justified the killing as legal, as \"the Constitution would not require the government to provide further process\".",
"Barron therefore justified the killing as legal, as \"the Constitution would not require the government to provide further process\". The New York Times Editorial Board dismissed the memo's rationale for al-Awlaki's killing, saying it \"provides little confidence that the lethal action was taken with real care\", instead describing it as \"a slapdash pastiche of legal theories—some based on obscure interpretations of British and Israeli law—that was clearly tailored to the desired result.\"",
"The New York Times Editorial Board dismissed the memo's rationale for al-Awlaki's killing, saying it \"provides little confidence that the lethal action was taken with real care\", instead describing it as \"a slapdash pastiche of legal theories—some based on obscure interpretations of British and Israeli law—that was clearly tailored to the desired result.\" A lawyer for the ACLU described the memo as \"disturbing\" and \"ultimately an argument that the president can order targeted killings of Americans without ever having to account to anyone outside the executive branch.\"",
"A lawyer for the ACLU described the memo as \"disturbing\" and \"ultimately an argument that the president can order targeted killings of Americans without ever having to account to anyone outside the executive branch.\" Legacy Seth Jones, who as a political scientist specializes in al-Qaida, considers that the continuing relevance of al-Awlaki is due to his fluency in the English language as well as his charisma, precising that \"he had a disarming aura and unnerving confidence, with an easy smile and a soothing, eloquent voice.",
"Legacy Seth Jones, who as a political scientist specializes in al-Qaida, considers that the continuing relevance of al-Awlaki is due to his fluency in the English language as well as his charisma, precising that \"he had a disarming aura and unnerving confidence, with an easy smile and a soothing, eloquent voice. He stood a lanky six feet, one inch tall, weighed 160 pounds, and had a thick black beard, an oversized nose, and wire-rimmed glasses. He spoke in a clear, almost hypnotic voice.\"",
"He spoke in a clear, almost hypnotic voice.\" Awlaki's videos and writings remain highly popular on the internet, where they continue to be readily accessible. Those who viewed and still view his videos are estimated by journalist Scott Shane to number in the hundreds of thousands, while his father Dr. Nasser Awlaqi says that \"five million preaching tapes of Anwar Awlaqi have been sold in the West.\"",
"Those who viewed and still view his videos are estimated by journalist Scott Shane to number in the hundreds of thousands, while his father Dr. Nasser Awlaqi says that \"five million preaching tapes of Anwar Awlaqi have been sold in the West.\" And thus, even following his death, Awlaki has continued to inspire his devotees to carry out terrorist attacks, including the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, the 2015 San Bernardino attack, and the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting.",
"And thus, even following his death, Awlaki has continued to inspire his devotees to carry out terrorist attacks, including the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, the 2015 San Bernardino attack, and the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting. According to the Counter Extremism Project (CEP), 88 \"extremists,\" 54 in the U.S. and 34 in Europe, have been influenced by Awlaki.",
"According to the Counter Extremism Project (CEP), 88 \"extremists,\" 54 in the U.S. and 34 in Europe, have been influenced by Awlaki. Because \"his work has inspired countless plots and attacks,\" CEP has \"called on YouTube and other platforms to permanently ban Mr. Awlaki's material, including his early, mainstream lectures.\"",
"Because \"his work has inspired countless plots and attacks,\" CEP has \"called on YouTube and other platforms to permanently ban Mr. Awlaki's material, including his early, mainstream lectures.\" FOIA documents During the FBI investigation of the 9/11 attacks, it was discovered that a few of the attackers had attended the mosques in San Diego and Falls Church with which al-Awlaki was associated. Interviews with members of the San Diego mosque showed that Nawaz al-Hazmi, one of the attackers, may have had a private conversation with him.",
"Interviews with members of the San Diego mosque showed that Nawaz al-Hazmi, one of the attackers, may have had a private conversation with him. On that basis he was placed under 24-hour surveillance. It was discovered that he regularly patronized prostitutes. It was through FBI interrogation of prostitutes and escort service operators that al-Awlaki was tipped off in 2002 about FBI surveillance. Shortly thereafter, he left the United States.",
"Shortly thereafter, he left the United States. Shortly thereafter, he left the United States. In January 2013, Fox News announced that FBI documents obtained by Judicial Watch through a Freedom of Information Act request showed possible connections between al-Awlaki and the September 11 attackers. According to Judicial Watch, the documents show that the FBI knew that al-Awlaki had bought tickets for three of the hijackers to fly into Florida and Las Vegas. Judicial Watch further stated that al-Awlaki \"was a central focus of the FBI's investigation of 9/11.",
"Judicial Watch further stated that al-Awlaki \"was a central focus of the FBI's investigation of 9/11. They show he wasn't cooperative. And they show that he was under surveillance.\" When queried by Fox News, the FBI denied having evidence connecting al-Awlaki and the September 11 attacks: \"The FBI cautions against drawing conclusions from redacted FOIA documents. The FBI and investigating bodies have not found evidence connecting Anwar al-Awlaki and the attack on September 11, 2001.",
"The FBI and investigating bodies have not found evidence connecting Anwar al-Awlaki and the attack on September 11, 2001. The document referenced does not link Anwar al-Awlaki with any purchase of airline tickets for the hijackers.\" Family Abdulrahman al-Awlaki Anwar al-Awlaki and Egyptian-born Gihan Mohsen Baker had a son, Abdulrahman Anwar al-Awlaki, born August 26, 1995, in Denver, who was an American citizen. Abdulrahman al-Awlaki was killed on October 14, 2011, in Yemen at the age of 16 in an American drone strike.",
"Abdulrahman al-Awlaki was killed on October 14, 2011, in Yemen at the age of 16 in an American drone strike. Nine other people were killed in the same CIA-initiated attack, including a 17-year-old cousin of Abdulrahman. According to his relatives, shortly before his father's death, Abdulrahman had left the family home in Sana'a and travelled to Shabwa in search of his father who was believed to be in hiding in that area (though he was actually hundreds of miles away at the time ).",
"According to his relatives, shortly before his father's death, Abdulrahman had left the family home in Sana'a and travelled to Shabwa in search of his father who was believed to be in hiding in that area (though he was actually hundreds of miles away at the time ). Abdulrahman was sitting in an open-air cafe in Shabwa when killed.",
"Abdulrahman was sitting in an open-air cafe in Shabwa when killed. According to U.S. officials, the killing of Abdulrahman al-Awlaki was a mistake; the intended target was an Egyptian, Ibrahim al-Banna, who was not at the targeted location at the time of the attack. Human rights groups have raised questions as to why an American citizen was killed by the United States in a country with which the United States is not officially at war. Abdulrahman al-Awlaki was not known to have any independent connection to terrorism.",
"Abdulrahman al-Awlaki was not known to have any independent connection to terrorism. Nasser al-Awlaki Nasser al-Awlaki is the father of Anwar and grandfather of Abdulrahman al-Awlaki. Al-Awlaki stated he believed his son had been wrongly accused and was not a member of Al Qaeda. After the deaths of his son and grandson, Nasser in an interview in Time magazine called the killings a crime and condemned U.S. President Obama directly, saying: \"I urge the American people to bring the killers to justice.",
"After the deaths of his son and grandson, Nasser in an interview in Time magazine called the killings a crime and condemned U.S. President Obama directly, saying: \"I urge the American people to bring the killers to justice. I urge them to expose the hypocrisy of the 2009 Nobel Prize laureate. To some, he may be that. To me and my family, he is nothing more than a child killer.\"",
"To me and my family, he is nothing more than a child killer.\" In 2013, Nasser al-Awlaki published an op-ed in The New York Times stating that two years after killing his grandson, the Obama administration still declines to provide an explanation. In 2012, Nasser al-Awlaki filed a lawsuit, Al-Aulaqi v. Panetta, challenging the constitutionality of the drone killings of his son and grandson. This lawsuit was dismissed in April 2014 by D.C. District Court Judge Rosemary M. Collyer.",
"This lawsuit was dismissed in April 2014 by D.C. District Court Judge Rosemary M. Collyer. Tariq al-Dahab Tariq al-Dahab, who led al-Qaeda insurgents in Yemen, was a brother-in-law of al-Awlaki. On February 16, 2012, the terrorist organization stated that he had been killed by agents, although media reports contain speculation that he was killed by his brother in a bloody family feud.",
"On February 16, 2012, the terrorist organization stated that he had been killed by agents, although media reports contain speculation that he was killed by his brother in a bloody family feud. Nawar al-Awlaki On January 29, 2017, Anwar al-Awlaki's 8-year-old daughter, Nawar al-Awlaki, who was an American citizen, was killed in a DEVGRU operation authorized by President Donald Trump. \"1 US service member killed, 3 wounded in Yemen raid\" , WPVI-TV, 6 ABC Action News, Philadelphia, PA. January 29, 2017.",
"\"1 US service member killed, 3 wounded in Yemen raid\" , WPVI-TV, 6 ABC Action News, Philadelphia, PA. January 29, 2017. Retrieved January 29, 2017. Islamic education Al-Awlaki's Islamic education was primarily informal, and consisted of intermittent months with various scholars reading and contemplating Islamic scholarly works.",
"Islamic education Al-Awlaki's Islamic education was primarily informal, and consisted of intermittent months with various scholars reading and contemplating Islamic scholarly works. Despite having no religious qualifications and almost no religious education, Al-Awlaki made a name for himself as a public speaker who released popular audio recordings.Some Muslim scholars said they did not understand alAwlaki's popularity, because while he spoke fluent English and could therefore reach a large non-Arabic-speaking audience, he lacked formal Islamic training and study.",
"Despite having no religious qualifications and almost no religious education, Al-Awlaki made a name for himself as a public speaker who released popular audio recordings.Some Muslim scholars said they did not understand alAwlaki's popularity, because while he spoke fluent English and could therefore reach a large non-Arabic-speaking audience, he lacked formal Islamic training and study. Ideology While imprisoned in Yemen after 2004, al-Awlaki was influenced by the works of Sayyid Qutb, described by The New York Times as an originator of the contemporary \"anti-Western Jihadist movement\".",
"Ideology While imprisoned in Yemen after 2004, al-Awlaki was influenced by the works of Sayyid Qutb, described by The New York Times as an originator of the contemporary \"anti-Western Jihadist movement\". He read 150 to 200 pages a day of Qutb's works, and described himself as \"so immersed with the author I would feel Sayyid was with me in my cell speaking to me directly\". Terrorism consultant Evan Kohlmann in 2009 referred to al-Awlaki as \"one of the principal jihadi luminaries for would-be homegrown terrorists.",
"Terrorism consultant Evan Kohlmann in 2009 referred to al-Awlaki as \"one of the principal jihadi luminaries for would-be homegrown terrorists. His fluency with English, his unabashed advocacy of jihad and mujahideen organizations, and his Web-savvy approach are a powerful combination.\" He called al-Awlaki's lecture, \"Constants on the Path of Jihad\", which he says was based on a similar document written by al-Qaeda's founder, the \"virtual bible for lone-wolf Muslim extremists\".",
"He called al-Awlaki's lecture, \"Constants on the Path of Jihad\", which he says was based on a similar document written by al-Qaeda's founder, the \"virtual bible for lone-wolf Muslim extremists\". Philip Mudd, formerly of the CIA's National Counterterrorism Center and the FBI's top intelligence adviser, called him \"a magnetic character ... a powerful orator.\" He attracted young men to his lectures, especially US-based and UK-based Muslims.",
"He attracted young men to his lectures, especially US-based and UK-based Muslims. U.S. officials and some U.S. media sources called al-Awlaki an Islamic fundamentalist and accused him of encouraging terrorism. According to documents recovered from bin Laden's hideout, the al-Qaeda leader was unsure about al-Awlaki's qualifications. Works The Nine Eleven Finding Answers Foundation said al-Awlaki's ability to write and speak in fluent English enabled him to incite English-speaking Muslims to terrorism. Al-Awlaki notes in 44 Ways to Support Jihad that most reading material on the subject is in Arabic.",
"Al-Awlaki notes in 44 Ways to Support Jihad that most reading material on the subject is in Arabic. Written works 44 Ways to Support Jihad: Essay (January 2009). In it, al-Awlaki states that \"The hatred of kuffar is a central element of our military creed\" and that all Muslims are obligated to participate in jihad, either by committing the acts themselves or supporting others who do so. He says all Muslims must remain physically fit so as to be prepared for conflict.",
"He says all Muslims must remain physically fit so as to be prepared for conflict. According to U.S. officials, it is considered a key text for al-Qaeda members. Al-Awlaki wrote for Jihad Recollections, an English language online publication published by Al-Fursan Media. Allah is Preparing Us for Victory – short book (2009). Lectures Lectures on the book Constants on the Path of Jihad by Yusef al-Ayeri—concerns leaderless jihad. In 2009, the UK government found 1,910 of his videos had been posted to YouTube.",
"In 2009, the UK government found 1,910 of his videos had been posted to YouTube. One of them had been viewed 164,420 times.",
"One of them had been viewed 164,420 times. One of them had been viewed 164,420 times. The Battle of Hearts and Minds The Dust Will Never Settle Down Dreams & Interpretations The Hereafter—16 CDs—Al Basheer Productions Life of Muhammad: Makkan Period—16 CDs—Al Basheer Productions Life of Muhammad: Medinan Period—Lecture in 2 Parts—18 CDs—Al Basheer Productions Lives of the Prophets (AS)—16 CDs—Al Basheer Productions Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (RA): His Life & Times—15 CDs—Al Basheer Productions Umar ibn al-Khattāb (RA): His Life & Times—18 CDs—Al Basheer Productions 25 Promises from Allah to the Believer—2 CDs—Noor Productions Companions of the Ditch & Lessons from the Life of Musa (AS)—2 CDs—Noor Productions Remembrance of Allah & the Greatest Ayah—2 CDs—Noor Productions Stories from Hadith—4 CDs—Center for Islamic Information and Education (\"CIIE\") Hellfire & The Day of Judgment—CD—CIIE Quest for Truth: The Story of Salman Al-Farsi (RA)—CD—CIIE Trials & Lessons for Muslim Minorities—CD—CIIE Young Ayesha (RA) & Mothers of the Believers (RA)—CD—CIIE Understanding the Quran—CD—CIIE Lessons from the Companions (RA) Living as a Minority—CD—CIIE Virtues of the Sahabah—video lecture series promoted by the al-Wasatiyyah Foundation Website Al-Awlaki maintained a website and blog on which he shared his views.",
"The Battle of Hearts and Minds The Dust Will Never Settle Down Dreams & Interpretations The Hereafter—16 CDs—Al Basheer Productions Life of Muhammad: Makkan Period—16 CDs—Al Basheer Productions Life of Muhammad: Medinan Period—Lecture in 2 Parts—18 CDs—Al Basheer Productions Lives of the Prophets (AS)—16 CDs—Al Basheer Productions Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (RA): His Life & Times—15 CDs—Al Basheer Productions Umar ibn al-Khattāb (RA): His Life & Times—18 CDs—Al Basheer Productions 25 Promises from Allah to the Believer—2 CDs—Noor Productions Companions of the Ditch & Lessons from the Life of Musa (AS)—2 CDs—Noor Productions Remembrance of Allah & the Greatest Ayah—2 CDs—Noor Productions Stories from Hadith—4 CDs—Center for Islamic Information and Education (\"CIIE\") Hellfire & The Day of Judgment—CD—CIIE Quest for Truth: The Story of Salman Al-Farsi (RA)—CD—CIIE Trials & Lessons for Muslim Minorities—CD—CIIE Young Ayesha (RA) & Mothers of the Believers (RA)—CD—CIIE Understanding the Quran—CD—CIIE Lessons from the Companions (RA) Living as a Minority—CD—CIIE Virtues of the Sahabah—video lecture series promoted by the al-Wasatiyyah Foundation Website Al-Awlaki maintained a website and blog on which he shared his views. On December 11, 2008, he said Muslims should not seek to \"serve in the armies of the disbelievers and fight against his brothers\".",
"On December 11, 2008, he said Muslims should not seek to \"serve in the armies of the disbelievers and fight against his brothers\". In \"44 Ways to Support Jihad\", posted on his blog in February 2009, al-Awlaki encouraged others to \"fight jihad\", and explained how to give money to the mujahideen or their families. Al-Awlaki's sermon encourages others to conduct weapons training, and raise children \"on the love of Jihad\".",
"Al-Awlaki's sermon encourages others to conduct weapons training, and raise children \"on the love of Jihad\". Also that month, he wrote: \"I pray that Allah destroys America and all its allies.\" He wrote as well: \"We will implement the rule of Allah on Earth by the tip of the sword, whether the masses like it or not.\" On July 14, he said that Muslim countries should not offer military assistance to the US.",
"On July 14, he said that Muslim countries should not offer military assistance to the US. \"The blame should be placed on the soldier who is willing to follow orders ... who sells his religion for a few dollars,\" he said. In blog post dated July 15, 2009, entitled \"Fighting Against Government Armies in the Muslim World\", al-Awlaki wrote, \"Blessed are those who fight against [American soldiers], and blessed are those shuhada [martyrs] who are killed by them.\"",
"In blog post dated July 15, 2009, entitled \"Fighting Against Government Armies in the Muslim World\", al-Awlaki wrote, \"Blessed are those who fight against [American soldiers], and blessed are those shuhada [martyrs] who are killed by them.\" In a video posted to the internet on November 8, 2010, al-Awlaki called for Muslims to kill Americans \"without hesitation\", and overthrow Arab governments that cooperate with the US.",
"In a video posted to the internet on November 8, 2010, al-Awlaki called for Muslims to kill Americans \"without hesitation\", and overthrow Arab governments that cooperate with the US. \"Don't consult with anyone in fighting the Americans, fighting the devil doesn't require consultation or prayers or seeking divine guidance. They are the party of the devils\", al-Awlaki said.",
"They are the party of the devils\", al-Awlaki said. That month, Intelligence Research Specialist Kevin Yorke of the New York Police Department's Counterterrorism Division called him \"the most dangerous man in the world\". See also Church Committee Executive Order 12333 Extrajudicial killing International counter-terrorism activities of the CIA Protocol I References Further reading al-Ashanti, AbdulHaq and Sloan, Abu Ameenah AbdurRahman. (2011) A Critique of the Methodology of Anwar al-Awlaki and his Errors in the Fiqh of Jihad.",
"(2011) A Critique of the Methodology of Anwar al-Awlaki and his Errors in the Fiqh of Jihad. London: Jamiah Media, 2011 External links Ruling of Judge Bates in Al Aulaqi v Obama Statements Interviews \"Exclusive; Ray Suarez: My Post-9/11 Interview With Anwar al-Awlaki\", PBS, October 30, 2001 \"Al-Jazeera Satellite Network Interview with Yemeni-American Cleric Shaykh Anwar al-Awlaki Regarding his Alleged Role in Radicalizing Maj. Malik Nidal Hasan\", The NEFA Foundation, December 24, 2009 Media coverage The imam's very curious story: A skirt-chasing mullah is just one more mystery for the 9/11 panel, Ragavan, Chitra, US News and World Report'', June 13, 2004 DBI.gov 1971 births 2011 deaths 20th-century imams 21st-century imams Abdullah Yusuf Azzam Al-Qaeda propagandists Assassinated al-Qaeda leaders American al-Qaeda members American expatriates in the United Kingdom American expatriates in Yemen American imams American Islamists American people of Yemeni descent Colorado State University alumni George Washington University Graduate School of Education and Human Development alumni People associated with the September 11 attacks People from Las Cruces, New Mexico San Diego State University alumni Yemeni imams Yemeni al-Qaeda members Yemeni Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam Yemeni Sunni Muslims Deaths by drone strikes of the Central Intelligence Agency in Yemen Islam-related controversies People designated by the Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee American male criminals Yemeni criminals Yemeni Islamists Yemeni expatriates in the United Kingdom Shafi'is American Muslim activists Assassinated Yemeni people Yemeni propagandists United States military killing of American civilians"
] |
[
"Anwar al-Awlaki",
"Other connections",
"What were some of his connections?",
"Al-Awlaki influenced several other extremists to join terrorist organizations overseas and to carry out terrorist attacks in their home countries.",
"What countries was he going after?",
"The cases included suicide bombers in the 2005 London bombings, radical Islamic terrorists in the 2006 Toronto terrorism case, radical Islamic terrorists in the 2007 Fort Dix attack plot,",
"Were there others?",
"the jihadist killer in the 2009 Little Rock military recruiting office shooting, and the 2010 Times Square bomber.",
"How was he contacting these people?",
"In each case the suspects were devoted to al-Awlaki's message, which they listened to online and on CDs."
] | C_a9dbf6539ea04ea1aa2c40cc18303c22_1 | Did any of his connections report him? | 5 | Did any of Anwar al-Awlaki connections report him? | Anwar al-Awlaki | FBI agents identified al-Awlaki as a known, important "senior recruiter for al Qaeda", and a spiritual motivator. His name came up in a dozen terrorism plots in the US, UK, and Canada. The cases included suicide bombers in the 2005 London bombings, radical Islamic terrorists in the 2006 Toronto terrorism case, radical Islamic terrorists in the 2007 Fort Dix attack plot, the jihadist killer in the 2009 Little Rock military recruiting office shooting, and the 2010 Times Square bomber. In each case the suspects were devoted to al-Awlaki's message, which they listened to online and on CDs. Al-Awlaki's recorded lectures were heard by Islamist fundamentalists in at least six terror cells in the UK through 2009. Michael Finton (Talib Islam), who attempted in September 2009 to bomb the Federal Building and the adjacent offices of Congressman Aaron Schock in Springfield, Illinois, admired al-Awlaki and quoted him on his Myspace page. In addition to his website, al-Awlaki had a Facebook fan page with "fans" in the US, many of whom were high school students. Al-Awlaki also set up a website and blog on which he shared his views. Al-Awlaki influenced several other extremists to join terrorist organizations overseas and to carry out terrorist attacks in their home countries. Mohamed Alessa and Carlos Almonte, two American citizens from New Jersey who attempted to travel to Somalia in June 2010 to join the al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group Al Shabaab, allegedly watched several al-Awlaki videos and sermons in which he warned of future attacks against Americans in the US and abroad. Zachary Chesser, an American citizen who was arrested for attempting to provide material support to Al Shabaab, told federal authorities that he watched online videos featuring al-Awlaki and that he exchanged several e-mails with al-Awlaki. In July 2010, Paul Rockwood was sentenced to eight years in prison for creating a list of 15 potential targets in the US, people he felt had desecrated Islam. Rockwood was a devoted follower of al-Awlaki, and had studied his works Constants on the Path to Jihad and 44 Ways to Jihad. In October 2008, Charles Allen, US Under-Secretary of Homeland Security for Intelligence and Analysis, warned that al-Awlaki "targets U.S. Muslims with radical online lectures encouraging terrorist attacks from his new home in Yemen." Responding to Allen, al-Awlaki wrote on his website in December 2008: "I would challenge him to come up with just one such lecture where I encourage 'terrorist attacks'". CANNOTANSWER | Zachary Chesser, an American citizen who was arrested for attempting to provide material support to Al Shabaab, | Anwar Nasser al-Awlaki (also spelled al-Aulaqi, al-Awlaqi; ; April 21 or 22, 1971 – September 30, 2011) was a Yemeni-American imam who was killed in 2011 in Yemen by an American drone strike ordered by President Barack Obama. Al-Awlaki became the first U.S. citizen to be targeted and killed by a U.S. drone strike without the rights of due process being afforded. US government officials argued that Awlaki was a key organizer for the Islamist terrorist group al-Qaeda, and in June 2014, a previously classified memorandum issued by the U.S. Department of Justice was released, justifying al-Awlaki's death as a lawful act of war. Civil liberties advocates have described the incident as "an extrajudicial execution" that breached al-Awlaki's right to due process, including a trial.
Al-Awlaki was born in Las Cruces, New Mexico, in 1971 to parents from Yemen. Growing up partially in the United States and partially in Yemen, he attended various universities across the United States in the 1990s and early 2000s while also working as an imam, despite having no religious qualifications and almost no religious education. Al-Awlaki returned to Yemen in early 2004 and became a university lecturer after a brief stint as a public speaker in the United Kingdom. He was detained by Yemeni authorities in 2006, where he spent 18 months in prison before being released without facing trial. Following his release, Al-Awlaki's message started to become overtly supportive of violence, as he condemned United States foreign policy against Muslims.
The Yemeni government tried him in absentia in November 2010, for plotting to kill foreigners and being a member of al-Qaeda. A Yemeni judge ordered that he be captured "dead or alive". U.S. officials said that in 2009, al-Awlaki was promoted to the rank of "regional commander" within al-Qaeda, although they described his role as more "inspirational" than "operational." He repeatedly called for jihad against the United States. In April 2010, al-Awlaki was placed on a CIA kill list by President Barack Obama due to his alleged terrorist activities. Al-Awlaki's father and civil rights groups challenged the order in court. Al-Awlaki was believed to be in hiding in southeast Yemen in the last years of his life. The U.S. deployed unmanned aircraft (drones) in Yemen to search for and kill him, firing at and failing to kill him at least once; he was successfully killed on September 30, 2011. Two weeks later, al-Awlaki's 16-year-old son, Abdulrahman al-Awlaki, a U.S. citizen who was born in Denver, Colorado, was also killed by a CIA-led drone strike in Yemen. His daughter, 8-year old Nawar al-Awlaki, was killed during a raid against Al Qaeda ordered by President Donald Trump in 2017.<ref name="uk.reuters.com">Ghobari, Mohammed and Phil Stewart. "Commando dies in U.S. raid in Yemen, first military op OK'd by Trump", Reuters, January 29, 2017. Retrieved January 29, 2017.</ref> The New York Times wrote in 2015 that al-Awlaki's public statements and videos have been more influential in inspiring acts of Islamic terrorism in the wake of his killing than before his death.
Early life
Al-Awlaki was born in Las Cruces, New Mexico, in 1971 to parents from Yemen, while his father, Nasser al-Awlaki, was doing graduate work at U.S. universities. His father was a Fulbright Scholar who earned a master's degree in agricultural economics at New Mexico State University in 1971, received a doctorate at the University of Nebraska, and worked at the University of Minnesota from 1975 to 1977. Nasser al-Awlaki served as Agriculture Minister in Ali Abdullah Saleh's government. He was also President of Sana'a University. Yemen's prime minister from 2007 to 2011, Ali Mohammed Mujur, was a relative.
The family returned to Yemen in 1978, when al-Awlaki was seven years old. He lived there for 11 years, and studied at Azal Modern School.
Life in the United States 1990–2002
Education
In 1991, al-Awlaki returned to the U.S. to attend college. He earned a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Colorado State University (1994), where he was president of the Muslim Student Association.
In 1993, while still a college student in Colorado State's civil engineering program, al-Awlaki visited Afghanistan in the aftermath of the Soviet occupation. He spent some time training with the mujahideen who had fought the Soviets. He was depressed by the country's poverty and hunger, and "wouldn't have gone with al-Qaeda," according to friends from Colorado State, who said he was profoundly affected by the trip. Mullah Mohammed Omar did not form the Taliban until 1994. When Al-Awlaki returned to campus, he showed increased interest in religion and politics. Al-Awlaki studied Education Leadership at San Diego State University, but did not complete his degree. He worked on a doctorate in Human Resource Development at The George Washington University Graduate School of Education and Human Development from January to December 2001.
Time as imam
In 1994, al-Awlaki married a cousin from Yemen, and began service as a part-time imam of the Denver Islamic Society. In 1996, he was chastised by an elder for encouraging a Saudi student to fight in Chechnya against the Russians. He left Denver soon after, moving to San Diego.
From 1996 to 2000, al-Awlaki was imam of the Masjid Ar-Ribat al-Islami mosque in San Diego, California, where he had a following of 200–300 people. U.S. officials later alleged that Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar, hijackers of American Airlines Flight 77, attended his sermons and personally met him during this period. Hazmi later lived in Northern Virginia and attended al-Awlaki's mosque there. The 9/11 Commission Report said that the hijackers "reportedly respected [al-Awlaki] as a religious figure". While in San Diego, al-Awlaki volunteered with youth organizations, fished, discussed his travels with friends, and created a popular and lucrative series of recorded lectures.
In August 1996 and in April 1997, al-Awlaki was arrested in San Diego and charged with soliciting prostitutes. The first time, in 1996, he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and was fined $400 and required to attend informational sessions about AIDS. The second time, in 1997, he pleaded guilty and was fined $240, ordered to perform 12 days of community service, and received three years' probation. From November 2001 to January 2002 the FBI observed him visiting a number of prostitutes, and interviewed them, establishing that he had paid for sex acts. No prosecution was brought.
In 1998 and 1999, he served as vice-president for the Charitable Society for Social Welfare. In 2004, the FBI described this group as a "front organization to funnel money to terrorists". Although the FBI investigated al-Awlaki from June 1999 through March 2000 for possible links to Hamas, the Bin Laden contact Ziyad Khaleel, and a visit by an associate of Omar Abdel Rahman, it did not find sufficient evidence for a criminal prosecution. Al-Awlaki told reporters that he resigned from leading the San Diego mosque "after an uneventful four years," and took a brief sabbatical, traveling overseas to various countries.
In January 2001, al-Awlaki returned to the U.S., settling in the Washington metropolitan area. There, he was imam at the Dar al-Hijrah mosque near Falls Church, Virginia, and his services were attended by Nawaf al-Hazmi and a third hijacker, Hani Hanjour. He led academic discussions frequented by FBI Director of Counter-Intelligence for the Middle East Gordon M. Snow. Al-Awlaki also served as the Muslim chaplain at George Washington University, where he was hired by Esam Omeish. Omeish said in 2004 that he was convinced that al-Awlaki was not involved in terrorism.
His proficiency as a public speaker and command of the English language helped him attract followers who did not speak Arabic. "He was the magic bullet", according to the mosque spokesman Johari Abdul-Malik. "He had everything all in a box." "He had an allure. He was charming."
When police investigating the 9/11 attacks raided the Hamburg apartment of Ramzi bin al-Shibh, they found the telephone number of al-Awlaki among bin al-Shibh's personal contacts. The FBI interviewed al-Awlaki four times in the eight days following the 9/11 attacks. One detective later told the 9/11 Commission he believed al-Awlaki "was at the center of the 9/11 story". And an FBI agent said, "if anyone had knowledge of the plot, it would have been" him, since "someone had to be in the U.S. and keep the hijackers spiritually focused". One 9/11 Commission staff member said: "Do I think he played a role in helping the hijackers here, knowing they were up to something? Yes. Do I think he was sent here for that purpose? I have no evidence for it." A separate Congressional Joint Inquiry into the 9/11 attacks suggested that al-Awlaki may have been connected to the hijackers, according to its director, Eleanor Hill. In 2003, Representative Anna Eshoo, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said, "In my view, he is more than a coincidental figure."
Six days after the 9/11 attacks, al-Awlaki suggested in writing on the IslamOnline.net website that Israeli intelligence agents might have been responsible for the attacks, and that the FBI "went into the roster of the airplanes, and whoever has a Muslim or Arab name became the hijacker by default".
Soon after the 9/11 attacks, al-Awlaki was sought in Washington, D.C., by the media to answer questions about Islam, its rituals, and its relation to the attacks. He was interviewed by National Geographic, The New York Times, and other media. Al-Awlaki condemned the attacks. According to an NPR report in 2010, in 2001 al-Awlaki appeared to be a moderate who could "bridge the gap between the United States and the worldwide community of Muslims." The New York Times said at the time that he was "held up as a new generation of Muslim leader capable of merging East and West." In 2010, Fox News and the New York Daily News reported that some months after the 9/11 attacks, a Pentagon employee invited al-Awlaki to a luncheon in the Secretary's Office of General Counsel. The U.S. Secretary of the Army had suggested that a moderate Muslim be invited to give a talk.
In 2002, al-Awlaki was the first imam to conduct a prayer service for the Congressional Muslim Staffer Association at the U.S. Capitol. That year, Nidal Hasan visited al-Awlaki's mosque for his mother's funeral, at which al-Awlaki presided. In November 2009, Hasan killed 13 and wounded 32 in the Fort Hood shooting. Hasan usually attended a mosque in Maryland closer to where he lived while working at the Walter Reed Medical Center (2003–09).
Later in 2002, al-Awlaki posted an essay in Arabic on the Islam Today website titled "Why Muslims Love Death", lauding the fervor of Palestinian suicide bombers. He expressed a similar opinion in a speech at a London mosque later that year. By July 2002, al-Awlaki was under investigation in the United States for having received money from the subject of a U.S. Joint Terrorism Task Force investigation. His name was added to the list of terrorism suspects.
Passport fraud issues
In June 2002, a Denver federal judge signed an arrest warrant for al-Awlaki for passport fraud. On October 9, the Denver U.S. Attorney's Office filed a motion to dismiss the complaint and vacate the arrest warrant. Prosecutors believed that they lacked sufficient evidence of a crime, according to U.S. Attorney Dave Gaouette, who authorized its withdrawal. Al-Awlaki had listed Yemen rather than the United States as his place of birth on his 1990 application for a U.S. Social Security number, soon after arriving in the US. Al-Awlaki used this documentation to obtain a passport in 1993. He later corrected his place of birth to Las Cruces, New Mexico. "The bizarre thing is if you put Yemen down (on the application), it would be harder to get a Social Security number than to say you are a native-born citizen of Las Cruces", Gaouette said.
Prosecutors could not charge him in October 2002, when he returned from a trip abroad, because a 10-year statute of limitations on lying to the Social Security Administration had expired. According to a 2012 investigative report by Fox News, the arrest warrant for passport fraud was still in effect on the morning of October 10, 2002, when FBI Agent Wade Ammerman ordered al-Awlaki's release. U.S. Congressman Frank Wolf (R-VA) and several congressional committees urged FBI Director Robert Mueller to provide an explanation about the bureau's interactions with al-Awlaki, including why he was released from federal custody when there was an outstanding warrant for his arrest. The motion for rescinding the arrest warrant was approved by a magistrate judge on October 10 and filed on October 11.ABC News reported in 2009 that the Joint Terrorism Task Force in San Diego disagreed with the decision to cancel the warrant. They were monitoring al-Awlaki and wanted to "look at him under a microscope". But U.S. Attorney Gaouette said that no objection had been raised to the rescinding of the warrant during a meeting that included Ray Fournier, the San Diego federal diplomatic security agent whose allegation had set in motion the effort to obtain a warrant. Gaouette said that if al-Awlaki had been convicted at the time, he would have faced about six months in custody.The New York Times suggested later that al-Awlaki had claimed birth in Yemen (his family's place of origin) to qualify for scholarship money granted to foreign citizens. U.S. Congressman Frank R. Wolf (R-VA) wrote in May 2010 that by claiming to be foreign-born, al-Awlaki fraudulently obtained more than $20,000 in scholarship funds reserved for foreign students.
While living in Northern Virginia, al-Awlaki visited Ali al-Timimi, later known as a radical Islamic cleric. Al-Timimi was convicted in 2005 and is now serving a life sentence for leading the Virginia Jihad Network, inciting Muslim followers to fight with the Taliban against the US.
In the United Kingdom 2002–04
Al-Awlaki left the United States before the end of 2002, because of a "climate of fear and intimidation" according to Imam Johari Abdul-Malik of the Dar al-Hijrah mosque.
He lived in the UK for several months, where he gave talks attended by up to 200 people. He urged young Muslim followers: "The important lesson to learn here is never, ever trust a kuffar [disbeliever]. Do not trust them! [Their leaders] are plotting to kill this religion. They're plotting night and day." "He was the main man who translated the jihad into English," said a student who attended his lectures in 2003.
He gave a series of lectures in December 2002 and January 2003 at the London Masjid al-Tawhid mosque, describing the rewards martyrs (Shahid) receive in paradise (Jannah). He began to gain supporters, particularly among young Muslims, and undertook a lecture tour of England and Scotland in 2002 in conjunction with the Muslim Association of Britain. He also lectured at "ExpoIslamia", an event held by Islamic Forum Europe. At the East London Mosque he told his audience: "A Muslim is a brother of a Muslim... he does not betray him, and he does not hand him over... You don't hand over a Muslim to the enemies."
In Britain's Parliament in 2003, Louise Ellman, MP for Liverpool Riverside, discussed the relationship between al-Awlaki and the Muslim Association of Britain, an alleged Muslim Brotherhood front organization founded by Kemal el-Helbawy, a senior member of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood.
Return to Yemen 2004–11
Al-Awlaki returned to Yemen in early 2004, where he lived in Shabwah Governorate with his wife and five children. He lectured at Iman University, headed by Abdul Majeed al-Zindani. The latter has been included on the UN 1267 Committee's list of individuals belonging to or associated with al-Qaeda. Al-Zindani denied having any influence over al-Awlaki, or that he had been his "direct teacher". Some believe that the school's curriculum deals mostly, if not exclusively, with radical Islamic studies, and promotes radicalism. American convert John Walker Lindh and other alumni have been associated with terrorist groups.
On August 31, 2006, al-Awlaki was arrested with four others on charges of kidnapping a Shiite teenager for ransom, and participating in an al-Qaeda plot to kidnap a U.S. military attaché. He was imprisoned in 2006 and 2007. He was interviewed around September 2007 by two FBI agents with regard to the 9/11 attacks and other subjects. John Negroponte, the U.S. Director of National Intelligence, told Yemeni officials he did not object to al-Awlaki's detention.
His name was on a list of 100 prisoners whose release was sought by al-Qaeda-linked militants in Yemen. After 18 months in a Yemeni prison, al-Awlaki was released on December 12, 2007, following the intercession of his tribe. According to a Yemeni security official, he was released because he had repented. He moved to his family home in Saeed, a hamlet in the Shabwa mountains.
Moazzam Begg's Cageprisoners, an organization representing former Guantanamo detainees, campaigned for al-Awlaki's release when he was in prison in Yemen. Al-Awlaki told Begg in an interview shortly after his release that prior to his incarceration in Yemen, he had condemned the 9/11 attacks.
In December 2008, al-Awlaki sent a communique to the Somali terrorist group, al-Shabaab, congratulating them.
Al-Awlaki provided al-Qaeda members in Yemen with the protection of his powerful tribe, the Awlakis, against the government. The tribal code required it to protect those who seek refuge and assistance. This imperative has greater force when the person is a member of the tribe or a tribesman's friend. The tribe's motto is "We are the sparks of Hell; whoever interferes with us will be burned." Al-Awlaki also reportedly helped negotiate deals with leaders of other tribes.
Sought by Yemeni authorities who were investigating his al-Qaeda ties, al-Awlaki went into hiding in approximately March 2009, according to his father. By December 2009, al-Awlaki was on the Yemeni government's most-wanted list. He was believed to be hiding in Yemen's Shabwa or Mareb regions, which are part of the so-called "triangle of evil". The area has attracted al-Qaeda militants, who seek refuge among local tribes unhappy with Yemen's central government.
Yemeni sources originally said al-Awlaki might have been killed in a pre-dawn air strike by Yemeni Air Force fighter jets on a meeting of senior al-Qaeda leaders at a hideout in Rafd in eastern Shabwa, on December 24, 2009. But he survived. Pravda reported that the planes, using Saudi and U.S. intelligence, killed at least 30 al-Qaeda members from Yemen and abroad, and that an al-Awlaki house was "raided and demolished". On December 28 The Washington Post reported that U.S. and Yemeni officials said that al-Awlaki had been present at the meeting. Abdul Elah al-Shaya, a Yemeni journalist, said al-Awlaki called him on December 28 to report that he was well and had not attended the al-Qaeda meeting. Al-Shaya said that al-Awlaki was not tied to al-Qaeda.
In March 2010, a tape featuring al-Awlaki was released in which he urged Muslims residing in the United States to attack their country of residence.
Reaching out to the United Kingdom
After 2006, al-Awlaki was banned from entering the United Kingdom. He broadcast lectures to mosques and other venues there via video-link from 2007 to 2009, on at least seven occasions at five locations in Britain. Noor Pro Media Events held a conference at the East London Mosque on January 1, 2009, showing a videotaped lecture by al-Awlaki; former Shadow Home Secretary Dominic Grieve expressed concern over his being featured.
He gave video-link talks in England to an Islamic student society at the University of Westminster in September 2008, an arts center in East London in April 2009 (after the Tower Hamlets council gave its approval), worshippers at the Al Huda Mosque in Bradford, and a dinner of the Cageprisoners organization in September 2008 at the Wandsworth Civic Centre in South London. On August 23, 2009, al-Awlaki was banned by local authorities in Kensington and Chelsea, London, from speaking at Kensington Town Hall via videolink to a fundraiser dinner for Guantanamo detainees promoted by Cageprisoners. His videos, which discuss his Islamist theories, have circulated across the United Kingdom. Until February 2010, hundreds of audio tapes of his sermons were available at the Tower Hamlets public libraries. In 2009, the London-based Islam Channel carried advertisements for his DVDs and at least two of his video conference lectures.
Other connections
FBI agents identified al-Awlaki as a known, important "senior recruiter for al Qaeda", and a spiritual motivator. His name came up in a dozen terrorism plots in the US, UK, and Canada. The cases included suicide bombers in the 2005 London bombings, radical Islamic terrorists in the 2006 Toronto terrorism case, radical Islamic terrorists in the 2007 Fort Dix attack plot, the jihadist killer in the 2009 Little Rock military recruiting office shooting, and the 2010 Times Square bomber. In each case the suspects were devoted to al-Awlaki's message, which they listened to online and on CDs.
Al-Awlaki's recorded lectures were heard by Islamist fundamentalists in at least six terror cells in the UK through 2009. Michael Finton (Talib Islam), who attempted in September 2009 to bomb the Federal Building and the adjacent offices of Congressman Aaron Schock in Springfield, Illinois, admired al-Awlaki and quoted him on his Myspace page. In addition to his website, al-Awlaki had a Facebook fan page with "fans" in the US, many of whom were high school students. Al-Awlaki also set up a website and blog on which he shared his views.
Al-Awlaki influenced several other extremists to join terrorist organizations overseas and to carry out terrorist attacks in their home countries. Mohamed Alessa and Carlos Almonte, two American citizens from New Jersey who attempted to travel to Somalia in June 2010 to join the al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group Al Shabaab, allegedly watched several al-Awlaki videos and sermons in which he warned of future attacks against Americans in the United States and abroad. Zachary Chesser, an American citizen who was arrested for attempting to provide material support to Al Shabaab, told federal authorities that he watched online videos featuring al-Awlaki and that he exchanged several e-mails with al-Awlaki. In July 2010, Paul Rockwood was sentenced to eight years in prison for creating a list of 15 potential targets in the US, people he felt had desecrated Islam. Rockwood was a devoted follower of al-Awlaki, and had studied his works Constants on the Path to Jihad and 44 Ways to Jihad.
In October 2008, Charles Allen, U.S. Under-Secretary of Homeland Security for Intelligence and Analysis, warned that al-Awlaki "targets U.S. Muslims with radical online lectures encouraging terrorist attacks from his new home in Yemen." Responding to Allen, al-Awlaki wrote on his website in December 2008: "I would challenge him to come up with just one such lecture where I encourage 'terrorist attacks'".
Fort Hood shooter
Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan was investigated by the FBI after intelligence agencies intercepted at least 18 e-mails between him and al-Awlaki between December 2008 and June 2009. Even before the contents of the e-mails were revealed, terrorism expert Jarret Brachman said that Hasan's contacts with al-Awlaki should have raised "huge red flags", because of his influence on radical English-speaking jihadis. Charles Allen, no longer in government, noted that there was no work-related reason for Hasan to be in touch with al-Awlaki. Former CIA officer Bruce Riedel opined: "E-mailing a known al-Qaeda sympathizer should have set off alarm bells. Even if he was exchanging recipes, the bureau should have put out an alert." A DC-based Joint Terrorism Task Force operating under the FBI was notified of the e-mails and reviewed the information. Army employees were informed of the e-mails, but they didn't perceive any terrorist threat in Hasan's questions. Instead, they viewed them as general questions about spiritual guidance with regard to conflicts between Islam and military service and judged them to be consistent with legitimate mental health research about Muslims in the armed services. The assessment was that there was not sufficient information for a larger investigation. In one of the e-mails, Hasan wrote al-Awlaki: "I can't wait to join you [in the afterlife]". "It sounds like code words," said Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer, a military analyst at the Center for Advanced Defense Studies. "That he's actually either offering himself up, or that he's already crossed that line in his own mind."
Yemeni journalist Abdulelah Hider Shaea interviewed al-Awlaki in November 2009. Al-Awlaki acknowledged his correspondence with Hasan. He said he "neither ordered nor pressured ... Hasan to harm Americans." Al-Awlaki said Hasan first e-mailed him December 17, 2008, introducing himself by writing: "Do you remember me? I used to pray with you at the Virginia mosque." Hasan said he had become a devout Muslim around the time al-Awlaki was preaching at Dar al-Hijrah, in 2001 and 2002, and al-Awlaki said 'Maybe Nidal was affected by one of my lectures.'" He added: "It was clear from his e-mails that Nidal trusted me. Nidal told me: 'I speak with you about issues that I never speak with anyone else.'" Al-Awlaki said Hasan arrived at his own conclusions regarding the acceptability of violence in Islam and said he was not the one to initiate this. Shaea said, "Nidal was providing evidence to Anwar, not vice versa."
Asked whether Hasan mentioned Fort Hood as a target in his e-mails, Shaea declined to comment. Al-Awlaki said the shooting was acceptable in Islam, however, because it was a form of jihad, as the West began the hostilities with the Muslims. Al-Awlaki said he "blessed the act because it was against a military target. And the soldiers who were killed were ... those who were trained and prepared to go to Iraq and Afghanistan".
Al-Awlaki's e-mail conversations with Hasan were not released, and he was not placed on the FBI Most Wanted list, indicted for treason, or officially named as a co-conspirator with Hasan. The U.S. government was reluctant to classify the Fort Hood shooting as a terrorist incident, or identify any motive. The Wall Street Journal reported in January 2010 that al-Awlaki had not "played a direct role" in any of the attacks, and noted he had never been charged with a crime in the US.
One of his fellow officers at Fort Hood said Hasan was enthusiastic about al-Awlaki. Some investigators believe al-Awlaki's teachings may have been instrumental in Hasan's decision to stage the attack. On his now-disabled website, al-Awlaki praised Hasan's actions, describing him as a hero.
Christmas Day "Underwear Bomber"
According to a number of sources, Al-Awlaki and Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the convicted al-Qaeda attempted bomber of Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on December 25, 2009, had contacts. In January 2010, CNN reported that U.S. "security sources" said that there is concrete evidence that al-Awlaki was Abdulmutallab's recruiter and one of his trainers, and met with him prior to the attack. In February 2010, al-Awlaki admitted in an interview published in al-Jazeera that he taught and corresponded with Abdulmutallab, but denied having ordered the attack.
Representative Pete Hoekstra, the senior Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, said officials in the Obama administration and officials with access to law enforcement information told him the suspect "may have had contact [with al-Awlaki]".The Sunday Times established that Abdulmutallab first met al-Awlaki in 2005 in Yemen, while he was studying Arabic. During that time the suspect attended lectures by al-Awlaki.NPR reported that according to unnamed U.S. intelligence officials he attended a sermon by al-Awlaki at the Finsbury Park Mosque. Khalid Mahmood, the Labour MP for Birmingham Perry Barr, a former trustee of the mosque, expressed "grave misgivings" with regard to its stewardship. A spokesperson of the mosque stated that al-Awlaki had never spoken there or had even to his knowledge entered the building.
Abdulmutallab was also reported by CBS News, The Daily Telegraph, and The Sunday Telegraph to have attended a talk by al-Awlaki at the East London Mosque, which al-Awlaki may have attended by video teleconference. The Sunday Telegraph later removed the report from its website following a complaint by the East London Mosque, which stated that "Anwar Al Awlaki did not deliver any talks at the ELM between 2005 and 2008, which is when the newspaper had falsely alleged that Abdullmutallab had attended such talks".
Investigators who searched flats connected to Abdulmutallab in London said that he was a "big fan" of al-Awlaki, as al-Awlaki's blog and website had repeatedly been visited from those locations.
According to federal sources, Abdulmutallab and al-Awlaki repeatedly communicated with one another in the year prior to the attack. "Voice-to-voice communication" between the two was intercepted during the fall of 2009, and one government source said al-Awlaki "was in some way involved in facilitating [Abdulmutallab]'s transportation or trip through Yemen. It could be training, a host of things." NPR reported that intelligence officials suspected al-Awlaki may have told Abdulmutallab to go to Yemen for al-Qaeda training.
Abdulmutallab told the FBI that al-Awlaki was one of his al-Qaeda trainers in Yemen. Others reported that Abdulmutallab met with al-Awlaki in the weeks leading up to the attack. The Los Angeles Times reported that according to a U.S. intelligence official, intercepts and other information point to connections between the two:
Some of the information ... comes from Abdulmutallab, who ... said that he met with al-Awlaki and senior al-Qaeda members during an extended trip to Yemen this year and that the cleric was involved in some elements of planning or preparing the attack and in providing religious justification for it. Other intelligence linking the two became apparent after the attempted bombing, including communications intercepted by the National Security Agency indicating that the cleric was meeting with "a Nigerian" in preparation for some kind of operation.
Yemen's Deputy Prime Minister for Defense and Security Affairs, Rashad Mohammed al-Alimi, said Yemeni investigators believe that Abdulmutallab traveled to Shabwa in October 2009. Investigators believe he obtained his explosives and received training there. He met there with al-Qaeda members in a house built by al-Awlaki. A top Yemen government official said the two met with each other.
In January 2010, al-Awlaki acknowledged that he met and spoke with Abdulmutallab in Yemen in the fall of 2009. In an interview, al-Awlaki said: "Umar Farouk is one of my students; I had communications with him. And I support what he did." He also said: "I did not tell him to do this operation, but I support it". Fox News reported in early February 2010 that Abdulmutallab told federal investigators that al-Awlaki directed him to carry out the bombing.
In June 2010 Michael Leiter, the Director of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), said al-Awlaki had a "direct operational role" in the plot.
Sharif Mobley
Sharif Mobley had acknowledged contact with Anwar al-Awlaki. The Mobley family claims the contact was for spiritual guidance in further studies of Islam.
The Mobley family went to Yemen and resided there for several years. They decided to return to the United States and went to the U.S. Embassy to update the family travel documents. While waiting for their travel documents, Sharif Mobley was kidnapped by Yemen Security Services and shot on January 26, 2010. He was then held in Yemen's Central Prison. Mobley disappeared from the Central Prison on February 27, 2014. His current location is known to the U.S. Embassy in Yemen (currently closed 2015) but is withheld from his family and legal advisers based on U.S. State Department Regulations on "U.S. Citizens Missing Abroad".
All charges related to "terrorism/terrorist activity" were dropped by the Yemen government. There are no charges relating to allegations of "killing a guard during an escape attempt from the hospital" and there are no other legal proceedings against him in Yemen.
Times Square bomber
Faisal Shahzad, convicted of the 2010 Times Square car bombing attempt, told interrogators that he was a "fan and follower" of al-Awlaki, and his writings were one of the inspirations for the attack. On May 6, 2010 ABC News reported that unknown sources told them Shahzad made contact with al-Awlaki over the internet, a claim that could not be independently verified.
Stabbing of British former minister Stephen Timms
Roshonara Choudhry, who stabbed former British Cabinet Minister Stephen Timms in May 2010, and was found guilty of his attempted murder in November 2010, claimed to have become radicalized by listening to online sermons of al-Awlaki.
Seattle Weekly cartoonist death threat
In 2010, after Everybody Draw Mohammed Day, cartoonist Molly Norris at Seattle Weekly had to stop publishing, and at the suggestion of the FBI changed her name, moved, and went into hiding due to a fatwā issued by al-Awlaki calling for her death. In the June 2010 issue of Inspire, an English-language al-Qaeda magazine, al-Awlaki cursed her and eight others for "blasphemous caricatures" of Muhammad. "The medicine prescribed by the Messenger of Allah is the execution of those involved", he wrote. Daniel Pipes observed in an article entitled "Dueling Fatwas", "Awlaki stands at an unprecedented crossroads of death declarations, with his targeting Norris even as the U.S. government targets him."
Cargo planes bomb plotThe Guardian, The New York Times, and The Daily Telegraph reported that U.S. and British counter-terrorism officials believed that al-Awlaki was behind the cargo plane PETN bombs that were sent from Yemen to Chicago in October 2010.Yemen bomb scare 'mastermind' lived in London | World news. The Guardian. Retrieved on October 1, 2011. When U.S. Homeland Security official John Brennan was asked about al-Awlaki's suspected involvement in the plot, he said: "Anybody associated with al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is a subject of concern." U.S. Ambassador to Yemen Gerald Feierstein said "al-Awlaki was behind the two bombs."
Final years
Al-Awlaki's father, tribe, and supporters denied his alleged associations with Al-Qaeda and Islamist terrorism. Al-Awlaki's father proclaimed his son's innocence in an interview with CNN's Paula Newton, saying: "I am now afraid of what they will do with my son. He's not Osama bin Laden, they want to make something out of him that he's not." Responding to a Yemeni official's assertions that his son had taken refuge with al-Qaeda, Nasser said: "He's dead wrong. What do you expect my son to do? There are missiles raining down on the village. He has to hide. But he is not hiding with al-Qaeda; our tribe is protecting him right now."
The Yemeni government attempted to get the tribal leaders to release al-Awlaki to their custody. They promised they would not turn him over to U.S. authorities for questioning. The governor of Shabwa said in January 2010 that al-Awlaki was on the move with members of al-Qaeda, including Fahd al-Quso, who was wanted in connection with the bombing of the USS Cole.
In January 2010, White House lawyers debated whether or not it was legal to kill al-Awlaki, given his U.S. citizenship. U.S. officials stated that international law allows targeted killing in the event that the subject is an "imminent threat". Because he was a U.S. citizen, his killing had to be approved by the National Security Council. Such action against a U.S. citizen is extremely rare. As a military enemy of the US, al-Awlaki was not subject to Executive Order 11905, which bans assassination for political reasons. The authorization was nevertheless controversial.
By February 4, 2010, the New York Daily News reported that al-Awlaki was "now on a targeting list signed off on by the Obama administration". On April 6, The New York Times reported that President Obama had authorized the killing of al-Awlaki.
The al-Awalik tribe responded: "We warn against cooperating with America to kill Sheikh Anwar al-Awlaki. We will not stand by idly and watch." Al-Awlaki's tribe wrote that it would "not remain with arms crossed if a hair of Anwar al-Awlaki is touched, or if anyone plots or spies against him. Whoever risks denouncing our son (Awlaki) will be the target of Al-Awalik weapons", and gave warning "against co-operating with the Americans" in the capture or killing of al-Awlaki. Abu Bakr al-Qirbi, the Yemeni foreign minister, announced that the Yemeni government had not received any evidence from the US, and that "Anwar al-Awlaki has always been looked at as a preacher rather than a terrorist and shouldn't be considered as a terrorist unless the Americans have evidence that he has been involved in terrorism".
In a video clip bearing the imprint of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, issued on April 16 in al-Qaeda's monthly magazine Sada Al-Malahem, al-Awlaki said: "What am I accused of? Of calling for the truth? Of calling for jihad for the sake of Allah? Of calling to defend the causes of the Islamic nation?" In the video he also praises both Abdulmutallab and Hasan, and describes both as his "students".
In late April, Representative Charlie Dent (R-PA) introduced a resolution urging the U.S. State Department to withdraw al-Awlaki's U.S. citizenship. By May, U.S. officials believed he had become directly involved in terrorist activities. Former colleague Abdul-Malik said he "is a terrorist, in my book", and advised shops not to carry any of his publications. In an editorial, Investor's Business Daily called al-Awlaki the "world's most dangerous man", and recommended that he be added to the FBI's most-wanted terrorist list, a bounty put on his head, that he be designated a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, charged with treason, and extradition papers filed with the Yemeni government. IBD criticized the Justice Department for stonewalling Senator Joe Lieberman's security panel's investigation of al-Awlaki's role in the Fort Hood massacre.
On July 16, the U.S. Treasury Department added him to its list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists. Stuart Levey, Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, called him "extraordinarily dangerous", and said al-Awlaki was involved in several organizational aspects of terrorism, including recruiting, training, fundraising, and planning individual attacks.
A few days later, the United Nations Security Council placed al-Awlaki on its UN Security Council Resolution 1267 list of individuals associated with al-Qaeda, describing him as a leader, recruiter, and trainer for al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. The resolution stipulates that U.N. members must freeze the assets of anyone on the list, and prevent them from travelling or obtaining weapons. The following week, Canadian banks were ordered to seize any assets belonging to al-Awlaki. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police's senior counter-terrorism officer Gilles Michaud described him as a "major, major factor in radicalization". In September 2010, Jonathan Evans, the Director General of the United Kingdom's domestic security and counter-intelligence agency (MI5), said that al-Awlaki was the West's Public Enemy No 1.
In October 2010, U.S. Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-NY) urged YouTube to take down al-Awlaki's videos from its website, saying that by hosting al-Awlaki's messages, "We are facilitating the recruitment of homegrown terror." Pauline Neville-Jones, British security minister, said "These Web sites ... incite cold-blooded murder." YouTube began removing the material in November 2010.
Al-Awlaki was charged in absentia in Sana'a, Yemen, on November 2 with plotting to kill foreigners and being a member of al-Qaeda. Ali al-Saneaa, the head of the prosecutor's office, announced the charges during the trial of Hisham Assem, who had been accused of killing Jacques Spagnolo, an oil industry worker. He said that al-Awlaki and Assem had been in contact for months, and that al-Awlaki had encouraged Assem to commit terrorism. Al-Awlaki's lawyer said that his client was not connected to Spagnolo's death. On November 6, Yemeni Judge Mohsen Alwan ordered that al-Awlaki be caught "dead or alive".
In his book Ticking Time Bomb: Counter-Terrorism Lessons from the U.S. Government's Failure to Prevent the Fort Hood Attack (2011), former U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman described al-Awlaki, Australian Muslim preacher Feiz Mohammad, Muslim cleric Abdullah el-Faisal, and Pakistani-American Samir Khan as "virtual spiritual sanctioners" who use the internet to offer religious justification for Islamist terrorism.
Lawsuit against the US
In July 2010, al-Awlaki's father, Nasser al-Awlaki, contacted the Center for Constitutional Rights and the American Civil Liberties Union to represent his son in a lawsuit that sought to remove Anwar from the targeted killing list. ACLU's Jameel Jaffer said:
the United States is not at war in Yemen, and the government doesn't have a blank check to kill terrorism suspects wherever they are in the world. Among the arguments we'll be making is that, outside actual war zones, the authority to use lethal force is narrowly circumscribed, and preserving the rule of law depends on keeping this authority narrow.
Lawyers for Specially Designated Global Terrorists must obtain a special license from the U.S. Treasury Department before they can represent their clients in court. The lawyers were granted the license on August 4, 2010.
On August 30, 2010, the groups filed a "targeted killing" lawsuit, naming President Obama, CIA Director Leon Panetta, and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates as defendants. They sought an injunction preventing the targeted killing of al-Awlaki, and also sought to require the government to disclose the standards under which U.S. citizens may be "targeted for death". Judge John D. Bates dismissed the lawsuit in an 83-page ruling, holding that the father did not have legal standing to bring the lawsuit, and that his claims were judicially unreviewable under the political question doctrine inasmuch as he was questioning a decision that the U.S. Constitution committed to the political branches.
On May 5, 2011, the United States tried but failed to kill al-Awlaki by firing a missile from an unmanned drone at a car in Yemen. A Yemeni security official said that two al-Qaeda operatives in the car died.
Death
On September 30, 2011, al-Awlaki was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Al Jawf Governorate, Yemen, according to U.S. sources, the strike was carried out by Joint Special Operations Command, under the direction of the CIA. A witness said the group had stopped to eat breakfast while traveling to Ma'rib Governorate. The occupants of the vehicle spotted the drone and attempted to flee in the vehicle before Hellfire missiles were fired Yemen's Defense Ministry announced that al-Awlaki had been killed. Also killed was Samir Khan, an American born in Saudi Arabia, thought to be behind al-Qaeda's English-language web magazine Inspire. U.S. President Barack Obama said:
The death of Awlaki is a major blow to Al-Qaeda's most active operational affiliate. He took the lead in planning and directing efforts to murder innocent Americans ... and he repeatedly called on individuals in the United States and around the globe to kill innocent men, women and children to advance a murderous agenda. [The strike] is further proof that Al-Qaeda and its affiliates will find no safe haven anywhere in the world.
Journalist and author Glenn Greenwald argued on Salon.com that killing al-Awlaki violated his First Amendment right of free speech and that doing so outside of a criminal proceeding violated the Constitution's due process clause, specifically citing the 1969 Supreme Court decision in Brandenburg v. Ohio that "the constitutional guarantees of free speech and free press do not permit a State to forbid or proscribe advocacy of the use of force." He mentioned doubt among Yemeni experts about al-Awlaki's role in al-Qaeda, and called U.S. government accusations against him unverified and lacking in evidence.
In a letter dated May 22, 2013, to the chairman of the U.S. Senate Judiciary committee, Patrick J. Leahy, U.S. attorney general Eric Holder wrote that
high-level U.S. government officials [...] concluded that al-Aulaqi posed a continuing and imminent threat of violent attack against the United States. Before carrying out the operation that killed al-Aulaqi, senior officials also determined, based on a careful evaluation of the circumstances at the time, that it was not feasible to capture al-Aulaqi. In addition, senior officials determined that the operation would be conducted consistent with applicable law of war principles, including the cardinal principles of (1) necessity – the requirement that the target have definite military value; (2) distinction – the idea that only military objectives may be intentionally targeted and that civilians are protected from being intentionally targeted; (3) proportionality – the notion that the anticipated collateral damage of an action cannot be excessive in relation to the anticipated concrete and direct military advantage; and (4) humanity – a principle that requires us to use weapons that will not inflict unnecessary suffering. The operation was also undertaken consistent with Yemeni sovereignty. [...] The decision to target Anwar al-Aulaqi was lawful, it was considered, and it was just.
On April 21, 2014, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal ruled that the Obama administration must release documents justifying its drone killings of foreigners and Americans, including Anwar al-Awlaki. In June 2014, the United States Department of Justice disclosed a 2010 memorandum written by the acting head of the department's Office of Legal Counsel, David J. Barron. The memo stated that Anwar al-Awlaki was a significant threat with an infeasible probability of capture. Barron therefore justified the killing as legal, as "the Constitution would not require the government to provide further process". The New York Times Editorial Board dismissed the memo's rationale for al-Awlaki's killing, saying it "provides little confidence that the lethal action was taken with real care", instead describing it as "a slapdash pastiche of legal theories—some based on obscure interpretations of British and Israeli law—that was clearly tailored to the desired result." A lawyer for the ACLU described the memo as "disturbing" and "ultimately an argument that the president can order targeted killings of Americans without ever having to account to anyone outside the executive branch."
Legacy
Seth Jones, who as a political scientist specializes in al-Qaida, considers that the continuing relevance of al-Awlaki is due to his fluency in the English language as well as his charisma, precising that "he had a disarming aura and unnerving confidence, with an easy smile and a soothing, eloquent voice. He stood a lanky six feet, one inch tall, weighed 160 pounds, and had a thick black beard, an oversized nose, and wire-rimmed glasses. He spoke in a clear, almost hypnotic voice."
Awlaki's videos and writings remain highly popular on the internet, where they continue to be readily accessible. Those who viewed and still view his videos are estimated by journalist Scott Shane to number in the hundreds of thousands, while his father Dr. Nasser Awlaqi says that "five million preaching tapes of Anwar Awlaqi have been sold in the West." And thus, even following his death, Awlaki has continued to inspire his devotees to carry out terrorist attacks, including the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, the 2015 San Bernardino attack, and the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting. According to the Counter Extremism Project (CEP), 88 "extremists," 54 in the U.S. and 34 in Europe, have been influenced by Awlaki. Because "his work has inspired countless plots and attacks," CEP has "called on YouTube and other platforms to permanently ban Mr. Awlaki's material, including his early, mainstream lectures."
FOIA documents
During the FBI investigation of the 9/11 attacks, it was discovered that a few of the attackers had attended the mosques in San Diego and Falls Church with which al-Awlaki was associated. Interviews with members of the San Diego mosque showed that Nawaz al-Hazmi, one of the attackers, may have had a private conversation with him. On that basis he was placed under 24-hour surveillance. It was discovered that he regularly patronized prostitutes. It was through FBI interrogation of prostitutes and escort service operators that al-Awlaki was tipped off in 2002 about FBI surveillance. Shortly thereafter, he left the United States.
In January 2013, Fox News announced that FBI documents obtained by Judicial Watch through a Freedom of Information Act request showed possible connections between al-Awlaki and the September 11 attackers. According to Judicial Watch, the documents show that the FBI knew that al-Awlaki had bought tickets for three of the hijackers to fly into Florida and Las Vegas. Judicial Watch further stated that al-Awlaki "was a central focus of the FBI's investigation of 9/11. They show he wasn't cooperative. And they show that he was under surveillance."
When queried by Fox News, the FBI denied having evidence connecting al-Awlaki and the September 11 attacks: "The FBI cautions against drawing conclusions from redacted FOIA documents. The FBI and investigating bodies have not found evidence connecting Anwar al-Awlaki and the attack on September 11, 2001. The document referenced does not link Anwar al-Awlaki with any purchase of airline tickets for the hijackers."
Family
Abdulrahman al-Awlaki
Anwar al-Awlaki and Egyptian-born Gihan Mohsen Baker had a son, Abdulrahman Anwar al-Awlaki, born August 26, 1995, in Denver, who was an American citizen. Abdulrahman al-Awlaki was killed on October 14, 2011, in Yemen at the age of 16 in an American drone strike. Nine other people were killed in the same CIA-initiated attack, including a 17-year-old cousin of Abdulrahman. According to his relatives, shortly before his father's death, Abdulrahman had left the family home in Sana'a and travelled to Shabwa in search of his father who was believed to be in hiding in that area (though he was actually hundreds of miles away at the time ). Abdulrahman was sitting in an open-air cafe in Shabwa when killed. According to U.S. officials, the killing of Abdulrahman al-Awlaki was a mistake; the intended target was an Egyptian, Ibrahim al-Banna, who was not at the targeted location at the time of the attack. Human rights groups have raised questions as to why an American citizen was killed by the United States in a country with which the United States is not officially at war. Abdulrahman al-Awlaki was not known to have any independent connection to terrorism.
Nasser al-Awlaki
Nasser al-Awlaki is the father of Anwar and grandfather of Abdulrahman al-Awlaki. Al-Awlaki stated he believed his son had been wrongly accused and was not a member of Al Qaeda. After the deaths of his son and grandson, Nasser in an interview in Time magazine called the killings a crime and condemned U.S. President Obama directly, saying: "I urge the American people to bring the killers to justice. I urge them to expose the hypocrisy of the 2009 Nobel Prize laureate. To some, he may be that. To me and my family, he is nothing more than a child killer."
In 2013, Nasser al-Awlaki published an op-ed in The New York Times stating that two years after killing his grandson, the Obama administration still declines to provide an explanation. In 2012, Nasser al-Awlaki filed a lawsuit, Al-Aulaqi v. Panetta, challenging the constitutionality of the drone killings of his son and grandson. This lawsuit was dismissed in April 2014 by D.C. District Court Judge Rosemary M. Collyer.
Tariq al-Dahab
Tariq al-Dahab, who led al-Qaeda insurgents in Yemen, was a brother-in-law of al-Awlaki. On February 16, 2012, the terrorist organization stated that he had been killed by agents, although media reports contain speculation that he was killed by his brother in a bloody family feud.
Nawar al-Awlaki
On January 29, 2017, Anwar al-Awlaki's 8-year-old daughter, Nawar al-Awlaki, who was an American citizen, was killed in a DEVGRU operation authorized by President Donald Trump."1 US service member killed, 3 wounded in Yemen raid" , WPVI-TV, 6 ABC Action News, Philadelphia, PA. January 29, 2017. Retrieved January 29, 2017.
Islamic education
Al-Awlaki's Islamic education was primarily informal, and consisted of intermittent months with various scholars reading and contemplating Islamic scholarly works. Despite having no religious qualifications and almost no religious education, Al-Awlaki made a name for himself as a public speaker who released popular audio recordings.Some Muslim scholars said they did not understand alAwlaki's popularity, because while he spoke fluent English and could therefore reach a large non-Arabic-speaking audience, he lacked formal Islamic training and study.
Ideology
While imprisoned in Yemen after 2004, al-Awlaki was influenced by the works of Sayyid Qutb, described by The New York Times as an originator of the contemporary "anti-Western Jihadist movement". He read 150 to 200 pages a day of Qutb's works, and described himself as "so immersed with the author I would feel Sayyid was with me in my cell speaking to me directly".
Terrorism consultant Evan Kohlmann in 2009 referred to al-Awlaki as "one of the principal jihadi luminaries for would-be homegrown terrorists. His fluency with English, his unabashed advocacy of jihad and mujahideen organizations, and his Web-savvy approach are a powerful combination." He called al-Awlaki's lecture, "Constants on the Path of Jihad", which he says was based on a similar document written by al-Qaeda's founder, the "virtual bible for lone-wolf Muslim extremists". Philip Mudd, formerly of the CIA's National Counterterrorism Center and the FBI's top intelligence adviser, called him "a magnetic character ... a powerful orator." He attracted young men to his lectures, especially US-based and UK-based Muslims.
U.S. officials and some U.S. media sources called al-Awlaki an Islamic fundamentalist and accused him of encouraging terrorism. According to documents recovered from bin Laden's hideout, the al-Qaeda leader was unsure about al-Awlaki's qualifications.
Works
The Nine Eleven Finding Answers Foundation said al-Awlaki's ability to write and speak in fluent English enabled him to incite English-speaking Muslims to terrorism. Al-Awlaki notes in 44 Ways to Support Jihad that most reading material on the subject is in Arabic.
Written works
44 Ways to Support Jihad: Essay (January 2009). In it, al-Awlaki states that "The hatred of kuffar is a central element of our military creed" and that all Muslims are obligated to participate in jihad, either by committing the acts themselves or supporting others who do so. He says all Muslims must remain physically fit so as to be prepared for conflict. According to U.S. officials, it is considered a key text for al-Qaeda members.
Al-Awlaki wrote for Jihad Recollections, an English language online publication published by Al-Fursan Media.
Allah is Preparing Us for Victory – short book (2009).
Lectures
Lectures on the book Constants on the Path of Jihad by Yusef al-Ayeri—concerns leaderless jihad.
In 2009, the UK government found 1,910 of his videos had been posted to YouTube. One of them had been viewed 164,420 times.
The Battle of Hearts and Minds The Dust Will Never Settle Down Dreams & Interpretations The Hereafter—16 CDs—Al Basheer Productions
Life of Muhammad: Makkan Period—16 CDs—Al Basheer Productions
Life of Muhammad: Medinan Period—Lecture in 2 Parts—18 CDs—Al Basheer Productions
Lives of the Prophets (AS)—16 CDs—Al Basheer Productions
Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (RA): His Life & Times—15 CDs—Al Basheer Productions
Umar ibn al-Khattāb (RA): His Life & Times—18 CDs—Al Basheer Productions
25 Promises from Allah to the Believer—2 CDs—Noor Productions
Companions of the Ditch & Lessons from the Life of Musa (AS)—2 CDs—Noor Productions
Remembrance of Allah & the Greatest Ayah—2 CDs—Noor Productions
Stories from Hadith—4 CDs—Center for Islamic Information and Education ("CIIE")
Hellfire & The Day of Judgment—CD—CIIE
Quest for Truth: The Story of Salman Al-Farsi (RA)—CD—CIIE
Trials & Lessons for Muslim Minorities—CD—CIIE
Young Ayesha (RA) & Mothers of the Believers (RA)—CD—CIIE
Understanding the Quran—CD—CIIE
Lessons from the Companions (RA) Living as a Minority—CD—CIIE
Virtues of the Sahabah—video lecture series promoted by the al-Wasatiyyah Foundation
Website
Al-Awlaki maintained a website and blog on which he shared his views. On December 11, 2008, he said Muslims should not seek to "serve in the armies of the disbelievers and fight against his brothers".
In "44 Ways to Support Jihad", posted on his blog in February 2009, al-Awlaki encouraged others to "fight jihad", and explained how to give money to the mujahideen or their families. Al-Awlaki's sermon encourages others to conduct weapons training, and raise children "on the love of Jihad". Also that month, he wrote: "I pray that Allah destroys America and all its allies." He wrote as well: "We will implement the rule of Allah on Earth by the tip of the sword, whether the masses like it or not." On July 14, he said that Muslim countries should not offer military assistance to the US. "The blame should be placed on the soldier who is willing to follow orders ... who sells his religion for a few dollars," he said. In blog post dated July 15, 2009, entitled "Fighting Against Government Armies in the Muslim World", al-Awlaki wrote, "Blessed are those who fight against [American soldiers], and blessed are those shuhada [martyrs] who are killed by them."
In a video posted to the internet on November 8, 2010, al-Awlaki called for Muslims to kill Americans "without hesitation", and overthrow Arab governments that cooperate with the US. "Don't consult with anyone in fighting the Americans, fighting the devil doesn't require consultation or prayers or seeking divine guidance. They are the party of the devils", al-Awlaki said. That month, Intelligence Research Specialist Kevin Yorke of the New York Police Department's Counterterrorism Division called him "the most dangerous man in the world".
See also
Church Committee
Executive Order 12333
Extrajudicial killing
International counter-terrorism activities of the CIA
Protocol I
References
Further reading
al-Ashanti, AbdulHaq and Sloan, Abu Ameenah AbdurRahman. (2011) A Critique of the Methodology of Anwar al-Awlaki and his Errors in the Fiqh of Jihad. London: Jamiah Media, 2011
External links
Ruling of Judge Bates in Al Aulaqi v Obama
Statements
Interviews
"Exclusive; Ray Suarez: My Post-9/11 Interview With Anwar al-Awlaki", PBS, October 30, 2001
"Al-Jazeera Satellite Network Interview with Yemeni-American Cleric Shaykh Anwar al-Awlaki Regarding his Alleged Role in Radicalizing Maj. Malik Nidal Hasan", The NEFA Foundation, December 24, 2009
Media coverage
The imam's very curious story: A skirt-chasing mullah is just one more mystery for the 9/11 panel, Ragavan, Chitra, US News and World Report'', June 13, 2004
DBI.gov
1971 births
2011 deaths
20th-century imams
21st-century imams
Abdullah Yusuf Azzam
Al-Qaeda propagandists
Assassinated al-Qaeda leaders
American al-Qaeda members
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American people of Yemeni descent
Colorado State University alumni
George Washington University Graduate School of Education and Human Development alumni
People associated with the September 11 attacks
People from Las Cruces, New Mexico
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United States military killing of American civilians | true | [
"Stanley I. Rapp is a prominent lobbyist in Pennsylvania, where he is a partner with the Greenlee Partners lobbying firm, which is the \"pre-eminent power player in Harrisburg politics.\" He is considered the \"dean of Harrisburg lobbyists.\"\n\nHe earned a degree from Penn State University, and has worked as a political operative for a variety of federal, state, and local candidates. He worked in several positions in the Pennsylvania Senate, as Chief Clerk of the Pennsylvania Senate and as Chief of Staff to President Pro Tem Henry G. Hager.\n\nThe Pennsylvania Report named him to the 2003 \"The Pennsylvania Report Power 75\" list of influential figures in Pennsylvania politics, commenting on the strength of his connections to the Pennsylvania Senate. In 2009, the Pennsylvania Report named him to \"The Pennsylvania Report 100\" list of influential figures in Pennsylvania politics. He was named to the PoliticsPA list of \"Sy Snyder's Power 50\" list of influential individuals in Pennsylvania politics in 2002 and 2003. In 2010, Politics Magazine named him one of the most influential Republicans in Pennsylvania.\n\nReferences\n\nLiving people\nPennsylvania lobbyists\nEmployees of the Pennsylvania General Assembly\nPennsylvania State University alumni\nYear of birth missing (living people)",
"Mike Long is an American lobbyist, political strategist, and former legislative aide in Pennsylvania.\n\nCareer\n\nHe was chief of staff for President Pro Tempore of the Pennsylvania Senate Robert Jubelirer. He is also the brother-in-law of former majority leader, David (Chip) Brightbill. He also was the \"chief political strategist\" for the Senate Republican Caucus. Mike Long is generally credited for keeping the Republican caucus in the majority, which held a 30-20 advantage at its peak. The political newsletter The Insider called him the \"Jubelirer-Brightbill Political Brain\" and praised his ability to identify Democratic senate seats that could be flipped for the GOP.\n\nHe left the Senate after 27 years after the 2006 Republican primary. He then became a lobbyist, representing, among others, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission.\n\nAwards and recognition\n\nPoliticsPA named him the top political operative in Pennsylvania, saying that his masterminding of Joseph B. Scarnati's independent campaign against Bill Slocum \"was one for the books.\" He was also named the PoliticsPA \"Republican Dream Team\" of campaign operatives. The Pennsylvania Report named him to the 2003 \"The Pennsylvania Report Power 75\" list of influential figures in Pennsylvania politics, calling him \"Pennsylvania’s best “in-house” political operative by a mile.\" He was named to the PoliticsPA list of \"Sy Snyder's Power 50\" in 2002 and 2003. In 2009, the Pennsylvania Report named him to \"The Pennsylvania Report 100\" list of influential figures in Pennsylvania politics, noting that he \"remains a force in PA politics due to inside connections to Senate leaders and his institutional knowledge of legislative procedures\" and that he remains close with current President Pro Tempore of the Pennsylvania Senate Joe Scarnati. He was named to the PoliticsPA list of \"Pennsylvania's Smartest Staffers and Operatives.\"\n\nReferences\n\nLiving people\nEmployees of the Pennsylvania General Assembly\nPlace of birth missing (living people)\nYear of birth missing (living people)\nPennsylvania lobbyists\nPennsylvania political consultants"
] | [
"Anwar Nasser al-Awlaki (also spelled al-Aulaqi, al-Awlaqi; ; April 21 or 22, 1971 – September 30, 2011) was a Yemeni-American imam who was killed in 2011 in Yemen by an American drone strike ordered by President Barack Obama. Al-Awlaki became the first U.S. citizen to be targeted and killed by a U.S. drone strike without the rights of due process being afforded.",
"Al-Awlaki became the first U.S. citizen to be targeted and killed by a U.S. drone strike without the rights of due process being afforded. US government officials argued that Awlaki was a key organizer for the Islamist terrorist group al-Qaeda, and in June 2014, a previously classified memorandum issued by the U.S. Department of Justice was released, justifying al-Awlaki's death as a lawful act of war. Civil liberties advocates have described the incident as \"an extrajudicial execution\" that breached al-Awlaki's right to due process, including a trial.",
"Civil liberties advocates have described the incident as \"an extrajudicial execution\" that breached al-Awlaki's right to due process, including a trial. Al-Awlaki was born in Las Cruces, New Mexico, in 1971 to parents from Yemen. Growing up partially in the United States and partially in Yemen, he attended various universities across the United States in the 1990s and early 2000s while also working as an imam, despite having no religious qualifications and almost no religious education.",
"Growing up partially in the United States and partially in Yemen, he attended various universities across the United States in the 1990s and early 2000s while also working as an imam, despite having no religious qualifications and almost no religious education. Al-Awlaki returned to Yemen in early 2004 and became a university lecturer after a brief stint as a public speaker in the United Kingdom. He was detained by Yemeni authorities in 2006, where he spent 18 months in prison before being released without facing trial.",
"He was detained by Yemeni authorities in 2006, where he spent 18 months in prison before being released without facing trial. Following his release, Al-Awlaki's message started to become overtly supportive of violence, as he condemned United States foreign policy against Muslims. The Yemeni government tried him in absentia in November 2010, for plotting to kill foreigners and being a member of al-Qaeda. A Yemeni judge ordered that he be captured \"dead or alive\".",
"A Yemeni judge ordered that he be captured \"dead or alive\". U.S. officials said that in 2009, al-Awlaki was promoted to the rank of \"regional commander\" within al-Qaeda, although they described his role as more \"inspirational\" than \"operational.\" He repeatedly called for jihad against the United States. In April 2010, al-Awlaki was placed on a CIA kill list by President Barack Obama due to his alleged terrorist activities. Al-Awlaki's father and civil rights groups challenged the order in court.",
"Al-Awlaki's father and civil rights groups challenged the order in court. Al-Awlaki was believed to be in hiding in southeast Yemen in the last years of his life. The U.S. deployed unmanned aircraft (drones) in Yemen to search for and kill him, firing at and failing to kill him at least once; he was successfully killed on September 30, 2011.",
"The U.S. deployed unmanned aircraft (drones) in Yemen to search for and kill him, firing at and failing to kill him at least once; he was successfully killed on September 30, 2011. Two weeks later, al-Awlaki's 16-year-old son, Abdulrahman al-Awlaki, a U.S. citizen who was born in Denver, Colorado, was also killed by a CIA-led drone strike in Yemen.",
"Two weeks later, al-Awlaki's 16-year-old son, Abdulrahman al-Awlaki, a U.S. citizen who was born in Denver, Colorado, was also killed by a CIA-led drone strike in Yemen. His daughter, 8-year old Nawar al-Awlaki, was killed during a raid against Al Qaeda ordered by President Donald Trump in 2017.<ref name=\"uk.reuters.com\">Ghobari, Mohammed and Phil Stewart. \"Commando dies in U.S. raid in Yemen, first military op OK'd by Trump\", Reuters, January 29, 2017.",
"\"Commando dies in U.S. raid in Yemen, first military op OK'd by Trump\", Reuters, January 29, 2017. Retrieved January 29, 2017.</ref> The New York Times wrote in 2015 that al-Awlaki's public statements and videos have been more influential in inspiring acts of Islamic terrorism in the wake of his killing than before his death.",
"Retrieved January 29, 2017.</ref> The New York Times wrote in 2015 that al-Awlaki's public statements and videos have been more influential in inspiring acts of Islamic terrorism in the wake of his killing than before his death. Early life Al-Awlaki was born in Las Cruces, New Mexico, in 1971 to parents from Yemen, while his father, Nasser al-Awlaki, was doing graduate work at U.S. universities.",
"Early life Al-Awlaki was born in Las Cruces, New Mexico, in 1971 to parents from Yemen, while his father, Nasser al-Awlaki, was doing graduate work at U.S. universities. His father was a Fulbright Scholar who earned a master's degree in agricultural economics at New Mexico State University in 1971, received a doctorate at the University of Nebraska, and worked at the University of Minnesota from 1975 to 1977. Nasser al-Awlaki served as Agriculture Minister in Ali Abdullah Saleh's government. He was also President of Sana'a University.",
"He was also President of Sana'a University. He was also President of Sana'a University. Yemen's prime minister from 2007 to 2011, Ali Mohammed Mujur, was a relative. The family returned to Yemen in 1978, when al-Awlaki was seven years old. He lived there for 11 years, and studied at Azal Modern School. Life in the United States 1990–2002 Education In 1991, al-Awlaki returned to the U.S. to attend college. He earned a B.S.",
"He earned a B.S. He earned a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Colorado State University (1994), where he was president of the Muslim Student Association. In 1993, while still a college student in Colorado State's civil engineering program, al-Awlaki visited Afghanistan in the aftermath of the Soviet occupation. He spent some time training with the mujahideen who had fought the Soviets.",
"He spent some time training with the mujahideen who had fought the Soviets. He was depressed by the country's poverty and hunger, and \"wouldn't have gone with al-Qaeda,\" according to friends from Colorado State, who said he was profoundly affected by the trip. Mullah Mohammed Omar did not form the Taliban until 1994. When Al-Awlaki returned to campus, he showed increased interest in religion and politics. Al-Awlaki studied Education Leadership at San Diego State University, but did not complete his degree.",
"Al-Awlaki studied Education Leadership at San Diego State University, but did not complete his degree. He worked on a doctorate in Human Resource Development at The George Washington University Graduate School of Education and Human Development from January to December 2001. Time as imam In 1994, al-Awlaki married a cousin from Yemen, and began service as a part-time imam of the Denver Islamic Society. In 1996, he was chastised by an elder for encouraging a Saudi student to fight in Chechnya against the Russians.",
"In 1996, he was chastised by an elder for encouraging a Saudi student to fight in Chechnya against the Russians. He left Denver soon after, moving to San Diego. From 1996 to 2000, al-Awlaki was imam of the Masjid Ar-Ribat al-Islami mosque in San Diego, California, where he had a following of 200–300 people. U.S. officials later alleged that Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar, hijackers of American Airlines Flight 77, attended his sermons and personally met him during this period.",
"U.S. officials later alleged that Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar, hijackers of American Airlines Flight 77, attended his sermons and personally met him during this period. Hazmi later lived in Northern Virginia and attended al-Awlaki's mosque there. The 9/11 Commission Report said that the hijackers \"reportedly respected [al-Awlaki] as a religious figure\". While in San Diego, al-Awlaki volunteered with youth organizations, fished, discussed his travels with friends, and created a popular and lucrative series of recorded lectures.",
"While in San Diego, al-Awlaki volunteered with youth organizations, fished, discussed his travels with friends, and created a popular and lucrative series of recorded lectures. In August 1996 and in April 1997, al-Awlaki was arrested in San Diego and charged with soliciting prostitutes. The first time, in 1996, he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and was fined $400 and required to attend informational sessions about AIDS.",
"The first time, in 1996, he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and was fined $400 and required to attend informational sessions about AIDS. The second time, in 1997, he pleaded guilty and was fined $240, ordered to perform 12 days of community service, and received three years' probation. From November 2001 to January 2002 the FBI observed him visiting a number of prostitutes, and interviewed them, establishing that he had paid for sex acts. No prosecution was brought.",
"No prosecution was brought. No prosecution was brought. In 1998 and 1999, he served as vice-president for the Charitable Society for Social Welfare. In 2004, the FBI described this group as a \"front organization to funnel money to terrorists\". Although the FBI investigated al-Awlaki from June 1999 through March 2000 for possible links to Hamas, the Bin Laden contact Ziyad Khaleel, and a visit by an associate of Omar Abdel Rahman, it did not find sufficient evidence for a criminal prosecution.",
"Although the FBI investigated al-Awlaki from June 1999 through March 2000 for possible links to Hamas, the Bin Laden contact Ziyad Khaleel, and a visit by an associate of Omar Abdel Rahman, it did not find sufficient evidence for a criminal prosecution. Al-Awlaki told reporters that he resigned from leading the San Diego mosque \"after an uneventful four years,\" and took a brief sabbatical, traveling overseas to various countries. In January 2001, al-Awlaki returned to the U.S., settling in the Washington metropolitan area.",
"In January 2001, al-Awlaki returned to the U.S., settling in the Washington metropolitan area. There, he was imam at the Dar al-Hijrah mosque near Falls Church, Virginia, and his services were attended by Nawaf al-Hazmi and a third hijacker, Hani Hanjour. He led academic discussions frequented by FBI Director of Counter-Intelligence for the Middle East Gordon M. Snow. Al-Awlaki also served as the Muslim chaplain at George Washington University, where he was hired by Esam Omeish.",
"Al-Awlaki also served as the Muslim chaplain at George Washington University, where he was hired by Esam Omeish. Omeish said in 2004 that he was convinced that al-Awlaki was not involved in terrorism. His proficiency as a public speaker and command of the English language helped him attract followers who did not speak Arabic. \"He was the magic bullet\", according to the mosque spokesman Johari Abdul-Malik. \"He had everything all in a box.\" \"He had an allure. He was charming.\"",
"\"He had an allure. He was charming.\" He was charming.\" When police investigating the 9/11 attacks raided the Hamburg apartment of Ramzi bin al-Shibh, they found the telephone number of al-Awlaki among bin al-Shibh's personal contacts. The FBI interviewed al-Awlaki four times in the eight days following the 9/11 attacks. One detective later told the 9/11 Commission he believed al-Awlaki \"was at the center of the 9/11 story\".",
"One detective later told the 9/11 Commission he believed al-Awlaki \"was at the center of the 9/11 story\". And an FBI agent said, \"if anyone had knowledge of the plot, it would have been\" him, since \"someone had to be in the U.S. and keep the hijackers spiritually focused\". One 9/11 Commission staff member said: \"Do I think he played a role in helping the hijackers here, knowing they were up to something? Yes.",
"Yes. Yes. Do I think he was sent here for that purpose? I have no evidence for it.\" A separate Congressional Joint Inquiry into the 9/11 attacks suggested that al-Awlaki may have been connected to the hijackers, according to its director, Eleanor Hill. In 2003, Representative Anna Eshoo, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said, \"In my view, he is more than a coincidental figure.\"",
"In 2003, Representative Anna Eshoo, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said, \"In my view, he is more than a coincidental figure.\" Six days after the 9/11 attacks, al-Awlaki suggested in writing on the IslamOnline.net website that Israeli intelligence agents might have been responsible for the attacks, and that the FBI \"went into the roster of the airplanes, and whoever has a Muslim or Arab name became the hijacker by default\".",
"Six days after the 9/11 attacks, al-Awlaki suggested in writing on the IslamOnline.net website that Israeli intelligence agents might have been responsible for the attacks, and that the FBI \"went into the roster of the airplanes, and whoever has a Muslim or Arab name became the hijacker by default\". Soon after the 9/11 attacks, al-Awlaki was sought in Washington, D.C., by the media to answer questions about Islam, its rituals, and its relation to the attacks.",
"Soon after the 9/11 attacks, al-Awlaki was sought in Washington, D.C., by the media to answer questions about Islam, its rituals, and its relation to the attacks. He was interviewed by National Geographic, The New York Times, and other media. Al-Awlaki condemned the attacks. According to an NPR report in 2010, in 2001 al-Awlaki appeared to be a moderate who could \"bridge the gap between the United States and the worldwide community of Muslims.\"",
"According to an NPR report in 2010, in 2001 al-Awlaki appeared to be a moderate who could \"bridge the gap between the United States and the worldwide community of Muslims.\" The New York Times said at the time that he was \"held up as a new generation of Muslim leader capable of merging East and West.\" In 2010, Fox News and the New York Daily News reported that some months after the 9/11 attacks, a Pentagon employee invited al-Awlaki to a luncheon in the Secretary's Office of General Counsel.",
"In 2010, Fox News and the New York Daily News reported that some months after the 9/11 attacks, a Pentagon employee invited al-Awlaki to a luncheon in the Secretary's Office of General Counsel. The U.S. Secretary of the Army had suggested that a moderate Muslim be invited to give a talk. In 2002, al-Awlaki was the first imam to conduct a prayer service for the Congressional Muslim Staffer Association at the U.S. Capitol. That year, Nidal Hasan visited al-Awlaki's mosque for his mother's funeral, at which al-Awlaki presided.",
"That year, Nidal Hasan visited al-Awlaki's mosque for his mother's funeral, at which al-Awlaki presided. In November 2009, Hasan killed 13 and wounded 32 in the Fort Hood shooting. Hasan usually attended a mosque in Maryland closer to where he lived while working at the Walter Reed Medical Center (2003–09). Later in 2002, al-Awlaki posted an essay in Arabic on the Islam Today website titled \"Why Muslims Love Death\", lauding the fervor of Palestinian suicide bombers.",
"Later in 2002, al-Awlaki posted an essay in Arabic on the Islam Today website titled \"Why Muslims Love Death\", lauding the fervor of Palestinian suicide bombers. He expressed a similar opinion in a speech at a London mosque later that year. By July 2002, al-Awlaki was under investigation in the United States for having received money from the subject of a U.S. Joint Terrorism Task Force investigation. His name was added to the list of terrorism suspects.",
"His name was added to the list of terrorism suspects. Passport fraud issues In June 2002, a Denver federal judge signed an arrest warrant for al-Awlaki for passport fraud. On October 9, the Denver U.S. Attorney's Office filed a motion to dismiss the complaint and vacate the arrest warrant. Prosecutors believed that they lacked sufficient evidence of a crime, according to U.S. Attorney Dave Gaouette, who authorized its withdrawal.",
"Prosecutors believed that they lacked sufficient evidence of a crime, according to U.S. Attorney Dave Gaouette, who authorized its withdrawal. Al-Awlaki had listed Yemen rather than the United States as his place of birth on his 1990 application for a U.S. Social Security number, soon after arriving in the US. Al-Awlaki used this documentation to obtain a passport in 1993. He later corrected his place of birth to Las Cruces, New Mexico.",
"He later corrected his place of birth to Las Cruces, New Mexico. \"The bizarre thing is if you put Yemen down (on the application), it would be harder to get a Social Security number than to say you are a native-born citizen of Las Cruces\", Gaouette said. Prosecutors could not charge him in October 2002, when he returned from a trip abroad, because a 10-year statute of limitations on lying to the Social Security Administration had expired.",
"Prosecutors could not charge him in October 2002, when he returned from a trip abroad, because a 10-year statute of limitations on lying to the Social Security Administration had expired. According to a 2012 investigative report by Fox News, the arrest warrant for passport fraud was still in effect on the morning of October 10, 2002, when FBI Agent Wade Ammerman ordered al-Awlaki's release. U.S.",
"U.S. U.S. Congressman Frank Wolf (R-VA) and several congressional committees urged FBI Director Robert Mueller to provide an explanation about the bureau's interactions with al-Awlaki, including why he was released from federal custody when there was an outstanding warrant for his arrest. The motion for rescinding the arrest warrant was approved by a magistrate judge on October 10 and filed on October 11.ABC News reported in 2009 that the Joint Terrorism Task Force in San Diego disagreed with the decision to cancel the warrant.",
"The motion for rescinding the arrest warrant was approved by a magistrate judge on October 10 and filed on October 11.ABC News reported in 2009 that the Joint Terrorism Task Force in San Diego disagreed with the decision to cancel the warrant. They were monitoring al-Awlaki and wanted to \"look at him under a microscope\".",
"They were monitoring al-Awlaki and wanted to \"look at him under a microscope\". But U.S. Attorney Gaouette said that no objection had been raised to the rescinding of the warrant during a meeting that included Ray Fournier, the San Diego federal diplomatic security agent whose allegation had set in motion the effort to obtain a warrant.",
"But U.S. Attorney Gaouette said that no objection had been raised to the rescinding of the warrant during a meeting that included Ray Fournier, the San Diego federal diplomatic security agent whose allegation had set in motion the effort to obtain a warrant. Gaouette said that if al-Awlaki had been convicted at the time, he would have faced about six months in custody.The New York Times suggested later that al-Awlaki had claimed birth in Yemen (his family's place of origin) to qualify for scholarship money granted to foreign citizens. U.S.",
"U.S. U.S. Congressman Frank R. Wolf (R-VA) wrote in May 2010 that by claiming to be foreign-born, al-Awlaki fraudulently obtained more than $20,000 in scholarship funds reserved for foreign students. While living in Northern Virginia, al-Awlaki visited Ali al-Timimi, later known as a radical Islamic cleric. Al-Timimi was convicted in 2005 and is now serving a life sentence for leading the Virginia Jihad Network, inciting Muslim followers to fight with the Taliban against the US.",
"Al-Timimi was convicted in 2005 and is now serving a life sentence for leading the Virginia Jihad Network, inciting Muslim followers to fight with the Taliban against the US. In the United Kingdom 2002–04 Al-Awlaki left the United States before the end of 2002, because of a \"climate of fear and intimidation\" according to Imam Johari Abdul-Malik of the Dar al-Hijrah mosque. He lived in the UK for several months, where he gave talks attended by up to 200 people.",
"He lived in the UK for several months, where he gave talks attended by up to 200 people. He urged young Muslim followers: \"The important lesson to learn here is never, ever trust a kuffar [disbeliever]. Do not trust them! [Their leaders] are plotting to kill this religion. They're plotting night and day.\" \"He was the main man who translated the jihad into English,\" said a student who attended his lectures in 2003.",
"\"He was the main man who translated the jihad into English,\" said a student who attended his lectures in 2003. He gave a series of lectures in December 2002 and January 2003 at the London Masjid al-Tawhid mosque, describing the rewards martyrs (Shahid) receive in paradise (Jannah). He began to gain supporters, particularly among young Muslims, and undertook a lecture tour of England and Scotland in 2002 in conjunction with the Muslim Association of Britain.",
"He began to gain supporters, particularly among young Muslims, and undertook a lecture tour of England and Scotland in 2002 in conjunction with the Muslim Association of Britain. He also lectured at \"ExpoIslamia\", an event held by Islamic Forum Europe. At the East London Mosque he told his audience: \"A Muslim is a brother of a Muslim... he does not betray him, and he does not hand him over... You don't hand over a Muslim to the enemies.\"",
"At the East London Mosque he told his audience: \"A Muslim is a brother of a Muslim... he does not betray him, and he does not hand him over... You don't hand over a Muslim to the enemies.\" In Britain's Parliament in 2003, Louise Ellman, MP for Liverpool Riverside, discussed the relationship between al-Awlaki and the Muslim Association of Britain, an alleged Muslim Brotherhood front organization founded by Kemal el-Helbawy, a senior member of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood.",
"In Britain's Parliament in 2003, Louise Ellman, MP for Liverpool Riverside, discussed the relationship between al-Awlaki and the Muslim Association of Britain, an alleged Muslim Brotherhood front organization founded by Kemal el-Helbawy, a senior member of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. Return to Yemen 2004–11 Al-Awlaki returned to Yemen in early 2004, where he lived in Shabwah Governorate with his wife and five children. He lectured at Iman University, headed by Abdul Majeed al-Zindani.",
"He lectured at Iman University, headed by Abdul Majeed al-Zindani. The latter has been included on the UN 1267 Committee's list of individuals belonging to or associated with al-Qaeda. Al-Zindani denied having any influence over al-Awlaki, or that he had been his \"direct teacher\". Some believe that the school's curriculum deals mostly, if not exclusively, with radical Islamic studies, and promotes radicalism. American convert John Walker Lindh and other alumni have been associated with terrorist groups.",
"American convert John Walker Lindh and other alumni have been associated with terrorist groups. On August 31, 2006, al-Awlaki was arrested with four others on charges of kidnapping a Shiite teenager for ransom, and participating in an al-Qaeda plot to kidnap a U.S. military attaché. He was imprisoned in 2006 and 2007. He was interviewed around September 2007 by two FBI agents with regard to the 9/11 attacks and other subjects. John Negroponte, the U.S. Director of National Intelligence, told Yemeni officials he did not object to al-Awlaki's detention.",
"John Negroponte, the U.S. Director of National Intelligence, told Yemeni officials he did not object to al-Awlaki's detention. His name was on a list of 100 prisoners whose release was sought by al-Qaeda-linked militants in Yemen. After 18 months in a Yemeni prison, al-Awlaki was released on December 12, 2007, following the intercession of his tribe. According to a Yemeni security official, he was released because he had repented. He moved to his family home in Saeed, a hamlet in the Shabwa mountains.",
"He moved to his family home in Saeed, a hamlet in the Shabwa mountains. Moazzam Begg's Cageprisoners, an organization representing former Guantanamo detainees, campaigned for al-Awlaki's release when he was in prison in Yemen. Al-Awlaki told Begg in an interview shortly after his release that prior to his incarceration in Yemen, he had condemned the 9/11 attacks. In December 2008, al-Awlaki sent a communique to the Somali terrorist group, al-Shabaab, congratulating them.",
"In December 2008, al-Awlaki sent a communique to the Somali terrorist group, al-Shabaab, congratulating them. Al-Awlaki provided al-Qaeda members in Yemen with the protection of his powerful tribe, the Awlakis, against the government. The tribal code required it to protect those who seek refuge and assistance. This imperative has greater force when the person is a member of the tribe or a tribesman's friend. The tribe's motto is \"We are the sparks of Hell; whoever interferes with us will be burned.\"",
"The tribe's motto is \"We are the sparks of Hell; whoever interferes with us will be burned.\" Al-Awlaki also reportedly helped negotiate deals with leaders of other tribes. Sought by Yemeni authorities who were investigating his al-Qaeda ties, al-Awlaki went into hiding in approximately March 2009, according to his father. By December 2009, al-Awlaki was on the Yemeni government's most-wanted list. He was believed to be hiding in Yemen's Shabwa or Mareb regions, which are part of the so-called \"triangle of evil\".",
"He was believed to be hiding in Yemen's Shabwa or Mareb regions, which are part of the so-called \"triangle of evil\". The area has attracted al-Qaeda militants, who seek refuge among local tribes unhappy with Yemen's central government. Yemeni sources originally said al-Awlaki might have been killed in a pre-dawn air strike by Yemeni Air Force fighter jets on a meeting of senior al-Qaeda leaders at a hideout in Rafd in eastern Shabwa, on December 24, 2009. But he survived.",
"But he survived. But he survived. Pravda reported that the planes, using Saudi and U.S. intelligence, killed at least 30 al-Qaeda members from Yemen and abroad, and that an al-Awlaki house was \"raided and demolished\". On December 28 The Washington Post reported that U.S. and Yemeni officials said that al-Awlaki had been present at the meeting. Abdul Elah al-Shaya, a Yemeni journalist, said al-Awlaki called him on December 28 to report that he was well and had not attended the al-Qaeda meeting.",
"Abdul Elah al-Shaya, a Yemeni journalist, said al-Awlaki called him on December 28 to report that he was well and had not attended the al-Qaeda meeting. Al-Shaya said that al-Awlaki was not tied to al-Qaeda. In March 2010, a tape featuring al-Awlaki was released in which he urged Muslims residing in the United States to attack their country of residence. Reaching out to the United Kingdom After 2006, al-Awlaki was banned from entering the United Kingdom.",
"Reaching out to the United Kingdom After 2006, al-Awlaki was banned from entering the United Kingdom. He broadcast lectures to mosques and other venues there via video-link from 2007 to 2009, on at least seven occasions at five locations in Britain. Noor Pro Media Events held a conference at the East London Mosque on January 1, 2009, showing a videotaped lecture by al-Awlaki; former Shadow Home Secretary Dominic Grieve expressed concern over his being featured.",
"Noor Pro Media Events held a conference at the East London Mosque on January 1, 2009, showing a videotaped lecture by al-Awlaki; former Shadow Home Secretary Dominic Grieve expressed concern over his being featured. He gave video-link talks in England to an Islamic student society at the University of Westminster in September 2008, an arts center in East London in April 2009 (after the Tower Hamlets council gave its approval), worshippers at the Al Huda Mosque in Bradford, and a dinner of the Cageprisoners organization in September 2008 at the Wandsworth Civic Centre in South London.",
"He gave video-link talks in England to an Islamic student society at the University of Westminster in September 2008, an arts center in East London in April 2009 (after the Tower Hamlets council gave its approval), worshippers at the Al Huda Mosque in Bradford, and a dinner of the Cageprisoners organization in September 2008 at the Wandsworth Civic Centre in South London. On August 23, 2009, al-Awlaki was banned by local authorities in Kensington and Chelsea, London, from speaking at Kensington Town Hall via videolink to a fundraiser dinner for Guantanamo detainees promoted by Cageprisoners.",
"On August 23, 2009, al-Awlaki was banned by local authorities in Kensington and Chelsea, London, from speaking at Kensington Town Hall via videolink to a fundraiser dinner for Guantanamo detainees promoted by Cageprisoners. His videos, which discuss his Islamist theories, have circulated across the United Kingdom. Until February 2010, hundreds of audio tapes of his sermons were available at the Tower Hamlets public libraries. In 2009, the London-based Islam Channel carried advertisements for his DVDs and at least two of his video conference lectures.",
"In 2009, the London-based Islam Channel carried advertisements for his DVDs and at least two of his video conference lectures. Other connections FBI agents identified al-Awlaki as a known, important \"senior recruiter for al Qaeda\", and a spiritual motivator. His name came up in a dozen terrorism plots in the US, UK, and Canada.",
"His name came up in a dozen terrorism plots in the US, UK, and Canada. The cases included suicide bombers in the 2005 London bombings, radical Islamic terrorists in the 2006 Toronto terrorism case, radical Islamic terrorists in the 2007 Fort Dix attack plot, the jihadist killer in the 2009 Little Rock military recruiting office shooting, and the 2010 Times Square bomber. In each case the suspects were devoted to al-Awlaki's message, which they listened to online and on CDs.",
"In each case the suspects were devoted to al-Awlaki's message, which they listened to online and on CDs. Al-Awlaki's recorded lectures were heard by Islamist fundamentalists in at least six terror cells in the UK through 2009. Michael Finton (Talib Islam), who attempted in September 2009 to bomb the Federal Building and the adjacent offices of Congressman Aaron Schock in Springfield, Illinois, admired al-Awlaki and quoted him on his Myspace page.",
"Michael Finton (Talib Islam), who attempted in September 2009 to bomb the Federal Building and the adjacent offices of Congressman Aaron Schock in Springfield, Illinois, admired al-Awlaki and quoted him on his Myspace page. In addition to his website, al-Awlaki had a Facebook fan page with \"fans\" in the US, many of whom were high school students. Al-Awlaki also set up a website and blog on which he shared his views.",
"Al-Awlaki also set up a website and blog on which he shared his views. Al-Awlaki influenced several other extremists to join terrorist organizations overseas and to carry out terrorist attacks in their home countries. Mohamed Alessa and Carlos Almonte, two American citizens from New Jersey who attempted to travel to Somalia in June 2010 to join the al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group Al Shabaab, allegedly watched several al-Awlaki videos and sermons in which he warned of future attacks against Americans in the United States and abroad.",
"Mohamed Alessa and Carlos Almonte, two American citizens from New Jersey who attempted to travel to Somalia in June 2010 to join the al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group Al Shabaab, allegedly watched several al-Awlaki videos and sermons in which he warned of future attacks against Americans in the United States and abroad. Zachary Chesser, an American citizen who was arrested for attempting to provide material support to Al Shabaab, told federal authorities that he watched online videos featuring al-Awlaki and that he exchanged several e-mails with al-Awlaki.",
"Zachary Chesser, an American citizen who was arrested for attempting to provide material support to Al Shabaab, told federal authorities that he watched online videos featuring al-Awlaki and that he exchanged several e-mails with al-Awlaki. In July 2010, Paul Rockwood was sentenced to eight years in prison for creating a list of 15 potential targets in the US, people he felt had desecrated Islam. Rockwood was a devoted follower of al-Awlaki, and had studied his works Constants on the Path to Jihad and 44 Ways to Jihad.",
"Rockwood was a devoted follower of al-Awlaki, and had studied his works Constants on the Path to Jihad and 44 Ways to Jihad. In October 2008, Charles Allen, U.S. Under-Secretary of Homeland Security for Intelligence and Analysis, warned that al-Awlaki \"targets U.S. Muslims with radical online lectures encouraging terrorist attacks from his new home in Yemen.\" Responding to Allen, al-Awlaki wrote on his website in December 2008: \"I would challenge him to come up with just one such lecture where I encourage 'terrorist attacks'\".",
"Responding to Allen, al-Awlaki wrote on his website in December 2008: \"I would challenge him to come up with just one such lecture where I encourage 'terrorist attacks'\". Fort Hood shooter Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan was investigated by the FBI after intelligence agencies intercepted at least 18 e-mails between him and al-Awlaki between December 2008 and June 2009.",
"Fort Hood shooter Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan was investigated by the FBI after intelligence agencies intercepted at least 18 e-mails between him and al-Awlaki between December 2008 and June 2009. Even before the contents of the e-mails were revealed, terrorism expert Jarret Brachman said that Hasan's contacts with al-Awlaki should have raised \"huge red flags\", because of his influence on radical English-speaking jihadis. Charles Allen, no longer in government, noted that there was no work-related reason for Hasan to be in touch with al-Awlaki.",
"Charles Allen, no longer in government, noted that there was no work-related reason for Hasan to be in touch with al-Awlaki. Former CIA officer Bruce Riedel opined: \"E-mailing a known al-Qaeda sympathizer should have set off alarm bells. Even if he was exchanging recipes, the bureau should have put out an alert.\" A DC-based Joint Terrorism Task Force operating under the FBI was notified of the e-mails and reviewed the information.",
"A DC-based Joint Terrorism Task Force operating under the FBI was notified of the e-mails and reviewed the information. Army employees were informed of the e-mails, but they didn't perceive any terrorist threat in Hasan's questions. Instead, they viewed them as general questions about spiritual guidance with regard to conflicts between Islam and military service and judged them to be consistent with legitimate mental health research about Muslims in the armed services. The assessment was that there was not sufficient information for a larger investigation.",
"The assessment was that there was not sufficient information for a larger investigation. In one of the e-mails, Hasan wrote al-Awlaki: \"I can't wait to join you [in the afterlife]\". \"It sounds like code words,\" said Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer, a military analyst at the Center for Advanced Defense Studies. \"That he's actually either offering himself up, or that he's already crossed that line in his own mind.\" Yemeni journalist Abdulelah Hider Shaea interviewed al-Awlaki in November 2009.",
"Yemeni journalist Abdulelah Hider Shaea interviewed al-Awlaki in November 2009. Al-Awlaki acknowledged his correspondence with Hasan. He said he \"neither ordered nor pressured ... Hasan to harm Americans.\" Al-Awlaki said Hasan first e-mailed him December 17, 2008, introducing himself by writing: \"Do you remember me? I used to pray with you at the Virginia mosque.\"",
"I used to pray with you at the Virginia mosque.\" Hasan said he had become a devout Muslim around the time al-Awlaki was preaching at Dar al-Hijrah, in 2001 and 2002, and al-Awlaki said 'Maybe Nidal was affected by one of my lectures.'\" He added: \"It was clear from his e-mails that Nidal trusted me. Nidal told me: 'I speak with you about issues that I never speak with anyone else.'\"",
"Nidal told me: 'I speak with you about issues that I never speak with anyone else.'\" Al-Awlaki said Hasan arrived at his own conclusions regarding the acceptability of violence in Islam and said he was not the one to initiate this. Shaea said, \"Nidal was providing evidence to Anwar, not vice versa.\" Asked whether Hasan mentioned Fort Hood as a target in his e-mails, Shaea declined to comment.",
"Asked whether Hasan mentioned Fort Hood as a target in his e-mails, Shaea declined to comment. Al-Awlaki said the shooting was acceptable in Islam, however, because it was a form of jihad, as the West began the hostilities with the Muslims. Al-Awlaki said he \"blessed the act because it was against a military target. And the soldiers who were killed were ... those who were trained and prepared to go to Iraq and Afghanistan\".",
"And the soldiers who were killed were ... those who were trained and prepared to go to Iraq and Afghanistan\". Al-Awlaki's e-mail conversations with Hasan were not released, and he was not placed on the FBI Most Wanted list, indicted for treason, or officially named as a co-conspirator with Hasan. The U.S. government was reluctant to classify the Fort Hood shooting as a terrorist incident, or identify any motive.",
"The U.S. government was reluctant to classify the Fort Hood shooting as a terrorist incident, or identify any motive. The Wall Street Journal reported in January 2010 that al-Awlaki had not \"played a direct role\" in any of the attacks, and noted he had never been charged with a crime in the US. One of his fellow officers at Fort Hood said Hasan was enthusiastic about al-Awlaki. Some investigators believe al-Awlaki's teachings may have been instrumental in Hasan's decision to stage the attack.",
"Some investigators believe al-Awlaki's teachings may have been instrumental in Hasan's decision to stage the attack. On his now-disabled website, al-Awlaki praised Hasan's actions, describing him as a hero. Christmas Day \"Underwear Bomber\" According to a number of sources, Al-Awlaki and Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the convicted al-Qaeda attempted bomber of Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on December 25, 2009, had contacts.",
"Christmas Day \"Underwear Bomber\" According to a number of sources, Al-Awlaki and Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the convicted al-Qaeda attempted bomber of Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on December 25, 2009, had contacts. In January 2010, CNN reported that U.S. \"security sources\" said that there is concrete evidence that al-Awlaki was Abdulmutallab's recruiter and one of his trainers, and met with him prior to the attack.",
"In January 2010, CNN reported that U.S. \"security sources\" said that there is concrete evidence that al-Awlaki was Abdulmutallab's recruiter and one of his trainers, and met with him prior to the attack. In February 2010, al-Awlaki admitted in an interview published in al-Jazeera that he taught and corresponded with Abdulmutallab, but denied having ordered the attack.",
"In February 2010, al-Awlaki admitted in an interview published in al-Jazeera that he taught and corresponded with Abdulmutallab, but denied having ordered the attack. Representative Pete Hoekstra, the senior Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, said officials in the Obama administration and officials with access to law enforcement information told him the suspect \"may have had contact [with al-Awlaki]\".The Sunday Times established that Abdulmutallab first met al-Awlaki in 2005 in Yemen, while he was studying Arabic.",
"Representative Pete Hoekstra, the senior Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, said officials in the Obama administration and officials with access to law enforcement information told him the suspect \"may have had contact [with al-Awlaki]\".The Sunday Times established that Abdulmutallab first met al-Awlaki in 2005 in Yemen, while he was studying Arabic. During that time the suspect attended lectures by al-Awlaki.NPR reported that according to unnamed U.S. intelligence officials he attended a sermon by al-Awlaki at the Finsbury Park Mosque.",
"During that time the suspect attended lectures by al-Awlaki.NPR reported that according to unnamed U.S. intelligence officials he attended a sermon by al-Awlaki at the Finsbury Park Mosque. Khalid Mahmood, the Labour MP for Birmingham Perry Barr, a former trustee of the mosque, expressed \"grave misgivings\" with regard to its stewardship. A spokesperson of the mosque stated that al-Awlaki had never spoken there or had even to his knowledge entered the building.",
"A spokesperson of the mosque stated that al-Awlaki had never spoken there or had even to his knowledge entered the building. Abdulmutallab was also reported by CBS News, The Daily Telegraph, and The Sunday Telegraph to have attended a talk by al-Awlaki at the East London Mosque, which al-Awlaki may have attended by video teleconference.",
"Abdulmutallab was also reported by CBS News, The Daily Telegraph, and The Sunday Telegraph to have attended a talk by al-Awlaki at the East London Mosque, which al-Awlaki may have attended by video teleconference. The Sunday Telegraph later removed the report from its website following a complaint by the East London Mosque, which stated that \"Anwar Al Awlaki did not deliver any talks at the ELM between 2005 and 2008, which is when the newspaper had falsely alleged that Abdullmutallab had attended such talks\".",
"The Sunday Telegraph later removed the report from its website following a complaint by the East London Mosque, which stated that \"Anwar Al Awlaki did not deliver any talks at the ELM between 2005 and 2008, which is when the newspaper had falsely alleged that Abdullmutallab had attended such talks\". Investigators who searched flats connected to Abdulmutallab in London said that he was a \"big fan\" of al-Awlaki, as al-Awlaki's blog and website had repeatedly been visited from those locations.",
"Investigators who searched flats connected to Abdulmutallab in London said that he was a \"big fan\" of al-Awlaki, as al-Awlaki's blog and website had repeatedly been visited from those locations. According to federal sources, Abdulmutallab and al-Awlaki repeatedly communicated with one another in the year prior to the attack. \"Voice-to-voice communication\" between the two was intercepted during the fall of 2009, and one government source said al-Awlaki \"was in some way involved in facilitating [Abdulmutallab]'s transportation or trip through Yemen.",
"\"Voice-to-voice communication\" between the two was intercepted during the fall of 2009, and one government source said al-Awlaki \"was in some way involved in facilitating [Abdulmutallab]'s transportation or trip through Yemen. It could be training, a host of things.\" NPR reported that intelligence officials suspected al-Awlaki may have told Abdulmutallab to go to Yemen for al-Qaeda training. Abdulmutallab told the FBI that al-Awlaki was one of his al-Qaeda trainers in Yemen. Others reported that Abdulmutallab met with al-Awlaki in the weeks leading up to the attack.",
"Others reported that Abdulmutallab met with al-Awlaki in the weeks leading up to the attack. The Los Angeles Times reported that according to a U.S. intelligence official, intercepts and other information point to connections between the two: Some of the information ... comes from Abdulmutallab, who ... said that he met with al-Awlaki and senior al-Qaeda members during an extended trip to Yemen this year and that the cleric was involved in some elements of planning or preparing the attack and in providing religious justification for it.",
"The Los Angeles Times reported that according to a U.S. intelligence official, intercepts and other information point to connections between the two: Some of the information ... comes from Abdulmutallab, who ... said that he met with al-Awlaki and senior al-Qaeda members during an extended trip to Yemen this year and that the cleric was involved in some elements of planning or preparing the attack and in providing religious justification for it. Other intelligence linking the two became apparent after the attempted bombing, including communications intercepted by the National Security Agency indicating that the cleric was meeting with \"a Nigerian\" in preparation for some kind of operation.",
"Other intelligence linking the two became apparent after the attempted bombing, including communications intercepted by the National Security Agency indicating that the cleric was meeting with \"a Nigerian\" in preparation for some kind of operation. Yemen's Deputy Prime Minister for Defense and Security Affairs, Rashad Mohammed al-Alimi, said Yemeni investigators believe that Abdulmutallab traveled to Shabwa in October 2009. Investigators believe he obtained his explosives and received training there. He met there with al-Qaeda members in a house built by al-Awlaki.",
"He met there with al-Qaeda members in a house built by al-Awlaki. A top Yemen government official said the two met with each other. In January 2010, al-Awlaki acknowledged that he met and spoke with Abdulmutallab in Yemen in the fall of 2009. In an interview, al-Awlaki said: \"Umar Farouk is one of my students; I had communications with him. And I support what he did.\" He also said: \"I did not tell him to do this operation, but I support it\".",
"He also said: \"I did not tell him to do this operation, but I support it\". Fox News reported in early February 2010 that Abdulmutallab told federal investigators that al-Awlaki directed him to carry out the bombing. In June 2010 Michael Leiter, the Director of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), said al-Awlaki had a \"direct operational role\" in the plot. Sharif Mobley Sharif Mobley had acknowledged contact with Anwar al-Awlaki.",
"Sharif Mobley Sharif Mobley had acknowledged contact with Anwar al-Awlaki. The Mobley family claims the contact was for spiritual guidance in further studies of Islam. The Mobley family went to Yemen and resided there for several years. They decided to return to the United States and went to the U.S. Embassy to update the family travel documents. While waiting for their travel documents, Sharif Mobley was kidnapped by Yemen Security Services and shot on January 26, 2010. He was then held in Yemen's Central Prison.",
"He was then held in Yemen's Central Prison. He was then held in Yemen's Central Prison. Mobley disappeared from the Central Prison on February 27, 2014. His current location is known to the U.S. Embassy in Yemen (currently closed 2015) but is withheld from his family and legal advisers based on U.S. State Department Regulations on \"U.S. Citizens Missing Abroad\". All charges related to \"terrorism/terrorist activity\" were dropped by the Yemen government.",
"All charges related to \"terrorism/terrorist activity\" were dropped by the Yemen government. There are no charges relating to allegations of \"killing a guard during an escape attempt from the hospital\" and there are no other legal proceedings against him in Yemen. Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad, convicted of the 2010 Times Square car bombing attempt, told interrogators that he was a \"fan and follower\" of al-Awlaki, and his writings were one of the inspirations for the attack.",
"Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad, convicted of the 2010 Times Square car bombing attempt, told interrogators that he was a \"fan and follower\" of al-Awlaki, and his writings were one of the inspirations for the attack. On May 6, 2010 ABC News reported that unknown sources told them Shahzad made contact with al-Awlaki over the internet, a claim that could not be independently verified.",
"On May 6, 2010 ABC News reported that unknown sources told them Shahzad made contact with al-Awlaki over the internet, a claim that could not be independently verified. Stabbing of British former minister Stephen Timms Roshonara Choudhry, who stabbed former British Cabinet Minister Stephen Timms in May 2010, and was found guilty of his attempted murder in November 2010, claimed to have become radicalized by listening to online sermons of al-Awlaki.",
"Stabbing of British former minister Stephen Timms Roshonara Choudhry, who stabbed former British Cabinet Minister Stephen Timms in May 2010, and was found guilty of his attempted murder in November 2010, claimed to have become radicalized by listening to online sermons of al-Awlaki. Seattle Weekly cartoonist death threat In 2010, after Everybody Draw Mohammed Day, cartoonist Molly Norris at Seattle Weekly had to stop publishing, and at the suggestion of the FBI changed her name, moved, and went into hiding due to a fatwā issued by al-Awlaki calling for her death.",
"Seattle Weekly cartoonist death threat In 2010, after Everybody Draw Mohammed Day, cartoonist Molly Norris at Seattle Weekly had to stop publishing, and at the suggestion of the FBI changed her name, moved, and went into hiding due to a fatwā issued by al-Awlaki calling for her death. In the June 2010 issue of Inspire, an English-language al-Qaeda magazine, al-Awlaki cursed her and eight others for \"blasphemous caricatures\" of Muhammad.",
"In the June 2010 issue of Inspire, an English-language al-Qaeda magazine, al-Awlaki cursed her and eight others for \"blasphemous caricatures\" of Muhammad. \"The medicine prescribed by the Messenger of Allah is the execution of those involved\", he wrote. Daniel Pipes observed in an article entitled \"Dueling Fatwas\", \"Awlaki stands at an unprecedented crossroads of death declarations, with his targeting Norris even as the U.S. government targets him.\"",
"Daniel Pipes observed in an article entitled \"Dueling Fatwas\", \"Awlaki stands at an unprecedented crossroads of death declarations, with his targeting Norris even as the U.S. government targets him.\" Cargo planes bomb plotThe Guardian, The New York Times, and The Daily Telegraph reported that U.S. and British counter-terrorism officials believed that al-Awlaki was behind the cargo plane PETN bombs that were sent from Yemen to Chicago in October 2010.Yemen bomb scare 'mastermind' lived in London | World news. The Guardian. Retrieved on October 1, 2011.",
"The Guardian. Retrieved on October 1, 2011. Retrieved on October 1, 2011. When U.S. Homeland Security official John Brennan was asked about al-Awlaki's suspected involvement in the plot, he said: \"Anybody associated with al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is a subject of concern.\" U.S. Ambassador to Yemen Gerald Feierstein said \"al-Awlaki was behind the two bombs.\" Final years Al-Awlaki's father, tribe, and supporters denied his alleged associations with Al-Qaeda and Islamist terrorism.",
"Final years Al-Awlaki's father, tribe, and supporters denied his alleged associations with Al-Qaeda and Islamist terrorism. Al-Awlaki's father proclaimed his son's innocence in an interview with CNN's Paula Newton, saying: \"I am now afraid of what they will do with my son. He's not Osama bin Laden, they want to make something out of him that he's not.\" Responding to a Yemeni official's assertions that his son had taken refuge with al-Qaeda, Nasser said: \"He's dead wrong.",
"Responding to a Yemeni official's assertions that his son had taken refuge with al-Qaeda, Nasser said: \"He's dead wrong. What do you expect my son to do? There are missiles raining down on the village. He has to hide. But he is not hiding with al-Qaeda; our tribe is protecting him right now.\" The Yemeni government attempted to get the tribal leaders to release al-Awlaki to their custody. They promised they would not turn him over to U.S. authorities for questioning.",
"They promised they would not turn him over to U.S. authorities for questioning. The governor of Shabwa said in January 2010 that al-Awlaki was on the move with members of al-Qaeda, including Fahd al-Quso, who was wanted in connection with the bombing of the USS Cole. In January 2010, White House lawyers debated whether or not it was legal to kill al-Awlaki, given his U.S. citizenship. U.S. officials stated that international law allows targeted killing in the event that the subject is an \"imminent threat\".",
"U.S. officials stated that international law allows targeted killing in the event that the subject is an \"imminent threat\". Because he was a U.S. citizen, his killing had to be approved by the National Security Council. Such action against a U.S. citizen is extremely rare. As a military enemy of the US, al-Awlaki was not subject to Executive Order 11905, which bans assassination for political reasons. The authorization was nevertheless controversial.",
"The authorization was nevertheless controversial. The authorization was nevertheless controversial. By February 4, 2010, the New York Daily News reported that al-Awlaki was \"now on a targeting list signed off on by the Obama administration\". On April 6, The New York Times reported that President Obama had authorized the killing of al-Awlaki. The al-Awalik tribe responded: \"We warn against cooperating with America to kill Sheikh Anwar al-Awlaki. We will not stand by idly and watch.\"",
"We will not stand by idly and watch.\" We will not stand by idly and watch.\" Al-Awlaki's tribe wrote that it would \"not remain with arms crossed if a hair of Anwar al-Awlaki is touched, or if anyone plots or spies against him. Whoever risks denouncing our son (Awlaki) will be the target of Al-Awalik weapons\", and gave warning \"against co-operating with the Americans\" in the capture or killing of al-Awlaki.",
"Whoever risks denouncing our son (Awlaki) will be the target of Al-Awalik weapons\", and gave warning \"against co-operating with the Americans\" in the capture or killing of al-Awlaki. Abu Bakr al-Qirbi, the Yemeni foreign minister, announced that the Yemeni government had not received any evidence from the US, and that \"Anwar al-Awlaki has always been looked at as a preacher rather than a terrorist and shouldn't be considered as a terrorist unless the Americans have evidence that he has been involved in terrorism\".",
"Abu Bakr al-Qirbi, the Yemeni foreign minister, announced that the Yemeni government had not received any evidence from the US, and that \"Anwar al-Awlaki has always been looked at as a preacher rather than a terrorist and shouldn't be considered as a terrorist unless the Americans have evidence that he has been involved in terrorism\". In a video clip bearing the imprint of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, issued on April 16 in al-Qaeda's monthly magazine Sada Al-Malahem, al-Awlaki said: \"What am I accused of?",
"In a video clip bearing the imprint of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, issued on April 16 in al-Qaeda's monthly magazine Sada Al-Malahem, al-Awlaki said: \"What am I accused of? Of calling for the truth? Of calling for jihad for the sake of Allah? Of calling to defend the causes of the Islamic nation?\" In the video he also praises both Abdulmutallab and Hasan, and describes both as his \"students\".",
"In the video he also praises both Abdulmutallab and Hasan, and describes both as his \"students\". In late April, Representative Charlie Dent (R-PA) introduced a resolution urging the U.S. State Department to withdraw al-Awlaki's U.S. citizenship. By May, U.S. officials believed he had become directly involved in terrorist activities. Former colleague Abdul-Malik said he \"is a terrorist, in my book\", and advised shops not to carry any of his publications.",
"Former colleague Abdul-Malik said he \"is a terrorist, in my book\", and advised shops not to carry any of his publications. In an editorial, Investor's Business Daily called al-Awlaki the \"world's most dangerous man\", and recommended that he be added to the FBI's most-wanted terrorist list, a bounty put on his head, that he be designated a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, charged with treason, and extradition papers filed with the Yemeni government.",
"In an editorial, Investor's Business Daily called al-Awlaki the \"world's most dangerous man\", and recommended that he be added to the FBI's most-wanted terrorist list, a bounty put on his head, that he be designated a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, charged with treason, and extradition papers filed with the Yemeni government. IBD criticized the Justice Department for stonewalling Senator Joe Lieberman's security panel's investigation of al-Awlaki's role in the Fort Hood massacre.",
"IBD criticized the Justice Department for stonewalling Senator Joe Lieberman's security panel's investigation of al-Awlaki's role in the Fort Hood massacre. On July 16, the U.S. Treasury Department added him to its list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists. Stuart Levey, Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, called him \"extraordinarily dangerous\", and said al-Awlaki was involved in several organizational aspects of terrorism, including recruiting, training, fundraising, and planning individual attacks.",
"Stuart Levey, Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, called him \"extraordinarily dangerous\", and said al-Awlaki was involved in several organizational aspects of terrorism, including recruiting, training, fundraising, and planning individual attacks. A few days later, the United Nations Security Council placed al-Awlaki on its UN Security Council Resolution 1267 list of individuals associated with al-Qaeda, describing him as a leader, recruiter, and trainer for al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.",
"A few days later, the United Nations Security Council placed al-Awlaki on its UN Security Council Resolution 1267 list of individuals associated with al-Qaeda, describing him as a leader, recruiter, and trainer for al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. The resolution stipulates that U.N. members must freeze the assets of anyone on the list, and prevent them from travelling or obtaining weapons. The following week, Canadian banks were ordered to seize any assets belonging to al-Awlaki.",
"The following week, Canadian banks were ordered to seize any assets belonging to al-Awlaki. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police's senior counter-terrorism officer Gilles Michaud described him as a \"major, major factor in radicalization\". In September 2010, Jonathan Evans, the Director General of the United Kingdom's domestic security and counter-intelligence agency (MI5), said that al-Awlaki was the West's Public Enemy No 1. In October 2010, U.S.",
"In October 2010, U.S. In October 2010, U.S. Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-NY) urged YouTube to take down al-Awlaki's videos from its website, saying that by hosting al-Awlaki's messages, \"We are facilitating the recruitment of homegrown terror.\" Pauline Neville-Jones, British security minister, said \"These Web sites ... incite cold-blooded murder.\" YouTube began removing the material in November 2010.",
"YouTube began removing the material in November 2010. YouTube began removing the material in November 2010. Al-Awlaki was charged in absentia in Sana'a, Yemen, on November 2 with plotting to kill foreigners and being a member of al-Qaeda. Ali al-Saneaa, the head of the prosecutor's office, announced the charges during the trial of Hisham Assem, who had been accused of killing Jacques Spagnolo, an oil industry worker.",
"Ali al-Saneaa, the head of the prosecutor's office, announced the charges during the trial of Hisham Assem, who had been accused of killing Jacques Spagnolo, an oil industry worker. He said that al-Awlaki and Assem had been in contact for months, and that al-Awlaki had encouraged Assem to commit terrorism. Al-Awlaki's lawyer said that his client was not connected to Spagnolo's death. On November 6, Yemeni Judge Mohsen Alwan ordered that al-Awlaki be caught \"dead or alive\".",
"On November 6, Yemeni Judge Mohsen Alwan ordered that al-Awlaki be caught \"dead or alive\". In his book Ticking Time Bomb: Counter-Terrorism Lessons from the U.S. Government's Failure to Prevent the Fort Hood Attack (2011), former U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman described al-Awlaki, Australian Muslim preacher Feiz Mohammad, Muslim cleric Abdullah el-Faisal, and Pakistani-American Samir Khan as \"virtual spiritual sanctioners\" who use the internet to offer religious justification for Islamist terrorism.",
"Senator Joe Lieberman described al-Awlaki, Australian Muslim preacher Feiz Mohammad, Muslim cleric Abdullah el-Faisal, and Pakistani-American Samir Khan as \"virtual spiritual sanctioners\" who use the internet to offer religious justification for Islamist terrorism. Lawsuit against the US In July 2010, al-Awlaki's father, Nasser al-Awlaki, contacted the Center for Constitutional Rights and the American Civil Liberties Union to represent his son in a lawsuit that sought to remove Anwar from the targeted killing list.",
"Lawsuit against the US In July 2010, al-Awlaki's father, Nasser al-Awlaki, contacted the Center for Constitutional Rights and the American Civil Liberties Union to represent his son in a lawsuit that sought to remove Anwar from the targeted killing list. ACLU's Jameel Jaffer said: the United States is not at war in Yemen, and the government doesn't have a blank check to kill terrorism suspects wherever they are in the world.",
"ACLU's Jameel Jaffer said: the United States is not at war in Yemen, and the government doesn't have a blank check to kill terrorism suspects wherever they are in the world. Among the arguments we'll be making is that, outside actual war zones, the authority to use lethal force is narrowly circumscribed, and preserving the rule of law depends on keeping this authority narrow. Lawyers for Specially Designated Global Terrorists must obtain a special license from the U.S. Treasury Department before they can represent their clients in court.",
"Lawyers for Specially Designated Global Terrorists must obtain a special license from the U.S. Treasury Department before they can represent their clients in court. The lawyers were granted the license on August 4, 2010. On August 30, 2010, the groups filed a \"targeted killing\" lawsuit, naming President Obama, CIA Director Leon Panetta, and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates as defendants.",
"On August 30, 2010, the groups filed a \"targeted killing\" lawsuit, naming President Obama, CIA Director Leon Panetta, and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates as defendants. They sought an injunction preventing the targeted killing of al-Awlaki, and also sought to require the government to disclose the standards under which U.S. citizens may be \"targeted for death\".",
"They sought an injunction preventing the targeted killing of al-Awlaki, and also sought to require the government to disclose the standards under which U.S. citizens may be \"targeted for death\". Judge John D. Bates dismissed the lawsuit in an 83-page ruling, holding that the father did not have legal standing to bring the lawsuit, and that his claims were judicially unreviewable under the political question doctrine inasmuch as he was questioning a decision that the U.S. Constitution committed to the political branches.",
"Judge John D. Bates dismissed the lawsuit in an 83-page ruling, holding that the father did not have legal standing to bring the lawsuit, and that his claims were judicially unreviewable under the political question doctrine inasmuch as he was questioning a decision that the U.S. Constitution committed to the political branches. On May 5, 2011, the United States tried but failed to kill al-Awlaki by firing a missile from an unmanned drone at a car in Yemen. A Yemeni security official said that two al-Qaeda operatives in the car died.",
"A Yemeni security official said that two al-Qaeda operatives in the car died. Death On September 30, 2011, al-Awlaki was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Al Jawf Governorate, Yemen, according to U.S. sources, the strike was carried out by Joint Special Operations Command, under the direction of the CIA. A witness said the group had stopped to eat breakfast while traveling to Ma'rib Governorate.",
"A witness said the group had stopped to eat breakfast while traveling to Ma'rib Governorate. The occupants of the vehicle spotted the drone and attempted to flee in the vehicle before Hellfire missiles were fired Yemen's Defense Ministry announced that al-Awlaki had been killed. Also killed was Samir Khan, an American born in Saudi Arabia, thought to be behind al-Qaeda's English-language web magazine Inspire. U.S. President Barack Obama said: The death of Awlaki is a major blow to Al-Qaeda's most active operational affiliate.",
"U.S. President Barack Obama said: The death of Awlaki is a major blow to Al-Qaeda's most active operational affiliate. He took the lead in planning and directing efforts to murder innocent Americans ... and he repeatedly called on individuals in the United States and around the globe to kill innocent men, women and children to advance a murderous agenda. [The strike] is further proof that Al-Qaeda and its affiliates will find no safe haven anywhere in the world.",
"[The strike] is further proof that Al-Qaeda and its affiliates will find no safe haven anywhere in the world. Journalist and author Glenn Greenwald argued on Salon.com that killing al-Awlaki violated his First Amendment right of free speech and that doing so outside of a criminal proceeding violated the Constitution's due process clause, specifically citing the 1969 Supreme Court decision in Brandenburg v. Ohio that \"the constitutional guarantees of free speech and free press do not permit a State to forbid or proscribe advocacy of the use of force.\"",
"Journalist and author Glenn Greenwald argued on Salon.com that killing al-Awlaki violated his First Amendment right of free speech and that doing so outside of a criminal proceeding violated the Constitution's due process clause, specifically citing the 1969 Supreme Court decision in Brandenburg v. Ohio that \"the constitutional guarantees of free speech and free press do not permit a State to forbid or proscribe advocacy of the use of force.\" He mentioned doubt among Yemeni experts about al-Awlaki's role in al-Qaeda, and called U.S. government accusations against him unverified and lacking in evidence.",
"He mentioned doubt among Yemeni experts about al-Awlaki's role in al-Qaeda, and called U.S. government accusations against him unverified and lacking in evidence. In a letter dated May 22, 2013, to the chairman of the U.S. Senate Judiciary committee, Patrick J. Leahy, U.S. attorney general Eric Holder wrote that high-level U.S. government officials [...] concluded that al-Aulaqi posed a continuing and imminent threat of violent attack against the United States.",
"In a letter dated May 22, 2013, to the chairman of the U.S. Senate Judiciary committee, Patrick J. Leahy, U.S. attorney general Eric Holder wrote that high-level U.S. government officials [...] concluded that al-Aulaqi posed a continuing and imminent threat of violent attack against the United States. Before carrying out the operation that killed al-Aulaqi, senior officials also determined, based on a careful evaluation of the circumstances at the time, that it was not feasible to capture al-Aulaqi.",
"Before carrying out the operation that killed al-Aulaqi, senior officials also determined, based on a careful evaluation of the circumstances at the time, that it was not feasible to capture al-Aulaqi. In addition, senior officials determined that the operation would be conducted consistent with applicable law of war principles, including the cardinal principles of (1) necessity – the requirement that the target have definite military value; (2) distinction – the idea that only military objectives may be intentionally targeted and that civilians are protected from being intentionally targeted; (3) proportionality – the notion that the anticipated collateral damage of an action cannot be excessive in relation to the anticipated concrete and direct military advantage; and (4) humanity – a principle that requires us to use weapons that will not inflict unnecessary suffering.",
"In addition, senior officials determined that the operation would be conducted consistent with applicable law of war principles, including the cardinal principles of (1) necessity – the requirement that the target have definite military value; (2) distinction – the idea that only military objectives may be intentionally targeted and that civilians are protected from being intentionally targeted; (3) proportionality – the notion that the anticipated collateral damage of an action cannot be excessive in relation to the anticipated concrete and direct military advantage; and (4) humanity – a principle that requires us to use weapons that will not inflict unnecessary suffering. The operation was also undertaken consistent with Yemeni sovereignty.",
"The operation was also undertaken consistent with Yemeni sovereignty. The operation was also undertaken consistent with Yemeni sovereignty. [...] The decision to target Anwar al-Aulaqi was lawful, it was considered, and it was just. On April 21, 2014, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal ruled that the Obama administration must release documents justifying its drone killings of foreigners and Americans, including Anwar al-Awlaki.",
"Circuit Court of Appeal ruled that the Obama administration must release documents justifying its drone killings of foreigners and Americans, including Anwar al-Awlaki. In June 2014, the United States Department of Justice disclosed a 2010 memorandum written by the acting head of the department's Office of Legal Counsel, David J. Barron. The memo stated that Anwar al-Awlaki was a significant threat with an infeasible probability of capture. Barron therefore justified the killing as legal, as \"the Constitution would not require the government to provide further process\".",
"Barron therefore justified the killing as legal, as \"the Constitution would not require the government to provide further process\". The New York Times Editorial Board dismissed the memo's rationale for al-Awlaki's killing, saying it \"provides little confidence that the lethal action was taken with real care\", instead describing it as \"a slapdash pastiche of legal theories—some based on obscure interpretations of British and Israeli law—that was clearly tailored to the desired result.\"",
"The New York Times Editorial Board dismissed the memo's rationale for al-Awlaki's killing, saying it \"provides little confidence that the lethal action was taken with real care\", instead describing it as \"a slapdash pastiche of legal theories—some based on obscure interpretations of British and Israeli law—that was clearly tailored to the desired result.\" A lawyer for the ACLU described the memo as \"disturbing\" and \"ultimately an argument that the president can order targeted killings of Americans without ever having to account to anyone outside the executive branch.\"",
"A lawyer for the ACLU described the memo as \"disturbing\" and \"ultimately an argument that the president can order targeted killings of Americans without ever having to account to anyone outside the executive branch.\" Legacy Seth Jones, who as a political scientist specializes in al-Qaida, considers that the continuing relevance of al-Awlaki is due to his fluency in the English language as well as his charisma, precising that \"he had a disarming aura and unnerving confidence, with an easy smile and a soothing, eloquent voice.",
"Legacy Seth Jones, who as a political scientist specializes in al-Qaida, considers that the continuing relevance of al-Awlaki is due to his fluency in the English language as well as his charisma, precising that \"he had a disarming aura and unnerving confidence, with an easy smile and a soothing, eloquent voice. He stood a lanky six feet, one inch tall, weighed 160 pounds, and had a thick black beard, an oversized nose, and wire-rimmed glasses. He spoke in a clear, almost hypnotic voice.\"",
"He spoke in a clear, almost hypnotic voice.\" Awlaki's videos and writings remain highly popular on the internet, where they continue to be readily accessible. Those who viewed and still view his videos are estimated by journalist Scott Shane to number in the hundreds of thousands, while his father Dr. Nasser Awlaqi says that \"five million preaching tapes of Anwar Awlaqi have been sold in the West.\"",
"Those who viewed and still view his videos are estimated by journalist Scott Shane to number in the hundreds of thousands, while his father Dr. Nasser Awlaqi says that \"five million preaching tapes of Anwar Awlaqi have been sold in the West.\" And thus, even following his death, Awlaki has continued to inspire his devotees to carry out terrorist attacks, including the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, the 2015 San Bernardino attack, and the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting.",
"And thus, even following his death, Awlaki has continued to inspire his devotees to carry out terrorist attacks, including the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, the 2015 San Bernardino attack, and the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting. According to the Counter Extremism Project (CEP), 88 \"extremists,\" 54 in the U.S. and 34 in Europe, have been influenced by Awlaki.",
"According to the Counter Extremism Project (CEP), 88 \"extremists,\" 54 in the U.S. and 34 in Europe, have been influenced by Awlaki. Because \"his work has inspired countless plots and attacks,\" CEP has \"called on YouTube and other platforms to permanently ban Mr. Awlaki's material, including his early, mainstream lectures.\"",
"Because \"his work has inspired countless plots and attacks,\" CEP has \"called on YouTube and other platforms to permanently ban Mr. Awlaki's material, including his early, mainstream lectures.\" FOIA documents During the FBI investigation of the 9/11 attacks, it was discovered that a few of the attackers had attended the mosques in San Diego and Falls Church with which al-Awlaki was associated. Interviews with members of the San Diego mosque showed that Nawaz al-Hazmi, one of the attackers, may have had a private conversation with him.",
"Interviews with members of the San Diego mosque showed that Nawaz al-Hazmi, one of the attackers, may have had a private conversation with him. On that basis he was placed under 24-hour surveillance. It was discovered that he regularly patronized prostitutes. It was through FBI interrogation of prostitutes and escort service operators that al-Awlaki was tipped off in 2002 about FBI surveillance. Shortly thereafter, he left the United States.",
"Shortly thereafter, he left the United States. Shortly thereafter, he left the United States. In January 2013, Fox News announced that FBI documents obtained by Judicial Watch through a Freedom of Information Act request showed possible connections between al-Awlaki and the September 11 attackers. According to Judicial Watch, the documents show that the FBI knew that al-Awlaki had bought tickets for three of the hijackers to fly into Florida and Las Vegas. Judicial Watch further stated that al-Awlaki \"was a central focus of the FBI's investigation of 9/11.",
"Judicial Watch further stated that al-Awlaki \"was a central focus of the FBI's investigation of 9/11. They show he wasn't cooperative. And they show that he was under surveillance.\" When queried by Fox News, the FBI denied having evidence connecting al-Awlaki and the September 11 attacks: \"The FBI cautions against drawing conclusions from redacted FOIA documents. The FBI and investigating bodies have not found evidence connecting Anwar al-Awlaki and the attack on September 11, 2001.",
"The FBI and investigating bodies have not found evidence connecting Anwar al-Awlaki and the attack on September 11, 2001. The document referenced does not link Anwar al-Awlaki with any purchase of airline tickets for the hijackers.\" Family Abdulrahman al-Awlaki Anwar al-Awlaki and Egyptian-born Gihan Mohsen Baker had a son, Abdulrahman Anwar al-Awlaki, born August 26, 1995, in Denver, who was an American citizen. Abdulrahman al-Awlaki was killed on October 14, 2011, in Yemen at the age of 16 in an American drone strike.",
"Abdulrahman al-Awlaki was killed on October 14, 2011, in Yemen at the age of 16 in an American drone strike. Nine other people were killed in the same CIA-initiated attack, including a 17-year-old cousin of Abdulrahman. According to his relatives, shortly before his father's death, Abdulrahman had left the family home in Sana'a and travelled to Shabwa in search of his father who was believed to be in hiding in that area (though he was actually hundreds of miles away at the time ).",
"According to his relatives, shortly before his father's death, Abdulrahman had left the family home in Sana'a and travelled to Shabwa in search of his father who was believed to be in hiding in that area (though he was actually hundreds of miles away at the time ). Abdulrahman was sitting in an open-air cafe in Shabwa when killed.",
"Abdulrahman was sitting in an open-air cafe in Shabwa when killed. According to U.S. officials, the killing of Abdulrahman al-Awlaki was a mistake; the intended target was an Egyptian, Ibrahim al-Banna, who was not at the targeted location at the time of the attack. Human rights groups have raised questions as to why an American citizen was killed by the United States in a country with which the United States is not officially at war. Abdulrahman al-Awlaki was not known to have any independent connection to terrorism.",
"Abdulrahman al-Awlaki was not known to have any independent connection to terrorism. Nasser al-Awlaki Nasser al-Awlaki is the father of Anwar and grandfather of Abdulrahman al-Awlaki. Al-Awlaki stated he believed his son had been wrongly accused and was not a member of Al Qaeda. After the deaths of his son and grandson, Nasser in an interview in Time magazine called the killings a crime and condemned U.S. President Obama directly, saying: \"I urge the American people to bring the killers to justice.",
"After the deaths of his son and grandson, Nasser in an interview in Time magazine called the killings a crime and condemned U.S. President Obama directly, saying: \"I urge the American people to bring the killers to justice. I urge them to expose the hypocrisy of the 2009 Nobel Prize laureate. To some, he may be that. To me and my family, he is nothing more than a child killer.\"",
"To me and my family, he is nothing more than a child killer.\" In 2013, Nasser al-Awlaki published an op-ed in The New York Times stating that two years after killing his grandson, the Obama administration still declines to provide an explanation. In 2012, Nasser al-Awlaki filed a lawsuit, Al-Aulaqi v. Panetta, challenging the constitutionality of the drone killings of his son and grandson. This lawsuit was dismissed in April 2014 by D.C. District Court Judge Rosemary M. Collyer.",
"This lawsuit was dismissed in April 2014 by D.C. District Court Judge Rosemary M. Collyer. Tariq al-Dahab Tariq al-Dahab, who led al-Qaeda insurgents in Yemen, was a brother-in-law of al-Awlaki. On February 16, 2012, the terrorist organization stated that he had been killed by agents, although media reports contain speculation that he was killed by his brother in a bloody family feud.",
"On February 16, 2012, the terrorist organization stated that he had been killed by agents, although media reports contain speculation that he was killed by his brother in a bloody family feud. Nawar al-Awlaki On January 29, 2017, Anwar al-Awlaki's 8-year-old daughter, Nawar al-Awlaki, who was an American citizen, was killed in a DEVGRU operation authorized by President Donald Trump. \"1 US service member killed, 3 wounded in Yemen raid\" , WPVI-TV, 6 ABC Action News, Philadelphia, PA. January 29, 2017.",
"\"1 US service member killed, 3 wounded in Yemen raid\" , WPVI-TV, 6 ABC Action News, Philadelphia, PA. January 29, 2017. Retrieved January 29, 2017. Islamic education Al-Awlaki's Islamic education was primarily informal, and consisted of intermittent months with various scholars reading and contemplating Islamic scholarly works.",
"Islamic education Al-Awlaki's Islamic education was primarily informal, and consisted of intermittent months with various scholars reading and contemplating Islamic scholarly works. Despite having no religious qualifications and almost no religious education, Al-Awlaki made a name for himself as a public speaker who released popular audio recordings.Some Muslim scholars said they did not understand alAwlaki's popularity, because while he spoke fluent English and could therefore reach a large non-Arabic-speaking audience, he lacked formal Islamic training and study.",
"Despite having no religious qualifications and almost no religious education, Al-Awlaki made a name for himself as a public speaker who released popular audio recordings.Some Muslim scholars said they did not understand alAwlaki's popularity, because while he spoke fluent English and could therefore reach a large non-Arabic-speaking audience, he lacked formal Islamic training and study. Ideology While imprisoned in Yemen after 2004, al-Awlaki was influenced by the works of Sayyid Qutb, described by The New York Times as an originator of the contemporary \"anti-Western Jihadist movement\".",
"Ideology While imprisoned in Yemen after 2004, al-Awlaki was influenced by the works of Sayyid Qutb, described by The New York Times as an originator of the contemporary \"anti-Western Jihadist movement\". He read 150 to 200 pages a day of Qutb's works, and described himself as \"so immersed with the author I would feel Sayyid was with me in my cell speaking to me directly\". Terrorism consultant Evan Kohlmann in 2009 referred to al-Awlaki as \"one of the principal jihadi luminaries for would-be homegrown terrorists.",
"Terrorism consultant Evan Kohlmann in 2009 referred to al-Awlaki as \"one of the principal jihadi luminaries for would-be homegrown terrorists. His fluency with English, his unabashed advocacy of jihad and mujahideen organizations, and his Web-savvy approach are a powerful combination.\" He called al-Awlaki's lecture, \"Constants on the Path of Jihad\", which he says was based on a similar document written by al-Qaeda's founder, the \"virtual bible for lone-wolf Muslim extremists\".",
"He called al-Awlaki's lecture, \"Constants on the Path of Jihad\", which he says was based on a similar document written by al-Qaeda's founder, the \"virtual bible for lone-wolf Muslim extremists\". Philip Mudd, formerly of the CIA's National Counterterrorism Center and the FBI's top intelligence adviser, called him \"a magnetic character ... a powerful orator.\" He attracted young men to his lectures, especially US-based and UK-based Muslims.",
"He attracted young men to his lectures, especially US-based and UK-based Muslims. U.S. officials and some U.S. media sources called al-Awlaki an Islamic fundamentalist and accused him of encouraging terrorism. According to documents recovered from bin Laden's hideout, the al-Qaeda leader was unsure about al-Awlaki's qualifications. Works The Nine Eleven Finding Answers Foundation said al-Awlaki's ability to write and speak in fluent English enabled him to incite English-speaking Muslims to terrorism. Al-Awlaki notes in 44 Ways to Support Jihad that most reading material on the subject is in Arabic.",
"Al-Awlaki notes in 44 Ways to Support Jihad that most reading material on the subject is in Arabic. Written works 44 Ways to Support Jihad: Essay (January 2009). In it, al-Awlaki states that \"The hatred of kuffar is a central element of our military creed\" and that all Muslims are obligated to participate in jihad, either by committing the acts themselves or supporting others who do so. He says all Muslims must remain physically fit so as to be prepared for conflict.",
"He says all Muslims must remain physically fit so as to be prepared for conflict. According to U.S. officials, it is considered a key text for al-Qaeda members. Al-Awlaki wrote for Jihad Recollections, an English language online publication published by Al-Fursan Media. Allah is Preparing Us for Victory – short book (2009). Lectures Lectures on the book Constants on the Path of Jihad by Yusef al-Ayeri—concerns leaderless jihad. In 2009, the UK government found 1,910 of his videos had been posted to YouTube.",
"In 2009, the UK government found 1,910 of his videos had been posted to YouTube. One of them had been viewed 164,420 times.",
"One of them had been viewed 164,420 times. One of them had been viewed 164,420 times. The Battle of Hearts and Minds The Dust Will Never Settle Down Dreams & Interpretations The Hereafter—16 CDs—Al Basheer Productions Life of Muhammad: Makkan Period—16 CDs—Al Basheer Productions Life of Muhammad: Medinan Period—Lecture in 2 Parts—18 CDs—Al Basheer Productions Lives of the Prophets (AS)—16 CDs—Al Basheer Productions Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (RA): His Life & Times—15 CDs—Al Basheer Productions Umar ibn al-Khattāb (RA): His Life & Times—18 CDs—Al Basheer Productions 25 Promises from Allah to the Believer—2 CDs—Noor Productions Companions of the Ditch & Lessons from the Life of Musa (AS)—2 CDs—Noor Productions Remembrance of Allah & the Greatest Ayah—2 CDs—Noor Productions Stories from Hadith—4 CDs—Center for Islamic Information and Education (\"CIIE\") Hellfire & The Day of Judgment—CD—CIIE Quest for Truth: The Story of Salman Al-Farsi (RA)—CD—CIIE Trials & Lessons for Muslim Minorities—CD—CIIE Young Ayesha (RA) & Mothers of the Believers (RA)—CD—CIIE Understanding the Quran—CD—CIIE Lessons from the Companions (RA) Living as a Minority—CD—CIIE Virtues of the Sahabah—video lecture series promoted by the al-Wasatiyyah Foundation Website Al-Awlaki maintained a website and blog on which he shared his views.",
"The Battle of Hearts and Minds The Dust Will Never Settle Down Dreams & Interpretations The Hereafter—16 CDs—Al Basheer Productions Life of Muhammad: Makkan Period—16 CDs—Al Basheer Productions Life of Muhammad: Medinan Period—Lecture in 2 Parts—18 CDs—Al Basheer Productions Lives of the Prophets (AS)—16 CDs—Al Basheer Productions Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (RA): His Life & Times—15 CDs—Al Basheer Productions Umar ibn al-Khattāb (RA): His Life & Times—18 CDs—Al Basheer Productions 25 Promises from Allah to the Believer—2 CDs—Noor Productions Companions of the Ditch & Lessons from the Life of Musa (AS)—2 CDs—Noor Productions Remembrance of Allah & the Greatest Ayah—2 CDs—Noor Productions Stories from Hadith—4 CDs—Center for Islamic Information and Education (\"CIIE\") Hellfire & The Day of Judgment—CD—CIIE Quest for Truth: The Story of Salman Al-Farsi (RA)—CD—CIIE Trials & Lessons for Muslim Minorities—CD—CIIE Young Ayesha (RA) & Mothers of the Believers (RA)—CD—CIIE Understanding the Quran—CD—CIIE Lessons from the Companions (RA) Living as a Minority—CD—CIIE Virtues of the Sahabah—video lecture series promoted by the al-Wasatiyyah Foundation Website Al-Awlaki maintained a website and blog on which he shared his views. On December 11, 2008, he said Muslims should not seek to \"serve in the armies of the disbelievers and fight against his brothers\".",
"On December 11, 2008, he said Muslims should not seek to \"serve in the armies of the disbelievers and fight against his brothers\". In \"44 Ways to Support Jihad\", posted on his blog in February 2009, al-Awlaki encouraged others to \"fight jihad\", and explained how to give money to the mujahideen or their families. Al-Awlaki's sermon encourages others to conduct weapons training, and raise children \"on the love of Jihad\".",
"Al-Awlaki's sermon encourages others to conduct weapons training, and raise children \"on the love of Jihad\". Also that month, he wrote: \"I pray that Allah destroys America and all its allies.\" He wrote as well: \"We will implement the rule of Allah on Earth by the tip of the sword, whether the masses like it or not.\" On July 14, he said that Muslim countries should not offer military assistance to the US.",
"On July 14, he said that Muslim countries should not offer military assistance to the US. \"The blame should be placed on the soldier who is willing to follow orders ... who sells his religion for a few dollars,\" he said. In blog post dated July 15, 2009, entitled \"Fighting Against Government Armies in the Muslim World\", al-Awlaki wrote, \"Blessed are those who fight against [American soldiers], and blessed are those shuhada [martyrs] who are killed by them.\"",
"In blog post dated July 15, 2009, entitled \"Fighting Against Government Armies in the Muslim World\", al-Awlaki wrote, \"Blessed are those who fight against [American soldiers], and blessed are those shuhada [martyrs] who are killed by them.\" In a video posted to the internet on November 8, 2010, al-Awlaki called for Muslims to kill Americans \"without hesitation\", and overthrow Arab governments that cooperate with the US.",
"In a video posted to the internet on November 8, 2010, al-Awlaki called for Muslims to kill Americans \"without hesitation\", and overthrow Arab governments that cooperate with the US. \"Don't consult with anyone in fighting the Americans, fighting the devil doesn't require consultation or prayers or seeking divine guidance. They are the party of the devils\", al-Awlaki said.",
"They are the party of the devils\", al-Awlaki said. That month, Intelligence Research Specialist Kevin Yorke of the New York Police Department's Counterterrorism Division called him \"the most dangerous man in the world\". See also Church Committee Executive Order 12333 Extrajudicial killing International counter-terrorism activities of the CIA Protocol I References Further reading al-Ashanti, AbdulHaq and Sloan, Abu Ameenah AbdurRahman. (2011) A Critique of the Methodology of Anwar al-Awlaki and his Errors in the Fiqh of Jihad.",
"(2011) A Critique of the Methodology of Anwar al-Awlaki and his Errors in the Fiqh of Jihad. London: Jamiah Media, 2011 External links Ruling of Judge Bates in Al Aulaqi v Obama Statements Interviews \"Exclusive; Ray Suarez: My Post-9/11 Interview With Anwar al-Awlaki\", PBS, October 30, 2001 \"Al-Jazeera Satellite Network Interview with Yemeni-American Cleric Shaykh Anwar al-Awlaki Regarding his Alleged Role in Radicalizing Maj. Malik Nidal Hasan\", The NEFA Foundation, December 24, 2009 Media coverage The imam's very curious story: A skirt-chasing mullah is just one more mystery for the 9/11 panel, Ragavan, Chitra, US News and World Report'', June 13, 2004 DBI.gov 1971 births 2011 deaths 20th-century imams 21st-century imams Abdullah Yusuf Azzam Al-Qaeda propagandists Assassinated al-Qaeda leaders American al-Qaeda members American expatriates in the United Kingdom American expatriates in Yemen American imams American Islamists American people of Yemeni descent Colorado State University alumni George Washington University Graduate School of Education and Human Development alumni People associated with the September 11 attacks People from Las Cruces, New Mexico San Diego State University alumni Yemeni imams Yemeni al-Qaeda members Yemeni Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam Yemeni Sunni Muslims Deaths by drone strikes of the Central Intelligence Agency in Yemen Islam-related controversies People designated by the Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee American male criminals Yemeni criminals Yemeni Islamists Yemeni expatriates in the United Kingdom Shafi'is American Muslim activists Assassinated Yemeni people Yemeni propagandists United States military killing of American civilians"
] |
[
"Anwar al-Awlaki",
"Other connections",
"What were some of his connections?",
"Al-Awlaki influenced several other extremists to join terrorist organizations overseas and to carry out terrorist attacks in their home countries.",
"What countries was he going after?",
"The cases included suicide bombers in the 2005 London bombings, radical Islamic terrorists in the 2006 Toronto terrorism case, radical Islamic terrorists in the 2007 Fort Dix attack plot,",
"Were there others?",
"the jihadist killer in the 2009 Little Rock military recruiting office shooting, and the 2010 Times Square bomber.",
"How was he contacting these people?",
"In each case the suspects were devoted to al-Awlaki's message, which they listened to online and on CDs.",
"Did any of his connections report him?",
"Zachary Chesser, an American citizen who was arrested for attempting to provide material support to Al Shabaab,",
"Was he prosecuted for it?",
"I don't know."
] | C_a9dbf6539ea04ea1aa2c40cc18303c22_1 | What happened after Zachary was arrested? | 7 | What happened after Zachary Chesser was arrested? | Anwar al-Awlaki | FBI agents identified al-Awlaki as a known, important "senior recruiter for al Qaeda", and a spiritual motivator. His name came up in a dozen terrorism plots in the US, UK, and Canada. The cases included suicide bombers in the 2005 London bombings, radical Islamic terrorists in the 2006 Toronto terrorism case, radical Islamic terrorists in the 2007 Fort Dix attack plot, the jihadist killer in the 2009 Little Rock military recruiting office shooting, and the 2010 Times Square bomber. In each case the suspects were devoted to al-Awlaki's message, which they listened to online and on CDs. Al-Awlaki's recorded lectures were heard by Islamist fundamentalists in at least six terror cells in the UK through 2009. Michael Finton (Talib Islam), who attempted in September 2009 to bomb the Federal Building and the adjacent offices of Congressman Aaron Schock in Springfield, Illinois, admired al-Awlaki and quoted him on his Myspace page. In addition to his website, al-Awlaki had a Facebook fan page with "fans" in the US, many of whom were high school students. Al-Awlaki also set up a website and blog on which he shared his views. Al-Awlaki influenced several other extremists to join terrorist organizations overseas and to carry out terrorist attacks in their home countries. Mohamed Alessa and Carlos Almonte, two American citizens from New Jersey who attempted to travel to Somalia in June 2010 to join the al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group Al Shabaab, allegedly watched several al-Awlaki videos and sermons in which he warned of future attacks against Americans in the US and abroad. Zachary Chesser, an American citizen who was arrested for attempting to provide material support to Al Shabaab, told federal authorities that he watched online videos featuring al-Awlaki and that he exchanged several e-mails with al-Awlaki. In July 2010, Paul Rockwood was sentenced to eight years in prison for creating a list of 15 potential targets in the US, people he felt had desecrated Islam. Rockwood was a devoted follower of al-Awlaki, and had studied his works Constants on the Path to Jihad and 44 Ways to Jihad. In October 2008, Charles Allen, US Under-Secretary of Homeland Security for Intelligence and Analysis, warned that al-Awlaki "targets U.S. Muslims with radical online lectures encouraging terrorist attacks from his new home in Yemen." Responding to Allen, al-Awlaki wrote on his website in December 2008: "I would challenge him to come up with just one such lecture where I encourage 'terrorist attacks'". CANNOTANSWER | In July 2010, Paul Rockwood was sentenced to eight years in prison for creating a list of 15 potential targets in the US, people he felt had desecrated Islam. | Anwar Nasser al-Awlaki (also spelled al-Aulaqi, al-Awlaqi; ; April 21 or 22, 1971 – September 30, 2011) was a Yemeni-American imam who was killed in 2011 in Yemen by an American drone strike ordered by President Barack Obama. Al-Awlaki became the first U.S. citizen to be targeted and killed by a U.S. drone strike without the rights of due process being afforded. US government officials argued that Awlaki was a key organizer for the Islamist terrorist group al-Qaeda, and in June 2014, a previously classified memorandum issued by the U.S. Department of Justice was released, justifying al-Awlaki's death as a lawful act of war. Civil liberties advocates have described the incident as "an extrajudicial execution" that breached al-Awlaki's right to due process, including a trial.
Al-Awlaki was born in Las Cruces, New Mexico, in 1971 to parents from Yemen. Growing up partially in the United States and partially in Yemen, he attended various universities across the United States in the 1990s and early 2000s while also working as an imam, despite having no religious qualifications and almost no religious education. Al-Awlaki returned to Yemen in early 2004 and became a university lecturer after a brief stint as a public speaker in the United Kingdom. He was detained by Yemeni authorities in 2006, where he spent 18 months in prison before being released without facing trial. Following his release, Al-Awlaki's message started to become overtly supportive of violence, as he condemned United States foreign policy against Muslims.
The Yemeni government tried him in absentia in November 2010, for plotting to kill foreigners and being a member of al-Qaeda. A Yemeni judge ordered that he be captured "dead or alive". U.S. officials said that in 2009, al-Awlaki was promoted to the rank of "regional commander" within al-Qaeda, although they described his role as more "inspirational" than "operational." He repeatedly called for jihad against the United States. In April 2010, al-Awlaki was placed on a CIA kill list by President Barack Obama due to his alleged terrorist activities. Al-Awlaki's father and civil rights groups challenged the order in court. Al-Awlaki was believed to be in hiding in southeast Yemen in the last years of his life. The U.S. deployed unmanned aircraft (drones) in Yemen to search for and kill him, firing at and failing to kill him at least once; he was successfully killed on September 30, 2011. Two weeks later, al-Awlaki's 16-year-old son, Abdulrahman al-Awlaki, a U.S. citizen who was born in Denver, Colorado, was also killed by a CIA-led drone strike in Yemen. His daughter, 8-year old Nawar al-Awlaki, was killed during a raid against Al Qaeda ordered by President Donald Trump in 2017.<ref name="uk.reuters.com">Ghobari, Mohammed and Phil Stewart. "Commando dies in U.S. raid in Yemen, first military op OK'd by Trump", Reuters, January 29, 2017. Retrieved January 29, 2017.</ref> The New York Times wrote in 2015 that al-Awlaki's public statements and videos have been more influential in inspiring acts of Islamic terrorism in the wake of his killing than before his death.
Early life
Al-Awlaki was born in Las Cruces, New Mexico, in 1971 to parents from Yemen, while his father, Nasser al-Awlaki, was doing graduate work at U.S. universities. His father was a Fulbright Scholar who earned a master's degree in agricultural economics at New Mexico State University in 1971, received a doctorate at the University of Nebraska, and worked at the University of Minnesota from 1975 to 1977. Nasser al-Awlaki served as Agriculture Minister in Ali Abdullah Saleh's government. He was also President of Sana'a University. Yemen's prime minister from 2007 to 2011, Ali Mohammed Mujur, was a relative.
The family returned to Yemen in 1978, when al-Awlaki was seven years old. He lived there for 11 years, and studied at Azal Modern School.
Life in the United States 1990–2002
Education
In 1991, al-Awlaki returned to the U.S. to attend college. He earned a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Colorado State University (1994), where he was president of the Muslim Student Association.
In 1993, while still a college student in Colorado State's civil engineering program, al-Awlaki visited Afghanistan in the aftermath of the Soviet occupation. He spent some time training with the mujahideen who had fought the Soviets. He was depressed by the country's poverty and hunger, and "wouldn't have gone with al-Qaeda," according to friends from Colorado State, who said he was profoundly affected by the trip. Mullah Mohammed Omar did not form the Taliban until 1994. When Al-Awlaki returned to campus, he showed increased interest in religion and politics. Al-Awlaki studied Education Leadership at San Diego State University, but did not complete his degree. He worked on a doctorate in Human Resource Development at The George Washington University Graduate School of Education and Human Development from January to December 2001.
Time as imam
In 1994, al-Awlaki married a cousin from Yemen, and began service as a part-time imam of the Denver Islamic Society. In 1996, he was chastised by an elder for encouraging a Saudi student to fight in Chechnya against the Russians. He left Denver soon after, moving to San Diego.
From 1996 to 2000, al-Awlaki was imam of the Masjid Ar-Ribat al-Islami mosque in San Diego, California, where he had a following of 200–300 people. U.S. officials later alleged that Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar, hijackers of American Airlines Flight 77, attended his sermons and personally met him during this period. Hazmi later lived in Northern Virginia and attended al-Awlaki's mosque there. The 9/11 Commission Report said that the hijackers "reportedly respected [al-Awlaki] as a religious figure". While in San Diego, al-Awlaki volunteered with youth organizations, fished, discussed his travels with friends, and created a popular and lucrative series of recorded lectures.
In August 1996 and in April 1997, al-Awlaki was arrested in San Diego and charged with soliciting prostitutes. The first time, in 1996, he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and was fined $400 and required to attend informational sessions about AIDS. The second time, in 1997, he pleaded guilty and was fined $240, ordered to perform 12 days of community service, and received three years' probation. From November 2001 to January 2002 the FBI observed him visiting a number of prostitutes, and interviewed them, establishing that he had paid for sex acts. No prosecution was brought.
In 1998 and 1999, he served as vice-president for the Charitable Society for Social Welfare. In 2004, the FBI described this group as a "front organization to funnel money to terrorists". Although the FBI investigated al-Awlaki from June 1999 through March 2000 for possible links to Hamas, the Bin Laden contact Ziyad Khaleel, and a visit by an associate of Omar Abdel Rahman, it did not find sufficient evidence for a criminal prosecution. Al-Awlaki told reporters that he resigned from leading the San Diego mosque "after an uneventful four years," and took a brief sabbatical, traveling overseas to various countries.
In January 2001, al-Awlaki returned to the U.S., settling in the Washington metropolitan area. There, he was imam at the Dar al-Hijrah mosque near Falls Church, Virginia, and his services were attended by Nawaf al-Hazmi and a third hijacker, Hani Hanjour. He led academic discussions frequented by FBI Director of Counter-Intelligence for the Middle East Gordon M. Snow. Al-Awlaki also served as the Muslim chaplain at George Washington University, where he was hired by Esam Omeish. Omeish said in 2004 that he was convinced that al-Awlaki was not involved in terrorism.
His proficiency as a public speaker and command of the English language helped him attract followers who did not speak Arabic. "He was the magic bullet", according to the mosque spokesman Johari Abdul-Malik. "He had everything all in a box." "He had an allure. He was charming."
When police investigating the 9/11 attacks raided the Hamburg apartment of Ramzi bin al-Shibh, they found the telephone number of al-Awlaki among bin al-Shibh's personal contacts. The FBI interviewed al-Awlaki four times in the eight days following the 9/11 attacks. One detective later told the 9/11 Commission he believed al-Awlaki "was at the center of the 9/11 story". And an FBI agent said, "if anyone had knowledge of the plot, it would have been" him, since "someone had to be in the U.S. and keep the hijackers spiritually focused". One 9/11 Commission staff member said: "Do I think he played a role in helping the hijackers here, knowing they were up to something? Yes. Do I think he was sent here for that purpose? I have no evidence for it." A separate Congressional Joint Inquiry into the 9/11 attacks suggested that al-Awlaki may have been connected to the hijackers, according to its director, Eleanor Hill. In 2003, Representative Anna Eshoo, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said, "In my view, he is more than a coincidental figure."
Six days after the 9/11 attacks, al-Awlaki suggested in writing on the IslamOnline.net website that Israeli intelligence agents might have been responsible for the attacks, and that the FBI "went into the roster of the airplanes, and whoever has a Muslim or Arab name became the hijacker by default".
Soon after the 9/11 attacks, al-Awlaki was sought in Washington, D.C., by the media to answer questions about Islam, its rituals, and its relation to the attacks. He was interviewed by National Geographic, The New York Times, and other media. Al-Awlaki condemned the attacks. According to an NPR report in 2010, in 2001 al-Awlaki appeared to be a moderate who could "bridge the gap between the United States and the worldwide community of Muslims." The New York Times said at the time that he was "held up as a new generation of Muslim leader capable of merging East and West." In 2010, Fox News and the New York Daily News reported that some months after the 9/11 attacks, a Pentagon employee invited al-Awlaki to a luncheon in the Secretary's Office of General Counsel. The U.S. Secretary of the Army had suggested that a moderate Muslim be invited to give a talk.
In 2002, al-Awlaki was the first imam to conduct a prayer service for the Congressional Muslim Staffer Association at the U.S. Capitol. That year, Nidal Hasan visited al-Awlaki's mosque for his mother's funeral, at which al-Awlaki presided. In November 2009, Hasan killed 13 and wounded 32 in the Fort Hood shooting. Hasan usually attended a mosque in Maryland closer to where he lived while working at the Walter Reed Medical Center (2003–09).
Later in 2002, al-Awlaki posted an essay in Arabic on the Islam Today website titled "Why Muslims Love Death", lauding the fervor of Palestinian suicide bombers. He expressed a similar opinion in a speech at a London mosque later that year. By July 2002, al-Awlaki was under investigation in the United States for having received money from the subject of a U.S. Joint Terrorism Task Force investigation. His name was added to the list of terrorism suspects.
Passport fraud issues
In June 2002, a Denver federal judge signed an arrest warrant for al-Awlaki for passport fraud. On October 9, the Denver U.S. Attorney's Office filed a motion to dismiss the complaint and vacate the arrest warrant. Prosecutors believed that they lacked sufficient evidence of a crime, according to U.S. Attorney Dave Gaouette, who authorized its withdrawal. Al-Awlaki had listed Yemen rather than the United States as his place of birth on his 1990 application for a U.S. Social Security number, soon after arriving in the US. Al-Awlaki used this documentation to obtain a passport in 1993. He later corrected his place of birth to Las Cruces, New Mexico. "The bizarre thing is if you put Yemen down (on the application), it would be harder to get a Social Security number than to say you are a native-born citizen of Las Cruces", Gaouette said.
Prosecutors could not charge him in October 2002, when he returned from a trip abroad, because a 10-year statute of limitations on lying to the Social Security Administration had expired. According to a 2012 investigative report by Fox News, the arrest warrant for passport fraud was still in effect on the morning of October 10, 2002, when FBI Agent Wade Ammerman ordered al-Awlaki's release. U.S. Congressman Frank Wolf (R-VA) and several congressional committees urged FBI Director Robert Mueller to provide an explanation about the bureau's interactions with al-Awlaki, including why he was released from federal custody when there was an outstanding warrant for his arrest. The motion for rescinding the arrest warrant was approved by a magistrate judge on October 10 and filed on October 11.ABC News reported in 2009 that the Joint Terrorism Task Force in San Diego disagreed with the decision to cancel the warrant. They were monitoring al-Awlaki and wanted to "look at him under a microscope". But U.S. Attorney Gaouette said that no objection had been raised to the rescinding of the warrant during a meeting that included Ray Fournier, the San Diego federal diplomatic security agent whose allegation had set in motion the effort to obtain a warrant. Gaouette said that if al-Awlaki had been convicted at the time, he would have faced about six months in custody.The New York Times suggested later that al-Awlaki had claimed birth in Yemen (his family's place of origin) to qualify for scholarship money granted to foreign citizens. U.S. Congressman Frank R. Wolf (R-VA) wrote in May 2010 that by claiming to be foreign-born, al-Awlaki fraudulently obtained more than $20,000 in scholarship funds reserved for foreign students.
While living in Northern Virginia, al-Awlaki visited Ali al-Timimi, later known as a radical Islamic cleric. Al-Timimi was convicted in 2005 and is now serving a life sentence for leading the Virginia Jihad Network, inciting Muslim followers to fight with the Taliban against the US.
In the United Kingdom 2002–04
Al-Awlaki left the United States before the end of 2002, because of a "climate of fear and intimidation" according to Imam Johari Abdul-Malik of the Dar al-Hijrah mosque.
He lived in the UK for several months, where he gave talks attended by up to 200 people. He urged young Muslim followers: "The important lesson to learn here is never, ever trust a kuffar [disbeliever]. Do not trust them! [Their leaders] are plotting to kill this religion. They're plotting night and day." "He was the main man who translated the jihad into English," said a student who attended his lectures in 2003.
He gave a series of lectures in December 2002 and January 2003 at the London Masjid al-Tawhid mosque, describing the rewards martyrs (Shahid) receive in paradise (Jannah). He began to gain supporters, particularly among young Muslims, and undertook a lecture tour of England and Scotland in 2002 in conjunction with the Muslim Association of Britain. He also lectured at "ExpoIslamia", an event held by Islamic Forum Europe. At the East London Mosque he told his audience: "A Muslim is a brother of a Muslim... he does not betray him, and he does not hand him over... You don't hand over a Muslim to the enemies."
In Britain's Parliament in 2003, Louise Ellman, MP for Liverpool Riverside, discussed the relationship between al-Awlaki and the Muslim Association of Britain, an alleged Muslim Brotherhood front organization founded by Kemal el-Helbawy, a senior member of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood.
Return to Yemen 2004–11
Al-Awlaki returned to Yemen in early 2004, where he lived in Shabwah Governorate with his wife and five children. He lectured at Iman University, headed by Abdul Majeed al-Zindani. The latter has been included on the UN 1267 Committee's list of individuals belonging to or associated with al-Qaeda. Al-Zindani denied having any influence over al-Awlaki, or that he had been his "direct teacher". Some believe that the school's curriculum deals mostly, if not exclusively, with radical Islamic studies, and promotes radicalism. American convert John Walker Lindh and other alumni have been associated with terrorist groups.
On August 31, 2006, al-Awlaki was arrested with four others on charges of kidnapping a Shiite teenager for ransom, and participating in an al-Qaeda plot to kidnap a U.S. military attaché. He was imprisoned in 2006 and 2007. He was interviewed around September 2007 by two FBI agents with regard to the 9/11 attacks and other subjects. John Negroponte, the U.S. Director of National Intelligence, told Yemeni officials he did not object to al-Awlaki's detention.
His name was on a list of 100 prisoners whose release was sought by al-Qaeda-linked militants in Yemen. After 18 months in a Yemeni prison, al-Awlaki was released on December 12, 2007, following the intercession of his tribe. According to a Yemeni security official, he was released because he had repented. He moved to his family home in Saeed, a hamlet in the Shabwa mountains.
Moazzam Begg's Cageprisoners, an organization representing former Guantanamo detainees, campaigned for al-Awlaki's release when he was in prison in Yemen. Al-Awlaki told Begg in an interview shortly after his release that prior to his incarceration in Yemen, he had condemned the 9/11 attacks.
In December 2008, al-Awlaki sent a communique to the Somali terrorist group, al-Shabaab, congratulating them.
Al-Awlaki provided al-Qaeda members in Yemen with the protection of his powerful tribe, the Awlakis, against the government. The tribal code required it to protect those who seek refuge and assistance. This imperative has greater force when the person is a member of the tribe or a tribesman's friend. The tribe's motto is "We are the sparks of Hell; whoever interferes with us will be burned." Al-Awlaki also reportedly helped negotiate deals with leaders of other tribes.
Sought by Yemeni authorities who were investigating his al-Qaeda ties, al-Awlaki went into hiding in approximately March 2009, according to his father. By December 2009, al-Awlaki was on the Yemeni government's most-wanted list. He was believed to be hiding in Yemen's Shabwa or Mareb regions, which are part of the so-called "triangle of evil". The area has attracted al-Qaeda militants, who seek refuge among local tribes unhappy with Yemen's central government.
Yemeni sources originally said al-Awlaki might have been killed in a pre-dawn air strike by Yemeni Air Force fighter jets on a meeting of senior al-Qaeda leaders at a hideout in Rafd in eastern Shabwa, on December 24, 2009. But he survived. Pravda reported that the planes, using Saudi and U.S. intelligence, killed at least 30 al-Qaeda members from Yemen and abroad, and that an al-Awlaki house was "raided and demolished". On December 28 The Washington Post reported that U.S. and Yemeni officials said that al-Awlaki had been present at the meeting. Abdul Elah al-Shaya, a Yemeni journalist, said al-Awlaki called him on December 28 to report that he was well and had not attended the al-Qaeda meeting. Al-Shaya said that al-Awlaki was not tied to al-Qaeda.
In March 2010, a tape featuring al-Awlaki was released in which he urged Muslims residing in the United States to attack their country of residence.
Reaching out to the United Kingdom
After 2006, al-Awlaki was banned from entering the United Kingdom. He broadcast lectures to mosques and other venues there via video-link from 2007 to 2009, on at least seven occasions at five locations in Britain. Noor Pro Media Events held a conference at the East London Mosque on January 1, 2009, showing a videotaped lecture by al-Awlaki; former Shadow Home Secretary Dominic Grieve expressed concern over his being featured.
He gave video-link talks in England to an Islamic student society at the University of Westminster in September 2008, an arts center in East London in April 2009 (after the Tower Hamlets council gave its approval), worshippers at the Al Huda Mosque in Bradford, and a dinner of the Cageprisoners organization in September 2008 at the Wandsworth Civic Centre in South London. On August 23, 2009, al-Awlaki was banned by local authorities in Kensington and Chelsea, London, from speaking at Kensington Town Hall via videolink to a fundraiser dinner for Guantanamo detainees promoted by Cageprisoners. His videos, which discuss his Islamist theories, have circulated across the United Kingdom. Until February 2010, hundreds of audio tapes of his sermons were available at the Tower Hamlets public libraries. In 2009, the London-based Islam Channel carried advertisements for his DVDs and at least two of his video conference lectures.
Other connections
FBI agents identified al-Awlaki as a known, important "senior recruiter for al Qaeda", and a spiritual motivator. His name came up in a dozen terrorism plots in the US, UK, and Canada. The cases included suicide bombers in the 2005 London bombings, radical Islamic terrorists in the 2006 Toronto terrorism case, radical Islamic terrorists in the 2007 Fort Dix attack plot, the jihadist killer in the 2009 Little Rock military recruiting office shooting, and the 2010 Times Square bomber. In each case the suspects were devoted to al-Awlaki's message, which they listened to online and on CDs.
Al-Awlaki's recorded lectures were heard by Islamist fundamentalists in at least six terror cells in the UK through 2009. Michael Finton (Talib Islam), who attempted in September 2009 to bomb the Federal Building and the adjacent offices of Congressman Aaron Schock in Springfield, Illinois, admired al-Awlaki and quoted him on his Myspace page. In addition to his website, al-Awlaki had a Facebook fan page with "fans" in the US, many of whom were high school students. Al-Awlaki also set up a website and blog on which he shared his views.
Al-Awlaki influenced several other extremists to join terrorist organizations overseas and to carry out terrorist attacks in their home countries. Mohamed Alessa and Carlos Almonte, two American citizens from New Jersey who attempted to travel to Somalia in June 2010 to join the al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group Al Shabaab, allegedly watched several al-Awlaki videos and sermons in which he warned of future attacks against Americans in the United States and abroad. Zachary Chesser, an American citizen who was arrested for attempting to provide material support to Al Shabaab, told federal authorities that he watched online videos featuring al-Awlaki and that he exchanged several e-mails with al-Awlaki. In July 2010, Paul Rockwood was sentenced to eight years in prison for creating a list of 15 potential targets in the US, people he felt had desecrated Islam. Rockwood was a devoted follower of al-Awlaki, and had studied his works Constants on the Path to Jihad and 44 Ways to Jihad.
In October 2008, Charles Allen, U.S. Under-Secretary of Homeland Security for Intelligence and Analysis, warned that al-Awlaki "targets U.S. Muslims with radical online lectures encouraging terrorist attacks from his new home in Yemen." Responding to Allen, al-Awlaki wrote on his website in December 2008: "I would challenge him to come up with just one such lecture where I encourage 'terrorist attacks'".
Fort Hood shooter
Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan was investigated by the FBI after intelligence agencies intercepted at least 18 e-mails between him and al-Awlaki between December 2008 and June 2009. Even before the contents of the e-mails were revealed, terrorism expert Jarret Brachman said that Hasan's contacts with al-Awlaki should have raised "huge red flags", because of his influence on radical English-speaking jihadis. Charles Allen, no longer in government, noted that there was no work-related reason for Hasan to be in touch with al-Awlaki. Former CIA officer Bruce Riedel opined: "E-mailing a known al-Qaeda sympathizer should have set off alarm bells. Even if he was exchanging recipes, the bureau should have put out an alert." A DC-based Joint Terrorism Task Force operating under the FBI was notified of the e-mails and reviewed the information. Army employees were informed of the e-mails, but they didn't perceive any terrorist threat in Hasan's questions. Instead, they viewed them as general questions about spiritual guidance with regard to conflicts between Islam and military service and judged them to be consistent with legitimate mental health research about Muslims in the armed services. The assessment was that there was not sufficient information for a larger investigation. In one of the e-mails, Hasan wrote al-Awlaki: "I can't wait to join you [in the afterlife]". "It sounds like code words," said Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer, a military analyst at the Center for Advanced Defense Studies. "That he's actually either offering himself up, or that he's already crossed that line in his own mind."
Yemeni journalist Abdulelah Hider Shaea interviewed al-Awlaki in November 2009. Al-Awlaki acknowledged his correspondence with Hasan. He said he "neither ordered nor pressured ... Hasan to harm Americans." Al-Awlaki said Hasan first e-mailed him December 17, 2008, introducing himself by writing: "Do you remember me? I used to pray with you at the Virginia mosque." Hasan said he had become a devout Muslim around the time al-Awlaki was preaching at Dar al-Hijrah, in 2001 and 2002, and al-Awlaki said 'Maybe Nidal was affected by one of my lectures.'" He added: "It was clear from his e-mails that Nidal trusted me. Nidal told me: 'I speak with you about issues that I never speak with anyone else.'" Al-Awlaki said Hasan arrived at his own conclusions regarding the acceptability of violence in Islam and said he was not the one to initiate this. Shaea said, "Nidal was providing evidence to Anwar, not vice versa."
Asked whether Hasan mentioned Fort Hood as a target in his e-mails, Shaea declined to comment. Al-Awlaki said the shooting was acceptable in Islam, however, because it was a form of jihad, as the West began the hostilities with the Muslims. Al-Awlaki said he "blessed the act because it was against a military target. And the soldiers who were killed were ... those who were trained and prepared to go to Iraq and Afghanistan".
Al-Awlaki's e-mail conversations with Hasan were not released, and he was not placed on the FBI Most Wanted list, indicted for treason, or officially named as a co-conspirator with Hasan. The U.S. government was reluctant to classify the Fort Hood shooting as a terrorist incident, or identify any motive. The Wall Street Journal reported in January 2010 that al-Awlaki had not "played a direct role" in any of the attacks, and noted he had never been charged with a crime in the US.
One of his fellow officers at Fort Hood said Hasan was enthusiastic about al-Awlaki. Some investigators believe al-Awlaki's teachings may have been instrumental in Hasan's decision to stage the attack. On his now-disabled website, al-Awlaki praised Hasan's actions, describing him as a hero.
Christmas Day "Underwear Bomber"
According to a number of sources, Al-Awlaki and Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the convicted al-Qaeda attempted bomber of Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on December 25, 2009, had contacts. In January 2010, CNN reported that U.S. "security sources" said that there is concrete evidence that al-Awlaki was Abdulmutallab's recruiter and one of his trainers, and met with him prior to the attack. In February 2010, al-Awlaki admitted in an interview published in al-Jazeera that he taught and corresponded with Abdulmutallab, but denied having ordered the attack.
Representative Pete Hoekstra, the senior Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, said officials in the Obama administration and officials with access to law enforcement information told him the suspect "may have had contact [with al-Awlaki]".The Sunday Times established that Abdulmutallab first met al-Awlaki in 2005 in Yemen, while he was studying Arabic. During that time the suspect attended lectures by al-Awlaki.NPR reported that according to unnamed U.S. intelligence officials he attended a sermon by al-Awlaki at the Finsbury Park Mosque. Khalid Mahmood, the Labour MP for Birmingham Perry Barr, a former trustee of the mosque, expressed "grave misgivings" with regard to its stewardship. A spokesperson of the mosque stated that al-Awlaki had never spoken there or had even to his knowledge entered the building.
Abdulmutallab was also reported by CBS News, The Daily Telegraph, and The Sunday Telegraph to have attended a talk by al-Awlaki at the East London Mosque, which al-Awlaki may have attended by video teleconference. The Sunday Telegraph later removed the report from its website following a complaint by the East London Mosque, which stated that "Anwar Al Awlaki did not deliver any talks at the ELM between 2005 and 2008, which is when the newspaper had falsely alleged that Abdullmutallab had attended such talks".
Investigators who searched flats connected to Abdulmutallab in London said that he was a "big fan" of al-Awlaki, as al-Awlaki's blog and website had repeatedly been visited from those locations.
According to federal sources, Abdulmutallab and al-Awlaki repeatedly communicated with one another in the year prior to the attack. "Voice-to-voice communication" between the two was intercepted during the fall of 2009, and one government source said al-Awlaki "was in some way involved in facilitating [Abdulmutallab]'s transportation or trip through Yemen. It could be training, a host of things." NPR reported that intelligence officials suspected al-Awlaki may have told Abdulmutallab to go to Yemen for al-Qaeda training.
Abdulmutallab told the FBI that al-Awlaki was one of his al-Qaeda trainers in Yemen. Others reported that Abdulmutallab met with al-Awlaki in the weeks leading up to the attack. The Los Angeles Times reported that according to a U.S. intelligence official, intercepts and other information point to connections between the two:
Some of the information ... comes from Abdulmutallab, who ... said that he met with al-Awlaki and senior al-Qaeda members during an extended trip to Yemen this year and that the cleric was involved in some elements of planning or preparing the attack and in providing religious justification for it. Other intelligence linking the two became apparent after the attempted bombing, including communications intercepted by the National Security Agency indicating that the cleric was meeting with "a Nigerian" in preparation for some kind of operation.
Yemen's Deputy Prime Minister for Defense and Security Affairs, Rashad Mohammed al-Alimi, said Yemeni investigators believe that Abdulmutallab traveled to Shabwa in October 2009. Investigators believe he obtained his explosives and received training there. He met there with al-Qaeda members in a house built by al-Awlaki. A top Yemen government official said the two met with each other.
In January 2010, al-Awlaki acknowledged that he met and spoke with Abdulmutallab in Yemen in the fall of 2009. In an interview, al-Awlaki said: "Umar Farouk is one of my students; I had communications with him. And I support what he did." He also said: "I did not tell him to do this operation, but I support it". Fox News reported in early February 2010 that Abdulmutallab told federal investigators that al-Awlaki directed him to carry out the bombing.
In June 2010 Michael Leiter, the Director of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), said al-Awlaki had a "direct operational role" in the plot.
Sharif Mobley
Sharif Mobley had acknowledged contact with Anwar al-Awlaki. The Mobley family claims the contact was for spiritual guidance in further studies of Islam.
The Mobley family went to Yemen and resided there for several years. They decided to return to the United States and went to the U.S. Embassy to update the family travel documents. While waiting for their travel documents, Sharif Mobley was kidnapped by Yemen Security Services and shot on January 26, 2010. He was then held in Yemen's Central Prison. Mobley disappeared from the Central Prison on February 27, 2014. His current location is known to the U.S. Embassy in Yemen (currently closed 2015) but is withheld from his family and legal advisers based on U.S. State Department Regulations on "U.S. Citizens Missing Abroad".
All charges related to "terrorism/terrorist activity" were dropped by the Yemen government. There are no charges relating to allegations of "killing a guard during an escape attempt from the hospital" and there are no other legal proceedings against him in Yemen.
Times Square bomber
Faisal Shahzad, convicted of the 2010 Times Square car bombing attempt, told interrogators that he was a "fan and follower" of al-Awlaki, and his writings were one of the inspirations for the attack. On May 6, 2010 ABC News reported that unknown sources told them Shahzad made contact with al-Awlaki over the internet, a claim that could not be independently verified.
Stabbing of British former minister Stephen Timms
Roshonara Choudhry, who stabbed former British Cabinet Minister Stephen Timms in May 2010, and was found guilty of his attempted murder in November 2010, claimed to have become radicalized by listening to online sermons of al-Awlaki.
Seattle Weekly cartoonist death threat
In 2010, after Everybody Draw Mohammed Day, cartoonist Molly Norris at Seattle Weekly had to stop publishing, and at the suggestion of the FBI changed her name, moved, and went into hiding due to a fatwā issued by al-Awlaki calling for her death. In the June 2010 issue of Inspire, an English-language al-Qaeda magazine, al-Awlaki cursed her and eight others for "blasphemous caricatures" of Muhammad. "The medicine prescribed by the Messenger of Allah is the execution of those involved", he wrote. Daniel Pipes observed in an article entitled "Dueling Fatwas", "Awlaki stands at an unprecedented crossroads of death declarations, with his targeting Norris even as the U.S. government targets him."
Cargo planes bomb plotThe Guardian, The New York Times, and The Daily Telegraph reported that U.S. and British counter-terrorism officials believed that al-Awlaki was behind the cargo plane PETN bombs that were sent from Yemen to Chicago in October 2010.Yemen bomb scare 'mastermind' lived in London | World news. The Guardian. Retrieved on October 1, 2011. When U.S. Homeland Security official John Brennan was asked about al-Awlaki's suspected involvement in the plot, he said: "Anybody associated with al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is a subject of concern." U.S. Ambassador to Yemen Gerald Feierstein said "al-Awlaki was behind the two bombs."
Final years
Al-Awlaki's father, tribe, and supporters denied his alleged associations with Al-Qaeda and Islamist terrorism. Al-Awlaki's father proclaimed his son's innocence in an interview with CNN's Paula Newton, saying: "I am now afraid of what they will do with my son. He's not Osama bin Laden, they want to make something out of him that he's not." Responding to a Yemeni official's assertions that his son had taken refuge with al-Qaeda, Nasser said: "He's dead wrong. What do you expect my son to do? There are missiles raining down on the village. He has to hide. But he is not hiding with al-Qaeda; our tribe is protecting him right now."
The Yemeni government attempted to get the tribal leaders to release al-Awlaki to their custody. They promised they would not turn him over to U.S. authorities for questioning. The governor of Shabwa said in January 2010 that al-Awlaki was on the move with members of al-Qaeda, including Fahd al-Quso, who was wanted in connection with the bombing of the USS Cole.
In January 2010, White House lawyers debated whether or not it was legal to kill al-Awlaki, given his U.S. citizenship. U.S. officials stated that international law allows targeted killing in the event that the subject is an "imminent threat". Because he was a U.S. citizen, his killing had to be approved by the National Security Council. Such action against a U.S. citizen is extremely rare. As a military enemy of the US, al-Awlaki was not subject to Executive Order 11905, which bans assassination for political reasons. The authorization was nevertheless controversial.
By February 4, 2010, the New York Daily News reported that al-Awlaki was "now on a targeting list signed off on by the Obama administration". On April 6, The New York Times reported that President Obama had authorized the killing of al-Awlaki.
The al-Awalik tribe responded: "We warn against cooperating with America to kill Sheikh Anwar al-Awlaki. We will not stand by idly and watch." Al-Awlaki's tribe wrote that it would "not remain with arms crossed if a hair of Anwar al-Awlaki is touched, or if anyone plots or spies against him. Whoever risks denouncing our son (Awlaki) will be the target of Al-Awalik weapons", and gave warning "against co-operating with the Americans" in the capture or killing of al-Awlaki. Abu Bakr al-Qirbi, the Yemeni foreign minister, announced that the Yemeni government had not received any evidence from the US, and that "Anwar al-Awlaki has always been looked at as a preacher rather than a terrorist and shouldn't be considered as a terrorist unless the Americans have evidence that he has been involved in terrorism".
In a video clip bearing the imprint of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, issued on April 16 in al-Qaeda's monthly magazine Sada Al-Malahem, al-Awlaki said: "What am I accused of? Of calling for the truth? Of calling for jihad for the sake of Allah? Of calling to defend the causes of the Islamic nation?" In the video he also praises both Abdulmutallab and Hasan, and describes both as his "students".
In late April, Representative Charlie Dent (R-PA) introduced a resolution urging the U.S. State Department to withdraw al-Awlaki's U.S. citizenship. By May, U.S. officials believed he had become directly involved in terrorist activities. Former colleague Abdul-Malik said he "is a terrorist, in my book", and advised shops not to carry any of his publications. In an editorial, Investor's Business Daily called al-Awlaki the "world's most dangerous man", and recommended that he be added to the FBI's most-wanted terrorist list, a bounty put on his head, that he be designated a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, charged with treason, and extradition papers filed with the Yemeni government. IBD criticized the Justice Department for stonewalling Senator Joe Lieberman's security panel's investigation of al-Awlaki's role in the Fort Hood massacre.
On July 16, the U.S. Treasury Department added him to its list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists. Stuart Levey, Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, called him "extraordinarily dangerous", and said al-Awlaki was involved in several organizational aspects of terrorism, including recruiting, training, fundraising, and planning individual attacks.
A few days later, the United Nations Security Council placed al-Awlaki on its UN Security Council Resolution 1267 list of individuals associated with al-Qaeda, describing him as a leader, recruiter, and trainer for al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. The resolution stipulates that U.N. members must freeze the assets of anyone on the list, and prevent them from travelling or obtaining weapons. The following week, Canadian banks were ordered to seize any assets belonging to al-Awlaki. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police's senior counter-terrorism officer Gilles Michaud described him as a "major, major factor in radicalization". In September 2010, Jonathan Evans, the Director General of the United Kingdom's domestic security and counter-intelligence agency (MI5), said that al-Awlaki was the West's Public Enemy No 1.
In October 2010, U.S. Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-NY) urged YouTube to take down al-Awlaki's videos from its website, saying that by hosting al-Awlaki's messages, "We are facilitating the recruitment of homegrown terror." Pauline Neville-Jones, British security minister, said "These Web sites ... incite cold-blooded murder." YouTube began removing the material in November 2010.
Al-Awlaki was charged in absentia in Sana'a, Yemen, on November 2 with plotting to kill foreigners and being a member of al-Qaeda. Ali al-Saneaa, the head of the prosecutor's office, announced the charges during the trial of Hisham Assem, who had been accused of killing Jacques Spagnolo, an oil industry worker. He said that al-Awlaki and Assem had been in contact for months, and that al-Awlaki had encouraged Assem to commit terrorism. Al-Awlaki's lawyer said that his client was not connected to Spagnolo's death. On November 6, Yemeni Judge Mohsen Alwan ordered that al-Awlaki be caught "dead or alive".
In his book Ticking Time Bomb: Counter-Terrorism Lessons from the U.S. Government's Failure to Prevent the Fort Hood Attack (2011), former U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman described al-Awlaki, Australian Muslim preacher Feiz Mohammad, Muslim cleric Abdullah el-Faisal, and Pakistani-American Samir Khan as "virtual spiritual sanctioners" who use the internet to offer religious justification for Islamist terrorism.
Lawsuit against the US
In July 2010, al-Awlaki's father, Nasser al-Awlaki, contacted the Center for Constitutional Rights and the American Civil Liberties Union to represent his son in a lawsuit that sought to remove Anwar from the targeted killing list. ACLU's Jameel Jaffer said:
the United States is not at war in Yemen, and the government doesn't have a blank check to kill terrorism suspects wherever they are in the world. Among the arguments we'll be making is that, outside actual war zones, the authority to use lethal force is narrowly circumscribed, and preserving the rule of law depends on keeping this authority narrow.
Lawyers for Specially Designated Global Terrorists must obtain a special license from the U.S. Treasury Department before they can represent their clients in court. The lawyers were granted the license on August 4, 2010.
On August 30, 2010, the groups filed a "targeted killing" lawsuit, naming President Obama, CIA Director Leon Panetta, and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates as defendants. They sought an injunction preventing the targeted killing of al-Awlaki, and also sought to require the government to disclose the standards under which U.S. citizens may be "targeted for death". Judge John D. Bates dismissed the lawsuit in an 83-page ruling, holding that the father did not have legal standing to bring the lawsuit, and that his claims were judicially unreviewable under the political question doctrine inasmuch as he was questioning a decision that the U.S. Constitution committed to the political branches.
On May 5, 2011, the United States tried but failed to kill al-Awlaki by firing a missile from an unmanned drone at a car in Yemen. A Yemeni security official said that two al-Qaeda operatives in the car died.
Death
On September 30, 2011, al-Awlaki was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Al Jawf Governorate, Yemen, according to U.S. sources, the strike was carried out by Joint Special Operations Command, under the direction of the CIA. A witness said the group had stopped to eat breakfast while traveling to Ma'rib Governorate. The occupants of the vehicle spotted the drone and attempted to flee in the vehicle before Hellfire missiles were fired Yemen's Defense Ministry announced that al-Awlaki had been killed. Also killed was Samir Khan, an American born in Saudi Arabia, thought to be behind al-Qaeda's English-language web magazine Inspire. U.S. President Barack Obama said:
The death of Awlaki is a major blow to Al-Qaeda's most active operational affiliate. He took the lead in planning and directing efforts to murder innocent Americans ... and he repeatedly called on individuals in the United States and around the globe to kill innocent men, women and children to advance a murderous agenda. [The strike] is further proof that Al-Qaeda and its affiliates will find no safe haven anywhere in the world.
Journalist and author Glenn Greenwald argued on Salon.com that killing al-Awlaki violated his First Amendment right of free speech and that doing so outside of a criminal proceeding violated the Constitution's due process clause, specifically citing the 1969 Supreme Court decision in Brandenburg v. Ohio that "the constitutional guarantees of free speech and free press do not permit a State to forbid or proscribe advocacy of the use of force." He mentioned doubt among Yemeni experts about al-Awlaki's role in al-Qaeda, and called U.S. government accusations against him unverified and lacking in evidence.
In a letter dated May 22, 2013, to the chairman of the U.S. Senate Judiciary committee, Patrick J. Leahy, U.S. attorney general Eric Holder wrote that
high-level U.S. government officials [...] concluded that al-Aulaqi posed a continuing and imminent threat of violent attack against the United States. Before carrying out the operation that killed al-Aulaqi, senior officials also determined, based on a careful evaluation of the circumstances at the time, that it was not feasible to capture al-Aulaqi. In addition, senior officials determined that the operation would be conducted consistent with applicable law of war principles, including the cardinal principles of (1) necessity – the requirement that the target have definite military value; (2) distinction – the idea that only military objectives may be intentionally targeted and that civilians are protected from being intentionally targeted; (3) proportionality – the notion that the anticipated collateral damage of an action cannot be excessive in relation to the anticipated concrete and direct military advantage; and (4) humanity – a principle that requires us to use weapons that will not inflict unnecessary suffering. The operation was also undertaken consistent with Yemeni sovereignty. [...] The decision to target Anwar al-Aulaqi was lawful, it was considered, and it was just.
On April 21, 2014, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal ruled that the Obama administration must release documents justifying its drone killings of foreigners and Americans, including Anwar al-Awlaki. In June 2014, the United States Department of Justice disclosed a 2010 memorandum written by the acting head of the department's Office of Legal Counsel, David J. Barron. The memo stated that Anwar al-Awlaki was a significant threat with an infeasible probability of capture. Barron therefore justified the killing as legal, as "the Constitution would not require the government to provide further process". The New York Times Editorial Board dismissed the memo's rationale for al-Awlaki's killing, saying it "provides little confidence that the lethal action was taken with real care", instead describing it as "a slapdash pastiche of legal theories—some based on obscure interpretations of British and Israeli law—that was clearly tailored to the desired result." A lawyer for the ACLU described the memo as "disturbing" and "ultimately an argument that the president can order targeted killings of Americans without ever having to account to anyone outside the executive branch."
Legacy
Seth Jones, who as a political scientist specializes in al-Qaida, considers that the continuing relevance of al-Awlaki is due to his fluency in the English language as well as his charisma, precising that "he had a disarming aura and unnerving confidence, with an easy smile and a soothing, eloquent voice. He stood a lanky six feet, one inch tall, weighed 160 pounds, and had a thick black beard, an oversized nose, and wire-rimmed glasses. He spoke in a clear, almost hypnotic voice."
Awlaki's videos and writings remain highly popular on the internet, where they continue to be readily accessible. Those who viewed and still view his videos are estimated by journalist Scott Shane to number in the hundreds of thousands, while his father Dr. Nasser Awlaqi says that "five million preaching tapes of Anwar Awlaqi have been sold in the West." And thus, even following his death, Awlaki has continued to inspire his devotees to carry out terrorist attacks, including the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, the 2015 San Bernardino attack, and the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting. According to the Counter Extremism Project (CEP), 88 "extremists," 54 in the U.S. and 34 in Europe, have been influenced by Awlaki. Because "his work has inspired countless plots and attacks," CEP has "called on YouTube and other platforms to permanently ban Mr. Awlaki's material, including his early, mainstream lectures."
FOIA documents
During the FBI investigation of the 9/11 attacks, it was discovered that a few of the attackers had attended the mosques in San Diego and Falls Church with which al-Awlaki was associated. Interviews with members of the San Diego mosque showed that Nawaz al-Hazmi, one of the attackers, may have had a private conversation with him. On that basis he was placed under 24-hour surveillance. It was discovered that he regularly patronized prostitutes. It was through FBI interrogation of prostitutes and escort service operators that al-Awlaki was tipped off in 2002 about FBI surveillance. Shortly thereafter, he left the United States.
In January 2013, Fox News announced that FBI documents obtained by Judicial Watch through a Freedom of Information Act request showed possible connections between al-Awlaki and the September 11 attackers. According to Judicial Watch, the documents show that the FBI knew that al-Awlaki had bought tickets for three of the hijackers to fly into Florida and Las Vegas. Judicial Watch further stated that al-Awlaki "was a central focus of the FBI's investigation of 9/11. They show he wasn't cooperative. And they show that he was under surveillance."
When queried by Fox News, the FBI denied having evidence connecting al-Awlaki and the September 11 attacks: "The FBI cautions against drawing conclusions from redacted FOIA documents. The FBI and investigating bodies have not found evidence connecting Anwar al-Awlaki and the attack on September 11, 2001. The document referenced does not link Anwar al-Awlaki with any purchase of airline tickets for the hijackers."
Family
Abdulrahman al-Awlaki
Anwar al-Awlaki and Egyptian-born Gihan Mohsen Baker had a son, Abdulrahman Anwar al-Awlaki, born August 26, 1995, in Denver, who was an American citizen. Abdulrahman al-Awlaki was killed on October 14, 2011, in Yemen at the age of 16 in an American drone strike. Nine other people were killed in the same CIA-initiated attack, including a 17-year-old cousin of Abdulrahman. According to his relatives, shortly before his father's death, Abdulrahman had left the family home in Sana'a and travelled to Shabwa in search of his father who was believed to be in hiding in that area (though he was actually hundreds of miles away at the time ). Abdulrahman was sitting in an open-air cafe in Shabwa when killed. According to U.S. officials, the killing of Abdulrahman al-Awlaki was a mistake; the intended target was an Egyptian, Ibrahim al-Banna, who was not at the targeted location at the time of the attack. Human rights groups have raised questions as to why an American citizen was killed by the United States in a country with which the United States is not officially at war. Abdulrahman al-Awlaki was not known to have any independent connection to terrorism.
Nasser al-Awlaki
Nasser al-Awlaki is the father of Anwar and grandfather of Abdulrahman al-Awlaki. Al-Awlaki stated he believed his son had been wrongly accused and was not a member of Al Qaeda. After the deaths of his son and grandson, Nasser in an interview in Time magazine called the killings a crime and condemned U.S. President Obama directly, saying: "I urge the American people to bring the killers to justice. I urge them to expose the hypocrisy of the 2009 Nobel Prize laureate. To some, he may be that. To me and my family, he is nothing more than a child killer."
In 2013, Nasser al-Awlaki published an op-ed in The New York Times stating that two years after killing his grandson, the Obama administration still declines to provide an explanation. In 2012, Nasser al-Awlaki filed a lawsuit, Al-Aulaqi v. Panetta, challenging the constitutionality of the drone killings of his son and grandson. This lawsuit was dismissed in April 2014 by D.C. District Court Judge Rosemary M. Collyer.
Tariq al-Dahab
Tariq al-Dahab, who led al-Qaeda insurgents in Yemen, was a brother-in-law of al-Awlaki. On February 16, 2012, the terrorist organization stated that he had been killed by agents, although media reports contain speculation that he was killed by his brother in a bloody family feud.
Nawar al-Awlaki
On January 29, 2017, Anwar al-Awlaki's 8-year-old daughter, Nawar al-Awlaki, who was an American citizen, was killed in a DEVGRU operation authorized by President Donald Trump."1 US service member killed, 3 wounded in Yemen raid" , WPVI-TV, 6 ABC Action News, Philadelphia, PA. January 29, 2017. Retrieved January 29, 2017.
Islamic education
Al-Awlaki's Islamic education was primarily informal, and consisted of intermittent months with various scholars reading and contemplating Islamic scholarly works. Despite having no religious qualifications and almost no religious education, Al-Awlaki made a name for himself as a public speaker who released popular audio recordings.Some Muslim scholars said they did not understand alAwlaki's popularity, because while he spoke fluent English and could therefore reach a large non-Arabic-speaking audience, he lacked formal Islamic training and study.
Ideology
While imprisoned in Yemen after 2004, al-Awlaki was influenced by the works of Sayyid Qutb, described by The New York Times as an originator of the contemporary "anti-Western Jihadist movement". He read 150 to 200 pages a day of Qutb's works, and described himself as "so immersed with the author I would feel Sayyid was with me in my cell speaking to me directly".
Terrorism consultant Evan Kohlmann in 2009 referred to al-Awlaki as "one of the principal jihadi luminaries for would-be homegrown terrorists. His fluency with English, his unabashed advocacy of jihad and mujahideen organizations, and his Web-savvy approach are a powerful combination." He called al-Awlaki's lecture, "Constants on the Path of Jihad", which he says was based on a similar document written by al-Qaeda's founder, the "virtual bible for lone-wolf Muslim extremists". Philip Mudd, formerly of the CIA's National Counterterrorism Center and the FBI's top intelligence adviser, called him "a magnetic character ... a powerful orator." He attracted young men to his lectures, especially US-based and UK-based Muslims.
U.S. officials and some U.S. media sources called al-Awlaki an Islamic fundamentalist and accused him of encouraging terrorism. According to documents recovered from bin Laden's hideout, the al-Qaeda leader was unsure about al-Awlaki's qualifications.
Works
The Nine Eleven Finding Answers Foundation said al-Awlaki's ability to write and speak in fluent English enabled him to incite English-speaking Muslims to terrorism. Al-Awlaki notes in 44 Ways to Support Jihad that most reading material on the subject is in Arabic.
Written works
44 Ways to Support Jihad: Essay (January 2009). In it, al-Awlaki states that "The hatred of kuffar is a central element of our military creed" and that all Muslims are obligated to participate in jihad, either by committing the acts themselves or supporting others who do so. He says all Muslims must remain physically fit so as to be prepared for conflict. According to U.S. officials, it is considered a key text for al-Qaeda members.
Al-Awlaki wrote for Jihad Recollections, an English language online publication published by Al-Fursan Media.
Allah is Preparing Us for Victory – short book (2009).
Lectures
Lectures on the book Constants on the Path of Jihad by Yusef al-Ayeri—concerns leaderless jihad.
In 2009, the UK government found 1,910 of his videos had been posted to YouTube. One of them had been viewed 164,420 times.
The Battle of Hearts and Minds The Dust Will Never Settle Down Dreams & Interpretations The Hereafter—16 CDs—Al Basheer Productions
Life of Muhammad: Makkan Period—16 CDs—Al Basheer Productions
Life of Muhammad: Medinan Period—Lecture in 2 Parts—18 CDs—Al Basheer Productions
Lives of the Prophets (AS)—16 CDs—Al Basheer Productions
Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (RA): His Life & Times—15 CDs—Al Basheer Productions
Umar ibn al-Khattāb (RA): His Life & Times—18 CDs—Al Basheer Productions
25 Promises from Allah to the Believer—2 CDs—Noor Productions
Companions of the Ditch & Lessons from the Life of Musa (AS)—2 CDs—Noor Productions
Remembrance of Allah & the Greatest Ayah—2 CDs—Noor Productions
Stories from Hadith—4 CDs—Center for Islamic Information and Education ("CIIE")
Hellfire & The Day of Judgment—CD—CIIE
Quest for Truth: The Story of Salman Al-Farsi (RA)—CD—CIIE
Trials & Lessons for Muslim Minorities—CD—CIIE
Young Ayesha (RA) & Mothers of the Believers (RA)—CD—CIIE
Understanding the Quran—CD—CIIE
Lessons from the Companions (RA) Living as a Minority—CD—CIIE
Virtues of the Sahabah—video lecture series promoted by the al-Wasatiyyah Foundation
Website
Al-Awlaki maintained a website and blog on which he shared his views. On December 11, 2008, he said Muslims should not seek to "serve in the armies of the disbelievers and fight against his brothers".
In "44 Ways to Support Jihad", posted on his blog in February 2009, al-Awlaki encouraged others to "fight jihad", and explained how to give money to the mujahideen or their families. Al-Awlaki's sermon encourages others to conduct weapons training, and raise children "on the love of Jihad". Also that month, he wrote: "I pray that Allah destroys America and all its allies." He wrote as well: "We will implement the rule of Allah on Earth by the tip of the sword, whether the masses like it or not." On July 14, he said that Muslim countries should not offer military assistance to the US. "The blame should be placed on the soldier who is willing to follow orders ... who sells his religion for a few dollars," he said. In blog post dated July 15, 2009, entitled "Fighting Against Government Armies in the Muslim World", al-Awlaki wrote, "Blessed are those who fight against [American soldiers], and blessed are those shuhada [martyrs] who are killed by them."
In a video posted to the internet on November 8, 2010, al-Awlaki called for Muslims to kill Americans "without hesitation", and overthrow Arab governments that cooperate with the US. "Don't consult with anyone in fighting the Americans, fighting the devil doesn't require consultation or prayers or seeking divine guidance. They are the party of the devils", al-Awlaki said. That month, Intelligence Research Specialist Kevin Yorke of the New York Police Department's Counterterrorism Division called him "the most dangerous man in the world".
See also
Church Committee
Executive Order 12333
Extrajudicial killing
International counter-terrorism activities of the CIA
Protocol I
References
Further reading
al-Ashanti, AbdulHaq and Sloan, Abu Ameenah AbdurRahman. (2011) A Critique of the Methodology of Anwar al-Awlaki and his Errors in the Fiqh of Jihad. London: Jamiah Media, 2011
External links
Ruling of Judge Bates in Al Aulaqi v Obama
Statements
Interviews
"Exclusive; Ray Suarez: My Post-9/11 Interview With Anwar al-Awlaki", PBS, October 30, 2001
"Al-Jazeera Satellite Network Interview with Yemeni-American Cleric Shaykh Anwar al-Awlaki Regarding his Alleged Role in Radicalizing Maj. Malik Nidal Hasan", The NEFA Foundation, December 24, 2009
Media coverage
The imam's very curious story: A skirt-chasing mullah is just one more mystery for the 9/11 panel, Ragavan, Chitra, US News and World Report'', June 13, 2004
DBI.gov
1971 births
2011 deaths
20th-century imams
21st-century imams
Abdullah Yusuf Azzam
Al-Qaeda propagandists
Assassinated al-Qaeda leaders
American al-Qaeda members
American expatriates in the United Kingdom
American expatriates in Yemen
American imams
American Islamists
American people of Yemeni descent
Colorado State University alumni
George Washington University Graduate School of Education and Human Development alumni
People associated with the September 11 attacks
People from Las Cruces, New Mexico
San Diego State University alumni
Yemeni imams
Yemeni al-Qaeda members
Yemeni Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam
Yemeni Sunni Muslims
Deaths by drone strikes of the Central Intelligence Agency in Yemen
Islam-related controversies
People designated by the Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee
American male criminals
Yemeni criminals
Yemeni Islamists
Yemeni expatriates in the United Kingdom
Shafi'is
American Muslim activists
Assassinated Yemeni people
Yemeni propagandists
United States military killing of American civilians | true | [
"\"Loner\" is the 3rd episode of the first season of the CW television series The Secret Circle, and the series' 3rd episode overall. It aired on September 29, 2011. The episode was written by Richard Hatem and it was directed by Colin Bucksey.\n\nPlot\nNow that the Circle has been bound, it seems that its members have lost their individual magic. The only way to do magic is to have at least two of the Circle's members present and that is something that Faye (Phoebe Tonkin) does not like at all.\n\nThere is a school dance coming and Sally (Logan Browning) asks Cassie (Britt Robertson) to help her organize it. Sally does not remember clearly what happened the previous night at the deck, so she tries to make Cassie tell her. Cassie avoids answering, saying that she did not see what exactly happened either.\n\nLuke (Zachary Abel), a student at the school, likes Cassie and he asks Adam (Thomas Dekker) to introduce him to her. Adam does it and Luke asks Cassie to go to the dance with him, but she rejects him. Later, trying to find a way to stay away from Adam, she tells Luke that she will go with him to the dance.\n\nMelissa (Jessica Parker Kennedy) takes the opportunity and uses the dance as an excuse to get closer to Nick (Louis Hunter) by asking him to the dance while Faye is trying to figure out a way to get her individual magic back.\n\nMeanwhile, a man named Zachary (Dave Baez) appears in town and when he sees Cassie, he starts to ask questions about the Circle. He seems to know the truth about them and who they are and, as he says, he will not allow what happened in the past to happen again.\n\nThe members of the Circle search for information about him and they find out that he and his girlfriend Heather (a woman who died in the fire that killed the members of the adult's Circle sixteen years ago) were close friends of Amelia, Cassie's mom. Finding out about this, they believe that he blames their parents for Heather's death and now he is coming after them.\n\nDawn (Natasha Henstridge) and Charles (Gale Harold) find out that Zachary is back in town and he is asking about the Circle. They are trying to warn him to stay away from the kids. Charles meets him to warn him but Zachary hits him and goes to the school dance aiming to kill one of the kids.\n\nThe members of the Circle and Zachary confront him at the school and they manage to knock him down with magic. Dawn gets to the scene and they find an excuse for what happened to cover it up. Dawn tells them that she knows that man and that he has been vandalizing the school for years. Saying that she will take care of him now, she asks the kids to go back to the dance.\n\nThe episode ends with the members of the Circle trying to understand what Zachary meant when he said that Heather did not die in the fire but what Amelia did to her was much worse, while Dawn and Charles \"mark\" Zachary telling him to not get close to their children again.\n\nReception\n\nRatings\nIn its original American broadcast, \"Loner\" was watched by 2.12 million; exact same rating as the previous episode.\n\nReviews\n\"Loner\" received mediocre/positive reviews.\n\nMatt Richenthal from TV Fanatic rated the episode with 4.2/5. \"The show [The Secret Circle] almost suffers from following The Vampire Diaries because it's not as fast-paced as that series (is anything?), which can make it feel slow. But I prefer to think of it as slow developing and enough seeds have been planted for me to anxiously tune in each week, curious about what will soon grow.\"\n\nKatherine Miller from The A.V. Club gave a C+ rate to the episode saying that \"The Secret Circle is concussed\".\n\nTyler Olson from Crimson Tear stated that episode didn't have the charm the first two had. \"Overall, this episode just didn't seem to have the same charm as the first two episodes. Let's hope that as they find more information about what happened to their parents, they will find the path they need in order to get into the pace viewers need.\"\n\nFeature music\nIn the \"Loner\" episode we can hear the songs:\n \"Style\" by Phil Ogden Band\n \"Girls Like You\" by The Naked and Famous\n \"Lovesong\" by Adele\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n2011 American television episodes\nThe Secret Circle (TV series) episodes",
"SS Zachary Taylor (MC contract 244) was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Zachary Taylor, the twelfth President of the United States.\n\nThe ship was laid down by Permanente Metals in their Richmond Yard #2 on 6 October 1941, then launched on 28 February 1942. After the war she went on to suffer the same fate as most of the other surviving Liberty ships: she was scrapped in 1961.\n\nAfter the end of World War II, Zachary Taylor was used to bring displaced European immigrants (mostly Jews) to New York City.. She docked at Brooklyn, New York at the Brooklyn Army Terminal on 19 September 1949.\n\nSee also\n\nConvoy UGS-40\n\nReferences \n\nLiberty ships\nShips built in Richmond, California\nZachary Taylor\n1942 ships"
] | [
"Anwar Nasser al-Awlaki (also spelled al-Aulaqi, al-Awlaqi; ; April 21 or 22, 1971 – September 30, 2011) was a Yemeni-American imam who was killed in 2011 in Yemen by an American drone strike ordered by President Barack Obama. Al-Awlaki became the first U.S. citizen to be targeted and killed by a U.S. drone strike without the rights of due process being afforded.",
"Al-Awlaki became the first U.S. citizen to be targeted and killed by a U.S. drone strike without the rights of due process being afforded. US government officials argued that Awlaki was a key organizer for the Islamist terrorist group al-Qaeda, and in June 2014, a previously classified memorandum issued by the U.S. Department of Justice was released, justifying al-Awlaki's death as a lawful act of war. Civil liberties advocates have described the incident as \"an extrajudicial execution\" that breached al-Awlaki's right to due process, including a trial.",
"Civil liberties advocates have described the incident as \"an extrajudicial execution\" that breached al-Awlaki's right to due process, including a trial. Al-Awlaki was born in Las Cruces, New Mexico, in 1971 to parents from Yemen. Growing up partially in the United States and partially in Yemen, he attended various universities across the United States in the 1990s and early 2000s while also working as an imam, despite having no religious qualifications and almost no religious education.",
"Growing up partially in the United States and partially in Yemen, he attended various universities across the United States in the 1990s and early 2000s while also working as an imam, despite having no religious qualifications and almost no religious education. Al-Awlaki returned to Yemen in early 2004 and became a university lecturer after a brief stint as a public speaker in the United Kingdom. He was detained by Yemeni authorities in 2006, where he spent 18 months in prison before being released without facing trial.",
"He was detained by Yemeni authorities in 2006, where he spent 18 months in prison before being released without facing trial. Following his release, Al-Awlaki's message started to become overtly supportive of violence, as he condemned United States foreign policy against Muslims. The Yemeni government tried him in absentia in November 2010, for plotting to kill foreigners and being a member of al-Qaeda. A Yemeni judge ordered that he be captured \"dead or alive\".",
"A Yemeni judge ordered that he be captured \"dead or alive\". U.S. officials said that in 2009, al-Awlaki was promoted to the rank of \"regional commander\" within al-Qaeda, although they described his role as more \"inspirational\" than \"operational.\" He repeatedly called for jihad against the United States. In April 2010, al-Awlaki was placed on a CIA kill list by President Barack Obama due to his alleged terrorist activities. Al-Awlaki's father and civil rights groups challenged the order in court.",
"Al-Awlaki's father and civil rights groups challenged the order in court. Al-Awlaki was believed to be in hiding in southeast Yemen in the last years of his life. The U.S. deployed unmanned aircraft (drones) in Yemen to search for and kill him, firing at and failing to kill him at least once; he was successfully killed on September 30, 2011.",
"The U.S. deployed unmanned aircraft (drones) in Yemen to search for and kill him, firing at and failing to kill him at least once; he was successfully killed on September 30, 2011. Two weeks later, al-Awlaki's 16-year-old son, Abdulrahman al-Awlaki, a U.S. citizen who was born in Denver, Colorado, was also killed by a CIA-led drone strike in Yemen.",
"Two weeks later, al-Awlaki's 16-year-old son, Abdulrahman al-Awlaki, a U.S. citizen who was born in Denver, Colorado, was also killed by a CIA-led drone strike in Yemen. His daughter, 8-year old Nawar al-Awlaki, was killed during a raid against Al Qaeda ordered by President Donald Trump in 2017.<ref name=\"uk.reuters.com\">Ghobari, Mohammed and Phil Stewart. \"Commando dies in U.S. raid in Yemen, first military op OK'd by Trump\", Reuters, January 29, 2017.",
"\"Commando dies in U.S. raid in Yemen, first military op OK'd by Trump\", Reuters, January 29, 2017. Retrieved January 29, 2017.</ref> The New York Times wrote in 2015 that al-Awlaki's public statements and videos have been more influential in inspiring acts of Islamic terrorism in the wake of his killing than before his death.",
"Retrieved January 29, 2017.</ref> The New York Times wrote in 2015 that al-Awlaki's public statements and videos have been more influential in inspiring acts of Islamic terrorism in the wake of his killing than before his death. Early life Al-Awlaki was born in Las Cruces, New Mexico, in 1971 to parents from Yemen, while his father, Nasser al-Awlaki, was doing graduate work at U.S. universities.",
"Early life Al-Awlaki was born in Las Cruces, New Mexico, in 1971 to parents from Yemen, while his father, Nasser al-Awlaki, was doing graduate work at U.S. universities. His father was a Fulbright Scholar who earned a master's degree in agricultural economics at New Mexico State University in 1971, received a doctorate at the University of Nebraska, and worked at the University of Minnesota from 1975 to 1977. Nasser al-Awlaki served as Agriculture Minister in Ali Abdullah Saleh's government. He was also President of Sana'a University.",
"He was also President of Sana'a University. He was also President of Sana'a University. Yemen's prime minister from 2007 to 2011, Ali Mohammed Mujur, was a relative. The family returned to Yemen in 1978, when al-Awlaki was seven years old. He lived there for 11 years, and studied at Azal Modern School. Life in the United States 1990–2002 Education In 1991, al-Awlaki returned to the U.S. to attend college. He earned a B.S.",
"He earned a B.S. He earned a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Colorado State University (1994), where he was president of the Muslim Student Association. In 1993, while still a college student in Colorado State's civil engineering program, al-Awlaki visited Afghanistan in the aftermath of the Soviet occupation. He spent some time training with the mujahideen who had fought the Soviets.",
"He spent some time training with the mujahideen who had fought the Soviets. He was depressed by the country's poverty and hunger, and \"wouldn't have gone with al-Qaeda,\" according to friends from Colorado State, who said he was profoundly affected by the trip. Mullah Mohammed Omar did not form the Taliban until 1994. When Al-Awlaki returned to campus, he showed increased interest in religion and politics. Al-Awlaki studied Education Leadership at San Diego State University, but did not complete his degree.",
"Al-Awlaki studied Education Leadership at San Diego State University, but did not complete his degree. He worked on a doctorate in Human Resource Development at The George Washington University Graduate School of Education and Human Development from January to December 2001. Time as imam In 1994, al-Awlaki married a cousin from Yemen, and began service as a part-time imam of the Denver Islamic Society. In 1996, he was chastised by an elder for encouraging a Saudi student to fight in Chechnya against the Russians.",
"In 1996, he was chastised by an elder for encouraging a Saudi student to fight in Chechnya against the Russians. He left Denver soon after, moving to San Diego. From 1996 to 2000, al-Awlaki was imam of the Masjid Ar-Ribat al-Islami mosque in San Diego, California, where he had a following of 200–300 people. U.S. officials later alleged that Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar, hijackers of American Airlines Flight 77, attended his sermons and personally met him during this period.",
"U.S. officials later alleged that Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar, hijackers of American Airlines Flight 77, attended his sermons and personally met him during this period. Hazmi later lived in Northern Virginia and attended al-Awlaki's mosque there. The 9/11 Commission Report said that the hijackers \"reportedly respected [al-Awlaki] as a religious figure\". While in San Diego, al-Awlaki volunteered with youth organizations, fished, discussed his travels with friends, and created a popular and lucrative series of recorded lectures.",
"While in San Diego, al-Awlaki volunteered with youth organizations, fished, discussed his travels with friends, and created a popular and lucrative series of recorded lectures. In August 1996 and in April 1997, al-Awlaki was arrested in San Diego and charged with soliciting prostitutes. The first time, in 1996, he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and was fined $400 and required to attend informational sessions about AIDS.",
"The first time, in 1996, he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and was fined $400 and required to attend informational sessions about AIDS. The second time, in 1997, he pleaded guilty and was fined $240, ordered to perform 12 days of community service, and received three years' probation. From November 2001 to January 2002 the FBI observed him visiting a number of prostitutes, and interviewed them, establishing that he had paid for sex acts. No prosecution was brought.",
"No prosecution was brought. No prosecution was brought. In 1998 and 1999, he served as vice-president for the Charitable Society for Social Welfare. In 2004, the FBI described this group as a \"front organization to funnel money to terrorists\". Although the FBI investigated al-Awlaki from June 1999 through March 2000 for possible links to Hamas, the Bin Laden contact Ziyad Khaleel, and a visit by an associate of Omar Abdel Rahman, it did not find sufficient evidence for a criminal prosecution.",
"Although the FBI investigated al-Awlaki from June 1999 through March 2000 for possible links to Hamas, the Bin Laden contact Ziyad Khaleel, and a visit by an associate of Omar Abdel Rahman, it did not find sufficient evidence for a criminal prosecution. Al-Awlaki told reporters that he resigned from leading the San Diego mosque \"after an uneventful four years,\" and took a brief sabbatical, traveling overseas to various countries. In January 2001, al-Awlaki returned to the U.S., settling in the Washington metropolitan area.",
"In January 2001, al-Awlaki returned to the U.S., settling in the Washington metropolitan area. There, he was imam at the Dar al-Hijrah mosque near Falls Church, Virginia, and his services were attended by Nawaf al-Hazmi and a third hijacker, Hani Hanjour. He led academic discussions frequented by FBI Director of Counter-Intelligence for the Middle East Gordon M. Snow. Al-Awlaki also served as the Muslim chaplain at George Washington University, where he was hired by Esam Omeish.",
"Al-Awlaki also served as the Muslim chaplain at George Washington University, where he was hired by Esam Omeish. Omeish said in 2004 that he was convinced that al-Awlaki was not involved in terrorism. His proficiency as a public speaker and command of the English language helped him attract followers who did not speak Arabic. \"He was the magic bullet\", according to the mosque spokesman Johari Abdul-Malik. \"He had everything all in a box.\" \"He had an allure. He was charming.\"",
"\"He had an allure. He was charming.\" He was charming.\" When police investigating the 9/11 attacks raided the Hamburg apartment of Ramzi bin al-Shibh, they found the telephone number of al-Awlaki among bin al-Shibh's personal contacts. The FBI interviewed al-Awlaki four times in the eight days following the 9/11 attacks. One detective later told the 9/11 Commission he believed al-Awlaki \"was at the center of the 9/11 story\".",
"One detective later told the 9/11 Commission he believed al-Awlaki \"was at the center of the 9/11 story\". And an FBI agent said, \"if anyone had knowledge of the plot, it would have been\" him, since \"someone had to be in the U.S. and keep the hijackers spiritually focused\". One 9/11 Commission staff member said: \"Do I think he played a role in helping the hijackers here, knowing they were up to something? Yes.",
"Yes. Yes. Do I think he was sent here for that purpose? I have no evidence for it.\" A separate Congressional Joint Inquiry into the 9/11 attacks suggested that al-Awlaki may have been connected to the hijackers, according to its director, Eleanor Hill. In 2003, Representative Anna Eshoo, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said, \"In my view, he is more than a coincidental figure.\"",
"In 2003, Representative Anna Eshoo, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said, \"In my view, he is more than a coincidental figure.\" Six days after the 9/11 attacks, al-Awlaki suggested in writing on the IslamOnline.net website that Israeli intelligence agents might have been responsible for the attacks, and that the FBI \"went into the roster of the airplanes, and whoever has a Muslim or Arab name became the hijacker by default\".",
"Six days after the 9/11 attacks, al-Awlaki suggested in writing on the IslamOnline.net website that Israeli intelligence agents might have been responsible for the attacks, and that the FBI \"went into the roster of the airplanes, and whoever has a Muslim or Arab name became the hijacker by default\". Soon after the 9/11 attacks, al-Awlaki was sought in Washington, D.C., by the media to answer questions about Islam, its rituals, and its relation to the attacks.",
"Soon after the 9/11 attacks, al-Awlaki was sought in Washington, D.C., by the media to answer questions about Islam, its rituals, and its relation to the attacks. He was interviewed by National Geographic, The New York Times, and other media. Al-Awlaki condemned the attacks. According to an NPR report in 2010, in 2001 al-Awlaki appeared to be a moderate who could \"bridge the gap between the United States and the worldwide community of Muslims.\"",
"According to an NPR report in 2010, in 2001 al-Awlaki appeared to be a moderate who could \"bridge the gap between the United States and the worldwide community of Muslims.\" The New York Times said at the time that he was \"held up as a new generation of Muslim leader capable of merging East and West.\" In 2010, Fox News and the New York Daily News reported that some months after the 9/11 attacks, a Pentagon employee invited al-Awlaki to a luncheon in the Secretary's Office of General Counsel.",
"In 2010, Fox News and the New York Daily News reported that some months after the 9/11 attacks, a Pentagon employee invited al-Awlaki to a luncheon in the Secretary's Office of General Counsel. The U.S. Secretary of the Army had suggested that a moderate Muslim be invited to give a talk. In 2002, al-Awlaki was the first imam to conduct a prayer service for the Congressional Muslim Staffer Association at the U.S. Capitol. That year, Nidal Hasan visited al-Awlaki's mosque for his mother's funeral, at which al-Awlaki presided.",
"That year, Nidal Hasan visited al-Awlaki's mosque for his mother's funeral, at which al-Awlaki presided. In November 2009, Hasan killed 13 and wounded 32 in the Fort Hood shooting. Hasan usually attended a mosque in Maryland closer to where he lived while working at the Walter Reed Medical Center (2003–09). Later in 2002, al-Awlaki posted an essay in Arabic on the Islam Today website titled \"Why Muslims Love Death\", lauding the fervor of Palestinian suicide bombers.",
"Later in 2002, al-Awlaki posted an essay in Arabic on the Islam Today website titled \"Why Muslims Love Death\", lauding the fervor of Palestinian suicide bombers. He expressed a similar opinion in a speech at a London mosque later that year. By July 2002, al-Awlaki was under investigation in the United States for having received money from the subject of a U.S. Joint Terrorism Task Force investigation. His name was added to the list of terrorism suspects.",
"His name was added to the list of terrorism suspects. Passport fraud issues In June 2002, a Denver federal judge signed an arrest warrant for al-Awlaki for passport fraud. On October 9, the Denver U.S. Attorney's Office filed a motion to dismiss the complaint and vacate the arrest warrant. Prosecutors believed that they lacked sufficient evidence of a crime, according to U.S. Attorney Dave Gaouette, who authorized its withdrawal.",
"Prosecutors believed that they lacked sufficient evidence of a crime, according to U.S. Attorney Dave Gaouette, who authorized its withdrawal. Al-Awlaki had listed Yemen rather than the United States as his place of birth on his 1990 application for a U.S. Social Security number, soon after arriving in the US. Al-Awlaki used this documentation to obtain a passport in 1993. He later corrected his place of birth to Las Cruces, New Mexico.",
"He later corrected his place of birth to Las Cruces, New Mexico. \"The bizarre thing is if you put Yemen down (on the application), it would be harder to get a Social Security number than to say you are a native-born citizen of Las Cruces\", Gaouette said. Prosecutors could not charge him in October 2002, when he returned from a trip abroad, because a 10-year statute of limitations on lying to the Social Security Administration had expired.",
"Prosecutors could not charge him in October 2002, when he returned from a trip abroad, because a 10-year statute of limitations on lying to the Social Security Administration had expired. According to a 2012 investigative report by Fox News, the arrest warrant for passport fraud was still in effect on the morning of October 10, 2002, when FBI Agent Wade Ammerman ordered al-Awlaki's release. U.S.",
"U.S. U.S. Congressman Frank Wolf (R-VA) and several congressional committees urged FBI Director Robert Mueller to provide an explanation about the bureau's interactions with al-Awlaki, including why he was released from federal custody when there was an outstanding warrant for his arrest. The motion for rescinding the arrest warrant was approved by a magistrate judge on October 10 and filed on October 11.ABC News reported in 2009 that the Joint Terrorism Task Force in San Diego disagreed with the decision to cancel the warrant.",
"The motion for rescinding the arrest warrant was approved by a magistrate judge on October 10 and filed on October 11.ABC News reported in 2009 that the Joint Terrorism Task Force in San Diego disagreed with the decision to cancel the warrant. They were monitoring al-Awlaki and wanted to \"look at him under a microscope\".",
"They were monitoring al-Awlaki and wanted to \"look at him under a microscope\". But U.S. Attorney Gaouette said that no objection had been raised to the rescinding of the warrant during a meeting that included Ray Fournier, the San Diego federal diplomatic security agent whose allegation had set in motion the effort to obtain a warrant.",
"But U.S. Attorney Gaouette said that no objection had been raised to the rescinding of the warrant during a meeting that included Ray Fournier, the San Diego federal diplomatic security agent whose allegation had set in motion the effort to obtain a warrant. Gaouette said that if al-Awlaki had been convicted at the time, he would have faced about six months in custody.The New York Times suggested later that al-Awlaki had claimed birth in Yemen (his family's place of origin) to qualify for scholarship money granted to foreign citizens. U.S.",
"U.S. U.S. Congressman Frank R. Wolf (R-VA) wrote in May 2010 that by claiming to be foreign-born, al-Awlaki fraudulently obtained more than $20,000 in scholarship funds reserved for foreign students. While living in Northern Virginia, al-Awlaki visited Ali al-Timimi, later known as a radical Islamic cleric. Al-Timimi was convicted in 2005 and is now serving a life sentence for leading the Virginia Jihad Network, inciting Muslim followers to fight with the Taliban against the US.",
"Al-Timimi was convicted in 2005 and is now serving a life sentence for leading the Virginia Jihad Network, inciting Muslim followers to fight with the Taliban against the US. In the United Kingdom 2002–04 Al-Awlaki left the United States before the end of 2002, because of a \"climate of fear and intimidation\" according to Imam Johari Abdul-Malik of the Dar al-Hijrah mosque. He lived in the UK for several months, where he gave talks attended by up to 200 people.",
"He lived in the UK for several months, where he gave talks attended by up to 200 people. He urged young Muslim followers: \"The important lesson to learn here is never, ever trust a kuffar [disbeliever]. Do not trust them! [Their leaders] are plotting to kill this religion. They're plotting night and day.\" \"He was the main man who translated the jihad into English,\" said a student who attended his lectures in 2003.",
"\"He was the main man who translated the jihad into English,\" said a student who attended his lectures in 2003. He gave a series of lectures in December 2002 and January 2003 at the London Masjid al-Tawhid mosque, describing the rewards martyrs (Shahid) receive in paradise (Jannah). He began to gain supporters, particularly among young Muslims, and undertook a lecture tour of England and Scotland in 2002 in conjunction with the Muslim Association of Britain.",
"He began to gain supporters, particularly among young Muslims, and undertook a lecture tour of England and Scotland in 2002 in conjunction with the Muslim Association of Britain. He also lectured at \"ExpoIslamia\", an event held by Islamic Forum Europe. At the East London Mosque he told his audience: \"A Muslim is a brother of a Muslim... he does not betray him, and he does not hand him over... You don't hand over a Muslim to the enemies.\"",
"At the East London Mosque he told his audience: \"A Muslim is a brother of a Muslim... he does not betray him, and he does not hand him over... You don't hand over a Muslim to the enemies.\" In Britain's Parliament in 2003, Louise Ellman, MP for Liverpool Riverside, discussed the relationship between al-Awlaki and the Muslim Association of Britain, an alleged Muslim Brotherhood front organization founded by Kemal el-Helbawy, a senior member of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood.",
"In Britain's Parliament in 2003, Louise Ellman, MP for Liverpool Riverside, discussed the relationship between al-Awlaki and the Muslim Association of Britain, an alleged Muslim Brotherhood front organization founded by Kemal el-Helbawy, a senior member of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. Return to Yemen 2004–11 Al-Awlaki returned to Yemen in early 2004, where he lived in Shabwah Governorate with his wife and five children. He lectured at Iman University, headed by Abdul Majeed al-Zindani.",
"He lectured at Iman University, headed by Abdul Majeed al-Zindani. The latter has been included on the UN 1267 Committee's list of individuals belonging to or associated with al-Qaeda. Al-Zindani denied having any influence over al-Awlaki, or that he had been his \"direct teacher\". Some believe that the school's curriculum deals mostly, if not exclusively, with radical Islamic studies, and promotes radicalism. American convert John Walker Lindh and other alumni have been associated with terrorist groups.",
"American convert John Walker Lindh and other alumni have been associated with terrorist groups. On August 31, 2006, al-Awlaki was arrested with four others on charges of kidnapping a Shiite teenager for ransom, and participating in an al-Qaeda plot to kidnap a U.S. military attaché. He was imprisoned in 2006 and 2007. He was interviewed around September 2007 by two FBI agents with regard to the 9/11 attacks and other subjects. John Negroponte, the U.S. Director of National Intelligence, told Yemeni officials he did not object to al-Awlaki's detention.",
"John Negroponte, the U.S. Director of National Intelligence, told Yemeni officials he did not object to al-Awlaki's detention. His name was on a list of 100 prisoners whose release was sought by al-Qaeda-linked militants in Yemen. After 18 months in a Yemeni prison, al-Awlaki was released on December 12, 2007, following the intercession of his tribe. According to a Yemeni security official, he was released because he had repented. He moved to his family home in Saeed, a hamlet in the Shabwa mountains.",
"He moved to his family home in Saeed, a hamlet in the Shabwa mountains. Moazzam Begg's Cageprisoners, an organization representing former Guantanamo detainees, campaigned for al-Awlaki's release when he was in prison in Yemen. Al-Awlaki told Begg in an interview shortly after his release that prior to his incarceration in Yemen, he had condemned the 9/11 attacks. In December 2008, al-Awlaki sent a communique to the Somali terrorist group, al-Shabaab, congratulating them.",
"In December 2008, al-Awlaki sent a communique to the Somali terrorist group, al-Shabaab, congratulating them. Al-Awlaki provided al-Qaeda members in Yemen with the protection of his powerful tribe, the Awlakis, against the government. The tribal code required it to protect those who seek refuge and assistance. This imperative has greater force when the person is a member of the tribe or a tribesman's friend. The tribe's motto is \"We are the sparks of Hell; whoever interferes with us will be burned.\"",
"The tribe's motto is \"We are the sparks of Hell; whoever interferes with us will be burned.\" Al-Awlaki also reportedly helped negotiate deals with leaders of other tribes. Sought by Yemeni authorities who were investigating his al-Qaeda ties, al-Awlaki went into hiding in approximately March 2009, according to his father. By December 2009, al-Awlaki was on the Yemeni government's most-wanted list. He was believed to be hiding in Yemen's Shabwa or Mareb regions, which are part of the so-called \"triangle of evil\".",
"He was believed to be hiding in Yemen's Shabwa or Mareb regions, which are part of the so-called \"triangle of evil\". The area has attracted al-Qaeda militants, who seek refuge among local tribes unhappy with Yemen's central government. Yemeni sources originally said al-Awlaki might have been killed in a pre-dawn air strike by Yemeni Air Force fighter jets on a meeting of senior al-Qaeda leaders at a hideout in Rafd in eastern Shabwa, on December 24, 2009. But he survived.",
"But he survived. But he survived. Pravda reported that the planes, using Saudi and U.S. intelligence, killed at least 30 al-Qaeda members from Yemen and abroad, and that an al-Awlaki house was \"raided and demolished\". On December 28 The Washington Post reported that U.S. and Yemeni officials said that al-Awlaki had been present at the meeting. Abdul Elah al-Shaya, a Yemeni journalist, said al-Awlaki called him on December 28 to report that he was well and had not attended the al-Qaeda meeting.",
"Abdul Elah al-Shaya, a Yemeni journalist, said al-Awlaki called him on December 28 to report that he was well and had not attended the al-Qaeda meeting. Al-Shaya said that al-Awlaki was not tied to al-Qaeda. In March 2010, a tape featuring al-Awlaki was released in which he urged Muslims residing in the United States to attack their country of residence. Reaching out to the United Kingdom After 2006, al-Awlaki was banned from entering the United Kingdom.",
"Reaching out to the United Kingdom After 2006, al-Awlaki was banned from entering the United Kingdom. He broadcast lectures to mosques and other venues there via video-link from 2007 to 2009, on at least seven occasions at five locations in Britain. Noor Pro Media Events held a conference at the East London Mosque on January 1, 2009, showing a videotaped lecture by al-Awlaki; former Shadow Home Secretary Dominic Grieve expressed concern over his being featured.",
"Noor Pro Media Events held a conference at the East London Mosque on January 1, 2009, showing a videotaped lecture by al-Awlaki; former Shadow Home Secretary Dominic Grieve expressed concern over his being featured. He gave video-link talks in England to an Islamic student society at the University of Westminster in September 2008, an arts center in East London in April 2009 (after the Tower Hamlets council gave its approval), worshippers at the Al Huda Mosque in Bradford, and a dinner of the Cageprisoners organization in September 2008 at the Wandsworth Civic Centre in South London.",
"He gave video-link talks in England to an Islamic student society at the University of Westminster in September 2008, an arts center in East London in April 2009 (after the Tower Hamlets council gave its approval), worshippers at the Al Huda Mosque in Bradford, and a dinner of the Cageprisoners organization in September 2008 at the Wandsworth Civic Centre in South London. On August 23, 2009, al-Awlaki was banned by local authorities in Kensington and Chelsea, London, from speaking at Kensington Town Hall via videolink to a fundraiser dinner for Guantanamo detainees promoted by Cageprisoners.",
"On August 23, 2009, al-Awlaki was banned by local authorities in Kensington and Chelsea, London, from speaking at Kensington Town Hall via videolink to a fundraiser dinner for Guantanamo detainees promoted by Cageprisoners. His videos, which discuss his Islamist theories, have circulated across the United Kingdom. Until February 2010, hundreds of audio tapes of his sermons were available at the Tower Hamlets public libraries. In 2009, the London-based Islam Channel carried advertisements for his DVDs and at least two of his video conference lectures.",
"In 2009, the London-based Islam Channel carried advertisements for his DVDs and at least two of his video conference lectures. Other connections FBI agents identified al-Awlaki as a known, important \"senior recruiter for al Qaeda\", and a spiritual motivator. His name came up in a dozen terrorism plots in the US, UK, and Canada.",
"His name came up in a dozen terrorism plots in the US, UK, and Canada. The cases included suicide bombers in the 2005 London bombings, radical Islamic terrorists in the 2006 Toronto terrorism case, radical Islamic terrorists in the 2007 Fort Dix attack plot, the jihadist killer in the 2009 Little Rock military recruiting office shooting, and the 2010 Times Square bomber. In each case the suspects were devoted to al-Awlaki's message, which they listened to online and on CDs.",
"In each case the suspects were devoted to al-Awlaki's message, which they listened to online and on CDs. Al-Awlaki's recorded lectures were heard by Islamist fundamentalists in at least six terror cells in the UK through 2009. Michael Finton (Talib Islam), who attempted in September 2009 to bomb the Federal Building and the adjacent offices of Congressman Aaron Schock in Springfield, Illinois, admired al-Awlaki and quoted him on his Myspace page.",
"Michael Finton (Talib Islam), who attempted in September 2009 to bomb the Federal Building and the adjacent offices of Congressman Aaron Schock in Springfield, Illinois, admired al-Awlaki and quoted him on his Myspace page. In addition to his website, al-Awlaki had a Facebook fan page with \"fans\" in the US, many of whom were high school students. Al-Awlaki also set up a website and blog on which he shared his views.",
"Al-Awlaki also set up a website and blog on which he shared his views. Al-Awlaki influenced several other extremists to join terrorist organizations overseas and to carry out terrorist attacks in their home countries. Mohamed Alessa and Carlos Almonte, two American citizens from New Jersey who attempted to travel to Somalia in June 2010 to join the al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group Al Shabaab, allegedly watched several al-Awlaki videos and sermons in which he warned of future attacks against Americans in the United States and abroad.",
"Mohamed Alessa and Carlos Almonte, two American citizens from New Jersey who attempted to travel to Somalia in June 2010 to join the al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group Al Shabaab, allegedly watched several al-Awlaki videos and sermons in which he warned of future attacks against Americans in the United States and abroad. Zachary Chesser, an American citizen who was arrested for attempting to provide material support to Al Shabaab, told federal authorities that he watched online videos featuring al-Awlaki and that he exchanged several e-mails with al-Awlaki.",
"Zachary Chesser, an American citizen who was arrested for attempting to provide material support to Al Shabaab, told federal authorities that he watched online videos featuring al-Awlaki and that he exchanged several e-mails with al-Awlaki. In July 2010, Paul Rockwood was sentenced to eight years in prison for creating a list of 15 potential targets in the US, people he felt had desecrated Islam. Rockwood was a devoted follower of al-Awlaki, and had studied his works Constants on the Path to Jihad and 44 Ways to Jihad.",
"Rockwood was a devoted follower of al-Awlaki, and had studied his works Constants on the Path to Jihad and 44 Ways to Jihad. In October 2008, Charles Allen, U.S. Under-Secretary of Homeland Security for Intelligence and Analysis, warned that al-Awlaki \"targets U.S. Muslims with radical online lectures encouraging terrorist attacks from his new home in Yemen.\" Responding to Allen, al-Awlaki wrote on his website in December 2008: \"I would challenge him to come up with just one such lecture where I encourage 'terrorist attacks'\".",
"Responding to Allen, al-Awlaki wrote on his website in December 2008: \"I would challenge him to come up with just one such lecture where I encourage 'terrorist attacks'\". Fort Hood shooter Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan was investigated by the FBI after intelligence agencies intercepted at least 18 e-mails between him and al-Awlaki between December 2008 and June 2009.",
"Fort Hood shooter Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan was investigated by the FBI after intelligence agencies intercepted at least 18 e-mails between him and al-Awlaki between December 2008 and June 2009. Even before the contents of the e-mails were revealed, terrorism expert Jarret Brachman said that Hasan's contacts with al-Awlaki should have raised \"huge red flags\", because of his influence on radical English-speaking jihadis. Charles Allen, no longer in government, noted that there was no work-related reason for Hasan to be in touch with al-Awlaki.",
"Charles Allen, no longer in government, noted that there was no work-related reason for Hasan to be in touch with al-Awlaki. Former CIA officer Bruce Riedel opined: \"E-mailing a known al-Qaeda sympathizer should have set off alarm bells. Even if he was exchanging recipes, the bureau should have put out an alert.\" A DC-based Joint Terrorism Task Force operating under the FBI was notified of the e-mails and reviewed the information.",
"A DC-based Joint Terrorism Task Force operating under the FBI was notified of the e-mails and reviewed the information. Army employees were informed of the e-mails, but they didn't perceive any terrorist threat in Hasan's questions. Instead, they viewed them as general questions about spiritual guidance with regard to conflicts between Islam and military service and judged them to be consistent with legitimate mental health research about Muslims in the armed services. The assessment was that there was not sufficient information for a larger investigation.",
"The assessment was that there was not sufficient information for a larger investigation. In one of the e-mails, Hasan wrote al-Awlaki: \"I can't wait to join you [in the afterlife]\". \"It sounds like code words,\" said Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer, a military analyst at the Center for Advanced Defense Studies. \"That he's actually either offering himself up, or that he's already crossed that line in his own mind.\" Yemeni journalist Abdulelah Hider Shaea interviewed al-Awlaki in November 2009.",
"Yemeni journalist Abdulelah Hider Shaea interviewed al-Awlaki in November 2009. Al-Awlaki acknowledged his correspondence with Hasan. He said he \"neither ordered nor pressured ... Hasan to harm Americans.\" Al-Awlaki said Hasan first e-mailed him December 17, 2008, introducing himself by writing: \"Do you remember me? I used to pray with you at the Virginia mosque.\"",
"I used to pray with you at the Virginia mosque.\" Hasan said he had become a devout Muslim around the time al-Awlaki was preaching at Dar al-Hijrah, in 2001 and 2002, and al-Awlaki said 'Maybe Nidal was affected by one of my lectures.'\" He added: \"It was clear from his e-mails that Nidal trusted me. Nidal told me: 'I speak with you about issues that I never speak with anyone else.'\"",
"Nidal told me: 'I speak with you about issues that I never speak with anyone else.'\" Al-Awlaki said Hasan arrived at his own conclusions regarding the acceptability of violence in Islam and said he was not the one to initiate this. Shaea said, \"Nidal was providing evidence to Anwar, not vice versa.\" Asked whether Hasan mentioned Fort Hood as a target in his e-mails, Shaea declined to comment.",
"Asked whether Hasan mentioned Fort Hood as a target in his e-mails, Shaea declined to comment. Al-Awlaki said the shooting was acceptable in Islam, however, because it was a form of jihad, as the West began the hostilities with the Muslims. Al-Awlaki said he \"blessed the act because it was against a military target. And the soldiers who were killed were ... those who were trained and prepared to go to Iraq and Afghanistan\".",
"And the soldiers who were killed were ... those who were trained and prepared to go to Iraq and Afghanistan\". Al-Awlaki's e-mail conversations with Hasan were not released, and he was not placed on the FBI Most Wanted list, indicted for treason, or officially named as a co-conspirator with Hasan. The U.S. government was reluctant to classify the Fort Hood shooting as a terrorist incident, or identify any motive.",
"The U.S. government was reluctant to classify the Fort Hood shooting as a terrorist incident, or identify any motive. The Wall Street Journal reported in January 2010 that al-Awlaki had not \"played a direct role\" in any of the attacks, and noted he had never been charged with a crime in the US. One of his fellow officers at Fort Hood said Hasan was enthusiastic about al-Awlaki. Some investigators believe al-Awlaki's teachings may have been instrumental in Hasan's decision to stage the attack.",
"Some investigators believe al-Awlaki's teachings may have been instrumental in Hasan's decision to stage the attack. On his now-disabled website, al-Awlaki praised Hasan's actions, describing him as a hero. Christmas Day \"Underwear Bomber\" According to a number of sources, Al-Awlaki and Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the convicted al-Qaeda attempted bomber of Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on December 25, 2009, had contacts.",
"Christmas Day \"Underwear Bomber\" According to a number of sources, Al-Awlaki and Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the convicted al-Qaeda attempted bomber of Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on December 25, 2009, had contacts. In January 2010, CNN reported that U.S. \"security sources\" said that there is concrete evidence that al-Awlaki was Abdulmutallab's recruiter and one of his trainers, and met with him prior to the attack.",
"In January 2010, CNN reported that U.S. \"security sources\" said that there is concrete evidence that al-Awlaki was Abdulmutallab's recruiter and one of his trainers, and met with him prior to the attack. In February 2010, al-Awlaki admitted in an interview published in al-Jazeera that he taught and corresponded with Abdulmutallab, but denied having ordered the attack.",
"In February 2010, al-Awlaki admitted in an interview published in al-Jazeera that he taught and corresponded with Abdulmutallab, but denied having ordered the attack. Representative Pete Hoekstra, the senior Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, said officials in the Obama administration and officials with access to law enforcement information told him the suspect \"may have had contact [with al-Awlaki]\".The Sunday Times established that Abdulmutallab first met al-Awlaki in 2005 in Yemen, while he was studying Arabic.",
"Representative Pete Hoekstra, the senior Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, said officials in the Obama administration and officials with access to law enforcement information told him the suspect \"may have had contact [with al-Awlaki]\".The Sunday Times established that Abdulmutallab first met al-Awlaki in 2005 in Yemen, while he was studying Arabic. During that time the suspect attended lectures by al-Awlaki.NPR reported that according to unnamed U.S. intelligence officials he attended a sermon by al-Awlaki at the Finsbury Park Mosque.",
"During that time the suspect attended lectures by al-Awlaki.NPR reported that according to unnamed U.S. intelligence officials he attended a sermon by al-Awlaki at the Finsbury Park Mosque. Khalid Mahmood, the Labour MP for Birmingham Perry Barr, a former trustee of the mosque, expressed \"grave misgivings\" with regard to its stewardship. A spokesperson of the mosque stated that al-Awlaki had never spoken there or had even to his knowledge entered the building.",
"A spokesperson of the mosque stated that al-Awlaki had never spoken there or had even to his knowledge entered the building. Abdulmutallab was also reported by CBS News, The Daily Telegraph, and The Sunday Telegraph to have attended a talk by al-Awlaki at the East London Mosque, which al-Awlaki may have attended by video teleconference.",
"Abdulmutallab was also reported by CBS News, The Daily Telegraph, and The Sunday Telegraph to have attended a talk by al-Awlaki at the East London Mosque, which al-Awlaki may have attended by video teleconference. The Sunday Telegraph later removed the report from its website following a complaint by the East London Mosque, which stated that \"Anwar Al Awlaki did not deliver any talks at the ELM between 2005 and 2008, which is when the newspaper had falsely alleged that Abdullmutallab had attended such talks\".",
"The Sunday Telegraph later removed the report from its website following a complaint by the East London Mosque, which stated that \"Anwar Al Awlaki did not deliver any talks at the ELM between 2005 and 2008, which is when the newspaper had falsely alleged that Abdullmutallab had attended such talks\". Investigators who searched flats connected to Abdulmutallab in London said that he was a \"big fan\" of al-Awlaki, as al-Awlaki's blog and website had repeatedly been visited from those locations.",
"Investigators who searched flats connected to Abdulmutallab in London said that he was a \"big fan\" of al-Awlaki, as al-Awlaki's blog and website had repeatedly been visited from those locations. According to federal sources, Abdulmutallab and al-Awlaki repeatedly communicated with one another in the year prior to the attack. \"Voice-to-voice communication\" between the two was intercepted during the fall of 2009, and one government source said al-Awlaki \"was in some way involved in facilitating [Abdulmutallab]'s transportation or trip through Yemen.",
"\"Voice-to-voice communication\" between the two was intercepted during the fall of 2009, and one government source said al-Awlaki \"was in some way involved in facilitating [Abdulmutallab]'s transportation or trip through Yemen. It could be training, a host of things.\" NPR reported that intelligence officials suspected al-Awlaki may have told Abdulmutallab to go to Yemen for al-Qaeda training. Abdulmutallab told the FBI that al-Awlaki was one of his al-Qaeda trainers in Yemen. Others reported that Abdulmutallab met with al-Awlaki in the weeks leading up to the attack.",
"Others reported that Abdulmutallab met with al-Awlaki in the weeks leading up to the attack. The Los Angeles Times reported that according to a U.S. intelligence official, intercepts and other information point to connections between the two: Some of the information ... comes from Abdulmutallab, who ... said that he met with al-Awlaki and senior al-Qaeda members during an extended trip to Yemen this year and that the cleric was involved in some elements of planning or preparing the attack and in providing religious justification for it.",
"The Los Angeles Times reported that according to a U.S. intelligence official, intercepts and other information point to connections between the two: Some of the information ... comes from Abdulmutallab, who ... said that he met with al-Awlaki and senior al-Qaeda members during an extended trip to Yemen this year and that the cleric was involved in some elements of planning or preparing the attack and in providing religious justification for it. Other intelligence linking the two became apparent after the attempted bombing, including communications intercepted by the National Security Agency indicating that the cleric was meeting with \"a Nigerian\" in preparation for some kind of operation.",
"Other intelligence linking the two became apparent after the attempted bombing, including communications intercepted by the National Security Agency indicating that the cleric was meeting with \"a Nigerian\" in preparation for some kind of operation. Yemen's Deputy Prime Minister for Defense and Security Affairs, Rashad Mohammed al-Alimi, said Yemeni investigators believe that Abdulmutallab traveled to Shabwa in October 2009. Investigators believe he obtained his explosives and received training there. He met there with al-Qaeda members in a house built by al-Awlaki.",
"He met there with al-Qaeda members in a house built by al-Awlaki. A top Yemen government official said the two met with each other. In January 2010, al-Awlaki acknowledged that he met and spoke with Abdulmutallab in Yemen in the fall of 2009. In an interview, al-Awlaki said: \"Umar Farouk is one of my students; I had communications with him. And I support what he did.\" He also said: \"I did not tell him to do this operation, but I support it\".",
"He also said: \"I did not tell him to do this operation, but I support it\". Fox News reported in early February 2010 that Abdulmutallab told federal investigators that al-Awlaki directed him to carry out the bombing. In June 2010 Michael Leiter, the Director of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), said al-Awlaki had a \"direct operational role\" in the plot. Sharif Mobley Sharif Mobley had acknowledged contact with Anwar al-Awlaki.",
"Sharif Mobley Sharif Mobley had acknowledged contact with Anwar al-Awlaki. The Mobley family claims the contact was for spiritual guidance in further studies of Islam. The Mobley family went to Yemen and resided there for several years. They decided to return to the United States and went to the U.S. Embassy to update the family travel documents. While waiting for their travel documents, Sharif Mobley was kidnapped by Yemen Security Services and shot on January 26, 2010. He was then held in Yemen's Central Prison.",
"He was then held in Yemen's Central Prison. He was then held in Yemen's Central Prison. Mobley disappeared from the Central Prison on February 27, 2014. His current location is known to the U.S. Embassy in Yemen (currently closed 2015) but is withheld from his family and legal advisers based on U.S. State Department Regulations on \"U.S. Citizens Missing Abroad\". All charges related to \"terrorism/terrorist activity\" were dropped by the Yemen government.",
"All charges related to \"terrorism/terrorist activity\" were dropped by the Yemen government. There are no charges relating to allegations of \"killing a guard during an escape attempt from the hospital\" and there are no other legal proceedings against him in Yemen. Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad, convicted of the 2010 Times Square car bombing attempt, told interrogators that he was a \"fan and follower\" of al-Awlaki, and his writings were one of the inspirations for the attack.",
"Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad, convicted of the 2010 Times Square car bombing attempt, told interrogators that he was a \"fan and follower\" of al-Awlaki, and his writings were one of the inspirations for the attack. On May 6, 2010 ABC News reported that unknown sources told them Shahzad made contact with al-Awlaki over the internet, a claim that could not be independently verified.",
"On May 6, 2010 ABC News reported that unknown sources told them Shahzad made contact with al-Awlaki over the internet, a claim that could not be independently verified. Stabbing of British former minister Stephen Timms Roshonara Choudhry, who stabbed former British Cabinet Minister Stephen Timms in May 2010, and was found guilty of his attempted murder in November 2010, claimed to have become radicalized by listening to online sermons of al-Awlaki.",
"Stabbing of British former minister Stephen Timms Roshonara Choudhry, who stabbed former British Cabinet Minister Stephen Timms in May 2010, and was found guilty of his attempted murder in November 2010, claimed to have become radicalized by listening to online sermons of al-Awlaki. Seattle Weekly cartoonist death threat In 2010, after Everybody Draw Mohammed Day, cartoonist Molly Norris at Seattle Weekly had to stop publishing, and at the suggestion of the FBI changed her name, moved, and went into hiding due to a fatwā issued by al-Awlaki calling for her death.",
"Seattle Weekly cartoonist death threat In 2010, after Everybody Draw Mohammed Day, cartoonist Molly Norris at Seattle Weekly had to stop publishing, and at the suggestion of the FBI changed her name, moved, and went into hiding due to a fatwā issued by al-Awlaki calling for her death. In the June 2010 issue of Inspire, an English-language al-Qaeda magazine, al-Awlaki cursed her and eight others for \"blasphemous caricatures\" of Muhammad.",
"In the June 2010 issue of Inspire, an English-language al-Qaeda magazine, al-Awlaki cursed her and eight others for \"blasphemous caricatures\" of Muhammad. \"The medicine prescribed by the Messenger of Allah is the execution of those involved\", he wrote. Daniel Pipes observed in an article entitled \"Dueling Fatwas\", \"Awlaki stands at an unprecedented crossroads of death declarations, with his targeting Norris even as the U.S. government targets him.\"",
"Daniel Pipes observed in an article entitled \"Dueling Fatwas\", \"Awlaki stands at an unprecedented crossroads of death declarations, with his targeting Norris even as the U.S. government targets him.\" Cargo planes bomb plotThe Guardian, The New York Times, and The Daily Telegraph reported that U.S. and British counter-terrorism officials believed that al-Awlaki was behind the cargo plane PETN bombs that were sent from Yemen to Chicago in October 2010.Yemen bomb scare 'mastermind' lived in London | World news. The Guardian. Retrieved on October 1, 2011.",
"The Guardian. Retrieved on October 1, 2011. Retrieved on October 1, 2011. When U.S. Homeland Security official John Brennan was asked about al-Awlaki's suspected involvement in the plot, he said: \"Anybody associated with al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is a subject of concern.\" U.S. Ambassador to Yemen Gerald Feierstein said \"al-Awlaki was behind the two bombs.\" Final years Al-Awlaki's father, tribe, and supporters denied his alleged associations with Al-Qaeda and Islamist terrorism.",
"Final years Al-Awlaki's father, tribe, and supporters denied his alleged associations with Al-Qaeda and Islamist terrorism. Al-Awlaki's father proclaimed his son's innocence in an interview with CNN's Paula Newton, saying: \"I am now afraid of what they will do with my son. He's not Osama bin Laden, they want to make something out of him that he's not.\" Responding to a Yemeni official's assertions that his son had taken refuge with al-Qaeda, Nasser said: \"He's dead wrong.",
"Responding to a Yemeni official's assertions that his son had taken refuge with al-Qaeda, Nasser said: \"He's dead wrong. What do you expect my son to do? There are missiles raining down on the village. He has to hide. But he is not hiding with al-Qaeda; our tribe is protecting him right now.\" The Yemeni government attempted to get the tribal leaders to release al-Awlaki to their custody. They promised they would not turn him over to U.S. authorities for questioning.",
"They promised they would not turn him over to U.S. authorities for questioning. The governor of Shabwa said in January 2010 that al-Awlaki was on the move with members of al-Qaeda, including Fahd al-Quso, who was wanted in connection with the bombing of the USS Cole. In January 2010, White House lawyers debated whether or not it was legal to kill al-Awlaki, given his U.S. citizenship. U.S. officials stated that international law allows targeted killing in the event that the subject is an \"imminent threat\".",
"U.S. officials stated that international law allows targeted killing in the event that the subject is an \"imminent threat\". Because he was a U.S. citizen, his killing had to be approved by the National Security Council. Such action against a U.S. citizen is extremely rare. As a military enemy of the US, al-Awlaki was not subject to Executive Order 11905, which bans assassination for political reasons. The authorization was nevertheless controversial.",
"The authorization was nevertheless controversial. The authorization was nevertheless controversial. By February 4, 2010, the New York Daily News reported that al-Awlaki was \"now on a targeting list signed off on by the Obama administration\". On April 6, The New York Times reported that President Obama had authorized the killing of al-Awlaki. The al-Awalik tribe responded: \"We warn against cooperating with America to kill Sheikh Anwar al-Awlaki. We will not stand by idly and watch.\"",
"We will not stand by idly and watch.\" We will not stand by idly and watch.\" Al-Awlaki's tribe wrote that it would \"not remain with arms crossed if a hair of Anwar al-Awlaki is touched, or if anyone plots or spies against him. Whoever risks denouncing our son (Awlaki) will be the target of Al-Awalik weapons\", and gave warning \"against co-operating with the Americans\" in the capture or killing of al-Awlaki.",
"Whoever risks denouncing our son (Awlaki) will be the target of Al-Awalik weapons\", and gave warning \"against co-operating with the Americans\" in the capture or killing of al-Awlaki. Abu Bakr al-Qirbi, the Yemeni foreign minister, announced that the Yemeni government had not received any evidence from the US, and that \"Anwar al-Awlaki has always been looked at as a preacher rather than a terrorist and shouldn't be considered as a terrorist unless the Americans have evidence that he has been involved in terrorism\".",
"Abu Bakr al-Qirbi, the Yemeni foreign minister, announced that the Yemeni government had not received any evidence from the US, and that \"Anwar al-Awlaki has always been looked at as a preacher rather than a terrorist and shouldn't be considered as a terrorist unless the Americans have evidence that he has been involved in terrorism\". In a video clip bearing the imprint of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, issued on April 16 in al-Qaeda's monthly magazine Sada Al-Malahem, al-Awlaki said: \"What am I accused of?",
"In a video clip bearing the imprint of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, issued on April 16 in al-Qaeda's monthly magazine Sada Al-Malahem, al-Awlaki said: \"What am I accused of? Of calling for the truth? Of calling for jihad for the sake of Allah? Of calling to defend the causes of the Islamic nation?\" In the video he also praises both Abdulmutallab and Hasan, and describes both as his \"students\".",
"In the video he also praises both Abdulmutallab and Hasan, and describes both as his \"students\". In late April, Representative Charlie Dent (R-PA) introduced a resolution urging the U.S. State Department to withdraw al-Awlaki's U.S. citizenship. By May, U.S. officials believed he had become directly involved in terrorist activities. Former colleague Abdul-Malik said he \"is a terrorist, in my book\", and advised shops not to carry any of his publications.",
"Former colleague Abdul-Malik said he \"is a terrorist, in my book\", and advised shops not to carry any of his publications. In an editorial, Investor's Business Daily called al-Awlaki the \"world's most dangerous man\", and recommended that he be added to the FBI's most-wanted terrorist list, a bounty put on his head, that he be designated a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, charged with treason, and extradition papers filed with the Yemeni government.",
"In an editorial, Investor's Business Daily called al-Awlaki the \"world's most dangerous man\", and recommended that he be added to the FBI's most-wanted terrorist list, a bounty put on his head, that he be designated a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, charged with treason, and extradition papers filed with the Yemeni government. IBD criticized the Justice Department for stonewalling Senator Joe Lieberman's security panel's investigation of al-Awlaki's role in the Fort Hood massacre.",
"IBD criticized the Justice Department for stonewalling Senator Joe Lieberman's security panel's investigation of al-Awlaki's role in the Fort Hood massacre. On July 16, the U.S. Treasury Department added him to its list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists. Stuart Levey, Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, called him \"extraordinarily dangerous\", and said al-Awlaki was involved in several organizational aspects of terrorism, including recruiting, training, fundraising, and planning individual attacks.",
"Stuart Levey, Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, called him \"extraordinarily dangerous\", and said al-Awlaki was involved in several organizational aspects of terrorism, including recruiting, training, fundraising, and planning individual attacks. A few days later, the United Nations Security Council placed al-Awlaki on its UN Security Council Resolution 1267 list of individuals associated with al-Qaeda, describing him as a leader, recruiter, and trainer for al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.",
"A few days later, the United Nations Security Council placed al-Awlaki on its UN Security Council Resolution 1267 list of individuals associated with al-Qaeda, describing him as a leader, recruiter, and trainer for al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. The resolution stipulates that U.N. members must freeze the assets of anyone on the list, and prevent them from travelling or obtaining weapons. The following week, Canadian banks were ordered to seize any assets belonging to al-Awlaki.",
"The following week, Canadian banks were ordered to seize any assets belonging to al-Awlaki. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police's senior counter-terrorism officer Gilles Michaud described him as a \"major, major factor in radicalization\". In September 2010, Jonathan Evans, the Director General of the United Kingdom's domestic security and counter-intelligence agency (MI5), said that al-Awlaki was the West's Public Enemy No 1. In October 2010, U.S.",
"In October 2010, U.S. In October 2010, U.S. Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-NY) urged YouTube to take down al-Awlaki's videos from its website, saying that by hosting al-Awlaki's messages, \"We are facilitating the recruitment of homegrown terror.\" Pauline Neville-Jones, British security minister, said \"These Web sites ... incite cold-blooded murder.\" YouTube began removing the material in November 2010.",
"YouTube began removing the material in November 2010. YouTube began removing the material in November 2010. Al-Awlaki was charged in absentia in Sana'a, Yemen, on November 2 with plotting to kill foreigners and being a member of al-Qaeda. Ali al-Saneaa, the head of the prosecutor's office, announced the charges during the trial of Hisham Assem, who had been accused of killing Jacques Spagnolo, an oil industry worker.",
"Ali al-Saneaa, the head of the prosecutor's office, announced the charges during the trial of Hisham Assem, who had been accused of killing Jacques Spagnolo, an oil industry worker. He said that al-Awlaki and Assem had been in contact for months, and that al-Awlaki had encouraged Assem to commit terrorism. Al-Awlaki's lawyer said that his client was not connected to Spagnolo's death. On November 6, Yemeni Judge Mohsen Alwan ordered that al-Awlaki be caught \"dead or alive\".",
"On November 6, Yemeni Judge Mohsen Alwan ordered that al-Awlaki be caught \"dead or alive\". In his book Ticking Time Bomb: Counter-Terrorism Lessons from the U.S. Government's Failure to Prevent the Fort Hood Attack (2011), former U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman described al-Awlaki, Australian Muslim preacher Feiz Mohammad, Muslim cleric Abdullah el-Faisal, and Pakistani-American Samir Khan as \"virtual spiritual sanctioners\" who use the internet to offer religious justification for Islamist terrorism.",
"Senator Joe Lieberman described al-Awlaki, Australian Muslim preacher Feiz Mohammad, Muslim cleric Abdullah el-Faisal, and Pakistani-American Samir Khan as \"virtual spiritual sanctioners\" who use the internet to offer religious justification for Islamist terrorism. Lawsuit against the US In July 2010, al-Awlaki's father, Nasser al-Awlaki, contacted the Center for Constitutional Rights and the American Civil Liberties Union to represent his son in a lawsuit that sought to remove Anwar from the targeted killing list.",
"Lawsuit against the US In July 2010, al-Awlaki's father, Nasser al-Awlaki, contacted the Center for Constitutional Rights and the American Civil Liberties Union to represent his son in a lawsuit that sought to remove Anwar from the targeted killing list. ACLU's Jameel Jaffer said: the United States is not at war in Yemen, and the government doesn't have a blank check to kill terrorism suspects wherever they are in the world.",
"ACLU's Jameel Jaffer said: the United States is not at war in Yemen, and the government doesn't have a blank check to kill terrorism suspects wherever they are in the world. Among the arguments we'll be making is that, outside actual war zones, the authority to use lethal force is narrowly circumscribed, and preserving the rule of law depends on keeping this authority narrow. Lawyers for Specially Designated Global Terrorists must obtain a special license from the U.S. Treasury Department before they can represent their clients in court.",
"Lawyers for Specially Designated Global Terrorists must obtain a special license from the U.S. Treasury Department before they can represent their clients in court. The lawyers were granted the license on August 4, 2010. On August 30, 2010, the groups filed a \"targeted killing\" lawsuit, naming President Obama, CIA Director Leon Panetta, and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates as defendants.",
"On August 30, 2010, the groups filed a \"targeted killing\" lawsuit, naming President Obama, CIA Director Leon Panetta, and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates as defendants. They sought an injunction preventing the targeted killing of al-Awlaki, and also sought to require the government to disclose the standards under which U.S. citizens may be \"targeted for death\".",
"They sought an injunction preventing the targeted killing of al-Awlaki, and also sought to require the government to disclose the standards under which U.S. citizens may be \"targeted for death\". Judge John D. Bates dismissed the lawsuit in an 83-page ruling, holding that the father did not have legal standing to bring the lawsuit, and that his claims were judicially unreviewable under the political question doctrine inasmuch as he was questioning a decision that the U.S. Constitution committed to the political branches.",
"Judge John D. Bates dismissed the lawsuit in an 83-page ruling, holding that the father did not have legal standing to bring the lawsuit, and that his claims were judicially unreviewable under the political question doctrine inasmuch as he was questioning a decision that the U.S. Constitution committed to the political branches. On May 5, 2011, the United States tried but failed to kill al-Awlaki by firing a missile from an unmanned drone at a car in Yemen. A Yemeni security official said that two al-Qaeda operatives in the car died.",
"A Yemeni security official said that two al-Qaeda operatives in the car died. Death On September 30, 2011, al-Awlaki was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Al Jawf Governorate, Yemen, according to U.S. sources, the strike was carried out by Joint Special Operations Command, under the direction of the CIA. A witness said the group had stopped to eat breakfast while traveling to Ma'rib Governorate.",
"A witness said the group had stopped to eat breakfast while traveling to Ma'rib Governorate. The occupants of the vehicle spotted the drone and attempted to flee in the vehicle before Hellfire missiles were fired Yemen's Defense Ministry announced that al-Awlaki had been killed. Also killed was Samir Khan, an American born in Saudi Arabia, thought to be behind al-Qaeda's English-language web magazine Inspire. U.S. President Barack Obama said: The death of Awlaki is a major blow to Al-Qaeda's most active operational affiliate.",
"U.S. President Barack Obama said: The death of Awlaki is a major blow to Al-Qaeda's most active operational affiliate. He took the lead in planning and directing efforts to murder innocent Americans ... and he repeatedly called on individuals in the United States and around the globe to kill innocent men, women and children to advance a murderous agenda. [The strike] is further proof that Al-Qaeda and its affiliates will find no safe haven anywhere in the world.",
"[The strike] is further proof that Al-Qaeda and its affiliates will find no safe haven anywhere in the world. Journalist and author Glenn Greenwald argued on Salon.com that killing al-Awlaki violated his First Amendment right of free speech and that doing so outside of a criminal proceeding violated the Constitution's due process clause, specifically citing the 1969 Supreme Court decision in Brandenburg v. Ohio that \"the constitutional guarantees of free speech and free press do not permit a State to forbid or proscribe advocacy of the use of force.\"",
"Journalist and author Glenn Greenwald argued on Salon.com that killing al-Awlaki violated his First Amendment right of free speech and that doing so outside of a criminal proceeding violated the Constitution's due process clause, specifically citing the 1969 Supreme Court decision in Brandenburg v. Ohio that \"the constitutional guarantees of free speech and free press do not permit a State to forbid or proscribe advocacy of the use of force.\" He mentioned doubt among Yemeni experts about al-Awlaki's role in al-Qaeda, and called U.S. government accusations against him unverified and lacking in evidence.",
"He mentioned doubt among Yemeni experts about al-Awlaki's role in al-Qaeda, and called U.S. government accusations against him unverified and lacking in evidence. In a letter dated May 22, 2013, to the chairman of the U.S. Senate Judiciary committee, Patrick J. Leahy, U.S. attorney general Eric Holder wrote that high-level U.S. government officials [...] concluded that al-Aulaqi posed a continuing and imminent threat of violent attack against the United States.",
"In a letter dated May 22, 2013, to the chairman of the U.S. Senate Judiciary committee, Patrick J. Leahy, U.S. attorney general Eric Holder wrote that high-level U.S. government officials [...] concluded that al-Aulaqi posed a continuing and imminent threat of violent attack against the United States. Before carrying out the operation that killed al-Aulaqi, senior officials also determined, based on a careful evaluation of the circumstances at the time, that it was not feasible to capture al-Aulaqi.",
"Before carrying out the operation that killed al-Aulaqi, senior officials also determined, based on a careful evaluation of the circumstances at the time, that it was not feasible to capture al-Aulaqi. In addition, senior officials determined that the operation would be conducted consistent with applicable law of war principles, including the cardinal principles of (1) necessity – the requirement that the target have definite military value; (2) distinction – the idea that only military objectives may be intentionally targeted and that civilians are protected from being intentionally targeted; (3) proportionality – the notion that the anticipated collateral damage of an action cannot be excessive in relation to the anticipated concrete and direct military advantage; and (4) humanity – a principle that requires us to use weapons that will not inflict unnecessary suffering.",
"In addition, senior officials determined that the operation would be conducted consistent with applicable law of war principles, including the cardinal principles of (1) necessity – the requirement that the target have definite military value; (2) distinction – the idea that only military objectives may be intentionally targeted and that civilians are protected from being intentionally targeted; (3) proportionality – the notion that the anticipated collateral damage of an action cannot be excessive in relation to the anticipated concrete and direct military advantage; and (4) humanity – a principle that requires us to use weapons that will not inflict unnecessary suffering. The operation was also undertaken consistent with Yemeni sovereignty.",
"The operation was also undertaken consistent with Yemeni sovereignty. The operation was also undertaken consistent with Yemeni sovereignty. [...] The decision to target Anwar al-Aulaqi was lawful, it was considered, and it was just. On April 21, 2014, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal ruled that the Obama administration must release documents justifying its drone killings of foreigners and Americans, including Anwar al-Awlaki.",
"Circuit Court of Appeal ruled that the Obama administration must release documents justifying its drone killings of foreigners and Americans, including Anwar al-Awlaki. In June 2014, the United States Department of Justice disclosed a 2010 memorandum written by the acting head of the department's Office of Legal Counsel, David J. Barron. The memo stated that Anwar al-Awlaki was a significant threat with an infeasible probability of capture. Barron therefore justified the killing as legal, as \"the Constitution would not require the government to provide further process\".",
"Barron therefore justified the killing as legal, as \"the Constitution would not require the government to provide further process\". The New York Times Editorial Board dismissed the memo's rationale for al-Awlaki's killing, saying it \"provides little confidence that the lethal action was taken with real care\", instead describing it as \"a slapdash pastiche of legal theories—some based on obscure interpretations of British and Israeli law—that was clearly tailored to the desired result.\"",
"The New York Times Editorial Board dismissed the memo's rationale for al-Awlaki's killing, saying it \"provides little confidence that the lethal action was taken with real care\", instead describing it as \"a slapdash pastiche of legal theories—some based on obscure interpretations of British and Israeli law—that was clearly tailored to the desired result.\" A lawyer for the ACLU described the memo as \"disturbing\" and \"ultimately an argument that the president can order targeted killings of Americans without ever having to account to anyone outside the executive branch.\"",
"A lawyer for the ACLU described the memo as \"disturbing\" and \"ultimately an argument that the president can order targeted killings of Americans without ever having to account to anyone outside the executive branch.\" Legacy Seth Jones, who as a political scientist specializes in al-Qaida, considers that the continuing relevance of al-Awlaki is due to his fluency in the English language as well as his charisma, precising that \"he had a disarming aura and unnerving confidence, with an easy smile and a soothing, eloquent voice.",
"Legacy Seth Jones, who as a political scientist specializes in al-Qaida, considers that the continuing relevance of al-Awlaki is due to his fluency in the English language as well as his charisma, precising that \"he had a disarming aura and unnerving confidence, with an easy smile and a soothing, eloquent voice. He stood a lanky six feet, one inch tall, weighed 160 pounds, and had a thick black beard, an oversized nose, and wire-rimmed glasses. He spoke in a clear, almost hypnotic voice.\"",
"He spoke in a clear, almost hypnotic voice.\" Awlaki's videos and writings remain highly popular on the internet, where they continue to be readily accessible. Those who viewed and still view his videos are estimated by journalist Scott Shane to number in the hundreds of thousands, while his father Dr. Nasser Awlaqi says that \"five million preaching tapes of Anwar Awlaqi have been sold in the West.\"",
"Those who viewed and still view his videos are estimated by journalist Scott Shane to number in the hundreds of thousands, while his father Dr. Nasser Awlaqi says that \"five million preaching tapes of Anwar Awlaqi have been sold in the West.\" And thus, even following his death, Awlaki has continued to inspire his devotees to carry out terrorist attacks, including the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, the 2015 San Bernardino attack, and the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting.",
"And thus, even following his death, Awlaki has continued to inspire his devotees to carry out terrorist attacks, including the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, the 2015 San Bernardino attack, and the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting. According to the Counter Extremism Project (CEP), 88 \"extremists,\" 54 in the U.S. and 34 in Europe, have been influenced by Awlaki.",
"According to the Counter Extremism Project (CEP), 88 \"extremists,\" 54 in the U.S. and 34 in Europe, have been influenced by Awlaki. Because \"his work has inspired countless plots and attacks,\" CEP has \"called on YouTube and other platforms to permanently ban Mr. Awlaki's material, including his early, mainstream lectures.\"",
"Because \"his work has inspired countless plots and attacks,\" CEP has \"called on YouTube and other platforms to permanently ban Mr. Awlaki's material, including his early, mainstream lectures.\" FOIA documents During the FBI investigation of the 9/11 attacks, it was discovered that a few of the attackers had attended the mosques in San Diego and Falls Church with which al-Awlaki was associated. Interviews with members of the San Diego mosque showed that Nawaz al-Hazmi, one of the attackers, may have had a private conversation with him.",
"Interviews with members of the San Diego mosque showed that Nawaz al-Hazmi, one of the attackers, may have had a private conversation with him. On that basis he was placed under 24-hour surveillance. It was discovered that he regularly patronized prostitutes. It was through FBI interrogation of prostitutes and escort service operators that al-Awlaki was tipped off in 2002 about FBI surveillance. Shortly thereafter, he left the United States.",
"Shortly thereafter, he left the United States. Shortly thereafter, he left the United States. In January 2013, Fox News announced that FBI documents obtained by Judicial Watch through a Freedom of Information Act request showed possible connections between al-Awlaki and the September 11 attackers. According to Judicial Watch, the documents show that the FBI knew that al-Awlaki had bought tickets for three of the hijackers to fly into Florida and Las Vegas. Judicial Watch further stated that al-Awlaki \"was a central focus of the FBI's investigation of 9/11.",
"Judicial Watch further stated that al-Awlaki \"was a central focus of the FBI's investigation of 9/11. They show he wasn't cooperative. And they show that he was under surveillance.\" When queried by Fox News, the FBI denied having evidence connecting al-Awlaki and the September 11 attacks: \"The FBI cautions against drawing conclusions from redacted FOIA documents. The FBI and investigating bodies have not found evidence connecting Anwar al-Awlaki and the attack on September 11, 2001.",
"The FBI and investigating bodies have not found evidence connecting Anwar al-Awlaki and the attack on September 11, 2001. The document referenced does not link Anwar al-Awlaki with any purchase of airline tickets for the hijackers.\" Family Abdulrahman al-Awlaki Anwar al-Awlaki and Egyptian-born Gihan Mohsen Baker had a son, Abdulrahman Anwar al-Awlaki, born August 26, 1995, in Denver, who was an American citizen. Abdulrahman al-Awlaki was killed on October 14, 2011, in Yemen at the age of 16 in an American drone strike.",
"Abdulrahman al-Awlaki was killed on October 14, 2011, in Yemen at the age of 16 in an American drone strike. Nine other people were killed in the same CIA-initiated attack, including a 17-year-old cousin of Abdulrahman. According to his relatives, shortly before his father's death, Abdulrahman had left the family home in Sana'a and travelled to Shabwa in search of his father who was believed to be in hiding in that area (though he was actually hundreds of miles away at the time ).",
"According to his relatives, shortly before his father's death, Abdulrahman had left the family home in Sana'a and travelled to Shabwa in search of his father who was believed to be in hiding in that area (though he was actually hundreds of miles away at the time ). Abdulrahman was sitting in an open-air cafe in Shabwa when killed.",
"Abdulrahman was sitting in an open-air cafe in Shabwa when killed. According to U.S. officials, the killing of Abdulrahman al-Awlaki was a mistake; the intended target was an Egyptian, Ibrahim al-Banna, who was not at the targeted location at the time of the attack. Human rights groups have raised questions as to why an American citizen was killed by the United States in a country with which the United States is not officially at war. Abdulrahman al-Awlaki was not known to have any independent connection to terrorism.",
"Abdulrahman al-Awlaki was not known to have any independent connection to terrorism. Nasser al-Awlaki Nasser al-Awlaki is the father of Anwar and grandfather of Abdulrahman al-Awlaki. Al-Awlaki stated he believed his son had been wrongly accused and was not a member of Al Qaeda. After the deaths of his son and grandson, Nasser in an interview in Time magazine called the killings a crime and condemned U.S. President Obama directly, saying: \"I urge the American people to bring the killers to justice.",
"After the deaths of his son and grandson, Nasser in an interview in Time magazine called the killings a crime and condemned U.S. President Obama directly, saying: \"I urge the American people to bring the killers to justice. I urge them to expose the hypocrisy of the 2009 Nobel Prize laureate. To some, he may be that. To me and my family, he is nothing more than a child killer.\"",
"To me and my family, he is nothing more than a child killer.\" In 2013, Nasser al-Awlaki published an op-ed in The New York Times stating that two years after killing his grandson, the Obama administration still declines to provide an explanation. In 2012, Nasser al-Awlaki filed a lawsuit, Al-Aulaqi v. Panetta, challenging the constitutionality of the drone killings of his son and grandson. This lawsuit was dismissed in April 2014 by D.C. District Court Judge Rosemary M. Collyer.",
"This lawsuit was dismissed in April 2014 by D.C. District Court Judge Rosemary M. Collyer. Tariq al-Dahab Tariq al-Dahab, who led al-Qaeda insurgents in Yemen, was a brother-in-law of al-Awlaki. On February 16, 2012, the terrorist organization stated that he had been killed by agents, although media reports contain speculation that he was killed by his brother in a bloody family feud.",
"On February 16, 2012, the terrorist organization stated that he had been killed by agents, although media reports contain speculation that he was killed by his brother in a bloody family feud. Nawar al-Awlaki On January 29, 2017, Anwar al-Awlaki's 8-year-old daughter, Nawar al-Awlaki, who was an American citizen, was killed in a DEVGRU operation authorized by President Donald Trump. \"1 US service member killed, 3 wounded in Yemen raid\" , WPVI-TV, 6 ABC Action News, Philadelphia, PA. January 29, 2017.",
"\"1 US service member killed, 3 wounded in Yemen raid\" , WPVI-TV, 6 ABC Action News, Philadelphia, PA. January 29, 2017. Retrieved January 29, 2017. Islamic education Al-Awlaki's Islamic education was primarily informal, and consisted of intermittent months with various scholars reading and contemplating Islamic scholarly works.",
"Islamic education Al-Awlaki's Islamic education was primarily informal, and consisted of intermittent months with various scholars reading and contemplating Islamic scholarly works. Despite having no religious qualifications and almost no religious education, Al-Awlaki made a name for himself as a public speaker who released popular audio recordings.Some Muslim scholars said they did not understand alAwlaki's popularity, because while he spoke fluent English and could therefore reach a large non-Arabic-speaking audience, he lacked formal Islamic training and study.",
"Despite having no religious qualifications and almost no religious education, Al-Awlaki made a name for himself as a public speaker who released popular audio recordings.Some Muslim scholars said they did not understand alAwlaki's popularity, because while he spoke fluent English and could therefore reach a large non-Arabic-speaking audience, he lacked formal Islamic training and study. Ideology While imprisoned in Yemen after 2004, al-Awlaki was influenced by the works of Sayyid Qutb, described by The New York Times as an originator of the contemporary \"anti-Western Jihadist movement\".",
"Ideology While imprisoned in Yemen after 2004, al-Awlaki was influenced by the works of Sayyid Qutb, described by The New York Times as an originator of the contemporary \"anti-Western Jihadist movement\". He read 150 to 200 pages a day of Qutb's works, and described himself as \"so immersed with the author I would feel Sayyid was with me in my cell speaking to me directly\". Terrorism consultant Evan Kohlmann in 2009 referred to al-Awlaki as \"one of the principal jihadi luminaries for would-be homegrown terrorists.",
"Terrorism consultant Evan Kohlmann in 2009 referred to al-Awlaki as \"one of the principal jihadi luminaries for would-be homegrown terrorists. His fluency with English, his unabashed advocacy of jihad and mujahideen organizations, and his Web-savvy approach are a powerful combination.\" He called al-Awlaki's lecture, \"Constants on the Path of Jihad\", which he says was based on a similar document written by al-Qaeda's founder, the \"virtual bible for lone-wolf Muslim extremists\".",
"He called al-Awlaki's lecture, \"Constants on the Path of Jihad\", which he says was based on a similar document written by al-Qaeda's founder, the \"virtual bible for lone-wolf Muslim extremists\". Philip Mudd, formerly of the CIA's National Counterterrorism Center and the FBI's top intelligence adviser, called him \"a magnetic character ... a powerful orator.\" He attracted young men to his lectures, especially US-based and UK-based Muslims.",
"He attracted young men to his lectures, especially US-based and UK-based Muslims. U.S. officials and some U.S. media sources called al-Awlaki an Islamic fundamentalist and accused him of encouraging terrorism. According to documents recovered from bin Laden's hideout, the al-Qaeda leader was unsure about al-Awlaki's qualifications. Works The Nine Eleven Finding Answers Foundation said al-Awlaki's ability to write and speak in fluent English enabled him to incite English-speaking Muslims to terrorism. Al-Awlaki notes in 44 Ways to Support Jihad that most reading material on the subject is in Arabic.",
"Al-Awlaki notes in 44 Ways to Support Jihad that most reading material on the subject is in Arabic. Written works 44 Ways to Support Jihad: Essay (January 2009). In it, al-Awlaki states that \"The hatred of kuffar is a central element of our military creed\" and that all Muslims are obligated to participate in jihad, either by committing the acts themselves or supporting others who do so. He says all Muslims must remain physically fit so as to be prepared for conflict.",
"He says all Muslims must remain physically fit so as to be prepared for conflict. According to U.S. officials, it is considered a key text for al-Qaeda members. Al-Awlaki wrote for Jihad Recollections, an English language online publication published by Al-Fursan Media. Allah is Preparing Us for Victory – short book (2009). Lectures Lectures on the book Constants on the Path of Jihad by Yusef al-Ayeri—concerns leaderless jihad. In 2009, the UK government found 1,910 of his videos had been posted to YouTube.",
"In 2009, the UK government found 1,910 of his videos had been posted to YouTube. One of them had been viewed 164,420 times.",
"One of them had been viewed 164,420 times. One of them had been viewed 164,420 times. The Battle of Hearts and Minds The Dust Will Never Settle Down Dreams & Interpretations The Hereafter—16 CDs—Al Basheer Productions Life of Muhammad: Makkan Period—16 CDs—Al Basheer Productions Life of Muhammad: Medinan Period—Lecture in 2 Parts—18 CDs—Al Basheer Productions Lives of the Prophets (AS)—16 CDs—Al Basheer Productions Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (RA): His Life & Times—15 CDs—Al Basheer Productions Umar ibn al-Khattāb (RA): His Life & Times—18 CDs—Al Basheer Productions 25 Promises from Allah to the Believer—2 CDs—Noor Productions Companions of the Ditch & Lessons from the Life of Musa (AS)—2 CDs—Noor Productions Remembrance of Allah & the Greatest Ayah—2 CDs—Noor Productions Stories from Hadith—4 CDs—Center for Islamic Information and Education (\"CIIE\") Hellfire & The Day of Judgment—CD—CIIE Quest for Truth: The Story of Salman Al-Farsi (RA)—CD—CIIE Trials & Lessons for Muslim Minorities—CD—CIIE Young Ayesha (RA) & Mothers of the Believers (RA)—CD—CIIE Understanding the Quran—CD—CIIE Lessons from the Companions (RA) Living as a Minority—CD—CIIE Virtues of the Sahabah—video lecture series promoted by the al-Wasatiyyah Foundation Website Al-Awlaki maintained a website and blog on which he shared his views.",
"The Battle of Hearts and Minds The Dust Will Never Settle Down Dreams & Interpretations The Hereafter—16 CDs—Al Basheer Productions Life of Muhammad: Makkan Period—16 CDs—Al Basheer Productions Life of Muhammad: Medinan Period—Lecture in 2 Parts—18 CDs—Al Basheer Productions Lives of the Prophets (AS)—16 CDs—Al Basheer Productions Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (RA): His Life & Times—15 CDs—Al Basheer Productions Umar ibn al-Khattāb (RA): His Life & Times—18 CDs—Al Basheer Productions 25 Promises from Allah to the Believer—2 CDs—Noor Productions Companions of the Ditch & Lessons from the Life of Musa (AS)—2 CDs—Noor Productions Remembrance of Allah & the Greatest Ayah—2 CDs—Noor Productions Stories from Hadith—4 CDs—Center for Islamic Information and Education (\"CIIE\") Hellfire & The Day of Judgment—CD—CIIE Quest for Truth: The Story of Salman Al-Farsi (RA)—CD—CIIE Trials & Lessons for Muslim Minorities—CD—CIIE Young Ayesha (RA) & Mothers of the Believers (RA)—CD—CIIE Understanding the Quran—CD—CIIE Lessons from the Companions (RA) Living as a Minority—CD—CIIE Virtues of the Sahabah—video lecture series promoted by the al-Wasatiyyah Foundation Website Al-Awlaki maintained a website and blog on which he shared his views. On December 11, 2008, he said Muslims should not seek to \"serve in the armies of the disbelievers and fight against his brothers\".",
"On December 11, 2008, he said Muslims should not seek to \"serve in the armies of the disbelievers and fight against his brothers\". In \"44 Ways to Support Jihad\", posted on his blog in February 2009, al-Awlaki encouraged others to \"fight jihad\", and explained how to give money to the mujahideen or their families. Al-Awlaki's sermon encourages others to conduct weapons training, and raise children \"on the love of Jihad\".",
"Al-Awlaki's sermon encourages others to conduct weapons training, and raise children \"on the love of Jihad\". Also that month, he wrote: \"I pray that Allah destroys America and all its allies.\" He wrote as well: \"We will implement the rule of Allah on Earth by the tip of the sword, whether the masses like it or not.\" On July 14, he said that Muslim countries should not offer military assistance to the US.",
"On July 14, he said that Muslim countries should not offer military assistance to the US. \"The blame should be placed on the soldier who is willing to follow orders ... who sells his religion for a few dollars,\" he said. In blog post dated July 15, 2009, entitled \"Fighting Against Government Armies in the Muslim World\", al-Awlaki wrote, \"Blessed are those who fight against [American soldiers], and blessed are those shuhada [martyrs] who are killed by them.\"",
"In blog post dated July 15, 2009, entitled \"Fighting Against Government Armies in the Muslim World\", al-Awlaki wrote, \"Blessed are those who fight against [American soldiers], and blessed are those shuhada [martyrs] who are killed by them.\" In a video posted to the internet on November 8, 2010, al-Awlaki called for Muslims to kill Americans \"without hesitation\", and overthrow Arab governments that cooperate with the US.",
"In a video posted to the internet on November 8, 2010, al-Awlaki called for Muslims to kill Americans \"without hesitation\", and overthrow Arab governments that cooperate with the US. \"Don't consult with anyone in fighting the Americans, fighting the devil doesn't require consultation or prayers or seeking divine guidance. They are the party of the devils\", al-Awlaki said.",
"They are the party of the devils\", al-Awlaki said. That month, Intelligence Research Specialist Kevin Yorke of the New York Police Department's Counterterrorism Division called him \"the most dangerous man in the world\". See also Church Committee Executive Order 12333 Extrajudicial killing International counter-terrorism activities of the CIA Protocol I References Further reading al-Ashanti, AbdulHaq and Sloan, Abu Ameenah AbdurRahman. (2011) A Critique of the Methodology of Anwar al-Awlaki and his Errors in the Fiqh of Jihad.",
"(2011) A Critique of the Methodology of Anwar al-Awlaki and his Errors in the Fiqh of Jihad. London: Jamiah Media, 2011 External links Ruling of Judge Bates in Al Aulaqi v Obama Statements Interviews \"Exclusive; Ray Suarez: My Post-9/11 Interview With Anwar al-Awlaki\", PBS, October 30, 2001 \"Al-Jazeera Satellite Network Interview with Yemeni-American Cleric Shaykh Anwar al-Awlaki Regarding his Alleged Role in Radicalizing Maj. Malik Nidal Hasan\", The NEFA Foundation, December 24, 2009 Media coverage The imam's very curious story: A skirt-chasing mullah is just one more mystery for the 9/11 panel, Ragavan, Chitra, US News and World Report'', June 13, 2004 DBI.gov 1971 births 2011 deaths 20th-century imams 21st-century imams Abdullah Yusuf Azzam Al-Qaeda propagandists Assassinated al-Qaeda leaders American al-Qaeda members American expatriates in the United Kingdom American expatriates in Yemen American imams American Islamists American people of Yemeni descent Colorado State University alumni George Washington University Graduate School of Education and Human Development alumni People associated with the September 11 attacks People from Las Cruces, New Mexico San Diego State University alumni Yemeni imams Yemeni al-Qaeda members Yemeni Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam Yemeni Sunni Muslims Deaths by drone strikes of the Central Intelligence Agency in Yemen Islam-related controversies People designated by the Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee American male criminals Yemeni criminals Yemeni Islamists Yemeni expatriates in the United Kingdom Shafi'is American Muslim activists Assassinated Yemeni people Yemeni propagandists United States military killing of American civilians"
] |
[
"Ashley Abbott",
"Casting",
"When was the role cast?",
"Eileen Davidson originated the role of Ashley Abbott in June 1982,"
] | C_20c1c5d2fb2d47d8ab5679defff7dfd1_1 | Who got that role? | 2 | Who got the role of Ashley Abbott? | Ashley Abbott | Eileen Davidson originated the role of Ashley Abbott in June 1982, until her first exit on December 2, 1988. The role was immediately recast with Brenda Epperson, who portrayed Ashley for seven years from December 5, 1988 before leaving the role on December 21, 1995. Shari Shattuck then assumed the role from March 12, 1996 to February 22, 1999, with Davidson returning on March 19, 1999. Davidson took maternity leave in the summer of 2003. In 2006, news broke that Davidson was to exit the soap opera, and she last aired on January 11, 2007. She then carried the role of Ashley over to the show's sister soap, The Bold and the Beautiful. She last aired on The Bold and the Beautiful on July 4, 2008, before returning to The Young and the Restless on September 25, 2008. In May 2012, Davidson informed followers on her Twitter page that she had been let go from The Young and the Restless. Davidson further confirmed she did not know why she was let go, but was seeing the positive light from it. It was then announced by Nelson Branco that Sony Pictures Entertainment wanted Davidson on both The Young and the Restless and Days of Our Lives, but that Y&R would not share the actress, leading to Sony terminating her contract with the soap. Thus it was announced that Davidson would reprise her role as Kristen Blake on the NBC soap. Davidson made her onscreen exit on August 3, 2012. Speaking about her upcoming return to Days and departure from the show with TV Guide, Davidson stated: "What happened to me at Y&R was shocking -- I've been in this business a very long time and have never seen anything like it -- but it's not like I haven't been fired before." She also went on to say that "I was led to believe that I was fired, though it was a bad news-good news thing -- the bad news is Y&R is firing you, the good news is Days wants you." In February 2013, it was announced that Davidson would return to The Young and the Restless for "very special episodes" that would commemorate the show's 40th anniversary. In spite of this, the actress remained a part of Days of our Lives full-time. In August 2013, following the announcement of Davidson's departure from Days of our Lives, it was announced that she would again reprise the role for three episodes airing in October, later returning for additional guest appearances. In June 2014, it was announced that Davidson had signed a two-year contract with The Young and the Restless to appear as a regular cast member again, and would return to the series in September. Davidson also revealed her contract would allow for her to continue making appearances on Days of Our Lives. CANNOTANSWER | Eileen Davidson | Ashley Abbott is a fictional character from The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful, two American soap operas on the CBS network. She has been most notably portrayed by Eileen Davidson, who originated the role on June 11, 1982, before departing in 1988. Brenda Epperson portrayed Ashley from 1988 to 1995, before Shari Shattuck portrayed the role for the next three years, until Davidson's return on March 19, 1999. Davidson was nominated in 2003 for Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, and she later won that award in 2018.
The character is the daughter of Dina Mergeron and Brent Davis, although she believed John Abbott was her biological father until she reached adulthood. She has had relationships with various men throughout the years, most notably Steven Lassiter, Victor Newman, Blade Bladeson, Cole Howard and Brad Carlton. She has a daughter with Victor, Abby Newman. She is also known for her business contributions to her father's company, Jabot Cosmetics, much like her brother Jack. In 2006, it was announced that Davidson was to leave The Young and the Restless. She last appeared on January 11, 2007. Shortly after, the character crossed over to its sister soap, The Bold and the Beautiful. There, she became intertwined with the Forresters and Forrester Creations; she also had a romance with Ridge Forrester. She left The Bold and the Beautiful in 2008 and returned to The Young and the Restless, where she has since had relationships with Victor once again and Tucker McCall.
In May 2012, it was announced that Davidson was let go from The Young and the Restless, leading to her exit on August 3, 2012. Davidson initially hadn't known why, but it was reported later that Sony Pictures Television terminated her contract with the show for her to return to Days of Our Lives as Kristen DiMera, a character she had portrayed there over 14 years prior. Davidson made a brief return to The Young and the Restless in March 2013 for the soap's 40th anniversary. After subsequent guest appearances, Davidson returned to The Young and the Restless on September 3, 2014, as a series regular. In 2018, Davidson again exited the role; she returned in March 2019, following the installment of head writer Josh Griffith.
Casting
Eileen Davidson originated the role of Ashley Abbott on June 11, 1982, until her first exit on December 2, 1988. The role was immediately recast with Brenda Epperson, who portrayed Ashley for seven years from December 5, 1988, before leaving the role on December 21, 1995. Shari Shattuck then assumed the role from March 21, 1996, to February 22, 1999, with Davidson returning on March 19, 1999. Davidson took maternity leave in the summer of 2003. In 2006, news broke that Davidson was to exit the soap opera, and she last aired on January 11, 2007. She then carried the role of Ashley over to the show's sister soap, The Bold and the Beautiful. On September 25, 2008, Davidson returned to The Young and the Restless, and subsequently made one final appearance on The Bold and the Beautiful on November 25 of the same year when Ashley resigned from her position at Forrester Creations.
In May 2012, Davidson informed followers on her Twitter page that she had been let go from The Young and the Restless. Davidson further confirmed she did not know why she was let go, but was seeing the positive light from it. It was then announced by Nelson Branco that Sony Pictures Entertainment wanted Davidson on both The Young and the Restless and Days of Our Lives, but that Y&R would not share the actress, leading to Sony terminating her contract with the soap. Thus it was announced that Davidson would reprise her role as Kristen Blake on the NBC soap. Davidson made her onscreen exit on August 3, 2012. Speaking about her upcoming return to Days and departure from the show with TV Guide, Davidson stated: "What happened to me at Y&R was shocking — I've been in this business a very long time and have never seen anything like it — but it's not like I haven't been fired before." She also went on to say that "I was led to believe that I was fired, though it was a bad news-good news thing — the bad news is Y&R is firing you, the good news is Days wants you." In February 2013, it was announced that Davidson would return to The Young and the Restless for "very special episodes" that would commemorate the show's 40th anniversary. In spite of this, the actress remained a part of Days of our Lives full-time.
In August 2013, following the announcement of Davidson's departure from Days of our Lives, it was announced that she would again reprise the role for three episodes airing in October, later returning for a guest appearance on November 27 and December 2, 2013. In June 2014, it was announced that Davidson had signed a two-year contract with The Young and the Restless to appear as a regular cast member again, and would return to the series in September. Davidson also revealed her contract would allow for her to continue making appearances on Days of Our Lives.
In 2018, Julia D'Arcy Badinger portrayed a younger Ashley in flashbacks. That June, Daytime Confidential broke news that Davidson had quit the role. Davidson last appeared in the role on October 29, 2018. On February 25, 2019, Davidson announced she would return to the role for several appearances; first airing on March 29, 2019. Since then, she has remained on the show on a recurring status.
Character development
Davidson describes Ashley as a "dynamic character". She has been characterized as "sassy" yet an "honorable heroine". The Record describes Ashley as "headstrong". She is recognized for her unluckiness and long-term suffering. Davidson stated, "She is a heroine. So often she was being victimized by people and trying to always rise above that, and being driven insane and losing babies, etc." In 1990, The Washington Times described Ashley as a "smart woman", known for her "level head" and "business success". Ashley is dedicated to her work and has a strong sense of family. She is a beloved member of the Genoa City community. Her passion for the family business, Jabot Cosmetics, cost Ashley her marriage to Cole Howard (J. Eddie Peck).
Ashley has been involved in a number of different romantic relationships over her duration on the series. Her relationship with Brad Carlton (Don Diamont) came as a shock, due to Brad being beneath her socially. Epperson, who played Ashley at the time, was uncertain of Ashley and Brad's decision to get married.
Davidson opined that a storyline in which Victor's son Adam Newman (Michael Muhney) gaslighted a pregnant Ashley in 2009 was payback for Ashley stealing Victor's sperm years ago to conceive Abby. She stated: "I think the character really suffered after she stole Victor's sperm from Diane [...] After that, the viewers lost a lot of respect for Ashley. People wanted Ashley to pay for it. My opinion? Although last summer's gaslighting storyline was used to propel a lot of other stories, it was also about making Ashley pay. Now we can close that entire chapter because Ashley paid. It was Ashley's redemption". Around this story arc, Tommy Garrett of Canyon News described Ashley as a "damsel in distress", stating that she had a "twisted mind" due to suffering a hysterical pregnancy after losing her unborn child at the hands of Adam.
Following the death of John, Jack works desperately to remove his wife Gloria Abbott (Judith Chapman) from the family, even illegally making changes to John's will. Explaining Ashley's ambivalence towards the situation, Davidson stated: "Just because you don't like somebody doesn't mean you should do something illegal [...] The point is, their father loved her. And even if they don't like her, they have to honor what he wanted. Ashley never wanted to do anything that went against her father's wishes." The actress stated that Ashley "just wants" Jack to "do the right thing".
Storylines
Ashley is born on April 29, 1960, to John Abbott, Sr. (Brett Halsey, later Jerry Douglas) and Dina Abbott Mergeron (Marla Adams). Twenty-two years later, after completing college, Ashley returns to Genoa City and applies for a job as a lab chemist at Jabot Cosmetics, the family company, using the name Susan Ashley so she will be hired for her skills, not her family connections. She takes over as president of the company after her brother Jack Abbott (Terry Lester, later Peter Bergman) is shot on his one-year anniversary by his wife, Patty Williams. Ashley commences an unlucky streak of relationships; starting with French artist Eric Garrison, who slept with her mother, and Marc Mergeron, who is revealed to be her former stepbrother. Capitalizing on her unluckiness, it is revealed that Ashley's biological father is Brent Davis, not John Abbott, who remains unaware of Ashley's true paternity. Trauma leads Ashley to become missing with amnesia, where she is found by business tycoon Victor Newman (Eric Braeden), who takes her back to Genoa City. Ashley has an affair with Victor, who is married to Nikki Newman (Melody Thomas Scott). To spite Ashley, Nikki engages in an affair with Jack and tries to have Victor's brother, Matt Miller, unsuccessfully seduce Ashley. Ultimately, Victor chooses to be with Ashley, angering Nikki. When Ashley falls pregnant with Victor's child, Nikki is diagnosed with cancer, causing Victor to leave Ashley, who secretly has an abortion. Ashley suffers a mental breakdown, before marrying her psychiatrist Steven Lassiter (Rod Arrants). Steven's former patient Leanna Randolph (Barbara Crampton) stalks the couple and attempts to destroy Ashley. She writes a biography about Victor that exposes information about his dysfunctional relationship with Ashley. Steven is later shot and killed by an unstable patient.
Following a short affair with Brad Carlton (Don Diamont), Ashley marries Victor. The marriage suffers because of Nikki's ongoing problems as well as Victor's daughter Victoria Newman's (Heather Tom) constant schemes to break them up. After her divorce from Victor, Ashley falls in love with Jabot's mysterious photographer Blade Bladeson (Michael Tylo), and they get married. Blade's vengeful twin brother Rick Bladeson arrives in town, holds Blade hostage and impersonates him. Eventually, Ashley and Blade's marriage ends. She then falls romantically for Kurt Costner (Leigh McCloskey), who is shot saving her from muggers. The romance is short-lived, as Kurt leaves Ashley to be with Victor's ex-wife Hope Wilson (Signy Coleman). Ashley nearly engages in an affair with Victoria's husband Cole Howard (J. Eddie Peck), an author who is writing a novel about her life, which requires them to spend time together. After Victoria's pregnancy results in a stillborn baby, Cole divorces her and marries Ashley. The marriage suffers a rough patch when Ashley travels to Madrid to help her stepbrother Rafael Delgado (Carlos Bernard), who is dealing with dangerous customers after selling them forged paintings. Cole assumes that she is having an affair with Rafael, unaware of who he is. During this, Victoria attempts to sabotage the marriage. Ultimately, upon Ashley's return to Genoa City, the couple divorce.
By 2000, one of Jack's former lovers and Victor's latest ex-wife, Diane Jenkins (Alex Donnelley) steals Victor's sperm from a sperm bank, though Nikki switches the sample with Jack's sperm. Ashley then steals Victor's sperm and impregnates herself, claiming that the father is a stranger; this was to make up for the abortion she had years prior. She then marries Brad Carlton and gives birth to Abby Carlton, who is raised to believe she is the daughter of Brad. Ashley is diagnosed with breast cancer, and feeling that she may not have time left, she confesses the truth about Abby's paternity to Victor. Brad and Ashley split, though are brought together when she becomes pregnant with their child. Stress over the battle between Jabot and Newman Enterprises causes her to leave town. While she is driving back, she is involved in a car accident, killing the unborn child. Victor is blamed for the child's death. Brad and Ashley's marriage continues to diminish and they are divorced. Tom Fisher (Roscoe Born), the dangerous ex-husband of John's wife Gloria Abbott (Judith Chapman), arrives in town. To protect his family, John shoots and kills Tom. Ashley covers this up by confessing to the crime herself, though John soon confesses himself, and is jailed for seven years. Gloria contaminates Ashley's new line of beauty cream, which causes a woman to die. John suffers a heart attack following his release from prison, and passes away. Jack removes Gloria from the family, and Ashley leaves town to escape the drama. During a business trip to France, Ashley meets Rick Forrester (Kyle Lowder), and they have an affair. She later travels to Los Angeles to work with Forrester Creations as a lab chemist. Rick and Ashley decide to keep their affair a secret, and she commences a serious relationship with Ridge Forrester (Ronn Moss), whom she becomes engaged to. Ridge's attentiveness to his former love Brooke Logan (Katherine Kelly Lang) ends the engagement. Ashley then has a short-lived romance with Brooke's brother Storm (William deVry). Forrester Creations decide to discontinue their fragrance line, diminishing Ashley's role in the company. She leaves Los Angeles and moves to Europe with Abby.
Ashley locates a missing Victor in France, where they reunite. Upon their return to Genoa City as a couple, they are married and Ashley becomes pregnant. Victor's manipulative son Adam Newman (Michael Muhney) gas lights Ashley, making her believe that she is seeing the ghost of Victor's late wife, Sabrina Newman. Adam causes Ashley to fall down a staircase and lose her baby, though he convinces her that this was a dream, and she suffers from an hysterical pregnancy. Ashley checks herself into a psychiatric hospital where Sharon Newman (Sharon Case), also pregnant, is staying. After Ashley begins experiencing hysterical labor, Adam kidnaps Sharon's newborn baby Faith Newman and gives her to Ashley, with Sharon believing her baby was stillborn. In the ensuing months, Sharon marries Adam and develops a close friendship with Ashley. Six months after Faith is born, the doctor that delivered her (who was being blackmailed by Adam) confesses the truth in a letter. Ashley is forced to hand Faith over to Sharon and the child's father, Victor's son Nicholas Newman (Joshua Morrow). Ashley moves on with her life, and becomes engaged to wealthy tycoon Tucker McCall (Stephen Nichols). Prior to their engagement, he slept with Diane Jenkins (Maura West). They briefly split up because of Tucker's secret business plans with Jack, but reunite shortly thereafter. Abby accidentally runs over Tucker with her car, and Ashley protects her by taking the blame. She is accused of attempted murder and driving under the influence. All charges are ultimately dropped, and she marries Tucker. Their marriage quickly lands in divorce because of Tucker's business scheming and his affair with a previous lover, Harmony Hamilton. Ashley is later forced out as CEO of Jabot by Jack, and Ashley decides to move to New York City with Traci. She returns briefly a few months later for the wedding of Victor and Nikki. Months later, Ashley returns for the funeral of her niece Delia Abbott and comforts her brother Billy on his loss. She returns later to spend Thanksgiving with her family. While there, she sprained her ankle and met Dr. Stitch Rayburn (Sean Carrigan). Abby pushed for a romance, but Ashley reminded her that Stitch was married and had a young son.
In town for Abby and Tyler's engagement party, Ashley left early to drop by the hospital and "run into" Dr. Rayburn. But she found Victoria waiting for him to take her on a date. Ashley reminded her that she'd only been separated a week. When Ben arrived, Victoria was jealously catty, informing Ben that Ashley was her former stepmother.
In September 2014, Ashley did not show up in Genoa City after calling a meeting among the major Jabot stockholders, Jack, Billy, Traci, and Abby. Jack phoned her, and she explained that she was working on a special project, but had decided it was not yet ready to present to them.
The following month, Ashley returned and confirmed that her idea was for a revolutionary new fragrance, and she made a deal with Jack to become Co-CEO of Jabot again if it panned out. Abby had been treating Ben Rayburn nasty and spiteful ever since she found out that he had killed his father as a teen and taken someone else's identity to get his degree in medicine, and broken Victoria's heart. So Abby was shocked when Ashley hired Ben as a chemist for Jabot, despite Abby's objections. Ashley returned to New York City to wrap things up, tasking a reluctant Abby with bringing Ben up to speed on the cosmetics industry. Before she left, she consoled Billy that maybe she could help keep Ben away from Victoria for him.
On Ashley's return, she asked Ben to smell the new fragrance, he found it repulsive, but he kissed her. Ashley revealed that the fragrance contained pheromones, was a love potion, and the kiss had proven it. What she needed was his help to make the scent bearable. Later after Ben was arrested for fraud by a former patient, Ashley bailed him out. She confided in Ben, that she too had taken a murder rap for someone she loved. Ashley asked him to accompany her to Madison on business.
Ben showed up in Ashley's office drunk after seeing Billy and Victoria snuggling with their baby. Ashley threw him in the shower to sober him up, and he pulled her in too. They had sex, and Stitch spent the night. The next day, they agreed to tell no one after Ben found out that he still had a chance with Victoria.
Victor invited Ashley to lunch and tried to get her to take a deal to leave Jabot and work for him at Newman-Chancellor. But Ashley declined and left early, arriving back at the lab in time to see her lab assistant Tobias taking photos of their secret work. She guessed that he was working for Victor, and decided to let him continue to feed him bogus information. Ashley runs into Joe Clark at the athletic club. After referring to them having a good thing going back in New York City, they made plans to spend New Year's Eve together. In May 2017, Ashley's mother Dina came for a "permanent" visit. In October 2017, Dina exposed that John Abbott wasn't Ashley's father. Ashley leaves Genoa City in October 2018, following a series of events that leave her feeling alienated from both the Abbott family and Jabot, following the discovery that John and Dina left legal documents leaving all of Ashley's product patents to her; she confesses she's leaving for Paris to launch her own company with said-patents.
Reception
Jamey Giddens of Zap2it described Davidson as "one of Genoa City's most beloved heroines". Upon learning of Davidson's return to the role in 1999, Candace Havens of the McCook Daily Gazette declared that it was her who made Ashley "one of the most popular characters on soaps". In October 1999, when all of the Abbott siblings and their father John were together again, the Orlando Sentinel wrote: "In the meantime, having the entire Abbott clan together [...] is like a joyous family reunion for longtime viewers". John Goudas of The Gadsden Times was favorable of Epperson's performance two years into her duration, stating that she "is holding her own", though he noted her to be "Eileen's double". He stated that the front-burner status of Ashley and Brad's romantic storyline demonstrated that producer William J. Bell "has full confidence in [Epperson]".
The character has had a rivalry with Nikki Newman (Melody Thomas Scott) for many years; a poll run in 2008 by website Daytime Confidential asking, "Who would win a cat fight, Nikki Newman or Ashley Abbott?", saw 63% of voters say Nikki would win, with 37% saying Ashley would win. Giddens was favorable of Ashley running Jabot Cosmetics in 2008, writing: "Okay this has to stop. My heart simply can't take it. It's like the effects of yo-yo dieting. Everytime I sincerely think I am done with this genre, something like The Young and the Restless heiress Ashley Abbott (Eileen Davidson) announcing that she, not Lil' Billy (Billy Miller), not Cruella de Bardwell (Judith Chapman) or Gary Ewing (Ted Shackelford) and no, not even Smilin' Jack (Peter Bergman) will be running Jabot Cosmetics, happens." In 2009, Jillian Bowe (also of Zap2it) wondered if Ashley was "insane in the membrane" due to her hearing a crying child around the Newman ranch, writing: "Is "The Beauty" starting to crack up? Certainly looks that when some freaky things take place on The Young and the Restless."
In 2010, Tommy Garrett of Canyon News praised a scene in which Ashley discovers a sex tape made by her spoiled daughter, Abby, that was posted online. Garrett wrote: "Davidson's performance is spot on as the mother Ashley who is fed up. The tears of despair and exhaustion came streaming down Davidson's beautiful face in character, while her spit-fire daughter didn't give a damn." Giddens later wrote that he thought it was "ridiculous" and "outlandish" to make Ashley pregnant with Victor's child in 2009. Also in 2010, Neeketa Borden of Zap2it created a list of "curiously quirky couplings", with Ashley and Tucker listed as an "honorable mention". In a separate review, Garrett credited Davidson as one of the "powerful performers who daytime TV could not exist without having". When the truth was going to come out that Faith Newman wasn't Ashley's child, Giddens wrote: "Lord, I hope this doesn't make my Ashley Abbott go cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs again!" Mike Jubinville of Zap2it wrote that the character's relationship with Neil Winters (Kristoff St. John) had been a "slow burn, one going on for weeks, but one that is hard to miss. It has the ingredients of a hot romance." Upon Davidson's firing in 2012, Giddens wrote: "I am sincerely hoping the brass at Y&R can't possibly be this stupid, but if they are, Gary Tomlin better blow up Davidson's phone STAT about a Days of Our Lives return!"
References
External links
Ashley Abbott character profile on SoapCentral
The Young and the Restless characters
The Bold and the Beautiful characters
Television characters introduced in 1982
Fictional business executives
Fictional female businesspeople
Fictional socialites
Fictional characters with cancer
Fictional characters with neurological or psychological disorders
Female characters in television | true | [
"Durdana Butt (9 May 1938 – 12 August 2021) was a Pakistani actress known for her roles in dramas Ruswai, Intezaar and Rani. She was best known for her role in dramas Tanhaiyaan and Tanhaiyan Naye Silsilay as Bibi.\n\nEarly life\nDurdana was born in Lahore on 9 May 1938. She completed her studies from Kinnaird College and later she went to University of Toledo where she got a PhD in Ohio Educational Administration.\n\nCareer\nShe then went on to pursue acting where she got into commercials and modeling which she did briefly on PTV Channel. She got into theater there when a director gave her a role in a comedy drama. She accepted the role and she was praised for her natural acting and expressions. Soon after that she did many dramas on PTV Channel. In 1978 she had a role in drama Fifty Fifty with Moin Akhtar. The drama got finished in 1984, she got a lot of attention from the audience and she became well known among the audience. Then in 1980 she had the role of Sultana Sahiba in drama Aangan Terha an emotional role for which she got praised. She was paired again with Moin Akhtar in a comedy drama Naukar Ke Aage Chakar in 1982. In 1985 she got offer in drama Tanhaiyaan which she accepted with Marina Khan, Shehnaz Sheikh and Badar Khalil. She had the role of Bibi who is a mother figure to the main protagonists who lose their parents in an accident. The drama was successful and she along with cast were recognized for their talents.\n\nPersonal life\nDurdana was married to her cousin who died during the 1970s.\n\nIlness and death\nDurdana Butt was on ventilator for twelve days at a hospital in Karachi. She died from COVID-19 complications on 12 August 2021.\n\nFilmography\n\nTelevision\n\nTelefilm\n\nFilm\n\nTribute and honour\nArts Council of Pakistan Karachi paid a tribute in her memory Theatre artist and writer Kulsoom Aftab said and described her a person who brought smiles to people faces and in the ceremony Imran Shirvanee, Misbah Khalid, Zaheer Khan were present to acknowledge her contribution to Pakistani dramas for four decades. The Government of Pakistan named a street and intersection after her in Lahore on August 16, 2021.\n\nAwards and recognition\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\n1938 births\n2021 deaths\nActresses from Lahore\n20th-century Pakistani actresses\nPakistani television actresses\n21st-century Pakistani actresses\nDeaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Sindh\nPakistani film actresses\nRecipients of the Pride of Performance\nPTV Award winners",
"Aspartate aminotransferase, cytoplasmic is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the GOT1 gene.\n\nGlutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase is a pyridoxal phosphate-dependent enzyme which exists in cytoplasmic and mitochondrial forms, GOT1 and GOT2, respectively. GOT plays a role in amino acid metabolism and the urea and tricarboxylic acid cycles. The two enzymes are homodimeric and show close homology.\n\nInteractive pathway map\n\nReferences\n\nFurther reading"
] | [
"Ashley Abbott is a fictional character from The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful, two American soap operas on the CBS network. She has been most notably portrayed by Eileen Davidson, who originated the role on June 11, 1982, before departing in 1988. Brenda Epperson portrayed Ashley from 1988 to 1995, before Shari Shattuck portrayed the role for the next three years, until Davidson's return on March 19, 1999.",
"Brenda Epperson portrayed Ashley from 1988 to 1995, before Shari Shattuck portrayed the role for the next three years, until Davidson's return on March 19, 1999. Davidson was nominated in 2003 for Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, and she later won that award in 2018. The character is the daughter of Dina Mergeron and Brent Davis, although she believed John Abbott was her biological father until she reached adulthood.",
"The character is the daughter of Dina Mergeron and Brent Davis, although she believed John Abbott was her biological father until she reached adulthood. She has had relationships with various men throughout the years, most notably Steven Lassiter, Victor Newman, Blade Bladeson, Cole Howard and Brad Carlton. She has a daughter with Victor, Abby Newman. She is also known for her business contributions to her father's company, Jabot Cosmetics, much like her brother Jack.",
"She is also known for her business contributions to her father's company, Jabot Cosmetics, much like her brother Jack. In 2006, it was announced that Davidson was to leave The Young and the Restless. She last appeared on January 11, 2007. Shortly after, the character crossed over to its sister soap, The Bold and the Beautiful. There, she became intertwined with the Forresters and Forrester Creations; she also had a romance with Ridge Forrester.",
"There, she became intertwined with the Forresters and Forrester Creations; she also had a romance with Ridge Forrester. She left The Bold and the Beautiful in 2008 and returned to The Young and the Restless, where she has since had relationships with Victor once again and Tucker McCall. In May 2012, it was announced that Davidson was let go from The Young and the Restless, leading to her exit on August 3, 2012.",
"In May 2012, it was announced that Davidson was let go from The Young and the Restless, leading to her exit on August 3, 2012. Davidson initially hadn't known why, but it was reported later that Sony Pictures Television terminated her contract with the show for her to return to Days of Our Lives as Kristen DiMera, a character she had portrayed there over 14 years prior. Davidson made a brief return to The Young and the Restless in March 2013 for the soap's 40th anniversary.",
"Davidson made a brief return to The Young and the Restless in March 2013 for the soap's 40th anniversary. After subsequent guest appearances, Davidson returned to The Young and the Restless on September 3, 2014, as a series regular. In 2018, Davidson again exited the role; she returned in March 2019, following the installment of head writer Josh Griffith. Casting Eileen Davidson originated the role of Ashley Abbott on June 11, 1982, until her first exit on December 2, 1988.",
"Casting Eileen Davidson originated the role of Ashley Abbott on June 11, 1982, until her first exit on December 2, 1988. The role was immediately recast with Brenda Epperson, who portrayed Ashley for seven years from December 5, 1988, before leaving the role on December 21, 1995. Shari Shattuck then assumed the role from March 21, 1996, to February 22, 1999, with Davidson returning on March 19, 1999. Davidson took maternity leave in the summer of 2003.",
"Davidson took maternity leave in the summer of 2003. Davidson took maternity leave in the summer of 2003. In 2006, news broke that Davidson was to exit the soap opera, and she last aired on January 11, 2007. She then carried the role of Ashley over to the show's sister soap, The Bold and the Beautiful.",
"She then carried the role of Ashley over to the show's sister soap, The Bold and the Beautiful. On September 25, 2008, Davidson returned to The Young and the Restless, and subsequently made one final appearance on The Bold and the Beautiful on November 25 of the same year when Ashley resigned from her position at Forrester Creations. In May 2012, Davidson informed followers on her Twitter page that she had been let go from The Young and the Restless.",
"In May 2012, Davidson informed followers on her Twitter page that she had been let go from The Young and the Restless. Davidson further confirmed she did not know why she was let go, but was seeing the positive light from it. It was then announced by Nelson Branco that Sony Pictures Entertainment wanted Davidson on both The Young and the Restless and Days of Our Lives, but that Y&R would not share the actress, leading to Sony terminating her contract with the soap.",
"It was then announced by Nelson Branco that Sony Pictures Entertainment wanted Davidson on both The Young and the Restless and Days of Our Lives, but that Y&R would not share the actress, leading to Sony terminating her contract with the soap. Thus it was announced that Davidson would reprise her role as Kristen Blake on the NBC soap. Davidson made her onscreen exit on August 3, 2012.",
"Davidson made her onscreen exit on August 3, 2012. Speaking about her upcoming return to Days and departure from the show with TV Guide, Davidson stated: \"What happened to me at Y&R was shocking — I've been in this business a very long time and have never seen anything like it — but it's not like I haven't been fired before.\"",
"Speaking about her upcoming return to Days and departure from the show with TV Guide, Davidson stated: \"What happened to me at Y&R was shocking — I've been in this business a very long time and have never seen anything like it — but it's not like I haven't been fired before.\" She also went on to say that \"I was led to believe that I was fired, though it was a bad news-good news thing — the bad news is Y&R is firing you, the good news is Days wants you.\"",
"She also went on to say that \"I was led to believe that I was fired, though it was a bad news-good news thing — the bad news is Y&R is firing you, the good news is Days wants you.\" In February 2013, it was announced that Davidson would return to The Young and the Restless for \"very special episodes\" that would commemorate the show's 40th anniversary. In spite of this, the actress remained a part of Days of our Lives full-time.",
"In spite of this, the actress remained a part of Days of our Lives full-time. In August 2013, following the announcement of Davidson's departure from Days of our Lives, it was announced that she would again reprise the role for three episodes airing in October, later returning for a guest appearance on November 27 and December 2, 2013.",
"In August 2013, following the announcement of Davidson's departure from Days of our Lives, it was announced that she would again reprise the role for three episodes airing in October, later returning for a guest appearance on November 27 and December 2, 2013. In June 2014, it was announced that Davidson had signed a two-year contract with The Young and the Restless to appear as a regular cast member again, and would return to the series in September.",
"In June 2014, it was announced that Davidson had signed a two-year contract with The Young and the Restless to appear as a regular cast member again, and would return to the series in September. Davidson also revealed her contract would allow for her to continue making appearances on Days of Our Lives. In 2018, Julia D'Arcy Badinger portrayed a younger Ashley in flashbacks. That June, Daytime Confidential broke news that Davidson had quit the role. Davidson last appeared in the role on October 29, 2018.",
"Davidson last appeared in the role on October 29, 2018. On February 25, 2019, Davidson announced she would return to the role for several appearances; first airing on March 29, 2019. Since then, she has remained on the show on a recurring status. Character development Davidson describes Ashley as a \"dynamic character\". She has been characterized as \"sassy\" yet an \"honorable heroine\". The Record describes Ashley as \"headstrong\". She is recognized for her unluckiness and long-term suffering.",
"She is recognized for her unluckiness and long-term suffering. She is recognized for her unluckiness and long-term suffering. Davidson stated, \"She is a heroine. So often she was being victimized by people and trying to always rise above that, and being driven insane and losing babies, etc.\" In 1990, The Washington Times described Ashley as a \"smart woman\", known for her \"level head\" and \"business success\". Ashley is dedicated to her work and has a strong sense of family.",
"Ashley is dedicated to her work and has a strong sense of family. She is a beloved member of the Genoa City community. Her passion for the family business, Jabot Cosmetics, cost Ashley her marriage to Cole Howard (J. Eddie Peck). Ashley has been involved in a number of different romantic relationships over her duration on the series. Her relationship with Brad Carlton (Don Diamont) came as a shock, due to Brad being beneath her socially.",
"Her relationship with Brad Carlton (Don Diamont) came as a shock, due to Brad being beneath her socially. Epperson, who played Ashley at the time, was uncertain of Ashley and Brad's decision to get married. Davidson opined that a storyline in which Victor's son Adam Newman (Michael Muhney) gaslighted a pregnant Ashley in 2009 was payback for Ashley stealing Victor's sperm years ago to conceive Abby.",
"Davidson opined that a storyline in which Victor's son Adam Newman (Michael Muhney) gaslighted a pregnant Ashley in 2009 was payback for Ashley stealing Victor's sperm years ago to conceive Abby. She stated: \"I think the character really suffered after she stole Victor's sperm from Diane [...] After that, the viewers lost a lot of respect for Ashley. People wanted Ashley to pay for it. My opinion?",
"People wanted Ashley to pay for it. My opinion? My opinion? Although last summer's gaslighting storyline was used to propel a lot of other stories, it was also about making Ashley pay. Now we can close that entire chapter because Ashley paid. It was Ashley's redemption\".",
"It was Ashley's redemption\". It was Ashley's redemption\". Around this story arc, Tommy Garrett of Canyon News described Ashley as a \"damsel in distress\", stating that she had a \"twisted mind\" due to suffering a hysterical pregnancy after losing her unborn child at the hands of Adam. Following the death of John, Jack works desperately to remove his wife Gloria Abbott (Judith Chapman) from the family, even illegally making changes to John's will.",
"Following the death of John, Jack works desperately to remove his wife Gloria Abbott (Judith Chapman) from the family, even illegally making changes to John's will. Explaining Ashley's ambivalence towards the situation, Davidson stated: \"Just because you don't like somebody doesn't mean you should do something illegal [...] The point is, their father loved her. And even if they don't like her, they have to honor what he wanted.",
"And even if they don't like her, they have to honor what he wanted. Ashley never wanted to do anything that went against her father's wishes.\" The actress stated that Ashley \"just wants\" Jack to \"do the right thing\". Storylines Ashley is born on April 29, 1960, to John Abbott, Sr. (Brett Halsey, later Jerry Douglas) and Dina Abbott Mergeron (Marla Adams).",
"Storylines Ashley is born on April 29, 1960, to John Abbott, Sr. (Brett Halsey, later Jerry Douglas) and Dina Abbott Mergeron (Marla Adams). Twenty-two years later, after completing college, Ashley returns to Genoa City and applies for a job as a lab chemist at Jabot Cosmetics, the family company, using the name Susan Ashley so she will be hired for her skills, not her family connections.",
"Twenty-two years later, after completing college, Ashley returns to Genoa City and applies for a job as a lab chemist at Jabot Cosmetics, the family company, using the name Susan Ashley so she will be hired for her skills, not her family connections. She takes over as president of the company after her brother Jack Abbott (Terry Lester, later Peter Bergman) is shot on his one-year anniversary by his wife, Patty Williams.",
"She takes over as president of the company after her brother Jack Abbott (Terry Lester, later Peter Bergman) is shot on his one-year anniversary by his wife, Patty Williams. Ashley commences an unlucky streak of relationships; starting with French artist Eric Garrison, who slept with her mother, and Marc Mergeron, who is revealed to be her former stepbrother. Capitalizing on her unluckiness, it is revealed that Ashley's biological father is Brent Davis, not John Abbott, who remains unaware of Ashley's true paternity.",
"Capitalizing on her unluckiness, it is revealed that Ashley's biological father is Brent Davis, not John Abbott, who remains unaware of Ashley's true paternity. Trauma leads Ashley to become missing with amnesia, where she is found by business tycoon Victor Newman (Eric Braeden), who takes her back to Genoa City. Ashley has an affair with Victor, who is married to Nikki Newman (Melody Thomas Scott).",
"Ashley has an affair with Victor, who is married to Nikki Newman (Melody Thomas Scott). To spite Ashley, Nikki engages in an affair with Jack and tries to have Victor's brother, Matt Miller, unsuccessfully seduce Ashley. Ultimately, Victor chooses to be with Ashley, angering Nikki. When Ashley falls pregnant with Victor's child, Nikki is diagnosed with cancer, causing Victor to leave Ashley, who secretly has an abortion.",
"When Ashley falls pregnant with Victor's child, Nikki is diagnosed with cancer, causing Victor to leave Ashley, who secretly has an abortion. Ashley suffers a mental breakdown, before marrying her psychiatrist Steven Lassiter (Rod Arrants). Steven's former patient Leanna Randolph (Barbara Crampton) stalks the couple and attempts to destroy Ashley. She writes a biography about Victor that exposes information about his dysfunctional relationship with Ashley. Steven is later shot and killed by an unstable patient.",
"Steven is later shot and killed by an unstable patient. Following a short affair with Brad Carlton (Don Diamont), Ashley marries Victor. The marriage suffers because of Nikki's ongoing problems as well as Victor's daughter Victoria Newman's (Heather Tom) constant schemes to break them up. After her divorce from Victor, Ashley falls in love with Jabot's mysterious photographer Blade Bladeson (Michael Tylo), and they get married.",
"After her divorce from Victor, Ashley falls in love with Jabot's mysterious photographer Blade Bladeson (Michael Tylo), and they get married. Blade's vengeful twin brother Rick Bladeson arrives in town, holds Blade hostage and impersonates him. Eventually, Ashley and Blade's marriage ends. She then falls romantically for Kurt Costner (Leigh McCloskey), who is shot saving her from muggers. The romance is short-lived, as Kurt leaves Ashley to be with Victor's ex-wife Hope Wilson (Signy Coleman).",
"The romance is short-lived, as Kurt leaves Ashley to be with Victor's ex-wife Hope Wilson (Signy Coleman). Ashley nearly engages in an affair with Victoria's husband Cole Howard (J. Eddie Peck), an author who is writing a novel about her life, which requires them to spend time together. After Victoria's pregnancy results in a stillborn baby, Cole divorces her and marries Ashley.",
"After Victoria's pregnancy results in a stillborn baby, Cole divorces her and marries Ashley. The marriage suffers a rough patch when Ashley travels to Madrid to help her stepbrother Rafael Delgado (Carlos Bernard), who is dealing with dangerous customers after selling them forged paintings. Cole assumes that she is having an affair with Rafael, unaware of who he is. During this, Victoria attempts to sabotage the marriage. Ultimately, upon Ashley's return to Genoa City, the couple divorce.",
"Ultimately, upon Ashley's return to Genoa City, the couple divorce. By 2000, one of Jack's former lovers and Victor's latest ex-wife, Diane Jenkins (Alex Donnelley) steals Victor's sperm from a sperm bank, though Nikki switches the sample with Jack's sperm. Ashley then steals Victor's sperm and impregnates herself, claiming that the father is a stranger; this was to make up for the abortion she had years prior.",
"Ashley then steals Victor's sperm and impregnates herself, claiming that the father is a stranger; this was to make up for the abortion she had years prior. She then marries Brad Carlton and gives birth to Abby Carlton, who is raised to believe she is the daughter of Brad. Ashley is diagnosed with breast cancer, and feeling that she may not have time left, she confesses the truth about Abby's paternity to Victor. Brad and Ashley split, though are brought together when she becomes pregnant with their child.",
"Brad and Ashley split, though are brought together when she becomes pregnant with their child. Stress over the battle between Jabot and Newman Enterprises causes her to leave town. While she is driving back, she is involved in a car accident, killing the unborn child. Victor is blamed for the child's death. Brad and Ashley's marriage continues to diminish and they are divorced. Tom Fisher (Roscoe Born), the dangerous ex-husband of John's wife Gloria Abbott (Judith Chapman), arrives in town.",
"Tom Fisher (Roscoe Born), the dangerous ex-husband of John's wife Gloria Abbott (Judith Chapman), arrives in town. To protect his family, John shoots and kills Tom. Ashley covers this up by confessing to the crime herself, though John soon confesses himself, and is jailed for seven years. Gloria contaminates Ashley's new line of beauty cream, which causes a woman to die. John suffers a heart attack following his release from prison, and passes away.",
"John suffers a heart attack following his release from prison, and passes away. Jack removes Gloria from the family, and Ashley leaves town to escape the drama. During a business trip to France, Ashley meets Rick Forrester (Kyle Lowder), and they have an affair. She later travels to Los Angeles to work with Forrester Creations as a lab chemist. Rick and Ashley decide to keep their affair a secret, and she commences a serious relationship with Ridge Forrester (Ronn Moss), whom she becomes engaged to.",
"Rick and Ashley decide to keep their affair a secret, and she commences a serious relationship with Ridge Forrester (Ronn Moss), whom she becomes engaged to. Ridge's attentiveness to his former love Brooke Logan (Katherine Kelly Lang) ends the engagement. Ashley then has a short-lived romance with Brooke's brother Storm (William deVry). Forrester Creations decide to discontinue their fragrance line, diminishing Ashley's role in the company. She leaves Los Angeles and moves to Europe with Abby.",
"She leaves Los Angeles and moves to Europe with Abby. Ashley locates a missing Victor in France, where they reunite. Upon their return to Genoa City as a couple, they are married and Ashley becomes pregnant. Victor's manipulative son Adam Newman (Michael Muhney) gas lights Ashley, making her believe that she is seeing the ghost of Victor's late wife, Sabrina Newman.",
"Victor's manipulative son Adam Newman (Michael Muhney) gas lights Ashley, making her believe that she is seeing the ghost of Victor's late wife, Sabrina Newman. Adam causes Ashley to fall down a staircase and lose her baby, though he convinces her that this was a dream, and she suffers from an hysterical pregnancy. Ashley checks herself into a psychiatric hospital where Sharon Newman (Sharon Case), also pregnant, is staying.",
"Ashley checks herself into a psychiatric hospital where Sharon Newman (Sharon Case), also pregnant, is staying. After Ashley begins experiencing hysterical labor, Adam kidnaps Sharon's newborn baby Faith Newman and gives her to Ashley, with Sharon believing her baby was stillborn. In the ensuing months, Sharon marries Adam and develops a close friendship with Ashley. Six months after Faith is born, the doctor that delivered her (who was being blackmailed by Adam) confesses the truth in a letter.",
"Six months after Faith is born, the doctor that delivered her (who was being blackmailed by Adam) confesses the truth in a letter. Ashley is forced to hand Faith over to Sharon and the child's father, Victor's son Nicholas Newman (Joshua Morrow). Ashley moves on with her life, and becomes engaged to wealthy tycoon Tucker McCall (Stephen Nichols). Prior to their engagement, he slept with Diane Jenkins (Maura West).",
"Prior to their engagement, he slept with Diane Jenkins (Maura West). They briefly split up because of Tucker's secret business plans with Jack, but reunite shortly thereafter. Abby accidentally runs over Tucker with her car, and Ashley protects her by taking the blame. She is accused of attempted murder and driving under the influence. All charges are ultimately dropped, and she marries Tucker. Their marriage quickly lands in divorce because of Tucker's business scheming and his affair with a previous lover, Harmony Hamilton.",
"Their marriage quickly lands in divorce because of Tucker's business scheming and his affair with a previous lover, Harmony Hamilton. Ashley is later forced out as CEO of Jabot by Jack, and Ashley decides to move to New York City with Traci. She returns briefly a few months later for the wedding of Victor and Nikki. Months later, Ashley returns for the funeral of her niece Delia Abbott and comforts her brother Billy on his loss. She returns later to spend Thanksgiving with her family.",
"She returns later to spend Thanksgiving with her family. She returns later to spend Thanksgiving with her family. While there, she sprained her ankle and met Dr. Stitch Rayburn (Sean Carrigan). Abby pushed for a romance, but Ashley reminded her that Stitch was married and had a young son. In town for Abby and Tyler's engagement party, Ashley left early to drop by the hospital and \"run into\" Dr. Rayburn. But she found Victoria waiting for him to take her on a date.",
"But she found Victoria waiting for him to take her on a date. Ashley reminded her that she'd only been separated a week. When Ben arrived, Victoria was jealously catty, informing Ben that Ashley was her former stepmother. In September 2014, Ashley did not show up in Genoa City after calling a meeting among the major Jabot stockholders, Jack, Billy, Traci, and Abby.",
"In September 2014, Ashley did not show up in Genoa City after calling a meeting among the major Jabot stockholders, Jack, Billy, Traci, and Abby. Jack phoned her, and she explained that she was working on a special project, but had decided it was not yet ready to present to them. The following month, Ashley returned and confirmed that her idea was for a revolutionary new fragrance, and she made a deal with Jack to become Co-CEO of Jabot again if it panned out.",
"The following month, Ashley returned and confirmed that her idea was for a revolutionary new fragrance, and she made a deal with Jack to become Co-CEO of Jabot again if it panned out. Abby had been treating Ben Rayburn nasty and spiteful ever since she found out that he had killed his father as a teen and taken someone else's identity to get his degree in medicine, and broken Victoria's heart. So Abby was shocked when Ashley hired Ben as a chemist for Jabot, despite Abby's objections.",
"So Abby was shocked when Ashley hired Ben as a chemist for Jabot, despite Abby's objections. Ashley returned to New York City to wrap things up, tasking a reluctant Abby with bringing Ben up to speed on the cosmetics industry. Before she left, she consoled Billy that maybe she could help keep Ben away from Victoria for him. On Ashley's return, she asked Ben to smell the new fragrance, he found it repulsive, but he kissed her.",
"On Ashley's return, she asked Ben to smell the new fragrance, he found it repulsive, but he kissed her. Ashley revealed that the fragrance contained pheromones, was a love potion, and the kiss had proven it. What she needed was his help to make the scent bearable. Later after Ben was arrested for fraud by a former patient, Ashley bailed him out. She confided in Ben, that she too had taken a murder rap for someone she loved.",
"She confided in Ben, that she too had taken a murder rap for someone she loved. Ashley asked him to accompany her to Madison on business. Ben showed up in Ashley's office drunk after seeing Billy and Victoria snuggling with their baby. Ashley threw him in the shower to sober him up, and he pulled her in too. They had sex, and Stitch spent the night. The next day, they agreed to tell no one after Ben found out that he still had a chance with Victoria.",
"The next day, they agreed to tell no one after Ben found out that he still had a chance with Victoria. Victor invited Ashley to lunch and tried to get her to take a deal to leave Jabot and work for him at Newman-Chancellor. But Ashley declined and left early, arriving back at the lab in time to see her lab assistant Tobias taking photos of their secret work. She guessed that he was working for Victor, and decided to let him continue to feed him bogus information.",
"She guessed that he was working for Victor, and decided to let him continue to feed him bogus information. Ashley runs into Joe Clark at the athletic club. After referring to them having a good thing going back in New York City, they made plans to spend New Year's Eve together. In May 2017, Ashley's mother Dina came for a \"permanent\" visit. In October 2017, Dina exposed that John Abbott wasn't Ashley's father.",
"In October 2017, Dina exposed that John Abbott wasn't Ashley's father. Ashley leaves Genoa City in October 2018, following a series of events that leave her feeling alienated from both the Abbott family and Jabot, following the discovery that John and Dina left legal documents leaving all of Ashley's product patents to her; she confesses she's leaving for Paris to launch her own company with said-patents. Reception Jamey Giddens of Zap2it described Davidson as \"one of Genoa City's most beloved heroines\".",
"Reception Jamey Giddens of Zap2it described Davidson as \"one of Genoa City's most beloved heroines\". Upon learning of Davidson's return to the role in 1999, Candace Havens of the McCook Daily Gazette declared that it was her who made Ashley \"one of the most popular characters on soaps\".",
"Upon learning of Davidson's return to the role in 1999, Candace Havens of the McCook Daily Gazette declared that it was her who made Ashley \"one of the most popular characters on soaps\". In October 1999, when all of the Abbott siblings and their father John were together again, the Orlando Sentinel wrote: \"In the meantime, having the entire Abbott clan together [...] is like a joyous family reunion for longtime viewers\".",
"In October 1999, when all of the Abbott siblings and their father John were together again, the Orlando Sentinel wrote: \"In the meantime, having the entire Abbott clan together [...] is like a joyous family reunion for longtime viewers\". John Goudas of The Gadsden Times was favorable of Epperson's performance two years into her duration, stating that she \"is holding her own\", though he noted her to be \"Eileen's double\".",
"John Goudas of The Gadsden Times was favorable of Epperson's performance two years into her duration, stating that she \"is holding her own\", though he noted her to be \"Eileen's double\". He stated that the front-burner status of Ashley and Brad's romantic storyline demonstrated that producer William J. Bell \"has full confidence in [Epperson]\".",
"Bell \"has full confidence in [Epperson]\". The character has had a rivalry with Nikki Newman (Melody Thomas Scott) for many years; a poll run in 2008 by website Daytime Confidential asking, \"Who would win a cat fight, Nikki Newman or Ashley Abbott? \", saw 63% of voters say Nikki would win, with 37% saying Ashley would win. Giddens was favorable of Ashley running Jabot Cosmetics in 2008, writing: \"Okay this has to stop.",
"Giddens was favorable of Ashley running Jabot Cosmetics in 2008, writing: \"Okay this has to stop. My heart simply can't take it. It's like the effects of yo-yo dieting.",
"It's like the effects of yo-yo dieting. It's like the effects of yo-yo dieting. Everytime I sincerely think I am done with this genre, something like The Young and the Restless heiress Ashley Abbott (Eileen Davidson) announcing that she, not Lil' Billy (Billy Miller), not Cruella de Bardwell (Judith Chapman) or Gary Ewing (Ted Shackelford) and no, not even Smilin' Jack (Peter Bergman) will be running Jabot Cosmetics, happens.\"",
"Everytime I sincerely think I am done with this genre, something like The Young and the Restless heiress Ashley Abbott (Eileen Davidson) announcing that she, not Lil' Billy (Billy Miller), not Cruella de Bardwell (Judith Chapman) or Gary Ewing (Ted Shackelford) and no, not even Smilin' Jack (Peter Bergman) will be running Jabot Cosmetics, happens.\" In 2009, Jillian Bowe (also of Zap2it) wondered if Ashley was \"insane in the membrane\" due to her hearing a crying child around the Newman ranch, writing: \"Is \"The Beauty\" starting to crack up?",
"In 2009, Jillian Bowe (also of Zap2it) wondered if Ashley was \"insane in the membrane\" due to her hearing a crying child around the Newman ranch, writing: \"Is \"The Beauty\" starting to crack up? Certainly looks that when some freaky things take place on The Young and the Restless.\" In 2010, Tommy Garrett of Canyon News praised a scene in which Ashley discovers a sex tape made by her spoiled daughter, Abby, that was posted online.",
"In 2010, Tommy Garrett of Canyon News praised a scene in which Ashley discovers a sex tape made by her spoiled daughter, Abby, that was posted online. Garrett wrote: \"Davidson's performance is spot on as the mother Ashley who is fed up. The tears of despair and exhaustion came streaming down Davidson's beautiful face in character, while her spit-fire daughter didn't give a damn.\"",
"The tears of despair and exhaustion came streaming down Davidson's beautiful face in character, while her spit-fire daughter didn't give a damn.\" Giddens later wrote that he thought it was \"ridiculous\" and \"outlandish\" to make Ashley pregnant with Victor's child in 2009. Also in 2010, Neeketa Borden of Zap2it created a list of \"curiously quirky couplings\", with Ashley and Tucker listed as an \"honorable mention\".",
"Also in 2010, Neeketa Borden of Zap2it created a list of \"curiously quirky couplings\", with Ashley and Tucker listed as an \"honorable mention\". In a separate review, Garrett credited Davidson as one of the \"powerful performers who daytime TV could not exist without having\". When the truth was going to come out that Faith Newman wasn't Ashley's child, Giddens wrote: \"Lord, I hope this doesn't make my Ashley Abbott go cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs again!\"",
"When the truth was going to come out that Faith Newman wasn't Ashley's child, Giddens wrote: \"Lord, I hope this doesn't make my Ashley Abbott go cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs again!\" Mike Jubinville of Zap2it wrote that the character's relationship with Neil Winters (Kristoff St. John) had been a \"slow burn, one going on for weeks, but one that is hard to miss. It has the ingredients of a hot romance.\"",
"It has the ingredients of a hot romance.\" It has the ingredients of a hot romance.\" Upon Davidson's firing in 2012, Giddens wrote: \"I am sincerely hoping the brass at Y&R can't possibly be this stupid, but if they are, Gary Tomlin better blow up Davidson's phone STAT about a Days of Our Lives return!\"",
"Upon Davidson's firing in 2012, Giddens wrote: \"I am sincerely hoping the brass at Y&R can't possibly be this stupid, but if they are, Gary Tomlin better blow up Davidson's phone STAT about a Days of Our Lives return!\" References External links Ashley Abbott character profile on SoapCentral The Young and the Restless characters The Bold and the Beautiful characters Television characters introduced in 1982 Fictional business executives Fictional female businesspeople Fictional socialites Fictional characters with cancer Fictional characters with neurological or psychological disorders Female characters in television"
] |
[
"Ashley Abbott",
"Casting",
"When was the role cast?",
"Eileen Davidson originated the role of Ashley Abbott in June 1982,",
"Who got that role?",
"Eileen Davidson",
"Did she stay for the duration of the show?",
"Eileen Davidson originated the role of Ashley Abbott in June 1982, until her first exit on December 2, 1988."
] | C_20c1c5d2fb2d47d8ab5679defff7dfd1_1 | who replaced Eileen? | 4 | who replaced Eileen Davidson in the role of Ashley Abbott? | Ashley Abbott | Eileen Davidson originated the role of Ashley Abbott in June 1982, until her first exit on December 2, 1988. The role was immediately recast with Brenda Epperson, who portrayed Ashley for seven years from December 5, 1988 before leaving the role on December 21, 1995. Shari Shattuck then assumed the role from March 12, 1996 to February 22, 1999, with Davidson returning on March 19, 1999. Davidson took maternity leave in the summer of 2003. In 2006, news broke that Davidson was to exit the soap opera, and she last aired on January 11, 2007. She then carried the role of Ashley over to the show's sister soap, The Bold and the Beautiful. She last aired on The Bold and the Beautiful on July 4, 2008, before returning to The Young and the Restless on September 25, 2008. In May 2012, Davidson informed followers on her Twitter page that she had been let go from The Young and the Restless. Davidson further confirmed she did not know why she was let go, but was seeing the positive light from it. It was then announced by Nelson Branco that Sony Pictures Entertainment wanted Davidson on both The Young and the Restless and Days of Our Lives, but that Y&R would not share the actress, leading to Sony terminating her contract with the soap. Thus it was announced that Davidson would reprise her role as Kristen Blake on the NBC soap. Davidson made her onscreen exit on August 3, 2012. Speaking about her upcoming return to Days and departure from the show with TV Guide, Davidson stated: "What happened to me at Y&R was shocking -- I've been in this business a very long time and have never seen anything like it -- but it's not like I haven't been fired before." She also went on to say that "I was led to believe that I was fired, though it was a bad news-good news thing -- the bad news is Y&R is firing you, the good news is Days wants you." In February 2013, it was announced that Davidson would return to The Young and the Restless for "very special episodes" that would commemorate the show's 40th anniversary. In spite of this, the actress remained a part of Days of our Lives full-time. In August 2013, following the announcement of Davidson's departure from Days of our Lives, it was announced that she would again reprise the role for three episodes airing in October, later returning for additional guest appearances. In June 2014, it was announced that Davidson had signed a two-year contract with The Young and the Restless to appear as a regular cast member again, and would return to the series in September. Davidson also revealed her contract would allow for her to continue making appearances on Days of Our Lives. CANNOTANSWER | The role was immediately recast with Brenda Epperson, | Ashley Abbott is a fictional character from The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful, two American soap operas on the CBS network. She has been most notably portrayed by Eileen Davidson, who originated the role on June 11, 1982, before departing in 1988. Brenda Epperson portrayed Ashley from 1988 to 1995, before Shari Shattuck portrayed the role for the next three years, until Davidson's return on March 19, 1999. Davidson was nominated in 2003 for Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, and she later won that award in 2018.
The character is the daughter of Dina Mergeron and Brent Davis, although she believed John Abbott was her biological father until she reached adulthood. She has had relationships with various men throughout the years, most notably Steven Lassiter, Victor Newman, Blade Bladeson, Cole Howard and Brad Carlton. She has a daughter with Victor, Abby Newman. She is also known for her business contributions to her father's company, Jabot Cosmetics, much like her brother Jack. In 2006, it was announced that Davidson was to leave The Young and the Restless. She last appeared on January 11, 2007. Shortly after, the character crossed over to its sister soap, The Bold and the Beautiful. There, she became intertwined with the Forresters and Forrester Creations; she also had a romance with Ridge Forrester. She left The Bold and the Beautiful in 2008 and returned to The Young and the Restless, where she has since had relationships with Victor once again and Tucker McCall.
In May 2012, it was announced that Davidson was let go from The Young and the Restless, leading to her exit on August 3, 2012. Davidson initially hadn't known why, but it was reported later that Sony Pictures Television terminated her contract with the show for her to return to Days of Our Lives as Kristen DiMera, a character she had portrayed there over 14 years prior. Davidson made a brief return to The Young and the Restless in March 2013 for the soap's 40th anniversary. After subsequent guest appearances, Davidson returned to The Young and the Restless on September 3, 2014, as a series regular. In 2018, Davidson again exited the role; she returned in March 2019, following the installment of head writer Josh Griffith.
Casting
Eileen Davidson originated the role of Ashley Abbott on June 11, 1982, until her first exit on December 2, 1988. The role was immediately recast with Brenda Epperson, who portrayed Ashley for seven years from December 5, 1988, before leaving the role on December 21, 1995. Shari Shattuck then assumed the role from March 21, 1996, to February 22, 1999, with Davidson returning on March 19, 1999. Davidson took maternity leave in the summer of 2003. In 2006, news broke that Davidson was to exit the soap opera, and she last aired on January 11, 2007. She then carried the role of Ashley over to the show's sister soap, The Bold and the Beautiful. On September 25, 2008, Davidson returned to The Young and the Restless, and subsequently made one final appearance on The Bold and the Beautiful on November 25 of the same year when Ashley resigned from her position at Forrester Creations.
In May 2012, Davidson informed followers on her Twitter page that she had been let go from The Young and the Restless. Davidson further confirmed she did not know why she was let go, but was seeing the positive light from it. It was then announced by Nelson Branco that Sony Pictures Entertainment wanted Davidson on both The Young and the Restless and Days of Our Lives, but that Y&R would not share the actress, leading to Sony terminating her contract with the soap. Thus it was announced that Davidson would reprise her role as Kristen Blake on the NBC soap. Davidson made her onscreen exit on August 3, 2012. Speaking about her upcoming return to Days and departure from the show with TV Guide, Davidson stated: "What happened to me at Y&R was shocking — I've been in this business a very long time and have never seen anything like it — but it's not like I haven't been fired before." She also went on to say that "I was led to believe that I was fired, though it was a bad news-good news thing — the bad news is Y&R is firing you, the good news is Days wants you." In February 2013, it was announced that Davidson would return to The Young and the Restless for "very special episodes" that would commemorate the show's 40th anniversary. In spite of this, the actress remained a part of Days of our Lives full-time.
In August 2013, following the announcement of Davidson's departure from Days of our Lives, it was announced that she would again reprise the role for three episodes airing in October, later returning for a guest appearance on November 27 and December 2, 2013. In June 2014, it was announced that Davidson had signed a two-year contract with The Young and the Restless to appear as a regular cast member again, and would return to the series in September. Davidson also revealed her contract would allow for her to continue making appearances on Days of Our Lives.
In 2018, Julia D'Arcy Badinger portrayed a younger Ashley in flashbacks. That June, Daytime Confidential broke news that Davidson had quit the role. Davidson last appeared in the role on October 29, 2018. On February 25, 2019, Davidson announced she would return to the role for several appearances; first airing on March 29, 2019. Since then, she has remained on the show on a recurring status.
Character development
Davidson describes Ashley as a "dynamic character". She has been characterized as "sassy" yet an "honorable heroine". The Record describes Ashley as "headstrong". She is recognized for her unluckiness and long-term suffering. Davidson stated, "She is a heroine. So often she was being victimized by people and trying to always rise above that, and being driven insane and losing babies, etc." In 1990, The Washington Times described Ashley as a "smart woman", known for her "level head" and "business success". Ashley is dedicated to her work and has a strong sense of family. She is a beloved member of the Genoa City community. Her passion for the family business, Jabot Cosmetics, cost Ashley her marriage to Cole Howard (J. Eddie Peck).
Ashley has been involved in a number of different romantic relationships over her duration on the series. Her relationship with Brad Carlton (Don Diamont) came as a shock, due to Brad being beneath her socially. Epperson, who played Ashley at the time, was uncertain of Ashley and Brad's decision to get married.
Davidson opined that a storyline in which Victor's son Adam Newman (Michael Muhney) gaslighted a pregnant Ashley in 2009 was payback for Ashley stealing Victor's sperm years ago to conceive Abby. She stated: "I think the character really suffered after she stole Victor's sperm from Diane [...] After that, the viewers lost a lot of respect for Ashley. People wanted Ashley to pay for it. My opinion? Although last summer's gaslighting storyline was used to propel a lot of other stories, it was also about making Ashley pay. Now we can close that entire chapter because Ashley paid. It was Ashley's redemption". Around this story arc, Tommy Garrett of Canyon News described Ashley as a "damsel in distress", stating that she had a "twisted mind" due to suffering a hysterical pregnancy after losing her unborn child at the hands of Adam.
Following the death of John, Jack works desperately to remove his wife Gloria Abbott (Judith Chapman) from the family, even illegally making changes to John's will. Explaining Ashley's ambivalence towards the situation, Davidson stated: "Just because you don't like somebody doesn't mean you should do something illegal [...] The point is, their father loved her. And even if they don't like her, they have to honor what he wanted. Ashley never wanted to do anything that went against her father's wishes." The actress stated that Ashley "just wants" Jack to "do the right thing".
Storylines
Ashley is born on April 29, 1960, to John Abbott, Sr. (Brett Halsey, later Jerry Douglas) and Dina Abbott Mergeron (Marla Adams). Twenty-two years later, after completing college, Ashley returns to Genoa City and applies for a job as a lab chemist at Jabot Cosmetics, the family company, using the name Susan Ashley so she will be hired for her skills, not her family connections. She takes over as president of the company after her brother Jack Abbott (Terry Lester, later Peter Bergman) is shot on his one-year anniversary by his wife, Patty Williams. Ashley commences an unlucky streak of relationships; starting with French artist Eric Garrison, who slept with her mother, and Marc Mergeron, who is revealed to be her former stepbrother. Capitalizing on her unluckiness, it is revealed that Ashley's biological father is Brent Davis, not John Abbott, who remains unaware of Ashley's true paternity. Trauma leads Ashley to become missing with amnesia, where she is found by business tycoon Victor Newman (Eric Braeden), who takes her back to Genoa City. Ashley has an affair with Victor, who is married to Nikki Newman (Melody Thomas Scott). To spite Ashley, Nikki engages in an affair with Jack and tries to have Victor's brother, Matt Miller, unsuccessfully seduce Ashley. Ultimately, Victor chooses to be with Ashley, angering Nikki. When Ashley falls pregnant with Victor's child, Nikki is diagnosed with cancer, causing Victor to leave Ashley, who secretly has an abortion. Ashley suffers a mental breakdown, before marrying her psychiatrist Steven Lassiter (Rod Arrants). Steven's former patient Leanna Randolph (Barbara Crampton) stalks the couple and attempts to destroy Ashley. She writes a biography about Victor that exposes information about his dysfunctional relationship with Ashley. Steven is later shot and killed by an unstable patient.
Following a short affair with Brad Carlton (Don Diamont), Ashley marries Victor. The marriage suffers because of Nikki's ongoing problems as well as Victor's daughter Victoria Newman's (Heather Tom) constant schemes to break them up. After her divorce from Victor, Ashley falls in love with Jabot's mysterious photographer Blade Bladeson (Michael Tylo), and they get married. Blade's vengeful twin brother Rick Bladeson arrives in town, holds Blade hostage and impersonates him. Eventually, Ashley and Blade's marriage ends. She then falls romantically for Kurt Costner (Leigh McCloskey), who is shot saving her from muggers. The romance is short-lived, as Kurt leaves Ashley to be with Victor's ex-wife Hope Wilson (Signy Coleman). Ashley nearly engages in an affair with Victoria's husband Cole Howard (J. Eddie Peck), an author who is writing a novel about her life, which requires them to spend time together. After Victoria's pregnancy results in a stillborn baby, Cole divorces her and marries Ashley. The marriage suffers a rough patch when Ashley travels to Madrid to help her stepbrother Rafael Delgado (Carlos Bernard), who is dealing with dangerous customers after selling them forged paintings. Cole assumes that she is having an affair with Rafael, unaware of who he is. During this, Victoria attempts to sabotage the marriage. Ultimately, upon Ashley's return to Genoa City, the couple divorce.
By 2000, one of Jack's former lovers and Victor's latest ex-wife, Diane Jenkins (Alex Donnelley) steals Victor's sperm from a sperm bank, though Nikki switches the sample with Jack's sperm. Ashley then steals Victor's sperm and impregnates herself, claiming that the father is a stranger; this was to make up for the abortion she had years prior. She then marries Brad Carlton and gives birth to Abby Carlton, who is raised to believe she is the daughter of Brad. Ashley is diagnosed with breast cancer, and feeling that she may not have time left, she confesses the truth about Abby's paternity to Victor. Brad and Ashley split, though are brought together when she becomes pregnant with their child. Stress over the battle between Jabot and Newman Enterprises causes her to leave town. While she is driving back, she is involved in a car accident, killing the unborn child. Victor is blamed for the child's death. Brad and Ashley's marriage continues to diminish and they are divorced. Tom Fisher (Roscoe Born), the dangerous ex-husband of John's wife Gloria Abbott (Judith Chapman), arrives in town. To protect his family, John shoots and kills Tom. Ashley covers this up by confessing to the crime herself, though John soon confesses himself, and is jailed for seven years. Gloria contaminates Ashley's new line of beauty cream, which causes a woman to die. John suffers a heart attack following his release from prison, and passes away. Jack removes Gloria from the family, and Ashley leaves town to escape the drama. During a business trip to France, Ashley meets Rick Forrester (Kyle Lowder), and they have an affair. She later travels to Los Angeles to work with Forrester Creations as a lab chemist. Rick and Ashley decide to keep their affair a secret, and she commences a serious relationship with Ridge Forrester (Ronn Moss), whom she becomes engaged to. Ridge's attentiveness to his former love Brooke Logan (Katherine Kelly Lang) ends the engagement. Ashley then has a short-lived romance with Brooke's brother Storm (William deVry). Forrester Creations decide to discontinue their fragrance line, diminishing Ashley's role in the company. She leaves Los Angeles and moves to Europe with Abby.
Ashley locates a missing Victor in France, where they reunite. Upon their return to Genoa City as a couple, they are married and Ashley becomes pregnant. Victor's manipulative son Adam Newman (Michael Muhney) gas lights Ashley, making her believe that she is seeing the ghost of Victor's late wife, Sabrina Newman. Adam causes Ashley to fall down a staircase and lose her baby, though he convinces her that this was a dream, and she suffers from an hysterical pregnancy. Ashley checks herself into a psychiatric hospital where Sharon Newman (Sharon Case), also pregnant, is staying. After Ashley begins experiencing hysterical labor, Adam kidnaps Sharon's newborn baby Faith Newman and gives her to Ashley, with Sharon believing her baby was stillborn. In the ensuing months, Sharon marries Adam and develops a close friendship with Ashley. Six months after Faith is born, the doctor that delivered her (who was being blackmailed by Adam) confesses the truth in a letter. Ashley is forced to hand Faith over to Sharon and the child's father, Victor's son Nicholas Newman (Joshua Morrow). Ashley moves on with her life, and becomes engaged to wealthy tycoon Tucker McCall (Stephen Nichols). Prior to their engagement, he slept with Diane Jenkins (Maura West). They briefly split up because of Tucker's secret business plans with Jack, but reunite shortly thereafter. Abby accidentally runs over Tucker with her car, and Ashley protects her by taking the blame. She is accused of attempted murder and driving under the influence. All charges are ultimately dropped, and she marries Tucker. Their marriage quickly lands in divorce because of Tucker's business scheming and his affair with a previous lover, Harmony Hamilton. Ashley is later forced out as CEO of Jabot by Jack, and Ashley decides to move to New York City with Traci. She returns briefly a few months later for the wedding of Victor and Nikki. Months later, Ashley returns for the funeral of her niece Delia Abbott and comforts her brother Billy on his loss. She returns later to spend Thanksgiving with her family. While there, she sprained her ankle and met Dr. Stitch Rayburn (Sean Carrigan). Abby pushed for a romance, but Ashley reminded her that Stitch was married and had a young son.
In town for Abby and Tyler's engagement party, Ashley left early to drop by the hospital and "run into" Dr. Rayburn. But she found Victoria waiting for him to take her on a date. Ashley reminded her that she'd only been separated a week. When Ben arrived, Victoria was jealously catty, informing Ben that Ashley was her former stepmother.
In September 2014, Ashley did not show up in Genoa City after calling a meeting among the major Jabot stockholders, Jack, Billy, Traci, and Abby. Jack phoned her, and she explained that she was working on a special project, but had decided it was not yet ready to present to them.
The following month, Ashley returned and confirmed that her idea was for a revolutionary new fragrance, and she made a deal with Jack to become Co-CEO of Jabot again if it panned out. Abby had been treating Ben Rayburn nasty and spiteful ever since she found out that he had killed his father as a teen and taken someone else's identity to get his degree in medicine, and broken Victoria's heart. So Abby was shocked when Ashley hired Ben as a chemist for Jabot, despite Abby's objections. Ashley returned to New York City to wrap things up, tasking a reluctant Abby with bringing Ben up to speed on the cosmetics industry. Before she left, she consoled Billy that maybe she could help keep Ben away from Victoria for him.
On Ashley's return, she asked Ben to smell the new fragrance, he found it repulsive, but he kissed her. Ashley revealed that the fragrance contained pheromones, was a love potion, and the kiss had proven it. What she needed was his help to make the scent bearable. Later after Ben was arrested for fraud by a former patient, Ashley bailed him out. She confided in Ben, that she too had taken a murder rap for someone she loved. Ashley asked him to accompany her to Madison on business.
Ben showed up in Ashley's office drunk after seeing Billy and Victoria snuggling with their baby. Ashley threw him in the shower to sober him up, and he pulled her in too. They had sex, and Stitch spent the night. The next day, they agreed to tell no one after Ben found out that he still had a chance with Victoria.
Victor invited Ashley to lunch and tried to get her to take a deal to leave Jabot and work for him at Newman-Chancellor. But Ashley declined and left early, arriving back at the lab in time to see her lab assistant Tobias taking photos of their secret work. She guessed that he was working for Victor, and decided to let him continue to feed him bogus information. Ashley runs into Joe Clark at the athletic club. After referring to them having a good thing going back in New York City, they made plans to spend New Year's Eve together. In May 2017, Ashley's mother Dina came for a "permanent" visit. In October 2017, Dina exposed that John Abbott wasn't Ashley's father. Ashley leaves Genoa City in October 2018, following a series of events that leave her feeling alienated from both the Abbott family and Jabot, following the discovery that John and Dina left legal documents leaving all of Ashley's product patents to her; she confesses she's leaving for Paris to launch her own company with said-patents.
Reception
Jamey Giddens of Zap2it described Davidson as "one of Genoa City's most beloved heroines". Upon learning of Davidson's return to the role in 1999, Candace Havens of the McCook Daily Gazette declared that it was her who made Ashley "one of the most popular characters on soaps". In October 1999, when all of the Abbott siblings and their father John were together again, the Orlando Sentinel wrote: "In the meantime, having the entire Abbott clan together [...] is like a joyous family reunion for longtime viewers". John Goudas of The Gadsden Times was favorable of Epperson's performance two years into her duration, stating that she "is holding her own", though he noted her to be "Eileen's double". He stated that the front-burner status of Ashley and Brad's romantic storyline demonstrated that producer William J. Bell "has full confidence in [Epperson]".
The character has had a rivalry with Nikki Newman (Melody Thomas Scott) for many years; a poll run in 2008 by website Daytime Confidential asking, "Who would win a cat fight, Nikki Newman or Ashley Abbott?", saw 63% of voters say Nikki would win, with 37% saying Ashley would win. Giddens was favorable of Ashley running Jabot Cosmetics in 2008, writing: "Okay this has to stop. My heart simply can't take it. It's like the effects of yo-yo dieting. Everytime I sincerely think I am done with this genre, something like The Young and the Restless heiress Ashley Abbott (Eileen Davidson) announcing that she, not Lil' Billy (Billy Miller), not Cruella de Bardwell (Judith Chapman) or Gary Ewing (Ted Shackelford) and no, not even Smilin' Jack (Peter Bergman) will be running Jabot Cosmetics, happens." In 2009, Jillian Bowe (also of Zap2it) wondered if Ashley was "insane in the membrane" due to her hearing a crying child around the Newman ranch, writing: "Is "The Beauty" starting to crack up? Certainly looks that when some freaky things take place on The Young and the Restless."
In 2010, Tommy Garrett of Canyon News praised a scene in which Ashley discovers a sex tape made by her spoiled daughter, Abby, that was posted online. Garrett wrote: "Davidson's performance is spot on as the mother Ashley who is fed up. The tears of despair and exhaustion came streaming down Davidson's beautiful face in character, while her spit-fire daughter didn't give a damn." Giddens later wrote that he thought it was "ridiculous" and "outlandish" to make Ashley pregnant with Victor's child in 2009. Also in 2010, Neeketa Borden of Zap2it created a list of "curiously quirky couplings", with Ashley and Tucker listed as an "honorable mention". In a separate review, Garrett credited Davidson as one of the "powerful performers who daytime TV could not exist without having". When the truth was going to come out that Faith Newman wasn't Ashley's child, Giddens wrote: "Lord, I hope this doesn't make my Ashley Abbott go cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs again!" Mike Jubinville of Zap2it wrote that the character's relationship with Neil Winters (Kristoff St. John) had been a "slow burn, one going on for weeks, but one that is hard to miss. It has the ingredients of a hot romance." Upon Davidson's firing in 2012, Giddens wrote: "I am sincerely hoping the brass at Y&R can't possibly be this stupid, but if they are, Gary Tomlin better blow up Davidson's phone STAT about a Days of Our Lives return!"
References
External links
Ashley Abbott character profile on SoapCentral
The Young and the Restless characters
The Bold and the Beautiful characters
Television characters introduced in 1982
Fictional business executives
Fictional female businesspeople
Fictional socialites
Fictional characters with cancer
Fictional characters with neurological or psychological disorders
Female characters in television | true | [
"My Sister Eileen is an American comedy stage production, written by Joseph A. Fields and Jerome Chodorov, based on autobiographical short stories by Ruth McKenney. The stories were originally published in The New Yorker and then collected and published as the book My Sister Eileen (1938).\n\nThe plot focuses on Ruth and Eileen Sherwood, sisters from Ohio who relocate to New York City in search of fame and fortune. Witty Ruth aspires to be a published writer, while pretty Eileen dreams of success as an actress. Their financial circumstances force them to rent a dingy basement studio apartment in a Greenwich Village building owned by Mr. Appolpolous, one of many colorful characters who cross their path.\n\nThe Broadway production, produced by Max Gordon and directed by George S. Kaufman, opened 26 December 1940 at the Biltmore Theatre. It transferred three times during its run of 864 performances: to the Martin Beck Theatre, opening 4 August 1942; to the Ritz Theatre, opening 23 November 1942; and to The Broadway Theatre, opening 13 December 1942.\n\nThe original cast included Shirley Booth as Ruth Sherwood, Jo Ann Sayers as Eileen Sherwood, Morris Carnovsky as Mr. Appolpolous, and Richard Quine as Frank Lippencott, a drugstore soda jerk with an eye for Eileen. Peggy Knudsen replaced Sayers in June 1942 (when she left to be married), and Quine was replaced by Henry Jones, who in turn was replaced by Max Showalter.\n\nEileen McKenney, an executive assistant to Walt Disney and the inspiration for the play's title character, and her husband, novelist and screenwriter Nathanael West, were killed in an automobile accident in El Centro, California four days before the Broadway opening (they were driving to the Los Angeles Airport to board a plane for New York, to attend the play's premiere). Her sister Ruth consequently did not attend the premiere and never saw the play.\n\nFields and Chodorov adapted their play for the 1942 film that opened while the play was still running on Broadway, as well as the 1953 musical Wonderful Town. It also served as the basis for the 1960 television sitcom of the same title.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n \n\n1940 plays\nBroadway plays\nPlays based on short fiction\nPlays set in New York City\nPlays based on real people\nAmerican plays adapted into films",
"Eileen ( or ) is an Irish feminine given name anglicised from Eibhlín and may refer to:\n\nPeople\n\nArtists\nEileen Agar (1899–1991), British Surrealist painter and photographer\nEileen Fisher (born 1950), clothing retailer and designer\nEileen Folson (1956–2007), Broadway composer\nEileen Ford (1922–2014), American model agency executive\nEileen Gray (1878–1976), Irish furniture designer and architect\nEileen Shields (born 1970), American footwear designer and entrepreneur\n\nEntertainers\nEileen (singer) (born 1941), American-born singer in France\nEileen Atkins (born 1934), English actress\nEileen Barton (1924–2006), American singer\nEileen Bellomo, member of rock group The Stilettos\nEileen April Boylan (born 1987), Filipina/Irish-American actress\nEileen Brennan (1932–2013), American actress\nEileen Catterson, Scottish fashion model and former Miss Scotland\nEileen Daly (born 1963), English actress, singer and director\nEileen Davidson (born 1959), American film actress\nEileen Derbyshire (born 1930), English character actress\nEileen DeSandre, American actress\nEileen Essell (1922–2015), Irish actress\nEileen Farrell (1920–2002), American opera and concert singer\nEileen Fulton (born 1933), American actress\nEileen Heckart (1919–2001), American actress\nEileen Helsby (born 1937), British actress\nEileen Herlie (1918–2008), Scottish-American actress\nEileen Ivers (born 1965), Irish-American musician\nEileen Joyce (1908–1991), Australian pianist\nEileen McCallum (born 1936), Scottish actress\nEileen O'Brien (actress), English actress\nEileen Pollock (1947–2020), Northern Ireland actress\nEileen Rodgers (1930–2003), American singer and Broadway performer\nEileen Rose (born 1965), American singer/songwriter\nEileen Ryan, American actress\nEileen Sedgwick (1898–1991), American silent film actress\nEileen Walsh (born 1977), Irish actress\nEileen Way (1911–1994), English actress\nEileen Whitfield, Canadian journalist and playwright\nEileen Wilson (born 1923), American television star\nEileen Yeow (born 1972), Singaporean actress\n\nPoliticians\nEileen Anderson (born 1928), Hawaii politician\nEileen Bell (born 1943), Northern Ireland politician\nEileen Desmond (1932–2005), British politician\nEileen C. Dugan (1945–1996), New York politician\nEileen Gordon (born 1946), United Kingdom politician\nEileen Hickey (New York politician) (1945–1999), New York politician\nEileen M. Hickey (1886–1960), Northern Irish politician\nEileen Lemass (born 1932), Irish politician\nEileen Malloy (born 1954), US ambassador\nEileen Paisley, Baroness Paisley of St George's (born 1931), Northern Irish politician\nEileen Parsons, British Virgin Islands politician\n\nSportspeople\nEileen Ash (1911–2021), English cricketer\nEileen Coparropa (born 1981), freestyle swimmer from Panama\nEileen Ellison (1910–1967), English Grand Prix racer\nEileen Gu (born 2003), Chinese freestyle skier\nEileen Hiscock (1909–1958), British athlete\nEileen McNamara (born 1952), equestrian\nEileen O'Keeffe (born 1981), Irish hammer thrower\nEileen Bennett Whittingstall (1907–1979), UK tennis player\n\nWriters\nEileen Albrizio (born 1960), American writer\nEileen Chang (1920–1995), Chinese writer\nEileen Dunne (born 1958), Irish newsreader\nEileen Gunn (born 1945), American science fiction writer and editor\nEileen Kernaghan (born 1939), Canadian novelist\nEileen McNamara (born 1952), American columnist and professor\nEileen Myles (born 1949), American poet\nEileen Pollock (writer), American television screenwriter and producer\nEileen Power (1889–1940), British economic historian and medievalist\nEileen Tabios (born 1960), Filipino-American writer and artist\nEileen Wilks (born 1952), American fiction writer\n\nOther\nEileen Barker (born 1938), UK professor\nEileen Caddy (1917–2006), founder of the Findhorn Foundation community\nEileen Collins (born 1956), American astronaut\nEileen de Coppet, Princess of Albania (1922–1985)\nEileen Rockefeller Growald (born 1952), daughter of David Rockefeller\nEileen McKenney, wife of American writer Nathanael West\nEileen Nearne (1921–2010), member of UK Special Operations Executive (SOE)\nEileen O'Shaughnessy, wife of British writer George Orwell\nEileen Saxon (1942–1945), infant known as \"The Blue Baby\"\nEileen Southern (1920–2002), African American musicologist\nEileen Tallman Sufrin (1913-1999), Canadian author and labour activist\nEileen Vidal (died 2003), kelper telephone and radio operator\n\nCharacters\nEileen Shallot, character in the novella The Dream Master\nBirthday Girl: Eileen\nEileen the Crow, from the 2015 video game Bloodborne\nEileen Prince, mother of Severus Snape from the Harry Potter book series\nEileen, from the cartoon Regular Show\nEileen Galvin, from the horror video game Silent Hill 4\nEileen Grimshaw from Coronation Street\nEileen, a fairy in the charmed ridge level from Spyro: Year of the Dragon\n Eileen, a character from Tyler Perry's 2013 film A Madea Christmas\nEileen (Virtua Fighter), a character in the game Virtua Fighter 5\n\nSee also\nEileen Browne (disambiguation)\nEileen O'Connell (disambiguation)\nAileen, a given name\nAylin, a given name\nHelen (disambiguation)\nIlene, a given name\nEvelyn (disambiguation)\n\nEnglish feminine given names"
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"Ashley Abbott is a fictional character from The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful, two American soap operas on the CBS network. She has been most notably portrayed by Eileen Davidson, who originated the role on June 11, 1982, before departing in 1988. Brenda Epperson portrayed Ashley from 1988 to 1995, before Shari Shattuck portrayed the role for the next three years, until Davidson's return on March 19, 1999.",
"Brenda Epperson portrayed Ashley from 1988 to 1995, before Shari Shattuck portrayed the role for the next three years, until Davidson's return on March 19, 1999. Davidson was nominated in 2003 for Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, and she later won that award in 2018. The character is the daughter of Dina Mergeron and Brent Davis, although she believed John Abbott was her biological father until she reached adulthood.",
"The character is the daughter of Dina Mergeron and Brent Davis, although she believed John Abbott was her biological father until she reached adulthood. She has had relationships with various men throughout the years, most notably Steven Lassiter, Victor Newman, Blade Bladeson, Cole Howard and Brad Carlton. She has a daughter with Victor, Abby Newman. She is also known for her business contributions to her father's company, Jabot Cosmetics, much like her brother Jack.",
"She is also known for her business contributions to her father's company, Jabot Cosmetics, much like her brother Jack. In 2006, it was announced that Davidson was to leave The Young and the Restless. She last appeared on January 11, 2007. Shortly after, the character crossed over to its sister soap, The Bold and the Beautiful. There, she became intertwined with the Forresters and Forrester Creations; she also had a romance with Ridge Forrester.",
"There, she became intertwined with the Forresters and Forrester Creations; she also had a romance with Ridge Forrester. She left The Bold and the Beautiful in 2008 and returned to The Young and the Restless, where she has since had relationships with Victor once again and Tucker McCall. In May 2012, it was announced that Davidson was let go from The Young and the Restless, leading to her exit on August 3, 2012.",
"In May 2012, it was announced that Davidson was let go from The Young and the Restless, leading to her exit on August 3, 2012. Davidson initially hadn't known why, but it was reported later that Sony Pictures Television terminated her contract with the show for her to return to Days of Our Lives as Kristen DiMera, a character she had portrayed there over 14 years prior. Davidson made a brief return to The Young and the Restless in March 2013 for the soap's 40th anniversary.",
"Davidson made a brief return to The Young and the Restless in March 2013 for the soap's 40th anniversary. After subsequent guest appearances, Davidson returned to The Young and the Restless on September 3, 2014, as a series regular. In 2018, Davidson again exited the role; she returned in March 2019, following the installment of head writer Josh Griffith. Casting Eileen Davidson originated the role of Ashley Abbott on June 11, 1982, until her first exit on December 2, 1988.",
"Casting Eileen Davidson originated the role of Ashley Abbott on June 11, 1982, until her first exit on December 2, 1988. The role was immediately recast with Brenda Epperson, who portrayed Ashley for seven years from December 5, 1988, before leaving the role on December 21, 1995. Shari Shattuck then assumed the role from March 21, 1996, to February 22, 1999, with Davidson returning on March 19, 1999. Davidson took maternity leave in the summer of 2003.",
"Davidson took maternity leave in the summer of 2003. Davidson took maternity leave in the summer of 2003. In 2006, news broke that Davidson was to exit the soap opera, and she last aired on January 11, 2007. She then carried the role of Ashley over to the show's sister soap, The Bold and the Beautiful.",
"She then carried the role of Ashley over to the show's sister soap, The Bold and the Beautiful. On September 25, 2008, Davidson returned to The Young and the Restless, and subsequently made one final appearance on The Bold and the Beautiful on November 25 of the same year when Ashley resigned from her position at Forrester Creations. In May 2012, Davidson informed followers on her Twitter page that she had been let go from The Young and the Restless.",
"In May 2012, Davidson informed followers on her Twitter page that she had been let go from The Young and the Restless. Davidson further confirmed she did not know why she was let go, but was seeing the positive light from it. It was then announced by Nelson Branco that Sony Pictures Entertainment wanted Davidson on both The Young and the Restless and Days of Our Lives, but that Y&R would not share the actress, leading to Sony terminating her contract with the soap.",
"It was then announced by Nelson Branco that Sony Pictures Entertainment wanted Davidson on both The Young and the Restless and Days of Our Lives, but that Y&R would not share the actress, leading to Sony terminating her contract with the soap. Thus it was announced that Davidson would reprise her role as Kristen Blake on the NBC soap. Davidson made her onscreen exit on August 3, 2012.",
"Davidson made her onscreen exit on August 3, 2012. Speaking about her upcoming return to Days and departure from the show with TV Guide, Davidson stated: \"What happened to me at Y&R was shocking — I've been in this business a very long time and have never seen anything like it — but it's not like I haven't been fired before.\"",
"Speaking about her upcoming return to Days and departure from the show with TV Guide, Davidson stated: \"What happened to me at Y&R was shocking — I've been in this business a very long time and have never seen anything like it — but it's not like I haven't been fired before.\" She also went on to say that \"I was led to believe that I was fired, though it was a bad news-good news thing — the bad news is Y&R is firing you, the good news is Days wants you.\"",
"She also went on to say that \"I was led to believe that I was fired, though it was a bad news-good news thing — the bad news is Y&R is firing you, the good news is Days wants you.\" In February 2013, it was announced that Davidson would return to The Young and the Restless for \"very special episodes\" that would commemorate the show's 40th anniversary. In spite of this, the actress remained a part of Days of our Lives full-time.",
"In spite of this, the actress remained a part of Days of our Lives full-time. In August 2013, following the announcement of Davidson's departure from Days of our Lives, it was announced that she would again reprise the role for three episodes airing in October, later returning for a guest appearance on November 27 and December 2, 2013.",
"In August 2013, following the announcement of Davidson's departure from Days of our Lives, it was announced that she would again reprise the role for three episodes airing in October, later returning for a guest appearance on November 27 and December 2, 2013. In June 2014, it was announced that Davidson had signed a two-year contract with The Young and the Restless to appear as a regular cast member again, and would return to the series in September.",
"In June 2014, it was announced that Davidson had signed a two-year contract with The Young and the Restless to appear as a regular cast member again, and would return to the series in September. Davidson also revealed her contract would allow for her to continue making appearances on Days of Our Lives. In 2018, Julia D'Arcy Badinger portrayed a younger Ashley in flashbacks. That June, Daytime Confidential broke news that Davidson had quit the role. Davidson last appeared in the role on October 29, 2018.",
"Davidson last appeared in the role on October 29, 2018. On February 25, 2019, Davidson announced she would return to the role for several appearances; first airing on March 29, 2019. Since then, she has remained on the show on a recurring status. Character development Davidson describes Ashley as a \"dynamic character\". She has been characterized as \"sassy\" yet an \"honorable heroine\". The Record describes Ashley as \"headstrong\". She is recognized for her unluckiness and long-term suffering.",
"She is recognized for her unluckiness and long-term suffering. She is recognized for her unluckiness and long-term suffering. Davidson stated, \"She is a heroine. So often she was being victimized by people and trying to always rise above that, and being driven insane and losing babies, etc.\" In 1990, The Washington Times described Ashley as a \"smart woman\", known for her \"level head\" and \"business success\". Ashley is dedicated to her work and has a strong sense of family.",
"Ashley is dedicated to her work and has a strong sense of family. She is a beloved member of the Genoa City community. Her passion for the family business, Jabot Cosmetics, cost Ashley her marriage to Cole Howard (J. Eddie Peck). Ashley has been involved in a number of different romantic relationships over her duration on the series. Her relationship with Brad Carlton (Don Diamont) came as a shock, due to Brad being beneath her socially.",
"Her relationship with Brad Carlton (Don Diamont) came as a shock, due to Brad being beneath her socially. Epperson, who played Ashley at the time, was uncertain of Ashley and Brad's decision to get married. Davidson opined that a storyline in which Victor's son Adam Newman (Michael Muhney) gaslighted a pregnant Ashley in 2009 was payback for Ashley stealing Victor's sperm years ago to conceive Abby.",
"Davidson opined that a storyline in which Victor's son Adam Newman (Michael Muhney) gaslighted a pregnant Ashley in 2009 was payback for Ashley stealing Victor's sperm years ago to conceive Abby. She stated: \"I think the character really suffered after she stole Victor's sperm from Diane [...] After that, the viewers lost a lot of respect for Ashley. People wanted Ashley to pay for it. My opinion?",
"People wanted Ashley to pay for it. My opinion? My opinion? Although last summer's gaslighting storyline was used to propel a lot of other stories, it was also about making Ashley pay. Now we can close that entire chapter because Ashley paid. It was Ashley's redemption\".",
"It was Ashley's redemption\". It was Ashley's redemption\". Around this story arc, Tommy Garrett of Canyon News described Ashley as a \"damsel in distress\", stating that she had a \"twisted mind\" due to suffering a hysterical pregnancy after losing her unborn child at the hands of Adam. Following the death of John, Jack works desperately to remove his wife Gloria Abbott (Judith Chapman) from the family, even illegally making changes to John's will.",
"Following the death of John, Jack works desperately to remove his wife Gloria Abbott (Judith Chapman) from the family, even illegally making changes to John's will. Explaining Ashley's ambivalence towards the situation, Davidson stated: \"Just because you don't like somebody doesn't mean you should do something illegal [...] The point is, their father loved her. And even if they don't like her, they have to honor what he wanted.",
"And even if they don't like her, they have to honor what he wanted. Ashley never wanted to do anything that went against her father's wishes.\" The actress stated that Ashley \"just wants\" Jack to \"do the right thing\". Storylines Ashley is born on April 29, 1960, to John Abbott, Sr. (Brett Halsey, later Jerry Douglas) and Dina Abbott Mergeron (Marla Adams).",
"Storylines Ashley is born on April 29, 1960, to John Abbott, Sr. (Brett Halsey, later Jerry Douglas) and Dina Abbott Mergeron (Marla Adams). Twenty-two years later, after completing college, Ashley returns to Genoa City and applies for a job as a lab chemist at Jabot Cosmetics, the family company, using the name Susan Ashley so she will be hired for her skills, not her family connections.",
"Twenty-two years later, after completing college, Ashley returns to Genoa City and applies for a job as a lab chemist at Jabot Cosmetics, the family company, using the name Susan Ashley so she will be hired for her skills, not her family connections. She takes over as president of the company after her brother Jack Abbott (Terry Lester, later Peter Bergman) is shot on his one-year anniversary by his wife, Patty Williams.",
"She takes over as president of the company after her brother Jack Abbott (Terry Lester, later Peter Bergman) is shot on his one-year anniversary by his wife, Patty Williams. Ashley commences an unlucky streak of relationships; starting with French artist Eric Garrison, who slept with her mother, and Marc Mergeron, who is revealed to be her former stepbrother. Capitalizing on her unluckiness, it is revealed that Ashley's biological father is Brent Davis, not John Abbott, who remains unaware of Ashley's true paternity.",
"Capitalizing on her unluckiness, it is revealed that Ashley's biological father is Brent Davis, not John Abbott, who remains unaware of Ashley's true paternity. Trauma leads Ashley to become missing with amnesia, where she is found by business tycoon Victor Newman (Eric Braeden), who takes her back to Genoa City. Ashley has an affair with Victor, who is married to Nikki Newman (Melody Thomas Scott).",
"Ashley has an affair with Victor, who is married to Nikki Newman (Melody Thomas Scott). To spite Ashley, Nikki engages in an affair with Jack and tries to have Victor's brother, Matt Miller, unsuccessfully seduce Ashley. Ultimately, Victor chooses to be with Ashley, angering Nikki. When Ashley falls pregnant with Victor's child, Nikki is diagnosed with cancer, causing Victor to leave Ashley, who secretly has an abortion.",
"When Ashley falls pregnant with Victor's child, Nikki is diagnosed with cancer, causing Victor to leave Ashley, who secretly has an abortion. Ashley suffers a mental breakdown, before marrying her psychiatrist Steven Lassiter (Rod Arrants). Steven's former patient Leanna Randolph (Barbara Crampton) stalks the couple and attempts to destroy Ashley. She writes a biography about Victor that exposes information about his dysfunctional relationship with Ashley. Steven is later shot and killed by an unstable patient.",
"Steven is later shot and killed by an unstable patient. Following a short affair with Brad Carlton (Don Diamont), Ashley marries Victor. The marriage suffers because of Nikki's ongoing problems as well as Victor's daughter Victoria Newman's (Heather Tom) constant schemes to break them up. After her divorce from Victor, Ashley falls in love with Jabot's mysterious photographer Blade Bladeson (Michael Tylo), and they get married.",
"After her divorce from Victor, Ashley falls in love with Jabot's mysterious photographer Blade Bladeson (Michael Tylo), and they get married. Blade's vengeful twin brother Rick Bladeson arrives in town, holds Blade hostage and impersonates him. Eventually, Ashley and Blade's marriage ends. She then falls romantically for Kurt Costner (Leigh McCloskey), who is shot saving her from muggers. The romance is short-lived, as Kurt leaves Ashley to be with Victor's ex-wife Hope Wilson (Signy Coleman).",
"The romance is short-lived, as Kurt leaves Ashley to be with Victor's ex-wife Hope Wilson (Signy Coleman). Ashley nearly engages in an affair with Victoria's husband Cole Howard (J. Eddie Peck), an author who is writing a novel about her life, which requires them to spend time together. After Victoria's pregnancy results in a stillborn baby, Cole divorces her and marries Ashley.",
"After Victoria's pregnancy results in a stillborn baby, Cole divorces her and marries Ashley. The marriage suffers a rough patch when Ashley travels to Madrid to help her stepbrother Rafael Delgado (Carlos Bernard), who is dealing with dangerous customers after selling them forged paintings. Cole assumes that she is having an affair with Rafael, unaware of who he is. During this, Victoria attempts to sabotage the marriage. Ultimately, upon Ashley's return to Genoa City, the couple divorce.",
"Ultimately, upon Ashley's return to Genoa City, the couple divorce. By 2000, one of Jack's former lovers and Victor's latest ex-wife, Diane Jenkins (Alex Donnelley) steals Victor's sperm from a sperm bank, though Nikki switches the sample with Jack's sperm. Ashley then steals Victor's sperm and impregnates herself, claiming that the father is a stranger; this was to make up for the abortion she had years prior.",
"Ashley then steals Victor's sperm and impregnates herself, claiming that the father is a stranger; this was to make up for the abortion she had years prior. She then marries Brad Carlton and gives birth to Abby Carlton, who is raised to believe she is the daughter of Brad. Ashley is diagnosed with breast cancer, and feeling that she may not have time left, she confesses the truth about Abby's paternity to Victor. Brad and Ashley split, though are brought together when she becomes pregnant with their child.",
"Brad and Ashley split, though are brought together when she becomes pregnant with their child. Stress over the battle between Jabot and Newman Enterprises causes her to leave town. While she is driving back, she is involved in a car accident, killing the unborn child. Victor is blamed for the child's death. Brad and Ashley's marriage continues to diminish and they are divorced. Tom Fisher (Roscoe Born), the dangerous ex-husband of John's wife Gloria Abbott (Judith Chapman), arrives in town.",
"Tom Fisher (Roscoe Born), the dangerous ex-husband of John's wife Gloria Abbott (Judith Chapman), arrives in town. To protect his family, John shoots and kills Tom. Ashley covers this up by confessing to the crime herself, though John soon confesses himself, and is jailed for seven years. Gloria contaminates Ashley's new line of beauty cream, which causes a woman to die. John suffers a heart attack following his release from prison, and passes away.",
"John suffers a heart attack following his release from prison, and passes away. Jack removes Gloria from the family, and Ashley leaves town to escape the drama. During a business trip to France, Ashley meets Rick Forrester (Kyle Lowder), and they have an affair. She later travels to Los Angeles to work with Forrester Creations as a lab chemist. Rick and Ashley decide to keep their affair a secret, and she commences a serious relationship with Ridge Forrester (Ronn Moss), whom she becomes engaged to.",
"Rick and Ashley decide to keep their affair a secret, and she commences a serious relationship with Ridge Forrester (Ronn Moss), whom she becomes engaged to. Ridge's attentiveness to his former love Brooke Logan (Katherine Kelly Lang) ends the engagement. Ashley then has a short-lived romance with Brooke's brother Storm (William deVry). Forrester Creations decide to discontinue their fragrance line, diminishing Ashley's role in the company. She leaves Los Angeles and moves to Europe with Abby.",
"She leaves Los Angeles and moves to Europe with Abby. Ashley locates a missing Victor in France, where they reunite. Upon their return to Genoa City as a couple, they are married and Ashley becomes pregnant. Victor's manipulative son Adam Newman (Michael Muhney) gas lights Ashley, making her believe that she is seeing the ghost of Victor's late wife, Sabrina Newman.",
"Victor's manipulative son Adam Newman (Michael Muhney) gas lights Ashley, making her believe that she is seeing the ghost of Victor's late wife, Sabrina Newman. Adam causes Ashley to fall down a staircase and lose her baby, though he convinces her that this was a dream, and she suffers from an hysterical pregnancy. Ashley checks herself into a psychiatric hospital where Sharon Newman (Sharon Case), also pregnant, is staying.",
"Ashley checks herself into a psychiatric hospital where Sharon Newman (Sharon Case), also pregnant, is staying. After Ashley begins experiencing hysterical labor, Adam kidnaps Sharon's newborn baby Faith Newman and gives her to Ashley, with Sharon believing her baby was stillborn. In the ensuing months, Sharon marries Adam and develops a close friendship with Ashley. Six months after Faith is born, the doctor that delivered her (who was being blackmailed by Adam) confesses the truth in a letter.",
"Six months after Faith is born, the doctor that delivered her (who was being blackmailed by Adam) confesses the truth in a letter. Ashley is forced to hand Faith over to Sharon and the child's father, Victor's son Nicholas Newman (Joshua Morrow). Ashley moves on with her life, and becomes engaged to wealthy tycoon Tucker McCall (Stephen Nichols). Prior to their engagement, he slept with Diane Jenkins (Maura West).",
"Prior to their engagement, he slept with Diane Jenkins (Maura West). They briefly split up because of Tucker's secret business plans with Jack, but reunite shortly thereafter. Abby accidentally runs over Tucker with her car, and Ashley protects her by taking the blame. She is accused of attempted murder and driving under the influence. All charges are ultimately dropped, and she marries Tucker. Their marriage quickly lands in divorce because of Tucker's business scheming and his affair with a previous lover, Harmony Hamilton.",
"Their marriage quickly lands in divorce because of Tucker's business scheming and his affair with a previous lover, Harmony Hamilton. Ashley is later forced out as CEO of Jabot by Jack, and Ashley decides to move to New York City with Traci. She returns briefly a few months later for the wedding of Victor and Nikki. Months later, Ashley returns for the funeral of her niece Delia Abbott and comforts her brother Billy on his loss. She returns later to spend Thanksgiving with her family.",
"She returns later to spend Thanksgiving with her family. She returns later to spend Thanksgiving with her family. While there, she sprained her ankle and met Dr. Stitch Rayburn (Sean Carrigan). Abby pushed for a romance, but Ashley reminded her that Stitch was married and had a young son. In town for Abby and Tyler's engagement party, Ashley left early to drop by the hospital and \"run into\" Dr. Rayburn. But she found Victoria waiting for him to take her on a date.",
"But she found Victoria waiting for him to take her on a date. Ashley reminded her that she'd only been separated a week. When Ben arrived, Victoria was jealously catty, informing Ben that Ashley was her former stepmother. In September 2014, Ashley did not show up in Genoa City after calling a meeting among the major Jabot stockholders, Jack, Billy, Traci, and Abby.",
"In September 2014, Ashley did not show up in Genoa City after calling a meeting among the major Jabot stockholders, Jack, Billy, Traci, and Abby. Jack phoned her, and she explained that she was working on a special project, but had decided it was not yet ready to present to them. The following month, Ashley returned and confirmed that her idea was for a revolutionary new fragrance, and she made a deal with Jack to become Co-CEO of Jabot again if it panned out.",
"The following month, Ashley returned and confirmed that her idea was for a revolutionary new fragrance, and she made a deal with Jack to become Co-CEO of Jabot again if it panned out. Abby had been treating Ben Rayburn nasty and spiteful ever since she found out that he had killed his father as a teen and taken someone else's identity to get his degree in medicine, and broken Victoria's heart. So Abby was shocked when Ashley hired Ben as a chemist for Jabot, despite Abby's objections.",
"So Abby was shocked when Ashley hired Ben as a chemist for Jabot, despite Abby's objections. Ashley returned to New York City to wrap things up, tasking a reluctant Abby with bringing Ben up to speed on the cosmetics industry. Before she left, she consoled Billy that maybe she could help keep Ben away from Victoria for him. On Ashley's return, she asked Ben to smell the new fragrance, he found it repulsive, but he kissed her.",
"On Ashley's return, she asked Ben to smell the new fragrance, he found it repulsive, but he kissed her. Ashley revealed that the fragrance contained pheromones, was a love potion, and the kiss had proven it. What she needed was his help to make the scent bearable. Later after Ben was arrested for fraud by a former patient, Ashley bailed him out. She confided in Ben, that she too had taken a murder rap for someone she loved.",
"She confided in Ben, that she too had taken a murder rap for someone she loved. Ashley asked him to accompany her to Madison on business. Ben showed up in Ashley's office drunk after seeing Billy and Victoria snuggling with their baby. Ashley threw him in the shower to sober him up, and he pulled her in too. They had sex, and Stitch spent the night. The next day, they agreed to tell no one after Ben found out that he still had a chance with Victoria.",
"The next day, they agreed to tell no one after Ben found out that he still had a chance with Victoria. Victor invited Ashley to lunch and tried to get her to take a deal to leave Jabot and work for him at Newman-Chancellor. But Ashley declined and left early, arriving back at the lab in time to see her lab assistant Tobias taking photos of their secret work. She guessed that he was working for Victor, and decided to let him continue to feed him bogus information.",
"She guessed that he was working for Victor, and decided to let him continue to feed him bogus information. Ashley runs into Joe Clark at the athletic club. After referring to them having a good thing going back in New York City, they made plans to spend New Year's Eve together. In May 2017, Ashley's mother Dina came for a \"permanent\" visit. In October 2017, Dina exposed that John Abbott wasn't Ashley's father.",
"In October 2017, Dina exposed that John Abbott wasn't Ashley's father. Ashley leaves Genoa City in October 2018, following a series of events that leave her feeling alienated from both the Abbott family and Jabot, following the discovery that John and Dina left legal documents leaving all of Ashley's product patents to her; she confesses she's leaving for Paris to launch her own company with said-patents. Reception Jamey Giddens of Zap2it described Davidson as \"one of Genoa City's most beloved heroines\".",
"Reception Jamey Giddens of Zap2it described Davidson as \"one of Genoa City's most beloved heroines\". Upon learning of Davidson's return to the role in 1999, Candace Havens of the McCook Daily Gazette declared that it was her who made Ashley \"one of the most popular characters on soaps\".",
"Upon learning of Davidson's return to the role in 1999, Candace Havens of the McCook Daily Gazette declared that it was her who made Ashley \"one of the most popular characters on soaps\". In October 1999, when all of the Abbott siblings and their father John were together again, the Orlando Sentinel wrote: \"In the meantime, having the entire Abbott clan together [...] is like a joyous family reunion for longtime viewers\".",
"In October 1999, when all of the Abbott siblings and their father John were together again, the Orlando Sentinel wrote: \"In the meantime, having the entire Abbott clan together [...] is like a joyous family reunion for longtime viewers\". John Goudas of The Gadsden Times was favorable of Epperson's performance two years into her duration, stating that she \"is holding her own\", though he noted her to be \"Eileen's double\".",
"John Goudas of The Gadsden Times was favorable of Epperson's performance two years into her duration, stating that she \"is holding her own\", though he noted her to be \"Eileen's double\". He stated that the front-burner status of Ashley and Brad's romantic storyline demonstrated that producer William J. Bell \"has full confidence in [Epperson]\".",
"Bell \"has full confidence in [Epperson]\". The character has had a rivalry with Nikki Newman (Melody Thomas Scott) for many years; a poll run in 2008 by website Daytime Confidential asking, \"Who would win a cat fight, Nikki Newman or Ashley Abbott? \", saw 63% of voters say Nikki would win, with 37% saying Ashley would win. Giddens was favorable of Ashley running Jabot Cosmetics in 2008, writing: \"Okay this has to stop.",
"Giddens was favorable of Ashley running Jabot Cosmetics in 2008, writing: \"Okay this has to stop. My heart simply can't take it. It's like the effects of yo-yo dieting.",
"It's like the effects of yo-yo dieting. It's like the effects of yo-yo dieting. Everytime I sincerely think I am done with this genre, something like The Young and the Restless heiress Ashley Abbott (Eileen Davidson) announcing that she, not Lil' Billy (Billy Miller), not Cruella de Bardwell (Judith Chapman) or Gary Ewing (Ted Shackelford) and no, not even Smilin' Jack (Peter Bergman) will be running Jabot Cosmetics, happens.\"",
"Everytime I sincerely think I am done with this genre, something like The Young and the Restless heiress Ashley Abbott (Eileen Davidson) announcing that she, not Lil' Billy (Billy Miller), not Cruella de Bardwell (Judith Chapman) or Gary Ewing (Ted Shackelford) and no, not even Smilin' Jack (Peter Bergman) will be running Jabot Cosmetics, happens.\" In 2009, Jillian Bowe (also of Zap2it) wondered if Ashley was \"insane in the membrane\" due to her hearing a crying child around the Newman ranch, writing: \"Is \"The Beauty\" starting to crack up?",
"In 2009, Jillian Bowe (also of Zap2it) wondered if Ashley was \"insane in the membrane\" due to her hearing a crying child around the Newman ranch, writing: \"Is \"The Beauty\" starting to crack up? Certainly looks that when some freaky things take place on The Young and the Restless.\" In 2010, Tommy Garrett of Canyon News praised a scene in which Ashley discovers a sex tape made by her spoiled daughter, Abby, that was posted online.",
"In 2010, Tommy Garrett of Canyon News praised a scene in which Ashley discovers a sex tape made by her spoiled daughter, Abby, that was posted online. Garrett wrote: \"Davidson's performance is spot on as the mother Ashley who is fed up. The tears of despair and exhaustion came streaming down Davidson's beautiful face in character, while her spit-fire daughter didn't give a damn.\"",
"The tears of despair and exhaustion came streaming down Davidson's beautiful face in character, while her spit-fire daughter didn't give a damn.\" Giddens later wrote that he thought it was \"ridiculous\" and \"outlandish\" to make Ashley pregnant with Victor's child in 2009. Also in 2010, Neeketa Borden of Zap2it created a list of \"curiously quirky couplings\", with Ashley and Tucker listed as an \"honorable mention\".",
"Also in 2010, Neeketa Borden of Zap2it created a list of \"curiously quirky couplings\", with Ashley and Tucker listed as an \"honorable mention\". In a separate review, Garrett credited Davidson as one of the \"powerful performers who daytime TV could not exist without having\". When the truth was going to come out that Faith Newman wasn't Ashley's child, Giddens wrote: \"Lord, I hope this doesn't make my Ashley Abbott go cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs again!\"",
"When the truth was going to come out that Faith Newman wasn't Ashley's child, Giddens wrote: \"Lord, I hope this doesn't make my Ashley Abbott go cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs again!\" Mike Jubinville of Zap2it wrote that the character's relationship with Neil Winters (Kristoff St. John) had been a \"slow burn, one going on for weeks, but one that is hard to miss. It has the ingredients of a hot romance.\"",
"It has the ingredients of a hot romance.\" It has the ingredients of a hot romance.\" Upon Davidson's firing in 2012, Giddens wrote: \"I am sincerely hoping the brass at Y&R can't possibly be this stupid, but if they are, Gary Tomlin better blow up Davidson's phone STAT about a Days of Our Lives return!\"",
"Upon Davidson's firing in 2012, Giddens wrote: \"I am sincerely hoping the brass at Y&R can't possibly be this stupid, but if they are, Gary Tomlin better blow up Davidson's phone STAT about a Days of Our Lives return!\" References External links Ashley Abbott character profile on SoapCentral The Young and the Restless characters The Bold and the Beautiful characters Television characters introduced in 1982 Fictional business executives Fictional female businesspeople Fictional socialites Fictional characters with cancer Fictional characters with neurological or psychological disorders Female characters in television"
] |
[
"Ashley Abbott",
"Casting",
"When was the role cast?",
"Eileen Davidson originated the role of Ashley Abbott in June 1982,",
"Who got that role?",
"Eileen Davidson",
"Did she stay for the duration of the show?",
"Eileen Davidson originated the role of Ashley Abbott in June 1982, until her first exit on December 2, 1988.",
"who replaced Eileen?",
"The role was immediately recast with Brenda Epperson,"
] | C_20c1c5d2fb2d47d8ab5679defff7dfd1_1 | what year was this? | 5 | what year was Brenda Epperson cast as Ashley Abbott? | Ashley Abbott | Eileen Davidson originated the role of Ashley Abbott in June 1982, until her first exit on December 2, 1988. The role was immediately recast with Brenda Epperson, who portrayed Ashley for seven years from December 5, 1988 before leaving the role on December 21, 1995. Shari Shattuck then assumed the role from March 12, 1996 to February 22, 1999, with Davidson returning on March 19, 1999. Davidson took maternity leave in the summer of 2003. In 2006, news broke that Davidson was to exit the soap opera, and she last aired on January 11, 2007. She then carried the role of Ashley over to the show's sister soap, The Bold and the Beautiful. She last aired on The Bold and the Beautiful on July 4, 2008, before returning to The Young and the Restless on September 25, 2008. In May 2012, Davidson informed followers on her Twitter page that she had been let go from The Young and the Restless. Davidson further confirmed she did not know why she was let go, but was seeing the positive light from it. It was then announced by Nelson Branco that Sony Pictures Entertainment wanted Davidson on both The Young and the Restless and Days of Our Lives, but that Y&R would not share the actress, leading to Sony terminating her contract with the soap. Thus it was announced that Davidson would reprise her role as Kristen Blake on the NBC soap. Davidson made her onscreen exit on August 3, 2012. Speaking about her upcoming return to Days and departure from the show with TV Guide, Davidson stated: "What happened to me at Y&R was shocking -- I've been in this business a very long time and have never seen anything like it -- but it's not like I haven't been fired before." She also went on to say that "I was led to believe that I was fired, though it was a bad news-good news thing -- the bad news is Y&R is firing you, the good news is Days wants you." In February 2013, it was announced that Davidson would return to The Young and the Restless for "very special episodes" that would commemorate the show's 40th anniversary. In spite of this, the actress remained a part of Days of our Lives full-time. In August 2013, following the announcement of Davidson's departure from Days of our Lives, it was announced that she would again reprise the role for three episodes airing in October, later returning for additional guest appearances. In June 2014, it was announced that Davidson had signed a two-year contract with The Young and the Restless to appear as a regular cast member again, and would return to the series in September. Davidson also revealed her contract would allow for her to continue making appearances on Days of Our Lives. CANNOTANSWER | Brenda Epperson, who portrayed Ashley for seven years from December 5, 1988 | Ashley Abbott is a fictional character from The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful, two American soap operas on the CBS network. She has been most notably portrayed by Eileen Davidson, who originated the role on June 11, 1982, before departing in 1988. Brenda Epperson portrayed Ashley from 1988 to 1995, before Shari Shattuck portrayed the role for the next three years, until Davidson's return on March 19, 1999. Davidson was nominated in 2003 for Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, and she later won that award in 2018.
The character is the daughter of Dina Mergeron and Brent Davis, although she believed John Abbott was her biological father until she reached adulthood. She has had relationships with various men throughout the years, most notably Steven Lassiter, Victor Newman, Blade Bladeson, Cole Howard and Brad Carlton. She has a daughter with Victor, Abby Newman. She is also known for her business contributions to her father's company, Jabot Cosmetics, much like her brother Jack. In 2006, it was announced that Davidson was to leave The Young and the Restless. She last appeared on January 11, 2007. Shortly after, the character crossed over to its sister soap, The Bold and the Beautiful. There, she became intertwined with the Forresters and Forrester Creations; she also had a romance with Ridge Forrester. She left The Bold and the Beautiful in 2008 and returned to The Young and the Restless, where she has since had relationships with Victor once again and Tucker McCall.
In May 2012, it was announced that Davidson was let go from The Young and the Restless, leading to her exit on August 3, 2012. Davidson initially hadn't known why, but it was reported later that Sony Pictures Television terminated her contract with the show for her to return to Days of Our Lives as Kristen DiMera, a character she had portrayed there over 14 years prior. Davidson made a brief return to The Young and the Restless in March 2013 for the soap's 40th anniversary. After subsequent guest appearances, Davidson returned to The Young and the Restless on September 3, 2014, as a series regular. In 2018, Davidson again exited the role; she returned in March 2019, following the installment of head writer Josh Griffith.
Casting
Eileen Davidson originated the role of Ashley Abbott on June 11, 1982, until her first exit on December 2, 1988. The role was immediately recast with Brenda Epperson, who portrayed Ashley for seven years from December 5, 1988, before leaving the role on December 21, 1995. Shari Shattuck then assumed the role from March 21, 1996, to February 22, 1999, with Davidson returning on March 19, 1999. Davidson took maternity leave in the summer of 2003. In 2006, news broke that Davidson was to exit the soap opera, and she last aired on January 11, 2007. She then carried the role of Ashley over to the show's sister soap, The Bold and the Beautiful. On September 25, 2008, Davidson returned to The Young and the Restless, and subsequently made one final appearance on The Bold and the Beautiful on November 25 of the same year when Ashley resigned from her position at Forrester Creations.
In May 2012, Davidson informed followers on her Twitter page that she had been let go from The Young and the Restless. Davidson further confirmed she did not know why she was let go, but was seeing the positive light from it. It was then announced by Nelson Branco that Sony Pictures Entertainment wanted Davidson on both The Young and the Restless and Days of Our Lives, but that Y&R would not share the actress, leading to Sony terminating her contract with the soap. Thus it was announced that Davidson would reprise her role as Kristen Blake on the NBC soap. Davidson made her onscreen exit on August 3, 2012. Speaking about her upcoming return to Days and departure from the show with TV Guide, Davidson stated: "What happened to me at Y&R was shocking — I've been in this business a very long time and have never seen anything like it — but it's not like I haven't been fired before." She also went on to say that "I was led to believe that I was fired, though it was a bad news-good news thing — the bad news is Y&R is firing you, the good news is Days wants you." In February 2013, it was announced that Davidson would return to The Young and the Restless for "very special episodes" that would commemorate the show's 40th anniversary. In spite of this, the actress remained a part of Days of our Lives full-time.
In August 2013, following the announcement of Davidson's departure from Days of our Lives, it was announced that she would again reprise the role for three episodes airing in October, later returning for a guest appearance on November 27 and December 2, 2013. In June 2014, it was announced that Davidson had signed a two-year contract with The Young and the Restless to appear as a regular cast member again, and would return to the series in September. Davidson also revealed her contract would allow for her to continue making appearances on Days of Our Lives.
In 2018, Julia D'Arcy Badinger portrayed a younger Ashley in flashbacks. That June, Daytime Confidential broke news that Davidson had quit the role. Davidson last appeared in the role on October 29, 2018. On February 25, 2019, Davidson announced she would return to the role for several appearances; first airing on March 29, 2019. Since then, she has remained on the show on a recurring status.
Character development
Davidson describes Ashley as a "dynamic character". She has been characterized as "sassy" yet an "honorable heroine". The Record describes Ashley as "headstrong". She is recognized for her unluckiness and long-term suffering. Davidson stated, "She is a heroine. So often she was being victimized by people and trying to always rise above that, and being driven insane and losing babies, etc." In 1990, The Washington Times described Ashley as a "smart woman", known for her "level head" and "business success". Ashley is dedicated to her work and has a strong sense of family. She is a beloved member of the Genoa City community. Her passion for the family business, Jabot Cosmetics, cost Ashley her marriage to Cole Howard (J. Eddie Peck).
Ashley has been involved in a number of different romantic relationships over her duration on the series. Her relationship with Brad Carlton (Don Diamont) came as a shock, due to Brad being beneath her socially. Epperson, who played Ashley at the time, was uncertain of Ashley and Brad's decision to get married.
Davidson opined that a storyline in which Victor's son Adam Newman (Michael Muhney) gaslighted a pregnant Ashley in 2009 was payback for Ashley stealing Victor's sperm years ago to conceive Abby. She stated: "I think the character really suffered after she stole Victor's sperm from Diane [...] After that, the viewers lost a lot of respect for Ashley. People wanted Ashley to pay for it. My opinion? Although last summer's gaslighting storyline was used to propel a lot of other stories, it was also about making Ashley pay. Now we can close that entire chapter because Ashley paid. It was Ashley's redemption". Around this story arc, Tommy Garrett of Canyon News described Ashley as a "damsel in distress", stating that she had a "twisted mind" due to suffering a hysterical pregnancy after losing her unborn child at the hands of Adam.
Following the death of John, Jack works desperately to remove his wife Gloria Abbott (Judith Chapman) from the family, even illegally making changes to John's will. Explaining Ashley's ambivalence towards the situation, Davidson stated: "Just because you don't like somebody doesn't mean you should do something illegal [...] The point is, their father loved her. And even if they don't like her, they have to honor what he wanted. Ashley never wanted to do anything that went against her father's wishes." The actress stated that Ashley "just wants" Jack to "do the right thing".
Storylines
Ashley is born on April 29, 1960, to John Abbott, Sr. (Brett Halsey, later Jerry Douglas) and Dina Abbott Mergeron (Marla Adams). Twenty-two years later, after completing college, Ashley returns to Genoa City and applies for a job as a lab chemist at Jabot Cosmetics, the family company, using the name Susan Ashley so she will be hired for her skills, not her family connections. She takes over as president of the company after her brother Jack Abbott (Terry Lester, later Peter Bergman) is shot on his one-year anniversary by his wife, Patty Williams. Ashley commences an unlucky streak of relationships; starting with French artist Eric Garrison, who slept with her mother, and Marc Mergeron, who is revealed to be her former stepbrother. Capitalizing on her unluckiness, it is revealed that Ashley's biological father is Brent Davis, not John Abbott, who remains unaware of Ashley's true paternity. Trauma leads Ashley to become missing with amnesia, where she is found by business tycoon Victor Newman (Eric Braeden), who takes her back to Genoa City. Ashley has an affair with Victor, who is married to Nikki Newman (Melody Thomas Scott). To spite Ashley, Nikki engages in an affair with Jack and tries to have Victor's brother, Matt Miller, unsuccessfully seduce Ashley. Ultimately, Victor chooses to be with Ashley, angering Nikki. When Ashley falls pregnant with Victor's child, Nikki is diagnosed with cancer, causing Victor to leave Ashley, who secretly has an abortion. Ashley suffers a mental breakdown, before marrying her psychiatrist Steven Lassiter (Rod Arrants). Steven's former patient Leanna Randolph (Barbara Crampton) stalks the couple and attempts to destroy Ashley. She writes a biography about Victor that exposes information about his dysfunctional relationship with Ashley. Steven is later shot and killed by an unstable patient.
Following a short affair with Brad Carlton (Don Diamont), Ashley marries Victor. The marriage suffers because of Nikki's ongoing problems as well as Victor's daughter Victoria Newman's (Heather Tom) constant schemes to break them up. After her divorce from Victor, Ashley falls in love with Jabot's mysterious photographer Blade Bladeson (Michael Tylo), and they get married. Blade's vengeful twin brother Rick Bladeson arrives in town, holds Blade hostage and impersonates him. Eventually, Ashley and Blade's marriage ends. She then falls romantically for Kurt Costner (Leigh McCloskey), who is shot saving her from muggers. The romance is short-lived, as Kurt leaves Ashley to be with Victor's ex-wife Hope Wilson (Signy Coleman). Ashley nearly engages in an affair with Victoria's husband Cole Howard (J. Eddie Peck), an author who is writing a novel about her life, which requires them to spend time together. After Victoria's pregnancy results in a stillborn baby, Cole divorces her and marries Ashley. The marriage suffers a rough patch when Ashley travels to Madrid to help her stepbrother Rafael Delgado (Carlos Bernard), who is dealing with dangerous customers after selling them forged paintings. Cole assumes that she is having an affair with Rafael, unaware of who he is. During this, Victoria attempts to sabotage the marriage. Ultimately, upon Ashley's return to Genoa City, the couple divorce.
By 2000, one of Jack's former lovers and Victor's latest ex-wife, Diane Jenkins (Alex Donnelley) steals Victor's sperm from a sperm bank, though Nikki switches the sample with Jack's sperm. Ashley then steals Victor's sperm and impregnates herself, claiming that the father is a stranger; this was to make up for the abortion she had years prior. She then marries Brad Carlton and gives birth to Abby Carlton, who is raised to believe she is the daughter of Brad. Ashley is diagnosed with breast cancer, and feeling that she may not have time left, she confesses the truth about Abby's paternity to Victor. Brad and Ashley split, though are brought together when she becomes pregnant with their child. Stress over the battle between Jabot and Newman Enterprises causes her to leave town. While she is driving back, she is involved in a car accident, killing the unborn child. Victor is blamed for the child's death. Brad and Ashley's marriage continues to diminish and they are divorced. Tom Fisher (Roscoe Born), the dangerous ex-husband of John's wife Gloria Abbott (Judith Chapman), arrives in town. To protect his family, John shoots and kills Tom. Ashley covers this up by confessing to the crime herself, though John soon confesses himself, and is jailed for seven years. Gloria contaminates Ashley's new line of beauty cream, which causes a woman to die. John suffers a heart attack following his release from prison, and passes away. Jack removes Gloria from the family, and Ashley leaves town to escape the drama. During a business trip to France, Ashley meets Rick Forrester (Kyle Lowder), and they have an affair. She later travels to Los Angeles to work with Forrester Creations as a lab chemist. Rick and Ashley decide to keep their affair a secret, and she commences a serious relationship with Ridge Forrester (Ronn Moss), whom she becomes engaged to. Ridge's attentiveness to his former love Brooke Logan (Katherine Kelly Lang) ends the engagement. Ashley then has a short-lived romance with Brooke's brother Storm (William deVry). Forrester Creations decide to discontinue their fragrance line, diminishing Ashley's role in the company. She leaves Los Angeles and moves to Europe with Abby.
Ashley locates a missing Victor in France, where they reunite. Upon their return to Genoa City as a couple, they are married and Ashley becomes pregnant. Victor's manipulative son Adam Newman (Michael Muhney) gas lights Ashley, making her believe that she is seeing the ghost of Victor's late wife, Sabrina Newman. Adam causes Ashley to fall down a staircase and lose her baby, though he convinces her that this was a dream, and she suffers from an hysterical pregnancy. Ashley checks herself into a psychiatric hospital where Sharon Newman (Sharon Case), also pregnant, is staying. After Ashley begins experiencing hysterical labor, Adam kidnaps Sharon's newborn baby Faith Newman and gives her to Ashley, with Sharon believing her baby was stillborn. In the ensuing months, Sharon marries Adam and develops a close friendship with Ashley. Six months after Faith is born, the doctor that delivered her (who was being blackmailed by Adam) confesses the truth in a letter. Ashley is forced to hand Faith over to Sharon and the child's father, Victor's son Nicholas Newman (Joshua Morrow). Ashley moves on with her life, and becomes engaged to wealthy tycoon Tucker McCall (Stephen Nichols). Prior to their engagement, he slept with Diane Jenkins (Maura West). They briefly split up because of Tucker's secret business plans with Jack, but reunite shortly thereafter. Abby accidentally runs over Tucker with her car, and Ashley protects her by taking the blame. She is accused of attempted murder and driving under the influence. All charges are ultimately dropped, and she marries Tucker. Their marriage quickly lands in divorce because of Tucker's business scheming and his affair with a previous lover, Harmony Hamilton. Ashley is later forced out as CEO of Jabot by Jack, and Ashley decides to move to New York City with Traci. She returns briefly a few months later for the wedding of Victor and Nikki. Months later, Ashley returns for the funeral of her niece Delia Abbott and comforts her brother Billy on his loss. She returns later to spend Thanksgiving with her family. While there, she sprained her ankle and met Dr. Stitch Rayburn (Sean Carrigan). Abby pushed for a romance, but Ashley reminded her that Stitch was married and had a young son.
In town for Abby and Tyler's engagement party, Ashley left early to drop by the hospital and "run into" Dr. Rayburn. But she found Victoria waiting for him to take her on a date. Ashley reminded her that she'd only been separated a week. When Ben arrived, Victoria was jealously catty, informing Ben that Ashley was her former stepmother.
In September 2014, Ashley did not show up in Genoa City after calling a meeting among the major Jabot stockholders, Jack, Billy, Traci, and Abby. Jack phoned her, and she explained that she was working on a special project, but had decided it was not yet ready to present to them.
The following month, Ashley returned and confirmed that her idea was for a revolutionary new fragrance, and she made a deal with Jack to become Co-CEO of Jabot again if it panned out. Abby had been treating Ben Rayburn nasty and spiteful ever since she found out that he had killed his father as a teen and taken someone else's identity to get his degree in medicine, and broken Victoria's heart. So Abby was shocked when Ashley hired Ben as a chemist for Jabot, despite Abby's objections. Ashley returned to New York City to wrap things up, tasking a reluctant Abby with bringing Ben up to speed on the cosmetics industry. Before she left, she consoled Billy that maybe she could help keep Ben away from Victoria for him.
On Ashley's return, she asked Ben to smell the new fragrance, he found it repulsive, but he kissed her. Ashley revealed that the fragrance contained pheromones, was a love potion, and the kiss had proven it. What she needed was his help to make the scent bearable. Later after Ben was arrested for fraud by a former patient, Ashley bailed him out. She confided in Ben, that she too had taken a murder rap for someone she loved. Ashley asked him to accompany her to Madison on business.
Ben showed up in Ashley's office drunk after seeing Billy and Victoria snuggling with their baby. Ashley threw him in the shower to sober him up, and he pulled her in too. They had sex, and Stitch spent the night. The next day, they agreed to tell no one after Ben found out that he still had a chance with Victoria.
Victor invited Ashley to lunch and tried to get her to take a deal to leave Jabot and work for him at Newman-Chancellor. But Ashley declined and left early, arriving back at the lab in time to see her lab assistant Tobias taking photos of their secret work. She guessed that he was working for Victor, and decided to let him continue to feed him bogus information. Ashley runs into Joe Clark at the athletic club. After referring to them having a good thing going back in New York City, they made plans to spend New Year's Eve together. In May 2017, Ashley's mother Dina came for a "permanent" visit. In October 2017, Dina exposed that John Abbott wasn't Ashley's father. Ashley leaves Genoa City in October 2018, following a series of events that leave her feeling alienated from both the Abbott family and Jabot, following the discovery that John and Dina left legal documents leaving all of Ashley's product patents to her; she confesses she's leaving for Paris to launch her own company with said-patents.
Reception
Jamey Giddens of Zap2it described Davidson as "one of Genoa City's most beloved heroines". Upon learning of Davidson's return to the role in 1999, Candace Havens of the McCook Daily Gazette declared that it was her who made Ashley "one of the most popular characters on soaps". In October 1999, when all of the Abbott siblings and their father John were together again, the Orlando Sentinel wrote: "In the meantime, having the entire Abbott clan together [...] is like a joyous family reunion for longtime viewers". John Goudas of The Gadsden Times was favorable of Epperson's performance two years into her duration, stating that she "is holding her own", though he noted her to be "Eileen's double". He stated that the front-burner status of Ashley and Brad's romantic storyline demonstrated that producer William J. Bell "has full confidence in [Epperson]".
The character has had a rivalry with Nikki Newman (Melody Thomas Scott) for many years; a poll run in 2008 by website Daytime Confidential asking, "Who would win a cat fight, Nikki Newman or Ashley Abbott?", saw 63% of voters say Nikki would win, with 37% saying Ashley would win. Giddens was favorable of Ashley running Jabot Cosmetics in 2008, writing: "Okay this has to stop. My heart simply can't take it. It's like the effects of yo-yo dieting. Everytime I sincerely think I am done with this genre, something like The Young and the Restless heiress Ashley Abbott (Eileen Davidson) announcing that she, not Lil' Billy (Billy Miller), not Cruella de Bardwell (Judith Chapman) or Gary Ewing (Ted Shackelford) and no, not even Smilin' Jack (Peter Bergman) will be running Jabot Cosmetics, happens." In 2009, Jillian Bowe (also of Zap2it) wondered if Ashley was "insane in the membrane" due to her hearing a crying child around the Newman ranch, writing: "Is "The Beauty" starting to crack up? Certainly looks that when some freaky things take place on The Young and the Restless."
In 2010, Tommy Garrett of Canyon News praised a scene in which Ashley discovers a sex tape made by her spoiled daughter, Abby, that was posted online. Garrett wrote: "Davidson's performance is spot on as the mother Ashley who is fed up. The tears of despair and exhaustion came streaming down Davidson's beautiful face in character, while her spit-fire daughter didn't give a damn." Giddens later wrote that he thought it was "ridiculous" and "outlandish" to make Ashley pregnant with Victor's child in 2009. Also in 2010, Neeketa Borden of Zap2it created a list of "curiously quirky couplings", with Ashley and Tucker listed as an "honorable mention". In a separate review, Garrett credited Davidson as one of the "powerful performers who daytime TV could not exist without having". When the truth was going to come out that Faith Newman wasn't Ashley's child, Giddens wrote: "Lord, I hope this doesn't make my Ashley Abbott go cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs again!" Mike Jubinville of Zap2it wrote that the character's relationship with Neil Winters (Kristoff St. John) had been a "slow burn, one going on for weeks, but one that is hard to miss. It has the ingredients of a hot romance." Upon Davidson's firing in 2012, Giddens wrote: "I am sincerely hoping the brass at Y&R can't possibly be this stupid, but if they are, Gary Tomlin better blow up Davidson's phone STAT about a Days of Our Lives return!"
References
External links
Ashley Abbott character profile on SoapCentral
The Young and the Restless characters
The Bold and the Beautiful characters
Television characters introduced in 1982
Fictional business executives
Fictional female businesspeople
Fictional socialites
Fictional characters with cancer
Fictional characters with neurological or psychological disorders
Female characters in television | true | [
"\"This Is What It Feels Like\" is a song by Dutch DJ and record producer Armin van Buuren, featuring Canadian singer, songwriter and former soulDecision frontman Trevor Guthrie, released in the Netherlands by Armada Music on 29 April 2013 as the second single from van Buuren's fifth studio album, Intense (2013).\n\n\"This Is What It Feels Like\" peaked at number three on the Dutch Top 40. Outside the Netherlands, \"This Is What It Feels Like\" peaked within the top ten of the charts in ten countries, including Austria, Belgium (Flanders), Canada, Israel and the United Kingdom.\n\nThe song was written by Armin van Buuren, Benno de Goeij, Jenson Vaughan, Trevor Guthrie and John Ewbank. Van Buuren wrote the instrumental with de Goeij and Ewbank in 2012. Trevor Guthrie wrote the lyrics with Jenson Vaughan, and it was inspired by Guthrie's neighbour who was diagnosed with a brain tumor. \"This Is What It Feels Like\" was nominated for the 2014 Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording. The song was featured in the intro for a 2019 episode of America's Got Talent.\n\nMusic video\nA music video to accompany the release of \"This is What It Feels Like\" was first released onto YouTube on 17 March 2013. The video also features a guest appearance by Ron Jeremy. As of September 2017, it has received over 100 million views, making it the fifth most viewed video on Armada Music's YouTube channel.\n\nTrack listing\n Digital downloads\n \"This Is What It Feels Like\" – 3:25\n \"This Is What It Feels Like\" (extended mix) – 5:16\n \"This Is What It Feels Like\" (W&W remix) – 6:16\n \"This Is What It Feels Like\" (David Guetta remix) – 5:28\n \"This Is What It Feels Like\" (Antillas and Dankann remix) – 5:44\n \"This Is What It Feels Like\" (Antillas and Dankann radio edit) – 3:34\n \"This Is What It Feels Like\" (Giuseppe Ottaviani remix) – 6:38\n \"This Is What It Feels Like\" (Giuseppe Ottaviani radio edit) – 3:55\n \"This Is What It Feels Like\" (John Ewbank classical remix) – 3:12\n UK CD single\n \"This Is What It Feels Like\" – 3:25\n \"This Is What It Feels Like\" (extended mix) – 5:16\n \"This Is What It Feels Like\" (W&W remix) – 6:16\n \"Waiting for the Night\" – 3:03\n German CD single\n \"This Is What It Feels Like\" – 3:25\n \"This Is What It Feels Like\" (David Guetta remix) – 5:28\n\n Maddix remix\n \"This Is What It Feels Like\" (Maddix remix) – 3:50\n \"This Is What It Feels Like\" (Maddix extended mix) – 4:50\n\nCharts\n\nWeekly charts\n\nYear-end charts\n\nCertifications\n\nRelease history\n\nJason Benoit version\n\n\"This Is What It Feels Like\" was covered by Canadian country music artist Jason Benoit and released through Sky Hit Records, under license to Sony Music Canada, as Benoit's debut single on 10 September 2013. His rendition reached number 46 on the Billboard Canada Country chart. It received positive reviews for Benoit's \"strong vocal performance\" was also included on the compilation album, Country Heat 2014.\n\nMusic video\nAn official lyric video was uploaded to Benoit's Vevo channel on 4 October 2013.\n\nChart performance\n\nReferences\n\n2013 singles\n2013 songs\nArmin van Buuren songs\nArmada Music singles\nJuno Award for Dance Recording of the Year recordings\nSongs written by Armin van Buuren\nSongs written by Benno de Goeij\nSongs written by Jenson Vaughan\nSongs written by Trevor Guthrie\nTrevor Guthrie songs",
"The What A Summer Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in January at Laurel Park Racecourse in Laurel, Maryland. The race is open to fillies and mares four years old and up and is run at six furlongs on the dirt.\n\nAn ungraded stakes race, it offers a purse of $100,000. The race was restricted to Maryland-breds between 1978 and 1992. It was run for fillies and mares from age three and up from 1978 through 1985 and was run under handicap conditions during that same time. The race was restricted to two-year-olds from 1985 to 1992.\n\nThe race was named in honor of What A Summer, a gray mare by What Luck. She was an Eclipse Award winner and was named American Champion Sprint Horse in 1977. She was bred in Maryland by Milton Polinger. What A Summer was a foal in 1973 and won 18 of 31 starts in her career. She won the de facto second leg of the filly Triple Crown, the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes, won the Fall Highweight Handicap twice (carrying 134 pounds each time), the Silver Spoon Handicap twice, the Maskette Handicap and four other stakes. In addition to her 18 wins, she placed nine times with earnings of $479,161. That record of 27 first or second finishes in 31 starts at 87% is among the best in history.\n\nWhat A Summer was trained by Bud Delp while racing for Polinger. She was bought by Diana Firestone following Polinger's death in 1976. Mrs. Firestone turned the mare over to trainer LeRoy Jolley. She was named Maryland-bred horse of the year in 1977 and twice was named champion older mare. What A Summer was retired in 1878 and as a broodmare produced several graded stakes winners.\n\nA venue of 1994 race was Gulfstream Park.\n\nRecords \n\nSpeed record: \n 6 furlongs – 1:09.20 – Xtra Heat (2003) \n 7 furlongs – 1:23.60 – Sea Siren (1983)\n\nMost wins by an horse:\n 2 – Silmaril (2006 & 2007)\n 2 – Sweet on Smokey (2016 & 2017)\n\nMost wins by an owner:\n 3 – Stephen E. Quick (1982, 2007 & 2008)\n\nMost wins by a jockey:\n 2 – five different jockeys share this record with 2 wins each\n\nMost wins by a trainer:\n 3 – Christopher W. Grove (2007, 2008 & 2010)\n\nWinners of the What A Summer Stakes since 1978\n\nSee also \n\n What A Summer Stakes top three finishers\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Laurel Park website\n\n1978 establishments in Maryland\nLaurel Park Racecourse\nHorse races in Maryland\nRecurring sporting events established in 1978"
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"Ashley Abbott is a fictional character from The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful, two American soap operas on the CBS network. She has been most notably portrayed by Eileen Davidson, who originated the role on June 11, 1982, before departing in 1988. Brenda Epperson portrayed Ashley from 1988 to 1995, before Shari Shattuck portrayed the role for the next three years, until Davidson's return on March 19, 1999.",
"Brenda Epperson portrayed Ashley from 1988 to 1995, before Shari Shattuck portrayed the role for the next three years, until Davidson's return on March 19, 1999. Davidson was nominated in 2003 for Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, and she later won that award in 2018. The character is the daughter of Dina Mergeron and Brent Davis, although she believed John Abbott was her biological father until she reached adulthood.",
"The character is the daughter of Dina Mergeron and Brent Davis, although she believed John Abbott was her biological father until she reached adulthood. She has had relationships with various men throughout the years, most notably Steven Lassiter, Victor Newman, Blade Bladeson, Cole Howard and Brad Carlton. She has a daughter with Victor, Abby Newman. She is also known for her business contributions to her father's company, Jabot Cosmetics, much like her brother Jack.",
"She is also known for her business contributions to her father's company, Jabot Cosmetics, much like her brother Jack. In 2006, it was announced that Davidson was to leave The Young and the Restless. She last appeared on January 11, 2007. Shortly after, the character crossed over to its sister soap, The Bold and the Beautiful. There, she became intertwined with the Forresters and Forrester Creations; she also had a romance with Ridge Forrester.",
"There, she became intertwined with the Forresters and Forrester Creations; she also had a romance with Ridge Forrester. She left The Bold and the Beautiful in 2008 and returned to The Young and the Restless, where she has since had relationships with Victor once again and Tucker McCall. In May 2012, it was announced that Davidson was let go from The Young and the Restless, leading to her exit on August 3, 2012.",
"In May 2012, it was announced that Davidson was let go from The Young and the Restless, leading to her exit on August 3, 2012. Davidson initially hadn't known why, but it was reported later that Sony Pictures Television terminated her contract with the show for her to return to Days of Our Lives as Kristen DiMera, a character she had portrayed there over 14 years prior. Davidson made a brief return to The Young and the Restless in March 2013 for the soap's 40th anniversary.",
"Davidson made a brief return to The Young and the Restless in March 2013 for the soap's 40th anniversary. After subsequent guest appearances, Davidson returned to The Young and the Restless on September 3, 2014, as a series regular. In 2018, Davidson again exited the role; she returned in March 2019, following the installment of head writer Josh Griffith. Casting Eileen Davidson originated the role of Ashley Abbott on June 11, 1982, until her first exit on December 2, 1988.",
"Casting Eileen Davidson originated the role of Ashley Abbott on June 11, 1982, until her first exit on December 2, 1988. The role was immediately recast with Brenda Epperson, who portrayed Ashley for seven years from December 5, 1988, before leaving the role on December 21, 1995. Shari Shattuck then assumed the role from March 21, 1996, to February 22, 1999, with Davidson returning on March 19, 1999. Davidson took maternity leave in the summer of 2003.",
"Davidson took maternity leave in the summer of 2003. Davidson took maternity leave in the summer of 2003. In 2006, news broke that Davidson was to exit the soap opera, and she last aired on January 11, 2007. She then carried the role of Ashley over to the show's sister soap, The Bold and the Beautiful.",
"She then carried the role of Ashley over to the show's sister soap, The Bold and the Beautiful. On September 25, 2008, Davidson returned to The Young and the Restless, and subsequently made one final appearance on The Bold and the Beautiful on November 25 of the same year when Ashley resigned from her position at Forrester Creations. In May 2012, Davidson informed followers on her Twitter page that she had been let go from The Young and the Restless.",
"In May 2012, Davidson informed followers on her Twitter page that she had been let go from The Young and the Restless. Davidson further confirmed she did not know why she was let go, but was seeing the positive light from it. It was then announced by Nelson Branco that Sony Pictures Entertainment wanted Davidson on both The Young and the Restless and Days of Our Lives, but that Y&R would not share the actress, leading to Sony terminating her contract with the soap.",
"It was then announced by Nelson Branco that Sony Pictures Entertainment wanted Davidson on both The Young and the Restless and Days of Our Lives, but that Y&R would not share the actress, leading to Sony terminating her contract with the soap. Thus it was announced that Davidson would reprise her role as Kristen Blake on the NBC soap. Davidson made her onscreen exit on August 3, 2012.",
"Davidson made her onscreen exit on August 3, 2012. Speaking about her upcoming return to Days and departure from the show with TV Guide, Davidson stated: \"What happened to me at Y&R was shocking — I've been in this business a very long time and have never seen anything like it — but it's not like I haven't been fired before.\"",
"Speaking about her upcoming return to Days and departure from the show with TV Guide, Davidson stated: \"What happened to me at Y&R was shocking — I've been in this business a very long time and have never seen anything like it — but it's not like I haven't been fired before.\" She also went on to say that \"I was led to believe that I was fired, though it was a bad news-good news thing — the bad news is Y&R is firing you, the good news is Days wants you.\"",
"She also went on to say that \"I was led to believe that I was fired, though it was a bad news-good news thing — the bad news is Y&R is firing you, the good news is Days wants you.\" In February 2013, it was announced that Davidson would return to The Young and the Restless for \"very special episodes\" that would commemorate the show's 40th anniversary. In spite of this, the actress remained a part of Days of our Lives full-time.",
"In spite of this, the actress remained a part of Days of our Lives full-time. In August 2013, following the announcement of Davidson's departure from Days of our Lives, it was announced that she would again reprise the role for three episodes airing in October, later returning for a guest appearance on November 27 and December 2, 2013.",
"In August 2013, following the announcement of Davidson's departure from Days of our Lives, it was announced that she would again reprise the role for three episodes airing in October, later returning for a guest appearance on November 27 and December 2, 2013. In June 2014, it was announced that Davidson had signed a two-year contract with The Young and the Restless to appear as a regular cast member again, and would return to the series in September.",
"In June 2014, it was announced that Davidson had signed a two-year contract with The Young and the Restless to appear as a regular cast member again, and would return to the series in September. Davidson also revealed her contract would allow for her to continue making appearances on Days of Our Lives. In 2018, Julia D'Arcy Badinger portrayed a younger Ashley in flashbacks. That June, Daytime Confidential broke news that Davidson had quit the role. Davidson last appeared in the role on October 29, 2018.",
"Davidson last appeared in the role on October 29, 2018. On February 25, 2019, Davidson announced she would return to the role for several appearances; first airing on March 29, 2019. Since then, she has remained on the show on a recurring status. Character development Davidson describes Ashley as a \"dynamic character\". She has been characterized as \"sassy\" yet an \"honorable heroine\". The Record describes Ashley as \"headstrong\". She is recognized for her unluckiness and long-term suffering.",
"She is recognized for her unluckiness and long-term suffering. She is recognized for her unluckiness and long-term suffering. Davidson stated, \"She is a heroine. So often she was being victimized by people and trying to always rise above that, and being driven insane and losing babies, etc.\" In 1990, The Washington Times described Ashley as a \"smart woman\", known for her \"level head\" and \"business success\". Ashley is dedicated to her work and has a strong sense of family.",
"Ashley is dedicated to her work and has a strong sense of family. She is a beloved member of the Genoa City community. Her passion for the family business, Jabot Cosmetics, cost Ashley her marriage to Cole Howard (J. Eddie Peck). Ashley has been involved in a number of different romantic relationships over her duration on the series. Her relationship with Brad Carlton (Don Diamont) came as a shock, due to Brad being beneath her socially.",
"Her relationship with Brad Carlton (Don Diamont) came as a shock, due to Brad being beneath her socially. Epperson, who played Ashley at the time, was uncertain of Ashley and Brad's decision to get married. Davidson opined that a storyline in which Victor's son Adam Newman (Michael Muhney) gaslighted a pregnant Ashley in 2009 was payback for Ashley stealing Victor's sperm years ago to conceive Abby.",
"Davidson opined that a storyline in which Victor's son Adam Newman (Michael Muhney) gaslighted a pregnant Ashley in 2009 was payback for Ashley stealing Victor's sperm years ago to conceive Abby. She stated: \"I think the character really suffered after she stole Victor's sperm from Diane [...] After that, the viewers lost a lot of respect for Ashley. People wanted Ashley to pay for it. My opinion?",
"People wanted Ashley to pay for it. My opinion? My opinion? Although last summer's gaslighting storyline was used to propel a lot of other stories, it was also about making Ashley pay. Now we can close that entire chapter because Ashley paid. It was Ashley's redemption\".",
"It was Ashley's redemption\". It was Ashley's redemption\". Around this story arc, Tommy Garrett of Canyon News described Ashley as a \"damsel in distress\", stating that she had a \"twisted mind\" due to suffering a hysterical pregnancy after losing her unborn child at the hands of Adam. Following the death of John, Jack works desperately to remove his wife Gloria Abbott (Judith Chapman) from the family, even illegally making changes to John's will.",
"Following the death of John, Jack works desperately to remove his wife Gloria Abbott (Judith Chapman) from the family, even illegally making changes to John's will. Explaining Ashley's ambivalence towards the situation, Davidson stated: \"Just because you don't like somebody doesn't mean you should do something illegal [...] The point is, their father loved her. And even if they don't like her, they have to honor what he wanted.",
"And even if they don't like her, they have to honor what he wanted. Ashley never wanted to do anything that went against her father's wishes.\" The actress stated that Ashley \"just wants\" Jack to \"do the right thing\". Storylines Ashley is born on April 29, 1960, to John Abbott, Sr. (Brett Halsey, later Jerry Douglas) and Dina Abbott Mergeron (Marla Adams).",
"Storylines Ashley is born on April 29, 1960, to John Abbott, Sr. (Brett Halsey, later Jerry Douglas) and Dina Abbott Mergeron (Marla Adams). Twenty-two years later, after completing college, Ashley returns to Genoa City and applies for a job as a lab chemist at Jabot Cosmetics, the family company, using the name Susan Ashley so she will be hired for her skills, not her family connections.",
"Twenty-two years later, after completing college, Ashley returns to Genoa City and applies for a job as a lab chemist at Jabot Cosmetics, the family company, using the name Susan Ashley so she will be hired for her skills, not her family connections. She takes over as president of the company after her brother Jack Abbott (Terry Lester, later Peter Bergman) is shot on his one-year anniversary by his wife, Patty Williams.",
"She takes over as president of the company after her brother Jack Abbott (Terry Lester, later Peter Bergman) is shot on his one-year anniversary by his wife, Patty Williams. Ashley commences an unlucky streak of relationships; starting with French artist Eric Garrison, who slept with her mother, and Marc Mergeron, who is revealed to be her former stepbrother. Capitalizing on her unluckiness, it is revealed that Ashley's biological father is Brent Davis, not John Abbott, who remains unaware of Ashley's true paternity.",
"Capitalizing on her unluckiness, it is revealed that Ashley's biological father is Brent Davis, not John Abbott, who remains unaware of Ashley's true paternity. Trauma leads Ashley to become missing with amnesia, where she is found by business tycoon Victor Newman (Eric Braeden), who takes her back to Genoa City. Ashley has an affair with Victor, who is married to Nikki Newman (Melody Thomas Scott).",
"Ashley has an affair with Victor, who is married to Nikki Newman (Melody Thomas Scott). To spite Ashley, Nikki engages in an affair with Jack and tries to have Victor's brother, Matt Miller, unsuccessfully seduce Ashley. Ultimately, Victor chooses to be with Ashley, angering Nikki. When Ashley falls pregnant with Victor's child, Nikki is diagnosed with cancer, causing Victor to leave Ashley, who secretly has an abortion.",
"When Ashley falls pregnant with Victor's child, Nikki is diagnosed with cancer, causing Victor to leave Ashley, who secretly has an abortion. Ashley suffers a mental breakdown, before marrying her psychiatrist Steven Lassiter (Rod Arrants). Steven's former patient Leanna Randolph (Barbara Crampton) stalks the couple and attempts to destroy Ashley. She writes a biography about Victor that exposes information about his dysfunctional relationship with Ashley. Steven is later shot and killed by an unstable patient.",
"Steven is later shot and killed by an unstable patient. Following a short affair with Brad Carlton (Don Diamont), Ashley marries Victor. The marriage suffers because of Nikki's ongoing problems as well as Victor's daughter Victoria Newman's (Heather Tom) constant schemes to break them up. After her divorce from Victor, Ashley falls in love with Jabot's mysterious photographer Blade Bladeson (Michael Tylo), and they get married.",
"After her divorce from Victor, Ashley falls in love with Jabot's mysterious photographer Blade Bladeson (Michael Tylo), and they get married. Blade's vengeful twin brother Rick Bladeson arrives in town, holds Blade hostage and impersonates him. Eventually, Ashley and Blade's marriage ends. She then falls romantically for Kurt Costner (Leigh McCloskey), who is shot saving her from muggers. The romance is short-lived, as Kurt leaves Ashley to be with Victor's ex-wife Hope Wilson (Signy Coleman).",
"The romance is short-lived, as Kurt leaves Ashley to be with Victor's ex-wife Hope Wilson (Signy Coleman). Ashley nearly engages in an affair with Victoria's husband Cole Howard (J. Eddie Peck), an author who is writing a novel about her life, which requires them to spend time together. After Victoria's pregnancy results in a stillborn baby, Cole divorces her and marries Ashley.",
"After Victoria's pregnancy results in a stillborn baby, Cole divorces her and marries Ashley. The marriage suffers a rough patch when Ashley travels to Madrid to help her stepbrother Rafael Delgado (Carlos Bernard), who is dealing with dangerous customers after selling them forged paintings. Cole assumes that she is having an affair with Rafael, unaware of who he is. During this, Victoria attempts to sabotage the marriage. Ultimately, upon Ashley's return to Genoa City, the couple divorce.",
"Ultimately, upon Ashley's return to Genoa City, the couple divorce. By 2000, one of Jack's former lovers and Victor's latest ex-wife, Diane Jenkins (Alex Donnelley) steals Victor's sperm from a sperm bank, though Nikki switches the sample with Jack's sperm. Ashley then steals Victor's sperm and impregnates herself, claiming that the father is a stranger; this was to make up for the abortion she had years prior.",
"Ashley then steals Victor's sperm and impregnates herself, claiming that the father is a stranger; this was to make up for the abortion she had years prior. She then marries Brad Carlton and gives birth to Abby Carlton, who is raised to believe she is the daughter of Brad. Ashley is diagnosed with breast cancer, and feeling that she may not have time left, she confesses the truth about Abby's paternity to Victor. Brad and Ashley split, though are brought together when she becomes pregnant with their child.",
"Brad and Ashley split, though are brought together when she becomes pregnant with their child. Stress over the battle between Jabot and Newman Enterprises causes her to leave town. While she is driving back, she is involved in a car accident, killing the unborn child. Victor is blamed for the child's death. Brad and Ashley's marriage continues to diminish and they are divorced. Tom Fisher (Roscoe Born), the dangerous ex-husband of John's wife Gloria Abbott (Judith Chapman), arrives in town.",
"Tom Fisher (Roscoe Born), the dangerous ex-husband of John's wife Gloria Abbott (Judith Chapman), arrives in town. To protect his family, John shoots and kills Tom. Ashley covers this up by confessing to the crime herself, though John soon confesses himself, and is jailed for seven years. Gloria contaminates Ashley's new line of beauty cream, which causes a woman to die. John suffers a heart attack following his release from prison, and passes away.",
"John suffers a heart attack following his release from prison, and passes away. Jack removes Gloria from the family, and Ashley leaves town to escape the drama. During a business trip to France, Ashley meets Rick Forrester (Kyle Lowder), and they have an affair. She later travels to Los Angeles to work with Forrester Creations as a lab chemist. Rick and Ashley decide to keep their affair a secret, and she commences a serious relationship with Ridge Forrester (Ronn Moss), whom she becomes engaged to.",
"Rick and Ashley decide to keep their affair a secret, and she commences a serious relationship with Ridge Forrester (Ronn Moss), whom she becomes engaged to. Ridge's attentiveness to his former love Brooke Logan (Katherine Kelly Lang) ends the engagement. Ashley then has a short-lived romance with Brooke's brother Storm (William deVry). Forrester Creations decide to discontinue their fragrance line, diminishing Ashley's role in the company. She leaves Los Angeles and moves to Europe with Abby.",
"She leaves Los Angeles and moves to Europe with Abby. Ashley locates a missing Victor in France, where they reunite. Upon their return to Genoa City as a couple, they are married and Ashley becomes pregnant. Victor's manipulative son Adam Newman (Michael Muhney) gas lights Ashley, making her believe that she is seeing the ghost of Victor's late wife, Sabrina Newman.",
"Victor's manipulative son Adam Newman (Michael Muhney) gas lights Ashley, making her believe that she is seeing the ghost of Victor's late wife, Sabrina Newman. Adam causes Ashley to fall down a staircase and lose her baby, though he convinces her that this was a dream, and she suffers from an hysterical pregnancy. Ashley checks herself into a psychiatric hospital where Sharon Newman (Sharon Case), also pregnant, is staying.",
"Ashley checks herself into a psychiatric hospital where Sharon Newman (Sharon Case), also pregnant, is staying. After Ashley begins experiencing hysterical labor, Adam kidnaps Sharon's newborn baby Faith Newman and gives her to Ashley, with Sharon believing her baby was stillborn. In the ensuing months, Sharon marries Adam and develops a close friendship with Ashley. Six months after Faith is born, the doctor that delivered her (who was being blackmailed by Adam) confesses the truth in a letter.",
"Six months after Faith is born, the doctor that delivered her (who was being blackmailed by Adam) confesses the truth in a letter. Ashley is forced to hand Faith over to Sharon and the child's father, Victor's son Nicholas Newman (Joshua Morrow). Ashley moves on with her life, and becomes engaged to wealthy tycoon Tucker McCall (Stephen Nichols). Prior to their engagement, he slept with Diane Jenkins (Maura West).",
"Prior to their engagement, he slept with Diane Jenkins (Maura West). They briefly split up because of Tucker's secret business plans with Jack, but reunite shortly thereafter. Abby accidentally runs over Tucker with her car, and Ashley protects her by taking the blame. She is accused of attempted murder and driving under the influence. All charges are ultimately dropped, and she marries Tucker. Their marriage quickly lands in divorce because of Tucker's business scheming and his affair with a previous lover, Harmony Hamilton.",
"Their marriage quickly lands in divorce because of Tucker's business scheming and his affair with a previous lover, Harmony Hamilton. Ashley is later forced out as CEO of Jabot by Jack, and Ashley decides to move to New York City with Traci. She returns briefly a few months later for the wedding of Victor and Nikki. Months later, Ashley returns for the funeral of her niece Delia Abbott and comforts her brother Billy on his loss. She returns later to spend Thanksgiving with her family.",
"She returns later to spend Thanksgiving with her family. She returns later to spend Thanksgiving with her family. While there, she sprained her ankle and met Dr. Stitch Rayburn (Sean Carrigan). Abby pushed for a romance, but Ashley reminded her that Stitch was married and had a young son. In town for Abby and Tyler's engagement party, Ashley left early to drop by the hospital and \"run into\" Dr. Rayburn. But she found Victoria waiting for him to take her on a date.",
"But she found Victoria waiting for him to take her on a date. Ashley reminded her that she'd only been separated a week. When Ben arrived, Victoria was jealously catty, informing Ben that Ashley was her former stepmother. In September 2014, Ashley did not show up in Genoa City after calling a meeting among the major Jabot stockholders, Jack, Billy, Traci, and Abby.",
"In September 2014, Ashley did not show up in Genoa City after calling a meeting among the major Jabot stockholders, Jack, Billy, Traci, and Abby. Jack phoned her, and she explained that she was working on a special project, but had decided it was not yet ready to present to them. The following month, Ashley returned and confirmed that her idea was for a revolutionary new fragrance, and she made a deal with Jack to become Co-CEO of Jabot again if it panned out.",
"The following month, Ashley returned and confirmed that her idea was for a revolutionary new fragrance, and she made a deal with Jack to become Co-CEO of Jabot again if it panned out. Abby had been treating Ben Rayburn nasty and spiteful ever since she found out that he had killed his father as a teen and taken someone else's identity to get his degree in medicine, and broken Victoria's heart. So Abby was shocked when Ashley hired Ben as a chemist for Jabot, despite Abby's objections.",
"So Abby was shocked when Ashley hired Ben as a chemist for Jabot, despite Abby's objections. Ashley returned to New York City to wrap things up, tasking a reluctant Abby with bringing Ben up to speed on the cosmetics industry. Before she left, she consoled Billy that maybe she could help keep Ben away from Victoria for him. On Ashley's return, she asked Ben to smell the new fragrance, he found it repulsive, but he kissed her.",
"On Ashley's return, she asked Ben to smell the new fragrance, he found it repulsive, but he kissed her. Ashley revealed that the fragrance contained pheromones, was a love potion, and the kiss had proven it. What she needed was his help to make the scent bearable. Later after Ben was arrested for fraud by a former patient, Ashley bailed him out. She confided in Ben, that she too had taken a murder rap for someone she loved.",
"She confided in Ben, that she too had taken a murder rap for someone she loved. Ashley asked him to accompany her to Madison on business. Ben showed up in Ashley's office drunk after seeing Billy and Victoria snuggling with their baby. Ashley threw him in the shower to sober him up, and he pulled her in too. They had sex, and Stitch spent the night. The next day, they agreed to tell no one after Ben found out that he still had a chance with Victoria.",
"The next day, they agreed to tell no one after Ben found out that he still had a chance with Victoria. Victor invited Ashley to lunch and tried to get her to take a deal to leave Jabot and work for him at Newman-Chancellor. But Ashley declined and left early, arriving back at the lab in time to see her lab assistant Tobias taking photos of their secret work. She guessed that he was working for Victor, and decided to let him continue to feed him bogus information.",
"She guessed that he was working for Victor, and decided to let him continue to feed him bogus information. Ashley runs into Joe Clark at the athletic club. After referring to them having a good thing going back in New York City, they made plans to spend New Year's Eve together. In May 2017, Ashley's mother Dina came for a \"permanent\" visit. In October 2017, Dina exposed that John Abbott wasn't Ashley's father.",
"In October 2017, Dina exposed that John Abbott wasn't Ashley's father. Ashley leaves Genoa City in October 2018, following a series of events that leave her feeling alienated from both the Abbott family and Jabot, following the discovery that John and Dina left legal documents leaving all of Ashley's product patents to her; she confesses she's leaving for Paris to launch her own company with said-patents. Reception Jamey Giddens of Zap2it described Davidson as \"one of Genoa City's most beloved heroines\".",
"Reception Jamey Giddens of Zap2it described Davidson as \"one of Genoa City's most beloved heroines\". Upon learning of Davidson's return to the role in 1999, Candace Havens of the McCook Daily Gazette declared that it was her who made Ashley \"one of the most popular characters on soaps\".",
"Upon learning of Davidson's return to the role in 1999, Candace Havens of the McCook Daily Gazette declared that it was her who made Ashley \"one of the most popular characters on soaps\". In October 1999, when all of the Abbott siblings and their father John were together again, the Orlando Sentinel wrote: \"In the meantime, having the entire Abbott clan together [...] is like a joyous family reunion for longtime viewers\".",
"In October 1999, when all of the Abbott siblings and their father John were together again, the Orlando Sentinel wrote: \"In the meantime, having the entire Abbott clan together [...] is like a joyous family reunion for longtime viewers\". John Goudas of The Gadsden Times was favorable of Epperson's performance two years into her duration, stating that she \"is holding her own\", though he noted her to be \"Eileen's double\".",
"John Goudas of The Gadsden Times was favorable of Epperson's performance two years into her duration, stating that she \"is holding her own\", though he noted her to be \"Eileen's double\". He stated that the front-burner status of Ashley and Brad's romantic storyline demonstrated that producer William J. Bell \"has full confidence in [Epperson]\".",
"Bell \"has full confidence in [Epperson]\". The character has had a rivalry with Nikki Newman (Melody Thomas Scott) for many years; a poll run in 2008 by website Daytime Confidential asking, \"Who would win a cat fight, Nikki Newman or Ashley Abbott? \", saw 63% of voters say Nikki would win, with 37% saying Ashley would win. Giddens was favorable of Ashley running Jabot Cosmetics in 2008, writing: \"Okay this has to stop.",
"Giddens was favorable of Ashley running Jabot Cosmetics in 2008, writing: \"Okay this has to stop. My heart simply can't take it. It's like the effects of yo-yo dieting.",
"It's like the effects of yo-yo dieting. It's like the effects of yo-yo dieting. Everytime I sincerely think I am done with this genre, something like The Young and the Restless heiress Ashley Abbott (Eileen Davidson) announcing that she, not Lil' Billy (Billy Miller), not Cruella de Bardwell (Judith Chapman) or Gary Ewing (Ted Shackelford) and no, not even Smilin' Jack (Peter Bergman) will be running Jabot Cosmetics, happens.\"",
"Everytime I sincerely think I am done with this genre, something like The Young and the Restless heiress Ashley Abbott (Eileen Davidson) announcing that she, not Lil' Billy (Billy Miller), not Cruella de Bardwell (Judith Chapman) or Gary Ewing (Ted Shackelford) and no, not even Smilin' Jack (Peter Bergman) will be running Jabot Cosmetics, happens.\" In 2009, Jillian Bowe (also of Zap2it) wondered if Ashley was \"insane in the membrane\" due to her hearing a crying child around the Newman ranch, writing: \"Is \"The Beauty\" starting to crack up?",
"In 2009, Jillian Bowe (also of Zap2it) wondered if Ashley was \"insane in the membrane\" due to her hearing a crying child around the Newman ranch, writing: \"Is \"The Beauty\" starting to crack up? Certainly looks that when some freaky things take place on The Young and the Restless.\" In 2010, Tommy Garrett of Canyon News praised a scene in which Ashley discovers a sex tape made by her spoiled daughter, Abby, that was posted online.",
"In 2010, Tommy Garrett of Canyon News praised a scene in which Ashley discovers a sex tape made by her spoiled daughter, Abby, that was posted online. Garrett wrote: \"Davidson's performance is spot on as the mother Ashley who is fed up. The tears of despair and exhaustion came streaming down Davidson's beautiful face in character, while her spit-fire daughter didn't give a damn.\"",
"The tears of despair and exhaustion came streaming down Davidson's beautiful face in character, while her spit-fire daughter didn't give a damn.\" Giddens later wrote that he thought it was \"ridiculous\" and \"outlandish\" to make Ashley pregnant with Victor's child in 2009. Also in 2010, Neeketa Borden of Zap2it created a list of \"curiously quirky couplings\", with Ashley and Tucker listed as an \"honorable mention\".",
"Also in 2010, Neeketa Borden of Zap2it created a list of \"curiously quirky couplings\", with Ashley and Tucker listed as an \"honorable mention\". In a separate review, Garrett credited Davidson as one of the \"powerful performers who daytime TV could not exist without having\". When the truth was going to come out that Faith Newman wasn't Ashley's child, Giddens wrote: \"Lord, I hope this doesn't make my Ashley Abbott go cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs again!\"",
"When the truth was going to come out that Faith Newman wasn't Ashley's child, Giddens wrote: \"Lord, I hope this doesn't make my Ashley Abbott go cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs again!\" Mike Jubinville of Zap2it wrote that the character's relationship with Neil Winters (Kristoff St. John) had been a \"slow burn, one going on for weeks, but one that is hard to miss. It has the ingredients of a hot romance.\"",
"It has the ingredients of a hot romance.\" It has the ingredients of a hot romance.\" Upon Davidson's firing in 2012, Giddens wrote: \"I am sincerely hoping the brass at Y&R can't possibly be this stupid, but if they are, Gary Tomlin better blow up Davidson's phone STAT about a Days of Our Lives return!\"",
"Upon Davidson's firing in 2012, Giddens wrote: \"I am sincerely hoping the brass at Y&R can't possibly be this stupid, but if they are, Gary Tomlin better blow up Davidson's phone STAT about a Days of Our Lives return!\" References External links Ashley Abbott character profile on SoapCentral The Young and the Restless characters The Bold and the Beautiful characters Television characters introduced in 1982 Fictional business executives Fictional female businesspeople Fictional socialites Fictional characters with cancer Fictional characters with neurological or psychological disorders Female characters in television"
] |
[
"Ashley Abbott",
"Casting",
"When was the role cast?",
"Eileen Davidson originated the role of Ashley Abbott in June 1982,",
"Who got that role?",
"Eileen Davidson",
"Did she stay for the duration of the show?",
"Eileen Davidson originated the role of Ashley Abbott in June 1982, until her first exit on December 2, 1988.",
"who replaced Eileen?",
"The role was immediately recast with Brenda Epperson,",
"what year was this?",
"Brenda Epperson, who portrayed Ashley for seven years from December 5, 1988"
] | C_20c1c5d2fb2d47d8ab5679defff7dfd1_1 | Did Eileen ever return? | 6 | Did Eileen Davidson ever return to playing Ashley Abbott? | Ashley Abbott | Eileen Davidson originated the role of Ashley Abbott in June 1982, until her first exit on December 2, 1988. The role was immediately recast with Brenda Epperson, who portrayed Ashley for seven years from December 5, 1988 before leaving the role on December 21, 1995. Shari Shattuck then assumed the role from March 12, 1996 to February 22, 1999, with Davidson returning on March 19, 1999. Davidson took maternity leave in the summer of 2003. In 2006, news broke that Davidson was to exit the soap opera, and she last aired on January 11, 2007. She then carried the role of Ashley over to the show's sister soap, The Bold and the Beautiful. She last aired on The Bold and the Beautiful on July 4, 2008, before returning to The Young and the Restless on September 25, 2008. In May 2012, Davidson informed followers on her Twitter page that she had been let go from The Young and the Restless. Davidson further confirmed she did not know why she was let go, but was seeing the positive light from it. It was then announced by Nelson Branco that Sony Pictures Entertainment wanted Davidson on both The Young and the Restless and Days of Our Lives, but that Y&R would not share the actress, leading to Sony terminating her contract with the soap. Thus it was announced that Davidson would reprise her role as Kristen Blake on the NBC soap. Davidson made her onscreen exit on August 3, 2012. Speaking about her upcoming return to Days and departure from the show with TV Guide, Davidson stated: "What happened to me at Y&R was shocking -- I've been in this business a very long time and have never seen anything like it -- but it's not like I haven't been fired before." She also went on to say that "I was led to believe that I was fired, though it was a bad news-good news thing -- the bad news is Y&R is firing you, the good news is Days wants you." In February 2013, it was announced that Davidson would return to The Young and the Restless for "very special episodes" that would commemorate the show's 40th anniversary. In spite of this, the actress remained a part of Days of our Lives full-time. In August 2013, following the announcement of Davidson's departure from Days of our Lives, it was announced that she would again reprise the role for three episodes airing in October, later returning for additional guest appearances. In June 2014, it was announced that Davidson had signed a two-year contract with The Young and the Restless to appear as a regular cast member again, and would return to the series in September. Davidson also revealed her contract would allow for her to continue making appearances on Days of Our Lives. CANNOTANSWER | Davidson returning on March 19, 1999. | Ashley Abbott is a fictional character from The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful, two American soap operas on the CBS network. She has been most notably portrayed by Eileen Davidson, who originated the role on June 11, 1982, before departing in 1988. Brenda Epperson portrayed Ashley from 1988 to 1995, before Shari Shattuck portrayed the role for the next three years, until Davidson's return on March 19, 1999. Davidson was nominated in 2003 for Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, and she later won that award in 2018.
The character is the daughter of Dina Mergeron and Brent Davis, although she believed John Abbott was her biological father until she reached adulthood. She has had relationships with various men throughout the years, most notably Steven Lassiter, Victor Newman, Blade Bladeson, Cole Howard and Brad Carlton. She has a daughter with Victor, Abby Newman. She is also known for her business contributions to her father's company, Jabot Cosmetics, much like her brother Jack. In 2006, it was announced that Davidson was to leave The Young and the Restless. She last appeared on January 11, 2007. Shortly after, the character crossed over to its sister soap, The Bold and the Beautiful. There, she became intertwined with the Forresters and Forrester Creations; she also had a romance with Ridge Forrester. She left The Bold and the Beautiful in 2008 and returned to The Young and the Restless, where she has since had relationships with Victor once again and Tucker McCall.
In May 2012, it was announced that Davidson was let go from The Young and the Restless, leading to her exit on August 3, 2012. Davidson initially hadn't known why, but it was reported later that Sony Pictures Television terminated her contract with the show for her to return to Days of Our Lives as Kristen DiMera, a character she had portrayed there over 14 years prior. Davidson made a brief return to The Young and the Restless in March 2013 for the soap's 40th anniversary. After subsequent guest appearances, Davidson returned to The Young and the Restless on September 3, 2014, as a series regular. In 2018, Davidson again exited the role; she returned in March 2019, following the installment of head writer Josh Griffith.
Casting
Eileen Davidson originated the role of Ashley Abbott on June 11, 1982, until her first exit on December 2, 1988. The role was immediately recast with Brenda Epperson, who portrayed Ashley for seven years from December 5, 1988, before leaving the role on December 21, 1995. Shari Shattuck then assumed the role from March 21, 1996, to February 22, 1999, with Davidson returning on March 19, 1999. Davidson took maternity leave in the summer of 2003. In 2006, news broke that Davidson was to exit the soap opera, and she last aired on January 11, 2007. She then carried the role of Ashley over to the show's sister soap, The Bold and the Beautiful. On September 25, 2008, Davidson returned to The Young and the Restless, and subsequently made one final appearance on The Bold and the Beautiful on November 25 of the same year when Ashley resigned from her position at Forrester Creations.
In May 2012, Davidson informed followers on her Twitter page that she had been let go from The Young and the Restless. Davidson further confirmed she did not know why she was let go, but was seeing the positive light from it. It was then announced by Nelson Branco that Sony Pictures Entertainment wanted Davidson on both The Young and the Restless and Days of Our Lives, but that Y&R would not share the actress, leading to Sony terminating her contract with the soap. Thus it was announced that Davidson would reprise her role as Kristen Blake on the NBC soap. Davidson made her onscreen exit on August 3, 2012. Speaking about her upcoming return to Days and departure from the show with TV Guide, Davidson stated: "What happened to me at Y&R was shocking — I've been in this business a very long time and have never seen anything like it — but it's not like I haven't been fired before." She also went on to say that "I was led to believe that I was fired, though it was a bad news-good news thing — the bad news is Y&R is firing you, the good news is Days wants you." In February 2013, it was announced that Davidson would return to The Young and the Restless for "very special episodes" that would commemorate the show's 40th anniversary. In spite of this, the actress remained a part of Days of our Lives full-time.
In August 2013, following the announcement of Davidson's departure from Days of our Lives, it was announced that she would again reprise the role for three episodes airing in October, later returning for a guest appearance on November 27 and December 2, 2013. In June 2014, it was announced that Davidson had signed a two-year contract with The Young and the Restless to appear as a regular cast member again, and would return to the series in September. Davidson also revealed her contract would allow for her to continue making appearances on Days of Our Lives.
In 2018, Julia D'Arcy Badinger portrayed a younger Ashley in flashbacks. That June, Daytime Confidential broke news that Davidson had quit the role. Davidson last appeared in the role on October 29, 2018. On February 25, 2019, Davidson announced she would return to the role for several appearances; first airing on March 29, 2019. Since then, she has remained on the show on a recurring status.
Character development
Davidson describes Ashley as a "dynamic character". She has been characterized as "sassy" yet an "honorable heroine". The Record describes Ashley as "headstrong". She is recognized for her unluckiness and long-term suffering. Davidson stated, "She is a heroine. So often she was being victimized by people and trying to always rise above that, and being driven insane and losing babies, etc." In 1990, The Washington Times described Ashley as a "smart woman", known for her "level head" and "business success". Ashley is dedicated to her work and has a strong sense of family. She is a beloved member of the Genoa City community. Her passion for the family business, Jabot Cosmetics, cost Ashley her marriage to Cole Howard (J. Eddie Peck).
Ashley has been involved in a number of different romantic relationships over her duration on the series. Her relationship with Brad Carlton (Don Diamont) came as a shock, due to Brad being beneath her socially. Epperson, who played Ashley at the time, was uncertain of Ashley and Brad's decision to get married.
Davidson opined that a storyline in which Victor's son Adam Newman (Michael Muhney) gaslighted a pregnant Ashley in 2009 was payback for Ashley stealing Victor's sperm years ago to conceive Abby. She stated: "I think the character really suffered after she stole Victor's sperm from Diane [...] After that, the viewers lost a lot of respect for Ashley. People wanted Ashley to pay for it. My opinion? Although last summer's gaslighting storyline was used to propel a lot of other stories, it was also about making Ashley pay. Now we can close that entire chapter because Ashley paid. It was Ashley's redemption". Around this story arc, Tommy Garrett of Canyon News described Ashley as a "damsel in distress", stating that she had a "twisted mind" due to suffering a hysterical pregnancy after losing her unborn child at the hands of Adam.
Following the death of John, Jack works desperately to remove his wife Gloria Abbott (Judith Chapman) from the family, even illegally making changes to John's will. Explaining Ashley's ambivalence towards the situation, Davidson stated: "Just because you don't like somebody doesn't mean you should do something illegal [...] The point is, their father loved her. And even if they don't like her, they have to honor what he wanted. Ashley never wanted to do anything that went against her father's wishes." The actress stated that Ashley "just wants" Jack to "do the right thing".
Storylines
Ashley is born on April 29, 1960, to John Abbott, Sr. (Brett Halsey, later Jerry Douglas) and Dina Abbott Mergeron (Marla Adams). Twenty-two years later, after completing college, Ashley returns to Genoa City and applies for a job as a lab chemist at Jabot Cosmetics, the family company, using the name Susan Ashley so she will be hired for her skills, not her family connections. She takes over as president of the company after her brother Jack Abbott (Terry Lester, later Peter Bergman) is shot on his one-year anniversary by his wife, Patty Williams. Ashley commences an unlucky streak of relationships; starting with French artist Eric Garrison, who slept with her mother, and Marc Mergeron, who is revealed to be her former stepbrother. Capitalizing on her unluckiness, it is revealed that Ashley's biological father is Brent Davis, not John Abbott, who remains unaware of Ashley's true paternity. Trauma leads Ashley to become missing with amnesia, where she is found by business tycoon Victor Newman (Eric Braeden), who takes her back to Genoa City. Ashley has an affair with Victor, who is married to Nikki Newman (Melody Thomas Scott). To spite Ashley, Nikki engages in an affair with Jack and tries to have Victor's brother, Matt Miller, unsuccessfully seduce Ashley. Ultimately, Victor chooses to be with Ashley, angering Nikki. When Ashley falls pregnant with Victor's child, Nikki is diagnosed with cancer, causing Victor to leave Ashley, who secretly has an abortion. Ashley suffers a mental breakdown, before marrying her psychiatrist Steven Lassiter (Rod Arrants). Steven's former patient Leanna Randolph (Barbara Crampton) stalks the couple and attempts to destroy Ashley. She writes a biography about Victor that exposes information about his dysfunctional relationship with Ashley. Steven is later shot and killed by an unstable patient.
Following a short affair with Brad Carlton (Don Diamont), Ashley marries Victor. The marriage suffers because of Nikki's ongoing problems as well as Victor's daughter Victoria Newman's (Heather Tom) constant schemes to break them up. After her divorce from Victor, Ashley falls in love with Jabot's mysterious photographer Blade Bladeson (Michael Tylo), and they get married. Blade's vengeful twin brother Rick Bladeson arrives in town, holds Blade hostage and impersonates him. Eventually, Ashley and Blade's marriage ends. She then falls romantically for Kurt Costner (Leigh McCloskey), who is shot saving her from muggers. The romance is short-lived, as Kurt leaves Ashley to be with Victor's ex-wife Hope Wilson (Signy Coleman). Ashley nearly engages in an affair with Victoria's husband Cole Howard (J. Eddie Peck), an author who is writing a novel about her life, which requires them to spend time together. After Victoria's pregnancy results in a stillborn baby, Cole divorces her and marries Ashley. The marriage suffers a rough patch when Ashley travels to Madrid to help her stepbrother Rafael Delgado (Carlos Bernard), who is dealing with dangerous customers after selling them forged paintings. Cole assumes that she is having an affair with Rafael, unaware of who he is. During this, Victoria attempts to sabotage the marriage. Ultimately, upon Ashley's return to Genoa City, the couple divorce.
By 2000, one of Jack's former lovers and Victor's latest ex-wife, Diane Jenkins (Alex Donnelley) steals Victor's sperm from a sperm bank, though Nikki switches the sample with Jack's sperm. Ashley then steals Victor's sperm and impregnates herself, claiming that the father is a stranger; this was to make up for the abortion she had years prior. She then marries Brad Carlton and gives birth to Abby Carlton, who is raised to believe she is the daughter of Brad. Ashley is diagnosed with breast cancer, and feeling that she may not have time left, she confesses the truth about Abby's paternity to Victor. Brad and Ashley split, though are brought together when she becomes pregnant with their child. Stress over the battle between Jabot and Newman Enterprises causes her to leave town. While she is driving back, she is involved in a car accident, killing the unborn child. Victor is blamed for the child's death. Brad and Ashley's marriage continues to diminish and they are divorced. Tom Fisher (Roscoe Born), the dangerous ex-husband of John's wife Gloria Abbott (Judith Chapman), arrives in town. To protect his family, John shoots and kills Tom. Ashley covers this up by confessing to the crime herself, though John soon confesses himself, and is jailed for seven years. Gloria contaminates Ashley's new line of beauty cream, which causes a woman to die. John suffers a heart attack following his release from prison, and passes away. Jack removes Gloria from the family, and Ashley leaves town to escape the drama. During a business trip to France, Ashley meets Rick Forrester (Kyle Lowder), and they have an affair. She later travels to Los Angeles to work with Forrester Creations as a lab chemist. Rick and Ashley decide to keep their affair a secret, and she commences a serious relationship with Ridge Forrester (Ronn Moss), whom she becomes engaged to. Ridge's attentiveness to his former love Brooke Logan (Katherine Kelly Lang) ends the engagement. Ashley then has a short-lived romance with Brooke's brother Storm (William deVry). Forrester Creations decide to discontinue their fragrance line, diminishing Ashley's role in the company. She leaves Los Angeles and moves to Europe with Abby.
Ashley locates a missing Victor in France, where they reunite. Upon their return to Genoa City as a couple, they are married and Ashley becomes pregnant. Victor's manipulative son Adam Newman (Michael Muhney) gas lights Ashley, making her believe that she is seeing the ghost of Victor's late wife, Sabrina Newman. Adam causes Ashley to fall down a staircase and lose her baby, though he convinces her that this was a dream, and she suffers from an hysterical pregnancy. Ashley checks herself into a psychiatric hospital where Sharon Newman (Sharon Case), also pregnant, is staying. After Ashley begins experiencing hysterical labor, Adam kidnaps Sharon's newborn baby Faith Newman and gives her to Ashley, with Sharon believing her baby was stillborn. In the ensuing months, Sharon marries Adam and develops a close friendship with Ashley. Six months after Faith is born, the doctor that delivered her (who was being blackmailed by Adam) confesses the truth in a letter. Ashley is forced to hand Faith over to Sharon and the child's father, Victor's son Nicholas Newman (Joshua Morrow). Ashley moves on with her life, and becomes engaged to wealthy tycoon Tucker McCall (Stephen Nichols). Prior to their engagement, he slept with Diane Jenkins (Maura West). They briefly split up because of Tucker's secret business plans with Jack, but reunite shortly thereafter. Abby accidentally runs over Tucker with her car, and Ashley protects her by taking the blame. She is accused of attempted murder and driving under the influence. All charges are ultimately dropped, and she marries Tucker. Their marriage quickly lands in divorce because of Tucker's business scheming and his affair with a previous lover, Harmony Hamilton. Ashley is later forced out as CEO of Jabot by Jack, and Ashley decides to move to New York City with Traci. She returns briefly a few months later for the wedding of Victor and Nikki. Months later, Ashley returns for the funeral of her niece Delia Abbott and comforts her brother Billy on his loss. She returns later to spend Thanksgiving with her family. While there, she sprained her ankle and met Dr. Stitch Rayburn (Sean Carrigan). Abby pushed for a romance, but Ashley reminded her that Stitch was married and had a young son.
In town for Abby and Tyler's engagement party, Ashley left early to drop by the hospital and "run into" Dr. Rayburn. But she found Victoria waiting for him to take her on a date. Ashley reminded her that she'd only been separated a week. When Ben arrived, Victoria was jealously catty, informing Ben that Ashley was her former stepmother.
In September 2014, Ashley did not show up in Genoa City after calling a meeting among the major Jabot stockholders, Jack, Billy, Traci, and Abby. Jack phoned her, and she explained that she was working on a special project, but had decided it was not yet ready to present to them.
The following month, Ashley returned and confirmed that her idea was for a revolutionary new fragrance, and she made a deal with Jack to become Co-CEO of Jabot again if it panned out. Abby had been treating Ben Rayburn nasty and spiteful ever since she found out that he had killed his father as a teen and taken someone else's identity to get his degree in medicine, and broken Victoria's heart. So Abby was shocked when Ashley hired Ben as a chemist for Jabot, despite Abby's objections. Ashley returned to New York City to wrap things up, tasking a reluctant Abby with bringing Ben up to speed on the cosmetics industry. Before she left, she consoled Billy that maybe she could help keep Ben away from Victoria for him.
On Ashley's return, she asked Ben to smell the new fragrance, he found it repulsive, but he kissed her. Ashley revealed that the fragrance contained pheromones, was a love potion, and the kiss had proven it. What she needed was his help to make the scent bearable. Later after Ben was arrested for fraud by a former patient, Ashley bailed him out. She confided in Ben, that she too had taken a murder rap for someone she loved. Ashley asked him to accompany her to Madison on business.
Ben showed up in Ashley's office drunk after seeing Billy and Victoria snuggling with their baby. Ashley threw him in the shower to sober him up, and he pulled her in too. They had sex, and Stitch spent the night. The next day, they agreed to tell no one after Ben found out that he still had a chance with Victoria.
Victor invited Ashley to lunch and tried to get her to take a deal to leave Jabot and work for him at Newman-Chancellor. But Ashley declined and left early, arriving back at the lab in time to see her lab assistant Tobias taking photos of their secret work. She guessed that he was working for Victor, and decided to let him continue to feed him bogus information. Ashley runs into Joe Clark at the athletic club. After referring to them having a good thing going back in New York City, they made plans to spend New Year's Eve together. In May 2017, Ashley's mother Dina came for a "permanent" visit. In October 2017, Dina exposed that John Abbott wasn't Ashley's father. Ashley leaves Genoa City in October 2018, following a series of events that leave her feeling alienated from both the Abbott family and Jabot, following the discovery that John and Dina left legal documents leaving all of Ashley's product patents to her; she confesses she's leaving for Paris to launch her own company with said-patents.
Reception
Jamey Giddens of Zap2it described Davidson as "one of Genoa City's most beloved heroines". Upon learning of Davidson's return to the role in 1999, Candace Havens of the McCook Daily Gazette declared that it was her who made Ashley "one of the most popular characters on soaps". In October 1999, when all of the Abbott siblings and their father John were together again, the Orlando Sentinel wrote: "In the meantime, having the entire Abbott clan together [...] is like a joyous family reunion for longtime viewers". John Goudas of The Gadsden Times was favorable of Epperson's performance two years into her duration, stating that she "is holding her own", though he noted her to be "Eileen's double". He stated that the front-burner status of Ashley and Brad's romantic storyline demonstrated that producer William J. Bell "has full confidence in [Epperson]".
The character has had a rivalry with Nikki Newman (Melody Thomas Scott) for many years; a poll run in 2008 by website Daytime Confidential asking, "Who would win a cat fight, Nikki Newman or Ashley Abbott?", saw 63% of voters say Nikki would win, with 37% saying Ashley would win. Giddens was favorable of Ashley running Jabot Cosmetics in 2008, writing: "Okay this has to stop. My heart simply can't take it. It's like the effects of yo-yo dieting. Everytime I sincerely think I am done with this genre, something like The Young and the Restless heiress Ashley Abbott (Eileen Davidson) announcing that she, not Lil' Billy (Billy Miller), not Cruella de Bardwell (Judith Chapman) or Gary Ewing (Ted Shackelford) and no, not even Smilin' Jack (Peter Bergman) will be running Jabot Cosmetics, happens." In 2009, Jillian Bowe (also of Zap2it) wondered if Ashley was "insane in the membrane" due to her hearing a crying child around the Newman ranch, writing: "Is "The Beauty" starting to crack up? Certainly looks that when some freaky things take place on The Young and the Restless."
In 2010, Tommy Garrett of Canyon News praised a scene in which Ashley discovers a sex tape made by her spoiled daughter, Abby, that was posted online. Garrett wrote: "Davidson's performance is spot on as the mother Ashley who is fed up. The tears of despair and exhaustion came streaming down Davidson's beautiful face in character, while her spit-fire daughter didn't give a damn." Giddens later wrote that he thought it was "ridiculous" and "outlandish" to make Ashley pregnant with Victor's child in 2009. Also in 2010, Neeketa Borden of Zap2it created a list of "curiously quirky couplings", with Ashley and Tucker listed as an "honorable mention". In a separate review, Garrett credited Davidson as one of the "powerful performers who daytime TV could not exist without having". When the truth was going to come out that Faith Newman wasn't Ashley's child, Giddens wrote: "Lord, I hope this doesn't make my Ashley Abbott go cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs again!" Mike Jubinville of Zap2it wrote that the character's relationship with Neil Winters (Kristoff St. John) had been a "slow burn, one going on for weeks, but one that is hard to miss. It has the ingredients of a hot romance." Upon Davidson's firing in 2012, Giddens wrote: "I am sincerely hoping the brass at Y&R can't possibly be this stupid, but if they are, Gary Tomlin better blow up Davidson's phone STAT about a Days of Our Lives return!"
References
External links
Ashley Abbott character profile on SoapCentral
The Young and the Restless characters
The Bold and the Beautiful characters
Television characters introduced in 1982
Fictional business executives
Fictional female businesspeople
Fictional socialites
Fictional characters with cancer
Fictional characters with neurological or psychological disorders
Female characters in television | true | [
"Eileen ( or ) is an Irish feminine given name anglicised from Eibhlín and may refer to:\n\nPeople\n\nArtists\nEileen Agar (1899–1991), British Surrealist painter and photographer\nEileen Fisher (born 1950), clothing retailer and designer\nEileen Folson (1956–2007), Broadway composer\nEileen Ford (1922–2014), American model agency executive\nEileen Gray (1878–1976), Irish furniture designer and architect\nEileen Shields (born 1970), American footwear designer and entrepreneur\n\nEntertainers\nEileen (singer) (born 1941), American-born singer in France\nEileen Atkins (born 1934), English actress\nEileen Barton (1924–2006), American singer\nEileen Bellomo, member of rock group The Stilettos\nEileen April Boylan (born 1987), Filipina/Irish-American actress\nEileen Brennan (1932–2013), American actress\nEileen Catterson, Scottish fashion model and former Miss Scotland\nEileen Daly (born 1963), English actress, singer and director\nEileen Davidson (born 1959), American film actress\nEileen Derbyshire (born 1930), English character actress\nEileen DeSandre, American actress\nEileen Essell (1922–2015), Irish actress\nEileen Farrell (1920–2002), American opera and concert singer\nEileen Fulton (born 1933), American actress\nEileen Heckart (1919–2001), American actress\nEileen Helsby (born 1937), British actress\nEileen Herlie (1918–2008), Scottish-American actress\nEileen Ivers (born 1965), Irish-American musician\nEileen Joyce (1908–1991), Australian pianist\nEileen McCallum (born 1936), Scottish actress\nEileen O'Brien (actress), English actress\nEileen Pollock (1947–2020), Northern Ireland actress\nEileen Rodgers (1930–2003), American singer and Broadway performer\nEileen Rose (born 1965), American singer/songwriter\nEileen Ryan, American actress\nEileen Sedgwick (1898–1991), American silent film actress\nEileen Walsh (born 1977), Irish actress\nEileen Way (1911–1994), English actress\nEileen Whitfield, Canadian journalist and playwright\nEileen Wilson (born 1923), American television star\nEileen Yeow (born 1972), Singaporean actress\n\nPoliticians\nEileen Anderson (born 1928), Hawaii politician\nEileen Bell (born 1943), Northern Ireland politician\nEileen Desmond (1932–2005), British politician\nEileen C. Dugan (1945–1996), New York politician\nEileen Gordon (born 1946), United Kingdom politician\nEileen Hickey (New York politician) (1945–1999), New York politician\nEileen M. Hickey (1886–1960), Northern Irish politician\nEileen Lemass (born 1932), Irish politician\nEileen Malloy (born 1954), US ambassador\nEileen Paisley, Baroness Paisley of St George's (born 1931), Northern Irish politician\nEileen Parsons, British Virgin Islands politician\n\nSportspeople\nEileen Ash (1911–2021), English cricketer\nEileen Coparropa (born 1981), freestyle swimmer from Panama\nEileen Ellison (1910–1967), English Grand Prix racer\nEileen Gu (born 2003), Chinese freestyle skier\nEileen Hiscock (1909–1958), British athlete\nEileen McNamara (born 1952), equestrian\nEileen O'Keeffe (born 1981), Irish hammer thrower\nEileen Bennett Whittingstall (1907–1979), UK tennis player\n\nWriters\nEileen Albrizio (born 1960), American writer\nEileen Chang (1920–1995), Chinese writer\nEileen Dunne (born 1958), Irish newsreader\nEileen Gunn (born 1945), American science fiction writer and editor\nEileen Kernaghan (born 1939), Canadian novelist\nEileen McNamara (born 1952), American columnist and professor\nEileen Myles (born 1949), American poet\nEileen Pollock (writer), American television screenwriter and producer\nEileen Power (1889–1940), British economic historian and medievalist\nEileen Tabios (born 1960), Filipino-American writer and artist\nEileen Wilks (born 1952), American fiction writer\n\nOther\nEileen Barker (born 1938), UK professor\nEileen Caddy (1917–2006), founder of the Findhorn Foundation community\nEileen Collins (born 1956), American astronaut\nEileen de Coppet, Princess of Albania (1922–1985)\nEileen Rockefeller Growald (born 1952), daughter of David Rockefeller\nEileen McKenney, wife of American writer Nathanael West\nEileen Nearne (1921–2010), member of UK Special Operations Executive (SOE)\nEileen O'Shaughnessy, wife of British writer George Orwell\nEileen Saxon (1942–1945), infant known as \"The Blue Baby\"\nEileen Southern (1920–2002), African American musicologist\nEileen Tallman Sufrin (1913-1999), Canadian author and labour activist\nEileen Vidal (died 2003), kelper telephone and radio operator\n\nCharacters\nEileen Shallot, character in the novella The Dream Master\nBirthday Girl: Eileen\nEileen the Crow, from the 2015 video game Bloodborne\nEileen Prince, mother of Severus Snape from the Harry Potter book series\nEileen, from the cartoon Regular Show\nEileen Galvin, from the horror video game Silent Hill 4\nEileen Grimshaw from Coronation Street\nEileen, a fairy in the charmed ridge level from Spyro: Year of the Dragon\n Eileen, a character from Tyler Perry's 2013 film A Madea Christmas\nEileen (Virtua Fighter), a character in the game Virtua Fighter 5\n\nSee also\nEileen Browne (disambiguation)\nEileen O'Connell (disambiguation)\nAileen, a given name\nAylin, a given name\nHelen (disambiguation)\nIlene, a given name\nEvelyn (disambiguation)\n\nEnglish feminine given names",
"Eileen Grimshaw (also Phelan) is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street. Portrayed by Sue Cleaver, the character first appeared on-screen during the episode airing on 3 May 2000. Her storylines have often included her relationships with Dennis Stringer (Charles Dale), Ed Jackson (Chris Walker), Pat Stanaway (Sean Hughes), Jerry Morton (Michael Starke), Jesse Chadwick (John Thomson), Paul Kershaw (Tony Hirst), Adrian Mortimer (Mark Moraghan) and Michael Rodwell (Les Dennis), as well as her marriage to serial criminal mastermind Pat Phelan (Connor McIntyre).\n\nThe character also appeared in the mini-episode crossover between Coronation Street and rival soap EastEnders entitled East Street screened on 19 November 2010 in aid of children's charity Children In Need. In 2011, it was revealed that she and half-sister Julie Carp (Katy Cavanagh) were related to Coronation Street icon, Elsie Tanner (Pat Phoenix), as Elsie's first cousin, Arnley Grimshaw, was their paternal grandfather. In 2018, Cleaver took a temporary break from the show.\n\nStorylines\n\nEileen first appears on 3 May 2000. Vikram Desai (Chris Bisson) gives Eileen a ride in his cab and, impressed by her local knowledge, ends up employing her to operate the radio at his taxi firm, StreetCars, which he runs with Steve McDonald (Simon Gregson). She demands £5.50 an hour.\n\nA feisty single mum, Eileen comes from a family of eight. She rents Steve's house and moves in with her teenage sons, Jason (Ryan Thomas) and Todd (Bruno Langley). In the early days, she does not approve of Jason's aspirations to be an athlete. A couple of years later, Todd comes out as gay.\n\nEileen has had many relationships since the character's introduction. Her relationship with biker Dennis Stringer (Charles Dale) ends when he admits he is love with Janice Battersby (Vicky Entwistle), resulting in Eileen punching Janice. Following Jason and Candice Stowe (Nikki Sanderson) placing an ad for her in a lonely hearts column in a newspaper, she dates cleaner Harry Flagg (Iain Rogerson) but they decide to remain friends. She dates Ernest Bishop's killer, Ed Jackson (Chris Walker), despite disapproval from most of the Street. It is during this relationship with Ed, a born-again Christian, that Eileen comes to the conclusion that she is agnostic. In 2007, she meets Pat Stanaway (Sean Hughes), who she assumes is married and has an \"affair\". Pat is not married as he does not like serious relationships as he was dating six other women at the time. She dates kebab shop owner Jerry Morton (Michael Starke), but dumps him in 2008 after he begins taking more of an interest in his children rather than her.\n\nEileen's arch enemy is Gail Rodwell (Helen Worth) and they have had several fights in the street. The pair constantly spar whenever they cross paths. The feud begins when her son, Todd, moves in with Gail's daughter, Sarah (Tina O'Brien) as Eileen feels that Sarah, a single mother, is holding Todd back from achieving in life. This seems to be proved when Sarah falls pregnant, but the baby, a boy named Billy, died shortly after being born prematurely following a placental abruption. Todd's announcement that he is gay and having an affair with Karl Foster causes a catfight in the street. The two women are at loggerheads again when they are attracted to reflexologist Phil Nail (Clive Russell); Gail eventually wins his affections. This rivalry results in Eileen being the prime suspect when Gail is stalked by someone claiming to be her late husband, Richard Hillman (Brian Capron), in 2006. Eileen is cleared when David Platt (Jack P. Shepherd) is revealed as the true culprit. Eileen's son Jason married Gail's daughter Sarah in October 2007, and divorced in 2010.\n\nOn Christmas Day 2006, Eileen is surprised when a young woman drops a baby off, claiming that Jason is the father. Eileen takes responsibility for the little girl, whom they call Holly because she arrives during the Christmas period. Jason does not want her and tells Eileen that she is not his, but Eileen refuses to believe him, so Jason ends up calling Children's Services in desperation. He admits that he called them, but he is fond of baby Holly. However, Eileen is shocked on 9 April 2007 when Holly's mother returns as she has realised that Charlie Stubbs (Bill Ward) is Holly's real father, after seeing his picture in the paper during Tracy Barlow's (Kate Ford) trial. She tells Eileen that he introduced himself as Jason Grimshaw and asks Eileen to give Holly back but Eileen refuses and throws her out, threatening to call the police. Knowing that Eileen has no legal claim to the woman's daughter, she calls Children's Services and they tell Eileen that they will be coming to collect Holly so Eileen decides to run away with her. Eileen's nemesis, Gail Platt, finds out and persuades her to return Holly to her mother. A tearful Eileen returns Holly on 25 April 2007.\n\nOn 12 December 2008, Eileen's father Colin (Edward DeSouza) arrives. He meets Peter Barlow (Chris Gascoyne) in the bookies and as he places a bet, Eileen phones him wanting to know where he is and he lies, claiming to be on the bus to Weatherfield. He was known for his betting and drinking and this causes a row when they meet.\n\nIn February 2009, Eileen is stunned to discover that an old school friend of hers, Paula Carp (Sharon Duce), left school early after falling pregnant at fourteen years old. When she learns that Street resident, Julie Carp (Katy Cavanagh), is Paula's daughter. When Paula finds out that Julie and Eileen live on the same street, she begins acting strangely and is hostile to Colin when she sees him. On 27 April 2009, during Colin's seventieth birthday party in The Rovers, Eileen is horrified to learn that Colin is Julie's father after a drunken Paula reveals the truth, making Julie and Eileen half-sisters. Struggling with this bombshell, Eileen blames Paula for wrecking her parents' marriage as Eileen had blamed her mother but realises that Paula was a victim of abuse and makes amends with her a few days later. When Colin visits, trying to explain his actions, Eileen is disgusted. During the visit, Colin suffers a stroke, but Eileen refuses to take him to hospital. He is released from hospital and Jason and Julie convince Eileen to let him stay with her until they can find him somewhere to live but he dies of a heart attack.\n\nIn 2009, Eileen starts dating children's entertainer, Jesse Chadwick (John Thomson). He moves into Eileen's house, along with his parrot named John. In 2010, cracks begin appearing in the relationship after Eileen suspects that he is attracted to Julie and he takes his parents on holiday instead of her, following a bet that he wins. Eileen throws him out but he returns, attempting to reconcile with her but Eileen insists that he leave after she discovers that he made a pass at Julie.\n\nIn July 2010, builder Owen Armstrong (Ian Puleston-Davies) catches Eileen's eye and she is delighted when they date a few times and does some admin work at the builder's yard. However, Owen is more interested in Eileen's friend, Liz McDonald (Beverley Callard) and he starts dating her behind Eileen's back. Eileen is disgusted when she discovers that Owen and Liz are an item and plots revenge on Owen for the way he used her. In January 2011, Eileen discovers that her roof has been damaged after the tram crash and asks Owen to have a look. He tells her that the tiles are damaged and there is water damage in the interior walls, costing about £3,000 to fix. Eileen gets an insurance inspector to have a look but Jason thinks he is spying on his girlfriend, Rosie Webster (Helen Flanagan), and punches him so the inspector refuses to help Eileen; who steals a cheque for £10,000 that Carla Connor (Alison King) has left for Owen and cashes it. Owen finds out and offers to have a look at the house and tells Eileen that he knows she has taken his money and she will pay for it. Upset, she tells Julie what has happened and they devise a plan to break into the builder's yard to get documents that prove that Owen has been committing tax evasion for years. The sisters successfully blackmail Owen with this so he agrees to fix the roof. Several weeks later, Owen gets revenge for Eileen's blackmail by letting himself into her house and retrieving the paperwork Eileen stole after she tells Sunita Alahan about his dodgy business practices. He destroys the evidence and calls the police, reporting Eileen for the cheque she stole and she is arrested for fraud. Eileen admits her guilt and, as it is her first offence and she returned the money, she is released with a caution.\n\nEileen meets Paul Kershaw (Tony Hirst), a fireman, when her head is caught in the railings on her birthday on Underworld'''s roof. They start dating, but Marcus sees Paul with another woman in Freshco's, making Eileen angry so she visits Paul to demand answers and Paul's wife, Lesley (Judy Holt), answers the door. Eileen shouts at Lesley but she is confused. Paul comes to the door and tells Lesley to go inside, explaining to Eileen that Lesley has Alzheimer's disease, which explained why she didn't understand Eileen's question. Eileen and Paul stay friends and Paul helps Eileen when Eileen told Sunita that she would get somebody for the local school's safety day. Eileen invites Paul and Lesley to her house for Christmas dinner but they pull out after Lesley has a fall. Eileen goes on a speed dating night at Nick Tilsley's (Ben Price) Bistro and meets a man called Hank. They soon argue which ends up in Eileen pushing Hank into the fire alarm. Paul comes to the scene expecting a fire but Eileen asks him for a drink. One day, Paul asks Eileen if she would take care of Lesley while he is at work. Eileen does so, but she later regrets it when Lesley beats her up and physically throws her out of her own home. Jason takes Eileen to the café to calm down, but while she is at the café, Lesley dies after being electrocuted by the toaster. After Lesley's funeral, Paul and Eileen become a proper couple. Eileen becomes suspicious that Paul is having an affair with his colleague Toni, but he is actually planning a romantic proposal. Paul walks out and goes to The Rovers soon followed by Eileen who asks for forgiveness. Paul gets down on one knee and asks her to marry him.\n\nAs Paul, Jason and other men from Weatherfield take part in The Full Monty evening at the Bistro for charity, The Rovers is set on fire by Karl Munro, as part of an elaborate plan he has devised to win back ex-fiancée Stella. Norris Cole (Malcolm Hebden) alerts the Bistro, and Eileen is horrified when she witnesses Paul risk his life to save Stella Price (Michelle Collins) and Karl Munro (John Michie) from the burning building. Luckily, Paul manages to save himself, Stella and Karl from the flames, but Paul's friend Toni Griffiths (Tara Moran) perishes as the roof collapses on her. The next day, Paul grieves for Toni, and Eileen is petrified of Paul returning to work in case he dies like Toni did. After numerous arguments and several weeks off work, Paul finally returns to work at the fire station, worrying Eileen. Convinced Paul is not ready to return to work after Toni's death, Eileen visits Paul's boss and asks if he can have more time off. Unfortunately for Eileen, Paul walks in on her and his boss discussing this. The pair return home where they have an explosive argument and Paul decides to move in with Julie and her partner Brian Packham (Peter Gunn). This infuriates Eileen, leading to her rowing with Julie in the café. Eileen discovers the tickets for her and Paul's holiday to Egypt come through the door, and decides to take Julie on the holiday instead. She later regrets this when Julie says she wants to have an adventure with Eileen, whereas Eileen just wants to relax and forget all her troubles on the holiday. Paul reveals he is leaving the Street to work in North Yorkshire, upsetting Eileen. Her friend Deirdre Barlow (Anne Kirkbride) convinces her to go and find Paul and tell him not to leave her. She does so, and Paul and Eileen reunite as a couple, much to Deirdre and Julie's pleasure.\n\nEileen finds it difficult to get to sleep at night, worrying about Paul and whether he has died in a fire while at work. She decides to take some sleeping pills, but ends up falling asleep at work. When she wakes up, she is rude to Gary Windass (Mikey North) and is confronted by her colleagues, Steve and Lloyd Mullaney (Craig Charles). Eileen hears from her lodger Sean and son Jason that there has been a large house fire in Weatherfield and asks Paul whether he had been called to it when he returns. He tells Eileen he had been on a hoax call, but then reveals to Sean and Jason that he had been saving people from the house fire. The next day, a young boy named Paddy Kinsey (Sonny Cusworth), his mother Megan (Louise Atkins) and news reporter Will Reade (Dominic Doughty) arrive at Eileen and Paul's house and Eileen discovers that Paul was in fact at the house fire, and not at a hoax call. Paddy, Megan and Will reveal how serious the fire was, which stuns Eileen, Jason and Sean. This infuriates Eileen, as Paul decided to lie to her instead of telling her the truth.\n\nEileen eventually comes to terms with Paul working at the fire station. Whilst playing darts at the Rovers with Jason and Steve, an oblivious Paul makes a racist comment just as Lloyd Mullaney (Craig Charles) and his daughter Jenna Kamara (Krissi Bohn) enter the pub, which angers them both as they are black. Paul is infuriated when Lloyd casts him a racist, and the pair nearly come to blows in The Rovers. Soon, the whole Street assume that Paul is racist, which makes Eileen feel ashamed. Paul will not apologise to Lloyd as he fears he will actually be considered a racist if he does. Eileen and Lloyd's partner Mandy Kamara (Pamela Nomvete) both agree that the pair should put it behind them, which it appears to be, before Jenna's girlfriend Sophie Webster (Brooke Vincent) calls Paul's work and reports him for racism. Paul's boss pays him a visit at Eileen's house, suspending him from work until further investigation. Paul sees red and punches Lloyd in the street, as many locals watch in horror. Before the pair descend into fighting, two policemen arrive and split them up. Paul is arrested and questioned, but the whole event leads to further strain on his and Eileen's relationship. Eileen later watches as Paul shouts at Sophie in the street, which leads to Eileen and Sophie's mother Sally Webster (Sally Dynevor) sharing a scrap in The Rovers. The feud puts pressure on Lloyd and Mandy's relationship too, which results in Mandy leaving Weatherfield. Paul invites Lloyd, Steve and Brian to a few drinks in town, but is furious when his mates from the fire station do not attend. He says it is because they think he is a racist, and he shouts at Lloyd when a group of men approach them. Later, as Lloyd is leaving the pub, the group of men attack him, pinning him up the wall and it transpires that they are a gang of racists. Paul arrives and saves Lloyd, which puts the arguing behind them. They arrive back in Weatherfield to reveal the good news to Eileen, but she is not impressed as Paul did not do anything about it sooner. They discuss how supportive she was when Lesley was alive, and how Paul would have left Eileen if Lesley did not have Alzheimer's disease. She then runs upstairs in anger. There is further upset for Eileen when Paul leaves Weatherfield for good.\n\nEileen is thrilled when her son Todd returns, although it becomes clear he has changed while he has been in London. She is forced to give him £500 so that he can pay back the people he has scammed money off. Eileen then learns that Todd cheated on his former boyfriend Jools Creme (Ben Allen) as he had an affair with a man named Alex. She is later shaken when Jason's estranged father Tony Stewart (Terence Maynard) returns to the street in 2014, and is not very pleased when Liz begins flirting with him. She is later unhappy when she discovers that Todd has had sex with Marcus Dent (Charlie Condou), who is in a serious relationship with Maria Connor (Samia Ghadie). She later begins a feud with Liz when she learns that she has entered a relationship with Tony and is later ashamed of Todd when his affair with Marcus is revealed. She has several arguments with Liz over Tony, and Liz later thinks that Eileen is jealous. As the feud progresses, Liz and Eileen eventually forgive one another. Eileen is later concerned when her friend Lloyd suffers a heart attack during Hayley Cropper's (Julie Hesmondhalgh) charity fun run.\n\nAfter an argument with Todd, Eileen orders him to leave the family home, and while he is walking the streets in town, Todd is violently mugged and beaten up by a gang of thugs. He is rushed to hospital, and is told that he may have permanent scarring on his face. He blames Eileen and Jason for the attack, however keeps this to himself. In 2015, Eileen begins internet dating and meets a man named Adrian Mortimer (Mark Moraghan). She goes out with Adrian on numerous occasions, but Todd – attempting to exact revenge on his mother and brother for his attack – sets up a fake account on the same website and pretends to be a man named Jeff who lives in Dubai. Eileen soon decides that she prefers Jeff to Adrian, much to Todd's delight. Todd also makes Jason believe that his girlfriend Eva Price (Catherine Tyldesley) is having an affair with Tony, leading to Eva moving to New York to live with her mother as she believes Jason does not trust her. After Eileen reveals to Adrian that things are not working out, Todd arrives and reveals to a heartbroken Adrian that Eileen has met somebody else and reveals that he is Jeff. He also reveals that he broke Jason and Eva up, leading to Jason punching Todd in the face. Todd then leaves Weatherfield after the heated argument, and Eileen is distraught at how evil Todd has become. Eileen allows Michael Rodwell (Les Dennis) to move in with her after he discovers that his wife, Gail, lied to her about his son, Gavin (Mark Holgate), and discovering that Andy Carver (Oliver Farnworth) has been pretending to be his son. After a public argument with Gail, Michael gets drunk with Eileen, leading to them kissing. As they begin to have sex, Michael collapses and suffers a heart attack, leaving Eileen heavily humiliated. Michael admits the kiss with Gail out of guilt, but she storms over to the salon and starts throwing hair conditioner bottles at Eileen. The fight spills into the street, with Gail throwing her shoe at Eileen and Eileen pushing Gail to the ground.\n\nIn July 2015, Eileen is informed by Gail that her good friend Deirdre has died. She and Liz recollect their fond memories of Deirdre, before attending her funeral.\n\nDevelopment\nPersonality\nEileen has been described as \"a down-to-earth, pragmatic type of character\". Sue Cleaver has expressed how much she likes the variation in Eileen's development, with storylines ranging from \"comic capers\" to \"serious\": \"I lurch between the light-hearted and serious. There's been lots of heavy drama stuff with [Eileen's sons] Todd and Jason. So it's really nice to have the relief of the scenes in the taxi office, [Eileen's workplace], where it's more upbeat. I get to play the whole spectrum, which is fun [...] As an actor, you do not often get an opportunity to keep building on your character and finding new aspects to them. If you're doing a film or TV series, it's over in three months, whereas in something long-running, I can really understand my character and know them inside out like another human being. The challenge is to delve a little bit deeper into Eileen's psyche, which I really enjoy doing.\"\n\nCleaver has stated that there are similarities between her own personality and Eileen's: \"On a soap, you can't come in and create a character that's very far removed from yourself, because it's such a lot of work, so of course there are elements to Eileen that I've brought in. But I think we're very different. She's more generous than I am quite frankly!\" She has added, \"I think Eileen is happy. She's a very together person [...] She's got a very realistic view [...] I think there are a lot of women who would aspire to be like her, how she holds everything together and juggles her job, the kids and everyone else's problems.\"\n\nFriends and enemies\nThe character has been involved in various feuds since her introduction in 2000. Eileen's most prominent and long-running feud has been with Gail Platt, played by Helen Worth. The characters have a long history of catfights and insults between them, animosity that stems from the acrimonious break-up of Eileen's son, Todd and Gail's daughter, Sarah. In one famous scene, Gail flings herself at Eileen after being soundly slapped and told to \"Go home, Gail!\" Despite this, various things, including the 2010 tram crash, have caused them to put aside their differences. In 2015, Eileen knew Gail past and discover that it her feud with her was like her former mother-in-law Ivy Tilsley.\n\nCleaver has commented, \"Eileen's relationship with Gail is horrendous [...] I love all the scraps in the street with Gail. Helen Worth (who plays Gail) and I love doing all that – we have such a laugh with the abusive comments we make for each other. The constant battle is fun. It's a love-hate relationship.\" Worth has suggested that Gail probably thinks she is \"a little better than Eileen\" Jenny Platt, who played Violet Wilson between 2004 and 2008 has noted that \"Gail's found her nemesis in Eileen, but it's so stupid because actually they are so similar. They are both single mums looking out for their kids.\"\n\nMedia critic Grace Dent has summarised the dislike that exists between the characters in a review in The Guardian in 2006: \"Like most fine inter-family feuds, no one knows the true beginning, but it's safe to say that Coronation Street's Eileen Grimshaw and Gail Platt have hated each other for ages. Eileen sees Gail's daughter Sarah Lou as a giant, repugnant, mascara-clad Venus flytrap, suckering in baby-daddies for her illegitimate brat Bethany. Gail Platt thinks Eileen's kids Todd and Jason are scummy, duplicitous, gutter-dwellers and their mother a snivelling apologist for their catalogue of spite. When Eileen's son, Todd, dated Sarah-Lou, he passed up the chance to study at Oxford University [...] When eventually Eileen stopped fantasising about trapping Sarah-Lou's head in Fred Elliott's bacon slicer, Sarah-Lou had set her eye on Todd's half-brother Jason. Both Gail and Eileen took this news with deep umbrage. Eileen knew Jason could do much better than this drippy, yo-yo-knickered little strumpet. Meanwhile, Gail knew Sarah-Lou was worth more than that slack-jawed, apostolic follower of Charlie Stubbs.\"\n\nOne of Eileen's most enduring on-screen relationships has been her friendship with her boss Steve McDonald (Simon Gregson). Cleaver has said that she enjoys Eileen's \"constant bickering with Steve\". She has revealed that she and Gregson play jokes with the bookings diary on Eileen's desk during filming of the cab office, where both characters work: \"We write comments about each other in it. When you see me scribbling in the book, think of the rudest things possible and they're in there\". In 2007, both characters were featured in a special week of off-set episodes, filmed on location in Malta. The friends decide to take a trip together amid Steve's relationship problems with Michelle Connor. A Coronation Street spokesperson said: \"We're excited about going out to film this storyline in Malta. Both Steve and Eileen's love lives are looking pretty bleak, so they decide to escape to the sunshine. It'll be great fun.\" Press rumours began to circulate about a possible romantic pairing between the characters; however, this proved to be a red herring, Eileen spends the night in bed with a drunken Steve to avoid sleeping in discomfort on the floor. During the episodes, some of Malta's historic streets and churches, landscapes and Gozo's red sand beach Ramla Bay were featured. It was predicted in the media that British tourism trade to Malta would significantly increase due to the screening of the episodes. When discussions about filming on the island began, UK-based site YourMalta.com commented, \"it could be a major boost [...] A half hour episode on Malta will reach more people over a longer period of time than a tourist authority could hope to with a series of twenty or thirty second advertisements, it would be worth millions in equivalent advertising.\" Property website easier.com stated that \"viewers have been captivated by the sun-soaked honey-coloured buildings, the charming historic streets and churches and beautiful landscapes not to mention the glorious red sand beach of Ramla Bay. It was hard not to be envious as Eileen and Steve sipped cocktails next to the pool in the gleaming sunshine and this lifestyle was all the more alluring when the camera’s panned back to the dreary streets of Weatherfield.\"\n\nRomances\nThe character's history includes numerous failed romances. Eileen's first known screen partner was Dennis Stringer (Charles Dale), who left her in 2001 following an affair with her best friend at the time, Janice Battersby. Next, Eileen fell for Ed Jackson (Chris Walker) in 2006, before discovering he had served time in prison for killing Emily Bishop's husband Ernest in a storyline that screened in 1978. Commenting on Eileen's relationship with Ed, Sue Cleaver has said, \"She'd have loved it to work with Ed but she knew it wouldn't while he was on a mission to absolve himself of his sins. It would be great if Chris came back. I loved working with him, and he really would like to come back.\"\n\nIt was announced in 2007 that comedian Sean Hughes would be joining Coronation Street as Pat, a love interest for Eileen. A source told Daily Mirror, \"They meet in the [Rovers Return] and get on like a house on fire. It's not very long before they are enjoying steamy sessions. It's a great coup to have Sean play the role. It's a mixture of serious and comical. He and Sue have a good chemistry to make the story work really well\". However, the relationship soured when Eileen discovered he was a serial womanizer. A romance with Jerry Morton fizzled out on-screen in 2008, when Eileen dumped him. Actor Michael Starke, who was axed from his role as Jerry Morton in 2008, has been critical about the way Eileen and Jerry's romance \"died such an early death\". In an interview, he commented, \"There was even talk of babies! But it fizzled out – it went absolutely nowhere. It was never explained to me\".\n\nIt has been noted that Eileen has \"not had much luck in love\", although Cleaver maintains that viewers should not feel sorry for her character, adding that Eileen is \"very happy\" and \"together\". She adds, \"People forget that she's had proposals of marriage and turned them down.\"\n\nReception\nEileen Grimshaw has been described as \"a firm favourite with fans\". Actress Sue Cleaver has commented on her character's popularity to the Belfast Telegraph in 2007: \"Everyone seems to love Eileen. I've never had anybody come up and say they don't like her, so I suppose that's a good thing. She's an accessible character and I think everybody knows an Eileen. There's an Eileen in every street.\" Low Culture columnist Ruth Deller has included the character as one of the best soap creations during the 2000s. She stated, \"Eileen arrived as the decade was just beginning and she’s kept us entertained throughout. Sue Cleaver is great and so is the character. A classic soap matriarch she has the potential to be one of the most enduring and popular characters the Street has ever seen.\" In 2007, actress Sue Cleaver was recognised for her role as Eileen with a TV Now award for 'Favourite Female Soap Star'.\n\nSue Cleaver has revealed that she received letters of complaint from viewers when Eileen was shown to have a one-night stand with a boilerman: \"I had so many letters of complaint about the one night stand she had with the boiler man. People said she wouldn't do that. She bloody well would! She's got two kids, she's been around the block a bit.\" In 2009, Digital Spy editor Kris Green praised Sue Cleaver's part in the Julie/ Paula/ Colin reveal when he stated; 'The outstanding performances from Katy Cavanagh (Julie) and Sharon Duce (Paula) mixed with Street legend Barbara Knox (Rita) and the still criminally underused Sue Cleaver (Eileen) make for compelling viewing' Sarah Ellis of Inside Soap'' opined that \"poor\" Eileen should join a convent because all of her romances end badly.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nEileen Grimshaw at itv.com\n\nCoronation Street characters\nTelevision characters introduced in 2000\nFictional factory workers\nFictional machinists\nFictional mariticides\nFictional bartenders\nFemale characters in television\nFictional people from Manchester"
] | [
"Ashley Abbott is a fictional character from The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful, two American soap operas on the CBS network. She has been most notably portrayed by Eileen Davidson, who originated the role on June 11, 1982, before departing in 1988. Brenda Epperson portrayed Ashley from 1988 to 1995, before Shari Shattuck portrayed the role for the next three years, until Davidson's return on March 19, 1999.",
"Brenda Epperson portrayed Ashley from 1988 to 1995, before Shari Shattuck portrayed the role for the next three years, until Davidson's return on March 19, 1999. Davidson was nominated in 2003 for Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, and she later won that award in 2018. The character is the daughter of Dina Mergeron and Brent Davis, although she believed John Abbott was her biological father until she reached adulthood.",
"The character is the daughter of Dina Mergeron and Brent Davis, although she believed John Abbott was her biological father until she reached adulthood. She has had relationships with various men throughout the years, most notably Steven Lassiter, Victor Newman, Blade Bladeson, Cole Howard and Brad Carlton. She has a daughter with Victor, Abby Newman. She is also known for her business contributions to her father's company, Jabot Cosmetics, much like her brother Jack.",
"She is also known for her business contributions to her father's company, Jabot Cosmetics, much like her brother Jack. In 2006, it was announced that Davidson was to leave The Young and the Restless. She last appeared on January 11, 2007. Shortly after, the character crossed over to its sister soap, The Bold and the Beautiful. There, she became intertwined with the Forresters and Forrester Creations; she also had a romance with Ridge Forrester.",
"There, she became intertwined with the Forresters and Forrester Creations; she also had a romance with Ridge Forrester. She left The Bold and the Beautiful in 2008 and returned to The Young and the Restless, where she has since had relationships with Victor once again and Tucker McCall. In May 2012, it was announced that Davidson was let go from The Young and the Restless, leading to her exit on August 3, 2012.",
"In May 2012, it was announced that Davidson was let go from The Young and the Restless, leading to her exit on August 3, 2012. Davidson initially hadn't known why, but it was reported later that Sony Pictures Television terminated her contract with the show for her to return to Days of Our Lives as Kristen DiMera, a character she had portrayed there over 14 years prior. Davidson made a brief return to The Young and the Restless in March 2013 for the soap's 40th anniversary.",
"Davidson made a brief return to The Young and the Restless in March 2013 for the soap's 40th anniversary. After subsequent guest appearances, Davidson returned to The Young and the Restless on September 3, 2014, as a series regular. In 2018, Davidson again exited the role; she returned in March 2019, following the installment of head writer Josh Griffith. Casting Eileen Davidson originated the role of Ashley Abbott on June 11, 1982, until her first exit on December 2, 1988.",
"Casting Eileen Davidson originated the role of Ashley Abbott on June 11, 1982, until her first exit on December 2, 1988. The role was immediately recast with Brenda Epperson, who portrayed Ashley for seven years from December 5, 1988, before leaving the role on December 21, 1995. Shari Shattuck then assumed the role from March 21, 1996, to February 22, 1999, with Davidson returning on March 19, 1999. Davidson took maternity leave in the summer of 2003.",
"Davidson took maternity leave in the summer of 2003. Davidson took maternity leave in the summer of 2003. In 2006, news broke that Davidson was to exit the soap opera, and she last aired on January 11, 2007. She then carried the role of Ashley over to the show's sister soap, The Bold and the Beautiful.",
"She then carried the role of Ashley over to the show's sister soap, The Bold and the Beautiful. On September 25, 2008, Davidson returned to The Young and the Restless, and subsequently made one final appearance on The Bold and the Beautiful on November 25 of the same year when Ashley resigned from her position at Forrester Creations. In May 2012, Davidson informed followers on her Twitter page that she had been let go from The Young and the Restless.",
"In May 2012, Davidson informed followers on her Twitter page that she had been let go from The Young and the Restless. Davidson further confirmed she did not know why she was let go, but was seeing the positive light from it. It was then announced by Nelson Branco that Sony Pictures Entertainment wanted Davidson on both The Young and the Restless and Days of Our Lives, but that Y&R would not share the actress, leading to Sony terminating her contract with the soap.",
"It was then announced by Nelson Branco that Sony Pictures Entertainment wanted Davidson on both The Young and the Restless and Days of Our Lives, but that Y&R would not share the actress, leading to Sony terminating her contract with the soap. Thus it was announced that Davidson would reprise her role as Kristen Blake on the NBC soap. Davidson made her onscreen exit on August 3, 2012.",
"Davidson made her onscreen exit on August 3, 2012. Speaking about her upcoming return to Days and departure from the show with TV Guide, Davidson stated: \"What happened to me at Y&R was shocking — I've been in this business a very long time and have never seen anything like it — but it's not like I haven't been fired before.\"",
"Speaking about her upcoming return to Days and departure from the show with TV Guide, Davidson stated: \"What happened to me at Y&R was shocking — I've been in this business a very long time and have never seen anything like it — but it's not like I haven't been fired before.\" She also went on to say that \"I was led to believe that I was fired, though it was a bad news-good news thing — the bad news is Y&R is firing you, the good news is Days wants you.\"",
"She also went on to say that \"I was led to believe that I was fired, though it was a bad news-good news thing — the bad news is Y&R is firing you, the good news is Days wants you.\" In February 2013, it was announced that Davidson would return to The Young and the Restless for \"very special episodes\" that would commemorate the show's 40th anniversary. In spite of this, the actress remained a part of Days of our Lives full-time.",
"In spite of this, the actress remained a part of Days of our Lives full-time. In August 2013, following the announcement of Davidson's departure from Days of our Lives, it was announced that she would again reprise the role for three episodes airing in October, later returning for a guest appearance on November 27 and December 2, 2013.",
"In August 2013, following the announcement of Davidson's departure from Days of our Lives, it was announced that she would again reprise the role for three episodes airing in October, later returning for a guest appearance on November 27 and December 2, 2013. In June 2014, it was announced that Davidson had signed a two-year contract with The Young and the Restless to appear as a regular cast member again, and would return to the series in September.",
"In June 2014, it was announced that Davidson had signed a two-year contract with The Young and the Restless to appear as a regular cast member again, and would return to the series in September. Davidson also revealed her contract would allow for her to continue making appearances on Days of Our Lives. In 2018, Julia D'Arcy Badinger portrayed a younger Ashley in flashbacks. That June, Daytime Confidential broke news that Davidson had quit the role. Davidson last appeared in the role on October 29, 2018.",
"Davidson last appeared in the role on October 29, 2018. On February 25, 2019, Davidson announced she would return to the role for several appearances; first airing on March 29, 2019. Since then, she has remained on the show on a recurring status. Character development Davidson describes Ashley as a \"dynamic character\". She has been characterized as \"sassy\" yet an \"honorable heroine\". The Record describes Ashley as \"headstrong\". She is recognized for her unluckiness and long-term suffering.",
"She is recognized for her unluckiness and long-term suffering. She is recognized for her unluckiness and long-term suffering. Davidson stated, \"She is a heroine. So often she was being victimized by people and trying to always rise above that, and being driven insane and losing babies, etc.\" In 1990, The Washington Times described Ashley as a \"smart woman\", known for her \"level head\" and \"business success\". Ashley is dedicated to her work and has a strong sense of family.",
"Ashley is dedicated to her work and has a strong sense of family. She is a beloved member of the Genoa City community. Her passion for the family business, Jabot Cosmetics, cost Ashley her marriage to Cole Howard (J. Eddie Peck). Ashley has been involved in a number of different romantic relationships over her duration on the series. Her relationship with Brad Carlton (Don Diamont) came as a shock, due to Brad being beneath her socially.",
"Her relationship with Brad Carlton (Don Diamont) came as a shock, due to Brad being beneath her socially. Epperson, who played Ashley at the time, was uncertain of Ashley and Brad's decision to get married. Davidson opined that a storyline in which Victor's son Adam Newman (Michael Muhney) gaslighted a pregnant Ashley in 2009 was payback for Ashley stealing Victor's sperm years ago to conceive Abby.",
"Davidson opined that a storyline in which Victor's son Adam Newman (Michael Muhney) gaslighted a pregnant Ashley in 2009 was payback for Ashley stealing Victor's sperm years ago to conceive Abby. She stated: \"I think the character really suffered after she stole Victor's sperm from Diane [...] After that, the viewers lost a lot of respect for Ashley. People wanted Ashley to pay for it. My opinion?",
"People wanted Ashley to pay for it. My opinion? My opinion? Although last summer's gaslighting storyline was used to propel a lot of other stories, it was also about making Ashley pay. Now we can close that entire chapter because Ashley paid. It was Ashley's redemption\".",
"It was Ashley's redemption\". It was Ashley's redemption\". Around this story arc, Tommy Garrett of Canyon News described Ashley as a \"damsel in distress\", stating that she had a \"twisted mind\" due to suffering a hysterical pregnancy after losing her unborn child at the hands of Adam. Following the death of John, Jack works desperately to remove his wife Gloria Abbott (Judith Chapman) from the family, even illegally making changes to John's will.",
"Following the death of John, Jack works desperately to remove his wife Gloria Abbott (Judith Chapman) from the family, even illegally making changes to John's will. Explaining Ashley's ambivalence towards the situation, Davidson stated: \"Just because you don't like somebody doesn't mean you should do something illegal [...] The point is, their father loved her. And even if they don't like her, they have to honor what he wanted.",
"And even if they don't like her, they have to honor what he wanted. Ashley never wanted to do anything that went against her father's wishes.\" The actress stated that Ashley \"just wants\" Jack to \"do the right thing\". Storylines Ashley is born on April 29, 1960, to John Abbott, Sr. (Brett Halsey, later Jerry Douglas) and Dina Abbott Mergeron (Marla Adams).",
"Storylines Ashley is born on April 29, 1960, to John Abbott, Sr. (Brett Halsey, later Jerry Douglas) and Dina Abbott Mergeron (Marla Adams). Twenty-two years later, after completing college, Ashley returns to Genoa City and applies for a job as a lab chemist at Jabot Cosmetics, the family company, using the name Susan Ashley so she will be hired for her skills, not her family connections.",
"Twenty-two years later, after completing college, Ashley returns to Genoa City and applies for a job as a lab chemist at Jabot Cosmetics, the family company, using the name Susan Ashley so she will be hired for her skills, not her family connections. She takes over as president of the company after her brother Jack Abbott (Terry Lester, later Peter Bergman) is shot on his one-year anniversary by his wife, Patty Williams.",
"She takes over as president of the company after her brother Jack Abbott (Terry Lester, later Peter Bergman) is shot on his one-year anniversary by his wife, Patty Williams. Ashley commences an unlucky streak of relationships; starting with French artist Eric Garrison, who slept with her mother, and Marc Mergeron, who is revealed to be her former stepbrother. Capitalizing on her unluckiness, it is revealed that Ashley's biological father is Brent Davis, not John Abbott, who remains unaware of Ashley's true paternity.",
"Capitalizing on her unluckiness, it is revealed that Ashley's biological father is Brent Davis, not John Abbott, who remains unaware of Ashley's true paternity. Trauma leads Ashley to become missing with amnesia, where she is found by business tycoon Victor Newman (Eric Braeden), who takes her back to Genoa City. Ashley has an affair with Victor, who is married to Nikki Newman (Melody Thomas Scott).",
"Ashley has an affair with Victor, who is married to Nikki Newman (Melody Thomas Scott). To spite Ashley, Nikki engages in an affair with Jack and tries to have Victor's brother, Matt Miller, unsuccessfully seduce Ashley. Ultimately, Victor chooses to be with Ashley, angering Nikki. When Ashley falls pregnant with Victor's child, Nikki is diagnosed with cancer, causing Victor to leave Ashley, who secretly has an abortion.",
"When Ashley falls pregnant with Victor's child, Nikki is diagnosed with cancer, causing Victor to leave Ashley, who secretly has an abortion. Ashley suffers a mental breakdown, before marrying her psychiatrist Steven Lassiter (Rod Arrants). Steven's former patient Leanna Randolph (Barbara Crampton) stalks the couple and attempts to destroy Ashley. She writes a biography about Victor that exposes information about his dysfunctional relationship with Ashley. Steven is later shot and killed by an unstable patient.",
"Steven is later shot and killed by an unstable patient. Following a short affair with Brad Carlton (Don Diamont), Ashley marries Victor. The marriage suffers because of Nikki's ongoing problems as well as Victor's daughter Victoria Newman's (Heather Tom) constant schemes to break them up. After her divorce from Victor, Ashley falls in love with Jabot's mysterious photographer Blade Bladeson (Michael Tylo), and they get married.",
"After her divorce from Victor, Ashley falls in love with Jabot's mysterious photographer Blade Bladeson (Michael Tylo), and they get married. Blade's vengeful twin brother Rick Bladeson arrives in town, holds Blade hostage and impersonates him. Eventually, Ashley and Blade's marriage ends. She then falls romantically for Kurt Costner (Leigh McCloskey), who is shot saving her from muggers. The romance is short-lived, as Kurt leaves Ashley to be with Victor's ex-wife Hope Wilson (Signy Coleman).",
"The romance is short-lived, as Kurt leaves Ashley to be with Victor's ex-wife Hope Wilson (Signy Coleman). Ashley nearly engages in an affair with Victoria's husband Cole Howard (J. Eddie Peck), an author who is writing a novel about her life, which requires them to spend time together. After Victoria's pregnancy results in a stillborn baby, Cole divorces her and marries Ashley.",
"After Victoria's pregnancy results in a stillborn baby, Cole divorces her and marries Ashley. The marriage suffers a rough patch when Ashley travels to Madrid to help her stepbrother Rafael Delgado (Carlos Bernard), who is dealing with dangerous customers after selling them forged paintings. Cole assumes that she is having an affair with Rafael, unaware of who he is. During this, Victoria attempts to sabotage the marriage. Ultimately, upon Ashley's return to Genoa City, the couple divorce.",
"Ultimately, upon Ashley's return to Genoa City, the couple divorce. By 2000, one of Jack's former lovers and Victor's latest ex-wife, Diane Jenkins (Alex Donnelley) steals Victor's sperm from a sperm bank, though Nikki switches the sample with Jack's sperm. Ashley then steals Victor's sperm and impregnates herself, claiming that the father is a stranger; this was to make up for the abortion she had years prior.",
"Ashley then steals Victor's sperm and impregnates herself, claiming that the father is a stranger; this was to make up for the abortion she had years prior. She then marries Brad Carlton and gives birth to Abby Carlton, who is raised to believe she is the daughter of Brad. Ashley is diagnosed with breast cancer, and feeling that she may not have time left, she confesses the truth about Abby's paternity to Victor. Brad and Ashley split, though are brought together when she becomes pregnant with their child.",
"Brad and Ashley split, though are brought together when she becomes pregnant with their child. Stress over the battle between Jabot and Newman Enterprises causes her to leave town. While she is driving back, she is involved in a car accident, killing the unborn child. Victor is blamed for the child's death. Brad and Ashley's marriage continues to diminish and they are divorced. Tom Fisher (Roscoe Born), the dangerous ex-husband of John's wife Gloria Abbott (Judith Chapman), arrives in town.",
"Tom Fisher (Roscoe Born), the dangerous ex-husband of John's wife Gloria Abbott (Judith Chapman), arrives in town. To protect his family, John shoots and kills Tom. Ashley covers this up by confessing to the crime herself, though John soon confesses himself, and is jailed for seven years. Gloria contaminates Ashley's new line of beauty cream, which causes a woman to die. John suffers a heart attack following his release from prison, and passes away.",
"John suffers a heart attack following his release from prison, and passes away. Jack removes Gloria from the family, and Ashley leaves town to escape the drama. During a business trip to France, Ashley meets Rick Forrester (Kyle Lowder), and they have an affair. She later travels to Los Angeles to work with Forrester Creations as a lab chemist. Rick and Ashley decide to keep their affair a secret, and she commences a serious relationship with Ridge Forrester (Ronn Moss), whom she becomes engaged to.",
"Rick and Ashley decide to keep their affair a secret, and she commences a serious relationship with Ridge Forrester (Ronn Moss), whom she becomes engaged to. Ridge's attentiveness to his former love Brooke Logan (Katherine Kelly Lang) ends the engagement. Ashley then has a short-lived romance with Brooke's brother Storm (William deVry). Forrester Creations decide to discontinue their fragrance line, diminishing Ashley's role in the company. She leaves Los Angeles and moves to Europe with Abby.",
"She leaves Los Angeles and moves to Europe with Abby. Ashley locates a missing Victor in France, where they reunite. Upon their return to Genoa City as a couple, they are married and Ashley becomes pregnant. Victor's manipulative son Adam Newman (Michael Muhney) gas lights Ashley, making her believe that she is seeing the ghost of Victor's late wife, Sabrina Newman.",
"Victor's manipulative son Adam Newman (Michael Muhney) gas lights Ashley, making her believe that she is seeing the ghost of Victor's late wife, Sabrina Newman. Adam causes Ashley to fall down a staircase and lose her baby, though he convinces her that this was a dream, and she suffers from an hysterical pregnancy. Ashley checks herself into a psychiatric hospital where Sharon Newman (Sharon Case), also pregnant, is staying.",
"Ashley checks herself into a psychiatric hospital where Sharon Newman (Sharon Case), also pregnant, is staying. After Ashley begins experiencing hysterical labor, Adam kidnaps Sharon's newborn baby Faith Newman and gives her to Ashley, with Sharon believing her baby was stillborn. In the ensuing months, Sharon marries Adam and develops a close friendship with Ashley. Six months after Faith is born, the doctor that delivered her (who was being blackmailed by Adam) confesses the truth in a letter.",
"Six months after Faith is born, the doctor that delivered her (who was being blackmailed by Adam) confesses the truth in a letter. Ashley is forced to hand Faith over to Sharon and the child's father, Victor's son Nicholas Newman (Joshua Morrow). Ashley moves on with her life, and becomes engaged to wealthy tycoon Tucker McCall (Stephen Nichols). Prior to their engagement, he slept with Diane Jenkins (Maura West).",
"Prior to their engagement, he slept with Diane Jenkins (Maura West). They briefly split up because of Tucker's secret business plans with Jack, but reunite shortly thereafter. Abby accidentally runs over Tucker with her car, and Ashley protects her by taking the blame. She is accused of attempted murder and driving under the influence. All charges are ultimately dropped, and she marries Tucker. Their marriage quickly lands in divorce because of Tucker's business scheming and his affair with a previous lover, Harmony Hamilton.",
"Their marriage quickly lands in divorce because of Tucker's business scheming and his affair with a previous lover, Harmony Hamilton. Ashley is later forced out as CEO of Jabot by Jack, and Ashley decides to move to New York City with Traci. She returns briefly a few months later for the wedding of Victor and Nikki. Months later, Ashley returns for the funeral of her niece Delia Abbott and comforts her brother Billy on his loss. She returns later to spend Thanksgiving with her family.",
"She returns later to spend Thanksgiving with her family. She returns later to spend Thanksgiving with her family. While there, she sprained her ankle and met Dr. Stitch Rayburn (Sean Carrigan). Abby pushed for a romance, but Ashley reminded her that Stitch was married and had a young son. In town for Abby and Tyler's engagement party, Ashley left early to drop by the hospital and \"run into\" Dr. Rayburn. But she found Victoria waiting for him to take her on a date.",
"But she found Victoria waiting for him to take her on a date. Ashley reminded her that she'd only been separated a week. When Ben arrived, Victoria was jealously catty, informing Ben that Ashley was her former stepmother. In September 2014, Ashley did not show up in Genoa City after calling a meeting among the major Jabot stockholders, Jack, Billy, Traci, and Abby.",
"In September 2014, Ashley did not show up in Genoa City after calling a meeting among the major Jabot stockholders, Jack, Billy, Traci, and Abby. Jack phoned her, and she explained that she was working on a special project, but had decided it was not yet ready to present to them. The following month, Ashley returned and confirmed that her idea was for a revolutionary new fragrance, and she made a deal with Jack to become Co-CEO of Jabot again if it panned out.",
"The following month, Ashley returned and confirmed that her idea was for a revolutionary new fragrance, and she made a deal with Jack to become Co-CEO of Jabot again if it panned out. Abby had been treating Ben Rayburn nasty and spiteful ever since she found out that he had killed his father as a teen and taken someone else's identity to get his degree in medicine, and broken Victoria's heart. So Abby was shocked when Ashley hired Ben as a chemist for Jabot, despite Abby's objections.",
"So Abby was shocked when Ashley hired Ben as a chemist for Jabot, despite Abby's objections. Ashley returned to New York City to wrap things up, tasking a reluctant Abby with bringing Ben up to speed on the cosmetics industry. Before she left, she consoled Billy that maybe she could help keep Ben away from Victoria for him. On Ashley's return, she asked Ben to smell the new fragrance, he found it repulsive, but he kissed her.",
"On Ashley's return, she asked Ben to smell the new fragrance, he found it repulsive, but he kissed her. Ashley revealed that the fragrance contained pheromones, was a love potion, and the kiss had proven it. What she needed was his help to make the scent bearable. Later after Ben was arrested for fraud by a former patient, Ashley bailed him out. She confided in Ben, that she too had taken a murder rap for someone she loved.",
"She confided in Ben, that she too had taken a murder rap for someone she loved. Ashley asked him to accompany her to Madison on business. Ben showed up in Ashley's office drunk after seeing Billy and Victoria snuggling with their baby. Ashley threw him in the shower to sober him up, and he pulled her in too. They had sex, and Stitch spent the night. The next day, they agreed to tell no one after Ben found out that he still had a chance with Victoria.",
"The next day, they agreed to tell no one after Ben found out that he still had a chance with Victoria. Victor invited Ashley to lunch and tried to get her to take a deal to leave Jabot and work for him at Newman-Chancellor. But Ashley declined and left early, arriving back at the lab in time to see her lab assistant Tobias taking photos of their secret work. She guessed that he was working for Victor, and decided to let him continue to feed him bogus information.",
"She guessed that he was working for Victor, and decided to let him continue to feed him bogus information. Ashley runs into Joe Clark at the athletic club. After referring to them having a good thing going back in New York City, they made plans to spend New Year's Eve together. In May 2017, Ashley's mother Dina came for a \"permanent\" visit. In October 2017, Dina exposed that John Abbott wasn't Ashley's father.",
"In October 2017, Dina exposed that John Abbott wasn't Ashley's father. Ashley leaves Genoa City in October 2018, following a series of events that leave her feeling alienated from both the Abbott family and Jabot, following the discovery that John and Dina left legal documents leaving all of Ashley's product patents to her; she confesses she's leaving for Paris to launch her own company with said-patents. Reception Jamey Giddens of Zap2it described Davidson as \"one of Genoa City's most beloved heroines\".",
"Reception Jamey Giddens of Zap2it described Davidson as \"one of Genoa City's most beloved heroines\". Upon learning of Davidson's return to the role in 1999, Candace Havens of the McCook Daily Gazette declared that it was her who made Ashley \"one of the most popular characters on soaps\".",
"Upon learning of Davidson's return to the role in 1999, Candace Havens of the McCook Daily Gazette declared that it was her who made Ashley \"one of the most popular characters on soaps\". In October 1999, when all of the Abbott siblings and their father John were together again, the Orlando Sentinel wrote: \"In the meantime, having the entire Abbott clan together [...] is like a joyous family reunion for longtime viewers\".",
"In October 1999, when all of the Abbott siblings and their father John were together again, the Orlando Sentinel wrote: \"In the meantime, having the entire Abbott clan together [...] is like a joyous family reunion for longtime viewers\". John Goudas of The Gadsden Times was favorable of Epperson's performance two years into her duration, stating that she \"is holding her own\", though he noted her to be \"Eileen's double\".",
"John Goudas of The Gadsden Times was favorable of Epperson's performance two years into her duration, stating that she \"is holding her own\", though he noted her to be \"Eileen's double\". He stated that the front-burner status of Ashley and Brad's romantic storyline demonstrated that producer William J. Bell \"has full confidence in [Epperson]\".",
"Bell \"has full confidence in [Epperson]\". The character has had a rivalry with Nikki Newman (Melody Thomas Scott) for many years; a poll run in 2008 by website Daytime Confidential asking, \"Who would win a cat fight, Nikki Newman or Ashley Abbott? \", saw 63% of voters say Nikki would win, with 37% saying Ashley would win. Giddens was favorable of Ashley running Jabot Cosmetics in 2008, writing: \"Okay this has to stop.",
"Giddens was favorable of Ashley running Jabot Cosmetics in 2008, writing: \"Okay this has to stop. My heart simply can't take it. It's like the effects of yo-yo dieting.",
"It's like the effects of yo-yo dieting. It's like the effects of yo-yo dieting. Everytime I sincerely think I am done with this genre, something like The Young and the Restless heiress Ashley Abbott (Eileen Davidson) announcing that she, not Lil' Billy (Billy Miller), not Cruella de Bardwell (Judith Chapman) or Gary Ewing (Ted Shackelford) and no, not even Smilin' Jack (Peter Bergman) will be running Jabot Cosmetics, happens.\"",
"Everytime I sincerely think I am done with this genre, something like The Young and the Restless heiress Ashley Abbott (Eileen Davidson) announcing that she, not Lil' Billy (Billy Miller), not Cruella de Bardwell (Judith Chapman) or Gary Ewing (Ted Shackelford) and no, not even Smilin' Jack (Peter Bergman) will be running Jabot Cosmetics, happens.\" In 2009, Jillian Bowe (also of Zap2it) wondered if Ashley was \"insane in the membrane\" due to her hearing a crying child around the Newman ranch, writing: \"Is \"The Beauty\" starting to crack up?",
"In 2009, Jillian Bowe (also of Zap2it) wondered if Ashley was \"insane in the membrane\" due to her hearing a crying child around the Newman ranch, writing: \"Is \"The Beauty\" starting to crack up? Certainly looks that when some freaky things take place on The Young and the Restless.\" In 2010, Tommy Garrett of Canyon News praised a scene in which Ashley discovers a sex tape made by her spoiled daughter, Abby, that was posted online.",
"In 2010, Tommy Garrett of Canyon News praised a scene in which Ashley discovers a sex tape made by her spoiled daughter, Abby, that was posted online. Garrett wrote: \"Davidson's performance is spot on as the mother Ashley who is fed up. The tears of despair and exhaustion came streaming down Davidson's beautiful face in character, while her spit-fire daughter didn't give a damn.\"",
"The tears of despair and exhaustion came streaming down Davidson's beautiful face in character, while her spit-fire daughter didn't give a damn.\" Giddens later wrote that he thought it was \"ridiculous\" and \"outlandish\" to make Ashley pregnant with Victor's child in 2009. Also in 2010, Neeketa Borden of Zap2it created a list of \"curiously quirky couplings\", with Ashley and Tucker listed as an \"honorable mention\".",
"Also in 2010, Neeketa Borden of Zap2it created a list of \"curiously quirky couplings\", with Ashley and Tucker listed as an \"honorable mention\". In a separate review, Garrett credited Davidson as one of the \"powerful performers who daytime TV could not exist without having\". When the truth was going to come out that Faith Newman wasn't Ashley's child, Giddens wrote: \"Lord, I hope this doesn't make my Ashley Abbott go cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs again!\"",
"When the truth was going to come out that Faith Newman wasn't Ashley's child, Giddens wrote: \"Lord, I hope this doesn't make my Ashley Abbott go cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs again!\" Mike Jubinville of Zap2it wrote that the character's relationship with Neil Winters (Kristoff St. John) had been a \"slow burn, one going on for weeks, but one that is hard to miss. It has the ingredients of a hot romance.\"",
"It has the ingredients of a hot romance.\" It has the ingredients of a hot romance.\" Upon Davidson's firing in 2012, Giddens wrote: \"I am sincerely hoping the brass at Y&R can't possibly be this stupid, but if they are, Gary Tomlin better blow up Davidson's phone STAT about a Days of Our Lives return!\"",
"Upon Davidson's firing in 2012, Giddens wrote: \"I am sincerely hoping the brass at Y&R can't possibly be this stupid, but if they are, Gary Tomlin better blow up Davidson's phone STAT about a Days of Our Lives return!\" References External links Ashley Abbott character profile on SoapCentral The Young and the Restless characters The Bold and the Beautiful characters Television characters introduced in 1982 Fictional business executives Fictional female businesspeople Fictional socialites Fictional characters with cancer Fictional characters with neurological or psychological disorders Female characters in television"
] |
[
"Ashley Abbott",
"Casting",
"When was the role cast?",
"Eileen Davidson originated the role of Ashley Abbott in June 1982,",
"Who got that role?",
"Eileen Davidson",
"Did she stay for the duration of the show?",
"Eileen Davidson originated the role of Ashley Abbott in June 1982, until her first exit on December 2, 1988.",
"who replaced Eileen?",
"The role was immediately recast with Brenda Epperson,",
"what year was this?",
"Brenda Epperson, who portrayed Ashley for seven years from December 5, 1988",
"Did Eileen ever return?",
"Davidson returning on March 19, 1999."
] | C_20c1c5d2fb2d47d8ab5679defff7dfd1_1 | did she stay in that role til the present? | 7 | did Eileen Davidson stay in the role of Ashley Abbott from her return til the present? | Ashley Abbott | Eileen Davidson originated the role of Ashley Abbott in June 1982, until her first exit on December 2, 1988. The role was immediately recast with Brenda Epperson, who portrayed Ashley for seven years from December 5, 1988 before leaving the role on December 21, 1995. Shari Shattuck then assumed the role from March 12, 1996 to February 22, 1999, with Davidson returning on March 19, 1999. Davidson took maternity leave in the summer of 2003. In 2006, news broke that Davidson was to exit the soap opera, and she last aired on January 11, 2007. She then carried the role of Ashley over to the show's sister soap, The Bold and the Beautiful. She last aired on The Bold and the Beautiful on July 4, 2008, before returning to The Young and the Restless on September 25, 2008. In May 2012, Davidson informed followers on her Twitter page that she had been let go from The Young and the Restless. Davidson further confirmed she did not know why she was let go, but was seeing the positive light from it. It was then announced by Nelson Branco that Sony Pictures Entertainment wanted Davidson on both The Young and the Restless and Days of Our Lives, but that Y&R would not share the actress, leading to Sony terminating her contract with the soap. Thus it was announced that Davidson would reprise her role as Kristen Blake on the NBC soap. Davidson made her onscreen exit on August 3, 2012. Speaking about her upcoming return to Days and departure from the show with TV Guide, Davidson stated: "What happened to me at Y&R was shocking -- I've been in this business a very long time and have never seen anything like it -- but it's not like I haven't been fired before." She also went on to say that "I was led to believe that I was fired, though it was a bad news-good news thing -- the bad news is Y&R is firing you, the good news is Days wants you." In February 2013, it was announced that Davidson would return to The Young and the Restless for "very special episodes" that would commemorate the show's 40th anniversary. In spite of this, the actress remained a part of Days of our Lives full-time. In August 2013, following the announcement of Davidson's departure from Days of our Lives, it was announced that she would again reprise the role for three episodes airing in October, later returning for additional guest appearances. In June 2014, it was announced that Davidson had signed a two-year contract with The Young and the Restless to appear as a regular cast member again, and would return to the series in September. Davidson also revealed her contract would allow for her to continue making appearances on Days of Our Lives. CANNOTANSWER | Davidson made her onscreen exit on August 3, 2012. | Ashley Abbott is a fictional character from The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful, two American soap operas on the CBS network. She has been most notably portrayed by Eileen Davidson, who originated the role on June 11, 1982, before departing in 1988. Brenda Epperson portrayed Ashley from 1988 to 1995, before Shari Shattuck portrayed the role for the next three years, until Davidson's return on March 19, 1999. Davidson was nominated in 2003 for Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, and she later won that award in 2018.
The character is the daughter of Dina Mergeron and Brent Davis, although she believed John Abbott was her biological father until she reached adulthood. She has had relationships with various men throughout the years, most notably Steven Lassiter, Victor Newman, Blade Bladeson, Cole Howard and Brad Carlton. She has a daughter with Victor, Abby Newman. She is also known for her business contributions to her father's company, Jabot Cosmetics, much like her brother Jack. In 2006, it was announced that Davidson was to leave The Young and the Restless. She last appeared on January 11, 2007. Shortly after, the character crossed over to its sister soap, The Bold and the Beautiful. There, she became intertwined with the Forresters and Forrester Creations; she also had a romance with Ridge Forrester. She left The Bold and the Beautiful in 2008 and returned to The Young and the Restless, where she has since had relationships with Victor once again and Tucker McCall.
In May 2012, it was announced that Davidson was let go from The Young and the Restless, leading to her exit on August 3, 2012. Davidson initially hadn't known why, but it was reported later that Sony Pictures Television terminated her contract with the show for her to return to Days of Our Lives as Kristen DiMera, a character she had portrayed there over 14 years prior. Davidson made a brief return to The Young and the Restless in March 2013 for the soap's 40th anniversary. After subsequent guest appearances, Davidson returned to The Young and the Restless on September 3, 2014, as a series regular. In 2018, Davidson again exited the role; she returned in March 2019, following the installment of head writer Josh Griffith.
Casting
Eileen Davidson originated the role of Ashley Abbott on June 11, 1982, until her first exit on December 2, 1988. The role was immediately recast with Brenda Epperson, who portrayed Ashley for seven years from December 5, 1988, before leaving the role on December 21, 1995. Shari Shattuck then assumed the role from March 21, 1996, to February 22, 1999, with Davidson returning on March 19, 1999. Davidson took maternity leave in the summer of 2003. In 2006, news broke that Davidson was to exit the soap opera, and she last aired on January 11, 2007. She then carried the role of Ashley over to the show's sister soap, The Bold and the Beautiful. On September 25, 2008, Davidson returned to The Young and the Restless, and subsequently made one final appearance on The Bold and the Beautiful on November 25 of the same year when Ashley resigned from her position at Forrester Creations.
In May 2012, Davidson informed followers on her Twitter page that she had been let go from The Young and the Restless. Davidson further confirmed she did not know why she was let go, but was seeing the positive light from it. It was then announced by Nelson Branco that Sony Pictures Entertainment wanted Davidson on both The Young and the Restless and Days of Our Lives, but that Y&R would not share the actress, leading to Sony terminating her contract with the soap. Thus it was announced that Davidson would reprise her role as Kristen Blake on the NBC soap. Davidson made her onscreen exit on August 3, 2012. Speaking about her upcoming return to Days and departure from the show with TV Guide, Davidson stated: "What happened to me at Y&R was shocking — I've been in this business a very long time and have never seen anything like it — but it's not like I haven't been fired before." She also went on to say that "I was led to believe that I was fired, though it was a bad news-good news thing — the bad news is Y&R is firing you, the good news is Days wants you." In February 2013, it was announced that Davidson would return to The Young and the Restless for "very special episodes" that would commemorate the show's 40th anniversary. In spite of this, the actress remained a part of Days of our Lives full-time.
In August 2013, following the announcement of Davidson's departure from Days of our Lives, it was announced that she would again reprise the role for three episodes airing in October, later returning for a guest appearance on November 27 and December 2, 2013. In June 2014, it was announced that Davidson had signed a two-year contract with The Young and the Restless to appear as a regular cast member again, and would return to the series in September. Davidson also revealed her contract would allow for her to continue making appearances on Days of Our Lives.
In 2018, Julia D'Arcy Badinger portrayed a younger Ashley in flashbacks. That June, Daytime Confidential broke news that Davidson had quit the role. Davidson last appeared in the role on October 29, 2018. On February 25, 2019, Davidson announced she would return to the role for several appearances; first airing on March 29, 2019. Since then, she has remained on the show on a recurring status.
Character development
Davidson describes Ashley as a "dynamic character". She has been characterized as "sassy" yet an "honorable heroine". The Record describes Ashley as "headstrong". She is recognized for her unluckiness and long-term suffering. Davidson stated, "She is a heroine. So often she was being victimized by people and trying to always rise above that, and being driven insane and losing babies, etc." In 1990, The Washington Times described Ashley as a "smart woman", known for her "level head" and "business success". Ashley is dedicated to her work and has a strong sense of family. She is a beloved member of the Genoa City community. Her passion for the family business, Jabot Cosmetics, cost Ashley her marriage to Cole Howard (J. Eddie Peck).
Ashley has been involved in a number of different romantic relationships over her duration on the series. Her relationship with Brad Carlton (Don Diamont) came as a shock, due to Brad being beneath her socially. Epperson, who played Ashley at the time, was uncertain of Ashley and Brad's decision to get married.
Davidson opined that a storyline in which Victor's son Adam Newman (Michael Muhney) gaslighted a pregnant Ashley in 2009 was payback for Ashley stealing Victor's sperm years ago to conceive Abby. She stated: "I think the character really suffered after she stole Victor's sperm from Diane [...] After that, the viewers lost a lot of respect for Ashley. People wanted Ashley to pay for it. My opinion? Although last summer's gaslighting storyline was used to propel a lot of other stories, it was also about making Ashley pay. Now we can close that entire chapter because Ashley paid. It was Ashley's redemption". Around this story arc, Tommy Garrett of Canyon News described Ashley as a "damsel in distress", stating that she had a "twisted mind" due to suffering a hysterical pregnancy after losing her unborn child at the hands of Adam.
Following the death of John, Jack works desperately to remove his wife Gloria Abbott (Judith Chapman) from the family, even illegally making changes to John's will. Explaining Ashley's ambivalence towards the situation, Davidson stated: "Just because you don't like somebody doesn't mean you should do something illegal [...] The point is, their father loved her. And even if they don't like her, they have to honor what he wanted. Ashley never wanted to do anything that went against her father's wishes." The actress stated that Ashley "just wants" Jack to "do the right thing".
Storylines
Ashley is born on April 29, 1960, to John Abbott, Sr. (Brett Halsey, later Jerry Douglas) and Dina Abbott Mergeron (Marla Adams). Twenty-two years later, after completing college, Ashley returns to Genoa City and applies for a job as a lab chemist at Jabot Cosmetics, the family company, using the name Susan Ashley so she will be hired for her skills, not her family connections. She takes over as president of the company after her brother Jack Abbott (Terry Lester, later Peter Bergman) is shot on his one-year anniversary by his wife, Patty Williams. Ashley commences an unlucky streak of relationships; starting with French artist Eric Garrison, who slept with her mother, and Marc Mergeron, who is revealed to be her former stepbrother. Capitalizing on her unluckiness, it is revealed that Ashley's biological father is Brent Davis, not John Abbott, who remains unaware of Ashley's true paternity. Trauma leads Ashley to become missing with amnesia, where she is found by business tycoon Victor Newman (Eric Braeden), who takes her back to Genoa City. Ashley has an affair with Victor, who is married to Nikki Newman (Melody Thomas Scott). To spite Ashley, Nikki engages in an affair with Jack and tries to have Victor's brother, Matt Miller, unsuccessfully seduce Ashley. Ultimately, Victor chooses to be with Ashley, angering Nikki. When Ashley falls pregnant with Victor's child, Nikki is diagnosed with cancer, causing Victor to leave Ashley, who secretly has an abortion. Ashley suffers a mental breakdown, before marrying her psychiatrist Steven Lassiter (Rod Arrants). Steven's former patient Leanna Randolph (Barbara Crampton) stalks the couple and attempts to destroy Ashley. She writes a biography about Victor that exposes information about his dysfunctional relationship with Ashley. Steven is later shot and killed by an unstable patient.
Following a short affair with Brad Carlton (Don Diamont), Ashley marries Victor. The marriage suffers because of Nikki's ongoing problems as well as Victor's daughter Victoria Newman's (Heather Tom) constant schemes to break them up. After her divorce from Victor, Ashley falls in love with Jabot's mysterious photographer Blade Bladeson (Michael Tylo), and they get married. Blade's vengeful twin brother Rick Bladeson arrives in town, holds Blade hostage and impersonates him. Eventually, Ashley and Blade's marriage ends. She then falls romantically for Kurt Costner (Leigh McCloskey), who is shot saving her from muggers. The romance is short-lived, as Kurt leaves Ashley to be with Victor's ex-wife Hope Wilson (Signy Coleman). Ashley nearly engages in an affair with Victoria's husband Cole Howard (J. Eddie Peck), an author who is writing a novel about her life, which requires them to spend time together. After Victoria's pregnancy results in a stillborn baby, Cole divorces her and marries Ashley. The marriage suffers a rough patch when Ashley travels to Madrid to help her stepbrother Rafael Delgado (Carlos Bernard), who is dealing with dangerous customers after selling them forged paintings. Cole assumes that she is having an affair with Rafael, unaware of who he is. During this, Victoria attempts to sabotage the marriage. Ultimately, upon Ashley's return to Genoa City, the couple divorce.
By 2000, one of Jack's former lovers and Victor's latest ex-wife, Diane Jenkins (Alex Donnelley) steals Victor's sperm from a sperm bank, though Nikki switches the sample with Jack's sperm. Ashley then steals Victor's sperm and impregnates herself, claiming that the father is a stranger; this was to make up for the abortion she had years prior. She then marries Brad Carlton and gives birth to Abby Carlton, who is raised to believe she is the daughter of Brad. Ashley is diagnosed with breast cancer, and feeling that she may not have time left, she confesses the truth about Abby's paternity to Victor. Brad and Ashley split, though are brought together when she becomes pregnant with their child. Stress over the battle between Jabot and Newman Enterprises causes her to leave town. While she is driving back, she is involved in a car accident, killing the unborn child. Victor is blamed for the child's death. Brad and Ashley's marriage continues to diminish and they are divorced. Tom Fisher (Roscoe Born), the dangerous ex-husband of John's wife Gloria Abbott (Judith Chapman), arrives in town. To protect his family, John shoots and kills Tom. Ashley covers this up by confessing to the crime herself, though John soon confesses himself, and is jailed for seven years. Gloria contaminates Ashley's new line of beauty cream, which causes a woman to die. John suffers a heart attack following his release from prison, and passes away. Jack removes Gloria from the family, and Ashley leaves town to escape the drama. During a business trip to France, Ashley meets Rick Forrester (Kyle Lowder), and they have an affair. She later travels to Los Angeles to work with Forrester Creations as a lab chemist. Rick and Ashley decide to keep their affair a secret, and she commences a serious relationship with Ridge Forrester (Ronn Moss), whom she becomes engaged to. Ridge's attentiveness to his former love Brooke Logan (Katherine Kelly Lang) ends the engagement. Ashley then has a short-lived romance with Brooke's brother Storm (William deVry). Forrester Creations decide to discontinue their fragrance line, diminishing Ashley's role in the company. She leaves Los Angeles and moves to Europe with Abby.
Ashley locates a missing Victor in France, where they reunite. Upon their return to Genoa City as a couple, they are married and Ashley becomes pregnant. Victor's manipulative son Adam Newman (Michael Muhney) gas lights Ashley, making her believe that she is seeing the ghost of Victor's late wife, Sabrina Newman. Adam causes Ashley to fall down a staircase and lose her baby, though he convinces her that this was a dream, and she suffers from an hysterical pregnancy. Ashley checks herself into a psychiatric hospital where Sharon Newman (Sharon Case), also pregnant, is staying. After Ashley begins experiencing hysterical labor, Adam kidnaps Sharon's newborn baby Faith Newman and gives her to Ashley, with Sharon believing her baby was stillborn. In the ensuing months, Sharon marries Adam and develops a close friendship with Ashley. Six months after Faith is born, the doctor that delivered her (who was being blackmailed by Adam) confesses the truth in a letter. Ashley is forced to hand Faith over to Sharon and the child's father, Victor's son Nicholas Newman (Joshua Morrow). Ashley moves on with her life, and becomes engaged to wealthy tycoon Tucker McCall (Stephen Nichols). Prior to their engagement, he slept with Diane Jenkins (Maura West). They briefly split up because of Tucker's secret business plans with Jack, but reunite shortly thereafter. Abby accidentally runs over Tucker with her car, and Ashley protects her by taking the blame. She is accused of attempted murder and driving under the influence. All charges are ultimately dropped, and she marries Tucker. Their marriage quickly lands in divorce because of Tucker's business scheming and his affair with a previous lover, Harmony Hamilton. Ashley is later forced out as CEO of Jabot by Jack, and Ashley decides to move to New York City with Traci. She returns briefly a few months later for the wedding of Victor and Nikki. Months later, Ashley returns for the funeral of her niece Delia Abbott and comforts her brother Billy on his loss. She returns later to spend Thanksgiving with her family. While there, she sprained her ankle and met Dr. Stitch Rayburn (Sean Carrigan). Abby pushed for a romance, but Ashley reminded her that Stitch was married and had a young son.
In town for Abby and Tyler's engagement party, Ashley left early to drop by the hospital and "run into" Dr. Rayburn. But she found Victoria waiting for him to take her on a date. Ashley reminded her that she'd only been separated a week. When Ben arrived, Victoria was jealously catty, informing Ben that Ashley was her former stepmother.
In September 2014, Ashley did not show up in Genoa City after calling a meeting among the major Jabot stockholders, Jack, Billy, Traci, and Abby. Jack phoned her, and she explained that she was working on a special project, but had decided it was not yet ready to present to them.
The following month, Ashley returned and confirmed that her idea was for a revolutionary new fragrance, and she made a deal with Jack to become Co-CEO of Jabot again if it panned out. Abby had been treating Ben Rayburn nasty and spiteful ever since she found out that he had killed his father as a teen and taken someone else's identity to get his degree in medicine, and broken Victoria's heart. So Abby was shocked when Ashley hired Ben as a chemist for Jabot, despite Abby's objections. Ashley returned to New York City to wrap things up, tasking a reluctant Abby with bringing Ben up to speed on the cosmetics industry. Before she left, she consoled Billy that maybe she could help keep Ben away from Victoria for him.
On Ashley's return, she asked Ben to smell the new fragrance, he found it repulsive, but he kissed her. Ashley revealed that the fragrance contained pheromones, was a love potion, and the kiss had proven it. What she needed was his help to make the scent bearable. Later after Ben was arrested for fraud by a former patient, Ashley bailed him out. She confided in Ben, that she too had taken a murder rap for someone she loved. Ashley asked him to accompany her to Madison on business.
Ben showed up in Ashley's office drunk after seeing Billy and Victoria snuggling with their baby. Ashley threw him in the shower to sober him up, and he pulled her in too. They had sex, and Stitch spent the night. The next day, they agreed to tell no one after Ben found out that he still had a chance with Victoria.
Victor invited Ashley to lunch and tried to get her to take a deal to leave Jabot and work for him at Newman-Chancellor. But Ashley declined and left early, arriving back at the lab in time to see her lab assistant Tobias taking photos of their secret work. She guessed that he was working for Victor, and decided to let him continue to feed him bogus information. Ashley runs into Joe Clark at the athletic club. After referring to them having a good thing going back in New York City, they made plans to spend New Year's Eve together. In May 2017, Ashley's mother Dina came for a "permanent" visit. In October 2017, Dina exposed that John Abbott wasn't Ashley's father. Ashley leaves Genoa City in October 2018, following a series of events that leave her feeling alienated from both the Abbott family and Jabot, following the discovery that John and Dina left legal documents leaving all of Ashley's product patents to her; she confesses she's leaving for Paris to launch her own company with said-patents.
Reception
Jamey Giddens of Zap2it described Davidson as "one of Genoa City's most beloved heroines". Upon learning of Davidson's return to the role in 1999, Candace Havens of the McCook Daily Gazette declared that it was her who made Ashley "one of the most popular characters on soaps". In October 1999, when all of the Abbott siblings and their father John were together again, the Orlando Sentinel wrote: "In the meantime, having the entire Abbott clan together [...] is like a joyous family reunion for longtime viewers". John Goudas of The Gadsden Times was favorable of Epperson's performance two years into her duration, stating that she "is holding her own", though he noted her to be "Eileen's double". He stated that the front-burner status of Ashley and Brad's romantic storyline demonstrated that producer William J. Bell "has full confidence in [Epperson]".
The character has had a rivalry with Nikki Newman (Melody Thomas Scott) for many years; a poll run in 2008 by website Daytime Confidential asking, "Who would win a cat fight, Nikki Newman or Ashley Abbott?", saw 63% of voters say Nikki would win, with 37% saying Ashley would win. Giddens was favorable of Ashley running Jabot Cosmetics in 2008, writing: "Okay this has to stop. My heart simply can't take it. It's like the effects of yo-yo dieting. Everytime I sincerely think I am done with this genre, something like The Young and the Restless heiress Ashley Abbott (Eileen Davidson) announcing that she, not Lil' Billy (Billy Miller), not Cruella de Bardwell (Judith Chapman) or Gary Ewing (Ted Shackelford) and no, not even Smilin' Jack (Peter Bergman) will be running Jabot Cosmetics, happens." In 2009, Jillian Bowe (also of Zap2it) wondered if Ashley was "insane in the membrane" due to her hearing a crying child around the Newman ranch, writing: "Is "The Beauty" starting to crack up? Certainly looks that when some freaky things take place on The Young and the Restless."
In 2010, Tommy Garrett of Canyon News praised a scene in which Ashley discovers a sex tape made by her spoiled daughter, Abby, that was posted online. Garrett wrote: "Davidson's performance is spot on as the mother Ashley who is fed up. The tears of despair and exhaustion came streaming down Davidson's beautiful face in character, while her spit-fire daughter didn't give a damn." Giddens later wrote that he thought it was "ridiculous" and "outlandish" to make Ashley pregnant with Victor's child in 2009. Also in 2010, Neeketa Borden of Zap2it created a list of "curiously quirky couplings", with Ashley and Tucker listed as an "honorable mention". In a separate review, Garrett credited Davidson as one of the "powerful performers who daytime TV could not exist without having". When the truth was going to come out that Faith Newman wasn't Ashley's child, Giddens wrote: "Lord, I hope this doesn't make my Ashley Abbott go cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs again!" Mike Jubinville of Zap2it wrote that the character's relationship with Neil Winters (Kristoff St. John) had been a "slow burn, one going on for weeks, but one that is hard to miss. It has the ingredients of a hot romance." Upon Davidson's firing in 2012, Giddens wrote: "I am sincerely hoping the brass at Y&R can't possibly be this stupid, but if they are, Gary Tomlin better blow up Davidson's phone STAT about a Days of Our Lives return!"
References
External links
Ashley Abbott character profile on SoapCentral
The Young and the Restless characters
The Bold and the Beautiful characters
Television characters introduced in 1982
Fictional business executives
Fictional female businesspeople
Fictional socialites
Fictional characters with cancer
Fictional characters with neurological or psychological disorders
Female characters in television | true | [
"Rudi Hansen (born 27 October 1943 in Copenhagen) is a Danish former actress.\n\nBiography\nHansen is the daughter of waiter Finn Hansen (1910–1977) and revue dancer Rita Andersen Kuni (1919–1987). Aged three she took up dance and acrobatics and won national acrobatics championships in 1950–1952 and 1954. Director Alice O'Frederiks needed a girl for the role of \"Mie\" in the films of \"Far til Fire\", and chose Rudi. She was already familiar with the stage, she — and her younger sister Anisette from rock group Savage Rose – had already appeared on the Ping Club Theater at Aunt Karen. In 1950 she starred in a child role in Nørrebro Theatre as a little sister to Annie in \"Annie Get Your Gun.\" She had been on tours in Denmark and Norway in the Valley of the Sun-The scene where she debuted 1953 in \"Swing Princess\". At Christmas 1957 she had the lead role in the Christmas comedy \"We believe in Santa Claus\" at the New Scala. In TV theater, she starred in 1955 in \"oyster and pearl\" in 1958 \"Halloween Rene\" and in 1959, \"You beautiful youth.\" The two sisters also recorded a record together and in the movie \"Father of four with full music\" song Rudi Hansen \"Globus song\". Rudi Hansen has only appeared in two films out of \"Father of Four\" films, namely \"Flute Player\" from 1953 and \"My daughter Nelly\" from 1956. Among her records was \"I saw Santa kissing mom\", \"Nisse-polka\", \"Sun, Summer and Sunday,\" \"Play a polka musician\", \"Ole bole bum,\" \"Girl Hearts\", \"Texas-swing \"\" A true skiffle \",\" Farmhouse \"and\" Dad \".\n\nOn 18 June 1961, she was seriously injured in a car accident at Nødebo in North Zealand, when she was a passenger of well known revue-director Sejr Volmer-Sørensen. \n\nHer last film was \"Far til Fire med fuld musik\", where she met football player Harald Nielsen. They were married on 21 March 1963 at Gladsaxe Hall. Although she was to start further training as an actress and had been admitted to the New Theatre's drama school, she withdrew completely from the limelight to follow Harald to Bologna in Italy where he played professional football. Since 1974, the couple have lived in Denmark, where they have a leathergoods company, primarily importing from Italy.\n\nRudi (Hansen) Nielsen is also the chairwoman of Eventyr Teatret, a drama school and professional children and youth theater in Copenhagen.\n\nFilmography\nRudi Hansen has starred in the following movies:\n 1953 Far til fire\n 1953 Fløjtespilleren\n 1954 Far til fire i sneen\n 1955 Min datter Nelly\n 1955 Far til fire på landet\n 1956 Far til fire i byen\n 1957 Far til fire og onkel Sofus\n 1958 Far til fire og ulveungerne\n 1959 Far til fire på Bornholm\n 1961 Far til fire med fuld musik\n 1961 Farinelli\n\nReferences\n\nFurther reading\n\nExternal links\n\n \n \n \n Handelsselskabet Rudi & Harald Nielsen\n Eventyrteatret\n\n1943 births\nActresses from Copenhagen\nDanish film actresses\nLiving people",
"Luna Marie Schweiger (born 11 January 1997) is a German actress. She is best known for her role in the 2007 film Keinohrhasen and its 2009 sequel Zweiohrküken, directed by her father Til Schweiger.\n\nFamily \nSchweiger was born on 11 January 1997 in Berlin to German actor Til Schweiger and American fashion model Dana Carlsen. She is the second of four children, after Valentin (born 1995), and the eldest daughter, before Lilli (born 1998) and Emma (born 2002). All four of them are child actors, having all first appeared in the 2007 film Keinohrhasen and its 2009 sequel Zweiohrküken, directed by their father. Her parents separated in 2005. Schweiger now lives with her mother in Hamburg.\n\nSchweiger publicly announced in July 2016 her idea to return her American citizenship in case Donald Trump should win the US presidential election in November of that year. After Trump's actual electoral victory, Schweiger's management announced that this statement was not meant to be taken seriously and that Schweiger would retain her US passport.\n\nCareer \nSchweiger made her film debut as young Anna Gotzlowski in Keinohrhasen (2007), co–starring Nora Tschirner and her father Til Schweiger, who also directed the film, and reprised her role in its 2009 sequel, Zweiohrküken. In 2009, she portrayed the role of Sarah in the drama Phantomschmerz, starring Til Schweiger, Jana Pallaske and Stipe Erceg. Schweiger briefly appeared in the 2011 film Kokowääh, starring her father and sister Emma Tiger Schweiger. In 2012, she played a teenager in Schutzengel named Nina who witnessed the death of her boyfriend. In witness protection her guardian Max, played by Til Schweiger, protects her.\n\nFilmography\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n \n\n1997 births\nGerman child actresses\nGerman film actresses\nGerman people of American descent\nLiving people\nActresses from Berlin"
] | [
"Ashley Abbott is a fictional character from The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful, two American soap operas on the CBS network. She has been most notably portrayed by Eileen Davidson, who originated the role on June 11, 1982, before departing in 1988. Brenda Epperson portrayed Ashley from 1988 to 1995, before Shari Shattuck portrayed the role for the next three years, until Davidson's return on March 19, 1999.",
"Brenda Epperson portrayed Ashley from 1988 to 1995, before Shari Shattuck portrayed the role for the next three years, until Davidson's return on March 19, 1999. Davidson was nominated in 2003 for Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, and she later won that award in 2018. The character is the daughter of Dina Mergeron and Brent Davis, although she believed John Abbott was her biological father until she reached adulthood.",
"The character is the daughter of Dina Mergeron and Brent Davis, although she believed John Abbott was her biological father until she reached adulthood. She has had relationships with various men throughout the years, most notably Steven Lassiter, Victor Newman, Blade Bladeson, Cole Howard and Brad Carlton. She has a daughter with Victor, Abby Newman. She is also known for her business contributions to her father's company, Jabot Cosmetics, much like her brother Jack.",
"She is also known for her business contributions to her father's company, Jabot Cosmetics, much like her brother Jack. In 2006, it was announced that Davidson was to leave The Young and the Restless. She last appeared on January 11, 2007. Shortly after, the character crossed over to its sister soap, The Bold and the Beautiful. There, she became intertwined with the Forresters and Forrester Creations; she also had a romance with Ridge Forrester.",
"There, she became intertwined with the Forresters and Forrester Creations; she also had a romance with Ridge Forrester. She left The Bold and the Beautiful in 2008 and returned to The Young and the Restless, where she has since had relationships with Victor once again and Tucker McCall. In May 2012, it was announced that Davidson was let go from The Young and the Restless, leading to her exit on August 3, 2012.",
"In May 2012, it was announced that Davidson was let go from The Young and the Restless, leading to her exit on August 3, 2012. Davidson initially hadn't known why, but it was reported later that Sony Pictures Television terminated her contract with the show for her to return to Days of Our Lives as Kristen DiMera, a character she had portrayed there over 14 years prior. Davidson made a brief return to The Young and the Restless in March 2013 for the soap's 40th anniversary.",
"Davidson made a brief return to The Young and the Restless in March 2013 for the soap's 40th anniversary. After subsequent guest appearances, Davidson returned to The Young and the Restless on September 3, 2014, as a series regular. In 2018, Davidson again exited the role; she returned in March 2019, following the installment of head writer Josh Griffith. Casting Eileen Davidson originated the role of Ashley Abbott on June 11, 1982, until her first exit on December 2, 1988.",
"Casting Eileen Davidson originated the role of Ashley Abbott on June 11, 1982, until her first exit on December 2, 1988. The role was immediately recast with Brenda Epperson, who portrayed Ashley for seven years from December 5, 1988, before leaving the role on December 21, 1995. Shari Shattuck then assumed the role from March 21, 1996, to February 22, 1999, with Davidson returning on March 19, 1999. Davidson took maternity leave in the summer of 2003.",
"Davidson took maternity leave in the summer of 2003. Davidson took maternity leave in the summer of 2003. In 2006, news broke that Davidson was to exit the soap opera, and she last aired on January 11, 2007. She then carried the role of Ashley over to the show's sister soap, The Bold and the Beautiful.",
"She then carried the role of Ashley over to the show's sister soap, The Bold and the Beautiful. On September 25, 2008, Davidson returned to The Young and the Restless, and subsequently made one final appearance on The Bold and the Beautiful on November 25 of the same year when Ashley resigned from her position at Forrester Creations. In May 2012, Davidson informed followers on her Twitter page that she had been let go from The Young and the Restless.",
"In May 2012, Davidson informed followers on her Twitter page that she had been let go from The Young and the Restless. Davidson further confirmed she did not know why she was let go, but was seeing the positive light from it. It was then announced by Nelson Branco that Sony Pictures Entertainment wanted Davidson on both The Young and the Restless and Days of Our Lives, but that Y&R would not share the actress, leading to Sony terminating her contract with the soap.",
"It was then announced by Nelson Branco that Sony Pictures Entertainment wanted Davidson on both The Young and the Restless and Days of Our Lives, but that Y&R would not share the actress, leading to Sony terminating her contract with the soap. Thus it was announced that Davidson would reprise her role as Kristen Blake on the NBC soap. Davidson made her onscreen exit on August 3, 2012.",
"Davidson made her onscreen exit on August 3, 2012. Speaking about her upcoming return to Days and departure from the show with TV Guide, Davidson stated: \"What happened to me at Y&R was shocking — I've been in this business a very long time and have never seen anything like it — but it's not like I haven't been fired before.\"",
"Speaking about her upcoming return to Days and departure from the show with TV Guide, Davidson stated: \"What happened to me at Y&R was shocking — I've been in this business a very long time and have never seen anything like it — but it's not like I haven't been fired before.\" She also went on to say that \"I was led to believe that I was fired, though it was a bad news-good news thing — the bad news is Y&R is firing you, the good news is Days wants you.\"",
"She also went on to say that \"I was led to believe that I was fired, though it was a bad news-good news thing — the bad news is Y&R is firing you, the good news is Days wants you.\" In February 2013, it was announced that Davidson would return to The Young and the Restless for \"very special episodes\" that would commemorate the show's 40th anniversary. In spite of this, the actress remained a part of Days of our Lives full-time.",
"In spite of this, the actress remained a part of Days of our Lives full-time. In August 2013, following the announcement of Davidson's departure from Days of our Lives, it was announced that she would again reprise the role for three episodes airing in October, later returning for a guest appearance on November 27 and December 2, 2013.",
"In August 2013, following the announcement of Davidson's departure from Days of our Lives, it was announced that she would again reprise the role for three episodes airing in October, later returning for a guest appearance on November 27 and December 2, 2013. In June 2014, it was announced that Davidson had signed a two-year contract with The Young and the Restless to appear as a regular cast member again, and would return to the series in September.",
"In June 2014, it was announced that Davidson had signed a two-year contract with The Young and the Restless to appear as a regular cast member again, and would return to the series in September. Davidson also revealed her contract would allow for her to continue making appearances on Days of Our Lives. In 2018, Julia D'Arcy Badinger portrayed a younger Ashley in flashbacks. That June, Daytime Confidential broke news that Davidson had quit the role. Davidson last appeared in the role on October 29, 2018.",
"Davidson last appeared in the role on October 29, 2018. On February 25, 2019, Davidson announced she would return to the role for several appearances; first airing on March 29, 2019. Since then, she has remained on the show on a recurring status. Character development Davidson describes Ashley as a \"dynamic character\". She has been characterized as \"sassy\" yet an \"honorable heroine\". The Record describes Ashley as \"headstrong\". She is recognized for her unluckiness and long-term suffering.",
"She is recognized for her unluckiness and long-term suffering. She is recognized for her unluckiness and long-term suffering. Davidson stated, \"She is a heroine. So often she was being victimized by people and trying to always rise above that, and being driven insane and losing babies, etc.\" In 1990, The Washington Times described Ashley as a \"smart woman\", known for her \"level head\" and \"business success\". Ashley is dedicated to her work and has a strong sense of family.",
"Ashley is dedicated to her work and has a strong sense of family. She is a beloved member of the Genoa City community. Her passion for the family business, Jabot Cosmetics, cost Ashley her marriage to Cole Howard (J. Eddie Peck). Ashley has been involved in a number of different romantic relationships over her duration on the series. Her relationship with Brad Carlton (Don Diamont) came as a shock, due to Brad being beneath her socially.",
"Her relationship with Brad Carlton (Don Diamont) came as a shock, due to Brad being beneath her socially. Epperson, who played Ashley at the time, was uncertain of Ashley and Brad's decision to get married. Davidson opined that a storyline in which Victor's son Adam Newman (Michael Muhney) gaslighted a pregnant Ashley in 2009 was payback for Ashley stealing Victor's sperm years ago to conceive Abby.",
"Davidson opined that a storyline in which Victor's son Adam Newman (Michael Muhney) gaslighted a pregnant Ashley in 2009 was payback for Ashley stealing Victor's sperm years ago to conceive Abby. She stated: \"I think the character really suffered after she stole Victor's sperm from Diane [...] After that, the viewers lost a lot of respect for Ashley. People wanted Ashley to pay for it. My opinion?",
"People wanted Ashley to pay for it. My opinion? My opinion? Although last summer's gaslighting storyline was used to propel a lot of other stories, it was also about making Ashley pay. Now we can close that entire chapter because Ashley paid. It was Ashley's redemption\".",
"It was Ashley's redemption\". It was Ashley's redemption\". Around this story arc, Tommy Garrett of Canyon News described Ashley as a \"damsel in distress\", stating that she had a \"twisted mind\" due to suffering a hysterical pregnancy after losing her unborn child at the hands of Adam. Following the death of John, Jack works desperately to remove his wife Gloria Abbott (Judith Chapman) from the family, even illegally making changes to John's will.",
"Following the death of John, Jack works desperately to remove his wife Gloria Abbott (Judith Chapman) from the family, even illegally making changes to John's will. Explaining Ashley's ambivalence towards the situation, Davidson stated: \"Just because you don't like somebody doesn't mean you should do something illegal [...] The point is, their father loved her. And even if they don't like her, they have to honor what he wanted.",
"And even if they don't like her, they have to honor what he wanted. Ashley never wanted to do anything that went against her father's wishes.\" The actress stated that Ashley \"just wants\" Jack to \"do the right thing\". Storylines Ashley is born on April 29, 1960, to John Abbott, Sr. (Brett Halsey, later Jerry Douglas) and Dina Abbott Mergeron (Marla Adams).",
"Storylines Ashley is born on April 29, 1960, to John Abbott, Sr. (Brett Halsey, later Jerry Douglas) and Dina Abbott Mergeron (Marla Adams). Twenty-two years later, after completing college, Ashley returns to Genoa City and applies for a job as a lab chemist at Jabot Cosmetics, the family company, using the name Susan Ashley so she will be hired for her skills, not her family connections.",
"Twenty-two years later, after completing college, Ashley returns to Genoa City and applies for a job as a lab chemist at Jabot Cosmetics, the family company, using the name Susan Ashley so she will be hired for her skills, not her family connections. She takes over as president of the company after her brother Jack Abbott (Terry Lester, later Peter Bergman) is shot on his one-year anniversary by his wife, Patty Williams.",
"She takes over as president of the company after her brother Jack Abbott (Terry Lester, later Peter Bergman) is shot on his one-year anniversary by his wife, Patty Williams. Ashley commences an unlucky streak of relationships; starting with French artist Eric Garrison, who slept with her mother, and Marc Mergeron, who is revealed to be her former stepbrother. Capitalizing on her unluckiness, it is revealed that Ashley's biological father is Brent Davis, not John Abbott, who remains unaware of Ashley's true paternity.",
"Capitalizing on her unluckiness, it is revealed that Ashley's biological father is Brent Davis, not John Abbott, who remains unaware of Ashley's true paternity. Trauma leads Ashley to become missing with amnesia, where she is found by business tycoon Victor Newman (Eric Braeden), who takes her back to Genoa City. Ashley has an affair with Victor, who is married to Nikki Newman (Melody Thomas Scott).",
"Ashley has an affair with Victor, who is married to Nikki Newman (Melody Thomas Scott). To spite Ashley, Nikki engages in an affair with Jack and tries to have Victor's brother, Matt Miller, unsuccessfully seduce Ashley. Ultimately, Victor chooses to be with Ashley, angering Nikki. When Ashley falls pregnant with Victor's child, Nikki is diagnosed with cancer, causing Victor to leave Ashley, who secretly has an abortion.",
"When Ashley falls pregnant with Victor's child, Nikki is diagnosed with cancer, causing Victor to leave Ashley, who secretly has an abortion. Ashley suffers a mental breakdown, before marrying her psychiatrist Steven Lassiter (Rod Arrants). Steven's former patient Leanna Randolph (Barbara Crampton) stalks the couple and attempts to destroy Ashley. She writes a biography about Victor that exposes information about his dysfunctional relationship with Ashley. Steven is later shot and killed by an unstable patient.",
"Steven is later shot and killed by an unstable patient. Following a short affair with Brad Carlton (Don Diamont), Ashley marries Victor. The marriage suffers because of Nikki's ongoing problems as well as Victor's daughter Victoria Newman's (Heather Tom) constant schemes to break them up. After her divorce from Victor, Ashley falls in love with Jabot's mysterious photographer Blade Bladeson (Michael Tylo), and they get married.",
"After her divorce from Victor, Ashley falls in love with Jabot's mysterious photographer Blade Bladeson (Michael Tylo), and they get married. Blade's vengeful twin brother Rick Bladeson arrives in town, holds Blade hostage and impersonates him. Eventually, Ashley and Blade's marriage ends. She then falls romantically for Kurt Costner (Leigh McCloskey), who is shot saving her from muggers. The romance is short-lived, as Kurt leaves Ashley to be with Victor's ex-wife Hope Wilson (Signy Coleman).",
"The romance is short-lived, as Kurt leaves Ashley to be with Victor's ex-wife Hope Wilson (Signy Coleman). Ashley nearly engages in an affair with Victoria's husband Cole Howard (J. Eddie Peck), an author who is writing a novel about her life, which requires them to spend time together. After Victoria's pregnancy results in a stillborn baby, Cole divorces her and marries Ashley.",
"After Victoria's pregnancy results in a stillborn baby, Cole divorces her and marries Ashley. The marriage suffers a rough patch when Ashley travels to Madrid to help her stepbrother Rafael Delgado (Carlos Bernard), who is dealing with dangerous customers after selling them forged paintings. Cole assumes that she is having an affair with Rafael, unaware of who he is. During this, Victoria attempts to sabotage the marriage. Ultimately, upon Ashley's return to Genoa City, the couple divorce.",
"Ultimately, upon Ashley's return to Genoa City, the couple divorce. By 2000, one of Jack's former lovers and Victor's latest ex-wife, Diane Jenkins (Alex Donnelley) steals Victor's sperm from a sperm bank, though Nikki switches the sample with Jack's sperm. Ashley then steals Victor's sperm and impregnates herself, claiming that the father is a stranger; this was to make up for the abortion she had years prior.",
"Ashley then steals Victor's sperm and impregnates herself, claiming that the father is a stranger; this was to make up for the abortion she had years prior. She then marries Brad Carlton and gives birth to Abby Carlton, who is raised to believe she is the daughter of Brad. Ashley is diagnosed with breast cancer, and feeling that she may not have time left, she confesses the truth about Abby's paternity to Victor. Brad and Ashley split, though are brought together when she becomes pregnant with their child.",
"Brad and Ashley split, though are brought together when she becomes pregnant with their child. Stress over the battle between Jabot and Newman Enterprises causes her to leave town. While she is driving back, she is involved in a car accident, killing the unborn child. Victor is blamed for the child's death. Brad and Ashley's marriage continues to diminish and they are divorced. Tom Fisher (Roscoe Born), the dangerous ex-husband of John's wife Gloria Abbott (Judith Chapman), arrives in town.",
"Tom Fisher (Roscoe Born), the dangerous ex-husband of John's wife Gloria Abbott (Judith Chapman), arrives in town. To protect his family, John shoots and kills Tom. Ashley covers this up by confessing to the crime herself, though John soon confesses himself, and is jailed for seven years. Gloria contaminates Ashley's new line of beauty cream, which causes a woman to die. John suffers a heart attack following his release from prison, and passes away.",
"John suffers a heart attack following his release from prison, and passes away. Jack removes Gloria from the family, and Ashley leaves town to escape the drama. During a business trip to France, Ashley meets Rick Forrester (Kyle Lowder), and they have an affair. She later travels to Los Angeles to work with Forrester Creations as a lab chemist. Rick and Ashley decide to keep their affair a secret, and she commences a serious relationship with Ridge Forrester (Ronn Moss), whom she becomes engaged to.",
"Rick and Ashley decide to keep their affair a secret, and she commences a serious relationship with Ridge Forrester (Ronn Moss), whom she becomes engaged to. Ridge's attentiveness to his former love Brooke Logan (Katherine Kelly Lang) ends the engagement. Ashley then has a short-lived romance with Brooke's brother Storm (William deVry). Forrester Creations decide to discontinue their fragrance line, diminishing Ashley's role in the company. She leaves Los Angeles and moves to Europe with Abby.",
"She leaves Los Angeles and moves to Europe with Abby. Ashley locates a missing Victor in France, where they reunite. Upon their return to Genoa City as a couple, they are married and Ashley becomes pregnant. Victor's manipulative son Adam Newman (Michael Muhney) gas lights Ashley, making her believe that she is seeing the ghost of Victor's late wife, Sabrina Newman.",
"Victor's manipulative son Adam Newman (Michael Muhney) gas lights Ashley, making her believe that she is seeing the ghost of Victor's late wife, Sabrina Newman. Adam causes Ashley to fall down a staircase and lose her baby, though he convinces her that this was a dream, and she suffers from an hysterical pregnancy. Ashley checks herself into a psychiatric hospital where Sharon Newman (Sharon Case), also pregnant, is staying.",
"Ashley checks herself into a psychiatric hospital where Sharon Newman (Sharon Case), also pregnant, is staying. After Ashley begins experiencing hysterical labor, Adam kidnaps Sharon's newborn baby Faith Newman and gives her to Ashley, with Sharon believing her baby was stillborn. In the ensuing months, Sharon marries Adam and develops a close friendship with Ashley. Six months after Faith is born, the doctor that delivered her (who was being blackmailed by Adam) confesses the truth in a letter.",
"Six months after Faith is born, the doctor that delivered her (who was being blackmailed by Adam) confesses the truth in a letter. Ashley is forced to hand Faith over to Sharon and the child's father, Victor's son Nicholas Newman (Joshua Morrow). Ashley moves on with her life, and becomes engaged to wealthy tycoon Tucker McCall (Stephen Nichols). Prior to their engagement, he slept with Diane Jenkins (Maura West).",
"Prior to their engagement, he slept with Diane Jenkins (Maura West). They briefly split up because of Tucker's secret business plans with Jack, but reunite shortly thereafter. Abby accidentally runs over Tucker with her car, and Ashley protects her by taking the blame. She is accused of attempted murder and driving under the influence. All charges are ultimately dropped, and she marries Tucker. Their marriage quickly lands in divorce because of Tucker's business scheming and his affair with a previous lover, Harmony Hamilton.",
"Their marriage quickly lands in divorce because of Tucker's business scheming and his affair with a previous lover, Harmony Hamilton. Ashley is later forced out as CEO of Jabot by Jack, and Ashley decides to move to New York City with Traci. She returns briefly a few months later for the wedding of Victor and Nikki. Months later, Ashley returns for the funeral of her niece Delia Abbott and comforts her brother Billy on his loss. She returns later to spend Thanksgiving with her family.",
"She returns later to spend Thanksgiving with her family. She returns later to spend Thanksgiving with her family. While there, she sprained her ankle and met Dr. Stitch Rayburn (Sean Carrigan). Abby pushed for a romance, but Ashley reminded her that Stitch was married and had a young son. In town for Abby and Tyler's engagement party, Ashley left early to drop by the hospital and \"run into\" Dr. Rayburn. But she found Victoria waiting for him to take her on a date.",
"But she found Victoria waiting for him to take her on a date. Ashley reminded her that she'd only been separated a week. When Ben arrived, Victoria was jealously catty, informing Ben that Ashley was her former stepmother. In September 2014, Ashley did not show up in Genoa City after calling a meeting among the major Jabot stockholders, Jack, Billy, Traci, and Abby.",
"In September 2014, Ashley did not show up in Genoa City after calling a meeting among the major Jabot stockholders, Jack, Billy, Traci, and Abby. Jack phoned her, and she explained that she was working on a special project, but had decided it was not yet ready to present to them. The following month, Ashley returned and confirmed that her idea was for a revolutionary new fragrance, and she made a deal with Jack to become Co-CEO of Jabot again if it panned out.",
"The following month, Ashley returned and confirmed that her idea was for a revolutionary new fragrance, and she made a deal with Jack to become Co-CEO of Jabot again if it panned out. Abby had been treating Ben Rayburn nasty and spiteful ever since she found out that he had killed his father as a teen and taken someone else's identity to get his degree in medicine, and broken Victoria's heart. So Abby was shocked when Ashley hired Ben as a chemist for Jabot, despite Abby's objections.",
"So Abby was shocked when Ashley hired Ben as a chemist for Jabot, despite Abby's objections. Ashley returned to New York City to wrap things up, tasking a reluctant Abby with bringing Ben up to speed on the cosmetics industry. Before she left, she consoled Billy that maybe she could help keep Ben away from Victoria for him. On Ashley's return, she asked Ben to smell the new fragrance, he found it repulsive, but he kissed her.",
"On Ashley's return, she asked Ben to smell the new fragrance, he found it repulsive, but he kissed her. Ashley revealed that the fragrance contained pheromones, was a love potion, and the kiss had proven it. What she needed was his help to make the scent bearable. Later after Ben was arrested for fraud by a former patient, Ashley bailed him out. She confided in Ben, that she too had taken a murder rap for someone she loved.",
"She confided in Ben, that she too had taken a murder rap for someone she loved. Ashley asked him to accompany her to Madison on business. Ben showed up in Ashley's office drunk after seeing Billy and Victoria snuggling with their baby. Ashley threw him in the shower to sober him up, and he pulled her in too. They had sex, and Stitch spent the night. The next day, they agreed to tell no one after Ben found out that he still had a chance with Victoria.",
"The next day, they agreed to tell no one after Ben found out that he still had a chance with Victoria. Victor invited Ashley to lunch and tried to get her to take a deal to leave Jabot and work for him at Newman-Chancellor. But Ashley declined and left early, arriving back at the lab in time to see her lab assistant Tobias taking photos of their secret work. She guessed that he was working for Victor, and decided to let him continue to feed him bogus information.",
"She guessed that he was working for Victor, and decided to let him continue to feed him bogus information. Ashley runs into Joe Clark at the athletic club. After referring to them having a good thing going back in New York City, they made plans to spend New Year's Eve together. In May 2017, Ashley's mother Dina came for a \"permanent\" visit. In October 2017, Dina exposed that John Abbott wasn't Ashley's father.",
"In October 2017, Dina exposed that John Abbott wasn't Ashley's father. Ashley leaves Genoa City in October 2018, following a series of events that leave her feeling alienated from both the Abbott family and Jabot, following the discovery that John and Dina left legal documents leaving all of Ashley's product patents to her; she confesses she's leaving for Paris to launch her own company with said-patents. Reception Jamey Giddens of Zap2it described Davidson as \"one of Genoa City's most beloved heroines\".",
"Reception Jamey Giddens of Zap2it described Davidson as \"one of Genoa City's most beloved heroines\". Upon learning of Davidson's return to the role in 1999, Candace Havens of the McCook Daily Gazette declared that it was her who made Ashley \"one of the most popular characters on soaps\".",
"Upon learning of Davidson's return to the role in 1999, Candace Havens of the McCook Daily Gazette declared that it was her who made Ashley \"one of the most popular characters on soaps\". In October 1999, when all of the Abbott siblings and their father John were together again, the Orlando Sentinel wrote: \"In the meantime, having the entire Abbott clan together [...] is like a joyous family reunion for longtime viewers\".",
"In October 1999, when all of the Abbott siblings and their father John were together again, the Orlando Sentinel wrote: \"In the meantime, having the entire Abbott clan together [...] is like a joyous family reunion for longtime viewers\". John Goudas of The Gadsden Times was favorable of Epperson's performance two years into her duration, stating that she \"is holding her own\", though he noted her to be \"Eileen's double\".",
"John Goudas of The Gadsden Times was favorable of Epperson's performance two years into her duration, stating that she \"is holding her own\", though he noted her to be \"Eileen's double\". He stated that the front-burner status of Ashley and Brad's romantic storyline demonstrated that producer William J. Bell \"has full confidence in [Epperson]\".",
"Bell \"has full confidence in [Epperson]\". The character has had a rivalry with Nikki Newman (Melody Thomas Scott) for many years; a poll run in 2008 by website Daytime Confidential asking, \"Who would win a cat fight, Nikki Newman or Ashley Abbott? \", saw 63% of voters say Nikki would win, with 37% saying Ashley would win. Giddens was favorable of Ashley running Jabot Cosmetics in 2008, writing: \"Okay this has to stop.",
"Giddens was favorable of Ashley running Jabot Cosmetics in 2008, writing: \"Okay this has to stop. My heart simply can't take it. It's like the effects of yo-yo dieting.",
"It's like the effects of yo-yo dieting. It's like the effects of yo-yo dieting. Everytime I sincerely think I am done with this genre, something like The Young and the Restless heiress Ashley Abbott (Eileen Davidson) announcing that she, not Lil' Billy (Billy Miller), not Cruella de Bardwell (Judith Chapman) or Gary Ewing (Ted Shackelford) and no, not even Smilin' Jack (Peter Bergman) will be running Jabot Cosmetics, happens.\"",
"Everytime I sincerely think I am done with this genre, something like The Young and the Restless heiress Ashley Abbott (Eileen Davidson) announcing that she, not Lil' Billy (Billy Miller), not Cruella de Bardwell (Judith Chapman) or Gary Ewing (Ted Shackelford) and no, not even Smilin' Jack (Peter Bergman) will be running Jabot Cosmetics, happens.\" In 2009, Jillian Bowe (also of Zap2it) wondered if Ashley was \"insane in the membrane\" due to her hearing a crying child around the Newman ranch, writing: \"Is \"The Beauty\" starting to crack up?",
"In 2009, Jillian Bowe (also of Zap2it) wondered if Ashley was \"insane in the membrane\" due to her hearing a crying child around the Newman ranch, writing: \"Is \"The Beauty\" starting to crack up? Certainly looks that when some freaky things take place on The Young and the Restless.\" In 2010, Tommy Garrett of Canyon News praised a scene in which Ashley discovers a sex tape made by her spoiled daughter, Abby, that was posted online.",
"In 2010, Tommy Garrett of Canyon News praised a scene in which Ashley discovers a sex tape made by her spoiled daughter, Abby, that was posted online. Garrett wrote: \"Davidson's performance is spot on as the mother Ashley who is fed up. The tears of despair and exhaustion came streaming down Davidson's beautiful face in character, while her spit-fire daughter didn't give a damn.\"",
"The tears of despair and exhaustion came streaming down Davidson's beautiful face in character, while her spit-fire daughter didn't give a damn.\" Giddens later wrote that he thought it was \"ridiculous\" and \"outlandish\" to make Ashley pregnant with Victor's child in 2009. Also in 2010, Neeketa Borden of Zap2it created a list of \"curiously quirky couplings\", with Ashley and Tucker listed as an \"honorable mention\".",
"Also in 2010, Neeketa Borden of Zap2it created a list of \"curiously quirky couplings\", with Ashley and Tucker listed as an \"honorable mention\". In a separate review, Garrett credited Davidson as one of the \"powerful performers who daytime TV could not exist without having\". When the truth was going to come out that Faith Newman wasn't Ashley's child, Giddens wrote: \"Lord, I hope this doesn't make my Ashley Abbott go cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs again!\"",
"When the truth was going to come out that Faith Newman wasn't Ashley's child, Giddens wrote: \"Lord, I hope this doesn't make my Ashley Abbott go cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs again!\" Mike Jubinville of Zap2it wrote that the character's relationship with Neil Winters (Kristoff St. John) had been a \"slow burn, one going on for weeks, but one that is hard to miss. It has the ingredients of a hot romance.\"",
"It has the ingredients of a hot romance.\" It has the ingredients of a hot romance.\" Upon Davidson's firing in 2012, Giddens wrote: \"I am sincerely hoping the brass at Y&R can't possibly be this stupid, but if they are, Gary Tomlin better blow up Davidson's phone STAT about a Days of Our Lives return!\"",
"Upon Davidson's firing in 2012, Giddens wrote: \"I am sincerely hoping the brass at Y&R can't possibly be this stupid, but if they are, Gary Tomlin better blow up Davidson's phone STAT about a Days of Our Lives return!\" References External links Ashley Abbott character profile on SoapCentral The Young and the Restless characters The Bold and the Beautiful characters Television characters introduced in 1982 Fictional business executives Fictional female businesspeople Fictional socialites Fictional characters with cancer Fictional characters with neurological or psychological disorders Female characters in television"
] |
[
"As I Lay Dying (band)",
"The Powerless Rise and Decas (2010-2011)"
] | C_b80aaf83bab441d7a0195048d6a09917_0 | Are The Powerless Rise and Decas both albums? | 1 | Are The Powerless Rise and Decas both albums? | As I Lay Dying (band) | After recording through 2009, the band's fifth record The Powerless Rise was streamed on the MySpace Music website on May 7, 2010 up until May 10, 2010. The album was officially released on May 11, 2010 and received generally positive critical acclaim, with one critic saying: "Fans of metalcore in general, and As I Lay Dying in particular, will be more than satisfied with The Powerless Rise, as the band's gradual progression and consistency makes this their best album." In 2010 the band toured in support of The Powerless Rise, headlining the majority of their shows. In the first half of the year, the band embarked on a US tour with Demon Hunter, blessthefall, and War of Ages. This was followed by a mid-2010 headlining tour titled "The Cool Tour" across the US, and a headlining tour across US/Canada that also featured All That Remains, Unearth, and Carnifex. The band's final headline tour of the year was in Europe, with Heaven Shall Burn, Suicide Silence, and Sylosis. In February 2011, the band headlined a US tour with support from Winds of Plague and After the Burial. The band then toured in late April/early May with Trivium, in support of Disturbed, on the "Music as a Weapon" tour in Australia and New Zealand. Then at the end of May and beginning of June, the band headlined a few performances with Heaven Shall Burn. On November 8, 2011, As I Lay Dying released a compilation, Decas, in honor of the band's ten-year anniversary. The album featured three new, original songs; four cover versions of songs by bands such as Slayer, Judas Priest and Descendents; a re-recorded medley that uses parts of several songs taken from Beneath the Encasing of Ashes; and four remixes, consisting of one song from each of their albums since Frail Words Collapse. The album's first track "Paralyzed" was released as a lyric video on September 13, 2011, and as a free download on iTunes on November 7, the day before the album's release. The band embarked on the "A Decade of Destruction" tour, coinciding with the release of the album, from November to December 2011. CANNOTANSWER | band toured in support of The Powerless Rise, | As I Lay Dying is an American metalcore band from San Diego, California. Founded in 2000 by vocalist Tim Lambesis, the band's first full lineup (including Lambesis' Point of Recognition bandmate Jordan Mancino) was completed in 2001. The band has released seven albums, one split album, and two compilation albums.
As I Lay Dying's fourth studio album An Ocean Between Us peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard 200, and No. 1 on the Top Rock chart. The band has performed at events such as Wacken Open Air, With Full Force, Soundwave Festival, Warped Tour, Bloodstock Open Air and Taste of Chaos. In 2007, As I Lay Dying won the "Ultimate Metal God" award from MTV2 at the first annual "All That Rocks" special; was named "Artist of the Year" at the San Diego Music Awards in 2005, 2007 and 2008; and was nominated for a 2008 Grammy Award for the song "Nothing Left." Their fifth studio album The Powerless Rise was written over a three-year period, and was released in May 2010 to widespread critical acclaim. Their last studio album before their hiatus, Awakened, was released on September 25, 2012.
The band went on an indefinite hiatus in 2014 when Lambesis was convicted and sentenced to six years in prison for soliciting the murder of his estranged wife. The remaining members formed Wovenwar with vocalist Shane Blay.
In 2018, Lambesis reunited with Hipa, Sgrosso, Mancino and Gilbert. On June 8, 2018, the band released the song "My Own Grave", their first recording in six years. They released their seventh studio album, Shaped by Fire, on September 20, 2019.
History
Formation and first releases (2000–2004)
After leaving the band Society's Finest, in which he played guitar, vocalist Tim Lambesis formed As I Lay Dying in 2000. Starting out as a duet with drummer Jordan Mancino, they first met as a band in February 2001. They both were in the hardcore punk band Point of Recognition. The band's name came from the novel of the same name by William Faulkner that was published in 1930; although the band's lyrics and music are not directly inspired by the novel.
Shortly after the band's formation, Pluto Records offered As I Lay Dying a recording contract and, after accepting the offer, the band entered the studio one month later to record their first album Beneath the Encasing of Ashes, released in June 2001. The band then recorded five songs for a split album, again through Pluto Records, with San Diego post-hardcore band American Tragedy.
As I Lay Dying realized it needed to expand to a five-piece band to include another guitarist and a bass guitarist. Mancino commented "we started going on tour and we needed obviously more people than that." As Lambesis and Mancino were the only permanent members, the band recruited friends to perform with them and subsequently underwent several lineup changes: bass guitarist Noah Chase departed in 2001, while Brandon Hays, and his subsequent replacement Aaron Kennedy, departed in 2003. During early 2003, when As I Lay Dying's Pluto Records contract expired, the band pursued deals with other record labels. After extensive touring and an increase in popularity, As I Lay Dying was offered a record deal with Metal Blade Records in March 2003.
In July 2003, the band's second studio album Frail Words Collapse was released. Produced by Lambesis, the album peaked at No. 30 on Billboards Independent Albums chart and No. 41 on the Top Heatseekers chart. William York of Allmusic thought the band "doesn't really add anything new to the mix from a musical standpoint" with the release, while also praising it for being "solid enough and well executed" with "adequate" production. Sherwin Frias of Jesus Freak Hideout had similar sentiments and commented "As I Lay Dying didn't exactly break many boundaries in making this record", but praised that each song is "executed so well (and with such precision) that nary a song misses its target." Touring then occurred to promote the album, with support from bands Himsa, Shadows Fall, The Black Dahlia Murder, Killswitch Engage, In Flames, Sworn Enemy, and Hatebreed. Music videos for the songs "94 Hours" and "Forever" received rotation on networks such as Fuse and MTV2's Headbangers Ball.
Success (2005–2009)
As I Lay Dying entered Big Fish recording studio in Encinitas, California, US in January 2005 to record their third studio album. Shadows Are Security was released in June of the same year and debuted at No. 1 on the Independent Albums chart. It was also the band's first release to enter the Billboard 200—at No. 35—and sold about 275,000 copies. Wade Kergan of AllMusic called it "one of the strongest releases of 2005," and commented that new guitarists Phil Sgrosso and Nick Hipa make the band "stronger." Rod Smith of Decibel Magazine commented: "Tim Lambesis's finely honed roar in bittersweet instrumental matrices augmented by occasional clean vocals by bass guitarist Clint Norris. Guitarists Phil Sgrosso and Nick Hipa whip up a melodic cyclone on 'The Darkest Nights'." By this time, guitarist Evan White had quit the band for personal reasons after his mother died. All the singing was done by Dave Arthur of Kings to You, because it sounded more powerful in the studio in comparison to Clint Norris's singing.
As I Lay Dying began touring to promote the new record by making appearances at Hell on Earth, Winter Headline Tour, and Ozzfest, as well as a tour with Slipknot and Unearth. The band was on the second stage alongside Rob Zombie, Killswitch Engage, Mastodon, The Haunted, and It Dies Today. The band raised its profile in 2006 through its support slot on the Taste of Chaos tour in the US, alongside bands such as Deftones, Thrice, Dredg, Funeral for a Friend, and Story of the Year. In May 2006, Beneath the Encasing of Ashes and the songs from the split album were re-released through Metal Blade Records as A Long March: The First Recordings. The album contained the original and re-recorded versions of the songs from the split album—the band preferred to re-release the material, as they didn't want their fans paying large sums of money to listen to early releases. The re-release peaked at No. 3 on the Independent Albums chart and No. 129 on the Billboard 200 chart. In mid-2006, As I Lay Dying was the headline act at the Sounds of the Underground Festival.
Norris left the band on good terms in November 2006 with a desire to focus on his marriage. The band auditioned ten bass guitarists, but none proved successful. Lambesis received demo tapes from a band called This Endearing, of which bass guitarists Josh Gilbert was a member; however, Lambesis chose to "sit on it" and waited for the band to record more material. This Endearing subsequently disbanded and Gilbert was recruited as As I Lay Dying's new bass guitarist.
In 2007 As I Lay Dying started recording a new album titled An Ocean Between Us, which was released on August 21, 2007. Debuting at No. 8 on the Billboard 200 and No. 1 on the Top Rock chart, with first-week sales of 39,000 units, the album was the highest charting release for the band.
Co-produced by Killswitch Engage guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz and As I Lay Dying, and mixed by Colin Richardson, the album received generally positive reviews. Christa L. Titus of Billboard commented: "Whatever the differences between As I Lay Dying's personal desires and what its fans demand, this album surely acts as a bridge," praising the song "Comfort Betrays" for its guitar solo. Scott Alisoglu of Blabbermouth.net described the album as "a well-rounded and often thrashy metalcore album, as the band has struck an effective balance between aggression and accessible melodies." Thom Jurek of Allmusic praised the band for expanding its musical range by including melodic singing and choruses, as they had previously done on "Confined" from Shadows Are Security. It was the first time that bass guitarist Gilbert recorded a studio album with the band.
To promote the album, As I Lay Dying performed at the Warped Tour 2007 in August, and toured through Europe in September with Darkest Hour, Himsa, and Maroon. The band was awarded the title "Ultimate Metal God" by MTV2's "All That Rocks" special, and was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of "Best Metal Performance" for the song "Nothing Left". The other Grammy Award nominees included winner Slayer, King Diamond, Machine Head, and Shadows Fall. The band played a portion of the 2008 Warped Tour, as well as the Taste of Chaos UK 2008 Tour with headliners Atreyu.
On April 9, 2009, the DVD This Is Who We Are was released in Europe, and was released in the US on April 14, 2009. The DVD was certified Gold in the US almost a month after its release.
The Powerless Rise and Decas (2010–2011)
After recording through 2009, the band's fifth record The Powerless Rise was streamed on the MySpace Music website on May 7, 2010 up until May 10, 2010. The album was officially released on May 11, 2010 and received generally positive critical acclaim, with one critic saying: "Fans of metalcore in general, and As I Lay Dying in particular, will be more than satisfied with The Powerless Rise, as the band's gradual progression and consistency makes this their best album."
In 2010 the band toured in support of The Powerless Rise, headlining the majority of their shows. In the first half of the year, the band embarked on a US tour with Demon Hunter, blessthefall, and War of Ages. This was followed by a mid-2010 headlining tour titled "The Cool Tour" across the US, and a headlining tour across US/Canada that also featured All That Remains, Unearth, and Carnifex. The band's final headline tour of the year was in Europe, with Heaven Shall Burn, Suicide Silence, and Sylosis.
In February 2011, the band headlined a US tour with support from Winds of Plague and After the Burial. The band then toured in late April/early May with Trivium, in support of Disturbed, on the "Music as a Weapon" tour in Australia and New Zealand. Then at the end of May and beginning of June, the band headlined a few performances with Heaven Shall Burn.
On November 8, 2011, As I Lay Dying released a compilation, Decas, in honor of the band's ten-year anniversary. The album featured three new, original songs; four cover versions of songs by bands such as Slayer, Judas Priest and Descendents; a re-recorded medley that uses parts of several songs taken from Beneath the Encasing of Ashes; and four remixes, consisting of one song from each of their albums since Frail Words Collapse. The album's first track "Paralyzed" was released as a lyric video on September 13, 2011, and as a free download on iTunes on November 7, the day before the album's release. The band embarked on the "A Decade of Destruction" tour, coinciding with the release of the album, from November to December 2011.
Awakened, Tim Lambesis' trial and hiatus (2012–2016)
On January 25, 2012, an announcement revealed that the band would be playing the Mayhem Festival of 2012 with Slipknot, Slayer, Motörhead, Anthrax, The Devil Wears Prada, Asking Alexandria, Whitechapel, Upon A Burning Body, I, the Breather, Betraying the Martyrs, and Dirtfedd. The band announced in April 2012 that Bill Stevenson, who had previously worked with NOFX and Rise Against, would be the producer for their sixth album.
On June 22, 2012, the band announced that their sixth album would be titled Awakened and the first single "Cauterize" was released on June 25, 2012. On September 12, 2012, As I Lay Dying released their second single "A Greater Foundation" with a corresponding music video. The album was released on September 25, 2012 and "Cauterize" was available on the band's website as a free download for a 24-hour period. As I Lay Dying won the "Metal Band of the Year" award from Loudwire in 2012, beating other well-known bands, including Anthrax and Lamb of God. Subsequently, prior to his criminal charges, Lambesis started a new band entitled Pyrithion with guitarist Ryan Glisan, formerly of Allegaeon. They released one EP as a band.
On May 7, 2013, Lambesis was arrested in Oceanside, California, US after hiring an undercover detective to kill his estranged wife. The report was made by the San Diego County Sheriff's Department, leaving the future of the band uncertain. On the following day, the band released a statement in which they said: "The legal process is taking its course and we have no more information than you do. There are many unanswered questions, and the situation will become clearer in the coming days and weeks. We'll keep you informed as best we can." They also stated that their thoughts were "with Tim, his family, and with everyone else affected by this terrible situation." Eight days later, the band cancelled their mid-2013 tour with Killswitch Engage, stating that "we feel that it is best for the band to be off the road while the current situation gets sorted". During the month of his initial arrest, Lambesis pleaded "not guilty" and his lawyer stated: "His thought processes were devastatingly affected by his steroid use." On February 25, 2014 Lambesis changed his plea from "not guilty" to "guilty" and consequently faced a potential sentence of nine years in prison.
Rather than continue on without Lambesis, Mancino, along with former members Phil Sgrosso, Nick Hipa, and Josh Gilbert, decided to focus on a different style of music under a different band name, Wovenwar, with Shane Blay as the vocalist, This project took shape long before Lambesis' plea. although Mancino still remained a member of As I Lay Dying. During this period of time, Lambesis was also working on music and found time to release the third Austrian Death Machine album, titled Triple Brutal.
On May 16, 2014, Lambesis was sentenced to six years in prison, with 48 days credit for time served.
Lambesis' release, reunion and new music (2016–2018)
Lambesis was released from prison on probation in December 2016. After his release he began reaching out to the other members of the band looking to apologize in person starting with Mancino and Gilbert. After months of silence Gilbert and Mancino eventually met with Lambesis and began speaking with him regularly after noting positive changes in his character. Lambesis attempted to reconnect with Sgrosso and Hipa following his meetings with Gilbert and Mancino—who as a result of Lambesis' actions and the strain it put on their relationships—had stopped speaking to each other following the recording of the second Wovenwar album. Sgrosso explained in a reunion-related discussion video posted by the band on June 16, 2018 that he initially replied to all of Lambesis' emails with explicit expressions of having no desire to speak with him. Sgrosso explained that his disdain with Lambesis started well before his arrest and took relief in not having to be in a band with him anymore upon Lambesis' arrest. His relationship with Hipa deteriorated due to what both described as not being able to deal with the weight of the aftermath properly. Hipa explained that while he initially felt empathy towards Lambesis after his tearful courtroom apology—it was short lived following Lambesis' interview with Alternative Press which Hipa claimed read like "one long excuse". After Lambesis made his public apology, Sgrosso finally agreed to meet with Lambesis and claimed Lambesis evolved into a different person than he was for the years leading up to his arrest which inspired him to reach out to Hipa to rekindle their friendship. Hipa was the last to speak with Lambesis due to what Hipa described as not being able to escape the shadow of Lambesis' arrest and the mental and physical effects it took on him. After reconnecting with Sgrosso and reading Lambesis' apology—he agreed to meet with Lambesis as a means to "let go of his hatred" and claimed that Lambesis owned up and took responsibility for every one of his actions he was called on.
Over the course of the tail end of Lambesis' incarceration and release, the band's public opinion towards Lambesis softened. Mancino did an interview primarily discussing Wovenwar, but also spoke about As I Lay Dying on MetalSucks' podcast. He stated that, contrary to popular beliefs, that Hipa, Sgrosso and Gilbert are still technically a part of As I Lay Dying due to their record contract and in another interview stated that he has "no ill will" towards Lambesis and wished him well. Hipa, when on an episode of Jamey Jasta's podcast when asked about a reunion commented "what it comes down to is what makes sense with what we have going on in our lives. And we've got a lot of important things going on that don't relate to that and we've made commitments to, and that's what we are honoring at this moment. Honestly it's just not something we try and consume our thoughts with. Because it's like we have families, businesses, professions, and a band—and all these things we're super invested into. It's like all of our attention is there with that at the moment."
On September 2, 2017, Metal Injection reported that Lambesis was working on new music and planned to release it under the As I Lay Dying name and that none of the pre-hiatus lineup aside from Lambesis would be returning. This would later be proven false, as on June 8, 2018, the band released the music video for "My Own Grave", confirming through the video that the lineup of Lambesis, Hipa, Sgrosso, Gilbert and Mancino had reunited. They performed their first show—which sold out in four minutes—in five years at the SOMA Sidestage in their hometown of San Diego. The band has stated the single was their first and only song written since their formal reunion in February 2018 and had no concrete plans past releasing the single and playing the SOMA show.
The news of their reunion drew particularly divisive reactions from fans and media outlets. While fan and critical reception of the band's reunion and comeback single were met largely with praise, others were openly skeptical on supporting Tim Lambesis following his prison sentence. Most notably was MetalSucks, who published an editorial that they will no longer be writing about the band with multiple outlets voicing their support for MetalSucks' decision. On June 16, 2018—the date of their comeback show at the SOMA—the band published a video on their official YouTube account addressing the questions and criticisms fans and critics of the band had and explaining the terms in detail of the reunion.
In July 2018, the band announced their first European headlining tour for December 2018. A day later, they announced their North American tour for November 2018. A vast majority of the shows sold out immediately. While tickets sold out quickly, some venues and festivals received a public backlash for booking the band because of Lambesis' crimes and decided to cancel the band's performances. Spain's Resurrection Fest announced it would be dropping As I Lay Dying from its bill in October 2018, and months later in January 2019, the Memphis, Tennessee venue Growlers cancelled their previously scheduled show in April 2019. Growlers released a statement that acknowledged Lambesis' public message from 2018, but stated: "After hearing the combined voice of disheartened friends, local bands, and patrons, locally owned concert venue and bar, Growlers, has cancelled their scheduled show with As I Lay Dying, previously set for April 5th, and will replace it with a local show to benefit victims of domestic violence [...] Not everyone was ready to give Lambesis a second chance, and Growlers has created controversy in Memphis for booking his band."
Touring, Shaped by Fire, and Nick Hipa's departure (2019–present)
They embarked on a tour in March 2019 with Phinehas, Currents and Frost Koffin as support. On April 12, 2019, the band released a music video for "Redefined", including a guest appearance by August Burns Red frontman Jake Luhrs. On April 14, the band announced the "Shaped by Fire" tour of Europe with support from Chelsea Grin, Unearth and Fit for a King running from September 2019 and concluding in October. On July 15, the band announced the North American dates of the "Shaped by Fire" Tour with direct support from After the Burial and Emmure to begin on November 15 at the House of Blues in Las Vegas and conclude on December 14 with a hometown show at the Soma San Diego. Details of their forthcoming album, Shaped by Fire, were leaked through Nuclear Blast's European website with a projected release date of September 20, 2019. On August 9, the band officially announced their first album in seven years, Shaped by Fire, would be released through Nuclear Blast Records, along with releasing the album's title track. On September 13, the band released "Blinded" as the album's fourth single along with an accompanying music video.
In March 2020, as a way of supporting their crew during the COVID-19 pandemic, they released an additional song, "Destruction or Strength", a B-side from Shaped by Fire album sessions. In May 2020, another music video for the song "Torn Between" was released.
On August 15, it was reported that Nick Hipa might have left the band, as he no longer performed with them and disassociated his personal social media accounts with the band. Hipa officially confirmed his departure one year later on August 31, 2021, noting that behaviors resulting from being in the band led to his decision to leave it: "There is tremendous good that can be accomplished through singular focus on the power of music. However to my memory and recent experience, it comes at the cost of tolerating behavior which at times mistreats, disrespects, and hurts other people." He further elaborated that the power and reasoning behind As I Lay Dying's reunion had faded in favor of superficial pursuits, which he did not wish to be a part of.
On September 24, 2021, the band unveiled a new single, "Roots Below".
Musical style and influences
As I Lay Dying is considered a prominent metalcore band. The band also has been referred to as Christian metal, death metal, and thrash metal. As I Lay Dying's music uses lots of elements of melodic death metal. In a review of Beneath the Encasing of Ashes, Bradley Torreano of AllMusic described the band's sound as a blend of heavy metal, hardcore, and grindcore. Heavy metal writer Garry Sharpe-Young described the band as a "Christian Hardcore act employing the Grind edged vocals of singer Tim Lambesis and a distinct hint of Scandinavian guitar chug." As I Lay Dying's influences include In Flames, Living Sacrifice, Iron Maiden, Slayer, At the Gates, Pantera, Megadeth, Fear Factory, Cannibal Corpse, Thin Lizzy, Shai Hulud, Dark Tranquillity, Metallica, Judas Priest, and Earth Crisis.
Christianity
Although As I Lay Dying has stated on numerous occasions that all of the members of the group are practicing Christians, the band is usually described by media as being in the metalcore genre, not Christian metal. The band's lyrics do not focus on Christian themes the way many praise music bands do, nor do they treat their music as a direct extension of their private Christian worship or proselytizing efforts. For example, not once do the names God or Jesus appear in any As I Lay Dying song, nor do any of their songs explicitly invoke Christian doctrine or quote the Bible. Most songs tend to address broader spiritual concepts like existential angst or the struggle between reason and spirituality.
Lyricist and lead singer Tim Lambesis has given mixed commentary on the subject: asked in 2008 if the members were "a Christian band" or "Christians in a band", Lambesis stated on the band's FAQ, "I'm not sure what the difference is between five Christians playing in a band and a Christian band, if you truly believe something, then it should affect every area of your life. All five of us are Christians. I believe that change should start with me first, and as a result, our lyrics do not come across very 'preachy.' Many of our songs are about life, struggles, mistakes, relationships and other issues that don't fit entirely in the spiritual category. However, all of these topics are written about through my perspective as a Christian." Furthermore, during an August 2010 radio interview on the Christian metal radio show The Full Armor of God Broadcast, Lambesis stated "I can only really write about what I'm passionate about in life, so naturally my faith, my belief in the teachings of Jesus and His resurrection come across in our lyrics."
However, in later years, Lambesis showed an increasing philosophical skepticism towards Christianity and religion in general. Court documents stated Lambesis emailed his wife Meggan in August 2012, while on tour with As I Lay Dying, asking for a divorce and stating he "no longer believed in God". In explaining some of the lyrics from Awakened, Lambesis stated on his personal Tumblr account that his studies of theology had led him to the conclusion that "tradition and truth are often at odds with each other", and while he "didn't hate all religious belief", he was finding it "very difficult for [him] to outline exactly who it is that's worth siding with." He also quoted the book Pagan Christianity by George Barna and Frank Viola, claiming that both "Protestant and Catholic denominations have poisonous roots". While on house arrest in July 2013, after being charged with soliciting his wife's murder, Lambesis published a blog post in which he obliquely confirmed his previous loss of faith in Christianity. In 2014, Lambesis said that although they were marketed as a Christian band, the members privately considered themselves atheists. Following this statement, guitarist Nick Hipa responded by calling these claims slanderous and defamatory. However, since his arrest it has been reported that Lambesis, in an April 2014 statement by the band, "[...] has spent much of the last year reevaluating what originally convinced him to abandon belief in God. After much brokenness and repentance he sees things differently, considers himself a follower of Jesus, someone submitted to the will of God, or whatever you want to call it. That's for him to talk about when he's comfortable and only time will tell if he is sincere."
Members
Current
Tim Lambesis – unclean vocals, occasional clean vocals (2000–2014, 2017–present)
Jordan Mancino – drums (2000–2014, 2018–present)
Phil Sgrosso – guitars, backing vocals (2003–2014, 2018–present)
Josh Gilbert – bass, clean vocals (2006–2014, 2018–present)
Former
Nick Hipa – guitars, backing vocals (2003–2014, 2018–2020)
Clint Norris – bass, clean vocals (2003–2006)
Evan White – guitars (2001–2003), bass (2002–2003)
Jeremy Rojas – guitars (2001)
Jon Jameson – bass (2001)
Noah Chase – bass (2001, 2002, 2003)
Tommy Garcia – guitars, bass, backing vocals (2002–2003; session member 2003–2010)
Jason Krebs – guitars (2002–2003)
Brandon Hays – bass, guitars (2002–2003)
Aaron Kennedy – bass (2003)
Touring musicians
Chad Ackerman – guitars (2001–2002), backing vocals (session, 2007)
Caylen Denuccio – bass (2002–2003)
Chris Lindstrom – guitars (2001, 2003)
Mark Macdonald – guitars (2003–2004)
Ruben Gutierrez – guitars (2001)
David Arthur – clean vocals (2005)
Justin Foley – drums (2009)
Joey Bradford – backing vocals (2012)
Duane Reed – backing vocals (2007)
Timeline
Discography
Beneath the Encasing of Ashes (2001)
Frail Words Collapse (2003)
Shadows Are Security (2005)
An Ocean Between Us (2007)
The Powerless Rise (2010)
Awakened (2012)
Shaped by Fire (2019)
Awards and nominations
San Diego Music Awards
Artist of the Year (2005)
Artist of the Year (2007)
Artist of the Year (2008)
Best Hard Rock (2011)
Grammy Awards
Nominated for 2008 Best Metal Performance for the song "Nothing Left"
MTV2 Music Awards
Ultimate Metal God (2007)
Hollywood Film Fest awards
Best Music Video for "The Sound of Truth" music video
Loudwire Music Awards
Metal Band of the Year (2012)
References
External links
American metalcore musical groups
Heavy metal musical groups from California
Musical groups from San Diego
Musical quintets
2000 establishments in California
Musical groups established in 2000
Musical groups disestablished in 2014
Musical groups reestablished in 2017
Metal Blade Records artists
Articles which contain graphical timelines | true | [
"Decas is a compilation album by the American metal band As I Lay Dying. It features three newly recorded songs, four cover songs, four remixes and one re-recording. The album was released through Metal Blade Records on November 4, 2011, in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland; on November 7 in the UK and the rest of Europe; and on November 8 in the US.\n\nThe release of Decas is meant to commemorate As I Lay Dying's tenth anniversary of being a band, and was also described by the group as a gift to their fans for their support over the years. Coinciding with the release of Decas, As I Lay Dying embarked on the \"A Decade of Destruction\" tour running from November through December 2011 with openers Of Mice & Men, The Ghost Inside, Iwrestledabearonce and Sylosis.\n\n\"Paralyzed\" was first released as a YouTube lyric video on September 13, 2011. Also, on November 7, the day before the album's US release, \"Paralyzed\" was released on iTunes as a free download. The track was originally intended to be the iTunes pre-order bonus for As I Lay Dying's previous album, The Powerless Rise. \"War Ensemble\" was previously released in a Limited Edition Free Download of the Video Game, Homefront soundtrack. \"Electric Eye\" was first available to stream via Noisecreep on October 3, 2011.\n\nTrack listing\n\nPersonnel \nAs I Lay Dying\n Tim Lambesis – vocals\n Nick Hipa – guitar, backing vocals\n Phil Sgrosso – guitar, backing vocals\n Josh Gilbert – bass guitar, clean vocals\n Jordan Mancino – drums\n\nReferences \n\nAs I Lay Dying (band) compilation albums\n2011 compilation albums\nMetal Blade Records compilation albums",
"The Powerless Rise is the fifth studio album by American metalcore band As I Lay Dying. The album was released on May 7, 2010 in Europe and was released on May 11, 2010 in the United States. The Powerless Rise debuted at No. 10 on the Billboard 200 with sales of 38,000. The album features three singles: \"Beyond Our Suffering\", \"Parallels\", and \"Anodyne Sea\". Music videos have been released for all three, with the latest one (\"Beyond Our Suffering\") consisting of live footage. The album title is taken from their lyric of the song (\"Upside Down Kingdom\").\n\nWriting and recording \nAs I Lay Dying began writing songs for The Powerless Rise in mid-2009 following two years of touring for the band's 2007 album An Ocean Between Us. By the end of September, the group had finished \"about 6-7\" songs and was scheduled to enter the studio on October 17, 2009 where they would continue to write new songs. This is in contrast to previous albums by As I Lay Dying that had been written over the course of only a few months. The three years between the release of An Ocean Between Us and The Powerless Rise previously was the largest gap between releases from the band at that time. Frontman Tim Lambesis stated that while some bands \"need to rush out a crappy record so they can start touring again to pay their bills,\" As I Lay Dying had been working hard to \"make a record worth listening to (hopefully), and start touring again when we're done.\"\n\nThe Powerless Rise was produced by Killswitch Engage lead guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz and Daniel Castelman, and was mixed by Colin Richardson and Martyn Ford. Adam Dutkiewicz also produced As I Lay Dying's An Ocean Between Us. According to guitarist Phil Sgrosso, Dutkiewicz was chosen over ten other producers the band had talked with after \"realizing that Adam understands our sound better than most.\" Castelman and Richardson were also audio engineers on An Ocean Between Us.\n\nReception \n\nThe record was released on May 11, 2010, to generally positive acclaim. The Powerless Rise currently holds \"universal acclaim\" status for generally good reviews on Metacritic with an 81 out of 100.\n\nTrack listing\n\nPersonnel \nProduction and performance credits are adapted from the album liner notes.\n\nAs I Lay Dying\n Tim Lambesis – lead vocals\n Nick Hipa – guitar\n Phil Sgrosso – guitar\n Josh Gilbert – bass, clean vocals\n Jordan Mancino – drums\n\nProduction\n Adam Dutkiewicz – production, engineering\n Daniel Castleman – engineering, pre-production\n Joseph McQueen – vocal engineering\n Colin Richardson – mixing\n Martyn \"Ginge\" Ford – mix engineer\n Ten Jensen – mastering\n Kelly Cairns – pre-production\n Joey St. Lucas – guitar tech\n Mike Catalano – drum tech, additional percussion\n Jacob Bannon – artwork, design\n\nCharts\n\nReferences \n\n2010 albums\nAlbums produced by Adam Dutkiewicz\nAlbums with cover art by Jacob Bannon\nAs I Lay Dying (band) albums\nMetal Blade Records albums"
] | [
"As I Lay Dying is an American metalcore band from San Diego, California. Founded in 2000 by vocalist Tim Lambesis, the band's first full lineup (including Lambesis' Point of Recognition bandmate Jordan Mancino) was completed in 2001. The band has released seven albums, one split album, and two compilation albums. As I Lay Dying's fourth studio album An Ocean Between Us peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard 200, and No. 1 on the Top Rock chart.",
"1 on the Top Rock chart. 1 on the Top Rock chart. The band has performed at events such as Wacken Open Air, With Full Force, Soundwave Festival, Warped Tour, Bloodstock Open Air and Taste of Chaos.",
"The band has performed at events such as Wacken Open Air, With Full Force, Soundwave Festival, Warped Tour, Bloodstock Open Air and Taste of Chaos. In 2007, As I Lay Dying won the \"Ultimate Metal God\" award from MTV2 at the first annual \"All That Rocks\" special; was named \"Artist of the Year\" at the San Diego Music Awards in 2005, 2007 and 2008; and was nominated for a 2008 Grammy Award for the song \"Nothing Left.\"",
"In 2007, As I Lay Dying won the \"Ultimate Metal God\" award from MTV2 at the first annual \"All That Rocks\" special; was named \"Artist of the Year\" at the San Diego Music Awards in 2005, 2007 and 2008; and was nominated for a 2008 Grammy Award for the song \"Nothing Left.\" Their fifth studio album The Powerless Rise was written over a three-year period, and was released in May 2010 to widespread critical acclaim.",
"Their fifth studio album The Powerless Rise was written over a three-year period, and was released in May 2010 to widespread critical acclaim. Their last studio album before their hiatus, Awakened, was released on September 25, 2012. The band went on an indefinite hiatus in 2014 when Lambesis was convicted and sentenced to six years in prison for soliciting the murder of his estranged wife. The remaining members formed Wovenwar with vocalist Shane Blay. In 2018, Lambesis reunited with Hipa, Sgrosso, Mancino and Gilbert.",
"In 2018, Lambesis reunited with Hipa, Sgrosso, Mancino and Gilbert. On June 8, 2018, the band released the song \"My Own Grave\", their first recording in six years. They released their seventh studio album, Shaped by Fire, on September 20, 2019. History Formation and first releases (2000–2004) After leaving the band Society's Finest, in which he played guitar, vocalist Tim Lambesis formed As I Lay Dying in 2000.",
"History Formation and first releases (2000–2004) After leaving the band Society's Finest, in which he played guitar, vocalist Tim Lambesis formed As I Lay Dying in 2000. Starting out as a duet with drummer Jordan Mancino, they first met as a band in February 2001. They both were in the hardcore punk band Point of Recognition.",
"They both were in the hardcore punk band Point of Recognition. The band's name came from the novel of the same name by William Faulkner that was published in 1930; although the band's lyrics and music are not directly inspired by the novel. Shortly after the band's formation, Pluto Records offered As I Lay Dying a recording contract and, after accepting the offer, the band entered the studio one month later to record their first album Beneath the Encasing of Ashes, released in June 2001.",
"Shortly after the band's formation, Pluto Records offered As I Lay Dying a recording contract and, after accepting the offer, the band entered the studio one month later to record their first album Beneath the Encasing of Ashes, released in June 2001. The band then recorded five songs for a split album, again through Pluto Records, with San Diego post-hardcore band American Tragedy. As I Lay Dying realized it needed to expand to a five-piece band to include another guitarist and a bass guitarist.",
"As I Lay Dying realized it needed to expand to a five-piece band to include another guitarist and a bass guitarist. Mancino commented \"we started going on tour and we needed obviously more people than that.\" As Lambesis and Mancino were the only permanent members, the band recruited friends to perform with them and subsequently underwent several lineup changes: bass guitarist Noah Chase departed in 2001, while Brandon Hays, and his subsequent replacement Aaron Kennedy, departed in 2003.",
"As Lambesis and Mancino were the only permanent members, the band recruited friends to perform with them and subsequently underwent several lineup changes: bass guitarist Noah Chase departed in 2001, while Brandon Hays, and his subsequent replacement Aaron Kennedy, departed in 2003. During early 2003, when As I Lay Dying's Pluto Records contract expired, the band pursued deals with other record labels. After extensive touring and an increase in popularity, As I Lay Dying was offered a record deal with Metal Blade Records in March 2003.",
"After extensive touring and an increase in popularity, As I Lay Dying was offered a record deal with Metal Blade Records in March 2003. In July 2003, the band's second studio album Frail Words Collapse was released. Produced by Lambesis, the album peaked at No. 30 on Billboards Independent Albums chart and No. 41 on the Top Heatseekers chart.",
"41 on the Top Heatseekers chart. 41 on the Top Heatseekers chart. William York of Allmusic thought the band \"doesn't really add anything new to the mix from a musical standpoint\" with the release, while also praising it for being \"solid enough and well executed\" with \"adequate\" production.",
"William York of Allmusic thought the band \"doesn't really add anything new to the mix from a musical standpoint\" with the release, while also praising it for being \"solid enough and well executed\" with \"adequate\" production. Sherwin Frias of Jesus Freak Hideout had similar sentiments and commented \"As I Lay Dying didn't exactly break many boundaries in making this record\", but praised that each song is \"executed so well (and with such precision) that nary a song misses its target.\"",
"Sherwin Frias of Jesus Freak Hideout had similar sentiments and commented \"As I Lay Dying didn't exactly break many boundaries in making this record\", but praised that each song is \"executed so well (and with such precision) that nary a song misses its target.\" Touring then occurred to promote the album, with support from bands Himsa, Shadows Fall, The Black Dahlia Murder, Killswitch Engage, In Flames, Sworn Enemy, and Hatebreed.",
"Touring then occurred to promote the album, with support from bands Himsa, Shadows Fall, The Black Dahlia Murder, Killswitch Engage, In Flames, Sworn Enemy, and Hatebreed. Music videos for the songs \"94 Hours\" and \"Forever\" received rotation on networks such as Fuse and MTV2's Headbangers Ball. Success (2005–2009) As I Lay Dying entered Big Fish recording studio in Encinitas, California, US in January 2005 to record their third studio album.",
"Success (2005–2009) As I Lay Dying entered Big Fish recording studio in Encinitas, California, US in January 2005 to record their third studio album. Shadows Are Security was released in June of the same year and debuted at No. 1 on the Independent Albums chart. It was also the band's first release to enter the Billboard 200—at No. 35—and sold about 275,000 copies.",
"35—and sold about 275,000 copies. 35—and sold about 275,000 copies. Wade Kergan of AllMusic called it \"one of the strongest releases of 2005,\" and commented that new guitarists Phil Sgrosso and Nick Hipa make the band \"stronger.\" Rod Smith of Decibel Magazine commented: \"Tim Lambesis's finely honed roar in bittersweet instrumental matrices augmented by occasional clean vocals by bass guitarist Clint Norris. Guitarists Phil Sgrosso and Nick Hipa whip up a melodic cyclone on 'The Darkest Nights'.\"",
"Guitarists Phil Sgrosso and Nick Hipa whip up a melodic cyclone on 'The Darkest Nights'.\" By this time, guitarist Evan White had quit the band for personal reasons after his mother died. All the singing was done by Dave Arthur of Kings to You, because it sounded more powerful in the studio in comparison to Clint Norris's singing.",
"All the singing was done by Dave Arthur of Kings to You, because it sounded more powerful in the studio in comparison to Clint Norris's singing. As I Lay Dying began touring to promote the new record by making appearances at Hell on Earth, Winter Headline Tour, and Ozzfest, as well as a tour with Slipknot and Unearth. The band was on the second stage alongside Rob Zombie, Killswitch Engage, Mastodon, The Haunted, and It Dies Today.",
"The band was on the second stage alongside Rob Zombie, Killswitch Engage, Mastodon, The Haunted, and It Dies Today. The band raised its profile in 2006 through its support slot on the Taste of Chaos tour in the US, alongside bands such as Deftones, Thrice, Dredg, Funeral for a Friend, and Story of the Year. In May 2006, Beneath the Encasing of Ashes and the songs from the split album were re-released through Metal Blade Records as A Long March: The First Recordings.",
"In May 2006, Beneath the Encasing of Ashes and the songs from the split album were re-released through Metal Blade Records as A Long March: The First Recordings. The album contained the original and re-recorded versions of the songs from the split album—the band preferred to re-release the material, as they didn't want their fans paying large sums of money to listen to early releases. The re-release peaked at No. 3 on the Independent Albums chart and No. 129 on the Billboard 200 chart.",
"129 on the Billboard 200 chart. 129 on the Billboard 200 chart. In mid-2006, As I Lay Dying was the headline act at the Sounds of the Underground Festival. Norris left the band on good terms in November 2006 with a desire to focus on his marriage. The band auditioned ten bass guitarists, but none proved successful.",
"The band auditioned ten bass guitarists, but none proved successful. Lambesis received demo tapes from a band called This Endearing, of which bass guitarists Josh Gilbert was a member; however, Lambesis chose to \"sit on it\" and waited for the band to record more material. This Endearing subsequently disbanded and Gilbert was recruited as As I Lay Dying's new bass guitarist. In 2007 As I Lay Dying started recording a new album titled An Ocean Between Us, which was released on August 21, 2007.",
"In 2007 As I Lay Dying started recording a new album titled An Ocean Between Us, which was released on August 21, 2007. Debuting at No. 8 on the Billboard 200 and No. 1 on the Top Rock chart, with first-week sales of 39,000 units, the album was the highest charting release for the band. Co-produced by Killswitch Engage guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz and As I Lay Dying, and mixed by Colin Richardson, the album received generally positive reviews.",
"Co-produced by Killswitch Engage guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz and As I Lay Dying, and mixed by Colin Richardson, the album received generally positive reviews. Christa L. Titus of Billboard commented: \"Whatever the differences between As I Lay Dying's personal desires and what its fans demand, this album surely acts as a bridge,\" praising the song \"Comfort Betrays\" for its guitar solo.",
"Christa L. Titus of Billboard commented: \"Whatever the differences between As I Lay Dying's personal desires and what its fans demand, this album surely acts as a bridge,\" praising the song \"Comfort Betrays\" for its guitar solo. Scott Alisoglu of Blabbermouth.net described the album as \"a well-rounded and often thrashy metalcore album, as the band has struck an effective balance between aggression and accessible melodies.\"",
"Scott Alisoglu of Blabbermouth.net described the album as \"a well-rounded and often thrashy metalcore album, as the band has struck an effective balance between aggression and accessible melodies.\" Thom Jurek of Allmusic praised the band for expanding its musical range by including melodic singing and choruses, as they had previously done on \"Confined\" from Shadows Are Security. It was the first time that bass guitarist Gilbert recorded a studio album with the band.",
"It was the first time that bass guitarist Gilbert recorded a studio album with the band. To promote the album, As I Lay Dying performed at the Warped Tour 2007 in August, and toured through Europe in September with Darkest Hour, Himsa, and Maroon. The band was awarded the title \"Ultimate Metal God\" by MTV2's \"All That Rocks\" special, and was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of \"Best Metal Performance\" for the song \"Nothing Left\".",
"The band was awarded the title \"Ultimate Metal God\" by MTV2's \"All That Rocks\" special, and was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of \"Best Metal Performance\" for the song \"Nothing Left\". The other Grammy Award nominees included winner Slayer, King Diamond, Machine Head, and Shadows Fall. The band played a portion of the 2008 Warped Tour, as well as the Taste of Chaos UK 2008 Tour with headliners Atreyu.",
"The band played a portion of the 2008 Warped Tour, as well as the Taste of Chaos UK 2008 Tour with headliners Atreyu. On April 9, 2009, the DVD This Is Who We Are was released in Europe, and was released in the US on April 14, 2009. The DVD was certified Gold in the US almost a month after its release.",
"The DVD was certified Gold in the US almost a month after its release. The Powerless Rise and Decas (2010–2011) After recording through 2009, the band's fifth record The Powerless Rise was streamed on the MySpace Music website on May 7, 2010 up until May 10, 2010.",
"The Powerless Rise and Decas (2010–2011) After recording through 2009, the band's fifth record The Powerless Rise was streamed on the MySpace Music website on May 7, 2010 up until May 10, 2010. The album was officially released on May 11, 2010 and received generally positive critical acclaim, with one critic saying: \"Fans of metalcore in general, and As I Lay Dying in particular, will be more than satisfied with The Powerless Rise, as the band's gradual progression and consistency makes this their best album.\"",
"The album was officially released on May 11, 2010 and received generally positive critical acclaim, with one critic saying: \"Fans of metalcore in general, and As I Lay Dying in particular, will be more than satisfied with The Powerless Rise, as the band's gradual progression and consistency makes this their best album.\" In 2010 the band toured in support of The Powerless Rise, headlining the majority of their shows.",
"In 2010 the band toured in support of The Powerless Rise, headlining the majority of their shows. In the first half of the year, the band embarked on a US tour with Demon Hunter, blessthefall, and War of Ages. This was followed by a mid-2010 headlining tour titled \"The Cool Tour\" across the US, and a headlining tour across US/Canada that also featured All That Remains, Unearth, and Carnifex.",
"This was followed by a mid-2010 headlining tour titled \"The Cool Tour\" across the US, and a headlining tour across US/Canada that also featured All That Remains, Unearth, and Carnifex. The band's final headline tour of the year was in Europe, with Heaven Shall Burn, Suicide Silence, and Sylosis. In February 2011, the band headlined a US tour with support from Winds of Plague and After the Burial.",
"In February 2011, the band headlined a US tour with support from Winds of Plague and After the Burial. The band then toured in late April/early May with Trivium, in support of Disturbed, on the \"Music as a Weapon\" tour in Australia and New Zealand. Then at the end of May and beginning of June, the band headlined a few performances with Heaven Shall Burn. On November 8, 2011, As I Lay Dying released a compilation, Decas, in honor of the band's ten-year anniversary.",
"On November 8, 2011, As I Lay Dying released a compilation, Decas, in honor of the band's ten-year anniversary. The album featured three new, original songs; four cover versions of songs by bands such as Slayer, Judas Priest and Descendents; a re-recorded medley that uses parts of several songs taken from Beneath the Encasing of Ashes; and four remixes, consisting of one song from each of their albums since Frail Words Collapse.",
"The album featured three new, original songs; four cover versions of songs by bands such as Slayer, Judas Priest and Descendents; a re-recorded medley that uses parts of several songs taken from Beneath the Encasing of Ashes; and four remixes, consisting of one song from each of their albums since Frail Words Collapse. The album's first track \"Paralyzed\" was released as a lyric video on September 13, 2011, and as a free download on iTunes on November 7, the day before the album's release.",
"The album's first track \"Paralyzed\" was released as a lyric video on September 13, 2011, and as a free download on iTunes on November 7, the day before the album's release. The band embarked on the \"A Decade of Destruction\" tour, coinciding with the release of the album, from November to December 2011.",
"The band embarked on the \"A Decade of Destruction\" tour, coinciding with the release of the album, from November to December 2011. Awakened, Tim Lambesis' trial and hiatus (2012–2016) On January 25, 2012, an announcement revealed that the band would be playing the Mayhem Festival of 2012 with Slipknot, Slayer, Motörhead, Anthrax, The Devil Wears Prada, Asking Alexandria, Whitechapel, Upon A Burning Body, I, the Breather, Betraying the Martyrs, and Dirtfedd.",
"Awakened, Tim Lambesis' trial and hiatus (2012–2016) On January 25, 2012, an announcement revealed that the band would be playing the Mayhem Festival of 2012 with Slipknot, Slayer, Motörhead, Anthrax, The Devil Wears Prada, Asking Alexandria, Whitechapel, Upon A Burning Body, I, the Breather, Betraying the Martyrs, and Dirtfedd. The band announced in April 2012 that Bill Stevenson, who had previously worked with NOFX and Rise Against, would be the producer for their sixth album.",
"The band announced in April 2012 that Bill Stevenson, who had previously worked with NOFX and Rise Against, would be the producer for their sixth album. On June 22, 2012, the band announced that their sixth album would be titled Awakened and the first single \"Cauterize\" was released on June 25, 2012. On September 12, 2012, As I Lay Dying released their second single \"A Greater Foundation\" with a corresponding music video.",
"On September 12, 2012, As I Lay Dying released their second single \"A Greater Foundation\" with a corresponding music video. The album was released on September 25, 2012 and \"Cauterize\" was available on the band's website as a free download for a 24-hour period. As I Lay Dying won the \"Metal Band of the Year\" award from Loudwire in 2012, beating other well-known bands, including Anthrax and Lamb of God.",
"As I Lay Dying won the \"Metal Band of the Year\" award from Loudwire in 2012, beating other well-known bands, including Anthrax and Lamb of God. Subsequently, prior to his criminal charges, Lambesis started a new band entitled Pyrithion with guitarist Ryan Glisan, formerly of Allegaeon. They released one EP as a band. On May 7, 2013, Lambesis was arrested in Oceanside, California, US after hiring an undercover detective to kill his estranged wife.",
"On May 7, 2013, Lambesis was arrested in Oceanside, California, US after hiring an undercover detective to kill his estranged wife. The report was made by the San Diego County Sheriff's Department, leaving the future of the band uncertain. On the following day, the band released a statement in which they said: \"The legal process is taking its course and we have no more information than you do. There are many unanswered questions, and the situation will become clearer in the coming days and weeks.",
"There are many unanswered questions, and the situation will become clearer in the coming days and weeks. We'll keep you informed as best we can.\" They also stated that their thoughts were \"with Tim, his family, and with everyone else affected by this terrible situation.\" Eight days later, the band cancelled their mid-2013 tour with Killswitch Engage, stating that \"we feel that it is best for the band to be off the road while the current situation gets sorted\".",
"Eight days later, the band cancelled their mid-2013 tour with Killswitch Engage, stating that \"we feel that it is best for the band to be off the road while the current situation gets sorted\". During the month of his initial arrest, Lambesis pleaded \"not guilty\" and his lawyer stated: \"His thought processes were devastatingly affected by his steroid use.\"",
"During the month of his initial arrest, Lambesis pleaded \"not guilty\" and his lawyer stated: \"His thought processes were devastatingly affected by his steroid use.\" On February 25, 2014 Lambesis changed his plea from \"not guilty\" to \"guilty\" and consequently faced a potential sentence of nine years in prison.",
"On February 25, 2014 Lambesis changed his plea from \"not guilty\" to \"guilty\" and consequently faced a potential sentence of nine years in prison. Rather than continue on without Lambesis, Mancino, along with former members Phil Sgrosso, Nick Hipa, and Josh Gilbert, decided to focus on a different style of music under a different band name, Wovenwar, with Shane Blay as the vocalist, This project took shape long before Lambesis' plea. although Mancino still remained a member of As I Lay Dying.",
"although Mancino still remained a member of As I Lay Dying. During this period of time, Lambesis was also working on music and found time to release the third Austrian Death Machine album, titled Triple Brutal. On May 16, 2014, Lambesis was sentenced to six years in prison, with 48 days credit for time served. Lambesis' release, reunion and new music (2016–2018) Lambesis was released from prison on probation in December 2016.",
"Lambesis' release, reunion and new music (2016–2018) Lambesis was released from prison on probation in December 2016. After his release he began reaching out to the other members of the band looking to apologize in person starting with Mancino and Gilbert. After months of silence Gilbert and Mancino eventually met with Lambesis and began speaking with him regularly after noting positive changes in his character.",
"After months of silence Gilbert and Mancino eventually met with Lambesis and began speaking with him regularly after noting positive changes in his character. Lambesis attempted to reconnect with Sgrosso and Hipa following his meetings with Gilbert and Mancino—who as a result of Lambesis' actions and the strain it put on their relationships—had stopped speaking to each other following the recording of the second Wovenwar album.",
"Lambesis attempted to reconnect with Sgrosso and Hipa following his meetings with Gilbert and Mancino—who as a result of Lambesis' actions and the strain it put on their relationships—had stopped speaking to each other following the recording of the second Wovenwar album. Sgrosso explained in a reunion-related discussion video posted by the band on June 16, 2018 that he initially replied to all of Lambesis' emails with explicit expressions of having no desire to speak with him.",
"Sgrosso explained in a reunion-related discussion video posted by the band on June 16, 2018 that he initially replied to all of Lambesis' emails with explicit expressions of having no desire to speak with him. Sgrosso explained that his disdain with Lambesis started well before his arrest and took relief in not having to be in a band with him anymore upon Lambesis' arrest. His relationship with Hipa deteriorated due to what both described as not being able to deal with the weight of the aftermath properly.",
"His relationship with Hipa deteriorated due to what both described as not being able to deal with the weight of the aftermath properly. Hipa explained that while he initially felt empathy towards Lambesis after his tearful courtroom apology—it was short lived following Lambesis' interview with Alternative Press which Hipa claimed read like \"one long excuse\".",
"Hipa explained that while he initially felt empathy towards Lambesis after his tearful courtroom apology—it was short lived following Lambesis' interview with Alternative Press which Hipa claimed read like \"one long excuse\". After Lambesis made his public apology, Sgrosso finally agreed to meet with Lambesis and claimed Lambesis evolved into a different person than he was for the years leading up to his arrest which inspired him to reach out to Hipa to rekindle their friendship.",
"After Lambesis made his public apology, Sgrosso finally agreed to meet with Lambesis and claimed Lambesis evolved into a different person than he was for the years leading up to his arrest which inspired him to reach out to Hipa to rekindle their friendship. Hipa was the last to speak with Lambesis due to what Hipa described as not being able to escape the shadow of Lambesis' arrest and the mental and physical effects it took on him.",
"Hipa was the last to speak with Lambesis due to what Hipa described as not being able to escape the shadow of Lambesis' arrest and the mental and physical effects it took on him. After reconnecting with Sgrosso and reading Lambesis' apology—he agreed to meet with Lambesis as a means to \"let go of his hatred\" and claimed that Lambesis owned up and took responsibility for every one of his actions he was called on.",
"After reconnecting with Sgrosso and reading Lambesis' apology—he agreed to meet with Lambesis as a means to \"let go of his hatred\" and claimed that Lambesis owned up and took responsibility for every one of his actions he was called on. Over the course of the tail end of Lambesis' incarceration and release, the band's public opinion towards Lambesis softened. Mancino did an interview primarily discussing Wovenwar, but also spoke about As I Lay Dying on MetalSucks' podcast.",
"Mancino did an interview primarily discussing Wovenwar, but also spoke about As I Lay Dying on MetalSucks' podcast. He stated that, contrary to popular beliefs, that Hipa, Sgrosso and Gilbert are still technically a part of As I Lay Dying due to their record contract and in another interview stated that he has \"no ill will\" towards Lambesis and wished him well.",
"He stated that, contrary to popular beliefs, that Hipa, Sgrosso and Gilbert are still technically a part of As I Lay Dying due to their record contract and in another interview stated that he has \"no ill will\" towards Lambesis and wished him well. Hipa, when on an episode of Jamey Jasta's podcast when asked about a reunion commented \"what it comes down to is what makes sense with what we have going on in our lives.",
"Hipa, when on an episode of Jamey Jasta's podcast when asked about a reunion commented \"what it comes down to is what makes sense with what we have going on in our lives. And we've got a lot of important things going on that don't relate to that and we've made commitments to, and that's what we are honoring at this moment. Honestly it's just not something we try and consume our thoughts with.",
"Honestly it's just not something we try and consume our thoughts with. Because it's like we have families, businesses, professions, and a band—and all these things we're super invested into. It's like all of our attention is there with that at the moment.\" On September 2, 2017, Metal Injection reported that Lambesis was working on new music and planned to release it under the As I Lay Dying name and that none of the pre-hiatus lineup aside from Lambesis would be returning.",
"On September 2, 2017, Metal Injection reported that Lambesis was working on new music and planned to release it under the As I Lay Dying name and that none of the pre-hiatus lineup aside from Lambesis would be returning. This would later be proven false, as on June 8, 2018, the band released the music video for \"My Own Grave\", confirming through the video that the lineup of Lambesis, Hipa, Sgrosso, Gilbert and Mancino had reunited.",
"This would later be proven false, as on June 8, 2018, the band released the music video for \"My Own Grave\", confirming through the video that the lineup of Lambesis, Hipa, Sgrosso, Gilbert and Mancino had reunited. They performed their first show—which sold out in four minutes—in five years at the SOMA Sidestage in their hometown of San Diego.",
"They performed their first show—which sold out in four minutes—in five years at the SOMA Sidestage in their hometown of San Diego. The band has stated the single was their first and only song written since their formal reunion in February 2018 and had no concrete plans past releasing the single and playing the SOMA show. The news of their reunion drew particularly divisive reactions from fans and media outlets.",
"The news of their reunion drew particularly divisive reactions from fans and media outlets. While fan and critical reception of the band's reunion and comeback single were met largely with praise, others were openly skeptical on supporting Tim Lambesis following his prison sentence. Most notably was MetalSucks, who published an editorial that they will no longer be writing about the band with multiple outlets voicing their support for MetalSucks' decision.",
"Most notably was MetalSucks, who published an editorial that they will no longer be writing about the band with multiple outlets voicing their support for MetalSucks' decision. On June 16, 2018—the date of their comeback show at the SOMA—the band published a video on their official YouTube account addressing the questions and criticisms fans and critics of the band had and explaining the terms in detail of the reunion. In July 2018, the band announced their first European headlining tour for December 2018.",
"In July 2018, the band announced their first European headlining tour for December 2018. A day later, they announced their North American tour for November 2018. A vast majority of the shows sold out immediately. While tickets sold out quickly, some venues and festivals received a public backlash for booking the band because of Lambesis' crimes and decided to cancel the band's performances.",
"While tickets sold out quickly, some venues and festivals received a public backlash for booking the band because of Lambesis' crimes and decided to cancel the band's performances. Spain's Resurrection Fest announced it would be dropping As I Lay Dying from its bill in October 2018, and months later in January 2019, the Memphis, Tennessee venue Growlers cancelled their previously scheduled show in April 2019.",
"Spain's Resurrection Fest announced it would be dropping As I Lay Dying from its bill in October 2018, and months later in January 2019, the Memphis, Tennessee venue Growlers cancelled their previously scheduled show in April 2019. Growlers released a statement that acknowledged Lambesis' public message from 2018, but stated: \"After hearing the combined voice of disheartened friends, local bands, and patrons, locally owned concert venue and bar, Growlers, has cancelled their scheduled show with As I Lay Dying, previously set for April 5th, and will replace it with a local show to benefit victims of domestic violence [...] Not everyone was ready to give Lambesis a second chance, and Growlers has created controversy in Memphis for booking his band.\"",
"Growlers released a statement that acknowledged Lambesis' public message from 2018, but stated: \"After hearing the combined voice of disheartened friends, local bands, and patrons, locally owned concert venue and bar, Growlers, has cancelled their scheduled show with As I Lay Dying, previously set for April 5th, and will replace it with a local show to benefit victims of domestic violence [...] Not everyone was ready to give Lambesis a second chance, and Growlers has created controversy in Memphis for booking his band.\" Touring, Shaped by Fire, and Nick Hipa's departure (2019–present) They embarked on a tour in March 2019 with Phinehas, Currents and Frost Koffin as support.",
"Touring, Shaped by Fire, and Nick Hipa's departure (2019–present) They embarked on a tour in March 2019 with Phinehas, Currents and Frost Koffin as support. On April 12, 2019, the band released a music video for \"Redefined\", including a guest appearance by August Burns Red frontman Jake Luhrs. On April 14, the band announced the \"Shaped by Fire\" tour of Europe with support from Chelsea Grin, Unearth and Fit for a King running from September 2019 and concluding in October.",
"On April 14, the band announced the \"Shaped by Fire\" tour of Europe with support from Chelsea Grin, Unearth and Fit for a King running from September 2019 and concluding in October. On July 15, the band announced the North American dates of the \"Shaped by Fire\" Tour with direct support from After the Burial and Emmure to begin on November 15 at the House of Blues in Las Vegas and conclude on December 14 with a hometown show at the Soma San Diego.",
"On July 15, the band announced the North American dates of the \"Shaped by Fire\" Tour with direct support from After the Burial and Emmure to begin on November 15 at the House of Blues in Las Vegas and conclude on December 14 with a hometown show at the Soma San Diego. Details of their forthcoming album, Shaped by Fire, were leaked through Nuclear Blast's European website with a projected release date of September 20, 2019.",
"Details of their forthcoming album, Shaped by Fire, were leaked through Nuclear Blast's European website with a projected release date of September 20, 2019. On August 9, the band officially announced their first album in seven years, Shaped by Fire, would be released through Nuclear Blast Records, along with releasing the album's title track. On September 13, the band released \"Blinded\" as the album's fourth single along with an accompanying music video.",
"On September 13, the band released \"Blinded\" as the album's fourth single along with an accompanying music video. In March 2020, as a way of supporting their crew during the COVID-19 pandemic, they released an additional song, \"Destruction or Strength\", a B-side from Shaped by Fire album sessions. In May 2020, another music video for the song \"Torn Between\" was released.",
"In May 2020, another music video for the song \"Torn Between\" was released. On August 15, it was reported that Nick Hipa might have left the band, as he no longer performed with them and disassociated his personal social media accounts with the band. Hipa officially confirmed his departure one year later on August 31, 2021, noting that behaviors resulting from being in the band led to his decision to leave it: \"There is tremendous good that can be accomplished through singular focus on the power of music.",
"Hipa officially confirmed his departure one year later on August 31, 2021, noting that behaviors resulting from being in the band led to his decision to leave it: \"There is tremendous good that can be accomplished through singular focus on the power of music. However to my memory and recent experience, it comes at the cost of tolerating behavior which at times mistreats, disrespects, and hurts other people.\"",
"However to my memory and recent experience, it comes at the cost of tolerating behavior which at times mistreats, disrespects, and hurts other people.\" He further elaborated that the power and reasoning behind As I Lay Dying's reunion had faded in favor of superficial pursuits, which he did not wish to be a part of. On September 24, 2021, the band unveiled a new single, \"Roots Below\". Musical style and influences As I Lay Dying is considered a prominent metalcore band.",
"Musical style and influences As I Lay Dying is considered a prominent metalcore band. The band also has been referred to as Christian metal, death metal, and thrash metal. As I Lay Dying's music uses lots of elements of melodic death metal. In a review of Beneath the Encasing of Ashes, Bradley Torreano of AllMusic described the band's sound as a blend of heavy metal, hardcore, and grindcore.",
"In a review of Beneath the Encasing of Ashes, Bradley Torreano of AllMusic described the band's sound as a blend of heavy metal, hardcore, and grindcore. Heavy metal writer Garry Sharpe-Young described the band as a \"Christian Hardcore act employing the Grind edged vocals of singer Tim Lambesis and a distinct hint of Scandinavian guitar chug.\"",
"Heavy metal writer Garry Sharpe-Young described the band as a \"Christian Hardcore act employing the Grind edged vocals of singer Tim Lambesis and a distinct hint of Scandinavian guitar chug.\" As I Lay Dying's influences include In Flames, Living Sacrifice, Iron Maiden, Slayer, At the Gates, Pantera, Megadeth, Fear Factory, Cannibal Corpse, Thin Lizzy, Shai Hulud, Dark Tranquillity, Metallica, Judas Priest, and Earth Crisis.",
"As I Lay Dying's influences include In Flames, Living Sacrifice, Iron Maiden, Slayer, At the Gates, Pantera, Megadeth, Fear Factory, Cannibal Corpse, Thin Lizzy, Shai Hulud, Dark Tranquillity, Metallica, Judas Priest, and Earth Crisis. Christianity Although As I Lay Dying has stated on numerous occasions that all of the members of the group are practicing Christians, the band is usually described by media as being in the metalcore genre, not Christian metal.",
"Christianity Although As I Lay Dying has stated on numerous occasions that all of the members of the group are practicing Christians, the band is usually described by media as being in the metalcore genre, not Christian metal. The band's lyrics do not focus on Christian themes the way many praise music bands do, nor do they treat their music as a direct extension of their private Christian worship or proselytizing efforts.",
"The band's lyrics do not focus on Christian themes the way many praise music bands do, nor do they treat their music as a direct extension of their private Christian worship or proselytizing efforts. For example, not once do the names God or Jesus appear in any As I Lay Dying song, nor do any of their songs explicitly invoke Christian doctrine or quote the Bible. Most songs tend to address broader spiritual concepts like existential angst or the struggle between reason and spirituality.",
"Most songs tend to address broader spiritual concepts like existential angst or the struggle between reason and spirituality. Lyricist and lead singer Tim Lambesis has given mixed commentary on the subject: asked in 2008 if the members were \"a Christian band\" or \"Christians in a band\", Lambesis stated on the band's FAQ, \"I'm not sure what the difference is between five Christians playing in a band and a Christian band, if you truly believe something, then it should affect every area of your life.",
"Lyricist and lead singer Tim Lambesis has given mixed commentary on the subject: asked in 2008 if the members were \"a Christian band\" or \"Christians in a band\", Lambesis stated on the band's FAQ, \"I'm not sure what the difference is between five Christians playing in a band and a Christian band, if you truly believe something, then it should affect every area of your life. All five of us are Christians.",
"All five of us are Christians. All five of us are Christians. I believe that change should start with me first, and as a result, our lyrics do not come across very 'preachy.' Many of our songs are about life, struggles, mistakes, relationships and other issues that don't fit entirely in the spiritual category. However, all of these topics are written about through my perspective as a Christian.\"",
"However, all of these topics are written about through my perspective as a Christian.\" Furthermore, during an August 2010 radio interview on the Christian metal radio show The Full Armor of God Broadcast, Lambesis stated \"I can only really write about what I'm passionate about in life, so naturally my faith, my belief in the teachings of Jesus and His resurrection come across in our lyrics.\" However, in later years, Lambesis showed an increasing philosophical skepticism towards Christianity and religion in general.",
"However, in later years, Lambesis showed an increasing philosophical skepticism towards Christianity and religion in general. Court documents stated Lambesis emailed his wife Meggan in August 2012, while on tour with As I Lay Dying, asking for a divorce and stating he \"no longer believed in God\".",
"Court documents stated Lambesis emailed his wife Meggan in August 2012, while on tour with As I Lay Dying, asking for a divorce and stating he \"no longer believed in God\". In explaining some of the lyrics from Awakened, Lambesis stated on his personal Tumblr account that his studies of theology had led him to the conclusion that \"tradition and truth are often at odds with each other\", and while he \"didn't hate all religious belief\", he was finding it \"very difficult for [him] to outline exactly who it is that's worth siding with.\"",
"In explaining some of the lyrics from Awakened, Lambesis stated on his personal Tumblr account that his studies of theology had led him to the conclusion that \"tradition and truth are often at odds with each other\", and while he \"didn't hate all religious belief\", he was finding it \"very difficult for [him] to outline exactly who it is that's worth siding with.\" He also quoted the book Pagan Christianity by George Barna and Frank Viola, claiming that both \"Protestant and Catholic denominations have poisonous roots\".",
"He also quoted the book Pagan Christianity by George Barna and Frank Viola, claiming that both \"Protestant and Catholic denominations have poisonous roots\". While on house arrest in July 2013, after being charged with soliciting his wife's murder, Lambesis published a blog post in which he obliquely confirmed his previous loss of faith in Christianity. In 2014, Lambesis said that although they were marketed as a Christian band, the members privately considered themselves atheists.",
"In 2014, Lambesis said that although they were marketed as a Christian band, the members privately considered themselves atheists. Following this statement, guitarist Nick Hipa responded by calling these claims slanderous and defamatory. However, since his arrest it has been reported that Lambesis, in an April 2014 statement by the band, \"[...] has spent much of the last year reevaluating what originally convinced him to abandon belief in God.",
"However, since his arrest it has been reported that Lambesis, in an April 2014 statement by the band, \"[...] has spent much of the last year reevaluating what originally convinced him to abandon belief in God. After much brokenness and repentance he sees things differently, considers himself a follower of Jesus, someone submitted to the will of God, or whatever you want to call it. That's for him to talk about when he's comfortable and only time will tell if he is sincere.\"",
"That's for him to talk about when he's comfortable and only time will tell if he is sincere.\" Members Current Tim Lambesis – unclean vocals, occasional clean vocals (2000–2014, 2017–present) Jordan Mancino – drums (2000–2014, 2018–present) Phil Sgrosso – guitars, backing vocals (2003–2014, 2018–present) Josh Gilbert – bass, clean vocals (2006–2014, 2018–present) Former Nick Hipa – guitars, backing vocals (2003–2014, 2018–2020) Clint Norris – bass, clean vocals (2003–2006) Evan White – guitars (2001–2003), bass (2002–2003) Jeremy Rojas – guitars (2001) Jon Jameson – bass (2001) Noah Chase – bass (2001, 2002, 2003) Tommy Garcia – guitars, bass, backing vocals (2002–2003; session member 2003–2010) Jason Krebs – guitars (2002–2003) Brandon Hays – bass, guitars (2002–2003) Aaron Kennedy – bass (2003) Touring musicians Chad Ackerman – guitars (2001–2002), backing vocals (session, 2007) Caylen Denuccio – bass (2002–2003) Chris Lindstrom – guitars (2001, 2003) Mark Macdonald – guitars (2003–2004) Ruben Gutierrez – guitars (2001) David Arthur – clean vocals (2005) Justin Foley – drums (2009) Joey Bradford – backing vocals (2012) Duane Reed – backing vocals (2007) Timeline Discography Beneath the Encasing of Ashes (2001) Frail Words Collapse (2003) Shadows Are Security (2005) An Ocean Between Us (2007) The Powerless Rise (2010) Awakened (2012) Shaped by Fire (2019) Awards and nominations San Diego Music Awards Artist of the Year (2005) Artist of the Year (2007) Artist of the Year (2008) Best Hard Rock (2011) Grammy Awards Nominated for 2008 Best Metal Performance for the song \"Nothing Left\" MTV2 Music Awards Ultimate Metal God (2007) Hollywood Film Fest awards Best Music Video for \"The Sound of Truth\" music video Loudwire Music Awards Metal Band of the Year (2012) References External links \t American metalcore musical groups Heavy metal musical groups from California Musical groups from San Diego Musical quintets 2000 establishments in California Musical groups established in 2000 Musical groups disestablished in 2014 Musical groups reestablished in 2017 Metal Blade Records artists Articles which contain graphical timelines"
] |
[
"As I Lay Dying (band)",
"The Powerless Rise and Decas (2010-2011)",
"Are The Powerless Rise and Decas both albums?",
"band toured in support of The Powerless Rise,",
"Was The Powerless Rise well received by fans?",
"I don't know."
] | C_b80aaf83bab441d7a0195048d6a09917_0 | Was Decas well received? | 3 | Was Decas well received by fans? | As I Lay Dying (band) | After recording through 2009, the band's fifth record The Powerless Rise was streamed on the MySpace Music website on May 7, 2010 up until May 10, 2010. The album was officially released on May 11, 2010 and received generally positive critical acclaim, with one critic saying: "Fans of metalcore in general, and As I Lay Dying in particular, will be more than satisfied with The Powerless Rise, as the band's gradual progression and consistency makes this their best album." In 2010 the band toured in support of The Powerless Rise, headlining the majority of their shows. In the first half of the year, the band embarked on a US tour with Demon Hunter, blessthefall, and War of Ages. This was followed by a mid-2010 headlining tour titled "The Cool Tour" across the US, and a headlining tour across US/Canada that also featured All That Remains, Unearth, and Carnifex. The band's final headline tour of the year was in Europe, with Heaven Shall Burn, Suicide Silence, and Sylosis. In February 2011, the band headlined a US tour with support from Winds of Plague and After the Burial. The band then toured in late April/early May with Trivium, in support of Disturbed, on the "Music as a Weapon" tour in Australia and New Zealand. Then at the end of May and beginning of June, the band headlined a few performances with Heaven Shall Burn. On November 8, 2011, As I Lay Dying released a compilation, Decas, in honor of the band's ten-year anniversary. The album featured three new, original songs; four cover versions of songs by bands such as Slayer, Judas Priest and Descendents; a re-recorded medley that uses parts of several songs taken from Beneath the Encasing of Ashes; and four remixes, consisting of one song from each of their albums since Frail Words Collapse. The album's first track "Paralyzed" was released as a lyric video on September 13, 2011, and as a free download on iTunes on November 7, the day before the album's release. The band embarked on the "A Decade of Destruction" tour, coinciding with the release of the album, from November to December 2011. CANNOTANSWER | the band headlined a US tour with support from Winds of Plague and After the Burial. | As I Lay Dying is an American metalcore band from San Diego, California. Founded in 2000 by vocalist Tim Lambesis, the band's first full lineup (including Lambesis' Point of Recognition bandmate Jordan Mancino) was completed in 2001. The band has released seven albums, one split album, and two compilation albums.
As I Lay Dying's fourth studio album An Ocean Between Us peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard 200, and No. 1 on the Top Rock chart. The band has performed at events such as Wacken Open Air, With Full Force, Soundwave Festival, Warped Tour, Bloodstock Open Air and Taste of Chaos. In 2007, As I Lay Dying won the "Ultimate Metal God" award from MTV2 at the first annual "All That Rocks" special; was named "Artist of the Year" at the San Diego Music Awards in 2005, 2007 and 2008; and was nominated for a 2008 Grammy Award for the song "Nothing Left." Their fifth studio album The Powerless Rise was written over a three-year period, and was released in May 2010 to widespread critical acclaim. Their last studio album before their hiatus, Awakened, was released on September 25, 2012.
The band went on an indefinite hiatus in 2014 when Lambesis was convicted and sentenced to six years in prison for soliciting the murder of his estranged wife. The remaining members formed Wovenwar with vocalist Shane Blay.
In 2018, Lambesis reunited with Hipa, Sgrosso, Mancino and Gilbert. On June 8, 2018, the band released the song "My Own Grave", their first recording in six years. They released their seventh studio album, Shaped by Fire, on September 20, 2019.
History
Formation and first releases (2000–2004)
After leaving the band Society's Finest, in which he played guitar, vocalist Tim Lambesis formed As I Lay Dying in 2000. Starting out as a duet with drummer Jordan Mancino, they first met as a band in February 2001. They both were in the hardcore punk band Point of Recognition. The band's name came from the novel of the same name by William Faulkner that was published in 1930; although the band's lyrics and music are not directly inspired by the novel.
Shortly after the band's formation, Pluto Records offered As I Lay Dying a recording contract and, after accepting the offer, the band entered the studio one month later to record their first album Beneath the Encasing of Ashes, released in June 2001. The band then recorded five songs for a split album, again through Pluto Records, with San Diego post-hardcore band American Tragedy.
As I Lay Dying realized it needed to expand to a five-piece band to include another guitarist and a bass guitarist. Mancino commented "we started going on tour and we needed obviously more people than that." As Lambesis and Mancino were the only permanent members, the band recruited friends to perform with them and subsequently underwent several lineup changes: bass guitarist Noah Chase departed in 2001, while Brandon Hays, and his subsequent replacement Aaron Kennedy, departed in 2003. During early 2003, when As I Lay Dying's Pluto Records contract expired, the band pursued deals with other record labels. After extensive touring and an increase in popularity, As I Lay Dying was offered a record deal with Metal Blade Records in March 2003.
In July 2003, the band's second studio album Frail Words Collapse was released. Produced by Lambesis, the album peaked at No. 30 on Billboards Independent Albums chart and No. 41 on the Top Heatseekers chart. William York of Allmusic thought the band "doesn't really add anything new to the mix from a musical standpoint" with the release, while also praising it for being "solid enough and well executed" with "adequate" production. Sherwin Frias of Jesus Freak Hideout had similar sentiments and commented "As I Lay Dying didn't exactly break many boundaries in making this record", but praised that each song is "executed so well (and with such precision) that nary a song misses its target." Touring then occurred to promote the album, with support from bands Himsa, Shadows Fall, The Black Dahlia Murder, Killswitch Engage, In Flames, Sworn Enemy, and Hatebreed. Music videos for the songs "94 Hours" and "Forever" received rotation on networks such as Fuse and MTV2's Headbangers Ball.
Success (2005–2009)
As I Lay Dying entered Big Fish recording studio in Encinitas, California, US in January 2005 to record their third studio album. Shadows Are Security was released in June of the same year and debuted at No. 1 on the Independent Albums chart. It was also the band's first release to enter the Billboard 200—at No. 35—and sold about 275,000 copies. Wade Kergan of AllMusic called it "one of the strongest releases of 2005," and commented that new guitarists Phil Sgrosso and Nick Hipa make the band "stronger." Rod Smith of Decibel Magazine commented: "Tim Lambesis's finely honed roar in bittersweet instrumental matrices augmented by occasional clean vocals by bass guitarist Clint Norris. Guitarists Phil Sgrosso and Nick Hipa whip up a melodic cyclone on 'The Darkest Nights'." By this time, guitarist Evan White had quit the band for personal reasons after his mother died. All the singing was done by Dave Arthur of Kings to You, because it sounded more powerful in the studio in comparison to Clint Norris's singing.
As I Lay Dying began touring to promote the new record by making appearances at Hell on Earth, Winter Headline Tour, and Ozzfest, as well as a tour with Slipknot and Unearth. The band was on the second stage alongside Rob Zombie, Killswitch Engage, Mastodon, The Haunted, and It Dies Today. The band raised its profile in 2006 through its support slot on the Taste of Chaos tour in the US, alongside bands such as Deftones, Thrice, Dredg, Funeral for a Friend, and Story of the Year. In May 2006, Beneath the Encasing of Ashes and the songs from the split album were re-released through Metal Blade Records as A Long March: The First Recordings. The album contained the original and re-recorded versions of the songs from the split album—the band preferred to re-release the material, as they didn't want their fans paying large sums of money to listen to early releases. The re-release peaked at No. 3 on the Independent Albums chart and No. 129 on the Billboard 200 chart. In mid-2006, As I Lay Dying was the headline act at the Sounds of the Underground Festival.
Norris left the band on good terms in November 2006 with a desire to focus on his marriage. The band auditioned ten bass guitarists, but none proved successful. Lambesis received demo tapes from a band called This Endearing, of which bass guitarists Josh Gilbert was a member; however, Lambesis chose to "sit on it" and waited for the band to record more material. This Endearing subsequently disbanded and Gilbert was recruited as As I Lay Dying's new bass guitarist.
In 2007 As I Lay Dying started recording a new album titled An Ocean Between Us, which was released on August 21, 2007. Debuting at No. 8 on the Billboard 200 and No. 1 on the Top Rock chart, with first-week sales of 39,000 units, the album was the highest charting release for the band.
Co-produced by Killswitch Engage guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz and As I Lay Dying, and mixed by Colin Richardson, the album received generally positive reviews. Christa L. Titus of Billboard commented: "Whatever the differences between As I Lay Dying's personal desires and what its fans demand, this album surely acts as a bridge," praising the song "Comfort Betrays" for its guitar solo. Scott Alisoglu of Blabbermouth.net described the album as "a well-rounded and often thrashy metalcore album, as the band has struck an effective balance between aggression and accessible melodies." Thom Jurek of Allmusic praised the band for expanding its musical range by including melodic singing and choruses, as they had previously done on "Confined" from Shadows Are Security. It was the first time that bass guitarist Gilbert recorded a studio album with the band.
To promote the album, As I Lay Dying performed at the Warped Tour 2007 in August, and toured through Europe in September with Darkest Hour, Himsa, and Maroon. The band was awarded the title "Ultimate Metal God" by MTV2's "All That Rocks" special, and was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of "Best Metal Performance" for the song "Nothing Left". The other Grammy Award nominees included winner Slayer, King Diamond, Machine Head, and Shadows Fall. The band played a portion of the 2008 Warped Tour, as well as the Taste of Chaos UK 2008 Tour with headliners Atreyu.
On April 9, 2009, the DVD This Is Who We Are was released in Europe, and was released in the US on April 14, 2009. The DVD was certified Gold in the US almost a month after its release.
The Powerless Rise and Decas (2010–2011)
After recording through 2009, the band's fifth record The Powerless Rise was streamed on the MySpace Music website on May 7, 2010 up until May 10, 2010. The album was officially released on May 11, 2010 and received generally positive critical acclaim, with one critic saying: "Fans of metalcore in general, and As I Lay Dying in particular, will be more than satisfied with The Powerless Rise, as the band's gradual progression and consistency makes this their best album."
In 2010 the band toured in support of The Powerless Rise, headlining the majority of their shows. In the first half of the year, the band embarked on a US tour with Demon Hunter, blessthefall, and War of Ages. This was followed by a mid-2010 headlining tour titled "The Cool Tour" across the US, and a headlining tour across US/Canada that also featured All That Remains, Unearth, and Carnifex. The band's final headline tour of the year was in Europe, with Heaven Shall Burn, Suicide Silence, and Sylosis.
In February 2011, the band headlined a US tour with support from Winds of Plague and After the Burial. The band then toured in late April/early May with Trivium, in support of Disturbed, on the "Music as a Weapon" tour in Australia and New Zealand. Then at the end of May and beginning of June, the band headlined a few performances with Heaven Shall Burn.
On November 8, 2011, As I Lay Dying released a compilation, Decas, in honor of the band's ten-year anniversary. The album featured three new, original songs; four cover versions of songs by bands such as Slayer, Judas Priest and Descendents; a re-recorded medley that uses parts of several songs taken from Beneath the Encasing of Ashes; and four remixes, consisting of one song from each of their albums since Frail Words Collapse. The album's first track "Paralyzed" was released as a lyric video on September 13, 2011, and as a free download on iTunes on November 7, the day before the album's release. The band embarked on the "A Decade of Destruction" tour, coinciding with the release of the album, from November to December 2011.
Awakened, Tim Lambesis' trial and hiatus (2012–2016)
On January 25, 2012, an announcement revealed that the band would be playing the Mayhem Festival of 2012 with Slipknot, Slayer, Motörhead, Anthrax, The Devil Wears Prada, Asking Alexandria, Whitechapel, Upon A Burning Body, I, the Breather, Betraying the Martyrs, and Dirtfedd. The band announced in April 2012 that Bill Stevenson, who had previously worked with NOFX and Rise Against, would be the producer for their sixth album.
On June 22, 2012, the band announced that their sixth album would be titled Awakened and the first single "Cauterize" was released on June 25, 2012. On September 12, 2012, As I Lay Dying released their second single "A Greater Foundation" with a corresponding music video. The album was released on September 25, 2012 and "Cauterize" was available on the band's website as a free download for a 24-hour period. As I Lay Dying won the "Metal Band of the Year" award from Loudwire in 2012, beating other well-known bands, including Anthrax and Lamb of God. Subsequently, prior to his criminal charges, Lambesis started a new band entitled Pyrithion with guitarist Ryan Glisan, formerly of Allegaeon. They released one EP as a band.
On May 7, 2013, Lambesis was arrested in Oceanside, California, US after hiring an undercover detective to kill his estranged wife. The report was made by the San Diego County Sheriff's Department, leaving the future of the band uncertain. On the following day, the band released a statement in which they said: "The legal process is taking its course and we have no more information than you do. There are many unanswered questions, and the situation will become clearer in the coming days and weeks. We'll keep you informed as best we can." They also stated that their thoughts were "with Tim, his family, and with everyone else affected by this terrible situation." Eight days later, the band cancelled their mid-2013 tour with Killswitch Engage, stating that "we feel that it is best for the band to be off the road while the current situation gets sorted". During the month of his initial arrest, Lambesis pleaded "not guilty" and his lawyer stated: "His thought processes were devastatingly affected by his steroid use." On February 25, 2014 Lambesis changed his plea from "not guilty" to "guilty" and consequently faced a potential sentence of nine years in prison.
Rather than continue on without Lambesis, Mancino, along with former members Phil Sgrosso, Nick Hipa, and Josh Gilbert, decided to focus on a different style of music under a different band name, Wovenwar, with Shane Blay as the vocalist, This project took shape long before Lambesis' plea. although Mancino still remained a member of As I Lay Dying. During this period of time, Lambesis was also working on music and found time to release the third Austrian Death Machine album, titled Triple Brutal.
On May 16, 2014, Lambesis was sentenced to six years in prison, with 48 days credit for time served.
Lambesis' release, reunion and new music (2016–2018)
Lambesis was released from prison on probation in December 2016. After his release he began reaching out to the other members of the band looking to apologize in person starting with Mancino and Gilbert. After months of silence Gilbert and Mancino eventually met with Lambesis and began speaking with him regularly after noting positive changes in his character. Lambesis attempted to reconnect with Sgrosso and Hipa following his meetings with Gilbert and Mancino—who as a result of Lambesis' actions and the strain it put on their relationships—had stopped speaking to each other following the recording of the second Wovenwar album. Sgrosso explained in a reunion-related discussion video posted by the band on June 16, 2018 that he initially replied to all of Lambesis' emails with explicit expressions of having no desire to speak with him. Sgrosso explained that his disdain with Lambesis started well before his arrest and took relief in not having to be in a band with him anymore upon Lambesis' arrest. His relationship with Hipa deteriorated due to what both described as not being able to deal with the weight of the aftermath properly. Hipa explained that while he initially felt empathy towards Lambesis after his tearful courtroom apology—it was short lived following Lambesis' interview with Alternative Press which Hipa claimed read like "one long excuse". After Lambesis made his public apology, Sgrosso finally agreed to meet with Lambesis and claimed Lambesis evolved into a different person than he was for the years leading up to his arrest which inspired him to reach out to Hipa to rekindle their friendship. Hipa was the last to speak with Lambesis due to what Hipa described as not being able to escape the shadow of Lambesis' arrest and the mental and physical effects it took on him. After reconnecting with Sgrosso and reading Lambesis' apology—he agreed to meet with Lambesis as a means to "let go of his hatred" and claimed that Lambesis owned up and took responsibility for every one of his actions he was called on.
Over the course of the tail end of Lambesis' incarceration and release, the band's public opinion towards Lambesis softened. Mancino did an interview primarily discussing Wovenwar, but also spoke about As I Lay Dying on MetalSucks' podcast. He stated that, contrary to popular beliefs, that Hipa, Sgrosso and Gilbert are still technically a part of As I Lay Dying due to their record contract and in another interview stated that he has "no ill will" towards Lambesis and wished him well. Hipa, when on an episode of Jamey Jasta's podcast when asked about a reunion commented "what it comes down to is what makes sense with what we have going on in our lives. And we've got a lot of important things going on that don't relate to that and we've made commitments to, and that's what we are honoring at this moment. Honestly it's just not something we try and consume our thoughts with. Because it's like we have families, businesses, professions, and a band—and all these things we're super invested into. It's like all of our attention is there with that at the moment."
On September 2, 2017, Metal Injection reported that Lambesis was working on new music and planned to release it under the As I Lay Dying name and that none of the pre-hiatus lineup aside from Lambesis would be returning. This would later be proven false, as on June 8, 2018, the band released the music video for "My Own Grave", confirming through the video that the lineup of Lambesis, Hipa, Sgrosso, Gilbert and Mancino had reunited. They performed their first show—which sold out in four minutes—in five years at the SOMA Sidestage in their hometown of San Diego. The band has stated the single was their first and only song written since their formal reunion in February 2018 and had no concrete plans past releasing the single and playing the SOMA show.
The news of their reunion drew particularly divisive reactions from fans and media outlets. While fan and critical reception of the band's reunion and comeback single were met largely with praise, others were openly skeptical on supporting Tim Lambesis following his prison sentence. Most notably was MetalSucks, who published an editorial that they will no longer be writing about the band with multiple outlets voicing their support for MetalSucks' decision. On June 16, 2018—the date of their comeback show at the SOMA—the band published a video on their official YouTube account addressing the questions and criticisms fans and critics of the band had and explaining the terms in detail of the reunion.
In July 2018, the band announced their first European headlining tour for December 2018. A day later, they announced their North American tour for November 2018. A vast majority of the shows sold out immediately. While tickets sold out quickly, some venues and festivals received a public backlash for booking the band because of Lambesis' crimes and decided to cancel the band's performances. Spain's Resurrection Fest announced it would be dropping As I Lay Dying from its bill in October 2018, and months later in January 2019, the Memphis, Tennessee venue Growlers cancelled their previously scheduled show in April 2019. Growlers released a statement that acknowledged Lambesis' public message from 2018, but stated: "After hearing the combined voice of disheartened friends, local bands, and patrons, locally owned concert venue and bar, Growlers, has cancelled their scheduled show with As I Lay Dying, previously set for April 5th, and will replace it with a local show to benefit victims of domestic violence [...] Not everyone was ready to give Lambesis a second chance, and Growlers has created controversy in Memphis for booking his band."
Touring, Shaped by Fire, and Nick Hipa's departure (2019–present)
They embarked on a tour in March 2019 with Phinehas, Currents and Frost Koffin as support. On April 12, 2019, the band released a music video for "Redefined", including a guest appearance by August Burns Red frontman Jake Luhrs. On April 14, the band announced the "Shaped by Fire" tour of Europe with support from Chelsea Grin, Unearth and Fit for a King running from September 2019 and concluding in October. On July 15, the band announced the North American dates of the "Shaped by Fire" Tour with direct support from After the Burial and Emmure to begin on November 15 at the House of Blues in Las Vegas and conclude on December 14 with a hometown show at the Soma San Diego. Details of their forthcoming album, Shaped by Fire, were leaked through Nuclear Blast's European website with a projected release date of September 20, 2019. On August 9, the band officially announced their first album in seven years, Shaped by Fire, would be released through Nuclear Blast Records, along with releasing the album's title track. On September 13, the band released "Blinded" as the album's fourth single along with an accompanying music video.
In March 2020, as a way of supporting their crew during the COVID-19 pandemic, they released an additional song, "Destruction or Strength", a B-side from Shaped by Fire album sessions. In May 2020, another music video for the song "Torn Between" was released.
On August 15, it was reported that Nick Hipa might have left the band, as he no longer performed with them and disassociated his personal social media accounts with the band. Hipa officially confirmed his departure one year later on August 31, 2021, noting that behaviors resulting from being in the band led to his decision to leave it: "There is tremendous good that can be accomplished through singular focus on the power of music. However to my memory and recent experience, it comes at the cost of tolerating behavior which at times mistreats, disrespects, and hurts other people." He further elaborated that the power and reasoning behind As I Lay Dying's reunion had faded in favor of superficial pursuits, which he did not wish to be a part of.
On September 24, 2021, the band unveiled a new single, "Roots Below".
Musical style and influences
As I Lay Dying is considered a prominent metalcore band. The band also has been referred to as Christian metal, death metal, and thrash metal. As I Lay Dying's music uses lots of elements of melodic death metal. In a review of Beneath the Encasing of Ashes, Bradley Torreano of AllMusic described the band's sound as a blend of heavy metal, hardcore, and grindcore. Heavy metal writer Garry Sharpe-Young described the band as a "Christian Hardcore act employing the Grind edged vocals of singer Tim Lambesis and a distinct hint of Scandinavian guitar chug." As I Lay Dying's influences include In Flames, Living Sacrifice, Iron Maiden, Slayer, At the Gates, Pantera, Megadeth, Fear Factory, Cannibal Corpse, Thin Lizzy, Shai Hulud, Dark Tranquillity, Metallica, Judas Priest, and Earth Crisis.
Christianity
Although As I Lay Dying has stated on numerous occasions that all of the members of the group are practicing Christians, the band is usually described by media as being in the metalcore genre, not Christian metal. The band's lyrics do not focus on Christian themes the way many praise music bands do, nor do they treat their music as a direct extension of their private Christian worship or proselytizing efforts. For example, not once do the names God or Jesus appear in any As I Lay Dying song, nor do any of their songs explicitly invoke Christian doctrine or quote the Bible. Most songs tend to address broader spiritual concepts like existential angst or the struggle between reason and spirituality.
Lyricist and lead singer Tim Lambesis has given mixed commentary on the subject: asked in 2008 if the members were "a Christian band" or "Christians in a band", Lambesis stated on the band's FAQ, "I'm not sure what the difference is between five Christians playing in a band and a Christian band, if you truly believe something, then it should affect every area of your life. All five of us are Christians. I believe that change should start with me first, and as a result, our lyrics do not come across very 'preachy.' Many of our songs are about life, struggles, mistakes, relationships and other issues that don't fit entirely in the spiritual category. However, all of these topics are written about through my perspective as a Christian." Furthermore, during an August 2010 radio interview on the Christian metal radio show The Full Armor of God Broadcast, Lambesis stated "I can only really write about what I'm passionate about in life, so naturally my faith, my belief in the teachings of Jesus and His resurrection come across in our lyrics."
However, in later years, Lambesis showed an increasing philosophical skepticism towards Christianity and religion in general. Court documents stated Lambesis emailed his wife Meggan in August 2012, while on tour with As I Lay Dying, asking for a divorce and stating he "no longer believed in God". In explaining some of the lyrics from Awakened, Lambesis stated on his personal Tumblr account that his studies of theology had led him to the conclusion that "tradition and truth are often at odds with each other", and while he "didn't hate all religious belief", he was finding it "very difficult for [him] to outline exactly who it is that's worth siding with." He also quoted the book Pagan Christianity by George Barna and Frank Viola, claiming that both "Protestant and Catholic denominations have poisonous roots". While on house arrest in July 2013, after being charged with soliciting his wife's murder, Lambesis published a blog post in which he obliquely confirmed his previous loss of faith in Christianity. In 2014, Lambesis said that although they were marketed as a Christian band, the members privately considered themselves atheists. Following this statement, guitarist Nick Hipa responded by calling these claims slanderous and defamatory. However, since his arrest it has been reported that Lambesis, in an April 2014 statement by the band, "[...] has spent much of the last year reevaluating what originally convinced him to abandon belief in God. After much brokenness and repentance he sees things differently, considers himself a follower of Jesus, someone submitted to the will of God, or whatever you want to call it. That's for him to talk about when he's comfortable and only time will tell if he is sincere."
Members
Current
Tim Lambesis – unclean vocals, occasional clean vocals (2000–2014, 2017–present)
Jordan Mancino – drums (2000–2014, 2018–present)
Phil Sgrosso – guitars, backing vocals (2003–2014, 2018–present)
Josh Gilbert – bass, clean vocals (2006–2014, 2018–present)
Former
Nick Hipa – guitars, backing vocals (2003–2014, 2018–2020)
Clint Norris – bass, clean vocals (2003–2006)
Evan White – guitars (2001–2003), bass (2002–2003)
Jeremy Rojas – guitars (2001)
Jon Jameson – bass (2001)
Noah Chase – bass (2001, 2002, 2003)
Tommy Garcia – guitars, bass, backing vocals (2002–2003; session member 2003–2010)
Jason Krebs – guitars (2002–2003)
Brandon Hays – bass, guitars (2002–2003)
Aaron Kennedy – bass (2003)
Touring musicians
Chad Ackerman – guitars (2001–2002), backing vocals (session, 2007)
Caylen Denuccio – bass (2002–2003)
Chris Lindstrom – guitars (2001, 2003)
Mark Macdonald – guitars (2003–2004)
Ruben Gutierrez – guitars (2001)
David Arthur – clean vocals (2005)
Justin Foley – drums (2009)
Joey Bradford – backing vocals (2012)
Duane Reed – backing vocals (2007)
Timeline
Discography
Beneath the Encasing of Ashes (2001)
Frail Words Collapse (2003)
Shadows Are Security (2005)
An Ocean Between Us (2007)
The Powerless Rise (2010)
Awakened (2012)
Shaped by Fire (2019)
Awards and nominations
San Diego Music Awards
Artist of the Year (2005)
Artist of the Year (2007)
Artist of the Year (2008)
Best Hard Rock (2011)
Grammy Awards
Nominated for 2008 Best Metal Performance for the song "Nothing Left"
MTV2 Music Awards
Ultimate Metal God (2007)
Hollywood Film Fest awards
Best Music Video for "The Sound of Truth" music video
Loudwire Music Awards
Metal Band of the Year (2012)
References
External links
American metalcore musical groups
Heavy metal musical groups from California
Musical groups from San Diego
Musical quintets
2000 establishments in California
Musical groups established in 2000
Musical groups disestablished in 2014
Musical groups reestablished in 2017
Metal Blade Records artists
Articles which contain graphical timelines | true | [
"Wesly Roberto Decas (born 11 August 1999) is a Honduran professional footballer who plays as a defender for Motagua.\n\nClub career\n\nMotagua Reserves, Atletico Independiente, and club trials\nDecas started his career by signing with F.C. Motagua. He played for the reserve team until he was signed by Atlético Independiente. Impressing internationally with the U-20's at the 2017 CONCACAF U-20 Championship and the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup, he was offered trials with English Premier League team Liverpool F.C. and Dutch Eredivisie team PSV Eindhoven.\n\nFC Juárez\nOn 29 August 2017, Decas signed with Mexican team FC Juárez in the Ascenso MX on a season long loan. He made his debut on 10 January 2018 in a 3–1 win against Lobos BUAP in the Copa MX.\n\nC.D. Nacional\nOn 22 July 2018, Portuguese Primeira Liga team C.D. Nacional announced the signing of Decas on a two–year loan. Decas made his debut in a 2–1 against Vitória Setúbal on 26 August 2018. He played alongside fellow countryman Bryan Róchez and was even invited by Róchez to meet his family. On 24 January 2019, Decas terminated his contract with Nacional saying, \"I left because I wasn't playing and that affected me.\"\n\nAtlanta United 2\nOn 15 February 2019, Atlanta United 2 announced the loan signing of Decas for the 2019 season, with an option to buy. He made his debut coming on as a substitute for Florentin Pogba in a 2–0 away loss to Saint Louis FC.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nWesly Decas F.C. Motagua official profile \nWesly Decas at Flashscore \n \nWesly Decas at Fichajes\n\n1999 births\nLiving people\nAssociation football defenders\nHonduran footballers\nHonduras international footballers\nHonduran expatriate footballers\nPrimeira Liga players\nC.D. Nacional players\nF.C. Motagua players\nLiga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional de Honduras players\nExpatriate footballers in Mexico\nExpatriate footballers in Portugal\nExpatriate soccer players in the United States\nHonduran expatriate sportspeople in Mexico\nHonduran expatriate sportspeople in Portugal\nHonduran expatriate sportspeople in the United States\nFC Juárez footballers\nAscenso MX players\nAtlanta United 2 players\nCentral American Games gold medalists for Honduras\nCentral American Games medalists in football\nPeople from Cortés Department\nHonduras under-20 international footballers\nFootballers at the 2020 Summer Olympics\nOlympic footballers of Honduras",
"Decas is a compilation album by the American metal band As I Lay Dying. It features three newly recorded songs, four cover songs, four remixes and one re-recording. The album was released through Metal Blade Records on November 4, 2011, in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland; on November 7 in the UK and the rest of Europe; and on November 8 in the US.\n\nThe release of Decas is meant to commemorate As I Lay Dying's tenth anniversary of being a band, and was also described by the group as a gift to their fans for their support over the years. Coinciding with the release of Decas, As I Lay Dying embarked on the \"A Decade of Destruction\" tour running from November through December 2011 with openers Of Mice & Men, The Ghost Inside, Iwrestledabearonce and Sylosis.\n\n\"Paralyzed\" was first released as a YouTube lyric video on September 13, 2011. Also, on November 7, the day before the album's US release, \"Paralyzed\" was released on iTunes as a free download. The track was originally intended to be the iTunes pre-order bonus for As I Lay Dying's previous album, The Powerless Rise. \"War Ensemble\" was previously released in a Limited Edition Free Download of the Video Game, Homefront soundtrack. \"Electric Eye\" was first available to stream via Noisecreep on October 3, 2011.\n\nTrack listing\n\nPersonnel \nAs I Lay Dying\n Tim Lambesis – vocals\n Nick Hipa – guitar, backing vocals\n Phil Sgrosso – guitar, backing vocals\n Josh Gilbert – bass guitar, clean vocals\n Jordan Mancino – drums\n\nReferences \n\nAs I Lay Dying (band) compilation albums\n2011 compilation albums\nMetal Blade Records compilation albums"
] | [
"As I Lay Dying is an American metalcore band from San Diego, California. Founded in 2000 by vocalist Tim Lambesis, the band's first full lineup (including Lambesis' Point of Recognition bandmate Jordan Mancino) was completed in 2001. The band has released seven albums, one split album, and two compilation albums. As I Lay Dying's fourth studio album An Ocean Between Us peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard 200, and No. 1 on the Top Rock chart.",
"1 on the Top Rock chart. 1 on the Top Rock chart. The band has performed at events such as Wacken Open Air, With Full Force, Soundwave Festival, Warped Tour, Bloodstock Open Air and Taste of Chaos.",
"The band has performed at events such as Wacken Open Air, With Full Force, Soundwave Festival, Warped Tour, Bloodstock Open Air and Taste of Chaos. In 2007, As I Lay Dying won the \"Ultimate Metal God\" award from MTV2 at the first annual \"All That Rocks\" special; was named \"Artist of the Year\" at the San Diego Music Awards in 2005, 2007 and 2008; and was nominated for a 2008 Grammy Award for the song \"Nothing Left.\"",
"In 2007, As I Lay Dying won the \"Ultimate Metal God\" award from MTV2 at the first annual \"All That Rocks\" special; was named \"Artist of the Year\" at the San Diego Music Awards in 2005, 2007 and 2008; and was nominated for a 2008 Grammy Award for the song \"Nothing Left.\" Their fifth studio album The Powerless Rise was written over a three-year period, and was released in May 2010 to widespread critical acclaim.",
"Their fifth studio album The Powerless Rise was written over a three-year period, and was released in May 2010 to widespread critical acclaim. Their last studio album before their hiatus, Awakened, was released on September 25, 2012. The band went on an indefinite hiatus in 2014 when Lambesis was convicted and sentenced to six years in prison for soliciting the murder of his estranged wife. The remaining members formed Wovenwar with vocalist Shane Blay. In 2018, Lambesis reunited with Hipa, Sgrosso, Mancino and Gilbert.",
"In 2018, Lambesis reunited with Hipa, Sgrosso, Mancino and Gilbert. On June 8, 2018, the band released the song \"My Own Grave\", their first recording in six years. They released their seventh studio album, Shaped by Fire, on September 20, 2019. History Formation and first releases (2000–2004) After leaving the band Society's Finest, in which he played guitar, vocalist Tim Lambesis formed As I Lay Dying in 2000.",
"History Formation and first releases (2000–2004) After leaving the band Society's Finest, in which he played guitar, vocalist Tim Lambesis formed As I Lay Dying in 2000. Starting out as a duet with drummer Jordan Mancino, they first met as a band in February 2001. They both were in the hardcore punk band Point of Recognition.",
"They both were in the hardcore punk band Point of Recognition. The band's name came from the novel of the same name by William Faulkner that was published in 1930; although the band's lyrics and music are not directly inspired by the novel. Shortly after the band's formation, Pluto Records offered As I Lay Dying a recording contract and, after accepting the offer, the band entered the studio one month later to record their first album Beneath the Encasing of Ashes, released in June 2001.",
"Shortly after the band's formation, Pluto Records offered As I Lay Dying a recording contract and, after accepting the offer, the band entered the studio one month later to record their first album Beneath the Encasing of Ashes, released in June 2001. The band then recorded five songs for a split album, again through Pluto Records, with San Diego post-hardcore band American Tragedy. As I Lay Dying realized it needed to expand to a five-piece band to include another guitarist and a bass guitarist.",
"As I Lay Dying realized it needed to expand to a five-piece band to include another guitarist and a bass guitarist. Mancino commented \"we started going on tour and we needed obviously more people than that.\" As Lambesis and Mancino were the only permanent members, the band recruited friends to perform with them and subsequently underwent several lineup changes: bass guitarist Noah Chase departed in 2001, while Brandon Hays, and his subsequent replacement Aaron Kennedy, departed in 2003.",
"As Lambesis and Mancino were the only permanent members, the band recruited friends to perform with them and subsequently underwent several lineup changes: bass guitarist Noah Chase departed in 2001, while Brandon Hays, and his subsequent replacement Aaron Kennedy, departed in 2003. During early 2003, when As I Lay Dying's Pluto Records contract expired, the band pursued deals with other record labels. After extensive touring and an increase in popularity, As I Lay Dying was offered a record deal with Metal Blade Records in March 2003.",
"After extensive touring and an increase in popularity, As I Lay Dying was offered a record deal with Metal Blade Records in March 2003. In July 2003, the band's second studio album Frail Words Collapse was released. Produced by Lambesis, the album peaked at No. 30 on Billboards Independent Albums chart and No. 41 on the Top Heatseekers chart.",
"41 on the Top Heatseekers chart. 41 on the Top Heatseekers chart. William York of Allmusic thought the band \"doesn't really add anything new to the mix from a musical standpoint\" with the release, while also praising it for being \"solid enough and well executed\" with \"adequate\" production.",
"William York of Allmusic thought the band \"doesn't really add anything new to the mix from a musical standpoint\" with the release, while also praising it for being \"solid enough and well executed\" with \"adequate\" production. Sherwin Frias of Jesus Freak Hideout had similar sentiments and commented \"As I Lay Dying didn't exactly break many boundaries in making this record\", but praised that each song is \"executed so well (and with such precision) that nary a song misses its target.\"",
"Sherwin Frias of Jesus Freak Hideout had similar sentiments and commented \"As I Lay Dying didn't exactly break many boundaries in making this record\", but praised that each song is \"executed so well (and with such precision) that nary a song misses its target.\" Touring then occurred to promote the album, with support from bands Himsa, Shadows Fall, The Black Dahlia Murder, Killswitch Engage, In Flames, Sworn Enemy, and Hatebreed.",
"Touring then occurred to promote the album, with support from bands Himsa, Shadows Fall, The Black Dahlia Murder, Killswitch Engage, In Flames, Sworn Enemy, and Hatebreed. Music videos for the songs \"94 Hours\" and \"Forever\" received rotation on networks such as Fuse and MTV2's Headbangers Ball. Success (2005–2009) As I Lay Dying entered Big Fish recording studio in Encinitas, California, US in January 2005 to record their third studio album.",
"Success (2005–2009) As I Lay Dying entered Big Fish recording studio in Encinitas, California, US in January 2005 to record their third studio album. Shadows Are Security was released in June of the same year and debuted at No. 1 on the Independent Albums chart. It was also the band's first release to enter the Billboard 200—at No. 35—and sold about 275,000 copies.",
"35—and sold about 275,000 copies. 35—and sold about 275,000 copies. Wade Kergan of AllMusic called it \"one of the strongest releases of 2005,\" and commented that new guitarists Phil Sgrosso and Nick Hipa make the band \"stronger.\" Rod Smith of Decibel Magazine commented: \"Tim Lambesis's finely honed roar in bittersweet instrumental matrices augmented by occasional clean vocals by bass guitarist Clint Norris. Guitarists Phil Sgrosso and Nick Hipa whip up a melodic cyclone on 'The Darkest Nights'.\"",
"Guitarists Phil Sgrosso and Nick Hipa whip up a melodic cyclone on 'The Darkest Nights'.\" By this time, guitarist Evan White had quit the band for personal reasons after his mother died. All the singing was done by Dave Arthur of Kings to You, because it sounded more powerful in the studio in comparison to Clint Norris's singing.",
"All the singing was done by Dave Arthur of Kings to You, because it sounded more powerful in the studio in comparison to Clint Norris's singing. As I Lay Dying began touring to promote the new record by making appearances at Hell on Earth, Winter Headline Tour, and Ozzfest, as well as a tour with Slipknot and Unearth. The band was on the second stage alongside Rob Zombie, Killswitch Engage, Mastodon, The Haunted, and It Dies Today.",
"The band was on the second stage alongside Rob Zombie, Killswitch Engage, Mastodon, The Haunted, and It Dies Today. The band raised its profile in 2006 through its support slot on the Taste of Chaos tour in the US, alongside bands such as Deftones, Thrice, Dredg, Funeral for a Friend, and Story of the Year. In May 2006, Beneath the Encasing of Ashes and the songs from the split album were re-released through Metal Blade Records as A Long March: The First Recordings.",
"In May 2006, Beneath the Encasing of Ashes and the songs from the split album were re-released through Metal Blade Records as A Long March: The First Recordings. The album contained the original and re-recorded versions of the songs from the split album—the band preferred to re-release the material, as they didn't want their fans paying large sums of money to listen to early releases. The re-release peaked at No. 3 on the Independent Albums chart and No. 129 on the Billboard 200 chart.",
"129 on the Billboard 200 chart. 129 on the Billboard 200 chart. In mid-2006, As I Lay Dying was the headline act at the Sounds of the Underground Festival. Norris left the band on good terms in November 2006 with a desire to focus on his marriage. The band auditioned ten bass guitarists, but none proved successful.",
"The band auditioned ten bass guitarists, but none proved successful. Lambesis received demo tapes from a band called This Endearing, of which bass guitarists Josh Gilbert was a member; however, Lambesis chose to \"sit on it\" and waited for the band to record more material. This Endearing subsequently disbanded and Gilbert was recruited as As I Lay Dying's new bass guitarist. In 2007 As I Lay Dying started recording a new album titled An Ocean Between Us, which was released on August 21, 2007.",
"In 2007 As I Lay Dying started recording a new album titled An Ocean Between Us, which was released on August 21, 2007. Debuting at No. 8 on the Billboard 200 and No. 1 on the Top Rock chart, with first-week sales of 39,000 units, the album was the highest charting release for the band. Co-produced by Killswitch Engage guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz and As I Lay Dying, and mixed by Colin Richardson, the album received generally positive reviews.",
"Co-produced by Killswitch Engage guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz and As I Lay Dying, and mixed by Colin Richardson, the album received generally positive reviews. Christa L. Titus of Billboard commented: \"Whatever the differences between As I Lay Dying's personal desires and what its fans demand, this album surely acts as a bridge,\" praising the song \"Comfort Betrays\" for its guitar solo.",
"Christa L. Titus of Billboard commented: \"Whatever the differences between As I Lay Dying's personal desires and what its fans demand, this album surely acts as a bridge,\" praising the song \"Comfort Betrays\" for its guitar solo. Scott Alisoglu of Blabbermouth.net described the album as \"a well-rounded and often thrashy metalcore album, as the band has struck an effective balance between aggression and accessible melodies.\"",
"Scott Alisoglu of Blabbermouth.net described the album as \"a well-rounded and often thrashy metalcore album, as the band has struck an effective balance between aggression and accessible melodies.\" Thom Jurek of Allmusic praised the band for expanding its musical range by including melodic singing and choruses, as they had previously done on \"Confined\" from Shadows Are Security. It was the first time that bass guitarist Gilbert recorded a studio album with the band.",
"It was the first time that bass guitarist Gilbert recorded a studio album with the band. To promote the album, As I Lay Dying performed at the Warped Tour 2007 in August, and toured through Europe in September with Darkest Hour, Himsa, and Maroon. The band was awarded the title \"Ultimate Metal God\" by MTV2's \"All That Rocks\" special, and was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of \"Best Metal Performance\" for the song \"Nothing Left\".",
"The band was awarded the title \"Ultimate Metal God\" by MTV2's \"All That Rocks\" special, and was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of \"Best Metal Performance\" for the song \"Nothing Left\". The other Grammy Award nominees included winner Slayer, King Diamond, Machine Head, and Shadows Fall. The band played a portion of the 2008 Warped Tour, as well as the Taste of Chaos UK 2008 Tour with headliners Atreyu.",
"The band played a portion of the 2008 Warped Tour, as well as the Taste of Chaos UK 2008 Tour with headliners Atreyu. On April 9, 2009, the DVD This Is Who We Are was released in Europe, and was released in the US on April 14, 2009. The DVD was certified Gold in the US almost a month after its release.",
"The DVD was certified Gold in the US almost a month after its release. The Powerless Rise and Decas (2010–2011) After recording through 2009, the band's fifth record The Powerless Rise was streamed on the MySpace Music website on May 7, 2010 up until May 10, 2010.",
"The Powerless Rise and Decas (2010–2011) After recording through 2009, the band's fifth record The Powerless Rise was streamed on the MySpace Music website on May 7, 2010 up until May 10, 2010. The album was officially released on May 11, 2010 and received generally positive critical acclaim, with one critic saying: \"Fans of metalcore in general, and As I Lay Dying in particular, will be more than satisfied with The Powerless Rise, as the band's gradual progression and consistency makes this their best album.\"",
"The album was officially released on May 11, 2010 and received generally positive critical acclaim, with one critic saying: \"Fans of metalcore in general, and As I Lay Dying in particular, will be more than satisfied with The Powerless Rise, as the band's gradual progression and consistency makes this their best album.\" In 2010 the band toured in support of The Powerless Rise, headlining the majority of their shows.",
"In 2010 the band toured in support of The Powerless Rise, headlining the majority of their shows. In the first half of the year, the band embarked on a US tour with Demon Hunter, blessthefall, and War of Ages. This was followed by a mid-2010 headlining tour titled \"The Cool Tour\" across the US, and a headlining tour across US/Canada that also featured All That Remains, Unearth, and Carnifex.",
"This was followed by a mid-2010 headlining tour titled \"The Cool Tour\" across the US, and a headlining tour across US/Canada that also featured All That Remains, Unearth, and Carnifex. The band's final headline tour of the year was in Europe, with Heaven Shall Burn, Suicide Silence, and Sylosis. In February 2011, the band headlined a US tour with support from Winds of Plague and After the Burial.",
"In February 2011, the band headlined a US tour with support from Winds of Plague and After the Burial. The band then toured in late April/early May with Trivium, in support of Disturbed, on the \"Music as a Weapon\" tour in Australia and New Zealand. Then at the end of May and beginning of June, the band headlined a few performances with Heaven Shall Burn. On November 8, 2011, As I Lay Dying released a compilation, Decas, in honor of the band's ten-year anniversary.",
"On November 8, 2011, As I Lay Dying released a compilation, Decas, in honor of the band's ten-year anniversary. The album featured three new, original songs; four cover versions of songs by bands such as Slayer, Judas Priest and Descendents; a re-recorded medley that uses parts of several songs taken from Beneath the Encasing of Ashes; and four remixes, consisting of one song from each of their albums since Frail Words Collapse.",
"The album featured three new, original songs; four cover versions of songs by bands such as Slayer, Judas Priest and Descendents; a re-recorded medley that uses parts of several songs taken from Beneath the Encasing of Ashes; and four remixes, consisting of one song from each of their albums since Frail Words Collapse. The album's first track \"Paralyzed\" was released as a lyric video on September 13, 2011, and as a free download on iTunes on November 7, the day before the album's release.",
"The album's first track \"Paralyzed\" was released as a lyric video on September 13, 2011, and as a free download on iTunes on November 7, the day before the album's release. The band embarked on the \"A Decade of Destruction\" tour, coinciding with the release of the album, from November to December 2011.",
"The band embarked on the \"A Decade of Destruction\" tour, coinciding with the release of the album, from November to December 2011. Awakened, Tim Lambesis' trial and hiatus (2012–2016) On January 25, 2012, an announcement revealed that the band would be playing the Mayhem Festival of 2012 with Slipknot, Slayer, Motörhead, Anthrax, The Devil Wears Prada, Asking Alexandria, Whitechapel, Upon A Burning Body, I, the Breather, Betraying the Martyrs, and Dirtfedd.",
"Awakened, Tim Lambesis' trial and hiatus (2012–2016) On January 25, 2012, an announcement revealed that the band would be playing the Mayhem Festival of 2012 with Slipknot, Slayer, Motörhead, Anthrax, The Devil Wears Prada, Asking Alexandria, Whitechapel, Upon A Burning Body, I, the Breather, Betraying the Martyrs, and Dirtfedd. The band announced in April 2012 that Bill Stevenson, who had previously worked with NOFX and Rise Against, would be the producer for their sixth album.",
"The band announced in April 2012 that Bill Stevenson, who had previously worked with NOFX and Rise Against, would be the producer for their sixth album. On June 22, 2012, the band announced that their sixth album would be titled Awakened and the first single \"Cauterize\" was released on June 25, 2012. On September 12, 2012, As I Lay Dying released their second single \"A Greater Foundation\" with a corresponding music video.",
"On September 12, 2012, As I Lay Dying released their second single \"A Greater Foundation\" with a corresponding music video. The album was released on September 25, 2012 and \"Cauterize\" was available on the band's website as a free download for a 24-hour period. As I Lay Dying won the \"Metal Band of the Year\" award from Loudwire in 2012, beating other well-known bands, including Anthrax and Lamb of God.",
"As I Lay Dying won the \"Metal Band of the Year\" award from Loudwire in 2012, beating other well-known bands, including Anthrax and Lamb of God. Subsequently, prior to his criminal charges, Lambesis started a new band entitled Pyrithion with guitarist Ryan Glisan, formerly of Allegaeon. They released one EP as a band. On May 7, 2013, Lambesis was arrested in Oceanside, California, US after hiring an undercover detective to kill his estranged wife.",
"On May 7, 2013, Lambesis was arrested in Oceanside, California, US after hiring an undercover detective to kill his estranged wife. The report was made by the San Diego County Sheriff's Department, leaving the future of the band uncertain. On the following day, the band released a statement in which they said: \"The legal process is taking its course and we have no more information than you do. There are many unanswered questions, and the situation will become clearer in the coming days and weeks.",
"There are many unanswered questions, and the situation will become clearer in the coming days and weeks. We'll keep you informed as best we can.\" They also stated that their thoughts were \"with Tim, his family, and with everyone else affected by this terrible situation.\" Eight days later, the band cancelled their mid-2013 tour with Killswitch Engage, stating that \"we feel that it is best for the band to be off the road while the current situation gets sorted\".",
"Eight days later, the band cancelled their mid-2013 tour with Killswitch Engage, stating that \"we feel that it is best for the band to be off the road while the current situation gets sorted\". During the month of his initial arrest, Lambesis pleaded \"not guilty\" and his lawyer stated: \"His thought processes were devastatingly affected by his steroid use.\"",
"During the month of his initial arrest, Lambesis pleaded \"not guilty\" and his lawyer stated: \"His thought processes were devastatingly affected by his steroid use.\" On February 25, 2014 Lambesis changed his plea from \"not guilty\" to \"guilty\" and consequently faced a potential sentence of nine years in prison.",
"On February 25, 2014 Lambesis changed his plea from \"not guilty\" to \"guilty\" and consequently faced a potential sentence of nine years in prison. Rather than continue on without Lambesis, Mancino, along with former members Phil Sgrosso, Nick Hipa, and Josh Gilbert, decided to focus on a different style of music under a different band name, Wovenwar, with Shane Blay as the vocalist, This project took shape long before Lambesis' plea. although Mancino still remained a member of As I Lay Dying.",
"although Mancino still remained a member of As I Lay Dying. During this period of time, Lambesis was also working on music and found time to release the third Austrian Death Machine album, titled Triple Brutal. On May 16, 2014, Lambesis was sentenced to six years in prison, with 48 days credit for time served. Lambesis' release, reunion and new music (2016–2018) Lambesis was released from prison on probation in December 2016.",
"Lambesis' release, reunion and new music (2016–2018) Lambesis was released from prison on probation in December 2016. After his release he began reaching out to the other members of the band looking to apologize in person starting with Mancino and Gilbert. After months of silence Gilbert and Mancino eventually met with Lambesis and began speaking with him regularly after noting positive changes in his character.",
"After months of silence Gilbert and Mancino eventually met with Lambesis and began speaking with him regularly after noting positive changes in his character. Lambesis attempted to reconnect with Sgrosso and Hipa following his meetings with Gilbert and Mancino—who as a result of Lambesis' actions and the strain it put on their relationships—had stopped speaking to each other following the recording of the second Wovenwar album.",
"Lambesis attempted to reconnect with Sgrosso and Hipa following his meetings with Gilbert and Mancino—who as a result of Lambesis' actions and the strain it put on their relationships—had stopped speaking to each other following the recording of the second Wovenwar album. Sgrosso explained in a reunion-related discussion video posted by the band on June 16, 2018 that he initially replied to all of Lambesis' emails with explicit expressions of having no desire to speak with him.",
"Sgrosso explained in a reunion-related discussion video posted by the band on June 16, 2018 that he initially replied to all of Lambesis' emails with explicit expressions of having no desire to speak with him. Sgrosso explained that his disdain with Lambesis started well before his arrest and took relief in not having to be in a band with him anymore upon Lambesis' arrest. His relationship with Hipa deteriorated due to what both described as not being able to deal with the weight of the aftermath properly.",
"His relationship with Hipa deteriorated due to what both described as not being able to deal with the weight of the aftermath properly. Hipa explained that while he initially felt empathy towards Lambesis after his tearful courtroom apology—it was short lived following Lambesis' interview with Alternative Press which Hipa claimed read like \"one long excuse\".",
"Hipa explained that while he initially felt empathy towards Lambesis after his tearful courtroom apology—it was short lived following Lambesis' interview with Alternative Press which Hipa claimed read like \"one long excuse\". After Lambesis made his public apology, Sgrosso finally agreed to meet with Lambesis and claimed Lambesis evolved into a different person than he was for the years leading up to his arrest which inspired him to reach out to Hipa to rekindle their friendship.",
"After Lambesis made his public apology, Sgrosso finally agreed to meet with Lambesis and claimed Lambesis evolved into a different person than he was for the years leading up to his arrest which inspired him to reach out to Hipa to rekindle their friendship. Hipa was the last to speak with Lambesis due to what Hipa described as not being able to escape the shadow of Lambesis' arrest and the mental and physical effects it took on him.",
"Hipa was the last to speak with Lambesis due to what Hipa described as not being able to escape the shadow of Lambesis' arrest and the mental and physical effects it took on him. After reconnecting with Sgrosso and reading Lambesis' apology—he agreed to meet with Lambesis as a means to \"let go of his hatred\" and claimed that Lambesis owned up and took responsibility for every one of his actions he was called on.",
"After reconnecting with Sgrosso and reading Lambesis' apology—he agreed to meet with Lambesis as a means to \"let go of his hatred\" and claimed that Lambesis owned up and took responsibility for every one of his actions he was called on. Over the course of the tail end of Lambesis' incarceration and release, the band's public opinion towards Lambesis softened. Mancino did an interview primarily discussing Wovenwar, but also spoke about As I Lay Dying on MetalSucks' podcast.",
"Mancino did an interview primarily discussing Wovenwar, but also spoke about As I Lay Dying on MetalSucks' podcast. He stated that, contrary to popular beliefs, that Hipa, Sgrosso and Gilbert are still technically a part of As I Lay Dying due to their record contract and in another interview stated that he has \"no ill will\" towards Lambesis and wished him well.",
"He stated that, contrary to popular beliefs, that Hipa, Sgrosso and Gilbert are still technically a part of As I Lay Dying due to their record contract and in another interview stated that he has \"no ill will\" towards Lambesis and wished him well. Hipa, when on an episode of Jamey Jasta's podcast when asked about a reunion commented \"what it comes down to is what makes sense with what we have going on in our lives.",
"Hipa, when on an episode of Jamey Jasta's podcast when asked about a reunion commented \"what it comes down to is what makes sense with what we have going on in our lives. And we've got a lot of important things going on that don't relate to that and we've made commitments to, and that's what we are honoring at this moment. Honestly it's just not something we try and consume our thoughts with.",
"Honestly it's just not something we try and consume our thoughts with. Because it's like we have families, businesses, professions, and a band—and all these things we're super invested into. It's like all of our attention is there with that at the moment.\" On September 2, 2017, Metal Injection reported that Lambesis was working on new music and planned to release it under the As I Lay Dying name and that none of the pre-hiatus lineup aside from Lambesis would be returning.",
"On September 2, 2017, Metal Injection reported that Lambesis was working on new music and planned to release it under the As I Lay Dying name and that none of the pre-hiatus lineup aside from Lambesis would be returning. This would later be proven false, as on June 8, 2018, the band released the music video for \"My Own Grave\", confirming through the video that the lineup of Lambesis, Hipa, Sgrosso, Gilbert and Mancino had reunited.",
"This would later be proven false, as on June 8, 2018, the band released the music video for \"My Own Grave\", confirming through the video that the lineup of Lambesis, Hipa, Sgrosso, Gilbert and Mancino had reunited. They performed their first show—which sold out in four minutes—in five years at the SOMA Sidestage in their hometown of San Diego.",
"They performed their first show—which sold out in four minutes—in five years at the SOMA Sidestage in their hometown of San Diego. The band has stated the single was their first and only song written since their formal reunion in February 2018 and had no concrete plans past releasing the single and playing the SOMA show. The news of their reunion drew particularly divisive reactions from fans and media outlets.",
"The news of their reunion drew particularly divisive reactions from fans and media outlets. While fan and critical reception of the band's reunion and comeback single were met largely with praise, others were openly skeptical on supporting Tim Lambesis following his prison sentence. Most notably was MetalSucks, who published an editorial that they will no longer be writing about the band with multiple outlets voicing their support for MetalSucks' decision.",
"Most notably was MetalSucks, who published an editorial that they will no longer be writing about the band with multiple outlets voicing their support for MetalSucks' decision. On June 16, 2018—the date of their comeback show at the SOMA—the band published a video on their official YouTube account addressing the questions and criticisms fans and critics of the band had and explaining the terms in detail of the reunion. In July 2018, the band announced their first European headlining tour for December 2018.",
"In July 2018, the band announced their first European headlining tour for December 2018. A day later, they announced their North American tour for November 2018. A vast majority of the shows sold out immediately. While tickets sold out quickly, some venues and festivals received a public backlash for booking the band because of Lambesis' crimes and decided to cancel the band's performances.",
"While tickets sold out quickly, some venues and festivals received a public backlash for booking the band because of Lambesis' crimes and decided to cancel the band's performances. Spain's Resurrection Fest announced it would be dropping As I Lay Dying from its bill in October 2018, and months later in January 2019, the Memphis, Tennessee venue Growlers cancelled their previously scheduled show in April 2019.",
"Spain's Resurrection Fest announced it would be dropping As I Lay Dying from its bill in October 2018, and months later in January 2019, the Memphis, Tennessee venue Growlers cancelled their previously scheduled show in April 2019. Growlers released a statement that acknowledged Lambesis' public message from 2018, but stated: \"After hearing the combined voice of disheartened friends, local bands, and patrons, locally owned concert venue and bar, Growlers, has cancelled their scheduled show with As I Lay Dying, previously set for April 5th, and will replace it with a local show to benefit victims of domestic violence [...] Not everyone was ready to give Lambesis a second chance, and Growlers has created controversy in Memphis for booking his band.\"",
"Growlers released a statement that acknowledged Lambesis' public message from 2018, but stated: \"After hearing the combined voice of disheartened friends, local bands, and patrons, locally owned concert venue and bar, Growlers, has cancelled their scheduled show with As I Lay Dying, previously set for April 5th, and will replace it with a local show to benefit victims of domestic violence [...] Not everyone was ready to give Lambesis a second chance, and Growlers has created controversy in Memphis for booking his band.\" Touring, Shaped by Fire, and Nick Hipa's departure (2019–present) They embarked on a tour in March 2019 with Phinehas, Currents and Frost Koffin as support.",
"Touring, Shaped by Fire, and Nick Hipa's departure (2019–present) They embarked on a tour in March 2019 with Phinehas, Currents and Frost Koffin as support. On April 12, 2019, the band released a music video for \"Redefined\", including a guest appearance by August Burns Red frontman Jake Luhrs. On April 14, the band announced the \"Shaped by Fire\" tour of Europe with support from Chelsea Grin, Unearth and Fit for a King running from September 2019 and concluding in October.",
"On April 14, the band announced the \"Shaped by Fire\" tour of Europe with support from Chelsea Grin, Unearth and Fit for a King running from September 2019 and concluding in October. On July 15, the band announced the North American dates of the \"Shaped by Fire\" Tour with direct support from After the Burial and Emmure to begin on November 15 at the House of Blues in Las Vegas and conclude on December 14 with a hometown show at the Soma San Diego.",
"On July 15, the band announced the North American dates of the \"Shaped by Fire\" Tour with direct support from After the Burial and Emmure to begin on November 15 at the House of Blues in Las Vegas and conclude on December 14 with a hometown show at the Soma San Diego. Details of their forthcoming album, Shaped by Fire, were leaked through Nuclear Blast's European website with a projected release date of September 20, 2019.",
"Details of their forthcoming album, Shaped by Fire, were leaked through Nuclear Blast's European website with a projected release date of September 20, 2019. On August 9, the band officially announced their first album in seven years, Shaped by Fire, would be released through Nuclear Blast Records, along with releasing the album's title track. On September 13, the band released \"Blinded\" as the album's fourth single along with an accompanying music video.",
"On September 13, the band released \"Blinded\" as the album's fourth single along with an accompanying music video. In March 2020, as a way of supporting their crew during the COVID-19 pandemic, they released an additional song, \"Destruction or Strength\", a B-side from Shaped by Fire album sessions. In May 2020, another music video for the song \"Torn Between\" was released.",
"In May 2020, another music video for the song \"Torn Between\" was released. On August 15, it was reported that Nick Hipa might have left the band, as he no longer performed with them and disassociated his personal social media accounts with the band. Hipa officially confirmed his departure one year later on August 31, 2021, noting that behaviors resulting from being in the band led to his decision to leave it: \"There is tremendous good that can be accomplished through singular focus on the power of music.",
"Hipa officially confirmed his departure one year later on August 31, 2021, noting that behaviors resulting from being in the band led to his decision to leave it: \"There is tremendous good that can be accomplished through singular focus on the power of music. However to my memory and recent experience, it comes at the cost of tolerating behavior which at times mistreats, disrespects, and hurts other people.\"",
"However to my memory and recent experience, it comes at the cost of tolerating behavior which at times mistreats, disrespects, and hurts other people.\" He further elaborated that the power and reasoning behind As I Lay Dying's reunion had faded in favor of superficial pursuits, which he did not wish to be a part of. On September 24, 2021, the band unveiled a new single, \"Roots Below\". Musical style and influences As I Lay Dying is considered a prominent metalcore band.",
"Musical style and influences As I Lay Dying is considered a prominent metalcore band. The band also has been referred to as Christian metal, death metal, and thrash metal. As I Lay Dying's music uses lots of elements of melodic death metal. In a review of Beneath the Encasing of Ashes, Bradley Torreano of AllMusic described the band's sound as a blend of heavy metal, hardcore, and grindcore.",
"In a review of Beneath the Encasing of Ashes, Bradley Torreano of AllMusic described the band's sound as a blend of heavy metal, hardcore, and grindcore. Heavy metal writer Garry Sharpe-Young described the band as a \"Christian Hardcore act employing the Grind edged vocals of singer Tim Lambesis and a distinct hint of Scandinavian guitar chug.\"",
"Heavy metal writer Garry Sharpe-Young described the band as a \"Christian Hardcore act employing the Grind edged vocals of singer Tim Lambesis and a distinct hint of Scandinavian guitar chug.\" As I Lay Dying's influences include In Flames, Living Sacrifice, Iron Maiden, Slayer, At the Gates, Pantera, Megadeth, Fear Factory, Cannibal Corpse, Thin Lizzy, Shai Hulud, Dark Tranquillity, Metallica, Judas Priest, and Earth Crisis.",
"As I Lay Dying's influences include In Flames, Living Sacrifice, Iron Maiden, Slayer, At the Gates, Pantera, Megadeth, Fear Factory, Cannibal Corpse, Thin Lizzy, Shai Hulud, Dark Tranquillity, Metallica, Judas Priest, and Earth Crisis. Christianity Although As I Lay Dying has stated on numerous occasions that all of the members of the group are practicing Christians, the band is usually described by media as being in the metalcore genre, not Christian metal.",
"Christianity Although As I Lay Dying has stated on numerous occasions that all of the members of the group are practicing Christians, the band is usually described by media as being in the metalcore genre, not Christian metal. The band's lyrics do not focus on Christian themes the way many praise music bands do, nor do they treat their music as a direct extension of their private Christian worship or proselytizing efforts.",
"The band's lyrics do not focus on Christian themes the way many praise music bands do, nor do they treat their music as a direct extension of their private Christian worship or proselytizing efforts. For example, not once do the names God or Jesus appear in any As I Lay Dying song, nor do any of their songs explicitly invoke Christian doctrine or quote the Bible. Most songs tend to address broader spiritual concepts like existential angst or the struggle between reason and spirituality.",
"Most songs tend to address broader spiritual concepts like existential angst or the struggle between reason and spirituality. Lyricist and lead singer Tim Lambesis has given mixed commentary on the subject: asked in 2008 if the members were \"a Christian band\" or \"Christians in a band\", Lambesis stated on the band's FAQ, \"I'm not sure what the difference is between five Christians playing in a band and a Christian band, if you truly believe something, then it should affect every area of your life.",
"Lyricist and lead singer Tim Lambesis has given mixed commentary on the subject: asked in 2008 if the members were \"a Christian band\" or \"Christians in a band\", Lambesis stated on the band's FAQ, \"I'm not sure what the difference is between five Christians playing in a band and a Christian band, if you truly believe something, then it should affect every area of your life. All five of us are Christians.",
"All five of us are Christians. All five of us are Christians. I believe that change should start with me first, and as a result, our lyrics do not come across very 'preachy.' Many of our songs are about life, struggles, mistakes, relationships and other issues that don't fit entirely in the spiritual category. However, all of these topics are written about through my perspective as a Christian.\"",
"However, all of these topics are written about through my perspective as a Christian.\" Furthermore, during an August 2010 radio interview on the Christian metal radio show The Full Armor of God Broadcast, Lambesis stated \"I can only really write about what I'm passionate about in life, so naturally my faith, my belief in the teachings of Jesus and His resurrection come across in our lyrics.\" However, in later years, Lambesis showed an increasing philosophical skepticism towards Christianity and religion in general.",
"However, in later years, Lambesis showed an increasing philosophical skepticism towards Christianity and religion in general. Court documents stated Lambesis emailed his wife Meggan in August 2012, while on tour with As I Lay Dying, asking for a divorce and stating he \"no longer believed in God\".",
"Court documents stated Lambesis emailed his wife Meggan in August 2012, while on tour with As I Lay Dying, asking for a divorce and stating he \"no longer believed in God\". In explaining some of the lyrics from Awakened, Lambesis stated on his personal Tumblr account that his studies of theology had led him to the conclusion that \"tradition and truth are often at odds with each other\", and while he \"didn't hate all religious belief\", he was finding it \"very difficult for [him] to outline exactly who it is that's worth siding with.\"",
"In explaining some of the lyrics from Awakened, Lambesis stated on his personal Tumblr account that his studies of theology had led him to the conclusion that \"tradition and truth are often at odds with each other\", and while he \"didn't hate all religious belief\", he was finding it \"very difficult for [him] to outline exactly who it is that's worth siding with.\" He also quoted the book Pagan Christianity by George Barna and Frank Viola, claiming that both \"Protestant and Catholic denominations have poisonous roots\".",
"He also quoted the book Pagan Christianity by George Barna and Frank Viola, claiming that both \"Protestant and Catholic denominations have poisonous roots\". While on house arrest in July 2013, after being charged with soliciting his wife's murder, Lambesis published a blog post in which he obliquely confirmed his previous loss of faith in Christianity. In 2014, Lambesis said that although they were marketed as a Christian band, the members privately considered themselves atheists.",
"In 2014, Lambesis said that although they were marketed as a Christian band, the members privately considered themselves atheists. Following this statement, guitarist Nick Hipa responded by calling these claims slanderous and defamatory. However, since his arrest it has been reported that Lambesis, in an April 2014 statement by the band, \"[...] has spent much of the last year reevaluating what originally convinced him to abandon belief in God.",
"However, since his arrest it has been reported that Lambesis, in an April 2014 statement by the band, \"[...] has spent much of the last year reevaluating what originally convinced him to abandon belief in God. After much brokenness and repentance he sees things differently, considers himself a follower of Jesus, someone submitted to the will of God, or whatever you want to call it. That's for him to talk about when he's comfortable and only time will tell if he is sincere.\"",
"That's for him to talk about when he's comfortable and only time will tell if he is sincere.\" Members Current Tim Lambesis – unclean vocals, occasional clean vocals (2000–2014, 2017–present) Jordan Mancino – drums (2000–2014, 2018–present) Phil Sgrosso – guitars, backing vocals (2003–2014, 2018–present) Josh Gilbert – bass, clean vocals (2006–2014, 2018–present) Former Nick Hipa – guitars, backing vocals (2003–2014, 2018–2020) Clint Norris – bass, clean vocals (2003–2006) Evan White – guitars (2001–2003), bass (2002–2003) Jeremy Rojas – guitars (2001) Jon Jameson – bass (2001) Noah Chase – bass (2001, 2002, 2003) Tommy Garcia – guitars, bass, backing vocals (2002–2003; session member 2003–2010) Jason Krebs – guitars (2002–2003) Brandon Hays – bass, guitars (2002–2003) Aaron Kennedy – bass (2003) Touring musicians Chad Ackerman – guitars (2001–2002), backing vocals (session, 2007) Caylen Denuccio – bass (2002–2003) Chris Lindstrom – guitars (2001, 2003) Mark Macdonald – guitars (2003–2004) Ruben Gutierrez – guitars (2001) David Arthur – clean vocals (2005) Justin Foley – drums (2009) Joey Bradford – backing vocals (2012) Duane Reed – backing vocals (2007) Timeline Discography Beneath the Encasing of Ashes (2001) Frail Words Collapse (2003) Shadows Are Security (2005) An Ocean Between Us (2007) The Powerless Rise (2010) Awakened (2012) Shaped by Fire (2019) Awards and nominations San Diego Music Awards Artist of the Year (2005) Artist of the Year (2007) Artist of the Year (2008) Best Hard Rock (2011) Grammy Awards Nominated for 2008 Best Metal Performance for the song \"Nothing Left\" MTV2 Music Awards Ultimate Metal God (2007) Hollywood Film Fest awards Best Music Video for \"The Sound of Truth\" music video Loudwire Music Awards Metal Band of the Year (2012) References External links \t American metalcore musical groups Heavy metal musical groups from California Musical groups from San Diego Musical quintets 2000 establishments in California Musical groups established in 2000 Musical groups disestablished in 2014 Musical groups reestablished in 2017 Metal Blade Records artists Articles which contain graphical timelines"
] |
[
"As I Lay Dying (band)",
"The Powerless Rise and Decas (2010-2011)",
"Are The Powerless Rise and Decas both albums?",
"band toured in support of The Powerless Rise,",
"Was The Powerless Rise well received by fans?",
"I don't know.",
"Was Decas well received?",
"the band headlined a US tour with support from Winds of Plague and After the Burial."
] | C_b80aaf83bab441d7a0195048d6a09917_0 | Were there any changes in band members during this time? | 4 | Were there any changes in band members of "As I Lay Dying" during the time they were on a US tour with support from Winds of Plague and After the Burial. | As I Lay Dying (band) | After recording through 2009, the band's fifth record The Powerless Rise was streamed on the MySpace Music website on May 7, 2010 up until May 10, 2010. The album was officially released on May 11, 2010 and received generally positive critical acclaim, with one critic saying: "Fans of metalcore in general, and As I Lay Dying in particular, will be more than satisfied with The Powerless Rise, as the band's gradual progression and consistency makes this their best album." In 2010 the band toured in support of The Powerless Rise, headlining the majority of their shows. In the first half of the year, the band embarked on a US tour with Demon Hunter, blessthefall, and War of Ages. This was followed by a mid-2010 headlining tour titled "The Cool Tour" across the US, and a headlining tour across US/Canada that also featured All That Remains, Unearth, and Carnifex. The band's final headline tour of the year was in Europe, with Heaven Shall Burn, Suicide Silence, and Sylosis. In February 2011, the band headlined a US tour with support from Winds of Plague and After the Burial. The band then toured in late April/early May with Trivium, in support of Disturbed, on the "Music as a Weapon" tour in Australia and New Zealand. Then at the end of May and beginning of June, the band headlined a few performances with Heaven Shall Burn. On November 8, 2011, As I Lay Dying released a compilation, Decas, in honor of the band's ten-year anniversary. The album featured three new, original songs; four cover versions of songs by bands such as Slayer, Judas Priest and Descendents; a re-recorded medley that uses parts of several songs taken from Beneath the Encasing of Ashes; and four remixes, consisting of one song from each of their albums since Frail Words Collapse. The album's first track "Paralyzed" was released as a lyric video on September 13, 2011, and as a free download on iTunes on November 7, the day before the album's release. The band embarked on the "A Decade of Destruction" tour, coinciding with the release of the album, from November to December 2011. CANNOTANSWER | The band embarked on the "A Decade of Destruction" tour, coinciding with the release of the album, | As I Lay Dying is an American metalcore band from San Diego, California. Founded in 2000 by vocalist Tim Lambesis, the band's first full lineup (including Lambesis' Point of Recognition bandmate Jordan Mancino) was completed in 2001. The band has released seven albums, one split album, and two compilation albums.
As I Lay Dying's fourth studio album An Ocean Between Us peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard 200, and No. 1 on the Top Rock chart. The band has performed at events such as Wacken Open Air, With Full Force, Soundwave Festival, Warped Tour, Bloodstock Open Air and Taste of Chaos. In 2007, As I Lay Dying won the "Ultimate Metal God" award from MTV2 at the first annual "All That Rocks" special; was named "Artist of the Year" at the San Diego Music Awards in 2005, 2007 and 2008; and was nominated for a 2008 Grammy Award for the song "Nothing Left." Their fifth studio album The Powerless Rise was written over a three-year period, and was released in May 2010 to widespread critical acclaim. Their last studio album before their hiatus, Awakened, was released on September 25, 2012.
The band went on an indefinite hiatus in 2014 when Lambesis was convicted and sentenced to six years in prison for soliciting the murder of his estranged wife. The remaining members formed Wovenwar with vocalist Shane Blay.
In 2018, Lambesis reunited with Hipa, Sgrosso, Mancino and Gilbert. On June 8, 2018, the band released the song "My Own Grave", their first recording in six years. They released their seventh studio album, Shaped by Fire, on September 20, 2019.
History
Formation and first releases (2000–2004)
After leaving the band Society's Finest, in which he played guitar, vocalist Tim Lambesis formed As I Lay Dying in 2000. Starting out as a duet with drummer Jordan Mancino, they first met as a band in February 2001. They both were in the hardcore punk band Point of Recognition. The band's name came from the novel of the same name by William Faulkner that was published in 1930; although the band's lyrics and music are not directly inspired by the novel.
Shortly after the band's formation, Pluto Records offered As I Lay Dying a recording contract and, after accepting the offer, the band entered the studio one month later to record their first album Beneath the Encasing of Ashes, released in June 2001. The band then recorded five songs for a split album, again through Pluto Records, with San Diego post-hardcore band American Tragedy.
As I Lay Dying realized it needed to expand to a five-piece band to include another guitarist and a bass guitarist. Mancino commented "we started going on tour and we needed obviously more people than that." As Lambesis and Mancino were the only permanent members, the band recruited friends to perform with them and subsequently underwent several lineup changes: bass guitarist Noah Chase departed in 2001, while Brandon Hays, and his subsequent replacement Aaron Kennedy, departed in 2003. During early 2003, when As I Lay Dying's Pluto Records contract expired, the band pursued deals with other record labels. After extensive touring and an increase in popularity, As I Lay Dying was offered a record deal with Metal Blade Records in March 2003.
In July 2003, the band's second studio album Frail Words Collapse was released. Produced by Lambesis, the album peaked at No. 30 on Billboards Independent Albums chart and No. 41 on the Top Heatseekers chart. William York of Allmusic thought the band "doesn't really add anything new to the mix from a musical standpoint" with the release, while also praising it for being "solid enough and well executed" with "adequate" production. Sherwin Frias of Jesus Freak Hideout had similar sentiments and commented "As I Lay Dying didn't exactly break many boundaries in making this record", but praised that each song is "executed so well (and with such precision) that nary a song misses its target." Touring then occurred to promote the album, with support from bands Himsa, Shadows Fall, The Black Dahlia Murder, Killswitch Engage, In Flames, Sworn Enemy, and Hatebreed. Music videos for the songs "94 Hours" and "Forever" received rotation on networks such as Fuse and MTV2's Headbangers Ball.
Success (2005–2009)
As I Lay Dying entered Big Fish recording studio in Encinitas, California, US in January 2005 to record their third studio album. Shadows Are Security was released in June of the same year and debuted at No. 1 on the Independent Albums chart. It was also the band's first release to enter the Billboard 200—at No. 35—and sold about 275,000 copies. Wade Kergan of AllMusic called it "one of the strongest releases of 2005," and commented that new guitarists Phil Sgrosso and Nick Hipa make the band "stronger." Rod Smith of Decibel Magazine commented: "Tim Lambesis's finely honed roar in bittersweet instrumental matrices augmented by occasional clean vocals by bass guitarist Clint Norris. Guitarists Phil Sgrosso and Nick Hipa whip up a melodic cyclone on 'The Darkest Nights'." By this time, guitarist Evan White had quit the band for personal reasons after his mother died. All the singing was done by Dave Arthur of Kings to You, because it sounded more powerful in the studio in comparison to Clint Norris's singing.
As I Lay Dying began touring to promote the new record by making appearances at Hell on Earth, Winter Headline Tour, and Ozzfest, as well as a tour with Slipknot and Unearth. The band was on the second stage alongside Rob Zombie, Killswitch Engage, Mastodon, The Haunted, and It Dies Today. The band raised its profile in 2006 through its support slot on the Taste of Chaos tour in the US, alongside bands such as Deftones, Thrice, Dredg, Funeral for a Friend, and Story of the Year. In May 2006, Beneath the Encasing of Ashes and the songs from the split album were re-released through Metal Blade Records as A Long March: The First Recordings. The album contained the original and re-recorded versions of the songs from the split album—the band preferred to re-release the material, as they didn't want their fans paying large sums of money to listen to early releases. The re-release peaked at No. 3 on the Independent Albums chart and No. 129 on the Billboard 200 chart. In mid-2006, As I Lay Dying was the headline act at the Sounds of the Underground Festival.
Norris left the band on good terms in November 2006 with a desire to focus on his marriage. The band auditioned ten bass guitarists, but none proved successful. Lambesis received demo tapes from a band called This Endearing, of which bass guitarists Josh Gilbert was a member; however, Lambesis chose to "sit on it" and waited for the band to record more material. This Endearing subsequently disbanded and Gilbert was recruited as As I Lay Dying's new bass guitarist.
In 2007 As I Lay Dying started recording a new album titled An Ocean Between Us, which was released on August 21, 2007. Debuting at No. 8 on the Billboard 200 and No. 1 on the Top Rock chart, with first-week sales of 39,000 units, the album was the highest charting release for the band.
Co-produced by Killswitch Engage guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz and As I Lay Dying, and mixed by Colin Richardson, the album received generally positive reviews. Christa L. Titus of Billboard commented: "Whatever the differences between As I Lay Dying's personal desires and what its fans demand, this album surely acts as a bridge," praising the song "Comfort Betrays" for its guitar solo. Scott Alisoglu of Blabbermouth.net described the album as "a well-rounded and often thrashy metalcore album, as the band has struck an effective balance between aggression and accessible melodies." Thom Jurek of Allmusic praised the band for expanding its musical range by including melodic singing and choruses, as they had previously done on "Confined" from Shadows Are Security. It was the first time that bass guitarist Gilbert recorded a studio album with the band.
To promote the album, As I Lay Dying performed at the Warped Tour 2007 in August, and toured through Europe in September with Darkest Hour, Himsa, and Maroon. The band was awarded the title "Ultimate Metal God" by MTV2's "All That Rocks" special, and was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of "Best Metal Performance" for the song "Nothing Left". The other Grammy Award nominees included winner Slayer, King Diamond, Machine Head, and Shadows Fall. The band played a portion of the 2008 Warped Tour, as well as the Taste of Chaos UK 2008 Tour with headliners Atreyu.
On April 9, 2009, the DVD This Is Who We Are was released in Europe, and was released in the US on April 14, 2009. The DVD was certified Gold in the US almost a month after its release.
The Powerless Rise and Decas (2010–2011)
After recording through 2009, the band's fifth record The Powerless Rise was streamed on the MySpace Music website on May 7, 2010 up until May 10, 2010. The album was officially released on May 11, 2010 and received generally positive critical acclaim, with one critic saying: "Fans of metalcore in general, and As I Lay Dying in particular, will be more than satisfied with The Powerless Rise, as the band's gradual progression and consistency makes this their best album."
In 2010 the band toured in support of The Powerless Rise, headlining the majority of their shows. In the first half of the year, the band embarked on a US tour with Demon Hunter, blessthefall, and War of Ages. This was followed by a mid-2010 headlining tour titled "The Cool Tour" across the US, and a headlining tour across US/Canada that also featured All That Remains, Unearth, and Carnifex. The band's final headline tour of the year was in Europe, with Heaven Shall Burn, Suicide Silence, and Sylosis.
In February 2011, the band headlined a US tour with support from Winds of Plague and After the Burial. The band then toured in late April/early May with Trivium, in support of Disturbed, on the "Music as a Weapon" tour in Australia and New Zealand. Then at the end of May and beginning of June, the band headlined a few performances with Heaven Shall Burn.
On November 8, 2011, As I Lay Dying released a compilation, Decas, in honor of the band's ten-year anniversary. The album featured three new, original songs; four cover versions of songs by bands such as Slayer, Judas Priest and Descendents; a re-recorded medley that uses parts of several songs taken from Beneath the Encasing of Ashes; and four remixes, consisting of one song from each of their albums since Frail Words Collapse. The album's first track "Paralyzed" was released as a lyric video on September 13, 2011, and as a free download on iTunes on November 7, the day before the album's release. The band embarked on the "A Decade of Destruction" tour, coinciding with the release of the album, from November to December 2011.
Awakened, Tim Lambesis' trial and hiatus (2012–2016)
On January 25, 2012, an announcement revealed that the band would be playing the Mayhem Festival of 2012 with Slipknot, Slayer, Motörhead, Anthrax, The Devil Wears Prada, Asking Alexandria, Whitechapel, Upon A Burning Body, I, the Breather, Betraying the Martyrs, and Dirtfedd. The band announced in April 2012 that Bill Stevenson, who had previously worked with NOFX and Rise Against, would be the producer for their sixth album.
On June 22, 2012, the band announced that their sixth album would be titled Awakened and the first single "Cauterize" was released on June 25, 2012. On September 12, 2012, As I Lay Dying released their second single "A Greater Foundation" with a corresponding music video. The album was released on September 25, 2012 and "Cauterize" was available on the band's website as a free download for a 24-hour period. As I Lay Dying won the "Metal Band of the Year" award from Loudwire in 2012, beating other well-known bands, including Anthrax and Lamb of God. Subsequently, prior to his criminal charges, Lambesis started a new band entitled Pyrithion with guitarist Ryan Glisan, formerly of Allegaeon. They released one EP as a band.
On May 7, 2013, Lambesis was arrested in Oceanside, California, US after hiring an undercover detective to kill his estranged wife. The report was made by the San Diego County Sheriff's Department, leaving the future of the band uncertain. On the following day, the band released a statement in which they said: "The legal process is taking its course and we have no more information than you do. There are many unanswered questions, and the situation will become clearer in the coming days and weeks. We'll keep you informed as best we can." They also stated that their thoughts were "with Tim, his family, and with everyone else affected by this terrible situation." Eight days later, the band cancelled their mid-2013 tour with Killswitch Engage, stating that "we feel that it is best for the band to be off the road while the current situation gets sorted". During the month of his initial arrest, Lambesis pleaded "not guilty" and his lawyer stated: "His thought processes were devastatingly affected by his steroid use." On February 25, 2014 Lambesis changed his plea from "not guilty" to "guilty" and consequently faced a potential sentence of nine years in prison.
Rather than continue on without Lambesis, Mancino, along with former members Phil Sgrosso, Nick Hipa, and Josh Gilbert, decided to focus on a different style of music under a different band name, Wovenwar, with Shane Blay as the vocalist, This project took shape long before Lambesis' plea. although Mancino still remained a member of As I Lay Dying. During this period of time, Lambesis was also working on music and found time to release the third Austrian Death Machine album, titled Triple Brutal.
On May 16, 2014, Lambesis was sentenced to six years in prison, with 48 days credit for time served.
Lambesis' release, reunion and new music (2016–2018)
Lambesis was released from prison on probation in December 2016. After his release he began reaching out to the other members of the band looking to apologize in person starting with Mancino and Gilbert. After months of silence Gilbert and Mancino eventually met with Lambesis and began speaking with him regularly after noting positive changes in his character. Lambesis attempted to reconnect with Sgrosso and Hipa following his meetings with Gilbert and Mancino—who as a result of Lambesis' actions and the strain it put on their relationships—had stopped speaking to each other following the recording of the second Wovenwar album. Sgrosso explained in a reunion-related discussion video posted by the band on June 16, 2018 that he initially replied to all of Lambesis' emails with explicit expressions of having no desire to speak with him. Sgrosso explained that his disdain with Lambesis started well before his arrest and took relief in not having to be in a band with him anymore upon Lambesis' arrest. His relationship with Hipa deteriorated due to what both described as not being able to deal with the weight of the aftermath properly. Hipa explained that while he initially felt empathy towards Lambesis after his tearful courtroom apology—it was short lived following Lambesis' interview with Alternative Press which Hipa claimed read like "one long excuse". After Lambesis made his public apology, Sgrosso finally agreed to meet with Lambesis and claimed Lambesis evolved into a different person than he was for the years leading up to his arrest which inspired him to reach out to Hipa to rekindle their friendship. Hipa was the last to speak with Lambesis due to what Hipa described as not being able to escape the shadow of Lambesis' arrest and the mental and physical effects it took on him. After reconnecting with Sgrosso and reading Lambesis' apology—he agreed to meet with Lambesis as a means to "let go of his hatred" and claimed that Lambesis owned up and took responsibility for every one of his actions he was called on.
Over the course of the tail end of Lambesis' incarceration and release, the band's public opinion towards Lambesis softened. Mancino did an interview primarily discussing Wovenwar, but also spoke about As I Lay Dying on MetalSucks' podcast. He stated that, contrary to popular beliefs, that Hipa, Sgrosso and Gilbert are still technically a part of As I Lay Dying due to their record contract and in another interview stated that he has "no ill will" towards Lambesis and wished him well. Hipa, when on an episode of Jamey Jasta's podcast when asked about a reunion commented "what it comes down to is what makes sense with what we have going on in our lives. And we've got a lot of important things going on that don't relate to that and we've made commitments to, and that's what we are honoring at this moment. Honestly it's just not something we try and consume our thoughts with. Because it's like we have families, businesses, professions, and a band—and all these things we're super invested into. It's like all of our attention is there with that at the moment."
On September 2, 2017, Metal Injection reported that Lambesis was working on new music and planned to release it under the As I Lay Dying name and that none of the pre-hiatus lineup aside from Lambesis would be returning. This would later be proven false, as on June 8, 2018, the band released the music video for "My Own Grave", confirming through the video that the lineup of Lambesis, Hipa, Sgrosso, Gilbert and Mancino had reunited. They performed their first show—which sold out in four minutes—in five years at the SOMA Sidestage in their hometown of San Diego. The band has stated the single was their first and only song written since their formal reunion in February 2018 and had no concrete plans past releasing the single and playing the SOMA show.
The news of their reunion drew particularly divisive reactions from fans and media outlets. While fan and critical reception of the band's reunion and comeback single were met largely with praise, others were openly skeptical on supporting Tim Lambesis following his prison sentence. Most notably was MetalSucks, who published an editorial that they will no longer be writing about the band with multiple outlets voicing their support for MetalSucks' decision. On June 16, 2018—the date of their comeback show at the SOMA—the band published a video on their official YouTube account addressing the questions and criticisms fans and critics of the band had and explaining the terms in detail of the reunion.
In July 2018, the band announced their first European headlining tour for December 2018. A day later, they announced their North American tour for November 2018. A vast majority of the shows sold out immediately. While tickets sold out quickly, some venues and festivals received a public backlash for booking the band because of Lambesis' crimes and decided to cancel the band's performances. Spain's Resurrection Fest announced it would be dropping As I Lay Dying from its bill in October 2018, and months later in January 2019, the Memphis, Tennessee venue Growlers cancelled their previously scheduled show in April 2019. Growlers released a statement that acknowledged Lambesis' public message from 2018, but stated: "After hearing the combined voice of disheartened friends, local bands, and patrons, locally owned concert venue and bar, Growlers, has cancelled their scheduled show with As I Lay Dying, previously set for April 5th, and will replace it with a local show to benefit victims of domestic violence [...] Not everyone was ready to give Lambesis a second chance, and Growlers has created controversy in Memphis for booking his band."
Touring, Shaped by Fire, and Nick Hipa's departure (2019–present)
They embarked on a tour in March 2019 with Phinehas, Currents and Frost Koffin as support. On April 12, 2019, the band released a music video for "Redefined", including a guest appearance by August Burns Red frontman Jake Luhrs. On April 14, the band announced the "Shaped by Fire" tour of Europe with support from Chelsea Grin, Unearth and Fit for a King running from September 2019 and concluding in October. On July 15, the band announced the North American dates of the "Shaped by Fire" Tour with direct support from After the Burial and Emmure to begin on November 15 at the House of Blues in Las Vegas and conclude on December 14 with a hometown show at the Soma San Diego. Details of their forthcoming album, Shaped by Fire, were leaked through Nuclear Blast's European website with a projected release date of September 20, 2019. On August 9, the band officially announced their first album in seven years, Shaped by Fire, would be released through Nuclear Blast Records, along with releasing the album's title track. On September 13, the band released "Blinded" as the album's fourth single along with an accompanying music video.
In March 2020, as a way of supporting their crew during the COVID-19 pandemic, they released an additional song, "Destruction or Strength", a B-side from Shaped by Fire album sessions. In May 2020, another music video for the song "Torn Between" was released.
On August 15, it was reported that Nick Hipa might have left the band, as he no longer performed with them and disassociated his personal social media accounts with the band. Hipa officially confirmed his departure one year later on August 31, 2021, noting that behaviors resulting from being in the band led to his decision to leave it: "There is tremendous good that can be accomplished through singular focus on the power of music. However to my memory and recent experience, it comes at the cost of tolerating behavior which at times mistreats, disrespects, and hurts other people." He further elaborated that the power and reasoning behind As I Lay Dying's reunion had faded in favor of superficial pursuits, which he did not wish to be a part of.
On September 24, 2021, the band unveiled a new single, "Roots Below".
Musical style and influences
As I Lay Dying is considered a prominent metalcore band. The band also has been referred to as Christian metal, death metal, and thrash metal. As I Lay Dying's music uses lots of elements of melodic death metal. In a review of Beneath the Encasing of Ashes, Bradley Torreano of AllMusic described the band's sound as a blend of heavy metal, hardcore, and grindcore. Heavy metal writer Garry Sharpe-Young described the band as a "Christian Hardcore act employing the Grind edged vocals of singer Tim Lambesis and a distinct hint of Scandinavian guitar chug." As I Lay Dying's influences include In Flames, Living Sacrifice, Iron Maiden, Slayer, At the Gates, Pantera, Megadeth, Fear Factory, Cannibal Corpse, Thin Lizzy, Shai Hulud, Dark Tranquillity, Metallica, Judas Priest, and Earth Crisis.
Christianity
Although As I Lay Dying has stated on numerous occasions that all of the members of the group are practicing Christians, the band is usually described by media as being in the metalcore genre, not Christian metal. The band's lyrics do not focus on Christian themes the way many praise music bands do, nor do they treat their music as a direct extension of their private Christian worship or proselytizing efforts. For example, not once do the names God or Jesus appear in any As I Lay Dying song, nor do any of their songs explicitly invoke Christian doctrine or quote the Bible. Most songs tend to address broader spiritual concepts like existential angst or the struggle between reason and spirituality.
Lyricist and lead singer Tim Lambesis has given mixed commentary on the subject: asked in 2008 if the members were "a Christian band" or "Christians in a band", Lambesis stated on the band's FAQ, "I'm not sure what the difference is between five Christians playing in a band and a Christian band, if you truly believe something, then it should affect every area of your life. All five of us are Christians. I believe that change should start with me first, and as a result, our lyrics do not come across very 'preachy.' Many of our songs are about life, struggles, mistakes, relationships and other issues that don't fit entirely in the spiritual category. However, all of these topics are written about through my perspective as a Christian." Furthermore, during an August 2010 radio interview on the Christian metal radio show The Full Armor of God Broadcast, Lambesis stated "I can only really write about what I'm passionate about in life, so naturally my faith, my belief in the teachings of Jesus and His resurrection come across in our lyrics."
However, in later years, Lambesis showed an increasing philosophical skepticism towards Christianity and religion in general. Court documents stated Lambesis emailed his wife Meggan in August 2012, while on tour with As I Lay Dying, asking for a divorce and stating he "no longer believed in God". In explaining some of the lyrics from Awakened, Lambesis stated on his personal Tumblr account that his studies of theology had led him to the conclusion that "tradition and truth are often at odds with each other", and while he "didn't hate all religious belief", he was finding it "very difficult for [him] to outline exactly who it is that's worth siding with." He also quoted the book Pagan Christianity by George Barna and Frank Viola, claiming that both "Protestant and Catholic denominations have poisonous roots". While on house arrest in July 2013, after being charged with soliciting his wife's murder, Lambesis published a blog post in which he obliquely confirmed his previous loss of faith in Christianity. In 2014, Lambesis said that although they were marketed as a Christian band, the members privately considered themselves atheists. Following this statement, guitarist Nick Hipa responded by calling these claims slanderous and defamatory. However, since his arrest it has been reported that Lambesis, in an April 2014 statement by the band, "[...] has spent much of the last year reevaluating what originally convinced him to abandon belief in God. After much brokenness and repentance he sees things differently, considers himself a follower of Jesus, someone submitted to the will of God, or whatever you want to call it. That's for him to talk about when he's comfortable and only time will tell if he is sincere."
Members
Current
Tim Lambesis – unclean vocals, occasional clean vocals (2000–2014, 2017–present)
Jordan Mancino – drums (2000–2014, 2018–present)
Phil Sgrosso – guitars, backing vocals (2003–2014, 2018–present)
Josh Gilbert – bass, clean vocals (2006–2014, 2018–present)
Former
Nick Hipa – guitars, backing vocals (2003–2014, 2018–2020)
Clint Norris – bass, clean vocals (2003–2006)
Evan White – guitars (2001–2003), bass (2002–2003)
Jeremy Rojas – guitars (2001)
Jon Jameson – bass (2001)
Noah Chase – bass (2001, 2002, 2003)
Tommy Garcia – guitars, bass, backing vocals (2002–2003; session member 2003–2010)
Jason Krebs – guitars (2002–2003)
Brandon Hays – bass, guitars (2002–2003)
Aaron Kennedy – bass (2003)
Touring musicians
Chad Ackerman – guitars (2001–2002), backing vocals (session, 2007)
Caylen Denuccio – bass (2002–2003)
Chris Lindstrom – guitars (2001, 2003)
Mark Macdonald – guitars (2003–2004)
Ruben Gutierrez – guitars (2001)
David Arthur – clean vocals (2005)
Justin Foley – drums (2009)
Joey Bradford – backing vocals (2012)
Duane Reed – backing vocals (2007)
Timeline
Discography
Beneath the Encasing of Ashes (2001)
Frail Words Collapse (2003)
Shadows Are Security (2005)
An Ocean Between Us (2007)
The Powerless Rise (2010)
Awakened (2012)
Shaped by Fire (2019)
Awards and nominations
San Diego Music Awards
Artist of the Year (2005)
Artist of the Year (2007)
Artist of the Year (2008)
Best Hard Rock (2011)
Grammy Awards
Nominated for 2008 Best Metal Performance for the song "Nothing Left"
MTV2 Music Awards
Ultimate Metal God (2007)
Hollywood Film Fest awards
Best Music Video for "The Sound of Truth" music video
Loudwire Music Awards
Metal Band of the Year (2012)
References
External links
American metalcore musical groups
Heavy metal musical groups from California
Musical groups from San Diego
Musical quintets
2000 establishments in California
Musical groups established in 2000
Musical groups disestablished in 2014
Musical groups reestablished in 2017
Metal Blade Records artists
Articles which contain graphical timelines | true | [
"Demoniciduth is a Swiss extreme metal band formed in 1998.\n\nBackground\n\nDemoniciduth formed in October 1998 in Switzerland. The band has had several member changes, minus bassist and vocalist Taanak. The band formed with Taanak and his brother Annihilith. Annihilith departed from the band and hired on several members, Ashtaroth-Karnaïm (vocals), Nahalal (guitars) and Kisloth (drums). The band was originally named Satanicide, but changed names due to an already existing band named Satanicide from the United States. The band then renamed themselves, Demonicide. And for third and final time, the band switched to their current name, Demoniciduth. The band is bold in their faith with Christian lyrics. The band even included an advisory sticker, stating:\n\nThere were several lineup changes during this time, which subsequently forced the band to go on hiatus in March 2002. The band played at Elements of Rock in 2004. The band reunited around 2010, and released an EP in 2011 with the style similar to bands such as Mortification. In 2016, the band announced they had signed to Vision of God Records and will be releasing their second full-length, entitled, Enemy of Satan.\n\nName\nThe band addressed the popular question of what the name means. Here is what was said:\n\nMembers\nCurrent\n Taanak - bass, vocals (1998–present)\n Lord Ekkletus - guitars, backing vocals\n Sir Krino - drums\n\nFormer\n Karkor - drums\n Tseror - guitars, vocals\n Ashtaroth-Karnaďm - vocals (1999-2002)\n Annihilith - drums (1998)\n Nahalal - guitars (1998-2001)\n Kisloth - guitars, drums (1998-1999)\n Genezareth - drums (1999-2000)\n Nahum - drums (2000-2001)\n Haroscheth - guitars (2000-2002)\n Hazaël - drums, vocals (2001-2004)\n Lemekh - guitars (2002-2004)\n Jéhu - drums (2001)\n\nDiscography\nStudio albums\n Post Tenebras Lux (2002)\n Enemy of Satan (2017)\n\nEPs\n Post Tenebras Lux (2001)\n The Valley of the Shadow/Dogs of AntiChrist (2005; Split w/ Sabbatariam)\n The Valley of Decision (2012)\n\nDemos\n Pre-Release (1999)\n\nReferences\n\nBibliography\n\nMusical groups established in 1998\nChristian metal musical groups\nSwiss Christian metal musical groups",
"Ford Theatre was an American psychedelic rock band from Boston, Massachusetts, that were active between 1966 and 1971. Their sound was similar to other Boston-based psychedelic rock bands of the era, but more genuine.\n\nHistory\n\nThe band formed from the members of The Continentals (Jimmy Altieri, John Mazzarelli, Robert Tamagni, and Butch Webster), who then recruited Harry Palmer and Joe Scott. Although they existed during the period, the group disassociates itself with the Bosstown Sound.\n\nFord Theatre was one of the most promising bands of the 1960s that were influenced by the bands such as the Kingsmen, the Beatles and the Byrds, although they recorded only two albums, both under the ABC Records label. The band's first album Trilogy for the Masses was produced by Bob Thiele in 1968. The album's band tracks were done at Fleetwood Studios in Revere, Massachusetts, and the vocals were at Capitol Studios in New York City. And a year later their second album Time Changes was produced by Bill Szymczyk who later went on to produce the Eagles. The second album was done at the Hit Factory in New York City.\n\nAfter 1969, the band disappeared from records and their memory was overshadowed by the more successful bands of the 1970s. In a recent interview Jimmy Altieri stated that after the release of Time Changes, the band didn't manage to get a new deal for a third album that was already partially recorded and the members decided to disband Ford Theatre in 1971.\n\nBand members\n Harry Palmer - guitar\n John Mazzarelli - keyboards, vocals\n Butch Webster - lead guitar\n Joey Scott - lead vocals\n Jimmy Altieri - bass, vocals\n Robert Tamagni drums, vocals\n Wally Magee\n\nDiscography\n\nSingles \n \"From a Back Door Window\" b/w \"Theme for the Masses\" (ABC 11118) 1968\n \"I've Got the Fever\" b/w \"Jefferson Airplane\" (ABC 11227) 1969\n \"Time Changes\" b/w \"Wake Up in the Morning\" (Columbia(EMI) 1C006-90288) 1969\n \"At the Station\" b/w \"Wake Up in the Morning\" (Stateside 5C 006-90 589) 1969\n\nAlbums \n Trilogy for the Masses (ABC ABCS-658) 1968\n Time Changes (ABC ABCS 681) 1969\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \"Exciting sound of Ford Theater\". Beaver County Times. August 27, 1968.\n Ford Theatre in R. Stevie Moore HomePage\n\nMusical groups established in 1966\nMusical groups disestablished in 1971\nAmerican progressive rock groups\nPsychedelic rock music groups from Massachusetts"
] | [
"As I Lay Dying is an American metalcore band from San Diego, California. Founded in 2000 by vocalist Tim Lambesis, the band's first full lineup (including Lambesis' Point of Recognition bandmate Jordan Mancino) was completed in 2001. The band has released seven albums, one split album, and two compilation albums. As I Lay Dying's fourth studio album An Ocean Between Us peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard 200, and No. 1 on the Top Rock chart.",
"1 on the Top Rock chart. 1 on the Top Rock chart. The band has performed at events such as Wacken Open Air, With Full Force, Soundwave Festival, Warped Tour, Bloodstock Open Air and Taste of Chaos.",
"The band has performed at events such as Wacken Open Air, With Full Force, Soundwave Festival, Warped Tour, Bloodstock Open Air and Taste of Chaos. In 2007, As I Lay Dying won the \"Ultimate Metal God\" award from MTV2 at the first annual \"All That Rocks\" special; was named \"Artist of the Year\" at the San Diego Music Awards in 2005, 2007 and 2008; and was nominated for a 2008 Grammy Award for the song \"Nothing Left.\"",
"In 2007, As I Lay Dying won the \"Ultimate Metal God\" award from MTV2 at the first annual \"All That Rocks\" special; was named \"Artist of the Year\" at the San Diego Music Awards in 2005, 2007 and 2008; and was nominated for a 2008 Grammy Award for the song \"Nothing Left.\" Their fifth studio album The Powerless Rise was written over a three-year period, and was released in May 2010 to widespread critical acclaim.",
"Their fifth studio album The Powerless Rise was written over a three-year period, and was released in May 2010 to widespread critical acclaim. Their last studio album before their hiatus, Awakened, was released on September 25, 2012. The band went on an indefinite hiatus in 2014 when Lambesis was convicted and sentenced to six years in prison for soliciting the murder of his estranged wife. The remaining members formed Wovenwar with vocalist Shane Blay. In 2018, Lambesis reunited with Hipa, Sgrosso, Mancino and Gilbert.",
"In 2018, Lambesis reunited with Hipa, Sgrosso, Mancino and Gilbert. On June 8, 2018, the band released the song \"My Own Grave\", their first recording in six years. They released their seventh studio album, Shaped by Fire, on September 20, 2019. History Formation and first releases (2000–2004) After leaving the band Society's Finest, in which he played guitar, vocalist Tim Lambesis formed As I Lay Dying in 2000.",
"History Formation and first releases (2000–2004) After leaving the band Society's Finest, in which he played guitar, vocalist Tim Lambesis formed As I Lay Dying in 2000. Starting out as a duet with drummer Jordan Mancino, they first met as a band in February 2001. They both were in the hardcore punk band Point of Recognition.",
"They both were in the hardcore punk band Point of Recognition. The band's name came from the novel of the same name by William Faulkner that was published in 1930; although the band's lyrics and music are not directly inspired by the novel. Shortly after the band's formation, Pluto Records offered As I Lay Dying a recording contract and, after accepting the offer, the band entered the studio one month later to record their first album Beneath the Encasing of Ashes, released in June 2001.",
"Shortly after the band's formation, Pluto Records offered As I Lay Dying a recording contract and, after accepting the offer, the band entered the studio one month later to record their first album Beneath the Encasing of Ashes, released in June 2001. The band then recorded five songs for a split album, again through Pluto Records, with San Diego post-hardcore band American Tragedy. As I Lay Dying realized it needed to expand to a five-piece band to include another guitarist and a bass guitarist.",
"As I Lay Dying realized it needed to expand to a five-piece band to include another guitarist and a bass guitarist. Mancino commented \"we started going on tour and we needed obviously more people than that.\" As Lambesis and Mancino were the only permanent members, the band recruited friends to perform with them and subsequently underwent several lineup changes: bass guitarist Noah Chase departed in 2001, while Brandon Hays, and his subsequent replacement Aaron Kennedy, departed in 2003.",
"As Lambesis and Mancino were the only permanent members, the band recruited friends to perform with them and subsequently underwent several lineup changes: bass guitarist Noah Chase departed in 2001, while Brandon Hays, and his subsequent replacement Aaron Kennedy, departed in 2003. During early 2003, when As I Lay Dying's Pluto Records contract expired, the band pursued deals with other record labels. After extensive touring and an increase in popularity, As I Lay Dying was offered a record deal with Metal Blade Records in March 2003.",
"After extensive touring and an increase in popularity, As I Lay Dying was offered a record deal with Metal Blade Records in March 2003. In July 2003, the band's second studio album Frail Words Collapse was released. Produced by Lambesis, the album peaked at No. 30 on Billboards Independent Albums chart and No. 41 on the Top Heatseekers chart.",
"41 on the Top Heatseekers chart. 41 on the Top Heatseekers chart. William York of Allmusic thought the band \"doesn't really add anything new to the mix from a musical standpoint\" with the release, while also praising it for being \"solid enough and well executed\" with \"adequate\" production.",
"William York of Allmusic thought the band \"doesn't really add anything new to the mix from a musical standpoint\" with the release, while also praising it for being \"solid enough and well executed\" with \"adequate\" production. Sherwin Frias of Jesus Freak Hideout had similar sentiments and commented \"As I Lay Dying didn't exactly break many boundaries in making this record\", but praised that each song is \"executed so well (and with such precision) that nary a song misses its target.\"",
"Sherwin Frias of Jesus Freak Hideout had similar sentiments and commented \"As I Lay Dying didn't exactly break many boundaries in making this record\", but praised that each song is \"executed so well (and with such precision) that nary a song misses its target.\" Touring then occurred to promote the album, with support from bands Himsa, Shadows Fall, The Black Dahlia Murder, Killswitch Engage, In Flames, Sworn Enemy, and Hatebreed.",
"Touring then occurred to promote the album, with support from bands Himsa, Shadows Fall, The Black Dahlia Murder, Killswitch Engage, In Flames, Sworn Enemy, and Hatebreed. Music videos for the songs \"94 Hours\" and \"Forever\" received rotation on networks such as Fuse and MTV2's Headbangers Ball. Success (2005–2009) As I Lay Dying entered Big Fish recording studio in Encinitas, California, US in January 2005 to record their third studio album.",
"Success (2005–2009) As I Lay Dying entered Big Fish recording studio in Encinitas, California, US in January 2005 to record their third studio album. Shadows Are Security was released in June of the same year and debuted at No. 1 on the Independent Albums chart. It was also the band's first release to enter the Billboard 200—at No. 35—and sold about 275,000 copies.",
"35—and sold about 275,000 copies. 35—and sold about 275,000 copies. Wade Kergan of AllMusic called it \"one of the strongest releases of 2005,\" and commented that new guitarists Phil Sgrosso and Nick Hipa make the band \"stronger.\" Rod Smith of Decibel Magazine commented: \"Tim Lambesis's finely honed roar in bittersweet instrumental matrices augmented by occasional clean vocals by bass guitarist Clint Norris. Guitarists Phil Sgrosso and Nick Hipa whip up a melodic cyclone on 'The Darkest Nights'.\"",
"Guitarists Phil Sgrosso and Nick Hipa whip up a melodic cyclone on 'The Darkest Nights'.\" By this time, guitarist Evan White had quit the band for personal reasons after his mother died. All the singing was done by Dave Arthur of Kings to You, because it sounded more powerful in the studio in comparison to Clint Norris's singing.",
"All the singing was done by Dave Arthur of Kings to You, because it sounded more powerful in the studio in comparison to Clint Norris's singing. As I Lay Dying began touring to promote the new record by making appearances at Hell on Earth, Winter Headline Tour, and Ozzfest, as well as a tour with Slipknot and Unearth. The band was on the second stage alongside Rob Zombie, Killswitch Engage, Mastodon, The Haunted, and It Dies Today.",
"The band was on the second stage alongside Rob Zombie, Killswitch Engage, Mastodon, The Haunted, and It Dies Today. The band raised its profile in 2006 through its support slot on the Taste of Chaos tour in the US, alongside bands such as Deftones, Thrice, Dredg, Funeral for a Friend, and Story of the Year. In May 2006, Beneath the Encasing of Ashes and the songs from the split album were re-released through Metal Blade Records as A Long March: The First Recordings.",
"In May 2006, Beneath the Encasing of Ashes and the songs from the split album were re-released through Metal Blade Records as A Long March: The First Recordings. The album contained the original and re-recorded versions of the songs from the split album—the band preferred to re-release the material, as they didn't want their fans paying large sums of money to listen to early releases. The re-release peaked at No. 3 on the Independent Albums chart and No. 129 on the Billboard 200 chart.",
"129 on the Billboard 200 chart. 129 on the Billboard 200 chart. In mid-2006, As I Lay Dying was the headline act at the Sounds of the Underground Festival. Norris left the band on good terms in November 2006 with a desire to focus on his marriage. The band auditioned ten bass guitarists, but none proved successful.",
"The band auditioned ten bass guitarists, but none proved successful. Lambesis received demo tapes from a band called This Endearing, of which bass guitarists Josh Gilbert was a member; however, Lambesis chose to \"sit on it\" and waited for the band to record more material. This Endearing subsequently disbanded and Gilbert was recruited as As I Lay Dying's new bass guitarist. In 2007 As I Lay Dying started recording a new album titled An Ocean Between Us, which was released on August 21, 2007.",
"In 2007 As I Lay Dying started recording a new album titled An Ocean Between Us, which was released on August 21, 2007. Debuting at No. 8 on the Billboard 200 and No. 1 on the Top Rock chart, with first-week sales of 39,000 units, the album was the highest charting release for the band. Co-produced by Killswitch Engage guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz and As I Lay Dying, and mixed by Colin Richardson, the album received generally positive reviews.",
"Co-produced by Killswitch Engage guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz and As I Lay Dying, and mixed by Colin Richardson, the album received generally positive reviews. Christa L. Titus of Billboard commented: \"Whatever the differences between As I Lay Dying's personal desires and what its fans demand, this album surely acts as a bridge,\" praising the song \"Comfort Betrays\" for its guitar solo.",
"Christa L. Titus of Billboard commented: \"Whatever the differences between As I Lay Dying's personal desires and what its fans demand, this album surely acts as a bridge,\" praising the song \"Comfort Betrays\" for its guitar solo. Scott Alisoglu of Blabbermouth.net described the album as \"a well-rounded and often thrashy metalcore album, as the band has struck an effective balance between aggression and accessible melodies.\"",
"Scott Alisoglu of Blabbermouth.net described the album as \"a well-rounded and often thrashy metalcore album, as the band has struck an effective balance between aggression and accessible melodies.\" Thom Jurek of Allmusic praised the band for expanding its musical range by including melodic singing and choruses, as they had previously done on \"Confined\" from Shadows Are Security. It was the first time that bass guitarist Gilbert recorded a studio album with the band.",
"It was the first time that bass guitarist Gilbert recorded a studio album with the band. To promote the album, As I Lay Dying performed at the Warped Tour 2007 in August, and toured through Europe in September with Darkest Hour, Himsa, and Maroon. The band was awarded the title \"Ultimate Metal God\" by MTV2's \"All That Rocks\" special, and was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of \"Best Metal Performance\" for the song \"Nothing Left\".",
"The band was awarded the title \"Ultimate Metal God\" by MTV2's \"All That Rocks\" special, and was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of \"Best Metal Performance\" for the song \"Nothing Left\". The other Grammy Award nominees included winner Slayer, King Diamond, Machine Head, and Shadows Fall. The band played a portion of the 2008 Warped Tour, as well as the Taste of Chaos UK 2008 Tour with headliners Atreyu.",
"The band played a portion of the 2008 Warped Tour, as well as the Taste of Chaos UK 2008 Tour with headliners Atreyu. On April 9, 2009, the DVD This Is Who We Are was released in Europe, and was released in the US on April 14, 2009. The DVD was certified Gold in the US almost a month after its release.",
"The DVD was certified Gold in the US almost a month after its release. The Powerless Rise and Decas (2010–2011) After recording through 2009, the band's fifth record The Powerless Rise was streamed on the MySpace Music website on May 7, 2010 up until May 10, 2010.",
"The Powerless Rise and Decas (2010–2011) After recording through 2009, the band's fifth record The Powerless Rise was streamed on the MySpace Music website on May 7, 2010 up until May 10, 2010. The album was officially released on May 11, 2010 and received generally positive critical acclaim, with one critic saying: \"Fans of metalcore in general, and As I Lay Dying in particular, will be more than satisfied with The Powerless Rise, as the band's gradual progression and consistency makes this their best album.\"",
"The album was officially released on May 11, 2010 and received generally positive critical acclaim, with one critic saying: \"Fans of metalcore in general, and As I Lay Dying in particular, will be more than satisfied with The Powerless Rise, as the band's gradual progression and consistency makes this their best album.\" In 2010 the band toured in support of The Powerless Rise, headlining the majority of their shows.",
"In 2010 the band toured in support of The Powerless Rise, headlining the majority of their shows. In the first half of the year, the band embarked on a US tour with Demon Hunter, blessthefall, and War of Ages. This was followed by a mid-2010 headlining tour titled \"The Cool Tour\" across the US, and a headlining tour across US/Canada that also featured All That Remains, Unearth, and Carnifex.",
"This was followed by a mid-2010 headlining tour titled \"The Cool Tour\" across the US, and a headlining tour across US/Canada that also featured All That Remains, Unearth, and Carnifex. The band's final headline tour of the year was in Europe, with Heaven Shall Burn, Suicide Silence, and Sylosis. In February 2011, the band headlined a US tour with support from Winds of Plague and After the Burial.",
"In February 2011, the band headlined a US tour with support from Winds of Plague and After the Burial. The band then toured in late April/early May with Trivium, in support of Disturbed, on the \"Music as a Weapon\" tour in Australia and New Zealand. Then at the end of May and beginning of June, the band headlined a few performances with Heaven Shall Burn. On November 8, 2011, As I Lay Dying released a compilation, Decas, in honor of the band's ten-year anniversary.",
"On November 8, 2011, As I Lay Dying released a compilation, Decas, in honor of the band's ten-year anniversary. The album featured three new, original songs; four cover versions of songs by bands such as Slayer, Judas Priest and Descendents; a re-recorded medley that uses parts of several songs taken from Beneath the Encasing of Ashes; and four remixes, consisting of one song from each of their albums since Frail Words Collapse.",
"The album featured three new, original songs; four cover versions of songs by bands such as Slayer, Judas Priest and Descendents; a re-recorded medley that uses parts of several songs taken from Beneath the Encasing of Ashes; and four remixes, consisting of one song from each of their albums since Frail Words Collapse. The album's first track \"Paralyzed\" was released as a lyric video on September 13, 2011, and as a free download on iTunes on November 7, the day before the album's release.",
"The album's first track \"Paralyzed\" was released as a lyric video on September 13, 2011, and as a free download on iTunes on November 7, the day before the album's release. The band embarked on the \"A Decade of Destruction\" tour, coinciding with the release of the album, from November to December 2011.",
"The band embarked on the \"A Decade of Destruction\" tour, coinciding with the release of the album, from November to December 2011. Awakened, Tim Lambesis' trial and hiatus (2012–2016) On January 25, 2012, an announcement revealed that the band would be playing the Mayhem Festival of 2012 with Slipknot, Slayer, Motörhead, Anthrax, The Devil Wears Prada, Asking Alexandria, Whitechapel, Upon A Burning Body, I, the Breather, Betraying the Martyrs, and Dirtfedd.",
"Awakened, Tim Lambesis' trial and hiatus (2012–2016) On January 25, 2012, an announcement revealed that the band would be playing the Mayhem Festival of 2012 with Slipknot, Slayer, Motörhead, Anthrax, The Devil Wears Prada, Asking Alexandria, Whitechapel, Upon A Burning Body, I, the Breather, Betraying the Martyrs, and Dirtfedd. The band announced in April 2012 that Bill Stevenson, who had previously worked with NOFX and Rise Against, would be the producer for their sixth album.",
"The band announced in April 2012 that Bill Stevenson, who had previously worked with NOFX and Rise Against, would be the producer for their sixth album. On June 22, 2012, the band announced that their sixth album would be titled Awakened and the first single \"Cauterize\" was released on June 25, 2012. On September 12, 2012, As I Lay Dying released their second single \"A Greater Foundation\" with a corresponding music video.",
"On September 12, 2012, As I Lay Dying released their second single \"A Greater Foundation\" with a corresponding music video. The album was released on September 25, 2012 and \"Cauterize\" was available on the band's website as a free download for a 24-hour period. As I Lay Dying won the \"Metal Band of the Year\" award from Loudwire in 2012, beating other well-known bands, including Anthrax and Lamb of God.",
"As I Lay Dying won the \"Metal Band of the Year\" award from Loudwire in 2012, beating other well-known bands, including Anthrax and Lamb of God. Subsequently, prior to his criminal charges, Lambesis started a new band entitled Pyrithion with guitarist Ryan Glisan, formerly of Allegaeon. They released one EP as a band. On May 7, 2013, Lambesis was arrested in Oceanside, California, US after hiring an undercover detective to kill his estranged wife.",
"On May 7, 2013, Lambesis was arrested in Oceanside, California, US after hiring an undercover detective to kill his estranged wife. The report was made by the San Diego County Sheriff's Department, leaving the future of the band uncertain. On the following day, the band released a statement in which they said: \"The legal process is taking its course and we have no more information than you do. There are many unanswered questions, and the situation will become clearer in the coming days and weeks.",
"There are many unanswered questions, and the situation will become clearer in the coming days and weeks. We'll keep you informed as best we can.\" They also stated that their thoughts were \"with Tim, his family, and with everyone else affected by this terrible situation.\" Eight days later, the band cancelled their mid-2013 tour with Killswitch Engage, stating that \"we feel that it is best for the band to be off the road while the current situation gets sorted\".",
"Eight days later, the band cancelled their mid-2013 tour with Killswitch Engage, stating that \"we feel that it is best for the band to be off the road while the current situation gets sorted\". During the month of his initial arrest, Lambesis pleaded \"not guilty\" and his lawyer stated: \"His thought processes were devastatingly affected by his steroid use.\"",
"During the month of his initial arrest, Lambesis pleaded \"not guilty\" and his lawyer stated: \"His thought processes were devastatingly affected by his steroid use.\" On February 25, 2014 Lambesis changed his plea from \"not guilty\" to \"guilty\" and consequently faced a potential sentence of nine years in prison.",
"On February 25, 2014 Lambesis changed his plea from \"not guilty\" to \"guilty\" and consequently faced a potential sentence of nine years in prison. Rather than continue on without Lambesis, Mancino, along with former members Phil Sgrosso, Nick Hipa, and Josh Gilbert, decided to focus on a different style of music under a different band name, Wovenwar, with Shane Blay as the vocalist, This project took shape long before Lambesis' plea. although Mancino still remained a member of As I Lay Dying.",
"although Mancino still remained a member of As I Lay Dying. During this period of time, Lambesis was also working on music and found time to release the third Austrian Death Machine album, titled Triple Brutal. On May 16, 2014, Lambesis was sentenced to six years in prison, with 48 days credit for time served. Lambesis' release, reunion and new music (2016–2018) Lambesis was released from prison on probation in December 2016.",
"Lambesis' release, reunion and new music (2016–2018) Lambesis was released from prison on probation in December 2016. After his release he began reaching out to the other members of the band looking to apologize in person starting with Mancino and Gilbert. After months of silence Gilbert and Mancino eventually met with Lambesis and began speaking with him regularly after noting positive changes in his character.",
"After months of silence Gilbert and Mancino eventually met with Lambesis and began speaking with him regularly after noting positive changes in his character. Lambesis attempted to reconnect with Sgrosso and Hipa following his meetings with Gilbert and Mancino—who as a result of Lambesis' actions and the strain it put on their relationships—had stopped speaking to each other following the recording of the second Wovenwar album.",
"Lambesis attempted to reconnect with Sgrosso and Hipa following his meetings with Gilbert and Mancino—who as a result of Lambesis' actions and the strain it put on their relationships—had stopped speaking to each other following the recording of the second Wovenwar album. Sgrosso explained in a reunion-related discussion video posted by the band on June 16, 2018 that he initially replied to all of Lambesis' emails with explicit expressions of having no desire to speak with him.",
"Sgrosso explained in a reunion-related discussion video posted by the band on June 16, 2018 that he initially replied to all of Lambesis' emails with explicit expressions of having no desire to speak with him. Sgrosso explained that his disdain with Lambesis started well before his arrest and took relief in not having to be in a band with him anymore upon Lambesis' arrest. His relationship with Hipa deteriorated due to what both described as not being able to deal with the weight of the aftermath properly.",
"His relationship with Hipa deteriorated due to what both described as not being able to deal with the weight of the aftermath properly. Hipa explained that while he initially felt empathy towards Lambesis after his tearful courtroom apology—it was short lived following Lambesis' interview with Alternative Press which Hipa claimed read like \"one long excuse\".",
"Hipa explained that while he initially felt empathy towards Lambesis after his tearful courtroom apology—it was short lived following Lambesis' interview with Alternative Press which Hipa claimed read like \"one long excuse\". After Lambesis made his public apology, Sgrosso finally agreed to meet with Lambesis and claimed Lambesis evolved into a different person than he was for the years leading up to his arrest which inspired him to reach out to Hipa to rekindle their friendship.",
"After Lambesis made his public apology, Sgrosso finally agreed to meet with Lambesis and claimed Lambesis evolved into a different person than he was for the years leading up to his arrest which inspired him to reach out to Hipa to rekindle their friendship. Hipa was the last to speak with Lambesis due to what Hipa described as not being able to escape the shadow of Lambesis' arrest and the mental and physical effects it took on him.",
"Hipa was the last to speak with Lambesis due to what Hipa described as not being able to escape the shadow of Lambesis' arrest and the mental and physical effects it took on him. After reconnecting with Sgrosso and reading Lambesis' apology—he agreed to meet with Lambesis as a means to \"let go of his hatred\" and claimed that Lambesis owned up and took responsibility for every one of his actions he was called on.",
"After reconnecting with Sgrosso and reading Lambesis' apology—he agreed to meet with Lambesis as a means to \"let go of his hatred\" and claimed that Lambesis owned up and took responsibility for every one of his actions he was called on. Over the course of the tail end of Lambesis' incarceration and release, the band's public opinion towards Lambesis softened. Mancino did an interview primarily discussing Wovenwar, but also spoke about As I Lay Dying on MetalSucks' podcast.",
"Mancino did an interview primarily discussing Wovenwar, but also spoke about As I Lay Dying on MetalSucks' podcast. He stated that, contrary to popular beliefs, that Hipa, Sgrosso and Gilbert are still technically a part of As I Lay Dying due to their record contract and in another interview stated that he has \"no ill will\" towards Lambesis and wished him well.",
"He stated that, contrary to popular beliefs, that Hipa, Sgrosso and Gilbert are still technically a part of As I Lay Dying due to their record contract and in another interview stated that he has \"no ill will\" towards Lambesis and wished him well. Hipa, when on an episode of Jamey Jasta's podcast when asked about a reunion commented \"what it comes down to is what makes sense with what we have going on in our lives.",
"Hipa, when on an episode of Jamey Jasta's podcast when asked about a reunion commented \"what it comes down to is what makes sense with what we have going on in our lives. And we've got a lot of important things going on that don't relate to that and we've made commitments to, and that's what we are honoring at this moment. Honestly it's just not something we try and consume our thoughts with.",
"Honestly it's just not something we try and consume our thoughts with. Because it's like we have families, businesses, professions, and a band—and all these things we're super invested into. It's like all of our attention is there with that at the moment.\" On September 2, 2017, Metal Injection reported that Lambesis was working on new music and planned to release it under the As I Lay Dying name and that none of the pre-hiatus lineup aside from Lambesis would be returning.",
"On September 2, 2017, Metal Injection reported that Lambesis was working on new music and planned to release it under the As I Lay Dying name and that none of the pre-hiatus lineup aside from Lambesis would be returning. This would later be proven false, as on June 8, 2018, the band released the music video for \"My Own Grave\", confirming through the video that the lineup of Lambesis, Hipa, Sgrosso, Gilbert and Mancino had reunited.",
"This would later be proven false, as on June 8, 2018, the band released the music video for \"My Own Grave\", confirming through the video that the lineup of Lambesis, Hipa, Sgrosso, Gilbert and Mancino had reunited. They performed their first show—which sold out in four minutes—in five years at the SOMA Sidestage in their hometown of San Diego.",
"They performed their first show—which sold out in four minutes—in five years at the SOMA Sidestage in their hometown of San Diego. The band has stated the single was their first and only song written since their formal reunion in February 2018 and had no concrete plans past releasing the single and playing the SOMA show. The news of their reunion drew particularly divisive reactions from fans and media outlets.",
"The news of their reunion drew particularly divisive reactions from fans and media outlets. While fan and critical reception of the band's reunion and comeback single were met largely with praise, others were openly skeptical on supporting Tim Lambesis following his prison sentence. Most notably was MetalSucks, who published an editorial that they will no longer be writing about the band with multiple outlets voicing their support for MetalSucks' decision.",
"Most notably was MetalSucks, who published an editorial that they will no longer be writing about the band with multiple outlets voicing their support for MetalSucks' decision. On June 16, 2018—the date of their comeback show at the SOMA—the band published a video on their official YouTube account addressing the questions and criticisms fans and critics of the band had and explaining the terms in detail of the reunion. In July 2018, the band announced their first European headlining tour for December 2018.",
"In July 2018, the band announced their first European headlining tour for December 2018. A day later, they announced their North American tour for November 2018. A vast majority of the shows sold out immediately. While tickets sold out quickly, some venues and festivals received a public backlash for booking the band because of Lambesis' crimes and decided to cancel the band's performances.",
"While tickets sold out quickly, some venues and festivals received a public backlash for booking the band because of Lambesis' crimes and decided to cancel the band's performances. Spain's Resurrection Fest announced it would be dropping As I Lay Dying from its bill in October 2018, and months later in January 2019, the Memphis, Tennessee venue Growlers cancelled their previously scheduled show in April 2019.",
"Spain's Resurrection Fest announced it would be dropping As I Lay Dying from its bill in October 2018, and months later in January 2019, the Memphis, Tennessee venue Growlers cancelled their previously scheduled show in April 2019. Growlers released a statement that acknowledged Lambesis' public message from 2018, but stated: \"After hearing the combined voice of disheartened friends, local bands, and patrons, locally owned concert venue and bar, Growlers, has cancelled their scheduled show with As I Lay Dying, previously set for April 5th, and will replace it with a local show to benefit victims of domestic violence [...] Not everyone was ready to give Lambesis a second chance, and Growlers has created controversy in Memphis for booking his band.\"",
"Growlers released a statement that acknowledged Lambesis' public message from 2018, but stated: \"After hearing the combined voice of disheartened friends, local bands, and patrons, locally owned concert venue and bar, Growlers, has cancelled their scheduled show with As I Lay Dying, previously set for April 5th, and will replace it with a local show to benefit victims of domestic violence [...] Not everyone was ready to give Lambesis a second chance, and Growlers has created controversy in Memphis for booking his band.\" Touring, Shaped by Fire, and Nick Hipa's departure (2019–present) They embarked on a tour in March 2019 with Phinehas, Currents and Frost Koffin as support.",
"Touring, Shaped by Fire, and Nick Hipa's departure (2019–present) They embarked on a tour in March 2019 with Phinehas, Currents and Frost Koffin as support. On April 12, 2019, the band released a music video for \"Redefined\", including a guest appearance by August Burns Red frontman Jake Luhrs. On April 14, the band announced the \"Shaped by Fire\" tour of Europe with support from Chelsea Grin, Unearth and Fit for a King running from September 2019 and concluding in October.",
"On April 14, the band announced the \"Shaped by Fire\" tour of Europe with support from Chelsea Grin, Unearth and Fit for a King running from September 2019 and concluding in October. On July 15, the band announced the North American dates of the \"Shaped by Fire\" Tour with direct support from After the Burial and Emmure to begin on November 15 at the House of Blues in Las Vegas and conclude on December 14 with a hometown show at the Soma San Diego.",
"On July 15, the band announced the North American dates of the \"Shaped by Fire\" Tour with direct support from After the Burial and Emmure to begin on November 15 at the House of Blues in Las Vegas and conclude on December 14 with a hometown show at the Soma San Diego. Details of their forthcoming album, Shaped by Fire, were leaked through Nuclear Blast's European website with a projected release date of September 20, 2019.",
"Details of their forthcoming album, Shaped by Fire, were leaked through Nuclear Blast's European website with a projected release date of September 20, 2019. On August 9, the band officially announced their first album in seven years, Shaped by Fire, would be released through Nuclear Blast Records, along with releasing the album's title track. On September 13, the band released \"Blinded\" as the album's fourth single along with an accompanying music video.",
"On September 13, the band released \"Blinded\" as the album's fourth single along with an accompanying music video. In March 2020, as a way of supporting their crew during the COVID-19 pandemic, they released an additional song, \"Destruction or Strength\", a B-side from Shaped by Fire album sessions. In May 2020, another music video for the song \"Torn Between\" was released.",
"In May 2020, another music video for the song \"Torn Between\" was released. On August 15, it was reported that Nick Hipa might have left the band, as he no longer performed with them and disassociated his personal social media accounts with the band. Hipa officially confirmed his departure one year later on August 31, 2021, noting that behaviors resulting from being in the band led to his decision to leave it: \"There is tremendous good that can be accomplished through singular focus on the power of music.",
"Hipa officially confirmed his departure one year later on August 31, 2021, noting that behaviors resulting from being in the band led to his decision to leave it: \"There is tremendous good that can be accomplished through singular focus on the power of music. However to my memory and recent experience, it comes at the cost of tolerating behavior which at times mistreats, disrespects, and hurts other people.\"",
"However to my memory and recent experience, it comes at the cost of tolerating behavior which at times mistreats, disrespects, and hurts other people.\" He further elaborated that the power and reasoning behind As I Lay Dying's reunion had faded in favor of superficial pursuits, which he did not wish to be a part of. On September 24, 2021, the band unveiled a new single, \"Roots Below\". Musical style and influences As I Lay Dying is considered a prominent metalcore band.",
"Musical style and influences As I Lay Dying is considered a prominent metalcore band. The band also has been referred to as Christian metal, death metal, and thrash metal. As I Lay Dying's music uses lots of elements of melodic death metal. In a review of Beneath the Encasing of Ashes, Bradley Torreano of AllMusic described the band's sound as a blend of heavy metal, hardcore, and grindcore.",
"In a review of Beneath the Encasing of Ashes, Bradley Torreano of AllMusic described the band's sound as a blend of heavy metal, hardcore, and grindcore. Heavy metal writer Garry Sharpe-Young described the band as a \"Christian Hardcore act employing the Grind edged vocals of singer Tim Lambesis and a distinct hint of Scandinavian guitar chug.\"",
"Heavy metal writer Garry Sharpe-Young described the band as a \"Christian Hardcore act employing the Grind edged vocals of singer Tim Lambesis and a distinct hint of Scandinavian guitar chug.\" As I Lay Dying's influences include In Flames, Living Sacrifice, Iron Maiden, Slayer, At the Gates, Pantera, Megadeth, Fear Factory, Cannibal Corpse, Thin Lizzy, Shai Hulud, Dark Tranquillity, Metallica, Judas Priest, and Earth Crisis.",
"As I Lay Dying's influences include In Flames, Living Sacrifice, Iron Maiden, Slayer, At the Gates, Pantera, Megadeth, Fear Factory, Cannibal Corpse, Thin Lizzy, Shai Hulud, Dark Tranquillity, Metallica, Judas Priest, and Earth Crisis. Christianity Although As I Lay Dying has stated on numerous occasions that all of the members of the group are practicing Christians, the band is usually described by media as being in the metalcore genre, not Christian metal.",
"Christianity Although As I Lay Dying has stated on numerous occasions that all of the members of the group are practicing Christians, the band is usually described by media as being in the metalcore genre, not Christian metal. The band's lyrics do not focus on Christian themes the way many praise music bands do, nor do they treat their music as a direct extension of their private Christian worship or proselytizing efforts.",
"The band's lyrics do not focus on Christian themes the way many praise music bands do, nor do they treat their music as a direct extension of their private Christian worship or proselytizing efforts. For example, not once do the names God or Jesus appear in any As I Lay Dying song, nor do any of their songs explicitly invoke Christian doctrine or quote the Bible. Most songs tend to address broader spiritual concepts like existential angst or the struggle between reason and spirituality.",
"Most songs tend to address broader spiritual concepts like existential angst or the struggle between reason and spirituality. Lyricist and lead singer Tim Lambesis has given mixed commentary on the subject: asked in 2008 if the members were \"a Christian band\" or \"Christians in a band\", Lambesis stated on the band's FAQ, \"I'm not sure what the difference is between five Christians playing in a band and a Christian band, if you truly believe something, then it should affect every area of your life.",
"Lyricist and lead singer Tim Lambesis has given mixed commentary on the subject: asked in 2008 if the members were \"a Christian band\" or \"Christians in a band\", Lambesis stated on the band's FAQ, \"I'm not sure what the difference is between five Christians playing in a band and a Christian band, if you truly believe something, then it should affect every area of your life. All five of us are Christians.",
"All five of us are Christians. All five of us are Christians. I believe that change should start with me first, and as a result, our lyrics do not come across very 'preachy.' Many of our songs are about life, struggles, mistakes, relationships and other issues that don't fit entirely in the spiritual category. However, all of these topics are written about through my perspective as a Christian.\"",
"However, all of these topics are written about through my perspective as a Christian.\" Furthermore, during an August 2010 radio interview on the Christian metal radio show The Full Armor of God Broadcast, Lambesis stated \"I can only really write about what I'm passionate about in life, so naturally my faith, my belief in the teachings of Jesus and His resurrection come across in our lyrics.\" However, in later years, Lambesis showed an increasing philosophical skepticism towards Christianity and religion in general.",
"However, in later years, Lambesis showed an increasing philosophical skepticism towards Christianity and religion in general. Court documents stated Lambesis emailed his wife Meggan in August 2012, while on tour with As I Lay Dying, asking for a divorce and stating he \"no longer believed in God\".",
"Court documents stated Lambesis emailed his wife Meggan in August 2012, while on tour with As I Lay Dying, asking for a divorce and stating he \"no longer believed in God\". In explaining some of the lyrics from Awakened, Lambesis stated on his personal Tumblr account that his studies of theology had led him to the conclusion that \"tradition and truth are often at odds with each other\", and while he \"didn't hate all religious belief\", he was finding it \"very difficult for [him] to outline exactly who it is that's worth siding with.\"",
"In explaining some of the lyrics from Awakened, Lambesis stated on his personal Tumblr account that his studies of theology had led him to the conclusion that \"tradition and truth are often at odds with each other\", and while he \"didn't hate all religious belief\", he was finding it \"very difficult for [him] to outline exactly who it is that's worth siding with.\" He also quoted the book Pagan Christianity by George Barna and Frank Viola, claiming that both \"Protestant and Catholic denominations have poisonous roots\".",
"He also quoted the book Pagan Christianity by George Barna and Frank Viola, claiming that both \"Protestant and Catholic denominations have poisonous roots\". While on house arrest in July 2013, after being charged with soliciting his wife's murder, Lambesis published a blog post in which he obliquely confirmed his previous loss of faith in Christianity. In 2014, Lambesis said that although they were marketed as a Christian band, the members privately considered themselves atheists.",
"In 2014, Lambesis said that although they were marketed as a Christian band, the members privately considered themselves atheists. Following this statement, guitarist Nick Hipa responded by calling these claims slanderous and defamatory. However, since his arrest it has been reported that Lambesis, in an April 2014 statement by the band, \"[...] has spent much of the last year reevaluating what originally convinced him to abandon belief in God.",
"However, since his arrest it has been reported that Lambesis, in an April 2014 statement by the band, \"[...] has spent much of the last year reevaluating what originally convinced him to abandon belief in God. After much brokenness and repentance he sees things differently, considers himself a follower of Jesus, someone submitted to the will of God, or whatever you want to call it. That's for him to talk about when he's comfortable and only time will tell if he is sincere.\"",
"That's for him to talk about when he's comfortable and only time will tell if he is sincere.\" Members Current Tim Lambesis – unclean vocals, occasional clean vocals (2000–2014, 2017–present) Jordan Mancino – drums (2000–2014, 2018–present) Phil Sgrosso – guitars, backing vocals (2003–2014, 2018–present) Josh Gilbert – bass, clean vocals (2006–2014, 2018–present) Former Nick Hipa – guitars, backing vocals (2003–2014, 2018–2020) Clint Norris – bass, clean vocals (2003–2006) Evan White – guitars (2001–2003), bass (2002–2003) Jeremy Rojas – guitars (2001) Jon Jameson – bass (2001) Noah Chase – bass (2001, 2002, 2003) Tommy Garcia – guitars, bass, backing vocals (2002–2003; session member 2003–2010) Jason Krebs – guitars (2002–2003) Brandon Hays – bass, guitars (2002–2003) Aaron Kennedy – bass (2003) Touring musicians Chad Ackerman – guitars (2001–2002), backing vocals (session, 2007) Caylen Denuccio – bass (2002–2003) Chris Lindstrom – guitars (2001, 2003) Mark Macdonald – guitars (2003–2004) Ruben Gutierrez – guitars (2001) David Arthur – clean vocals (2005) Justin Foley – drums (2009) Joey Bradford – backing vocals (2012) Duane Reed – backing vocals (2007) Timeline Discography Beneath the Encasing of Ashes (2001) Frail Words Collapse (2003) Shadows Are Security (2005) An Ocean Between Us (2007) The Powerless Rise (2010) Awakened (2012) Shaped by Fire (2019) Awards and nominations San Diego Music Awards Artist of the Year (2005) Artist of the Year (2007) Artist of the Year (2008) Best Hard Rock (2011) Grammy Awards Nominated for 2008 Best Metal Performance for the song \"Nothing Left\" MTV2 Music Awards Ultimate Metal God (2007) Hollywood Film Fest awards Best Music Video for \"The Sound of Truth\" music video Loudwire Music Awards Metal Band of the Year (2012) References External links \t American metalcore musical groups Heavy metal musical groups from California Musical groups from San Diego Musical quintets 2000 establishments in California Musical groups established in 2000 Musical groups disestablished in 2014 Musical groups reestablished in 2017 Metal Blade Records artists Articles which contain graphical timelines"
] |
[
"Rem Koolhaas",
"Project on the city",
"What was the project on the city?",
"a product of his position as professor at Harvard University,",
"What did it entail?",
"students analysing what others would regard as \"non-cities\","
] | C_246bb626bd9b4cc6a6ccb3cef92dc9f2_1 | What do you mean by non-city? | 3 | What did Rem Koolhaas' students at Harvard University mean by the phrase "non-cities"? | Rem Koolhaas | Koolhaas's next landmark publications were a product of his position as professor at Harvard University, in the Design school's "Project on the City"; firstly the 720-page Mutations, followed by The Harvard Design School Guide to Shopping (2002) and The Great Leap Forward (2002). All three books involved Koolhaas's students analysing what others would regard as "non-cities", sprawling conglomerates such as Lagos in Nigeria, west Africa, which the authors argue are highly functional despite a lack of infrastructure. The authors also examine the influence of shopping habits and the recent rapid growth of cities in China. Critics of the books have criticised Koolhaas for being cynical - as if Western capitalism and globalization demolish all cultural identity - highlighted in the notion expounded in the books that "In the end, there will be little else for us to do but shop". However, such cynicism can alternatively be read as a "realism" about the transformation of cultural life, where airports and even museums (due to finance problems) rely just as much on operating gift shops. When it comes to transforming these observations into practice, Koolhaas mobilizes what he regards as the omnipotent forces of urbanism into unique design forms and connections organised along the lines of present-day society. Koolhaas continuously incorporates his observations of the contemporary city within his design activities: calling such a condition the 'culture of congestion'. Again, shopping is examined for "intellectual comfort", whilst the unregulated taste and densification of Chinese cities is analysed according to "performance", a criterion involving variables with debatable credibility: density, newness, shape, size, money etc. For example, in his design for the new CCTV headquarters in Beijing (2009), Koolhaas did not opt for the stereotypical skyscraper, often used to symbolise and landmark such government enterprises, but instead designed a series of volumes which not only tie together the numerous departments onto the nebulous site, but also introduced routes (again, the concept of cross-programming) for the general public through the site, allowing them some degree of access to the production procedure. Through his ruthlessly raw approach, Koolhaas hopes to extract the architect from the anxiety of a dead profession and resurrect a contemporary interpretation of the sublime, however fleeting it may be. In 2003, Content, a 544-page magazine-style book designed by &&& Creative and published by Koolhaas, gives an overview of the last decade of OMA projects including his designs for the Prada shops, the Seattle Public Library, a plan to save Cambridge from Harvard by rechanneling the Charles River, Lagos' future as Earth's third-biggest city, as well as interviews with Martha Stewart and Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown. CANNOTANSWER | highly functional despite a lack of infrastructure. | Remment Lucas Koolhaas (; born 17 November 1944) is a Dutch architect, architectural theorist, urbanist and Professor in Practice of Architecture and Urban Design at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University. He is often cited as a representative of Deconstructivism and is the author of Delirious New York: A Retroactive Manifesto for Manhattan.
He is seen by some as one of the truly significant architectural thinkers and urbanists of his generation, by others as a self-important iconoclast. In 2000, Rem Koolhaas won the Pritzker Prize. In 2008, Time put him in their top 100 of The World's Most Influential People. He was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2014.
Early life and career
Remment Koolhaas, usually abbreviated to Rem Koolhaas, was born on 17 November 1944 in Rotterdam, Netherlands, to Anton Koolhaas (1912–1992) and Selinde Pietertje Roosenburg (born 1920). His father was a novelist, critic, and screenwriter. Two documentary films by Bert Haanstra for which his father wrote the scenarios were nominated for an Academy Award for Documentary Feature, one won a Golden Bear for Short Film. His maternal grandfather, Dirk Roosenburg (1887–1962), was a modernist architect who worked for Hendrik Petrus Berlage, before opening his own practice. Rem Koolhaas has a brother, Thomas, and a sister, Annabel. His paternal cousin was the architect and urban planner Teun Koolhaas (1940–2007). The family lived consecutively in Rotterdam (until 1946), Amsterdam (1946–1952), Jakarta (1952–1955), and Amsterdam (from 1955).
His father strongly supported the Indonesian cause for autonomy from the colonial Dutch in his writing. When the war of independence was won, he was invited over to run a cultural programme for three years and the family moved to Jakarta in 1952. "It was a very important age for me," Koolhaas recalls "and I really lived as an Asian."
In 1969, Koolhaas co-wrote The White Slave, a Dutch film noir, and later wrote an unproduced script for American soft-porn king Russ Meyer.
He was a journalist in 1963 at age 19 for the Haagse Post before starting studies in architecture in 1968 at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, followed, in 1972, by further studies with Oswald Mathias Ungers at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, followed by studies at the Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies in New York City.
Koolhaas first came to public and critical attention with OMA (The Office for Metropolitan Architecture), the office he founded in 1975 together with architects Elia Zenghelis, Zoe Zenghelis and (Koolhaas's wife) Madelon Vriesendorp in London. They were later joined by one of Koolhaas's students, Zaha Hadid – who would soon go on to achieve success in her own right. An early work which would mark their difference from the then dominant postmodern classicism of the late 1970s, was their contribution to the Venice Biennale of 1980, curated by Italian architect Paolo Portoghesi, titled "Presence of the Past". Each architect had to design a stage-like "frontage" to a Potemkin-type internal street; the façades by , Frank Gehry and OMA were the only ones that did not employ Post-Modern architecture motifs or historical references.
Other early critically received (yet unbuilt) projects included the Parc de la Villette, Paris (1982) and the residence for the Prime Minister of Ireland (1979), as well as the Kunsthal in Rotterdam (1992). These schemes would attempt to put into practice many of the findings Koolhaas made in his book Delirious New York (1978), which was written while he was a visiting scholar at the Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies in New York, directed by Peter Eisenman.
Architectural theory
Delirious New York
Koolhaas's book Delirious New York set the pace for his career. Koolhaas analyzes the "chance-like" nature of city life: "The City is an addictive machine from which there is no escape" "Rem Koolhaas...defined the city as a collection of 'red hot spots'." (Anna Klingmann). As Koolhaas himself has acknowledged, this approach had already been evident in the Japanese Metabolist Movement in the 1960s and early 1970s.
A key aspect of architecture that Koolhaas interrogates is the "Program": with the rise of modernism in the 20th century the "Program" became the key theme of architectural design. The notion of the Program involves "an act to edit function and human activities" as the pretext of architectural design: epitomised in the maxim form follows function, first popularised by architect Louis Sullivan at the beginning of the 20th century. The notion was first questioned in Delirious New York, in his analysis of high-rise architecture in Manhattan. An early design method derived from such thinking was "cross-programming", introducing unexpected functions in room programmes, such as running tracks in skyscrapers. More recently, Koolhaas unsuccessfully proposed the inclusion of hospital units for the homeless into the Seattle Public Library project (2003).
Project on the city
Koolhaas' next publications were a by-product of his position as professor at Harvard University, in the Design school's "Project on the City"; firstly the 720-page Mutations, followed by The Harvard Design School Guide to Shopping (2002) and The Great Leap Forward (2002).
All three books published student work analysing what others would regard as "non-cities", sprawling conglomerates such as Lagos in Nigeria, west Africa, which the authors argue are highly functional despite a lack of infrastructure. The authors also examine the influence of shopping habits and the recent rapid growth of cities in China. Critics of the books have criticised Koolhaas for being cynical, – as if Western capitalism and globalization demolish all cultural identity – highlighted in the notion expounded in the books that "In the end, there will be little else for us to do but shop". Perhaps such caustic cynicism can be read as a "realism" about the transformation of cultural life, where airports and even museums (due to finance problems) rely just as much on operating gift shops. It does, however, demonstrate one of the architect's characteristic devices for deflecting criticism: attack the client or subject of study after completing the work.
When it comes to transforming these observations into practice, Koolhaas mobilizes what he regards as the omnipotent forces of urbanism into unique design forms and connections organised along the lines of present-day society. Koolhaas continuously incorporates his observations of the contemporary city within his design activities: calling such a condition the ‘culture of congestion’. Again, shopping is examined for "intellectual comfort", whilst the unregulated taste and densification of Chinese cities is analysed according to "performance", a criterion involving variables with debatable credibility: density, newness, shape, size, money etc.
In 2003, Content, a 544-page magazine-style book designed by &&& Creative and published by Koolhaas, gives an overview of the last decade of OMA projects including his designs for the Prada shops, the Seattle Public Library, a plan to save Cambridge from Harvard by rechanneling the Charles River, Lagos' future as Earth's third-biggest city, as well as interviews with Martha Stewart and Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown.
Volume Magazine
In 2005, Rem Koolhaas co-founded Volume Magazine together with Mark Wigley and Ole Bouman. Volume Magazine – the collaborative project by Archis (Amsterdam), AMO and C-lab (Columbia University NY) – is a dynamic experimental think tank devoted to the process of spatial and cultural reflexivity. It goes beyond architecture's definition of ‘making buildings’ and reaches out for global views on architecture and design, broader attitudes to social structures, and creating environments to live in. The magazine stands for a journalism which detects and anticipates, is proactive and even pre-emptive – a journalism which uncovers potentialities, rather than covering done deals.
Buildings and projects
In the late nineties he worked on the design for the new headquarters for Universal.
Indeed, online marketing and propaganda has been a hallmark of OMA's rise in the current century. It has also led to pointed criticism, such as the critique by New York Magazine critic Justin Davidson, who found the 2020 Guggenheim exhibition Countryside, the Future "mildly amusing if it weren’t such terrible waste — of attention, of gallery square footage, of resources, talent, and expertise. Bored with being an architect and building things, Koolhaas lets his fingertips graze important topics, genuine insights, and actual lives. He treats them all as ironic bric-a-brac, meaningless souvenirs of his meanderings through a fragile world. How frustrating that the Guggenheim couldn’t force a little more intellectual rigor on this romp."
Architecture, fashion, and theatre
With his Prada projects, Koolhaas ventured into providing architecture for the fleeting world of fashion and with celebrity-studded cachet: not unlike Garnier's Opera, the central space of Koolhaas' Beverly Hills Prada store is occupied by a massive central staircase, ostensibly displaying select wares, but mainly the shoppers themselves. The notion of selling a brand rather than marketing clothes was further emphasised in the Prada store on Broadway in Manhattan, New York, which had previously been owned by the Guggenheim: the museum signs were not removed during the outfitting of the new store, as if emphasizing the premises as a cultural institution. The Broadway Prada store opened in December 2001, cost €32 million to build, and has 2,300 square meters of retail space.
21st Century Projects
Probably the most costly and celebrated OMA projects of the new century were the massive Central China Television Headquarters Building in Beijing, China, and the new building for the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, the equivalent of the NASDAQ in China.
In his design for the new CCTV Headquarters in Beijing (2009), Koolhaas did not opt for the stereotypical skyscraper, often used to symbolise and landmark such government enterprises; he patented a "horizontal skyscraper" in the U.S. The building, popularly called "The Big Pants" by Beijing residents, was designed as a series of volumes which attempt to tie together the numerous departments onto the nebulous site, but also introduce routes (again, the concept of cross-programming) for the general public through the site, allowing them some degree of access to the production procedure. An unfortunate incident that highlighted the folly of the circulation scheme (no effective fire egress for people on the upper floors), was the construction fire that nearly destroyed the building and a nearby hotel in 2009.
Personal life
Koolhaas was previously married to Madelon Vriesendorp, an artist who is the mother of his two children, Charlie, a photographer, and Tomas, a filmmaker. Koolhaas divorced Vriesendorp in 2012. He has known his current partner Petra Blaisse, an interior and landscape designer since 1986.
Selected projects
Villa dall’Ava, (Saint-Cloud, 1991)
Nexus World Housing (Fukuoka, 1991)
Kunsthal (Rotterdam, 1992)
Euralille (Lille, 1994)
Educatorium (Utrecht, 1995)
Maison à Bordeaux (Bordeaux, 1998)
Embassy of the Netherlands (Berlin, 2003)
McCormick Tribune Campus Center (Chicago, 2003)
Seoul National University Museum of Art (Seoul, 2005)
Seattle Central Library (Seattle, 2005)
Casa da Música (Porto, 2005)
Dee and Charles Wyly Theater (Dallas, 2009)
CCTV Headquarters, (Beijing, 2012)
De Rotterdam (Rotterdam, 2013)
Garage Museum of Contemporary Art (Moscow, 2014)
Qatar National Library (Doha, 2017)
Taipei Performing Arts Center (Taipei, 2022)
Bibliography
Project Japan. Metabolism Talks... (2011) (with Hans Ulrich Obrist)
Delirious New York: A Retroactive Manifesto for Manhattan (1978)
S,M,L,XL (1995)
Serpentine Gallery: 24 Hour Interview Marathon (2007) Living Vivre Leben (1998)Content (2004)
Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2006''; Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König, Köln, Germany 2008
Gallery
See also
Contemporary architecture
World Architecture Survey
List of architects
Koolhaas Houselife
References
External links
Office for Metropolitan Architecture
OMA official Facebook page (updated daily)
OMA official Vimeo channel
OMA portfolio on Archello.com
Rem Koolhaas at Harvard University
Urgency 2007: Rem Koolhaas and Peter Eisenman lectures, Canadian Centre for Architecture, June 8, 2007
Rem Koolhaas in conversation with Mirko Zardini and Giovanna Borasi, Rotterdam, August 26, 2015, for the exhibition The Other Architect, Canadian Centre for Architecture
On Starchitecture
Koolhaas at Harvard's Ecological Urbanism
Rem Koolhaas: A Kind of Architect (2008 Feature Documentary)
Rem Koolhaas lecture "Russia for Beginners" at Garage Museum of Contemporary Art: September 15th, 2014
Rem Koolhaas on Empty Canon
1944 births
20th-century Dutch architects
21st-century Dutch architects
Architectural theoreticians
Urban theorists
Deconstructivism
Postmodern architecture
Dutch non-fiction writers
Living people
Cornell University College of Architecture, Art, and Planning alumni
Harvard Graduate School of Design faculty
Dutch urban planners
Architects from Rotterdam
Pritzker Architecture Prize winners
Recipients of the Royal Gold Medal
Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur
Recipients of the Praemium Imperiale
Alumni of the Architectural Association School of Architecture
Honorary Fellows of the American Institute of Architects | true | [
"Say What You Mean is the third studio album of the Washington-based music group Maktub.\n\nTrack listing\n \"Promise Me\" – 4:28\n \"Say What You Mean\" – 4:11\n \"20 Years\" – 5:21\n \"Daily Dosage\" – 3:38\n \"Hunt You Down\" – 4:16\n \"Seeing Is Believing\" – 3:39\n \"Blown Away\" – 5:09\n \"Feel Like Another One\" – 4:31\n \"Nobody Loves You Like I Do\" – 4:28\n \"Right to Breathe\" – 5:24\n\nMaktub albums\n2005 albums\nAlbums produced by Steve Fisk\nAlbums produced by Joe Chiccarelli",
"Mean What You Say may refer to:\n\n Mean What You Say (Philly Joe Jones album)\n Mean What You Say (Thad Jones/Pepper Adams Quintet album)\n Mean What You Say (Witness album)\n Mean What You Say (Sent by Ravens album)"
] | [
"Remment Lucas Koolhaas (; born 17 November 1944) is a Dutch architect, architectural theorist, urbanist and Professor in Practice of Architecture and Urban Design at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University. He is often cited as a representative of Deconstructivism and is the author of Delirious New York: A Retroactive Manifesto for Manhattan. He is seen by some as one of the truly significant architectural thinkers and urbanists of his generation, by others as a self-important iconoclast. In 2000, Rem Koolhaas won the Pritzker Prize.",
"In 2000, Rem Koolhaas won the Pritzker Prize. In 2000, Rem Koolhaas won the Pritzker Prize. In 2008, Time put him in their top 100 of The World's Most Influential People. He was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2014. Early life and career Remment Koolhaas, usually abbreviated to Rem Koolhaas, was born on 17 November 1944 in Rotterdam, Netherlands, to Anton Koolhaas (1912–1992) and Selinde Pietertje Roosenburg (born 1920). His father was a novelist, critic, and screenwriter.",
"His father was a novelist, critic, and screenwriter. Two documentary films by Bert Haanstra for which his father wrote the scenarios were nominated for an Academy Award for Documentary Feature, one won a Golden Bear for Short Film. His maternal grandfather, Dirk Roosenburg (1887–1962), was a modernist architect who worked for Hendrik Petrus Berlage, before opening his own practice. Rem Koolhaas has a brother, Thomas, and a sister, Annabel. His paternal cousin was the architect and urban planner Teun Koolhaas (1940–2007).",
"His paternal cousin was the architect and urban planner Teun Koolhaas (1940–2007). The family lived consecutively in Rotterdam (until 1946), Amsterdam (1946–1952), Jakarta (1952–1955), and Amsterdam (from 1955). His father strongly supported the Indonesian cause for autonomy from the colonial Dutch in his writing. When the war of independence was won, he was invited over to run a cultural programme for three years and the family moved to Jakarta in 1952.",
"When the war of independence was won, he was invited over to run a cultural programme for three years and the family moved to Jakarta in 1952. \"It was a very important age for me,\" Koolhaas recalls \"and I really lived as an Asian.\" In 1969, Koolhaas co-wrote The White Slave, a Dutch film noir, and later wrote an unproduced script for American soft-porn king Russ Meyer.",
"In 1969, Koolhaas co-wrote The White Slave, a Dutch film noir, and later wrote an unproduced script for American soft-porn king Russ Meyer. He was a journalist in 1963 at age 19 for the Haagse Post before starting studies in architecture in 1968 at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, followed, in 1972, by further studies with Oswald Mathias Ungers at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, followed by studies at the Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies in New York City.",
"He was a journalist in 1963 at age 19 for the Haagse Post before starting studies in architecture in 1968 at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, followed, in 1972, by further studies with Oswald Mathias Ungers at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, followed by studies at the Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies in New York City. Koolhaas first came to public and critical attention with OMA (The Office for Metropolitan Architecture), the office he founded in 1975 together with architects Elia Zenghelis, Zoe Zenghelis and (Koolhaas's wife) Madelon Vriesendorp in London.",
"Koolhaas first came to public and critical attention with OMA (The Office for Metropolitan Architecture), the office he founded in 1975 together with architects Elia Zenghelis, Zoe Zenghelis and (Koolhaas's wife) Madelon Vriesendorp in London. They were later joined by one of Koolhaas's students, Zaha Hadid – who would soon go on to achieve success in her own right.",
"They were later joined by one of Koolhaas's students, Zaha Hadid – who would soon go on to achieve success in her own right. An early work which would mark their difference from the then dominant postmodern classicism of the late 1970s, was their contribution to the Venice Biennale of 1980, curated by Italian architect Paolo Portoghesi, titled \"Presence of the Past\".",
"An early work which would mark their difference from the then dominant postmodern classicism of the late 1970s, was their contribution to the Venice Biennale of 1980, curated by Italian architect Paolo Portoghesi, titled \"Presence of the Past\". Each architect had to design a stage-like \"frontage\" to a Potemkin-type internal street; the façades by , Frank Gehry and OMA were the only ones that did not employ Post-Modern architecture motifs or historical references.",
"Each architect had to design a stage-like \"frontage\" to a Potemkin-type internal street; the façades by , Frank Gehry and OMA were the only ones that did not employ Post-Modern architecture motifs or historical references. Other early critically received (yet unbuilt) projects included the Parc de la Villette, Paris (1982) and the residence for the Prime Minister of Ireland (1979), as well as the Kunsthal in Rotterdam (1992).",
"Other early critically received (yet unbuilt) projects included the Parc de la Villette, Paris (1982) and the residence for the Prime Minister of Ireland (1979), as well as the Kunsthal in Rotterdam (1992). These schemes would attempt to put into practice many of the findings Koolhaas made in his book Delirious New York (1978), which was written while he was a visiting scholar at the Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies in New York, directed by Peter Eisenman.",
"These schemes would attempt to put into practice many of the findings Koolhaas made in his book Delirious New York (1978), which was written while he was a visiting scholar at the Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies in New York, directed by Peter Eisenman. Architectural theory Delirious New York Koolhaas's book Delirious New York set the pace for his career.",
"Architectural theory Delirious New York Koolhaas's book Delirious New York set the pace for his career. Koolhaas analyzes the \"chance-like\" nature of city life: \"The City is an addictive machine from which there is no escape\" \"Rem Koolhaas...defined the city as a collection of 'red hot spots'.\" (Anna Klingmann). As Koolhaas himself has acknowledged, this approach had already been evident in the Japanese Metabolist Movement in the 1960s and early 1970s.",
"As Koolhaas himself has acknowledged, this approach had already been evident in the Japanese Metabolist Movement in the 1960s and early 1970s. A key aspect of architecture that Koolhaas interrogates is the \"Program\": with the rise of modernism in the 20th century the \"Program\" became the key theme of architectural design.",
"A key aspect of architecture that Koolhaas interrogates is the \"Program\": with the rise of modernism in the 20th century the \"Program\" became the key theme of architectural design. The notion of the Program involves \"an act to edit function and human activities\" as the pretext of architectural design: epitomised in the maxim form follows function, first popularised by architect Louis Sullivan at the beginning of the 20th century. The notion was first questioned in Delirious New York, in his analysis of high-rise architecture in Manhattan.",
"The notion was first questioned in Delirious New York, in his analysis of high-rise architecture in Manhattan. An early design method derived from such thinking was \"cross-programming\", introducing unexpected functions in room programmes, such as running tracks in skyscrapers. More recently, Koolhaas unsuccessfully proposed the inclusion of hospital units for the homeless into the Seattle Public Library project (2003).",
"More recently, Koolhaas unsuccessfully proposed the inclusion of hospital units for the homeless into the Seattle Public Library project (2003). Project on the city Koolhaas' next publications were a by-product of his position as professor at Harvard University, in the Design school's \"Project on the City\"; firstly the 720-page Mutations, followed by The Harvard Design School Guide to Shopping (2002) and The Great Leap Forward (2002).",
"Project on the city Koolhaas' next publications were a by-product of his position as professor at Harvard University, in the Design school's \"Project on the City\"; firstly the 720-page Mutations, followed by The Harvard Design School Guide to Shopping (2002) and The Great Leap Forward (2002). All three books published student work analysing what others would regard as \"non-cities\", sprawling conglomerates such as Lagos in Nigeria, west Africa, which the authors argue are highly functional despite a lack of infrastructure.",
"All three books published student work analysing what others would regard as \"non-cities\", sprawling conglomerates such as Lagos in Nigeria, west Africa, which the authors argue are highly functional despite a lack of infrastructure. The authors also examine the influence of shopping habits and the recent rapid growth of cities in China.",
"The authors also examine the influence of shopping habits and the recent rapid growth of cities in China. Critics of the books have criticised Koolhaas for being cynical, – as if Western capitalism and globalization demolish all cultural identity – highlighted in the notion expounded in the books that \"In the end, there will be little else for us to do but shop\".",
"Critics of the books have criticised Koolhaas for being cynical, – as if Western capitalism and globalization demolish all cultural identity – highlighted in the notion expounded in the books that \"In the end, there will be little else for us to do but shop\". Perhaps such caustic cynicism can be read as a \"realism\" about the transformation of cultural life, where airports and even museums (due to finance problems) rely just as much on operating gift shops.",
"Perhaps such caustic cynicism can be read as a \"realism\" about the transformation of cultural life, where airports and even museums (due to finance problems) rely just as much on operating gift shops. It does, however, demonstrate one of the architect's characteristic devices for deflecting criticism: attack the client or subject of study after completing the work.",
"It does, however, demonstrate one of the architect's characteristic devices for deflecting criticism: attack the client or subject of study after completing the work. When it comes to transforming these observations into practice, Koolhaas mobilizes what he regards as the omnipotent forces of urbanism into unique design forms and connections organised along the lines of present-day society. Koolhaas continuously incorporates his observations of the contemporary city within his design activities: calling such a condition the ‘culture of congestion’.",
"Koolhaas continuously incorporates his observations of the contemporary city within his design activities: calling such a condition the ‘culture of congestion’. Again, shopping is examined for \"intellectual comfort\", whilst the unregulated taste and densification of Chinese cities is analysed according to \"performance\", a criterion involving variables with debatable credibility: density, newness, shape, size, money etc.",
"Again, shopping is examined for \"intellectual comfort\", whilst the unregulated taste and densification of Chinese cities is analysed according to \"performance\", a criterion involving variables with debatable credibility: density, newness, shape, size, money etc. In 2003, Content, a 544-page magazine-style book designed by &&& Creative and published by Koolhaas, gives an overview of the last decade of OMA projects including his designs for the Prada shops, the Seattle Public Library, a plan to save Cambridge from Harvard by rechanneling the Charles River, Lagos' future as Earth's third-biggest city, as well as interviews with Martha Stewart and Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown.",
"In 2003, Content, a 544-page magazine-style book designed by &&& Creative and published by Koolhaas, gives an overview of the last decade of OMA projects including his designs for the Prada shops, the Seattle Public Library, a plan to save Cambridge from Harvard by rechanneling the Charles River, Lagos' future as Earth's third-biggest city, as well as interviews with Martha Stewart and Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown. Volume Magazine In 2005, Rem Koolhaas co-founded Volume Magazine together with Mark Wigley and Ole Bouman.",
"Volume Magazine In 2005, Rem Koolhaas co-founded Volume Magazine together with Mark Wigley and Ole Bouman. Volume Magazine – the collaborative project by Archis (Amsterdam), AMO and C-lab (Columbia University NY) – is a dynamic experimental think tank devoted to the process of spatial and cultural reflexivity. It goes beyond architecture's definition of ‘making buildings’ and reaches out for global views on architecture and design, broader attitudes to social structures, and creating environments to live in.",
"It goes beyond architecture's definition of ‘making buildings’ and reaches out for global views on architecture and design, broader attitudes to social structures, and creating environments to live in. The magazine stands for a journalism which detects and anticipates, is proactive and even pre-emptive – a journalism which uncovers potentialities, rather than covering done deals. Buildings and projects In the late nineties he worked on the design for the new headquarters for Universal.",
"Buildings and projects In the late nineties he worked on the design for the new headquarters for Universal. Indeed, online marketing and propaganda has been a hallmark of OMA's rise in the current century. It has also led to pointed criticism, such as the critique by New York Magazine critic Justin Davidson, who found the 2020 Guggenheim exhibition Countryside, the Future \"mildly amusing if it weren’t such terrible waste — of attention, of gallery square footage, of resources, talent, and expertise.",
"It has also led to pointed criticism, such as the critique by New York Magazine critic Justin Davidson, who found the 2020 Guggenheim exhibition Countryside, the Future \"mildly amusing if it weren’t such terrible waste — of attention, of gallery square footage, of resources, talent, and expertise. Bored with being an architect and building things, Koolhaas lets his fingertips graze important topics, genuine insights, and actual lives. He treats them all as ironic bric-a-brac, meaningless souvenirs of his meanderings through a fragile world.",
"He treats them all as ironic bric-a-brac, meaningless souvenirs of his meanderings through a fragile world. How frustrating that the Guggenheim couldn’t force a little more intellectual rigor on this romp.\" Architecture, fashion, and theatre With his Prada projects, Koolhaas ventured into providing architecture for the fleeting world of fashion and with celebrity-studded cachet: not unlike Garnier's Opera, the central space of Koolhaas' Beverly Hills Prada store is occupied by a massive central staircase, ostensibly displaying select wares, but mainly the shoppers themselves.",
"Architecture, fashion, and theatre With his Prada projects, Koolhaas ventured into providing architecture for the fleeting world of fashion and with celebrity-studded cachet: not unlike Garnier's Opera, the central space of Koolhaas' Beverly Hills Prada store is occupied by a massive central staircase, ostensibly displaying select wares, but mainly the shoppers themselves. The notion of selling a brand rather than marketing clothes was further emphasised in the Prada store on Broadway in Manhattan, New York, which had previously been owned by the Guggenheim: the museum signs were not removed during the outfitting of the new store, as if emphasizing the premises as a cultural institution.",
"The notion of selling a brand rather than marketing clothes was further emphasised in the Prada store on Broadway in Manhattan, New York, which had previously been owned by the Guggenheim: the museum signs were not removed during the outfitting of the new store, as if emphasizing the premises as a cultural institution. The Broadway Prada store opened in December 2001, cost €32 million to build, and has 2,300 square meters of retail space.",
"The Broadway Prada store opened in December 2001, cost €32 million to build, and has 2,300 square meters of retail space. 21st Century Projects Probably the most costly and celebrated OMA projects of the new century were the massive Central China Television Headquarters Building in Beijing, China, and the new building for the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, the equivalent of the NASDAQ in China.",
"21st Century Projects Probably the most costly and celebrated OMA projects of the new century were the massive Central China Television Headquarters Building in Beijing, China, and the new building for the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, the equivalent of the NASDAQ in China. In his design for the new CCTV Headquarters in Beijing (2009), Koolhaas did not opt for the stereotypical skyscraper, often used to symbolise and landmark such government enterprises; he patented a \"horizontal skyscraper\" in the U.S.",
"In his design for the new CCTV Headquarters in Beijing (2009), Koolhaas did not opt for the stereotypical skyscraper, often used to symbolise and landmark such government enterprises; he patented a \"horizontal skyscraper\" in the U.S. The building, popularly called \"The Big Pants\" by Beijing residents, was designed as a series of volumes which attempt to tie together the numerous departments onto the nebulous site, but also introduce routes (again, the concept of cross-programming) for the general public through the site, allowing them some degree of access to the production procedure.",
"The building, popularly called \"The Big Pants\" by Beijing residents, was designed as a series of volumes which attempt to tie together the numerous departments onto the nebulous site, but also introduce routes (again, the concept of cross-programming) for the general public through the site, allowing them some degree of access to the production procedure. An unfortunate incident that highlighted the folly of the circulation scheme (no effective fire egress for people on the upper floors), was the construction fire that nearly destroyed the building and a nearby hotel in 2009.",
"An unfortunate incident that highlighted the folly of the circulation scheme (no effective fire egress for people on the upper floors), was the construction fire that nearly destroyed the building and a nearby hotel in 2009. Personal life Koolhaas was previously married to Madelon Vriesendorp, an artist who is the mother of his two children, Charlie, a photographer, and Tomas, a filmmaker. Koolhaas divorced Vriesendorp in 2012. He has known his current partner Petra Blaisse, an interior and landscape designer since 1986.",
"He has known his current partner Petra Blaisse, an interior and landscape designer since 1986. Selected projects Villa dall’Ava, (Saint-Cloud, 1991) Nexus World Housing (Fukuoka, 1991) Kunsthal (Rotterdam, 1992) Euralille (Lille, 1994) Educatorium (Utrecht, 1995) Maison à Bordeaux (Bordeaux, 1998) Embassy of the Netherlands (Berlin, 2003) McCormick Tribune Campus Center (Chicago, 2003) Seoul National University Museum of Art (Seoul, 2005) Seattle Central Library (Seattle, 2005) Casa da Música (Porto, 2005) Dee and Charles Wyly Theater (Dallas, 2009) CCTV Headquarters, (Beijing, 2012) De Rotterdam (Rotterdam, 2013) Garage Museum of Contemporary Art (Moscow, 2014) Qatar National Library (Doha, 2017) Taipei Performing Arts Center (Taipei, 2022) Bibliography Project Japan.",
"Selected projects Villa dall’Ava, (Saint-Cloud, 1991) Nexus World Housing (Fukuoka, 1991) Kunsthal (Rotterdam, 1992) Euralille (Lille, 1994) Educatorium (Utrecht, 1995) Maison à Bordeaux (Bordeaux, 1998) Embassy of the Netherlands (Berlin, 2003) McCormick Tribune Campus Center (Chicago, 2003) Seoul National University Museum of Art (Seoul, 2005) Seattle Central Library (Seattle, 2005) Casa da Música (Porto, 2005) Dee and Charles Wyly Theater (Dallas, 2009) CCTV Headquarters, (Beijing, 2012) De Rotterdam (Rotterdam, 2013) Garage Museum of Contemporary Art (Moscow, 2014) Qatar National Library (Doha, 2017) Taipei Performing Arts Center (Taipei, 2022) Bibliography Project Japan. Metabolism Talks... (2011) (with Hans Ulrich Obrist) Delirious New York: A Retroactive Manifesto for Manhattan (1978) S,M,L,XL (1995) Serpentine Gallery: 24 Hour Interview Marathon (2007) Living Vivre Leben (1998)Content (2004) Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2006''; Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König, Köln, Germany 2008 Gallery See also Contemporary architecture World Architecture Survey List of architects Koolhaas Houselife References External links Office for Metropolitan Architecture OMA official Facebook page (updated daily) OMA official Vimeo channel OMA portfolio on Archello.com Rem Koolhaas at Harvard University Urgency 2007: Rem Koolhaas and Peter Eisenman lectures, Canadian Centre for Architecture, June 8, 2007 Rem Koolhaas in conversation with Mirko Zardini and Giovanna Borasi, Rotterdam, August 26, 2015, for the exhibition The Other Architect, Canadian Centre for Architecture On Starchitecture Koolhaas at Harvard's Ecological Urbanism Rem Koolhaas: A Kind of Architect (2008 Feature Documentary) Rem Koolhaas lecture \"Russia for Beginners\" at Garage Museum of Contemporary Art: September 15th, 2014 Rem Koolhaas on Empty Canon 1944 births 20th-century Dutch architects 21st-century Dutch architects Architectural theoreticians Urban theorists Deconstructivism Postmodern architecture Dutch non-fiction writers Living people Cornell University College of Architecture, Art, and Planning alumni Harvard Graduate School of Design faculty Dutch urban planners Architects from Rotterdam Pritzker Architecture Prize winners Recipients of the Royal Gold Medal Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur Recipients of the Praemium Imperiale Alumni of the Architectural Association School of Architecture Honorary Fellows of the American Institute of Architects"
] |
[
"Rem Koolhaas",
"Project on the city",
"What was the project on the city?",
"a product of his position as professor at Harvard University,",
"What did it entail?",
"students analysing what others would regard as \"non-cities\",",
"What do you mean by non-city?",
"highly functional despite a lack of infrastructure.",
"Did it have to meet certain requirements?",
"I don't know."
] | C_246bb626bd9b4cc6a6ccb3cef92dc9f2_1 | Are there any other interesting aspects about this article? | 5 | Are there any other interesting aspects about Rem Koolhaas' other than project on the city? | Rem Koolhaas | Koolhaas's next landmark publications were a product of his position as professor at Harvard University, in the Design school's "Project on the City"; firstly the 720-page Mutations, followed by The Harvard Design School Guide to Shopping (2002) and The Great Leap Forward (2002). All three books involved Koolhaas's students analysing what others would regard as "non-cities", sprawling conglomerates such as Lagos in Nigeria, west Africa, which the authors argue are highly functional despite a lack of infrastructure. The authors also examine the influence of shopping habits and the recent rapid growth of cities in China. Critics of the books have criticised Koolhaas for being cynical - as if Western capitalism and globalization demolish all cultural identity - highlighted in the notion expounded in the books that "In the end, there will be little else for us to do but shop". However, such cynicism can alternatively be read as a "realism" about the transformation of cultural life, where airports and even museums (due to finance problems) rely just as much on operating gift shops. When it comes to transforming these observations into practice, Koolhaas mobilizes what he regards as the omnipotent forces of urbanism into unique design forms and connections organised along the lines of present-day society. Koolhaas continuously incorporates his observations of the contemporary city within his design activities: calling such a condition the 'culture of congestion'. Again, shopping is examined for "intellectual comfort", whilst the unregulated taste and densification of Chinese cities is analysed according to "performance", a criterion involving variables with debatable credibility: density, newness, shape, size, money etc. For example, in his design for the new CCTV headquarters in Beijing (2009), Koolhaas did not opt for the stereotypical skyscraper, often used to symbolise and landmark such government enterprises, but instead designed a series of volumes which not only tie together the numerous departments onto the nebulous site, but also introduced routes (again, the concept of cross-programming) for the general public through the site, allowing them some degree of access to the production procedure. Through his ruthlessly raw approach, Koolhaas hopes to extract the architect from the anxiety of a dead profession and resurrect a contemporary interpretation of the sublime, however fleeting it may be. In 2003, Content, a 544-page magazine-style book designed by &&& Creative and published by Koolhaas, gives an overview of the last decade of OMA projects including his designs for the Prada shops, the Seattle Public Library, a plan to save Cambridge from Harvard by rechanneling the Charles River, Lagos' future as Earth's third-biggest city, as well as interviews with Martha Stewart and Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown. CANNOTANSWER | Koolhaas mobilizes what he regards as the omnipotent forces of urbanism into unique design forms | Remment Lucas Koolhaas (; born 17 November 1944) is a Dutch architect, architectural theorist, urbanist and Professor in Practice of Architecture and Urban Design at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University. He is often cited as a representative of Deconstructivism and is the author of Delirious New York: A Retroactive Manifesto for Manhattan.
He is seen by some as one of the truly significant architectural thinkers and urbanists of his generation, by others as a self-important iconoclast. In 2000, Rem Koolhaas won the Pritzker Prize. In 2008, Time put him in their top 100 of The World's Most Influential People. He was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2014.
Early life and career
Remment Koolhaas, usually abbreviated to Rem Koolhaas, was born on 17 November 1944 in Rotterdam, Netherlands, to Anton Koolhaas (1912–1992) and Selinde Pietertje Roosenburg (born 1920). His father was a novelist, critic, and screenwriter. Two documentary films by Bert Haanstra for which his father wrote the scenarios were nominated for an Academy Award for Documentary Feature, one won a Golden Bear for Short Film. His maternal grandfather, Dirk Roosenburg (1887–1962), was a modernist architect who worked for Hendrik Petrus Berlage, before opening his own practice. Rem Koolhaas has a brother, Thomas, and a sister, Annabel. His paternal cousin was the architect and urban planner Teun Koolhaas (1940–2007). The family lived consecutively in Rotterdam (until 1946), Amsterdam (1946–1952), Jakarta (1952–1955), and Amsterdam (from 1955).
His father strongly supported the Indonesian cause for autonomy from the colonial Dutch in his writing. When the war of independence was won, he was invited over to run a cultural programme for three years and the family moved to Jakarta in 1952. "It was a very important age for me," Koolhaas recalls "and I really lived as an Asian."
In 1969, Koolhaas co-wrote The White Slave, a Dutch film noir, and later wrote an unproduced script for American soft-porn king Russ Meyer.
He was a journalist in 1963 at age 19 for the Haagse Post before starting studies in architecture in 1968 at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, followed, in 1972, by further studies with Oswald Mathias Ungers at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, followed by studies at the Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies in New York City.
Koolhaas first came to public and critical attention with OMA (The Office for Metropolitan Architecture), the office he founded in 1975 together with architects Elia Zenghelis, Zoe Zenghelis and (Koolhaas's wife) Madelon Vriesendorp in London. They were later joined by one of Koolhaas's students, Zaha Hadid – who would soon go on to achieve success in her own right. An early work which would mark their difference from the then dominant postmodern classicism of the late 1970s, was their contribution to the Venice Biennale of 1980, curated by Italian architect Paolo Portoghesi, titled "Presence of the Past". Each architect had to design a stage-like "frontage" to a Potemkin-type internal street; the façades by , Frank Gehry and OMA were the only ones that did not employ Post-Modern architecture motifs or historical references.
Other early critically received (yet unbuilt) projects included the Parc de la Villette, Paris (1982) and the residence for the Prime Minister of Ireland (1979), as well as the Kunsthal in Rotterdam (1992). These schemes would attempt to put into practice many of the findings Koolhaas made in his book Delirious New York (1978), which was written while he was a visiting scholar at the Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies in New York, directed by Peter Eisenman.
Architectural theory
Delirious New York
Koolhaas's book Delirious New York set the pace for his career. Koolhaas analyzes the "chance-like" nature of city life: "The City is an addictive machine from which there is no escape" "Rem Koolhaas...defined the city as a collection of 'red hot spots'." (Anna Klingmann). As Koolhaas himself has acknowledged, this approach had already been evident in the Japanese Metabolist Movement in the 1960s and early 1970s.
A key aspect of architecture that Koolhaas interrogates is the "Program": with the rise of modernism in the 20th century the "Program" became the key theme of architectural design. The notion of the Program involves "an act to edit function and human activities" as the pretext of architectural design: epitomised in the maxim form follows function, first popularised by architect Louis Sullivan at the beginning of the 20th century. The notion was first questioned in Delirious New York, in his analysis of high-rise architecture in Manhattan. An early design method derived from such thinking was "cross-programming", introducing unexpected functions in room programmes, such as running tracks in skyscrapers. More recently, Koolhaas unsuccessfully proposed the inclusion of hospital units for the homeless into the Seattle Public Library project (2003).
Project on the city
Koolhaas' next publications were a by-product of his position as professor at Harvard University, in the Design school's "Project on the City"; firstly the 720-page Mutations, followed by The Harvard Design School Guide to Shopping (2002) and The Great Leap Forward (2002).
All three books published student work analysing what others would regard as "non-cities", sprawling conglomerates such as Lagos in Nigeria, west Africa, which the authors argue are highly functional despite a lack of infrastructure. The authors also examine the influence of shopping habits and the recent rapid growth of cities in China. Critics of the books have criticised Koolhaas for being cynical, – as if Western capitalism and globalization demolish all cultural identity – highlighted in the notion expounded in the books that "In the end, there will be little else for us to do but shop". Perhaps such caustic cynicism can be read as a "realism" about the transformation of cultural life, where airports and even museums (due to finance problems) rely just as much on operating gift shops. It does, however, demonstrate one of the architect's characteristic devices for deflecting criticism: attack the client or subject of study after completing the work.
When it comes to transforming these observations into practice, Koolhaas mobilizes what he regards as the omnipotent forces of urbanism into unique design forms and connections organised along the lines of present-day society. Koolhaas continuously incorporates his observations of the contemporary city within his design activities: calling such a condition the ‘culture of congestion’. Again, shopping is examined for "intellectual comfort", whilst the unregulated taste and densification of Chinese cities is analysed according to "performance", a criterion involving variables with debatable credibility: density, newness, shape, size, money etc.
In 2003, Content, a 544-page magazine-style book designed by &&& Creative and published by Koolhaas, gives an overview of the last decade of OMA projects including his designs for the Prada shops, the Seattle Public Library, a plan to save Cambridge from Harvard by rechanneling the Charles River, Lagos' future as Earth's third-biggest city, as well as interviews with Martha Stewart and Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown.
Volume Magazine
In 2005, Rem Koolhaas co-founded Volume Magazine together with Mark Wigley and Ole Bouman. Volume Magazine – the collaborative project by Archis (Amsterdam), AMO and C-lab (Columbia University NY) – is a dynamic experimental think tank devoted to the process of spatial and cultural reflexivity. It goes beyond architecture's definition of ‘making buildings’ and reaches out for global views on architecture and design, broader attitudes to social structures, and creating environments to live in. The magazine stands for a journalism which detects and anticipates, is proactive and even pre-emptive – a journalism which uncovers potentialities, rather than covering done deals.
Buildings and projects
In the late nineties he worked on the design for the new headquarters for Universal.
Indeed, online marketing and propaganda has been a hallmark of OMA's rise in the current century. It has also led to pointed criticism, such as the critique by New York Magazine critic Justin Davidson, who found the 2020 Guggenheim exhibition Countryside, the Future "mildly amusing if it weren’t such terrible waste — of attention, of gallery square footage, of resources, talent, and expertise. Bored with being an architect and building things, Koolhaas lets his fingertips graze important topics, genuine insights, and actual lives. He treats them all as ironic bric-a-brac, meaningless souvenirs of his meanderings through a fragile world. How frustrating that the Guggenheim couldn’t force a little more intellectual rigor on this romp."
Architecture, fashion, and theatre
With his Prada projects, Koolhaas ventured into providing architecture for the fleeting world of fashion and with celebrity-studded cachet: not unlike Garnier's Opera, the central space of Koolhaas' Beverly Hills Prada store is occupied by a massive central staircase, ostensibly displaying select wares, but mainly the shoppers themselves. The notion of selling a brand rather than marketing clothes was further emphasised in the Prada store on Broadway in Manhattan, New York, which had previously been owned by the Guggenheim: the museum signs were not removed during the outfitting of the new store, as if emphasizing the premises as a cultural institution. The Broadway Prada store opened in December 2001, cost €32 million to build, and has 2,300 square meters of retail space.
21st Century Projects
Probably the most costly and celebrated OMA projects of the new century were the massive Central China Television Headquarters Building in Beijing, China, and the new building for the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, the equivalent of the NASDAQ in China.
In his design for the new CCTV Headquarters in Beijing (2009), Koolhaas did not opt for the stereotypical skyscraper, often used to symbolise and landmark such government enterprises; he patented a "horizontal skyscraper" in the U.S. The building, popularly called "The Big Pants" by Beijing residents, was designed as a series of volumes which attempt to tie together the numerous departments onto the nebulous site, but also introduce routes (again, the concept of cross-programming) for the general public through the site, allowing them some degree of access to the production procedure. An unfortunate incident that highlighted the folly of the circulation scheme (no effective fire egress for people on the upper floors), was the construction fire that nearly destroyed the building and a nearby hotel in 2009.
Personal life
Koolhaas was previously married to Madelon Vriesendorp, an artist who is the mother of his two children, Charlie, a photographer, and Tomas, a filmmaker. Koolhaas divorced Vriesendorp in 2012. He has known his current partner Petra Blaisse, an interior and landscape designer since 1986.
Selected projects
Villa dall’Ava, (Saint-Cloud, 1991)
Nexus World Housing (Fukuoka, 1991)
Kunsthal (Rotterdam, 1992)
Euralille (Lille, 1994)
Educatorium (Utrecht, 1995)
Maison à Bordeaux (Bordeaux, 1998)
Embassy of the Netherlands (Berlin, 2003)
McCormick Tribune Campus Center (Chicago, 2003)
Seoul National University Museum of Art (Seoul, 2005)
Seattle Central Library (Seattle, 2005)
Casa da Música (Porto, 2005)
Dee and Charles Wyly Theater (Dallas, 2009)
CCTV Headquarters, (Beijing, 2012)
De Rotterdam (Rotterdam, 2013)
Garage Museum of Contemporary Art (Moscow, 2014)
Qatar National Library (Doha, 2017)
Taipei Performing Arts Center (Taipei, 2022)
Bibliography
Project Japan. Metabolism Talks... (2011) (with Hans Ulrich Obrist)
Delirious New York: A Retroactive Manifesto for Manhattan (1978)
S,M,L,XL (1995)
Serpentine Gallery: 24 Hour Interview Marathon (2007) Living Vivre Leben (1998)Content (2004)
Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2006''; Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König, Köln, Germany 2008
Gallery
See also
Contemporary architecture
World Architecture Survey
List of architects
Koolhaas Houselife
References
External links
Office for Metropolitan Architecture
OMA official Facebook page (updated daily)
OMA official Vimeo channel
OMA portfolio on Archello.com
Rem Koolhaas at Harvard University
Urgency 2007: Rem Koolhaas and Peter Eisenman lectures, Canadian Centre for Architecture, June 8, 2007
Rem Koolhaas in conversation with Mirko Zardini and Giovanna Borasi, Rotterdam, August 26, 2015, for the exhibition The Other Architect, Canadian Centre for Architecture
On Starchitecture
Koolhaas at Harvard's Ecological Urbanism
Rem Koolhaas: A Kind of Architect (2008 Feature Documentary)
Rem Koolhaas lecture "Russia for Beginners" at Garage Museum of Contemporary Art: September 15th, 2014
Rem Koolhaas on Empty Canon
1944 births
20th-century Dutch architects
21st-century Dutch architects
Architectural theoreticians
Urban theorists
Deconstructivism
Postmodern architecture
Dutch non-fiction writers
Living people
Cornell University College of Architecture, Art, and Planning alumni
Harvard Graduate School of Design faculty
Dutch urban planners
Architects from Rotterdam
Pritzker Architecture Prize winners
Recipients of the Royal Gold Medal
Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur
Recipients of the Praemium Imperiale
Alumni of the Architectural Association School of Architecture
Honorary Fellows of the American Institute of Architects | true | [
"Přírodní park Třebíčsko (before Oblast klidu Třebíčsko) is a natural park near Třebíč in the Czech Republic. There are many interesting plants. The park was founded in 1983.\n\nKobylinec and Ptáčovský kopeček\n\nKobylinec is a natural monument situated ca 0,5 km from the village of Trnava.\nThe area of this monument is 0,44 ha. Pulsatilla grandis can be found here and in the Ptáčovský kopeček park near Ptáčov near Třebíč. Both monuments are very popular for tourists.\n\nPonds\n\nIn the natural park there are some interesting ponds such as Velký Bor, Malý Bor, Buršík near Přeckov and a brook Březinka. Dams on the brook are examples of European beaver activity.\n\nSyenitové skály near Pocoucov\n\nSyenitové skály (rocks of syenit) near Pocoucov is one of famed locations. There are interesting granite boulders. The area of the reservation is 0,77 ha.\n\nExternal links\nParts of this article or all article was translated from Czech. The original article is :cs:Přírodní park Třebíčsko.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nNature near the village Trnava which is there\n\nTřebíč\nParks in the Czech Republic\nTourist attractions in the Vysočina Region",
"Damn Interesting is an independent website founded by Alan Bellows in 2005. The website presents true stories from science, history, and psychology, primarily as long-form articles, often illustrated with original artwork. Works are written by various authors, and published at irregular intervals. The website openly rejects advertising, relying on reader and listener donations to cover operating costs.\n\nAs of October 2012, each article is also published as a podcast under the same name. In November 2019, a second podcast was launched under the title Damn Interesting Week, featuring unscripted commentary on an assortment of news articles featured on the website's \"Curated Links\" section that week. In mid-2020, a third podcast called Damn Interesting Curio Cabinet began highlighting the website's periodic short-form articles in the same radioplay format as the original podcast.\n\nIn July 2009, Damn Interesting published the print book Alien Hand Syndrome through Workman Publishing. It contains some favorites from the site and some exclusive content.\n\nAwards and recognition \nIn August 2007, PC Magazine named Damn Interesting one of the \"Top 100 Undiscovered Web Sites\".\nThe article \"The Zero-Armed Bandit\" by Alan Bellows won a 2015 Sidney Award from David Brooks in The New York Times.\nThe article \"Ghoulish Acts and Dastardly Deeds\" by Alan Bellows was cited as \"nonfiction journalism from 2017 that will stand the test of time\" by Conor Friedersdorf in The Atlantic.\nThe article \"Dupes and Duplicity\" by Jennifer Lee Noonan won a 2020 Sidney Award from David Brooks in the New York Times.\n\nAccusing The Dollop of plagiarism \n\nOn July 9, 2015, Bellows posted an open letter accusing The Dollop, a comedy podcast about history, of plagiarism due to their repeated use of verbatim text from Damn Interesting articles without permission or attribution. Dave Anthony, the writer of The Dollop, responded on reddit, admitting to using Damn Interesting content, but claiming that the use was protected by fair use, and that \"historical facts are not copyrightable.\" In an article about the controversy on Plagiarism Today, Jonathan Bailey concluded, \"Any way one looks at it, The Dollop failed its ethical obligations to all of the people, not just those writing for Damn Interesting, who put in the time, energy and expertise into writing the original content upon which their show is based.\"\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Official website\n\n2005 podcast debuts"
] | [
"Remment Lucas Koolhaas (; born 17 November 1944) is a Dutch architect, architectural theorist, urbanist and Professor in Practice of Architecture and Urban Design at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University. He is often cited as a representative of Deconstructivism and is the author of Delirious New York: A Retroactive Manifesto for Manhattan. He is seen by some as one of the truly significant architectural thinkers and urbanists of his generation, by others as a self-important iconoclast. In 2000, Rem Koolhaas won the Pritzker Prize.",
"In 2000, Rem Koolhaas won the Pritzker Prize. In 2000, Rem Koolhaas won the Pritzker Prize. In 2008, Time put him in their top 100 of The World's Most Influential People. He was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2014. Early life and career Remment Koolhaas, usually abbreviated to Rem Koolhaas, was born on 17 November 1944 in Rotterdam, Netherlands, to Anton Koolhaas (1912–1992) and Selinde Pietertje Roosenburg (born 1920). His father was a novelist, critic, and screenwriter.",
"His father was a novelist, critic, and screenwriter. Two documentary films by Bert Haanstra for which his father wrote the scenarios were nominated for an Academy Award for Documentary Feature, one won a Golden Bear for Short Film. His maternal grandfather, Dirk Roosenburg (1887–1962), was a modernist architect who worked for Hendrik Petrus Berlage, before opening his own practice. Rem Koolhaas has a brother, Thomas, and a sister, Annabel. His paternal cousin was the architect and urban planner Teun Koolhaas (1940–2007).",
"His paternal cousin was the architect and urban planner Teun Koolhaas (1940–2007). The family lived consecutively in Rotterdam (until 1946), Amsterdam (1946–1952), Jakarta (1952–1955), and Amsterdam (from 1955). His father strongly supported the Indonesian cause for autonomy from the colonial Dutch in his writing. When the war of independence was won, he was invited over to run a cultural programme for three years and the family moved to Jakarta in 1952.",
"When the war of independence was won, he was invited over to run a cultural programme for three years and the family moved to Jakarta in 1952. \"It was a very important age for me,\" Koolhaas recalls \"and I really lived as an Asian.\" In 1969, Koolhaas co-wrote The White Slave, a Dutch film noir, and later wrote an unproduced script for American soft-porn king Russ Meyer.",
"In 1969, Koolhaas co-wrote The White Slave, a Dutch film noir, and later wrote an unproduced script for American soft-porn king Russ Meyer. He was a journalist in 1963 at age 19 for the Haagse Post before starting studies in architecture in 1968 at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, followed, in 1972, by further studies with Oswald Mathias Ungers at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, followed by studies at the Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies in New York City.",
"He was a journalist in 1963 at age 19 for the Haagse Post before starting studies in architecture in 1968 at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, followed, in 1972, by further studies with Oswald Mathias Ungers at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, followed by studies at the Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies in New York City. Koolhaas first came to public and critical attention with OMA (The Office for Metropolitan Architecture), the office he founded in 1975 together with architects Elia Zenghelis, Zoe Zenghelis and (Koolhaas's wife) Madelon Vriesendorp in London.",
"Koolhaas first came to public and critical attention with OMA (The Office for Metropolitan Architecture), the office he founded in 1975 together with architects Elia Zenghelis, Zoe Zenghelis and (Koolhaas's wife) Madelon Vriesendorp in London. They were later joined by one of Koolhaas's students, Zaha Hadid – who would soon go on to achieve success in her own right.",
"They were later joined by one of Koolhaas's students, Zaha Hadid – who would soon go on to achieve success in her own right. An early work which would mark their difference from the then dominant postmodern classicism of the late 1970s, was their contribution to the Venice Biennale of 1980, curated by Italian architect Paolo Portoghesi, titled \"Presence of the Past\".",
"An early work which would mark their difference from the then dominant postmodern classicism of the late 1970s, was their contribution to the Venice Biennale of 1980, curated by Italian architect Paolo Portoghesi, titled \"Presence of the Past\". Each architect had to design a stage-like \"frontage\" to a Potemkin-type internal street; the façades by , Frank Gehry and OMA were the only ones that did not employ Post-Modern architecture motifs or historical references.",
"Each architect had to design a stage-like \"frontage\" to a Potemkin-type internal street; the façades by , Frank Gehry and OMA were the only ones that did not employ Post-Modern architecture motifs or historical references. Other early critically received (yet unbuilt) projects included the Parc de la Villette, Paris (1982) and the residence for the Prime Minister of Ireland (1979), as well as the Kunsthal in Rotterdam (1992).",
"Other early critically received (yet unbuilt) projects included the Parc de la Villette, Paris (1982) and the residence for the Prime Minister of Ireland (1979), as well as the Kunsthal in Rotterdam (1992). These schemes would attempt to put into practice many of the findings Koolhaas made in his book Delirious New York (1978), which was written while he was a visiting scholar at the Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies in New York, directed by Peter Eisenman.",
"These schemes would attempt to put into practice many of the findings Koolhaas made in his book Delirious New York (1978), which was written while he was a visiting scholar at the Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies in New York, directed by Peter Eisenman. Architectural theory Delirious New York Koolhaas's book Delirious New York set the pace for his career.",
"Architectural theory Delirious New York Koolhaas's book Delirious New York set the pace for his career. Koolhaas analyzes the \"chance-like\" nature of city life: \"The City is an addictive machine from which there is no escape\" \"Rem Koolhaas...defined the city as a collection of 'red hot spots'.\" (Anna Klingmann). As Koolhaas himself has acknowledged, this approach had already been evident in the Japanese Metabolist Movement in the 1960s and early 1970s.",
"As Koolhaas himself has acknowledged, this approach had already been evident in the Japanese Metabolist Movement in the 1960s and early 1970s. A key aspect of architecture that Koolhaas interrogates is the \"Program\": with the rise of modernism in the 20th century the \"Program\" became the key theme of architectural design.",
"A key aspect of architecture that Koolhaas interrogates is the \"Program\": with the rise of modernism in the 20th century the \"Program\" became the key theme of architectural design. The notion of the Program involves \"an act to edit function and human activities\" as the pretext of architectural design: epitomised in the maxim form follows function, first popularised by architect Louis Sullivan at the beginning of the 20th century. The notion was first questioned in Delirious New York, in his analysis of high-rise architecture in Manhattan.",
"The notion was first questioned in Delirious New York, in his analysis of high-rise architecture in Manhattan. An early design method derived from such thinking was \"cross-programming\", introducing unexpected functions in room programmes, such as running tracks in skyscrapers. More recently, Koolhaas unsuccessfully proposed the inclusion of hospital units for the homeless into the Seattle Public Library project (2003).",
"More recently, Koolhaas unsuccessfully proposed the inclusion of hospital units for the homeless into the Seattle Public Library project (2003). Project on the city Koolhaas' next publications were a by-product of his position as professor at Harvard University, in the Design school's \"Project on the City\"; firstly the 720-page Mutations, followed by The Harvard Design School Guide to Shopping (2002) and The Great Leap Forward (2002).",
"Project on the city Koolhaas' next publications were a by-product of his position as professor at Harvard University, in the Design school's \"Project on the City\"; firstly the 720-page Mutations, followed by The Harvard Design School Guide to Shopping (2002) and The Great Leap Forward (2002). All three books published student work analysing what others would regard as \"non-cities\", sprawling conglomerates such as Lagos in Nigeria, west Africa, which the authors argue are highly functional despite a lack of infrastructure.",
"All three books published student work analysing what others would regard as \"non-cities\", sprawling conglomerates such as Lagos in Nigeria, west Africa, which the authors argue are highly functional despite a lack of infrastructure. The authors also examine the influence of shopping habits and the recent rapid growth of cities in China.",
"The authors also examine the influence of shopping habits and the recent rapid growth of cities in China. Critics of the books have criticised Koolhaas for being cynical, – as if Western capitalism and globalization demolish all cultural identity – highlighted in the notion expounded in the books that \"In the end, there will be little else for us to do but shop\".",
"Critics of the books have criticised Koolhaas for being cynical, – as if Western capitalism and globalization demolish all cultural identity – highlighted in the notion expounded in the books that \"In the end, there will be little else for us to do but shop\". Perhaps such caustic cynicism can be read as a \"realism\" about the transformation of cultural life, where airports and even museums (due to finance problems) rely just as much on operating gift shops.",
"Perhaps such caustic cynicism can be read as a \"realism\" about the transformation of cultural life, where airports and even museums (due to finance problems) rely just as much on operating gift shops. It does, however, demonstrate one of the architect's characteristic devices for deflecting criticism: attack the client or subject of study after completing the work.",
"It does, however, demonstrate one of the architect's characteristic devices for deflecting criticism: attack the client or subject of study after completing the work. When it comes to transforming these observations into practice, Koolhaas mobilizes what he regards as the omnipotent forces of urbanism into unique design forms and connections organised along the lines of present-day society. Koolhaas continuously incorporates his observations of the contemporary city within his design activities: calling such a condition the ‘culture of congestion’.",
"Koolhaas continuously incorporates his observations of the contemporary city within his design activities: calling such a condition the ‘culture of congestion’. Again, shopping is examined for \"intellectual comfort\", whilst the unregulated taste and densification of Chinese cities is analysed according to \"performance\", a criterion involving variables with debatable credibility: density, newness, shape, size, money etc.",
"Again, shopping is examined for \"intellectual comfort\", whilst the unregulated taste and densification of Chinese cities is analysed according to \"performance\", a criterion involving variables with debatable credibility: density, newness, shape, size, money etc. In 2003, Content, a 544-page magazine-style book designed by &&& Creative and published by Koolhaas, gives an overview of the last decade of OMA projects including his designs for the Prada shops, the Seattle Public Library, a plan to save Cambridge from Harvard by rechanneling the Charles River, Lagos' future as Earth's third-biggest city, as well as interviews with Martha Stewart and Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown.",
"In 2003, Content, a 544-page magazine-style book designed by &&& Creative and published by Koolhaas, gives an overview of the last decade of OMA projects including his designs for the Prada shops, the Seattle Public Library, a plan to save Cambridge from Harvard by rechanneling the Charles River, Lagos' future as Earth's third-biggest city, as well as interviews with Martha Stewart and Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown. Volume Magazine In 2005, Rem Koolhaas co-founded Volume Magazine together with Mark Wigley and Ole Bouman.",
"Volume Magazine In 2005, Rem Koolhaas co-founded Volume Magazine together with Mark Wigley and Ole Bouman. Volume Magazine – the collaborative project by Archis (Amsterdam), AMO and C-lab (Columbia University NY) – is a dynamic experimental think tank devoted to the process of spatial and cultural reflexivity. It goes beyond architecture's definition of ‘making buildings’ and reaches out for global views on architecture and design, broader attitudes to social structures, and creating environments to live in.",
"It goes beyond architecture's definition of ‘making buildings’ and reaches out for global views on architecture and design, broader attitudes to social structures, and creating environments to live in. The magazine stands for a journalism which detects and anticipates, is proactive and even pre-emptive – a journalism which uncovers potentialities, rather than covering done deals. Buildings and projects In the late nineties he worked on the design for the new headquarters for Universal.",
"Buildings and projects In the late nineties he worked on the design for the new headquarters for Universal. Indeed, online marketing and propaganda has been a hallmark of OMA's rise in the current century. It has also led to pointed criticism, such as the critique by New York Magazine critic Justin Davidson, who found the 2020 Guggenheim exhibition Countryside, the Future \"mildly amusing if it weren’t such terrible waste — of attention, of gallery square footage, of resources, talent, and expertise.",
"It has also led to pointed criticism, such as the critique by New York Magazine critic Justin Davidson, who found the 2020 Guggenheim exhibition Countryside, the Future \"mildly amusing if it weren’t such terrible waste — of attention, of gallery square footage, of resources, talent, and expertise. Bored with being an architect and building things, Koolhaas lets his fingertips graze important topics, genuine insights, and actual lives. He treats them all as ironic bric-a-brac, meaningless souvenirs of his meanderings through a fragile world.",
"He treats them all as ironic bric-a-brac, meaningless souvenirs of his meanderings through a fragile world. How frustrating that the Guggenheim couldn’t force a little more intellectual rigor on this romp.\" Architecture, fashion, and theatre With his Prada projects, Koolhaas ventured into providing architecture for the fleeting world of fashion and with celebrity-studded cachet: not unlike Garnier's Opera, the central space of Koolhaas' Beverly Hills Prada store is occupied by a massive central staircase, ostensibly displaying select wares, but mainly the shoppers themselves.",
"Architecture, fashion, and theatre With his Prada projects, Koolhaas ventured into providing architecture for the fleeting world of fashion and with celebrity-studded cachet: not unlike Garnier's Opera, the central space of Koolhaas' Beverly Hills Prada store is occupied by a massive central staircase, ostensibly displaying select wares, but mainly the shoppers themselves. The notion of selling a brand rather than marketing clothes was further emphasised in the Prada store on Broadway in Manhattan, New York, which had previously been owned by the Guggenheim: the museum signs were not removed during the outfitting of the new store, as if emphasizing the premises as a cultural institution.",
"The notion of selling a brand rather than marketing clothes was further emphasised in the Prada store on Broadway in Manhattan, New York, which had previously been owned by the Guggenheim: the museum signs were not removed during the outfitting of the new store, as if emphasizing the premises as a cultural institution. The Broadway Prada store opened in December 2001, cost €32 million to build, and has 2,300 square meters of retail space.",
"The Broadway Prada store opened in December 2001, cost €32 million to build, and has 2,300 square meters of retail space. 21st Century Projects Probably the most costly and celebrated OMA projects of the new century were the massive Central China Television Headquarters Building in Beijing, China, and the new building for the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, the equivalent of the NASDAQ in China.",
"21st Century Projects Probably the most costly and celebrated OMA projects of the new century were the massive Central China Television Headquarters Building in Beijing, China, and the new building for the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, the equivalent of the NASDAQ in China. In his design for the new CCTV Headquarters in Beijing (2009), Koolhaas did not opt for the stereotypical skyscraper, often used to symbolise and landmark such government enterprises; he patented a \"horizontal skyscraper\" in the U.S.",
"In his design for the new CCTV Headquarters in Beijing (2009), Koolhaas did not opt for the stereotypical skyscraper, often used to symbolise and landmark such government enterprises; he patented a \"horizontal skyscraper\" in the U.S. The building, popularly called \"The Big Pants\" by Beijing residents, was designed as a series of volumes which attempt to tie together the numerous departments onto the nebulous site, but also introduce routes (again, the concept of cross-programming) for the general public through the site, allowing them some degree of access to the production procedure.",
"The building, popularly called \"The Big Pants\" by Beijing residents, was designed as a series of volumes which attempt to tie together the numerous departments onto the nebulous site, but also introduce routes (again, the concept of cross-programming) for the general public through the site, allowing them some degree of access to the production procedure. An unfortunate incident that highlighted the folly of the circulation scheme (no effective fire egress for people on the upper floors), was the construction fire that nearly destroyed the building and a nearby hotel in 2009.",
"An unfortunate incident that highlighted the folly of the circulation scheme (no effective fire egress for people on the upper floors), was the construction fire that nearly destroyed the building and a nearby hotel in 2009. Personal life Koolhaas was previously married to Madelon Vriesendorp, an artist who is the mother of his two children, Charlie, a photographer, and Tomas, a filmmaker. Koolhaas divorced Vriesendorp in 2012. He has known his current partner Petra Blaisse, an interior and landscape designer since 1986.",
"He has known his current partner Petra Blaisse, an interior and landscape designer since 1986. Selected projects Villa dall’Ava, (Saint-Cloud, 1991) Nexus World Housing (Fukuoka, 1991) Kunsthal (Rotterdam, 1992) Euralille (Lille, 1994) Educatorium (Utrecht, 1995) Maison à Bordeaux (Bordeaux, 1998) Embassy of the Netherlands (Berlin, 2003) McCormick Tribune Campus Center (Chicago, 2003) Seoul National University Museum of Art (Seoul, 2005) Seattle Central Library (Seattle, 2005) Casa da Música (Porto, 2005) Dee and Charles Wyly Theater (Dallas, 2009) CCTV Headquarters, (Beijing, 2012) De Rotterdam (Rotterdam, 2013) Garage Museum of Contemporary Art (Moscow, 2014) Qatar National Library (Doha, 2017) Taipei Performing Arts Center (Taipei, 2022) Bibliography Project Japan.",
"Selected projects Villa dall’Ava, (Saint-Cloud, 1991) Nexus World Housing (Fukuoka, 1991) Kunsthal (Rotterdam, 1992) Euralille (Lille, 1994) Educatorium (Utrecht, 1995) Maison à Bordeaux (Bordeaux, 1998) Embassy of the Netherlands (Berlin, 2003) McCormick Tribune Campus Center (Chicago, 2003) Seoul National University Museum of Art (Seoul, 2005) Seattle Central Library (Seattle, 2005) Casa da Música (Porto, 2005) Dee and Charles Wyly Theater (Dallas, 2009) CCTV Headquarters, (Beijing, 2012) De Rotterdam (Rotterdam, 2013) Garage Museum of Contemporary Art (Moscow, 2014) Qatar National Library (Doha, 2017) Taipei Performing Arts Center (Taipei, 2022) Bibliography Project Japan. Metabolism Talks... (2011) (with Hans Ulrich Obrist) Delirious New York: A Retroactive Manifesto for Manhattan (1978) S,M,L,XL (1995) Serpentine Gallery: 24 Hour Interview Marathon (2007) Living Vivre Leben (1998)Content (2004) Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2006''; Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König, Köln, Germany 2008 Gallery See also Contemporary architecture World Architecture Survey List of architects Koolhaas Houselife References External links Office for Metropolitan Architecture OMA official Facebook page (updated daily) OMA official Vimeo channel OMA portfolio on Archello.com Rem Koolhaas at Harvard University Urgency 2007: Rem Koolhaas and Peter Eisenman lectures, Canadian Centre for Architecture, June 8, 2007 Rem Koolhaas in conversation with Mirko Zardini and Giovanna Borasi, Rotterdam, August 26, 2015, for the exhibition The Other Architect, Canadian Centre for Architecture On Starchitecture Koolhaas at Harvard's Ecological Urbanism Rem Koolhaas: A Kind of Architect (2008 Feature Documentary) Rem Koolhaas lecture \"Russia for Beginners\" at Garage Museum of Contemporary Art: September 15th, 2014 Rem Koolhaas on Empty Canon 1944 births 20th-century Dutch architects 21st-century Dutch architects Architectural theoreticians Urban theorists Deconstructivism Postmodern architecture Dutch non-fiction writers Living people Cornell University College of Architecture, Art, and Planning alumni Harvard Graduate School of Design faculty Dutch urban planners Architects from Rotterdam Pritzker Architecture Prize winners Recipients of the Royal Gold Medal Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur Recipients of the Praemium Imperiale Alumni of the Architectural Association School of Architecture Honorary Fellows of the American Institute of Architects"
] |
[
"David Simon",
"Journalism",
"What was his relationship with journalism?",
"Simon worked as a police reporter at The Baltimore Sun from 1982 to 1995. He spent most of his career covering the crime beat. A colleague has said that"
] | C_9bee77e3ba5d4991a15b82be185dfcbd_1 | How were his pieces recieved? | 2 | How were David Simon's pieces at The Baltimore Sun recieved? | David Simon | Upon leaving college, Simon worked as a police reporter at The Baltimore Sun from 1982 to 1995. He spent most of his career covering the crime beat. A colleague has said that Simon loved journalism and felt it was "God's work". Simon says that he was initially altruistic and was inspired to enter journalism by the Washington Post's coverage of Watergate but became increasingly pragmatic as he gained experience. Later in his career he aimed to tell the best possible story without "cheating it". Simon was a union captain when the writing staff went on strike in 1987 over benefit cuts. He remained angry after the strike ended and began to feel uncomfortable in the writing room. He searched for a reason to justify a leave of absence and settled on the idea of writing a novel. "I got out of journalism because some sons of bitches bought my newspaper and it stopped being fun," says Simon. In an interview in Reason in 2004, Simon said that since leaving the newspaper business he has become more cynical about the power of journalism. "One of the sad things about contemporary journalism is that it actually matters very little. The world now is almost inured to the power of journalism. The best journalism would manage to outrage people. And people are less and less inclined to outrage," said Simon. "I've become increasingly cynical about the ability of daily journalism to effect any kind of meaningful change. I was pretty dubious about it when I was a journalist, but now I think it's remarkably ineffectual." In 1988, disillusioned, Simon took a year's leave to go into the Baltimore Police Department Homicide Unit to write a book. CANNOTANSWER | A colleague has said that Simon loved journalism and felt it was "God's work". Simon says that he was initially altruistic and was inspired | David Judah Simon (born February 9, 1960) is an American author, journalist, and television writer and producer best known for his work on The Wire (2002–08).
He worked for The Baltimore Sun City Desk for twelve years (1982–95), wrote Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets (1991), and co-wrote The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood (1997) with Ed Burns. The former book was the basis for the NBC series Homicide: Life on the Street (1993–99), on which Simon served as a writer and producer. Simon adapted the latter book into the HBO mini-series The Corner (2000).
He was the creator, executive producer, head writer, and show runner for all five seasons of the HBO television series The Wire (2002–2008). He adapted the non-fiction book Generation Kill into a television mini-series, and served as the show runner for the project. He was selected as one of the 2010 MacArthur Fellows and named an Utne Reader visionary in 2011. Simon also created the HBO series Treme with Eric Overmyer, which aired for four seasons. Following Treme, Simon wrote the HBO mini-series Show Me a Hero with journalist William F. Zorzi, a colleague first at The Baltimore Sun and again later on The Wire. Simon and frequent collaborator George Pelecanos reunited to create original series The Deuce. The drama about the New York porn industry in the 1970s and 1980s stars Maggie Gyllenhaal and co-producer James Franco, and aired from 2017 to 2019. Simon's next series, The Plot Against America, debuted in 2020.
Early life and education
Simon was born in Washington, D.C., the son of Dorothy Simon (née Ligeti), a homemaker, and Bernard Simon, a former journalist and then public relations director for B'nai B'rith for 20 years. Simon was raised in a Jewish family, and had a bar mitzvah ceremony. His family roots are in Russia, Belarus, Hungary, and Slovakia (his maternal grandfather had changed his surname from "Leibowitz" to "Ligeti"). He has a brother, Gary Simon, and a sister, Linda Evans, who died in 1990.
In March 1977, when Simon was still in high school, Simon's father was one of a group of over 140 people held hostage (and later released) in Washington, D.C. by former national secretary of the Nation of Islam Hamaas Abdul Khaalis in the Hanafi Siege.
Simon graduated from Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School in Bethesda, Maryland, and wrote for the school newspaper, The Tattler. In 1983, he graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park. While at college he wrote and was Editor for The Diamondback, and became friends with contemporary David Mills.
Career
Journalism
Upon leaving college, Simon worked as a police reporter at The Baltimore Sun from 1982 to 1995. Simon was hired by the Baltimore Sun for a piece he wrote about Lefty Driesell, who was then the men's basketball coach at the University of Maryland. Driesell had been extremely frustrated that one of his players was suspended from playing for sexual impropriety and called the victim, threatening to destroy her reputation if she did not withdraw her complaint. This was all done while the university administration was listening to the call, but they did nothing. Lefty Driesell was later given a 5-year contract and, in 2018, he was inducted into the ACC Hall of Fame.
Simon spent most of his career covering the crime beat. A colleague has said that Simon loved journalism and felt it was "God's work". Simon says that he was initially altruistic and was inspired to enter journalism by The Washington Posts coverage of Watergate but became increasingly pragmatic as he gained experience.
Simon was a union captain when the writing staff went on strike in 1987 over benefit cuts. He remained angry after the strike ended and began to feel uncomfortable in the writing room. He searched for a reason to justify a leave of absence and settled on the idea of writing a novel. "I got out of journalism because some sons of bitches bought my newspaper and it stopped being fun," says Simon.
In 1988, disillusioned, Simon took a year's leave to go into the Baltimore Police Department Homicide Unit to write a book.
Book
Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets
Simon's leave of absence from The Sun resulted in his first book Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets (1991). The book was based on his experiences shadowing the Baltimore Police Department homicide unit during 1988. The idea came from a conversation on Christmas Eve 1985 in the unit office, where Det. Bill Lansey told him, "If someone just wrote down what happens in this place for one year, they'd have a goddamn book." Simon approached the police department and the editors of the paper to receive approval. The detectives were initially slow to accept him, but he persevered in an attempt to "seem … like part of the furniture". However, he soon ingratiated himself with the detectives, saying in the closing notes of the book, "I shared with the detectives a year's worth of fast-food runs, bar arguments and station house humor: Even for a trained observer, it was hard to remain aloof." During one instance, Simon even assisted with an arrest. Two detectives Simon was riding with pulled their car to a curb to apprehend two suspects, but Detective Dave Brown got his trenchcoat caught in a seat belt when he tried to exit the car. Brown told Simon to assist Detective Terry McLarney himself, and Simon helped apprehend and search one of the suspects.
The book won the 1992 Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime book. The Associated Press called it "a true-crime classic". The Library Journal also highly recommended it, and Newsday described it as "one of the most engrossing police procedural mystery books ever written". Simon credits his time researching the book as altering his writing style and informing later work. He learned to be more patient in research and writing, and said a key lesson was not promoting himself but concentrating on his subjects. Simon told Baltimore's City Paper in 2003 that Homicide was not traditional journalism. "I felt Homicide the book and The Corner were not traditional journalism in the sense of coming from some artificially omniscient, objective point of view," said Simon. "They're immersed in the respective cultures that they cover in a way that traditional journalism often isn't."
Television
Homicide: Life on the Street
The publishers of Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets were eager for a screen adaptation and submitted it to numerous directors but there was little interest. Simon suggested that they send the book to Baltimore native and film director Barry Levinson. Levinson's assistant Gail Mutrux enjoyed the book and both she and Levinson became attached as producers. The project became the award-winning TV series Homicide: Life on the Street (1993–1999), on which Simon worked as a writer and producer.
Simon was asked by Mutrux to write the show's pilot episode but declined, feeling he did not have the necessary expertise. He collaborated with his old college friend David Mills to write the season two premiere "Bop Gun". The episode was based on a story by executive producer Tom Fontana and featured Robin Williams in a guest starring role that garnered the actor an Emmy nomination. Simon and Mills won the WGA Award for Best Writing in a Drama for the episode. Simon also received Austin Film Festival's Outstanding Television Writer Award in 2010.
Simon left his job with the Baltimore Sun in 1995 to work full-time on Homicide: Life on the Street during the production of the show's fourth season. Simon wrote the teleplay for the season four episodes "Justice: Part 2" and "Scene of the Crime" (with Anya Epstein). For season five he was the show's story editor and continued to contribute teleplays writing the episodes "Bad Medicine" and "Wu's on First?" (again with Epstein). He was credited as a producer on the show's sixth and seventh seasons. He wrote the teleplays for parts two and three of the sixth-season premiere "Blood Ties" (the latter marking his third collaboration with Epstein) and provided the story for the later sixth-season episodes "Full Court Press" and "Finnegan's Wake" (with James Yoshimura). He provided the story for the seventh season episodes "Shades of Gray" (with Julie Martin), "The Same Coin" (again with Yoshimura) and "Self Defense" (with Eric Overmyer). Simon wrote the story and teleplay for the seventh season episodes "The Twenty Percent Solution" and "Sideshow: Part 2". Simon, Martin and teleplay writer T. J. English won the Humanitas Prize in the 60 minutes category for the episode "Shades of Gray". Simon was nominated for a second WGA Award for Best Writing in a Drama for his work on "Finnegan's Wake" with Yoshimura and Mills (who wrote the teleplay).
Simon has said that he thought the show was a "remarkable drama" but that it did not reflect the book. He has also said that when writing for the show he had to put his experiences of the real detectives aside as the characters became quite different, particularly in their more philosophical approach to the job. Simon said that TV must find shorthand ways of referencing anything real.
The Corner
In 1997 he co-authored, with Ed Burns, The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood, the true account of a West Baltimore community dominated by a heavy drug market. Simon credits his editor John Sterling with the suggestion that he observe a single drug corner. He took a second leave of absence from the Baltimore Sun in 1993 to research the project. Simon became close to one of his subjects, drug addict Gary McCullough, and was devastated by his death while he was writing the project. Simon says that he approached the research with the abstract idea that his subjects may die because of their addictions but it was not possible to fully prepare for the reality. He remains grateful to his subjects saying "This involved people's whole lives, there's no privacy in it. That was an enormous gift which many, many people gave us. Even the most functional were at war with themselves. But they were not foolish people. And they made that choice."
The Corner was named a Notable Book of the Year by The New York Times. Simon again returned to his journalism career after finishing the book but felt further changed by his experiences. He said he "was less enamored of the braggadocio, all that big, we're-really-having-an-impact talk" and no longer believed that they were making a difference; he left his job at The Sun within a year for work on NBC's Homicide.
Soon after Homicide concluded Simon co-wrote (with David Mills) and produced The Corner as a six-hour TV miniseries for HBO. The show received three Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries or a Movie, for Simon and Mills.
The Wire
Simon was the creator, show runner, executive producer and head writer of the HBO drama series The Wire. Many of The Wires characters and incidents also came from Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets. After the fourth season, Simon signed on to produce the fifth and final season of The Wire, which focused on the role of mass media in society.
Again he worked with Ed Burns on creating the show. Originally they set out to create a police drama loosely based on Burns' experiences when working on protracted investigations of violent drug dealers using surveillance technology. During this time Burns had often faced frustration with the bureaucracy of the police department, which Simon equated with his own ordeals as a police reporter for The Baltimore Sun. Writing against the background of current events, including institutionalized corporate crime at Enron and institutional dysfunction in the Catholic Church, the show became "more of a treatise about institutions and individuals than a straight cop show."
They chose to take The Wire to HBO because of their existing working relationship from The Corner. Owing to its reputation for exploring new areas, HBO was initially dubious about including a cop drama in their lineup, but eventually agreed to produce the pilot after ordering a further two scripts to see how the series would progress. Carolyn Strauss, the president of HBO entertainment, has said that Simon's argument that the most subversive thing HBO could do was invade the networks' "backyard" of police procedurals helped to persuade them.
The theme of institutional dysfunction was expanded across different areas of the city as the show progressed. The second season focused on the death of working-class America through examination of the city ports. The third season "reflects on the nature of reform and reformers, and whether there is any possibility that political processes, long calcified, can mitigate against the forces currently arrayed against individuals." For the fourth season Simon again turned to Burns' experience, this time his second career as a Baltimore public school teacher in examining the theme of education. The fifth season looked at the media, as well as continuing themes such as politics from earlier seasons.
Simon was reunited with his The Corner producers Robert F. Colesberry and Nina K. Noble on The Wire. Simon credits Colesberry for achieving the show's realistic visual feel because of his experience as a director. They recruited Homicide star and director Clark Johnson to helm the pilot episode. The completed pilot was given to HBO in November 2001. Johnson returned to direct the second episode when the show was picked up, and would direct the series finale as well, in addition to starring in the fifth season.
Simon approached acclaimed crime fiction authors to write for The Wire. He was recommended the work of George Pelecanos by a colleague while working at the Baltimore Sun because of similarities between their writing. The two writers have much in common including a childhood in Silver Spring, attendance at the University of Maryland and their interest in the "fate of the American city and the black urban poor." Simon did not read Pelecanos initially because of territorial prejudice; Pelecanos is from Washington. Once Simon received further recommendations including one from his wife Laura Lippman he tried Pelecanos' novel The Sweet Forever and changed his mind. He sought out Pelecanos when recruiting writers for The Wire. The two met at the funeral of a mutual friend shortly after Simon delivered the pilot episode. Simon pitched Pelecanos the idea of The Wire as a novel for television about the American city as Pelecanos drove him home. Pelecanos became a regular writer and later a producer for the show's second and third seasons. Simon and Pelecanos collaborated to write the episode "Middle Ground" which received the show's first Emmy nomination, in the category Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series.
Pelecanos left the production staff following the third season to focus on his next novel; Simon has commented that he missed having him working on the show full-time but was pleased that he continued to write for them and was a fan of the resultant book The Night Gardener. Similar to Simon's own experience in researching Homicide Pelecanos spent time embedded with the Washington DC homicide unit to research the book.
Crime novelist Dennis Lehane has also written for the series starting with the third season. Lehane has commented that he was impressed by Simon and Burns' ear for authentic street slang.
Eric Overmyer was brought in to fill the role of Pelecanos as a full-time writer producer. He had previously worked with Simon on Homicide where the two became friends. Simon has said that he was impressed with Overmyer's writing particularly in synthesizing the story for "Margin of Error" as the episode is the height of the show's political storyline but must also progress other plot threads.
Simon and his writing staff were nominated for the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Dramatic Series at the February 2009 ceremony for their work on the fifth season. Simon and Burns collaborated to write the series finale "-30-" which received the show's second Emmy nomination, again in the category Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series.
Simon has stated that he finds working with HBO more comfortable than his experiences with NBC on Homicide and that HBO is able to allow greater creative control because it is dependent on subscribers rather than on viewing figures. He has said that he feels unable to return to network television because he felt pressure to compromise storytelling for audience satisfaction.
Generation Kill
Simon produced and wrote Generation Kill for HBO with Ed Burns. They again worked with Nina Noble as a producer. The miniseries is an adaption of the non-fiction book of the same name. It relates the first 40 days of the 2003 invasion of Iraq as experienced by 1st Reconnaissance Battalion and their embedded reporter, Evan Wright. Simon and Burns worked with Wright in adapting his book into the series.
Treme
Simon collaborated with Eric Overmyer again on Treme, a project about musicians in post-Katrina New Orleans. Overmyer lives part-time in New Orleans, and Simon believed his experience would be valuable in navigating the "ornate oral tradition" of the city's stories. Simon also consulted with New Orleans natives Donald Harrison Jr., Kermit Ruffins, and Davis Rogan while developing the series. The show focuses on a working-class neighborhood, and is smaller in scope than The Wire. The series premiered on April 11, 2010, on HBO and ran for four seasons.
Treme is named after the Faubourg Treme neighborhood in New Orleans that is home to many of the city's musicians. Simon stated that the series would explore beyond the music scene to encompass political corruption, the public housing controversy, the criminal-justice system, clashes between police and Mardi Gras Indians, and the struggle to regain the tourism industry after the storm. One of the principal characters in the pilot script runs a restaurant. The series was filmed on location and was expected to provide a boost to the New Orleans economy. Simon's casting of the show mirrored that of The Wire in using local actors wherever possible. Wendell Pierce, who had previously played Bunk Moreland on The Wire, stars in the series. Clarke Peters, also of The Wire, is another series regular. Many other stars of The Wire have appeared in Treme, these include Steve Earle, Jim True-Frost, James Ransone, and Anwan Glover.
Show Me a Hero
In 2014, HBO greenlit production for Simon's next project Show Me a Hero, a six-hour miniseries co-written with William F. Zorzi and the episodes directed by Academy Award-winner Paul Haggis. The miniseries is an adaptation of the nonfiction book of the same name by Lisa Belkin and tells the story of Nick Wasicsko, the youngest big-city mayor in the country who is thrust into racial controversy when a federal court orders to build a small number of low-income housing units in the white neighborhoods of Yonkers, New York. Oscar Isaac stars as Wasicsko and leads a cast, which includes Catherine Keener, Jim Belushi, Bob Balaban and Winona Ryder. The miniseries premiered on August 16, 2015.
The Deuce
The Deuce is a 2017 drama television series set in Times Square, New York focusing on the rise of the porn industry in the 1970s-80s. Created and written by Simon along with frequent collaborator George Pelecanos, the series pilot began shooting in October 2015. It was picked up to series in January 2016. It premiered on September 10, 2017, and is broadcast by HBO in the United States.
The Deuce tells the story of the legalization and ensuing rise of the porn industry in New York beginning in the 1970s and its ongoing rise through the mid-1980s. Themes explored include the rise of HIV, the violence of the drug epidemic and the resulting real estate booms and busts that coincided with the change.
The Plot Against America
An adaptation of Philip Roth's novel, The Plot Against America is an alternate history told through the eyes of a working-class Jewish family in Newark, New Jersey; as they watch the political rise of Charles Lindbergh, an aviator-hero and xenophobic populist, who becomes president and turns the nation toward fascism. The six-part miniseries premiered on March 16, 2020, on HBO.
Projects in developmentParting the Waters: With Taylor Branch, James McBride, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and Eric Overmyer. About Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement, based on one of the volumes of the books America in the King Years written by Taylor Branch, specifically At Canaan's Edge: America in the King Years, 1965–1968. The project was to be produced by Oprah Winfrey, but was shelved.The Avenue: A book with William F. Zorzi Jr., on the Baltimore drug epidemic from 1951 to late 1980sThe Good Friday Plot: Miniseries about Abraham Lincoln based upon Manhunt: The Twelve-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer by James L. Swanson and American Brutus: John Wilkes Booth and the Lincoln Conspiracies by Michael W. Kauffman.Capitol Hill: A collaboration with Carl Bernstein set in Capitol Hill, it examines partisanship and the role money plays in influencing national governance. The series was ordered to pilot by HBO in 2015 but has not received a subsequent season order.Legacy of Ashes: On the Central Intelligence Agency, based on the 2007 book Legacy of Ashes by Tim Weiner. The show was taken to the BBC and would have had Anthony Bourdain on the writing staff.The Pogues: Musical project with the help of the late Philip Chevron in development at The Public Theater in New York City, with Laura Lippman and George PelecanosA Dry Run: The Lincolns in Spain: A historical miniseries set during the Spanish Civil War about the Abraham Lincoln and George Washington Battalions, which were composed of volunteers from the United States who wanted to help the Spanish Republic overcome fascism. Mark Johnson will be the series producer and Mediapro will be the series' production company.
Writing process
Simon is known for his realistic dialogue and journalistic approach to writing. He says that authenticity is paramount and that he writes not with a general audience in mind but with the opinions of his subjects as his priority. He has described his extensive use of real anecdotes and characters in his writing as "stealing life".
In a talk that Simon gave to a live audience in April 2007 at the Creative Alliance's storytelling series, Simon disclosed that he had started writing for revenge against John Carroll and Bill Marimow, the two most senior editors at The Baltimore Sun when Simon was a reporter at the paper. Simon said he had watched Carroll and Marimow "single-handedly destroy" the newspaper and that he spent over ten years trying to get back at them.
Anything I've ever accomplished as a writer, as somebody doing TV, anything I've ever done in life, down to, like, cleaning up my room, has been accomplished because I was going to show people that they were fucked up, wrong, and that I was the fucking center of the universe and the sooner they got hip to that, the happier they would all be.
One of the actions Simon took was to name a character in The Wire after Marimow and make the character "a repellent police-department toady." Carroll left The Baltimore Sun to become editor at the Los Angeles Times and resigned in 2005 after budget cuts were announced. "He stands up like a [bleeping] hero, takes a bullet," said Simon. In 2006 Marimow was diagnosed with prostate cancer, something that Simon said "took the edge off" his grudge. Carroll and Marimow "were fuel for 10 years of my life. ... And now, I got nothing," Simon said.
When asked about these comments, Simon said that he had spoken with "some hyperbole and, I hope, comic effect", adding that his basic viewpoint was: "that simple revenge is both empty and beside the point and that a good story carefully told has to speak to larger themes. You do not tell an ornate, careful story over ten hours of HBO airtime merely to bust on any given soul."
Views on journalism
In an interview in Reason in 2004, Simon said that since leaving the newspaper business he has become more cynical about the power of journalism. "One of the sad things about contemporary journalism is that it actually matters very little. The world now is almost inured to the power of journalism. The best journalism would manage to outrage people. And people are less and less inclined to outrage," said Simon. "I've become increasingly cynical about the ability of daily journalism to effect any kind of meaningful change. I was pretty dubious about it when I was a journalist, but now I think it's remarkably ineffectual."
While testifying at a 2009 Senate hearing regarding the future of journalism in America, Simon indicted what he saw as poor online journalism, calling the phrase citizen journalist "Orwellian to [his] ears." Simon ended his testimony by declaring, "I don't think anything can be done to save high-end journalism."
Political views
Simon has described himself as a social democrat, broadly supporting the existence of capitalism while opposing "raw, unencumbered capitalism, absent any social framework, absent any sense of community, without regard to the weakest and most vulnerable classes in society", which he described as "a recipe for needless pain, needless human waste, (and) needless tragedy". He has criticized the idea of trickle-down economics.
In 2013, Simon compared the global surveillance disclosures uncovered by Edward Snowden to a 1980s effort by the City of Baltimore to record the numbers dialed from all pay phones. The city believed that drug traffickers were using pay phones and pagers, and a municipal judge allowed the city to record the dialed numbers. The placement of the payphone number recorders formed the basis of The Wires first season. Simon argued that the media attention regarding the surveillance disclosures is a "faux scandal."
During a November 2013 speech at the Festival of Dangerous Ideas in Sydney, he said that America has become "a horror show" of savage inequality as a result of capitalism run amok, and that "unless we reverse course, the average human being is worthless on planet Earth. Unless we take stock of the fact that maybe socialism and the socialist impulse has to be addressed again; it has to be married as it was married in the 1930s, the 1940s and even into the 1950s, to the engine that is capitalism."
Simon has also spoken out publicly against crime journalist Kevin Deutsch, disputing the portrayal of Baltimore's illegal drug trade in Deutsch's book, Pill City: How Two Honor Roll Students Foiled the Feds and Built a Drug Empire. Simon has described the book as "a wholesale fabrication."
During the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries, Simon praised Bernie Sanders for "rehabilitating and normalizing the term socialist back into American public life", but opposed some attacks against Hillary Clinton which he felt focused on her presumed motives rather than the substance of policies.
Personal life
In 1991, Simon was married to graphic artist Kayle Tucker. They had a son. The marriage ended in divorce.
In 2006, Simon married best-selling Baltimore novelist and former Sun reporter Laura Lippman in a ceremony officiated by John Waters. They have a daughter, who was born in 2010.
Simon's nephew, Jason Simon, is a guitarist and vocalist for the psychedelic rock band Dead Meadow. The band was mentioned in an episode of The Wire.
Simon was the 2012 commencement speaker for the Georgetown University College of Arts and Sciences, as well as the speaker for the Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School graduation.
In 2019, Simon joined a host of other writers in firing their agents as part of the WGA's stand against the ATA after failing to come to an agreement on their "Code of Conduct". Simon's statement to the writers union was widely circulated. He had previously led the rallying cry about the unfair practices of packaging by the major talent agencies.
Works and publications
Commentary
Non-fiction books
Filmography
Producer
Writer
References
Further reading
External links
David Simon's blog.
1960 births
American crime fiction writers
Jewish American journalists
American non-fiction crime writers
American newspaper reporters and correspondents
American male novelists
American male screenwriters
American television producers
American television writers
Anthony Award winners
Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School alumni
Drug policy reform activists
Edgar Award winners
Living people
MacArthur Fellows
American male television writers
Maryland Democrats
Primetime Emmy Award winners
Showrunners
The Baltimore Sun people
University of Maryland, College Park alumni
Writers Guild of America Award winners
Writers from Baltimore
Novelists from Maryland
American male non-fiction writers
Screenwriters from Washington, D.C.
People from Bethesda, Maryland
21st-century American Jews | true | [
"In topology, a branch of mathematics, a manifold M may be decomposed or split by writing M as a combination of smaller pieces. When doing so, one must specify both what those pieces are and how they are put together to form M.\n\nManifold decomposition works in two directions: one can start with the smaller pieces and build up a manifold, or start with a large manifold and decompose it. The latter has proven a very useful way to study manifolds: without tools like decomposition, it is sometimes very hard to understand a manifold. In particular, it has been useful in attempts to classify 3-manifolds and also in proving the higher-dimensional Poincaré conjecture.\n\nThe table below is a summary of the various manifold-decomposition techniques. The column labeled \"M\" indicates what kind of manifold can be decomposed; the column labeled \"How it is decomposed\" indicates how, starting with a manifold, one can decompose it into smaller pieces; the column labeled \"The pieces\" indicates what the pieces can be; and the column labeled \"How they are combined\" indicates how the smaller pieces are combined to make the large manifold.\n\nSee also\n Surgery theory\n\nGeometric topology",
"American Skyline was a construction set sold in the late 1950s and early 1960s by Elgo Plastics/Halsam Products Company from Chicago, Illinois. With an American Skyline set, its owner could piece together models of high-rise city buildings.\n\nSet contents\nThe set consisted of a collection of three different types of plastic parts; column segments, vertical panels (which included windows and doors), and floor panels. Doors were simple plastic pieces and did not open. They came in single, double, and 4-door designs. Windows were single, double, triple, and a 7-window design as well as a unique bay style with single and double large open windows (which can also be used as room door ways to divide rooms if one wished).\n\nThere were also base blocks, step blocks and rails which were used in the foundations of the structures being constructed. The step blocks were also used in other parts of the structures. The pieces all tend to be fairly durable except for the columns, which tend to have sides broken off with many years of use. The roofing and floor bases were basic thin plastic sheets with a checker board motif in white and brown to one side and blank white on the other. The column segments interlocked to form stacks. Each such stack would present four tracks running the length of the stack. The vertical panel pieces had edges that could slide into the tracks. Panels slid into adjacent tracks in the same column would be at right-angles to each other. The floor/roof panels had corners cut in such a way that each corner could be held in place between two column segments. Also included were flag poles to attach flags to, flags were found (printed) on the back page of the instruction booklet to the sets. Attachment was cutting them and folding them then simply pasting them to the poles.\n\nSet versions\nSets were sold in six different versions. The sets came in six different sizes. They originally came in flat boxes, then Cardboard canisters with a metal top. Note: (Set No. 96 seems to have been issued in a flat box only). These sets other than how they were boxed were identical. Elgo/Halsam issued a 3rd version of these sets, the other difference was that this last version came with colored plastic windows (in amber, blue and green) and had more total pieces than the two earlier versions (they did have fewer roof/floor pieces however).\nAmerican Skyline Construction Sets came with the following number of parts:\n\nSet No. 91 - 229 Pieces\nSet No. 92 - 476 Pieces\nSet No. 93 - 723 Pieces\nSet No. 94 - 970 Pieces\nSet No. 95 - 1217 Pieces\nSet No. 96 - 1904 Pieces\n\nThe set counts were identical for both the Flat Box Sets and the Second Generation Canister Sets\n\nSets with Colored Windows Added:\n\nSet No. 91 - 245 Pieces, actually 249 Pieces\nSet No. 92 - 510 Pieces, actually 516 Pieces\nSet No. 93 - 800 Pieces, actually 801 Pieces\nSet No. 94 - 1060 Pieces, actually 1068 Pieces\nSet No. 95 - 1330 Pieces, actually 1335 Pieces\nSet No. 96 - 2110 Pieces, actually 2118 Pieces\n\nThe set counts were verified with actual Skyline Sets.\n\nDiscontinuation\nWhen Halsam became a part of Playskool the sets were discontinued, possibly because PlaySkool specializes in toys designed for toddler use, and these have small pieces that would have presented a choking hazard to toddlers.\n\nGallery\n\nReferences\n\nConstruction toys"
] | [
"David Judah Simon (born February 9, 1960) is an American author, journalist, and television writer and producer best known for his work on The Wire (2002–08). He worked for The Baltimore Sun City Desk for twelve years (1982–95), wrote Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets (1991), and co-wrote The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood (1997) with Ed Burns.",
"He worked for The Baltimore Sun City Desk for twelve years (1982–95), wrote Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets (1991), and co-wrote The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood (1997) with Ed Burns. The former book was the basis for the NBC series Homicide: Life on the Street (1993–99), on which Simon served as a writer and producer. Simon adapted the latter book into the HBO mini-series The Corner (2000).",
"Simon adapted the latter book into the HBO mini-series The Corner (2000). He was the creator, executive producer, head writer, and show runner for all five seasons of the HBO television series The Wire (2002–2008). He adapted the non-fiction book Generation Kill into a television mini-series, and served as the show runner for the project. He was selected as one of the 2010 MacArthur Fellows and named an Utne Reader visionary in 2011.",
"He was selected as one of the 2010 MacArthur Fellows and named an Utne Reader visionary in 2011. Simon also created the HBO series Treme with Eric Overmyer, which aired for four seasons. Following Treme, Simon wrote the HBO mini-series Show Me a Hero with journalist William F. Zorzi, a colleague first at The Baltimore Sun and again later on The Wire. Simon and frequent collaborator George Pelecanos reunited to create original series The Deuce.",
"Simon and frequent collaborator George Pelecanos reunited to create original series The Deuce. The drama about the New York porn industry in the 1970s and 1980s stars Maggie Gyllenhaal and co-producer James Franco, and aired from 2017 to 2019. Simon's next series, The Plot Against America, debuted in 2020. Early life and education Simon was born in Washington, D.C., the son of Dorothy Simon (née Ligeti), a homemaker, and Bernard Simon, a former journalist and then public relations director for B'nai B'rith for 20 years.",
"Early life and education Simon was born in Washington, D.C., the son of Dorothy Simon (née Ligeti), a homemaker, and Bernard Simon, a former journalist and then public relations director for B'nai B'rith for 20 years. Simon was raised in a Jewish family, and had a bar mitzvah ceremony. His family roots are in Russia, Belarus, Hungary, and Slovakia (his maternal grandfather had changed his surname from \"Leibowitz\" to \"Ligeti\").",
"His family roots are in Russia, Belarus, Hungary, and Slovakia (his maternal grandfather had changed his surname from \"Leibowitz\" to \"Ligeti\"). He has a brother, Gary Simon, and a sister, Linda Evans, who died in 1990.",
"He has a brother, Gary Simon, and a sister, Linda Evans, who died in 1990. In March 1977, when Simon was still in high school, Simon's father was one of a group of over 140 people held hostage (and later released) in Washington, D.C. by former national secretary of the Nation of Islam Hamaas Abdul Khaalis in the Hanafi Siege. Simon graduated from Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School in Bethesda, Maryland, and wrote for the school newspaper, The Tattler.",
"Simon graduated from Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School in Bethesda, Maryland, and wrote for the school newspaper, The Tattler. In 1983, he graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park. While at college he wrote and was Editor for The Diamondback, and became friends with contemporary David Mills. Career Journalism Upon leaving college, Simon worked as a police reporter at The Baltimore Sun from 1982 to 1995.",
"Career Journalism Upon leaving college, Simon worked as a police reporter at The Baltimore Sun from 1982 to 1995. Simon was hired by the Baltimore Sun for a piece he wrote about Lefty Driesell, who was then the men's basketball coach at the University of Maryland. Driesell had been extremely frustrated that one of his players was suspended from playing for sexual impropriety and called the victim, threatening to destroy her reputation if she did not withdraw her complaint.",
"Driesell had been extremely frustrated that one of his players was suspended from playing for sexual impropriety and called the victim, threatening to destroy her reputation if she did not withdraw her complaint. This was all done while the university administration was listening to the call, but they did nothing. Lefty Driesell was later given a 5-year contract and, in 2018, he was inducted into the ACC Hall of Fame. Simon spent most of his career covering the crime beat.",
"Simon spent most of his career covering the crime beat. A colleague has said that Simon loved journalism and felt it was \"God's work\". Simon says that he was initially altruistic and was inspired to enter journalism by The Washington Posts coverage of Watergate but became increasingly pragmatic as he gained experience. Simon was a union captain when the writing staff went on strike in 1987 over benefit cuts. He remained angry after the strike ended and began to feel uncomfortable in the writing room.",
"He remained angry after the strike ended and began to feel uncomfortable in the writing room. He searched for a reason to justify a leave of absence and settled on the idea of writing a novel. \"I got out of journalism because some sons of bitches bought my newspaper and it stopped being fun,\" says Simon. In 1988, disillusioned, Simon took a year's leave to go into the Baltimore Police Department Homicide Unit to write a book.",
"In 1988, disillusioned, Simon took a year's leave to go into the Baltimore Police Department Homicide Unit to write a book. Book Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets Simon's leave of absence from The Sun resulted in his first book Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets (1991). The book was based on his experiences shadowing the Baltimore Police Department homicide unit during 1988. The idea came from a conversation on Christmas Eve 1985 in the unit office, where Det.",
"The idea came from a conversation on Christmas Eve 1985 in the unit office, where Det. Bill Lansey told him, \"If someone just wrote down what happens in this place for one year, they'd have a goddamn book.\" Simon approached the police department and the editors of the paper to receive approval. The detectives were initially slow to accept him, but he persevered in an attempt to \"seem … like part of the furniture\".",
"The detectives were initially slow to accept him, but he persevered in an attempt to \"seem … like part of the furniture\". However, he soon ingratiated himself with the detectives, saying in the closing notes of the book, \"I shared with the detectives a year's worth of fast-food runs, bar arguments and station house humor: Even for a trained observer, it was hard to remain aloof.\" During one instance, Simon even assisted with an arrest.",
"During one instance, Simon even assisted with an arrest. Two detectives Simon was riding with pulled their car to a curb to apprehend two suspects, but Detective Dave Brown got his trenchcoat caught in a seat belt when he tried to exit the car. Brown told Simon to assist Detective Terry McLarney himself, and Simon helped apprehend and search one of the suspects. The book won the 1992 Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime book. The Associated Press called it \"a true-crime classic\".",
"The Associated Press called it \"a true-crime classic\". The Library Journal also highly recommended it, and Newsday described it as \"one of the most engrossing police procedural mystery books ever written\". Simon credits his time researching the book as altering his writing style and informing later work. He learned to be more patient in research and writing, and said a key lesson was not promoting himself but concentrating on his subjects. Simon told Baltimore's City Paper in 2003 that Homicide was not traditional journalism.",
"Simon told Baltimore's City Paper in 2003 that Homicide was not traditional journalism. \"I felt Homicide the book and The Corner were not traditional journalism in the sense of coming from some artificially omniscient, objective point of view,\" said Simon. \"They're immersed in the respective cultures that they cover in a way that traditional journalism often isn't.\"",
"\"They're immersed in the respective cultures that they cover in a way that traditional journalism often isn't.\" Television Homicide: Life on the Street The publishers of Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets were eager for a screen adaptation and submitted it to numerous directors but there was little interest. Simon suggested that they send the book to Baltimore native and film director Barry Levinson. Levinson's assistant Gail Mutrux enjoyed the book and both she and Levinson became attached as producers.",
"Levinson's assistant Gail Mutrux enjoyed the book and both she and Levinson became attached as producers. The project became the award-winning TV series Homicide: Life on the Street (1993–1999), on which Simon worked as a writer and producer. Simon was asked by Mutrux to write the show's pilot episode but declined, feeling he did not have the necessary expertise. He collaborated with his old college friend David Mills to write the season two premiere \"Bop Gun\".",
"He collaborated with his old college friend David Mills to write the season two premiere \"Bop Gun\". The episode was based on a story by executive producer Tom Fontana and featured Robin Williams in a guest starring role that garnered the actor an Emmy nomination. Simon and Mills won the WGA Award for Best Writing in a Drama for the episode. Simon also received Austin Film Festival's Outstanding Television Writer Award in 2010.",
"Simon also received Austin Film Festival's Outstanding Television Writer Award in 2010. Simon left his job with the Baltimore Sun in 1995 to work full-time on Homicide: Life on the Street during the production of the show's fourth season. Simon wrote the teleplay for the season four episodes \"Justice: Part 2\" and \"Scene of the Crime\" (with Anya Epstein).",
"Simon wrote the teleplay for the season four episodes \"Justice: Part 2\" and \"Scene of the Crime\" (with Anya Epstein). For season five he was the show's story editor and continued to contribute teleplays writing the episodes \"Bad Medicine\" and \"Wu's on First?\" (again with Epstein). He was credited as a producer on the show's sixth and seventh seasons.",
"He was credited as a producer on the show's sixth and seventh seasons. He wrote the teleplays for parts two and three of the sixth-season premiere \"Blood Ties\" (the latter marking his third collaboration with Epstein) and provided the story for the later sixth-season episodes \"Full Court Press\" and \"Finnegan's Wake\" (with James Yoshimura).",
"He wrote the teleplays for parts two and three of the sixth-season premiere \"Blood Ties\" (the latter marking his third collaboration with Epstein) and provided the story for the later sixth-season episodes \"Full Court Press\" and \"Finnegan's Wake\" (with James Yoshimura). He provided the story for the seventh season episodes \"Shades of Gray\" (with Julie Martin), \"The Same Coin\" (again with Yoshimura) and \"Self Defense\" (with Eric Overmyer).",
"He provided the story for the seventh season episodes \"Shades of Gray\" (with Julie Martin), \"The Same Coin\" (again with Yoshimura) and \"Self Defense\" (with Eric Overmyer). Simon wrote the story and teleplay for the seventh season episodes \"The Twenty Percent Solution\" and \"Sideshow: Part 2\". Simon, Martin and teleplay writer T. J. English won the Humanitas Prize in the 60 minutes category for the episode \"Shades of Gray\".",
"Simon, Martin and teleplay writer T. J. English won the Humanitas Prize in the 60 minutes category for the episode \"Shades of Gray\". Simon was nominated for a second WGA Award for Best Writing in a Drama for his work on \"Finnegan's Wake\" with Yoshimura and Mills (who wrote the teleplay). Simon has said that he thought the show was a \"remarkable drama\" but that it did not reflect the book.",
"Simon has said that he thought the show was a \"remarkable drama\" but that it did not reflect the book. He has also said that when writing for the show he had to put his experiences of the real detectives aside as the characters became quite different, particularly in their more philosophical approach to the job. Simon said that TV must find shorthand ways of referencing anything real.",
"Simon said that TV must find shorthand ways of referencing anything real. The Corner In 1997 he co-authored, with Ed Burns, The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood, the true account of a West Baltimore community dominated by a heavy drug market. Simon credits his editor John Sterling with the suggestion that he observe a single drug corner. He took a second leave of absence from the Baltimore Sun in 1993 to research the project.",
"He took a second leave of absence from the Baltimore Sun in 1993 to research the project. Simon became close to one of his subjects, drug addict Gary McCullough, and was devastated by his death while he was writing the project. Simon says that he approached the research with the abstract idea that his subjects may die because of their addictions but it was not possible to fully prepare for the reality. He remains grateful to his subjects saying \"This involved people's whole lives, there's no privacy in it.",
"He remains grateful to his subjects saying \"This involved people's whole lives, there's no privacy in it. That was an enormous gift which many, many people gave us. Even the most functional were at war with themselves. But they were not foolish people. And they made that choice.\" The Corner was named a Notable Book of the Year by The New York Times. Simon again returned to his journalism career after finishing the book but felt further changed by his experiences.",
"Simon again returned to his journalism career after finishing the book but felt further changed by his experiences. He said he \"was less enamored of the braggadocio, all that big, we're-really-having-an-impact talk\" and no longer believed that they were making a difference; he left his job at The Sun within a year for work on NBC's Homicide. Soon after Homicide concluded Simon co-wrote (with David Mills) and produced The Corner as a six-hour TV miniseries for HBO.",
"Soon after Homicide concluded Simon co-wrote (with David Mills) and produced The Corner as a six-hour TV miniseries for HBO. The show received three Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries or a Movie, for Simon and Mills. The Wire Simon was the creator, show runner, executive producer and head writer of the HBO drama series The Wire. Many of The Wires characters and incidents also came from Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets.",
"Many of The Wires characters and incidents also came from Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets. After the fourth season, Simon signed on to produce the fifth and final season of The Wire, which focused on the role of mass media in society. Again he worked with Ed Burns on creating the show. Originally they set out to create a police drama loosely based on Burns' experiences when working on protracted investigations of violent drug dealers using surveillance technology.",
"Originally they set out to create a police drama loosely based on Burns' experiences when working on protracted investigations of violent drug dealers using surveillance technology. During this time Burns had often faced frustration with the bureaucracy of the police department, which Simon equated with his own ordeals as a police reporter for The Baltimore Sun.",
"During this time Burns had often faced frustration with the bureaucracy of the police department, which Simon equated with his own ordeals as a police reporter for The Baltimore Sun. Writing against the background of current events, including institutionalized corporate crime at Enron and institutional dysfunction in the Catholic Church, the show became \"more of a treatise about institutions and individuals than a straight cop show.\" They chose to take The Wire to HBO because of their existing working relationship from The Corner.",
"They chose to take The Wire to HBO because of their existing working relationship from The Corner. Owing to its reputation for exploring new areas, HBO was initially dubious about including a cop drama in their lineup, but eventually agreed to produce the pilot after ordering a further two scripts to see how the series would progress. Carolyn Strauss, the president of HBO entertainment, has said that Simon's argument that the most subversive thing HBO could do was invade the networks' \"backyard\" of police procedurals helped to persuade them.",
"Carolyn Strauss, the president of HBO entertainment, has said that Simon's argument that the most subversive thing HBO could do was invade the networks' \"backyard\" of police procedurals helped to persuade them. The theme of institutional dysfunction was expanded across different areas of the city as the show progressed. The second season focused on the death of working-class America through examination of the city ports.",
"The second season focused on the death of working-class America through examination of the city ports. The third season \"reflects on the nature of reform and reformers, and whether there is any possibility that political processes, long calcified, can mitigate against the forces currently arrayed against individuals.\" For the fourth season Simon again turned to Burns' experience, this time his second career as a Baltimore public school teacher in examining the theme of education.",
"For the fourth season Simon again turned to Burns' experience, this time his second career as a Baltimore public school teacher in examining the theme of education. The fifth season looked at the media, as well as continuing themes such as politics from earlier seasons. Simon was reunited with his The Corner producers Robert F. Colesberry and Nina K. Noble on The Wire. Simon credits Colesberry for achieving the show's realistic visual feel because of his experience as a director.",
"Simon credits Colesberry for achieving the show's realistic visual feel because of his experience as a director. They recruited Homicide star and director Clark Johnson to helm the pilot episode. The completed pilot was given to HBO in November 2001. Johnson returned to direct the second episode when the show was picked up, and would direct the series finale as well, in addition to starring in the fifth season. Simon approached acclaimed crime fiction authors to write for The Wire.",
"Simon approached acclaimed crime fiction authors to write for The Wire. He was recommended the work of George Pelecanos by a colleague while working at the Baltimore Sun because of similarities between their writing. The two writers have much in common including a childhood in Silver Spring, attendance at the University of Maryland and their interest in the \"fate of the American city and the black urban poor.\" Simon did not read Pelecanos initially because of territorial prejudice; Pelecanos is from Washington.",
"Simon did not read Pelecanos initially because of territorial prejudice; Pelecanos is from Washington. Once Simon received further recommendations including one from his wife Laura Lippman he tried Pelecanos' novel The Sweet Forever and changed his mind. He sought out Pelecanos when recruiting writers for The Wire. The two met at the funeral of a mutual friend shortly after Simon delivered the pilot episode. Simon pitched Pelecanos the idea of The Wire as a novel for television about the American city as Pelecanos drove him home.",
"Simon pitched Pelecanos the idea of The Wire as a novel for television about the American city as Pelecanos drove him home. Pelecanos became a regular writer and later a producer for the show's second and third seasons. Simon and Pelecanos collaborated to write the episode \"Middle Ground\" which received the show's first Emmy nomination, in the category Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series.",
"Simon and Pelecanos collaborated to write the episode \"Middle Ground\" which received the show's first Emmy nomination, in the category Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series. Pelecanos left the production staff following the third season to focus on his next novel; Simon has commented that he missed having him working on the show full-time but was pleased that he continued to write for them and was a fan of the resultant book The Night Gardener.",
"Pelecanos left the production staff following the third season to focus on his next novel; Simon has commented that he missed having him working on the show full-time but was pleased that he continued to write for them and was a fan of the resultant book The Night Gardener. Similar to Simon's own experience in researching Homicide Pelecanos spent time embedded with the Washington DC homicide unit to research the book. Crime novelist Dennis Lehane has also written for the series starting with the third season.",
"Crime novelist Dennis Lehane has also written for the series starting with the third season. Lehane has commented that he was impressed by Simon and Burns' ear for authentic street slang. Eric Overmyer was brought in to fill the role of Pelecanos as a full-time writer producer. He had previously worked with Simon on Homicide where the two became friends.",
"He had previously worked with Simon on Homicide where the two became friends. Simon has said that he was impressed with Overmyer's writing particularly in synthesizing the story for \"Margin of Error\" as the episode is the height of the show's political storyline but must also progress other plot threads. Simon and his writing staff were nominated for the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Dramatic Series at the February 2009 ceremony for their work on the fifth season.",
"Simon and his writing staff were nominated for the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Dramatic Series at the February 2009 ceremony for their work on the fifth season. Simon and Burns collaborated to write the series finale \"-30-\" which received the show's second Emmy nomination, again in the category Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series.",
"Simon and Burns collaborated to write the series finale \"-30-\" which received the show's second Emmy nomination, again in the category Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series. Simon has stated that he finds working with HBO more comfortable than his experiences with NBC on Homicide and that HBO is able to allow greater creative control because it is dependent on subscribers rather than on viewing figures. He has said that he feels unable to return to network television because he felt pressure to compromise storytelling for audience satisfaction.",
"He has said that he feels unable to return to network television because he felt pressure to compromise storytelling for audience satisfaction. Generation Kill Simon produced and wrote Generation Kill for HBO with Ed Burns. They again worked with Nina Noble as a producer. The miniseries is an adaption of the non-fiction book of the same name. It relates the first 40 days of the 2003 invasion of Iraq as experienced by 1st Reconnaissance Battalion and their embedded reporter, Evan Wright.",
"It relates the first 40 days of the 2003 invasion of Iraq as experienced by 1st Reconnaissance Battalion and their embedded reporter, Evan Wright. Simon and Burns worked with Wright in adapting his book into the series. Treme Simon collaborated with Eric Overmyer again on Treme, a project about musicians in post-Katrina New Orleans. Overmyer lives part-time in New Orleans, and Simon believed his experience would be valuable in navigating the \"ornate oral tradition\" of the city's stories.",
"Overmyer lives part-time in New Orleans, and Simon believed his experience would be valuable in navigating the \"ornate oral tradition\" of the city's stories. Simon also consulted with New Orleans natives Donald Harrison Jr., Kermit Ruffins, and Davis Rogan while developing the series. The show focuses on a working-class neighborhood, and is smaller in scope than The Wire. The series premiered on April 11, 2010, on HBO and ran for four seasons.",
"The series premiered on April 11, 2010, on HBO and ran for four seasons. Treme is named after the Faubourg Treme neighborhood in New Orleans that is home to many of the city's musicians. Simon stated that the series would explore beyond the music scene to encompass political corruption, the public housing controversy, the criminal-justice system, clashes between police and Mardi Gras Indians, and the struggle to regain the tourism industry after the storm. One of the principal characters in the pilot script runs a restaurant.",
"One of the principal characters in the pilot script runs a restaurant. The series was filmed on location and was expected to provide a boost to the New Orleans economy. Simon's casting of the show mirrored that of The Wire in using local actors wherever possible. Wendell Pierce, who had previously played Bunk Moreland on The Wire, stars in the series. Clarke Peters, also of The Wire, is another series regular.",
"Clarke Peters, also of The Wire, is another series regular. Many other stars of The Wire have appeared in Treme, these include Steve Earle, Jim True-Frost, James Ransone, and Anwan Glover. Show Me a Hero In 2014, HBO greenlit production for Simon's next project Show Me a Hero, a six-hour miniseries co-written with William F. Zorzi and the episodes directed by Academy Award-winner Paul Haggis.",
"Show Me a Hero In 2014, HBO greenlit production for Simon's next project Show Me a Hero, a six-hour miniseries co-written with William F. Zorzi and the episodes directed by Academy Award-winner Paul Haggis. The miniseries is an adaptation of the nonfiction book of the same name by Lisa Belkin and tells the story of Nick Wasicsko, the youngest big-city mayor in the country who is thrust into racial controversy when a federal court orders to build a small number of low-income housing units in the white neighborhoods of Yonkers, New York.",
"The miniseries is an adaptation of the nonfiction book of the same name by Lisa Belkin and tells the story of Nick Wasicsko, the youngest big-city mayor in the country who is thrust into racial controversy when a federal court orders to build a small number of low-income housing units in the white neighborhoods of Yonkers, New York. Oscar Isaac stars as Wasicsko and leads a cast, which includes Catherine Keener, Jim Belushi, Bob Balaban and Winona Ryder. The miniseries premiered on August 16, 2015.",
"The miniseries premiered on August 16, 2015. The miniseries premiered on August 16, 2015. The Deuce The Deuce is a 2017 drama television series set in Times Square, New York focusing on the rise of the porn industry in the 1970s-80s. Created and written by Simon along with frequent collaborator George Pelecanos, the series pilot began shooting in October 2015. It was picked up to series in January 2016. It premiered on September 10, 2017, and is broadcast by HBO in the United States.",
"It premiered on September 10, 2017, and is broadcast by HBO in the United States. The Deuce tells the story of the legalization and ensuing rise of the porn industry in New York beginning in the 1970s and its ongoing rise through the mid-1980s. Themes explored include the rise of HIV, the violence of the drug epidemic and the resulting real estate booms and busts that coincided with the change.",
"Themes explored include the rise of HIV, the violence of the drug epidemic and the resulting real estate booms and busts that coincided with the change. The Plot Against America An adaptation of Philip Roth's novel, The Plot Against America is an alternate history told through the eyes of a working-class Jewish family in Newark, New Jersey; as they watch the political rise of Charles Lindbergh, an aviator-hero and xenophobic populist, who becomes president and turns the nation toward fascism.",
"The Plot Against America An adaptation of Philip Roth's novel, The Plot Against America is an alternate history told through the eyes of a working-class Jewish family in Newark, New Jersey; as they watch the political rise of Charles Lindbergh, an aviator-hero and xenophobic populist, who becomes president and turns the nation toward fascism. The six-part miniseries premiered on March 16, 2020, on HBO. Projects in developmentParting the Waters: With Taylor Branch, James McBride, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and Eric Overmyer.",
"Projects in developmentParting the Waters: With Taylor Branch, James McBride, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and Eric Overmyer. About Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement, based on one of the volumes of the books America in the King Years written by Taylor Branch, specifically At Canaan's Edge: America in the King Years, 1965–1968.",
"About Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement, based on one of the volumes of the books America in the King Years written by Taylor Branch, specifically At Canaan's Edge: America in the King Years, 1965–1968. The project was to be produced by Oprah Winfrey, but was shelved.The Avenue: A book with William F. Zorzi Jr., on the Baltimore drug epidemic from 1951 to late 1980sThe Good Friday Plot: Miniseries about Abraham Lincoln based upon Manhunt: The Twelve-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer by James L. Swanson and American Brutus: John Wilkes Booth and the Lincoln Conspiracies by Michael W. Kauffman.Capitol Hill: A collaboration with Carl Bernstein set in Capitol Hill, it examines partisanship and the role money plays in influencing national governance.",
"The project was to be produced by Oprah Winfrey, but was shelved.The Avenue: A book with William F. Zorzi Jr., on the Baltimore drug epidemic from 1951 to late 1980sThe Good Friday Plot: Miniseries about Abraham Lincoln based upon Manhunt: The Twelve-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer by James L. Swanson and American Brutus: John Wilkes Booth and the Lincoln Conspiracies by Michael W. Kauffman.Capitol Hill: A collaboration with Carl Bernstein set in Capitol Hill, it examines partisanship and the role money plays in influencing national governance. The series was ordered to pilot by HBO in 2015 but has not received a subsequent season order.Legacy of Ashes: On the Central Intelligence Agency, based on the 2007 book Legacy of Ashes by Tim Weiner.",
"The series was ordered to pilot by HBO in 2015 but has not received a subsequent season order.Legacy of Ashes: On the Central Intelligence Agency, based on the 2007 book Legacy of Ashes by Tim Weiner. The show was taken to the BBC and would have had Anthony Bourdain on the writing staff.The Pogues: Musical project with the help of the late Philip Chevron in development at The Public Theater in New York City, with Laura Lippman and George PelecanosA Dry Run: The Lincolns in Spain: A historical miniseries set during the Spanish Civil War about the Abraham Lincoln and George Washington Battalions, which were composed of volunteers from the United States who wanted to help the Spanish Republic overcome fascism.",
"The show was taken to the BBC and would have had Anthony Bourdain on the writing staff.The Pogues: Musical project with the help of the late Philip Chevron in development at The Public Theater in New York City, with Laura Lippman and George PelecanosA Dry Run: The Lincolns in Spain: A historical miniseries set during the Spanish Civil War about the Abraham Lincoln and George Washington Battalions, which were composed of volunteers from the United States who wanted to help the Spanish Republic overcome fascism. Mark Johnson will be the series producer and Mediapro will be the series' production company.",
"Mark Johnson will be the series producer and Mediapro will be the series' production company. Writing process Simon is known for his realistic dialogue and journalistic approach to writing. He says that authenticity is paramount and that he writes not with a general audience in mind but with the opinions of his subjects as his priority. He has described his extensive use of real anecdotes and characters in his writing as \"stealing life\".",
"He has described his extensive use of real anecdotes and characters in his writing as \"stealing life\". In a talk that Simon gave to a live audience in April 2007 at the Creative Alliance's storytelling series, Simon disclosed that he had started writing for revenge against John Carroll and Bill Marimow, the two most senior editors at The Baltimore Sun when Simon was a reporter at the paper.",
"In a talk that Simon gave to a live audience in April 2007 at the Creative Alliance's storytelling series, Simon disclosed that he had started writing for revenge against John Carroll and Bill Marimow, the two most senior editors at The Baltimore Sun when Simon was a reporter at the paper. Simon said he had watched Carroll and Marimow \"single-handedly destroy\" the newspaper and that he spent over ten years trying to get back at them.",
"Simon said he had watched Carroll and Marimow \"single-handedly destroy\" the newspaper and that he spent over ten years trying to get back at them. Anything I've ever accomplished as a writer, as somebody doing TV, anything I've ever done in life, down to, like, cleaning up my room, has been accomplished because I was going to show people that they were fucked up, wrong, and that I was the fucking center of the universe and the sooner they got hip to that, the happier they would all be.",
"Anything I've ever accomplished as a writer, as somebody doing TV, anything I've ever done in life, down to, like, cleaning up my room, has been accomplished because I was going to show people that they were fucked up, wrong, and that I was the fucking center of the universe and the sooner they got hip to that, the happier they would all be. One of the actions Simon took was to name a character in The Wire after Marimow and make the character \"a repellent police-department toady.\"",
"One of the actions Simon took was to name a character in The Wire after Marimow and make the character \"a repellent police-department toady.\" Carroll left The Baltimore Sun to become editor at the Los Angeles Times and resigned in 2005 after budget cuts were announced. \"He stands up like a [bleeping] hero, takes a bullet,\" said Simon. In 2006 Marimow was diagnosed with prostate cancer, something that Simon said \"took the edge off\" his grudge.",
"In 2006 Marimow was diagnosed with prostate cancer, something that Simon said \"took the edge off\" his grudge. Carroll and Marimow \"were fuel for 10 years of my life. ... And now, I got nothing,\" Simon said.",
"... And now, I got nothing,\" Simon said. When asked about these comments, Simon said that he had spoken with \"some hyperbole and, I hope, comic effect\", adding that his basic viewpoint was: \"that simple revenge is both empty and beside the point and that a good story carefully told has to speak to larger themes. You do not tell an ornate, careful story over ten hours of HBO airtime merely to bust on any given soul.\"",
"You do not tell an ornate, careful story over ten hours of HBO airtime merely to bust on any given soul.\" Views on journalism In an interview in Reason in 2004, Simon said that since leaving the newspaper business he has become more cynical about the power of journalism. \"One of the sad things about contemporary journalism is that it actually matters very little. The world now is almost inured to the power of journalism. The best journalism would manage to outrage people.",
"The best journalism would manage to outrage people. The best journalism would manage to outrage people. And people are less and less inclined to outrage,\" said Simon. \"I've become increasingly cynical about the ability of daily journalism to effect any kind of meaningful change. I was pretty dubious about it when I was a journalist, but now I think it's remarkably ineffectual.\"",
"I was pretty dubious about it when I was a journalist, but now I think it's remarkably ineffectual.\" While testifying at a 2009 Senate hearing regarding the future of journalism in America, Simon indicted what he saw as poor online journalism, calling the phrase citizen journalist \"Orwellian to [his] ears.\" Simon ended his testimony by declaring, \"I don't think anything can be done to save high-end journalism.\"",
"Simon ended his testimony by declaring, \"I don't think anything can be done to save high-end journalism.\" Political views Simon has described himself as a social democrat, broadly supporting the existence of capitalism while opposing \"raw, unencumbered capitalism, absent any social framework, absent any sense of community, without regard to the weakest and most vulnerable classes in society\", which he described as \"a recipe for needless pain, needless human waste, (and) needless tragedy\".",
"Political views Simon has described himself as a social democrat, broadly supporting the existence of capitalism while opposing \"raw, unencumbered capitalism, absent any social framework, absent any sense of community, without regard to the weakest and most vulnerable classes in society\", which he described as \"a recipe for needless pain, needless human waste, (and) needless tragedy\". He has criticized the idea of trickle-down economics.",
"He has criticized the idea of trickle-down economics. He has criticized the idea of trickle-down economics. In 2013, Simon compared the global surveillance disclosures uncovered by Edward Snowden to a 1980s effort by the City of Baltimore to record the numbers dialed from all pay phones. The city believed that drug traffickers were using pay phones and pagers, and a municipal judge allowed the city to record the dialed numbers. The placement of the payphone number recorders formed the basis of The Wires first season.",
"The placement of the payphone number recorders formed the basis of The Wires first season. Simon argued that the media attention regarding the surveillance disclosures is a \"faux scandal.\" During a November 2013 speech at the Festival of Dangerous Ideas in Sydney, he said that America has become \"a horror show\" of savage inequality as a result of capitalism run amok, and that \"unless we reverse course, the average human being is worthless on planet Earth.",
"During a November 2013 speech at the Festival of Dangerous Ideas in Sydney, he said that America has become \"a horror show\" of savage inequality as a result of capitalism run amok, and that \"unless we reverse course, the average human being is worthless on planet Earth. Unless we take stock of the fact that maybe socialism and the socialist impulse has to be addressed again; it has to be married as it was married in the 1930s, the 1940s and even into the 1950s, to the engine that is capitalism.\"",
"Unless we take stock of the fact that maybe socialism and the socialist impulse has to be addressed again; it has to be married as it was married in the 1930s, the 1940s and even into the 1950s, to the engine that is capitalism.\" Simon has also spoken out publicly against crime journalist Kevin Deutsch, disputing the portrayal of Baltimore's illegal drug trade in Deutsch's book, Pill City: How Two Honor Roll Students Foiled the Feds and Built a Drug Empire.",
"Simon has also spoken out publicly against crime journalist Kevin Deutsch, disputing the portrayal of Baltimore's illegal drug trade in Deutsch's book, Pill City: How Two Honor Roll Students Foiled the Feds and Built a Drug Empire. Simon has described the book as \"a wholesale fabrication.\"",
"Simon has described the book as \"a wholesale fabrication.\" During the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries, Simon praised Bernie Sanders for \"rehabilitating and normalizing the term socialist back into American public life\", but opposed some attacks against Hillary Clinton which he felt focused on her presumed motives rather than the substance of policies. Personal life In 1991, Simon was married to graphic artist Kayle Tucker. They had a son. The marriage ended in divorce.",
"They had a son. The marriage ended in divorce. The marriage ended in divorce. In 2006, Simon married best-selling Baltimore novelist and former Sun reporter Laura Lippman in a ceremony officiated by John Waters. They have a daughter, who was born in 2010. Simon's nephew, Jason Simon, is a guitarist and vocalist for the psychedelic rock band Dead Meadow. The band was mentioned in an episode of The Wire.",
"The band was mentioned in an episode of The Wire. Simon was the 2012 commencement speaker for the Georgetown University College of Arts and Sciences, as well as the speaker for the Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School graduation. In 2019, Simon joined a host of other writers in firing their agents as part of the WGA's stand against the ATA after failing to come to an agreement on their \"Code of Conduct\". Simon's statement to the writers union was widely circulated.",
"Simon's statement to the writers union was widely circulated. He had previously led the rallying cry about the unfair practices of packaging by the major talent agencies. Works and publications Commentary Non-fiction books Filmography Producer Writer References Further reading External links David Simon's blog.",
"Works and publications Commentary Non-fiction books Filmography Producer Writer References Further reading External links David Simon's blog. 1960 births American crime fiction writers Jewish American journalists American non-fiction crime writers American newspaper reporters and correspondents American male novelists American male screenwriters American television producers American television writers Anthony Award winners Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School alumni Drug policy reform activists Edgar Award winners Living people MacArthur Fellows American male television writers Maryland Democrats Primetime Emmy Award winners Showrunners The Baltimore Sun people University of Maryland, College Park alumni Writers Guild of America Award winners Writers from Baltimore Novelists from Maryland American male non-fiction writers Screenwriters from Washington, D.C. People from Bethesda, Maryland 21st-century American Jews"
] |
[
"David Simon",
"Journalism",
"What was his relationship with journalism?",
"Simon worked as a police reporter at The Baltimore Sun from 1982 to 1995. He spent most of his career covering the crime beat. A colleague has said that",
"How were his pieces recieved?",
"A colleague has said that Simon loved journalism and felt it was \"God's work\". Simon says that he was initially altruistic and was inspired"
] | C_9bee77e3ba5d4991a15b82be185dfcbd_1 | Did he receive any accolades or awards? | 3 | Did David Simon receive any accolades or awards? | David Simon | Upon leaving college, Simon worked as a police reporter at The Baltimore Sun from 1982 to 1995. He spent most of his career covering the crime beat. A colleague has said that Simon loved journalism and felt it was "God's work". Simon says that he was initially altruistic and was inspired to enter journalism by the Washington Post's coverage of Watergate but became increasingly pragmatic as he gained experience. Later in his career he aimed to tell the best possible story without "cheating it". Simon was a union captain when the writing staff went on strike in 1987 over benefit cuts. He remained angry after the strike ended and began to feel uncomfortable in the writing room. He searched for a reason to justify a leave of absence and settled on the idea of writing a novel. "I got out of journalism because some sons of bitches bought my newspaper and it stopped being fun," says Simon. In an interview in Reason in 2004, Simon said that since leaving the newspaper business he has become more cynical about the power of journalism. "One of the sad things about contemporary journalism is that it actually matters very little. The world now is almost inured to the power of journalism. The best journalism would manage to outrage people. And people are less and less inclined to outrage," said Simon. "I've become increasingly cynical about the ability of daily journalism to effect any kind of meaningful change. I was pretty dubious about it when I was a journalist, but now I think it's remarkably ineffectual." In 1988, disillusioned, Simon took a year's leave to go into the Baltimore Police Department Homicide Unit to write a book. CANNOTANSWER | Simon was a union captain when the writing staff went on strike in 1987 over benefit cuts. He remained angry after the strike ended and began to feel uncomfortable | David Judah Simon (born February 9, 1960) is an American author, journalist, and television writer and producer best known for his work on The Wire (2002–08).
He worked for The Baltimore Sun City Desk for twelve years (1982–95), wrote Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets (1991), and co-wrote The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood (1997) with Ed Burns. The former book was the basis for the NBC series Homicide: Life on the Street (1993–99), on which Simon served as a writer and producer. Simon adapted the latter book into the HBO mini-series The Corner (2000).
He was the creator, executive producer, head writer, and show runner for all five seasons of the HBO television series The Wire (2002–2008). He adapted the non-fiction book Generation Kill into a television mini-series, and served as the show runner for the project. He was selected as one of the 2010 MacArthur Fellows and named an Utne Reader visionary in 2011. Simon also created the HBO series Treme with Eric Overmyer, which aired for four seasons. Following Treme, Simon wrote the HBO mini-series Show Me a Hero with journalist William F. Zorzi, a colleague first at The Baltimore Sun and again later on The Wire. Simon and frequent collaborator George Pelecanos reunited to create original series The Deuce. The drama about the New York porn industry in the 1970s and 1980s stars Maggie Gyllenhaal and co-producer James Franco, and aired from 2017 to 2019. Simon's next series, The Plot Against America, debuted in 2020.
Early life and education
Simon was born in Washington, D.C., the son of Dorothy Simon (née Ligeti), a homemaker, and Bernard Simon, a former journalist and then public relations director for B'nai B'rith for 20 years. Simon was raised in a Jewish family, and had a bar mitzvah ceremony. His family roots are in Russia, Belarus, Hungary, and Slovakia (his maternal grandfather had changed his surname from "Leibowitz" to "Ligeti"). He has a brother, Gary Simon, and a sister, Linda Evans, who died in 1990.
In March 1977, when Simon was still in high school, Simon's father was one of a group of over 140 people held hostage (and later released) in Washington, D.C. by former national secretary of the Nation of Islam Hamaas Abdul Khaalis in the Hanafi Siege.
Simon graduated from Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School in Bethesda, Maryland, and wrote for the school newspaper, The Tattler. In 1983, he graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park. While at college he wrote and was Editor for The Diamondback, and became friends with contemporary David Mills.
Career
Journalism
Upon leaving college, Simon worked as a police reporter at The Baltimore Sun from 1982 to 1995. Simon was hired by the Baltimore Sun for a piece he wrote about Lefty Driesell, who was then the men's basketball coach at the University of Maryland. Driesell had been extremely frustrated that one of his players was suspended from playing for sexual impropriety and called the victim, threatening to destroy her reputation if she did not withdraw her complaint. This was all done while the university administration was listening to the call, but they did nothing. Lefty Driesell was later given a 5-year contract and, in 2018, he was inducted into the ACC Hall of Fame.
Simon spent most of his career covering the crime beat. A colleague has said that Simon loved journalism and felt it was "God's work". Simon says that he was initially altruistic and was inspired to enter journalism by The Washington Posts coverage of Watergate but became increasingly pragmatic as he gained experience.
Simon was a union captain when the writing staff went on strike in 1987 over benefit cuts. He remained angry after the strike ended and began to feel uncomfortable in the writing room. He searched for a reason to justify a leave of absence and settled on the idea of writing a novel. "I got out of journalism because some sons of bitches bought my newspaper and it stopped being fun," says Simon.
In 1988, disillusioned, Simon took a year's leave to go into the Baltimore Police Department Homicide Unit to write a book.
Book
Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets
Simon's leave of absence from The Sun resulted in his first book Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets (1991). The book was based on his experiences shadowing the Baltimore Police Department homicide unit during 1988. The idea came from a conversation on Christmas Eve 1985 in the unit office, where Det. Bill Lansey told him, "If someone just wrote down what happens in this place for one year, they'd have a goddamn book." Simon approached the police department and the editors of the paper to receive approval. The detectives were initially slow to accept him, but he persevered in an attempt to "seem … like part of the furniture". However, he soon ingratiated himself with the detectives, saying in the closing notes of the book, "I shared with the detectives a year's worth of fast-food runs, bar arguments and station house humor: Even for a trained observer, it was hard to remain aloof." During one instance, Simon even assisted with an arrest. Two detectives Simon was riding with pulled their car to a curb to apprehend two suspects, but Detective Dave Brown got his trenchcoat caught in a seat belt when he tried to exit the car. Brown told Simon to assist Detective Terry McLarney himself, and Simon helped apprehend and search one of the suspects.
The book won the 1992 Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime book. The Associated Press called it "a true-crime classic". The Library Journal also highly recommended it, and Newsday described it as "one of the most engrossing police procedural mystery books ever written". Simon credits his time researching the book as altering his writing style and informing later work. He learned to be more patient in research and writing, and said a key lesson was not promoting himself but concentrating on his subjects. Simon told Baltimore's City Paper in 2003 that Homicide was not traditional journalism. "I felt Homicide the book and The Corner were not traditional journalism in the sense of coming from some artificially omniscient, objective point of view," said Simon. "They're immersed in the respective cultures that they cover in a way that traditional journalism often isn't."
Television
Homicide: Life on the Street
The publishers of Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets were eager for a screen adaptation and submitted it to numerous directors but there was little interest. Simon suggested that they send the book to Baltimore native and film director Barry Levinson. Levinson's assistant Gail Mutrux enjoyed the book and both she and Levinson became attached as producers. The project became the award-winning TV series Homicide: Life on the Street (1993–1999), on which Simon worked as a writer and producer.
Simon was asked by Mutrux to write the show's pilot episode but declined, feeling he did not have the necessary expertise. He collaborated with his old college friend David Mills to write the season two premiere "Bop Gun". The episode was based on a story by executive producer Tom Fontana and featured Robin Williams in a guest starring role that garnered the actor an Emmy nomination. Simon and Mills won the WGA Award for Best Writing in a Drama for the episode. Simon also received Austin Film Festival's Outstanding Television Writer Award in 2010.
Simon left his job with the Baltimore Sun in 1995 to work full-time on Homicide: Life on the Street during the production of the show's fourth season. Simon wrote the teleplay for the season four episodes "Justice: Part 2" and "Scene of the Crime" (with Anya Epstein). For season five he was the show's story editor and continued to contribute teleplays writing the episodes "Bad Medicine" and "Wu's on First?" (again with Epstein). He was credited as a producer on the show's sixth and seventh seasons. He wrote the teleplays for parts two and three of the sixth-season premiere "Blood Ties" (the latter marking his third collaboration with Epstein) and provided the story for the later sixth-season episodes "Full Court Press" and "Finnegan's Wake" (with James Yoshimura). He provided the story for the seventh season episodes "Shades of Gray" (with Julie Martin), "The Same Coin" (again with Yoshimura) and "Self Defense" (with Eric Overmyer). Simon wrote the story and teleplay for the seventh season episodes "The Twenty Percent Solution" and "Sideshow: Part 2". Simon, Martin and teleplay writer T. J. English won the Humanitas Prize in the 60 minutes category for the episode "Shades of Gray". Simon was nominated for a second WGA Award for Best Writing in a Drama for his work on "Finnegan's Wake" with Yoshimura and Mills (who wrote the teleplay).
Simon has said that he thought the show was a "remarkable drama" but that it did not reflect the book. He has also said that when writing for the show he had to put his experiences of the real detectives aside as the characters became quite different, particularly in their more philosophical approach to the job. Simon said that TV must find shorthand ways of referencing anything real.
The Corner
In 1997 he co-authored, with Ed Burns, The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood, the true account of a West Baltimore community dominated by a heavy drug market. Simon credits his editor John Sterling with the suggestion that he observe a single drug corner. He took a second leave of absence from the Baltimore Sun in 1993 to research the project. Simon became close to one of his subjects, drug addict Gary McCullough, and was devastated by his death while he was writing the project. Simon says that he approached the research with the abstract idea that his subjects may die because of their addictions but it was not possible to fully prepare for the reality. He remains grateful to his subjects saying "This involved people's whole lives, there's no privacy in it. That was an enormous gift which many, many people gave us. Even the most functional were at war with themselves. But they were not foolish people. And they made that choice."
The Corner was named a Notable Book of the Year by The New York Times. Simon again returned to his journalism career after finishing the book but felt further changed by his experiences. He said he "was less enamored of the braggadocio, all that big, we're-really-having-an-impact talk" and no longer believed that they were making a difference; he left his job at The Sun within a year for work on NBC's Homicide.
Soon after Homicide concluded Simon co-wrote (with David Mills) and produced The Corner as a six-hour TV miniseries for HBO. The show received three Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries or a Movie, for Simon and Mills.
The Wire
Simon was the creator, show runner, executive producer and head writer of the HBO drama series The Wire. Many of The Wires characters and incidents also came from Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets. After the fourth season, Simon signed on to produce the fifth and final season of The Wire, which focused on the role of mass media in society.
Again he worked with Ed Burns on creating the show. Originally they set out to create a police drama loosely based on Burns' experiences when working on protracted investigations of violent drug dealers using surveillance technology. During this time Burns had often faced frustration with the bureaucracy of the police department, which Simon equated with his own ordeals as a police reporter for The Baltimore Sun. Writing against the background of current events, including institutionalized corporate crime at Enron and institutional dysfunction in the Catholic Church, the show became "more of a treatise about institutions and individuals than a straight cop show."
They chose to take The Wire to HBO because of their existing working relationship from The Corner. Owing to its reputation for exploring new areas, HBO was initially dubious about including a cop drama in their lineup, but eventually agreed to produce the pilot after ordering a further two scripts to see how the series would progress. Carolyn Strauss, the president of HBO entertainment, has said that Simon's argument that the most subversive thing HBO could do was invade the networks' "backyard" of police procedurals helped to persuade them.
The theme of institutional dysfunction was expanded across different areas of the city as the show progressed. The second season focused on the death of working-class America through examination of the city ports. The third season "reflects on the nature of reform and reformers, and whether there is any possibility that political processes, long calcified, can mitigate against the forces currently arrayed against individuals." For the fourth season Simon again turned to Burns' experience, this time his second career as a Baltimore public school teacher in examining the theme of education. The fifth season looked at the media, as well as continuing themes such as politics from earlier seasons.
Simon was reunited with his The Corner producers Robert F. Colesberry and Nina K. Noble on The Wire. Simon credits Colesberry for achieving the show's realistic visual feel because of his experience as a director. They recruited Homicide star and director Clark Johnson to helm the pilot episode. The completed pilot was given to HBO in November 2001. Johnson returned to direct the second episode when the show was picked up, and would direct the series finale as well, in addition to starring in the fifth season.
Simon approached acclaimed crime fiction authors to write for The Wire. He was recommended the work of George Pelecanos by a colleague while working at the Baltimore Sun because of similarities between their writing. The two writers have much in common including a childhood in Silver Spring, attendance at the University of Maryland and their interest in the "fate of the American city and the black urban poor." Simon did not read Pelecanos initially because of territorial prejudice; Pelecanos is from Washington. Once Simon received further recommendations including one from his wife Laura Lippman he tried Pelecanos' novel The Sweet Forever and changed his mind. He sought out Pelecanos when recruiting writers for The Wire. The two met at the funeral of a mutual friend shortly after Simon delivered the pilot episode. Simon pitched Pelecanos the idea of The Wire as a novel for television about the American city as Pelecanos drove him home. Pelecanos became a regular writer and later a producer for the show's second and third seasons. Simon and Pelecanos collaborated to write the episode "Middle Ground" which received the show's first Emmy nomination, in the category Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series.
Pelecanos left the production staff following the third season to focus on his next novel; Simon has commented that he missed having him working on the show full-time but was pleased that he continued to write for them and was a fan of the resultant book The Night Gardener. Similar to Simon's own experience in researching Homicide Pelecanos spent time embedded with the Washington DC homicide unit to research the book.
Crime novelist Dennis Lehane has also written for the series starting with the third season. Lehane has commented that he was impressed by Simon and Burns' ear for authentic street slang.
Eric Overmyer was brought in to fill the role of Pelecanos as a full-time writer producer. He had previously worked with Simon on Homicide where the two became friends. Simon has said that he was impressed with Overmyer's writing particularly in synthesizing the story for "Margin of Error" as the episode is the height of the show's political storyline but must also progress other plot threads.
Simon and his writing staff were nominated for the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Dramatic Series at the February 2009 ceremony for their work on the fifth season. Simon and Burns collaborated to write the series finale "-30-" which received the show's second Emmy nomination, again in the category Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series.
Simon has stated that he finds working with HBO more comfortable than his experiences with NBC on Homicide and that HBO is able to allow greater creative control because it is dependent on subscribers rather than on viewing figures. He has said that he feels unable to return to network television because he felt pressure to compromise storytelling for audience satisfaction.
Generation Kill
Simon produced and wrote Generation Kill for HBO with Ed Burns. They again worked with Nina Noble as a producer. The miniseries is an adaption of the non-fiction book of the same name. It relates the first 40 days of the 2003 invasion of Iraq as experienced by 1st Reconnaissance Battalion and their embedded reporter, Evan Wright. Simon and Burns worked with Wright in adapting his book into the series.
Treme
Simon collaborated with Eric Overmyer again on Treme, a project about musicians in post-Katrina New Orleans. Overmyer lives part-time in New Orleans, and Simon believed his experience would be valuable in navigating the "ornate oral tradition" of the city's stories. Simon also consulted with New Orleans natives Donald Harrison Jr., Kermit Ruffins, and Davis Rogan while developing the series. The show focuses on a working-class neighborhood, and is smaller in scope than The Wire. The series premiered on April 11, 2010, on HBO and ran for four seasons.
Treme is named after the Faubourg Treme neighborhood in New Orleans that is home to many of the city's musicians. Simon stated that the series would explore beyond the music scene to encompass political corruption, the public housing controversy, the criminal-justice system, clashes between police and Mardi Gras Indians, and the struggle to regain the tourism industry after the storm. One of the principal characters in the pilot script runs a restaurant. The series was filmed on location and was expected to provide a boost to the New Orleans economy. Simon's casting of the show mirrored that of The Wire in using local actors wherever possible. Wendell Pierce, who had previously played Bunk Moreland on The Wire, stars in the series. Clarke Peters, also of The Wire, is another series regular. Many other stars of The Wire have appeared in Treme, these include Steve Earle, Jim True-Frost, James Ransone, and Anwan Glover.
Show Me a Hero
In 2014, HBO greenlit production for Simon's next project Show Me a Hero, a six-hour miniseries co-written with William F. Zorzi and the episodes directed by Academy Award-winner Paul Haggis. The miniseries is an adaptation of the nonfiction book of the same name by Lisa Belkin and tells the story of Nick Wasicsko, the youngest big-city mayor in the country who is thrust into racial controversy when a federal court orders to build a small number of low-income housing units in the white neighborhoods of Yonkers, New York. Oscar Isaac stars as Wasicsko and leads a cast, which includes Catherine Keener, Jim Belushi, Bob Balaban and Winona Ryder. The miniseries premiered on August 16, 2015.
The Deuce
The Deuce is a 2017 drama television series set in Times Square, New York focusing on the rise of the porn industry in the 1970s-80s. Created and written by Simon along with frequent collaborator George Pelecanos, the series pilot began shooting in October 2015. It was picked up to series in January 2016. It premiered on September 10, 2017, and is broadcast by HBO in the United States.
The Deuce tells the story of the legalization and ensuing rise of the porn industry in New York beginning in the 1970s and its ongoing rise through the mid-1980s. Themes explored include the rise of HIV, the violence of the drug epidemic and the resulting real estate booms and busts that coincided with the change.
The Plot Against America
An adaptation of Philip Roth's novel, The Plot Against America is an alternate history told through the eyes of a working-class Jewish family in Newark, New Jersey; as they watch the political rise of Charles Lindbergh, an aviator-hero and xenophobic populist, who becomes president and turns the nation toward fascism. The six-part miniseries premiered on March 16, 2020, on HBO.
Projects in developmentParting the Waters: With Taylor Branch, James McBride, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and Eric Overmyer. About Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement, based on one of the volumes of the books America in the King Years written by Taylor Branch, specifically At Canaan's Edge: America in the King Years, 1965–1968. The project was to be produced by Oprah Winfrey, but was shelved.The Avenue: A book with William F. Zorzi Jr., on the Baltimore drug epidemic from 1951 to late 1980sThe Good Friday Plot: Miniseries about Abraham Lincoln based upon Manhunt: The Twelve-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer by James L. Swanson and American Brutus: John Wilkes Booth and the Lincoln Conspiracies by Michael W. Kauffman.Capitol Hill: A collaboration with Carl Bernstein set in Capitol Hill, it examines partisanship and the role money plays in influencing national governance. The series was ordered to pilot by HBO in 2015 but has not received a subsequent season order.Legacy of Ashes: On the Central Intelligence Agency, based on the 2007 book Legacy of Ashes by Tim Weiner. The show was taken to the BBC and would have had Anthony Bourdain on the writing staff.The Pogues: Musical project with the help of the late Philip Chevron in development at The Public Theater in New York City, with Laura Lippman and George PelecanosA Dry Run: The Lincolns in Spain: A historical miniseries set during the Spanish Civil War about the Abraham Lincoln and George Washington Battalions, which were composed of volunteers from the United States who wanted to help the Spanish Republic overcome fascism. Mark Johnson will be the series producer and Mediapro will be the series' production company.
Writing process
Simon is known for his realistic dialogue and journalistic approach to writing. He says that authenticity is paramount and that he writes not with a general audience in mind but with the opinions of his subjects as his priority. He has described his extensive use of real anecdotes and characters in his writing as "stealing life".
In a talk that Simon gave to a live audience in April 2007 at the Creative Alliance's storytelling series, Simon disclosed that he had started writing for revenge against John Carroll and Bill Marimow, the two most senior editors at The Baltimore Sun when Simon was a reporter at the paper. Simon said he had watched Carroll and Marimow "single-handedly destroy" the newspaper and that he spent over ten years trying to get back at them.
Anything I've ever accomplished as a writer, as somebody doing TV, anything I've ever done in life, down to, like, cleaning up my room, has been accomplished because I was going to show people that they were fucked up, wrong, and that I was the fucking center of the universe and the sooner they got hip to that, the happier they would all be.
One of the actions Simon took was to name a character in The Wire after Marimow and make the character "a repellent police-department toady." Carroll left The Baltimore Sun to become editor at the Los Angeles Times and resigned in 2005 after budget cuts were announced. "He stands up like a [bleeping] hero, takes a bullet," said Simon. In 2006 Marimow was diagnosed with prostate cancer, something that Simon said "took the edge off" his grudge. Carroll and Marimow "were fuel for 10 years of my life. ... And now, I got nothing," Simon said.
When asked about these comments, Simon said that he had spoken with "some hyperbole and, I hope, comic effect", adding that his basic viewpoint was: "that simple revenge is both empty and beside the point and that a good story carefully told has to speak to larger themes. You do not tell an ornate, careful story over ten hours of HBO airtime merely to bust on any given soul."
Views on journalism
In an interview in Reason in 2004, Simon said that since leaving the newspaper business he has become more cynical about the power of journalism. "One of the sad things about contemporary journalism is that it actually matters very little. The world now is almost inured to the power of journalism. The best journalism would manage to outrage people. And people are less and less inclined to outrage," said Simon. "I've become increasingly cynical about the ability of daily journalism to effect any kind of meaningful change. I was pretty dubious about it when I was a journalist, but now I think it's remarkably ineffectual."
While testifying at a 2009 Senate hearing regarding the future of journalism in America, Simon indicted what he saw as poor online journalism, calling the phrase citizen journalist "Orwellian to [his] ears." Simon ended his testimony by declaring, "I don't think anything can be done to save high-end journalism."
Political views
Simon has described himself as a social democrat, broadly supporting the existence of capitalism while opposing "raw, unencumbered capitalism, absent any social framework, absent any sense of community, without regard to the weakest and most vulnerable classes in society", which he described as "a recipe for needless pain, needless human waste, (and) needless tragedy". He has criticized the idea of trickle-down economics.
In 2013, Simon compared the global surveillance disclosures uncovered by Edward Snowden to a 1980s effort by the City of Baltimore to record the numbers dialed from all pay phones. The city believed that drug traffickers were using pay phones and pagers, and a municipal judge allowed the city to record the dialed numbers. The placement of the payphone number recorders formed the basis of The Wires first season. Simon argued that the media attention regarding the surveillance disclosures is a "faux scandal."
During a November 2013 speech at the Festival of Dangerous Ideas in Sydney, he said that America has become "a horror show" of savage inequality as a result of capitalism run amok, and that "unless we reverse course, the average human being is worthless on planet Earth. Unless we take stock of the fact that maybe socialism and the socialist impulse has to be addressed again; it has to be married as it was married in the 1930s, the 1940s and even into the 1950s, to the engine that is capitalism."
Simon has also spoken out publicly against crime journalist Kevin Deutsch, disputing the portrayal of Baltimore's illegal drug trade in Deutsch's book, Pill City: How Two Honor Roll Students Foiled the Feds and Built a Drug Empire. Simon has described the book as "a wholesale fabrication."
During the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries, Simon praised Bernie Sanders for "rehabilitating and normalizing the term socialist back into American public life", but opposed some attacks against Hillary Clinton which he felt focused on her presumed motives rather than the substance of policies.
Personal life
In 1991, Simon was married to graphic artist Kayle Tucker. They had a son. The marriage ended in divorce.
In 2006, Simon married best-selling Baltimore novelist and former Sun reporter Laura Lippman in a ceremony officiated by John Waters. They have a daughter, who was born in 2010.
Simon's nephew, Jason Simon, is a guitarist and vocalist for the psychedelic rock band Dead Meadow. The band was mentioned in an episode of The Wire.
Simon was the 2012 commencement speaker for the Georgetown University College of Arts and Sciences, as well as the speaker for the Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School graduation.
In 2019, Simon joined a host of other writers in firing their agents as part of the WGA's stand against the ATA after failing to come to an agreement on their "Code of Conduct". Simon's statement to the writers union was widely circulated. He had previously led the rallying cry about the unfair practices of packaging by the major talent agencies.
Works and publications
Commentary
Non-fiction books
Filmography
Producer
Writer
References
Further reading
External links
David Simon's blog.
1960 births
American crime fiction writers
Jewish American journalists
American non-fiction crime writers
American newspaper reporters and correspondents
American male novelists
American male screenwriters
American television producers
American television writers
Anthony Award winners
Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School alumni
Drug policy reform activists
Edgar Award winners
Living people
MacArthur Fellows
American male television writers
Maryland Democrats
Primetime Emmy Award winners
Showrunners
The Baltimore Sun people
University of Maryland, College Park alumni
Writers Guild of America Award winners
Writers from Baltimore
Novelists from Maryland
American male non-fiction writers
Screenwriters from Washington, D.C.
People from Bethesda, Maryland
21st-century American Jews | true | [
"The following is a list of awards and nominations received by Sasha, a Welsh DJ and record producer.\n\nDJ Awards\nThe DJ Awards organises the annual electronic music DJ awards event it is the only international ceremony for DJs and also the oldest, the awards are held once a year at Pacha club in Ibiza Spain it is one of the most important accolades an artist can win or be honoured by.\n\nSasha has won the Best Progressive House DJ Award 3 times, Best Tech House/Progressive DJ Award1 time and received 11 nominations overall.\n\nDJ Magazine Awards\nArtists are nominated to the DJ Magazine Top 100 DJ's list each year the public votes to decide who they rank as the World's No 1 DJ at the end of the poll.\n\nSasha achieved the World's No 1 ranking DJ in 2000 and he stayed in the top 5 for 8 consecutive years, the top 10 for 11 consecutive years.\n\nElectronic Music Awards\nSasha has won one award at the Electronic Music Awards.\n\nGrammy Awards\nIn 2005, the Grammy committee debated whether Sasha's mix compilation album, Involver, was eligible for nomination as Best Electronic/Dance Album. The Recording Academy decided that the album was eligible, but Involver did not receive a nomination. Sasha did receive a Grammy nomination for his remix of Felix da Housecat's \"Watching Cars Go By\", which was featured on Involver.\n\nInternational Dance Music Awards\nAt the annual Winter Music Conference, Sasha has won the \"Best Techno/Trance 12\" award (1999) for the Xpander EP, and \"Best CD Compilation\" awards for Global Underground: Ibiza (1999, 2000) and Involver (2004). He was also nominated in the categories \"Best European DJ\" (2004) and \"Best Remixer\".\n\nSasha has achieved 4 wins from 10 nominations overall.\n\nMuzik Awards\nAt the 1999 Ericsson Muzik Awards, he received an award for \"Outstanding Contributions to Dance Music\".\n\nReferences\n\nBritish music-related lists\nSasha",
"The Wolf of Wall Street is a 2013 American biographical black comedy film directed by Martin Scorsese. The screenplay was adapted by Terence Winter from Jordan Belfort's memoir of the same name. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Belfort, a New York stockbroker who runs a firm that engages in securities fraud and money laundering on Wall Street in the 1990s. Jonah Hill, Margot Robbie, and Kyle Chandler feature in supporting roles.\nThe film premiered in New York City on December 17, 2013. Paramount Pictures gave it a wide release in North America and France on December 25. The film grossed a worldwide total of over $392 million on a production budget of $100 million. As of August 2015, it is Scorsese's highest-grossing film. Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, surveyed 276 reviews and judged 79% to be positive.\n\nThe Wolf of Wall Street garnered awards and nominations in a variety of categories with particular praise for Scorsese's direction, DiCaprio's performance as Belfort, and Winter's adapted screenplay. At the 86th Academy Awards, the film was nominated for five Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director for Scorsese, Best Adapted Screenplay for Winter, Best Actor for DiCaprio, and Best Supporting Actor for Hill but failed to win in any category. The Wolf of Wall Street earned four nominations at the 67th British Academy Film Awards (BAFTAs), including Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Adapted Screenplay but did not win in any category. The film received two nominations at the 71st Golden Globe Awards, including Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy with DiCaprio winning the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. The film was also nominated at the 66th Directors Guild of America Awards, the 25th Producers Guild of America Awards, and the 66th Writers Guild of America Awards. Both the National Board of Review and the American Film Institute included The Wolf of Wall Street in their respective lists of top ten films of 2013.\n\nAccolades\n\nSee also \n\n2013 in film\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \nAccolades for The Wolf of Wall Street at the Internet Movie Database\n\nLists of accolades by film"
] | [
"David Judah Simon (born February 9, 1960) is an American author, journalist, and television writer and producer best known for his work on The Wire (2002–08). He worked for The Baltimore Sun City Desk for twelve years (1982–95), wrote Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets (1991), and co-wrote The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood (1997) with Ed Burns.",
"He worked for The Baltimore Sun City Desk for twelve years (1982–95), wrote Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets (1991), and co-wrote The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood (1997) with Ed Burns. The former book was the basis for the NBC series Homicide: Life on the Street (1993–99), on which Simon served as a writer and producer. Simon adapted the latter book into the HBO mini-series The Corner (2000).",
"Simon adapted the latter book into the HBO mini-series The Corner (2000). He was the creator, executive producer, head writer, and show runner for all five seasons of the HBO television series The Wire (2002–2008). He adapted the non-fiction book Generation Kill into a television mini-series, and served as the show runner for the project. He was selected as one of the 2010 MacArthur Fellows and named an Utne Reader visionary in 2011.",
"He was selected as one of the 2010 MacArthur Fellows and named an Utne Reader visionary in 2011. Simon also created the HBO series Treme with Eric Overmyer, which aired for four seasons. Following Treme, Simon wrote the HBO mini-series Show Me a Hero with journalist William F. Zorzi, a colleague first at The Baltimore Sun and again later on The Wire. Simon and frequent collaborator George Pelecanos reunited to create original series The Deuce.",
"Simon and frequent collaborator George Pelecanos reunited to create original series The Deuce. The drama about the New York porn industry in the 1970s and 1980s stars Maggie Gyllenhaal and co-producer James Franco, and aired from 2017 to 2019. Simon's next series, The Plot Against America, debuted in 2020. Early life and education Simon was born in Washington, D.C., the son of Dorothy Simon (née Ligeti), a homemaker, and Bernard Simon, a former journalist and then public relations director for B'nai B'rith for 20 years.",
"Early life and education Simon was born in Washington, D.C., the son of Dorothy Simon (née Ligeti), a homemaker, and Bernard Simon, a former journalist and then public relations director for B'nai B'rith for 20 years. Simon was raised in a Jewish family, and had a bar mitzvah ceremony. His family roots are in Russia, Belarus, Hungary, and Slovakia (his maternal grandfather had changed his surname from \"Leibowitz\" to \"Ligeti\").",
"His family roots are in Russia, Belarus, Hungary, and Slovakia (his maternal grandfather had changed his surname from \"Leibowitz\" to \"Ligeti\"). He has a brother, Gary Simon, and a sister, Linda Evans, who died in 1990.",
"He has a brother, Gary Simon, and a sister, Linda Evans, who died in 1990. In March 1977, when Simon was still in high school, Simon's father was one of a group of over 140 people held hostage (and later released) in Washington, D.C. by former national secretary of the Nation of Islam Hamaas Abdul Khaalis in the Hanafi Siege. Simon graduated from Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School in Bethesda, Maryland, and wrote for the school newspaper, The Tattler.",
"Simon graduated from Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School in Bethesda, Maryland, and wrote for the school newspaper, The Tattler. In 1983, he graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park. While at college he wrote and was Editor for The Diamondback, and became friends with contemporary David Mills. Career Journalism Upon leaving college, Simon worked as a police reporter at The Baltimore Sun from 1982 to 1995.",
"Career Journalism Upon leaving college, Simon worked as a police reporter at The Baltimore Sun from 1982 to 1995. Simon was hired by the Baltimore Sun for a piece he wrote about Lefty Driesell, who was then the men's basketball coach at the University of Maryland. Driesell had been extremely frustrated that one of his players was suspended from playing for sexual impropriety and called the victim, threatening to destroy her reputation if she did not withdraw her complaint.",
"Driesell had been extremely frustrated that one of his players was suspended from playing for sexual impropriety and called the victim, threatening to destroy her reputation if she did not withdraw her complaint. This was all done while the university administration was listening to the call, but they did nothing. Lefty Driesell was later given a 5-year contract and, in 2018, he was inducted into the ACC Hall of Fame. Simon spent most of his career covering the crime beat.",
"Simon spent most of his career covering the crime beat. A colleague has said that Simon loved journalism and felt it was \"God's work\". Simon says that he was initially altruistic and was inspired to enter journalism by The Washington Posts coverage of Watergate but became increasingly pragmatic as he gained experience. Simon was a union captain when the writing staff went on strike in 1987 over benefit cuts. He remained angry after the strike ended and began to feel uncomfortable in the writing room.",
"He remained angry after the strike ended and began to feel uncomfortable in the writing room. He searched for a reason to justify a leave of absence and settled on the idea of writing a novel. \"I got out of journalism because some sons of bitches bought my newspaper and it stopped being fun,\" says Simon. In 1988, disillusioned, Simon took a year's leave to go into the Baltimore Police Department Homicide Unit to write a book.",
"In 1988, disillusioned, Simon took a year's leave to go into the Baltimore Police Department Homicide Unit to write a book. Book Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets Simon's leave of absence from The Sun resulted in his first book Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets (1991). The book was based on his experiences shadowing the Baltimore Police Department homicide unit during 1988. The idea came from a conversation on Christmas Eve 1985 in the unit office, where Det.",
"The idea came from a conversation on Christmas Eve 1985 in the unit office, where Det. Bill Lansey told him, \"If someone just wrote down what happens in this place for one year, they'd have a goddamn book.\" Simon approached the police department and the editors of the paper to receive approval. The detectives were initially slow to accept him, but he persevered in an attempt to \"seem … like part of the furniture\".",
"The detectives were initially slow to accept him, but he persevered in an attempt to \"seem … like part of the furniture\". However, he soon ingratiated himself with the detectives, saying in the closing notes of the book, \"I shared with the detectives a year's worth of fast-food runs, bar arguments and station house humor: Even for a trained observer, it was hard to remain aloof.\" During one instance, Simon even assisted with an arrest.",
"During one instance, Simon even assisted with an arrest. Two detectives Simon was riding with pulled their car to a curb to apprehend two suspects, but Detective Dave Brown got his trenchcoat caught in a seat belt when he tried to exit the car. Brown told Simon to assist Detective Terry McLarney himself, and Simon helped apprehend and search one of the suspects. The book won the 1992 Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime book. The Associated Press called it \"a true-crime classic\".",
"The Associated Press called it \"a true-crime classic\". The Library Journal also highly recommended it, and Newsday described it as \"one of the most engrossing police procedural mystery books ever written\". Simon credits his time researching the book as altering his writing style and informing later work. He learned to be more patient in research and writing, and said a key lesson was not promoting himself but concentrating on his subjects. Simon told Baltimore's City Paper in 2003 that Homicide was not traditional journalism.",
"Simon told Baltimore's City Paper in 2003 that Homicide was not traditional journalism. \"I felt Homicide the book and The Corner were not traditional journalism in the sense of coming from some artificially omniscient, objective point of view,\" said Simon. \"They're immersed in the respective cultures that they cover in a way that traditional journalism often isn't.\"",
"\"They're immersed in the respective cultures that they cover in a way that traditional journalism often isn't.\" Television Homicide: Life on the Street The publishers of Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets were eager for a screen adaptation and submitted it to numerous directors but there was little interest. Simon suggested that they send the book to Baltimore native and film director Barry Levinson. Levinson's assistant Gail Mutrux enjoyed the book and both she and Levinson became attached as producers.",
"Levinson's assistant Gail Mutrux enjoyed the book and both she and Levinson became attached as producers. The project became the award-winning TV series Homicide: Life on the Street (1993–1999), on which Simon worked as a writer and producer. Simon was asked by Mutrux to write the show's pilot episode but declined, feeling he did not have the necessary expertise. He collaborated with his old college friend David Mills to write the season two premiere \"Bop Gun\".",
"He collaborated with his old college friend David Mills to write the season two premiere \"Bop Gun\". The episode was based on a story by executive producer Tom Fontana and featured Robin Williams in a guest starring role that garnered the actor an Emmy nomination. Simon and Mills won the WGA Award for Best Writing in a Drama for the episode. Simon also received Austin Film Festival's Outstanding Television Writer Award in 2010.",
"Simon also received Austin Film Festival's Outstanding Television Writer Award in 2010. Simon left his job with the Baltimore Sun in 1995 to work full-time on Homicide: Life on the Street during the production of the show's fourth season. Simon wrote the teleplay for the season four episodes \"Justice: Part 2\" and \"Scene of the Crime\" (with Anya Epstein).",
"Simon wrote the teleplay for the season four episodes \"Justice: Part 2\" and \"Scene of the Crime\" (with Anya Epstein). For season five he was the show's story editor and continued to contribute teleplays writing the episodes \"Bad Medicine\" and \"Wu's on First?\" (again with Epstein). He was credited as a producer on the show's sixth and seventh seasons.",
"He was credited as a producer on the show's sixth and seventh seasons. He wrote the teleplays for parts two and three of the sixth-season premiere \"Blood Ties\" (the latter marking his third collaboration with Epstein) and provided the story for the later sixth-season episodes \"Full Court Press\" and \"Finnegan's Wake\" (with James Yoshimura).",
"He wrote the teleplays for parts two and three of the sixth-season premiere \"Blood Ties\" (the latter marking his third collaboration with Epstein) and provided the story for the later sixth-season episodes \"Full Court Press\" and \"Finnegan's Wake\" (with James Yoshimura). He provided the story for the seventh season episodes \"Shades of Gray\" (with Julie Martin), \"The Same Coin\" (again with Yoshimura) and \"Self Defense\" (with Eric Overmyer).",
"He provided the story for the seventh season episodes \"Shades of Gray\" (with Julie Martin), \"The Same Coin\" (again with Yoshimura) and \"Self Defense\" (with Eric Overmyer). Simon wrote the story and teleplay for the seventh season episodes \"The Twenty Percent Solution\" and \"Sideshow: Part 2\". Simon, Martin and teleplay writer T. J. English won the Humanitas Prize in the 60 minutes category for the episode \"Shades of Gray\".",
"Simon, Martin and teleplay writer T. J. English won the Humanitas Prize in the 60 minutes category for the episode \"Shades of Gray\". Simon was nominated for a second WGA Award for Best Writing in a Drama for his work on \"Finnegan's Wake\" with Yoshimura and Mills (who wrote the teleplay). Simon has said that he thought the show was a \"remarkable drama\" but that it did not reflect the book.",
"Simon has said that he thought the show was a \"remarkable drama\" but that it did not reflect the book. He has also said that when writing for the show he had to put his experiences of the real detectives aside as the characters became quite different, particularly in their more philosophical approach to the job. Simon said that TV must find shorthand ways of referencing anything real.",
"Simon said that TV must find shorthand ways of referencing anything real. The Corner In 1997 he co-authored, with Ed Burns, The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood, the true account of a West Baltimore community dominated by a heavy drug market. Simon credits his editor John Sterling with the suggestion that he observe a single drug corner. He took a second leave of absence from the Baltimore Sun in 1993 to research the project.",
"He took a second leave of absence from the Baltimore Sun in 1993 to research the project. Simon became close to one of his subjects, drug addict Gary McCullough, and was devastated by his death while he was writing the project. Simon says that he approached the research with the abstract idea that his subjects may die because of their addictions but it was not possible to fully prepare for the reality. He remains grateful to his subjects saying \"This involved people's whole lives, there's no privacy in it.",
"He remains grateful to his subjects saying \"This involved people's whole lives, there's no privacy in it. That was an enormous gift which many, many people gave us. Even the most functional were at war with themselves. But they were not foolish people. And they made that choice.\" The Corner was named a Notable Book of the Year by The New York Times. Simon again returned to his journalism career after finishing the book but felt further changed by his experiences.",
"Simon again returned to his journalism career after finishing the book but felt further changed by his experiences. He said he \"was less enamored of the braggadocio, all that big, we're-really-having-an-impact talk\" and no longer believed that they were making a difference; he left his job at The Sun within a year for work on NBC's Homicide. Soon after Homicide concluded Simon co-wrote (with David Mills) and produced The Corner as a six-hour TV miniseries for HBO.",
"Soon after Homicide concluded Simon co-wrote (with David Mills) and produced The Corner as a six-hour TV miniseries for HBO. The show received three Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries or a Movie, for Simon and Mills. The Wire Simon was the creator, show runner, executive producer and head writer of the HBO drama series The Wire. Many of The Wires characters and incidents also came from Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets.",
"Many of The Wires characters and incidents also came from Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets. After the fourth season, Simon signed on to produce the fifth and final season of The Wire, which focused on the role of mass media in society. Again he worked with Ed Burns on creating the show. Originally they set out to create a police drama loosely based on Burns' experiences when working on protracted investigations of violent drug dealers using surveillance technology.",
"Originally they set out to create a police drama loosely based on Burns' experiences when working on protracted investigations of violent drug dealers using surveillance technology. During this time Burns had often faced frustration with the bureaucracy of the police department, which Simon equated with his own ordeals as a police reporter for The Baltimore Sun.",
"During this time Burns had often faced frustration with the bureaucracy of the police department, which Simon equated with his own ordeals as a police reporter for The Baltimore Sun. Writing against the background of current events, including institutionalized corporate crime at Enron and institutional dysfunction in the Catholic Church, the show became \"more of a treatise about institutions and individuals than a straight cop show.\" They chose to take The Wire to HBO because of their existing working relationship from The Corner.",
"They chose to take The Wire to HBO because of their existing working relationship from The Corner. Owing to its reputation for exploring new areas, HBO was initially dubious about including a cop drama in their lineup, but eventually agreed to produce the pilot after ordering a further two scripts to see how the series would progress. Carolyn Strauss, the president of HBO entertainment, has said that Simon's argument that the most subversive thing HBO could do was invade the networks' \"backyard\" of police procedurals helped to persuade them.",
"Carolyn Strauss, the president of HBO entertainment, has said that Simon's argument that the most subversive thing HBO could do was invade the networks' \"backyard\" of police procedurals helped to persuade them. The theme of institutional dysfunction was expanded across different areas of the city as the show progressed. The second season focused on the death of working-class America through examination of the city ports.",
"The second season focused on the death of working-class America through examination of the city ports. The third season \"reflects on the nature of reform and reformers, and whether there is any possibility that political processes, long calcified, can mitigate against the forces currently arrayed against individuals.\" For the fourth season Simon again turned to Burns' experience, this time his second career as a Baltimore public school teacher in examining the theme of education.",
"For the fourth season Simon again turned to Burns' experience, this time his second career as a Baltimore public school teacher in examining the theme of education. The fifth season looked at the media, as well as continuing themes such as politics from earlier seasons. Simon was reunited with his The Corner producers Robert F. Colesberry and Nina K. Noble on The Wire. Simon credits Colesberry for achieving the show's realistic visual feel because of his experience as a director.",
"Simon credits Colesberry for achieving the show's realistic visual feel because of his experience as a director. They recruited Homicide star and director Clark Johnson to helm the pilot episode. The completed pilot was given to HBO in November 2001. Johnson returned to direct the second episode when the show was picked up, and would direct the series finale as well, in addition to starring in the fifth season. Simon approached acclaimed crime fiction authors to write for The Wire.",
"Simon approached acclaimed crime fiction authors to write for The Wire. He was recommended the work of George Pelecanos by a colleague while working at the Baltimore Sun because of similarities between their writing. The two writers have much in common including a childhood in Silver Spring, attendance at the University of Maryland and their interest in the \"fate of the American city and the black urban poor.\" Simon did not read Pelecanos initially because of territorial prejudice; Pelecanos is from Washington.",
"Simon did not read Pelecanos initially because of territorial prejudice; Pelecanos is from Washington. Once Simon received further recommendations including one from his wife Laura Lippman he tried Pelecanos' novel The Sweet Forever and changed his mind. He sought out Pelecanos when recruiting writers for The Wire. The two met at the funeral of a mutual friend shortly after Simon delivered the pilot episode. Simon pitched Pelecanos the idea of The Wire as a novel for television about the American city as Pelecanos drove him home.",
"Simon pitched Pelecanos the idea of The Wire as a novel for television about the American city as Pelecanos drove him home. Pelecanos became a regular writer and later a producer for the show's second and third seasons. Simon and Pelecanos collaborated to write the episode \"Middle Ground\" which received the show's first Emmy nomination, in the category Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series.",
"Simon and Pelecanos collaborated to write the episode \"Middle Ground\" which received the show's first Emmy nomination, in the category Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series. Pelecanos left the production staff following the third season to focus on his next novel; Simon has commented that he missed having him working on the show full-time but was pleased that he continued to write for them and was a fan of the resultant book The Night Gardener.",
"Pelecanos left the production staff following the third season to focus on his next novel; Simon has commented that he missed having him working on the show full-time but was pleased that he continued to write for them and was a fan of the resultant book The Night Gardener. Similar to Simon's own experience in researching Homicide Pelecanos spent time embedded with the Washington DC homicide unit to research the book. Crime novelist Dennis Lehane has also written for the series starting with the third season.",
"Crime novelist Dennis Lehane has also written for the series starting with the third season. Lehane has commented that he was impressed by Simon and Burns' ear for authentic street slang. Eric Overmyer was brought in to fill the role of Pelecanos as a full-time writer producer. He had previously worked with Simon on Homicide where the two became friends.",
"He had previously worked with Simon on Homicide where the two became friends. Simon has said that he was impressed with Overmyer's writing particularly in synthesizing the story for \"Margin of Error\" as the episode is the height of the show's political storyline but must also progress other plot threads. Simon and his writing staff were nominated for the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Dramatic Series at the February 2009 ceremony for their work on the fifth season.",
"Simon and his writing staff were nominated for the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Dramatic Series at the February 2009 ceremony for their work on the fifth season. Simon and Burns collaborated to write the series finale \"-30-\" which received the show's second Emmy nomination, again in the category Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series.",
"Simon and Burns collaborated to write the series finale \"-30-\" which received the show's second Emmy nomination, again in the category Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series. Simon has stated that he finds working with HBO more comfortable than his experiences with NBC on Homicide and that HBO is able to allow greater creative control because it is dependent on subscribers rather than on viewing figures. He has said that he feels unable to return to network television because he felt pressure to compromise storytelling for audience satisfaction.",
"He has said that he feels unable to return to network television because he felt pressure to compromise storytelling for audience satisfaction. Generation Kill Simon produced and wrote Generation Kill for HBO with Ed Burns. They again worked with Nina Noble as a producer. The miniseries is an adaption of the non-fiction book of the same name. It relates the first 40 days of the 2003 invasion of Iraq as experienced by 1st Reconnaissance Battalion and their embedded reporter, Evan Wright.",
"It relates the first 40 days of the 2003 invasion of Iraq as experienced by 1st Reconnaissance Battalion and their embedded reporter, Evan Wright. Simon and Burns worked with Wright in adapting his book into the series. Treme Simon collaborated with Eric Overmyer again on Treme, a project about musicians in post-Katrina New Orleans. Overmyer lives part-time in New Orleans, and Simon believed his experience would be valuable in navigating the \"ornate oral tradition\" of the city's stories.",
"Overmyer lives part-time in New Orleans, and Simon believed his experience would be valuable in navigating the \"ornate oral tradition\" of the city's stories. Simon also consulted with New Orleans natives Donald Harrison Jr., Kermit Ruffins, and Davis Rogan while developing the series. The show focuses on a working-class neighborhood, and is smaller in scope than The Wire. The series premiered on April 11, 2010, on HBO and ran for four seasons.",
"The series premiered on April 11, 2010, on HBO and ran for four seasons. Treme is named after the Faubourg Treme neighborhood in New Orleans that is home to many of the city's musicians. Simon stated that the series would explore beyond the music scene to encompass political corruption, the public housing controversy, the criminal-justice system, clashes between police and Mardi Gras Indians, and the struggle to regain the tourism industry after the storm. One of the principal characters in the pilot script runs a restaurant.",
"One of the principal characters in the pilot script runs a restaurant. The series was filmed on location and was expected to provide a boost to the New Orleans economy. Simon's casting of the show mirrored that of The Wire in using local actors wherever possible. Wendell Pierce, who had previously played Bunk Moreland on The Wire, stars in the series. Clarke Peters, also of The Wire, is another series regular.",
"Clarke Peters, also of The Wire, is another series regular. Many other stars of The Wire have appeared in Treme, these include Steve Earle, Jim True-Frost, James Ransone, and Anwan Glover. Show Me a Hero In 2014, HBO greenlit production for Simon's next project Show Me a Hero, a six-hour miniseries co-written with William F. Zorzi and the episodes directed by Academy Award-winner Paul Haggis.",
"Show Me a Hero In 2014, HBO greenlit production for Simon's next project Show Me a Hero, a six-hour miniseries co-written with William F. Zorzi and the episodes directed by Academy Award-winner Paul Haggis. The miniseries is an adaptation of the nonfiction book of the same name by Lisa Belkin and tells the story of Nick Wasicsko, the youngest big-city mayor in the country who is thrust into racial controversy when a federal court orders to build a small number of low-income housing units in the white neighborhoods of Yonkers, New York.",
"The miniseries is an adaptation of the nonfiction book of the same name by Lisa Belkin and tells the story of Nick Wasicsko, the youngest big-city mayor in the country who is thrust into racial controversy when a federal court orders to build a small number of low-income housing units in the white neighborhoods of Yonkers, New York. Oscar Isaac stars as Wasicsko and leads a cast, which includes Catherine Keener, Jim Belushi, Bob Balaban and Winona Ryder. The miniseries premiered on August 16, 2015.",
"The miniseries premiered on August 16, 2015. The miniseries premiered on August 16, 2015. The Deuce The Deuce is a 2017 drama television series set in Times Square, New York focusing on the rise of the porn industry in the 1970s-80s. Created and written by Simon along with frequent collaborator George Pelecanos, the series pilot began shooting in October 2015. It was picked up to series in January 2016. It premiered on September 10, 2017, and is broadcast by HBO in the United States.",
"It premiered on September 10, 2017, and is broadcast by HBO in the United States. The Deuce tells the story of the legalization and ensuing rise of the porn industry in New York beginning in the 1970s and its ongoing rise through the mid-1980s. Themes explored include the rise of HIV, the violence of the drug epidemic and the resulting real estate booms and busts that coincided with the change.",
"Themes explored include the rise of HIV, the violence of the drug epidemic and the resulting real estate booms and busts that coincided with the change. The Plot Against America An adaptation of Philip Roth's novel, The Plot Against America is an alternate history told through the eyes of a working-class Jewish family in Newark, New Jersey; as they watch the political rise of Charles Lindbergh, an aviator-hero and xenophobic populist, who becomes president and turns the nation toward fascism.",
"The Plot Against America An adaptation of Philip Roth's novel, The Plot Against America is an alternate history told through the eyes of a working-class Jewish family in Newark, New Jersey; as they watch the political rise of Charles Lindbergh, an aviator-hero and xenophobic populist, who becomes president and turns the nation toward fascism. The six-part miniseries premiered on March 16, 2020, on HBO. Projects in developmentParting the Waters: With Taylor Branch, James McBride, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and Eric Overmyer.",
"Projects in developmentParting the Waters: With Taylor Branch, James McBride, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and Eric Overmyer. About Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement, based on one of the volumes of the books America in the King Years written by Taylor Branch, specifically At Canaan's Edge: America in the King Years, 1965–1968.",
"About Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement, based on one of the volumes of the books America in the King Years written by Taylor Branch, specifically At Canaan's Edge: America in the King Years, 1965–1968. The project was to be produced by Oprah Winfrey, but was shelved.The Avenue: A book with William F. Zorzi Jr., on the Baltimore drug epidemic from 1951 to late 1980sThe Good Friday Plot: Miniseries about Abraham Lincoln based upon Manhunt: The Twelve-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer by James L. Swanson and American Brutus: John Wilkes Booth and the Lincoln Conspiracies by Michael W. Kauffman.Capitol Hill: A collaboration with Carl Bernstein set in Capitol Hill, it examines partisanship and the role money plays in influencing national governance.",
"The project was to be produced by Oprah Winfrey, but was shelved.The Avenue: A book with William F. Zorzi Jr., on the Baltimore drug epidemic from 1951 to late 1980sThe Good Friday Plot: Miniseries about Abraham Lincoln based upon Manhunt: The Twelve-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer by James L. Swanson and American Brutus: John Wilkes Booth and the Lincoln Conspiracies by Michael W. Kauffman.Capitol Hill: A collaboration with Carl Bernstein set in Capitol Hill, it examines partisanship and the role money plays in influencing national governance. The series was ordered to pilot by HBO in 2015 but has not received a subsequent season order.Legacy of Ashes: On the Central Intelligence Agency, based on the 2007 book Legacy of Ashes by Tim Weiner.",
"The series was ordered to pilot by HBO in 2015 but has not received a subsequent season order.Legacy of Ashes: On the Central Intelligence Agency, based on the 2007 book Legacy of Ashes by Tim Weiner. The show was taken to the BBC and would have had Anthony Bourdain on the writing staff.The Pogues: Musical project with the help of the late Philip Chevron in development at The Public Theater in New York City, with Laura Lippman and George PelecanosA Dry Run: The Lincolns in Spain: A historical miniseries set during the Spanish Civil War about the Abraham Lincoln and George Washington Battalions, which were composed of volunteers from the United States who wanted to help the Spanish Republic overcome fascism.",
"The show was taken to the BBC and would have had Anthony Bourdain on the writing staff.The Pogues: Musical project with the help of the late Philip Chevron in development at The Public Theater in New York City, with Laura Lippman and George PelecanosA Dry Run: The Lincolns in Spain: A historical miniseries set during the Spanish Civil War about the Abraham Lincoln and George Washington Battalions, which were composed of volunteers from the United States who wanted to help the Spanish Republic overcome fascism. Mark Johnson will be the series producer and Mediapro will be the series' production company.",
"Mark Johnson will be the series producer and Mediapro will be the series' production company. Writing process Simon is known for his realistic dialogue and journalistic approach to writing. He says that authenticity is paramount and that he writes not with a general audience in mind but with the opinions of his subjects as his priority. He has described his extensive use of real anecdotes and characters in his writing as \"stealing life\".",
"He has described his extensive use of real anecdotes and characters in his writing as \"stealing life\". In a talk that Simon gave to a live audience in April 2007 at the Creative Alliance's storytelling series, Simon disclosed that he had started writing for revenge against John Carroll and Bill Marimow, the two most senior editors at The Baltimore Sun when Simon was a reporter at the paper.",
"In a talk that Simon gave to a live audience in April 2007 at the Creative Alliance's storytelling series, Simon disclosed that he had started writing for revenge against John Carroll and Bill Marimow, the two most senior editors at The Baltimore Sun when Simon was a reporter at the paper. Simon said he had watched Carroll and Marimow \"single-handedly destroy\" the newspaper and that he spent over ten years trying to get back at them.",
"Simon said he had watched Carroll and Marimow \"single-handedly destroy\" the newspaper and that he spent over ten years trying to get back at them. Anything I've ever accomplished as a writer, as somebody doing TV, anything I've ever done in life, down to, like, cleaning up my room, has been accomplished because I was going to show people that they were fucked up, wrong, and that I was the fucking center of the universe and the sooner they got hip to that, the happier they would all be.",
"Anything I've ever accomplished as a writer, as somebody doing TV, anything I've ever done in life, down to, like, cleaning up my room, has been accomplished because I was going to show people that they were fucked up, wrong, and that I was the fucking center of the universe and the sooner they got hip to that, the happier they would all be. One of the actions Simon took was to name a character in The Wire after Marimow and make the character \"a repellent police-department toady.\"",
"One of the actions Simon took was to name a character in The Wire after Marimow and make the character \"a repellent police-department toady.\" Carroll left The Baltimore Sun to become editor at the Los Angeles Times and resigned in 2005 after budget cuts were announced. \"He stands up like a [bleeping] hero, takes a bullet,\" said Simon. In 2006 Marimow was diagnosed with prostate cancer, something that Simon said \"took the edge off\" his grudge.",
"In 2006 Marimow was diagnosed with prostate cancer, something that Simon said \"took the edge off\" his grudge. Carroll and Marimow \"were fuel for 10 years of my life. ... And now, I got nothing,\" Simon said.",
"... And now, I got nothing,\" Simon said. When asked about these comments, Simon said that he had spoken with \"some hyperbole and, I hope, comic effect\", adding that his basic viewpoint was: \"that simple revenge is both empty and beside the point and that a good story carefully told has to speak to larger themes. You do not tell an ornate, careful story over ten hours of HBO airtime merely to bust on any given soul.\"",
"You do not tell an ornate, careful story over ten hours of HBO airtime merely to bust on any given soul.\" Views on journalism In an interview in Reason in 2004, Simon said that since leaving the newspaper business he has become more cynical about the power of journalism. \"One of the sad things about contemporary journalism is that it actually matters very little. The world now is almost inured to the power of journalism. The best journalism would manage to outrage people.",
"The best journalism would manage to outrage people. The best journalism would manage to outrage people. And people are less and less inclined to outrage,\" said Simon. \"I've become increasingly cynical about the ability of daily journalism to effect any kind of meaningful change. I was pretty dubious about it when I was a journalist, but now I think it's remarkably ineffectual.\"",
"I was pretty dubious about it when I was a journalist, but now I think it's remarkably ineffectual.\" While testifying at a 2009 Senate hearing regarding the future of journalism in America, Simon indicted what he saw as poor online journalism, calling the phrase citizen journalist \"Orwellian to [his] ears.\" Simon ended his testimony by declaring, \"I don't think anything can be done to save high-end journalism.\"",
"Simon ended his testimony by declaring, \"I don't think anything can be done to save high-end journalism.\" Political views Simon has described himself as a social democrat, broadly supporting the existence of capitalism while opposing \"raw, unencumbered capitalism, absent any social framework, absent any sense of community, without regard to the weakest and most vulnerable classes in society\", which he described as \"a recipe for needless pain, needless human waste, (and) needless tragedy\".",
"Political views Simon has described himself as a social democrat, broadly supporting the existence of capitalism while opposing \"raw, unencumbered capitalism, absent any social framework, absent any sense of community, without regard to the weakest and most vulnerable classes in society\", which he described as \"a recipe for needless pain, needless human waste, (and) needless tragedy\". He has criticized the idea of trickle-down economics.",
"He has criticized the idea of trickle-down economics. He has criticized the idea of trickle-down economics. In 2013, Simon compared the global surveillance disclosures uncovered by Edward Snowden to a 1980s effort by the City of Baltimore to record the numbers dialed from all pay phones. The city believed that drug traffickers were using pay phones and pagers, and a municipal judge allowed the city to record the dialed numbers. The placement of the payphone number recorders formed the basis of The Wires first season.",
"The placement of the payphone number recorders formed the basis of The Wires first season. Simon argued that the media attention regarding the surveillance disclosures is a \"faux scandal.\" During a November 2013 speech at the Festival of Dangerous Ideas in Sydney, he said that America has become \"a horror show\" of savage inequality as a result of capitalism run amok, and that \"unless we reverse course, the average human being is worthless on planet Earth.",
"During a November 2013 speech at the Festival of Dangerous Ideas in Sydney, he said that America has become \"a horror show\" of savage inequality as a result of capitalism run amok, and that \"unless we reverse course, the average human being is worthless on planet Earth. Unless we take stock of the fact that maybe socialism and the socialist impulse has to be addressed again; it has to be married as it was married in the 1930s, the 1940s and even into the 1950s, to the engine that is capitalism.\"",
"Unless we take stock of the fact that maybe socialism and the socialist impulse has to be addressed again; it has to be married as it was married in the 1930s, the 1940s and even into the 1950s, to the engine that is capitalism.\" Simon has also spoken out publicly against crime journalist Kevin Deutsch, disputing the portrayal of Baltimore's illegal drug trade in Deutsch's book, Pill City: How Two Honor Roll Students Foiled the Feds and Built a Drug Empire.",
"Simon has also spoken out publicly against crime journalist Kevin Deutsch, disputing the portrayal of Baltimore's illegal drug trade in Deutsch's book, Pill City: How Two Honor Roll Students Foiled the Feds and Built a Drug Empire. Simon has described the book as \"a wholesale fabrication.\"",
"Simon has described the book as \"a wholesale fabrication.\" During the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries, Simon praised Bernie Sanders for \"rehabilitating and normalizing the term socialist back into American public life\", but opposed some attacks against Hillary Clinton which he felt focused on her presumed motives rather than the substance of policies. Personal life In 1991, Simon was married to graphic artist Kayle Tucker. They had a son. The marriage ended in divorce.",
"They had a son. The marriage ended in divorce. The marriage ended in divorce. In 2006, Simon married best-selling Baltimore novelist and former Sun reporter Laura Lippman in a ceremony officiated by John Waters. They have a daughter, who was born in 2010. Simon's nephew, Jason Simon, is a guitarist and vocalist for the psychedelic rock band Dead Meadow. The band was mentioned in an episode of The Wire.",
"The band was mentioned in an episode of The Wire. Simon was the 2012 commencement speaker for the Georgetown University College of Arts and Sciences, as well as the speaker for the Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School graduation. In 2019, Simon joined a host of other writers in firing their agents as part of the WGA's stand against the ATA after failing to come to an agreement on their \"Code of Conduct\". Simon's statement to the writers union was widely circulated.",
"Simon's statement to the writers union was widely circulated. He had previously led the rallying cry about the unfair practices of packaging by the major talent agencies. Works and publications Commentary Non-fiction books Filmography Producer Writer References Further reading External links David Simon's blog.",
"Works and publications Commentary Non-fiction books Filmography Producer Writer References Further reading External links David Simon's blog. 1960 births American crime fiction writers Jewish American journalists American non-fiction crime writers American newspaper reporters and correspondents American male novelists American male screenwriters American television producers American television writers Anthony Award winners Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School alumni Drug policy reform activists Edgar Award winners Living people MacArthur Fellows American male television writers Maryland Democrats Primetime Emmy Award winners Showrunners The Baltimore Sun people University of Maryland, College Park alumni Writers Guild of America Award winners Writers from Baltimore Novelists from Maryland American male non-fiction writers Screenwriters from Washington, D.C. People from Bethesda, Maryland 21st-century American Jews"
] |
[
"David Simon",
"Journalism",
"What was his relationship with journalism?",
"Simon worked as a police reporter at The Baltimore Sun from 1982 to 1995. He spent most of his career covering the crime beat. A colleague has said that",
"How were his pieces recieved?",
"A colleague has said that Simon loved journalism and felt it was \"God's work\". Simon says that he was initially altruistic and was inspired",
"Did he receive any accolades or awards?",
"Simon was a union captain when the writing staff went on strike in 1987 over benefit cuts. He remained angry after the strike ended and began to feel uncomfortable"
] | C_9bee77e3ba5d4991a15b82be185dfcbd_1 | Did he ever get over the feelings of discomfort? | 4 | Did David Simon ever get over the feelings of discomfort after the strike? | David Simon | Upon leaving college, Simon worked as a police reporter at The Baltimore Sun from 1982 to 1995. He spent most of his career covering the crime beat. A colleague has said that Simon loved journalism and felt it was "God's work". Simon says that he was initially altruistic and was inspired to enter journalism by the Washington Post's coverage of Watergate but became increasingly pragmatic as he gained experience. Later in his career he aimed to tell the best possible story without "cheating it". Simon was a union captain when the writing staff went on strike in 1987 over benefit cuts. He remained angry after the strike ended and began to feel uncomfortable in the writing room. He searched for a reason to justify a leave of absence and settled on the idea of writing a novel. "I got out of journalism because some sons of bitches bought my newspaper and it stopped being fun," says Simon. In an interview in Reason in 2004, Simon said that since leaving the newspaper business he has become more cynical about the power of journalism. "One of the sad things about contemporary journalism is that it actually matters very little. The world now is almost inured to the power of journalism. The best journalism would manage to outrage people. And people are less and less inclined to outrage," said Simon. "I've become increasingly cynical about the ability of daily journalism to effect any kind of meaningful change. I was pretty dubious about it when I was a journalist, but now I think it's remarkably ineffectual." In 1988, disillusioned, Simon took a year's leave to go into the Baltimore Police Department Homicide Unit to write a book. CANNOTANSWER | He searched for a reason to justify a leave of absence and settled on the idea of writing a novel. "I got out of journalism because | David Judah Simon (born February 9, 1960) is an American author, journalist, and television writer and producer best known for his work on The Wire (2002–08).
He worked for The Baltimore Sun City Desk for twelve years (1982–95), wrote Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets (1991), and co-wrote The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood (1997) with Ed Burns. The former book was the basis for the NBC series Homicide: Life on the Street (1993–99), on which Simon served as a writer and producer. Simon adapted the latter book into the HBO mini-series The Corner (2000).
He was the creator, executive producer, head writer, and show runner for all five seasons of the HBO television series The Wire (2002–2008). He adapted the non-fiction book Generation Kill into a television mini-series, and served as the show runner for the project. He was selected as one of the 2010 MacArthur Fellows and named an Utne Reader visionary in 2011. Simon also created the HBO series Treme with Eric Overmyer, which aired for four seasons. Following Treme, Simon wrote the HBO mini-series Show Me a Hero with journalist William F. Zorzi, a colleague first at The Baltimore Sun and again later on The Wire. Simon and frequent collaborator George Pelecanos reunited to create original series The Deuce. The drama about the New York porn industry in the 1970s and 1980s stars Maggie Gyllenhaal and co-producer James Franco, and aired from 2017 to 2019. Simon's next series, The Plot Against America, debuted in 2020.
Early life and education
Simon was born in Washington, D.C., the son of Dorothy Simon (née Ligeti), a homemaker, and Bernard Simon, a former journalist and then public relations director for B'nai B'rith for 20 years. Simon was raised in a Jewish family, and had a bar mitzvah ceremony. His family roots are in Russia, Belarus, Hungary, and Slovakia (his maternal grandfather had changed his surname from "Leibowitz" to "Ligeti"). He has a brother, Gary Simon, and a sister, Linda Evans, who died in 1990.
In March 1977, when Simon was still in high school, Simon's father was one of a group of over 140 people held hostage (and later released) in Washington, D.C. by former national secretary of the Nation of Islam Hamaas Abdul Khaalis in the Hanafi Siege.
Simon graduated from Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School in Bethesda, Maryland, and wrote for the school newspaper, The Tattler. In 1983, he graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park. While at college he wrote and was Editor for The Diamondback, and became friends with contemporary David Mills.
Career
Journalism
Upon leaving college, Simon worked as a police reporter at The Baltimore Sun from 1982 to 1995. Simon was hired by the Baltimore Sun for a piece he wrote about Lefty Driesell, who was then the men's basketball coach at the University of Maryland. Driesell had been extremely frustrated that one of his players was suspended from playing for sexual impropriety and called the victim, threatening to destroy her reputation if she did not withdraw her complaint. This was all done while the university administration was listening to the call, but they did nothing. Lefty Driesell was later given a 5-year contract and, in 2018, he was inducted into the ACC Hall of Fame.
Simon spent most of his career covering the crime beat. A colleague has said that Simon loved journalism and felt it was "God's work". Simon says that he was initially altruistic and was inspired to enter journalism by The Washington Posts coverage of Watergate but became increasingly pragmatic as he gained experience.
Simon was a union captain when the writing staff went on strike in 1987 over benefit cuts. He remained angry after the strike ended and began to feel uncomfortable in the writing room. He searched for a reason to justify a leave of absence and settled on the idea of writing a novel. "I got out of journalism because some sons of bitches bought my newspaper and it stopped being fun," says Simon.
In 1988, disillusioned, Simon took a year's leave to go into the Baltimore Police Department Homicide Unit to write a book.
Book
Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets
Simon's leave of absence from The Sun resulted in his first book Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets (1991). The book was based on his experiences shadowing the Baltimore Police Department homicide unit during 1988. The idea came from a conversation on Christmas Eve 1985 in the unit office, where Det. Bill Lansey told him, "If someone just wrote down what happens in this place for one year, they'd have a goddamn book." Simon approached the police department and the editors of the paper to receive approval. The detectives were initially slow to accept him, but he persevered in an attempt to "seem … like part of the furniture". However, he soon ingratiated himself with the detectives, saying in the closing notes of the book, "I shared with the detectives a year's worth of fast-food runs, bar arguments and station house humor: Even for a trained observer, it was hard to remain aloof." During one instance, Simon even assisted with an arrest. Two detectives Simon was riding with pulled their car to a curb to apprehend two suspects, but Detective Dave Brown got his trenchcoat caught in a seat belt when he tried to exit the car. Brown told Simon to assist Detective Terry McLarney himself, and Simon helped apprehend and search one of the suspects.
The book won the 1992 Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime book. The Associated Press called it "a true-crime classic". The Library Journal also highly recommended it, and Newsday described it as "one of the most engrossing police procedural mystery books ever written". Simon credits his time researching the book as altering his writing style and informing later work. He learned to be more patient in research and writing, and said a key lesson was not promoting himself but concentrating on his subjects. Simon told Baltimore's City Paper in 2003 that Homicide was not traditional journalism. "I felt Homicide the book and The Corner were not traditional journalism in the sense of coming from some artificially omniscient, objective point of view," said Simon. "They're immersed in the respective cultures that they cover in a way that traditional journalism often isn't."
Television
Homicide: Life on the Street
The publishers of Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets were eager for a screen adaptation and submitted it to numerous directors but there was little interest. Simon suggested that they send the book to Baltimore native and film director Barry Levinson. Levinson's assistant Gail Mutrux enjoyed the book and both she and Levinson became attached as producers. The project became the award-winning TV series Homicide: Life on the Street (1993–1999), on which Simon worked as a writer and producer.
Simon was asked by Mutrux to write the show's pilot episode but declined, feeling he did not have the necessary expertise. He collaborated with his old college friend David Mills to write the season two premiere "Bop Gun". The episode was based on a story by executive producer Tom Fontana and featured Robin Williams in a guest starring role that garnered the actor an Emmy nomination. Simon and Mills won the WGA Award for Best Writing in a Drama for the episode. Simon also received Austin Film Festival's Outstanding Television Writer Award in 2010.
Simon left his job with the Baltimore Sun in 1995 to work full-time on Homicide: Life on the Street during the production of the show's fourth season. Simon wrote the teleplay for the season four episodes "Justice: Part 2" and "Scene of the Crime" (with Anya Epstein). For season five he was the show's story editor and continued to contribute teleplays writing the episodes "Bad Medicine" and "Wu's on First?" (again with Epstein). He was credited as a producer on the show's sixth and seventh seasons. He wrote the teleplays for parts two and three of the sixth-season premiere "Blood Ties" (the latter marking his third collaboration with Epstein) and provided the story for the later sixth-season episodes "Full Court Press" and "Finnegan's Wake" (with James Yoshimura). He provided the story for the seventh season episodes "Shades of Gray" (with Julie Martin), "The Same Coin" (again with Yoshimura) and "Self Defense" (with Eric Overmyer). Simon wrote the story and teleplay for the seventh season episodes "The Twenty Percent Solution" and "Sideshow: Part 2". Simon, Martin and teleplay writer T. J. English won the Humanitas Prize in the 60 minutes category for the episode "Shades of Gray". Simon was nominated for a second WGA Award for Best Writing in a Drama for his work on "Finnegan's Wake" with Yoshimura and Mills (who wrote the teleplay).
Simon has said that he thought the show was a "remarkable drama" but that it did not reflect the book. He has also said that when writing for the show he had to put his experiences of the real detectives aside as the characters became quite different, particularly in their more philosophical approach to the job. Simon said that TV must find shorthand ways of referencing anything real.
The Corner
In 1997 he co-authored, with Ed Burns, The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood, the true account of a West Baltimore community dominated by a heavy drug market. Simon credits his editor John Sterling with the suggestion that he observe a single drug corner. He took a second leave of absence from the Baltimore Sun in 1993 to research the project. Simon became close to one of his subjects, drug addict Gary McCullough, and was devastated by his death while he was writing the project. Simon says that he approached the research with the abstract idea that his subjects may die because of their addictions but it was not possible to fully prepare for the reality. He remains grateful to his subjects saying "This involved people's whole lives, there's no privacy in it. That was an enormous gift which many, many people gave us. Even the most functional were at war with themselves. But they were not foolish people. And they made that choice."
The Corner was named a Notable Book of the Year by The New York Times. Simon again returned to his journalism career after finishing the book but felt further changed by his experiences. He said he "was less enamored of the braggadocio, all that big, we're-really-having-an-impact talk" and no longer believed that they were making a difference; he left his job at The Sun within a year for work on NBC's Homicide.
Soon after Homicide concluded Simon co-wrote (with David Mills) and produced The Corner as a six-hour TV miniseries for HBO. The show received three Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries or a Movie, for Simon and Mills.
The Wire
Simon was the creator, show runner, executive producer and head writer of the HBO drama series The Wire. Many of The Wires characters and incidents also came from Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets. After the fourth season, Simon signed on to produce the fifth and final season of The Wire, which focused on the role of mass media in society.
Again he worked with Ed Burns on creating the show. Originally they set out to create a police drama loosely based on Burns' experiences when working on protracted investigations of violent drug dealers using surveillance technology. During this time Burns had often faced frustration with the bureaucracy of the police department, which Simon equated with his own ordeals as a police reporter for The Baltimore Sun. Writing against the background of current events, including institutionalized corporate crime at Enron and institutional dysfunction in the Catholic Church, the show became "more of a treatise about institutions and individuals than a straight cop show."
They chose to take The Wire to HBO because of their existing working relationship from The Corner. Owing to its reputation for exploring new areas, HBO was initially dubious about including a cop drama in their lineup, but eventually agreed to produce the pilot after ordering a further two scripts to see how the series would progress. Carolyn Strauss, the president of HBO entertainment, has said that Simon's argument that the most subversive thing HBO could do was invade the networks' "backyard" of police procedurals helped to persuade them.
The theme of institutional dysfunction was expanded across different areas of the city as the show progressed. The second season focused on the death of working-class America through examination of the city ports. The third season "reflects on the nature of reform and reformers, and whether there is any possibility that political processes, long calcified, can mitigate against the forces currently arrayed against individuals." For the fourth season Simon again turned to Burns' experience, this time his second career as a Baltimore public school teacher in examining the theme of education. The fifth season looked at the media, as well as continuing themes such as politics from earlier seasons.
Simon was reunited with his The Corner producers Robert F. Colesberry and Nina K. Noble on The Wire. Simon credits Colesberry for achieving the show's realistic visual feel because of his experience as a director. They recruited Homicide star and director Clark Johnson to helm the pilot episode. The completed pilot was given to HBO in November 2001. Johnson returned to direct the second episode when the show was picked up, and would direct the series finale as well, in addition to starring in the fifth season.
Simon approached acclaimed crime fiction authors to write for The Wire. He was recommended the work of George Pelecanos by a colleague while working at the Baltimore Sun because of similarities between their writing. The two writers have much in common including a childhood in Silver Spring, attendance at the University of Maryland and their interest in the "fate of the American city and the black urban poor." Simon did not read Pelecanos initially because of territorial prejudice; Pelecanos is from Washington. Once Simon received further recommendations including one from his wife Laura Lippman he tried Pelecanos' novel The Sweet Forever and changed his mind. He sought out Pelecanos when recruiting writers for The Wire. The two met at the funeral of a mutual friend shortly after Simon delivered the pilot episode. Simon pitched Pelecanos the idea of The Wire as a novel for television about the American city as Pelecanos drove him home. Pelecanos became a regular writer and later a producer for the show's second and third seasons. Simon and Pelecanos collaborated to write the episode "Middle Ground" which received the show's first Emmy nomination, in the category Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series.
Pelecanos left the production staff following the third season to focus on his next novel; Simon has commented that he missed having him working on the show full-time but was pleased that he continued to write for them and was a fan of the resultant book The Night Gardener. Similar to Simon's own experience in researching Homicide Pelecanos spent time embedded with the Washington DC homicide unit to research the book.
Crime novelist Dennis Lehane has also written for the series starting with the third season. Lehane has commented that he was impressed by Simon and Burns' ear for authentic street slang.
Eric Overmyer was brought in to fill the role of Pelecanos as a full-time writer producer. He had previously worked with Simon on Homicide where the two became friends. Simon has said that he was impressed with Overmyer's writing particularly in synthesizing the story for "Margin of Error" as the episode is the height of the show's political storyline but must also progress other plot threads.
Simon and his writing staff were nominated for the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Dramatic Series at the February 2009 ceremony for their work on the fifth season. Simon and Burns collaborated to write the series finale "-30-" which received the show's second Emmy nomination, again in the category Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series.
Simon has stated that he finds working with HBO more comfortable than his experiences with NBC on Homicide and that HBO is able to allow greater creative control because it is dependent on subscribers rather than on viewing figures. He has said that he feels unable to return to network television because he felt pressure to compromise storytelling for audience satisfaction.
Generation Kill
Simon produced and wrote Generation Kill for HBO with Ed Burns. They again worked with Nina Noble as a producer. The miniseries is an adaption of the non-fiction book of the same name. It relates the first 40 days of the 2003 invasion of Iraq as experienced by 1st Reconnaissance Battalion and their embedded reporter, Evan Wright. Simon and Burns worked with Wright in adapting his book into the series.
Treme
Simon collaborated with Eric Overmyer again on Treme, a project about musicians in post-Katrina New Orleans. Overmyer lives part-time in New Orleans, and Simon believed his experience would be valuable in navigating the "ornate oral tradition" of the city's stories. Simon also consulted with New Orleans natives Donald Harrison Jr., Kermit Ruffins, and Davis Rogan while developing the series. The show focuses on a working-class neighborhood, and is smaller in scope than The Wire. The series premiered on April 11, 2010, on HBO and ran for four seasons.
Treme is named after the Faubourg Treme neighborhood in New Orleans that is home to many of the city's musicians. Simon stated that the series would explore beyond the music scene to encompass political corruption, the public housing controversy, the criminal-justice system, clashes between police and Mardi Gras Indians, and the struggle to regain the tourism industry after the storm. One of the principal characters in the pilot script runs a restaurant. The series was filmed on location and was expected to provide a boost to the New Orleans economy. Simon's casting of the show mirrored that of The Wire in using local actors wherever possible. Wendell Pierce, who had previously played Bunk Moreland on The Wire, stars in the series. Clarke Peters, also of The Wire, is another series regular. Many other stars of The Wire have appeared in Treme, these include Steve Earle, Jim True-Frost, James Ransone, and Anwan Glover.
Show Me a Hero
In 2014, HBO greenlit production for Simon's next project Show Me a Hero, a six-hour miniseries co-written with William F. Zorzi and the episodes directed by Academy Award-winner Paul Haggis. The miniseries is an adaptation of the nonfiction book of the same name by Lisa Belkin and tells the story of Nick Wasicsko, the youngest big-city mayor in the country who is thrust into racial controversy when a federal court orders to build a small number of low-income housing units in the white neighborhoods of Yonkers, New York. Oscar Isaac stars as Wasicsko and leads a cast, which includes Catherine Keener, Jim Belushi, Bob Balaban and Winona Ryder. The miniseries premiered on August 16, 2015.
The Deuce
The Deuce is a 2017 drama television series set in Times Square, New York focusing on the rise of the porn industry in the 1970s-80s. Created and written by Simon along with frequent collaborator George Pelecanos, the series pilot began shooting in October 2015. It was picked up to series in January 2016. It premiered on September 10, 2017, and is broadcast by HBO in the United States.
The Deuce tells the story of the legalization and ensuing rise of the porn industry in New York beginning in the 1970s and its ongoing rise through the mid-1980s. Themes explored include the rise of HIV, the violence of the drug epidemic and the resulting real estate booms and busts that coincided with the change.
The Plot Against America
An adaptation of Philip Roth's novel, The Plot Against America is an alternate history told through the eyes of a working-class Jewish family in Newark, New Jersey; as they watch the political rise of Charles Lindbergh, an aviator-hero and xenophobic populist, who becomes president and turns the nation toward fascism. The six-part miniseries premiered on March 16, 2020, on HBO.
Projects in developmentParting the Waters: With Taylor Branch, James McBride, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and Eric Overmyer. About Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement, based on one of the volumes of the books America in the King Years written by Taylor Branch, specifically At Canaan's Edge: America in the King Years, 1965–1968. The project was to be produced by Oprah Winfrey, but was shelved.The Avenue: A book with William F. Zorzi Jr., on the Baltimore drug epidemic from 1951 to late 1980sThe Good Friday Plot: Miniseries about Abraham Lincoln based upon Manhunt: The Twelve-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer by James L. Swanson and American Brutus: John Wilkes Booth and the Lincoln Conspiracies by Michael W. Kauffman.Capitol Hill: A collaboration with Carl Bernstein set in Capitol Hill, it examines partisanship and the role money plays in influencing national governance. The series was ordered to pilot by HBO in 2015 but has not received a subsequent season order.Legacy of Ashes: On the Central Intelligence Agency, based on the 2007 book Legacy of Ashes by Tim Weiner. The show was taken to the BBC and would have had Anthony Bourdain on the writing staff.The Pogues: Musical project with the help of the late Philip Chevron in development at The Public Theater in New York City, with Laura Lippman and George PelecanosA Dry Run: The Lincolns in Spain: A historical miniseries set during the Spanish Civil War about the Abraham Lincoln and George Washington Battalions, which were composed of volunteers from the United States who wanted to help the Spanish Republic overcome fascism. Mark Johnson will be the series producer and Mediapro will be the series' production company.
Writing process
Simon is known for his realistic dialogue and journalistic approach to writing. He says that authenticity is paramount and that he writes not with a general audience in mind but with the opinions of his subjects as his priority. He has described his extensive use of real anecdotes and characters in his writing as "stealing life".
In a talk that Simon gave to a live audience in April 2007 at the Creative Alliance's storytelling series, Simon disclosed that he had started writing for revenge against John Carroll and Bill Marimow, the two most senior editors at The Baltimore Sun when Simon was a reporter at the paper. Simon said he had watched Carroll and Marimow "single-handedly destroy" the newspaper and that he spent over ten years trying to get back at them.
Anything I've ever accomplished as a writer, as somebody doing TV, anything I've ever done in life, down to, like, cleaning up my room, has been accomplished because I was going to show people that they were fucked up, wrong, and that I was the fucking center of the universe and the sooner they got hip to that, the happier they would all be.
One of the actions Simon took was to name a character in The Wire after Marimow and make the character "a repellent police-department toady." Carroll left The Baltimore Sun to become editor at the Los Angeles Times and resigned in 2005 after budget cuts were announced. "He stands up like a [bleeping] hero, takes a bullet," said Simon. In 2006 Marimow was diagnosed with prostate cancer, something that Simon said "took the edge off" his grudge. Carroll and Marimow "were fuel for 10 years of my life. ... And now, I got nothing," Simon said.
When asked about these comments, Simon said that he had spoken with "some hyperbole and, I hope, comic effect", adding that his basic viewpoint was: "that simple revenge is both empty and beside the point and that a good story carefully told has to speak to larger themes. You do not tell an ornate, careful story over ten hours of HBO airtime merely to bust on any given soul."
Views on journalism
In an interview in Reason in 2004, Simon said that since leaving the newspaper business he has become more cynical about the power of journalism. "One of the sad things about contemporary journalism is that it actually matters very little. The world now is almost inured to the power of journalism. The best journalism would manage to outrage people. And people are less and less inclined to outrage," said Simon. "I've become increasingly cynical about the ability of daily journalism to effect any kind of meaningful change. I was pretty dubious about it when I was a journalist, but now I think it's remarkably ineffectual."
While testifying at a 2009 Senate hearing regarding the future of journalism in America, Simon indicted what he saw as poor online journalism, calling the phrase citizen journalist "Orwellian to [his] ears." Simon ended his testimony by declaring, "I don't think anything can be done to save high-end journalism."
Political views
Simon has described himself as a social democrat, broadly supporting the existence of capitalism while opposing "raw, unencumbered capitalism, absent any social framework, absent any sense of community, without regard to the weakest and most vulnerable classes in society", which he described as "a recipe for needless pain, needless human waste, (and) needless tragedy". He has criticized the idea of trickle-down economics.
In 2013, Simon compared the global surveillance disclosures uncovered by Edward Snowden to a 1980s effort by the City of Baltimore to record the numbers dialed from all pay phones. The city believed that drug traffickers were using pay phones and pagers, and a municipal judge allowed the city to record the dialed numbers. The placement of the payphone number recorders formed the basis of The Wires first season. Simon argued that the media attention regarding the surveillance disclosures is a "faux scandal."
During a November 2013 speech at the Festival of Dangerous Ideas in Sydney, he said that America has become "a horror show" of savage inequality as a result of capitalism run amok, and that "unless we reverse course, the average human being is worthless on planet Earth. Unless we take stock of the fact that maybe socialism and the socialist impulse has to be addressed again; it has to be married as it was married in the 1930s, the 1940s and even into the 1950s, to the engine that is capitalism."
Simon has also spoken out publicly against crime journalist Kevin Deutsch, disputing the portrayal of Baltimore's illegal drug trade in Deutsch's book, Pill City: How Two Honor Roll Students Foiled the Feds and Built a Drug Empire. Simon has described the book as "a wholesale fabrication."
During the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries, Simon praised Bernie Sanders for "rehabilitating and normalizing the term socialist back into American public life", but opposed some attacks against Hillary Clinton which he felt focused on her presumed motives rather than the substance of policies.
Personal life
In 1991, Simon was married to graphic artist Kayle Tucker. They had a son. The marriage ended in divorce.
In 2006, Simon married best-selling Baltimore novelist and former Sun reporter Laura Lippman in a ceremony officiated by John Waters. They have a daughter, who was born in 2010.
Simon's nephew, Jason Simon, is a guitarist and vocalist for the psychedelic rock band Dead Meadow. The band was mentioned in an episode of The Wire.
Simon was the 2012 commencement speaker for the Georgetown University College of Arts and Sciences, as well as the speaker for the Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School graduation.
In 2019, Simon joined a host of other writers in firing their agents as part of the WGA's stand against the ATA after failing to come to an agreement on their "Code of Conduct". Simon's statement to the writers union was widely circulated. He had previously led the rallying cry about the unfair practices of packaging by the major talent agencies.
Works and publications
Commentary
Non-fiction books
Filmography
Producer
Writer
References
Further reading
External links
David Simon's blog.
1960 births
American crime fiction writers
Jewish American journalists
American non-fiction crime writers
American newspaper reporters and correspondents
American male novelists
American male screenwriters
American television producers
American television writers
Anthony Award winners
Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School alumni
Drug policy reform activists
Edgar Award winners
Living people
MacArthur Fellows
American male television writers
Maryland Democrats
Primetime Emmy Award winners
Showrunners
The Baltimore Sun people
University of Maryland, College Park alumni
Writers Guild of America Award winners
Writers from Baltimore
Novelists from Maryland
American male non-fiction writers
Screenwriters from Washington, D.C.
People from Bethesda, Maryland
21st-century American Jews | true | [
"Experiential avoidance (EA) has been broadly defined as attempts to avoid thoughts, feelings, memories, physical sensations, and other internal experiences—even when doing so creates harm in the long run. The process of EA is thought to be maintained through negative reinforcement—that is, short-term relief of discomfort is achieved through avoidance, thereby increasing the likelihood that the avoidance behavior will persist. Importantly, the current conceptualization of EA suggests that it is not negative thoughts, emotions, and sensations that are problematic, but how one responds to them that can cause difficulties. In particular, a habitual and persistent unwillingness to experience uncomfortable thoughts and feelings (and the associated avoidance and inhibition of these experiences) is thought to be linked to a wide range of problems.\n\nBackground \n\nEA has been popularized by recent third-wave cognitive-behavioral theories such as acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT). However, the general concept has roots in many other theories of psychopathology and intervention.\n\nPsychodynamic \nDefense mechanisms were originally conceptualized as ways to avoid unpleasant affect and discomfort that resulted from conflicting motivations. These processes were thought to contribute to the expression of various types of psychopathology. Gradual removal of these defensive processes are thought to be a key aspect of treatment and eventually return to psychological health.\n\nProcess-experiential \nProcess-experiential therapy merges client-centered, existential, and Gestalt approaches. Gestalt theory outlines the benefits of being fully aware of and open to one's entire experience. One job of the psychotherapist is to \"explore and become fully aware of [the patient's] grounds for avoidance\" and to \"[lead] the patient back to that which he wishes to avoid\" (p. 142). Similar ideas are expressed by early humanistic theory: \"Whether the stimulus was the impact of a configuration of form, color, or sound in the environment on the sensory nerves, or a memory trace from the past, or a visceral sensation of fear or pleasure or disgust, the person would be 'living' it, would have it completely available to awareness…he is more open to his feelings of fear and discouragement and pain...he is more able fully to live the experiences of his organism rather than shutting them out of awareness.\"\n\nBehavioral \nTraditional behavior therapy utilizes exposure to habituate the patient to various types of fears and anxieties, eventually resulting in a marked reduction in psychopathology. In this way, exposure can be thought of as \"counter-acting\" avoidance, in that it involves individuals repeatedly encountering and remaining in contact with that which causes distress and discomfort.\n\nCognitive \nIn cognitive theory, avoidance interferes with reappraisals of negative thought patterns and schema, thereby perpetuating distorted beliefs. These distorted beliefs are thought to contribute and maintain many types of psychopathology.\n\nThird-wave cognitive-behavioral \nThe concept of EA is explicitly described and targeted in more recent CBT modalities including acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), functional analytic psychotherapy (FAP), and behavioral activation (BA).\n\nAssociated problems \n\n Distress is an inextricable part of life; therefore, avoidance is often only a temporary solution.\n Avoidance reinforces the notion that discomfort, distress and anxiety are bad, or dangerous.\n Sustaining avoidance often requires effort and energy.\n Avoidance limits one's focus at the expense of fully experiencing what is going on in the present.\n Avoidance may get in the way of other important, valued aspects of life.\n\nEmpirical evidence \n\n Laboratory-based thought suppression studies suggest avoidance is paradoxical, in that concerted attempts at suppression of a particular thought often leads to an increase of that thought.\n Studies examining emotional suppression and pain suppression suggest that avoidance is ineffective in the long-run. Conversely, expressing the unpleasant emotions can lead to improvements in the long term, even though it increases negative reactions in the short term.\n Exposure-based therapy techniques have been shown to be effective in treating a wide range of psychiatric disorders.\n Numerous self-report studies have linked EA and related constructs (avoidance coping, thought suppression) to psychopathology and other forms of dysfunction.\n\nRelevance to psychopathology \n\nSeemingly disparate forms of pathological behavior can be understood by their common function (i.e., attempts to avoid distress). Some examples include:\n\nRelevance to quality of life \n\nPerhaps the most significant impact of EA is its potential to disrupt and interfere with important, valued aspects of an individual's life. That is, EA is seen as particularly problematic when it occurs at the expense of a person's deeply held values. Some examples include:\n\n Putting off an important task because of the discomfort it evokes.\n Not taking advantage of an important opportunity due to attempts to avoid worries of failure or disappointment.\n Not engaging in physical activity/exercise, meaningful hobbies, or other recreational activities due to the effort they demand.\n Avoiding social gatherings or interactions with others because of the anxiety and negative thoughts they evoke.\n Not being a full participant in social gatherings due to attempts to regulate anxiety relating to how others are perceiving you.\n Being unable to fully engage in meaningful conversations with others because one is scanning for signs of danger in the environment (attempting to avoid feeling \"unsafe\").\n Inability to \"connect\" and sustain a close relationship because of attempts to avoid feelings of vulnerability.\n Staying in a \"bad\" relationship to try to avoid discomfort, guilt, and potential feelings of loneliness a break-up might entail.\n Losing a marriage or contact with children due to an unwillingness to experience uncomfortable feelings (e.g., achieved through drug or alcohol abuse) or symptoms of withdrawal.\n Not attending an important graduation, wedding, funeral, or other family event to try to avoid anxiety or symptoms of panic.\n Engaging in self-destructive behaviors in an attempt to avoid feelings of boredom, emptiness, worthlessness.\n Not functioning or taking care of basic responsibilities (e.g., personal hygiene, waking up, showing up to work, shopping for food) because of the effort they demand and/or distress they evoke.\n Spending so much time attempting to avoid discomfort that one has little time for anyone or anything else in life.\n\nMeasurement\n\nSelf-report \n\nThe Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (AAQ) was the first self-report measure explicitly designed to measure EA, but has since been re-conceptualized as a measure of \"psychological flexibility\". The 62-item Multidimensional Experiential Avoidance Questionnaire (MEAQ) was developed to measure different aspects of EA. The Brief Experiential Avoidance Questionnaire (BEAQ) is a 15-item measure developed using MEAQ items, which has become the most widely used measure of experiential avoidance.\n\nSee also \n Avoidant personality disorder\n Coping (psychology)\n\nOpposite concepts \n Acceptance\n Distress tolerance\n Openness to experience\n Psychological flexibility\n\nRelated concepts \n Denial\n Expressive suppression\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT)\n Association for Contextual Behavioral Science (ACBS)\n Multidimensional Experiential Avoidance Questionnaire\n\nCognitive behavioral therapy\nBehavior therapy\nAnxiety",
"Southern Discomfort may refer to:\n\n Southern Discomfort (Rita Mae Brown novel), a novel released in 1982 by Rita Mae Brown\n Southern Discomfort (Eyehategod album), an album released in 2000 by sludge metal band Eyehategod\n Southern Discomfort (Rehab album), is an album released in 2000 by rock band Rehab\n Southern Discomfort (Fabian Society pamphlets), a series of pamphlets that examined attitudes to the British Labour Party in the south of England\n Southern Discomfort Roller Derby, a men's roller derby league based in London\n \"Southern Discomfort\", an episode of the seventh season of The Real Housewives of Atlanta, an American reality television series"
] | [
"David Judah Simon (born February 9, 1960) is an American author, journalist, and television writer and producer best known for his work on The Wire (2002–08). He worked for The Baltimore Sun City Desk for twelve years (1982–95), wrote Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets (1991), and co-wrote The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood (1997) with Ed Burns.",
"He worked for The Baltimore Sun City Desk for twelve years (1982–95), wrote Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets (1991), and co-wrote The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood (1997) with Ed Burns. The former book was the basis for the NBC series Homicide: Life on the Street (1993–99), on which Simon served as a writer and producer. Simon adapted the latter book into the HBO mini-series The Corner (2000).",
"Simon adapted the latter book into the HBO mini-series The Corner (2000). He was the creator, executive producer, head writer, and show runner for all five seasons of the HBO television series The Wire (2002–2008). He adapted the non-fiction book Generation Kill into a television mini-series, and served as the show runner for the project. He was selected as one of the 2010 MacArthur Fellows and named an Utne Reader visionary in 2011.",
"He was selected as one of the 2010 MacArthur Fellows and named an Utne Reader visionary in 2011. Simon also created the HBO series Treme with Eric Overmyer, which aired for four seasons. Following Treme, Simon wrote the HBO mini-series Show Me a Hero with journalist William F. Zorzi, a colleague first at The Baltimore Sun and again later on The Wire. Simon and frequent collaborator George Pelecanos reunited to create original series The Deuce.",
"Simon and frequent collaborator George Pelecanos reunited to create original series The Deuce. The drama about the New York porn industry in the 1970s and 1980s stars Maggie Gyllenhaal and co-producer James Franco, and aired from 2017 to 2019. Simon's next series, The Plot Against America, debuted in 2020. Early life and education Simon was born in Washington, D.C., the son of Dorothy Simon (née Ligeti), a homemaker, and Bernard Simon, a former journalist and then public relations director for B'nai B'rith for 20 years.",
"Early life and education Simon was born in Washington, D.C., the son of Dorothy Simon (née Ligeti), a homemaker, and Bernard Simon, a former journalist and then public relations director for B'nai B'rith for 20 years. Simon was raised in a Jewish family, and had a bar mitzvah ceremony. His family roots are in Russia, Belarus, Hungary, and Slovakia (his maternal grandfather had changed his surname from \"Leibowitz\" to \"Ligeti\").",
"His family roots are in Russia, Belarus, Hungary, and Slovakia (his maternal grandfather had changed his surname from \"Leibowitz\" to \"Ligeti\"). He has a brother, Gary Simon, and a sister, Linda Evans, who died in 1990.",
"He has a brother, Gary Simon, and a sister, Linda Evans, who died in 1990. In March 1977, when Simon was still in high school, Simon's father was one of a group of over 140 people held hostage (and later released) in Washington, D.C. by former national secretary of the Nation of Islam Hamaas Abdul Khaalis in the Hanafi Siege. Simon graduated from Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School in Bethesda, Maryland, and wrote for the school newspaper, The Tattler.",
"Simon graduated from Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School in Bethesda, Maryland, and wrote for the school newspaper, The Tattler. In 1983, he graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park. While at college he wrote and was Editor for The Diamondback, and became friends with contemporary David Mills. Career Journalism Upon leaving college, Simon worked as a police reporter at The Baltimore Sun from 1982 to 1995.",
"Career Journalism Upon leaving college, Simon worked as a police reporter at The Baltimore Sun from 1982 to 1995. Simon was hired by the Baltimore Sun for a piece he wrote about Lefty Driesell, who was then the men's basketball coach at the University of Maryland. Driesell had been extremely frustrated that one of his players was suspended from playing for sexual impropriety and called the victim, threatening to destroy her reputation if she did not withdraw her complaint.",
"Driesell had been extremely frustrated that one of his players was suspended from playing for sexual impropriety and called the victim, threatening to destroy her reputation if she did not withdraw her complaint. This was all done while the university administration was listening to the call, but they did nothing. Lefty Driesell was later given a 5-year contract and, in 2018, he was inducted into the ACC Hall of Fame. Simon spent most of his career covering the crime beat.",
"Simon spent most of his career covering the crime beat. A colleague has said that Simon loved journalism and felt it was \"God's work\". Simon says that he was initially altruistic and was inspired to enter journalism by The Washington Posts coverage of Watergate but became increasingly pragmatic as he gained experience. Simon was a union captain when the writing staff went on strike in 1987 over benefit cuts. He remained angry after the strike ended and began to feel uncomfortable in the writing room.",
"He remained angry after the strike ended and began to feel uncomfortable in the writing room. He searched for a reason to justify a leave of absence and settled on the idea of writing a novel. \"I got out of journalism because some sons of bitches bought my newspaper and it stopped being fun,\" says Simon. In 1988, disillusioned, Simon took a year's leave to go into the Baltimore Police Department Homicide Unit to write a book.",
"In 1988, disillusioned, Simon took a year's leave to go into the Baltimore Police Department Homicide Unit to write a book. Book Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets Simon's leave of absence from The Sun resulted in his first book Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets (1991). The book was based on his experiences shadowing the Baltimore Police Department homicide unit during 1988. The idea came from a conversation on Christmas Eve 1985 in the unit office, where Det.",
"The idea came from a conversation on Christmas Eve 1985 in the unit office, where Det. Bill Lansey told him, \"If someone just wrote down what happens in this place for one year, they'd have a goddamn book.\" Simon approached the police department and the editors of the paper to receive approval. The detectives were initially slow to accept him, but he persevered in an attempt to \"seem … like part of the furniture\".",
"The detectives were initially slow to accept him, but he persevered in an attempt to \"seem … like part of the furniture\". However, he soon ingratiated himself with the detectives, saying in the closing notes of the book, \"I shared with the detectives a year's worth of fast-food runs, bar arguments and station house humor: Even for a trained observer, it was hard to remain aloof.\" During one instance, Simon even assisted with an arrest.",
"During one instance, Simon even assisted with an arrest. Two detectives Simon was riding with pulled their car to a curb to apprehend two suspects, but Detective Dave Brown got his trenchcoat caught in a seat belt when he tried to exit the car. Brown told Simon to assist Detective Terry McLarney himself, and Simon helped apprehend and search one of the suspects. The book won the 1992 Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime book. The Associated Press called it \"a true-crime classic\".",
"The Associated Press called it \"a true-crime classic\". The Library Journal also highly recommended it, and Newsday described it as \"one of the most engrossing police procedural mystery books ever written\". Simon credits his time researching the book as altering his writing style and informing later work. He learned to be more patient in research and writing, and said a key lesson was not promoting himself but concentrating on his subjects. Simon told Baltimore's City Paper in 2003 that Homicide was not traditional journalism.",
"Simon told Baltimore's City Paper in 2003 that Homicide was not traditional journalism. \"I felt Homicide the book and The Corner were not traditional journalism in the sense of coming from some artificially omniscient, objective point of view,\" said Simon. \"They're immersed in the respective cultures that they cover in a way that traditional journalism often isn't.\"",
"\"They're immersed in the respective cultures that they cover in a way that traditional journalism often isn't.\" Television Homicide: Life on the Street The publishers of Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets were eager for a screen adaptation and submitted it to numerous directors but there was little interest. Simon suggested that they send the book to Baltimore native and film director Barry Levinson. Levinson's assistant Gail Mutrux enjoyed the book and both she and Levinson became attached as producers.",
"Levinson's assistant Gail Mutrux enjoyed the book and both she and Levinson became attached as producers. The project became the award-winning TV series Homicide: Life on the Street (1993–1999), on which Simon worked as a writer and producer. Simon was asked by Mutrux to write the show's pilot episode but declined, feeling he did not have the necessary expertise. He collaborated with his old college friend David Mills to write the season two premiere \"Bop Gun\".",
"He collaborated with his old college friend David Mills to write the season two premiere \"Bop Gun\". The episode was based on a story by executive producer Tom Fontana and featured Robin Williams in a guest starring role that garnered the actor an Emmy nomination. Simon and Mills won the WGA Award for Best Writing in a Drama for the episode. Simon also received Austin Film Festival's Outstanding Television Writer Award in 2010.",
"Simon also received Austin Film Festival's Outstanding Television Writer Award in 2010. Simon left his job with the Baltimore Sun in 1995 to work full-time on Homicide: Life on the Street during the production of the show's fourth season. Simon wrote the teleplay for the season four episodes \"Justice: Part 2\" and \"Scene of the Crime\" (with Anya Epstein).",
"Simon wrote the teleplay for the season four episodes \"Justice: Part 2\" and \"Scene of the Crime\" (with Anya Epstein). For season five he was the show's story editor and continued to contribute teleplays writing the episodes \"Bad Medicine\" and \"Wu's on First?\" (again with Epstein). He was credited as a producer on the show's sixth and seventh seasons.",
"He was credited as a producer on the show's sixth and seventh seasons. He wrote the teleplays for parts two and three of the sixth-season premiere \"Blood Ties\" (the latter marking his third collaboration with Epstein) and provided the story for the later sixth-season episodes \"Full Court Press\" and \"Finnegan's Wake\" (with James Yoshimura).",
"He wrote the teleplays for parts two and three of the sixth-season premiere \"Blood Ties\" (the latter marking his third collaboration with Epstein) and provided the story for the later sixth-season episodes \"Full Court Press\" and \"Finnegan's Wake\" (with James Yoshimura). He provided the story for the seventh season episodes \"Shades of Gray\" (with Julie Martin), \"The Same Coin\" (again with Yoshimura) and \"Self Defense\" (with Eric Overmyer).",
"He provided the story for the seventh season episodes \"Shades of Gray\" (with Julie Martin), \"The Same Coin\" (again with Yoshimura) and \"Self Defense\" (with Eric Overmyer). Simon wrote the story and teleplay for the seventh season episodes \"The Twenty Percent Solution\" and \"Sideshow: Part 2\". Simon, Martin and teleplay writer T. J. English won the Humanitas Prize in the 60 minutes category for the episode \"Shades of Gray\".",
"Simon, Martin and teleplay writer T. J. English won the Humanitas Prize in the 60 minutes category for the episode \"Shades of Gray\". Simon was nominated for a second WGA Award for Best Writing in a Drama for his work on \"Finnegan's Wake\" with Yoshimura and Mills (who wrote the teleplay). Simon has said that he thought the show was a \"remarkable drama\" but that it did not reflect the book.",
"Simon has said that he thought the show was a \"remarkable drama\" but that it did not reflect the book. He has also said that when writing for the show he had to put his experiences of the real detectives aside as the characters became quite different, particularly in their more philosophical approach to the job. Simon said that TV must find shorthand ways of referencing anything real.",
"Simon said that TV must find shorthand ways of referencing anything real. The Corner In 1997 he co-authored, with Ed Burns, The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood, the true account of a West Baltimore community dominated by a heavy drug market. Simon credits his editor John Sterling with the suggestion that he observe a single drug corner. He took a second leave of absence from the Baltimore Sun in 1993 to research the project.",
"He took a second leave of absence from the Baltimore Sun in 1993 to research the project. Simon became close to one of his subjects, drug addict Gary McCullough, and was devastated by his death while he was writing the project. Simon says that he approached the research with the abstract idea that his subjects may die because of their addictions but it was not possible to fully prepare for the reality. He remains grateful to his subjects saying \"This involved people's whole lives, there's no privacy in it.",
"He remains grateful to his subjects saying \"This involved people's whole lives, there's no privacy in it. That was an enormous gift which many, many people gave us. Even the most functional were at war with themselves. But they were not foolish people. And they made that choice.\" The Corner was named a Notable Book of the Year by The New York Times. Simon again returned to his journalism career after finishing the book but felt further changed by his experiences.",
"Simon again returned to his journalism career after finishing the book but felt further changed by his experiences. He said he \"was less enamored of the braggadocio, all that big, we're-really-having-an-impact talk\" and no longer believed that they were making a difference; he left his job at The Sun within a year for work on NBC's Homicide. Soon after Homicide concluded Simon co-wrote (with David Mills) and produced The Corner as a six-hour TV miniseries for HBO.",
"Soon after Homicide concluded Simon co-wrote (with David Mills) and produced The Corner as a six-hour TV miniseries for HBO. The show received three Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries or a Movie, for Simon and Mills. The Wire Simon was the creator, show runner, executive producer and head writer of the HBO drama series The Wire. Many of The Wires characters and incidents also came from Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets.",
"Many of The Wires characters and incidents also came from Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets. After the fourth season, Simon signed on to produce the fifth and final season of The Wire, which focused on the role of mass media in society. Again he worked with Ed Burns on creating the show. Originally they set out to create a police drama loosely based on Burns' experiences when working on protracted investigations of violent drug dealers using surveillance technology.",
"Originally they set out to create a police drama loosely based on Burns' experiences when working on protracted investigations of violent drug dealers using surveillance technology. During this time Burns had often faced frustration with the bureaucracy of the police department, which Simon equated with his own ordeals as a police reporter for The Baltimore Sun.",
"During this time Burns had often faced frustration with the bureaucracy of the police department, which Simon equated with his own ordeals as a police reporter for The Baltimore Sun. Writing against the background of current events, including institutionalized corporate crime at Enron and institutional dysfunction in the Catholic Church, the show became \"more of a treatise about institutions and individuals than a straight cop show.\" They chose to take The Wire to HBO because of their existing working relationship from The Corner.",
"They chose to take The Wire to HBO because of their existing working relationship from The Corner. Owing to its reputation for exploring new areas, HBO was initially dubious about including a cop drama in their lineup, but eventually agreed to produce the pilot after ordering a further two scripts to see how the series would progress. Carolyn Strauss, the president of HBO entertainment, has said that Simon's argument that the most subversive thing HBO could do was invade the networks' \"backyard\" of police procedurals helped to persuade them.",
"Carolyn Strauss, the president of HBO entertainment, has said that Simon's argument that the most subversive thing HBO could do was invade the networks' \"backyard\" of police procedurals helped to persuade them. The theme of institutional dysfunction was expanded across different areas of the city as the show progressed. The second season focused on the death of working-class America through examination of the city ports.",
"The second season focused on the death of working-class America through examination of the city ports. The third season \"reflects on the nature of reform and reformers, and whether there is any possibility that political processes, long calcified, can mitigate against the forces currently arrayed against individuals.\" For the fourth season Simon again turned to Burns' experience, this time his second career as a Baltimore public school teacher in examining the theme of education.",
"For the fourth season Simon again turned to Burns' experience, this time his second career as a Baltimore public school teacher in examining the theme of education. The fifth season looked at the media, as well as continuing themes such as politics from earlier seasons. Simon was reunited with his The Corner producers Robert F. Colesberry and Nina K. Noble on The Wire. Simon credits Colesberry for achieving the show's realistic visual feel because of his experience as a director.",
"Simon credits Colesberry for achieving the show's realistic visual feel because of his experience as a director. They recruited Homicide star and director Clark Johnson to helm the pilot episode. The completed pilot was given to HBO in November 2001. Johnson returned to direct the second episode when the show was picked up, and would direct the series finale as well, in addition to starring in the fifth season. Simon approached acclaimed crime fiction authors to write for The Wire.",
"Simon approached acclaimed crime fiction authors to write for The Wire. He was recommended the work of George Pelecanos by a colleague while working at the Baltimore Sun because of similarities between their writing. The two writers have much in common including a childhood in Silver Spring, attendance at the University of Maryland and their interest in the \"fate of the American city and the black urban poor.\" Simon did not read Pelecanos initially because of territorial prejudice; Pelecanos is from Washington.",
"Simon did not read Pelecanos initially because of territorial prejudice; Pelecanos is from Washington. Once Simon received further recommendations including one from his wife Laura Lippman he tried Pelecanos' novel The Sweet Forever and changed his mind. He sought out Pelecanos when recruiting writers for The Wire. The two met at the funeral of a mutual friend shortly after Simon delivered the pilot episode. Simon pitched Pelecanos the idea of The Wire as a novel for television about the American city as Pelecanos drove him home.",
"Simon pitched Pelecanos the idea of The Wire as a novel for television about the American city as Pelecanos drove him home. Pelecanos became a regular writer and later a producer for the show's second and third seasons. Simon and Pelecanos collaborated to write the episode \"Middle Ground\" which received the show's first Emmy nomination, in the category Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series.",
"Simon and Pelecanos collaborated to write the episode \"Middle Ground\" which received the show's first Emmy nomination, in the category Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series. Pelecanos left the production staff following the third season to focus on his next novel; Simon has commented that he missed having him working on the show full-time but was pleased that he continued to write for them and was a fan of the resultant book The Night Gardener.",
"Pelecanos left the production staff following the third season to focus on his next novel; Simon has commented that he missed having him working on the show full-time but was pleased that he continued to write for them and was a fan of the resultant book The Night Gardener. Similar to Simon's own experience in researching Homicide Pelecanos spent time embedded with the Washington DC homicide unit to research the book. Crime novelist Dennis Lehane has also written for the series starting with the third season.",
"Crime novelist Dennis Lehane has also written for the series starting with the third season. Lehane has commented that he was impressed by Simon and Burns' ear for authentic street slang. Eric Overmyer was brought in to fill the role of Pelecanos as a full-time writer producer. He had previously worked with Simon on Homicide where the two became friends.",
"He had previously worked with Simon on Homicide where the two became friends. Simon has said that he was impressed with Overmyer's writing particularly in synthesizing the story for \"Margin of Error\" as the episode is the height of the show's political storyline but must also progress other plot threads. Simon and his writing staff were nominated for the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Dramatic Series at the February 2009 ceremony for their work on the fifth season.",
"Simon and his writing staff were nominated for the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Dramatic Series at the February 2009 ceremony for their work on the fifth season. Simon and Burns collaborated to write the series finale \"-30-\" which received the show's second Emmy nomination, again in the category Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series.",
"Simon and Burns collaborated to write the series finale \"-30-\" which received the show's second Emmy nomination, again in the category Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series. Simon has stated that he finds working with HBO more comfortable than his experiences with NBC on Homicide and that HBO is able to allow greater creative control because it is dependent on subscribers rather than on viewing figures. He has said that he feels unable to return to network television because he felt pressure to compromise storytelling for audience satisfaction.",
"He has said that he feels unable to return to network television because he felt pressure to compromise storytelling for audience satisfaction. Generation Kill Simon produced and wrote Generation Kill for HBO with Ed Burns. They again worked with Nina Noble as a producer. The miniseries is an adaption of the non-fiction book of the same name. It relates the first 40 days of the 2003 invasion of Iraq as experienced by 1st Reconnaissance Battalion and their embedded reporter, Evan Wright.",
"It relates the first 40 days of the 2003 invasion of Iraq as experienced by 1st Reconnaissance Battalion and their embedded reporter, Evan Wright. Simon and Burns worked with Wright in adapting his book into the series. Treme Simon collaborated with Eric Overmyer again on Treme, a project about musicians in post-Katrina New Orleans. Overmyer lives part-time in New Orleans, and Simon believed his experience would be valuable in navigating the \"ornate oral tradition\" of the city's stories.",
"Overmyer lives part-time in New Orleans, and Simon believed his experience would be valuable in navigating the \"ornate oral tradition\" of the city's stories. Simon also consulted with New Orleans natives Donald Harrison Jr., Kermit Ruffins, and Davis Rogan while developing the series. The show focuses on a working-class neighborhood, and is smaller in scope than The Wire. The series premiered on April 11, 2010, on HBO and ran for four seasons.",
"The series premiered on April 11, 2010, on HBO and ran for four seasons. Treme is named after the Faubourg Treme neighborhood in New Orleans that is home to many of the city's musicians. Simon stated that the series would explore beyond the music scene to encompass political corruption, the public housing controversy, the criminal-justice system, clashes between police and Mardi Gras Indians, and the struggle to regain the tourism industry after the storm. One of the principal characters in the pilot script runs a restaurant.",
"One of the principal characters in the pilot script runs a restaurant. The series was filmed on location and was expected to provide a boost to the New Orleans economy. Simon's casting of the show mirrored that of The Wire in using local actors wherever possible. Wendell Pierce, who had previously played Bunk Moreland on The Wire, stars in the series. Clarke Peters, also of The Wire, is another series regular.",
"Clarke Peters, also of The Wire, is another series regular. Many other stars of The Wire have appeared in Treme, these include Steve Earle, Jim True-Frost, James Ransone, and Anwan Glover. Show Me a Hero In 2014, HBO greenlit production for Simon's next project Show Me a Hero, a six-hour miniseries co-written with William F. Zorzi and the episodes directed by Academy Award-winner Paul Haggis.",
"Show Me a Hero In 2014, HBO greenlit production for Simon's next project Show Me a Hero, a six-hour miniseries co-written with William F. Zorzi and the episodes directed by Academy Award-winner Paul Haggis. The miniseries is an adaptation of the nonfiction book of the same name by Lisa Belkin and tells the story of Nick Wasicsko, the youngest big-city mayor in the country who is thrust into racial controversy when a federal court orders to build a small number of low-income housing units in the white neighborhoods of Yonkers, New York.",
"The miniseries is an adaptation of the nonfiction book of the same name by Lisa Belkin and tells the story of Nick Wasicsko, the youngest big-city mayor in the country who is thrust into racial controversy when a federal court orders to build a small number of low-income housing units in the white neighborhoods of Yonkers, New York. Oscar Isaac stars as Wasicsko and leads a cast, which includes Catherine Keener, Jim Belushi, Bob Balaban and Winona Ryder. The miniseries premiered on August 16, 2015.",
"The miniseries premiered on August 16, 2015. The miniseries premiered on August 16, 2015. The Deuce The Deuce is a 2017 drama television series set in Times Square, New York focusing on the rise of the porn industry in the 1970s-80s. Created and written by Simon along with frequent collaborator George Pelecanos, the series pilot began shooting in October 2015. It was picked up to series in January 2016. It premiered on September 10, 2017, and is broadcast by HBO in the United States.",
"It premiered on September 10, 2017, and is broadcast by HBO in the United States. The Deuce tells the story of the legalization and ensuing rise of the porn industry in New York beginning in the 1970s and its ongoing rise through the mid-1980s. Themes explored include the rise of HIV, the violence of the drug epidemic and the resulting real estate booms and busts that coincided with the change.",
"Themes explored include the rise of HIV, the violence of the drug epidemic and the resulting real estate booms and busts that coincided with the change. The Plot Against America An adaptation of Philip Roth's novel, The Plot Against America is an alternate history told through the eyes of a working-class Jewish family in Newark, New Jersey; as they watch the political rise of Charles Lindbergh, an aviator-hero and xenophobic populist, who becomes president and turns the nation toward fascism.",
"The Plot Against America An adaptation of Philip Roth's novel, The Plot Against America is an alternate history told through the eyes of a working-class Jewish family in Newark, New Jersey; as they watch the political rise of Charles Lindbergh, an aviator-hero and xenophobic populist, who becomes president and turns the nation toward fascism. The six-part miniseries premiered on March 16, 2020, on HBO. Projects in developmentParting the Waters: With Taylor Branch, James McBride, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and Eric Overmyer.",
"Projects in developmentParting the Waters: With Taylor Branch, James McBride, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and Eric Overmyer. About Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement, based on one of the volumes of the books America in the King Years written by Taylor Branch, specifically At Canaan's Edge: America in the King Years, 1965–1968.",
"About Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement, based on one of the volumes of the books America in the King Years written by Taylor Branch, specifically At Canaan's Edge: America in the King Years, 1965–1968. The project was to be produced by Oprah Winfrey, but was shelved.The Avenue: A book with William F. Zorzi Jr., on the Baltimore drug epidemic from 1951 to late 1980sThe Good Friday Plot: Miniseries about Abraham Lincoln based upon Manhunt: The Twelve-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer by James L. Swanson and American Brutus: John Wilkes Booth and the Lincoln Conspiracies by Michael W. Kauffman.Capitol Hill: A collaboration with Carl Bernstein set in Capitol Hill, it examines partisanship and the role money plays in influencing national governance.",
"The project was to be produced by Oprah Winfrey, but was shelved.The Avenue: A book with William F. Zorzi Jr., on the Baltimore drug epidemic from 1951 to late 1980sThe Good Friday Plot: Miniseries about Abraham Lincoln based upon Manhunt: The Twelve-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer by James L. Swanson and American Brutus: John Wilkes Booth and the Lincoln Conspiracies by Michael W. Kauffman.Capitol Hill: A collaboration with Carl Bernstein set in Capitol Hill, it examines partisanship and the role money plays in influencing national governance. The series was ordered to pilot by HBO in 2015 but has not received a subsequent season order.Legacy of Ashes: On the Central Intelligence Agency, based on the 2007 book Legacy of Ashes by Tim Weiner.",
"The series was ordered to pilot by HBO in 2015 but has not received a subsequent season order.Legacy of Ashes: On the Central Intelligence Agency, based on the 2007 book Legacy of Ashes by Tim Weiner. The show was taken to the BBC and would have had Anthony Bourdain on the writing staff.The Pogues: Musical project with the help of the late Philip Chevron in development at The Public Theater in New York City, with Laura Lippman and George PelecanosA Dry Run: The Lincolns in Spain: A historical miniseries set during the Spanish Civil War about the Abraham Lincoln and George Washington Battalions, which were composed of volunteers from the United States who wanted to help the Spanish Republic overcome fascism.",
"The show was taken to the BBC and would have had Anthony Bourdain on the writing staff.The Pogues: Musical project with the help of the late Philip Chevron in development at The Public Theater in New York City, with Laura Lippman and George PelecanosA Dry Run: The Lincolns in Spain: A historical miniseries set during the Spanish Civil War about the Abraham Lincoln and George Washington Battalions, which were composed of volunteers from the United States who wanted to help the Spanish Republic overcome fascism. Mark Johnson will be the series producer and Mediapro will be the series' production company.",
"Mark Johnson will be the series producer and Mediapro will be the series' production company. Writing process Simon is known for his realistic dialogue and journalistic approach to writing. He says that authenticity is paramount and that he writes not with a general audience in mind but with the opinions of his subjects as his priority. He has described his extensive use of real anecdotes and characters in his writing as \"stealing life\".",
"He has described his extensive use of real anecdotes and characters in his writing as \"stealing life\". In a talk that Simon gave to a live audience in April 2007 at the Creative Alliance's storytelling series, Simon disclosed that he had started writing for revenge against John Carroll and Bill Marimow, the two most senior editors at The Baltimore Sun when Simon was a reporter at the paper.",
"In a talk that Simon gave to a live audience in April 2007 at the Creative Alliance's storytelling series, Simon disclosed that he had started writing for revenge against John Carroll and Bill Marimow, the two most senior editors at The Baltimore Sun when Simon was a reporter at the paper. Simon said he had watched Carroll and Marimow \"single-handedly destroy\" the newspaper and that he spent over ten years trying to get back at them.",
"Simon said he had watched Carroll and Marimow \"single-handedly destroy\" the newspaper and that he spent over ten years trying to get back at them. Anything I've ever accomplished as a writer, as somebody doing TV, anything I've ever done in life, down to, like, cleaning up my room, has been accomplished because I was going to show people that they were fucked up, wrong, and that I was the fucking center of the universe and the sooner they got hip to that, the happier they would all be.",
"Anything I've ever accomplished as a writer, as somebody doing TV, anything I've ever done in life, down to, like, cleaning up my room, has been accomplished because I was going to show people that they were fucked up, wrong, and that I was the fucking center of the universe and the sooner they got hip to that, the happier they would all be. One of the actions Simon took was to name a character in The Wire after Marimow and make the character \"a repellent police-department toady.\"",
"One of the actions Simon took was to name a character in The Wire after Marimow and make the character \"a repellent police-department toady.\" Carroll left The Baltimore Sun to become editor at the Los Angeles Times and resigned in 2005 after budget cuts were announced. \"He stands up like a [bleeping] hero, takes a bullet,\" said Simon. In 2006 Marimow was diagnosed with prostate cancer, something that Simon said \"took the edge off\" his grudge.",
"In 2006 Marimow was diagnosed with prostate cancer, something that Simon said \"took the edge off\" his grudge. Carroll and Marimow \"were fuel for 10 years of my life. ... And now, I got nothing,\" Simon said.",
"... And now, I got nothing,\" Simon said. When asked about these comments, Simon said that he had spoken with \"some hyperbole and, I hope, comic effect\", adding that his basic viewpoint was: \"that simple revenge is both empty and beside the point and that a good story carefully told has to speak to larger themes. You do not tell an ornate, careful story over ten hours of HBO airtime merely to bust on any given soul.\"",
"You do not tell an ornate, careful story over ten hours of HBO airtime merely to bust on any given soul.\" Views on journalism In an interview in Reason in 2004, Simon said that since leaving the newspaper business he has become more cynical about the power of journalism. \"One of the sad things about contemporary journalism is that it actually matters very little. The world now is almost inured to the power of journalism. The best journalism would manage to outrage people.",
"The best journalism would manage to outrage people. The best journalism would manage to outrage people. And people are less and less inclined to outrage,\" said Simon. \"I've become increasingly cynical about the ability of daily journalism to effect any kind of meaningful change. I was pretty dubious about it when I was a journalist, but now I think it's remarkably ineffectual.\"",
"I was pretty dubious about it when I was a journalist, but now I think it's remarkably ineffectual.\" While testifying at a 2009 Senate hearing regarding the future of journalism in America, Simon indicted what he saw as poor online journalism, calling the phrase citizen journalist \"Orwellian to [his] ears.\" Simon ended his testimony by declaring, \"I don't think anything can be done to save high-end journalism.\"",
"Simon ended his testimony by declaring, \"I don't think anything can be done to save high-end journalism.\" Political views Simon has described himself as a social democrat, broadly supporting the existence of capitalism while opposing \"raw, unencumbered capitalism, absent any social framework, absent any sense of community, without regard to the weakest and most vulnerable classes in society\", which he described as \"a recipe for needless pain, needless human waste, (and) needless tragedy\".",
"Political views Simon has described himself as a social democrat, broadly supporting the existence of capitalism while opposing \"raw, unencumbered capitalism, absent any social framework, absent any sense of community, without regard to the weakest and most vulnerable classes in society\", which he described as \"a recipe for needless pain, needless human waste, (and) needless tragedy\". He has criticized the idea of trickle-down economics.",
"He has criticized the idea of trickle-down economics. He has criticized the idea of trickle-down economics. In 2013, Simon compared the global surveillance disclosures uncovered by Edward Snowden to a 1980s effort by the City of Baltimore to record the numbers dialed from all pay phones. The city believed that drug traffickers were using pay phones and pagers, and a municipal judge allowed the city to record the dialed numbers. The placement of the payphone number recorders formed the basis of The Wires first season.",
"The placement of the payphone number recorders formed the basis of The Wires first season. Simon argued that the media attention regarding the surveillance disclosures is a \"faux scandal.\" During a November 2013 speech at the Festival of Dangerous Ideas in Sydney, he said that America has become \"a horror show\" of savage inequality as a result of capitalism run amok, and that \"unless we reverse course, the average human being is worthless on planet Earth.",
"During a November 2013 speech at the Festival of Dangerous Ideas in Sydney, he said that America has become \"a horror show\" of savage inequality as a result of capitalism run amok, and that \"unless we reverse course, the average human being is worthless on planet Earth. Unless we take stock of the fact that maybe socialism and the socialist impulse has to be addressed again; it has to be married as it was married in the 1930s, the 1940s and even into the 1950s, to the engine that is capitalism.\"",
"Unless we take stock of the fact that maybe socialism and the socialist impulse has to be addressed again; it has to be married as it was married in the 1930s, the 1940s and even into the 1950s, to the engine that is capitalism.\" Simon has also spoken out publicly against crime journalist Kevin Deutsch, disputing the portrayal of Baltimore's illegal drug trade in Deutsch's book, Pill City: How Two Honor Roll Students Foiled the Feds and Built a Drug Empire.",
"Simon has also spoken out publicly against crime journalist Kevin Deutsch, disputing the portrayal of Baltimore's illegal drug trade in Deutsch's book, Pill City: How Two Honor Roll Students Foiled the Feds and Built a Drug Empire. Simon has described the book as \"a wholesale fabrication.\"",
"Simon has described the book as \"a wholesale fabrication.\" During the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries, Simon praised Bernie Sanders for \"rehabilitating and normalizing the term socialist back into American public life\", but opposed some attacks against Hillary Clinton which he felt focused on her presumed motives rather than the substance of policies. Personal life In 1991, Simon was married to graphic artist Kayle Tucker. They had a son. The marriage ended in divorce.",
"They had a son. The marriage ended in divorce. The marriage ended in divorce. In 2006, Simon married best-selling Baltimore novelist and former Sun reporter Laura Lippman in a ceremony officiated by John Waters. They have a daughter, who was born in 2010. Simon's nephew, Jason Simon, is a guitarist and vocalist for the psychedelic rock band Dead Meadow. The band was mentioned in an episode of The Wire.",
"The band was mentioned in an episode of The Wire. Simon was the 2012 commencement speaker for the Georgetown University College of Arts and Sciences, as well as the speaker for the Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School graduation. In 2019, Simon joined a host of other writers in firing their agents as part of the WGA's stand against the ATA after failing to come to an agreement on their \"Code of Conduct\". Simon's statement to the writers union was widely circulated.",
"Simon's statement to the writers union was widely circulated. He had previously led the rallying cry about the unfair practices of packaging by the major talent agencies. Works and publications Commentary Non-fiction books Filmography Producer Writer References Further reading External links David Simon's blog.",
"Works and publications Commentary Non-fiction books Filmography Producer Writer References Further reading External links David Simon's blog. 1960 births American crime fiction writers Jewish American journalists American non-fiction crime writers American newspaper reporters and correspondents American male novelists American male screenwriters American television producers American television writers Anthony Award winners Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School alumni Drug policy reform activists Edgar Award winners Living people MacArthur Fellows American male television writers Maryland Democrats Primetime Emmy Award winners Showrunners The Baltimore Sun people University of Maryland, College Park alumni Writers Guild of America Award winners Writers from Baltimore Novelists from Maryland American male non-fiction writers Screenwriters from Washington, D.C. People from Bethesda, Maryland 21st-century American Jews"
] |
[
"David Simon",
"Journalism",
"What was his relationship with journalism?",
"Simon worked as a police reporter at The Baltimore Sun from 1982 to 1995. He spent most of his career covering the crime beat. A colleague has said that",
"How were his pieces recieved?",
"A colleague has said that Simon loved journalism and felt it was \"God's work\". Simon says that he was initially altruistic and was inspired",
"Did he receive any accolades or awards?",
"Simon was a union captain when the writing staff went on strike in 1987 over benefit cuts. He remained angry after the strike ended and began to feel uncomfortable",
"Did he ever get over the feelings of discomfort?",
"He searched for a reason to justify a leave of absence and settled on the idea of writing a novel. \"I got out of journalism because"
] | C_9bee77e3ba5d4991a15b82be185dfcbd_1 | Why did he say he got out? | 5 | Why did David Simon say he got out of journalism? | David Simon | Upon leaving college, Simon worked as a police reporter at The Baltimore Sun from 1982 to 1995. He spent most of his career covering the crime beat. A colleague has said that Simon loved journalism and felt it was "God's work". Simon says that he was initially altruistic and was inspired to enter journalism by the Washington Post's coverage of Watergate but became increasingly pragmatic as he gained experience. Later in his career he aimed to tell the best possible story without "cheating it". Simon was a union captain when the writing staff went on strike in 1987 over benefit cuts. He remained angry after the strike ended and began to feel uncomfortable in the writing room. He searched for a reason to justify a leave of absence and settled on the idea of writing a novel. "I got out of journalism because some sons of bitches bought my newspaper and it stopped being fun," says Simon. In an interview in Reason in 2004, Simon said that since leaving the newspaper business he has become more cynical about the power of journalism. "One of the sad things about contemporary journalism is that it actually matters very little. The world now is almost inured to the power of journalism. The best journalism would manage to outrage people. And people are less and less inclined to outrage," said Simon. "I've become increasingly cynical about the ability of daily journalism to effect any kind of meaningful change. I was pretty dubious about it when I was a journalist, but now I think it's remarkably ineffectual." In 1988, disillusioned, Simon took a year's leave to go into the Baltimore Police Department Homicide Unit to write a book. CANNOTANSWER | One of the sad things about contemporary journalism is that it actually matters very little. The world now is almost inured to the power of journalism. | David Judah Simon (born February 9, 1960) is an American author, journalist, and television writer and producer best known for his work on The Wire (2002–08).
He worked for The Baltimore Sun City Desk for twelve years (1982–95), wrote Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets (1991), and co-wrote The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood (1997) with Ed Burns. The former book was the basis for the NBC series Homicide: Life on the Street (1993–99), on which Simon served as a writer and producer. Simon adapted the latter book into the HBO mini-series The Corner (2000).
He was the creator, executive producer, head writer, and show runner for all five seasons of the HBO television series The Wire (2002–2008). He adapted the non-fiction book Generation Kill into a television mini-series, and served as the show runner for the project. He was selected as one of the 2010 MacArthur Fellows and named an Utne Reader visionary in 2011. Simon also created the HBO series Treme with Eric Overmyer, which aired for four seasons. Following Treme, Simon wrote the HBO mini-series Show Me a Hero with journalist William F. Zorzi, a colleague first at The Baltimore Sun and again later on The Wire. Simon and frequent collaborator George Pelecanos reunited to create original series The Deuce. The drama about the New York porn industry in the 1970s and 1980s stars Maggie Gyllenhaal and co-producer James Franco, and aired from 2017 to 2019. Simon's next series, The Plot Against America, debuted in 2020.
Early life and education
Simon was born in Washington, D.C., the son of Dorothy Simon (née Ligeti), a homemaker, and Bernard Simon, a former journalist and then public relations director for B'nai B'rith for 20 years. Simon was raised in a Jewish family, and had a bar mitzvah ceremony. His family roots are in Russia, Belarus, Hungary, and Slovakia (his maternal grandfather had changed his surname from "Leibowitz" to "Ligeti"). He has a brother, Gary Simon, and a sister, Linda Evans, who died in 1990.
In March 1977, when Simon was still in high school, Simon's father was one of a group of over 140 people held hostage (and later released) in Washington, D.C. by former national secretary of the Nation of Islam Hamaas Abdul Khaalis in the Hanafi Siege.
Simon graduated from Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School in Bethesda, Maryland, and wrote for the school newspaper, The Tattler. In 1983, he graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park. While at college he wrote and was Editor for The Diamondback, and became friends with contemporary David Mills.
Career
Journalism
Upon leaving college, Simon worked as a police reporter at The Baltimore Sun from 1982 to 1995. Simon was hired by the Baltimore Sun for a piece he wrote about Lefty Driesell, who was then the men's basketball coach at the University of Maryland. Driesell had been extremely frustrated that one of his players was suspended from playing for sexual impropriety and called the victim, threatening to destroy her reputation if she did not withdraw her complaint. This was all done while the university administration was listening to the call, but they did nothing. Lefty Driesell was later given a 5-year contract and, in 2018, he was inducted into the ACC Hall of Fame.
Simon spent most of his career covering the crime beat. A colleague has said that Simon loved journalism and felt it was "God's work". Simon says that he was initially altruistic and was inspired to enter journalism by The Washington Posts coverage of Watergate but became increasingly pragmatic as he gained experience.
Simon was a union captain when the writing staff went on strike in 1987 over benefit cuts. He remained angry after the strike ended and began to feel uncomfortable in the writing room. He searched for a reason to justify a leave of absence and settled on the idea of writing a novel. "I got out of journalism because some sons of bitches bought my newspaper and it stopped being fun," says Simon.
In 1988, disillusioned, Simon took a year's leave to go into the Baltimore Police Department Homicide Unit to write a book.
Book
Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets
Simon's leave of absence from The Sun resulted in his first book Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets (1991). The book was based on his experiences shadowing the Baltimore Police Department homicide unit during 1988. The idea came from a conversation on Christmas Eve 1985 in the unit office, where Det. Bill Lansey told him, "If someone just wrote down what happens in this place for one year, they'd have a goddamn book." Simon approached the police department and the editors of the paper to receive approval. The detectives were initially slow to accept him, but he persevered in an attempt to "seem … like part of the furniture". However, he soon ingratiated himself with the detectives, saying in the closing notes of the book, "I shared with the detectives a year's worth of fast-food runs, bar arguments and station house humor: Even for a trained observer, it was hard to remain aloof." During one instance, Simon even assisted with an arrest. Two detectives Simon was riding with pulled their car to a curb to apprehend two suspects, but Detective Dave Brown got his trenchcoat caught in a seat belt when he tried to exit the car. Brown told Simon to assist Detective Terry McLarney himself, and Simon helped apprehend and search one of the suspects.
The book won the 1992 Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime book. The Associated Press called it "a true-crime classic". The Library Journal also highly recommended it, and Newsday described it as "one of the most engrossing police procedural mystery books ever written". Simon credits his time researching the book as altering his writing style and informing later work. He learned to be more patient in research and writing, and said a key lesson was not promoting himself but concentrating on his subjects. Simon told Baltimore's City Paper in 2003 that Homicide was not traditional journalism. "I felt Homicide the book and The Corner were not traditional journalism in the sense of coming from some artificially omniscient, objective point of view," said Simon. "They're immersed in the respective cultures that they cover in a way that traditional journalism often isn't."
Television
Homicide: Life on the Street
The publishers of Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets were eager for a screen adaptation and submitted it to numerous directors but there was little interest. Simon suggested that they send the book to Baltimore native and film director Barry Levinson. Levinson's assistant Gail Mutrux enjoyed the book and both she and Levinson became attached as producers. The project became the award-winning TV series Homicide: Life on the Street (1993–1999), on which Simon worked as a writer and producer.
Simon was asked by Mutrux to write the show's pilot episode but declined, feeling he did not have the necessary expertise. He collaborated with his old college friend David Mills to write the season two premiere "Bop Gun". The episode was based on a story by executive producer Tom Fontana and featured Robin Williams in a guest starring role that garnered the actor an Emmy nomination. Simon and Mills won the WGA Award for Best Writing in a Drama for the episode. Simon also received Austin Film Festival's Outstanding Television Writer Award in 2010.
Simon left his job with the Baltimore Sun in 1995 to work full-time on Homicide: Life on the Street during the production of the show's fourth season. Simon wrote the teleplay for the season four episodes "Justice: Part 2" and "Scene of the Crime" (with Anya Epstein). For season five he was the show's story editor and continued to contribute teleplays writing the episodes "Bad Medicine" and "Wu's on First?" (again with Epstein). He was credited as a producer on the show's sixth and seventh seasons. He wrote the teleplays for parts two and three of the sixth-season premiere "Blood Ties" (the latter marking his third collaboration with Epstein) and provided the story for the later sixth-season episodes "Full Court Press" and "Finnegan's Wake" (with James Yoshimura). He provided the story for the seventh season episodes "Shades of Gray" (with Julie Martin), "The Same Coin" (again with Yoshimura) and "Self Defense" (with Eric Overmyer). Simon wrote the story and teleplay for the seventh season episodes "The Twenty Percent Solution" and "Sideshow: Part 2". Simon, Martin and teleplay writer T. J. English won the Humanitas Prize in the 60 minutes category for the episode "Shades of Gray". Simon was nominated for a second WGA Award for Best Writing in a Drama for his work on "Finnegan's Wake" with Yoshimura and Mills (who wrote the teleplay).
Simon has said that he thought the show was a "remarkable drama" but that it did not reflect the book. He has also said that when writing for the show he had to put his experiences of the real detectives aside as the characters became quite different, particularly in their more philosophical approach to the job. Simon said that TV must find shorthand ways of referencing anything real.
The Corner
In 1997 he co-authored, with Ed Burns, The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood, the true account of a West Baltimore community dominated by a heavy drug market. Simon credits his editor John Sterling with the suggestion that he observe a single drug corner. He took a second leave of absence from the Baltimore Sun in 1993 to research the project. Simon became close to one of his subjects, drug addict Gary McCullough, and was devastated by his death while he was writing the project. Simon says that he approached the research with the abstract idea that his subjects may die because of their addictions but it was not possible to fully prepare for the reality. He remains grateful to his subjects saying "This involved people's whole lives, there's no privacy in it. That was an enormous gift which many, many people gave us. Even the most functional were at war with themselves. But they were not foolish people. And they made that choice."
The Corner was named a Notable Book of the Year by The New York Times. Simon again returned to his journalism career after finishing the book but felt further changed by his experiences. He said he "was less enamored of the braggadocio, all that big, we're-really-having-an-impact talk" and no longer believed that they were making a difference; he left his job at The Sun within a year for work on NBC's Homicide.
Soon after Homicide concluded Simon co-wrote (with David Mills) and produced The Corner as a six-hour TV miniseries for HBO. The show received three Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries or a Movie, for Simon and Mills.
The Wire
Simon was the creator, show runner, executive producer and head writer of the HBO drama series The Wire. Many of The Wires characters and incidents also came from Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets. After the fourth season, Simon signed on to produce the fifth and final season of The Wire, which focused on the role of mass media in society.
Again he worked with Ed Burns on creating the show. Originally they set out to create a police drama loosely based on Burns' experiences when working on protracted investigations of violent drug dealers using surveillance technology. During this time Burns had often faced frustration with the bureaucracy of the police department, which Simon equated with his own ordeals as a police reporter for The Baltimore Sun. Writing against the background of current events, including institutionalized corporate crime at Enron and institutional dysfunction in the Catholic Church, the show became "more of a treatise about institutions and individuals than a straight cop show."
They chose to take The Wire to HBO because of their existing working relationship from The Corner. Owing to its reputation for exploring new areas, HBO was initially dubious about including a cop drama in their lineup, but eventually agreed to produce the pilot after ordering a further two scripts to see how the series would progress. Carolyn Strauss, the president of HBO entertainment, has said that Simon's argument that the most subversive thing HBO could do was invade the networks' "backyard" of police procedurals helped to persuade them.
The theme of institutional dysfunction was expanded across different areas of the city as the show progressed. The second season focused on the death of working-class America through examination of the city ports. The third season "reflects on the nature of reform and reformers, and whether there is any possibility that political processes, long calcified, can mitigate against the forces currently arrayed against individuals." For the fourth season Simon again turned to Burns' experience, this time his second career as a Baltimore public school teacher in examining the theme of education. The fifth season looked at the media, as well as continuing themes such as politics from earlier seasons.
Simon was reunited with his The Corner producers Robert F. Colesberry and Nina K. Noble on The Wire. Simon credits Colesberry for achieving the show's realistic visual feel because of his experience as a director. They recruited Homicide star and director Clark Johnson to helm the pilot episode. The completed pilot was given to HBO in November 2001. Johnson returned to direct the second episode when the show was picked up, and would direct the series finale as well, in addition to starring in the fifth season.
Simon approached acclaimed crime fiction authors to write for The Wire. He was recommended the work of George Pelecanos by a colleague while working at the Baltimore Sun because of similarities between their writing. The two writers have much in common including a childhood in Silver Spring, attendance at the University of Maryland and their interest in the "fate of the American city and the black urban poor." Simon did not read Pelecanos initially because of territorial prejudice; Pelecanos is from Washington. Once Simon received further recommendations including one from his wife Laura Lippman he tried Pelecanos' novel The Sweet Forever and changed his mind. He sought out Pelecanos when recruiting writers for The Wire. The two met at the funeral of a mutual friend shortly after Simon delivered the pilot episode. Simon pitched Pelecanos the idea of The Wire as a novel for television about the American city as Pelecanos drove him home. Pelecanos became a regular writer and later a producer for the show's second and third seasons. Simon and Pelecanos collaborated to write the episode "Middle Ground" which received the show's first Emmy nomination, in the category Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series.
Pelecanos left the production staff following the third season to focus on his next novel; Simon has commented that he missed having him working on the show full-time but was pleased that he continued to write for them and was a fan of the resultant book The Night Gardener. Similar to Simon's own experience in researching Homicide Pelecanos spent time embedded with the Washington DC homicide unit to research the book.
Crime novelist Dennis Lehane has also written for the series starting with the third season. Lehane has commented that he was impressed by Simon and Burns' ear for authentic street slang.
Eric Overmyer was brought in to fill the role of Pelecanos as a full-time writer producer. He had previously worked with Simon on Homicide where the two became friends. Simon has said that he was impressed with Overmyer's writing particularly in synthesizing the story for "Margin of Error" as the episode is the height of the show's political storyline but must also progress other plot threads.
Simon and his writing staff were nominated for the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Dramatic Series at the February 2009 ceremony for their work on the fifth season. Simon and Burns collaborated to write the series finale "-30-" which received the show's second Emmy nomination, again in the category Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series.
Simon has stated that he finds working with HBO more comfortable than his experiences with NBC on Homicide and that HBO is able to allow greater creative control because it is dependent on subscribers rather than on viewing figures. He has said that he feels unable to return to network television because he felt pressure to compromise storytelling for audience satisfaction.
Generation Kill
Simon produced and wrote Generation Kill for HBO with Ed Burns. They again worked with Nina Noble as a producer. The miniseries is an adaption of the non-fiction book of the same name. It relates the first 40 days of the 2003 invasion of Iraq as experienced by 1st Reconnaissance Battalion and their embedded reporter, Evan Wright. Simon and Burns worked with Wright in adapting his book into the series.
Treme
Simon collaborated with Eric Overmyer again on Treme, a project about musicians in post-Katrina New Orleans. Overmyer lives part-time in New Orleans, and Simon believed his experience would be valuable in navigating the "ornate oral tradition" of the city's stories. Simon also consulted with New Orleans natives Donald Harrison Jr., Kermit Ruffins, and Davis Rogan while developing the series. The show focuses on a working-class neighborhood, and is smaller in scope than The Wire. The series premiered on April 11, 2010, on HBO and ran for four seasons.
Treme is named after the Faubourg Treme neighborhood in New Orleans that is home to many of the city's musicians. Simon stated that the series would explore beyond the music scene to encompass political corruption, the public housing controversy, the criminal-justice system, clashes between police and Mardi Gras Indians, and the struggle to regain the tourism industry after the storm. One of the principal characters in the pilot script runs a restaurant. The series was filmed on location and was expected to provide a boost to the New Orleans economy. Simon's casting of the show mirrored that of The Wire in using local actors wherever possible. Wendell Pierce, who had previously played Bunk Moreland on The Wire, stars in the series. Clarke Peters, also of The Wire, is another series regular. Many other stars of The Wire have appeared in Treme, these include Steve Earle, Jim True-Frost, James Ransone, and Anwan Glover.
Show Me a Hero
In 2014, HBO greenlit production for Simon's next project Show Me a Hero, a six-hour miniseries co-written with William F. Zorzi and the episodes directed by Academy Award-winner Paul Haggis. The miniseries is an adaptation of the nonfiction book of the same name by Lisa Belkin and tells the story of Nick Wasicsko, the youngest big-city mayor in the country who is thrust into racial controversy when a federal court orders to build a small number of low-income housing units in the white neighborhoods of Yonkers, New York. Oscar Isaac stars as Wasicsko and leads a cast, which includes Catherine Keener, Jim Belushi, Bob Balaban and Winona Ryder. The miniseries premiered on August 16, 2015.
The Deuce
The Deuce is a 2017 drama television series set in Times Square, New York focusing on the rise of the porn industry in the 1970s-80s. Created and written by Simon along with frequent collaborator George Pelecanos, the series pilot began shooting in October 2015. It was picked up to series in January 2016. It premiered on September 10, 2017, and is broadcast by HBO in the United States.
The Deuce tells the story of the legalization and ensuing rise of the porn industry in New York beginning in the 1970s and its ongoing rise through the mid-1980s. Themes explored include the rise of HIV, the violence of the drug epidemic and the resulting real estate booms and busts that coincided with the change.
The Plot Against America
An adaptation of Philip Roth's novel, The Plot Against America is an alternate history told through the eyes of a working-class Jewish family in Newark, New Jersey; as they watch the political rise of Charles Lindbergh, an aviator-hero and xenophobic populist, who becomes president and turns the nation toward fascism. The six-part miniseries premiered on March 16, 2020, on HBO.
Projects in developmentParting the Waters: With Taylor Branch, James McBride, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and Eric Overmyer. About Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement, based on one of the volumes of the books America in the King Years written by Taylor Branch, specifically At Canaan's Edge: America in the King Years, 1965–1968. The project was to be produced by Oprah Winfrey, but was shelved.The Avenue: A book with William F. Zorzi Jr., on the Baltimore drug epidemic from 1951 to late 1980sThe Good Friday Plot: Miniseries about Abraham Lincoln based upon Manhunt: The Twelve-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer by James L. Swanson and American Brutus: John Wilkes Booth and the Lincoln Conspiracies by Michael W. Kauffman.Capitol Hill: A collaboration with Carl Bernstein set in Capitol Hill, it examines partisanship and the role money plays in influencing national governance. The series was ordered to pilot by HBO in 2015 but has not received a subsequent season order.Legacy of Ashes: On the Central Intelligence Agency, based on the 2007 book Legacy of Ashes by Tim Weiner. The show was taken to the BBC and would have had Anthony Bourdain on the writing staff.The Pogues: Musical project with the help of the late Philip Chevron in development at The Public Theater in New York City, with Laura Lippman and George PelecanosA Dry Run: The Lincolns in Spain: A historical miniseries set during the Spanish Civil War about the Abraham Lincoln and George Washington Battalions, which were composed of volunteers from the United States who wanted to help the Spanish Republic overcome fascism. Mark Johnson will be the series producer and Mediapro will be the series' production company.
Writing process
Simon is known for his realistic dialogue and journalistic approach to writing. He says that authenticity is paramount and that he writes not with a general audience in mind but with the opinions of his subjects as his priority. He has described his extensive use of real anecdotes and characters in his writing as "stealing life".
In a talk that Simon gave to a live audience in April 2007 at the Creative Alliance's storytelling series, Simon disclosed that he had started writing for revenge against John Carroll and Bill Marimow, the two most senior editors at The Baltimore Sun when Simon was a reporter at the paper. Simon said he had watched Carroll and Marimow "single-handedly destroy" the newspaper and that he spent over ten years trying to get back at them.
Anything I've ever accomplished as a writer, as somebody doing TV, anything I've ever done in life, down to, like, cleaning up my room, has been accomplished because I was going to show people that they were fucked up, wrong, and that I was the fucking center of the universe and the sooner they got hip to that, the happier they would all be.
One of the actions Simon took was to name a character in The Wire after Marimow and make the character "a repellent police-department toady." Carroll left The Baltimore Sun to become editor at the Los Angeles Times and resigned in 2005 after budget cuts were announced. "He stands up like a [bleeping] hero, takes a bullet," said Simon. In 2006 Marimow was diagnosed with prostate cancer, something that Simon said "took the edge off" his grudge. Carroll and Marimow "were fuel for 10 years of my life. ... And now, I got nothing," Simon said.
When asked about these comments, Simon said that he had spoken with "some hyperbole and, I hope, comic effect", adding that his basic viewpoint was: "that simple revenge is both empty and beside the point and that a good story carefully told has to speak to larger themes. You do not tell an ornate, careful story over ten hours of HBO airtime merely to bust on any given soul."
Views on journalism
In an interview in Reason in 2004, Simon said that since leaving the newspaper business he has become more cynical about the power of journalism. "One of the sad things about contemporary journalism is that it actually matters very little. The world now is almost inured to the power of journalism. The best journalism would manage to outrage people. And people are less and less inclined to outrage," said Simon. "I've become increasingly cynical about the ability of daily journalism to effect any kind of meaningful change. I was pretty dubious about it when I was a journalist, but now I think it's remarkably ineffectual."
While testifying at a 2009 Senate hearing regarding the future of journalism in America, Simon indicted what he saw as poor online journalism, calling the phrase citizen journalist "Orwellian to [his] ears." Simon ended his testimony by declaring, "I don't think anything can be done to save high-end journalism."
Political views
Simon has described himself as a social democrat, broadly supporting the existence of capitalism while opposing "raw, unencumbered capitalism, absent any social framework, absent any sense of community, without regard to the weakest and most vulnerable classes in society", which he described as "a recipe for needless pain, needless human waste, (and) needless tragedy". He has criticized the idea of trickle-down economics.
In 2013, Simon compared the global surveillance disclosures uncovered by Edward Snowden to a 1980s effort by the City of Baltimore to record the numbers dialed from all pay phones. The city believed that drug traffickers were using pay phones and pagers, and a municipal judge allowed the city to record the dialed numbers. The placement of the payphone number recorders formed the basis of The Wires first season. Simon argued that the media attention regarding the surveillance disclosures is a "faux scandal."
During a November 2013 speech at the Festival of Dangerous Ideas in Sydney, he said that America has become "a horror show" of savage inequality as a result of capitalism run amok, and that "unless we reverse course, the average human being is worthless on planet Earth. Unless we take stock of the fact that maybe socialism and the socialist impulse has to be addressed again; it has to be married as it was married in the 1930s, the 1940s and even into the 1950s, to the engine that is capitalism."
Simon has also spoken out publicly against crime journalist Kevin Deutsch, disputing the portrayal of Baltimore's illegal drug trade in Deutsch's book, Pill City: How Two Honor Roll Students Foiled the Feds and Built a Drug Empire. Simon has described the book as "a wholesale fabrication."
During the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries, Simon praised Bernie Sanders for "rehabilitating and normalizing the term socialist back into American public life", but opposed some attacks against Hillary Clinton which he felt focused on her presumed motives rather than the substance of policies.
Personal life
In 1991, Simon was married to graphic artist Kayle Tucker. They had a son. The marriage ended in divorce.
In 2006, Simon married best-selling Baltimore novelist and former Sun reporter Laura Lippman in a ceremony officiated by John Waters. They have a daughter, who was born in 2010.
Simon's nephew, Jason Simon, is a guitarist and vocalist for the psychedelic rock band Dead Meadow. The band was mentioned in an episode of The Wire.
Simon was the 2012 commencement speaker for the Georgetown University College of Arts and Sciences, as well as the speaker for the Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School graduation.
In 2019, Simon joined a host of other writers in firing their agents as part of the WGA's stand against the ATA after failing to come to an agreement on their "Code of Conduct". Simon's statement to the writers union was widely circulated. He had previously led the rallying cry about the unfair practices of packaging by the major talent agencies.
Works and publications
Commentary
Non-fiction books
Filmography
Producer
Writer
References
Further reading
External links
David Simon's blog.
1960 births
American crime fiction writers
Jewish American journalists
American non-fiction crime writers
American newspaper reporters and correspondents
American male novelists
American male screenwriters
American television producers
American television writers
Anthony Award winners
Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School alumni
Drug policy reform activists
Edgar Award winners
Living people
MacArthur Fellows
American male television writers
Maryland Democrats
Primetime Emmy Award winners
Showrunners
The Baltimore Sun people
University of Maryland, College Park alumni
Writers Guild of America Award winners
Writers from Baltimore
Novelists from Maryland
American male non-fiction writers
Screenwriters from Washington, D.C.
People from Bethesda, Maryland
21st-century American Jews | true | [
"Master Series is a compilation album by Elkie Brooks. It was issued on CD in 1997 by A&M and distributed only in Germany.\n\nTrack listing \n\"Fool If You Think\"\n\"Lilac Wine\"\n\"Pearls\"\n\"Why Don’t You Say It\"\n\"Don’t Cry Out Loud\"\n\"He's a Rebel\"\n\"Warm and Tender Love\"\n\"Since You Went Away\"\n\"We All Have Our Dreams\"\n\"Only Love Can Break Your Heart\"\n\"The Runaway\"\n\"You Did Something for Me\"\n\"He Could Have Been an Army\"\n\"Do Right Woman\"\n\"Where Do We Go from Here\"\n\"Got to Be a Winner\"\n\"Live Laugh and Love\"\n\"Love Potion #9\"\n\n1997 compilation albums\nElkie Brooks albums\nA&M Records compilation albums",
"Millennium Edition is a compilation album by Elkie Brooks. It was issued on CD in 2000 by A&M, and is distributed only in Germany.\n\nTrack listing \n\"Fool If You Think\"\n\"Lilac Wine\"\n\"Pearl's a Singer\"\n\"Why Don’t You Say It\"\n\"Don’t Cry Out Loud\"\n\"He's a Rebel\"\n\"Warm and Tender Love\"\n\"Since You Went Away\"\n\"We All Have Our Dreams\"\n\"Only Love Can Break Your Heart\"\n\"The Runaway\"\n\"You Did Something for Me\"\n\"He Could Have Been an Army\"\n\"Do Right Woman\"\n\"Where Do We Go From Here\"\n\"Got to Be a Winner\"\n\"Live Laugh and Love\"\n\"Love Potion #9\"\n\n2000 compilation albums\nElkie Brooks albums\nA&M Records compilation albums"
] | [
"David Judah Simon (born February 9, 1960) is an American author, journalist, and television writer and producer best known for his work on The Wire (2002–08). He worked for The Baltimore Sun City Desk for twelve years (1982–95), wrote Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets (1991), and co-wrote The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood (1997) with Ed Burns.",
"He worked for The Baltimore Sun City Desk for twelve years (1982–95), wrote Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets (1991), and co-wrote The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood (1997) with Ed Burns. The former book was the basis for the NBC series Homicide: Life on the Street (1993–99), on which Simon served as a writer and producer. Simon adapted the latter book into the HBO mini-series The Corner (2000).",
"Simon adapted the latter book into the HBO mini-series The Corner (2000). He was the creator, executive producer, head writer, and show runner for all five seasons of the HBO television series The Wire (2002–2008). He adapted the non-fiction book Generation Kill into a television mini-series, and served as the show runner for the project. He was selected as one of the 2010 MacArthur Fellows and named an Utne Reader visionary in 2011.",
"He was selected as one of the 2010 MacArthur Fellows and named an Utne Reader visionary in 2011. Simon also created the HBO series Treme with Eric Overmyer, which aired for four seasons. Following Treme, Simon wrote the HBO mini-series Show Me a Hero with journalist William F. Zorzi, a colleague first at The Baltimore Sun and again later on The Wire. Simon and frequent collaborator George Pelecanos reunited to create original series The Deuce.",
"Simon and frequent collaborator George Pelecanos reunited to create original series The Deuce. The drama about the New York porn industry in the 1970s and 1980s stars Maggie Gyllenhaal and co-producer James Franco, and aired from 2017 to 2019. Simon's next series, The Plot Against America, debuted in 2020. Early life and education Simon was born in Washington, D.C., the son of Dorothy Simon (née Ligeti), a homemaker, and Bernard Simon, a former journalist and then public relations director for B'nai B'rith for 20 years.",
"Early life and education Simon was born in Washington, D.C., the son of Dorothy Simon (née Ligeti), a homemaker, and Bernard Simon, a former journalist and then public relations director for B'nai B'rith for 20 years. Simon was raised in a Jewish family, and had a bar mitzvah ceremony. His family roots are in Russia, Belarus, Hungary, and Slovakia (his maternal grandfather had changed his surname from \"Leibowitz\" to \"Ligeti\").",
"His family roots are in Russia, Belarus, Hungary, and Slovakia (his maternal grandfather had changed his surname from \"Leibowitz\" to \"Ligeti\"). He has a brother, Gary Simon, and a sister, Linda Evans, who died in 1990.",
"He has a brother, Gary Simon, and a sister, Linda Evans, who died in 1990. In March 1977, when Simon was still in high school, Simon's father was one of a group of over 140 people held hostage (and later released) in Washington, D.C. by former national secretary of the Nation of Islam Hamaas Abdul Khaalis in the Hanafi Siege. Simon graduated from Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School in Bethesda, Maryland, and wrote for the school newspaper, The Tattler.",
"Simon graduated from Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School in Bethesda, Maryland, and wrote for the school newspaper, The Tattler. In 1983, he graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park. While at college he wrote and was Editor for The Diamondback, and became friends with contemporary David Mills. Career Journalism Upon leaving college, Simon worked as a police reporter at The Baltimore Sun from 1982 to 1995.",
"Career Journalism Upon leaving college, Simon worked as a police reporter at The Baltimore Sun from 1982 to 1995. Simon was hired by the Baltimore Sun for a piece he wrote about Lefty Driesell, who was then the men's basketball coach at the University of Maryland. Driesell had been extremely frustrated that one of his players was suspended from playing for sexual impropriety and called the victim, threatening to destroy her reputation if she did not withdraw her complaint.",
"Driesell had been extremely frustrated that one of his players was suspended from playing for sexual impropriety and called the victim, threatening to destroy her reputation if she did not withdraw her complaint. This was all done while the university administration was listening to the call, but they did nothing. Lefty Driesell was later given a 5-year contract and, in 2018, he was inducted into the ACC Hall of Fame. Simon spent most of his career covering the crime beat.",
"Simon spent most of his career covering the crime beat. A colleague has said that Simon loved journalism and felt it was \"God's work\". Simon says that he was initially altruistic and was inspired to enter journalism by The Washington Posts coverage of Watergate but became increasingly pragmatic as he gained experience. Simon was a union captain when the writing staff went on strike in 1987 over benefit cuts. He remained angry after the strike ended and began to feel uncomfortable in the writing room.",
"He remained angry after the strike ended and began to feel uncomfortable in the writing room. He searched for a reason to justify a leave of absence and settled on the idea of writing a novel. \"I got out of journalism because some sons of bitches bought my newspaper and it stopped being fun,\" says Simon. In 1988, disillusioned, Simon took a year's leave to go into the Baltimore Police Department Homicide Unit to write a book.",
"In 1988, disillusioned, Simon took a year's leave to go into the Baltimore Police Department Homicide Unit to write a book. Book Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets Simon's leave of absence from The Sun resulted in his first book Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets (1991). The book was based on his experiences shadowing the Baltimore Police Department homicide unit during 1988. The idea came from a conversation on Christmas Eve 1985 in the unit office, where Det.",
"The idea came from a conversation on Christmas Eve 1985 in the unit office, where Det. Bill Lansey told him, \"If someone just wrote down what happens in this place for one year, they'd have a goddamn book.\" Simon approached the police department and the editors of the paper to receive approval. The detectives were initially slow to accept him, but he persevered in an attempt to \"seem … like part of the furniture\".",
"The detectives were initially slow to accept him, but he persevered in an attempt to \"seem … like part of the furniture\". However, he soon ingratiated himself with the detectives, saying in the closing notes of the book, \"I shared with the detectives a year's worth of fast-food runs, bar arguments and station house humor: Even for a trained observer, it was hard to remain aloof.\" During one instance, Simon even assisted with an arrest.",
"During one instance, Simon even assisted with an arrest. Two detectives Simon was riding with pulled their car to a curb to apprehend two suspects, but Detective Dave Brown got his trenchcoat caught in a seat belt when he tried to exit the car. Brown told Simon to assist Detective Terry McLarney himself, and Simon helped apprehend and search one of the suspects. The book won the 1992 Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime book. The Associated Press called it \"a true-crime classic\".",
"The Associated Press called it \"a true-crime classic\". The Library Journal also highly recommended it, and Newsday described it as \"one of the most engrossing police procedural mystery books ever written\". Simon credits his time researching the book as altering his writing style and informing later work. He learned to be more patient in research and writing, and said a key lesson was not promoting himself but concentrating on his subjects. Simon told Baltimore's City Paper in 2003 that Homicide was not traditional journalism.",
"Simon told Baltimore's City Paper in 2003 that Homicide was not traditional journalism. \"I felt Homicide the book and The Corner were not traditional journalism in the sense of coming from some artificially omniscient, objective point of view,\" said Simon. \"They're immersed in the respective cultures that they cover in a way that traditional journalism often isn't.\"",
"\"They're immersed in the respective cultures that they cover in a way that traditional journalism often isn't.\" Television Homicide: Life on the Street The publishers of Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets were eager for a screen adaptation and submitted it to numerous directors but there was little interest. Simon suggested that they send the book to Baltimore native and film director Barry Levinson. Levinson's assistant Gail Mutrux enjoyed the book and both she and Levinson became attached as producers.",
"Levinson's assistant Gail Mutrux enjoyed the book and both she and Levinson became attached as producers. The project became the award-winning TV series Homicide: Life on the Street (1993–1999), on which Simon worked as a writer and producer. Simon was asked by Mutrux to write the show's pilot episode but declined, feeling he did not have the necessary expertise. He collaborated with his old college friend David Mills to write the season two premiere \"Bop Gun\".",
"He collaborated with his old college friend David Mills to write the season two premiere \"Bop Gun\". The episode was based on a story by executive producer Tom Fontana and featured Robin Williams in a guest starring role that garnered the actor an Emmy nomination. Simon and Mills won the WGA Award for Best Writing in a Drama for the episode. Simon also received Austin Film Festival's Outstanding Television Writer Award in 2010.",
"Simon also received Austin Film Festival's Outstanding Television Writer Award in 2010. Simon left his job with the Baltimore Sun in 1995 to work full-time on Homicide: Life on the Street during the production of the show's fourth season. Simon wrote the teleplay for the season four episodes \"Justice: Part 2\" and \"Scene of the Crime\" (with Anya Epstein).",
"Simon wrote the teleplay for the season four episodes \"Justice: Part 2\" and \"Scene of the Crime\" (with Anya Epstein). For season five he was the show's story editor and continued to contribute teleplays writing the episodes \"Bad Medicine\" and \"Wu's on First?\" (again with Epstein). He was credited as a producer on the show's sixth and seventh seasons.",
"He was credited as a producer on the show's sixth and seventh seasons. He wrote the teleplays for parts two and three of the sixth-season premiere \"Blood Ties\" (the latter marking his third collaboration with Epstein) and provided the story for the later sixth-season episodes \"Full Court Press\" and \"Finnegan's Wake\" (with James Yoshimura).",
"He wrote the teleplays for parts two and three of the sixth-season premiere \"Blood Ties\" (the latter marking his third collaboration with Epstein) and provided the story for the later sixth-season episodes \"Full Court Press\" and \"Finnegan's Wake\" (with James Yoshimura). He provided the story for the seventh season episodes \"Shades of Gray\" (with Julie Martin), \"The Same Coin\" (again with Yoshimura) and \"Self Defense\" (with Eric Overmyer).",
"He provided the story for the seventh season episodes \"Shades of Gray\" (with Julie Martin), \"The Same Coin\" (again with Yoshimura) and \"Self Defense\" (with Eric Overmyer). Simon wrote the story and teleplay for the seventh season episodes \"The Twenty Percent Solution\" and \"Sideshow: Part 2\". Simon, Martin and teleplay writer T. J. English won the Humanitas Prize in the 60 minutes category for the episode \"Shades of Gray\".",
"Simon, Martin and teleplay writer T. J. English won the Humanitas Prize in the 60 minutes category for the episode \"Shades of Gray\". Simon was nominated for a second WGA Award for Best Writing in a Drama for his work on \"Finnegan's Wake\" with Yoshimura and Mills (who wrote the teleplay). Simon has said that he thought the show was a \"remarkable drama\" but that it did not reflect the book.",
"Simon has said that he thought the show was a \"remarkable drama\" but that it did not reflect the book. He has also said that when writing for the show he had to put his experiences of the real detectives aside as the characters became quite different, particularly in their more philosophical approach to the job. Simon said that TV must find shorthand ways of referencing anything real.",
"Simon said that TV must find shorthand ways of referencing anything real. The Corner In 1997 he co-authored, with Ed Burns, The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood, the true account of a West Baltimore community dominated by a heavy drug market. Simon credits his editor John Sterling with the suggestion that he observe a single drug corner. He took a second leave of absence from the Baltimore Sun in 1993 to research the project.",
"He took a second leave of absence from the Baltimore Sun in 1993 to research the project. Simon became close to one of his subjects, drug addict Gary McCullough, and was devastated by his death while he was writing the project. Simon says that he approached the research with the abstract idea that his subjects may die because of their addictions but it was not possible to fully prepare for the reality. He remains grateful to his subjects saying \"This involved people's whole lives, there's no privacy in it.",
"He remains grateful to his subjects saying \"This involved people's whole lives, there's no privacy in it. That was an enormous gift which many, many people gave us. Even the most functional were at war with themselves. But they were not foolish people. And they made that choice.\" The Corner was named a Notable Book of the Year by The New York Times. Simon again returned to his journalism career after finishing the book but felt further changed by his experiences.",
"Simon again returned to his journalism career after finishing the book but felt further changed by his experiences. He said he \"was less enamored of the braggadocio, all that big, we're-really-having-an-impact talk\" and no longer believed that they were making a difference; he left his job at The Sun within a year for work on NBC's Homicide. Soon after Homicide concluded Simon co-wrote (with David Mills) and produced The Corner as a six-hour TV miniseries for HBO.",
"Soon after Homicide concluded Simon co-wrote (with David Mills) and produced The Corner as a six-hour TV miniseries for HBO. The show received three Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries or a Movie, for Simon and Mills. The Wire Simon was the creator, show runner, executive producer and head writer of the HBO drama series The Wire. Many of The Wires characters and incidents also came from Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets.",
"Many of The Wires characters and incidents also came from Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets. After the fourth season, Simon signed on to produce the fifth and final season of The Wire, which focused on the role of mass media in society. Again he worked with Ed Burns on creating the show. Originally they set out to create a police drama loosely based on Burns' experiences when working on protracted investigations of violent drug dealers using surveillance technology.",
"Originally they set out to create a police drama loosely based on Burns' experiences when working on protracted investigations of violent drug dealers using surveillance technology. During this time Burns had often faced frustration with the bureaucracy of the police department, which Simon equated with his own ordeals as a police reporter for The Baltimore Sun.",
"During this time Burns had often faced frustration with the bureaucracy of the police department, which Simon equated with his own ordeals as a police reporter for The Baltimore Sun. Writing against the background of current events, including institutionalized corporate crime at Enron and institutional dysfunction in the Catholic Church, the show became \"more of a treatise about institutions and individuals than a straight cop show.\" They chose to take The Wire to HBO because of their existing working relationship from The Corner.",
"They chose to take The Wire to HBO because of their existing working relationship from The Corner. Owing to its reputation for exploring new areas, HBO was initially dubious about including a cop drama in their lineup, but eventually agreed to produce the pilot after ordering a further two scripts to see how the series would progress. Carolyn Strauss, the president of HBO entertainment, has said that Simon's argument that the most subversive thing HBO could do was invade the networks' \"backyard\" of police procedurals helped to persuade them.",
"Carolyn Strauss, the president of HBO entertainment, has said that Simon's argument that the most subversive thing HBO could do was invade the networks' \"backyard\" of police procedurals helped to persuade them. The theme of institutional dysfunction was expanded across different areas of the city as the show progressed. The second season focused on the death of working-class America through examination of the city ports.",
"The second season focused on the death of working-class America through examination of the city ports. The third season \"reflects on the nature of reform and reformers, and whether there is any possibility that political processes, long calcified, can mitigate against the forces currently arrayed against individuals.\" For the fourth season Simon again turned to Burns' experience, this time his second career as a Baltimore public school teacher in examining the theme of education.",
"For the fourth season Simon again turned to Burns' experience, this time his second career as a Baltimore public school teacher in examining the theme of education. The fifth season looked at the media, as well as continuing themes such as politics from earlier seasons. Simon was reunited with his The Corner producers Robert F. Colesberry and Nina K. Noble on The Wire. Simon credits Colesberry for achieving the show's realistic visual feel because of his experience as a director.",
"Simon credits Colesberry for achieving the show's realistic visual feel because of his experience as a director. They recruited Homicide star and director Clark Johnson to helm the pilot episode. The completed pilot was given to HBO in November 2001. Johnson returned to direct the second episode when the show was picked up, and would direct the series finale as well, in addition to starring in the fifth season. Simon approached acclaimed crime fiction authors to write for The Wire.",
"Simon approached acclaimed crime fiction authors to write for The Wire. He was recommended the work of George Pelecanos by a colleague while working at the Baltimore Sun because of similarities between their writing. The two writers have much in common including a childhood in Silver Spring, attendance at the University of Maryland and their interest in the \"fate of the American city and the black urban poor.\" Simon did not read Pelecanos initially because of territorial prejudice; Pelecanos is from Washington.",
"Simon did not read Pelecanos initially because of territorial prejudice; Pelecanos is from Washington. Once Simon received further recommendations including one from his wife Laura Lippman he tried Pelecanos' novel The Sweet Forever and changed his mind. He sought out Pelecanos when recruiting writers for The Wire. The two met at the funeral of a mutual friend shortly after Simon delivered the pilot episode. Simon pitched Pelecanos the idea of The Wire as a novel for television about the American city as Pelecanos drove him home.",
"Simon pitched Pelecanos the idea of The Wire as a novel for television about the American city as Pelecanos drove him home. Pelecanos became a regular writer and later a producer for the show's second and third seasons. Simon and Pelecanos collaborated to write the episode \"Middle Ground\" which received the show's first Emmy nomination, in the category Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series.",
"Simon and Pelecanos collaborated to write the episode \"Middle Ground\" which received the show's first Emmy nomination, in the category Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series. Pelecanos left the production staff following the third season to focus on his next novel; Simon has commented that he missed having him working on the show full-time but was pleased that he continued to write for them and was a fan of the resultant book The Night Gardener.",
"Pelecanos left the production staff following the third season to focus on his next novel; Simon has commented that he missed having him working on the show full-time but was pleased that he continued to write for them and was a fan of the resultant book The Night Gardener. Similar to Simon's own experience in researching Homicide Pelecanos spent time embedded with the Washington DC homicide unit to research the book. Crime novelist Dennis Lehane has also written for the series starting with the third season.",
"Crime novelist Dennis Lehane has also written for the series starting with the third season. Lehane has commented that he was impressed by Simon and Burns' ear for authentic street slang. Eric Overmyer was brought in to fill the role of Pelecanos as a full-time writer producer. He had previously worked with Simon on Homicide where the two became friends.",
"He had previously worked with Simon on Homicide where the two became friends. Simon has said that he was impressed with Overmyer's writing particularly in synthesizing the story for \"Margin of Error\" as the episode is the height of the show's political storyline but must also progress other plot threads. Simon and his writing staff were nominated for the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Dramatic Series at the February 2009 ceremony for their work on the fifth season.",
"Simon and his writing staff were nominated for the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Dramatic Series at the February 2009 ceremony for their work on the fifth season. Simon and Burns collaborated to write the series finale \"-30-\" which received the show's second Emmy nomination, again in the category Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series.",
"Simon and Burns collaborated to write the series finale \"-30-\" which received the show's second Emmy nomination, again in the category Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series. Simon has stated that he finds working with HBO more comfortable than his experiences with NBC on Homicide and that HBO is able to allow greater creative control because it is dependent on subscribers rather than on viewing figures. He has said that he feels unable to return to network television because he felt pressure to compromise storytelling for audience satisfaction.",
"He has said that he feels unable to return to network television because he felt pressure to compromise storytelling for audience satisfaction. Generation Kill Simon produced and wrote Generation Kill for HBO with Ed Burns. They again worked with Nina Noble as a producer. The miniseries is an adaption of the non-fiction book of the same name. It relates the first 40 days of the 2003 invasion of Iraq as experienced by 1st Reconnaissance Battalion and their embedded reporter, Evan Wright.",
"It relates the first 40 days of the 2003 invasion of Iraq as experienced by 1st Reconnaissance Battalion and their embedded reporter, Evan Wright. Simon and Burns worked with Wright in adapting his book into the series. Treme Simon collaborated with Eric Overmyer again on Treme, a project about musicians in post-Katrina New Orleans. Overmyer lives part-time in New Orleans, and Simon believed his experience would be valuable in navigating the \"ornate oral tradition\" of the city's stories.",
"Overmyer lives part-time in New Orleans, and Simon believed his experience would be valuable in navigating the \"ornate oral tradition\" of the city's stories. Simon also consulted with New Orleans natives Donald Harrison Jr., Kermit Ruffins, and Davis Rogan while developing the series. The show focuses on a working-class neighborhood, and is smaller in scope than The Wire. The series premiered on April 11, 2010, on HBO and ran for four seasons.",
"The series premiered on April 11, 2010, on HBO and ran for four seasons. Treme is named after the Faubourg Treme neighborhood in New Orleans that is home to many of the city's musicians. Simon stated that the series would explore beyond the music scene to encompass political corruption, the public housing controversy, the criminal-justice system, clashes between police and Mardi Gras Indians, and the struggle to regain the tourism industry after the storm. One of the principal characters in the pilot script runs a restaurant.",
"One of the principal characters in the pilot script runs a restaurant. The series was filmed on location and was expected to provide a boost to the New Orleans economy. Simon's casting of the show mirrored that of The Wire in using local actors wherever possible. Wendell Pierce, who had previously played Bunk Moreland on The Wire, stars in the series. Clarke Peters, also of The Wire, is another series regular.",
"Clarke Peters, also of The Wire, is another series regular. Many other stars of The Wire have appeared in Treme, these include Steve Earle, Jim True-Frost, James Ransone, and Anwan Glover. Show Me a Hero In 2014, HBO greenlit production for Simon's next project Show Me a Hero, a six-hour miniseries co-written with William F. Zorzi and the episodes directed by Academy Award-winner Paul Haggis.",
"Show Me a Hero In 2014, HBO greenlit production for Simon's next project Show Me a Hero, a six-hour miniseries co-written with William F. Zorzi and the episodes directed by Academy Award-winner Paul Haggis. The miniseries is an adaptation of the nonfiction book of the same name by Lisa Belkin and tells the story of Nick Wasicsko, the youngest big-city mayor in the country who is thrust into racial controversy when a federal court orders to build a small number of low-income housing units in the white neighborhoods of Yonkers, New York.",
"The miniseries is an adaptation of the nonfiction book of the same name by Lisa Belkin and tells the story of Nick Wasicsko, the youngest big-city mayor in the country who is thrust into racial controversy when a federal court orders to build a small number of low-income housing units in the white neighborhoods of Yonkers, New York. Oscar Isaac stars as Wasicsko and leads a cast, which includes Catherine Keener, Jim Belushi, Bob Balaban and Winona Ryder. The miniseries premiered on August 16, 2015.",
"The miniseries premiered on August 16, 2015. The miniseries premiered on August 16, 2015. The Deuce The Deuce is a 2017 drama television series set in Times Square, New York focusing on the rise of the porn industry in the 1970s-80s. Created and written by Simon along with frequent collaborator George Pelecanos, the series pilot began shooting in October 2015. It was picked up to series in January 2016. It premiered on September 10, 2017, and is broadcast by HBO in the United States.",
"It premiered on September 10, 2017, and is broadcast by HBO in the United States. The Deuce tells the story of the legalization and ensuing rise of the porn industry in New York beginning in the 1970s and its ongoing rise through the mid-1980s. Themes explored include the rise of HIV, the violence of the drug epidemic and the resulting real estate booms and busts that coincided with the change.",
"Themes explored include the rise of HIV, the violence of the drug epidemic and the resulting real estate booms and busts that coincided with the change. The Plot Against America An adaptation of Philip Roth's novel, The Plot Against America is an alternate history told through the eyes of a working-class Jewish family in Newark, New Jersey; as they watch the political rise of Charles Lindbergh, an aviator-hero and xenophobic populist, who becomes president and turns the nation toward fascism.",
"The Plot Against America An adaptation of Philip Roth's novel, The Plot Against America is an alternate history told through the eyes of a working-class Jewish family in Newark, New Jersey; as they watch the political rise of Charles Lindbergh, an aviator-hero and xenophobic populist, who becomes president and turns the nation toward fascism. The six-part miniseries premiered on March 16, 2020, on HBO. Projects in developmentParting the Waters: With Taylor Branch, James McBride, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and Eric Overmyer.",
"Projects in developmentParting the Waters: With Taylor Branch, James McBride, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and Eric Overmyer. About Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement, based on one of the volumes of the books America in the King Years written by Taylor Branch, specifically At Canaan's Edge: America in the King Years, 1965–1968.",
"About Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement, based on one of the volumes of the books America in the King Years written by Taylor Branch, specifically At Canaan's Edge: America in the King Years, 1965–1968. The project was to be produced by Oprah Winfrey, but was shelved.The Avenue: A book with William F. Zorzi Jr., on the Baltimore drug epidemic from 1951 to late 1980sThe Good Friday Plot: Miniseries about Abraham Lincoln based upon Manhunt: The Twelve-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer by James L. Swanson and American Brutus: John Wilkes Booth and the Lincoln Conspiracies by Michael W. Kauffman.Capitol Hill: A collaboration with Carl Bernstein set in Capitol Hill, it examines partisanship and the role money plays in influencing national governance.",
"The project was to be produced by Oprah Winfrey, but was shelved.The Avenue: A book with William F. Zorzi Jr., on the Baltimore drug epidemic from 1951 to late 1980sThe Good Friday Plot: Miniseries about Abraham Lincoln based upon Manhunt: The Twelve-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer by James L. Swanson and American Brutus: John Wilkes Booth and the Lincoln Conspiracies by Michael W. Kauffman.Capitol Hill: A collaboration with Carl Bernstein set in Capitol Hill, it examines partisanship and the role money plays in influencing national governance. The series was ordered to pilot by HBO in 2015 but has not received a subsequent season order.Legacy of Ashes: On the Central Intelligence Agency, based on the 2007 book Legacy of Ashes by Tim Weiner.",
"The series was ordered to pilot by HBO in 2015 but has not received a subsequent season order.Legacy of Ashes: On the Central Intelligence Agency, based on the 2007 book Legacy of Ashes by Tim Weiner. The show was taken to the BBC and would have had Anthony Bourdain on the writing staff.The Pogues: Musical project with the help of the late Philip Chevron in development at The Public Theater in New York City, with Laura Lippman and George PelecanosA Dry Run: The Lincolns in Spain: A historical miniseries set during the Spanish Civil War about the Abraham Lincoln and George Washington Battalions, which were composed of volunteers from the United States who wanted to help the Spanish Republic overcome fascism.",
"The show was taken to the BBC and would have had Anthony Bourdain on the writing staff.The Pogues: Musical project with the help of the late Philip Chevron in development at The Public Theater in New York City, with Laura Lippman and George PelecanosA Dry Run: The Lincolns in Spain: A historical miniseries set during the Spanish Civil War about the Abraham Lincoln and George Washington Battalions, which were composed of volunteers from the United States who wanted to help the Spanish Republic overcome fascism. Mark Johnson will be the series producer and Mediapro will be the series' production company.",
"Mark Johnson will be the series producer and Mediapro will be the series' production company. Writing process Simon is known for his realistic dialogue and journalistic approach to writing. He says that authenticity is paramount and that he writes not with a general audience in mind but with the opinions of his subjects as his priority. He has described his extensive use of real anecdotes and characters in his writing as \"stealing life\".",
"He has described his extensive use of real anecdotes and characters in his writing as \"stealing life\". In a talk that Simon gave to a live audience in April 2007 at the Creative Alliance's storytelling series, Simon disclosed that he had started writing for revenge against John Carroll and Bill Marimow, the two most senior editors at The Baltimore Sun when Simon was a reporter at the paper.",
"In a talk that Simon gave to a live audience in April 2007 at the Creative Alliance's storytelling series, Simon disclosed that he had started writing for revenge against John Carroll and Bill Marimow, the two most senior editors at The Baltimore Sun when Simon was a reporter at the paper. Simon said he had watched Carroll and Marimow \"single-handedly destroy\" the newspaper and that he spent over ten years trying to get back at them.",
"Simon said he had watched Carroll and Marimow \"single-handedly destroy\" the newspaper and that he spent over ten years trying to get back at them. Anything I've ever accomplished as a writer, as somebody doing TV, anything I've ever done in life, down to, like, cleaning up my room, has been accomplished because I was going to show people that they were fucked up, wrong, and that I was the fucking center of the universe and the sooner they got hip to that, the happier they would all be.",
"Anything I've ever accomplished as a writer, as somebody doing TV, anything I've ever done in life, down to, like, cleaning up my room, has been accomplished because I was going to show people that they were fucked up, wrong, and that I was the fucking center of the universe and the sooner they got hip to that, the happier they would all be. One of the actions Simon took was to name a character in The Wire after Marimow and make the character \"a repellent police-department toady.\"",
"One of the actions Simon took was to name a character in The Wire after Marimow and make the character \"a repellent police-department toady.\" Carroll left The Baltimore Sun to become editor at the Los Angeles Times and resigned in 2005 after budget cuts were announced. \"He stands up like a [bleeping] hero, takes a bullet,\" said Simon. In 2006 Marimow was diagnosed with prostate cancer, something that Simon said \"took the edge off\" his grudge.",
"In 2006 Marimow was diagnosed with prostate cancer, something that Simon said \"took the edge off\" his grudge. Carroll and Marimow \"were fuel for 10 years of my life. ... And now, I got nothing,\" Simon said.",
"... And now, I got nothing,\" Simon said. When asked about these comments, Simon said that he had spoken with \"some hyperbole and, I hope, comic effect\", adding that his basic viewpoint was: \"that simple revenge is both empty and beside the point and that a good story carefully told has to speak to larger themes. You do not tell an ornate, careful story over ten hours of HBO airtime merely to bust on any given soul.\"",
"You do not tell an ornate, careful story over ten hours of HBO airtime merely to bust on any given soul.\" Views on journalism In an interview in Reason in 2004, Simon said that since leaving the newspaper business he has become more cynical about the power of journalism. \"One of the sad things about contemporary journalism is that it actually matters very little. The world now is almost inured to the power of journalism. The best journalism would manage to outrage people.",
"The best journalism would manage to outrage people. The best journalism would manage to outrage people. And people are less and less inclined to outrage,\" said Simon. \"I've become increasingly cynical about the ability of daily journalism to effect any kind of meaningful change. I was pretty dubious about it when I was a journalist, but now I think it's remarkably ineffectual.\"",
"I was pretty dubious about it when I was a journalist, but now I think it's remarkably ineffectual.\" While testifying at a 2009 Senate hearing regarding the future of journalism in America, Simon indicted what he saw as poor online journalism, calling the phrase citizen journalist \"Orwellian to [his] ears.\" Simon ended his testimony by declaring, \"I don't think anything can be done to save high-end journalism.\"",
"Simon ended his testimony by declaring, \"I don't think anything can be done to save high-end journalism.\" Political views Simon has described himself as a social democrat, broadly supporting the existence of capitalism while opposing \"raw, unencumbered capitalism, absent any social framework, absent any sense of community, without regard to the weakest and most vulnerable classes in society\", which he described as \"a recipe for needless pain, needless human waste, (and) needless tragedy\".",
"Political views Simon has described himself as a social democrat, broadly supporting the existence of capitalism while opposing \"raw, unencumbered capitalism, absent any social framework, absent any sense of community, without regard to the weakest and most vulnerable classes in society\", which he described as \"a recipe for needless pain, needless human waste, (and) needless tragedy\". He has criticized the idea of trickle-down economics.",
"He has criticized the idea of trickle-down economics. He has criticized the idea of trickle-down economics. In 2013, Simon compared the global surveillance disclosures uncovered by Edward Snowden to a 1980s effort by the City of Baltimore to record the numbers dialed from all pay phones. The city believed that drug traffickers were using pay phones and pagers, and a municipal judge allowed the city to record the dialed numbers. The placement of the payphone number recorders formed the basis of The Wires first season.",
"The placement of the payphone number recorders formed the basis of The Wires first season. Simon argued that the media attention regarding the surveillance disclosures is a \"faux scandal.\" During a November 2013 speech at the Festival of Dangerous Ideas in Sydney, he said that America has become \"a horror show\" of savage inequality as a result of capitalism run amok, and that \"unless we reverse course, the average human being is worthless on planet Earth.",
"During a November 2013 speech at the Festival of Dangerous Ideas in Sydney, he said that America has become \"a horror show\" of savage inequality as a result of capitalism run amok, and that \"unless we reverse course, the average human being is worthless on planet Earth. Unless we take stock of the fact that maybe socialism and the socialist impulse has to be addressed again; it has to be married as it was married in the 1930s, the 1940s and even into the 1950s, to the engine that is capitalism.\"",
"Unless we take stock of the fact that maybe socialism and the socialist impulse has to be addressed again; it has to be married as it was married in the 1930s, the 1940s and even into the 1950s, to the engine that is capitalism.\" Simon has also spoken out publicly against crime journalist Kevin Deutsch, disputing the portrayal of Baltimore's illegal drug trade in Deutsch's book, Pill City: How Two Honor Roll Students Foiled the Feds and Built a Drug Empire.",
"Simon has also spoken out publicly against crime journalist Kevin Deutsch, disputing the portrayal of Baltimore's illegal drug trade in Deutsch's book, Pill City: How Two Honor Roll Students Foiled the Feds and Built a Drug Empire. Simon has described the book as \"a wholesale fabrication.\"",
"Simon has described the book as \"a wholesale fabrication.\" During the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries, Simon praised Bernie Sanders for \"rehabilitating and normalizing the term socialist back into American public life\", but opposed some attacks against Hillary Clinton which he felt focused on her presumed motives rather than the substance of policies. Personal life In 1991, Simon was married to graphic artist Kayle Tucker. They had a son. The marriage ended in divorce.",
"They had a son. The marriage ended in divorce. The marriage ended in divorce. In 2006, Simon married best-selling Baltimore novelist and former Sun reporter Laura Lippman in a ceremony officiated by John Waters. They have a daughter, who was born in 2010. Simon's nephew, Jason Simon, is a guitarist and vocalist for the psychedelic rock band Dead Meadow. The band was mentioned in an episode of The Wire.",
"The band was mentioned in an episode of The Wire. Simon was the 2012 commencement speaker for the Georgetown University College of Arts and Sciences, as well as the speaker for the Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School graduation. In 2019, Simon joined a host of other writers in firing their agents as part of the WGA's stand against the ATA after failing to come to an agreement on their \"Code of Conduct\". Simon's statement to the writers union was widely circulated.",
"Simon's statement to the writers union was widely circulated. He had previously led the rallying cry about the unfair practices of packaging by the major talent agencies. Works and publications Commentary Non-fiction books Filmography Producer Writer References Further reading External links David Simon's blog.",
"Works and publications Commentary Non-fiction books Filmography Producer Writer References Further reading External links David Simon's blog. 1960 births American crime fiction writers Jewish American journalists American non-fiction crime writers American newspaper reporters and correspondents American male novelists American male screenwriters American television producers American television writers Anthony Award winners Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School alumni Drug policy reform activists Edgar Award winners Living people MacArthur Fellows American male television writers Maryland Democrats Primetime Emmy Award winners Showrunners The Baltimore Sun people University of Maryland, College Park alumni Writers Guild of America Award winners Writers from Baltimore Novelists from Maryland American male non-fiction writers Screenwriters from Washington, D.C. People from Bethesda, Maryland 21st-century American Jews"
] |
[
"David Simon",
"Journalism",
"What was his relationship with journalism?",
"Simon worked as a police reporter at The Baltimore Sun from 1982 to 1995. He spent most of his career covering the crime beat. A colleague has said that",
"How were his pieces recieved?",
"A colleague has said that Simon loved journalism and felt it was \"God's work\". Simon says that he was initially altruistic and was inspired",
"Did he receive any accolades or awards?",
"Simon was a union captain when the writing staff went on strike in 1987 over benefit cuts. He remained angry after the strike ended and began to feel uncomfortable",
"Did he ever get over the feelings of discomfort?",
"He searched for a reason to justify a leave of absence and settled on the idea of writing a novel. \"I got out of journalism because",
"Why did he say he got out?",
"One of the sad things about contemporary journalism is that it actually matters very little. The world now is almost inured to the power of journalism."
] | C_9bee77e3ba5d4991a15b82be185dfcbd_1 | Did he complete his novel? | 6 | Did David Simon complete his novel? | David Simon | Upon leaving college, Simon worked as a police reporter at The Baltimore Sun from 1982 to 1995. He spent most of his career covering the crime beat. A colleague has said that Simon loved journalism and felt it was "God's work". Simon says that he was initially altruistic and was inspired to enter journalism by the Washington Post's coverage of Watergate but became increasingly pragmatic as he gained experience. Later in his career he aimed to tell the best possible story without "cheating it". Simon was a union captain when the writing staff went on strike in 1987 over benefit cuts. He remained angry after the strike ended and began to feel uncomfortable in the writing room. He searched for a reason to justify a leave of absence and settled on the idea of writing a novel. "I got out of journalism because some sons of bitches bought my newspaper and it stopped being fun," says Simon. In an interview in Reason in 2004, Simon said that since leaving the newspaper business he has become more cynical about the power of journalism. "One of the sad things about contemporary journalism is that it actually matters very little. The world now is almost inured to the power of journalism. The best journalism would manage to outrage people. And people are less and less inclined to outrage," said Simon. "I've become increasingly cynical about the ability of daily journalism to effect any kind of meaningful change. I was pretty dubious about it when I was a journalist, but now I think it's remarkably ineffectual." In 1988, disillusioned, Simon took a year's leave to go into the Baltimore Police Department Homicide Unit to write a book. CANNOTANSWER | In 1988, disillusioned, Simon took a year's leave to go into the Baltimore Police Department Homicide Unit to write a book. | David Judah Simon (born February 9, 1960) is an American author, journalist, and television writer and producer best known for his work on The Wire (2002–08).
He worked for The Baltimore Sun City Desk for twelve years (1982–95), wrote Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets (1991), and co-wrote The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood (1997) with Ed Burns. The former book was the basis for the NBC series Homicide: Life on the Street (1993–99), on which Simon served as a writer and producer. Simon adapted the latter book into the HBO mini-series The Corner (2000).
He was the creator, executive producer, head writer, and show runner for all five seasons of the HBO television series The Wire (2002–2008). He adapted the non-fiction book Generation Kill into a television mini-series, and served as the show runner for the project. He was selected as one of the 2010 MacArthur Fellows and named an Utne Reader visionary in 2011. Simon also created the HBO series Treme with Eric Overmyer, which aired for four seasons. Following Treme, Simon wrote the HBO mini-series Show Me a Hero with journalist William F. Zorzi, a colleague first at The Baltimore Sun and again later on The Wire. Simon and frequent collaborator George Pelecanos reunited to create original series The Deuce. The drama about the New York porn industry in the 1970s and 1980s stars Maggie Gyllenhaal and co-producer James Franco, and aired from 2017 to 2019. Simon's next series, The Plot Against America, debuted in 2020.
Early life and education
Simon was born in Washington, D.C., the son of Dorothy Simon (née Ligeti), a homemaker, and Bernard Simon, a former journalist and then public relations director for B'nai B'rith for 20 years. Simon was raised in a Jewish family, and had a bar mitzvah ceremony. His family roots are in Russia, Belarus, Hungary, and Slovakia (his maternal grandfather had changed his surname from "Leibowitz" to "Ligeti"). He has a brother, Gary Simon, and a sister, Linda Evans, who died in 1990.
In March 1977, when Simon was still in high school, Simon's father was one of a group of over 140 people held hostage (and later released) in Washington, D.C. by former national secretary of the Nation of Islam Hamaas Abdul Khaalis in the Hanafi Siege.
Simon graduated from Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School in Bethesda, Maryland, and wrote for the school newspaper, The Tattler. In 1983, he graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park. While at college he wrote and was Editor for The Diamondback, and became friends with contemporary David Mills.
Career
Journalism
Upon leaving college, Simon worked as a police reporter at The Baltimore Sun from 1982 to 1995. Simon was hired by the Baltimore Sun for a piece he wrote about Lefty Driesell, who was then the men's basketball coach at the University of Maryland. Driesell had been extremely frustrated that one of his players was suspended from playing for sexual impropriety and called the victim, threatening to destroy her reputation if she did not withdraw her complaint. This was all done while the university administration was listening to the call, but they did nothing. Lefty Driesell was later given a 5-year contract and, in 2018, he was inducted into the ACC Hall of Fame.
Simon spent most of his career covering the crime beat. A colleague has said that Simon loved journalism and felt it was "God's work". Simon says that he was initially altruistic and was inspired to enter journalism by The Washington Posts coverage of Watergate but became increasingly pragmatic as he gained experience.
Simon was a union captain when the writing staff went on strike in 1987 over benefit cuts. He remained angry after the strike ended and began to feel uncomfortable in the writing room. He searched for a reason to justify a leave of absence and settled on the idea of writing a novel. "I got out of journalism because some sons of bitches bought my newspaper and it stopped being fun," says Simon.
In 1988, disillusioned, Simon took a year's leave to go into the Baltimore Police Department Homicide Unit to write a book.
Book
Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets
Simon's leave of absence from The Sun resulted in his first book Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets (1991). The book was based on his experiences shadowing the Baltimore Police Department homicide unit during 1988. The idea came from a conversation on Christmas Eve 1985 in the unit office, where Det. Bill Lansey told him, "If someone just wrote down what happens in this place for one year, they'd have a goddamn book." Simon approached the police department and the editors of the paper to receive approval. The detectives were initially slow to accept him, but he persevered in an attempt to "seem … like part of the furniture". However, he soon ingratiated himself with the detectives, saying in the closing notes of the book, "I shared with the detectives a year's worth of fast-food runs, bar arguments and station house humor: Even for a trained observer, it was hard to remain aloof." During one instance, Simon even assisted with an arrest. Two detectives Simon was riding with pulled their car to a curb to apprehend two suspects, but Detective Dave Brown got his trenchcoat caught in a seat belt when he tried to exit the car. Brown told Simon to assist Detective Terry McLarney himself, and Simon helped apprehend and search one of the suspects.
The book won the 1992 Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime book. The Associated Press called it "a true-crime classic". The Library Journal also highly recommended it, and Newsday described it as "one of the most engrossing police procedural mystery books ever written". Simon credits his time researching the book as altering his writing style and informing later work. He learned to be more patient in research and writing, and said a key lesson was not promoting himself but concentrating on his subjects. Simon told Baltimore's City Paper in 2003 that Homicide was not traditional journalism. "I felt Homicide the book and The Corner were not traditional journalism in the sense of coming from some artificially omniscient, objective point of view," said Simon. "They're immersed in the respective cultures that they cover in a way that traditional journalism often isn't."
Television
Homicide: Life on the Street
The publishers of Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets were eager for a screen adaptation and submitted it to numerous directors but there was little interest. Simon suggested that they send the book to Baltimore native and film director Barry Levinson. Levinson's assistant Gail Mutrux enjoyed the book and both she and Levinson became attached as producers. The project became the award-winning TV series Homicide: Life on the Street (1993–1999), on which Simon worked as a writer and producer.
Simon was asked by Mutrux to write the show's pilot episode but declined, feeling he did not have the necessary expertise. He collaborated with his old college friend David Mills to write the season two premiere "Bop Gun". The episode was based on a story by executive producer Tom Fontana and featured Robin Williams in a guest starring role that garnered the actor an Emmy nomination. Simon and Mills won the WGA Award for Best Writing in a Drama for the episode. Simon also received Austin Film Festival's Outstanding Television Writer Award in 2010.
Simon left his job with the Baltimore Sun in 1995 to work full-time on Homicide: Life on the Street during the production of the show's fourth season. Simon wrote the teleplay for the season four episodes "Justice: Part 2" and "Scene of the Crime" (with Anya Epstein). For season five he was the show's story editor and continued to contribute teleplays writing the episodes "Bad Medicine" and "Wu's on First?" (again with Epstein). He was credited as a producer on the show's sixth and seventh seasons. He wrote the teleplays for parts two and three of the sixth-season premiere "Blood Ties" (the latter marking his third collaboration with Epstein) and provided the story for the later sixth-season episodes "Full Court Press" and "Finnegan's Wake" (with James Yoshimura). He provided the story for the seventh season episodes "Shades of Gray" (with Julie Martin), "The Same Coin" (again with Yoshimura) and "Self Defense" (with Eric Overmyer). Simon wrote the story and teleplay for the seventh season episodes "The Twenty Percent Solution" and "Sideshow: Part 2". Simon, Martin and teleplay writer T. J. English won the Humanitas Prize in the 60 minutes category for the episode "Shades of Gray". Simon was nominated for a second WGA Award for Best Writing in a Drama for his work on "Finnegan's Wake" with Yoshimura and Mills (who wrote the teleplay).
Simon has said that he thought the show was a "remarkable drama" but that it did not reflect the book. He has also said that when writing for the show he had to put his experiences of the real detectives aside as the characters became quite different, particularly in their more philosophical approach to the job. Simon said that TV must find shorthand ways of referencing anything real.
The Corner
In 1997 he co-authored, with Ed Burns, The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood, the true account of a West Baltimore community dominated by a heavy drug market. Simon credits his editor John Sterling with the suggestion that he observe a single drug corner. He took a second leave of absence from the Baltimore Sun in 1993 to research the project. Simon became close to one of his subjects, drug addict Gary McCullough, and was devastated by his death while he was writing the project. Simon says that he approached the research with the abstract idea that his subjects may die because of their addictions but it was not possible to fully prepare for the reality. He remains grateful to his subjects saying "This involved people's whole lives, there's no privacy in it. That was an enormous gift which many, many people gave us. Even the most functional were at war with themselves. But they were not foolish people. And they made that choice."
The Corner was named a Notable Book of the Year by The New York Times. Simon again returned to his journalism career after finishing the book but felt further changed by his experiences. He said he "was less enamored of the braggadocio, all that big, we're-really-having-an-impact talk" and no longer believed that they were making a difference; he left his job at The Sun within a year for work on NBC's Homicide.
Soon after Homicide concluded Simon co-wrote (with David Mills) and produced The Corner as a six-hour TV miniseries for HBO. The show received three Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries or a Movie, for Simon and Mills.
The Wire
Simon was the creator, show runner, executive producer and head writer of the HBO drama series The Wire. Many of The Wires characters and incidents also came from Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets. After the fourth season, Simon signed on to produce the fifth and final season of The Wire, which focused on the role of mass media in society.
Again he worked with Ed Burns on creating the show. Originally they set out to create a police drama loosely based on Burns' experiences when working on protracted investigations of violent drug dealers using surveillance technology. During this time Burns had often faced frustration with the bureaucracy of the police department, which Simon equated with his own ordeals as a police reporter for The Baltimore Sun. Writing against the background of current events, including institutionalized corporate crime at Enron and institutional dysfunction in the Catholic Church, the show became "more of a treatise about institutions and individuals than a straight cop show."
They chose to take The Wire to HBO because of their existing working relationship from The Corner. Owing to its reputation for exploring new areas, HBO was initially dubious about including a cop drama in their lineup, but eventually agreed to produce the pilot after ordering a further two scripts to see how the series would progress. Carolyn Strauss, the president of HBO entertainment, has said that Simon's argument that the most subversive thing HBO could do was invade the networks' "backyard" of police procedurals helped to persuade them.
The theme of institutional dysfunction was expanded across different areas of the city as the show progressed. The second season focused on the death of working-class America through examination of the city ports. The third season "reflects on the nature of reform and reformers, and whether there is any possibility that political processes, long calcified, can mitigate against the forces currently arrayed against individuals." For the fourth season Simon again turned to Burns' experience, this time his second career as a Baltimore public school teacher in examining the theme of education. The fifth season looked at the media, as well as continuing themes such as politics from earlier seasons.
Simon was reunited with his The Corner producers Robert F. Colesberry and Nina K. Noble on The Wire. Simon credits Colesberry for achieving the show's realistic visual feel because of his experience as a director. They recruited Homicide star and director Clark Johnson to helm the pilot episode. The completed pilot was given to HBO in November 2001. Johnson returned to direct the second episode when the show was picked up, and would direct the series finale as well, in addition to starring in the fifth season.
Simon approached acclaimed crime fiction authors to write for The Wire. He was recommended the work of George Pelecanos by a colleague while working at the Baltimore Sun because of similarities between their writing. The two writers have much in common including a childhood in Silver Spring, attendance at the University of Maryland and their interest in the "fate of the American city and the black urban poor." Simon did not read Pelecanos initially because of territorial prejudice; Pelecanos is from Washington. Once Simon received further recommendations including one from his wife Laura Lippman he tried Pelecanos' novel The Sweet Forever and changed his mind. He sought out Pelecanos when recruiting writers for The Wire. The two met at the funeral of a mutual friend shortly after Simon delivered the pilot episode. Simon pitched Pelecanos the idea of The Wire as a novel for television about the American city as Pelecanos drove him home. Pelecanos became a regular writer and later a producer for the show's second and third seasons. Simon and Pelecanos collaborated to write the episode "Middle Ground" which received the show's first Emmy nomination, in the category Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series.
Pelecanos left the production staff following the third season to focus on his next novel; Simon has commented that he missed having him working on the show full-time but was pleased that he continued to write for them and was a fan of the resultant book The Night Gardener. Similar to Simon's own experience in researching Homicide Pelecanos spent time embedded with the Washington DC homicide unit to research the book.
Crime novelist Dennis Lehane has also written for the series starting with the third season. Lehane has commented that he was impressed by Simon and Burns' ear for authentic street slang.
Eric Overmyer was brought in to fill the role of Pelecanos as a full-time writer producer. He had previously worked with Simon on Homicide where the two became friends. Simon has said that he was impressed with Overmyer's writing particularly in synthesizing the story for "Margin of Error" as the episode is the height of the show's political storyline but must also progress other plot threads.
Simon and his writing staff were nominated for the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Dramatic Series at the February 2009 ceremony for their work on the fifth season. Simon and Burns collaborated to write the series finale "-30-" which received the show's second Emmy nomination, again in the category Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series.
Simon has stated that he finds working with HBO more comfortable than his experiences with NBC on Homicide and that HBO is able to allow greater creative control because it is dependent on subscribers rather than on viewing figures. He has said that he feels unable to return to network television because he felt pressure to compromise storytelling for audience satisfaction.
Generation Kill
Simon produced and wrote Generation Kill for HBO with Ed Burns. They again worked with Nina Noble as a producer. The miniseries is an adaption of the non-fiction book of the same name. It relates the first 40 days of the 2003 invasion of Iraq as experienced by 1st Reconnaissance Battalion and their embedded reporter, Evan Wright. Simon and Burns worked with Wright in adapting his book into the series.
Treme
Simon collaborated with Eric Overmyer again on Treme, a project about musicians in post-Katrina New Orleans. Overmyer lives part-time in New Orleans, and Simon believed his experience would be valuable in navigating the "ornate oral tradition" of the city's stories. Simon also consulted with New Orleans natives Donald Harrison Jr., Kermit Ruffins, and Davis Rogan while developing the series. The show focuses on a working-class neighborhood, and is smaller in scope than The Wire. The series premiered on April 11, 2010, on HBO and ran for four seasons.
Treme is named after the Faubourg Treme neighborhood in New Orleans that is home to many of the city's musicians. Simon stated that the series would explore beyond the music scene to encompass political corruption, the public housing controversy, the criminal-justice system, clashes between police and Mardi Gras Indians, and the struggle to regain the tourism industry after the storm. One of the principal characters in the pilot script runs a restaurant. The series was filmed on location and was expected to provide a boost to the New Orleans economy. Simon's casting of the show mirrored that of The Wire in using local actors wherever possible. Wendell Pierce, who had previously played Bunk Moreland on The Wire, stars in the series. Clarke Peters, also of The Wire, is another series regular. Many other stars of The Wire have appeared in Treme, these include Steve Earle, Jim True-Frost, James Ransone, and Anwan Glover.
Show Me a Hero
In 2014, HBO greenlit production for Simon's next project Show Me a Hero, a six-hour miniseries co-written with William F. Zorzi and the episodes directed by Academy Award-winner Paul Haggis. The miniseries is an adaptation of the nonfiction book of the same name by Lisa Belkin and tells the story of Nick Wasicsko, the youngest big-city mayor in the country who is thrust into racial controversy when a federal court orders to build a small number of low-income housing units in the white neighborhoods of Yonkers, New York. Oscar Isaac stars as Wasicsko and leads a cast, which includes Catherine Keener, Jim Belushi, Bob Balaban and Winona Ryder. The miniseries premiered on August 16, 2015.
The Deuce
The Deuce is a 2017 drama television series set in Times Square, New York focusing on the rise of the porn industry in the 1970s-80s. Created and written by Simon along with frequent collaborator George Pelecanos, the series pilot began shooting in October 2015. It was picked up to series in January 2016. It premiered on September 10, 2017, and is broadcast by HBO in the United States.
The Deuce tells the story of the legalization and ensuing rise of the porn industry in New York beginning in the 1970s and its ongoing rise through the mid-1980s. Themes explored include the rise of HIV, the violence of the drug epidemic and the resulting real estate booms and busts that coincided with the change.
The Plot Against America
An adaptation of Philip Roth's novel, The Plot Against America is an alternate history told through the eyes of a working-class Jewish family in Newark, New Jersey; as they watch the political rise of Charles Lindbergh, an aviator-hero and xenophobic populist, who becomes president and turns the nation toward fascism. The six-part miniseries premiered on March 16, 2020, on HBO.
Projects in developmentParting the Waters: With Taylor Branch, James McBride, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and Eric Overmyer. About Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement, based on one of the volumes of the books America in the King Years written by Taylor Branch, specifically At Canaan's Edge: America in the King Years, 1965–1968. The project was to be produced by Oprah Winfrey, but was shelved.The Avenue: A book with William F. Zorzi Jr., on the Baltimore drug epidemic from 1951 to late 1980sThe Good Friday Plot: Miniseries about Abraham Lincoln based upon Manhunt: The Twelve-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer by James L. Swanson and American Brutus: John Wilkes Booth and the Lincoln Conspiracies by Michael W. Kauffman.Capitol Hill: A collaboration with Carl Bernstein set in Capitol Hill, it examines partisanship and the role money plays in influencing national governance. The series was ordered to pilot by HBO in 2015 but has not received a subsequent season order.Legacy of Ashes: On the Central Intelligence Agency, based on the 2007 book Legacy of Ashes by Tim Weiner. The show was taken to the BBC and would have had Anthony Bourdain on the writing staff.The Pogues: Musical project with the help of the late Philip Chevron in development at The Public Theater in New York City, with Laura Lippman and George PelecanosA Dry Run: The Lincolns in Spain: A historical miniseries set during the Spanish Civil War about the Abraham Lincoln and George Washington Battalions, which were composed of volunteers from the United States who wanted to help the Spanish Republic overcome fascism. Mark Johnson will be the series producer and Mediapro will be the series' production company.
Writing process
Simon is known for his realistic dialogue and journalistic approach to writing. He says that authenticity is paramount and that he writes not with a general audience in mind but with the opinions of his subjects as his priority. He has described his extensive use of real anecdotes and characters in his writing as "stealing life".
In a talk that Simon gave to a live audience in April 2007 at the Creative Alliance's storytelling series, Simon disclosed that he had started writing for revenge against John Carroll and Bill Marimow, the two most senior editors at The Baltimore Sun when Simon was a reporter at the paper. Simon said he had watched Carroll and Marimow "single-handedly destroy" the newspaper and that he spent over ten years trying to get back at them.
Anything I've ever accomplished as a writer, as somebody doing TV, anything I've ever done in life, down to, like, cleaning up my room, has been accomplished because I was going to show people that they were fucked up, wrong, and that I was the fucking center of the universe and the sooner they got hip to that, the happier they would all be.
One of the actions Simon took was to name a character in The Wire after Marimow and make the character "a repellent police-department toady." Carroll left The Baltimore Sun to become editor at the Los Angeles Times and resigned in 2005 after budget cuts were announced. "He stands up like a [bleeping] hero, takes a bullet," said Simon. In 2006 Marimow was diagnosed with prostate cancer, something that Simon said "took the edge off" his grudge. Carroll and Marimow "were fuel for 10 years of my life. ... And now, I got nothing," Simon said.
When asked about these comments, Simon said that he had spoken with "some hyperbole and, I hope, comic effect", adding that his basic viewpoint was: "that simple revenge is both empty and beside the point and that a good story carefully told has to speak to larger themes. You do not tell an ornate, careful story over ten hours of HBO airtime merely to bust on any given soul."
Views on journalism
In an interview in Reason in 2004, Simon said that since leaving the newspaper business he has become more cynical about the power of journalism. "One of the sad things about contemporary journalism is that it actually matters very little. The world now is almost inured to the power of journalism. The best journalism would manage to outrage people. And people are less and less inclined to outrage," said Simon. "I've become increasingly cynical about the ability of daily journalism to effect any kind of meaningful change. I was pretty dubious about it when I was a journalist, but now I think it's remarkably ineffectual."
While testifying at a 2009 Senate hearing regarding the future of journalism in America, Simon indicted what he saw as poor online journalism, calling the phrase citizen journalist "Orwellian to [his] ears." Simon ended his testimony by declaring, "I don't think anything can be done to save high-end journalism."
Political views
Simon has described himself as a social democrat, broadly supporting the existence of capitalism while opposing "raw, unencumbered capitalism, absent any social framework, absent any sense of community, without regard to the weakest and most vulnerable classes in society", which he described as "a recipe for needless pain, needless human waste, (and) needless tragedy". He has criticized the idea of trickle-down economics.
In 2013, Simon compared the global surveillance disclosures uncovered by Edward Snowden to a 1980s effort by the City of Baltimore to record the numbers dialed from all pay phones. The city believed that drug traffickers were using pay phones and pagers, and a municipal judge allowed the city to record the dialed numbers. The placement of the payphone number recorders formed the basis of The Wires first season. Simon argued that the media attention regarding the surveillance disclosures is a "faux scandal."
During a November 2013 speech at the Festival of Dangerous Ideas in Sydney, he said that America has become "a horror show" of savage inequality as a result of capitalism run amok, and that "unless we reverse course, the average human being is worthless on planet Earth. Unless we take stock of the fact that maybe socialism and the socialist impulse has to be addressed again; it has to be married as it was married in the 1930s, the 1940s and even into the 1950s, to the engine that is capitalism."
Simon has also spoken out publicly against crime journalist Kevin Deutsch, disputing the portrayal of Baltimore's illegal drug trade in Deutsch's book, Pill City: How Two Honor Roll Students Foiled the Feds and Built a Drug Empire. Simon has described the book as "a wholesale fabrication."
During the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries, Simon praised Bernie Sanders for "rehabilitating and normalizing the term socialist back into American public life", but opposed some attacks against Hillary Clinton which he felt focused on her presumed motives rather than the substance of policies.
Personal life
In 1991, Simon was married to graphic artist Kayle Tucker. They had a son. The marriage ended in divorce.
In 2006, Simon married best-selling Baltimore novelist and former Sun reporter Laura Lippman in a ceremony officiated by John Waters. They have a daughter, who was born in 2010.
Simon's nephew, Jason Simon, is a guitarist and vocalist for the psychedelic rock band Dead Meadow. The band was mentioned in an episode of The Wire.
Simon was the 2012 commencement speaker for the Georgetown University College of Arts and Sciences, as well as the speaker for the Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School graduation.
In 2019, Simon joined a host of other writers in firing their agents as part of the WGA's stand against the ATA after failing to come to an agreement on their "Code of Conduct". Simon's statement to the writers union was widely circulated. He had previously led the rallying cry about the unfair practices of packaging by the major talent agencies.
Works and publications
Commentary
Non-fiction books
Filmography
Producer
Writer
References
Further reading
External links
David Simon's blog.
1960 births
American crime fiction writers
Jewish American journalists
American non-fiction crime writers
American newspaper reporters and correspondents
American male novelists
American male screenwriters
American television producers
American television writers
Anthony Award winners
Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School alumni
Drug policy reform activists
Edgar Award winners
Living people
MacArthur Fellows
American male television writers
Maryland Democrats
Primetime Emmy Award winners
Showrunners
The Baltimore Sun people
University of Maryland, College Park alumni
Writers Guild of America Award winners
Writers from Baltimore
Novelists from Maryland
American male non-fiction writers
Screenwriters from Washington, D.C.
People from Bethesda, Maryland
21st-century American Jews | true | [
"Fire the Bastards! was written by Jack Green and published in his magazine newspaper in 1962. It was an acerbic critique of the book reviewing industry. \n\nGreen examined the initial 55 reviews that appeared in response to the publication of William Gaddis's 1955 debut novel, The Recognitions. He discovered that some reviewers either did not read or finish the work. Almost half of the reviews contained factual errors. Many employed the same clichés: \"too difficult\", \"too long\", \"too negative\", \"ambitious\", \"a promising first novel.\" In one case he found that a critic had purloined part of his review from another review. \n\nFire the Bastards! appeared in book form in 1992. The publishers did not have the permission of the author to print the text. As the work had never been copyrighted, however, it was in the public domain and no permission was required for publication.\n\nNotes and references\n\nExternal links\nFire the Bastards! (complete text)\nReview of Fire the bastards at The Complete Review\n\nBooks of literary criticism\nPublic domain books",
"Cross Damon was a fictional character from Richard Wright's 1953 novel The Outsider. Cross Damon was viewed as an \"outsider\" who did not attempt to become a product of the established culture of American society. Cross was considered a complete opposite to Bigger Thomas, another character created by Richard Wright in his novel Native Son. He also ridicules Communist techniques and lives according to the principles of free choice. Cross Damon committed murder in a completely different spirit than Bigger Thomas. He acts as an individual who is free to do whatever his habits and desires lead him to do. His is not a victim of social and environmental pressures outside his control. In many ways, Cross Damon resembles Meursault, the hero of Albert Camus novel The Stranger. Both men lived outside of any involvement with common humanity and paid no attention to social mores.\n\nSee also\n\nThe Outsider - Richard Wright's 1953 novel\nNative Son - Richard Wright's 1940 novel\nThe Stranger - Albert Camus' 1942 novel\n\nDamon, Cross\nDamon, Cross\nLiterary characters introduced in 1953"
] | [
"David Judah Simon (born February 9, 1960) is an American author, journalist, and television writer and producer best known for his work on The Wire (2002–08). He worked for The Baltimore Sun City Desk for twelve years (1982–95), wrote Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets (1991), and co-wrote The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood (1997) with Ed Burns.",
"He worked for The Baltimore Sun City Desk for twelve years (1982–95), wrote Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets (1991), and co-wrote The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood (1997) with Ed Burns. The former book was the basis for the NBC series Homicide: Life on the Street (1993–99), on which Simon served as a writer and producer. Simon adapted the latter book into the HBO mini-series The Corner (2000).",
"Simon adapted the latter book into the HBO mini-series The Corner (2000). He was the creator, executive producer, head writer, and show runner for all five seasons of the HBO television series The Wire (2002–2008). He adapted the non-fiction book Generation Kill into a television mini-series, and served as the show runner for the project. He was selected as one of the 2010 MacArthur Fellows and named an Utne Reader visionary in 2011.",
"He was selected as one of the 2010 MacArthur Fellows and named an Utne Reader visionary in 2011. Simon also created the HBO series Treme with Eric Overmyer, which aired for four seasons. Following Treme, Simon wrote the HBO mini-series Show Me a Hero with journalist William F. Zorzi, a colleague first at The Baltimore Sun and again later on The Wire. Simon and frequent collaborator George Pelecanos reunited to create original series The Deuce.",
"Simon and frequent collaborator George Pelecanos reunited to create original series The Deuce. The drama about the New York porn industry in the 1970s and 1980s stars Maggie Gyllenhaal and co-producer James Franco, and aired from 2017 to 2019. Simon's next series, The Plot Against America, debuted in 2020. Early life and education Simon was born in Washington, D.C., the son of Dorothy Simon (née Ligeti), a homemaker, and Bernard Simon, a former journalist and then public relations director for B'nai B'rith for 20 years.",
"Early life and education Simon was born in Washington, D.C., the son of Dorothy Simon (née Ligeti), a homemaker, and Bernard Simon, a former journalist and then public relations director for B'nai B'rith for 20 years. Simon was raised in a Jewish family, and had a bar mitzvah ceremony. His family roots are in Russia, Belarus, Hungary, and Slovakia (his maternal grandfather had changed his surname from \"Leibowitz\" to \"Ligeti\").",
"His family roots are in Russia, Belarus, Hungary, and Slovakia (his maternal grandfather had changed his surname from \"Leibowitz\" to \"Ligeti\"). He has a brother, Gary Simon, and a sister, Linda Evans, who died in 1990.",
"He has a brother, Gary Simon, and a sister, Linda Evans, who died in 1990. In March 1977, when Simon was still in high school, Simon's father was one of a group of over 140 people held hostage (and later released) in Washington, D.C. by former national secretary of the Nation of Islam Hamaas Abdul Khaalis in the Hanafi Siege. Simon graduated from Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School in Bethesda, Maryland, and wrote for the school newspaper, The Tattler.",
"Simon graduated from Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School in Bethesda, Maryland, and wrote for the school newspaper, The Tattler. In 1983, he graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park. While at college he wrote and was Editor for The Diamondback, and became friends with contemporary David Mills. Career Journalism Upon leaving college, Simon worked as a police reporter at The Baltimore Sun from 1982 to 1995.",
"Career Journalism Upon leaving college, Simon worked as a police reporter at The Baltimore Sun from 1982 to 1995. Simon was hired by the Baltimore Sun for a piece he wrote about Lefty Driesell, who was then the men's basketball coach at the University of Maryland. Driesell had been extremely frustrated that one of his players was suspended from playing for sexual impropriety and called the victim, threatening to destroy her reputation if she did not withdraw her complaint.",
"Driesell had been extremely frustrated that one of his players was suspended from playing for sexual impropriety and called the victim, threatening to destroy her reputation if she did not withdraw her complaint. This was all done while the university administration was listening to the call, but they did nothing. Lefty Driesell was later given a 5-year contract and, in 2018, he was inducted into the ACC Hall of Fame. Simon spent most of his career covering the crime beat.",
"Simon spent most of his career covering the crime beat. A colleague has said that Simon loved journalism and felt it was \"God's work\". Simon says that he was initially altruistic and was inspired to enter journalism by The Washington Posts coverage of Watergate but became increasingly pragmatic as he gained experience. Simon was a union captain when the writing staff went on strike in 1987 over benefit cuts. He remained angry after the strike ended and began to feel uncomfortable in the writing room.",
"He remained angry after the strike ended and began to feel uncomfortable in the writing room. He searched for a reason to justify a leave of absence and settled on the idea of writing a novel. \"I got out of journalism because some sons of bitches bought my newspaper and it stopped being fun,\" says Simon. In 1988, disillusioned, Simon took a year's leave to go into the Baltimore Police Department Homicide Unit to write a book.",
"In 1988, disillusioned, Simon took a year's leave to go into the Baltimore Police Department Homicide Unit to write a book. Book Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets Simon's leave of absence from The Sun resulted in his first book Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets (1991). The book was based on his experiences shadowing the Baltimore Police Department homicide unit during 1988. The idea came from a conversation on Christmas Eve 1985 in the unit office, where Det.",
"The idea came from a conversation on Christmas Eve 1985 in the unit office, where Det. Bill Lansey told him, \"If someone just wrote down what happens in this place for one year, they'd have a goddamn book.\" Simon approached the police department and the editors of the paper to receive approval. The detectives were initially slow to accept him, but he persevered in an attempt to \"seem … like part of the furniture\".",
"The detectives were initially slow to accept him, but he persevered in an attempt to \"seem … like part of the furniture\". However, he soon ingratiated himself with the detectives, saying in the closing notes of the book, \"I shared with the detectives a year's worth of fast-food runs, bar arguments and station house humor: Even for a trained observer, it was hard to remain aloof.\" During one instance, Simon even assisted with an arrest.",
"During one instance, Simon even assisted with an arrest. Two detectives Simon was riding with pulled their car to a curb to apprehend two suspects, but Detective Dave Brown got his trenchcoat caught in a seat belt when he tried to exit the car. Brown told Simon to assist Detective Terry McLarney himself, and Simon helped apprehend and search one of the suspects. The book won the 1992 Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime book. The Associated Press called it \"a true-crime classic\".",
"The Associated Press called it \"a true-crime classic\". The Library Journal also highly recommended it, and Newsday described it as \"one of the most engrossing police procedural mystery books ever written\". Simon credits his time researching the book as altering his writing style and informing later work. He learned to be more patient in research and writing, and said a key lesson was not promoting himself but concentrating on his subjects. Simon told Baltimore's City Paper in 2003 that Homicide was not traditional journalism.",
"Simon told Baltimore's City Paper in 2003 that Homicide was not traditional journalism. \"I felt Homicide the book and The Corner were not traditional journalism in the sense of coming from some artificially omniscient, objective point of view,\" said Simon. \"They're immersed in the respective cultures that they cover in a way that traditional journalism often isn't.\"",
"\"They're immersed in the respective cultures that they cover in a way that traditional journalism often isn't.\" Television Homicide: Life on the Street The publishers of Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets were eager for a screen adaptation and submitted it to numerous directors but there was little interest. Simon suggested that they send the book to Baltimore native and film director Barry Levinson. Levinson's assistant Gail Mutrux enjoyed the book and both she and Levinson became attached as producers.",
"Levinson's assistant Gail Mutrux enjoyed the book and both she and Levinson became attached as producers. The project became the award-winning TV series Homicide: Life on the Street (1993–1999), on which Simon worked as a writer and producer. Simon was asked by Mutrux to write the show's pilot episode but declined, feeling he did not have the necessary expertise. He collaborated with his old college friend David Mills to write the season two premiere \"Bop Gun\".",
"He collaborated with his old college friend David Mills to write the season two premiere \"Bop Gun\". The episode was based on a story by executive producer Tom Fontana and featured Robin Williams in a guest starring role that garnered the actor an Emmy nomination. Simon and Mills won the WGA Award for Best Writing in a Drama for the episode. Simon also received Austin Film Festival's Outstanding Television Writer Award in 2010.",
"Simon also received Austin Film Festival's Outstanding Television Writer Award in 2010. Simon left his job with the Baltimore Sun in 1995 to work full-time on Homicide: Life on the Street during the production of the show's fourth season. Simon wrote the teleplay for the season four episodes \"Justice: Part 2\" and \"Scene of the Crime\" (with Anya Epstein).",
"Simon wrote the teleplay for the season four episodes \"Justice: Part 2\" and \"Scene of the Crime\" (with Anya Epstein). For season five he was the show's story editor and continued to contribute teleplays writing the episodes \"Bad Medicine\" and \"Wu's on First?\" (again with Epstein). He was credited as a producer on the show's sixth and seventh seasons.",
"He was credited as a producer on the show's sixth and seventh seasons. He wrote the teleplays for parts two and three of the sixth-season premiere \"Blood Ties\" (the latter marking his third collaboration with Epstein) and provided the story for the later sixth-season episodes \"Full Court Press\" and \"Finnegan's Wake\" (with James Yoshimura).",
"He wrote the teleplays for parts two and three of the sixth-season premiere \"Blood Ties\" (the latter marking his third collaboration with Epstein) and provided the story for the later sixth-season episodes \"Full Court Press\" and \"Finnegan's Wake\" (with James Yoshimura). He provided the story for the seventh season episodes \"Shades of Gray\" (with Julie Martin), \"The Same Coin\" (again with Yoshimura) and \"Self Defense\" (with Eric Overmyer).",
"He provided the story for the seventh season episodes \"Shades of Gray\" (with Julie Martin), \"The Same Coin\" (again with Yoshimura) and \"Self Defense\" (with Eric Overmyer). Simon wrote the story and teleplay for the seventh season episodes \"The Twenty Percent Solution\" and \"Sideshow: Part 2\". Simon, Martin and teleplay writer T. J. English won the Humanitas Prize in the 60 minutes category for the episode \"Shades of Gray\".",
"Simon, Martin and teleplay writer T. J. English won the Humanitas Prize in the 60 minutes category for the episode \"Shades of Gray\". Simon was nominated for a second WGA Award for Best Writing in a Drama for his work on \"Finnegan's Wake\" with Yoshimura and Mills (who wrote the teleplay). Simon has said that he thought the show was a \"remarkable drama\" but that it did not reflect the book.",
"Simon has said that he thought the show was a \"remarkable drama\" but that it did not reflect the book. He has also said that when writing for the show he had to put his experiences of the real detectives aside as the characters became quite different, particularly in their more philosophical approach to the job. Simon said that TV must find shorthand ways of referencing anything real.",
"Simon said that TV must find shorthand ways of referencing anything real. The Corner In 1997 he co-authored, with Ed Burns, The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood, the true account of a West Baltimore community dominated by a heavy drug market. Simon credits his editor John Sterling with the suggestion that he observe a single drug corner. He took a second leave of absence from the Baltimore Sun in 1993 to research the project.",
"He took a second leave of absence from the Baltimore Sun in 1993 to research the project. Simon became close to one of his subjects, drug addict Gary McCullough, and was devastated by his death while he was writing the project. Simon says that he approached the research with the abstract idea that his subjects may die because of their addictions but it was not possible to fully prepare for the reality. He remains grateful to his subjects saying \"This involved people's whole lives, there's no privacy in it.",
"He remains grateful to his subjects saying \"This involved people's whole lives, there's no privacy in it. That was an enormous gift which many, many people gave us. Even the most functional were at war with themselves. But they were not foolish people. And they made that choice.\" The Corner was named a Notable Book of the Year by The New York Times. Simon again returned to his journalism career after finishing the book but felt further changed by his experiences.",
"Simon again returned to his journalism career after finishing the book but felt further changed by his experiences. He said he \"was less enamored of the braggadocio, all that big, we're-really-having-an-impact talk\" and no longer believed that they were making a difference; he left his job at The Sun within a year for work on NBC's Homicide. Soon after Homicide concluded Simon co-wrote (with David Mills) and produced The Corner as a six-hour TV miniseries for HBO.",
"Soon after Homicide concluded Simon co-wrote (with David Mills) and produced The Corner as a six-hour TV miniseries for HBO. The show received three Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries or a Movie, for Simon and Mills. The Wire Simon was the creator, show runner, executive producer and head writer of the HBO drama series The Wire. Many of The Wires characters and incidents also came from Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets.",
"Many of The Wires characters and incidents also came from Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets. After the fourth season, Simon signed on to produce the fifth and final season of The Wire, which focused on the role of mass media in society. Again he worked with Ed Burns on creating the show. Originally they set out to create a police drama loosely based on Burns' experiences when working on protracted investigations of violent drug dealers using surveillance technology.",
"Originally they set out to create a police drama loosely based on Burns' experiences when working on protracted investigations of violent drug dealers using surveillance technology. During this time Burns had often faced frustration with the bureaucracy of the police department, which Simon equated with his own ordeals as a police reporter for The Baltimore Sun.",
"During this time Burns had often faced frustration with the bureaucracy of the police department, which Simon equated with his own ordeals as a police reporter for The Baltimore Sun. Writing against the background of current events, including institutionalized corporate crime at Enron and institutional dysfunction in the Catholic Church, the show became \"more of a treatise about institutions and individuals than a straight cop show.\" They chose to take The Wire to HBO because of their existing working relationship from The Corner.",
"They chose to take The Wire to HBO because of their existing working relationship from The Corner. Owing to its reputation for exploring new areas, HBO was initially dubious about including a cop drama in their lineup, but eventually agreed to produce the pilot after ordering a further two scripts to see how the series would progress. Carolyn Strauss, the president of HBO entertainment, has said that Simon's argument that the most subversive thing HBO could do was invade the networks' \"backyard\" of police procedurals helped to persuade them.",
"Carolyn Strauss, the president of HBO entertainment, has said that Simon's argument that the most subversive thing HBO could do was invade the networks' \"backyard\" of police procedurals helped to persuade them. The theme of institutional dysfunction was expanded across different areas of the city as the show progressed. The second season focused on the death of working-class America through examination of the city ports.",
"The second season focused on the death of working-class America through examination of the city ports. The third season \"reflects on the nature of reform and reformers, and whether there is any possibility that political processes, long calcified, can mitigate against the forces currently arrayed against individuals.\" For the fourth season Simon again turned to Burns' experience, this time his second career as a Baltimore public school teacher in examining the theme of education.",
"For the fourth season Simon again turned to Burns' experience, this time his second career as a Baltimore public school teacher in examining the theme of education. The fifth season looked at the media, as well as continuing themes such as politics from earlier seasons. Simon was reunited with his The Corner producers Robert F. Colesberry and Nina K. Noble on The Wire. Simon credits Colesberry for achieving the show's realistic visual feel because of his experience as a director.",
"Simon credits Colesberry for achieving the show's realistic visual feel because of his experience as a director. They recruited Homicide star and director Clark Johnson to helm the pilot episode. The completed pilot was given to HBO in November 2001. Johnson returned to direct the second episode when the show was picked up, and would direct the series finale as well, in addition to starring in the fifth season. Simon approached acclaimed crime fiction authors to write for The Wire.",
"Simon approached acclaimed crime fiction authors to write for The Wire. He was recommended the work of George Pelecanos by a colleague while working at the Baltimore Sun because of similarities between their writing. The two writers have much in common including a childhood in Silver Spring, attendance at the University of Maryland and their interest in the \"fate of the American city and the black urban poor.\" Simon did not read Pelecanos initially because of territorial prejudice; Pelecanos is from Washington.",
"Simon did not read Pelecanos initially because of territorial prejudice; Pelecanos is from Washington. Once Simon received further recommendations including one from his wife Laura Lippman he tried Pelecanos' novel The Sweet Forever and changed his mind. He sought out Pelecanos when recruiting writers for The Wire. The two met at the funeral of a mutual friend shortly after Simon delivered the pilot episode. Simon pitched Pelecanos the idea of The Wire as a novel for television about the American city as Pelecanos drove him home.",
"Simon pitched Pelecanos the idea of The Wire as a novel for television about the American city as Pelecanos drove him home. Pelecanos became a regular writer and later a producer for the show's second and third seasons. Simon and Pelecanos collaborated to write the episode \"Middle Ground\" which received the show's first Emmy nomination, in the category Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series.",
"Simon and Pelecanos collaborated to write the episode \"Middle Ground\" which received the show's first Emmy nomination, in the category Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series. Pelecanos left the production staff following the third season to focus on his next novel; Simon has commented that he missed having him working on the show full-time but was pleased that he continued to write for them and was a fan of the resultant book The Night Gardener.",
"Pelecanos left the production staff following the third season to focus on his next novel; Simon has commented that he missed having him working on the show full-time but was pleased that he continued to write for them and was a fan of the resultant book The Night Gardener. Similar to Simon's own experience in researching Homicide Pelecanos spent time embedded with the Washington DC homicide unit to research the book. Crime novelist Dennis Lehane has also written for the series starting with the third season.",
"Crime novelist Dennis Lehane has also written for the series starting with the third season. Lehane has commented that he was impressed by Simon and Burns' ear for authentic street slang. Eric Overmyer was brought in to fill the role of Pelecanos as a full-time writer producer. He had previously worked with Simon on Homicide where the two became friends.",
"He had previously worked with Simon on Homicide where the two became friends. Simon has said that he was impressed with Overmyer's writing particularly in synthesizing the story for \"Margin of Error\" as the episode is the height of the show's political storyline but must also progress other plot threads. Simon and his writing staff were nominated for the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Dramatic Series at the February 2009 ceremony for their work on the fifth season.",
"Simon and his writing staff were nominated for the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Dramatic Series at the February 2009 ceremony for their work on the fifth season. Simon and Burns collaborated to write the series finale \"-30-\" which received the show's second Emmy nomination, again in the category Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series.",
"Simon and Burns collaborated to write the series finale \"-30-\" which received the show's second Emmy nomination, again in the category Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series. Simon has stated that he finds working with HBO more comfortable than his experiences with NBC on Homicide and that HBO is able to allow greater creative control because it is dependent on subscribers rather than on viewing figures. He has said that he feels unable to return to network television because he felt pressure to compromise storytelling for audience satisfaction.",
"He has said that he feels unable to return to network television because he felt pressure to compromise storytelling for audience satisfaction. Generation Kill Simon produced and wrote Generation Kill for HBO with Ed Burns. They again worked with Nina Noble as a producer. The miniseries is an adaption of the non-fiction book of the same name. It relates the first 40 days of the 2003 invasion of Iraq as experienced by 1st Reconnaissance Battalion and their embedded reporter, Evan Wright.",
"It relates the first 40 days of the 2003 invasion of Iraq as experienced by 1st Reconnaissance Battalion and their embedded reporter, Evan Wright. Simon and Burns worked with Wright in adapting his book into the series. Treme Simon collaborated with Eric Overmyer again on Treme, a project about musicians in post-Katrina New Orleans. Overmyer lives part-time in New Orleans, and Simon believed his experience would be valuable in navigating the \"ornate oral tradition\" of the city's stories.",
"Overmyer lives part-time in New Orleans, and Simon believed his experience would be valuable in navigating the \"ornate oral tradition\" of the city's stories. Simon also consulted with New Orleans natives Donald Harrison Jr., Kermit Ruffins, and Davis Rogan while developing the series. The show focuses on a working-class neighborhood, and is smaller in scope than The Wire. The series premiered on April 11, 2010, on HBO and ran for four seasons.",
"The series premiered on April 11, 2010, on HBO and ran for four seasons. Treme is named after the Faubourg Treme neighborhood in New Orleans that is home to many of the city's musicians. Simon stated that the series would explore beyond the music scene to encompass political corruption, the public housing controversy, the criminal-justice system, clashes between police and Mardi Gras Indians, and the struggle to regain the tourism industry after the storm. One of the principal characters in the pilot script runs a restaurant.",
"One of the principal characters in the pilot script runs a restaurant. The series was filmed on location and was expected to provide a boost to the New Orleans economy. Simon's casting of the show mirrored that of The Wire in using local actors wherever possible. Wendell Pierce, who had previously played Bunk Moreland on The Wire, stars in the series. Clarke Peters, also of The Wire, is another series regular.",
"Clarke Peters, also of The Wire, is another series regular. Many other stars of The Wire have appeared in Treme, these include Steve Earle, Jim True-Frost, James Ransone, and Anwan Glover. Show Me a Hero In 2014, HBO greenlit production for Simon's next project Show Me a Hero, a six-hour miniseries co-written with William F. Zorzi and the episodes directed by Academy Award-winner Paul Haggis.",
"Show Me a Hero In 2014, HBO greenlit production for Simon's next project Show Me a Hero, a six-hour miniseries co-written with William F. Zorzi and the episodes directed by Academy Award-winner Paul Haggis. The miniseries is an adaptation of the nonfiction book of the same name by Lisa Belkin and tells the story of Nick Wasicsko, the youngest big-city mayor in the country who is thrust into racial controversy when a federal court orders to build a small number of low-income housing units in the white neighborhoods of Yonkers, New York.",
"The miniseries is an adaptation of the nonfiction book of the same name by Lisa Belkin and tells the story of Nick Wasicsko, the youngest big-city mayor in the country who is thrust into racial controversy when a federal court orders to build a small number of low-income housing units in the white neighborhoods of Yonkers, New York. Oscar Isaac stars as Wasicsko and leads a cast, which includes Catherine Keener, Jim Belushi, Bob Balaban and Winona Ryder. The miniseries premiered on August 16, 2015.",
"The miniseries premiered on August 16, 2015. The miniseries premiered on August 16, 2015. The Deuce The Deuce is a 2017 drama television series set in Times Square, New York focusing on the rise of the porn industry in the 1970s-80s. Created and written by Simon along with frequent collaborator George Pelecanos, the series pilot began shooting in October 2015. It was picked up to series in January 2016. It premiered on September 10, 2017, and is broadcast by HBO in the United States.",
"It premiered on September 10, 2017, and is broadcast by HBO in the United States. The Deuce tells the story of the legalization and ensuing rise of the porn industry in New York beginning in the 1970s and its ongoing rise through the mid-1980s. Themes explored include the rise of HIV, the violence of the drug epidemic and the resulting real estate booms and busts that coincided with the change.",
"Themes explored include the rise of HIV, the violence of the drug epidemic and the resulting real estate booms and busts that coincided with the change. The Plot Against America An adaptation of Philip Roth's novel, The Plot Against America is an alternate history told through the eyes of a working-class Jewish family in Newark, New Jersey; as they watch the political rise of Charles Lindbergh, an aviator-hero and xenophobic populist, who becomes president and turns the nation toward fascism.",
"The Plot Against America An adaptation of Philip Roth's novel, The Plot Against America is an alternate history told through the eyes of a working-class Jewish family in Newark, New Jersey; as they watch the political rise of Charles Lindbergh, an aviator-hero and xenophobic populist, who becomes president and turns the nation toward fascism. The six-part miniseries premiered on March 16, 2020, on HBO. Projects in developmentParting the Waters: With Taylor Branch, James McBride, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and Eric Overmyer.",
"Projects in developmentParting the Waters: With Taylor Branch, James McBride, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and Eric Overmyer. About Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement, based on one of the volumes of the books America in the King Years written by Taylor Branch, specifically At Canaan's Edge: America in the King Years, 1965–1968.",
"About Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement, based on one of the volumes of the books America in the King Years written by Taylor Branch, specifically At Canaan's Edge: America in the King Years, 1965–1968. The project was to be produced by Oprah Winfrey, but was shelved.The Avenue: A book with William F. Zorzi Jr., on the Baltimore drug epidemic from 1951 to late 1980sThe Good Friday Plot: Miniseries about Abraham Lincoln based upon Manhunt: The Twelve-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer by James L. Swanson and American Brutus: John Wilkes Booth and the Lincoln Conspiracies by Michael W. Kauffman.Capitol Hill: A collaboration with Carl Bernstein set in Capitol Hill, it examines partisanship and the role money plays in influencing national governance.",
"The project was to be produced by Oprah Winfrey, but was shelved.The Avenue: A book with William F. Zorzi Jr., on the Baltimore drug epidemic from 1951 to late 1980sThe Good Friday Plot: Miniseries about Abraham Lincoln based upon Manhunt: The Twelve-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer by James L. Swanson and American Brutus: John Wilkes Booth and the Lincoln Conspiracies by Michael W. Kauffman.Capitol Hill: A collaboration with Carl Bernstein set in Capitol Hill, it examines partisanship and the role money plays in influencing national governance. The series was ordered to pilot by HBO in 2015 but has not received a subsequent season order.Legacy of Ashes: On the Central Intelligence Agency, based on the 2007 book Legacy of Ashes by Tim Weiner.",
"The series was ordered to pilot by HBO in 2015 but has not received a subsequent season order.Legacy of Ashes: On the Central Intelligence Agency, based on the 2007 book Legacy of Ashes by Tim Weiner. The show was taken to the BBC and would have had Anthony Bourdain on the writing staff.The Pogues: Musical project with the help of the late Philip Chevron in development at The Public Theater in New York City, with Laura Lippman and George PelecanosA Dry Run: The Lincolns in Spain: A historical miniseries set during the Spanish Civil War about the Abraham Lincoln and George Washington Battalions, which were composed of volunteers from the United States who wanted to help the Spanish Republic overcome fascism.",
"The show was taken to the BBC and would have had Anthony Bourdain on the writing staff.The Pogues: Musical project with the help of the late Philip Chevron in development at The Public Theater in New York City, with Laura Lippman and George PelecanosA Dry Run: The Lincolns in Spain: A historical miniseries set during the Spanish Civil War about the Abraham Lincoln and George Washington Battalions, which were composed of volunteers from the United States who wanted to help the Spanish Republic overcome fascism. Mark Johnson will be the series producer and Mediapro will be the series' production company.",
"Mark Johnson will be the series producer and Mediapro will be the series' production company. Writing process Simon is known for his realistic dialogue and journalistic approach to writing. He says that authenticity is paramount and that he writes not with a general audience in mind but with the opinions of his subjects as his priority. He has described his extensive use of real anecdotes and characters in his writing as \"stealing life\".",
"He has described his extensive use of real anecdotes and characters in his writing as \"stealing life\". In a talk that Simon gave to a live audience in April 2007 at the Creative Alliance's storytelling series, Simon disclosed that he had started writing for revenge against John Carroll and Bill Marimow, the two most senior editors at The Baltimore Sun when Simon was a reporter at the paper.",
"In a talk that Simon gave to a live audience in April 2007 at the Creative Alliance's storytelling series, Simon disclosed that he had started writing for revenge against John Carroll and Bill Marimow, the two most senior editors at The Baltimore Sun when Simon was a reporter at the paper. Simon said he had watched Carroll and Marimow \"single-handedly destroy\" the newspaper and that he spent over ten years trying to get back at them.",
"Simon said he had watched Carroll and Marimow \"single-handedly destroy\" the newspaper and that he spent over ten years trying to get back at them. Anything I've ever accomplished as a writer, as somebody doing TV, anything I've ever done in life, down to, like, cleaning up my room, has been accomplished because I was going to show people that they were fucked up, wrong, and that I was the fucking center of the universe and the sooner they got hip to that, the happier they would all be.",
"Anything I've ever accomplished as a writer, as somebody doing TV, anything I've ever done in life, down to, like, cleaning up my room, has been accomplished because I was going to show people that they were fucked up, wrong, and that I was the fucking center of the universe and the sooner they got hip to that, the happier they would all be. One of the actions Simon took was to name a character in The Wire after Marimow and make the character \"a repellent police-department toady.\"",
"One of the actions Simon took was to name a character in The Wire after Marimow and make the character \"a repellent police-department toady.\" Carroll left The Baltimore Sun to become editor at the Los Angeles Times and resigned in 2005 after budget cuts were announced. \"He stands up like a [bleeping] hero, takes a bullet,\" said Simon. In 2006 Marimow was diagnosed with prostate cancer, something that Simon said \"took the edge off\" his grudge.",
"In 2006 Marimow was diagnosed with prostate cancer, something that Simon said \"took the edge off\" his grudge. Carroll and Marimow \"were fuel for 10 years of my life. ... And now, I got nothing,\" Simon said.",
"... And now, I got nothing,\" Simon said. When asked about these comments, Simon said that he had spoken with \"some hyperbole and, I hope, comic effect\", adding that his basic viewpoint was: \"that simple revenge is both empty and beside the point and that a good story carefully told has to speak to larger themes. You do not tell an ornate, careful story over ten hours of HBO airtime merely to bust on any given soul.\"",
"You do not tell an ornate, careful story over ten hours of HBO airtime merely to bust on any given soul.\" Views on journalism In an interview in Reason in 2004, Simon said that since leaving the newspaper business he has become more cynical about the power of journalism. \"One of the sad things about contemporary journalism is that it actually matters very little. The world now is almost inured to the power of journalism. The best journalism would manage to outrage people.",
"The best journalism would manage to outrage people. The best journalism would manage to outrage people. And people are less and less inclined to outrage,\" said Simon. \"I've become increasingly cynical about the ability of daily journalism to effect any kind of meaningful change. I was pretty dubious about it when I was a journalist, but now I think it's remarkably ineffectual.\"",
"I was pretty dubious about it when I was a journalist, but now I think it's remarkably ineffectual.\" While testifying at a 2009 Senate hearing regarding the future of journalism in America, Simon indicted what he saw as poor online journalism, calling the phrase citizen journalist \"Orwellian to [his] ears.\" Simon ended his testimony by declaring, \"I don't think anything can be done to save high-end journalism.\"",
"Simon ended his testimony by declaring, \"I don't think anything can be done to save high-end journalism.\" Political views Simon has described himself as a social democrat, broadly supporting the existence of capitalism while opposing \"raw, unencumbered capitalism, absent any social framework, absent any sense of community, without regard to the weakest and most vulnerable classes in society\", which he described as \"a recipe for needless pain, needless human waste, (and) needless tragedy\".",
"Political views Simon has described himself as a social democrat, broadly supporting the existence of capitalism while opposing \"raw, unencumbered capitalism, absent any social framework, absent any sense of community, without regard to the weakest and most vulnerable classes in society\", which he described as \"a recipe for needless pain, needless human waste, (and) needless tragedy\". He has criticized the idea of trickle-down economics.",
"He has criticized the idea of trickle-down economics. He has criticized the idea of trickle-down economics. In 2013, Simon compared the global surveillance disclosures uncovered by Edward Snowden to a 1980s effort by the City of Baltimore to record the numbers dialed from all pay phones. The city believed that drug traffickers were using pay phones and pagers, and a municipal judge allowed the city to record the dialed numbers. The placement of the payphone number recorders formed the basis of The Wires first season.",
"The placement of the payphone number recorders formed the basis of The Wires first season. Simon argued that the media attention regarding the surveillance disclosures is a \"faux scandal.\" During a November 2013 speech at the Festival of Dangerous Ideas in Sydney, he said that America has become \"a horror show\" of savage inequality as a result of capitalism run amok, and that \"unless we reverse course, the average human being is worthless on planet Earth.",
"During a November 2013 speech at the Festival of Dangerous Ideas in Sydney, he said that America has become \"a horror show\" of savage inequality as a result of capitalism run amok, and that \"unless we reverse course, the average human being is worthless on planet Earth. Unless we take stock of the fact that maybe socialism and the socialist impulse has to be addressed again; it has to be married as it was married in the 1930s, the 1940s and even into the 1950s, to the engine that is capitalism.\"",
"Unless we take stock of the fact that maybe socialism and the socialist impulse has to be addressed again; it has to be married as it was married in the 1930s, the 1940s and even into the 1950s, to the engine that is capitalism.\" Simon has also spoken out publicly against crime journalist Kevin Deutsch, disputing the portrayal of Baltimore's illegal drug trade in Deutsch's book, Pill City: How Two Honor Roll Students Foiled the Feds and Built a Drug Empire.",
"Simon has also spoken out publicly against crime journalist Kevin Deutsch, disputing the portrayal of Baltimore's illegal drug trade in Deutsch's book, Pill City: How Two Honor Roll Students Foiled the Feds and Built a Drug Empire. Simon has described the book as \"a wholesale fabrication.\"",
"Simon has described the book as \"a wholesale fabrication.\" During the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries, Simon praised Bernie Sanders for \"rehabilitating and normalizing the term socialist back into American public life\", but opposed some attacks against Hillary Clinton which he felt focused on her presumed motives rather than the substance of policies. Personal life In 1991, Simon was married to graphic artist Kayle Tucker. They had a son. The marriage ended in divorce.",
"They had a son. The marriage ended in divorce. The marriage ended in divorce. In 2006, Simon married best-selling Baltimore novelist and former Sun reporter Laura Lippman in a ceremony officiated by John Waters. They have a daughter, who was born in 2010. Simon's nephew, Jason Simon, is a guitarist and vocalist for the psychedelic rock band Dead Meadow. The band was mentioned in an episode of The Wire.",
"The band was mentioned in an episode of The Wire. Simon was the 2012 commencement speaker for the Georgetown University College of Arts and Sciences, as well as the speaker for the Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School graduation. In 2019, Simon joined a host of other writers in firing their agents as part of the WGA's stand against the ATA after failing to come to an agreement on their \"Code of Conduct\". Simon's statement to the writers union was widely circulated.",
"Simon's statement to the writers union was widely circulated. He had previously led the rallying cry about the unfair practices of packaging by the major talent agencies. Works and publications Commentary Non-fiction books Filmography Producer Writer References Further reading External links David Simon's blog.",
"Works and publications Commentary Non-fiction books Filmography Producer Writer References Further reading External links David Simon's blog. 1960 births American crime fiction writers Jewish American journalists American non-fiction crime writers American newspaper reporters and correspondents American male novelists American male screenwriters American television producers American television writers Anthony Award winners Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School alumni Drug policy reform activists Edgar Award winners Living people MacArthur Fellows American male television writers Maryland Democrats Primetime Emmy Award winners Showrunners The Baltimore Sun people University of Maryland, College Park alumni Writers Guild of America Award winners Writers from Baltimore Novelists from Maryland American male non-fiction writers Screenwriters from Washington, D.C. People from Bethesda, Maryland 21st-century American Jews"
] |
[
"Rudy Van Gelder",
"Early career"
] | C_78104e538d2946a9959b19a0cfc8033f_1 | When did Van Gelder begin recording? | 1 | When did Van Gelder begin recording? | Rudy Van Gelder | Van Gelder was born in Jersey City, New Jersey. His parents, Louis Van Gelder and the former Sarah Cohen, ran a women's clothing store in Passaic. His interest in microphones and electronics can be traced to a youthful enthusiasm for amateur radio. A longtime jazz fan (his uncle, for whom Rudy was named, had been the drummer for Ted Lewis's band in the mid-1930s), Van Gelder took lessons on the trumpet. Van Gelder trained as an optometrist at the Pennsylvania College of Optometry, in Philadelphia, because he did not think he could earn a living as a recording engineer. From 1943, after graduating, Van Gelder had an optometry practice in Teaneck, New Jersey, and recorded local musicians in the evenings who wanted 78-rpm recordings of their work. He became a full-time recording engineer in 1959. From 1946, Van Gelder recorded in his parents' house in Hackensack, New Jersey, in which a control room was built adjacent to the living room, which served as the musicians' performing area. The dry acoustics of this working space were partly responsible for Van Gelder's inimitable recording aesthetic. "When I first started, I was interested in improving the quality of the playback equipment I had," Van Gelder commented in 2005; "I never was really happy with what I heard. I always assumed the records made by the big companies sounded better than what I could reproduce. So that's how I got interested in the process. I acquired everything I could to play back audio: speakers, turntables, amplifiers". One of Van Gelder's friends, the baritone saxophonist Gil Melle, introduced him to Alfred Lion, a producer for Blue Note Records, in 1953. Within a few years Van Gelder was in demand by many other independent labels based around New York City, such as Prestige Records. Bob Weinstock, owner of Prestige, recalled in 1999, "Rudy was very much an asset. His rates were fair and he didn't waste time. When you arrived at his studio he was prepared. His equipment was always ahead of its time and he was a genius when it came to recording". According to a JazzTimes article in August 2016, "jazz lore has formed the brands into a yin and yang of sorts: The Blue Note albums involved more original music, with rehearsal and the stringent, consistent oversight of Lion; Weinstock was more nonchalant, organizing what were essentially blowing sessions for some of the best musicians in jazz history". Van Gelder said in 2012, "Alfred was rigid about how he wanted Blue Note records to sound. But Bob Weinstock of Prestige was more easygoing, so I'd experiment on his dates and use what I learned on the Blue Note sessions". He also worked for Savoy Records in this period, among others. "To accommodate everyone, I assigned different days of the week to different labels". In the 1950s Van Gelder also performed engineering and mastering for the classical label Vox Records. Thelonious Monk composed and recorded a tribute to Van Gelder entitled "Hackensack". CANNOTANSWER | He became a full-time recording engineer in 1959. | Rudolph Van Gelder (November 2, 1924 – August 25, 2016) was an American recording engineer who specialized in jazz. Over more than half a century, he recorded several thousand sessions, with musicians including John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Sonny Rollins, Art Blakey, Lee Morgan, Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Wayne Shorter, Horace Silver and Grant Green. He worked with many different record companies, and recorded almost every session on Blue Note Records from 1953 to 1967.
He worked on albums including John Coltrane's A Love Supreme, Miles Davis's Walkin', Herbie Hancock's Maiden Voyage, Sonny Rollins's Saxophone Colossus, and Horace Silver's Song for My Father. He is regarded as one of the most influential engineers in jazz.
Early life
Van Gelder was born in Jersey City, New Jersey. His parents, Louis Van Gelder and the former Sarah Cohen, ran a women's clothing store in Passaic. His interest in microphones and electronics can be traced to a youthful enthusiasm for amateur radio. He was also a longtime jazz fan. His uncle, for whom Rudy was named, had been the drummer for Ted Lewis's band in the mid-1930s. Van Gelder took lessons on the trumpet.
Van Gelder trained as an optometrist at Philadelphia's Pennsylvania College of Optometry because he did not think he could earn a living as a recording engineer. He received an O.D. degree from the institution in 1946. Thereafter, Van Gelder maintained an optometry practice in Teaneck, New Jersey until 1959.
Career
In the evenings after work, Van Gelder recorded local musicians who wanted 78-rpm recordings of their work. From 1946, Van Gelder recorded in his parents' house in Hackensack, New Jersey, in which a control room was built adjacent to the living room, which served as the musicians' performing area. The dry acoustics of this working space were partly responsible for Van Gelder's inimitable recording aesthetic.
"When I first started, I was interested in improving the quality of the playback equipment I had," Van Gelder commented in 2005; "I never was really happy with what I heard. I always assumed the records made by the big companies sounded better than what I could reproduce. So that's how I got interested in the process. I acquired everything I could to play back audio: speakers, turntables, amplifiers". One of Van Gelder's friends, the baritone saxophonist Gil Mellé, introduced him to Alfred Lion, a producer for Blue Note Records, in 1953.
In the 1950s, Van Gelder performed engineering and mastering for the classical label Vox Records. He became a full-time recording engineer in 1959. In 1959, he moved the Van Gelder Studio to a larger purpose-built facility in Englewood Cliffs, a few miles southeast of the original location. An obituarist in the London Daily Telegraph wrote of "Van Gelder's extreme fastidiousness" as an engineer, and his insistence on "no food or drink in the studio, and on no account was anyone to touch a microphone. He himself always wore gloves when handling equipment".
Later career
Though his output slowed, Van Gelder remained active as a recording engineer into the new century. In the late 1990s, he worked as a recording engineer for some of the songs featured in the soundtracks for the Japanese anime series Cowboy Bebop. From 1999, he remastered the analog Blue Note recordings he made several decades earlier into 24-bit digital recordings in its RVG Edition series. He was positive about the switch from analog to digital technology. He told Audio magazine in 1995:
The biggest distorter is the LP itself. I've made thousands of LP masters. I used to make 17 a day, with two lathes going simultaneously, and I'm glad to see the LP go. As far as I'm concerned, good riddance. It was a constant battle to try to make that music sound the way it should. It was never any good. And if people don't like what they hear in digital, they should blame the engineer who did it. Blame the mastering house. Blame the mixing engineer. That's why some digital recordings sound terrible, and I'm not denying that they do, but don't blame the medium.
Van Gelder continued to reside in Englewood Cliffs until his death on August 25, 2016. His final recording session was with the Jimmy Cobb Trio — Cobb on drums, Paolo Benedettini on bass and Tadataka Unno on piano — on June 20, 2016.
The Van Gelder sound
Van Gelder was secretive about his recording methods, leaving fans and critics to speculate about his techniques. He would go as far as to move microphones when bands were being photographed in the studio. His recording techniques are often admired by his fans for their transparency, warmth and presence. Van Gelder pioneered use of close miking techniques, peak limiting, and tape saturation to imbue the music with an added sense of immediacy. He also demonstrated a commitment to superior signal-to-noise ratio while recording and mastering, allowing Van Gelder to achieve greater volume on his LPs and minimize tape hiss and vinyl surface noise. Richard Cook called Van Gelder's characteristic method of recording and mixing the piano "as distinctive as the pianists' playing" itself.
Despite his prominence in recording jazz, some artists avoided Van Gelder's studio. The bassist and composer Charles Mingus refused to record with him. Taking Leonard Feather's "blindfold test" in 1960, he said that Van Gelder "tries to change people's tones. I've seen him do it; I've seen him do it; I've seen him take Thad Jones and the way he sets him up at the mike, he can change the whole sound. That's why I never go to him; he ruined my bass sound". Even Blue Note president and producer Alfred Lion criticized Van Gelder for what Lion felt was his occasional overuse of reverb, and would jokingly refer to this trait as a "Rudy special" on tape boxes.
Critics of the Van Gelder sound of the 1950s and 1960s have focused on Van Gelder's recording of pianos in particular:
Van Gelder has also been criticized for his use of compression and high-frequency boosting, both of which, it is argued, compromise the sound. Journalist and radio producer George Hicks wrote:
Writer Stanley Crouch argued in an interview with Ethan Iverson that Van Gelder made particular adjustments to the sound of John Coltrane's tenor saxophone sound when engineering Coltrane's Impulse Records sessions: "I know the difference between the sound of someone in person and the recorded sound of an engineer. Coltrane's tone was much darker and thicker than the sound on those Impulse! records engineered by Rudy Van Gelder. But maybe Van Gelder chose that sound because he could hear that Coltrane was an alto player first before switching to tenor."
Reputation
Within a few years of opening his studio, Van Gelder was in demand by many other independent labels based around New York City, such as Prestige Records. Bob Weinstock, owner of Prestige, recalled the following in 1999: "Rudy was very much an asset. His rates were fair and he didn't waste time. When you arrived at his studio he was prepared. His equipment was always ahead of its time and he was a genius when it came to recording". According to a JazzTimes article in August 2016, "jazz lore has formed the brands into a yin and yang of sorts: The Blue Note albums involved more original music, with rehearsal and the stringent, consistent oversight of Lion; Weinstock was more nonchalant, organizing what were essentially blowing sessions for some of the best musicians in jazz history". Van Gelder said in 2012, "Alfred was rigid about how he wanted Blue Note records to sound. But Bob Weinstock of Prestige was more easygoing, so I'd experiment on his dates and use what I learned on the Blue Note sessions". He also worked for Savoy Records in this period, among others. "To accommodate everyone, I assigned different days of the week to different labels".
Writer Fred Kaplan has argued that Van Gelder's reputation with the record-buying public was aided by Blue Note Records' conspicuous mentions of Van Gelder on their album covers:
"Van Gelder was hardly the only great jazz engineer on the scene in those days; he may not even have been the best. Other stellar figures included Fred Plaut at Columbia, Roy DuNann at Contemporary, Val Valentin at Verve, Roy Goodman at RCA. But the other labels didn't play up their engineers (Columbia covers never so much as mentioned Plaut), while Alfred Lion, Blue Note's proprietor, promoted Van Gelder's sound as a boutique blend—something of a mystique—and the other labels who hired him followed suit, as if to boast that they too had the special sauce."
Awards and honors
In 2013 Van Gelder received the Audio Engineering Society's Gold Medal.
In 2009 he was named a Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts.
In 2012 he received the Grammy Trustees Award.
See also
:Category:Albums recorded at Van Gelder Studio
References
External links
Karp, Andy (2009). "In Conversation with Rudy Van Gelder". Jazz.com.
"Susan Stamberg Visits the Recording Studio of Rudy Van Gelder". npr.org.
"NAMM Oral History Interview with Rudy Van Gelder". March 15, 2016.
1924 births
2016 deaths
American audio engineers
Blue Note Records
Businesspeople from Jersey City, New Jersey
Jazz record producers
Salus University alumni
American optometrists
People from Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey
People from Hackensack, New Jersey
Early Recording Engineers (1930-1959)
Amateur radio people
20th-century American businesspeople | true | [
"Van Gelder is a Dutch toponymic surname meaning \"from/of Guelders\", a county and later duchy in the Low Countries. People with the name include:\n\nAnna van Gelder (1614–1687), wife of the Dutch admiral Michiel de Ruyter\nArne Van Gelder (born 1997), Belgian acrobatic gymnast\nCornelia van Gelder (1904–1969), Dutch swimmer\nDavid van Gelder (born 1940), Israeli fencer\nDora van Gelder (1904–1999), Dutch-born American writer, psychic, alternative healer\nEdwin van Gelder (born 1978), Dutch graphic designer and art director\nGeert Jan van Gelder (born 1947), Dutch Arabist\nGordon Van Gelder (born 1966), American science fiction editor\nHendrik Arend van Gelder (1825–1899), Dutch Mennonite teacher and minister\nJ.H. van Gelder (1887–1969), Dutch pediatrician and art collector\nJack van Gelder (born 1950), Dutch sports commentator and television presenter\nJan Gerrit van Gelder (1903–1980), Dutch art historian\nJulie Van Gelder (born 1993), Belgian acrobatic gymnast\nLawrence Van Gelder (1933–2016), American journalist and magazine editor\nLeslie Van Gelder (born 1969), American archaeologist and writer\n (1872-1943), Dutch impresario\nMax van Gelder (1924–2019), Dutch water polo player\nNicolaes van Gelder (1636–1676), Dutch still life painter\nPeter van Gelder (born 1940), sitarist and educator\nRichard Van Gelder (1928–1994), American mammalogist and museum curator\nRudy Van Gelder (1924–2016), American music recording engineer\nTim van Gelder (born 1960s), Australian software engineer\nTinus van Gelder (1911–1991), Dutch track cyclist\nYuri van Gelder (born 1983), Dutch gymnast\n\nSee also\nVan Galder, surname\nGelder (disambiguation)\n, Dutch company that has manufactured paper since 1685\nVan Gelder Studio, recording studio in New Jersey established by Rudy Van Gelder\nVan Gelder's bat, Central American bat discovered by Richard Van Gelder\nHNLMS Jan van Gelder, Dutch navy vessel\nVan Gelderen, Dutch surname of the same origin\n\nReferences\n\nDutch-language surnames\nSurnames of Dutch origin\nToponymic surnames\n\nde:Van Gelder\nnl:Van Gelder",
"The Van Gelder Studio is a recording studio at 445 Sylvan Avenue, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, United States. Following the use of his parents' home at 25 Prospect Avenue, Hackensack, New Jersey, for the original studio, Rudy Van Gelder (1924–2016) moved to the new location for his recording studio in July 1959. It has been used to record many albums released by jazz labels such as Blue Note, Prestige, Impulse!, Verve and CTI.\n\nBackground\nFrom around 1952, beginning with a session led by Gil Melle that was sold to Blue Note, recordings were made by Van Gelder for commercial release in the living room of his parents' house at 25 Prospect Avenue in Hackensack, a house that had been built with the intention of doubling as a recording studio (the area was later subsumed by the Hackensack University Medical Center). In July 1959, Van Gelder moved to a new facility in Englewood Cliffs. The last recording session at Hackensack and the first at Englewood Cliffs were both led by Ike Quebec and are contained in From Hackensack to Englewood Cliffs, a collection of singles recorded by the saxophonist in July 1959.\n\nImportant recordings made at Hackensack include Miles Davis' Workin' and Steamin' (1956); solo debuts by Hank Mobley (Hank Mobley Quartet, 1955) and Johnny Griffin (Introducing Johnny Griffin, 1956).\n\nVan Gelder's recording techniques were closely guarded, to the extent that microphones were moved when photography of bands was taking place in order to disguise his means of recording.\n\nThe new structure with a 39-foot ceiling and fine acoustics, designed by the architect David Henken and inspired by the work of Frank Lloyd Wright, resembles a chapel. The critic Ira Gitler describes the studio in liner notes for the saxophonist Booker Ervin's The Space Book (1964): \"In the high-domed, wooden-beamed, brick-tiled, spare modernity of Rudy Van Gelder's studio, one can get a feeling akin to religion.\" \"When I started making records, there was no quality recording equipment available to me,\" Van Gelder recalled in 2005. \"I had to build my own mixer. The only people who had quality equipment were the big companies. They were building their own electronics.\"\n\nAmong many significant recordings made at Englewood Cliffs are John Coltrane's A Love Supreme (1964), Sonny Rollins' Sonny Rollins on Impulse! (1965), Stanley Turrentine's Cherry (1972) and Don't Mess with Mister T (1973), Andrew Hill's Point of Departure (1964), Freddie Hubbard's Red Clay (1970) and Hank Mobley's Soul Station (1960).\n\nList of recording sessions\nThe following table lists recording sessions for albums held at the studio.\n\n1950s\n\n1960s\n\n1970s\n\n1980s\n\n1990s\n\n2000s\n\nSee also\nList of US recording studios\n\nReferences\n\nCompanies based in Bergen County, New Jersey\nRecording studios in the United States\nMass media in New Jersey\n \n1959 establishments in New Jersey\nEnglewood Cliffs, New Jersey"
] | [
"Rudolph Van Gelder (November 2, 1924 – August 25, 2016) was an American recording engineer who specialized in jazz. Over more than half a century, he recorded several thousand sessions, with musicians including John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Sonny Rollins, Art Blakey, Lee Morgan, Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Wayne Shorter, Horace Silver and Grant Green. He worked with many different record companies, and recorded almost every session on Blue Note Records from 1953 to 1967.",
"He worked with many different record companies, and recorded almost every session on Blue Note Records from 1953 to 1967. He worked on albums including John Coltrane's A Love Supreme, Miles Davis's Walkin', Herbie Hancock's Maiden Voyage, Sonny Rollins's Saxophone Colossus, and Horace Silver's Song for My Father. He is regarded as one of the most influential engineers in jazz. Early life Van Gelder was born in Jersey City, New Jersey.",
"Early life Van Gelder was born in Jersey City, New Jersey. His parents, Louis Van Gelder and the former Sarah Cohen, ran a women's clothing store in Passaic. His interest in microphones and electronics can be traced to a youthful enthusiasm for amateur radio. He was also a longtime jazz fan. His uncle, for whom Rudy was named, had been the drummer for Ted Lewis's band in the mid-1930s. Van Gelder took lessons on the trumpet.",
"Van Gelder took lessons on the trumpet. Van Gelder took lessons on the trumpet. Van Gelder trained as an optometrist at Philadelphia's Pennsylvania College of Optometry because he did not think he could earn a living as a recording engineer. He received an O.D. degree from the institution in 1946. Thereafter, Van Gelder maintained an optometry practice in Teaneck, New Jersey until 1959. Career In the evenings after work, Van Gelder recorded local musicians who wanted 78-rpm recordings of their work.",
"Career In the evenings after work, Van Gelder recorded local musicians who wanted 78-rpm recordings of their work. From 1946, Van Gelder recorded in his parents' house in Hackensack, New Jersey, in which a control room was built adjacent to the living room, which served as the musicians' performing area. The dry acoustics of this working space were partly responsible for Van Gelder's inimitable recording aesthetic.",
"The dry acoustics of this working space were partly responsible for Van Gelder's inimitable recording aesthetic. \"When I first started, I was interested in improving the quality of the playback equipment I had,\" Van Gelder commented in 2005; \"I never was really happy with what I heard. I always assumed the records made by the big companies sounded better than what I could reproduce. So that's how I got interested in the process.",
"So that's how I got interested in the process. I acquired everything I could to play back audio: speakers, turntables, amplifiers\". One of Van Gelder's friends, the baritone saxophonist Gil Mellé, introduced him to Alfred Lion, a producer for Blue Note Records, in 1953. In the 1950s, Van Gelder performed engineering and mastering for the classical label Vox Records. He became a full-time recording engineer in 1959.",
"He became a full-time recording engineer in 1959. He became a full-time recording engineer in 1959. In 1959, he moved the Van Gelder Studio to a larger purpose-built facility in Englewood Cliffs, a few miles southeast of the original location. An obituarist in the London Daily Telegraph wrote of \"Van Gelder's extreme fastidiousness\" as an engineer, and his insistence on \"no food or drink in the studio, and on no account was anyone to touch a microphone. He himself always wore gloves when handling equipment\".",
"He himself always wore gloves when handling equipment\". He himself always wore gloves when handling equipment\". Later career Though his output slowed, Van Gelder remained active as a recording engineer into the new century. In the late 1990s, he worked as a recording engineer for some of the songs featured in the soundtracks for the Japanese anime series Cowboy Bebop. From 1999, he remastered the analog Blue Note recordings he made several decades earlier into 24-bit digital recordings in its RVG Edition series.",
"From 1999, he remastered the analog Blue Note recordings he made several decades earlier into 24-bit digital recordings in its RVG Edition series. He was positive about the switch from analog to digital technology. He told Audio magazine in 1995: The biggest distorter is the LP itself. I've made thousands of LP masters. I used to make 17 a day, with two lathes going simultaneously, and I'm glad to see the LP go. As far as I'm concerned, good riddance.",
"As far as I'm concerned, good riddance. As far as I'm concerned, good riddance. It was a constant battle to try to make that music sound the way it should. It was never any good. And if people don't like what they hear in digital, they should blame the engineer who did it. Blame the mastering house. Blame the mixing engineer. That's why some digital recordings sound terrible, and I'm not denying that they do, but don't blame the medium.",
"That's why some digital recordings sound terrible, and I'm not denying that they do, but don't blame the medium. Van Gelder continued to reside in Englewood Cliffs until his death on August 25, 2016. His final recording session was with the Jimmy Cobb Trio — Cobb on drums, Paolo Benedettini on bass and Tadataka Unno on piano — on June 20, 2016. The Van Gelder sound Van Gelder was secretive about his recording methods, leaving fans and critics to speculate about his techniques.",
"The Van Gelder sound Van Gelder was secretive about his recording methods, leaving fans and critics to speculate about his techniques. He would go as far as to move microphones when bands were being photographed in the studio. His recording techniques are often admired by his fans for their transparency, warmth and presence. Van Gelder pioneered use of close miking techniques, peak limiting, and tape saturation to imbue the music with an added sense of immediacy.",
"Van Gelder pioneered use of close miking techniques, peak limiting, and tape saturation to imbue the music with an added sense of immediacy. He also demonstrated a commitment to superior signal-to-noise ratio while recording and mastering, allowing Van Gelder to achieve greater volume on his LPs and minimize tape hiss and vinyl surface noise. Richard Cook called Van Gelder's characteristic method of recording and mixing the piano \"as distinctive as the pianists' playing\" itself. Despite his prominence in recording jazz, some artists avoided Van Gelder's studio.",
"Despite his prominence in recording jazz, some artists avoided Van Gelder's studio. The bassist and composer Charles Mingus refused to record with him. Taking Leonard Feather's \"blindfold test\" in 1960, he said that Van Gelder \"tries to change people's tones. I've seen him do it; I've seen him do it; I've seen him take Thad Jones and the way he sets him up at the mike, he can change the whole sound.",
"I've seen him do it; I've seen him do it; I've seen him take Thad Jones and the way he sets him up at the mike, he can change the whole sound. That's why I never go to him; he ruined my bass sound\". Even Blue Note president and producer Alfred Lion criticized Van Gelder for what Lion felt was his occasional overuse of reverb, and would jokingly refer to this trait as a \"Rudy special\" on tape boxes.",
"Even Blue Note president and producer Alfred Lion criticized Van Gelder for what Lion felt was his occasional overuse of reverb, and would jokingly refer to this trait as a \"Rudy special\" on tape boxes. Critics of the Van Gelder sound of the 1950s and 1960s have focused on Van Gelder's recording of pianos in particular: Van Gelder has also been criticized for his use of compression and high-frequency boosting, both of which, it is argued, compromise the sound.",
"Critics of the Van Gelder sound of the 1950s and 1960s have focused on Van Gelder's recording of pianos in particular: Van Gelder has also been criticized for his use of compression and high-frequency boosting, both of which, it is argued, compromise the sound. Journalist and radio producer George Hicks wrote: Writer Stanley Crouch argued in an interview with Ethan Iverson that Van Gelder made particular adjustments to the sound of John Coltrane's tenor saxophone sound when engineering Coltrane's Impulse Records sessions: \"I know the difference between the sound of someone in person and the recorded sound of an engineer.",
"Journalist and radio producer George Hicks wrote: Writer Stanley Crouch argued in an interview with Ethan Iverson that Van Gelder made particular adjustments to the sound of John Coltrane's tenor saxophone sound when engineering Coltrane's Impulse Records sessions: \"I know the difference between the sound of someone in person and the recorded sound of an engineer. Coltrane's tone was much darker and thicker than the sound on those Impulse! records engineered by Rudy Van Gelder.",
"records engineered by Rudy Van Gelder. records engineered by Rudy Van Gelder. But maybe Van Gelder chose that sound because he could hear that Coltrane was an alto player first before switching to tenor.\" Reputation Within a few years of opening his studio, Van Gelder was in demand by many other independent labels based around New York City, such as Prestige Records. Bob Weinstock, owner of Prestige, recalled the following in 1999: \"Rudy was very much an asset.",
"Bob Weinstock, owner of Prestige, recalled the following in 1999: \"Rudy was very much an asset. His rates were fair and he didn't waste time. When you arrived at his studio he was prepared. His equipment was always ahead of its time and he was a genius when it came to recording\".",
"His equipment was always ahead of its time and he was a genius when it came to recording\". According to a JazzTimes article in August 2016, \"jazz lore has formed the brands into a yin and yang of sorts: The Blue Note albums involved more original music, with rehearsal and the stringent, consistent oversight of Lion; Weinstock was more nonchalant, organizing what were essentially blowing sessions for some of the best musicians in jazz history\".",
"According to a JazzTimes article in August 2016, \"jazz lore has formed the brands into a yin and yang of sorts: The Blue Note albums involved more original music, with rehearsal and the stringent, consistent oversight of Lion; Weinstock was more nonchalant, organizing what were essentially blowing sessions for some of the best musicians in jazz history\". Van Gelder said in 2012, \"Alfred was rigid about how he wanted Blue Note records to sound.",
"Van Gelder said in 2012, \"Alfred was rigid about how he wanted Blue Note records to sound. But Bob Weinstock of Prestige was more easygoing, so I'd experiment on his dates and use what I learned on the Blue Note sessions\". He also worked for Savoy Records in this period, among others. \"To accommodate everyone, I assigned different days of the week to different labels\".",
"\"To accommodate everyone, I assigned different days of the week to different labels\". Writer Fred Kaplan has argued that Van Gelder's reputation with the record-buying public was aided by Blue Note Records' conspicuous mentions of Van Gelder on their album covers: \"Van Gelder was hardly the only great jazz engineer on the scene in those days; he may not even have been the best. Other stellar figures included Fred Plaut at Columbia, Roy DuNann at Contemporary, Val Valentin at Verve, Roy Goodman at RCA.",
"Other stellar figures included Fred Plaut at Columbia, Roy DuNann at Contemporary, Val Valentin at Verve, Roy Goodman at RCA. But the other labels didn't play up their engineers (Columbia covers never so much as mentioned Plaut), while Alfred Lion, Blue Note's proprietor, promoted Van Gelder's sound as a boutique blend—something of a mystique—and the other labels who hired him followed suit, as if to boast that they too had the special sauce.\"",
"But the other labels didn't play up their engineers (Columbia covers never so much as mentioned Plaut), while Alfred Lion, Blue Note's proprietor, promoted Van Gelder's sound as a boutique blend—something of a mystique—and the other labels who hired him followed suit, as if to boast that they too had the special sauce.\" Awards and honors In 2013 Van Gelder received the Audio Engineering Society's Gold Medal. In 2009 he was named a Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts.",
"In 2009 he was named a Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts. In 2012 he received the Grammy Trustees Award. See also :Category:Albums recorded at Van Gelder Studio References External links Karp, Andy (2009). \"In Conversation with Rudy Van Gelder\". Jazz.com. \"Susan Stamberg Visits the Recording Studio of Rudy Van Gelder\". npr.org. \"NAMM Oral History Interview with Rudy Van Gelder\". March 15, 2016.",
"March 15, 2016. March 15, 2016. 1924 births 2016 deaths American audio engineers Blue Note Records Businesspeople from Jersey City, New Jersey Jazz record producers Salus University alumni American optometrists People from Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey People from Hackensack, New Jersey Early Recording Engineers (1930-1959) Amateur radio people 20th-century American businesspeople"
] |
[
"Rudy Van Gelder",
"Early career",
"When did Van Gelder begin recording?",
"He became a full-time recording engineer in 1959.",
"Did he win any awards during his early career?",
"I don't know."
] | C_78104e538d2946a9959b19a0cfc8033f_1 | Who did he work with during his early career? | 3 | Who did Rudy Van Gelder work with during his early career? | Rudy Van Gelder | Van Gelder was born in Jersey City, New Jersey. His parents, Louis Van Gelder and the former Sarah Cohen, ran a women's clothing store in Passaic. His interest in microphones and electronics can be traced to a youthful enthusiasm for amateur radio. A longtime jazz fan (his uncle, for whom Rudy was named, had been the drummer for Ted Lewis's band in the mid-1930s), Van Gelder took lessons on the trumpet. Van Gelder trained as an optometrist at the Pennsylvania College of Optometry, in Philadelphia, because he did not think he could earn a living as a recording engineer. From 1943, after graduating, Van Gelder had an optometry practice in Teaneck, New Jersey, and recorded local musicians in the evenings who wanted 78-rpm recordings of their work. He became a full-time recording engineer in 1959. From 1946, Van Gelder recorded in his parents' house in Hackensack, New Jersey, in which a control room was built adjacent to the living room, which served as the musicians' performing area. The dry acoustics of this working space were partly responsible for Van Gelder's inimitable recording aesthetic. "When I first started, I was interested in improving the quality of the playback equipment I had," Van Gelder commented in 2005; "I never was really happy with what I heard. I always assumed the records made by the big companies sounded better than what I could reproduce. So that's how I got interested in the process. I acquired everything I could to play back audio: speakers, turntables, amplifiers". One of Van Gelder's friends, the baritone saxophonist Gil Melle, introduced him to Alfred Lion, a producer for Blue Note Records, in 1953. Within a few years Van Gelder was in demand by many other independent labels based around New York City, such as Prestige Records. Bob Weinstock, owner of Prestige, recalled in 1999, "Rudy was very much an asset. His rates were fair and he didn't waste time. When you arrived at his studio he was prepared. His equipment was always ahead of its time and he was a genius when it came to recording". According to a JazzTimes article in August 2016, "jazz lore has formed the brands into a yin and yang of sorts: The Blue Note albums involved more original music, with rehearsal and the stringent, consistent oversight of Lion; Weinstock was more nonchalant, organizing what were essentially blowing sessions for some of the best musicians in jazz history". Van Gelder said in 2012, "Alfred was rigid about how he wanted Blue Note records to sound. But Bob Weinstock of Prestige was more easygoing, so I'd experiment on his dates and use what I learned on the Blue Note sessions". He also worked for Savoy Records in this period, among others. "To accommodate everyone, I assigned different days of the week to different labels". In the 1950s Van Gelder also performed engineering and mastering for the classical label Vox Records. Thelonious Monk composed and recorded a tribute to Van Gelder entitled "Hackensack". CANNOTANSWER | Alfred Lion, a producer for Blue Note Records, | Rudolph Van Gelder (November 2, 1924 – August 25, 2016) was an American recording engineer who specialized in jazz. Over more than half a century, he recorded several thousand sessions, with musicians including John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Sonny Rollins, Art Blakey, Lee Morgan, Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Wayne Shorter, Horace Silver and Grant Green. He worked with many different record companies, and recorded almost every session on Blue Note Records from 1953 to 1967.
He worked on albums including John Coltrane's A Love Supreme, Miles Davis's Walkin', Herbie Hancock's Maiden Voyage, Sonny Rollins's Saxophone Colossus, and Horace Silver's Song for My Father. He is regarded as one of the most influential engineers in jazz.
Early life
Van Gelder was born in Jersey City, New Jersey. His parents, Louis Van Gelder and the former Sarah Cohen, ran a women's clothing store in Passaic. His interest in microphones and electronics can be traced to a youthful enthusiasm for amateur radio. He was also a longtime jazz fan. His uncle, for whom Rudy was named, had been the drummer for Ted Lewis's band in the mid-1930s. Van Gelder took lessons on the trumpet.
Van Gelder trained as an optometrist at Philadelphia's Pennsylvania College of Optometry because he did not think he could earn a living as a recording engineer. He received an O.D. degree from the institution in 1946. Thereafter, Van Gelder maintained an optometry practice in Teaneck, New Jersey until 1959.
Career
In the evenings after work, Van Gelder recorded local musicians who wanted 78-rpm recordings of their work. From 1946, Van Gelder recorded in his parents' house in Hackensack, New Jersey, in which a control room was built adjacent to the living room, which served as the musicians' performing area. The dry acoustics of this working space were partly responsible for Van Gelder's inimitable recording aesthetic.
"When I first started, I was interested in improving the quality of the playback equipment I had," Van Gelder commented in 2005; "I never was really happy with what I heard. I always assumed the records made by the big companies sounded better than what I could reproduce. So that's how I got interested in the process. I acquired everything I could to play back audio: speakers, turntables, amplifiers". One of Van Gelder's friends, the baritone saxophonist Gil Mellé, introduced him to Alfred Lion, a producer for Blue Note Records, in 1953.
In the 1950s, Van Gelder performed engineering and mastering for the classical label Vox Records. He became a full-time recording engineer in 1959. In 1959, he moved the Van Gelder Studio to a larger purpose-built facility in Englewood Cliffs, a few miles southeast of the original location. An obituarist in the London Daily Telegraph wrote of "Van Gelder's extreme fastidiousness" as an engineer, and his insistence on "no food or drink in the studio, and on no account was anyone to touch a microphone. He himself always wore gloves when handling equipment".
Later career
Though his output slowed, Van Gelder remained active as a recording engineer into the new century. In the late 1990s, he worked as a recording engineer for some of the songs featured in the soundtracks for the Japanese anime series Cowboy Bebop. From 1999, he remastered the analog Blue Note recordings he made several decades earlier into 24-bit digital recordings in its RVG Edition series. He was positive about the switch from analog to digital technology. He told Audio magazine in 1995:
The biggest distorter is the LP itself. I've made thousands of LP masters. I used to make 17 a day, with two lathes going simultaneously, and I'm glad to see the LP go. As far as I'm concerned, good riddance. It was a constant battle to try to make that music sound the way it should. It was never any good. And if people don't like what they hear in digital, they should blame the engineer who did it. Blame the mastering house. Blame the mixing engineer. That's why some digital recordings sound terrible, and I'm not denying that they do, but don't blame the medium.
Van Gelder continued to reside in Englewood Cliffs until his death on August 25, 2016. His final recording session was with the Jimmy Cobb Trio — Cobb on drums, Paolo Benedettini on bass and Tadataka Unno on piano — on June 20, 2016.
The Van Gelder sound
Van Gelder was secretive about his recording methods, leaving fans and critics to speculate about his techniques. He would go as far as to move microphones when bands were being photographed in the studio. His recording techniques are often admired by his fans for their transparency, warmth and presence. Van Gelder pioneered use of close miking techniques, peak limiting, and tape saturation to imbue the music with an added sense of immediacy. He also demonstrated a commitment to superior signal-to-noise ratio while recording and mastering, allowing Van Gelder to achieve greater volume on his LPs and minimize tape hiss and vinyl surface noise. Richard Cook called Van Gelder's characteristic method of recording and mixing the piano "as distinctive as the pianists' playing" itself.
Despite his prominence in recording jazz, some artists avoided Van Gelder's studio. The bassist and composer Charles Mingus refused to record with him. Taking Leonard Feather's "blindfold test" in 1960, he said that Van Gelder "tries to change people's tones. I've seen him do it; I've seen him do it; I've seen him take Thad Jones and the way he sets him up at the mike, he can change the whole sound. That's why I never go to him; he ruined my bass sound". Even Blue Note president and producer Alfred Lion criticized Van Gelder for what Lion felt was his occasional overuse of reverb, and would jokingly refer to this trait as a "Rudy special" on tape boxes.
Critics of the Van Gelder sound of the 1950s and 1960s have focused on Van Gelder's recording of pianos in particular:
Van Gelder has also been criticized for his use of compression and high-frequency boosting, both of which, it is argued, compromise the sound. Journalist and radio producer George Hicks wrote:
Writer Stanley Crouch argued in an interview with Ethan Iverson that Van Gelder made particular adjustments to the sound of John Coltrane's tenor saxophone sound when engineering Coltrane's Impulse Records sessions: "I know the difference between the sound of someone in person and the recorded sound of an engineer. Coltrane's tone was much darker and thicker than the sound on those Impulse! records engineered by Rudy Van Gelder. But maybe Van Gelder chose that sound because he could hear that Coltrane was an alto player first before switching to tenor."
Reputation
Within a few years of opening his studio, Van Gelder was in demand by many other independent labels based around New York City, such as Prestige Records. Bob Weinstock, owner of Prestige, recalled the following in 1999: "Rudy was very much an asset. His rates were fair and he didn't waste time. When you arrived at his studio he was prepared. His equipment was always ahead of its time and he was a genius when it came to recording". According to a JazzTimes article in August 2016, "jazz lore has formed the brands into a yin and yang of sorts: The Blue Note albums involved more original music, with rehearsal and the stringent, consistent oversight of Lion; Weinstock was more nonchalant, organizing what were essentially blowing sessions for some of the best musicians in jazz history". Van Gelder said in 2012, "Alfred was rigid about how he wanted Blue Note records to sound. But Bob Weinstock of Prestige was more easygoing, so I'd experiment on his dates and use what I learned on the Blue Note sessions". He also worked for Savoy Records in this period, among others. "To accommodate everyone, I assigned different days of the week to different labels".
Writer Fred Kaplan has argued that Van Gelder's reputation with the record-buying public was aided by Blue Note Records' conspicuous mentions of Van Gelder on their album covers:
"Van Gelder was hardly the only great jazz engineer on the scene in those days; he may not even have been the best. Other stellar figures included Fred Plaut at Columbia, Roy DuNann at Contemporary, Val Valentin at Verve, Roy Goodman at RCA. But the other labels didn't play up their engineers (Columbia covers never so much as mentioned Plaut), while Alfred Lion, Blue Note's proprietor, promoted Van Gelder's sound as a boutique blend—something of a mystique—and the other labels who hired him followed suit, as if to boast that they too had the special sauce."
Awards and honors
In 2013 Van Gelder received the Audio Engineering Society's Gold Medal.
In 2009 he was named a Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts.
In 2012 he received the Grammy Trustees Award.
See also
:Category:Albums recorded at Van Gelder Studio
References
External links
Karp, Andy (2009). "In Conversation with Rudy Van Gelder". Jazz.com.
"Susan Stamberg Visits the Recording Studio of Rudy Van Gelder". npr.org.
"NAMM Oral History Interview with Rudy Van Gelder". March 15, 2016.
1924 births
2016 deaths
American audio engineers
Blue Note Records
Businesspeople from Jersey City, New Jersey
Jazz record producers
Salus University alumni
American optometrists
People from Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey
People from Hackensack, New Jersey
Early Recording Engineers (1930-1959)
Amateur radio people
20th-century American businesspeople | true | [
"Peter Hammarström (born 23 March 1969, in Stockholm, Sweden) is a former professional Swedish ice hockey player.\n\nHe played during his career for four teams in the Swedish Elite League, AIK (1987–1993 and 1996–1999), HV71 (1993–1996 and 2005–2006), Färjestads BK (2001–2004) and Malmö Redhawks (2004–2005). He also played to seasons (1999–2001) with DEL team Eisbären Berlin. He won two Swedish Championships during his career, in 1995 with HV71 and 2002 with Färjestads BK. After his retirement in 2006 did he start to work as a color commentator for Canal+.\n\nExternal links \n\n1969 births\nFärjestad BK players\nLiving people\nMalmö Redhawks players\nSwedish expatriate sportspeople in Germany\nSwedish ice hockey right wingers",
"Robert Dewees \"Cutty\" Cutshall (December 29, 1911 – August 16, 1968) was an American jazz trombonist.\n\nCutshall was born in Huntington Co., Pennsylvania, on December 29, 1911. He played in Pittsburgh early in his career, making his first major tour in 1934 with Charley Dornberger. He joined Jan Savitt's orchestra in 1938, then played with Benny Goodman in the early 1940s. Later in the decade he worked frequently with Billy Butterfield and did some freelance work in New York City. He started working with Eddie Condon in 1949, an association which lasted over a decade. Cutshall was touring with Condon in Toronto when the trombonist died of a heart attack in his hotel room on August 16, 1968.\n\nCutshall's credits include work with Peanuts Hucko, Bob Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald, and Louis Armstrong.\n\nDiscography\nWith Eddie Condon\nThat Toddlin' Town (Warner Bros., 1959)\nWith Bobby Hackett\nCreole Cookin' (Verve, 1967)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Cutty Cutshall recordings at the Discography of American Historical Recordings.\n\n1911 births\n1968 deaths\nAmerican jazz trombonists\nMale trombonists\n20th-century American musicians\n20th-century trombonists\n20th-century American male musicians\nAmerican male jazz musicians\nWorld's Greatest Jazz Band members"
] | [
"Rudolph Van Gelder (November 2, 1924 – August 25, 2016) was an American recording engineer who specialized in jazz. Over more than half a century, he recorded several thousand sessions, with musicians including John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Sonny Rollins, Art Blakey, Lee Morgan, Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Wayne Shorter, Horace Silver and Grant Green. He worked with many different record companies, and recorded almost every session on Blue Note Records from 1953 to 1967.",
"He worked with many different record companies, and recorded almost every session on Blue Note Records from 1953 to 1967. He worked on albums including John Coltrane's A Love Supreme, Miles Davis's Walkin', Herbie Hancock's Maiden Voyage, Sonny Rollins's Saxophone Colossus, and Horace Silver's Song for My Father. He is regarded as one of the most influential engineers in jazz. Early life Van Gelder was born in Jersey City, New Jersey.",
"Early life Van Gelder was born in Jersey City, New Jersey. His parents, Louis Van Gelder and the former Sarah Cohen, ran a women's clothing store in Passaic. His interest in microphones and electronics can be traced to a youthful enthusiasm for amateur radio. He was also a longtime jazz fan. His uncle, for whom Rudy was named, had been the drummer for Ted Lewis's band in the mid-1930s. Van Gelder took lessons on the trumpet.",
"Van Gelder took lessons on the trumpet. Van Gelder took lessons on the trumpet. Van Gelder trained as an optometrist at Philadelphia's Pennsylvania College of Optometry because he did not think he could earn a living as a recording engineer. He received an O.D. degree from the institution in 1946. Thereafter, Van Gelder maintained an optometry practice in Teaneck, New Jersey until 1959. Career In the evenings after work, Van Gelder recorded local musicians who wanted 78-rpm recordings of their work.",
"Career In the evenings after work, Van Gelder recorded local musicians who wanted 78-rpm recordings of their work. From 1946, Van Gelder recorded in his parents' house in Hackensack, New Jersey, in which a control room was built adjacent to the living room, which served as the musicians' performing area. The dry acoustics of this working space were partly responsible for Van Gelder's inimitable recording aesthetic.",
"The dry acoustics of this working space were partly responsible for Van Gelder's inimitable recording aesthetic. \"When I first started, I was interested in improving the quality of the playback equipment I had,\" Van Gelder commented in 2005; \"I never was really happy with what I heard. I always assumed the records made by the big companies sounded better than what I could reproduce. So that's how I got interested in the process.",
"So that's how I got interested in the process. I acquired everything I could to play back audio: speakers, turntables, amplifiers\". One of Van Gelder's friends, the baritone saxophonist Gil Mellé, introduced him to Alfred Lion, a producer for Blue Note Records, in 1953. In the 1950s, Van Gelder performed engineering and mastering for the classical label Vox Records. He became a full-time recording engineer in 1959.",
"He became a full-time recording engineer in 1959. He became a full-time recording engineer in 1959. In 1959, he moved the Van Gelder Studio to a larger purpose-built facility in Englewood Cliffs, a few miles southeast of the original location. An obituarist in the London Daily Telegraph wrote of \"Van Gelder's extreme fastidiousness\" as an engineer, and his insistence on \"no food or drink in the studio, and on no account was anyone to touch a microphone. He himself always wore gloves when handling equipment\".",
"He himself always wore gloves when handling equipment\". He himself always wore gloves when handling equipment\". Later career Though his output slowed, Van Gelder remained active as a recording engineer into the new century. In the late 1990s, he worked as a recording engineer for some of the songs featured in the soundtracks for the Japanese anime series Cowboy Bebop. From 1999, he remastered the analog Blue Note recordings he made several decades earlier into 24-bit digital recordings in its RVG Edition series.",
"From 1999, he remastered the analog Blue Note recordings he made several decades earlier into 24-bit digital recordings in its RVG Edition series. He was positive about the switch from analog to digital technology. He told Audio magazine in 1995: The biggest distorter is the LP itself. I've made thousands of LP masters. I used to make 17 a day, with two lathes going simultaneously, and I'm glad to see the LP go. As far as I'm concerned, good riddance.",
"As far as I'm concerned, good riddance. As far as I'm concerned, good riddance. It was a constant battle to try to make that music sound the way it should. It was never any good. And if people don't like what they hear in digital, they should blame the engineer who did it. Blame the mastering house. Blame the mixing engineer. That's why some digital recordings sound terrible, and I'm not denying that they do, but don't blame the medium.",
"That's why some digital recordings sound terrible, and I'm not denying that they do, but don't blame the medium. Van Gelder continued to reside in Englewood Cliffs until his death on August 25, 2016. His final recording session was with the Jimmy Cobb Trio — Cobb on drums, Paolo Benedettini on bass and Tadataka Unno on piano — on June 20, 2016. The Van Gelder sound Van Gelder was secretive about his recording methods, leaving fans and critics to speculate about his techniques.",
"The Van Gelder sound Van Gelder was secretive about his recording methods, leaving fans and critics to speculate about his techniques. He would go as far as to move microphones when bands were being photographed in the studio. His recording techniques are often admired by his fans for their transparency, warmth and presence. Van Gelder pioneered use of close miking techniques, peak limiting, and tape saturation to imbue the music with an added sense of immediacy.",
"Van Gelder pioneered use of close miking techniques, peak limiting, and tape saturation to imbue the music with an added sense of immediacy. He also demonstrated a commitment to superior signal-to-noise ratio while recording and mastering, allowing Van Gelder to achieve greater volume on his LPs and minimize tape hiss and vinyl surface noise. Richard Cook called Van Gelder's characteristic method of recording and mixing the piano \"as distinctive as the pianists' playing\" itself. Despite his prominence in recording jazz, some artists avoided Van Gelder's studio.",
"Despite his prominence in recording jazz, some artists avoided Van Gelder's studio. The bassist and composer Charles Mingus refused to record with him. Taking Leonard Feather's \"blindfold test\" in 1960, he said that Van Gelder \"tries to change people's tones. I've seen him do it; I've seen him do it; I've seen him take Thad Jones and the way he sets him up at the mike, he can change the whole sound.",
"I've seen him do it; I've seen him do it; I've seen him take Thad Jones and the way he sets him up at the mike, he can change the whole sound. That's why I never go to him; he ruined my bass sound\". Even Blue Note president and producer Alfred Lion criticized Van Gelder for what Lion felt was his occasional overuse of reverb, and would jokingly refer to this trait as a \"Rudy special\" on tape boxes.",
"Even Blue Note president and producer Alfred Lion criticized Van Gelder for what Lion felt was his occasional overuse of reverb, and would jokingly refer to this trait as a \"Rudy special\" on tape boxes. Critics of the Van Gelder sound of the 1950s and 1960s have focused on Van Gelder's recording of pianos in particular: Van Gelder has also been criticized for his use of compression and high-frequency boosting, both of which, it is argued, compromise the sound.",
"Critics of the Van Gelder sound of the 1950s and 1960s have focused on Van Gelder's recording of pianos in particular: Van Gelder has also been criticized for his use of compression and high-frequency boosting, both of which, it is argued, compromise the sound. Journalist and radio producer George Hicks wrote: Writer Stanley Crouch argued in an interview with Ethan Iverson that Van Gelder made particular adjustments to the sound of John Coltrane's tenor saxophone sound when engineering Coltrane's Impulse Records sessions: \"I know the difference between the sound of someone in person and the recorded sound of an engineer.",
"Journalist and radio producer George Hicks wrote: Writer Stanley Crouch argued in an interview with Ethan Iverson that Van Gelder made particular adjustments to the sound of John Coltrane's tenor saxophone sound when engineering Coltrane's Impulse Records sessions: \"I know the difference between the sound of someone in person and the recorded sound of an engineer. Coltrane's tone was much darker and thicker than the sound on those Impulse! records engineered by Rudy Van Gelder.",
"records engineered by Rudy Van Gelder. records engineered by Rudy Van Gelder. But maybe Van Gelder chose that sound because he could hear that Coltrane was an alto player first before switching to tenor.\" Reputation Within a few years of opening his studio, Van Gelder was in demand by many other independent labels based around New York City, such as Prestige Records. Bob Weinstock, owner of Prestige, recalled the following in 1999: \"Rudy was very much an asset.",
"Bob Weinstock, owner of Prestige, recalled the following in 1999: \"Rudy was very much an asset. His rates were fair and he didn't waste time. When you arrived at his studio he was prepared. His equipment was always ahead of its time and he was a genius when it came to recording\".",
"His equipment was always ahead of its time and he was a genius when it came to recording\". According to a JazzTimes article in August 2016, \"jazz lore has formed the brands into a yin and yang of sorts: The Blue Note albums involved more original music, with rehearsal and the stringent, consistent oversight of Lion; Weinstock was more nonchalant, organizing what were essentially blowing sessions for some of the best musicians in jazz history\".",
"According to a JazzTimes article in August 2016, \"jazz lore has formed the brands into a yin and yang of sorts: The Blue Note albums involved more original music, with rehearsal and the stringent, consistent oversight of Lion; Weinstock was more nonchalant, organizing what were essentially blowing sessions for some of the best musicians in jazz history\". Van Gelder said in 2012, \"Alfred was rigid about how he wanted Blue Note records to sound.",
"Van Gelder said in 2012, \"Alfred was rigid about how he wanted Blue Note records to sound. But Bob Weinstock of Prestige was more easygoing, so I'd experiment on his dates and use what I learned on the Blue Note sessions\". He also worked for Savoy Records in this period, among others. \"To accommodate everyone, I assigned different days of the week to different labels\".",
"\"To accommodate everyone, I assigned different days of the week to different labels\". Writer Fred Kaplan has argued that Van Gelder's reputation with the record-buying public was aided by Blue Note Records' conspicuous mentions of Van Gelder on their album covers: \"Van Gelder was hardly the only great jazz engineer on the scene in those days; he may not even have been the best. Other stellar figures included Fred Plaut at Columbia, Roy DuNann at Contemporary, Val Valentin at Verve, Roy Goodman at RCA.",
"Other stellar figures included Fred Plaut at Columbia, Roy DuNann at Contemporary, Val Valentin at Verve, Roy Goodman at RCA. But the other labels didn't play up their engineers (Columbia covers never so much as mentioned Plaut), while Alfred Lion, Blue Note's proprietor, promoted Van Gelder's sound as a boutique blend—something of a mystique—and the other labels who hired him followed suit, as if to boast that they too had the special sauce.\"",
"But the other labels didn't play up their engineers (Columbia covers never so much as mentioned Plaut), while Alfred Lion, Blue Note's proprietor, promoted Van Gelder's sound as a boutique blend—something of a mystique—and the other labels who hired him followed suit, as if to boast that they too had the special sauce.\" Awards and honors In 2013 Van Gelder received the Audio Engineering Society's Gold Medal. In 2009 he was named a Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts.",
"In 2009 he was named a Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts. In 2012 he received the Grammy Trustees Award. See also :Category:Albums recorded at Van Gelder Studio References External links Karp, Andy (2009). \"In Conversation with Rudy Van Gelder\". Jazz.com. \"Susan Stamberg Visits the Recording Studio of Rudy Van Gelder\". npr.org. \"NAMM Oral History Interview with Rudy Van Gelder\". March 15, 2016.",
"March 15, 2016. March 15, 2016. 1924 births 2016 deaths American audio engineers Blue Note Records Businesspeople from Jersey City, New Jersey Jazz record producers Salus University alumni American optometrists People from Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey People from Hackensack, New Jersey Early Recording Engineers (1930-1959) Amateur radio people 20th-century American businesspeople"
] |
[
"Rudy Van Gelder",
"Early career",
"When did Van Gelder begin recording?",
"He became a full-time recording engineer in 1959.",
"Did he win any awards during his early career?",
"I don't know.",
"Who did he work with during his early career?",
"Alfred Lion, a producer for Blue Note Records,"
] | C_78104e538d2946a9959b19a0cfc8033f_1 | How did he become interested in music? | 4 | How did Rudy Van Gelder become interested in music? | Rudy Van Gelder | Van Gelder was born in Jersey City, New Jersey. His parents, Louis Van Gelder and the former Sarah Cohen, ran a women's clothing store in Passaic. His interest in microphones and electronics can be traced to a youthful enthusiasm for amateur radio. A longtime jazz fan (his uncle, for whom Rudy was named, had been the drummer for Ted Lewis's band in the mid-1930s), Van Gelder took lessons on the trumpet. Van Gelder trained as an optometrist at the Pennsylvania College of Optometry, in Philadelphia, because he did not think he could earn a living as a recording engineer. From 1943, after graduating, Van Gelder had an optometry practice in Teaneck, New Jersey, and recorded local musicians in the evenings who wanted 78-rpm recordings of their work. He became a full-time recording engineer in 1959. From 1946, Van Gelder recorded in his parents' house in Hackensack, New Jersey, in which a control room was built adjacent to the living room, which served as the musicians' performing area. The dry acoustics of this working space were partly responsible for Van Gelder's inimitable recording aesthetic. "When I first started, I was interested in improving the quality of the playback equipment I had," Van Gelder commented in 2005; "I never was really happy with what I heard. I always assumed the records made by the big companies sounded better than what I could reproduce. So that's how I got interested in the process. I acquired everything I could to play back audio: speakers, turntables, amplifiers". One of Van Gelder's friends, the baritone saxophonist Gil Melle, introduced him to Alfred Lion, a producer for Blue Note Records, in 1953. Within a few years Van Gelder was in demand by many other independent labels based around New York City, such as Prestige Records. Bob Weinstock, owner of Prestige, recalled in 1999, "Rudy was very much an asset. His rates were fair and he didn't waste time. When you arrived at his studio he was prepared. His equipment was always ahead of its time and he was a genius when it came to recording". According to a JazzTimes article in August 2016, "jazz lore has formed the brands into a yin and yang of sorts: The Blue Note albums involved more original music, with rehearsal and the stringent, consistent oversight of Lion; Weinstock was more nonchalant, organizing what were essentially blowing sessions for some of the best musicians in jazz history". Van Gelder said in 2012, "Alfred was rigid about how he wanted Blue Note records to sound. But Bob Weinstock of Prestige was more easygoing, so I'd experiment on his dates and use what I learned on the Blue Note sessions". He also worked for Savoy Records in this period, among others. "To accommodate everyone, I assigned different days of the week to different labels". In the 1950s Van Gelder also performed engineering and mastering for the classical label Vox Records. Thelonious Monk composed and recorded a tribute to Van Gelder entitled "Hackensack". CANNOTANSWER | his uncle, for whom Rudy was named, had been the drummer for Ted Lewis's band in the mid-1930s | Rudolph Van Gelder (November 2, 1924 – August 25, 2016) was an American recording engineer who specialized in jazz. Over more than half a century, he recorded several thousand sessions, with musicians including John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Sonny Rollins, Art Blakey, Lee Morgan, Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Wayne Shorter, Horace Silver and Grant Green. He worked with many different record companies, and recorded almost every session on Blue Note Records from 1953 to 1967.
He worked on albums including John Coltrane's A Love Supreme, Miles Davis's Walkin', Herbie Hancock's Maiden Voyage, Sonny Rollins's Saxophone Colossus, and Horace Silver's Song for My Father. He is regarded as one of the most influential engineers in jazz.
Early life
Van Gelder was born in Jersey City, New Jersey. His parents, Louis Van Gelder and the former Sarah Cohen, ran a women's clothing store in Passaic. His interest in microphones and electronics can be traced to a youthful enthusiasm for amateur radio. He was also a longtime jazz fan. His uncle, for whom Rudy was named, had been the drummer for Ted Lewis's band in the mid-1930s. Van Gelder took lessons on the trumpet.
Van Gelder trained as an optometrist at Philadelphia's Pennsylvania College of Optometry because he did not think he could earn a living as a recording engineer. He received an O.D. degree from the institution in 1946. Thereafter, Van Gelder maintained an optometry practice in Teaneck, New Jersey until 1959.
Career
In the evenings after work, Van Gelder recorded local musicians who wanted 78-rpm recordings of their work. From 1946, Van Gelder recorded in his parents' house in Hackensack, New Jersey, in which a control room was built adjacent to the living room, which served as the musicians' performing area. The dry acoustics of this working space were partly responsible for Van Gelder's inimitable recording aesthetic.
"When I first started, I was interested in improving the quality of the playback equipment I had," Van Gelder commented in 2005; "I never was really happy with what I heard. I always assumed the records made by the big companies sounded better than what I could reproduce. So that's how I got interested in the process. I acquired everything I could to play back audio: speakers, turntables, amplifiers". One of Van Gelder's friends, the baritone saxophonist Gil Mellé, introduced him to Alfred Lion, a producer for Blue Note Records, in 1953.
In the 1950s, Van Gelder performed engineering and mastering for the classical label Vox Records. He became a full-time recording engineer in 1959. In 1959, he moved the Van Gelder Studio to a larger purpose-built facility in Englewood Cliffs, a few miles southeast of the original location. An obituarist in the London Daily Telegraph wrote of "Van Gelder's extreme fastidiousness" as an engineer, and his insistence on "no food or drink in the studio, and on no account was anyone to touch a microphone. He himself always wore gloves when handling equipment".
Later career
Though his output slowed, Van Gelder remained active as a recording engineer into the new century. In the late 1990s, he worked as a recording engineer for some of the songs featured in the soundtracks for the Japanese anime series Cowboy Bebop. From 1999, he remastered the analog Blue Note recordings he made several decades earlier into 24-bit digital recordings in its RVG Edition series. He was positive about the switch from analog to digital technology. He told Audio magazine in 1995:
The biggest distorter is the LP itself. I've made thousands of LP masters. I used to make 17 a day, with two lathes going simultaneously, and I'm glad to see the LP go. As far as I'm concerned, good riddance. It was a constant battle to try to make that music sound the way it should. It was never any good. And if people don't like what they hear in digital, they should blame the engineer who did it. Blame the mastering house. Blame the mixing engineer. That's why some digital recordings sound terrible, and I'm not denying that they do, but don't blame the medium.
Van Gelder continued to reside in Englewood Cliffs until his death on August 25, 2016. His final recording session was with the Jimmy Cobb Trio — Cobb on drums, Paolo Benedettini on bass and Tadataka Unno on piano — on June 20, 2016.
The Van Gelder sound
Van Gelder was secretive about his recording methods, leaving fans and critics to speculate about his techniques. He would go as far as to move microphones when bands were being photographed in the studio. His recording techniques are often admired by his fans for their transparency, warmth and presence. Van Gelder pioneered use of close miking techniques, peak limiting, and tape saturation to imbue the music with an added sense of immediacy. He also demonstrated a commitment to superior signal-to-noise ratio while recording and mastering, allowing Van Gelder to achieve greater volume on his LPs and minimize tape hiss and vinyl surface noise. Richard Cook called Van Gelder's characteristic method of recording and mixing the piano "as distinctive as the pianists' playing" itself.
Despite his prominence in recording jazz, some artists avoided Van Gelder's studio. The bassist and composer Charles Mingus refused to record with him. Taking Leonard Feather's "blindfold test" in 1960, he said that Van Gelder "tries to change people's tones. I've seen him do it; I've seen him do it; I've seen him take Thad Jones and the way he sets him up at the mike, he can change the whole sound. That's why I never go to him; he ruined my bass sound". Even Blue Note president and producer Alfred Lion criticized Van Gelder for what Lion felt was his occasional overuse of reverb, and would jokingly refer to this trait as a "Rudy special" on tape boxes.
Critics of the Van Gelder sound of the 1950s and 1960s have focused on Van Gelder's recording of pianos in particular:
Van Gelder has also been criticized for his use of compression and high-frequency boosting, both of which, it is argued, compromise the sound. Journalist and radio producer George Hicks wrote:
Writer Stanley Crouch argued in an interview with Ethan Iverson that Van Gelder made particular adjustments to the sound of John Coltrane's tenor saxophone sound when engineering Coltrane's Impulse Records sessions: "I know the difference between the sound of someone in person and the recorded sound of an engineer. Coltrane's tone was much darker and thicker than the sound on those Impulse! records engineered by Rudy Van Gelder. But maybe Van Gelder chose that sound because he could hear that Coltrane was an alto player first before switching to tenor."
Reputation
Within a few years of opening his studio, Van Gelder was in demand by many other independent labels based around New York City, such as Prestige Records. Bob Weinstock, owner of Prestige, recalled the following in 1999: "Rudy was very much an asset. His rates were fair and he didn't waste time. When you arrived at his studio he was prepared. His equipment was always ahead of its time and he was a genius when it came to recording". According to a JazzTimes article in August 2016, "jazz lore has formed the brands into a yin and yang of sorts: The Blue Note albums involved more original music, with rehearsal and the stringent, consistent oversight of Lion; Weinstock was more nonchalant, organizing what were essentially blowing sessions for some of the best musicians in jazz history". Van Gelder said in 2012, "Alfred was rigid about how he wanted Blue Note records to sound. But Bob Weinstock of Prestige was more easygoing, so I'd experiment on his dates and use what I learned on the Blue Note sessions". He also worked for Savoy Records in this period, among others. "To accommodate everyone, I assigned different days of the week to different labels".
Writer Fred Kaplan has argued that Van Gelder's reputation with the record-buying public was aided by Blue Note Records' conspicuous mentions of Van Gelder on their album covers:
"Van Gelder was hardly the only great jazz engineer on the scene in those days; he may not even have been the best. Other stellar figures included Fred Plaut at Columbia, Roy DuNann at Contemporary, Val Valentin at Verve, Roy Goodman at RCA. But the other labels didn't play up their engineers (Columbia covers never so much as mentioned Plaut), while Alfred Lion, Blue Note's proprietor, promoted Van Gelder's sound as a boutique blend—something of a mystique—and the other labels who hired him followed suit, as if to boast that they too had the special sauce."
Awards and honors
In 2013 Van Gelder received the Audio Engineering Society's Gold Medal.
In 2009 he was named a Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts.
In 2012 he received the Grammy Trustees Award.
See also
:Category:Albums recorded at Van Gelder Studio
References
External links
Karp, Andy (2009). "In Conversation with Rudy Van Gelder". Jazz.com.
"Susan Stamberg Visits the Recording Studio of Rudy Van Gelder". npr.org.
"NAMM Oral History Interview with Rudy Van Gelder". March 15, 2016.
1924 births
2016 deaths
American audio engineers
Blue Note Records
Businesspeople from Jersey City, New Jersey
Jazz record producers
Salus University alumni
American optometrists
People from Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey
People from Hackensack, New Jersey
Early Recording Engineers (1930-1959)
Amateur radio people
20th-century American businesspeople | true | [
"Pedro Gomez (born c. 1963) is a Salsa dance instructor from Cuba.\n\nBiography\nAfter Gomez was born, his parents decided to abandon Cuba, perhaps to allow his son to live under better economic conditions.\n\nThe Gomez family arrived in Puerto Rico. Salsa music had been popularized in Cuba by Celia Cruz, Olga Guillot and others, and, in Puerto Rico, it shared the general public's top spot among favorite types of music with American rock and pop music. Such stars such as El Gran Combo and Eddie Santiago were famous during the 1980s there. Gomez started to become interested in this type of music since he was a child, demonstrating ability to dance it from his early years.\n\nGomez tried to continue learning and practicing his dance moves as a teenager, after he had moved to Miami. Later, he went into the army and was stationed in Germany. After getting out of the Army, he worked for a while in Germany until he eventually settled in Rome, Italy.\n\nSalsa is a growing music genre in Europe; Andy Montañez, another Puerto Rican star of the 1970s and 1980s, toured Belgium, Spain and other countries, for example. Gomez, basking in Salsa's new popularity in that continent, set a dancing school there.\n\nSoon, Gomez became one of the best known dancing teachers in Europe, in part because people from Italy and other countries wanted to learn how to dance Salsa.\n\nGomez has popularized the Puerto Rican and New York City dancing styles, among others, in Italy as well as in other countries such as England and Denmark. He has also taught at schools in Muslim countries (particularly in northern Africa) as well as in South Africa.\n\nExternal links\n\n1963 births\nLiving people\nGomez,Pedro",
"Elixier is a German musical that premiered in 1997 in Leipzig, Germany under the direction of Horst Königstein. The music was written by Tobias Künzel and Wolfgang Lenk (Die Prinzen), with lyrics by Kati Naumann.\n\nPlot\nThe musical is set in 1978. In East Germany, in an industrial city, a young chemist, David, sits working. He lives only for science. He must find a formula for the acquisition of eternal youth. He does not notice how his friend Hagen uses and deceives him. Then David meets and falls in love with the dancer, Betti. Hagen also is interested in Betti, but the girl is fascinated by David's intelligence and innocence and returns his love. David searches for the elixir now to ensure that Betti's youth and beauty will never fade. When David encounters surprising research results, he is ready to try the potion together with Betti. But the potion fails, their problems overwhelm them, and they lose sight of each other.\n\nAlmost twenty years later, much has changed in the city. The clever Hagen has become the chief partner in the chemistry enterprise. David is his employee, and the partners and employees are set against each other. A youthful Betti appears, and the old charm is again there. But the mysterious Betti disappears again, as quickly as she had arrived. David sinks into his memories of earlier times. Hagen has also recognized Betti. Did the elixir work? Will Betti forgive David or choose Hagen?\n\nExternal links\nthe Musical's website, in German\nCast recording available \nOriginal cast recording\n\n1997 musicals\nGerman musicals\nPlays set in Germany"
] | [
"Rudolph Van Gelder (November 2, 1924 – August 25, 2016) was an American recording engineer who specialized in jazz. Over more than half a century, he recorded several thousand sessions, with musicians including John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Sonny Rollins, Art Blakey, Lee Morgan, Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Wayne Shorter, Horace Silver and Grant Green. He worked with many different record companies, and recorded almost every session on Blue Note Records from 1953 to 1967.",
"He worked with many different record companies, and recorded almost every session on Blue Note Records from 1953 to 1967. He worked on albums including John Coltrane's A Love Supreme, Miles Davis's Walkin', Herbie Hancock's Maiden Voyage, Sonny Rollins's Saxophone Colossus, and Horace Silver's Song for My Father. He is regarded as one of the most influential engineers in jazz. Early life Van Gelder was born in Jersey City, New Jersey.",
"Early life Van Gelder was born in Jersey City, New Jersey. His parents, Louis Van Gelder and the former Sarah Cohen, ran a women's clothing store in Passaic. His interest in microphones and electronics can be traced to a youthful enthusiasm for amateur radio. He was also a longtime jazz fan. His uncle, for whom Rudy was named, had been the drummer for Ted Lewis's band in the mid-1930s. Van Gelder took lessons on the trumpet.",
"Van Gelder took lessons on the trumpet. Van Gelder took lessons on the trumpet. Van Gelder trained as an optometrist at Philadelphia's Pennsylvania College of Optometry because he did not think he could earn a living as a recording engineer. He received an O.D. degree from the institution in 1946. Thereafter, Van Gelder maintained an optometry practice in Teaneck, New Jersey until 1959. Career In the evenings after work, Van Gelder recorded local musicians who wanted 78-rpm recordings of their work.",
"Career In the evenings after work, Van Gelder recorded local musicians who wanted 78-rpm recordings of their work. From 1946, Van Gelder recorded in his parents' house in Hackensack, New Jersey, in which a control room was built adjacent to the living room, which served as the musicians' performing area. The dry acoustics of this working space were partly responsible for Van Gelder's inimitable recording aesthetic.",
"The dry acoustics of this working space were partly responsible for Van Gelder's inimitable recording aesthetic. \"When I first started, I was interested in improving the quality of the playback equipment I had,\" Van Gelder commented in 2005; \"I never was really happy with what I heard. I always assumed the records made by the big companies sounded better than what I could reproduce. So that's how I got interested in the process.",
"So that's how I got interested in the process. I acquired everything I could to play back audio: speakers, turntables, amplifiers\". One of Van Gelder's friends, the baritone saxophonist Gil Mellé, introduced him to Alfred Lion, a producer for Blue Note Records, in 1953. In the 1950s, Van Gelder performed engineering and mastering for the classical label Vox Records. He became a full-time recording engineer in 1959.",
"He became a full-time recording engineer in 1959. He became a full-time recording engineer in 1959. In 1959, he moved the Van Gelder Studio to a larger purpose-built facility in Englewood Cliffs, a few miles southeast of the original location. An obituarist in the London Daily Telegraph wrote of \"Van Gelder's extreme fastidiousness\" as an engineer, and his insistence on \"no food or drink in the studio, and on no account was anyone to touch a microphone. He himself always wore gloves when handling equipment\".",
"He himself always wore gloves when handling equipment\". He himself always wore gloves when handling equipment\". Later career Though his output slowed, Van Gelder remained active as a recording engineer into the new century. In the late 1990s, he worked as a recording engineer for some of the songs featured in the soundtracks for the Japanese anime series Cowboy Bebop. From 1999, he remastered the analog Blue Note recordings he made several decades earlier into 24-bit digital recordings in its RVG Edition series.",
"From 1999, he remastered the analog Blue Note recordings he made several decades earlier into 24-bit digital recordings in its RVG Edition series. He was positive about the switch from analog to digital technology. He told Audio magazine in 1995: The biggest distorter is the LP itself. I've made thousands of LP masters. I used to make 17 a day, with two lathes going simultaneously, and I'm glad to see the LP go. As far as I'm concerned, good riddance.",
"As far as I'm concerned, good riddance. As far as I'm concerned, good riddance. It was a constant battle to try to make that music sound the way it should. It was never any good. And if people don't like what they hear in digital, they should blame the engineer who did it. Blame the mastering house. Blame the mixing engineer. That's why some digital recordings sound terrible, and I'm not denying that they do, but don't blame the medium.",
"That's why some digital recordings sound terrible, and I'm not denying that they do, but don't blame the medium. Van Gelder continued to reside in Englewood Cliffs until his death on August 25, 2016. His final recording session was with the Jimmy Cobb Trio — Cobb on drums, Paolo Benedettini on bass and Tadataka Unno on piano — on June 20, 2016. The Van Gelder sound Van Gelder was secretive about his recording methods, leaving fans and critics to speculate about his techniques.",
"The Van Gelder sound Van Gelder was secretive about his recording methods, leaving fans and critics to speculate about his techniques. He would go as far as to move microphones when bands were being photographed in the studio. His recording techniques are often admired by his fans for their transparency, warmth and presence. Van Gelder pioneered use of close miking techniques, peak limiting, and tape saturation to imbue the music with an added sense of immediacy.",
"Van Gelder pioneered use of close miking techniques, peak limiting, and tape saturation to imbue the music with an added sense of immediacy. He also demonstrated a commitment to superior signal-to-noise ratio while recording and mastering, allowing Van Gelder to achieve greater volume on his LPs and minimize tape hiss and vinyl surface noise. Richard Cook called Van Gelder's characteristic method of recording and mixing the piano \"as distinctive as the pianists' playing\" itself. Despite his prominence in recording jazz, some artists avoided Van Gelder's studio.",
"Despite his prominence in recording jazz, some artists avoided Van Gelder's studio. The bassist and composer Charles Mingus refused to record with him. Taking Leonard Feather's \"blindfold test\" in 1960, he said that Van Gelder \"tries to change people's tones. I've seen him do it; I've seen him do it; I've seen him take Thad Jones and the way he sets him up at the mike, he can change the whole sound.",
"I've seen him do it; I've seen him do it; I've seen him take Thad Jones and the way he sets him up at the mike, he can change the whole sound. That's why I never go to him; he ruined my bass sound\". Even Blue Note president and producer Alfred Lion criticized Van Gelder for what Lion felt was his occasional overuse of reverb, and would jokingly refer to this trait as a \"Rudy special\" on tape boxes.",
"Even Blue Note president and producer Alfred Lion criticized Van Gelder for what Lion felt was his occasional overuse of reverb, and would jokingly refer to this trait as a \"Rudy special\" on tape boxes. Critics of the Van Gelder sound of the 1950s and 1960s have focused on Van Gelder's recording of pianos in particular: Van Gelder has also been criticized for his use of compression and high-frequency boosting, both of which, it is argued, compromise the sound.",
"Critics of the Van Gelder sound of the 1950s and 1960s have focused on Van Gelder's recording of pianos in particular: Van Gelder has also been criticized for his use of compression and high-frequency boosting, both of which, it is argued, compromise the sound. Journalist and radio producer George Hicks wrote: Writer Stanley Crouch argued in an interview with Ethan Iverson that Van Gelder made particular adjustments to the sound of John Coltrane's tenor saxophone sound when engineering Coltrane's Impulse Records sessions: \"I know the difference between the sound of someone in person and the recorded sound of an engineer.",
"Journalist and radio producer George Hicks wrote: Writer Stanley Crouch argued in an interview with Ethan Iverson that Van Gelder made particular adjustments to the sound of John Coltrane's tenor saxophone sound when engineering Coltrane's Impulse Records sessions: \"I know the difference between the sound of someone in person and the recorded sound of an engineer. Coltrane's tone was much darker and thicker than the sound on those Impulse! records engineered by Rudy Van Gelder.",
"records engineered by Rudy Van Gelder. records engineered by Rudy Van Gelder. But maybe Van Gelder chose that sound because he could hear that Coltrane was an alto player first before switching to tenor.\" Reputation Within a few years of opening his studio, Van Gelder was in demand by many other independent labels based around New York City, such as Prestige Records. Bob Weinstock, owner of Prestige, recalled the following in 1999: \"Rudy was very much an asset.",
"Bob Weinstock, owner of Prestige, recalled the following in 1999: \"Rudy was very much an asset. His rates were fair and he didn't waste time. When you arrived at his studio he was prepared. His equipment was always ahead of its time and he was a genius when it came to recording\".",
"His equipment was always ahead of its time and he was a genius when it came to recording\". According to a JazzTimes article in August 2016, \"jazz lore has formed the brands into a yin and yang of sorts: The Blue Note albums involved more original music, with rehearsal and the stringent, consistent oversight of Lion; Weinstock was more nonchalant, organizing what were essentially blowing sessions for some of the best musicians in jazz history\".",
"According to a JazzTimes article in August 2016, \"jazz lore has formed the brands into a yin and yang of sorts: The Blue Note albums involved more original music, with rehearsal and the stringent, consistent oversight of Lion; Weinstock was more nonchalant, organizing what were essentially blowing sessions for some of the best musicians in jazz history\". Van Gelder said in 2012, \"Alfred was rigid about how he wanted Blue Note records to sound.",
"Van Gelder said in 2012, \"Alfred was rigid about how he wanted Blue Note records to sound. But Bob Weinstock of Prestige was more easygoing, so I'd experiment on his dates and use what I learned on the Blue Note sessions\". He also worked for Savoy Records in this period, among others. \"To accommodate everyone, I assigned different days of the week to different labels\".",
"\"To accommodate everyone, I assigned different days of the week to different labels\". Writer Fred Kaplan has argued that Van Gelder's reputation with the record-buying public was aided by Blue Note Records' conspicuous mentions of Van Gelder on their album covers: \"Van Gelder was hardly the only great jazz engineer on the scene in those days; he may not even have been the best. Other stellar figures included Fred Plaut at Columbia, Roy DuNann at Contemporary, Val Valentin at Verve, Roy Goodman at RCA.",
"Other stellar figures included Fred Plaut at Columbia, Roy DuNann at Contemporary, Val Valentin at Verve, Roy Goodman at RCA. But the other labels didn't play up their engineers (Columbia covers never so much as mentioned Plaut), while Alfred Lion, Blue Note's proprietor, promoted Van Gelder's sound as a boutique blend—something of a mystique—and the other labels who hired him followed suit, as if to boast that they too had the special sauce.\"",
"But the other labels didn't play up their engineers (Columbia covers never so much as mentioned Plaut), while Alfred Lion, Blue Note's proprietor, promoted Van Gelder's sound as a boutique blend—something of a mystique—and the other labels who hired him followed suit, as if to boast that they too had the special sauce.\" Awards and honors In 2013 Van Gelder received the Audio Engineering Society's Gold Medal. In 2009 he was named a Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts.",
"In 2009 he was named a Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts. In 2012 he received the Grammy Trustees Award. See also :Category:Albums recorded at Van Gelder Studio References External links Karp, Andy (2009). \"In Conversation with Rudy Van Gelder\". Jazz.com. \"Susan Stamberg Visits the Recording Studio of Rudy Van Gelder\". npr.org. \"NAMM Oral History Interview with Rudy Van Gelder\". March 15, 2016.",
"March 15, 2016. March 15, 2016. 1924 births 2016 deaths American audio engineers Blue Note Records Businesspeople from Jersey City, New Jersey Jazz record producers Salus University alumni American optometrists People from Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey People from Hackensack, New Jersey Early Recording Engineers (1930-1959) Amateur radio people 20th-century American businesspeople"
] |
[
"Rudy Van Gelder",
"Early career",
"When did Van Gelder begin recording?",
"He became a full-time recording engineer in 1959.",
"Did he win any awards during his early career?",
"I don't know.",
"Who did he work with during his early career?",
"Alfred Lion, a producer for Blue Note Records,",
"How did he become interested in music?",
"his uncle, for whom Rudy was named, had been the drummer for Ted Lewis's band in the mid-1930s",
"What else is interesting about his early career?",
"Within a few years Van Gelder was in demand by many other independent labels based around New York City,"
] | C_78104e538d2946a9959b19a0cfc8033f_1 | What labels did he work for? | 6 | What labels did Rudy Van Gelder work for? | Rudy Van Gelder | Van Gelder was born in Jersey City, New Jersey. His parents, Louis Van Gelder and the former Sarah Cohen, ran a women's clothing store in Passaic. His interest in microphones and electronics can be traced to a youthful enthusiasm for amateur radio. A longtime jazz fan (his uncle, for whom Rudy was named, had been the drummer for Ted Lewis's band in the mid-1930s), Van Gelder took lessons on the trumpet. Van Gelder trained as an optometrist at the Pennsylvania College of Optometry, in Philadelphia, because he did not think he could earn a living as a recording engineer. From 1943, after graduating, Van Gelder had an optometry practice in Teaneck, New Jersey, and recorded local musicians in the evenings who wanted 78-rpm recordings of their work. He became a full-time recording engineer in 1959. From 1946, Van Gelder recorded in his parents' house in Hackensack, New Jersey, in which a control room was built adjacent to the living room, which served as the musicians' performing area. The dry acoustics of this working space were partly responsible for Van Gelder's inimitable recording aesthetic. "When I first started, I was interested in improving the quality of the playback equipment I had," Van Gelder commented in 2005; "I never was really happy with what I heard. I always assumed the records made by the big companies sounded better than what I could reproduce. So that's how I got interested in the process. I acquired everything I could to play back audio: speakers, turntables, amplifiers". One of Van Gelder's friends, the baritone saxophonist Gil Melle, introduced him to Alfred Lion, a producer for Blue Note Records, in 1953. Within a few years Van Gelder was in demand by many other independent labels based around New York City, such as Prestige Records. Bob Weinstock, owner of Prestige, recalled in 1999, "Rudy was very much an asset. His rates were fair and he didn't waste time. When you arrived at his studio he was prepared. His equipment was always ahead of its time and he was a genius when it came to recording". According to a JazzTimes article in August 2016, "jazz lore has formed the brands into a yin and yang of sorts: The Blue Note albums involved more original music, with rehearsal and the stringent, consistent oversight of Lion; Weinstock was more nonchalant, organizing what were essentially blowing sessions for some of the best musicians in jazz history". Van Gelder said in 2012, "Alfred was rigid about how he wanted Blue Note records to sound. But Bob Weinstock of Prestige was more easygoing, so I'd experiment on his dates and use what I learned on the Blue Note sessions". He also worked for Savoy Records in this period, among others. "To accommodate everyone, I assigned different days of the week to different labels". In the 1950s Van Gelder also performed engineering and mastering for the classical label Vox Records. Thelonious Monk composed and recorded a tribute to Van Gelder entitled "Hackensack". CANNOTANSWER | Prestige Records. | Rudolph Van Gelder (November 2, 1924 – August 25, 2016) was an American recording engineer who specialized in jazz. Over more than half a century, he recorded several thousand sessions, with musicians including John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Sonny Rollins, Art Blakey, Lee Morgan, Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Wayne Shorter, Horace Silver and Grant Green. He worked with many different record companies, and recorded almost every session on Blue Note Records from 1953 to 1967.
He worked on albums including John Coltrane's A Love Supreme, Miles Davis's Walkin', Herbie Hancock's Maiden Voyage, Sonny Rollins's Saxophone Colossus, and Horace Silver's Song for My Father. He is regarded as one of the most influential engineers in jazz.
Early life
Van Gelder was born in Jersey City, New Jersey. His parents, Louis Van Gelder and the former Sarah Cohen, ran a women's clothing store in Passaic. His interest in microphones and electronics can be traced to a youthful enthusiasm for amateur radio. He was also a longtime jazz fan. His uncle, for whom Rudy was named, had been the drummer for Ted Lewis's band in the mid-1930s. Van Gelder took lessons on the trumpet.
Van Gelder trained as an optometrist at Philadelphia's Pennsylvania College of Optometry because he did not think he could earn a living as a recording engineer. He received an O.D. degree from the institution in 1946. Thereafter, Van Gelder maintained an optometry practice in Teaneck, New Jersey until 1959.
Career
In the evenings after work, Van Gelder recorded local musicians who wanted 78-rpm recordings of their work. From 1946, Van Gelder recorded in his parents' house in Hackensack, New Jersey, in which a control room was built adjacent to the living room, which served as the musicians' performing area. The dry acoustics of this working space were partly responsible for Van Gelder's inimitable recording aesthetic.
"When I first started, I was interested in improving the quality of the playback equipment I had," Van Gelder commented in 2005; "I never was really happy with what I heard. I always assumed the records made by the big companies sounded better than what I could reproduce. So that's how I got interested in the process. I acquired everything I could to play back audio: speakers, turntables, amplifiers". One of Van Gelder's friends, the baritone saxophonist Gil Mellé, introduced him to Alfred Lion, a producer for Blue Note Records, in 1953.
In the 1950s, Van Gelder performed engineering and mastering for the classical label Vox Records. He became a full-time recording engineer in 1959. In 1959, he moved the Van Gelder Studio to a larger purpose-built facility in Englewood Cliffs, a few miles southeast of the original location. An obituarist in the London Daily Telegraph wrote of "Van Gelder's extreme fastidiousness" as an engineer, and his insistence on "no food or drink in the studio, and on no account was anyone to touch a microphone. He himself always wore gloves when handling equipment".
Later career
Though his output slowed, Van Gelder remained active as a recording engineer into the new century. In the late 1990s, he worked as a recording engineer for some of the songs featured in the soundtracks for the Japanese anime series Cowboy Bebop. From 1999, he remastered the analog Blue Note recordings he made several decades earlier into 24-bit digital recordings in its RVG Edition series. He was positive about the switch from analog to digital technology. He told Audio magazine in 1995:
The biggest distorter is the LP itself. I've made thousands of LP masters. I used to make 17 a day, with two lathes going simultaneously, and I'm glad to see the LP go. As far as I'm concerned, good riddance. It was a constant battle to try to make that music sound the way it should. It was never any good. And if people don't like what they hear in digital, they should blame the engineer who did it. Blame the mastering house. Blame the mixing engineer. That's why some digital recordings sound terrible, and I'm not denying that they do, but don't blame the medium.
Van Gelder continued to reside in Englewood Cliffs until his death on August 25, 2016. His final recording session was with the Jimmy Cobb Trio — Cobb on drums, Paolo Benedettini on bass and Tadataka Unno on piano — on June 20, 2016.
The Van Gelder sound
Van Gelder was secretive about his recording methods, leaving fans and critics to speculate about his techniques. He would go as far as to move microphones when bands were being photographed in the studio. His recording techniques are often admired by his fans for their transparency, warmth and presence. Van Gelder pioneered use of close miking techniques, peak limiting, and tape saturation to imbue the music with an added sense of immediacy. He also demonstrated a commitment to superior signal-to-noise ratio while recording and mastering, allowing Van Gelder to achieve greater volume on his LPs and minimize tape hiss and vinyl surface noise. Richard Cook called Van Gelder's characteristic method of recording and mixing the piano "as distinctive as the pianists' playing" itself.
Despite his prominence in recording jazz, some artists avoided Van Gelder's studio. The bassist and composer Charles Mingus refused to record with him. Taking Leonard Feather's "blindfold test" in 1960, he said that Van Gelder "tries to change people's tones. I've seen him do it; I've seen him do it; I've seen him take Thad Jones and the way he sets him up at the mike, he can change the whole sound. That's why I never go to him; he ruined my bass sound". Even Blue Note president and producer Alfred Lion criticized Van Gelder for what Lion felt was his occasional overuse of reverb, and would jokingly refer to this trait as a "Rudy special" on tape boxes.
Critics of the Van Gelder sound of the 1950s and 1960s have focused on Van Gelder's recording of pianos in particular:
Van Gelder has also been criticized for his use of compression and high-frequency boosting, both of which, it is argued, compromise the sound. Journalist and radio producer George Hicks wrote:
Writer Stanley Crouch argued in an interview with Ethan Iverson that Van Gelder made particular adjustments to the sound of John Coltrane's tenor saxophone sound when engineering Coltrane's Impulse Records sessions: "I know the difference between the sound of someone in person and the recorded sound of an engineer. Coltrane's tone was much darker and thicker than the sound on those Impulse! records engineered by Rudy Van Gelder. But maybe Van Gelder chose that sound because he could hear that Coltrane was an alto player first before switching to tenor."
Reputation
Within a few years of opening his studio, Van Gelder was in demand by many other independent labels based around New York City, such as Prestige Records. Bob Weinstock, owner of Prestige, recalled the following in 1999: "Rudy was very much an asset. His rates were fair and he didn't waste time. When you arrived at his studio he was prepared. His equipment was always ahead of its time and he was a genius when it came to recording". According to a JazzTimes article in August 2016, "jazz lore has formed the brands into a yin and yang of sorts: The Blue Note albums involved more original music, with rehearsal and the stringent, consistent oversight of Lion; Weinstock was more nonchalant, organizing what were essentially blowing sessions for some of the best musicians in jazz history". Van Gelder said in 2012, "Alfred was rigid about how he wanted Blue Note records to sound. But Bob Weinstock of Prestige was more easygoing, so I'd experiment on his dates and use what I learned on the Blue Note sessions". He also worked for Savoy Records in this period, among others. "To accommodate everyone, I assigned different days of the week to different labels".
Writer Fred Kaplan has argued that Van Gelder's reputation with the record-buying public was aided by Blue Note Records' conspicuous mentions of Van Gelder on their album covers:
"Van Gelder was hardly the only great jazz engineer on the scene in those days; he may not even have been the best. Other stellar figures included Fred Plaut at Columbia, Roy DuNann at Contemporary, Val Valentin at Verve, Roy Goodman at RCA. But the other labels didn't play up their engineers (Columbia covers never so much as mentioned Plaut), while Alfred Lion, Blue Note's proprietor, promoted Van Gelder's sound as a boutique blend—something of a mystique—and the other labels who hired him followed suit, as if to boast that they too had the special sauce."
Awards and honors
In 2013 Van Gelder received the Audio Engineering Society's Gold Medal.
In 2009 he was named a Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts.
In 2012 he received the Grammy Trustees Award.
See also
:Category:Albums recorded at Van Gelder Studio
References
External links
Karp, Andy (2009). "In Conversation with Rudy Van Gelder". Jazz.com.
"Susan Stamberg Visits the Recording Studio of Rudy Van Gelder". npr.org.
"NAMM Oral History Interview with Rudy Van Gelder". March 15, 2016.
1924 births
2016 deaths
American audio engineers
Blue Note Records
Businesspeople from Jersey City, New Jersey
Jazz record producers
Salus University alumni
American optometrists
People from Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey
People from Hackensack, New Jersey
Early Recording Engineers (1930-1959)
Amateur radio people
20th-century American businesspeople | true | [
"Mission Records was created by Glenn Frey and Peter Lopez in 1998 as an independent record label. The company is distributed by Navarre Corp. Its first album was One Planet, One Groove by Max Carl & Big Dance, released January 20, 1998. The company was originally intended as an outlet for Frey's solo records due to his dissatisfaction with the bigger labels; however, he did not release any of his own work on it, and the label is now inactive.\n\nReferences\n\nSee also\n List of record labels\n\nRecord labels established in 1998\nDefunct record labels of the United States\nVanity record labels",
"Threshold House is one of several record labels created by Coil to release their own work and that of affiliated projects. Associated labels include Eskaton and Chalice. It is also the name for the official Coil website.\n\nThe label was initially a vanity label of sorts, as all releases were manufactured and distributed by other labels, most prominently World Serpent Distribution. Following the bankruptcy of World Serpent, the label continued independently.\n\nThe logo for Threshold House is a castle-like building, possibly what Coil have referred to as \"The East Tower\" in past interviews, and a moon. It is also very similar to artist recreations of the buildings at Catalhoyuk.\n\nAfter the death of John Balance and the disbanding of Coil, Peter Christopherson started a solo effort, The Threshold HouseBoys Choir, based on the name Threshold House.\n\nReleases\n\nLOCI\nThe series of \"LOCI\" were released when Coil resided in England.\n\nTHRESH & THBKK\nThe \"THRESH\" and \"THBKK\" series began with Peter Christopherson's relocation to Bangkok, Thailand.\n\nSee also\n List of record labels\n List of electronic music record labels\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Threshold House\n\nElectronic music record labels\nVanity record labels\nBritish record labels\nRecord labels established in 1987"
] | [
"Rudolph Van Gelder (November 2, 1924 – August 25, 2016) was an American recording engineer who specialized in jazz. Over more than half a century, he recorded several thousand sessions, with musicians including John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Sonny Rollins, Art Blakey, Lee Morgan, Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Wayne Shorter, Horace Silver and Grant Green. He worked with many different record companies, and recorded almost every session on Blue Note Records from 1953 to 1967.",
"He worked with many different record companies, and recorded almost every session on Blue Note Records from 1953 to 1967. He worked on albums including John Coltrane's A Love Supreme, Miles Davis's Walkin', Herbie Hancock's Maiden Voyage, Sonny Rollins's Saxophone Colossus, and Horace Silver's Song for My Father. He is regarded as one of the most influential engineers in jazz. Early life Van Gelder was born in Jersey City, New Jersey.",
"Early life Van Gelder was born in Jersey City, New Jersey. His parents, Louis Van Gelder and the former Sarah Cohen, ran a women's clothing store in Passaic. His interest in microphones and electronics can be traced to a youthful enthusiasm for amateur radio. He was also a longtime jazz fan. His uncle, for whom Rudy was named, had been the drummer for Ted Lewis's band in the mid-1930s. Van Gelder took lessons on the trumpet.",
"Van Gelder took lessons on the trumpet. Van Gelder took lessons on the trumpet. Van Gelder trained as an optometrist at Philadelphia's Pennsylvania College of Optometry because he did not think he could earn a living as a recording engineer. He received an O.D. degree from the institution in 1946. Thereafter, Van Gelder maintained an optometry practice in Teaneck, New Jersey until 1959. Career In the evenings after work, Van Gelder recorded local musicians who wanted 78-rpm recordings of their work.",
"Career In the evenings after work, Van Gelder recorded local musicians who wanted 78-rpm recordings of their work. From 1946, Van Gelder recorded in his parents' house in Hackensack, New Jersey, in which a control room was built adjacent to the living room, which served as the musicians' performing area. The dry acoustics of this working space were partly responsible for Van Gelder's inimitable recording aesthetic.",
"The dry acoustics of this working space were partly responsible for Van Gelder's inimitable recording aesthetic. \"When I first started, I was interested in improving the quality of the playback equipment I had,\" Van Gelder commented in 2005; \"I never was really happy with what I heard. I always assumed the records made by the big companies sounded better than what I could reproduce. So that's how I got interested in the process.",
"So that's how I got interested in the process. I acquired everything I could to play back audio: speakers, turntables, amplifiers\". One of Van Gelder's friends, the baritone saxophonist Gil Mellé, introduced him to Alfred Lion, a producer for Blue Note Records, in 1953. In the 1950s, Van Gelder performed engineering and mastering for the classical label Vox Records. He became a full-time recording engineer in 1959.",
"He became a full-time recording engineer in 1959. He became a full-time recording engineer in 1959. In 1959, he moved the Van Gelder Studio to a larger purpose-built facility in Englewood Cliffs, a few miles southeast of the original location. An obituarist in the London Daily Telegraph wrote of \"Van Gelder's extreme fastidiousness\" as an engineer, and his insistence on \"no food or drink in the studio, and on no account was anyone to touch a microphone. He himself always wore gloves when handling equipment\".",
"He himself always wore gloves when handling equipment\". He himself always wore gloves when handling equipment\". Later career Though his output slowed, Van Gelder remained active as a recording engineer into the new century. In the late 1990s, he worked as a recording engineer for some of the songs featured in the soundtracks for the Japanese anime series Cowboy Bebop. From 1999, he remastered the analog Blue Note recordings he made several decades earlier into 24-bit digital recordings in its RVG Edition series.",
"From 1999, he remastered the analog Blue Note recordings he made several decades earlier into 24-bit digital recordings in its RVG Edition series. He was positive about the switch from analog to digital technology. He told Audio magazine in 1995: The biggest distorter is the LP itself. I've made thousands of LP masters. I used to make 17 a day, with two lathes going simultaneously, and I'm glad to see the LP go. As far as I'm concerned, good riddance.",
"As far as I'm concerned, good riddance. As far as I'm concerned, good riddance. It was a constant battle to try to make that music sound the way it should. It was never any good. And if people don't like what they hear in digital, they should blame the engineer who did it. Blame the mastering house. Blame the mixing engineer. That's why some digital recordings sound terrible, and I'm not denying that they do, but don't blame the medium.",
"That's why some digital recordings sound terrible, and I'm not denying that they do, but don't blame the medium. Van Gelder continued to reside in Englewood Cliffs until his death on August 25, 2016. His final recording session was with the Jimmy Cobb Trio — Cobb on drums, Paolo Benedettini on bass and Tadataka Unno on piano — on June 20, 2016. The Van Gelder sound Van Gelder was secretive about his recording methods, leaving fans and critics to speculate about his techniques.",
"The Van Gelder sound Van Gelder was secretive about his recording methods, leaving fans and critics to speculate about his techniques. He would go as far as to move microphones when bands were being photographed in the studio. His recording techniques are often admired by his fans for their transparency, warmth and presence. Van Gelder pioneered use of close miking techniques, peak limiting, and tape saturation to imbue the music with an added sense of immediacy.",
"Van Gelder pioneered use of close miking techniques, peak limiting, and tape saturation to imbue the music with an added sense of immediacy. He also demonstrated a commitment to superior signal-to-noise ratio while recording and mastering, allowing Van Gelder to achieve greater volume on his LPs and minimize tape hiss and vinyl surface noise. Richard Cook called Van Gelder's characteristic method of recording and mixing the piano \"as distinctive as the pianists' playing\" itself. Despite his prominence in recording jazz, some artists avoided Van Gelder's studio.",
"Despite his prominence in recording jazz, some artists avoided Van Gelder's studio. The bassist and composer Charles Mingus refused to record with him. Taking Leonard Feather's \"blindfold test\" in 1960, he said that Van Gelder \"tries to change people's tones. I've seen him do it; I've seen him do it; I've seen him take Thad Jones and the way he sets him up at the mike, he can change the whole sound.",
"I've seen him do it; I've seen him do it; I've seen him take Thad Jones and the way he sets him up at the mike, he can change the whole sound. That's why I never go to him; he ruined my bass sound\". Even Blue Note president and producer Alfred Lion criticized Van Gelder for what Lion felt was his occasional overuse of reverb, and would jokingly refer to this trait as a \"Rudy special\" on tape boxes.",
"Even Blue Note president and producer Alfred Lion criticized Van Gelder for what Lion felt was his occasional overuse of reverb, and would jokingly refer to this trait as a \"Rudy special\" on tape boxes. Critics of the Van Gelder sound of the 1950s and 1960s have focused on Van Gelder's recording of pianos in particular: Van Gelder has also been criticized for his use of compression and high-frequency boosting, both of which, it is argued, compromise the sound.",
"Critics of the Van Gelder sound of the 1950s and 1960s have focused on Van Gelder's recording of pianos in particular: Van Gelder has also been criticized for his use of compression and high-frequency boosting, both of which, it is argued, compromise the sound. Journalist and radio producer George Hicks wrote: Writer Stanley Crouch argued in an interview with Ethan Iverson that Van Gelder made particular adjustments to the sound of John Coltrane's tenor saxophone sound when engineering Coltrane's Impulse Records sessions: \"I know the difference between the sound of someone in person and the recorded sound of an engineer.",
"Journalist and radio producer George Hicks wrote: Writer Stanley Crouch argued in an interview with Ethan Iverson that Van Gelder made particular adjustments to the sound of John Coltrane's tenor saxophone sound when engineering Coltrane's Impulse Records sessions: \"I know the difference between the sound of someone in person and the recorded sound of an engineer. Coltrane's tone was much darker and thicker than the sound on those Impulse! records engineered by Rudy Van Gelder.",
"records engineered by Rudy Van Gelder. records engineered by Rudy Van Gelder. But maybe Van Gelder chose that sound because he could hear that Coltrane was an alto player first before switching to tenor.\" Reputation Within a few years of opening his studio, Van Gelder was in demand by many other independent labels based around New York City, such as Prestige Records. Bob Weinstock, owner of Prestige, recalled the following in 1999: \"Rudy was very much an asset.",
"Bob Weinstock, owner of Prestige, recalled the following in 1999: \"Rudy was very much an asset. His rates were fair and he didn't waste time. When you arrived at his studio he was prepared. His equipment was always ahead of its time and he was a genius when it came to recording\".",
"His equipment was always ahead of its time and he was a genius when it came to recording\". According to a JazzTimes article in August 2016, \"jazz lore has formed the brands into a yin and yang of sorts: The Blue Note albums involved more original music, with rehearsal and the stringent, consistent oversight of Lion; Weinstock was more nonchalant, organizing what were essentially blowing sessions for some of the best musicians in jazz history\".",
"According to a JazzTimes article in August 2016, \"jazz lore has formed the brands into a yin and yang of sorts: The Blue Note albums involved more original music, with rehearsal and the stringent, consistent oversight of Lion; Weinstock was more nonchalant, organizing what were essentially blowing sessions for some of the best musicians in jazz history\". Van Gelder said in 2012, \"Alfred was rigid about how he wanted Blue Note records to sound.",
"Van Gelder said in 2012, \"Alfred was rigid about how he wanted Blue Note records to sound. But Bob Weinstock of Prestige was more easygoing, so I'd experiment on his dates and use what I learned on the Blue Note sessions\". He also worked for Savoy Records in this period, among others. \"To accommodate everyone, I assigned different days of the week to different labels\".",
"\"To accommodate everyone, I assigned different days of the week to different labels\". Writer Fred Kaplan has argued that Van Gelder's reputation with the record-buying public was aided by Blue Note Records' conspicuous mentions of Van Gelder on their album covers: \"Van Gelder was hardly the only great jazz engineer on the scene in those days; he may not even have been the best. Other stellar figures included Fred Plaut at Columbia, Roy DuNann at Contemporary, Val Valentin at Verve, Roy Goodman at RCA.",
"Other stellar figures included Fred Plaut at Columbia, Roy DuNann at Contemporary, Val Valentin at Verve, Roy Goodman at RCA. But the other labels didn't play up their engineers (Columbia covers never so much as mentioned Plaut), while Alfred Lion, Blue Note's proprietor, promoted Van Gelder's sound as a boutique blend—something of a mystique—and the other labels who hired him followed suit, as if to boast that they too had the special sauce.\"",
"But the other labels didn't play up their engineers (Columbia covers never so much as mentioned Plaut), while Alfred Lion, Blue Note's proprietor, promoted Van Gelder's sound as a boutique blend—something of a mystique—and the other labels who hired him followed suit, as if to boast that they too had the special sauce.\" Awards and honors In 2013 Van Gelder received the Audio Engineering Society's Gold Medal. In 2009 he was named a Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts.",
"In 2009 he was named a Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts. In 2012 he received the Grammy Trustees Award. See also :Category:Albums recorded at Van Gelder Studio References External links Karp, Andy (2009). \"In Conversation with Rudy Van Gelder\". Jazz.com. \"Susan Stamberg Visits the Recording Studio of Rudy Van Gelder\". npr.org. \"NAMM Oral History Interview with Rudy Van Gelder\". March 15, 2016.",
"March 15, 2016. March 15, 2016. 1924 births 2016 deaths American audio engineers Blue Note Records Businesspeople from Jersey City, New Jersey Jazz record producers Salus University alumni American optometrists People from Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey People from Hackensack, New Jersey Early Recording Engineers (1930-1959) Amateur radio people 20th-century American businesspeople"
] |
[
"Phil Mickelson",
"College golf"
] | C_4f59739234b2446aa77be2aadc5a6b12_1 | Where did he go to college? | 1 | Where did Phil Mickelson go to college? | Phil Mickelson | Mickelson attended Arizona State University in Tempe on a golf scholarship and became the face of amateur golf in the United States, capturing three NCAA individual championships and three Haskins Awards (1990, 1991, 1992) as the outstanding collegiate golfer. With three individual NCAA championships, he shares the record for most individual NCAA championships alongside Ben Crenshaw. Mickelson also led the Sun Devils to the NCAA team title in 1990. Over the course of his collegiate career, he won 16 tournaments. Mickelson was the second collegiate golfer to earn first-team All-American honors all four years. In 1990, he also became the first with a left-handed swing to win the U.S. Amateur title. Mickelson secured perhaps his greatest achievement as an amateur in January 1991, winning his first PGA Tour event, the Northern Telecom Open, in Tucson. At age 20, he was only the sixth amateur to win a tour event and the first in over five years after Scott Verplank at the Western Open in August 1985. Other players to accomplish this feat include Doug Sanders (1956 Canadian Open) and Gene Littler (1954 San Diego Open). With five holes remaining, Mickelson led by a stroke, but made a triple-bogey and was then three behind. The leaders ahead of him then stumbled, and he birdied 16 and 18 to win by a stroke. To date, it is the most recent win by an amateur at a PGA Tour event. That April, Mickelson was the low amateur at the Masters Tournament in Augusta, Georgia. With his two-year PGA Tour exemption from the Tucson win, he played in several tour events in 1992 while an amateur but failed to make a cut. CANNOTANSWER | Mickelson attended Arizona State University in Tempe on a golf scholarship | Philip Alfred Mickelson (born June 16, 1970), nicknamed Phil the Thrill, is an American professional golfer. He has won 45 events on the PGA Tour, including six major championships: three Masters titles (2004, 2006, 2010), two PGA Championships (2005, 2021), and one Open Championship (2013). With his win at the 2021 PGA Championship, Mickelson became the oldest major championship winner in history at the age of 50 years, 11 months and 7 days old.
Mickelson is one of 17 players in the history of golf to win at least three of the four majors. He has won every major except the U.S. Open, in which he has finished runner-up a record six times.
Mickelson has spent more than 25 consecutive years in the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking. He has spent over 700 weeks in the top 10, has reached a career-high world ranking of No. 2 several times and is a life member of the PGA Tour. Although naturally right-handed, he is known for his left-handed swing, having learned it by mirroring his right-handed father's swing. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2012.
Early life and family
Philip Alfred Mickelson was born on June 16, 1970, in San Diego, California, to parents Philip Mickelson, an airline pilot and former naval aviator, and Mary Santos. He was raised there and in Scottsdale, Arizona. Mickelson has Portuguese, Swedish, and Sicilian ancestry. His maternal grandfather, Alfred Santos (also Mickelson's middle name) was a caddie at Pebble Beach Golf Links and took Phil to play golf as a child. Although otherwise right-handed, he played golf left-handed since he learned by watching his right-handed father swing, mirroring his style. Mickelson began golf under his father's instruction before starting school. Phil Sr.'s work schedule as a commercial pilot allowed them to play together several times a week and young Phil honed his creative short game on an extensive practice area in their San Diego backyard. Mickelson graduated from the University of San Diego High School in 1988.
College golf
Mickelson attended Arizona State University in Tempe on a golf scholarship and became the face of amateur golf in the United States, capturing three NCAA individual championships and three Haskins Awards (1990, 1991, 1992) as the outstanding collegiate golfer. With three individual NCAA championships, he shares the record for most individual NCAA championships alongside Ben Crenshaw. Mickelson also led the Sun Devils to the NCAA team title in 1990. Over the course of his collegiate career, he won 16 tournaments.
Mickelson was the second collegiate golfer to earn first-team All-American honors all four years. In 1990, he also became the first with a left-handed swing to win the U.S. Amateur title, defeating high school teammate Manny Zerman 5 and 4 in the 36-hole final at Cherry Hills, south of Denver. Mickelson secured perhaps his greatest achievement as an amateur in January 1991, winning his first PGA Tour event, the Northern Telecom Open, in Tucson, making him one of the few golfers to win a PGA Tour event as an amateur in the history of the PGA Tour. At age 20, he was only the sixth amateur to win a tour event and the first in over five years after Scott Verplank at the Western Open in August 1985. Other players to accomplish this feat include Doug Sanders (1956 Canadian Open) and Gene Littler (1954 San Diego Open). With five holes remaining, Mickelson led by a stroke, but made a triple-bogey and was then three behind. The leaders ahead of him then stumbled, and he birdied 16 and 18 to win by a stroke. To date, it is the most recent win by an amateur at a PGA Tour event.
That April, Mickelson was the low amateur at the Masters Tournament in Augusta, Georgia. With his two-year PGA Tour exemption from the Tucson win, he played in several tour events in 1992 while an amateur but failed to make a cut.
Professional career
1992–2003: Trying for first major win
Mickelson graduated from ASU in June 1992 and quickly turned professional. He bypassed the tour's qualifying process (Q-School) because of his 1991 win in Tucson, which earned him a two-year exemption. In 1992, Mickelson hired Jim "Bones" Mackay as his caddy. He won many PGA Tour tournaments during this period, including the Byron Nelson Golf Classic and the World Series of Golf in 1996, the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in 1998, the Colonial National Invitation in 2000 and the Greater Hartford Open in 2001 and again in 2002.
He appeared as himself in a non-speaking role in the 1996 film Tin Cup, starring Kevin Costner.
His 2000 Buick Invitational win ended Tiger Woods's streak of six consecutive victories on the PGA Tour. After the win, Mickelson said, "I didn't want to be the bad guy. I wasn't trying to end the streak per se. I was just trying to win the golf tournament."
Although he had performed very well in the majors up to the end of the 2003 season (17 top-ten finishes, and six second- or third-place finishes between 1999 and 2003), Mickelson's inability to win any of them led to him frequently being described as the "best player never to win a major".
2004–2006: First three major wins
Mickelson's first major championship win came in his thirteenth year on the PGA Tour in 2004, when he secured victory in the Masters with an birdie putt on the final hole. Ernie Els was the runner-up at a stroke back; the two played in different pairs in the final round and had traded birdies and eagles on the back nine. In addition to getting the "majors monkey" off his back, Mickelson was now only the third golfer with a left-handed swing to win a major, the others being New Zealander Sir Bob Charles, who won The Open Championship in 1963, and Canadian Mike Weir, who won The Masters in 2003. (Like Mickelson, Weir is a right-hander who plays left-handed.) A fourth left-handed winner is natural southpaw Bubba Watson, the Masters champion in 2012 and 2014.
Prior to the Ryder Cup in 2004, Mickelson was dropped from his long-standing contract with Titleist/Acushnet Golf, after an incident when he left a voicemail message for a Callaway Golf executive. In it, he praised their driver and golf ball, and thanked them for their help in getting some equipment for his brother. This memo was played to all of their salesmen, and eventually found its way back to Titleist. He was then let out of his multi-year deal with Titleist 16 months early, and signed on with Callaway Golf, his current equipment sponsor. He endured a great deal of ridicule and scrutiny from the press and fellow Ryder Cup members for his equipment change so close to the Ryder Cup matches. He faltered at the 2004 Ryder Cup with a record, but refused to blame the sudden change in equipment or his practice methods for his performance.
In November 2004, Mickelson tallied his career-low for an 18-hole round: a 59 at the PGA Grand Slam of Golf at Poipu Bay Golf Course in Hawaii.
The following year, Mickelson captured his second major at the PGA Championship at Baltusrol, in a Monday final-round conclusion that had been forced by inclement weather the previous day. On the 18th hole, Mickelson hit one of his trademark soft pitches from deep greenside rough to within of the cup, and made his birdie to finish at a 4-under-par total of 276, one shot ahead of Steve Elkington and Thomas Bjørn.
Mickelson captured his third major title the following spring at the Masters. He won his second green jacket after shooting a 3-under-par final round, winning by two strokes over runner-up Tim Clark. This win propelled him to 2nd place in the Official World Golf Ranking (his career best), behind Woods, and ahead of Vijay Singh and Retief Goosen.
2006: Collapse on final hole at the U.S. Open
After winning two majors in a row heading into the U.S. Open at Winged Foot, Mickelson was bidding to join Ben Hogan and Tiger Woods as the only players to win three consecutive majors (not necessarily in the same calendar year). Mickelson was the joint leader going into the final round, but he was part of a wild finish to the tournament, in which he made major mistakes on the final hole and ended up in a tie for second place at +6 (286), one shot behind Geoff Ogilvy.
Mickelson bogeyed the 16th hole. On the 17th hole, with the lead at +4, he missed the fairway to the left, and his drive finished inside a garbage can, from which he was granted a free drop; he parred the hole. He had a one-shot lead and was in the last group going into the final hole.
Needing a par on the 18th hole for a one-shot victory, Mickelson continued with his aggressive style of play and chose to hit a driver off the tee; he hit his shot well left of the fairway (he had hit only two of thirteen fairways previously in the round). The ball bounced off a corporate hospitality tent and settled in an area of trampled-down grass that was enclosed with trees. He decided to go for the green with his second shot, rather than play it safe and pitch out into the fairway. His ball then hit a tree, and did not advance more than . His next shot plugged into the left greenside bunker. He was unable to get up and down from there, resulting in a double bogey, and costing him a chance of winning the championship outright or getting into an 18-hole playoff with Ogilvy.
After his disappointing finish, Mickelson said: "I'm still in shock. I still can't believe I did that. This one hurts more than any tournament because I had it won. Congratulations to Geoff Ogilvy on some great play. I want to thank all the people that supported me. The only thing I can say is I'm sorry." He was even more candid when he said: "I just can't believe I did that. I'm such an idiot."
2006–2008
During the third round of the 2006 Ford Championship at Doral, Mickelson gave a spectator $200 after his wayward tee shot at the par-5 10th broke the man's watch.
Mickelson also has shown other signs of appreciation. In 2007 after hearing the story of retired NFL player, Conrad Dobler, and his family on ESPN explaining their struggles to pay medical bills, Mickelson volunteered to pay tuition for Holli Dobler, Conrad Dobler's daughter, at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.
Frustrated with his driving accuracy, Mickelson made the decision in April 2007 to leave longtime swing coach, Rick Smith. He then began working with Butch Harmon, a former coach of Tiger Woods and Greg Norman. On May 13, Mickelson came from a stroke back on the final round to shoot a three-under 69 to win The Players Championship with an 11-under-par 277.
In the U.S. Open at Oakmont in June, Mickelson missed the cut (by a stroke) for the first time in 31 majors after shooting 11 over par for 36 holes. He had been hampered by a wrist injury that was incurred while practicing in the thick rough at Oakmont a few weeks before the tournament.
On September 3, 2007, Mickelson won the Deutsche Bank Championship, which is the second FedEx Cup playoff event. On the final day, he was paired with Tiger Woods, who ended up finishing two strokes behind Mickelson in a tie for second. It was the first time that Mickelson was able to beat Woods while the two stars were paired together on the final day of a tournament. The next day Mickelson announced that he would not be competing in the third FedEx Cup playoff event. The day before his withdrawal, Mickelson said during a television interview that PGA Tour Commissioner, Tim Finchem, had not responded to advice he had given him on undisclosed issues.
In 2008, Mickelson won the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial with a −14, one shot ahead of Tim Clark and Rod Pampling. Mickelson shot a first-round 65 to start off the tournament at −5. He ended the day tied with Brett Wetterich, two shots behind leader, Johnson Wagner. Mickelson shot a second-round 68, and the third round 65, overall, being −12 for the first three rounds. On the final hole, after an absolutely horrendous tee shot, he was in thick rough with trees in his way. Many players would have punched out, and taken their chances at making par from the fairway with a good wedge shot. Instead, he pulled out a high-lofted wedge and hit his approach shot over a tree, landing on the green where he one-putted for the win.
In a Men's Vogue article, Mickelson recounted his effort to lose with the help of trainer Sean Cochran. "Once the younger players started to come on tour, he realized that he had to start working out to maintain longevity in his career," Cochran said. Mickelson's regimen consisted of increasing flexibility and power, eating five smaller meals a day, aerobic training, and carrying his own golf bag.
Mickelson was inducted into the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame in 2008.
2009
Mickelson won his first 2009 tour event when he defended his title at the Northern Trust Open at Riviera, one stroke ahead of Steve Stricker. The victory was Mickelson's 35th on tour; he surpassed Vijay Singh for second place on the current PGA Tour wins list. A month later, he won his 36th, and his first World Golf Championship, at the WGC-CA Championship with a one-stroke win over Nick Watney.
On May 20, it was announced that his wife Amy was diagnosed with breast cancer, and Mickelson announced that he would suspend his PGA Tour schedule indefinitely. She would begin treatment with major surgery as early as the following two weeks. Mickelson was scheduled to play the HP Byron Nelson Championship May 21–24, and to defend his title May 28–31 at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, but withdrew from both events. During the final round of the 2009 BMW PGA Championship, fellow golfer and family friend John Daly wore bright pink trousers in support of Mickelson's wife. Also, the next Saturday, at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, a "Pink Out" event was hosted, and the PGA Tour players all wore pink that day, to support the Mickelson family.
On May 31, Mickelson announced that he would return to play on the PGA Tour in June at the St. Jude Classic and the U.S. Open, since he had heard from the doctors treating his wife that her cancer had been detected in an early stage. Mickelson shot a final round 70 at the 2009 U.S. Open and recorded his fifth runner-up finish at the U.S. Open. He shared the lead after an eagle at the 13th hole, but fell back with bogeys on 15 and 17; Lucas Glover captured the championship.
On July 6, it was announced that his mother Mary was diagnosed with breast cancer and would have surgery at the same hospital where his wife was treated. After hearing the news that his mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer, Mickelson took another leave of absence from the tour, missing The Open Championship at Turnberry. On July 28, Mickelson announced he would return in August at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, the week before the PGA Championship at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota.
In September, Mickelson won The Tour Championship for the second time in his career. He entered the final round four strokes off the lead, but shot a final round 65 to win the event by three strokes over Tiger Woods. With the win, Mickelson finished the season second behind Woods in the 2009 FedEx Cup standings.
On November 8, Mickelson won the WGC-HSBC Champions by one shot over Ernie Els in Shanghai.
2010: Third Masters win
In 2010, Mickelson won the Masters Tournament on April 11 with a 16-under-par performance, giving him a three-stroke win over Lee Westwood. The win marked the third Masters victory for Mickelson and his fourth major championship overall. Critical to Mickelson's win was a dramatic run in the third round on Saturday in which Mickelson, trailing leader Westwood by five strokes as he prepared his approach shot to the 13th green, proceeded to make eagle, then to hole-out for eagle from 141 yards at the next hole, the par 4 14th, then on the next, the par 5 15th, to miss eagle from 81 yards by mere inches. After tapping in for birdie at 15, Mickelson, at −12, led Westwood, at −11, who had bogeyed hole 12 and failed to capitalize on the par 5 13th, settling for par.
Westwood recaptured a one-stroke lead by the end of the round, but the momentum carried forward for Mickelson into round 4, where he posted a bogey-free 67 to Westwood's 71. No other pursuer was able to keep pace to the end, though K. J. Choi and Anthony Kim made notable charges. For good measure, Mickelson birdied the final hole and memorably greeted his waiting wife, Amy, with a prolonged hug and kiss.
For many fans, Mickelson's finish in the tournament was especially poignant, given that Amy had been suffering from breast cancer during the preceding year. Mary Mickelson, Phil's mother, was also dealing with cancer. CBS Sports announcer Jim Nantz's call of the final birdie putt, "That's a win for the family," was seen by many as capturing the moment well.
Tiger Woods had a dramatic return to competitive play after a scandal-ridden 20-week absence; he was in close contention throughout for the lead and finished tied with Choi for 4th at −11. Mickelson and others showed exciting play over the weekend, and the 2010 Masters had strong television ratings in the United States, ranking third all-time to Woods's historic wins in 1997 and 2001. Mickelson's win left him second only to Woods in major championships among his competitive contemporaries, moving him ahead of Ernie Els, Vijay Singh and Pádraig Harrington, with three major championships each and each, like Mickelson, with dozens of worldwide wins.
Remainder of 2010
Mickelson, one of the favorites for the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, shot 75 and 66 on Thursday and Friday to sit two shots off the lead. However, two weekend scores of 73 gave him a T4 finish. During the remainder of the 2010 season, Mickelson had multiple opportunities to become the number one player in the world rankings following the travails of Tiger Woods. However, a string of disappointing finishes by Mickelson saw the number one spot eventually go to Englishman Lee Westwood.
In the days leading up to the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits (near Kohler, Wisconsin), Mickelson announced he had been diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis. He added that he had started medical treatment, and had become a vegetarian in hopes of aiding his recovery. He maintains that both his short- and long-term prognosis are good, that the condition should have no long-term effect on his golfing career, and that he currently feels well. He also stated that the arthritis may go into permanent remission after one year of medical treatment. He went on to finish the championship T12, five shots behind winner Martin Kaymer.
2011
Mickelson started his 2011 season at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines Golf Course. He shot and was tied for the 54 hole lead with Bill Haas. Mickelson needed to hole out on the 18th hole for eagle from 74 yards to force a playoff with Bubba Watson. He hit it to 4 feet and Watson won the tournament.
On April 3, Mickelson won the Shell Houston Open with a 20-under-par, three-stroke win over Scott Verplank. Mickelson rose to No. 3 in the world ranking, while Tiger Woods fell to No. 7. Mickelson had not been ranked above Woods since the week prior to the 1997 Masters Tournament.
At The Open Championship, Mickelson recorded just his second top-ten finish in 18 tournaments by tying for second with Dustin Johnson. His front nine 30 put him briefly in a tie for the lead with eventual champion Darren Clarke. However, some putting problems caused him to fade from contention toward the end, to finish in a tie for second place.
2012: 40th career PGA Tour win
Mickelson made his 2012 debut at the Humana Challenge and finished tied for 49th. He missed the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open after shooting rounds of 77 and 68. In the final round of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, Mickelson rallied from six shots back, winning the tournament by two strokes with a final-round score of 8-under 64 and a four-round total of 269. The win marked his 40th career victory on the PGA Tour. The following week at Riviera Country Club, Mickelson lost the Northern Trust Open in a three-way playoff. He had held the lead or a share of it from day one until the back nine on Sunday when Bill Haas posted the clubhouse lead at seven under par. Mickelson holed a 27-foot birdie putt on the final regulation hole to force a playoff alongside Haas and Keegan Bradley. Haas however won the playoff with a 40-foot birdie putt on the second playoff hole. The second-place finish moved Mickelson back into the world's top 10.
Mickelson finished tied for third at the Masters. After opening the tournament with a two-over-par 74, he shot 68–66 in the next two rounds and ended up one stroke behind leader Peter Hanson by Saturday night. Mickelson had a poor start to his fourth round, scoring a triple-bogey when he hit his ball far to the left of the green on the par-3 4th hole, hitting the stand and landing in a bamboo plant. This ended up being Mickelson's only score over par in the whole round, and he ended with a score of eight-under overall. Earlier in the tournament he had received widespread praise for being present to watch Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, and Gary Player hit the ceremonial opening tee-shots, nearly seven hours before Mickelson's own tee time.
Mickelson made a charge during the final round at the HP Byron Nelson Championship, but bogeyed the 17th and 18th, finishing T-7th. He then withdrew from the Memorial Tournament, citing mental fatigue, after a first-round 79. He was to be paired with Tiger Woods and Bubba Watson at the U.S. Open. He fought to make the cut in the U.S. Open, and finished T-65th. After taking a couple of weeks off, he played in the Greenbrier Classic. Putting problems meant a second straight missed cut at the Greenbrier and a third missed cut at 2012 Open Championship, shooting 73-78 (11 over par). He finished T-43rd at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. He then finished T-36th at the PGA Championship.
To start the 2012 FedEx Cup Playoffs, Mickelson finished T38 at The Barclays, +1 for the tournament. He tied with Tiger Woods, Zach Johnson, and five other players. In this tournament, he started using the claw putting grip on the greens. At the next event, the Deutsche Bank Championship, he finished the tournament with a −14, tied for 4th with Dustin Johnson. At the BMW Championship, Mickelson posted a −16 for the first three rounds, one of those rounds being a −8, 64. On the final day, Mickelson shot a −2, 70, to finish tied for 2nd, with Lee Westwood, two shots behind leader, and back-to-back winner, Rory McIlroy. At the Tour Championship, he ended up finishing tied for 15th. He went on to have a 3–1 record at the Ryder Cup; however, the USA team lost the event.
2013
Mickelson began the 2013 season in January by playing in the Humana Challenge, where he finished T37 at −17. His next event was the following week in his home event near San Diego at the Farmers Insurance Open. Mickelson endured a disappointing tournament, finishing T51, shooting all four rounds in the 70s.
In the first round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open, Mickelson tied his career-low round of 60. He made seven birdies in his first nine holes and needed a birdie on the 18th hole to equal the PGA Tour record of 59. However, his 25-foot birdie putt on the final hole lipped out, resulting in him missing out by a single shot on making only the sixth round of 59 in PGA Tour history. Mickelson led the tournament wire-to-wire and completed a four-shot win over Brandt Snedeker for his 41st PGA Tour victory and 3rd Phoenix Open title. Mickelson's score of 28-under-par tied Mark Calcavecchia's tournament scoring record. He also moved back inside the world's top 10 after falling down as far as number 22.
Sixth runner-up finish at the U.S. Open
At the U.S. Open at Merion, Mickelson entered the final round leading by one stroke after rounds of over the first three days, but he started the final round by three-putting the 3rd and 5th holes for double-bogeys to fall out of the lead. He regained the lead at the par-four 10th, when he holed his second shot from the rough for an eagle. However, a misjudgment at the short par three 13th saw him fly the green and make a bogey to slip one behind leader Justin Rose. Another bogey followed at the 15th, before narrowly missing a birdie putt on the 16th that would have tied Rose. Mickelson could not make a birdie at the 17th and after a blocked drive on the 18th, he could not hole his pitch from short of the green, which led to a final bogey.
Mickelson ended up finishing tied for second with Jason Day, two strokes behind Justin Rose. It was the sixth runner-up finish of Mickelson's career at the U.S. Open, an event record and only behind Jack Nicklaus's seven runner-up finishes at The Open Championship. After the event, Mickelson called the loss heartbreaking and said "this is tough to swallow after coming so close ... I felt like this was as good an opportunity I could ask for and to not get it ... it hurts." It was also Father's Day, which happened to be his birthday.
Fifth major title at the Open Championship
The week before The Open Championship, Mickelson warmed up for the event by winning his first tournament on British soil at the Scottish Open on July 14, after a sudden-death playoff against Branden Grace. After this victory, Mickelson spoke of his confidence ahead of his participation in the following week's major championship. Mickelson said: "I've never felt more excited going into The Open. I don't think there's a better way to get ready for a major than playing well the week before and getting into contention. Coming out on top just gives me more confidence."
The following week, Mickelson won his fifth major title on July 21 at the Open Championship (often referred to as the British Open) Muirfield Golf Links in Scotland; the Open Championship is the oldest of the four major tournaments in professional golf. This was the first time in history that anyone had won both the Scottish Open and The Open Championship in the same year. Mickelson birdied four of the last six holes in a brilliant final round of 66 to win the title by three strokes. He shed tears on the 18th green after completing his round. Mickelson later said: "I played arguably the best round of my career, and shot the round of my life. The range of emotions I feel are as far apart as possible after losing the U.S. Open. But you have to be resilient in this game." In an interview before the 2015 Open, Mickelson said, "Two years removed from that win, I still can't believe how much it means to me."
2014 and 2015: Inconsistent form and close calls in majors
Mickelson missed the cut at the Masters for the first time since 1997. He failed to contend at the U.S. Open at Pinehurst in his first bid to complete the career grand slam. Mickelson's lone top-10 of the PGA Tour season came at the year's final major, the PGA Championship at Valhalla. Mickelson shot rounds of 69-67-67-66 to finish solo second, one shot behind world number one Rory McIlroy.
Prior to the 2015 Masters, Mickelson's best finish in 2015 was a tie for 17th. At the Masters, Mickelson shot rounds of to finish tied for second with Justin Rose, four shots behind champion Jordan Spieth. The second-place finish was Mickelson's tenth such finish in a major, placing him second all-time only to Jack Nicklaus in that regard.
At The Open Championship, Mickelson shot rounds of and was eight shots behind, outside the top forty. In the final round, Mickelson birdied the 15th hole to move to 10 under and within two of the lead. After a missed birdie putt on 16, Mickelson hit his drive on the infamous Road Hole (17th) at the famed Old Course at St Andrews onto a second-floor balcony of the Old Course Hotel. The out-of-bounds drive lead to a triple-bogey 7 that sent Mickelson tumbling out of contention.
Later in the year, it was announced that Mickelson would leave longtime swing coach Butch Harmon, feeling as though he needed to hear a new perspective on things.
2016: New swing coach
After leaving Butch Harmon, Mickelson hired Andrew Getson of Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona, to serve as his new swing coach. The two worked together heavily in the 2015 offseason to get Mickelson's swing back.
Under Getson's guidance, Mickelson made his 2016 debut at the CareerBuilder Challenge. He shot rounds of to finish in a tie for third place at 21-under-par. It was only Mickelson's fifth top-five finish since his win at the 2013 Open Championship. The third-place finish was Mickelson's highest finish in his first worldwide start of a calendar year since he won the same event to begin the 2004 season.
At the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Mickelson shot rounds of to finish in solo second place, a shot behind Vaughn Taylor. Mickelson lipped out a five-foot birdie putt to force a playoff on the 72nd hole. He entered the final round with a two-stroke lead, his first 54-hole lead since the 2013 U.S. Open and was seeking to end a winless drought dating back 52 worldwide events to the 2013 Open Championship.
Mickelson shot a 63 in the opening round of The Open Championship at Royal Troon. The round set a new course record and matched the previous major championship record for lowest round. Mickelson had a birdie putt that narrowly missed on the final hole to set a new major championship scoring record of 62. He followed this up with a 69 in the second round for a 10 under par total and a one-shot lead over Henrik Stenson going into the weekend. In the third round, Mickelson shot a one-under 70 for a total of 11 under par to enter the final round one shot back of Stenson. Despite Mickelson's bogey-free 65 in the final round, Stenson shot 63 to win by three shots. Mickelson finished 11 strokes clear of 3rd place, a major championship record for a runner-up. Mickelson's 267 total set a record score for a runner-up in the British Open, and only trails Mickelson's 266 at the 2001 PGA Championship as the lowest total by a runner-up in major championship history.
2017: Recovery from surgeries
In the fall of 2016, Mickelson had two sports hernia surgeries. Those in the golf community expected him to miss much time recovering, however his unexpected return at the CareerBuilder Challenge was a triumphant one, leading to a T-21 finish. The next week, in San Diego, he narrowly missed an eagle putt on the 18th hole on Sunday that would've got him to 8-under par instead posting −7 to finish T14 at the Farmers Insurance Open. The following week, at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, which he has won three times, he surged into contention following a Saturday 65. He played his first nine holes in 4-under 32 and sending his name to the top of the leaderboard. However, his charge faltered with bogeys at 11, 12, 14, 15, and a double bogey at the driveable 17th hole. He stumbled with a final round 71, still earning a T-16 finish, for his sixth straight top-25 finish on tour.
Mickelson came close to winning again at the FedEx St. Jude Classic where he had finished in second place the previous year to Daniel Berger. He started the final round four strokes behind leaders but he quickly played himself into contention. Following a birdie at the 10th hole he vaulted to the top of leaderboard but found trouble on the 12th hole. His tee shot carried out of bounds and his fourth shot hit the water so he had to make a long putt to salvage triple-bogey. He managed to get one shot back but he finished three shots behind winner Berger, in ninth place, for the second straight year.
Two weeks later he withdrew from the U.S. Open to attend his daughter's high school graduation. A week later his longtime caddie Jim (Bones) Mackay left Mickelson in a mutual agreement. Mickelson then missed the cut at both The Open Championship and the PGA Championship.
On September 6, days after posting his best finish of the season of T6 at the Dell Technologies Championship, Mickelson was named as a captain's pick for the Presidents Cup. This maintained a streak of 23 consecutive USA teams in the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup, dating back to 1994.
2018–2019: Winless streak ends
On March 4, 2018, Mickelson ended a winless drought that dated back to 2013, by capturing his third WGC championship at the WGC-Mexico Championship, with a final-round score of 66 and a total score of −16. Mickelson birdied two of his last four holes and had a lengthy putt to win outright on the 72nd hole, but tied with Justin Thomas. He defeated Thomas on the first extra hole of a sudden-death playoff with a par. After Thomas had flown the green, Mickelson had a birdie to win the playoff which lipped out. Thomas however could not get up and down for par, meaning Mickelson claimed the championship. The win was Mickelson's 43rd on the PGA Tour and his first since winning the 2013 Open Championship. He also became the oldest winner of a WGC event, at age 47.
In the third round of the 2018 U.S. Open, Mickelson incurred a two-stroke penalty in a controversial incident on the 13th hole when he hit his ball with intent while it was still moving. He ended up shooting 81 (+11). His former coach Butch Harmon thought Mickelson should have been disqualified.
Mickelson was a captain's pick for Team USA at the 2018 Ryder Cup, held in Paris between September 28 and 30. Paired with Bryson DeChambeau in the Friday afternoon foursomes, they lost 5 and 4 to Europe's Sergio García and Alex Norén. In the Sunday singles match, Mickelson lost 4 and 2 to Francesco Molinari, as Team USA slumped to a 17.5 to 10.5 defeat.
On November 23, 2018, Mickelson won the pay-per-view event, Capital One's The Match. This was a $9,000,000 winner-takes-all match against Tiger Woods at Shadow Creek Golf Course in Las Vegas. Mickelson needed four extra holes to beat Woods, which he did by holing a four-foot putt after Woods missed a seven-foot putt on the 22nd hole.
In his third start of the 2019 calendar year, Mickelson won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, shooting a bogey-free final round 65 to defeat Paul Casey by three strokes. The win was Mickelson's 44th career title on the PGA Tour, and his fifth at Pebble Beach, tying Mark O'Meara for most victories in the event. At 48 years of age, he also became the oldest winner of that event.
2020: PGA Tour season and PGA Tour Champions debut
In December 2019, Mickelson announced via Twitter that "after turning down opportunities to go to the Middle East for many years" he would play in the 2020 Saudi International tournament on the European Tour and would miss Waste Management Phoenix Open for the first time since 1989. However, his decision to visit and play in Saudi Arabia was criticized for getting lured by millions of dollars and ignoring the continuous human rights abuses in the nation. Mickelson went on to finish the February 2020 event tied for third.
Mickelson finished 3rd at the 2020 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and tied for 2nd in the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational. Mickelson was the first player over 50 to finish in the top five of a World Golf Championship event. He was ultimately eliminated from the FedEx Cup Playoffs following The Northern Trust at TPC Boston in August 2020. One week later, Mickelson made his debut on the PGA Tour Champions. He won the Charles Schwab Series at Ozarks National in his first tournament after becoming eligible for PGA Tour Champions on his 50th birthday on June 16, 2020. He was the 20th player to win their debut tournament on tour. Mickelson's 191 stroke total tied the PGA Tour Champions all-time record for a three-day event.
In October 2020, Mickelson won the Dominion Energy Charity Classic in Virginia. It was his second win in as many starts on the PGA Tour Champions.
2021: The oldest major champion
In February 2021, Mickelson was attempting to become the first player in PGA Tour Champions history to win his first three tournaments on tour. However, he fell short in the Cologuard Classic, finishing in a T-20 position with a score of 4 under par.
In May 2021, Mickelson held the 54-hole lead at the PGA Championship at the Kiawah Island Golf Resort in South Carolina, leading Brooks Koepka by one shot with one day to play. He shot a final-round 73 to capture the tournament, defeating Koepka and Louis Oosthuizen by two strokes, becoming the oldest major champion; at 50. As Mickelson walked down the fairway following an excellent second shot from the left rough on the 18th hole, thousands of fans engulfed him, with him walking towards the hole constantly tipping his hat and giving the thumbs up to the crowd as they cheered. However, the massive tumult of people meant playing partner Brooks Koepka was stranded in the sea of people, and with difficulties, he managed to reach the green to finish the hole. Mickelson eventually emerged from the crowd and two-putted for par, finishing the tournament at 6-under, besting the field by two strokes.
In October 2021, Mickelson won for the third time in four career starts on the PGA Tour Champions. Mickelson shot a final round 4-under-par 68 to win the inaugural Constellation Furyk & Friends over Miguel Ángel Jiménez in Jacksonville, Florida.
In November 2021, Mickelson won the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship in Phoenix, Arizona, with a final round six-under par 65. This victory was Mickelson's fourth win in six career starts on PGA Tour Champions.
2022: Saudi Arabia controversy
Mickelson admitted in an interview to overlooking Saudi Arabian human rights violations, including the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and execution of LGBTQ+ individuals, to support the Saudi-backed Super Golf League because it offered an opportunity to reshape the PGA Tour. In response to these comments, Mickelson lost multiple longtime sponsors including Callaway Golf and KPMG. Mickelson announced he would be stepping away from golf to spend time with his family.
Playing style
As a competitor, Mickelson's playing style is described by many as "aggressive" and highly social. His strategy toward difficult shots (bad lies, obstructions) would tend to be considered risky.
Mickelson has also been characterized by his powerful and sometimes inaccurate driver, but his excellent short game draws the most positive reviews, most of all his daring "Phil flop" shot in which a big swing with a high-lofted wedge against a tight lie flies a ball high into the air for a short distance.
Mickelson is usually in the top 10 in scoring, and he led the PGA Tour in birdie average as recently as 2013.
Earnings and endorsements
Although ranked second on the PGA Tour's all-time money list of tournament prize money won, Mickelson earns far more from endorsements than from prize money. According to one estimate of 2011 earnings (comprising salary, winnings, bonuses, endorsements and appearances) Mickelson was then the second-highest paid athlete in the United States, earning an income of over $62 million, $53 million of which came from endorsements. Major companies which Mickelson currently endorses are ExxonMobil (Mickelson and wife Amy started a teacher sponsorship fund with the company), Rolex and Mizzen+Main. He has been previously sponsored by Titleist, Bearing Point, Barclays, and Ford. After being diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis in 2010, Mickelson was treated with Enbrel and began endorsing the drug. In 2015, Forbes estimated Mickelson's annual income was $51 million.
In 2022, Mickelson lost a significant number of sponsors including Callaway Golf, KPMG, Amstel Light and Workday after comments he made about the Saudi-backed golf league, Super Golf League. In an interview, he stated that Saudis are "scary motherfuckers to get involved with... We know they killed [Washington Post reporter and U.S. resident Jamal] Khashoggi and have a horrible record on human rights. They execute people over there for being gay. Knowing all of this, why would I even consider it? Because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reshape how the PGA Tour operates."
Insider trading settlement
On May 30, 2014, The Wall Street Journal reported that the FBI and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) were investigating Mickelson and associates of his for insider trading in Clorox stock. Mickelson denied any wrongdoing, and the investigation found "no evidence" and concluded without any charges. On May 19, 2016, Mickelson was named as a relief defendant in another SEC complaint alleging insider trading but completely avoided criminal charges in a parallel case brought in the Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York. The action stems for trades in Dean Foods in 2012 in conjunction with confidential information provided by Thomas Davis, a former director of Dean Foods Company, who tipped his friend and "professional sports bettor" Billy Walters.
The SEC did not allege that Walters actually told Mickelson of any material, nonpublic information about Dean Foods, and the SEC disgorged Mickelson of the $931,000 profit he had made from trading Dean Foods stock and had him pay prejudgment interest of $105,000. In 2017, Walters was convicted of making $40 million on Davis's private information from 2008 to 2014 by a federal jury. At that time, it was also noted that Mickelson had "once owed nearly $2 million in gambling debts to" Walters. Walters's lawyer said his client would appeal the 2017 verdict.
Amateur wins
1980 Junior World Golf Championships (Boys 9–10)
1989 NCAA Division I Championship
1990 Pac-10 Championship, NCAA Division I Championship, U.S. Amateur, Porter Cup
1991 Western Amateur
1992 NCAA Division I Championship
Professional wins (57)
PGA Tour wins (45)
*Note: Tournament shortened to 54 holes due to weather.
PGA Tour playoff record (8–4)
European Tour wins (11)
1Co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour, Sunshine Tour and PGA Tour of Australasia
European Tour playoff record (3–1)
Challenge Tour wins (1)
Other wins (4)
Other playoff record (1–1)
PGA Tour Champions wins (4)
Major championships
Wins (6)
Results timeline
Results not in chronological order in 2020.
LA = Low amateur
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
NT = No tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic
Summary
Most consecutive cuts made – 30 (1999 PGA – 2007 Masters)
Longest streak of top-10s – 5 (2004 Masters – 2005 Masters)
The Players Championship
Wins (1)
Results timeline
CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
C = Canceled after the first round due to the COVID-19 pandemic
World Golf Championships
Wins (3)
Results timeline
Results not in chronological order prior to 2015.
1Cancelled due to 9/11
2Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = tied
NT = No Tournament
Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.
PGA Tour career summary
* As of 2021 season.
† Mickelson won as an amateur in 1991 and therefore did not receive any prize money.
U.S. national team appearances
Amateur
Walker Cup: 1989, 1991 (winners)
Eisenhower Trophy: 1990
Professional
Presidents Cup: 1994 (winners), 1996 (winners), 1998, 2000 (winners), 2003 (tie), 2005 (winners), 2007 (winners), 2009 (winners), 2011 (winners), 2013 (winners), 2015 (winners), 2017 (winners)
Ryder Cup: 1995, 1997, 1999 (winners), 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008 (winners), 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016 (winners), 2018
Alfred Dunhill Cup: 1996 (winners)
Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge (representing PGA Tour): 1997 (winners), 2000 (winners)
World Cup: 2002
See also
List of golfers with most European Tour wins
List of golfers with most PGA Tour wins
List of men's major championships winning golfers
Monday Night Golf
References
External links
On Course With Phil
American male golfers
PGA Tour golfers
PGA Tour Champions golfers
Ryder Cup competitors for the United States
Sports controversies
Winners of men's major golf championships
Arizona State Sun Devils men's golfers
Left-handed golfers
World Golf Hall of Fame inductees
Golfers from Scottsdale, Arizona
Golfers from San Diego
American people of Italian descent
American people of Portuguese descent
American people of Swedish descent
1970 births
Living people | true | [
"California Concordia College existed in Oakland, California, United States from 1906 until 1973.\n\nAmong the presidents of California Concordia College was Johann Theodore Gotthold Brohm Jr.\n\nCalifornia Concordia College and the Academy of California College were located at 2365 Camden Street, Oakland, California. Some of the school buildings still exist at this location, but older buildings that housed the earlier classrooms and later the dormitories are gone. The site is now the location of the Spectrum Center Camden Campus, a provider of special education services.\n\nThe \"Academy\" was the official name for the high school. California Concordia was a six-year institution patterned after the German gymnasium. This provided four years of high school, plus two years of junior college. Years in the school took their names from Latin numbers and referred to the years to go before graduation. The classes were named:\n\n Sexta - 6 years to go; high school freshman\n Qunita - 5 years to go; high school sophomore\n Quarta - 4 years to go; high school junior\n Tertia - 3 years to go; high school senior\n Secunda - 2 years to go; college freshman\n Prima - 1 year to go; college sophomore\n\nThose in Sexta were usually hazed in a mild way by upperclassmen. In addition, those in Sexta were required to do a certain amount of clean-up work around the school, such as picking up trash.\n\nMost students, even high school freshmen, lived in dormitories. High school students were supervised by \"proctors\" (selected high school seniors in Tertia). High school students were required to study for two hours each night in their study rooms from 7:00 to 9:00 pm. Students could not leave their rooms for any reason without permission. This requirement came as quite a shock to those in Sexta (freshmen) on their first night, when they were caught and scolded by a proctor when they left their study room to go to the bathroom without permission. Seniors (those in Tertia) were allowed one night off where they did not need to be in their study hall.\n\nFrom 9:00 to 9:30 pm all students gathered for a chapel service. From 9:30 to 10 pm, high school students were free to roam, and sometimes went to the local Lucky Supermarket to purchase snacks. All high school students were required to be in bed with lights out by 10:00 pm. There were generally five students in each dormitory room. The room had two sections: a bedroom area and (across the hallway) another room for studying. Four beds, including at least one bunk bed, were in the bedroom, and four or five desks were in the study room\n\nA few interesting words used by Concordia students were \"fink\" and \"rack.\" To \"fink\" meant to \"sing like a canary\" or \"squeal.\" A student who finked told everything he knew about a misbehavior committed by another student. \"Rack\" was actually an official term used by proctors and administrators who lived on campus in the dormitories with students. When students misbehaved they were racked (punished). Proctors held a meeting once a week and decided which students, if any, deserved to be racked. If a student were racked, he might be forbidden from leaving the campus grounds, even during normal free time School hours were from 7:30 am to 3:30 pm. After 3:30 pm and until 7:00 pm, students could normally explore the local area surrounding the school, for example, to go to a local store to buy a snack. However, if a student were racked for the week, he could not do so.\n\nProctors made their rounds in the morning to make sure beds were made and inspected rooms in the evening to ensure that students were in bed by 10:00 pm. Often after the proctors left a room at night, the room lights would go back on and students enjoyed studying their National Geographic magazines. Student might be racked if they failed to make their beds or did not make them neatly enough.\n\nAlthough California Concordia College no longer exists, it does receive some recognition by Concordia University Irvine. This is also the location of its old academic records.\n\nSources\n\nExternal links \n Photos of old campus\n\nEducational institutions disestablished in 1973\nDefunct private universities and colleges in California\nEducational institutions established in 1906\n1906 establishments in California\n1973 disestablishments in California\nUniversities and colleges affiliated with the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod",
"Where Did We Go Wrong may refer to:\n \"Where Did We Go Wrong\" (Dondria song), 2010\n \"Where Did We Go Wrong\" (Toni Braxton and Babyface song), 2013\n \"Where Did We Go Wrong\", a song by Petula Clark from the album My Love\n \"Where Did We Go Wrong\", a song by Diana Ross from the album Ross\n \"Where Did We Go Wrong\", a 1980 song by Frankie Valli"
] | [
"Philip Alfred Mickelson (born June 16, 1970), nicknamed Phil the Thrill, is an American professional golfer. He has won 45 events on the PGA Tour, including six major championships: three Masters titles (2004, 2006, 2010), two PGA Championships (2005, 2021), and one Open Championship (2013). With his win at the 2021 PGA Championship, Mickelson became the oldest major championship winner in history at the age of 50 years, 11 months and 7 days old.",
"With his win at the 2021 PGA Championship, Mickelson became the oldest major championship winner in history at the age of 50 years, 11 months and 7 days old. Mickelson is one of 17 players in the history of golf to win at least three of the four majors. He has won every major except the U.S. Open, in which he has finished runner-up a record six times. Mickelson has spent more than 25 consecutive years in the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking.",
"Mickelson has spent more than 25 consecutive years in the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking. He has spent over 700 weeks in the top 10, has reached a career-high world ranking of No. 2 several times and is a life member of the PGA Tour. Although naturally right-handed, he is known for his left-handed swing, having learned it by mirroring his right-handed father's swing. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2012.",
"He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2012. Early life and family Philip Alfred Mickelson was born on June 16, 1970, in San Diego, California, to parents Philip Mickelson, an airline pilot and former naval aviator, and Mary Santos. He was raised there and in Scottsdale, Arizona. Mickelson has Portuguese, Swedish, and Sicilian ancestry.",
"Mickelson has Portuguese, Swedish, and Sicilian ancestry. Mickelson has Portuguese, Swedish, and Sicilian ancestry. His maternal grandfather, Alfred Santos (also Mickelson's middle name) was a caddie at Pebble Beach Golf Links and took Phil to play golf as a child. Although otherwise right-handed, he played golf left-handed since he learned by watching his right-handed father swing, mirroring his style. Mickelson began golf under his father's instruction before starting school.",
"Mickelson began golf under his father's instruction before starting school. Phil Sr.'s work schedule as a commercial pilot allowed them to play together several times a week and young Phil honed his creative short game on an extensive practice area in their San Diego backyard. Mickelson graduated from the University of San Diego High School in 1988.",
"Mickelson graduated from the University of San Diego High School in 1988. College golf Mickelson attended Arizona State University in Tempe on a golf scholarship and became the face of amateur golf in the United States, capturing three NCAA individual championships and three Haskins Awards (1990, 1991, 1992) as the outstanding collegiate golfer. With three individual NCAA championships, he shares the record for most individual NCAA championships alongside Ben Crenshaw. Mickelson also led the Sun Devils to the NCAA team title in 1990.",
"Mickelson also led the Sun Devils to the NCAA team title in 1990. Over the course of his collegiate career, he won 16 tournaments. Mickelson was the second collegiate golfer to earn first-team All-American honors all four years. In 1990, he also became the first with a left-handed swing to win the U.S. Amateur title, defeating high school teammate Manny Zerman 5 and 4 in the 36-hole final at Cherry Hills, south of Denver.",
"Amateur title, defeating high school teammate Manny Zerman 5 and 4 in the 36-hole final at Cherry Hills, south of Denver. Mickelson secured perhaps his greatest achievement as an amateur in January 1991, winning his first PGA Tour event, the Northern Telecom Open, in Tucson, making him one of the few golfers to win a PGA Tour event as an amateur in the history of the PGA Tour.",
"Mickelson secured perhaps his greatest achievement as an amateur in January 1991, winning his first PGA Tour event, the Northern Telecom Open, in Tucson, making him one of the few golfers to win a PGA Tour event as an amateur in the history of the PGA Tour. At age 20, he was only the sixth amateur to win a tour event and the first in over five years after Scott Verplank at the Western Open in August 1985.",
"At age 20, he was only the sixth amateur to win a tour event and the first in over five years after Scott Verplank at the Western Open in August 1985. Other players to accomplish this feat include Doug Sanders (1956 Canadian Open) and Gene Littler (1954 San Diego Open). With five holes remaining, Mickelson led by a stroke, but made a triple-bogey and was then three behind. The leaders ahead of him then stumbled, and he birdied 16 and 18 to win by a stroke.",
"The leaders ahead of him then stumbled, and he birdied 16 and 18 to win by a stroke. To date, it is the most recent win by an amateur at a PGA Tour event. That April, Mickelson was the low amateur at the Masters Tournament in Augusta, Georgia. With his two-year PGA Tour exemption from the Tucson win, he played in several tour events in 1992 while an amateur but failed to make a cut.",
"With his two-year PGA Tour exemption from the Tucson win, he played in several tour events in 1992 while an amateur but failed to make a cut. Professional career 1992–2003: Trying for first major win Mickelson graduated from ASU in June 1992 and quickly turned professional. He bypassed the tour's qualifying process (Q-School) because of his 1991 win in Tucson, which earned him a two-year exemption. In 1992, Mickelson hired Jim \"Bones\" Mackay as his caddy.",
"In 1992, Mickelson hired Jim \"Bones\" Mackay as his caddy. He won many PGA Tour tournaments during this period, including the Byron Nelson Golf Classic and the World Series of Golf in 1996, the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in 1998, the Colonial National Invitation in 2000 and the Greater Hartford Open in 2001 and again in 2002. He appeared as himself in a non-speaking role in the 1996 film Tin Cup, starring Kevin Costner.",
"He appeared as himself in a non-speaking role in the 1996 film Tin Cup, starring Kevin Costner. His 2000 Buick Invitational win ended Tiger Woods's streak of six consecutive victories on the PGA Tour. After the win, Mickelson said, \"I didn't want to be the bad guy. I wasn't trying to end the streak per se. I was just trying to win the golf tournament.\"",
"I was just trying to win the golf tournament.\" Although he had performed very well in the majors up to the end of the 2003 season (17 top-ten finishes, and six second- or third-place finishes between 1999 and 2003), Mickelson's inability to win any of them led to him frequently being described as the \"best player never to win a major\".",
"Although he had performed very well in the majors up to the end of the 2003 season (17 top-ten finishes, and six second- or third-place finishes between 1999 and 2003), Mickelson's inability to win any of them led to him frequently being described as the \"best player never to win a major\". 2004–2006: First three major wins Mickelson's first major championship win came in his thirteenth year on the PGA Tour in 2004, when he secured victory in the Masters with an birdie putt on the final hole.",
"2004–2006: First three major wins Mickelson's first major championship win came in his thirteenth year on the PGA Tour in 2004, when he secured victory in the Masters with an birdie putt on the final hole. Ernie Els was the runner-up at a stroke back; the two played in different pairs in the final round and had traded birdies and eagles on the back nine.",
"Ernie Els was the runner-up at a stroke back; the two played in different pairs in the final round and had traded birdies and eagles on the back nine. In addition to getting the \"majors monkey\" off his back, Mickelson was now only the third golfer with a left-handed swing to win a major, the others being New Zealander Sir Bob Charles, who won The Open Championship in 1963, and Canadian Mike Weir, who won The Masters in 2003.",
"In addition to getting the \"majors monkey\" off his back, Mickelson was now only the third golfer with a left-handed swing to win a major, the others being New Zealander Sir Bob Charles, who won The Open Championship in 1963, and Canadian Mike Weir, who won The Masters in 2003. (Like Mickelson, Weir is a right-hander who plays left-handed.) A fourth left-handed winner is natural southpaw Bubba Watson, the Masters champion in 2012 and 2014.",
"A fourth left-handed winner is natural southpaw Bubba Watson, the Masters champion in 2012 and 2014. Prior to the Ryder Cup in 2004, Mickelson was dropped from his long-standing contract with Titleist/Acushnet Golf, after an incident when he left a voicemail message for a Callaway Golf executive. In it, he praised their driver and golf ball, and thanked them for their help in getting some equipment for his brother. This memo was played to all of their salesmen, and eventually found its way back to Titleist.",
"This memo was played to all of their salesmen, and eventually found its way back to Titleist. He was then let out of his multi-year deal with Titleist 16 months early, and signed on with Callaway Golf, his current equipment sponsor. He endured a great deal of ridicule and scrutiny from the press and fellow Ryder Cup members for his equipment change so close to the Ryder Cup matches.",
"He endured a great deal of ridicule and scrutiny from the press and fellow Ryder Cup members for his equipment change so close to the Ryder Cup matches. He faltered at the 2004 Ryder Cup with a record, but refused to blame the sudden change in equipment or his practice methods for his performance. In November 2004, Mickelson tallied his career-low for an 18-hole round: a 59 at the PGA Grand Slam of Golf at Poipu Bay Golf Course in Hawaii.",
"In November 2004, Mickelson tallied his career-low for an 18-hole round: a 59 at the PGA Grand Slam of Golf at Poipu Bay Golf Course in Hawaii. The following year, Mickelson captured his second major at the PGA Championship at Baltusrol, in a Monday final-round conclusion that had been forced by inclement weather the previous day.",
"The following year, Mickelson captured his second major at the PGA Championship at Baltusrol, in a Monday final-round conclusion that had been forced by inclement weather the previous day. On the 18th hole, Mickelson hit one of his trademark soft pitches from deep greenside rough to within of the cup, and made his birdie to finish at a 4-under-par total of 276, one shot ahead of Steve Elkington and Thomas Bjørn. Mickelson captured his third major title the following spring at the Masters.",
"Mickelson captured his third major title the following spring at the Masters. He won his second green jacket after shooting a 3-under-par final round, winning by two strokes over runner-up Tim Clark. This win propelled him to 2nd place in the Official World Golf Ranking (his career best), behind Woods, and ahead of Vijay Singh and Retief Goosen.",
"This win propelled him to 2nd place in the Official World Golf Ranking (his career best), behind Woods, and ahead of Vijay Singh and Retief Goosen. 2006: Collapse on final hole at the U.S. Open After winning two majors in a row heading into the U.S. Open at Winged Foot, Mickelson was bidding to join Ben Hogan and Tiger Woods as the only players to win three consecutive majors (not necessarily in the same calendar year).",
"2006: Collapse on final hole at the U.S. Open After winning two majors in a row heading into the U.S. Open at Winged Foot, Mickelson was bidding to join Ben Hogan and Tiger Woods as the only players to win three consecutive majors (not necessarily in the same calendar year). Mickelson was the joint leader going into the final round, but he was part of a wild finish to the tournament, in which he made major mistakes on the final hole and ended up in a tie for second place at +6 (286), one shot behind Geoff Ogilvy.",
"Mickelson was the joint leader going into the final round, but he was part of a wild finish to the tournament, in which he made major mistakes on the final hole and ended up in a tie for second place at +6 (286), one shot behind Geoff Ogilvy. Mickelson bogeyed the 16th hole.",
"Mickelson bogeyed the 16th hole. Mickelson bogeyed the 16th hole. On the 17th hole, with the lead at +4, he missed the fairway to the left, and his drive finished inside a garbage can, from which he was granted a free drop; he parred the hole. He had a one-shot lead and was in the last group going into the final hole.",
"He had a one-shot lead and was in the last group going into the final hole. Needing a par on the 18th hole for a one-shot victory, Mickelson continued with his aggressive style of play and chose to hit a driver off the tee; he hit his shot well left of the fairway (he had hit only two of thirteen fairways previously in the round). The ball bounced off a corporate hospitality tent and settled in an area of trampled-down grass that was enclosed with trees.",
"The ball bounced off a corporate hospitality tent and settled in an area of trampled-down grass that was enclosed with trees. He decided to go for the green with his second shot, rather than play it safe and pitch out into the fairway. His ball then hit a tree, and did not advance more than . His next shot plugged into the left greenside bunker.",
"His next shot plugged into the left greenside bunker. His next shot plugged into the left greenside bunker. He was unable to get up and down from there, resulting in a double bogey, and costing him a chance of winning the championship outright or getting into an 18-hole playoff with Ogilvy. After his disappointing finish, Mickelson said: \"I'm still in shock. I still can't believe I did that. This one hurts more than any tournament because I had it won.",
"This one hurts more than any tournament because I had it won. Congratulations to Geoff Ogilvy on some great play. I want to thank all the people that supported me. The only thing I can say is I'm sorry.\" He was even more candid when he said: \"I just can't believe I did that. I'm such an idiot.\"",
"I'm such an idiot.\" I'm such an idiot.\" 2006–2008 During the third round of the 2006 Ford Championship at Doral, Mickelson gave a spectator $200 after his wayward tee shot at the par-5 10th broke the man's watch. Mickelson also has shown other signs of appreciation.",
"Mickelson also has shown other signs of appreciation. Mickelson also has shown other signs of appreciation. In 2007 after hearing the story of retired NFL player, Conrad Dobler, and his family on ESPN explaining their struggles to pay medical bills, Mickelson volunteered to pay tuition for Holli Dobler, Conrad Dobler's daughter, at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Frustrated with his driving accuracy, Mickelson made the decision in April 2007 to leave longtime swing coach, Rick Smith.",
"Frustrated with his driving accuracy, Mickelson made the decision in April 2007 to leave longtime swing coach, Rick Smith. He then began working with Butch Harmon, a former coach of Tiger Woods and Greg Norman. On May 13, Mickelson came from a stroke back on the final round to shoot a three-under 69 to win The Players Championship with an 11-under-par 277.",
"On May 13, Mickelson came from a stroke back on the final round to shoot a three-under 69 to win The Players Championship with an 11-under-par 277. In the U.S. Open at Oakmont in June, Mickelson missed the cut (by a stroke) for the first time in 31 majors after shooting 11 over par for 36 holes. He had been hampered by a wrist injury that was incurred while practicing in the thick rough at Oakmont a few weeks before the tournament.",
"He had been hampered by a wrist injury that was incurred while practicing in the thick rough at Oakmont a few weeks before the tournament. On September 3, 2007, Mickelson won the Deutsche Bank Championship, which is the second FedEx Cup playoff event. On the final day, he was paired with Tiger Woods, who ended up finishing two strokes behind Mickelson in a tie for second.",
"On the final day, he was paired with Tiger Woods, who ended up finishing two strokes behind Mickelson in a tie for second. It was the first time that Mickelson was able to beat Woods while the two stars were paired together on the final day of a tournament. The next day Mickelson announced that he would not be competing in the third FedEx Cup playoff event.",
"The next day Mickelson announced that he would not be competing in the third FedEx Cup playoff event. The day before his withdrawal, Mickelson said during a television interview that PGA Tour Commissioner, Tim Finchem, had not responded to advice he had given him on undisclosed issues. In 2008, Mickelson won the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial with a −14, one shot ahead of Tim Clark and Rod Pampling. Mickelson shot a first-round 65 to start off the tournament at −5.",
"Mickelson shot a first-round 65 to start off the tournament at −5. He ended the day tied with Brett Wetterich, two shots behind leader, Johnson Wagner. Mickelson shot a second-round 68, and the third round 65, overall, being −12 for the first three rounds. On the final hole, after an absolutely horrendous tee shot, he was in thick rough with trees in his way. Many players would have punched out, and taken their chances at making par from the fairway with a good wedge shot.",
"Many players would have punched out, and taken their chances at making par from the fairway with a good wedge shot. Instead, he pulled out a high-lofted wedge and hit his approach shot over a tree, landing on the green where he one-putted for the win. In a Men's Vogue article, Mickelson recounted his effort to lose with the help of trainer Sean Cochran.",
"In a Men's Vogue article, Mickelson recounted his effort to lose with the help of trainer Sean Cochran. \"Once the younger players started to come on tour, he realized that he had to start working out to maintain longevity in his career,\" Cochran said. Mickelson's regimen consisted of increasing flexibility and power, eating five smaller meals a day, aerobic training, and carrying his own golf bag. Mickelson was inducted into the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame in 2008.",
"Mickelson was inducted into the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame in 2008. 2009 Mickelson won his first 2009 tour event when he defended his title at the Northern Trust Open at Riviera, one stroke ahead of Steve Stricker. The victory was Mickelson's 35th on tour; he surpassed Vijay Singh for second place on the current PGA Tour wins list. A month later, he won his 36th, and his first World Golf Championship, at the WGC-CA Championship with a one-stroke win over Nick Watney.",
"A month later, he won his 36th, and his first World Golf Championship, at the WGC-CA Championship with a one-stroke win over Nick Watney. On May 20, it was announced that his wife Amy was diagnosed with breast cancer, and Mickelson announced that he would suspend his PGA Tour schedule indefinitely. She would begin treatment with major surgery as early as the following two weeks.",
"She would begin treatment with major surgery as early as the following two weeks. Mickelson was scheduled to play the HP Byron Nelson Championship May 21–24, and to defend his title May 28–31 at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, but withdrew from both events. During the final round of the 2009 BMW PGA Championship, fellow golfer and family friend John Daly wore bright pink trousers in support of Mickelson's wife.",
"During the final round of the 2009 BMW PGA Championship, fellow golfer and family friend John Daly wore bright pink trousers in support of Mickelson's wife. Also, the next Saturday, at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, a \"Pink Out\" event was hosted, and the PGA Tour players all wore pink that day, to support the Mickelson family.",
"Also, the next Saturday, at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, a \"Pink Out\" event was hosted, and the PGA Tour players all wore pink that day, to support the Mickelson family. On May 31, Mickelson announced that he would return to play on the PGA Tour in June at the St. Jude Classic and the U.S. Open, since he had heard from the doctors treating his wife that her cancer had been detected in an early stage.",
"On May 31, Mickelson announced that he would return to play on the PGA Tour in June at the St. Jude Classic and the U.S. Open, since he had heard from the doctors treating his wife that her cancer had been detected in an early stage. Mickelson shot a final round 70 at the 2009 U.S. Open and recorded his fifth runner-up finish at the U.S. Open. He shared the lead after an eagle at the 13th hole, but fell back with bogeys on 15 and 17; Lucas Glover captured the championship.",
"He shared the lead after an eagle at the 13th hole, but fell back with bogeys on 15 and 17; Lucas Glover captured the championship. On July 6, it was announced that his mother Mary was diagnosed with breast cancer and would have surgery at the same hospital where his wife was treated. After hearing the news that his mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer, Mickelson took another leave of absence from the tour, missing The Open Championship at Turnberry.",
"After hearing the news that his mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer, Mickelson took another leave of absence from the tour, missing The Open Championship at Turnberry. On July 28, Mickelson announced he would return in August at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, the week before the PGA Championship at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota. In September, Mickelson won The Tour Championship for the second time in his career.",
"In September, Mickelson won The Tour Championship for the second time in his career. He entered the final round four strokes off the lead, but shot a final round 65 to win the event by three strokes over Tiger Woods. With the win, Mickelson finished the season second behind Woods in the 2009 FedEx Cup standings. On November 8, Mickelson won the WGC-HSBC Champions by one shot over Ernie Els in Shanghai.",
"On November 8, Mickelson won the WGC-HSBC Champions by one shot over Ernie Els in Shanghai. 2010: Third Masters win In 2010, Mickelson won the Masters Tournament on April 11 with a 16-under-par performance, giving him a three-stroke win over Lee Westwood. The win marked the third Masters victory for Mickelson and his fourth major championship overall.",
"The win marked the third Masters victory for Mickelson and his fourth major championship overall. Critical to Mickelson's win was a dramatic run in the third round on Saturday in which Mickelson, trailing leader Westwood by five strokes as he prepared his approach shot to the 13th green, proceeded to make eagle, then to hole-out for eagle from 141 yards at the next hole, the par 4 14th, then on the next, the par 5 15th, to miss eagle from 81 yards by mere inches.",
"Critical to Mickelson's win was a dramatic run in the third round on Saturday in which Mickelson, trailing leader Westwood by five strokes as he prepared his approach shot to the 13th green, proceeded to make eagle, then to hole-out for eagle from 141 yards at the next hole, the par 4 14th, then on the next, the par 5 15th, to miss eagle from 81 yards by mere inches. After tapping in for birdie at 15, Mickelson, at −12, led Westwood, at −11, who had bogeyed hole 12 and failed to capitalize on the par 5 13th, settling for par.",
"After tapping in for birdie at 15, Mickelson, at −12, led Westwood, at −11, who had bogeyed hole 12 and failed to capitalize on the par 5 13th, settling for par. Westwood recaptured a one-stroke lead by the end of the round, but the momentum carried forward for Mickelson into round 4, where he posted a bogey-free 67 to Westwood's 71. No other pursuer was able to keep pace to the end, though K. J. Choi and Anthony Kim made notable charges.",
"No other pursuer was able to keep pace to the end, though K. J. Choi and Anthony Kim made notable charges. For good measure, Mickelson birdied the final hole and memorably greeted his waiting wife, Amy, with a prolonged hug and kiss. For many fans, Mickelson's finish in the tournament was especially poignant, given that Amy had been suffering from breast cancer during the preceding year. Mary Mickelson, Phil's mother, was also dealing with cancer.",
"Mary Mickelson, Phil's mother, was also dealing with cancer. CBS Sports announcer Jim Nantz's call of the final birdie putt, \"That's a win for the family,\" was seen by many as capturing the moment well. Tiger Woods had a dramatic return to competitive play after a scandal-ridden 20-week absence; he was in close contention throughout for the lead and finished tied with Choi for 4th at −11.",
"Tiger Woods had a dramatic return to competitive play after a scandal-ridden 20-week absence; he was in close contention throughout for the lead and finished tied with Choi for 4th at −11. Mickelson and others showed exciting play over the weekend, and the 2010 Masters had strong television ratings in the United States, ranking third all-time to Woods's historic wins in 1997 and 2001.",
"Mickelson and others showed exciting play over the weekend, and the 2010 Masters had strong television ratings in the United States, ranking third all-time to Woods's historic wins in 1997 and 2001. Mickelson's win left him second only to Woods in major championships among his competitive contemporaries, moving him ahead of Ernie Els, Vijay Singh and Pádraig Harrington, with three major championships each and each, like Mickelson, with dozens of worldwide wins.",
"Mickelson's win left him second only to Woods in major championships among his competitive contemporaries, moving him ahead of Ernie Els, Vijay Singh and Pádraig Harrington, with three major championships each and each, like Mickelson, with dozens of worldwide wins. Remainder of 2010 Mickelson, one of the favorites for the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, shot 75 and 66 on Thursday and Friday to sit two shots off the lead. However, two weekend scores of 73 gave him a T4 finish.",
"However, two weekend scores of 73 gave him a T4 finish. During the remainder of the 2010 season, Mickelson had multiple opportunities to become the number one player in the world rankings following the travails of Tiger Woods. However, a string of disappointing finishes by Mickelson saw the number one spot eventually go to Englishman Lee Westwood. In the days leading up to the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits (near Kohler, Wisconsin), Mickelson announced he had been diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis.",
"In the days leading up to the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits (near Kohler, Wisconsin), Mickelson announced he had been diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis. He added that he had started medical treatment, and had become a vegetarian in hopes of aiding his recovery. He maintains that both his short- and long-term prognosis are good, that the condition should have no long-term effect on his golfing career, and that he currently feels well. He also stated that the arthritis may go into permanent remission after one year of medical treatment.",
"He also stated that the arthritis may go into permanent remission after one year of medical treatment. He went on to finish the championship T12, five shots behind winner Martin Kaymer. 2011 Mickelson started his 2011 season at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines Golf Course. He shot and was tied for the 54 hole lead with Bill Haas. Mickelson needed to hole out on the 18th hole for eagle from 74 yards to force a playoff with Bubba Watson. He hit it to 4 feet and Watson won the tournament.",
"He hit it to 4 feet and Watson won the tournament. On April 3, Mickelson won the Shell Houston Open with a 20-under-par, three-stroke win over Scott Verplank. Mickelson rose to No. 3 in the world ranking, while Tiger Woods fell to No. 7. Mickelson had not been ranked above Woods since the week prior to the 1997 Masters Tournament. At The Open Championship, Mickelson recorded just his second top-ten finish in 18 tournaments by tying for second with Dustin Johnson.",
"At The Open Championship, Mickelson recorded just his second top-ten finish in 18 tournaments by tying for second with Dustin Johnson. His front nine 30 put him briefly in a tie for the lead with eventual champion Darren Clarke. However, some putting problems caused him to fade from contention toward the end, to finish in a tie for second place. 2012: 40th career PGA Tour win Mickelson made his 2012 debut at the Humana Challenge and finished tied for 49th.",
"2012: 40th career PGA Tour win Mickelson made his 2012 debut at the Humana Challenge and finished tied for 49th. He missed the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open after shooting rounds of 77 and 68. In the final round of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, Mickelson rallied from six shots back, winning the tournament by two strokes with a final-round score of 8-under 64 and a four-round total of 269. The win marked his 40th career victory on the PGA Tour.",
"The win marked his 40th career victory on the PGA Tour. The following week at Riviera Country Club, Mickelson lost the Northern Trust Open in a three-way playoff. He had held the lead or a share of it from day one until the back nine on Sunday when Bill Haas posted the clubhouse lead at seven under par. Mickelson holed a 27-foot birdie putt on the final regulation hole to force a playoff alongside Haas and Keegan Bradley. Haas however won the playoff with a 40-foot birdie putt on the second playoff hole.",
"Haas however won the playoff with a 40-foot birdie putt on the second playoff hole. The second-place finish moved Mickelson back into the world's top 10. Mickelson finished tied for third at the Masters. After opening the tournament with a two-over-par 74, he shot 68–66 in the next two rounds and ended up one stroke behind leader Peter Hanson by Saturday night.",
"After opening the tournament with a two-over-par 74, he shot 68–66 in the next two rounds and ended up one stroke behind leader Peter Hanson by Saturday night. Mickelson had a poor start to his fourth round, scoring a triple-bogey when he hit his ball far to the left of the green on the par-3 4th hole, hitting the stand and landing in a bamboo plant. This ended up being Mickelson's only score over par in the whole round, and he ended with a score of eight-under overall.",
"This ended up being Mickelson's only score over par in the whole round, and he ended with a score of eight-under overall. Earlier in the tournament he had received widespread praise for being present to watch Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, and Gary Player hit the ceremonial opening tee-shots, nearly seven hours before Mickelson's own tee time. Mickelson made a charge during the final round at the HP Byron Nelson Championship, but bogeyed the 17th and 18th, finishing T-7th.",
"Mickelson made a charge during the final round at the HP Byron Nelson Championship, but bogeyed the 17th and 18th, finishing T-7th. He then withdrew from the Memorial Tournament, citing mental fatigue, after a first-round 79. He was to be paired with Tiger Woods and Bubba Watson at the U.S. Open. He fought to make the cut in the U.S. Open, and finished T-65th. After taking a couple of weeks off, he played in the Greenbrier Classic.",
"After taking a couple of weeks off, he played in the Greenbrier Classic. Putting problems meant a second straight missed cut at the Greenbrier and a third missed cut at 2012 Open Championship, shooting 73-78 (11 over par). He finished T-43rd at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. He then finished T-36th at the PGA Championship. To start the 2012 FedEx Cup Playoffs, Mickelson finished T38 at The Barclays, +1 for the tournament. He tied with Tiger Woods, Zach Johnson, and five other players.",
"He tied with Tiger Woods, Zach Johnson, and five other players. In this tournament, he started using the claw putting grip on the greens. At the next event, the Deutsche Bank Championship, he finished the tournament with a −14, tied for 4th with Dustin Johnson. At the BMW Championship, Mickelson posted a −16 for the first three rounds, one of those rounds being a −8, 64.",
"At the BMW Championship, Mickelson posted a −16 for the first three rounds, one of those rounds being a −8, 64. On the final day, Mickelson shot a −2, 70, to finish tied for 2nd, with Lee Westwood, two shots behind leader, and back-to-back winner, Rory McIlroy. At the Tour Championship, he ended up finishing tied for 15th. He went on to have a 3–1 record at the Ryder Cup; however, the USA team lost the event.",
"He went on to have a 3–1 record at the Ryder Cup; however, the USA team lost the event. 2013 Mickelson began the 2013 season in January by playing in the Humana Challenge, where he finished T37 at −17. His next event was the following week in his home event near San Diego at the Farmers Insurance Open. Mickelson endured a disappointing tournament, finishing T51, shooting all four rounds in the 70s. In the first round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open, Mickelson tied his career-low round of 60.",
"In the first round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open, Mickelson tied his career-low round of 60. He made seven birdies in his first nine holes and needed a birdie on the 18th hole to equal the PGA Tour record of 59. However, his 25-foot birdie putt on the final hole lipped out, resulting in him missing out by a single shot on making only the sixth round of 59 in PGA Tour history.",
"However, his 25-foot birdie putt on the final hole lipped out, resulting in him missing out by a single shot on making only the sixth round of 59 in PGA Tour history. Mickelson led the tournament wire-to-wire and completed a four-shot win over Brandt Snedeker for his 41st PGA Tour victory and 3rd Phoenix Open title. Mickelson's score of 28-under-par tied Mark Calcavecchia's tournament scoring record. He also moved back inside the world's top 10 after falling down as far as number 22.",
"He also moved back inside the world's top 10 after falling down as far as number 22. Sixth runner-up finish at the U.S. Open At the U.S. Open at Merion, Mickelson entered the final round leading by one stroke after rounds of over the first three days, but he started the final round by three-putting the 3rd and 5th holes for double-bogeys to fall out of the lead. He regained the lead at the par-four 10th, when he holed his second shot from the rough for an eagle.",
"He regained the lead at the par-four 10th, when he holed his second shot from the rough for an eagle. However, a misjudgment at the short par three 13th saw him fly the green and make a bogey to slip one behind leader Justin Rose. Another bogey followed at the 15th, before narrowly missing a birdie putt on the 16th that would have tied Rose.",
"Another bogey followed at the 15th, before narrowly missing a birdie putt on the 16th that would have tied Rose. Mickelson could not make a birdie at the 17th and after a blocked drive on the 18th, he could not hole his pitch from short of the green, which led to a final bogey. Mickelson ended up finishing tied for second with Jason Day, two strokes behind Justin Rose.",
"Mickelson ended up finishing tied for second with Jason Day, two strokes behind Justin Rose. It was the sixth runner-up finish of Mickelson's career at the U.S. Open, an event record and only behind Jack Nicklaus's seven runner-up finishes at The Open Championship. After the event, Mickelson called the loss heartbreaking and said \"this is tough to swallow after coming so close ... I felt like this was as good an opportunity I could ask for and to not get it ... it hurts.\"",
"I felt like this was as good an opportunity I could ask for and to not get it ... it hurts.\" It was also Father's Day, which happened to be his birthday. Fifth major title at the Open Championship The week before The Open Championship, Mickelson warmed up for the event by winning his first tournament on British soil at the Scottish Open on July 14, after a sudden-death playoff against Branden Grace.",
"Fifth major title at the Open Championship The week before The Open Championship, Mickelson warmed up for the event by winning his first tournament on British soil at the Scottish Open on July 14, after a sudden-death playoff against Branden Grace. After this victory, Mickelson spoke of his confidence ahead of his participation in the following week's major championship. Mickelson said: \"I've never felt more excited going into The Open.",
"Mickelson said: \"I've never felt more excited going into The Open. I don't think there's a better way to get ready for a major than playing well the week before and getting into contention. Coming out on top just gives me more confidence.\" The following week, Mickelson won his fifth major title on July 21 at the Open Championship (often referred to as the British Open) Muirfield Golf Links in Scotland; the Open Championship is the oldest of the four major tournaments in professional golf.",
"The following week, Mickelson won his fifth major title on July 21 at the Open Championship (often referred to as the British Open) Muirfield Golf Links in Scotland; the Open Championship is the oldest of the four major tournaments in professional golf. This was the first time in history that anyone had won both the Scottish Open and The Open Championship in the same year. Mickelson birdied four of the last six holes in a brilliant final round of 66 to win the title by three strokes.",
"Mickelson birdied four of the last six holes in a brilliant final round of 66 to win the title by three strokes. He shed tears on the 18th green after completing his round. Mickelson later said: \"I played arguably the best round of my career, and shot the round of my life. The range of emotions I feel are as far apart as possible after losing the U.S. Open. But you have to be resilient in this game.\"",
"But you have to be resilient in this game.\" In an interview before the 2015 Open, Mickelson said, \"Two years removed from that win, I still can't believe how much it means to me.\" 2014 and 2015: Inconsistent form and close calls in majors Mickelson missed the cut at the Masters for the first time since 1997. He failed to contend at the U.S. Open at Pinehurst in his first bid to complete the career grand slam.",
"He failed to contend at the U.S. Open at Pinehurst in his first bid to complete the career grand slam. Mickelson's lone top-10 of the PGA Tour season came at the year's final major, the PGA Championship at Valhalla. Mickelson shot rounds of 69-67-67-66 to finish solo second, one shot behind world number one Rory McIlroy. Prior to the 2015 Masters, Mickelson's best finish in 2015 was a tie for 17th.",
"Prior to the 2015 Masters, Mickelson's best finish in 2015 was a tie for 17th. At the Masters, Mickelson shot rounds of to finish tied for second with Justin Rose, four shots behind champion Jordan Spieth. The second-place finish was Mickelson's tenth such finish in a major, placing him second all-time only to Jack Nicklaus in that regard. At The Open Championship, Mickelson shot rounds of and was eight shots behind, outside the top forty.",
"At The Open Championship, Mickelson shot rounds of and was eight shots behind, outside the top forty. In the final round, Mickelson birdied the 15th hole to move to 10 under and within two of the lead. After a missed birdie putt on 16, Mickelson hit his drive on the infamous Road Hole (17th) at the famed Old Course at St Andrews onto a second-floor balcony of the Old Course Hotel. The out-of-bounds drive lead to a triple-bogey 7 that sent Mickelson tumbling out of contention.",
"The out-of-bounds drive lead to a triple-bogey 7 that sent Mickelson tumbling out of contention. Later in the year, it was announced that Mickelson would leave longtime swing coach Butch Harmon, feeling as though he needed to hear a new perspective on things. 2016: New swing coach After leaving Butch Harmon, Mickelson hired Andrew Getson of Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona, to serve as his new swing coach. The two worked together heavily in the 2015 offseason to get Mickelson's swing back.",
"The two worked together heavily in the 2015 offseason to get Mickelson's swing back. Under Getson's guidance, Mickelson made his 2016 debut at the CareerBuilder Challenge. He shot rounds of to finish in a tie for third place at 21-under-par. It was only Mickelson's fifth top-five finish since his win at the 2013 Open Championship. The third-place finish was Mickelson's highest finish in his first worldwide start of a calendar year since he won the same event to begin the 2004 season.",
"The third-place finish was Mickelson's highest finish in his first worldwide start of a calendar year since he won the same event to begin the 2004 season. At the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Mickelson shot rounds of to finish in solo second place, a shot behind Vaughn Taylor. Mickelson lipped out a five-foot birdie putt to force a playoff on the 72nd hole.",
"Mickelson lipped out a five-foot birdie putt to force a playoff on the 72nd hole. He entered the final round with a two-stroke lead, his first 54-hole lead since the 2013 U.S. Open and was seeking to end a winless drought dating back 52 worldwide events to the 2013 Open Championship. Mickelson shot a 63 in the opening round of The Open Championship at Royal Troon. The round set a new course record and matched the previous major championship record for lowest round.",
"The round set a new course record and matched the previous major championship record for lowest round. Mickelson had a birdie putt that narrowly missed on the final hole to set a new major championship scoring record of 62. He followed this up with a 69 in the second round for a 10 under par total and a one-shot lead over Henrik Stenson going into the weekend. In the third round, Mickelson shot a one-under 70 for a total of 11 under par to enter the final round one shot back of Stenson.",
"In the third round, Mickelson shot a one-under 70 for a total of 11 under par to enter the final round one shot back of Stenson. Despite Mickelson's bogey-free 65 in the final round, Stenson shot 63 to win by three shots. Mickelson finished 11 strokes clear of 3rd place, a major championship record for a runner-up.",
"Mickelson finished 11 strokes clear of 3rd place, a major championship record for a runner-up. Mickelson's 267 total set a record score for a runner-up in the British Open, and only trails Mickelson's 266 at the 2001 PGA Championship as the lowest total by a runner-up in major championship history. 2017: Recovery from surgeries In the fall of 2016, Mickelson had two sports hernia surgeries.",
"2017: Recovery from surgeries In the fall of 2016, Mickelson had two sports hernia surgeries. Those in the golf community expected him to miss much time recovering, however his unexpected return at the CareerBuilder Challenge was a triumphant one, leading to a T-21 finish. The next week, in San Diego, he narrowly missed an eagle putt on the 18th hole on Sunday that would've got him to 8-under par instead posting −7 to finish T14 at the Farmers Insurance Open.",
"The next week, in San Diego, he narrowly missed an eagle putt on the 18th hole on Sunday that would've got him to 8-under par instead posting −7 to finish T14 at the Farmers Insurance Open. The following week, at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, which he has won three times, he surged into contention following a Saturday 65. He played his first nine holes in 4-under 32 and sending his name to the top of the leaderboard.",
"He played his first nine holes in 4-under 32 and sending his name to the top of the leaderboard. However, his charge faltered with bogeys at 11, 12, 14, 15, and a double bogey at the driveable 17th hole. He stumbled with a final round 71, still earning a T-16 finish, for his sixth straight top-25 finish on tour. Mickelson came close to winning again at the FedEx St. Jude Classic where he had finished in second place the previous year to Daniel Berger.",
"Mickelson came close to winning again at the FedEx St. Jude Classic where he had finished in second place the previous year to Daniel Berger. He started the final round four strokes behind leaders but he quickly played himself into contention. Following a birdie at the 10th hole he vaulted to the top of leaderboard but found trouble on the 12th hole. His tee shot carried out of bounds and his fourth shot hit the water so he had to make a long putt to salvage triple-bogey.",
"His tee shot carried out of bounds and his fourth shot hit the water so he had to make a long putt to salvage triple-bogey. He managed to get one shot back but he finished three shots behind winner Berger, in ninth place, for the second straight year. Two weeks later he withdrew from the U.S. Open to attend his daughter's high school graduation. A week later his longtime caddie Jim (Bones) Mackay left Mickelson in a mutual agreement.",
"A week later his longtime caddie Jim (Bones) Mackay left Mickelson in a mutual agreement. Mickelson then missed the cut at both The Open Championship and the PGA Championship. On September 6, days after posting his best finish of the season of T6 at the Dell Technologies Championship, Mickelson was named as a captain's pick for the Presidents Cup. This maintained a streak of 23 consecutive USA teams in the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup, dating back to 1994.",
"This maintained a streak of 23 consecutive USA teams in the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup, dating back to 1994. 2018–2019: Winless streak ends On March 4, 2018, Mickelson ended a winless drought that dated back to 2013, by capturing his third WGC championship at the WGC-Mexico Championship, with a final-round score of 66 and a total score of −16. Mickelson birdied two of his last four holes and had a lengthy putt to win outright on the 72nd hole, but tied with Justin Thomas.",
"Mickelson birdied two of his last four holes and had a lengthy putt to win outright on the 72nd hole, but tied with Justin Thomas. He defeated Thomas on the first extra hole of a sudden-death playoff with a par. After Thomas had flown the green, Mickelson had a birdie to win the playoff which lipped out. Thomas however could not get up and down for par, meaning Mickelson claimed the championship. The win was Mickelson's 43rd on the PGA Tour and his first since winning the 2013 Open Championship.",
"The win was Mickelson's 43rd on the PGA Tour and his first since winning the 2013 Open Championship. He also became the oldest winner of a WGC event, at age 47. In the third round of the 2018 U.S. Open, Mickelson incurred a two-stroke penalty in a controversial incident on the 13th hole when he hit his ball with intent while it was still moving. He ended up shooting 81 (+11). His former coach Butch Harmon thought Mickelson should have been disqualified.",
"His former coach Butch Harmon thought Mickelson should have been disqualified. Mickelson was a captain's pick for Team USA at the 2018 Ryder Cup, held in Paris between September 28 and 30. Paired with Bryson DeChambeau in the Friday afternoon foursomes, they lost 5 and 4 to Europe's Sergio García and Alex Norén. In the Sunday singles match, Mickelson lost 4 and 2 to Francesco Molinari, as Team USA slumped to a 17.5 to 10.5 defeat.",
"In the Sunday singles match, Mickelson lost 4 and 2 to Francesco Molinari, as Team USA slumped to a 17.5 to 10.5 defeat. On November 23, 2018, Mickelson won the pay-per-view event, Capital One's The Match. This was a $9,000,000 winner-takes-all match against Tiger Woods at Shadow Creek Golf Course in Las Vegas. Mickelson needed four extra holes to beat Woods, which he did by holing a four-foot putt after Woods missed a seven-foot putt on the 22nd hole.",
"Mickelson needed four extra holes to beat Woods, which he did by holing a four-foot putt after Woods missed a seven-foot putt on the 22nd hole. In his third start of the 2019 calendar year, Mickelson won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, shooting a bogey-free final round 65 to defeat Paul Casey by three strokes. The win was Mickelson's 44th career title on the PGA Tour, and his fifth at Pebble Beach, tying Mark O'Meara for most victories in the event.",
"The win was Mickelson's 44th career title on the PGA Tour, and his fifth at Pebble Beach, tying Mark O'Meara for most victories in the event. At 48 years of age, he also became the oldest winner of that event.",
"At 48 years of age, he also became the oldest winner of that event. 2020: PGA Tour season and PGA Tour Champions debut In December 2019, Mickelson announced via Twitter that \"after turning down opportunities to go to the Middle East for many years\" he would play in the 2020 Saudi International tournament on the European Tour and would miss Waste Management Phoenix Open for the first time since 1989.",
"2020: PGA Tour season and PGA Tour Champions debut In December 2019, Mickelson announced via Twitter that \"after turning down opportunities to go to the Middle East for many years\" he would play in the 2020 Saudi International tournament on the European Tour and would miss Waste Management Phoenix Open for the first time since 1989. However, his decision to visit and play in Saudi Arabia was criticized for getting lured by millions of dollars and ignoring the continuous human rights abuses in the nation.",
"However, his decision to visit and play in Saudi Arabia was criticized for getting lured by millions of dollars and ignoring the continuous human rights abuses in the nation. Mickelson went on to finish the February 2020 event tied for third. Mickelson finished 3rd at the 2020 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and tied for 2nd in the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational. Mickelson was the first player over 50 to finish in the top five of a World Golf Championship event.",
"Mickelson was the first player over 50 to finish in the top five of a World Golf Championship event. He was ultimately eliminated from the FedEx Cup Playoffs following The Northern Trust at TPC Boston in August 2020. One week later, Mickelson made his debut on the PGA Tour Champions. He won the Charles Schwab Series at Ozarks National in his first tournament after becoming eligible for PGA Tour Champions on his 50th birthday on June 16, 2020. He was the 20th player to win their debut tournament on tour.",
"He was the 20th player to win their debut tournament on tour. Mickelson's 191 stroke total tied the PGA Tour Champions all-time record for a three-day event. In October 2020, Mickelson won the Dominion Energy Charity Classic in Virginia. It was his second win in as many starts on the PGA Tour Champions. 2021: The oldest major champion In February 2021, Mickelson was attempting to become the first player in PGA Tour Champions history to win his first three tournaments on tour.",
"2021: The oldest major champion In February 2021, Mickelson was attempting to become the first player in PGA Tour Champions history to win his first three tournaments on tour. However, he fell short in the Cologuard Classic, finishing in a T-20 position with a score of 4 under par. In May 2021, Mickelson held the 54-hole lead at the PGA Championship at the Kiawah Island Golf Resort in South Carolina, leading Brooks Koepka by one shot with one day to play.",
"In May 2021, Mickelson held the 54-hole lead at the PGA Championship at the Kiawah Island Golf Resort in South Carolina, leading Brooks Koepka by one shot with one day to play. He shot a final-round 73 to capture the tournament, defeating Koepka and Louis Oosthuizen by two strokes, becoming the oldest major champion; at 50.",
"He shot a final-round 73 to capture the tournament, defeating Koepka and Louis Oosthuizen by two strokes, becoming the oldest major champion; at 50. As Mickelson walked down the fairway following an excellent second shot from the left rough on the 18th hole, thousands of fans engulfed him, with him walking towards the hole constantly tipping his hat and giving the thumbs up to the crowd as they cheered.",
"As Mickelson walked down the fairway following an excellent second shot from the left rough on the 18th hole, thousands of fans engulfed him, with him walking towards the hole constantly tipping his hat and giving the thumbs up to the crowd as they cheered. However, the massive tumult of people meant playing partner Brooks Koepka was stranded in the sea of people, and with difficulties, he managed to reach the green to finish the hole.",
"However, the massive tumult of people meant playing partner Brooks Koepka was stranded in the sea of people, and with difficulties, he managed to reach the green to finish the hole. Mickelson eventually emerged from the crowd and two-putted for par, finishing the tournament at 6-under, besting the field by two strokes. In October 2021, Mickelson won for the third time in four career starts on the PGA Tour Champions.",
"In October 2021, Mickelson won for the third time in four career starts on the PGA Tour Champions. Mickelson shot a final round 4-under-par 68 to win the inaugural Constellation Furyk & Friends over Miguel Ángel Jiménez in Jacksonville, Florida. In November 2021, Mickelson won the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship in Phoenix, Arizona, with a final round six-under par 65. This victory was Mickelson's fourth win in six career starts on PGA Tour Champions.",
"This victory was Mickelson's fourth win in six career starts on PGA Tour Champions. 2022: Saudi Arabia controversy Mickelson admitted in an interview to overlooking Saudi Arabian human rights violations, including the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and execution of LGBTQ+ individuals, to support the Saudi-backed Super Golf League because it offered an opportunity to reshape the PGA Tour. In response to these comments, Mickelson lost multiple longtime sponsors including Callaway Golf and KPMG. Mickelson announced he would be stepping away from golf to spend time with his family.",
"Mickelson announced he would be stepping away from golf to spend time with his family. Playing style As a competitor, Mickelson's playing style is described by many as \"aggressive\" and highly social. His strategy toward difficult shots (bad lies, obstructions) would tend to be considered risky.",
"His strategy toward difficult shots (bad lies, obstructions) would tend to be considered risky. Mickelson has also been characterized by his powerful and sometimes inaccurate driver, but his excellent short game draws the most positive reviews, most of all his daring \"Phil flop\" shot in which a big swing with a high-lofted wedge against a tight lie flies a ball high into the air for a short distance.",
"Mickelson has also been characterized by his powerful and sometimes inaccurate driver, but his excellent short game draws the most positive reviews, most of all his daring \"Phil flop\" shot in which a big swing with a high-lofted wedge against a tight lie flies a ball high into the air for a short distance. Mickelson is usually in the top 10 in scoring, and he led the PGA Tour in birdie average as recently as 2013.",
"Mickelson is usually in the top 10 in scoring, and he led the PGA Tour in birdie average as recently as 2013. Earnings and endorsements Although ranked second on the PGA Tour's all-time money list of tournament prize money won, Mickelson earns far more from endorsements than from prize money.",
"Earnings and endorsements Although ranked second on the PGA Tour's all-time money list of tournament prize money won, Mickelson earns far more from endorsements than from prize money. According to one estimate of 2011 earnings (comprising salary, winnings, bonuses, endorsements and appearances) Mickelson was then the second-highest paid athlete in the United States, earning an income of over $62 million, $53 million of which came from endorsements.",
"According to one estimate of 2011 earnings (comprising salary, winnings, bonuses, endorsements and appearances) Mickelson was then the second-highest paid athlete in the United States, earning an income of over $62 million, $53 million of which came from endorsements. Major companies which Mickelson currently endorses are ExxonMobil (Mickelson and wife Amy started a teacher sponsorship fund with the company), Rolex and Mizzen+Main. He has been previously sponsored by Titleist, Bearing Point, Barclays, and Ford.",
"He has been previously sponsored by Titleist, Bearing Point, Barclays, and Ford. After being diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis in 2010, Mickelson was treated with Enbrel and began endorsing the drug. In 2015, Forbes estimated Mickelson's annual income was $51 million. In 2022, Mickelson lost a significant number of sponsors including Callaway Golf, KPMG, Amstel Light and Workday after comments he made about the Saudi-backed golf league, Super Golf League.",
"In 2022, Mickelson lost a significant number of sponsors including Callaway Golf, KPMG, Amstel Light and Workday after comments he made about the Saudi-backed golf league, Super Golf League. In an interview, he stated that Saudis are \"scary motherfuckers to get involved with... We know they killed [Washington Post reporter and U.S. resident Jamal] Khashoggi and have a horrible record on human rights. They execute people over there for being gay. Knowing all of this, why would I even consider it?",
"Knowing all of this, why would I even consider it? Because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reshape how the PGA Tour operates.\" Insider trading settlement On May 30, 2014, The Wall Street Journal reported that the FBI and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) were investigating Mickelson and associates of his for insider trading in Clorox stock. Mickelson denied any wrongdoing, and the investigation found \"no evidence\" and concluded without any charges.",
"Mickelson denied any wrongdoing, and the investigation found \"no evidence\" and concluded without any charges. On May 19, 2016, Mickelson was named as a relief defendant in another SEC complaint alleging insider trading but completely avoided criminal charges in a parallel case brought in the Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York.",
"On May 19, 2016, Mickelson was named as a relief defendant in another SEC complaint alleging insider trading but completely avoided criminal charges in a parallel case brought in the Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York. The action stems for trades in Dean Foods in 2012 in conjunction with confidential information provided by Thomas Davis, a former director of Dean Foods Company, who tipped his friend and \"professional sports bettor\" Billy Walters.",
"The action stems for trades in Dean Foods in 2012 in conjunction with confidential information provided by Thomas Davis, a former director of Dean Foods Company, who tipped his friend and \"professional sports bettor\" Billy Walters. The SEC did not allege that Walters actually told Mickelson of any material, nonpublic information about Dean Foods, and the SEC disgorged Mickelson of the $931,000 profit he had made from trading Dean Foods stock and had him pay prejudgment interest of $105,000.",
"The SEC did not allege that Walters actually told Mickelson of any material, nonpublic information about Dean Foods, and the SEC disgorged Mickelson of the $931,000 profit he had made from trading Dean Foods stock and had him pay prejudgment interest of $105,000. In 2017, Walters was convicted of making $40 million on Davis's private information from 2008 to 2014 by a federal jury. At that time, it was also noted that Mickelson had \"once owed nearly $2 million in gambling debts to\" Walters.",
"At that time, it was also noted that Mickelson had \"once owed nearly $2 million in gambling debts to\" Walters. Walters's lawyer said his client would appeal the 2017 verdict. Amateur wins 1980 Junior World Golf Championships (Boys 9–10) 1989 NCAA Division I Championship 1990 Pac-10 Championship, NCAA Division I Championship, U.S. Amateur, Porter Cup 1991 Western Amateur 1992 NCAA Division I Championship Professional wins (57) PGA Tour wins (45) *Note: Tournament shortened to 54 holes due to weather.",
"Amateur, Porter Cup 1991 Western Amateur 1992 NCAA Division I Championship Professional wins (57) PGA Tour wins (45) *Note: Tournament shortened to 54 holes due to weather. PGA Tour playoff record (8–4) European Tour wins (11) 1Co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour, Sunshine Tour and PGA Tour of Australasia European Tour playoff record (3–1) Challenge Tour wins (1) Other wins (4) Other playoff record (1–1) PGA Tour Champions wins (4) Major championships Wins (6) Results timeline Results not in chronological order in 2020.",
"PGA Tour playoff record (8–4) European Tour wins (11) 1Co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour, Sunshine Tour and PGA Tour of Australasia European Tour playoff record (3–1) Challenge Tour wins (1) Other wins (4) Other playoff record (1–1) PGA Tour Champions wins (4) Major championships Wins (6) Results timeline Results not in chronological order in 2020. LA = Low amateur CUT = missed the half-way cut \"T\" = tied NT = No tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic Summary Most consecutive cuts made – 30 (1999 PGA – 2007 Masters) Longest streak of top-10s – 5 (2004 Masters – 2005 Masters) The Players Championship Wins (1) Results timeline CUT = missed the halfway cut \"T\" indicates a tie for a place C = Canceled after the first round due to the COVID-19 pandemic World Golf Championships Wins (3) Results timeline Results not in chronological order prior to 2015.",
"LA = Low amateur CUT = missed the half-way cut \"T\" = tied NT = No tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic Summary Most consecutive cuts made – 30 (1999 PGA – 2007 Masters) Longest streak of top-10s – 5 (2004 Masters – 2005 Masters) The Players Championship Wins (1) Results timeline CUT = missed the halfway cut \"T\" indicates a tie for a place C = Canceled after the first round due to the COVID-19 pandemic World Golf Championships Wins (3) Results timeline Results not in chronological order prior to 2015. 1Cancelled due to 9/11 2Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play \"T\" = tied NT = No Tournament Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.",
"1Cancelled due to 9/11 2Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play \"T\" = tied NT = No Tournament Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009. PGA Tour career summary * As of 2021 season. † Mickelson won as an amateur in 1991 and therefore did not receive any prize money.",
"† Mickelson won as an amateur in 1991 and therefore did not receive any prize money. U.S. national team appearances Amateur Walker Cup: 1989, 1991 (winners) Eisenhower Trophy: 1990 Professional Presidents Cup: 1994 (winners), 1996 (winners), 1998, 2000 (winners), 2003 (tie), 2005 (winners), 2007 (winners), 2009 (winners), 2011 (winners), 2013 (winners), 2015 (winners), 2017 (winners) Ryder Cup: 1995, 1997, 1999 (winners), 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008 (winners), 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016 (winners), 2018 Alfred Dunhill Cup: 1996 (winners) Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge (representing PGA Tour): 1997 (winners), 2000 (winners) World Cup: 2002 See also List of golfers with most European Tour wins List of golfers with most PGA Tour wins List of men's major championships winning golfers Monday Night Golf References External links On Course With Phil American male golfers PGA Tour golfers PGA Tour Champions golfers Ryder Cup competitors for the United States Sports controversies Winners of men's major golf championships Arizona State Sun Devils men's golfers Left-handed golfers World Golf Hall of Fame inductees Golfers from Scottsdale, Arizona Golfers from San Diego American people of Italian descent American people of Portuguese descent American people of Swedish descent 1970 births Living people"
] |
[
"Phil Mickelson",
"College golf",
"Where did he go to college?",
"Mickelson attended Arizona State University in Tempe on a golf scholarship"
] | C_4f59739234b2446aa77be2aadc5a6b12_1 | How long did he attend? | 2 | How long did Phil Mickelson attend Arizona State University? | Phil Mickelson | Mickelson attended Arizona State University in Tempe on a golf scholarship and became the face of amateur golf in the United States, capturing three NCAA individual championships and three Haskins Awards (1990, 1991, 1992) as the outstanding collegiate golfer. With three individual NCAA championships, he shares the record for most individual NCAA championships alongside Ben Crenshaw. Mickelson also led the Sun Devils to the NCAA team title in 1990. Over the course of his collegiate career, he won 16 tournaments. Mickelson was the second collegiate golfer to earn first-team All-American honors all four years. In 1990, he also became the first with a left-handed swing to win the U.S. Amateur title. Mickelson secured perhaps his greatest achievement as an amateur in January 1991, winning his first PGA Tour event, the Northern Telecom Open, in Tucson. At age 20, he was only the sixth amateur to win a tour event and the first in over five years after Scott Verplank at the Western Open in August 1985. Other players to accomplish this feat include Doug Sanders (1956 Canadian Open) and Gene Littler (1954 San Diego Open). With five holes remaining, Mickelson led by a stroke, but made a triple-bogey and was then three behind. The leaders ahead of him then stumbled, and he birdied 16 and 18 to win by a stroke. To date, it is the most recent win by an amateur at a PGA Tour event. That April, Mickelson was the low amateur at the Masters Tournament in Augusta, Georgia. With his two-year PGA Tour exemption from the Tucson win, he played in several tour events in 1992 while an amateur but failed to make a cut. CANNOTANSWER | Mickelson was the second collegiate golfer to earn first-team All-American honors all four years. | Philip Alfred Mickelson (born June 16, 1970), nicknamed Phil the Thrill, is an American professional golfer. He has won 45 events on the PGA Tour, including six major championships: three Masters titles (2004, 2006, 2010), two PGA Championships (2005, 2021), and one Open Championship (2013). With his win at the 2021 PGA Championship, Mickelson became the oldest major championship winner in history at the age of 50 years, 11 months and 7 days old.
Mickelson is one of 17 players in the history of golf to win at least three of the four majors. He has won every major except the U.S. Open, in which he has finished runner-up a record six times.
Mickelson has spent more than 25 consecutive years in the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking. He has spent over 700 weeks in the top 10, has reached a career-high world ranking of No. 2 several times and is a life member of the PGA Tour. Although naturally right-handed, he is known for his left-handed swing, having learned it by mirroring his right-handed father's swing. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2012.
Early life and family
Philip Alfred Mickelson was born on June 16, 1970, in San Diego, California, to parents Philip Mickelson, an airline pilot and former naval aviator, and Mary Santos. He was raised there and in Scottsdale, Arizona. Mickelson has Portuguese, Swedish, and Sicilian ancestry. His maternal grandfather, Alfred Santos (also Mickelson's middle name) was a caddie at Pebble Beach Golf Links and took Phil to play golf as a child. Although otherwise right-handed, he played golf left-handed since he learned by watching his right-handed father swing, mirroring his style. Mickelson began golf under his father's instruction before starting school. Phil Sr.'s work schedule as a commercial pilot allowed them to play together several times a week and young Phil honed his creative short game on an extensive practice area in their San Diego backyard. Mickelson graduated from the University of San Diego High School in 1988.
College golf
Mickelson attended Arizona State University in Tempe on a golf scholarship and became the face of amateur golf in the United States, capturing three NCAA individual championships and three Haskins Awards (1990, 1991, 1992) as the outstanding collegiate golfer. With three individual NCAA championships, he shares the record for most individual NCAA championships alongside Ben Crenshaw. Mickelson also led the Sun Devils to the NCAA team title in 1990. Over the course of his collegiate career, he won 16 tournaments.
Mickelson was the second collegiate golfer to earn first-team All-American honors all four years. In 1990, he also became the first with a left-handed swing to win the U.S. Amateur title, defeating high school teammate Manny Zerman 5 and 4 in the 36-hole final at Cherry Hills, south of Denver. Mickelson secured perhaps his greatest achievement as an amateur in January 1991, winning his first PGA Tour event, the Northern Telecom Open, in Tucson, making him one of the few golfers to win a PGA Tour event as an amateur in the history of the PGA Tour. At age 20, he was only the sixth amateur to win a tour event and the first in over five years after Scott Verplank at the Western Open in August 1985. Other players to accomplish this feat include Doug Sanders (1956 Canadian Open) and Gene Littler (1954 San Diego Open). With five holes remaining, Mickelson led by a stroke, but made a triple-bogey and was then three behind. The leaders ahead of him then stumbled, and he birdied 16 and 18 to win by a stroke. To date, it is the most recent win by an amateur at a PGA Tour event.
That April, Mickelson was the low amateur at the Masters Tournament in Augusta, Georgia. With his two-year PGA Tour exemption from the Tucson win, he played in several tour events in 1992 while an amateur but failed to make a cut.
Professional career
1992–2003: Trying for first major win
Mickelson graduated from ASU in June 1992 and quickly turned professional. He bypassed the tour's qualifying process (Q-School) because of his 1991 win in Tucson, which earned him a two-year exemption. In 1992, Mickelson hired Jim "Bones" Mackay as his caddy. He won many PGA Tour tournaments during this period, including the Byron Nelson Golf Classic and the World Series of Golf in 1996, the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in 1998, the Colonial National Invitation in 2000 and the Greater Hartford Open in 2001 and again in 2002.
He appeared as himself in a non-speaking role in the 1996 film Tin Cup, starring Kevin Costner.
His 2000 Buick Invitational win ended Tiger Woods's streak of six consecutive victories on the PGA Tour. After the win, Mickelson said, "I didn't want to be the bad guy. I wasn't trying to end the streak per se. I was just trying to win the golf tournament."
Although he had performed very well in the majors up to the end of the 2003 season (17 top-ten finishes, and six second- or third-place finishes between 1999 and 2003), Mickelson's inability to win any of them led to him frequently being described as the "best player never to win a major".
2004–2006: First three major wins
Mickelson's first major championship win came in his thirteenth year on the PGA Tour in 2004, when he secured victory in the Masters with an birdie putt on the final hole. Ernie Els was the runner-up at a stroke back; the two played in different pairs in the final round and had traded birdies and eagles on the back nine. In addition to getting the "majors monkey" off his back, Mickelson was now only the third golfer with a left-handed swing to win a major, the others being New Zealander Sir Bob Charles, who won The Open Championship in 1963, and Canadian Mike Weir, who won The Masters in 2003. (Like Mickelson, Weir is a right-hander who plays left-handed.) A fourth left-handed winner is natural southpaw Bubba Watson, the Masters champion in 2012 and 2014.
Prior to the Ryder Cup in 2004, Mickelson was dropped from his long-standing contract with Titleist/Acushnet Golf, after an incident when he left a voicemail message for a Callaway Golf executive. In it, he praised their driver and golf ball, and thanked them for their help in getting some equipment for his brother. This memo was played to all of their salesmen, and eventually found its way back to Titleist. He was then let out of his multi-year deal with Titleist 16 months early, and signed on with Callaway Golf, his current equipment sponsor. He endured a great deal of ridicule and scrutiny from the press and fellow Ryder Cup members for his equipment change so close to the Ryder Cup matches. He faltered at the 2004 Ryder Cup with a record, but refused to blame the sudden change in equipment or his practice methods for his performance.
In November 2004, Mickelson tallied his career-low for an 18-hole round: a 59 at the PGA Grand Slam of Golf at Poipu Bay Golf Course in Hawaii.
The following year, Mickelson captured his second major at the PGA Championship at Baltusrol, in a Monday final-round conclusion that had been forced by inclement weather the previous day. On the 18th hole, Mickelson hit one of his trademark soft pitches from deep greenside rough to within of the cup, and made his birdie to finish at a 4-under-par total of 276, one shot ahead of Steve Elkington and Thomas Bjørn.
Mickelson captured his third major title the following spring at the Masters. He won his second green jacket after shooting a 3-under-par final round, winning by two strokes over runner-up Tim Clark. This win propelled him to 2nd place in the Official World Golf Ranking (his career best), behind Woods, and ahead of Vijay Singh and Retief Goosen.
2006: Collapse on final hole at the U.S. Open
After winning two majors in a row heading into the U.S. Open at Winged Foot, Mickelson was bidding to join Ben Hogan and Tiger Woods as the only players to win three consecutive majors (not necessarily in the same calendar year). Mickelson was the joint leader going into the final round, but he was part of a wild finish to the tournament, in which he made major mistakes on the final hole and ended up in a tie for second place at +6 (286), one shot behind Geoff Ogilvy.
Mickelson bogeyed the 16th hole. On the 17th hole, with the lead at +4, he missed the fairway to the left, and his drive finished inside a garbage can, from which he was granted a free drop; he parred the hole. He had a one-shot lead and was in the last group going into the final hole.
Needing a par on the 18th hole for a one-shot victory, Mickelson continued with his aggressive style of play and chose to hit a driver off the tee; he hit his shot well left of the fairway (he had hit only two of thirteen fairways previously in the round). The ball bounced off a corporate hospitality tent and settled in an area of trampled-down grass that was enclosed with trees. He decided to go for the green with his second shot, rather than play it safe and pitch out into the fairway. His ball then hit a tree, and did not advance more than . His next shot plugged into the left greenside bunker. He was unable to get up and down from there, resulting in a double bogey, and costing him a chance of winning the championship outright or getting into an 18-hole playoff with Ogilvy.
After his disappointing finish, Mickelson said: "I'm still in shock. I still can't believe I did that. This one hurts more than any tournament because I had it won. Congratulations to Geoff Ogilvy on some great play. I want to thank all the people that supported me. The only thing I can say is I'm sorry." He was even more candid when he said: "I just can't believe I did that. I'm such an idiot."
2006–2008
During the third round of the 2006 Ford Championship at Doral, Mickelson gave a spectator $200 after his wayward tee shot at the par-5 10th broke the man's watch.
Mickelson also has shown other signs of appreciation. In 2007 after hearing the story of retired NFL player, Conrad Dobler, and his family on ESPN explaining their struggles to pay medical bills, Mickelson volunteered to pay tuition for Holli Dobler, Conrad Dobler's daughter, at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.
Frustrated with his driving accuracy, Mickelson made the decision in April 2007 to leave longtime swing coach, Rick Smith. He then began working with Butch Harmon, a former coach of Tiger Woods and Greg Norman. On May 13, Mickelson came from a stroke back on the final round to shoot a three-under 69 to win The Players Championship with an 11-under-par 277.
In the U.S. Open at Oakmont in June, Mickelson missed the cut (by a stroke) for the first time in 31 majors after shooting 11 over par for 36 holes. He had been hampered by a wrist injury that was incurred while practicing in the thick rough at Oakmont a few weeks before the tournament.
On September 3, 2007, Mickelson won the Deutsche Bank Championship, which is the second FedEx Cup playoff event. On the final day, he was paired with Tiger Woods, who ended up finishing two strokes behind Mickelson in a tie for second. It was the first time that Mickelson was able to beat Woods while the two stars were paired together on the final day of a tournament. The next day Mickelson announced that he would not be competing in the third FedEx Cup playoff event. The day before his withdrawal, Mickelson said during a television interview that PGA Tour Commissioner, Tim Finchem, had not responded to advice he had given him on undisclosed issues.
In 2008, Mickelson won the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial with a −14, one shot ahead of Tim Clark and Rod Pampling. Mickelson shot a first-round 65 to start off the tournament at −5. He ended the day tied with Brett Wetterich, two shots behind leader, Johnson Wagner. Mickelson shot a second-round 68, and the third round 65, overall, being −12 for the first three rounds. On the final hole, after an absolutely horrendous tee shot, he was in thick rough with trees in his way. Many players would have punched out, and taken their chances at making par from the fairway with a good wedge shot. Instead, he pulled out a high-lofted wedge and hit his approach shot over a tree, landing on the green where he one-putted for the win.
In a Men's Vogue article, Mickelson recounted his effort to lose with the help of trainer Sean Cochran. "Once the younger players started to come on tour, he realized that he had to start working out to maintain longevity in his career," Cochran said. Mickelson's regimen consisted of increasing flexibility and power, eating five smaller meals a day, aerobic training, and carrying his own golf bag.
Mickelson was inducted into the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame in 2008.
2009
Mickelson won his first 2009 tour event when he defended his title at the Northern Trust Open at Riviera, one stroke ahead of Steve Stricker. The victory was Mickelson's 35th on tour; he surpassed Vijay Singh for second place on the current PGA Tour wins list. A month later, he won his 36th, and his first World Golf Championship, at the WGC-CA Championship with a one-stroke win over Nick Watney.
On May 20, it was announced that his wife Amy was diagnosed with breast cancer, and Mickelson announced that he would suspend his PGA Tour schedule indefinitely. She would begin treatment with major surgery as early as the following two weeks. Mickelson was scheduled to play the HP Byron Nelson Championship May 21–24, and to defend his title May 28–31 at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, but withdrew from both events. During the final round of the 2009 BMW PGA Championship, fellow golfer and family friend John Daly wore bright pink trousers in support of Mickelson's wife. Also, the next Saturday, at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, a "Pink Out" event was hosted, and the PGA Tour players all wore pink that day, to support the Mickelson family.
On May 31, Mickelson announced that he would return to play on the PGA Tour in June at the St. Jude Classic and the U.S. Open, since he had heard from the doctors treating his wife that her cancer had been detected in an early stage. Mickelson shot a final round 70 at the 2009 U.S. Open and recorded his fifth runner-up finish at the U.S. Open. He shared the lead after an eagle at the 13th hole, but fell back with bogeys on 15 and 17; Lucas Glover captured the championship.
On July 6, it was announced that his mother Mary was diagnosed with breast cancer and would have surgery at the same hospital where his wife was treated. After hearing the news that his mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer, Mickelson took another leave of absence from the tour, missing The Open Championship at Turnberry. On July 28, Mickelson announced he would return in August at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, the week before the PGA Championship at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota.
In September, Mickelson won The Tour Championship for the second time in his career. He entered the final round four strokes off the lead, but shot a final round 65 to win the event by three strokes over Tiger Woods. With the win, Mickelson finished the season second behind Woods in the 2009 FedEx Cup standings.
On November 8, Mickelson won the WGC-HSBC Champions by one shot over Ernie Els in Shanghai.
2010: Third Masters win
In 2010, Mickelson won the Masters Tournament on April 11 with a 16-under-par performance, giving him a three-stroke win over Lee Westwood. The win marked the third Masters victory for Mickelson and his fourth major championship overall. Critical to Mickelson's win was a dramatic run in the third round on Saturday in which Mickelson, trailing leader Westwood by five strokes as he prepared his approach shot to the 13th green, proceeded to make eagle, then to hole-out for eagle from 141 yards at the next hole, the par 4 14th, then on the next, the par 5 15th, to miss eagle from 81 yards by mere inches. After tapping in for birdie at 15, Mickelson, at −12, led Westwood, at −11, who had bogeyed hole 12 and failed to capitalize on the par 5 13th, settling for par.
Westwood recaptured a one-stroke lead by the end of the round, but the momentum carried forward for Mickelson into round 4, where he posted a bogey-free 67 to Westwood's 71. No other pursuer was able to keep pace to the end, though K. J. Choi and Anthony Kim made notable charges. For good measure, Mickelson birdied the final hole and memorably greeted his waiting wife, Amy, with a prolonged hug and kiss.
For many fans, Mickelson's finish in the tournament was especially poignant, given that Amy had been suffering from breast cancer during the preceding year. Mary Mickelson, Phil's mother, was also dealing with cancer. CBS Sports announcer Jim Nantz's call of the final birdie putt, "That's a win for the family," was seen by many as capturing the moment well.
Tiger Woods had a dramatic return to competitive play after a scandal-ridden 20-week absence; he was in close contention throughout for the lead and finished tied with Choi for 4th at −11. Mickelson and others showed exciting play over the weekend, and the 2010 Masters had strong television ratings in the United States, ranking third all-time to Woods's historic wins in 1997 and 2001. Mickelson's win left him second only to Woods in major championships among his competitive contemporaries, moving him ahead of Ernie Els, Vijay Singh and Pádraig Harrington, with three major championships each and each, like Mickelson, with dozens of worldwide wins.
Remainder of 2010
Mickelson, one of the favorites for the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, shot 75 and 66 on Thursday and Friday to sit two shots off the lead. However, two weekend scores of 73 gave him a T4 finish. During the remainder of the 2010 season, Mickelson had multiple opportunities to become the number one player in the world rankings following the travails of Tiger Woods. However, a string of disappointing finishes by Mickelson saw the number one spot eventually go to Englishman Lee Westwood.
In the days leading up to the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits (near Kohler, Wisconsin), Mickelson announced he had been diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis. He added that he had started medical treatment, and had become a vegetarian in hopes of aiding his recovery. He maintains that both his short- and long-term prognosis are good, that the condition should have no long-term effect on his golfing career, and that he currently feels well. He also stated that the arthritis may go into permanent remission after one year of medical treatment. He went on to finish the championship T12, five shots behind winner Martin Kaymer.
2011
Mickelson started his 2011 season at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines Golf Course. He shot and was tied for the 54 hole lead with Bill Haas. Mickelson needed to hole out on the 18th hole for eagle from 74 yards to force a playoff with Bubba Watson. He hit it to 4 feet and Watson won the tournament.
On April 3, Mickelson won the Shell Houston Open with a 20-under-par, three-stroke win over Scott Verplank. Mickelson rose to No. 3 in the world ranking, while Tiger Woods fell to No. 7. Mickelson had not been ranked above Woods since the week prior to the 1997 Masters Tournament.
At The Open Championship, Mickelson recorded just his second top-ten finish in 18 tournaments by tying for second with Dustin Johnson. His front nine 30 put him briefly in a tie for the lead with eventual champion Darren Clarke. However, some putting problems caused him to fade from contention toward the end, to finish in a tie for second place.
2012: 40th career PGA Tour win
Mickelson made his 2012 debut at the Humana Challenge and finished tied for 49th. He missed the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open after shooting rounds of 77 and 68. In the final round of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, Mickelson rallied from six shots back, winning the tournament by two strokes with a final-round score of 8-under 64 and a four-round total of 269. The win marked his 40th career victory on the PGA Tour. The following week at Riviera Country Club, Mickelson lost the Northern Trust Open in a three-way playoff. He had held the lead or a share of it from day one until the back nine on Sunday when Bill Haas posted the clubhouse lead at seven under par. Mickelson holed a 27-foot birdie putt on the final regulation hole to force a playoff alongside Haas and Keegan Bradley. Haas however won the playoff with a 40-foot birdie putt on the second playoff hole. The second-place finish moved Mickelson back into the world's top 10.
Mickelson finished tied for third at the Masters. After opening the tournament with a two-over-par 74, he shot 68–66 in the next two rounds and ended up one stroke behind leader Peter Hanson by Saturday night. Mickelson had a poor start to his fourth round, scoring a triple-bogey when he hit his ball far to the left of the green on the par-3 4th hole, hitting the stand and landing in a bamboo plant. This ended up being Mickelson's only score over par in the whole round, and he ended with a score of eight-under overall. Earlier in the tournament he had received widespread praise for being present to watch Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, and Gary Player hit the ceremonial opening tee-shots, nearly seven hours before Mickelson's own tee time.
Mickelson made a charge during the final round at the HP Byron Nelson Championship, but bogeyed the 17th and 18th, finishing T-7th. He then withdrew from the Memorial Tournament, citing mental fatigue, after a first-round 79. He was to be paired with Tiger Woods and Bubba Watson at the U.S. Open. He fought to make the cut in the U.S. Open, and finished T-65th. After taking a couple of weeks off, he played in the Greenbrier Classic. Putting problems meant a second straight missed cut at the Greenbrier and a third missed cut at 2012 Open Championship, shooting 73-78 (11 over par). He finished T-43rd at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. He then finished T-36th at the PGA Championship.
To start the 2012 FedEx Cup Playoffs, Mickelson finished T38 at The Barclays, +1 for the tournament. He tied with Tiger Woods, Zach Johnson, and five other players. In this tournament, he started using the claw putting grip on the greens. At the next event, the Deutsche Bank Championship, he finished the tournament with a −14, tied for 4th with Dustin Johnson. At the BMW Championship, Mickelson posted a −16 for the first three rounds, one of those rounds being a −8, 64. On the final day, Mickelson shot a −2, 70, to finish tied for 2nd, with Lee Westwood, two shots behind leader, and back-to-back winner, Rory McIlroy. At the Tour Championship, he ended up finishing tied for 15th. He went on to have a 3–1 record at the Ryder Cup; however, the USA team lost the event.
2013
Mickelson began the 2013 season in January by playing in the Humana Challenge, where he finished T37 at −17. His next event was the following week in his home event near San Diego at the Farmers Insurance Open. Mickelson endured a disappointing tournament, finishing T51, shooting all four rounds in the 70s.
In the first round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open, Mickelson tied his career-low round of 60. He made seven birdies in his first nine holes and needed a birdie on the 18th hole to equal the PGA Tour record of 59. However, his 25-foot birdie putt on the final hole lipped out, resulting in him missing out by a single shot on making only the sixth round of 59 in PGA Tour history. Mickelson led the tournament wire-to-wire and completed a four-shot win over Brandt Snedeker for his 41st PGA Tour victory and 3rd Phoenix Open title. Mickelson's score of 28-under-par tied Mark Calcavecchia's tournament scoring record. He also moved back inside the world's top 10 after falling down as far as number 22.
Sixth runner-up finish at the U.S. Open
At the U.S. Open at Merion, Mickelson entered the final round leading by one stroke after rounds of over the first three days, but he started the final round by three-putting the 3rd and 5th holes for double-bogeys to fall out of the lead. He regained the lead at the par-four 10th, when he holed his second shot from the rough for an eagle. However, a misjudgment at the short par three 13th saw him fly the green and make a bogey to slip one behind leader Justin Rose. Another bogey followed at the 15th, before narrowly missing a birdie putt on the 16th that would have tied Rose. Mickelson could not make a birdie at the 17th and after a blocked drive on the 18th, he could not hole his pitch from short of the green, which led to a final bogey.
Mickelson ended up finishing tied for second with Jason Day, two strokes behind Justin Rose. It was the sixth runner-up finish of Mickelson's career at the U.S. Open, an event record and only behind Jack Nicklaus's seven runner-up finishes at The Open Championship. After the event, Mickelson called the loss heartbreaking and said "this is tough to swallow after coming so close ... I felt like this was as good an opportunity I could ask for and to not get it ... it hurts." It was also Father's Day, which happened to be his birthday.
Fifth major title at the Open Championship
The week before The Open Championship, Mickelson warmed up for the event by winning his first tournament on British soil at the Scottish Open on July 14, after a sudden-death playoff against Branden Grace. After this victory, Mickelson spoke of his confidence ahead of his participation in the following week's major championship. Mickelson said: "I've never felt more excited going into The Open. I don't think there's a better way to get ready for a major than playing well the week before and getting into contention. Coming out on top just gives me more confidence."
The following week, Mickelson won his fifth major title on July 21 at the Open Championship (often referred to as the British Open) Muirfield Golf Links in Scotland; the Open Championship is the oldest of the four major tournaments in professional golf. This was the first time in history that anyone had won both the Scottish Open and The Open Championship in the same year. Mickelson birdied four of the last six holes in a brilliant final round of 66 to win the title by three strokes. He shed tears on the 18th green after completing his round. Mickelson later said: "I played arguably the best round of my career, and shot the round of my life. The range of emotions I feel are as far apart as possible after losing the U.S. Open. But you have to be resilient in this game." In an interview before the 2015 Open, Mickelson said, "Two years removed from that win, I still can't believe how much it means to me."
2014 and 2015: Inconsistent form and close calls in majors
Mickelson missed the cut at the Masters for the first time since 1997. He failed to contend at the U.S. Open at Pinehurst in his first bid to complete the career grand slam. Mickelson's lone top-10 of the PGA Tour season came at the year's final major, the PGA Championship at Valhalla. Mickelson shot rounds of 69-67-67-66 to finish solo second, one shot behind world number one Rory McIlroy.
Prior to the 2015 Masters, Mickelson's best finish in 2015 was a tie for 17th. At the Masters, Mickelson shot rounds of to finish tied for second with Justin Rose, four shots behind champion Jordan Spieth. The second-place finish was Mickelson's tenth such finish in a major, placing him second all-time only to Jack Nicklaus in that regard.
At The Open Championship, Mickelson shot rounds of and was eight shots behind, outside the top forty. In the final round, Mickelson birdied the 15th hole to move to 10 under and within two of the lead. After a missed birdie putt on 16, Mickelson hit his drive on the infamous Road Hole (17th) at the famed Old Course at St Andrews onto a second-floor balcony of the Old Course Hotel. The out-of-bounds drive lead to a triple-bogey 7 that sent Mickelson tumbling out of contention.
Later in the year, it was announced that Mickelson would leave longtime swing coach Butch Harmon, feeling as though he needed to hear a new perspective on things.
2016: New swing coach
After leaving Butch Harmon, Mickelson hired Andrew Getson of Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona, to serve as his new swing coach. The two worked together heavily in the 2015 offseason to get Mickelson's swing back.
Under Getson's guidance, Mickelson made his 2016 debut at the CareerBuilder Challenge. He shot rounds of to finish in a tie for third place at 21-under-par. It was only Mickelson's fifth top-five finish since his win at the 2013 Open Championship. The third-place finish was Mickelson's highest finish in his first worldwide start of a calendar year since he won the same event to begin the 2004 season.
At the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Mickelson shot rounds of to finish in solo second place, a shot behind Vaughn Taylor. Mickelson lipped out a five-foot birdie putt to force a playoff on the 72nd hole. He entered the final round with a two-stroke lead, his first 54-hole lead since the 2013 U.S. Open and was seeking to end a winless drought dating back 52 worldwide events to the 2013 Open Championship.
Mickelson shot a 63 in the opening round of The Open Championship at Royal Troon. The round set a new course record and matched the previous major championship record for lowest round. Mickelson had a birdie putt that narrowly missed on the final hole to set a new major championship scoring record of 62. He followed this up with a 69 in the second round for a 10 under par total and a one-shot lead over Henrik Stenson going into the weekend. In the third round, Mickelson shot a one-under 70 for a total of 11 under par to enter the final round one shot back of Stenson. Despite Mickelson's bogey-free 65 in the final round, Stenson shot 63 to win by three shots. Mickelson finished 11 strokes clear of 3rd place, a major championship record for a runner-up. Mickelson's 267 total set a record score for a runner-up in the British Open, and only trails Mickelson's 266 at the 2001 PGA Championship as the lowest total by a runner-up in major championship history.
2017: Recovery from surgeries
In the fall of 2016, Mickelson had two sports hernia surgeries. Those in the golf community expected him to miss much time recovering, however his unexpected return at the CareerBuilder Challenge was a triumphant one, leading to a T-21 finish. The next week, in San Diego, he narrowly missed an eagle putt on the 18th hole on Sunday that would've got him to 8-under par instead posting −7 to finish T14 at the Farmers Insurance Open. The following week, at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, which he has won three times, he surged into contention following a Saturday 65. He played his first nine holes in 4-under 32 and sending his name to the top of the leaderboard. However, his charge faltered with bogeys at 11, 12, 14, 15, and a double bogey at the driveable 17th hole. He stumbled with a final round 71, still earning a T-16 finish, for his sixth straight top-25 finish on tour.
Mickelson came close to winning again at the FedEx St. Jude Classic where he had finished in second place the previous year to Daniel Berger. He started the final round four strokes behind leaders but he quickly played himself into contention. Following a birdie at the 10th hole he vaulted to the top of leaderboard but found trouble on the 12th hole. His tee shot carried out of bounds and his fourth shot hit the water so he had to make a long putt to salvage triple-bogey. He managed to get one shot back but he finished three shots behind winner Berger, in ninth place, for the second straight year.
Two weeks later he withdrew from the U.S. Open to attend his daughter's high school graduation. A week later his longtime caddie Jim (Bones) Mackay left Mickelson in a mutual agreement. Mickelson then missed the cut at both The Open Championship and the PGA Championship.
On September 6, days after posting his best finish of the season of T6 at the Dell Technologies Championship, Mickelson was named as a captain's pick for the Presidents Cup. This maintained a streak of 23 consecutive USA teams in the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup, dating back to 1994.
2018–2019: Winless streak ends
On March 4, 2018, Mickelson ended a winless drought that dated back to 2013, by capturing his third WGC championship at the WGC-Mexico Championship, with a final-round score of 66 and a total score of −16. Mickelson birdied two of his last four holes and had a lengthy putt to win outright on the 72nd hole, but tied with Justin Thomas. He defeated Thomas on the first extra hole of a sudden-death playoff with a par. After Thomas had flown the green, Mickelson had a birdie to win the playoff which lipped out. Thomas however could not get up and down for par, meaning Mickelson claimed the championship. The win was Mickelson's 43rd on the PGA Tour and his first since winning the 2013 Open Championship. He also became the oldest winner of a WGC event, at age 47.
In the third round of the 2018 U.S. Open, Mickelson incurred a two-stroke penalty in a controversial incident on the 13th hole when he hit his ball with intent while it was still moving. He ended up shooting 81 (+11). His former coach Butch Harmon thought Mickelson should have been disqualified.
Mickelson was a captain's pick for Team USA at the 2018 Ryder Cup, held in Paris between September 28 and 30. Paired with Bryson DeChambeau in the Friday afternoon foursomes, they lost 5 and 4 to Europe's Sergio García and Alex Norén. In the Sunday singles match, Mickelson lost 4 and 2 to Francesco Molinari, as Team USA slumped to a 17.5 to 10.5 defeat.
On November 23, 2018, Mickelson won the pay-per-view event, Capital One's The Match. This was a $9,000,000 winner-takes-all match against Tiger Woods at Shadow Creek Golf Course in Las Vegas. Mickelson needed four extra holes to beat Woods, which he did by holing a four-foot putt after Woods missed a seven-foot putt on the 22nd hole.
In his third start of the 2019 calendar year, Mickelson won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, shooting a bogey-free final round 65 to defeat Paul Casey by three strokes. The win was Mickelson's 44th career title on the PGA Tour, and his fifth at Pebble Beach, tying Mark O'Meara for most victories in the event. At 48 years of age, he also became the oldest winner of that event.
2020: PGA Tour season and PGA Tour Champions debut
In December 2019, Mickelson announced via Twitter that "after turning down opportunities to go to the Middle East for many years" he would play in the 2020 Saudi International tournament on the European Tour and would miss Waste Management Phoenix Open for the first time since 1989. However, his decision to visit and play in Saudi Arabia was criticized for getting lured by millions of dollars and ignoring the continuous human rights abuses in the nation. Mickelson went on to finish the February 2020 event tied for third.
Mickelson finished 3rd at the 2020 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and tied for 2nd in the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational. Mickelson was the first player over 50 to finish in the top five of a World Golf Championship event. He was ultimately eliminated from the FedEx Cup Playoffs following The Northern Trust at TPC Boston in August 2020. One week later, Mickelson made his debut on the PGA Tour Champions. He won the Charles Schwab Series at Ozarks National in his first tournament after becoming eligible for PGA Tour Champions on his 50th birthday on June 16, 2020. He was the 20th player to win their debut tournament on tour. Mickelson's 191 stroke total tied the PGA Tour Champions all-time record for a three-day event.
In October 2020, Mickelson won the Dominion Energy Charity Classic in Virginia. It was his second win in as many starts on the PGA Tour Champions.
2021: The oldest major champion
In February 2021, Mickelson was attempting to become the first player in PGA Tour Champions history to win his first three tournaments on tour. However, he fell short in the Cologuard Classic, finishing in a T-20 position with a score of 4 under par.
In May 2021, Mickelson held the 54-hole lead at the PGA Championship at the Kiawah Island Golf Resort in South Carolina, leading Brooks Koepka by one shot with one day to play. He shot a final-round 73 to capture the tournament, defeating Koepka and Louis Oosthuizen by two strokes, becoming the oldest major champion; at 50. As Mickelson walked down the fairway following an excellent second shot from the left rough on the 18th hole, thousands of fans engulfed him, with him walking towards the hole constantly tipping his hat and giving the thumbs up to the crowd as they cheered. However, the massive tumult of people meant playing partner Brooks Koepka was stranded in the sea of people, and with difficulties, he managed to reach the green to finish the hole. Mickelson eventually emerged from the crowd and two-putted for par, finishing the tournament at 6-under, besting the field by two strokes.
In October 2021, Mickelson won for the third time in four career starts on the PGA Tour Champions. Mickelson shot a final round 4-under-par 68 to win the inaugural Constellation Furyk & Friends over Miguel Ángel Jiménez in Jacksonville, Florida.
In November 2021, Mickelson won the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship in Phoenix, Arizona, with a final round six-under par 65. This victory was Mickelson's fourth win in six career starts on PGA Tour Champions.
2022: Saudi Arabia controversy
Mickelson admitted in an interview to overlooking Saudi Arabian human rights violations, including the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and execution of LGBTQ+ individuals, to support the Saudi-backed Super Golf League because it offered an opportunity to reshape the PGA Tour. In response to these comments, Mickelson lost multiple longtime sponsors including Callaway Golf and KPMG. Mickelson announced he would be stepping away from golf to spend time with his family.
Playing style
As a competitor, Mickelson's playing style is described by many as "aggressive" and highly social. His strategy toward difficult shots (bad lies, obstructions) would tend to be considered risky.
Mickelson has also been characterized by his powerful and sometimes inaccurate driver, but his excellent short game draws the most positive reviews, most of all his daring "Phil flop" shot in which a big swing with a high-lofted wedge against a tight lie flies a ball high into the air for a short distance.
Mickelson is usually in the top 10 in scoring, and he led the PGA Tour in birdie average as recently as 2013.
Earnings and endorsements
Although ranked second on the PGA Tour's all-time money list of tournament prize money won, Mickelson earns far more from endorsements than from prize money. According to one estimate of 2011 earnings (comprising salary, winnings, bonuses, endorsements and appearances) Mickelson was then the second-highest paid athlete in the United States, earning an income of over $62 million, $53 million of which came from endorsements. Major companies which Mickelson currently endorses are ExxonMobil (Mickelson and wife Amy started a teacher sponsorship fund with the company), Rolex and Mizzen+Main. He has been previously sponsored by Titleist, Bearing Point, Barclays, and Ford. After being diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis in 2010, Mickelson was treated with Enbrel and began endorsing the drug. In 2015, Forbes estimated Mickelson's annual income was $51 million.
In 2022, Mickelson lost a significant number of sponsors including Callaway Golf, KPMG, Amstel Light and Workday after comments he made about the Saudi-backed golf league, Super Golf League. In an interview, he stated that Saudis are "scary motherfuckers to get involved with... We know they killed [Washington Post reporter and U.S. resident Jamal] Khashoggi and have a horrible record on human rights. They execute people over there for being gay. Knowing all of this, why would I even consider it? Because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reshape how the PGA Tour operates."
Insider trading settlement
On May 30, 2014, The Wall Street Journal reported that the FBI and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) were investigating Mickelson and associates of his for insider trading in Clorox stock. Mickelson denied any wrongdoing, and the investigation found "no evidence" and concluded without any charges. On May 19, 2016, Mickelson was named as a relief defendant in another SEC complaint alleging insider trading but completely avoided criminal charges in a parallel case brought in the Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York. The action stems for trades in Dean Foods in 2012 in conjunction with confidential information provided by Thomas Davis, a former director of Dean Foods Company, who tipped his friend and "professional sports bettor" Billy Walters.
The SEC did not allege that Walters actually told Mickelson of any material, nonpublic information about Dean Foods, and the SEC disgorged Mickelson of the $931,000 profit he had made from trading Dean Foods stock and had him pay prejudgment interest of $105,000. In 2017, Walters was convicted of making $40 million on Davis's private information from 2008 to 2014 by a federal jury. At that time, it was also noted that Mickelson had "once owed nearly $2 million in gambling debts to" Walters. Walters's lawyer said his client would appeal the 2017 verdict.
Amateur wins
1980 Junior World Golf Championships (Boys 9–10)
1989 NCAA Division I Championship
1990 Pac-10 Championship, NCAA Division I Championship, U.S. Amateur, Porter Cup
1991 Western Amateur
1992 NCAA Division I Championship
Professional wins (57)
PGA Tour wins (45)
*Note: Tournament shortened to 54 holes due to weather.
PGA Tour playoff record (8–4)
European Tour wins (11)
1Co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour, Sunshine Tour and PGA Tour of Australasia
European Tour playoff record (3–1)
Challenge Tour wins (1)
Other wins (4)
Other playoff record (1–1)
PGA Tour Champions wins (4)
Major championships
Wins (6)
Results timeline
Results not in chronological order in 2020.
LA = Low amateur
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
NT = No tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic
Summary
Most consecutive cuts made – 30 (1999 PGA – 2007 Masters)
Longest streak of top-10s – 5 (2004 Masters – 2005 Masters)
The Players Championship
Wins (1)
Results timeline
CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
C = Canceled after the first round due to the COVID-19 pandemic
World Golf Championships
Wins (3)
Results timeline
Results not in chronological order prior to 2015.
1Cancelled due to 9/11
2Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = tied
NT = No Tournament
Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.
PGA Tour career summary
* As of 2021 season.
† Mickelson won as an amateur in 1991 and therefore did not receive any prize money.
U.S. national team appearances
Amateur
Walker Cup: 1989, 1991 (winners)
Eisenhower Trophy: 1990
Professional
Presidents Cup: 1994 (winners), 1996 (winners), 1998, 2000 (winners), 2003 (tie), 2005 (winners), 2007 (winners), 2009 (winners), 2011 (winners), 2013 (winners), 2015 (winners), 2017 (winners)
Ryder Cup: 1995, 1997, 1999 (winners), 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008 (winners), 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016 (winners), 2018
Alfred Dunhill Cup: 1996 (winners)
Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge (representing PGA Tour): 1997 (winners), 2000 (winners)
World Cup: 2002
See also
List of golfers with most European Tour wins
List of golfers with most PGA Tour wins
List of men's major championships winning golfers
Monday Night Golf
References
External links
On Course With Phil
American male golfers
PGA Tour golfers
PGA Tour Champions golfers
Ryder Cup competitors for the United States
Sports controversies
Winners of men's major golf championships
Arizona State Sun Devils men's golfers
Left-handed golfers
World Golf Hall of Fame inductees
Golfers from Scottsdale, Arizona
Golfers from San Diego
American people of Italian descent
American people of Portuguese descent
American people of Swedish descent
1970 births
Living people | true | [
"The Diocese of Mauriana () is a suppressed and titular see of the Roman Catholic Church.\n\nDuring the Roman Empire the seat of the diocese was Mauriana, a Roman town of the Roman province of Mauretania Caesariensis. The Roman town is now lost to history but flourished in late antiquity though it did not last long after the Muslim conquest of the Maghreb. An exact location for that town is not known but Mauriana, was in what is today Algeria.\n\nKnown bishops\nTwo bishops are known to us from antiquity, and five from the 20th century.\nLuciano (fl. 337 circa)\nSecondo (fl.484)\n Johannes Gerardus Maria Willebrands (1964–1969)\n Pio Laghi (1969–1991\n Petar Šolic (1991–1992)\n Juan Carlos Maccarone (1993–1996)\n Nicholas Anthony DiMarzio (1996–1999)\n Aurel Percă, (1999–current)\n\nHistory\nSecond, who took part in the synod assembled in Carthage in 484 by the Arian King Huneric of the Vandal Kingdom, after which he was exiled. Morcelli also assigned to Mauriana the bishop Luciano, who would attend a council in Rome in 337; According to Mesnage however, he must have been from another bishopric, because he can not understand how a dark bishop of Mauritania Cesariense could attend a synod in Rome in the first half of the fourth century.\n\nToday Mauriana survives as a titular bishopric and the current bishop is Aurel Percă, auxiliary bishop of Iaşi.\n\nReferences\n\nCatholic titular sees in Africa",
"The 2016 Formula D season is the thirteenth season of the Formula D Pro Championship series and third season of the Pro2 series. The Pro Championship series began on April 8 at Long Beach and ended on October 8 at Irwindale Speedway with Chris Forsberg winning his third Pro Championship. The Pro2 series began on May 5 at Road Atlanta and ended on October 1 at Wild Horse Motorsports Park with Marc Landreville winning the series.\n\nSchedule and results\n\nCalendar changes & notes\n The Super Drift Challenge took place on April 15 & 16 at the Streets of Long Beach course, with Matt Field beating Michael Essa in the final round.\n\nEntries\n\nPro championship\n\nPro 2\n\nResults and standings\n\nPro championship\n\nStandings\nEvent winners in bold.\n\nNotes:\nX — Did not attend event\n\nManufacturer Cup\n\nTire Cup\n\nPro 2\n\nStandings\n\nNotes:\nX — Did not attend event\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\nFormula D seasons\nFormula D"
] | [
"Philip Alfred Mickelson (born June 16, 1970), nicknamed Phil the Thrill, is an American professional golfer. He has won 45 events on the PGA Tour, including six major championships: three Masters titles (2004, 2006, 2010), two PGA Championships (2005, 2021), and one Open Championship (2013). With his win at the 2021 PGA Championship, Mickelson became the oldest major championship winner in history at the age of 50 years, 11 months and 7 days old.",
"With his win at the 2021 PGA Championship, Mickelson became the oldest major championship winner in history at the age of 50 years, 11 months and 7 days old. Mickelson is one of 17 players in the history of golf to win at least three of the four majors. He has won every major except the U.S. Open, in which he has finished runner-up a record six times. Mickelson has spent more than 25 consecutive years in the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking.",
"Mickelson has spent more than 25 consecutive years in the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking. He has spent over 700 weeks in the top 10, has reached a career-high world ranking of No. 2 several times and is a life member of the PGA Tour. Although naturally right-handed, he is known for his left-handed swing, having learned it by mirroring his right-handed father's swing. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2012.",
"He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2012. Early life and family Philip Alfred Mickelson was born on June 16, 1970, in San Diego, California, to parents Philip Mickelson, an airline pilot and former naval aviator, and Mary Santos. He was raised there and in Scottsdale, Arizona. Mickelson has Portuguese, Swedish, and Sicilian ancestry.",
"Mickelson has Portuguese, Swedish, and Sicilian ancestry. Mickelson has Portuguese, Swedish, and Sicilian ancestry. His maternal grandfather, Alfred Santos (also Mickelson's middle name) was a caddie at Pebble Beach Golf Links and took Phil to play golf as a child. Although otherwise right-handed, he played golf left-handed since he learned by watching his right-handed father swing, mirroring his style. Mickelson began golf under his father's instruction before starting school.",
"Mickelson began golf under his father's instruction before starting school. Phil Sr.'s work schedule as a commercial pilot allowed them to play together several times a week and young Phil honed his creative short game on an extensive practice area in their San Diego backyard. Mickelson graduated from the University of San Diego High School in 1988.",
"Mickelson graduated from the University of San Diego High School in 1988. College golf Mickelson attended Arizona State University in Tempe on a golf scholarship and became the face of amateur golf in the United States, capturing three NCAA individual championships and three Haskins Awards (1990, 1991, 1992) as the outstanding collegiate golfer. With three individual NCAA championships, he shares the record for most individual NCAA championships alongside Ben Crenshaw. Mickelson also led the Sun Devils to the NCAA team title in 1990.",
"Mickelson also led the Sun Devils to the NCAA team title in 1990. Over the course of his collegiate career, he won 16 tournaments. Mickelson was the second collegiate golfer to earn first-team All-American honors all four years. In 1990, he also became the first with a left-handed swing to win the U.S. Amateur title, defeating high school teammate Manny Zerman 5 and 4 in the 36-hole final at Cherry Hills, south of Denver.",
"Amateur title, defeating high school teammate Manny Zerman 5 and 4 in the 36-hole final at Cherry Hills, south of Denver. Mickelson secured perhaps his greatest achievement as an amateur in January 1991, winning his first PGA Tour event, the Northern Telecom Open, in Tucson, making him one of the few golfers to win a PGA Tour event as an amateur in the history of the PGA Tour.",
"Mickelson secured perhaps his greatest achievement as an amateur in January 1991, winning his first PGA Tour event, the Northern Telecom Open, in Tucson, making him one of the few golfers to win a PGA Tour event as an amateur in the history of the PGA Tour. At age 20, he was only the sixth amateur to win a tour event and the first in over five years after Scott Verplank at the Western Open in August 1985.",
"At age 20, he was only the sixth amateur to win a tour event and the first in over five years after Scott Verplank at the Western Open in August 1985. Other players to accomplish this feat include Doug Sanders (1956 Canadian Open) and Gene Littler (1954 San Diego Open). With five holes remaining, Mickelson led by a stroke, but made a triple-bogey and was then three behind. The leaders ahead of him then stumbled, and he birdied 16 and 18 to win by a stroke.",
"The leaders ahead of him then stumbled, and he birdied 16 and 18 to win by a stroke. To date, it is the most recent win by an amateur at a PGA Tour event. That April, Mickelson was the low amateur at the Masters Tournament in Augusta, Georgia. With his two-year PGA Tour exemption from the Tucson win, he played in several tour events in 1992 while an amateur but failed to make a cut.",
"With his two-year PGA Tour exemption from the Tucson win, he played in several tour events in 1992 while an amateur but failed to make a cut. Professional career 1992–2003: Trying for first major win Mickelson graduated from ASU in June 1992 and quickly turned professional. He bypassed the tour's qualifying process (Q-School) because of his 1991 win in Tucson, which earned him a two-year exemption. In 1992, Mickelson hired Jim \"Bones\" Mackay as his caddy.",
"In 1992, Mickelson hired Jim \"Bones\" Mackay as his caddy. He won many PGA Tour tournaments during this period, including the Byron Nelson Golf Classic and the World Series of Golf in 1996, the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in 1998, the Colonial National Invitation in 2000 and the Greater Hartford Open in 2001 and again in 2002. He appeared as himself in a non-speaking role in the 1996 film Tin Cup, starring Kevin Costner.",
"He appeared as himself in a non-speaking role in the 1996 film Tin Cup, starring Kevin Costner. His 2000 Buick Invitational win ended Tiger Woods's streak of six consecutive victories on the PGA Tour. After the win, Mickelson said, \"I didn't want to be the bad guy. I wasn't trying to end the streak per se. I was just trying to win the golf tournament.\"",
"I was just trying to win the golf tournament.\" Although he had performed very well in the majors up to the end of the 2003 season (17 top-ten finishes, and six second- or third-place finishes between 1999 and 2003), Mickelson's inability to win any of them led to him frequently being described as the \"best player never to win a major\".",
"Although he had performed very well in the majors up to the end of the 2003 season (17 top-ten finishes, and six second- or third-place finishes between 1999 and 2003), Mickelson's inability to win any of them led to him frequently being described as the \"best player never to win a major\". 2004–2006: First three major wins Mickelson's first major championship win came in his thirteenth year on the PGA Tour in 2004, when he secured victory in the Masters with an birdie putt on the final hole.",
"2004–2006: First three major wins Mickelson's first major championship win came in his thirteenth year on the PGA Tour in 2004, when he secured victory in the Masters with an birdie putt on the final hole. Ernie Els was the runner-up at a stroke back; the two played in different pairs in the final round and had traded birdies and eagles on the back nine.",
"Ernie Els was the runner-up at a stroke back; the two played in different pairs in the final round and had traded birdies and eagles on the back nine. In addition to getting the \"majors monkey\" off his back, Mickelson was now only the third golfer with a left-handed swing to win a major, the others being New Zealander Sir Bob Charles, who won The Open Championship in 1963, and Canadian Mike Weir, who won The Masters in 2003.",
"In addition to getting the \"majors monkey\" off his back, Mickelson was now only the third golfer with a left-handed swing to win a major, the others being New Zealander Sir Bob Charles, who won The Open Championship in 1963, and Canadian Mike Weir, who won The Masters in 2003. (Like Mickelson, Weir is a right-hander who plays left-handed.) A fourth left-handed winner is natural southpaw Bubba Watson, the Masters champion in 2012 and 2014.",
"A fourth left-handed winner is natural southpaw Bubba Watson, the Masters champion in 2012 and 2014. Prior to the Ryder Cup in 2004, Mickelson was dropped from his long-standing contract with Titleist/Acushnet Golf, after an incident when he left a voicemail message for a Callaway Golf executive. In it, he praised their driver and golf ball, and thanked them for their help in getting some equipment for his brother. This memo was played to all of their salesmen, and eventually found its way back to Titleist.",
"This memo was played to all of their salesmen, and eventually found its way back to Titleist. He was then let out of his multi-year deal with Titleist 16 months early, and signed on with Callaway Golf, his current equipment sponsor. He endured a great deal of ridicule and scrutiny from the press and fellow Ryder Cup members for his equipment change so close to the Ryder Cup matches.",
"He endured a great deal of ridicule and scrutiny from the press and fellow Ryder Cup members for his equipment change so close to the Ryder Cup matches. He faltered at the 2004 Ryder Cup with a record, but refused to blame the sudden change in equipment or his practice methods for his performance. In November 2004, Mickelson tallied his career-low for an 18-hole round: a 59 at the PGA Grand Slam of Golf at Poipu Bay Golf Course in Hawaii.",
"In November 2004, Mickelson tallied his career-low for an 18-hole round: a 59 at the PGA Grand Slam of Golf at Poipu Bay Golf Course in Hawaii. The following year, Mickelson captured his second major at the PGA Championship at Baltusrol, in a Monday final-round conclusion that had been forced by inclement weather the previous day.",
"The following year, Mickelson captured his second major at the PGA Championship at Baltusrol, in a Monday final-round conclusion that had been forced by inclement weather the previous day. On the 18th hole, Mickelson hit one of his trademark soft pitches from deep greenside rough to within of the cup, and made his birdie to finish at a 4-under-par total of 276, one shot ahead of Steve Elkington and Thomas Bjørn. Mickelson captured his third major title the following spring at the Masters.",
"Mickelson captured his third major title the following spring at the Masters. He won his second green jacket after shooting a 3-under-par final round, winning by two strokes over runner-up Tim Clark. This win propelled him to 2nd place in the Official World Golf Ranking (his career best), behind Woods, and ahead of Vijay Singh and Retief Goosen.",
"This win propelled him to 2nd place in the Official World Golf Ranking (his career best), behind Woods, and ahead of Vijay Singh and Retief Goosen. 2006: Collapse on final hole at the U.S. Open After winning two majors in a row heading into the U.S. Open at Winged Foot, Mickelson was bidding to join Ben Hogan and Tiger Woods as the only players to win three consecutive majors (not necessarily in the same calendar year).",
"2006: Collapse on final hole at the U.S. Open After winning two majors in a row heading into the U.S. Open at Winged Foot, Mickelson was bidding to join Ben Hogan and Tiger Woods as the only players to win three consecutive majors (not necessarily in the same calendar year). Mickelson was the joint leader going into the final round, but he was part of a wild finish to the tournament, in which he made major mistakes on the final hole and ended up in a tie for second place at +6 (286), one shot behind Geoff Ogilvy.",
"Mickelson was the joint leader going into the final round, but he was part of a wild finish to the tournament, in which he made major mistakes on the final hole and ended up in a tie for second place at +6 (286), one shot behind Geoff Ogilvy. Mickelson bogeyed the 16th hole.",
"Mickelson bogeyed the 16th hole. Mickelson bogeyed the 16th hole. On the 17th hole, with the lead at +4, he missed the fairway to the left, and his drive finished inside a garbage can, from which he was granted a free drop; he parred the hole. He had a one-shot lead and was in the last group going into the final hole.",
"He had a one-shot lead and was in the last group going into the final hole. Needing a par on the 18th hole for a one-shot victory, Mickelson continued with his aggressive style of play and chose to hit a driver off the tee; he hit his shot well left of the fairway (he had hit only two of thirteen fairways previously in the round). The ball bounced off a corporate hospitality tent and settled in an area of trampled-down grass that was enclosed with trees.",
"The ball bounced off a corporate hospitality tent and settled in an area of trampled-down grass that was enclosed with trees. He decided to go for the green with his second shot, rather than play it safe and pitch out into the fairway. His ball then hit a tree, and did not advance more than . His next shot plugged into the left greenside bunker.",
"His next shot plugged into the left greenside bunker. His next shot plugged into the left greenside bunker. He was unable to get up and down from there, resulting in a double bogey, and costing him a chance of winning the championship outright or getting into an 18-hole playoff with Ogilvy. After his disappointing finish, Mickelson said: \"I'm still in shock. I still can't believe I did that. This one hurts more than any tournament because I had it won.",
"This one hurts more than any tournament because I had it won. Congratulations to Geoff Ogilvy on some great play. I want to thank all the people that supported me. The only thing I can say is I'm sorry.\" He was even more candid when he said: \"I just can't believe I did that. I'm such an idiot.\"",
"I'm such an idiot.\" I'm such an idiot.\" 2006–2008 During the third round of the 2006 Ford Championship at Doral, Mickelson gave a spectator $200 after his wayward tee shot at the par-5 10th broke the man's watch. Mickelson also has shown other signs of appreciation.",
"Mickelson also has shown other signs of appreciation. Mickelson also has shown other signs of appreciation. In 2007 after hearing the story of retired NFL player, Conrad Dobler, and his family on ESPN explaining their struggles to pay medical bills, Mickelson volunteered to pay tuition for Holli Dobler, Conrad Dobler's daughter, at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Frustrated with his driving accuracy, Mickelson made the decision in April 2007 to leave longtime swing coach, Rick Smith.",
"Frustrated with his driving accuracy, Mickelson made the decision in April 2007 to leave longtime swing coach, Rick Smith. He then began working with Butch Harmon, a former coach of Tiger Woods and Greg Norman. On May 13, Mickelson came from a stroke back on the final round to shoot a three-under 69 to win The Players Championship with an 11-under-par 277.",
"On May 13, Mickelson came from a stroke back on the final round to shoot a three-under 69 to win The Players Championship with an 11-under-par 277. In the U.S. Open at Oakmont in June, Mickelson missed the cut (by a stroke) for the first time in 31 majors after shooting 11 over par for 36 holes. He had been hampered by a wrist injury that was incurred while practicing in the thick rough at Oakmont a few weeks before the tournament.",
"He had been hampered by a wrist injury that was incurred while practicing in the thick rough at Oakmont a few weeks before the tournament. On September 3, 2007, Mickelson won the Deutsche Bank Championship, which is the second FedEx Cup playoff event. On the final day, he was paired with Tiger Woods, who ended up finishing two strokes behind Mickelson in a tie for second.",
"On the final day, he was paired with Tiger Woods, who ended up finishing two strokes behind Mickelson in a tie for second. It was the first time that Mickelson was able to beat Woods while the two stars were paired together on the final day of a tournament. The next day Mickelson announced that he would not be competing in the third FedEx Cup playoff event.",
"The next day Mickelson announced that he would not be competing in the third FedEx Cup playoff event. The day before his withdrawal, Mickelson said during a television interview that PGA Tour Commissioner, Tim Finchem, had not responded to advice he had given him on undisclosed issues. In 2008, Mickelson won the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial with a −14, one shot ahead of Tim Clark and Rod Pampling. Mickelson shot a first-round 65 to start off the tournament at −5.",
"Mickelson shot a first-round 65 to start off the tournament at −5. He ended the day tied with Brett Wetterich, two shots behind leader, Johnson Wagner. Mickelson shot a second-round 68, and the third round 65, overall, being −12 for the first three rounds. On the final hole, after an absolutely horrendous tee shot, he was in thick rough with trees in his way. Many players would have punched out, and taken their chances at making par from the fairway with a good wedge shot.",
"Many players would have punched out, and taken their chances at making par from the fairway with a good wedge shot. Instead, he pulled out a high-lofted wedge and hit his approach shot over a tree, landing on the green where he one-putted for the win. In a Men's Vogue article, Mickelson recounted his effort to lose with the help of trainer Sean Cochran.",
"In a Men's Vogue article, Mickelson recounted his effort to lose with the help of trainer Sean Cochran. \"Once the younger players started to come on tour, he realized that he had to start working out to maintain longevity in his career,\" Cochran said. Mickelson's regimen consisted of increasing flexibility and power, eating five smaller meals a day, aerobic training, and carrying his own golf bag. Mickelson was inducted into the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame in 2008.",
"Mickelson was inducted into the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame in 2008. 2009 Mickelson won his first 2009 tour event when he defended his title at the Northern Trust Open at Riviera, one stroke ahead of Steve Stricker. The victory was Mickelson's 35th on tour; he surpassed Vijay Singh for second place on the current PGA Tour wins list. A month later, he won his 36th, and his first World Golf Championship, at the WGC-CA Championship with a one-stroke win over Nick Watney.",
"A month later, he won his 36th, and his first World Golf Championship, at the WGC-CA Championship with a one-stroke win over Nick Watney. On May 20, it was announced that his wife Amy was diagnosed with breast cancer, and Mickelson announced that he would suspend his PGA Tour schedule indefinitely. She would begin treatment with major surgery as early as the following two weeks.",
"She would begin treatment with major surgery as early as the following two weeks. Mickelson was scheduled to play the HP Byron Nelson Championship May 21–24, and to defend his title May 28–31 at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, but withdrew from both events. During the final round of the 2009 BMW PGA Championship, fellow golfer and family friend John Daly wore bright pink trousers in support of Mickelson's wife.",
"During the final round of the 2009 BMW PGA Championship, fellow golfer and family friend John Daly wore bright pink trousers in support of Mickelson's wife. Also, the next Saturday, at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, a \"Pink Out\" event was hosted, and the PGA Tour players all wore pink that day, to support the Mickelson family.",
"Also, the next Saturday, at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, a \"Pink Out\" event was hosted, and the PGA Tour players all wore pink that day, to support the Mickelson family. On May 31, Mickelson announced that he would return to play on the PGA Tour in June at the St. Jude Classic and the U.S. Open, since he had heard from the doctors treating his wife that her cancer had been detected in an early stage.",
"On May 31, Mickelson announced that he would return to play on the PGA Tour in June at the St. Jude Classic and the U.S. Open, since he had heard from the doctors treating his wife that her cancer had been detected in an early stage. Mickelson shot a final round 70 at the 2009 U.S. Open and recorded his fifth runner-up finish at the U.S. Open. He shared the lead after an eagle at the 13th hole, but fell back with bogeys on 15 and 17; Lucas Glover captured the championship.",
"He shared the lead after an eagle at the 13th hole, but fell back with bogeys on 15 and 17; Lucas Glover captured the championship. On July 6, it was announced that his mother Mary was diagnosed with breast cancer and would have surgery at the same hospital where his wife was treated. After hearing the news that his mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer, Mickelson took another leave of absence from the tour, missing The Open Championship at Turnberry.",
"After hearing the news that his mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer, Mickelson took another leave of absence from the tour, missing The Open Championship at Turnberry. On July 28, Mickelson announced he would return in August at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, the week before the PGA Championship at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota. In September, Mickelson won The Tour Championship for the second time in his career.",
"In September, Mickelson won The Tour Championship for the second time in his career. He entered the final round four strokes off the lead, but shot a final round 65 to win the event by three strokes over Tiger Woods. With the win, Mickelson finished the season second behind Woods in the 2009 FedEx Cup standings. On November 8, Mickelson won the WGC-HSBC Champions by one shot over Ernie Els in Shanghai.",
"On November 8, Mickelson won the WGC-HSBC Champions by one shot over Ernie Els in Shanghai. 2010: Third Masters win In 2010, Mickelson won the Masters Tournament on April 11 with a 16-under-par performance, giving him a three-stroke win over Lee Westwood. The win marked the third Masters victory for Mickelson and his fourth major championship overall.",
"The win marked the third Masters victory for Mickelson and his fourth major championship overall. Critical to Mickelson's win was a dramatic run in the third round on Saturday in which Mickelson, trailing leader Westwood by five strokes as he prepared his approach shot to the 13th green, proceeded to make eagle, then to hole-out for eagle from 141 yards at the next hole, the par 4 14th, then on the next, the par 5 15th, to miss eagle from 81 yards by mere inches.",
"Critical to Mickelson's win was a dramatic run in the third round on Saturday in which Mickelson, trailing leader Westwood by five strokes as he prepared his approach shot to the 13th green, proceeded to make eagle, then to hole-out for eagle from 141 yards at the next hole, the par 4 14th, then on the next, the par 5 15th, to miss eagle from 81 yards by mere inches. After tapping in for birdie at 15, Mickelson, at −12, led Westwood, at −11, who had bogeyed hole 12 and failed to capitalize on the par 5 13th, settling for par.",
"After tapping in for birdie at 15, Mickelson, at −12, led Westwood, at −11, who had bogeyed hole 12 and failed to capitalize on the par 5 13th, settling for par. Westwood recaptured a one-stroke lead by the end of the round, but the momentum carried forward for Mickelson into round 4, where he posted a bogey-free 67 to Westwood's 71. No other pursuer was able to keep pace to the end, though K. J. Choi and Anthony Kim made notable charges.",
"No other pursuer was able to keep pace to the end, though K. J. Choi and Anthony Kim made notable charges. For good measure, Mickelson birdied the final hole and memorably greeted his waiting wife, Amy, with a prolonged hug and kiss. For many fans, Mickelson's finish in the tournament was especially poignant, given that Amy had been suffering from breast cancer during the preceding year. Mary Mickelson, Phil's mother, was also dealing with cancer.",
"Mary Mickelson, Phil's mother, was also dealing with cancer. CBS Sports announcer Jim Nantz's call of the final birdie putt, \"That's a win for the family,\" was seen by many as capturing the moment well. Tiger Woods had a dramatic return to competitive play after a scandal-ridden 20-week absence; he was in close contention throughout for the lead and finished tied with Choi for 4th at −11.",
"Tiger Woods had a dramatic return to competitive play after a scandal-ridden 20-week absence; he was in close contention throughout for the lead and finished tied with Choi for 4th at −11. Mickelson and others showed exciting play over the weekend, and the 2010 Masters had strong television ratings in the United States, ranking third all-time to Woods's historic wins in 1997 and 2001.",
"Mickelson and others showed exciting play over the weekend, and the 2010 Masters had strong television ratings in the United States, ranking third all-time to Woods's historic wins in 1997 and 2001. Mickelson's win left him second only to Woods in major championships among his competitive contemporaries, moving him ahead of Ernie Els, Vijay Singh and Pádraig Harrington, with three major championships each and each, like Mickelson, with dozens of worldwide wins.",
"Mickelson's win left him second only to Woods in major championships among his competitive contemporaries, moving him ahead of Ernie Els, Vijay Singh and Pádraig Harrington, with three major championships each and each, like Mickelson, with dozens of worldwide wins. Remainder of 2010 Mickelson, one of the favorites for the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, shot 75 and 66 on Thursday and Friday to sit two shots off the lead. However, two weekend scores of 73 gave him a T4 finish.",
"However, two weekend scores of 73 gave him a T4 finish. During the remainder of the 2010 season, Mickelson had multiple opportunities to become the number one player in the world rankings following the travails of Tiger Woods. However, a string of disappointing finishes by Mickelson saw the number one spot eventually go to Englishman Lee Westwood. In the days leading up to the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits (near Kohler, Wisconsin), Mickelson announced he had been diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis.",
"In the days leading up to the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits (near Kohler, Wisconsin), Mickelson announced he had been diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis. He added that he had started medical treatment, and had become a vegetarian in hopes of aiding his recovery. He maintains that both his short- and long-term prognosis are good, that the condition should have no long-term effect on his golfing career, and that he currently feels well. He also stated that the arthritis may go into permanent remission after one year of medical treatment.",
"He also stated that the arthritis may go into permanent remission after one year of medical treatment. He went on to finish the championship T12, five shots behind winner Martin Kaymer. 2011 Mickelson started his 2011 season at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines Golf Course. He shot and was tied for the 54 hole lead with Bill Haas. Mickelson needed to hole out on the 18th hole for eagle from 74 yards to force a playoff with Bubba Watson. He hit it to 4 feet and Watson won the tournament.",
"He hit it to 4 feet and Watson won the tournament. On April 3, Mickelson won the Shell Houston Open with a 20-under-par, three-stroke win over Scott Verplank. Mickelson rose to No. 3 in the world ranking, while Tiger Woods fell to No. 7. Mickelson had not been ranked above Woods since the week prior to the 1997 Masters Tournament. At The Open Championship, Mickelson recorded just his second top-ten finish in 18 tournaments by tying for second with Dustin Johnson.",
"At The Open Championship, Mickelson recorded just his second top-ten finish in 18 tournaments by tying for second with Dustin Johnson. His front nine 30 put him briefly in a tie for the lead with eventual champion Darren Clarke. However, some putting problems caused him to fade from contention toward the end, to finish in a tie for second place. 2012: 40th career PGA Tour win Mickelson made his 2012 debut at the Humana Challenge and finished tied for 49th.",
"2012: 40th career PGA Tour win Mickelson made his 2012 debut at the Humana Challenge and finished tied for 49th. He missed the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open after shooting rounds of 77 and 68. In the final round of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, Mickelson rallied from six shots back, winning the tournament by two strokes with a final-round score of 8-under 64 and a four-round total of 269. The win marked his 40th career victory on the PGA Tour.",
"The win marked his 40th career victory on the PGA Tour. The following week at Riviera Country Club, Mickelson lost the Northern Trust Open in a three-way playoff. He had held the lead or a share of it from day one until the back nine on Sunday when Bill Haas posted the clubhouse lead at seven under par. Mickelson holed a 27-foot birdie putt on the final regulation hole to force a playoff alongside Haas and Keegan Bradley. Haas however won the playoff with a 40-foot birdie putt on the second playoff hole.",
"Haas however won the playoff with a 40-foot birdie putt on the second playoff hole. The second-place finish moved Mickelson back into the world's top 10. Mickelson finished tied for third at the Masters. After opening the tournament with a two-over-par 74, he shot 68–66 in the next two rounds and ended up one stroke behind leader Peter Hanson by Saturday night.",
"After opening the tournament with a two-over-par 74, he shot 68–66 in the next two rounds and ended up one stroke behind leader Peter Hanson by Saturday night. Mickelson had a poor start to his fourth round, scoring a triple-bogey when he hit his ball far to the left of the green on the par-3 4th hole, hitting the stand and landing in a bamboo plant. This ended up being Mickelson's only score over par in the whole round, and he ended with a score of eight-under overall.",
"This ended up being Mickelson's only score over par in the whole round, and he ended with a score of eight-under overall. Earlier in the tournament he had received widespread praise for being present to watch Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, and Gary Player hit the ceremonial opening tee-shots, nearly seven hours before Mickelson's own tee time. Mickelson made a charge during the final round at the HP Byron Nelson Championship, but bogeyed the 17th and 18th, finishing T-7th.",
"Mickelson made a charge during the final round at the HP Byron Nelson Championship, but bogeyed the 17th and 18th, finishing T-7th. He then withdrew from the Memorial Tournament, citing mental fatigue, after a first-round 79. He was to be paired with Tiger Woods and Bubba Watson at the U.S. Open. He fought to make the cut in the U.S. Open, and finished T-65th. After taking a couple of weeks off, he played in the Greenbrier Classic.",
"After taking a couple of weeks off, he played in the Greenbrier Classic. Putting problems meant a second straight missed cut at the Greenbrier and a third missed cut at 2012 Open Championship, shooting 73-78 (11 over par). He finished T-43rd at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. He then finished T-36th at the PGA Championship. To start the 2012 FedEx Cup Playoffs, Mickelson finished T38 at The Barclays, +1 for the tournament. He tied with Tiger Woods, Zach Johnson, and five other players.",
"He tied with Tiger Woods, Zach Johnson, and five other players. In this tournament, he started using the claw putting grip on the greens. At the next event, the Deutsche Bank Championship, he finished the tournament with a −14, tied for 4th with Dustin Johnson. At the BMW Championship, Mickelson posted a −16 for the first three rounds, one of those rounds being a −8, 64.",
"At the BMW Championship, Mickelson posted a −16 for the first three rounds, one of those rounds being a −8, 64. On the final day, Mickelson shot a −2, 70, to finish tied for 2nd, with Lee Westwood, two shots behind leader, and back-to-back winner, Rory McIlroy. At the Tour Championship, he ended up finishing tied for 15th. He went on to have a 3–1 record at the Ryder Cup; however, the USA team lost the event.",
"He went on to have a 3–1 record at the Ryder Cup; however, the USA team lost the event. 2013 Mickelson began the 2013 season in January by playing in the Humana Challenge, where he finished T37 at −17. His next event was the following week in his home event near San Diego at the Farmers Insurance Open. Mickelson endured a disappointing tournament, finishing T51, shooting all four rounds in the 70s. In the first round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open, Mickelson tied his career-low round of 60.",
"In the first round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open, Mickelson tied his career-low round of 60. He made seven birdies in his first nine holes and needed a birdie on the 18th hole to equal the PGA Tour record of 59. However, his 25-foot birdie putt on the final hole lipped out, resulting in him missing out by a single shot on making only the sixth round of 59 in PGA Tour history.",
"However, his 25-foot birdie putt on the final hole lipped out, resulting in him missing out by a single shot on making only the sixth round of 59 in PGA Tour history. Mickelson led the tournament wire-to-wire and completed a four-shot win over Brandt Snedeker for his 41st PGA Tour victory and 3rd Phoenix Open title. Mickelson's score of 28-under-par tied Mark Calcavecchia's tournament scoring record. He also moved back inside the world's top 10 after falling down as far as number 22.",
"He also moved back inside the world's top 10 after falling down as far as number 22. Sixth runner-up finish at the U.S. Open At the U.S. Open at Merion, Mickelson entered the final round leading by one stroke after rounds of over the first three days, but he started the final round by three-putting the 3rd and 5th holes for double-bogeys to fall out of the lead. He regained the lead at the par-four 10th, when he holed his second shot from the rough for an eagle.",
"He regained the lead at the par-four 10th, when he holed his second shot from the rough for an eagle. However, a misjudgment at the short par three 13th saw him fly the green and make a bogey to slip one behind leader Justin Rose. Another bogey followed at the 15th, before narrowly missing a birdie putt on the 16th that would have tied Rose.",
"Another bogey followed at the 15th, before narrowly missing a birdie putt on the 16th that would have tied Rose. Mickelson could not make a birdie at the 17th and after a blocked drive on the 18th, he could not hole his pitch from short of the green, which led to a final bogey. Mickelson ended up finishing tied for second with Jason Day, two strokes behind Justin Rose.",
"Mickelson ended up finishing tied for second with Jason Day, two strokes behind Justin Rose. It was the sixth runner-up finish of Mickelson's career at the U.S. Open, an event record and only behind Jack Nicklaus's seven runner-up finishes at The Open Championship. After the event, Mickelson called the loss heartbreaking and said \"this is tough to swallow after coming so close ... I felt like this was as good an opportunity I could ask for and to not get it ... it hurts.\"",
"I felt like this was as good an opportunity I could ask for and to not get it ... it hurts.\" It was also Father's Day, which happened to be his birthday. Fifth major title at the Open Championship The week before The Open Championship, Mickelson warmed up for the event by winning his first tournament on British soil at the Scottish Open on July 14, after a sudden-death playoff against Branden Grace.",
"Fifth major title at the Open Championship The week before The Open Championship, Mickelson warmed up for the event by winning his first tournament on British soil at the Scottish Open on July 14, after a sudden-death playoff against Branden Grace. After this victory, Mickelson spoke of his confidence ahead of his participation in the following week's major championship. Mickelson said: \"I've never felt more excited going into The Open.",
"Mickelson said: \"I've never felt more excited going into The Open. I don't think there's a better way to get ready for a major than playing well the week before and getting into contention. Coming out on top just gives me more confidence.\" The following week, Mickelson won his fifth major title on July 21 at the Open Championship (often referred to as the British Open) Muirfield Golf Links in Scotland; the Open Championship is the oldest of the four major tournaments in professional golf.",
"The following week, Mickelson won his fifth major title on July 21 at the Open Championship (often referred to as the British Open) Muirfield Golf Links in Scotland; the Open Championship is the oldest of the four major tournaments in professional golf. This was the first time in history that anyone had won both the Scottish Open and The Open Championship in the same year. Mickelson birdied four of the last six holes in a brilliant final round of 66 to win the title by three strokes.",
"Mickelson birdied four of the last six holes in a brilliant final round of 66 to win the title by three strokes. He shed tears on the 18th green after completing his round. Mickelson later said: \"I played arguably the best round of my career, and shot the round of my life. The range of emotions I feel are as far apart as possible after losing the U.S. Open. But you have to be resilient in this game.\"",
"But you have to be resilient in this game.\" In an interview before the 2015 Open, Mickelson said, \"Two years removed from that win, I still can't believe how much it means to me.\" 2014 and 2015: Inconsistent form and close calls in majors Mickelson missed the cut at the Masters for the first time since 1997. He failed to contend at the U.S. Open at Pinehurst in his first bid to complete the career grand slam.",
"He failed to contend at the U.S. Open at Pinehurst in his first bid to complete the career grand slam. Mickelson's lone top-10 of the PGA Tour season came at the year's final major, the PGA Championship at Valhalla. Mickelson shot rounds of 69-67-67-66 to finish solo second, one shot behind world number one Rory McIlroy. Prior to the 2015 Masters, Mickelson's best finish in 2015 was a tie for 17th.",
"Prior to the 2015 Masters, Mickelson's best finish in 2015 was a tie for 17th. At the Masters, Mickelson shot rounds of to finish tied for second with Justin Rose, four shots behind champion Jordan Spieth. The second-place finish was Mickelson's tenth such finish in a major, placing him second all-time only to Jack Nicklaus in that regard. At The Open Championship, Mickelson shot rounds of and was eight shots behind, outside the top forty.",
"At The Open Championship, Mickelson shot rounds of and was eight shots behind, outside the top forty. In the final round, Mickelson birdied the 15th hole to move to 10 under and within two of the lead. After a missed birdie putt on 16, Mickelson hit his drive on the infamous Road Hole (17th) at the famed Old Course at St Andrews onto a second-floor balcony of the Old Course Hotel. The out-of-bounds drive lead to a triple-bogey 7 that sent Mickelson tumbling out of contention.",
"The out-of-bounds drive lead to a triple-bogey 7 that sent Mickelson tumbling out of contention. Later in the year, it was announced that Mickelson would leave longtime swing coach Butch Harmon, feeling as though he needed to hear a new perspective on things. 2016: New swing coach After leaving Butch Harmon, Mickelson hired Andrew Getson of Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona, to serve as his new swing coach. The two worked together heavily in the 2015 offseason to get Mickelson's swing back.",
"The two worked together heavily in the 2015 offseason to get Mickelson's swing back. Under Getson's guidance, Mickelson made his 2016 debut at the CareerBuilder Challenge. He shot rounds of to finish in a tie for third place at 21-under-par. It was only Mickelson's fifth top-five finish since his win at the 2013 Open Championship. The third-place finish was Mickelson's highest finish in his first worldwide start of a calendar year since he won the same event to begin the 2004 season.",
"The third-place finish was Mickelson's highest finish in his first worldwide start of a calendar year since he won the same event to begin the 2004 season. At the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Mickelson shot rounds of to finish in solo second place, a shot behind Vaughn Taylor. Mickelson lipped out a five-foot birdie putt to force a playoff on the 72nd hole.",
"Mickelson lipped out a five-foot birdie putt to force a playoff on the 72nd hole. He entered the final round with a two-stroke lead, his first 54-hole lead since the 2013 U.S. Open and was seeking to end a winless drought dating back 52 worldwide events to the 2013 Open Championship. Mickelson shot a 63 in the opening round of The Open Championship at Royal Troon. The round set a new course record and matched the previous major championship record for lowest round.",
"The round set a new course record and matched the previous major championship record for lowest round. Mickelson had a birdie putt that narrowly missed on the final hole to set a new major championship scoring record of 62. He followed this up with a 69 in the second round for a 10 under par total and a one-shot lead over Henrik Stenson going into the weekend. In the third round, Mickelson shot a one-under 70 for a total of 11 under par to enter the final round one shot back of Stenson.",
"In the third round, Mickelson shot a one-under 70 for a total of 11 under par to enter the final round one shot back of Stenson. Despite Mickelson's bogey-free 65 in the final round, Stenson shot 63 to win by three shots. Mickelson finished 11 strokes clear of 3rd place, a major championship record for a runner-up.",
"Mickelson finished 11 strokes clear of 3rd place, a major championship record for a runner-up. Mickelson's 267 total set a record score for a runner-up in the British Open, and only trails Mickelson's 266 at the 2001 PGA Championship as the lowest total by a runner-up in major championship history. 2017: Recovery from surgeries In the fall of 2016, Mickelson had two sports hernia surgeries.",
"2017: Recovery from surgeries In the fall of 2016, Mickelson had two sports hernia surgeries. Those in the golf community expected him to miss much time recovering, however his unexpected return at the CareerBuilder Challenge was a triumphant one, leading to a T-21 finish. The next week, in San Diego, he narrowly missed an eagle putt on the 18th hole on Sunday that would've got him to 8-under par instead posting −7 to finish T14 at the Farmers Insurance Open.",
"The next week, in San Diego, he narrowly missed an eagle putt on the 18th hole on Sunday that would've got him to 8-under par instead posting −7 to finish T14 at the Farmers Insurance Open. The following week, at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, which he has won three times, he surged into contention following a Saturday 65. He played his first nine holes in 4-under 32 and sending his name to the top of the leaderboard.",
"He played his first nine holes in 4-under 32 and sending his name to the top of the leaderboard. However, his charge faltered with bogeys at 11, 12, 14, 15, and a double bogey at the driveable 17th hole. He stumbled with a final round 71, still earning a T-16 finish, for his sixth straight top-25 finish on tour. Mickelson came close to winning again at the FedEx St. Jude Classic where he had finished in second place the previous year to Daniel Berger.",
"Mickelson came close to winning again at the FedEx St. Jude Classic where he had finished in second place the previous year to Daniel Berger. He started the final round four strokes behind leaders but he quickly played himself into contention. Following a birdie at the 10th hole he vaulted to the top of leaderboard but found trouble on the 12th hole. His tee shot carried out of bounds and his fourth shot hit the water so he had to make a long putt to salvage triple-bogey.",
"His tee shot carried out of bounds and his fourth shot hit the water so he had to make a long putt to salvage triple-bogey. He managed to get one shot back but he finished three shots behind winner Berger, in ninth place, for the second straight year. Two weeks later he withdrew from the U.S. Open to attend his daughter's high school graduation. A week later his longtime caddie Jim (Bones) Mackay left Mickelson in a mutual agreement.",
"A week later his longtime caddie Jim (Bones) Mackay left Mickelson in a mutual agreement. Mickelson then missed the cut at both The Open Championship and the PGA Championship. On September 6, days after posting his best finish of the season of T6 at the Dell Technologies Championship, Mickelson was named as a captain's pick for the Presidents Cup. This maintained a streak of 23 consecutive USA teams in the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup, dating back to 1994.",
"This maintained a streak of 23 consecutive USA teams in the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup, dating back to 1994. 2018–2019: Winless streak ends On March 4, 2018, Mickelson ended a winless drought that dated back to 2013, by capturing his third WGC championship at the WGC-Mexico Championship, with a final-round score of 66 and a total score of −16. Mickelson birdied two of his last four holes and had a lengthy putt to win outright on the 72nd hole, but tied with Justin Thomas.",
"Mickelson birdied two of his last four holes and had a lengthy putt to win outright on the 72nd hole, but tied with Justin Thomas. He defeated Thomas on the first extra hole of a sudden-death playoff with a par. After Thomas had flown the green, Mickelson had a birdie to win the playoff which lipped out. Thomas however could not get up and down for par, meaning Mickelson claimed the championship. The win was Mickelson's 43rd on the PGA Tour and his first since winning the 2013 Open Championship.",
"The win was Mickelson's 43rd on the PGA Tour and his first since winning the 2013 Open Championship. He also became the oldest winner of a WGC event, at age 47. In the third round of the 2018 U.S. Open, Mickelson incurred a two-stroke penalty in a controversial incident on the 13th hole when he hit his ball with intent while it was still moving. He ended up shooting 81 (+11). His former coach Butch Harmon thought Mickelson should have been disqualified.",
"His former coach Butch Harmon thought Mickelson should have been disqualified. Mickelson was a captain's pick for Team USA at the 2018 Ryder Cup, held in Paris between September 28 and 30. Paired with Bryson DeChambeau in the Friday afternoon foursomes, they lost 5 and 4 to Europe's Sergio García and Alex Norén. In the Sunday singles match, Mickelson lost 4 and 2 to Francesco Molinari, as Team USA slumped to a 17.5 to 10.5 defeat.",
"In the Sunday singles match, Mickelson lost 4 and 2 to Francesco Molinari, as Team USA slumped to a 17.5 to 10.5 defeat. On November 23, 2018, Mickelson won the pay-per-view event, Capital One's The Match. This was a $9,000,000 winner-takes-all match against Tiger Woods at Shadow Creek Golf Course in Las Vegas. Mickelson needed four extra holes to beat Woods, which he did by holing a four-foot putt after Woods missed a seven-foot putt on the 22nd hole.",
"Mickelson needed four extra holes to beat Woods, which he did by holing a four-foot putt after Woods missed a seven-foot putt on the 22nd hole. In his third start of the 2019 calendar year, Mickelson won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, shooting a bogey-free final round 65 to defeat Paul Casey by three strokes. The win was Mickelson's 44th career title on the PGA Tour, and his fifth at Pebble Beach, tying Mark O'Meara for most victories in the event.",
"The win was Mickelson's 44th career title on the PGA Tour, and his fifth at Pebble Beach, tying Mark O'Meara for most victories in the event. At 48 years of age, he also became the oldest winner of that event.",
"At 48 years of age, he also became the oldest winner of that event. 2020: PGA Tour season and PGA Tour Champions debut In December 2019, Mickelson announced via Twitter that \"after turning down opportunities to go to the Middle East for many years\" he would play in the 2020 Saudi International tournament on the European Tour and would miss Waste Management Phoenix Open for the first time since 1989.",
"2020: PGA Tour season and PGA Tour Champions debut In December 2019, Mickelson announced via Twitter that \"after turning down opportunities to go to the Middle East for many years\" he would play in the 2020 Saudi International tournament on the European Tour and would miss Waste Management Phoenix Open for the first time since 1989. However, his decision to visit and play in Saudi Arabia was criticized for getting lured by millions of dollars and ignoring the continuous human rights abuses in the nation.",
"However, his decision to visit and play in Saudi Arabia was criticized for getting lured by millions of dollars and ignoring the continuous human rights abuses in the nation. Mickelson went on to finish the February 2020 event tied for third. Mickelson finished 3rd at the 2020 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and tied for 2nd in the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational. Mickelson was the first player over 50 to finish in the top five of a World Golf Championship event.",
"Mickelson was the first player over 50 to finish in the top five of a World Golf Championship event. He was ultimately eliminated from the FedEx Cup Playoffs following The Northern Trust at TPC Boston in August 2020. One week later, Mickelson made his debut on the PGA Tour Champions. He won the Charles Schwab Series at Ozarks National in his first tournament after becoming eligible for PGA Tour Champions on his 50th birthday on June 16, 2020. He was the 20th player to win their debut tournament on tour.",
"He was the 20th player to win their debut tournament on tour. Mickelson's 191 stroke total tied the PGA Tour Champions all-time record for a three-day event. In October 2020, Mickelson won the Dominion Energy Charity Classic in Virginia. It was his second win in as many starts on the PGA Tour Champions. 2021: The oldest major champion In February 2021, Mickelson was attempting to become the first player in PGA Tour Champions history to win his first three tournaments on tour.",
"2021: The oldest major champion In February 2021, Mickelson was attempting to become the first player in PGA Tour Champions history to win his first three tournaments on tour. However, he fell short in the Cologuard Classic, finishing in a T-20 position with a score of 4 under par. In May 2021, Mickelson held the 54-hole lead at the PGA Championship at the Kiawah Island Golf Resort in South Carolina, leading Brooks Koepka by one shot with one day to play.",
"In May 2021, Mickelson held the 54-hole lead at the PGA Championship at the Kiawah Island Golf Resort in South Carolina, leading Brooks Koepka by one shot with one day to play. He shot a final-round 73 to capture the tournament, defeating Koepka and Louis Oosthuizen by two strokes, becoming the oldest major champion; at 50.",
"He shot a final-round 73 to capture the tournament, defeating Koepka and Louis Oosthuizen by two strokes, becoming the oldest major champion; at 50. As Mickelson walked down the fairway following an excellent second shot from the left rough on the 18th hole, thousands of fans engulfed him, with him walking towards the hole constantly tipping his hat and giving the thumbs up to the crowd as they cheered.",
"As Mickelson walked down the fairway following an excellent second shot from the left rough on the 18th hole, thousands of fans engulfed him, with him walking towards the hole constantly tipping his hat and giving the thumbs up to the crowd as they cheered. However, the massive tumult of people meant playing partner Brooks Koepka was stranded in the sea of people, and with difficulties, he managed to reach the green to finish the hole.",
"However, the massive tumult of people meant playing partner Brooks Koepka was stranded in the sea of people, and with difficulties, he managed to reach the green to finish the hole. Mickelson eventually emerged from the crowd and two-putted for par, finishing the tournament at 6-under, besting the field by two strokes. In October 2021, Mickelson won for the third time in four career starts on the PGA Tour Champions.",
"In October 2021, Mickelson won for the third time in four career starts on the PGA Tour Champions. Mickelson shot a final round 4-under-par 68 to win the inaugural Constellation Furyk & Friends over Miguel Ángel Jiménez in Jacksonville, Florida. In November 2021, Mickelson won the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship in Phoenix, Arizona, with a final round six-under par 65. This victory was Mickelson's fourth win in six career starts on PGA Tour Champions.",
"This victory was Mickelson's fourth win in six career starts on PGA Tour Champions. 2022: Saudi Arabia controversy Mickelson admitted in an interview to overlooking Saudi Arabian human rights violations, including the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and execution of LGBTQ+ individuals, to support the Saudi-backed Super Golf League because it offered an opportunity to reshape the PGA Tour. In response to these comments, Mickelson lost multiple longtime sponsors including Callaway Golf and KPMG. Mickelson announced he would be stepping away from golf to spend time with his family.",
"Mickelson announced he would be stepping away from golf to spend time with his family. Playing style As a competitor, Mickelson's playing style is described by many as \"aggressive\" and highly social. His strategy toward difficult shots (bad lies, obstructions) would tend to be considered risky.",
"His strategy toward difficult shots (bad lies, obstructions) would tend to be considered risky. Mickelson has also been characterized by his powerful and sometimes inaccurate driver, but his excellent short game draws the most positive reviews, most of all his daring \"Phil flop\" shot in which a big swing with a high-lofted wedge against a tight lie flies a ball high into the air for a short distance.",
"Mickelson has also been characterized by his powerful and sometimes inaccurate driver, but his excellent short game draws the most positive reviews, most of all his daring \"Phil flop\" shot in which a big swing with a high-lofted wedge against a tight lie flies a ball high into the air for a short distance. Mickelson is usually in the top 10 in scoring, and he led the PGA Tour in birdie average as recently as 2013.",
"Mickelson is usually in the top 10 in scoring, and he led the PGA Tour in birdie average as recently as 2013. Earnings and endorsements Although ranked second on the PGA Tour's all-time money list of tournament prize money won, Mickelson earns far more from endorsements than from prize money.",
"Earnings and endorsements Although ranked second on the PGA Tour's all-time money list of tournament prize money won, Mickelson earns far more from endorsements than from prize money. According to one estimate of 2011 earnings (comprising salary, winnings, bonuses, endorsements and appearances) Mickelson was then the second-highest paid athlete in the United States, earning an income of over $62 million, $53 million of which came from endorsements.",
"According to one estimate of 2011 earnings (comprising salary, winnings, bonuses, endorsements and appearances) Mickelson was then the second-highest paid athlete in the United States, earning an income of over $62 million, $53 million of which came from endorsements. Major companies which Mickelson currently endorses are ExxonMobil (Mickelson and wife Amy started a teacher sponsorship fund with the company), Rolex and Mizzen+Main. He has been previously sponsored by Titleist, Bearing Point, Barclays, and Ford.",
"He has been previously sponsored by Titleist, Bearing Point, Barclays, and Ford. After being diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis in 2010, Mickelson was treated with Enbrel and began endorsing the drug. In 2015, Forbes estimated Mickelson's annual income was $51 million. In 2022, Mickelson lost a significant number of sponsors including Callaway Golf, KPMG, Amstel Light and Workday after comments he made about the Saudi-backed golf league, Super Golf League.",
"In 2022, Mickelson lost a significant number of sponsors including Callaway Golf, KPMG, Amstel Light and Workday after comments he made about the Saudi-backed golf league, Super Golf League. In an interview, he stated that Saudis are \"scary motherfuckers to get involved with... We know they killed [Washington Post reporter and U.S. resident Jamal] Khashoggi and have a horrible record on human rights. They execute people over there for being gay. Knowing all of this, why would I even consider it?",
"Knowing all of this, why would I even consider it? Because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reshape how the PGA Tour operates.\" Insider trading settlement On May 30, 2014, The Wall Street Journal reported that the FBI and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) were investigating Mickelson and associates of his for insider trading in Clorox stock. Mickelson denied any wrongdoing, and the investigation found \"no evidence\" and concluded without any charges.",
"Mickelson denied any wrongdoing, and the investigation found \"no evidence\" and concluded without any charges. On May 19, 2016, Mickelson was named as a relief defendant in another SEC complaint alleging insider trading but completely avoided criminal charges in a parallel case brought in the Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York.",
"On May 19, 2016, Mickelson was named as a relief defendant in another SEC complaint alleging insider trading but completely avoided criminal charges in a parallel case brought in the Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York. The action stems for trades in Dean Foods in 2012 in conjunction with confidential information provided by Thomas Davis, a former director of Dean Foods Company, who tipped his friend and \"professional sports bettor\" Billy Walters.",
"The action stems for trades in Dean Foods in 2012 in conjunction with confidential information provided by Thomas Davis, a former director of Dean Foods Company, who tipped his friend and \"professional sports bettor\" Billy Walters. The SEC did not allege that Walters actually told Mickelson of any material, nonpublic information about Dean Foods, and the SEC disgorged Mickelson of the $931,000 profit he had made from trading Dean Foods stock and had him pay prejudgment interest of $105,000.",
"The SEC did not allege that Walters actually told Mickelson of any material, nonpublic information about Dean Foods, and the SEC disgorged Mickelson of the $931,000 profit he had made from trading Dean Foods stock and had him pay prejudgment interest of $105,000. In 2017, Walters was convicted of making $40 million on Davis's private information from 2008 to 2014 by a federal jury. At that time, it was also noted that Mickelson had \"once owed nearly $2 million in gambling debts to\" Walters.",
"At that time, it was also noted that Mickelson had \"once owed nearly $2 million in gambling debts to\" Walters. Walters's lawyer said his client would appeal the 2017 verdict. Amateur wins 1980 Junior World Golf Championships (Boys 9–10) 1989 NCAA Division I Championship 1990 Pac-10 Championship, NCAA Division I Championship, U.S. Amateur, Porter Cup 1991 Western Amateur 1992 NCAA Division I Championship Professional wins (57) PGA Tour wins (45) *Note: Tournament shortened to 54 holes due to weather.",
"Amateur, Porter Cup 1991 Western Amateur 1992 NCAA Division I Championship Professional wins (57) PGA Tour wins (45) *Note: Tournament shortened to 54 holes due to weather. PGA Tour playoff record (8–4) European Tour wins (11) 1Co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour, Sunshine Tour and PGA Tour of Australasia European Tour playoff record (3–1) Challenge Tour wins (1) Other wins (4) Other playoff record (1–1) PGA Tour Champions wins (4) Major championships Wins (6) Results timeline Results not in chronological order in 2020.",
"PGA Tour playoff record (8–4) European Tour wins (11) 1Co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour, Sunshine Tour and PGA Tour of Australasia European Tour playoff record (3–1) Challenge Tour wins (1) Other wins (4) Other playoff record (1–1) PGA Tour Champions wins (4) Major championships Wins (6) Results timeline Results not in chronological order in 2020. LA = Low amateur CUT = missed the half-way cut \"T\" = tied NT = No tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic Summary Most consecutive cuts made – 30 (1999 PGA – 2007 Masters) Longest streak of top-10s – 5 (2004 Masters – 2005 Masters) The Players Championship Wins (1) Results timeline CUT = missed the halfway cut \"T\" indicates a tie for a place C = Canceled after the first round due to the COVID-19 pandemic World Golf Championships Wins (3) Results timeline Results not in chronological order prior to 2015.",
"LA = Low amateur CUT = missed the half-way cut \"T\" = tied NT = No tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic Summary Most consecutive cuts made – 30 (1999 PGA – 2007 Masters) Longest streak of top-10s – 5 (2004 Masters – 2005 Masters) The Players Championship Wins (1) Results timeline CUT = missed the halfway cut \"T\" indicates a tie for a place C = Canceled after the first round due to the COVID-19 pandemic World Golf Championships Wins (3) Results timeline Results not in chronological order prior to 2015. 1Cancelled due to 9/11 2Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play \"T\" = tied NT = No Tournament Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.",
"1Cancelled due to 9/11 2Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play \"T\" = tied NT = No Tournament Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009. PGA Tour career summary * As of 2021 season. † Mickelson won as an amateur in 1991 and therefore did not receive any prize money.",
"† Mickelson won as an amateur in 1991 and therefore did not receive any prize money. U.S. national team appearances Amateur Walker Cup: 1989, 1991 (winners) Eisenhower Trophy: 1990 Professional Presidents Cup: 1994 (winners), 1996 (winners), 1998, 2000 (winners), 2003 (tie), 2005 (winners), 2007 (winners), 2009 (winners), 2011 (winners), 2013 (winners), 2015 (winners), 2017 (winners) Ryder Cup: 1995, 1997, 1999 (winners), 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008 (winners), 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016 (winners), 2018 Alfred Dunhill Cup: 1996 (winners) Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge (representing PGA Tour): 1997 (winners), 2000 (winners) World Cup: 2002 See also List of golfers with most European Tour wins List of golfers with most PGA Tour wins List of men's major championships winning golfers Monday Night Golf References External links On Course With Phil American male golfers PGA Tour golfers PGA Tour Champions golfers Ryder Cup competitors for the United States Sports controversies Winners of men's major golf championships Arizona State Sun Devils men's golfers Left-handed golfers World Golf Hall of Fame inductees Golfers from Scottsdale, Arizona Golfers from San Diego American people of Italian descent American people of Portuguese descent American people of Swedish descent 1970 births Living people"
] |
[
"Phil Mickelson",
"College golf",
"Where did he go to college?",
"Mickelson attended Arizona State University in Tempe on a golf scholarship",
"How long did he attend?",
"Mickelson was the second collegiate golfer to earn first-team All-American honors all four years.",
"Was there any other major golfers from that school?",
"I don't know.",
"When did he move on to professional golf?",
"I don't know."
] | C_4f59739234b2446aa77be2aadc5a6b12_1 | Are there any other interesting aspects about this article? | 5 | Other than Phil Mickelson attending Arizona State University on a college golf scholarship, are there any other interesting aspects about this article? | Phil Mickelson | Mickelson attended Arizona State University in Tempe on a golf scholarship and became the face of amateur golf in the United States, capturing three NCAA individual championships and three Haskins Awards (1990, 1991, 1992) as the outstanding collegiate golfer. With three individual NCAA championships, he shares the record for most individual NCAA championships alongside Ben Crenshaw. Mickelson also led the Sun Devils to the NCAA team title in 1990. Over the course of his collegiate career, he won 16 tournaments. Mickelson was the second collegiate golfer to earn first-team All-American honors all four years. In 1990, he also became the first with a left-handed swing to win the U.S. Amateur title. Mickelson secured perhaps his greatest achievement as an amateur in January 1991, winning his first PGA Tour event, the Northern Telecom Open, in Tucson. At age 20, he was only the sixth amateur to win a tour event and the first in over five years after Scott Verplank at the Western Open in August 1985. Other players to accomplish this feat include Doug Sanders (1956 Canadian Open) and Gene Littler (1954 San Diego Open). With five holes remaining, Mickelson led by a stroke, but made a triple-bogey and was then three behind. The leaders ahead of him then stumbled, and he birdied 16 and 18 to win by a stroke. To date, it is the most recent win by an amateur at a PGA Tour event. That April, Mickelson was the low amateur at the Masters Tournament in Augusta, Georgia. With his two-year PGA Tour exemption from the Tucson win, he played in several tour events in 1992 while an amateur but failed to make a cut. CANNOTANSWER | Mickelson also led the Sun Devils to the NCAA team title in 1990. | Philip Alfred Mickelson (born June 16, 1970), nicknamed Phil the Thrill, is an American professional golfer. He has won 45 events on the PGA Tour, including six major championships: three Masters titles (2004, 2006, 2010), two PGA Championships (2005, 2021), and one Open Championship (2013). With his win at the 2021 PGA Championship, Mickelson became the oldest major championship winner in history at the age of 50 years, 11 months and 7 days old.
Mickelson is one of 17 players in the history of golf to win at least three of the four majors. He has won every major except the U.S. Open, in which he has finished runner-up a record six times.
Mickelson has spent more than 25 consecutive years in the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking. He has spent over 700 weeks in the top 10, has reached a career-high world ranking of No. 2 several times and is a life member of the PGA Tour. Although naturally right-handed, he is known for his left-handed swing, having learned it by mirroring his right-handed father's swing. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2012.
Early life and family
Philip Alfred Mickelson was born on June 16, 1970, in San Diego, California, to parents Philip Mickelson, an airline pilot and former naval aviator, and Mary Santos. He was raised there and in Scottsdale, Arizona. Mickelson has Portuguese, Swedish, and Sicilian ancestry. His maternal grandfather, Alfred Santos (also Mickelson's middle name) was a caddie at Pebble Beach Golf Links and took Phil to play golf as a child. Although otherwise right-handed, he played golf left-handed since he learned by watching his right-handed father swing, mirroring his style. Mickelson began golf under his father's instruction before starting school. Phil Sr.'s work schedule as a commercial pilot allowed them to play together several times a week and young Phil honed his creative short game on an extensive practice area in their San Diego backyard. Mickelson graduated from the University of San Diego High School in 1988.
College golf
Mickelson attended Arizona State University in Tempe on a golf scholarship and became the face of amateur golf in the United States, capturing three NCAA individual championships and three Haskins Awards (1990, 1991, 1992) as the outstanding collegiate golfer. With three individual NCAA championships, he shares the record for most individual NCAA championships alongside Ben Crenshaw. Mickelson also led the Sun Devils to the NCAA team title in 1990. Over the course of his collegiate career, he won 16 tournaments.
Mickelson was the second collegiate golfer to earn first-team All-American honors all four years. In 1990, he also became the first with a left-handed swing to win the U.S. Amateur title, defeating high school teammate Manny Zerman 5 and 4 in the 36-hole final at Cherry Hills, south of Denver. Mickelson secured perhaps his greatest achievement as an amateur in January 1991, winning his first PGA Tour event, the Northern Telecom Open, in Tucson, making him one of the few golfers to win a PGA Tour event as an amateur in the history of the PGA Tour. At age 20, he was only the sixth amateur to win a tour event and the first in over five years after Scott Verplank at the Western Open in August 1985. Other players to accomplish this feat include Doug Sanders (1956 Canadian Open) and Gene Littler (1954 San Diego Open). With five holes remaining, Mickelson led by a stroke, but made a triple-bogey and was then three behind. The leaders ahead of him then stumbled, and he birdied 16 and 18 to win by a stroke. To date, it is the most recent win by an amateur at a PGA Tour event.
That April, Mickelson was the low amateur at the Masters Tournament in Augusta, Georgia. With his two-year PGA Tour exemption from the Tucson win, he played in several tour events in 1992 while an amateur but failed to make a cut.
Professional career
1992–2003: Trying for first major win
Mickelson graduated from ASU in June 1992 and quickly turned professional. He bypassed the tour's qualifying process (Q-School) because of his 1991 win in Tucson, which earned him a two-year exemption. In 1992, Mickelson hired Jim "Bones" Mackay as his caddy. He won many PGA Tour tournaments during this period, including the Byron Nelson Golf Classic and the World Series of Golf in 1996, the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in 1998, the Colonial National Invitation in 2000 and the Greater Hartford Open in 2001 and again in 2002.
He appeared as himself in a non-speaking role in the 1996 film Tin Cup, starring Kevin Costner.
His 2000 Buick Invitational win ended Tiger Woods's streak of six consecutive victories on the PGA Tour. After the win, Mickelson said, "I didn't want to be the bad guy. I wasn't trying to end the streak per se. I was just trying to win the golf tournament."
Although he had performed very well in the majors up to the end of the 2003 season (17 top-ten finishes, and six second- or third-place finishes between 1999 and 2003), Mickelson's inability to win any of them led to him frequently being described as the "best player never to win a major".
2004–2006: First three major wins
Mickelson's first major championship win came in his thirteenth year on the PGA Tour in 2004, when he secured victory in the Masters with an birdie putt on the final hole. Ernie Els was the runner-up at a stroke back; the two played in different pairs in the final round and had traded birdies and eagles on the back nine. In addition to getting the "majors monkey" off his back, Mickelson was now only the third golfer with a left-handed swing to win a major, the others being New Zealander Sir Bob Charles, who won The Open Championship in 1963, and Canadian Mike Weir, who won The Masters in 2003. (Like Mickelson, Weir is a right-hander who plays left-handed.) A fourth left-handed winner is natural southpaw Bubba Watson, the Masters champion in 2012 and 2014.
Prior to the Ryder Cup in 2004, Mickelson was dropped from his long-standing contract with Titleist/Acushnet Golf, after an incident when he left a voicemail message for a Callaway Golf executive. In it, he praised their driver and golf ball, and thanked them for their help in getting some equipment for his brother. This memo was played to all of their salesmen, and eventually found its way back to Titleist. He was then let out of his multi-year deal with Titleist 16 months early, and signed on with Callaway Golf, his current equipment sponsor. He endured a great deal of ridicule and scrutiny from the press and fellow Ryder Cup members for his equipment change so close to the Ryder Cup matches. He faltered at the 2004 Ryder Cup with a record, but refused to blame the sudden change in equipment or his practice methods for his performance.
In November 2004, Mickelson tallied his career-low for an 18-hole round: a 59 at the PGA Grand Slam of Golf at Poipu Bay Golf Course in Hawaii.
The following year, Mickelson captured his second major at the PGA Championship at Baltusrol, in a Monday final-round conclusion that had been forced by inclement weather the previous day. On the 18th hole, Mickelson hit one of his trademark soft pitches from deep greenside rough to within of the cup, and made his birdie to finish at a 4-under-par total of 276, one shot ahead of Steve Elkington and Thomas Bjørn.
Mickelson captured his third major title the following spring at the Masters. He won his second green jacket after shooting a 3-under-par final round, winning by two strokes over runner-up Tim Clark. This win propelled him to 2nd place in the Official World Golf Ranking (his career best), behind Woods, and ahead of Vijay Singh and Retief Goosen.
2006: Collapse on final hole at the U.S. Open
After winning two majors in a row heading into the U.S. Open at Winged Foot, Mickelson was bidding to join Ben Hogan and Tiger Woods as the only players to win three consecutive majors (not necessarily in the same calendar year). Mickelson was the joint leader going into the final round, but he was part of a wild finish to the tournament, in which he made major mistakes on the final hole and ended up in a tie for second place at +6 (286), one shot behind Geoff Ogilvy.
Mickelson bogeyed the 16th hole. On the 17th hole, with the lead at +4, he missed the fairway to the left, and his drive finished inside a garbage can, from which he was granted a free drop; he parred the hole. He had a one-shot lead and was in the last group going into the final hole.
Needing a par on the 18th hole for a one-shot victory, Mickelson continued with his aggressive style of play and chose to hit a driver off the tee; he hit his shot well left of the fairway (he had hit only two of thirteen fairways previously in the round). The ball bounced off a corporate hospitality tent and settled in an area of trampled-down grass that was enclosed with trees. He decided to go for the green with his second shot, rather than play it safe and pitch out into the fairway. His ball then hit a tree, and did not advance more than . His next shot plugged into the left greenside bunker. He was unable to get up and down from there, resulting in a double bogey, and costing him a chance of winning the championship outright or getting into an 18-hole playoff with Ogilvy.
After his disappointing finish, Mickelson said: "I'm still in shock. I still can't believe I did that. This one hurts more than any tournament because I had it won. Congratulations to Geoff Ogilvy on some great play. I want to thank all the people that supported me. The only thing I can say is I'm sorry." He was even more candid when he said: "I just can't believe I did that. I'm such an idiot."
2006–2008
During the third round of the 2006 Ford Championship at Doral, Mickelson gave a spectator $200 after his wayward tee shot at the par-5 10th broke the man's watch.
Mickelson also has shown other signs of appreciation. In 2007 after hearing the story of retired NFL player, Conrad Dobler, and his family on ESPN explaining their struggles to pay medical bills, Mickelson volunteered to pay tuition for Holli Dobler, Conrad Dobler's daughter, at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.
Frustrated with his driving accuracy, Mickelson made the decision in April 2007 to leave longtime swing coach, Rick Smith. He then began working with Butch Harmon, a former coach of Tiger Woods and Greg Norman. On May 13, Mickelson came from a stroke back on the final round to shoot a three-under 69 to win The Players Championship with an 11-under-par 277.
In the U.S. Open at Oakmont in June, Mickelson missed the cut (by a stroke) for the first time in 31 majors after shooting 11 over par for 36 holes. He had been hampered by a wrist injury that was incurred while practicing in the thick rough at Oakmont a few weeks before the tournament.
On September 3, 2007, Mickelson won the Deutsche Bank Championship, which is the second FedEx Cup playoff event. On the final day, he was paired with Tiger Woods, who ended up finishing two strokes behind Mickelson in a tie for second. It was the first time that Mickelson was able to beat Woods while the two stars were paired together on the final day of a tournament. The next day Mickelson announced that he would not be competing in the third FedEx Cup playoff event. The day before his withdrawal, Mickelson said during a television interview that PGA Tour Commissioner, Tim Finchem, had not responded to advice he had given him on undisclosed issues.
In 2008, Mickelson won the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial with a −14, one shot ahead of Tim Clark and Rod Pampling. Mickelson shot a first-round 65 to start off the tournament at −5. He ended the day tied with Brett Wetterich, two shots behind leader, Johnson Wagner. Mickelson shot a second-round 68, and the third round 65, overall, being −12 for the first three rounds. On the final hole, after an absolutely horrendous tee shot, he was in thick rough with trees in his way. Many players would have punched out, and taken their chances at making par from the fairway with a good wedge shot. Instead, he pulled out a high-lofted wedge and hit his approach shot over a tree, landing on the green where he one-putted for the win.
In a Men's Vogue article, Mickelson recounted his effort to lose with the help of trainer Sean Cochran. "Once the younger players started to come on tour, he realized that he had to start working out to maintain longevity in his career," Cochran said. Mickelson's regimen consisted of increasing flexibility and power, eating five smaller meals a day, aerobic training, and carrying his own golf bag.
Mickelson was inducted into the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame in 2008.
2009
Mickelson won his first 2009 tour event when he defended his title at the Northern Trust Open at Riviera, one stroke ahead of Steve Stricker. The victory was Mickelson's 35th on tour; he surpassed Vijay Singh for second place on the current PGA Tour wins list. A month later, he won his 36th, and his first World Golf Championship, at the WGC-CA Championship with a one-stroke win over Nick Watney.
On May 20, it was announced that his wife Amy was diagnosed with breast cancer, and Mickelson announced that he would suspend his PGA Tour schedule indefinitely. She would begin treatment with major surgery as early as the following two weeks. Mickelson was scheduled to play the HP Byron Nelson Championship May 21–24, and to defend his title May 28–31 at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, but withdrew from both events. During the final round of the 2009 BMW PGA Championship, fellow golfer and family friend John Daly wore bright pink trousers in support of Mickelson's wife. Also, the next Saturday, at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, a "Pink Out" event was hosted, and the PGA Tour players all wore pink that day, to support the Mickelson family.
On May 31, Mickelson announced that he would return to play on the PGA Tour in June at the St. Jude Classic and the U.S. Open, since he had heard from the doctors treating his wife that her cancer had been detected in an early stage. Mickelson shot a final round 70 at the 2009 U.S. Open and recorded his fifth runner-up finish at the U.S. Open. He shared the lead after an eagle at the 13th hole, but fell back with bogeys on 15 and 17; Lucas Glover captured the championship.
On July 6, it was announced that his mother Mary was diagnosed with breast cancer and would have surgery at the same hospital where his wife was treated. After hearing the news that his mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer, Mickelson took another leave of absence from the tour, missing The Open Championship at Turnberry. On July 28, Mickelson announced he would return in August at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, the week before the PGA Championship at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota.
In September, Mickelson won The Tour Championship for the second time in his career. He entered the final round four strokes off the lead, but shot a final round 65 to win the event by three strokes over Tiger Woods. With the win, Mickelson finished the season second behind Woods in the 2009 FedEx Cup standings.
On November 8, Mickelson won the WGC-HSBC Champions by one shot over Ernie Els in Shanghai.
2010: Third Masters win
In 2010, Mickelson won the Masters Tournament on April 11 with a 16-under-par performance, giving him a three-stroke win over Lee Westwood. The win marked the third Masters victory for Mickelson and his fourth major championship overall. Critical to Mickelson's win was a dramatic run in the third round on Saturday in which Mickelson, trailing leader Westwood by five strokes as he prepared his approach shot to the 13th green, proceeded to make eagle, then to hole-out for eagle from 141 yards at the next hole, the par 4 14th, then on the next, the par 5 15th, to miss eagle from 81 yards by mere inches. After tapping in for birdie at 15, Mickelson, at −12, led Westwood, at −11, who had bogeyed hole 12 and failed to capitalize on the par 5 13th, settling for par.
Westwood recaptured a one-stroke lead by the end of the round, but the momentum carried forward for Mickelson into round 4, where he posted a bogey-free 67 to Westwood's 71. No other pursuer was able to keep pace to the end, though K. J. Choi and Anthony Kim made notable charges. For good measure, Mickelson birdied the final hole and memorably greeted his waiting wife, Amy, with a prolonged hug and kiss.
For many fans, Mickelson's finish in the tournament was especially poignant, given that Amy had been suffering from breast cancer during the preceding year. Mary Mickelson, Phil's mother, was also dealing with cancer. CBS Sports announcer Jim Nantz's call of the final birdie putt, "That's a win for the family," was seen by many as capturing the moment well.
Tiger Woods had a dramatic return to competitive play after a scandal-ridden 20-week absence; he was in close contention throughout for the lead and finished tied with Choi for 4th at −11. Mickelson and others showed exciting play over the weekend, and the 2010 Masters had strong television ratings in the United States, ranking third all-time to Woods's historic wins in 1997 and 2001. Mickelson's win left him second only to Woods in major championships among his competitive contemporaries, moving him ahead of Ernie Els, Vijay Singh and Pádraig Harrington, with three major championships each and each, like Mickelson, with dozens of worldwide wins.
Remainder of 2010
Mickelson, one of the favorites for the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, shot 75 and 66 on Thursday and Friday to sit two shots off the lead. However, two weekend scores of 73 gave him a T4 finish. During the remainder of the 2010 season, Mickelson had multiple opportunities to become the number one player in the world rankings following the travails of Tiger Woods. However, a string of disappointing finishes by Mickelson saw the number one spot eventually go to Englishman Lee Westwood.
In the days leading up to the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits (near Kohler, Wisconsin), Mickelson announced he had been diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis. He added that he had started medical treatment, and had become a vegetarian in hopes of aiding his recovery. He maintains that both his short- and long-term prognosis are good, that the condition should have no long-term effect on his golfing career, and that he currently feels well. He also stated that the arthritis may go into permanent remission after one year of medical treatment. He went on to finish the championship T12, five shots behind winner Martin Kaymer.
2011
Mickelson started his 2011 season at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines Golf Course. He shot and was tied for the 54 hole lead with Bill Haas. Mickelson needed to hole out on the 18th hole for eagle from 74 yards to force a playoff with Bubba Watson. He hit it to 4 feet and Watson won the tournament.
On April 3, Mickelson won the Shell Houston Open with a 20-under-par, three-stroke win over Scott Verplank. Mickelson rose to No. 3 in the world ranking, while Tiger Woods fell to No. 7. Mickelson had not been ranked above Woods since the week prior to the 1997 Masters Tournament.
At The Open Championship, Mickelson recorded just his second top-ten finish in 18 tournaments by tying for second with Dustin Johnson. His front nine 30 put him briefly in a tie for the lead with eventual champion Darren Clarke. However, some putting problems caused him to fade from contention toward the end, to finish in a tie for second place.
2012: 40th career PGA Tour win
Mickelson made his 2012 debut at the Humana Challenge and finished tied for 49th. He missed the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open after shooting rounds of 77 and 68. In the final round of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, Mickelson rallied from six shots back, winning the tournament by two strokes with a final-round score of 8-under 64 and a four-round total of 269. The win marked his 40th career victory on the PGA Tour. The following week at Riviera Country Club, Mickelson lost the Northern Trust Open in a three-way playoff. He had held the lead or a share of it from day one until the back nine on Sunday when Bill Haas posted the clubhouse lead at seven under par. Mickelson holed a 27-foot birdie putt on the final regulation hole to force a playoff alongside Haas and Keegan Bradley. Haas however won the playoff with a 40-foot birdie putt on the second playoff hole. The second-place finish moved Mickelson back into the world's top 10.
Mickelson finished tied for third at the Masters. After opening the tournament with a two-over-par 74, he shot 68–66 in the next two rounds and ended up one stroke behind leader Peter Hanson by Saturday night. Mickelson had a poor start to his fourth round, scoring a triple-bogey when he hit his ball far to the left of the green on the par-3 4th hole, hitting the stand and landing in a bamboo plant. This ended up being Mickelson's only score over par in the whole round, and he ended with a score of eight-under overall. Earlier in the tournament he had received widespread praise for being present to watch Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, and Gary Player hit the ceremonial opening tee-shots, nearly seven hours before Mickelson's own tee time.
Mickelson made a charge during the final round at the HP Byron Nelson Championship, but bogeyed the 17th and 18th, finishing T-7th. He then withdrew from the Memorial Tournament, citing mental fatigue, after a first-round 79. He was to be paired with Tiger Woods and Bubba Watson at the U.S. Open. He fought to make the cut in the U.S. Open, and finished T-65th. After taking a couple of weeks off, he played in the Greenbrier Classic. Putting problems meant a second straight missed cut at the Greenbrier and a third missed cut at 2012 Open Championship, shooting 73-78 (11 over par). He finished T-43rd at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. He then finished T-36th at the PGA Championship.
To start the 2012 FedEx Cup Playoffs, Mickelson finished T38 at The Barclays, +1 for the tournament. He tied with Tiger Woods, Zach Johnson, and five other players. In this tournament, he started using the claw putting grip on the greens. At the next event, the Deutsche Bank Championship, he finished the tournament with a −14, tied for 4th with Dustin Johnson. At the BMW Championship, Mickelson posted a −16 for the first three rounds, one of those rounds being a −8, 64. On the final day, Mickelson shot a −2, 70, to finish tied for 2nd, with Lee Westwood, two shots behind leader, and back-to-back winner, Rory McIlroy. At the Tour Championship, he ended up finishing tied for 15th. He went on to have a 3–1 record at the Ryder Cup; however, the USA team lost the event.
2013
Mickelson began the 2013 season in January by playing in the Humana Challenge, where he finished T37 at −17. His next event was the following week in his home event near San Diego at the Farmers Insurance Open. Mickelson endured a disappointing tournament, finishing T51, shooting all four rounds in the 70s.
In the first round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open, Mickelson tied his career-low round of 60. He made seven birdies in his first nine holes and needed a birdie on the 18th hole to equal the PGA Tour record of 59. However, his 25-foot birdie putt on the final hole lipped out, resulting in him missing out by a single shot on making only the sixth round of 59 in PGA Tour history. Mickelson led the tournament wire-to-wire and completed a four-shot win over Brandt Snedeker for his 41st PGA Tour victory and 3rd Phoenix Open title. Mickelson's score of 28-under-par tied Mark Calcavecchia's tournament scoring record. He also moved back inside the world's top 10 after falling down as far as number 22.
Sixth runner-up finish at the U.S. Open
At the U.S. Open at Merion, Mickelson entered the final round leading by one stroke after rounds of over the first three days, but he started the final round by three-putting the 3rd and 5th holes for double-bogeys to fall out of the lead. He regained the lead at the par-four 10th, when he holed his second shot from the rough for an eagle. However, a misjudgment at the short par three 13th saw him fly the green and make a bogey to slip one behind leader Justin Rose. Another bogey followed at the 15th, before narrowly missing a birdie putt on the 16th that would have tied Rose. Mickelson could not make a birdie at the 17th and after a blocked drive on the 18th, he could not hole his pitch from short of the green, which led to a final bogey.
Mickelson ended up finishing tied for second with Jason Day, two strokes behind Justin Rose. It was the sixth runner-up finish of Mickelson's career at the U.S. Open, an event record and only behind Jack Nicklaus's seven runner-up finishes at The Open Championship. After the event, Mickelson called the loss heartbreaking and said "this is tough to swallow after coming so close ... I felt like this was as good an opportunity I could ask for and to not get it ... it hurts." It was also Father's Day, which happened to be his birthday.
Fifth major title at the Open Championship
The week before The Open Championship, Mickelson warmed up for the event by winning his first tournament on British soil at the Scottish Open on July 14, after a sudden-death playoff against Branden Grace. After this victory, Mickelson spoke of his confidence ahead of his participation in the following week's major championship. Mickelson said: "I've never felt more excited going into The Open. I don't think there's a better way to get ready for a major than playing well the week before and getting into contention. Coming out on top just gives me more confidence."
The following week, Mickelson won his fifth major title on July 21 at the Open Championship (often referred to as the British Open) Muirfield Golf Links in Scotland; the Open Championship is the oldest of the four major tournaments in professional golf. This was the first time in history that anyone had won both the Scottish Open and The Open Championship in the same year. Mickelson birdied four of the last six holes in a brilliant final round of 66 to win the title by three strokes. He shed tears on the 18th green after completing his round. Mickelson later said: "I played arguably the best round of my career, and shot the round of my life. The range of emotions I feel are as far apart as possible after losing the U.S. Open. But you have to be resilient in this game." In an interview before the 2015 Open, Mickelson said, "Two years removed from that win, I still can't believe how much it means to me."
2014 and 2015: Inconsistent form and close calls in majors
Mickelson missed the cut at the Masters for the first time since 1997. He failed to contend at the U.S. Open at Pinehurst in his first bid to complete the career grand slam. Mickelson's lone top-10 of the PGA Tour season came at the year's final major, the PGA Championship at Valhalla. Mickelson shot rounds of 69-67-67-66 to finish solo second, one shot behind world number one Rory McIlroy.
Prior to the 2015 Masters, Mickelson's best finish in 2015 was a tie for 17th. At the Masters, Mickelson shot rounds of to finish tied for second with Justin Rose, four shots behind champion Jordan Spieth. The second-place finish was Mickelson's tenth such finish in a major, placing him second all-time only to Jack Nicklaus in that regard.
At The Open Championship, Mickelson shot rounds of and was eight shots behind, outside the top forty. In the final round, Mickelson birdied the 15th hole to move to 10 under and within two of the lead. After a missed birdie putt on 16, Mickelson hit his drive on the infamous Road Hole (17th) at the famed Old Course at St Andrews onto a second-floor balcony of the Old Course Hotel. The out-of-bounds drive lead to a triple-bogey 7 that sent Mickelson tumbling out of contention.
Later in the year, it was announced that Mickelson would leave longtime swing coach Butch Harmon, feeling as though he needed to hear a new perspective on things.
2016: New swing coach
After leaving Butch Harmon, Mickelson hired Andrew Getson of Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona, to serve as his new swing coach. The two worked together heavily in the 2015 offseason to get Mickelson's swing back.
Under Getson's guidance, Mickelson made his 2016 debut at the CareerBuilder Challenge. He shot rounds of to finish in a tie for third place at 21-under-par. It was only Mickelson's fifth top-five finish since his win at the 2013 Open Championship. The third-place finish was Mickelson's highest finish in his first worldwide start of a calendar year since he won the same event to begin the 2004 season.
At the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Mickelson shot rounds of to finish in solo second place, a shot behind Vaughn Taylor. Mickelson lipped out a five-foot birdie putt to force a playoff on the 72nd hole. He entered the final round with a two-stroke lead, his first 54-hole lead since the 2013 U.S. Open and was seeking to end a winless drought dating back 52 worldwide events to the 2013 Open Championship.
Mickelson shot a 63 in the opening round of The Open Championship at Royal Troon. The round set a new course record and matched the previous major championship record for lowest round. Mickelson had a birdie putt that narrowly missed on the final hole to set a new major championship scoring record of 62. He followed this up with a 69 in the second round for a 10 under par total and a one-shot lead over Henrik Stenson going into the weekend. In the third round, Mickelson shot a one-under 70 for a total of 11 under par to enter the final round one shot back of Stenson. Despite Mickelson's bogey-free 65 in the final round, Stenson shot 63 to win by three shots. Mickelson finished 11 strokes clear of 3rd place, a major championship record for a runner-up. Mickelson's 267 total set a record score for a runner-up in the British Open, and only trails Mickelson's 266 at the 2001 PGA Championship as the lowest total by a runner-up in major championship history.
2017: Recovery from surgeries
In the fall of 2016, Mickelson had two sports hernia surgeries. Those in the golf community expected him to miss much time recovering, however his unexpected return at the CareerBuilder Challenge was a triumphant one, leading to a T-21 finish. The next week, in San Diego, he narrowly missed an eagle putt on the 18th hole on Sunday that would've got him to 8-under par instead posting −7 to finish T14 at the Farmers Insurance Open. The following week, at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, which he has won three times, he surged into contention following a Saturday 65. He played his first nine holes in 4-under 32 and sending his name to the top of the leaderboard. However, his charge faltered with bogeys at 11, 12, 14, 15, and a double bogey at the driveable 17th hole. He stumbled with a final round 71, still earning a T-16 finish, for his sixth straight top-25 finish on tour.
Mickelson came close to winning again at the FedEx St. Jude Classic where he had finished in second place the previous year to Daniel Berger. He started the final round four strokes behind leaders but he quickly played himself into contention. Following a birdie at the 10th hole he vaulted to the top of leaderboard but found trouble on the 12th hole. His tee shot carried out of bounds and his fourth shot hit the water so he had to make a long putt to salvage triple-bogey. He managed to get one shot back but he finished three shots behind winner Berger, in ninth place, for the second straight year.
Two weeks later he withdrew from the U.S. Open to attend his daughter's high school graduation. A week later his longtime caddie Jim (Bones) Mackay left Mickelson in a mutual agreement. Mickelson then missed the cut at both The Open Championship and the PGA Championship.
On September 6, days after posting his best finish of the season of T6 at the Dell Technologies Championship, Mickelson was named as a captain's pick for the Presidents Cup. This maintained a streak of 23 consecutive USA teams in the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup, dating back to 1994.
2018–2019: Winless streak ends
On March 4, 2018, Mickelson ended a winless drought that dated back to 2013, by capturing his third WGC championship at the WGC-Mexico Championship, with a final-round score of 66 and a total score of −16. Mickelson birdied two of his last four holes and had a lengthy putt to win outright on the 72nd hole, but tied with Justin Thomas. He defeated Thomas on the first extra hole of a sudden-death playoff with a par. After Thomas had flown the green, Mickelson had a birdie to win the playoff which lipped out. Thomas however could not get up and down for par, meaning Mickelson claimed the championship. The win was Mickelson's 43rd on the PGA Tour and his first since winning the 2013 Open Championship. He also became the oldest winner of a WGC event, at age 47.
In the third round of the 2018 U.S. Open, Mickelson incurred a two-stroke penalty in a controversial incident on the 13th hole when he hit his ball with intent while it was still moving. He ended up shooting 81 (+11). His former coach Butch Harmon thought Mickelson should have been disqualified.
Mickelson was a captain's pick for Team USA at the 2018 Ryder Cup, held in Paris between September 28 and 30. Paired with Bryson DeChambeau in the Friday afternoon foursomes, they lost 5 and 4 to Europe's Sergio García and Alex Norén. In the Sunday singles match, Mickelson lost 4 and 2 to Francesco Molinari, as Team USA slumped to a 17.5 to 10.5 defeat.
On November 23, 2018, Mickelson won the pay-per-view event, Capital One's The Match. This was a $9,000,000 winner-takes-all match against Tiger Woods at Shadow Creek Golf Course in Las Vegas. Mickelson needed four extra holes to beat Woods, which he did by holing a four-foot putt after Woods missed a seven-foot putt on the 22nd hole.
In his third start of the 2019 calendar year, Mickelson won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, shooting a bogey-free final round 65 to defeat Paul Casey by three strokes. The win was Mickelson's 44th career title on the PGA Tour, and his fifth at Pebble Beach, tying Mark O'Meara for most victories in the event. At 48 years of age, he also became the oldest winner of that event.
2020: PGA Tour season and PGA Tour Champions debut
In December 2019, Mickelson announced via Twitter that "after turning down opportunities to go to the Middle East for many years" he would play in the 2020 Saudi International tournament on the European Tour and would miss Waste Management Phoenix Open for the first time since 1989. However, his decision to visit and play in Saudi Arabia was criticized for getting lured by millions of dollars and ignoring the continuous human rights abuses in the nation. Mickelson went on to finish the February 2020 event tied for third.
Mickelson finished 3rd at the 2020 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and tied for 2nd in the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational. Mickelson was the first player over 50 to finish in the top five of a World Golf Championship event. He was ultimately eliminated from the FedEx Cup Playoffs following The Northern Trust at TPC Boston in August 2020. One week later, Mickelson made his debut on the PGA Tour Champions. He won the Charles Schwab Series at Ozarks National in his first tournament after becoming eligible for PGA Tour Champions on his 50th birthday on June 16, 2020. He was the 20th player to win their debut tournament on tour. Mickelson's 191 stroke total tied the PGA Tour Champions all-time record for a three-day event.
In October 2020, Mickelson won the Dominion Energy Charity Classic in Virginia. It was his second win in as many starts on the PGA Tour Champions.
2021: The oldest major champion
In February 2021, Mickelson was attempting to become the first player in PGA Tour Champions history to win his first three tournaments on tour. However, he fell short in the Cologuard Classic, finishing in a T-20 position with a score of 4 under par.
In May 2021, Mickelson held the 54-hole lead at the PGA Championship at the Kiawah Island Golf Resort in South Carolina, leading Brooks Koepka by one shot with one day to play. He shot a final-round 73 to capture the tournament, defeating Koepka and Louis Oosthuizen by two strokes, becoming the oldest major champion; at 50. As Mickelson walked down the fairway following an excellent second shot from the left rough on the 18th hole, thousands of fans engulfed him, with him walking towards the hole constantly tipping his hat and giving the thumbs up to the crowd as they cheered. However, the massive tumult of people meant playing partner Brooks Koepka was stranded in the sea of people, and with difficulties, he managed to reach the green to finish the hole. Mickelson eventually emerged from the crowd and two-putted for par, finishing the tournament at 6-under, besting the field by two strokes.
In October 2021, Mickelson won for the third time in four career starts on the PGA Tour Champions. Mickelson shot a final round 4-under-par 68 to win the inaugural Constellation Furyk & Friends over Miguel Ángel Jiménez in Jacksonville, Florida.
In November 2021, Mickelson won the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship in Phoenix, Arizona, with a final round six-under par 65. This victory was Mickelson's fourth win in six career starts on PGA Tour Champions.
2022: Saudi Arabia controversy
Mickelson admitted in an interview to overlooking Saudi Arabian human rights violations, including the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and execution of LGBTQ+ individuals, to support the Saudi-backed Super Golf League because it offered an opportunity to reshape the PGA Tour. In response to these comments, Mickelson lost multiple longtime sponsors including Callaway Golf and KPMG. Mickelson announced he would be stepping away from golf to spend time with his family.
Playing style
As a competitor, Mickelson's playing style is described by many as "aggressive" and highly social. His strategy toward difficult shots (bad lies, obstructions) would tend to be considered risky.
Mickelson has also been characterized by his powerful and sometimes inaccurate driver, but his excellent short game draws the most positive reviews, most of all his daring "Phil flop" shot in which a big swing with a high-lofted wedge against a tight lie flies a ball high into the air for a short distance.
Mickelson is usually in the top 10 in scoring, and he led the PGA Tour in birdie average as recently as 2013.
Earnings and endorsements
Although ranked second on the PGA Tour's all-time money list of tournament prize money won, Mickelson earns far more from endorsements than from prize money. According to one estimate of 2011 earnings (comprising salary, winnings, bonuses, endorsements and appearances) Mickelson was then the second-highest paid athlete in the United States, earning an income of over $62 million, $53 million of which came from endorsements. Major companies which Mickelson currently endorses are ExxonMobil (Mickelson and wife Amy started a teacher sponsorship fund with the company), Rolex and Mizzen+Main. He has been previously sponsored by Titleist, Bearing Point, Barclays, and Ford. After being diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis in 2010, Mickelson was treated with Enbrel and began endorsing the drug. In 2015, Forbes estimated Mickelson's annual income was $51 million.
In 2022, Mickelson lost a significant number of sponsors including Callaway Golf, KPMG, Amstel Light and Workday after comments he made about the Saudi-backed golf league, Super Golf League. In an interview, he stated that Saudis are "scary motherfuckers to get involved with... We know they killed [Washington Post reporter and U.S. resident Jamal] Khashoggi and have a horrible record on human rights. They execute people over there for being gay. Knowing all of this, why would I even consider it? Because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reshape how the PGA Tour operates."
Insider trading settlement
On May 30, 2014, The Wall Street Journal reported that the FBI and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) were investigating Mickelson and associates of his for insider trading in Clorox stock. Mickelson denied any wrongdoing, and the investigation found "no evidence" and concluded without any charges. On May 19, 2016, Mickelson was named as a relief defendant in another SEC complaint alleging insider trading but completely avoided criminal charges in a parallel case brought in the Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York. The action stems for trades in Dean Foods in 2012 in conjunction with confidential information provided by Thomas Davis, a former director of Dean Foods Company, who tipped his friend and "professional sports bettor" Billy Walters.
The SEC did not allege that Walters actually told Mickelson of any material, nonpublic information about Dean Foods, and the SEC disgorged Mickelson of the $931,000 profit he had made from trading Dean Foods stock and had him pay prejudgment interest of $105,000. In 2017, Walters was convicted of making $40 million on Davis's private information from 2008 to 2014 by a federal jury. At that time, it was also noted that Mickelson had "once owed nearly $2 million in gambling debts to" Walters. Walters's lawyer said his client would appeal the 2017 verdict.
Amateur wins
1980 Junior World Golf Championships (Boys 9–10)
1989 NCAA Division I Championship
1990 Pac-10 Championship, NCAA Division I Championship, U.S. Amateur, Porter Cup
1991 Western Amateur
1992 NCAA Division I Championship
Professional wins (57)
PGA Tour wins (45)
*Note: Tournament shortened to 54 holes due to weather.
PGA Tour playoff record (8–4)
European Tour wins (11)
1Co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour, Sunshine Tour and PGA Tour of Australasia
European Tour playoff record (3–1)
Challenge Tour wins (1)
Other wins (4)
Other playoff record (1–1)
PGA Tour Champions wins (4)
Major championships
Wins (6)
Results timeline
Results not in chronological order in 2020.
LA = Low amateur
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
NT = No tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic
Summary
Most consecutive cuts made – 30 (1999 PGA – 2007 Masters)
Longest streak of top-10s – 5 (2004 Masters – 2005 Masters)
The Players Championship
Wins (1)
Results timeline
CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
C = Canceled after the first round due to the COVID-19 pandemic
World Golf Championships
Wins (3)
Results timeline
Results not in chronological order prior to 2015.
1Cancelled due to 9/11
2Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = tied
NT = No Tournament
Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.
PGA Tour career summary
* As of 2021 season.
† Mickelson won as an amateur in 1991 and therefore did not receive any prize money.
U.S. national team appearances
Amateur
Walker Cup: 1989, 1991 (winners)
Eisenhower Trophy: 1990
Professional
Presidents Cup: 1994 (winners), 1996 (winners), 1998, 2000 (winners), 2003 (tie), 2005 (winners), 2007 (winners), 2009 (winners), 2011 (winners), 2013 (winners), 2015 (winners), 2017 (winners)
Ryder Cup: 1995, 1997, 1999 (winners), 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008 (winners), 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016 (winners), 2018
Alfred Dunhill Cup: 1996 (winners)
Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge (representing PGA Tour): 1997 (winners), 2000 (winners)
World Cup: 2002
See also
List of golfers with most European Tour wins
List of golfers with most PGA Tour wins
List of men's major championships winning golfers
Monday Night Golf
References
External links
On Course With Phil
American male golfers
PGA Tour golfers
PGA Tour Champions golfers
Ryder Cup competitors for the United States
Sports controversies
Winners of men's major golf championships
Arizona State Sun Devils men's golfers
Left-handed golfers
World Golf Hall of Fame inductees
Golfers from Scottsdale, Arizona
Golfers from San Diego
American people of Italian descent
American people of Portuguese descent
American people of Swedish descent
1970 births
Living people | true | [
"Přírodní park Třebíčsko (before Oblast klidu Třebíčsko) is a natural park near Třebíč in the Czech Republic. There are many interesting plants. The park was founded in 1983.\n\nKobylinec and Ptáčovský kopeček\n\nKobylinec is a natural monument situated ca 0,5 km from the village of Trnava.\nThe area of this monument is 0,44 ha. Pulsatilla grandis can be found here and in the Ptáčovský kopeček park near Ptáčov near Třebíč. Both monuments are very popular for tourists.\n\nPonds\n\nIn the natural park there are some interesting ponds such as Velký Bor, Malý Bor, Buršík near Přeckov and a brook Březinka. Dams on the brook are examples of European beaver activity.\n\nSyenitové skály near Pocoucov\n\nSyenitové skály (rocks of syenit) near Pocoucov is one of famed locations. There are interesting granite boulders. The area of the reservation is 0,77 ha.\n\nExternal links\nParts of this article or all article was translated from Czech. The original article is :cs:Přírodní park Třebíčsko.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nNature near the village Trnava which is there\n\nTřebíč\nParks in the Czech Republic\nTourist attractions in the Vysočina Region",
"Damn Interesting is an independent website founded by Alan Bellows in 2005. The website presents true stories from science, history, and psychology, primarily as long-form articles, often illustrated with original artwork. Works are written by various authors, and published at irregular intervals. The website openly rejects advertising, relying on reader and listener donations to cover operating costs.\n\nAs of October 2012, each article is also published as a podcast under the same name. In November 2019, a second podcast was launched under the title Damn Interesting Week, featuring unscripted commentary on an assortment of news articles featured on the website's \"Curated Links\" section that week. In mid-2020, a third podcast called Damn Interesting Curio Cabinet began highlighting the website's periodic short-form articles in the same radioplay format as the original podcast.\n\nIn July 2009, Damn Interesting published the print book Alien Hand Syndrome through Workman Publishing. It contains some favorites from the site and some exclusive content.\n\nAwards and recognition \nIn August 2007, PC Magazine named Damn Interesting one of the \"Top 100 Undiscovered Web Sites\".\nThe article \"The Zero-Armed Bandit\" by Alan Bellows won a 2015 Sidney Award from David Brooks in The New York Times.\nThe article \"Ghoulish Acts and Dastardly Deeds\" by Alan Bellows was cited as \"nonfiction journalism from 2017 that will stand the test of time\" by Conor Friedersdorf in The Atlantic.\nThe article \"Dupes and Duplicity\" by Jennifer Lee Noonan won a 2020 Sidney Award from David Brooks in the New York Times.\n\nAccusing The Dollop of plagiarism \n\nOn July 9, 2015, Bellows posted an open letter accusing The Dollop, a comedy podcast about history, of plagiarism due to their repeated use of verbatim text from Damn Interesting articles without permission or attribution. Dave Anthony, the writer of The Dollop, responded on reddit, admitting to using Damn Interesting content, but claiming that the use was protected by fair use, and that \"historical facts are not copyrightable.\" In an article about the controversy on Plagiarism Today, Jonathan Bailey concluded, \"Any way one looks at it, The Dollop failed its ethical obligations to all of the people, not just those writing for Damn Interesting, who put in the time, energy and expertise into writing the original content upon which their show is based.\"\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Official website\n\n2005 podcast debuts"
] | [
"Philip Alfred Mickelson (born June 16, 1970), nicknamed Phil the Thrill, is an American professional golfer. He has won 45 events on the PGA Tour, including six major championships: three Masters titles (2004, 2006, 2010), two PGA Championships (2005, 2021), and one Open Championship (2013). With his win at the 2021 PGA Championship, Mickelson became the oldest major championship winner in history at the age of 50 years, 11 months and 7 days old.",
"With his win at the 2021 PGA Championship, Mickelson became the oldest major championship winner in history at the age of 50 years, 11 months and 7 days old. Mickelson is one of 17 players in the history of golf to win at least three of the four majors. He has won every major except the U.S. Open, in which he has finished runner-up a record six times. Mickelson has spent more than 25 consecutive years in the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking.",
"Mickelson has spent more than 25 consecutive years in the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking. He has spent over 700 weeks in the top 10, has reached a career-high world ranking of No. 2 several times and is a life member of the PGA Tour. Although naturally right-handed, he is known for his left-handed swing, having learned it by mirroring his right-handed father's swing. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2012.",
"He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2012. Early life and family Philip Alfred Mickelson was born on June 16, 1970, in San Diego, California, to parents Philip Mickelson, an airline pilot and former naval aviator, and Mary Santos. He was raised there and in Scottsdale, Arizona. Mickelson has Portuguese, Swedish, and Sicilian ancestry.",
"Mickelson has Portuguese, Swedish, and Sicilian ancestry. Mickelson has Portuguese, Swedish, and Sicilian ancestry. His maternal grandfather, Alfred Santos (also Mickelson's middle name) was a caddie at Pebble Beach Golf Links and took Phil to play golf as a child. Although otherwise right-handed, he played golf left-handed since he learned by watching his right-handed father swing, mirroring his style. Mickelson began golf under his father's instruction before starting school.",
"Mickelson began golf under his father's instruction before starting school. Phil Sr.'s work schedule as a commercial pilot allowed them to play together several times a week and young Phil honed his creative short game on an extensive practice area in their San Diego backyard. Mickelson graduated from the University of San Diego High School in 1988.",
"Mickelson graduated from the University of San Diego High School in 1988. College golf Mickelson attended Arizona State University in Tempe on a golf scholarship and became the face of amateur golf in the United States, capturing three NCAA individual championships and three Haskins Awards (1990, 1991, 1992) as the outstanding collegiate golfer. With three individual NCAA championships, he shares the record for most individual NCAA championships alongside Ben Crenshaw. Mickelson also led the Sun Devils to the NCAA team title in 1990.",
"Mickelson also led the Sun Devils to the NCAA team title in 1990. Over the course of his collegiate career, he won 16 tournaments. Mickelson was the second collegiate golfer to earn first-team All-American honors all four years. In 1990, he also became the first with a left-handed swing to win the U.S. Amateur title, defeating high school teammate Manny Zerman 5 and 4 in the 36-hole final at Cherry Hills, south of Denver.",
"Amateur title, defeating high school teammate Manny Zerman 5 and 4 in the 36-hole final at Cherry Hills, south of Denver. Mickelson secured perhaps his greatest achievement as an amateur in January 1991, winning his first PGA Tour event, the Northern Telecom Open, in Tucson, making him one of the few golfers to win a PGA Tour event as an amateur in the history of the PGA Tour.",
"Mickelson secured perhaps his greatest achievement as an amateur in January 1991, winning his first PGA Tour event, the Northern Telecom Open, in Tucson, making him one of the few golfers to win a PGA Tour event as an amateur in the history of the PGA Tour. At age 20, he was only the sixth amateur to win a tour event and the first in over five years after Scott Verplank at the Western Open in August 1985.",
"At age 20, he was only the sixth amateur to win a tour event and the first in over five years after Scott Verplank at the Western Open in August 1985. Other players to accomplish this feat include Doug Sanders (1956 Canadian Open) and Gene Littler (1954 San Diego Open). With five holes remaining, Mickelson led by a stroke, but made a triple-bogey and was then three behind. The leaders ahead of him then stumbled, and he birdied 16 and 18 to win by a stroke.",
"The leaders ahead of him then stumbled, and he birdied 16 and 18 to win by a stroke. To date, it is the most recent win by an amateur at a PGA Tour event. That April, Mickelson was the low amateur at the Masters Tournament in Augusta, Georgia. With his two-year PGA Tour exemption from the Tucson win, he played in several tour events in 1992 while an amateur but failed to make a cut.",
"With his two-year PGA Tour exemption from the Tucson win, he played in several tour events in 1992 while an amateur but failed to make a cut. Professional career 1992–2003: Trying for first major win Mickelson graduated from ASU in June 1992 and quickly turned professional. He bypassed the tour's qualifying process (Q-School) because of his 1991 win in Tucson, which earned him a two-year exemption. In 1992, Mickelson hired Jim \"Bones\" Mackay as his caddy.",
"In 1992, Mickelson hired Jim \"Bones\" Mackay as his caddy. He won many PGA Tour tournaments during this period, including the Byron Nelson Golf Classic and the World Series of Golf in 1996, the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in 1998, the Colonial National Invitation in 2000 and the Greater Hartford Open in 2001 and again in 2002. He appeared as himself in a non-speaking role in the 1996 film Tin Cup, starring Kevin Costner.",
"He appeared as himself in a non-speaking role in the 1996 film Tin Cup, starring Kevin Costner. His 2000 Buick Invitational win ended Tiger Woods's streak of six consecutive victories on the PGA Tour. After the win, Mickelson said, \"I didn't want to be the bad guy. I wasn't trying to end the streak per se. I was just trying to win the golf tournament.\"",
"I was just trying to win the golf tournament.\" Although he had performed very well in the majors up to the end of the 2003 season (17 top-ten finishes, and six second- or third-place finishes between 1999 and 2003), Mickelson's inability to win any of them led to him frequently being described as the \"best player never to win a major\".",
"Although he had performed very well in the majors up to the end of the 2003 season (17 top-ten finishes, and six second- or third-place finishes between 1999 and 2003), Mickelson's inability to win any of them led to him frequently being described as the \"best player never to win a major\". 2004–2006: First three major wins Mickelson's first major championship win came in his thirteenth year on the PGA Tour in 2004, when he secured victory in the Masters with an birdie putt on the final hole.",
"2004–2006: First three major wins Mickelson's first major championship win came in his thirteenth year on the PGA Tour in 2004, when he secured victory in the Masters with an birdie putt on the final hole. Ernie Els was the runner-up at a stroke back; the two played in different pairs in the final round and had traded birdies and eagles on the back nine.",
"Ernie Els was the runner-up at a stroke back; the two played in different pairs in the final round and had traded birdies and eagles on the back nine. In addition to getting the \"majors monkey\" off his back, Mickelson was now only the third golfer with a left-handed swing to win a major, the others being New Zealander Sir Bob Charles, who won The Open Championship in 1963, and Canadian Mike Weir, who won The Masters in 2003.",
"In addition to getting the \"majors monkey\" off his back, Mickelson was now only the third golfer with a left-handed swing to win a major, the others being New Zealander Sir Bob Charles, who won The Open Championship in 1963, and Canadian Mike Weir, who won The Masters in 2003. (Like Mickelson, Weir is a right-hander who plays left-handed.) A fourth left-handed winner is natural southpaw Bubba Watson, the Masters champion in 2012 and 2014.",
"A fourth left-handed winner is natural southpaw Bubba Watson, the Masters champion in 2012 and 2014. Prior to the Ryder Cup in 2004, Mickelson was dropped from his long-standing contract with Titleist/Acushnet Golf, after an incident when he left a voicemail message for a Callaway Golf executive. In it, he praised their driver and golf ball, and thanked them for their help in getting some equipment for his brother. This memo was played to all of their salesmen, and eventually found its way back to Titleist.",
"This memo was played to all of their salesmen, and eventually found its way back to Titleist. He was then let out of his multi-year deal with Titleist 16 months early, and signed on with Callaway Golf, his current equipment sponsor. He endured a great deal of ridicule and scrutiny from the press and fellow Ryder Cup members for his equipment change so close to the Ryder Cup matches.",
"He endured a great deal of ridicule and scrutiny from the press and fellow Ryder Cup members for his equipment change so close to the Ryder Cup matches. He faltered at the 2004 Ryder Cup with a record, but refused to blame the sudden change in equipment or his practice methods for his performance. In November 2004, Mickelson tallied his career-low for an 18-hole round: a 59 at the PGA Grand Slam of Golf at Poipu Bay Golf Course in Hawaii.",
"In November 2004, Mickelson tallied his career-low for an 18-hole round: a 59 at the PGA Grand Slam of Golf at Poipu Bay Golf Course in Hawaii. The following year, Mickelson captured his second major at the PGA Championship at Baltusrol, in a Monday final-round conclusion that had been forced by inclement weather the previous day.",
"The following year, Mickelson captured his second major at the PGA Championship at Baltusrol, in a Monday final-round conclusion that had been forced by inclement weather the previous day. On the 18th hole, Mickelson hit one of his trademark soft pitches from deep greenside rough to within of the cup, and made his birdie to finish at a 4-under-par total of 276, one shot ahead of Steve Elkington and Thomas Bjørn. Mickelson captured his third major title the following spring at the Masters.",
"Mickelson captured his third major title the following spring at the Masters. He won his second green jacket after shooting a 3-under-par final round, winning by two strokes over runner-up Tim Clark. This win propelled him to 2nd place in the Official World Golf Ranking (his career best), behind Woods, and ahead of Vijay Singh and Retief Goosen.",
"This win propelled him to 2nd place in the Official World Golf Ranking (his career best), behind Woods, and ahead of Vijay Singh and Retief Goosen. 2006: Collapse on final hole at the U.S. Open After winning two majors in a row heading into the U.S. Open at Winged Foot, Mickelson was bidding to join Ben Hogan and Tiger Woods as the only players to win three consecutive majors (not necessarily in the same calendar year).",
"2006: Collapse on final hole at the U.S. Open After winning two majors in a row heading into the U.S. Open at Winged Foot, Mickelson was bidding to join Ben Hogan and Tiger Woods as the only players to win three consecutive majors (not necessarily in the same calendar year). Mickelson was the joint leader going into the final round, but he was part of a wild finish to the tournament, in which he made major mistakes on the final hole and ended up in a tie for second place at +6 (286), one shot behind Geoff Ogilvy.",
"Mickelson was the joint leader going into the final round, but he was part of a wild finish to the tournament, in which he made major mistakes on the final hole and ended up in a tie for second place at +6 (286), one shot behind Geoff Ogilvy. Mickelson bogeyed the 16th hole.",
"Mickelson bogeyed the 16th hole. Mickelson bogeyed the 16th hole. On the 17th hole, with the lead at +4, he missed the fairway to the left, and his drive finished inside a garbage can, from which he was granted a free drop; he parred the hole. He had a one-shot lead and was in the last group going into the final hole.",
"He had a one-shot lead and was in the last group going into the final hole. Needing a par on the 18th hole for a one-shot victory, Mickelson continued with his aggressive style of play and chose to hit a driver off the tee; he hit his shot well left of the fairway (he had hit only two of thirteen fairways previously in the round). The ball bounced off a corporate hospitality tent and settled in an area of trampled-down grass that was enclosed with trees.",
"The ball bounced off a corporate hospitality tent and settled in an area of trampled-down grass that was enclosed with trees. He decided to go for the green with his second shot, rather than play it safe and pitch out into the fairway. His ball then hit a tree, and did not advance more than . His next shot plugged into the left greenside bunker.",
"His next shot plugged into the left greenside bunker. His next shot plugged into the left greenside bunker. He was unable to get up and down from there, resulting in a double bogey, and costing him a chance of winning the championship outright or getting into an 18-hole playoff with Ogilvy. After his disappointing finish, Mickelson said: \"I'm still in shock. I still can't believe I did that. This one hurts more than any tournament because I had it won.",
"This one hurts more than any tournament because I had it won. Congratulations to Geoff Ogilvy on some great play. I want to thank all the people that supported me. The only thing I can say is I'm sorry.\" He was even more candid when he said: \"I just can't believe I did that. I'm such an idiot.\"",
"I'm such an idiot.\" I'm such an idiot.\" 2006–2008 During the third round of the 2006 Ford Championship at Doral, Mickelson gave a spectator $200 after his wayward tee shot at the par-5 10th broke the man's watch. Mickelson also has shown other signs of appreciation.",
"Mickelson also has shown other signs of appreciation. Mickelson also has shown other signs of appreciation. In 2007 after hearing the story of retired NFL player, Conrad Dobler, and his family on ESPN explaining their struggles to pay medical bills, Mickelson volunteered to pay tuition for Holli Dobler, Conrad Dobler's daughter, at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Frustrated with his driving accuracy, Mickelson made the decision in April 2007 to leave longtime swing coach, Rick Smith.",
"Frustrated with his driving accuracy, Mickelson made the decision in April 2007 to leave longtime swing coach, Rick Smith. He then began working with Butch Harmon, a former coach of Tiger Woods and Greg Norman. On May 13, Mickelson came from a stroke back on the final round to shoot a three-under 69 to win The Players Championship with an 11-under-par 277.",
"On May 13, Mickelson came from a stroke back on the final round to shoot a three-under 69 to win The Players Championship with an 11-under-par 277. In the U.S. Open at Oakmont in June, Mickelson missed the cut (by a stroke) for the first time in 31 majors after shooting 11 over par for 36 holes. He had been hampered by a wrist injury that was incurred while practicing in the thick rough at Oakmont a few weeks before the tournament.",
"He had been hampered by a wrist injury that was incurred while practicing in the thick rough at Oakmont a few weeks before the tournament. On September 3, 2007, Mickelson won the Deutsche Bank Championship, which is the second FedEx Cup playoff event. On the final day, he was paired with Tiger Woods, who ended up finishing two strokes behind Mickelson in a tie for second.",
"On the final day, he was paired with Tiger Woods, who ended up finishing two strokes behind Mickelson in a tie for second. It was the first time that Mickelson was able to beat Woods while the two stars were paired together on the final day of a tournament. The next day Mickelson announced that he would not be competing in the third FedEx Cup playoff event.",
"The next day Mickelson announced that he would not be competing in the third FedEx Cup playoff event. The day before his withdrawal, Mickelson said during a television interview that PGA Tour Commissioner, Tim Finchem, had not responded to advice he had given him on undisclosed issues. In 2008, Mickelson won the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial with a −14, one shot ahead of Tim Clark and Rod Pampling. Mickelson shot a first-round 65 to start off the tournament at −5.",
"Mickelson shot a first-round 65 to start off the tournament at −5. He ended the day tied with Brett Wetterich, two shots behind leader, Johnson Wagner. Mickelson shot a second-round 68, and the third round 65, overall, being −12 for the first three rounds. On the final hole, after an absolutely horrendous tee shot, he was in thick rough with trees in his way. Many players would have punched out, and taken their chances at making par from the fairway with a good wedge shot.",
"Many players would have punched out, and taken their chances at making par from the fairway with a good wedge shot. Instead, he pulled out a high-lofted wedge and hit his approach shot over a tree, landing on the green where he one-putted for the win. In a Men's Vogue article, Mickelson recounted his effort to lose with the help of trainer Sean Cochran.",
"In a Men's Vogue article, Mickelson recounted his effort to lose with the help of trainer Sean Cochran. \"Once the younger players started to come on tour, he realized that he had to start working out to maintain longevity in his career,\" Cochran said. Mickelson's regimen consisted of increasing flexibility and power, eating five smaller meals a day, aerobic training, and carrying his own golf bag. Mickelson was inducted into the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame in 2008.",
"Mickelson was inducted into the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame in 2008. 2009 Mickelson won his first 2009 tour event when he defended his title at the Northern Trust Open at Riviera, one stroke ahead of Steve Stricker. The victory was Mickelson's 35th on tour; he surpassed Vijay Singh for second place on the current PGA Tour wins list. A month later, he won his 36th, and his first World Golf Championship, at the WGC-CA Championship with a one-stroke win over Nick Watney.",
"A month later, he won his 36th, and his first World Golf Championship, at the WGC-CA Championship with a one-stroke win over Nick Watney. On May 20, it was announced that his wife Amy was diagnosed with breast cancer, and Mickelson announced that he would suspend his PGA Tour schedule indefinitely. She would begin treatment with major surgery as early as the following two weeks.",
"She would begin treatment with major surgery as early as the following two weeks. Mickelson was scheduled to play the HP Byron Nelson Championship May 21–24, and to defend his title May 28–31 at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, but withdrew from both events. During the final round of the 2009 BMW PGA Championship, fellow golfer and family friend John Daly wore bright pink trousers in support of Mickelson's wife.",
"During the final round of the 2009 BMW PGA Championship, fellow golfer and family friend John Daly wore bright pink trousers in support of Mickelson's wife. Also, the next Saturday, at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, a \"Pink Out\" event was hosted, and the PGA Tour players all wore pink that day, to support the Mickelson family.",
"Also, the next Saturday, at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, a \"Pink Out\" event was hosted, and the PGA Tour players all wore pink that day, to support the Mickelson family. On May 31, Mickelson announced that he would return to play on the PGA Tour in June at the St. Jude Classic and the U.S. Open, since he had heard from the doctors treating his wife that her cancer had been detected in an early stage.",
"On May 31, Mickelson announced that he would return to play on the PGA Tour in June at the St. Jude Classic and the U.S. Open, since he had heard from the doctors treating his wife that her cancer had been detected in an early stage. Mickelson shot a final round 70 at the 2009 U.S. Open and recorded his fifth runner-up finish at the U.S. Open. He shared the lead after an eagle at the 13th hole, but fell back with bogeys on 15 and 17; Lucas Glover captured the championship.",
"He shared the lead after an eagle at the 13th hole, but fell back with bogeys on 15 and 17; Lucas Glover captured the championship. On July 6, it was announced that his mother Mary was diagnosed with breast cancer and would have surgery at the same hospital where his wife was treated. After hearing the news that his mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer, Mickelson took another leave of absence from the tour, missing The Open Championship at Turnberry.",
"After hearing the news that his mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer, Mickelson took another leave of absence from the tour, missing The Open Championship at Turnberry. On July 28, Mickelson announced he would return in August at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, the week before the PGA Championship at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota. In September, Mickelson won The Tour Championship for the second time in his career.",
"In September, Mickelson won The Tour Championship for the second time in his career. He entered the final round four strokes off the lead, but shot a final round 65 to win the event by three strokes over Tiger Woods. With the win, Mickelson finished the season second behind Woods in the 2009 FedEx Cup standings. On November 8, Mickelson won the WGC-HSBC Champions by one shot over Ernie Els in Shanghai.",
"On November 8, Mickelson won the WGC-HSBC Champions by one shot over Ernie Els in Shanghai. 2010: Third Masters win In 2010, Mickelson won the Masters Tournament on April 11 with a 16-under-par performance, giving him a three-stroke win over Lee Westwood. The win marked the third Masters victory for Mickelson and his fourth major championship overall.",
"The win marked the third Masters victory for Mickelson and his fourth major championship overall. Critical to Mickelson's win was a dramatic run in the third round on Saturday in which Mickelson, trailing leader Westwood by five strokes as he prepared his approach shot to the 13th green, proceeded to make eagle, then to hole-out for eagle from 141 yards at the next hole, the par 4 14th, then on the next, the par 5 15th, to miss eagle from 81 yards by mere inches.",
"Critical to Mickelson's win was a dramatic run in the third round on Saturday in which Mickelson, trailing leader Westwood by five strokes as he prepared his approach shot to the 13th green, proceeded to make eagle, then to hole-out for eagle from 141 yards at the next hole, the par 4 14th, then on the next, the par 5 15th, to miss eagle from 81 yards by mere inches. After tapping in for birdie at 15, Mickelson, at −12, led Westwood, at −11, who had bogeyed hole 12 and failed to capitalize on the par 5 13th, settling for par.",
"After tapping in for birdie at 15, Mickelson, at −12, led Westwood, at −11, who had bogeyed hole 12 and failed to capitalize on the par 5 13th, settling for par. Westwood recaptured a one-stroke lead by the end of the round, but the momentum carried forward for Mickelson into round 4, where he posted a bogey-free 67 to Westwood's 71. No other pursuer was able to keep pace to the end, though K. J. Choi and Anthony Kim made notable charges.",
"No other pursuer was able to keep pace to the end, though K. J. Choi and Anthony Kim made notable charges. For good measure, Mickelson birdied the final hole and memorably greeted his waiting wife, Amy, with a prolonged hug and kiss. For many fans, Mickelson's finish in the tournament was especially poignant, given that Amy had been suffering from breast cancer during the preceding year. Mary Mickelson, Phil's mother, was also dealing with cancer.",
"Mary Mickelson, Phil's mother, was also dealing with cancer. CBS Sports announcer Jim Nantz's call of the final birdie putt, \"That's a win for the family,\" was seen by many as capturing the moment well. Tiger Woods had a dramatic return to competitive play after a scandal-ridden 20-week absence; he was in close contention throughout for the lead and finished tied with Choi for 4th at −11.",
"Tiger Woods had a dramatic return to competitive play after a scandal-ridden 20-week absence; he was in close contention throughout for the lead and finished tied with Choi for 4th at −11. Mickelson and others showed exciting play over the weekend, and the 2010 Masters had strong television ratings in the United States, ranking third all-time to Woods's historic wins in 1997 and 2001.",
"Mickelson and others showed exciting play over the weekend, and the 2010 Masters had strong television ratings in the United States, ranking third all-time to Woods's historic wins in 1997 and 2001. Mickelson's win left him second only to Woods in major championships among his competitive contemporaries, moving him ahead of Ernie Els, Vijay Singh and Pádraig Harrington, with three major championships each and each, like Mickelson, with dozens of worldwide wins.",
"Mickelson's win left him second only to Woods in major championships among his competitive contemporaries, moving him ahead of Ernie Els, Vijay Singh and Pádraig Harrington, with three major championships each and each, like Mickelson, with dozens of worldwide wins. Remainder of 2010 Mickelson, one of the favorites for the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, shot 75 and 66 on Thursday and Friday to sit two shots off the lead. However, two weekend scores of 73 gave him a T4 finish.",
"However, two weekend scores of 73 gave him a T4 finish. During the remainder of the 2010 season, Mickelson had multiple opportunities to become the number one player in the world rankings following the travails of Tiger Woods. However, a string of disappointing finishes by Mickelson saw the number one spot eventually go to Englishman Lee Westwood. In the days leading up to the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits (near Kohler, Wisconsin), Mickelson announced he had been diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis.",
"In the days leading up to the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits (near Kohler, Wisconsin), Mickelson announced he had been diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis. He added that he had started medical treatment, and had become a vegetarian in hopes of aiding his recovery. He maintains that both his short- and long-term prognosis are good, that the condition should have no long-term effect on his golfing career, and that he currently feels well. He also stated that the arthritis may go into permanent remission after one year of medical treatment.",
"He also stated that the arthritis may go into permanent remission after one year of medical treatment. He went on to finish the championship T12, five shots behind winner Martin Kaymer. 2011 Mickelson started his 2011 season at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines Golf Course. He shot and was tied for the 54 hole lead with Bill Haas. Mickelson needed to hole out on the 18th hole for eagle from 74 yards to force a playoff with Bubba Watson. He hit it to 4 feet and Watson won the tournament.",
"He hit it to 4 feet and Watson won the tournament. On April 3, Mickelson won the Shell Houston Open with a 20-under-par, three-stroke win over Scott Verplank. Mickelson rose to No. 3 in the world ranking, while Tiger Woods fell to No. 7. Mickelson had not been ranked above Woods since the week prior to the 1997 Masters Tournament. At The Open Championship, Mickelson recorded just his second top-ten finish in 18 tournaments by tying for second with Dustin Johnson.",
"At The Open Championship, Mickelson recorded just his second top-ten finish in 18 tournaments by tying for second with Dustin Johnson. His front nine 30 put him briefly in a tie for the lead with eventual champion Darren Clarke. However, some putting problems caused him to fade from contention toward the end, to finish in a tie for second place. 2012: 40th career PGA Tour win Mickelson made his 2012 debut at the Humana Challenge and finished tied for 49th.",
"2012: 40th career PGA Tour win Mickelson made his 2012 debut at the Humana Challenge and finished tied for 49th. He missed the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open after shooting rounds of 77 and 68. In the final round of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, Mickelson rallied from six shots back, winning the tournament by two strokes with a final-round score of 8-under 64 and a four-round total of 269. The win marked his 40th career victory on the PGA Tour.",
"The win marked his 40th career victory on the PGA Tour. The following week at Riviera Country Club, Mickelson lost the Northern Trust Open in a three-way playoff. He had held the lead or a share of it from day one until the back nine on Sunday when Bill Haas posted the clubhouse lead at seven under par. Mickelson holed a 27-foot birdie putt on the final regulation hole to force a playoff alongside Haas and Keegan Bradley. Haas however won the playoff with a 40-foot birdie putt on the second playoff hole.",
"Haas however won the playoff with a 40-foot birdie putt on the second playoff hole. The second-place finish moved Mickelson back into the world's top 10. Mickelson finished tied for third at the Masters. After opening the tournament with a two-over-par 74, he shot 68–66 in the next two rounds and ended up one stroke behind leader Peter Hanson by Saturday night.",
"After opening the tournament with a two-over-par 74, he shot 68–66 in the next two rounds and ended up one stroke behind leader Peter Hanson by Saturday night. Mickelson had a poor start to his fourth round, scoring a triple-bogey when he hit his ball far to the left of the green on the par-3 4th hole, hitting the stand and landing in a bamboo plant. This ended up being Mickelson's only score over par in the whole round, and he ended with a score of eight-under overall.",
"This ended up being Mickelson's only score over par in the whole round, and he ended with a score of eight-under overall. Earlier in the tournament he had received widespread praise for being present to watch Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, and Gary Player hit the ceremonial opening tee-shots, nearly seven hours before Mickelson's own tee time. Mickelson made a charge during the final round at the HP Byron Nelson Championship, but bogeyed the 17th and 18th, finishing T-7th.",
"Mickelson made a charge during the final round at the HP Byron Nelson Championship, but bogeyed the 17th and 18th, finishing T-7th. He then withdrew from the Memorial Tournament, citing mental fatigue, after a first-round 79. He was to be paired with Tiger Woods and Bubba Watson at the U.S. Open. He fought to make the cut in the U.S. Open, and finished T-65th. After taking a couple of weeks off, he played in the Greenbrier Classic.",
"After taking a couple of weeks off, he played in the Greenbrier Classic. Putting problems meant a second straight missed cut at the Greenbrier and a third missed cut at 2012 Open Championship, shooting 73-78 (11 over par). He finished T-43rd at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. He then finished T-36th at the PGA Championship. To start the 2012 FedEx Cup Playoffs, Mickelson finished T38 at The Barclays, +1 for the tournament. He tied with Tiger Woods, Zach Johnson, and five other players.",
"He tied with Tiger Woods, Zach Johnson, and five other players. In this tournament, he started using the claw putting grip on the greens. At the next event, the Deutsche Bank Championship, he finished the tournament with a −14, tied for 4th with Dustin Johnson. At the BMW Championship, Mickelson posted a −16 for the first three rounds, one of those rounds being a −8, 64.",
"At the BMW Championship, Mickelson posted a −16 for the first three rounds, one of those rounds being a −8, 64. On the final day, Mickelson shot a −2, 70, to finish tied for 2nd, with Lee Westwood, two shots behind leader, and back-to-back winner, Rory McIlroy. At the Tour Championship, he ended up finishing tied for 15th. He went on to have a 3–1 record at the Ryder Cup; however, the USA team lost the event.",
"He went on to have a 3–1 record at the Ryder Cup; however, the USA team lost the event. 2013 Mickelson began the 2013 season in January by playing in the Humana Challenge, where he finished T37 at −17. His next event was the following week in his home event near San Diego at the Farmers Insurance Open. Mickelson endured a disappointing tournament, finishing T51, shooting all four rounds in the 70s. In the first round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open, Mickelson tied his career-low round of 60.",
"In the first round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open, Mickelson tied his career-low round of 60. He made seven birdies in his first nine holes and needed a birdie on the 18th hole to equal the PGA Tour record of 59. However, his 25-foot birdie putt on the final hole lipped out, resulting in him missing out by a single shot on making only the sixth round of 59 in PGA Tour history.",
"However, his 25-foot birdie putt on the final hole lipped out, resulting in him missing out by a single shot on making only the sixth round of 59 in PGA Tour history. Mickelson led the tournament wire-to-wire and completed a four-shot win over Brandt Snedeker for his 41st PGA Tour victory and 3rd Phoenix Open title. Mickelson's score of 28-under-par tied Mark Calcavecchia's tournament scoring record. He also moved back inside the world's top 10 after falling down as far as number 22.",
"He also moved back inside the world's top 10 after falling down as far as number 22. Sixth runner-up finish at the U.S. Open At the U.S. Open at Merion, Mickelson entered the final round leading by one stroke after rounds of over the first three days, but he started the final round by three-putting the 3rd and 5th holes for double-bogeys to fall out of the lead. He regained the lead at the par-four 10th, when he holed his second shot from the rough for an eagle.",
"He regained the lead at the par-four 10th, when he holed his second shot from the rough for an eagle. However, a misjudgment at the short par three 13th saw him fly the green and make a bogey to slip one behind leader Justin Rose. Another bogey followed at the 15th, before narrowly missing a birdie putt on the 16th that would have tied Rose.",
"Another bogey followed at the 15th, before narrowly missing a birdie putt on the 16th that would have tied Rose. Mickelson could not make a birdie at the 17th and after a blocked drive on the 18th, he could not hole his pitch from short of the green, which led to a final bogey. Mickelson ended up finishing tied for second with Jason Day, two strokes behind Justin Rose.",
"Mickelson ended up finishing tied for second with Jason Day, two strokes behind Justin Rose. It was the sixth runner-up finish of Mickelson's career at the U.S. Open, an event record and only behind Jack Nicklaus's seven runner-up finishes at The Open Championship. After the event, Mickelson called the loss heartbreaking and said \"this is tough to swallow after coming so close ... I felt like this was as good an opportunity I could ask for and to not get it ... it hurts.\"",
"I felt like this was as good an opportunity I could ask for and to not get it ... it hurts.\" It was also Father's Day, which happened to be his birthday. Fifth major title at the Open Championship The week before The Open Championship, Mickelson warmed up for the event by winning his first tournament on British soil at the Scottish Open on July 14, after a sudden-death playoff against Branden Grace.",
"Fifth major title at the Open Championship The week before The Open Championship, Mickelson warmed up for the event by winning his first tournament on British soil at the Scottish Open on July 14, after a sudden-death playoff against Branden Grace. After this victory, Mickelson spoke of his confidence ahead of his participation in the following week's major championship. Mickelson said: \"I've never felt more excited going into The Open.",
"Mickelson said: \"I've never felt more excited going into The Open. I don't think there's a better way to get ready for a major than playing well the week before and getting into contention. Coming out on top just gives me more confidence.\" The following week, Mickelson won his fifth major title on July 21 at the Open Championship (often referred to as the British Open) Muirfield Golf Links in Scotland; the Open Championship is the oldest of the four major tournaments in professional golf.",
"The following week, Mickelson won his fifth major title on July 21 at the Open Championship (often referred to as the British Open) Muirfield Golf Links in Scotland; the Open Championship is the oldest of the four major tournaments in professional golf. This was the first time in history that anyone had won both the Scottish Open and The Open Championship in the same year. Mickelson birdied four of the last six holes in a brilliant final round of 66 to win the title by three strokes.",
"Mickelson birdied four of the last six holes in a brilliant final round of 66 to win the title by three strokes. He shed tears on the 18th green after completing his round. Mickelson later said: \"I played arguably the best round of my career, and shot the round of my life. The range of emotions I feel are as far apart as possible after losing the U.S. Open. But you have to be resilient in this game.\"",
"But you have to be resilient in this game.\" In an interview before the 2015 Open, Mickelson said, \"Two years removed from that win, I still can't believe how much it means to me.\" 2014 and 2015: Inconsistent form and close calls in majors Mickelson missed the cut at the Masters for the first time since 1997. He failed to contend at the U.S. Open at Pinehurst in his first bid to complete the career grand slam.",
"He failed to contend at the U.S. Open at Pinehurst in his first bid to complete the career grand slam. Mickelson's lone top-10 of the PGA Tour season came at the year's final major, the PGA Championship at Valhalla. Mickelson shot rounds of 69-67-67-66 to finish solo second, one shot behind world number one Rory McIlroy. Prior to the 2015 Masters, Mickelson's best finish in 2015 was a tie for 17th.",
"Prior to the 2015 Masters, Mickelson's best finish in 2015 was a tie for 17th. At the Masters, Mickelson shot rounds of to finish tied for second with Justin Rose, four shots behind champion Jordan Spieth. The second-place finish was Mickelson's tenth such finish in a major, placing him second all-time only to Jack Nicklaus in that regard. At The Open Championship, Mickelson shot rounds of and was eight shots behind, outside the top forty.",
"At The Open Championship, Mickelson shot rounds of and was eight shots behind, outside the top forty. In the final round, Mickelson birdied the 15th hole to move to 10 under and within two of the lead. After a missed birdie putt on 16, Mickelson hit his drive on the infamous Road Hole (17th) at the famed Old Course at St Andrews onto a second-floor balcony of the Old Course Hotel. The out-of-bounds drive lead to a triple-bogey 7 that sent Mickelson tumbling out of contention.",
"The out-of-bounds drive lead to a triple-bogey 7 that sent Mickelson tumbling out of contention. Later in the year, it was announced that Mickelson would leave longtime swing coach Butch Harmon, feeling as though he needed to hear a new perspective on things. 2016: New swing coach After leaving Butch Harmon, Mickelson hired Andrew Getson of Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona, to serve as his new swing coach. The two worked together heavily in the 2015 offseason to get Mickelson's swing back.",
"The two worked together heavily in the 2015 offseason to get Mickelson's swing back. Under Getson's guidance, Mickelson made his 2016 debut at the CareerBuilder Challenge. He shot rounds of to finish in a tie for third place at 21-under-par. It was only Mickelson's fifth top-five finish since his win at the 2013 Open Championship. The third-place finish was Mickelson's highest finish in his first worldwide start of a calendar year since he won the same event to begin the 2004 season.",
"The third-place finish was Mickelson's highest finish in his first worldwide start of a calendar year since he won the same event to begin the 2004 season. At the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Mickelson shot rounds of to finish in solo second place, a shot behind Vaughn Taylor. Mickelson lipped out a five-foot birdie putt to force a playoff on the 72nd hole.",
"Mickelson lipped out a five-foot birdie putt to force a playoff on the 72nd hole. He entered the final round with a two-stroke lead, his first 54-hole lead since the 2013 U.S. Open and was seeking to end a winless drought dating back 52 worldwide events to the 2013 Open Championship. Mickelson shot a 63 in the opening round of The Open Championship at Royal Troon. The round set a new course record and matched the previous major championship record for lowest round.",
"The round set a new course record and matched the previous major championship record for lowest round. Mickelson had a birdie putt that narrowly missed on the final hole to set a new major championship scoring record of 62. He followed this up with a 69 in the second round for a 10 under par total and a one-shot lead over Henrik Stenson going into the weekend. In the third round, Mickelson shot a one-under 70 for a total of 11 under par to enter the final round one shot back of Stenson.",
"In the third round, Mickelson shot a one-under 70 for a total of 11 under par to enter the final round one shot back of Stenson. Despite Mickelson's bogey-free 65 in the final round, Stenson shot 63 to win by three shots. Mickelson finished 11 strokes clear of 3rd place, a major championship record for a runner-up.",
"Mickelson finished 11 strokes clear of 3rd place, a major championship record for a runner-up. Mickelson's 267 total set a record score for a runner-up in the British Open, and only trails Mickelson's 266 at the 2001 PGA Championship as the lowest total by a runner-up in major championship history. 2017: Recovery from surgeries In the fall of 2016, Mickelson had two sports hernia surgeries.",
"2017: Recovery from surgeries In the fall of 2016, Mickelson had two sports hernia surgeries. Those in the golf community expected him to miss much time recovering, however his unexpected return at the CareerBuilder Challenge was a triumphant one, leading to a T-21 finish. The next week, in San Diego, he narrowly missed an eagle putt on the 18th hole on Sunday that would've got him to 8-under par instead posting −7 to finish T14 at the Farmers Insurance Open.",
"The next week, in San Diego, he narrowly missed an eagle putt on the 18th hole on Sunday that would've got him to 8-under par instead posting −7 to finish T14 at the Farmers Insurance Open. The following week, at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, which he has won three times, he surged into contention following a Saturday 65. He played his first nine holes in 4-under 32 and sending his name to the top of the leaderboard.",
"He played his first nine holes in 4-under 32 and sending his name to the top of the leaderboard. However, his charge faltered with bogeys at 11, 12, 14, 15, and a double bogey at the driveable 17th hole. He stumbled with a final round 71, still earning a T-16 finish, for his sixth straight top-25 finish on tour. Mickelson came close to winning again at the FedEx St. Jude Classic where he had finished in second place the previous year to Daniel Berger.",
"Mickelson came close to winning again at the FedEx St. Jude Classic where he had finished in second place the previous year to Daniel Berger. He started the final round four strokes behind leaders but he quickly played himself into contention. Following a birdie at the 10th hole he vaulted to the top of leaderboard but found trouble on the 12th hole. His tee shot carried out of bounds and his fourth shot hit the water so he had to make a long putt to salvage triple-bogey.",
"His tee shot carried out of bounds and his fourth shot hit the water so he had to make a long putt to salvage triple-bogey. He managed to get one shot back but he finished three shots behind winner Berger, in ninth place, for the second straight year. Two weeks later he withdrew from the U.S. Open to attend his daughter's high school graduation. A week later his longtime caddie Jim (Bones) Mackay left Mickelson in a mutual agreement.",
"A week later his longtime caddie Jim (Bones) Mackay left Mickelson in a mutual agreement. Mickelson then missed the cut at both The Open Championship and the PGA Championship. On September 6, days after posting his best finish of the season of T6 at the Dell Technologies Championship, Mickelson was named as a captain's pick for the Presidents Cup. This maintained a streak of 23 consecutive USA teams in the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup, dating back to 1994.",
"This maintained a streak of 23 consecutive USA teams in the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup, dating back to 1994. 2018–2019: Winless streak ends On March 4, 2018, Mickelson ended a winless drought that dated back to 2013, by capturing his third WGC championship at the WGC-Mexico Championship, with a final-round score of 66 and a total score of −16. Mickelson birdied two of his last four holes and had a lengthy putt to win outright on the 72nd hole, but tied with Justin Thomas.",
"Mickelson birdied two of his last four holes and had a lengthy putt to win outright on the 72nd hole, but tied with Justin Thomas. He defeated Thomas on the first extra hole of a sudden-death playoff with a par. After Thomas had flown the green, Mickelson had a birdie to win the playoff which lipped out. Thomas however could not get up and down for par, meaning Mickelson claimed the championship. The win was Mickelson's 43rd on the PGA Tour and his first since winning the 2013 Open Championship.",
"The win was Mickelson's 43rd on the PGA Tour and his first since winning the 2013 Open Championship. He also became the oldest winner of a WGC event, at age 47. In the third round of the 2018 U.S. Open, Mickelson incurred a two-stroke penalty in a controversial incident on the 13th hole when he hit his ball with intent while it was still moving. He ended up shooting 81 (+11). His former coach Butch Harmon thought Mickelson should have been disqualified.",
"His former coach Butch Harmon thought Mickelson should have been disqualified. Mickelson was a captain's pick for Team USA at the 2018 Ryder Cup, held in Paris between September 28 and 30. Paired with Bryson DeChambeau in the Friday afternoon foursomes, they lost 5 and 4 to Europe's Sergio García and Alex Norén. In the Sunday singles match, Mickelson lost 4 and 2 to Francesco Molinari, as Team USA slumped to a 17.5 to 10.5 defeat.",
"In the Sunday singles match, Mickelson lost 4 and 2 to Francesco Molinari, as Team USA slumped to a 17.5 to 10.5 defeat. On November 23, 2018, Mickelson won the pay-per-view event, Capital One's The Match. This was a $9,000,000 winner-takes-all match against Tiger Woods at Shadow Creek Golf Course in Las Vegas. Mickelson needed four extra holes to beat Woods, which he did by holing a four-foot putt after Woods missed a seven-foot putt on the 22nd hole.",
"Mickelson needed four extra holes to beat Woods, which he did by holing a four-foot putt after Woods missed a seven-foot putt on the 22nd hole. In his third start of the 2019 calendar year, Mickelson won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, shooting a bogey-free final round 65 to defeat Paul Casey by three strokes. The win was Mickelson's 44th career title on the PGA Tour, and his fifth at Pebble Beach, tying Mark O'Meara for most victories in the event.",
"The win was Mickelson's 44th career title on the PGA Tour, and his fifth at Pebble Beach, tying Mark O'Meara for most victories in the event. At 48 years of age, he also became the oldest winner of that event.",
"At 48 years of age, he also became the oldest winner of that event. 2020: PGA Tour season and PGA Tour Champions debut In December 2019, Mickelson announced via Twitter that \"after turning down opportunities to go to the Middle East for many years\" he would play in the 2020 Saudi International tournament on the European Tour and would miss Waste Management Phoenix Open for the first time since 1989.",
"2020: PGA Tour season and PGA Tour Champions debut In December 2019, Mickelson announced via Twitter that \"after turning down opportunities to go to the Middle East for many years\" he would play in the 2020 Saudi International tournament on the European Tour and would miss Waste Management Phoenix Open for the first time since 1989. However, his decision to visit and play in Saudi Arabia was criticized for getting lured by millions of dollars and ignoring the continuous human rights abuses in the nation.",
"However, his decision to visit and play in Saudi Arabia was criticized for getting lured by millions of dollars and ignoring the continuous human rights abuses in the nation. Mickelson went on to finish the February 2020 event tied for third. Mickelson finished 3rd at the 2020 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and tied for 2nd in the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational. Mickelson was the first player over 50 to finish in the top five of a World Golf Championship event.",
"Mickelson was the first player over 50 to finish in the top five of a World Golf Championship event. He was ultimately eliminated from the FedEx Cup Playoffs following The Northern Trust at TPC Boston in August 2020. One week later, Mickelson made his debut on the PGA Tour Champions. He won the Charles Schwab Series at Ozarks National in his first tournament after becoming eligible for PGA Tour Champions on his 50th birthday on June 16, 2020. He was the 20th player to win their debut tournament on tour.",
"He was the 20th player to win their debut tournament on tour. Mickelson's 191 stroke total tied the PGA Tour Champions all-time record for a three-day event. In October 2020, Mickelson won the Dominion Energy Charity Classic in Virginia. It was his second win in as many starts on the PGA Tour Champions. 2021: The oldest major champion In February 2021, Mickelson was attempting to become the first player in PGA Tour Champions history to win his first three tournaments on tour.",
"2021: The oldest major champion In February 2021, Mickelson was attempting to become the first player in PGA Tour Champions history to win his first three tournaments on tour. However, he fell short in the Cologuard Classic, finishing in a T-20 position with a score of 4 under par. In May 2021, Mickelson held the 54-hole lead at the PGA Championship at the Kiawah Island Golf Resort in South Carolina, leading Brooks Koepka by one shot with one day to play.",
"In May 2021, Mickelson held the 54-hole lead at the PGA Championship at the Kiawah Island Golf Resort in South Carolina, leading Brooks Koepka by one shot with one day to play. He shot a final-round 73 to capture the tournament, defeating Koepka and Louis Oosthuizen by two strokes, becoming the oldest major champion; at 50.",
"He shot a final-round 73 to capture the tournament, defeating Koepka and Louis Oosthuizen by two strokes, becoming the oldest major champion; at 50. As Mickelson walked down the fairway following an excellent second shot from the left rough on the 18th hole, thousands of fans engulfed him, with him walking towards the hole constantly tipping his hat and giving the thumbs up to the crowd as they cheered.",
"As Mickelson walked down the fairway following an excellent second shot from the left rough on the 18th hole, thousands of fans engulfed him, with him walking towards the hole constantly tipping his hat and giving the thumbs up to the crowd as they cheered. However, the massive tumult of people meant playing partner Brooks Koepka was stranded in the sea of people, and with difficulties, he managed to reach the green to finish the hole.",
"However, the massive tumult of people meant playing partner Brooks Koepka was stranded in the sea of people, and with difficulties, he managed to reach the green to finish the hole. Mickelson eventually emerged from the crowd and two-putted for par, finishing the tournament at 6-under, besting the field by two strokes. In October 2021, Mickelson won for the third time in four career starts on the PGA Tour Champions.",
"In October 2021, Mickelson won for the third time in four career starts on the PGA Tour Champions. Mickelson shot a final round 4-under-par 68 to win the inaugural Constellation Furyk & Friends over Miguel Ángel Jiménez in Jacksonville, Florida. In November 2021, Mickelson won the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship in Phoenix, Arizona, with a final round six-under par 65. This victory was Mickelson's fourth win in six career starts on PGA Tour Champions.",
"This victory was Mickelson's fourth win in six career starts on PGA Tour Champions. 2022: Saudi Arabia controversy Mickelson admitted in an interview to overlooking Saudi Arabian human rights violations, including the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and execution of LGBTQ+ individuals, to support the Saudi-backed Super Golf League because it offered an opportunity to reshape the PGA Tour. In response to these comments, Mickelson lost multiple longtime sponsors including Callaway Golf and KPMG. Mickelson announced he would be stepping away from golf to spend time with his family.",
"Mickelson announced he would be stepping away from golf to spend time with his family. Playing style As a competitor, Mickelson's playing style is described by many as \"aggressive\" and highly social. His strategy toward difficult shots (bad lies, obstructions) would tend to be considered risky.",
"His strategy toward difficult shots (bad lies, obstructions) would tend to be considered risky. Mickelson has also been characterized by his powerful and sometimes inaccurate driver, but his excellent short game draws the most positive reviews, most of all his daring \"Phil flop\" shot in which a big swing with a high-lofted wedge against a tight lie flies a ball high into the air for a short distance.",
"Mickelson has also been characterized by his powerful and sometimes inaccurate driver, but his excellent short game draws the most positive reviews, most of all his daring \"Phil flop\" shot in which a big swing with a high-lofted wedge against a tight lie flies a ball high into the air for a short distance. Mickelson is usually in the top 10 in scoring, and he led the PGA Tour in birdie average as recently as 2013.",
"Mickelson is usually in the top 10 in scoring, and he led the PGA Tour in birdie average as recently as 2013. Earnings and endorsements Although ranked second on the PGA Tour's all-time money list of tournament prize money won, Mickelson earns far more from endorsements than from prize money.",
"Earnings and endorsements Although ranked second on the PGA Tour's all-time money list of tournament prize money won, Mickelson earns far more from endorsements than from prize money. According to one estimate of 2011 earnings (comprising salary, winnings, bonuses, endorsements and appearances) Mickelson was then the second-highest paid athlete in the United States, earning an income of over $62 million, $53 million of which came from endorsements.",
"According to one estimate of 2011 earnings (comprising salary, winnings, bonuses, endorsements and appearances) Mickelson was then the second-highest paid athlete in the United States, earning an income of over $62 million, $53 million of which came from endorsements. Major companies which Mickelson currently endorses are ExxonMobil (Mickelson and wife Amy started a teacher sponsorship fund with the company), Rolex and Mizzen+Main. He has been previously sponsored by Titleist, Bearing Point, Barclays, and Ford.",
"He has been previously sponsored by Titleist, Bearing Point, Barclays, and Ford. After being diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis in 2010, Mickelson was treated with Enbrel and began endorsing the drug. In 2015, Forbes estimated Mickelson's annual income was $51 million. In 2022, Mickelson lost a significant number of sponsors including Callaway Golf, KPMG, Amstel Light and Workday after comments he made about the Saudi-backed golf league, Super Golf League.",
"In 2022, Mickelson lost a significant number of sponsors including Callaway Golf, KPMG, Amstel Light and Workday after comments he made about the Saudi-backed golf league, Super Golf League. In an interview, he stated that Saudis are \"scary motherfuckers to get involved with... We know they killed [Washington Post reporter and U.S. resident Jamal] Khashoggi and have a horrible record on human rights. They execute people over there for being gay. Knowing all of this, why would I even consider it?",
"Knowing all of this, why would I even consider it? Because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reshape how the PGA Tour operates.\" Insider trading settlement On May 30, 2014, The Wall Street Journal reported that the FBI and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) were investigating Mickelson and associates of his for insider trading in Clorox stock. Mickelson denied any wrongdoing, and the investigation found \"no evidence\" and concluded without any charges.",
"Mickelson denied any wrongdoing, and the investigation found \"no evidence\" and concluded without any charges. On May 19, 2016, Mickelson was named as a relief defendant in another SEC complaint alleging insider trading but completely avoided criminal charges in a parallel case brought in the Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York.",
"On May 19, 2016, Mickelson was named as a relief defendant in another SEC complaint alleging insider trading but completely avoided criminal charges in a parallel case brought in the Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York. The action stems for trades in Dean Foods in 2012 in conjunction with confidential information provided by Thomas Davis, a former director of Dean Foods Company, who tipped his friend and \"professional sports bettor\" Billy Walters.",
"The action stems for trades in Dean Foods in 2012 in conjunction with confidential information provided by Thomas Davis, a former director of Dean Foods Company, who tipped his friend and \"professional sports bettor\" Billy Walters. The SEC did not allege that Walters actually told Mickelson of any material, nonpublic information about Dean Foods, and the SEC disgorged Mickelson of the $931,000 profit he had made from trading Dean Foods stock and had him pay prejudgment interest of $105,000.",
"The SEC did not allege that Walters actually told Mickelson of any material, nonpublic information about Dean Foods, and the SEC disgorged Mickelson of the $931,000 profit he had made from trading Dean Foods stock and had him pay prejudgment interest of $105,000. In 2017, Walters was convicted of making $40 million on Davis's private information from 2008 to 2014 by a federal jury. At that time, it was also noted that Mickelson had \"once owed nearly $2 million in gambling debts to\" Walters.",
"At that time, it was also noted that Mickelson had \"once owed nearly $2 million in gambling debts to\" Walters. Walters's lawyer said his client would appeal the 2017 verdict. Amateur wins 1980 Junior World Golf Championships (Boys 9–10) 1989 NCAA Division I Championship 1990 Pac-10 Championship, NCAA Division I Championship, U.S. Amateur, Porter Cup 1991 Western Amateur 1992 NCAA Division I Championship Professional wins (57) PGA Tour wins (45) *Note: Tournament shortened to 54 holes due to weather.",
"Amateur, Porter Cup 1991 Western Amateur 1992 NCAA Division I Championship Professional wins (57) PGA Tour wins (45) *Note: Tournament shortened to 54 holes due to weather. PGA Tour playoff record (8–4) European Tour wins (11) 1Co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour, Sunshine Tour and PGA Tour of Australasia European Tour playoff record (3–1) Challenge Tour wins (1) Other wins (4) Other playoff record (1–1) PGA Tour Champions wins (4) Major championships Wins (6) Results timeline Results not in chronological order in 2020.",
"PGA Tour playoff record (8–4) European Tour wins (11) 1Co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour, Sunshine Tour and PGA Tour of Australasia European Tour playoff record (3–1) Challenge Tour wins (1) Other wins (4) Other playoff record (1–1) PGA Tour Champions wins (4) Major championships Wins (6) Results timeline Results not in chronological order in 2020. LA = Low amateur CUT = missed the half-way cut \"T\" = tied NT = No tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic Summary Most consecutive cuts made – 30 (1999 PGA – 2007 Masters) Longest streak of top-10s – 5 (2004 Masters – 2005 Masters) The Players Championship Wins (1) Results timeline CUT = missed the halfway cut \"T\" indicates a tie for a place C = Canceled after the first round due to the COVID-19 pandemic World Golf Championships Wins (3) Results timeline Results not in chronological order prior to 2015.",
"LA = Low amateur CUT = missed the half-way cut \"T\" = tied NT = No tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic Summary Most consecutive cuts made – 30 (1999 PGA – 2007 Masters) Longest streak of top-10s – 5 (2004 Masters – 2005 Masters) The Players Championship Wins (1) Results timeline CUT = missed the halfway cut \"T\" indicates a tie for a place C = Canceled after the first round due to the COVID-19 pandemic World Golf Championships Wins (3) Results timeline Results not in chronological order prior to 2015. 1Cancelled due to 9/11 2Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play \"T\" = tied NT = No Tournament Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.",
"1Cancelled due to 9/11 2Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play \"T\" = tied NT = No Tournament Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009. PGA Tour career summary * As of 2021 season. † Mickelson won as an amateur in 1991 and therefore did not receive any prize money.",
"† Mickelson won as an amateur in 1991 and therefore did not receive any prize money. U.S. national team appearances Amateur Walker Cup: 1989, 1991 (winners) Eisenhower Trophy: 1990 Professional Presidents Cup: 1994 (winners), 1996 (winners), 1998, 2000 (winners), 2003 (tie), 2005 (winners), 2007 (winners), 2009 (winners), 2011 (winners), 2013 (winners), 2015 (winners), 2017 (winners) Ryder Cup: 1995, 1997, 1999 (winners), 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008 (winners), 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016 (winners), 2018 Alfred Dunhill Cup: 1996 (winners) Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge (representing PGA Tour): 1997 (winners), 2000 (winners) World Cup: 2002 See also List of golfers with most European Tour wins List of golfers with most PGA Tour wins List of men's major championships winning golfers Monday Night Golf References External links On Course With Phil American male golfers PGA Tour golfers PGA Tour Champions golfers Ryder Cup competitors for the United States Sports controversies Winners of men's major golf championships Arizona State Sun Devils men's golfers Left-handed golfers World Golf Hall of Fame inductees Golfers from Scottsdale, Arizona Golfers from San Diego American people of Italian descent American people of Portuguese descent American people of Swedish descent 1970 births Living people"
] |
[
"Phil Mickelson",
"College golf",
"Where did he go to college?",
"Mickelson attended Arizona State University in Tempe on a golf scholarship",
"How long did he attend?",
"Mickelson was the second collegiate golfer to earn first-team All-American honors all four years.",
"Was there any other major golfers from that school?",
"I don't know.",
"When did he move on to professional golf?",
"I don't know.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"Mickelson also led the Sun Devils to the NCAA team title in 1990."
] | C_4f59739234b2446aa77be2aadc5a6b12_1 | Has he ever won any other tournaments? | 6 | Other than leading the Arizona State University Sun Devils to the NCAA team golf title in 1990, has Phil Mickelson ever won any other tournaments? | Phil Mickelson | Mickelson attended Arizona State University in Tempe on a golf scholarship and became the face of amateur golf in the United States, capturing three NCAA individual championships and three Haskins Awards (1990, 1991, 1992) as the outstanding collegiate golfer. With three individual NCAA championships, he shares the record for most individual NCAA championships alongside Ben Crenshaw. Mickelson also led the Sun Devils to the NCAA team title in 1990. Over the course of his collegiate career, he won 16 tournaments. Mickelson was the second collegiate golfer to earn first-team All-American honors all four years. In 1990, he also became the first with a left-handed swing to win the U.S. Amateur title. Mickelson secured perhaps his greatest achievement as an amateur in January 1991, winning his first PGA Tour event, the Northern Telecom Open, in Tucson. At age 20, he was only the sixth amateur to win a tour event and the first in over five years after Scott Verplank at the Western Open in August 1985. Other players to accomplish this feat include Doug Sanders (1956 Canadian Open) and Gene Littler (1954 San Diego Open). With five holes remaining, Mickelson led by a stroke, but made a triple-bogey and was then three behind. The leaders ahead of him then stumbled, and he birdied 16 and 18 to win by a stroke. To date, it is the most recent win by an amateur at a PGA Tour event. That April, Mickelson was the low amateur at the Masters Tournament in Augusta, Georgia. With his two-year PGA Tour exemption from the Tucson win, he played in several tour events in 1992 while an amateur but failed to make a cut. CANNOTANSWER | Over the course of his collegiate career, he won 16 tournaments. | Philip Alfred Mickelson (born June 16, 1970), nicknamed Phil the Thrill, is an American professional golfer. He has won 45 events on the PGA Tour, including six major championships: three Masters titles (2004, 2006, 2010), two PGA Championships (2005, 2021), and one Open Championship (2013). With his win at the 2021 PGA Championship, Mickelson became the oldest major championship winner in history at the age of 50 years, 11 months and 7 days old.
Mickelson is one of 17 players in the history of golf to win at least three of the four majors. He has won every major except the U.S. Open, in which he has finished runner-up a record six times.
Mickelson has spent more than 25 consecutive years in the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking. He has spent over 700 weeks in the top 10, has reached a career-high world ranking of No. 2 several times and is a life member of the PGA Tour. Although naturally right-handed, he is known for his left-handed swing, having learned it by mirroring his right-handed father's swing. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2012.
Early life and family
Philip Alfred Mickelson was born on June 16, 1970, in San Diego, California, to parents Philip Mickelson, an airline pilot and former naval aviator, and Mary Santos. He was raised there and in Scottsdale, Arizona. Mickelson has Portuguese, Swedish, and Sicilian ancestry. His maternal grandfather, Alfred Santos (also Mickelson's middle name) was a caddie at Pebble Beach Golf Links and took Phil to play golf as a child. Although otherwise right-handed, he played golf left-handed since he learned by watching his right-handed father swing, mirroring his style. Mickelson began golf under his father's instruction before starting school. Phil Sr.'s work schedule as a commercial pilot allowed them to play together several times a week and young Phil honed his creative short game on an extensive practice area in their San Diego backyard. Mickelson graduated from the University of San Diego High School in 1988.
College golf
Mickelson attended Arizona State University in Tempe on a golf scholarship and became the face of amateur golf in the United States, capturing three NCAA individual championships and three Haskins Awards (1990, 1991, 1992) as the outstanding collegiate golfer. With three individual NCAA championships, he shares the record for most individual NCAA championships alongside Ben Crenshaw. Mickelson also led the Sun Devils to the NCAA team title in 1990. Over the course of his collegiate career, he won 16 tournaments.
Mickelson was the second collegiate golfer to earn first-team All-American honors all four years. In 1990, he also became the first with a left-handed swing to win the U.S. Amateur title, defeating high school teammate Manny Zerman 5 and 4 in the 36-hole final at Cherry Hills, south of Denver. Mickelson secured perhaps his greatest achievement as an amateur in January 1991, winning his first PGA Tour event, the Northern Telecom Open, in Tucson, making him one of the few golfers to win a PGA Tour event as an amateur in the history of the PGA Tour. At age 20, he was only the sixth amateur to win a tour event and the first in over five years after Scott Verplank at the Western Open in August 1985. Other players to accomplish this feat include Doug Sanders (1956 Canadian Open) and Gene Littler (1954 San Diego Open). With five holes remaining, Mickelson led by a stroke, but made a triple-bogey and was then three behind. The leaders ahead of him then stumbled, and he birdied 16 and 18 to win by a stroke. To date, it is the most recent win by an amateur at a PGA Tour event.
That April, Mickelson was the low amateur at the Masters Tournament in Augusta, Georgia. With his two-year PGA Tour exemption from the Tucson win, he played in several tour events in 1992 while an amateur but failed to make a cut.
Professional career
1992–2003: Trying for first major win
Mickelson graduated from ASU in June 1992 and quickly turned professional. He bypassed the tour's qualifying process (Q-School) because of his 1991 win in Tucson, which earned him a two-year exemption. In 1992, Mickelson hired Jim "Bones" Mackay as his caddy. He won many PGA Tour tournaments during this period, including the Byron Nelson Golf Classic and the World Series of Golf in 1996, the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in 1998, the Colonial National Invitation in 2000 and the Greater Hartford Open in 2001 and again in 2002.
He appeared as himself in a non-speaking role in the 1996 film Tin Cup, starring Kevin Costner.
His 2000 Buick Invitational win ended Tiger Woods's streak of six consecutive victories on the PGA Tour. After the win, Mickelson said, "I didn't want to be the bad guy. I wasn't trying to end the streak per se. I was just trying to win the golf tournament."
Although he had performed very well in the majors up to the end of the 2003 season (17 top-ten finishes, and six second- or third-place finishes between 1999 and 2003), Mickelson's inability to win any of them led to him frequently being described as the "best player never to win a major".
2004–2006: First three major wins
Mickelson's first major championship win came in his thirteenth year on the PGA Tour in 2004, when he secured victory in the Masters with an birdie putt on the final hole. Ernie Els was the runner-up at a stroke back; the two played in different pairs in the final round and had traded birdies and eagles on the back nine. In addition to getting the "majors monkey" off his back, Mickelson was now only the third golfer with a left-handed swing to win a major, the others being New Zealander Sir Bob Charles, who won The Open Championship in 1963, and Canadian Mike Weir, who won The Masters in 2003. (Like Mickelson, Weir is a right-hander who plays left-handed.) A fourth left-handed winner is natural southpaw Bubba Watson, the Masters champion in 2012 and 2014.
Prior to the Ryder Cup in 2004, Mickelson was dropped from his long-standing contract with Titleist/Acushnet Golf, after an incident when he left a voicemail message for a Callaway Golf executive. In it, he praised their driver and golf ball, and thanked them for their help in getting some equipment for his brother. This memo was played to all of their salesmen, and eventually found its way back to Titleist. He was then let out of his multi-year deal with Titleist 16 months early, and signed on with Callaway Golf, his current equipment sponsor. He endured a great deal of ridicule and scrutiny from the press and fellow Ryder Cup members for his equipment change so close to the Ryder Cup matches. He faltered at the 2004 Ryder Cup with a record, but refused to blame the sudden change in equipment or his practice methods for his performance.
In November 2004, Mickelson tallied his career-low for an 18-hole round: a 59 at the PGA Grand Slam of Golf at Poipu Bay Golf Course in Hawaii.
The following year, Mickelson captured his second major at the PGA Championship at Baltusrol, in a Monday final-round conclusion that had been forced by inclement weather the previous day. On the 18th hole, Mickelson hit one of his trademark soft pitches from deep greenside rough to within of the cup, and made his birdie to finish at a 4-under-par total of 276, one shot ahead of Steve Elkington and Thomas Bjørn.
Mickelson captured his third major title the following spring at the Masters. He won his second green jacket after shooting a 3-under-par final round, winning by two strokes over runner-up Tim Clark. This win propelled him to 2nd place in the Official World Golf Ranking (his career best), behind Woods, and ahead of Vijay Singh and Retief Goosen.
2006: Collapse on final hole at the U.S. Open
After winning two majors in a row heading into the U.S. Open at Winged Foot, Mickelson was bidding to join Ben Hogan and Tiger Woods as the only players to win three consecutive majors (not necessarily in the same calendar year). Mickelson was the joint leader going into the final round, but he was part of a wild finish to the tournament, in which he made major mistakes on the final hole and ended up in a tie for second place at +6 (286), one shot behind Geoff Ogilvy.
Mickelson bogeyed the 16th hole. On the 17th hole, with the lead at +4, he missed the fairway to the left, and his drive finished inside a garbage can, from which he was granted a free drop; he parred the hole. He had a one-shot lead and was in the last group going into the final hole.
Needing a par on the 18th hole for a one-shot victory, Mickelson continued with his aggressive style of play and chose to hit a driver off the tee; he hit his shot well left of the fairway (he had hit only two of thirteen fairways previously in the round). The ball bounced off a corporate hospitality tent and settled in an area of trampled-down grass that was enclosed with trees. He decided to go for the green with his second shot, rather than play it safe and pitch out into the fairway. His ball then hit a tree, and did not advance more than . His next shot plugged into the left greenside bunker. He was unable to get up and down from there, resulting in a double bogey, and costing him a chance of winning the championship outright or getting into an 18-hole playoff with Ogilvy.
After his disappointing finish, Mickelson said: "I'm still in shock. I still can't believe I did that. This one hurts more than any tournament because I had it won. Congratulations to Geoff Ogilvy on some great play. I want to thank all the people that supported me. The only thing I can say is I'm sorry." He was even more candid when he said: "I just can't believe I did that. I'm such an idiot."
2006–2008
During the third round of the 2006 Ford Championship at Doral, Mickelson gave a spectator $200 after his wayward tee shot at the par-5 10th broke the man's watch.
Mickelson also has shown other signs of appreciation. In 2007 after hearing the story of retired NFL player, Conrad Dobler, and his family on ESPN explaining their struggles to pay medical bills, Mickelson volunteered to pay tuition for Holli Dobler, Conrad Dobler's daughter, at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.
Frustrated with his driving accuracy, Mickelson made the decision in April 2007 to leave longtime swing coach, Rick Smith. He then began working with Butch Harmon, a former coach of Tiger Woods and Greg Norman. On May 13, Mickelson came from a stroke back on the final round to shoot a three-under 69 to win The Players Championship with an 11-under-par 277.
In the U.S. Open at Oakmont in June, Mickelson missed the cut (by a stroke) for the first time in 31 majors after shooting 11 over par for 36 holes. He had been hampered by a wrist injury that was incurred while practicing in the thick rough at Oakmont a few weeks before the tournament.
On September 3, 2007, Mickelson won the Deutsche Bank Championship, which is the second FedEx Cup playoff event. On the final day, he was paired with Tiger Woods, who ended up finishing two strokes behind Mickelson in a tie for second. It was the first time that Mickelson was able to beat Woods while the two stars were paired together on the final day of a tournament. The next day Mickelson announced that he would not be competing in the third FedEx Cup playoff event. The day before his withdrawal, Mickelson said during a television interview that PGA Tour Commissioner, Tim Finchem, had not responded to advice he had given him on undisclosed issues.
In 2008, Mickelson won the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial with a −14, one shot ahead of Tim Clark and Rod Pampling. Mickelson shot a first-round 65 to start off the tournament at −5. He ended the day tied with Brett Wetterich, two shots behind leader, Johnson Wagner. Mickelson shot a second-round 68, and the third round 65, overall, being −12 for the first three rounds. On the final hole, after an absolutely horrendous tee shot, he was in thick rough with trees in his way. Many players would have punched out, and taken their chances at making par from the fairway with a good wedge shot. Instead, he pulled out a high-lofted wedge and hit his approach shot over a tree, landing on the green where he one-putted for the win.
In a Men's Vogue article, Mickelson recounted his effort to lose with the help of trainer Sean Cochran. "Once the younger players started to come on tour, he realized that he had to start working out to maintain longevity in his career," Cochran said. Mickelson's regimen consisted of increasing flexibility and power, eating five smaller meals a day, aerobic training, and carrying his own golf bag.
Mickelson was inducted into the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame in 2008.
2009
Mickelson won his first 2009 tour event when he defended his title at the Northern Trust Open at Riviera, one stroke ahead of Steve Stricker. The victory was Mickelson's 35th on tour; he surpassed Vijay Singh for second place on the current PGA Tour wins list. A month later, he won his 36th, and his first World Golf Championship, at the WGC-CA Championship with a one-stroke win over Nick Watney.
On May 20, it was announced that his wife Amy was diagnosed with breast cancer, and Mickelson announced that he would suspend his PGA Tour schedule indefinitely. She would begin treatment with major surgery as early as the following two weeks. Mickelson was scheduled to play the HP Byron Nelson Championship May 21–24, and to defend his title May 28–31 at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, but withdrew from both events. During the final round of the 2009 BMW PGA Championship, fellow golfer and family friend John Daly wore bright pink trousers in support of Mickelson's wife. Also, the next Saturday, at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, a "Pink Out" event was hosted, and the PGA Tour players all wore pink that day, to support the Mickelson family.
On May 31, Mickelson announced that he would return to play on the PGA Tour in June at the St. Jude Classic and the U.S. Open, since he had heard from the doctors treating his wife that her cancer had been detected in an early stage. Mickelson shot a final round 70 at the 2009 U.S. Open and recorded his fifth runner-up finish at the U.S. Open. He shared the lead after an eagle at the 13th hole, but fell back with bogeys on 15 and 17; Lucas Glover captured the championship.
On July 6, it was announced that his mother Mary was diagnosed with breast cancer and would have surgery at the same hospital where his wife was treated. After hearing the news that his mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer, Mickelson took another leave of absence from the tour, missing The Open Championship at Turnberry. On July 28, Mickelson announced he would return in August at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, the week before the PGA Championship at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota.
In September, Mickelson won The Tour Championship for the second time in his career. He entered the final round four strokes off the lead, but shot a final round 65 to win the event by three strokes over Tiger Woods. With the win, Mickelson finished the season second behind Woods in the 2009 FedEx Cup standings.
On November 8, Mickelson won the WGC-HSBC Champions by one shot over Ernie Els in Shanghai.
2010: Third Masters win
In 2010, Mickelson won the Masters Tournament on April 11 with a 16-under-par performance, giving him a three-stroke win over Lee Westwood. The win marked the third Masters victory for Mickelson and his fourth major championship overall. Critical to Mickelson's win was a dramatic run in the third round on Saturday in which Mickelson, trailing leader Westwood by five strokes as he prepared his approach shot to the 13th green, proceeded to make eagle, then to hole-out for eagle from 141 yards at the next hole, the par 4 14th, then on the next, the par 5 15th, to miss eagle from 81 yards by mere inches. After tapping in for birdie at 15, Mickelson, at −12, led Westwood, at −11, who had bogeyed hole 12 and failed to capitalize on the par 5 13th, settling for par.
Westwood recaptured a one-stroke lead by the end of the round, but the momentum carried forward for Mickelson into round 4, where he posted a bogey-free 67 to Westwood's 71. No other pursuer was able to keep pace to the end, though K. J. Choi and Anthony Kim made notable charges. For good measure, Mickelson birdied the final hole and memorably greeted his waiting wife, Amy, with a prolonged hug and kiss.
For many fans, Mickelson's finish in the tournament was especially poignant, given that Amy had been suffering from breast cancer during the preceding year. Mary Mickelson, Phil's mother, was also dealing with cancer. CBS Sports announcer Jim Nantz's call of the final birdie putt, "That's a win for the family," was seen by many as capturing the moment well.
Tiger Woods had a dramatic return to competitive play after a scandal-ridden 20-week absence; he was in close contention throughout for the lead and finished tied with Choi for 4th at −11. Mickelson and others showed exciting play over the weekend, and the 2010 Masters had strong television ratings in the United States, ranking third all-time to Woods's historic wins in 1997 and 2001. Mickelson's win left him second only to Woods in major championships among his competitive contemporaries, moving him ahead of Ernie Els, Vijay Singh and Pádraig Harrington, with three major championships each and each, like Mickelson, with dozens of worldwide wins.
Remainder of 2010
Mickelson, one of the favorites for the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, shot 75 and 66 on Thursday and Friday to sit two shots off the lead. However, two weekend scores of 73 gave him a T4 finish. During the remainder of the 2010 season, Mickelson had multiple opportunities to become the number one player in the world rankings following the travails of Tiger Woods. However, a string of disappointing finishes by Mickelson saw the number one spot eventually go to Englishman Lee Westwood.
In the days leading up to the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits (near Kohler, Wisconsin), Mickelson announced he had been diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis. He added that he had started medical treatment, and had become a vegetarian in hopes of aiding his recovery. He maintains that both his short- and long-term prognosis are good, that the condition should have no long-term effect on his golfing career, and that he currently feels well. He also stated that the arthritis may go into permanent remission after one year of medical treatment. He went on to finish the championship T12, five shots behind winner Martin Kaymer.
2011
Mickelson started his 2011 season at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines Golf Course. He shot and was tied for the 54 hole lead with Bill Haas. Mickelson needed to hole out on the 18th hole for eagle from 74 yards to force a playoff with Bubba Watson. He hit it to 4 feet and Watson won the tournament.
On April 3, Mickelson won the Shell Houston Open with a 20-under-par, three-stroke win over Scott Verplank. Mickelson rose to No. 3 in the world ranking, while Tiger Woods fell to No. 7. Mickelson had not been ranked above Woods since the week prior to the 1997 Masters Tournament.
At The Open Championship, Mickelson recorded just his second top-ten finish in 18 tournaments by tying for second with Dustin Johnson. His front nine 30 put him briefly in a tie for the lead with eventual champion Darren Clarke. However, some putting problems caused him to fade from contention toward the end, to finish in a tie for second place.
2012: 40th career PGA Tour win
Mickelson made his 2012 debut at the Humana Challenge and finished tied for 49th. He missed the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open after shooting rounds of 77 and 68. In the final round of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, Mickelson rallied from six shots back, winning the tournament by two strokes with a final-round score of 8-under 64 and a four-round total of 269. The win marked his 40th career victory on the PGA Tour. The following week at Riviera Country Club, Mickelson lost the Northern Trust Open in a three-way playoff. He had held the lead or a share of it from day one until the back nine on Sunday when Bill Haas posted the clubhouse lead at seven under par. Mickelson holed a 27-foot birdie putt on the final regulation hole to force a playoff alongside Haas and Keegan Bradley. Haas however won the playoff with a 40-foot birdie putt on the second playoff hole. The second-place finish moved Mickelson back into the world's top 10.
Mickelson finished tied for third at the Masters. After opening the tournament with a two-over-par 74, he shot 68–66 in the next two rounds and ended up one stroke behind leader Peter Hanson by Saturday night. Mickelson had a poor start to his fourth round, scoring a triple-bogey when he hit his ball far to the left of the green on the par-3 4th hole, hitting the stand and landing in a bamboo plant. This ended up being Mickelson's only score over par in the whole round, and he ended with a score of eight-under overall. Earlier in the tournament he had received widespread praise for being present to watch Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, and Gary Player hit the ceremonial opening tee-shots, nearly seven hours before Mickelson's own tee time.
Mickelson made a charge during the final round at the HP Byron Nelson Championship, but bogeyed the 17th and 18th, finishing T-7th. He then withdrew from the Memorial Tournament, citing mental fatigue, after a first-round 79. He was to be paired with Tiger Woods and Bubba Watson at the U.S. Open. He fought to make the cut in the U.S. Open, and finished T-65th. After taking a couple of weeks off, he played in the Greenbrier Classic. Putting problems meant a second straight missed cut at the Greenbrier and a third missed cut at 2012 Open Championship, shooting 73-78 (11 over par). He finished T-43rd at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. He then finished T-36th at the PGA Championship.
To start the 2012 FedEx Cup Playoffs, Mickelson finished T38 at The Barclays, +1 for the tournament. He tied with Tiger Woods, Zach Johnson, and five other players. In this tournament, he started using the claw putting grip on the greens. At the next event, the Deutsche Bank Championship, he finished the tournament with a −14, tied for 4th with Dustin Johnson. At the BMW Championship, Mickelson posted a −16 for the first three rounds, one of those rounds being a −8, 64. On the final day, Mickelson shot a −2, 70, to finish tied for 2nd, with Lee Westwood, two shots behind leader, and back-to-back winner, Rory McIlroy. At the Tour Championship, he ended up finishing tied for 15th. He went on to have a 3–1 record at the Ryder Cup; however, the USA team lost the event.
2013
Mickelson began the 2013 season in January by playing in the Humana Challenge, where he finished T37 at −17. His next event was the following week in his home event near San Diego at the Farmers Insurance Open. Mickelson endured a disappointing tournament, finishing T51, shooting all four rounds in the 70s.
In the first round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open, Mickelson tied his career-low round of 60. He made seven birdies in his first nine holes and needed a birdie on the 18th hole to equal the PGA Tour record of 59. However, his 25-foot birdie putt on the final hole lipped out, resulting in him missing out by a single shot on making only the sixth round of 59 in PGA Tour history. Mickelson led the tournament wire-to-wire and completed a four-shot win over Brandt Snedeker for his 41st PGA Tour victory and 3rd Phoenix Open title. Mickelson's score of 28-under-par tied Mark Calcavecchia's tournament scoring record. He also moved back inside the world's top 10 after falling down as far as number 22.
Sixth runner-up finish at the U.S. Open
At the U.S. Open at Merion, Mickelson entered the final round leading by one stroke after rounds of over the first three days, but he started the final round by three-putting the 3rd and 5th holes for double-bogeys to fall out of the lead. He regained the lead at the par-four 10th, when he holed his second shot from the rough for an eagle. However, a misjudgment at the short par three 13th saw him fly the green and make a bogey to slip one behind leader Justin Rose. Another bogey followed at the 15th, before narrowly missing a birdie putt on the 16th that would have tied Rose. Mickelson could not make a birdie at the 17th and after a blocked drive on the 18th, he could not hole his pitch from short of the green, which led to a final bogey.
Mickelson ended up finishing tied for second with Jason Day, two strokes behind Justin Rose. It was the sixth runner-up finish of Mickelson's career at the U.S. Open, an event record and only behind Jack Nicklaus's seven runner-up finishes at The Open Championship. After the event, Mickelson called the loss heartbreaking and said "this is tough to swallow after coming so close ... I felt like this was as good an opportunity I could ask for and to not get it ... it hurts." It was also Father's Day, which happened to be his birthday.
Fifth major title at the Open Championship
The week before The Open Championship, Mickelson warmed up for the event by winning his first tournament on British soil at the Scottish Open on July 14, after a sudden-death playoff against Branden Grace. After this victory, Mickelson spoke of his confidence ahead of his participation in the following week's major championship. Mickelson said: "I've never felt more excited going into The Open. I don't think there's a better way to get ready for a major than playing well the week before and getting into contention. Coming out on top just gives me more confidence."
The following week, Mickelson won his fifth major title on July 21 at the Open Championship (often referred to as the British Open) Muirfield Golf Links in Scotland; the Open Championship is the oldest of the four major tournaments in professional golf. This was the first time in history that anyone had won both the Scottish Open and The Open Championship in the same year. Mickelson birdied four of the last six holes in a brilliant final round of 66 to win the title by three strokes. He shed tears on the 18th green after completing his round. Mickelson later said: "I played arguably the best round of my career, and shot the round of my life. The range of emotions I feel are as far apart as possible after losing the U.S. Open. But you have to be resilient in this game." In an interview before the 2015 Open, Mickelson said, "Two years removed from that win, I still can't believe how much it means to me."
2014 and 2015: Inconsistent form and close calls in majors
Mickelson missed the cut at the Masters for the first time since 1997. He failed to contend at the U.S. Open at Pinehurst in his first bid to complete the career grand slam. Mickelson's lone top-10 of the PGA Tour season came at the year's final major, the PGA Championship at Valhalla. Mickelson shot rounds of 69-67-67-66 to finish solo second, one shot behind world number one Rory McIlroy.
Prior to the 2015 Masters, Mickelson's best finish in 2015 was a tie for 17th. At the Masters, Mickelson shot rounds of to finish tied for second with Justin Rose, four shots behind champion Jordan Spieth. The second-place finish was Mickelson's tenth such finish in a major, placing him second all-time only to Jack Nicklaus in that regard.
At The Open Championship, Mickelson shot rounds of and was eight shots behind, outside the top forty. In the final round, Mickelson birdied the 15th hole to move to 10 under and within two of the lead. After a missed birdie putt on 16, Mickelson hit his drive on the infamous Road Hole (17th) at the famed Old Course at St Andrews onto a second-floor balcony of the Old Course Hotel. The out-of-bounds drive lead to a triple-bogey 7 that sent Mickelson tumbling out of contention.
Later in the year, it was announced that Mickelson would leave longtime swing coach Butch Harmon, feeling as though he needed to hear a new perspective on things.
2016: New swing coach
After leaving Butch Harmon, Mickelson hired Andrew Getson of Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona, to serve as his new swing coach. The two worked together heavily in the 2015 offseason to get Mickelson's swing back.
Under Getson's guidance, Mickelson made his 2016 debut at the CareerBuilder Challenge. He shot rounds of to finish in a tie for third place at 21-under-par. It was only Mickelson's fifth top-five finish since his win at the 2013 Open Championship. The third-place finish was Mickelson's highest finish in his first worldwide start of a calendar year since he won the same event to begin the 2004 season.
At the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Mickelson shot rounds of to finish in solo second place, a shot behind Vaughn Taylor. Mickelson lipped out a five-foot birdie putt to force a playoff on the 72nd hole. He entered the final round with a two-stroke lead, his first 54-hole lead since the 2013 U.S. Open and was seeking to end a winless drought dating back 52 worldwide events to the 2013 Open Championship.
Mickelson shot a 63 in the opening round of The Open Championship at Royal Troon. The round set a new course record and matched the previous major championship record for lowest round. Mickelson had a birdie putt that narrowly missed on the final hole to set a new major championship scoring record of 62. He followed this up with a 69 in the second round for a 10 under par total and a one-shot lead over Henrik Stenson going into the weekend. In the third round, Mickelson shot a one-under 70 for a total of 11 under par to enter the final round one shot back of Stenson. Despite Mickelson's bogey-free 65 in the final round, Stenson shot 63 to win by three shots. Mickelson finished 11 strokes clear of 3rd place, a major championship record for a runner-up. Mickelson's 267 total set a record score for a runner-up in the British Open, and only trails Mickelson's 266 at the 2001 PGA Championship as the lowest total by a runner-up in major championship history.
2017: Recovery from surgeries
In the fall of 2016, Mickelson had two sports hernia surgeries. Those in the golf community expected him to miss much time recovering, however his unexpected return at the CareerBuilder Challenge was a triumphant one, leading to a T-21 finish. The next week, in San Diego, he narrowly missed an eagle putt on the 18th hole on Sunday that would've got him to 8-under par instead posting −7 to finish T14 at the Farmers Insurance Open. The following week, at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, which he has won three times, he surged into contention following a Saturday 65. He played his first nine holes in 4-under 32 and sending his name to the top of the leaderboard. However, his charge faltered with bogeys at 11, 12, 14, 15, and a double bogey at the driveable 17th hole. He stumbled with a final round 71, still earning a T-16 finish, for his sixth straight top-25 finish on tour.
Mickelson came close to winning again at the FedEx St. Jude Classic where he had finished in second place the previous year to Daniel Berger. He started the final round four strokes behind leaders but he quickly played himself into contention. Following a birdie at the 10th hole he vaulted to the top of leaderboard but found trouble on the 12th hole. His tee shot carried out of bounds and his fourth shot hit the water so he had to make a long putt to salvage triple-bogey. He managed to get one shot back but he finished three shots behind winner Berger, in ninth place, for the second straight year.
Two weeks later he withdrew from the U.S. Open to attend his daughter's high school graduation. A week later his longtime caddie Jim (Bones) Mackay left Mickelson in a mutual agreement. Mickelson then missed the cut at both The Open Championship and the PGA Championship.
On September 6, days after posting his best finish of the season of T6 at the Dell Technologies Championship, Mickelson was named as a captain's pick for the Presidents Cup. This maintained a streak of 23 consecutive USA teams in the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup, dating back to 1994.
2018–2019: Winless streak ends
On March 4, 2018, Mickelson ended a winless drought that dated back to 2013, by capturing his third WGC championship at the WGC-Mexico Championship, with a final-round score of 66 and a total score of −16. Mickelson birdied two of his last four holes and had a lengthy putt to win outright on the 72nd hole, but tied with Justin Thomas. He defeated Thomas on the first extra hole of a sudden-death playoff with a par. After Thomas had flown the green, Mickelson had a birdie to win the playoff which lipped out. Thomas however could not get up and down for par, meaning Mickelson claimed the championship. The win was Mickelson's 43rd on the PGA Tour and his first since winning the 2013 Open Championship. He also became the oldest winner of a WGC event, at age 47.
In the third round of the 2018 U.S. Open, Mickelson incurred a two-stroke penalty in a controversial incident on the 13th hole when he hit his ball with intent while it was still moving. He ended up shooting 81 (+11). His former coach Butch Harmon thought Mickelson should have been disqualified.
Mickelson was a captain's pick for Team USA at the 2018 Ryder Cup, held in Paris between September 28 and 30. Paired with Bryson DeChambeau in the Friday afternoon foursomes, they lost 5 and 4 to Europe's Sergio García and Alex Norén. In the Sunday singles match, Mickelson lost 4 and 2 to Francesco Molinari, as Team USA slumped to a 17.5 to 10.5 defeat.
On November 23, 2018, Mickelson won the pay-per-view event, Capital One's The Match. This was a $9,000,000 winner-takes-all match against Tiger Woods at Shadow Creek Golf Course in Las Vegas. Mickelson needed four extra holes to beat Woods, which he did by holing a four-foot putt after Woods missed a seven-foot putt on the 22nd hole.
In his third start of the 2019 calendar year, Mickelson won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, shooting a bogey-free final round 65 to defeat Paul Casey by three strokes. The win was Mickelson's 44th career title on the PGA Tour, and his fifth at Pebble Beach, tying Mark O'Meara for most victories in the event. At 48 years of age, he also became the oldest winner of that event.
2020: PGA Tour season and PGA Tour Champions debut
In December 2019, Mickelson announced via Twitter that "after turning down opportunities to go to the Middle East for many years" he would play in the 2020 Saudi International tournament on the European Tour and would miss Waste Management Phoenix Open for the first time since 1989. However, his decision to visit and play in Saudi Arabia was criticized for getting lured by millions of dollars and ignoring the continuous human rights abuses in the nation. Mickelson went on to finish the February 2020 event tied for third.
Mickelson finished 3rd at the 2020 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and tied for 2nd in the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational. Mickelson was the first player over 50 to finish in the top five of a World Golf Championship event. He was ultimately eliminated from the FedEx Cup Playoffs following The Northern Trust at TPC Boston in August 2020. One week later, Mickelson made his debut on the PGA Tour Champions. He won the Charles Schwab Series at Ozarks National in his first tournament after becoming eligible for PGA Tour Champions on his 50th birthday on June 16, 2020. He was the 20th player to win their debut tournament on tour. Mickelson's 191 stroke total tied the PGA Tour Champions all-time record for a three-day event.
In October 2020, Mickelson won the Dominion Energy Charity Classic in Virginia. It was his second win in as many starts on the PGA Tour Champions.
2021: The oldest major champion
In February 2021, Mickelson was attempting to become the first player in PGA Tour Champions history to win his first three tournaments on tour. However, he fell short in the Cologuard Classic, finishing in a T-20 position with a score of 4 under par.
In May 2021, Mickelson held the 54-hole lead at the PGA Championship at the Kiawah Island Golf Resort in South Carolina, leading Brooks Koepka by one shot with one day to play. He shot a final-round 73 to capture the tournament, defeating Koepka and Louis Oosthuizen by two strokes, becoming the oldest major champion; at 50. As Mickelson walked down the fairway following an excellent second shot from the left rough on the 18th hole, thousands of fans engulfed him, with him walking towards the hole constantly tipping his hat and giving the thumbs up to the crowd as they cheered. However, the massive tumult of people meant playing partner Brooks Koepka was stranded in the sea of people, and with difficulties, he managed to reach the green to finish the hole. Mickelson eventually emerged from the crowd and two-putted for par, finishing the tournament at 6-under, besting the field by two strokes.
In October 2021, Mickelson won for the third time in four career starts on the PGA Tour Champions. Mickelson shot a final round 4-under-par 68 to win the inaugural Constellation Furyk & Friends over Miguel Ángel Jiménez in Jacksonville, Florida.
In November 2021, Mickelson won the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship in Phoenix, Arizona, with a final round six-under par 65. This victory was Mickelson's fourth win in six career starts on PGA Tour Champions.
2022: Saudi Arabia controversy
Mickelson admitted in an interview to overlooking Saudi Arabian human rights violations, including the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and execution of LGBTQ+ individuals, to support the Saudi-backed Super Golf League because it offered an opportunity to reshape the PGA Tour. In response to these comments, Mickelson lost multiple longtime sponsors including Callaway Golf and KPMG. Mickelson announced he would be stepping away from golf to spend time with his family.
Playing style
As a competitor, Mickelson's playing style is described by many as "aggressive" and highly social. His strategy toward difficult shots (bad lies, obstructions) would tend to be considered risky.
Mickelson has also been characterized by his powerful and sometimes inaccurate driver, but his excellent short game draws the most positive reviews, most of all his daring "Phil flop" shot in which a big swing with a high-lofted wedge against a tight lie flies a ball high into the air for a short distance.
Mickelson is usually in the top 10 in scoring, and he led the PGA Tour in birdie average as recently as 2013.
Earnings and endorsements
Although ranked second on the PGA Tour's all-time money list of tournament prize money won, Mickelson earns far more from endorsements than from prize money. According to one estimate of 2011 earnings (comprising salary, winnings, bonuses, endorsements and appearances) Mickelson was then the second-highest paid athlete in the United States, earning an income of over $62 million, $53 million of which came from endorsements. Major companies which Mickelson currently endorses are ExxonMobil (Mickelson and wife Amy started a teacher sponsorship fund with the company), Rolex and Mizzen+Main. He has been previously sponsored by Titleist, Bearing Point, Barclays, and Ford. After being diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis in 2010, Mickelson was treated with Enbrel and began endorsing the drug. In 2015, Forbes estimated Mickelson's annual income was $51 million.
In 2022, Mickelson lost a significant number of sponsors including Callaway Golf, KPMG, Amstel Light and Workday after comments he made about the Saudi-backed golf league, Super Golf League. In an interview, he stated that Saudis are "scary motherfuckers to get involved with... We know they killed [Washington Post reporter and U.S. resident Jamal] Khashoggi and have a horrible record on human rights. They execute people over there for being gay. Knowing all of this, why would I even consider it? Because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reshape how the PGA Tour operates."
Insider trading settlement
On May 30, 2014, The Wall Street Journal reported that the FBI and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) were investigating Mickelson and associates of his for insider trading in Clorox stock. Mickelson denied any wrongdoing, and the investigation found "no evidence" and concluded without any charges. On May 19, 2016, Mickelson was named as a relief defendant in another SEC complaint alleging insider trading but completely avoided criminal charges in a parallel case brought in the Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York. The action stems for trades in Dean Foods in 2012 in conjunction with confidential information provided by Thomas Davis, a former director of Dean Foods Company, who tipped his friend and "professional sports bettor" Billy Walters.
The SEC did not allege that Walters actually told Mickelson of any material, nonpublic information about Dean Foods, and the SEC disgorged Mickelson of the $931,000 profit he had made from trading Dean Foods stock and had him pay prejudgment interest of $105,000. In 2017, Walters was convicted of making $40 million on Davis's private information from 2008 to 2014 by a federal jury. At that time, it was also noted that Mickelson had "once owed nearly $2 million in gambling debts to" Walters. Walters's lawyer said his client would appeal the 2017 verdict.
Amateur wins
1980 Junior World Golf Championships (Boys 9–10)
1989 NCAA Division I Championship
1990 Pac-10 Championship, NCAA Division I Championship, U.S. Amateur, Porter Cup
1991 Western Amateur
1992 NCAA Division I Championship
Professional wins (57)
PGA Tour wins (45)
*Note: Tournament shortened to 54 holes due to weather.
PGA Tour playoff record (8–4)
European Tour wins (11)
1Co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour, Sunshine Tour and PGA Tour of Australasia
European Tour playoff record (3–1)
Challenge Tour wins (1)
Other wins (4)
Other playoff record (1–1)
PGA Tour Champions wins (4)
Major championships
Wins (6)
Results timeline
Results not in chronological order in 2020.
LA = Low amateur
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
NT = No tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic
Summary
Most consecutive cuts made – 30 (1999 PGA – 2007 Masters)
Longest streak of top-10s – 5 (2004 Masters – 2005 Masters)
The Players Championship
Wins (1)
Results timeline
CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
C = Canceled after the first round due to the COVID-19 pandemic
World Golf Championships
Wins (3)
Results timeline
Results not in chronological order prior to 2015.
1Cancelled due to 9/11
2Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = tied
NT = No Tournament
Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.
PGA Tour career summary
* As of 2021 season.
† Mickelson won as an amateur in 1991 and therefore did not receive any prize money.
U.S. national team appearances
Amateur
Walker Cup: 1989, 1991 (winners)
Eisenhower Trophy: 1990
Professional
Presidents Cup: 1994 (winners), 1996 (winners), 1998, 2000 (winners), 2003 (tie), 2005 (winners), 2007 (winners), 2009 (winners), 2011 (winners), 2013 (winners), 2015 (winners), 2017 (winners)
Ryder Cup: 1995, 1997, 1999 (winners), 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008 (winners), 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016 (winners), 2018
Alfred Dunhill Cup: 1996 (winners)
Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge (representing PGA Tour): 1997 (winners), 2000 (winners)
World Cup: 2002
See also
List of golfers with most European Tour wins
List of golfers with most PGA Tour wins
List of men's major championships winning golfers
Monday Night Golf
References
External links
On Course With Phil
American male golfers
PGA Tour golfers
PGA Tour Champions golfers
Ryder Cup competitors for the United States
Sports controversies
Winners of men's major golf championships
Arizona State Sun Devils men's golfers
Left-handed golfers
World Golf Hall of Fame inductees
Golfers from Scottsdale, Arizona
Golfers from San Diego
American people of Italian descent
American people of Portuguese descent
American people of Swedish descent
1970 births
Living people | true | [
"This page details tournament performances pertaining to Tiger Woods.\n\nFor a list of his career achievements see List of career achievements by Tiger Woods. All tournaments are PGA Tour tournaments unless otherwise stated.\n\n1992\n\nTournaments\n\nSummary\n\nNotes\nParticipated in his first PGA Tour event at the Nissan Los Angeles Open. Woods did not make the cut, which was at 1 under-par. He played on February 27 and February 28, and was 16 years and 59 days old when he first played on the PGA Tour.\n\n1993\n\nTournaments\n\nSummary\n\n1994\n\nTournaments\n\nSummary\n\nNotes\n\nShot his first under-par round in a PGA Tour event at the Buick Classic. Woods shot a 70 (−1).\n\n1995\n\nTournaments\n\nSummary\n\nNotes\n\nMade his first cut in a PGA Tour event at The Masters. Woods was the highest finishing amateur at the event. He was also the highest finishing amateur at the Motorola Western Open.\n\n1996\n\nTournaments\n\nSummary\n\nNotes\nWoods debuted as a professional at the Greater Milwaukee Open on September 1, 1996. He did not earn money before then due to his amateur status.\nHighest finishing amateur at The Open Championship. This was also the last event Woods played in as an amateur. \nTurned professional in August 1996. In his first event as a professional, Woods finished tied for 60th at the Greater Milwaukee Open.\nWon his first title on the PGA Tour at the Las Vegas Invitational which was a five-round event. Woods won the Walt Disney World/Oldsmobile Classic two weeks later which is the first four-round event that he won.\n\n1997\n\nTournaments\n\nSummary\n\nNotes\nWon his first major at the 1997 Masters. He won at the age of 21 years and 104 days old making him the youngest Masters winner ever. He also set the scoring record in the Masters by shooting a 270 (−18).\n\n1998\n\nTournaments\n\nSummary\n\n1999\n\nTournaments\n\nSummary\n\n2000\n\nTournaments\n\nSummary\n\n2001\n\nTournaments\n\nSummary\n\n2002\n\nTournaments\n\nSummary\n\n2003\n\nTournaments\n\nSummary\n\n2004\n\nTournaments\n\nSummary\n\n2005\n\nTournaments\n\nSummary\n\n2006\n\nTournaments\n\nSummary\n\n2007\n\nTournaments\n\nSummary\n\n2008\n\nTournaments\n\nSummary\n\n2009\n\nTournaments\n\nSummary\n\n2010\n\nTournaments\n\nSummary\n\n*Because Woods withdrew from The Players Championship after having made the cut, it counts as a cut made.\n\n2011\n\nTournaments\n\nSummary\n\n2012\n\nTournaments\n\nSummary\n\n2013\n\nTournaments\n\nSummary\n\n2013−14\n\nTournaments\n\n*Because Woods withdrew from The Honda Classic after having made the cut, it counts as a cut made.\n\nSummary\n\n2014−15\n\nTournaments\n\nSummary\n\n2015−16\nWoods missed the entire season recovering from surgery.\n\nSummary\n\n2016−17\n\nTournaments\n\nSummary\n\n2017−18\n\nTournaments\n\nSummary\n\n2018−19\n\nTournaments\n\nSummary\n\n2019−20\n\nTournaments\n\nJCo-sanctioned by the Japan Golf Tour\n\nSummary\n\n2020−21\n\nTournaments\n\nSummary\n\nOther PGA Tour\n\nPerformance at the WGC-Match Play\nThe WGC-Match Play is one of the annual World Golf Championships.\n\nNote: Switched to three rounds of group play followed by 16 player knockout in 2015.\n\nPerformance at the PGA Grand Slam of Golf\nThe PGA Grand Slam of Golf was the world's most exclusive golf tournament. It was an annual off-season golf tournament contested by the year's winners of the four major championships of regular men's golf, which are the Masters Tournament, the U.S. Open, The Open Championship (British Open), and the PGA Championship.\n\nThe event was match play in 1998 and 1999. It was stroke play in all other years. Woods won in seven consecutive appearances.\n\nPerformance at the World Challenge\nThe World Challenge is an off-season tournament which is hosted by Woods. It is played in December.\n\nEuropean Tour\nWoods first tournament win as a professional on the European Tour was at the Johnnie Walker Classic in 1998. He did not earn any money before that due to his amateur status. World Golf Championships and major events (all British Opens and U.S.-based majors since 1998) are also considered European Tour events but they are covered in the PGA Tour section.\n\nWoods is not a European Tour member and therefore does not qualify to count his winnings towards the career money list. He is third on the all-time wins list.\n\nTournaments\n\nAsCo-sanctioned by the Asian Tour\nAuCo-sanctioned by the PGA Tour of Australasia\nSCo-sanctioned by the Sunshine Tour\n\nSummary\n\nNote: Woods' 1997 Masters win is included here but not the money earned.\n*Those tournaments listed above.\n^Those majors and WGCs that are also official PGA Tour events.\n\nJapan Golf Tour\nWoods has participated in six events on the Japan Golf Tour. He has played in the Casio World Open once, the Dunlop Phoenix Tournament four times, and the Zozo Championship once (an event co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour).\n\nTournaments\n\nPCo-sanctioned by the PGA Tour\n\nSummary\n\nSource\n\nAsian Tour\n\nECo-sanctioned by the European Tour\nSCo-sanctioned by the Sunshine Tour\nACo-sanctioned by the PGA Tour of Australasia\n\nSummary\n\nPGA Tour of Australasia\n\nECo-sanctioned by the European Tour\nACo-sanctioned by the Asian Tour\nSCo-sanctioned by the Sunshine Tour\n\nSummary\n\nUnofficial money events earning OWGR points\nAll tournaments listed above were official money events on one or more tours (unless noted) and earned Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points except the 1997 Asian Honda Classic, which did not carry OWGR points. Woods competed in other events that were tour-sanctioned, earned unofficial money, and earned OWGR points. These were:\n1998 Cisco World Match Play Championship (2nd place, US$150,000)\n1998 Million Dollar Challenge (2nd place, US$250,000)\nAll World Challenge events beginning in 2010\n\nTeam events\n\nRyder Cup\nAll records are in Win–Loss–Tie format.\n\nPresidents Cup\nAll records are in Win–Loss–Tie format.\n\nNotes and references\nAll information is from golfstats.com and pgatour.com.\n\nWoods, Tiger\nTiger Woods",
"The Paul Keres Memorial Tournament is a chess tournament played in honour of chess grandmaster Paul Keres (1916–1975). It usually takes place in Vancouver, Canada and Tallinn, Estonia.\n\nAn annual international chess tournament has been held in Tallinn every other year since 1969. Keres won this tournament in 1971 and 1975. Starting in 1977 after Keres' death, it has been called the Paul Keres Memorial Tournament. From 1991, the tournament has been held yearly and changed into a rapid event. From 1999 this tournament also had a women's section. In the past twenty years, apart from this rapid tournament, several other memorial tournaments have been played in honour of Keres.\n\nIn 1975, Keres won a tournament in Vancouver. It was his last tournament he would ever play in, as on his way back to his native Estonia, he died from a heart attack. There has been an annual memorial tournament in Vancouver ever since.\n\nTallinn\n\nTallinn International\nThe Tallinn International has been held every other year from 1969 to 1989. It was named after Keres from 1977.\n \n{| class=\"wikitable\"\n! # !! Year !! Winner \n|-\n| 1||1969||Leonid Stein\n|-\n| 2||1971||Mikhail Tal Paul Keres\n|-\n| 3||1973||Mikhail Tal\n|-\n| 4||1975||Paul Keres\n|-\n| 5||1977||Mikhail Tal\n|-\n| 6||1979||Tigran Petrosian\n|-\n| 7||1981||Mikhail Tal\n|-\n| 8||1983||Mikhail Tal Rafael Vaganian\n|-\n| 9||1985||Sergey Dolmatov\n|-\n| 10||1987||Mikhail Gurevich\n|-\n| 11||1989||Georgy Timoshenko Lembit Oll Jaan Ehlvest\n|}\n\nTallinn Rapid\nFrom 1991 the Tallinn international has been replaced by an annual rapid tournament. From 1999, the tournament has had a separate women's section.\n\n{| class=\"wikitable\"\n! # !! Year !! Winner !! Women's section\n|-\n| 1||1991||Anto Remmel\n|-\n| 2||1992||Leonid Yudasin\n|-\n| 3||1993||Jaan Ehlvest\n|-\n| 4||1994||Viktor Korchnoi\n|-\n| 5||1995||Lembit Oll\n|-\n| 6||1996||Vassily Ivanchuk\n|-\n| 7||1997||Viktor Gavrikov\n|-\n| 8||1998||Suat Atalık Lembit Oll\n|-\n| 9||1999||Viktor Gavrikov || Tatiana Stepovaia\n|-\n| 10||2000||Vassily Ivanchuk || Tatiana Stepovaia\n|-\n| 11||2001||Jan Timman || Viktorija Čmilytė\n|-\n| 12||2002||Viktor Gavrikov || Dana Reizniece\n|- \n| 13||2003||Alexander Morozevich|| Pia Cramling\n|-\n| 14||2004||Alexei Shirov||Maia Chiburdanidze\n|-\n| 15||2005||Alexei Shirov||Ekaterina Kovalevskaya\n|-\n| 16||2006||Vassily Ivanchuk Anatoly Karpov Rustam Kasimdzhanov||Ilze Bērziņa\n|-\n| 18||2008||Vladimir Malakhov|| Ilze Bērziņa Viktorija Čmilytė\n|-\n| 19||2009||Alexey DreevVasily Yemelin||Elisabeth Pähtz\n|-\n| 20||2011||Alexei Shirov\n|-\n| 21||2012||Alexei Shirov\n|-\n| 22||2013||Alexei Shirov\n|-\n| 23||2014||Igor Kovalenko\n|-\n| 24||2015||Sergei Tiviakov\n|-\n| 25||2016||Igor Kovalenko\n|-\n|}\n\nKeres Memorial Festival\nIn the 1990s there have been several Keres memorials in Tallinn which were played at regular time control. These tournaments seem to have been held irregularly. At present there is an annual Keres Memorial Festival which started in 2004 with a special rapid tournament, where Viswanathan Anand emerged as a winner, followed by a regular tournament. The winners of the regular tournament for 2004 and subsequent years are listed below. The field of these tournaments has been notably weaker than that of the rapid tournaments.\n\n{| class=\"wikitable\"\n! Year !! Winner \n|-\n|2004\t||Kaido Külaots Artem Smirnov\n|-\n|2005\t||Meelis Kanep\n|-\n|2006\t||Mikhail Rytshagov\n|-\n|2007\t||Georgy Timoshenko\n|-\n|2008\t||Vasily Yemelin\n|-\n|2010 ||Olav Sepp\n|-\n|2014 ||Alexandre Danin\n|-\n|}\n\nVancouver\nThe tournament in Vancouver has been played ever since Keres won it in 1975. It was Keres' final tournament, as he died shortly thereafter.\n\nReferences\n\nChess in Canada\nChess competitions\nChess in Estonia\nChess memorial tournaments"
] | [
"Philip Alfred Mickelson (born June 16, 1970), nicknamed Phil the Thrill, is an American professional golfer. He has won 45 events on the PGA Tour, including six major championships: three Masters titles (2004, 2006, 2010), two PGA Championships (2005, 2021), and one Open Championship (2013). With his win at the 2021 PGA Championship, Mickelson became the oldest major championship winner in history at the age of 50 years, 11 months and 7 days old.",
"With his win at the 2021 PGA Championship, Mickelson became the oldest major championship winner in history at the age of 50 years, 11 months and 7 days old. Mickelson is one of 17 players in the history of golf to win at least three of the four majors. He has won every major except the U.S. Open, in which he has finished runner-up a record six times. Mickelson has spent more than 25 consecutive years in the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking.",
"Mickelson has spent more than 25 consecutive years in the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking. He has spent over 700 weeks in the top 10, has reached a career-high world ranking of No. 2 several times and is a life member of the PGA Tour. Although naturally right-handed, he is known for his left-handed swing, having learned it by mirroring his right-handed father's swing. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2012.",
"He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2012. Early life and family Philip Alfred Mickelson was born on June 16, 1970, in San Diego, California, to parents Philip Mickelson, an airline pilot and former naval aviator, and Mary Santos. He was raised there and in Scottsdale, Arizona. Mickelson has Portuguese, Swedish, and Sicilian ancestry.",
"Mickelson has Portuguese, Swedish, and Sicilian ancestry. Mickelson has Portuguese, Swedish, and Sicilian ancestry. His maternal grandfather, Alfred Santos (also Mickelson's middle name) was a caddie at Pebble Beach Golf Links and took Phil to play golf as a child. Although otherwise right-handed, he played golf left-handed since he learned by watching his right-handed father swing, mirroring his style. Mickelson began golf under his father's instruction before starting school.",
"Mickelson began golf under his father's instruction before starting school. Phil Sr.'s work schedule as a commercial pilot allowed them to play together several times a week and young Phil honed his creative short game on an extensive practice area in their San Diego backyard. Mickelson graduated from the University of San Diego High School in 1988.",
"Mickelson graduated from the University of San Diego High School in 1988. College golf Mickelson attended Arizona State University in Tempe on a golf scholarship and became the face of amateur golf in the United States, capturing three NCAA individual championships and three Haskins Awards (1990, 1991, 1992) as the outstanding collegiate golfer. With three individual NCAA championships, he shares the record for most individual NCAA championships alongside Ben Crenshaw. Mickelson also led the Sun Devils to the NCAA team title in 1990.",
"Mickelson also led the Sun Devils to the NCAA team title in 1990. Over the course of his collegiate career, he won 16 tournaments. Mickelson was the second collegiate golfer to earn first-team All-American honors all four years. In 1990, he also became the first with a left-handed swing to win the U.S. Amateur title, defeating high school teammate Manny Zerman 5 and 4 in the 36-hole final at Cherry Hills, south of Denver.",
"Amateur title, defeating high school teammate Manny Zerman 5 and 4 in the 36-hole final at Cherry Hills, south of Denver. Mickelson secured perhaps his greatest achievement as an amateur in January 1991, winning his first PGA Tour event, the Northern Telecom Open, in Tucson, making him one of the few golfers to win a PGA Tour event as an amateur in the history of the PGA Tour.",
"Mickelson secured perhaps his greatest achievement as an amateur in January 1991, winning his first PGA Tour event, the Northern Telecom Open, in Tucson, making him one of the few golfers to win a PGA Tour event as an amateur in the history of the PGA Tour. At age 20, he was only the sixth amateur to win a tour event and the first in over five years after Scott Verplank at the Western Open in August 1985.",
"At age 20, he was only the sixth amateur to win a tour event and the first in over five years after Scott Verplank at the Western Open in August 1985. Other players to accomplish this feat include Doug Sanders (1956 Canadian Open) and Gene Littler (1954 San Diego Open). With five holes remaining, Mickelson led by a stroke, but made a triple-bogey and was then three behind. The leaders ahead of him then stumbled, and he birdied 16 and 18 to win by a stroke.",
"The leaders ahead of him then stumbled, and he birdied 16 and 18 to win by a stroke. To date, it is the most recent win by an amateur at a PGA Tour event. That April, Mickelson was the low amateur at the Masters Tournament in Augusta, Georgia. With his two-year PGA Tour exemption from the Tucson win, he played in several tour events in 1992 while an amateur but failed to make a cut.",
"With his two-year PGA Tour exemption from the Tucson win, he played in several tour events in 1992 while an amateur but failed to make a cut. Professional career 1992–2003: Trying for first major win Mickelson graduated from ASU in June 1992 and quickly turned professional. He bypassed the tour's qualifying process (Q-School) because of his 1991 win in Tucson, which earned him a two-year exemption. In 1992, Mickelson hired Jim \"Bones\" Mackay as his caddy.",
"In 1992, Mickelson hired Jim \"Bones\" Mackay as his caddy. He won many PGA Tour tournaments during this period, including the Byron Nelson Golf Classic and the World Series of Golf in 1996, the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in 1998, the Colonial National Invitation in 2000 and the Greater Hartford Open in 2001 and again in 2002. He appeared as himself in a non-speaking role in the 1996 film Tin Cup, starring Kevin Costner.",
"He appeared as himself in a non-speaking role in the 1996 film Tin Cup, starring Kevin Costner. His 2000 Buick Invitational win ended Tiger Woods's streak of six consecutive victories on the PGA Tour. After the win, Mickelson said, \"I didn't want to be the bad guy. I wasn't trying to end the streak per se. I was just trying to win the golf tournament.\"",
"I was just trying to win the golf tournament.\" Although he had performed very well in the majors up to the end of the 2003 season (17 top-ten finishes, and six second- or third-place finishes between 1999 and 2003), Mickelson's inability to win any of them led to him frequently being described as the \"best player never to win a major\".",
"Although he had performed very well in the majors up to the end of the 2003 season (17 top-ten finishes, and six second- or third-place finishes between 1999 and 2003), Mickelson's inability to win any of them led to him frequently being described as the \"best player never to win a major\". 2004–2006: First three major wins Mickelson's first major championship win came in his thirteenth year on the PGA Tour in 2004, when he secured victory in the Masters with an birdie putt on the final hole.",
"2004–2006: First three major wins Mickelson's first major championship win came in his thirteenth year on the PGA Tour in 2004, when he secured victory in the Masters with an birdie putt on the final hole. Ernie Els was the runner-up at a stroke back; the two played in different pairs in the final round and had traded birdies and eagles on the back nine.",
"Ernie Els was the runner-up at a stroke back; the two played in different pairs in the final round and had traded birdies and eagles on the back nine. In addition to getting the \"majors monkey\" off his back, Mickelson was now only the third golfer with a left-handed swing to win a major, the others being New Zealander Sir Bob Charles, who won The Open Championship in 1963, and Canadian Mike Weir, who won The Masters in 2003.",
"In addition to getting the \"majors monkey\" off his back, Mickelson was now only the third golfer with a left-handed swing to win a major, the others being New Zealander Sir Bob Charles, who won The Open Championship in 1963, and Canadian Mike Weir, who won The Masters in 2003. (Like Mickelson, Weir is a right-hander who plays left-handed.) A fourth left-handed winner is natural southpaw Bubba Watson, the Masters champion in 2012 and 2014.",
"A fourth left-handed winner is natural southpaw Bubba Watson, the Masters champion in 2012 and 2014. Prior to the Ryder Cup in 2004, Mickelson was dropped from his long-standing contract with Titleist/Acushnet Golf, after an incident when he left a voicemail message for a Callaway Golf executive. In it, he praised their driver and golf ball, and thanked them for their help in getting some equipment for his brother. This memo was played to all of their salesmen, and eventually found its way back to Titleist.",
"This memo was played to all of their salesmen, and eventually found its way back to Titleist. He was then let out of his multi-year deal with Titleist 16 months early, and signed on with Callaway Golf, his current equipment sponsor. He endured a great deal of ridicule and scrutiny from the press and fellow Ryder Cup members for his equipment change so close to the Ryder Cup matches.",
"He endured a great deal of ridicule and scrutiny from the press and fellow Ryder Cup members for his equipment change so close to the Ryder Cup matches. He faltered at the 2004 Ryder Cup with a record, but refused to blame the sudden change in equipment or his practice methods for his performance. In November 2004, Mickelson tallied his career-low for an 18-hole round: a 59 at the PGA Grand Slam of Golf at Poipu Bay Golf Course in Hawaii.",
"In November 2004, Mickelson tallied his career-low for an 18-hole round: a 59 at the PGA Grand Slam of Golf at Poipu Bay Golf Course in Hawaii. The following year, Mickelson captured his second major at the PGA Championship at Baltusrol, in a Monday final-round conclusion that had been forced by inclement weather the previous day.",
"The following year, Mickelson captured his second major at the PGA Championship at Baltusrol, in a Monday final-round conclusion that had been forced by inclement weather the previous day. On the 18th hole, Mickelson hit one of his trademark soft pitches from deep greenside rough to within of the cup, and made his birdie to finish at a 4-under-par total of 276, one shot ahead of Steve Elkington and Thomas Bjørn. Mickelson captured his third major title the following spring at the Masters.",
"Mickelson captured his third major title the following spring at the Masters. He won his second green jacket after shooting a 3-under-par final round, winning by two strokes over runner-up Tim Clark. This win propelled him to 2nd place in the Official World Golf Ranking (his career best), behind Woods, and ahead of Vijay Singh and Retief Goosen.",
"This win propelled him to 2nd place in the Official World Golf Ranking (his career best), behind Woods, and ahead of Vijay Singh and Retief Goosen. 2006: Collapse on final hole at the U.S. Open After winning two majors in a row heading into the U.S. Open at Winged Foot, Mickelson was bidding to join Ben Hogan and Tiger Woods as the only players to win three consecutive majors (not necessarily in the same calendar year).",
"2006: Collapse on final hole at the U.S. Open After winning two majors in a row heading into the U.S. Open at Winged Foot, Mickelson was bidding to join Ben Hogan and Tiger Woods as the only players to win three consecutive majors (not necessarily in the same calendar year). Mickelson was the joint leader going into the final round, but he was part of a wild finish to the tournament, in which he made major mistakes on the final hole and ended up in a tie for second place at +6 (286), one shot behind Geoff Ogilvy.",
"Mickelson was the joint leader going into the final round, but he was part of a wild finish to the tournament, in which he made major mistakes on the final hole and ended up in a tie for second place at +6 (286), one shot behind Geoff Ogilvy. Mickelson bogeyed the 16th hole.",
"Mickelson bogeyed the 16th hole. Mickelson bogeyed the 16th hole. On the 17th hole, with the lead at +4, he missed the fairway to the left, and his drive finished inside a garbage can, from which he was granted a free drop; he parred the hole. He had a one-shot lead and was in the last group going into the final hole.",
"He had a one-shot lead and was in the last group going into the final hole. Needing a par on the 18th hole for a one-shot victory, Mickelson continued with his aggressive style of play and chose to hit a driver off the tee; he hit his shot well left of the fairway (he had hit only two of thirteen fairways previously in the round). The ball bounced off a corporate hospitality tent and settled in an area of trampled-down grass that was enclosed with trees.",
"The ball bounced off a corporate hospitality tent and settled in an area of trampled-down grass that was enclosed with trees. He decided to go for the green with his second shot, rather than play it safe and pitch out into the fairway. His ball then hit a tree, and did not advance more than . His next shot plugged into the left greenside bunker.",
"His next shot plugged into the left greenside bunker. His next shot plugged into the left greenside bunker. He was unable to get up and down from there, resulting in a double bogey, and costing him a chance of winning the championship outright or getting into an 18-hole playoff with Ogilvy. After his disappointing finish, Mickelson said: \"I'm still in shock. I still can't believe I did that. This one hurts more than any tournament because I had it won.",
"This one hurts more than any tournament because I had it won. Congratulations to Geoff Ogilvy on some great play. I want to thank all the people that supported me. The only thing I can say is I'm sorry.\" He was even more candid when he said: \"I just can't believe I did that. I'm such an idiot.\"",
"I'm such an idiot.\" I'm such an idiot.\" 2006–2008 During the third round of the 2006 Ford Championship at Doral, Mickelson gave a spectator $200 after his wayward tee shot at the par-5 10th broke the man's watch. Mickelson also has shown other signs of appreciation.",
"Mickelson also has shown other signs of appreciation. Mickelson also has shown other signs of appreciation. In 2007 after hearing the story of retired NFL player, Conrad Dobler, and his family on ESPN explaining their struggles to pay medical bills, Mickelson volunteered to pay tuition for Holli Dobler, Conrad Dobler's daughter, at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Frustrated with his driving accuracy, Mickelson made the decision in April 2007 to leave longtime swing coach, Rick Smith.",
"Frustrated with his driving accuracy, Mickelson made the decision in April 2007 to leave longtime swing coach, Rick Smith. He then began working with Butch Harmon, a former coach of Tiger Woods and Greg Norman. On May 13, Mickelson came from a stroke back on the final round to shoot a three-under 69 to win The Players Championship with an 11-under-par 277.",
"On May 13, Mickelson came from a stroke back on the final round to shoot a three-under 69 to win The Players Championship with an 11-under-par 277. In the U.S. Open at Oakmont in June, Mickelson missed the cut (by a stroke) for the first time in 31 majors after shooting 11 over par for 36 holes. He had been hampered by a wrist injury that was incurred while practicing in the thick rough at Oakmont a few weeks before the tournament.",
"He had been hampered by a wrist injury that was incurred while practicing in the thick rough at Oakmont a few weeks before the tournament. On September 3, 2007, Mickelson won the Deutsche Bank Championship, which is the second FedEx Cup playoff event. On the final day, he was paired with Tiger Woods, who ended up finishing two strokes behind Mickelson in a tie for second.",
"On the final day, he was paired with Tiger Woods, who ended up finishing two strokes behind Mickelson in a tie for second. It was the first time that Mickelson was able to beat Woods while the two stars were paired together on the final day of a tournament. The next day Mickelson announced that he would not be competing in the third FedEx Cup playoff event.",
"The next day Mickelson announced that he would not be competing in the third FedEx Cup playoff event. The day before his withdrawal, Mickelson said during a television interview that PGA Tour Commissioner, Tim Finchem, had not responded to advice he had given him on undisclosed issues. In 2008, Mickelson won the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial with a −14, one shot ahead of Tim Clark and Rod Pampling. Mickelson shot a first-round 65 to start off the tournament at −5.",
"Mickelson shot a first-round 65 to start off the tournament at −5. He ended the day tied with Brett Wetterich, two shots behind leader, Johnson Wagner. Mickelson shot a second-round 68, and the third round 65, overall, being −12 for the first three rounds. On the final hole, after an absolutely horrendous tee shot, he was in thick rough with trees in his way. Many players would have punched out, and taken their chances at making par from the fairway with a good wedge shot.",
"Many players would have punched out, and taken their chances at making par from the fairway with a good wedge shot. Instead, he pulled out a high-lofted wedge and hit his approach shot over a tree, landing on the green where he one-putted for the win. In a Men's Vogue article, Mickelson recounted his effort to lose with the help of trainer Sean Cochran.",
"In a Men's Vogue article, Mickelson recounted his effort to lose with the help of trainer Sean Cochran. \"Once the younger players started to come on tour, he realized that he had to start working out to maintain longevity in his career,\" Cochran said. Mickelson's regimen consisted of increasing flexibility and power, eating five smaller meals a day, aerobic training, and carrying his own golf bag. Mickelson was inducted into the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame in 2008.",
"Mickelson was inducted into the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame in 2008. 2009 Mickelson won his first 2009 tour event when he defended his title at the Northern Trust Open at Riviera, one stroke ahead of Steve Stricker. The victory was Mickelson's 35th on tour; he surpassed Vijay Singh for second place on the current PGA Tour wins list. A month later, he won his 36th, and his first World Golf Championship, at the WGC-CA Championship with a one-stroke win over Nick Watney.",
"A month later, he won his 36th, and his first World Golf Championship, at the WGC-CA Championship with a one-stroke win over Nick Watney. On May 20, it was announced that his wife Amy was diagnosed with breast cancer, and Mickelson announced that he would suspend his PGA Tour schedule indefinitely. She would begin treatment with major surgery as early as the following two weeks.",
"She would begin treatment with major surgery as early as the following two weeks. Mickelson was scheduled to play the HP Byron Nelson Championship May 21–24, and to defend his title May 28–31 at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, but withdrew from both events. During the final round of the 2009 BMW PGA Championship, fellow golfer and family friend John Daly wore bright pink trousers in support of Mickelson's wife.",
"During the final round of the 2009 BMW PGA Championship, fellow golfer and family friend John Daly wore bright pink trousers in support of Mickelson's wife. Also, the next Saturday, at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, a \"Pink Out\" event was hosted, and the PGA Tour players all wore pink that day, to support the Mickelson family.",
"Also, the next Saturday, at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, a \"Pink Out\" event was hosted, and the PGA Tour players all wore pink that day, to support the Mickelson family. On May 31, Mickelson announced that he would return to play on the PGA Tour in June at the St. Jude Classic and the U.S. Open, since he had heard from the doctors treating his wife that her cancer had been detected in an early stage.",
"On May 31, Mickelson announced that he would return to play on the PGA Tour in June at the St. Jude Classic and the U.S. Open, since he had heard from the doctors treating his wife that her cancer had been detected in an early stage. Mickelson shot a final round 70 at the 2009 U.S. Open and recorded his fifth runner-up finish at the U.S. Open. He shared the lead after an eagle at the 13th hole, but fell back with bogeys on 15 and 17; Lucas Glover captured the championship.",
"He shared the lead after an eagle at the 13th hole, but fell back with bogeys on 15 and 17; Lucas Glover captured the championship. On July 6, it was announced that his mother Mary was diagnosed with breast cancer and would have surgery at the same hospital where his wife was treated. After hearing the news that his mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer, Mickelson took another leave of absence from the tour, missing The Open Championship at Turnberry.",
"After hearing the news that his mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer, Mickelson took another leave of absence from the tour, missing The Open Championship at Turnberry. On July 28, Mickelson announced he would return in August at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, the week before the PGA Championship at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota. In September, Mickelson won The Tour Championship for the second time in his career.",
"In September, Mickelson won The Tour Championship for the second time in his career. He entered the final round four strokes off the lead, but shot a final round 65 to win the event by three strokes over Tiger Woods. With the win, Mickelson finished the season second behind Woods in the 2009 FedEx Cup standings. On November 8, Mickelson won the WGC-HSBC Champions by one shot over Ernie Els in Shanghai.",
"On November 8, Mickelson won the WGC-HSBC Champions by one shot over Ernie Els in Shanghai. 2010: Third Masters win In 2010, Mickelson won the Masters Tournament on April 11 with a 16-under-par performance, giving him a three-stroke win over Lee Westwood. The win marked the third Masters victory for Mickelson and his fourth major championship overall.",
"The win marked the third Masters victory for Mickelson and his fourth major championship overall. Critical to Mickelson's win was a dramatic run in the third round on Saturday in which Mickelson, trailing leader Westwood by five strokes as he prepared his approach shot to the 13th green, proceeded to make eagle, then to hole-out for eagle from 141 yards at the next hole, the par 4 14th, then on the next, the par 5 15th, to miss eagle from 81 yards by mere inches.",
"Critical to Mickelson's win was a dramatic run in the third round on Saturday in which Mickelson, trailing leader Westwood by five strokes as he prepared his approach shot to the 13th green, proceeded to make eagle, then to hole-out for eagle from 141 yards at the next hole, the par 4 14th, then on the next, the par 5 15th, to miss eagle from 81 yards by mere inches. After tapping in for birdie at 15, Mickelson, at −12, led Westwood, at −11, who had bogeyed hole 12 and failed to capitalize on the par 5 13th, settling for par.",
"After tapping in for birdie at 15, Mickelson, at −12, led Westwood, at −11, who had bogeyed hole 12 and failed to capitalize on the par 5 13th, settling for par. Westwood recaptured a one-stroke lead by the end of the round, but the momentum carried forward for Mickelson into round 4, where he posted a bogey-free 67 to Westwood's 71. No other pursuer was able to keep pace to the end, though K. J. Choi and Anthony Kim made notable charges.",
"No other pursuer was able to keep pace to the end, though K. J. Choi and Anthony Kim made notable charges. For good measure, Mickelson birdied the final hole and memorably greeted his waiting wife, Amy, with a prolonged hug and kiss. For many fans, Mickelson's finish in the tournament was especially poignant, given that Amy had been suffering from breast cancer during the preceding year. Mary Mickelson, Phil's mother, was also dealing with cancer.",
"Mary Mickelson, Phil's mother, was also dealing with cancer. CBS Sports announcer Jim Nantz's call of the final birdie putt, \"That's a win for the family,\" was seen by many as capturing the moment well. Tiger Woods had a dramatic return to competitive play after a scandal-ridden 20-week absence; he was in close contention throughout for the lead and finished tied with Choi for 4th at −11.",
"Tiger Woods had a dramatic return to competitive play after a scandal-ridden 20-week absence; he was in close contention throughout for the lead and finished tied with Choi for 4th at −11. Mickelson and others showed exciting play over the weekend, and the 2010 Masters had strong television ratings in the United States, ranking third all-time to Woods's historic wins in 1997 and 2001.",
"Mickelson and others showed exciting play over the weekend, and the 2010 Masters had strong television ratings in the United States, ranking third all-time to Woods's historic wins in 1997 and 2001. Mickelson's win left him second only to Woods in major championships among his competitive contemporaries, moving him ahead of Ernie Els, Vijay Singh and Pádraig Harrington, with three major championships each and each, like Mickelson, with dozens of worldwide wins.",
"Mickelson's win left him second only to Woods in major championships among his competitive contemporaries, moving him ahead of Ernie Els, Vijay Singh and Pádraig Harrington, with three major championships each and each, like Mickelson, with dozens of worldwide wins. Remainder of 2010 Mickelson, one of the favorites for the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, shot 75 and 66 on Thursday and Friday to sit two shots off the lead. However, two weekend scores of 73 gave him a T4 finish.",
"However, two weekend scores of 73 gave him a T4 finish. During the remainder of the 2010 season, Mickelson had multiple opportunities to become the number one player in the world rankings following the travails of Tiger Woods. However, a string of disappointing finishes by Mickelson saw the number one spot eventually go to Englishman Lee Westwood. In the days leading up to the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits (near Kohler, Wisconsin), Mickelson announced he had been diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis.",
"In the days leading up to the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits (near Kohler, Wisconsin), Mickelson announced he had been diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis. He added that he had started medical treatment, and had become a vegetarian in hopes of aiding his recovery. He maintains that both his short- and long-term prognosis are good, that the condition should have no long-term effect on his golfing career, and that he currently feels well. He also stated that the arthritis may go into permanent remission after one year of medical treatment.",
"He also stated that the arthritis may go into permanent remission after one year of medical treatment. He went on to finish the championship T12, five shots behind winner Martin Kaymer. 2011 Mickelson started his 2011 season at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines Golf Course. He shot and was tied for the 54 hole lead with Bill Haas. Mickelson needed to hole out on the 18th hole for eagle from 74 yards to force a playoff with Bubba Watson. He hit it to 4 feet and Watson won the tournament.",
"He hit it to 4 feet and Watson won the tournament. On April 3, Mickelson won the Shell Houston Open with a 20-under-par, three-stroke win over Scott Verplank. Mickelson rose to No. 3 in the world ranking, while Tiger Woods fell to No. 7. Mickelson had not been ranked above Woods since the week prior to the 1997 Masters Tournament. At The Open Championship, Mickelson recorded just his second top-ten finish in 18 tournaments by tying for second with Dustin Johnson.",
"At The Open Championship, Mickelson recorded just his second top-ten finish in 18 tournaments by tying for second with Dustin Johnson. His front nine 30 put him briefly in a tie for the lead with eventual champion Darren Clarke. However, some putting problems caused him to fade from contention toward the end, to finish in a tie for second place. 2012: 40th career PGA Tour win Mickelson made his 2012 debut at the Humana Challenge and finished tied for 49th.",
"2012: 40th career PGA Tour win Mickelson made his 2012 debut at the Humana Challenge and finished tied for 49th. He missed the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open after shooting rounds of 77 and 68. In the final round of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, Mickelson rallied from six shots back, winning the tournament by two strokes with a final-round score of 8-under 64 and a four-round total of 269. The win marked his 40th career victory on the PGA Tour.",
"The win marked his 40th career victory on the PGA Tour. The following week at Riviera Country Club, Mickelson lost the Northern Trust Open in a three-way playoff. He had held the lead or a share of it from day one until the back nine on Sunday when Bill Haas posted the clubhouse lead at seven under par. Mickelson holed a 27-foot birdie putt on the final regulation hole to force a playoff alongside Haas and Keegan Bradley. Haas however won the playoff with a 40-foot birdie putt on the second playoff hole.",
"Haas however won the playoff with a 40-foot birdie putt on the second playoff hole. The second-place finish moved Mickelson back into the world's top 10. Mickelson finished tied for third at the Masters. After opening the tournament with a two-over-par 74, he shot 68–66 in the next two rounds and ended up one stroke behind leader Peter Hanson by Saturday night.",
"After opening the tournament with a two-over-par 74, he shot 68–66 in the next two rounds and ended up one stroke behind leader Peter Hanson by Saturday night. Mickelson had a poor start to his fourth round, scoring a triple-bogey when he hit his ball far to the left of the green on the par-3 4th hole, hitting the stand and landing in a bamboo plant. This ended up being Mickelson's only score over par in the whole round, and he ended with a score of eight-under overall.",
"This ended up being Mickelson's only score over par in the whole round, and he ended with a score of eight-under overall. Earlier in the tournament he had received widespread praise for being present to watch Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, and Gary Player hit the ceremonial opening tee-shots, nearly seven hours before Mickelson's own tee time. Mickelson made a charge during the final round at the HP Byron Nelson Championship, but bogeyed the 17th and 18th, finishing T-7th.",
"Mickelson made a charge during the final round at the HP Byron Nelson Championship, but bogeyed the 17th and 18th, finishing T-7th. He then withdrew from the Memorial Tournament, citing mental fatigue, after a first-round 79. He was to be paired with Tiger Woods and Bubba Watson at the U.S. Open. He fought to make the cut in the U.S. Open, and finished T-65th. After taking a couple of weeks off, he played in the Greenbrier Classic.",
"After taking a couple of weeks off, he played in the Greenbrier Classic. Putting problems meant a second straight missed cut at the Greenbrier and a third missed cut at 2012 Open Championship, shooting 73-78 (11 over par). He finished T-43rd at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. He then finished T-36th at the PGA Championship. To start the 2012 FedEx Cup Playoffs, Mickelson finished T38 at The Barclays, +1 for the tournament. He tied with Tiger Woods, Zach Johnson, and five other players.",
"He tied with Tiger Woods, Zach Johnson, and five other players. In this tournament, he started using the claw putting grip on the greens. At the next event, the Deutsche Bank Championship, he finished the tournament with a −14, tied for 4th with Dustin Johnson. At the BMW Championship, Mickelson posted a −16 for the first three rounds, one of those rounds being a −8, 64.",
"At the BMW Championship, Mickelson posted a −16 for the first three rounds, one of those rounds being a −8, 64. On the final day, Mickelson shot a −2, 70, to finish tied for 2nd, with Lee Westwood, two shots behind leader, and back-to-back winner, Rory McIlroy. At the Tour Championship, he ended up finishing tied for 15th. He went on to have a 3–1 record at the Ryder Cup; however, the USA team lost the event.",
"He went on to have a 3–1 record at the Ryder Cup; however, the USA team lost the event. 2013 Mickelson began the 2013 season in January by playing in the Humana Challenge, where he finished T37 at −17. His next event was the following week in his home event near San Diego at the Farmers Insurance Open. Mickelson endured a disappointing tournament, finishing T51, shooting all four rounds in the 70s. In the first round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open, Mickelson tied his career-low round of 60.",
"In the first round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open, Mickelson tied his career-low round of 60. He made seven birdies in his first nine holes and needed a birdie on the 18th hole to equal the PGA Tour record of 59. However, his 25-foot birdie putt on the final hole lipped out, resulting in him missing out by a single shot on making only the sixth round of 59 in PGA Tour history.",
"However, his 25-foot birdie putt on the final hole lipped out, resulting in him missing out by a single shot on making only the sixth round of 59 in PGA Tour history. Mickelson led the tournament wire-to-wire and completed a four-shot win over Brandt Snedeker for his 41st PGA Tour victory and 3rd Phoenix Open title. Mickelson's score of 28-under-par tied Mark Calcavecchia's tournament scoring record. He also moved back inside the world's top 10 after falling down as far as number 22.",
"He also moved back inside the world's top 10 after falling down as far as number 22. Sixth runner-up finish at the U.S. Open At the U.S. Open at Merion, Mickelson entered the final round leading by one stroke after rounds of over the first three days, but he started the final round by three-putting the 3rd and 5th holes for double-bogeys to fall out of the lead. He regained the lead at the par-four 10th, when he holed his second shot from the rough for an eagle.",
"He regained the lead at the par-four 10th, when he holed his second shot from the rough for an eagle. However, a misjudgment at the short par three 13th saw him fly the green and make a bogey to slip one behind leader Justin Rose. Another bogey followed at the 15th, before narrowly missing a birdie putt on the 16th that would have tied Rose.",
"Another bogey followed at the 15th, before narrowly missing a birdie putt on the 16th that would have tied Rose. Mickelson could not make a birdie at the 17th and after a blocked drive on the 18th, he could not hole his pitch from short of the green, which led to a final bogey. Mickelson ended up finishing tied for second with Jason Day, two strokes behind Justin Rose.",
"Mickelson ended up finishing tied for second with Jason Day, two strokes behind Justin Rose. It was the sixth runner-up finish of Mickelson's career at the U.S. Open, an event record and only behind Jack Nicklaus's seven runner-up finishes at The Open Championship. After the event, Mickelson called the loss heartbreaking and said \"this is tough to swallow after coming so close ... I felt like this was as good an opportunity I could ask for and to not get it ... it hurts.\"",
"I felt like this was as good an opportunity I could ask for and to not get it ... it hurts.\" It was also Father's Day, which happened to be his birthday. Fifth major title at the Open Championship The week before The Open Championship, Mickelson warmed up for the event by winning his first tournament on British soil at the Scottish Open on July 14, after a sudden-death playoff against Branden Grace.",
"Fifth major title at the Open Championship The week before The Open Championship, Mickelson warmed up for the event by winning his first tournament on British soil at the Scottish Open on July 14, after a sudden-death playoff against Branden Grace. After this victory, Mickelson spoke of his confidence ahead of his participation in the following week's major championship. Mickelson said: \"I've never felt more excited going into The Open.",
"Mickelson said: \"I've never felt more excited going into The Open. I don't think there's a better way to get ready for a major than playing well the week before and getting into contention. Coming out on top just gives me more confidence.\" The following week, Mickelson won his fifth major title on July 21 at the Open Championship (often referred to as the British Open) Muirfield Golf Links in Scotland; the Open Championship is the oldest of the four major tournaments in professional golf.",
"The following week, Mickelson won his fifth major title on July 21 at the Open Championship (often referred to as the British Open) Muirfield Golf Links in Scotland; the Open Championship is the oldest of the four major tournaments in professional golf. This was the first time in history that anyone had won both the Scottish Open and The Open Championship in the same year. Mickelson birdied four of the last six holes in a brilliant final round of 66 to win the title by three strokes.",
"Mickelson birdied four of the last six holes in a brilliant final round of 66 to win the title by three strokes. He shed tears on the 18th green after completing his round. Mickelson later said: \"I played arguably the best round of my career, and shot the round of my life. The range of emotions I feel are as far apart as possible after losing the U.S. Open. But you have to be resilient in this game.\"",
"But you have to be resilient in this game.\" In an interview before the 2015 Open, Mickelson said, \"Two years removed from that win, I still can't believe how much it means to me.\" 2014 and 2015: Inconsistent form and close calls in majors Mickelson missed the cut at the Masters for the first time since 1997. He failed to contend at the U.S. Open at Pinehurst in his first bid to complete the career grand slam.",
"He failed to contend at the U.S. Open at Pinehurst in his first bid to complete the career grand slam. Mickelson's lone top-10 of the PGA Tour season came at the year's final major, the PGA Championship at Valhalla. Mickelson shot rounds of 69-67-67-66 to finish solo second, one shot behind world number one Rory McIlroy. Prior to the 2015 Masters, Mickelson's best finish in 2015 was a tie for 17th.",
"Prior to the 2015 Masters, Mickelson's best finish in 2015 was a tie for 17th. At the Masters, Mickelson shot rounds of to finish tied for second with Justin Rose, four shots behind champion Jordan Spieth. The second-place finish was Mickelson's tenth such finish in a major, placing him second all-time only to Jack Nicklaus in that regard. At The Open Championship, Mickelson shot rounds of and was eight shots behind, outside the top forty.",
"At The Open Championship, Mickelson shot rounds of and was eight shots behind, outside the top forty. In the final round, Mickelson birdied the 15th hole to move to 10 under and within two of the lead. After a missed birdie putt on 16, Mickelson hit his drive on the infamous Road Hole (17th) at the famed Old Course at St Andrews onto a second-floor balcony of the Old Course Hotel. The out-of-bounds drive lead to a triple-bogey 7 that sent Mickelson tumbling out of contention.",
"The out-of-bounds drive lead to a triple-bogey 7 that sent Mickelson tumbling out of contention. Later in the year, it was announced that Mickelson would leave longtime swing coach Butch Harmon, feeling as though he needed to hear a new perspective on things. 2016: New swing coach After leaving Butch Harmon, Mickelson hired Andrew Getson of Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona, to serve as his new swing coach. The two worked together heavily in the 2015 offseason to get Mickelson's swing back.",
"The two worked together heavily in the 2015 offseason to get Mickelson's swing back. Under Getson's guidance, Mickelson made his 2016 debut at the CareerBuilder Challenge. He shot rounds of to finish in a tie for third place at 21-under-par. It was only Mickelson's fifth top-five finish since his win at the 2013 Open Championship. The third-place finish was Mickelson's highest finish in his first worldwide start of a calendar year since he won the same event to begin the 2004 season.",
"The third-place finish was Mickelson's highest finish in his first worldwide start of a calendar year since he won the same event to begin the 2004 season. At the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Mickelson shot rounds of to finish in solo second place, a shot behind Vaughn Taylor. Mickelson lipped out a five-foot birdie putt to force a playoff on the 72nd hole.",
"Mickelson lipped out a five-foot birdie putt to force a playoff on the 72nd hole. He entered the final round with a two-stroke lead, his first 54-hole lead since the 2013 U.S. Open and was seeking to end a winless drought dating back 52 worldwide events to the 2013 Open Championship. Mickelson shot a 63 in the opening round of The Open Championship at Royal Troon. The round set a new course record and matched the previous major championship record for lowest round.",
"The round set a new course record and matched the previous major championship record for lowest round. Mickelson had a birdie putt that narrowly missed on the final hole to set a new major championship scoring record of 62. He followed this up with a 69 in the second round for a 10 under par total and a one-shot lead over Henrik Stenson going into the weekend. In the third round, Mickelson shot a one-under 70 for a total of 11 under par to enter the final round one shot back of Stenson.",
"In the third round, Mickelson shot a one-under 70 for a total of 11 under par to enter the final round one shot back of Stenson. Despite Mickelson's bogey-free 65 in the final round, Stenson shot 63 to win by three shots. Mickelson finished 11 strokes clear of 3rd place, a major championship record for a runner-up.",
"Mickelson finished 11 strokes clear of 3rd place, a major championship record for a runner-up. Mickelson's 267 total set a record score for a runner-up in the British Open, and only trails Mickelson's 266 at the 2001 PGA Championship as the lowest total by a runner-up in major championship history. 2017: Recovery from surgeries In the fall of 2016, Mickelson had two sports hernia surgeries.",
"2017: Recovery from surgeries In the fall of 2016, Mickelson had two sports hernia surgeries. Those in the golf community expected him to miss much time recovering, however his unexpected return at the CareerBuilder Challenge was a triumphant one, leading to a T-21 finish. The next week, in San Diego, he narrowly missed an eagle putt on the 18th hole on Sunday that would've got him to 8-under par instead posting −7 to finish T14 at the Farmers Insurance Open.",
"The next week, in San Diego, he narrowly missed an eagle putt on the 18th hole on Sunday that would've got him to 8-under par instead posting −7 to finish T14 at the Farmers Insurance Open. The following week, at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, which he has won three times, he surged into contention following a Saturday 65. He played his first nine holes in 4-under 32 and sending his name to the top of the leaderboard.",
"He played his first nine holes in 4-under 32 and sending his name to the top of the leaderboard. However, his charge faltered with bogeys at 11, 12, 14, 15, and a double bogey at the driveable 17th hole. He stumbled with a final round 71, still earning a T-16 finish, for his sixth straight top-25 finish on tour. Mickelson came close to winning again at the FedEx St. Jude Classic where he had finished in second place the previous year to Daniel Berger.",
"Mickelson came close to winning again at the FedEx St. Jude Classic where he had finished in second place the previous year to Daniel Berger. He started the final round four strokes behind leaders but he quickly played himself into contention. Following a birdie at the 10th hole he vaulted to the top of leaderboard but found trouble on the 12th hole. His tee shot carried out of bounds and his fourth shot hit the water so he had to make a long putt to salvage triple-bogey.",
"His tee shot carried out of bounds and his fourth shot hit the water so he had to make a long putt to salvage triple-bogey. He managed to get one shot back but he finished three shots behind winner Berger, in ninth place, for the second straight year. Two weeks later he withdrew from the U.S. Open to attend his daughter's high school graduation. A week later his longtime caddie Jim (Bones) Mackay left Mickelson in a mutual agreement.",
"A week later his longtime caddie Jim (Bones) Mackay left Mickelson in a mutual agreement. Mickelson then missed the cut at both The Open Championship and the PGA Championship. On September 6, days after posting his best finish of the season of T6 at the Dell Technologies Championship, Mickelson was named as a captain's pick for the Presidents Cup. This maintained a streak of 23 consecutive USA teams in the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup, dating back to 1994.",
"This maintained a streak of 23 consecutive USA teams in the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup, dating back to 1994. 2018–2019: Winless streak ends On March 4, 2018, Mickelson ended a winless drought that dated back to 2013, by capturing his third WGC championship at the WGC-Mexico Championship, with a final-round score of 66 and a total score of −16. Mickelson birdied two of his last four holes and had a lengthy putt to win outright on the 72nd hole, but tied with Justin Thomas.",
"Mickelson birdied two of his last four holes and had a lengthy putt to win outright on the 72nd hole, but tied with Justin Thomas. He defeated Thomas on the first extra hole of a sudden-death playoff with a par. After Thomas had flown the green, Mickelson had a birdie to win the playoff which lipped out. Thomas however could not get up and down for par, meaning Mickelson claimed the championship. The win was Mickelson's 43rd on the PGA Tour and his first since winning the 2013 Open Championship.",
"The win was Mickelson's 43rd on the PGA Tour and his first since winning the 2013 Open Championship. He also became the oldest winner of a WGC event, at age 47. In the third round of the 2018 U.S. Open, Mickelson incurred a two-stroke penalty in a controversial incident on the 13th hole when he hit his ball with intent while it was still moving. He ended up shooting 81 (+11). His former coach Butch Harmon thought Mickelson should have been disqualified.",
"His former coach Butch Harmon thought Mickelson should have been disqualified. Mickelson was a captain's pick for Team USA at the 2018 Ryder Cup, held in Paris between September 28 and 30. Paired with Bryson DeChambeau in the Friday afternoon foursomes, they lost 5 and 4 to Europe's Sergio García and Alex Norén. In the Sunday singles match, Mickelson lost 4 and 2 to Francesco Molinari, as Team USA slumped to a 17.5 to 10.5 defeat.",
"In the Sunday singles match, Mickelson lost 4 and 2 to Francesco Molinari, as Team USA slumped to a 17.5 to 10.5 defeat. On November 23, 2018, Mickelson won the pay-per-view event, Capital One's The Match. This was a $9,000,000 winner-takes-all match against Tiger Woods at Shadow Creek Golf Course in Las Vegas. Mickelson needed four extra holes to beat Woods, which he did by holing a four-foot putt after Woods missed a seven-foot putt on the 22nd hole.",
"Mickelson needed four extra holes to beat Woods, which he did by holing a four-foot putt after Woods missed a seven-foot putt on the 22nd hole. In his third start of the 2019 calendar year, Mickelson won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, shooting a bogey-free final round 65 to defeat Paul Casey by three strokes. The win was Mickelson's 44th career title on the PGA Tour, and his fifth at Pebble Beach, tying Mark O'Meara for most victories in the event.",
"The win was Mickelson's 44th career title on the PGA Tour, and his fifth at Pebble Beach, tying Mark O'Meara for most victories in the event. At 48 years of age, he also became the oldest winner of that event.",
"At 48 years of age, he also became the oldest winner of that event. 2020: PGA Tour season and PGA Tour Champions debut In December 2019, Mickelson announced via Twitter that \"after turning down opportunities to go to the Middle East for many years\" he would play in the 2020 Saudi International tournament on the European Tour and would miss Waste Management Phoenix Open for the first time since 1989.",
"2020: PGA Tour season and PGA Tour Champions debut In December 2019, Mickelson announced via Twitter that \"after turning down opportunities to go to the Middle East for many years\" he would play in the 2020 Saudi International tournament on the European Tour and would miss Waste Management Phoenix Open for the first time since 1989. However, his decision to visit and play in Saudi Arabia was criticized for getting lured by millions of dollars and ignoring the continuous human rights abuses in the nation.",
"However, his decision to visit and play in Saudi Arabia was criticized for getting lured by millions of dollars and ignoring the continuous human rights abuses in the nation. Mickelson went on to finish the February 2020 event tied for third. Mickelson finished 3rd at the 2020 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and tied for 2nd in the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational. Mickelson was the first player over 50 to finish in the top five of a World Golf Championship event.",
"Mickelson was the first player over 50 to finish in the top five of a World Golf Championship event. He was ultimately eliminated from the FedEx Cup Playoffs following The Northern Trust at TPC Boston in August 2020. One week later, Mickelson made his debut on the PGA Tour Champions. He won the Charles Schwab Series at Ozarks National in his first tournament after becoming eligible for PGA Tour Champions on his 50th birthday on June 16, 2020. He was the 20th player to win their debut tournament on tour.",
"He was the 20th player to win their debut tournament on tour. Mickelson's 191 stroke total tied the PGA Tour Champions all-time record for a three-day event. In October 2020, Mickelson won the Dominion Energy Charity Classic in Virginia. It was his second win in as many starts on the PGA Tour Champions. 2021: The oldest major champion In February 2021, Mickelson was attempting to become the first player in PGA Tour Champions history to win his first three tournaments on tour.",
"2021: The oldest major champion In February 2021, Mickelson was attempting to become the first player in PGA Tour Champions history to win his first three tournaments on tour. However, he fell short in the Cologuard Classic, finishing in a T-20 position with a score of 4 under par. In May 2021, Mickelson held the 54-hole lead at the PGA Championship at the Kiawah Island Golf Resort in South Carolina, leading Brooks Koepka by one shot with one day to play.",
"In May 2021, Mickelson held the 54-hole lead at the PGA Championship at the Kiawah Island Golf Resort in South Carolina, leading Brooks Koepka by one shot with one day to play. He shot a final-round 73 to capture the tournament, defeating Koepka and Louis Oosthuizen by two strokes, becoming the oldest major champion; at 50.",
"He shot a final-round 73 to capture the tournament, defeating Koepka and Louis Oosthuizen by two strokes, becoming the oldest major champion; at 50. As Mickelson walked down the fairway following an excellent second shot from the left rough on the 18th hole, thousands of fans engulfed him, with him walking towards the hole constantly tipping his hat and giving the thumbs up to the crowd as they cheered.",
"As Mickelson walked down the fairway following an excellent second shot from the left rough on the 18th hole, thousands of fans engulfed him, with him walking towards the hole constantly tipping his hat and giving the thumbs up to the crowd as they cheered. However, the massive tumult of people meant playing partner Brooks Koepka was stranded in the sea of people, and with difficulties, he managed to reach the green to finish the hole.",
"However, the massive tumult of people meant playing partner Brooks Koepka was stranded in the sea of people, and with difficulties, he managed to reach the green to finish the hole. Mickelson eventually emerged from the crowd and two-putted for par, finishing the tournament at 6-under, besting the field by two strokes. In October 2021, Mickelson won for the third time in four career starts on the PGA Tour Champions.",
"In October 2021, Mickelson won for the third time in four career starts on the PGA Tour Champions. Mickelson shot a final round 4-under-par 68 to win the inaugural Constellation Furyk & Friends over Miguel Ángel Jiménez in Jacksonville, Florida. In November 2021, Mickelson won the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship in Phoenix, Arizona, with a final round six-under par 65. This victory was Mickelson's fourth win in six career starts on PGA Tour Champions.",
"This victory was Mickelson's fourth win in six career starts on PGA Tour Champions. 2022: Saudi Arabia controversy Mickelson admitted in an interview to overlooking Saudi Arabian human rights violations, including the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and execution of LGBTQ+ individuals, to support the Saudi-backed Super Golf League because it offered an opportunity to reshape the PGA Tour. In response to these comments, Mickelson lost multiple longtime sponsors including Callaway Golf and KPMG. Mickelson announced he would be stepping away from golf to spend time with his family.",
"Mickelson announced he would be stepping away from golf to spend time with his family. Playing style As a competitor, Mickelson's playing style is described by many as \"aggressive\" and highly social. His strategy toward difficult shots (bad lies, obstructions) would tend to be considered risky.",
"His strategy toward difficult shots (bad lies, obstructions) would tend to be considered risky. Mickelson has also been characterized by his powerful and sometimes inaccurate driver, but his excellent short game draws the most positive reviews, most of all his daring \"Phil flop\" shot in which a big swing with a high-lofted wedge against a tight lie flies a ball high into the air for a short distance.",
"Mickelson has also been characterized by his powerful and sometimes inaccurate driver, but his excellent short game draws the most positive reviews, most of all his daring \"Phil flop\" shot in which a big swing with a high-lofted wedge against a tight lie flies a ball high into the air for a short distance. Mickelson is usually in the top 10 in scoring, and he led the PGA Tour in birdie average as recently as 2013.",
"Mickelson is usually in the top 10 in scoring, and he led the PGA Tour in birdie average as recently as 2013. Earnings and endorsements Although ranked second on the PGA Tour's all-time money list of tournament prize money won, Mickelson earns far more from endorsements than from prize money.",
"Earnings and endorsements Although ranked second on the PGA Tour's all-time money list of tournament prize money won, Mickelson earns far more from endorsements than from prize money. According to one estimate of 2011 earnings (comprising salary, winnings, bonuses, endorsements and appearances) Mickelson was then the second-highest paid athlete in the United States, earning an income of over $62 million, $53 million of which came from endorsements.",
"According to one estimate of 2011 earnings (comprising salary, winnings, bonuses, endorsements and appearances) Mickelson was then the second-highest paid athlete in the United States, earning an income of over $62 million, $53 million of which came from endorsements. Major companies which Mickelson currently endorses are ExxonMobil (Mickelson and wife Amy started a teacher sponsorship fund with the company), Rolex and Mizzen+Main. He has been previously sponsored by Titleist, Bearing Point, Barclays, and Ford.",
"He has been previously sponsored by Titleist, Bearing Point, Barclays, and Ford. After being diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis in 2010, Mickelson was treated with Enbrel and began endorsing the drug. In 2015, Forbes estimated Mickelson's annual income was $51 million. In 2022, Mickelson lost a significant number of sponsors including Callaway Golf, KPMG, Amstel Light and Workday after comments he made about the Saudi-backed golf league, Super Golf League.",
"In 2022, Mickelson lost a significant number of sponsors including Callaway Golf, KPMG, Amstel Light and Workday after comments he made about the Saudi-backed golf league, Super Golf League. In an interview, he stated that Saudis are \"scary motherfuckers to get involved with... We know they killed [Washington Post reporter and U.S. resident Jamal] Khashoggi and have a horrible record on human rights. They execute people over there for being gay. Knowing all of this, why would I even consider it?",
"Knowing all of this, why would I even consider it? Because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reshape how the PGA Tour operates.\" Insider trading settlement On May 30, 2014, The Wall Street Journal reported that the FBI and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) were investigating Mickelson and associates of his for insider trading in Clorox stock. Mickelson denied any wrongdoing, and the investigation found \"no evidence\" and concluded without any charges.",
"Mickelson denied any wrongdoing, and the investigation found \"no evidence\" and concluded without any charges. On May 19, 2016, Mickelson was named as a relief defendant in another SEC complaint alleging insider trading but completely avoided criminal charges in a parallel case brought in the Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York.",
"On May 19, 2016, Mickelson was named as a relief defendant in another SEC complaint alleging insider trading but completely avoided criminal charges in a parallel case brought in the Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York. The action stems for trades in Dean Foods in 2012 in conjunction with confidential information provided by Thomas Davis, a former director of Dean Foods Company, who tipped his friend and \"professional sports bettor\" Billy Walters.",
"The action stems for trades in Dean Foods in 2012 in conjunction with confidential information provided by Thomas Davis, a former director of Dean Foods Company, who tipped his friend and \"professional sports bettor\" Billy Walters. The SEC did not allege that Walters actually told Mickelson of any material, nonpublic information about Dean Foods, and the SEC disgorged Mickelson of the $931,000 profit he had made from trading Dean Foods stock and had him pay prejudgment interest of $105,000.",
"The SEC did not allege that Walters actually told Mickelson of any material, nonpublic information about Dean Foods, and the SEC disgorged Mickelson of the $931,000 profit he had made from trading Dean Foods stock and had him pay prejudgment interest of $105,000. In 2017, Walters was convicted of making $40 million on Davis's private information from 2008 to 2014 by a federal jury. At that time, it was also noted that Mickelson had \"once owed nearly $2 million in gambling debts to\" Walters.",
"At that time, it was also noted that Mickelson had \"once owed nearly $2 million in gambling debts to\" Walters. Walters's lawyer said his client would appeal the 2017 verdict. Amateur wins 1980 Junior World Golf Championships (Boys 9–10) 1989 NCAA Division I Championship 1990 Pac-10 Championship, NCAA Division I Championship, U.S. Amateur, Porter Cup 1991 Western Amateur 1992 NCAA Division I Championship Professional wins (57) PGA Tour wins (45) *Note: Tournament shortened to 54 holes due to weather.",
"Amateur, Porter Cup 1991 Western Amateur 1992 NCAA Division I Championship Professional wins (57) PGA Tour wins (45) *Note: Tournament shortened to 54 holes due to weather. PGA Tour playoff record (8–4) European Tour wins (11) 1Co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour, Sunshine Tour and PGA Tour of Australasia European Tour playoff record (3–1) Challenge Tour wins (1) Other wins (4) Other playoff record (1–1) PGA Tour Champions wins (4) Major championships Wins (6) Results timeline Results not in chronological order in 2020.",
"PGA Tour playoff record (8–4) European Tour wins (11) 1Co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour, Sunshine Tour and PGA Tour of Australasia European Tour playoff record (3–1) Challenge Tour wins (1) Other wins (4) Other playoff record (1–1) PGA Tour Champions wins (4) Major championships Wins (6) Results timeline Results not in chronological order in 2020. LA = Low amateur CUT = missed the half-way cut \"T\" = tied NT = No tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic Summary Most consecutive cuts made – 30 (1999 PGA – 2007 Masters) Longest streak of top-10s – 5 (2004 Masters – 2005 Masters) The Players Championship Wins (1) Results timeline CUT = missed the halfway cut \"T\" indicates a tie for a place C = Canceled after the first round due to the COVID-19 pandemic World Golf Championships Wins (3) Results timeline Results not in chronological order prior to 2015.",
"LA = Low amateur CUT = missed the half-way cut \"T\" = tied NT = No tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic Summary Most consecutive cuts made – 30 (1999 PGA – 2007 Masters) Longest streak of top-10s – 5 (2004 Masters – 2005 Masters) The Players Championship Wins (1) Results timeline CUT = missed the halfway cut \"T\" indicates a tie for a place C = Canceled after the first round due to the COVID-19 pandemic World Golf Championships Wins (3) Results timeline Results not in chronological order prior to 2015. 1Cancelled due to 9/11 2Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play \"T\" = tied NT = No Tournament Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.",
"1Cancelled due to 9/11 2Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play \"T\" = tied NT = No Tournament Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009. PGA Tour career summary * As of 2021 season. † Mickelson won as an amateur in 1991 and therefore did not receive any prize money.",
"† Mickelson won as an amateur in 1991 and therefore did not receive any prize money. U.S. national team appearances Amateur Walker Cup: 1989, 1991 (winners) Eisenhower Trophy: 1990 Professional Presidents Cup: 1994 (winners), 1996 (winners), 1998, 2000 (winners), 2003 (tie), 2005 (winners), 2007 (winners), 2009 (winners), 2011 (winners), 2013 (winners), 2015 (winners), 2017 (winners) Ryder Cup: 1995, 1997, 1999 (winners), 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008 (winners), 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016 (winners), 2018 Alfred Dunhill Cup: 1996 (winners) Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge (representing PGA Tour): 1997 (winners), 2000 (winners) World Cup: 2002 See also List of golfers with most European Tour wins List of golfers with most PGA Tour wins List of men's major championships winning golfers Monday Night Golf References External links On Course With Phil American male golfers PGA Tour golfers PGA Tour Champions golfers Ryder Cup competitors for the United States Sports controversies Winners of men's major golf championships Arizona State Sun Devils men's golfers Left-handed golfers World Golf Hall of Fame inductees Golfers from Scottsdale, Arizona Golfers from San Diego American people of Italian descent American people of Portuguese descent American people of Swedish descent 1970 births Living people"
] |
[
"Robin Thicke",
"Songwriting and producing"
] | C_9be1bcc2152b4a0295f216c5e0ab397f_0 | Does he write his own songs? | 1 | Does Robin Thicke write his own songs? | Robin Thicke | Thicke began his career by writing and producing songs for popular artists. He co-wrote and produced the Color Me Badd song "Sexual Capacity" in 1996. He also co-wrote on the self-titled debut album by Christina Aguilera, which sold 17 million copies worldwide. Albums on which Thicke's songwriting, producing, and other contributions have been featured include: Brandy, Brian Mcknight's I Remember You, Brownstone's Still Climbing, Jordan Knight, Chante Moore's This Moment Is Mine, Marc Anthony, P!nk's Can't Take Me Home, Ronan Keating's Ronan, Mya's Fear of Flying, BBMak's Sooner or Later, both Will Young's Friday's Child and Keep On. The Thicke original "When I Get You Alone" was performed by Guy Sebastian, the winner of the first Australian Idol 2003, during the competition and at the Idol grand finale. "When I Get You Alone" was a popular song choice for Sebastian; he put the live idol performance on his four-times platinum debut single "Angels Brought Me Here"; it was the fastest selling single in Australia debuting at number one and immediately breaking an ARIA record. In 2004, Thicke co-wrote and produced "Out With My Baby" with Guy Sebastian, along with being credited for work on two additional songs from Sebastian's second album, Beautiful Life. The single, "Out With My Baby", became a platinum selling #1 hit for Sebastian on the ARIA Singles Charts. During this same year, he co-wrote and produced a song with the singer and actress Raven-Symone for the album This Is My Time, with the song "Set Me Free". Thicke co-wrote "Can U Handle It?" for Usher's 2004 album, Confessions, with backing vocals provided by Paula Patton. Confessions would go on to sell 20 million copies worldwide and win the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B Album in 2005. Thicke co-wrote and produced the song "Tie My Hands" on Lil' Wayne's multi-platinum selling album Tha Carter III which went on to win Best Rap Album. Thicke wrote and produced the song "Giving Myself" for the album Jennifer Hudson which went on to win Best R&B Album. In total, albums on which Thicke has been credited for his work (in capacities including writer, producer, arranger, vocalist, and musician) have sold over 60 million copies worldwide. Throughout his career, Thicke has worked most frequently with long-time production partner Pro Jay (James Gass), whose contributions have appeared on all of Thicke's own studio albums and whose name can be found alongside Thicke's in writing and producing credits for other artists. Thicke also often enlists veteran session guitarist and songwriter Bobby Keyes as well as keyboardist and music director Larry Cox to contribute to his projects. CANNOTANSWER | In total, albums on which Thicke has been credited for his work (in capacities including writer, producer, arranger, vocalist, and musician) | Robin Alan Thicke (born March 10, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer.
He has collaborated with numerous artists, such as Nicki Minaj, 3T, T.I., Christina Aguilera, Jessie J, K. Michelle, Pharrell, DJ Cassidy, Usher, Jennifer Hudson, Flo Rida, Brandy, Kid Cudi, Mary J. Blige, Emily Ratajkowski and composed songs for Marc Anthony. Thicke worked on albums such as Usher's Confessions and Lil Wayne's Tha Carter III, while releasing his own R&B singles in the United States including "Lost Without U", "Magic", and "Sex Therapy". He gained international fame in 2013 with his single "Blurred Lines", which reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100. He is currently a judge on the Fox musical competition show The Masked Singer.
Thicke is a son of actress Gloria Loring and actor Alan Thicke.
Early life and career
Thicke was born on March 10, 1977, in Los Angeles, California. His parents are American actress-singer Gloria Loring, who appeared on the NBC daytime drama Days of Our Lives, and actor Alan Thicke (1947–2016), who is originally from Canada and known for his role on the TV sitcom Growing Pains. They divorced when Thicke was 7 years old. He has an older brother, Brennan, who worked as a voice actor and voiced the titular character on the Dennis the Menace cartoon, and a younger half-brother, Carter. Robin Thicke also appeared in small roles on The Wonder Years, The New Lassie, Just the Ten of Us and several episodes of Growing Pains.
Thicke's parents were supportive of his musical inclinations; his father helped him to write and structure his first songs. According to Robin Thicke, his father would not pay for Robin Thicke (then in his early teens) and his vocal group, As One, to record a professionally produced demo tape, wanting Robin to focus on his studies and graduate from school before committing to the pursuit of a career in music. The demo ultimately was paid for by jazz vocalist Al Jarreau, an uncle of one of the group members.
His demo made its way to R&B singer Brian McKnight, who was impressed enough by Thicke to invite him into the studio to work with him. Thicke was signed to McKnight's production company; "Anyway", a song co-written with Thicke, was featured on McKnight's second album I Remember You. Thicke's peers jokingly nicknamed him "Brian McWhite". It was Thicke's association with McKnight, who Thicke counts as one of his first mentors, that led him to his acquaintance with Jimmy Iovine and helped him to land his first recording contract with Interscope Records at the age of 16. Thicke later joined a hip hop duo with future Beverly Hills 90210 actor Brian Austin Green.
Thicke moved out on his own at the age of 17, during his senior year of high school, earning a living and supporting himself as a professional record producer and songwriter. Thicke has noted that while his parents did not attempt to dissuade him from his desire to be in the music industry, their own experience with the nature of the entertainment business made them leery in the beginning. As Thicke's list of credits grew so did his parents' confidence in his decision.
While initially signed as a singer and artist in his own right, Thicke first made a name for himself within the industry as a songwriter and producer for other artists before releasing and performing his own music. Among his work for other artists, Thicke co-wrote "Love Is on My Side" on Brandy's eponymous debut album; he also wrote for 3T's Brotherhood, and collaborated with Jordan Knight, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis on several songs in Knight's 1999 album Jordan Knight including the Billboard top 10 hit "Give It to You". According to Thicke, Knight also invested in the ability of the young songwriter early on by purchasing studio equipment for him.
He also co-wrote the song "When You Put Your Hands on Me" for Christina Aguilera's debut album and co-wrote and produced three songs for Mýa's sophomore release, Fear of Flying. In 1999, Thicke co-wrote the song "Fall Again" with Walter Afanasieff, which was intended to be a track on Michael Jackson's 2001 album Invincible, but it failed to be presented as a completed song. The demo Michael recorded in 1999 was released on November 16, 2004, as an album track of his limited edition box set The Ultimate Collection. As an artist, he recorded and performed solely under his surname, Thicke. He would continue to do so until 2005.
Career
1999–2003: A Beautiful World and early success
At the age of 22, after an involvement with Tommy Mottola and Epic Records following the end of his first deal with Interscope, Thicke resolved himself to work chiefly on material for his debut album, initially titled Cherry Blue Skies, planning to use his own money to fund the project. As Thicke told Billboard, "I decided I was going to save money to make my album, and I hoped to offer it to labels–take it or leave it–so I didn't have to negotiate how to make my music." While piecing his album together, Thicke began working with veteran producer and label executive Andre Harrell and, under his guidance, eventually signed with Interscope for a second time as part of Harrell's and Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds' Nu America imprint label in 2001.
In 2002, Thicke released his debut single "When I Get You Alone". The track samples Walter Murphy's "A Fifth of Beethoven", which itself is a disco rendition of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. The music video for the song received some rotation on MTV2 and BET's Rated Next and was spun moderately on pop and urban radio, peaking at number 49 on Radio & Records Pop chart. Globally, however, "When I Get You Alone" became a chart success when it peaked in the Top 20 in Australia, Belgium, and Italy, and reached the Top 10 of the singles charts in New Zealand and the Top 3 in the Netherlands.
The moderate success was enough to signal the release of the album in 2003 with its name changed to A Beautiful World. Despite the release of a second single, "Brand New Jones", the album received very little promotion and debuted at number 152 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, selling 119,000 copies as of January, 2012. A Beautiful World fell below the label's commercial expectations. The album's under-performance troubled Thicke personally, but it proved enough to make him a wanted collaborator. Thicke has cited Mary J. Blige, Usher, and Lil' Wayne, among others, as those who subsequently reached out to him.
Reflecting on A Beautiful World in 2013, Usher stated to The New York Times, "I was blown away — I thought Beatles, Earth Wind & Fire, Shuggie Otis, Marvin Gaye — all in one album. [Robin's] got a soul you can't buy, man."
Runner-up Blake Lewis performed "When I Get You Alone" during the 2007 season of American Idol when the Top 3 chose a song to sing. Lewis has often put Robin Thicke in his list of musical influences in interviews and on the American Idol website. The song was also performed by Blaine Anderson (played by Darren Criss) on Glee during the Season 2 episode "Silly Love Songs".
2004–07: The Evolution of Robin Thicke and commercial breakthrough
Following A Beautiful World, Thicke was keen to begin work on his sophomore album but financial and creative disagreements stemming from the performance of his first album led to a several month-long stalemate between Robin and his record label.
Regarding this time in his career, Thicke said,"The label pretty much lost faith in my ability to sell. It became a question of, 'Where does he fit? Is he not rock or pop enough? Is he not soul enough?'" Pharrell Williams, having established a distribution deal with Interscope for his record label, Star Trak, expressed to Jimmy Iovine his interest in Thicke, whose talent he thought of highly.
Signed to Star Trak in 2005, Thicke continued work on his second album, The Evolution of Robin Thicke. The first single, "Wanna Love U Girl", featured producer Williams and charted successfully on urban radio in the United Kingdom. In 2006, a remix version of the song was filmed with rapper Busta Rhymes. Nearly a year after the single was released, the album was released on October 3, 2006. To promote the album, Thicke toured with India.Arie and then opened for John Legend in late 2006.
The video for his second single, the ballad "Lost Without U", was released in fall 2006. The song began appearing on Billboard R&B charts in November of that year. With the assistance of radio airplay, the song became his breakout hit, reaching number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spending 11 weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, making him the first white male artist to top that chart since George Michael did so in 1988 with "One More Try".
In the February 24, 2007 issue of Billboard, Thicke concurrently topped four Billboard charts: Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, and Adult R&B Songs, a feat he would duplicate in the March 17 issue. Following its re-release as a Deluxe Edition (with three new bonus tracks) on February 13, 2007, the album peaked at number five on the Billboard 200. On March 23, 2007, The Evolution of Robin Thicke was certified Platinum by the RIAA. With album sales of over 1.5 million copies sold domestically, The Evolution of Robin Thicke became a commercial success in the United States.
Thicke and his record label Interscope soon considered potential tracks to be released as the album's next and third single. Thicke's preference was the track "Can U Believe", which peaked at number 16 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and at number 99 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. On October 2, 2007, the track "Got 2 Be Down" was released as the album's fourth official single. The single peaked at number 60 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks.
On April 19, 2007, Thicke performed on The Oprah Winfrey Show, singing "Lost Without U". He returned to the show a month later, on May 29, performing "Complicated" and Oprah's favorite song from the album, "Would That Make U Love Me", while also promoting Beyoncé's tour, on which he would be an opening act. Oprah revealed that Thicke's initial appearance garnered a strong reaction, noting that people called the show to say that they didn't know he would be on. Oprah explained, "So what I wanted to do was to accommodate all of the people who missed it the first time ... In order to do that, I had to do something I've never done before. I got on the phone and asked this very special guest if he would consider coming back."
In late 2007, Thicke finished promotion for the album as the featured opening act for the North American leg of Beyoncé's US tour, The Beyoncé Experience. Other notable performances in support of the album and its single "Lost Without U" include the 2007 BET Awards, The 2007 MOBO Awards,
American Idol, and the 2007 Soul Train Music Awards. He also performed a one-off UK concert at KOKO in London on September 24, 2007.
2008–2010: Something Else and Sex Therapy
Thicke released his third solo album, titled Something Else, on September 30, 2008. It debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 charts and sold 137,000 copies in the first week. The first single from the album, "Magic", was a further expansion of the R&B sound that powered his 2006 breakthrough, The Evolution of Robin Thicke. "Magic" went on to peak at number two on the Adult R&B chart, number six on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart and number 59 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. He followed this success with the second single, "The Sweetest Love", which peaked at number two on the Adult R&B chart and number 20 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart.
On February 8, 2009, at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards, Thicke took the stage alongside Lil' Wayne to perform their song "Tie My Hands" from the Grammy-winning album Tha Carter III (the song was also featured on Something Else) which was followed by Thicke and Lil' Wayne participating in a medley of "Big Chief" and "My Feet Can't Fail Me Now" led by jazz musicians Allen Toussaint, Terence Blanchard, and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band in tribute to New Orleans and the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
Thicke appeared on an episode of ABC's The Bachelor to perform "Magic" and "The Sweetest Love" for the remaining female contestants. Thicke wrote and produced a track for the movie Precious in which his wife Paula Patton also starred, though it did not appear on the soundtrack and remains unreleased. He co-headlined a U.S. tour with Jennifer Hudson, which began March 31, 2009 in Albany, New York, and wrapped up 25 shows later in Biloxi, Mississippi. At the start of the tour, Thicke released "Dreamworld" as the official third single from Something Else. As of April 2009, Something Else has shifted over 435,000 units in the U.S.
Seven months after the release of Something Else, Billboard.com announced that Thicke would release his fourth studio album in the fall of 2009, his first to not be mainly self-produced. The album, titled Sex Therapy, had its release date postponed to winter, on December 15, 2009. The first single from the album was the title track, produced by Polow Da Don, which in March 2010 became Thicke's second song to top the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The lead single for international markets was "Rollacosta" featuring singer Estelle. The second U.S. single was "It's in the Mornin'" featuring Snoop Dogg. "Shakin' It for Daddy", featuring rapper Nicki Minaj, produced by Polow Da Don, was supposed to be released as a single at some point, however, its release was eventually canceled.
Speaking of the musical background to Sex Therapy, Thicke told Pete Lewis – Deputy Editor of Blues & Soul – "I'm always gonna have the influence of Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and Al Green in my music. But with this album I also wanted to show my hip hop side. I grew up listening to Run-DMC and N.W.A and Biggie and Pac and Jay-Z ... So I really wanted to make a record that represented how much that music has influenced me." Earlier in 2009, on October 14, Leighton Meester's debut single "Somebody to Love", featuring Thicke, was released. Thicke told MTV he hoped to have Lil Wayne on the album. He also pointed out that he was featured on Lil Wayne's last two albums, and Lil Wayne was on his last two albums. "We're kind of good luck charms for each other."
Thicke appeared on ABC's New Year's Rockin' Eve on January 1, 2010, and performed three songs in Las Vegas, in a pre-recorded segment. Also in 2010, it was confirmed that he, along with Melanie Fiona, would feature on The Freedom Tour with Alicia Keys. As of October 2011, the album has sold 289,000 copies in the United States. On February 5, 2010, Thicke participated in BET's SOS Saving Ourselves: Help For Haiti telethon concert, held in response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake.
2011–12: Love After War and Duets
During 2011, Thicke was confirmed to go on tour with Jennifer Hudson, with whom he toured in 2009. Later that year, Robin Thicke released his fifth studio album, Love After War, on December 6, 2011. The album debuted at number twenty-two on the Billboard 200 and number six on the "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums" selling 41,000 in its first week. In an interview to promote the album, Thicke has stated that a lot of the inspiration for the album came from his family.
The album has produced three singles. The first is the title track, "Love After War" released on October 11, 2011, and has peaked at number fourteen on the "Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs" chart and topped the Adult R&B chart making it his second song after "Lost Without U" to top that chart. The music video for the song premiered November 21, 2011. The music video features his wife Paula Patton and consists of Thicke making up with his wife after a fight.
The second single is "Pretty Lil' Heart", which features Lil Wayne and was released on November 8, 2011. The music video for that premiered on March 2, 2012. It peaked at number fifty-one on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. On May 31, 2012, Thicke released a video for his promo single, which was a cover of the Whitney Houston classic "Exhale (Shoop Shoop"). The third official single is "All Tied Up" which was released to Urban AC radio on April 10, 2012. The music video premiered on June 7, 2012, on "Vevo".
Thicke performed "Love After War" on the 2011 Soul Train Music Awards and later returned to the stage to sing "Reasons", trading verses with Joe and Eric Benét, as part of an all-star tribute to Legend Award recipients Earth, Wind & Fire.
Thicke appeared on season 2 of NBC's The Voice as a guest adviser/mentor to the contestants on Adam Levine's team.
In July 2012, Thicke made his feature film debut starring alongside Jaime Pressly in Jimbo Lee's Abby in the Summer, produced by Gabriel Cowan, John Suits, Dallas Sonnier and Jack Heller. The film, shot in 2012, was released in 2014 under the title Making the Rules.
Thicke served as a judge on the ABC television show Duets which premiered May 24, 2012 and which also featured John Legend, Jennifer Nettles, and Kelly Clarkson. The judges doubled as mentors who searched for singers across the country (Robin Thicke's singers being Olivia Chisholm and Alexis Foster) to duet with them as they perform in front of a live studio audience. The premier episode drew in 7 million viewers. The show went live June 28, 2012, allowing the viewers to vote for their favorite contestants.
2013: Blurred Lines and Real Husbands of Hollywood
On March 26, 2013, Thicke released "Blurred Lines" featuring T.I. and Pharrell as the lead single to his sixth studio album, also titled Blurred Lines. The video, featuring models Emily Ratajkowski, Jessi M'Bengue, and Elle Evans, was directed by Diane Martel and released on March 20, 2013, and garnered more than 1 million views in days after release on Vevo. Thicke said he had received the approval of his wife Paula Patton before shooting the video.
In early 2013, Thicke starred as a fictionalized version of himself alongside Kevin Hart, Boris Kodjoe, Nelly, Duane Martin, J.B. Smoove, Nick Cannon, and Cynthia McWilliams in the first season of BET's hit show Real Husbands of Hollywood. Thicke was unable to rejoin the cast for the shooting of the second season, opting instead to focus on his music. According to Thicke, "Once the song started to take off, and all this momentum was happening, and [Real Husbands of Hollywood] needed me for all eight weeks, I couldn't finish the album and promote the single and go over seas and do all these other things I wanted to do."
As Thicke stated to the Breakfast Club, "The album is called Blurred Lines. I've realized as I've gotten older that we all think we're living either in a black or white world, or on a straight path, but most of us are living right in between those straight lines. And everything you thought you knew, the older you get, you realize, 'Damn, I don't know nothing about this. I better pay attention, I better listen and keep learning.' So I think that, that's what I've been realizing these past few years."
The singer also stated his attempt into a more poppy sound than his normal environment. "The last year I've been wanting to have more fun. I think I took myself very seriously as an artist and I wanted to be like Marvin Gaye, and John Lennon and Bob Marley and these great artists and songwriters that sang about love and sang about relationships," Robin said. "And then the last year, my wife and I just really wanted to have fun again, we wanted to be young again and we wanted to dance again and go out with our friends, so I wanted to make music that reflected that culture also." The song has been a worldwide hit, has peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and has also reached number one in 13 more countries including the United Kingdom, where Blurred Lines became only the 137th record in history to surpass the one million sales mark, and the United States. The new album Blurred Lines was released on July 30, 2013.
The song and related music videos also received criticism for being misogynistic and promoting rape culture, with some critics calling the lyrics "creepy" and the song "rapey". In an interview for GQ magazine Thicke joked about the video, saying, "What a pleasure it is to degrade a woman. I've never gotten to do that before. I've always respected women." In response to Thicke's statement in GQ that the idea of the video was to be 'derogatory towards women', the director Diane Martel denied this was discussed on set: "That's crazy. Maybe he wasn't thinking when he said that."
During an interview with Oprah Winfrey for Oprah's Next Chapter, Thicke clarified his comment about degrading women, describing it as a "bad joke", noting that the published GQ interview did not mention that he was doing an impersonation of Will Ferrell's Ron Burgundy character while making the remark, thus not providing the sarcastic/joking context.
The song's unrated music video was originally banned from YouTube before being reposted some weeks later.
On August 25, at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards, Thicke performed "Blurred Lines" with Miley Cyrus, who is twerking on stage, followed by "Give It 2 U" with 2 Chainz and Kendrick Lamar. The performance drew negative reactions for its alleged raunchiness, sexism, racism, slut-shaming, and cultural appropriation. It became the most tweeted about event in history, with Twitter users generating 360,000 tweets about the event per minute; breaking the previous record held by Beyoncé's Super Bowl XLVII halftime show performance six months earlier.
On December 6, 2013, Thicke and T.I. performed "Blurred Lines" accompanied by Earth, Wind & Fire at The Grammy Nominations Concert Live! on CBS where it was announced that Thicke had been nominated for three Grammy Awards: Best Pop Vocal Album for Blurred Lines and Record of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for the album's single "Blurred Lines". In the same month, he was awarded the title "Sexist of the Year" by the End Violence Against Women Coalition, which has more than 60 member groups working to end sexual and domestic violence, trafficking and other forms of abuse. Thicke received twice as many votes as the poll's runner up, Prime Minister David Cameron. It was parodied many times and forbidden in many UK student unions.
On January 26, 2014, Thicke performed live with Chicago at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards, celebrating the induction of Chicago's debut album, The Chicago Transit Authority, into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Thicke and Chicago performed a medley of "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?", "Beginnings", and "Saturday in the Park" ending with "Blurred Lines".
2014–present: Paula and On Earth, and in Heaven
In February 2014, Thicke collaborated with DJ Cassidy and British singer Jessie J to record Calling All Hearts.
In June 2014, Thicke announced that his next album would be called Paula, dedicated to his estranged wife, Paula Patton. The lead single "Get Her Back" was released on May 19, 2014. Thicke debuted the song on the same day with a performance at the Billboard Music Awards where he also won four awards for "Blurred Lines". Thicke also appeared on the season finale of The Voice singing "Get Her Back" with finalist Josh Kaufman. Thicke then performed the song "Forever Love" at the BET Awards 2014.
At the end of June 2014, during a Q&A session on Twitter and hosted by VH1, Thicke asked followers to submit questions by using the hashtag #AskThicke. The tag was quickly overrun by people protesting against his lyrics criticized as misogynistic, his lifestyle choices and other detractors leading to what The Guardian called "an epic PR fail". When a Twitter user pointed out that the comments directed at Thicke were "brutal", Thicke responded: "I can handle it, I'm a big boy".
The album, originally set for a Fall release, was pushed forward and released on July 1, 2014, five weeks after the release of its lead single. Paula peaked at #9 on the Billboard 200, and sold 24,000 copies in its first week of release. In a 2015 interview with Jody Rosen of The New York Times, Thicke expressed both embarrassment over his public dedications and regret over giving the album a commercial release, stating, "my record company didn't want me to put it out, but they stuck by me. In hindsight, the only thing I would have done differently was, I wouldn't have promoted it or sold it. I would have given it away."
Following the release of Paula, Thicke spent several months largely away from media appearances and performing in order to focus on his personal life and to work on new music. Thicke returned to the spotlight at the BET Awards 2015 to sing the classic Smokey Robinson and The Miracles hit "Ooo Baby Baby" in tribute to Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Smokey Robinson and joined Robinson on stage for a group rendition of "My Girl" alongside Tori Kelly and Ne-Yo. On June 29, on the heels of his BET Awards performance, Thicke debuted the lyric video for his new single "Morning Sun", on Vevo followed by the official release of the single on June 30. "Morning Sun" rose to the number 4 position on the Billboard Adult R&B Songs chart becoming Thicke's 11th top 10 hit on Urban AC radio.
Speaking with Prestige Hong Kong, Thicke explained: "The new album is call[ed] Morning Sun. It's about fresh starts, new beginnings, and the heralding in of a new day. It's about the last year of my life, the time I've spent with my friends and family and especially my son." Thicke also spoke of working again with Pharrell and Timbaland as well as with new collaborators DJ Mustard, Max Martin, and Ricky Reed. Another new single "Back Together", featuring Nicki Minaj, was released on August 6, 2015. Thicke rejoined the cast of Real Husbands of Hollywood in 2016 for its fifth season. In the premiere episode, Thicke parodied his publicized personal and professional troubles including his divorce, lawsuit, drug use and poorly received album.
In January 2019, Thicke began appearing as a panelist on the reality competition series The Masked Singer.
After nearly eight years since their hit collaboration, "Blurred Lines", Thicke and producer Pharrell Williams reunited for the single "Take Me Higher", released on January 21, 2021. It was included on his eighth studio album, On Earth, and in Heaven, released on February 12, 2021, through his Lucky Music label in partnership with Empire Distribution. It marks his first album since 2014's Paula. Thicke explained the album's inspiration: "I feel like I'm finally the person I set out to be. I'm able to laugh at anything, which I've realized is the greatest superpower. I've fully embraced it, and nothing has been better for my soul. When I saw the phrase 'On Earth, and in Heaven', I realized that's what I'm singing about: the people who aren't here and the people who are here that made me who I am. This music is the sunshine coming out after the rain".
Thicke collected his sixth No. 1 on Billboard's Adult R&B Airplay chart with “Look Easy” on the list dated for August 21.
Artistry
Influences
Thicke is a self-taught pianist. Some of the first songs he learned to play and sing along with as a child were by gospel artists such as Commissioned, Take 6, and John P. Kee, studying their licks and harmonies. Thicke has drawn influence from a variety of artists including James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Sting, Prince, Alanis Morissette, The Beatles, John Lennon, Bob Marley and Michael Jackson.
Thicke has said that he considers himself a soulful singer but does not like his music being described as "blue-eyed soul", finding the term too pigeonholing.
Songwriting and producing
Thicke began his career by writing and producing songs for popular artists. He co-wrote and produced the Color Me Badd song "Sexual Capacity" in 1996. He also co-wrote on the self-titled debut album by Christina Aguilera, which sold 17 million copies worldwide. Albums on which Thicke's songwriting, producing, and other contributions have been featured include: Brandy, Brian Mcknight's I Remember You, Brownstone's Still Climbing, Jordan Knight, Chante Moore's This Moment Is Mine, Marc Anthony, P!nk's Can't Take Me Home, Ronan Keating's Ronan, Mýa's Fear of Flying, BBMak's Sooner or Later, both Will Young's Friday's Child and Keep On.
The Thicke original "When I Get You Alone" was performed by Guy Sebastian, the winner of the first Australian Idol 2003, during the competition and at the Idol grand finale. "When I Get You Alone" was a popular song choice for Sebastian; he put the live idol performance on his four-times platinum debut single "Angels Brought Me Here"; it was the fastest selling single in Australia debuting at number one and immediately breaking an ARIA record. In 2004, Thicke co-wrote and produced "Out With My Baby" with Guy Sebastian, along with being credited for work on two additional songs from Sebastian's second album, Beautiful Life. The single, "Out With My Baby", became a platinum selling #1 hit for Sebastian on the ARIA Singles Charts. During this same year, he co-wrote and produced a song with the singer and actress Raven-Symoné for the album This Is My Time, with the song "Set Me Free".
Thicke co-wrote "Can U Handle It?" for Usher's 2004 album, Confessions, with backing vocals provided by Paula Patton. Confessions would go on to sell 20 million copies worldwide and win the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B Album in 2005.
Thicke co-wrote and produced the song "Tie My Hands" on Lil' Wayne's multi-platinum selling album Tha Carter III which went on to win Best Rap Album. Thicke wrote and produced the song "Giving Myself" for Jennifer Hudson's eponymous debut album, which went on to win Best R&B Album.
In total, albums on which Thicke has been credited for his work (in capacities including writer, producer, arranger, vocalist, and musician) have sold over 60 million copies worldwide.
Throughout his career, Thicke has worked most frequently with long-time production partner Pro Jay (James Gass), whose contributions have appeared on all of Thicke's own studio albums and whose name can be found alongside Thicke's in writing and producing credits for other artists. Thicke also often enlists veteran session guitarist and songwriter Bobby Keyes as well as keyboardist and music director Larry Cox to contribute to his projects.
Collaborations
In 2005, Thicke performed as a guest on the remix of Will Smith's song "Switch". In 2007, Thicke appeared on 50 Cent's album Curtis on a song called "Follow My Lead". The following year, he worked with Ashanti on her fourth studio album, The Declaration. Thicke also appeared on R. Kelly's Untitled on the track "Pregnant" which also features Tyrese and The-Dream. In 2008, Thicke was enlisted by producer Polow da Don to play piano on the hit Usher track "Love in This Club", which reached the #1 position on the Billboard Hot 100.
Thicke was featured along with a number of his contemporaries on the 2010 release Q Soul Bossa Nostra, an album in tribute to famed composer and music producer Quincy Jones (who also executive produced the project), which consisted of reinterpretations of Jones' work. In 2014, Thicke joined Jessie J on the DJ Cassidy produced song "Calling All Hearts". Thicke was featured along with bassist Verdine White on Flo Rida's "I Don't Like It, I Love It" in 2015 which found success on several international charts and peaked among the top 10 singles in seven countries.
Personal life
At age 14, Robin Thicke first met actress Paula Patton, who was then 16, in 1991 at an under-21 hip-hop club called Balistyx (co-founded and co-hosted by David Faustino) on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles, when he asked her to dance. They were married in 2005 and their son was born in April 2010. Thicke and Patton separated in February 2014, after 21 years together and almost nine years of marriage. On October 9, 2014, Patton officially filed for divorce, which was finalized on March 20, 2015.
In 2014, Thicke met April Love Geary at a party. They first appeared in public together in 2015. On February 22, 2018, the couple welcomed their first child, a daughter, Mia Love. In August 2018, Geary announced that the couple was expecting their second child; they became engaged on Christmas Eve 2018. On February 26, 2019, the couple welcomed their second child, another daughter, Lola Alain. In October 2020, the couple announced they were expecting their third child for December. On December 11, 2020, the couple welcomed their third child a boy, Luca Patrick.
Thicke is a close friend of fellow performer Usher. Thicke was present for Usher's engagement to Tameka Foster, serenading the couple with his song "The Stupid Things" as Usher proposed among family and friends.
On November 10, 2018, Geary revealed in an Instagram story she and Thicke had lost their Malibu home to the Woolsey wildfire that had been consuming the area. Two days later, Thicke returned to his property, describing the totality of the fire in a video for Entertainment Tonight: "It's funny, [from what] you see in movies, you'd think there would be one doll left over, or a book of course, something. [But] it's just rubble. There's nothing left."
Controversies
Performance with Miley Cyrus at MTV Video Music Awards 2013
In 2013, Robin Thicke and Miley Cyrus caused an uproar following their performance during the MTV Video Music Awards: during the performance, in which the singers had performed the songs "Blurred Lines" and "We Can't Stop", Cyrus had twerked in such a way as to mimic a sexual act with her colleague. Afterwards, Miley Cyrus said that Thicke had explicitly asked her to be "as naked as possible" during the performance. According to the same source, "Thicke was angry with Cyrus for “going too far” during the VMAs, and that he thought the “Wrecking Ball” songstress had “hijacked the performance.”"
Marvin Gaye plagiarism
After Blurred Lines' success, the heirs of singer Marvin Gaye sued Thicke and Pharrell Williams claiming the song was a plagiarism of Gaye's song "Got to Give It Up". Jurors awarded the Gayes $7.4 million, but U.S. District Judge John Kronstadt reduced the sum to $5.3 million, while adding royalties.
Emily Ratajkowski's book
In early October, 2021, fragments from Ratajkowski’s forthcoming book, "My Body", were leaked online, where the model allegedly claimed that Thicke groped her breasts without her consent in 2013 during the filming of the music video for the song "Blurred Lines". According to Time magazine and other sources, Ratajkowski was frustrated about the leaked chapter without her consent and also stated that it was taken out of the essay's context". Ratajkowski went on, "It’s been hard for me, I really like to have control over my image and I wrote this book of essays to share the whole story and all sides of it, and I feel like it turns into a clickbait frenzy and all of a sudden words like ‘sexual assault’ and ‘allegations’ are getting thrown around rather than people reading the actual essay... I'm just looking forward to when people will be able hear things in my own words." Thicke has not publicly responded to Ratajkowski's allegations.
Discography
Studio albums
A Beautiful World (2002)
The Evolution of Robin Thicke (2006)
Something Else (2008)
Sex Therapy: The Session (2009)
Love After War (2011)
Blurred Lines (2013)
Paula (2014)
On Earth, and in Heaven (2021)
Tours
Headlining
Blurred Lines Tour (2014)
Co-headlining
Jennifer Hudson & Robin Thicke in Concert (with Jennifer Hudson) (2009)
Promotional
Love & War Tour (2011)
Opening act
2006 Tour (for India Arie) (2006)
Once Again Tour (for John Legend) (2006)
The Beyoncé Experience (for Beyoncé) (2007)
Love Soul Tour (for Mary J. Blige) (2008)
Freedom Tour (for Alicia Keys) (2010)
This Is It (for Michael Jackson) (cancelled)
Overexposed Tour (for Maroon 5) (2014)
See also
List of awards and nominations received by Robin Thicke
Pharrell Williams v. Bridgeport Music
References
External links
1977 births
Living people
20th-century American male singers
20th-century American singers
21st-century American male singers
21st-century American singers
American contemporary R&B singers
American funk singers
American male child actors
American male film actors
American male pop singers
American male singer-songwriters
American male television actors
American people of Canadian descent
American people of Scottish descent
American people of Swedish descent
American soul singers
APRA Award winners
Dance-pop musicians
Grammy Award winners
Interscope Records artists
Male actors from California
Male actors from Los Angeles
People from Los Angeles
Singers from Los Angeles
Singer-songwriters from California | true | [
"J.Sheon (born 24 December 1985) is a Taiwanese rapper, singer and producer. J.Sheon debuted with his self-titled album J.Sheon街巷 in May 2017. In 2018, he won the Billboard Radio China Top New Artist Awards 2017.\n\nCareer\nJ.Sheon, an alumnus of Queensborough Community College, moved to New York at the age of 19 and spent eight years there. According to him, he started to produce music because he was bored. However, his time in New York exposed him to different genres of western music which helped him to create songs of his own unique Hip-Hop style. Also as an independent artist, he had to do all the jobs a label or record company does, such as write songs, do remaking and shoot the music video.\n\nIn 2012 or 2013, he suddenly decided to take his music career more serious and moved back to Taiwan. He did cover See You Again in Mandarin on YouTube which became popular.\n\nHe signed up with Sony Music Taiwan and in 2017 debuted with his self-titled album J.Sheon街巷.\n\nIn 2018, he won the Billboard Radio China Top New Artist Awards 2017.\n\nDiscography\n\nAlbum \n J.Sheon街巷 (May 2017)\n The Alley巷子內 (November 2019)\n\nReferences \n\n1985 births\nLiving people\nTaiwanese male singers\nTaiwanese singer-songwriters",
"\"'N Everything\" is an Al Jolson song by songwriters B.G. \"Buddy\" DeSylva and Gus Kahn. Jolson adapted the song with improvisation as performances of Sinbad progressed, leading Jolson to eventually be given co-lyricist credit on the song. The success of \"N' Everything\" prompted Jolson to ask DeSylva for further songs. And DeSylva complied with his request to write some songs, including \"I'll Say She Does\", again with Kahn and Jolson listed as his collaborators.\n\nHistory\nJolson recorded '\"N' Everything\" in 1917 and then interpolated the song into Sinbad at New York's Winter Garden Theatre in 1918.\n\nReferences\n\n1917 songs\nAl Jolson songs\nSongs with lyrics by Gus Kahn\nSongs with lyrics by Buddy DeSylva"
] | [
"Robin Alan Thicke (born March 10, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He has collaborated with numerous artists, such as Nicki Minaj, 3T, T.I., Christina Aguilera, Jessie J, K. Michelle, Pharrell, DJ Cassidy, Usher, Jennifer Hudson, Flo Rida, Brandy, Kid Cudi, Mary J. Blige, Emily Ratajkowski and composed songs for Marc Anthony.",
"He has collaborated with numerous artists, such as Nicki Minaj, 3T, T.I., Christina Aguilera, Jessie J, K. Michelle, Pharrell, DJ Cassidy, Usher, Jennifer Hudson, Flo Rida, Brandy, Kid Cudi, Mary J. Blige, Emily Ratajkowski and composed songs for Marc Anthony. Thicke worked on albums such as Usher's Confessions and Lil Wayne's Tha Carter III, while releasing his own R&B singles in the United States including \"Lost Without U\", \"Magic\", and \"Sex Therapy\".",
"Thicke worked on albums such as Usher's Confessions and Lil Wayne's Tha Carter III, while releasing his own R&B singles in the United States including \"Lost Without U\", \"Magic\", and \"Sex Therapy\". He gained international fame in 2013 with his single \"Blurred Lines\", which reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100. He is currently a judge on the Fox musical competition show The Masked Singer. Thicke is a son of actress Gloria Loring and actor Alan Thicke.",
"Thicke is a son of actress Gloria Loring and actor Alan Thicke. Early life and career Thicke was born on March 10, 1977, in Los Angeles, California. His parents are American actress-singer Gloria Loring, who appeared on the NBC daytime drama Days of Our Lives, and actor Alan Thicke (1947–2016), who is originally from Canada and known for his role on the TV sitcom Growing Pains. They divorced when Thicke was 7 years old.",
"They divorced when Thicke was 7 years old. They divorced when Thicke was 7 years old. He has an older brother, Brennan, who worked as a voice actor and voiced the titular character on the Dennis the Menace cartoon, and a younger half-brother, Carter. Robin Thicke also appeared in small roles on The Wonder Years, The New Lassie, Just the Ten of Us and several episodes of Growing Pains.",
"Robin Thicke also appeared in small roles on The Wonder Years, The New Lassie, Just the Ten of Us and several episodes of Growing Pains. Thicke's parents were supportive of his musical inclinations; his father helped him to write and structure his first songs.",
"Thicke's parents were supportive of his musical inclinations; his father helped him to write and structure his first songs. According to Robin Thicke, his father would not pay for Robin Thicke (then in his early teens) and his vocal group, As One, to record a professionally produced demo tape, wanting Robin to focus on his studies and graduate from school before committing to the pursuit of a career in music.",
"According to Robin Thicke, his father would not pay for Robin Thicke (then in his early teens) and his vocal group, As One, to record a professionally produced demo tape, wanting Robin to focus on his studies and graduate from school before committing to the pursuit of a career in music. The demo ultimately was paid for by jazz vocalist Al Jarreau, an uncle of one of the group members.",
"The demo ultimately was paid for by jazz vocalist Al Jarreau, an uncle of one of the group members. His demo made its way to R&B singer Brian McKnight, who was impressed enough by Thicke to invite him into the studio to work with him. Thicke was signed to McKnight's production company; \"Anyway\", a song co-written with Thicke, was featured on McKnight's second album I Remember You. Thicke's peers jokingly nicknamed him \"Brian McWhite\".",
"Thicke's peers jokingly nicknamed him \"Brian McWhite\". It was Thicke's association with McKnight, who Thicke counts as one of his first mentors, that led him to his acquaintance with Jimmy Iovine and helped him to land his first recording contract with Interscope Records at the age of 16. Thicke later joined a hip hop duo with future Beverly Hills 90210 actor Brian Austin Green.",
"Thicke later joined a hip hop duo with future Beverly Hills 90210 actor Brian Austin Green. Thicke moved out on his own at the age of 17, during his senior year of high school, earning a living and supporting himself as a professional record producer and songwriter. Thicke has noted that while his parents did not attempt to dissuade him from his desire to be in the music industry, their own experience with the nature of the entertainment business made them leery in the beginning.",
"Thicke has noted that while his parents did not attempt to dissuade him from his desire to be in the music industry, their own experience with the nature of the entertainment business made them leery in the beginning. As Thicke's list of credits grew so did his parents' confidence in his decision. While initially signed as a singer and artist in his own right, Thicke first made a name for himself within the industry as a songwriter and producer for other artists before releasing and performing his own music.",
"While initially signed as a singer and artist in his own right, Thicke first made a name for himself within the industry as a songwriter and producer for other artists before releasing and performing his own music. Among his work for other artists, Thicke co-wrote \"Love Is on My Side\" on Brandy's eponymous debut album; he also wrote for 3T's Brotherhood, and collaborated with Jordan Knight, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis on several songs in Knight's 1999 album Jordan Knight including the Billboard top 10 hit \"Give It to You\".",
"Among his work for other artists, Thicke co-wrote \"Love Is on My Side\" on Brandy's eponymous debut album; he also wrote for 3T's Brotherhood, and collaborated with Jordan Knight, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis on several songs in Knight's 1999 album Jordan Knight including the Billboard top 10 hit \"Give It to You\". According to Thicke, Knight also invested in the ability of the young songwriter early on by purchasing studio equipment for him.",
"According to Thicke, Knight also invested in the ability of the young songwriter early on by purchasing studio equipment for him. He also co-wrote the song \"When You Put Your Hands on Me\" for Christina Aguilera's debut album and co-wrote and produced three songs for Mýa's sophomore release, Fear of Flying. In 1999, Thicke co-wrote the song \"Fall Again\" with Walter Afanasieff, which was intended to be a track on Michael Jackson's 2001 album Invincible, but it failed to be presented as a completed song.",
"In 1999, Thicke co-wrote the song \"Fall Again\" with Walter Afanasieff, which was intended to be a track on Michael Jackson's 2001 album Invincible, but it failed to be presented as a completed song. The demo Michael recorded in 1999 was released on November 16, 2004, as an album track of his limited edition box set The Ultimate Collection. As an artist, he recorded and performed solely under his surname, Thicke. He would continue to do so until 2005.",
"He would continue to do so until 2005. He would continue to do so until 2005. Career 1999–2003: A Beautiful World and early success At the age of 22, after an involvement with Tommy Mottola and Epic Records following the end of his first deal with Interscope, Thicke resolved himself to work chiefly on material for his debut album, initially titled Cherry Blue Skies, planning to use his own money to fund the project.",
"Career 1999–2003: A Beautiful World and early success At the age of 22, after an involvement with Tommy Mottola and Epic Records following the end of his first deal with Interscope, Thicke resolved himself to work chiefly on material for his debut album, initially titled Cherry Blue Skies, planning to use his own money to fund the project. As Thicke told Billboard, \"I decided I was going to save money to make my album, and I hoped to offer it to labels–take it or leave it–so I didn't have to negotiate how to make my music.\"",
"As Thicke told Billboard, \"I decided I was going to save money to make my album, and I hoped to offer it to labels–take it or leave it–so I didn't have to negotiate how to make my music.\" While piecing his album together, Thicke began working with veteran producer and label executive Andre Harrell and, under his guidance, eventually signed with Interscope for a second time as part of Harrell's and Kenneth \"Babyface\" Edmonds' Nu America imprint label in 2001.",
"While piecing his album together, Thicke began working with veteran producer and label executive Andre Harrell and, under his guidance, eventually signed with Interscope for a second time as part of Harrell's and Kenneth \"Babyface\" Edmonds' Nu America imprint label in 2001. In 2002, Thicke released his debut single \"When I Get You Alone\". The track samples Walter Murphy's \"A Fifth of Beethoven\", which itself is a disco rendition of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony.",
"The track samples Walter Murphy's \"A Fifth of Beethoven\", which itself is a disco rendition of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. The music video for the song received some rotation on MTV2 and BET's Rated Next and was spun moderately on pop and urban radio, peaking at number 49 on Radio & Records Pop chart.",
"The music video for the song received some rotation on MTV2 and BET's Rated Next and was spun moderately on pop and urban radio, peaking at number 49 on Radio & Records Pop chart. Globally, however, \"When I Get You Alone\" became a chart success when it peaked in the Top 20 in Australia, Belgium, and Italy, and reached the Top 10 of the singles charts in New Zealand and the Top 3 in the Netherlands.",
"Globally, however, \"When I Get You Alone\" became a chart success when it peaked in the Top 20 in Australia, Belgium, and Italy, and reached the Top 10 of the singles charts in New Zealand and the Top 3 in the Netherlands. The moderate success was enough to signal the release of the album in 2003 with its name changed to A Beautiful World.",
"The moderate success was enough to signal the release of the album in 2003 with its name changed to A Beautiful World. Despite the release of a second single, \"Brand New Jones\", the album received very little promotion and debuted at number 152 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, selling 119,000 copies as of January, 2012. A Beautiful World fell below the label's commercial expectations. The album's under-performance troubled Thicke personally, but it proved enough to make him a wanted collaborator.",
"The album's under-performance troubled Thicke personally, but it proved enough to make him a wanted collaborator. Thicke has cited Mary J. Blige, Usher, and Lil' Wayne, among others, as those who subsequently reached out to him. Reflecting on A Beautiful World in 2013, Usher stated to The New York Times, \"I was blown away — I thought Beatles, Earth Wind & Fire, Shuggie Otis, Marvin Gaye — all in one album.",
"Reflecting on A Beautiful World in 2013, Usher stated to The New York Times, \"I was blown away — I thought Beatles, Earth Wind & Fire, Shuggie Otis, Marvin Gaye — all in one album. [Robin's] got a soul you can't buy, man.\" Runner-up Blake Lewis performed \"When I Get You Alone\" during the 2007 season of American Idol when the Top 3 chose a song to sing.",
"Runner-up Blake Lewis performed \"When I Get You Alone\" during the 2007 season of American Idol when the Top 3 chose a song to sing. Lewis has often put Robin Thicke in his list of musical influences in interviews and on the American Idol website. The song was also performed by Blaine Anderson (played by Darren Criss) on Glee during the Season 2 episode \"Silly Love Songs\".",
"The song was also performed by Blaine Anderson (played by Darren Criss) on Glee during the Season 2 episode \"Silly Love Songs\". 2004–07: The Evolution of Robin Thicke and commercial breakthrough Following A Beautiful World, Thicke was keen to begin work on his sophomore album but financial and creative disagreements stemming from the performance of his first album led to a several month-long stalemate between Robin and his record label.",
"2004–07: The Evolution of Robin Thicke and commercial breakthrough Following A Beautiful World, Thicke was keen to begin work on his sophomore album but financial and creative disagreements stemming from the performance of his first album led to a several month-long stalemate between Robin and his record label. Regarding this time in his career, Thicke said,\"The label pretty much lost faith in my ability to sell. It became a question of, 'Where does he fit? Is he not rock or pop enough?",
"Is he not rock or pop enough? Is he not rock or pop enough? Is he not soul enough?'\" Pharrell Williams, having established a distribution deal with Interscope for his record label, Star Trak, expressed to Jimmy Iovine his interest in Thicke, whose talent he thought of highly. Signed to Star Trak in 2005, Thicke continued work on his second album, The Evolution of Robin Thicke.",
"Signed to Star Trak in 2005, Thicke continued work on his second album, The Evolution of Robin Thicke. The first single, \"Wanna Love U Girl\", featured producer Williams and charted successfully on urban radio in the United Kingdom. In 2006, a remix version of the song was filmed with rapper Busta Rhymes. Nearly a year after the single was released, the album was released on October 3, 2006.",
"Nearly a year after the single was released, the album was released on October 3, 2006. To promote the album, Thicke toured with India.Arie and then opened for John Legend in late 2006. The video for his second single, the ballad \"Lost Without U\", was released in fall 2006. The song began appearing on Billboard R&B charts in November of that year.",
"The song began appearing on Billboard R&B charts in November of that year. With the assistance of radio airplay, the song became his breakout hit, reaching number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spending 11 weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, making him the first white male artist to top that chart since George Michael did so in 1988 with \"One More Try\".",
"With the assistance of radio airplay, the song became his breakout hit, reaching number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spending 11 weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, making him the first white male artist to top that chart since George Michael did so in 1988 with \"One More Try\". In the February 24, 2007 issue of Billboard, Thicke concurrently topped four Billboard charts: Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, and Adult R&B Songs, a feat he would duplicate in the March 17 issue.",
"In the February 24, 2007 issue of Billboard, Thicke concurrently topped four Billboard charts: Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, and Adult R&B Songs, a feat he would duplicate in the March 17 issue. Following its re-release as a Deluxe Edition (with three new bonus tracks) on February 13, 2007, the album peaked at number five on the Billboard 200.",
"Following its re-release as a Deluxe Edition (with three new bonus tracks) on February 13, 2007, the album peaked at number five on the Billboard 200. On March 23, 2007, The Evolution of Robin Thicke was certified Platinum by the RIAA. With album sales of over 1.5 million copies sold domestically, The Evolution of Robin Thicke became a commercial success in the United States. Thicke and his record label Interscope soon considered potential tracks to be released as the album's next and third single.",
"Thicke and his record label Interscope soon considered potential tracks to be released as the album's next and third single. Thicke's preference was the track \"Can U Believe\", which peaked at number 16 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and at number 99 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. On October 2, 2007, the track \"Got 2 Be Down\" was released as the album's fourth official single. The single peaked at number 60 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks.",
"The single peaked at number 60 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks. On April 19, 2007, Thicke performed on The Oprah Winfrey Show, singing \"Lost Without U\". He returned to the show a month later, on May 29, performing \"Complicated\" and Oprah's favorite song from the album, \"Would That Make U Love Me\", while also promoting Beyoncé's tour, on which he would be an opening act.",
"He returned to the show a month later, on May 29, performing \"Complicated\" and Oprah's favorite song from the album, \"Would That Make U Love Me\", while also promoting Beyoncé's tour, on which he would be an opening act. Oprah revealed that Thicke's initial appearance garnered a strong reaction, noting that people called the show to say that they didn't know he would be on.",
"Oprah revealed that Thicke's initial appearance garnered a strong reaction, noting that people called the show to say that they didn't know he would be on. Oprah explained, \"So what I wanted to do was to accommodate all of the people who missed it the first time ... In order to do that, I had to do something I've never done before. I got on the phone and asked this very special guest if he would consider coming back.\"",
"I got on the phone and asked this very special guest if he would consider coming back.\" In late 2007, Thicke finished promotion for the album as the featured opening act for the North American leg of Beyoncé's US tour, The Beyoncé Experience. Other notable performances in support of the album and its single \"Lost Without U\" include the 2007 BET Awards, The 2007 MOBO Awards, American Idol, and the 2007 Soul Train Music Awards.",
"Other notable performances in support of the album and its single \"Lost Without U\" include the 2007 BET Awards, The 2007 MOBO Awards, American Idol, and the 2007 Soul Train Music Awards. He also performed a one-off UK concert at KOKO in London on September 24, 2007. 2008–2010: Something Else and Sex Therapy Thicke released his third solo album, titled Something Else, on September 30, 2008. It debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 charts and sold 137,000 copies in the first week.",
"It debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 charts and sold 137,000 copies in the first week. The first single from the album, \"Magic\", was a further expansion of the R&B sound that powered his 2006 breakthrough, The Evolution of Robin Thicke. \"Magic\" went on to peak at number two on the Adult R&B chart, number six on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart and number 59 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.",
"\"Magic\" went on to peak at number two on the Adult R&B chart, number six on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart and number 59 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. He followed this success with the second single, \"The Sweetest Love\", which peaked at number two on the Adult R&B chart and number 20 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart.",
"He followed this success with the second single, \"The Sweetest Love\", which peaked at number two on the Adult R&B chart and number 20 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart. On February 8, 2009, at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards, Thicke took the stage alongside Lil' Wayne to perform their song \"Tie My Hands\" from the Grammy-winning album Tha Carter III (the song was also featured on Something Else) which was followed by Thicke and Lil' Wayne participating in a medley of \"Big Chief\" and \"My Feet Can't Fail Me Now\" led by jazz musicians Allen Toussaint, Terence Blanchard, and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band in tribute to New Orleans and the victims of Hurricane Katrina.",
"On February 8, 2009, at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards, Thicke took the stage alongside Lil' Wayne to perform their song \"Tie My Hands\" from the Grammy-winning album Tha Carter III (the song was also featured on Something Else) which was followed by Thicke and Lil' Wayne participating in a medley of \"Big Chief\" and \"My Feet Can't Fail Me Now\" led by jazz musicians Allen Toussaint, Terence Blanchard, and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band in tribute to New Orleans and the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Thicke appeared on an episode of ABC's The Bachelor to perform \"Magic\" and \"The Sweetest Love\" for the remaining female contestants.",
"Thicke appeared on an episode of ABC's The Bachelor to perform \"Magic\" and \"The Sweetest Love\" for the remaining female contestants. Thicke wrote and produced a track for the movie Precious in which his wife Paula Patton also starred, though it did not appear on the soundtrack and remains unreleased. He co-headlined a U.S. tour with Jennifer Hudson, which began March 31, 2009 in Albany, New York, and wrapped up 25 shows later in Biloxi, Mississippi.",
"He co-headlined a U.S. tour with Jennifer Hudson, which began March 31, 2009 in Albany, New York, and wrapped up 25 shows later in Biloxi, Mississippi. At the start of the tour, Thicke released \"Dreamworld\" as the official third single from Something Else. As of April 2009, Something Else has shifted over 435,000 units in the U.S.",
"As of April 2009, Something Else has shifted over 435,000 units in the U.S. Seven months after the release of Something Else, Billboard.com announced that Thicke would release his fourth studio album in the fall of 2009, his first to not be mainly self-produced. The album, titled Sex Therapy, had its release date postponed to winter, on December 15, 2009.",
"The album, titled Sex Therapy, had its release date postponed to winter, on December 15, 2009. The first single from the album was the title track, produced by Polow Da Don, which in March 2010 became Thicke's second song to top the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The lead single for international markets was \"Rollacosta\" featuring singer Estelle. The second U.S. single was \"It's in the Mornin'\" featuring Snoop Dogg.",
"The second U.S. single was \"It's in the Mornin'\" featuring Snoop Dogg. \"Shakin' It for Daddy\", featuring rapper Nicki Minaj, produced by Polow Da Don, was supposed to be released as a single at some point, however, its release was eventually canceled. Speaking of the musical background to Sex Therapy, Thicke told Pete Lewis – Deputy Editor of Blues & Soul – \"I'm always gonna have the influence of Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and Al Green in my music.",
"Speaking of the musical background to Sex Therapy, Thicke told Pete Lewis – Deputy Editor of Blues & Soul – \"I'm always gonna have the influence of Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and Al Green in my music. But with this album I also wanted to show my hip hop side. I grew up listening to Run-DMC and N.W.A and Biggie and Pac and Jay-Z ... So I really wanted to make a record that represented how much that music has influenced me.\"",
"So I really wanted to make a record that represented how much that music has influenced me.\" Earlier in 2009, on October 14, Leighton Meester's debut single \"Somebody to Love\", featuring Thicke, was released. Thicke told MTV he hoped to have Lil Wayne on the album. He also pointed out that he was featured on Lil Wayne's last two albums, and Lil Wayne was on his last two albums. \"We're kind of good luck charms for each other.\"",
"\"We're kind of good luck charms for each other.\" Thicke appeared on ABC's New Year's Rockin' Eve on January 1, 2010, and performed three songs in Las Vegas, in a pre-recorded segment. Also in 2010, it was confirmed that he, along with Melanie Fiona, would feature on The Freedom Tour with Alicia Keys. As of October 2011, the album has sold 289,000 copies in the United States.",
"As of October 2011, the album has sold 289,000 copies in the United States. On February 5, 2010, Thicke participated in BET's SOS Saving Ourselves: Help For Haiti telethon concert, held in response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake. 2011–12: Love After War and Duets During 2011, Thicke was confirmed to go on tour with Jennifer Hudson, with whom he toured in 2009. Later that year, Robin Thicke released his fifth studio album, Love After War, on December 6, 2011.",
"Later that year, Robin Thicke released his fifth studio album, Love After War, on December 6, 2011. The album debuted at number twenty-two on the Billboard 200 and number six on the \"Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums\" selling 41,000 in its first week. In an interview to promote the album, Thicke has stated that a lot of the inspiration for the album came from his family. The album has produced three singles.",
"The album has produced three singles. The album has produced three singles. The first is the title track, \"Love After War\" released on October 11, 2011, and has peaked at number fourteen on the \"Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs\" chart and topped the Adult R&B chart making it his second song after \"Lost Without U\" to top that chart. The music video for the song premiered November 21, 2011.",
"The music video for the song premiered November 21, 2011. The music video features his wife Paula Patton and consists of Thicke making up with his wife after a fight. The second single is \"Pretty Lil' Heart\", which features Lil Wayne and was released on November 8, 2011. The music video for that premiered on March 2, 2012. It peaked at number fifty-one on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.",
"It peaked at number fifty-one on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. On May 31, 2012, Thicke released a video for his promo single, which was a cover of the Whitney Houston classic \"Exhale (Shoop Shoop\"). The third official single is \"All Tied Up\" which was released to Urban AC radio on April 10, 2012. The music video premiered on June 7, 2012, on \"Vevo\".",
"The music video premiered on June 7, 2012, on \"Vevo\". Thicke performed \"Love After War\" on the 2011 Soul Train Music Awards and later returned to the stage to sing \"Reasons\", trading verses with Joe and Eric Benét, as part of an all-star tribute to Legend Award recipients Earth, Wind & Fire. Thicke appeared on season 2 of NBC's The Voice as a guest adviser/mentor to the contestants on Adam Levine's team.",
"Thicke appeared on season 2 of NBC's The Voice as a guest adviser/mentor to the contestants on Adam Levine's team. In July 2012, Thicke made his feature film debut starring alongside Jaime Pressly in Jimbo Lee's Abby in the Summer, produced by Gabriel Cowan, John Suits, Dallas Sonnier and Jack Heller. The film, shot in 2012, was released in 2014 under the title Making the Rules.",
"The film, shot in 2012, was released in 2014 under the title Making the Rules. Thicke served as a judge on the ABC television show Duets which premiered May 24, 2012 and which also featured John Legend, Jennifer Nettles, and Kelly Clarkson. The judges doubled as mentors who searched for singers across the country (Robin Thicke's singers being Olivia Chisholm and Alexis Foster) to duet with them as they perform in front of a live studio audience. The premier episode drew in 7 million viewers.",
"The premier episode drew in 7 million viewers. The premier episode drew in 7 million viewers. The show went live June 28, 2012, allowing the viewers to vote for their favorite contestants. 2013: Blurred Lines and Real Husbands of Hollywood On March 26, 2013, Thicke released \"Blurred Lines\" featuring T.I. and Pharrell as the lead single to his sixth studio album, also titled Blurred Lines.",
"and Pharrell as the lead single to his sixth studio album, also titled Blurred Lines. The video, featuring models Emily Ratajkowski, Jessi M'Bengue, and Elle Evans, was directed by Diane Martel and released on March 20, 2013, and garnered more than 1 million views in days after release on Vevo. Thicke said he had received the approval of his wife Paula Patton before shooting the video.",
"Thicke said he had received the approval of his wife Paula Patton before shooting the video. In early 2013, Thicke starred as a fictionalized version of himself alongside Kevin Hart, Boris Kodjoe, Nelly, Duane Martin, J.B. Smoove, Nick Cannon, and Cynthia McWilliams in the first season of BET's hit show Real Husbands of Hollywood. Thicke was unable to rejoin the cast for the shooting of the second season, opting instead to focus on his music.",
"Thicke was unable to rejoin the cast for the shooting of the second season, opting instead to focus on his music. According to Thicke, \"Once the song started to take off, and all this momentum was happening, and [Real Husbands of Hollywood] needed me for all eight weeks, I couldn't finish the album and promote the single and go over seas and do all these other things I wanted to do.\" As Thicke stated to the Breakfast Club, \"The album is called Blurred Lines.",
"As Thicke stated to the Breakfast Club, \"The album is called Blurred Lines. I've realized as I've gotten older that we all think we're living either in a black or white world, or on a straight path, but most of us are living right in between those straight lines. And everything you thought you knew, the older you get, you realize, 'Damn, I don't know nothing about this. I better pay attention, I better listen and keep learning.'",
"I better pay attention, I better listen and keep learning.' So I think that, that's what I've been realizing these past few years.\" The singer also stated his attempt into a more poppy sound than his normal environment. \"The last year I've been wanting to have more fun.",
"\"The last year I've been wanting to have more fun. I think I took myself very seriously as an artist and I wanted to be like Marvin Gaye, and John Lennon and Bob Marley and these great artists and songwriters that sang about love and sang about relationships,\" Robin said.",
"I think I took myself very seriously as an artist and I wanted to be like Marvin Gaye, and John Lennon and Bob Marley and these great artists and songwriters that sang about love and sang about relationships,\" Robin said. \"And then the last year, my wife and I just really wanted to have fun again, we wanted to be young again and we wanted to dance again and go out with our friends, so I wanted to make music that reflected that culture also.\"",
"\"And then the last year, my wife and I just really wanted to have fun again, we wanted to be young again and we wanted to dance again and go out with our friends, so I wanted to make music that reflected that culture also.\" The song has been a worldwide hit, has peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and has also reached number one in 13 more countries including the United Kingdom, where Blurred Lines became only the 137th record in history to surpass the one million sales mark, and the United States.",
"The song has been a worldwide hit, has peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and has also reached number one in 13 more countries including the United Kingdom, where Blurred Lines became only the 137th record in history to surpass the one million sales mark, and the United States. The new album Blurred Lines was released on July 30, 2013.",
"The new album Blurred Lines was released on July 30, 2013. The song and related music videos also received criticism for being misogynistic and promoting rape culture, with some critics calling the lyrics \"creepy\" and the song \"rapey\". In an interview for GQ magazine Thicke joked about the video, saying, \"What a pleasure it is to degrade a woman. I've never gotten to do that before. I've always respected women.\"",
"I've always respected women.\" I've always respected women.\" In response to Thicke's statement in GQ that the idea of the video was to be 'derogatory towards women', the director Diane Martel denied this was discussed on set: \"That's crazy. Maybe he wasn't thinking when he said that.\"",
"Maybe he wasn't thinking when he said that.\" During an interview with Oprah Winfrey for Oprah's Next Chapter, Thicke clarified his comment about degrading women, describing it as a \"bad joke\", noting that the published GQ interview did not mention that he was doing an impersonation of Will Ferrell's Ron Burgundy character while making the remark, thus not providing the sarcastic/joking context. The song's unrated music video was originally banned from YouTube before being reposted some weeks later.",
"The song's unrated music video was originally banned from YouTube before being reposted some weeks later. On August 25, at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards, Thicke performed \"Blurred Lines\" with Miley Cyrus, who is twerking on stage, followed by \"Give It 2 U\" with 2 Chainz and Kendrick Lamar. The performance drew negative reactions for its alleged raunchiness, sexism, racism, slut-shaming, and cultural appropriation.",
"The performance drew negative reactions for its alleged raunchiness, sexism, racism, slut-shaming, and cultural appropriation. It became the most tweeted about event in history, with Twitter users generating 360,000 tweets about the event per minute; breaking the previous record held by Beyoncé's Super Bowl XLVII halftime show performance six months earlier. On December 6, 2013, Thicke and T.I. performed \"Blurred Lines\" accompanied by Earth, Wind & Fire at The Grammy Nominations Concert Live!",
"performed \"Blurred Lines\" accompanied by Earth, Wind & Fire at The Grammy Nominations Concert Live! on CBS where it was announced that Thicke had been nominated for three Grammy Awards: Best Pop Vocal Album for Blurred Lines and Record of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for the album's single \"Blurred Lines\".",
"on CBS where it was announced that Thicke had been nominated for three Grammy Awards: Best Pop Vocal Album for Blurred Lines and Record of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for the album's single \"Blurred Lines\". In the same month, he was awarded the title \"Sexist of the Year\" by the End Violence Against Women Coalition, which has more than 60 member groups working to end sexual and domestic violence, trafficking and other forms of abuse.",
"In the same month, he was awarded the title \"Sexist of the Year\" by the End Violence Against Women Coalition, which has more than 60 member groups working to end sexual and domestic violence, trafficking and other forms of abuse. Thicke received twice as many votes as the poll's runner up, Prime Minister David Cameron. It was parodied many times and forbidden in many UK student unions.",
"It was parodied many times and forbidden in many UK student unions. On January 26, 2014, Thicke performed live with Chicago at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards, celebrating the induction of Chicago's debut album, The Chicago Transit Authority, into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Thicke and Chicago performed a medley of \"Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? \", \"Beginnings\", and \"Saturday in the Park\" ending with \"Blurred Lines\".",
"\", \"Beginnings\", and \"Saturday in the Park\" ending with \"Blurred Lines\". 2014–present: Paula and On Earth, and in Heaven In February 2014, Thicke collaborated with DJ Cassidy and British singer Jessie J to record Calling All Hearts. In June 2014, Thicke announced that his next album would be called Paula, dedicated to his estranged wife, Paula Patton. The lead single \"Get Her Back\" was released on May 19, 2014.",
"The lead single \"Get Her Back\" was released on May 19, 2014. Thicke debuted the song on the same day with a performance at the Billboard Music Awards where he also won four awards for \"Blurred Lines\". Thicke also appeared on the season finale of The Voice singing \"Get Her Back\" with finalist Josh Kaufman. Thicke then performed the song \"Forever Love\" at the BET Awards 2014.",
"Thicke then performed the song \"Forever Love\" at the BET Awards 2014. At the end of June 2014, during a Q&A session on Twitter and hosted by VH1, Thicke asked followers to submit questions by using the hashtag #AskThicke. The tag was quickly overrun by people protesting against his lyrics criticized as misogynistic, his lifestyle choices and other detractors leading to what The Guardian called \"an epic PR fail\".",
"The tag was quickly overrun by people protesting against his lyrics criticized as misogynistic, his lifestyle choices and other detractors leading to what The Guardian called \"an epic PR fail\". When a Twitter user pointed out that the comments directed at Thicke were \"brutal\", Thicke responded: \"I can handle it, I'm a big boy\". The album, originally set for a Fall release, was pushed forward and released on July 1, 2014, five weeks after the release of its lead single.",
"The album, originally set for a Fall release, was pushed forward and released on July 1, 2014, five weeks after the release of its lead single. Paula peaked at #9 on the Billboard 200, and sold 24,000 copies in its first week of release.",
"Paula peaked at #9 on the Billboard 200, and sold 24,000 copies in its first week of release. In a 2015 interview with Jody Rosen of The New York Times, Thicke expressed both embarrassment over his public dedications and regret over giving the album a commercial release, stating, \"my record company didn't want me to put it out, but they stuck by me. In hindsight, the only thing I would have done differently was, I wouldn't have promoted it or sold it.",
"In hindsight, the only thing I would have done differently was, I wouldn't have promoted it or sold it. I would have given it away.\" Following the release of Paula, Thicke spent several months largely away from media appearances and performing in order to focus on his personal life and to work on new music.",
"Following the release of Paula, Thicke spent several months largely away from media appearances and performing in order to focus on his personal life and to work on new music. Thicke returned to the spotlight at the BET Awards 2015 to sing the classic Smokey Robinson and The Miracles hit \"Ooo Baby Baby\" in tribute to Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Smokey Robinson and joined Robinson on stage for a group rendition of \"My Girl\" alongside Tori Kelly and Ne-Yo.",
"Thicke returned to the spotlight at the BET Awards 2015 to sing the classic Smokey Robinson and The Miracles hit \"Ooo Baby Baby\" in tribute to Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Smokey Robinson and joined Robinson on stage for a group rendition of \"My Girl\" alongside Tori Kelly and Ne-Yo. On June 29, on the heels of his BET Awards performance, Thicke debuted the lyric video for his new single \"Morning Sun\", on Vevo followed by the official release of the single on June 30.",
"On June 29, on the heels of his BET Awards performance, Thicke debuted the lyric video for his new single \"Morning Sun\", on Vevo followed by the official release of the single on June 30. \"Morning Sun\" rose to the number 4 position on the Billboard Adult R&B Songs chart becoming Thicke's 11th top 10 hit on Urban AC radio. Speaking with Prestige Hong Kong, Thicke explained: \"The new album is call[ed] Morning Sun.",
"Speaking with Prestige Hong Kong, Thicke explained: \"The new album is call[ed] Morning Sun. It's about fresh starts, new beginnings, and the heralding in of a new day. It's about the last year of my life, the time I've spent with my friends and family and especially my son.\" Thicke also spoke of working again with Pharrell and Timbaland as well as with new collaborators DJ Mustard, Max Martin, and Ricky Reed.",
"Thicke also spoke of working again with Pharrell and Timbaland as well as with new collaborators DJ Mustard, Max Martin, and Ricky Reed. Another new single \"Back Together\", featuring Nicki Minaj, was released on August 6, 2015. Thicke rejoined the cast of Real Husbands of Hollywood in 2016 for its fifth season. In the premiere episode, Thicke parodied his publicized personal and professional troubles including his divorce, lawsuit, drug use and poorly received album.",
"In the premiere episode, Thicke parodied his publicized personal and professional troubles including his divorce, lawsuit, drug use and poorly received album. In January 2019, Thicke began appearing as a panelist on the reality competition series The Masked Singer. After nearly eight years since their hit collaboration, \"Blurred Lines\", Thicke and producer Pharrell Williams reunited for the single \"Take Me Higher\", released on January 21, 2021.",
"After nearly eight years since their hit collaboration, \"Blurred Lines\", Thicke and producer Pharrell Williams reunited for the single \"Take Me Higher\", released on January 21, 2021. It was included on his eighth studio album, On Earth, and in Heaven, released on February 12, 2021, through his Lucky Music label in partnership with Empire Distribution. It marks his first album since 2014's Paula.",
"It marks his first album since 2014's Paula. It marks his first album since 2014's Paula. Thicke explained the album's inspiration: \"I feel like I'm finally the person I set out to be. I'm able to laugh at anything, which I've realized is the greatest superpower. I've fully embraced it, and nothing has been better for my soul.",
"I've fully embraced it, and nothing has been better for my soul. When I saw the phrase 'On Earth, and in Heaven', I realized that's what I'm singing about: the people who aren't here and the people who are here that made me who I am. This music is the sunshine coming out after the rain\". Thicke collected his sixth No. 1 on Billboard's Adult R&B Airplay chart with “Look Easy” on the list dated for August 21.",
"1 on Billboard's Adult R&B Airplay chart with “Look Easy” on the list dated for August 21. Artistry Influences Thicke is a self-taught pianist. Some of the first songs he learned to play and sing along with as a child were by gospel artists such as Commissioned, Take 6, and John P. Kee, studying their licks and harmonies.",
"Some of the first songs he learned to play and sing along with as a child were by gospel artists such as Commissioned, Take 6, and John P. Kee, studying their licks and harmonies. Thicke has drawn influence from a variety of artists including James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Sting, Prince, Alanis Morissette, The Beatles, John Lennon, Bob Marley and Michael Jackson.",
"Thicke has drawn influence from a variety of artists including James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Sting, Prince, Alanis Morissette, The Beatles, John Lennon, Bob Marley and Michael Jackson. Thicke has said that he considers himself a soulful singer but does not like his music being described as \"blue-eyed soul\", finding the term too pigeonholing. Songwriting and producing Thicke began his career by writing and producing songs for popular artists. He co-wrote and produced the Color Me Badd song \"Sexual Capacity\" in 1996.",
"He co-wrote and produced the Color Me Badd song \"Sexual Capacity\" in 1996. He also co-wrote on the self-titled debut album by Christina Aguilera, which sold 17 million copies worldwide.",
"He also co-wrote on the self-titled debut album by Christina Aguilera, which sold 17 million copies worldwide. Albums on which Thicke's songwriting, producing, and other contributions have been featured include: Brandy, Brian Mcknight's I Remember You, Brownstone's Still Climbing, Jordan Knight, Chante Moore's This Moment Is Mine, Marc Anthony, P!nk's Can't Take Me Home, Ronan Keating's Ronan, Mýa's Fear of Flying, BBMak's Sooner or Later, both Will Young's Friday's Child and Keep On.",
"Albums on which Thicke's songwriting, producing, and other contributions have been featured include: Brandy, Brian Mcknight's I Remember You, Brownstone's Still Climbing, Jordan Knight, Chante Moore's This Moment Is Mine, Marc Anthony, P!nk's Can't Take Me Home, Ronan Keating's Ronan, Mýa's Fear of Flying, BBMak's Sooner or Later, both Will Young's Friday's Child and Keep On. The Thicke original \"When I Get You Alone\" was performed by Guy Sebastian, the winner of the first Australian Idol 2003, during the competition and at the Idol grand finale.",
"The Thicke original \"When I Get You Alone\" was performed by Guy Sebastian, the winner of the first Australian Idol 2003, during the competition and at the Idol grand finale. \"When I Get You Alone\" was a popular song choice for Sebastian; he put the live idol performance on his four-times platinum debut single \"Angels Brought Me Here\"; it was the fastest selling single in Australia debuting at number one and immediately breaking an ARIA record.",
"\"When I Get You Alone\" was a popular song choice for Sebastian; he put the live idol performance on his four-times platinum debut single \"Angels Brought Me Here\"; it was the fastest selling single in Australia debuting at number one and immediately breaking an ARIA record. In 2004, Thicke co-wrote and produced \"Out With My Baby\" with Guy Sebastian, along with being credited for work on two additional songs from Sebastian's second album, Beautiful Life.",
"In 2004, Thicke co-wrote and produced \"Out With My Baby\" with Guy Sebastian, along with being credited for work on two additional songs from Sebastian's second album, Beautiful Life. The single, \"Out With My Baby\", became a platinum selling #1 hit for Sebastian on the ARIA Singles Charts. During this same year, he co-wrote and produced a song with the singer and actress Raven-Symoné for the album This Is My Time, with the song \"Set Me Free\".",
"During this same year, he co-wrote and produced a song with the singer and actress Raven-Symoné for the album This Is My Time, with the song \"Set Me Free\". Thicke co-wrote \"Can U Handle It?\" for Usher's 2004 album, Confessions, with backing vocals provided by Paula Patton. Confessions would go on to sell 20 million copies worldwide and win the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B Album in 2005.",
"Confessions would go on to sell 20 million copies worldwide and win the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B Album in 2005. Thicke co-wrote and produced the song \"Tie My Hands\" on Lil' Wayne's multi-platinum selling album Tha Carter III which went on to win Best Rap Album. Thicke wrote and produced the song \"Giving Myself\" for Jennifer Hudson's eponymous debut album, which went on to win Best R&B Album.",
"Thicke wrote and produced the song \"Giving Myself\" for Jennifer Hudson's eponymous debut album, which went on to win Best R&B Album. In total, albums on which Thicke has been credited for his work (in capacities including writer, producer, arranger, vocalist, and musician) have sold over 60 million copies worldwide.",
"In total, albums on which Thicke has been credited for his work (in capacities including writer, producer, arranger, vocalist, and musician) have sold over 60 million copies worldwide. Throughout his career, Thicke has worked most frequently with long-time production partner Pro Jay (James Gass), whose contributions have appeared on all of Thicke's own studio albums and whose name can be found alongside Thicke's in writing and producing credits for other artists.",
"Throughout his career, Thicke has worked most frequently with long-time production partner Pro Jay (James Gass), whose contributions have appeared on all of Thicke's own studio albums and whose name can be found alongside Thicke's in writing and producing credits for other artists. Thicke also often enlists veteran session guitarist and songwriter Bobby Keyes as well as keyboardist and music director Larry Cox to contribute to his projects. Collaborations In 2005, Thicke performed as a guest on the remix of Will Smith's song \"Switch\".",
"Collaborations In 2005, Thicke performed as a guest on the remix of Will Smith's song \"Switch\". In 2007, Thicke appeared on 50 Cent's album Curtis on a song called \"Follow My Lead\". The following year, he worked with Ashanti on her fourth studio album, The Declaration. Thicke also appeared on R. Kelly's Untitled on the track \"Pregnant\" which also features Tyrese and The-Dream.",
"Thicke also appeared on R. Kelly's Untitled on the track \"Pregnant\" which also features Tyrese and The-Dream. In 2008, Thicke was enlisted by producer Polow da Don to play piano on the hit Usher track \"Love in This Club\", which reached the #1 position on the Billboard Hot 100.",
"In 2008, Thicke was enlisted by producer Polow da Don to play piano on the hit Usher track \"Love in This Club\", which reached the #1 position on the Billboard Hot 100. Thicke was featured along with a number of his contemporaries on the 2010 release Q Soul Bossa Nostra, an album in tribute to famed composer and music producer Quincy Jones (who also executive produced the project), which consisted of reinterpretations of Jones' work.",
"Thicke was featured along with a number of his contemporaries on the 2010 release Q Soul Bossa Nostra, an album in tribute to famed composer and music producer Quincy Jones (who also executive produced the project), which consisted of reinterpretations of Jones' work. In 2014, Thicke joined Jessie J on the DJ Cassidy produced song \"Calling All Hearts\".",
"In 2014, Thicke joined Jessie J on the DJ Cassidy produced song \"Calling All Hearts\". Thicke was featured along with bassist Verdine White on Flo Rida's \"I Don't Like It, I Love It\" in 2015 which found success on several international charts and peaked among the top 10 singles in seven countries.",
"Thicke was featured along with bassist Verdine White on Flo Rida's \"I Don't Like It, I Love It\" in 2015 which found success on several international charts and peaked among the top 10 singles in seven countries. Personal life At age 14, Robin Thicke first met actress Paula Patton, who was then 16, in 1991 at an under-21 hip-hop club called Balistyx (co-founded and co-hosted by David Faustino) on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles, when he asked her to dance.",
"Personal life At age 14, Robin Thicke first met actress Paula Patton, who was then 16, in 1991 at an under-21 hip-hop club called Balistyx (co-founded and co-hosted by David Faustino) on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles, when he asked her to dance. They were married in 2005 and their son was born in April 2010. Thicke and Patton separated in February 2014, after 21 years together and almost nine years of marriage.",
"Thicke and Patton separated in February 2014, after 21 years together and almost nine years of marriage. On October 9, 2014, Patton officially filed for divorce, which was finalized on March 20, 2015. In 2014, Thicke met April Love Geary at a party. They first appeared in public together in 2015. On February 22, 2018, the couple welcomed their first child, a daughter, Mia Love.",
"On February 22, 2018, the couple welcomed their first child, a daughter, Mia Love. In August 2018, Geary announced that the couple was expecting their second child; they became engaged on Christmas Eve 2018. On February 26, 2019, the couple welcomed their second child, another daughter, Lola Alain. In October 2020, the couple announced they were expecting their third child for December. On December 11, 2020, the couple welcomed their third child a boy, Luca Patrick.",
"On December 11, 2020, the couple welcomed their third child a boy, Luca Patrick. Thicke is a close friend of fellow performer Usher. Thicke was present for Usher's engagement to Tameka Foster, serenading the couple with his song \"The Stupid Things\" as Usher proposed among family and friends. On November 10, 2018, Geary revealed in an Instagram story she and Thicke had lost their Malibu home to the Woolsey wildfire that had been consuming the area.",
"On November 10, 2018, Geary revealed in an Instagram story she and Thicke had lost their Malibu home to the Woolsey wildfire that had been consuming the area. Two days later, Thicke returned to his property, describing the totality of the fire in a video for Entertainment Tonight: \"It's funny, [from what] you see in movies, you'd think there would be one doll left over, or a book of course, something. [But] it's just rubble.",
"[But] it's just rubble. [But] it's just rubble. There's nothing left.\" Controversies Performance with Miley Cyrus at MTV Video Music Awards 2013 In 2013, Robin Thicke and Miley Cyrus caused an uproar following their performance during the MTV Video Music Awards: during the performance, in which the singers had performed the songs \"Blurred Lines\" and \"We Can't Stop\", Cyrus had twerked in such a way as to mimic a sexual act with her colleague.",
"Controversies Performance with Miley Cyrus at MTV Video Music Awards 2013 In 2013, Robin Thicke and Miley Cyrus caused an uproar following their performance during the MTV Video Music Awards: during the performance, in which the singers had performed the songs \"Blurred Lines\" and \"We Can't Stop\", Cyrus had twerked in such a way as to mimic a sexual act with her colleague. Afterwards, Miley Cyrus said that Thicke had explicitly asked her to be \"as naked as possible\" during the performance.",
"Afterwards, Miley Cyrus said that Thicke had explicitly asked her to be \"as naked as possible\" during the performance. According to the same source, \"Thicke was angry with Cyrus for “going too far” during the VMAs, and that he thought the “Wrecking Ball” songstress had “hijacked the performance.”\" Marvin Gaye plagiarism After Blurred Lines' success, the heirs of singer Marvin Gaye sued Thicke and Pharrell Williams claiming the song was a plagiarism of Gaye's song \"Got to Give It Up\".",
"According to the same source, \"Thicke was angry with Cyrus for “going too far” during the VMAs, and that he thought the “Wrecking Ball” songstress had “hijacked the performance.”\" Marvin Gaye plagiarism After Blurred Lines' success, the heirs of singer Marvin Gaye sued Thicke and Pharrell Williams claiming the song was a plagiarism of Gaye's song \"Got to Give It Up\". Jurors awarded the Gayes $7.4 million, but U.S. District Judge John Kronstadt reduced the sum to $5.3 million, while adding royalties.",
"Jurors awarded the Gayes $7.4 million, but U.S. District Judge John Kronstadt reduced the sum to $5.3 million, while adding royalties. Emily Ratajkowski's book In early October, 2021, fragments from Ratajkowski’s forthcoming book, \"My Body\", were leaked online, where the model allegedly claimed that Thicke groped her breasts without her consent in 2013 during the filming of the music video for the song \"Blurred Lines\".",
"Emily Ratajkowski's book In early October, 2021, fragments from Ratajkowski’s forthcoming book, \"My Body\", were leaked online, where the model allegedly claimed that Thicke groped her breasts without her consent in 2013 during the filming of the music video for the song \"Blurred Lines\". According to Time magazine and other sources, Ratajkowski was frustrated about the leaked chapter without her consent and also stated that it was taken out of the essay's context\".",
"According to Time magazine and other sources, Ratajkowski was frustrated about the leaked chapter without her consent and also stated that it was taken out of the essay's context\". Ratajkowski went on, \"It’s been hard for me, I really like to have control over my image and I wrote this book of essays to share the whole story and all sides of it, and I feel like it turns into a clickbait frenzy and all of a sudden words like ‘sexual assault’ and ‘allegations’ are getting thrown around rather than people reading the actual essay...",
"Ratajkowski went on, \"It’s been hard for me, I really like to have control over my image and I wrote this book of essays to share the whole story and all sides of it, and I feel like it turns into a clickbait frenzy and all of a sudden words like ‘sexual assault’ and ‘allegations’ are getting thrown around rather than people reading the actual essay... I'm just looking forward to when people will be able hear things in my own words.\"",
"I'm just looking forward to when people will be able hear things in my own words.\" Thicke has not publicly responded to Ratajkowski's allegations.",
"Thicke has not publicly responded to Ratajkowski's allegations. Thicke has not publicly responded to Ratajkowski's allegations. Discography Studio albums A Beautiful World (2002) The Evolution of Robin Thicke (2006) Something Else (2008) Sex Therapy: The Session (2009) Love After War (2011) Blurred Lines (2013) Paula (2014) On Earth, and in Heaven (2021) Tours Headlining Blurred Lines Tour (2014) Co-headlining Jennifer Hudson & Robin Thicke in Concert (with Jennifer Hudson) (2009) Promotional Love & War Tour (2011) Opening act 2006 Tour (for India Arie) (2006) Once Again Tour (for John Legend) (2006) The Beyoncé Experience (for Beyoncé) (2007) Love Soul Tour (for Mary J. Blige) (2008) Freedom Tour (for Alicia Keys) (2010) This Is It (for Michael Jackson) (cancelled) Overexposed Tour (for Maroon 5) (2014) See also List of awards and nominations received by Robin Thicke Pharrell Williams v. Bridgeport Music References External links 1977 births Living people 20th-century American male singers 20th-century American singers 21st-century American male singers 21st-century American singers American contemporary R&B singers American funk singers American male child actors American male film actors American male pop singers American male singer-songwriters American male television actors American people of Canadian descent American people of Scottish descent American people of Swedish descent American soul singers APRA Award winners Dance-pop musicians Grammy Award winners Interscope Records artists Male actors from California Male actors from Los Angeles People from Los Angeles Singers from Los Angeles Singer-songwriters from California"
] |
[
"Robin Thicke",
"Songwriting and producing",
"Does he write his own songs?",
"In total, albums on which Thicke has been credited for his work (in capacities including writer, producer, arranger, vocalist, and musician)"
] | C_9be1bcc2152b4a0295f216c5e0ab397f_0 | What was his biggest hit? | 2 | What was Robin Thicke's biggest musical hit? | Robin Thicke | Thicke began his career by writing and producing songs for popular artists. He co-wrote and produced the Color Me Badd song "Sexual Capacity" in 1996. He also co-wrote on the self-titled debut album by Christina Aguilera, which sold 17 million copies worldwide. Albums on which Thicke's songwriting, producing, and other contributions have been featured include: Brandy, Brian Mcknight's I Remember You, Brownstone's Still Climbing, Jordan Knight, Chante Moore's This Moment Is Mine, Marc Anthony, P!nk's Can't Take Me Home, Ronan Keating's Ronan, Mya's Fear of Flying, BBMak's Sooner or Later, both Will Young's Friday's Child and Keep On. The Thicke original "When I Get You Alone" was performed by Guy Sebastian, the winner of the first Australian Idol 2003, during the competition and at the Idol grand finale. "When I Get You Alone" was a popular song choice for Sebastian; he put the live idol performance on his four-times platinum debut single "Angels Brought Me Here"; it was the fastest selling single in Australia debuting at number one and immediately breaking an ARIA record. In 2004, Thicke co-wrote and produced "Out With My Baby" with Guy Sebastian, along with being credited for work on two additional songs from Sebastian's second album, Beautiful Life. The single, "Out With My Baby", became a platinum selling #1 hit for Sebastian on the ARIA Singles Charts. During this same year, he co-wrote and produced a song with the singer and actress Raven-Symone for the album This Is My Time, with the song "Set Me Free". Thicke co-wrote "Can U Handle It?" for Usher's 2004 album, Confessions, with backing vocals provided by Paula Patton. Confessions would go on to sell 20 million copies worldwide and win the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B Album in 2005. Thicke co-wrote and produced the song "Tie My Hands" on Lil' Wayne's multi-platinum selling album Tha Carter III which went on to win Best Rap Album. Thicke wrote and produced the song "Giving Myself" for the album Jennifer Hudson which went on to win Best R&B Album. In total, albums on which Thicke has been credited for his work (in capacities including writer, producer, arranger, vocalist, and musician) have sold over 60 million copies worldwide. Throughout his career, Thicke has worked most frequently with long-time production partner Pro Jay (James Gass), whose contributions have appeared on all of Thicke's own studio albums and whose name can be found alongside Thicke's in writing and producing credits for other artists. Thicke also often enlists veteran session guitarist and songwriter Bobby Keyes as well as keyboardist and music director Larry Cox to contribute to his projects. CANNOTANSWER | Confessions would go on to sell 20 million copies worldwide and win the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B Album in 2005. | Robin Alan Thicke (born March 10, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer.
He has collaborated with numerous artists, such as Nicki Minaj, 3T, T.I., Christina Aguilera, Jessie J, K. Michelle, Pharrell, DJ Cassidy, Usher, Jennifer Hudson, Flo Rida, Brandy, Kid Cudi, Mary J. Blige, Emily Ratajkowski and composed songs for Marc Anthony. Thicke worked on albums such as Usher's Confessions and Lil Wayne's Tha Carter III, while releasing his own R&B singles in the United States including "Lost Without U", "Magic", and "Sex Therapy". He gained international fame in 2013 with his single "Blurred Lines", which reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100. He is currently a judge on the Fox musical competition show The Masked Singer.
Thicke is a son of actress Gloria Loring and actor Alan Thicke.
Early life and career
Thicke was born on March 10, 1977, in Los Angeles, California. His parents are American actress-singer Gloria Loring, who appeared on the NBC daytime drama Days of Our Lives, and actor Alan Thicke (1947–2016), who is originally from Canada and known for his role on the TV sitcom Growing Pains. They divorced when Thicke was 7 years old. He has an older brother, Brennan, who worked as a voice actor and voiced the titular character on the Dennis the Menace cartoon, and a younger half-brother, Carter. Robin Thicke also appeared in small roles on The Wonder Years, The New Lassie, Just the Ten of Us and several episodes of Growing Pains.
Thicke's parents were supportive of his musical inclinations; his father helped him to write and structure his first songs. According to Robin Thicke, his father would not pay for Robin Thicke (then in his early teens) and his vocal group, As One, to record a professionally produced demo tape, wanting Robin to focus on his studies and graduate from school before committing to the pursuit of a career in music. The demo ultimately was paid for by jazz vocalist Al Jarreau, an uncle of one of the group members.
His demo made its way to R&B singer Brian McKnight, who was impressed enough by Thicke to invite him into the studio to work with him. Thicke was signed to McKnight's production company; "Anyway", a song co-written with Thicke, was featured on McKnight's second album I Remember You. Thicke's peers jokingly nicknamed him "Brian McWhite". It was Thicke's association with McKnight, who Thicke counts as one of his first mentors, that led him to his acquaintance with Jimmy Iovine and helped him to land his first recording contract with Interscope Records at the age of 16. Thicke later joined a hip hop duo with future Beverly Hills 90210 actor Brian Austin Green.
Thicke moved out on his own at the age of 17, during his senior year of high school, earning a living and supporting himself as a professional record producer and songwriter. Thicke has noted that while his parents did not attempt to dissuade him from his desire to be in the music industry, their own experience with the nature of the entertainment business made them leery in the beginning. As Thicke's list of credits grew so did his parents' confidence in his decision.
While initially signed as a singer and artist in his own right, Thicke first made a name for himself within the industry as a songwriter and producer for other artists before releasing and performing his own music. Among his work for other artists, Thicke co-wrote "Love Is on My Side" on Brandy's eponymous debut album; he also wrote for 3T's Brotherhood, and collaborated with Jordan Knight, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis on several songs in Knight's 1999 album Jordan Knight including the Billboard top 10 hit "Give It to You". According to Thicke, Knight also invested in the ability of the young songwriter early on by purchasing studio equipment for him.
He also co-wrote the song "When You Put Your Hands on Me" for Christina Aguilera's debut album and co-wrote and produced three songs for Mýa's sophomore release, Fear of Flying. In 1999, Thicke co-wrote the song "Fall Again" with Walter Afanasieff, which was intended to be a track on Michael Jackson's 2001 album Invincible, but it failed to be presented as a completed song. The demo Michael recorded in 1999 was released on November 16, 2004, as an album track of his limited edition box set The Ultimate Collection. As an artist, he recorded and performed solely under his surname, Thicke. He would continue to do so until 2005.
Career
1999–2003: A Beautiful World and early success
At the age of 22, after an involvement with Tommy Mottola and Epic Records following the end of his first deal with Interscope, Thicke resolved himself to work chiefly on material for his debut album, initially titled Cherry Blue Skies, planning to use his own money to fund the project. As Thicke told Billboard, "I decided I was going to save money to make my album, and I hoped to offer it to labels–take it or leave it–so I didn't have to negotiate how to make my music." While piecing his album together, Thicke began working with veteran producer and label executive Andre Harrell and, under his guidance, eventually signed with Interscope for a second time as part of Harrell's and Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds' Nu America imprint label in 2001.
In 2002, Thicke released his debut single "When I Get You Alone". The track samples Walter Murphy's "A Fifth of Beethoven", which itself is a disco rendition of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. The music video for the song received some rotation on MTV2 and BET's Rated Next and was spun moderately on pop and urban radio, peaking at number 49 on Radio & Records Pop chart. Globally, however, "When I Get You Alone" became a chart success when it peaked in the Top 20 in Australia, Belgium, and Italy, and reached the Top 10 of the singles charts in New Zealand and the Top 3 in the Netherlands.
The moderate success was enough to signal the release of the album in 2003 with its name changed to A Beautiful World. Despite the release of a second single, "Brand New Jones", the album received very little promotion and debuted at number 152 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, selling 119,000 copies as of January, 2012. A Beautiful World fell below the label's commercial expectations. The album's under-performance troubled Thicke personally, but it proved enough to make him a wanted collaborator. Thicke has cited Mary J. Blige, Usher, and Lil' Wayne, among others, as those who subsequently reached out to him.
Reflecting on A Beautiful World in 2013, Usher stated to The New York Times, "I was blown away — I thought Beatles, Earth Wind & Fire, Shuggie Otis, Marvin Gaye — all in one album. [Robin's] got a soul you can't buy, man."
Runner-up Blake Lewis performed "When I Get You Alone" during the 2007 season of American Idol when the Top 3 chose a song to sing. Lewis has often put Robin Thicke in his list of musical influences in interviews and on the American Idol website. The song was also performed by Blaine Anderson (played by Darren Criss) on Glee during the Season 2 episode "Silly Love Songs".
2004–07: The Evolution of Robin Thicke and commercial breakthrough
Following A Beautiful World, Thicke was keen to begin work on his sophomore album but financial and creative disagreements stemming from the performance of his first album led to a several month-long stalemate between Robin and his record label.
Regarding this time in his career, Thicke said,"The label pretty much lost faith in my ability to sell. It became a question of, 'Where does he fit? Is he not rock or pop enough? Is he not soul enough?'" Pharrell Williams, having established a distribution deal with Interscope for his record label, Star Trak, expressed to Jimmy Iovine his interest in Thicke, whose talent he thought of highly.
Signed to Star Trak in 2005, Thicke continued work on his second album, The Evolution of Robin Thicke. The first single, "Wanna Love U Girl", featured producer Williams and charted successfully on urban radio in the United Kingdom. In 2006, a remix version of the song was filmed with rapper Busta Rhymes. Nearly a year after the single was released, the album was released on October 3, 2006. To promote the album, Thicke toured with India.Arie and then opened for John Legend in late 2006.
The video for his second single, the ballad "Lost Without U", was released in fall 2006. The song began appearing on Billboard R&B charts in November of that year. With the assistance of radio airplay, the song became his breakout hit, reaching number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spending 11 weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, making him the first white male artist to top that chart since George Michael did so in 1988 with "One More Try".
In the February 24, 2007 issue of Billboard, Thicke concurrently topped four Billboard charts: Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, and Adult R&B Songs, a feat he would duplicate in the March 17 issue. Following its re-release as a Deluxe Edition (with three new bonus tracks) on February 13, 2007, the album peaked at number five on the Billboard 200. On March 23, 2007, The Evolution of Robin Thicke was certified Platinum by the RIAA. With album sales of over 1.5 million copies sold domestically, The Evolution of Robin Thicke became a commercial success in the United States.
Thicke and his record label Interscope soon considered potential tracks to be released as the album's next and third single. Thicke's preference was the track "Can U Believe", which peaked at number 16 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and at number 99 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. On October 2, 2007, the track "Got 2 Be Down" was released as the album's fourth official single. The single peaked at number 60 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks.
On April 19, 2007, Thicke performed on The Oprah Winfrey Show, singing "Lost Without U". He returned to the show a month later, on May 29, performing "Complicated" and Oprah's favorite song from the album, "Would That Make U Love Me", while also promoting Beyoncé's tour, on which he would be an opening act. Oprah revealed that Thicke's initial appearance garnered a strong reaction, noting that people called the show to say that they didn't know he would be on. Oprah explained, "So what I wanted to do was to accommodate all of the people who missed it the first time ... In order to do that, I had to do something I've never done before. I got on the phone and asked this very special guest if he would consider coming back."
In late 2007, Thicke finished promotion for the album as the featured opening act for the North American leg of Beyoncé's US tour, The Beyoncé Experience. Other notable performances in support of the album and its single "Lost Without U" include the 2007 BET Awards, The 2007 MOBO Awards,
American Idol, and the 2007 Soul Train Music Awards. He also performed a one-off UK concert at KOKO in London on September 24, 2007.
2008–2010: Something Else and Sex Therapy
Thicke released his third solo album, titled Something Else, on September 30, 2008. It debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 charts and sold 137,000 copies in the first week. The first single from the album, "Magic", was a further expansion of the R&B sound that powered his 2006 breakthrough, The Evolution of Robin Thicke. "Magic" went on to peak at number two on the Adult R&B chart, number six on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart and number 59 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. He followed this success with the second single, "The Sweetest Love", which peaked at number two on the Adult R&B chart and number 20 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart.
On February 8, 2009, at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards, Thicke took the stage alongside Lil' Wayne to perform their song "Tie My Hands" from the Grammy-winning album Tha Carter III (the song was also featured on Something Else) which was followed by Thicke and Lil' Wayne participating in a medley of "Big Chief" and "My Feet Can't Fail Me Now" led by jazz musicians Allen Toussaint, Terence Blanchard, and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band in tribute to New Orleans and the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
Thicke appeared on an episode of ABC's The Bachelor to perform "Magic" and "The Sweetest Love" for the remaining female contestants. Thicke wrote and produced a track for the movie Precious in which his wife Paula Patton also starred, though it did not appear on the soundtrack and remains unreleased. He co-headlined a U.S. tour with Jennifer Hudson, which began March 31, 2009 in Albany, New York, and wrapped up 25 shows later in Biloxi, Mississippi. At the start of the tour, Thicke released "Dreamworld" as the official third single from Something Else. As of April 2009, Something Else has shifted over 435,000 units in the U.S.
Seven months after the release of Something Else, Billboard.com announced that Thicke would release his fourth studio album in the fall of 2009, his first to not be mainly self-produced. The album, titled Sex Therapy, had its release date postponed to winter, on December 15, 2009. The first single from the album was the title track, produced by Polow Da Don, which in March 2010 became Thicke's second song to top the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The lead single for international markets was "Rollacosta" featuring singer Estelle. The second U.S. single was "It's in the Mornin'" featuring Snoop Dogg. "Shakin' It for Daddy", featuring rapper Nicki Minaj, produced by Polow Da Don, was supposed to be released as a single at some point, however, its release was eventually canceled.
Speaking of the musical background to Sex Therapy, Thicke told Pete Lewis – Deputy Editor of Blues & Soul – "I'm always gonna have the influence of Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and Al Green in my music. But with this album I also wanted to show my hip hop side. I grew up listening to Run-DMC and N.W.A and Biggie and Pac and Jay-Z ... So I really wanted to make a record that represented how much that music has influenced me." Earlier in 2009, on October 14, Leighton Meester's debut single "Somebody to Love", featuring Thicke, was released. Thicke told MTV he hoped to have Lil Wayne on the album. He also pointed out that he was featured on Lil Wayne's last two albums, and Lil Wayne was on his last two albums. "We're kind of good luck charms for each other."
Thicke appeared on ABC's New Year's Rockin' Eve on January 1, 2010, and performed three songs in Las Vegas, in a pre-recorded segment. Also in 2010, it was confirmed that he, along with Melanie Fiona, would feature on The Freedom Tour with Alicia Keys. As of October 2011, the album has sold 289,000 copies in the United States. On February 5, 2010, Thicke participated in BET's SOS Saving Ourselves: Help For Haiti telethon concert, held in response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake.
2011–12: Love After War and Duets
During 2011, Thicke was confirmed to go on tour with Jennifer Hudson, with whom he toured in 2009. Later that year, Robin Thicke released his fifth studio album, Love After War, on December 6, 2011. The album debuted at number twenty-two on the Billboard 200 and number six on the "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums" selling 41,000 in its first week. In an interview to promote the album, Thicke has stated that a lot of the inspiration for the album came from his family.
The album has produced three singles. The first is the title track, "Love After War" released on October 11, 2011, and has peaked at number fourteen on the "Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs" chart and topped the Adult R&B chart making it his second song after "Lost Without U" to top that chart. The music video for the song premiered November 21, 2011. The music video features his wife Paula Patton and consists of Thicke making up with his wife after a fight.
The second single is "Pretty Lil' Heart", which features Lil Wayne and was released on November 8, 2011. The music video for that premiered on March 2, 2012. It peaked at number fifty-one on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. On May 31, 2012, Thicke released a video for his promo single, which was a cover of the Whitney Houston classic "Exhale (Shoop Shoop"). The third official single is "All Tied Up" which was released to Urban AC radio on April 10, 2012. The music video premiered on June 7, 2012, on "Vevo".
Thicke performed "Love After War" on the 2011 Soul Train Music Awards and later returned to the stage to sing "Reasons", trading verses with Joe and Eric Benét, as part of an all-star tribute to Legend Award recipients Earth, Wind & Fire.
Thicke appeared on season 2 of NBC's The Voice as a guest adviser/mentor to the contestants on Adam Levine's team.
In July 2012, Thicke made his feature film debut starring alongside Jaime Pressly in Jimbo Lee's Abby in the Summer, produced by Gabriel Cowan, John Suits, Dallas Sonnier and Jack Heller. The film, shot in 2012, was released in 2014 under the title Making the Rules.
Thicke served as a judge on the ABC television show Duets which premiered May 24, 2012 and which also featured John Legend, Jennifer Nettles, and Kelly Clarkson. The judges doubled as mentors who searched for singers across the country (Robin Thicke's singers being Olivia Chisholm and Alexis Foster) to duet with them as they perform in front of a live studio audience. The premier episode drew in 7 million viewers. The show went live June 28, 2012, allowing the viewers to vote for their favorite contestants.
2013: Blurred Lines and Real Husbands of Hollywood
On March 26, 2013, Thicke released "Blurred Lines" featuring T.I. and Pharrell as the lead single to his sixth studio album, also titled Blurred Lines. The video, featuring models Emily Ratajkowski, Jessi M'Bengue, and Elle Evans, was directed by Diane Martel and released on March 20, 2013, and garnered more than 1 million views in days after release on Vevo. Thicke said he had received the approval of his wife Paula Patton before shooting the video.
In early 2013, Thicke starred as a fictionalized version of himself alongside Kevin Hart, Boris Kodjoe, Nelly, Duane Martin, J.B. Smoove, Nick Cannon, and Cynthia McWilliams in the first season of BET's hit show Real Husbands of Hollywood. Thicke was unable to rejoin the cast for the shooting of the second season, opting instead to focus on his music. According to Thicke, "Once the song started to take off, and all this momentum was happening, and [Real Husbands of Hollywood] needed me for all eight weeks, I couldn't finish the album and promote the single and go over seas and do all these other things I wanted to do."
As Thicke stated to the Breakfast Club, "The album is called Blurred Lines. I've realized as I've gotten older that we all think we're living either in a black or white world, or on a straight path, but most of us are living right in between those straight lines. And everything you thought you knew, the older you get, you realize, 'Damn, I don't know nothing about this. I better pay attention, I better listen and keep learning.' So I think that, that's what I've been realizing these past few years."
The singer also stated his attempt into a more poppy sound than his normal environment. "The last year I've been wanting to have more fun. I think I took myself very seriously as an artist and I wanted to be like Marvin Gaye, and John Lennon and Bob Marley and these great artists and songwriters that sang about love and sang about relationships," Robin said. "And then the last year, my wife and I just really wanted to have fun again, we wanted to be young again and we wanted to dance again and go out with our friends, so I wanted to make music that reflected that culture also." The song has been a worldwide hit, has peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and has also reached number one in 13 more countries including the United Kingdom, where Blurred Lines became only the 137th record in history to surpass the one million sales mark, and the United States. The new album Blurred Lines was released on July 30, 2013.
The song and related music videos also received criticism for being misogynistic and promoting rape culture, with some critics calling the lyrics "creepy" and the song "rapey". In an interview for GQ magazine Thicke joked about the video, saying, "What a pleasure it is to degrade a woman. I've never gotten to do that before. I've always respected women." In response to Thicke's statement in GQ that the idea of the video was to be 'derogatory towards women', the director Diane Martel denied this was discussed on set: "That's crazy. Maybe he wasn't thinking when he said that."
During an interview with Oprah Winfrey for Oprah's Next Chapter, Thicke clarified his comment about degrading women, describing it as a "bad joke", noting that the published GQ interview did not mention that he was doing an impersonation of Will Ferrell's Ron Burgundy character while making the remark, thus not providing the sarcastic/joking context.
The song's unrated music video was originally banned from YouTube before being reposted some weeks later.
On August 25, at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards, Thicke performed "Blurred Lines" with Miley Cyrus, who is twerking on stage, followed by "Give It 2 U" with 2 Chainz and Kendrick Lamar. The performance drew negative reactions for its alleged raunchiness, sexism, racism, slut-shaming, and cultural appropriation. It became the most tweeted about event in history, with Twitter users generating 360,000 tweets about the event per minute; breaking the previous record held by Beyoncé's Super Bowl XLVII halftime show performance six months earlier.
On December 6, 2013, Thicke and T.I. performed "Blurred Lines" accompanied by Earth, Wind & Fire at The Grammy Nominations Concert Live! on CBS where it was announced that Thicke had been nominated for three Grammy Awards: Best Pop Vocal Album for Blurred Lines and Record of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for the album's single "Blurred Lines". In the same month, he was awarded the title "Sexist of the Year" by the End Violence Against Women Coalition, which has more than 60 member groups working to end sexual and domestic violence, trafficking and other forms of abuse. Thicke received twice as many votes as the poll's runner up, Prime Minister David Cameron. It was parodied many times and forbidden in many UK student unions.
On January 26, 2014, Thicke performed live with Chicago at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards, celebrating the induction of Chicago's debut album, The Chicago Transit Authority, into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Thicke and Chicago performed a medley of "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?", "Beginnings", and "Saturday in the Park" ending with "Blurred Lines".
2014–present: Paula and On Earth, and in Heaven
In February 2014, Thicke collaborated with DJ Cassidy and British singer Jessie J to record Calling All Hearts.
In June 2014, Thicke announced that his next album would be called Paula, dedicated to his estranged wife, Paula Patton. The lead single "Get Her Back" was released on May 19, 2014. Thicke debuted the song on the same day with a performance at the Billboard Music Awards where he also won four awards for "Blurred Lines". Thicke also appeared on the season finale of The Voice singing "Get Her Back" with finalist Josh Kaufman. Thicke then performed the song "Forever Love" at the BET Awards 2014.
At the end of June 2014, during a Q&A session on Twitter and hosted by VH1, Thicke asked followers to submit questions by using the hashtag #AskThicke. The tag was quickly overrun by people protesting against his lyrics criticized as misogynistic, his lifestyle choices and other detractors leading to what The Guardian called "an epic PR fail". When a Twitter user pointed out that the comments directed at Thicke were "brutal", Thicke responded: "I can handle it, I'm a big boy".
The album, originally set for a Fall release, was pushed forward and released on July 1, 2014, five weeks after the release of its lead single. Paula peaked at #9 on the Billboard 200, and sold 24,000 copies in its first week of release. In a 2015 interview with Jody Rosen of The New York Times, Thicke expressed both embarrassment over his public dedications and regret over giving the album a commercial release, stating, "my record company didn't want me to put it out, but they stuck by me. In hindsight, the only thing I would have done differently was, I wouldn't have promoted it or sold it. I would have given it away."
Following the release of Paula, Thicke spent several months largely away from media appearances and performing in order to focus on his personal life and to work on new music. Thicke returned to the spotlight at the BET Awards 2015 to sing the classic Smokey Robinson and The Miracles hit "Ooo Baby Baby" in tribute to Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Smokey Robinson and joined Robinson on stage for a group rendition of "My Girl" alongside Tori Kelly and Ne-Yo. On June 29, on the heels of his BET Awards performance, Thicke debuted the lyric video for his new single "Morning Sun", on Vevo followed by the official release of the single on June 30. "Morning Sun" rose to the number 4 position on the Billboard Adult R&B Songs chart becoming Thicke's 11th top 10 hit on Urban AC radio.
Speaking with Prestige Hong Kong, Thicke explained: "The new album is call[ed] Morning Sun. It's about fresh starts, new beginnings, and the heralding in of a new day. It's about the last year of my life, the time I've spent with my friends and family and especially my son." Thicke also spoke of working again with Pharrell and Timbaland as well as with new collaborators DJ Mustard, Max Martin, and Ricky Reed. Another new single "Back Together", featuring Nicki Minaj, was released on August 6, 2015. Thicke rejoined the cast of Real Husbands of Hollywood in 2016 for its fifth season. In the premiere episode, Thicke parodied his publicized personal and professional troubles including his divorce, lawsuit, drug use and poorly received album.
In January 2019, Thicke began appearing as a panelist on the reality competition series The Masked Singer.
After nearly eight years since their hit collaboration, "Blurred Lines", Thicke and producer Pharrell Williams reunited for the single "Take Me Higher", released on January 21, 2021. It was included on his eighth studio album, On Earth, and in Heaven, released on February 12, 2021, through his Lucky Music label in partnership with Empire Distribution. It marks his first album since 2014's Paula. Thicke explained the album's inspiration: "I feel like I'm finally the person I set out to be. I'm able to laugh at anything, which I've realized is the greatest superpower. I've fully embraced it, and nothing has been better for my soul. When I saw the phrase 'On Earth, and in Heaven', I realized that's what I'm singing about: the people who aren't here and the people who are here that made me who I am. This music is the sunshine coming out after the rain".
Thicke collected his sixth No. 1 on Billboard's Adult R&B Airplay chart with “Look Easy” on the list dated for August 21.
Artistry
Influences
Thicke is a self-taught pianist. Some of the first songs he learned to play and sing along with as a child were by gospel artists such as Commissioned, Take 6, and John P. Kee, studying their licks and harmonies. Thicke has drawn influence from a variety of artists including James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Sting, Prince, Alanis Morissette, The Beatles, John Lennon, Bob Marley and Michael Jackson.
Thicke has said that he considers himself a soulful singer but does not like his music being described as "blue-eyed soul", finding the term too pigeonholing.
Songwriting and producing
Thicke began his career by writing and producing songs for popular artists. He co-wrote and produced the Color Me Badd song "Sexual Capacity" in 1996. He also co-wrote on the self-titled debut album by Christina Aguilera, which sold 17 million copies worldwide. Albums on which Thicke's songwriting, producing, and other contributions have been featured include: Brandy, Brian Mcknight's I Remember You, Brownstone's Still Climbing, Jordan Knight, Chante Moore's This Moment Is Mine, Marc Anthony, P!nk's Can't Take Me Home, Ronan Keating's Ronan, Mýa's Fear of Flying, BBMak's Sooner or Later, both Will Young's Friday's Child and Keep On.
The Thicke original "When I Get You Alone" was performed by Guy Sebastian, the winner of the first Australian Idol 2003, during the competition and at the Idol grand finale. "When I Get You Alone" was a popular song choice for Sebastian; he put the live idol performance on his four-times platinum debut single "Angels Brought Me Here"; it was the fastest selling single in Australia debuting at number one and immediately breaking an ARIA record. In 2004, Thicke co-wrote and produced "Out With My Baby" with Guy Sebastian, along with being credited for work on two additional songs from Sebastian's second album, Beautiful Life. The single, "Out With My Baby", became a platinum selling #1 hit for Sebastian on the ARIA Singles Charts. During this same year, he co-wrote and produced a song with the singer and actress Raven-Symoné for the album This Is My Time, with the song "Set Me Free".
Thicke co-wrote "Can U Handle It?" for Usher's 2004 album, Confessions, with backing vocals provided by Paula Patton. Confessions would go on to sell 20 million copies worldwide and win the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B Album in 2005.
Thicke co-wrote and produced the song "Tie My Hands" on Lil' Wayne's multi-platinum selling album Tha Carter III which went on to win Best Rap Album. Thicke wrote and produced the song "Giving Myself" for Jennifer Hudson's eponymous debut album, which went on to win Best R&B Album.
In total, albums on which Thicke has been credited for his work (in capacities including writer, producer, arranger, vocalist, and musician) have sold over 60 million copies worldwide.
Throughout his career, Thicke has worked most frequently with long-time production partner Pro Jay (James Gass), whose contributions have appeared on all of Thicke's own studio albums and whose name can be found alongside Thicke's in writing and producing credits for other artists. Thicke also often enlists veteran session guitarist and songwriter Bobby Keyes as well as keyboardist and music director Larry Cox to contribute to his projects.
Collaborations
In 2005, Thicke performed as a guest on the remix of Will Smith's song "Switch". In 2007, Thicke appeared on 50 Cent's album Curtis on a song called "Follow My Lead". The following year, he worked with Ashanti on her fourth studio album, The Declaration. Thicke also appeared on R. Kelly's Untitled on the track "Pregnant" which also features Tyrese and The-Dream. In 2008, Thicke was enlisted by producer Polow da Don to play piano on the hit Usher track "Love in This Club", which reached the #1 position on the Billboard Hot 100.
Thicke was featured along with a number of his contemporaries on the 2010 release Q Soul Bossa Nostra, an album in tribute to famed composer and music producer Quincy Jones (who also executive produced the project), which consisted of reinterpretations of Jones' work. In 2014, Thicke joined Jessie J on the DJ Cassidy produced song "Calling All Hearts". Thicke was featured along with bassist Verdine White on Flo Rida's "I Don't Like It, I Love It" in 2015 which found success on several international charts and peaked among the top 10 singles in seven countries.
Personal life
At age 14, Robin Thicke first met actress Paula Patton, who was then 16, in 1991 at an under-21 hip-hop club called Balistyx (co-founded and co-hosted by David Faustino) on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles, when he asked her to dance. They were married in 2005 and their son was born in April 2010. Thicke and Patton separated in February 2014, after 21 years together and almost nine years of marriage. On October 9, 2014, Patton officially filed for divorce, which was finalized on March 20, 2015.
In 2014, Thicke met April Love Geary at a party. They first appeared in public together in 2015. On February 22, 2018, the couple welcomed their first child, a daughter, Mia Love. In August 2018, Geary announced that the couple was expecting their second child; they became engaged on Christmas Eve 2018. On February 26, 2019, the couple welcomed their second child, another daughter, Lola Alain. In October 2020, the couple announced they were expecting their third child for December. On December 11, 2020, the couple welcomed their third child a boy, Luca Patrick.
Thicke is a close friend of fellow performer Usher. Thicke was present for Usher's engagement to Tameka Foster, serenading the couple with his song "The Stupid Things" as Usher proposed among family and friends.
On November 10, 2018, Geary revealed in an Instagram story she and Thicke had lost their Malibu home to the Woolsey wildfire that had been consuming the area. Two days later, Thicke returned to his property, describing the totality of the fire in a video for Entertainment Tonight: "It's funny, [from what] you see in movies, you'd think there would be one doll left over, or a book of course, something. [But] it's just rubble. There's nothing left."
Controversies
Performance with Miley Cyrus at MTV Video Music Awards 2013
In 2013, Robin Thicke and Miley Cyrus caused an uproar following their performance during the MTV Video Music Awards: during the performance, in which the singers had performed the songs "Blurred Lines" and "We Can't Stop", Cyrus had twerked in such a way as to mimic a sexual act with her colleague. Afterwards, Miley Cyrus said that Thicke had explicitly asked her to be "as naked as possible" during the performance. According to the same source, "Thicke was angry with Cyrus for “going too far” during the VMAs, and that he thought the “Wrecking Ball” songstress had “hijacked the performance.”"
Marvin Gaye plagiarism
After Blurred Lines' success, the heirs of singer Marvin Gaye sued Thicke and Pharrell Williams claiming the song was a plagiarism of Gaye's song "Got to Give It Up". Jurors awarded the Gayes $7.4 million, but U.S. District Judge John Kronstadt reduced the sum to $5.3 million, while adding royalties.
Emily Ratajkowski's book
In early October, 2021, fragments from Ratajkowski’s forthcoming book, "My Body", were leaked online, where the model allegedly claimed that Thicke groped her breasts without her consent in 2013 during the filming of the music video for the song "Blurred Lines". According to Time magazine and other sources, Ratajkowski was frustrated about the leaked chapter without her consent and also stated that it was taken out of the essay's context". Ratajkowski went on, "It’s been hard for me, I really like to have control over my image and I wrote this book of essays to share the whole story and all sides of it, and I feel like it turns into a clickbait frenzy and all of a sudden words like ‘sexual assault’ and ‘allegations’ are getting thrown around rather than people reading the actual essay... I'm just looking forward to when people will be able hear things in my own words." Thicke has not publicly responded to Ratajkowski's allegations.
Discography
Studio albums
A Beautiful World (2002)
The Evolution of Robin Thicke (2006)
Something Else (2008)
Sex Therapy: The Session (2009)
Love After War (2011)
Blurred Lines (2013)
Paula (2014)
On Earth, and in Heaven (2021)
Tours
Headlining
Blurred Lines Tour (2014)
Co-headlining
Jennifer Hudson & Robin Thicke in Concert (with Jennifer Hudson) (2009)
Promotional
Love & War Tour (2011)
Opening act
2006 Tour (for India Arie) (2006)
Once Again Tour (for John Legend) (2006)
The Beyoncé Experience (for Beyoncé) (2007)
Love Soul Tour (for Mary J. Blige) (2008)
Freedom Tour (for Alicia Keys) (2010)
This Is It (for Michael Jackson) (cancelled)
Overexposed Tour (for Maroon 5) (2014)
See also
List of awards and nominations received by Robin Thicke
Pharrell Williams v. Bridgeport Music
References
External links
1977 births
Living people
20th-century American male singers
20th-century American singers
21st-century American male singers
21st-century American singers
American contemporary R&B singers
American funk singers
American male child actors
American male film actors
American male pop singers
American male singer-songwriters
American male television actors
American people of Canadian descent
American people of Scottish descent
American people of Swedish descent
American soul singers
APRA Award winners
Dance-pop musicians
Grammy Award winners
Interscope Records artists
Male actors from California
Male actors from Los Angeles
People from Los Angeles
Singers from Los Angeles
Singer-songwriters from California | true | [
"\"Faded Love\" is a Western swing song written by Bob Wills, his father John Wills, and his brother, Billy Jack Wills. The tune is considered to be an exemplar of the Western swing fiddle component of American fiddle. \n\nThe melody came from an 1856 ballad, \"Darling Nelly Gray\", which John Wills knew as a fiddle tune. \"Faded Love\" is a sentimental song about lost love. The name comes from the refrain that follows each verse: \"I remember our faded love\".\n\nThe song was a major hit for Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys (MGM 10786) reaching number eight on the Country charts in 1950. It became one of his signature songs.\n\nOther versions\n\nLeon McAuliffe had two Top 40 hits with \"Faded Love\", both reaching number 22 (Cimarron 4057, 1962, and MGM 14249, 1971). The former was an instrumental version, and the latter rendition was a collaboration with Tompall & the Glaser Brothers. Also in 1962, it was a modest hit for Jackie DeShannon, reaching number 97 on the Billboard Hot 100.\n\nThe song had greater success when Patsy Cline covered it in 1963. Her version became a hit, reaching number seven on the U.S. Country charts and number 96 on the Billboard Hot 100. Due to the airplane crash that ended Cline's life, her version was never released on a studio album. Instead, it was belatedly released on Patsy Cline's Greatest Hits, a compilation album in 1967. Cline's version was originally intended to be the title cut for a planned album, and was made at what turned out to be the last recording session before her death.\n\nA recording made by Ray Price and Willie Nelson was the biggest hit version from a chart standpoint. Their duet version — which featured Crystal Gayle singing harmony on the chorus — reached number three on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart in October 1980. The song, which came out at a time when Nelson was country music's biggest superstar, gave Price his first top 10 hit in more than five years and biggest hit in seven years.\n\nReferences\n\nBibliography\nMcWhorter, Frankie. Cowboy Fiddler in Bob Wills' Band. University of North Texas Press, 1997. \nWhitburn, Joel. The Billboard Book of Top 40 Country Hits. Billboard Books, 2006. \n\n1950 songs\n1950 singles\nBob Wills songs\n1963 singles\n1980 singles\nPatsy Cline songs\nElvis Presley songs\nLeon McAuliffe songs\nWillie Nelson songs\nRay Price (musician) songs\nTompall & the Glaser Brothers songs\nDottie West songs\nWestern swing songs\nJackie DeShannon songs\nSongs written by Bob Wills\nSymbols of Oklahoma",
"Samuelle Prater, known simply as Samuelle, is an American R&B singer who is a former member of the R&B group Club Nouveau. He was the lead singer on Club Nouveau's #1 Pop and Dance and #2 R&B hit remake of the Bill Withers classic, \"Lean on Me\".\n\nHe released his first and only solo album entitled, Living in Black Paradise on October 30, 1990 on Atlantic Records, which reached number 37 on the Billboard R&B Albums chart. This album featured his biggest solo hit, \"So You Like What You See\", which was accompanied by a music video featuring Tyra Banks. In October 2004, \"So You Like What You See\" appeared on the popular videogame Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, playing on new jack swing radio station CSR 103.9.\n\nReferences\n\nLiving people\nAmerican contemporary R&B singers\nYear of birth missing (living people)"
] | [
"Robin Alan Thicke (born March 10, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He has collaborated with numerous artists, such as Nicki Minaj, 3T, T.I., Christina Aguilera, Jessie J, K. Michelle, Pharrell, DJ Cassidy, Usher, Jennifer Hudson, Flo Rida, Brandy, Kid Cudi, Mary J. Blige, Emily Ratajkowski and composed songs for Marc Anthony.",
"He has collaborated with numerous artists, such as Nicki Minaj, 3T, T.I., Christina Aguilera, Jessie J, K. Michelle, Pharrell, DJ Cassidy, Usher, Jennifer Hudson, Flo Rida, Brandy, Kid Cudi, Mary J. Blige, Emily Ratajkowski and composed songs for Marc Anthony. Thicke worked on albums such as Usher's Confessions and Lil Wayne's Tha Carter III, while releasing his own R&B singles in the United States including \"Lost Without U\", \"Magic\", and \"Sex Therapy\".",
"Thicke worked on albums such as Usher's Confessions and Lil Wayne's Tha Carter III, while releasing his own R&B singles in the United States including \"Lost Without U\", \"Magic\", and \"Sex Therapy\". He gained international fame in 2013 with his single \"Blurred Lines\", which reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100. He is currently a judge on the Fox musical competition show The Masked Singer. Thicke is a son of actress Gloria Loring and actor Alan Thicke.",
"Thicke is a son of actress Gloria Loring and actor Alan Thicke. Early life and career Thicke was born on March 10, 1977, in Los Angeles, California. His parents are American actress-singer Gloria Loring, who appeared on the NBC daytime drama Days of Our Lives, and actor Alan Thicke (1947–2016), who is originally from Canada and known for his role on the TV sitcom Growing Pains. They divorced when Thicke was 7 years old.",
"They divorced when Thicke was 7 years old. They divorced when Thicke was 7 years old. He has an older brother, Brennan, who worked as a voice actor and voiced the titular character on the Dennis the Menace cartoon, and a younger half-brother, Carter. Robin Thicke also appeared in small roles on The Wonder Years, The New Lassie, Just the Ten of Us and several episodes of Growing Pains.",
"Robin Thicke also appeared in small roles on The Wonder Years, The New Lassie, Just the Ten of Us and several episodes of Growing Pains. Thicke's parents were supportive of his musical inclinations; his father helped him to write and structure his first songs.",
"Thicke's parents were supportive of his musical inclinations; his father helped him to write and structure his first songs. According to Robin Thicke, his father would not pay for Robin Thicke (then in his early teens) and his vocal group, As One, to record a professionally produced demo tape, wanting Robin to focus on his studies and graduate from school before committing to the pursuit of a career in music.",
"According to Robin Thicke, his father would not pay for Robin Thicke (then in his early teens) and his vocal group, As One, to record a professionally produced demo tape, wanting Robin to focus on his studies and graduate from school before committing to the pursuit of a career in music. The demo ultimately was paid for by jazz vocalist Al Jarreau, an uncle of one of the group members.",
"The demo ultimately was paid for by jazz vocalist Al Jarreau, an uncle of one of the group members. His demo made its way to R&B singer Brian McKnight, who was impressed enough by Thicke to invite him into the studio to work with him. Thicke was signed to McKnight's production company; \"Anyway\", a song co-written with Thicke, was featured on McKnight's second album I Remember You. Thicke's peers jokingly nicknamed him \"Brian McWhite\".",
"Thicke's peers jokingly nicknamed him \"Brian McWhite\". It was Thicke's association with McKnight, who Thicke counts as one of his first mentors, that led him to his acquaintance with Jimmy Iovine and helped him to land his first recording contract with Interscope Records at the age of 16. Thicke later joined a hip hop duo with future Beverly Hills 90210 actor Brian Austin Green.",
"Thicke later joined a hip hop duo with future Beverly Hills 90210 actor Brian Austin Green. Thicke moved out on his own at the age of 17, during his senior year of high school, earning a living and supporting himself as a professional record producer and songwriter. Thicke has noted that while his parents did not attempt to dissuade him from his desire to be in the music industry, their own experience with the nature of the entertainment business made them leery in the beginning.",
"Thicke has noted that while his parents did not attempt to dissuade him from his desire to be in the music industry, their own experience with the nature of the entertainment business made them leery in the beginning. As Thicke's list of credits grew so did his parents' confidence in his decision. While initially signed as a singer and artist in his own right, Thicke first made a name for himself within the industry as a songwriter and producer for other artists before releasing and performing his own music.",
"While initially signed as a singer and artist in his own right, Thicke first made a name for himself within the industry as a songwriter and producer for other artists before releasing and performing his own music. Among his work for other artists, Thicke co-wrote \"Love Is on My Side\" on Brandy's eponymous debut album; he also wrote for 3T's Brotherhood, and collaborated with Jordan Knight, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis on several songs in Knight's 1999 album Jordan Knight including the Billboard top 10 hit \"Give It to You\".",
"Among his work for other artists, Thicke co-wrote \"Love Is on My Side\" on Brandy's eponymous debut album; he also wrote for 3T's Brotherhood, and collaborated with Jordan Knight, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis on several songs in Knight's 1999 album Jordan Knight including the Billboard top 10 hit \"Give It to You\". According to Thicke, Knight also invested in the ability of the young songwriter early on by purchasing studio equipment for him.",
"According to Thicke, Knight also invested in the ability of the young songwriter early on by purchasing studio equipment for him. He also co-wrote the song \"When You Put Your Hands on Me\" for Christina Aguilera's debut album and co-wrote and produced three songs for Mýa's sophomore release, Fear of Flying. In 1999, Thicke co-wrote the song \"Fall Again\" with Walter Afanasieff, which was intended to be a track on Michael Jackson's 2001 album Invincible, but it failed to be presented as a completed song.",
"In 1999, Thicke co-wrote the song \"Fall Again\" with Walter Afanasieff, which was intended to be a track on Michael Jackson's 2001 album Invincible, but it failed to be presented as a completed song. The demo Michael recorded in 1999 was released on November 16, 2004, as an album track of his limited edition box set The Ultimate Collection. As an artist, he recorded and performed solely under his surname, Thicke. He would continue to do so until 2005.",
"He would continue to do so until 2005. He would continue to do so until 2005. Career 1999–2003: A Beautiful World and early success At the age of 22, after an involvement with Tommy Mottola and Epic Records following the end of his first deal with Interscope, Thicke resolved himself to work chiefly on material for his debut album, initially titled Cherry Blue Skies, planning to use his own money to fund the project.",
"Career 1999–2003: A Beautiful World and early success At the age of 22, after an involvement with Tommy Mottola and Epic Records following the end of his first deal with Interscope, Thicke resolved himself to work chiefly on material for his debut album, initially titled Cherry Blue Skies, planning to use his own money to fund the project. As Thicke told Billboard, \"I decided I was going to save money to make my album, and I hoped to offer it to labels–take it or leave it–so I didn't have to negotiate how to make my music.\"",
"As Thicke told Billboard, \"I decided I was going to save money to make my album, and I hoped to offer it to labels–take it or leave it–so I didn't have to negotiate how to make my music.\" While piecing his album together, Thicke began working with veteran producer and label executive Andre Harrell and, under his guidance, eventually signed with Interscope for a second time as part of Harrell's and Kenneth \"Babyface\" Edmonds' Nu America imprint label in 2001.",
"While piecing his album together, Thicke began working with veteran producer and label executive Andre Harrell and, under his guidance, eventually signed with Interscope for a second time as part of Harrell's and Kenneth \"Babyface\" Edmonds' Nu America imprint label in 2001. In 2002, Thicke released his debut single \"When I Get You Alone\". The track samples Walter Murphy's \"A Fifth of Beethoven\", which itself is a disco rendition of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony.",
"The track samples Walter Murphy's \"A Fifth of Beethoven\", which itself is a disco rendition of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. The music video for the song received some rotation on MTV2 and BET's Rated Next and was spun moderately on pop and urban radio, peaking at number 49 on Radio & Records Pop chart.",
"The music video for the song received some rotation on MTV2 and BET's Rated Next and was spun moderately on pop and urban radio, peaking at number 49 on Radio & Records Pop chart. Globally, however, \"When I Get You Alone\" became a chart success when it peaked in the Top 20 in Australia, Belgium, and Italy, and reached the Top 10 of the singles charts in New Zealand and the Top 3 in the Netherlands.",
"Globally, however, \"When I Get You Alone\" became a chart success when it peaked in the Top 20 in Australia, Belgium, and Italy, and reached the Top 10 of the singles charts in New Zealand and the Top 3 in the Netherlands. The moderate success was enough to signal the release of the album in 2003 with its name changed to A Beautiful World.",
"The moderate success was enough to signal the release of the album in 2003 with its name changed to A Beautiful World. Despite the release of a second single, \"Brand New Jones\", the album received very little promotion and debuted at number 152 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, selling 119,000 copies as of January, 2012. A Beautiful World fell below the label's commercial expectations. The album's under-performance troubled Thicke personally, but it proved enough to make him a wanted collaborator.",
"The album's under-performance troubled Thicke personally, but it proved enough to make him a wanted collaborator. Thicke has cited Mary J. Blige, Usher, and Lil' Wayne, among others, as those who subsequently reached out to him. Reflecting on A Beautiful World in 2013, Usher stated to The New York Times, \"I was blown away — I thought Beatles, Earth Wind & Fire, Shuggie Otis, Marvin Gaye — all in one album.",
"Reflecting on A Beautiful World in 2013, Usher stated to The New York Times, \"I was blown away — I thought Beatles, Earth Wind & Fire, Shuggie Otis, Marvin Gaye — all in one album. [Robin's] got a soul you can't buy, man.\" Runner-up Blake Lewis performed \"When I Get You Alone\" during the 2007 season of American Idol when the Top 3 chose a song to sing.",
"Runner-up Blake Lewis performed \"When I Get You Alone\" during the 2007 season of American Idol when the Top 3 chose a song to sing. Lewis has often put Robin Thicke in his list of musical influences in interviews and on the American Idol website. The song was also performed by Blaine Anderson (played by Darren Criss) on Glee during the Season 2 episode \"Silly Love Songs\".",
"The song was also performed by Blaine Anderson (played by Darren Criss) on Glee during the Season 2 episode \"Silly Love Songs\". 2004–07: The Evolution of Robin Thicke and commercial breakthrough Following A Beautiful World, Thicke was keen to begin work on his sophomore album but financial and creative disagreements stemming from the performance of his first album led to a several month-long stalemate between Robin and his record label.",
"2004–07: The Evolution of Robin Thicke and commercial breakthrough Following A Beautiful World, Thicke was keen to begin work on his sophomore album but financial and creative disagreements stemming from the performance of his first album led to a several month-long stalemate between Robin and his record label. Regarding this time in his career, Thicke said,\"The label pretty much lost faith in my ability to sell. It became a question of, 'Where does he fit? Is he not rock or pop enough?",
"Is he not rock or pop enough? Is he not rock or pop enough? Is he not soul enough?'\" Pharrell Williams, having established a distribution deal with Interscope for his record label, Star Trak, expressed to Jimmy Iovine his interest in Thicke, whose talent he thought of highly. Signed to Star Trak in 2005, Thicke continued work on his second album, The Evolution of Robin Thicke.",
"Signed to Star Trak in 2005, Thicke continued work on his second album, The Evolution of Robin Thicke. The first single, \"Wanna Love U Girl\", featured producer Williams and charted successfully on urban radio in the United Kingdom. In 2006, a remix version of the song was filmed with rapper Busta Rhymes. Nearly a year after the single was released, the album was released on October 3, 2006.",
"Nearly a year after the single was released, the album was released on October 3, 2006. To promote the album, Thicke toured with India.Arie and then opened for John Legend in late 2006. The video for his second single, the ballad \"Lost Without U\", was released in fall 2006. The song began appearing on Billboard R&B charts in November of that year.",
"The song began appearing on Billboard R&B charts in November of that year. With the assistance of radio airplay, the song became his breakout hit, reaching number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spending 11 weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, making him the first white male artist to top that chart since George Michael did so in 1988 with \"One More Try\".",
"With the assistance of radio airplay, the song became his breakout hit, reaching number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spending 11 weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, making him the first white male artist to top that chart since George Michael did so in 1988 with \"One More Try\". In the February 24, 2007 issue of Billboard, Thicke concurrently topped four Billboard charts: Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, and Adult R&B Songs, a feat he would duplicate in the March 17 issue.",
"In the February 24, 2007 issue of Billboard, Thicke concurrently topped four Billboard charts: Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, and Adult R&B Songs, a feat he would duplicate in the March 17 issue. Following its re-release as a Deluxe Edition (with three new bonus tracks) on February 13, 2007, the album peaked at number five on the Billboard 200.",
"Following its re-release as a Deluxe Edition (with three new bonus tracks) on February 13, 2007, the album peaked at number five on the Billboard 200. On March 23, 2007, The Evolution of Robin Thicke was certified Platinum by the RIAA. With album sales of over 1.5 million copies sold domestically, The Evolution of Robin Thicke became a commercial success in the United States. Thicke and his record label Interscope soon considered potential tracks to be released as the album's next and third single.",
"Thicke and his record label Interscope soon considered potential tracks to be released as the album's next and third single. Thicke's preference was the track \"Can U Believe\", which peaked at number 16 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and at number 99 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. On October 2, 2007, the track \"Got 2 Be Down\" was released as the album's fourth official single. The single peaked at number 60 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks.",
"The single peaked at number 60 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks. On April 19, 2007, Thicke performed on The Oprah Winfrey Show, singing \"Lost Without U\". He returned to the show a month later, on May 29, performing \"Complicated\" and Oprah's favorite song from the album, \"Would That Make U Love Me\", while also promoting Beyoncé's tour, on which he would be an opening act.",
"He returned to the show a month later, on May 29, performing \"Complicated\" and Oprah's favorite song from the album, \"Would That Make U Love Me\", while also promoting Beyoncé's tour, on which he would be an opening act. Oprah revealed that Thicke's initial appearance garnered a strong reaction, noting that people called the show to say that they didn't know he would be on.",
"Oprah revealed that Thicke's initial appearance garnered a strong reaction, noting that people called the show to say that they didn't know he would be on. Oprah explained, \"So what I wanted to do was to accommodate all of the people who missed it the first time ... In order to do that, I had to do something I've never done before. I got on the phone and asked this very special guest if he would consider coming back.\"",
"I got on the phone and asked this very special guest if he would consider coming back.\" In late 2007, Thicke finished promotion for the album as the featured opening act for the North American leg of Beyoncé's US tour, The Beyoncé Experience. Other notable performances in support of the album and its single \"Lost Without U\" include the 2007 BET Awards, The 2007 MOBO Awards, American Idol, and the 2007 Soul Train Music Awards.",
"Other notable performances in support of the album and its single \"Lost Without U\" include the 2007 BET Awards, The 2007 MOBO Awards, American Idol, and the 2007 Soul Train Music Awards. He also performed a one-off UK concert at KOKO in London on September 24, 2007. 2008–2010: Something Else and Sex Therapy Thicke released his third solo album, titled Something Else, on September 30, 2008. It debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 charts and sold 137,000 copies in the first week.",
"It debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 charts and sold 137,000 copies in the first week. The first single from the album, \"Magic\", was a further expansion of the R&B sound that powered his 2006 breakthrough, The Evolution of Robin Thicke. \"Magic\" went on to peak at number two on the Adult R&B chart, number six on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart and number 59 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.",
"\"Magic\" went on to peak at number two on the Adult R&B chart, number six on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart and number 59 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. He followed this success with the second single, \"The Sweetest Love\", which peaked at number two on the Adult R&B chart and number 20 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart.",
"He followed this success with the second single, \"The Sweetest Love\", which peaked at number two on the Adult R&B chart and number 20 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart. On February 8, 2009, at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards, Thicke took the stage alongside Lil' Wayne to perform their song \"Tie My Hands\" from the Grammy-winning album Tha Carter III (the song was also featured on Something Else) which was followed by Thicke and Lil' Wayne participating in a medley of \"Big Chief\" and \"My Feet Can't Fail Me Now\" led by jazz musicians Allen Toussaint, Terence Blanchard, and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band in tribute to New Orleans and the victims of Hurricane Katrina.",
"On February 8, 2009, at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards, Thicke took the stage alongside Lil' Wayne to perform their song \"Tie My Hands\" from the Grammy-winning album Tha Carter III (the song was also featured on Something Else) which was followed by Thicke and Lil' Wayne participating in a medley of \"Big Chief\" and \"My Feet Can't Fail Me Now\" led by jazz musicians Allen Toussaint, Terence Blanchard, and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band in tribute to New Orleans and the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Thicke appeared on an episode of ABC's The Bachelor to perform \"Magic\" and \"The Sweetest Love\" for the remaining female contestants.",
"Thicke appeared on an episode of ABC's The Bachelor to perform \"Magic\" and \"The Sweetest Love\" for the remaining female contestants. Thicke wrote and produced a track for the movie Precious in which his wife Paula Patton also starred, though it did not appear on the soundtrack and remains unreleased. He co-headlined a U.S. tour with Jennifer Hudson, which began March 31, 2009 in Albany, New York, and wrapped up 25 shows later in Biloxi, Mississippi.",
"He co-headlined a U.S. tour with Jennifer Hudson, which began March 31, 2009 in Albany, New York, and wrapped up 25 shows later in Biloxi, Mississippi. At the start of the tour, Thicke released \"Dreamworld\" as the official third single from Something Else. As of April 2009, Something Else has shifted over 435,000 units in the U.S.",
"As of April 2009, Something Else has shifted over 435,000 units in the U.S. Seven months after the release of Something Else, Billboard.com announced that Thicke would release his fourth studio album in the fall of 2009, his first to not be mainly self-produced. The album, titled Sex Therapy, had its release date postponed to winter, on December 15, 2009.",
"The album, titled Sex Therapy, had its release date postponed to winter, on December 15, 2009. The first single from the album was the title track, produced by Polow Da Don, which in March 2010 became Thicke's second song to top the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The lead single for international markets was \"Rollacosta\" featuring singer Estelle. The second U.S. single was \"It's in the Mornin'\" featuring Snoop Dogg.",
"The second U.S. single was \"It's in the Mornin'\" featuring Snoop Dogg. \"Shakin' It for Daddy\", featuring rapper Nicki Minaj, produced by Polow Da Don, was supposed to be released as a single at some point, however, its release was eventually canceled. Speaking of the musical background to Sex Therapy, Thicke told Pete Lewis – Deputy Editor of Blues & Soul – \"I'm always gonna have the influence of Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and Al Green in my music.",
"Speaking of the musical background to Sex Therapy, Thicke told Pete Lewis – Deputy Editor of Blues & Soul – \"I'm always gonna have the influence of Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and Al Green in my music. But with this album I also wanted to show my hip hop side. I grew up listening to Run-DMC and N.W.A and Biggie and Pac and Jay-Z ... So I really wanted to make a record that represented how much that music has influenced me.\"",
"So I really wanted to make a record that represented how much that music has influenced me.\" Earlier in 2009, on October 14, Leighton Meester's debut single \"Somebody to Love\", featuring Thicke, was released. Thicke told MTV he hoped to have Lil Wayne on the album. He also pointed out that he was featured on Lil Wayne's last two albums, and Lil Wayne was on his last two albums. \"We're kind of good luck charms for each other.\"",
"\"We're kind of good luck charms for each other.\" Thicke appeared on ABC's New Year's Rockin' Eve on January 1, 2010, and performed three songs in Las Vegas, in a pre-recorded segment. Also in 2010, it was confirmed that he, along with Melanie Fiona, would feature on The Freedom Tour with Alicia Keys. As of October 2011, the album has sold 289,000 copies in the United States.",
"As of October 2011, the album has sold 289,000 copies in the United States. On February 5, 2010, Thicke participated in BET's SOS Saving Ourselves: Help For Haiti telethon concert, held in response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake. 2011–12: Love After War and Duets During 2011, Thicke was confirmed to go on tour with Jennifer Hudson, with whom he toured in 2009. Later that year, Robin Thicke released his fifth studio album, Love After War, on December 6, 2011.",
"Later that year, Robin Thicke released his fifth studio album, Love After War, on December 6, 2011. The album debuted at number twenty-two on the Billboard 200 and number six on the \"Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums\" selling 41,000 in its first week. In an interview to promote the album, Thicke has stated that a lot of the inspiration for the album came from his family. The album has produced three singles.",
"The album has produced three singles. The album has produced three singles. The first is the title track, \"Love After War\" released on October 11, 2011, and has peaked at number fourteen on the \"Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs\" chart and topped the Adult R&B chart making it his second song after \"Lost Without U\" to top that chart. The music video for the song premiered November 21, 2011.",
"The music video for the song premiered November 21, 2011. The music video features his wife Paula Patton and consists of Thicke making up with his wife after a fight. The second single is \"Pretty Lil' Heart\", which features Lil Wayne and was released on November 8, 2011. The music video for that premiered on March 2, 2012. It peaked at number fifty-one on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.",
"It peaked at number fifty-one on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. On May 31, 2012, Thicke released a video for his promo single, which was a cover of the Whitney Houston classic \"Exhale (Shoop Shoop\"). The third official single is \"All Tied Up\" which was released to Urban AC radio on April 10, 2012. The music video premiered on June 7, 2012, on \"Vevo\".",
"The music video premiered on June 7, 2012, on \"Vevo\". Thicke performed \"Love After War\" on the 2011 Soul Train Music Awards and later returned to the stage to sing \"Reasons\", trading verses with Joe and Eric Benét, as part of an all-star tribute to Legend Award recipients Earth, Wind & Fire. Thicke appeared on season 2 of NBC's The Voice as a guest adviser/mentor to the contestants on Adam Levine's team.",
"Thicke appeared on season 2 of NBC's The Voice as a guest adviser/mentor to the contestants on Adam Levine's team. In July 2012, Thicke made his feature film debut starring alongside Jaime Pressly in Jimbo Lee's Abby in the Summer, produced by Gabriel Cowan, John Suits, Dallas Sonnier and Jack Heller. The film, shot in 2012, was released in 2014 under the title Making the Rules.",
"The film, shot in 2012, was released in 2014 under the title Making the Rules. Thicke served as a judge on the ABC television show Duets which premiered May 24, 2012 and which also featured John Legend, Jennifer Nettles, and Kelly Clarkson. The judges doubled as mentors who searched for singers across the country (Robin Thicke's singers being Olivia Chisholm and Alexis Foster) to duet with them as they perform in front of a live studio audience. The premier episode drew in 7 million viewers.",
"The premier episode drew in 7 million viewers. The premier episode drew in 7 million viewers. The show went live June 28, 2012, allowing the viewers to vote for their favorite contestants. 2013: Blurred Lines and Real Husbands of Hollywood On March 26, 2013, Thicke released \"Blurred Lines\" featuring T.I. and Pharrell as the lead single to his sixth studio album, also titled Blurred Lines.",
"and Pharrell as the lead single to his sixth studio album, also titled Blurred Lines. The video, featuring models Emily Ratajkowski, Jessi M'Bengue, and Elle Evans, was directed by Diane Martel and released on March 20, 2013, and garnered more than 1 million views in days after release on Vevo. Thicke said he had received the approval of his wife Paula Patton before shooting the video.",
"Thicke said he had received the approval of his wife Paula Patton before shooting the video. In early 2013, Thicke starred as a fictionalized version of himself alongside Kevin Hart, Boris Kodjoe, Nelly, Duane Martin, J.B. Smoove, Nick Cannon, and Cynthia McWilliams in the first season of BET's hit show Real Husbands of Hollywood. Thicke was unable to rejoin the cast for the shooting of the second season, opting instead to focus on his music.",
"Thicke was unable to rejoin the cast for the shooting of the second season, opting instead to focus on his music. According to Thicke, \"Once the song started to take off, and all this momentum was happening, and [Real Husbands of Hollywood] needed me for all eight weeks, I couldn't finish the album and promote the single and go over seas and do all these other things I wanted to do.\" As Thicke stated to the Breakfast Club, \"The album is called Blurred Lines.",
"As Thicke stated to the Breakfast Club, \"The album is called Blurred Lines. I've realized as I've gotten older that we all think we're living either in a black or white world, or on a straight path, but most of us are living right in between those straight lines. And everything you thought you knew, the older you get, you realize, 'Damn, I don't know nothing about this. I better pay attention, I better listen and keep learning.'",
"I better pay attention, I better listen and keep learning.' So I think that, that's what I've been realizing these past few years.\" The singer also stated his attempt into a more poppy sound than his normal environment. \"The last year I've been wanting to have more fun.",
"\"The last year I've been wanting to have more fun. I think I took myself very seriously as an artist and I wanted to be like Marvin Gaye, and John Lennon and Bob Marley and these great artists and songwriters that sang about love and sang about relationships,\" Robin said.",
"I think I took myself very seriously as an artist and I wanted to be like Marvin Gaye, and John Lennon and Bob Marley and these great artists and songwriters that sang about love and sang about relationships,\" Robin said. \"And then the last year, my wife and I just really wanted to have fun again, we wanted to be young again and we wanted to dance again and go out with our friends, so I wanted to make music that reflected that culture also.\"",
"\"And then the last year, my wife and I just really wanted to have fun again, we wanted to be young again and we wanted to dance again and go out with our friends, so I wanted to make music that reflected that culture also.\" The song has been a worldwide hit, has peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and has also reached number one in 13 more countries including the United Kingdom, where Blurred Lines became only the 137th record in history to surpass the one million sales mark, and the United States.",
"The song has been a worldwide hit, has peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and has also reached number one in 13 more countries including the United Kingdom, where Blurred Lines became only the 137th record in history to surpass the one million sales mark, and the United States. The new album Blurred Lines was released on July 30, 2013.",
"The new album Blurred Lines was released on July 30, 2013. The song and related music videos also received criticism for being misogynistic and promoting rape culture, with some critics calling the lyrics \"creepy\" and the song \"rapey\". In an interview for GQ magazine Thicke joked about the video, saying, \"What a pleasure it is to degrade a woman. I've never gotten to do that before. I've always respected women.\"",
"I've always respected women.\" I've always respected women.\" In response to Thicke's statement in GQ that the idea of the video was to be 'derogatory towards women', the director Diane Martel denied this was discussed on set: \"That's crazy. Maybe he wasn't thinking when he said that.\"",
"Maybe he wasn't thinking when he said that.\" During an interview with Oprah Winfrey for Oprah's Next Chapter, Thicke clarified his comment about degrading women, describing it as a \"bad joke\", noting that the published GQ interview did not mention that he was doing an impersonation of Will Ferrell's Ron Burgundy character while making the remark, thus not providing the sarcastic/joking context. The song's unrated music video was originally banned from YouTube before being reposted some weeks later.",
"The song's unrated music video was originally banned from YouTube before being reposted some weeks later. On August 25, at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards, Thicke performed \"Blurred Lines\" with Miley Cyrus, who is twerking on stage, followed by \"Give It 2 U\" with 2 Chainz and Kendrick Lamar. The performance drew negative reactions for its alleged raunchiness, sexism, racism, slut-shaming, and cultural appropriation.",
"The performance drew negative reactions for its alleged raunchiness, sexism, racism, slut-shaming, and cultural appropriation. It became the most tweeted about event in history, with Twitter users generating 360,000 tweets about the event per minute; breaking the previous record held by Beyoncé's Super Bowl XLVII halftime show performance six months earlier. On December 6, 2013, Thicke and T.I. performed \"Blurred Lines\" accompanied by Earth, Wind & Fire at The Grammy Nominations Concert Live!",
"performed \"Blurred Lines\" accompanied by Earth, Wind & Fire at The Grammy Nominations Concert Live! on CBS where it was announced that Thicke had been nominated for three Grammy Awards: Best Pop Vocal Album for Blurred Lines and Record of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for the album's single \"Blurred Lines\".",
"on CBS where it was announced that Thicke had been nominated for three Grammy Awards: Best Pop Vocal Album for Blurred Lines and Record of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for the album's single \"Blurred Lines\". In the same month, he was awarded the title \"Sexist of the Year\" by the End Violence Against Women Coalition, which has more than 60 member groups working to end sexual and domestic violence, trafficking and other forms of abuse.",
"In the same month, he was awarded the title \"Sexist of the Year\" by the End Violence Against Women Coalition, which has more than 60 member groups working to end sexual and domestic violence, trafficking and other forms of abuse. Thicke received twice as many votes as the poll's runner up, Prime Minister David Cameron. It was parodied many times and forbidden in many UK student unions.",
"It was parodied many times and forbidden in many UK student unions. On January 26, 2014, Thicke performed live with Chicago at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards, celebrating the induction of Chicago's debut album, The Chicago Transit Authority, into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Thicke and Chicago performed a medley of \"Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? \", \"Beginnings\", and \"Saturday in the Park\" ending with \"Blurred Lines\".",
"\", \"Beginnings\", and \"Saturday in the Park\" ending with \"Blurred Lines\". 2014–present: Paula and On Earth, and in Heaven In February 2014, Thicke collaborated with DJ Cassidy and British singer Jessie J to record Calling All Hearts. In June 2014, Thicke announced that his next album would be called Paula, dedicated to his estranged wife, Paula Patton. The lead single \"Get Her Back\" was released on May 19, 2014.",
"The lead single \"Get Her Back\" was released on May 19, 2014. Thicke debuted the song on the same day with a performance at the Billboard Music Awards where he also won four awards for \"Blurred Lines\". Thicke also appeared on the season finale of The Voice singing \"Get Her Back\" with finalist Josh Kaufman. Thicke then performed the song \"Forever Love\" at the BET Awards 2014.",
"Thicke then performed the song \"Forever Love\" at the BET Awards 2014. At the end of June 2014, during a Q&A session on Twitter and hosted by VH1, Thicke asked followers to submit questions by using the hashtag #AskThicke. The tag was quickly overrun by people protesting against his lyrics criticized as misogynistic, his lifestyle choices and other detractors leading to what The Guardian called \"an epic PR fail\".",
"The tag was quickly overrun by people protesting against his lyrics criticized as misogynistic, his lifestyle choices and other detractors leading to what The Guardian called \"an epic PR fail\". When a Twitter user pointed out that the comments directed at Thicke were \"brutal\", Thicke responded: \"I can handle it, I'm a big boy\". The album, originally set for a Fall release, was pushed forward and released on July 1, 2014, five weeks after the release of its lead single.",
"The album, originally set for a Fall release, was pushed forward and released on July 1, 2014, five weeks after the release of its lead single. Paula peaked at #9 on the Billboard 200, and sold 24,000 copies in its first week of release.",
"Paula peaked at #9 on the Billboard 200, and sold 24,000 copies in its first week of release. In a 2015 interview with Jody Rosen of The New York Times, Thicke expressed both embarrassment over his public dedications and regret over giving the album a commercial release, stating, \"my record company didn't want me to put it out, but they stuck by me. In hindsight, the only thing I would have done differently was, I wouldn't have promoted it or sold it.",
"In hindsight, the only thing I would have done differently was, I wouldn't have promoted it or sold it. I would have given it away.\" Following the release of Paula, Thicke spent several months largely away from media appearances and performing in order to focus on his personal life and to work on new music.",
"Following the release of Paula, Thicke spent several months largely away from media appearances and performing in order to focus on his personal life and to work on new music. Thicke returned to the spotlight at the BET Awards 2015 to sing the classic Smokey Robinson and The Miracles hit \"Ooo Baby Baby\" in tribute to Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Smokey Robinson and joined Robinson on stage for a group rendition of \"My Girl\" alongside Tori Kelly and Ne-Yo.",
"Thicke returned to the spotlight at the BET Awards 2015 to sing the classic Smokey Robinson and The Miracles hit \"Ooo Baby Baby\" in tribute to Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Smokey Robinson and joined Robinson on stage for a group rendition of \"My Girl\" alongside Tori Kelly and Ne-Yo. On June 29, on the heels of his BET Awards performance, Thicke debuted the lyric video for his new single \"Morning Sun\", on Vevo followed by the official release of the single on June 30.",
"On June 29, on the heels of his BET Awards performance, Thicke debuted the lyric video for his new single \"Morning Sun\", on Vevo followed by the official release of the single on June 30. \"Morning Sun\" rose to the number 4 position on the Billboard Adult R&B Songs chart becoming Thicke's 11th top 10 hit on Urban AC radio. Speaking with Prestige Hong Kong, Thicke explained: \"The new album is call[ed] Morning Sun.",
"Speaking with Prestige Hong Kong, Thicke explained: \"The new album is call[ed] Morning Sun. It's about fresh starts, new beginnings, and the heralding in of a new day. It's about the last year of my life, the time I've spent with my friends and family and especially my son.\" Thicke also spoke of working again with Pharrell and Timbaland as well as with new collaborators DJ Mustard, Max Martin, and Ricky Reed.",
"Thicke also spoke of working again with Pharrell and Timbaland as well as with new collaborators DJ Mustard, Max Martin, and Ricky Reed. Another new single \"Back Together\", featuring Nicki Minaj, was released on August 6, 2015. Thicke rejoined the cast of Real Husbands of Hollywood in 2016 for its fifth season. In the premiere episode, Thicke parodied his publicized personal and professional troubles including his divorce, lawsuit, drug use and poorly received album.",
"In the premiere episode, Thicke parodied his publicized personal and professional troubles including his divorce, lawsuit, drug use and poorly received album. In January 2019, Thicke began appearing as a panelist on the reality competition series The Masked Singer. After nearly eight years since their hit collaboration, \"Blurred Lines\", Thicke and producer Pharrell Williams reunited for the single \"Take Me Higher\", released on January 21, 2021.",
"After nearly eight years since their hit collaboration, \"Blurred Lines\", Thicke and producer Pharrell Williams reunited for the single \"Take Me Higher\", released on January 21, 2021. It was included on his eighth studio album, On Earth, and in Heaven, released on February 12, 2021, through his Lucky Music label in partnership with Empire Distribution. It marks his first album since 2014's Paula.",
"It marks his first album since 2014's Paula. It marks his first album since 2014's Paula. Thicke explained the album's inspiration: \"I feel like I'm finally the person I set out to be. I'm able to laugh at anything, which I've realized is the greatest superpower. I've fully embraced it, and nothing has been better for my soul.",
"I've fully embraced it, and nothing has been better for my soul. When I saw the phrase 'On Earth, and in Heaven', I realized that's what I'm singing about: the people who aren't here and the people who are here that made me who I am. This music is the sunshine coming out after the rain\". Thicke collected his sixth No. 1 on Billboard's Adult R&B Airplay chart with “Look Easy” on the list dated for August 21.",
"1 on Billboard's Adult R&B Airplay chart with “Look Easy” on the list dated for August 21. Artistry Influences Thicke is a self-taught pianist. Some of the first songs he learned to play and sing along with as a child were by gospel artists such as Commissioned, Take 6, and John P. Kee, studying their licks and harmonies.",
"Some of the first songs he learned to play and sing along with as a child were by gospel artists such as Commissioned, Take 6, and John P. Kee, studying their licks and harmonies. Thicke has drawn influence from a variety of artists including James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Sting, Prince, Alanis Morissette, The Beatles, John Lennon, Bob Marley and Michael Jackson.",
"Thicke has drawn influence from a variety of artists including James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Sting, Prince, Alanis Morissette, The Beatles, John Lennon, Bob Marley and Michael Jackson. Thicke has said that he considers himself a soulful singer but does not like his music being described as \"blue-eyed soul\", finding the term too pigeonholing. Songwriting and producing Thicke began his career by writing and producing songs for popular artists. He co-wrote and produced the Color Me Badd song \"Sexual Capacity\" in 1996.",
"He co-wrote and produced the Color Me Badd song \"Sexual Capacity\" in 1996. He also co-wrote on the self-titled debut album by Christina Aguilera, which sold 17 million copies worldwide.",
"He also co-wrote on the self-titled debut album by Christina Aguilera, which sold 17 million copies worldwide. Albums on which Thicke's songwriting, producing, and other contributions have been featured include: Brandy, Brian Mcknight's I Remember You, Brownstone's Still Climbing, Jordan Knight, Chante Moore's This Moment Is Mine, Marc Anthony, P!nk's Can't Take Me Home, Ronan Keating's Ronan, Mýa's Fear of Flying, BBMak's Sooner or Later, both Will Young's Friday's Child and Keep On.",
"Albums on which Thicke's songwriting, producing, and other contributions have been featured include: Brandy, Brian Mcknight's I Remember You, Brownstone's Still Climbing, Jordan Knight, Chante Moore's This Moment Is Mine, Marc Anthony, P!nk's Can't Take Me Home, Ronan Keating's Ronan, Mýa's Fear of Flying, BBMak's Sooner or Later, both Will Young's Friday's Child and Keep On. The Thicke original \"When I Get You Alone\" was performed by Guy Sebastian, the winner of the first Australian Idol 2003, during the competition and at the Idol grand finale.",
"The Thicke original \"When I Get You Alone\" was performed by Guy Sebastian, the winner of the first Australian Idol 2003, during the competition and at the Idol grand finale. \"When I Get You Alone\" was a popular song choice for Sebastian; he put the live idol performance on his four-times platinum debut single \"Angels Brought Me Here\"; it was the fastest selling single in Australia debuting at number one and immediately breaking an ARIA record.",
"\"When I Get You Alone\" was a popular song choice for Sebastian; he put the live idol performance on his four-times platinum debut single \"Angels Brought Me Here\"; it was the fastest selling single in Australia debuting at number one and immediately breaking an ARIA record. In 2004, Thicke co-wrote and produced \"Out With My Baby\" with Guy Sebastian, along with being credited for work on two additional songs from Sebastian's second album, Beautiful Life.",
"In 2004, Thicke co-wrote and produced \"Out With My Baby\" with Guy Sebastian, along with being credited for work on two additional songs from Sebastian's second album, Beautiful Life. The single, \"Out With My Baby\", became a platinum selling #1 hit for Sebastian on the ARIA Singles Charts. During this same year, he co-wrote and produced a song with the singer and actress Raven-Symoné for the album This Is My Time, with the song \"Set Me Free\".",
"During this same year, he co-wrote and produced a song with the singer and actress Raven-Symoné for the album This Is My Time, with the song \"Set Me Free\". Thicke co-wrote \"Can U Handle It?\" for Usher's 2004 album, Confessions, with backing vocals provided by Paula Patton. Confessions would go on to sell 20 million copies worldwide and win the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B Album in 2005.",
"Confessions would go on to sell 20 million copies worldwide and win the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B Album in 2005. Thicke co-wrote and produced the song \"Tie My Hands\" on Lil' Wayne's multi-platinum selling album Tha Carter III which went on to win Best Rap Album. Thicke wrote and produced the song \"Giving Myself\" for Jennifer Hudson's eponymous debut album, which went on to win Best R&B Album.",
"Thicke wrote and produced the song \"Giving Myself\" for Jennifer Hudson's eponymous debut album, which went on to win Best R&B Album. In total, albums on which Thicke has been credited for his work (in capacities including writer, producer, arranger, vocalist, and musician) have sold over 60 million copies worldwide.",
"In total, albums on which Thicke has been credited for his work (in capacities including writer, producer, arranger, vocalist, and musician) have sold over 60 million copies worldwide. Throughout his career, Thicke has worked most frequently with long-time production partner Pro Jay (James Gass), whose contributions have appeared on all of Thicke's own studio albums and whose name can be found alongside Thicke's in writing and producing credits for other artists.",
"Throughout his career, Thicke has worked most frequently with long-time production partner Pro Jay (James Gass), whose contributions have appeared on all of Thicke's own studio albums and whose name can be found alongside Thicke's in writing and producing credits for other artists. Thicke also often enlists veteran session guitarist and songwriter Bobby Keyes as well as keyboardist and music director Larry Cox to contribute to his projects. Collaborations In 2005, Thicke performed as a guest on the remix of Will Smith's song \"Switch\".",
"Collaborations In 2005, Thicke performed as a guest on the remix of Will Smith's song \"Switch\". In 2007, Thicke appeared on 50 Cent's album Curtis on a song called \"Follow My Lead\". The following year, he worked with Ashanti on her fourth studio album, The Declaration. Thicke also appeared on R. Kelly's Untitled on the track \"Pregnant\" which also features Tyrese and The-Dream.",
"Thicke also appeared on R. Kelly's Untitled on the track \"Pregnant\" which also features Tyrese and The-Dream. In 2008, Thicke was enlisted by producer Polow da Don to play piano on the hit Usher track \"Love in This Club\", which reached the #1 position on the Billboard Hot 100.",
"In 2008, Thicke was enlisted by producer Polow da Don to play piano on the hit Usher track \"Love in This Club\", which reached the #1 position on the Billboard Hot 100. Thicke was featured along with a number of his contemporaries on the 2010 release Q Soul Bossa Nostra, an album in tribute to famed composer and music producer Quincy Jones (who also executive produced the project), which consisted of reinterpretations of Jones' work.",
"Thicke was featured along with a number of his contemporaries on the 2010 release Q Soul Bossa Nostra, an album in tribute to famed composer and music producer Quincy Jones (who also executive produced the project), which consisted of reinterpretations of Jones' work. In 2014, Thicke joined Jessie J on the DJ Cassidy produced song \"Calling All Hearts\".",
"In 2014, Thicke joined Jessie J on the DJ Cassidy produced song \"Calling All Hearts\". Thicke was featured along with bassist Verdine White on Flo Rida's \"I Don't Like It, I Love It\" in 2015 which found success on several international charts and peaked among the top 10 singles in seven countries.",
"Thicke was featured along with bassist Verdine White on Flo Rida's \"I Don't Like It, I Love It\" in 2015 which found success on several international charts and peaked among the top 10 singles in seven countries. Personal life At age 14, Robin Thicke first met actress Paula Patton, who was then 16, in 1991 at an under-21 hip-hop club called Balistyx (co-founded and co-hosted by David Faustino) on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles, when he asked her to dance.",
"Personal life At age 14, Robin Thicke first met actress Paula Patton, who was then 16, in 1991 at an under-21 hip-hop club called Balistyx (co-founded and co-hosted by David Faustino) on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles, when he asked her to dance. They were married in 2005 and their son was born in April 2010. Thicke and Patton separated in February 2014, after 21 years together and almost nine years of marriage.",
"Thicke and Patton separated in February 2014, after 21 years together and almost nine years of marriage. On October 9, 2014, Patton officially filed for divorce, which was finalized on March 20, 2015. In 2014, Thicke met April Love Geary at a party. They first appeared in public together in 2015. On February 22, 2018, the couple welcomed their first child, a daughter, Mia Love.",
"On February 22, 2018, the couple welcomed their first child, a daughter, Mia Love. In August 2018, Geary announced that the couple was expecting their second child; they became engaged on Christmas Eve 2018. On February 26, 2019, the couple welcomed their second child, another daughter, Lola Alain. In October 2020, the couple announced they were expecting their third child for December. On December 11, 2020, the couple welcomed their third child a boy, Luca Patrick.",
"On December 11, 2020, the couple welcomed their third child a boy, Luca Patrick. Thicke is a close friend of fellow performer Usher. Thicke was present for Usher's engagement to Tameka Foster, serenading the couple with his song \"The Stupid Things\" as Usher proposed among family and friends. On November 10, 2018, Geary revealed in an Instagram story she and Thicke had lost their Malibu home to the Woolsey wildfire that had been consuming the area.",
"On November 10, 2018, Geary revealed in an Instagram story she and Thicke had lost their Malibu home to the Woolsey wildfire that had been consuming the area. Two days later, Thicke returned to his property, describing the totality of the fire in a video for Entertainment Tonight: \"It's funny, [from what] you see in movies, you'd think there would be one doll left over, or a book of course, something. [But] it's just rubble.",
"[But] it's just rubble. [But] it's just rubble. There's nothing left.\" Controversies Performance with Miley Cyrus at MTV Video Music Awards 2013 In 2013, Robin Thicke and Miley Cyrus caused an uproar following their performance during the MTV Video Music Awards: during the performance, in which the singers had performed the songs \"Blurred Lines\" and \"We Can't Stop\", Cyrus had twerked in such a way as to mimic a sexual act with her colleague.",
"Controversies Performance with Miley Cyrus at MTV Video Music Awards 2013 In 2013, Robin Thicke and Miley Cyrus caused an uproar following their performance during the MTV Video Music Awards: during the performance, in which the singers had performed the songs \"Blurred Lines\" and \"We Can't Stop\", Cyrus had twerked in such a way as to mimic a sexual act with her colleague. Afterwards, Miley Cyrus said that Thicke had explicitly asked her to be \"as naked as possible\" during the performance.",
"Afterwards, Miley Cyrus said that Thicke had explicitly asked her to be \"as naked as possible\" during the performance. According to the same source, \"Thicke was angry with Cyrus for “going too far” during the VMAs, and that he thought the “Wrecking Ball” songstress had “hijacked the performance.”\" Marvin Gaye plagiarism After Blurred Lines' success, the heirs of singer Marvin Gaye sued Thicke and Pharrell Williams claiming the song was a plagiarism of Gaye's song \"Got to Give It Up\".",
"According to the same source, \"Thicke was angry with Cyrus for “going too far” during the VMAs, and that he thought the “Wrecking Ball” songstress had “hijacked the performance.”\" Marvin Gaye plagiarism After Blurred Lines' success, the heirs of singer Marvin Gaye sued Thicke and Pharrell Williams claiming the song was a plagiarism of Gaye's song \"Got to Give It Up\". Jurors awarded the Gayes $7.4 million, but U.S. District Judge John Kronstadt reduced the sum to $5.3 million, while adding royalties.",
"Jurors awarded the Gayes $7.4 million, but U.S. District Judge John Kronstadt reduced the sum to $5.3 million, while adding royalties. Emily Ratajkowski's book In early October, 2021, fragments from Ratajkowski’s forthcoming book, \"My Body\", were leaked online, where the model allegedly claimed that Thicke groped her breasts without her consent in 2013 during the filming of the music video for the song \"Blurred Lines\".",
"Emily Ratajkowski's book In early October, 2021, fragments from Ratajkowski’s forthcoming book, \"My Body\", were leaked online, where the model allegedly claimed that Thicke groped her breasts without her consent in 2013 during the filming of the music video for the song \"Blurred Lines\". According to Time magazine and other sources, Ratajkowski was frustrated about the leaked chapter without her consent and also stated that it was taken out of the essay's context\".",
"According to Time magazine and other sources, Ratajkowski was frustrated about the leaked chapter without her consent and also stated that it was taken out of the essay's context\". Ratajkowski went on, \"It’s been hard for me, I really like to have control over my image and I wrote this book of essays to share the whole story and all sides of it, and I feel like it turns into a clickbait frenzy and all of a sudden words like ‘sexual assault’ and ‘allegations’ are getting thrown around rather than people reading the actual essay...",
"Ratajkowski went on, \"It’s been hard for me, I really like to have control over my image and I wrote this book of essays to share the whole story and all sides of it, and I feel like it turns into a clickbait frenzy and all of a sudden words like ‘sexual assault’ and ‘allegations’ are getting thrown around rather than people reading the actual essay... I'm just looking forward to when people will be able hear things in my own words.\"",
"I'm just looking forward to when people will be able hear things in my own words.\" Thicke has not publicly responded to Ratajkowski's allegations.",
"Thicke has not publicly responded to Ratajkowski's allegations. Thicke has not publicly responded to Ratajkowski's allegations. Discography Studio albums A Beautiful World (2002) The Evolution of Robin Thicke (2006) Something Else (2008) Sex Therapy: The Session (2009) Love After War (2011) Blurred Lines (2013) Paula (2014) On Earth, and in Heaven (2021) Tours Headlining Blurred Lines Tour (2014) Co-headlining Jennifer Hudson & Robin Thicke in Concert (with Jennifer Hudson) (2009) Promotional Love & War Tour (2011) Opening act 2006 Tour (for India Arie) (2006) Once Again Tour (for John Legend) (2006) The Beyoncé Experience (for Beyoncé) (2007) Love Soul Tour (for Mary J. Blige) (2008) Freedom Tour (for Alicia Keys) (2010) This Is It (for Michael Jackson) (cancelled) Overexposed Tour (for Maroon 5) (2014) See also List of awards and nominations received by Robin Thicke Pharrell Williams v. Bridgeport Music References External links 1977 births Living people 20th-century American male singers 20th-century American singers 21st-century American male singers 21st-century American singers American contemporary R&B singers American funk singers American male child actors American male film actors American male pop singers American male singer-songwriters American male television actors American people of Canadian descent American people of Scottish descent American people of Swedish descent American soul singers APRA Award winners Dance-pop musicians Grammy Award winners Interscope Records artists Male actors from California Male actors from Los Angeles People from Los Angeles Singers from Los Angeles Singer-songwriters from California"
] |
[
"Robin Thicke",
"Songwriting and producing",
"Does he write his own songs?",
"In total, albums on which Thicke has been credited for his work (in capacities including writer, producer, arranger, vocalist, and musician)",
"What was his biggest hit?",
"Confessions would go on to sell 20 million copies worldwide and win the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B Album in 2005.",
"Did he have any hits in the top 10?",
"I don't know."
] | C_9be1bcc2152b4a0295f216c5e0ab397f_0 | What artist has he produced? | 4 | What artist has Robin Thicke produced? | Robin Thicke | Thicke began his career by writing and producing songs for popular artists. He co-wrote and produced the Color Me Badd song "Sexual Capacity" in 1996. He also co-wrote on the self-titled debut album by Christina Aguilera, which sold 17 million copies worldwide. Albums on which Thicke's songwriting, producing, and other contributions have been featured include: Brandy, Brian Mcknight's I Remember You, Brownstone's Still Climbing, Jordan Knight, Chante Moore's This Moment Is Mine, Marc Anthony, P!nk's Can't Take Me Home, Ronan Keating's Ronan, Mya's Fear of Flying, BBMak's Sooner or Later, both Will Young's Friday's Child and Keep On. The Thicke original "When I Get You Alone" was performed by Guy Sebastian, the winner of the first Australian Idol 2003, during the competition and at the Idol grand finale. "When I Get You Alone" was a popular song choice for Sebastian; he put the live idol performance on his four-times platinum debut single "Angels Brought Me Here"; it was the fastest selling single in Australia debuting at number one and immediately breaking an ARIA record. In 2004, Thicke co-wrote and produced "Out With My Baby" with Guy Sebastian, along with being credited for work on two additional songs from Sebastian's second album, Beautiful Life. The single, "Out With My Baby", became a platinum selling #1 hit for Sebastian on the ARIA Singles Charts. During this same year, he co-wrote and produced a song with the singer and actress Raven-Symone for the album This Is My Time, with the song "Set Me Free". Thicke co-wrote "Can U Handle It?" for Usher's 2004 album, Confessions, with backing vocals provided by Paula Patton. Confessions would go on to sell 20 million copies worldwide and win the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B Album in 2005. Thicke co-wrote and produced the song "Tie My Hands" on Lil' Wayne's multi-platinum selling album Tha Carter III which went on to win Best Rap Album. Thicke wrote and produced the song "Giving Myself" for the album Jennifer Hudson which went on to win Best R&B Album. In total, albums on which Thicke has been credited for his work (in capacities including writer, producer, arranger, vocalist, and musician) have sold over 60 million copies worldwide. Throughout his career, Thicke has worked most frequently with long-time production partner Pro Jay (James Gass), whose contributions have appeared on all of Thicke's own studio albums and whose name can be found alongside Thicke's in writing and producing credits for other artists. Thicke also often enlists veteran session guitarist and songwriter Bobby Keyes as well as keyboardist and music director Larry Cox to contribute to his projects. CANNOTANSWER | Throughout his career, Thicke has worked most frequently with long-time production partner Pro Jay (James Gass | Robin Alan Thicke (born March 10, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer.
He has collaborated with numerous artists, such as Nicki Minaj, 3T, T.I., Christina Aguilera, Jessie J, K. Michelle, Pharrell, DJ Cassidy, Usher, Jennifer Hudson, Flo Rida, Brandy, Kid Cudi, Mary J. Blige, Emily Ratajkowski and composed songs for Marc Anthony. Thicke worked on albums such as Usher's Confessions and Lil Wayne's Tha Carter III, while releasing his own R&B singles in the United States including "Lost Without U", "Magic", and "Sex Therapy". He gained international fame in 2013 with his single "Blurred Lines", which reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100. He is currently a judge on the Fox musical competition show The Masked Singer.
Thicke is a son of actress Gloria Loring and actor Alan Thicke.
Early life and career
Thicke was born on March 10, 1977, in Los Angeles, California. His parents are American actress-singer Gloria Loring, who appeared on the NBC daytime drama Days of Our Lives, and actor Alan Thicke (1947–2016), who is originally from Canada and known for his role on the TV sitcom Growing Pains. They divorced when Thicke was 7 years old. He has an older brother, Brennan, who worked as a voice actor and voiced the titular character on the Dennis the Menace cartoon, and a younger half-brother, Carter. Robin Thicke also appeared in small roles on The Wonder Years, The New Lassie, Just the Ten of Us and several episodes of Growing Pains.
Thicke's parents were supportive of his musical inclinations; his father helped him to write and structure his first songs. According to Robin Thicke, his father would not pay for Robin Thicke (then in his early teens) and his vocal group, As One, to record a professionally produced demo tape, wanting Robin to focus on his studies and graduate from school before committing to the pursuit of a career in music. The demo ultimately was paid for by jazz vocalist Al Jarreau, an uncle of one of the group members.
His demo made its way to R&B singer Brian McKnight, who was impressed enough by Thicke to invite him into the studio to work with him. Thicke was signed to McKnight's production company; "Anyway", a song co-written with Thicke, was featured on McKnight's second album I Remember You. Thicke's peers jokingly nicknamed him "Brian McWhite". It was Thicke's association with McKnight, who Thicke counts as one of his first mentors, that led him to his acquaintance with Jimmy Iovine and helped him to land his first recording contract with Interscope Records at the age of 16. Thicke later joined a hip hop duo with future Beverly Hills 90210 actor Brian Austin Green.
Thicke moved out on his own at the age of 17, during his senior year of high school, earning a living and supporting himself as a professional record producer and songwriter. Thicke has noted that while his parents did not attempt to dissuade him from his desire to be in the music industry, their own experience with the nature of the entertainment business made them leery in the beginning. As Thicke's list of credits grew so did his parents' confidence in his decision.
While initially signed as a singer and artist in his own right, Thicke first made a name for himself within the industry as a songwriter and producer for other artists before releasing and performing his own music. Among his work for other artists, Thicke co-wrote "Love Is on My Side" on Brandy's eponymous debut album; he also wrote for 3T's Brotherhood, and collaborated with Jordan Knight, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis on several songs in Knight's 1999 album Jordan Knight including the Billboard top 10 hit "Give It to You". According to Thicke, Knight also invested in the ability of the young songwriter early on by purchasing studio equipment for him.
He also co-wrote the song "When You Put Your Hands on Me" for Christina Aguilera's debut album and co-wrote and produced three songs for Mýa's sophomore release, Fear of Flying. In 1999, Thicke co-wrote the song "Fall Again" with Walter Afanasieff, which was intended to be a track on Michael Jackson's 2001 album Invincible, but it failed to be presented as a completed song. The demo Michael recorded in 1999 was released on November 16, 2004, as an album track of his limited edition box set The Ultimate Collection. As an artist, he recorded and performed solely under his surname, Thicke. He would continue to do so until 2005.
Career
1999–2003: A Beautiful World and early success
At the age of 22, after an involvement with Tommy Mottola and Epic Records following the end of his first deal with Interscope, Thicke resolved himself to work chiefly on material for his debut album, initially titled Cherry Blue Skies, planning to use his own money to fund the project. As Thicke told Billboard, "I decided I was going to save money to make my album, and I hoped to offer it to labels–take it or leave it–so I didn't have to negotiate how to make my music." While piecing his album together, Thicke began working with veteran producer and label executive Andre Harrell and, under his guidance, eventually signed with Interscope for a second time as part of Harrell's and Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds' Nu America imprint label in 2001.
In 2002, Thicke released his debut single "When I Get You Alone". The track samples Walter Murphy's "A Fifth of Beethoven", which itself is a disco rendition of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. The music video for the song received some rotation on MTV2 and BET's Rated Next and was spun moderately on pop and urban radio, peaking at number 49 on Radio & Records Pop chart. Globally, however, "When I Get You Alone" became a chart success when it peaked in the Top 20 in Australia, Belgium, and Italy, and reached the Top 10 of the singles charts in New Zealand and the Top 3 in the Netherlands.
The moderate success was enough to signal the release of the album in 2003 with its name changed to A Beautiful World. Despite the release of a second single, "Brand New Jones", the album received very little promotion and debuted at number 152 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, selling 119,000 copies as of January, 2012. A Beautiful World fell below the label's commercial expectations. The album's under-performance troubled Thicke personally, but it proved enough to make him a wanted collaborator. Thicke has cited Mary J. Blige, Usher, and Lil' Wayne, among others, as those who subsequently reached out to him.
Reflecting on A Beautiful World in 2013, Usher stated to The New York Times, "I was blown away — I thought Beatles, Earth Wind & Fire, Shuggie Otis, Marvin Gaye — all in one album. [Robin's] got a soul you can't buy, man."
Runner-up Blake Lewis performed "When I Get You Alone" during the 2007 season of American Idol when the Top 3 chose a song to sing. Lewis has often put Robin Thicke in his list of musical influences in interviews and on the American Idol website. The song was also performed by Blaine Anderson (played by Darren Criss) on Glee during the Season 2 episode "Silly Love Songs".
2004–07: The Evolution of Robin Thicke and commercial breakthrough
Following A Beautiful World, Thicke was keen to begin work on his sophomore album but financial and creative disagreements stemming from the performance of his first album led to a several month-long stalemate between Robin and his record label.
Regarding this time in his career, Thicke said,"The label pretty much lost faith in my ability to sell. It became a question of, 'Where does he fit? Is he not rock or pop enough? Is he not soul enough?'" Pharrell Williams, having established a distribution deal with Interscope for his record label, Star Trak, expressed to Jimmy Iovine his interest in Thicke, whose talent he thought of highly.
Signed to Star Trak in 2005, Thicke continued work on his second album, The Evolution of Robin Thicke. The first single, "Wanna Love U Girl", featured producer Williams and charted successfully on urban radio in the United Kingdom. In 2006, a remix version of the song was filmed with rapper Busta Rhymes. Nearly a year after the single was released, the album was released on October 3, 2006. To promote the album, Thicke toured with India.Arie and then opened for John Legend in late 2006.
The video for his second single, the ballad "Lost Without U", was released in fall 2006. The song began appearing on Billboard R&B charts in November of that year. With the assistance of radio airplay, the song became his breakout hit, reaching number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spending 11 weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, making him the first white male artist to top that chart since George Michael did so in 1988 with "One More Try".
In the February 24, 2007 issue of Billboard, Thicke concurrently topped four Billboard charts: Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, and Adult R&B Songs, a feat he would duplicate in the March 17 issue. Following its re-release as a Deluxe Edition (with three new bonus tracks) on February 13, 2007, the album peaked at number five on the Billboard 200. On March 23, 2007, The Evolution of Robin Thicke was certified Platinum by the RIAA. With album sales of over 1.5 million copies sold domestically, The Evolution of Robin Thicke became a commercial success in the United States.
Thicke and his record label Interscope soon considered potential tracks to be released as the album's next and third single. Thicke's preference was the track "Can U Believe", which peaked at number 16 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and at number 99 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. On October 2, 2007, the track "Got 2 Be Down" was released as the album's fourth official single. The single peaked at number 60 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks.
On April 19, 2007, Thicke performed on The Oprah Winfrey Show, singing "Lost Without U". He returned to the show a month later, on May 29, performing "Complicated" and Oprah's favorite song from the album, "Would That Make U Love Me", while also promoting Beyoncé's tour, on which he would be an opening act. Oprah revealed that Thicke's initial appearance garnered a strong reaction, noting that people called the show to say that they didn't know he would be on. Oprah explained, "So what I wanted to do was to accommodate all of the people who missed it the first time ... In order to do that, I had to do something I've never done before. I got on the phone and asked this very special guest if he would consider coming back."
In late 2007, Thicke finished promotion for the album as the featured opening act for the North American leg of Beyoncé's US tour, The Beyoncé Experience. Other notable performances in support of the album and its single "Lost Without U" include the 2007 BET Awards, The 2007 MOBO Awards,
American Idol, and the 2007 Soul Train Music Awards. He also performed a one-off UK concert at KOKO in London on September 24, 2007.
2008–2010: Something Else and Sex Therapy
Thicke released his third solo album, titled Something Else, on September 30, 2008. It debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 charts and sold 137,000 copies in the first week. The first single from the album, "Magic", was a further expansion of the R&B sound that powered his 2006 breakthrough, The Evolution of Robin Thicke. "Magic" went on to peak at number two on the Adult R&B chart, number six on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart and number 59 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. He followed this success with the second single, "The Sweetest Love", which peaked at number two on the Adult R&B chart and number 20 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart.
On February 8, 2009, at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards, Thicke took the stage alongside Lil' Wayne to perform their song "Tie My Hands" from the Grammy-winning album Tha Carter III (the song was also featured on Something Else) which was followed by Thicke and Lil' Wayne participating in a medley of "Big Chief" and "My Feet Can't Fail Me Now" led by jazz musicians Allen Toussaint, Terence Blanchard, and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band in tribute to New Orleans and the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
Thicke appeared on an episode of ABC's The Bachelor to perform "Magic" and "The Sweetest Love" for the remaining female contestants. Thicke wrote and produced a track for the movie Precious in which his wife Paula Patton also starred, though it did not appear on the soundtrack and remains unreleased. He co-headlined a U.S. tour with Jennifer Hudson, which began March 31, 2009 in Albany, New York, and wrapped up 25 shows later in Biloxi, Mississippi. At the start of the tour, Thicke released "Dreamworld" as the official third single from Something Else. As of April 2009, Something Else has shifted over 435,000 units in the U.S.
Seven months after the release of Something Else, Billboard.com announced that Thicke would release his fourth studio album in the fall of 2009, his first to not be mainly self-produced. The album, titled Sex Therapy, had its release date postponed to winter, on December 15, 2009. The first single from the album was the title track, produced by Polow Da Don, which in March 2010 became Thicke's second song to top the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The lead single for international markets was "Rollacosta" featuring singer Estelle. The second U.S. single was "It's in the Mornin'" featuring Snoop Dogg. "Shakin' It for Daddy", featuring rapper Nicki Minaj, produced by Polow Da Don, was supposed to be released as a single at some point, however, its release was eventually canceled.
Speaking of the musical background to Sex Therapy, Thicke told Pete Lewis – Deputy Editor of Blues & Soul – "I'm always gonna have the influence of Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and Al Green in my music. But with this album I also wanted to show my hip hop side. I grew up listening to Run-DMC and N.W.A and Biggie and Pac and Jay-Z ... So I really wanted to make a record that represented how much that music has influenced me." Earlier in 2009, on October 14, Leighton Meester's debut single "Somebody to Love", featuring Thicke, was released. Thicke told MTV he hoped to have Lil Wayne on the album. He also pointed out that he was featured on Lil Wayne's last two albums, and Lil Wayne was on his last two albums. "We're kind of good luck charms for each other."
Thicke appeared on ABC's New Year's Rockin' Eve on January 1, 2010, and performed three songs in Las Vegas, in a pre-recorded segment. Also in 2010, it was confirmed that he, along with Melanie Fiona, would feature on The Freedom Tour with Alicia Keys. As of October 2011, the album has sold 289,000 copies in the United States. On February 5, 2010, Thicke participated in BET's SOS Saving Ourselves: Help For Haiti telethon concert, held in response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake.
2011–12: Love After War and Duets
During 2011, Thicke was confirmed to go on tour with Jennifer Hudson, with whom he toured in 2009. Later that year, Robin Thicke released his fifth studio album, Love After War, on December 6, 2011. The album debuted at number twenty-two on the Billboard 200 and number six on the "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums" selling 41,000 in its first week. In an interview to promote the album, Thicke has stated that a lot of the inspiration for the album came from his family.
The album has produced three singles. The first is the title track, "Love After War" released on October 11, 2011, and has peaked at number fourteen on the "Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs" chart and topped the Adult R&B chart making it his second song after "Lost Without U" to top that chart. The music video for the song premiered November 21, 2011. The music video features his wife Paula Patton and consists of Thicke making up with his wife after a fight.
The second single is "Pretty Lil' Heart", which features Lil Wayne and was released on November 8, 2011. The music video for that premiered on March 2, 2012. It peaked at number fifty-one on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. On May 31, 2012, Thicke released a video for his promo single, which was a cover of the Whitney Houston classic "Exhale (Shoop Shoop"). The third official single is "All Tied Up" which was released to Urban AC radio on April 10, 2012. The music video premiered on June 7, 2012, on "Vevo".
Thicke performed "Love After War" on the 2011 Soul Train Music Awards and later returned to the stage to sing "Reasons", trading verses with Joe and Eric Benét, as part of an all-star tribute to Legend Award recipients Earth, Wind & Fire.
Thicke appeared on season 2 of NBC's The Voice as a guest adviser/mentor to the contestants on Adam Levine's team.
In July 2012, Thicke made his feature film debut starring alongside Jaime Pressly in Jimbo Lee's Abby in the Summer, produced by Gabriel Cowan, John Suits, Dallas Sonnier and Jack Heller. The film, shot in 2012, was released in 2014 under the title Making the Rules.
Thicke served as a judge on the ABC television show Duets which premiered May 24, 2012 and which also featured John Legend, Jennifer Nettles, and Kelly Clarkson. The judges doubled as mentors who searched for singers across the country (Robin Thicke's singers being Olivia Chisholm and Alexis Foster) to duet with them as they perform in front of a live studio audience. The premier episode drew in 7 million viewers. The show went live June 28, 2012, allowing the viewers to vote for their favorite contestants.
2013: Blurred Lines and Real Husbands of Hollywood
On March 26, 2013, Thicke released "Blurred Lines" featuring T.I. and Pharrell as the lead single to his sixth studio album, also titled Blurred Lines. The video, featuring models Emily Ratajkowski, Jessi M'Bengue, and Elle Evans, was directed by Diane Martel and released on March 20, 2013, and garnered more than 1 million views in days after release on Vevo. Thicke said he had received the approval of his wife Paula Patton before shooting the video.
In early 2013, Thicke starred as a fictionalized version of himself alongside Kevin Hart, Boris Kodjoe, Nelly, Duane Martin, J.B. Smoove, Nick Cannon, and Cynthia McWilliams in the first season of BET's hit show Real Husbands of Hollywood. Thicke was unable to rejoin the cast for the shooting of the second season, opting instead to focus on his music. According to Thicke, "Once the song started to take off, and all this momentum was happening, and [Real Husbands of Hollywood] needed me for all eight weeks, I couldn't finish the album and promote the single and go over seas and do all these other things I wanted to do."
As Thicke stated to the Breakfast Club, "The album is called Blurred Lines. I've realized as I've gotten older that we all think we're living either in a black or white world, or on a straight path, but most of us are living right in between those straight lines. And everything you thought you knew, the older you get, you realize, 'Damn, I don't know nothing about this. I better pay attention, I better listen and keep learning.' So I think that, that's what I've been realizing these past few years."
The singer also stated his attempt into a more poppy sound than his normal environment. "The last year I've been wanting to have more fun. I think I took myself very seriously as an artist and I wanted to be like Marvin Gaye, and John Lennon and Bob Marley and these great artists and songwriters that sang about love and sang about relationships," Robin said. "And then the last year, my wife and I just really wanted to have fun again, we wanted to be young again and we wanted to dance again and go out with our friends, so I wanted to make music that reflected that culture also." The song has been a worldwide hit, has peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and has also reached number one in 13 more countries including the United Kingdom, where Blurred Lines became only the 137th record in history to surpass the one million sales mark, and the United States. The new album Blurred Lines was released on July 30, 2013.
The song and related music videos also received criticism for being misogynistic and promoting rape culture, with some critics calling the lyrics "creepy" and the song "rapey". In an interview for GQ magazine Thicke joked about the video, saying, "What a pleasure it is to degrade a woman. I've never gotten to do that before. I've always respected women." In response to Thicke's statement in GQ that the idea of the video was to be 'derogatory towards women', the director Diane Martel denied this was discussed on set: "That's crazy. Maybe he wasn't thinking when he said that."
During an interview with Oprah Winfrey for Oprah's Next Chapter, Thicke clarified his comment about degrading women, describing it as a "bad joke", noting that the published GQ interview did not mention that he was doing an impersonation of Will Ferrell's Ron Burgundy character while making the remark, thus not providing the sarcastic/joking context.
The song's unrated music video was originally banned from YouTube before being reposted some weeks later.
On August 25, at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards, Thicke performed "Blurred Lines" with Miley Cyrus, who is twerking on stage, followed by "Give It 2 U" with 2 Chainz and Kendrick Lamar. The performance drew negative reactions for its alleged raunchiness, sexism, racism, slut-shaming, and cultural appropriation. It became the most tweeted about event in history, with Twitter users generating 360,000 tweets about the event per minute; breaking the previous record held by Beyoncé's Super Bowl XLVII halftime show performance six months earlier.
On December 6, 2013, Thicke and T.I. performed "Blurred Lines" accompanied by Earth, Wind & Fire at The Grammy Nominations Concert Live! on CBS where it was announced that Thicke had been nominated for three Grammy Awards: Best Pop Vocal Album for Blurred Lines and Record of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for the album's single "Blurred Lines". In the same month, he was awarded the title "Sexist of the Year" by the End Violence Against Women Coalition, which has more than 60 member groups working to end sexual and domestic violence, trafficking and other forms of abuse. Thicke received twice as many votes as the poll's runner up, Prime Minister David Cameron. It was parodied many times and forbidden in many UK student unions.
On January 26, 2014, Thicke performed live with Chicago at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards, celebrating the induction of Chicago's debut album, The Chicago Transit Authority, into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Thicke and Chicago performed a medley of "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?", "Beginnings", and "Saturday in the Park" ending with "Blurred Lines".
2014–present: Paula and On Earth, and in Heaven
In February 2014, Thicke collaborated with DJ Cassidy and British singer Jessie J to record Calling All Hearts.
In June 2014, Thicke announced that his next album would be called Paula, dedicated to his estranged wife, Paula Patton. The lead single "Get Her Back" was released on May 19, 2014. Thicke debuted the song on the same day with a performance at the Billboard Music Awards where he also won four awards for "Blurred Lines". Thicke also appeared on the season finale of The Voice singing "Get Her Back" with finalist Josh Kaufman. Thicke then performed the song "Forever Love" at the BET Awards 2014.
At the end of June 2014, during a Q&A session on Twitter and hosted by VH1, Thicke asked followers to submit questions by using the hashtag #AskThicke. The tag was quickly overrun by people protesting against his lyrics criticized as misogynistic, his lifestyle choices and other detractors leading to what The Guardian called "an epic PR fail". When a Twitter user pointed out that the comments directed at Thicke were "brutal", Thicke responded: "I can handle it, I'm a big boy".
The album, originally set for a Fall release, was pushed forward and released on July 1, 2014, five weeks after the release of its lead single. Paula peaked at #9 on the Billboard 200, and sold 24,000 copies in its first week of release. In a 2015 interview with Jody Rosen of The New York Times, Thicke expressed both embarrassment over his public dedications and regret over giving the album a commercial release, stating, "my record company didn't want me to put it out, but they stuck by me. In hindsight, the only thing I would have done differently was, I wouldn't have promoted it or sold it. I would have given it away."
Following the release of Paula, Thicke spent several months largely away from media appearances and performing in order to focus on his personal life and to work on new music. Thicke returned to the spotlight at the BET Awards 2015 to sing the classic Smokey Robinson and The Miracles hit "Ooo Baby Baby" in tribute to Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Smokey Robinson and joined Robinson on stage for a group rendition of "My Girl" alongside Tori Kelly and Ne-Yo. On June 29, on the heels of his BET Awards performance, Thicke debuted the lyric video for his new single "Morning Sun", on Vevo followed by the official release of the single on June 30. "Morning Sun" rose to the number 4 position on the Billboard Adult R&B Songs chart becoming Thicke's 11th top 10 hit on Urban AC radio.
Speaking with Prestige Hong Kong, Thicke explained: "The new album is call[ed] Morning Sun. It's about fresh starts, new beginnings, and the heralding in of a new day. It's about the last year of my life, the time I've spent with my friends and family and especially my son." Thicke also spoke of working again with Pharrell and Timbaland as well as with new collaborators DJ Mustard, Max Martin, and Ricky Reed. Another new single "Back Together", featuring Nicki Minaj, was released on August 6, 2015. Thicke rejoined the cast of Real Husbands of Hollywood in 2016 for its fifth season. In the premiere episode, Thicke parodied his publicized personal and professional troubles including his divorce, lawsuit, drug use and poorly received album.
In January 2019, Thicke began appearing as a panelist on the reality competition series The Masked Singer.
After nearly eight years since their hit collaboration, "Blurred Lines", Thicke and producer Pharrell Williams reunited for the single "Take Me Higher", released on January 21, 2021. It was included on his eighth studio album, On Earth, and in Heaven, released on February 12, 2021, through his Lucky Music label in partnership with Empire Distribution. It marks his first album since 2014's Paula. Thicke explained the album's inspiration: "I feel like I'm finally the person I set out to be. I'm able to laugh at anything, which I've realized is the greatest superpower. I've fully embraced it, and nothing has been better for my soul. When I saw the phrase 'On Earth, and in Heaven', I realized that's what I'm singing about: the people who aren't here and the people who are here that made me who I am. This music is the sunshine coming out after the rain".
Thicke collected his sixth No. 1 on Billboard's Adult R&B Airplay chart with “Look Easy” on the list dated for August 21.
Artistry
Influences
Thicke is a self-taught pianist. Some of the first songs he learned to play and sing along with as a child were by gospel artists such as Commissioned, Take 6, and John P. Kee, studying their licks and harmonies. Thicke has drawn influence from a variety of artists including James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Sting, Prince, Alanis Morissette, The Beatles, John Lennon, Bob Marley and Michael Jackson.
Thicke has said that he considers himself a soulful singer but does not like his music being described as "blue-eyed soul", finding the term too pigeonholing.
Songwriting and producing
Thicke began his career by writing and producing songs for popular artists. He co-wrote and produced the Color Me Badd song "Sexual Capacity" in 1996. He also co-wrote on the self-titled debut album by Christina Aguilera, which sold 17 million copies worldwide. Albums on which Thicke's songwriting, producing, and other contributions have been featured include: Brandy, Brian Mcknight's I Remember You, Brownstone's Still Climbing, Jordan Knight, Chante Moore's This Moment Is Mine, Marc Anthony, P!nk's Can't Take Me Home, Ronan Keating's Ronan, Mýa's Fear of Flying, BBMak's Sooner or Later, both Will Young's Friday's Child and Keep On.
The Thicke original "When I Get You Alone" was performed by Guy Sebastian, the winner of the first Australian Idol 2003, during the competition and at the Idol grand finale. "When I Get You Alone" was a popular song choice for Sebastian; he put the live idol performance on his four-times platinum debut single "Angels Brought Me Here"; it was the fastest selling single in Australia debuting at number one and immediately breaking an ARIA record. In 2004, Thicke co-wrote and produced "Out With My Baby" with Guy Sebastian, along with being credited for work on two additional songs from Sebastian's second album, Beautiful Life. The single, "Out With My Baby", became a platinum selling #1 hit for Sebastian on the ARIA Singles Charts. During this same year, he co-wrote and produced a song with the singer and actress Raven-Symoné for the album This Is My Time, with the song "Set Me Free".
Thicke co-wrote "Can U Handle It?" for Usher's 2004 album, Confessions, with backing vocals provided by Paula Patton. Confessions would go on to sell 20 million copies worldwide and win the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B Album in 2005.
Thicke co-wrote and produced the song "Tie My Hands" on Lil' Wayne's multi-platinum selling album Tha Carter III which went on to win Best Rap Album. Thicke wrote and produced the song "Giving Myself" for Jennifer Hudson's eponymous debut album, which went on to win Best R&B Album.
In total, albums on which Thicke has been credited for his work (in capacities including writer, producer, arranger, vocalist, and musician) have sold over 60 million copies worldwide.
Throughout his career, Thicke has worked most frequently with long-time production partner Pro Jay (James Gass), whose contributions have appeared on all of Thicke's own studio albums and whose name can be found alongside Thicke's in writing and producing credits for other artists. Thicke also often enlists veteran session guitarist and songwriter Bobby Keyes as well as keyboardist and music director Larry Cox to contribute to his projects.
Collaborations
In 2005, Thicke performed as a guest on the remix of Will Smith's song "Switch". In 2007, Thicke appeared on 50 Cent's album Curtis on a song called "Follow My Lead". The following year, he worked with Ashanti on her fourth studio album, The Declaration. Thicke also appeared on R. Kelly's Untitled on the track "Pregnant" which also features Tyrese and The-Dream. In 2008, Thicke was enlisted by producer Polow da Don to play piano on the hit Usher track "Love in This Club", which reached the #1 position on the Billboard Hot 100.
Thicke was featured along with a number of his contemporaries on the 2010 release Q Soul Bossa Nostra, an album in tribute to famed composer and music producer Quincy Jones (who also executive produced the project), which consisted of reinterpretations of Jones' work. In 2014, Thicke joined Jessie J on the DJ Cassidy produced song "Calling All Hearts". Thicke was featured along with bassist Verdine White on Flo Rida's "I Don't Like It, I Love It" in 2015 which found success on several international charts and peaked among the top 10 singles in seven countries.
Personal life
At age 14, Robin Thicke first met actress Paula Patton, who was then 16, in 1991 at an under-21 hip-hop club called Balistyx (co-founded and co-hosted by David Faustino) on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles, when he asked her to dance. They were married in 2005 and their son was born in April 2010. Thicke and Patton separated in February 2014, after 21 years together and almost nine years of marriage. On October 9, 2014, Patton officially filed for divorce, which was finalized on March 20, 2015.
In 2014, Thicke met April Love Geary at a party. They first appeared in public together in 2015. On February 22, 2018, the couple welcomed their first child, a daughter, Mia Love. In August 2018, Geary announced that the couple was expecting their second child; they became engaged on Christmas Eve 2018. On February 26, 2019, the couple welcomed their second child, another daughter, Lola Alain. In October 2020, the couple announced they were expecting their third child for December. On December 11, 2020, the couple welcomed their third child a boy, Luca Patrick.
Thicke is a close friend of fellow performer Usher. Thicke was present for Usher's engagement to Tameka Foster, serenading the couple with his song "The Stupid Things" as Usher proposed among family and friends.
On November 10, 2018, Geary revealed in an Instagram story she and Thicke had lost their Malibu home to the Woolsey wildfire that had been consuming the area. Two days later, Thicke returned to his property, describing the totality of the fire in a video for Entertainment Tonight: "It's funny, [from what] you see in movies, you'd think there would be one doll left over, or a book of course, something. [But] it's just rubble. There's nothing left."
Controversies
Performance with Miley Cyrus at MTV Video Music Awards 2013
In 2013, Robin Thicke and Miley Cyrus caused an uproar following their performance during the MTV Video Music Awards: during the performance, in which the singers had performed the songs "Blurred Lines" and "We Can't Stop", Cyrus had twerked in such a way as to mimic a sexual act with her colleague. Afterwards, Miley Cyrus said that Thicke had explicitly asked her to be "as naked as possible" during the performance. According to the same source, "Thicke was angry with Cyrus for “going too far” during the VMAs, and that he thought the “Wrecking Ball” songstress had “hijacked the performance.”"
Marvin Gaye plagiarism
After Blurred Lines' success, the heirs of singer Marvin Gaye sued Thicke and Pharrell Williams claiming the song was a plagiarism of Gaye's song "Got to Give It Up". Jurors awarded the Gayes $7.4 million, but U.S. District Judge John Kronstadt reduced the sum to $5.3 million, while adding royalties.
Emily Ratajkowski's book
In early October, 2021, fragments from Ratajkowski’s forthcoming book, "My Body", were leaked online, where the model allegedly claimed that Thicke groped her breasts without her consent in 2013 during the filming of the music video for the song "Blurred Lines". According to Time magazine and other sources, Ratajkowski was frustrated about the leaked chapter without her consent and also stated that it was taken out of the essay's context". Ratajkowski went on, "It’s been hard for me, I really like to have control over my image and I wrote this book of essays to share the whole story and all sides of it, and I feel like it turns into a clickbait frenzy and all of a sudden words like ‘sexual assault’ and ‘allegations’ are getting thrown around rather than people reading the actual essay... I'm just looking forward to when people will be able hear things in my own words." Thicke has not publicly responded to Ratajkowski's allegations.
Discography
Studio albums
A Beautiful World (2002)
The Evolution of Robin Thicke (2006)
Something Else (2008)
Sex Therapy: The Session (2009)
Love After War (2011)
Blurred Lines (2013)
Paula (2014)
On Earth, and in Heaven (2021)
Tours
Headlining
Blurred Lines Tour (2014)
Co-headlining
Jennifer Hudson & Robin Thicke in Concert (with Jennifer Hudson) (2009)
Promotional
Love & War Tour (2011)
Opening act
2006 Tour (for India Arie) (2006)
Once Again Tour (for John Legend) (2006)
The Beyoncé Experience (for Beyoncé) (2007)
Love Soul Tour (for Mary J. Blige) (2008)
Freedom Tour (for Alicia Keys) (2010)
This Is It (for Michael Jackson) (cancelled)
Overexposed Tour (for Maroon 5) (2014)
See also
List of awards and nominations received by Robin Thicke
Pharrell Williams v. Bridgeport Music
References
External links
1977 births
Living people
20th-century American male singers
20th-century American singers
21st-century American male singers
21st-century American singers
American contemporary R&B singers
American funk singers
American male child actors
American male film actors
American male pop singers
American male singer-songwriters
American male television actors
American people of Canadian descent
American people of Scottish descent
American people of Swedish descent
American soul singers
APRA Award winners
Dance-pop musicians
Grammy Award winners
Interscope Records artists
Male actors from California
Male actors from Los Angeles
People from Los Angeles
Singers from Los Angeles
Singer-songwriters from California | true | [
"Mama Drama is the third studio album released by American rapper Mia X, which was released on October 27, 1998, on No Limit Records, distributed by Priority Records and EMI, and featured production from Master P and Beats By the Pound. Many of the guests who appeared on the previous album returned for guest appearances on the album including Fat Joe and Charlie Wilson. It sold 404,000 units in the US.\n\nBackground and singles\nThe album was Mia X's most successful album commercially and critically, charting at number 7 on the Billboard 200 and number 3 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts. The first single, \"What'cha Wanna Do\", found success, reaching number 41 on the Billboard Hot 100, number 4 on the Hot Rap Tracks and number 32 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks. The second single was \"Imma Shine\".\n\nTrack listing\n\"Bring It On\" – 5:10 (featuring Fiend, Mac, Skull Duggery, C-Murder & Mystikal) [produced by KLC]\n\"What'cha Wanna Do\" – 4:40 (featuring Charlie Wilson) [produced by KLC & Craig B)\n\"Don't Start No Shit\" – 3:55 (featuring Master P & C-Murder) [produced by Craig B]\n\"Mama Drama\" – 2:56 (featuring Fiend) [produced by KLC]\n\"Imma Shine\" – 4:03 (featuring O'Dell) [prod. by Craig B]\n\"I Think Somebody\" – 3:03 (featuring Fiend) [produced by KLC]\n\"Mama's Tribute\" – 3:59 (produced by KLC)\n\"What's Ya Point\" – 4:19 (featuring Fat Joe & Snoop Dogg) [produced by Craig B]\n\"Thugs Like Me\" – 3:57 (produced by KLC)\n\"Ride or Run\" – 3:20 (featuring Big Ed & Steady Mobb'n) [produced by Carlos]\n\"Tru Bitches\" – 3:07 (produced by Craig B)\n\"Puttin' It Down\" – 3:55 (featuring Fiend, Mystikal, Mac and Kane & Abel) [produced by KLC]\n\"Ghetto Livin'\" – 4:03 (featuring Ghetto Commission & O'Dell) [produced by Carlos]\n\"Play Wit Pussy\" – 3:47 (featuring Fiend) [produced by KLC]\n\"Don't Blame Me\" – 4:08 (featuring C-Murder & Mr. Serv-On) [produced by Carlos]\n\"Daddy\" – 4:12 (produced by O'dell)\n\"Like Dat\" – 3:58 (produced by Craig B)\n\"Sex Ed.\" – 4:44 (featuring Silkk the Shocker) [produced by O'dell]\n\"Flip & Rip\" – 3:18 (featuring Mac) [produced by KLC]\n\"Fallen Angels\" (Dear Jil)\" – 3:10 (produced by O'dell)\n\nCredits and personnel\nMia X – vocals, rapping\nCraig B. – producer\nBig Ed – guest artist, performer, primary artist\nBig Man – vocals\nBoz – vocals\nCarlos – producer\nC-Murder composer, guest artist, performer, primary artist\nByron Dollioli – primary artist\nFat Joe – guest artist, performer, primary artist\nFiend – featured artist, guest artist, performer, primary artist\nGhetto Commission – guest artist, performer, primary artist\nLeslie Henderson – photography\nK Lou – bass\nKane & Abel -performer, primary artist\nKLC – producer\nM.A.C. – guest artist, primary artist\nMac – primary artist\nLarry Mac – composer\nMaster P – executive producer, guest artist, performer, primary artist\nMr. Serv-On – guest artist, performer, primary artist\nMystikal – featured artist, guest artist, performer, primary artist\nO'Dell – primary artist, producer, vocals\nPorsha – vocals\nOliver Scott – composer\nCarol Sheridan – photography\nSilkk the Shocker – guest artist, primary artist, vocals\nSkull Duggrey – performer, primary artist\nSnoop Dogg – composer, guest artist, performer, primary artist\nSteady Mobb'n – composer, performer, primary artist\nAnita Thomas – vocals\nMark Trentecosta – guitar\nWendy Weary – primary artist, vocals\nRonnie Wilson – composer\n\nCharts\n\nWeekly charts\n\nYear-end charts\n\nReferences\n\n1998 albums\nMia X albums\nNo Limit Records albums\nPriority Records albums\nEMI Records albums",
"Xtended Play Version 3.13 is the third studio album by Detroit-based hip hop duo Frank n Dank, released on October 24, 2006. The album features production from the likes of J Dilla, Oh No and Rich Kidd, and includes guest appearances from Brick & Lace, Kardinal Offishall, Saukrates, Jeru the Damaja and more.\n\nTrack listing\n\nBonus DVD\n\n The Frank N Dank Story\n McNasty Filth (Music video)\n M.C.A. (Music video)\n What Up (Music video)\n FND (Live)\n\nSingles\n\nPersonnel\nCredits for Xtended Play Version 3.13 adapted from AllMusic.\n\nFrank n Dank — Primary Artist\nBrick & Lace — Featured Artist\nBuddah Brothas — Producer\nP. Cauz — Producer\nJeru the Damaja — Featured Artist\nJ Dilla — Producer\nDJ Dopey — Featured Artist\nThe 2 Swift Household — Producer\nDJ Kemo — Producer, Featured Artist\nRich Kidd — Producer\nScott \"Watson\" Lake — Mastering\nLancecape — Producer\nTone Mason — Producer\nOh No — Producer\nKardinal Offishall — Featured Artist, Producer\nLindo P — Featured Artist\nReign — Featured Artist\nSaukrates — Featured Artist, Producer\nBrett Zilahi — Mastering\n\nReferences\n\n2006 albums\nFrank n Dank albums\nAlbums produced by J Dilla\nAlbums produced by Tone Mason\nAlbums produced by Kardinal Offishall\nAlbums produced by Oh No (musician)\nAlbums produced by Saukrates"
] | [
"Robin Alan Thicke (born March 10, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He has collaborated with numerous artists, such as Nicki Minaj, 3T, T.I., Christina Aguilera, Jessie J, K. Michelle, Pharrell, DJ Cassidy, Usher, Jennifer Hudson, Flo Rida, Brandy, Kid Cudi, Mary J. Blige, Emily Ratajkowski and composed songs for Marc Anthony.",
"He has collaborated with numerous artists, such as Nicki Minaj, 3T, T.I., Christina Aguilera, Jessie J, K. Michelle, Pharrell, DJ Cassidy, Usher, Jennifer Hudson, Flo Rida, Brandy, Kid Cudi, Mary J. Blige, Emily Ratajkowski and composed songs for Marc Anthony. Thicke worked on albums such as Usher's Confessions and Lil Wayne's Tha Carter III, while releasing his own R&B singles in the United States including \"Lost Without U\", \"Magic\", and \"Sex Therapy\".",
"Thicke worked on albums such as Usher's Confessions and Lil Wayne's Tha Carter III, while releasing his own R&B singles in the United States including \"Lost Without U\", \"Magic\", and \"Sex Therapy\". He gained international fame in 2013 with his single \"Blurred Lines\", which reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100. He is currently a judge on the Fox musical competition show The Masked Singer. Thicke is a son of actress Gloria Loring and actor Alan Thicke.",
"Thicke is a son of actress Gloria Loring and actor Alan Thicke. Early life and career Thicke was born on March 10, 1977, in Los Angeles, California. His parents are American actress-singer Gloria Loring, who appeared on the NBC daytime drama Days of Our Lives, and actor Alan Thicke (1947–2016), who is originally from Canada and known for his role on the TV sitcom Growing Pains. They divorced when Thicke was 7 years old.",
"They divorced when Thicke was 7 years old. They divorced when Thicke was 7 years old. He has an older brother, Brennan, who worked as a voice actor and voiced the titular character on the Dennis the Menace cartoon, and a younger half-brother, Carter. Robin Thicke also appeared in small roles on The Wonder Years, The New Lassie, Just the Ten of Us and several episodes of Growing Pains.",
"Robin Thicke also appeared in small roles on The Wonder Years, The New Lassie, Just the Ten of Us and several episodes of Growing Pains. Thicke's parents were supportive of his musical inclinations; his father helped him to write and structure his first songs.",
"Thicke's parents were supportive of his musical inclinations; his father helped him to write and structure his first songs. According to Robin Thicke, his father would not pay for Robin Thicke (then in his early teens) and his vocal group, As One, to record a professionally produced demo tape, wanting Robin to focus on his studies and graduate from school before committing to the pursuit of a career in music.",
"According to Robin Thicke, his father would not pay for Robin Thicke (then in his early teens) and his vocal group, As One, to record a professionally produced demo tape, wanting Robin to focus on his studies and graduate from school before committing to the pursuit of a career in music. The demo ultimately was paid for by jazz vocalist Al Jarreau, an uncle of one of the group members.",
"The demo ultimately was paid for by jazz vocalist Al Jarreau, an uncle of one of the group members. His demo made its way to R&B singer Brian McKnight, who was impressed enough by Thicke to invite him into the studio to work with him. Thicke was signed to McKnight's production company; \"Anyway\", a song co-written with Thicke, was featured on McKnight's second album I Remember You. Thicke's peers jokingly nicknamed him \"Brian McWhite\".",
"Thicke's peers jokingly nicknamed him \"Brian McWhite\". It was Thicke's association with McKnight, who Thicke counts as one of his first mentors, that led him to his acquaintance with Jimmy Iovine and helped him to land his first recording contract with Interscope Records at the age of 16. Thicke later joined a hip hop duo with future Beverly Hills 90210 actor Brian Austin Green.",
"Thicke later joined a hip hop duo with future Beverly Hills 90210 actor Brian Austin Green. Thicke moved out on his own at the age of 17, during his senior year of high school, earning a living and supporting himself as a professional record producer and songwriter. Thicke has noted that while his parents did not attempt to dissuade him from his desire to be in the music industry, their own experience with the nature of the entertainment business made them leery in the beginning.",
"Thicke has noted that while his parents did not attempt to dissuade him from his desire to be in the music industry, their own experience with the nature of the entertainment business made them leery in the beginning. As Thicke's list of credits grew so did his parents' confidence in his decision. While initially signed as a singer and artist in his own right, Thicke first made a name for himself within the industry as a songwriter and producer for other artists before releasing and performing his own music.",
"While initially signed as a singer and artist in his own right, Thicke first made a name for himself within the industry as a songwriter and producer for other artists before releasing and performing his own music. Among his work for other artists, Thicke co-wrote \"Love Is on My Side\" on Brandy's eponymous debut album; he also wrote for 3T's Brotherhood, and collaborated with Jordan Knight, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis on several songs in Knight's 1999 album Jordan Knight including the Billboard top 10 hit \"Give It to You\".",
"Among his work for other artists, Thicke co-wrote \"Love Is on My Side\" on Brandy's eponymous debut album; he also wrote for 3T's Brotherhood, and collaborated with Jordan Knight, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis on several songs in Knight's 1999 album Jordan Knight including the Billboard top 10 hit \"Give It to You\". According to Thicke, Knight also invested in the ability of the young songwriter early on by purchasing studio equipment for him.",
"According to Thicke, Knight also invested in the ability of the young songwriter early on by purchasing studio equipment for him. He also co-wrote the song \"When You Put Your Hands on Me\" for Christina Aguilera's debut album and co-wrote and produced three songs for Mýa's sophomore release, Fear of Flying. In 1999, Thicke co-wrote the song \"Fall Again\" with Walter Afanasieff, which was intended to be a track on Michael Jackson's 2001 album Invincible, but it failed to be presented as a completed song.",
"In 1999, Thicke co-wrote the song \"Fall Again\" with Walter Afanasieff, which was intended to be a track on Michael Jackson's 2001 album Invincible, but it failed to be presented as a completed song. The demo Michael recorded in 1999 was released on November 16, 2004, as an album track of his limited edition box set The Ultimate Collection. As an artist, he recorded and performed solely under his surname, Thicke. He would continue to do so until 2005.",
"He would continue to do so until 2005. He would continue to do so until 2005. Career 1999–2003: A Beautiful World and early success At the age of 22, after an involvement with Tommy Mottola and Epic Records following the end of his first deal with Interscope, Thicke resolved himself to work chiefly on material for his debut album, initially titled Cherry Blue Skies, planning to use his own money to fund the project.",
"Career 1999–2003: A Beautiful World and early success At the age of 22, after an involvement with Tommy Mottola and Epic Records following the end of his first deal with Interscope, Thicke resolved himself to work chiefly on material for his debut album, initially titled Cherry Blue Skies, planning to use his own money to fund the project. As Thicke told Billboard, \"I decided I was going to save money to make my album, and I hoped to offer it to labels–take it or leave it–so I didn't have to negotiate how to make my music.\"",
"As Thicke told Billboard, \"I decided I was going to save money to make my album, and I hoped to offer it to labels–take it or leave it–so I didn't have to negotiate how to make my music.\" While piecing his album together, Thicke began working with veteran producer and label executive Andre Harrell and, under his guidance, eventually signed with Interscope for a second time as part of Harrell's and Kenneth \"Babyface\" Edmonds' Nu America imprint label in 2001.",
"While piecing his album together, Thicke began working with veteran producer and label executive Andre Harrell and, under his guidance, eventually signed with Interscope for a second time as part of Harrell's and Kenneth \"Babyface\" Edmonds' Nu America imprint label in 2001. In 2002, Thicke released his debut single \"When I Get You Alone\". The track samples Walter Murphy's \"A Fifth of Beethoven\", which itself is a disco rendition of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony.",
"The track samples Walter Murphy's \"A Fifth of Beethoven\", which itself is a disco rendition of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. The music video for the song received some rotation on MTV2 and BET's Rated Next and was spun moderately on pop and urban radio, peaking at number 49 on Radio & Records Pop chart.",
"The music video for the song received some rotation on MTV2 and BET's Rated Next and was spun moderately on pop and urban radio, peaking at number 49 on Radio & Records Pop chart. Globally, however, \"When I Get You Alone\" became a chart success when it peaked in the Top 20 in Australia, Belgium, and Italy, and reached the Top 10 of the singles charts in New Zealand and the Top 3 in the Netherlands.",
"Globally, however, \"When I Get You Alone\" became a chart success when it peaked in the Top 20 in Australia, Belgium, and Italy, and reached the Top 10 of the singles charts in New Zealand and the Top 3 in the Netherlands. The moderate success was enough to signal the release of the album in 2003 with its name changed to A Beautiful World.",
"The moderate success was enough to signal the release of the album in 2003 with its name changed to A Beautiful World. Despite the release of a second single, \"Brand New Jones\", the album received very little promotion and debuted at number 152 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, selling 119,000 copies as of January, 2012. A Beautiful World fell below the label's commercial expectations. The album's under-performance troubled Thicke personally, but it proved enough to make him a wanted collaborator.",
"The album's under-performance troubled Thicke personally, but it proved enough to make him a wanted collaborator. Thicke has cited Mary J. Blige, Usher, and Lil' Wayne, among others, as those who subsequently reached out to him. Reflecting on A Beautiful World in 2013, Usher stated to The New York Times, \"I was blown away — I thought Beatles, Earth Wind & Fire, Shuggie Otis, Marvin Gaye — all in one album.",
"Reflecting on A Beautiful World in 2013, Usher stated to The New York Times, \"I was blown away — I thought Beatles, Earth Wind & Fire, Shuggie Otis, Marvin Gaye — all in one album. [Robin's] got a soul you can't buy, man.\" Runner-up Blake Lewis performed \"When I Get You Alone\" during the 2007 season of American Idol when the Top 3 chose a song to sing.",
"Runner-up Blake Lewis performed \"When I Get You Alone\" during the 2007 season of American Idol when the Top 3 chose a song to sing. Lewis has often put Robin Thicke in his list of musical influences in interviews and on the American Idol website. The song was also performed by Blaine Anderson (played by Darren Criss) on Glee during the Season 2 episode \"Silly Love Songs\".",
"The song was also performed by Blaine Anderson (played by Darren Criss) on Glee during the Season 2 episode \"Silly Love Songs\". 2004–07: The Evolution of Robin Thicke and commercial breakthrough Following A Beautiful World, Thicke was keen to begin work on his sophomore album but financial and creative disagreements stemming from the performance of his first album led to a several month-long stalemate between Robin and his record label.",
"2004–07: The Evolution of Robin Thicke and commercial breakthrough Following A Beautiful World, Thicke was keen to begin work on his sophomore album but financial and creative disagreements stemming from the performance of his first album led to a several month-long stalemate between Robin and his record label. Regarding this time in his career, Thicke said,\"The label pretty much lost faith in my ability to sell. It became a question of, 'Where does he fit? Is he not rock or pop enough?",
"Is he not rock or pop enough? Is he not rock or pop enough? Is he not soul enough?'\" Pharrell Williams, having established a distribution deal with Interscope for his record label, Star Trak, expressed to Jimmy Iovine his interest in Thicke, whose talent he thought of highly. Signed to Star Trak in 2005, Thicke continued work on his second album, The Evolution of Robin Thicke.",
"Signed to Star Trak in 2005, Thicke continued work on his second album, The Evolution of Robin Thicke. The first single, \"Wanna Love U Girl\", featured producer Williams and charted successfully on urban radio in the United Kingdom. In 2006, a remix version of the song was filmed with rapper Busta Rhymes. Nearly a year after the single was released, the album was released on October 3, 2006.",
"Nearly a year after the single was released, the album was released on October 3, 2006. To promote the album, Thicke toured with India.Arie and then opened for John Legend in late 2006. The video for his second single, the ballad \"Lost Without U\", was released in fall 2006. The song began appearing on Billboard R&B charts in November of that year.",
"The song began appearing on Billboard R&B charts in November of that year. With the assistance of radio airplay, the song became his breakout hit, reaching number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spending 11 weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, making him the first white male artist to top that chart since George Michael did so in 1988 with \"One More Try\".",
"With the assistance of radio airplay, the song became his breakout hit, reaching number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spending 11 weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, making him the first white male artist to top that chart since George Michael did so in 1988 with \"One More Try\". In the February 24, 2007 issue of Billboard, Thicke concurrently topped four Billboard charts: Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, and Adult R&B Songs, a feat he would duplicate in the March 17 issue.",
"In the February 24, 2007 issue of Billboard, Thicke concurrently topped four Billboard charts: Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, and Adult R&B Songs, a feat he would duplicate in the March 17 issue. Following its re-release as a Deluxe Edition (with three new bonus tracks) on February 13, 2007, the album peaked at number five on the Billboard 200.",
"Following its re-release as a Deluxe Edition (with three new bonus tracks) on February 13, 2007, the album peaked at number five on the Billboard 200. On March 23, 2007, The Evolution of Robin Thicke was certified Platinum by the RIAA. With album sales of over 1.5 million copies sold domestically, The Evolution of Robin Thicke became a commercial success in the United States. Thicke and his record label Interscope soon considered potential tracks to be released as the album's next and third single.",
"Thicke and his record label Interscope soon considered potential tracks to be released as the album's next and third single. Thicke's preference was the track \"Can U Believe\", which peaked at number 16 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and at number 99 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. On October 2, 2007, the track \"Got 2 Be Down\" was released as the album's fourth official single. The single peaked at number 60 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks.",
"The single peaked at number 60 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks. On April 19, 2007, Thicke performed on The Oprah Winfrey Show, singing \"Lost Without U\". He returned to the show a month later, on May 29, performing \"Complicated\" and Oprah's favorite song from the album, \"Would That Make U Love Me\", while also promoting Beyoncé's tour, on which he would be an opening act.",
"He returned to the show a month later, on May 29, performing \"Complicated\" and Oprah's favorite song from the album, \"Would That Make U Love Me\", while also promoting Beyoncé's tour, on which he would be an opening act. Oprah revealed that Thicke's initial appearance garnered a strong reaction, noting that people called the show to say that they didn't know he would be on.",
"Oprah revealed that Thicke's initial appearance garnered a strong reaction, noting that people called the show to say that they didn't know he would be on. Oprah explained, \"So what I wanted to do was to accommodate all of the people who missed it the first time ... In order to do that, I had to do something I've never done before. I got on the phone and asked this very special guest if he would consider coming back.\"",
"I got on the phone and asked this very special guest if he would consider coming back.\" In late 2007, Thicke finished promotion for the album as the featured opening act for the North American leg of Beyoncé's US tour, The Beyoncé Experience. Other notable performances in support of the album and its single \"Lost Without U\" include the 2007 BET Awards, The 2007 MOBO Awards, American Idol, and the 2007 Soul Train Music Awards.",
"Other notable performances in support of the album and its single \"Lost Without U\" include the 2007 BET Awards, The 2007 MOBO Awards, American Idol, and the 2007 Soul Train Music Awards. He also performed a one-off UK concert at KOKO in London on September 24, 2007. 2008–2010: Something Else and Sex Therapy Thicke released his third solo album, titled Something Else, on September 30, 2008. It debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 charts and sold 137,000 copies in the first week.",
"It debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 charts and sold 137,000 copies in the first week. The first single from the album, \"Magic\", was a further expansion of the R&B sound that powered his 2006 breakthrough, The Evolution of Robin Thicke. \"Magic\" went on to peak at number two on the Adult R&B chart, number six on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart and number 59 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.",
"\"Magic\" went on to peak at number two on the Adult R&B chart, number six on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart and number 59 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. He followed this success with the second single, \"The Sweetest Love\", which peaked at number two on the Adult R&B chart and number 20 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart.",
"He followed this success with the second single, \"The Sweetest Love\", which peaked at number two on the Adult R&B chart and number 20 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart. On February 8, 2009, at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards, Thicke took the stage alongside Lil' Wayne to perform their song \"Tie My Hands\" from the Grammy-winning album Tha Carter III (the song was also featured on Something Else) which was followed by Thicke and Lil' Wayne participating in a medley of \"Big Chief\" and \"My Feet Can't Fail Me Now\" led by jazz musicians Allen Toussaint, Terence Blanchard, and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band in tribute to New Orleans and the victims of Hurricane Katrina.",
"On February 8, 2009, at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards, Thicke took the stage alongside Lil' Wayne to perform their song \"Tie My Hands\" from the Grammy-winning album Tha Carter III (the song was also featured on Something Else) which was followed by Thicke and Lil' Wayne participating in a medley of \"Big Chief\" and \"My Feet Can't Fail Me Now\" led by jazz musicians Allen Toussaint, Terence Blanchard, and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band in tribute to New Orleans and the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Thicke appeared on an episode of ABC's The Bachelor to perform \"Magic\" and \"The Sweetest Love\" for the remaining female contestants.",
"Thicke appeared on an episode of ABC's The Bachelor to perform \"Magic\" and \"The Sweetest Love\" for the remaining female contestants. Thicke wrote and produced a track for the movie Precious in which his wife Paula Patton also starred, though it did not appear on the soundtrack and remains unreleased. He co-headlined a U.S. tour with Jennifer Hudson, which began March 31, 2009 in Albany, New York, and wrapped up 25 shows later in Biloxi, Mississippi.",
"He co-headlined a U.S. tour with Jennifer Hudson, which began March 31, 2009 in Albany, New York, and wrapped up 25 shows later in Biloxi, Mississippi. At the start of the tour, Thicke released \"Dreamworld\" as the official third single from Something Else. As of April 2009, Something Else has shifted over 435,000 units in the U.S.",
"As of April 2009, Something Else has shifted over 435,000 units in the U.S. Seven months after the release of Something Else, Billboard.com announced that Thicke would release his fourth studio album in the fall of 2009, his first to not be mainly self-produced. The album, titled Sex Therapy, had its release date postponed to winter, on December 15, 2009.",
"The album, titled Sex Therapy, had its release date postponed to winter, on December 15, 2009. The first single from the album was the title track, produced by Polow Da Don, which in March 2010 became Thicke's second song to top the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The lead single for international markets was \"Rollacosta\" featuring singer Estelle. The second U.S. single was \"It's in the Mornin'\" featuring Snoop Dogg.",
"The second U.S. single was \"It's in the Mornin'\" featuring Snoop Dogg. \"Shakin' It for Daddy\", featuring rapper Nicki Minaj, produced by Polow Da Don, was supposed to be released as a single at some point, however, its release was eventually canceled. Speaking of the musical background to Sex Therapy, Thicke told Pete Lewis – Deputy Editor of Blues & Soul – \"I'm always gonna have the influence of Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and Al Green in my music.",
"Speaking of the musical background to Sex Therapy, Thicke told Pete Lewis – Deputy Editor of Blues & Soul – \"I'm always gonna have the influence of Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and Al Green in my music. But with this album I also wanted to show my hip hop side. I grew up listening to Run-DMC and N.W.A and Biggie and Pac and Jay-Z ... So I really wanted to make a record that represented how much that music has influenced me.\"",
"So I really wanted to make a record that represented how much that music has influenced me.\" Earlier in 2009, on October 14, Leighton Meester's debut single \"Somebody to Love\", featuring Thicke, was released. Thicke told MTV he hoped to have Lil Wayne on the album. He also pointed out that he was featured on Lil Wayne's last two albums, and Lil Wayne was on his last two albums. \"We're kind of good luck charms for each other.\"",
"\"We're kind of good luck charms for each other.\" Thicke appeared on ABC's New Year's Rockin' Eve on January 1, 2010, and performed three songs in Las Vegas, in a pre-recorded segment. Also in 2010, it was confirmed that he, along with Melanie Fiona, would feature on The Freedom Tour with Alicia Keys. As of October 2011, the album has sold 289,000 copies in the United States.",
"As of October 2011, the album has sold 289,000 copies in the United States. On February 5, 2010, Thicke participated in BET's SOS Saving Ourselves: Help For Haiti telethon concert, held in response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake. 2011–12: Love After War and Duets During 2011, Thicke was confirmed to go on tour with Jennifer Hudson, with whom he toured in 2009. Later that year, Robin Thicke released his fifth studio album, Love After War, on December 6, 2011.",
"Later that year, Robin Thicke released his fifth studio album, Love After War, on December 6, 2011. The album debuted at number twenty-two on the Billboard 200 and number six on the \"Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums\" selling 41,000 in its first week. In an interview to promote the album, Thicke has stated that a lot of the inspiration for the album came from his family. The album has produced three singles.",
"The album has produced three singles. The album has produced three singles. The first is the title track, \"Love After War\" released on October 11, 2011, and has peaked at number fourteen on the \"Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs\" chart and topped the Adult R&B chart making it his second song after \"Lost Without U\" to top that chart. The music video for the song premiered November 21, 2011.",
"The music video for the song premiered November 21, 2011. The music video features his wife Paula Patton and consists of Thicke making up with his wife after a fight. The second single is \"Pretty Lil' Heart\", which features Lil Wayne and was released on November 8, 2011. The music video for that premiered on March 2, 2012. It peaked at number fifty-one on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.",
"It peaked at number fifty-one on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. On May 31, 2012, Thicke released a video for his promo single, which was a cover of the Whitney Houston classic \"Exhale (Shoop Shoop\"). The third official single is \"All Tied Up\" which was released to Urban AC radio on April 10, 2012. The music video premiered on June 7, 2012, on \"Vevo\".",
"The music video premiered on June 7, 2012, on \"Vevo\". Thicke performed \"Love After War\" on the 2011 Soul Train Music Awards and later returned to the stage to sing \"Reasons\", trading verses with Joe and Eric Benét, as part of an all-star tribute to Legend Award recipients Earth, Wind & Fire. Thicke appeared on season 2 of NBC's The Voice as a guest adviser/mentor to the contestants on Adam Levine's team.",
"Thicke appeared on season 2 of NBC's The Voice as a guest adviser/mentor to the contestants on Adam Levine's team. In July 2012, Thicke made his feature film debut starring alongside Jaime Pressly in Jimbo Lee's Abby in the Summer, produced by Gabriel Cowan, John Suits, Dallas Sonnier and Jack Heller. The film, shot in 2012, was released in 2014 under the title Making the Rules.",
"The film, shot in 2012, was released in 2014 under the title Making the Rules. Thicke served as a judge on the ABC television show Duets which premiered May 24, 2012 and which also featured John Legend, Jennifer Nettles, and Kelly Clarkson. The judges doubled as mentors who searched for singers across the country (Robin Thicke's singers being Olivia Chisholm and Alexis Foster) to duet with them as they perform in front of a live studio audience. The premier episode drew in 7 million viewers.",
"The premier episode drew in 7 million viewers. The premier episode drew in 7 million viewers. The show went live June 28, 2012, allowing the viewers to vote for their favorite contestants. 2013: Blurred Lines and Real Husbands of Hollywood On March 26, 2013, Thicke released \"Blurred Lines\" featuring T.I. and Pharrell as the lead single to his sixth studio album, also titled Blurred Lines.",
"and Pharrell as the lead single to his sixth studio album, also titled Blurred Lines. The video, featuring models Emily Ratajkowski, Jessi M'Bengue, and Elle Evans, was directed by Diane Martel and released on March 20, 2013, and garnered more than 1 million views in days after release on Vevo. Thicke said he had received the approval of his wife Paula Patton before shooting the video.",
"Thicke said he had received the approval of his wife Paula Patton before shooting the video. In early 2013, Thicke starred as a fictionalized version of himself alongside Kevin Hart, Boris Kodjoe, Nelly, Duane Martin, J.B. Smoove, Nick Cannon, and Cynthia McWilliams in the first season of BET's hit show Real Husbands of Hollywood. Thicke was unable to rejoin the cast for the shooting of the second season, opting instead to focus on his music.",
"Thicke was unable to rejoin the cast for the shooting of the second season, opting instead to focus on his music. According to Thicke, \"Once the song started to take off, and all this momentum was happening, and [Real Husbands of Hollywood] needed me for all eight weeks, I couldn't finish the album and promote the single and go over seas and do all these other things I wanted to do.\" As Thicke stated to the Breakfast Club, \"The album is called Blurred Lines.",
"As Thicke stated to the Breakfast Club, \"The album is called Blurred Lines. I've realized as I've gotten older that we all think we're living either in a black or white world, or on a straight path, but most of us are living right in between those straight lines. And everything you thought you knew, the older you get, you realize, 'Damn, I don't know nothing about this. I better pay attention, I better listen and keep learning.'",
"I better pay attention, I better listen and keep learning.' So I think that, that's what I've been realizing these past few years.\" The singer also stated his attempt into a more poppy sound than his normal environment. \"The last year I've been wanting to have more fun.",
"\"The last year I've been wanting to have more fun. I think I took myself very seriously as an artist and I wanted to be like Marvin Gaye, and John Lennon and Bob Marley and these great artists and songwriters that sang about love and sang about relationships,\" Robin said.",
"I think I took myself very seriously as an artist and I wanted to be like Marvin Gaye, and John Lennon and Bob Marley and these great artists and songwriters that sang about love and sang about relationships,\" Robin said. \"And then the last year, my wife and I just really wanted to have fun again, we wanted to be young again and we wanted to dance again and go out with our friends, so I wanted to make music that reflected that culture also.\"",
"\"And then the last year, my wife and I just really wanted to have fun again, we wanted to be young again and we wanted to dance again and go out with our friends, so I wanted to make music that reflected that culture also.\" The song has been a worldwide hit, has peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and has also reached number one in 13 more countries including the United Kingdom, where Blurred Lines became only the 137th record in history to surpass the one million sales mark, and the United States.",
"The song has been a worldwide hit, has peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and has also reached number one in 13 more countries including the United Kingdom, where Blurred Lines became only the 137th record in history to surpass the one million sales mark, and the United States. The new album Blurred Lines was released on July 30, 2013.",
"The new album Blurred Lines was released on July 30, 2013. The song and related music videos also received criticism for being misogynistic and promoting rape culture, with some critics calling the lyrics \"creepy\" and the song \"rapey\". In an interview for GQ magazine Thicke joked about the video, saying, \"What a pleasure it is to degrade a woman. I've never gotten to do that before. I've always respected women.\"",
"I've always respected women.\" I've always respected women.\" In response to Thicke's statement in GQ that the idea of the video was to be 'derogatory towards women', the director Diane Martel denied this was discussed on set: \"That's crazy. Maybe he wasn't thinking when he said that.\"",
"Maybe he wasn't thinking when he said that.\" During an interview with Oprah Winfrey for Oprah's Next Chapter, Thicke clarified his comment about degrading women, describing it as a \"bad joke\", noting that the published GQ interview did not mention that he was doing an impersonation of Will Ferrell's Ron Burgundy character while making the remark, thus not providing the sarcastic/joking context. The song's unrated music video was originally banned from YouTube before being reposted some weeks later.",
"The song's unrated music video was originally banned from YouTube before being reposted some weeks later. On August 25, at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards, Thicke performed \"Blurred Lines\" with Miley Cyrus, who is twerking on stage, followed by \"Give It 2 U\" with 2 Chainz and Kendrick Lamar. The performance drew negative reactions for its alleged raunchiness, sexism, racism, slut-shaming, and cultural appropriation.",
"The performance drew negative reactions for its alleged raunchiness, sexism, racism, slut-shaming, and cultural appropriation. It became the most tweeted about event in history, with Twitter users generating 360,000 tweets about the event per minute; breaking the previous record held by Beyoncé's Super Bowl XLVII halftime show performance six months earlier. On December 6, 2013, Thicke and T.I. performed \"Blurred Lines\" accompanied by Earth, Wind & Fire at The Grammy Nominations Concert Live!",
"performed \"Blurred Lines\" accompanied by Earth, Wind & Fire at The Grammy Nominations Concert Live! on CBS where it was announced that Thicke had been nominated for three Grammy Awards: Best Pop Vocal Album for Blurred Lines and Record of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for the album's single \"Blurred Lines\".",
"on CBS where it was announced that Thicke had been nominated for three Grammy Awards: Best Pop Vocal Album for Blurred Lines and Record of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for the album's single \"Blurred Lines\". In the same month, he was awarded the title \"Sexist of the Year\" by the End Violence Against Women Coalition, which has more than 60 member groups working to end sexual and domestic violence, trafficking and other forms of abuse.",
"In the same month, he was awarded the title \"Sexist of the Year\" by the End Violence Against Women Coalition, which has more than 60 member groups working to end sexual and domestic violence, trafficking and other forms of abuse. Thicke received twice as many votes as the poll's runner up, Prime Minister David Cameron. It was parodied many times and forbidden in many UK student unions.",
"It was parodied many times and forbidden in many UK student unions. On January 26, 2014, Thicke performed live with Chicago at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards, celebrating the induction of Chicago's debut album, The Chicago Transit Authority, into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Thicke and Chicago performed a medley of \"Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? \", \"Beginnings\", and \"Saturday in the Park\" ending with \"Blurred Lines\".",
"\", \"Beginnings\", and \"Saturday in the Park\" ending with \"Blurred Lines\". 2014–present: Paula and On Earth, and in Heaven In February 2014, Thicke collaborated with DJ Cassidy and British singer Jessie J to record Calling All Hearts. In June 2014, Thicke announced that his next album would be called Paula, dedicated to his estranged wife, Paula Patton. The lead single \"Get Her Back\" was released on May 19, 2014.",
"The lead single \"Get Her Back\" was released on May 19, 2014. Thicke debuted the song on the same day with a performance at the Billboard Music Awards where he also won four awards for \"Blurred Lines\". Thicke also appeared on the season finale of The Voice singing \"Get Her Back\" with finalist Josh Kaufman. Thicke then performed the song \"Forever Love\" at the BET Awards 2014.",
"Thicke then performed the song \"Forever Love\" at the BET Awards 2014. At the end of June 2014, during a Q&A session on Twitter and hosted by VH1, Thicke asked followers to submit questions by using the hashtag #AskThicke. The tag was quickly overrun by people protesting against his lyrics criticized as misogynistic, his lifestyle choices and other detractors leading to what The Guardian called \"an epic PR fail\".",
"The tag was quickly overrun by people protesting against his lyrics criticized as misogynistic, his lifestyle choices and other detractors leading to what The Guardian called \"an epic PR fail\". When a Twitter user pointed out that the comments directed at Thicke were \"brutal\", Thicke responded: \"I can handle it, I'm a big boy\". The album, originally set for a Fall release, was pushed forward and released on July 1, 2014, five weeks after the release of its lead single.",
"The album, originally set for a Fall release, was pushed forward and released on July 1, 2014, five weeks after the release of its lead single. Paula peaked at #9 on the Billboard 200, and sold 24,000 copies in its first week of release.",
"Paula peaked at #9 on the Billboard 200, and sold 24,000 copies in its first week of release. In a 2015 interview with Jody Rosen of The New York Times, Thicke expressed both embarrassment over his public dedications and regret over giving the album a commercial release, stating, \"my record company didn't want me to put it out, but they stuck by me. In hindsight, the only thing I would have done differently was, I wouldn't have promoted it or sold it.",
"In hindsight, the only thing I would have done differently was, I wouldn't have promoted it or sold it. I would have given it away.\" Following the release of Paula, Thicke spent several months largely away from media appearances and performing in order to focus on his personal life and to work on new music.",
"Following the release of Paula, Thicke spent several months largely away from media appearances and performing in order to focus on his personal life and to work on new music. Thicke returned to the spotlight at the BET Awards 2015 to sing the classic Smokey Robinson and The Miracles hit \"Ooo Baby Baby\" in tribute to Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Smokey Robinson and joined Robinson on stage for a group rendition of \"My Girl\" alongside Tori Kelly and Ne-Yo.",
"Thicke returned to the spotlight at the BET Awards 2015 to sing the classic Smokey Robinson and The Miracles hit \"Ooo Baby Baby\" in tribute to Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Smokey Robinson and joined Robinson on stage for a group rendition of \"My Girl\" alongside Tori Kelly and Ne-Yo. On June 29, on the heels of his BET Awards performance, Thicke debuted the lyric video for his new single \"Morning Sun\", on Vevo followed by the official release of the single on June 30.",
"On June 29, on the heels of his BET Awards performance, Thicke debuted the lyric video for his new single \"Morning Sun\", on Vevo followed by the official release of the single on June 30. \"Morning Sun\" rose to the number 4 position on the Billboard Adult R&B Songs chart becoming Thicke's 11th top 10 hit on Urban AC radio. Speaking with Prestige Hong Kong, Thicke explained: \"The new album is call[ed] Morning Sun.",
"Speaking with Prestige Hong Kong, Thicke explained: \"The new album is call[ed] Morning Sun. It's about fresh starts, new beginnings, and the heralding in of a new day. It's about the last year of my life, the time I've spent with my friends and family and especially my son.\" Thicke also spoke of working again with Pharrell and Timbaland as well as with new collaborators DJ Mustard, Max Martin, and Ricky Reed.",
"Thicke also spoke of working again with Pharrell and Timbaland as well as with new collaborators DJ Mustard, Max Martin, and Ricky Reed. Another new single \"Back Together\", featuring Nicki Minaj, was released on August 6, 2015. Thicke rejoined the cast of Real Husbands of Hollywood in 2016 for its fifth season. In the premiere episode, Thicke parodied his publicized personal and professional troubles including his divorce, lawsuit, drug use and poorly received album.",
"In the premiere episode, Thicke parodied his publicized personal and professional troubles including his divorce, lawsuit, drug use and poorly received album. In January 2019, Thicke began appearing as a panelist on the reality competition series The Masked Singer. After nearly eight years since their hit collaboration, \"Blurred Lines\", Thicke and producer Pharrell Williams reunited for the single \"Take Me Higher\", released on January 21, 2021.",
"After nearly eight years since their hit collaboration, \"Blurred Lines\", Thicke and producer Pharrell Williams reunited for the single \"Take Me Higher\", released on January 21, 2021. It was included on his eighth studio album, On Earth, and in Heaven, released on February 12, 2021, through his Lucky Music label in partnership with Empire Distribution. It marks his first album since 2014's Paula.",
"It marks his first album since 2014's Paula. It marks his first album since 2014's Paula. Thicke explained the album's inspiration: \"I feel like I'm finally the person I set out to be. I'm able to laugh at anything, which I've realized is the greatest superpower. I've fully embraced it, and nothing has been better for my soul.",
"I've fully embraced it, and nothing has been better for my soul. When I saw the phrase 'On Earth, and in Heaven', I realized that's what I'm singing about: the people who aren't here and the people who are here that made me who I am. This music is the sunshine coming out after the rain\". Thicke collected his sixth No. 1 on Billboard's Adult R&B Airplay chart with “Look Easy” on the list dated for August 21.",
"1 on Billboard's Adult R&B Airplay chart with “Look Easy” on the list dated for August 21. Artistry Influences Thicke is a self-taught pianist. Some of the first songs he learned to play and sing along with as a child were by gospel artists such as Commissioned, Take 6, and John P. Kee, studying their licks and harmonies.",
"Some of the first songs he learned to play and sing along with as a child were by gospel artists such as Commissioned, Take 6, and John P. Kee, studying their licks and harmonies. Thicke has drawn influence from a variety of artists including James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Sting, Prince, Alanis Morissette, The Beatles, John Lennon, Bob Marley and Michael Jackson.",
"Thicke has drawn influence from a variety of artists including James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Sting, Prince, Alanis Morissette, The Beatles, John Lennon, Bob Marley and Michael Jackson. Thicke has said that he considers himself a soulful singer but does not like his music being described as \"blue-eyed soul\", finding the term too pigeonholing. Songwriting and producing Thicke began his career by writing and producing songs for popular artists. He co-wrote and produced the Color Me Badd song \"Sexual Capacity\" in 1996.",
"He co-wrote and produced the Color Me Badd song \"Sexual Capacity\" in 1996. He also co-wrote on the self-titled debut album by Christina Aguilera, which sold 17 million copies worldwide.",
"He also co-wrote on the self-titled debut album by Christina Aguilera, which sold 17 million copies worldwide. Albums on which Thicke's songwriting, producing, and other contributions have been featured include: Brandy, Brian Mcknight's I Remember You, Brownstone's Still Climbing, Jordan Knight, Chante Moore's This Moment Is Mine, Marc Anthony, P!nk's Can't Take Me Home, Ronan Keating's Ronan, Mýa's Fear of Flying, BBMak's Sooner or Later, both Will Young's Friday's Child and Keep On.",
"Albums on which Thicke's songwriting, producing, and other contributions have been featured include: Brandy, Brian Mcknight's I Remember You, Brownstone's Still Climbing, Jordan Knight, Chante Moore's This Moment Is Mine, Marc Anthony, P!nk's Can't Take Me Home, Ronan Keating's Ronan, Mýa's Fear of Flying, BBMak's Sooner or Later, both Will Young's Friday's Child and Keep On. The Thicke original \"When I Get You Alone\" was performed by Guy Sebastian, the winner of the first Australian Idol 2003, during the competition and at the Idol grand finale.",
"The Thicke original \"When I Get You Alone\" was performed by Guy Sebastian, the winner of the first Australian Idol 2003, during the competition and at the Idol grand finale. \"When I Get You Alone\" was a popular song choice for Sebastian; he put the live idol performance on his four-times platinum debut single \"Angels Brought Me Here\"; it was the fastest selling single in Australia debuting at number one and immediately breaking an ARIA record.",
"\"When I Get You Alone\" was a popular song choice for Sebastian; he put the live idol performance on his four-times platinum debut single \"Angels Brought Me Here\"; it was the fastest selling single in Australia debuting at number one and immediately breaking an ARIA record. In 2004, Thicke co-wrote and produced \"Out With My Baby\" with Guy Sebastian, along with being credited for work on two additional songs from Sebastian's second album, Beautiful Life.",
"In 2004, Thicke co-wrote and produced \"Out With My Baby\" with Guy Sebastian, along with being credited for work on two additional songs from Sebastian's second album, Beautiful Life. The single, \"Out With My Baby\", became a platinum selling #1 hit for Sebastian on the ARIA Singles Charts. During this same year, he co-wrote and produced a song with the singer and actress Raven-Symoné for the album This Is My Time, with the song \"Set Me Free\".",
"During this same year, he co-wrote and produced a song with the singer and actress Raven-Symoné for the album This Is My Time, with the song \"Set Me Free\". Thicke co-wrote \"Can U Handle It?\" for Usher's 2004 album, Confessions, with backing vocals provided by Paula Patton. Confessions would go on to sell 20 million copies worldwide and win the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B Album in 2005.",
"Confessions would go on to sell 20 million copies worldwide and win the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B Album in 2005. Thicke co-wrote and produced the song \"Tie My Hands\" on Lil' Wayne's multi-platinum selling album Tha Carter III which went on to win Best Rap Album. Thicke wrote and produced the song \"Giving Myself\" for Jennifer Hudson's eponymous debut album, which went on to win Best R&B Album.",
"Thicke wrote and produced the song \"Giving Myself\" for Jennifer Hudson's eponymous debut album, which went on to win Best R&B Album. In total, albums on which Thicke has been credited for his work (in capacities including writer, producer, arranger, vocalist, and musician) have sold over 60 million copies worldwide.",
"In total, albums on which Thicke has been credited for his work (in capacities including writer, producer, arranger, vocalist, and musician) have sold over 60 million copies worldwide. Throughout his career, Thicke has worked most frequently with long-time production partner Pro Jay (James Gass), whose contributions have appeared on all of Thicke's own studio albums and whose name can be found alongside Thicke's in writing and producing credits for other artists.",
"Throughout his career, Thicke has worked most frequently with long-time production partner Pro Jay (James Gass), whose contributions have appeared on all of Thicke's own studio albums and whose name can be found alongside Thicke's in writing and producing credits for other artists. Thicke also often enlists veteran session guitarist and songwriter Bobby Keyes as well as keyboardist and music director Larry Cox to contribute to his projects. Collaborations In 2005, Thicke performed as a guest on the remix of Will Smith's song \"Switch\".",
"Collaborations In 2005, Thicke performed as a guest on the remix of Will Smith's song \"Switch\". In 2007, Thicke appeared on 50 Cent's album Curtis on a song called \"Follow My Lead\". The following year, he worked with Ashanti on her fourth studio album, The Declaration. Thicke also appeared on R. Kelly's Untitled on the track \"Pregnant\" which also features Tyrese and The-Dream.",
"Thicke also appeared on R. Kelly's Untitled on the track \"Pregnant\" which also features Tyrese and The-Dream. In 2008, Thicke was enlisted by producer Polow da Don to play piano on the hit Usher track \"Love in This Club\", which reached the #1 position on the Billboard Hot 100.",
"In 2008, Thicke was enlisted by producer Polow da Don to play piano on the hit Usher track \"Love in This Club\", which reached the #1 position on the Billboard Hot 100. Thicke was featured along with a number of his contemporaries on the 2010 release Q Soul Bossa Nostra, an album in tribute to famed composer and music producer Quincy Jones (who also executive produced the project), which consisted of reinterpretations of Jones' work.",
"Thicke was featured along with a number of his contemporaries on the 2010 release Q Soul Bossa Nostra, an album in tribute to famed composer and music producer Quincy Jones (who also executive produced the project), which consisted of reinterpretations of Jones' work. In 2014, Thicke joined Jessie J on the DJ Cassidy produced song \"Calling All Hearts\".",
"In 2014, Thicke joined Jessie J on the DJ Cassidy produced song \"Calling All Hearts\". Thicke was featured along with bassist Verdine White on Flo Rida's \"I Don't Like It, I Love It\" in 2015 which found success on several international charts and peaked among the top 10 singles in seven countries.",
"Thicke was featured along with bassist Verdine White on Flo Rida's \"I Don't Like It, I Love It\" in 2015 which found success on several international charts and peaked among the top 10 singles in seven countries. Personal life At age 14, Robin Thicke first met actress Paula Patton, who was then 16, in 1991 at an under-21 hip-hop club called Balistyx (co-founded and co-hosted by David Faustino) on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles, when he asked her to dance.",
"Personal life At age 14, Robin Thicke first met actress Paula Patton, who was then 16, in 1991 at an under-21 hip-hop club called Balistyx (co-founded and co-hosted by David Faustino) on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles, when he asked her to dance. They were married in 2005 and their son was born in April 2010. Thicke and Patton separated in February 2014, after 21 years together and almost nine years of marriage.",
"Thicke and Patton separated in February 2014, after 21 years together and almost nine years of marriage. On October 9, 2014, Patton officially filed for divorce, which was finalized on March 20, 2015. In 2014, Thicke met April Love Geary at a party. They first appeared in public together in 2015. On February 22, 2018, the couple welcomed their first child, a daughter, Mia Love.",
"On February 22, 2018, the couple welcomed their first child, a daughter, Mia Love. In August 2018, Geary announced that the couple was expecting their second child; they became engaged on Christmas Eve 2018. On February 26, 2019, the couple welcomed their second child, another daughter, Lola Alain. In October 2020, the couple announced they were expecting their third child for December. On December 11, 2020, the couple welcomed their third child a boy, Luca Patrick.",
"On December 11, 2020, the couple welcomed their third child a boy, Luca Patrick. Thicke is a close friend of fellow performer Usher. Thicke was present for Usher's engagement to Tameka Foster, serenading the couple with his song \"The Stupid Things\" as Usher proposed among family and friends. On November 10, 2018, Geary revealed in an Instagram story she and Thicke had lost their Malibu home to the Woolsey wildfire that had been consuming the area.",
"On November 10, 2018, Geary revealed in an Instagram story she and Thicke had lost their Malibu home to the Woolsey wildfire that had been consuming the area. Two days later, Thicke returned to his property, describing the totality of the fire in a video for Entertainment Tonight: \"It's funny, [from what] you see in movies, you'd think there would be one doll left over, or a book of course, something. [But] it's just rubble.",
"[But] it's just rubble. [But] it's just rubble. There's nothing left.\" Controversies Performance with Miley Cyrus at MTV Video Music Awards 2013 In 2013, Robin Thicke and Miley Cyrus caused an uproar following their performance during the MTV Video Music Awards: during the performance, in which the singers had performed the songs \"Blurred Lines\" and \"We Can't Stop\", Cyrus had twerked in such a way as to mimic a sexual act with her colleague.",
"Controversies Performance with Miley Cyrus at MTV Video Music Awards 2013 In 2013, Robin Thicke and Miley Cyrus caused an uproar following their performance during the MTV Video Music Awards: during the performance, in which the singers had performed the songs \"Blurred Lines\" and \"We Can't Stop\", Cyrus had twerked in such a way as to mimic a sexual act with her colleague. Afterwards, Miley Cyrus said that Thicke had explicitly asked her to be \"as naked as possible\" during the performance.",
"Afterwards, Miley Cyrus said that Thicke had explicitly asked her to be \"as naked as possible\" during the performance. According to the same source, \"Thicke was angry with Cyrus for “going too far” during the VMAs, and that he thought the “Wrecking Ball” songstress had “hijacked the performance.”\" Marvin Gaye plagiarism After Blurred Lines' success, the heirs of singer Marvin Gaye sued Thicke and Pharrell Williams claiming the song was a plagiarism of Gaye's song \"Got to Give It Up\".",
"According to the same source, \"Thicke was angry with Cyrus for “going too far” during the VMAs, and that he thought the “Wrecking Ball” songstress had “hijacked the performance.”\" Marvin Gaye plagiarism After Blurred Lines' success, the heirs of singer Marvin Gaye sued Thicke and Pharrell Williams claiming the song was a plagiarism of Gaye's song \"Got to Give It Up\". Jurors awarded the Gayes $7.4 million, but U.S. District Judge John Kronstadt reduced the sum to $5.3 million, while adding royalties.",
"Jurors awarded the Gayes $7.4 million, but U.S. District Judge John Kronstadt reduced the sum to $5.3 million, while adding royalties. Emily Ratajkowski's book In early October, 2021, fragments from Ratajkowski’s forthcoming book, \"My Body\", were leaked online, where the model allegedly claimed that Thicke groped her breasts without her consent in 2013 during the filming of the music video for the song \"Blurred Lines\".",
"Emily Ratajkowski's book In early October, 2021, fragments from Ratajkowski’s forthcoming book, \"My Body\", were leaked online, where the model allegedly claimed that Thicke groped her breasts without her consent in 2013 during the filming of the music video for the song \"Blurred Lines\". According to Time magazine and other sources, Ratajkowski was frustrated about the leaked chapter without her consent and also stated that it was taken out of the essay's context\".",
"According to Time magazine and other sources, Ratajkowski was frustrated about the leaked chapter without her consent and also stated that it was taken out of the essay's context\". Ratajkowski went on, \"It’s been hard for me, I really like to have control over my image and I wrote this book of essays to share the whole story and all sides of it, and I feel like it turns into a clickbait frenzy and all of a sudden words like ‘sexual assault’ and ‘allegations’ are getting thrown around rather than people reading the actual essay...",
"Ratajkowski went on, \"It’s been hard for me, I really like to have control over my image and I wrote this book of essays to share the whole story and all sides of it, and I feel like it turns into a clickbait frenzy and all of a sudden words like ‘sexual assault’ and ‘allegations’ are getting thrown around rather than people reading the actual essay... I'm just looking forward to when people will be able hear things in my own words.\"",
"I'm just looking forward to when people will be able hear things in my own words.\" Thicke has not publicly responded to Ratajkowski's allegations.",
"Thicke has not publicly responded to Ratajkowski's allegations. Thicke has not publicly responded to Ratajkowski's allegations. Discography Studio albums A Beautiful World (2002) The Evolution of Robin Thicke (2006) Something Else (2008) Sex Therapy: The Session (2009) Love After War (2011) Blurred Lines (2013) Paula (2014) On Earth, and in Heaven (2021) Tours Headlining Blurred Lines Tour (2014) Co-headlining Jennifer Hudson & Robin Thicke in Concert (with Jennifer Hudson) (2009) Promotional Love & War Tour (2011) Opening act 2006 Tour (for India Arie) (2006) Once Again Tour (for John Legend) (2006) The Beyoncé Experience (for Beyoncé) (2007) Love Soul Tour (for Mary J. Blige) (2008) Freedom Tour (for Alicia Keys) (2010) This Is It (for Michael Jackson) (cancelled) Overexposed Tour (for Maroon 5) (2014) See also List of awards and nominations received by Robin Thicke Pharrell Williams v. Bridgeport Music References External links 1977 births Living people 20th-century American male singers 20th-century American singers 21st-century American male singers 21st-century American singers American contemporary R&B singers American funk singers American male child actors American male film actors American male pop singers American male singer-songwriters American male television actors American people of Canadian descent American people of Scottish descent American people of Swedish descent American soul singers APRA Award winners Dance-pop musicians Grammy Award winners Interscope Records artists Male actors from California Male actors from Los Angeles People from Los Angeles Singers from Los Angeles Singer-songwriters from California"
] |
[
"Nikki Sixx",
"Personal life"
] | C_dc25543ffefa4316ab7d4c8cfe9501df_1 | Did he have a family? | 1 | Did Nikki Sixx have a family? | Nikki Sixx | In 1987, Denise "Vanity" Matthews claimed she was engaged to Sixx. In his book The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, he describes his relationship with her, "Vanity came and went during different periods of my addiction. She was a wild black chick who had sung with Prince: she'd also been his lover for a while. At the time I thought of Vanity as a disposable human being, like a used needle. Once its purpose was fulfilled it was ready for the trash, only to be dug up if you were really desperate...We became drug buddies: sometimes, you could even just about call us boyfriend and girlfriend. Vanity also taught me how to really freebase: the first time I based was with Tommy when Motley just started and only a few times after that. So up until then, I'd been mostly snorting or injecting. But as soon as she showed me the real ins and outs of cooking up a good rock...it was love. Not her. The drug." From May 1989 to November 1996, Sixx was married to his first wife, Playboy Playmate Brandi Brandt; they have three children: Gunner Nicholas Sixx (born January 25, 1991), Storm Brieann Sixx (born April 14, 1994), and Decker Nilsson Sixx (born May 23, 1995). One month after the divorce from Brandt, Sixx married his second wife, another Playboy Playmate, actress Donna D'Errico. Sixx and D'Errico have one daughter, Frankie-Jean Mary Sixx (born January 2, 2001). D'Errico has a son, Rhyan Jacob (born 1993), from a previous relationship. They separated shortly after their daughter's birth, and reconciled months later when Sixx completed rehab. They separated again on April 27, 2006 and divorced in June 2007, with D'Errico claiming irreconcilable differences. Sixx dated tattoo artist Kat Von D from 2008 to 2010. A few months after their breakup, Sixx and Von D were spotted back together. Sixx was featured on an episode of Von D's reality television show LA Ink in 2008, in which Von D gave him a tattoo of Mick Mars, lead guitarist of Motley Crue. On August 25, 2010, Sixx issued a statement that their relationship had dissolved. It was reported on October 19, 2010 that Nikki and Kat had gotten back together. On October 27, 2010 Kat Von D confirmed to USA Today that indeed she and West Coast Choppers owner Jesse James were still together, debunking original reports that she and Sixx had reconciled. On November 4, 2010 Sixx was spotted at the Call of Duty: Black Ops Launch Party in Santa Monica, California with Courtney Bingham, whom he has been dating ever since and they now live together. On November 26, 2012, Nikki revealed to the public that he proposed to Courtney while vacationing in St. Barts. They were married on March 15, 2014. Courtney revealed in July 2014 that she and Sixx are planning to have a child, her first. Transcendental Meditation is an important self-help technique to Sixx. CANNOTANSWER | From May 1989 to November 1996, Sixx was married to his first wife, Playboy Playmate Brandi Brandt; they have three children: | Nikki Sixx (born Frank Carlton Serafino Feranna Jr.; December 11, 1958) is an American musician who is the co-founder, bassist, and primary songwriter of the rock band Mötley Crüe. Prior to forming Mötley Crüe, Sixx was a member of Sister before going on to form London with his Sister bandmate Lizzie Grey. In 2000, he formed side project group 58 with Dave Darling, Steve Gibb and Bucket Baker issuing one album, Diet for a New America, the same year while, in 2002, he formed the hard rock supergroup Brides of Destruction with L.A. Guns guitarist Tracii Guns. Formed in 2006, initially to record an audio accompaniment to Sixx's autobiography The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, his side band Sixx:A.M. features songwriter, producer, and vocalist James Michael and guitarist DJ Ashba.
Sixx has also worked with a number of artists and groups, co-writing and/or producing songs, such as Sex Pistols's guitarist Steve Jones, Lita Ford, Alice Cooper, Meat Loaf, Marion Raven, Drowning Pool, Saliva and The Last Vegas, among others.
Sixx launched the clothing line "Royal Underground" in 2006 with Kelly Gray, formerly the co-president and house model of St. John. Initially the label concentrated on men's clothing before expanding into women's while in 2010, Premiere Radio Networks launched nationally syndicated Rock/alternative music radio programs "Sixx Sense" and "The Side Show Countdown" with both based in Dallas, Texas and hosted by Sixx and co-hosted by Jenn Marino.
Early life
Frank Carlton Serafino Feranna Jr. was born on December 11, 1958, in San Jose, California. He is of Italian descent on his father's side, from Prato, Tuscany. Sixx was partially raised by his single mother, Deana Richards, and by his grandparents after his father left the family. Feranna later moved in with his grandparents after his mother abandoned him. Feranna relocated several times while living with his grandparents. Feranna's uncle, husband of Deana's sister Sharon, is Don Zimmerman, producer and president of Capitol Records. Feranna had one full biological sister, Lisa (born with Down syndrome; died circa 2000) and has one (half) brother Rodney Anthony Feranna (born 1966) and a half-sister Ceci.
Feranna grew up listening to Deep Purple, Harry Nilsson, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Elton John, Queen, and Black Sabbath; he later discovered T. Rex, David Bowie, and Slade. While living in Jerome, Idaho, Feranna's youth was troubled; he became a teenage vandal, broke into neighbors' homes, shoplifted, and was expelled from school for selling drugs. His grandparents sent him to live with his mother, who had moved to Seattle. Feranna lived there for a short time and learned how to play the bass guitar, having bought his first instrument with money gained from selling a guitar he had stolen.
Career
Early career, Sister, London (1975–1979)
At the age of 17, Feranna moved to Los Angeles and worked menial jobs such as working at a liquor store and selling vacuum cleaners over the phone while he auditioned for bands. He eventually joined the band Sister, led by Blackie Lawless, after answering an ad in The Recycler for a bass player. Soon after recording a demo, Feranna was fired from Sister along with bandmate Lizzie Grey.
Feranna and Grey formed the band London soon afterward, in 1978. During this time, Feranna legally changed his name to Nikki Sixx. After a number of lineup changes, London added former Mott the Hoople singer Nigel Benjamin to the group, and recorded a 16-track demo in Burbank. After the departure of Benjamin, along with the failure to find a replacement, Sixx departed London. The group would go on to feature Sixx's former Sister bandmate Blackie Lawless (later of W.A.S.P.), Izzy Stradlin (then of Hollywood Rose, later of Guns N' Roses) and drummer Fred Coury (later of Cinderella). In 2000, a number of the London demos recorded with Sixx were included on London Daze by Spiders & Snakes, led by former London guitarist Lizzie Grey.
Mötley Crüe (1981–2015)
In 1981, Sixx founded Mötley Crüe alongside drummer Tommy Lee. They were later joined by guitarist Mick Mars through an ad in the local newspaper, and singer Vince Neil, with whom Lee had attended high school. The band self-recorded their debut album, Too Fast for Love, which was subsequently released in November 1981 on the band's own Leathür Records label. After signing with Elektra Records, they re-released the same album. The band then went on to record and release Shout at the Devil, raising the band to national fame. They issued three more albums during the 1980s, Theatre of Pain in 1985, Girls, Girls, Girls in 1987, and Dr. Feelgood in 1989. The latter ended up being their most successful record, staying in the charts for 114 weeks after its release.
During his time with Mötley Crüe, Sixx became addicted to heroin. He is quoted in The Heroin Diaries as saying: "Alcohol, acid, cocaine... they were just affairs. When I met heroin it was true love." He estimates he overdosed "about half a dozen times". On December 23, 1987, Sixx overdosed on heroin and was reportedly declared clinically dead for two minutes before a paramedic revived him with two syringes full of adrenaline.
After releasing the compilation album Decade of Decadence in 1991, Neil left the group, and was replaced by John Corabi, who formerly served with The Scream. They released one self titled album with Corabi, in 1994, before firing him in 1996. Afterwards, they reunited with Neil, with whom they released Generation Swine in 1997.
Sixx had become controversial for an incident during a Mötley Crüe concert at Greensboro Coliseum on October 30, 1997, in which he used racial epithets while goading the audience to physically attack a black security guard for repeatedly attacking a female fan. In May 2001, Sixx addressed the issue, and claimed he had apologized to the victim of the incident.
In 1999, Tommy Lee left the group to form Methods of Mayhem. He was replaced by former Ozzy Osbourne drummer Randy Castillo, with whom they released the album New Tattoo in 2000. The group went on hiatus soon afterward before reuniting in 2004, during which Sixx declared himself sober. A 2001 autobiography entitled The Dirt packaged the band as "the world's most notorious rock band". The book made the top ten on The New York Times Best Seller list and spent ten weeks there.
In 2006, Mötley Crüe completed a reunion tour, featuring all four original members, and embarked on a co-headlining tour with Aerosmith, called The Route of All Evil. In April 2008, the band announced the first Crüe Fest, a summer tour, that featured Sixx's side project Sixx:A.M., Buckcherry, Papa Roach and Trapt. On June 24, 2008, Mötley Crüe released their ninth and final studio album, Saints of Los Angeles, with Sixx credited as either writer or co-writer on all tracks. The band officially retired in 2015.
Sixx wrote most of Mötley Crüe's material, including tracks such as "Live Wire", "Home Sweet Home", "Girls, Girls, Girls", "Kickstart My Heart", "Wild Side", "Hooligan's Holiday" and "Dr. Feelgood". In the 1990s, all four members began contributing to the material on the albums.
58 (2000)
In 2000, Sixx formed the internet-based side project 58 with producer Dave Darling, guitarist Steve Gibb (formerly of Black Label Society and Crowbar) and drummer Bucket Baker. They released one single, titled "Piece of Candy", and their debut album, Diet for a New America, also in 2000 through Sixx's Americoma label and Beyond Records. The group did not tour, and was described by Sixx as "strictly an artistic thing."
Brides of Destruction (2002–2004)
Brides of Destruction were formed by Sixx and Tracii Guns in Los Angeles 2002 initially with the name Cockstar after Mötley Crüe went on hiatus and Guns left L.A. Guns. Sixx also invited former Beautiful Creatures guitarist DJ Ashba to join the group however he declined to focus on his solo band, ASHBA. Ashba would eventually join Sixx in Sixx:A.M.
After a few lineup changes, that included Sixx's former Mötley Crüe bandmate John Corabi, keyboardist Adam Hamilton and drummer Kris Kohls of Adema, the group was composed of Sixx, Guns, singer London LeGrand and drummer Scot Coogan formerly of Ednaswap and Annetenna.
They were advised by radio programmers that the name Cockstar would not be announced on air. They briefly adopted the moniker Motordog before settling on Brides of Destruction.
They entered the studio with producer Stevo Bruno to begin recording what would become Here Come the Brides. The Brides played their first show opening for Mudvayne and Taproot on November 14, 2002, at the Ventura Theatre in California.
After signing a deal with Sanctuary Records, the group released Here Come the Brides in 2004, with the album debuting at number 92 on the Billboard 200 selling over 13,000 copies. A tour of the US, Europe, including an appearance at Download Festival in the United Kingdom, and Australia followed.
On October 25, 2004, it was announced that the group were to go on hiatus while Sixx reunited with Mötley Crüe for a reunion tour. The group continued without Sixx, however, with Guns adding former Amen bassist Scott Sorry to the group as Sixx's replacement. The second Brides of Destruction album, titled Runaway Brides, released in 2005 featured three songs co-written by Sixx during the Here Come the Brides sessions.
Sixx:A.M. (2006–2017)
Sixx formed his own group Sixx:A.M. in 2006, to record an audio accompaniment to his autobiography The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, with friends producer/songwriter James Michael and guitarist DJ Ashba (Guns N' Roses, formerly of Beautiful Creatures and BulletBoys). They recorded and released The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack in August 2007 through Eleven Seven. The single, "Life Is Beautiful", received a high ratio of radio and video play peaking at number 2 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks.
The band made their live debut at the Crash Mansion on July 16, 2007. They performed five songs from the album, with former Beautiful Creatures drummer Glen Sobel filling in on the drums. On April 15, 2008, Sixx:A.M. announced they would be touring as part of Mötley Crüe's Crüe Fest. The tour began on July 1, 2008, in West Palm Beach, Florida. During Crüe Fest, Papa Roach drummer Tony Palermo served as a touring drummer for the band. A deluxe tour edition of The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack was released on November 25, 2008, which included a bonus live EP entitled Live Is Beautiful, which features recorded performances from the band's summer tour.
In April 2009, both Sixx and Michael confirmed that the band was in the studio, recording new material. Sixx added that the new material was "inspiring. it feels like we may have topped ourselves on this album coming up, and can't wait for you to hear what it sounds like."
In 2010, the group continued recording the album with plans to release it by the late 2010/early 2011 with the group bringing in Paul R. Brown to shoot the video for the album's first single. During an interview in July 2010, Sixx stated that the album was almost finished. This Is Gonna Hurt, the band's second studio album, was released on May 3, 2011. A third studio album, Modern Vintage, was released in 2014. Prayers for the Damned and Prayers for the Blessed were released in 2016.
The band went on hiatus in 2017, with other members DJ Ashba and James Michael forming a new band, Pyromantic.
In 2021, the band released a greatest HITS album to coincide with Nikki's fourth novel, THE FIRST 21.
Other work
In 1989, Sixx was a featured guest artist on the album Fire and Gasoline by Steve Jones, formerly of the Sex Pistols. Sixx co-wrote and performed on the song, "We're No Saints". In 1991, Sixx played bass on "Feed My Frankenstein" on Alice Cooper's Hey Stoopid album. Sixx co-wrote the track "Die For You", along with Cooper and Mötley Crüe guitarist Mick Mars. In 2002, Sixx played on Butch Walkers first solo album "Left of Self Centered". In 2005, he collaborated with the Norwegian singer Marion Raven on two songs, "Heads Will Roll" and "Surfing the Sun", for Raven's debut album, Here I Am. A new version of "Heads Will Roll" appeared on Raven's 2006 EP Heads Will Roll and on her 2007 U.S. debut album, Set Me Free. In 2006, he was one of the songwriters for Meat Loaf's long-awaited album, Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose.
In September 2007, Sixx released a book titled The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, a collection of his journal entries from 1986 and 1987 (when his heroin addiction was at its most dangerous). Written with British journalist Ian Gittins, it presents the present-day viewpoints of his bandmates, friends, ex-lovers, caretakers, business associates and family as they respond to specific passages. The book debuted at #7 on The New York Times Best Seller list. Along with Big & Rich (John Rich and Big Kenny Alphin), and James Otto, Sixx co-wrote "Ain't Gonna Stop" for Otto's 2008 Sunset Man CD on Warner Bros/Raybaw Records.
In May 2021, it was announced that Sixx along with Rob Zombie, John 5, and Tommy Clufetos formed a supergroup called L.A. Rats. Their debut track, "I've Been Everywhere", is from the soundtrack to the Liam Neeson film The Ice Road.
Equipment
Signature basses
Sixx is most often seen playing Gibson Thunderbird basses. Between 2000 and 2003 Gibson produced the Nikki Sixx Signature Blackbird. The Gibson Blackbird was for all intents and purposes a standard Thunderbird bass, but with a satin black finish, Iron Crosses on the fretboard instead of dots, an Iron Cross behind the classic Thunderbird logo, and Nikki Sixx's 'opti-grab' (a metal loop installed behind the bridge for hooking the little finger onto while playing). What also made this bass interesting was the lack of volume or tone controls, being replaced by a single on/off switch. Although subtle, this helped give this Blackbird more tone and a higher output. This model was discontinued in 2003, but has recently been put back in production as the Epiphone Nikki Sixx Blackbird. Cosmetically the Epiphone Blackbird is identical to the Gibson original, but with a bolt-on single ply neck, solid mahogany body, different pickups and lower grade parts and manufacturing. The Epiphone model still kept the 'opti-grab,' designed and made first by his bass technician Tim Luzzi, and single on/off switch of the Gibson original. In 2008, Gibson announced a 'limited run' new Nikki Sixx signature bass. Like the original it features a neck through design made of mahogany and walnut, with maple 'wings' to form the body. Unlike the original 'Blackbird' bass, a clear 'satin black cherry' finish is given to the instrument, with red 'slash' X's on the 3rd, 5th, 7th and 12th frets. A mirror pickguard is also applied, with a red signature and two X's (6 x's on the whole bass) is also a new addition. Unlike the Gibson Blackbird, the new signature featured volume and tone controls, the 'opti-grab', and an on/off switch.
Personal life
Sixx was engaged to Denise "Vanity" Matthews in 1987. In his autobiography, The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, Sixx described his toxic relationship with Matthews. "Vanity came and went during different periods of my addiction. She was a wild black chick who had sung with Prince: she'd also been his lover for a while. At the time I thought of Vanity as a disposable human being, like a used needle. Once its purpose was fulfilled it was ready for the trash, only to be dug up if you were really desperate…We became drug buddies: sometimes, you could even just about call us boyfriend and girlfriend. Vanity also taught me how to really freebase: the first time I based was with Tommy when Mötley just started and only a few times after that. So up until then, I'd been mostly snorting or injecting. But as soon as she showed me the real ins and outs of cooking up a good rock…it was love. Not her. The drug."
From May 1989 to November 1996, Sixx was married to his first wife, Playboy Playmate Brandi Brandt; they have three children: Gunner Nicholas Sixx (born January 25, 1991), Storm Brieann Sixx (born April 14, 1994), and Decker Nilsson Sixx (born May 23, 1995).
One month after the divorce from Brandt, Sixx married his second wife, another Playboy Playmate, actress Donna D'Errico. Sixx and D'Errico have one daughter, Frankie-Jean Mary Sixx (born January 2, 2001). D'Errico has a son, Rhyan Jacob (born 1993), from a previous relationship. They separated shortly after their daughter's birth, and reconciled months later when Sixx completed rehab. They separated again on April 27, 2006, and divorced in June 2007, with D'Errico claiming irreconcilable differences.
Sixx dated tattoo artist Kat Von D from 2008 to 2010. A few months after their breakup, Sixx and Von D were spotted back together. Sixx was featured on an episode of Von D's reality television show LA Ink in 2008, in which Von D gave him a tattoo of Mick Mars, lead guitarist of Mötley Crüe. On August 25, 2010, Sixx issued a statement that their relationship had dissolved. It was reported on October 19, 2010, that Nikki and Kat had gotten back together. On October 27, 2010 Kat Von D confirmed to USA Today that indeed she and West Coast Choppers owner Jesse James were still together, debunking original reports that she and Sixx had reconciled. On November 4, 2010, Sixx was spotted at the Call of Duty: Black Ops Launch Party in Santa Monica, California with Courtney Bingham. On November 26, 2012, Nikki revealed to the public that he proposed to Courtney while vacationing in St. Barts. They were married on March 15, 2014.
Bingham gave birth to their first child together, Ruby Sixx on July 27, 2019. Sixx announced the birth through social media.
Sixx practices Transcendental Meditation, as he considers it an important self-help technique.
During an interview with Wall of Sound, Nikki revealed he's working on a children’s book with his wife and a coffee table poetry/photography book.
Radio shows
Launched on February 8, 2010, Sixx Sense with Nikki Sixx broadcasts Monday through Friday from 7 p.m. to midnight local time on rock/alternative music stations. Each night, host Nikki Sixx discusses music and lifestyle topics as he gives listeners a backstage look at the world and mind of a rock star. Sixx was joined by co-host Kerri Kasem, from its first episode until March 28, 2014. On April 2, it was announced that radio personality Jenn Marino would be joining the show in Kasem's place. The show is based in Dallas, Texas in a studio in the Northpark Center.
Starting on May 7, 2012, KEGL in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas moved the show to mornings, making it the only station to carry the show in the mornings at 6 to 10 AM local time instead of the evening's time slot. The show is customized for the Dallas/Fort Worth listeners for broadcast in the mornings on KEGL. Sixx said that bringing Sixx Sense to mornings "has always been our goal. Who better to start your morning with than a rock star and a hot chick? It's a dream come true to have a morning show on one of America's best rock stations." however, one year later, Sixx Sense returned to evenings at KEGL. In addition, recent episodes of "Sixx Sense" air 24/7 on its own iHeartRadio streaming page.
The Side Show with Nikki Sixx is a two-hour original weekend program. Airing Saturday or Sunday between 6 a.m. and midnight local time, Nikki Sixx will air top-charting songs, showcase new and emerging artists, and welcome guests from the worlds of music and entertainment. In October 2017 Sixx announced he would step down from Sixx Sense on December 31, 2017.
Running Wild in the Night
With the formation of Sixx:A.M. and the release of The Heroin Diaries, Nikki Sixx teamed up with an already existing charity known as the Covenant House and created his own branch called Running Wild in the Night. In addition to partially funding the services the Covenant House provides on its own, Sixx's division also provides a creative arts and music program. Sixx has negotiated with people in his industry to provide the program with musical instruments and software.
A Portion of the profits from Sixx:A.M.'s album The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack and his autobiography, The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star is donated to help the Covenant House. He continues to auction off personal items to fund Running Wild in the Night. As of April 2009, he had raised over $100,000.
Discography
Production and songwriting credits
References
External links
Official Sixx:A.M. website
Official Cruefest 2009 Tour website
Official Sixx Sense website
Mötley Crüe videos
1958 births
20th-century American musicians
20th-century American non-fiction writers
21st-century American musicians
21st-century American non-fiction writers
American fashion designers
American heavy metal bass guitarists
American male non-fiction writers
American memoirists
American people of Italian descent
Glam metal musicians
Living people
Mötley Crüe members
Musicians from San Jose, California
Photographers from California
Radio personalities from Los Angeles
Sixx:A.M. members
Songwriters from California
Writers from Los Angeles
Writers from San Jose, California
Guitarists from Los Angeles
20th-century American guitarists
Brides of Destruction members
American male bass guitarists
20th-century American male writers
21st-century American male writers | true | [
", son of Konoe Iehiro and adopted son of Takatsukasa Kanehiro, was a kugyō or Japanese court noble of the Edo period (1603–1868). He did not hold regent positions sesshō and kampaku. He and his wife did not have a son, but they adopted one Hisasuke.\n\nReferences\n \n\n1710 births\n1730 deaths\nFujiwara clan\nTakatsukasa family",
"Christopher Martin (c. 1582-1621)\n\nIn 1920, at the three-hundredth anniversary of the Mayflower sailing, a plaque was unveiled in the United Reformed Church in Billericay, Essex, England, to commemorate the Martin family, Mayflower emigrants from that town. The plaque names Christopher Martin, Marie Martin, Solomon Prower and John Langerman.\n\nServants traveling with the Christopher Martin family on the Mayflower \n\nSolomon Prowe. Servant and step-son of Christopher Martin. He did not sign the Mayflower Compact indicating he had not yet reached the age of twenty-one, possibly being born between 1600 and 1606. He seems to have been from Essex, from where the Martin family probably originated. All members of the Martin family died during the first few months the Mayflower was in the New World. Solomon Prower died on December 24, 1620, just days before the exploration of Plymouth Harbor for the Pilgrim settlement.\nJohn Langemore. Servant to Christopher Martin. Probably in his teens as he did not sign the Mayflower Compact. Almost nothing is known of his ancestry although he may have come with the Martin family from Essex. He died the first winter, as did all members of the Martin family.\n\nReferences\n\nFurther reading \nRobert C. Anderson. The Great Migration Begins. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995.\nRobert C. Anderson. The Pilgrim Migration. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2004.\nR. J. Carpenter. Christopher Martin, Great Burstead and The Mayflower. Chelmsford, Essex, 1982.\n\nMayflower passengers\n1580s births\n1620s deaths\nYear of birth uncertain\nBurials at Cole's Hill Burial Ground (Plymouth)"
] | [
"Nikki Sixx (born Frank Carlton Serafino Feranna Jr.; December 11, 1958) is an American musician who is the co-founder, bassist, and primary songwriter of the rock band Mötley Crüe. Prior to forming Mötley Crüe, Sixx was a member of Sister before going on to form London with his Sister bandmate Lizzie Grey.",
"Prior to forming Mötley Crüe, Sixx was a member of Sister before going on to form London with his Sister bandmate Lizzie Grey. In 2000, he formed side project group 58 with Dave Darling, Steve Gibb and Bucket Baker issuing one album, Diet for a New America, the same year while, in 2002, he formed the hard rock supergroup Brides of Destruction with L.A. Guns guitarist Tracii Guns.",
"Guns guitarist Tracii Guns. Guns guitarist Tracii Guns. Formed in 2006, initially to record an audio accompaniment to Sixx's autobiography The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, his side band Sixx:A.M. features songwriter, producer, and vocalist James Michael and guitarist DJ Ashba.",
"Formed in 2006, initially to record an audio accompaniment to Sixx's autobiography The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, his side band Sixx:A.M. features songwriter, producer, and vocalist James Michael and guitarist DJ Ashba. Sixx has also worked with a number of artists and groups, co-writing and/or producing songs, such as Sex Pistols's guitarist Steve Jones, Lita Ford, Alice Cooper, Meat Loaf, Marion Raven, Drowning Pool, Saliva and The Last Vegas, among others.",
"Sixx has also worked with a number of artists and groups, co-writing and/or producing songs, such as Sex Pistols's guitarist Steve Jones, Lita Ford, Alice Cooper, Meat Loaf, Marion Raven, Drowning Pool, Saliva and The Last Vegas, among others. Sixx launched the clothing line \"Royal Underground\" in 2006 with Kelly Gray, formerly the co-president and house model of St. John.",
"Sixx launched the clothing line \"Royal Underground\" in 2006 with Kelly Gray, formerly the co-president and house model of St. John. Initially the label concentrated on men's clothing before expanding into women's while in 2010, Premiere Radio Networks launched nationally syndicated Rock/alternative music radio programs \"Sixx Sense\" and \"The Side Show Countdown\" with both based in Dallas, Texas and hosted by Sixx and co-hosted by Jenn Marino.",
"Initially the label concentrated on men's clothing before expanding into women's while in 2010, Premiere Radio Networks launched nationally syndicated Rock/alternative music radio programs \"Sixx Sense\" and \"The Side Show Countdown\" with both based in Dallas, Texas and hosted by Sixx and co-hosted by Jenn Marino. Early life Frank Carlton Serafino Feranna Jr. was born on December 11, 1958, in San Jose, California. He is of Italian descent on his father's side, from Prato, Tuscany.",
"He is of Italian descent on his father's side, from Prato, Tuscany. Sixx was partially raised by his single mother, Deana Richards, and by his grandparents after his father left the family. Feranna later moved in with his grandparents after his mother abandoned him. Feranna relocated several times while living with his grandparents. Feranna's uncle, husband of Deana's sister Sharon, is Don Zimmerman, producer and president of Capitol Records.",
"Feranna's uncle, husband of Deana's sister Sharon, is Don Zimmerman, producer and president of Capitol Records. Feranna had one full biological sister, Lisa (born with Down syndrome; died circa 2000) and has one (half) brother Rodney Anthony Feranna (born 1966) and a half-sister Ceci. Feranna grew up listening to Deep Purple, Harry Nilsson, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Elton John, Queen, and Black Sabbath; he later discovered T. Rex, David Bowie, and Slade.",
"Feranna grew up listening to Deep Purple, Harry Nilsson, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Elton John, Queen, and Black Sabbath; he later discovered T. Rex, David Bowie, and Slade. While living in Jerome, Idaho, Feranna's youth was troubled; he became a teenage vandal, broke into neighbors' homes, shoplifted, and was expelled from school for selling drugs. His grandparents sent him to live with his mother, who had moved to Seattle.",
"His grandparents sent him to live with his mother, who had moved to Seattle. Feranna lived there for a short time and learned how to play the bass guitar, having bought his first instrument with money gained from selling a guitar he had stolen. Career Early career, Sister, London (1975–1979) At the age of 17, Feranna moved to Los Angeles and worked menial jobs such as working at a liquor store and selling vacuum cleaners over the phone while he auditioned for bands.",
"Career Early career, Sister, London (1975–1979) At the age of 17, Feranna moved to Los Angeles and worked menial jobs such as working at a liquor store and selling vacuum cleaners over the phone while he auditioned for bands. He eventually joined the band Sister, led by Blackie Lawless, after answering an ad in The Recycler for a bass player. Soon after recording a demo, Feranna was fired from Sister along with bandmate Lizzie Grey. Feranna and Grey formed the band London soon afterward, in 1978.",
"Feranna and Grey formed the band London soon afterward, in 1978. During this time, Feranna legally changed his name to Nikki Sixx. After a number of lineup changes, London added former Mott the Hoople singer Nigel Benjamin to the group, and recorded a 16-track demo in Burbank. After the departure of Benjamin, along with the failure to find a replacement, Sixx departed London. The group would go on to feature Sixx's former Sister bandmate Blackie Lawless (later of W.A.S.P.",
"The group would go on to feature Sixx's former Sister bandmate Blackie Lawless (later of W.A.S.P. ), Izzy Stradlin (then of Hollywood Rose, later of Guns N' Roses) and drummer Fred Coury (later of Cinderella). In 2000, a number of the London demos recorded with Sixx were included on London Daze by Spiders & Snakes, led by former London guitarist Lizzie Grey. Mötley Crüe (1981–2015) In 1981, Sixx founded Mötley Crüe alongside drummer Tommy Lee.",
"Mötley Crüe (1981–2015) In 1981, Sixx founded Mötley Crüe alongside drummer Tommy Lee. They were later joined by guitarist Mick Mars through an ad in the local newspaper, and singer Vince Neil, with whom Lee had attended high school. The band self-recorded their debut album, Too Fast for Love, which was subsequently released in November 1981 on the band's own Leathür Records label. After signing with Elektra Records, they re-released the same album.",
"After signing with Elektra Records, they re-released the same album. The band then went on to record and release Shout at the Devil, raising the band to national fame. They issued three more albums during the 1980s, Theatre of Pain in 1985, Girls, Girls, Girls in 1987, and Dr. Feelgood in 1989. The latter ended up being their most successful record, staying in the charts for 114 weeks after its release. During his time with Mötley Crüe, Sixx became addicted to heroin.",
"During his time with Mötley Crüe, Sixx became addicted to heroin. He is quoted in The Heroin Diaries as saying: \"Alcohol, acid, cocaine... they were just affairs. When I met heroin it was true love.\" He estimates he overdosed \"about half a dozen times\". On December 23, 1987, Sixx overdosed on heroin and was reportedly declared clinically dead for two minutes before a paramedic revived him with two syringes full of adrenaline.",
"On December 23, 1987, Sixx overdosed on heroin and was reportedly declared clinically dead for two minutes before a paramedic revived him with two syringes full of adrenaline. After releasing the compilation album Decade of Decadence in 1991, Neil left the group, and was replaced by John Corabi, who formerly served with The Scream. They released one self titled album with Corabi, in 1994, before firing him in 1996. Afterwards, they reunited with Neil, with whom they released Generation Swine in 1997.",
"Afterwards, they reunited with Neil, with whom they released Generation Swine in 1997. Sixx had become controversial for an incident during a Mötley Crüe concert at Greensboro Coliseum on October 30, 1997, in which he used racial epithets while goading the audience to physically attack a black security guard for repeatedly attacking a female fan. In May 2001, Sixx addressed the issue, and claimed he had apologized to the victim of the incident. In 1999, Tommy Lee left the group to form Methods of Mayhem.",
"In 1999, Tommy Lee left the group to form Methods of Mayhem. He was replaced by former Ozzy Osbourne drummer Randy Castillo, with whom they released the album New Tattoo in 2000. The group went on hiatus soon afterward before reuniting in 2004, during which Sixx declared himself sober. A 2001 autobiography entitled The Dirt packaged the band as \"the world's most notorious rock band\". The book made the top ten on The New York Times Best Seller list and spent ten weeks there.",
"The book made the top ten on The New York Times Best Seller list and spent ten weeks there. In 2006, Mötley Crüe completed a reunion tour, featuring all four original members, and embarked on a co-headlining tour with Aerosmith, called The Route of All Evil. In April 2008, the band announced the first Crüe Fest, a summer tour, that featured Sixx's side project Sixx:A.M., Buckcherry, Papa Roach and Trapt.",
"In April 2008, the band announced the first Crüe Fest, a summer tour, that featured Sixx's side project Sixx:A.M., Buckcherry, Papa Roach and Trapt. On June 24, 2008, Mötley Crüe released their ninth and final studio album, Saints of Los Angeles, with Sixx credited as either writer or co-writer on all tracks. The band officially retired in 2015.",
"The band officially retired in 2015. The band officially retired in 2015. Sixx wrote most of Mötley Crüe's material, including tracks such as \"Live Wire\", \"Home Sweet Home\", \"Girls, Girls, Girls\", \"Kickstart My Heart\", \"Wild Side\", \"Hooligan's Holiday\" and \"Dr. Feelgood\". In the 1990s, all four members began contributing to the material on the albums.",
"In the 1990s, all four members began contributing to the material on the albums. 58 (2000) In 2000, Sixx formed the internet-based side project 58 with producer Dave Darling, guitarist Steve Gibb (formerly of Black Label Society and Crowbar) and drummer Bucket Baker. They released one single, titled \"Piece of Candy\", and their debut album, Diet for a New America, also in 2000 through Sixx's Americoma label and Beyond Records.",
"They released one single, titled \"Piece of Candy\", and their debut album, Diet for a New America, also in 2000 through Sixx's Americoma label and Beyond Records. The group did not tour, and was described by Sixx as \"strictly an artistic thing.\" Brides of Destruction (2002–2004) Brides of Destruction were formed by Sixx and Tracii Guns in Los Angeles 2002 initially with the name Cockstar after Mötley Crüe went on hiatus and Guns left L.A. Guns.",
"Guns. Guns. Sixx also invited former Beautiful Creatures guitarist DJ Ashba to join the group however he declined to focus on his solo band, ASHBA. Ashba would eventually join Sixx in Sixx:A.M. After a few lineup changes, that included Sixx's former Mötley Crüe bandmate John Corabi, keyboardist Adam Hamilton and drummer Kris Kohls of Adema, the group was composed of Sixx, Guns, singer London LeGrand and drummer Scot Coogan formerly of Ednaswap and Annetenna.",
"Ashba would eventually join Sixx in Sixx:A.M. After a few lineup changes, that included Sixx's former Mötley Crüe bandmate John Corabi, keyboardist Adam Hamilton and drummer Kris Kohls of Adema, the group was composed of Sixx, Guns, singer London LeGrand and drummer Scot Coogan formerly of Ednaswap and Annetenna. They were advised by radio programmers that the name Cockstar would not be announced on air. They briefly adopted the moniker Motordog before settling on Brides of Destruction.",
"They briefly adopted the moniker Motordog before settling on Brides of Destruction. They entered the studio with producer Stevo Bruno to begin recording what would become Here Come the Brides. The Brides played their first show opening for Mudvayne and Taproot on November 14, 2002, at the Ventura Theatre in California. After signing a deal with Sanctuary Records, the group released Here Come the Brides in 2004, with the album debuting at number 92 on the Billboard 200 selling over 13,000 copies.",
"After signing a deal with Sanctuary Records, the group released Here Come the Brides in 2004, with the album debuting at number 92 on the Billboard 200 selling over 13,000 copies. A tour of the US, Europe, including an appearance at Download Festival in the United Kingdom, and Australia followed. On October 25, 2004, it was announced that the group were to go on hiatus while Sixx reunited with Mötley Crüe for a reunion tour.",
"On October 25, 2004, it was announced that the group were to go on hiatus while Sixx reunited with Mötley Crüe for a reunion tour. The group continued without Sixx, however, with Guns adding former Amen bassist Scott Sorry to the group as Sixx's replacement. The second Brides of Destruction album, titled Runaway Brides, released in 2005 featured three songs co-written by Sixx during the Here Come the Brides sessions.",
"The second Brides of Destruction album, titled Runaway Brides, released in 2005 featured three songs co-written by Sixx during the Here Come the Brides sessions. Sixx:A.M. (2006–2017) Sixx formed his own group Sixx:A.M. in 2006, to record an audio accompaniment to his autobiography The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, with friends producer/songwriter James Michael and guitarist DJ Ashba (Guns N' Roses, formerly of Beautiful Creatures and BulletBoys).",
"Sixx:A.M. (2006–2017) Sixx formed his own group Sixx:A.M. in 2006, to record an audio accompaniment to his autobiography The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, with friends producer/songwriter James Michael and guitarist DJ Ashba (Guns N' Roses, formerly of Beautiful Creatures and BulletBoys). They recorded and released The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack in August 2007 through Eleven Seven.",
"They recorded and released The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack in August 2007 through Eleven Seven. The single, \"Life Is Beautiful\", received a high ratio of radio and video play peaking at number 2 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks. The band made their live debut at the Crash Mansion on July 16, 2007. They performed five songs from the album, with former Beautiful Creatures drummer Glen Sobel filling in on the drums.",
"They performed five songs from the album, with former Beautiful Creatures drummer Glen Sobel filling in on the drums. On April 15, 2008, Sixx:A.M. announced they would be touring as part of Mötley Crüe's Crüe Fest. The tour began on July 1, 2008, in West Palm Beach, Florida. During Crüe Fest, Papa Roach drummer Tony Palermo served as a touring drummer for the band.",
"During Crüe Fest, Papa Roach drummer Tony Palermo served as a touring drummer for the band. A deluxe tour edition of The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack was released on November 25, 2008, which included a bonus live EP entitled Live Is Beautiful, which features recorded performances from the band's summer tour. In April 2009, both Sixx and Michael confirmed that the band was in the studio, recording new material. Sixx added that the new material was \"inspiring.",
"Sixx added that the new material was \"inspiring. Sixx added that the new material was \"inspiring. it feels like we may have topped ourselves on this album coming up, and can't wait for you to hear what it sounds like.\" In 2010, the group continued recording the album with plans to release it by the late 2010/early 2011 with the group bringing in Paul R. Brown to shoot the video for the album's first single.",
"In 2010, the group continued recording the album with plans to release it by the late 2010/early 2011 with the group bringing in Paul R. Brown to shoot the video for the album's first single. During an interview in July 2010, Sixx stated that the album was almost finished. This Is Gonna Hurt, the band's second studio album, was released on May 3, 2011. A third studio album, Modern Vintage, was released in 2014.",
"A third studio album, Modern Vintage, was released in 2014. Prayers for the Damned and Prayers for the Blessed were released in 2016. The band went on hiatus in 2017, with other members DJ Ashba and James Michael forming a new band, Pyromantic. In 2021, the band released a greatest HITS album to coincide with Nikki's fourth novel, THE FIRST 21. Other work In 1989, Sixx was a featured guest artist on the album Fire and Gasoline by Steve Jones, formerly of the Sex Pistols.",
"Other work In 1989, Sixx was a featured guest artist on the album Fire and Gasoline by Steve Jones, formerly of the Sex Pistols. Sixx co-wrote and performed on the song, \"We're No Saints\". In 1991, Sixx played bass on \"Feed My Frankenstein\" on Alice Cooper's Hey Stoopid album. Sixx co-wrote the track \"Die For You\", along with Cooper and Mötley Crüe guitarist Mick Mars. In 2002, Sixx played on Butch Walkers first solo album \"Left of Self Centered\".",
"In 2002, Sixx played on Butch Walkers first solo album \"Left of Self Centered\". In 2005, he collaborated with the Norwegian singer Marion Raven on two songs, \"Heads Will Roll\" and \"Surfing the Sun\", for Raven's debut album, Here I Am. A new version of \"Heads Will Roll\" appeared on Raven's 2006 EP Heads Will Roll and on her 2007 U.S. debut album, Set Me Free.",
"A new version of \"Heads Will Roll\" appeared on Raven's 2006 EP Heads Will Roll and on her 2007 U.S. debut album, Set Me Free. In 2006, he was one of the songwriters for Meat Loaf's long-awaited album, Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose.",
"In 2006, he was one of the songwriters for Meat Loaf's long-awaited album, Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose. In September 2007, Sixx released a book titled The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, a collection of his journal entries from 1986 and 1987 (when his heroin addiction was at its most dangerous).",
"In September 2007, Sixx released a book titled The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, a collection of his journal entries from 1986 and 1987 (when his heroin addiction was at its most dangerous). Written with British journalist Ian Gittins, it presents the present-day viewpoints of his bandmates, friends, ex-lovers, caretakers, business associates and family as they respond to specific passages. The book debuted at #7 on The New York Times Best Seller list.",
"The book debuted at #7 on The New York Times Best Seller list. Along with Big & Rich (John Rich and Big Kenny Alphin), and James Otto, Sixx co-wrote \"Ain't Gonna Stop\" for Otto's 2008 Sunset Man CD on Warner Bros/Raybaw Records. In May 2021, it was announced that Sixx along with Rob Zombie, John 5, and Tommy Clufetos formed a supergroup called L.A. Rats.",
"Rats. Rats. Their debut track, \"I've Been Everywhere\", is from the soundtrack to the Liam Neeson film The Ice Road. Equipment Signature basses Sixx is most often seen playing Gibson Thunderbird basses. Between 2000 and 2003 Gibson produced the Nikki Sixx Signature Blackbird.",
"Between 2000 and 2003 Gibson produced the Nikki Sixx Signature Blackbird. The Gibson Blackbird was for all intents and purposes a standard Thunderbird bass, but with a satin black finish, Iron Crosses on the fretboard instead of dots, an Iron Cross behind the classic Thunderbird logo, and Nikki Sixx's 'opti-grab' (a metal loop installed behind the bridge for hooking the little finger onto while playing). What also made this bass interesting was the lack of volume or tone controls, being replaced by a single on/off switch.",
"What also made this bass interesting was the lack of volume or tone controls, being replaced by a single on/off switch. Although subtle, this helped give this Blackbird more tone and a higher output. This model was discontinued in 2003, but has recently been put back in production as the Epiphone Nikki Sixx Blackbird. Cosmetically the Epiphone Blackbird is identical to the Gibson original, but with a bolt-on single ply neck, solid mahogany body, different pickups and lower grade parts and manufacturing.",
"Cosmetically the Epiphone Blackbird is identical to the Gibson original, but with a bolt-on single ply neck, solid mahogany body, different pickups and lower grade parts and manufacturing. The Epiphone model still kept the 'opti-grab,' designed and made first by his bass technician Tim Luzzi, and single on/off switch of the Gibson original. In 2008, Gibson announced a 'limited run' new Nikki Sixx signature bass. Like the original it features a neck through design made of mahogany and walnut, with maple 'wings' to form the body.",
"Like the original it features a neck through design made of mahogany and walnut, with maple 'wings' to form the body. Unlike the original 'Blackbird' bass, a clear 'satin black cherry' finish is given to the instrument, with red 'slash' X's on the 3rd, 5th, 7th and 12th frets. A mirror pickguard is also applied, with a red signature and two X's (6 x's on the whole bass) is also a new addition.",
"A mirror pickguard is also applied, with a red signature and two X's (6 x's on the whole bass) is also a new addition. Unlike the Gibson Blackbird, the new signature featured volume and tone controls, the 'opti-grab', and an on/off switch. Personal life Sixx was engaged to Denise \"Vanity\" Matthews in 1987. In his autobiography, The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, Sixx described his toxic relationship with Matthews.",
"In his autobiography, The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, Sixx described his toxic relationship with Matthews. \"Vanity came and went during different periods of my addiction. She was a wild black chick who had sung with Prince: she'd also been his lover for a while. At the time I thought of Vanity as a disposable human being, like a used needle.",
"At the time I thought of Vanity as a disposable human being, like a used needle. Once its purpose was fulfilled it was ready for the trash, only to be dug up if you were really desperate…We became drug buddies: sometimes, you could even just about call us boyfriend and girlfriend. Vanity also taught me how to really freebase: the first time I based was with Tommy when Mötley just started and only a few times after that. So up until then, I'd been mostly snorting or injecting.",
"So up until then, I'd been mostly snorting or injecting. But as soon as she showed me the real ins and outs of cooking up a good rock…it was love. Not her. The drug.\" From May 1989 to November 1996, Sixx was married to his first wife, Playboy Playmate Brandi Brandt; they have three children: Gunner Nicholas Sixx (born January 25, 1991), Storm Brieann Sixx (born April 14, 1994), and Decker Nilsson Sixx (born May 23, 1995).",
"From May 1989 to November 1996, Sixx was married to his first wife, Playboy Playmate Brandi Brandt; they have three children: Gunner Nicholas Sixx (born January 25, 1991), Storm Brieann Sixx (born April 14, 1994), and Decker Nilsson Sixx (born May 23, 1995). One month after the divorce from Brandt, Sixx married his second wife, another Playboy Playmate, actress Donna D'Errico. Sixx and D'Errico have one daughter, Frankie-Jean Mary Sixx (born January 2, 2001).",
"Sixx and D'Errico have one daughter, Frankie-Jean Mary Sixx (born January 2, 2001). D'Errico has a son, Rhyan Jacob (born 1993), from a previous relationship. They separated shortly after their daughter's birth, and reconciled months later when Sixx completed rehab. They separated again on April 27, 2006, and divorced in June 2007, with D'Errico claiming irreconcilable differences. Sixx dated tattoo artist Kat Von D from 2008 to 2010.",
"Sixx dated tattoo artist Kat Von D from 2008 to 2010. A few months after their breakup, Sixx and Von D were spotted back together. Sixx was featured on an episode of Von D's reality television show LA Ink in 2008, in which Von D gave him a tattoo of Mick Mars, lead guitarist of Mötley Crüe. On August 25, 2010, Sixx issued a statement that their relationship had dissolved. It was reported on October 19, 2010, that Nikki and Kat had gotten back together.",
"It was reported on October 19, 2010, that Nikki and Kat had gotten back together. On October 27, 2010 Kat Von D confirmed to USA Today that indeed she and West Coast Choppers owner Jesse James were still together, debunking original reports that she and Sixx had reconciled. On November 4, 2010, Sixx was spotted at the Call of Duty: Black Ops Launch Party in Santa Monica, California with Courtney Bingham.",
"On November 4, 2010, Sixx was spotted at the Call of Duty: Black Ops Launch Party in Santa Monica, California with Courtney Bingham. On November 26, 2012, Nikki revealed to the public that he proposed to Courtney while vacationing in St. Barts. They were married on March 15, 2014. Bingham gave birth to their first child together, Ruby Sixx on July 27, 2019. Sixx announced the birth through social media. Sixx practices Transcendental Meditation, as he considers it an important self-help technique.",
"Sixx practices Transcendental Meditation, as he considers it an important self-help technique. During an interview with Wall of Sound, Nikki revealed he's working on a children’s book with his wife and a coffee table poetry/photography book. Radio shows Launched on February 8, 2010, Sixx Sense with Nikki Sixx broadcasts Monday through Friday from 7 p.m. to midnight local time on rock/alternative music stations.",
"Radio shows Launched on February 8, 2010, Sixx Sense with Nikki Sixx broadcasts Monday through Friday from 7 p.m. to midnight local time on rock/alternative music stations. Each night, host Nikki Sixx discusses music and lifestyle topics as he gives listeners a backstage look at the world and mind of a rock star. Sixx was joined by co-host Kerri Kasem, from its first episode until March 28, 2014. On April 2, it was announced that radio personality Jenn Marino would be joining the show in Kasem's place.",
"On April 2, it was announced that radio personality Jenn Marino would be joining the show in Kasem's place. The show is based in Dallas, Texas in a studio in the Northpark Center. Starting on May 7, 2012, KEGL in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas moved the show to mornings, making it the only station to carry the show in the mornings at 6 to 10 AM local time instead of the evening's time slot.",
"Starting on May 7, 2012, KEGL in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas moved the show to mornings, making it the only station to carry the show in the mornings at 6 to 10 AM local time instead of the evening's time slot. The show is customized for the Dallas/Fort Worth listeners for broadcast in the mornings on KEGL. Sixx said that bringing Sixx Sense to mornings \"has always been our goal. Who better to start your morning with than a rock star and a hot chick?",
"Who better to start your morning with than a rock star and a hot chick? It's a dream come true to have a morning show on one of America's best rock stations.\" however, one year later, Sixx Sense returned to evenings at KEGL. In addition, recent episodes of \"Sixx Sense\" air 24/7 on its own iHeartRadio streaming page. The Side Show with Nikki Sixx is a two-hour original weekend program.",
"The Side Show with Nikki Sixx is a two-hour original weekend program. Airing Saturday or Sunday between 6 a.m. and midnight local time, Nikki Sixx will air top-charting songs, showcase new and emerging artists, and welcome guests from the worlds of music and entertainment. In October 2017 Sixx announced he would step down from Sixx Sense on December 31, 2017.",
"In October 2017 Sixx announced he would step down from Sixx Sense on December 31, 2017. Running Wild in the Night With the formation of Sixx:A.M. and the release of The Heroin Diaries, Nikki Sixx teamed up with an already existing charity known as the Covenant House and created his own branch called Running Wild in the Night. In addition to partially funding the services the Covenant House provides on its own, Sixx's division also provides a creative arts and music program.",
"In addition to partially funding the services the Covenant House provides on its own, Sixx's division also provides a creative arts and music program. Sixx has negotiated with people in his industry to provide the program with musical instruments and software. A Portion of the profits from Sixx:A.M.'s album The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack and his autobiography, The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star is donated to help the Covenant House.",
"A Portion of the profits from Sixx:A.M.'s album The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack and his autobiography, The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star is donated to help the Covenant House. He continues to auction off personal items to fund Running Wild in the Night. As of April 2009, he had raised over $100,000.",
"As of April 2009, he had raised over $100,000. Discography Production and songwriting credits References External links Official Sixx:A.M. website Official Cruefest 2009 Tour website Official Sixx Sense website Mötley Crüe videos 1958 births 20th-century American musicians 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American musicians 21st-century American non-fiction writers American fashion designers American heavy metal bass guitarists American male non-fiction writers American memoirists American people of Italian descent Glam metal musicians Living people Mötley Crüe members Musicians from San Jose, California Photographers from California Radio personalities from Los Angeles Sixx:A.M. members Songwriters from California Writers from Los Angeles Writers from San Jose, California Guitarists from Los Angeles 20th-century American guitarists Brides of Destruction members American male bass guitarists 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers"
] |
[
"Nikki Sixx",
"Personal life",
"Did he have a family?",
"From May 1989 to November 1996, Sixx was married to his first wife, Playboy Playmate Brandi Brandt; they have three children:",
"Is he in contact with his mother?",
"I don't know."
] | C_dc25543ffefa4316ab7d4c8cfe9501df_1 | Did he marry again? | 3 | Did Nikki Sixx marry again? | Nikki Sixx | In 1987, Denise "Vanity" Matthews claimed she was engaged to Sixx. In his book The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, he describes his relationship with her, "Vanity came and went during different periods of my addiction. She was a wild black chick who had sung with Prince: she'd also been his lover for a while. At the time I thought of Vanity as a disposable human being, like a used needle. Once its purpose was fulfilled it was ready for the trash, only to be dug up if you were really desperate...We became drug buddies: sometimes, you could even just about call us boyfriend and girlfriend. Vanity also taught me how to really freebase: the first time I based was with Tommy when Motley just started and only a few times after that. So up until then, I'd been mostly snorting or injecting. But as soon as she showed me the real ins and outs of cooking up a good rock...it was love. Not her. The drug." From May 1989 to November 1996, Sixx was married to his first wife, Playboy Playmate Brandi Brandt; they have three children: Gunner Nicholas Sixx (born January 25, 1991), Storm Brieann Sixx (born April 14, 1994), and Decker Nilsson Sixx (born May 23, 1995). One month after the divorce from Brandt, Sixx married his second wife, another Playboy Playmate, actress Donna D'Errico. Sixx and D'Errico have one daughter, Frankie-Jean Mary Sixx (born January 2, 2001). D'Errico has a son, Rhyan Jacob (born 1993), from a previous relationship. They separated shortly after their daughter's birth, and reconciled months later when Sixx completed rehab. They separated again on April 27, 2006 and divorced in June 2007, with D'Errico claiming irreconcilable differences. Sixx dated tattoo artist Kat Von D from 2008 to 2010. A few months after their breakup, Sixx and Von D were spotted back together. Sixx was featured on an episode of Von D's reality television show LA Ink in 2008, in which Von D gave him a tattoo of Mick Mars, lead guitarist of Motley Crue. On August 25, 2010, Sixx issued a statement that their relationship had dissolved. It was reported on October 19, 2010 that Nikki and Kat had gotten back together. On October 27, 2010 Kat Von D confirmed to USA Today that indeed she and West Coast Choppers owner Jesse James were still together, debunking original reports that she and Sixx had reconciled. On November 4, 2010 Sixx was spotted at the Call of Duty: Black Ops Launch Party in Santa Monica, California with Courtney Bingham, whom he has been dating ever since and they now live together. On November 26, 2012, Nikki revealed to the public that he proposed to Courtney while vacationing in St. Barts. They were married on March 15, 2014. Courtney revealed in July 2014 that she and Sixx are planning to have a child, her first. Transcendental Meditation is an important self-help technique to Sixx. CANNOTANSWER | One month after the divorce from Brandt, Sixx married his second wife, another Playboy Playmate, actress Donna D'Errico. | Nikki Sixx (born Frank Carlton Serafino Feranna Jr.; December 11, 1958) is an American musician who is the co-founder, bassist, and primary songwriter of the rock band Mötley Crüe. Prior to forming Mötley Crüe, Sixx was a member of Sister before going on to form London with his Sister bandmate Lizzie Grey. In 2000, he formed side project group 58 with Dave Darling, Steve Gibb and Bucket Baker issuing one album, Diet for a New America, the same year while, in 2002, he formed the hard rock supergroup Brides of Destruction with L.A. Guns guitarist Tracii Guns. Formed in 2006, initially to record an audio accompaniment to Sixx's autobiography The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, his side band Sixx:A.M. features songwriter, producer, and vocalist James Michael and guitarist DJ Ashba.
Sixx has also worked with a number of artists and groups, co-writing and/or producing songs, such as Sex Pistols's guitarist Steve Jones, Lita Ford, Alice Cooper, Meat Loaf, Marion Raven, Drowning Pool, Saliva and The Last Vegas, among others.
Sixx launched the clothing line "Royal Underground" in 2006 with Kelly Gray, formerly the co-president and house model of St. John. Initially the label concentrated on men's clothing before expanding into women's while in 2010, Premiere Radio Networks launched nationally syndicated Rock/alternative music radio programs "Sixx Sense" and "The Side Show Countdown" with both based in Dallas, Texas and hosted by Sixx and co-hosted by Jenn Marino.
Early life
Frank Carlton Serafino Feranna Jr. was born on December 11, 1958, in San Jose, California. He is of Italian descent on his father's side, from Prato, Tuscany. Sixx was partially raised by his single mother, Deana Richards, and by his grandparents after his father left the family. Feranna later moved in with his grandparents after his mother abandoned him. Feranna relocated several times while living with his grandparents. Feranna's uncle, husband of Deana's sister Sharon, is Don Zimmerman, producer and president of Capitol Records. Feranna had one full biological sister, Lisa (born with Down syndrome; died circa 2000) and has one (half) brother Rodney Anthony Feranna (born 1966) and a half-sister Ceci.
Feranna grew up listening to Deep Purple, Harry Nilsson, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Elton John, Queen, and Black Sabbath; he later discovered T. Rex, David Bowie, and Slade. While living in Jerome, Idaho, Feranna's youth was troubled; he became a teenage vandal, broke into neighbors' homes, shoplifted, and was expelled from school for selling drugs. His grandparents sent him to live with his mother, who had moved to Seattle. Feranna lived there for a short time and learned how to play the bass guitar, having bought his first instrument with money gained from selling a guitar he had stolen.
Career
Early career, Sister, London (1975–1979)
At the age of 17, Feranna moved to Los Angeles and worked menial jobs such as working at a liquor store and selling vacuum cleaners over the phone while he auditioned for bands. He eventually joined the band Sister, led by Blackie Lawless, after answering an ad in The Recycler for a bass player. Soon after recording a demo, Feranna was fired from Sister along with bandmate Lizzie Grey.
Feranna and Grey formed the band London soon afterward, in 1978. During this time, Feranna legally changed his name to Nikki Sixx. After a number of lineup changes, London added former Mott the Hoople singer Nigel Benjamin to the group, and recorded a 16-track demo in Burbank. After the departure of Benjamin, along with the failure to find a replacement, Sixx departed London. The group would go on to feature Sixx's former Sister bandmate Blackie Lawless (later of W.A.S.P.), Izzy Stradlin (then of Hollywood Rose, later of Guns N' Roses) and drummer Fred Coury (later of Cinderella). In 2000, a number of the London demos recorded with Sixx were included on London Daze by Spiders & Snakes, led by former London guitarist Lizzie Grey.
Mötley Crüe (1981–2015)
In 1981, Sixx founded Mötley Crüe alongside drummer Tommy Lee. They were later joined by guitarist Mick Mars through an ad in the local newspaper, and singer Vince Neil, with whom Lee had attended high school. The band self-recorded their debut album, Too Fast for Love, which was subsequently released in November 1981 on the band's own Leathür Records label. After signing with Elektra Records, they re-released the same album. The band then went on to record and release Shout at the Devil, raising the band to national fame. They issued three more albums during the 1980s, Theatre of Pain in 1985, Girls, Girls, Girls in 1987, and Dr. Feelgood in 1989. The latter ended up being their most successful record, staying in the charts for 114 weeks after its release.
During his time with Mötley Crüe, Sixx became addicted to heroin. He is quoted in The Heroin Diaries as saying: "Alcohol, acid, cocaine... they were just affairs. When I met heroin it was true love." He estimates he overdosed "about half a dozen times". On December 23, 1987, Sixx overdosed on heroin and was reportedly declared clinically dead for two minutes before a paramedic revived him with two syringes full of adrenaline.
After releasing the compilation album Decade of Decadence in 1991, Neil left the group, and was replaced by John Corabi, who formerly served with The Scream. They released one self titled album with Corabi, in 1994, before firing him in 1996. Afterwards, they reunited with Neil, with whom they released Generation Swine in 1997.
Sixx had become controversial for an incident during a Mötley Crüe concert at Greensboro Coliseum on October 30, 1997, in which he used racial epithets while goading the audience to physically attack a black security guard for repeatedly attacking a female fan. In May 2001, Sixx addressed the issue, and claimed he had apologized to the victim of the incident.
In 1999, Tommy Lee left the group to form Methods of Mayhem. He was replaced by former Ozzy Osbourne drummer Randy Castillo, with whom they released the album New Tattoo in 2000. The group went on hiatus soon afterward before reuniting in 2004, during which Sixx declared himself sober. A 2001 autobiography entitled The Dirt packaged the band as "the world's most notorious rock band". The book made the top ten on The New York Times Best Seller list and spent ten weeks there.
In 2006, Mötley Crüe completed a reunion tour, featuring all four original members, and embarked on a co-headlining tour with Aerosmith, called The Route of All Evil. In April 2008, the band announced the first Crüe Fest, a summer tour, that featured Sixx's side project Sixx:A.M., Buckcherry, Papa Roach and Trapt. On June 24, 2008, Mötley Crüe released their ninth and final studio album, Saints of Los Angeles, with Sixx credited as either writer or co-writer on all tracks. The band officially retired in 2015.
Sixx wrote most of Mötley Crüe's material, including tracks such as "Live Wire", "Home Sweet Home", "Girls, Girls, Girls", "Kickstart My Heart", "Wild Side", "Hooligan's Holiday" and "Dr. Feelgood". In the 1990s, all four members began contributing to the material on the albums.
58 (2000)
In 2000, Sixx formed the internet-based side project 58 with producer Dave Darling, guitarist Steve Gibb (formerly of Black Label Society and Crowbar) and drummer Bucket Baker. They released one single, titled "Piece of Candy", and their debut album, Diet for a New America, also in 2000 through Sixx's Americoma label and Beyond Records. The group did not tour, and was described by Sixx as "strictly an artistic thing."
Brides of Destruction (2002–2004)
Brides of Destruction were formed by Sixx and Tracii Guns in Los Angeles 2002 initially with the name Cockstar after Mötley Crüe went on hiatus and Guns left L.A. Guns. Sixx also invited former Beautiful Creatures guitarist DJ Ashba to join the group however he declined to focus on his solo band, ASHBA. Ashba would eventually join Sixx in Sixx:A.M.
After a few lineup changes, that included Sixx's former Mötley Crüe bandmate John Corabi, keyboardist Adam Hamilton and drummer Kris Kohls of Adema, the group was composed of Sixx, Guns, singer London LeGrand and drummer Scot Coogan formerly of Ednaswap and Annetenna.
They were advised by radio programmers that the name Cockstar would not be announced on air. They briefly adopted the moniker Motordog before settling on Brides of Destruction.
They entered the studio with producer Stevo Bruno to begin recording what would become Here Come the Brides. The Brides played their first show opening for Mudvayne and Taproot on November 14, 2002, at the Ventura Theatre in California.
After signing a deal with Sanctuary Records, the group released Here Come the Brides in 2004, with the album debuting at number 92 on the Billboard 200 selling over 13,000 copies. A tour of the US, Europe, including an appearance at Download Festival in the United Kingdom, and Australia followed.
On October 25, 2004, it was announced that the group were to go on hiatus while Sixx reunited with Mötley Crüe for a reunion tour. The group continued without Sixx, however, with Guns adding former Amen bassist Scott Sorry to the group as Sixx's replacement. The second Brides of Destruction album, titled Runaway Brides, released in 2005 featured three songs co-written by Sixx during the Here Come the Brides sessions.
Sixx:A.M. (2006–2017)
Sixx formed his own group Sixx:A.M. in 2006, to record an audio accompaniment to his autobiography The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, with friends producer/songwriter James Michael and guitarist DJ Ashba (Guns N' Roses, formerly of Beautiful Creatures and BulletBoys). They recorded and released The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack in August 2007 through Eleven Seven. The single, "Life Is Beautiful", received a high ratio of radio and video play peaking at number 2 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks.
The band made their live debut at the Crash Mansion on July 16, 2007. They performed five songs from the album, with former Beautiful Creatures drummer Glen Sobel filling in on the drums. On April 15, 2008, Sixx:A.M. announced they would be touring as part of Mötley Crüe's Crüe Fest. The tour began on July 1, 2008, in West Palm Beach, Florida. During Crüe Fest, Papa Roach drummer Tony Palermo served as a touring drummer for the band. A deluxe tour edition of The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack was released on November 25, 2008, which included a bonus live EP entitled Live Is Beautiful, which features recorded performances from the band's summer tour.
In April 2009, both Sixx and Michael confirmed that the band was in the studio, recording new material. Sixx added that the new material was "inspiring. it feels like we may have topped ourselves on this album coming up, and can't wait for you to hear what it sounds like."
In 2010, the group continued recording the album with plans to release it by the late 2010/early 2011 with the group bringing in Paul R. Brown to shoot the video for the album's first single. During an interview in July 2010, Sixx stated that the album was almost finished. This Is Gonna Hurt, the band's second studio album, was released on May 3, 2011. A third studio album, Modern Vintage, was released in 2014. Prayers for the Damned and Prayers for the Blessed were released in 2016.
The band went on hiatus in 2017, with other members DJ Ashba and James Michael forming a new band, Pyromantic.
In 2021, the band released a greatest HITS album to coincide with Nikki's fourth novel, THE FIRST 21.
Other work
In 1989, Sixx was a featured guest artist on the album Fire and Gasoline by Steve Jones, formerly of the Sex Pistols. Sixx co-wrote and performed on the song, "We're No Saints". In 1991, Sixx played bass on "Feed My Frankenstein" on Alice Cooper's Hey Stoopid album. Sixx co-wrote the track "Die For You", along with Cooper and Mötley Crüe guitarist Mick Mars. In 2002, Sixx played on Butch Walkers first solo album "Left of Self Centered". In 2005, he collaborated with the Norwegian singer Marion Raven on two songs, "Heads Will Roll" and "Surfing the Sun", for Raven's debut album, Here I Am. A new version of "Heads Will Roll" appeared on Raven's 2006 EP Heads Will Roll and on her 2007 U.S. debut album, Set Me Free. In 2006, he was one of the songwriters for Meat Loaf's long-awaited album, Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose.
In September 2007, Sixx released a book titled The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, a collection of his journal entries from 1986 and 1987 (when his heroin addiction was at its most dangerous). Written with British journalist Ian Gittins, it presents the present-day viewpoints of his bandmates, friends, ex-lovers, caretakers, business associates and family as they respond to specific passages. The book debuted at #7 on The New York Times Best Seller list. Along with Big & Rich (John Rich and Big Kenny Alphin), and James Otto, Sixx co-wrote "Ain't Gonna Stop" for Otto's 2008 Sunset Man CD on Warner Bros/Raybaw Records.
In May 2021, it was announced that Sixx along with Rob Zombie, John 5, and Tommy Clufetos formed a supergroup called L.A. Rats. Their debut track, "I've Been Everywhere", is from the soundtrack to the Liam Neeson film The Ice Road.
Equipment
Signature basses
Sixx is most often seen playing Gibson Thunderbird basses. Between 2000 and 2003 Gibson produced the Nikki Sixx Signature Blackbird. The Gibson Blackbird was for all intents and purposes a standard Thunderbird bass, but with a satin black finish, Iron Crosses on the fretboard instead of dots, an Iron Cross behind the classic Thunderbird logo, and Nikki Sixx's 'opti-grab' (a metal loop installed behind the bridge for hooking the little finger onto while playing). What also made this bass interesting was the lack of volume or tone controls, being replaced by a single on/off switch. Although subtle, this helped give this Blackbird more tone and a higher output. This model was discontinued in 2003, but has recently been put back in production as the Epiphone Nikki Sixx Blackbird. Cosmetically the Epiphone Blackbird is identical to the Gibson original, but with a bolt-on single ply neck, solid mahogany body, different pickups and lower grade parts and manufacturing. The Epiphone model still kept the 'opti-grab,' designed and made first by his bass technician Tim Luzzi, and single on/off switch of the Gibson original. In 2008, Gibson announced a 'limited run' new Nikki Sixx signature bass. Like the original it features a neck through design made of mahogany and walnut, with maple 'wings' to form the body. Unlike the original 'Blackbird' bass, a clear 'satin black cherry' finish is given to the instrument, with red 'slash' X's on the 3rd, 5th, 7th and 12th frets. A mirror pickguard is also applied, with a red signature and two X's (6 x's on the whole bass) is also a new addition. Unlike the Gibson Blackbird, the new signature featured volume and tone controls, the 'opti-grab', and an on/off switch.
Personal life
Sixx was engaged to Denise "Vanity" Matthews in 1987. In his autobiography, The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, Sixx described his toxic relationship with Matthews. "Vanity came and went during different periods of my addiction. She was a wild black chick who had sung with Prince: she'd also been his lover for a while. At the time I thought of Vanity as a disposable human being, like a used needle. Once its purpose was fulfilled it was ready for the trash, only to be dug up if you were really desperate…We became drug buddies: sometimes, you could even just about call us boyfriend and girlfriend. Vanity also taught me how to really freebase: the first time I based was with Tommy when Mötley just started and only a few times after that. So up until then, I'd been mostly snorting or injecting. But as soon as she showed me the real ins and outs of cooking up a good rock…it was love. Not her. The drug."
From May 1989 to November 1996, Sixx was married to his first wife, Playboy Playmate Brandi Brandt; they have three children: Gunner Nicholas Sixx (born January 25, 1991), Storm Brieann Sixx (born April 14, 1994), and Decker Nilsson Sixx (born May 23, 1995).
One month after the divorce from Brandt, Sixx married his second wife, another Playboy Playmate, actress Donna D'Errico. Sixx and D'Errico have one daughter, Frankie-Jean Mary Sixx (born January 2, 2001). D'Errico has a son, Rhyan Jacob (born 1993), from a previous relationship. They separated shortly after their daughter's birth, and reconciled months later when Sixx completed rehab. They separated again on April 27, 2006, and divorced in June 2007, with D'Errico claiming irreconcilable differences.
Sixx dated tattoo artist Kat Von D from 2008 to 2010. A few months after their breakup, Sixx and Von D were spotted back together. Sixx was featured on an episode of Von D's reality television show LA Ink in 2008, in which Von D gave him a tattoo of Mick Mars, lead guitarist of Mötley Crüe. On August 25, 2010, Sixx issued a statement that their relationship had dissolved. It was reported on October 19, 2010, that Nikki and Kat had gotten back together. On October 27, 2010 Kat Von D confirmed to USA Today that indeed she and West Coast Choppers owner Jesse James were still together, debunking original reports that she and Sixx had reconciled. On November 4, 2010, Sixx was spotted at the Call of Duty: Black Ops Launch Party in Santa Monica, California with Courtney Bingham. On November 26, 2012, Nikki revealed to the public that he proposed to Courtney while vacationing in St. Barts. They were married on March 15, 2014.
Bingham gave birth to their first child together, Ruby Sixx on July 27, 2019. Sixx announced the birth through social media.
Sixx practices Transcendental Meditation, as he considers it an important self-help technique.
During an interview with Wall of Sound, Nikki revealed he's working on a children’s book with his wife and a coffee table poetry/photography book.
Radio shows
Launched on February 8, 2010, Sixx Sense with Nikki Sixx broadcasts Monday through Friday from 7 p.m. to midnight local time on rock/alternative music stations. Each night, host Nikki Sixx discusses music and lifestyle topics as he gives listeners a backstage look at the world and mind of a rock star. Sixx was joined by co-host Kerri Kasem, from its first episode until March 28, 2014. On April 2, it was announced that radio personality Jenn Marino would be joining the show in Kasem's place. The show is based in Dallas, Texas in a studio in the Northpark Center.
Starting on May 7, 2012, KEGL in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas moved the show to mornings, making it the only station to carry the show in the mornings at 6 to 10 AM local time instead of the evening's time slot. The show is customized for the Dallas/Fort Worth listeners for broadcast in the mornings on KEGL. Sixx said that bringing Sixx Sense to mornings "has always been our goal. Who better to start your morning with than a rock star and a hot chick? It's a dream come true to have a morning show on one of America's best rock stations." however, one year later, Sixx Sense returned to evenings at KEGL. In addition, recent episodes of "Sixx Sense" air 24/7 on its own iHeartRadio streaming page.
The Side Show with Nikki Sixx is a two-hour original weekend program. Airing Saturday or Sunday between 6 a.m. and midnight local time, Nikki Sixx will air top-charting songs, showcase new and emerging artists, and welcome guests from the worlds of music and entertainment. In October 2017 Sixx announced he would step down from Sixx Sense on December 31, 2017.
Running Wild in the Night
With the formation of Sixx:A.M. and the release of The Heroin Diaries, Nikki Sixx teamed up with an already existing charity known as the Covenant House and created his own branch called Running Wild in the Night. In addition to partially funding the services the Covenant House provides on its own, Sixx's division also provides a creative arts and music program. Sixx has negotiated with people in his industry to provide the program with musical instruments and software.
A Portion of the profits from Sixx:A.M.'s album The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack and his autobiography, The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star is donated to help the Covenant House. He continues to auction off personal items to fund Running Wild in the Night. As of April 2009, he had raised over $100,000.
Discography
Production and songwriting credits
References
External links
Official Sixx:A.M. website
Official Cruefest 2009 Tour website
Official Sixx Sense website
Mötley Crüe videos
1958 births
20th-century American musicians
20th-century American non-fiction writers
21st-century American musicians
21st-century American non-fiction writers
American fashion designers
American heavy metal bass guitarists
American male non-fiction writers
American memoirists
American people of Italian descent
Glam metal musicians
Living people
Mötley Crüe members
Musicians from San Jose, California
Photographers from California
Radio personalities from Los Angeles
Sixx:A.M. members
Songwriters from California
Writers from Los Angeles
Writers from San Jose, California
Guitarists from Los Angeles
20th-century American guitarists
Brides of Destruction members
American male bass guitarists
20th-century American male writers
21st-century American male writers | true | [
"Jo Chale To Jaan Se Guzar Gaye is a Pakistani drama television serial premiered on Geo TV on 19 September 2011. The serial is directed by Nadeem Siddiqi, written by Maha Malik, and produced by Asif Raza Mir & Babar Javed under their banner A&B Entertainment.\n\nPlot\nThe story of Jo Chale To Jaan Se Guzar Gaye revolves around Zufishan (Saba Qamar) who is from a middle-class background. She has been engaged to her cousin Azar (Sami Khan) and is strongly in love with him. All of a sudden Sayed Alim Shah (Noman Ijaz) a landlord saw her and fell in love with her. He forced Zufishan to marry him, but she refuses as she is engaged to her cousin.\n\nSayed Alam Shah kidnapped Azar and blackmail Zufishan to marry him. After all Zufishan decided to marry Sayed Alam Shah and he releases Azar. She did not even tell the whole story to Azar and marry Alam Shah while Azay was out of country. In an accident Alam Shah loses his legs. With the passage of time Zufishan starts loving her husband and story moves on. When Azar gets the real facts about her marriage, he gets shocked and asks Zulfishan to get divorce from him but she refuses. At the end, Alam shah suicided by taking poison and azar got zulfishan again.\n\nCast\n Noman Ijaz as Sayed Alam Shah\n Sami Khan as Azar\n Saba Qamar as Zufishan\n Qavi Khan \n Kashif Mehmood \n Jana Malik\n Farhana Maqsood\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nPakistani drama television series\nUrdu-language television shows\nGeo TV original programming",
"I Told You So is a 1970 Ghanaian movie. The movie portrays Ghanaians and their way of life in a satirical style. It also gives insight into the life of a young lady who did not take the advice of her father when about to marry a man, she did not know anything about the man she was going to marry, but rather took her mother's and uncle's advice because of the wealth and power the man has.\n\nThe young lady later finds out that the man she is supposed to marry was an armed robber. She was unhappy of the whole incident. When her dad ask what had happened, she replied that the man she was supposed to marry is an armed robber; her father ended by saying \"I told you so\".\n\nCast\nBobe Cole\nMargret Quainoo (Araba Stamp)\nKweku Crankson (Osuo Abrobor)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n I TOLD YOU SO GHANAIAN MOVIE\n\n1970 films\nGhanaian films"
] | [
"Nikki Sixx (born Frank Carlton Serafino Feranna Jr.; December 11, 1958) is an American musician who is the co-founder, bassist, and primary songwriter of the rock band Mötley Crüe. Prior to forming Mötley Crüe, Sixx was a member of Sister before going on to form London with his Sister bandmate Lizzie Grey.",
"Prior to forming Mötley Crüe, Sixx was a member of Sister before going on to form London with his Sister bandmate Lizzie Grey. In 2000, he formed side project group 58 with Dave Darling, Steve Gibb and Bucket Baker issuing one album, Diet for a New America, the same year while, in 2002, he formed the hard rock supergroup Brides of Destruction with L.A. Guns guitarist Tracii Guns.",
"Guns guitarist Tracii Guns. Guns guitarist Tracii Guns. Formed in 2006, initially to record an audio accompaniment to Sixx's autobiography The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, his side band Sixx:A.M. features songwriter, producer, and vocalist James Michael and guitarist DJ Ashba.",
"Formed in 2006, initially to record an audio accompaniment to Sixx's autobiography The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, his side band Sixx:A.M. features songwriter, producer, and vocalist James Michael and guitarist DJ Ashba. Sixx has also worked with a number of artists and groups, co-writing and/or producing songs, such as Sex Pistols's guitarist Steve Jones, Lita Ford, Alice Cooper, Meat Loaf, Marion Raven, Drowning Pool, Saliva and The Last Vegas, among others.",
"Sixx has also worked with a number of artists and groups, co-writing and/or producing songs, such as Sex Pistols's guitarist Steve Jones, Lita Ford, Alice Cooper, Meat Loaf, Marion Raven, Drowning Pool, Saliva and The Last Vegas, among others. Sixx launched the clothing line \"Royal Underground\" in 2006 with Kelly Gray, formerly the co-president and house model of St. John.",
"Sixx launched the clothing line \"Royal Underground\" in 2006 with Kelly Gray, formerly the co-president and house model of St. John. Initially the label concentrated on men's clothing before expanding into women's while in 2010, Premiere Radio Networks launched nationally syndicated Rock/alternative music radio programs \"Sixx Sense\" and \"The Side Show Countdown\" with both based in Dallas, Texas and hosted by Sixx and co-hosted by Jenn Marino.",
"Initially the label concentrated on men's clothing before expanding into women's while in 2010, Premiere Radio Networks launched nationally syndicated Rock/alternative music radio programs \"Sixx Sense\" and \"The Side Show Countdown\" with both based in Dallas, Texas and hosted by Sixx and co-hosted by Jenn Marino. Early life Frank Carlton Serafino Feranna Jr. was born on December 11, 1958, in San Jose, California. He is of Italian descent on his father's side, from Prato, Tuscany.",
"He is of Italian descent on his father's side, from Prato, Tuscany. Sixx was partially raised by his single mother, Deana Richards, and by his grandparents after his father left the family. Feranna later moved in with his grandparents after his mother abandoned him. Feranna relocated several times while living with his grandparents. Feranna's uncle, husband of Deana's sister Sharon, is Don Zimmerman, producer and president of Capitol Records.",
"Feranna's uncle, husband of Deana's sister Sharon, is Don Zimmerman, producer and president of Capitol Records. Feranna had one full biological sister, Lisa (born with Down syndrome; died circa 2000) and has one (half) brother Rodney Anthony Feranna (born 1966) and a half-sister Ceci. Feranna grew up listening to Deep Purple, Harry Nilsson, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Elton John, Queen, and Black Sabbath; he later discovered T. Rex, David Bowie, and Slade.",
"Feranna grew up listening to Deep Purple, Harry Nilsson, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Elton John, Queen, and Black Sabbath; he later discovered T. Rex, David Bowie, and Slade. While living in Jerome, Idaho, Feranna's youth was troubled; he became a teenage vandal, broke into neighbors' homes, shoplifted, and was expelled from school for selling drugs. His grandparents sent him to live with his mother, who had moved to Seattle.",
"His grandparents sent him to live with his mother, who had moved to Seattle. Feranna lived there for a short time and learned how to play the bass guitar, having bought his first instrument with money gained from selling a guitar he had stolen. Career Early career, Sister, London (1975–1979) At the age of 17, Feranna moved to Los Angeles and worked menial jobs such as working at a liquor store and selling vacuum cleaners over the phone while he auditioned for bands.",
"Career Early career, Sister, London (1975–1979) At the age of 17, Feranna moved to Los Angeles and worked menial jobs such as working at a liquor store and selling vacuum cleaners over the phone while he auditioned for bands. He eventually joined the band Sister, led by Blackie Lawless, after answering an ad in The Recycler for a bass player. Soon after recording a demo, Feranna was fired from Sister along with bandmate Lizzie Grey. Feranna and Grey formed the band London soon afterward, in 1978.",
"Feranna and Grey formed the band London soon afterward, in 1978. During this time, Feranna legally changed his name to Nikki Sixx. After a number of lineup changes, London added former Mott the Hoople singer Nigel Benjamin to the group, and recorded a 16-track demo in Burbank. After the departure of Benjamin, along with the failure to find a replacement, Sixx departed London. The group would go on to feature Sixx's former Sister bandmate Blackie Lawless (later of W.A.S.P.",
"The group would go on to feature Sixx's former Sister bandmate Blackie Lawless (later of W.A.S.P. ), Izzy Stradlin (then of Hollywood Rose, later of Guns N' Roses) and drummer Fred Coury (later of Cinderella). In 2000, a number of the London demos recorded with Sixx were included on London Daze by Spiders & Snakes, led by former London guitarist Lizzie Grey. Mötley Crüe (1981–2015) In 1981, Sixx founded Mötley Crüe alongside drummer Tommy Lee.",
"Mötley Crüe (1981–2015) In 1981, Sixx founded Mötley Crüe alongside drummer Tommy Lee. They were later joined by guitarist Mick Mars through an ad in the local newspaper, and singer Vince Neil, with whom Lee had attended high school. The band self-recorded their debut album, Too Fast for Love, which was subsequently released in November 1981 on the band's own Leathür Records label. After signing with Elektra Records, they re-released the same album.",
"After signing with Elektra Records, they re-released the same album. The band then went on to record and release Shout at the Devil, raising the band to national fame. They issued three more albums during the 1980s, Theatre of Pain in 1985, Girls, Girls, Girls in 1987, and Dr. Feelgood in 1989. The latter ended up being their most successful record, staying in the charts for 114 weeks after its release. During his time with Mötley Crüe, Sixx became addicted to heroin.",
"During his time with Mötley Crüe, Sixx became addicted to heroin. He is quoted in The Heroin Diaries as saying: \"Alcohol, acid, cocaine... they were just affairs. When I met heroin it was true love.\" He estimates he overdosed \"about half a dozen times\". On December 23, 1987, Sixx overdosed on heroin and was reportedly declared clinically dead for two minutes before a paramedic revived him with two syringes full of adrenaline.",
"On December 23, 1987, Sixx overdosed on heroin and was reportedly declared clinically dead for two minutes before a paramedic revived him with two syringes full of adrenaline. After releasing the compilation album Decade of Decadence in 1991, Neil left the group, and was replaced by John Corabi, who formerly served with The Scream. They released one self titled album with Corabi, in 1994, before firing him in 1996. Afterwards, they reunited with Neil, with whom they released Generation Swine in 1997.",
"Afterwards, they reunited with Neil, with whom they released Generation Swine in 1997. Sixx had become controversial for an incident during a Mötley Crüe concert at Greensboro Coliseum on October 30, 1997, in which he used racial epithets while goading the audience to physically attack a black security guard for repeatedly attacking a female fan. In May 2001, Sixx addressed the issue, and claimed he had apologized to the victim of the incident. In 1999, Tommy Lee left the group to form Methods of Mayhem.",
"In 1999, Tommy Lee left the group to form Methods of Mayhem. He was replaced by former Ozzy Osbourne drummer Randy Castillo, with whom they released the album New Tattoo in 2000. The group went on hiatus soon afterward before reuniting in 2004, during which Sixx declared himself sober. A 2001 autobiography entitled The Dirt packaged the band as \"the world's most notorious rock band\". The book made the top ten on The New York Times Best Seller list and spent ten weeks there.",
"The book made the top ten on The New York Times Best Seller list and spent ten weeks there. In 2006, Mötley Crüe completed a reunion tour, featuring all four original members, and embarked on a co-headlining tour with Aerosmith, called The Route of All Evil. In April 2008, the band announced the first Crüe Fest, a summer tour, that featured Sixx's side project Sixx:A.M., Buckcherry, Papa Roach and Trapt.",
"In April 2008, the band announced the first Crüe Fest, a summer tour, that featured Sixx's side project Sixx:A.M., Buckcherry, Papa Roach and Trapt. On June 24, 2008, Mötley Crüe released their ninth and final studio album, Saints of Los Angeles, with Sixx credited as either writer or co-writer on all tracks. The band officially retired in 2015.",
"The band officially retired in 2015. The band officially retired in 2015. Sixx wrote most of Mötley Crüe's material, including tracks such as \"Live Wire\", \"Home Sweet Home\", \"Girls, Girls, Girls\", \"Kickstart My Heart\", \"Wild Side\", \"Hooligan's Holiday\" and \"Dr. Feelgood\". In the 1990s, all four members began contributing to the material on the albums.",
"In the 1990s, all four members began contributing to the material on the albums. 58 (2000) In 2000, Sixx formed the internet-based side project 58 with producer Dave Darling, guitarist Steve Gibb (formerly of Black Label Society and Crowbar) and drummer Bucket Baker. They released one single, titled \"Piece of Candy\", and their debut album, Diet for a New America, also in 2000 through Sixx's Americoma label and Beyond Records.",
"They released one single, titled \"Piece of Candy\", and their debut album, Diet for a New America, also in 2000 through Sixx's Americoma label and Beyond Records. The group did not tour, and was described by Sixx as \"strictly an artistic thing.\" Brides of Destruction (2002–2004) Brides of Destruction were formed by Sixx and Tracii Guns in Los Angeles 2002 initially with the name Cockstar after Mötley Crüe went on hiatus and Guns left L.A. Guns.",
"Guns. Guns. Sixx also invited former Beautiful Creatures guitarist DJ Ashba to join the group however he declined to focus on his solo band, ASHBA. Ashba would eventually join Sixx in Sixx:A.M. After a few lineup changes, that included Sixx's former Mötley Crüe bandmate John Corabi, keyboardist Adam Hamilton and drummer Kris Kohls of Adema, the group was composed of Sixx, Guns, singer London LeGrand and drummer Scot Coogan formerly of Ednaswap and Annetenna.",
"Ashba would eventually join Sixx in Sixx:A.M. After a few lineup changes, that included Sixx's former Mötley Crüe bandmate John Corabi, keyboardist Adam Hamilton and drummer Kris Kohls of Adema, the group was composed of Sixx, Guns, singer London LeGrand and drummer Scot Coogan formerly of Ednaswap and Annetenna. They were advised by radio programmers that the name Cockstar would not be announced on air. They briefly adopted the moniker Motordog before settling on Brides of Destruction.",
"They briefly adopted the moniker Motordog before settling on Brides of Destruction. They entered the studio with producer Stevo Bruno to begin recording what would become Here Come the Brides. The Brides played their first show opening for Mudvayne and Taproot on November 14, 2002, at the Ventura Theatre in California. After signing a deal with Sanctuary Records, the group released Here Come the Brides in 2004, with the album debuting at number 92 on the Billboard 200 selling over 13,000 copies.",
"After signing a deal with Sanctuary Records, the group released Here Come the Brides in 2004, with the album debuting at number 92 on the Billboard 200 selling over 13,000 copies. A tour of the US, Europe, including an appearance at Download Festival in the United Kingdom, and Australia followed. On October 25, 2004, it was announced that the group were to go on hiatus while Sixx reunited with Mötley Crüe for a reunion tour.",
"On October 25, 2004, it was announced that the group were to go on hiatus while Sixx reunited with Mötley Crüe for a reunion tour. The group continued without Sixx, however, with Guns adding former Amen bassist Scott Sorry to the group as Sixx's replacement. The second Brides of Destruction album, titled Runaway Brides, released in 2005 featured three songs co-written by Sixx during the Here Come the Brides sessions.",
"The second Brides of Destruction album, titled Runaway Brides, released in 2005 featured three songs co-written by Sixx during the Here Come the Brides sessions. Sixx:A.M. (2006–2017) Sixx formed his own group Sixx:A.M. in 2006, to record an audio accompaniment to his autobiography The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, with friends producer/songwriter James Michael and guitarist DJ Ashba (Guns N' Roses, formerly of Beautiful Creatures and BulletBoys).",
"Sixx:A.M. (2006–2017) Sixx formed his own group Sixx:A.M. in 2006, to record an audio accompaniment to his autobiography The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, with friends producer/songwriter James Michael and guitarist DJ Ashba (Guns N' Roses, formerly of Beautiful Creatures and BulletBoys). They recorded and released The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack in August 2007 through Eleven Seven.",
"They recorded and released The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack in August 2007 through Eleven Seven. The single, \"Life Is Beautiful\", received a high ratio of radio and video play peaking at number 2 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks. The band made their live debut at the Crash Mansion on July 16, 2007. They performed five songs from the album, with former Beautiful Creatures drummer Glen Sobel filling in on the drums.",
"They performed five songs from the album, with former Beautiful Creatures drummer Glen Sobel filling in on the drums. On April 15, 2008, Sixx:A.M. announced they would be touring as part of Mötley Crüe's Crüe Fest. The tour began on July 1, 2008, in West Palm Beach, Florida. During Crüe Fest, Papa Roach drummer Tony Palermo served as a touring drummer for the band.",
"During Crüe Fest, Papa Roach drummer Tony Palermo served as a touring drummer for the band. A deluxe tour edition of The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack was released on November 25, 2008, which included a bonus live EP entitled Live Is Beautiful, which features recorded performances from the band's summer tour. In April 2009, both Sixx and Michael confirmed that the band was in the studio, recording new material. Sixx added that the new material was \"inspiring.",
"Sixx added that the new material was \"inspiring. Sixx added that the new material was \"inspiring. it feels like we may have topped ourselves on this album coming up, and can't wait for you to hear what it sounds like.\" In 2010, the group continued recording the album with plans to release it by the late 2010/early 2011 with the group bringing in Paul R. Brown to shoot the video for the album's first single.",
"In 2010, the group continued recording the album with plans to release it by the late 2010/early 2011 with the group bringing in Paul R. Brown to shoot the video for the album's first single. During an interview in July 2010, Sixx stated that the album was almost finished. This Is Gonna Hurt, the band's second studio album, was released on May 3, 2011. A third studio album, Modern Vintage, was released in 2014.",
"A third studio album, Modern Vintage, was released in 2014. Prayers for the Damned and Prayers for the Blessed were released in 2016. The band went on hiatus in 2017, with other members DJ Ashba and James Michael forming a new band, Pyromantic. In 2021, the band released a greatest HITS album to coincide with Nikki's fourth novel, THE FIRST 21. Other work In 1989, Sixx was a featured guest artist on the album Fire and Gasoline by Steve Jones, formerly of the Sex Pistols.",
"Other work In 1989, Sixx was a featured guest artist on the album Fire and Gasoline by Steve Jones, formerly of the Sex Pistols. Sixx co-wrote and performed on the song, \"We're No Saints\". In 1991, Sixx played bass on \"Feed My Frankenstein\" on Alice Cooper's Hey Stoopid album. Sixx co-wrote the track \"Die For You\", along with Cooper and Mötley Crüe guitarist Mick Mars. In 2002, Sixx played on Butch Walkers first solo album \"Left of Self Centered\".",
"In 2002, Sixx played on Butch Walkers first solo album \"Left of Self Centered\". In 2005, he collaborated with the Norwegian singer Marion Raven on two songs, \"Heads Will Roll\" and \"Surfing the Sun\", for Raven's debut album, Here I Am. A new version of \"Heads Will Roll\" appeared on Raven's 2006 EP Heads Will Roll and on her 2007 U.S. debut album, Set Me Free.",
"A new version of \"Heads Will Roll\" appeared on Raven's 2006 EP Heads Will Roll and on her 2007 U.S. debut album, Set Me Free. In 2006, he was one of the songwriters for Meat Loaf's long-awaited album, Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose.",
"In 2006, he was one of the songwriters for Meat Loaf's long-awaited album, Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose. In September 2007, Sixx released a book titled The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, a collection of his journal entries from 1986 and 1987 (when his heroin addiction was at its most dangerous).",
"In September 2007, Sixx released a book titled The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, a collection of his journal entries from 1986 and 1987 (when his heroin addiction was at its most dangerous). Written with British journalist Ian Gittins, it presents the present-day viewpoints of his bandmates, friends, ex-lovers, caretakers, business associates and family as they respond to specific passages. The book debuted at #7 on The New York Times Best Seller list.",
"The book debuted at #7 on The New York Times Best Seller list. Along with Big & Rich (John Rich and Big Kenny Alphin), and James Otto, Sixx co-wrote \"Ain't Gonna Stop\" for Otto's 2008 Sunset Man CD on Warner Bros/Raybaw Records. In May 2021, it was announced that Sixx along with Rob Zombie, John 5, and Tommy Clufetos formed a supergroup called L.A. Rats.",
"Rats. Rats. Their debut track, \"I've Been Everywhere\", is from the soundtrack to the Liam Neeson film The Ice Road. Equipment Signature basses Sixx is most often seen playing Gibson Thunderbird basses. Between 2000 and 2003 Gibson produced the Nikki Sixx Signature Blackbird.",
"Between 2000 and 2003 Gibson produced the Nikki Sixx Signature Blackbird. The Gibson Blackbird was for all intents and purposes a standard Thunderbird bass, but with a satin black finish, Iron Crosses on the fretboard instead of dots, an Iron Cross behind the classic Thunderbird logo, and Nikki Sixx's 'opti-grab' (a metal loop installed behind the bridge for hooking the little finger onto while playing). What also made this bass interesting was the lack of volume or tone controls, being replaced by a single on/off switch.",
"What also made this bass interesting was the lack of volume or tone controls, being replaced by a single on/off switch. Although subtle, this helped give this Blackbird more tone and a higher output. This model was discontinued in 2003, but has recently been put back in production as the Epiphone Nikki Sixx Blackbird. Cosmetically the Epiphone Blackbird is identical to the Gibson original, but with a bolt-on single ply neck, solid mahogany body, different pickups and lower grade parts and manufacturing.",
"Cosmetically the Epiphone Blackbird is identical to the Gibson original, but with a bolt-on single ply neck, solid mahogany body, different pickups and lower grade parts and manufacturing. The Epiphone model still kept the 'opti-grab,' designed and made first by his bass technician Tim Luzzi, and single on/off switch of the Gibson original. In 2008, Gibson announced a 'limited run' new Nikki Sixx signature bass. Like the original it features a neck through design made of mahogany and walnut, with maple 'wings' to form the body.",
"Like the original it features a neck through design made of mahogany and walnut, with maple 'wings' to form the body. Unlike the original 'Blackbird' bass, a clear 'satin black cherry' finish is given to the instrument, with red 'slash' X's on the 3rd, 5th, 7th and 12th frets. A mirror pickguard is also applied, with a red signature and two X's (6 x's on the whole bass) is also a new addition.",
"A mirror pickguard is also applied, with a red signature and two X's (6 x's on the whole bass) is also a new addition. Unlike the Gibson Blackbird, the new signature featured volume and tone controls, the 'opti-grab', and an on/off switch. Personal life Sixx was engaged to Denise \"Vanity\" Matthews in 1987. In his autobiography, The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, Sixx described his toxic relationship with Matthews.",
"In his autobiography, The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, Sixx described his toxic relationship with Matthews. \"Vanity came and went during different periods of my addiction. She was a wild black chick who had sung with Prince: she'd also been his lover for a while. At the time I thought of Vanity as a disposable human being, like a used needle.",
"At the time I thought of Vanity as a disposable human being, like a used needle. Once its purpose was fulfilled it was ready for the trash, only to be dug up if you were really desperate…We became drug buddies: sometimes, you could even just about call us boyfriend and girlfriend. Vanity also taught me how to really freebase: the first time I based was with Tommy when Mötley just started and only a few times after that. So up until then, I'd been mostly snorting or injecting.",
"So up until then, I'd been mostly snorting or injecting. But as soon as she showed me the real ins and outs of cooking up a good rock…it was love. Not her. The drug.\" From May 1989 to November 1996, Sixx was married to his first wife, Playboy Playmate Brandi Brandt; they have three children: Gunner Nicholas Sixx (born January 25, 1991), Storm Brieann Sixx (born April 14, 1994), and Decker Nilsson Sixx (born May 23, 1995).",
"From May 1989 to November 1996, Sixx was married to his first wife, Playboy Playmate Brandi Brandt; they have three children: Gunner Nicholas Sixx (born January 25, 1991), Storm Brieann Sixx (born April 14, 1994), and Decker Nilsson Sixx (born May 23, 1995). One month after the divorce from Brandt, Sixx married his second wife, another Playboy Playmate, actress Donna D'Errico. Sixx and D'Errico have one daughter, Frankie-Jean Mary Sixx (born January 2, 2001).",
"Sixx and D'Errico have one daughter, Frankie-Jean Mary Sixx (born January 2, 2001). D'Errico has a son, Rhyan Jacob (born 1993), from a previous relationship. They separated shortly after their daughter's birth, and reconciled months later when Sixx completed rehab. They separated again on April 27, 2006, and divorced in June 2007, with D'Errico claiming irreconcilable differences. Sixx dated tattoo artist Kat Von D from 2008 to 2010.",
"Sixx dated tattoo artist Kat Von D from 2008 to 2010. A few months after their breakup, Sixx and Von D were spotted back together. Sixx was featured on an episode of Von D's reality television show LA Ink in 2008, in which Von D gave him a tattoo of Mick Mars, lead guitarist of Mötley Crüe. On August 25, 2010, Sixx issued a statement that their relationship had dissolved. It was reported on October 19, 2010, that Nikki and Kat had gotten back together.",
"It was reported on October 19, 2010, that Nikki and Kat had gotten back together. On October 27, 2010 Kat Von D confirmed to USA Today that indeed she and West Coast Choppers owner Jesse James were still together, debunking original reports that she and Sixx had reconciled. On November 4, 2010, Sixx was spotted at the Call of Duty: Black Ops Launch Party in Santa Monica, California with Courtney Bingham.",
"On November 4, 2010, Sixx was spotted at the Call of Duty: Black Ops Launch Party in Santa Monica, California with Courtney Bingham. On November 26, 2012, Nikki revealed to the public that he proposed to Courtney while vacationing in St. Barts. They were married on March 15, 2014. Bingham gave birth to their first child together, Ruby Sixx on July 27, 2019. Sixx announced the birth through social media. Sixx practices Transcendental Meditation, as he considers it an important self-help technique.",
"Sixx practices Transcendental Meditation, as he considers it an important self-help technique. During an interview with Wall of Sound, Nikki revealed he's working on a children’s book with his wife and a coffee table poetry/photography book. Radio shows Launched on February 8, 2010, Sixx Sense with Nikki Sixx broadcasts Monday through Friday from 7 p.m. to midnight local time on rock/alternative music stations.",
"Radio shows Launched on February 8, 2010, Sixx Sense with Nikki Sixx broadcasts Monday through Friday from 7 p.m. to midnight local time on rock/alternative music stations. Each night, host Nikki Sixx discusses music and lifestyle topics as he gives listeners a backstage look at the world and mind of a rock star. Sixx was joined by co-host Kerri Kasem, from its first episode until March 28, 2014. On April 2, it was announced that radio personality Jenn Marino would be joining the show in Kasem's place.",
"On April 2, it was announced that radio personality Jenn Marino would be joining the show in Kasem's place. The show is based in Dallas, Texas in a studio in the Northpark Center. Starting on May 7, 2012, KEGL in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas moved the show to mornings, making it the only station to carry the show in the mornings at 6 to 10 AM local time instead of the evening's time slot.",
"Starting on May 7, 2012, KEGL in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas moved the show to mornings, making it the only station to carry the show in the mornings at 6 to 10 AM local time instead of the evening's time slot. The show is customized for the Dallas/Fort Worth listeners for broadcast in the mornings on KEGL. Sixx said that bringing Sixx Sense to mornings \"has always been our goal. Who better to start your morning with than a rock star and a hot chick?",
"Who better to start your morning with than a rock star and a hot chick? It's a dream come true to have a morning show on one of America's best rock stations.\" however, one year later, Sixx Sense returned to evenings at KEGL. In addition, recent episodes of \"Sixx Sense\" air 24/7 on its own iHeartRadio streaming page. The Side Show with Nikki Sixx is a two-hour original weekend program.",
"The Side Show with Nikki Sixx is a two-hour original weekend program. Airing Saturday or Sunday between 6 a.m. and midnight local time, Nikki Sixx will air top-charting songs, showcase new and emerging artists, and welcome guests from the worlds of music and entertainment. In October 2017 Sixx announced he would step down from Sixx Sense on December 31, 2017.",
"In October 2017 Sixx announced he would step down from Sixx Sense on December 31, 2017. Running Wild in the Night With the formation of Sixx:A.M. and the release of The Heroin Diaries, Nikki Sixx teamed up with an already existing charity known as the Covenant House and created his own branch called Running Wild in the Night. In addition to partially funding the services the Covenant House provides on its own, Sixx's division also provides a creative arts and music program.",
"In addition to partially funding the services the Covenant House provides on its own, Sixx's division also provides a creative arts and music program. Sixx has negotiated with people in his industry to provide the program with musical instruments and software. A Portion of the profits from Sixx:A.M.'s album The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack and his autobiography, The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star is donated to help the Covenant House.",
"A Portion of the profits from Sixx:A.M.'s album The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack and his autobiography, The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star is donated to help the Covenant House. He continues to auction off personal items to fund Running Wild in the Night. As of April 2009, he had raised over $100,000.",
"As of April 2009, he had raised over $100,000. Discography Production and songwriting credits References External links Official Sixx:A.M. website Official Cruefest 2009 Tour website Official Sixx Sense website Mötley Crüe videos 1958 births 20th-century American musicians 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American musicians 21st-century American non-fiction writers American fashion designers American heavy metal bass guitarists American male non-fiction writers American memoirists American people of Italian descent Glam metal musicians Living people Mötley Crüe members Musicians from San Jose, California Photographers from California Radio personalities from Los Angeles Sixx:A.M. members Songwriters from California Writers from Los Angeles Writers from San Jose, California Guitarists from Los Angeles 20th-century American guitarists Brides of Destruction members American male bass guitarists 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers"
] |
[
"Nikki Sixx",
"Personal life",
"Did he have a family?",
"From May 1989 to November 1996, Sixx was married to his first wife, Playboy Playmate Brandi Brandt; they have three children:",
"Is he in contact with his mother?",
"I don't know.",
"Did he marry again?",
"One month after the divorce from Brandt, Sixx married his second wife, another Playboy Playmate, actress Donna D'Errico."
] | C_dc25543ffefa4316ab7d4c8cfe9501df_1 | Did he have any kids with Donna D'Errico? | 4 | Did Nikki Sixx have any kids with Donna D'Errico? | Nikki Sixx | In 1987, Denise "Vanity" Matthews claimed she was engaged to Sixx. In his book The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, he describes his relationship with her, "Vanity came and went during different periods of my addiction. She was a wild black chick who had sung with Prince: she'd also been his lover for a while. At the time I thought of Vanity as a disposable human being, like a used needle. Once its purpose was fulfilled it was ready for the trash, only to be dug up if you were really desperate...We became drug buddies: sometimes, you could even just about call us boyfriend and girlfriend. Vanity also taught me how to really freebase: the first time I based was with Tommy when Motley just started and only a few times after that. So up until then, I'd been mostly snorting or injecting. But as soon as she showed me the real ins and outs of cooking up a good rock...it was love. Not her. The drug." From May 1989 to November 1996, Sixx was married to his first wife, Playboy Playmate Brandi Brandt; they have three children: Gunner Nicholas Sixx (born January 25, 1991), Storm Brieann Sixx (born April 14, 1994), and Decker Nilsson Sixx (born May 23, 1995). One month after the divorce from Brandt, Sixx married his second wife, another Playboy Playmate, actress Donna D'Errico. Sixx and D'Errico have one daughter, Frankie-Jean Mary Sixx (born January 2, 2001). D'Errico has a son, Rhyan Jacob (born 1993), from a previous relationship. They separated shortly after their daughter's birth, and reconciled months later when Sixx completed rehab. They separated again on April 27, 2006 and divorced in June 2007, with D'Errico claiming irreconcilable differences. Sixx dated tattoo artist Kat Von D from 2008 to 2010. A few months after their breakup, Sixx and Von D were spotted back together. Sixx was featured on an episode of Von D's reality television show LA Ink in 2008, in which Von D gave him a tattoo of Mick Mars, lead guitarist of Motley Crue. On August 25, 2010, Sixx issued a statement that their relationship had dissolved. It was reported on October 19, 2010 that Nikki and Kat had gotten back together. On October 27, 2010 Kat Von D confirmed to USA Today that indeed she and West Coast Choppers owner Jesse James were still together, debunking original reports that she and Sixx had reconciled. On November 4, 2010 Sixx was spotted at the Call of Duty: Black Ops Launch Party in Santa Monica, California with Courtney Bingham, whom he has been dating ever since and they now live together. On November 26, 2012, Nikki revealed to the public that he proposed to Courtney while vacationing in St. Barts. They were married on March 15, 2014. Courtney revealed in July 2014 that she and Sixx are planning to have a child, her first. Transcendental Meditation is an important self-help technique to Sixx. CANNOTANSWER | Sixx and D'Errico have one daughter, | Nikki Sixx (born Frank Carlton Serafino Feranna Jr.; December 11, 1958) is an American musician who is the co-founder, bassist, and primary songwriter of the rock band Mötley Crüe. Prior to forming Mötley Crüe, Sixx was a member of Sister before going on to form London with his Sister bandmate Lizzie Grey. In 2000, he formed side project group 58 with Dave Darling, Steve Gibb and Bucket Baker issuing one album, Diet for a New America, the same year while, in 2002, he formed the hard rock supergroup Brides of Destruction with L.A. Guns guitarist Tracii Guns. Formed in 2006, initially to record an audio accompaniment to Sixx's autobiography The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, his side band Sixx:A.M. features songwriter, producer, and vocalist James Michael and guitarist DJ Ashba.
Sixx has also worked with a number of artists and groups, co-writing and/or producing songs, such as Sex Pistols's guitarist Steve Jones, Lita Ford, Alice Cooper, Meat Loaf, Marion Raven, Drowning Pool, Saliva and The Last Vegas, among others.
Sixx launched the clothing line "Royal Underground" in 2006 with Kelly Gray, formerly the co-president and house model of St. John. Initially the label concentrated on men's clothing before expanding into women's while in 2010, Premiere Radio Networks launched nationally syndicated Rock/alternative music radio programs "Sixx Sense" and "The Side Show Countdown" with both based in Dallas, Texas and hosted by Sixx and co-hosted by Jenn Marino.
Early life
Frank Carlton Serafino Feranna Jr. was born on December 11, 1958, in San Jose, California. He is of Italian descent on his father's side, from Prato, Tuscany. Sixx was partially raised by his single mother, Deana Richards, and by his grandparents after his father left the family. Feranna later moved in with his grandparents after his mother abandoned him. Feranna relocated several times while living with his grandparents. Feranna's uncle, husband of Deana's sister Sharon, is Don Zimmerman, producer and president of Capitol Records. Feranna had one full biological sister, Lisa (born with Down syndrome; died circa 2000) and has one (half) brother Rodney Anthony Feranna (born 1966) and a half-sister Ceci.
Feranna grew up listening to Deep Purple, Harry Nilsson, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Elton John, Queen, and Black Sabbath; he later discovered T. Rex, David Bowie, and Slade. While living in Jerome, Idaho, Feranna's youth was troubled; he became a teenage vandal, broke into neighbors' homes, shoplifted, and was expelled from school for selling drugs. His grandparents sent him to live with his mother, who had moved to Seattle. Feranna lived there for a short time and learned how to play the bass guitar, having bought his first instrument with money gained from selling a guitar he had stolen.
Career
Early career, Sister, London (1975–1979)
At the age of 17, Feranna moved to Los Angeles and worked menial jobs such as working at a liquor store and selling vacuum cleaners over the phone while he auditioned for bands. He eventually joined the band Sister, led by Blackie Lawless, after answering an ad in The Recycler for a bass player. Soon after recording a demo, Feranna was fired from Sister along with bandmate Lizzie Grey.
Feranna and Grey formed the band London soon afterward, in 1978. During this time, Feranna legally changed his name to Nikki Sixx. After a number of lineup changes, London added former Mott the Hoople singer Nigel Benjamin to the group, and recorded a 16-track demo in Burbank. After the departure of Benjamin, along with the failure to find a replacement, Sixx departed London. The group would go on to feature Sixx's former Sister bandmate Blackie Lawless (later of W.A.S.P.), Izzy Stradlin (then of Hollywood Rose, later of Guns N' Roses) and drummer Fred Coury (later of Cinderella). In 2000, a number of the London demos recorded with Sixx were included on London Daze by Spiders & Snakes, led by former London guitarist Lizzie Grey.
Mötley Crüe (1981–2015)
In 1981, Sixx founded Mötley Crüe alongside drummer Tommy Lee. They were later joined by guitarist Mick Mars through an ad in the local newspaper, and singer Vince Neil, with whom Lee had attended high school. The band self-recorded their debut album, Too Fast for Love, which was subsequently released in November 1981 on the band's own Leathür Records label. After signing with Elektra Records, they re-released the same album. The band then went on to record and release Shout at the Devil, raising the band to national fame. They issued three more albums during the 1980s, Theatre of Pain in 1985, Girls, Girls, Girls in 1987, and Dr. Feelgood in 1989. The latter ended up being their most successful record, staying in the charts for 114 weeks after its release.
During his time with Mötley Crüe, Sixx became addicted to heroin. He is quoted in The Heroin Diaries as saying: "Alcohol, acid, cocaine... they were just affairs. When I met heroin it was true love." He estimates he overdosed "about half a dozen times". On December 23, 1987, Sixx overdosed on heroin and was reportedly declared clinically dead for two minutes before a paramedic revived him with two syringes full of adrenaline.
After releasing the compilation album Decade of Decadence in 1991, Neil left the group, and was replaced by John Corabi, who formerly served with The Scream. They released one self titled album with Corabi, in 1994, before firing him in 1996. Afterwards, they reunited with Neil, with whom they released Generation Swine in 1997.
Sixx had become controversial for an incident during a Mötley Crüe concert at Greensboro Coliseum on October 30, 1997, in which he used racial epithets while goading the audience to physically attack a black security guard for repeatedly attacking a female fan. In May 2001, Sixx addressed the issue, and claimed he had apologized to the victim of the incident.
In 1999, Tommy Lee left the group to form Methods of Mayhem. He was replaced by former Ozzy Osbourne drummer Randy Castillo, with whom they released the album New Tattoo in 2000. The group went on hiatus soon afterward before reuniting in 2004, during which Sixx declared himself sober. A 2001 autobiography entitled The Dirt packaged the band as "the world's most notorious rock band". The book made the top ten on The New York Times Best Seller list and spent ten weeks there.
In 2006, Mötley Crüe completed a reunion tour, featuring all four original members, and embarked on a co-headlining tour with Aerosmith, called The Route of All Evil. In April 2008, the band announced the first Crüe Fest, a summer tour, that featured Sixx's side project Sixx:A.M., Buckcherry, Papa Roach and Trapt. On June 24, 2008, Mötley Crüe released their ninth and final studio album, Saints of Los Angeles, with Sixx credited as either writer or co-writer on all tracks. The band officially retired in 2015.
Sixx wrote most of Mötley Crüe's material, including tracks such as "Live Wire", "Home Sweet Home", "Girls, Girls, Girls", "Kickstart My Heart", "Wild Side", "Hooligan's Holiday" and "Dr. Feelgood". In the 1990s, all four members began contributing to the material on the albums.
58 (2000)
In 2000, Sixx formed the internet-based side project 58 with producer Dave Darling, guitarist Steve Gibb (formerly of Black Label Society and Crowbar) and drummer Bucket Baker. They released one single, titled "Piece of Candy", and their debut album, Diet for a New America, also in 2000 through Sixx's Americoma label and Beyond Records. The group did not tour, and was described by Sixx as "strictly an artistic thing."
Brides of Destruction (2002–2004)
Brides of Destruction were formed by Sixx and Tracii Guns in Los Angeles 2002 initially with the name Cockstar after Mötley Crüe went on hiatus and Guns left L.A. Guns. Sixx also invited former Beautiful Creatures guitarist DJ Ashba to join the group however he declined to focus on his solo band, ASHBA. Ashba would eventually join Sixx in Sixx:A.M.
After a few lineup changes, that included Sixx's former Mötley Crüe bandmate John Corabi, keyboardist Adam Hamilton and drummer Kris Kohls of Adema, the group was composed of Sixx, Guns, singer London LeGrand and drummer Scot Coogan formerly of Ednaswap and Annetenna.
They were advised by radio programmers that the name Cockstar would not be announced on air. They briefly adopted the moniker Motordog before settling on Brides of Destruction.
They entered the studio with producer Stevo Bruno to begin recording what would become Here Come the Brides. The Brides played their first show opening for Mudvayne and Taproot on November 14, 2002, at the Ventura Theatre in California.
After signing a deal with Sanctuary Records, the group released Here Come the Brides in 2004, with the album debuting at number 92 on the Billboard 200 selling over 13,000 copies. A tour of the US, Europe, including an appearance at Download Festival in the United Kingdom, and Australia followed.
On October 25, 2004, it was announced that the group were to go on hiatus while Sixx reunited with Mötley Crüe for a reunion tour. The group continued without Sixx, however, with Guns adding former Amen bassist Scott Sorry to the group as Sixx's replacement. The second Brides of Destruction album, titled Runaway Brides, released in 2005 featured three songs co-written by Sixx during the Here Come the Brides sessions.
Sixx:A.M. (2006–2017)
Sixx formed his own group Sixx:A.M. in 2006, to record an audio accompaniment to his autobiography The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, with friends producer/songwriter James Michael and guitarist DJ Ashba (Guns N' Roses, formerly of Beautiful Creatures and BulletBoys). They recorded and released The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack in August 2007 through Eleven Seven. The single, "Life Is Beautiful", received a high ratio of radio and video play peaking at number 2 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks.
The band made their live debut at the Crash Mansion on July 16, 2007. They performed five songs from the album, with former Beautiful Creatures drummer Glen Sobel filling in on the drums. On April 15, 2008, Sixx:A.M. announced they would be touring as part of Mötley Crüe's Crüe Fest. The tour began on July 1, 2008, in West Palm Beach, Florida. During Crüe Fest, Papa Roach drummer Tony Palermo served as a touring drummer for the band. A deluxe tour edition of The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack was released on November 25, 2008, which included a bonus live EP entitled Live Is Beautiful, which features recorded performances from the band's summer tour.
In April 2009, both Sixx and Michael confirmed that the band was in the studio, recording new material. Sixx added that the new material was "inspiring. it feels like we may have topped ourselves on this album coming up, and can't wait for you to hear what it sounds like."
In 2010, the group continued recording the album with plans to release it by the late 2010/early 2011 with the group bringing in Paul R. Brown to shoot the video for the album's first single. During an interview in July 2010, Sixx stated that the album was almost finished. This Is Gonna Hurt, the band's second studio album, was released on May 3, 2011. A third studio album, Modern Vintage, was released in 2014. Prayers for the Damned and Prayers for the Blessed were released in 2016.
The band went on hiatus in 2017, with other members DJ Ashba and James Michael forming a new band, Pyromantic.
In 2021, the band released a greatest HITS album to coincide with Nikki's fourth novel, THE FIRST 21.
Other work
In 1989, Sixx was a featured guest artist on the album Fire and Gasoline by Steve Jones, formerly of the Sex Pistols. Sixx co-wrote and performed on the song, "We're No Saints". In 1991, Sixx played bass on "Feed My Frankenstein" on Alice Cooper's Hey Stoopid album. Sixx co-wrote the track "Die For You", along with Cooper and Mötley Crüe guitarist Mick Mars. In 2002, Sixx played on Butch Walkers first solo album "Left of Self Centered". In 2005, he collaborated with the Norwegian singer Marion Raven on two songs, "Heads Will Roll" and "Surfing the Sun", for Raven's debut album, Here I Am. A new version of "Heads Will Roll" appeared on Raven's 2006 EP Heads Will Roll and on her 2007 U.S. debut album, Set Me Free. In 2006, he was one of the songwriters for Meat Loaf's long-awaited album, Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose.
In September 2007, Sixx released a book titled The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, a collection of his journal entries from 1986 and 1987 (when his heroin addiction was at its most dangerous). Written with British journalist Ian Gittins, it presents the present-day viewpoints of his bandmates, friends, ex-lovers, caretakers, business associates and family as they respond to specific passages. The book debuted at #7 on The New York Times Best Seller list. Along with Big & Rich (John Rich and Big Kenny Alphin), and James Otto, Sixx co-wrote "Ain't Gonna Stop" for Otto's 2008 Sunset Man CD on Warner Bros/Raybaw Records.
In May 2021, it was announced that Sixx along with Rob Zombie, John 5, and Tommy Clufetos formed a supergroup called L.A. Rats. Their debut track, "I've Been Everywhere", is from the soundtrack to the Liam Neeson film The Ice Road.
Equipment
Signature basses
Sixx is most often seen playing Gibson Thunderbird basses. Between 2000 and 2003 Gibson produced the Nikki Sixx Signature Blackbird. The Gibson Blackbird was for all intents and purposes a standard Thunderbird bass, but with a satin black finish, Iron Crosses on the fretboard instead of dots, an Iron Cross behind the classic Thunderbird logo, and Nikki Sixx's 'opti-grab' (a metal loop installed behind the bridge for hooking the little finger onto while playing). What also made this bass interesting was the lack of volume or tone controls, being replaced by a single on/off switch. Although subtle, this helped give this Blackbird more tone and a higher output. This model was discontinued in 2003, but has recently been put back in production as the Epiphone Nikki Sixx Blackbird. Cosmetically the Epiphone Blackbird is identical to the Gibson original, but with a bolt-on single ply neck, solid mahogany body, different pickups and lower grade parts and manufacturing. The Epiphone model still kept the 'opti-grab,' designed and made first by his bass technician Tim Luzzi, and single on/off switch of the Gibson original. In 2008, Gibson announced a 'limited run' new Nikki Sixx signature bass. Like the original it features a neck through design made of mahogany and walnut, with maple 'wings' to form the body. Unlike the original 'Blackbird' bass, a clear 'satin black cherry' finish is given to the instrument, with red 'slash' X's on the 3rd, 5th, 7th and 12th frets. A mirror pickguard is also applied, with a red signature and two X's (6 x's on the whole bass) is also a new addition. Unlike the Gibson Blackbird, the new signature featured volume and tone controls, the 'opti-grab', and an on/off switch.
Personal life
Sixx was engaged to Denise "Vanity" Matthews in 1987. In his autobiography, The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, Sixx described his toxic relationship with Matthews. "Vanity came and went during different periods of my addiction. She was a wild black chick who had sung with Prince: she'd also been his lover for a while. At the time I thought of Vanity as a disposable human being, like a used needle. Once its purpose was fulfilled it was ready for the trash, only to be dug up if you were really desperate…We became drug buddies: sometimes, you could even just about call us boyfriend and girlfriend. Vanity also taught me how to really freebase: the first time I based was with Tommy when Mötley just started and only a few times after that. So up until then, I'd been mostly snorting or injecting. But as soon as she showed me the real ins and outs of cooking up a good rock…it was love. Not her. The drug."
From May 1989 to November 1996, Sixx was married to his first wife, Playboy Playmate Brandi Brandt; they have three children: Gunner Nicholas Sixx (born January 25, 1991), Storm Brieann Sixx (born April 14, 1994), and Decker Nilsson Sixx (born May 23, 1995).
One month after the divorce from Brandt, Sixx married his second wife, another Playboy Playmate, actress Donna D'Errico. Sixx and D'Errico have one daughter, Frankie-Jean Mary Sixx (born January 2, 2001). D'Errico has a son, Rhyan Jacob (born 1993), from a previous relationship. They separated shortly after their daughter's birth, and reconciled months later when Sixx completed rehab. They separated again on April 27, 2006, and divorced in June 2007, with D'Errico claiming irreconcilable differences.
Sixx dated tattoo artist Kat Von D from 2008 to 2010. A few months after their breakup, Sixx and Von D were spotted back together. Sixx was featured on an episode of Von D's reality television show LA Ink in 2008, in which Von D gave him a tattoo of Mick Mars, lead guitarist of Mötley Crüe. On August 25, 2010, Sixx issued a statement that their relationship had dissolved. It was reported on October 19, 2010, that Nikki and Kat had gotten back together. On October 27, 2010 Kat Von D confirmed to USA Today that indeed she and West Coast Choppers owner Jesse James were still together, debunking original reports that she and Sixx had reconciled. On November 4, 2010, Sixx was spotted at the Call of Duty: Black Ops Launch Party in Santa Monica, California with Courtney Bingham. On November 26, 2012, Nikki revealed to the public that he proposed to Courtney while vacationing in St. Barts. They were married on March 15, 2014.
Bingham gave birth to their first child together, Ruby Sixx on July 27, 2019. Sixx announced the birth through social media.
Sixx practices Transcendental Meditation, as he considers it an important self-help technique.
During an interview with Wall of Sound, Nikki revealed he's working on a children’s book with his wife and a coffee table poetry/photography book.
Radio shows
Launched on February 8, 2010, Sixx Sense with Nikki Sixx broadcasts Monday through Friday from 7 p.m. to midnight local time on rock/alternative music stations. Each night, host Nikki Sixx discusses music and lifestyle topics as he gives listeners a backstage look at the world and mind of a rock star. Sixx was joined by co-host Kerri Kasem, from its first episode until March 28, 2014. On April 2, it was announced that radio personality Jenn Marino would be joining the show in Kasem's place. The show is based in Dallas, Texas in a studio in the Northpark Center.
Starting on May 7, 2012, KEGL in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas moved the show to mornings, making it the only station to carry the show in the mornings at 6 to 10 AM local time instead of the evening's time slot. The show is customized for the Dallas/Fort Worth listeners for broadcast in the mornings on KEGL. Sixx said that bringing Sixx Sense to mornings "has always been our goal. Who better to start your morning with than a rock star and a hot chick? It's a dream come true to have a morning show on one of America's best rock stations." however, one year later, Sixx Sense returned to evenings at KEGL. In addition, recent episodes of "Sixx Sense" air 24/7 on its own iHeartRadio streaming page.
The Side Show with Nikki Sixx is a two-hour original weekend program. Airing Saturday or Sunday between 6 a.m. and midnight local time, Nikki Sixx will air top-charting songs, showcase new and emerging artists, and welcome guests from the worlds of music and entertainment. In October 2017 Sixx announced he would step down from Sixx Sense on December 31, 2017.
Running Wild in the Night
With the formation of Sixx:A.M. and the release of The Heroin Diaries, Nikki Sixx teamed up with an already existing charity known as the Covenant House and created his own branch called Running Wild in the Night. In addition to partially funding the services the Covenant House provides on its own, Sixx's division also provides a creative arts and music program. Sixx has negotiated with people in his industry to provide the program with musical instruments and software.
A Portion of the profits from Sixx:A.M.'s album The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack and his autobiography, The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star is donated to help the Covenant House. He continues to auction off personal items to fund Running Wild in the Night. As of April 2009, he had raised over $100,000.
Discography
Production and songwriting credits
References
External links
Official Sixx:A.M. website
Official Cruefest 2009 Tour website
Official Sixx Sense website
Mötley Crüe videos
1958 births
20th-century American musicians
20th-century American non-fiction writers
21st-century American musicians
21st-century American non-fiction writers
American fashion designers
American heavy metal bass guitarists
American male non-fiction writers
American memoirists
American people of Italian descent
Glam metal musicians
Living people
Mötley Crüe members
Musicians from San Jose, California
Photographers from California
Radio personalities from Los Angeles
Sixx:A.M. members
Songwriters from California
Writers from Los Angeles
Writers from San Jose, California
Guitarists from Los Angeles
20th-century American guitarists
Brides of Destruction members
American male bass guitarists
20th-century American male writers
21st-century American male writers | true | [
"Donna Jeanette D'Errico (born March 30, 1968) is an American actress and model. She posed for Playboy as its Playmate of the Month for September 1995 and had a starring role (1996–1998) on the television series Baywatch. She continues to act in films and on television.\n\nCareer\nBefore appearing in Playboy, D'Errico had a Las Vegas-based limousine company. When Playboy chose her as its Playmate of the Month for September 1995, her centerfold was photographed by Richard Fegley.\n\nShe was chosen for a starring role on the television series Baywatch, as \"Donna Marco\" for two seasons, from 1996 to 1998. One installment of the program dealt with her Playboy layout. She was also a host of the show Battlebots and starred in Candyman: Day of the Dead. For a time, she owned Zen Spa, a day spa in Calabasas, California. After leaving Baywatch, she appeared in independent films, including Intervention, Inconceivable, and The Making of Plus One alongside Andie MacDowell, Jennifer Tilly, Colm Feore, and Elizabeth McGovern.\n\nPersonal life\n\nD'Errico divorced rock musician Nikki Sixx in 2007, after 11 years of marriage. Together they had one daughter born in 2001. D'Errico also has a son, Rhyan, born in 1993. D'Errico supports animal rights and is a vegan.\n\nMount Ararat expedition\nIn 2011, D'Errico said she was in training to fulfill a long-held dream of climbing Mount Ararat in Turkey in search of the frozen remains of Noah's ark. D'Errico climbed Mount Ararat in mid-2012, returning home to the U.S. in August, having suffered injuries from a fall near the end of the climb.\n\nFilmography\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\n1968 births\nAmerican film actresses\nAmerican people of Italian descent\nAmerican television actresses\nLiving people\nActors from Columbus, Georgia\nPeople from Dothan, Alabama\n1990s Playboy Playmates\n20th-century American actresses\n21st-century American actresses\nActresses from Alabama\nActresses from Georgia (U.S. state)\nCatholics from Alabama\nCatholics from Georgia (U.S. state)\nMount Ararat",
"The Making of Plus One is a 2010 British-Canadian comedy film about the independent filmmaking industry. The film was set and shot at the Cannes Film Festival and takes a satirical look at the film industry's obsession with celebrity. It was written and directed by Mary McGuckian and stars Michael Eklund, Suzan-Lori Parks, Lothaire Bluteau, Geraldine Chaplin, Donna D'Errico, Jordi Mollà and Jennifer Tilly.\n\nPlot\nThe production team of a new film, headed by hopeful director (Parks) and a conniving producer Dave Dallas (Eklund) hold several meetings at the Cannes Film Festival with the hope of achieving financial backing for their film.\n\nCast\nMichael Eklund as Dave Dallas\nSuzan-Lori Parks as Skye Brown - the director\nLothaire Bluteau as Gil - the production designer\nGeraldine Chaplin as Geri - the casting director\nDonna D'Errico as Frances Money - the lawyer\nJordi Mollà as Victor - the D.O.P.\nAmanda Plummer as Kim Owens - the accountant\nJohn Sessions as Derek - the line producer\nSara Stockbridge as Rusty Robinson - the writer\nJennifer Tilly as Amber\nKatie Boland as Starlet\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\n2010 films\nCanadian comedy films\nEnglish-language Canadian films\nCanadian films\nBritish comedy films\nBritish films\nFilms about filmmaking\n2010 comedy films"
] | [
"Nikki Sixx (born Frank Carlton Serafino Feranna Jr.; December 11, 1958) is an American musician who is the co-founder, bassist, and primary songwriter of the rock band Mötley Crüe. Prior to forming Mötley Crüe, Sixx was a member of Sister before going on to form London with his Sister bandmate Lizzie Grey.",
"Prior to forming Mötley Crüe, Sixx was a member of Sister before going on to form London with his Sister bandmate Lizzie Grey. In 2000, he formed side project group 58 with Dave Darling, Steve Gibb and Bucket Baker issuing one album, Diet for a New America, the same year while, in 2002, he formed the hard rock supergroup Brides of Destruction with L.A. Guns guitarist Tracii Guns.",
"Guns guitarist Tracii Guns. Guns guitarist Tracii Guns. Formed in 2006, initially to record an audio accompaniment to Sixx's autobiography The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, his side band Sixx:A.M. features songwriter, producer, and vocalist James Michael and guitarist DJ Ashba.",
"Formed in 2006, initially to record an audio accompaniment to Sixx's autobiography The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, his side band Sixx:A.M. features songwriter, producer, and vocalist James Michael and guitarist DJ Ashba. Sixx has also worked with a number of artists and groups, co-writing and/or producing songs, such as Sex Pistols's guitarist Steve Jones, Lita Ford, Alice Cooper, Meat Loaf, Marion Raven, Drowning Pool, Saliva and The Last Vegas, among others.",
"Sixx has also worked with a number of artists and groups, co-writing and/or producing songs, such as Sex Pistols's guitarist Steve Jones, Lita Ford, Alice Cooper, Meat Loaf, Marion Raven, Drowning Pool, Saliva and The Last Vegas, among others. Sixx launched the clothing line \"Royal Underground\" in 2006 with Kelly Gray, formerly the co-president and house model of St. John.",
"Sixx launched the clothing line \"Royal Underground\" in 2006 with Kelly Gray, formerly the co-president and house model of St. John. Initially the label concentrated on men's clothing before expanding into women's while in 2010, Premiere Radio Networks launched nationally syndicated Rock/alternative music radio programs \"Sixx Sense\" and \"The Side Show Countdown\" with both based in Dallas, Texas and hosted by Sixx and co-hosted by Jenn Marino.",
"Initially the label concentrated on men's clothing before expanding into women's while in 2010, Premiere Radio Networks launched nationally syndicated Rock/alternative music radio programs \"Sixx Sense\" and \"The Side Show Countdown\" with both based in Dallas, Texas and hosted by Sixx and co-hosted by Jenn Marino. Early life Frank Carlton Serafino Feranna Jr. was born on December 11, 1958, in San Jose, California. He is of Italian descent on his father's side, from Prato, Tuscany.",
"He is of Italian descent on his father's side, from Prato, Tuscany. Sixx was partially raised by his single mother, Deana Richards, and by his grandparents after his father left the family. Feranna later moved in with his grandparents after his mother abandoned him. Feranna relocated several times while living with his grandparents. Feranna's uncle, husband of Deana's sister Sharon, is Don Zimmerman, producer and president of Capitol Records.",
"Feranna's uncle, husband of Deana's sister Sharon, is Don Zimmerman, producer and president of Capitol Records. Feranna had one full biological sister, Lisa (born with Down syndrome; died circa 2000) and has one (half) brother Rodney Anthony Feranna (born 1966) and a half-sister Ceci. Feranna grew up listening to Deep Purple, Harry Nilsson, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Elton John, Queen, and Black Sabbath; he later discovered T. Rex, David Bowie, and Slade.",
"Feranna grew up listening to Deep Purple, Harry Nilsson, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Elton John, Queen, and Black Sabbath; he later discovered T. Rex, David Bowie, and Slade. While living in Jerome, Idaho, Feranna's youth was troubled; he became a teenage vandal, broke into neighbors' homes, shoplifted, and was expelled from school for selling drugs. His grandparents sent him to live with his mother, who had moved to Seattle.",
"His grandparents sent him to live with his mother, who had moved to Seattle. Feranna lived there for a short time and learned how to play the bass guitar, having bought his first instrument with money gained from selling a guitar he had stolen. Career Early career, Sister, London (1975–1979) At the age of 17, Feranna moved to Los Angeles and worked menial jobs such as working at a liquor store and selling vacuum cleaners over the phone while he auditioned for bands.",
"Career Early career, Sister, London (1975–1979) At the age of 17, Feranna moved to Los Angeles and worked menial jobs such as working at a liquor store and selling vacuum cleaners over the phone while he auditioned for bands. He eventually joined the band Sister, led by Blackie Lawless, after answering an ad in The Recycler for a bass player. Soon after recording a demo, Feranna was fired from Sister along with bandmate Lizzie Grey. Feranna and Grey formed the band London soon afterward, in 1978.",
"Feranna and Grey formed the band London soon afterward, in 1978. During this time, Feranna legally changed his name to Nikki Sixx. After a number of lineup changes, London added former Mott the Hoople singer Nigel Benjamin to the group, and recorded a 16-track demo in Burbank. After the departure of Benjamin, along with the failure to find a replacement, Sixx departed London. The group would go on to feature Sixx's former Sister bandmate Blackie Lawless (later of W.A.S.P.",
"The group would go on to feature Sixx's former Sister bandmate Blackie Lawless (later of W.A.S.P. ), Izzy Stradlin (then of Hollywood Rose, later of Guns N' Roses) and drummer Fred Coury (later of Cinderella). In 2000, a number of the London demos recorded with Sixx were included on London Daze by Spiders & Snakes, led by former London guitarist Lizzie Grey. Mötley Crüe (1981–2015) In 1981, Sixx founded Mötley Crüe alongside drummer Tommy Lee.",
"Mötley Crüe (1981–2015) In 1981, Sixx founded Mötley Crüe alongside drummer Tommy Lee. They were later joined by guitarist Mick Mars through an ad in the local newspaper, and singer Vince Neil, with whom Lee had attended high school. The band self-recorded their debut album, Too Fast for Love, which was subsequently released in November 1981 on the band's own Leathür Records label. After signing with Elektra Records, they re-released the same album.",
"After signing with Elektra Records, they re-released the same album. The band then went on to record and release Shout at the Devil, raising the band to national fame. They issued three more albums during the 1980s, Theatre of Pain in 1985, Girls, Girls, Girls in 1987, and Dr. Feelgood in 1989. The latter ended up being their most successful record, staying in the charts for 114 weeks after its release. During his time with Mötley Crüe, Sixx became addicted to heroin.",
"During his time with Mötley Crüe, Sixx became addicted to heroin. He is quoted in The Heroin Diaries as saying: \"Alcohol, acid, cocaine... they were just affairs. When I met heroin it was true love.\" He estimates he overdosed \"about half a dozen times\". On December 23, 1987, Sixx overdosed on heroin and was reportedly declared clinically dead for two minutes before a paramedic revived him with two syringes full of adrenaline.",
"On December 23, 1987, Sixx overdosed on heroin and was reportedly declared clinically dead for two minutes before a paramedic revived him with two syringes full of adrenaline. After releasing the compilation album Decade of Decadence in 1991, Neil left the group, and was replaced by John Corabi, who formerly served with The Scream. They released one self titled album with Corabi, in 1994, before firing him in 1996. Afterwards, they reunited with Neil, with whom they released Generation Swine in 1997.",
"Afterwards, they reunited with Neil, with whom they released Generation Swine in 1997. Sixx had become controversial for an incident during a Mötley Crüe concert at Greensboro Coliseum on October 30, 1997, in which he used racial epithets while goading the audience to physically attack a black security guard for repeatedly attacking a female fan. In May 2001, Sixx addressed the issue, and claimed he had apologized to the victim of the incident. In 1999, Tommy Lee left the group to form Methods of Mayhem.",
"In 1999, Tommy Lee left the group to form Methods of Mayhem. He was replaced by former Ozzy Osbourne drummer Randy Castillo, with whom they released the album New Tattoo in 2000. The group went on hiatus soon afterward before reuniting in 2004, during which Sixx declared himself sober. A 2001 autobiography entitled The Dirt packaged the band as \"the world's most notorious rock band\". The book made the top ten on The New York Times Best Seller list and spent ten weeks there.",
"The book made the top ten on The New York Times Best Seller list and spent ten weeks there. In 2006, Mötley Crüe completed a reunion tour, featuring all four original members, and embarked on a co-headlining tour with Aerosmith, called The Route of All Evil. In April 2008, the band announced the first Crüe Fest, a summer tour, that featured Sixx's side project Sixx:A.M., Buckcherry, Papa Roach and Trapt.",
"In April 2008, the band announced the first Crüe Fest, a summer tour, that featured Sixx's side project Sixx:A.M., Buckcherry, Papa Roach and Trapt. On June 24, 2008, Mötley Crüe released their ninth and final studio album, Saints of Los Angeles, with Sixx credited as either writer or co-writer on all tracks. The band officially retired in 2015.",
"The band officially retired in 2015. The band officially retired in 2015. Sixx wrote most of Mötley Crüe's material, including tracks such as \"Live Wire\", \"Home Sweet Home\", \"Girls, Girls, Girls\", \"Kickstart My Heart\", \"Wild Side\", \"Hooligan's Holiday\" and \"Dr. Feelgood\". In the 1990s, all four members began contributing to the material on the albums.",
"In the 1990s, all four members began contributing to the material on the albums. 58 (2000) In 2000, Sixx formed the internet-based side project 58 with producer Dave Darling, guitarist Steve Gibb (formerly of Black Label Society and Crowbar) and drummer Bucket Baker. They released one single, titled \"Piece of Candy\", and their debut album, Diet for a New America, also in 2000 through Sixx's Americoma label and Beyond Records.",
"They released one single, titled \"Piece of Candy\", and their debut album, Diet for a New America, also in 2000 through Sixx's Americoma label and Beyond Records. The group did not tour, and was described by Sixx as \"strictly an artistic thing.\" Brides of Destruction (2002–2004) Brides of Destruction were formed by Sixx and Tracii Guns in Los Angeles 2002 initially with the name Cockstar after Mötley Crüe went on hiatus and Guns left L.A. Guns.",
"Guns. Guns. Sixx also invited former Beautiful Creatures guitarist DJ Ashba to join the group however he declined to focus on his solo band, ASHBA. Ashba would eventually join Sixx in Sixx:A.M. After a few lineup changes, that included Sixx's former Mötley Crüe bandmate John Corabi, keyboardist Adam Hamilton and drummer Kris Kohls of Adema, the group was composed of Sixx, Guns, singer London LeGrand and drummer Scot Coogan formerly of Ednaswap and Annetenna.",
"Ashba would eventually join Sixx in Sixx:A.M. After a few lineup changes, that included Sixx's former Mötley Crüe bandmate John Corabi, keyboardist Adam Hamilton and drummer Kris Kohls of Adema, the group was composed of Sixx, Guns, singer London LeGrand and drummer Scot Coogan formerly of Ednaswap and Annetenna. They were advised by radio programmers that the name Cockstar would not be announced on air. They briefly adopted the moniker Motordog before settling on Brides of Destruction.",
"They briefly adopted the moniker Motordog before settling on Brides of Destruction. They entered the studio with producer Stevo Bruno to begin recording what would become Here Come the Brides. The Brides played their first show opening for Mudvayne and Taproot on November 14, 2002, at the Ventura Theatre in California. After signing a deal with Sanctuary Records, the group released Here Come the Brides in 2004, with the album debuting at number 92 on the Billboard 200 selling over 13,000 copies.",
"After signing a deal with Sanctuary Records, the group released Here Come the Brides in 2004, with the album debuting at number 92 on the Billboard 200 selling over 13,000 copies. A tour of the US, Europe, including an appearance at Download Festival in the United Kingdom, and Australia followed. On October 25, 2004, it was announced that the group were to go on hiatus while Sixx reunited with Mötley Crüe for a reunion tour.",
"On October 25, 2004, it was announced that the group were to go on hiatus while Sixx reunited with Mötley Crüe for a reunion tour. The group continued without Sixx, however, with Guns adding former Amen bassist Scott Sorry to the group as Sixx's replacement. The second Brides of Destruction album, titled Runaway Brides, released in 2005 featured three songs co-written by Sixx during the Here Come the Brides sessions.",
"The second Brides of Destruction album, titled Runaway Brides, released in 2005 featured three songs co-written by Sixx during the Here Come the Brides sessions. Sixx:A.M. (2006–2017) Sixx formed his own group Sixx:A.M. in 2006, to record an audio accompaniment to his autobiography The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, with friends producer/songwriter James Michael and guitarist DJ Ashba (Guns N' Roses, formerly of Beautiful Creatures and BulletBoys).",
"Sixx:A.M. (2006–2017) Sixx formed his own group Sixx:A.M. in 2006, to record an audio accompaniment to his autobiography The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, with friends producer/songwriter James Michael and guitarist DJ Ashba (Guns N' Roses, formerly of Beautiful Creatures and BulletBoys). They recorded and released The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack in August 2007 through Eleven Seven.",
"They recorded and released The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack in August 2007 through Eleven Seven. The single, \"Life Is Beautiful\", received a high ratio of radio and video play peaking at number 2 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks. The band made their live debut at the Crash Mansion on July 16, 2007. They performed five songs from the album, with former Beautiful Creatures drummer Glen Sobel filling in on the drums.",
"They performed five songs from the album, with former Beautiful Creatures drummer Glen Sobel filling in on the drums. On April 15, 2008, Sixx:A.M. announced they would be touring as part of Mötley Crüe's Crüe Fest. The tour began on July 1, 2008, in West Palm Beach, Florida. During Crüe Fest, Papa Roach drummer Tony Palermo served as a touring drummer for the band.",
"During Crüe Fest, Papa Roach drummer Tony Palermo served as a touring drummer for the band. A deluxe tour edition of The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack was released on November 25, 2008, which included a bonus live EP entitled Live Is Beautiful, which features recorded performances from the band's summer tour. In April 2009, both Sixx and Michael confirmed that the band was in the studio, recording new material. Sixx added that the new material was \"inspiring.",
"Sixx added that the new material was \"inspiring. Sixx added that the new material was \"inspiring. it feels like we may have topped ourselves on this album coming up, and can't wait for you to hear what it sounds like.\" In 2010, the group continued recording the album with plans to release it by the late 2010/early 2011 with the group bringing in Paul R. Brown to shoot the video for the album's first single.",
"In 2010, the group continued recording the album with plans to release it by the late 2010/early 2011 with the group bringing in Paul R. Brown to shoot the video for the album's first single. During an interview in July 2010, Sixx stated that the album was almost finished. This Is Gonna Hurt, the band's second studio album, was released on May 3, 2011. A third studio album, Modern Vintage, was released in 2014.",
"A third studio album, Modern Vintage, was released in 2014. Prayers for the Damned and Prayers for the Blessed were released in 2016. The band went on hiatus in 2017, with other members DJ Ashba and James Michael forming a new band, Pyromantic. In 2021, the band released a greatest HITS album to coincide with Nikki's fourth novel, THE FIRST 21. Other work In 1989, Sixx was a featured guest artist on the album Fire and Gasoline by Steve Jones, formerly of the Sex Pistols.",
"Other work In 1989, Sixx was a featured guest artist on the album Fire and Gasoline by Steve Jones, formerly of the Sex Pistols. Sixx co-wrote and performed on the song, \"We're No Saints\". In 1991, Sixx played bass on \"Feed My Frankenstein\" on Alice Cooper's Hey Stoopid album. Sixx co-wrote the track \"Die For You\", along with Cooper and Mötley Crüe guitarist Mick Mars. In 2002, Sixx played on Butch Walkers first solo album \"Left of Self Centered\".",
"In 2002, Sixx played on Butch Walkers first solo album \"Left of Self Centered\". In 2005, he collaborated with the Norwegian singer Marion Raven on two songs, \"Heads Will Roll\" and \"Surfing the Sun\", for Raven's debut album, Here I Am. A new version of \"Heads Will Roll\" appeared on Raven's 2006 EP Heads Will Roll and on her 2007 U.S. debut album, Set Me Free.",
"A new version of \"Heads Will Roll\" appeared on Raven's 2006 EP Heads Will Roll and on her 2007 U.S. debut album, Set Me Free. In 2006, he was one of the songwriters for Meat Loaf's long-awaited album, Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose.",
"In 2006, he was one of the songwriters for Meat Loaf's long-awaited album, Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose. In September 2007, Sixx released a book titled The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, a collection of his journal entries from 1986 and 1987 (when his heroin addiction was at its most dangerous).",
"In September 2007, Sixx released a book titled The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, a collection of his journal entries from 1986 and 1987 (when his heroin addiction was at its most dangerous). Written with British journalist Ian Gittins, it presents the present-day viewpoints of his bandmates, friends, ex-lovers, caretakers, business associates and family as they respond to specific passages. The book debuted at #7 on The New York Times Best Seller list.",
"The book debuted at #7 on The New York Times Best Seller list. Along with Big & Rich (John Rich and Big Kenny Alphin), and James Otto, Sixx co-wrote \"Ain't Gonna Stop\" for Otto's 2008 Sunset Man CD on Warner Bros/Raybaw Records. In May 2021, it was announced that Sixx along with Rob Zombie, John 5, and Tommy Clufetos formed a supergroup called L.A. Rats.",
"Rats. Rats. Their debut track, \"I've Been Everywhere\", is from the soundtrack to the Liam Neeson film The Ice Road. Equipment Signature basses Sixx is most often seen playing Gibson Thunderbird basses. Between 2000 and 2003 Gibson produced the Nikki Sixx Signature Blackbird.",
"Between 2000 and 2003 Gibson produced the Nikki Sixx Signature Blackbird. The Gibson Blackbird was for all intents and purposes a standard Thunderbird bass, but with a satin black finish, Iron Crosses on the fretboard instead of dots, an Iron Cross behind the classic Thunderbird logo, and Nikki Sixx's 'opti-grab' (a metal loop installed behind the bridge for hooking the little finger onto while playing). What also made this bass interesting was the lack of volume or tone controls, being replaced by a single on/off switch.",
"What also made this bass interesting was the lack of volume or tone controls, being replaced by a single on/off switch. Although subtle, this helped give this Blackbird more tone and a higher output. This model was discontinued in 2003, but has recently been put back in production as the Epiphone Nikki Sixx Blackbird. Cosmetically the Epiphone Blackbird is identical to the Gibson original, but with a bolt-on single ply neck, solid mahogany body, different pickups and lower grade parts and manufacturing.",
"Cosmetically the Epiphone Blackbird is identical to the Gibson original, but with a bolt-on single ply neck, solid mahogany body, different pickups and lower grade parts and manufacturing. The Epiphone model still kept the 'opti-grab,' designed and made first by his bass technician Tim Luzzi, and single on/off switch of the Gibson original. In 2008, Gibson announced a 'limited run' new Nikki Sixx signature bass. Like the original it features a neck through design made of mahogany and walnut, with maple 'wings' to form the body.",
"Like the original it features a neck through design made of mahogany and walnut, with maple 'wings' to form the body. Unlike the original 'Blackbird' bass, a clear 'satin black cherry' finish is given to the instrument, with red 'slash' X's on the 3rd, 5th, 7th and 12th frets. A mirror pickguard is also applied, with a red signature and two X's (6 x's on the whole bass) is also a new addition.",
"A mirror pickguard is also applied, with a red signature and two X's (6 x's on the whole bass) is also a new addition. Unlike the Gibson Blackbird, the new signature featured volume and tone controls, the 'opti-grab', and an on/off switch. Personal life Sixx was engaged to Denise \"Vanity\" Matthews in 1987. In his autobiography, The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, Sixx described his toxic relationship with Matthews.",
"In his autobiography, The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, Sixx described his toxic relationship with Matthews. \"Vanity came and went during different periods of my addiction. She was a wild black chick who had sung with Prince: she'd also been his lover for a while. At the time I thought of Vanity as a disposable human being, like a used needle.",
"At the time I thought of Vanity as a disposable human being, like a used needle. Once its purpose was fulfilled it was ready for the trash, only to be dug up if you were really desperate…We became drug buddies: sometimes, you could even just about call us boyfriend and girlfriend. Vanity also taught me how to really freebase: the first time I based was with Tommy when Mötley just started and only a few times after that. So up until then, I'd been mostly snorting or injecting.",
"So up until then, I'd been mostly snorting or injecting. But as soon as she showed me the real ins and outs of cooking up a good rock…it was love. Not her. The drug.\" From May 1989 to November 1996, Sixx was married to his first wife, Playboy Playmate Brandi Brandt; they have three children: Gunner Nicholas Sixx (born January 25, 1991), Storm Brieann Sixx (born April 14, 1994), and Decker Nilsson Sixx (born May 23, 1995).",
"From May 1989 to November 1996, Sixx was married to his first wife, Playboy Playmate Brandi Brandt; they have three children: Gunner Nicholas Sixx (born January 25, 1991), Storm Brieann Sixx (born April 14, 1994), and Decker Nilsson Sixx (born May 23, 1995). One month after the divorce from Brandt, Sixx married his second wife, another Playboy Playmate, actress Donna D'Errico. Sixx and D'Errico have one daughter, Frankie-Jean Mary Sixx (born January 2, 2001).",
"Sixx and D'Errico have one daughter, Frankie-Jean Mary Sixx (born January 2, 2001). D'Errico has a son, Rhyan Jacob (born 1993), from a previous relationship. They separated shortly after their daughter's birth, and reconciled months later when Sixx completed rehab. They separated again on April 27, 2006, and divorced in June 2007, with D'Errico claiming irreconcilable differences. Sixx dated tattoo artist Kat Von D from 2008 to 2010.",
"Sixx dated tattoo artist Kat Von D from 2008 to 2010. A few months after their breakup, Sixx and Von D were spotted back together. Sixx was featured on an episode of Von D's reality television show LA Ink in 2008, in which Von D gave him a tattoo of Mick Mars, lead guitarist of Mötley Crüe. On August 25, 2010, Sixx issued a statement that their relationship had dissolved. It was reported on October 19, 2010, that Nikki and Kat had gotten back together.",
"It was reported on October 19, 2010, that Nikki and Kat had gotten back together. On October 27, 2010 Kat Von D confirmed to USA Today that indeed she and West Coast Choppers owner Jesse James were still together, debunking original reports that she and Sixx had reconciled. On November 4, 2010, Sixx was spotted at the Call of Duty: Black Ops Launch Party in Santa Monica, California with Courtney Bingham.",
"On November 4, 2010, Sixx was spotted at the Call of Duty: Black Ops Launch Party in Santa Monica, California with Courtney Bingham. On November 26, 2012, Nikki revealed to the public that he proposed to Courtney while vacationing in St. Barts. They were married on March 15, 2014. Bingham gave birth to their first child together, Ruby Sixx on July 27, 2019. Sixx announced the birth through social media. Sixx practices Transcendental Meditation, as he considers it an important self-help technique.",
"Sixx practices Transcendental Meditation, as he considers it an important self-help technique. During an interview with Wall of Sound, Nikki revealed he's working on a children’s book with his wife and a coffee table poetry/photography book. Radio shows Launched on February 8, 2010, Sixx Sense with Nikki Sixx broadcasts Monday through Friday from 7 p.m. to midnight local time on rock/alternative music stations.",
"Radio shows Launched on February 8, 2010, Sixx Sense with Nikki Sixx broadcasts Monday through Friday from 7 p.m. to midnight local time on rock/alternative music stations. Each night, host Nikki Sixx discusses music and lifestyle topics as he gives listeners a backstage look at the world and mind of a rock star. Sixx was joined by co-host Kerri Kasem, from its first episode until March 28, 2014. On April 2, it was announced that radio personality Jenn Marino would be joining the show in Kasem's place.",
"On April 2, it was announced that radio personality Jenn Marino would be joining the show in Kasem's place. The show is based in Dallas, Texas in a studio in the Northpark Center. Starting on May 7, 2012, KEGL in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas moved the show to mornings, making it the only station to carry the show in the mornings at 6 to 10 AM local time instead of the evening's time slot.",
"Starting on May 7, 2012, KEGL in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas moved the show to mornings, making it the only station to carry the show in the mornings at 6 to 10 AM local time instead of the evening's time slot. The show is customized for the Dallas/Fort Worth listeners for broadcast in the mornings on KEGL. Sixx said that bringing Sixx Sense to mornings \"has always been our goal. Who better to start your morning with than a rock star and a hot chick?",
"Who better to start your morning with than a rock star and a hot chick? It's a dream come true to have a morning show on one of America's best rock stations.\" however, one year later, Sixx Sense returned to evenings at KEGL. In addition, recent episodes of \"Sixx Sense\" air 24/7 on its own iHeartRadio streaming page. The Side Show with Nikki Sixx is a two-hour original weekend program.",
"The Side Show with Nikki Sixx is a two-hour original weekend program. Airing Saturday or Sunday between 6 a.m. and midnight local time, Nikki Sixx will air top-charting songs, showcase new and emerging artists, and welcome guests from the worlds of music and entertainment. In October 2017 Sixx announced he would step down from Sixx Sense on December 31, 2017.",
"In October 2017 Sixx announced he would step down from Sixx Sense on December 31, 2017. Running Wild in the Night With the formation of Sixx:A.M. and the release of The Heroin Diaries, Nikki Sixx teamed up with an already existing charity known as the Covenant House and created his own branch called Running Wild in the Night. In addition to partially funding the services the Covenant House provides on its own, Sixx's division also provides a creative arts and music program.",
"In addition to partially funding the services the Covenant House provides on its own, Sixx's division also provides a creative arts and music program. Sixx has negotiated with people in his industry to provide the program with musical instruments and software. A Portion of the profits from Sixx:A.M.'s album The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack and his autobiography, The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star is donated to help the Covenant House.",
"A Portion of the profits from Sixx:A.M.'s album The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack and his autobiography, The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star is donated to help the Covenant House. He continues to auction off personal items to fund Running Wild in the Night. As of April 2009, he had raised over $100,000.",
"As of April 2009, he had raised over $100,000. Discography Production and songwriting credits References External links Official Sixx:A.M. website Official Cruefest 2009 Tour website Official Sixx Sense website Mötley Crüe videos 1958 births 20th-century American musicians 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American musicians 21st-century American non-fiction writers American fashion designers American heavy metal bass guitarists American male non-fiction writers American memoirists American people of Italian descent Glam metal musicians Living people Mötley Crüe members Musicians from San Jose, California Photographers from California Radio personalities from Los Angeles Sixx:A.M. members Songwriters from California Writers from Los Angeles Writers from San Jose, California Guitarists from Los Angeles 20th-century American guitarists Brides of Destruction members American male bass guitarists 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers"
] |
[
"Nikki Sixx",
"Personal life",
"Did he have a family?",
"From May 1989 to November 1996, Sixx was married to his first wife, Playboy Playmate Brandi Brandt; they have three children:",
"Is he in contact with his mother?",
"I don't know.",
"Did he marry again?",
"One month after the divorce from Brandt, Sixx married his second wife, another Playboy Playmate, actress Donna D'Errico.",
"Did he have any kids with Donna D'Errico?",
"Sixx and D'Errico have one daughter,",
"Are they still married?",
"They separated again on April 27, 2006 and divorced in June 2007, with D'Errico claiming irreconcilable differences."
] | C_dc25543ffefa4316ab7d4c8cfe9501df_1 | Did he marry again? | 6 | Did Nikki Sixx marry again after separation from Donna D'Errico? | Nikki Sixx | In 1987, Denise "Vanity" Matthews claimed she was engaged to Sixx. In his book The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, he describes his relationship with her, "Vanity came and went during different periods of my addiction. She was a wild black chick who had sung with Prince: she'd also been his lover for a while. At the time I thought of Vanity as a disposable human being, like a used needle. Once its purpose was fulfilled it was ready for the trash, only to be dug up if you were really desperate...We became drug buddies: sometimes, you could even just about call us boyfriend and girlfriend. Vanity also taught me how to really freebase: the first time I based was with Tommy when Motley just started and only a few times after that. So up until then, I'd been mostly snorting or injecting. But as soon as she showed me the real ins and outs of cooking up a good rock...it was love. Not her. The drug." From May 1989 to November 1996, Sixx was married to his first wife, Playboy Playmate Brandi Brandt; they have three children: Gunner Nicholas Sixx (born January 25, 1991), Storm Brieann Sixx (born April 14, 1994), and Decker Nilsson Sixx (born May 23, 1995). One month after the divorce from Brandt, Sixx married his second wife, another Playboy Playmate, actress Donna D'Errico. Sixx and D'Errico have one daughter, Frankie-Jean Mary Sixx (born January 2, 2001). D'Errico has a son, Rhyan Jacob (born 1993), from a previous relationship. They separated shortly after their daughter's birth, and reconciled months later when Sixx completed rehab. They separated again on April 27, 2006 and divorced in June 2007, with D'Errico claiming irreconcilable differences. Sixx dated tattoo artist Kat Von D from 2008 to 2010. A few months after their breakup, Sixx and Von D were spotted back together. Sixx was featured on an episode of Von D's reality television show LA Ink in 2008, in which Von D gave him a tattoo of Mick Mars, lead guitarist of Motley Crue. On August 25, 2010, Sixx issued a statement that their relationship had dissolved. It was reported on October 19, 2010 that Nikki and Kat had gotten back together. On October 27, 2010 Kat Von D confirmed to USA Today that indeed she and West Coast Choppers owner Jesse James were still together, debunking original reports that she and Sixx had reconciled. On November 4, 2010 Sixx was spotted at the Call of Duty: Black Ops Launch Party in Santa Monica, California with Courtney Bingham, whom he has been dating ever since and they now live together. On November 26, 2012, Nikki revealed to the public that he proposed to Courtney while vacationing in St. Barts. They were married on March 15, 2014. Courtney revealed in July 2014 that she and Sixx are planning to have a child, her first. Transcendental Meditation is an important self-help technique to Sixx. CANNOTANSWER | One month after the divorce from Brandt, Sixx married his second wife, another Playboy Playmate, actress Donna D'Errico. | Nikki Sixx (born Frank Carlton Serafino Feranna Jr.; December 11, 1958) is an American musician who is the co-founder, bassist, and primary songwriter of the rock band Mötley Crüe. Prior to forming Mötley Crüe, Sixx was a member of Sister before going on to form London with his Sister bandmate Lizzie Grey. In 2000, he formed side project group 58 with Dave Darling, Steve Gibb and Bucket Baker issuing one album, Diet for a New America, the same year while, in 2002, he formed the hard rock supergroup Brides of Destruction with L.A. Guns guitarist Tracii Guns. Formed in 2006, initially to record an audio accompaniment to Sixx's autobiography The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, his side band Sixx:A.M. features songwriter, producer, and vocalist James Michael and guitarist DJ Ashba.
Sixx has also worked with a number of artists and groups, co-writing and/or producing songs, such as Sex Pistols's guitarist Steve Jones, Lita Ford, Alice Cooper, Meat Loaf, Marion Raven, Drowning Pool, Saliva and The Last Vegas, among others.
Sixx launched the clothing line "Royal Underground" in 2006 with Kelly Gray, formerly the co-president and house model of St. John. Initially the label concentrated on men's clothing before expanding into women's while in 2010, Premiere Radio Networks launched nationally syndicated Rock/alternative music radio programs "Sixx Sense" and "The Side Show Countdown" with both based in Dallas, Texas and hosted by Sixx and co-hosted by Jenn Marino.
Early life
Frank Carlton Serafino Feranna Jr. was born on December 11, 1958, in San Jose, California. He is of Italian descent on his father's side, from Prato, Tuscany. Sixx was partially raised by his single mother, Deana Richards, and by his grandparents after his father left the family. Feranna later moved in with his grandparents after his mother abandoned him. Feranna relocated several times while living with his grandparents. Feranna's uncle, husband of Deana's sister Sharon, is Don Zimmerman, producer and president of Capitol Records. Feranna had one full biological sister, Lisa (born with Down syndrome; died circa 2000) and has one (half) brother Rodney Anthony Feranna (born 1966) and a half-sister Ceci.
Feranna grew up listening to Deep Purple, Harry Nilsson, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Elton John, Queen, and Black Sabbath; he later discovered T. Rex, David Bowie, and Slade. While living in Jerome, Idaho, Feranna's youth was troubled; he became a teenage vandal, broke into neighbors' homes, shoplifted, and was expelled from school for selling drugs. His grandparents sent him to live with his mother, who had moved to Seattle. Feranna lived there for a short time and learned how to play the bass guitar, having bought his first instrument with money gained from selling a guitar he had stolen.
Career
Early career, Sister, London (1975–1979)
At the age of 17, Feranna moved to Los Angeles and worked menial jobs such as working at a liquor store and selling vacuum cleaners over the phone while he auditioned for bands. He eventually joined the band Sister, led by Blackie Lawless, after answering an ad in The Recycler for a bass player. Soon after recording a demo, Feranna was fired from Sister along with bandmate Lizzie Grey.
Feranna and Grey formed the band London soon afterward, in 1978. During this time, Feranna legally changed his name to Nikki Sixx. After a number of lineup changes, London added former Mott the Hoople singer Nigel Benjamin to the group, and recorded a 16-track demo in Burbank. After the departure of Benjamin, along with the failure to find a replacement, Sixx departed London. The group would go on to feature Sixx's former Sister bandmate Blackie Lawless (later of W.A.S.P.), Izzy Stradlin (then of Hollywood Rose, later of Guns N' Roses) and drummer Fred Coury (later of Cinderella). In 2000, a number of the London demos recorded with Sixx were included on London Daze by Spiders & Snakes, led by former London guitarist Lizzie Grey.
Mötley Crüe (1981–2015)
In 1981, Sixx founded Mötley Crüe alongside drummer Tommy Lee. They were later joined by guitarist Mick Mars through an ad in the local newspaper, and singer Vince Neil, with whom Lee had attended high school. The band self-recorded their debut album, Too Fast for Love, which was subsequently released in November 1981 on the band's own Leathür Records label. After signing with Elektra Records, they re-released the same album. The band then went on to record and release Shout at the Devil, raising the band to national fame. They issued three more albums during the 1980s, Theatre of Pain in 1985, Girls, Girls, Girls in 1987, and Dr. Feelgood in 1989. The latter ended up being their most successful record, staying in the charts for 114 weeks after its release.
During his time with Mötley Crüe, Sixx became addicted to heroin. He is quoted in The Heroin Diaries as saying: "Alcohol, acid, cocaine... they were just affairs. When I met heroin it was true love." He estimates he overdosed "about half a dozen times". On December 23, 1987, Sixx overdosed on heroin and was reportedly declared clinically dead for two minutes before a paramedic revived him with two syringes full of adrenaline.
After releasing the compilation album Decade of Decadence in 1991, Neil left the group, and was replaced by John Corabi, who formerly served with The Scream. They released one self titled album with Corabi, in 1994, before firing him in 1996. Afterwards, they reunited with Neil, with whom they released Generation Swine in 1997.
Sixx had become controversial for an incident during a Mötley Crüe concert at Greensboro Coliseum on October 30, 1997, in which he used racial epithets while goading the audience to physically attack a black security guard for repeatedly attacking a female fan. In May 2001, Sixx addressed the issue, and claimed he had apologized to the victim of the incident.
In 1999, Tommy Lee left the group to form Methods of Mayhem. He was replaced by former Ozzy Osbourne drummer Randy Castillo, with whom they released the album New Tattoo in 2000. The group went on hiatus soon afterward before reuniting in 2004, during which Sixx declared himself sober. A 2001 autobiography entitled The Dirt packaged the band as "the world's most notorious rock band". The book made the top ten on The New York Times Best Seller list and spent ten weeks there.
In 2006, Mötley Crüe completed a reunion tour, featuring all four original members, and embarked on a co-headlining tour with Aerosmith, called The Route of All Evil. In April 2008, the band announced the first Crüe Fest, a summer tour, that featured Sixx's side project Sixx:A.M., Buckcherry, Papa Roach and Trapt. On June 24, 2008, Mötley Crüe released their ninth and final studio album, Saints of Los Angeles, with Sixx credited as either writer or co-writer on all tracks. The band officially retired in 2015.
Sixx wrote most of Mötley Crüe's material, including tracks such as "Live Wire", "Home Sweet Home", "Girls, Girls, Girls", "Kickstart My Heart", "Wild Side", "Hooligan's Holiday" and "Dr. Feelgood". In the 1990s, all four members began contributing to the material on the albums.
58 (2000)
In 2000, Sixx formed the internet-based side project 58 with producer Dave Darling, guitarist Steve Gibb (formerly of Black Label Society and Crowbar) and drummer Bucket Baker. They released one single, titled "Piece of Candy", and their debut album, Diet for a New America, also in 2000 through Sixx's Americoma label and Beyond Records. The group did not tour, and was described by Sixx as "strictly an artistic thing."
Brides of Destruction (2002–2004)
Brides of Destruction were formed by Sixx and Tracii Guns in Los Angeles 2002 initially with the name Cockstar after Mötley Crüe went on hiatus and Guns left L.A. Guns. Sixx also invited former Beautiful Creatures guitarist DJ Ashba to join the group however he declined to focus on his solo band, ASHBA. Ashba would eventually join Sixx in Sixx:A.M.
After a few lineup changes, that included Sixx's former Mötley Crüe bandmate John Corabi, keyboardist Adam Hamilton and drummer Kris Kohls of Adema, the group was composed of Sixx, Guns, singer London LeGrand and drummer Scot Coogan formerly of Ednaswap and Annetenna.
They were advised by radio programmers that the name Cockstar would not be announced on air. They briefly adopted the moniker Motordog before settling on Brides of Destruction.
They entered the studio with producer Stevo Bruno to begin recording what would become Here Come the Brides. The Brides played their first show opening for Mudvayne and Taproot on November 14, 2002, at the Ventura Theatre in California.
After signing a deal with Sanctuary Records, the group released Here Come the Brides in 2004, with the album debuting at number 92 on the Billboard 200 selling over 13,000 copies. A tour of the US, Europe, including an appearance at Download Festival in the United Kingdom, and Australia followed.
On October 25, 2004, it was announced that the group were to go on hiatus while Sixx reunited with Mötley Crüe for a reunion tour. The group continued without Sixx, however, with Guns adding former Amen bassist Scott Sorry to the group as Sixx's replacement. The second Brides of Destruction album, titled Runaway Brides, released in 2005 featured three songs co-written by Sixx during the Here Come the Brides sessions.
Sixx:A.M. (2006–2017)
Sixx formed his own group Sixx:A.M. in 2006, to record an audio accompaniment to his autobiography The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, with friends producer/songwriter James Michael and guitarist DJ Ashba (Guns N' Roses, formerly of Beautiful Creatures and BulletBoys). They recorded and released The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack in August 2007 through Eleven Seven. The single, "Life Is Beautiful", received a high ratio of radio and video play peaking at number 2 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks.
The band made their live debut at the Crash Mansion on July 16, 2007. They performed five songs from the album, with former Beautiful Creatures drummer Glen Sobel filling in on the drums. On April 15, 2008, Sixx:A.M. announced they would be touring as part of Mötley Crüe's Crüe Fest. The tour began on July 1, 2008, in West Palm Beach, Florida. During Crüe Fest, Papa Roach drummer Tony Palermo served as a touring drummer for the band. A deluxe tour edition of The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack was released on November 25, 2008, which included a bonus live EP entitled Live Is Beautiful, which features recorded performances from the band's summer tour.
In April 2009, both Sixx and Michael confirmed that the band was in the studio, recording new material. Sixx added that the new material was "inspiring. it feels like we may have topped ourselves on this album coming up, and can't wait for you to hear what it sounds like."
In 2010, the group continued recording the album with plans to release it by the late 2010/early 2011 with the group bringing in Paul R. Brown to shoot the video for the album's first single. During an interview in July 2010, Sixx stated that the album was almost finished. This Is Gonna Hurt, the band's second studio album, was released on May 3, 2011. A third studio album, Modern Vintage, was released in 2014. Prayers for the Damned and Prayers for the Blessed were released in 2016.
The band went on hiatus in 2017, with other members DJ Ashba and James Michael forming a new band, Pyromantic.
In 2021, the band released a greatest HITS album to coincide with Nikki's fourth novel, THE FIRST 21.
Other work
In 1989, Sixx was a featured guest artist on the album Fire and Gasoline by Steve Jones, formerly of the Sex Pistols. Sixx co-wrote and performed on the song, "We're No Saints". In 1991, Sixx played bass on "Feed My Frankenstein" on Alice Cooper's Hey Stoopid album. Sixx co-wrote the track "Die For You", along with Cooper and Mötley Crüe guitarist Mick Mars. In 2002, Sixx played on Butch Walkers first solo album "Left of Self Centered". In 2005, he collaborated with the Norwegian singer Marion Raven on two songs, "Heads Will Roll" and "Surfing the Sun", for Raven's debut album, Here I Am. A new version of "Heads Will Roll" appeared on Raven's 2006 EP Heads Will Roll and on her 2007 U.S. debut album, Set Me Free. In 2006, he was one of the songwriters for Meat Loaf's long-awaited album, Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose.
In September 2007, Sixx released a book titled The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, a collection of his journal entries from 1986 and 1987 (when his heroin addiction was at its most dangerous). Written with British journalist Ian Gittins, it presents the present-day viewpoints of his bandmates, friends, ex-lovers, caretakers, business associates and family as they respond to specific passages. The book debuted at #7 on The New York Times Best Seller list. Along with Big & Rich (John Rich and Big Kenny Alphin), and James Otto, Sixx co-wrote "Ain't Gonna Stop" for Otto's 2008 Sunset Man CD on Warner Bros/Raybaw Records.
In May 2021, it was announced that Sixx along with Rob Zombie, John 5, and Tommy Clufetos formed a supergroup called L.A. Rats. Their debut track, "I've Been Everywhere", is from the soundtrack to the Liam Neeson film The Ice Road.
Equipment
Signature basses
Sixx is most often seen playing Gibson Thunderbird basses. Between 2000 and 2003 Gibson produced the Nikki Sixx Signature Blackbird. The Gibson Blackbird was for all intents and purposes a standard Thunderbird bass, but with a satin black finish, Iron Crosses on the fretboard instead of dots, an Iron Cross behind the classic Thunderbird logo, and Nikki Sixx's 'opti-grab' (a metal loop installed behind the bridge for hooking the little finger onto while playing). What also made this bass interesting was the lack of volume or tone controls, being replaced by a single on/off switch. Although subtle, this helped give this Blackbird more tone and a higher output. This model was discontinued in 2003, but has recently been put back in production as the Epiphone Nikki Sixx Blackbird. Cosmetically the Epiphone Blackbird is identical to the Gibson original, but with a bolt-on single ply neck, solid mahogany body, different pickups and lower grade parts and manufacturing. The Epiphone model still kept the 'opti-grab,' designed and made first by his bass technician Tim Luzzi, and single on/off switch of the Gibson original. In 2008, Gibson announced a 'limited run' new Nikki Sixx signature bass. Like the original it features a neck through design made of mahogany and walnut, with maple 'wings' to form the body. Unlike the original 'Blackbird' bass, a clear 'satin black cherry' finish is given to the instrument, with red 'slash' X's on the 3rd, 5th, 7th and 12th frets. A mirror pickguard is also applied, with a red signature and two X's (6 x's on the whole bass) is also a new addition. Unlike the Gibson Blackbird, the new signature featured volume and tone controls, the 'opti-grab', and an on/off switch.
Personal life
Sixx was engaged to Denise "Vanity" Matthews in 1987. In his autobiography, The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, Sixx described his toxic relationship with Matthews. "Vanity came and went during different periods of my addiction. She was a wild black chick who had sung with Prince: she'd also been his lover for a while. At the time I thought of Vanity as a disposable human being, like a used needle. Once its purpose was fulfilled it was ready for the trash, only to be dug up if you were really desperate…We became drug buddies: sometimes, you could even just about call us boyfriend and girlfriend. Vanity also taught me how to really freebase: the first time I based was with Tommy when Mötley just started and only a few times after that. So up until then, I'd been mostly snorting or injecting. But as soon as she showed me the real ins and outs of cooking up a good rock…it was love. Not her. The drug."
From May 1989 to November 1996, Sixx was married to his first wife, Playboy Playmate Brandi Brandt; they have three children: Gunner Nicholas Sixx (born January 25, 1991), Storm Brieann Sixx (born April 14, 1994), and Decker Nilsson Sixx (born May 23, 1995).
One month after the divorce from Brandt, Sixx married his second wife, another Playboy Playmate, actress Donna D'Errico. Sixx and D'Errico have one daughter, Frankie-Jean Mary Sixx (born January 2, 2001). D'Errico has a son, Rhyan Jacob (born 1993), from a previous relationship. They separated shortly after their daughter's birth, and reconciled months later when Sixx completed rehab. They separated again on April 27, 2006, and divorced in June 2007, with D'Errico claiming irreconcilable differences.
Sixx dated tattoo artist Kat Von D from 2008 to 2010. A few months after their breakup, Sixx and Von D were spotted back together. Sixx was featured on an episode of Von D's reality television show LA Ink in 2008, in which Von D gave him a tattoo of Mick Mars, lead guitarist of Mötley Crüe. On August 25, 2010, Sixx issued a statement that their relationship had dissolved. It was reported on October 19, 2010, that Nikki and Kat had gotten back together. On October 27, 2010 Kat Von D confirmed to USA Today that indeed she and West Coast Choppers owner Jesse James were still together, debunking original reports that she and Sixx had reconciled. On November 4, 2010, Sixx was spotted at the Call of Duty: Black Ops Launch Party in Santa Monica, California with Courtney Bingham. On November 26, 2012, Nikki revealed to the public that he proposed to Courtney while vacationing in St. Barts. They were married on March 15, 2014.
Bingham gave birth to their first child together, Ruby Sixx on July 27, 2019. Sixx announced the birth through social media.
Sixx practices Transcendental Meditation, as he considers it an important self-help technique.
During an interview with Wall of Sound, Nikki revealed he's working on a children’s book with his wife and a coffee table poetry/photography book.
Radio shows
Launched on February 8, 2010, Sixx Sense with Nikki Sixx broadcasts Monday through Friday from 7 p.m. to midnight local time on rock/alternative music stations. Each night, host Nikki Sixx discusses music and lifestyle topics as he gives listeners a backstage look at the world and mind of a rock star. Sixx was joined by co-host Kerri Kasem, from its first episode until March 28, 2014. On April 2, it was announced that radio personality Jenn Marino would be joining the show in Kasem's place. The show is based in Dallas, Texas in a studio in the Northpark Center.
Starting on May 7, 2012, KEGL in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas moved the show to mornings, making it the only station to carry the show in the mornings at 6 to 10 AM local time instead of the evening's time slot. The show is customized for the Dallas/Fort Worth listeners for broadcast in the mornings on KEGL. Sixx said that bringing Sixx Sense to mornings "has always been our goal. Who better to start your morning with than a rock star and a hot chick? It's a dream come true to have a morning show on one of America's best rock stations." however, one year later, Sixx Sense returned to evenings at KEGL. In addition, recent episodes of "Sixx Sense" air 24/7 on its own iHeartRadio streaming page.
The Side Show with Nikki Sixx is a two-hour original weekend program. Airing Saturday or Sunday between 6 a.m. and midnight local time, Nikki Sixx will air top-charting songs, showcase new and emerging artists, and welcome guests from the worlds of music and entertainment. In October 2017 Sixx announced he would step down from Sixx Sense on December 31, 2017.
Running Wild in the Night
With the formation of Sixx:A.M. and the release of The Heroin Diaries, Nikki Sixx teamed up with an already existing charity known as the Covenant House and created his own branch called Running Wild in the Night. In addition to partially funding the services the Covenant House provides on its own, Sixx's division also provides a creative arts and music program. Sixx has negotiated with people in his industry to provide the program with musical instruments and software.
A Portion of the profits from Sixx:A.M.'s album The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack and his autobiography, The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star is donated to help the Covenant House. He continues to auction off personal items to fund Running Wild in the Night. As of April 2009, he had raised over $100,000.
Discography
Production and songwriting credits
References
External links
Official Sixx:A.M. website
Official Cruefest 2009 Tour website
Official Sixx Sense website
Mötley Crüe videos
1958 births
20th-century American musicians
20th-century American non-fiction writers
21st-century American musicians
21st-century American non-fiction writers
American fashion designers
American heavy metal bass guitarists
American male non-fiction writers
American memoirists
American people of Italian descent
Glam metal musicians
Living people
Mötley Crüe members
Musicians from San Jose, California
Photographers from California
Radio personalities from Los Angeles
Sixx:A.M. members
Songwriters from California
Writers from Los Angeles
Writers from San Jose, California
Guitarists from Los Angeles
20th-century American guitarists
Brides of Destruction members
American male bass guitarists
20th-century American male writers
21st-century American male writers | true | [
"Jo Chale To Jaan Se Guzar Gaye is a Pakistani drama television serial premiered on Geo TV on 19 September 2011. The serial is directed by Nadeem Siddiqi, written by Maha Malik, and produced by Asif Raza Mir & Babar Javed under their banner A&B Entertainment.\n\nPlot\nThe story of Jo Chale To Jaan Se Guzar Gaye revolves around Zufishan (Saba Qamar) who is from a middle-class background. She has been engaged to her cousin Azar (Sami Khan) and is strongly in love with him. All of a sudden Sayed Alim Shah (Noman Ijaz) a landlord saw her and fell in love with her. He forced Zufishan to marry him, but she refuses as she is engaged to her cousin.\n\nSayed Alam Shah kidnapped Azar and blackmail Zufishan to marry him. After all Zufishan decided to marry Sayed Alam Shah and he releases Azar. She did not even tell the whole story to Azar and marry Alam Shah while Azay was out of country. In an accident Alam Shah loses his legs. With the passage of time Zufishan starts loving her husband and story moves on. When Azar gets the real facts about her marriage, he gets shocked and asks Zulfishan to get divorce from him but she refuses. At the end, Alam shah suicided by taking poison and azar got zulfishan again.\n\nCast\n Noman Ijaz as Sayed Alam Shah\n Sami Khan as Azar\n Saba Qamar as Zufishan\n Qavi Khan \n Kashif Mehmood \n Jana Malik\n Farhana Maqsood\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nPakistani drama television series\nUrdu-language television shows\nGeo TV original programming",
"I Told You So is a 1970 Ghanaian movie. The movie portrays Ghanaians and their way of life in a satirical style. It also gives insight into the life of a young lady who did not take the advice of her father when about to marry a man, she did not know anything about the man she was going to marry, but rather took her mother's and uncle's advice because of the wealth and power the man has.\n\nThe young lady later finds out that the man she is supposed to marry was an armed robber. She was unhappy of the whole incident. When her dad ask what had happened, she replied that the man she was supposed to marry is an armed robber; her father ended by saying \"I told you so\".\n\nCast\nBobe Cole\nMargret Quainoo (Araba Stamp)\nKweku Crankson (Osuo Abrobor)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n I TOLD YOU SO GHANAIAN MOVIE\n\n1970 films\nGhanaian films"
] | [
"Nikki Sixx (born Frank Carlton Serafino Feranna Jr.; December 11, 1958) is an American musician who is the co-founder, bassist, and primary songwriter of the rock band Mötley Crüe. Prior to forming Mötley Crüe, Sixx was a member of Sister before going on to form London with his Sister bandmate Lizzie Grey.",
"Prior to forming Mötley Crüe, Sixx was a member of Sister before going on to form London with his Sister bandmate Lizzie Grey. In 2000, he formed side project group 58 with Dave Darling, Steve Gibb and Bucket Baker issuing one album, Diet for a New America, the same year while, in 2002, he formed the hard rock supergroup Brides of Destruction with L.A. Guns guitarist Tracii Guns.",
"Guns guitarist Tracii Guns. Guns guitarist Tracii Guns. Formed in 2006, initially to record an audio accompaniment to Sixx's autobiography The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, his side band Sixx:A.M. features songwriter, producer, and vocalist James Michael and guitarist DJ Ashba.",
"Formed in 2006, initially to record an audio accompaniment to Sixx's autobiography The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, his side band Sixx:A.M. features songwriter, producer, and vocalist James Michael and guitarist DJ Ashba. Sixx has also worked with a number of artists and groups, co-writing and/or producing songs, such as Sex Pistols's guitarist Steve Jones, Lita Ford, Alice Cooper, Meat Loaf, Marion Raven, Drowning Pool, Saliva and The Last Vegas, among others.",
"Sixx has also worked with a number of artists and groups, co-writing and/or producing songs, such as Sex Pistols's guitarist Steve Jones, Lita Ford, Alice Cooper, Meat Loaf, Marion Raven, Drowning Pool, Saliva and The Last Vegas, among others. Sixx launched the clothing line \"Royal Underground\" in 2006 with Kelly Gray, formerly the co-president and house model of St. John.",
"Sixx launched the clothing line \"Royal Underground\" in 2006 with Kelly Gray, formerly the co-president and house model of St. John. Initially the label concentrated on men's clothing before expanding into women's while in 2010, Premiere Radio Networks launched nationally syndicated Rock/alternative music radio programs \"Sixx Sense\" and \"The Side Show Countdown\" with both based in Dallas, Texas and hosted by Sixx and co-hosted by Jenn Marino.",
"Initially the label concentrated on men's clothing before expanding into women's while in 2010, Premiere Radio Networks launched nationally syndicated Rock/alternative music radio programs \"Sixx Sense\" and \"The Side Show Countdown\" with both based in Dallas, Texas and hosted by Sixx and co-hosted by Jenn Marino. Early life Frank Carlton Serafino Feranna Jr. was born on December 11, 1958, in San Jose, California. He is of Italian descent on his father's side, from Prato, Tuscany.",
"He is of Italian descent on his father's side, from Prato, Tuscany. Sixx was partially raised by his single mother, Deana Richards, and by his grandparents after his father left the family. Feranna later moved in with his grandparents after his mother abandoned him. Feranna relocated several times while living with his grandparents. Feranna's uncle, husband of Deana's sister Sharon, is Don Zimmerman, producer and president of Capitol Records.",
"Feranna's uncle, husband of Deana's sister Sharon, is Don Zimmerman, producer and president of Capitol Records. Feranna had one full biological sister, Lisa (born with Down syndrome; died circa 2000) and has one (half) brother Rodney Anthony Feranna (born 1966) and a half-sister Ceci. Feranna grew up listening to Deep Purple, Harry Nilsson, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Elton John, Queen, and Black Sabbath; he later discovered T. Rex, David Bowie, and Slade.",
"Feranna grew up listening to Deep Purple, Harry Nilsson, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Elton John, Queen, and Black Sabbath; he later discovered T. Rex, David Bowie, and Slade. While living in Jerome, Idaho, Feranna's youth was troubled; he became a teenage vandal, broke into neighbors' homes, shoplifted, and was expelled from school for selling drugs. His grandparents sent him to live with his mother, who had moved to Seattle.",
"His grandparents sent him to live with his mother, who had moved to Seattle. Feranna lived there for a short time and learned how to play the bass guitar, having bought his first instrument with money gained from selling a guitar he had stolen. Career Early career, Sister, London (1975–1979) At the age of 17, Feranna moved to Los Angeles and worked menial jobs such as working at a liquor store and selling vacuum cleaners over the phone while he auditioned for bands.",
"Career Early career, Sister, London (1975–1979) At the age of 17, Feranna moved to Los Angeles and worked menial jobs such as working at a liquor store and selling vacuum cleaners over the phone while he auditioned for bands. He eventually joined the band Sister, led by Blackie Lawless, after answering an ad in The Recycler for a bass player. Soon after recording a demo, Feranna was fired from Sister along with bandmate Lizzie Grey. Feranna and Grey formed the band London soon afterward, in 1978.",
"Feranna and Grey formed the band London soon afterward, in 1978. During this time, Feranna legally changed his name to Nikki Sixx. After a number of lineup changes, London added former Mott the Hoople singer Nigel Benjamin to the group, and recorded a 16-track demo in Burbank. After the departure of Benjamin, along with the failure to find a replacement, Sixx departed London. The group would go on to feature Sixx's former Sister bandmate Blackie Lawless (later of W.A.S.P.",
"The group would go on to feature Sixx's former Sister bandmate Blackie Lawless (later of W.A.S.P. ), Izzy Stradlin (then of Hollywood Rose, later of Guns N' Roses) and drummer Fred Coury (later of Cinderella). In 2000, a number of the London demos recorded with Sixx were included on London Daze by Spiders & Snakes, led by former London guitarist Lizzie Grey. Mötley Crüe (1981–2015) In 1981, Sixx founded Mötley Crüe alongside drummer Tommy Lee.",
"Mötley Crüe (1981–2015) In 1981, Sixx founded Mötley Crüe alongside drummer Tommy Lee. They were later joined by guitarist Mick Mars through an ad in the local newspaper, and singer Vince Neil, with whom Lee had attended high school. The band self-recorded their debut album, Too Fast for Love, which was subsequently released in November 1981 on the band's own Leathür Records label. After signing with Elektra Records, they re-released the same album.",
"After signing with Elektra Records, they re-released the same album. The band then went on to record and release Shout at the Devil, raising the band to national fame. They issued three more albums during the 1980s, Theatre of Pain in 1985, Girls, Girls, Girls in 1987, and Dr. Feelgood in 1989. The latter ended up being their most successful record, staying in the charts for 114 weeks after its release. During his time with Mötley Crüe, Sixx became addicted to heroin.",
"During his time with Mötley Crüe, Sixx became addicted to heroin. He is quoted in The Heroin Diaries as saying: \"Alcohol, acid, cocaine... they were just affairs. When I met heroin it was true love.\" He estimates he overdosed \"about half a dozen times\". On December 23, 1987, Sixx overdosed on heroin and was reportedly declared clinically dead for two minutes before a paramedic revived him with two syringes full of adrenaline.",
"On December 23, 1987, Sixx overdosed on heroin and was reportedly declared clinically dead for two minutes before a paramedic revived him with two syringes full of adrenaline. After releasing the compilation album Decade of Decadence in 1991, Neil left the group, and was replaced by John Corabi, who formerly served with The Scream. They released one self titled album with Corabi, in 1994, before firing him in 1996. Afterwards, they reunited with Neil, with whom they released Generation Swine in 1997.",
"Afterwards, they reunited with Neil, with whom they released Generation Swine in 1997. Sixx had become controversial for an incident during a Mötley Crüe concert at Greensboro Coliseum on October 30, 1997, in which he used racial epithets while goading the audience to physically attack a black security guard for repeatedly attacking a female fan. In May 2001, Sixx addressed the issue, and claimed he had apologized to the victim of the incident. In 1999, Tommy Lee left the group to form Methods of Mayhem.",
"In 1999, Tommy Lee left the group to form Methods of Mayhem. He was replaced by former Ozzy Osbourne drummer Randy Castillo, with whom they released the album New Tattoo in 2000. The group went on hiatus soon afterward before reuniting in 2004, during which Sixx declared himself sober. A 2001 autobiography entitled The Dirt packaged the band as \"the world's most notorious rock band\". The book made the top ten on The New York Times Best Seller list and spent ten weeks there.",
"The book made the top ten on The New York Times Best Seller list and spent ten weeks there. In 2006, Mötley Crüe completed a reunion tour, featuring all four original members, and embarked on a co-headlining tour with Aerosmith, called The Route of All Evil. In April 2008, the band announced the first Crüe Fest, a summer tour, that featured Sixx's side project Sixx:A.M., Buckcherry, Papa Roach and Trapt.",
"In April 2008, the band announced the first Crüe Fest, a summer tour, that featured Sixx's side project Sixx:A.M., Buckcherry, Papa Roach and Trapt. On June 24, 2008, Mötley Crüe released their ninth and final studio album, Saints of Los Angeles, with Sixx credited as either writer or co-writer on all tracks. The band officially retired in 2015.",
"The band officially retired in 2015. The band officially retired in 2015. Sixx wrote most of Mötley Crüe's material, including tracks such as \"Live Wire\", \"Home Sweet Home\", \"Girls, Girls, Girls\", \"Kickstart My Heart\", \"Wild Side\", \"Hooligan's Holiday\" and \"Dr. Feelgood\". In the 1990s, all four members began contributing to the material on the albums.",
"In the 1990s, all four members began contributing to the material on the albums. 58 (2000) In 2000, Sixx formed the internet-based side project 58 with producer Dave Darling, guitarist Steve Gibb (formerly of Black Label Society and Crowbar) and drummer Bucket Baker. They released one single, titled \"Piece of Candy\", and their debut album, Diet for a New America, also in 2000 through Sixx's Americoma label and Beyond Records.",
"They released one single, titled \"Piece of Candy\", and their debut album, Diet for a New America, also in 2000 through Sixx's Americoma label and Beyond Records. The group did not tour, and was described by Sixx as \"strictly an artistic thing.\" Brides of Destruction (2002–2004) Brides of Destruction were formed by Sixx and Tracii Guns in Los Angeles 2002 initially with the name Cockstar after Mötley Crüe went on hiatus and Guns left L.A. Guns.",
"Guns. Guns. Sixx also invited former Beautiful Creatures guitarist DJ Ashba to join the group however he declined to focus on his solo band, ASHBA. Ashba would eventually join Sixx in Sixx:A.M. After a few lineup changes, that included Sixx's former Mötley Crüe bandmate John Corabi, keyboardist Adam Hamilton and drummer Kris Kohls of Adema, the group was composed of Sixx, Guns, singer London LeGrand and drummer Scot Coogan formerly of Ednaswap and Annetenna.",
"Ashba would eventually join Sixx in Sixx:A.M. After a few lineup changes, that included Sixx's former Mötley Crüe bandmate John Corabi, keyboardist Adam Hamilton and drummer Kris Kohls of Adema, the group was composed of Sixx, Guns, singer London LeGrand and drummer Scot Coogan formerly of Ednaswap and Annetenna. They were advised by radio programmers that the name Cockstar would not be announced on air. They briefly adopted the moniker Motordog before settling on Brides of Destruction.",
"They briefly adopted the moniker Motordog before settling on Brides of Destruction. They entered the studio with producer Stevo Bruno to begin recording what would become Here Come the Brides. The Brides played their first show opening for Mudvayne and Taproot on November 14, 2002, at the Ventura Theatre in California. After signing a deal with Sanctuary Records, the group released Here Come the Brides in 2004, with the album debuting at number 92 on the Billboard 200 selling over 13,000 copies.",
"After signing a deal with Sanctuary Records, the group released Here Come the Brides in 2004, with the album debuting at number 92 on the Billboard 200 selling over 13,000 copies. A tour of the US, Europe, including an appearance at Download Festival in the United Kingdom, and Australia followed. On October 25, 2004, it was announced that the group were to go on hiatus while Sixx reunited with Mötley Crüe for a reunion tour.",
"On October 25, 2004, it was announced that the group were to go on hiatus while Sixx reunited with Mötley Crüe for a reunion tour. The group continued without Sixx, however, with Guns adding former Amen bassist Scott Sorry to the group as Sixx's replacement. The second Brides of Destruction album, titled Runaway Brides, released in 2005 featured three songs co-written by Sixx during the Here Come the Brides sessions.",
"The second Brides of Destruction album, titled Runaway Brides, released in 2005 featured three songs co-written by Sixx during the Here Come the Brides sessions. Sixx:A.M. (2006–2017) Sixx formed his own group Sixx:A.M. in 2006, to record an audio accompaniment to his autobiography The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, with friends producer/songwriter James Michael and guitarist DJ Ashba (Guns N' Roses, formerly of Beautiful Creatures and BulletBoys).",
"Sixx:A.M. (2006–2017) Sixx formed his own group Sixx:A.M. in 2006, to record an audio accompaniment to his autobiography The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, with friends producer/songwriter James Michael and guitarist DJ Ashba (Guns N' Roses, formerly of Beautiful Creatures and BulletBoys). They recorded and released The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack in August 2007 through Eleven Seven.",
"They recorded and released The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack in August 2007 through Eleven Seven. The single, \"Life Is Beautiful\", received a high ratio of radio and video play peaking at number 2 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks. The band made their live debut at the Crash Mansion on July 16, 2007. They performed five songs from the album, with former Beautiful Creatures drummer Glen Sobel filling in on the drums.",
"They performed five songs from the album, with former Beautiful Creatures drummer Glen Sobel filling in on the drums. On April 15, 2008, Sixx:A.M. announced they would be touring as part of Mötley Crüe's Crüe Fest. The tour began on July 1, 2008, in West Palm Beach, Florida. During Crüe Fest, Papa Roach drummer Tony Palermo served as a touring drummer for the band.",
"During Crüe Fest, Papa Roach drummer Tony Palermo served as a touring drummer for the band. A deluxe tour edition of The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack was released on November 25, 2008, which included a bonus live EP entitled Live Is Beautiful, which features recorded performances from the band's summer tour. In April 2009, both Sixx and Michael confirmed that the band was in the studio, recording new material. Sixx added that the new material was \"inspiring.",
"Sixx added that the new material was \"inspiring. Sixx added that the new material was \"inspiring. it feels like we may have topped ourselves on this album coming up, and can't wait for you to hear what it sounds like.\" In 2010, the group continued recording the album with plans to release it by the late 2010/early 2011 with the group bringing in Paul R. Brown to shoot the video for the album's first single.",
"In 2010, the group continued recording the album with plans to release it by the late 2010/early 2011 with the group bringing in Paul R. Brown to shoot the video for the album's first single. During an interview in July 2010, Sixx stated that the album was almost finished. This Is Gonna Hurt, the band's second studio album, was released on May 3, 2011. A third studio album, Modern Vintage, was released in 2014.",
"A third studio album, Modern Vintage, was released in 2014. Prayers for the Damned and Prayers for the Blessed were released in 2016. The band went on hiatus in 2017, with other members DJ Ashba and James Michael forming a new band, Pyromantic. In 2021, the band released a greatest HITS album to coincide with Nikki's fourth novel, THE FIRST 21. Other work In 1989, Sixx was a featured guest artist on the album Fire and Gasoline by Steve Jones, formerly of the Sex Pistols.",
"Other work In 1989, Sixx was a featured guest artist on the album Fire and Gasoline by Steve Jones, formerly of the Sex Pistols. Sixx co-wrote and performed on the song, \"We're No Saints\". In 1991, Sixx played bass on \"Feed My Frankenstein\" on Alice Cooper's Hey Stoopid album. Sixx co-wrote the track \"Die For You\", along with Cooper and Mötley Crüe guitarist Mick Mars. In 2002, Sixx played on Butch Walkers first solo album \"Left of Self Centered\".",
"In 2002, Sixx played on Butch Walkers first solo album \"Left of Self Centered\". In 2005, he collaborated with the Norwegian singer Marion Raven on two songs, \"Heads Will Roll\" and \"Surfing the Sun\", for Raven's debut album, Here I Am. A new version of \"Heads Will Roll\" appeared on Raven's 2006 EP Heads Will Roll and on her 2007 U.S. debut album, Set Me Free.",
"A new version of \"Heads Will Roll\" appeared on Raven's 2006 EP Heads Will Roll and on her 2007 U.S. debut album, Set Me Free. In 2006, he was one of the songwriters for Meat Loaf's long-awaited album, Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose.",
"In 2006, he was one of the songwriters for Meat Loaf's long-awaited album, Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose. In September 2007, Sixx released a book titled The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, a collection of his journal entries from 1986 and 1987 (when his heroin addiction was at its most dangerous).",
"In September 2007, Sixx released a book titled The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, a collection of his journal entries from 1986 and 1987 (when his heroin addiction was at its most dangerous). Written with British journalist Ian Gittins, it presents the present-day viewpoints of his bandmates, friends, ex-lovers, caretakers, business associates and family as they respond to specific passages. The book debuted at #7 on The New York Times Best Seller list.",
"The book debuted at #7 on The New York Times Best Seller list. Along with Big & Rich (John Rich and Big Kenny Alphin), and James Otto, Sixx co-wrote \"Ain't Gonna Stop\" for Otto's 2008 Sunset Man CD on Warner Bros/Raybaw Records. In May 2021, it was announced that Sixx along with Rob Zombie, John 5, and Tommy Clufetos formed a supergroup called L.A. Rats.",
"Rats. Rats. Their debut track, \"I've Been Everywhere\", is from the soundtrack to the Liam Neeson film The Ice Road. Equipment Signature basses Sixx is most often seen playing Gibson Thunderbird basses. Between 2000 and 2003 Gibson produced the Nikki Sixx Signature Blackbird.",
"Between 2000 and 2003 Gibson produced the Nikki Sixx Signature Blackbird. The Gibson Blackbird was for all intents and purposes a standard Thunderbird bass, but with a satin black finish, Iron Crosses on the fretboard instead of dots, an Iron Cross behind the classic Thunderbird logo, and Nikki Sixx's 'opti-grab' (a metal loop installed behind the bridge for hooking the little finger onto while playing). What also made this bass interesting was the lack of volume or tone controls, being replaced by a single on/off switch.",
"What also made this bass interesting was the lack of volume or tone controls, being replaced by a single on/off switch. Although subtle, this helped give this Blackbird more tone and a higher output. This model was discontinued in 2003, but has recently been put back in production as the Epiphone Nikki Sixx Blackbird. Cosmetically the Epiphone Blackbird is identical to the Gibson original, but with a bolt-on single ply neck, solid mahogany body, different pickups and lower grade parts and manufacturing.",
"Cosmetically the Epiphone Blackbird is identical to the Gibson original, but with a bolt-on single ply neck, solid mahogany body, different pickups and lower grade parts and manufacturing. The Epiphone model still kept the 'opti-grab,' designed and made first by his bass technician Tim Luzzi, and single on/off switch of the Gibson original. In 2008, Gibson announced a 'limited run' new Nikki Sixx signature bass. Like the original it features a neck through design made of mahogany and walnut, with maple 'wings' to form the body.",
"Like the original it features a neck through design made of mahogany and walnut, with maple 'wings' to form the body. Unlike the original 'Blackbird' bass, a clear 'satin black cherry' finish is given to the instrument, with red 'slash' X's on the 3rd, 5th, 7th and 12th frets. A mirror pickguard is also applied, with a red signature and two X's (6 x's on the whole bass) is also a new addition.",
"A mirror pickguard is also applied, with a red signature and two X's (6 x's on the whole bass) is also a new addition. Unlike the Gibson Blackbird, the new signature featured volume and tone controls, the 'opti-grab', and an on/off switch. Personal life Sixx was engaged to Denise \"Vanity\" Matthews in 1987. In his autobiography, The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, Sixx described his toxic relationship with Matthews.",
"In his autobiography, The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, Sixx described his toxic relationship with Matthews. \"Vanity came and went during different periods of my addiction. She was a wild black chick who had sung with Prince: she'd also been his lover for a while. At the time I thought of Vanity as a disposable human being, like a used needle.",
"At the time I thought of Vanity as a disposable human being, like a used needle. Once its purpose was fulfilled it was ready for the trash, only to be dug up if you were really desperate…We became drug buddies: sometimes, you could even just about call us boyfriend and girlfriend. Vanity also taught me how to really freebase: the first time I based was with Tommy when Mötley just started and only a few times after that. So up until then, I'd been mostly snorting or injecting.",
"So up until then, I'd been mostly snorting or injecting. But as soon as she showed me the real ins and outs of cooking up a good rock…it was love. Not her. The drug.\" From May 1989 to November 1996, Sixx was married to his first wife, Playboy Playmate Brandi Brandt; they have three children: Gunner Nicholas Sixx (born January 25, 1991), Storm Brieann Sixx (born April 14, 1994), and Decker Nilsson Sixx (born May 23, 1995).",
"From May 1989 to November 1996, Sixx was married to his first wife, Playboy Playmate Brandi Brandt; they have three children: Gunner Nicholas Sixx (born January 25, 1991), Storm Brieann Sixx (born April 14, 1994), and Decker Nilsson Sixx (born May 23, 1995). One month after the divorce from Brandt, Sixx married his second wife, another Playboy Playmate, actress Donna D'Errico. Sixx and D'Errico have one daughter, Frankie-Jean Mary Sixx (born January 2, 2001).",
"Sixx and D'Errico have one daughter, Frankie-Jean Mary Sixx (born January 2, 2001). D'Errico has a son, Rhyan Jacob (born 1993), from a previous relationship. They separated shortly after their daughter's birth, and reconciled months later when Sixx completed rehab. They separated again on April 27, 2006, and divorced in June 2007, with D'Errico claiming irreconcilable differences. Sixx dated tattoo artist Kat Von D from 2008 to 2010.",
"Sixx dated tattoo artist Kat Von D from 2008 to 2010. A few months after their breakup, Sixx and Von D were spotted back together. Sixx was featured on an episode of Von D's reality television show LA Ink in 2008, in which Von D gave him a tattoo of Mick Mars, lead guitarist of Mötley Crüe. On August 25, 2010, Sixx issued a statement that their relationship had dissolved. It was reported on October 19, 2010, that Nikki and Kat had gotten back together.",
"It was reported on October 19, 2010, that Nikki and Kat had gotten back together. On October 27, 2010 Kat Von D confirmed to USA Today that indeed she and West Coast Choppers owner Jesse James were still together, debunking original reports that she and Sixx had reconciled. On November 4, 2010, Sixx was spotted at the Call of Duty: Black Ops Launch Party in Santa Monica, California with Courtney Bingham.",
"On November 4, 2010, Sixx was spotted at the Call of Duty: Black Ops Launch Party in Santa Monica, California with Courtney Bingham. On November 26, 2012, Nikki revealed to the public that he proposed to Courtney while vacationing in St. Barts. They were married on March 15, 2014. Bingham gave birth to their first child together, Ruby Sixx on July 27, 2019. Sixx announced the birth through social media. Sixx practices Transcendental Meditation, as he considers it an important self-help technique.",
"Sixx practices Transcendental Meditation, as he considers it an important self-help technique. During an interview with Wall of Sound, Nikki revealed he's working on a children’s book with his wife and a coffee table poetry/photography book. Radio shows Launched on February 8, 2010, Sixx Sense with Nikki Sixx broadcasts Monday through Friday from 7 p.m. to midnight local time on rock/alternative music stations.",
"Radio shows Launched on February 8, 2010, Sixx Sense with Nikki Sixx broadcasts Monday through Friday from 7 p.m. to midnight local time on rock/alternative music stations. Each night, host Nikki Sixx discusses music and lifestyle topics as he gives listeners a backstage look at the world and mind of a rock star. Sixx was joined by co-host Kerri Kasem, from its first episode until March 28, 2014. On April 2, it was announced that radio personality Jenn Marino would be joining the show in Kasem's place.",
"On April 2, it was announced that radio personality Jenn Marino would be joining the show in Kasem's place. The show is based in Dallas, Texas in a studio in the Northpark Center. Starting on May 7, 2012, KEGL in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas moved the show to mornings, making it the only station to carry the show in the mornings at 6 to 10 AM local time instead of the evening's time slot.",
"Starting on May 7, 2012, KEGL in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas moved the show to mornings, making it the only station to carry the show in the mornings at 6 to 10 AM local time instead of the evening's time slot. The show is customized for the Dallas/Fort Worth listeners for broadcast in the mornings on KEGL. Sixx said that bringing Sixx Sense to mornings \"has always been our goal. Who better to start your morning with than a rock star and a hot chick?",
"Who better to start your morning with than a rock star and a hot chick? It's a dream come true to have a morning show on one of America's best rock stations.\" however, one year later, Sixx Sense returned to evenings at KEGL. In addition, recent episodes of \"Sixx Sense\" air 24/7 on its own iHeartRadio streaming page. The Side Show with Nikki Sixx is a two-hour original weekend program.",
"The Side Show with Nikki Sixx is a two-hour original weekend program. Airing Saturday or Sunday between 6 a.m. and midnight local time, Nikki Sixx will air top-charting songs, showcase new and emerging artists, and welcome guests from the worlds of music and entertainment. In October 2017 Sixx announced he would step down from Sixx Sense on December 31, 2017.",
"In October 2017 Sixx announced he would step down from Sixx Sense on December 31, 2017. Running Wild in the Night With the formation of Sixx:A.M. and the release of The Heroin Diaries, Nikki Sixx teamed up with an already existing charity known as the Covenant House and created his own branch called Running Wild in the Night. In addition to partially funding the services the Covenant House provides on its own, Sixx's division also provides a creative arts and music program.",
"In addition to partially funding the services the Covenant House provides on its own, Sixx's division also provides a creative arts and music program. Sixx has negotiated with people in his industry to provide the program with musical instruments and software. A Portion of the profits from Sixx:A.M.'s album The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack and his autobiography, The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star is donated to help the Covenant House.",
"A Portion of the profits from Sixx:A.M.'s album The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack and his autobiography, The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star is donated to help the Covenant House. He continues to auction off personal items to fund Running Wild in the Night. As of April 2009, he had raised over $100,000.",
"As of April 2009, he had raised over $100,000. Discography Production and songwriting credits References External links Official Sixx:A.M. website Official Cruefest 2009 Tour website Official Sixx Sense website Mötley Crüe videos 1958 births 20th-century American musicians 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American musicians 21st-century American non-fiction writers American fashion designers American heavy metal bass guitarists American male non-fiction writers American memoirists American people of Italian descent Glam metal musicians Living people Mötley Crüe members Musicians from San Jose, California Photographers from California Radio personalities from Los Angeles Sixx:A.M. members Songwriters from California Writers from Los Angeles Writers from San Jose, California Guitarists from Los Angeles 20th-century American guitarists Brides of Destruction members American male bass guitarists 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers"
] |
[
"Nikki Sixx",
"Personal life",
"Did he have a family?",
"From May 1989 to November 1996, Sixx was married to his first wife, Playboy Playmate Brandi Brandt; they have three children:",
"Is he in contact with his mother?",
"I don't know.",
"Did he marry again?",
"One month after the divorce from Brandt, Sixx married his second wife, another Playboy Playmate, actress Donna D'Errico.",
"Did he have any kids with Donna D'Errico?",
"Sixx and D'Errico have one daughter,",
"Are they still married?",
"They separated again on April 27, 2006 and divorced in June 2007, with D'Errico claiming irreconcilable differences.",
"Did he marry again?",
"Nikki revealed to the public that he proposed to Courtney while vacationing in St. Barts. They were married on March 15, 2014.",
"Are there any other interesting tidbits about his personal life?",
"In 1987, Denise \"Vanity\" Matthews claimed she was engaged to Sixx.",
"What does Sixx have to say about that?",
"he describes his relationship with her, \"Vanity came and went during different periods of my addiction. She was a wild black chick who had sung with Prince:"
] | C_dc25543ffefa4316ab7d4c8cfe9501df_1 | What was he addicted to? | 9 | What was Nikki Sixx addicted to? | Nikki Sixx | In 1987, Denise "Vanity" Matthews claimed she was engaged to Sixx. In his book The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, he describes his relationship with her, "Vanity came and went during different periods of my addiction. She was a wild black chick who had sung with Prince: she'd also been his lover for a while. At the time I thought of Vanity as a disposable human being, like a used needle. Once its purpose was fulfilled it was ready for the trash, only to be dug up if you were really desperate...We became drug buddies: sometimes, you could even just about call us boyfriend and girlfriend. Vanity also taught me how to really freebase: the first time I based was with Tommy when Motley just started and only a few times after that. So up until then, I'd been mostly snorting or injecting. But as soon as she showed me the real ins and outs of cooking up a good rock...it was love. Not her. The drug." From May 1989 to November 1996, Sixx was married to his first wife, Playboy Playmate Brandi Brandt; they have three children: Gunner Nicholas Sixx (born January 25, 1991), Storm Brieann Sixx (born April 14, 1994), and Decker Nilsson Sixx (born May 23, 1995). One month after the divorce from Brandt, Sixx married his second wife, another Playboy Playmate, actress Donna D'Errico. Sixx and D'Errico have one daughter, Frankie-Jean Mary Sixx (born January 2, 2001). D'Errico has a son, Rhyan Jacob (born 1993), from a previous relationship. They separated shortly after their daughter's birth, and reconciled months later when Sixx completed rehab. They separated again on April 27, 2006 and divorced in June 2007, with D'Errico claiming irreconcilable differences. Sixx dated tattoo artist Kat Von D from 2008 to 2010. A few months after their breakup, Sixx and Von D were spotted back together. Sixx was featured on an episode of Von D's reality television show LA Ink in 2008, in which Von D gave him a tattoo of Mick Mars, lead guitarist of Motley Crue. On August 25, 2010, Sixx issued a statement that their relationship had dissolved. It was reported on October 19, 2010 that Nikki and Kat had gotten back together. On October 27, 2010 Kat Von D confirmed to USA Today that indeed she and West Coast Choppers owner Jesse James were still together, debunking original reports that she and Sixx had reconciled. On November 4, 2010 Sixx was spotted at the Call of Duty: Black Ops Launch Party in Santa Monica, California with Courtney Bingham, whom he has been dating ever since and they now live together. On November 26, 2012, Nikki revealed to the public that he proposed to Courtney while vacationing in St. Barts. They were married on March 15, 2014. Courtney revealed in July 2014 that she and Sixx are planning to have a child, her first. Transcendental Meditation is an important self-help technique to Sixx. CANNOTANSWER | Vanity also taught me how to really freebase: | Nikki Sixx (born Frank Carlton Serafino Feranna Jr.; December 11, 1958) is an American musician who is the co-founder, bassist, and primary songwriter of the rock band Mötley Crüe. Prior to forming Mötley Crüe, Sixx was a member of Sister before going on to form London with his Sister bandmate Lizzie Grey. In 2000, he formed side project group 58 with Dave Darling, Steve Gibb and Bucket Baker issuing one album, Diet for a New America, the same year while, in 2002, he formed the hard rock supergroup Brides of Destruction with L.A. Guns guitarist Tracii Guns. Formed in 2006, initially to record an audio accompaniment to Sixx's autobiography The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, his side band Sixx:A.M. features songwriter, producer, and vocalist James Michael and guitarist DJ Ashba.
Sixx has also worked with a number of artists and groups, co-writing and/or producing songs, such as Sex Pistols's guitarist Steve Jones, Lita Ford, Alice Cooper, Meat Loaf, Marion Raven, Drowning Pool, Saliva and The Last Vegas, among others.
Sixx launched the clothing line "Royal Underground" in 2006 with Kelly Gray, formerly the co-president and house model of St. John. Initially the label concentrated on men's clothing before expanding into women's while in 2010, Premiere Radio Networks launched nationally syndicated Rock/alternative music radio programs "Sixx Sense" and "The Side Show Countdown" with both based in Dallas, Texas and hosted by Sixx and co-hosted by Jenn Marino.
Early life
Frank Carlton Serafino Feranna Jr. was born on December 11, 1958, in San Jose, California. He is of Italian descent on his father's side, from Prato, Tuscany. Sixx was partially raised by his single mother, Deana Richards, and by his grandparents after his father left the family. Feranna later moved in with his grandparents after his mother abandoned him. Feranna relocated several times while living with his grandparents. Feranna's uncle, husband of Deana's sister Sharon, is Don Zimmerman, producer and president of Capitol Records. Feranna had one full biological sister, Lisa (born with Down syndrome; died circa 2000) and has one (half) brother Rodney Anthony Feranna (born 1966) and a half-sister Ceci.
Feranna grew up listening to Deep Purple, Harry Nilsson, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Elton John, Queen, and Black Sabbath; he later discovered T. Rex, David Bowie, and Slade. While living in Jerome, Idaho, Feranna's youth was troubled; he became a teenage vandal, broke into neighbors' homes, shoplifted, and was expelled from school for selling drugs. His grandparents sent him to live with his mother, who had moved to Seattle. Feranna lived there for a short time and learned how to play the bass guitar, having bought his first instrument with money gained from selling a guitar he had stolen.
Career
Early career, Sister, London (1975–1979)
At the age of 17, Feranna moved to Los Angeles and worked menial jobs such as working at a liquor store and selling vacuum cleaners over the phone while he auditioned for bands. He eventually joined the band Sister, led by Blackie Lawless, after answering an ad in The Recycler for a bass player. Soon after recording a demo, Feranna was fired from Sister along with bandmate Lizzie Grey.
Feranna and Grey formed the band London soon afterward, in 1978. During this time, Feranna legally changed his name to Nikki Sixx. After a number of lineup changes, London added former Mott the Hoople singer Nigel Benjamin to the group, and recorded a 16-track demo in Burbank. After the departure of Benjamin, along with the failure to find a replacement, Sixx departed London. The group would go on to feature Sixx's former Sister bandmate Blackie Lawless (later of W.A.S.P.), Izzy Stradlin (then of Hollywood Rose, later of Guns N' Roses) and drummer Fred Coury (later of Cinderella). In 2000, a number of the London demos recorded with Sixx were included on London Daze by Spiders & Snakes, led by former London guitarist Lizzie Grey.
Mötley Crüe (1981–2015)
In 1981, Sixx founded Mötley Crüe alongside drummer Tommy Lee. They were later joined by guitarist Mick Mars through an ad in the local newspaper, and singer Vince Neil, with whom Lee had attended high school. The band self-recorded their debut album, Too Fast for Love, which was subsequently released in November 1981 on the band's own Leathür Records label. After signing with Elektra Records, they re-released the same album. The band then went on to record and release Shout at the Devil, raising the band to national fame. They issued three more albums during the 1980s, Theatre of Pain in 1985, Girls, Girls, Girls in 1987, and Dr. Feelgood in 1989. The latter ended up being their most successful record, staying in the charts for 114 weeks after its release.
During his time with Mötley Crüe, Sixx became addicted to heroin. He is quoted in The Heroin Diaries as saying: "Alcohol, acid, cocaine... they were just affairs. When I met heroin it was true love." He estimates he overdosed "about half a dozen times". On December 23, 1987, Sixx overdosed on heroin and was reportedly declared clinically dead for two minutes before a paramedic revived him with two syringes full of adrenaline.
After releasing the compilation album Decade of Decadence in 1991, Neil left the group, and was replaced by John Corabi, who formerly served with The Scream. They released one self titled album with Corabi, in 1994, before firing him in 1996. Afterwards, they reunited with Neil, with whom they released Generation Swine in 1997.
Sixx had become controversial for an incident during a Mötley Crüe concert at Greensboro Coliseum on October 30, 1997, in which he used racial epithets while goading the audience to physically attack a black security guard for repeatedly attacking a female fan. In May 2001, Sixx addressed the issue, and claimed he had apologized to the victim of the incident.
In 1999, Tommy Lee left the group to form Methods of Mayhem. He was replaced by former Ozzy Osbourne drummer Randy Castillo, with whom they released the album New Tattoo in 2000. The group went on hiatus soon afterward before reuniting in 2004, during which Sixx declared himself sober. A 2001 autobiography entitled The Dirt packaged the band as "the world's most notorious rock band". The book made the top ten on The New York Times Best Seller list and spent ten weeks there.
In 2006, Mötley Crüe completed a reunion tour, featuring all four original members, and embarked on a co-headlining tour with Aerosmith, called The Route of All Evil. In April 2008, the band announced the first Crüe Fest, a summer tour, that featured Sixx's side project Sixx:A.M., Buckcherry, Papa Roach and Trapt. On June 24, 2008, Mötley Crüe released their ninth and final studio album, Saints of Los Angeles, with Sixx credited as either writer or co-writer on all tracks. The band officially retired in 2015.
Sixx wrote most of Mötley Crüe's material, including tracks such as "Live Wire", "Home Sweet Home", "Girls, Girls, Girls", "Kickstart My Heart", "Wild Side", "Hooligan's Holiday" and "Dr. Feelgood". In the 1990s, all four members began contributing to the material on the albums.
58 (2000)
In 2000, Sixx formed the internet-based side project 58 with producer Dave Darling, guitarist Steve Gibb (formerly of Black Label Society and Crowbar) and drummer Bucket Baker. They released one single, titled "Piece of Candy", and their debut album, Diet for a New America, also in 2000 through Sixx's Americoma label and Beyond Records. The group did not tour, and was described by Sixx as "strictly an artistic thing."
Brides of Destruction (2002–2004)
Brides of Destruction were formed by Sixx and Tracii Guns in Los Angeles 2002 initially with the name Cockstar after Mötley Crüe went on hiatus and Guns left L.A. Guns. Sixx also invited former Beautiful Creatures guitarist DJ Ashba to join the group however he declined to focus on his solo band, ASHBA. Ashba would eventually join Sixx in Sixx:A.M.
After a few lineup changes, that included Sixx's former Mötley Crüe bandmate John Corabi, keyboardist Adam Hamilton and drummer Kris Kohls of Adema, the group was composed of Sixx, Guns, singer London LeGrand and drummer Scot Coogan formerly of Ednaswap and Annetenna.
They were advised by radio programmers that the name Cockstar would not be announced on air. They briefly adopted the moniker Motordog before settling on Brides of Destruction.
They entered the studio with producer Stevo Bruno to begin recording what would become Here Come the Brides. The Brides played their first show opening for Mudvayne and Taproot on November 14, 2002, at the Ventura Theatre in California.
After signing a deal with Sanctuary Records, the group released Here Come the Brides in 2004, with the album debuting at number 92 on the Billboard 200 selling over 13,000 copies. A tour of the US, Europe, including an appearance at Download Festival in the United Kingdom, and Australia followed.
On October 25, 2004, it was announced that the group were to go on hiatus while Sixx reunited with Mötley Crüe for a reunion tour. The group continued without Sixx, however, with Guns adding former Amen bassist Scott Sorry to the group as Sixx's replacement. The second Brides of Destruction album, titled Runaway Brides, released in 2005 featured three songs co-written by Sixx during the Here Come the Brides sessions.
Sixx:A.M. (2006–2017)
Sixx formed his own group Sixx:A.M. in 2006, to record an audio accompaniment to his autobiography The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, with friends producer/songwriter James Michael and guitarist DJ Ashba (Guns N' Roses, formerly of Beautiful Creatures and BulletBoys). They recorded and released The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack in August 2007 through Eleven Seven. The single, "Life Is Beautiful", received a high ratio of radio and video play peaking at number 2 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks.
The band made their live debut at the Crash Mansion on July 16, 2007. They performed five songs from the album, with former Beautiful Creatures drummer Glen Sobel filling in on the drums. On April 15, 2008, Sixx:A.M. announced they would be touring as part of Mötley Crüe's Crüe Fest. The tour began on July 1, 2008, in West Palm Beach, Florida. During Crüe Fest, Papa Roach drummer Tony Palermo served as a touring drummer for the band. A deluxe tour edition of The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack was released on November 25, 2008, which included a bonus live EP entitled Live Is Beautiful, which features recorded performances from the band's summer tour.
In April 2009, both Sixx and Michael confirmed that the band was in the studio, recording new material. Sixx added that the new material was "inspiring. it feels like we may have topped ourselves on this album coming up, and can't wait for you to hear what it sounds like."
In 2010, the group continued recording the album with plans to release it by the late 2010/early 2011 with the group bringing in Paul R. Brown to shoot the video for the album's first single. During an interview in July 2010, Sixx stated that the album was almost finished. This Is Gonna Hurt, the band's second studio album, was released on May 3, 2011. A third studio album, Modern Vintage, was released in 2014. Prayers for the Damned and Prayers for the Blessed were released in 2016.
The band went on hiatus in 2017, with other members DJ Ashba and James Michael forming a new band, Pyromantic.
In 2021, the band released a greatest HITS album to coincide with Nikki's fourth novel, THE FIRST 21.
Other work
In 1989, Sixx was a featured guest artist on the album Fire and Gasoline by Steve Jones, formerly of the Sex Pistols. Sixx co-wrote and performed on the song, "We're No Saints". In 1991, Sixx played bass on "Feed My Frankenstein" on Alice Cooper's Hey Stoopid album. Sixx co-wrote the track "Die For You", along with Cooper and Mötley Crüe guitarist Mick Mars. In 2002, Sixx played on Butch Walkers first solo album "Left of Self Centered". In 2005, he collaborated with the Norwegian singer Marion Raven on two songs, "Heads Will Roll" and "Surfing the Sun", for Raven's debut album, Here I Am. A new version of "Heads Will Roll" appeared on Raven's 2006 EP Heads Will Roll and on her 2007 U.S. debut album, Set Me Free. In 2006, he was one of the songwriters for Meat Loaf's long-awaited album, Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose.
In September 2007, Sixx released a book titled The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, a collection of his journal entries from 1986 and 1987 (when his heroin addiction was at its most dangerous). Written with British journalist Ian Gittins, it presents the present-day viewpoints of his bandmates, friends, ex-lovers, caretakers, business associates and family as they respond to specific passages. The book debuted at #7 on The New York Times Best Seller list. Along with Big & Rich (John Rich and Big Kenny Alphin), and James Otto, Sixx co-wrote "Ain't Gonna Stop" for Otto's 2008 Sunset Man CD on Warner Bros/Raybaw Records.
In May 2021, it was announced that Sixx along with Rob Zombie, John 5, and Tommy Clufetos formed a supergroup called L.A. Rats. Their debut track, "I've Been Everywhere", is from the soundtrack to the Liam Neeson film The Ice Road.
Equipment
Signature basses
Sixx is most often seen playing Gibson Thunderbird basses. Between 2000 and 2003 Gibson produced the Nikki Sixx Signature Blackbird. The Gibson Blackbird was for all intents and purposes a standard Thunderbird bass, but with a satin black finish, Iron Crosses on the fretboard instead of dots, an Iron Cross behind the classic Thunderbird logo, and Nikki Sixx's 'opti-grab' (a metal loop installed behind the bridge for hooking the little finger onto while playing). What also made this bass interesting was the lack of volume or tone controls, being replaced by a single on/off switch. Although subtle, this helped give this Blackbird more tone and a higher output. This model was discontinued in 2003, but has recently been put back in production as the Epiphone Nikki Sixx Blackbird. Cosmetically the Epiphone Blackbird is identical to the Gibson original, but with a bolt-on single ply neck, solid mahogany body, different pickups and lower grade parts and manufacturing. The Epiphone model still kept the 'opti-grab,' designed and made first by his bass technician Tim Luzzi, and single on/off switch of the Gibson original. In 2008, Gibson announced a 'limited run' new Nikki Sixx signature bass. Like the original it features a neck through design made of mahogany and walnut, with maple 'wings' to form the body. Unlike the original 'Blackbird' bass, a clear 'satin black cherry' finish is given to the instrument, with red 'slash' X's on the 3rd, 5th, 7th and 12th frets. A mirror pickguard is also applied, with a red signature and two X's (6 x's on the whole bass) is also a new addition. Unlike the Gibson Blackbird, the new signature featured volume and tone controls, the 'opti-grab', and an on/off switch.
Personal life
Sixx was engaged to Denise "Vanity" Matthews in 1987. In his autobiography, The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, Sixx described his toxic relationship with Matthews. "Vanity came and went during different periods of my addiction. She was a wild black chick who had sung with Prince: she'd also been his lover for a while. At the time I thought of Vanity as a disposable human being, like a used needle. Once its purpose was fulfilled it was ready for the trash, only to be dug up if you were really desperate…We became drug buddies: sometimes, you could even just about call us boyfriend and girlfriend. Vanity also taught me how to really freebase: the first time I based was with Tommy when Mötley just started and only a few times after that. So up until then, I'd been mostly snorting or injecting. But as soon as she showed me the real ins and outs of cooking up a good rock…it was love. Not her. The drug."
From May 1989 to November 1996, Sixx was married to his first wife, Playboy Playmate Brandi Brandt; they have three children: Gunner Nicholas Sixx (born January 25, 1991), Storm Brieann Sixx (born April 14, 1994), and Decker Nilsson Sixx (born May 23, 1995).
One month after the divorce from Brandt, Sixx married his second wife, another Playboy Playmate, actress Donna D'Errico. Sixx and D'Errico have one daughter, Frankie-Jean Mary Sixx (born January 2, 2001). D'Errico has a son, Rhyan Jacob (born 1993), from a previous relationship. They separated shortly after their daughter's birth, and reconciled months later when Sixx completed rehab. They separated again on April 27, 2006, and divorced in June 2007, with D'Errico claiming irreconcilable differences.
Sixx dated tattoo artist Kat Von D from 2008 to 2010. A few months after their breakup, Sixx and Von D were spotted back together. Sixx was featured on an episode of Von D's reality television show LA Ink in 2008, in which Von D gave him a tattoo of Mick Mars, lead guitarist of Mötley Crüe. On August 25, 2010, Sixx issued a statement that their relationship had dissolved. It was reported on October 19, 2010, that Nikki and Kat had gotten back together. On October 27, 2010 Kat Von D confirmed to USA Today that indeed she and West Coast Choppers owner Jesse James were still together, debunking original reports that she and Sixx had reconciled. On November 4, 2010, Sixx was spotted at the Call of Duty: Black Ops Launch Party in Santa Monica, California with Courtney Bingham. On November 26, 2012, Nikki revealed to the public that he proposed to Courtney while vacationing in St. Barts. They were married on March 15, 2014.
Bingham gave birth to their first child together, Ruby Sixx on July 27, 2019. Sixx announced the birth through social media.
Sixx practices Transcendental Meditation, as he considers it an important self-help technique.
During an interview with Wall of Sound, Nikki revealed he's working on a children’s book with his wife and a coffee table poetry/photography book.
Radio shows
Launched on February 8, 2010, Sixx Sense with Nikki Sixx broadcasts Monday through Friday from 7 p.m. to midnight local time on rock/alternative music stations. Each night, host Nikki Sixx discusses music and lifestyle topics as he gives listeners a backstage look at the world and mind of a rock star. Sixx was joined by co-host Kerri Kasem, from its first episode until March 28, 2014. On April 2, it was announced that radio personality Jenn Marino would be joining the show in Kasem's place. The show is based in Dallas, Texas in a studio in the Northpark Center.
Starting on May 7, 2012, KEGL in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas moved the show to mornings, making it the only station to carry the show in the mornings at 6 to 10 AM local time instead of the evening's time slot. The show is customized for the Dallas/Fort Worth listeners for broadcast in the mornings on KEGL. Sixx said that bringing Sixx Sense to mornings "has always been our goal. Who better to start your morning with than a rock star and a hot chick? It's a dream come true to have a morning show on one of America's best rock stations." however, one year later, Sixx Sense returned to evenings at KEGL. In addition, recent episodes of "Sixx Sense" air 24/7 on its own iHeartRadio streaming page.
The Side Show with Nikki Sixx is a two-hour original weekend program. Airing Saturday or Sunday between 6 a.m. and midnight local time, Nikki Sixx will air top-charting songs, showcase new and emerging artists, and welcome guests from the worlds of music and entertainment. In October 2017 Sixx announced he would step down from Sixx Sense on December 31, 2017.
Running Wild in the Night
With the formation of Sixx:A.M. and the release of The Heroin Diaries, Nikki Sixx teamed up with an already existing charity known as the Covenant House and created his own branch called Running Wild in the Night. In addition to partially funding the services the Covenant House provides on its own, Sixx's division also provides a creative arts and music program. Sixx has negotiated with people in his industry to provide the program with musical instruments and software.
A Portion of the profits from Sixx:A.M.'s album The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack and his autobiography, The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star is donated to help the Covenant House. He continues to auction off personal items to fund Running Wild in the Night. As of April 2009, he had raised over $100,000.
Discography
Production and songwriting credits
References
External links
Official Sixx:A.M. website
Official Cruefest 2009 Tour website
Official Sixx Sense website
Mötley Crüe videos
1958 births
20th-century American musicians
20th-century American non-fiction writers
21st-century American musicians
21st-century American non-fiction writers
American fashion designers
American heavy metal bass guitarists
American male non-fiction writers
American memoirists
American people of Italian descent
Glam metal musicians
Living people
Mötley Crüe members
Musicians from San Jose, California
Photographers from California
Radio personalities from Los Angeles
Sixx:A.M. members
Songwriters from California
Writers from Los Angeles
Writers from San Jose, California
Guitarists from Los Angeles
20th-century American guitarists
Brides of Destruction members
American male bass guitarists
20th-century American male writers
21st-century American male writers | true | [
"Freaky Eaters is an observational British documentary programme produced by independent television production company betty for BBC Three from 2007 to 2009. Series 1 was narrated by the actress Jill Halfpenny and series 2 by Sharon Horgan. In Australia it is shown on ABC2 and titled Eataholics.\n\nSynopsis\nThe programme follows a different person each episode who has an eating disorder such as a selective eating disorder (an extremely restricted diet, often to the point of avoiding entire food groups), or food neophobia. With the help of a team of experts, a number of techniques are employed to help the person overcome their problems and develop more healthy diets.\n\nThe first series was presented by nutritionist Natalie Savona and psychological coach Benjamin Fry. For the second series, psychologist Dr. Stephen Briers took over from Benjamin Fry. In series 3, Charlotte Watts takes over as nutritionist and Felix Economakis as the psychological coach. Dr. Pixie McKenna is the doctor across all three series.\n\nEpisodes\n\nSeries 1\n\nAddicted to Crisps and Pizza (Kevin Johnson)\nAddicted to Chips (Sarah Dolby)\nAddicted to Cheese (Dave Nunley)\nAddicted to Spaghetti hoops (Adrian England)\nAddicted to Chocolate (Rachel Renton)\nAddicted to Junk Food (Debbie Ezeogu)\nAddicted to Junk Food 2 (Martyn Sadd)\n\nSeries 2\nAddicted to Burnt Sausages (Natalie Holland)\nAddicted to Junk Food (radio presenter Chris Hawkins)\nAddicted to Meat (Pete Turner)\nAddicted to Bread (Joanne Stappard)\nAddicted to Meat and Potatoes (Kerry Singleton)\nAddicted to Biscuits (Andrew Forster)\nAddicted to Potatoes (Joanne Adams)\nAddicted to Pasta (Helen Tree)\nAddicted to Cheese (Kate Silk)\n\nSeries 3\nAddicted to Bacon and burgers (Niquita Hartchley)\nAddicted to Cheese (Vicki Zukiewicz)\nAddicted to Beans and chips (Tom Bull)\nAddicted to Brown sauce (Jamie Davidson)\nAddicted to Chips (Dave Wheatley)\nAddicted to Diet cola (Katie Walker)\nAddicted to Yorkshire puddings (Aaron Saunders)\nAddicted to Meat (Richard Smart)\n\nCancellation\nThe show was cancelled by BBC in April 2010. On the Richard Bacon BBC Radio 5 Live show in December 2010, Harry Hill, who had regularly lampooned Freaky Eaters on Harry Hill's TV Burp, stated he had been told by a producer of Freaky Eaters that his coverage of the show was the reason it had been commissioned for a second and third series.\n\nAmerican version\nFreaky Eaters spawned an American version that aired on TLC from September 2010 to June 2011.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n betty tv\n \n\n2007 British television series debuts\n2009 British television series endings\nBBC high definition shows\nBBC television documentaries\nEnglish-language television shows\nTelevision series by All3Media",
"\"Addicted to You\" was the entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2002, performed in English by Laura Voutilainen as \"Laura\".\n\nThe song was one of three competing numbers in the Finnish national preliminary round for the Eurovision Song Contest 2002, with music written by Maki Kolehmainen of the band Aikakone. The lyrics for \"Addicted to You\" were written by Kolehmainen's frequent collaborator alongside Janina Frostell, a model who was attempting a singing career: Frostell's album Impossible Love comprised songs she and Lipp co-wrote and \"Addicted to You\" was in fact written for Frostell's Impossible Love, her version being either never recorded and/or released once the potential of having a high-profile Finnish singer such as Laura Voutilainen make a Eurovision bid with the song was recognized.\n\n\"Addicted to You\" is sung from the perspective of a woman telling her lover how she feels about him. She seems amazed at the depth of her own feelings, telling him \"if you were a drug, I'd be addicted to you\" and \"every time that we say 'goodbye', I just die a little inside\".\n\nFinland had last participated in Eurovision at Eurovision 2000 where the eighteenth place showing of Nina Åström with \"A Little Bit\" had resulted in a one-year Eurovision relegation for Finland. The Finnish preliminary round for Eurovision 2002 was the first to feature no songs in Finnish: in an effort to ensure international favor at Eurovision 2002, eleven of the twelve competing songs in the national final were English-language numbers with the twelfth competing song having Italian lyrics.\n\n\"Addicted to You\" easily won the national selection round for Eurovision 2002 receiving 46 points from the jury and 36% of the popular vote. The song was heavily promoted – reportedly more so than any previous Finnish Eurovision entrant – with Voutilainen showcasing her entry in several European countries, and expectations were high for its placing at Eurovision 2002 as exemplified by the contention by veteran Finnish singer Marion Rung – who had sung Finland's two highest scoring Eurovision entrants – that the final placing of \"Addicted to You\" at Eurovision 2002 would be higher than the sixth and seventh Eurovision placings earned by Rung with respectively \"Tipi-tii\" at Eurovision 1962 and \"Tom Tom Tom\" at Eurovision 1973 and that consequently \"Addicted to You\" would afford Finland a new Eurovision best.\n\nPerforming thirteenth on the night of the Eurovision 2002 final, following 's Afro-dite with \"Never Let It Go\" and preceding 's Malene with \"Tell Me Who You Are\", Voutilainen was dressed in the colours of the Finnish flag, in a blue top and white trousers. The vocal quartet who supported Voutilainen included , who had placed sixth in the Finnish national preliminary for Eurovision 2002 with \"Make the Rain\".\n\nAt the close of voting, \"Addicted to You\" had received 24 points, placing 20th in a field of 24, thus disqualifying Finland from participation in the 2003 Contest. Pictures of a weeping Voutilainen accompanied the singer's post-contest interview, in which she opined: \"Everybody thought that I should have won... I don't see what could [have been] done better... Can Finland ever win Eurovision if [it didn't when] everything went exactly as it should?\"\n\nWhile \"Addicted to You\" did not score high at the Eurovision final, among the contestants themselves it was voted the best song in the contest. \"Addicted to You\" was also voted the best 2002 Eurovision entrant by the Eurovision Fanclub.\n\n\"Addicted to You\" was succeeded as Finnish representative at the 2004 contest by Jari Sillanpää with \"Takes 2 to Tango\".\n\nCharts\n\nWeekly charts\n\nReferences\n\n Official Eurovision Song Contest site, history by year\n Lyrics, from Diggiloo Thrush\n\nEurovision songs of Finland\nEurovision songs of 2002\n2002 songs"
] | [
"Nikki Sixx (born Frank Carlton Serafino Feranna Jr.; December 11, 1958) is an American musician who is the co-founder, bassist, and primary songwriter of the rock band Mötley Crüe. Prior to forming Mötley Crüe, Sixx was a member of Sister before going on to form London with his Sister bandmate Lizzie Grey.",
"Prior to forming Mötley Crüe, Sixx was a member of Sister before going on to form London with his Sister bandmate Lizzie Grey. In 2000, he formed side project group 58 with Dave Darling, Steve Gibb and Bucket Baker issuing one album, Diet for a New America, the same year while, in 2002, he formed the hard rock supergroup Brides of Destruction with L.A. Guns guitarist Tracii Guns.",
"Guns guitarist Tracii Guns. Guns guitarist Tracii Guns. Formed in 2006, initially to record an audio accompaniment to Sixx's autobiography The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, his side band Sixx:A.M. features songwriter, producer, and vocalist James Michael and guitarist DJ Ashba.",
"Formed in 2006, initially to record an audio accompaniment to Sixx's autobiography The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, his side band Sixx:A.M. features songwriter, producer, and vocalist James Michael and guitarist DJ Ashba. Sixx has also worked with a number of artists and groups, co-writing and/or producing songs, such as Sex Pistols's guitarist Steve Jones, Lita Ford, Alice Cooper, Meat Loaf, Marion Raven, Drowning Pool, Saliva and The Last Vegas, among others.",
"Sixx has also worked with a number of artists and groups, co-writing and/or producing songs, such as Sex Pistols's guitarist Steve Jones, Lita Ford, Alice Cooper, Meat Loaf, Marion Raven, Drowning Pool, Saliva and The Last Vegas, among others. Sixx launched the clothing line \"Royal Underground\" in 2006 with Kelly Gray, formerly the co-president and house model of St. John.",
"Sixx launched the clothing line \"Royal Underground\" in 2006 with Kelly Gray, formerly the co-president and house model of St. John. Initially the label concentrated on men's clothing before expanding into women's while in 2010, Premiere Radio Networks launched nationally syndicated Rock/alternative music radio programs \"Sixx Sense\" and \"The Side Show Countdown\" with both based in Dallas, Texas and hosted by Sixx and co-hosted by Jenn Marino.",
"Initially the label concentrated on men's clothing before expanding into women's while in 2010, Premiere Radio Networks launched nationally syndicated Rock/alternative music radio programs \"Sixx Sense\" and \"The Side Show Countdown\" with both based in Dallas, Texas and hosted by Sixx and co-hosted by Jenn Marino. Early life Frank Carlton Serafino Feranna Jr. was born on December 11, 1958, in San Jose, California. He is of Italian descent on his father's side, from Prato, Tuscany.",
"He is of Italian descent on his father's side, from Prato, Tuscany. Sixx was partially raised by his single mother, Deana Richards, and by his grandparents after his father left the family. Feranna later moved in with his grandparents after his mother abandoned him. Feranna relocated several times while living with his grandparents. Feranna's uncle, husband of Deana's sister Sharon, is Don Zimmerman, producer and president of Capitol Records.",
"Feranna's uncle, husband of Deana's sister Sharon, is Don Zimmerman, producer and president of Capitol Records. Feranna had one full biological sister, Lisa (born with Down syndrome; died circa 2000) and has one (half) brother Rodney Anthony Feranna (born 1966) and a half-sister Ceci. Feranna grew up listening to Deep Purple, Harry Nilsson, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Elton John, Queen, and Black Sabbath; he later discovered T. Rex, David Bowie, and Slade.",
"Feranna grew up listening to Deep Purple, Harry Nilsson, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Elton John, Queen, and Black Sabbath; he later discovered T. Rex, David Bowie, and Slade. While living in Jerome, Idaho, Feranna's youth was troubled; he became a teenage vandal, broke into neighbors' homes, shoplifted, and was expelled from school for selling drugs. His grandparents sent him to live with his mother, who had moved to Seattle.",
"His grandparents sent him to live with his mother, who had moved to Seattle. Feranna lived there for a short time and learned how to play the bass guitar, having bought his first instrument with money gained from selling a guitar he had stolen. Career Early career, Sister, London (1975–1979) At the age of 17, Feranna moved to Los Angeles and worked menial jobs such as working at a liquor store and selling vacuum cleaners over the phone while he auditioned for bands.",
"Career Early career, Sister, London (1975–1979) At the age of 17, Feranna moved to Los Angeles and worked menial jobs such as working at a liquor store and selling vacuum cleaners over the phone while he auditioned for bands. He eventually joined the band Sister, led by Blackie Lawless, after answering an ad in The Recycler for a bass player. Soon after recording a demo, Feranna was fired from Sister along with bandmate Lizzie Grey. Feranna and Grey formed the band London soon afterward, in 1978.",
"Feranna and Grey formed the band London soon afterward, in 1978. During this time, Feranna legally changed his name to Nikki Sixx. After a number of lineup changes, London added former Mott the Hoople singer Nigel Benjamin to the group, and recorded a 16-track demo in Burbank. After the departure of Benjamin, along with the failure to find a replacement, Sixx departed London. The group would go on to feature Sixx's former Sister bandmate Blackie Lawless (later of W.A.S.P.",
"The group would go on to feature Sixx's former Sister bandmate Blackie Lawless (later of W.A.S.P. ), Izzy Stradlin (then of Hollywood Rose, later of Guns N' Roses) and drummer Fred Coury (later of Cinderella). In 2000, a number of the London demos recorded with Sixx were included on London Daze by Spiders & Snakes, led by former London guitarist Lizzie Grey. Mötley Crüe (1981–2015) In 1981, Sixx founded Mötley Crüe alongside drummer Tommy Lee.",
"Mötley Crüe (1981–2015) In 1981, Sixx founded Mötley Crüe alongside drummer Tommy Lee. They were later joined by guitarist Mick Mars through an ad in the local newspaper, and singer Vince Neil, with whom Lee had attended high school. The band self-recorded their debut album, Too Fast for Love, which was subsequently released in November 1981 on the band's own Leathür Records label. After signing with Elektra Records, they re-released the same album.",
"After signing with Elektra Records, they re-released the same album. The band then went on to record and release Shout at the Devil, raising the band to national fame. They issued three more albums during the 1980s, Theatre of Pain in 1985, Girls, Girls, Girls in 1987, and Dr. Feelgood in 1989. The latter ended up being their most successful record, staying in the charts for 114 weeks after its release. During his time with Mötley Crüe, Sixx became addicted to heroin.",
"During his time with Mötley Crüe, Sixx became addicted to heroin. He is quoted in The Heroin Diaries as saying: \"Alcohol, acid, cocaine... they were just affairs. When I met heroin it was true love.\" He estimates he overdosed \"about half a dozen times\". On December 23, 1987, Sixx overdosed on heroin and was reportedly declared clinically dead for two minutes before a paramedic revived him with two syringes full of adrenaline.",
"On December 23, 1987, Sixx overdosed on heroin and was reportedly declared clinically dead for two minutes before a paramedic revived him with two syringes full of adrenaline. After releasing the compilation album Decade of Decadence in 1991, Neil left the group, and was replaced by John Corabi, who formerly served with The Scream. They released one self titled album with Corabi, in 1994, before firing him in 1996. Afterwards, they reunited with Neil, with whom they released Generation Swine in 1997.",
"Afterwards, they reunited with Neil, with whom they released Generation Swine in 1997. Sixx had become controversial for an incident during a Mötley Crüe concert at Greensboro Coliseum on October 30, 1997, in which he used racial epithets while goading the audience to physically attack a black security guard for repeatedly attacking a female fan. In May 2001, Sixx addressed the issue, and claimed he had apologized to the victim of the incident. In 1999, Tommy Lee left the group to form Methods of Mayhem.",
"In 1999, Tommy Lee left the group to form Methods of Mayhem. He was replaced by former Ozzy Osbourne drummer Randy Castillo, with whom they released the album New Tattoo in 2000. The group went on hiatus soon afterward before reuniting in 2004, during which Sixx declared himself sober. A 2001 autobiography entitled The Dirt packaged the band as \"the world's most notorious rock band\". The book made the top ten on The New York Times Best Seller list and spent ten weeks there.",
"The book made the top ten on The New York Times Best Seller list and spent ten weeks there. In 2006, Mötley Crüe completed a reunion tour, featuring all four original members, and embarked on a co-headlining tour with Aerosmith, called The Route of All Evil. In April 2008, the band announced the first Crüe Fest, a summer tour, that featured Sixx's side project Sixx:A.M., Buckcherry, Papa Roach and Trapt.",
"In April 2008, the band announced the first Crüe Fest, a summer tour, that featured Sixx's side project Sixx:A.M., Buckcherry, Papa Roach and Trapt. On June 24, 2008, Mötley Crüe released their ninth and final studio album, Saints of Los Angeles, with Sixx credited as either writer or co-writer on all tracks. The band officially retired in 2015.",
"The band officially retired in 2015. The band officially retired in 2015. Sixx wrote most of Mötley Crüe's material, including tracks such as \"Live Wire\", \"Home Sweet Home\", \"Girls, Girls, Girls\", \"Kickstart My Heart\", \"Wild Side\", \"Hooligan's Holiday\" and \"Dr. Feelgood\". In the 1990s, all four members began contributing to the material on the albums.",
"In the 1990s, all four members began contributing to the material on the albums. 58 (2000) In 2000, Sixx formed the internet-based side project 58 with producer Dave Darling, guitarist Steve Gibb (formerly of Black Label Society and Crowbar) and drummer Bucket Baker. They released one single, titled \"Piece of Candy\", and their debut album, Diet for a New America, also in 2000 through Sixx's Americoma label and Beyond Records.",
"They released one single, titled \"Piece of Candy\", and their debut album, Diet for a New America, also in 2000 through Sixx's Americoma label and Beyond Records. The group did not tour, and was described by Sixx as \"strictly an artistic thing.\" Brides of Destruction (2002–2004) Brides of Destruction were formed by Sixx and Tracii Guns in Los Angeles 2002 initially with the name Cockstar after Mötley Crüe went on hiatus and Guns left L.A. Guns.",
"Guns. Guns. Sixx also invited former Beautiful Creatures guitarist DJ Ashba to join the group however he declined to focus on his solo band, ASHBA. Ashba would eventually join Sixx in Sixx:A.M. After a few lineup changes, that included Sixx's former Mötley Crüe bandmate John Corabi, keyboardist Adam Hamilton and drummer Kris Kohls of Adema, the group was composed of Sixx, Guns, singer London LeGrand and drummer Scot Coogan formerly of Ednaswap and Annetenna.",
"Ashba would eventually join Sixx in Sixx:A.M. After a few lineup changes, that included Sixx's former Mötley Crüe bandmate John Corabi, keyboardist Adam Hamilton and drummer Kris Kohls of Adema, the group was composed of Sixx, Guns, singer London LeGrand and drummer Scot Coogan formerly of Ednaswap and Annetenna. They were advised by radio programmers that the name Cockstar would not be announced on air. They briefly adopted the moniker Motordog before settling on Brides of Destruction.",
"They briefly adopted the moniker Motordog before settling on Brides of Destruction. They entered the studio with producer Stevo Bruno to begin recording what would become Here Come the Brides. The Brides played their first show opening for Mudvayne and Taproot on November 14, 2002, at the Ventura Theatre in California. After signing a deal with Sanctuary Records, the group released Here Come the Brides in 2004, with the album debuting at number 92 on the Billboard 200 selling over 13,000 copies.",
"After signing a deal with Sanctuary Records, the group released Here Come the Brides in 2004, with the album debuting at number 92 on the Billboard 200 selling over 13,000 copies. A tour of the US, Europe, including an appearance at Download Festival in the United Kingdom, and Australia followed. On October 25, 2004, it was announced that the group were to go on hiatus while Sixx reunited with Mötley Crüe for a reunion tour.",
"On October 25, 2004, it was announced that the group were to go on hiatus while Sixx reunited with Mötley Crüe for a reunion tour. The group continued without Sixx, however, with Guns adding former Amen bassist Scott Sorry to the group as Sixx's replacement. The second Brides of Destruction album, titled Runaway Brides, released in 2005 featured three songs co-written by Sixx during the Here Come the Brides sessions.",
"The second Brides of Destruction album, titled Runaway Brides, released in 2005 featured three songs co-written by Sixx during the Here Come the Brides sessions. Sixx:A.M. (2006–2017) Sixx formed his own group Sixx:A.M. in 2006, to record an audio accompaniment to his autobiography The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, with friends producer/songwriter James Michael and guitarist DJ Ashba (Guns N' Roses, formerly of Beautiful Creatures and BulletBoys).",
"Sixx:A.M. (2006–2017) Sixx formed his own group Sixx:A.M. in 2006, to record an audio accompaniment to his autobiography The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, with friends producer/songwriter James Michael and guitarist DJ Ashba (Guns N' Roses, formerly of Beautiful Creatures and BulletBoys). They recorded and released The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack in August 2007 through Eleven Seven.",
"They recorded and released The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack in August 2007 through Eleven Seven. The single, \"Life Is Beautiful\", received a high ratio of radio and video play peaking at number 2 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks. The band made their live debut at the Crash Mansion on July 16, 2007. They performed five songs from the album, with former Beautiful Creatures drummer Glen Sobel filling in on the drums.",
"They performed five songs from the album, with former Beautiful Creatures drummer Glen Sobel filling in on the drums. On April 15, 2008, Sixx:A.M. announced they would be touring as part of Mötley Crüe's Crüe Fest. The tour began on July 1, 2008, in West Palm Beach, Florida. During Crüe Fest, Papa Roach drummer Tony Palermo served as a touring drummer for the band.",
"During Crüe Fest, Papa Roach drummer Tony Palermo served as a touring drummer for the band. A deluxe tour edition of The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack was released on November 25, 2008, which included a bonus live EP entitled Live Is Beautiful, which features recorded performances from the band's summer tour. In April 2009, both Sixx and Michael confirmed that the band was in the studio, recording new material. Sixx added that the new material was \"inspiring.",
"Sixx added that the new material was \"inspiring. Sixx added that the new material was \"inspiring. it feels like we may have topped ourselves on this album coming up, and can't wait for you to hear what it sounds like.\" In 2010, the group continued recording the album with plans to release it by the late 2010/early 2011 with the group bringing in Paul R. Brown to shoot the video for the album's first single.",
"In 2010, the group continued recording the album with plans to release it by the late 2010/early 2011 with the group bringing in Paul R. Brown to shoot the video for the album's first single. During an interview in July 2010, Sixx stated that the album was almost finished. This Is Gonna Hurt, the band's second studio album, was released on May 3, 2011. A third studio album, Modern Vintage, was released in 2014.",
"A third studio album, Modern Vintage, was released in 2014. Prayers for the Damned and Prayers for the Blessed were released in 2016. The band went on hiatus in 2017, with other members DJ Ashba and James Michael forming a new band, Pyromantic. In 2021, the band released a greatest HITS album to coincide with Nikki's fourth novel, THE FIRST 21. Other work In 1989, Sixx was a featured guest artist on the album Fire and Gasoline by Steve Jones, formerly of the Sex Pistols.",
"Other work In 1989, Sixx was a featured guest artist on the album Fire and Gasoline by Steve Jones, formerly of the Sex Pistols. Sixx co-wrote and performed on the song, \"We're No Saints\". In 1991, Sixx played bass on \"Feed My Frankenstein\" on Alice Cooper's Hey Stoopid album. Sixx co-wrote the track \"Die For You\", along with Cooper and Mötley Crüe guitarist Mick Mars. In 2002, Sixx played on Butch Walkers first solo album \"Left of Self Centered\".",
"In 2002, Sixx played on Butch Walkers first solo album \"Left of Self Centered\". In 2005, he collaborated with the Norwegian singer Marion Raven on two songs, \"Heads Will Roll\" and \"Surfing the Sun\", for Raven's debut album, Here I Am. A new version of \"Heads Will Roll\" appeared on Raven's 2006 EP Heads Will Roll and on her 2007 U.S. debut album, Set Me Free.",
"A new version of \"Heads Will Roll\" appeared on Raven's 2006 EP Heads Will Roll and on her 2007 U.S. debut album, Set Me Free. In 2006, he was one of the songwriters for Meat Loaf's long-awaited album, Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose.",
"In 2006, he was one of the songwriters for Meat Loaf's long-awaited album, Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose. In September 2007, Sixx released a book titled The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, a collection of his journal entries from 1986 and 1987 (when his heroin addiction was at its most dangerous).",
"In September 2007, Sixx released a book titled The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, a collection of his journal entries from 1986 and 1987 (when his heroin addiction was at its most dangerous). Written with British journalist Ian Gittins, it presents the present-day viewpoints of his bandmates, friends, ex-lovers, caretakers, business associates and family as they respond to specific passages. The book debuted at #7 on The New York Times Best Seller list.",
"The book debuted at #7 on The New York Times Best Seller list. Along with Big & Rich (John Rich and Big Kenny Alphin), and James Otto, Sixx co-wrote \"Ain't Gonna Stop\" for Otto's 2008 Sunset Man CD on Warner Bros/Raybaw Records. In May 2021, it was announced that Sixx along with Rob Zombie, John 5, and Tommy Clufetos formed a supergroup called L.A. Rats.",
"Rats. Rats. Their debut track, \"I've Been Everywhere\", is from the soundtrack to the Liam Neeson film The Ice Road. Equipment Signature basses Sixx is most often seen playing Gibson Thunderbird basses. Between 2000 and 2003 Gibson produced the Nikki Sixx Signature Blackbird.",
"Between 2000 and 2003 Gibson produced the Nikki Sixx Signature Blackbird. The Gibson Blackbird was for all intents and purposes a standard Thunderbird bass, but with a satin black finish, Iron Crosses on the fretboard instead of dots, an Iron Cross behind the classic Thunderbird logo, and Nikki Sixx's 'opti-grab' (a metal loop installed behind the bridge for hooking the little finger onto while playing). What also made this bass interesting was the lack of volume or tone controls, being replaced by a single on/off switch.",
"What also made this bass interesting was the lack of volume or tone controls, being replaced by a single on/off switch. Although subtle, this helped give this Blackbird more tone and a higher output. This model was discontinued in 2003, but has recently been put back in production as the Epiphone Nikki Sixx Blackbird. Cosmetically the Epiphone Blackbird is identical to the Gibson original, but with a bolt-on single ply neck, solid mahogany body, different pickups and lower grade parts and manufacturing.",
"Cosmetically the Epiphone Blackbird is identical to the Gibson original, but with a bolt-on single ply neck, solid mahogany body, different pickups and lower grade parts and manufacturing. The Epiphone model still kept the 'opti-grab,' designed and made first by his bass technician Tim Luzzi, and single on/off switch of the Gibson original. In 2008, Gibson announced a 'limited run' new Nikki Sixx signature bass. Like the original it features a neck through design made of mahogany and walnut, with maple 'wings' to form the body.",
"Like the original it features a neck through design made of mahogany and walnut, with maple 'wings' to form the body. Unlike the original 'Blackbird' bass, a clear 'satin black cherry' finish is given to the instrument, with red 'slash' X's on the 3rd, 5th, 7th and 12th frets. A mirror pickguard is also applied, with a red signature and two X's (6 x's on the whole bass) is also a new addition.",
"A mirror pickguard is also applied, with a red signature and two X's (6 x's on the whole bass) is also a new addition. Unlike the Gibson Blackbird, the new signature featured volume and tone controls, the 'opti-grab', and an on/off switch. Personal life Sixx was engaged to Denise \"Vanity\" Matthews in 1987. In his autobiography, The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, Sixx described his toxic relationship with Matthews.",
"In his autobiography, The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, Sixx described his toxic relationship with Matthews. \"Vanity came and went during different periods of my addiction. She was a wild black chick who had sung with Prince: she'd also been his lover for a while. At the time I thought of Vanity as a disposable human being, like a used needle.",
"At the time I thought of Vanity as a disposable human being, like a used needle. Once its purpose was fulfilled it was ready for the trash, only to be dug up if you were really desperate…We became drug buddies: sometimes, you could even just about call us boyfriend and girlfriend. Vanity also taught me how to really freebase: the first time I based was with Tommy when Mötley just started and only a few times after that. So up until then, I'd been mostly snorting or injecting.",
"So up until then, I'd been mostly snorting or injecting. But as soon as she showed me the real ins and outs of cooking up a good rock…it was love. Not her. The drug.\" From May 1989 to November 1996, Sixx was married to his first wife, Playboy Playmate Brandi Brandt; they have three children: Gunner Nicholas Sixx (born January 25, 1991), Storm Brieann Sixx (born April 14, 1994), and Decker Nilsson Sixx (born May 23, 1995).",
"From May 1989 to November 1996, Sixx was married to his first wife, Playboy Playmate Brandi Brandt; they have three children: Gunner Nicholas Sixx (born January 25, 1991), Storm Brieann Sixx (born April 14, 1994), and Decker Nilsson Sixx (born May 23, 1995). One month after the divorce from Brandt, Sixx married his second wife, another Playboy Playmate, actress Donna D'Errico. Sixx and D'Errico have one daughter, Frankie-Jean Mary Sixx (born January 2, 2001).",
"Sixx and D'Errico have one daughter, Frankie-Jean Mary Sixx (born January 2, 2001). D'Errico has a son, Rhyan Jacob (born 1993), from a previous relationship. They separated shortly after their daughter's birth, and reconciled months later when Sixx completed rehab. They separated again on April 27, 2006, and divorced in June 2007, with D'Errico claiming irreconcilable differences. Sixx dated tattoo artist Kat Von D from 2008 to 2010.",
"Sixx dated tattoo artist Kat Von D from 2008 to 2010. A few months after their breakup, Sixx and Von D were spotted back together. Sixx was featured on an episode of Von D's reality television show LA Ink in 2008, in which Von D gave him a tattoo of Mick Mars, lead guitarist of Mötley Crüe. On August 25, 2010, Sixx issued a statement that their relationship had dissolved. It was reported on October 19, 2010, that Nikki and Kat had gotten back together.",
"It was reported on October 19, 2010, that Nikki and Kat had gotten back together. On October 27, 2010 Kat Von D confirmed to USA Today that indeed she and West Coast Choppers owner Jesse James were still together, debunking original reports that she and Sixx had reconciled. On November 4, 2010, Sixx was spotted at the Call of Duty: Black Ops Launch Party in Santa Monica, California with Courtney Bingham.",
"On November 4, 2010, Sixx was spotted at the Call of Duty: Black Ops Launch Party in Santa Monica, California with Courtney Bingham. On November 26, 2012, Nikki revealed to the public that he proposed to Courtney while vacationing in St. Barts. They were married on March 15, 2014. Bingham gave birth to their first child together, Ruby Sixx on July 27, 2019. Sixx announced the birth through social media. Sixx practices Transcendental Meditation, as he considers it an important self-help technique.",
"Sixx practices Transcendental Meditation, as he considers it an important self-help technique. During an interview with Wall of Sound, Nikki revealed he's working on a children’s book with his wife and a coffee table poetry/photography book. Radio shows Launched on February 8, 2010, Sixx Sense with Nikki Sixx broadcasts Monday through Friday from 7 p.m. to midnight local time on rock/alternative music stations.",
"Radio shows Launched on February 8, 2010, Sixx Sense with Nikki Sixx broadcasts Monday through Friday from 7 p.m. to midnight local time on rock/alternative music stations. Each night, host Nikki Sixx discusses music and lifestyle topics as he gives listeners a backstage look at the world and mind of a rock star. Sixx was joined by co-host Kerri Kasem, from its first episode until March 28, 2014. On April 2, it was announced that radio personality Jenn Marino would be joining the show in Kasem's place.",
"On April 2, it was announced that radio personality Jenn Marino would be joining the show in Kasem's place. The show is based in Dallas, Texas in a studio in the Northpark Center. Starting on May 7, 2012, KEGL in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas moved the show to mornings, making it the only station to carry the show in the mornings at 6 to 10 AM local time instead of the evening's time slot.",
"Starting on May 7, 2012, KEGL in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas moved the show to mornings, making it the only station to carry the show in the mornings at 6 to 10 AM local time instead of the evening's time slot. The show is customized for the Dallas/Fort Worth listeners for broadcast in the mornings on KEGL. Sixx said that bringing Sixx Sense to mornings \"has always been our goal. Who better to start your morning with than a rock star and a hot chick?",
"Who better to start your morning with than a rock star and a hot chick? It's a dream come true to have a morning show on one of America's best rock stations.\" however, one year later, Sixx Sense returned to evenings at KEGL. In addition, recent episodes of \"Sixx Sense\" air 24/7 on its own iHeartRadio streaming page. The Side Show with Nikki Sixx is a two-hour original weekend program.",
"The Side Show with Nikki Sixx is a two-hour original weekend program. Airing Saturday or Sunday between 6 a.m. and midnight local time, Nikki Sixx will air top-charting songs, showcase new and emerging artists, and welcome guests from the worlds of music and entertainment. In October 2017 Sixx announced he would step down from Sixx Sense on December 31, 2017.",
"In October 2017 Sixx announced he would step down from Sixx Sense on December 31, 2017. Running Wild in the Night With the formation of Sixx:A.M. and the release of The Heroin Diaries, Nikki Sixx teamed up with an already existing charity known as the Covenant House and created his own branch called Running Wild in the Night. In addition to partially funding the services the Covenant House provides on its own, Sixx's division also provides a creative arts and music program.",
"In addition to partially funding the services the Covenant House provides on its own, Sixx's division also provides a creative arts and music program. Sixx has negotiated with people in his industry to provide the program with musical instruments and software. A Portion of the profits from Sixx:A.M.'s album The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack and his autobiography, The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star is donated to help the Covenant House.",
"A Portion of the profits from Sixx:A.M.'s album The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack and his autobiography, The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star is donated to help the Covenant House. He continues to auction off personal items to fund Running Wild in the Night. As of April 2009, he had raised over $100,000.",
"As of April 2009, he had raised over $100,000. Discography Production and songwriting credits References External links Official Sixx:A.M. website Official Cruefest 2009 Tour website Official Sixx Sense website Mötley Crüe videos 1958 births 20th-century American musicians 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American musicians 21st-century American non-fiction writers American fashion designers American heavy metal bass guitarists American male non-fiction writers American memoirists American people of Italian descent Glam metal musicians Living people Mötley Crüe members Musicians from San Jose, California Photographers from California Radio personalities from Los Angeles Sixx:A.M. members Songwriters from California Writers from Los Angeles Writers from San Jose, California Guitarists from Los Angeles 20th-century American guitarists Brides of Destruction members American male bass guitarists 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers"
] |
[
"Wasim Akram",
"Legacy"
] | C_7db87eb260274b27a87e1a8f2e1807f4_0 | What was Akrams legacy? | 1 | What was Akrams legacy? | Wasim Akram | During his professional career he bowled with genuine speed and hostility. Akram was a man possessed of accurate control of line and length, accompanied by seam and swing bowling skills, extended to both inswingers and outswingers. With a very quick bowling action, he could bowl equally well from both sides of the wicket. His mastery of reverse swing with the cricket ball meant he was at his most dangerous towards a bowling innings, and earned him the nickname of one of the "Sultans of Swing", the other one being Waqar Younis. As well as often being able to find the edge of the bat, Akram would also focus his bowling attack on the stumps and had a particularly lethal inswinging yorker. Of his 414 Test wickets, 193 were taken caught, 119 were taken leg before wicket and 102 were bowled. In partnership with Waqar Younis, he intimidated international batsmen in the 1990s. Together Wasim and Waqar, known as "the two Ws" of the Pakistani team, were one of the most successful bowling partnerships in cricket. With the bat he was especially effective against spin bowlers. However, he liked to slog and was criticised for his lack of high scores and giving away his wicket too cheaply. In October 1996 he scored 257 runs not out, of the team's total of 553 against lowly Zimbabwe on a typical flat South Asian pitch at Sheikhupura. He also achieved good scores for the Pakistan team such as his scores of 123 and 45* against Australia to take Pakistan to victory in a low scoring match. His batting was also valuable sometimes to the Pakistan ODI side, such as in the Nehru Cup in 1989, when needing six runs and two balls to win the match, he hit the first delivery he faced, from part-time off-spinner and batting legend, Viv Richards, for a six and secured the cup. In December 2012 after Ricky Ponting announced his retirement he said that Wasim Akram and Curtly Ambrose were the toughest bowlers he had faced "Akram for the exact opposite, you could get a few runs off him, but you just knew there was an unplayable ball around the corner, be it with an old ball or with a new ball," - Ricky Ponting. CANNOTANSWER | Akram was a man possessed of accurate control of line and length, | Wasim Akram (born 3 June 1966) is a Pakistani cricket commentator, coach, and former cricketer and captain of the Pakistan national cricket team. Akram is widely regarded as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time and several critics regard him as the greatest left arm fast bowler of cricket history.
In October 2013, Wasim Akram was the only Pakistani cricketer to be named in an all-time Test World XI to mark the 150th anniversary of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack.
A left arm fast bowler who could bowl with significant pace, he holds the world record for most wickets in List A cricket, with 881, and he is second only to Sri Lankan off-spin bowler Muttiah Muralitharan in terms of ODI wickets, with 502 in total. He is considered to be one of the founders, and perhaps the finest exponent of, reverse swing bowling.
He was the first bowler to reach the 500-wicket mark in ODI cricket during the 2003 World Cup. In 2002, Wisden released its only list of best players of all time. Wasim was ranked as the best bowler in ODI of all time, with a rating of 1223.5, ahead of Allan Donald, Imran Khan, Waqar Younis, Joel Garner, Glenn McGrath and Muralitharan. Wasim took 23 four-wicket hauls in 356 ODI matches played. On 30 September 2009, Akram was one of five new members inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. He was the bowling coach of Kolkata Knight Riders. However, he took a break from the position for IPL 6, citing a need to spend more time with family in Karachi, and he took a further break from IPL 2017; and was replaced by Lakshmipathy Balaji.
He was working as director and bowling coach of Islamabad United in Pakistan Super League, until he left to join Multan Sultans in August 2017. In October 2018, he was named in the Pakistan Cricket Board's seven-member advisory cricket committee. In November 2018, he joined PSL franchise, Karachi Kings, as a President.
The Government of Pakistan awarded him the Hilal-e-Imtiaz on 23 March 2019 for his life time achievements In field of Cricket.
Early and personal life
Wasim Akram was born on 3 June 1966 to a Punjabi family in Lahore. Akram's father, Chaudhary Muhammed Akram, was originally from a village near Amritsar, who moved to Kamonki, in the Pakistani Punjab after the partition of India in 1947. He was educated at Government Islamia College, Civil Lines, Lahore.
At the age of 30, Akram was diagnosed with diabetes. "I remember what a shock it was because I was a healthy sportsman with no history of diabetes in my family, so I didn't expect it at all. It seemed strange that it happened to me when I was 30, but it was a very stressful time and doctors said that can trigger it." Since then he has sought to be involved in various awareness campaigns for diabetes.
Akram married Huma Mufti in 1995. They had two sons from their marriage of 14 years: Tahmoor (born 1996) and Akbar (born 2000). Huma died of multiple organ failure at Apollo Hospital in Chennai, India, on 25 October 2009.
On 7 July 2013, it was reported that Akram had become engaged to an Australian woman, Shaniera Thompson, whom he had met while on a visit to Melbourne in 2011. Akram married Shaniera on 12 August 2013, saying he has started a new life on a happy note. He was quoted as saying: "I married Shaniera in Lahore in a simple ceremony, and this is the start of a new life for me, my wife, and for my kids."
He moved from Lahore to Karachi with his wife and children. On 3 September 2014, the couple tweeted that they were expecting their first baby—the third child of the Akram family. On 27 December 2014, Shaniera gave birth to a baby girl, Aiyla Sabeen Rose Akram, in Melbourne.
Domestic career
In 1988, Akram signed for Lancashire County Cricket Club in England. From 1988 to 1998, he opened their bowling attack in their NatWest Trophy, Benson and Hedges Cup, and Sunday League tournaments. He was a favourite of the local British fans, who used to sing a song called "Wasim for England" at Lancashire's matches. In 1998, with Akram as captain, Lancashire won the NatWest Trophy and Sunday League and finished second in the County Championship, having lost only five matches in all competitions during the season.
International career
Test cricket
Akram made his Test cricket debut for Pakistan against New Zealand in 1985, and in his second Test match, he claimed 10 wickets. A few weeks prior to his selection into the Pakistan team, he was an unknown club cricketer who had failed to make it even to his college team. He came to the trials at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore in Pakistan, but for the first two days he did not get a chance to bowl. On the third day, he got a chance; his performance convincing Javed Miandad to insist upon his inclusion in the national team. Akram was hence given an opportunity to play for Pakistan, without any significant domestic experience.
Akram's rise in international cricket was rapid during the late 1980s. He was a part of the Pakistan team that toured the West Indies in 1988. However, a groin injury impeded his career in the late 1980s. Following two surgeries, he re-emerged in the 1990s as a fast bowler who focused more on swing and accurate bowling.
Wasim Akram is currently the highest wicket taker for Pakistan in test cricket with 414 wickets.
One Day International
Akram started his ODI career against New Zealand in Pakistan in 1984 under the captaincy of Zaheer Abbas. He rose to prominence by taking five wickets in his 3rd ODI against Australia in the 1985 Benson & Hedges World Championship. His wickets included those of Kepler Wessels, Dean Jones, and captain Allan Border. Wasim Akram is currently the highest wicket taker for Pakistan in One Day International cricket
Early days
In the 1984–85 Rothmans Four-Nations Cup and the 1985–86 Rothmans Sharjah Cup, Akram took five wickets with a run rate of less than 3.50. The 1985–1986 Austral-Asia Cup involved Australia, India, New Zealand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and was played in Sharjah, UAE. Akram, with the help of Abdul Qadir, bowled out New Zealand's batting line-up for 64 in the second semi-final of the cup. Pakistan won that game with more than 27 overs to spare, obtaining one of the biggest wins in Pakistani history. In the final against India, he and Imran Khan shared five wickets. Akram's wickets included Dilip Vengsarkar and Ravi Shastri.
In the 1987 Cricket World Cup held for the 1st time in South Asia, Akram struggled on Pakistani pitches; he managed only 7 wickets throughout, with an average of over 40 runs per wicket across all 7 matches. Akram played West Indies, Sri Lanka and England twice. All group matches were played in Pakistan.
In the 1988–89 Benson and Hedges World Series, Akram managed figures of 4 for 25 against Australia.
Emergence
Akram took his hundredth wicket at Sharjah during the 1989–1990 Champions Trophy, the 2nd Match against West Indies. His 100th wicket was that of Curtly Ambrose. In that match, he took a five-wicket haul for the second time in his career. In the same match, Akram took his first hat-trick against West Indies. All three batsman were bowled out. On 4 May 1990 in Sharjah, Akram took his second ODI hat-trick against Australia. All three batsmen were bowled this time as well.
His best years in the late 1980s were from 1986 to 1989, during which time he took 100 wickets at 22.71 runs per wicket, and his economy rate was less than 3.9 runs per over, with a total of four 4-wicket hauls. His first two hauls against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh came in Sri Lanka in 1986.
Up until December 1991, Akram took 143 wickets in 107 matches, with an average of almost 24 and an economy rate of 3.84.
World's best
Akram was a significant figure in the 1992 Cricket World Cup held in Australia and New Zealand when Pakistan won the tournament. In the final, against England, his innings of 33 runs off 19 balls pushed Pakistan to a score of 249 runs for 6 wickets. Akram then took the wicket of Ian Botham early on during the English batting innings; and, when brought back into the bowling attack later on, with the ball reverse swinging, he produced a spell of bowling which led to Allan Lamb and Chris Lewis being bowled in successive deliveries in one over. His performances earned him the Man of the Match award for the final. In 1993, Akram took two consecutive 4-wicket hauls against Sri Lanka in Sharjah, in which 7 out of 8 wickets were either LBW or bowled.
In the 1992–1993 Total International Series in South Africa (involving Pakistan, West Indies and South Africa), he took 5 wickets against South Africa and got his 200th wicket in his 143rd match. Akram took 46 wickets in calendar year 1993, his best year ever in ODIs. His average was less than 19, with an economy rate of less than 3.8 runs per over. He took six 4-wicket hauls in 1993, the most by him in any year. In the 1996 Cricket World Cup, Akram missed the quarterfinal match against India which Pakistan lost and went out of the World Cup. Wasim's great career was often tainted by controversy, not least in the Caribbean in April 1993, his maiden tour as Pakistan's captain. During the team's stop-over in Grenada, he was arrested along with three teammates—Waqar Younis, Aaqib Javed and Mushtaq Ahmed—and two female British tourists; he was charged with possession of marijuana. Between 1994 and 1996, he took 84 wickets in 39 matches.
From January 1992 to December 1997, Akram played 131 matches and took 198 wickets at an average of 21.86, with 14 4-wicket hauls in ODIs.
Late career
In 1999, he led Pakistan to the finals of the World Cup where they capitulated and were defeated by Australia in the final by eight wickets with almost 30 overs to spare. This was the start of the match-fixing controversies, as critics believed Akram had set up the match for Australia. However, none of the allegations could be proved.
He was Pakistan's best bowler in the 2003 Cricket World Cup, taking 12 wickets in 6 matches. However, Pakistan failed to reach the super six of the tournament, and Akram was one of the eight players to be sacked by the Pakistan Cricket Board as a result.
Records
Akram won 17 Man-of-the-Match awards in 104 Tests. He took four hat-tricks in international cricket—two in ODIs and two in Tests. As a result, he shares the record for most international hat-tricks with Lasith Malinga. He finished with 22 Man-of-the-Match awards in ODIs. In 199 ODI match wins, he took 326 wickets at under 19 apiece with a run rate of 3.70 and took 18 four-wicket hauls. His 257 not-out against Zimbabwe in 1996 is the highest innings by a number-8 batsman in Tests. He hit 12 sixes in that game, and it stands to this day as the record for the most sixes by any player in a single Test innings.
Prior to his retirement, he was one of eight senior players dropped for the 2003 Sharjah Cup, and was then omitted from the Pakistan squad for the subsequent Bank Alfalah Cup triangular series. Due to his omission from the team, he did not participate in a farewell match. Akram fulfilled his contract play for Hampshire until the end of the English season.
Post retirement
Media career
Since retiring from cricket, Akram has worked and taken up commentary for television networks and can currently be seen as a sports commentator for ESPN Star Sports and ARY Digital among others. He did commentary on a variety of sporting tournaments including the 2009 Women's Cricket World Cup in Australia, the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 in England, the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa, and the 2011 ICC World Cup in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
Coaching career
In 2010, Akram was appointed the bowling coach consultant of Kolkata Knight Riders, the Indian Premier League team for Kolkata. Sourav Ganguly was always keen to have Akram as the bowling coach for India, during the former's stint as Indian captain. Although this never happened, his dreams were realised to some extent, when Akram was appointed as the bowling coach cum mentor for the franchise.
Akram has thus been playing a vital role in the grooming of Indian pacers like Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav, who owe their success in international cricket a lot to the bowling legend.
While working for the Kolkata Knight Riders, he was also responsible for the signing of Pakistani domestic left-arm fast-bowler Mohammad Irfan.
Akram has also been coaching in Pakistan fast bowling camps, his most notable discovery being the teenage Pakistani bowlers Mohammad Amir and Junaid Khan.
Akram has also worked as director and bowling coach of PSL franchise Islamabad United during 2016 and 2017 season. He has also worked with Multan Sultans as director and bowling coach. He is currently chairman and bowling coach of Karachi Kings. He is also currently the Vice President of Kashmir Premier League.
Playing style and legacy
During his professional career he bowled with genuine speed and hostility. Akram was a man possessed of accurate control of line and length, accompanied by seam and swing bowling skills, extended to both inswingers and outswingers. With a very quick bowling action, he could bowl equally well from both sides of the wicket. His mastery of reverse swing with the cricket ball meant he was at his most dangerous towards the end of a bowling innings, and earned him the nickname of one of the "Sultans of Swing", the other one being Waqar Younis.
As well as often being able to find the edge of the bat, Akram would also focus his bowling attack on the stumps and had a particularly lethal inswinging yorker. Of his 414 Test wickets, 193 were taken caught, 119 were taken leg before wicket and 102 were bowled. In partnership with Waqar Younis, he intimidated international batsmen in the 1990s. Together Wasim and Waqar, known as "the two Ws" of the Pakistani team, were one of the most successful bowling partnerships in cricket.
With the bat he was especially effective against spin bowlers. However, he liked to slog and was criticised for his lack of high scores and giving away his wicket too cheaply. In October 1996 he scored 257 runs not out, of the team's total of 553 against lowly Zimbabwe on a typical flat South Asian pitch at Sheikhupura. He also achieved good scores for the Pakistan team such as his scores of 123 and 45* against Australia to take Pakistan to victory in a low scoring match. His batting was also valuable sometimes to the Pakistan ODI side, such as in the Nehru Cup in 1989, when needing six runs and two balls to win the match, he hit the first delivery he faced, from part-time off-spinner and batting legend, Viv Richards, for a six and secured the cup.
West Indian batting great Viv Richards rates Akram as best fast bowler he ever faced after Dennis Lillee.
In December 2012 after Ricky Ponting announced his retirement he said that Wasim Akram and Curtly Ambrose were the toughest bowlers he had faced "Akram for the exact opposite, you could get a few runs off him, but you just knew there was an unplayable ball around the corner, be it with an old ball or with a new ball," – Ricky Ponting.
To mark 150 years of the Cricketers' Almanack, Wisden named him in an all-time Test World XI.
Beyond cricket
Book
He co-wrote his autobiography Wasim (1998) with the British sports journalist Patrick Murphy.
Modelling
Akram was a model at the Pantene Bridal Couture Week 2011, which was an event of Style 360.
Business
In 2018, Akram joined Cricingif as a stakeholder director.
Television
Films
Award and records
Akram was awarded Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1993 for his sporting achievements. He was awarded Lux Style Award for Most Stylish Sports Person in 2003.
In his Test career, Akram took 414 wickets in 104 matches, a Pakistani record, at an average of 23.62 and scored 2,898 runs, at an average of 22.64.
In One Day Internationals, Akram took 502 wickets in 356 appearances, at an average of 23.52 and scored 3,717 runs, at an average of 16.52.
Akram was the first bowler in international cricket to take more than 400 wickets in both forms of the game and only Muttiah Muralitharan has since achieved this.
Akram also held the record for the most wickets in Cricket World Cups, a total of 55 in 38 matches. Australia's Glenn McGrath broke the record during the 2007 Cricket World Cup, ending with a final tally of 71 from 39 matches. On passing Wasim's record, McGrath said, "Wasim Akram, to me, is one of the greatest bowlers of all time. Left-armer, swung it both ways with the new ball and he was so dangerous with the old ball. To go past him is something I will always remember. Probably the other side of the coin is that if you play long enough, you're going to break records here and there." He is currently the fourth highest wicket taker in world cups.
Akram is the only bowler to have achieved four hat-tricks in international cricket, with two each in Tests and One Day Internationals. He was the third of only four bowlers to have taken two Test cricket hat-tricks, the others being Hugh Trumble, Jimmy Matthews and Stuart Broad. Akram was also the first of only five bowlers to have taken two One Day International cricket hat-tricks. Akram's Test hat-tricks are significant, since they were taken in consecutive Test matches in the same series, a game played against Sri Lanka in the 1998-99 Asian Test Championship. Akram is also one of only two bowlers to have taken both a Test match and One Day International hat-trick, the other being Pakistan fast bowler, Mohammad Sami.
Playing in a Test series against the West Indies at Lahore in 1990–1991, he became one of only six players to have taken four wickets in an over during a Test match. In Akram's case, these achievement was not part of a hat-trick, the third ball he delivered to the batting opposition was a dropped catch, which allowed a single run.
Akram has also achieved the highest score by a number eight batsman in Test cricket when he scored 257 runs not out from 363 balls against Zimbabwe at Sheikhupura. The innings contained 12 sixes which is also a world record for Test cricket.
He also has the joint-third highest number of Man of the Match awards in Test cricket, with seventeen.
He has scored the second-highest number of runs in One Day International matches by a player who has never scored a One Day International hundred, after Misbah-ul-Haq. His highest score was 86 runs.
He is the only Test cricketer in the world (as of Feb 2013) to take ten or more wickets thrice in a test match and still end up on the losing side.
He holds the record for facing the most balls in a test match as well as in an innings as number 8 batsman (363 balls)
First bowler to take 500 ODI wickets and still holds the record for taking the most ODI wickets as seamer (502)
He holds the record for taking the most wickets in ODI history at a single ground (122, Sharjah Cricket Stadium), also the first person to grab 100+ ODI wickets at the same ground. Waqar Younis, the second person to grab 100+ ODI wickets at a single ground, also did in Sharjah. He ranks second overall with 114 wickets.
Holds the record for taking the most ODI wickets as captain (158)
Controversies
In 1992, after he had been successful against the English batsmen, accusations of ball tampering began to appear in the English media, though no video evidence of foul play was ever found. Akram and Younis had been able to obtain prodigious amounts of movement from both new and old cricket balls. The skill of the reverse swing delivery was relatively unknown in England and around the cricketing world during that period.
A far larger controversy was created when critics alleged that he was involved in match fixing. An inquiry commission was set up by the Pakistan Cricket Board headed by a Pakistan high court judge, Malik Mohammad Qayyum. The judge wrote in his report that:
References
External links
Pakistan One Day International cricketers
Pakistan Test cricketers
Pakistan Test cricket captains
Pakistani cricket captains
Hampshire cricketers
Lancashire cricketers
Lancashire cricket captains
Pakistan Automobiles Corporation cricketers
Pakistan International Airlines cricketers
Wisden Cricketers of the Year
Wisden Leading Cricketers in the World
Test cricket hat-trick takers
One Day International hat-trick takers
Pakistani cricket commentators
Cricketers at the 1987 Cricket World Cup
Cricketers at the 1992 Cricket World Cup
Cricketers at the 1996 Cricket World Cup
Cricketers at the 1999 Cricket World Cup
Cricketers at the 2003 Cricket World Cup
1966 births
Living people
Pakistani sports broadcasters
Punjabi people
Cricketers from Lahore
Recipients of the Pride of Performance
Pakistani cricketers
Lahore City cricketers
Lahore City Whites cricketers
People from Karachi
Indian Premier League coaches
Government Islamia College alumni
Pakistan Super League coaches
Pakistani cricket coaches
Pakistani television hosts
M Parkinson's World XI cricketers
Recipients of Hilal-i-Imtiaz
People with type 1 diabetes | true | [
"2017 is the first year in the history of Legacy Fighting Alliance, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States.\n\nEvent list\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 1: Peterson vs. Higo\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 1: Peterson vs. Higo was the inaugural event of Legacy Fighting Alliance and took place on January 13, 2017 after the merger of Legacy Fighting Championship and Resurrection Fighting Alliance. It aired on AXS TV.\n\nResults\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 2: Richman vs. Stojadinovic\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 2: Richman vs. Stojadinovic was the second event of Legacy Fighting Alliance and took place on January 20, 2017. It aired on AXS TV.\n \nResults\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 3: Spann vs. Giles\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 3: Spann vs. Giles was the third event of Legacy Fighting Alliance and took place on February 10, 2017. It aired on AXS TV.\n \nResults\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 4: Aguilar vs. Jackson\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 4: Aguilar vs. Jackson was the fourth event of Legacy Fighting Alliance and took place on February 17, 2017. It aired on AXS TV.\n \nResults\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 5: Edwards vs. Townsend\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 5: Edwards vs. Townsend was the fifth event of Legacy Fighting Alliance and took place on February 24, 2017. It aired on AXS TV.\n \nResults\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 6: Junior vs. Rodriguez\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 6: Junior vs. Rodriguez was the sixth event of Legacy Fighting Alliance and took place on March 10, 2017. It aired on AXS TV.\n \nResults\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 7: Sanchez vs. Mai\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 7: Sanchez vs. Mai was the seventh event of Legacy Fighting Alliance and took place on March 24, 2017. It aired on AXS TV.\n \nResults\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 8: Hamilton vs. Bazzi\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 8: Hamilton vs. Bazzi was the eighth event of Legacy Fighting Alliance and took place on April 7, 2017 at the TD Convention Center. It aired on AXS TV.\n \nResults\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 9: Dennis vs. Marques\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 9: Dennis vs. Marques was the ninth event of Legacy Fighting Alliance and took place on April 14, 2017. It aired on AXS TV.\n \nResults\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 10: Heinisch vs. Rota\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 10: Heinisch vs. Rota was the tenth event of Legacy Fighting Alliance and took place on April 21, 2017. It aired on AXS TV.\n \nResults\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance Fight Night 1: Sioux Falls\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance Fight Night 1: Sioux Falls was the eleventh event of Legacy Fighting Alliance and took place on April 29, 2017. It aired on AXS TV.\n \nResults\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 11: Frincu vs. Mendonça\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 11: Frincu vs. Mendonça was the twelfth event of Legacy Fighting Alliance and took place on May 5, 2017. It aired on AXS TV.\n \nResults\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 12: Krantz vs. Neumann\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 12: Krantz vs. Neumann was the thirteenth event of Legacy Fighting Alliance and took place on May 19, 2017. It aired on AXS TV.\n \nResults\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 13: Millender vs. Holland\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 13: Millender vs. Holland was the fourteenth event of Legacy Fighting Alliance and took place on June 2, 2017. It aired on AXS TV.\n \nResults\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 14: Allen vs. Anders\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 14: Allen vs. Anders was the fifteenth event of Legacy Fighting Alliance and took place on June 23, 2017. It aired on AXS TV.\n \nResults\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 15: Odoms vs. Vanderaa\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 15: Odoms vs. Vanderaa was the sixteenth event of Legacy Fighting Alliance and took place on June 30, 2017. It aired on AXS TV.\n \nResults\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 16: Bedford vs. Flick\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 16: Bedford vs. Flick was the seventeenth event of Legacy Fighting Alliance and took place on July 14, 2017. It aired on AXS TV.\n \nResults\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 17: Moisés vs. Watley\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 17: Moisés vs. Watley was the eighteenth event of Legacy Fighting Alliance and took place on July 21, 2017. It aired on AXS TV.\n \nResults\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 18: Aguilar vs. Rader\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 18: Aguilar vs. Rader was the nineteenth event of Legacy Fighting Alliance and took place on August 4, 2017. It aired on AXS TV.\n \nResults\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 19: Michaud vs. Rodrigues\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 19: Michaud vs. Rodrigues was the twentieth event of Legacy Fighting Alliance and took place on August 18, 2017. It aired on AXS TV.\n \nResults\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 20: Curry vs. Barnes\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 20: Curry vs. Barnes was the twenty-first event of Legacy Fighting Alliance and took place on August 25, 2017. It aired on AXS TV.\n \nResults\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 21: Noblitt vs. Branjão\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 21: Noblitt vs. Branjão was the twenty-second event of Legacy Fighting Alliance and took place on September 1, 2017. It aired on AXS TV.\n \nResults\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 22: Heinisch vs. Perez\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 22: Heinisch vs. Perez was the twenty-third event of Legacy Fighting Alliance and took place on September 8, 2017. It aired on AXS TV.\n \nResults\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 23: Krantz vs. Nakashima\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 23: Krantz vs. Nakashima was the twenty-fourth event of Legacy Fighting Alliance and took place on September 22, 2017. It aired on AXS TV.\n \nResults\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 24: Frincu vs. Millender\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 24: Frincu vs. Millender was the twenty-fifth event of Legacy Fighting Alliance and took place on October 13, 2017. It aired on AXS TV.\n \nResults\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 25: Cochrane vs. Rodrigues\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 25: Cochrane vs. Rodrigues was the twenty-sixth event of Legacy Fighting Alliance and took place on October 20, 2017. It aired on AXS TV.\n \nResults\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 26: Odoms vs. Hughes\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 26: Odoms vs. Hughes was the twenty-seventh event of Legacy Fighting Alliance and took place on November 3, 2017. It aired on AXS TV.\n \nResults\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 27: Watley vs. Wilson\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 27: Watley vs. Wilson was the twenty-eighth event of Legacy Fighting Alliance and took place on November 10, 2017. It aired on AXS TV.\n \nResults\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 28: Jackson vs. Luna\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 28: Jackson vs. Luna was the twenty-ninth event of Legacy Fighting Alliance and took place on December 8, 2017. It aired on AXS TV.\n \nResults\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 29: Camus vs. Simon\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 29: Camus vs. Simon was the thirtieth event of Legacy Fighting Alliance and took on December 15, 2017. It aired on AXS TV.\n \nResults\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nhttp://www.lfafighting.com\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance\n2017 in mixed martial arts",
"2018 is the second year in the history of Legacy Fighting Alliance, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States.\n\nEvent list\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 30: Millender vs. Barnes\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 30: Millender vs. Barnes was the thirty-first event of Legacy Fighting Alliance and took place on January 12, 2018. It aired on AXS TV.\n \nResults\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 31: Moffett vs. Le\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 31: Moffett vs. Le was the thirty-second event of Legacy Fighting Alliance and took place on January 19, 2018. It aired on AXS TV.\n \nResults\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 32: Allen vs. Hernandez\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 32: Allen vs. Hernandez was the thirty-third event of Legacy Fighting Alliance and took place on January 26, 2018. It aired on AXS TV.\n \nResults\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 33: Willis vs. Stewart\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 33: Willis vs. Stewart was the thirty-fourth event of Legacy Fighting Alliance and took place on February 16, 2018. It aired on AXS TV.\n \nResults\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 34: Watley vs. Jenkins\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 34: Watley vs. Jenkins was the thirty-fifth event of Legacy Fighting Alliance and took place on March 2, 2018. It aired on AXS TV.\n \nResults\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 35: Newell vs. Luque\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 35: Newell vs. Luque was the thirty-sixth event of Legacy Fighting Alliance and took place on March 9, 2018. It aired on AXS TV.\n \nResults\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 36: Simon vs. Zani\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 36: Simon vs. Zani was the thirty-seventh event of Legacy Fighting Alliance and took place on March 23, 2018. It aired on AXS TV.\n \nResults\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 37: Bice vs. Perez\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 37: Bice vs. Perez was the thirty-eighth event of Legacy Fighting Alliance and took place on April 20, 2018. It aired on AXS TV.\n \nResults\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 38: Hughes vs. Greene\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 38: Hughes vs. Greene was the thirty-ninth event of Legacy Fighting Alliance and took place on April 27, 2018. It aired on AXS TV.\n \nResults\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 39: Heinisch vs. Checco\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 39: Heinisch vs. Checco was the fortieth event of Legacy Fighting Alliance and took place on May 4, 2018. It aired on AXS TV.\n \nResults\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 40: Aguilar vs. Le\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 40: Aguilar vs. Le was the forty-first event of Legacy Fighting Alliance and took place on May 25, 2018. It aired on AXS TV.\n \nResults\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 41: Moisés vs. Peterson\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 41: Moisés vs. Peterson was the forty-second event of Legacy Fighting Alliance and took place on June 1, 2018. It aired on AXS TV.\n \nResults\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 42: Krantz vs. Kayne\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 42: Krantz vs. Kayne was the forty-third event of Legacy Fighting Alliance and took place on June 8, 2018. It aired on AXS TV.\n \nResults\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 43: Allen vs. Crowe\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 43: Allen vs. Crowe was the forty-fourth event of Legacy Fighting Alliance and took place on June 22, 2018. It aired on AXS TV.\n \nResults\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 44: Frincu vs. Aguilera\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 44: Frincu vs. Aguilera was the forty-fifth event of Legacy Fighting Alliance and took place on June 29, 2018. It aired on AXS TV.\n \nResults\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 45: Silva vs. Barnes\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 45: Silva vs. Barnes was the forty-sixth event of Legacy Fighting Alliance and took place on July 20, 2018. It aired on AXS TV.\n \nResults\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 46: Nakashima vs. Stewart\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 46: Nakashima vs. Stewart was the forty-seventh event of Legacy Fighting Alliance and took place on July 27, 2018. It aired on AXS TV.\n \nResults\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 47: Jackson vs. Jennerman\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 47: Jackson vs. Jennerman was the forty-eighth event of Legacy Fighting Alliance and took place on August 10, 2018. It aired on AXS TV.\n \nResults\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 48: Stots vs. Lilley\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 48: Stots vs. Lilley was the forty-ninth event of Legacy Fighting Alliance and took place on September 7, 2018. It aired on AXS TV.\n \nResults\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 49: Brady vs. Urbina\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 49: Brady vs. Urbina was the fiftieth event of Legacy Fighting Alliance and took place on September 14, 2018. It aired on AXS TV.\n \nResults\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 50: Allen vs. Hiley\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 50: Allen vs. Hiley was the fifty-first event of Legacy Fighting Alliance and took place on September 21, 2018. It aired on AXS TV.\n \nResults\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 51: Gibson vs. Erak\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 51: Gibson vs. Erak was the fifty-second event of Legacy Fighting Alliance and took place on September 28, 2018. It aired on AXS TV.\n \nResults\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 52: Rodriguez vs. Gutierrez\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 52: Rodriguez vs. Gutierrez was the fifty-third event of Legacy Fighting Alliance and took place on October 19, 2018. It aired on AXS TV.\n \nResults\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 53: Royval vs. Kenney\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 53: Royval vs. Kenney was the fifty-fourth event of Legacy Fighting Alliance and took place on November 9, 2018. It aired on AXS TV.\n \nResults\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 54: Mazo vs. Yariwaki\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 54: Mazo vs. Yariwaki was the fifty-fifth event of Legacy Fighting Alliance and took place on November 16, 2018. It aired on AXS TV.\n \nResults\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 55: Johns vs. Yanez\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 55: Johns vs. Yanez was the fifty-sixth event of Legacy Fighting Alliance and took place on November 30, 2018. It aired on AXS TV.\n \nResults\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 56: Hubbard vs. Mota\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance 56: Hubbard vs. Mota was the fifty-seventh event of Legacy Fighting Alliance and took place on December 7, 2018. It aired on AXS TV.\n \nResults\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nhttp://www.lfafighting.com\n\nLegacy Fighting Alliance\n2018 in mixed martial arts"
] | [
"Wasim Akram (born 3 June 1966) is a Pakistani cricket commentator, coach, and former cricketer and captain of the Pakistan national cricket team. Akram is widely regarded as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time and several critics regard him as the greatest left arm fast bowler of cricket history. In October 2013, Wasim Akram was the only Pakistani cricketer to be named in an all-time Test World XI to mark the 150th anniversary of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack.",
"In October 2013, Wasim Akram was the only Pakistani cricketer to be named in an all-time Test World XI to mark the 150th anniversary of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack. A left arm fast bowler who could bowl with significant pace, he holds the world record for most wickets in List A cricket, with 881, and he is second only to Sri Lankan off-spin bowler Muttiah Muralitharan in terms of ODI wickets, with 502 in total.",
"A left arm fast bowler who could bowl with significant pace, he holds the world record for most wickets in List A cricket, with 881, and he is second only to Sri Lankan off-spin bowler Muttiah Muralitharan in terms of ODI wickets, with 502 in total. He is considered to be one of the founders, and perhaps the finest exponent of, reverse swing bowling. He was the first bowler to reach the 500-wicket mark in ODI cricket during the 2003 World Cup.",
"He was the first bowler to reach the 500-wicket mark in ODI cricket during the 2003 World Cup. In 2002, Wisden released its only list of best players of all time. Wasim was ranked as the best bowler in ODI of all time, with a rating of 1223.5, ahead of Allan Donald, Imran Khan, Waqar Younis, Joel Garner, Glenn McGrath and Muralitharan. Wasim took 23 four-wicket hauls in 356 ODI matches played.",
"Wasim took 23 four-wicket hauls in 356 ODI matches played. On 30 September 2009, Akram was one of five new members inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. He was the bowling coach of Kolkata Knight Riders. However, he took a break from the position for IPL 6, citing a need to spend more time with family in Karachi, and he took a further break from IPL 2017; and was replaced by Lakshmipathy Balaji.",
"However, he took a break from the position for IPL 6, citing a need to spend more time with family in Karachi, and he took a further break from IPL 2017; and was replaced by Lakshmipathy Balaji. He was working as director and bowling coach of Islamabad United in Pakistan Super League, until he left to join Multan Sultans in August 2017. In October 2018, he was named in the Pakistan Cricket Board's seven-member advisory cricket committee.",
"In October 2018, he was named in the Pakistan Cricket Board's seven-member advisory cricket committee. In November 2018, he joined PSL franchise, Karachi Kings, as a President. The Government of Pakistan awarded him the Hilal-e-Imtiaz on 23 March 2019 for his life time achievements In field of Cricket. Early and personal life Wasim Akram was born on 3 June 1966 to a Punjabi family in Lahore.",
"Early and personal life Wasim Akram was born on 3 June 1966 to a Punjabi family in Lahore. Akram's father, Chaudhary Muhammed Akram, was originally from a village near Amritsar, who moved to Kamonki, in the Pakistani Punjab after the partition of India in 1947. He was educated at Government Islamia College, Civil Lines, Lahore. At the age of 30, Akram was diagnosed with diabetes.",
"At the age of 30, Akram was diagnosed with diabetes. \"I remember what a shock it was because I was a healthy sportsman with no history of diabetes in my family, so I didn't expect it at all. It seemed strange that it happened to me when I was 30, but it was a very stressful time and doctors said that can trigger it.\" Since then he has sought to be involved in various awareness campaigns for diabetes. Akram married Huma Mufti in 1995.",
"Akram married Huma Mufti in 1995. Akram married Huma Mufti in 1995. They had two sons from their marriage of 14 years: Tahmoor (born 1996) and Akbar (born 2000). Huma died of multiple organ failure at Apollo Hospital in Chennai, India, on 25 October 2009. On 7 July 2013, it was reported that Akram had become engaged to an Australian woman, Shaniera Thompson, whom he had met while on a visit to Melbourne in 2011.",
"On 7 July 2013, it was reported that Akram had become engaged to an Australian woman, Shaniera Thompson, whom he had met while on a visit to Melbourne in 2011. Akram married Shaniera on 12 August 2013, saying he has started a new life on a happy note. He was quoted as saying: \"I married Shaniera in Lahore in a simple ceremony, and this is the start of a new life for me, my wife, and for my kids.\"",
"He was quoted as saying: \"I married Shaniera in Lahore in a simple ceremony, and this is the start of a new life for me, my wife, and for my kids.\" He moved from Lahore to Karachi with his wife and children. On 3 September 2014, the couple tweeted that they were expecting their first baby—the third child of the Akram family. On 27 December 2014, Shaniera gave birth to a baby girl, Aiyla Sabeen Rose Akram, in Melbourne.",
"On 27 December 2014, Shaniera gave birth to a baby girl, Aiyla Sabeen Rose Akram, in Melbourne. Domestic career In 1988, Akram signed for Lancashire County Cricket Club in England. From 1988 to 1998, he opened their bowling attack in their NatWest Trophy, Benson and Hedges Cup, and Sunday League tournaments. He was a favourite of the local British fans, who used to sing a song called \"Wasim for England\" at Lancashire's matches.",
"He was a favourite of the local British fans, who used to sing a song called \"Wasim for England\" at Lancashire's matches. In 1998, with Akram as captain, Lancashire won the NatWest Trophy and Sunday League and finished second in the County Championship, having lost only five matches in all competitions during the season. International career Test cricket Akram made his Test cricket debut for Pakistan against New Zealand in 1985, and in his second Test match, he claimed 10 wickets.",
"International career Test cricket Akram made his Test cricket debut for Pakistan against New Zealand in 1985, and in his second Test match, he claimed 10 wickets. A few weeks prior to his selection into the Pakistan team, he was an unknown club cricketer who had failed to make it even to his college team. He came to the trials at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore in Pakistan, but for the first two days he did not get a chance to bowl.",
"He came to the trials at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore in Pakistan, but for the first two days he did not get a chance to bowl. On the third day, he got a chance; his performance convincing Javed Miandad to insist upon his inclusion in the national team. Akram was hence given an opportunity to play for Pakistan, without any significant domestic experience. Akram's rise in international cricket was rapid during the late 1980s. He was a part of the Pakistan team that toured the West Indies in 1988.",
"He was a part of the Pakistan team that toured the West Indies in 1988. However, a groin injury impeded his career in the late 1980s. Following two surgeries, he re-emerged in the 1990s as a fast bowler who focused more on swing and accurate bowling. Wasim Akram is currently the highest wicket taker for Pakistan in test cricket with 414 wickets. One Day International Akram started his ODI career against New Zealand in Pakistan in 1984 under the captaincy of Zaheer Abbas.",
"One Day International Akram started his ODI career against New Zealand in Pakistan in 1984 under the captaincy of Zaheer Abbas. He rose to prominence by taking five wickets in his 3rd ODI against Australia in the 1985 Benson & Hedges World Championship. His wickets included those of Kepler Wessels, Dean Jones, and captain Allan Border.",
"His wickets included those of Kepler Wessels, Dean Jones, and captain Allan Border. Wasim Akram is currently the highest wicket taker for Pakistan in One Day International cricket Early days In the 1984–85 Rothmans Four-Nations Cup and the 1985–86 Rothmans Sharjah Cup, Akram took five wickets with a run rate of less than 3.50. The 1985–1986 Austral-Asia Cup involved Australia, India, New Zealand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and was played in Sharjah, UAE.",
"The 1985–1986 Austral-Asia Cup involved Australia, India, New Zealand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and was played in Sharjah, UAE. Akram, with the help of Abdul Qadir, bowled out New Zealand's batting line-up for 64 in the second semi-final of the cup. Pakistan won that game with more than 27 overs to spare, obtaining one of the biggest wins in Pakistani history. In the final against India, he and Imran Khan shared five wickets. Akram's wickets included Dilip Vengsarkar and Ravi Shastri.",
"Akram's wickets included Dilip Vengsarkar and Ravi Shastri. Akram's wickets included Dilip Vengsarkar and Ravi Shastri. In the 1987 Cricket World Cup held for the 1st time in South Asia, Akram struggled on Pakistani pitches; he managed only 7 wickets throughout, with an average of over 40 runs per wicket across all 7 matches. Akram played West Indies, Sri Lanka and England twice. All group matches were played in Pakistan. In the 1988–89 Benson and Hedges World Series, Akram managed figures of 4 for 25 against Australia.",
"In the 1988–89 Benson and Hedges World Series, Akram managed figures of 4 for 25 against Australia. Emergence Akram took his hundredth wicket at Sharjah during the 1989–1990 Champions Trophy, the 2nd Match against West Indies. His 100th wicket was that of Curtly Ambrose. In that match, he took a five-wicket haul for the second time in his career. In the same match, Akram took his first hat-trick against West Indies. All three batsman were bowled out.",
"All three batsman were bowled out. All three batsman were bowled out. On 4 May 1990 in Sharjah, Akram took his second ODI hat-trick against Australia. All three batsmen were bowled this time as well. His best years in the late 1980s were from 1986 to 1989, during which time he took 100 wickets at 22.71 runs per wicket, and his economy rate was less than 3.9 runs per over, with a total of four 4-wicket hauls.",
"His best years in the late 1980s were from 1986 to 1989, during which time he took 100 wickets at 22.71 runs per wicket, and his economy rate was less than 3.9 runs per over, with a total of four 4-wicket hauls. His first two hauls against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh came in Sri Lanka in 1986. Up until December 1991, Akram took 143 wickets in 107 matches, with an average of almost 24 and an economy rate of 3.84.",
"Up until December 1991, Akram took 143 wickets in 107 matches, with an average of almost 24 and an economy rate of 3.84. World's best Akram was a significant figure in the 1992 Cricket World Cup held in Australia and New Zealand when Pakistan won the tournament. In the final, against England, his innings of 33 runs off 19 balls pushed Pakistan to a score of 249 runs for 6 wickets.",
"In the final, against England, his innings of 33 runs off 19 balls pushed Pakistan to a score of 249 runs for 6 wickets. Akram then took the wicket of Ian Botham early on during the English batting innings; and, when brought back into the bowling attack later on, with the ball reverse swinging, he produced a spell of bowling which led to Allan Lamb and Chris Lewis being bowled in successive deliveries in one over. His performances earned him the Man of the Match award for the final.",
"His performances earned him the Man of the Match award for the final. In 1993, Akram took two consecutive 4-wicket hauls against Sri Lanka in Sharjah, in which 7 out of 8 wickets were either LBW or bowled. In the 1992–1993 Total International Series in South Africa (involving Pakistan, West Indies and South Africa), he took 5 wickets against South Africa and got his 200th wicket in his 143rd match. Akram took 46 wickets in calendar year 1993, his best year ever in ODIs.",
"Akram took 46 wickets in calendar year 1993, his best year ever in ODIs. His average was less than 19, with an economy rate of less than 3.8 runs per over. He took six 4-wicket hauls in 1993, the most by him in any year. In the 1996 Cricket World Cup, Akram missed the quarterfinal match against India which Pakistan lost and went out of the World Cup.",
"In the 1996 Cricket World Cup, Akram missed the quarterfinal match against India which Pakistan lost and went out of the World Cup. Wasim's great career was often tainted by controversy, not least in the Caribbean in April 1993, his maiden tour as Pakistan's captain. During the team's stop-over in Grenada, he was arrested along with three teammates—Waqar Younis, Aaqib Javed and Mushtaq Ahmed—and two female British tourists; he was charged with possession of marijuana. Between 1994 and 1996, he took 84 wickets in 39 matches.",
"Between 1994 and 1996, he took 84 wickets in 39 matches. From January 1992 to December 1997, Akram played 131 matches and took 198 wickets at an average of 21.86, with 14 4-wicket hauls in ODIs. Late career In 1999, he led Pakistan to the finals of the World Cup where they capitulated and were defeated by Australia in the final by eight wickets with almost 30 overs to spare. This was the start of the match-fixing controversies, as critics believed Akram had set up the match for Australia.",
"This was the start of the match-fixing controversies, as critics believed Akram had set up the match for Australia. However, none of the allegations could be proved. He was Pakistan's best bowler in the 2003 Cricket World Cup, taking 12 wickets in 6 matches. However, Pakistan failed to reach the super six of the tournament, and Akram was one of the eight players to be sacked by the Pakistan Cricket Board as a result. Records Akram won 17 Man-of-the-Match awards in 104 Tests.",
"Records Akram won 17 Man-of-the-Match awards in 104 Tests. Records Akram won 17 Man-of-the-Match awards in 104 Tests. He took four hat-tricks in international cricket—two in ODIs and two in Tests. As a result, he shares the record for most international hat-tricks with Lasith Malinga. He finished with 22 Man-of-the-Match awards in ODIs. In 199 ODI match wins, he took 326 wickets at under 19 apiece with a run rate of 3.70 and took 18 four-wicket hauls.",
"In 199 ODI match wins, he took 326 wickets at under 19 apiece with a run rate of 3.70 and took 18 four-wicket hauls. His 257 not-out against Zimbabwe in 1996 is the highest innings by a number-8 batsman in Tests. He hit 12 sixes in that game, and it stands to this day as the record for the most sixes by any player in a single Test innings.",
"He hit 12 sixes in that game, and it stands to this day as the record for the most sixes by any player in a single Test innings. Prior to his retirement, he was one of eight senior players dropped for the 2003 Sharjah Cup, and was then omitted from the Pakistan squad for the subsequent Bank Alfalah Cup triangular series. Due to his omission from the team, he did not participate in a farewell match. Akram fulfilled his contract play for Hampshire until the end of the English season.",
"Akram fulfilled his contract play for Hampshire until the end of the English season. Post retirement Media career Since retiring from cricket, Akram has worked and taken up commentary for television networks and can currently be seen as a sports commentator for ESPN Star Sports and ARY Digital among others.",
"Post retirement Media career Since retiring from cricket, Akram has worked and taken up commentary for television networks and can currently be seen as a sports commentator for ESPN Star Sports and ARY Digital among others. He did commentary on a variety of sporting tournaments including the 2009 Women's Cricket World Cup in Australia, the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 in England, the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa, and the 2011 ICC World Cup in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.",
"He did commentary on a variety of sporting tournaments including the 2009 Women's Cricket World Cup in Australia, the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 in England, the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa, and the 2011 ICC World Cup in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Coaching career In 2010, Akram was appointed the bowling coach consultant of Kolkata Knight Riders, the Indian Premier League team for Kolkata. Sourav Ganguly was always keen to have Akram as the bowling coach for India, during the former's stint as Indian captain.",
"Sourav Ganguly was always keen to have Akram as the bowling coach for India, during the former's stint as Indian captain. Although this never happened, his dreams were realised to some extent, when Akram was appointed as the bowling coach cum mentor for the franchise. Akram has thus been playing a vital role in the grooming of Indian pacers like Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav, who owe their success in international cricket a lot to the bowling legend.",
"Akram has thus been playing a vital role in the grooming of Indian pacers like Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav, who owe their success in international cricket a lot to the bowling legend. While working for the Kolkata Knight Riders, he was also responsible for the signing of Pakistani domestic left-arm fast-bowler Mohammad Irfan. Akram has also been coaching in Pakistan fast bowling camps, his most notable discovery being the teenage Pakistani bowlers Mohammad Amir and Junaid Khan.",
"Akram has also been coaching in Pakistan fast bowling camps, his most notable discovery being the teenage Pakistani bowlers Mohammad Amir and Junaid Khan. Akram has also worked as director and bowling coach of PSL franchise Islamabad United during 2016 and 2017 season. He has also worked with Multan Sultans as director and bowling coach. He is currently chairman and bowling coach of Karachi Kings. He is also currently the Vice President of Kashmir Premier League. Playing style and legacy During his professional career he bowled with genuine speed and hostility.",
"Playing style and legacy During his professional career he bowled with genuine speed and hostility. Akram was a man possessed of accurate control of line and length, accompanied by seam and swing bowling skills, extended to both inswingers and outswingers. With a very quick bowling action, he could bowl equally well from both sides of the wicket.",
"With a very quick bowling action, he could bowl equally well from both sides of the wicket. His mastery of reverse swing with the cricket ball meant he was at his most dangerous towards the end of a bowling innings, and earned him the nickname of one of the \"Sultans of Swing\", the other one being Waqar Younis. As well as often being able to find the edge of the bat, Akram would also focus his bowling attack on the stumps and had a particularly lethal inswinging yorker.",
"As well as often being able to find the edge of the bat, Akram would also focus his bowling attack on the stumps and had a particularly lethal inswinging yorker. Of his 414 Test wickets, 193 were taken caught, 119 were taken leg before wicket and 102 were bowled. In partnership with Waqar Younis, he intimidated international batsmen in the 1990s. Together Wasim and Waqar, known as \"the two Ws\" of the Pakistani team, were one of the most successful bowling partnerships in cricket.",
"Together Wasim and Waqar, known as \"the two Ws\" of the Pakistani team, were one of the most successful bowling partnerships in cricket. With the bat he was especially effective against spin bowlers. However, he liked to slog and was criticised for his lack of high scores and giving away his wicket too cheaply. In October 1996 he scored 257 runs not out, of the team's total of 553 against lowly Zimbabwe on a typical flat South Asian pitch at Sheikhupura.",
"In October 1996 he scored 257 runs not out, of the team's total of 553 against lowly Zimbabwe on a typical flat South Asian pitch at Sheikhupura. He also achieved good scores for the Pakistan team such as his scores of 123 and 45* against Australia to take Pakistan to victory in a low scoring match.",
"He also achieved good scores for the Pakistan team such as his scores of 123 and 45* against Australia to take Pakistan to victory in a low scoring match. His batting was also valuable sometimes to the Pakistan ODI side, such as in the Nehru Cup in 1989, when needing six runs and two balls to win the match, he hit the first delivery he faced, from part-time off-spinner and batting legend, Viv Richards, for a six and secured the cup.",
"His batting was also valuable sometimes to the Pakistan ODI side, such as in the Nehru Cup in 1989, when needing six runs and two balls to win the match, he hit the first delivery he faced, from part-time off-spinner and batting legend, Viv Richards, for a six and secured the cup. West Indian batting great Viv Richards rates Akram as best fast bowler he ever faced after Dennis Lillee.",
"West Indian batting great Viv Richards rates Akram as best fast bowler he ever faced after Dennis Lillee. In December 2012 after Ricky Ponting announced his retirement he said that Wasim Akram and Curtly Ambrose were the toughest bowlers he had faced \"Akram for the exact opposite, you could get a few runs off him, but you just knew there was an unplayable ball around the corner, be it with an old ball or with a new ball,\" – Ricky Ponting.",
"In December 2012 after Ricky Ponting announced his retirement he said that Wasim Akram and Curtly Ambrose were the toughest bowlers he had faced \"Akram for the exact opposite, you could get a few runs off him, but you just knew there was an unplayable ball around the corner, be it with an old ball or with a new ball,\" – Ricky Ponting. To mark 150 years of the Cricketers' Almanack, Wisden named him in an all-time Test World XI.",
"To mark 150 years of the Cricketers' Almanack, Wisden named him in an all-time Test World XI. Beyond cricket Book He co-wrote his autobiography Wasim (1998) with the British sports journalist Patrick Murphy. Modelling Akram was a model at the Pantene Bridal Couture Week 2011, which was an event of Style 360. Business In 2018, Akram joined Cricingif as a stakeholder director. Television Films Award and records Akram was awarded Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1993 for his sporting achievements.",
"Television Films Award and records Akram was awarded Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1993 for his sporting achievements. He was awarded Lux Style Award for Most Stylish Sports Person in 2003. In his Test career, Akram took 414 wickets in 104 matches, a Pakistani record, at an average of 23.62 and scored 2,898 runs, at an average of 22.64. In One Day Internationals, Akram took 502 wickets in 356 appearances, at an average of 23.52 and scored 3,717 runs, at an average of 16.52.",
"In One Day Internationals, Akram took 502 wickets in 356 appearances, at an average of 23.52 and scored 3,717 runs, at an average of 16.52. Akram was the first bowler in international cricket to take more than 400 wickets in both forms of the game and only Muttiah Muralitharan has since achieved this. Akram also held the record for the most wickets in Cricket World Cups, a total of 55 in 38 matches.",
"Akram also held the record for the most wickets in Cricket World Cups, a total of 55 in 38 matches. Australia's Glenn McGrath broke the record during the 2007 Cricket World Cup, ending with a final tally of 71 from 39 matches. On passing Wasim's record, McGrath said, \"Wasim Akram, to me, is one of the greatest bowlers of all time. Left-armer, swung it both ways with the new ball and he was so dangerous with the old ball.",
"Left-armer, swung it both ways with the new ball and he was so dangerous with the old ball. To go past him is something I will always remember. Probably the other side of the coin is that if you play long enough, you're going to break records here and there.\" He is currently the fourth highest wicket taker in world cups. Akram is the only bowler to have achieved four hat-tricks in international cricket, with two each in Tests and One Day Internationals.",
"Akram is the only bowler to have achieved four hat-tricks in international cricket, with two each in Tests and One Day Internationals. He was the third of only four bowlers to have taken two Test cricket hat-tricks, the others being Hugh Trumble, Jimmy Matthews and Stuart Broad. Akram was also the first of only five bowlers to have taken two One Day International cricket hat-tricks.",
"Akram was also the first of only five bowlers to have taken two One Day International cricket hat-tricks. Akram's Test hat-tricks are significant, since they were taken in consecutive Test matches in the same series, a game played against Sri Lanka in the 1998-99 Asian Test Championship. Akram is also one of only two bowlers to have taken both a Test match and One Day International hat-trick, the other being Pakistan fast bowler, Mohammad Sami.",
"Akram is also one of only two bowlers to have taken both a Test match and One Day International hat-trick, the other being Pakistan fast bowler, Mohammad Sami. Playing in a Test series against the West Indies at Lahore in 1990–1991, he became one of only six players to have taken four wickets in an over during a Test match. In Akram's case, these achievement was not part of a hat-trick, the third ball he delivered to the batting opposition was a dropped catch, which allowed a single run.",
"In Akram's case, these achievement was not part of a hat-trick, the third ball he delivered to the batting opposition was a dropped catch, which allowed a single run. Akram has also achieved the highest score by a number eight batsman in Test cricket when he scored 257 runs not out from 363 balls against Zimbabwe at Sheikhupura. The innings contained 12 sixes which is also a world record for Test cricket. He also has the joint-third highest number of Man of the Match awards in Test cricket, with seventeen.",
"He also has the joint-third highest number of Man of the Match awards in Test cricket, with seventeen. He has scored the second-highest number of runs in One Day International matches by a player who has never scored a One Day International hundred, after Misbah-ul-Haq. His highest score was 86 runs. He is the only Test cricketer in the world (as of Feb 2013) to take ten or more wickets thrice in a test match and still end up on the losing side.",
"He is the only Test cricketer in the world (as of Feb 2013) to take ten or more wickets thrice in a test match and still end up on the losing side. He holds the record for facing the most balls in a test match as well as in an innings as number 8 batsman (363 balls) First bowler to take 500 ODI wickets and still holds the record for taking the most ODI wickets as seamer (502) He holds the record for taking the most wickets in ODI history at a single ground (122, Sharjah Cricket Stadium), also the first person to grab 100+ ODI wickets at the same ground.",
"He holds the record for facing the most balls in a test match as well as in an innings as number 8 batsman (363 balls) First bowler to take 500 ODI wickets and still holds the record for taking the most ODI wickets as seamer (502) He holds the record for taking the most wickets in ODI history at a single ground (122, Sharjah Cricket Stadium), also the first person to grab 100+ ODI wickets at the same ground. Waqar Younis, the second person to grab 100+ ODI wickets at a single ground, also did in Sharjah.",
"Waqar Younis, the second person to grab 100+ ODI wickets at a single ground, also did in Sharjah. He ranks second overall with 114 wickets. Holds the record for taking the most ODI wickets as captain (158) Controversies In 1992, after he had been successful against the English batsmen, accusations of ball tampering began to appear in the English media, though no video evidence of foul play was ever found. Akram and Younis had been able to obtain prodigious amounts of movement from both new and old cricket balls.",
"Akram and Younis had been able to obtain prodigious amounts of movement from both new and old cricket balls. The skill of the reverse swing delivery was relatively unknown in England and around the cricketing world during that period. A far larger controversy was created when critics alleged that he was involved in match fixing. An inquiry commission was set up by the Pakistan Cricket Board headed by a Pakistan high court judge, Malik Mohammad Qayyum.",
"An inquiry commission was set up by the Pakistan Cricket Board headed by a Pakistan high court judge, Malik Mohammad Qayyum. The judge wrote in his report that: References External links Pakistan One Day International cricketers Pakistan Test cricketers Pakistan Test cricket captains Pakistani cricket captains Hampshire cricketers Lancashire cricketers Lancashire cricket captains Pakistan Automobiles Corporation cricketers Pakistan International Airlines cricketers Wisden Cricketers of the Year Wisden Leading Cricketers in the World Test cricket hat-trick takers One Day International hat-trick takers Pakistani cricket commentators Cricketers at the 1987 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 1992 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 1996 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 1999 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 2003 Cricket World Cup 1966 births Living people Pakistani sports broadcasters Punjabi people Cricketers from Lahore Recipients of the Pride of Performance Pakistani cricketers Lahore City cricketers Lahore City Whites cricketers People from Karachi Indian Premier League coaches Government Islamia College alumni Pakistan Super League coaches Pakistani cricket coaches Pakistani television hosts M Parkinson's World XI cricketers Recipients of Hilal-i-Imtiaz People with type 1 diabetes"
] |
[
"Wasim Akram",
"Legacy",
"What was Akrams legacy?",
"Akram was a man possessed of accurate control of line and length,"
] | C_7db87eb260274b27a87e1a8f2e1807f4_0 | Did he have any incredible achievements with his line and length skills | 2 | Did Akram have any incredible achievements in addition to his line and length skills? | Wasim Akram | During his professional career he bowled with genuine speed and hostility. Akram was a man possessed of accurate control of line and length, accompanied by seam and swing bowling skills, extended to both inswingers and outswingers. With a very quick bowling action, he could bowl equally well from both sides of the wicket. His mastery of reverse swing with the cricket ball meant he was at his most dangerous towards a bowling innings, and earned him the nickname of one of the "Sultans of Swing", the other one being Waqar Younis. As well as often being able to find the edge of the bat, Akram would also focus his bowling attack on the stumps and had a particularly lethal inswinging yorker. Of his 414 Test wickets, 193 were taken caught, 119 were taken leg before wicket and 102 were bowled. In partnership with Waqar Younis, he intimidated international batsmen in the 1990s. Together Wasim and Waqar, known as "the two Ws" of the Pakistani team, were one of the most successful bowling partnerships in cricket. With the bat he was especially effective against spin bowlers. However, he liked to slog and was criticised for his lack of high scores and giving away his wicket too cheaply. In October 1996 he scored 257 runs not out, of the team's total of 553 against lowly Zimbabwe on a typical flat South Asian pitch at Sheikhupura. He also achieved good scores for the Pakistan team such as his scores of 123 and 45* against Australia to take Pakistan to victory in a low scoring match. His batting was also valuable sometimes to the Pakistan ODI side, such as in the Nehru Cup in 1989, when needing six runs and two balls to win the match, he hit the first delivery he faced, from part-time off-spinner and batting legend, Viv Richards, for a six and secured the cup. In December 2012 after Ricky Ponting announced his retirement he said that Wasim Akram and Curtly Ambrose were the toughest bowlers he had faced "Akram for the exact opposite, you could get a few runs off him, but you just knew there was an unplayable ball around the corner, be it with an old ball or with a new ball," - Ricky Ponting. CANNOTANSWER | With a very quick bowling action, he could bowl equally well from both sides of the wicket. | Wasim Akram (born 3 June 1966) is a Pakistani cricket commentator, coach, and former cricketer and captain of the Pakistan national cricket team. Akram is widely regarded as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time and several critics regard him as the greatest left arm fast bowler of cricket history.
In October 2013, Wasim Akram was the only Pakistani cricketer to be named in an all-time Test World XI to mark the 150th anniversary of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack.
A left arm fast bowler who could bowl with significant pace, he holds the world record for most wickets in List A cricket, with 881, and he is second only to Sri Lankan off-spin bowler Muttiah Muralitharan in terms of ODI wickets, with 502 in total. He is considered to be one of the founders, and perhaps the finest exponent of, reverse swing bowling.
He was the first bowler to reach the 500-wicket mark in ODI cricket during the 2003 World Cup. In 2002, Wisden released its only list of best players of all time. Wasim was ranked as the best bowler in ODI of all time, with a rating of 1223.5, ahead of Allan Donald, Imran Khan, Waqar Younis, Joel Garner, Glenn McGrath and Muralitharan. Wasim took 23 four-wicket hauls in 356 ODI matches played. On 30 September 2009, Akram was one of five new members inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. He was the bowling coach of Kolkata Knight Riders. However, he took a break from the position for IPL 6, citing a need to spend more time with family in Karachi, and he took a further break from IPL 2017; and was replaced by Lakshmipathy Balaji.
He was working as director and bowling coach of Islamabad United in Pakistan Super League, until he left to join Multan Sultans in August 2017. In October 2018, he was named in the Pakistan Cricket Board's seven-member advisory cricket committee. In November 2018, he joined PSL franchise, Karachi Kings, as a President.
The Government of Pakistan awarded him the Hilal-e-Imtiaz on 23 March 2019 for his life time achievements In field of Cricket.
Early and personal life
Wasim Akram was born on 3 June 1966 to a Punjabi family in Lahore. Akram's father, Chaudhary Muhammed Akram, was originally from a village near Amritsar, who moved to Kamonki, in the Pakistani Punjab after the partition of India in 1947. He was educated at Government Islamia College, Civil Lines, Lahore.
At the age of 30, Akram was diagnosed with diabetes. "I remember what a shock it was because I was a healthy sportsman with no history of diabetes in my family, so I didn't expect it at all. It seemed strange that it happened to me when I was 30, but it was a very stressful time and doctors said that can trigger it." Since then he has sought to be involved in various awareness campaigns for diabetes.
Akram married Huma Mufti in 1995. They had two sons from their marriage of 14 years: Tahmoor (born 1996) and Akbar (born 2000). Huma died of multiple organ failure at Apollo Hospital in Chennai, India, on 25 October 2009.
On 7 July 2013, it was reported that Akram had become engaged to an Australian woman, Shaniera Thompson, whom he had met while on a visit to Melbourne in 2011. Akram married Shaniera on 12 August 2013, saying he has started a new life on a happy note. He was quoted as saying: "I married Shaniera in Lahore in a simple ceremony, and this is the start of a new life for me, my wife, and for my kids."
He moved from Lahore to Karachi with his wife and children. On 3 September 2014, the couple tweeted that they were expecting their first baby—the third child of the Akram family. On 27 December 2014, Shaniera gave birth to a baby girl, Aiyla Sabeen Rose Akram, in Melbourne.
Domestic career
In 1988, Akram signed for Lancashire County Cricket Club in England. From 1988 to 1998, he opened their bowling attack in their NatWest Trophy, Benson and Hedges Cup, and Sunday League tournaments. He was a favourite of the local British fans, who used to sing a song called "Wasim for England" at Lancashire's matches. In 1998, with Akram as captain, Lancashire won the NatWest Trophy and Sunday League and finished second in the County Championship, having lost only five matches in all competitions during the season.
International career
Test cricket
Akram made his Test cricket debut for Pakistan against New Zealand in 1985, and in his second Test match, he claimed 10 wickets. A few weeks prior to his selection into the Pakistan team, he was an unknown club cricketer who had failed to make it even to his college team. He came to the trials at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore in Pakistan, but for the first two days he did not get a chance to bowl. On the third day, he got a chance; his performance convincing Javed Miandad to insist upon his inclusion in the national team. Akram was hence given an opportunity to play for Pakistan, without any significant domestic experience.
Akram's rise in international cricket was rapid during the late 1980s. He was a part of the Pakistan team that toured the West Indies in 1988. However, a groin injury impeded his career in the late 1980s. Following two surgeries, he re-emerged in the 1990s as a fast bowler who focused more on swing and accurate bowling.
Wasim Akram is currently the highest wicket taker for Pakistan in test cricket with 414 wickets.
One Day International
Akram started his ODI career against New Zealand in Pakistan in 1984 under the captaincy of Zaheer Abbas. He rose to prominence by taking five wickets in his 3rd ODI against Australia in the 1985 Benson & Hedges World Championship. His wickets included those of Kepler Wessels, Dean Jones, and captain Allan Border. Wasim Akram is currently the highest wicket taker for Pakistan in One Day International cricket
Early days
In the 1984–85 Rothmans Four-Nations Cup and the 1985–86 Rothmans Sharjah Cup, Akram took five wickets with a run rate of less than 3.50. The 1985–1986 Austral-Asia Cup involved Australia, India, New Zealand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and was played in Sharjah, UAE. Akram, with the help of Abdul Qadir, bowled out New Zealand's batting line-up for 64 in the second semi-final of the cup. Pakistan won that game with more than 27 overs to spare, obtaining one of the biggest wins in Pakistani history. In the final against India, he and Imran Khan shared five wickets. Akram's wickets included Dilip Vengsarkar and Ravi Shastri.
In the 1987 Cricket World Cup held for the 1st time in South Asia, Akram struggled on Pakistani pitches; he managed only 7 wickets throughout, with an average of over 40 runs per wicket across all 7 matches. Akram played West Indies, Sri Lanka and England twice. All group matches were played in Pakistan.
In the 1988–89 Benson and Hedges World Series, Akram managed figures of 4 for 25 against Australia.
Emergence
Akram took his hundredth wicket at Sharjah during the 1989–1990 Champions Trophy, the 2nd Match against West Indies. His 100th wicket was that of Curtly Ambrose. In that match, he took a five-wicket haul for the second time in his career. In the same match, Akram took his first hat-trick against West Indies. All three batsman were bowled out. On 4 May 1990 in Sharjah, Akram took his second ODI hat-trick against Australia. All three batsmen were bowled this time as well.
His best years in the late 1980s were from 1986 to 1989, during which time he took 100 wickets at 22.71 runs per wicket, and his economy rate was less than 3.9 runs per over, with a total of four 4-wicket hauls. His first two hauls against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh came in Sri Lanka in 1986.
Up until December 1991, Akram took 143 wickets in 107 matches, with an average of almost 24 and an economy rate of 3.84.
World's best
Akram was a significant figure in the 1992 Cricket World Cup held in Australia and New Zealand when Pakistan won the tournament. In the final, against England, his innings of 33 runs off 19 balls pushed Pakistan to a score of 249 runs for 6 wickets. Akram then took the wicket of Ian Botham early on during the English batting innings; and, when brought back into the bowling attack later on, with the ball reverse swinging, he produced a spell of bowling which led to Allan Lamb and Chris Lewis being bowled in successive deliveries in one over. His performances earned him the Man of the Match award for the final. In 1993, Akram took two consecutive 4-wicket hauls against Sri Lanka in Sharjah, in which 7 out of 8 wickets were either LBW or bowled.
In the 1992–1993 Total International Series in South Africa (involving Pakistan, West Indies and South Africa), he took 5 wickets against South Africa and got his 200th wicket in his 143rd match. Akram took 46 wickets in calendar year 1993, his best year ever in ODIs. His average was less than 19, with an economy rate of less than 3.8 runs per over. He took six 4-wicket hauls in 1993, the most by him in any year. In the 1996 Cricket World Cup, Akram missed the quarterfinal match against India which Pakistan lost and went out of the World Cup. Wasim's great career was often tainted by controversy, not least in the Caribbean in April 1993, his maiden tour as Pakistan's captain. During the team's stop-over in Grenada, he was arrested along with three teammates—Waqar Younis, Aaqib Javed and Mushtaq Ahmed—and two female British tourists; he was charged with possession of marijuana. Between 1994 and 1996, he took 84 wickets in 39 matches.
From January 1992 to December 1997, Akram played 131 matches and took 198 wickets at an average of 21.86, with 14 4-wicket hauls in ODIs.
Late career
In 1999, he led Pakistan to the finals of the World Cup where they capitulated and were defeated by Australia in the final by eight wickets with almost 30 overs to spare. This was the start of the match-fixing controversies, as critics believed Akram had set up the match for Australia. However, none of the allegations could be proved.
He was Pakistan's best bowler in the 2003 Cricket World Cup, taking 12 wickets in 6 matches. However, Pakistan failed to reach the super six of the tournament, and Akram was one of the eight players to be sacked by the Pakistan Cricket Board as a result.
Records
Akram won 17 Man-of-the-Match awards in 104 Tests. He took four hat-tricks in international cricket—two in ODIs and two in Tests. As a result, he shares the record for most international hat-tricks with Lasith Malinga. He finished with 22 Man-of-the-Match awards in ODIs. In 199 ODI match wins, he took 326 wickets at under 19 apiece with a run rate of 3.70 and took 18 four-wicket hauls. His 257 not-out against Zimbabwe in 1996 is the highest innings by a number-8 batsman in Tests. He hit 12 sixes in that game, and it stands to this day as the record for the most sixes by any player in a single Test innings.
Prior to his retirement, he was one of eight senior players dropped for the 2003 Sharjah Cup, and was then omitted from the Pakistan squad for the subsequent Bank Alfalah Cup triangular series. Due to his omission from the team, he did not participate in a farewell match. Akram fulfilled his contract play for Hampshire until the end of the English season.
Post retirement
Media career
Since retiring from cricket, Akram has worked and taken up commentary for television networks and can currently be seen as a sports commentator for ESPN Star Sports and ARY Digital among others. He did commentary on a variety of sporting tournaments including the 2009 Women's Cricket World Cup in Australia, the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 in England, the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa, and the 2011 ICC World Cup in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
Coaching career
In 2010, Akram was appointed the bowling coach consultant of Kolkata Knight Riders, the Indian Premier League team for Kolkata. Sourav Ganguly was always keen to have Akram as the bowling coach for India, during the former's stint as Indian captain. Although this never happened, his dreams were realised to some extent, when Akram was appointed as the bowling coach cum mentor for the franchise.
Akram has thus been playing a vital role in the grooming of Indian pacers like Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav, who owe their success in international cricket a lot to the bowling legend.
While working for the Kolkata Knight Riders, he was also responsible for the signing of Pakistani domestic left-arm fast-bowler Mohammad Irfan.
Akram has also been coaching in Pakistan fast bowling camps, his most notable discovery being the teenage Pakistani bowlers Mohammad Amir and Junaid Khan.
Akram has also worked as director and bowling coach of PSL franchise Islamabad United during 2016 and 2017 season. He has also worked with Multan Sultans as director and bowling coach. He is currently chairman and bowling coach of Karachi Kings. He is also currently the Vice President of Kashmir Premier League.
Playing style and legacy
During his professional career he bowled with genuine speed and hostility. Akram was a man possessed of accurate control of line and length, accompanied by seam and swing bowling skills, extended to both inswingers and outswingers. With a very quick bowling action, he could bowl equally well from both sides of the wicket. His mastery of reverse swing with the cricket ball meant he was at his most dangerous towards the end of a bowling innings, and earned him the nickname of one of the "Sultans of Swing", the other one being Waqar Younis.
As well as often being able to find the edge of the bat, Akram would also focus his bowling attack on the stumps and had a particularly lethal inswinging yorker. Of his 414 Test wickets, 193 were taken caught, 119 were taken leg before wicket and 102 were bowled. In partnership with Waqar Younis, he intimidated international batsmen in the 1990s. Together Wasim and Waqar, known as "the two Ws" of the Pakistani team, were one of the most successful bowling partnerships in cricket.
With the bat he was especially effective against spin bowlers. However, he liked to slog and was criticised for his lack of high scores and giving away his wicket too cheaply. In October 1996 he scored 257 runs not out, of the team's total of 553 against lowly Zimbabwe on a typical flat South Asian pitch at Sheikhupura. He also achieved good scores for the Pakistan team such as his scores of 123 and 45* against Australia to take Pakistan to victory in a low scoring match. His batting was also valuable sometimes to the Pakistan ODI side, such as in the Nehru Cup in 1989, when needing six runs and two balls to win the match, he hit the first delivery he faced, from part-time off-spinner and batting legend, Viv Richards, for a six and secured the cup.
West Indian batting great Viv Richards rates Akram as best fast bowler he ever faced after Dennis Lillee.
In December 2012 after Ricky Ponting announced his retirement he said that Wasim Akram and Curtly Ambrose were the toughest bowlers he had faced "Akram for the exact opposite, you could get a few runs off him, but you just knew there was an unplayable ball around the corner, be it with an old ball or with a new ball," – Ricky Ponting.
To mark 150 years of the Cricketers' Almanack, Wisden named him in an all-time Test World XI.
Beyond cricket
Book
He co-wrote his autobiography Wasim (1998) with the British sports journalist Patrick Murphy.
Modelling
Akram was a model at the Pantene Bridal Couture Week 2011, which was an event of Style 360.
Business
In 2018, Akram joined Cricingif as a stakeholder director.
Television
Films
Award and records
Akram was awarded Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1993 for his sporting achievements. He was awarded Lux Style Award for Most Stylish Sports Person in 2003.
In his Test career, Akram took 414 wickets in 104 matches, a Pakistani record, at an average of 23.62 and scored 2,898 runs, at an average of 22.64.
In One Day Internationals, Akram took 502 wickets in 356 appearances, at an average of 23.52 and scored 3,717 runs, at an average of 16.52.
Akram was the first bowler in international cricket to take more than 400 wickets in both forms of the game and only Muttiah Muralitharan has since achieved this.
Akram also held the record for the most wickets in Cricket World Cups, a total of 55 in 38 matches. Australia's Glenn McGrath broke the record during the 2007 Cricket World Cup, ending with a final tally of 71 from 39 matches. On passing Wasim's record, McGrath said, "Wasim Akram, to me, is one of the greatest bowlers of all time. Left-armer, swung it both ways with the new ball and he was so dangerous with the old ball. To go past him is something I will always remember. Probably the other side of the coin is that if you play long enough, you're going to break records here and there." He is currently the fourth highest wicket taker in world cups.
Akram is the only bowler to have achieved four hat-tricks in international cricket, with two each in Tests and One Day Internationals. He was the third of only four bowlers to have taken two Test cricket hat-tricks, the others being Hugh Trumble, Jimmy Matthews and Stuart Broad. Akram was also the first of only five bowlers to have taken two One Day International cricket hat-tricks. Akram's Test hat-tricks are significant, since they were taken in consecutive Test matches in the same series, a game played against Sri Lanka in the 1998-99 Asian Test Championship. Akram is also one of only two bowlers to have taken both a Test match and One Day International hat-trick, the other being Pakistan fast bowler, Mohammad Sami.
Playing in a Test series against the West Indies at Lahore in 1990–1991, he became one of only six players to have taken four wickets in an over during a Test match. In Akram's case, these achievement was not part of a hat-trick, the third ball he delivered to the batting opposition was a dropped catch, which allowed a single run.
Akram has also achieved the highest score by a number eight batsman in Test cricket when he scored 257 runs not out from 363 balls against Zimbabwe at Sheikhupura. The innings contained 12 sixes which is also a world record for Test cricket.
He also has the joint-third highest number of Man of the Match awards in Test cricket, with seventeen.
He has scored the second-highest number of runs in One Day International matches by a player who has never scored a One Day International hundred, after Misbah-ul-Haq. His highest score was 86 runs.
He is the only Test cricketer in the world (as of Feb 2013) to take ten or more wickets thrice in a test match and still end up on the losing side.
He holds the record for facing the most balls in a test match as well as in an innings as number 8 batsman (363 balls)
First bowler to take 500 ODI wickets and still holds the record for taking the most ODI wickets as seamer (502)
He holds the record for taking the most wickets in ODI history at a single ground (122, Sharjah Cricket Stadium), also the first person to grab 100+ ODI wickets at the same ground. Waqar Younis, the second person to grab 100+ ODI wickets at a single ground, also did in Sharjah. He ranks second overall with 114 wickets.
Holds the record for taking the most ODI wickets as captain (158)
Controversies
In 1992, after he had been successful against the English batsmen, accusations of ball tampering began to appear in the English media, though no video evidence of foul play was ever found. Akram and Younis had been able to obtain prodigious amounts of movement from both new and old cricket balls. The skill of the reverse swing delivery was relatively unknown in England and around the cricketing world during that period.
A far larger controversy was created when critics alleged that he was involved in match fixing. An inquiry commission was set up by the Pakistan Cricket Board headed by a Pakistan high court judge, Malik Mohammad Qayyum. The judge wrote in his report that:
References
External links
Pakistan One Day International cricketers
Pakistan Test cricketers
Pakistan Test cricket captains
Pakistani cricket captains
Hampshire cricketers
Lancashire cricketers
Lancashire cricket captains
Pakistan Automobiles Corporation cricketers
Pakistan International Airlines cricketers
Wisden Cricketers of the Year
Wisden Leading Cricketers in the World
Test cricket hat-trick takers
One Day International hat-trick takers
Pakistani cricket commentators
Cricketers at the 1987 Cricket World Cup
Cricketers at the 1992 Cricket World Cup
Cricketers at the 1996 Cricket World Cup
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1966 births
Living people
Pakistani sports broadcasters
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Recipients of Hilal-i-Imtiaz
People with type 1 diabetes | true | [
"Stephen Biesty (born 27 January 1961) is a British illustrator. Biesty is considered a master of cross section. He frequently collaborates with Richard Platt, who writes the text for the majority of his books, which have covered a wide range of informative cross sections aimed at adults and children, all published by Dorling Kindersley.\n\nBiesty's work has found great success, notably his Incredible Cross Sections (1992) is an international bestseller with over one million copies in print worldwide. Other Biesty books written by Platt include Man-of-War (1993), Castle (1994), Incredible Pop-Up Cross-Sections (1995), Incredible Explosions (1996), Incredible Everything (1997), Incredible Body (1998) and Absolutely Best Cross-Sections Book Ever (1999). Since 1999 he has also illustrated the Millennium Dome Pop-up Book (1999), Gold: A Treasure Hunt through Time (Meredith Hooper) (2002), and Rome (Andrew Solway, Stephen Biesty) (2003). Castle was later made into the educational video game Castle Explorer, as was Man-of-War which was made into Stowaway! A tour of an 18th century Man-of-War. Some have compared Biesty's Incredible Cross Sections to fellow British illustrator Martin Handford's Where's Wally? series; for instance in Man-of-War there is the challenge of spotting the stowaway. \n \nBiesty uses paper, pen, ink and water colour paints. He never uses a ruler, drawing everything freehand.\n\nBiesty describes his work as follows:\n\nThere's really no end to the amount of detail you can include. I don't use a computer and I don't think I ever will. I draw with a pencil initially and then I work on top of that with ink, usually a Rotring needle-point pen, but sometimes I use a fine brush which gives the line a little variety, a little texture. Then of course I add colour and atmosphere with watercolour washes.\n\nI always put figures in. As an illustrator you quickly catch on to the fact that nobody's going to look at it if there's no human interest. When you start including figures, you can begin to create a sense of atmosphere. You can show how people relate to a space and you can explore the realities and practicalities of the place, how people lived, how they adapted to their surroundings, how they slept, how they ate.\n\nPersonal life\nHe was born in Coventry and grew up in Leicestershire. \n\nIn 1979 he joined Loughborough College of Art and Design where he did an arts foundation course. In 1980 he moved to Brighton Polytechnic to gain a BA Hons in Graphic Design specialising in illustration, focusing on historical and architectural drawings. After graduating from Brighton with a first class degree, Biesty went on to gain an MA in Graphic Design at the City of Birmingham Polytechnic, working further in historical reconstruction.\n\nBiesty now lives in Somerset with his wife and son.\n\nBibliography\n1991: Explore the World of Man-made Wonders (Simon Adams)\n\n1992: Exploring the Past: Ancient Egypt (George Hart)\n\n1992: Incredible Cross-Sections (Richard Platt)\n\n1993: Man-of-War (Richard Platt)\n\n1994: Castle (Richard Platt)\n\n1996: Incredible Explosions (Richard Platt)\n\n1998: Incredible Body (Richard Platt)\n\n1999: Absolutely Best Cross-Sections Book Ever (Richard Platt)\n\n1999: Millennium Dome Pop-up Book\n\n2001: The Coolest Cross-Sections Ever! (Richard Platt)\n\n2002: Gold: A Treasure Hunt through Time (Meredith Hooper)\n\n2003: Rome (Andrew Solway)\n\n2005: Egypt (Stewart Ross)\n\n2006: Greece (Stewart Ross)\n\n2008: Ancient World: Egypt, Rome, and Greece\n\n2014: The Story of Buildings, Walker Books. \n\n2014: Castles (Meredith Hooper)\n\n2014: Giant Vehicles (Rod Green)\n\n2014: Into the Unknown: How Great Explorers Found Their Way by Land, Sea, and Air (Stewart Ross)\n\n2015: To the Rescue (Rod Green)\n\n2015: Emergency Vehicles (Rod Green)\n\n2017: Trains (Ian Graham)\n\n2017: Exploring Space: From Galileo to the Mars Rover and Beyond (Martin Jenkins)\n\n2018: Flying Machines (Ian Graham)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n \n\n \n\n1961 births\nAlumni of Birmingham Institute of Art and Design\nBritish children's book illustrators\nLiving people",
"Free and Equal is a live album by English saxophonist John Surman featuring American drummer Jack DeJohnette and the London Brass recorded in Queen Elizabeth Hall in London in 2001 and released on the ECM label.\n\nReception\nThe Allmusic review by Alain Drouot awarded the album 3½ stars, stating, \"Free and Equal finds its place somewhere between John Surman's past collaborations with Jack DeJohnette and his Brass Project with composer Peter Warren. Less atmospheric than the duos with the drummer and less jazzy than the latter, it still bears the inimitable stamp of the British reed player. It harks back to his pastoral and even medieval leanings and his arranging skills certainly capture the spotlight, his lyrical and often fragile compositions soaring with incredible grace\".\n\nTrack listing\nAll compositions by John Surman.\n\n \"Preamble\" – 4:11 \n \"Groundwork\" – 9:33 \n \"Sea Change\" – 10:14 \n \"Back and Forth\" – 11:51 \n \"Fire\" – 6:47 \n \"Debased Line\" – 5:02 \n \"In the Shadow\" – 6:56 \n \"Free and Equal\" – 8:47 \n \"Epilogue\" – 3:42\n\nPersonnel\nJohn Surman – soprano saxophone, baritone saxophone, bass clarinet\nJack DeJohnette – drums, piano\nLondon Brass – trumpet, flugelhorn, horn, trombone, euphonium, tuba\n\nReferences\n\nECM Records live albums\nJohn Surman live albums\nJack DeJohnette live albums\n2003 live albums\nAlbums produced by Manfred Eicher"
] | [
"Wasim Akram (born 3 June 1966) is a Pakistani cricket commentator, coach, and former cricketer and captain of the Pakistan national cricket team. Akram is widely regarded as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time and several critics regard him as the greatest left arm fast bowler of cricket history. In October 2013, Wasim Akram was the only Pakistani cricketer to be named in an all-time Test World XI to mark the 150th anniversary of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack.",
"In October 2013, Wasim Akram was the only Pakistani cricketer to be named in an all-time Test World XI to mark the 150th anniversary of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack. A left arm fast bowler who could bowl with significant pace, he holds the world record for most wickets in List A cricket, with 881, and he is second only to Sri Lankan off-spin bowler Muttiah Muralitharan in terms of ODI wickets, with 502 in total.",
"A left arm fast bowler who could bowl with significant pace, he holds the world record for most wickets in List A cricket, with 881, and he is second only to Sri Lankan off-spin bowler Muttiah Muralitharan in terms of ODI wickets, with 502 in total. He is considered to be one of the founders, and perhaps the finest exponent of, reverse swing bowling. He was the first bowler to reach the 500-wicket mark in ODI cricket during the 2003 World Cup.",
"He was the first bowler to reach the 500-wicket mark in ODI cricket during the 2003 World Cup. In 2002, Wisden released its only list of best players of all time. Wasim was ranked as the best bowler in ODI of all time, with a rating of 1223.5, ahead of Allan Donald, Imran Khan, Waqar Younis, Joel Garner, Glenn McGrath and Muralitharan. Wasim took 23 four-wicket hauls in 356 ODI matches played.",
"Wasim took 23 four-wicket hauls in 356 ODI matches played. On 30 September 2009, Akram was one of five new members inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. He was the bowling coach of Kolkata Knight Riders. However, he took a break from the position for IPL 6, citing a need to spend more time with family in Karachi, and he took a further break from IPL 2017; and was replaced by Lakshmipathy Balaji.",
"However, he took a break from the position for IPL 6, citing a need to spend more time with family in Karachi, and he took a further break from IPL 2017; and was replaced by Lakshmipathy Balaji. He was working as director and bowling coach of Islamabad United in Pakistan Super League, until he left to join Multan Sultans in August 2017. In October 2018, he was named in the Pakistan Cricket Board's seven-member advisory cricket committee.",
"In October 2018, he was named in the Pakistan Cricket Board's seven-member advisory cricket committee. In November 2018, he joined PSL franchise, Karachi Kings, as a President. The Government of Pakistan awarded him the Hilal-e-Imtiaz on 23 March 2019 for his life time achievements In field of Cricket. Early and personal life Wasim Akram was born on 3 June 1966 to a Punjabi family in Lahore.",
"Early and personal life Wasim Akram was born on 3 June 1966 to a Punjabi family in Lahore. Akram's father, Chaudhary Muhammed Akram, was originally from a village near Amritsar, who moved to Kamonki, in the Pakistani Punjab after the partition of India in 1947. He was educated at Government Islamia College, Civil Lines, Lahore. At the age of 30, Akram was diagnosed with diabetes.",
"At the age of 30, Akram was diagnosed with diabetes. \"I remember what a shock it was because I was a healthy sportsman with no history of diabetes in my family, so I didn't expect it at all. It seemed strange that it happened to me when I was 30, but it was a very stressful time and doctors said that can trigger it.\" Since then he has sought to be involved in various awareness campaigns for diabetes. Akram married Huma Mufti in 1995.",
"Akram married Huma Mufti in 1995. Akram married Huma Mufti in 1995. They had two sons from their marriage of 14 years: Tahmoor (born 1996) and Akbar (born 2000). Huma died of multiple organ failure at Apollo Hospital in Chennai, India, on 25 October 2009. On 7 July 2013, it was reported that Akram had become engaged to an Australian woman, Shaniera Thompson, whom he had met while on a visit to Melbourne in 2011.",
"On 7 July 2013, it was reported that Akram had become engaged to an Australian woman, Shaniera Thompson, whom he had met while on a visit to Melbourne in 2011. Akram married Shaniera on 12 August 2013, saying he has started a new life on a happy note. He was quoted as saying: \"I married Shaniera in Lahore in a simple ceremony, and this is the start of a new life for me, my wife, and for my kids.\"",
"He was quoted as saying: \"I married Shaniera in Lahore in a simple ceremony, and this is the start of a new life for me, my wife, and for my kids.\" He moved from Lahore to Karachi with his wife and children. On 3 September 2014, the couple tweeted that they were expecting their first baby—the third child of the Akram family. On 27 December 2014, Shaniera gave birth to a baby girl, Aiyla Sabeen Rose Akram, in Melbourne.",
"On 27 December 2014, Shaniera gave birth to a baby girl, Aiyla Sabeen Rose Akram, in Melbourne. Domestic career In 1988, Akram signed for Lancashire County Cricket Club in England. From 1988 to 1998, he opened their bowling attack in their NatWest Trophy, Benson and Hedges Cup, and Sunday League tournaments. He was a favourite of the local British fans, who used to sing a song called \"Wasim for England\" at Lancashire's matches.",
"He was a favourite of the local British fans, who used to sing a song called \"Wasim for England\" at Lancashire's matches. In 1998, with Akram as captain, Lancashire won the NatWest Trophy and Sunday League and finished second in the County Championship, having lost only five matches in all competitions during the season. International career Test cricket Akram made his Test cricket debut for Pakistan against New Zealand in 1985, and in his second Test match, he claimed 10 wickets.",
"International career Test cricket Akram made his Test cricket debut for Pakistan against New Zealand in 1985, and in his second Test match, he claimed 10 wickets. A few weeks prior to his selection into the Pakistan team, he was an unknown club cricketer who had failed to make it even to his college team. He came to the trials at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore in Pakistan, but for the first two days he did not get a chance to bowl.",
"He came to the trials at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore in Pakistan, but for the first two days he did not get a chance to bowl. On the third day, he got a chance; his performance convincing Javed Miandad to insist upon his inclusion in the national team. Akram was hence given an opportunity to play for Pakistan, without any significant domestic experience. Akram's rise in international cricket was rapid during the late 1980s. He was a part of the Pakistan team that toured the West Indies in 1988.",
"He was a part of the Pakistan team that toured the West Indies in 1988. However, a groin injury impeded his career in the late 1980s. Following two surgeries, he re-emerged in the 1990s as a fast bowler who focused more on swing and accurate bowling. Wasim Akram is currently the highest wicket taker for Pakistan in test cricket with 414 wickets. One Day International Akram started his ODI career against New Zealand in Pakistan in 1984 under the captaincy of Zaheer Abbas.",
"One Day International Akram started his ODI career against New Zealand in Pakistan in 1984 under the captaincy of Zaheer Abbas. He rose to prominence by taking five wickets in his 3rd ODI against Australia in the 1985 Benson & Hedges World Championship. His wickets included those of Kepler Wessels, Dean Jones, and captain Allan Border.",
"His wickets included those of Kepler Wessels, Dean Jones, and captain Allan Border. Wasim Akram is currently the highest wicket taker for Pakistan in One Day International cricket Early days In the 1984–85 Rothmans Four-Nations Cup and the 1985–86 Rothmans Sharjah Cup, Akram took five wickets with a run rate of less than 3.50. The 1985–1986 Austral-Asia Cup involved Australia, India, New Zealand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and was played in Sharjah, UAE.",
"The 1985–1986 Austral-Asia Cup involved Australia, India, New Zealand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and was played in Sharjah, UAE. Akram, with the help of Abdul Qadir, bowled out New Zealand's batting line-up for 64 in the second semi-final of the cup. Pakistan won that game with more than 27 overs to spare, obtaining one of the biggest wins in Pakistani history. In the final against India, he and Imran Khan shared five wickets. Akram's wickets included Dilip Vengsarkar and Ravi Shastri.",
"Akram's wickets included Dilip Vengsarkar and Ravi Shastri. Akram's wickets included Dilip Vengsarkar and Ravi Shastri. In the 1987 Cricket World Cup held for the 1st time in South Asia, Akram struggled on Pakistani pitches; he managed only 7 wickets throughout, with an average of over 40 runs per wicket across all 7 matches. Akram played West Indies, Sri Lanka and England twice. All group matches were played in Pakistan. In the 1988–89 Benson and Hedges World Series, Akram managed figures of 4 for 25 against Australia.",
"In the 1988–89 Benson and Hedges World Series, Akram managed figures of 4 for 25 against Australia. Emergence Akram took his hundredth wicket at Sharjah during the 1989–1990 Champions Trophy, the 2nd Match against West Indies. His 100th wicket was that of Curtly Ambrose. In that match, he took a five-wicket haul for the second time in his career. In the same match, Akram took his first hat-trick against West Indies. All three batsman were bowled out.",
"All three batsman were bowled out. All three batsman were bowled out. On 4 May 1990 in Sharjah, Akram took his second ODI hat-trick against Australia. All three batsmen were bowled this time as well. His best years in the late 1980s were from 1986 to 1989, during which time he took 100 wickets at 22.71 runs per wicket, and his economy rate was less than 3.9 runs per over, with a total of four 4-wicket hauls.",
"His best years in the late 1980s were from 1986 to 1989, during which time he took 100 wickets at 22.71 runs per wicket, and his economy rate was less than 3.9 runs per over, with a total of four 4-wicket hauls. His first two hauls against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh came in Sri Lanka in 1986. Up until December 1991, Akram took 143 wickets in 107 matches, with an average of almost 24 and an economy rate of 3.84.",
"Up until December 1991, Akram took 143 wickets in 107 matches, with an average of almost 24 and an economy rate of 3.84. World's best Akram was a significant figure in the 1992 Cricket World Cup held in Australia and New Zealand when Pakistan won the tournament. In the final, against England, his innings of 33 runs off 19 balls pushed Pakistan to a score of 249 runs for 6 wickets.",
"In the final, against England, his innings of 33 runs off 19 balls pushed Pakistan to a score of 249 runs for 6 wickets. Akram then took the wicket of Ian Botham early on during the English batting innings; and, when brought back into the bowling attack later on, with the ball reverse swinging, he produced a spell of bowling which led to Allan Lamb and Chris Lewis being bowled in successive deliveries in one over. His performances earned him the Man of the Match award for the final.",
"His performances earned him the Man of the Match award for the final. In 1993, Akram took two consecutive 4-wicket hauls against Sri Lanka in Sharjah, in which 7 out of 8 wickets were either LBW or bowled. In the 1992–1993 Total International Series in South Africa (involving Pakistan, West Indies and South Africa), he took 5 wickets against South Africa and got his 200th wicket in his 143rd match. Akram took 46 wickets in calendar year 1993, his best year ever in ODIs.",
"Akram took 46 wickets in calendar year 1993, his best year ever in ODIs. His average was less than 19, with an economy rate of less than 3.8 runs per over. He took six 4-wicket hauls in 1993, the most by him in any year. In the 1996 Cricket World Cup, Akram missed the quarterfinal match against India which Pakistan lost and went out of the World Cup.",
"In the 1996 Cricket World Cup, Akram missed the quarterfinal match against India which Pakistan lost and went out of the World Cup. Wasim's great career was often tainted by controversy, not least in the Caribbean in April 1993, his maiden tour as Pakistan's captain. During the team's stop-over in Grenada, he was arrested along with three teammates—Waqar Younis, Aaqib Javed and Mushtaq Ahmed—and two female British tourists; he was charged with possession of marijuana. Between 1994 and 1996, he took 84 wickets in 39 matches.",
"Between 1994 and 1996, he took 84 wickets in 39 matches. From January 1992 to December 1997, Akram played 131 matches and took 198 wickets at an average of 21.86, with 14 4-wicket hauls in ODIs. Late career In 1999, he led Pakistan to the finals of the World Cup where they capitulated and were defeated by Australia in the final by eight wickets with almost 30 overs to spare. This was the start of the match-fixing controversies, as critics believed Akram had set up the match for Australia.",
"This was the start of the match-fixing controversies, as critics believed Akram had set up the match for Australia. However, none of the allegations could be proved. He was Pakistan's best bowler in the 2003 Cricket World Cup, taking 12 wickets in 6 matches. However, Pakistan failed to reach the super six of the tournament, and Akram was one of the eight players to be sacked by the Pakistan Cricket Board as a result. Records Akram won 17 Man-of-the-Match awards in 104 Tests.",
"Records Akram won 17 Man-of-the-Match awards in 104 Tests. Records Akram won 17 Man-of-the-Match awards in 104 Tests. He took four hat-tricks in international cricket—two in ODIs and two in Tests. As a result, he shares the record for most international hat-tricks with Lasith Malinga. He finished with 22 Man-of-the-Match awards in ODIs. In 199 ODI match wins, he took 326 wickets at under 19 apiece with a run rate of 3.70 and took 18 four-wicket hauls.",
"In 199 ODI match wins, he took 326 wickets at under 19 apiece with a run rate of 3.70 and took 18 four-wicket hauls. His 257 not-out against Zimbabwe in 1996 is the highest innings by a number-8 batsman in Tests. He hit 12 sixes in that game, and it stands to this day as the record for the most sixes by any player in a single Test innings.",
"He hit 12 sixes in that game, and it stands to this day as the record for the most sixes by any player in a single Test innings. Prior to his retirement, he was one of eight senior players dropped for the 2003 Sharjah Cup, and was then omitted from the Pakistan squad for the subsequent Bank Alfalah Cup triangular series. Due to his omission from the team, he did not participate in a farewell match. Akram fulfilled his contract play for Hampshire until the end of the English season.",
"Akram fulfilled his contract play for Hampshire until the end of the English season. Post retirement Media career Since retiring from cricket, Akram has worked and taken up commentary for television networks and can currently be seen as a sports commentator for ESPN Star Sports and ARY Digital among others.",
"Post retirement Media career Since retiring from cricket, Akram has worked and taken up commentary for television networks and can currently be seen as a sports commentator for ESPN Star Sports and ARY Digital among others. He did commentary on a variety of sporting tournaments including the 2009 Women's Cricket World Cup in Australia, the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 in England, the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa, and the 2011 ICC World Cup in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.",
"He did commentary on a variety of sporting tournaments including the 2009 Women's Cricket World Cup in Australia, the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 in England, the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa, and the 2011 ICC World Cup in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Coaching career In 2010, Akram was appointed the bowling coach consultant of Kolkata Knight Riders, the Indian Premier League team for Kolkata. Sourav Ganguly was always keen to have Akram as the bowling coach for India, during the former's stint as Indian captain.",
"Sourav Ganguly was always keen to have Akram as the bowling coach for India, during the former's stint as Indian captain. Although this never happened, his dreams were realised to some extent, when Akram was appointed as the bowling coach cum mentor for the franchise. Akram has thus been playing a vital role in the grooming of Indian pacers like Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav, who owe their success in international cricket a lot to the bowling legend.",
"Akram has thus been playing a vital role in the grooming of Indian pacers like Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav, who owe their success in international cricket a lot to the bowling legend. While working for the Kolkata Knight Riders, he was also responsible for the signing of Pakistani domestic left-arm fast-bowler Mohammad Irfan. Akram has also been coaching in Pakistan fast bowling camps, his most notable discovery being the teenage Pakistani bowlers Mohammad Amir and Junaid Khan.",
"Akram has also been coaching in Pakistan fast bowling camps, his most notable discovery being the teenage Pakistani bowlers Mohammad Amir and Junaid Khan. Akram has also worked as director and bowling coach of PSL franchise Islamabad United during 2016 and 2017 season. He has also worked with Multan Sultans as director and bowling coach. He is currently chairman and bowling coach of Karachi Kings. He is also currently the Vice President of Kashmir Premier League. Playing style and legacy During his professional career he bowled with genuine speed and hostility.",
"Playing style and legacy During his professional career he bowled with genuine speed and hostility. Akram was a man possessed of accurate control of line and length, accompanied by seam and swing bowling skills, extended to both inswingers and outswingers. With a very quick bowling action, he could bowl equally well from both sides of the wicket.",
"With a very quick bowling action, he could bowl equally well from both sides of the wicket. His mastery of reverse swing with the cricket ball meant he was at his most dangerous towards the end of a bowling innings, and earned him the nickname of one of the \"Sultans of Swing\", the other one being Waqar Younis. As well as often being able to find the edge of the bat, Akram would also focus his bowling attack on the stumps and had a particularly lethal inswinging yorker.",
"As well as often being able to find the edge of the bat, Akram would also focus his bowling attack on the stumps and had a particularly lethal inswinging yorker. Of his 414 Test wickets, 193 were taken caught, 119 were taken leg before wicket and 102 were bowled. In partnership with Waqar Younis, he intimidated international batsmen in the 1990s. Together Wasim and Waqar, known as \"the two Ws\" of the Pakistani team, were one of the most successful bowling partnerships in cricket.",
"Together Wasim and Waqar, known as \"the two Ws\" of the Pakistani team, were one of the most successful bowling partnerships in cricket. With the bat he was especially effective against spin bowlers. However, he liked to slog and was criticised for his lack of high scores and giving away his wicket too cheaply. In October 1996 he scored 257 runs not out, of the team's total of 553 against lowly Zimbabwe on a typical flat South Asian pitch at Sheikhupura.",
"In October 1996 he scored 257 runs not out, of the team's total of 553 against lowly Zimbabwe on a typical flat South Asian pitch at Sheikhupura. He also achieved good scores for the Pakistan team such as his scores of 123 and 45* against Australia to take Pakistan to victory in a low scoring match.",
"He also achieved good scores for the Pakistan team such as his scores of 123 and 45* against Australia to take Pakistan to victory in a low scoring match. His batting was also valuable sometimes to the Pakistan ODI side, such as in the Nehru Cup in 1989, when needing six runs and two balls to win the match, he hit the first delivery he faced, from part-time off-spinner and batting legend, Viv Richards, for a six and secured the cup.",
"His batting was also valuable sometimes to the Pakistan ODI side, such as in the Nehru Cup in 1989, when needing six runs and two balls to win the match, he hit the first delivery he faced, from part-time off-spinner and batting legend, Viv Richards, for a six and secured the cup. West Indian batting great Viv Richards rates Akram as best fast bowler he ever faced after Dennis Lillee.",
"West Indian batting great Viv Richards rates Akram as best fast bowler he ever faced after Dennis Lillee. In December 2012 after Ricky Ponting announced his retirement he said that Wasim Akram and Curtly Ambrose were the toughest bowlers he had faced \"Akram for the exact opposite, you could get a few runs off him, but you just knew there was an unplayable ball around the corner, be it with an old ball or with a new ball,\" – Ricky Ponting.",
"In December 2012 after Ricky Ponting announced his retirement he said that Wasim Akram and Curtly Ambrose were the toughest bowlers he had faced \"Akram for the exact opposite, you could get a few runs off him, but you just knew there was an unplayable ball around the corner, be it with an old ball or with a new ball,\" – Ricky Ponting. To mark 150 years of the Cricketers' Almanack, Wisden named him in an all-time Test World XI.",
"To mark 150 years of the Cricketers' Almanack, Wisden named him in an all-time Test World XI. Beyond cricket Book He co-wrote his autobiography Wasim (1998) with the British sports journalist Patrick Murphy. Modelling Akram was a model at the Pantene Bridal Couture Week 2011, which was an event of Style 360. Business In 2018, Akram joined Cricingif as a stakeholder director. Television Films Award and records Akram was awarded Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1993 for his sporting achievements.",
"Television Films Award and records Akram was awarded Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1993 for his sporting achievements. He was awarded Lux Style Award for Most Stylish Sports Person in 2003. In his Test career, Akram took 414 wickets in 104 matches, a Pakistani record, at an average of 23.62 and scored 2,898 runs, at an average of 22.64. In One Day Internationals, Akram took 502 wickets in 356 appearances, at an average of 23.52 and scored 3,717 runs, at an average of 16.52.",
"In One Day Internationals, Akram took 502 wickets in 356 appearances, at an average of 23.52 and scored 3,717 runs, at an average of 16.52. Akram was the first bowler in international cricket to take more than 400 wickets in both forms of the game and only Muttiah Muralitharan has since achieved this. Akram also held the record for the most wickets in Cricket World Cups, a total of 55 in 38 matches.",
"Akram also held the record for the most wickets in Cricket World Cups, a total of 55 in 38 matches. Australia's Glenn McGrath broke the record during the 2007 Cricket World Cup, ending with a final tally of 71 from 39 matches. On passing Wasim's record, McGrath said, \"Wasim Akram, to me, is one of the greatest bowlers of all time. Left-armer, swung it both ways with the new ball and he was so dangerous with the old ball.",
"Left-armer, swung it both ways with the new ball and he was so dangerous with the old ball. To go past him is something I will always remember. Probably the other side of the coin is that if you play long enough, you're going to break records here and there.\" He is currently the fourth highest wicket taker in world cups. Akram is the only bowler to have achieved four hat-tricks in international cricket, with two each in Tests and One Day Internationals.",
"Akram is the only bowler to have achieved four hat-tricks in international cricket, with two each in Tests and One Day Internationals. He was the third of only four bowlers to have taken two Test cricket hat-tricks, the others being Hugh Trumble, Jimmy Matthews and Stuart Broad. Akram was also the first of only five bowlers to have taken two One Day International cricket hat-tricks.",
"Akram was also the first of only five bowlers to have taken two One Day International cricket hat-tricks. Akram's Test hat-tricks are significant, since they were taken in consecutive Test matches in the same series, a game played against Sri Lanka in the 1998-99 Asian Test Championship. Akram is also one of only two bowlers to have taken both a Test match and One Day International hat-trick, the other being Pakistan fast bowler, Mohammad Sami.",
"Akram is also one of only two bowlers to have taken both a Test match and One Day International hat-trick, the other being Pakistan fast bowler, Mohammad Sami. Playing in a Test series against the West Indies at Lahore in 1990–1991, he became one of only six players to have taken four wickets in an over during a Test match. In Akram's case, these achievement was not part of a hat-trick, the third ball he delivered to the batting opposition was a dropped catch, which allowed a single run.",
"In Akram's case, these achievement was not part of a hat-trick, the third ball he delivered to the batting opposition was a dropped catch, which allowed a single run. Akram has also achieved the highest score by a number eight batsman in Test cricket when he scored 257 runs not out from 363 balls against Zimbabwe at Sheikhupura. The innings contained 12 sixes which is also a world record for Test cricket. He also has the joint-third highest number of Man of the Match awards in Test cricket, with seventeen.",
"He also has the joint-third highest number of Man of the Match awards in Test cricket, with seventeen. He has scored the second-highest number of runs in One Day International matches by a player who has never scored a One Day International hundred, after Misbah-ul-Haq. His highest score was 86 runs. He is the only Test cricketer in the world (as of Feb 2013) to take ten or more wickets thrice in a test match and still end up on the losing side.",
"He is the only Test cricketer in the world (as of Feb 2013) to take ten or more wickets thrice in a test match and still end up on the losing side. He holds the record for facing the most balls in a test match as well as in an innings as number 8 batsman (363 balls) First bowler to take 500 ODI wickets and still holds the record for taking the most ODI wickets as seamer (502) He holds the record for taking the most wickets in ODI history at a single ground (122, Sharjah Cricket Stadium), also the first person to grab 100+ ODI wickets at the same ground.",
"He holds the record for facing the most balls in a test match as well as in an innings as number 8 batsman (363 balls) First bowler to take 500 ODI wickets and still holds the record for taking the most ODI wickets as seamer (502) He holds the record for taking the most wickets in ODI history at a single ground (122, Sharjah Cricket Stadium), also the first person to grab 100+ ODI wickets at the same ground. Waqar Younis, the second person to grab 100+ ODI wickets at a single ground, also did in Sharjah.",
"Waqar Younis, the second person to grab 100+ ODI wickets at a single ground, also did in Sharjah. He ranks second overall with 114 wickets. Holds the record for taking the most ODI wickets as captain (158) Controversies In 1992, after he had been successful against the English batsmen, accusations of ball tampering began to appear in the English media, though no video evidence of foul play was ever found. Akram and Younis had been able to obtain prodigious amounts of movement from both new and old cricket balls.",
"Akram and Younis had been able to obtain prodigious amounts of movement from both new and old cricket balls. The skill of the reverse swing delivery was relatively unknown in England and around the cricketing world during that period. A far larger controversy was created when critics alleged that he was involved in match fixing. An inquiry commission was set up by the Pakistan Cricket Board headed by a Pakistan high court judge, Malik Mohammad Qayyum.",
"An inquiry commission was set up by the Pakistan Cricket Board headed by a Pakistan high court judge, Malik Mohammad Qayyum. The judge wrote in his report that: References External links Pakistan One Day International cricketers Pakistan Test cricketers Pakistan Test cricket captains Pakistani cricket captains Hampshire cricketers Lancashire cricketers Lancashire cricket captains Pakistan Automobiles Corporation cricketers Pakistan International Airlines cricketers Wisden Cricketers of the Year Wisden Leading Cricketers in the World Test cricket hat-trick takers One Day International hat-trick takers Pakistani cricket commentators Cricketers at the 1987 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 1992 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 1996 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 1999 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 2003 Cricket World Cup 1966 births Living people Pakistani sports broadcasters Punjabi people Cricketers from Lahore Recipients of the Pride of Performance Pakistani cricketers Lahore City cricketers Lahore City Whites cricketers People from Karachi Indian Premier League coaches Government Islamia College alumni Pakistan Super League coaches Pakistani cricket coaches Pakistani television hosts M Parkinson's World XI cricketers Recipients of Hilal-i-Imtiaz People with type 1 diabetes"
] |
[
"Wasim Akram",
"Legacy",
"What was Akrams legacy?",
"Akram was a man possessed of accurate control of line and length,",
"Did he have any incredible achievements with his line and length skills",
"With a very quick bowling action, he could bowl equally well from both sides of the wicket."
] | C_7db87eb260274b27a87e1a8f2e1807f4_0 | Did he win any awards for his bowling | 3 | Did Akram win any awards for his bowling? | Wasim Akram | During his professional career he bowled with genuine speed and hostility. Akram was a man possessed of accurate control of line and length, accompanied by seam and swing bowling skills, extended to both inswingers and outswingers. With a very quick bowling action, he could bowl equally well from both sides of the wicket. His mastery of reverse swing with the cricket ball meant he was at his most dangerous towards a bowling innings, and earned him the nickname of one of the "Sultans of Swing", the other one being Waqar Younis. As well as often being able to find the edge of the bat, Akram would also focus his bowling attack on the stumps and had a particularly lethal inswinging yorker. Of his 414 Test wickets, 193 were taken caught, 119 were taken leg before wicket and 102 were bowled. In partnership with Waqar Younis, he intimidated international batsmen in the 1990s. Together Wasim and Waqar, known as "the two Ws" of the Pakistani team, were one of the most successful bowling partnerships in cricket. With the bat he was especially effective against spin bowlers. However, he liked to slog and was criticised for his lack of high scores and giving away his wicket too cheaply. In October 1996 he scored 257 runs not out, of the team's total of 553 against lowly Zimbabwe on a typical flat South Asian pitch at Sheikhupura. He also achieved good scores for the Pakistan team such as his scores of 123 and 45* against Australia to take Pakistan to victory in a low scoring match. His batting was also valuable sometimes to the Pakistan ODI side, such as in the Nehru Cup in 1989, when needing six runs and two balls to win the match, he hit the first delivery he faced, from part-time off-spinner and batting legend, Viv Richards, for a six and secured the cup. In December 2012 after Ricky Ponting announced his retirement he said that Wasim Akram and Curtly Ambrose were the toughest bowlers he had faced "Akram for the exact opposite, you could get a few runs off him, but you just knew there was an unplayable ball around the corner, be it with an old ball or with a new ball," - Ricky Ponting. CANNOTANSWER | Together Wasim and Waqar, known as "the two Ws" of the Pakistani team, were one of the most successful bowling partnerships in cricket. | Wasim Akram (born 3 June 1966) is a Pakistani cricket commentator, coach, and former cricketer and captain of the Pakistan national cricket team. Akram is widely regarded as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time and several critics regard him as the greatest left arm fast bowler of cricket history.
In October 2013, Wasim Akram was the only Pakistani cricketer to be named in an all-time Test World XI to mark the 150th anniversary of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack.
A left arm fast bowler who could bowl with significant pace, he holds the world record for most wickets in List A cricket, with 881, and he is second only to Sri Lankan off-spin bowler Muttiah Muralitharan in terms of ODI wickets, with 502 in total. He is considered to be one of the founders, and perhaps the finest exponent of, reverse swing bowling.
He was the first bowler to reach the 500-wicket mark in ODI cricket during the 2003 World Cup. In 2002, Wisden released its only list of best players of all time. Wasim was ranked as the best bowler in ODI of all time, with a rating of 1223.5, ahead of Allan Donald, Imran Khan, Waqar Younis, Joel Garner, Glenn McGrath and Muralitharan. Wasim took 23 four-wicket hauls in 356 ODI matches played. On 30 September 2009, Akram was one of five new members inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. He was the bowling coach of Kolkata Knight Riders. However, he took a break from the position for IPL 6, citing a need to spend more time with family in Karachi, and he took a further break from IPL 2017; and was replaced by Lakshmipathy Balaji.
He was working as director and bowling coach of Islamabad United in Pakistan Super League, until he left to join Multan Sultans in August 2017. In October 2018, he was named in the Pakistan Cricket Board's seven-member advisory cricket committee. In November 2018, he joined PSL franchise, Karachi Kings, as a President.
The Government of Pakistan awarded him the Hilal-e-Imtiaz on 23 March 2019 for his life time achievements In field of Cricket.
Early and personal life
Wasim Akram was born on 3 June 1966 to a Punjabi family in Lahore. Akram's father, Chaudhary Muhammed Akram, was originally from a village near Amritsar, who moved to Kamonki, in the Pakistani Punjab after the partition of India in 1947. He was educated at Government Islamia College, Civil Lines, Lahore.
At the age of 30, Akram was diagnosed with diabetes. "I remember what a shock it was because I was a healthy sportsman with no history of diabetes in my family, so I didn't expect it at all. It seemed strange that it happened to me when I was 30, but it was a very stressful time and doctors said that can trigger it." Since then he has sought to be involved in various awareness campaigns for diabetes.
Akram married Huma Mufti in 1995. They had two sons from their marriage of 14 years: Tahmoor (born 1996) and Akbar (born 2000). Huma died of multiple organ failure at Apollo Hospital in Chennai, India, on 25 October 2009.
On 7 July 2013, it was reported that Akram had become engaged to an Australian woman, Shaniera Thompson, whom he had met while on a visit to Melbourne in 2011. Akram married Shaniera on 12 August 2013, saying he has started a new life on a happy note. He was quoted as saying: "I married Shaniera in Lahore in a simple ceremony, and this is the start of a new life for me, my wife, and for my kids."
He moved from Lahore to Karachi with his wife and children. On 3 September 2014, the couple tweeted that they were expecting their first baby—the third child of the Akram family. On 27 December 2014, Shaniera gave birth to a baby girl, Aiyla Sabeen Rose Akram, in Melbourne.
Domestic career
In 1988, Akram signed for Lancashire County Cricket Club in England. From 1988 to 1998, he opened their bowling attack in their NatWest Trophy, Benson and Hedges Cup, and Sunday League tournaments. He was a favourite of the local British fans, who used to sing a song called "Wasim for England" at Lancashire's matches. In 1998, with Akram as captain, Lancashire won the NatWest Trophy and Sunday League and finished second in the County Championship, having lost only five matches in all competitions during the season.
International career
Test cricket
Akram made his Test cricket debut for Pakistan against New Zealand in 1985, and in his second Test match, he claimed 10 wickets. A few weeks prior to his selection into the Pakistan team, he was an unknown club cricketer who had failed to make it even to his college team. He came to the trials at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore in Pakistan, but for the first two days he did not get a chance to bowl. On the third day, he got a chance; his performance convincing Javed Miandad to insist upon his inclusion in the national team. Akram was hence given an opportunity to play for Pakistan, without any significant domestic experience.
Akram's rise in international cricket was rapid during the late 1980s. He was a part of the Pakistan team that toured the West Indies in 1988. However, a groin injury impeded his career in the late 1980s. Following two surgeries, he re-emerged in the 1990s as a fast bowler who focused more on swing and accurate bowling.
Wasim Akram is currently the highest wicket taker for Pakistan in test cricket with 414 wickets.
One Day International
Akram started his ODI career against New Zealand in Pakistan in 1984 under the captaincy of Zaheer Abbas. He rose to prominence by taking five wickets in his 3rd ODI against Australia in the 1985 Benson & Hedges World Championship. His wickets included those of Kepler Wessels, Dean Jones, and captain Allan Border. Wasim Akram is currently the highest wicket taker for Pakistan in One Day International cricket
Early days
In the 1984–85 Rothmans Four-Nations Cup and the 1985–86 Rothmans Sharjah Cup, Akram took five wickets with a run rate of less than 3.50. The 1985–1986 Austral-Asia Cup involved Australia, India, New Zealand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and was played in Sharjah, UAE. Akram, with the help of Abdul Qadir, bowled out New Zealand's batting line-up for 64 in the second semi-final of the cup. Pakistan won that game with more than 27 overs to spare, obtaining one of the biggest wins in Pakistani history. In the final against India, he and Imran Khan shared five wickets. Akram's wickets included Dilip Vengsarkar and Ravi Shastri.
In the 1987 Cricket World Cup held for the 1st time in South Asia, Akram struggled on Pakistani pitches; he managed only 7 wickets throughout, with an average of over 40 runs per wicket across all 7 matches. Akram played West Indies, Sri Lanka and England twice. All group matches were played in Pakistan.
In the 1988–89 Benson and Hedges World Series, Akram managed figures of 4 for 25 against Australia.
Emergence
Akram took his hundredth wicket at Sharjah during the 1989–1990 Champions Trophy, the 2nd Match against West Indies. His 100th wicket was that of Curtly Ambrose. In that match, he took a five-wicket haul for the second time in his career. In the same match, Akram took his first hat-trick against West Indies. All three batsman were bowled out. On 4 May 1990 in Sharjah, Akram took his second ODI hat-trick against Australia. All three batsmen were bowled this time as well.
His best years in the late 1980s were from 1986 to 1989, during which time he took 100 wickets at 22.71 runs per wicket, and his economy rate was less than 3.9 runs per over, with a total of four 4-wicket hauls. His first two hauls against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh came in Sri Lanka in 1986.
Up until December 1991, Akram took 143 wickets in 107 matches, with an average of almost 24 and an economy rate of 3.84.
World's best
Akram was a significant figure in the 1992 Cricket World Cup held in Australia and New Zealand when Pakistan won the tournament. In the final, against England, his innings of 33 runs off 19 balls pushed Pakistan to a score of 249 runs for 6 wickets. Akram then took the wicket of Ian Botham early on during the English batting innings; and, when brought back into the bowling attack later on, with the ball reverse swinging, he produced a spell of bowling which led to Allan Lamb and Chris Lewis being bowled in successive deliveries in one over. His performances earned him the Man of the Match award for the final. In 1993, Akram took two consecutive 4-wicket hauls against Sri Lanka in Sharjah, in which 7 out of 8 wickets were either LBW or bowled.
In the 1992–1993 Total International Series in South Africa (involving Pakistan, West Indies and South Africa), he took 5 wickets against South Africa and got his 200th wicket in his 143rd match. Akram took 46 wickets in calendar year 1993, his best year ever in ODIs. His average was less than 19, with an economy rate of less than 3.8 runs per over. He took six 4-wicket hauls in 1993, the most by him in any year. In the 1996 Cricket World Cup, Akram missed the quarterfinal match against India which Pakistan lost and went out of the World Cup. Wasim's great career was often tainted by controversy, not least in the Caribbean in April 1993, his maiden tour as Pakistan's captain. During the team's stop-over in Grenada, he was arrested along with three teammates—Waqar Younis, Aaqib Javed and Mushtaq Ahmed—and two female British tourists; he was charged with possession of marijuana. Between 1994 and 1996, he took 84 wickets in 39 matches.
From January 1992 to December 1997, Akram played 131 matches and took 198 wickets at an average of 21.86, with 14 4-wicket hauls in ODIs.
Late career
In 1999, he led Pakistan to the finals of the World Cup where they capitulated and were defeated by Australia in the final by eight wickets with almost 30 overs to spare. This was the start of the match-fixing controversies, as critics believed Akram had set up the match for Australia. However, none of the allegations could be proved.
He was Pakistan's best bowler in the 2003 Cricket World Cup, taking 12 wickets in 6 matches. However, Pakistan failed to reach the super six of the tournament, and Akram was one of the eight players to be sacked by the Pakistan Cricket Board as a result.
Records
Akram won 17 Man-of-the-Match awards in 104 Tests. He took four hat-tricks in international cricket—two in ODIs and two in Tests. As a result, he shares the record for most international hat-tricks with Lasith Malinga. He finished with 22 Man-of-the-Match awards in ODIs. In 199 ODI match wins, he took 326 wickets at under 19 apiece with a run rate of 3.70 and took 18 four-wicket hauls. His 257 not-out against Zimbabwe in 1996 is the highest innings by a number-8 batsman in Tests. He hit 12 sixes in that game, and it stands to this day as the record for the most sixes by any player in a single Test innings.
Prior to his retirement, he was one of eight senior players dropped for the 2003 Sharjah Cup, and was then omitted from the Pakistan squad for the subsequent Bank Alfalah Cup triangular series. Due to his omission from the team, he did not participate in a farewell match. Akram fulfilled his contract play for Hampshire until the end of the English season.
Post retirement
Media career
Since retiring from cricket, Akram has worked and taken up commentary for television networks and can currently be seen as a sports commentator for ESPN Star Sports and ARY Digital among others. He did commentary on a variety of sporting tournaments including the 2009 Women's Cricket World Cup in Australia, the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 in England, the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa, and the 2011 ICC World Cup in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
Coaching career
In 2010, Akram was appointed the bowling coach consultant of Kolkata Knight Riders, the Indian Premier League team for Kolkata. Sourav Ganguly was always keen to have Akram as the bowling coach for India, during the former's stint as Indian captain. Although this never happened, his dreams were realised to some extent, when Akram was appointed as the bowling coach cum mentor for the franchise.
Akram has thus been playing a vital role in the grooming of Indian pacers like Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav, who owe their success in international cricket a lot to the bowling legend.
While working for the Kolkata Knight Riders, he was also responsible for the signing of Pakistani domestic left-arm fast-bowler Mohammad Irfan.
Akram has also been coaching in Pakistan fast bowling camps, his most notable discovery being the teenage Pakistani bowlers Mohammad Amir and Junaid Khan.
Akram has also worked as director and bowling coach of PSL franchise Islamabad United during 2016 and 2017 season. He has also worked with Multan Sultans as director and bowling coach. He is currently chairman and bowling coach of Karachi Kings. He is also currently the Vice President of Kashmir Premier League.
Playing style and legacy
During his professional career he bowled with genuine speed and hostility. Akram was a man possessed of accurate control of line and length, accompanied by seam and swing bowling skills, extended to both inswingers and outswingers. With a very quick bowling action, he could bowl equally well from both sides of the wicket. His mastery of reverse swing with the cricket ball meant he was at his most dangerous towards the end of a bowling innings, and earned him the nickname of one of the "Sultans of Swing", the other one being Waqar Younis.
As well as often being able to find the edge of the bat, Akram would also focus his bowling attack on the stumps and had a particularly lethal inswinging yorker. Of his 414 Test wickets, 193 were taken caught, 119 were taken leg before wicket and 102 were bowled. In partnership with Waqar Younis, he intimidated international batsmen in the 1990s. Together Wasim and Waqar, known as "the two Ws" of the Pakistani team, were one of the most successful bowling partnerships in cricket.
With the bat he was especially effective against spin bowlers. However, he liked to slog and was criticised for his lack of high scores and giving away his wicket too cheaply. In October 1996 he scored 257 runs not out, of the team's total of 553 against lowly Zimbabwe on a typical flat South Asian pitch at Sheikhupura. He also achieved good scores for the Pakistan team such as his scores of 123 and 45* against Australia to take Pakistan to victory in a low scoring match. His batting was also valuable sometimes to the Pakistan ODI side, such as in the Nehru Cup in 1989, when needing six runs and two balls to win the match, he hit the first delivery he faced, from part-time off-spinner and batting legend, Viv Richards, for a six and secured the cup.
West Indian batting great Viv Richards rates Akram as best fast bowler he ever faced after Dennis Lillee.
In December 2012 after Ricky Ponting announced his retirement he said that Wasim Akram and Curtly Ambrose were the toughest bowlers he had faced "Akram for the exact opposite, you could get a few runs off him, but you just knew there was an unplayable ball around the corner, be it with an old ball or with a new ball," – Ricky Ponting.
To mark 150 years of the Cricketers' Almanack, Wisden named him in an all-time Test World XI.
Beyond cricket
Book
He co-wrote his autobiography Wasim (1998) with the British sports journalist Patrick Murphy.
Modelling
Akram was a model at the Pantene Bridal Couture Week 2011, which was an event of Style 360.
Business
In 2018, Akram joined Cricingif as a stakeholder director.
Television
Films
Award and records
Akram was awarded Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1993 for his sporting achievements. He was awarded Lux Style Award for Most Stylish Sports Person in 2003.
In his Test career, Akram took 414 wickets in 104 matches, a Pakistani record, at an average of 23.62 and scored 2,898 runs, at an average of 22.64.
In One Day Internationals, Akram took 502 wickets in 356 appearances, at an average of 23.52 and scored 3,717 runs, at an average of 16.52.
Akram was the first bowler in international cricket to take more than 400 wickets in both forms of the game and only Muttiah Muralitharan has since achieved this.
Akram also held the record for the most wickets in Cricket World Cups, a total of 55 in 38 matches. Australia's Glenn McGrath broke the record during the 2007 Cricket World Cup, ending with a final tally of 71 from 39 matches. On passing Wasim's record, McGrath said, "Wasim Akram, to me, is one of the greatest bowlers of all time. Left-armer, swung it both ways with the new ball and he was so dangerous with the old ball. To go past him is something I will always remember. Probably the other side of the coin is that if you play long enough, you're going to break records here and there." He is currently the fourth highest wicket taker in world cups.
Akram is the only bowler to have achieved four hat-tricks in international cricket, with two each in Tests and One Day Internationals. He was the third of only four bowlers to have taken two Test cricket hat-tricks, the others being Hugh Trumble, Jimmy Matthews and Stuart Broad. Akram was also the first of only five bowlers to have taken two One Day International cricket hat-tricks. Akram's Test hat-tricks are significant, since they were taken in consecutive Test matches in the same series, a game played against Sri Lanka in the 1998-99 Asian Test Championship. Akram is also one of only two bowlers to have taken both a Test match and One Day International hat-trick, the other being Pakistan fast bowler, Mohammad Sami.
Playing in a Test series against the West Indies at Lahore in 1990–1991, he became one of only six players to have taken four wickets in an over during a Test match. In Akram's case, these achievement was not part of a hat-trick, the third ball he delivered to the batting opposition was a dropped catch, which allowed a single run.
Akram has also achieved the highest score by a number eight batsman in Test cricket when he scored 257 runs not out from 363 balls against Zimbabwe at Sheikhupura. The innings contained 12 sixes which is also a world record for Test cricket.
He also has the joint-third highest number of Man of the Match awards in Test cricket, with seventeen.
He has scored the second-highest number of runs in One Day International matches by a player who has never scored a One Day International hundred, after Misbah-ul-Haq. His highest score was 86 runs.
He is the only Test cricketer in the world (as of Feb 2013) to take ten or more wickets thrice in a test match and still end up on the losing side.
He holds the record for facing the most balls in a test match as well as in an innings as number 8 batsman (363 balls)
First bowler to take 500 ODI wickets and still holds the record for taking the most ODI wickets as seamer (502)
He holds the record for taking the most wickets in ODI history at a single ground (122, Sharjah Cricket Stadium), also the first person to grab 100+ ODI wickets at the same ground. Waqar Younis, the second person to grab 100+ ODI wickets at a single ground, also did in Sharjah. He ranks second overall with 114 wickets.
Holds the record for taking the most ODI wickets as captain (158)
Controversies
In 1992, after he had been successful against the English batsmen, accusations of ball tampering began to appear in the English media, though no video evidence of foul play was ever found. Akram and Younis had been able to obtain prodigious amounts of movement from both new and old cricket balls. The skill of the reverse swing delivery was relatively unknown in England and around the cricketing world during that period.
A far larger controversy was created when critics alleged that he was involved in match fixing. An inquiry commission was set up by the Pakistan Cricket Board headed by a Pakistan high court judge, Malik Mohammad Qayyum. The judge wrote in his report that:
References
External links
Pakistan One Day International cricketers
Pakistan Test cricketers
Pakistan Test cricket captains
Pakistani cricket captains
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Lancashire cricketers
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Pakistan Automobiles Corporation cricketers
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Wisden Cricketers of the Year
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Cricketers at the 1987 Cricket World Cup
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1966 births
Living people
Pakistani sports broadcasters
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Recipients of Hilal-i-Imtiaz
People with type 1 diabetes | true | [
"John Michael Mills (27 July 1921 – 8 November 2014) was an English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Cambridge University and Warwickshire between 1946 and 1948.\n\nMichael Mills was a right-handed lower-order batsman and a right-arm leg-break and googly bowler. Educated at Oundle School and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, Mills went to Cambridge University after war service. He hit an unbeaten 65 and took five wickets in the freshmen's trial match and thereafter provided the only spin bowling in the 1946 university cricket side. In his second first-class match, he took seven Yorkshire first innings wickets for 69 runs, and these remained the best bowling figures of his career. Against Somerset at Bath he took the first six wickets to fall, and only seven fell in all; they included Harold Gimblett, who hit 114 in 95 minutes and accounted for some of the 100 runs that Mills' wickets cost. He was not successful in the 1946 University Match in which he won the first of his three consecutive Blues for cricket. At the end of the university cricket season, Mills played in four matches for Warwickshire; with England leg-spin bowler Eric Hollies in the side, his bowling opportunities were limited and in the game against Nottinghamshire he did not bowl at all in the first innings when Hollies took all 10 Nottinghamshire wickets for 49 runs.\n\nMills continued to play for Cambridge University in the 1947 and 1948 seasons, winning his Blue in both years, but did not play any further games for Warwickshire. He captained Oxford in 1948. His bowling became more expensive and his batting, though often useful, did not develop: he had a career average, over 50 completed first-class innings, of almost 15 runs per innings, but his highest score was only 44. He did not play any further first-class cricket after leaving Cambridge University. He also won Blues for squash and fives.\n\nHe returned to Oundle School as a housemaster, and ran the cricket there for 12 years. His son, Peter Mills, played for Cambridge University and for Northamptonshire between 1979 and 1982.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n \n\n1921 births\n2014 deaths\nEnglish cricketers\nCambridge University cricketers\nWarwickshire cricketers\nPeople educated at Oundle School\nAlumni of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge",
"The 2004 NCAA Bowling Championship was the first annual tournament to determine the national champion of women's NCAA collegiate ten-pin bowling. The tournament was played at Emerald Bowl in Houston, Texas during April 2004. \n\nNebraska defeated Central Missouri State in the championship match, 4 games to 2, to win their first national title. The Cornhuskers were coached by Bill Straub.\n\nThe awards for Most outstanding bowler and All-tournament team were not given out until 2005.\n\nQualification\nSince there is only one national collegiate championship for women's bowling, all NCAA bowling programs (whether from Division I, Division II, or Division III) were eligible. A total of 8 teams were invited to contest the inaugural championship.\n\nTournament bracket \nSite: Houston, Texas\n\nSee also\n Pre–NCAA Women's Bowling Championship (United States Bowling Congress)\n\nReferences\n\nNCAA Bowling Championship\nNCAA Bowling Championship\n2004 in bowling"
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"Wasim Akram (born 3 June 1966) is a Pakistani cricket commentator, coach, and former cricketer and captain of the Pakistan national cricket team. Akram is widely regarded as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time and several critics regard him as the greatest left arm fast bowler of cricket history. In October 2013, Wasim Akram was the only Pakistani cricketer to be named in an all-time Test World XI to mark the 150th anniversary of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack.",
"In October 2013, Wasim Akram was the only Pakistani cricketer to be named in an all-time Test World XI to mark the 150th anniversary of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack. A left arm fast bowler who could bowl with significant pace, he holds the world record for most wickets in List A cricket, with 881, and he is second only to Sri Lankan off-spin bowler Muttiah Muralitharan in terms of ODI wickets, with 502 in total.",
"A left arm fast bowler who could bowl with significant pace, he holds the world record for most wickets in List A cricket, with 881, and he is second only to Sri Lankan off-spin bowler Muttiah Muralitharan in terms of ODI wickets, with 502 in total. He is considered to be one of the founders, and perhaps the finest exponent of, reverse swing bowling. He was the first bowler to reach the 500-wicket mark in ODI cricket during the 2003 World Cup.",
"He was the first bowler to reach the 500-wicket mark in ODI cricket during the 2003 World Cup. In 2002, Wisden released its only list of best players of all time. Wasim was ranked as the best bowler in ODI of all time, with a rating of 1223.5, ahead of Allan Donald, Imran Khan, Waqar Younis, Joel Garner, Glenn McGrath and Muralitharan. Wasim took 23 four-wicket hauls in 356 ODI matches played.",
"Wasim took 23 four-wicket hauls in 356 ODI matches played. On 30 September 2009, Akram was one of five new members inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. He was the bowling coach of Kolkata Knight Riders. However, he took a break from the position for IPL 6, citing a need to spend more time with family in Karachi, and he took a further break from IPL 2017; and was replaced by Lakshmipathy Balaji.",
"However, he took a break from the position for IPL 6, citing a need to spend more time with family in Karachi, and he took a further break from IPL 2017; and was replaced by Lakshmipathy Balaji. He was working as director and bowling coach of Islamabad United in Pakistan Super League, until he left to join Multan Sultans in August 2017. In October 2018, he was named in the Pakistan Cricket Board's seven-member advisory cricket committee.",
"In October 2018, he was named in the Pakistan Cricket Board's seven-member advisory cricket committee. In November 2018, he joined PSL franchise, Karachi Kings, as a President. The Government of Pakistan awarded him the Hilal-e-Imtiaz on 23 March 2019 for his life time achievements In field of Cricket. Early and personal life Wasim Akram was born on 3 June 1966 to a Punjabi family in Lahore.",
"Early and personal life Wasim Akram was born on 3 June 1966 to a Punjabi family in Lahore. Akram's father, Chaudhary Muhammed Akram, was originally from a village near Amritsar, who moved to Kamonki, in the Pakistani Punjab after the partition of India in 1947. He was educated at Government Islamia College, Civil Lines, Lahore. At the age of 30, Akram was diagnosed with diabetes.",
"At the age of 30, Akram was diagnosed with diabetes. \"I remember what a shock it was because I was a healthy sportsman with no history of diabetes in my family, so I didn't expect it at all. It seemed strange that it happened to me when I was 30, but it was a very stressful time and doctors said that can trigger it.\" Since then he has sought to be involved in various awareness campaigns for diabetes. Akram married Huma Mufti in 1995.",
"Akram married Huma Mufti in 1995. Akram married Huma Mufti in 1995. They had two sons from their marriage of 14 years: Tahmoor (born 1996) and Akbar (born 2000). Huma died of multiple organ failure at Apollo Hospital in Chennai, India, on 25 October 2009. On 7 July 2013, it was reported that Akram had become engaged to an Australian woman, Shaniera Thompson, whom he had met while on a visit to Melbourne in 2011.",
"On 7 July 2013, it was reported that Akram had become engaged to an Australian woman, Shaniera Thompson, whom he had met while on a visit to Melbourne in 2011. Akram married Shaniera on 12 August 2013, saying he has started a new life on a happy note. He was quoted as saying: \"I married Shaniera in Lahore in a simple ceremony, and this is the start of a new life for me, my wife, and for my kids.\"",
"He was quoted as saying: \"I married Shaniera in Lahore in a simple ceremony, and this is the start of a new life for me, my wife, and for my kids.\" He moved from Lahore to Karachi with his wife and children. On 3 September 2014, the couple tweeted that they were expecting their first baby—the third child of the Akram family. On 27 December 2014, Shaniera gave birth to a baby girl, Aiyla Sabeen Rose Akram, in Melbourne.",
"On 27 December 2014, Shaniera gave birth to a baby girl, Aiyla Sabeen Rose Akram, in Melbourne. Domestic career In 1988, Akram signed for Lancashire County Cricket Club in England. From 1988 to 1998, he opened their bowling attack in their NatWest Trophy, Benson and Hedges Cup, and Sunday League tournaments. He was a favourite of the local British fans, who used to sing a song called \"Wasim for England\" at Lancashire's matches.",
"He was a favourite of the local British fans, who used to sing a song called \"Wasim for England\" at Lancashire's matches. In 1998, with Akram as captain, Lancashire won the NatWest Trophy and Sunday League and finished second in the County Championship, having lost only five matches in all competitions during the season. International career Test cricket Akram made his Test cricket debut for Pakistan against New Zealand in 1985, and in his second Test match, he claimed 10 wickets.",
"International career Test cricket Akram made his Test cricket debut for Pakistan against New Zealand in 1985, and in his second Test match, he claimed 10 wickets. A few weeks prior to his selection into the Pakistan team, he was an unknown club cricketer who had failed to make it even to his college team. He came to the trials at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore in Pakistan, but for the first two days he did not get a chance to bowl.",
"He came to the trials at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore in Pakistan, but for the first two days he did not get a chance to bowl. On the third day, he got a chance; his performance convincing Javed Miandad to insist upon his inclusion in the national team. Akram was hence given an opportunity to play for Pakistan, without any significant domestic experience. Akram's rise in international cricket was rapid during the late 1980s. He was a part of the Pakistan team that toured the West Indies in 1988.",
"He was a part of the Pakistan team that toured the West Indies in 1988. However, a groin injury impeded his career in the late 1980s. Following two surgeries, he re-emerged in the 1990s as a fast bowler who focused more on swing and accurate bowling. Wasim Akram is currently the highest wicket taker for Pakistan in test cricket with 414 wickets. One Day International Akram started his ODI career against New Zealand in Pakistan in 1984 under the captaincy of Zaheer Abbas.",
"One Day International Akram started his ODI career against New Zealand in Pakistan in 1984 under the captaincy of Zaheer Abbas. He rose to prominence by taking five wickets in his 3rd ODI against Australia in the 1985 Benson & Hedges World Championship. His wickets included those of Kepler Wessels, Dean Jones, and captain Allan Border.",
"His wickets included those of Kepler Wessels, Dean Jones, and captain Allan Border. Wasim Akram is currently the highest wicket taker for Pakistan in One Day International cricket Early days In the 1984–85 Rothmans Four-Nations Cup and the 1985–86 Rothmans Sharjah Cup, Akram took five wickets with a run rate of less than 3.50. The 1985–1986 Austral-Asia Cup involved Australia, India, New Zealand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and was played in Sharjah, UAE.",
"The 1985–1986 Austral-Asia Cup involved Australia, India, New Zealand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and was played in Sharjah, UAE. Akram, with the help of Abdul Qadir, bowled out New Zealand's batting line-up for 64 in the second semi-final of the cup. Pakistan won that game with more than 27 overs to spare, obtaining one of the biggest wins in Pakistani history. In the final against India, he and Imran Khan shared five wickets. Akram's wickets included Dilip Vengsarkar and Ravi Shastri.",
"Akram's wickets included Dilip Vengsarkar and Ravi Shastri. Akram's wickets included Dilip Vengsarkar and Ravi Shastri. In the 1987 Cricket World Cup held for the 1st time in South Asia, Akram struggled on Pakistani pitches; he managed only 7 wickets throughout, with an average of over 40 runs per wicket across all 7 matches. Akram played West Indies, Sri Lanka and England twice. All group matches were played in Pakistan. In the 1988–89 Benson and Hedges World Series, Akram managed figures of 4 for 25 against Australia.",
"In the 1988–89 Benson and Hedges World Series, Akram managed figures of 4 for 25 against Australia. Emergence Akram took his hundredth wicket at Sharjah during the 1989–1990 Champions Trophy, the 2nd Match against West Indies. His 100th wicket was that of Curtly Ambrose. In that match, he took a five-wicket haul for the second time in his career. In the same match, Akram took his first hat-trick against West Indies. All three batsman were bowled out.",
"All three batsman were bowled out. All three batsman were bowled out. On 4 May 1990 in Sharjah, Akram took his second ODI hat-trick against Australia. All three batsmen were bowled this time as well. His best years in the late 1980s were from 1986 to 1989, during which time he took 100 wickets at 22.71 runs per wicket, and his economy rate was less than 3.9 runs per over, with a total of four 4-wicket hauls.",
"His best years in the late 1980s were from 1986 to 1989, during which time he took 100 wickets at 22.71 runs per wicket, and his economy rate was less than 3.9 runs per over, with a total of four 4-wicket hauls. His first two hauls against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh came in Sri Lanka in 1986. Up until December 1991, Akram took 143 wickets in 107 matches, with an average of almost 24 and an economy rate of 3.84.",
"Up until December 1991, Akram took 143 wickets in 107 matches, with an average of almost 24 and an economy rate of 3.84. World's best Akram was a significant figure in the 1992 Cricket World Cup held in Australia and New Zealand when Pakistan won the tournament. In the final, against England, his innings of 33 runs off 19 balls pushed Pakistan to a score of 249 runs for 6 wickets.",
"In the final, against England, his innings of 33 runs off 19 balls pushed Pakistan to a score of 249 runs for 6 wickets. Akram then took the wicket of Ian Botham early on during the English batting innings; and, when brought back into the bowling attack later on, with the ball reverse swinging, he produced a spell of bowling which led to Allan Lamb and Chris Lewis being bowled in successive deliveries in one over. His performances earned him the Man of the Match award for the final.",
"His performances earned him the Man of the Match award for the final. In 1993, Akram took two consecutive 4-wicket hauls against Sri Lanka in Sharjah, in which 7 out of 8 wickets were either LBW or bowled. In the 1992–1993 Total International Series in South Africa (involving Pakistan, West Indies and South Africa), he took 5 wickets against South Africa and got his 200th wicket in his 143rd match. Akram took 46 wickets in calendar year 1993, his best year ever in ODIs.",
"Akram took 46 wickets in calendar year 1993, his best year ever in ODIs. His average was less than 19, with an economy rate of less than 3.8 runs per over. He took six 4-wicket hauls in 1993, the most by him in any year. In the 1996 Cricket World Cup, Akram missed the quarterfinal match against India which Pakistan lost and went out of the World Cup.",
"In the 1996 Cricket World Cup, Akram missed the quarterfinal match against India which Pakistan lost and went out of the World Cup. Wasim's great career was often tainted by controversy, not least in the Caribbean in April 1993, his maiden tour as Pakistan's captain. During the team's stop-over in Grenada, he was arrested along with three teammates—Waqar Younis, Aaqib Javed and Mushtaq Ahmed—and two female British tourists; he was charged with possession of marijuana. Between 1994 and 1996, he took 84 wickets in 39 matches.",
"Between 1994 and 1996, he took 84 wickets in 39 matches. From January 1992 to December 1997, Akram played 131 matches and took 198 wickets at an average of 21.86, with 14 4-wicket hauls in ODIs. Late career In 1999, he led Pakistan to the finals of the World Cup where they capitulated and were defeated by Australia in the final by eight wickets with almost 30 overs to spare. This was the start of the match-fixing controversies, as critics believed Akram had set up the match for Australia.",
"This was the start of the match-fixing controversies, as critics believed Akram had set up the match for Australia. However, none of the allegations could be proved. He was Pakistan's best bowler in the 2003 Cricket World Cup, taking 12 wickets in 6 matches. However, Pakistan failed to reach the super six of the tournament, and Akram was one of the eight players to be sacked by the Pakistan Cricket Board as a result. Records Akram won 17 Man-of-the-Match awards in 104 Tests.",
"Records Akram won 17 Man-of-the-Match awards in 104 Tests. Records Akram won 17 Man-of-the-Match awards in 104 Tests. He took four hat-tricks in international cricket—two in ODIs and two in Tests. As a result, he shares the record for most international hat-tricks with Lasith Malinga. He finished with 22 Man-of-the-Match awards in ODIs. In 199 ODI match wins, he took 326 wickets at under 19 apiece with a run rate of 3.70 and took 18 four-wicket hauls.",
"In 199 ODI match wins, he took 326 wickets at under 19 apiece with a run rate of 3.70 and took 18 four-wicket hauls. His 257 not-out against Zimbabwe in 1996 is the highest innings by a number-8 batsman in Tests. He hit 12 sixes in that game, and it stands to this day as the record for the most sixes by any player in a single Test innings.",
"He hit 12 sixes in that game, and it stands to this day as the record for the most sixes by any player in a single Test innings. Prior to his retirement, he was one of eight senior players dropped for the 2003 Sharjah Cup, and was then omitted from the Pakistan squad for the subsequent Bank Alfalah Cup triangular series. Due to his omission from the team, he did not participate in a farewell match. Akram fulfilled his contract play for Hampshire until the end of the English season.",
"Akram fulfilled his contract play for Hampshire until the end of the English season. Post retirement Media career Since retiring from cricket, Akram has worked and taken up commentary for television networks and can currently be seen as a sports commentator for ESPN Star Sports and ARY Digital among others.",
"Post retirement Media career Since retiring from cricket, Akram has worked and taken up commentary for television networks and can currently be seen as a sports commentator for ESPN Star Sports and ARY Digital among others. He did commentary on a variety of sporting tournaments including the 2009 Women's Cricket World Cup in Australia, the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 in England, the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa, and the 2011 ICC World Cup in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.",
"He did commentary on a variety of sporting tournaments including the 2009 Women's Cricket World Cup in Australia, the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 in England, the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa, and the 2011 ICC World Cup in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Coaching career In 2010, Akram was appointed the bowling coach consultant of Kolkata Knight Riders, the Indian Premier League team for Kolkata. Sourav Ganguly was always keen to have Akram as the bowling coach for India, during the former's stint as Indian captain.",
"Sourav Ganguly was always keen to have Akram as the bowling coach for India, during the former's stint as Indian captain. Although this never happened, his dreams were realised to some extent, when Akram was appointed as the bowling coach cum mentor for the franchise. Akram has thus been playing a vital role in the grooming of Indian pacers like Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav, who owe their success in international cricket a lot to the bowling legend.",
"Akram has thus been playing a vital role in the grooming of Indian pacers like Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav, who owe their success in international cricket a lot to the bowling legend. While working for the Kolkata Knight Riders, he was also responsible for the signing of Pakistani domestic left-arm fast-bowler Mohammad Irfan. Akram has also been coaching in Pakistan fast bowling camps, his most notable discovery being the teenage Pakistani bowlers Mohammad Amir and Junaid Khan.",
"Akram has also been coaching in Pakistan fast bowling camps, his most notable discovery being the teenage Pakistani bowlers Mohammad Amir and Junaid Khan. Akram has also worked as director and bowling coach of PSL franchise Islamabad United during 2016 and 2017 season. He has also worked with Multan Sultans as director and bowling coach. He is currently chairman and bowling coach of Karachi Kings. He is also currently the Vice President of Kashmir Premier League. Playing style and legacy During his professional career he bowled with genuine speed and hostility.",
"Playing style and legacy During his professional career he bowled with genuine speed and hostility. Akram was a man possessed of accurate control of line and length, accompanied by seam and swing bowling skills, extended to both inswingers and outswingers. With a very quick bowling action, he could bowl equally well from both sides of the wicket.",
"With a very quick bowling action, he could bowl equally well from both sides of the wicket. His mastery of reverse swing with the cricket ball meant he was at his most dangerous towards the end of a bowling innings, and earned him the nickname of one of the \"Sultans of Swing\", the other one being Waqar Younis. As well as often being able to find the edge of the bat, Akram would also focus his bowling attack on the stumps and had a particularly lethal inswinging yorker.",
"As well as often being able to find the edge of the bat, Akram would also focus his bowling attack on the stumps and had a particularly lethal inswinging yorker. Of his 414 Test wickets, 193 were taken caught, 119 were taken leg before wicket and 102 were bowled. In partnership with Waqar Younis, he intimidated international batsmen in the 1990s. Together Wasim and Waqar, known as \"the two Ws\" of the Pakistani team, were one of the most successful bowling partnerships in cricket.",
"Together Wasim and Waqar, known as \"the two Ws\" of the Pakistani team, were one of the most successful bowling partnerships in cricket. With the bat he was especially effective against spin bowlers. However, he liked to slog and was criticised for his lack of high scores and giving away his wicket too cheaply. In October 1996 he scored 257 runs not out, of the team's total of 553 against lowly Zimbabwe on a typical flat South Asian pitch at Sheikhupura.",
"In October 1996 he scored 257 runs not out, of the team's total of 553 against lowly Zimbabwe on a typical flat South Asian pitch at Sheikhupura. He also achieved good scores for the Pakistan team such as his scores of 123 and 45* against Australia to take Pakistan to victory in a low scoring match.",
"He also achieved good scores for the Pakistan team such as his scores of 123 and 45* against Australia to take Pakistan to victory in a low scoring match. His batting was also valuable sometimes to the Pakistan ODI side, such as in the Nehru Cup in 1989, when needing six runs and two balls to win the match, he hit the first delivery he faced, from part-time off-spinner and batting legend, Viv Richards, for a six and secured the cup.",
"His batting was also valuable sometimes to the Pakistan ODI side, such as in the Nehru Cup in 1989, when needing six runs and two balls to win the match, he hit the first delivery he faced, from part-time off-spinner and batting legend, Viv Richards, for a six and secured the cup. West Indian batting great Viv Richards rates Akram as best fast bowler he ever faced after Dennis Lillee.",
"West Indian batting great Viv Richards rates Akram as best fast bowler he ever faced after Dennis Lillee. In December 2012 after Ricky Ponting announced his retirement he said that Wasim Akram and Curtly Ambrose were the toughest bowlers he had faced \"Akram for the exact opposite, you could get a few runs off him, but you just knew there was an unplayable ball around the corner, be it with an old ball or with a new ball,\" – Ricky Ponting.",
"In December 2012 after Ricky Ponting announced his retirement he said that Wasim Akram and Curtly Ambrose were the toughest bowlers he had faced \"Akram for the exact opposite, you could get a few runs off him, but you just knew there was an unplayable ball around the corner, be it with an old ball or with a new ball,\" – Ricky Ponting. To mark 150 years of the Cricketers' Almanack, Wisden named him in an all-time Test World XI.",
"To mark 150 years of the Cricketers' Almanack, Wisden named him in an all-time Test World XI. Beyond cricket Book He co-wrote his autobiography Wasim (1998) with the British sports journalist Patrick Murphy. Modelling Akram was a model at the Pantene Bridal Couture Week 2011, which was an event of Style 360. Business In 2018, Akram joined Cricingif as a stakeholder director. Television Films Award and records Akram was awarded Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1993 for his sporting achievements.",
"Television Films Award and records Akram was awarded Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1993 for his sporting achievements. He was awarded Lux Style Award for Most Stylish Sports Person in 2003. In his Test career, Akram took 414 wickets in 104 matches, a Pakistani record, at an average of 23.62 and scored 2,898 runs, at an average of 22.64. In One Day Internationals, Akram took 502 wickets in 356 appearances, at an average of 23.52 and scored 3,717 runs, at an average of 16.52.",
"In One Day Internationals, Akram took 502 wickets in 356 appearances, at an average of 23.52 and scored 3,717 runs, at an average of 16.52. Akram was the first bowler in international cricket to take more than 400 wickets in both forms of the game and only Muttiah Muralitharan has since achieved this. Akram also held the record for the most wickets in Cricket World Cups, a total of 55 in 38 matches.",
"Akram also held the record for the most wickets in Cricket World Cups, a total of 55 in 38 matches. Australia's Glenn McGrath broke the record during the 2007 Cricket World Cup, ending with a final tally of 71 from 39 matches. On passing Wasim's record, McGrath said, \"Wasim Akram, to me, is one of the greatest bowlers of all time. Left-armer, swung it both ways with the new ball and he was so dangerous with the old ball.",
"Left-armer, swung it both ways with the new ball and he was so dangerous with the old ball. To go past him is something I will always remember. Probably the other side of the coin is that if you play long enough, you're going to break records here and there.\" He is currently the fourth highest wicket taker in world cups. Akram is the only bowler to have achieved four hat-tricks in international cricket, with two each in Tests and One Day Internationals.",
"Akram is the only bowler to have achieved four hat-tricks in international cricket, with two each in Tests and One Day Internationals. He was the third of only four bowlers to have taken two Test cricket hat-tricks, the others being Hugh Trumble, Jimmy Matthews and Stuart Broad. Akram was also the first of only five bowlers to have taken two One Day International cricket hat-tricks.",
"Akram was also the first of only five bowlers to have taken two One Day International cricket hat-tricks. Akram's Test hat-tricks are significant, since they were taken in consecutive Test matches in the same series, a game played against Sri Lanka in the 1998-99 Asian Test Championship. Akram is also one of only two bowlers to have taken both a Test match and One Day International hat-trick, the other being Pakistan fast bowler, Mohammad Sami.",
"Akram is also one of only two bowlers to have taken both a Test match and One Day International hat-trick, the other being Pakistan fast bowler, Mohammad Sami. Playing in a Test series against the West Indies at Lahore in 1990–1991, he became one of only six players to have taken four wickets in an over during a Test match. In Akram's case, these achievement was not part of a hat-trick, the third ball he delivered to the batting opposition was a dropped catch, which allowed a single run.",
"In Akram's case, these achievement was not part of a hat-trick, the third ball he delivered to the batting opposition was a dropped catch, which allowed a single run. Akram has also achieved the highest score by a number eight batsman in Test cricket when he scored 257 runs not out from 363 balls against Zimbabwe at Sheikhupura. The innings contained 12 sixes which is also a world record for Test cricket. He also has the joint-third highest number of Man of the Match awards in Test cricket, with seventeen.",
"He also has the joint-third highest number of Man of the Match awards in Test cricket, with seventeen. He has scored the second-highest number of runs in One Day International matches by a player who has never scored a One Day International hundred, after Misbah-ul-Haq. His highest score was 86 runs. He is the only Test cricketer in the world (as of Feb 2013) to take ten or more wickets thrice in a test match and still end up on the losing side.",
"He is the only Test cricketer in the world (as of Feb 2013) to take ten or more wickets thrice in a test match and still end up on the losing side. He holds the record for facing the most balls in a test match as well as in an innings as number 8 batsman (363 balls) First bowler to take 500 ODI wickets and still holds the record for taking the most ODI wickets as seamer (502) He holds the record for taking the most wickets in ODI history at a single ground (122, Sharjah Cricket Stadium), also the first person to grab 100+ ODI wickets at the same ground.",
"He holds the record for facing the most balls in a test match as well as in an innings as number 8 batsman (363 balls) First bowler to take 500 ODI wickets and still holds the record for taking the most ODI wickets as seamer (502) He holds the record for taking the most wickets in ODI history at a single ground (122, Sharjah Cricket Stadium), also the first person to grab 100+ ODI wickets at the same ground. Waqar Younis, the second person to grab 100+ ODI wickets at a single ground, also did in Sharjah.",
"Waqar Younis, the second person to grab 100+ ODI wickets at a single ground, also did in Sharjah. He ranks second overall with 114 wickets. Holds the record for taking the most ODI wickets as captain (158) Controversies In 1992, after he had been successful against the English batsmen, accusations of ball tampering began to appear in the English media, though no video evidence of foul play was ever found. Akram and Younis had been able to obtain prodigious amounts of movement from both new and old cricket balls.",
"Akram and Younis had been able to obtain prodigious amounts of movement from both new and old cricket balls. The skill of the reverse swing delivery was relatively unknown in England and around the cricketing world during that period. A far larger controversy was created when critics alleged that he was involved in match fixing. An inquiry commission was set up by the Pakistan Cricket Board headed by a Pakistan high court judge, Malik Mohammad Qayyum.",
"An inquiry commission was set up by the Pakistan Cricket Board headed by a Pakistan high court judge, Malik Mohammad Qayyum. The judge wrote in his report that: References External links Pakistan One Day International cricketers Pakistan Test cricketers Pakistan Test cricket captains Pakistani cricket captains Hampshire cricketers Lancashire cricketers Lancashire cricket captains Pakistan Automobiles Corporation cricketers Pakistan International Airlines cricketers Wisden Cricketers of the Year Wisden Leading Cricketers in the World Test cricket hat-trick takers One Day International hat-trick takers Pakistani cricket commentators Cricketers at the 1987 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 1992 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 1996 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 1999 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 2003 Cricket World Cup 1966 births Living people Pakistani sports broadcasters Punjabi people Cricketers from Lahore Recipients of the Pride of Performance Pakistani cricketers Lahore City cricketers Lahore City Whites cricketers People from Karachi Indian Premier League coaches Government Islamia College alumni Pakistan Super League coaches Pakistani cricket coaches Pakistani television hosts M Parkinson's World XI cricketers Recipients of Hilal-i-Imtiaz People with type 1 diabetes"
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[
"Wasim Akram",
"Legacy",
"What was Akrams legacy?",
"Akram was a man possessed of accurate control of line and length,",
"Did he have any incredible achievements with his line and length skills",
"With a very quick bowling action, he could bowl equally well from both sides of the wicket.",
"Did he win any awards for his bowling",
"Together Wasim and Waqar, known as \"the two Ws\" of the Pakistani team, were one of the most successful bowling partnerships in cricket.",
"How long was his bowling career",
"I don't know."
] | C_7db87eb260274b27a87e1a8f2e1807f4_0 | Was there anything particularly intriguing about his legacy | 5 | Was there anything particularly intriguing about Akram's legacy? | Wasim Akram | During his professional career he bowled with genuine speed and hostility. Akram was a man possessed of accurate control of line and length, accompanied by seam and swing bowling skills, extended to both inswingers and outswingers. With a very quick bowling action, he could bowl equally well from both sides of the wicket. His mastery of reverse swing with the cricket ball meant he was at his most dangerous towards a bowling innings, and earned him the nickname of one of the "Sultans of Swing", the other one being Waqar Younis. As well as often being able to find the edge of the bat, Akram would also focus his bowling attack on the stumps and had a particularly lethal inswinging yorker. Of his 414 Test wickets, 193 were taken caught, 119 were taken leg before wicket and 102 were bowled. In partnership with Waqar Younis, he intimidated international batsmen in the 1990s. Together Wasim and Waqar, known as "the two Ws" of the Pakistani team, were one of the most successful bowling partnerships in cricket. With the bat he was especially effective against spin bowlers. However, he liked to slog and was criticised for his lack of high scores and giving away his wicket too cheaply. In October 1996 he scored 257 runs not out, of the team's total of 553 against lowly Zimbabwe on a typical flat South Asian pitch at Sheikhupura. He also achieved good scores for the Pakistan team such as his scores of 123 and 45* against Australia to take Pakistan to victory in a low scoring match. His batting was also valuable sometimes to the Pakistan ODI side, such as in the Nehru Cup in 1989, when needing six runs and two balls to win the match, he hit the first delivery he faced, from part-time off-spinner and batting legend, Viv Richards, for a six and secured the cup. In December 2012 after Ricky Ponting announced his retirement he said that Wasim Akram and Curtly Ambrose were the toughest bowlers he had faced "Akram for the exact opposite, you could get a few runs off him, but you just knew there was an unplayable ball around the corner, be it with an old ball or with a new ball," - Ricky Ponting. CANNOTANSWER | earned him the nickname of one of the "Sultans of Swing", the other one being Waqar Younis. | Wasim Akram (born 3 June 1966) is a Pakistani cricket commentator, coach, and former cricketer and captain of the Pakistan national cricket team. Akram is widely regarded as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time and several critics regard him as the greatest left arm fast bowler of cricket history.
In October 2013, Wasim Akram was the only Pakistani cricketer to be named in an all-time Test World XI to mark the 150th anniversary of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack.
A left arm fast bowler who could bowl with significant pace, he holds the world record for most wickets in List A cricket, with 881, and he is second only to Sri Lankan off-spin bowler Muttiah Muralitharan in terms of ODI wickets, with 502 in total. He is considered to be one of the founders, and perhaps the finest exponent of, reverse swing bowling.
He was the first bowler to reach the 500-wicket mark in ODI cricket during the 2003 World Cup. In 2002, Wisden released its only list of best players of all time. Wasim was ranked as the best bowler in ODI of all time, with a rating of 1223.5, ahead of Allan Donald, Imran Khan, Waqar Younis, Joel Garner, Glenn McGrath and Muralitharan. Wasim took 23 four-wicket hauls in 356 ODI matches played. On 30 September 2009, Akram was one of five new members inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. He was the bowling coach of Kolkata Knight Riders. However, he took a break from the position for IPL 6, citing a need to spend more time with family in Karachi, and he took a further break from IPL 2017; and was replaced by Lakshmipathy Balaji.
He was working as director and bowling coach of Islamabad United in Pakistan Super League, until he left to join Multan Sultans in August 2017. In October 2018, he was named in the Pakistan Cricket Board's seven-member advisory cricket committee. In November 2018, he joined PSL franchise, Karachi Kings, as a President.
The Government of Pakistan awarded him the Hilal-e-Imtiaz on 23 March 2019 for his life time achievements In field of Cricket.
Early and personal life
Wasim Akram was born on 3 June 1966 to a Punjabi family in Lahore. Akram's father, Chaudhary Muhammed Akram, was originally from a village near Amritsar, who moved to Kamonki, in the Pakistani Punjab after the partition of India in 1947. He was educated at Government Islamia College, Civil Lines, Lahore.
At the age of 30, Akram was diagnosed with diabetes. "I remember what a shock it was because I was a healthy sportsman with no history of diabetes in my family, so I didn't expect it at all. It seemed strange that it happened to me when I was 30, but it was a very stressful time and doctors said that can trigger it." Since then he has sought to be involved in various awareness campaigns for diabetes.
Akram married Huma Mufti in 1995. They had two sons from their marriage of 14 years: Tahmoor (born 1996) and Akbar (born 2000). Huma died of multiple organ failure at Apollo Hospital in Chennai, India, on 25 October 2009.
On 7 July 2013, it was reported that Akram had become engaged to an Australian woman, Shaniera Thompson, whom he had met while on a visit to Melbourne in 2011. Akram married Shaniera on 12 August 2013, saying he has started a new life on a happy note. He was quoted as saying: "I married Shaniera in Lahore in a simple ceremony, and this is the start of a new life for me, my wife, and for my kids."
He moved from Lahore to Karachi with his wife and children. On 3 September 2014, the couple tweeted that they were expecting their first baby—the third child of the Akram family. On 27 December 2014, Shaniera gave birth to a baby girl, Aiyla Sabeen Rose Akram, in Melbourne.
Domestic career
In 1988, Akram signed for Lancashire County Cricket Club in England. From 1988 to 1998, he opened their bowling attack in their NatWest Trophy, Benson and Hedges Cup, and Sunday League tournaments. He was a favourite of the local British fans, who used to sing a song called "Wasim for England" at Lancashire's matches. In 1998, with Akram as captain, Lancashire won the NatWest Trophy and Sunday League and finished second in the County Championship, having lost only five matches in all competitions during the season.
International career
Test cricket
Akram made his Test cricket debut for Pakistan against New Zealand in 1985, and in his second Test match, he claimed 10 wickets. A few weeks prior to his selection into the Pakistan team, he was an unknown club cricketer who had failed to make it even to his college team. He came to the trials at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore in Pakistan, but for the first two days he did not get a chance to bowl. On the third day, he got a chance; his performance convincing Javed Miandad to insist upon his inclusion in the national team. Akram was hence given an opportunity to play for Pakistan, without any significant domestic experience.
Akram's rise in international cricket was rapid during the late 1980s. He was a part of the Pakistan team that toured the West Indies in 1988. However, a groin injury impeded his career in the late 1980s. Following two surgeries, he re-emerged in the 1990s as a fast bowler who focused more on swing and accurate bowling.
Wasim Akram is currently the highest wicket taker for Pakistan in test cricket with 414 wickets.
One Day International
Akram started his ODI career against New Zealand in Pakistan in 1984 under the captaincy of Zaheer Abbas. He rose to prominence by taking five wickets in his 3rd ODI against Australia in the 1985 Benson & Hedges World Championship. His wickets included those of Kepler Wessels, Dean Jones, and captain Allan Border. Wasim Akram is currently the highest wicket taker for Pakistan in One Day International cricket
Early days
In the 1984–85 Rothmans Four-Nations Cup and the 1985–86 Rothmans Sharjah Cup, Akram took five wickets with a run rate of less than 3.50. The 1985–1986 Austral-Asia Cup involved Australia, India, New Zealand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and was played in Sharjah, UAE. Akram, with the help of Abdul Qadir, bowled out New Zealand's batting line-up for 64 in the second semi-final of the cup. Pakistan won that game with more than 27 overs to spare, obtaining one of the biggest wins in Pakistani history. In the final against India, he and Imran Khan shared five wickets. Akram's wickets included Dilip Vengsarkar and Ravi Shastri.
In the 1987 Cricket World Cup held for the 1st time in South Asia, Akram struggled on Pakistani pitches; he managed only 7 wickets throughout, with an average of over 40 runs per wicket across all 7 matches. Akram played West Indies, Sri Lanka and England twice. All group matches were played in Pakistan.
In the 1988–89 Benson and Hedges World Series, Akram managed figures of 4 for 25 against Australia.
Emergence
Akram took his hundredth wicket at Sharjah during the 1989–1990 Champions Trophy, the 2nd Match against West Indies. His 100th wicket was that of Curtly Ambrose. In that match, he took a five-wicket haul for the second time in his career. In the same match, Akram took his first hat-trick against West Indies. All three batsman were bowled out. On 4 May 1990 in Sharjah, Akram took his second ODI hat-trick against Australia. All three batsmen were bowled this time as well.
His best years in the late 1980s were from 1986 to 1989, during which time he took 100 wickets at 22.71 runs per wicket, and his economy rate was less than 3.9 runs per over, with a total of four 4-wicket hauls. His first two hauls against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh came in Sri Lanka in 1986.
Up until December 1991, Akram took 143 wickets in 107 matches, with an average of almost 24 and an economy rate of 3.84.
World's best
Akram was a significant figure in the 1992 Cricket World Cup held in Australia and New Zealand when Pakistan won the tournament. In the final, against England, his innings of 33 runs off 19 balls pushed Pakistan to a score of 249 runs for 6 wickets. Akram then took the wicket of Ian Botham early on during the English batting innings; and, when brought back into the bowling attack later on, with the ball reverse swinging, he produced a spell of bowling which led to Allan Lamb and Chris Lewis being bowled in successive deliveries in one over. His performances earned him the Man of the Match award for the final. In 1993, Akram took two consecutive 4-wicket hauls against Sri Lanka in Sharjah, in which 7 out of 8 wickets were either LBW or bowled.
In the 1992–1993 Total International Series in South Africa (involving Pakistan, West Indies and South Africa), he took 5 wickets against South Africa and got his 200th wicket in his 143rd match. Akram took 46 wickets in calendar year 1993, his best year ever in ODIs. His average was less than 19, with an economy rate of less than 3.8 runs per over. He took six 4-wicket hauls in 1993, the most by him in any year. In the 1996 Cricket World Cup, Akram missed the quarterfinal match against India which Pakistan lost and went out of the World Cup. Wasim's great career was often tainted by controversy, not least in the Caribbean in April 1993, his maiden tour as Pakistan's captain. During the team's stop-over in Grenada, he was arrested along with three teammates—Waqar Younis, Aaqib Javed and Mushtaq Ahmed—and two female British tourists; he was charged with possession of marijuana. Between 1994 and 1996, he took 84 wickets in 39 matches.
From January 1992 to December 1997, Akram played 131 matches and took 198 wickets at an average of 21.86, with 14 4-wicket hauls in ODIs.
Late career
In 1999, he led Pakistan to the finals of the World Cup where they capitulated and were defeated by Australia in the final by eight wickets with almost 30 overs to spare. This was the start of the match-fixing controversies, as critics believed Akram had set up the match for Australia. However, none of the allegations could be proved.
He was Pakistan's best bowler in the 2003 Cricket World Cup, taking 12 wickets in 6 matches. However, Pakistan failed to reach the super six of the tournament, and Akram was one of the eight players to be sacked by the Pakistan Cricket Board as a result.
Records
Akram won 17 Man-of-the-Match awards in 104 Tests. He took four hat-tricks in international cricket—two in ODIs and two in Tests. As a result, he shares the record for most international hat-tricks with Lasith Malinga. He finished with 22 Man-of-the-Match awards in ODIs. In 199 ODI match wins, he took 326 wickets at under 19 apiece with a run rate of 3.70 and took 18 four-wicket hauls. His 257 not-out against Zimbabwe in 1996 is the highest innings by a number-8 batsman in Tests. He hit 12 sixes in that game, and it stands to this day as the record for the most sixes by any player in a single Test innings.
Prior to his retirement, he was one of eight senior players dropped for the 2003 Sharjah Cup, and was then omitted from the Pakistan squad for the subsequent Bank Alfalah Cup triangular series. Due to his omission from the team, he did not participate in a farewell match. Akram fulfilled his contract play for Hampshire until the end of the English season.
Post retirement
Media career
Since retiring from cricket, Akram has worked and taken up commentary for television networks and can currently be seen as a sports commentator for ESPN Star Sports and ARY Digital among others. He did commentary on a variety of sporting tournaments including the 2009 Women's Cricket World Cup in Australia, the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 in England, the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa, and the 2011 ICC World Cup in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
Coaching career
In 2010, Akram was appointed the bowling coach consultant of Kolkata Knight Riders, the Indian Premier League team for Kolkata. Sourav Ganguly was always keen to have Akram as the bowling coach for India, during the former's stint as Indian captain. Although this never happened, his dreams were realised to some extent, when Akram was appointed as the bowling coach cum mentor for the franchise.
Akram has thus been playing a vital role in the grooming of Indian pacers like Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav, who owe their success in international cricket a lot to the bowling legend.
While working for the Kolkata Knight Riders, he was also responsible for the signing of Pakistani domestic left-arm fast-bowler Mohammad Irfan.
Akram has also been coaching in Pakistan fast bowling camps, his most notable discovery being the teenage Pakistani bowlers Mohammad Amir and Junaid Khan.
Akram has also worked as director and bowling coach of PSL franchise Islamabad United during 2016 and 2017 season. He has also worked with Multan Sultans as director and bowling coach. He is currently chairman and bowling coach of Karachi Kings. He is also currently the Vice President of Kashmir Premier League.
Playing style and legacy
During his professional career he bowled with genuine speed and hostility. Akram was a man possessed of accurate control of line and length, accompanied by seam and swing bowling skills, extended to both inswingers and outswingers. With a very quick bowling action, he could bowl equally well from both sides of the wicket. His mastery of reverse swing with the cricket ball meant he was at his most dangerous towards the end of a bowling innings, and earned him the nickname of one of the "Sultans of Swing", the other one being Waqar Younis.
As well as often being able to find the edge of the bat, Akram would also focus his bowling attack on the stumps and had a particularly lethal inswinging yorker. Of his 414 Test wickets, 193 were taken caught, 119 were taken leg before wicket and 102 were bowled. In partnership with Waqar Younis, he intimidated international batsmen in the 1990s. Together Wasim and Waqar, known as "the two Ws" of the Pakistani team, were one of the most successful bowling partnerships in cricket.
With the bat he was especially effective against spin bowlers. However, he liked to slog and was criticised for his lack of high scores and giving away his wicket too cheaply. In October 1996 he scored 257 runs not out, of the team's total of 553 against lowly Zimbabwe on a typical flat South Asian pitch at Sheikhupura. He also achieved good scores for the Pakistan team such as his scores of 123 and 45* against Australia to take Pakistan to victory in a low scoring match. His batting was also valuable sometimes to the Pakistan ODI side, such as in the Nehru Cup in 1989, when needing six runs and two balls to win the match, he hit the first delivery he faced, from part-time off-spinner and batting legend, Viv Richards, for a six and secured the cup.
West Indian batting great Viv Richards rates Akram as best fast bowler he ever faced after Dennis Lillee.
In December 2012 after Ricky Ponting announced his retirement he said that Wasim Akram and Curtly Ambrose were the toughest bowlers he had faced "Akram for the exact opposite, you could get a few runs off him, but you just knew there was an unplayable ball around the corner, be it with an old ball or with a new ball," – Ricky Ponting.
To mark 150 years of the Cricketers' Almanack, Wisden named him in an all-time Test World XI.
Beyond cricket
Book
He co-wrote his autobiography Wasim (1998) with the British sports journalist Patrick Murphy.
Modelling
Akram was a model at the Pantene Bridal Couture Week 2011, which was an event of Style 360.
Business
In 2018, Akram joined Cricingif as a stakeholder director.
Television
Films
Award and records
Akram was awarded Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1993 for his sporting achievements. He was awarded Lux Style Award for Most Stylish Sports Person in 2003.
In his Test career, Akram took 414 wickets in 104 matches, a Pakistani record, at an average of 23.62 and scored 2,898 runs, at an average of 22.64.
In One Day Internationals, Akram took 502 wickets in 356 appearances, at an average of 23.52 and scored 3,717 runs, at an average of 16.52.
Akram was the first bowler in international cricket to take more than 400 wickets in both forms of the game and only Muttiah Muralitharan has since achieved this.
Akram also held the record for the most wickets in Cricket World Cups, a total of 55 in 38 matches. Australia's Glenn McGrath broke the record during the 2007 Cricket World Cup, ending with a final tally of 71 from 39 matches. On passing Wasim's record, McGrath said, "Wasim Akram, to me, is one of the greatest bowlers of all time. Left-armer, swung it both ways with the new ball and he was so dangerous with the old ball. To go past him is something I will always remember. Probably the other side of the coin is that if you play long enough, you're going to break records here and there." He is currently the fourth highest wicket taker in world cups.
Akram is the only bowler to have achieved four hat-tricks in international cricket, with two each in Tests and One Day Internationals. He was the third of only four bowlers to have taken two Test cricket hat-tricks, the others being Hugh Trumble, Jimmy Matthews and Stuart Broad. Akram was also the first of only five bowlers to have taken two One Day International cricket hat-tricks. Akram's Test hat-tricks are significant, since they were taken in consecutive Test matches in the same series, a game played against Sri Lanka in the 1998-99 Asian Test Championship. Akram is also one of only two bowlers to have taken both a Test match and One Day International hat-trick, the other being Pakistan fast bowler, Mohammad Sami.
Playing in a Test series against the West Indies at Lahore in 1990–1991, he became one of only six players to have taken four wickets in an over during a Test match. In Akram's case, these achievement was not part of a hat-trick, the third ball he delivered to the batting opposition was a dropped catch, which allowed a single run.
Akram has also achieved the highest score by a number eight batsman in Test cricket when he scored 257 runs not out from 363 balls against Zimbabwe at Sheikhupura. The innings contained 12 sixes which is also a world record for Test cricket.
He also has the joint-third highest number of Man of the Match awards in Test cricket, with seventeen.
He has scored the second-highest number of runs in One Day International matches by a player who has never scored a One Day International hundred, after Misbah-ul-Haq. His highest score was 86 runs.
He is the only Test cricketer in the world (as of Feb 2013) to take ten or more wickets thrice in a test match and still end up on the losing side.
He holds the record for facing the most balls in a test match as well as in an innings as number 8 batsman (363 balls)
First bowler to take 500 ODI wickets and still holds the record for taking the most ODI wickets as seamer (502)
He holds the record for taking the most wickets in ODI history at a single ground (122, Sharjah Cricket Stadium), also the first person to grab 100+ ODI wickets at the same ground. Waqar Younis, the second person to grab 100+ ODI wickets at a single ground, also did in Sharjah. He ranks second overall with 114 wickets.
Holds the record for taking the most ODI wickets as captain (158)
Controversies
In 1992, after he had been successful against the English batsmen, accusations of ball tampering began to appear in the English media, though no video evidence of foul play was ever found. Akram and Younis had been able to obtain prodigious amounts of movement from both new and old cricket balls. The skill of the reverse swing delivery was relatively unknown in England and around the cricketing world during that period.
A far larger controversy was created when critics alleged that he was involved in match fixing. An inquiry commission was set up by the Pakistan Cricket Board headed by a Pakistan high court judge, Malik Mohammad Qayyum. The judge wrote in his report that:
References
External links
Pakistan One Day International cricketers
Pakistan Test cricketers
Pakistan Test cricket captains
Pakistani cricket captains
Hampshire cricketers
Lancashire cricketers
Lancashire cricket captains
Pakistan Automobiles Corporation cricketers
Pakistan International Airlines cricketers
Wisden Cricketers of the Year
Wisden Leading Cricketers in the World
Test cricket hat-trick takers
One Day International hat-trick takers
Pakistani cricket commentators
Cricketers at the 1987 Cricket World Cup
Cricketers at the 1992 Cricket World Cup
Cricketers at the 1996 Cricket World Cup
Cricketers at the 1999 Cricket World Cup
Cricketers at the 2003 Cricket World Cup
1966 births
Living people
Pakistani sports broadcasters
Punjabi people
Cricketers from Lahore
Recipients of the Pride of Performance
Pakistani cricketers
Lahore City cricketers
Lahore City Whites cricketers
People from Karachi
Indian Premier League coaches
Government Islamia College alumni
Pakistan Super League coaches
Pakistani cricket coaches
Pakistani television hosts
M Parkinson's World XI cricketers
Recipients of Hilal-i-Imtiaz
People with type 1 diabetes | true | [
"\"Anything\" is a song performed by Eric Burdon & the Animals in 1967. It was featured on their psychedelic rock album Winds of Change. While the singles \"San Franciscan Nights\", \"Good Times\" and the album were released, \"Anything\" was also released as a single, peaking #80 on the United States pop singles chart. Allmusic critic Bruce Eder described it as a \"relatively straightforward, brooding, moody rocker.\" Billboard described the single as an \"intriguing rock ballad with an equally compelling lyric.\" Cash Box said it was \"slow rock with a tasteful touch of soul\" with \"stunning string lines\" and a \"melancholy Burdon vocal.\"\n\nThe song is credited to Vic Briggs, Eric Burdon, Barry Jenkins, Danny McCulloch and John Weider. In a 2010 interview, Burdon identified it as one that he was proud of writing. He described it as a \"love-generation song\". He explained; \"It's more than just a song about a love for your woman; it's about love for everything, from the Earth, to your friends, and even your enemies.\"\n\nReferences\n\n1967 singles\nSongs written by Eric Burdon\nThe Animals songs\nSong recordings produced by Tom Wilson (record producer)\nMGM Records singles\n1967 songs",
"\"Was There Anything I Could Do?\" is a song by the Australian alternative rock band The Go-Betweens that was issued as the second single from their sixth album 16 Lovers Lane. The song was released 3 October 1988 by Beggars Banquet Records in the UK and Mushroom Records in Australia but failed to chart in either region. It was released as a promotional single in the US by Capitol Records and charted on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks charts in the United States, peaking at No. 16.\n\n\"Was There Anything I Could Do?\" was not necessarily the unanimous choice by all members of the band, with claims by some that they wanted Forster's \"Clouds\" whilst McLennan pushed for the song as it was more driving and anthemic.\n\nCover versions \nThe song was covered by Maxïmo Park and included on a limited edition compilation album, released in July 2008 to celebrate the launch of Independents Day.\n\nIn 2010 a cover of the song by The Buzzards, was included on a Go-Betweens tribute album, Right Here.\n\nFranz Ferdinand in November 2013 covered the song on Triple J's Like a Version programme.\n\nIn 2014 a cover of the song by Missy Higgins was included on her album, Oz.\n\nTrack listing\n\nOriginal 7\" Vinyl release\n \"Was There Anything I Could Do?\" - 3:06\n \"Rock and Roll Friend\" - 3:30\n\nOriginal 12\" Vinyl release\n \"Was There Anything I Can Do?\" - 3:06\n \"Rock and Roll Friend\" - 3:30\n \"Mexican Postcard\" - 2:13\n\nOriginal CD single release\n \"Was There Anything I Can Do?\" - 3:06\n \"Rock and Roll Friend\" - 3:30\n \"Mexican Postcard\" - 2:13\n \"Bye Bye Pride\" - 4:06\n\nRelease history\n\nNotes\nA. :The US release was a 12\" promotional release with \"Was There Anything I Could Do?\" on each side.\n\nCharts\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n [ \"Was There Anything I Could Do?\"] @ AllMusic\n \"Was There Anything I Could Do?\" @ MusicBrainz\n \"Was There Anything I Could Do?\" @ Discogs\n Video\n Alternate Video\n\n1988 singles\nThe Go-Betweens songs\n1988 songs\nMushroom Records singles\nBeggars Banquet Records singles\nSongs written by Grant McLennan\nSongs written by Robert Forster (musician)"
] | [
"Wasim Akram (born 3 June 1966) is a Pakistani cricket commentator, coach, and former cricketer and captain of the Pakistan national cricket team. Akram is widely regarded as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time and several critics regard him as the greatest left arm fast bowler of cricket history. In October 2013, Wasim Akram was the only Pakistani cricketer to be named in an all-time Test World XI to mark the 150th anniversary of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack.",
"In October 2013, Wasim Akram was the only Pakistani cricketer to be named in an all-time Test World XI to mark the 150th anniversary of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack. A left arm fast bowler who could bowl with significant pace, he holds the world record for most wickets in List A cricket, with 881, and he is second only to Sri Lankan off-spin bowler Muttiah Muralitharan in terms of ODI wickets, with 502 in total.",
"A left arm fast bowler who could bowl with significant pace, he holds the world record for most wickets in List A cricket, with 881, and he is second only to Sri Lankan off-spin bowler Muttiah Muralitharan in terms of ODI wickets, with 502 in total. He is considered to be one of the founders, and perhaps the finest exponent of, reverse swing bowling. He was the first bowler to reach the 500-wicket mark in ODI cricket during the 2003 World Cup.",
"He was the first bowler to reach the 500-wicket mark in ODI cricket during the 2003 World Cup. In 2002, Wisden released its only list of best players of all time. Wasim was ranked as the best bowler in ODI of all time, with a rating of 1223.5, ahead of Allan Donald, Imran Khan, Waqar Younis, Joel Garner, Glenn McGrath and Muralitharan. Wasim took 23 four-wicket hauls in 356 ODI matches played.",
"Wasim took 23 four-wicket hauls in 356 ODI matches played. On 30 September 2009, Akram was one of five new members inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. He was the bowling coach of Kolkata Knight Riders. However, he took a break from the position for IPL 6, citing a need to spend more time with family in Karachi, and he took a further break from IPL 2017; and was replaced by Lakshmipathy Balaji.",
"However, he took a break from the position for IPL 6, citing a need to spend more time with family in Karachi, and he took a further break from IPL 2017; and was replaced by Lakshmipathy Balaji. He was working as director and bowling coach of Islamabad United in Pakistan Super League, until he left to join Multan Sultans in August 2017. In October 2018, he was named in the Pakistan Cricket Board's seven-member advisory cricket committee.",
"In October 2018, he was named in the Pakistan Cricket Board's seven-member advisory cricket committee. In November 2018, he joined PSL franchise, Karachi Kings, as a President. The Government of Pakistan awarded him the Hilal-e-Imtiaz on 23 March 2019 for his life time achievements In field of Cricket. Early and personal life Wasim Akram was born on 3 June 1966 to a Punjabi family in Lahore.",
"Early and personal life Wasim Akram was born on 3 June 1966 to a Punjabi family in Lahore. Akram's father, Chaudhary Muhammed Akram, was originally from a village near Amritsar, who moved to Kamonki, in the Pakistani Punjab after the partition of India in 1947. He was educated at Government Islamia College, Civil Lines, Lahore. At the age of 30, Akram was diagnosed with diabetes.",
"At the age of 30, Akram was diagnosed with diabetes. \"I remember what a shock it was because I was a healthy sportsman with no history of diabetes in my family, so I didn't expect it at all. It seemed strange that it happened to me when I was 30, but it was a very stressful time and doctors said that can trigger it.\" Since then he has sought to be involved in various awareness campaigns for diabetes. Akram married Huma Mufti in 1995.",
"Akram married Huma Mufti in 1995. Akram married Huma Mufti in 1995. They had two sons from their marriage of 14 years: Tahmoor (born 1996) and Akbar (born 2000). Huma died of multiple organ failure at Apollo Hospital in Chennai, India, on 25 October 2009. On 7 July 2013, it was reported that Akram had become engaged to an Australian woman, Shaniera Thompson, whom he had met while on a visit to Melbourne in 2011.",
"On 7 July 2013, it was reported that Akram had become engaged to an Australian woman, Shaniera Thompson, whom he had met while on a visit to Melbourne in 2011. Akram married Shaniera on 12 August 2013, saying he has started a new life on a happy note. He was quoted as saying: \"I married Shaniera in Lahore in a simple ceremony, and this is the start of a new life for me, my wife, and for my kids.\"",
"He was quoted as saying: \"I married Shaniera in Lahore in a simple ceremony, and this is the start of a new life for me, my wife, and for my kids.\" He moved from Lahore to Karachi with his wife and children. On 3 September 2014, the couple tweeted that they were expecting their first baby—the third child of the Akram family. On 27 December 2014, Shaniera gave birth to a baby girl, Aiyla Sabeen Rose Akram, in Melbourne.",
"On 27 December 2014, Shaniera gave birth to a baby girl, Aiyla Sabeen Rose Akram, in Melbourne. Domestic career In 1988, Akram signed for Lancashire County Cricket Club in England. From 1988 to 1998, he opened their bowling attack in their NatWest Trophy, Benson and Hedges Cup, and Sunday League tournaments. He was a favourite of the local British fans, who used to sing a song called \"Wasim for England\" at Lancashire's matches.",
"He was a favourite of the local British fans, who used to sing a song called \"Wasim for England\" at Lancashire's matches. In 1998, with Akram as captain, Lancashire won the NatWest Trophy and Sunday League and finished second in the County Championship, having lost only five matches in all competitions during the season. International career Test cricket Akram made his Test cricket debut for Pakistan against New Zealand in 1985, and in his second Test match, he claimed 10 wickets.",
"International career Test cricket Akram made his Test cricket debut for Pakistan against New Zealand in 1985, and in his second Test match, he claimed 10 wickets. A few weeks prior to his selection into the Pakistan team, he was an unknown club cricketer who had failed to make it even to his college team. He came to the trials at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore in Pakistan, but for the first two days he did not get a chance to bowl.",
"He came to the trials at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore in Pakistan, but for the first two days he did not get a chance to bowl. On the third day, he got a chance; his performance convincing Javed Miandad to insist upon his inclusion in the national team. Akram was hence given an opportunity to play for Pakistan, without any significant domestic experience. Akram's rise in international cricket was rapid during the late 1980s. He was a part of the Pakistan team that toured the West Indies in 1988.",
"He was a part of the Pakistan team that toured the West Indies in 1988. However, a groin injury impeded his career in the late 1980s. Following two surgeries, he re-emerged in the 1990s as a fast bowler who focused more on swing and accurate bowling. Wasim Akram is currently the highest wicket taker for Pakistan in test cricket with 414 wickets. One Day International Akram started his ODI career against New Zealand in Pakistan in 1984 under the captaincy of Zaheer Abbas.",
"One Day International Akram started his ODI career against New Zealand in Pakistan in 1984 under the captaincy of Zaheer Abbas. He rose to prominence by taking five wickets in his 3rd ODI against Australia in the 1985 Benson & Hedges World Championship. His wickets included those of Kepler Wessels, Dean Jones, and captain Allan Border.",
"His wickets included those of Kepler Wessels, Dean Jones, and captain Allan Border. Wasim Akram is currently the highest wicket taker for Pakistan in One Day International cricket Early days In the 1984–85 Rothmans Four-Nations Cup and the 1985–86 Rothmans Sharjah Cup, Akram took five wickets with a run rate of less than 3.50. The 1985–1986 Austral-Asia Cup involved Australia, India, New Zealand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and was played in Sharjah, UAE.",
"The 1985–1986 Austral-Asia Cup involved Australia, India, New Zealand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and was played in Sharjah, UAE. Akram, with the help of Abdul Qadir, bowled out New Zealand's batting line-up for 64 in the second semi-final of the cup. Pakistan won that game with more than 27 overs to spare, obtaining one of the biggest wins in Pakistani history. In the final against India, he and Imran Khan shared five wickets. Akram's wickets included Dilip Vengsarkar and Ravi Shastri.",
"Akram's wickets included Dilip Vengsarkar and Ravi Shastri. Akram's wickets included Dilip Vengsarkar and Ravi Shastri. In the 1987 Cricket World Cup held for the 1st time in South Asia, Akram struggled on Pakistani pitches; he managed only 7 wickets throughout, with an average of over 40 runs per wicket across all 7 matches. Akram played West Indies, Sri Lanka and England twice. All group matches were played in Pakistan. In the 1988–89 Benson and Hedges World Series, Akram managed figures of 4 for 25 against Australia.",
"In the 1988–89 Benson and Hedges World Series, Akram managed figures of 4 for 25 against Australia. Emergence Akram took his hundredth wicket at Sharjah during the 1989–1990 Champions Trophy, the 2nd Match against West Indies. His 100th wicket was that of Curtly Ambrose. In that match, he took a five-wicket haul for the second time in his career. In the same match, Akram took his first hat-trick against West Indies. All three batsman were bowled out.",
"All three batsman were bowled out. All three batsman were bowled out. On 4 May 1990 in Sharjah, Akram took his second ODI hat-trick against Australia. All three batsmen were bowled this time as well. His best years in the late 1980s were from 1986 to 1989, during which time he took 100 wickets at 22.71 runs per wicket, and his economy rate was less than 3.9 runs per over, with a total of four 4-wicket hauls.",
"His best years in the late 1980s were from 1986 to 1989, during which time he took 100 wickets at 22.71 runs per wicket, and his economy rate was less than 3.9 runs per over, with a total of four 4-wicket hauls. His first two hauls against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh came in Sri Lanka in 1986. Up until December 1991, Akram took 143 wickets in 107 matches, with an average of almost 24 and an economy rate of 3.84.",
"Up until December 1991, Akram took 143 wickets in 107 matches, with an average of almost 24 and an economy rate of 3.84. World's best Akram was a significant figure in the 1992 Cricket World Cup held in Australia and New Zealand when Pakistan won the tournament. In the final, against England, his innings of 33 runs off 19 balls pushed Pakistan to a score of 249 runs for 6 wickets.",
"In the final, against England, his innings of 33 runs off 19 balls pushed Pakistan to a score of 249 runs for 6 wickets. Akram then took the wicket of Ian Botham early on during the English batting innings; and, when brought back into the bowling attack later on, with the ball reverse swinging, he produced a spell of bowling which led to Allan Lamb and Chris Lewis being bowled in successive deliveries in one over. His performances earned him the Man of the Match award for the final.",
"His performances earned him the Man of the Match award for the final. In 1993, Akram took two consecutive 4-wicket hauls against Sri Lanka in Sharjah, in which 7 out of 8 wickets were either LBW or bowled. In the 1992–1993 Total International Series in South Africa (involving Pakistan, West Indies and South Africa), he took 5 wickets against South Africa and got his 200th wicket in his 143rd match. Akram took 46 wickets in calendar year 1993, his best year ever in ODIs.",
"Akram took 46 wickets in calendar year 1993, his best year ever in ODIs. His average was less than 19, with an economy rate of less than 3.8 runs per over. He took six 4-wicket hauls in 1993, the most by him in any year. In the 1996 Cricket World Cup, Akram missed the quarterfinal match against India which Pakistan lost and went out of the World Cup.",
"In the 1996 Cricket World Cup, Akram missed the quarterfinal match against India which Pakistan lost and went out of the World Cup. Wasim's great career was often tainted by controversy, not least in the Caribbean in April 1993, his maiden tour as Pakistan's captain. During the team's stop-over in Grenada, he was arrested along with three teammates—Waqar Younis, Aaqib Javed and Mushtaq Ahmed—and two female British tourists; he was charged with possession of marijuana. Between 1994 and 1996, he took 84 wickets in 39 matches.",
"Between 1994 and 1996, he took 84 wickets in 39 matches. From January 1992 to December 1997, Akram played 131 matches and took 198 wickets at an average of 21.86, with 14 4-wicket hauls in ODIs. Late career In 1999, he led Pakistan to the finals of the World Cup where they capitulated and were defeated by Australia in the final by eight wickets with almost 30 overs to spare. This was the start of the match-fixing controversies, as critics believed Akram had set up the match for Australia.",
"This was the start of the match-fixing controversies, as critics believed Akram had set up the match for Australia. However, none of the allegations could be proved. He was Pakistan's best bowler in the 2003 Cricket World Cup, taking 12 wickets in 6 matches. However, Pakistan failed to reach the super six of the tournament, and Akram was one of the eight players to be sacked by the Pakistan Cricket Board as a result. Records Akram won 17 Man-of-the-Match awards in 104 Tests.",
"Records Akram won 17 Man-of-the-Match awards in 104 Tests. Records Akram won 17 Man-of-the-Match awards in 104 Tests. He took four hat-tricks in international cricket—two in ODIs and two in Tests. As a result, he shares the record for most international hat-tricks with Lasith Malinga. He finished with 22 Man-of-the-Match awards in ODIs. In 199 ODI match wins, he took 326 wickets at under 19 apiece with a run rate of 3.70 and took 18 four-wicket hauls.",
"In 199 ODI match wins, he took 326 wickets at under 19 apiece with a run rate of 3.70 and took 18 four-wicket hauls. His 257 not-out against Zimbabwe in 1996 is the highest innings by a number-8 batsman in Tests. He hit 12 sixes in that game, and it stands to this day as the record for the most sixes by any player in a single Test innings.",
"He hit 12 sixes in that game, and it stands to this day as the record for the most sixes by any player in a single Test innings. Prior to his retirement, he was one of eight senior players dropped for the 2003 Sharjah Cup, and was then omitted from the Pakistan squad for the subsequent Bank Alfalah Cup triangular series. Due to his omission from the team, he did not participate in a farewell match. Akram fulfilled his contract play for Hampshire until the end of the English season.",
"Akram fulfilled his contract play for Hampshire until the end of the English season. Post retirement Media career Since retiring from cricket, Akram has worked and taken up commentary for television networks and can currently be seen as a sports commentator for ESPN Star Sports and ARY Digital among others.",
"Post retirement Media career Since retiring from cricket, Akram has worked and taken up commentary for television networks and can currently be seen as a sports commentator for ESPN Star Sports and ARY Digital among others. He did commentary on a variety of sporting tournaments including the 2009 Women's Cricket World Cup in Australia, the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 in England, the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa, and the 2011 ICC World Cup in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.",
"He did commentary on a variety of sporting tournaments including the 2009 Women's Cricket World Cup in Australia, the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 in England, the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa, and the 2011 ICC World Cup in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Coaching career In 2010, Akram was appointed the bowling coach consultant of Kolkata Knight Riders, the Indian Premier League team for Kolkata. Sourav Ganguly was always keen to have Akram as the bowling coach for India, during the former's stint as Indian captain.",
"Sourav Ganguly was always keen to have Akram as the bowling coach for India, during the former's stint as Indian captain. Although this never happened, his dreams were realised to some extent, when Akram was appointed as the bowling coach cum mentor for the franchise. Akram has thus been playing a vital role in the grooming of Indian pacers like Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav, who owe their success in international cricket a lot to the bowling legend.",
"Akram has thus been playing a vital role in the grooming of Indian pacers like Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav, who owe their success in international cricket a lot to the bowling legend. While working for the Kolkata Knight Riders, he was also responsible for the signing of Pakistani domestic left-arm fast-bowler Mohammad Irfan. Akram has also been coaching in Pakistan fast bowling camps, his most notable discovery being the teenage Pakistani bowlers Mohammad Amir and Junaid Khan.",
"Akram has also been coaching in Pakistan fast bowling camps, his most notable discovery being the teenage Pakistani bowlers Mohammad Amir and Junaid Khan. Akram has also worked as director and bowling coach of PSL franchise Islamabad United during 2016 and 2017 season. He has also worked with Multan Sultans as director and bowling coach. He is currently chairman and bowling coach of Karachi Kings. He is also currently the Vice President of Kashmir Premier League. Playing style and legacy During his professional career he bowled with genuine speed and hostility.",
"Playing style and legacy During his professional career he bowled with genuine speed and hostility. Akram was a man possessed of accurate control of line and length, accompanied by seam and swing bowling skills, extended to both inswingers and outswingers. With a very quick bowling action, he could bowl equally well from both sides of the wicket.",
"With a very quick bowling action, he could bowl equally well from both sides of the wicket. His mastery of reverse swing with the cricket ball meant he was at his most dangerous towards the end of a bowling innings, and earned him the nickname of one of the \"Sultans of Swing\", the other one being Waqar Younis. As well as often being able to find the edge of the bat, Akram would also focus his bowling attack on the stumps and had a particularly lethal inswinging yorker.",
"As well as often being able to find the edge of the bat, Akram would also focus his bowling attack on the stumps and had a particularly lethal inswinging yorker. Of his 414 Test wickets, 193 were taken caught, 119 were taken leg before wicket and 102 were bowled. In partnership with Waqar Younis, he intimidated international batsmen in the 1990s. Together Wasim and Waqar, known as \"the two Ws\" of the Pakistani team, were one of the most successful bowling partnerships in cricket.",
"Together Wasim and Waqar, known as \"the two Ws\" of the Pakistani team, were one of the most successful bowling partnerships in cricket. With the bat he was especially effective against spin bowlers. However, he liked to slog and was criticised for his lack of high scores and giving away his wicket too cheaply. In October 1996 he scored 257 runs not out, of the team's total of 553 against lowly Zimbabwe on a typical flat South Asian pitch at Sheikhupura.",
"In October 1996 he scored 257 runs not out, of the team's total of 553 against lowly Zimbabwe on a typical flat South Asian pitch at Sheikhupura. He also achieved good scores for the Pakistan team such as his scores of 123 and 45* against Australia to take Pakistan to victory in a low scoring match.",
"He also achieved good scores for the Pakistan team such as his scores of 123 and 45* against Australia to take Pakistan to victory in a low scoring match. His batting was also valuable sometimes to the Pakistan ODI side, such as in the Nehru Cup in 1989, when needing six runs and two balls to win the match, he hit the first delivery he faced, from part-time off-spinner and batting legend, Viv Richards, for a six and secured the cup.",
"His batting was also valuable sometimes to the Pakistan ODI side, such as in the Nehru Cup in 1989, when needing six runs and two balls to win the match, he hit the first delivery he faced, from part-time off-spinner and batting legend, Viv Richards, for a six and secured the cup. West Indian batting great Viv Richards rates Akram as best fast bowler he ever faced after Dennis Lillee.",
"West Indian batting great Viv Richards rates Akram as best fast bowler he ever faced after Dennis Lillee. In December 2012 after Ricky Ponting announced his retirement he said that Wasim Akram and Curtly Ambrose were the toughest bowlers he had faced \"Akram for the exact opposite, you could get a few runs off him, but you just knew there was an unplayable ball around the corner, be it with an old ball or with a new ball,\" – Ricky Ponting.",
"In December 2012 after Ricky Ponting announced his retirement he said that Wasim Akram and Curtly Ambrose were the toughest bowlers he had faced \"Akram for the exact opposite, you could get a few runs off him, but you just knew there was an unplayable ball around the corner, be it with an old ball or with a new ball,\" – Ricky Ponting. To mark 150 years of the Cricketers' Almanack, Wisden named him in an all-time Test World XI.",
"To mark 150 years of the Cricketers' Almanack, Wisden named him in an all-time Test World XI. Beyond cricket Book He co-wrote his autobiography Wasim (1998) with the British sports journalist Patrick Murphy. Modelling Akram was a model at the Pantene Bridal Couture Week 2011, which was an event of Style 360. Business In 2018, Akram joined Cricingif as a stakeholder director. Television Films Award and records Akram was awarded Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1993 for his sporting achievements.",
"Television Films Award and records Akram was awarded Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1993 for his sporting achievements. He was awarded Lux Style Award for Most Stylish Sports Person in 2003. In his Test career, Akram took 414 wickets in 104 matches, a Pakistani record, at an average of 23.62 and scored 2,898 runs, at an average of 22.64. In One Day Internationals, Akram took 502 wickets in 356 appearances, at an average of 23.52 and scored 3,717 runs, at an average of 16.52.",
"In One Day Internationals, Akram took 502 wickets in 356 appearances, at an average of 23.52 and scored 3,717 runs, at an average of 16.52. Akram was the first bowler in international cricket to take more than 400 wickets in both forms of the game and only Muttiah Muralitharan has since achieved this. Akram also held the record for the most wickets in Cricket World Cups, a total of 55 in 38 matches.",
"Akram also held the record for the most wickets in Cricket World Cups, a total of 55 in 38 matches. Australia's Glenn McGrath broke the record during the 2007 Cricket World Cup, ending with a final tally of 71 from 39 matches. On passing Wasim's record, McGrath said, \"Wasim Akram, to me, is one of the greatest bowlers of all time. Left-armer, swung it both ways with the new ball and he was so dangerous with the old ball.",
"Left-armer, swung it both ways with the new ball and he was so dangerous with the old ball. To go past him is something I will always remember. Probably the other side of the coin is that if you play long enough, you're going to break records here and there.\" He is currently the fourth highest wicket taker in world cups. Akram is the only bowler to have achieved four hat-tricks in international cricket, with two each in Tests and One Day Internationals.",
"Akram is the only bowler to have achieved four hat-tricks in international cricket, with two each in Tests and One Day Internationals. He was the third of only four bowlers to have taken two Test cricket hat-tricks, the others being Hugh Trumble, Jimmy Matthews and Stuart Broad. Akram was also the first of only five bowlers to have taken two One Day International cricket hat-tricks.",
"Akram was also the first of only five bowlers to have taken two One Day International cricket hat-tricks. Akram's Test hat-tricks are significant, since they were taken in consecutive Test matches in the same series, a game played against Sri Lanka in the 1998-99 Asian Test Championship. Akram is also one of only two bowlers to have taken both a Test match and One Day International hat-trick, the other being Pakistan fast bowler, Mohammad Sami.",
"Akram is also one of only two bowlers to have taken both a Test match and One Day International hat-trick, the other being Pakistan fast bowler, Mohammad Sami. Playing in a Test series against the West Indies at Lahore in 1990–1991, he became one of only six players to have taken four wickets in an over during a Test match. In Akram's case, these achievement was not part of a hat-trick, the third ball he delivered to the batting opposition was a dropped catch, which allowed a single run.",
"In Akram's case, these achievement was not part of a hat-trick, the third ball he delivered to the batting opposition was a dropped catch, which allowed a single run. Akram has also achieved the highest score by a number eight batsman in Test cricket when he scored 257 runs not out from 363 balls against Zimbabwe at Sheikhupura. The innings contained 12 sixes which is also a world record for Test cricket. He also has the joint-third highest number of Man of the Match awards in Test cricket, with seventeen.",
"He also has the joint-third highest number of Man of the Match awards in Test cricket, with seventeen. He has scored the second-highest number of runs in One Day International matches by a player who has never scored a One Day International hundred, after Misbah-ul-Haq. His highest score was 86 runs. He is the only Test cricketer in the world (as of Feb 2013) to take ten or more wickets thrice in a test match and still end up on the losing side.",
"He is the only Test cricketer in the world (as of Feb 2013) to take ten or more wickets thrice in a test match and still end up on the losing side. He holds the record for facing the most balls in a test match as well as in an innings as number 8 batsman (363 balls) First bowler to take 500 ODI wickets and still holds the record for taking the most ODI wickets as seamer (502) He holds the record for taking the most wickets in ODI history at a single ground (122, Sharjah Cricket Stadium), also the first person to grab 100+ ODI wickets at the same ground.",
"He holds the record for facing the most balls in a test match as well as in an innings as number 8 batsman (363 balls) First bowler to take 500 ODI wickets and still holds the record for taking the most ODI wickets as seamer (502) He holds the record for taking the most wickets in ODI history at a single ground (122, Sharjah Cricket Stadium), also the first person to grab 100+ ODI wickets at the same ground. Waqar Younis, the second person to grab 100+ ODI wickets at a single ground, also did in Sharjah.",
"Waqar Younis, the second person to grab 100+ ODI wickets at a single ground, also did in Sharjah. He ranks second overall with 114 wickets. Holds the record for taking the most ODI wickets as captain (158) Controversies In 1992, after he had been successful against the English batsmen, accusations of ball tampering began to appear in the English media, though no video evidence of foul play was ever found. Akram and Younis had been able to obtain prodigious amounts of movement from both new and old cricket balls.",
"Akram and Younis had been able to obtain prodigious amounts of movement from both new and old cricket balls. The skill of the reverse swing delivery was relatively unknown in England and around the cricketing world during that period. A far larger controversy was created when critics alleged that he was involved in match fixing. An inquiry commission was set up by the Pakistan Cricket Board headed by a Pakistan high court judge, Malik Mohammad Qayyum.",
"An inquiry commission was set up by the Pakistan Cricket Board headed by a Pakistan high court judge, Malik Mohammad Qayyum. The judge wrote in his report that: References External links Pakistan One Day International cricketers Pakistan Test cricketers Pakistan Test cricket captains Pakistani cricket captains Hampshire cricketers Lancashire cricketers Lancashire cricket captains Pakistan Automobiles Corporation cricketers Pakistan International Airlines cricketers Wisden Cricketers of the Year Wisden Leading Cricketers in the World Test cricket hat-trick takers One Day International hat-trick takers Pakistani cricket commentators Cricketers at the 1987 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 1992 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 1996 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 1999 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 2003 Cricket World Cup 1966 births Living people Pakistani sports broadcasters Punjabi people Cricketers from Lahore Recipients of the Pride of Performance Pakistani cricketers Lahore City cricketers Lahore City Whites cricketers People from Karachi Indian Premier League coaches Government Islamia College alumni Pakistan Super League coaches Pakistani cricket coaches Pakistani television hosts M Parkinson's World XI cricketers Recipients of Hilal-i-Imtiaz People with type 1 diabetes"
] |
[
"Wasim Akram",
"Legacy",
"What was Akrams legacy?",
"Akram was a man possessed of accurate control of line and length,",
"Did he have any incredible achievements with his line and length skills",
"With a very quick bowling action, he could bowl equally well from both sides of the wicket.",
"Did he win any awards for his bowling",
"Together Wasim and Waqar, known as \"the two Ws\" of the Pakistani team, were one of the most successful bowling partnerships in cricket.",
"How long was his bowling career",
"I don't know.",
"Was there anything particularly intriguing about his legacy",
"earned him the nickname of one of the \"Sultans of Swing\", the other one being Waqar Younis.",
"How did he get the nickname \"sultans of swing\"",
"His mastery of reverse swing with the cricket ball meant he was at his most dangerous towards a bowling innings,",
"how old was he when he retired",
"I don't know."
] | C_7db87eb260274b27a87e1a8f2e1807f4_0 | What was his greatest achievement | 8 | What was Akram's greatest achievement? | Wasim Akram | During his professional career he bowled with genuine speed and hostility. Akram was a man possessed of accurate control of line and length, accompanied by seam and swing bowling skills, extended to both inswingers and outswingers. With a very quick bowling action, he could bowl equally well from both sides of the wicket. His mastery of reverse swing with the cricket ball meant he was at his most dangerous towards a bowling innings, and earned him the nickname of one of the "Sultans of Swing", the other one being Waqar Younis. As well as often being able to find the edge of the bat, Akram would also focus his bowling attack on the stumps and had a particularly lethal inswinging yorker. Of his 414 Test wickets, 193 were taken caught, 119 were taken leg before wicket and 102 were bowled. In partnership with Waqar Younis, he intimidated international batsmen in the 1990s. Together Wasim and Waqar, known as "the two Ws" of the Pakistani team, were one of the most successful bowling partnerships in cricket. With the bat he was especially effective against spin bowlers. However, he liked to slog and was criticised for his lack of high scores and giving away his wicket too cheaply. In October 1996 he scored 257 runs not out, of the team's total of 553 against lowly Zimbabwe on a typical flat South Asian pitch at Sheikhupura. He also achieved good scores for the Pakistan team such as his scores of 123 and 45* against Australia to take Pakistan to victory in a low scoring match. His batting was also valuable sometimes to the Pakistan ODI side, such as in the Nehru Cup in 1989, when needing six runs and two balls to win the match, he hit the first delivery he faced, from part-time off-spinner and batting legend, Viv Richards, for a six and secured the cup. In December 2012 after Ricky Ponting announced his retirement he said that Wasim Akram and Curtly Ambrose were the toughest bowlers he had faced "Akram for the exact opposite, you could get a few runs off him, but you just knew there was an unplayable ball around the corner, be it with an old ball or with a new ball," - Ricky Ponting. CANNOTANSWER | His batting was also valuable sometimes to the Pakistan ODI side, such as in the Nehru Cup in 1989, when needing six runs and two balls to win the match, | Wasim Akram (born 3 June 1966) is a Pakistani cricket commentator, coach, and former cricketer and captain of the Pakistan national cricket team. Akram is widely regarded as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time and several critics regard him as the greatest left arm fast bowler of cricket history.
In October 2013, Wasim Akram was the only Pakistani cricketer to be named in an all-time Test World XI to mark the 150th anniversary of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack.
A left arm fast bowler who could bowl with significant pace, he holds the world record for most wickets in List A cricket, with 881, and he is second only to Sri Lankan off-spin bowler Muttiah Muralitharan in terms of ODI wickets, with 502 in total. He is considered to be one of the founders, and perhaps the finest exponent of, reverse swing bowling.
He was the first bowler to reach the 500-wicket mark in ODI cricket during the 2003 World Cup. In 2002, Wisden released its only list of best players of all time. Wasim was ranked as the best bowler in ODI of all time, with a rating of 1223.5, ahead of Allan Donald, Imran Khan, Waqar Younis, Joel Garner, Glenn McGrath and Muralitharan. Wasim took 23 four-wicket hauls in 356 ODI matches played. On 30 September 2009, Akram was one of five new members inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. He was the bowling coach of Kolkata Knight Riders. However, he took a break from the position for IPL 6, citing a need to spend more time with family in Karachi, and he took a further break from IPL 2017; and was replaced by Lakshmipathy Balaji.
He was working as director and bowling coach of Islamabad United in Pakistan Super League, until he left to join Multan Sultans in August 2017. In October 2018, he was named in the Pakistan Cricket Board's seven-member advisory cricket committee. In November 2018, he joined PSL franchise, Karachi Kings, as a President.
The Government of Pakistan awarded him the Hilal-e-Imtiaz on 23 March 2019 for his life time achievements In field of Cricket.
Early and personal life
Wasim Akram was born on 3 June 1966 to a Punjabi family in Lahore. Akram's father, Chaudhary Muhammed Akram, was originally from a village near Amritsar, who moved to Kamonki, in the Pakistani Punjab after the partition of India in 1947. He was educated at Government Islamia College, Civil Lines, Lahore.
At the age of 30, Akram was diagnosed with diabetes. "I remember what a shock it was because I was a healthy sportsman with no history of diabetes in my family, so I didn't expect it at all. It seemed strange that it happened to me when I was 30, but it was a very stressful time and doctors said that can trigger it." Since then he has sought to be involved in various awareness campaigns for diabetes.
Akram married Huma Mufti in 1995. They had two sons from their marriage of 14 years: Tahmoor (born 1996) and Akbar (born 2000). Huma died of multiple organ failure at Apollo Hospital in Chennai, India, on 25 October 2009.
On 7 July 2013, it was reported that Akram had become engaged to an Australian woman, Shaniera Thompson, whom he had met while on a visit to Melbourne in 2011. Akram married Shaniera on 12 August 2013, saying he has started a new life on a happy note. He was quoted as saying: "I married Shaniera in Lahore in a simple ceremony, and this is the start of a new life for me, my wife, and for my kids."
He moved from Lahore to Karachi with his wife and children. On 3 September 2014, the couple tweeted that they were expecting their first baby—the third child of the Akram family. On 27 December 2014, Shaniera gave birth to a baby girl, Aiyla Sabeen Rose Akram, in Melbourne.
Domestic career
In 1988, Akram signed for Lancashire County Cricket Club in England. From 1988 to 1998, he opened their bowling attack in their NatWest Trophy, Benson and Hedges Cup, and Sunday League tournaments. He was a favourite of the local British fans, who used to sing a song called "Wasim for England" at Lancashire's matches. In 1998, with Akram as captain, Lancashire won the NatWest Trophy and Sunday League and finished second in the County Championship, having lost only five matches in all competitions during the season.
International career
Test cricket
Akram made his Test cricket debut for Pakistan against New Zealand in 1985, and in his second Test match, he claimed 10 wickets. A few weeks prior to his selection into the Pakistan team, he was an unknown club cricketer who had failed to make it even to his college team. He came to the trials at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore in Pakistan, but for the first two days he did not get a chance to bowl. On the third day, he got a chance; his performance convincing Javed Miandad to insist upon his inclusion in the national team. Akram was hence given an opportunity to play for Pakistan, without any significant domestic experience.
Akram's rise in international cricket was rapid during the late 1980s. He was a part of the Pakistan team that toured the West Indies in 1988. However, a groin injury impeded his career in the late 1980s. Following two surgeries, he re-emerged in the 1990s as a fast bowler who focused more on swing and accurate bowling.
Wasim Akram is currently the highest wicket taker for Pakistan in test cricket with 414 wickets.
One Day International
Akram started his ODI career against New Zealand in Pakistan in 1984 under the captaincy of Zaheer Abbas. He rose to prominence by taking five wickets in his 3rd ODI against Australia in the 1985 Benson & Hedges World Championship. His wickets included those of Kepler Wessels, Dean Jones, and captain Allan Border. Wasim Akram is currently the highest wicket taker for Pakistan in One Day International cricket
Early days
In the 1984–85 Rothmans Four-Nations Cup and the 1985–86 Rothmans Sharjah Cup, Akram took five wickets with a run rate of less than 3.50. The 1985–1986 Austral-Asia Cup involved Australia, India, New Zealand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and was played in Sharjah, UAE. Akram, with the help of Abdul Qadir, bowled out New Zealand's batting line-up for 64 in the second semi-final of the cup. Pakistan won that game with more than 27 overs to spare, obtaining one of the biggest wins in Pakistani history. In the final against India, he and Imran Khan shared five wickets. Akram's wickets included Dilip Vengsarkar and Ravi Shastri.
In the 1987 Cricket World Cup held for the 1st time in South Asia, Akram struggled on Pakistani pitches; he managed only 7 wickets throughout, with an average of over 40 runs per wicket across all 7 matches. Akram played West Indies, Sri Lanka and England twice. All group matches were played in Pakistan.
In the 1988–89 Benson and Hedges World Series, Akram managed figures of 4 for 25 against Australia.
Emergence
Akram took his hundredth wicket at Sharjah during the 1989–1990 Champions Trophy, the 2nd Match against West Indies. His 100th wicket was that of Curtly Ambrose. In that match, he took a five-wicket haul for the second time in his career. In the same match, Akram took his first hat-trick against West Indies. All three batsman were bowled out. On 4 May 1990 in Sharjah, Akram took his second ODI hat-trick against Australia. All three batsmen were bowled this time as well.
His best years in the late 1980s were from 1986 to 1989, during which time he took 100 wickets at 22.71 runs per wicket, and his economy rate was less than 3.9 runs per over, with a total of four 4-wicket hauls. His first two hauls against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh came in Sri Lanka in 1986.
Up until December 1991, Akram took 143 wickets in 107 matches, with an average of almost 24 and an economy rate of 3.84.
World's best
Akram was a significant figure in the 1992 Cricket World Cup held in Australia and New Zealand when Pakistan won the tournament. In the final, against England, his innings of 33 runs off 19 balls pushed Pakistan to a score of 249 runs for 6 wickets. Akram then took the wicket of Ian Botham early on during the English batting innings; and, when brought back into the bowling attack later on, with the ball reverse swinging, he produced a spell of bowling which led to Allan Lamb and Chris Lewis being bowled in successive deliveries in one over. His performances earned him the Man of the Match award for the final. In 1993, Akram took two consecutive 4-wicket hauls against Sri Lanka in Sharjah, in which 7 out of 8 wickets were either LBW or bowled.
In the 1992–1993 Total International Series in South Africa (involving Pakistan, West Indies and South Africa), he took 5 wickets against South Africa and got his 200th wicket in his 143rd match. Akram took 46 wickets in calendar year 1993, his best year ever in ODIs. His average was less than 19, with an economy rate of less than 3.8 runs per over. He took six 4-wicket hauls in 1993, the most by him in any year. In the 1996 Cricket World Cup, Akram missed the quarterfinal match against India which Pakistan lost and went out of the World Cup. Wasim's great career was often tainted by controversy, not least in the Caribbean in April 1993, his maiden tour as Pakistan's captain. During the team's stop-over in Grenada, he was arrested along with three teammates—Waqar Younis, Aaqib Javed and Mushtaq Ahmed—and two female British tourists; he was charged with possession of marijuana. Between 1994 and 1996, he took 84 wickets in 39 matches.
From January 1992 to December 1997, Akram played 131 matches and took 198 wickets at an average of 21.86, with 14 4-wicket hauls in ODIs.
Late career
In 1999, he led Pakistan to the finals of the World Cup where they capitulated and were defeated by Australia in the final by eight wickets with almost 30 overs to spare. This was the start of the match-fixing controversies, as critics believed Akram had set up the match for Australia. However, none of the allegations could be proved.
He was Pakistan's best bowler in the 2003 Cricket World Cup, taking 12 wickets in 6 matches. However, Pakistan failed to reach the super six of the tournament, and Akram was one of the eight players to be sacked by the Pakistan Cricket Board as a result.
Records
Akram won 17 Man-of-the-Match awards in 104 Tests. He took four hat-tricks in international cricket—two in ODIs and two in Tests. As a result, he shares the record for most international hat-tricks with Lasith Malinga. He finished with 22 Man-of-the-Match awards in ODIs. In 199 ODI match wins, he took 326 wickets at under 19 apiece with a run rate of 3.70 and took 18 four-wicket hauls. His 257 not-out against Zimbabwe in 1996 is the highest innings by a number-8 batsman in Tests. He hit 12 sixes in that game, and it stands to this day as the record for the most sixes by any player in a single Test innings.
Prior to his retirement, he was one of eight senior players dropped for the 2003 Sharjah Cup, and was then omitted from the Pakistan squad for the subsequent Bank Alfalah Cup triangular series. Due to his omission from the team, he did not participate in a farewell match. Akram fulfilled his contract play for Hampshire until the end of the English season.
Post retirement
Media career
Since retiring from cricket, Akram has worked and taken up commentary for television networks and can currently be seen as a sports commentator for ESPN Star Sports and ARY Digital among others. He did commentary on a variety of sporting tournaments including the 2009 Women's Cricket World Cup in Australia, the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 in England, the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa, and the 2011 ICC World Cup in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
Coaching career
In 2010, Akram was appointed the bowling coach consultant of Kolkata Knight Riders, the Indian Premier League team for Kolkata. Sourav Ganguly was always keen to have Akram as the bowling coach for India, during the former's stint as Indian captain. Although this never happened, his dreams were realised to some extent, when Akram was appointed as the bowling coach cum mentor for the franchise.
Akram has thus been playing a vital role in the grooming of Indian pacers like Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav, who owe their success in international cricket a lot to the bowling legend.
While working for the Kolkata Knight Riders, he was also responsible for the signing of Pakistani domestic left-arm fast-bowler Mohammad Irfan.
Akram has also been coaching in Pakistan fast bowling camps, his most notable discovery being the teenage Pakistani bowlers Mohammad Amir and Junaid Khan.
Akram has also worked as director and bowling coach of PSL franchise Islamabad United during 2016 and 2017 season. He has also worked with Multan Sultans as director and bowling coach. He is currently chairman and bowling coach of Karachi Kings. He is also currently the Vice President of Kashmir Premier League.
Playing style and legacy
During his professional career he bowled with genuine speed and hostility. Akram was a man possessed of accurate control of line and length, accompanied by seam and swing bowling skills, extended to both inswingers and outswingers. With a very quick bowling action, he could bowl equally well from both sides of the wicket. His mastery of reverse swing with the cricket ball meant he was at his most dangerous towards the end of a bowling innings, and earned him the nickname of one of the "Sultans of Swing", the other one being Waqar Younis.
As well as often being able to find the edge of the bat, Akram would also focus his bowling attack on the stumps and had a particularly lethal inswinging yorker. Of his 414 Test wickets, 193 were taken caught, 119 were taken leg before wicket and 102 were bowled. In partnership with Waqar Younis, he intimidated international batsmen in the 1990s. Together Wasim and Waqar, known as "the two Ws" of the Pakistani team, were one of the most successful bowling partnerships in cricket.
With the bat he was especially effective against spin bowlers. However, he liked to slog and was criticised for his lack of high scores and giving away his wicket too cheaply. In October 1996 he scored 257 runs not out, of the team's total of 553 against lowly Zimbabwe on a typical flat South Asian pitch at Sheikhupura. He also achieved good scores for the Pakistan team such as his scores of 123 and 45* against Australia to take Pakistan to victory in a low scoring match. His batting was also valuable sometimes to the Pakistan ODI side, such as in the Nehru Cup in 1989, when needing six runs and two balls to win the match, he hit the first delivery he faced, from part-time off-spinner and batting legend, Viv Richards, for a six and secured the cup.
West Indian batting great Viv Richards rates Akram as best fast bowler he ever faced after Dennis Lillee.
In December 2012 after Ricky Ponting announced his retirement he said that Wasim Akram and Curtly Ambrose were the toughest bowlers he had faced "Akram for the exact opposite, you could get a few runs off him, but you just knew there was an unplayable ball around the corner, be it with an old ball or with a new ball," – Ricky Ponting.
To mark 150 years of the Cricketers' Almanack, Wisden named him in an all-time Test World XI.
Beyond cricket
Book
He co-wrote his autobiography Wasim (1998) with the British sports journalist Patrick Murphy.
Modelling
Akram was a model at the Pantene Bridal Couture Week 2011, which was an event of Style 360.
Business
In 2018, Akram joined Cricingif as a stakeholder director.
Television
Films
Award and records
Akram was awarded Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1993 for his sporting achievements. He was awarded Lux Style Award for Most Stylish Sports Person in 2003.
In his Test career, Akram took 414 wickets in 104 matches, a Pakistani record, at an average of 23.62 and scored 2,898 runs, at an average of 22.64.
In One Day Internationals, Akram took 502 wickets in 356 appearances, at an average of 23.52 and scored 3,717 runs, at an average of 16.52.
Akram was the first bowler in international cricket to take more than 400 wickets in both forms of the game and only Muttiah Muralitharan has since achieved this.
Akram also held the record for the most wickets in Cricket World Cups, a total of 55 in 38 matches. Australia's Glenn McGrath broke the record during the 2007 Cricket World Cup, ending with a final tally of 71 from 39 matches. On passing Wasim's record, McGrath said, "Wasim Akram, to me, is one of the greatest bowlers of all time. Left-armer, swung it both ways with the new ball and he was so dangerous with the old ball. To go past him is something I will always remember. Probably the other side of the coin is that if you play long enough, you're going to break records here and there." He is currently the fourth highest wicket taker in world cups.
Akram is the only bowler to have achieved four hat-tricks in international cricket, with two each in Tests and One Day Internationals. He was the third of only four bowlers to have taken two Test cricket hat-tricks, the others being Hugh Trumble, Jimmy Matthews and Stuart Broad. Akram was also the first of only five bowlers to have taken two One Day International cricket hat-tricks. Akram's Test hat-tricks are significant, since they were taken in consecutive Test matches in the same series, a game played against Sri Lanka in the 1998-99 Asian Test Championship. Akram is also one of only two bowlers to have taken both a Test match and One Day International hat-trick, the other being Pakistan fast bowler, Mohammad Sami.
Playing in a Test series against the West Indies at Lahore in 1990–1991, he became one of only six players to have taken four wickets in an over during a Test match. In Akram's case, these achievement was not part of a hat-trick, the third ball he delivered to the batting opposition was a dropped catch, which allowed a single run.
Akram has also achieved the highest score by a number eight batsman in Test cricket when he scored 257 runs not out from 363 balls against Zimbabwe at Sheikhupura. The innings contained 12 sixes which is also a world record for Test cricket.
He also has the joint-third highest number of Man of the Match awards in Test cricket, with seventeen.
He has scored the second-highest number of runs in One Day International matches by a player who has never scored a One Day International hundred, after Misbah-ul-Haq. His highest score was 86 runs.
He is the only Test cricketer in the world (as of Feb 2013) to take ten or more wickets thrice in a test match and still end up on the losing side.
He holds the record for facing the most balls in a test match as well as in an innings as number 8 batsman (363 balls)
First bowler to take 500 ODI wickets and still holds the record for taking the most ODI wickets as seamer (502)
He holds the record for taking the most wickets in ODI history at a single ground (122, Sharjah Cricket Stadium), also the first person to grab 100+ ODI wickets at the same ground. Waqar Younis, the second person to grab 100+ ODI wickets at a single ground, also did in Sharjah. He ranks second overall with 114 wickets.
Holds the record for taking the most ODI wickets as captain (158)
Controversies
In 1992, after he had been successful against the English batsmen, accusations of ball tampering began to appear in the English media, though no video evidence of foul play was ever found. Akram and Younis had been able to obtain prodigious amounts of movement from both new and old cricket balls. The skill of the reverse swing delivery was relatively unknown in England and around the cricketing world during that period.
A far larger controversy was created when critics alleged that he was involved in match fixing. An inquiry commission was set up by the Pakistan Cricket Board headed by a Pakistan high court judge, Malik Mohammad Qayyum. The judge wrote in his report that:
References
External links
Pakistan One Day International cricketers
Pakistan Test cricketers
Pakistan Test cricket captains
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Hampshire cricketers
Lancashire cricketers
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Pakistan Automobiles Corporation cricketers
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Wisden Cricketers of the Year
Wisden Leading Cricketers in the World
Test cricket hat-trick takers
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Pakistani cricket commentators
Cricketers at the 1987 Cricket World Cup
Cricketers at the 1992 Cricket World Cup
Cricketers at the 1996 Cricket World Cup
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1966 births
Living people
Pakistani sports broadcasters
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People from Karachi
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People with type 1 diabetes | true | [
"Tom Bacher is a former Danish badminton player. He was a Danish international from the mid 1960s until the mid 1970s. \nHis greatest achievement was winning the 1970 All England Badminton Championships doubles title with Poul Petersen.\n\nMedal Record at the All England Badminton Championships\n\nReferences\n\nDanish male badminton players",
"Andrew Dwyer (born 4 November 1956) is a former English professional squash player.\n\nDwyer was born on 4 November 1956 and lived in Hove, Sussex. He started playing at Withdean and was capped by England in 1977. His greatest achievement was being part of the winning England team during the 1979 World Team Squash Championships, the last world amateur championship before the game went open.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\nEnglish male squash players\n1956 births\nLiving people"
] | [
"Wasim Akram (born 3 June 1966) is a Pakistani cricket commentator, coach, and former cricketer and captain of the Pakistan national cricket team. Akram is widely regarded as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time and several critics regard him as the greatest left arm fast bowler of cricket history. In October 2013, Wasim Akram was the only Pakistani cricketer to be named in an all-time Test World XI to mark the 150th anniversary of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack.",
"In October 2013, Wasim Akram was the only Pakistani cricketer to be named in an all-time Test World XI to mark the 150th anniversary of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack. A left arm fast bowler who could bowl with significant pace, he holds the world record for most wickets in List A cricket, with 881, and he is second only to Sri Lankan off-spin bowler Muttiah Muralitharan in terms of ODI wickets, with 502 in total.",
"A left arm fast bowler who could bowl with significant pace, he holds the world record for most wickets in List A cricket, with 881, and he is second only to Sri Lankan off-spin bowler Muttiah Muralitharan in terms of ODI wickets, with 502 in total. He is considered to be one of the founders, and perhaps the finest exponent of, reverse swing bowling. He was the first bowler to reach the 500-wicket mark in ODI cricket during the 2003 World Cup.",
"He was the first bowler to reach the 500-wicket mark in ODI cricket during the 2003 World Cup. In 2002, Wisden released its only list of best players of all time. Wasim was ranked as the best bowler in ODI of all time, with a rating of 1223.5, ahead of Allan Donald, Imran Khan, Waqar Younis, Joel Garner, Glenn McGrath and Muralitharan. Wasim took 23 four-wicket hauls in 356 ODI matches played.",
"Wasim took 23 four-wicket hauls in 356 ODI matches played. On 30 September 2009, Akram was one of five new members inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. He was the bowling coach of Kolkata Knight Riders. However, he took a break from the position for IPL 6, citing a need to spend more time with family in Karachi, and he took a further break from IPL 2017; and was replaced by Lakshmipathy Balaji.",
"However, he took a break from the position for IPL 6, citing a need to spend more time with family in Karachi, and he took a further break from IPL 2017; and was replaced by Lakshmipathy Balaji. He was working as director and bowling coach of Islamabad United in Pakistan Super League, until he left to join Multan Sultans in August 2017. In October 2018, he was named in the Pakistan Cricket Board's seven-member advisory cricket committee.",
"In October 2018, he was named in the Pakistan Cricket Board's seven-member advisory cricket committee. In November 2018, he joined PSL franchise, Karachi Kings, as a President. The Government of Pakistan awarded him the Hilal-e-Imtiaz on 23 March 2019 for his life time achievements In field of Cricket. Early and personal life Wasim Akram was born on 3 June 1966 to a Punjabi family in Lahore.",
"Early and personal life Wasim Akram was born on 3 June 1966 to a Punjabi family in Lahore. Akram's father, Chaudhary Muhammed Akram, was originally from a village near Amritsar, who moved to Kamonki, in the Pakistani Punjab after the partition of India in 1947. He was educated at Government Islamia College, Civil Lines, Lahore. At the age of 30, Akram was diagnosed with diabetes.",
"At the age of 30, Akram was diagnosed with diabetes. \"I remember what a shock it was because I was a healthy sportsman with no history of diabetes in my family, so I didn't expect it at all. It seemed strange that it happened to me when I was 30, but it was a very stressful time and doctors said that can trigger it.\" Since then he has sought to be involved in various awareness campaigns for diabetes. Akram married Huma Mufti in 1995.",
"Akram married Huma Mufti in 1995. Akram married Huma Mufti in 1995. They had two sons from their marriage of 14 years: Tahmoor (born 1996) and Akbar (born 2000). Huma died of multiple organ failure at Apollo Hospital in Chennai, India, on 25 October 2009. On 7 July 2013, it was reported that Akram had become engaged to an Australian woman, Shaniera Thompson, whom he had met while on a visit to Melbourne in 2011.",
"On 7 July 2013, it was reported that Akram had become engaged to an Australian woman, Shaniera Thompson, whom he had met while on a visit to Melbourne in 2011. Akram married Shaniera on 12 August 2013, saying he has started a new life on a happy note. He was quoted as saying: \"I married Shaniera in Lahore in a simple ceremony, and this is the start of a new life for me, my wife, and for my kids.\"",
"He was quoted as saying: \"I married Shaniera in Lahore in a simple ceremony, and this is the start of a new life for me, my wife, and for my kids.\" He moved from Lahore to Karachi with his wife and children. On 3 September 2014, the couple tweeted that they were expecting their first baby—the third child of the Akram family. On 27 December 2014, Shaniera gave birth to a baby girl, Aiyla Sabeen Rose Akram, in Melbourne.",
"On 27 December 2014, Shaniera gave birth to a baby girl, Aiyla Sabeen Rose Akram, in Melbourne. Domestic career In 1988, Akram signed for Lancashire County Cricket Club in England. From 1988 to 1998, he opened their bowling attack in their NatWest Trophy, Benson and Hedges Cup, and Sunday League tournaments. He was a favourite of the local British fans, who used to sing a song called \"Wasim for England\" at Lancashire's matches.",
"He was a favourite of the local British fans, who used to sing a song called \"Wasim for England\" at Lancashire's matches. In 1998, with Akram as captain, Lancashire won the NatWest Trophy and Sunday League and finished second in the County Championship, having lost only five matches in all competitions during the season. International career Test cricket Akram made his Test cricket debut for Pakistan against New Zealand in 1985, and in his second Test match, he claimed 10 wickets.",
"International career Test cricket Akram made his Test cricket debut for Pakistan against New Zealand in 1985, and in his second Test match, he claimed 10 wickets. A few weeks prior to his selection into the Pakistan team, he was an unknown club cricketer who had failed to make it even to his college team. He came to the trials at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore in Pakistan, but for the first two days he did not get a chance to bowl.",
"He came to the trials at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore in Pakistan, but for the first two days he did not get a chance to bowl. On the third day, he got a chance; his performance convincing Javed Miandad to insist upon his inclusion in the national team. Akram was hence given an opportunity to play for Pakistan, without any significant domestic experience. Akram's rise in international cricket was rapid during the late 1980s. He was a part of the Pakistan team that toured the West Indies in 1988.",
"He was a part of the Pakistan team that toured the West Indies in 1988. However, a groin injury impeded his career in the late 1980s. Following two surgeries, he re-emerged in the 1990s as a fast bowler who focused more on swing and accurate bowling. Wasim Akram is currently the highest wicket taker for Pakistan in test cricket with 414 wickets. One Day International Akram started his ODI career against New Zealand in Pakistan in 1984 under the captaincy of Zaheer Abbas.",
"One Day International Akram started his ODI career against New Zealand in Pakistan in 1984 under the captaincy of Zaheer Abbas. He rose to prominence by taking five wickets in his 3rd ODI against Australia in the 1985 Benson & Hedges World Championship. His wickets included those of Kepler Wessels, Dean Jones, and captain Allan Border.",
"His wickets included those of Kepler Wessels, Dean Jones, and captain Allan Border. Wasim Akram is currently the highest wicket taker for Pakistan in One Day International cricket Early days In the 1984–85 Rothmans Four-Nations Cup and the 1985–86 Rothmans Sharjah Cup, Akram took five wickets with a run rate of less than 3.50. The 1985–1986 Austral-Asia Cup involved Australia, India, New Zealand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and was played in Sharjah, UAE.",
"The 1985–1986 Austral-Asia Cup involved Australia, India, New Zealand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and was played in Sharjah, UAE. Akram, with the help of Abdul Qadir, bowled out New Zealand's batting line-up for 64 in the second semi-final of the cup. Pakistan won that game with more than 27 overs to spare, obtaining one of the biggest wins in Pakistani history. In the final against India, he and Imran Khan shared five wickets. Akram's wickets included Dilip Vengsarkar and Ravi Shastri.",
"Akram's wickets included Dilip Vengsarkar and Ravi Shastri. Akram's wickets included Dilip Vengsarkar and Ravi Shastri. In the 1987 Cricket World Cup held for the 1st time in South Asia, Akram struggled on Pakistani pitches; he managed only 7 wickets throughout, with an average of over 40 runs per wicket across all 7 matches. Akram played West Indies, Sri Lanka and England twice. All group matches were played in Pakistan. In the 1988–89 Benson and Hedges World Series, Akram managed figures of 4 for 25 against Australia.",
"In the 1988–89 Benson and Hedges World Series, Akram managed figures of 4 for 25 against Australia. Emergence Akram took his hundredth wicket at Sharjah during the 1989–1990 Champions Trophy, the 2nd Match against West Indies. His 100th wicket was that of Curtly Ambrose. In that match, he took a five-wicket haul for the second time in his career. In the same match, Akram took his first hat-trick against West Indies. All three batsman were bowled out.",
"All three batsman were bowled out. All three batsman were bowled out. On 4 May 1990 in Sharjah, Akram took his second ODI hat-trick against Australia. All three batsmen were bowled this time as well. His best years in the late 1980s were from 1986 to 1989, during which time he took 100 wickets at 22.71 runs per wicket, and his economy rate was less than 3.9 runs per over, with a total of four 4-wicket hauls.",
"His best years in the late 1980s were from 1986 to 1989, during which time he took 100 wickets at 22.71 runs per wicket, and his economy rate was less than 3.9 runs per over, with a total of four 4-wicket hauls. His first two hauls against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh came in Sri Lanka in 1986. Up until December 1991, Akram took 143 wickets in 107 matches, with an average of almost 24 and an economy rate of 3.84.",
"Up until December 1991, Akram took 143 wickets in 107 matches, with an average of almost 24 and an economy rate of 3.84. World's best Akram was a significant figure in the 1992 Cricket World Cup held in Australia and New Zealand when Pakistan won the tournament. In the final, against England, his innings of 33 runs off 19 balls pushed Pakistan to a score of 249 runs for 6 wickets.",
"In the final, against England, his innings of 33 runs off 19 balls pushed Pakistan to a score of 249 runs for 6 wickets. Akram then took the wicket of Ian Botham early on during the English batting innings; and, when brought back into the bowling attack later on, with the ball reverse swinging, he produced a spell of bowling which led to Allan Lamb and Chris Lewis being bowled in successive deliveries in one over. His performances earned him the Man of the Match award for the final.",
"His performances earned him the Man of the Match award for the final. In 1993, Akram took two consecutive 4-wicket hauls against Sri Lanka in Sharjah, in which 7 out of 8 wickets were either LBW or bowled. In the 1992–1993 Total International Series in South Africa (involving Pakistan, West Indies and South Africa), he took 5 wickets against South Africa and got his 200th wicket in his 143rd match. Akram took 46 wickets in calendar year 1993, his best year ever in ODIs.",
"Akram took 46 wickets in calendar year 1993, his best year ever in ODIs. His average was less than 19, with an economy rate of less than 3.8 runs per over. He took six 4-wicket hauls in 1993, the most by him in any year. In the 1996 Cricket World Cup, Akram missed the quarterfinal match against India which Pakistan lost and went out of the World Cup.",
"In the 1996 Cricket World Cup, Akram missed the quarterfinal match against India which Pakistan lost and went out of the World Cup. Wasim's great career was often tainted by controversy, not least in the Caribbean in April 1993, his maiden tour as Pakistan's captain. During the team's stop-over in Grenada, he was arrested along with three teammates—Waqar Younis, Aaqib Javed and Mushtaq Ahmed—and two female British tourists; he was charged with possession of marijuana. Between 1994 and 1996, he took 84 wickets in 39 matches.",
"Between 1994 and 1996, he took 84 wickets in 39 matches. From January 1992 to December 1997, Akram played 131 matches and took 198 wickets at an average of 21.86, with 14 4-wicket hauls in ODIs. Late career In 1999, he led Pakistan to the finals of the World Cup where they capitulated and were defeated by Australia in the final by eight wickets with almost 30 overs to spare. This was the start of the match-fixing controversies, as critics believed Akram had set up the match for Australia.",
"This was the start of the match-fixing controversies, as critics believed Akram had set up the match for Australia. However, none of the allegations could be proved. He was Pakistan's best bowler in the 2003 Cricket World Cup, taking 12 wickets in 6 matches. However, Pakistan failed to reach the super six of the tournament, and Akram was one of the eight players to be sacked by the Pakistan Cricket Board as a result. Records Akram won 17 Man-of-the-Match awards in 104 Tests.",
"Records Akram won 17 Man-of-the-Match awards in 104 Tests. Records Akram won 17 Man-of-the-Match awards in 104 Tests. He took four hat-tricks in international cricket—two in ODIs and two in Tests. As a result, he shares the record for most international hat-tricks with Lasith Malinga. He finished with 22 Man-of-the-Match awards in ODIs. In 199 ODI match wins, he took 326 wickets at under 19 apiece with a run rate of 3.70 and took 18 four-wicket hauls.",
"In 199 ODI match wins, he took 326 wickets at under 19 apiece with a run rate of 3.70 and took 18 four-wicket hauls. His 257 not-out against Zimbabwe in 1996 is the highest innings by a number-8 batsman in Tests. He hit 12 sixes in that game, and it stands to this day as the record for the most sixes by any player in a single Test innings.",
"He hit 12 sixes in that game, and it stands to this day as the record for the most sixes by any player in a single Test innings. Prior to his retirement, he was one of eight senior players dropped for the 2003 Sharjah Cup, and was then omitted from the Pakistan squad for the subsequent Bank Alfalah Cup triangular series. Due to his omission from the team, he did not participate in a farewell match. Akram fulfilled his contract play for Hampshire until the end of the English season.",
"Akram fulfilled his contract play for Hampshire until the end of the English season. Post retirement Media career Since retiring from cricket, Akram has worked and taken up commentary for television networks and can currently be seen as a sports commentator for ESPN Star Sports and ARY Digital among others.",
"Post retirement Media career Since retiring from cricket, Akram has worked and taken up commentary for television networks and can currently be seen as a sports commentator for ESPN Star Sports and ARY Digital among others. He did commentary on a variety of sporting tournaments including the 2009 Women's Cricket World Cup in Australia, the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 in England, the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa, and the 2011 ICC World Cup in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.",
"He did commentary on a variety of sporting tournaments including the 2009 Women's Cricket World Cup in Australia, the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 in England, the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa, and the 2011 ICC World Cup in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Coaching career In 2010, Akram was appointed the bowling coach consultant of Kolkata Knight Riders, the Indian Premier League team for Kolkata. Sourav Ganguly was always keen to have Akram as the bowling coach for India, during the former's stint as Indian captain.",
"Sourav Ganguly was always keen to have Akram as the bowling coach for India, during the former's stint as Indian captain. Although this never happened, his dreams were realised to some extent, when Akram was appointed as the bowling coach cum mentor for the franchise. Akram has thus been playing a vital role in the grooming of Indian pacers like Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav, who owe their success in international cricket a lot to the bowling legend.",
"Akram has thus been playing a vital role in the grooming of Indian pacers like Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav, who owe their success in international cricket a lot to the bowling legend. While working for the Kolkata Knight Riders, he was also responsible for the signing of Pakistani domestic left-arm fast-bowler Mohammad Irfan. Akram has also been coaching in Pakistan fast bowling camps, his most notable discovery being the teenage Pakistani bowlers Mohammad Amir and Junaid Khan.",
"Akram has also been coaching in Pakistan fast bowling camps, his most notable discovery being the teenage Pakistani bowlers Mohammad Amir and Junaid Khan. Akram has also worked as director and bowling coach of PSL franchise Islamabad United during 2016 and 2017 season. He has also worked with Multan Sultans as director and bowling coach. He is currently chairman and bowling coach of Karachi Kings. He is also currently the Vice President of Kashmir Premier League. Playing style and legacy During his professional career he bowled with genuine speed and hostility.",
"Playing style and legacy During his professional career he bowled with genuine speed and hostility. Akram was a man possessed of accurate control of line and length, accompanied by seam and swing bowling skills, extended to both inswingers and outswingers. With a very quick bowling action, he could bowl equally well from both sides of the wicket.",
"With a very quick bowling action, he could bowl equally well from both sides of the wicket. His mastery of reverse swing with the cricket ball meant he was at his most dangerous towards the end of a bowling innings, and earned him the nickname of one of the \"Sultans of Swing\", the other one being Waqar Younis. As well as often being able to find the edge of the bat, Akram would also focus his bowling attack on the stumps and had a particularly lethal inswinging yorker.",
"As well as often being able to find the edge of the bat, Akram would also focus his bowling attack on the stumps and had a particularly lethal inswinging yorker. Of his 414 Test wickets, 193 were taken caught, 119 were taken leg before wicket and 102 were bowled. In partnership with Waqar Younis, he intimidated international batsmen in the 1990s. Together Wasim and Waqar, known as \"the two Ws\" of the Pakistani team, were one of the most successful bowling partnerships in cricket.",
"Together Wasim and Waqar, known as \"the two Ws\" of the Pakistani team, were one of the most successful bowling partnerships in cricket. With the bat he was especially effective against spin bowlers. However, he liked to slog and was criticised for his lack of high scores and giving away his wicket too cheaply. In October 1996 he scored 257 runs not out, of the team's total of 553 against lowly Zimbabwe on a typical flat South Asian pitch at Sheikhupura.",
"In October 1996 he scored 257 runs not out, of the team's total of 553 against lowly Zimbabwe on a typical flat South Asian pitch at Sheikhupura. He also achieved good scores for the Pakistan team such as his scores of 123 and 45* against Australia to take Pakistan to victory in a low scoring match.",
"He also achieved good scores for the Pakistan team such as his scores of 123 and 45* against Australia to take Pakistan to victory in a low scoring match. His batting was also valuable sometimes to the Pakistan ODI side, such as in the Nehru Cup in 1989, when needing six runs and two balls to win the match, he hit the first delivery he faced, from part-time off-spinner and batting legend, Viv Richards, for a six and secured the cup.",
"His batting was also valuable sometimes to the Pakistan ODI side, such as in the Nehru Cup in 1989, when needing six runs and two balls to win the match, he hit the first delivery he faced, from part-time off-spinner and batting legend, Viv Richards, for a six and secured the cup. West Indian batting great Viv Richards rates Akram as best fast bowler he ever faced after Dennis Lillee.",
"West Indian batting great Viv Richards rates Akram as best fast bowler he ever faced after Dennis Lillee. In December 2012 after Ricky Ponting announced his retirement he said that Wasim Akram and Curtly Ambrose were the toughest bowlers he had faced \"Akram for the exact opposite, you could get a few runs off him, but you just knew there was an unplayable ball around the corner, be it with an old ball or with a new ball,\" – Ricky Ponting.",
"In December 2012 after Ricky Ponting announced his retirement he said that Wasim Akram and Curtly Ambrose were the toughest bowlers he had faced \"Akram for the exact opposite, you could get a few runs off him, but you just knew there was an unplayable ball around the corner, be it with an old ball or with a new ball,\" – Ricky Ponting. To mark 150 years of the Cricketers' Almanack, Wisden named him in an all-time Test World XI.",
"To mark 150 years of the Cricketers' Almanack, Wisden named him in an all-time Test World XI. Beyond cricket Book He co-wrote his autobiography Wasim (1998) with the British sports journalist Patrick Murphy. Modelling Akram was a model at the Pantene Bridal Couture Week 2011, which was an event of Style 360. Business In 2018, Akram joined Cricingif as a stakeholder director. Television Films Award and records Akram was awarded Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1993 for his sporting achievements.",
"Television Films Award and records Akram was awarded Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1993 for his sporting achievements. He was awarded Lux Style Award for Most Stylish Sports Person in 2003. In his Test career, Akram took 414 wickets in 104 matches, a Pakistani record, at an average of 23.62 and scored 2,898 runs, at an average of 22.64. In One Day Internationals, Akram took 502 wickets in 356 appearances, at an average of 23.52 and scored 3,717 runs, at an average of 16.52.",
"In One Day Internationals, Akram took 502 wickets in 356 appearances, at an average of 23.52 and scored 3,717 runs, at an average of 16.52. Akram was the first bowler in international cricket to take more than 400 wickets in both forms of the game and only Muttiah Muralitharan has since achieved this. Akram also held the record for the most wickets in Cricket World Cups, a total of 55 in 38 matches.",
"Akram also held the record for the most wickets in Cricket World Cups, a total of 55 in 38 matches. Australia's Glenn McGrath broke the record during the 2007 Cricket World Cup, ending with a final tally of 71 from 39 matches. On passing Wasim's record, McGrath said, \"Wasim Akram, to me, is one of the greatest bowlers of all time. Left-armer, swung it both ways with the new ball and he was so dangerous with the old ball.",
"Left-armer, swung it both ways with the new ball and he was so dangerous with the old ball. To go past him is something I will always remember. Probably the other side of the coin is that if you play long enough, you're going to break records here and there.\" He is currently the fourth highest wicket taker in world cups. Akram is the only bowler to have achieved four hat-tricks in international cricket, with two each in Tests and One Day Internationals.",
"Akram is the only bowler to have achieved four hat-tricks in international cricket, with two each in Tests and One Day Internationals. He was the third of only four bowlers to have taken two Test cricket hat-tricks, the others being Hugh Trumble, Jimmy Matthews and Stuart Broad. Akram was also the first of only five bowlers to have taken two One Day International cricket hat-tricks.",
"Akram was also the first of only five bowlers to have taken two One Day International cricket hat-tricks. Akram's Test hat-tricks are significant, since they were taken in consecutive Test matches in the same series, a game played against Sri Lanka in the 1998-99 Asian Test Championship. Akram is also one of only two bowlers to have taken both a Test match and One Day International hat-trick, the other being Pakistan fast bowler, Mohammad Sami.",
"Akram is also one of only two bowlers to have taken both a Test match and One Day International hat-trick, the other being Pakistan fast bowler, Mohammad Sami. Playing in a Test series against the West Indies at Lahore in 1990–1991, he became one of only six players to have taken four wickets in an over during a Test match. In Akram's case, these achievement was not part of a hat-trick, the third ball he delivered to the batting opposition was a dropped catch, which allowed a single run.",
"In Akram's case, these achievement was not part of a hat-trick, the third ball he delivered to the batting opposition was a dropped catch, which allowed a single run. Akram has also achieved the highest score by a number eight batsman in Test cricket when he scored 257 runs not out from 363 balls against Zimbabwe at Sheikhupura. The innings contained 12 sixes which is also a world record for Test cricket. He also has the joint-third highest number of Man of the Match awards in Test cricket, with seventeen.",
"He also has the joint-third highest number of Man of the Match awards in Test cricket, with seventeen. He has scored the second-highest number of runs in One Day International matches by a player who has never scored a One Day International hundred, after Misbah-ul-Haq. His highest score was 86 runs. He is the only Test cricketer in the world (as of Feb 2013) to take ten or more wickets thrice in a test match and still end up on the losing side.",
"He is the only Test cricketer in the world (as of Feb 2013) to take ten or more wickets thrice in a test match and still end up on the losing side. He holds the record for facing the most balls in a test match as well as in an innings as number 8 batsman (363 balls) First bowler to take 500 ODI wickets and still holds the record for taking the most ODI wickets as seamer (502) He holds the record for taking the most wickets in ODI history at a single ground (122, Sharjah Cricket Stadium), also the first person to grab 100+ ODI wickets at the same ground.",
"He holds the record for facing the most balls in a test match as well as in an innings as number 8 batsman (363 balls) First bowler to take 500 ODI wickets and still holds the record for taking the most ODI wickets as seamer (502) He holds the record for taking the most wickets in ODI history at a single ground (122, Sharjah Cricket Stadium), also the first person to grab 100+ ODI wickets at the same ground. Waqar Younis, the second person to grab 100+ ODI wickets at a single ground, also did in Sharjah.",
"Waqar Younis, the second person to grab 100+ ODI wickets at a single ground, also did in Sharjah. He ranks second overall with 114 wickets. Holds the record for taking the most ODI wickets as captain (158) Controversies In 1992, after he had been successful against the English batsmen, accusations of ball tampering began to appear in the English media, though no video evidence of foul play was ever found. Akram and Younis had been able to obtain prodigious amounts of movement from both new and old cricket balls.",
"Akram and Younis had been able to obtain prodigious amounts of movement from both new and old cricket balls. The skill of the reverse swing delivery was relatively unknown in England and around the cricketing world during that period. A far larger controversy was created when critics alleged that he was involved in match fixing. An inquiry commission was set up by the Pakistan Cricket Board headed by a Pakistan high court judge, Malik Mohammad Qayyum.",
"An inquiry commission was set up by the Pakistan Cricket Board headed by a Pakistan high court judge, Malik Mohammad Qayyum. The judge wrote in his report that: References External links Pakistan One Day International cricketers Pakistan Test cricketers Pakistan Test cricket captains Pakistani cricket captains Hampshire cricketers Lancashire cricketers Lancashire cricket captains Pakistan Automobiles Corporation cricketers Pakistan International Airlines cricketers Wisden Cricketers of the Year Wisden Leading Cricketers in the World Test cricket hat-trick takers One Day International hat-trick takers Pakistani cricket commentators Cricketers at the 1987 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 1992 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 1996 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 1999 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 2003 Cricket World Cup 1966 births Living people Pakistani sports broadcasters Punjabi people Cricketers from Lahore Recipients of the Pride of Performance Pakistani cricketers Lahore City cricketers Lahore City Whites cricketers People from Karachi Indian Premier League coaches Government Islamia College alumni Pakistan Super League coaches Pakistani cricket coaches Pakistani television hosts M Parkinson's World XI cricketers Recipients of Hilal-i-Imtiaz People with type 1 diabetes"
] |
[
"Wasim Akram",
"Legacy",
"What was Akrams legacy?",
"Akram was a man possessed of accurate control of line and length,",
"Did he have any incredible achievements with his line and length skills",
"With a very quick bowling action, he could bowl equally well from both sides of the wicket.",
"Did he win any awards for his bowling",
"Together Wasim and Waqar, known as \"the two Ws\" of the Pakistani team, were one of the most successful bowling partnerships in cricket.",
"How long was his bowling career",
"I don't know.",
"Was there anything particularly intriguing about his legacy",
"earned him the nickname of one of the \"Sultans of Swing\", the other one being Waqar Younis.",
"How did he get the nickname \"sultans of swing\"",
"His mastery of reverse swing with the cricket ball meant he was at his most dangerous towards a bowling innings,",
"how old was he when he retired",
"I don't know.",
"What was his greatest achievement",
"His batting was also valuable sometimes to the Pakistan ODI side, such as in the Nehru Cup in 1989, when needing six runs and two balls to win the match,"
] | C_7db87eb260274b27a87e1a8f2e1807f4_0 | Did he win any other awards | 9 | Did Akram win any awards in addition to the Nehru Cup? | Wasim Akram | During his professional career he bowled with genuine speed and hostility. Akram was a man possessed of accurate control of line and length, accompanied by seam and swing bowling skills, extended to both inswingers and outswingers. With a very quick bowling action, he could bowl equally well from both sides of the wicket. His mastery of reverse swing with the cricket ball meant he was at his most dangerous towards a bowling innings, and earned him the nickname of one of the "Sultans of Swing", the other one being Waqar Younis. As well as often being able to find the edge of the bat, Akram would also focus his bowling attack on the stumps and had a particularly lethal inswinging yorker. Of his 414 Test wickets, 193 were taken caught, 119 were taken leg before wicket and 102 were bowled. In partnership with Waqar Younis, he intimidated international batsmen in the 1990s. Together Wasim and Waqar, known as "the two Ws" of the Pakistani team, were one of the most successful bowling partnerships in cricket. With the bat he was especially effective against spin bowlers. However, he liked to slog and was criticised for his lack of high scores and giving away his wicket too cheaply. In October 1996 he scored 257 runs not out, of the team's total of 553 against lowly Zimbabwe on a typical flat South Asian pitch at Sheikhupura. He also achieved good scores for the Pakistan team such as his scores of 123 and 45* against Australia to take Pakistan to victory in a low scoring match. His batting was also valuable sometimes to the Pakistan ODI side, such as in the Nehru Cup in 1989, when needing six runs and two balls to win the match, he hit the first delivery he faced, from part-time off-spinner and batting legend, Viv Richards, for a six and secured the cup. In December 2012 after Ricky Ponting announced his retirement he said that Wasim Akram and Curtly Ambrose were the toughest bowlers he had faced "Akram for the exact opposite, you could get a few runs off him, but you just knew there was an unplayable ball around the corner, be it with an old ball or with a new ball," - Ricky Ponting. CANNOTANSWER | Akram would also focus his bowling attack on the stumps and had a particularly lethal inswinging yorker. | Wasim Akram (born 3 June 1966) is a Pakistani cricket commentator, coach, and former cricketer and captain of the Pakistan national cricket team. Akram is widely regarded as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time and several critics regard him as the greatest left arm fast bowler of cricket history.
In October 2013, Wasim Akram was the only Pakistani cricketer to be named in an all-time Test World XI to mark the 150th anniversary of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack.
A left arm fast bowler who could bowl with significant pace, he holds the world record for most wickets in List A cricket, with 881, and he is second only to Sri Lankan off-spin bowler Muttiah Muralitharan in terms of ODI wickets, with 502 in total. He is considered to be one of the founders, and perhaps the finest exponent of, reverse swing bowling.
He was the first bowler to reach the 500-wicket mark in ODI cricket during the 2003 World Cup. In 2002, Wisden released its only list of best players of all time. Wasim was ranked as the best bowler in ODI of all time, with a rating of 1223.5, ahead of Allan Donald, Imran Khan, Waqar Younis, Joel Garner, Glenn McGrath and Muralitharan. Wasim took 23 four-wicket hauls in 356 ODI matches played. On 30 September 2009, Akram was one of five new members inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. He was the bowling coach of Kolkata Knight Riders. However, he took a break from the position for IPL 6, citing a need to spend more time with family in Karachi, and he took a further break from IPL 2017; and was replaced by Lakshmipathy Balaji.
He was working as director and bowling coach of Islamabad United in Pakistan Super League, until he left to join Multan Sultans in August 2017. In October 2018, he was named in the Pakistan Cricket Board's seven-member advisory cricket committee. In November 2018, he joined PSL franchise, Karachi Kings, as a President.
The Government of Pakistan awarded him the Hilal-e-Imtiaz on 23 March 2019 for his life time achievements In field of Cricket.
Early and personal life
Wasim Akram was born on 3 June 1966 to a Punjabi family in Lahore. Akram's father, Chaudhary Muhammed Akram, was originally from a village near Amritsar, who moved to Kamonki, in the Pakistani Punjab after the partition of India in 1947. He was educated at Government Islamia College, Civil Lines, Lahore.
At the age of 30, Akram was diagnosed with diabetes. "I remember what a shock it was because I was a healthy sportsman with no history of diabetes in my family, so I didn't expect it at all. It seemed strange that it happened to me when I was 30, but it was a very stressful time and doctors said that can trigger it." Since then he has sought to be involved in various awareness campaigns for diabetes.
Akram married Huma Mufti in 1995. They had two sons from their marriage of 14 years: Tahmoor (born 1996) and Akbar (born 2000). Huma died of multiple organ failure at Apollo Hospital in Chennai, India, on 25 October 2009.
On 7 July 2013, it was reported that Akram had become engaged to an Australian woman, Shaniera Thompson, whom he had met while on a visit to Melbourne in 2011. Akram married Shaniera on 12 August 2013, saying he has started a new life on a happy note. He was quoted as saying: "I married Shaniera in Lahore in a simple ceremony, and this is the start of a new life for me, my wife, and for my kids."
He moved from Lahore to Karachi with his wife and children. On 3 September 2014, the couple tweeted that they were expecting their first baby—the third child of the Akram family. On 27 December 2014, Shaniera gave birth to a baby girl, Aiyla Sabeen Rose Akram, in Melbourne.
Domestic career
In 1988, Akram signed for Lancashire County Cricket Club in England. From 1988 to 1998, he opened their bowling attack in their NatWest Trophy, Benson and Hedges Cup, and Sunday League tournaments. He was a favourite of the local British fans, who used to sing a song called "Wasim for England" at Lancashire's matches. In 1998, with Akram as captain, Lancashire won the NatWest Trophy and Sunday League and finished second in the County Championship, having lost only five matches in all competitions during the season.
International career
Test cricket
Akram made his Test cricket debut for Pakistan against New Zealand in 1985, and in his second Test match, he claimed 10 wickets. A few weeks prior to his selection into the Pakistan team, he was an unknown club cricketer who had failed to make it even to his college team. He came to the trials at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore in Pakistan, but for the first two days he did not get a chance to bowl. On the third day, he got a chance; his performance convincing Javed Miandad to insist upon his inclusion in the national team. Akram was hence given an opportunity to play for Pakistan, without any significant domestic experience.
Akram's rise in international cricket was rapid during the late 1980s. He was a part of the Pakistan team that toured the West Indies in 1988. However, a groin injury impeded his career in the late 1980s. Following two surgeries, he re-emerged in the 1990s as a fast bowler who focused more on swing and accurate bowling.
Wasim Akram is currently the highest wicket taker for Pakistan in test cricket with 414 wickets.
One Day International
Akram started his ODI career against New Zealand in Pakistan in 1984 under the captaincy of Zaheer Abbas. He rose to prominence by taking five wickets in his 3rd ODI against Australia in the 1985 Benson & Hedges World Championship. His wickets included those of Kepler Wessels, Dean Jones, and captain Allan Border. Wasim Akram is currently the highest wicket taker for Pakistan in One Day International cricket
Early days
In the 1984–85 Rothmans Four-Nations Cup and the 1985–86 Rothmans Sharjah Cup, Akram took five wickets with a run rate of less than 3.50. The 1985–1986 Austral-Asia Cup involved Australia, India, New Zealand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and was played in Sharjah, UAE. Akram, with the help of Abdul Qadir, bowled out New Zealand's batting line-up for 64 in the second semi-final of the cup. Pakistan won that game with more than 27 overs to spare, obtaining one of the biggest wins in Pakistani history. In the final against India, he and Imran Khan shared five wickets. Akram's wickets included Dilip Vengsarkar and Ravi Shastri.
In the 1987 Cricket World Cup held for the 1st time in South Asia, Akram struggled on Pakistani pitches; he managed only 7 wickets throughout, with an average of over 40 runs per wicket across all 7 matches. Akram played West Indies, Sri Lanka and England twice. All group matches were played in Pakistan.
In the 1988–89 Benson and Hedges World Series, Akram managed figures of 4 for 25 against Australia.
Emergence
Akram took his hundredth wicket at Sharjah during the 1989–1990 Champions Trophy, the 2nd Match against West Indies. His 100th wicket was that of Curtly Ambrose. In that match, he took a five-wicket haul for the second time in his career. In the same match, Akram took his first hat-trick against West Indies. All three batsman were bowled out. On 4 May 1990 in Sharjah, Akram took his second ODI hat-trick against Australia. All three batsmen were bowled this time as well.
His best years in the late 1980s were from 1986 to 1989, during which time he took 100 wickets at 22.71 runs per wicket, and his economy rate was less than 3.9 runs per over, with a total of four 4-wicket hauls. His first two hauls against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh came in Sri Lanka in 1986.
Up until December 1991, Akram took 143 wickets in 107 matches, with an average of almost 24 and an economy rate of 3.84.
World's best
Akram was a significant figure in the 1992 Cricket World Cup held in Australia and New Zealand when Pakistan won the tournament. In the final, against England, his innings of 33 runs off 19 balls pushed Pakistan to a score of 249 runs for 6 wickets. Akram then took the wicket of Ian Botham early on during the English batting innings; and, when brought back into the bowling attack later on, with the ball reverse swinging, he produced a spell of bowling which led to Allan Lamb and Chris Lewis being bowled in successive deliveries in one over. His performances earned him the Man of the Match award for the final. In 1993, Akram took two consecutive 4-wicket hauls against Sri Lanka in Sharjah, in which 7 out of 8 wickets were either LBW or bowled.
In the 1992–1993 Total International Series in South Africa (involving Pakistan, West Indies and South Africa), he took 5 wickets against South Africa and got his 200th wicket in his 143rd match. Akram took 46 wickets in calendar year 1993, his best year ever in ODIs. His average was less than 19, with an economy rate of less than 3.8 runs per over. He took six 4-wicket hauls in 1993, the most by him in any year. In the 1996 Cricket World Cup, Akram missed the quarterfinal match against India which Pakistan lost and went out of the World Cup. Wasim's great career was often tainted by controversy, not least in the Caribbean in April 1993, his maiden tour as Pakistan's captain. During the team's stop-over in Grenada, he was arrested along with three teammates—Waqar Younis, Aaqib Javed and Mushtaq Ahmed—and two female British tourists; he was charged with possession of marijuana. Between 1994 and 1996, he took 84 wickets in 39 matches.
From January 1992 to December 1997, Akram played 131 matches and took 198 wickets at an average of 21.86, with 14 4-wicket hauls in ODIs.
Late career
In 1999, he led Pakistan to the finals of the World Cup where they capitulated and were defeated by Australia in the final by eight wickets with almost 30 overs to spare. This was the start of the match-fixing controversies, as critics believed Akram had set up the match for Australia. However, none of the allegations could be proved.
He was Pakistan's best bowler in the 2003 Cricket World Cup, taking 12 wickets in 6 matches. However, Pakistan failed to reach the super six of the tournament, and Akram was one of the eight players to be sacked by the Pakistan Cricket Board as a result.
Records
Akram won 17 Man-of-the-Match awards in 104 Tests. He took four hat-tricks in international cricket—two in ODIs and two in Tests. As a result, he shares the record for most international hat-tricks with Lasith Malinga. He finished with 22 Man-of-the-Match awards in ODIs. In 199 ODI match wins, he took 326 wickets at under 19 apiece with a run rate of 3.70 and took 18 four-wicket hauls. His 257 not-out against Zimbabwe in 1996 is the highest innings by a number-8 batsman in Tests. He hit 12 sixes in that game, and it stands to this day as the record for the most sixes by any player in a single Test innings.
Prior to his retirement, he was one of eight senior players dropped for the 2003 Sharjah Cup, and was then omitted from the Pakistan squad for the subsequent Bank Alfalah Cup triangular series. Due to his omission from the team, he did not participate in a farewell match. Akram fulfilled his contract play for Hampshire until the end of the English season.
Post retirement
Media career
Since retiring from cricket, Akram has worked and taken up commentary for television networks and can currently be seen as a sports commentator for ESPN Star Sports and ARY Digital among others. He did commentary on a variety of sporting tournaments including the 2009 Women's Cricket World Cup in Australia, the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 in England, the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa, and the 2011 ICC World Cup in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
Coaching career
In 2010, Akram was appointed the bowling coach consultant of Kolkata Knight Riders, the Indian Premier League team for Kolkata. Sourav Ganguly was always keen to have Akram as the bowling coach for India, during the former's stint as Indian captain. Although this never happened, his dreams were realised to some extent, when Akram was appointed as the bowling coach cum mentor for the franchise.
Akram has thus been playing a vital role in the grooming of Indian pacers like Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav, who owe their success in international cricket a lot to the bowling legend.
While working for the Kolkata Knight Riders, he was also responsible for the signing of Pakistani domestic left-arm fast-bowler Mohammad Irfan.
Akram has also been coaching in Pakistan fast bowling camps, his most notable discovery being the teenage Pakistani bowlers Mohammad Amir and Junaid Khan.
Akram has also worked as director and bowling coach of PSL franchise Islamabad United during 2016 and 2017 season. He has also worked with Multan Sultans as director and bowling coach. He is currently chairman and bowling coach of Karachi Kings. He is also currently the Vice President of Kashmir Premier League.
Playing style and legacy
During his professional career he bowled with genuine speed and hostility. Akram was a man possessed of accurate control of line and length, accompanied by seam and swing bowling skills, extended to both inswingers and outswingers. With a very quick bowling action, he could bowl equally well from both sides of the wicket. His mastery of reverse swing with the cricket ball meant he was at his most dangerous towards the end of a bowling innings, and earned him the nickname of one of the "Sultans of Swing", the other one being Waqar Younis.
As well as often being able to find the edge of the bat, Akram would also focus his bowling attack on the stumps and had a particularly lethal inswinging yorker. Of his 414 Test wickets, 193 were taken caught, 119 were taken leg before wicket and 102 were bowled. In partnership with Waqar Younis, he intimidated international batsmen in the 1990s. Together Wasim and Waqar, known as "the two Ws" of the Pakistani team, were one of the most successful bowling partnerships in cricket.
With the bat he was especially effective against spin bowlers. However, he liked to slog and was criticised for his lack of high scores and giving away his wicket too cheaply. In October 1996 he scored 257 runs not out, of the team's total of 553 against lowly Zimbabwe on a typical flat South Asian pitch at Sheikhupura. He also achieved good scores for the Pakistan team such as his scores of 123 and 45* against Australia to take Pakistan to victory in a low scoring match. His batting was also valuable sometimes to the Pakistan ODI side, such as in the Nehru Cup in 1989, when needing six runs and two balls to win the match, he hit the first delivery he faced, from part-time off-spinner and batting legend, Viv Richards, for a six and secured the cup.
West Indian batting great Viv Richards rates Akram as best fast bowler he ever faced after Dennis Lillee.
In December 2012 after Ricky Ponting announced his retirement he said that Wasim Akram and Curtly Ambrose were the toughest bowlers he had faced "Akram for the exact opposite, you could get a few runs off him, but you just knew there was an unplayable ball around the corner, be it with an old ball or with a new ball," – Ricky Ponting.
To mark 150 years of the Cricketers' Almanack, Wisden named him in an all-time Test World XI.
Beyond cricket
Book
He co-wrote his autobiography Wasim (1998) with the British sports journalist Patrick Murphy.
Modelling
Akram was a model at the Pantene Bridal Couture Week 2011, which was an event of Style 360.
Business
In 2018, Akram joined Cricingif as a stakeholder director.
Television
Films
Award and records
Akram was awarded Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1993 for his sporting achievements. He was awarded Lux Style Award for Most Stylish Sports Person in 2003.
In his Test career, Akram took 414 wickets in 104 matches, a Pakistani record, at an average of 23.62 and scored 2,898 runs, at an average of 22.64.
In One Day Internationals, Akram took 502 wickets in 356 appearances, at an average of 23.52 and scored 3,717 runs, at an average of 16.52.
Akram was the first bowler in international cricket to take more than 400 wickets in both forms of the game and only Muttiah Muralitharan has since achieved this.
Akram also held the record for the most wickets in Cricket World Cups, a total of 55 in 38 matches. Australia's Glenn McGrath broke the record during the 2007 Cricket World Cup, ending with a final tally of 71 from 39 matches. On passing Wasim's record, McGrath said, "Wasim Akram, to me, is one of the greatest bowlers of all time. Left-armer, swung it both ways with the new ball and he was so dangerous with the old ball. To go past him is something I will always remember. Probably the other side of the coin is that if you play long enough, you're going to break records here and there." He is currently the fourth highest wicket taker in world cups.
Akram is the only bowler to have achieved four hat-tricks in international cricket, with two each in Tests and One Day Internationals. He was the third of only four bowlers to have taken two Test cricket hat-tricks, the others being Hugh Trumble, Jimmy Matthews and Stuart Broad. Akram was also the first of only five bowlers to have taken two One Day International cricket hat-tricks. Akram's Test hat-tricks are significant, since they were taken in consecutive Test matches in the same series, a game played against Sri Lanka in the 1998-99 Asian Test Championship. Akram is also one of only two bowlers to have taken both a Test match and One Day International hat-trick, the other being Pakistan fast bowler, Mohammad Sami.
Playing in a Test series against the West Indies at Lahore in 1990–1991, he became one of only six players to have taken four wickets in an over during a Test match. In Akram's case, these achievement was not part of a hat-trick, the third ball he delivered to the batting opposition was a dropped catch, which allowed a single run.
Akram has also achieved the highest score by a number eight batsman in Test cricket when he scored 257 runs not out from 363 balls against Zimbabwe at Sheikhupura. The innings contained 12 sixes which is also a world record for Test cricket.
He also has the joint-third highest number of Man of the Match awards in Test cricket, with seventeen.
He has scored the second-highest number of runs in One Day International matches by a player who has never scored a One Day International hundred, after Misbah-ul-Haq. His highest score was 86 runs.
He is the only Test cricketer in the world (as of Feb 2013) to take ten or more wickets thrice in a test match and still end up on the losing side.
He holds the record for facing the most balls in a test match as well as in an innings as number 8 batsman (363 balls)
First bowler to take 500 ODI wickets and still holds the record for taking the most ODI wickets as seamer (502)
He holds the record for taking the most wickets in ODI history at a single ground (122, Sharjah Cricket Stadium), also the first person to grab 100+ ODI wickets at the same ground. Waqar Younis, the second person to grab 100+ ODI wickets at a single ground, also did in Sharjah. He ranks second overall with 114 wickets.
Holds the record for taking the most ODI wickets as captain (158)
Controversies
In 1992, after he had been successful against the English batsmen, accusations of ball tampering began to appear in the English media, though no video evidence of foul play was ever found. Akram and Younis had been able to obtain prodigious amounts of movement from both new and old cricket balls. The skill of the reverse swing delivery was relatively unknown in England and around the cricketing world during that period.
A far larger controversy was created when critics alleged that he was involved in match fixing. An inquiry commission was set up by the Pakistan Cricket Board headed by a Pakistan high court judge, Malik Mohammad Qayyum. The judge wrote in his report that:
References
External links
Pakistan One Day International cricketers
Pakistan Test cricketers
Pakistan Test cricket captains
Pakistani cricket captains
Hampshire cricketers
Lancashire cricketers
Lancashire cricket captains
Pakistan Automobiles Corporation cricketers
Pakistan International Airlines cricketers
Wisden Cricketers of the Year
Wisden Leading Cricketers in the World
Test cricket hat-trick takers
One Day International hat-trick takers
Pakistani cricket commentators
Cricketers at the 1987 Cricket World Cup
Cricketers at the 1992 Cricket World Cup
Cricketers at the 1996 Cricket World Cup
Cricketers at the 1999 Cricket World Cup
Cricketers at the 2003 Cricket World Cup
1966 births
Living people
Pakistani sports broadcasters
Punjabi people
Cricketers from Lahore
Recipients of the Pride of Performance
Pakistani cricketers
Lahore City cricketers
Lahore City Whites cricketers
People from Karachi
Indian Premier League coaches
Government Islamia College alumni
Pakistan Super League coaches
Pakistani cricket coaches
Pakistani television hosts
M Parkinson's World XI cricketers
Recipients of Hilal-i-Imtiaz
People with type 1 diabetes | true | [
"The 9th annual Genie Awards were held March 22, 1988, and honoured Canadian films released in 1987. The ceremony was held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre and was co-hosted by Megan Follows and Gordon Pinsent.\n\nThe awards were dominated by Night Zoo (Un zoo la nuit), which won a still unmatched thirteen awards. The film garnered 14 nominations overall; the film's only nomination that failed to translate into a win was Gilles Maheu's nod for Best Actor, as he lost to the film's other Best Actor nominee, Roger Lebel. The female acting awards were won by Sheila McCarthy and Paule Baillargeon for the film I've Heard the Mermaids Singing, the only other narrative feature film to win any Genie awards that year; only the Documentary and Short Film awards, in which neither Night Zoo nor I've Heard the Mermaids Singing were even eligible for consideration, were won by any other film.\n\nWinners and nominees\n\nReferences\n\n09\nGenie\nGenie\nGenie",
"Le Cousin is a 1997 French film directed by Alain Corneau.\n\nPlot \nThe film deals with the relationship of the police and an informant in the drug scene.\n\nAwards and nominations\nLe Cousin was nominated for 5 César Awards but did not win in any category.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n1997 films\n1997 crime films\nFilms about drugs\nFilms directed by Alain Corneau\nFrench crime films\nFrench films\nFrench-language films"
] | [
"Wasim Akram (born 3 June 1966) is a Pakistani cricket commentator, coach, and former cricketer and captain of the Pakistan national cricket team. Akram is widely regarded as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time and several critics regard him as the greatest left arm fast bowler of cricket history. In October 2013, Wasim Akram was the only Pakistani cricketer to be named in an all-time Test World XI to mark the 150th anniversary of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack.",
"In October 2013, Wasim Akram was the only Pakistani cricketer to be named in an all-time Test World XI to mark the 150th anniversary of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack. A left arm fast bowler who could bowl with significant pace, he holds the world record for most wickets in List A cricket, with 881, and he is second only to Sri Lankan off-spin bowler Muttiah Muralitharan in terms of ODI wickets, with 502 in total.",
"A left arm fast bowler who could bowl with significant pace, he holds the world record for most wickets in List A cricket, with 881, and he is second only to Sri Lankan off-spin bowler Muttiah Muralitharan in terms of ODI wickets, with 502 in total. He is considered to be one of the founders, and perhaps the finest exponent of, reverse swing bowling. He was the first bowler to reach the 500-wicket mark in ODI cricket during the 2003 World Cup.",
"He was the first bowler to reach the 500-wicket mark in ODI cricket during the 2003 World Cup. In 2002, Wisden released its only list of best players of all time. Wasim was ranked as the best bowler in ODI of all time, with a rating of 1223.5, ahead of Allan Donald, Imran Khan, Waqar Younis, Joel Garner, Glenn McGrath and Muralitharan. Wasim took 23 four-wicket hauls in 356 ODI matches played.",
"Wasim took 23 four-wicket hauls in 356 ODI matches played. On 30 September 2009, Akram was one of five new members inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. He was the bowling coach of Kolkata Knight Riders. However, he took a break from the position for IPL 6, citing a need to spend more time with family in Karachi, and he took a further break from IPL 2017; and was replaced by Lakshmipathy Balaji.",
"However, he took a break from the position for IPL 6, citing a need to spend more time with family in Karachi, and he took a further break from IPL 2017; and was replaced by Lakshmipathy Balaji. He was working as director and bowling coach of Islamabad United in Pakistan Super League, until he left to join Multan Sultans in August 2017. In October 2018, he was named in the Pakistan Cricket Board's seven-member advisory cricket committee.",
"In October 2018, he was named in the Pakistan Cricket Board's seven-member advisory cricket committee. In November 2018, he joined PSL franchise, Karachi Kings, as a President. The Government of Pakistan awarded him the Hilal-e-Imtiaz on 23 March 2019 for his life time achievements In field of Cricket. Early and personal life Wasim Akram was born on 3 June 1966 to a Punjabi family in Lahore.",
"Early and personal life Wasim Akram was born on 3 June 1966 to a Punjabi family in Lahore. Akram's father, Chaudhary Muhammed Akram, was originally from a village near Amritsar, who moved to Kamonki, in the Pakistani Punjab after the partition of India in 1947. He was educated at Government Islamia College, Civil Lines, Lahore. At the age of 30, Akram was diagnosed with diabetes.",
"At the age of 30, Akram was diagnosed with diabetes. \"I remember what a shock it was because I was a healthy sportsman with no history of diabetes in my family, so I didn't expect it at all. It seemed strange that it happened to me when I was 30, but it was a very stressful time and doctors said that can trigger it.\" Since then he has sought to be involved in various awareness campaigns for diabetes. Akram married Huma Mufti in 1995.",
"Akram married Huma Mufti in 1995. Akram married Huma Mufti in 1995. They had two sons from their marriage of 14 years: Tahmoor (born 1996) and Akbar (born 2000). Huma died of multiple organ failure at Apollo Hospital in Chennai, India, on 25 October 2009. On 7 July 2013, it was reported that Akram had become engaged to an Australian woman, Shaniera Thompson, whom he had met while on a visit to Melbourne in 2011.",
"On 7 July 2013, it was reported that Akram had become engaged to an Australian woman, Shaniera Thompson, whom he had met while on a visit to Melbourne in 2011. Akram married Shaniera on 12 August 2013, saying he has started a new life on a happy note. He was quoted as saying: \"I married Shaniera in Lahore in a simple ceremony, and this is the start of a new life for me, my wife, and for my kids.\"",
"He was quoted as saying: \"I married Shaniera in Lahore in a simple ceremony, and this is the start of a new life for me, my wife, and for my kids.\" He moved from Lahore to Karachi with his wife and children. On 3 September 2014, the couple tweeted that they were expecting their first baby—the third child of the Akram family. On 27 December 2014, Shaniera gave birth to a baby girl, Aiyla Sabeen Rose Akram, in Melbourne.",
"On 27 December 2014, Shaniera gave birth to a baby girl, Aiyla Sabeen Rose Akram, in Melbourne. Domestic career In 1988, Akram signed for Lancashire County Cricket Club in England. From 1988 to 1998, he opened their bowling attack in their NatWest Trophy, Benson and Hedges Cup, and Sunday League tournaments. He was a favourite of the local British fans, who used to sing a song called \"Wasim for England\" at Lancashire's matches.",
"He was a favourite of the local British fans, who used to sing a song called \"Wasim for England\" at Lancashire's matches. In 1998, with Akram as captain, Lancashire won the NatWest Trophy and Sunday League and finished second in the County Championship, having lost only five matches in all competitions during the season. International career Test cricket Akram made his Test cricket debut for Pakistan against New Zealand in 1985, and in his second Test match, he claimed 10 wickets.",
"International career Test cricket Akram made his Test cricket debut for Pakistan against New Zealand in 1985, and in his second Test match, he claimed 10 wickets. A few weeks prior to his selection into the Pakistan team, he was an unknown club cricketer who had failed to make it even to his college team. He came to the trials at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore in Pakistan, but for the first two days he did not get a chance to bowl.",
"He came to the trials at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore in Pakistan, but for the first two days he did not get a chance to bowl. On the third day, he got a chance; his performance convincing Javed Miandad to insist upon his inclusion in the national team. Akram was hence given an opportunity to play for Pakistan, without any significant domestic experience. Akram's rise in international cricket was rapid during the late 1980s. He was a part of the Pakistan team that toured the West Indies in 1988.",
"He was a part of the Pakistan team that toured the West Indies in 1988. However, a groin injury impeded his career in the late 1980s. Following two surgeries, he re-emerged in the 1990s as a fast bowler who focused more on swing and accurate bowling. Wasim Akram is currently the highest wicket taker for Pakistan in test cricket with 414 wickets. One Day International Akram started his ODI career against New Zealand in Pakistan in 1984 under the captaincy of Zaheer Abbas.",
"One Day International Akram started his ODI career against New Zealand in Pakistan in 1984 under the captaincy of Zaheer Abbas. He rose to prominence by taking five wickets in his 3rd ODI against Australia in the 1985 Benson & Hedges World Championship. His wickets included those of Kepler Wessels, Dean Jones, and captain Allan Border.",
"His wickets included those of Kepler Wessels, Dean Jones, and captain Allan Border. Wasim Akram is currently the highest wicket taker for Pakistan in One Day International cricket Early days In the 1984–85 Rothmans Four-Nations Cup and the 1985–86 Rothmans Sharjah Cup, Akram took five wickets with a run rate of less than 3.50. The 1985–1986 Austral-Asia Cup involved Australia, India, New Zealand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and was played in Sharjah, UAE.",
"The 1985–1986 Austral-Asia Cup involved Australia, India, New Zealand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and was played in Sharjah, UAE. Akram, with the help of Abdul Qadir, bowled out New Zealand's batting line-up for 64 in the second semi-final of the cup. Pakistan won that game with more than 27 overs to spare, obtaining one of the biggest wins in Pakistani history. In the final against India, he and Imran Khan shared five wickets. Akram's wickets included Dilip Vengsarkar and Ravi Shastri.",
"Akram's wickets included Dilip Vengsarkar and Ravi Shastri. Akram's wickets included Dilip Vengsarkar and Ravi Shastri. In the 1987 Cricket World Cup held for the 1st time in South Asia, Akram struggled on Pakistani pitches; he managed only 7 wickets throughout, with an average of over 40 runs per wicket across all 7 matches. Akram played West Indies, Sri Lanka and England twice. All group matches were played in Pakistan. In the 1988–89 Benson and Hedges World Series, Akram managed figures of 4 for 25 against Australia.",
"In the 1988–89 Benson and Hedges World Series, Akram managed figures of 4 for 25 against Australia. Emergence Akram took his hundredth wicket at Sharjah during the 1989–1990 Champions Trophy, the 2nd Match against West Indies. His 100th wicket was that of Curtly Ambrose. In that match, he took a five-wicket haul for the second time in his career. In the same match, Akram took his first hat-trick against West Indies. All three batsman were bowled out.",
"All three batsman were bowled out. All three batsman were bowled out. On 4 May 1990 in Sharjah, Akram took his second ODI hat-trick against Australia. All three batsmen were bowled this time as well. His best years in the late 1980s were from 1986 to 1989, during which time he took 100 wickets at 22.71 runs per wicket, and his economy rate was less than 3.9 runs per over, with a total of four 4-wicket hauls.",
"His best years in the late 1980s were from 1986 to 1989, during which time he took 100 wickets at 22.71 runs per wicket, and his economy rate was less than 3.9 runs per over, with a total of four 4-wicket hauls. His first two hauls against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh came in Sri Lanka in 1986. Up until December 1991, Akram took 143 wickets in 107 matches, with an average of almost 24 and an economy rate of 3.84.",
"Up until December 1991, Akram took 143 wickets in 107 matches, with an average of almost 24 and an economy rate of 3.84. World's best Akram was a significant figure in the 1992 Cricket World Cup held in Australia and New Zealand when Pakistan won the tournament. In the final, against England, his innings of 33 runs off 19 balls pushed Pakistan to a score of 249 runs for 6 wickets.",
"In the final, against England, his innings of 33 runs off 19 balls pushed Pakistan to a score of 249 runs for 6 wickets. Akram then took the wicket of Ian Botham early on during the English batting innings; and, when brought back into the bowling attack later on, with the ball reverse swinging, he produced a spell of bowling which led to Allan Lamb and Chris Lewis being bowled in successive deliveries in one over. His performances earned him the Man of the Match award for the final.",
"His performances earned him the Man of the Match award for the final. In 1993, Akram took two consecutive 4-wicket hauls against Sri Lanka in Sharjah, in which 7 out of 8 wickets were either LBW or bowled. In the 1992–1993 Total International Series in South Africa (involving Pakistan, West Indies and South Africa), he took 5 wickets against South Africa and got his 200th wicket in his 143rd match. Akram took 46 wickets in calendar year 1993, his best year ever in ODIs.",
"Akram took 46 wickets in calendar year 1993, his best year ever in ODIs. His average was less than 19, with an economy rate of less than 3.8 runs per over. He took six 4-wicket hauls in 1993, the most by him in any year. In the 1996 Cricket World Cup, Akram missed the quarterfinal match against India which Pakistan lost and went out of the World Cup.",
"In the 1996 Cricket World Cup, Akram missed the quarterfinal match against India which Pakistan lost and went out of the World Cup. Wasim's great career was often tainted by controversy, not least in the Caribbean in April 1993, his maiden tour as Pakistan's captain. During the team's stop-over in Grenada, he was arrested along with three teammates—Waqar Younis, Aaqib Javed and Mushtaq Ahmed—and two female British tourists; he was charged with possession of marijuana. Between 1994 and 1996, he took 84 wickets in 39 matches.",
"Between 1994 and 1996, he took 84 wickets in 39 matches. From January 1992 to December 1997, Akram played 131 matches and took 198 wickets at an average of 21.86, with 14 4-wicket hauls in ODIs. Late career In 1999, he led Pakistan to the finals of the World Cup where they capitulated and were defeated by Australia in the final by eight wickets with almost 30 overs to spare. This was the start of the match-fixing controversies, as critics believed Akram had set up the match for Australia.",
"This was the start of the match-fixing controversies, as critics believed Akram had set up the match for Australia. However, none of the allegations could be proved. He was Pakistan's best bowler in the 2003 Cricket World Cup, taking 12 wickets in 6 matches. However, Pakistan failed to reach the super six of the tournament, and Akram was one of the eight players to be sacked by the Pakistan Cricket Board as a result. Records Akram won 17 Man-of-the-Match awards in 104 Tests.",
"Records Akram won 17 Man-of-the-Match awards in 104 Tests. Records Akram won 17 Man-of-the-Match awards in 104 Tests. He took four hat-tricks in international cricket—two in ODIs and two in Tests. As a result, he shares the record for most international hat-tricks with Lasith Malinga. He finished with 22 Man-of-the-Match awards in ODIs. In 199 ODI match wins, he took 326 wickets at under 19 apiece with a run rate of 3.70 and took 18 four-wicket hauls.",
"In 199 ODI match wins, he took 326 wickets at under 19 apiece with a run rate of 3.70 and took 18 four-wicket hauls. His 257 not-out against Zimbabwe in 1996 is the highest innings by a number-8 batsman in Tests. He hit 12 sixes in that game, and it stands to this day as the record for the most sixes by any player in a single Test innings.",
"He hit 12 sixes in that game, and it stands to this day as the record for the most sixes by any player in a single Test innings. Prior to his retirement, he was one of eight senior players dropped for the 2003 Sharjah Cup, and was then omitted from the Pakistan squad for the subsequent Bank Alfalah Cup triangular series. Due to his omission from the team, he did not participate in a farewell match. Akram fulfilled his contract play for Hampshire until the end of the English season.",
"Akram fulfilled his contract play for Hampshire until the end of the English season. Post retirement Media career Since retiring from cricket, Akram has worked and taken up commentary for television networks and can currently be seen as a sports commentator for ESPN Star Sports and ARY Digital among others.",
"Post retirement Media career Since retiring from cricket, Akram has worked and taken up commentary for television networks and can currently be seen as a sports commentator for ESPN Star Sports and ARY Digital among others. He did commentary on a variety of sporting tournaments including the 2009 Women's Cricket World Cup in Australia, the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 in England, the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa, and the 2011 ICC World Cup in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.",
"He did commentary on a variety of sporting tournaments including the 2009 Women's Cricket World Cup in Australia, the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 in England, the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa, and the 2011 ICC World Cup in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Coaching career In 2010, Akram was appointed the bowling coach consultant of Kolkata Knight Riders, the Indian Premier League team for Kolkata. Sourav Ganguly was always keen to have Akram as the bowling coach for India, during the former's stint as Indian captain.",
"Sourav Ganguly was always keen to have Akram as the bowling coach for India, during the former's stint as Indian captain. Although this never happened, his dreams were realised to some extent, when Akram was appointed as the bowling coach cum mentor for the franchise. Akram has thus been playing a vital role in the grooming of Indian pacers like Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav, who owe their success in international cricket a lot to the bowling legend.",
"Akram has thus been playing a vital role in the grooming of Indian pacers like Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav, who owe their success in international cricket a lot to the bowling legend. While working for the Kolkata Knight Riders, he was also responsible for the signing of Pakistani domestic left-arm fast-bowler Mohammad Irfan. Akram has also been coaching in Pakistan fast bowling camps, his most notable discovery being the teenage Pakistani bowlers Mohammad Amir and Junaid Khan.",
"Akram has also been coaching in Pakistan fast bowling camps, his most notable discovery being the teenage Pakistani bowlers Mohammad Amir and Junaid Khan. Akram has also worked as director and bowling coach of PSL franchise Islamabad United during 2016 and 2017 season. He has also worked with Multan Sultans as director and bowling coach. He is currently chairman and bowling coach of Karachi Kings. He is also currently the Vice President of Kashmir Premier League. Playing style and legacy During his professional career he bowled with genuine speed and hostility.",
"Playing style and legacy During his professional career he bowled with genuine speed and hostility. Akram was a man possessed of accurate control of line and length, accompanied by seam and swing bowling skills, extended to both inswingers and outswingers. With a very quick bowling action, he could bowl equally well from both sides of the wicket.",
"With a very quick bowling action, he could bowl equally well from both sides of the wicket. His mastery of reverse swing with the cricket ball meant he was at his most dangerous towards the end of a bowling innings, and earned him the nickname of one of the \"Sultans of Swing\", the other one being Waqar Younis. As well as often being able to find the edge of the bat, Akram would also focus his bowling attack on the stumps and had a particularly lethal inswinging yorker.",
"As well as often being able to find the edge of the bat, Akram would also focus his bowling attack on the stumps and had a particularly lethal inswinging yorker. Of his 414 Test wickets, 193 were taken caught, 119 were taken leg before wicket and 102 were bowled. In partnership with Waqar Younis, he intimidated international batsmen in the 1990s. Together Wasim and Waqar, known as \"the two Ws\" of the Pakistani team, were one of the most successful bowling partnerships in cricket.",
"Together Wasim and Waqar, known as \"the two Ws\" of the Pakistani team, were one of the most successful bowling partnerships in cricket. With the bat he was especially effective against spin bowlers. However, he liked to slog and was criticised for his lack of high scores and giving away his wicket too cheaply. In October 1996 he scored 257 runs not out, of the team's total of 553 against lowly Zimbabwe on a typical flat South Asian pitch at Sheikhupura.",
"In October 1996 he scored 257 runs not out, of the team's total of 553 against lowly Zimbabwe on a typical flat South Asian pitch at Sheikhupura. He also achieved good scores for the Pakistan team such as his scores of 123 and 45* against Australia to take Pakistan to victory in a low scoring match.",
"He also achieved good scores for the Pakistan team such as his scores of 123 and 45* against Australia to take Pakistan to victory in a low scoring match. His batting was also valuable sometimes to the Pakistan ODI side, such as in the Nehru Cup in 1989, when needing six runs and two balls to win the match, he hit the first delivery he faced, from part-time off-spinner and batting legend, Viv Richards, for a six and secured the cup.",
"His batting was also valuable sometimes to the Pakistan ODI side, such as in the Nehru Cup in 1989, when needing six runs and two balls to win the match, he hit the first delivery he faced, from part-time off-spinner and batting legend, Viv Richards, for a six and secured the cup. West Indian batting great Viv Richards rates Akram as best fast bowler he ever faced after Dennis Lillee.",
"West Indian batting great Viv Richards rates Akram as best fast bowler he ever faced after Dennis Lillee. In December 2012 after Ricky Ponting announced his retirement he said that Wasim Akram and Curtly Ambrose were the toughest bowlers he had faced \"Akram for the exact opposite, you could get a few runs off him, but you just knew there was an unplayable ball around the corner, be it with an old ball or with a new ball,\" – Ricky Ponting.",
"In December 2012 after Ricky Ponting announced his retirement he said that Wasim Akram and Curtly Ambrose were the toughest bowlers he had faced \"Akram for the exact opposite, you could get a few runs off him, but you just knew there was an unplayable ball around the corner, be it with an old ball or with a new ball,\" – Ricky Ponting. To mark 150 years of the Cricketers' Almanack, Wisden named him in an all-time Test World XI.",
"To mark 150 years of the Cricketers' Almanack, Wisden named him in an all-time Test World XI. Beyond cricket Book He co-wrote his autobiography Wasim (1998) with the British sports journalist Patrick Murphy. Modelling Akram was a model at the Pantene Bridal Couture Week 2011, which was an event of Style 360. Business In 2018, Akram joined Cricingif as a stakeholder director. Television Films Award and records Akram was awarded Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1993 for his sporting achievements.",
"Television Films Award and records Akram was awarded Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1993 for his sporting achievements. He was awarded Lux Style Award for Most Stylish Sports Person in 2003. In his Test career, Akram took 414 wickets in 104 matches, a Pakistani record, at an average of 23.62 and scored 2,898 runs, at an average of 22.64. In One Day Internationals, Akram took 502 wickets in 356 appearances, at an average of 23.52 and scored 3,717 runs, at an average of 16.52.",
"In One Day Internationals, Akram took 502 wickets in 356 appearances, at an average of 23.52 and scored 3,717 runs, at an average of 16.52. Akram was the first bowler in international cricket to take more than 400 wickets in both forms of the game and only Muttiah Muralitharan has since achieved this. Akram also held the record for the most wickets in Cricket World Cups, a total of 55 in 38 matches.",
"Akram also held the record for the most wickets in Cricket World Cups, a total of 55 in 38 matches. Australia's Glenn McGrath broke the record during the 2007 Cricket World Cup, ending with a final tally of 71 from 39 matches. On passing Wasim's record, McGrath said, \"Wasim Akram, to me, is one of the greatest bowlers of all time. Left-armer, swung it both ways with the new ball and he was so dangerous with the old ball.",
"Left-armer, swung it both ways with the new ball and he was so dangerous with the old ball. To go past him is something I will always remember. Probably the other side of the coin is that if you play long enough, you're going to break records here and there.\" He is currently the fourth highest wicket taker in world cups. Akram is the only bowler to have achieved four hat-tricks in international cricket, with two each in Tests and One Day Internationals.",
"Akram is the only bowler to have achieved four hat-tricks in international cricket, with two each in Tests and One Day Internationals. He was the third of only four bowlers to have taken two Test cricket hat-tricks, the others being Hugh Trumble, Jimmy Matthews and Stuart Broad. Akram was also the first of only five bowlers to have taken two One Day International cricket hat-tricks.",
"Akram was also the first of only five bowlers to have taken two One Day International cricket hat-tricks. Akram's Test hat-tricks are significant, since they were taken in consecutive Test matches in the same series, a game played against Sri Lanka in the 1998-99 Asian Test Championship. Akram is also one of only two bowlers to have taken both a Test match and One Day International hat-trick, the other being Pakistan fast bowler, Mohammad Sami.",
"Akram is also one of only two bowlers to have taken both a Test match and One Day International hat-trick, the other being Pakistan fast bowler, Mohammad Sami. Playing in a Test series against the West Indies at Lahore in 1990–1991, he became one of only six players to have taken four wickets in an over during a Test match. In Akram's case, these achievement was not part of a hat-trick, the third ball he delivered to the batting opposition was a dropped catch, which allowed a single run.",
"In Akram's case, these achievement was not part of a hat-trick, the third ball he delivered to the batting opposition was a dropped catch, which allowed a single run. Akram has also achieved the highest score by a number eight batsman in Test cricket when he scored 257 runs not out from 363 balls against Zimbabwe at Sheikhupura. The innings contained 12 sixes which is also a world record for Test cricket. He also has the joint-third highest number of Man of the Match awards in Test cricket, with seventeen.",
"He also has the joint-third highest number of Man of the Match awards in Test cricket, with seventeen. He has scored the second-highest number of runs in One Day International matches by a player who has never scored a One Day International hundred, after Misbah-ul-Haq. His highest score was 86 runs. He is the only Test cricketer in the world (as of Feb 2013) to take ten or more wickets thrice in a test match and still end up on the losing side.",
"He is the only Test cricketer in the world (as of Feb 2013) to take ten or more wickets thrice in a test match and still end up on the losing side. He holds the record for facing the most balls in a test match as well as in an innings as number 8 batsman (363 balls) First bowler to take 500 ODI wickets and still holds the record for taking the most ODI wickets as seamer (502) He holds the record for taking the most wickets in ODI history at a single ground (122, Sharjah Cricket Stadium), also the first person to grab 100+ ODI wickets at the same ground.",
"He holds the record for facing the most balls in a test match as well as in an innings as number 8 batsman (363 balls) First bowler to take 500 ODI wickets and still holds the record for taking the most ODI wickets as seamer (502) He holds the record for taking the most wickets in ODI history at a single ground (122, Sharjah Cricket Stadium), also the first person to grab 100+ ODI wickets at the same ground. Waqar Younis, the second person to grab 100+ ODI wickets at a single ground, also did in Sharjah.",
"Waqar Younis, the second person to grab 100+ ODI wickets at a single ground, also did in Sharjah. He ranks second overall with 114 wickets. Holds the record for taking the most ODI wickets as captain (158) Controversies In 1992, after he had been successful against the English batsmen, accusations of ball tampering began to appear in the English media, though no video evidence of foul play was ever found. Akram and Younis had been able to obtain prodigious amounts of movement from both new and old cricket balls.",
"Akram and Younis had been able to obtain prodigious amounts of movement from both new and old cricket balls. The skill of the reverse swing delivery was relatively unknown in England and around the cricketing world during that period. A far larger controversy was created when critics alleged that he was involved in match fixing. An inquiry commission was set up by the Pakistan Cricket Board headed by a Pakistan high court judge, Malik Mohammad Qayyum.",
"An inquiry commission was set up by the Pakistan Cricket Board headed by a Pakistan high court judge, Malik Mohammad Qayyum. The judge wrote in his report that: References External links Pakistan One Day International cricketers Pakistan Test cricketers Pakistan Test cricket captains Pakistani cricket captains Hampshire cricketers Lancashire cricketers Lancashire cricket captains Pakistan Automobiles Corporation cricketers Pakistan International Airlines cricketers Wisden Cricketers of the Year Wisden Leading Cricketers in the World Test cricket hat-trick takers One Day International hat-trick takers Pakistani cricket commentators Cricketers at the 1987 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 1992 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 1996 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 1999 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 2003 Cricket World Cup 1966 births Living people Pakistani sports broadcasters Punjabi people Cricketers from Lahore Recipients of the Pride of Performance Pakistani cricketers Lahore City cricketers Lahore City Whites cricketers People from Karachi Indian Premier League coaches Government Islamia College alumni Pakistan Super League coaches Pakistani cricket coaches Pakistani television hosts M Parkinson's World XI cricketers Recipients of Hilal-i-Imtiaz People with type 1 diabetes"
] |
[
"Muhammad Ali",
"Early career"
] | C_ea7154fd6dfd4adca851d86899f374c6_0 | What started his career? | 1 | What started Muhammad Ali's career? | Muhammad Ali | Clay made his professional debut on October 29, 1960, winning a six-round decision over Tunney Hunsaker. From then until the end of 1963, Clay amassed a record of 19-0 with 15 wins by knockout. He defeated boxers that included Tony Esperti, Jim Robinson, Donnie Fleeman, Alonzo Johnson, George Logan, Willi Besmanoff, LaMar Clark, Doug Jones and Henry Cooper. Clay also beat his former trainer and veteran boxer Archie Moore in a 1962 match. These early fights were not without trials. Clay was knocked down both by Sonny Banks and Cooper. In the Cooper fight, Clay was floored by a left hook at the end of round four and was saved by the bell, going on to win in the predicted 5th round due to Cooper's severely cut eye. The fight with Doug Jones on March 13, 1963 was Clay's toughest fight during this stretch. The number-two and -three heavyweight contenders respectively, Clay and Jones fought on Jones' home turf at New York's Madison Square Garden. Jones staggered Clay in the first round, and the unanimous decision for Clay was greeted by boos and a rain of debris thrown into the ring (watching on closed-circuit TV, heavyweight champ Sonny Liston quipped that if he fought Clay he might get locked up for murder). The fight was later named "Fight of the Year" by The Ring magazine. In each of these fights, Clay vocally belittled his opponents and vaunted his abilities. He called Jones "an ugly little man" and Cooper a "bum". He was embarrassed to get in the ring with Alex Miteff. Madison Square Garden was "too small for me". Clay's behavior provoked the ire of many boxing fans. His provocative and outlandish behavior in the ring was inspired by professional wrestler "Gorgeous George" Wagner. Ali stated in a 1969 interview with the Associated Press' Hubert Mizel that he met with Gorgeous George in Las Vegas in 1961 and that the wrestler inspired him to use wrestling jargon when he did interviews. After Clay left Moore's camp in 1960, partially due to Clay's refusing to do chores such as dish-washing and sweeping, he hired Angelo Dundee, whom he had met in February 1957 during Ali's amateur career, to be his trainer. Around this time, Clay sought longtime idol Sugar Ray Robinson to be his manager, but was rebuffed. CANNOTANSWER | winning a six-round decision over Tunney Hunsaker. | Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer, activist, entertainer, poet and philanthropist. Nicknamed The Greatest, he is widely regarded as one of the most significant and celebrated sports figures of the 20th century, and is frequently ranked as the greatest heavyweight boxer of all time. In 1999, he was named Sportsman of the Century by Sports Illustrated and the Sports Personality of the Century by the BBC.
Born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, he began training as an amateur boxer at age 12. At 18, he won a gold medal in the light heavyweight division at the 1960 Summer Olympics and turned professional later that year. He became a Muslim after 1961. He won the world heavyweight championship from Sonny Liston in a major upset on February 25, 1964, at age 22. Also that year, he renounced his birth name as a "slave name" and formally became known as Muhammad Ali. In 1966, Ali refused to be drafted into the military owing to his religious beliefs and ethical opposition to the Vietnam War and was found guilty of draft evasion and stripped of his boxing titles. He stayed out of prison while appealing the decision to the Supreme Court, where his conviction was overturned in 1971. However, he had not fought for nearly four years by this point and had lost a period of peak performance as an athlete. Ali's actions as a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War made him an icon for the larger 1960s counterculture generation, and he was a very high-profile figure of racial pride for African Americans during the civil rights movement and throughout his career. As a Muslim, Ali was initially affiliated with Elijah Muhammad's Nation of Islam (NOI). He later disavowed the NOI, adhering to Sunni Islam, and supported racial integration like his former mentor Malcolm X.
He fought in several historic boxing matches, such as his highly publicized fights with Sonny Liston, Joe Frazier (including the Fight of the Century, the biggest boxing event up until then), the Thrilla in Manila, and his fight with George Foreman in The Rumble in the Jungle. Ali thrived in the spotlight at a time when many boxers let their managers do the talking, and he became renowned for his provocative and outlandish persona. He was known for trash-talking, and often free-styled with rhyme schemes and spoken word poetry incorporating elements of hip hop, and often predicted in which round he would knockout his opponent.
Outside boxing, Ali attained success as a spoken word artist, releasing two studio albums: I Am the Greatest! (1963) and The Adventures of Ali and His Gang vs. Mr. Tooth Decay (1976). Both albums received Grammy Award nominations. He also featured as an actor and writer, releasing two autobiographies. Ali retired from boxing in 1981 and focused on religion, philanthropy and activism. In 1984, he made public his diagnosis of Parkinson's syndrome, which some reports attributed to boxing-related injuries, though he and his specialist physicians disputed this. He remained an active public figure globally, but in his later years made fewer public appearances as his condition worsened, and he was cared for by his family. Ali died on June 3, 2016.
Early life and amateur career
Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. ( ) was born on January 17, 1942, in Louisville, Kentucky. He had one brother. He was named after his father, Cassius Marcellus Clay Sr., who had a sister and four brothers and who himself was named in honor of the 19th-century Republican politician and staunch abolitionist Cassius Marcellus Clay, also from the state of Kentucky. Clay's father's paternal grandparents were John Clay and Sallie Anne Clay; Clay's sister Eva claimed that Sallie was a native of Madagascar. He was a descendant of slaves of the antebellum South, and was predominantly of African descent, with some Irish and English family heritage. Ali's maternal great-grandfather, Abe Grady, emigrated from Ennis, Co. Clare, Ireland. DNA testing performed in 2018 showed that, through his paternal grandmother, Ali was a descendant of the former slave Archer Alexander, who had been chosen from the building crew as the model of a freed man for the Emancipation Memorial, and was the subject of abolitionist William Greenleaf Eliot's book, The Story of Archer Alexander: From Slavery to Freedom. Like Ali, Alexander fought for his freedom.
His father was a sign and billboard painter, and his mother, Odessa O'Grady Clay (1917–1994), was a domestic helper. Although Cassius Sr. was a Methodist, he allowed Odessa to bring up both Cassius Jr. and his younger brother, Rudolph "Rudy" Clay (later renamed Rahman Ali), as Baptists. Cassius Jr. attended Central High School in Louisville. He was dyslexic, which led to difficulties in reading and writing, at school and for much of his life. Ali grew up amid racial segregation. His mother recalled one occasion when he was denied a drink of water at a store: "They wouldn't give him one because of his color. That really affected him." He was also strongly affected by the 1955 murder of Emmett Till, which led to young Clay and a friend taking out their frustration by vandalizing a local rail yard. His daughter Hana later wrote that Ali once told her, "Nothing would ever shake me up (more) than the story of Emmett Till."
Ali was first directed toward boxing by Louisville police officer and boxing coach Joe E. Martin, who encountered the 12-year-old fuming over a thief's having taken his bicycle. He told the officer he was going to "whup" the thief. The officer told Clay he had better learn how to box first. Initially, Clay did not take up Martin's offer, but after seeing amateur boxers on a local television boxing program called Tomorrow's Champions, Clay was interested in the prospect of fighting. He then began to work with trainer Fred Stoner, whom he credits with giving him the "real training", eventually molding "my style, my stamina and my system." For the last four years of Clay's amateur career he was trained by boxing cutman Chuck Bodak.
Clay made his amateur boxing debut in 1954 against local amateur boxer Ronnie O'Keefe. He won by split decision. He went on to win six Kentucky Golden Gloves titles, two national Golden Gloves titles, an Amateur Athletic Union national title, and the light heavyweight gold medal in the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. Clay's amateur record was 100 wins with five losses. Ali said in his 1975 autobiography that shortly after his return from the Rome Olympics, he threw his gold medal into the Ohio River after he and a friend were refused service at a "whites-only" restaurant and fought with a white gang. The story was later disputed, and several of Ali's friends, including Bundini Brown and photographer Howard Bingham, denied it. Brown told Sports Illustrated writer Mark Kram, "Honkies sure bought into that one!" Thomas Hauser's biography of Ali stated that Ali was refused service at the diner but that he lost his medal a year after he won it. Ali received a replacement medal at a basketball intermission during the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, where he lit the torch to start the games.
Early professional boxing career
Early career
Clay made his professional debut on October 29, 1960, winning a six-round decision over Tunney Hunsaker. From then until the end of 1963, Clay amassed a record of 19–0 with 15 wins by knockout. He defeated boxers including Tony Esperti, Jim Robinson, Donnie Fleeman, Alonzo Johnson, George Logan, Willi Besmanoff, LaMar Clark, Doug Jones and Henry Cooper. Clay also beat his former trainer and veteran boxer Archie Moore in a 1962 match.
These early fights were not without trials. Clay was knocked down by both Sonny Banks and Cooper. In the Cooper fight, Clay was floored by a left hook at the end of round four and was saved by the bell, going on to win in the predicted 5th round due to Cooper's severely cut eye. The fight with Doug Jones on March 13, 1963 was Clay's toughest fight during this stretch. The number two and three heavyweight contenders respectively, Clay and Jones fought on Jones' home turf at New York's Madison Square Garden. Jones staggered Clay in the first round, and the unanimous decision for Clay was greeted by boos and a rain of debris thrown into the ring. Watching on closed-circuit TV, heavyweight champ Sonny Liston quipped that if he fought Clay he might get locked up for murder. The fight was later named "Fight of the Year" by The Ring magazine.
In each of these fights, Clay vocally belittled his opponents and vaunted his abilities. He called Jones "an ugly little man" and Cooper a "bum". He said he was embarrassed to get in the ring with Alex Miteff and claimed that Madison Square Garden was "too small for me." Ali's trash-talk was inspired by professional wrestler "Gorgeous George" Wagner's, after he saw George's talking ability attract huge crowds to events. Ali stated in a 1969 interview with the Associated Press' Hubert Mizel that he met with George in Las Vegas in 1961, that George told him that talking a big game would earn paying fans who either wanted to see him win or wanted to see him lose, thus Ali transformed himself into a self-described "big-mouth and a bragger".
In 1960, Clay left Moore's camp, partially due to Clay's refusal to do chores such as washing dishes and sweeping. To replace Moore, Clay hired Angelo Dundee to be his trainer. Clay had met Dundee in February 1957 during Clay's amateur career. Around this time, Clay sought longtime idol Sugar Ray Robinson to be his manager, but was rebuffed.
World heavyweight champion
Fights against Liston
By late 1963, Clay had become the top contender for Sonny Liston's title. The fight was set for February 25, 1964, in Miami Beach. Liston was an intimidating personality, a dominating fighter with a criminal past and ties to the mob. Based on Clay's uninspired performance against Jones and Cooper in his previous two fights, and Liston's destruction of former heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson in two first-round knockouts, Clay was a 7–1 underdog. Despite this, Clay taunted Liston during the pre-fight buildup, dubbing him "the big ugly bear", stating "Liston even smells like a bear" and claiming "After I beat him I'm going to donate him to the zoo." Clay turned the pre-fight weigh-in into a circus, shouting at Liston that "someone is going to die at ringside tonight." Clay's pulse rate was measured at 120, more than double his normal 54. Many of those in attendance thought Clay's behavior stemmed from fear, and some commentators wondered if he would show up for the bout.
The outcome of the fight was a major upset. At the opening bell, Liston rushed at Clay, seemingly angry and looking for a quick knockout. However, Clay's superior speed and mobility enabled him to elude Liston, making the champion miss and look awkward. At the end of the first round, Clay opened up his attack and hit Liston repeatedly with jabs. Liston fought better in round two, but at the beginning of the third round Clay hit Liston with a combination that buckled his knees and opened a cut under his left eye. This was the first time Liston had ever been cut. At the end of round four, Clay was returning to his corner when he began experiencing blinding pain in his eyes and asked his trainer, Angelo Dundee, to cut off his gloves. Dundee refused. It has been speculated that the problem was due to ointment used to seal Liston's cuts, perhaps deliberately applied by his corner to his gloves. Though unconfirmed, boxing historian Bert Sugar said that two of Liston's opponents also complained about their eyes "burning".
Despite Liston's attempts to knock out a blinded Clay, Clay was able to survive the fifth round until sweat and tears rinsed the irritation from his eyes. In the sixth, Clay dominated, hitting Liston repeatedly. Liston did not answer the bell for the seventh round, and Clay was declared the winner by TKO. Liston stated that the reason he quit was an injured shoulder. Following the win, a triumphant Clay rushed to the edge of the ring and, pointing to the ringside press, shouted: "Eat your words!" He added, "I am the greatest! I shook up the world. I'm the prettiest thing that ever lived."
At ringside post fight, Clay appeared unconvinced that the fight was stopped due to a Liston shoulder injury, saying that the only injury Liston had was "an open eye, a big cut eye!" When told by Joe Louis that the injury was a "left arm thrown out of its socket," Clay quipped, "Yeah, swinging at nothing, who wouldn't?"
In winning this fight at the age of 22, Clay became the youngest boxer to take the title from a reigning heavyweight champion. However, Floyd Patterson remained the youngest to win the heavyweight championship, doing so at the age 21 during an elimination bout following Rocky Marciano's retirement. Mike Tyson broke both records in 1986 when he defeated Trevor Berbick to win the heavyweight title at age 20.
Soon after the Liston fight, Clay changed his name to Cassius X, and then later to Muhammad Ali upon converting to Islam and affiliating with the Nation of Islam. Ali then faced a rematch with Liston scheduled for May 1965 in Lewiston, Maine. It had been scheduled for Boston the previous November, but was postponed for six months due to Ali's emergency surgery for a hernia three days before. The fight was controversial. Midway through the first round, Liston was knocked down by a difficult-to-see blow the press dubbed a "phantom punch". Referee Jersey Joe Walcott did not begin the count immediately after the knockdown, as Ali refused to retreat to a neutral corner. Liston rose after he had been down for about 20 seconds, and the fight momentarily continued. However a few seconds later Walcott, having been informed by the timekeepers that Liston had been down for a count of 10, stopped the match and declared Ali the winner by knockout. The entire fight lasted less than two minutes.
It has since been speculated that Liston purposely dropped to the ground. Proposed motivations include threats on his life from the Nation of Islam, that he had bet against himself and that he "took a dive" to pay off debts. Slow-motion replays show that Liston was jarred by a chopping right from Ali, although it is unclear whether the blow was a genuine knockout punch.
Fight against Patterson
Ali defended his title against former heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson on November 22, 1965. Before the match, Ali mocked Patterson, who was widely known to call him by his former name Cassius Clay, as an "Uncle Tom", calling him "The Rabbit". Although Ali clearly had the better of Patterson, who appeared injured during the fight, the match lasted 12 rounds before being called on a technical knockout. Patterson later said he had strained his sacroiliac. Ali was criticized in the sports media for appearing to have toyed with Patterson during the fight. Patterson biographer W. K. Stratton claims that the conflict between Ali and Patterson was not genuine but was staged to increase ticket sales and the closed-circuit viewing audience, with both men complicit in the theatrics. Stratton also cites an interview by Howard Cosell in which Ali explained that rather than toying with Patterson, he refrained from knocking him out after it became apparent Patterson was injured. Patterson later said that he had never been hit by punches as soft as Ali's. Stratton states that Ali arranged the second fight, in 1972, with the financially struggling Patterson to help the former champion earn enough money to pay a debt to the IRS.
Main Bout
After the Patterson fight, Ali founded his own promotion company, Main Bout. The company mainly handled Ali's boxing promotions and pay-per-view closed-circuit television broadcasts. The company's stockholders were mainly fellow Nation of Islam members, along with several others, including Bob Arum.
Ali and then-WBA heavyweight champion boxer Ernie Terrell had agreed to meet for a bout in Chicago on March 29, 1966 (the WBA, one of two boxing associations, had stripped Ali of his title following his joining the Nation of Islam). But in February Ali was reclassified by the Louisville draft board as 1-A from 1-Y, and he indicated that he would refuse to serve, commenting to the press, "I ain't got nothing against no Viet Cong; no Viet Cong never called me nigger." Amidst the media and public outcry over Ali's stance, the Illinois Athletic Commission refused to sanction the fight, citing technicalities.
Instead, Ali traveled to Canada and Europe and won championship bouts against George Chuvalo, Henry Cooper, Brian London and Karl Mildenberger.
Ali returned to the United States to fight Cleveland Williams in the Houston Astrodome on November 14, 1966. The bout drew a record-breaking indoor crowd of 35,460 people. Williams had once been considered among the hardest punchers in the heavyweight division, but in 1964 he had been shot at point-blank range by a Texas policeman, resulting in the loss of one kidney and of his small intestine. Ali dominated Williams, winning a third-round technical knockout in what some consider the finest performance of his career.
Ali fought Terrell in Houston on February 6, 1967. Terrell, who was unbeaten in five years and had defeated many of the boxers Ali had faced, was billed as Ali's toughest opponent since Liston; he was big, strong and had a three-inch reach advantage over Ali. During the lead up to the bout, Terrell repeatedly called Ali "Clay", much to Ali's annoyance. The two almost came to blows over the name issue in a pre-fight interview with Howard Cosell. Ali seemed intent on humiliating Terrell. "I want to torture him", he said. "A clean knockout is too good for him." The fight was close until the seventh round, when Ali bloodied Terrell and almost knocked him out. In the eighth round, Ali taunted Terrell, hitting him with jabs and shouting between punches, "What's my name, Uncle Tom ... what's my name?" Ali won a unanimous 15-round decision. Terrell claimed that early in the fight Ali deliberately thumbed him in the eye, forcing him to fight half-blind, and then, in a clinch, rubbed the wounded eye against the ropes. Because of Ali's apparent intent to prolong the fight to inflict maximum punishment, critics described the bout as "one of the ugliest boxing fights." Tex Maule later wrote: "It was a wonderful demonstration of boxing skill and a barbarous display of cruelty." Ali denied the accusations of cruelty but, for Ali's critics, the fight provided more evidence of his arrogance.
After Ali's title defense against Zora Folley on March 22, he was stripped of his title due to his refusal to be drafted to army service. His boxing license was also suspended by the state of New York. He was convicted of draft evasion on June 20 and sentenced to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. He paid a bond and remained free while the verdict was being appealed.
Vietnam War and resistance to the draft
Ali registered for conscription in the United States military on his 18th birthday and was listed as 1-A in 1962. In 1964, he was reclassified as Class 1-Y (fit for service only in times of national emergency) after he failed the U.S. Armed Forces qualifying test because his writing and spelling skills were sub-standard, due to his dyslexia. (He was quoted as saying, "I said I was the greatest, not the smartest!") By early 1966, the army lowered its standards to permit soldiers above the 15th percentile and Ali was again classified as 1-A. This classification meant he was now eligible for the draft and induction into the U.S. Army at a time when the U.S. was involved in the Vietnam War, a war which put him further at odds with the white establishment.
When notified of this status, Ali declared that he would refuse to serve in the army and publicly considered himself a conscientious objector. Ali stated: "War is against the teachings of the Qur'an. I'm not trying to dodge the draft. We are not supposed to take part in no wars unless declared by Allah or The Messenger (Elijah Muhammad then leader of Nation of Islam). We don’t take part in Christian wars or wars of any unbelievers". He also said "We are not to be the aggressor but we will defend ourselves if attacked." He stated: "Man, I ain't got no quarrel with them Viet Cong." Ali elaborated: "Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go ten thousand miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on brown people in Vietnam while so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs and denied simple human rights?" Ali antagonized the white establishment in 1966 by refusing to be drafted into the U.S. military, citing his religious beliefs and opposition to American involvement in the Vietnam War.
On April 28, 1967, Ali appeared in Houston for his scheduled induction into the U.S. Armed Forces, but he refused three times to step forward when his name was called. An officer warned him that he was committing a felony punishable by five years in prison and a fine of $10,000. Once more, Ali refused to budge when his name was called, and he was arrested. Later that same day, the New York State Athletic Commission suspended his boxing license and stripped him of his title. Other boxing commissions followed suit. Ali remained unable to obtain a license to box in any state for over three years. On June 4, 1967, in a first for sports professionals, a group of high-profile African-American athletes assembled at the Negro Industrial Economic union in Cleveland for a "Muhammad Ali Summit". The meeting was organized by Jim Brown for his peers to question Ali about the seriousness of his convictions, and to decide whether to support him, which they ultimately did.
At the trial on June 20, 1967, the jury found Ali guilty after only 21minutes of deliberation of the criminal offense of violating the Selective Service laws by refusing to be drafted. After a Court of Appeals upheld the conviction, the case was reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1971.
Ali remained free in the years between the Appellate Court decision and the Supreme Court ruling. As public opinion began turning people against the war and the Civil Rights Movement continued to gather momentum, Ali became a popular speaker at colleges and universities across the country; this itinerary was rare if not unprecedented for a prizefighter. At Howard University, for example, he gave his popular "Black Is Best" speech to 4,000 cheering students and community intellectuals, after he was invited to speak by sociology professor Nathan Hare on behalf of the Black Power Committee, a student protest group.
On June 28, 1971, the Supreme Court of the United States in Clay v. United States overturned Ali's conviction by a unanimous 8–0 decision (Justice Thurgood Marshall recused himself, as he had been the U.S. Solicitor General at the time of Ali's conviction). The decision was not based on, nor did it address, the merits of Ali's claims per se. Rather, the Court held that since the appeal board gave no reason for the denial of a conscientious objector exemption to Ali, that it was therefore impossible to determine which of the three basic tests for conscientious objector status (offered in the Justice Department's brief) the appeal board relied on, and Ali's conviction must be reversed.
Impact of Ali's draft refusal
Ali's example inspired many black Americans and others. However, initially when he refused induction, he became arguably the most hated man in the country and received many death threats. People who supported Ali during this time were also threatened, including sports journalist Jerry Izenberg, whose columns defended Ali's decision not to serve. He wrote, "Bomb threats emptied our office, making the staff stand out in the snow. My car windshield was smashed with a sledgehammer." The New York Times columnist William Rhoden wrote, "Ali's actions changed my standard of what constituted an athlete's greatness. Possessing a killer jump shot or the ability to stop on a dime was no longer enough. What were you doing for the liberation of your people? What were you doing to help your country live up to the covenant of its founding principles?"
Recalling Ali's anti-war position, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar said: "I remember the teachers at my high school didn't like Ali because he was so anti-establishment and he kind of thumbed his nose at authority and got away with it. The fact that he was proud to be a black man and that he had so much talent ... made some people think that he was dangerous. But for those very reasons I enjoyed him."
Civil rights figures came to believe that Ali had an energizing effect on the freedom movement as a whole. Al Sharpton spoke of his bravery at a time when there was still widespread support for the Vietnam War:
Ali was honored with the annual Martin Luther King Award in 1970 by civil rights leader Ralph Abernathy, who called him "a living example of soul power, the March on Washington in two fists." Coretta Scott King added that Ali was "a champion of justice and peace and unity."
In speaking of the cost on Ali's career of his refusal to be drafted, his trainer Angelo Dundee said, "One thing must be taken into account when talking about Ali: He was robbed of his best years, his prime years."
Bob Arum did not support Ali's choice at the time. More recently, Arum stated that "when I look back at his life, and I was blessed to call him a friend and spent a lot of time with him, it's hard for me to talk about his exploits in boxing because as great as they were they paled in comparison to the impact that he had on the world," and "He did what he thought was right. And it turned out he was right, and I was wrong."
Ali's resistance to the draft was covered in the 2013 documentary The Trials of Muhammad Ali.
NSA and FBI monitoring of Ali's communications
In a secret operation code-named "Minaret", the National Security Agency (NSA) intercepted the communications of leading Americans, including Ali, Senators Frank Church and Howard Baker, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., prominent U.S. journalists, and others who criticized the U.S. war in Vietnam. A review by the NSA of the Minaret program concluded that it was "disreputable if not outright illegal."
In 1971, his Fight of the Century with Frazier was used by an activist group, the Citizens' Commission to Investigate the FBI, to pull off a burglary at an FBI office in Pennsylvania; the anticipation for the fight was unlike anything else, so they believed the security would also be focused on the fight. This raid exposed the COINTELPRO operations that included illegal spying on activists involved with the civil rights and anti-war movements. One of the COINTELPRO targets was Ali, and their activities included the FBI gaining access to his records as far back as elementary school; one such record mentioned him loving art as a child.
Exile and comeback
In March 1966, Ali refused to be inducted into the armed forces. He was systematically denied a boxing license in every state and stripped of his passport. As a result, he did not fight from March 1967 to October 1970—from ages 25 to almost 29—as his case worked its way through the appeals process before his conviction was overturned in 1971.
Protesting while exiled
During this time of inactivity, as opposition to the Vietnam War began to grow and Ali's stance gained sympathy, he spoke at colleges across the nation, criticizing the Vietnam War and advocating African-American pride and racial justice. Ali based himself in Chicago. According to most close to him, his Chicago years were formative.
At the time, Ali was widely condemned by the American media, with fears that his actions could potentially lead to mass civil disobedience. Despite this, Ebony magazine noted in the late 1960s that Ali's popularity had increased during this time, especially among black people.
The Super Fight
While banned from sanctioned bouts, Ali settled a $1 million lawsuit against radio producer Murray Woroner by accepting $10,000 to appear in a privately staged fantasy fight against retired champion Rocky Marciano. In 1969 the boxers were filmed sparring for about 75 one-minute rounds; they produced several potential outcomes. A computer program purportedly determined the winner, based on data about the fighters, along with the opinions of approximately 250 boxing experts. Edited versions of the bout were shown in movie theaters in 1970. In the U.S. version Ali lost in a simulated 13th-round knockout, but in the European version Marciano lost due to cuts, also simulated.
Ali suggested that prejudice determined his defeat in the U.S. version. He was reported to jokingly say, "That computer was made in Alabama."
Return to prizefighting
On August 11, 1970, with his case still in appeal, Ali was granted a license to box by the City of Atlanta Athletic Commission. Leroy Johnson, Jesse Hill Jr. and Harry Pett had used their local political influence and set up the company House of Sports to organize the fight, underlining the influential power of Georgia's black politics in Ali' s comeback. Ali's first return bout was against Jerry Quarry on October 26, resulting in a win after three rounds after Quarry was cut.
A month earlier, a victory in federal court forced the New York State Boxing Commission to reinstate Ali's license. He fought Oscar Bonavena at Madison Square Garden in December, an uninspired performance that ended in a dramatic technical knockout of Bonavena in the 15th round. The win left Ali as a top contender against heavyweight champion Joe Frazier.
First fight against Joe Frazier
Ali and Frazier's first fight, held at the Garden on March 8, 1971, was nicknamed the "Fight of the Century", due to the tremendous excitement surrounding a bout between two undefeated fighters, each with a legitimate claim to be heavyweight champion. Veteran US boxing writer John Condon called it "the greatest event I've ever worked on in my life." The bout was broadcast to 36 countries; promoters granted 760 press passes.
Adding to the atmosphere were the considerable pre-fight theatrics and name calling. Before the fight Frazier called Ali, "Cassius Clay", this angered Ali and he portrayed Frazier as a "dumb tool of the white establishment." "Frazier is too ugly to be champ", Ali said. "Frazier is too dumb to be champ." Ali also frequently called Frazier an "Uncle Tom". Dave Wolf, who worked in Frazier's camp, recalled that, "Ali was saying 'the only people rooting for Joe Frazier are white people in suits, Alabama sheriffs, and members of the Ku Klux Klan. I'm fighting for the little man in the ghetto.' Joe was sitting there, smashing his fist into the palm of his hand, saying, 'What the fuck does he know about the ghetto?
Ali began training at a farm near Reading, Pennsylvania, in 1971 and, finding the country setting to his liking, sought to develop a real training camp in the countryside. He found a five-acre site on a Pennsylvania country road in the village of Deer Lake, Pennsylvania. On this site, Ali carved out what was to become his training camp, where he trained for all his fights from 1972 to the end of his career in 1981.
The Monday night fight lived up to its billing. In a preview of their two other fights, a crouching, bobbing and weaving Frazier constantly pressured Ali, getting hit regularly by Ali jabs and combinations, but relentlessly attacking and scoring repeatedly, especially to Ali's body. The fight was even in the early rounds, but Ali was taking more punishment than ever in his career. On several occasions in the early rounds he played to the crowd and shook his head "no" after he was hit. In the later rounds—in what was the first appearance of the "rope-a-dope strategy"—Ali leaned against the ropes and absorbed punishment from Frazier, hoping to tire him. In the 11th round, Frazier connected with a left hook that wobbled Ali, but because it appeared that Ali might be clowning as he staggered backwards across the ring, Frazier hesitated to press his advantage, fearing an Ali counter-attack. In the final round, Frazier knocked Ali down with a vicious left hook, which referee Arthur Mercante said was as hard as a man can be hit. Ali was back on his feet in three seconds. Nevertheless, Ali lost by unanimous decision, his first professional defeat.
Chamberlain challenge and Ellis fight
In 1971, basketball star Wilt Chamberlain challenged Ali to a fight, and a bout was scheduled for July 26. Although the seven-foot-two-inch tall Chamberlain had formidable physical advantages over Ali—weighing 60pounds more and able to reach 14inches further—Ali was able to influence Chamberlain into calling off the bout by taunting him with calls of "Timber!" and "The tree will fall" during a shared interview. These statements of confidence unsettled his taller opponent, whom Los Angeles Lakers owner Jack Kent Cooke had offered a record-setting contract, conditional on Chamberlain agreeing to abandon what Cooke termed "this boxing foolishness", and he did exactly that. To replace Ali's opponent, promoter Bob Arum quickly booked a former sparring partner of Ali's, Jimmy Ellis, who was a childhood friend from Louisville, Kentucky, to fight him.
After his loss
Fights against Quarry, Patterson, Foster and Norton
After the loss to Frazier, Ali fought Jerry Quarry, had a second bout with Floyd Patterson and faced Bob Foster in 1972, winning a total of six fights that year. In 1973, Ken Norton broke Ali's jaw while giving him the second loss of his career. After initially considering retirement, Ali won a controversial decision against Norton in their second bout. This led to a rematch with Joe Frazier at Madison Square Garden on January 28, 1974; Frazier had recently lost his title to George Foreman.
Second fight against Joe Frazier
Ali was strong in the early rounds of the fight, and staggered Frazier in the second round. Referee Tony Perez mistakenly thought he heard the bell ending the round and stepped between the two fighters as Ali was pressing his attack, giving Frazier time to recover. However, Frazier came on in the middle rounds, snapping Ali's head in round seven and driving him to the ropes at the end of round eight. The last four rounds saw round-to-round shifts in momentum between the two fighters. Throughout most of the bout, however, Ali was able to circle away from Frazier's dangerous left hook and to tie Frazier up when he was cornered, the latter a tactic that Frazier's camp complained of bitterly. Judges awarded Ali a unanimous decision.
World heavyweight champion (second reign)
The Rumble in the Jungle
The defeat of Frazier set the stage for a title fight against heavyweight champion George Foreman in Kinshasa, Zaire, on October 30, 1974—a bout nicknamed The Rumble in the Jungle. Foreman was considered one of the hardest punchers in heavyweight history. In assessing the fight, analysts pointed out that Joe Frazier and Ken Norton, who had given Ali four tough battles and won two of them, had both been devastated by Foreman in second-round knockouts. Ali was 32 years old, and had clearly lost speed and reflexes since his twenties. Contrary to his later persona, Foreman was at the time a brooding and intimidating presence. Almost no one associated with the sport, not even Ali's long-time supporter Howard Cosell, gave the former champion a chance of winning.
As usual, Ali was confident and colorful before the fight. He told interviewer David Frost, "If you think the world was surprised when Nixon resigned, wait till I whup Foreman's behind!" He told the press, "I've done something new for this fight. I done wrestled with an alligator, I done tussled with a whale; handcuffed lightning, thrown thunder in jail; only last week, I murdered a rock, injured a stone, hospitalized a brick; I'm so mean I make medicine sick." Ali was wildly popular in Zaire, with crowds chanting "Ali, bomaye" ("Ali, kill him") wherever he went.
Ali opened the fight moving and scoring with right crosses to Foreman's head. Then, beginning in the second round, and to the consternation of his corner, Ali retreated to the ropes and invited Foreman to hit him while covering up, clinching and counter-punching, all while verbally taunting Foreman. The move, which would later become known as the "Rope-a-dope", so violated conventional boxing wisdom—letting one of the hardest hitters in boxing strike at will—that at ringside writer George Plimpton thought the fight had to be fixed. Foreman, increasingly angered, threw punches that were deflected and did not land squarely. Midway through the fight, as Foreman began tiring, Ali countered more frequently and effectively with punches and flurries, which electrified the pro-Ali crowd. In the eighth round, Ali dropped an exhausted Foreman with a combination at center ring; Foreman failed to make the count. Against the odds, and amidst pandemonium in the ring, Ali had regained the title by knockout. Reflecting on the fight, George Foreman later said: "I thought Ali was just one more knockout victim until, about the seventh round, I hit him hard to the jaw and he held me and whispered in my ear: 'That all you got, George?' I realized that this ain't what I thought it was."
It was a major upset victory, after Ali came in as a 41 underdog against the previously unbeaten, heavy-hitting Foreman. The fight became famous for Ali's introduction of the rope-a-dope tactic. The fight was watched by a record estimated television audience of 1billion viewers worldwide. It was the world's most-watched live television broadcast at the time.
Fights against Wepner, Lyle and Bugner
Ali's next opponents included Chuck Wepner, Ron Lyle, and Joe Bugner. Wepner, a journeyman known as "The Bayonne Bleeder", stunned Ali with a knockdown in the ninth round; Ali would later say he tripped on Wepner's foot. It was a bout that would inspire Sylvester Stallone to create the acclaimed film, Rocky.
Third fight against Joe Frazier
Ali then agreed to a third match with Joe Frazier in Manila. The bout, known as the "Thrilla in Manila", was held on October 1, 1975, in temperatures approaching . In the first rounds, Ali was aggressive, moving and exchanging blows with Frazier. However, Ali soon appeared to tire and adopted the "rope-a-dope" strategy, frequently resorting to clinches. During this part of the bout Ali did some effective counter-punching, but for the most part absorbed punishment from a relentlessly attacking Frazier. In the 12th round, Frazier began to tire, and Ali scored several sharp blows that closed Frazier's left eye and opened a cut over his right eye. With Frazier's vision now diminished, Ali dominated the 13th and 14th rounds, at times conducting what boxing historian Mike Silver called "target practice" on Frazier's head. The fight was stopped when Frazier's trainer, Eddie Futch, refused to allow Frazier to answer the bell for the 15th and final round, despite Frazier's protests. Frazier's eyes were both swollen shut. Ali, in his corner, winner by TKO, slumped on his stool, clearly spent.
An ailing Ali said afterwards that the fight "was the closest thing to dying that I know", and, when later asked if he had viewed the fight on videotape, reportedly said, "Why would I want to go back and see Hell?" After the fight he cited Frazier as "the greatest fighter of all times next to me."
After the third fight with Frazier, Ali considered retirement. He said, “I’m sore all over. My arms, my face, my sides all ache. I’m so, so tired. There is a great possibility that I will retire. You might have seen the last of me. I want to sit back and count my money, live in my house and my farm, work for my people and concentrate on my family."
Later career
Following the Manila bout, Ali fought Jean-Pierre Coopman, Jimmy Young, and Richard Dunn, winning the last by knockout.
The punch used to knock Dunn out was taught to Ali by Taekwondo Grandmaster Jhoon Rhee. Rhee called that punch the "Accupunch"; he learned it from Bruce Lee. The Dunn fight was the last time Ali would knock down an opponent in his boxing career.
Ali fought Ken Norton for the third time in September 1976. The bout, which was held at Yankee Stadium, resulted in Ali winning a heavily contested decision that was loudly booed by the audience. Afterwards, he announced he was retiring from boxing to practice his faith, having converted to Sunni Islam after falling out with the Nation of Islam the previous year.
After returning to beat Alfredo Evangelista in May 1977, Ali struggled in his next fight against Earnie Shavers that September, getting pummeled a few times by punches to the head. Ali won the fight by another unanimous decision, but the bout caused his longtime doctor Ferdie Pacheco to quit after he was rebuffed for telling Ali he should retire. Pacheco was quoted as saying, "the New York State Athletic Commission gave me a report that showed Ali's kidneys were falling apart. I wrote to Angelo Dundee, Ali's trainer, his wife and Ali himself. I got nothing back in response. That's when I decided enough is enough."
In February 1978, Ali faced Leon Spinks at the Hilton Hotel in Las Vegas. At the time, Spinks had only seven professional fights to his credit, and had recently fought a draw with journeyman Scott LeDoux. Ali sparred less than two dozen rounds in preparation for the fight, and was seriously out of shape by the opening bell. He lost the title by split decision. A rematch occurred in September at the Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. 70,000 people attended the bout and paid a total of $6 million admission, making it the largest live gate in boxing history at that time. Ali won a unanimous decision in an uninspiring fight, with referee Lucien Joubert scoring rounds 10-4, judge Ernie Cojoe 10-4, and judge Herman Preis 11-4. This made Ali the first heavyweight champion to win the belt three times.
Following this win, on July 27, 1979, Ali announced his retirement from boxing. His retirement was short-lived, however; Ali announced his comeback to face Larry Holmes for the WBC belt in an attempt to win the heavyweight championship an unprecedented fourth time. The fight was largely motivated by Ali's need for money. Boxing writer Richie Giachetti said, "Larry didn't want to fight Ali. He knew Ali had nothing left; he knew it would be a horror."
It was around this time that Ali started struggling with vocal stutters and trembling hands. The Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC) ordered that he undergo a complete physical in Las Vegas before being allowed to fight again. Ali chose instead to check into the Mayo Clinic, who declared him fit to fight. Their opinion was accepted by the NAC on July 31, 1980, paving the way for Ali's return to the ring.
The fight took place on October 2, 1980, in Las Vegas Valley, with Holmes easily dominating Ali, who was weakened from thyroid medication he had taken to lose weight. Giachetti called the fight "awful ... the worst sports event I ever had to cover." Actor Sylvester Stallone was at ringside and said that it was like watching an autopsy on a man who is still alive. After the tenth round, Angelo Dundee told the referee to stop the fight, making it the only time that Ali ever lost by stoppage. The Holmes fight is said to have contributed to Ali's Parkinson's syndrome. Despite pleas to definitively retire, Ali fought one last time on December 11, 1981, in Nassau, Bahamas, against Trevor Berbick, losing a ten-round decision.
By the end of his boxing career Ali had absorbed an estimated 200,000 hits.
Exhibition bouts
Ali boxed both well known boxers and celebrities from other walks of life, including Michael Dokes, Antonio Inoki, Lyle Alzado, Dave Semenko, and the famous Puerto Rican comedian Jose Miguel Agrelot (with Iris Chacon acting as Agrelot's corner-woman).
Ali vs Inoki
On June 26, 1976, Ali participated in an exhibition bout in Tokyo against Japanese professional wrestler and martial artist Antonio Inoki. Ali was only able to land two jabs while Inoki's kicks caused two blood clots and an infection that almost resulted in Ali's leg being amputated, as a result of Ali's team insisting on rules restricting Inoki's ability to wrestle. The match was not scripted and ultimately declared a draw. After Ali's death, The New York Times declared it his least memorable fight. Most boxing commentators at the time viewed the fight negatively and hoped it would be forgotten as some considered it a "15-round farce." Today it is considered by some to be one of Ali's most influential fights and CBS Sports said the attention the mixed-style bout received "foretold the arrival of standardized MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) years later." After the fight, Ali and Inoki became friends.
Ali vs Alzado
In 1979, Ali fought an exhibition match against NFL player Lyle Alzado. The fight went 8 rounds and was declared a draw.
Ali vs Semenko
Ali fought NHL player, Dave Semenko in an exhibition on June 12, 1983. The match was officially a draw after going three rounds, but the Associated Press reported Ali was not seriously trying and was just toying with Semenko.
Personal life
Marriages and children
Ali was married four times and had seven daughters and two sons. Ali was introduced to cocktail waitress Sonji Roi by Herbert Muhammad and asked her to marry him after their first date. They married approximately one month later on August 14, 1964. They quarreled over Sonji's refusal to join the Nation Of Islam. According to Ali, "She wouldn't do what she was supposed to do. She wore lipstick; she went into bars; she dressed in clothes that were revealing and didn't look right." The marriage was childless and they divorced on January 10, 1966. Just before the divorce was finalized, Ali sent Sonji a note: "You traded heaven for hell, baby." Ali's brother Rahman said that she was Ali's only true love and the Nation of Islam made Ali divorce her and Ali never got over it.
On August 17, 1967, Ali married Belinda Boyd. Born into a Chicago family that had converted to the Nation Of Islam, she later changed her name to Khalilah Ali, though she was still called Belinda by old friends and family. They had four children: author and rapper Maryum "May May" (born 1968); twins Jamillah and Rasheda (born 1970), who married Robert Walsh and has a son, Biaggio Ali, born in 1998; and Muhammad Ali Jr. (born 1972). Rasheda's son Nico is a professional boxer.
Ali was a resident of Cherry Hill, New Jersey in the early 1970s. At age 32 in 1974, Ali began an extramarital relationship with 16-year-old Wanda Bolton (who subsequently changed her name to Aaisha Ali) with whom he fathered another daughter, Khaliah (born 1974). While still married to Belinda, Ali married Aaisha in an Islamic ceremony that was not legally recognized. According to Khaliah, Aaisha and her mother lived at Ali's Deer Lake training camp alongside Belinda and her children. In January 1985, Aaisha sued Ali for unpaid palimony. The case was settled when Ali agreed to set up a $200,000 trust fund for Khaliah. In 2001 Khaliah was quoted as saying she believed her father viewed her as "a mistake". He had another daughter, Miya (born 1972), from an extramarital relationship with Patricia Harvell.
By the summer of 1977, his second marriage ended due to Ali's repeated infidelity, and he had married actress and model Veronica Porché. At the time of their marriage, they had a daughter, Hana, and Veronica was pregnant with their second child. Their second daughter, Laila Ali, was born in December 1977. By 1986, Ali and Porché were divorced due to Ali's continuous infidelity. Porché said of Ali's infidelity, "It was too much temptation for him, with women who threw themselves at him, It didn’t mean anything. He didn't have affairs – he had one-night stands. I knew beyond a doubt there were no feelings involved. It was so obvious, It was easy to forgive him."
On November 19, 1986, Ali married Yolanda "Lonnie" Williams. Lonnie first met Ali at the age of 6 when her family moved to Louisville in 1963. In 1982, she became Ali's primary caregiver and in return, he paid for her to attend graduate school at UCLA. Together they adopted a son, Asaad Amin (born 1986), when Asaad was five months old. In 1992, Lonnie incorporated Greatest of All Time, Inc. (G.O.A.T. Inc) to consolidate and license his intellectual properties for commercial purposes. She served as the vice president and treasurer until the sale of the company in 2006.
Kiiursti Mensah-Ali claims she is Ali's biological daughter with Barbara Mensah, with whom he allegedly had a 20-year relationship, citing photographs and a paternity test conducted in 1988. She said he accepted responsibility and took care of her, but all contacts with him were cut off after he married his fourth wife Lonnie. Kiiursti says she has a relationship with his other children. After his death she again made passionate appeals to be allowed to mourn at his funeral.
In 2010, Osmon Williams came forward claiming to be Ali's biological son. His mother Temica Williams (also known as Rebecca Holloway) launched a $3 million lawsuit against Ali in 1981 for sexual assault, claiming that she had started a sexual relationship with him when she was 12, and that her son Osmon (born 1977) was fathered by Ali. She further alleged that Ali had originally supported her and her son financially, but stopped doing so after four years. The case went on until 1986 and was eventually thrown out as her allegations were deemed to be barred by the statute of limitations. According to Veronica, Ali admitted to the affair with Williams, but did not believe Osmon was his son which Veronica supported by saying "Everybody in the camp was going with that girl." Ali biographer and friend Thomas Hauser has said this claim was of "questionable veracity".
Ali then lived in Scottsdale, Arizona with Lonnie. In January 2007, it was reported that they had put their home in Berrien Springs, Michigan, which they had bought in 1975, up for sale and had purchased a home in eastern Jefferson County, Kentucky for $1,875,000. Both homes were subsequently sold after Ali's death with Lonnie living in their remaining home in Paradise Valley, Arizona. Lonnie converted to Islam from Catholicism in her late twenties.
In an interview in 1974, Ali said, "If they say stand and salute the flag I do that out of respect, because I'm in the country". Ali would later say, "If America was in trouble and real war came, I'd be on the front line if we had been attacked. But I could see that (The Vietnam War) wasn't right." He also said, "Black men would go over there and fight, but when they came home, they couldn't even be served a hamburger."
Ali's daughter Laila was a professional boxer from 1999 until 2007, despite her father's previous opposition to women's boxing. In 1978, he said "Women are not made to be hit in the breast, and face like that." Ali still attended a number of his daughter's fights and later admitted to Laila he was wrong. Ali's daughter Hana is married to Bellator middleweight fighter Kevin Casey. Hana wrote about her father, "His love for people was extraordinary. I would get home from school to find homeless families sleeping in our guest room. He’d see them on the street, pile them into his Rolls-Royce and bring them home. He’d buy them clothes, take them to hotels and pay the bills for months in advance." She also said celebrities like Michael Jackson and Clint Eastwood would often visit Ali. After Ali met a lesbian couple who were fans of his in 1997, he smiled and said to his friend Hauser, "They look like they’re happy together." Hauser wrote about the story, "The thought that Liz and Roz (the lesbian couple he met) were happy pleased Muhammad. Ali wanted people to be happy."
Religion and beliefs
Affiliation with the Nation of Islam
Ali said that he first heard of the Nation of Islam when he was fighting in the Golden Gloves tournament in Chicago in 1959, and attended his first Nation of Islam meeting in 1961. He continued to attend meetings, although keeping his involvement hidden from the public. In 1962, Clay met Malcolm X, who soon became his spiritual and political mentor. By the time of the first Liston fight, Nation of Islam members, including Malcolm X, were visible in his entourage. This led to a story in The Miami Herald just before the fight disclosing that Clay had joined the Nation of Islam, which nearly caused the bout to be canceled. The article quoted Cassius Clay Sr. as saying that his son had joined the Black Muslims when he was 18.
In fact, Clay was initially refused entry to the Nation of Islam (often called the Black Muslims at the time) due to his boxing career. However, after he won the championship from Liston in 1964, the Nation of Islam was more receptive and agreed to publicize his membership. Shortly afterwards on March 6, Elijah Muhammad gave a radio address that Clay would be renamed Muhammad (one who is worthy of praise) Ali (most high). Around that time Ali moved to the south side of Chicago and lived in a series of houses, always near the Nation of Islam's Mosque Maryam or Elijah Muhammad's residence. He stayed in Chicago for about 12 years.
Only a few journalists, most notably Howard Cosell, accepted the new name at that time. Ali stated that his earlier name was a "slave name," and a "white man's name" and added that "I didn’t choose it and I don’t want it". The person he was named after was a white man and emancipationist who released slaves. Ali explained in his autobiography after studying his works, "While Clay may have gotten rid of his slaves, he "held on to white supremacy." In truth, Cassius Clay's attachment to slavery went farther than Ali knew. In spite of his abolitionist fervor, Clay owned more slaves in 1865, when the 13th Amendment to the Constitution finally forbade its practice, than he had inherited from his father 37 years earlier.
Not afraid to antagonize the white establishment, Ali stated, "I am America. I am the part you won't recognize. But get used to me. Black, confident, cocky; my name, not yours; my religion, not yours; my goals, my own; get used to me." Ali's friendship with Malcolm X ended as Malcolm split with the Nation of Islam a couple of weeks after Ali joined, and Ali remained with the Nation of Islam. Ali later said that turning his back on Malcolm was one of the mistakes he regretted most in his life.
Aligning himself with the Nation of Islam, its leader Elijah Muhammad, and a narrative that labeled the white race as the perpetrator of genocide against African Americans made Ali a target of public condemnation. The Nation of Islam was widely viewed by whites and some African Americans as a black separatist "hate religion" with a propensity toward violence; Ali had few qualms about using his influential voice to speak Nation of Islam doctrine. In a press conference articulating his opposition to the Vietnam War, Ali stated, "My enemy is the white people, not Vietcong or Chinese or Japanese." In relation to integration, he said: "We who follow the teachings of Elijah Muhammad don't want to be forced to integrate. Integration is wrong. We don't want to live with the white man; that's all." Further articulating his opposition to integration, he told members of the KKK at a Klan rally in 1975 that "black people should marry their own women... blue birds are blue birds, red birds are red birds, pigeons with pigeons, eagles with eagles, God did not make no mistake".
Writer Jerry Izenberg once noted that, "the Nation became Ali's family and Elijah Muhammad became his father. But there is an irony to the fact that while the Nation branded white people as devils, Ali had more white colleagues than most African American people did at that time in America, and continued to have them throughout his career."
Conversion to Sunni/Sufi Islam
In Hauser's biography Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times, Ali says that although he's not a Christian as he thinks the idea of God having a son sounds wrong and doesn't make sense to him, as he believes, "God don't beget; man begets". He still believes that even good Christians or good Jews can receive God's blessing and enter heaven as he stated, "God created all people, no matter what their religion". He also stated, "If you're against someone because he's a Muslim that's wrong. If you're against someone because he's a Christian or a Jew, that's wrong".
In a 2004 autobiography, Ali attributed his conversion to mainstream Sunni Islam to Warith Deen Muhammad, who assumed leadership of the Nation of Islam upon the death of his father Elijah Muhammad, and persuaded the Nation's followers to become adherents of Sunni Islam. He said some people didn't like the change and stuck to Elijah's teachings, but he admired it and so left Elijah's teachings and became a follower of Sunni Islam.
Ali had gone on the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca in 1972, which inspired him in a similar manner to Malcolm X, meeting people of different colors from all over the world giving him a different outlook and greater spiritual awareness. In 1977, he said that, after he retired, he would dedicate the rest of his life to getting "ready to meet God" by helping people, charitable causes, uniting people and helping to make peace. He went on another Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca in 1988.
After the September 11 attacks in 2001, he stated that "Islam is a religion of peace" and "does not promote terrorism or killing people", and that he was "angry that the world sees a certain group of Islam followers who caused this destruction, but they are not real Muslims. They are racist fanatics who call themselves Muslims." In December 2015, he stated that "True Muslims know that the ruthless violence of so-called Islamic jihadists goes against the very tenets of our religion", that "We as Muslims have to stand up to those who use Islam to advance their own personal agenda", and that "political leaders should use their position to bring understanding about the religion of Islam, and clarify that these misguided murderers have perverted people's views on what Islam really is."
In later life after retiring from boxing, Ali became a student of the Quran and a devout Muslim. He also developed an interest in Sufism, which he referenced in his autobiography, The Soul of a Butterfly. According to Ali's daughter, Hana Yasmeen Ali, who co-authored The Soul of a Butterfly with him, Ali was attracted to Sufism after reading the books of Inayat Khan, which contain Sufi teachings.
Muhammad Ali received guidance from Islamic scholars such as Grand Mufti of Syria Almarhum Asy-Syaikh Ahmed Kuftaro, Hisham Kabbani, Imam Zaid Shakir, Hamza Yusuf, and Timothy J. Gianotti, who was at Ali's bedside during his last days and ensured that although his funeral was interfaith, it was still in accordance with Islamic rites and rituals.
Beatles reunion plan
In 1976, inventor Alan Amron and businessman Joel Sacher partnered with Ali to promote The International Committee to Reunite the Beatles. They asked fans worldwide to contribute a dollar each. Ali said the idea was not to use the proceeds for profit, but to establish an international agency to help poor children. "This is money to help people all over the world", he said. He added, "I love the music. I used to train to their music." He said a reunion of the Beatles "would make a lot of people happy." The former Beatles were indifferent to the plan, which elicited only a tepid response from the public. No reunion happened.
Entertainment career
Acting
Ali had a cameo role in the 1962 film version of Requiem for a Heavyweight, and during his exile from boxing, he starred in the short-lived 1969 Broadway musical, Buck White. He also appeared in the documentary film Black Rodeo (1972) riding both a horse and a bull.
His autobiography The Greatest: My Own Story, written with Richard Durham, was published in 1975. In 1977 the book was adapted into a film called The Greatest, in which Ali played himself and Ernest Borgnine played Angelo Dundee.
The film Freedom Road, made in 1978, features Ali in a rare acting role as Gideon Jackson, a former slave and Union (American Civil War) soldier in 1870s Virginia, who gets elected to the U.S. Senate and battles alongside former slaves and white sharecroppers to keep the land they have tended all their lives.
Spoken word poetry and rap music
Ali often used rhyme schemes and spoken word poetry, both for when he was trash-talking in boxing and as political poetry for his activism outside of boxing. He played a role in the shaping of the black poetic tradition, paving the way for The Last Poets in 1968, Gil Scott-Heron in 1970, and the emergence of rap music in the 1970s. According to The Guardian, "Some have argued that" Ali was "the first rapper."
In 1963, Ali released an album of spoken word music on Columbia Records titled, I Am the Greatest, and in 1964, he recorded a cover version of the rhythm and blues song "Stand by Me". I Am the Greatest sold 500,000 copies, and has been identified as an early example of rap music and a precursor to hip hop. It reached number 61 on the album chart and was nominated for a Grammy Award. He later received a second Grammy nomination, for "Best Recording for Children", with his 1976 spoken word novelty record, The Adventures of Ali and His Gang vs. Mr. Tooth Decay.
Ali was an influential figure in the world of hip hop music. As a "rhyming trickster", he was noted for his "funky delivery", "boasts", "comical trash-talk", and "endless quotables." According to Rolling Stone, his "freestyle skills" and his "rhymes, flow, and braggadocio" would "one day become typical of old school MCs" like Run–D.M.C. and LL Cool J, and his "outsized ego foreshadowed the vainglorious excesses of Kanye West, while his Afrocentric consciousness and cutting honesty pointed forward to modern bards like Rakim, Nas, Jay-Z, and Kendrick Lamar." “I’ve wrestled with alligators, I’ve tussled with a whale. I done handcuffed lightning and throw thunder in jail. You know I’m bad. Just last week, I murdered a rock, Injured a stone, Hospitalized a brick. I’m so mean, I make medicine sick” "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. His hands can't hit what his eyes can't see. Now you see me, now you don't. George thinks he will, but I know he won't.” Ali spoke like no man the world had seen before. So confident in what he said; fluent, smooth, creative, and intimidating. He was a boxer and an activist, but he also had a role in influencing what now dominated pop-culture, hip-hop. In 2006, the documentary Ali Rap was produced by ESPN. Chuck D, a rapper for the band Public Enemy is the host. Other rappers narrated the documentary as well, including Doug E Fresh, Ludacris and Rakim who all spoke on Ali's behalf in the film.
He has been cited as an inspiration by rappers such as LL Cool J, Public Enemy's Chuck D, Jay-Z, Eminem, Sean Combs, Slick Rick, Nas and MC Lyte. Ali has been referenced in a number of hip hop songs, including Migos "Fight Night", The Game's "Jesus Piece", Nas' "The Message, The Sugarhill Gang's "Rapper's Delight", the Fugees' "Ready or Not", EPMD's "You're a Customer" and Will Smith's "Gettin' Jiggy wit It".
Professional wrestling
Ali was involved with professional wrestling at different times in his career.
On June 1, 1976, as Ali was preparing for his bout with Inoki, he attended a match featuring Gorilla Monsoon. After the match was over, Ali removed his shirt and jacket and confronted professional wrestler Gorilla Monsoon in the ring after his match at a World Wide Wrestling Federation show in Philadelphia Arena. After dodging a few punches, Monsoon put Ali in an airplane spin and dumped him to the mat. Ali stumbled to the corner, where his associate Butch Lewis convinced him to walk away.
On March 31, 1985, Ali was the special guest referee for the main event of the inaugural WrestleMania event.
In 1995, Ali led a group of Japanese and American professional wrestlers, including his 1976 opponent Antonio Inoki and Ric Flair, on a sports diplomacy mission to North Korea. Ali was guest of honor at the record-breaking Collision in Korea, a wrestling event with the largest attendance of all time.
Television appearances
Muhammad Ali's fights were some of the world's most-watched television broadcasts, setting television viewership records. His most-watched fights drew an estimated 12 billion viewers worldwide between 1974 and 1980, and were the world's most-watched live television broadcasts at the time. Outside of fights, he made many other television appearances. The following table lists known viewership figures of his non-fight television appearances. For television viewership figures of his fights, see Boxing career of Muhammad Ali: Television viewership.
Art
Ali was also an amateur artist and made dozens of drawings and paintings in the 1970s. In 1977, Rodney Hilton Brown, who owned an art gallery in NYC, asked Ali if he was interested in painting. Ali took him up on the offer and produced several paintings for him to sell. Brown is the author of “Muhammad Ali: The Untold Story: Painter, Poet and Prophet." In October 2021, 26 of his drawings and arts were placed on auction and sold for close to $1 Million USD.
Later years
In 1984, Ali was diagnosed with Parkinson's Syndrome, which sometimes results from head trauma from violent physical activities such as boxing. Ali still remained active during this time, later participating as a guest referee at WrestleMania I.
Philanthropy, humanitarianism and politics
Ali was known for being a humanitarian and philanthropist. He focused on practicing his Islamic duty of charity and good deeds, donating millions to charity organizations and disadvantaged people of all religious backgrounds. It is estimated that Ali helped to feed more than 22million people afflicted by hunger across the world. Early in his career, one of his main focuses was youth education. He spoke at several historically black colleges and universities about the importance of education, and became the largest single black donor to the United Negro College Fund in 1967 by way of a $10,000 donation ($78,000 in 2020 USD). In late 1966, he also pledged to donate a total of $100,000 to the UNCF (specifically promising to donate much of the proceeds of his title defense against Cleveland Williams), and paid $4,500 per closed circuit installation at six HBCUs so they could watch his fights.
Ali began visiting Africa, starting in 1964 when he visited Nigeria and Ghana. In 1974, he visited a Palestinian refugee camp in Southern Lebanon, where Ali declared "support for the Palestinian struggle to liberate their homeland." In 1978, following his loss to Spinks and before winning the rematch, Ali visited Bangladesh and received honorary citizenship there. The same year, he participated in The Longest Walk, a protest march in the United States in support of Native American rights, along with singer Stevie Wonder and actor Marlon Brando.
In 1980, Ali was recruited by President Jimmy Carter for a diplomatic mission to Africa, in an effort to persuade a number of African governments to join the US-led boycott of the Moscow Olympics (in response to the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan). According to Ali biographer Thomas Hauser, "at best, it was ill-conceived; at worst, a diplomatic disaster." The Tanzanian government was insulted that Carter had sent an athlete to discuss a serious political issue. One official asked whether the United States would "send Chris Evert to negotiate with London." Consequently, Ali was only received by the youth and culture minister, rather than President Julius Nyerere. Ali was unable to explain why the African countries should join the US boycott when it had failed to support the African boycott of the 1976 Olympics (in protest at Apartheid in South Africa), and was unaware that the Soviet Union was sponsoring popular revolutionary movements in Africa. Ali conceded "They didn't tell me about that in America", and complained that Carter had sent him "around the world to take the whupping over American policies." The Nigerian government also rebuffed him and confirmed that they would be participating in the Moscow games. Ali did, however, convince the government of Kenya to boycott the Olympics.
On January 19, 1981, in Los Angeles, Ali talked a suicidal man down from jumping off a ninth-floor ledge, an event that made national news.
In 1984, Ali announced his support for the re-election of United States President Ronald Reagan. When asked to elaborate on his endorsement of Reagan, Ali told reporters, "He's keeping God in schools and that's enough." In 1985, he visited Israel to request the release of Muslim prisoners at Atlit detainee camp, which Israel declined.
Around 1987, the California Bicentennial Foundation for the U.S. Constitution selected Ali to personify the vitality of the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. Ali rode on a float at the following year's Tournament of Roses Parade, launching the U.S. Constitution's 200th birthday commemoration. In 1988, during the First Intifada, Ali participated in a Chicago rally in support of Palestine. The same year, he visited Sudan to raise awareness about the plight of famine victims. According to Politico, Ali supported Orrin Hatch politically. In 1989, he participated in an Indian charity event with the Muslim Educational Society in Kozhikode, Kerala, along with Bollywood actor Dilip Kumar.
In 1990, Ali traveled to Iraq prior to the Gulf War, and met with Saddam Hussein in an attempt to negotiate the release of American hostages. Ali secured the release of the hostages, in exchange for promising Hussein that he would bring America "an honest account" of Iraq. Despite arranging the hostages release, he received criticism from President George H. W. Bush, and Joseph C. Wilson, the highest-ranking American diplomat in Baghdad.Ali cooperated with Thomas Hauser on a biography, Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times. The oral history was published in 1991.
In 1994, Ali campaigned to the United States government to come to the aid of refugees afflicted by the Rwandan genocide, and to donate to organizations helping Rwandan refugees.
In 1996, he lit the flame at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. It was watched by an estimated 3.5billion viewers worldwide.
On November 17, 2002, Ali went to Afghanistan as the "U.N. Messenger of Peace." He was in Kabul for a three-day goodwill mission as a special guest of the UN.
On September 1, 2009, Ali visited Ennis, County Clare, Ireland, the home of his great-grandfather, Abe Grady, who emigrated to the U.S. in the 1860s, eventually settling in Kentucky.
On July 27, 2012, Ali was a titular bearer of the Olympic flag during the opening ceremonies of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. He was helped to his feet by his wife Lonnie to stand before the flag due to his Parkinson's Syndrome rendering him unable to carry it into the stadium. The same year, he was awarded the Philadelphia Liberty Medal in recognition of his lifelong efforts in activism, philanthropy and humanitarianism.
Earnings
By 1978, Ali's total fight purse earnings were estimated to be nearly $60million (inflation-adjusted ), including an estimated $47.45million grossed between 1970 and 1978. By 1980, his total fight purse earnings were estimated to be up to $70million (inflation-adjusted $million).
In 1978, Ali revealed that he was "broke" and several news outlets reported his net worth to be an estimated (inflation-adjusted $million). The press attributed his decline in wealth to several factors, including taxes consuming at least half of his income, management taking a third of his income, his lifestyle, and spending on family, charity and religious causes.
In 2006, Ali sold his name and image for $50million, after which Forbes estimated his net worth to be $55million in 2006. Following his death in 2016, his fortune was estimated to be between $50million and $80million.
Declining health
Ali's bout with Parkinson's Syndrome led to a gradual decline in his health, though he was still active into the early years of the millennium, promoting his own biopic, Ali, in 2001. That year he also contributed an on-camera segment to the America: A Tribute to Heroes benefit concert.
In 1998, Ali began working with actor Michael J. Fox, who has Parkinson's disease, to raise awareness and fund research for a cure. They made a joint appearance before Congress to push the case in 2002. In 2000, Ali worked with the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Disease to raise awareness and encourage donations for research.
In February 2013, Ali's brother Rahman Ali said Muhammad could no longer speak and could be dead within days. Ali's daughter May May Ali responded to the rumors, stating that she had talked to him on the phone the morning of February 3 and he was fine. On December 20, 2014, Ali was hospitalized for a mild case of pneumonia. Ali was once again hospitalized on January 15, 2015, for a urinary tract infection after being found unresponsive at a guest house in Scottsdale, Arizona. He was released the next day.
Death
Ali was hospitalized in Scottsdale, Arizona, on June 2, 2016, with a respiratory illness. Though his condition was initially described as fair, it worsened, and he died the following day at the age of 74 from septic shock.
News coverage and tributes
Following Ali's death, he was the number-one trending topic on Twitter for over 12 hours and on Facebook for several days. BET played their documentary Muhammad Ali: Made In Miami. ESPN played four hours of non-stop commercial-free coverage of Ali. News networks, such as ABC News, BBC, CNN, and Fox News, also covered him extensively.
He was mourned globally, and a family spokesman said the family "certainly believes that Muhammad was a citizen of the world ... and they know that the world grieves with him." Politicians such as Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, Donald Trump, David Cameron and more paid tribute to Ali. Ali also received numerous tributes from the world of sports including Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Floyd Mayweather, Mike Tyson, the Miami Marlins, LeBron James, Steph Curry and more. Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer stated, "Muhammad Ali belongs to the world. But he only has one hometown."
The day after Ali's death, the UFC paid tribute to Ali at their UFC 199 event in a lengthy video tribute package, crediting Ali for his accomplishments and inspiring multiple UFC champions.
Memorial
Ali's funeral had been pre-planned by himself and others for several years prior to his actual death. The services began in Louisville on June 9, 2016, with an Islamic Janazah prayer service at Freedom Hall on the grounds of the Kentucky Exposition Center. On June 10, 2016, the funeral procession passed through the streets of Louisville ending at Cave Hill Cemetery, where his body was interred during a private ceremony. A public memorial service for Ali at downtown Louisville's KFC Yum! Center was held during the afternoon of June 10. The pallbearers included Will Smith, Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson, with honorary pallbearers including George Chuvalo, Larry Holmes and George Foreman. Ali's memorial was watched by an estimated 1billion viewers worldwide.
Legacy
Ali remains the only three-time lineal heavyweight champion. He is the only boxer to be named The Ring magazine Fighter of the Year six times, and was involved in more Ring "Fight of the Year" bouts than any other fighter. He was one of only three boxers to be named "Sportsman of the Year" by Sports Illustrated. Muhammad Ali was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in its first year and held wins over seven other Hall of Fame inductees during an era that has been called the golden age of heavyweight boxing. The Associated Press ranked him as the second best boxer and best heavyweight of the 20th century. His joint records of beating 21 boxers for the world heavyweight title and winning 14 unified title bouts stood for 35 years.
In 1978, three years before Ali's permanent retirement, the Louisville Board of Aldermen in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, voted 6–5 to rename Walnut Street to Muhammad Ali Boulevard. This was controversial at the time, as within a week 12 of the 70 street signs were stolen. Earlier that year, a committee of the Jefferson County Public Schools (Kentucky) considered renaming Ali's alma mater, Central High School, in his honor, but the motion failed to pass. In time, Muhammad Ali Boulevard—and Ali himself—came to be well accepted in his hometown.
Ali was named one of the 100 most influential Americans of the 20th century by Life magazine in 1990.
In 1993, the Associated Press reported that Ali was tied with Babe Ruth as the most recognized athlete, out of over 800 dead or living athletes, in America. The study found that over 97% of Americans over 12 years of age identified both Ali and Ruth. He was the recipient of the 1997 Arthur Ashe Courage Award.
At the end of the 20th century he was ranked at or near the top of most lists of the century's greatest athletes. He was crowned Sportsman of the Century by Sports Illustrated. Named BBC's Sports Personality of the Century, he received more votes than the other five candidates combined. He was named Athlete of the Century by USA Today, and ranked as the third greatest athlete of the 20th century by ESPN SportsCentury. Ali was named "Kentucky Athlete of the Century" by the Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame in ceremonies at the Galt House East.
In 1999, Time magazine named Ali one of the 100 Most Important People of the 20th Century.
On January 8, 2001, Muhammad Ali was presented with the Presidential Citizens Medal by President Bill Clinton. In November 2005, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush, followed by the Otto Hahn Peace Medal in Gold of the UN Association of Germany (DGVN) in Berlin for his work with the civil rights movement and the United Nations, which he received on December 17, 2005.
On November 19, 2005, Ali and his wife Lonnie Ali opened the $60million non-profit Muhammad Ali Center in downtown Louisville. In addition to displaying his boxing memorabilia, the center focuses on core themes of peace, social responsibility, respect, and personal growth. On June 5, 2007, he received an honorary doctorate of humanities at Princeton University's 260th graduation ceremony.
Ali Mall, located in Araneta Center, Quezon City, Philippines, is named after him. Construction of the mall, the first of its kind in the Philippines, began shortly after Ali's victory in a match with Joe Frazier in nearby Araneta Coliseum in 1975. The mall opened in 1976 with Ali attending its opening.
The 1976 Muhammad Ali vs. Antonio Inoki fight played an important role in the history of mixed martial arts. In Japan, the match inspired Inoki's students Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki to found Pancrase in 1993, which in turn inspired the foundation of Pride Fighting Championships in 1997. Pride was acquired by its rival, Ultimate Fighting Championship, in 2007.
The Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act was introduced in 1999 and passed in 2000, to protect the rights and welfare of boxers in the United States. In May 2016, a bill was introduced to United States Congress by Markwayne Mullin, a politician and former MMA fighter, to extend the Ali Act to mixed martial arts. In June 2016, US senator Rand Paul proposed an amendment to the US draft laws named after Ali, a proposal to eliminate the Selective Service System.
In 2015, Sports Illustrated renamed its Sportsman Legacy Award to the Sports Illustrateds Muhammad Ali Legacy Award. The annual award was originally created in 2008 and honors former "sports figures who embody the ideals of sportsmanship, leadership and philanthropy as vehicles for changing the world." Ali first appeared on the magazine's cover in 1963 and went on to be featured on numerous covers during his storied career.
On January 13, 2017, seven months or so after Ali's death, and 4 days before what would have been his 75th birthday, the Muhammad Ali Commemorative Coin Act was introduced into the 115th Congress (2017–2019), as H.R. 579 (House of Representatives) and as S. 166 (Senate). However, both "died" within 10 days.
In the media and popular culture
As a world champion boxer, social activist, sex symbol and pop culture icon, Ali was the subject of numerous creative works including books, films, music, video games, TV shows, and other. Muhammad Ali was often dubbed the world's "most famous" person in the media. Several of his fights were watched by an estimated 12 billion viewers between 1974 and 1980, and his lighting of the torch at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics was watched by an estimated 3.5billion viewers.
Ali appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated on 38 different occasions, second only to Michael Jordan's 46. He also appeared on the cover of Time Magazine 5 times, the most of any athlete. In 2015, Harris Poll found that Ali was one of the three most recognizable athletes in the United States, along with Michael Jordan and Babe Ruth.
Martial artist and actor Bruce Lee was influenced by Ali, whose footwork he studied and incorporated into his own style while developing Jeet Kune Do in the 1960s.
On the set of Freedom Road Ali met Canadian singer-songwriter Michel, and subsequently helped create Michel's album The First Flight of the Gizzelda Dragon and an unaired television special featuring them both.
Ali was the subject of the British television program This Is Your Life in 1978 when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews. Ali was featured in Superman vs. Muhammad Ali, a 1978 DC Comics comic book pitting the champ against the superhero. In 1979, Ali guest-starred as himself in an episode of the NBC sitcom Diff'rent Strokes. The show's title itself was inspired by the quote "Different strokes for different folks" popularized in 1966 by Ali, who also inspired the title of the 1967 Syl Johnson song "Different Strokes", one of the most sampled songs in pop music history.
He also wrote several bestselling books about his career, including The Greatest: My Own Story and The Soul of a Butterfly. The Muhammad Ali effect, named after Ali, is a term that came into use in psychology in the 1980s, as he stated in The Greatest: My Own Story: "I only said I was the greatest, not the smartest." According to this effect, when people are asked to rate their intelligence and moral behavior in comparison to others, people will rate themselves as more moral, but not more intelligent than others.
When We Were Kings, a 1996 documentary about the Rumble in the Jungle, won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. The 2001 biopic Ali garnered a Best Actor Oscar nomination for Will Smith for his portrayal of Ali. Prior to making the film, Smith rejected the role until Ali requested that he accept it. Smith said the first thing Ali told him was: "Man, you're almost pretty enough to play me."
In 2002, Ali was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to the entertainment industry. His star is the only one to be mounted on a vertical surface, out of deference to his request that the name Muhammad—a name he shares with the Islamic prophet—not be walked upon.
His 1966 fight against George Chuvalo was the subject of Joseph Blasioli's 2003 documentary film The Last Round: Chuvalo vs. Ali.
The Trials of Muhammad Ali, a documentary directed by Bill Siegel that focuses on Ali's refusal of the draft during the Vietnam War, opened in Manhattan on August 23, 2013. A 2013 made-for-TV movie titled Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight dramatized the same aspect of Ali's life.
Antoine Fuqua's documentary What's My Name: Muhammad Ali was released in 2019.
Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns created the four-part documentary film Muhammad Ali, spanning over eight hours on Ali's entire life. Burns worked on the film since early 2016. It is scheduled to release in September 2021 on PBS. Dave Zirin who watched an 8 hour rough cut of this documentary called it "utterly outstanding" and said "the footage they found will blow minds".
Discography
I Am the Greatest (1963)
The Adventures of Ali and His Gang vs. Mr. Tooth Decay (1976)
See also
List of heavyweight boxing champions
List of WBA world champions
List of WBC world champions
List of The Ring world champions
List of undisputed boxing champions
Converts to Islam
Notable boxing families
List of people from the Louisville metropolitan area
List of North American Muslims
African-American Muslims
1981 MAPS Wells Fargo embezzlement scandal
Notes
References
Further reading
Online
Muhammad Ali: American boxer, in Encyclopædia Britannica Online, by Thomas Hauser, Adam Augustyn, Piyush Bhathya, Yamini Chauhan, John M. Cunningham, Richard Pallardy, Michael Ray, Emily Rodriguez, Surabhi Sinha, Amy Tikkanen, Grace Young and The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
External links
Official website (archived)
William Addams Reitwiesner Genealogical Services: Ancestry of Muhammad Ali
FBI Records: The Vault – Muhammad Ali at the FBI
Cassius Clay Guilty (1967), Texas Archive of the Moving Image
Photo essays'''
1942 births
2016 deaths
20th-century American rappers
20th-century Muslims
21st-century Muslims
Activists for African-American civil rights
Activists from Kentucky
African-American activists
African-American boxers
African-American male rappers
African-American Muslims
African-American poets
African-American Sunni Muslims
American anti–Vietnam War activists
American conscientious objectors
American former Protestants
American humanitarians
American male boxers
American male poets
American male rappers
American Muslim activists
American people of Irish descent
American people of Malagasy descent
American philanthropists
American spoken word poets
American Sufis
BBC Sports Personality World Sport Star of the Year winners
Boxers at the 1960 Summer Olympics
Boxers from Arizona
Boxers from Chicago
Boxers from Louisville, Kentucky
Boxers from New Jersey
Burials at Cave Hill Cemetery
Central High School (Louisville, Kentucky) alumni
COINTELPRO targets
Columbia Records artists
Converts to Sunni Islam from Protestantism
Deaths from sepsis
Former Nation of Islam members
International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees
Medalists at the 1960 Summer Olympics
Neurological disease deaths in Arizona
Olympic boxers of the United States
Olympic cauldron lighters
Olympic gold medalists for the United States in boxing
Overturned convictions in the United States
People from Cherry Hill, New Jersey
People from Paradise Valley, Arizona
People with Parkinson's disease
People with traumatic brain injuries
Poets from Arizona
Poets from Kentucky
Poets from New Jersey
Presidential Citizens Medal recipients
Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients
Professional wrestling referees
Rappers from Kentucky
Sportspeople from Camden County, New Jersey
Sportspeople from the Phoenix metropolitan area
The Ring (magazine) champions
Vietnam War draft evaders
Winners of the United States Championship for amateur boxers
World Boxing Association champions
World Boxing Council champions
World heavyweight boxing champions
Writers from Louisville, Kentucky | true | [
"Maciej Zień (Maciej Zień; born April 24, 1979 in Lublin, Poland) is a Polish fashion designer.\n\nBiography\nZień’s career started when as a teenager he presented his collection Provocations in Lublin. He admits that he had a lot of luck. “But what counts most is stubbornness...putting your heart into what you’re doing.”\n\nMaciej Zień has made a brilliant career—his clothes were worn by former First Lady of Poland Jolanta Kwaśniewska, soprano Ewa Małas-Godlewska, Polish pop singer Kayah and businesswoman Anna Starak. “Fashion has always been my great passion,” says Zień. “I decided what I wanted to do in life when I opened my atelier. It was created with single, expensive creations in mind, but it started to develop after a while.” Zień is also preparing a less expensive pret-a-porter collection and gradually creating a network of boutiques. Garments with a Mat Alex or Maciej Zień label can be bought in London and Geneva, and will soon appear in Monte Carlo.\n\nZień is the only Polish designer whose work has been shown at the National Museum. “My biggest success was working with Patricia Kaas. I went to her concert in Riga; we started to talk and this is how it all started.” Zień has also designed a VIP room for the club Utopia, and costumes for a play. His passion is designing interiors and accessories.\n\nReferences\nInfo\n \n\nPolish fashion designers\n1979 births\nLiving people\nLGBT people from Poland\nLGBT fashion designers",
"Fabricio Bassa (born 2 August 1979 in Uruguay) is a Uruguayan football manager who last worked as director of Atlas in Mexico.\n\nCareer\n\nBassa started his managerial career with Sportivo Iteño. In 2015, he was appointed head coach of Club Guaraní in the Paraguayan Primera División, a position he held until 2016.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Fabricio Bassa: \"What project are you talking about if you get coaches to the third game\" \n \"Record in dismissal of technicians\" \n Fabricio Bassa is already preparing what will be his entry into big football\n Who is Fabricio Bassa? Aboriginal DT Profile\n Fabricio Bassa: \"Rafael Márquez was a fundamental piece for the arrival of reinforcements\" \n\n1979 births\nLiving people\nUruguayan football managers\nUruguayan expatriate football managers\nExpatriate football managers in Paraguay\nClub Guaraní managers"
] | [
"Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer, activist, entertainer, poet and philanthropist. Nicknamed The Greatest, he is widely regarded as one of the most significant and celebrated sports figures of the 20th century, and is frequently ranked as the greatest heavyweight boxer of all time. In 1999, he was named Sportsman of the Century by Sports Illustrated and the Sports Personality of the Century by the BBC.",
"In 1999, he was named Sportsman of the Century by Sports Illustrated and the Sports Personality of the Century by the BBC. Born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, he began training as an amateur boxer at age 12. At 18, he won a gold medal in the light heavyweight division at the 1960 Summer Olympics and turned professional later that year. He became a Muslim after 1961. He won the world heavyweight championship from Sonny Liston in a major upset on February 25, 1964, at age 22.",
"He won the world heavyweight championship from Sonny Liston in a major upset on February 25, 1964, at age 22. Also that year, he renounced his birth name as a \"slave name\" and formally became known as Muhammad Ali. In 1966, Ali refused to be drafted into the military owing to his religious beliefs and ethical opposition to the Vietnam War and was found guilty of draft evasion and stripped of his boxing titles.",
"In 1966, Ali refused to be drafted into the military owing to his religious beliefs and ethical opposition to the Vietnam War and was found guilty of draft evasion and stripped of his boxing titles. He stayed out of prison while appealing the decision to the Supreme Court, where his conviction was overturned in 1971. However, he had not fought for nearly four years by this point and had lost a period of peak performance as an athlete.",
"However, he had not fought for nearly four years by this point and had lost a period of peak performance as an athlete. Ali's actions as a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War made him an icon for the larger 1960s counterculture generation, and he was a very high-profile figure of racial pride for African Americans during the civil rights movement and throughout his career. As a Muslim, Ali was initially affiliated with Elijah Muhammad's Nation of Islam (NOI).",
"As a Muslim, Ali was initially affiliated with Elijah Muhammad's Nation of Islam (NOI). He later disavowed the NOI, adhering to Sunni Islam, and supported racial integration like his former mentor Malcolm X. He fought in several historic boxing matches, such as his highly publicized fights with Sonny Liston, Joe Frazier (including the Fight of the Century, the biggest boxing event up until then), the Thrilla in Manila, and his fight with George Foreman in The Rumble in the Jungle.",
"He fought in several historic boxing matches, such as his highly publicized fights with Sonny Liston, Joe Frazier (including the Fight of the Century, the biggest boxing event up until then), the Thrilla in Manila, and his fight with George Foreman in The Rumble in the Jungle. Ali thrived in the spotlight at a time when many boxers let their managers do the talking, and he became renowned for his provocative and outlandish persona.",
"Ali thrived in the spotlight at a time when many boxers let their managers do the talking, and he became renowned for his provocative and outlandish persona. He was known for trash-talking, and often free-styled with rhyme schemes and spoken word poetry incorporating elements of hip hop, and often predicted in which round he would knockout his opponent. Outside boxing, Ali attained success as a spoken word artist, releasing two studio albums: I Am the Greatest!",
"Outside boxing, Ali attained success as a spoken word artist, releasing two studio albums: I Am the Greatest! (1963) and The Adventures of Ali and His Gang vs. Mr. Tooth Decay (1976). Both albums received Grammy Award nominations. He also featured as an actor and writer, releasing two autobiographies. Ali retired from boxing in 1981 and focused on religion, philanthropy and activism.",
"Ali retired from boxing in 1981 and focused on religion, philanthropy and activism. In 1984, he made public his diagnosis of Parkinson's syndrome, which some reports attributed to boxing-related injuries, though he and his specialist physicians disputed this. He remained an active public figure globally, but in his later years made fewer public appearances as his condition worsened, and he was cared for by his family. Ali died on June 3, 2016.",
"Ali died on June 3, 2016. Ali died on June 3, 2016. Early life and amateur career Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. ( ) was born on January 17, 1942, in Louisville, Kentucky. He had one brother. He was named after his father, Cassius Marcellus Clay Sr., who had a sister and four brothers and who himself was named in honor of the 19th-century Republican politician and staunch abolitionist Cassius Marcellus Clay, also from the state of Kentucky.",
"He was named after his father, Cassius Marcellus Clay Sr., who had a sister and four brothers and who himself was named in honor of the 19th-century Republican politician and staunch abolitionist Cassius Marcellus Clay, also from the state of Kentucky. Clay's father's paternal grandparents were John Clay and Sallie Anne Clay; Clay's sister Eva claimed that Sallie was a native of Madagascar. He was a descendant of slaves of the antebellum South, and was predominantly of African descent, with some Irish and English family heritage.",
"He was a descendant of slaves of the antebellum South, and was predominantly of African descent, with some Irish and English family heritage. Ali's maternal great-grandfather, Abe Grady, emigrated from Ennis, Co. Clare, Ireland.",
"Ali's maternal great-grandfather, Abe Grady, emigrated from Ennis, Co. Clare, Ireland. DNA testing performed in 2018 showed that, through his paternal grandmother, Ali was a descendant of the former slave Archer Alexander, who had been chosen from the building crew as the model of a freed man for the Emancipation Memorial, and was the subject of abolitionist William Greenleaf Eliot's book, The Story of Archer Alexander: From Slavery to Freedom. Like Ali, Alexander fought for his freedom.",
"Like Ali, Alexander fought for his freedom. Like Ali, Alexander fought for his freedom. His father was a sign and billboard painter, and his mother, Odessa O'Grady Clay (1917–1994), was a domestic helper. Although Cassius Sr. was a Methodist, he allowed Odessa to bring up both Cassius Jr. and his younger brother, Rudolph \"Rudy\" Clay (later renamed Rahman Ali), as Baptists. Cassius Jr. attended Central High School in Louisville.",
"Cassius Jr. attended Central High School in Louisville. Cassius Jr. attended Central High School in Louisville. He was dyslexic, which led to difficulties in reading and writing, at school and for much of his life. Ali grew up amid racial segregation. His mother recalled one occasion when he was denied a drink of water at a store: \"They wouldn't give him one because of his color. That really affected him.\"",
"That really affected him.\" That really affected him.\" He was also strongly affected by the 1955 murder of Emmett Till, which led to young Clay and a friend taking out their frustration by vandalizing a local rail yard. His daughter Hana later wrote that Ali once told her, \"Nothing would ever shake me up (more) than the story of Emmett Till.\"",
"His daughter Hana later wrote that Ali once told her, \"Nothing would ever shake me up (more) than the story of Emmett Till.\" Ali was first directed toward boxing by Louisville police officer and boxing coach Joe E. Martin, who encountered the 12-year-old fuming over a thief's having taken his bicycle. He told the officer he was going to \"whup\" the thief. The officer told Clay he had better learn how to box first.",
"The officer told Clay he had better learn how to box first. Initially, Clay did not take up Martin's offer, but after seeing amateur boxers on a local television boxing program called Tomorrow's Champions, Clay was interested in the prospect of fighting. He then began to work with trainer Fred Stoner, whom he credits with giving him the \"real training\", eventually molding \"my style, my stamina and my system.\"",
"He then began to work with trainer Fred Stoner, whom he credits with giving him the \"real training\", eventually molding \"my style, my stamina and my system.\" For the last four years of Clay's amateur career he was trained by boxing cutman Chuck Bodak. Clay made his amateur boxing debut in 1954 against local amateur boxer Ronnie O'Keefe. He won by split decision.",
"He won by split decision. He won by split decision. He went on to win six Kentucky Golden Gloves titles, two national Golden Gloves titles, an Amateur Athletic Union national title, and the light heavyweight gold medal in the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. Clay's amateur record was 100 wins with five losses.",
"Clay's amateur record was 100 wins with five losses. Ali said in his 1975 autobiography that shortly after his return from the Rome Olympics, he threw his gold medal into the Ohio River after he and a friend were refused service at a \"whites-only\" restaurant and fought with a white gang. The story was later disputed, and several of Ali's friends, including Bundini Brown and photographer Howard Bingham, denied it. Brown told Sports Illustrated writer Mark Kram, \"Honkies sure bought into that one!\"",
"Brown told Sports Illustrated writer Mark Kram, \"Honkies sure bought into that one!\" Thomas Hauser's biography of Ali stated that Ali was refused service at the diner but that he lost his medal a year after he won it. Ali received a replacement medal at a basketball intermission during the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, where he lit the torch to start the games. Early professional boxing career Early career Clay made his professional debut on October 29, 1960, winning a six-round decision over Tunney Hunsaker.",
"Early professional boxing career Early career Clay made his professional debut on October 29, 1960, winning a six-round decision over Tunney Hunsaker. From then until the end of 1963, Clay amassed a record of 19–0 with 15 wins by knockout. He defeated boxers including Tony Esperti, Jim Robinson, Donnie Fleeman, Alonzo Johnson, George Logan, Willi Besmanoff, LaMar Clark, Doug Jones and Henry Cooper. Clay also beat his former trainer and veteran boxer Archie Moore in a 1962 match. These early fights were not without trials.",
"These early fights were not without trials. These early fights were not without trials. Clay was knocked down by both Sonny Banks and Cooper. In the Cooper fight, Clay was floored by a left hook at the end of round four and was saved by the bell, going on to win in the predicted 5th round due to Cooper's severely cut eye. The fight with Doug Jones on March 13, 1963 was Clay's toughest fight during this stretch.",
"The fight with Doug Jones on March 13, 1963 was Clay's toughest fight during this stretch. The number two and three heavyweight contenders respectively, Clay and Jones fought on Jones' home turf at New York's Madison Square Garden. Jones staggered Clay in the first round, and the unanimous decision for Clay was greeted by boos and a rain of debris thrown into the ring. Watching on closed-circuit TV, heavyweight champ Sonny Liston quipped that if he fought Clay he might get locked up for murder.",
"Watching on closed-circuit TV, heavyweight champ Sonny Liston quipped that if he fought Clay he might get locked up for murder. The fight was later named \"Fight of the Year\" by The Ring magazine. In each of these fights, Clay vocally belittled his opponents and vaunted his abilities. He called Jones \"an ugly little man\" and Cooper a \"bum\". He said he was embarrassed to get in the ring with Alex Miteff and claimed that Madison Square Garden was \"too small for me.\"",
"He said he was embarrassed to get in the ring with Alex Miteff and claimed that Madison Square Garden was \"too small for me.\" Ali's trash-talk was inspired by professional wrestler \"Gorgeous George\" Wagner's, after he saw George's talking ability attract huge crowds to events.",
"Ali's trash-talk was inspired by professional wrestler \"Gorgeous George\" Wagner's, after he saw George's talking ability attract huge crowds to events. Ali stated in a 1969 interview with the Associated Press' Hubert Mizel that he met with George in Las Vegas in 1961, that George told him that talking a big game would earn paying fans who either wanted to see him win or wanted to see him lose, thus Ali transformed himself into a self-described \"big-mouth and a bragger\".",
"Ali stated in a 1969 interview with the Associated Press' Hubert Mizel that he met with George in Las Vegas in 1961, that George told him that talking a big game would earn paying fans who either wanted to see him win or wanted to see him lose, thus Ali transformed himself into a self-described \"big-mouth and a bragger\". In 1960, Clay left Moore's camp, partially due to Clay's refusal to do chores such as washing dishes and sweeping.",
"In 1960, Clay left Moore's camp, partially due to Clay's refusal to do chores such as washing dishes and sweeping. To replace Moore, Clay hired Angelo Dundee to be his trainer. Clay had met Dundee in February 1957 during Clay's amateur career. Around this time, Clay sought longtime idol Sugar Ray Robinson to be his manager, but was rebuffed. World heavyweight champion Fights against Liston By late 1963, Clay had become the top contender for Sonny Liston's title.",
"World heavyweight champion Fights against Liston By late 1963, Clay had become the top contender for Sonny Liston's title. The fight was set for February 25, 1964, in Miami Beach. Liston was an intimidating personality, a dominating fighter with a criminal past and ties to the mob. Based on Clay's uninspired performance against Jones and Cooper in his previous two fights, and Liston's destruction of former heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson in two first-round knockouts, Clay was a 7–1 underdog.",
"Based on Clay's uninspired performance against Jones and Cooper in his previous two fights, and Liston's destruction of former heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson in two first-round knockouts, Clay was a 7–1 underdog. Despite this, Clay taunted Liston during the pre-fight buildup, dubbing him \"the big ugly bear\", stating \"Liston even smells like a bear\" and claiming \"After I beat him I'm going to donate him to the zoo.\"",
"Despite this, Clay taunted Liston during the pre-fight buildup, dubbing him \"the big ugly bear\", stating \"Liston even smells like a bear\" and claiming \"After I beat him I'm going to donate him to the zoo.\" Clay turned the pre-fight weigh-in into a circus, shouting at Liston that \"someone is going to die at ringside tonight.\" Clay's pulse rate was measured at 120, more than double his normal 54.",
"Clay's pulse rate was measured at 120, more than double his normal 54. Many of those in attendance thought Clay's behavior stemmed from fear, and some commentators wondered if he would show up for the bout. The outcome of the fight was a major upset. At the opening bell, Liston rushed at Clay, seemingly angry and looking for a quick knockout. However, Clay's superior speed and mobility enabled him to elude Liston, making the champion miss and look awkward.",
"However, Clay's superior speed and mobility enabled him to elude Liston, making the champion miss and look awkward. At the end of the first round, Clay opened up his attack and hit Liston repeatedly with jabs. Liston fought better in round two, but at the beginning of the third round Clay hit Liston with a combination that buckled his knees and opened a cut under his left eye. This was the first time Liston had ever been cut.",
"This was the first time Liston had ever been cut. At the end of round four, Clay was returning to his corner when he began experiencing blinding pain in his eyes and asked his trainer, Angelo Dundee, to cut off his gloves. Dundee refused. It has been speculated that the problem was due to ointment used to seal Liston's cuts, perhaps deliberately applied by his corner to his gloves.",
"It has been speculated that the problem was due to ointment used to seal Liston's cuts, perhaps deliberately applied by his corner to his gloves. Though unconfirmed, boxing historian Bert Sugar said that two of Liston's opponents also complained about their eyes \"burning\". Despite Liston's attempts to knock out a blinded Clay, Clay was able to survive the fifth round until sweat and tears rinsed the irritation from his eyes. In the sixth, Clay dominated, hitting Liston repeatedly.",
"In the sixth, Clay dominated, hitting Liston repeatedly. Liston did not answer the bell for the seventh round, and Clay was declared the winner by TKO. Liston stated that the reason he quit was an injured shoulder. Following the win, a triumphant Clay rushed to the edge of the ring and, pointing to the ringside press, shouted: \"Eat your words!\" He added, \"I am the greatest! I shook up the world. I'm the prettiest thing that ever lived.\"",
"I'm the prettiest thing that ever lived.\" I'm the prettiest thing that ever lived.\" At ringside post fight, Clay appeared unconvinced that the fight was stopped due to a Liston shoulder injury, saying that the only injury Liston had was \"an open eye, a big cut eye!\" When told by Joe Louis that the injury was a \"left arm thrown out of its socket,\" Clay quipped, \"Yeah, swinging at nothing, who wouldn't?\"",
"When told by Joe Louis that the injury was a \"left arm thrown out of its socket,\" Clay quipped, \"Yeah, swinging at nothing, who wouldn't?\" In winning this fight at the age of 22, Clay became the youngest boxer to take the title from a reigning heavyweight champion. However, Floyd Patterson remained the youngest to win the heavyweight championship, doing so at the age 21 during an elimination bout following Rocky Marciano's retirement.",
"However, Floyd Patterson remained the youngest to win the heavyweight championship, doing so at the age 21 during an elimination bout following Rocky Marciano's retirement. Mike Tyson broke both records in 1986 when he defeated Trevor Berbick to win the heavyweight title at age 20. Soon after the Liston fight, Clay changed his name to Cassius X, and then later to Muhammad Ali upon converting to Islam and affiliating with the Nation of Islam. Ali then faced a rematch with Liston scheduled for May 1965 in Lewiston, Maine.",
"Ali then faced a rematch with Liston scheduled for May 1965 in Lewiston, Maine. It had been scheduled for Boston the previous November, but was postponed for six months due to Ali's emergency surgery for a hernia three days before. The fight was controversial. Midway through the first round, Liston was knocked down by a difficult-to-see blow the press dubbed a \"phantom punch\". Referee Jersey Joe Walcott did not begin the count immediately after the knockdown, as Ali refused to retreat to a neutral corner.",
"Referee Jersey Joe Walcott did not begin the count immediately after the knockdown, as Ali refused to retreat to a neutral corner. Liston rose after he had been down for about 20 seconds, and the fight momentarily continued. However a few seconds later Walcott, having been informed by the timekeepers that Liston had been down for a count of 10, stopped the match and declared Ali the winner by knockout. The entire fight lasted less than two minutes. It has since been speculated that Liston purposely dropped to the ground.",
"It has since been speculated that Liston purposely dropped to the ground. Proposed motivations include threats on his life from the Nation of Islam, that he had bet against himself and that he \"took a dive\" to pay off debts. Slow-motion replays show that Liston was jarred by a chopping right from Ali, although it is unclear whether the blow was a genuine knockout punch. Fight against Patterson Ali defended his title against former heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson on November 22, 1965.",
"Fight against Patterson Ali defended his title against former heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson on November 22, 1965. Before the match, Ali mocked Patterson, who was widely known to call him by his former name Cassius Clay, as an \"Uncle Tom\", calling him \"The Rabbit\". Although Ali clearly had the better of Patterson, who appeared injured during the fight, the match lasted 12 rounds before being called on a technical knockout. Patterson later said he had strained his sacroiliac.",
"Patterson later said he had strained his sacroiliac. Patterson later said he had strained his sacroiliac. Ali was criticized in the sports media for appearing to have toyed with Patterson during the fight. Patterson biographer W. K. Stratton claims that the conflict between Ali and Patterson was not genuine but was staged to increase ticket sales and the closed-circuit viewing audience, with both men complicit in the theatrics.",
"Patterson biographer W. K. Stratton claims that the conflict between Ali and Patterson was not genuine but was staged to increase ticket sales and the closed-circuit viewing audience, with both men complicit in the theatrics. Stratton also cites an interview by Howard Cosell in which Ali explained that rather than toying with Patterson, he refrained from knocking him out after it became apparent Patterson was injured. Patterson later said that he had never been hit by punches as soft as Ali's.",
"Patterson later said that he had never been hit by punches as soft as Ali's. Stratton states that Ali arranged the second fight, in 1972, with the financially struggling Patterson to help the former champion earn enough money to pay a debt to the IRS. Main Bout After the Patterson fight, Ali founded his own promotion company, Main Bout. The company mainly handled Ali's boxing promotions and pay-per-view closed-circuit television broadcasts.",
"The company mainly handled Ali's boxing promotions and pay-per-view closed-circuit television broadcasts. The company's stockholders were mainly fellow Nation of Islam members, along with several others, including Bob Arum. Ali and then-WBA heavyweight champion boxer Ernie Terrell had agreed to meet for a bout in Chicago on March 29, 1966 (the WBA, one of two boxing associations, had stripped Ali of his title following his joining the Nation of Islam).",
"Ali and then-WBA heavyweight champion boxer Ernie Terrell had agreed to meet for a bout in Chicago on March 29, 1966 (the WBA, one of two boxing associations, had stripped Ali of his title following his joining the Nation of Islam). But in February Ali was reclassified by the Louisville draft board as 1-A from 1-Y, and he indicated that he would refuse to serve, commenting to the press, \"I ain't got nothing against no Viet Cong; no Viet Cong never called me nigger.\"",
"But in February Ali was reclassified by the Louisville draft board as 1-A from 1-Y, and he indicated that he would refuse to serve, commenting to the press, \"I ain't got nothing against no Viet Cong; no Viet Cong never called me nigger.\" Amidst the media and public outcry over Ali's stance, the Illinois Athletic Commission refused to sanction the fight, citing technicalities. Instead, Ali traveled to Canada and Europe and won championship bouts against George Chuvalo, Henry Cooper, Brian London and Karl Mildenberger.",
"Instead, Ali traveled to Canada and Europe and won championship bouts against George Chuvalo, Henry Cooper, Brian London and Karl Mildenberger. Ali returned to the United States to fight Cleveland Williams in the Houston Astrodome on November 14, 1966. The bout drew a record-breaking indoor crowd of 35,460 people. Williams had once been considered among the hardest punchers in the heavyweight division, but in 1964 he had been shot at point-blank range by a Texas policeman, resulting in the loss of one kidney and of his small intestine.",
"Williams had once been considered among the hardest punchers in the heavyweight division, but in 1964 he had been shot at point-blank range by a Texas policeman, resulting in the loss of one kidney and of his small intestine. Ali dominated Williams, winning a third-round technical knockout in what some consider the finest performance of his career. Ali fought Terrell in Houston on February 6, 1967.",
"Ali fought Terrell in Houston on February 6, 1967. Terrell, who was unbeaten in five years and had defeated many of the boxers Ali had faced, was billed as Ali's toughest opponent since Liston; he was big, strong and had a three-inch reach advantage over Ali. During the lead up to the bout, Terrell repeatedly called Ali \"Clay\", much to Ali's annoyance. The two almost came to blows over the name issue in a pre-fight interview with Howard Cosell.",
"The two almost came to blows over the name issue in a pre-fight interview with Howard Cosell. Ali seemed intent on humiliating Terrell. \"I want to torture him\", he said. \"A clean knockout is too good for him.\" The fight was close until the seventh round, when Ali bloodied Terrell and almost knocked him out. In the eighth round, Ali taunted Terrell, hitting him with jabs and shouting between punches, \"What's my name, Uncle Tom ... what's my name?\"",
"In the eighth round, Ali taunted Terrell, hitting him with jabs and shouting between punches, \"What's my name, Uncle Tom ... what's my name?\" Ali won a unanimous 15-round decision. Terrell claimed that early in the fight Ali deliberately thumbed him in the eye, forcing him to fight half-blind, and then, in a clinch, rubbed the wounded eye against the ropes.",
"Terrell claimed that early in the fight Ali deliberately thumbed him in the eye, forcing him to fight half-blind, and then, in a clinch, rubbed the wounded eye against the ropes. Because of Ali's apparent intent to prolong the fight to inflict maximum punishment, critics described the bout as \"one of the ugliest boxing fights.\" Tex Maule later wrote: \"It was a wonderful demonstration of boxing skill and a barbarous display of cruelty.\"",
"Tex Maule later wrote: \"It was a wonderful demonstration of boxing skill and a barbarous display of cruelty.\" Ali denied the accusations of cruelty but, for Ali's critics, the fight provided more evidence of his arrogance. After Ali's title defense against Zora Folley on March 22, he was stripped of his title due to his refusal to be drafted to army service. His boxing license was also suspended by the state of New York.",
"His boxing license was also suspended by the state of New York. He was convicted of draft evasion on June 20 and sentenced to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. He paid a bond and remained free while the verdict was being appealed. Vietnam War and resistance to the draft Ali registered for conscription in the United States military on his 18th birthday and was listed as 1-A in 1962.",
"Vietnam War and resistance to the draft Ali registered for conscription in the United States military on his 18th birthday and was listed as 1-A in 1962. In 1964, he was reclassified as Class 1-Y (fit for service only in times of national emergency) after he failed the U.S. Armed Forces qualifying test because his writing and spelling skills were sub-standard, due to his dyslexia. (He was quoted as saying, \"I said I was the greatest, not the smartest!\")",
"(He was quoted as saying, \"I said I was the greatest, not the smartest!\") By early 1966, the army lowered its standards to permit soldiers above the 15th percentile and Ali was again classified as 1-A. This classification meant he was now eligible for the draft and induction into the U.S. Army at a time when the U.S. was involved in the Vietnam War, a war which put him further at odds with the white establishment.",
"This classification meant he was now eligible for the draft and induction into the U.S. Army at a time when the U.S. was involved in the Vietnam War, a war which put him further at odds with the white establishment. When notified of this status, Ali declared that he would refuse to serve in the army and publicly considered himself a conscientious objector. Ali stated: \"War is against the teachings of the Qur'an. I'm not trying to dodge the draft.",
"I'm not trying to dodge the draft. I'm not trying to dodge the draft. We are not supposed to take part in no wars unless declared by Allah or The Messenger (Elijah Muhammad then leader of Nation of Islam). We don’t take part in Christian wars or wars of any unbelievers\". He also said \"We are not to be the aggressor but we will defend ourselves if attacked.\" He stated: \"Man, I ain't got no quarrel with them Viet Cong.\"",
"He stated: \"Man, I ain't got no quarrel with them Viet Cong.\" Ali elaborated: \"Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go ten thousand miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on brown people in Vietnam while so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs and denied simple human rights?\" Ali antagonized the white establishment in 1966 by refusing to be drafted into the U.S. military, citing his religious beliefs and opposition to American involvement in the Vietnam War.",
"Ali antagonized the white establishment in 1966 by refusing to be drafted into the U.S. military, citing his religious beliefs and opposition to American involvement in the Vietnam War. On April 28, 1967, Ali appeared in Houston for his scheduled induction into the U.S. Armed Forces, but he refused three times to step forward when his name was called. An officer warned him that he was committing a felony punishable by five years in prison and a fine of $10,000.",
"An officer warned him that he was committing a felony punishable by five years in prison and a fine of $10,000. Once more, Ali refused to budge when his name was called, and he was arrested. Later that same day, the New York State Athletic Commission suspended his boxing license and stripped him of his title. Other boxing commissions followed suit. Ali remained unable to obtain a license to box in any state for over three years.",
"Ali remained unable to obtain a license to box in any state for over three years. On June 4, 1967, in a first for sports professionals, a group of high-profile African-American athletes assembled at the Negro Industrial Economic union in Cleveland for a \"Muhammad Ali Summit\". The meeting was organized by Jim Brown for his peers to question Ali about the seriousness of his convictions, and to decide whether to support him, which they ultimately did.",
"The meeting was organized by Jim Brown for his peers to question Ali about the seriousness of his convictions, and to decide whether to support him, which they ultimately did. At the trial on June 20, 1967, the jury found Ali guilty after only 21minutes of deliberation of the criminal offense of violating the Selective Service laws by refusing to be drafted. After a Court of Appeals upheld the conviction, the case was reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1971.",
"After a Court of Appeals upheld the conviction, the case was reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1971. Ali remained free in the years between the Appellate Court decision and the Supreme Court ruling. As public opinion began turning people against the war and the Civil Rights Movement continued to gather momentum, Ali became a popular speaker at colleges and universities across the country; this itinerary was rare if not unprecedented for a prizefighter.",
"As public opinion began turning people against the war and the Civil Rights Movement continued to gather momentum, Ali became a popular speaker at colleges and universities across the country; this itinerary was rare if not unprecedented for a prizefighter. At Howard University, for example, he gave his popular \"Black Is Best\" speech to 4,000 cheering students and community intellectuals, after he was invited to speak by sociology professor Nathan Hare on behalf of the Black Power Committee, a student protest group.",
"At Howard University, for example, he gave his popular \"Black Is Best\" speech to 4,000 cheering students and community intellectuals, after he was invited to speak by sociology professor Nathan Hare on behalf of the Black Power Committee, a student protest group. On June 28, 1971, the Supreme Court of the United States in Clay v. United States overturned Ali's conviction by a unanimous 8–0 decision (Justice Thurgood Marshall recused himself, as he had been the U.S.",
"On June 28, 1971, the Supreme Court of the United States in Clay v. United States overturned Ali's conviction by a unanimous 8–0 decision (Justice Thurgood Marshall recused himself, as he had been the U.S. Solicitor General at the time of Ali's conviction). The decision was not based on, nor did it address, the merits of Ali's claims per se.",
"The decision was not based on, nor did it address, the merits of Ali's claims per se. Rather, the Court held that since the appeal board gave no reason for the denial of a conscientious objector exemption to Ali, that it was therefore impossible to determine which of the three basic tests for conscientious objector status (offered in the Justice Department's brief) the appeal board relied on, and Ali's conviction must be reversed.",
"Rather, the Court held that since the appeal board gave no reason for the denial of a conscientious objector exemption to Ali, that it was therefore impossible to determine which of the three basic tests for conscientious objector status (offered in the Justice Department's brief) the appeal board relied on, and Ali's conviction must be reversed. Impact of Ali's draft refusal Ali's example inspired many black Americans and others.",
"Impact of Ali's draft refusal Ali's example inspired many black Americans and others. However, initially when he refused induction, he became arguably the most hated man in the country and received many death threats. People who supported Ali during this time were also threatened, including sports journalist Jerry Izenberg, whose columns defended Ali's decision not to serve. He wrote, \"Bomb threats emptied our office, making the staff stand out in the snow. My car windshield was smashed with a sledgehammer.\"",
"My car windshield was smashed with a sledgehammer.\" My car windshield was smashed with a sledgehammer.\" The New York Times columnist William Rhoden wrote, \"Ali's actions changed my standard of what constituted an athlete's greatness. Possessing a killer jump shot or the ability to stop on a dime was no longer enough. What were you doing for the liberation of your people? What were you doing to help your country live up to the covenant of its founding principles?\"",
"What were you doing to help your country live up to the covenant of its founding principles?\" Recalling Ali's anti-war position, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar said: \"I remember the teachers at my high school didn't like Ali because he was so anti-establishment and he kind of thumbed his nose at authority and got away with it. The fact that he was proud to be a black man and that he had so much talent ... made some people think that he was dangerous. But for those very reasons I enjoyed him.\"",
"But for those very reasons I enjoyed him.\" But for those very reasons I enjoyed him.\" Civil rights figures came to believe that Ali had an energizing effect on the freedom movement as a whole. Al Sharpton spoke of his bravery at a time when there was still widespread support for the Vietnam War: Ali was honored with the annual Martin Luther King Award in 1970 by civil rights leader Ralph Abernathy, who called him \"a living example of soul power, the March on Washington in two fists.\"",
"Al Sharpton spoke of his bravery at a time when there was still widespread support for the Vietnam War: Ali was honored with the annual Martin Luther King Award in 1970 by civil rights leader Ralph Abernathy, who called him \"a living example of soul power, the March on Washington in two fists.\" Coretta Scott King added that Ali was \"a champion of justice and peace and unity.\"",
"Coretta Scott King added that Ali was \"a champion of justice and peace and unity.\" In speaking of the cost on Ali's career of his refusal to be drafted, his trainer Angelo Dundee said, \"One thing must be taken into account when talking about Ali: He was robbed of his best years, his prime years.\" Bob Arum did not support Ali's choice at the time.",
"Bob Arum did not support Ali's choice at the time. More recently, Arum stated that \"when I look back at his life, and I was blessed to call him a friend and spent a lot of time with him, it's hard for me to talk about his exploits in boxing because as great as they were they paled in comparison to the impact that he had on the world,\" and \"He did what he thought was right.",
"More recently, Arum stated that \"when I look back at his life, and I was blessed to call him a friend and spent a lot of time with him, it's hard for me to talk about his exploits in boxing because as great as they were they paled in comparison to the impact that he had on the world,\" and \"He did what he thought was right. And it turned out he was right, and I was wrong.\"",
"And it turned out he was right, and I was wrong.\" Ali's resistance to the draft was covered in the 2013 documentary The Trials of Muhammad Ali. NSA and FBI monitoring of Ali's communications In a secret operation code-named \"Minaret\", the National Security Agency (NSA) intercepted the communications of leading Americans, including Ali, Senators Frank Church and Howard Baker, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., prominent U.S. journalists, and others who criticized the U.S. war in Vietnam.",
"NSA and FBI monitoring of Ali's communications In a secret operation code-named \"Minaret\", the National Security Agency (NSA) intercepted the communications of leading Americans, including Ali, Senators Frank Church and Howard Baker, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., prominent U.S. journalists, and others who criticized the U.S. war in Vietnam. A review by the NSA of the Minaret program concluded that it was \"disreputable if not outright illegal.\"",
"A review by the NSA of the Minaret program concluded that it was \"disreputable if not outright illegal.\" In 1971, his Fight of the Century with Frazier was used by an activist group, the Citizens' Commission to Investigate the FBI, to pull off a burglary at an FBI office in Pennsylvania; the anticipation for the fight was unlike anything else, so they believed the security would also be focused on the fight.",
"In 1971, his Fight of the Century with Frazier was used by an activist group, the Citizens' Commission to Investigate the FBI, to pull off a burglary at an FBI office in Pennsylvania; the anticipation for the fight was unlike anything else, so they believed the security would also be focused on the fight. This raid exposed the COINTELPRO operations that included illegal spying on activists involved with the civil rights and anti-war movements.",
"This raid exposed the COINTELPRO operations that included illegal spying on activists involved with the civil rights and anti-war movements. One of the COINTELPRO targets was Ali, and their activities included the FBI gaining access to his records as far back as elementary school; one such record mentioned him loving art as a child. Exile and comeback In March 1966, Ali refused to be inducted into the armed forces. He was systematically denied a boxing license in every state and stripped of his passport.",
"He was systematically denied a boxing license in every state and stripped of his passport. As a result, he did not fight from March 1967 to October 1970—from ages 25 to almost 29—as his case worked its way through the appeals process before his conviction was overturned in 1971. Protesting while exiled During this time of inactivity, as opposition to the Vietnam War began to grow and Ali's stance gained sympathy, he spoke at colleges across the nation, criticizing the Vietnam War and advocating African-American pride and racial justice.",
"Protesting while exiled During this time of inactivity, as opposition to the Vietnam War began to grow and Ali's stance gained sympathy, he spoke at colleges across the nation, criticizing the Vietnam War and advocating African-American pride and racial justice. Ali based himself in Chicago. According to most close to him, his Chicago years were formative. At the time, Ali was widely condemned by the American media, with fears that his actions could potentially lead to mass civil disobedience.",
"At the time, Ali was widely condemned by the American media, with fears that his actions could potentially lead to mass civil disobedience. Despite this, Ebony magazine noted in the late 1960s that Ali's popularity had increased during this time, especially among black people. The Super Fight While banned from sanctioned bouts, Ali settled a $1 million lawsuit against radio producer Murray Woroner by accepting $10,000 to appear in a privately staged fantasy fight against retired champion Rocky Marciano.",
"The Super Fight While banned from sanctioned bouts, Ali settled a $1 million lawsuit against radio producer Murray Woroner by accepting $10,000 to appear in a privately staged fantasy fight against retired champion Rocky Marciano. In 1969 the boxers were filmed sparring for about 75 one-minute rounds; they produced several potential outcomes. A computer program purportedly determined the winner, based on data about the fighters, along with the opinions of approximately 250 boxing experts. Edited versions of the bout were shown in movie theaters in 1970.",
"Edited versions of the bout were shown in movie theaters in 1970. In the U.S. version Ali lost in a simulated 13th-round knockout, but in the European version Marciano lost due to cuts, also simulated. Ali suggested that prejudice determined his defeat in the U.S. version. He was reported to jokingly say, \"That computer was made in Alabama.\" Return to prizefighting On August 11, 1970, with his case still in appeal, Ali was granted a license to box by the City of Atlanta Athletic Commission.",
"Return to prizefighting On August 11, 1970, with his case still in appeal, Ali was granted a license to box by the City of Atlanta Athletic Commission. Leroy Johnson, Jesse Hill Jr. and Harry Pett had used their local political influence and set up the company House of Sports to organize the fight, underlining the influential power of Georgia's black politics in Ali' s comeback. Ali's first return bout was against Jerry Quarry on October 26, resulting in a win after three rounds after Quarry was cut.",
"Ali's first return bout was against Jerry Quarry on October 26, resulting in a win after three rounds after Quarry was cut. A month earlier, a victory in federal court forced the New York State Boxing Commission to reinstate Ali's license. He fought Oscar Bonavena at Madison Square Garden in December, an uninspired performance that ended in a dramatic technical knockout of Bonavena in the 15th round. The win left Ali as a top contender against heavyweight champion Joe Frazier.",
"The win left Ali as a top contender against heavyweight champion Joe Frazier. First fight against Joe Frazier Ali and Frazier's first fight, held at the Garden on March 8, 1971, was nicknamed the \"Fight of the Century\", due to the tremendous excitement surrounding a bout between two undefeated fighters, each with a legitimate claim to be heavyweight champion. Veteran US boxing writer John Condon called it \"the greatest event I've ever worked on in my life.\"",
"Veteran US boxing writer John Condon called it \"the greatest event I've ever worked on in my life.\" The bout was broadcast to 36 countries; promoters granted 760 press passes. Adding to the atmosphere were the considerable pre-fight theatrics and name calling. Before the fight Frazier called Ali, \"Cassius Clay\", this angered Ali and he portrayed Frazier as a \"dumb tool of the white establishment.\" \"Frazier is too ugly to be champ\", Ali said.",
"\"Frazier is too ugly to be champ\", Ali said. \"Frazier is too dumb to be champ.\" Ali also frequently called Frazier an \"Uncle Tom\". Dave Wolf, who worked in Frazier's camp, recalled that, \"Ali was saying 'the only people rooting for Joe Frazier are white people in suits, Alabama sheriffs, and members of the Ku Klux Klan. I'm fighting for the little man in the ghetto.'",
"I'm fighting for the little man in the ghetto.' Joe was sitting there, smashing his fist into the palm of his hand, saying, 'What the fuck does he know about the ghetto? Ali began training at a farm near Reading, Pennsylvania, in 1971 and, finding the country setting to his liking, sought to develop a real training camp in the countryside. He found a five-acre site on a Pennsylvania country road in the village of Deer Lake, Pennsylvania.",
"He found a five-acre site on a Pennsylvania country road in the village of Deer Lake, Pennsylvania. On this site, Ali carved out what was to become his training camp, where he trained for all his fights from 1972 to the end of his career in 1981. The Monday night fight lived up to its billing.",
"The Monday night fight lived up to its billing. The Monday night fight lived up to its billing. In a preview of their two other fights, a crouching, bobbing and weaving Frazier constantly pressured Ali, getting hit regularly by Ali jabs and combinations, but relentlessly attacking and scoring repeatedly, especially to Ali's body. The fight was even in the early rounds, but Ali was taking more punishment than ever in his career.",
"The fight was even in the early rounds, but Ali was taking more punishment than ever in his career. On several occasions in the early rounds he played to the crowd and shook his head \"no\" after he was hit. In the later rounds—in what was the first appearance of the \"rope-a-dope strategy\"—Ali leaned against the ropes and absorbed punishment from Frazier, hoping to tire him.",
"In the later rounds—in what was the first appearance of the \"rope-a-dope strategy\"—Ali leaned against the ropes and absorbed punishment from Frazier, hoping to tire him. In the 11th round, Frazier connected with a left hook that wobbled Ali, but because it appeared that Ali might be clowning as he staggered backwards across the ring, Frazier hesitated to press his advantage, fearing an Ali counter-attack.",
"In the 11th round, Frazier connected with a left hook that wobbled Ali, but because it appeared that Ali might be clowning as he staggered backwards across the ring, Frazier hesitated to press his advantage, fearing an Ali counter-attack. In the final round, Frazier knocked Ali down with a vicious left hook, which referee Arthur Mercante said was as hard as a man can be hit. Ali was back on his feet in three seconds. Nevertheless, Ali lost by unanimous decision, his first professional defeat.",
"Nevertheless, Ali lost by unanimous decision, his first professional defeat. Chamberlain challenge and Ellis fight In 1971, basketball star Wilt Chamberlain challenged Ali to a fight, and a bout was scheduled for July 26. Although the seven-foot-two-inch tall Chamberlain had formidable physical advantages over Ali—weighing 60pounds more and able to reach 14inches further—Ali was able to influence Chamberlain into calling off the bout by taunting him with calls of \"Timber!\" and \"The tree will fall\" during a shared interview.",
"and \"The tree will fall\" during a shared interview. These statements of confidence unsettled his taller opponent, whom Los Angeles Lakers owner Jack Kent Cooke had offered a record-setting contract, conditional on Chamberlain agreeing to abandon what Cooke termed \"this boxing foolishness\", and he did exactly that. To replace Ali's opponent, promoter Bob Arum quickly booked a former sparring partner of Ali's, Jimmy Ellis, who was a childhood friend from Louisville, Kentucky, to fight him.",
"To replace Ali's opponent, promoter Bob Arum quickly booked a former sparring partner of Ali's, Jimmy Ellis, who was a childhood friend from Louisville, Kentucky, to fight him. After his loss Fights against Quarry, Patterson, Foster and Norton After the loss to Frazier, Ali fought Jerry Quarry, had a second bout with Floyd Patterson and faced Bob Foster in 1972, winning a total of six fights that year.",
"After his loss Fights against Quarry, Patterson, Foster and Norton After the loss to Frazier, Ali fought Jerry Quarry, had a second bout with Floyd Patterson and faced Bob Foster in 1972, winning a total of six fights that year. In 1973, Ken Norton broke Ali's jaw while giving him the second loss of his career. After initially considering retirement, Ali won a controversial decision against Norton in their second bout.",
"After initially considering retirement, Ali won a controversial decision against Norton in their second bout. This led to a rematch with Joe Frazier at Madison Square Garden on January 28, 1974; Frazier had recently lost his title to George Foreman. Second fight against Joe Frazier Ali was strong in the early rounds of the fight, and staggered Frazier in the second round. Referee Tony Perez mistakenly thought he heard the bell ending the round and stepped between the two fighters as Ali was pressing his attack, giving Frazier time to recover.",
"Referee Tony Perez mistakenly thought he heard the bell ending the round and stepped between the two fighters as Ali was pressing his attack, giving Frazier time to recover. However, Frazier came on in the middle rounds, snapping Ali's head in round seven and driving him to the ropes at the end of round eight. The last four rounds saw round-to-round shifts in momentum between the two fighters.",
"The last four rounds saw round-to-round shifts in momentum between the two fighters. Throughout most of the bout, however, Ali was able to circle away from Frazier's dangerous left hook and to tie Frazier up when he was cornered, the latter a tactic that Frazier's camp complained of bitterly. Judges awarded Ali a unanimous decision.",
"Judges awarded Ali a unanimous decision. Judges awarded Ali a unanimous decision. World heavyweight champion (second reign) The Rumble in the Jungle The defeat of Frazier set the stage for a title fight against heavyweight champion George Foreman in Kinshasa, Zaire, on October 30, 1974—a bout nicknamed The Rumble in the Jungle. Foreman was considered one of the hardest punchers in heavyweight history.",
"Foreman was considered one of the hardest punchers in heavyweight history. In assessing the fight, analysts pointed out that Joe Frazier and Ken Norton, who had given Ali four tough battles and won two of them, had both been devastated by Foreman in second-round knockouts. Ali was 32 years old, and had clearly lost speed and reflexes since his twenties. Contrary to his later persona, Foreman was at the time a brooding and intimidating presence.",
"Contrary to his later persona, Foreman was at the time a brooding and intimidating presence. Almost no one associated with the sport, not even Ali's long-time supporter Howard Cosell, gave the former champion a chance of winning. As usual, Ali was confident and colorful before the fight. He told interviewer David Frost, \"If you think the world was surprised when Nixon resigned, wait till I whup Foreman's behind!\" He told the press, \"I've done something new for this fight.",
"He told the press, \"I've done something new for this fight. I done wrestled with an alligator, I done tussled with a whale; handcuffed lightning, thrown thunder in jail; only last week, I murdered a rock, injured a stone, hospitalized a brick; I'm so mean I make medicine sick.\" Ali was wildly popular in Zaire, with crowds chanting \"Ali, bomaye\" (\"Ali, kill him\") wherever he went.",
"Ali was wildly popular in Zaire, with crowds chanting \"Ali, bomaye\" (\"Ali, kill him\") wherever he went. Ali opened the fight moving and scoring with right crosses to Foreman's head. Then, beginning in the second round, and to the consternation of his corner, Ali retreated to the ropes and invited Foreman to hit him while covering up, clinching and counter-punching, all while verbally taunting Foreman.",
"Then, beginning in the second round, and to the consternation of his corner, Ali retreated to the ropes and invited Foreman to hit him while covering up, clinching and counter-punching, all while verbally taunting Foreman. The move, which would later become known as the \"Rope-a-dope\", so violated conventional boxing wisdom—letting one of the hardest hitters in boxing strike at will—that at ringside writer George Plimpton thought the fight had to be fixed. Foreman, increasingly angered, threw punches that were deflected and did not land squarely.",
"Foreman, increasingly angered, threw punches that were deflected and did not land squarely. Midway through the fight, as Foreman began tiring, Ali countered more frequently and effectively with punches and flurries, which electrified the pro-Ali crowd. In the eighth round, Ali dropped an exhausted Foreman with a combination at center ring; Foreman failed to make the count. Against the odds, and amidst pandemonium in the ring, Ali had regained the title by knockout.",
"Against the odds, and amidst pandemonium in the ring, Ali had regained the title by knockout. Reflecting on the fight, George Foreman later said: \"I thought Ali was just one more knockout victim until, about the seventh round, I hit him hard to the jaw and he held me and whispered in my ear: 'That all you got, George?' I realized that this ain't what I thought it was.\"",
"I realized that this ain't what I thought it was.\" It was a major upset victory, after Ali came in as a 41 underdog against the previously unbeaten, heavy-hitting Foreman. The fight became famous for Ali's introduction of the rope-a-dope tactic. The fight was watched by a record estimated television audience of 1billion viewers worldwide. It was the world's most-watched live television broadcast at the time. Fights against Wepner, Lyle and Bugner Ali's next opponents included Chuck Wepner, Ron Lyle, and Joe Bugner.",
"Fights against Wepner, Lyle and Bugner Ali's next opponents included Chuck Wepner, Ron Lyle, and Joe Bugner. Wepner, a journeyman known as \"The Bayonne Bleeder\", stunned Ali with a knockdown in the ninth round; Ali would later say he tripped on Wepner's foot. It was a bout that would inspire Sylvester Stallone to create the acclaimed film, Rocky. Third fight against Joe Frazier Ali then agreed to a third match with Joe Frazier in Manila.",
"Third fight against Joe Frazier Ali then agreed to a third match with Joe Frazier in Manila. The bout, known as the \"Thrilla in Manila\", was held on October 1, 1975, in temperatures approaching . In the first rounds, Ali was aggressive, moving and exchanging blows with Frazier. However, Ali soon appeared to tire and adopted the \"rope-a-dope\" strategy, frequently resorting to clinches.",
"However, Ali soon appeared to tire and adopted the \"rope-a-dope\" strategy, frequently resorting to clinches. During this part of the bout Ali did some effective counter-punching, but for the most part absorbed punishment from a relentlessly attacking Frazier. In the 12th round, Frazier began to tire, and Ali scored several sharp blows that closed Frazier's left eye and opened a cut over his right eye.",
"In the 12th round, Frazier began to tire, and Ali scored several sharp blows that closed Frazier's left eye and opened a cut over his right eye. With Frazier's vision now diminished, Ali dominated the 13th and 14th rounds, at times conducting what boxing historian Mike Silver called \"target practice\" on Frazier's head. The fight was stopped when Frazier's trainer, Eddie Futch, refused to allow Frazier to answer the bell for the 15th and final round, despite Frazier's protests.",
"The fight was stopped when Frazier's trainer, Eddie Futch, refused to allow Frazier to answer the bell for the 15th and final round, despite Frazier's protests. Frazier's eyes were both swollen shut. Ali, in his corner, winner by TKO, slumped on his stool, clearly spent.",
"Ali, in his corner, winner by TKO, slumped on his stool, clearly spent. An ailing Ali said afterwards that the fight \"was the closest thing to dying that I know\", and, when later asked if he had viewed the fight on videotape, reportedly said, \"Why would I want to go back and see Hell?\" After the fight he cited Frazier as \"the greatest fighter of all times next to me.\" After the third fight with Frazier, Ali considered retirement.",
"After the third fight with Frazier, Ali considered retirement. He said, “I’m sore all over. My arms, my face, my sides all ache. I’m so, so tired. There is a great possibility that I will retire. You might have seen the last of me. I want to sit back and count my money, live in my house and my farm, work for my people and concentrate on my family.\"",
"I want to sit back and count my money, live in my house and my farm, work for my people and concentrate on my family.\" Later career Following the Manila bout, Ali fought Jean-Pierre Coopman, Jimmy Young, and Richard Dunn, winning the last by knockout. The punch used to knock Dunn out was taught to Ali by Taekwondo Grandmaster Jhoon Rhee. Rhee called that punch the \"Accupunch\"; he learned it from Bruce Lee.",
"Rhee called that punch the \"Accupunch\"; he learned it from Bruce Lee. The Dunn fight was the last time Ali would knock down an opponent in his boxing career. Ali fought Ken Norton for the third time in September 1976. The bout, which was held at Yankee Stadium, resulted in Ali winning a heavily contested decision that was loudly booed by the audience.",
"The bout, which was held at Yankee Stadium, resulted in Ali winning a heavily contested decision that was loudly booed by the audience. Afterwards, he announced he was retiring from boxing to practice his faith, having converted to Sunni Islam after falling out with the Nation of Islam the previous year. After returning to beat Alfredo Evangelista in May 1977, Ali struggled in his next fight against Earnie Shavers that September, getting pummeled a few times by punches to the head.",
"After returning to beat Alfredo Evangelista in May 1977, Ali struggled in his next fight against Earnie Shavers that September, getting pummeled a few times by punches to the head. Ali won the fight by another unanimous decision, but the bout caused his longtime doctor Ferdie Pacheco to quit after he was rebuffed for telling Ali he should retire. Pacheco was quoted as saying, \"the New York State Athletic Commission gave me a report that showed Ali's kidneys were falling apart.",
"Pacheco was quoted as saying, \"the New York State Athletic Commission gave me a report that showed Ali's kidneys were falling apart. I wrote to Angelo Dundee, Ali's trainer, his wife and Ali himself. I got nothing back in response. That's when I decided enough is enough.\" In February 1978, Ali faced Leon Spinks at the Hilton Hotel in Las Vegas. At the time, Spinks had only seven professional fights to his credit, and had recently fought a draw with journeyman Scott LeDoux.",
"At the time, Spinks had only seven professional fights to his credit, and had recently fought a draw with journeyman Scott LeDoux. Ali sparred less than two dozen rounds in preparation for the fight, and was seriously out of shape by the opening bell. He lost the title by split decision. A rematch occurred in September at the Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. 70,000 people attended the bout and paid a total of $6 million admission, making it the largest live gate in boxing history at that time.",
"70,000 people attended the bout and paid a total of $6 million admission, making it the largest live gate in boxing history at that time. Ali won a unanimous decision in an uninspiring fight, with referee Lucien Joubert scoring rounds 10-4, judge Ernie Cojoe 10-4, and judge Herman Preis 11-4. This made Ali the first heavyweight champion to win the belt three times. Following this win, on July 27, 1979, Ali announced his retirement from boxing.",
"Following this win, on July 27, 1979, Ali announced his retirement from boxing. His retirement was short-lived, however; Ali announced his comeback to face Larry Holmes for the WBC belt in an attempt to win the heavyweight championship an unprecedented fourth time. The fight was largely motivated by Ali's need for money. Boxing writer Richie Giachetti said, \"Larry didn't want to fight Ali. He knew Ali had nothing left; he knew it would be a horror.\"",
"He knew Ali had nothing left; he knew it would be a horror.\" It was around this time that Ali started struggling with vocal stutters and trembling hands. The Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC) ordered that he undergo a complete physical in Las Vegas before being allowed to fight again. Ali chose instead to check into the Mayo Clinic, who declared him fit to fight. Their opinion was accepted by the NAC on July 31, 1980, paving the way for Ali's return to the ring.",
"Their opinion was accepted by the NAC on July 31, 1980, paving the way for Ali's return to the ring. The fight took place on October 2, 1980, in Las Vegas Valley, with Holmes easily dominating Ali, who was weakened from thyroid medication he had taken to lose weight. Giachetti called the fight \"awful ... the worst sports event I ever had to cover.\" Actor Sylvester Stallone was at ringside and said that it was like watching an autopsy on a man who is still alive.",
"Actor Sylvester Stallone was at ringside and said that it was like watching an autopsy on a man who is still alive. After the tenth round, Angelo Dundee told the referee to stop the fight, making it the only time that Ali ever lost by stoppage. The Holmes fight is said to have contributed to Ali's Parkinson's syndrome. Despite pleas to definitively retire, Ali fought one last time on December 11, 1981, in Nassau, Bahamas, against Trevor Berbick, losing a ten-round decision.",
"Despite pleas to definitively retire, Ali fought one last time on December 11, 1981, in Nassau, Bahamas, against Trevor Berbick, losing a ten-round decision. By the end of his boxing career Ali had absorbed an estimated 200,000 hits. Exhibition bouts Ali boxed both well known boxers and celebrities from other walks of life, including Michael Dokes, Antonio Inoki, Lyle Alzado, Dave Semenko, and the famous Puerto Rican comedian Jose Miguel Agrelot (with Iris Chacon acting as Agrelot's corner-woman).",
"Exhibition bouts Ali boxed both well known boxers and celebrities from other walks of life, including Michael Dokes, Antonio Inoki, Lyle Alzado, Dave Semenko, and the famous Puerto Rican comedian Jose Miguel Agrelot (with Iris Chacon acting as Agrelot's corner-woman). Ali vs Inoki On June 26, 1976, Ali participated in an exhibition bout in Tokyo against Japanese professional wrestler and martial artist Antonio Inoki.",
"Ali vs Inoki On June 26, 1976, Ali participated in an exhibition bout in Tokyo against Japanese professional wrestler and martial artist Antonio Inoki. Ali was only able to land two jabs while Inoki's kicks caused two blood clots and an infection that almost resulted in Ali's leg being amputated, as a result of Ali's team insisting on rules restricting Inoki's ability to wrestle. The match was not scripted and ultimately declared a draw. After Ali's death, The New York Times declared it his least memorable fight.",
"After Ali's death, The New York Times declared it his least memorable fight. Most boxing commentators at the time viewed the fight negatively and hoped it would be forgotten as some considered it a \"15-round farce.\" Today it is considered by some to be one of Ali's most influential fights and CBS Sports said the attention the mixed-style bout received \"foretold the arrival of standardized MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) years later.\" After the fight, Ali and Inoki became friends.",
"After the fight, Ali and Inoki became friends. After the fight, Ali and Inoki became friends. Ali vs Alzado In 1979, Ali fought an exhibition match against NFL player Lyle Alzado. The fight went 8 rounds and was declared a draw. Ali vs Semenko Ali fought NHL player, Dave Semenko in an exhibition on June 12, 1983. The match was officially a draw after going three rounds, but the Associated Press reported Ali was not seriously trying and was just toying with Semenko.",
"The match was officially a draw after going three rounds, but the Associated Press reported Ali was not seriously trying and was just toying with Semenko. Personal life Marriages and children Ali was married four times and had seven daughters and two sons. Ali was introduced to cocktail waitress Sonji Roi by Herbert Muhammad and asked her to marry him after their first date. They married approximately one month later on August 14, 1964. They quarreled over Sonji's refusal to join the Nation Of Islam.",
"They quarreled over Sonji's refusal to join the Nation Of Islam. According to Ali, \"She wouldn't do what she was supposed to do. She wore lipstick; she went into bars; she dressed in clothes that were revealing and didn't look right.\" The marriage was childless and they divorced on January 10, 1966. Just before the divorce was finalized, Ali sent Sonji a note: \"You traded heaven for hell, baby.\"",
"Just before the divorce was finalized, Ali sent Sonji a note: \"You traded heaven for hell, baby.\" Ali's brother Rahman said that she was Ali's only true love and the Nation of Islam made Ali divorce her and Ali never got over it. On August 17, 1967, Ali married Belinda Boyd. Born into a Chicago family that had converted to the Nation Of Islam, she later changed her name to Khalilah Ali, though she was still called Belinda by old friends and family.",
"Born into a Chicago family that had converted to the Nation Of Islam, she later changed her name to Khalilah Ali, though she was still called Belinda by old friends and family. They had four children: author and rapper Maryum \"May May\" (born 1968); twins Jamillah and Rasheda (born 1970), who married Robert Walsh and has a son, Biaggio Ali, born in 1998; and Muhammad Ali Jr. (born 1972). Rasheda's son Nico is a professional boxer.",
"Rasheda's son Nico is a professional boxer. Rasheda's son Nico is a professional boxer. Ali was a resident of Cherry Hill, New Jersey in the early 1970s. At age 32 in 1974, Ali began an extramarital relationship with 16-year-old Wanda Bolton (who subsequently changed her name to Aaisha Ali) with whom he fathered another daughter, Khaliah (born 1974). While still married to Belinda, Ali married Aaisha in an Islamic ceremony that was not legally recognized.",
"While still married to Belinda, Ali married Aaisha in an Islamic ceremony that was not legally recognized. According to Khaliah, Aaisha and her mother lived at Ali's Deer Lake training camp alongside Belinda and her children. In January 1985, Aaisha sued Ali for unpaid palimony. The case was settled when Ali agreed to set up a $200,000 trust fund for Khaliah. In 2001 Khaliah was quoted as saying she believed her father viewed her as \"a mistake\".",
"In 2001 Khaliah was quoted as saying she believed her father viewed her as \"a mistake\". He had another daughter, Miya (born 1972), from an extramarital relationship with Patricia Harvell. By the summer of 1977, his second marriage ended due to Ali's repeated infidelity, and he had married actress and model Veronica Porché. At the time of their marriage, they had a daughter, Hana, and Veronica was pregnant with their second child.",
"At the time of their marriage, they had a daughter, Hana, and Veronica was pregnant with their second child. Their second daughter, Laila Ali, was born in December 1977. By 1986, Ali and Porché were divorced due to Ali's continuous infidelity. Porché said of Ali's infidelity, \"It was too much temptation for him, with women who threw themselves at him, It didn’t mean anything. He didn't have affairs – he had one-night stands.",
"He didn't have affairs – he had one-night stands. I knew beyond a doubt there were no feelings involved. It was so obvious, It was easy to forgive him.\" On November 19, 1986, Ali married Yolanda \"Lonnie\" Williams. Lonnie first met Ali at the age of 6 when her family moved to Louisville in 1963. In 1982, she became Ali's primary caregiver and in return, he paid for her to attend graduate school at UCLA.",
"In 1982, she became Ali's primary caregiver and in return, he paid for her to attend graduate school at UCLA. Together they adopted a son, Asaad Amin (born 1986), when Asaad was five months old. In 1992, Lonnie incorporated Greatest of All Time, Inc. (G.O.A.T. Inc) to consolidate and license his intellectual properties for commercial purposes. She served as the vice president and treasurer until the sale of the company in 2006.",
"She served as the vice president and treasurer until the sale of the company in 2006. Kiiursti Mensah-Ali claims she is Ali's biological daughter with Barbara Mensah, with whom he allegedly had a 20-year relationship, citing photographs and a paternity test conducted in 1988. She said he accepted responsibility and took care of her, but all contacts with him were cut off after he married his fourth wife Lonnie. Kiiursti says she has a relationship with his other children.",
"Kiiursti says she has a relationship with his other children. After his death she again made passionate appeals to be allowed to mourn at his funeral. In 2010, Osmon Williams came forward claiming to be Ali's biological son. His mother Temica Williams (also known as Rebecca Holloway) launched a $3 million lawsuit against Ali in 1981 for sexual assault, claiming that she had started a sexual relationship with him when she was 12, and that her son Osmon (born 1977) was fathered by Ali.",
"His mother Temica Williams (also known as Rebecca Holloway) launched a $3 million lawsuit against Ali in 1981 for sexual assault, claiming that she had started a sexual relationship with him when she was 12, and that her son Osmon (born 1977) was fathered by Ali. She further alleged that Ali had originally supported her and her son financially, but stopped doing so after four years.",
"She further alleged that Ali had originally supported her and her son financially, but stopped doing so after four years. The case went on until 1986 and was eventually thrown out as her allegations were deemed to be barred by the statute of limitations. According to Veronica, Ali admitted to the affair with Williams, but did not believe Osmon was his son which Veronica supported by saying \"Everybody in the camp was going with that girl.\"",
"According to Veronica, Ali admitted to the affair with Williams, but did not believe Osmon was his son which Veronica supported by saying \"Everybody in the camp was going with that girl.\" Ali biographer and friend Thomas Hauser has said this claim was of \"questionable veracity\". Ali then lived in Scottsdale, Arizona with Lonnie.",
"Ali then lived in Scottsdale, Arizona with Lonnie. Ali then lived in Scottsdale, Arizona with Lonnie. In January 2007, it was reported that they had put their home in Berrien Springs, Michigan, which they had bought in 1975, up for sale and had purchased a home in eastern Jefferson County, Kentucky for $1,875,000. Both homes were subsequently sold after Ali's death with Lonnie living in their remaining home in Paradise Valley, Arizona. Lonnie converted to Islam from Catholicism in her late twenties.",
"Lonnie converted to Islam from Catholicism in her late twenties. In an interview in 1974, Ali said, \"If they say stand and salute the flag I do that out of respect, because I'm in the country\". Ali would later say, \"If America was in trouble and real war came, I'd be on the front line if we had been attacked. But I could see that (The Vietnam War) wasn't right.\"",
"But I could see that (The Vietnam War) wasn't right.\" He also said, \"Black men would go over there and fight, but when they came home, they couldn't even be served a hamburger.\" Ali's daughter Laila was a professional boxer from 1999 until 2007, despite her father's previous opposition to women's boxing. In 1978, he said \"Women are not made to be hit in the breast, and face like that.\"",
"In 1978, he said \"Women are not made to be hit in the breast, and face like that.\" Ali still attended a number of his daughter's fights and later admitted to Laila he was wrong. Ali's daughter Hana is married to Bellator middleweight fighter Kevin Casey. Hana wrote about her father, \"His love for people was extraordinary. I would get home from school to find homeless families sleeping in our guest room.",
"I would get home from school to find homeless families sleeping in our guest room. He’d see them on the street, pile them into his Rolls-Royce and bring them home. He’d buy them clothes, take them to hotels and pay the bills for months in advance.\" She also said celebrities like Michael Jackson and Clint Eastwood would often visit Ali.",
"She also said celebrities like Michael Jackson and Clint Eastwood would often visit Ali. After Ali met a lesbian couple who were fans of his in 1997, he smiled and said to his friend Hauser, \"They look like they’re happy together.\" Hauser wrote about the story, \"The thought that Liz and Roz (the lesbian couple he met) were happy pleased Muhammad. Ali wanted people to be happy.\"",
"Ali wanted people to be happy.\" Ali wanted people to be happy.\" Religion and beliefs Affiliation with the Nation of Islam Ali said that he first heard of the Nation of Islam when he was fighting in the Golden Gloves tournament in Chicago in 1959, and attended his first Nation of Islam meeting in 1961. He continued to attend meetings, although keeping his involvement hidden from the public. In 1962, Clay met Malcolm X, who soon became his spiritual and political mentor.",
"In 1962, Clay met Malcolm X, who soon became his spiritual and political mentor. By the time of the first Liston fight, Nation of Islam members, including Malcolm X, were visible in his entourage. This led to a story in The Miami Herald just before the fight disclosing that Clay had joined the Nation of Islam, which nearly caused the bout to be canceled. The article quoted Cassius Clay Sr. as saying that his son had joined the Black Muslims when he was 18.",
"The article quoted Cassius Clay Sr. as saying that his son had joined the Black Muslims when he was 18. In fact, Clay was initially refused entry to the Nation of Islam (often called the Black Muslims at the time) due to his boxing career. However, after he won the championship from Liston in 1964, the Nation of Islam was more receptive and agreed to publicize his membership.",
"However, after he won the championship from Liston in 1964, the Nation of Islam was more receptive and agreed to publicize his membership. Shortly afterwards on March 6, Elijah Muhammad gave a radio address that Clay would be renamed Muhammad (one who is worthy of praise) Ali (most high). Around that time Ali moved to the south side of Chicago and lived in a series of houses, always near the Nation of Islam's Mosque Maryam or Elijah Muhammad's residence.",
"Around that time Ali moved to the south side of Chicago and lived in a series of houses, always near the Nation of Islam's Mosque Maryam or Elijah Muhammad's residence. He stayed in Chicago for about 12 years. Only a few journalists, most notably Howard Cosell, accepted the new name at that time.",
"Only a few journalists, most notably Howard Cosell, accepted the new name at that time. Ali stated that his earlier name was a \"slave name,\" and a \"white man's name\" and added that \"I didn’t choose it and I don’t want it\". The person he was named after was a white man and emancipationist who released slaves.",
"The person he was named after was a white man and emancipationist who released slaves. Ali explained in his autobiography after studying his works, \"While Clay may have gotten rid of his slaves, he \"held on to white supremacy.\" In truth, Cassius Clay's attachment to slavery went farther than Ali knew. In spite of his abolitionist fervor, Clay owned more slaves in 1865, when the 13th Amendment to the Constitution finally forbade its practice, than he had inherited from his father 37 years earlier.",
"In spite of his abolitionist fervor, Clay owned more slaves in 1865, when the 13th Amendment to the Constitution finally forbade its practice, than he had inherited from his father 37 years earlier. Not afraid to antagonize the white establishment, Ali stated, \"I am America. I am the part you won't recognize. But get used to me. Black, confident, cocky; my name, not yours; my religion, not yours; my goals, my own; get used to me.\"",
"Black, confident, cocky; my name, not yours; my religion, not yours; my goals, my own; get used to me.\" Ali's friendship with Malcolm X ended as Malcolm split with the Nation of Islam a couple of weeks after Ali joined, and Ali remained with the Nation of Islam. Ali later said that turning his back on Malcolm was one of the mistakes he regretted most in his life.",
"Ali later said that turning his back on Malcolm was one of the mistakes he regretted most in his life. Aligning himself with the Nation of Islam, its leader Elijah Muhammad, and a narrative that labeled the white race as the perpetrator of genocide against African Americans made Ali a target of public condemnation.",
"Aligning himself with the Nation of Islam, its leader Elijah Muhammad, and a narrative that labeled the white race as the perpetrator of genocide against African Americans made Ali a target of public condemnation. The Nation of Islam was widely viewed by whites and some African Americans as a black separatist \"hate religion\" with a propensity toward violence; Ali had few qualms about using his influential voice to speak Nation of Islam doctrine.",
"The Nation of Islam was widely viewed by whites and some African Americans as a black separatist \"hate religion\" with a propensity toward violence; Ali had few qualms about using his influential voice to speak Nation of Islam doctrine. In a press conference articulating his opposition to the Vietnam War, Ali stated, \"My enemy is the white people, not Vietcong or Chinese or Japanese.\" In relation to integration, he said: \"We who follow the teachings of Elijah Muhammad don't want to be forced to integrate.",
"In relation to integration, he said: \"We who follow the teachings of Elijah Muhammad don't want to be forced to integrate. Integration is wrong. We don't want to live with the white man; that's all.\"",
"We don't want to live with the white man; that's all.\" Further articulating his opposition to integration, he told members of the KKK at a Klan rally in 1975 that \"black people should marry their own women... blue birds are blue birds, red birds are red birds, pigeons with pigeons, eagles with eagles, God did not make no mistake\". Writer Jerry Izenberg once noted that, \"the Nation became Ali's family and Elijah Muhammad became his father.",
"Writer Jerry Izenberg once noted that, \"the Nation became Ali's family and Elijah Muhammad became his father. But there is an irony to the fact that while the Nation branded white people as devils, Ali had more white colleagues than most African American people did at that time in America, and continued to have them throughout his career.\"",
"But there is an irony to the fact that while the Nation branded white people as devils, Ali had more white colleagues than most African American people did at that time in America, and continued to have them throughout his career.\" Conversion to Sunni/Sufi Islam In Hauser's biography Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times, Ali says that although he's not a Christian as he thinks the idea of God having a son sounds wrong and doesn't make sense to him, as he believes, \"God don't beget; man begets\".",
"Conversion to Sunni/Sufi Islam In Hauser's biography Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times, Ali says that although he's not a Christian as he thinks the idea of God having a son sounds wrong and doesn't make sense to him, as he believes, \"God don't beget; man begets\". He still believes that even good Christians or good Jews can receive God's blessing and enter heaven as he stated, \"God created all people, no matter what their religion\".",
"He still believes that even good Christians or good Jews can receive God's blessing and enter heaven as he stated, \"God created all people, no matter what their religion\". He also stated, \"If you're against someone because he's a Muslim that's wrong. If you're against someone because he's a Christian or a Jew, that's wrong\".",
"If you're against someone because he's a Christian or a Jew, that's wrong\". In a 2004 autobiography, Ali attributed his conversion to mainstream Sunni Islam to Warith Deen Muhammad, who assumed leadership of the Nation of Islam upon the death of his father Elijah Muhammad, and persuaded the Nation's followers to become adherents of Sunni Islam.",
"In a 2004 autobiography, Ali attributed his conversion to mainstream Sunni Islam to Warith Deen Muhammad, who assumed leadership of the Nation of Islam upon the death of his father Elijah Muhammad, and persuaded the Nation's followers to become adherents of Sunni Islam. He said some people didn't like the change and stuck to Elijah's teachings, but he admired it and so left Elijah's teachings and became a follower of Sunni Islam.",
"He said some people didn't like the change and stuck to Elijah's teachings, but he admired it and so left Elijah's teachings and became a follower of Sunni Islam. Ali had gone on the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca in 1972, which inspired him in a similar manner to Malcolm X, meeting people of different colors from all over the world giving him a different outlook and greater spiritual awareness.",
"Ali had gone on the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca in 1972, which inspired him in a similar manner to Malcolm X, meeting people of different colors from all over the world giving him a different outlook and greater spiritual awareness. In 1977, he said that, after he retired, he would dedicate the rest of his life to getting \"ready to meet God\" by helping people, charitable causes, uniting people and helping to make peace. He went on another Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca in 1988.",
"He went on another Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca in 1988. After the September 11 attacks in 2001, he stated that \"Islam is a religion of peace\" and \"does not promote terrorism or killing people\", and that he was \"angry that the world sees a certain group of Islam followers who caused this destruction, but they are not real Muslims. They are racist fanatics who call themselves Muslims.\"",
"They are racist fanatics who call themselves Muslims.\" They are racist fanatics who call themselves Muslims.\" In December 2015, he stated that \"True Muslims know that the ruthless violence of so-called Islamic jihadists goes against the very tenets of our religion\", that \"We as Muslims have to stand up to those who use Islam to advance their own personal agenda\", and that \"political leaders should use their position to bring understanding about the religion of Islam, and clarify that these misguided murderers have perverted people's views on what Islam really is.\"",
"In December 2015, he stated that \"True Muslims know that the ruthless violence of so-called Islamic jihadists goes against the very tenets of our religion\", that \"We as Muslims have to stand up to those who use Islam to advance their own personal agenda\", and that \"political leaders should use their position to bring understanding about the religion of Islam, and clarify that these misguided murderers have perverted people's views on what Islam really is.\" In later life after retiring from boxing, Ali became a student of the Quran and a devout Muslim.",
"In later life after retiring from boxing, Ali became a student of the Quran and a devout Muslim. He also developed an interest in Sufism, which he referenced in his autobiography, The Soul of a Butterfly. According to Ali's daughter, Hana Yasmeen Ali, who co-authored The Soul of a Butterfly with him, Ali was attracted to Sufism after reading the books of Inayat Khan, which contain Sufi teachings.",
"According to Ali's daughter, Hana Yasmeen Ali, who co-authored The Soul of a Butterfly with him, Ali was attracted to Sufism after reading the books of Inayat Khan, which contain Sufi teachings. Muhammad Ali received guidance from Islamic scholars such as Grand Mufti of Syria Almarhum Asy-Syaikh Ahmed Kuftaro, Hisham Kabbani, Imam Zaid Shakir, Hamza Yusuf, and Timothy J. Gianotti, who was at Ali's bedside during his last days and ensured that although his funeral was interfaith, it was still in accordance with Islamic rites and rituals.",
"Muhammad Ali received guidance from Islamic scholars such as Grand Mufti of Syria Almarhum Asy-Syaikh Ahmed Kuftaro, Hisham Kabbani, Imam Zaid Shakir, Hamza Yusuf, and Timothy J. Gianotti, who was at Ali's bedside during his last days and ensured that although his funeral was interfaith, it was still in accordance with Islamic rites and rituals. Beatles reunion plan In 1976, inventor Alan Amron and businessman Joel Sacher partnered with Ali to promote The International Committee to Reunite the Beatles. They asked fans worldwide to contribute a dollar each.",
"They asked fans worldwide to contribute a dollar each. They asked fans worldwide to contribute a dollar each. Ali said the idea was not to use the proceeds for profit, but to establish an international agency to help poor children. \"This is money to help people all over the world\", he said. He added, \"I love the music. I used to train to their music.\" He said a reunion of the Beatles \"would make a lot of people happy.\"",
"He said a reunion of the Beatles \"would make a lot of people happy.\" The former Beatles were indifferent to the plan, which elicited only a tepid response from the public. No reunion happened. Entertainment career Acting Ali had a cameo role in the 1962 film version of Requiem for a Heavyweight, and during his exile from boxing, he starred in the short-lived 1969 Broadway musical, Buck White. He also appeared in the documentary film Black Rodeo (1972) riding both a horse and a bull.",
"He also appeared in the documentary film Black Rodeo (1972) riding both a horse and a bull. His autobiography The Greatest: My Own Story, written with Richard Durham, was published in 1975. In 1977 the book was adapted into a film called The Greatest, in which Ali played himself and Ernest Borgnine played Angelo Dundee.",
"In 1977 the book was adapted into a film called The Greatest, in which Ali played himself and Ernest Borgnine played Angelo Dundee. The film Freedom Road, made in 1978, features Ali in a rare acting role as Gideon Jackson, a former slave and Union (American Civil War) soldier in 1870s Virginia, who gets elected to the U.S. Senate and battles alongside former slaves and white sharecroppers to keep the land they have tended all their lives.",
"The film Freedom Road, made in 1978, features Ali in a rare acting role as Gideon Jackson, a former slave and Union (American Civil War) soldier in 1870s Virginia, who gets elected to the U.S. Senate and battles alongside former slaves and white sharecroppers to keep the land they have tended all their lives. Spoken word poetry and rap music Ali often used rhyme schemes and spoken word poetry, both for when he was trash-talking in boxing and as political poetry for his activism outside of boxing.",
"Spoken word poetry and rap music Ali often used rhyme schemes and spoken word poetry, both for when he was trash-talking in boxing and as political poetry for his activism outside of boxing. He played a role in the shaping of the black poetic tradition, paving the way for The Last Poets in 1968, Gil Scott-Heron in 1970, and the emergence of rap music in the 1970s. According to The Guardian, \"Some have argued that\" Ali was \"the first rapper.\"",
"According to The Guardian, \"Some have argued that\" Ali was \"the first rapper.\" In 1963, Ali released an album of spoken word music on Columbia Records titled, I Am the Greatest, and in 1964, he recorded a cover version of the rhythm and blues song \"Stand by Me\". I Am the Greatest sold 500,000 copies, and has been identified as an early example of rap music and a precursor to hip hop.",
"I Am the Greatest sold 500,000 copies, and has been identified as an early example of rap music and a precursor to hip hop. It reached number 61 on the album chart and was nominated for a Grammy Award. He later received a second Grammy nomination, for \"Best Recording for Children\", with his 1976 spoken word novelty record, The Adventures of Ali and His Gang vs. Mr. Tooth Decay. Ali was an influential figure in the world of hip hop music.",
"Ali was an influential figure in the world of hip hop music. As a \"rhyming trickster\", he was noted for his \"funky delivery\", \"boasts\", \"comical trash-talk\", and \"endless quotables.\" According to Rolling Stone, his \"freestyle skills\" and his \"rhymes, flow, and braggadocio\" would \"one day become typical of old school MCs\" like Run–D.M.C.",
"According to Rolling Stone, his \"freestyle skills\" and his \"rhymes, flow, and braggadocio\" would \"one day become typical of old school MCs\" like Run–D.M.C. and LL Cool J, and his \"outsized ego foreshadowed the vainglorious excesses of Kanye West, while his Afrocentric consciousness and cutting honesty pointed forward to modern bards like Rakim, Nas, Jay-Z, and Kendrick Lamar.\" “I’ve wrestled with alligators, I’ve tussled with a whale.",
"“I’ve wrestled with alligators, I’ve tussled with a whale. I done handcuffed lightning and throw thunder in jail. You know I’m bad. Just last week, I murdered a rock, Injured a stone, Hospitalized a brick. I’m so mean, I make medicine sick” \"Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. His hands can't hit what his eyes can't see. Now you see me, now you don't.",
"Now you see me, now you don't. Now you see me, now you don't. George thinks he will, but I know he won't.” Ali spoke like no man the world had seen before. So confident in what he said; fluent, smooth, creative, and intimidating. He was a boxer and an activist, but he also had a role in influencing what now dominated pop-culture, hip-hop. In 2006, the documentary Ali Rap was produced by ESPN.",
"In 2006, the documentary Ali Rap was produced by ESPN. Chuck D, a rapper for the band Public Enemy is the host. Other rappers narrated the documentary as well, including Doug E Fresh, Ludacris and Rakim who all spoke on Ali's behalf in the film. He has been cited as an inspiration by rappers such as LL Cool J, Public Enemy's Chuck D, Jay-Z, Eminem, Sean Combs, Slick Rick, Nas and MC Lyte.",
"He has been cited as an inspiration by rappers such as LL Cool J, Public Enemy's Chuck D, Jay-Z, Eminem, Sean Combs, Slick Rick, Nas and MC Lyte. Ali has been referenced in a number of hip hop songs, including Migos \"Fight Night\", The Game's \"Jesus Piece\", Nas' \"The Message, The Sugarhill Gang's \"Rapper's Delight\", the Fugees' \"Ready or Not\", EPMD's \"You're a Customer\" and Will Smith's \"Gettin' Jiggy wit It\".",
"Ali has been referenced in a number of hip hop songs, including Migos \"Fight Night\", The Game's \"Jesus Piece\", Nas' \"The Message, The Sugarhill Gang's \"Rapper's Delight\", the Fugees' \"Ready or Not\", EPMD's \"You're a Customer\" and Will Smith's \"Gettin' Jiggy wit It\". Professional wrestling Ali was involved with professional wrestling at different times in his career.",
"Professional wrestling Ali was involved with professional wrestling at different times in his career. On June 1, 1976, as Ali was preparing for his bout with Inoki, he attended a match featuring Gorilla Monsoon. After the match was over, Ali removed his shirt and jacket and confronted professional wrestler Gorilla Monsoon in the ring after his match at a World Wide Wrestling Federation show in Philadelphia Arena. After dodging a few punches, Monsoon put Ali in an airplane spin and dumped him to the mat.",
"After dodging a few punches, Monsoon put Ali in an airplane spin and dumped him to the mat. Ali stumbled to the corner, where his associate Butch Lewis convinced him to walk away. On March 31, 1985, Ali was the special guest referee for the main event of the inaugural WrestleMania event. In 1995, Ali led a group of Japanese and American professional wrestlers, including his 1976 opponent Antonio Inoki and Ric Flair, on a sports diplomacy mission to North Korea.",
"In 1995, Ali led a group of Japanese and American professional wrestlers, including his 1976 opponent Antonio Inoki and Ric Flair, on a sports diplomacy mission to North Korea. Ali was guest of honor at the record-breaking Collision in Korea, a wrestling event with the largest attendance of all time. Television appearances Muhammad Ali's fights were some of the world's most-watched television broadcasts, setting television viewership records.",
"Television appearances Muhammad Ali's fights were some of the world's most-watched television broadcasts, setting television viewership records. His most-watched fights drew an estimated 12 billion viewers worldwide between 1974 and 1980, and were the world's most-watched live television broadcasts at the time. Outside of fights, he made many other television appearances. The following table lists known viewership figures of his non-fight television appearances. For television viewership figures of his fights, see Boxing career of Muhammad Ali: Television viewership.",
"For television viewership figures of his fights, see Boxing career of Muhammad Ali: Television viewership. Art Ali was also an amateur artist and made dozens of drawings and paintings in the 1970s. In 1977, Rodney Hilton Brown, who owned an art gallery in NYC, asked Ali if he was interested in painting. Ali took him up on the offer and produced several paintings for him to sell. Brown is the author of “Muhammad Ali: The Untold Story: Painter, Poet and Prophet.\"",
"Brown is the author of “Muhammad Ali: The Untold Story: Painter, Poet and Prophet.\" In October 2021, 26 of his drawings and arts were placed on auction and sold for close to $1 Million USD. Later years In 1984, Ali was diagnosed with Parkinson's Syndrome, which sometimes results from head trauma from violent physical activities such as boxing.",
"Later years In 1984, Ali was diagnosed with Parkinson's Syndrome, which sometimes results from head trauma from violent physical activities such as boxing. Ali still remained active during this time, later participating as a guest referee at WrestleMania I. Philanthropy, humanitarianism and politics Ali was known for being a humanitarian and philanthropist. He focused on practicing his Islamic duty of charity and good deeds, donating millions to charity organizations and disadvantaged people of all religious backgrounds.",
"He focused on practicing his Islamic duty of charity and good deeds, donating millions to charity organizations and disadvantaged people of all religious backgrounds. It is estimated that Ali helped to feed more than 22million people afflicted by hunger across the world. Early in his career, one of his main focuses was youth education.",
"Early in his career, one of his main focuses was youth education. He spoke at several historically black colleges and universities about the importance of education, and became the largest single black donor to the United Negro College Fund in 1967 by way of a $10,000 donation ($78,000 in 2020 USD).",
"He spoke at several historically black colleges and universities about the importance of education, and became the largest single black donor to the United Negro College Fund in 1967 by way of a $10,000 donation ($78,000 in 2020 USD). In late 1966, he also pledged to donate a total of $100,000 to the UNCF (specifically promising to donate much of the proceeds of his title defense against Cleveland Williams), and paid $4,500 per closed circuit installation at six HBCUs so they could watch his fights.",
"In late 1966, he also pledged to donate a total of $100,000 to the UNCF (specifically promising to donate much of the proceeds of his title defense against Cleveland Williams), and paid $4,500 per closed circuit installation at six HBCUs so they could watch his fights. Ali began visiting Africa, starting in 1964 when he visited Nigeria and Ghana. In 1974, he visited a Palestinian refugee camp in Southern Lebanon, where Ali declared \"support for the Palestinian struggle to liberate their homeland.\"",
"In 1974, he visited a Palestinian refugee camp in Southern Lebanon, where Ali declared \"support for the Palestinian struggle to liberate their homeland.\" In 1978, following his loss to Spinks and before winning the rematch, Ali visited Bangladesh and received honorary citizenship there. The same year, he participated in The Longest Walk, a protest march in the United States in support of Native American rights, along with singer Stevie Wonder and actor Marlon Brando.",
"The same year, he participated in The Longest Walk, a protest march in the United States in support of Native American rights, along with singer Stevie Wonder and actor Marlon Brando. In 1980, Ali was recruited by President Jimmy Carter for a diplomatic mission to Africa, in an effort to persuade a number of African governments to join the US-led boycott of the Moscow Olympics (in response to the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan).",
"In 1980, Ali was recruited by President Jimmy Carter for a diplomatic mission to Africa, in an effort to persuade a number of African governments to join the US-led boycott of the Moscow Olympics (in response to the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan). According to Ali biographer Thomas Hauser, \"at best, it was ill-conceived; at worst, a diplomatic disaster.\" The Tanzanian government was insulted that Carter had sent an athlete to discuss a serious political issue.",
"The Tanzanian government was insulted that Carter had sent an athlete to discuss a serious political issue. One official asked whether the United States would \"send Chris Evert to negotiate with London.\" Consequently, Ali was only received by the youth and culture minister, rather than President Julius Nyerere.",
"Consequently, Ali was only received by the youth and culture minister, rather than President Julius Nyerere. Ali was unable to explain why the African countries should join the US boycott when it had failed to support the African boycott of the 1976 Olympics (in protest at Apartheid in South Africa), and was unaware that the Soviet Union was sponsoring popular revolutionary movements in Africa.",
"Ali was unable to explain why the African countries should join the US boycott when it had failed to support the African boycott of the 1976 Olympics (in protest at Apartheid in South Africa), and was unaware that the Soviet Union was sponsoring popular revolutionary movements in Africa. Ali conceded \"They didn't tell me about that in America\", and complained that Carter had sent him \"around the world to take the whupping over American policies.\"",
"Ali conceded \"They didn't tell me about that in America\", and complained that Carter had sent him \"around the world to take the whupping over American policies.\" The Nigerian government also rebuffed him and confirmed that they would be participating in the Moscow games. Ali did, however, convince the government of Kenya to boycott the Olympics. On January 19, 1981, in Los Angeles, Ali talked a suicidal man down from jumping off a ninth-floor ledge, an event that made national news.",
"On January 19, 1981, in Los Angeles, Ali talked a suicidal man down from jumping off a ninth-floor ledge, an event that made national news. In 1984, Ali announced his support for the re-election of United States President Ronald Reagan. When asked to elaborate on his endorsement of Reagan, Ali told reporters, \"He's keeping God in schools and that's enough.\" In 1985, he visited Israel to request the release of Muslim prisoners at Atlit detainee camp, which Israel declined.",
"In 1985, he visited Israel to request the release of Muslim prisoners at Atlit detainee camp, which Israel declined. Around 1987, the California Bicentennial Foundation for the U.S. Constitution selected Ali to personify the vitality of the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. Ali rode on a float at the following year's Tournament of Roses Parade, launching the U.S. Constitution's 200th birthday commemoration. In 1988, during the First Intifada, Ali participated in a Chicago rally in support of Palestine.",
"In 1988, during the First Intifada, Ali participated in a Chicago rally in support of Palestine. The same year, he visited Sudan to raise awareness about the plight of famine victims. According to Politico, Ali supported Orrin Hatch politically. In 1989, he participated in an Indian charity event with the Muslim Educational Society in Kozhikode, Kerala, along with Bollywood actor Dilip Kumar.",
"In 1989, he participated in an Indian charity event with the Muslim Educational Society in Kozhikode, Kerala, along with Bollywood actor Dilip Kumar. In 1990, Ali traveled to Iraq prior to the Gulf War, and met with Saddam Hussein in an attempt to negotiate the release of American hostages. Ali secured the release of the hostages, in exchange for promising Hussein that he would bring America \"an honest account\" of Iraq.",
"Ali secured the release of the hostages, in exchange for promising Hussein that he would bring America \"an honest account\" of Iraq. Despite arranging the hostages release, he received criticism from President George H. W. Bush, and Joseph C. Wilson, the highest-ranking American diplomat in Baghdad.Ali cooperated with Thomas Hauser on a biography, Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times. The oral history was published in 1991.",
"The oral history was published in 1991. The oral history was published in 1991. In 1994, Ali campaigned to the United States government to come to the aid of refugees afflicted by the Rwandan genocide, and to donate to organizations helping Rwandan refugees. In 1996, he lit the flame at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. It was watched by an estimated 3.5billion viewers worldwide. On November 17, 2002, Ali went to Afghanistan as the \"U.N. Messenger of Peace.\"",
"On November 17, 2002, Ali went to Afghanistan as the \"U.N. Messenger of Peace.\" He was in Kabul for a three-day goodwill mission as a special guest of the UN. On September 1, 2009, Ali visited Ennis, County Clare, Ireland, the home of his great-grandfather, Abe Grady, who emigrated to the U.S. in the 1860s, eventually settling in Kentucky.",
"On September 1, 2009, Ali visited Ennis, County Clare, Ireland, the home of his great-grandfather, Abe Grady, who emigrated to the U.S. in the 1860s, eventually settling in Kentucky. On July 27, 2012, Ali was a titular bearer of the Olympic flag during the opening ceremonies of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. He was helped to his feet by his wife Lonnie to stand before the flag due to his Parkinson's Syndrome rendering him unable to carry it into the stadium.",
"He was helped to his feet by his wife Lonnie to stand before the flag due to his Parkinson's Syndrome rendering him unable to carry it into the stadium. The same year, he was awarded the Philadelphia Liberty Medal in recognition of his lifelong efforts in activism, philanthropy and humanitarianism. Earnings By 1978, Ali's total fight purse earnings were estimated to be nearly $60million (inflation-adjusted ), including an estimated $47.45million grossed between 1970 and 1978.",
"Earnings By 1978, Ali's total fight purse earnings were estimated to be nearly $60million (inflation-adjusted ), including an estimated $47.45million grossed between 1970 and 1978. By 1980, his total fight purse earnings were estimated to be up to $70million (inflation-adjusted $million). In 1978, Ali revealed that he was \"broke\" and several news outlets reported his net worth to be an estimated (inflation-adjusted $million).",
"In 1978, Ali revealed that he was \"broke\" and several news outlets reported his net worth to be an estimated (inflation-adjusted $million). The press attributed his decline in wealth to several factors, including taxes consuming at least half of his income, management taking a third of his income, his lifestyle, and spending on family, charity and religious causes. In 2006, Ali sold his name and image for $50million, after which Forbes estimated his net worth to be $55million in 2006.",
"In 2006, Ali sold his name and image for $50million, after which Forbes estimated his net worth to be $55million in 2006. Following his death in 2016, his fortune was estimated to be between $50million and $80million. Declining health Ali's bout with Parkinson's Syndrome led to a gradual decline in his health, though he was still active into the early years of the millennium, promoting his own biopic, Ali, in 2001.",
"Declining health Ali's bout with Parkinson's Syndrome led to a gradual decline in his health, though he was still active into the early years of the millennium, promoting his own biopic, Ali, in 2001. That year he also contributed an on-camera segment to the America: A Tribute to Heroes benefit concert. In 1998, Ali began working with actor Michael J. Fox, who has Parkinson's disease, to raise awareness and fund research for a cure.",
"Fox, who has Parkinson's disease, to raise awareness and fund research for a cure. They made a joint appearance before Congress to push the case in 2002. In 2000, Ali worked with the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Disease to raise awareness and encourage donations for research. In February 2013, Ali's brother Rahman Ali said Muhammad could no longer speak and could be dead within days.",
"In February 2013, Ali's brother Rahman Ali said Muhammad could no longer speak and could be dead within days. Ali's daughter May May Ali responded to the rumors, stating that she had talked to him on the phone the morning of February 3 and he was fine. On December 20, 2014, Ali was hospitalized for a mild case of pneumonia. Ali was once again hospitalized on January 15, 2015, for a urinary tract infection after being found unresponsive at a guest house in Scottsdale, Arizona.",
"Ali was once again hospitalized on January 15, 2015, for a urinary tract infection after being found unresponsive at a guest house in Scottsdale, Arizona. He was released the next day. Death Ali was hospitalized in Scottsdale, Arizona, on June 2, 2016, with a respiratory illness. Though his condition was initially described as fair, it worsened, and he died the following day at the age of 74 from septic shock.",
"Though his condition was initially described as fair, it worsened, and he died the following day at the age of 74 from septic shock. News coverage and tributes Following Ali's death, he was the number-one trending topic on Twitter for over 12 hours and on Facebook for several days. BET played their documentary Muhammad Ali: Made In Miami. ESPN played four hours of non-stop commercial-free coverage of Ali. News networks, such as ABC News, BBC, CNN, and Fox News, also covered him extensively.",
"News networks, such as ABC News, BBC, CNN, and Fox News, also covered him extensively. He was mourned globally, and a family spokesman said the family \"certainly believes that Muhammad was a citizen of the world ... and they know that the world grieves with him.\" Politicians such as Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, Donald Trump, David Cameron and more paid tribute to Ali.",
"Politicians such as Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, Donald Trump, David Cameron and more paid tribute to Ali. Ali also received numerous tributes from the world of sports including Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Floyd Mayweather, Mike Tyson, the Miami Marlins, LeBron James, Steph Curry and more. Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer stated, \"Muhammad Ali belongs to the world. But he only has one hometown.\"",
"But he only has one hometown.\" But he only has one hometown.\" The day after Ali's death, the UFC paid tribute to Ali at their UFC 199 event in a lengthy video tribute package, crediting Ali for his accomplishments and inspiring multiple UFC champions. Memorial Ali's funeral had been pre-planned by himself and others for several years prior to his actual death.",
"Memorial Ali's funeral had been pre-planned by himself and others for several years prior to his actual death. The services began in Louisville on June 9, 2016, with an Islamic Janazah prayer service at Freedom Hall on the grounds of the Kentucky Exposition Center. On June 10, 2016, the funeral procession passed through the streets of Louisville ending at Cave Hill Cemetery, where his body was interred during a private ceremony. A public memorial service for Ali at downtown Louisville's KFC Yum!",
"A public memorial service for Ali at downtown Louisville's KFC Yum! Center was held during the afternoon of June 10. The pallbearers included Will Smith, Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson, with honorary pallbearers including George Chuvalo, Larry Holmes and George Foreman. Ali's memorial was watched by an estimated 1billion viewers worldwide. Legacy Ali remains the only three-time lineal heavyweight champion.",
"Legacy Ali remains the only three-time lineal heavyweight champion. Legacy Ali remains the only three-time lineal heavyweight champion. He is the only boxer to be named The Ring magazine Fighter of the Year six times, and was involved in more Ring \"Fight of the Year\" bouts than any other fighter. He was one of only three boxers to be named \"Sportsman of the Year\" by Sports Illustrated.",
"He was one of only three boxers to be named \"Sportsman of the Year\" by Sports Illustrated. Muhammad Ali was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in its first year and held wins over seven other Hall of Fame inductees during an era that has been called the golden age of heavyweight boxing. The Associated Press ranked him as the second best boxer and best heavyweight of the 20th century. His joint records of beating 21 boxers for the world heavyweight title and winning 14 unified title bouts stood for 35 years.",
"His joint records of beating 21 boxers for the world heavyweight title and winning 14 unified title bouts stood for 35 years. In 1978, three years before Ali's permanent retirement, the Louisville Board of Aldermen in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, voted 6–5 to rename Walnut Street to Muhammad Ali Boulevard. This was controversial at the time, as within a week 12 of the 70 street signs were stolen.",
"This was controversial at the time, as within a week 12 of the 70 street signs were stolen. Earlier that year, a committee of the Jefferson County Public Schools (Kentucky) considered renaming Ali's alma mater, Central High School, in his honor, but the motion failed to pass. In time, Muhammad Ali Boulevard—and Ali himself—came to be well accepted in his hometown. Ali was named one of the 100 most influential Americans of the 20th century by Life magazine in 1990.",
"Ali was named one of the 100 most influential Americans of the 20th century by Life magazine in 1990. In 1993, the Associated Press reported that Ali was tied with Babe Ruth as the most recognized athlete, out of over 800 dead or living athletes, in America. The study found that over 97% of Americans over 12 years of age identified both Ali and Ruth. He was the recipient of the 1997 Arthur Ashe Courage Award.",
"He was the recipient of the 1997 Arthur Ashe Courage Award. At the end of the 20th century he was ranked at or near the top of most lists of the century's greatest athletes. He was crowned Sportsman of the Century by Sports Illustrated. Named BBC's Sports Personality of the Century, he received more votes than the other five candidates combined. He was named Athlete of the Century by USA Today, and ranked as the third greatest athlete of the 20th century by ESPN SportsCentury.",
"He was named Athlete of the Century by USA Today, and ranked as the third greatest athlete of the 20th century by ESPN SportsCentury. Ali was named \"Kentucky Athlete of the Century\" by the Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame in ceremonies at the Galt House East. In 1999, Time magazine named Ali one of the 100 Most Important People of the 20th Century. On January 8, 2001, Muhammad Ali was presented with the Presidential Citizens Medal by President Bill Clinton.",
"On January 8, 2001, Muhammad Ali was presented with the Presidential Citizens Medal by President Bill Clinton. In November 2005, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush, followed by the Otto Hahn Peace Medal in Gold of the UN Association of Germany (DGVN) in Berlin for his work with the civil rights movement and the United Nations, which he received on December 17, 2005.",
"In November 2005, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush, followed by the Otto Hahn Peace Medal in Gold of the UN Association of Germany (DGVN) in Berlin for his work with the civil rights movement and the United Nations, which he received on December 17, 2005. On November 19, 2005, Ali and his wife Lonnie Ali opened the $60million non-profit Muhammad Ali Center in downtown Louisville.",
"On November 19, 2005, Ali and his wife Lonnie Ali opened the $60million non-profit Muhammad Ali Center in downtown Louisville. In addition to displaying his boxing memorabilia, the center focuses on core themes of peace, social responsibility, respect, and personal growth. On June 5, 2007, he received an honorary doctorate of humanities at Princeton University's 260th graduation ceremony. Ali Mall, located in Araneta Center, Quezon City, Philippines, is named after him.",
"Ali Mall, located in Araneta Center, Quezon City, Philippines, is named after him. Construction of the mall, the first of its kind in the Philippines, began shortly after Ali's victory in a match with Joe Frazier in nearby Araneta Coliseum in 1975. The mall opened in 1976 with Ali attending its opening. The 1976 Muhammad Ali vs. Antonio Inoki fight played an important role in the history of mixed martial arts.",
"The 1976 Muhammad Ali vs. Antonio Inoki fight played an important role in the history of mixed martial arts. In Japan, the match inspired Inoki's students Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki to found Pancrase in 1993, which in turn inspired the foundation of Pride Fighting Championships in 1997. Pride was acquired by its rival, Ultimate Fighting Championship, in 2007. The Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act was introduced in 1999 and passed in 2000, to protect the rights and welfare of boxers in the United States.",
"The Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act was introduced in 1999 and passed in 2000, to protect the rights and welfare of boxers in the United States. In May 2016, a bill was introduced to United States Congress by Markwayne Mullin, a politician and former MMA fighter, to extend the Ali Act to mixed martial arts. In June 2016, US senator Rand Paul proposed an amendment to the US draft laws named after Ali, a proposal to eliminate the Selective Service System.",
"In June 2016, US senator Rand Paul proposed an amendment to the US draft laws named after Ali, a proposal to eliminate the Selective Service System. In 2015, Sports Illustrated renamed its Sportsman Legacy Award to the Sports Illustrateds Muhammad Ali Legacy Award. The annual award was originally created in 2008 and honors former \"sports figures who embody the ideals of sportsmanship, leadership and philanthropy as vehicles for changing the world.\"",
"The annual award was originally created in 2008 and honors former \"sports figures who embody the ideals of sportsmanship, leadership and philanthropy as vehicles for changing the world.\" Ali first appeared on the magazine's cover in 1963 and went on to be featured on numerous covers during his storied career.",
"Ali first appeared on the magazine's cover in 1963 and went on to be featured on numerous covers during his storied career. On January 13, 2017, seven months or so after Ali's death, and 4 days before what would have been his 75th birthday, the Muhammad Ali Commemorative Coin Act was introduced into the 115th Congress (2017–2019), as H.R. 579 (House of Representatives) and as S. 166 (Senate). However, both \"died\" within 10 days.",
"However, both \"died\" within 10 days. However, both \"died\" within 10 days. In the media and popular culture As a world champion boxer, social activist, sex symbol and pop culture icon, Ali was the subject of numerous creative works including books, films, music, video games, TV shows, and other. Muhammad Ali was often dubbed the world's \"most famous\" person in the media.",
"Muhammad Ali was often dubbed the world's \"most famous\" person in the media. Several of his fights were watched by an estimated 12 billion viewers between 1974 and 1980, and his lighting of the torch at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics was watched by an estimated 3.5billion viewers. Ali appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated on 38 different occasions, second only to Michael Jordan's 46. He also appeared on the cover of Time Magazine 5 times, the most of any athlete.",
"He also appeared on the cover of Time Magazine 5 times, the most of any athlete. In 2015, Harris Poll found that Ali was one of the three most recognizable athletes in the United States, along with Michael Jordan and Babe Ruth. Martial artist and actor Bruce Lee was influenced by Ali, whose footwork he studied and incorporated into his own style while developing Jeet Kune Do in the 1960s.",
"Martial artist and actor Bruce Lee was influenced by Ali, whose footwork he studied and incorporated into his own style while developing Jeet Kune Do in the 1960s. On the set of Freedom Road Ali met Canadian singer-songwriter Michel, and subsequently helped create Michel's album The First Flight of the Gizzelda Dragon and an unaired television special featuring them both. Ali was the subject of the British television program This Is Your Life in 1978 when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews.",
"Ali was the subject of the British television program This Is Your Life in 1978 when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews. Ali was featured in Superman vs. Muhammad Ali, a 1978 DC Comics comic book pitting the champ against the superhero. In 1979, Ali guest-starred as himself in an episode of the NBC sitcom Diff'rent Strokes.",
"In 1979, Ali guest-starred as himself in an episode of the NBC sitcom Diff'rent Strokes. The show's title itself was inspired by the quote \"Different strokes for different folks\" popularized in 1966 by Ali, who also inspired the title of the 1967 Syl Johnson song \"Different Strokes\", one of the most sampled songs in pop music history. He also wrote several bestselling books about his career, including The Greatest: My Own Story and The Soul of a Butterfly.",
"He also wrote several bestselling books about his career, including The Greatest: My Own Story and The Soul of a Butterfly. The Muhammad Ali effect, named after Ali, is a term that came into use in psychology in the 1980s, as he stated in The Greatest: My Own Story: \"I only said I was the greatest, not the smartest.\"",
"The Muhammad Ali effect, named after Ali, is a term that came into use in psychology in the 1980s, as he stated in The Greatest: My Own Story: \"I only said I was the greatest, not the smartest.\" According to this effect, when people are asked to rate their intelligence and moral behavior in comparison to others, people will rate themselves as more moral, but not more intelligent than others.",
"According to this effect, when people are asked to rate their intelligence and moral behavior in comparison to others, people will rate themselves as more moral, but not more intelligent than others. When We Were Kings, a 1996 documentary about the Rumble in the Jungle, won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. The 2001 biopic Ali garnered a Best Actor Oscar nomination for Will Smith for his portrayal of Ali. Prior to making the film, Smith rejected the role until Ali requested that he accept it.",
"Prior to making the film, Smith rejected the role until Ali requested that he accept it. Smith said the first thing Ali told him was: \"Man, you're almost pretty enough to play me.\" In 2002, Ali was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to the entertainment industry. His star is the only one to be mounted on a vertical surface, out of deference to his request that the name Muhammad—a name he shares with the Islamic prophet—not be walked upon.",
"His star is the only one to be mounted on a vertical surface, out of deference to his request that the name Muhammad—a name he shares with the Islamic prophet—not be walked upon. His 1966 fight against George Chuvalo was the subject of Joseph Blasioli's 2003 documentary film The Last Round: Chuvalo vs. Ali. The Trials of Muhammad Ali, a documentary directed by Bill Siegel that focuses on Ali's refusal of the draft during the Vietnam War, opened in Manhattan on August 23, 2013.",
"The Trials of Muhammad Ali, a documentary directed by Bill Siegel that focuses on Ali's refusal of the draft during the Vietnam War, opened in Manhattan on August 23, 2013. A 2013 made-for-TV movie titled Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight dramatized the same aspect of Ali's life. Antoine Fuqua's documentary What's My Name: Muhammad Ali was released in 2019. Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns created the four-part documentary film Muhammad Ali, spanning over eight hours on Ali's entire life.",
"Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns created the four-part documentary film Muhammad Ali, spanning over eight hours on Ali's entire life. Burns worked on the film since early 2016. It is scheduled to release in September 2021 on PBS. Dave Zirin who watched an 8 hour rough cut of this documentary called it \"utterly outstanding\" and said \"the footage they found will blow minds\".",
"Dave Zirin who watched an 8 hour rough cut of this documentary called it \"utterly outstanding\" and said \"the footage they found will blow minds\". Discography I Am the Greatest (1963) The Adventures of Ali and His Gang vs. Mr. Tooth Decay (1976) See also List of heavyweight boxing champions List of WBA world champions List of WBC world champions List of The Ring world champions List of undisputed boxing champions Converts to Islam Notable boxing families List of people from the Louisville metropolitan area List of North American Muslims African-American Muslims 1981 MAPS Wells Fargo embezzlement scandal Notes References Further reading Online Muhammad Ali: American boxer, in Encyclopædia Britannica Online, by Thomas Hauser, Adam Augustyn, Piyush Bhathya, Yamini Chauhan, John M. Cunningham, Richard Pallardy, Michael Ray, Emily Rodriguez, Surabhi Sinha, Amy Tikkanen, Grace Young and The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica External links Official website (archived) William Addams Reitwiesner Genealogical Services: Ancestry of Muhammad Ali FBI Records: The Vault – Muhammad Ali at the FBI Cassius Clay Guilty (1967), Texas Archive of the Moving Image Photo essays''' 1942 births 2016 deaths 20th-century American rappers 20th-century Muslims 21st-century Muslims Activists for African-American civil rights Activists from Kentucky African-American activists African-American boxers African-American male rappers African-American Muslims African-American poets African-American Sunni Muslims American anti–Vietnam War activists American conscientious objectors American former Protestants American humanitarians American male boxers American male poets American male rappers American Muslim activists American people of Irish descent American people of Malagasy descent American philanthropists American spoken word poets American Sufis BBC Sports Personality World Sport Star of the Year winners Boxers at the 1960 Summer Olympics Boxers from Arizona Boxers from Chicago Boxers from Louisville, Kentucky Boxers from New Jersey Burials at Cave Hill Cemetery Central High School (Louisville, Kentucky) alumni COINTELPRO targets Columbia Records artists Converts to Sunni Islam from Protestantism Deaths from sepsis Former Nation of Islam members International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees Medalists at the 1960 Summer Olympics Neurological disease deaths in Arizona Olympic boxers of the United States Olympic cauldron lighters Olympic gold medalists for the United States in boxing Overturned convictions in the United States People from Cherry Hill, New Jersey People from Paradise Valley, Arizona People with Parkinson's disease People with traumatic brain injuries Poets from Arizona Poets from Kentucky Poets from New Jersey Presidential Citizens Medal recipients Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients Professional wrestling referees Rappers from Kentucky Sportspeople from Camden County, New Jersey Sportspeople from the Phoenix metropolitan area The Ring (magazine) champions Vietnam War draft evaders Winners of the United States Championship for amateur boxers World Boxing Association champions World Boxing Council champions World heavyweight boxing champions Writers from Louisville, Kentucky"
] |
[
"Muhammad Ali",
"Early career",
"What started his career?",
"winning a six-round decision over Tunney Hunsaker.",
"Did he have anyone who influenced him?",
"His provocative and outlandish behavior in the ring was inspired by professional wrestler \"Gorgeous George\" Wagner.",
"Did he get any recognition during this time period?",
"Clay amassed a record of 19-0 with 15 wins by knockout.",
"Was he ever sponsored?",
"I don't know."
] | C_ea7154fd6dfd4adca851d86899f374c6_0 | Did he have any signature moves? | 5 | Did Muhammad Ali have any signature moves? | Muhammad Ali | Clay made his professional debut on October 29, 1960, winning a six-round decision over Tunney Hunsaker. From then until the end of 1963, Clay amassed a record of 19-0 with 15 wins by knockout. He defeated boxers that included Tony Esperti, Jim Robinson, Donnie Fleeman, Alonzo Johnson, George Logan, Willi Besmanoff, LaMar Clark, Doug Jones and Henry Cooper. Clay also beat his former trainer and veteran boxer Archie Moore in a 1962 match. These early fights were not without trials. Clay was knocked down both by Sonny Banks and Cooper. In the Cooper fight, Clay was floored by a left hook at the end of round four and was saved by the bell, going on to win in the predicted 5th round due to Cooper's severely cut eye. The fight with Doug Jones on March 13, 1963 was Clay's toughest fight during this stretch. The number-two and -three heavyweight contenders respectively, Clay and Jones fought on Jones' home turf at New York's Madison Square Garden. Jones staggered Clay in the first round, and the unanimous decision for Clay was greeted by boos and a rain of debris thrown into the ring (watching on closed-circuit TV, heavyweight champ Sonny Liston quipped that if he fought Clay he might get locked up for murder). The fight was later named "Fight of the Year" by The Ring magazine. In each of these fights, Clay vocally belittled his opponents and vaunted his abilities. He called Jones "an ugly little man" and Cooper a "bum". He was embarrassed to get in the ring with Alex Miteff. Madison Square Garden was "too small for me". Clay's behavior provoked the ire of many boxing fans. His provocative and outlandish behavior in the ring was inspired by professional wrestler "Gorgeous George" Wagner. Ali stated in a 1969 interview with the Associated Press' Hubert Mizel that he met with Gorgeous George in Las Vegas in 1961 and that the wrestler inspired him to use wrestling jargon when he did interviews. After Clay left Moore's camp in 1960, partially due to Clay's refusing to do chores such as dish-washing and sweeping, he hired Angelo Dundee, whom he had met in February 1957 during Ali's amateur career, to be his trainer. Around this time, Clay sought longtime idol Sugar Ray Robinson to be his manager, but was rebuffed. CANNOTANSWER | In each of these fights, Clay vocally belittled his opponents and vaunted his abilities. | Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer, activist, entertainer, poet and philanthropist. Nicknamed The Greatest, he is widely regarded as one of the most significant and celebrated sports figures of the 20th century, and is frequently ranked as the greatest heavyweight boxer of all time. In 1999, he was named Sportsman of the Century by Sports Illustrated and the Sports Personality of the Century by the BBC.
Born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, he began training as an amateur boxer at age 12. At 18, he won a gold medal in the light heavyweight division at the 1960 Summer Olympics and turned professional later that year. He became a Muslim after 1961. He won the world heavyweight championship from Sonny Liston in a major upset on February 25, 1964, at age 22. Also that year, he renounced his birth name as a "slave name" and formally became known as Muhammad Ali. In 1966, Ali refused to be drafted into the military owing to his religious beliefs and ethical opposition to the Vietnam War and was found guilty of draft evasion and stripped of his boxing titles. He stayed out of prison while appealing the decision to the Supreme Court, where his conviction was overturned in 1971. However, he had not fought for nearly four years by this point and had lost a period of peak performance as an athlete. Ali's actions as a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War made him an icon for the larger 1960s counterculture generation, and he was a very high-profile figure of racial pride for African Americans during the civil rights movement and throughout his career. As a Muslim, Ali was initially affiliated with Elijah Muhammad's Nation of Islam (NOI). He later disavowed the NOI, adhering to Sunni Islam, and supported racial integration like his former mentor Malcolm X.
He fought in several historic boxing matches, such as his highly publicized fights with Sonny Liston, Joe Frazier (including the Fight of the Century, the biggest boxing event up until then), the Thrilla in Manila, and his fight with George Foreman in The Rumble in the Jungle. Ali thrived in the spotlight at a time when many boxers let their managers do the talking, and he became renowned for his provocative and outlandish persona. He was known for trash-talking, and often free-styled with rhyme schemes and spoken word poetry incorporating elements of hip hop, and often predicted in which round he would knockout his opponent.
Outside boxing, Ali attained success as a spoken word artist, releasing two studio albums: I Am the Greatest! (1963) and The Adventures of Ali and His Gang vs. Mr. Tooth Decay (1976). Both albums received Grammy Award nominations. He also featured as an actor and writer, releasing two autobiographies. Ali retired from boxing in 1981 and focused on religion, philanthropy and activism. In 1984, he made public his diagnosis of Parkinson's syndrome, which some reports attributed to boxing-related injuries, though he and his specialist physicians disputed this. He remained an active public figure globally, but in his later years made fewer public appearances as his condition worsened, and he was cared for by his family. Ali died on June 3, 2016.
Early life and amateur career
Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. ( ) was born on January 17, 1942, in Louisville, Kentucky. He had one brother. He was named after his father, Cassius Marcellus Clay Sr., who had a sister and four brothers and who himself was named in honor of the 19th-century Republican politician and staunch abolitionist Cassius Marcellus Clay, also from the state of Kentucky. Clay's father's paternal grandparents were John Clay and Sallie Anne Clay; Clay's sister Eva claimed that Sallie was a native of Madagascar. He was a descendant of slaves of the antebellum South, and was predominantly of African descent, with some Irish and English family heritage. Ali's maternal great-grandfather, Abe Grady, emigrated from Ennis, Co. Clare, Ireland. DNA testing performed in 2018 showed that, through his paternal grandmother, Ali was a descendant of the former slave Archer Alexander, who had been chosen from the building crew as the model of a freed man for the Emancipation Memorial, and was the subject of abolitionist William Greenleaf Eliot's book, The Story of Archer Alexander: From Slavery to Freedom. Like Ali, Alexander fought for his freedom.
His father was a sign and billboard painter, and his mother, Odessa O'Grady Clay (1917–1994), was a domestic helper. Although Cassius Sr. was a Methodist, he allowed Odessa to bring up both Cassius Jr. and his younger brother, Rudolph "Rudy" Clay (later renamed Rahman Ali), as Baptists. Cassius Jr. attended Central High School in Louisville. He was dyslexic, which led to difficulties in reading and writing, at school and for much of his life. Ali grew up amid racial segregation. His mother recalled one occasion when he was denied a drink of water at a store: "They wouldn't give him one because of his color. That really affected him." He was also strongly affected by the 1955 murder of Emmett Till, which led to young Clay and a friend taking out their frustration by vandalizing a local rail yard. His daughter Hana later wrote that Ali once told her, "Nothing would ever shake me up (more) than the story of Emmett Till."
Ali was first directed toward boxing by Louisville police officer and boxing coach Joe E. Martin, who encountered the 12-year-old fuming over a thief's having taken his bicycle. He told the officer he was going to "whup" the thief. The officer told Clay he had better learn how to box first. Initially, Clay did not take up Martin's offer, but after seeing amateur boxers on a local television boxing program called Tomorrow's Champions, Clay was interested in the prospect of fighting. He then began to work with trainer Fred Stoner, whom he credits with giving him the "real training", eventually molding "my style, my stamina and my system." For the last four years of Clay's amateur career he was trained by boxing cutman Chuck Bodak.
Clay made his amateur boxing debut in 1954 against local amateur boxer Ronnie O'Keefe. He won by split decision. He went on to win six Kentucky Golden Gloves titles, two national Golden Gloves titles, an Amateur Athletic Union national title, and the light heavyweight gold medal in the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. Clay's amateur record was 100 wins with five losses. Ali said in his 1975 autobiography that shortly after his return from the Rome Olympics, he threw his gold medal into the Ohio River after he and a friend were refused service at a "whites-only" restaurant and fought with a white gang. The story was later disputed, and several of Ali's friends, including Bundini Brown and photographer Howard Bingham, denied it. Brown told Sports Illustrated writer Mark Kram, "Honkies sure bought into that one!" Thomas Hauser's biography of Ali stated that Ali was refused service at the diner but that he lost his medal a year after he won it. Ali received a replacement medal at a basketball intermission during the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, where he lit the torch to start the games.
Early professional boxing career
Early career
Clay made his professional debut on October 29, 1960, winning a six-round decision over Tunney Hunsaker. From then until the end of 1963, Clay amassed a record of 19–0 with 15 wins by knockout. He defeated boxers including Tony Esperti, Jim Robinson, Donnie Fleeman, Alonzo Johnson, George Logan, Willi Besmanoff, LaMar Clark, Doug Jones and Henry Cooper. Clay also beat his former trainer and veteran boxer Archie Moore in a 1962 match.
These early fights were not without trials. Clay was knocked down by both Sonny Banks and Cooper. In the Cooper fight, Clay was floored by a left hook at the end of round four and was saved by the bell, going on to win in the predicted 5th round due to Cooper's severely cut eye. The fight with Doug Jones on March 13, 1963 was Clay's toughest fight during this stretch. The number two and three heavyweight contenders respectively, Clay and Jones fought on Jones' home turf at New York's Madison Square Garden. Jones staggered Clay in the first round, and the unanimous decision for Clay was greeted by boos and a rain of debris thrown into the ring. Watching on closed-circuit TV, heavyweight champ Sonny Liston quipped that if he fought Clay he might get locked up for murder. The fight was later named "Fight of the Year" by The Ring magazine.
In each of these fights, Clay vocally belittled his opponents and vaunted his abilities. He called Jones "an ugly little man" and Cooper a "bum". He said he was embarrassed to get in the ring with Alex Miteff and claimed that Madison Square Garden was "too small for me." Ali's trash-talk was inspired by professional wrestler "Gorgeous George" Wagner's, after he saw George's talking ability attract huge crowds to events. Ali stated in a 1969 interview with the Associated Press' Hubert Mizel that he met with George in Las Vegas in 1961, that George told him that talking a big game would earn paying fans who either wanted to see him win or wanted to see him lose, thus Ali transformed himself into a self-described "big-mouth and a bragger".
In 1960, Clay left Moore's camp, partially due to Clay's refusal to do chores such as washing dishes and sweeping. To replace Moore, Clay hired Angelo Dundee to be his trainer. Clay had met Dundee in February 1957 during Clay's amateur career. Around this time, Clay sought longtime idol Sugar Ray Robinson to be his manager, but was rebuffed.
World heavyweight champion
Fights against Liston
By late 1963, Clay had become the top contender for Sonny Liston's title. The fight was set for February 25, 1964, in Miami Beach. Liston was an intimidating personality, a dominating fighter with a criminal past and ties to the mob. Based on Clay's uninspired performance against Jones and Cooper in his previous two fights, and Liston's destruction of former heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson in two first-round knockouts, Clay was a 7–1 underdog. Despite this, Clay taunted Liston during the pre-fight buildup, dubbing him "the big ugly bear", stating "Liston even smells like a bear" and claiming "After I beat him I'm going to donate him to the zoo." Clay turned the pre-fight weigh-in into a circus, shouting at Liston that "someone is going to die at ringside tonight." Clay's pulse rate was measured at 120, more than double his normal 54. Many of those in attendance thought Clay's behavior stemmed from fear, and some commentators wondered if he would show up for the bout.
The outcome of the fight was a major upset. At the opening bell, Liston rushed at Clay, seemingly angry and looking for a quick knockout. However, Clay's superior speed and mobility enabled him to elude Liston, making the champion miss and look awkward. At the end of the first round, Clay opened up his attack and hit Liston repeatedly with jabs. Liston fought better in round two, but at the beginning of the third round Clay hit Liston with a combination that buckled his knees and opened a cut under his left eye. This was the first time Liston had ever been cut. At the end of round four, Clay was returning to his corner when he began experiencing blinding pain in his eyes and asked his trainer, Angelo Dundee, to cut off his gloves. Dundee refused. It has been speculated that the problem was due to ointment used to seal Liston's cuts, perhaps deliberately applied by his corner to his gloves. Though unconfirmed, boxing historian Bert Sugar said that two of Liston's opponents also complained about their eyes "burning".
Despite Liston's attempts to knock out a blinded Clay, Clay was able to survive the fifth round until sweat and tears rinsed the irritation from his eyes. In the sixth, Clay dominated, hitting Liston repeatedly. Liston did not answer the bell for the seventh round, and Clay was declared the winner by TKO. Liston stated that the reason he quit was an injured shoulder. Following the win, a triumphant Clay rushed to the edge of the ring and, pointing to the ringside press, shouted: "Eat your words!" He added, "I am the greatest! I shook up the world. I'm the prettiest thing that ever lived."
At ringside post fight, Clay appeared unconvinced that the fight was stopped due to a Liston shoulder injury, saying that the only injury Liston had was "an open eye, a big cut eye!" When told by Joe Louis that the injury was a "left arm thrown out of its socket," Clay quipped, "Yeah, swinging at nothing, who wouldn't?"
In winning this fight at the age of 22, Clay became the youngest boxer to take the title from a reigning heavyweight champion. However, Floyd Patterson remained the youngest to win the heavyweight championship, doing so at the age 21 during an elimination bout following Rocky Marciano's retirement. Mike Tyson broke both records in 1986 when he defeated Trevor Berbick to win the heavyweight title at age 20.
Soon after the Liston fight, Clay changed his name to Cassius X, and then later to Muhammad Ali upon converting to Islam and affiliating with the Nation of Islam. Ali then faced a rematch with Liston scheduled for May 1965 in Lewiston, Maine. It had been scheduled for Boston the previous November, but was postponed for six months due to Ali's emergency surgery for a hernia three days before. The fight was controversial. Midway through the first round, Liston was knocked down by a difficult-to-see blow the press dubbed a "phantom punch". Referee Jersey Joe Walcott did not begin the count immediately after the knockdown, as Ali refused to retreat to a neutral corner. Liston rose after he had been down for about 20 seconds, and the fight momentarily continued. However a few seconds later Walcott, having been informed by the timekeepers that Liston had been down for a count of 10, stopped the match and declared Ali the winner by knockout. The entire fight lasted less than two minutes.
It has since been speculated that Liston purposely dropped to the ground. Proposed motivations include threats on his life from the Nation of Islam, that he had bet against himself and that he "took a dive" to pay off debts. Slow-motion replays show that Liston was jarred by a chopping right from Ali, although it is unclear whether the blow was a genuine knockout punch.
Fight against Patterson
Ali defended his title against former heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson on November 22, 1965. Before the match, Ali mocked Patterson, who was widely known to call him by his former name Cassius Clay, as an "Uncle Tom", calling him "The Rabbit". Although Ali clearly had the better of Patterson, who appeared injured during the fight, the match lasted 12 rounds before being called on a technical knockout. Patterson later said he had strained his sacroiliac. Ali was criticized in the sports media for appearing to have toyed with Patterson during the fight. Patterson biographer W. K. Stratton claims that the conflict between Ali and Patterson was not genuine but was staged to increase ticket sales and the closed-circuit viewing audience, with both men complicit in the theatrics. Stratton also cites an interview by Howard Cosell in which Ali explained that rather than toying with Patterson, he refrained from knocking him out after it became apparent Patterson was injured. Patterson later said that he had never been hit by punches as soft as Ali's. Stratton states that Ali arranged the second fight, in 1972, with the financially struggling Patterson to help the former champion earn enough money to pay a debt to the IRS.
Main Bout
After the Patterson fight, Ali founded his own promotion company, Main Bout. The company mainly handled Ali's boxing promotions and pay-per-view closed-circuit television broadcasts. The company's stockholders were mainly fellow Nation of Islam members, along with several others, including Bob Arum.
Ali and then-WBA heavyweight champion boxer Ernie Terrell had agreed to meet for a bout in Chicago on March 29, 1966 (the WBA, one of two boxing associations, had stripped Ali of his title following his joining the Nation of Islam). But in February Ali was reclassified by the Louisville draft board as 1-A from 1-Y, and he indicated that he would refuse to serve, commenting to the press, "I ain't got nothing against no Viet Cong; no Viet Cong never called me nigger." Amidst the media and public outcry over Ali's stance, the Illinois Athletic Commission refused to sanction the fight, citing technicalities.
Instead, Ali traveled to Canada and Europe and won championship bouts against George Chuvalo, Henry Cooper, Brian London and Karl Mildenberger.
Ali returned to the United States to fight Cleveland Williams in the Houston Astrodome on November 14, 1966. The bout drew a record-breaking indoor crowd of 35,460 people. Williams had once been considered among the hardest punchers in the heavyweight division, but in 1964 he had been shot at point-blank range by a Texas policeman, resulting in the loss of one kidney and of his small intestine. Ali dominated Williams, winning a third-round technical knockout in what some consider the finest performance of his career.
Ali fought Terrell in Houston on February 6, 1967. Terrell, who was unbeaten in five years and had defeated many of the boxers Ali had faced, was billed as Ali's toughest opponent since Liston; he was big, strong and had a three-inch reach advantage over Ali. During the lead up to the bout, Terrell repeatedly called Ali "Clay", much to Ali's annoyance. The two almost came to blows over the name issue in a pre-fight interview with Howard Cosell. Ali seemed intent on humiliating Terrell. "I want to torture him", he said. "A clean knockout is too good for him." The fight was close until the seventh round, when Ali bloodied Terrell and almost knocked him out. In the eighth round, Ali taunted Terrell, hitting him with jabs and shouting between punches, "What's my name, Uncle Tom ... what's my name?" Ali won a unanimous 15-round decision. Terrell claimed that early in the fight Ali deliberately thumbed him in the eye, forcing him to fight half-blind, and then, in a clinch, rubbed the wounded eye against the ropes. Because of Ali's apparent intent to prolong the fight to inflict maximum punishment, critics described the bout as "one of the ugliest boxing fights." Tex Maule later wrote: "It was a wonderful demonstration of boxing skill and a barbarous display of cruelty." Ali denied the accusations of cruelty but, for Ali's critics, the fight provided more evidence of his arrogance.
After Ali's title defense against Zora Folley on March 22, he was stripped of his title due to his refusal to be drafted to army service. His boxing license was also suspended by the state of New York. He was convicted of draft evasion on June 20 and sentenced to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. He paid a bond and remained free while the verdict was being appealed.
Vietnam War and resistance to the draft
Ali registered for conscription in the United States military on his 18th birthday and was listed as 1-A in 1962. In 1964, he was reclassified as Class 1-Y (fit for service only in times of national emergency) after he failed the U.S. Armed Forces qualifying test because his writing and spelling skills were sub-standard, due to his dyslexia. (He was quoted as saying, "I said I was the greatest, not the smartest!") By early 1966, the army lowered its standards to permit soldiers above the 15th percentile and Ali was again classified as 1-A. This classification meant he was now eligible for the draft and induction into the U.S. Army at a time when the U.S. was involved in the Vietnam War, a war which put him further at odds with the white establishment.
When notified of this status, Ali declared that he would refuse to serve in the army and publicly considered himself a conscientious objector. Ali stated: "War is against the teachings of the Qur'an. I'm not trying to dodge the draft. We are not supposed to take part in no wars unless declared by Allah or The Messenger (Elijah Muhammad then leader of Nation of Islam). We don’t take part in Christian wars or wars of any unbelievers". He also said "We are not to be the aggressor but we will defend ourselves if attacked." He stated: "Man, I ain't got no quarrel with them Viet Cong." Ali elaborated: "Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go ten thousand miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on brown people in Vietnam while so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs and denied simple human rights?" Ali antagonized the white establishment in 1966 by refusing to be drafted into the U.S. military, citing his religious beliefs and opposition to American involvement in the Vietnam War.
On April 28, 1967, Ali appeared in Houston for his scheduled induction into the U.S. Armed Forces, but he refused three times to step forward when his name was called. An officer warned him that he was committing a felony punishable by five years in prison and a fine of $10,000. Once more, Ali refused to budge when his name was called, and he was arrested. Later that same day, the New York State Athletic Commission suspended his boxing license and stripped him of his title. Other boxing commissions followed suit. Ali remained unable to obtain a license to box in any state for over three years. On June 4, 1967, in a first for sports professionals, a group of high-profile African-American athletes assembled at the Negro Industrial Economic union in Cleveland for a "Muhammad Ali Summit". The meeting was organized by Jim Brown for his peers to question Ali about the seriousness of his convictions, and to decide whether to support him, which they ultimately did.
At the trial on June 20, 1967, the jury found Ali guilty after only 21minutes of deliberation of the criminal offense of violating the Selective Service laws by refusing to be drafted. After a Court of Appeals upheld the conviction, the case was reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1971.
Ali remained free in the years between the Appellate Court decision and the Supreme Court ruling. As public opinion began turning people against the war and the Civil Rights Movement continued to gather momentum, Ali became a popular speaker at colleges and universities across the country; this itinerary was rare if not unprecedented for a prizefighter. At Howard University, for example, he gave his popular "Black Is Best" speech to 4,000 cheering students and community intellectuals, after he was invited to speak by sociology professor Nathan Hare on behalf of the Black Power Committee, a student protest group.
On June 28, 1971, the Supreme Court of the United States in Clay v. United States overturned Ali's conviction by a unanimous 8–0 decision (Justice Thurgood Marshall recused himself, as he had been the U.S. Solicitor General at the time of Ali's conviction). The decision was not based on, nor did it address, the merits of Ali's claims per se. Rather, the Court held that since the appeal board gave no reason for the denial of a conscientious objector exemption to Ali, that it was therefore impossible to determine which of the three basic tests for conscientious objector status (offered in the Justice Department's brief) the appeal board relied on, and Ali's conviction must be reversed.
Impact of Ali's draft refusal
Ali's example inspired many black Americans and others. However, initially when he refused induction, he became arguably the most hated man in the country and received many death threats. People who supported Ali during this time were also threatened, including sports journalist Jerry Izenberg, whose columns defended Ali's decision not to serve. He wrote, "Bomb threats emptied our office, making the staff stand out in the snow. My car windshield was smashed with a sledgehammer." The New York Times columnist William Rhoden wrote, "Ali's actions changed my standard of what constituted an athlete's greatness. Possessing a killer jump shot or the ability to stop on a dime was no longer enough. What were you doing for the liberation of your people? What were you doing to help your country live up to the covenant of its founding principles?"
Recalling Ali's anti-war position, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar said: "I remember the teachers at my high school didn't like Ali because he was so anti-establishment and he kind of thumbed his nose at authority and got away with it. The fact that he was proud to be a black man and that he had so much talent ... made some people think that he was dangerous. But for those very reasons I enjoyed him."
Civil rights figures came to believe that Ali had an energizing effect on the freedom movement as a whole. Al Sharpton spoke of his bravery at a time when there was still widespread support for the Vietnam War:
Ali was honored with the annual Martin Luther King Award in 1970 by civil rights leader Ralph Abernathy, who called him "a living example of soul power, the March on Washington in two fists." Coretta Scott King added that Ali was "a champion of justice and peace and unity."
In speaking of the cost on Ali's career of his refusal to be drafted, his trainer Angelo Dundee said, "One thing must be taken into account when talking about Ali: He was robbed of his best years, his prime years."
Bob Arum did not support Ali's choice at the time. More recently, Arum stated that "when I look back at his life, and I was blessed to call him a friend and spent a lot of time with him, it's hard for me to talk about his exploits in boxing because as great as they were they paled in comparison to the impact that he had on the world," and "He did what he thought was right. And it turned out he was right, and I was wrong."
Ali's resistance to the draft was covered in the 2013 documentary The Trials of Muhammad Ali.
NSA and FBI monitoring of Ali's communications
In a secret operation code-named "Minaret", the National Security Agency (NSA) intercepted the communications of leading Americans, including Ali, Senators Frank Church and Howard Baker, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., prominent U.S. journalists, and others who criticized the U.S. war in Vietnam. A review by the NSA of the Minaret program concluded that it was "disreputable if not outright illegal."
In 1971, his Fight of the Century with Frazier was used by an activist group, the Citizens' Commission to Investigate the FBI, to pull off a burglary at an FBI office in Pennsylvania; the anticipation for the fight was unlike anything else, so they believed the security would also be focused on the fight. This raid exposed the COINTELPRO operations that included illegal spying on activists involved with the civil rights and anti-war movements. One of the COINTELPRO targets was Ali, and their activities included the FBI gaining access to his records as far back as elementary school; one such record mentioned him loving art as a child.
Exile and comeback
In March 1966, Ali refused to be inducted into the armed forces. He was systematically denied a boxing license in every state and stripped of his passport. As a result, he did not fight from March 1967 to October 1970—from ages 25 to almost 29—as his case worked its way through the appeals process before his conviction was overturned in 1971.
Protesting while exiled
During this time of inactivity, as opposition to the Vietnam War began to grow and Ali's stance gained sympathy, he spoke at colleges across the nation, criticizing the Vietnam War and advocating African-American pride and racial justice. Ali based himself in Chicago. According to most close to him, his Chicago years were formative.
At the time, Ali was widely condemned by the American media, with fears that his actions could potentially lead to mass civil disobedience. Despite this, Ebony magazine noted in the late 1960s that Ali's popularity had increased during this time, especially among black people.
The Super Fight
While banned from sanctioned bouts, Ali settled a $1 million lawsuit against radio producer Murray Woroner by accepting $10,000 to appear in a privately staged fantasy fight against retired champion Rocky Marciano. In 1969 the boxers were filmed sparring for about 75 one-minute rounds; they produced several potential outcomes. A computer program purportedly determined the winner, based on data about the fighters, along with the opinions of approximately 250 boxing experts. Edited versions of the bout were shown in movie theaters in 1970. In the U.S. version Ali lost in a simulated 13th-round knockout, but in the European version Marciano lost due to cuts, also simulated.
Ali suggested that prejudice determined his defeat in the U.S. version. He was reported to jokingly say, "That computer was made in Alabama."
Return to prizefighting
On August 11, 1970, with his case still in appeal, Ali was granted a license to box by the City of Atlanta Athletic Commission. Leroy Johnson, Jesse Hill Jr. and Harry Pett had used their local political influence and set up the company House of Sports to organize the fight, underlining the influential power of Georgia's black politics in Ali' s comeback. Ali's first return bout was against Jerry Quarry on October 26, resulting in a win after three rounds after Quarry was cut.
A month earlier, a victory in federal court forced the New York State Boxing Commission to reinstate Ali's license. He fought Oscar Bonavena at Madison Square Garden in December, an uninspired performance that ended in a dramatic technical knockout of Bonavena in the 15th round. The win left Ali as a top contender against heavyweight champion Joe Frazier.
First fight against Joe Frazier
Ali and Frazier's first fight, held at the Garden on March 8, 1971, was nicknamed the "Fight of the Century", due to the tremendous excitement surrounding a bout between two undefeated fighters, each with a legitimate claim to be heavyweight champion. Veteran US boxing writer John Condon called it "the greatest event I've ever worked on in my life." The bout was broadcast to 36 countries; promoters granted 760 press passes.
Adding to the atmosphere were the considerable pre-fight theatrics and name calling. Before the fight Frazier called Ali, "Cassius Clay", this angered Ali and he portrayed Frazier as a "dumb tool of the white establishment." "Frazier is too ugly to be champ", Ali said. "Frazier is too dumb to be champ." Ali also frequently called Frazier an "Uncle Tom". Dave Wolf, who worked in Frazier's camp, recalled that, "Ali was saying 'the only people rooting for Joe Frazier are white people in suits, Alabama sheriffs, and members of the Ku Klux Klan. I'm fighting for the little man in the ghetto.' Joe was sitting there, smashing his fist into the palm of his hand, saying, 'What the fuck does he know about the ghetto?
Ali began training at a farm near Reading, Pennsylvania, in 1971 and, finding the country setting to his liking, sought to develop a real training camp in the countryside. He found a five-acre site on a Pennsylvania country road in the village of Deer Lake, Pennsylvania. On this site, Ali carved out what was to become his training camp, where he trained for all his fights from 1972 to the end of his career in 1981.
The Monday night fight lived up to its billing. In a preview of their two other fights, a crouching, bobbing and weaving Frazier constantly pressured Ali, getting hit regularly by Ali jabs and combinations, but relentlessly attacking and scoring repeatedly, especially to Ali's body. The fight was even in the early rounds, but Ali was taking more punishment than ever in his career. On several occasions in the early rounds he played to the crowd and shook his head "no" after he was hit. In the later rounds—in what was the first appearance of the "rope-a-dope strategy"—Ali leaned against the ropes and absorbed punishment from Frazier, hoping to tire him. In the 11th round, Frazier connected with a left hook that wobbled Ali, but because it appeared that Ali might be clowning as he staggered backwards across the ring, Frazier hesitated to press his advantage, fearing an Ali counter-attack. In the final round, Frazier knocked Ali down with a vicious left hook, which referee Arthur Mercante said was as hard as a man can be hit. Ali was back on his feet in three seconds. Nevertheless, Ali lost by unanimous decision, his first professional defeat.
Chamberlain challenge and Ellis fight
In 1971, basketball star Wilt Chamberlain challenged Ali to a fight, and a bout was scheduled for July 26. Although the seven-foot-two-inch tall Chamberlain had formidable physical advantages over Ali—weighing 60pounds more and able to reach 14inches further—Ali was able to influence Chamberlain into calling off the bout by taunting him with calls of "Timber!" and "The tree will fall" during a shared interview. These statements of confidence unsettled his taller opponent, whom Los Angeles Lakers owner Jack Kent Cooke had offered a record-setting contract, conditional on Chamberlain agreeing to abandon what Cooke termed "this boxing foolishness", and he did exactly that. To replace Ali's opponent, promoter Bob Arum quickly booked a former sparring partner of Ali's, Jimmy Ellis, who was a childhood friend from Louisville, Kentucky, to fight him.
After his loss
Fights against Quarry, Patterson, Foster and Norton
After the loss to Frazier, Ali fought Jerry Quarry, had a second bout with Floyd Patterson and faced Bob Foster in 1972, winning a total of six fights that year. In 1973, Ken Norton broke Ali's jaw while giving him the second loss of his career. After initially considering retirement, Ali won a controversial decision against Norton in their second bout. This led to a rematch with Joe Frazier at Madison Square Garden on January 28, 1974; Frazier had recently lost his title to George Foreman.
Second fight against Joe Frazier
Ali was strong in the early rounds of the fight, and staggered Frazier in the second round. Referee Tony Perez mistakenly thought he heard the bell ending the round and stepped between the two fighters as Ali was pressing his attack, giving Frazier time to recover. However, Frazier came on in the middle rounds, snapping Ali's head in round seven and driving him to the ropes at the end of round eight. The last four rounds saw round-to-round shifts in momentum between the two fighters. Throughout most of the bout, however, Ali was able to circle away from Frazier's dangerous left hook and to tie Frazier up when he was cornered, the latter a tactic that Frazier's camp complained of bitterly. Judges awarded Ali a unanimous decision.
World heavyweight champion (second reign)
The Rumble in the Jungle
The defeat of Frazier set the stage for a title fight against heavyweight champion George Foreman in Kinshasa, Zaire, on October 30, 1974—a bout nicknamed The Rumble in the Jungle. Foreman was considered one of the hardest punchers in heavyweight history. In assessing the fight, analysts pointed out that Joe Frazier and Ken Norton, who had given Ali four tough battles and won two of them, had both been devastated by Foreman in second-round knockouts. Ali was 32 years old, and had clearly lost speed and reflexes since his twenties. Contrary to his later persona, Foreman was at the time a brooding and intimidating presence. Almost no one associated with the sport, not even Ali's long-time supporter Howard Cosell, gave the former champion a chance of winning.
As usual, Ali was confident and colorful before the fight. He told interviewer David Frost, "If you think the world was surprised when Nixon resigned, wait till I whup Foreman's behind!" He told the press, "I've done something new for this fight. I done wrestled with an alligator, I done tussled with a whale; handcuffed lightning, thrown thunder in jail; only last week, I murdered a rock, injured a stone, hospitalized a brick; I'm so mean I make medicine sick." Ali was wildly popular in Zaire, with crowds chanting "Ali, bomaye" ("Ali, kill him") wherever he went.
Ali opened the fight moving and scoring with right crosses to Foreman's head. Then, beginning in the second round, and to the consternation of his corner, Ali retreated to the ropes and invited Foreman to hit him while covering up, clinching and counter-punching, all while verbally taunting Foreman. The move, which would later become known as the "Rope-a-dope", so violated conventional boxing wisdom—letting one of the hardest hitters in boxing strike at will—that at ringside writer George Plimpton thought the fight had to be fixed. Foreman, increasingly angered, threw punches that were deflected and did not land squarely. Midway through the fight, as Foreman began tiring, Ali countered more frequently and effectively with punches and flurries, which electrified the pro-Ali crowd. In the eighth round, Ali dropped an exhausted Foreman with a combination at center ring; Foreman failed to make the count. Against the odds, and amidst pandemonium in the ring, Ali had regained the title by knockout. Reflecting on the fight, George Foreman later said: "I thought Ali was just one more knockout victim until, about the seventh round, I hit him hard to the jaw and he held me and whispered in my ear: 'That all you got, George?' I realized that this ain't what I thought it was."
It was a major upset victory, after Ali came in as a 41 underdog against the previously unbeaten, heavy-hitting Foreman. The fight became famous for Ali's introduction of the rope-a-dope tactic. The fight was watched by a record estimated television audience of 1billion viewers worldwide. It was the world's most-watched live television broadcast at the time.
Fights against Wepner, Lyle and Bugner
Ali's next opponents included Chuck Wepner, Ron Lyle, and Joe Bugner. Wepner, a journeyman known as "The Bayonne Bleeder", stunned Ali with a knockdown in the ninth round; Ali would later say he tripped on Wepner's foot. It was a bout that would inspire Sylvester Stallone to create the acclaimed film, Rocky.
Third fight against Joe Frazier
Ali then agreed to a third match with Joe Frazier in Manila. The bout, known as the "Thrilla in Manila", was held on October 1, 1975, in temperatures approaching . In the first rounds, Ali was aggressive, moving and exchanging blows with Frazier. However, Ali soon appeared to tire and adopted the "rope-a-dope" strategy, frequently resorting to clinches. During this part of the bout Ali did some effective counter-punching, but for the most part absorbed punishment from a relentlessly attacking Frazier. In the 12th round, Frazier began to tire, and Ali scored several sharp blows that closed Frazier's left eye and opened a cut over his right eye. With Frazier's vision now diminished, Ali dominated the 13th and 14th rounds, at times conducting what boxing historian Mike Silver called "target practice" on Frazier's head. The fight was stopped when Frazier's trainer, Eddie Futch, refused to allow Frazier to answer the bell for the 15th and final round, despite Frazier's protests. Frazier's eyes were both swollen shut. Ali, in his corner, winner by TKO, slumped on his stool, clearly spent.
An ailing Ali said afterwards that the fight "was the closest thing to dying that I know", and, when later asked if he had viewed the fight on videotape, reportedly said, "Why would I want to go back and see Hell?" After the fight he cited Frazier as "the greatest fighter of all times next to me."
After the third fight with Frazier, Ali considered retirement. He said, “I’m sore all over. My arms, my face, my sides all ache. I’m so, so tired. There is a great possibility that I will retire. You might have seen the last of me. I want to sit back and count my money, live in my house and my farm, work for my people and concentrate on my family."
Later career
Following the Manila bout, Ali fought Jean-Pierre Coopman, Jimmy Young, and Richard Dunn, winning the last by knockout.
The punch used to knock Dunn out was taught to Ali by Taekwondo Grandmaster Jhoon Rhee. Rhee called that punch the "Accupunch"; he learned it from Bruce Lee. The Dunn fight was the last time Ali would knock down an opponent in his boxing career.
Ali fought Ken Norton for the third time in September 1976. The bout, which was held at Yankee Stadium, resulted in Ali winning a heavily contested decision that was loudly booed by the audience. Afterwards, he announced he was retiring from boxing to practice his faith, having converted to Sunni Islam after falling out with the Nation of Islam the previous year.
After returning to beat Alfredo Evangelista in May 1977, Ali struggled in his next fight against Earnie Shavers that September, getting pummeled a few times by punches to the head. Ali won the fight by another unanimous decision, but the bout caused his longtime doctor Ferdie Pacheco to quit after he was rebuffed for telling Ali he should retire. Pacheco was quoted as saying, "the New York State Athletic Commission gave me a report that showed Ali's kidneys were falling apart. I wrote to Angelo Dundee, Ali's trainer, his wife and Ali himself. I got nothing back in response. That's when I decided enough is enough."
In February 1978, Ali faced Leon Spinks at the Hilton Hotel in Las Vegas. At the time, Spinks had only seven professional fights to his credit, and had recently fought a draw with journeyman Scott LeDoux. Ali sparred less than two dozen rounds in preparation for the fight, and was seriously out of shape by the opening bell. He lost the title by split decision. A rematch occurred in September at the Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. 70,000 people attended the bout and paid a total of $6 million admission, making it the largest live gate in boxing history at that time. Ali won a unanimous decision in an uninspiring fight, with referee Lucien Joubert scoring rounds 10-4, judge Ernie Cojoe 10-4, and judge Herman Preis 11-4. This made Ali the first heavyweight champion to win the belt three times.
Following this win, on July 27, 1979, Ali announced his retirement from boxing. His retirement was short-lived, however; Ali announced his comeback to face Larry Holmes for the WBC belt in an attempt to win the heavyweight championship an unprecedented fourth time. The fight was largely motivated by Ali's need for money. Boxing writer Richie Giachetti said, "Larry didn't want to fight Ali. He knew Ali had nothing left; he knew it would be a horror."
It was around this time that Ali started struggling with vocal stutters and trembling hands. The Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC) ordered that he undergo a complete physical in Las Vegas before being allowed to fight again. Ali chose instead to check into the Mayo Clinic, who declared him fit to fight. Their opinion was accepted by the NAC on July 31, 1980, paving the way for Ali's return to the ring.
The fight took place on October 2, 1980, in Las Vegas Valley, with Holmes easily dominating Ali, who was weakened from thyroid medication he had taken to lose weight. Giachetti called the fight "awful ... the worst sports event I ever had to cover." Actor Sylvester Stallone was at ringside and said that it was like watching an autopsy on a man who is still alive. After the tenth round, Angelo Dundee told the referee to stop the fight, making it the only time that Ali ever lost by stoppage. The Holmes fight is said to have contributed to Ali's Parkinson's syndrome. Despite pleas to definitively retire, Ali fought one last time on December 11, 1981, in Nassau, Bahamas, against Trevor Berbick, losing a ten-round decision.
By the end of his boxing career Ali had absorbed an estimated 200,000 hits.
Exhibition bouts
Ali boxed both well known boxers and celebrities from other walks of life, including Michael Dokes, Antonio Inoki, Lyle Alzado, Dave Semenko, and the famous Puerto Rican comedian Jose Miguel Agrelot (with Iris Chacon acting as Agrelot's corner-woman).
Ali vs Inoki
On June 26, 1976, Ali participated in an exhibition bout in Tokyo against Japanese professional wrestler and martial artist Antonio Inoki. Ali was only able to land two jabs while Inoki's kicks caused two blood clots and an infection that almost resulted in Ali's leg being amputated, as a result of Ali's team insisting on rules restricting Inoki's ability to wrestle. The match was not scripted and ultimately declared a draw. After Ali's death, The New York Times declared it his least memorable fight. Most boxing commentators at the time viewed the fight negatively and hoped it would be forgotten as some considered it a "15-round farce." Today it is considered by some to be one of Ali's most influential fights and CBS Sports said the attention the mixed-style bout received "foretold the arrival of standardized MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) years later." After the fight, Ali and Inoki became friends.
Ali vs Alzado
In 1979, Ali fought an exhibition match against NFL player Lyle Alzado. The fight went 8 rounds and was declared a draw.
Ali vs Semenko
Ali fought NHL player, Dave Semenko in an exhibition on June 12, 1983. The match was officially a draw after going three rounds, but the Associated Press reported Ali was not seriously trying and was just toying with Semenko.
Personal life
Marriages and children
Ali was married four times and had seven daughters and two sons. Ali was introduced to cocktail waitress Sonji Roi by Herbert Muhammad and asked her to marry him after their first date. They married approximately one month later on August 14, 1964. They quarreled over Sonji's refusal to join the Nation Of Islam. According to Ali, "She wouldn't do what she was supposed to do. She wore lipstick; she went into bars; she dressed in clothes that were revealing and didn't look right." The marriage was childless and they divorced on January 10, 1966. Just before the divorce was finalized, Ali sent Sonji a note: "You traded heaven for hell, baby." Ali's brother Rahman said that she was Ali's only true love and the Nation of Islam made Ali divorce her and Ali never got over it.
On August 17, 1967, Ali married Belinda Boyd. Born into a Chicago family that had converted to the Nation Of Islam, she later changed her name to Khalilah Ali, though she was still called Belinda by old friends and family. They had four children: author and rapper Maryum "May May" (born 1968); twins Jamillah and Rasheda (born 1970), who married Robert Walsh and has a son, Biaggio Ali, born in 1998; and Muhammad Ali Jr. (born 1972). Rasheda's son Nico is a professional boxer.
Ali was a resident of Cherry Hill, New Jersey in the early 1970s. At age 32 in 1974, Ali began an extramarital relationship with 16-year-old Wanda Bolton (who subsequently changed her name to Aaisha Ali) with whom he fathered another daughter, Khaliah (born 1974). While still married to Belinda, Ali married Aaisha in an Islamic ceremony that was not legally recognized. According to Khaliah, Aaisha and her mother lived at Ali's Deer Lake training camp alongside Belinda and her children. In January 1985, Aaisha sued Ali for unpaid palimony. The case was settled when Ali agreed to set up a $200,000 trust fund for Khaliah. In 2001 Khaliah was quoted as saying she believed her father viewed her as "a mistake". He had another daughter, Miya (born 1972), from an extramarital relationship with Patricia Harvell.
By the summer of 1977, his second marriage ended due to Ali's repeated infidelity, and he had married actress and model Veronica Porché. At the time of their marriage, they had a daughter, Hana, and Veronica was pregnant with their second child. Their second daughter, Laila Ali, was born in December 1977. By 1986, Ali and Porché were divorced due to Ali's continuous infidelity. Porché said of Ali's infidelity, "It was too much temptation for him, with women who threw themselves at him, It didn’t mean anything. He didn't have affairs – he had one-night stands. I knew beyond a doubt there were no feelings involved. It was so obvious, It was easy to forgive him."
On November 19, 1986, Ali married Yolanda "Lonnie" Williams. Lonnie first met Ali at the age of 6 when her family moved to Louisville in 1963. In 1982, she became Ali's primary caregiver and in return, he paid for her to attend graduate school at UCLA. Together they adopted a son, Asaad Amin (born 1986), when Asaad was five months old. In 1992, Lonnie incorporated Greatest of All Time, Inc. (G.O.A.T. Inc) to consolidate and license his intellectual properties for commercial purposes. She served as the vice president and treasurer until the sale of the company in 2006.
Kiiursti Mensah-Ali claims she is Ali's biological daughter with Barbara Mensah, with whom he allegedly had a 20-year relationship, citing photographs and a paternity test conducted in 1988. She said he accepted responsibility and took care of her, but all contacts with him were cut off after he married his fourth wife Lonnie. Kiiursti says she has a relationship with his other children. After his death she again made passionate appeals to be allowed to mourn at his funeral.
In 2010, Osmon Williams came forward claiming to be Ali's biological son. His mother Temica Williams (also known as Rebecca Holloway) launched a $3 million lawsuit against Ali in 1981 for sexual assault, claiming that she had started a sexual relationship with him when she was 12, and that her son Osmon (born 1977) was fathered by Ali. She further alleged that Ali had originally supported her and her son financially, but stopped doing so after four years. The case went on until 1986 and was eventually thrown out as her allegations were deemed to be barred by the statute of limitations. According to Veronica, Ali admitted to the affair with Williams, but did not believe Osmon was his son which Veronica supported by saying "Everybody in the camp was going with that girl." Ali biographer and friend Thomas Hauser has said this claim was of "questionable veracity".
Ali then lived in Scottsdale, Arizona with Lonnie. In January 2007, it was reported that they had put their home in Berrien Springs, Michigan, which they had bought in 1975, up for sale and had purchased a home in eastern Jefferson County, Kentucky for $1,875,000. Both homes were subsequently sold after Ali's death with Lonnie living in their remaining home in Paradise Valley, Arizona. Lonnie converted to Islam from Catholicism in her late twenties.
In an interview in 1974, Ali said, "If they say stand and salute the flag I do that out of respect, because I'm in the country". Ali would later say, "If America was in trouble and real war came, I'd be on the front line if we had been attacked. But I could see that (The Vietnam War) wasn't right." He also said, "Black men would go over there and fight, but when they came home, they couldn't even be served a hamburger."
Ali's daughter Laila was a professional boxer from 1999 until 2007, despite her father's previous opposition to women's boxing. In 1978, he said "Women are not made to be hit in the breast, and face like that." Ali still attended a number of his daughter's fights and later admitted to Laila he was wrong. Ali's daughter Hana is married to Bellator middleweight fighter Kevin Casey. Hana wrote about her father, "His love for people was extraordinary. I would get home from school to find homeless families sleeping in our guest room. He’d see them on the street, pile them into his Rolls-Royce and bring them home. He’d buy them clothes, take them to hotels and pay the bills for months in advance." She also said celebrities like Michael Jackson and Clint Eastwood would often visit Ali. After Ali met a lesbian couple who were fans of his in 1997, he smiled and said to his friend Hauser, "They look like they’re happy together." Hauser wrote about the story, "The thought that Liz and Roz (the lesbian couple he met) were happy pleased Muhammad. Ali wanted people to be happy."
Religion and beliefs
Affiliation with the Nation of Islam
Ali said that he first heard of the Nation of Islam when he was fighting in the Golden Gloves tournament in Chicago in 1959, and attended his first Nation of Islam meeting in 1961. He continued to attend meetings, although keeping his involvement hidden from the public. In 1962, Clay met Malcolm X, who soon became his spiritual and political mentor. By the time of the first Liston fight, Nation of Islam members, including Malcolm X, were visible in his entourage. This led to a story in The Miami Herald just before the fight disclosing that Clay had joined the Nation of Islam, which nearly caused the bout to be canceled. The article quoted Cassius Clay Sr. as saying that his son had joined the Black Muslims when he was 18.
In fact, Clay was initially refused entry to the Nation of Islam (often called the Black Muslims at the time) due to his boxing career. However, after he won the championship from Liston in 1964, the Nation of Islam was more receptive and agreed to publicize his membership. Shortly afterwards on March 6, Elijah Muhammad gave a radio address that Clay would be renamed Muhammad (one who is worthy of praise) Ali (most high). Around that time Ali moved to the south side of Chicago and lived in a series of houses, always near the Nation of Islam's Mosque Maryam or Elijah Muhammad's residence. He stayed in Chicago for about 12 years.
Only a few journalists, most notably Howard Cosell, accepted the new name at that time. Ali stated that his earlier name was a "slave name," and a "white man's name" and added that "I didn’t choose it and I don’t want it". The person he was named after was a white man and emancipationist who released slaves. Ali explained in his autobiography after studying his works, "While Clay may have gotten rid of his slaves, he "held on to white supremacy." In truth, Cassius Clay's attachment to slavery went farther than Ali knew. In spite of his abolitionist fervor, Clay owned more slaves in 1865, when the 13th Amendment to the Constitution finally forbade its practice, than he had inherited from his father 37 years earlier.
Not afraid to antagonize the white establishment, Ali stated, "I am America. I am the part you won't recognize. But get used to me. Black, confident, cocky; my name, not yours; my religion, not yours; my goals, my own; get used to me." Ali's friendship with Malcolm X ended as Malcolm split with the Nation of Islam a couple of weeks after Ali joined, and Ali remained with the Nation of Islam. Ali later said that turning his back on Malcolm was one of the mistakes he regretted most in his life.
Aligning himself with the Nation of Islam, its leader Elijah Muhammad, and a narrative that labeled the white race as the perpetrator of genocide against African Americans made Ali a target of public condemnation. The Nation of Islam was widely viewed by whites and some African Americans as a black separatist "hate religion" with a propensity toward violence; Ali had few qualms about using his influential voice to speak Nation of Islam doctrine. In a press conference articulating his opposition to the Vietnam War, Ali stated, "My enemy is the white people, not Vietcong or Chinese or Japanese." In relation to integration, he said: "We who follow the teachings of Elijah Muhammad don't want to be forced to integrate. Integration is wrong. We don't want to live with the white man; that's all." Further articulating his opposition to integration, he told members of the KKK at a Klan rally in 1975 that "black people should marry their own women... blue birds are blue birds, red birds are red birds, pigeons with pigeons, eagles with eagles, God did not make no mistake".
Writer Jerry Izenberg once noted that, "the Nation became Ali's family and Elijah Muhammad became his father. But there is an irony to the fact that while the Nation branded white people as devils, Ali had more white colleagues than most African American people did at that time in America, and continued to have them throughout his career."
Conversion to Sunni/Sufi Islam
In Hauser's biography Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times, Ali says that although he's not a Christian as he thinks the idea of God having a son sounds wrong and doesn't make sense to him, as he believes, "God don't beget; man begets". He still believes that even good Christians or good Jews can receive God's blessing and enter heaven as he stated, "God created all people, no matter what their religion". He also stated, "If you're against someone because he's a Muslim that's wrong. If you're against someone because he's a Christian or a Jew, that's wrong".
In a 2004 autobiography, Ali attributed his conversion to mainstream Sunni Islam to Warith Deen Muhammad, who assumed leadership of the Nation of Islam upon the death of his father Elijah Muhammad, and persuaded the Nation's followers to become adherents of Sunni Islam. He said some people didn't like the change and stuck to Elijah's teachings, but he admired it and so left Elijah's teachings and became a follower of Sunni Islam.
Ali had gone on the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca in 1972, which inspired him in a similar manner to Malcolm X, meeting people of different colors from all over the world giving him a different outlook and greater spiritual awareness. In 1977, he said that, after he retired, he would dedicate the rest of his life to getting "ready to meet God" by helping people, charitable causes, uniting people and helping to make peace. He went on another Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca in 1988.
After the September 11 attacks in 2001, he stated that "Islam is a religion of peace" and "does not promote terrorism or killing people", and that he was "angry that the world sees a certain group of Islam followers who caused this destruction, but they are not real Muslims. They are racist fanatics who call themselves Muslims." In December 2015, he stated that "True Muslims know that the ruthless violence of so-called Islamic jihadists goes against the very tenets of our religion", that "We as Muslims have to stand up to those who use Islam to advance their own personal agenda", and that "political leaders should use their position to bring understanding about the religion of Islam, and clarify that these misguided murderers have perverted people's views on what Islam really is."
In later life after retiring from boxing, Ali became a student of the Quran and a devout Muslim. He also developed an interest in Sufism, which he referenced in his autobiography, The Soul of a Butterfly. According to Ali's daughter, Hana Yasmeen Ali, who co-authored The Soul of a Butterfly with him, Ali was attracted to Sufism after reading the books of Inayat Khan, which contain Sufi teachings.
Muhammad Ali received guidance from Islamic scholars such as Grand Mufti of Syria Almarhum Asy-Syaikh Ahmed Kuftaro, Hisham Kabbani, Imam Zaid Shakir, Hamza Yusuf, and Timothy J. Gianotti, who was at Ali's bedside during his last days and ensured that although his funeral was interfaith, it was still in accordance with Islamic rites and rituals.
Beatles reunion plan
In 1976, inventor Alan Amron and businessman Joel Sacher partnered with Ali to promote The International Committee to Reunite the Beatles. They asked fans worldwide to contribute a dollar each. Ali said the idea was not to use the proceeds for profit, but to establish an international agency to help poor children. "This is money to help people all over the world", he said. He added, "I love the music. I used to train to their music." He said a reunion of the Beatles "would make a lot of people happy." The former Beatles were indifferent to the plan, which elicited only a tepid response from the public. No reunion happened.
Entertainment career
Acting
Ali had a cameo role in the 1962 film version of Requiem for a Heavyweight, and during his exile from boxing, he starred in the short-lived 1969 Broadway musical, Buck White. He also appeared in the documentary film Black Rodeo (1972) riding both a horse and a bull.
His autobiography The Greatest: My Own Story, written with Richard Durham, was published in 1975. In 1977 the book was adapted into a film called The Greatest, in which Ali played himself and Ernest Borgnine played Angelo Dundee.
The film Freedom Road, made in 1978, features Ali in a rare acting role as Gideon Jackson, a former slave and Union (American Civil War) soldier in 1870s Virginia, who gets elected to the U.S. Senate and battles alongside former slaves and white sharecroppers to keep the land they have tended all their lives.
Spoken word poetry and rap music
Ali often used rhyme schemes and spoken word poetry, both for when he was trash-talking in boxing and as political poetry for his activism outside of boxing. He played a role in the shaping of the black poetic tradition, paving the way for The Last Poets in 1968, Gil Scott-Heron in 1970, and the emergence of rap music in the 1970s. According to The Guardian, "Some have argued that" Ali was "the first rapper."
In 1963, Ali released an album of spoken word music on Columbia Records titled, I Am the Greatest, and in 1964, he recorded a cover version of the rhythm and blues song "Stand by Me". I Am the Greatest sold 500,000 copies, and has been identified as an early example of rap music and a precursor to hip hop. It reached number 61 on the album chart and was nominated for a Grammy Award. He later received a second Grammy nomination, for "Best Recording for Children", with his 1976 spoken word novelty record, The Adventures of Ali and His Gang vs. Mr. Tooth Decay.
Ali was an influential figure in the world of hip hop music. As a "rhyming trickster", he was noted for his "funky delivery", "boasts", "comical trash-talk", and "endless quotables." According to Rolling Stone, his "freestyle skills" and his "rhymes, flow, and braggadocio" would "one day become typical of old school MCs" like Run–D.M.C. and LL Cool J, and his "outsized ego foreshadowed the vainglorious excesses of Kanye West, while his Afrocentric consciousness and cutting honesty pointed forward to modern bards like Rakim, Nas, Jay-Z, and Kendrick Lamar." “I’ve wrestled with alligators, I’ve tussled with a whale. I done handcuffed lightning and throw thunder in jail. You know I’m bad. Just last week, I murdered a rock, Injured a stone, Hospitalized a brick. I’m so mean, I make medicine sick” "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. His hands can't hit what his eyes can't see. Now you see me, now you don't. George thinks he will, but I know he won't.” Ali spoke like no man the world had seen before. So confident in what he said; fluent, smooth, creative, and intimidating. He was a boxer and an activist, but he also had a role in influencing what now dominated pop-culture, hip-hop. In 2006, the documentary Ali Rap was produced by ESPN. Chuck D, a rapper for the band Public Enemy is the host. Other rappers narrated the documentary as well, including Doug E Fresh, Ludacris and Rakim who all spoke on Ali's behalf in the film.
He has been cited as an inspiration by rappers such as LL Cool J, Public Enemy's Chuck D, Jay-Z, Eminem, Sean Combs, Slick Rick, Nas and MC Lyte. Ali has been referenced in a number of hip hop songs, including Migos "Fight Night", The Game's "Jesus Piece", Nas' "The Message, The Sugarhill Gang's "Rapper's Delight", the Fugees' "Ready or Not", EPMD's "You're a Customer" and Will Smith's "Gettin' Jiggy wit It".
Professional wrestling
Ali was involved with professional wrestling at different times in his career.
On June 1, 1976, as Ali was preparing for his bout with Inoki, he attended a match featuring Gorilla Monsoon. After the match was over, Ali removed his shirt and jacket and confronted professional wrestler Gorilla Monsoon in the ring after his match at a World Wide Wrestling Federation show in Philadelphia Arena. After dodging a few punches, Monsoon put Ali in an airplane spin and dumped him to the mat. Ali stumbled to the corner, where his associate Butch Lewis convinced him to walk away.
On March 31, 1985, Ali was the special guest referee for the main event of the inaugural WrestleMania event.
In 1995, Ali led a group of Japanese and American professional wrestlers, including his 1976 opponent Antonio Inoki and Ric Flair, on a sports diplomacy mission to North Korea. Ali was guest of honor at the record-breaking Collision in Korea, a wrestling event with the largest attendance of all time.
Television appearances
Muhammad Ali's fights were some of the world's most-watched television broadcasts, setting television viewership records. His most-watched fights drew an estimated 12 billion viewers worldwide between 1974 and 1980, and were the world's most-watched live television broadcasts at the time. Outside of fights, he made many other television appearances. The following table lists known viewership figures of his non-fight television appearances. For television viewership figures of his fights, see Boxing career of Muhammad Ali: Television viewership.
Art
Ali was also an amateur artist and made dozens of drawings and paintings in the 1970s. In 1977, Rodney Hilton Brown, who owned an art gallery in NYC, asked Ali if he was interested in painting. Ali took him up on the offer and produced several paintings for him to sell. Brown is the author of “Muhammad Ali: The Untold Story: Painter, Poet and Prophet." In October 2021, 26 of his drawings and arts were placed on auction and sold for close to $1 Million USD.
Later years
In 1984, Ali was diagnosed with Parkinson's Syndrome, which sometimes results from head trauma from violent physical activities such as boxing. Ali still remained active during this time, later participating as a guest referee at WrestleMania I.
Philanthropy, humanitarianism and politics
Ali was known for being a humanitarian and philanthropist. He focused on practicing his Islamic duty of charity and good deeds, donating millions to charity organizations and disadvantaged people of all religious backgrounds. It is estimated that Ali helped to feed more than 22million people afflicted by hunger across the world. Early in his career, one of his main focuses was youth education. He spoke at several historically black colleges and universities about the importance of education, and became the largest single black donor to the United Negro College Fund in 1967 by way of a $10,000 donation ($78,000 in 2020 USD). In late 1966, he also pledged to donate a total of $100,000 to the UNCF (specifically promising to donate much of the proceeds of his title defense against Cleveland Williams), and paid $4,500 per closed circuit installation at six HBCUs so they could watch his fights.
Ali began visiting Africa, starting in 1964 when he visited Nigeria and Ghana. In 1974, he visited a Palestinian refugee camp in Southern Lebanon, where Ali declared "support for the Palestinian struggle to liberate their homeland." In 1978, following his loss to Spinks and before winning the rematch, Ali visited Bangladesh and received honorary citizenship there. The same year, he participated in The Longest Walk, a protest march in the United States in support of Native American rights, along with singer Stevie Wonder and actor Marlon Brando.
In 1980, Ali was recruited by President Jimmy Carter for a diplomatic mission to Africa, in an effort to persuade a number of African governments to join the US-led boycott of the Moscow Olympics (in response to the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan). According to Ali biographer Thomas Hauser, "at best, it was ill-conceived; at worst, a diplomatic disaster." The Tanzanian government was insulted that Carter had sent an athlete to discuss a serious political issue. One official asked whether the United States would "send Chris Evert to negotiate with London." Consequently, Ali was only received by the youth and culture minister, rather than President Julius Nyerere. Ali was unable to explain why the African countries should join the US boycott when it had failed to support the African boycott of the 1976 Olympics (in protest at Apartheid in South Africa), and was unaware that the Soviet Union was sponsoring popular revolutionary movements in Africa. Ali conceded "They didn't tell me about that in America", and complained that Carter had sent him "around the world to take the whupping over American policies." The Nigerian government also rebuffed him and confirmed that they would be participating in the Moscow games. Ali did, however, convince the government of Kenya to boycott the Olympics.
On January 19, 1981, in Los Angeles, Ali talked a suicidal man down from jumping off a ninth-floor ledge, an event that made national news.
In 1984, Ali announced his support for the re-election of United States President Ronald Reagan. When asked to elaborate on his endorsement of Reagan, Ali told reporters, "He's keeping God in schools and that's enough." In 1985, he visited Israel to request the release of Muslim prisoners at Atlit detainee camp, which Israel declined.
Around 1987, the California Bicentennial Foundation for the U.S. Constitution selected Ali to personify the vitality of the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. Ali rode on a float at the following year's Tournament of Roses Parade, launching the U.S. Constitution's 200th birthday commemoration. In 1988, during the First Intifada, Ali participated in a Chicago rally in support of Palestine. The same year, he visited Sudan to raise awareness about the plight of famine victims. According to Politico, Ali supported Orrin Hatch politically. In 1989, he participated in an Indian charity event with the Muslim Educational Society in Kozhikode, Kerala, along with Bollywood actor Dilip Kumar.
In 1990, Ali traveled to Iraq prior to the Gulf War, and met with Saddam Hussein in an attempt to negotiate the release of American hostages. Ali secured the release of the hostages, in exchange for promising Hussein that he would bring America "an honest account" of Iraq. Despite arranging the hostages release, he received criticism from President George H. W. Bush, and Joseph C. Wilson, the highest-ranking American diplomat in Baghdad.Ali cooperated with Thomas Hauser on a biography, Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times. The oral history was published in 1991.
In 1994, Ali campaigned to the United States government to come to the aid of refugees afflicted by the Rwandan genocide, and to donate to organizations helping Rwandan refugees.
In 1996, he lit the flame at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. It was watched by an estimated 3.5billion viewers worldwide.
On November 17, 2002, Ali went to Afghanistan as the "U.N. Messenger of Peace." He was in Kabul for a three-day goodwill mission as a special guest of the UN.
On September 1, 2009, Ali visited Ennis, County Clare, Ireland, the home of his great-grandfather, Abe Grady, who emigrated to the U.S. in the 1860s, eventually settling in Kentucky.
On July 27, 2012, Ali was a titular bearer of the Olympic flag during the opening ceremonies of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. He was helped to his feet by his wife Lonnie to stand before the flag due to his Parkinson's Syndrome rendering him unable to carry it into the stadium. The same year, he was awarded the Philadelphia Liberty Medal in recognition of his lifelong efforts in activism, philanthropy and humanitarianism.
Earnings
By 1978, Ali's total fight purse earnings were estimated to be nearly $60million (inflation-adjusted ), including an estimated $47.45million grossed between 1970 and 1978. By 1980, his total fight purse earnings were estimated to be up to $70million (inflation-adjusted $million).
In 1978, Ali revealed that he was "broke" and several news outlets reported his net worth to be an estimated (inflation-adjusted $million). The press attributed his decline in wealth to several factors, including taxes consuming at least half of his income, management taking a third of his income, his lifestyle, and spending on family, charity and religious causes.
In 2006, Ali sold his name and image for $50million, after which Forbes estimated his net worth to be $55million in 2006. Following his death in 2016, his fortune was estimated to be between $50million and $80million.
Declining health
Ali's bout with Parkinson's Syndrome led to a gradual decline in his health, though he was still active into the early years of the millennium, promoting his own biopic, Ali, in 2001. That year he also contributed an on-camera segment to the America: A Tribute to Heroes benefit concert.
In 1998, Ali began working with actor Michael J. Fox, who has Parkinson's disease, to raise awareness and fund research for a cure. They made a joint appearance before Congress to push the case in 2002. In 2000, Ali worked with the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Disease to raise awareness and encourage donations for research.
In February 2013, Ali's brother Rahman Ali said Muhammad could no longer speak and could be dead within days. Ali's daughter May May Ali responded to the rumors, stating that she had talked to him on the phone the morning of February 3 and he was fine. On December 20, 2014, Ali was hospitalized for a mild case of pneumonia. Ali was once again hospitalized on January 15, 2015, for a urinary tract infection after being found unresponsive at a guest house in Scottsdale, Arizona. He was released the next day.
Death
Ali was hospitalized in Scottsdale, Arizona, on June 2, 2016, with a respiratory illness. Though his condition was initially described as fair, it worsened, and he died the following day at the age of 74 from septic shock.
News coverage and tributes
Following Ali's death, he was the number-one trending topic on Twitter for over 12 hours and on Facebook for several days. BET played their documentary Muhammad Ali: Made In Miami. ESPN played four hours of non-stop commercial-free coverage of Ali. News networks, such as ABC News, BBC, CNN, and Fox News, also covered him extensively.
He was mourned globally, and a family spokesman said the family "certainly believes that Muhammad was a citizen of the world ... and they know that the world grieves with him." Politicians such as Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, Donald Trump, David Cameron and more paid tribute to Ali. Ali also received numerous tributes from the world of sports including Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Floyd Mayweather, Mike Tyson, the Miami Marlins, LeBron James, Steph Curry and more. Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer stated, "Muhammad Ali belongs to the world. But he only has one hometown."
The day after Ali's death, the UFC paid tribute to Ali at their UFC 199 event in a lengthy video tribute package, crediting Ali for his accomplishments and inspiring multiple UFC champions.
Memorial
Ali's funeral had been pre-planned by himself and others for several years prior to his actual death. The services began in Louisville on June 9, 2016, with an Islamic Janazah prayer service at Freedom Hall on the grounds of the Kentucky Exposition Center. On June 10, 2016, the funeral procession passed through the streets of Louisville ending at Cave Hill Cemetery, where his body was interred during a private ceremony. A public memorial service for Ali at downtown Louisville's KFC Yum! Center was held during the afternoon of June 10. The pallbearers included Will Smith, Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson, with honorary pallbearers including George Chuvalo, Larry Holmes and George Foreman. Ali's memorial was watched by an estimated 1billion viewers worldwide.
Legacy
Ali remains the only three-time lineal heavyweight champion. He is the only boxer to be named The Ring magazine Fighter of the Year six times, and was involved in more Ring "Fight of the Year" bouts than any other fighter. He was one of only three boxers to be named "Sportsman of the Year" by Sports Illustrated. Muhammad Ali was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in its first year and held wins over seven other Hall of Fame inductees during an era that has been called the golden age of heavyweight boxing. The Associated Press ranked him as the second best boxer and best heavyweight of the 20th century. His joint records of beating 21 boxers for the world heavyweight title and winning 14 unified title bouts stood for 35 years.
In 1978, three years before Ali's permanent retirement, the Louisville Board of Aldermen in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, voted 6–5 to rename Walnut Street to Muhammad Ali Boulevard. This was controversial at the time, as within a week 12 of the 70 street signs were stolen. Earlier that year, a committee of the Jefferson County Public Schools (Kentucky) considered renaming Ali's alma mater, Central High School, in his honor, but the motion failed to pass. In time, Muhammad Ali Boulevard—and Ali himself—came to be well accepted in his hometown.
Ali was named one of the 100 most influential Americans of the 20th century by Life magazine in 1990.
In 1993, the Associated Press reported that Ali was tied with Babe Ruth as the most recognized athlete, out of over 800 dead or living athletes, in America. The study found that over 97% of Americans over 12 years of age identified both Ali and Ruth. He was the recipient of the 1997 Arthur Ashe Courage Award.
At the end of the 20th century he was ranked at or near the top of most lists of the century's greatest athletes. He was crowned Sportsman of the Century by Sports Illustrated. Named BBC's Sports Personality of the Century, he received more votes than the other five candidates combined. He was named Athlete of the Century by USA Today, and ranked as the third greatest athlete of the 20th century by ESPN SportsCentury. Ali was named "Kentucky Athlete of the Century" by the Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame in ceremonies at the Galt House East.
In 1999, Time magazine named Ali one of the 100 Most Important People of the 20th Century.
On January 8, 2001, Muhammad Ali was presented with the Presidential Citizens Medal by President Bill Clinton. In November 2005, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush, followed by the Otto Hahn Peace Medal in Gold of the UN Association of Germany (DGVN) in Berlin for his work with the civil rights movement and the United Nations, which he received on December 17, 2005.
On November 19, 2005, Ali and his wife Lonnie Ali opened the $60million non-profit Muhammad Ali Center in downtown Louisville. In addition to displaying his boxing memorabilia, the center focuses on core themes of peace, social responsibility, respect, and personal growth. On June 5, 2007, he received an honorary doctorate of humanities at Princeton University's 260th graduation ceremony.
Ali Mall, located in Araneta Center, Quezon City, Philippines, is named after him. Construction of the mall, the first of its kind in the Philippines, began shortly after Ali's victory in a match with Joe Frazier in nearby Araneta Coliseum in 1975. The mall opened in 1976 with Ali attending its opening.
The 1976 Muhammad Ali vs. Antonio Inoki fight played an important role in the history of mixed martial arts. In Japan, the match inspired Inoki's students Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki to found Pancrase in 1993, which in turn inspired the foundation of Pride Fighting Championships in 1997. Pride was acquired by its rival, Ultimate Fighting Championship, in 2007.
The Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act was introduced in 1999 and passed in 2000, to protect the rights and welfare of boxers in the United States. In May 2016, a bill was introduced to United States Congress by Markwayne Mullin, a politician and former MMA fighter, to extend the Ali Act to mixed martial arts. In June 2016, US senator Rand Paul proposed an amendment to the US draft laws named after Ali, a proposal to eliminate the Selective Service System.
In 2015, Sports Illustrated renamed its Sportsman Legacy Award to the Sports Illustrateds Muhammad Ali Legacy Award. The annual award was originally created in 2008 and honors former "sports figures who embody the ideals of sportsmanship, leadership and philanthropy as vehicles for changing the world." Ali first appeared on the magazine's cover in 1963 and went on to be featured on numerous covers during his storied career.
On January 13, 2017, seven months or so after Ali's death, and 4 days before what would have been his 75th birthday, the Muhammad Ali Commemorative Coin Act was introduced into the 115th Congress (2017–2019), as H.R. 579 (House of Representatives) and as S. 166 (Senate). However, both "died" within 10 days.
In the media and popular culture
As a world champion boxer, social activist, sex symbol and pop culture icon, Ali was the subject of numerous creative works including books, films, music, video games, TV shows, and other. Muhammad Ali was often dubbed the world's "most famous" person in the media. Several of his fights were watched by an estimated 12 billion viewers between 1974 and 1980, and his lighting of the torch at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics was watched by an estimated 3.5billion viewers.
Ali appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated on 38 different occasions, second only to Michael Jordan's 46. He also appeared on the cover of Time Magazine 5 times, the most of any athlete. In 2015, Harris Poll found that Ali was one of the three most recognizable athletes in the United States, along with Michael Jordan and Babe Ruth.
Martial artist and actor Bruce Lee was influenced by Ali, whose footwork he studied and incorporated into his own style while developing Jeet Kune Do in the 1960s.
On the set of Freedom Road Ali met Canadian singer-songwriter Michel, and subsequently helped create Michel's album The First Flight of the Gizzelda Dragon and an unaired television special featuring them both.
Ali was the subject of the British television program This Is Your Life in 1978 when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews. Ali was featured in Superman vs. Muhammad Ali, a 1978 DC Comics comic book pitting the champ against the superhero. In 1979, Ali guest-starred as himself in an episode of the NBC sitcom Diff'rent Strokes. The show's title itself was inspired by the quote "Different strokes for different folks" popularized in 1966 by Ali, who also inspired the title of the 1967 Syl Johnson song "Different Strokes", one of the most sampled songs in pop music history.
He also wrote several bestselling books about his career, including The Greatest: My Own Story and The Soul of a Butterfly. The Muhammad Ali effect, named after Ali, is a term that came into use in psychology in the 1980s, as he stated in The Greatest: My Own Story: "I only said I was the greatest, not the smartest." According to this effect, when people are asked to rate their intelligence and moral behavior in comparison to others, people will rate themselves as more moral, but not more intelligent than others.
When We Were Kings, a 1996 documentary about the Rumble in the Jungle, won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. The 2001 biopic Ali garnered a Best Actor Oscar nomination for Will Smith for his portrayal of Ali. Prior to making the film, Smith rejected the role until Ali requested that he accept it. Smith said the first thing Ali told him was: "Man, you're almost pretty enough to play me."
In 2002, Ali was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to the entertainment industry. His star is the only one to be mounted on a vertical surface, out of deference to his request that the name Muhammad—a name he shares with the Islamic prophet—not be walked upon.
His 1966 fight against George Chuvalo was the subject of Joseph Blasioli's 2003 documentary film The Last Round: Chuvalo vs. Ali.
The Trials of Muhammad Ali, a documentary directed by Bill Siegel that focuses on Ali's refusal of the draft during the Vietnam War, opened in Manhattan on August 23, 2013. A 2013 made-for-TV movie titled Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight dramatized the same aspect of Ali's life.
Antoine Fuqua's documentary What's My Name: Muhammad Ali was released in 2019.
Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns created the four-part documentary film Muhammad Ali, spanning over eight hours on Ali's entire life. Burns worked on the film since early 2016. It is scheduled to release in September 2021 on PBS. Dave Zirin who watched an 8 hour rough cut of this documentary called it "utterly outstanding" and said "the footage they found will blow minds".
Discography
I Am the Greatest (1963)
The Adventures of Ali and His Gang vs. Mr. Tooth Decay (1976)
See also
List of heavyweight boxing champions
List of WBA world champions
List of WBC world champions
List of The Ring world champions
List of undisputed boxing champions
Converts to Islam
Notable boxing families
List of people from the Louisville metropolitan area
List of North American Muslims
African-American Muslims
1981 MAPS Wells Fargo embezzlement scandal
Notes
References
Further reading
Online
Muhammad Ali: American boxer, in Encyclopædia Britannica Online, by Thomas Hauser, Adam Augustyn, Piyush Bhathya, Yamini Chauhan, John M. Cunningham, Richard Pallardy, Michael Ray, Emily Rodriguez, Surabhi Sinha, Amy Tikkanen, Grace Young and The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
External links
Official website (archived)
William Addams Reitwiesner Genealogical Services: Ancestry of Muhammad Ali
FBI Records: The Vault – Muhammad Ali at the FBI
Cassius Clay Guilty (1967), Texas Archive of the Moving Image
Photo essays'''
1942 births
2016 deaths
20th-century American rappers
20th-century Muslims
21st-century Muslims
Activists for African-American civil rights
Activists from Kentucky
African-American activists
African-American boxers
African-American male rappers
African-American Muslims
African-American poets
African-American Sunni Muslims
American anti–Vietnam War activists
American conscientious objectors
American former Protestants
American humanitarians
American male boxers
American male poets
American male rappers
American Muslim activists
American people of Irish descent
American people of Malagasy descent
American philanthropists
American spoken word poets
American Sufis
BBC Sports Personality World Sport Star of the Year winners
Boxers at the 1960 Summer Olympics
Boxers from Arizona
Boxers from Chicago
Boxers from Louisville, Kentucky
Boxers from New Jersey
Burials at Cave Hill Cemetery
Central High School (Louisville, Kentucky) alumni
COINTELPRO targets
Columbia Records artists
Converts to Sunni Islam from Protestantism
Deaths from sepsis
Former Nation of Islam members
International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees
Medalists at the 1960 Summer Olympics
Neurological disease deaths in Arizona
Olympic boxers of the United States
Olympic cauldron lighters
Olympic gold medalists for the United States in boxing
Overturned convictions in the United States
People from Cherry Hill, New Jersey
People from Paradise Valley, Arizona
People with Parkinson's disease
People with traumatic brain injuries
Poets from Arizona
Poets from Kentucky
Poets from New Jersey
Presidential Citizens Medal recipients
Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients
Professional wrestling referees
Rappers from Kentucky
Sportspeople from Camden County, New Jersey
Sportspeople from the Phoenix metropolitan area
The Ring (magazine) champions
Vietnam War draft evaders
Winners of the United States Championship for amateur boxers
World Boxing Association champions
World Boxing Council champions
World heavyweight boxing champions
Writers from Louisville, Kentucky | true | [
"This is the list of episodes for the Nickelodeon promotion, Wrestling Association of Championship Krushers.\n\nWeb Videos\nWhen the WACK website launched, two sets of web-only videos were included in each wrestler's profile. They were called \"Behind the WACK\" and \"Signature Moves Videos\". However, the \"Signature Moves\" videos have never been released.\n\nBehind the WACK\n\"Behind the WACK\" videos contain each wrestler's history, how they joined the league, and a few minor facts about them. They are around two minutes long.\n\nSignature Moves\nAlong with the \"Behind the WACK\" videos, the profiles on the WACK website also come with signature moves videos. Although they haven't been released on the website, they were filmed at the same time as the \"Behind-the-WACK\" videos and why they were not released is unknown.\n\nEpisodes\n\nLists of comedy television series episodes",
"This is a list of Portuguese football transfers for the summer of 2009. The summer transfer window opened on 1 July and closed at midnight on 31 August. Players may have been bought before the transfer windows opens, but may only joined their new club on 1 July. Only moves involving Primeira Liga clubs are listed. Additionally, players without a club may join a club at any time.\n\nTransfers\n\n A player who signed with a club before the opening of the summer transfer window, will officially join his new club on 1 July. While a player who joined a club after 1 July will join his new club following his signature of the contract.\n\nReferences\n\n2009–10 in Portuguese football\nFootball transfers summer 2009\nLists of Portuguese football transfers"
] | [
"Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer, activist, entertainer, poet and philanthropist. Nicknamed The Greatest, he is widely regarded as one of the most significant and celebrated sports figures of the 20th century, and is frequently ranked as the greatest heavyweight boxer of all time. In 1999, he was named Sportsman of the Century by Sports Illustrated and the Sports Personality of the Century by the BBC.",
"In 1999, he was named Sportsman of the Century by Sports Illustrated and the Sports Personality of the Century by the BBC. Born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, he began training as an amateur boxer at age 12. At 18, he won a gold medal in the light heavyweight division at the 1960 Summer Olympics and turned professional later that year. He became a Muslim after 1961. He won the world heavyweight championship from Sonny Liston in a major upset on February 25, 1964, at age 22.",
"He won the world heavyweight championship from Sonny Liston in a major upset on February 25, 1964, at age 22. Also that year, he renounced his birth name as a \"slave name\" and formally became known as Muhammad Ali. In 1966, Ali refused to be drafted into the military owing to his religious beliefs and ethical opposition to the Vietnam War and was found guilty of draft evasion and stripped of his boxing titles.",
"In 1966, Ali refused to be drafted into the military owing to his religious beliefs and ethical opposition to the Vietnam War and was found guilty of draft evasion and stripped of his boxing titles. He stayed out of prison while appealing the decision to the Supreme Court, where his conviction was overturned in 1971. However, he had not fought for nearly four years by this point and had lost a period of peak performance as an athlete.",
"However, he had not fought for nearly four years by this point and had lost a period of peak performance as an athlete. Ali's actions as a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War made him an icon for the larger 1960s counterculture generation, and he was a very high-profile figure of racial pride for African Americans during the civil rights movement and throughout his career. As a Muslim, Ali was initially affiliated with Elijah Muhammad's Nation of Islam (NOI).",
"As a Muslim, Ali was initially affiliated with Elijah Muhammad's Nation of Islam (NOI). He later disavowed the NOI, adhering to Sunni Islam, and supported racial integration like his former mentor Malcolm X. He fought in several historic boxing matches, such as his highly publicized fights with Sonny Liston, Joe Frazier (including the Fight of the Century, the biggest boxing event up until then), the Thrilla in Manila, and his fight with George Foreman in The Rumble in the Jungle.",
"He fought in several historic boxing matches, such as his highly publicized fights with Sonny Liston, Joe Frazier (including the Fight of the Century, the biggest boxing event up until then), the Thrilla in Manila, and his fight with George Foreman in The Rumble in the Jungle. Ali thrived in the spotlight at a time when many boxers let their managers do the talking, and he became renowned for his provocative and outlandish persona.",
"Ali thrived in the spotlight at a time when many boxers let their managers do the talking, and he became renowned for his provocative and outlandish persona. He was known for trash-talking, and often free-styled with rhyme schemes and spoken word poetry incorporating elements of hip hop, and often predicted in which round he would knockout his opponent. Outside boxing, Ali attained success as a spoken word artist, releasing two studio albums: I Am the Greatest!",
"Outside boxing, Ali attained success as a spoken word artist, releasing two studio albums: I Am the Greatest! (1963) and The Adventures of Ali and His Gang vs. Mr. Tooth Decay (1976). Both albums received Grammy Award nominations. He also featured as an actor and writer, releasing two autobiographies. Ali retired from boxing in 1981 and focused on religion, philanthropy and activism.",
"Ali retired from boxing in 1981 and focused on religion, philanthropy and activism. In 1984, he made public his diagnosis of Parkinson's syndrome, which some reports attributed to boxing-related injuries, though he and his specialist physicians disputed this. He remained an active public figure globally, but in his later years made fewer public appearances as his condition worsened, and he was cared for by his family. Ali died on June 3, 2016.",
"Ali died on June 3, 2016. Ali died on June 3, 2016. Early life and amateur career Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. ( ) was born on January 17, 1942, in Louisville, Kentucky. He had one brother. He was named after his father, Cassius Marcellus Clay Sr., who had a sister and four brothers and who himself was named in honor of the 19th-century Republican politician and staunch abolitionist Cassius Marcellus Clay, also from the state of Kentucky.",
"He was named after his father, Cassius Marcellus Clay Sr., who had a sister and four brothers and who himself was named in honor of the 19th-century Republican politician and staunch abolitionist Cassius Marcellus Clay, also from the state of Kentucky. Clay's father's paternal grandparents were John Clay and Sallie Anne Clay; Clay's sister Eva claimed that Sallie was a native of Madagascar. He was a descendant of slaves of the antebellum South, and was predominantly of African descent, with some Irish and English family heritage.",
"He was a descendant of slaves of the antebellum South, and was predominantly of African descent, with some Irish and English family heritage. Ali's maternal great-grandfather, Abe Grady, emigrated from Ennis, Co. Clare, Ireland.",
"Ali's maternal great-grandfather, Abe Grady, emigrated from Ennis, Co. Clare, Ireland. DNA testing performed in 2018 showed that, through his paternal grandmother, Ali was a descendant of the former slave Archer Alexander, who had been chosen from the building crew as the model of a freed man for the Emancipation Memorial, and was the subject of abolitionist William Greenleaf Eliot's book, The Story of Archer Alexander: From Slavery to Freedom. Like Ali, Alexander fought for his freedom.",
"Like Ali, Alexander fought for his freedom. Like Ali, Alexander fought for his freedom. His father was a sign and billboard painter, and his mother, Odessa O'Grady Clay (1917–1994), was a domestic helper. Although Cassius Sr. was a Methodist, he allowed Odessa to bring up both Cassius Jr. and his younger brother, Rudolph \"Rudy\" Clay (later renamed Rahman Ali), as Baptists. Cassius Jr. attended Central High School in Louisville.",
"Cassius Jr. attended Central High School in Louisville. Cassius Jr. attended Central High School in Louisville. He was dyslexic, which led to difficulties in reading and writing, at school and for much of his life. Ali grew up amid racial segregation. His mother recalled one occasion when he was denied a drink of water at a store: \"They wouldn't give him one because of his color. That really affected him.\"",
"That really affected him.\" That really affected him.\" He was also strongly affected by the 1955 murder of Emmett Till, which led to young Clay and a friend taking out their frustration by vandalizing a local rail yard. His daughter Hana later wrote that Ali once told her, \"Nothing would ever shake me up (more) than the story of Emmett Till.\"",
"His daughter Hana later wrote that Ali once told her, \"Nothing would ever shake me up (more) than the story of Emmett Till.\" Ali was first directed toward boxing by Louisville police officer and boxing coach Joe E. Martin, who encountered the 12-year-old fuming over a thief's having taken his bicycle. He told the officer he was going to \"whup\" the thief. The officer told Clay he had better learn how to box first.",
"The officer told Clay he had better learn how to box first. Initially, Clay did not take up Martin's offer, but after seeing amateur boxers on a local television boxing program called Tomorrow's Champions, Clay was interested in the prospect of fighting. He then began to work with trainer Fred Stoner, whom he credits with giving him the \"real training\", eventually molding \"my style, my stamina and my system.\"",
"He then began to work with trainer Fred Stoner, whom he credits with giving him the \"real training\", eventually molding \"my style, my stamina and my system.\" For the last four years of Clay's amateur career he was trained by boxing cutman Chuck Bodak. Clay made his amateur boxing debut in 1954 against local amateur boxer Ronnie O'Keefe. He won by split decision.",
"He won by split decision. He won by split decision. He went on to win six Kentucky Golden Gloves titles, two national Golden Gloves titles, an Amateur Athletic Union national title, and the light heavyweight gold medal in the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. Clay's amateur record was 100 wins with five losses.",
"Clay's amateur record was 100 wins with five losses. Ali said in his 1975 autobiography that shortly after his return from the Rome Olympics, he threw his gold medal into the Ohio River after he and a friend were refused service at a \"whites-only\" restaurant and fought with a white gang. The story was later disputed, and several of Ali's friends, including Bundini Brown and photographer Howard Bingham, denied it. Brown told Sports Illustrated writer Mark Kram, \"Honkies sure bought into that one!\"",
"Brown told Sports Illustrated writer Mark Kram, \"Honkies sure bought into that one!\" Thomas Hauser's biography of Ali stated that Ali was refused service at the diner but that he lost his medal a year after he won it. Ali received a replacement medal at a basketball intermission during the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, where he lit the torch to start the games. Early professional boxing career Early career Clay made his professional debut on October 29, 1960, winning a six-round decision over Tunney Hunsaker.",
"Early professional boxing career Early career Clay made his professional debut on October 29, 1960, winning a six-round decision over Tunney Hunsaker. From then until the end of 1963, Clay amassed a record of 19–0 with 15 wins by knockout. He defeated boxers including Tony Esperti, Jim Robinson, Donnie Fleeman, Alonzo Johnson, George Logan, Willi Besmanoff, LaMar Clark, Doug Jones and Henry Cooper. Clay also beat his former trainer and veteran boxer Archie Moore in a 1962 match. These early fights were not without trials.",
"These early fights were not without trials. These early fights were not without trials. Clay was knocked down by both Sonny Banks and Cooper. In the Cooper fight, Clay was floored by a left hook at the end of round four and was saved by the bell, going on to win in the predicted 5th round due to Cooper's severely cut eye. The fight with Doug Jones on March 13, 1963 was Clay's toughest fight during this stretch.",
"The fight with Doug Jones on March 13, 1963 was Clay's toughest fight during this stretch. The number two and three heavyweight contenders respectively, Clay and Jones fought on Jones' home turf at New York's Madison Square Garden. Jones staggered Clay in the first round, and the unanimous decision for Clay was greeted by boos and a rain of debris thrown into the ring. Watching on closed-circuit TV, heavyweight champ Sonny Liston quipped that if he fought Clay he might get locked up for murder.",
"Watching on closed-circuit TV, heavyweight champ Sonny Liston quipped that if he fought Clay he might get locked up for murder. The fight was later named \"Fight of the Year\" by The Ring magazine. In each of these fights, Clay vocally belittled his opponents and vaunted his abilities. He called Jones \"an ugly little man\" and Cooper a \"bum\". He said he was embarrassed to get in the ring with Alex Miteff and claimed that Madison Square Garden was \"too small for me.\"",
"He said he was embarrassed to get in the ring with Alex Miteff and claimed that Madison Square Garden was \"too small for me.\" Ali's trash-talk was inspired by professional wrestler \"Gorgeous George\" Wagner's, after he saw George's talking ability attract huge crowds to events.",
"Ali's trash-talk was inspired by professional wrestler \"Gorgeous George\" Wagner's, after he saw George's talking ability attract huge crowds to events. Ali stated in a 1969 interview with the Associated Press' Hubert Mizel that he met with George in Las Vegas in 1961, that George told him that talking a big game would earn paying fans who either wanted to see him win or wanted to see him lose, thus Ali transformed himself into a self-described \"big-mouth and a bragger\".",
"Ali stated in a 1969 interview with the Associated Press' Hubert Mizel that he met with George in Las Vegas in 1961, that George told him that talking a big game would earn paying fans who either wanted to see him win or wanted to see him lose, thus Ali transformed himself into a self-described \"big-mouth and a bragger\". In 1960, Clay left Moore's camp, partially due to Clay's refusal to do chores such as washing dishes and sweeping.",
"In 1960, Clay left Moore's camp, partially due to Clay's refusal to do chores such as washing dishes and sweeping. To replace Moore, Clay hired Angelo Dundee to be his trainer. Clay had met Dundee in February 1957 during Clay's amateur career. Around this time, Clay sought longtime idol Sugar Ray Robinson to be his manager, but was rebuffed. World heavyweight champion Fights against Liston By late 1963, Clay had become the top contender for Sonny Liston's title.",
"World heavyweight champion Fights against Liston By late 1963, Clay had become the top contender for Sonny Liston's title. The fight was set for February 25, 1964, in Miami Beach. Liston was an intimidating personality, a dominating fighter with a criminal past and ties to the mob. Based on Clay's uninspired performance against Jones and Cooper in his previous two fights, and Liston's destruction of former heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson in two first-round knockouts, Clay was a 7–1 underdog.",
"Based on Clay's uninspired performance against Jones and Cooper in his previous two fights, and Liston's destruction of former heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson in two first-round knockouts, Clay was a 7–1 underdog. Despite this, Clay taunted Liston during the pre-fight buildup, dubbing him \"the big ugly bear\", stating \"Liston even smells like a bear\" and claiming \"After I beat him I'm going to donate him to the zoo.\"",
"Despite this, Clay taunted Liston during the pre-fight buildup, dubbing him \"the big ugly bear\", stating \"Liston even smells like a bear\" and claiming \"After I beat him I'm going to donate him to the zoo.\" Clay turned the pre-fight weigh-in into a circus, shouting at Liston that \"someone is going to die at ringside tonight.\" Clay's pulse rate was measured at 120, more than double his normal 54.",
"Clay's pulse rate was measured at 120, more than double his normal 54. Many of those in attendance thought Clay's behavior stemmed from fear, and some commentators wondered if he would show up for the bout. The outcome of the fight was a major upset. At the opening bell, Liston rushed at Clay, seemingly angry and looking for a quick knockout. However, Clay's superior speed and mobility enabled him to elude Liston, making the champion miss and look awkward.",
"However, Clay's superior speed and mobility enabled him to elude Liston, making the champion miss and look awkward. At the end of the first round, Clay opened up his attack and hit Liston repeatedly with jabs. Liston fought better in round two, but at the beginning of the third round Clay hit Liston with a combination that buckled his knees and opened a cut under his left eye. This was the first time Liston had ever been cut.",
"This was the first time Liston had ever been cut. At the end of round four, Clay was returning to his corner when he began experiencing blinding pain in his eyes and asked his trainer, Angelo Dundee, to cut off his gloves. Dundee refused. It has been speculated that the problem was due to ointment used to seal Liston's cuts, perhaps deliberately applied by his corner to his gloves.",
"It has been speculated that the problem was due to ointment used to seal Liston's cuts, perhaps deliberately applied by his corner to his gloves. Though unconfirmed, boxing historian Bert Sugar said that two of Liston's opponents also complained about their eyes \"burning\". Despite Liston's attempts to knock out a blinded Clay, Clay was able to survive the fifth round until sweat and tears rinsed the irritation from his eyes. In the sixth, Clay dominated, hitting Liston repeatedly.",
"In the sixth, Clay dominated, hitting Liston repeatedly. Liston did not answer the bell for the seventh round, and Clay was declared the winner by TKO. Liston stated that the reason he quit was an injured shoulder. Following the win, a triumphant Clay rushed to the edge of the ring and, pointing to the ringside press, shouted: \"Eat your words!\" He added, \"I am the greatest! I shook up the world. I'm the prettiest thing that ever lived.\"",
"I'm the prettiest thing that ever lived.\" I'm the prettiest thing that ever lived.\" At ringside post fight, Clay appeared unconvinced that the fight was stopped due to a Liston shoulder injury, saying that the only injury Liston had was \"an open eye, a big cut eye!\" When told by Joe Louis that the injury was a \"left arm thrown out of its socket,\" Clay quipped, \"Yeah, swinging at nothing, who wouldn't?\"",
"When told by Joe Louis that the injury was a \"left arm thrown out of its socket,\" Clay quipped, \"Yeah, swinging at nothing, who wouldn't?\" In winning this fight at the age of 22, Clay became the youngest boxer to take the title from a reigning heavyweight champion. However, Floyd Patterson remained the youngest to win the heavyweight championship, doing so at the age 21 during an elimination bout following Rocky Marciano's retirement.",
"However, Floyd Patterson remained the youngest to win the heavyweight championship, doing so at the age 21 during an elimination bout following Rocky Marciano's retirement. Mike Tyson broke both records in 1986 when he defeated Trevor Berbick to win the heavyweight title at age 20. Soon after the Liston fight, Clay changed his name to Cassius X, and then later to Muhammad Ali upon converting to Islam and affiliating with the Nation of Islam. Ali then faced a rematch with Liston scheduled for May 1965 in Lewiston, Maine.",
"Ali then faced a rematch with Liston scheduled for May 1965 in Lewiston, Maine. It had been scheduled for Boston the previous November, but was postponed for six months due to Ali's emergency surgery for a hernia three days before. The fight was controversial. Midway through the first round, Liston was knocked down by a difficult-to-see blow the press dubbed a \"phantom punch\". Referee Jersey Joe Walcott did not begin the count immediately after the knockdown, as Ali refused to retreat to a neutral corner.",
"Referee Jersey Joe Walcott did not begin the count immediately after the knockdown, as Ali refused to retreat to a neutral corner. Liston rose after he had been down for about 20 seconds, and the fight momentarily continued. However a few seconds later Walcott, having been informed by the timekeepers that Liston had been down for a count of 10, stopped the match and declared Ali the winner by knockout. The entire fight lasted less than two minutes. It has since been speculated that Liston purposely dropped to the ground.",
"It has since been speculated that Liston purposely dropped to the ground. Proposed motivations include threats on his life from the Nation of Islam, that he had bet against himself and that he \"took a dive\" to pay off debts. Slow-motion replays show that Liston was jarred by a chopping right from Ali, although it is unclear whether the blow was a genuine knockout punch. Fight against Patterson Ali defended his title against former heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson on November 22, 1965.",
"Fight against Patterson Ali defended his title against former heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson on November 22, 1965. Before the match, Ali mocked Patterson, who was widely known to call him by his former name Cassius Clay, as an \"Uncle Tom\", calling him \"The Rabbit\". Although Ali clearly had the better of Patterson, who appeared injured during the fight, the match lasted 12 rounds before being called on a technical knockout. Patterson later said he had strained his sacroiliac.",
"Patterson later said he had strained his sacroiliac. Patterson later said he had strained his sacroiliac. Ali was criticized in the sports media for appearing to have toyed with Patterson during the fight. Patterson biographer W. K. Stratton claims that the conflict between Ali and Patterson was not genuine but was staged to increase ticket sales and the closed-circuit viewing audience, with both men complicit in the theatrics.",
"Patterson biographer W. K. Stratton claims that the conflict between Ali and Patterson was not genuine but was staged to increase ticket sales and the closed-circuit viewing audience, with both men complicit in the theatrics. Stratton also cites an interview by Howard Cosell in which Ali explained that rather than toying with Patterson, he refrained from knocking him out after it became apparent Patterson was injured. Patterson later said that he had never been hit by punches as soft as Ali's.",
"Patterson later said that he had never been hit by punches as soft as Ali's. Stratton states that Ali arranged the second fight, in 1972, with the financially struggling Patterson to help the former champion earn enough money to pay a debt to the IRS. Main Bout After the Patterson fight, Ali founded his own promotion company, Main Bout. The company mainly handled Ali's boxing promotions and pay-per-view closed-circuit television broadcasts.",
"The company mainly handled Ali's boxing promotions and pay-per-view closed-circuit television broadcasts. The company's stockholders were mainly fellow Nation of Islam members, along with several others, including Bob Arum. Ali and then-WBA heavyweight champion boxer Ernie Terrell had agreed to meet for a bout in Chicago on March 29, 1966 (the WBA, one of two boxing associations, had stripped Ali of his title following his joining the Nation of Islam).",
"Ali and then-WBA heavyweight champion boxer Ernie Terrell had agreed to meet for a bout in Chicago on March 29, 1966 (the WBA, one of two boxing associations, had stripped Ali of his title following his joining the Nation of Islam). But in February Ali was reclassified by the Louisville draft board as 1-A from 1-Y, and he indicated that he would refuse to serve, commenting to the press, \"I ain't got nothing against no Viet Cong; no Viet Cong never called me nigger.\"",
"But in February Ali was reclassified by the Louisville draft board as 1-A from 1-Y, and he indicated that he would refuse to serve, commenting to the press, \"I ain't got nothing against no Viet Cong; no Viet Cong never called me nigger.\" Amidst the media and public outcry over Ali's stance, the Illinois Athletic Commission refused to sanction the fight, citing technicalities. Instead, Ali traveled to Canada and Europe and won championship bouts against George Chuvalo, Henry Cooper, Brian London and Karl Mildenberger.",
"Instead, Ali traveled to Canada and Europe and won championship bouts against George Chuvalo, Henry Cooper, Brian London and Karl Mildenberger. Ali returned to the United States to fight Cleveland Williams in the Houston Astrodome on November 14, 1966. The bout drew a record-breaking indoor crowd of 35,460 people. Williams had once been considered among the hardest punchers in the heavyweight division, but in 1964 he had been shot at point-blank range by a Texas policeman, resulting in the loss of one kidney and of his small intestine.",
"Williams had once been considered among the hardest punchers in the heavyweight division, but in 1964 he had been shot at point-blank range by a Texas policeman, resulting in the loss of one kidney and of his small intestine. Ali dominated Williams, winning a third-round technical knockout in what some consider the finest performance of his career. Ali fought Terrell in Houston on February 6, 1967.",
"Ali fought Terrell in Houston on February 6, 1967. Terrell, who was unbeaten in five years and had defeated many of the boxers Ali had faced, was billed as Ali's toughest opponent since Liston; he was big, strong and had a three-inch reach advantage over Ali. During the lead up to the bout, Terrell repeatedly called Ali \"Clay\", much to Ali's annoyance. The two almost came to blows over the name issue in a pre-fight interview with Howard Cosell.",
"The two almost came to blows over the name issue in a pre-fight interview with Howard Cosell. Ali seemed intent on humiliating Terrell. \"I want to torture him\", he said. \"A clean knockout is too good for him.\" The fight was close until the seventh round, when Ali bloodied Terrell and almost knocked him out. In the eighth round, Ali taunted Terrell, hitting him with jabs and shouting between punches, \"What's my name, Uncle Tom ... what's my name?\"",
"In the eighth round, Ali taunted Terrell, hitting him with jabs and shouting between punches, \"What's my name, Uncle Tom ... what's my name?\" Ali won a unanimous 15-round decision. Terrell claimed that early in the fight Ali deliberately thumbed him in the eye, forcing him to fight half-blind, and then, in a clinch, rubbed the wounded eye against the ropes.",
"Terrell claimed that early in the fight Ali deliberately thumbed him in the eye, forcing him to fight half-blind, and then, in a clinch, rubbed the wounded eye against the ropes. Because of Ali's apparent intent to prolong the fight to inflict maximum punishment, critics described the bout as \"one of the ugliest boxing fights.\" Tex Maule later wrote: \"It was a wonderful demonstration of boxing skill and a barbarous display of cruelty.\"",
"Tex Maule later wrote: \"It was a wonderful demonstration of boxing skill and a barbarous display of cruelty.\" Ali denied the accusations of cruelty but, for Ali's critics, the fight provided more evidence of his arrogance. After Ali's title defense against Zora Folley on March 22, he was stripped of his title due to his refusal to be drafted to army service. His boxing license was also suspended by the state of New York.",
"His boxing license was also suspended by the state of New York. He was convicted of draft evasion on June 20 and sentenced to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. He paid a bond and remained free while the verdict was being appealed. Vietnam War and resistance to the draft Ali registered for conscription in the United States military on his 18th birthday and was listed as 1-A in 1962.",
"Vietnam War and resistance to the draft Ali registered for conscription in the United States military on his 18th birthday and was listed as 1-A in 1962. In 1964, he was reclassified as Class 1-Y (fit for service only in times of national emergency) after he failed the U.S. Armed Forces qualifying test because his writing and spelling skills were sub-standard, due to his dyslexia. (He was quoted as saying, \"I said I was the greatest, not the smartest!\")",
"(He was quoted as saying, \"I said I was the greatest, not the smartest!\") By early 1966, the army lowered its standards to permit soldiers above the 15th percentile and Ali was again classified as 1-A. This classification meant he was now eligible for the draft and induction into the U.S. Army at a time when the U.S. was involved in the Vietnam War, a war which put him further at odds with the white establishment.",
"This classification meant he was now eligible for the draft and induction into the U.S. Army at a time when the U.S. was involved in the Vietnam War, a war which put him further at odds with the white establishment. When notified of this status, Ali declared that he would refuse to serve in the army and publicly considered himself a conscientious objector. Ali stated: \"War is against the teachings of the Qur'an. I'm not trying to dodge the draft.",
"I'm not trying to dodge the draft. I'm not trying to dodge the draft. We are not supposed to take part in no wars unless declared by Allah or The Messenger (Elijah Muhammad then leader of Nation of Islam). We don’t take part in Christian wars or wars of any unbelievers\". He also said \"We are not to be the aggressor but we will defend ourselves if attacked.\" He stated: \"Man, I ain't got no quarrel with them Viet Cong.\"",
"He stated: \"Man, I ain't got no quarrel with them Viet Cong.\" Ali elaborated: \"Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go ten thousand miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on brown people in Vietnam while so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs and denied simple human rights?\" Ali antagonized the white establishment in 1966 by refusing to be drafted into the U.S. military, citing his religious beliefs and opposition to American involvement in the Vietnam War.",
"Ali antagonized the white establishment in 1966 by refusing to be drafted into the U.S. military, citing his religious beliefs and opposition to American involvement in the Vietnam War. On April 28, 1967, Ali appeared in Houston for his scheduled induction into the U.S. Armed Forces, but he refused three times to step forward when his name was called. An officer warned him that he was committing a felony punishable by five years in prison and a fine of $10,000.",
"An officer warned him that he was committing a felony punishable by five years in prison and a fine of $10,000. Once more, Ali refused to budge when his name was called, and he was arrested. Later that same day, the New York State Athletic Commission suspended his boxing license and stripped him of his title. Other boxing commissions followed suit. Ali remained unable to obtain a license to box in any state for over three years.",
"Ali remained unable to obtain a license to box in any state for over three years. On June 4, 1967, in a first for sports professionals, a group of high-profile African-American athletes assembled at the Negro Industrial Economic union in Cleveland for a \"Muhammad Ali Summit\". The meeting was organized by Jim Brown for his peers to question Ali about the seriousness of his convictions, and to decide whether to support him, which they ultimately did.",
"The meeting was organized by Jim Brown for his peers to question Ali about the seriousness of his convictions, and to decide whether to support him, which they ultimately did. At the trial on June 20, 1967, the jury found Ali guilty after only 21minutes of deliberation of the criminal offense of violating the Selective Service laws by refusing to be drafted. After a Court of Appeals upheld the conviction, the case was reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1971.",
"After a Court of Appeals upheld the conviction, the case was reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1971. Ali remained free in the years between the Appellate Court decision and the Supreme Court ruling. As public opinion began turning people against the war and the Civil Rights Movement continued to gather momentum, Ali became a popular speaker at colleges and universities across the country; this itinerary was rare if not unprecedented for a prizefighter.",
"As public opinion began turning people against the war and the Civil Rights Movement continued to gather momentum, Ali became a popular speaker at colleges and universities across the country; this itinerary was rare if not unprecedented for a prizefighter. At Howard University, for example, he gave his popular \"Black Is Best\" speech to 4,000 cheering students and community intellectuals, after he was invited to speak by sociology professor Nathan Hare on behalf of the Black Power Committee, a student protest group.",
"At Howard University, for example, he gave his popular \"Black Is Best\" speech to 4,000 cheering students and community intellectuals, after he was invited to speak by sociology professor Nathan Hare on behalf of the Black Power Committee, a student protest group. On June 28, 1971, the Supreme Court of the United States in Clay v. United States overturned Ali's conviction by a unanimous 8–0 decision (Justice Thurgood Marshall recused himself, as he had been the U.S.",
"On June 28, 1971, the Supreme Court of the United States in Clay v. United States overturned Ali's conviction by a unanimous 8–0 decision (Justice Thurgood Marshall recused himself, as he had been the U.S. Solicitor General at the time of Ali's conviction). The decision was not based on, nor did it address, the merits of Ali's claims per se.",
"The decision was not based on, nor did it address, the merits of Ali's claims per se. Rather, the Court held that since the appeal board gave no reason for the denial of a conscientious objector exemption to Ali, that it was therefore impossible to determine which of the three basic tests for conscientious objector status (offered in the Justice Department's brief) the appeal board relied on, and Ali's conviction must be reversed.",
"Rather, the Court held that since the appeal board gave no reason for the denial of a conscientious objector exemption to Ali, that it was therefore impossible to determine which of the three basic tests for conscientious objector status (offered in the Justice Department's brief) the appeal board relied on, and Ali's conviction must be reversed. Impact of Ali's draft refusal Ali's example inspired many black Americans and others.",
"Impact of Ali's draft refusal Ali's example inspired many black Americans and others. However, initially when he refused induction, he became arguably the most hated man in the country and received many death threats. People who supported Ali during this time were also threatened, including sports journalist Jerry Izenberg, whose columns defended Ali's decision not to serve. He wrote, \"Bomb threats emptied our office, making the staff stand out in the snow. My car windshield was smashed with a sledgehammer.\"",
"My car windshield was smashed with a sledgehammer.\" My car windshield was smashed with a sledgehammer.\" The New York Times columnist William Rhoden wrote, \"Ali's actions changed my standard of what constituted an athlete's greatness. Possessing a killer jump shot or the ability to stop on a dime was no longer enough. What were you doing for the liberation of your people? What were you doing to help your country live up to the covenant of its founding principles?\"",
"What were you doing to help your country live up to the covenant of its founding principles?\" Recalling Ali's anti-war position, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar said: \"I remember the teachers at my high school didn't like Ali because he was so anti-establishment and he kind of thumbed his nose at authority and got away with it. The fact that he was proud to be a black man and that he had so much talent ... made some people think that he was dangerous. But for those very reasons I enjoyed him.\"",
"But for those very reasons I enjoyed him.\" But for those very reasons I enjoyed him.\" Civil rights figures came to believe that Ali had an energizing effect on the freedom movement as a whole. Al Sharpton spoke of his bravery at a time when there was still widespread support for the Vietnam War: Ali was honored with the annual Martin Luther King Award in 1970 by civil rights leader Ralph Abernathy, who called him \"a living example of soul power, the March on Washington in two fists.\"",
"Al Sharpton spoke of his bravery at a time when there was still widespread support for the Vietnam War: Ali was honored with the annual Martin Luther King Award in 1970 by civil rights leader Ralph Abernathy, who called him \"a living example of soul power, the March on Washington in two fists.\" Coretta Scott King added that Ali was \"a champion of justice and peace and unity.\"",
"Coretta Scott King added that Ali was \"a champion of justice and peace and unity.\" In speaking of the cost on Ali's career of his refusal to be drafted, his trainer Angelo Dundee said, \"One thing must be taken into account when talking about Ali: He was robbed of his best years, his prime years.\" Bob Arum did not support Ali's choice at the time.",
"Bob Arum did not support Ali's choice at the time. More recently, Arum stated that \"when I look back at his life, and I was blessed to call him a friend and spent a lot of time with him, it's hard for me to talk about his exploits in boxing because as great as they were they paled in comparison to the impact that he had on the world,\" and \"He did what he thought was right.",
"More recently, Arum stated that \"when I look back at his life, and I was blessed to call him a friend and spent a lot of time with him, it's hard for me to talk about his exploits in boxing because as great as they were they paled in comparison to the impact that he had on the world,\" and \"He did what he thought was right. And it turned out he was right, and I was wrong.\"",
"And it turned out he was right, and I was wrong.\" Ali's resistance to the draft was covered in the 2013 documentary The Trials of Muhammad Ali. NSA and FBI monitoring of Ali's communications In a secret operation code-named \"Minaret\", the National Security Agency (NSA) intercepted the communications of leading Americans, including Ali, Senators Frank Church and Howard Baker, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., prominent U.S. journalists, and others who criticized the U.S. war in Vietnam.",
"NSA and FBI monitoring of Ali's communications In a secret operation code-named \"Minaret\", the National Security Agency (NSA) intercepted the communications of leading Americans, including Ali, Senators Frank Church and Howard Baker, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., prominent U.S. journalists, and others who criticized the U.S. war in Vietnam. A review by the NSA of the Minaret program concluded that it was \"disreputable if not outright illegal.\"",
"A review by the NSA of the Minaret program concluded that it was \"disreputable if not outright illegal.\" In 1971, his Fight of the Century with Frazier was used by an activist group, the Citizens' Commission to Investigate the FBI, to pull off a burglary at an FBI office in Pennsylvania; the anticipation for the fight was unlike anything else, so they believed the security would also be focused on the fight.",
"In 1971, his Fight of the Century with Frazier was used by an activist group, the Citizens' Commission to Investigate the FBI, to pull off a burglary at an FBI office in Pennsylvania; the anticipation for the fight was unlike anything else, so they believed the security would also be focused on the fight. This raid exposed the COINTELPRO operations that included illegal spying on activists involved with the civil rights and anti-war movements.",
"This raid exposed the COINTELPRO operations that included illegal spying on activists involved with the civil rights and anti-war movements. One of the COINTELPRO targets was Ali, and their activities included the FBI gaining access to his records as far back as elementary school; one such record mentioned him loving art as a child. Exile and comeback In March 1966, Ali refused to be inducted into the armed forces. He was systematically denied a boxing license in every state and stripped of his passport.",
"He was systematically denied a boxing license in every state and stripped of his passport. As a result, he did not fight from March 1967 to October 1970—from ages 25 to almost 29—as his case worked its way through the appeals process before his conviction was overturned in 1971. Protesting while exiled During this time of inactivity, as opposition to the Vietnam War began to grow and Ali's stance gained sympathy, he spoke at colleges across the nation, criticizing the Vietnam War and advocating African-American pride and racial justice.",
"Protesting while exiled During this time of inactivity, as opposition to the Vietnam War began to grow and Ali's stance gained sympathy, he spoke at colleges across the nation, criticizing the Vietnam War and advocating African-American pride and racial justice. Ali based himself in Chicago. According to most close to him, his Chicago years were formative. At the time, Ali was widely condemned by the American media, with fears that his actions could potentially lead to mass civil disobedience.",
"At the time, Ali was widely condemned by the American media, with fears that his actions could potentially lead to mass civil disobedience. Despite this, Ebony magazine noted in the late 1960s that Ali's popularity had increased during this time, especially among black people. The Super Fight While banned from sanctioned bouts, Ali settled a $1 million lawsuit against radio producer Murray Woroner by accepting $10,000 to appear in a privately staged fantasy fight against retired champion Rocky Marciano.",
"The Super Fight While banned from sanctioned bouts, Ali settled a $1 million lawsuit against radio producer Murray Woroner by accepting $10,000 to appear in a privately staged fantasy fight against retired champion Rocky Marciano. In 1969 the boxers were filmed sparring for about 75 one-minute rounds; they produced several potential outcomes. A computer program purportedly determined the winner, based on data about the fighters, along with the opinions of approximately 250 boxing experts. Edited versions of the bout were shown in movie theaters in 1970.",
"Edited versions of the bout were shown in movie theaters in 1970. In the U.S. version Ali lost in a simulated 13th-round knockout, but in the European version Marciano lost due to cuts, also simulated. Ali suggested that prejudice determined his defeat in the U.S. version. He was reported to jokingly say, \"That computer was made in Alabama.\" Return to prizefighting On August 11, 1970, with his case still in appeal, Ali was granted a license to box by the City of Atlanta Athletic Commission.",
"Return to prizefighting On August 11, 1970, with his case still in appeal, Ali was granted a license to box by the City of Atlanta Athletic Commission. Leroy Johnson, Jesse Hill Jr. and Harry Pett had used their local political influence and set up the company House of Sports to organize the fight, underlining the influential power of Georgia's black politics in Ali' s comeback. Ali's first return bout was against Jerry Quarry on October 26, resulting in a win after three rounds after Quarry was cut.",
"Ali's first return bout was against Jerry Quarry on October 26, resulting in a win after three rounds after Quarry was cut. A month earlier, a victory in federal court forced the New York State Boxing Commission to reinstate Ali's license. He fought Oscar Bonavena at Madison Square Garden in December, an uninspired performance that ended in a dramatic technical knockout of Bonavena in the 15th round. The win left Ali as a top contender against heavyweight champion Joe Frazier.",
"The win left Ali as a top contender against heavyweight champion Joe Frazier. First fight against Joe Frazier Ali and Frazier's first fight, held at the Garden on March 8, 1971, was nicknamed the \"Fight of the Century\", due to the tremendous excitement surrounding a bout between two undefeated fighters, each with a legitimate claim to be heavyweight champion. Veteran US boxing writer John Condon called it \"the greatest event I've ever worked on in my life.\"",
"Veteran US boxing writer John Condon called it \"the greatest event I've ever worked on in my life.\" The bout was broadcast to 36 countries; promoters granted 760 press passes. Adding to the atmosphere were the considerable pre-fight theatrics and name calling. Before the fight Frazier called Ali, \"Cassius Clay\", this angered Ali and he portrayed Frazier as a \"dumb tool of the white establishment.\" \"Frazier is too ugly to be champ\", Ali said.",
"\"Frazier is too ugly to be champ\", Ali said. \"Frazier is too dumb to be champ.\" Ali also frequently called Frazier an \"Uncle Tom\". Dave Wolf, who worked in Frazier's camp, recalled that, \"Ali was saying 'the only people rooting for Joe Frazier are white people in suits, Alabama sheriffs, and members of the Ku Klux Klan. I'm fighting for the little man in the ghetto.'",
"I'm fighting for the little man in the ghetto.' Joe was sitting there, smashing his fist into the palm of his hand, saying, 'What the fuck does he know about the ghetto? Ali began training at a farm near Reading, Pennsylvania, in 1971 and, finding the country setting to his liking, sought to develop a real training camp in the countryside. He found a five-acre site on a Pennsylvania country road in the village of Deer Lake, Pennsylvania.",
"He found a five-acre site on a Pennsylvania country road in the village of Deer Lake, Pennsylvania. On this site, Ali carved out what was to become his training camp, where he trained for all his fights from 1972 to the end of his career in 1981. The Monday night fight lived up to its billing.",
"The Monday night fight lived up to its billing. The Monday night fight lived up to its billing. In a preview of their two other fights, a crouching, bobbing and weaving Frazier constantly pressured Ali, getting hit regularly by Ali jabs and combinations, but relentlessly attacking and scoring repeatedly, especially to Ali's body. The fight was even in the early rounds, but Ali was taking more punishment than ever in his career.",
"The fight was even in the early rounds, but Ali was taking more punishment than ever in his career. On several occasions in the early rounds he played to the crowd and shook his head \"no\" after he was hit. In the later rounds—in what was the first appearance of the \"rope-a-dope strategy\"—Ali leaned against the ropes and absorbed punishment from Frazier, hoping to tire him.",
"In the later rounds—in what was the first appearance of the \"rope-a-dope strategy\"—Ali leaned against the ropes and absorbed punishment from Frazier, hoping to tire him. In the 11th round, Frazier connected with a left hook that wobbled Ali, but because it appeared that Ali might be clowning as he staggered backwards across the ring, Frazier hesitated to press his advantage, fearing an Ali counter-attack.",
"In the 11th round, Frazier connected with a left hook that wobbled Ali, but because it appeared that Ali might be clowning as he staggered backwards across the ring, Frazier hesitated to press his advantage, fearing an Ali counter-attack. In the final round, Frazier knocked Ali down with a vicious left hook, which referee Arthur Mercante said was as hard as a man can be hit. Ali was back on his feet in three seconds. Nevertheless, Ali lost by unanimous decision, his first professional defeat.",
"Nevertheless, Ali lost by unanimous decision, his first professional defeat. Chamberlain challenge and Ellis fight In 1971, basketball star Wilt Chamberlain challenged Ali to a fight, and a bout was scheduled for July 26. Although the seven-foot-two-inch tall Chamberlain had formidable physical advantages over Ali—weighing 60pounds more and able to reach 14inches further—Ali was able to influence Chamberlain into calling off the bout by taunting him with calls of \"Timber!\" and \"The tree will fall\" during a shared interview.",
"and \"The tree will fall\" during a shared interview. These statements of confidence unsettled his taller opponent, whom Los Angeles Lakers owner Jack Kent Cooke had offered a record-setting contract, conditional on Chamberlain agreeing to abandon what Cooke termed \"this boxing foolishness\", and he did exactly that. To replace Ali's opponent, promoter Bob Arum quickly booked a former sparring partner of Ali's, Jimmy Ellis, who was a childhood friend from Louisville, Kentucky, to fight him.",
"To replace Ali's opponent, promoter Bob Arum quickly booked a former sparring partner of Ali's, Jimmy Ellis, who was a childhood friend from Louisville, Kentucky, to fight him. After his loss Fights against Quarry, Patterson, Foster and Norton After the loss to Frazier, Ali fought Jerry Quarry, had a second bout with Floyd Patterson and faced Bob Foster in 1972, winning a total of six fights that year.",
"After his loss Fights against Quarry, Patterson, Foster and Norton After the loss to Frazier, Ali fought Jerry Quarry, had a second bout with Floyd Patterson and faced Bob Foster in 1972, winning a total of six fights that year. In 1973, Ken Norton broke Ali's jaw while giving him the second loss of his career. After initially considering retirement, Ali won a controversial decision against Norton in their second bout.",
"After initially considering retirement, Ali won a controversial decision against Norton in their second bout. This led to a rematch with Joe Frazier at Madison Square Garden on January 28, 1974; Frazier had recently lost his title to George Foreman. Second fight against Joe Frazier Ali was strong in the early rounds of the fight, and staggered Frazier in the second round. Referee Tony Perez mistakenly thought he heard the bell ending the round and stepped between the two fighters as Ali was pressing his attack, giving Frazier time to recover.",
"Referee Tony Perez mistakenly thought he heard the bell ending the round and stepped between the two fighters as Ali was pressing his attack, giving Frazier time to recover. However, Frazier came on in the middle rounds, snapping Ali's head in round seven and driving him to the ropes at the end of round eight. The last four rounds saw round-to-round shifts in momentum between the two fighters.",
"The last four rounds saw round-to-round shifts in momentum between the two fighters. Throughout most of the bout, however, Ali was able to circle away from Frazier's dangerous left hook and to tie Frazier up when he was cornered, the latter a tactic that Frazier's camp complained of bitterly. Judges awarded Ali a unanimous decision.",
"Judges awarded Ali a unanimous decision. Judges awarded Ali a unanimous decision. World heavyweight champion (second reign) The Rumble in the Jungle The defeat of Frazier set the stage for a title fight against heavyweight champion George Foreman in Kinshasa, Zaire, on October 30, 1974—a bout nicknamed The Rumble in the Jungle. Foreman was considered one of the hardest punchers in heavyweight history.",
"Foreman was considered one of the hardest punchers in heavyweight history. In assessing the fight, analysts pointed out that Joe Frazier and Ken Norton, who had given Ali four tough battles and won two of them, had both been devastated by Foreman in second-round knockouts. Ali was 32 years old, and had clearly lost speed and reflexes since his twenties. Contrary to his later persona, Foreman was at the time a brooding and intimidating presence.",
"Contrary to his later persona, Foreman was at the time a brooding and intimidating presence. Almost no one associated with the sport, not even Ali's long-time supporter Howard Cosell, gave the former champion a chance of winning. As usual, Ali was confident and colorful before the fight. He told interviewer David Frost, \"If you think the world was surprised when Nixon resigned, wait till I whup Foreman's behind!\" He told the press, \"I've done something new for this fight.",
"He told the press, \"I've done something new for this fight. I done wrestled with an alligator, I done tussled with a whale; handcuffed lightning, thrown thunder in jail; only last week, I murdered a rock, injured a stone, hospitalized a brick; I'm so mean I make medicine sick.\" Ali was wildly popular in Zaire, with crowds chanting \"Ali, bomaye\" (\"Ali, kill him\") wherever he went.",
"Ali was wildly popular in Zaire, with crowds chanting \"Ali, bomaye\" (\"Ali, kill him\") wherever he went. Ali opened the fight moving and scoring with right crosses to Foreman's head. Then, beginning in the second round, and to the consternation of his corner, Ali retreated to the ropes and invited Foreman to hit him while covering up, clinching and counter-punching, all while verbally taunting Foreman.",
"Then, beginning in the second round, and to the consternation of his corner, Ali retreated to the ropes and invited Foreman to hit him while covering up, clinching and counter-punching, all while verbally taunting Foreman. The move, which would later become known as the \"Rope-a-dope\", so violated conventional boxing wisdom—letting one of the hardest hitters in boxing strike at will—that at ringside writer George Plimpton thought the fight had to be fixed. Foreman, increasingly angered, threw punches that were deflected and did not land squarely.",
"Foreman, increasingly angered, threw punches that were deflected and did not land squarely. Midway through the fight, as Foreman began tiring, Ali countered more frequently and effectively with punches and flurries, which electrified the pro-Ali crowd. In the eighth round, Ali dropped an exhausted Foreman with a combination at center ring; Foreman failed to make the count. Against the odds, and amidst pandemonium in the ring, Ali had regained the title by knockout.",
"Against the odds, and amidst pandemonium in the ring, Ali had regained the title by knockout. Reflecting on the fight, George Foreman later said: \"I thought Ali was just one more knockout victim until, about the seventh round, I hit him hard to the jaw and he held me and whispered in my ear: 'That all you got, George?' I realized that this ain't what I thought it was.\"",
"I realized that this ain't what I thought it was.\" It was a major upset victory, after Ali came in as a 41 underdog against the previously unbeaten, heavy-hitting Foreman. The fight became famous for Ali's introduction of the rope-a-dope tactic. The fight was watched by a record estimated television audience of 1billion viewers worldwide. It was the world's most-watched live television broadcast at the time. Fights against Wepner, Lyle and Bugner Ali's next opponents included Chuck Wepner, Ron Lyle, and Joe Bugner.",
"Fights against Wepner, Lyle and Bugner Ali's next opponents included Chuck Wepner, Ron Lyle, and Joe Bugner. Wepner, a journeyman known as \"The Bayonne Bleeder\", stunned Ali with a knockdown in the ninth round; Ali would later say he tripped on Wepner's foot. It was a bout that would inspire Sylvester Stallone to create the acclaimed film, Rocky. Third fight against Joe Frazier Ali then agreed to a third match with Joe Frazier in Manila.",
"Third fight against Joe Frazier Ali then agreed to a third match with Joe Frazier in Manila. The bout, known as the \"Thrilla in Manila\", was held on October 1, 1975, in temperatures approaching . In the first rounds, Ali was aggressive, moving and exchanging blows with Frazier. However, Ali soon appeared to tire and adopted the \"rope-a-dope\" strategy, frequently resorting to clinches.",
"However, Ali soon appeared to tire and adopted the \"rope-a-dope\" strategy, frequently resorting to clinches. During this part of the bout Ali did some effective counter-punching, but for the most part absorbed punishment from a relentlessly attacking Frazier. In the 12th round, Frazier began to tire, and Ali scored several sharp blows that closed Frazier's left eye and opened a cut over his right eye.",
"In the 12th round, Frazier began to tire, and Ali scored several sharp blows that closed Frazier's left eye and opened a cut over his right eye. With Frazier's vision now diminished, Ali dominated the 13th and 14th rounds, at times conducting what boxing historian Mike Silver called \"target practice\" on Frazier's head. The fight was stopped when Frazier's trainer, Eddie Futch, refused to allow Frazier to answer the bell for the 15th and final round, despite Frazier's protests.",
"The fight was stopped when Frazier's trainer, Eddie Futch, refused to allow Frazier to answer the bell for the 15th and final round, despite Frazier's protests. Frazier's eyes were both swollen shut. Ali, in his corner, winner by TKO, slumped on his stool, clearly spent.",
"Ali, in his corner, winner by TKO, slumped on his stool, clearly spent. An ailing Ali said afterwards that the fight \"was the closest thing to dying that I know\", and, when later asked if he had viewed the fight on videotape, reportedly said, \"Why would I want to go back and see Hell?\" After the fight he cited Frazier as \"the greatest fighter of all times next to me.\" After the third fight with Frazier, Ali considered retirement.",
"After the third fight with Frazier, Ali considered retirement. He said, “I’m sore all over. My arms, my face, my sides all ache. I’m so, so tired. There is a great possibility that I will retire. You might have seen the last of me. I want to sit back and count my money, live in my house and my farm, work for my people and concentrate on my family.\"",
"I want to sit back and count my money, live in my house and my farm, work for my people and concentrate on my family.\" Later career Following the Manila bout, Ali fought Jean-Pierre Coopman, Jimmy Young, and Richard Dunn, winning the last by knockout. The punch used to knock Dunn out was taught to Ali by Taekwondo Grandmaster Jhoon Rhee. Rhee called that punch the \"Accupunch\"; he learned it from Bruce Lee.",
"Rhee called that punch the \"Accupunch\"; he learned it from Bruce Lee. The Dunn fight was the last time Ali would knock down an opponent in his boxing career. Ali fought Ken Norton for the third time in September 1976. The bout, which was held at Yankee Stadium, resulted in Ali winning a heavily contested decision that was loudly booed by the audience.",
"The bout, which was held at Yankee Stadium, resulted in Ali winning a heavily contested decision that was loudly booed by the audience. Afterwards, he announced he was retiring from boxing to practice his faith, having converted to Sunni Islam after falling out with the Nation of Islam the previous year. After returning to beat Alfredo Evangelista in May 1977, Ali struggled in his next fight against Earnie Shavers that September, getting pummeled a few times by punches to the head.",
"After returning to beat Alfredo Evangelista in May 1977, Ali struggled in his next fight against Earnie Shavers that September, getting pummeled a few times by punches to the head. Ali won the fight by another unanimous decision, but the bout caused his longtime doctor Ferdie Pacheco to quit after he was rebuffed for telling Ali he should retire. Pacheco was quoted as saying, \"the New York State Athletic Commission gave me a report that showed Ali's kidneys were falling apart.",
"Pacheco was quoted as saying, \"the New York State Athletic Commission gave me a report that showed Ali's kidneys were falling apart. I wrote to Angelo Dundee, Ali's trainer, his wife and Ali himself. I got nothing back in response. That's when I decided enough is enough.\" In February 1978, Ali faced Leon Spinks at the Hilton Hotel in Las Vegas. At the time, Spinks had only seven professional fights to his credit, and had recently fought a draw with journeyman Scott LeDoux.",
"At the time, Spinks had only seven professional fights to his credit, and had recently fought a draw with journeyman Scott LeDoux. Ali sparred less than two dozen rounds in preparation for the fight, and was seriously out of shape by the opening bell. He lost the title by split decision. A rematch occurred in September at the Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. 70,000 people attended the bout and paid a total of $6 million admission, making it the largest live gate in boxing history at that time.",
"70,000 people attended the bout and paid a total of $6 million admission, making it the largest live gate in boxing history at that time. Ali won a unanimous decision in an uninspiring fight, with referee Lucien Joubert scoring rounds 10-4, judge Ernie Cojoe 10-4, and judge Herman Preis 11-4. This made Ali the first heavyweight champion to win the belt three times. Following this win, on July 27, 1979, Ali announced his retirement from boxing.",
"Following this win, on July 27, 1979, Ali announced his retirement from boxing. His retirement was short-lived, however; Ali announced his comeback to face Larry Holmes for the WBC belt in an attempt to win the heavyweight championship an unprecedented fourth time. The fight was largely motivated by Ali's need for money. Boxing writer Richie Giachetti said, \"Larry didn't want to fight Ali. He knew Ali had nothing left; he knew it would be a horror.\"",
"He knew Ali had nothing left; he knew it would be a horror.\" It was around this time that Ali started struggling with vocal stutters and trembling hands. The Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC) ordered that he undergo a complete physical in Las Vegas before being allowed to fight again. Ali chose instead to check into the Mayo Clinic, who declared him fit to fight. Their opinion was accepted by the NAC on July 31, 1980, paving the way for Ali's return to the ring.",
"Their opinion was accepted by the NAC on July 31, 1980, paving the way for Ali's return to the ring. The fight took place on October 2, 1980, in Las Vegas Valley, with Holmes easily dominating Ali, who was weakened from thyroid medication he had taken to lose weight. Giachetti called the fight \"awful ... the worst sports event I ever had to cover.\" Actor Sylvester Stallone was at ringside and said that it was like watching an autopsy on a man who is still alive.",
"Actor Sylvester Stallone was at ringside and said that it was like watching an autopsy on a man who is still alive. After the tenth round, Angelo Dundee told the referee to stop the fight, making it the only time that Ali ever lost by stoppage. The Holmes fight is said to have contributed to Ali's Parkinson's syndrome. Despite pleas to definitively retire, Ali fought one last time on December 11, 1981, in Nassau, Bahamas, against Trevor Berbick, losing a ten-round decision.",
"Despite pleas to definitively retire, Ali fought one last time on December 11, 1981, in Nassau, Bahamas, against Trevor Berbick, losing a ten-round decision. By the end of his boxing career Ali had absorbed an estimated 200,000 hits. Exhibition bouts Ali boxed both well known boxers and celebrities from other walks of life, including Michael Dokes, Antonio Inoki, Lyle Alzado, Dave Semenko, and the famous Puerto Rican comedian Jose Miguel Agrelot (with Iris Chacon acting as Agrelot's corner-woman).",
"Exhibition bouts Ali boxed both well known boxers and celebrities from other walks of life, including Michael Dokes, Antonio Inoki, Lyle Alzado, Dave Semenko, and the famous Puerto Rican comedian Jose Miguel Agrelot (with Iris Chacon acting as Agrelot's corner-woman). Ali vs Inoki On June 26, 1976, Ali participated in an exhibition bout in Tokyo against Japanese professional wrestler and martial artist Antonio Inoki.",
"Ali vs Inoki On June 26, 1976, Ali participated in an exhibition bout in Tokyo against Japanese professional wrestler and martial artist Antonio Inoki. Ali was only able to land two jabs while Inoki's kicks caused two blood clots and an infection that almost resulted in Ali's leg being amputated, as a result of Ali's team insisting on rules restricting Inoki's ability to wrestle. The match was not scripted and ultimately declared a draw. After Ali's death, The New York Times declared it his least memorable fight.",
"After Ali's death, The New York Times declared it his least memorable fight. Most boxing commentators at the time viewed the fight negatively and hoped it would be forgotten as some considered it a \"15-round farce.\" Today it is considered by some to be one of Ali's most influential fights and CBS Sports said the attention the mixed-style bout received \"foretold the arrival of standardized MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) years later.\" After the fight, Ali and Inoki became friends.",
"After the fight, Ali and Inoki became friends. After the fight, Ali and Inoki became friends. Ali vs Alzado In 1979, Ali fought an exhibition match against NFL player Lyle Alzado. The fight went 8 rounds and was declared a draw. Ali vs Semenko Ali fought NHL player, Dave Semenko in an exhibition on June 12, 1983. The match was officially a draw after going three rounds, but the Associated Press reported Ali was not seriously trying and was just toying with Semenko.",
"The match was officially a draw after going three rounds, but the Associated Press reported Ali was not seriously trying and was just toying with Semenko. Personal life Marriages and children Ali was married four times and had seven daughters and two sons. Ali was introduced to cocktail waitress Sonji Roi by Herbert Muhammad and asked her to marry him after their first date. They married approximately one month later on August 14, 1964. They quarreled over Sonji's refusal to join the Nation Of Islam.",
"They quarreled over Sonji's refusal to join the Nation Of Islam. According to Ali, \"She wouldn't do what she was supposed to do. She wore lipstick; she went into bars; she dressed in clothes that were revealing and didn't look right.\" The marriage was childless and they divorced on January 10, 1966. Just before the divorce was finalized, Ali sent Sonji a note: \"You traded heaven for hell, baby.\"",
"Just before the divorce was finalized, Ali sent Sonji a note: \"You traded heaven for hell, baby.\" Ali's brother Rahman said that she was Ali's only true love and the Nation of Islam made Ali divorce her and Ali never got over it. On August 17, 1967, Ali married Belinda Boyd. Born into a Chicago family that had converted to the Nation Of Islam, she later changed her name to Khalilah Ali, though she was still called Belinda by old friends and family.",
"Born into a Chicago family that had converted to the Nation Of Islam, she later changed her name to Khalilah Ali, though she was still called Belinda by old friends and family. They had four children: author and rapper Maryum \"May May\" (born 1968); twins Jamillah and Rasheda (born 1970), who married Robert Walsh and has a son, Biaggio Ali, born in 1998; and Muhammad Ali Jr. (born 1972). Rasheda's son Nico is a professional boxer.",
"Rasheda's son Nico is a professional boxer. Rasheda's son Nico is a professional boxer. Ali was a resident of Cherry Hill, New Jersey in the early 1970s. At age 32 in 1974, Ali began an extramarital relationship with 16-year-old Wanda Bolton (who subsequently changed her name to Aaisha Ali) with whom he fathered another daughter, Khaliah (born 1974). While still married to Belinda, Ali married Aaisha in an Islamic ceremony that was not legally recognized.",
"While still married to Belinda, Ali married Aaisha in an Islamic ceremony that was not legally recognized. According to Khaliah, Aaisha and her mother lived at Ali's Deer Lake training camp alongside Belinda and her children. In January 1985, Aaisha sued Ali for unpaid palimony. The case was settled when Ali agreed to set up a $200,000 trust fund for Khaliah. In 2001 Khaliah was quoted as saying she believed her father viewed her as \"a mistake\".",
"In 2001 Khaliah was quoted as saying she believed her father viewed her as \"a mistake\". He had another daughter, Miya (born 1972), from an extramarital relationship with Patricia Harvell. By the summer of 1977, his second marriage ended due to Ali's repeated infidelity, and he had married actress and model Veronica Porché. At the time of their marriage, they had a daughter, Hana, and Veronica was pregnant with their second child.",
"At the time of their marriage, they had a daughter, Hana, and Veronica was pregnant with their second child. Their second daughter, Laila Ali, was born in December 1977. By 1986, Ali and Porché were divorced due to Ali's continuous infidelity. Porché said of Ali's infidelity, \"It was too much temptation for him, with women who threw themselves at him, It didn’t mean anything. He didn't have affairs – he had one-night stands.",
"He didn't have affairs – he had one-night stands. I knew beyond a doubt there were no feelings involved. It was so obvious, It was easy to forgive him.\" On November 19, 1986, Ali married Yolanda \"Lonnie\" Williams. Lonnie first met Ali at the age of 6 when her family moved to Louisville in 1963. In 1982, she became Ali's primary caregiver and in return, he paid for her to attend graduate school at UCLA.",
"In 1982, she became Ali's primary caregiver and in return, he paid for her to attend graduate school at UCLA. Together they adopted a son, Asaad Amin (born 1986), when Asaad was five months old. In 1992, Lonnie incorporated Greatest of All Time, Inc. (G.O.A.T. Inc) to consolidate and license his intellectual properties for commercial purposes. She served as the vice president and treasurer until the sale of the company in 2006.",
"She served as the vice president and treasurer until the sale of the company in 2006. Kiiursti Mensah-Ali claims she is Ali's biological daughter with Barbara Mensah, with whom he allegedly had a 20-year relationship, citing photographs and a paternity test conducted in 1988. She said he accepted responsibility and took care of her, but all contacts with him were cut off after he married his fourth wife Lonnie. Kiiursti says she has a relationship with his other children.",
"Kiiursti says she has a relationship with his other children. After his death she again made passionate appeals to be allowed to mourn at his funeral. In 2010, Osmon Williams came forward claiming to be Ali's biological son. His mother Temica Williams (also known as Rebecca Holloway) launched a $3 million lawsuit against Ali in 1981 for sexual assault, claiming that she had started a sexual relationship with him when she was 12, and that her son Osmon (born 1977) was fathered by Ali.",
"His mother Temica Williams (also known as Rebecca Holloway) launched a $3 million lawsuit against Ali in 1981 for sexual assault, claiming that she had started a sexual relationship with him when she was 12, and that her son Osmon (born 1977) was fathered by Ali. She further alleged that Ali had originally supported her and her son financially, but stopped doing so after four years.",
"She further alleged that Ali had originally supported her and her son financially, but stopped doing so after four years. The case went on until 1986 and was eventually thrown out as her allegations were deemed to be barred by the statute of limitations. According to Veronica, Ali admitted to the affair with Williams, but did not believe Osmon was his son which Veronica supported by saying \"Everybody in the camp was going with that girl.\"",
"According to Veronica, Ali admitted to the affair with Williams, but did not believe Osmon was his son which Veronica supported by saying \"Everybody in the camp was going with that girl.\" Ali biographer and friend Thomas Hauser has said this claim was of \"questionable veracity\". Ali then lived in Scottsdale, Arizona with Lonnie.",
"Ali then lived in Scottsdale, Arizona with Lonnie. Ali then lived in Scottsdale, Arizona with Lonnie. In January 2007, it was reported that they had put their home in Berrien Springs, Michigan, which they had bought in 1975, up for sale and had purchased a home in eastern Jefferson County, Kentucky for $1,875,000. Both homes were subsequently sold after Ali's death with Lonnie living in their remaining home in Paradise Valley, Arizona. Lonnie converted to Islam from Catholicism in her late twenties.",
"Lonnie converted to Islam from Catholicism in her late twenties. In an interview in 1974, Ali said, \"If they say stand and salute the flag I do that out of respect, because I'm in the country\". Ali would later say, \"If America was in trouble and real war came, I'd be on the front line if we had been attacked. But I could see that (The Vietnam War) wasn't right.\"",
"But I could see that (The Vietnam War) wasn't right.\" He also said, \"Black men would go over there and fight, but when they came home, they couldn't even be served a hamburger.\" Ali's daughter Laila was a professional boxer from 1999 until 2007, despite her father's previous opposition to women's boxing. In 1978, he said \"Women are not made to be hit in the breast, and face like that.\"",
"In 1978, he said \"Women are not made to be hit in the breast, and face like that.\" Ali still attended a number of his daughter's fights and later admitted to Laila he was wrong. Ali's daughter Hana is married to Bellator middleweight fighter Kevin Casey. Hana wrote about her father, \"His love for people was extraordinary. I would get home from school to find homeless families sleeping in our guest room.",
"I would get home from school to find homeless families sleeping in our guest room. He’d see them on the street, pile them into his Rolls-Royce and bring them home. He’d buy them clothes, take them to hotels and pay the bills for months in advance.\" She also said celebrities like Michael Jackson and Clint Eastwood would often visit Ali.",
"She also said celebrities like Michael Jackson and Clint Eastwood would often visit Ali. After Ali met a lesbian couple who were fans of his in 1997, he smiled and said to his friend Hauser, \"They look like they’re happy together.\" Hauser wrote about the story, \"The thought that Liz and Roz (the lesbian couple he met) were happy pleased Muhammad. Ali wanted people to be happy.\"",
"Ali wanted people to be happy.\" Ali wanted people to be happy.\" Religion and beliefs Affiliation with the Nation of Islam Ali said that he first heard of the Nation of Islam when he was fighting in the Golden Gloves tournament in Chicago in 1959, and attended his first Nation of Islam meeting in 1961. He continued to attend meetings, although keeping his involvement hidden from the public. In 1962, Clay met Malcolm X, who soon became his spiritual and political mentor.",
"In 1962, Clay met Malcolm X, who soon became his spiritual and political mentor. By the time of the first Liston fight, Nation of Islam members, including Malcolm X, were visible in his entourage. This led to a story in The Miami Herald just before the fight disclosing that Clay had joined the Nation of Islam, which nearly caused the bout to be canceled. The article quoted Cassius Clay Sr. as saying that his son had joined the Black Muslims when he was 18.",
"The article quoted Cassius Clay Sr. as saying that his son had joined the Black Muslims when he was 18. In fact, Clay was initially refused entry to the Nation of Islam (often called the Black Muslims at the time) due to his boxing career. However, after he won the championship from Liston in 1964, the Nation of Islam was more receptive and agreed to publicize his membership.",
"However, after he won the championship from Liston in 1964, the Nation of Islam was more receptive and agreed to publicize his membership. Shortly afterwards on March 6, Elijah Muhammad gave a radio address that Clay would be renamed Muhammad (one who is worthy of praise) Ali (most high). Around that time Ali moved to the south side of Chicago and lived in a series of houses, always near the Nation of Islam's Mosque Maryam or Elijah Muhammad's residence.",
"Around that time Ali moved to the south side of Chicago and lived in a series of houses, always near the Nation of Islam's Mosque Maryam or Elijah Muhammad's residence. He stayed in Chicago for about 12 years. Only a few journalists, most notably Howard Cosell, accepted the new name at that time.",
"Only a few journalists, most notably Howard Cosell, accepted the new name at that time. Ali stated that his earlier name was a \"slave name,\" and a \"white man's name\" and added that \"I didn’t choose it and I don’t want it\". The person he was named after was a white man and emancipationist who released slaves.",
"The person he was named after was a white man and emancipationist who released slaves. Ali explained in his autobiography after studying his works, \"While Clay may have gotten rid of his slaves, he \"held on to white supremacy.\" In truth, Cassius Clay's attachment to slavery went farther than Ali knew. In spite of his abolitionist fervor, Clay owned more slaves in 1865, when the 13th Amendment to the Constitution finally forbade its practice, than he had inherited from his father 37 years earlier.",
"In spite of his abolitionist fervor, Clay owned more slaves in 1865, when the 13th Amendment to the Constitution finally forbade its practice, than he had inherited from his father 37 years earlier. Not afraid to antagonize the white establishment, Ali stated, \"I am America. I am the part you won't recognize. But get used to me. Black, confident, cocky; my name, not yours; my religion, not yours; my goals, my own; get used to me.\"",
"Black, confident, cocky; my name, not yours; my religion, not yours; my goals, my own; get used to me.\" Ali's friendship with Malcolm X ended as Malcolm split with the Nation of Islam a couple of weeks after Ali joined, and Ali remained with the Nation of Islam. Ali later said that turning his back on Malcolm was one of the mistakes he regretted most in his life.",
"Ali later said that turning his back on Malcolm was one of the mistakes he regretted most in his life. Aligning himself with the Nation of Islam, its leader Elijah Muhammad, and a narrative that labeled the white race as the perpetrator of genocide against African Americans made Ali a target of public condemnation.",
"Aligning himself with the Nation of Islam, its leader Elijah Muhammad, and a narrative that labeled the white race as the perpetrator of genocide against African Americans made Ali a target of public condemnation. The Nation of Islam was widely viewed by whites and some African Americans as a black separatist \"hate religion\" with a propensity toward violence; Ali had few qualms about using his influential voice to speak Nation of Islam doctrine.",
"The Nation of Islam was widely viewed by whites and some African Americans as a black separatist \"hate religion\" with a propensity toward violence; Ali had few qualms about using his influential voice to speak Nation of Islam doctrine. In a press conference articulating his opposition to the Vietnam War, Ali stated, \"My enemy is the white people, not Vietcong or Chinese or Japanese.\" In relation to integration, he said: \"We who follow the teachings of Elijah Muhammad don't want to be forced to integrate.",
"In relation to integration, he said: \"We who follow the teachings of Elijah Muhammad don't want to be forced to integrate. Integration is wrong. We don't want to live with the white man; that's all.\"",
"We don't want to live with the white man; that's all.\" Further articulating his opposition to integration, he told members of the KKK at a Klan rally in 1975 that \"black people should marry their own women... blue birds are blue birds, red birds are red birds, pigeons with pigeons, eagles with eagles, God did not make no mistake\". Writer Jerry Izenberg once noted that, \"the Nation became Ali's family and Elijah Muhammad became his father.",
"Writer Jerry Izenberg once noted that, \"the Nation became Ali's family and Elijah Muhammad became his father. But there is an irony to the fact that while the Nation branded white people as devils, Ali had more white colleagues than most African American people did at that time in America, and continued to have them throughout his career.\"",
"But there is an irony to the fact that while the Nation branded white people as devils, Ali had more white colleagues than most African American people did at that time in America, and continued to have them throughout his career.\" Conversion to Sunni/Sufi Islam In Hauser's biography Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times, Ali says that although he's not a Christian as he thinks the idea of God having a son sounds wrong and doesn't make sense to him, as he believes, \"God don't beget; man begets\".",
"Conversion to Sunni/Sufi Islam In Hauser's biography Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times, Ali says that although he's not a Christian as he thinks the idea of God having a son sounds wrong and doesn't make sense to him, as he believes, \"God don't beget; man begets\". He still believes that even good Christians or good Jews can receive God's blessing and enter heaven as he stated, \"God created all people, no matter what their religion\".",
"He still believes that even good Christians or good Jews can receive God's blessing and enter heaven as he stated, \"God created all people, no matter what their religion\". He also stated, \"If you're against someone because he's a Muslim that's wrong. If you're against someone because he's a Christian or a Jew, that's wrong\".",
"If you're against someone because he's a Christian or a Jew, that's wrong\". In a 2004 autobiography, Ali attributed his conversion to mainstream Sunni Islam to Warith Deen Muhammad, who assumed leadership of the Nation of Islam upon the death of his father Elijah Muhammad, and persuaded the Nation's followers to become adherents of Sunni Islam.",
"In a 2004 autobiography, Ali attributed his conversion to mainstream Sunni Islam to Warith Deen Muhammad, who assumed leadership of the Nation of Islam upon the death of his father Elijah Muhammad, and persuaded the Nation's followers to become adherents of Sunni Islam. He said some people didn't like the change and stuck to Elijah's teachings, but he admired it and so left Elijah's teachings and became a follower of Sunni Islam.",
"He said some people didn't like the change and stuck to Elijah's teachings, but he admired it and so left Elijah's teachings and became a follower of Sunni Islam. Ali had gone on the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca in 1972, which inspired him in a similar manner to Malcolm X, meeting people of different colors from all over the world giving him a different outlook and greater spiritual awareness.",
"Ali had gone on the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca in 1972, which inspired him in a similar manner to Malcolm X, meeting people of different colors from all over the world giving him a different outlook and greater spiritual awareness. In 1977, he said that, after he retired, he would dedicate the rest of his life to getting \"ready to meet God\" by helping people, charitable causes, uniting people and helping to make peace. He went on another Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca in 1988.",
"He went on another Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca in 1988. After the September 11 attacks in 2001, he stated that \"Islam is a religion of peace\" and \"does not promote terrorism or killing people\", and that he was \"angry that the world sees a certain group of Islam followers who caused this destruction, but they are not real Muslims. They are racist fanatics who call themselves Muslims.\"",
"They are racist fanatics who call themselves Muslims.\" They are racist fanatics who call themselves Muslims.\" In December 2015, he stated that \"True Muslims know that the ruthless violence of so-called Islamic jihadists goes against the very tenets of our religion\", that \"We as Muslims have to stand up to those who use Islam to advance their own personal agenda\", and that \"political leaders should use their position to bring understanding about the religion of Islam, and clarify that these misguided murderers have perverted people's views on what Islam really is.\"",
"In December 2015, he stated that \"True Muslims know that the ruthless violence of so-called Islamic jihadists goes against the very tenets of our religion\", that \"We as Muslims have to stand up to those who use Islam to advance their own personal agenda\", and that \"political leaders should use their position to bring understanding about the religion of Islam, and clarify that these misguided murderers have perverted people's views on what Islam really is.\" In later life after retiring from boxing, Ali became a student of the Quran and a devout Muslim.",
"In later life after retiring from boxing, Ali became a student of the Quran and a devout Muslim. He also developed an interest in Sufism, which he referenced in his autobiography, The Soul of a Butterfly. According to Ali's daughter, Hana Yasmeen Ali, who co-authored The Soul of a Butterfly with him, Ali was attracted to Sufism after reading the books of Inayat Khan, which contain Sufi teachings.",
"According to Ali's daughter, Hana Yasmeen Ali, who co-authored The Soul of a Butterfly with him, Ali was attracted to Sufism after reading the books of Inayat Khan, which contain Sufi teachings. Muhammad Ali received guidance from Islamic scholars such as Grand Mufti of Syria Almarhum Asy-Syaikh Ahmed Kuftaro, Hisham Kabbani, Imam Zaid Shakir, Hamza Yusuf, and Timothy J. Gianotti, who was at Ali's bedside during his last days and ensured that although his funeral was interfaith, it was still in accordance with Islamic rites and rituals.",
"Muhammad Ali received guidance from Islamic scholars such as Grand Mufti of Syria Almarhum Asy-Syaikh Ahmed Kuftaro, Hisham Kabbani, Imam Zaid Shakir, Hamza Yusuf, and Timothy J. Gianotti, who was at Ali's bedside during his last days and ensured that although his funeral was interfaith, it was still in accordance with Islamic rites and rituals. Beatles reunion plan In 1976, inventor Alan Amron and businessman Joel Sacher partnered with Ali to promote The International Committee to Reunite the Beatles. They asked fans worldwide to contribute a dollar each.",
"They asked fans worldwide to contribute a dollar each. They asked fans worldwide to contribute a dollar each. Ali said the idea was not to use the proceeds for profit, but to establish an international agency to help poor children. \"This is money to help people all over the world\", he said. He added, \"I love the music. I used to train to their music.\" He said a reunion of the Beatles \"would make a lot of people happy.\"",
"He said a reunion of the Beatles \"would make a lot of people happy.\" The former Beatles were indifferent to the plan, which elicited only a tepid response from the public. No reunion happened. Entertainment career Acting Ali had a cameo role in the 1962 film version of Requiem for a Heavyweight, and during his exile from boxing, he starred in the short-lived 1969 Broadway musical, Buck White. He also appeared in the documentary film Black Rodeo (1972) riding both a horse and a bull.",
"He also appeared in the documentary film Black Rodeo (1972) riding both a horse and a bull. His autobiography The Greatest: My Own Story, written with Richard Durham, was published in 1975. In 1977 the book was adapted into a film called The Greatest, in which Ali played himself and Ernest Borgnine played Angelo Dundee.",
"In 1977 the book was adapted into a film called The Greatest, in which Ali played himself and Ernest Borgnine played Angelo Dundee. The film Freedom Road, made in 1978, features Ali in a rare acting role as Gideon Jackson, a former slave and Union (American Civil War) soldier in 1870s Virginia, who gets elected to the U.S. Senate and battles alongside former slaves and white sharecroppers to keep the land they have tended all their lives.",
"The film Freedom Road, made in 1978, features Ali in a rare acting role as Gideon Jackson, a former slave and Union (American Civil War) soldier in 1870s Virginia, who gets elected to the U.S. Senate and battles alongside former slaves and white sharecroppers to keep the land they have tended all their lives. Spoken word poetry and rap music Ali often used rhyme schemes and spoken word poetry, both for when he was trash-talking in boxing and as political poetry for his activism outside of boxing.",
"Spoken word poetry and rap music Ali often used rhyme schemes and spoken word poetry, both for when he was trash-talking in boxing and as political poetry for his activism outside of boxing. He played a role in the shaping of the black poetic tradition, paving the way for The Last Poets in 1968, Gil Scott-Heron in 1970, and the emergence of rap music in the 1970s. According to The Guardian, \"Some have argued that\" Ali was \"the first rapper.\"",
"According to The Guardian, \"Some have argued that\" Ali was \"the first rapper.\" In 1963, Ali released an album of spoken word music on Columbia Records titled, I Am the Greatest, and in 1964, he recorded a cover version of the rhythm and blues song \"Stand by Me\". I Am the Greatest sold 500,000 copies, and has been identified as an early example of rap music and a precursor to hip hop.",
"I Am the Greatest sold 500,000 copies, and has been identified as an early example of rap music and a precursor to hip hop. It reached number 61 on the album chart and was nominated for a Grammy Award. He later received a second Grammy nomination, for \"Best Recording for Children\", with his 1976 spoken word novelty record, The Adventures of Ali and His Gang vs. Mr. Tooth Decay. Ali was an influential figure in the world of hip hop music.",
"Ali was an influential figure in the world of hip hop music. As a \"rhyming trickster\", he was noted for his \"funky delivery\", \"boasts\", \"comical trash-talk\", and \"endless quotables.\" According to Rolling Stone, his \"freestyle skills\" and his \"rhymes, flow, and braggadocio\" would \"one day become typical of old school MCs\" like Run–D.M.C.",
"According to Rolling Stone, his \"freestyle skills\" and his \"rhymes, flow, and braggadocio\" would \"one day become typical of old school MCs\" like Run–D.M.C. and LL Cool J, and his \"outsized ego foreshadowed the vainglorious excesses of Kanye West, while his Afrocentric consciousness and cutting honesty pointed forward to modern bards like Rakim, Nas, Jay-Z, and Kendrick Lamar.\" “I’ve wrestled with alligators, I’ve tussled with a whale.",
"“I’ve wrestled with alligators, I’ve tussled with a whale. I done handcuffed lightning and throw thunder in jail. You know I’m bad. Just last week, I murdered a rock, Injured a stone, Hospitalized a brick. I’m so mean, I make medicine sick” \"Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. His hands can't hit what his eyes can't see. Now you see me, now you don't.",
"Now you see me, now you don't. Now you see me, now you don't. George thinks he will, but I know he won't.” Ali spoke like no man the world had seen before. So confident in what he said; fluent, smooth, creative, and intimidating. He was a boxer and an activist, but he also had a role in influencing what now dominated pop-culture, hip-hop. In 2006, the documentary Ali Rap was produced by ESPN.",
"In 2006, the documentary Ali Rap was produced by ESPN. Chuck D, a rapper for the band Public Enemy is the host. Other rappers narrated the documentary as well, including Doug E Fresh, Ludacris and Rakim who all spoke on Ali's behalf in the film. He has been cited as an inspiration by rappers such as LL Cool J, Public Enemy's Chuck D, Jay-Z, Eminem, Sean Combs, Slick Rick, Nas and MC Lyte.",
"He has been cited as an inspiration by rappers such as LL Cool J, Public Enemy's Chuck D, Jay-Z, Eminem, Sean Combs, Slick Rick, Nas and MC Lyte. Ali has been referenced in a number of hip hop songs, including Migos \"Fight Night\", The Game's \"Jesus Piece\", Nas' \"The Message, The Sugarhill Gang's \"Rapper's Delight\", the Fugees' \"Ready or Not\", EPMD's \"You're a Customer\" and Will Smith's \"Gettin' Jiggy wit It\".",
"Ali has been referenced in a number of hip hop songs, including Migos \"Fight Night\", The Game's \"Jesus Piece\", Nas' \"The Message, The Sugarhill Gang's \"Rapper's Delight\", the Fugees' \"Ready or Not\", EPMD's \"You're a Customer\" and Will Smith's \"Gettin' Jiggy wit It\". Professional wrestling Ali was involved with professional wrestling at different times in his career.",
"Professional wrestling Ali was involved with professional wrestling at different times in his career. On June 1, 1976, as Ali was preparing for his bout with Inoki, he attended a match featuring Gorilla Monsoon. After the match was over, Ali removed his shirt and jacket and confronted professional wrestler Gorilla Monsoon in the ring after his match at a World Wide Wrestling Federation show in Philadelphia Arena. After dodging a few punches, Monsoon put Ali in an airplane spin and dumped him to the mat.",
"After dodging a few punches, Monsoon put Ali in an airplane spin and dumped him to the mat. Ali stumbled to the corner, where his associate Butch Lewis convinced him to walk away. On March 31, 1985, Ali was the special guest referee for the main event of the inaugural WrestleMania event. In 1995, Ali led a group of Japanese and American professional wrestlers, including his 1976 opponent Antonio Inoki and Ric Flair, on a sports diplomacy mission to North Korea.",
"In 1995, Ali led a group of Japanese and American professional wrestlers, including his 1976 opponent Antonio Inoki and Ric Flair, on a sports diplomacy mission to North Korea. Ali was guest of honor at the record-breaking Collision in Korea, a wrestling event with the largest attendance of all time. Television appearances Muhammad Ali's fights were some of the world's most-watched television broadcasts, setting television viewership records.",
"Television appearances Muhammad Ali's fights were some of the world's most-watched television broadcasts, setting television viewership records. His most-watched fights drew an estimated 12 billion viewers worldwide between 1974 and 1980, and were the world's most-watched live television broadcasts at the time. Outside of fights, he made many other television appearances. The following table lists known viewership figures of his non-fight television appearances. For television viewership figures of his fights, see Boxing career of Muhammad Ali: Television viewership.",
"For television viewership figures of his fights, see Boxing career of Muhammad Ali: Television viewership. Art Ali was also an amateur artist and made dozens of drawings and paintings in the 1970s. In 1977, Rodney Hilton Brown, who owned an art gallery in NYC, asked Ali if he was interested in painting. Ali took him up on the offer and produced several paintings for him to sell. Brown is the author of “Muhammad Ali: The Untold Story: Painter, Poet and Prophet.\"",
"Brown is the author of “Muhammad Ali: The Untold Story: Painter, Poet and Prophet.\" In October 2021, 26 of his drawings and arts were placed on auction and sold for close to $1 Million USD. Later years In 1984, Ali was diagnosed with Parkinson's Syndrome, which sometimes results from head trauma from violent physical activities such as boxing.",
"Later years In 1984, Ali was diagnosed with Parkinson's Syndrome, which sometimes results from head trauma from violent physical activities such as boxing. Ali still remained active during this time, later participating as a guest referee at WrestleMania I. Philanthropy, humanitarianism and politics Ali was known for being a humanitarian and philanthropist. He focused on practicing his Islamic duty of charity and good deeds, donating millions to charity organizations and disadvantaged people of all religious backgrounds.",
"He focused on practicing his Islamic duty of charity and good deeds, donating millions to charity organizations and disadvantaged people of all religious backgrounds. It is estimated that Ali helped to feed more than 22million people afflicted by hunger across the world. Early in his career, one of his main focuses was youth education.",
"Early in his career, one of his main focuses was youth education. He spoke at several historically black colleges and universities about the importance of education, and became the largest single black donor to the United Negro College Fund in 1967 by way of a $10,000 donation ($78,000 in 2020 USD).",
"He spoke at several historically black colleges and universities about the importance of education, and became the largest single black donor to the United Negro College Fund in 1967 by way of a $10,000 donation ($78,000 in 2020 USD). In late 1966, he also pledged to donate a total of $100,000 to the UNCF (specifically promising to donate much of the proceeds of his title defense against Cleveland Williams), and paid $4,500 per closed circuit installation at six HBCUs so they could watch his fights.",
"In late 1966, he also pledged to donate a total of $100,000 to the UNCF (specifically promising to donate much of the proceeds of his title defense against Cleveland Williams), and paid $4,500 per closed circuit installation at six HBCUs so they could watch his fights. Ali began visiting Africa, starting in 1964 when he visited Nigeria and Ghana. In 1974, he visited a Palestinian refugee camp in Southern Lebanon, where Ali declared \"support for the Palestinian struggle to liberate their homeland.\"",
"In 1974, he visited a Palestinian refugee camp in Southern Lebanon, where Ali declared \"support for the Palestinian struggle to liberate their homeland.\" In 1978, following his loss to Spinks and before winning the rematch, Ali visited Bangladesh and received honorary citizenship there. The same year, he participated in The Longest Walk, a protest march in the United States in support of Native American rights, along with singer Stevie Wonder and actor Marlon Brando.",
"The same year, he participated in The Longest Walk, a protest march in the United States in support of Native American rights, along with singer Stevie Wonder and actor Marlon Brando. In 1980, Ali was recruited by President Jimmy Carter for a diplomatic mission to Africa, in an effort to persuade a number of African governments to join the US-led boycott of the Moscow Olympics (in response to the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan).",
"In 1980, Ali was recruited by President Jimmy Carter for a diplomatic mission to Africa, in an effort to persuade a number of African governments to join the US-led boycott of the Moscow Olympics (in response to the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan). According to Ali biographer Thomas Hauser, \"at best, it was ill-conceived; at worst, a diplomatic disaster.\" The Tanzanian government was insulted that Carter had sent an athlete to discuss a serious political issue.",
"The Tanzanian government was insulted that Carter had sent an athlete to discuss a serious political issue. One official asked whether the United States would \"send Chris Evert to negotiate with London.\" Consequently, Ali was only received by the youth and culture minister, rather than President Julius Nyerere.",
"Consequently, Ali was only received by the youth and culture minister, rather than President Julius Nyerere. Ali was unable to explain why the African countries should join the US boycott when it had failed to support the African boycott of the 1976 Olympics (in protest at Apartheid in South Africa), and was unaware that the Soviet Union was sponsoring popular revolutionary movements in Africa.",
"Ali was unable to explain why the African countries should join the US boycott when it had failed to support the African boycott of the 1976 Olympics (in protest at Apartheid in South Africa), and was unaware that the Soviet Union was sponsoring popular revolutionary movements in Africa. Ali conceded \"They didn't tell me about that in America\", and complained that Carter had sent him \"around the world to take the whupping over American policies.\"",
"Ali conceded \"They didn't tell me about that in America\", and complained that Carter had sent him \"around the world to take the whupping over American policies.\" The Nigerian government also rebuffed him and confirmed that they would be participating in the Moscow games. Ali did, however, convince the government of Kenya to boycott the Olympics. On January 19, 1981, in Los Angeles, Ali talked a suicidal man down from jumping off a ninth-floor ledge, an event that made national news.",
"On January 19, 1981, in Los Angeles, Ali talked a suicidal man down from jumping off a ninth-floor ledge, an event that made national news. In 1984, Ali announced his support for the re-election of United States President Ronald Reagan. When asked to elaborate on his endorsement of Reagan, Ali told reporters, \"He's keeping God in schools and that's enough.\" In 1985, he visited Israel to request the release of Muslim prisoners at Atlit detainee camp, which Israel declined.",
"In 1985, he visited Israel to request the release of Muslim prisoners at Atlit detainee camp, which Israel declined. Around 1987, the California Bicentennial Foundation for the U.S. Constitution selected Ali to personify the vitality of the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. Ali rode on a float at the following year's Tournament of Roses Parade, launching the U.S. Constitution's 200th birthday commemoration. In 1988, during the First Intifada, Ali participated in a Chicago rally in support of Palestine.",
"In 1988, during the First Intifada, Ali participated in a Chicago rally in support of Palestine. The same year, he visited Sudan to raise awareness about the plight of famine victims. According to Politico, Ali supported Orrin Hatch politically. In 1989, he participated in an Indian charity event with the Muslim Educational Society in Kozhikode, Kerala, along with Bollywood actor Dilip Kumar.",
"In 1989, he participated in an Indian charity event with the Muslim Educational Society in Kozhikode, Kerala, along with Bollywood actor Dilip Kumar. In 1990, Ali traveled to Iraq prior to the Gulf War, and met with Saddam Hussein in an attempt to negotiate the release of American hostages. Ali secured the release of the hostages, in exchange for promising Hussein that he would bring America \"an honest account\" of Iraq.",
"Ali secured the release of the hostages, in exchange for promising Hussein that he would bring America \"an honest account\" of Iraq. Despite arranging the hostages release, he received criticism from President George H. W. Bush, and Joseph C. Wilson, the highest-ranking American diplomat in Baghdad.Ali cooperated with Thomas Hauser on a biography, Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times. The oral history was published in 1991.",
"The oral history was published in 1991. The oral history was published in 1991. In 1994, Ali campaigned to the United States government to come to the aid of refugees afflicted by the Rwandan genocide, and to donate to organizations helping Rwandan refugees. In 1996, he lit the flame at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. It was watched by an estimated 3.5billion viewers worldwide. On November 17, 2002, Ali went to Afghanistan as the \"U.N. Messenger of Peace.\"",
"On November 17, 2002, Ali went to Afghanistan as the \"U.N. Messenger of Peace.\" He was in Kabul for a three-day goodwill mission as a special guest of the UN. On September 1, 2009, Ali visited Ennis, County Clare, Ireland, the home of his great-grandfather, Abe Grady, who emigrated to the U.S. in the 1860s, eventually settling in Kentucky.",
"On September 1, 2009, Ali visited Ennis, County Clare, Ireland, the home of his great-grandfather, Abe Grady, who emigrated to the U.S. in the 1860s, eventually settling in Kentucky. On July 27, 2012, Ali was a titular bearer of the Olympic flag during the opening ceremonies of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. He was helped to his feet by his wife Lonnie to stand before the flag due to his Parkinson's Syndrome rendering him unable to carry it into the stadium.",
"He was helped to his feet by his wife Lonnie to stand before the flag due to his Parkinson's Syndrome rendering him unable to carry it into the stadium. The same year, he was awarded the Philadelphia Liberty Medal in recognition of his lifelong efforts in activism, philanthropy and humanitarianism. Earnings By 1978, Ali's total fight purse earnings were estimated to be nearly $60million (inflation-adjusted ), including an estimated $47.45million grossed between 1970 and 1978.",
"Earnings By 1978, Ali's total fight purse earnings were estimated to be nearly $60million (inflation-adjusted ), including an estimated $47.45million grossed between 1970 and 1978. By 1980, his total fight purse earnings were estimated to be up to $70million (inflation-adjusted $million). In 1978, Ali revealed that he was \"broke\" and several news outlets reported his net worth to be an estimated (inflation-adjusted $million).",
"In 1978, Ali revealed that he was \"broke\" and several news outlets reported his net worth to be an estimated (inflation-adjusted $million). The press attributed his decline in wealth to several factors, including taxes consuming at least half of his income, management taking a third of his income, his lifestyle, and spending on family, charity and religious causes. In 2006, Ali sold his name and image for $50million, after which Forbes estimated his net worth to be $55million in 2006.",
"In 2006, Ali sold his name and image for $50million, after which Forbes estimated his net worth to be $55million in 2006. Following his death in 2016, his fortune was estimated to be between $50million and $80million. Declining health Ali's bout with Parkinson's Syndrome led to a gradual decline in his health, though he was still active into the early years of the millennium, promoting his own biopic, Ali, in 2001.",
"Declining health Ali's bout with Parkinson's Syndrome led to a gradual decline in his health, though he was still active into the early years of the millennium, promoting his own biopic, Ali, in 2001. That year he also contributed an on-camera segment to the America: A Tribute to Heroes benefit concert. In 1998, Ali began working with actor Michael J. Fox, who has Parkinson's disease, to raise awareness and fund research for a cure.",
"Fox, who has Parkinson's disease, to raise awareness and fund research for a cure. They made a joint appearance before Congress to push the case in 2002. In 2000, Ali worked with the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Disease to raise awareness and encourage donations for research. In February 2013, Ali's brother Rahman Ali said Muhammad could no longer speak and could be dead within days.",
"In February 2013, Ali's brother Rahman Ali said Muhammad could no longer speak and could be dead within days. Ali's daughter May May Ali responded to the rumors, stating that she had talked to him on the phone the morning of February 3 and he was fine. On December 20, 2014, Ali was hospitalized for a mild case of pneumonia. Ali was once again hospitalized on January 15, 2015, for a urinary tract infection after being found unresponsive at a guest house in Scottsdale, Arizona.",
"Ali was once again hospitalized on January 15, 2015, for a urinary tract infection after being found unresponsive at a guest house in Scottsdale, Arizona. He was released the next day. Death Ali was hospitalized in Scottsdale, Arizona, on June 2, 2016, with a respiratory illness. Though his condition was initially described as fair, it worsened, and he died the following day at the age of 74 from septic shock.",
"Though his condition was initially described as fair, it worsened, and he died the following day at the age of 74 from septic shock. News coverage and tributes Following Ali's death, he was the number-one trending topic on Twitter for over 12 hours and on Facebook for several days. BET played their documentary Muhammad Ali: Made In Miami. ESPN played four hours of non-stop commercial-free coverage of Ali. News networks, such as ABC News, BBC, CNN, and Fox News, also covered him extensively.",
"News networks, such as ABC News, BBC, CNN, and Fox News, also covered him extensively. He was mourned globally, and a family spokesman said the family \"certainly believes that Muhammad was a citizen of the world ... and they know that the world grieves with him.\" Politicians such as Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, Donald Trump, David Cameron and more paid tribute to Ali.",
"Politicians such as Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, Donald Trump, David Cameron and more paid tribute to Ali. Ali also received numerous tributes from the world of sports including Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Floyd Mayweather, Mike Tyson, the Miami Marlins, LeBron James, Steph Curry and more. Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer stated, \"Muhammad Ali belongs to the world. But he only has one hometown.\"",
"But he only has one hometown.\" But he only has one hometown.\" The day after Ali's death, the UFC paid tribute to Ali at their UFC 199 event in a lengthy video tribute package, crediting Ali for his accomplishments and inspiring multiple UFC champions. Memorial Ali's funeral had been pre-planned by himself and others for several years prior to his actual death.",
"Memorial Ali's funeral had been pre-planned by himself and others for several years prior to his actual death. The services began in Louisville on June 9, 2016, with an Islamic Janazah prayer service at Freedom Hall on the grounds of the Kentucky Exposition Center. On June 10, 2016, the funeral procession passed through the streets of Louisville ending at Cave Hill Cemetery, where his body was interred during a private ceremony. A public memorial service for Ali at downtown Louisville's KFC Yum!",
"A public memorial service for Ali at downtown Louisville's KFC Yum! Center was held during the afternoon of June 10. The pallbearers included Will Smith, Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson, with honorary pallbearers including George Chuvalo, Larry Holmes and George Foreman. Ali's memorial was watched by an estimated 1billion viewers worldwide. Legacy Ali remains the only three-time lineal heavyweight champion.",
"Legacy Ali remains the only three-time lineal heavyweight champion. Legacy Ali remains the only three-time lineal heavyweight champion. He is the only boxer to be named The Ring magazine Fighter of the Year six times, and was involved in more Ring \"Fight of the Year\" bouts than any other fighter. He was one of only three boxers to be named \"Sportsman of the Year\" by Sports Illustrated.",
"He was one of only three boxers to be named \"Sportsman of the Year\" by Sports Illustrated. Muhammad Ali was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in its first year and held wins over seven other Hall of Fame inductees during an era that has been called the golden age of heavyweight boxing. The Associated Press ranked him as the second best boxer and best heavyweight of the 20th century. His joint records of beating 21 boxers for the world heavyweight title and winning 14 unified title bouts stood for 35 years.",
"His joint records of beating 21 boxers for the world heavyweight title and winning 14 unified title bouts stood for 35 years. In 1978, three years before Ali's permanent retirement, the Louisville Board of Aldermen in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, voted 6–5 to rename Walnut Street to Muhammad Ali Boulevard. This was controversial at the time, as within a week 12 of the 70 street signs were stolen.",
"This was controversial at the time, as within a week 12 of the 70 street signs were stolen. Earlier that year, a committee of the Jefferson County Public Schools (Kentucky) considered renaming Ali's alma mater, Central High School, in his honor, but the motion failed to pass. In time, Muhammad Ali Boulevard—and Ali himself—came to be well accepted in his hometown. Ali was named one of the 100 most influential Americans of the 20th century by Life magazine in 1990.",
"Ali was named one of the 100 most influential Americans of the 20th century by Life magazine in 1990. In 1993, the Associated Press reported that Ali was tied with Babe Ruth as the most recognized athlete, out of over 800 dead or living athletes, in America. The study found that over 97% of Americans over 12 years of age identified both Ali and Ruth. He was the recipient of the 1997 Arthur Ashe Courage Award.",
"He was the recipient of the 1997 Arthur Ashe Courage Award. At the end of the 20th century he was ranked at or near the top of most lists of the century's greatest athletes. He was crowned Sportsman of the Century by Sports Illustrated. Named BBC's Sports Personality of the Century, he received more votes than the other five candidates combined. He was named Athlete of the Century by USA Today, and ranked as the third greatest athlete of the 20th century by ESPN SportsCentury.",
"He was named Athlete of the Century by USA Today, and ranked as the third greatest athlete of the 20th century by ESPN SportsCentury. Ali was named \"Kentucky Athlete of the Century\" by the Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame in ceremonies at the Galt House East. In 1999, Time magazine named Ali one of the 100 Most Important People of the 20th Century. On January 8, 2001, Muhammad Ali was presented with the Presidential Citizens Medal by President Bill Clinton.",
"On January 8, 2001, Muhammad Ali was presented with the Presidential Citizens Medal by President Bill Clinton. In November 2005, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush, followed by the Otto Hahn Peace Medal in Gold of the UN Association of Germany (DGVN) in Berlin for his work with the civil rights movement and the United Nations, which he received on December 17, 2005.",
"In November 2005, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush, followed by the Otto Hahn Peace Medal in Gold of the UN Association of Germany (DGVN) in Berlin for his work with the civil rights movement and the United Nations, which he received on December 17, 2005. On November 19, 2005, Ali and his wife Lonnie Ali opened the $60million non-profit Muhammad Ali Center in downtown Louisville.",
"On November 19, 2005, Ali and his wife Lonnie Ali opened the $60million non-profit Muhammad Ali Center in downtown Louisville. In addition to displaying his boxing memorabilia, the center focuses on core themes of peace, social responsibility, respect, and personal growth. On June 5, 2007, he received an honorary doctorate of humanities at Princeton University's 260th graduation ceremony. Ali Mall, located in Araneta Center, Quezon City, Philippines, is named after him.",
"Ali Mall, located in Araneta Center, Quezon City, Philippines, is named after him. Construction of the mall, the first of its kind in the Philippines, began shortly after Ali's victory in a match with Joe Frazier in nearby Araneta Coliseum in 1975. The mall opened in 1976 with Ali attending its opening. The 1976 Muhammad Ali vs. Antonio Inoki fight played an important role in the history of mixed martial arts.",
"The 1976 Muhammad Ali vs. Antonio Inoki fight played an important role in the history of mixed martial arts. In Japan, the match inspired Inoki's students Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki to found Pancrase in 1993, which in turn inspired the foundation of Pride Fighting Championships in 1997. Pride was acquired by its rival, Ultimate Fighting Championship, in 2007. The Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act was introduced in 1999 and passed in 2000, to protect the rights and welfare of boxers in the United States.",
"The Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act was introduced in 1999 and passed in 2000, to protect the rights and welfare of boxers in the United States. In May 2016, a bill was introduced to United States Congress by Markwayne Mullin, a politician and former MMA fighter, to extend the Ali Act to mixed martial arts. In June 2016, US senator Rand Paul proposed an amendment to the US draft laws named after Ali, a proposal to eliminate the Selective Service System.",
"In June 2016, US senator Rand Paul proposed an amendment to the US draft laws named after Ali, a proposal to eliminate the Selective Service System. In 2015, Sports Illustrated renamed its Sportsman Legacy Award to the Sports Illustrateds Muhammad Ali Legacy Award. The annual award was originally created in 2008 and honors former \"sports figures who embody the ideals of sportsmanship, leadership and philanthropy as vehicles for changing the world.\"",
"The annual award was originally created in 2008 and honors former \"sports figures who embody the ideals of sportsmanship, leadership and philanthropy as vehicles for changing the world.\" Ali first appeared on the magazine's cover in 1963 and went on to be featured on numerous covers during his storied career.",
"Ali first appeared on the magazine's cover in 1963 and went on to be featured on numerous covers during his storied career. On January 13, 2017, seven months or so after Ali's death, and 4 days before what would have been his 75th birthday, the Muhammad Ali Commemorative Coin Act was introduced into the 115th Congress (2017–2019), as H.R. 579 (House of Representatives) and as S. 166 (Senate). However, both \"died\" within 10 days.",
"However, both \"died\" within 10 days. However, both \"died\" within 10 days. In the media and popular culture As a world champion boxer, social activist, sex symbol and pop culture icon, Ali was the subject of numerous creative works including books, films, music, video games, TV shows, and other. Muhammad Ali was often dubbed the world's \"most famous\" person in the media.",
"Muhammad Ali was often dubbed the world's \"most famous\" person in the media. Several of his fights were watched by an estimated 12 billion viewers between 1974 and 1980, and his lighting of the torch at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics was watched by an estimated 3.5billion viewers. Ali appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated on 38 different occasions, second only to Michael Jordan's 46. He also appeared on the cover of Time Magazine 5 times, the most of any athlete.",
"He also appeared on the cover of Time Magazine 5 times, the most of any athlete. In 2015, Harris Poll found that Ali was one of the three most recognizable athletes in the United States, along with Michael Jordan and Babe Ruth. Martial artist and actor Bruce Lee was influenced by Ali, whose footwork he studied and incorporated into his own style while developing Jeet Kune Do in the 1960s.",
"Martial artist and actor Bruce Lee was influenced by Ali, whose footwork he studied and incorporated into his own style while developing Jeet Kune Do in the 1960s. On the set of Freedom Road Ali met Canadian singer-songwriter Michel, and subsequently helped create Michel's album The First Flight of the Gizzelda Dragon and an unaired television special featuring them both. Ali was the subject of the British television program This Is Your Life in 1978 when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews.",
"Ali was the subject of the British television program This Is Your Life in 1978 when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews. Ali was featured in Superman vs. Muhammad Ali, a 1978 DC Comics comic book pitting the champ against the superhero. In 1979, Ali guest-starred as himself in an episode of the NBC sitcom Diff'rent Strokes.",
"In 1979, Ali guest-starred as himself in an episode of the NBC sitcom Diff'rent Strokes. The show's title itself was inspired by the quote \"Different strokes for different folks\" popularized in 1966 by Ali, who also inspired the title of the 1967 Syl Johnson song \"Different Strokes\", one of the most sampled songs in pop music history. He also wrote several bestselling books about his career, including The Greatest: My Own Story and The Soul of a Butterfly.",
"He also wrote several bestselling books about his career, including The Greatest: My Own Story and The Soul of a Butterfly. The Muhammad Ali effect, named after Ali, is a term that came into use in psychology in the 1980s, as he stated in The Greatest: My Own Story: \"I only said I was the greatest, not the smartest.\"",
"The Muhammad Ali effect, named after Ali, is a term that came into use in psychology in the 1980s, as he stated in The Greatest: My Own Story: \"I only said I was the greatest, not the smartest.\" According to this effect, when people are asked to rate their intelligence and moral behavior in comparison to others, people will rate themselves as more moral, but not more intelligent than others.",
"According to this effect, when people are asked to rate their intelligence and moral behavior in comparison to others, people will rate themselves as more moral, but not more intelligent than others. When We Were Kings, a 1996 documentary about the Rumble in the Jungle, won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. The 2001 biopic Ali garnered a Best Actor Oscar nomination for Will Smith for his portrayal of Ali. Prior to making the film, Smith rejected the role until Ali requested that he accept it.",
"Prior to making the film, Smith rejected the role until Ali requested that he accept it. Smith said the first thing Ali told him was: \"Man, you're almost pretty enough to play me.\" In 2002, Ali was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to the entertainment industry. His star is the only one to be mounted on a vertical surface, out of deference to his request that the name Muhammad—a name he shares with the Islamic prophet—not be walked upon.",
"His star is the only one to be mounted on a vertical surface, out of deference to his request that the name Muhammad—a name he shares with the Islamic prophet—not be walked upon. His 1966 fight against George Chuvalo was the subject of Joseph Blasioli's 2003 documentary film The Last Round: Chuvalo vs. Ali. The Trials of Muhammad Ali, a documentary directed by Bill Siegel that focuses on Ali's refusal of the draft during the Vietnam War, opened in Manhattan on August 23, 2013.",
"The Trials of Muhammad Ali, a documentary directed by Bill Siegel that focuses on Ali's refusal of the draft during the Vietnam War, opened in Manhattan on August 23, 2013. A 2013 made-for-TV movie titled Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight dramatized the same aspect of Ali's life. Antoine Fuqua's documentary What's My Name: Muhammad Ali was released in 2019. Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns created the four-part documentary film Muhammad Ali, spanning over eight hours on Ali's entire life.",
"Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns created the four-part documentary film Muhammad Ali, spanning over eight hours on Ali's entire life. Burns worked on the film since early 2016. It is scheduled to release in September 2021 on PBS. Dave Zirin who watched an 8 hour rough cut of this documentary called it \"utterly outstanding\" and said \"the footage they found will blow minds\".",
"Dave Zirin who watched an 8 hour rough cut of this documentary called it \"utterly outstanding\" and said \"the footage they found will blow minds\". Discography I Am the Greatest (1963) The Adventures of Ali and His Gang vs. Mr. Tooth Decay (1976) See also List of heavyweight boxing champions List of WBA world champions List of WBC world champions List of The Ring world champions List of undisputed boxing champions Converts to Islam Notable boxing families List of people from the Louisville metropolitan area List of North American Muslims African-American Muslims 1981 MAPS Wells Fargo embezzlement scandal Notes References Further reading Online Muhammad Ali: American boxer, in Encyclopædia Britannica Online, by Thomas Hauser, Adam Augustyn, Piyush Bhathya, Yamini Chauhan, John M. Cunningham, Richard Pallardy, Michael Ray, Emily Rodriguez, Surabhi Sinha, Amy Tikkanen, Grace Young and The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica External links Official website (archived) William Addams Reitwiesner Genealogical Services: Ancestry of Muhammad Ali FBI Records: The Vault – Muhammad Ali at the FBI Cassius Clay Guilty (1967), Texas Archive of the Moving Image Photo essays''' 1942 births 2016 deaths 20th-century American rappers 20th-century Muslims 21st-century Muslims Activists for African-American civil rights Activists from Kentucky African-American activists African-American boxers African-American male rappers African-American Muslims African-American poets African-American Sunni Muslims American anti–Vietnam War activists American conscientious objectors American former Protestants American humanitarians American male boxers American male poets American male rappers American Muslim activists American people of Irish descent American people of Malagasy descent American philanthropists American spoken word poets American Sufis BBC Sports Personality World Sport Star of the Year winners Boxers at the 1960 Summer Olympics Boxers from Arizona Boxers from Chicago Boxers from Louisville, Kentucky Boxers from New Jersey Burials at Cave Hill Cemetery Central High School (Louisville, Kentucky) alumni COINTELPRO targets Columbia Records artists Converts to Sunni Islam from Protestantism Deaths from sepsis Former Nation of Islam members International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees Medalists at the 1960 Summer Olympics Neurological disease deaths in Arizona Olympic boxers of the United States Olympic cauldron lighters Olympic gold medalists for the United States in boxing Overturned convictions in the United States People from Cherry Hill, New Jersey People from Paradise Valley, Arizona People with Parkinson's disease People with traumatic brain injuries Poets from Arizona Poets from Kentucky Poets from New Jersey Presidential Citizens Medal recipients Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients Professional wrestling referees Rappers from Kentucky Sportspeople from Camden County, New Jersey Sportspeople from the Phoenix metropolitan area The Ring (magazine) champions Vietnam War draft evaders Winners of the United States Championship for amateur boxers World Boxing Association champions World Boxing Council champions World heavyweight boxing champions Writers from Louisville, Kentucky"
] |
[
"Muhammad Ali",
"Early career",
"What started his career?",
"winning a six-round decision over Tunney Hunsaker.",
"Did he have anyone who influenced him?",
"His provocative and outlandish behavior in the ring was inspired by professional wrestler \"Gorgeous George\" Wagner.",
"Did he get any recognition during this time period?",
"Clay amassed a record of 19-0 with 15 wins by knockout.",
"Was he ever sponsored?",
"I don't know.",
"Did he have any signature moves?",
"In each of these fights, Clay vocally belittled his opponents and vaunted his abilities."
] | C_ea7154fd6dfd4adca851d86899f374c6_0 | Are there any other interesting aspects about this article? | 6 | Besides Muhammad Ali's early career, are there any other interesting aspects about this article? | Muhammad Ali | Clay made his professional debut on October 29, 1960, winning a six-round decision over Tunney Hunsaker. From then until the end of 1963, Clay amassed a record of 19-0 with 15 wins by knockout. He defeated boxers that included Tony Esperti, Jim Robinson, Donnie Fleeman, Alonzo Johnson, George Logan, Willi Besmanoff, LaMar Clark, Doug Jones and Henry Cooper. Clay also beat his former trainer and veteran boxer Archie Moore in a 1962 match. These early fights were not without trials. Clay was knocked down both by Sonny Banks and Cooper. In the Cooper fight, Clay was floored by a left hook at the end of round four and was saved by the bell, going on to win in the predicted 5th round due to Cooper's severely cut eye. The fight with Doug Jones on March 13, 1963 was Clay's toughest fight during this stretch. The number-two and -three heavyweight contenders respectively, Clay and Jones fought on Jones' home turf at New York's Madison Square Garden. Jones staggered Clay in the first round, and the unanimous decision for Clay was greeted by boos and a rain of debris thrown into the ring (watching on closed-circuit TV, heavyweight champ Sonny Liston quipped that if he fought Clay he might get locked up for murder). The fight was later named "Fight of the Year" by The Ring magazine. In each of these fights, Clay vocally belittled his opponents and vaunted his abilities. He called Jones "an ugly little man" and Cooper a "bum". He was embarrassed to get in the ring with Alex Miteff. Madison Square Garden was "too small for me". Clay's behavior provoked the ire of many boxing fans. His provocative and outlandish behavior in the ring was inspired by professional wrestler "Gorgeous George" Wagner. Ali stated in a 1969 interview with the Associated Press' Hubert Mizel that he met with Gorgeous George in Las Vegas in 1961 and that the wrestler inspired him to use wrestling jargon when he did interviews. After Clay left Moore's camp in 1960, partially due to Clay's refusing to do chores such as dish-washing and sweeping, he hired Angelo Dundee, whom he had met in February 1957 during Ali's amateur career, to be his trainer. Around this time, Clay sought longtime idol Sugar Ray Robinson to be his manager, but was rebuffed. CANNOTANSWER | These early fights were not without trials. Clay was knocked down | Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer, activist, entertainer, poet and philanthropist. Nicknamed The Greatest, he is widely regarded as one of the most significant and celebrated sports figures of the 20th century, and is frequently ranked as the greatest heavyweight boxer of all time. In 1999, he was named Sportsman of the Century by Sports Illustrated and the Sports Personality of the Century by the BBC.
Born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, he began training as an amateur boxer at age 12. At 18, he won a gold medal in the light heavyweight division at the 1960 Summer Olympics and turned professional later that year. He became a Muslim after 1961. He won the world heavyweight championship from Sonny Liston in a major upset on February 25, 1964, at age 22. Also that year, he renounced his birth name as a "slave name" and formally became known as Muhammad Ali. In 1966, Ali refused to be drafted into the military owing to his religious beliefs and ethical opposition to the Vietnam War and was found guilty of draft evasion and stripped of his boxing titles. He stayed out of prison while appealing the decision to the Supreme Court, where his conviction was overturned in 1971. However, he had not fought for nearly four years by this point and had lost a period of peak performance as an athlete. Ali's actions as a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War made him an icon for the larger 1960s counterculture generation, and he was a very high-profile figure of racial pride for African Americans during the civil rights movement and throughout his career. As a Muslim, Ali was initially affiliated with Elijah Muhammad's Nation of Islam (NOI). He later disavowed the NOI, adhering to Sunni Islam, and supported racial integration like his former mentor Malcolm X.
He fought in several historic boxing matches, such as his highly publicized fights with Sonny Liston, Joe Frazier (including the Fight of the Century, the biggest boxing event up until then), the Thrilla in Manila, and his fight with George Foreman in The Rumble in the Jungle. Ali thrived in the spotlight at a time when many boxers let their managers do the talking, and he became renowned for his provocative and outlandish persona. He was known for trash-talking, and often free-styled with rhyme schemes and spoken word poetry incorporating elements of hip hop, and often predicted in which round he would knockout his opponent.
Outside boxing, Ali attained success as a spoken word artist, releasing two studio albums: I Am the Greatest! (1963) and The Adventures of Ali and His Gang vs. Mr. Tooth Decay (1976). Both albums received Grammy Award nominations. He also featured as an actor and writer, releasing two autobiographies. Ali retired from boxing in 1981 and focused on religion, philanthropy and activism. In 1984, he made public his diagnosis of Parkinson's syndrome, which some reports attributed to boxing-related injuries, though he and his specialist physicians disputed this. He remained an active public figure globally, but in his later years made fewer public appearances as his condition worsened, and he was cared for by his family. Ali died on June 3, 2016.
Early life and amateur career
Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. ( ) was born on January 17, 1942, in Louisville, Kentucky. He had one brother. He was named after his father, Cassius Marcellus Clay Sr., who had a sister and four brothers and who himself was named in honor of the 19th-century Republican politician and staunch abolitionist Cassius Marcellus Clay, also from the state of Kentucky. Clay's father's paternal grandparents were John Clay and Sallie Anne Clay; Clay's sister Eva claimed that Sallie was a native of Madagascar. He was a descendant of slaves of the antebellum South, and was predominantly of African descent, with some Irish and English family heritage. Ali's maternal great-grandfather, Abe Grady, emigrated from Ennis, Co. Clare, Ireland. DNA testing performed in 2018 showed that, through his paternal grandmother, Ali was a descendant of the former slave Archer Alexander, who had been chosen from the building crew as the model of a freed man for the Emancipation Memorial, and was the subject of abolitionist William Greenleaf Eliot's book, The Story of Archer Alexander: From Slavery to Freedom. Like Ali, Alexander fought for his freedom.
His father was a sign and billboard painter, and his mother, Odessa O'Grady Clay (1917–1994), was a domestic helper. Although Cassius Sr. was a Methodist, he allowed Odessa to bring up both Cassius Jr. and his younger brother, Rudolph "Rudy" Clay (later renamed Rahman Ali), as Baptists. Cassius Jr. attended Central High School in Louisville. He was dyslexic, which led to difficulties in reading and writing, at school and for much of his life. Ali grew up amid racial segregation. His mother recalled one occasion when he was denied a drink of water at a store: "They wouldn't give him one because of his color. That really affected him." He was also strongly affected by the 1955 murder of Emmett Till, which led to young Clay and a friend taking out their frustration by vandalizing a local rail yard. His daughter Hana later wrote that Ali once told her, "Nothing would ever shake me up (more) than the story of Emmett Till."
Ali was first directed toward boxing by Louisville police officer and boxing coach Joe E. Martin, who encountered the 12-year-old fuming over a thief's having taken his bicycle. He told the officer he was going to "whup" the thief. The officer told Clay he had better learn how to box first. Initially, Clay did not take up Martin's offer, but after seeing amateur boxers on a local television boxing program called Tomorrow's Champions, Clay was interested in the prospect of fighting. He then began to work with trainer Fred Stoner, whom he credits with giving him the "real training", eventually molding "my style, my stamina and my system." For the last four years of Clay's amateur career he was trained by boxing cutman Chuck Bodak.
Clay made his amateur boxing debut in 1954 against local amateur boxer Ronnie O'Keefe. He won by split decision. He went on to win six Kentucky Golden Gloves titles, two national Golden Gloves titles, an Amateur Athletic Union national title, and the light heavyweight gold medal in the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. Clay's amateur record was 100 wins with five losses. Ali said in his 1975 autobiography that shortly after his return from the Rome Olympics, he threw his gold medal into the Ohio River after he and a friend were refused service at a "whites-only" restaurant and fought with a white gang. The story was later disputed, and several of Ali's friends, including Bundini Brown and photographer Howard Bingham, denied it. Brown told Sports Illustrated writer Mark Kram, "Honkies sure bought into that one!" Thomas Hauser's biography of Ali stated that Ali was refused service at the diner but that he lost his medal a year after he won it. Ali received a replacement medal at a basketball intermission during the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, where he lit the torch to start the games.
Early professional boxing career
Early career
Clay made his professional debut on October 29, 1960, winning a six-round decision over Tunney Hunsaker. From then until the end of 1963, Clay amassed a record of 19–0 with 15 wins by knockout. He defeated boxers including Tony Esperti, Jim Robinson, Donnie Fleeman, Alonzo Johnson, George Logan, Willi Besmanoff, LaMar Clark, Doug Jones and Henry Cooper. Clay also beat his former trainer and veteran boxer Archie Moore in a 1962 match.
These early fights were not without trials. Clay was knocked down by both Sonny Banks and Cooper. In the Cooper fight, Clay was floored by a left hook at the end of round four and was saved by the bell, going on to win in the predicted 5th round due to Cooper's severely cut eye. The fight with Doug Jones on March 13, 1963 was Clay's toughest fight during this stretch. The number two and three heavyweight contenders respectively, Clay and Jones fought on Jones' home turf at New York's Madison Square Garden. Jones staggered Clay in the first round, and the unanimous decision for Clay was greeted by boos and a rain of debris thrown into the ring. Watching on closed-circuit TV, heavyweight champ Sonny Liston quipped that if he fought Clay he might get locked up for murder. The fight was later named "Fight of the Year" by The Ring magazine.
In each of these fights, Clay vocally belittled his opponents and vaunted his abilities. He called Jones "an ugly little man" and Cooper a "bum". He said he was embarrassed to get in the ring with Alex Miteff and claimed that Madison Square Garden was "too small for me." Ali's trash-talk was inspired by professional wrestler "Gorgeous George" Wagner's, after he saw George's talking ability attract huge crowds to events. Ali stated in a 1969 interview with the Associated Press' Hubert Mizel that he met with George in Las Vegas in 1961, that George told him that talking a big game would earn paying fans who either wanted to see him win or wanted to see him lose, thus Ali transformed himself into a self-described "big-mouth and a bragger".
In 1960, Clay left Moore's camp, partially due to Clay's refusal to do chores such as washing dishes and sweeping. To replace Moore, Clay hired Angelo Dundee to be his trainer. Clay had met Dundee in February 1957 during Clay's amateur career. Around this time, Clay sought longtime idol Sugar Ray Robinson to be his manager, but was rebuffed.
World heavyweight champion
Fights against Liston
By late 1963, Clay had become the top contender for Sonny Liston's title. The fight was set for February 25, 1964, in Miami Beach. Liston was an intimidating personality, a dominating fighter with a criminal past and ties to the mob. Based on Clay's uninspired performance against Jones and Cooper in his previous two fights, and Liston's destruction of former heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson in two first-round knockouts, Clay was a 7–1 underdog. Despite this, Clay taunted Liston during the pre-fight buildup, dubbing him "the big ugly bear", stating "Liston even smells like a bear" and claiming "After I beat him I'm going to donate him to the zoo." Clay turned the pre-fight weigh-in into a circus, shouting at Liston that "someone is going to die at ringside tonight." Clay's pulse rate was measured at 120, more than double his normal 54. Many of those in attendance thought Clay's behavior stemmed from fear, and some commentators wondered if he would show up for the bout.
The outcome of the fight was a major upset. At the opening bell, Liston rushed at Clay, seemingly angry and looking for a quick knockout. However, Clay's superior speed and mobility enabled him to elude Liston, making the champion miss and look awkward. At the end of the first round, Clay opened up his attack and hit Liston repeatedly with jabs. Liston fought better in round two, but at the beginning of the third round Clay hit Liston with a combination that buckled his knees and opened a cut under his left eye. This was the first time Liston had ever been cut. At the end of round four, Clay was returning to his corner when he began experiencing blinding pain in his eyes and asked his trainer, Angelo Dundee, to cut off his gloves. Dundee refused. It has been speculated that the problem was due to ointment used to seal Liston's cuts, perhaps deliberately applied by his corner to his gloves. Though unconfirmed, boxing historian Bert Sugar said that two of Liston's opponents also complained about their eyes "burning".
Despite Liston's attempts to knock out a blinded Clay, Clay was able to survive the fifth round until sweat and tears rinsed the irritation from his eyes. In the sixth, Clay dominated, hitting Liston repeatedly. Liston did not answer the bell for the seventh round, and Clay was declared the winner by TKO. Liston stated that the reason he quit was an injured shoulder. Following the win, a triumphant Clay rushed to the edge of the ring and, pointing to the ringside press, shouted: "Eat your words!" He added, "I am the greatest! I shook up the world. I'm the prettiest thing that ever lived."
At ringside post fight, Clay appeared unconvinced that the fight was stopped due to a Liston shoulder injury, saying that the only injury Liston had was "an open eye, a big cut eye!" When told by Joe Louis that the injury was a "left arm thrown out of its socket," Clay quipped, "Yeah, swinging at nothing, who wouldn't?"
In winning this fight at the age of 22, Clay became the youngest boxer to take the title from a reigning heavyweight champion. However, Floyd Patterson remained the youngest to win the heavyweight championship, doing so at the age 21 during an elimination bout following Rocky Marciano's retirement. Mike Tyson broke both records in 1986 when he defeated Trevor Berbick to win the heavyweight title at age 20.
Soon after the Liston fight, Clay changed his name to Cassius X, and then later to Muhammad Ali upon converting to Islam and affiliating with the Nation of Islam. Ali then faced a rematch with Liston scheduled for May 1965 in Lewiston, Maine. It had been scheduled for Boston the previous November, but was postponed for six months due to Ali's emergency surgery for a hernia three days before. The fight was controversial. Midway through the first round, Liston was knocked down by a difficult-to-see blow the press dubbed a "phantom punch". Referee Jersey Joe Walcott did not begin the count immediately after the knockdown, as Ali refused to retreat to a neutral corner. Liston rose after he had been down for about 20 seconds, and the fight momentarily continued. However a few seconds later Walcott, having been informed by the timekeepers that Liston had been down for a count of 10, stopped the match and declared Ali the winner by knockout. The entire fight lasted less than two minutes.
It has since been speculated that Liston purposely dropped to the ground. Proposed motivations include threats on his life from the Nation of Islam, that he had bet against himself and that he "took a dive" to pay off debts. Slow-motion replays show that Liston was jarred by a chopping right from Ali, although it is unclear whether the blow was a genuine knockout punch.
Fight against Patterson
Ali defended his title against former heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson on November 22, 1965. Before the match, Ali mocked Patterson, who was widely known to call him by his former name Cassius Clay, as an "Uncle Tom", calling him "The Rabbit". Although Ali clearly had the better of Patterson, who appeared injured during the fight, the match lasted 12 rounds before being called on a technical knockout. Patterson later said he had strained his sacroiliac. Ali was criticized in the sports media for appearing to have toyed with Patterson during the fight. Patterson biographer W. K. Stratton claims that the conflict between Ali and Patterson was not genuine but was staged to increase ticket sales and the closed-circuit viewing audience, with both men complicit in the theatrics. Stratton also cites an interview by Howard Cosell in which Ali explained that rather than toying with Patterson, he refrained from knocking him out after it became apparent Patterson was injured. Patterson later said that he had never been hit by punches as soft as Ali's. Stratton states that Ali arranged the second fight, in 1972, with the financially struggling Patterson to help the former champion earn enough money to pay a debt to the IRS.
Main Bout
After the Patterson fight, Ali founded his own promotion company, Main Bout. The company mainly handled Ali's boxing promotions and pay-per-view closed-circuit television broadcasts. The company's stockholders were mainly fellow Nation of Islam members, along with several others, including Bob Arum.
Ali and then-WBA heavyweight champion boxer Ernie Terrell had agreed to meet for a bout in Chicago on March 29, 1966 (the WBA, one of two boxing associations, had stripped Ali of his title following his joining the Nation of Islam). But in February Ali was reclassified by the Louisville draft board as 1-A from 1-Y, and he indicated that he would refuse to serve, commenting to the press, "I ain't got nothing against no Viet Cong; no Viet Cong never called me nigger." Amidst the media and public outcry over Ali's stance, the Illinois Athletic Commission refused to sanction the fight, citing technicalities.
Instead, Ali traveled to Canada and Europe and won championship bouts against George Chuvalo, Henry Cooper, Brian London and Karl Mildenberger.
Ali returned to the United States to fight Cleveland Williams in the Houston Astrodome on November 14, 1966. The bout drew a record-breaking indoor crowd of 35,460 people. Williams had once been considered among the hardest punchers in the heavyweight division, but in 1964 he had been shot at point-blank range by a Texas policeman, resulting in the loss of one kidney and of his small intestine. Ali dominated Williams, winning a third-round technical knockout in what some consider the finest performance of his career.
Ali fought Terrell in Houston on February 6, 1967. Terrell, who was unbeaten in five years and had defeated many of the boxers Ali had faced, was billed as Ali's toughest opponent since Liston; he was big, strong and had a three-inch reach advantage over Ali. During the lead up to the bout, Terrell repeatedly called Ali "Clay", much to Ali's annoyance. The two almost came to blows over the name issue in a pre-fight interview with Howard Cosell. Ali seemed intent on humiliating Terrell. "I want to torture him", he said. "A clean knockout is too good for him." The fight was close until the seventh round, when Ali bloodied Terrell and almost knocked him out. In the eighth round, Ali taunted Terrell, hitting him with jabs and shouting between punches, "What's my name, Uncle Tom ... what's my name?" Ali won a unanimous 15-round decision. Terrell claimed that early in the fight Ali deliberately thumbed him in the eye, forcing him to fight half-blind, and then, in a clinch, rubbed the wounded eye against the ropes. Because of Ali's apparent intent to prolong the fight to inflict maximum punishment, critics described the bout as "one of the ugliest boxing fights." Tex Maule later wrote: "It was a wonderful demonstration of boxing skill and a barbarous display of cruelty." Ali denied the accusations of cruelty but, for Ali's critics, the fight provided more evidence of his arrogance.
After Ali's title defense against Zora Folley on March 22, he was stripped of his title due to his refusal to be drafted to army service. His boxing license was also suspended by the state of New York. He was convicted of draft evasion on June 20 and sentenced to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. He paid a bond and remained free while the verdict was being appealed.
Vietnam War and resistance to the draft
Ali registered for conscription in the United States military on his 18th birthday and was listed as 1-A in 1962. In 1964, he was reclassified as Class 1-Y (fit for service only in times of national emergency) after he failed the U.S. Armed Forces qualifying test because his writing and spelling skills were sub-standard, due to his dyslexia. (He was quoted as saying, "I said I was the greatest, not the smartest!") By early 1966, the army lowered its standards to permit soldiers above the 15th percentile and Ali was again classified as 1-A. This classification meant he was now eligible for the draft and induction into the U.S. Army at a time when the U.S. was involved in the Vietnam War, a war which put him further at odds with the white establishment.
When notified of this status, Ali declared that he would refuse to serve in the army and publicly considered himself a conscientious objector. Ali stated: "War is against the teachings of the Qur'an. I'm not trying to dodge the draft. We are not supposed to take part in no wars unless declared by Allah or The Messenger (Elijah Muhammad then leader of Nation of Islam). We don’t take part in Christian wars or wars of any unbelievers". He also said "We are not to be the aggressor but we will defend ourselves if attacked." He stated: "Man, I ain't got no quarrel with them Viet Cong." Ali elaborated: "Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go ten thousand miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on brown people in Vietnam while so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs and denied simple human rights?" Ali antagonized the white establishment in 1966 by refusing to be drafted into the U.S. military, citing his religious beliefs and opposition to American involvement in the Vietnam War.
On April 28, 1967, Ali appeared in Houston for his scheduled induction into the U.S. Armed Forces, but he refused three times to step forward when his name was called. An officer warned him that he was committing a felony punishable by five years in prison and a fine of $10,000. Once more, Ali refused to budge when his name was called, and he was arrested. Later that same day, the New York State Athletic Commission suspended his boxing license and stripped him of his title. Other boxing commissions followed suit. Ali remained unable to obtain a license to box in any state for over three years. On June 4, 1967, in a first for sports professionals, a group of high-profile African-American athletes assembled at the Negro Industrial Economic union in Cleveland for a "Muhammad Ali Summit". The meeting was organized by Jim Brown for his peers to question Ali about the seriousness of his convictions, and to decide whether to support him, which they ultimately did.
At the trial on June 20, 1967, the jury found Ali guilty after only 21minutes of deliberation of the criminal offense of violating the Selective Service laws by refusing to be drafted. After a Court of Appeals upheld the conviction, the case was reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1971.
Ali remained free in the years between the Appellate Court decision and the Supreme Court ruling. As public opinion began turning people against the war and the Civil Rights Movement continued to gather momentum, Ali became a popular speaker at colleges and universities across the country; this itinerary was rare if not unprecedented for a prizefighter. At Howard University, for example, he gave his popular "Black Is Best" speech to 4,000 cheering students and community intellectuals, after he was invited to speak by sociology professor Nathan Hare on behalf of the Black Power Committee, a student protest group.
On June 28, 1971, the Supreme Court of the United States in Clay v. United States overturned Ali's conviction by a unanimous 8–0 decision (Justice Thurgood Marshall recused himself, as he had been the U.S. Solicitor General at the time of Ali's conviction). The decision was not based on, nor did it address, the merits of Ali's claims per se. Rather, the Court held that since the appeal board gave no reason for the denial of a conscientious objector exemption to Ali, that it was therefore impossible to determine which of the three basic tests for conscientious objector status (offered in the Justice Department's brief) the appeal board relied on, and Ali's conviction must be reversed.
Impact of Ali's draft refusal
Ali's example inspired many black Americans and others. However, initially when he refused induction, he became arguably the most hated man in the country and received many death threats. People who supported Ali during this time were also threatened, including sports journalist Jerry Izenberg, whose columns defended Ali's decision not to serve. He wrote, "Bomb threats emptied our office, making the staff stand out in the snow. My car windshield was smashed with a sledgehammer." The New York Times columnist William Rhoden wrote, "Ali's actions changed my standard of what constituted an athlete's greatness. Possessing a killer jump shot or the ability to stop on a dime was no longer enough. What were you doing for the liberation of your people? What were you doing to help your country live up to the covenant of its founding principles?"
Recalling Ali's anti-war position, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar said: "I remember the teachers at my high school didn't like Ali because he was so anti-establishment and he kind of thumbed his nose at authority and got away with it. The fact that he was proud to be a black man and that he had so much talent ... made some people think that he was dangerous. But for those very reasons I enjoyed him."
Civil rights figures came to believe that Ali had an energizing effect on the freedom movement as a whole. Al Sharpton spoke of his bravery at a time when there was still widespread support for the Vietnam War:
Ali was honored with the annual Martin Luther King Award in 1970 by civil rights leader Ralph Abernathy, who called him "a living example of soul power, the March on Washington in two fists." Coretta Scott King added that Ali was "a champion of justice and peace and unity."
In speaking of the cost on Ali's career of his refusal to be drafted, his trainer Angelo Dundee said, "One thing must be taken into account when talking about Ali: He was robbed of his best years, his prime years."
Bob Arum did not support Ali's choice at the time. More recently, Arum stated that "when I look back at his life, and I was blessed to call him a friend and spent a lot of time with him, it's hard for me to talk about his exploits in boxing because as great as they were they paled in comparison to the impact that he had on the world," and "He did what he thought was right. And it turned out he was right, and I was wrong."
Ali's resistance to the draft was covered in the 2013 documentary The Trials of Muhammad Ali.
NSA and FBI monitoring of Ali's communications
In a secret operation code-named "Minaret", the National Security Agency (NSA) intercepted the communications of leading Americans, including Ali, Senators Frank Church and Howard Baker, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., prominent U.S. journalists, and others who criticized the U.S. war in Vietnam. A review by the NSA of the Minaret program concluded that it was "disreputable if not outright illegal."
In 1971, his Fight of the Century with Frazier was used by an activist group, the Citizens' Commission to Investigate the FBI, to pull off a burglary at an FBI office in Pennsylvania; the anticipation for the fight was unlike anything else, so they believed the security would also be focused on the fight. This raid exposed the COINTELPRO operations that included illegal spying on activists involved with the civil rights and anti-war movements. One of the COINTELPRO targets was Ali, and their activities included the FBI gaining access to his records as far back as elementary school; one such record mentioned him loving art as a child.
Exile and comeback
In March 1966, Ali refused to be inducted into the armed forces. He was systematically denied a boxing license in every state and stripped of his passport. As a result, he did not fight from March 1967 to October 1970—from ages 25 to almost 29—as his case worked its way through the appeals process before his conviction was overturned in 1971.
Protesting while exiled
During this time of inactivity, as opposition to the Vietnam War began to grow and Ali's stance gained sympathy, he spoke at colleges across the nation, criticizing the Vietnam War and advocating African-American pride and racial justice. Ali based himself in Chicago. According to most close to him, his Chicago years were formative.
At the time, Ali was widely condemned by the American media, with fears that his actions could potentially lead to mass civil disobedience. Despite this, Ebony magazine noted in the late 1960s that Ali's popularity had increased during this time, especially among black people.
The Super Fight
While banned from sanctioned bouts, Ali settled a $1 million lawsuit against radio producer Murray Woroner by accepting $10,000 to appear in a privately staged fantasy fight against retired champion Rocky Marciano. In 1969 the boxers were filmed sparring for about 75 one-minute rounds; they produced several potential outcomes. A computer program purportedly determined the winner, based on data about the fighters, along with the opinions of approximately 250 boxing experts. Edited versions of the bout were shown in movie theaters in 1970. In the U.S. version Ali lost in a simulated 13th-round knockout, but in the European version Marciano lost due to cuts, also simulated.
Ali suggested that prejudice determined his defeat in the U.S. version. He was reported to jokingly say, "That computer was made in Alabama."
Return to prizefighting
On August 11, 1970, with his case still in appeal, Ali was granted a license to box by the City of Atlanta Athletic Commission. Leroy Johnson, Jesse Hill Jr. and Harry Pett had used their local political influence and set up the company House of Sports to organize the fight, underlining the influential power of Georgia's black politics in Ali' s comeback. Ali's first return bout was against Jerry Quarry on October 26, resulting in a win after three rounds after Quarry was cut.
A month earlier, a victory in federal court forced the New York State Boxing Commission to reinstate Ali's license. He fought Oscar Bonavena at Madison Square Garden in December, an uninspired performance that ended in a dramatic technical knockout of Bonavena in the 15th round. The win left Ali as a top contender against heavyweight champion Joe Frazier.
First fight against Joe Frazier
Ali and Frazier's first fight, held at the Garden on March 8, 1971, was nicknamed the "Fight of the Century", due to the tremendous excitement surrounding a bout between two undefeated fighters, each with a legitimate claim to be heavyweight champion. Veteran US boxing writer John Condon called it "the greatest event I've ever worked on in my life." The bout was broadcast to 36 countries; promoters granted 760 press passes.
Adding to the atmosphere were the considerable pre-fight theatrics and name calling. Before the fight Frazier called Ali, "Cassius Clay", this angered Ali and he portrayed Frazier as a "dumb tool of the white establishment." "Frazier is too ugly to be champ", Ali said. "Frazier is too dumb to be champ." Ali also frequently called Frazier an "Uncle Tom". Dave Wolf, who worked in Frazier's camp, recalled that, "Ali was saying 'the only people rooting for Joe Frazier are white people in suits, Alabama sheriffs, and members of the Ku Klux Klan. I'm fighting for the little man in the ghetto.' Joe was sitting there, smashing his fist into the palm of his hand, saying, 'What the fuck does he know about the ghetto?
Ali began training at a farm near Reading, Pennsylvania, in 1971 and, finding the country setting to his liking, sought to develop a real training camp in the countryside. He found a five-acre site on a Pennsylvania country road in the village of Deer Lake, Pennsylvania. On this site, Ali carved out what was to become his training camp, where he trained for all his fights from 1972 to the end of his career in 1981.
The Monday night fight lived up to its billing. In a preview of their two other fights, a crouching, bobbing and weaving Frazier constantly pressured Ali, getting hit regularly by Ali jabs and combinations, but relentlessly attacking and scoring repeatedly, especially to Ali's body. The fight was even in the early rounds, but Ali was taking more punishment than ever in his career. On several occasions in the early rounds he played to the crowd and shook his head "no" after he was hit. In the later rounds—in what was the first appearance of the "rope-a-dope strategy"—Ali leaned against the ropes and absorbed punishment from Frazier, hoping to tire him. In the 11th round, Frazier connected with a left hook that wobbled Ali, but because it appeared that Ali might be clowning as he staggered backwards across the ring, Frazier hesitated to press his advantage, fearing an Ali counter-attack. In the final round, Frazier knocked Ali down with a vicious left hook, which referee Arthur Mercante said was as hard as a man can be hit. Ali was back on his feet in three seconds. Nevertheless, Ali lost by unanimous decision, his first professional defeat.
Chamberlain challenge and Ellis fight
In 1971, basketball star Wilt Chamberlain challenged Ali to a fight, and a bout was scheduled for July 26. Although the seven-foot-two-inch tall Chamberlain had formidable physical advantages over Ali—weighing 60pounds more and able to reach 14inches further—Ali was able to influence Chamberlain into calling off the bout by taunting him with calls of "Timber!" and "The tree will fall" during a shared interview. These statements of confidence unsettled his taller opponent, whom Los Angeles Lakers owner Jack Kent Cooke had offered a record-setting contract, conditional on Chamberlain agreeing to abandon what Cooke termed "this boxing foolishness", and he did exactly that. To replace Ali's opponent, promoter Bob Arum quickly booked a former sparring partner of Ali's, Jimmy Ellis, who was a childhood friend from Louisville, Kentucky, to fight him.
After his loss
Fights against Quarry, Patterson, Foster and Norton
After the loss to Frazier, Ali fought Jerry Quarry, had a second bout with Floyd Patterson and faced Bob Foster in 1972, winning a total of six fights that year. In 1973, Ken Norton broke Ali's jaw while giving him the second loss of his career. After initially considering retirement, Ali won a controversial decision against Norton in their second bout. This led to a rematch with Joe Frazier at Madison Square Garden on January 28, 1974; Frazier had recently lost his title to George Foreman.
Second fight against Joe Frazier
Ali was strong in the early rounds of the fight, and staggered Frazier in the second round. Referee Tony Perez mistakenly thought he heard the bell ending the round and stepped between the two fighters as Ali was pressing his attack, giving Frazier time to recover. However, Frazier came on in the middle rounds, snapping Ali's head in round seven and driving him to the ropes at the end of round eight. The last four rounds saw round-to-round shifts in momentum between the two fighters. Throughout most of the bout, however, Ali was able to circle away from Frazier's dangerous left hook and to tie Frazier up when he was cornered, the latter a tactic that Frazier's camp complained of bitterly. Judges awarded Ali a unanimous decision.
World heavyweight champion (second reign)
The Rumble in the Jungle
The defeat of Frazier set the stage for a title fight against heavyweight champion George Foreman in Kinshasa, Zaire, on October 30, 1974—a bout nicknamed The Rumble in the Jungle. Foreman was considered one of the hardest punchers in heavyweight history. In assessing the fight, analysts pointed out that Joe Frazier and Ken Norton, who had given Ali four tough battles and won two of them, had both been devastated by Foreman in second-round knockouts. Ali was 32 years old, and had clearly lost speed and reflexes since his twenties. Contrary to his later persona, Foreman was at the time a brooding and intimidating presence. Almost no one associated with the sport, not even Ali's long-time supporter Howard Cosell, gave the former champion a chance of winning.
As usual, Ali was confident and colorful before the fight. He told interviewer David Frost, "If you think the world was surprised when Nixon resigned, wait till I whup Foreman's behind!" He told the press, "I've done something new for this fight. I done wrestled with an alligator, I done tussled with a whale; handcuffed lightning, thrown thunder in jail; only last week, I murdered a rock, injured a stone, hospitalized a brick; I'm so mean I make medicine sick." Ali was wildly popular in Zaire, with crowds chanting "Ali, bomaye" ("Ali, kill him") wherever he went.
Ali opened the fight moving and scoring with right crosses to Foreman's head. Then, beginning in the second round, and to the consternation of his corner, Ali retreated to the ropes and invited Foreman to hit him while covering up, clinching and counter-punching, all while verbally taunting Foreman. The move, which would later become known as the "Rope-a-dope", so violated conventional boxing wisdom—letting one of the hardest hitters in boxing strike at will—that at ringside writer George Plimpton thought the fight had to be fixed. Foreman, increasingly angered, threw punches that were deflected and did not land squarely. Midway through the fight, as Foreman began tiring, Ali countered more frequently and effectively with punches and flurries, which electrified the pro-Ali crowd. In the eighth round, Ali dropped an exhausted Foreman with a combination at center ring; Foreman failed to make the count. Against the odds, and amidst pandemonium in the ring, Ali had regained the title by knockout. Reflecting on the fight, George Foreman later said: "I thought Ali was just one more knockout victim until, about the seventh round, I hit him hard to the jaw and he held me and whispered in my ear: 'That all you got, George?' I realized that this ain't what I thought it was."
It was a major upset victory, after Ali came in as a 41 underdog against the previously unbeaten, heavy-hitting Foreman. The fight became famous for Ali's introduction of the rope-a-dope tactic. The fight was watched by a record estimated television audience of 1billion viewers worldwide. It was the world's most-watched live television broadcast at the time.
Fights against Wepner, Lyle and Bugner
Ali's next opponents included Chuck Wepner, Ron Lyle, and Joe Bugner. Wepner, a journeyman known as "The Bayonne Bleeder", stunned Ali with a knockdown in the ninth round; Ali would later say he tripped on Wepner's foot. It was a bout that would inspire Sylvester Stallone to create the acclaimed film, Rocky.
Third fight against Joe Frazier
Ali then agreed to a third match with Joe Frazier in Manila. The bout, known as the "Thrilla in Manila", was held on October 1, 1975, in temperatures approaching . In the first rounds, Ali was aggressive, moving and exchanging blows with Frazier. However, Ali soon appeared to tire and adopted the "rope-a-dope" strategy, frequently resorting to clinches. During this part of the bout Ali did some effective counter-punching, but for the most part absorbed punishment from a relentlessly attacking Frazier. In the 12th round, Frazier began to tire, and Ali scored several sharp blows that closed Frazier's left eye and opened a cut over his right eye. With Frazier's vision now diminished, Ali dominated the 13th and 14th rounds, at times conducting what boxing historian Mike Silver called "target practice" on Frazier's head. The fight was stopped when Frazier's trainer, Eddie Futch, refused to allow Frazier to answer the bell for the 15th and final round, despite Frazier's protests. Frazier's eyes were both swollen shut. Ali, in his corner, winner by TKO, slumped on his stool, clearly spent.
An ailing Ali said afterwards that the fight "was the closest thing to dying that I know", and, when later asked if he had viewed the fight on videotape, reportedly said, "Why would I want to go back and see Hell?" After the fight he cited Frazier as "the greatest fighter of all times next to me."
After the third fight with Frazier, Ali considered retirement. He said, “I’m sore all over. My arms, my face, my sides all ache. I’m so, so tired. There is a great possibility that I will retire. You might have seen the last of me. I want to sit back and count my money, live in my house and my farm, work for my people and concentrate on my family."
Later career
Following the Manila bout, Ali fought Jean-Pierre Coopman, Jimmy Young, and Richard Dunn, winning the last by knockout.
The punch used to knock Dunn out was taught to Ali by Taekwondo Grandmaster Jhoon Rhee. Rhee called that punch the "Accupunch"; he learned it from Bruce Lee. The Dunn fight was the last time Ali would knock down an opponent in his boxing career.
Ali fought Ken Norton for the third time in September 1976. The bout, which was held at Yankee Stadium, resulted in Ali winning a heavily contested decision that was loudly booed by the audience. Afterwards, he announced he was retiring from boxing to practice his faith, having converted to Sunni Islam after falling out with the Nation of Islam the previous year.
After returning to beat Alfredo Evangelista in May 1977, Ali struggled in his next fight against Earnie Shavers that September, getting pummeled a few times by punches to the head. Ali won the fight by another unanimous decision, but the bout caused his longtime doctor Ferdie Pacheco to quit after he was rebuffed for telling Ali he should retire. Pacheco was quoted as saying, "the New York State Athletic Commission gave me a report that showed Ali's kidneys were falling apart. I wrote to Angelo Dundee, Ali's trainer, his wife and Ali himself. I got nothing back in response. That's when I decided enough is enough."
In February 1978, Ali faced Leon Spinks at the Hilton Hotel in Las Vegas. At the time, Spinks had only seven professional fights to his credit, and had recently fought a draw with journeyman Scott LeDoux. Ali sparred less than two dozen rounds in preparation for the fight, and was seriously out of shape by the opening bell. He lost the title by split decision. A rematch occurred in September at the Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. 70,000 people attended the bout and paid a total of $6 million admission, making it the largest live gate in boxing history at that time. Ali won a unanimous decision in an uninspiring fight, with referee Lucien Joubert scoring rounds 10-4, judge Ernie Cojoe 10-4, and judge Herman Preis 11-4. This made Ali the first heavyweight champion to win the belt three times.
Following this win, on July 27, 1979, Ali announced his retirement from boxing. His retirement was short-lived, however; Ali announced his comeback to face Larry Holmes for the WBC belt in an attempt to win the heavyweight championship an unprecedented fourth time. The fight was largely motivated by Ali's need for money. Boxing writer Richie Giachetti said, "Larry didn't want to fight Ali. He knew Ali had nothing left; he knew it would be a horror."
It was around this time that Ali started struggling with vocal stutters and trembling hands. The Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC) ordered that he undergo a complete physical in Las Vegas before being allowed to fight again. Ali chose instead to check into the Mayo Clinic, who declared him fit to fight. Their opinion was accepted by the NAC on July 31, 1980, paving the way for Ali's return to the ring.
The fight took place on October 2, 1980, in Las Vegas Valley, with Holmes easily dominating Ali, who was weakened from thyroid medication he had taken to lose weight. Giachetti called the fight "awful ... the worst sports event I ever had to cover." Actor Sylvester Stallone was at ringside and said that it was like watching an autopsy on a man who is still alive. After the tenth round, Angelo Dundee told the referee to stop the fight, making it the only time that Ali ever lost by stoppage. The Holmes fight is said to have contributed to Ali's Parkinson's syndrome. Despite pleas to definitively retire, Ali fought one last time on December 11, 1981, in Nassau, Bahamas, against Trevor Berbick, losing a ten-round decision.
By the end of his boxing career Ali had absorbed an estimated 200,000 hits.
Exhibition bouts
Ali boxed both well known boxers and celebrities from other walks of life, including Michael Dokes, Antonio Inoki, Lyle Alzado, Dave Semenko, and the famous Puerto Rican comedian Jose Miguel Agrelot (with Iris Chacon acting as Agrelot's corner-woman).
Ali vs Inoki
On June 26, 1976, Ali participated in an exhibition bout in Tokyo against Japanese professional wrestler and martial artist Antonio Inoki. Ali was only able to land two jabs while Inoki's kicks caused two blood clots and an infection that almost resulted in Ali's leg being amputated, as a result of Ali's team insisting on rules restricting Inoki's ability to wrestle. The match was not scripted and ultimately declared a draw. After Ali's death, The New York Times declared it his least memorable fight. Most boxing commentators at the time viewed the fight negatively and hoped it would be forgotten as some considered it a "15-round farce." Today it is considered by some to be one of Ali's most influential fights and CBS Sports said the attention the mixed-style bout received "foretold the arrival of standardized MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) years later." After the fight, Ali and Inoki became friends.
Ali vs Alzado
In 1979, Ali fought an exhibition match against NFL player Lyle Alzado. The fight went 8 rounds and was declared a draw.
Ali vs Semenko
Ali fought NHL player, Dave Semenko in an exhibition on June 12, 1983. The match was officially a draw after going three rounds, but the Associated Press reported Ali was not seriously trying and was just toying with Semenko.
Personal life
Marriages and children
Ali was married four times and had seven daughters and two sons. Ali was introduced to cocktail waitress Sonji Roi by Herbert Muhammad and asked her to marry him after their first date. They married approximately one month later on August 14, 1964. They quarreled over Sonji's refusal to join the Nation Of Islam. According to Ali, "She wouldn't do what she was supposed to do. She wore lipstick; she went into bars; she dressed in clothes that were revealing and didn't look right." The marriage was childless and they divorced on January 10, 1966. Just before the divorce was finalized, Ali sent Sonji a note: "You traded heaven for hell, baby." Ali's brother Rahman said that she was Ali's only true love and the Nation of Islam made Ali divorce her and Ali never got over it.
On August 17, 1967, Ali married Belinda Boyd. Born into a Chicago family that had converted to the Nation Of Islam, she later changed her name to Khalilah Ali, though she was still called Belinda by old friends and family. They had four children: author and rapper Maryum "May May" (born 1968); twins Jamillah and Rasheda (born 1970), who married Robert Walsh and has a son, Biaggio Ali, born in 1998; and Muhammad Ali Jr. (born 1972). Rasheda's son Nico is a professional boxer.
Ali was a resident of Cherry Hill, New Jersey in the early 1970s. At age 32 in 1974, Ali began an extramarital relationship with 16-year-old Wanda Bolton (who subsequently changed her name to Aaisha Ali) with whom he fathered another daughter, Khaliah (born 1974). While still married to Belinda, Ali married Aaisha in an Islamic ceremony that was not legally recognized. According to Khaliah, Aaisha and her mother lived at Ali's Deer Lake training camp alongside Belinda and her children. In January 1985, Aaisha sued Ali for unpaid palimony. The case was settled when Ali agreed to set up a $200,000 trust fund for Khaliah. In 2001 Khaliah was quoted as saying she believed her father viewed her as "a mistake". He had another daughter, Miya (born 1972), from an extramarital relationship with Patricia Harvell.
By the summer of 1977, his second marriage ended due to Ali's repeated infidelity, and he had married actress and model Veronica Porché. At the time of their marriage, they had a daughter, Hana, and Veronica was pregnant with their second child. Their second daughter, Laila Ali, was born in December 1977. By 1986, Ali and Porché were divorced due to Ali's continuous infidelity. Porché said of Ali's infidelity, "It was too much temptation for him, with women who threw themselves at him, It didn’t mean anything. He didn't have affairs – he had one-night stands. I knew beyond a doubt there were no feelings involved. It was so obvious, It was easy to forgive him."
On November 19, 1986, Ali married Yolanda "Lonnie" Williams. Lonnie first met Ali at the age of 6 when her family moved to Louisville in 1963. In 1982, she became Ali's primary caregiver and in return, he paid for her to attend graduate school at UCLA. Together they adopted a son, Asaad Amin (born 1986), when Asaad was five months old. In 1992, Lonnie incorporated Greatest of All Time, Inc. (G.O.A.T. Inc) to consolidate and license his intellectual properties for commercial purposes. She served as the vice president and treasurer until the sale of the company in 2006.
Kiiursti Mensah-Ali claims she is Ali's biological daughter with Barbara Mensah, with whom he allegedly had a 20-year relationship, citing photographs and a paternity test conducted in 1988. She said he accepted responsibility and took care of her, but all contacts with him were cut off after he married his fourth wife Lonnie. Kiiursti says she has a relationship with his other children. After his death she again made passionate appeals to be allowed to mourn at his funeral.
In 2010, Osmon Williams came forward claiming to be Ali's biological son. His mother Temica Williams (also known as Rebecca Holloway) launched a $3 million lawsuit against Ali in 1981 for sexual assault, claiming that she had started a sexual relationship with him when she was 12, and that her son Osmon (born 1977) was fathered by Ali. She further alleged that Ali had originally supported her and her son financially, but stopped doing so after four years. The case went on until 1986 and was eventually thrown out as her allegations were deemed to be barred by the statute of limitations. According to Veronica, Ali admitted to the affair with Williams, but did not believe Osmon was his son which Veronica supported by saying "Everybody in the camp was going with that girl." Ali biographer and friend Thomas Hauser has said this claim was of "questionable veracity".
Ali then lived in Scottsdale, Arizona with Lonnie. In January 2007, it was reported that they had put their home in Berrien Springs, Michigan, which they had bought in 1975, up for sale and had purchased a home in eastern Jefferson County, Kentucky for $1,875,000. Both homes were subsequently sold after Ali's death with Lonnie living in their remaining home in Paradise Valley, Arizona. Lonnie converted to Islam from Catholicism in her late twenties.
In an interview in 1974, Ali said, "If they say stand and salute the flag I do that out of respect, because I'm in the country". Ali would later say, "If America was in trouble and real war came, I'd be on the front line if we had been attacked. But I could see that (The Vietnam War) wasn't right." He also said, "Black men would go over there and fight, but when they came home, they couldn't even be served a hamburger."
Ali's daughter Laila was a professional boxer from 1999 until 2007, despite her father's previous opposition to women's boxing. In 1978, he said "Women are not made to be hit in the breast, and face like that." Ali still attended a number of his daughter's fights and later admitted to Laila he was wrong. Ali's daughter Hana is married to Bellator middleweight fighter Kevin Casey. Hana wrote about her father, "His love for people was extraordinary. I would get home from school to find homeless families sleeping in our guest room. He’d see them on the street, pile them into his Rolls-Royce and bring them home. He’d buy them clothes, take them to hotels and pay the bills for months in advance." She also said celebrities like Michael Jackson and Clint Eastwood would often visit Ali. After Ali met a lesbian couple who were fans of his in 1997, he smiled and said to his friend Hauser, "They look like they’re happy together." Hauser wrote about the story, "The thought that Liz and Roz (the lesbian couple he met) were happy pleased Muhammad. Ali wanted people to be happy."
Religion and beliefs
Affiliation with the Nation of Islam
Ali said that he first heard of the Nation of Islam when he was fighting in the Golden Gloves tournament in Chicago in 1959, and attended his first Nation of Islam meeting in 1961. He continued to attend meetings, although keeping his involvement hidden from the public. In 1962, Clay met Malcolm X, who soon became his spiritual and political mentor. By the time of the first Liston fight, Nation of Islam members, including Malcolm X, were visible in his entourage. This led to a story in The Miami Herald just before the fight disclosing that Clay had joined the Nation of Islam, which nearly caused the bout to be canceled. The article quoted Cassius Clay Sr. as saying that his son had joined the Black Muslims when he was 18.
In fact, Clay was initially refused entry to the Nation of Islam (often called the Black Muslims at the time) due to his boxing career. However, after he won the championship from Liston in 1964, the Nation of Islam was more receptive and agreed to publicize his membership. Shortly afterwards on March 6, Elijah Muhammad gave a radio address that Clay would be renamed Muhammad (one who is worthy of praise) Ali (most high). Around that time Ali moved to the south side of Chicago and lived in a series of houses, always near the Nation of Islam's Mosque Maryam or Elijah Muhammad's residence. He stayed in Chicago for about 12 years.
Only a few journalists, most notably Howard Cosell, accepted the new name at that time. Ali stated that his earlier name was a "slave name," and a "white man's name" and added that "I didn’t choose it and I don’t want it". The person he was named after was a white man and emancipationist who released slaves. Ali explained in his autobiography after studying his works, "While Clay may have gotten rid of his slaves, he "held on to white supremacy." In truth, Cassius Clay's attachment to slavery went farther than Ali knew. In spite of his abolitionist fervor, Clay owned more slaves in 1865, when the 13th Amendment to the Constitution finally forbade its practice, than he had inherited from his father 37 years earlier.
Not afraid to antagonize the white establishment, Ali stated, "I am America. I am the part you won't recognize. But get used to me. Black, confident, cocky; my name, not yours; my religion, not yours; my goals, my own; get used to me." Ali's friendship with Malcolm X ended as Malcolm split with the Nation of Islam a couple of weeks after Ali joined, and Ali remained with the Nation of Islam. Ali later said that turning his back on Malcolm was one of the mistakes he regretted most in his life.
Aligning himself with the Nation of Islam, its leader Elijah Muhammad, and a narrative that labeled the white race as the perpetrator of genocide against African Americans made Ali a target of public condemnation. The Nation of Islam was widely viewed by whites and some African Americans as a black separatist "hate religion" with a propensity toward violence; Ali had few qualms about using his influential voice to speak Nation of Islam doctrine. In a press conference articulating his opposition to the Vietnam War, Ali stated, "My enemy is the white people, not Vietcong or Chinese or Japanese." In relation to integration, he said: "We who follow the teachings of Elijah Muhammad don't want to be forced to integrate. Integration is wrong. We don't want to live with the white man; that's all." Further articulating his opposition to integration, he told members of the KKK at a Klan rally in 1975 that "black people should marry their own women... blue birds are blue birds, red birds are red birds, pigeons with pigeons, eagles with eagles, God did not make no mistake".
Writer Jerry Izenberg once noted that, "the Nation became Ali's family and Elijah Muhammad became his father. But there is an irony to the fact that while the Nation branded white people as devils, Ali had more white colleagues than most African American people did at that time in America, and continued to have them throughout his career."
Conversion to Sunni/Sufi Islam
In Hauser's biography Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times, Ali says that although he's not a Christian as he thinks the idea of God having a son sounds wrong and doesn't make sense to him, as he believes, "God don't beget; man begets". He still believes that even good Christians or good Jews can receive God's blessing and enter heaven as he stated, "God created all people, no matter what their religion". He also stated, "If you're against someone because he's a Muslim that's wrong. If you're against someone because he's a Christian or a Jew, that's wrong".
In a 2004 autobiography, Ali attributed his conversion to mainstream Sunni Islam to Warith Deen Muhammad, who assumed leadership of the Nation of Islam upon the death of his father Elijah Muhammad, and persuaded the Nation's followers to become adherents of Sunni Islam. He said some people didn't like the change and stuck to Elijah's teachings, but he admired it and so left Elijah's teachings and became a follower of Sunni Islam.
Ali had gone on the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca in 1972, which inspired him in a similar manner to Malcolm X, meeting people of different colors from all over the world giving him a different outlook and greater spiritual awareness. In 1977, he said that, after he retired, he would dedicate the rest of his life to getting "ready to meet God" by helping people, charitable causes, uniting people and helping to make peace. He went on another Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca in 1988.
After the September 11 attacks in 2001, he stated that "Islam is a religion of peace" and "does not promote terrorism or killing people", and that he was "angry that the world sees a certain group of Islam followers who caused this destruction, but they are not real Muslims. They are racist fanatics who call themselves Muslims." In December 2015, he stated that "True Muslims know that the ruthless violence of so-called Islamic jihadists goes against the very tenets of our religion", that "We as Muslims have to stand up to those who use Islam to advance their own personal agenda", and that "political leaders should use their position to bring understanding about the religion of Islam, and clarify that these misguided murderers have perverted people's views on what Islam really is."
In later life after retiring from boxing, Ali became a student of the Quran and a devout Muslim. He also developed an interest in Sufism, which he referenced in his autobiography, The Soul of a Butterfly. According to Ali's daughter, Hana Yasmeen Ali, who co-authored The Soul of a Butterfly with him, Ali was attracted to Sufism after reading the books of Inayat Khan, which contain Sufi teachings.
Muhammad Ali received guidance from Islamic scholars such as Grand Mufti of Syria Almarhum Asy-Syaikh Ahmed Kuftaro, Hisham Kabbani, Imam Zaid Shakir, Hamza Yusuf, and Timothy J. Gianotti, who was at Ali's bedside during his last days and ensured that although his funeral was interfaith, it was still in accordance with Islamic rites and rituals.
Beatles reunion plan
In 1976, inventor Alan Amron and businessman Joel Sacher partnered with Ali to promote The International Committee to Reunite the Beatles. They asked fans worldwide to contribute a dollar each. Ali said the idea was not to use the proceeds for profit, but to establish an international agency to help poor children. "This is money to help people all over the world", he said. He added, "I love the music. I used to train to their music." He said a reunion of the Beatles "would make a lot of people happy." The former Beatles were indifferent to the plan, which elicited only a tepid response from the public. No reunion happened.
Entertainment career
Acting
Ali had a cameo role in the 1962 film version of Requiem for a Heavyweight, and during his exile from boxing, he starred in the short-lived 1969 Broadway musical, Buck White. He also appeared in the documentary film Black Rodeo (1972) riding both a horse and a bull.
His autobiography The Greatest: My Own Story, written with Richard Durham, was published in 1975. In 1977 the book was adapted into a film called The Greatest, in which Ali played himself and Ernest Borgnine played Angelo Dundee.
The film Freedom Road, made in 1978, features Ali in a rare acting role as Gideon Jackson, a former slave and Union (American Civil War) soldier in 1870s Virginia, who gets elected to the U.S. Senate and battles alongside former slaves and white sharecroppers to keep the land they have tended all their lives.
Spoken word poetry and rap music
Ali often used rhyme schemes and spoken word poetry, both for when he was trash-talking in boxing and as political poetry for his activism outside of boxing. He played a role in the shaping of the black poetic tradition, paving the way for The Last Poets in 1968, Gil Scott-Heron in 1970, and the emergence of rap music in the 1970s. According to The Guardian, "Some have argued that" Ali was "the first rapper."
In 1963, Ali released an album of spoken word music on Columbia Records titled, I Am the Greatest, and in 1964, he recorded a cover version of the rhythm and blues song "Stand by Me". I Am the Greatest sold 500,000 copies, and has been identified as an early example of rap music and a precursor to hip hop. It reached number 61 on the album chart and was nominated for a Grammy Award. He later received a second Grammy nomination, for "Best Recording for Children", with his 1976 spoken word novelty record, The Adventures of Ali and His Gang vs. Mr. Tooth Decay.
Ali was an influential figure in the world of hip hop music. As a "rhyming trickster", he was noted for his "funky delivery", "boasts", "comical trash-talk", and "endless quotables." According to Rolling Stone, his "freestyle skills" and his "rhymes, flow, and braggadocio" would "one day become typical of old school MCs" like Run–D.M.C. and LL Cool J, and his "outsized ego foreshadowed the vainglorious excesses of Kanye West, while his Afrocentric consciousness and cutting honesty pointed forward to modern bards like Rakim, Nas, Jay-Z, and Kendrick Lamar." “I’ve wrestled with alligators, I’ve tussled with a whale. I done handcuffed lightning and throw thunder in jail. You know I’m bad. Just last week, I murdered a rock, Injured a stone, Hospitalized a brick. I’m so mean, I make medicine sick” "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. His hands can't hit what his eyes can't see. Now you see me, now you don't. George thinks he will, but I know he won't.” Ali spoke like no man the world had seen before. So confident in what he said; fluent, smooth, creative, and intimidating. He was a boxer and an activist, but he also had a role in influencing what now dominated pop-culture, hip-hop. In 2006, the documentary Ali Rap was produced by ESPN. Chuck D, a rapper for the band Public Enemy is the host. Other rappers narrated the documentary as well, including Doug E Fresh, Ludacris and Rakim who all spoke on Ali's behalf in the film.
He has been cited as an inspiration by rappers such as LL Cool J, Public Enemy's Chuck D, Jay-Z, Eminem, Sean Combs, Slick Rick, Nas and MC Lyte. Ali has been referenced in a number of hip hop songs, including Migos "Fight Night", The Game's "Jesus Piece", Nas' "The Message, The Sugarhill Gang's "Rapper's Delight", the Fugees' "Ready or Not", EPMD's "You're a Customer" and Will Smith's "Gettin' Jiggy wit It".
Professional wrestling
Ali was involved with professional wrestling at different times in his career.
On June 1, 1976, as Ali was preparing for his bout with Inoki, he attended a match featuring Gorilla Monsoon. After the match was over, Ali removed his shirt and jacket and confronted professional wrestler Gorilla Monsoon in the ring after his match at a World Wide Wrestling Federation show in Philadelphia Arena. After dodging a few punches, Monsoon put Ali in an airplane spin and dumped him to the mat. Ali stumbled to the corner, where his associate Butch Lewis convinced him to walk away.
On March 31, 1985, Ali was the special guest referee for the main event of the inaugural WrestleMania event.
In 1995, Ali led a group of Japanese and American professional wrestlers, including his 1976 opponent Antonio Inoki and Ric Flair, on a sports diplomacy mission to North Korea. Ali was guest of honor at the record-breaking Collision in Korea, a wrestling event with the largest attendance of all time.
Television appearances
Muhammad Ali's fights were some of the world's most-watched television broadcasts, setting television viewership records. His most-watched fights drew an estimated 12 billion viewers worldwide between 1974 and 1980, and were the world's most-watched live television broadcasts at the time. Outside of fights, he made many other television appearances. The following table lists known viewership figures of his non-fight television appearances. For television viewership figures of his fights, see Boxing career of Muhammad Ali: Television viewership.
Art
Ali was also an amateur artist and made dozens of drawings and paintings in the 1970s. In 1977, Rodney Hilton Brown, who owned an art gallery in NYC, asked Ali if he was interested in painting. Ali took him up on the offer and produced several paintings for him to sell. Brown is the author of “Muhammad Ali: The Untold Story: Painter, Poet and Prophet." In October 2021, 26 of his drawings and arts were placed on auction and sold for close to $1 Million USD.
Later years
In 1984, Ali was diagnosed with Parkinson's Syndrome, which sometimes results from head trauma from violent physical activities such as boxing. Ali still remained active during this time, later participating as a guest referee at WrestleMania I.
Philanthropy, humanitarianism and politics
Ali was known for being a humanitarian and philanthropist. He focused on practicing his Islamic duty of charity and good deeds, donating millions to charity organizations and disadvantaged people of all religious backgrounds. It is estimated that Ali helped to feed more than 22million people afflicted by hunger across the world. Early in his career, one of his main focuses was youth education. He spoke at several historically black colleges and universities about the importance of education, and became the largest single black donor to the United Negro College Fund in 1967 by way of a $10,000 donation ($78,000 in 2020 USD). In late 1966, he also pledged to donate a total of $100,000 to the UNCF (specifically promising to donate much of the proceeds of his title defense against Cleveland Williams), and paid $4,500 per closed circuit installation at six HBCUs so they could watch his fights.
Ali began visiting Africa, starting in 1964 when he visited Nigeria and Ghana. In 1974, he visited a Palestinian refugee camp in Southern Lebanon, where Ali declared "support for the Palestinian struggle to liberate their homeland." In 1978, following his loss to Spinks and before winning the rematch, Ali visited Bangladesh and received honorary citizenship there. The same year, he participated in The Longest Walk, a protest march in the United States in support of Native American rights, along with singer Stevie Wonder and actor Marlon Brando.
In 1980, Ali was recruited by President Jimmy Carter for a diplomatic mission to Africa, in an effort to persuade a number of African governments to join the US-led boycott of the Moscow Olympics (in response to the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan). According to Ali biographer Thomas Hauser, "at best, it was ill-conceived; at worst, a diplomatic disaster." The Tanzanian government was insulted that Carter had sent an athlete to discuss a serious political issue. One official asked whether the United States would "send Chris Evert to negotiate with London." Consequently, Ali was only received by the youth and culture minister, rather than President Julius Nyerere. Ali was unable to explain why the African countries should join the US boycott when it had failed to support the African boycott of the 1976 Olympics (in protest at Apartheid in South Africa), and was unaware that the Soviet Union was sponsoring popular revolutionary movements in Africa. Ali conceded "They didn't tell me about that in America", and complained that Carter had sent him "around the world to take the whupping over American policies." The Nigerian government also rebuffed him and confirmed that they would be participating in the Moscow games. Ali did, however, convince the government of Kenya to boycott the Olympics.
On January 19, 1981, in Los Angeles, Ali talked a suicidal man down from jumping off a ninth-floor ledge, an event that made national news.
In 1984, Ali announced his support for the re-election of United States President Ronald Reagan. When asked to elaborate on his endorsement of Reagan, Ali told reporters, "He's keeping God in schools and that's enough." In 1985, he visited Israel to request the release of Muslim prisoners at Atlit detainee camp, which Israel declined.
Around 1987, the California Bicentennial Foundation for the U.S. Constitution selected Ali to personify the vitality of the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. Ali rode on a float at the following year's Tournament of Roses Parade, launching the U.S. Constitution's 200th birthday commemoration. In 1988, during the First Intifada, Ali participated in a Chicago rally in support of Palestine. The same year, he visited Sudan to raise awareness about the plight of famine victims. According to Politico, Ali supported Orrin Hatch politically. In 1989, he participated in an Indian charity event with the Muslim Educational Society in Kozhikode, Kerala, along with Bollywood actor Dilip Kumar.
In 1990, Ali traveled to Iraq prior to the Gulf War, and met with Saddam Hussein in an attempt to negotiate the release of American hostages. Ali secured the release of the hostages, in exchange for promising Hussein that he would bring America "an honest account" of Iraq. Despite arranging the hostages release, he received criticism from President George H. W. Bush, and Joseph C. Wilson, the highest-ranking American diplomat in Baghdad.Ali cooperated with Thomas Hauser on a biography, Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times. The oral history was published in 1991.
In 1994, Ali campaigned to the United States government to come to the aid of refugees afflicted by the Rwandan genocide, and to donate to organizations helping Rwandan refugees.
In 1996, he lit the flame at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. It was watched by an estimated 3.5billion viewers worldwide.
On November 17, 2002, Ali went to Afghanistan as the "U.N. Messenger of Peace." He was in Kabul for a three-day goodwill mission as a special guest of the UN.
On September 1, 2009, Ali visited Ennis, County Clare, Ireland, the home of his great-grandfather, Abe Grady, who emigrated to the U.S. in the 1860s, eventually settling in Kentucky.
On July 27, 2012, Ali was a titular bearer of the Olympic flag during the opening ceremonies of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. He was helped to his feet by his wife Lonnie to stand before the flag due to his Parkinson's Syndrome rendering him unable to carry it into the stadium. The same year, he was awarded the Philadelphia Liberty Medal in recognition of his lifelong efforts in activism, philanthropy and humanitarianism.
Earnings
By 1978, Ali's total fight purse earnings were estimated to be nearly $60million (inflation-adjusted ), including an estimated $47.45million grossed between 1970 and 1978. By 1980, his total fight purse earnings were estimated to be up to $70million (inflation-adjusted $million).
In 1978, Ali revealed that he was "broke" and several news outlets reported his net worth to be an estimated (inflation-adjusted $million). The press attributed his decline in wealth to several factors, including taxes consuming at least half of his income, management taking a third of his income, his lifestyle, and spending on family, charity and religious causes.
In 2006, Ali sold his name and image for $50million, after which Forbes estimated his net worth to be $55million in 2006. Following his death in 2016, his fortune was estimated to be between $50million and $80million.
Declining health
Ali's bout with Parkinson's Syndrome led to a gradual decline in his health, though he was still active into the early years of the millennium, promoting his own biopic, Ali, in 2001. That year he also contributed an on-camera segment to the America: A Tribute to Heroes benefit concert.
In 1998, Ali began working with actor Michael J. Fox, who has Parkinson's disease, to raise awareness and fund research for a cure. They made a joint appearance before Congress to push the case in 2002. In 2000, Ali worked with the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Disease to raise awareness and encourage donations for research.
In February 2013, Ali's brother Rahman Ali said Muhammad could no longer speak and could be dead within days. Ali's daughter May May Ali responded to the rumors, stating that she had talked to him on the phone the morning of February 3 and he was fine. On December 20, 2014, Ali was hospitalized for a mild case of pneumonia. Ali was once again hospitalized on January 15, 2015, for a urinary tract infection after being found unresponsive at a guest house in Scottsdale, Arizona. He was released the next day.
Death
Ali was hospitalized in Scottsdale, Arizona, on June 2, 2016, with a respiratory illness. Though his condition was initially described as fair, it worsened, and he died the following day at the age of 74 from septic shock.
News coverage and tributes
Following Ali's death, he was the number-one trending topic on Twitter for over 12 hours and on Facebook for several days. BET played their documentary Muhammad Ali: Made In Miami. ESPN played four hours of non-stop commercial-free coverage of Ali. News networks, such as ABC News, BBC, CNN, and Fox News, also covered him extensively.
He was mourned globally, and a family spokesman said the family "certainly believes that Muhammad was a citizen of the world ... and they know that the world grieves with him." Politicians such as Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, Donald Trump, David Cameron and more paid tribute to Ali. Ali also received numerous tributes from the world of sports including Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Floyd Mayweather, Mike Tyson, the Miami Marlins, LeBron James, Steph Curry and more. Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer stated, "Muhammad Ali belongs to the world. But he only has one hometown."
The day after Ali's death, the UFC paid tribute to Ali at their UFC 199 event in a lengthy video tribute package, crediting Ali for his accomplishments and inspiring multiple UFC champions.
Memorial
Ali's funeral had been pre-planned by himself and others for several years prior to his actual death. The services began in Louisville on June 9, 2016, with an Islamic Janazah prayer service at Freedom Hall on the grounds of the Kentucky Exposition Center. On June 10, 2016, the funeral procession passed through the streets of Louisville ending at Cave Hill Cemetery, where his body was interred during a private ceremony. A public memorial service for Ali at downtown Louisville's KFC Yum! Center was held during the afternoon of June 10. The pallbearers included Will Smith, Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson, with honorary pallbearers including George Chuvalo, Larry Holmes and George Foreman. Ali's memorial was watched by an estimated 1billion viewers worldwide.
Legacy
Ali remains the only three-time lineal heavyweight champion. He is the only boxer to be named The Ring magazine Fighter of the Year six times, and was involved in more Ring "Fight of the Year" bouts than any other fighter. He was one of only three boxers to be named "Sportsman of the Year" by Sports Illustrated. Muhammad Ali was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in its first year and held wins over seven other Hall of Fame inductees during an era that has been called the golden age of heavyweight boxing. The Associated Press ranked him as the second best boxer and best heavyweight of the 20th century. His joint records of beating 21 boxers for the world heavyweight title and winning 14 unified title bouts stood for 35 years.
In 1978, three years before Ali's permanent retirement, the Louisville Board of Aldermen in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, voted 6–5 to rename Walnut Street to Muhammad Ali Boulevard. This was controversial at the time, as within a week 12 of the 70 street signs were stolen. Earlier that year, a committee of the Jefferson County Public Schools (Kentucky) considered renaming Ali's alma mater, Central High School, in his honor, but the motion failed to pass. In time, Muhammad Ali Boulevard—and Ali himself—came to be well accepted in his hometown.
Ali was named one of the 100 most influential Americans of the 20th century by Life magazine in 1990.
In 1993, the Associated Press reported that Ali was tied with Babe Ruth as the most recognized athlete, out of over 800 dead or living athletes, in America. The study found that over 97% of Americans over 12 years of age identified both Ali and Ruth. He was the recipient of the 1997 Arthur Ashe Courage Award.
At the end of the 20th century he was ranked at or near the top of most lists of the century's greatest athletes. He was crowned Sportsman of the Century by Sports Illustrated. Named BBC's Sports Personality of the Century, he received more votes than the other five candidates combined. He was named Athlete of the Century by USA Today, and ranked as the third greatest athlete of the 20th century by ESPN SportsCentury. Ali was named "Kentucky Athlete of the Century" by the Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame in ceremonies at the Galt House East.
In 1999, Time magazine named Ali one of the 100 Most Important People of the 20th Century.
On January 8, 2001, Muhammad Ali was presented with the Presidential Citizens Medal by President Bill Clinton. In November 2005, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush, followed by the Otto Hahn Peace Medal in Gold of the UN Association of Germany (DGVN) in Berlin for his work with the civil rights movement and the United Nations, which he received on December 17, 2005.
On November 19, 2005, Ali and his wife Lonnie Ali opened the $60million non-profit Muhammad Ali Center in downtown Louisville. In addition to displaying his boxing memorabilia, the center focuses on core themes of peace, social responsibility, respect, and personal growth. On June 5, 2007, he received an honorary doctorate of humanities at Princeton University's 260th graduation ceremony.
Ali Mall, located in Araneta Center, Quezon City, Philippines, is named after him. Construction of the mall, the first of its kind in the Philippines, began shortly after Ali's victory in a match with Joe Frazier in nearby Araneta Coliseum in 1975. The mall opened in 1976 with Ali attending its opening.
The 1976 Muhammad Ali vs. Antonio Inoki fight played an important role in the history of mixed martial arts. In Japan, the match inspired Inoki's students Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki to found Pancrase in 1993, which in turn inspired the foundation of Pride Fighting Championships in 1997. Pride was acquired by its rival, Ultimate Fighting Championship, in 2007.
The Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act was introduced in 1999 and passed in 2000, to protect the rights and welfare of boxers in the United States. In May 2016, a bill was introduced to United States Congress by Markwayne Mullin, a politician and former MMA fighter, to extend the Ali Act to mixed martial arts. In June 2016, US senator Rand Paul proposed an amendment to the US draft laws named after Ali, a proposal to eliminate the Selective Service System.
In 2015, Sports Illustrated renamed its Sportsman Legacy Award to the Sports Illustrateds Muhammad Ali Legacy Award. The annual award was originally created in 2008 and honors former "sports figures who embody the ideals of sportsmanship, leadership and philanthropy as vehicles for changing the world." Ali first appeared on the magazine's cover in 1963 and went on to be featured on numerous covers during his storied career.
On January 13, 2017, seven months or so after Ali's death, and 4 days before what would have been his 75th birthday, the Muhammad Ali Commemorative Coin Act was introduced into the 115th Congress (2017–2019), as H.R. 579 (House of Representatives) and as S. 166 (Senate). However, both "died" within 10 days.
In the media and popular culture
As a world champion boxer, social activist, sex symbol and pop culture icon, Ali was the subject of numerous creative works including books, films, music, video games, TV shows, and other. Muhammad Ali was often dubbed the world's "most famous" person in the media. Several of his fights were watched by an estimated 12 billion viewers between 1974 and 1980, and his lighting of the torch at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics was watched by an estimated 3.5billion viewers.
Ali appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated on 38 different occasions, second only to Michael Jordan's 46. He also appeared on the cover of Time Magazine 5 times, the most of any athlete. In 2015, Harris Poll found that Ali was one of the three most recognizable athletes in the United States, along with Michael Jordan and Babe Ruth.
Martial artist and actor Bruce Lee was influenced by Ali, whose footwork he studied and incorporated into his own style while developing Jeet Kune Do in the 1960s.
On the set of Freedom Road Ali met Canadian singer-songwriter Michel, and subsequently helped create Michel's album The First Flight of the Gizzelda Dragon and an unaired television special featuring them both.
Ali was the subject of the British television program This Is Your Life in 1978 when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews. Ali was featured in Superman vs. Muhammad Ali, a 1978 DC Comics comic book pitting the champ against the superhero. In 1979, Ali guest-starred as himself in an episode of the NBC sitcom Diff'rent Strokes. The show's title itself was inspired by the quote "Different strokes for different folks" popularized in 1966 by Ali, who also inspired the title of the 1967 Syl Johnson song "Different Strokes", one of the most sampled songs in pop music history.
He also wrote several bestselling books about his career, including The Greatest: My Own Story and The Soul of a Butterfly. The Muhammad Ali effect, named after Ali, is a term that came into use in psychology in the 1980s, as he stated in The Greatest: My Own Story: "I only said I was the greatest, not the smartest." According to this effect, when people are asked to rate their intelligence and moral behavior in comparison to others, people will rate themselves as more moral, but not more intelligent than others.
When We Were Kings, a 1996 documentary about the Rumble in the Jungle, won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. The 2001 biopic Ali garnered a Best Actor Oscar nomination for Will Smith for his portrayal of Ali. Prior to making the film, Smith rejected the role until Ali requested that he accept it. Smith said the first thing Ali told him was: "Man, you're almost pretty enough to play me."
In 2002, Ali was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to the entertainment industry. His star is the only one to be mounted on a vertical surface, out of deference to his request that the name Muhammad—a name he shares with the Islamic prophet—not be walked upon.
His 1966 fight against George Chuvalo was the subject of Joseph Blasioli's 2003 documentary film The Last Round: Chuvalo vs. Ali.
The Trials of Muhammad Ali, a documentary directed by Bill Siegel that focuses on Ali's refusal of the draft during the Vietnam War, opened in Manhattan on August 23, 2013. A 2013 made-for-TV movie titled Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight dramatized the same aspect of Ali's life.
Antoine Fuqua's documentary What's My Name: Muhammad Ali was released in 2019.
Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns created the four-part documentary film Muhammad Ali, spanning over eight hours on Ali's entire life. Burns worked on the film since early 2016. It is scheduled to release in September 2021 on PBS. Dave Zirin who watched an 8 hour rough cut of this documentary called it "utterly outstanding" and said "the footage they found will blow minds".
Discography
I Am the Greatest (1963)
The Adventures of Ali and His Gang vs. Mr. Tooth Decay (1976)
See also
List of heavyweight boxing champions
List of WBA world champions
List of WBC world champions
List of The Ring world champions
List of undisputed boxing champions
Converts to Islam
Notable boxing families
List of people from the Louisville metropolitan area
List of North American Muslims
African-American Muslims
1981 MAPS Wells Fargo embezzlement scandal
Notes
References
Further reading
Online
Muhammad Ali: American boxer, in Encyclopædia Britannica Online, by Thomas Hauser, Adam Augustyn, Piyush Bhathya, Yamini Chauhan, John M. Cunningham, Richard Pallardy, Michael Ray, Emily Rodriguez, Surabhi Sinha, Amy Tikkanen, Grace Young and The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
External links
Official website (archived)
William Addams Reitwiesner Genealogical Services: Ancestry of Muhammad Ali
FBI Records: The Vault – Muhammad Ali at the FBI
Cassius Clay Guilty (1967), Texas Archive of the Moving Image
Photo essays'''
1942 births
2016 deaths
20th-century American rappers
20th-century Muslims
21st-century Muslims
Activists for African-American civil rights
Activists from Kentucky
African-American activists
African-American boxers
African-American male rappers
African-American Muslims
African-American poets
African-American Sunni Muslims
American anti–Vietnam War activists
American conscientious objectors
American former Protestants
American humanitarians
American male boxers
American male poets
American male rappers
American Muslim activists
American people of Irish descent
American people of Malagasy descent
American philanthropists
American spoken word poets
American Sufis
BBC Sports Personality World Sport Star of the Year winners
Boxers at the 1960 Summer Olympics
Boxers from Arizona
Boxers from Chicago
Boxers from Louisville, Kentucky
Boxers from New Jersey
Burials at Cave Hill Cemetery
Central High School (Louisville, Kentucky) alumni
COINTELPRO targets
Columbia Records artists
Converts to Sunni Islam from Protestantism
Deaths from sepsis
Former Nation of Islam members
International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees
Medalists at the 1960 Summer Olympics
Neurological disease deaths in Arizona
Olympic boxers of the United States
Olympic cauldron lighters
Olympic gold medalists for the United States in boxing
Overturned convictions in the United States
People from Cherry Hill, New Jersey
People from Paradise Valley, Arizona
People with Parkinson's disease
People with traumatic brain injuries
Poets from Arizona
Poets from Kentucky
Poets from New Jersey
Presidential Citizens Medal recipients
Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients
Professional wrestling referees
Rappers from Kentucky
Sportspeople from Camden County, New Jersey
Sportspeople from the Phoenix metropolitan area
The Ring (magazine) champions
Vietnam War draft evaders
Winners of the United States Championship for amateur boxers
World Boxing Association champions
World Boxing Council champions
World heavyweight boxing champions
Writers from Louisville, Kentucky | true | [
"Přírodní park Třebíčsko (before Oblast klidu Třebíčsko) is a natural park near Třebíč in the Czech Republic. There are many interesting plants. The park was founded in 1983.\n\nKobylinec and Ptáčovský kopeček\n\nKobylinec is a natural monument situated ca 0,5 km from the village of Trnava.\nThe area of this monument is 0,44 ha. Pulsatilla grandis can be found here and in the Ptáčovský kopeček park near Ptáčov near Třebíč. Both monuments are very popular for tourists.\n\nPonds\n\nIn the natural park there are some interesting ponds such as Velký Bor, Malý Bor, Buršík near Přeckov and a brook Březinka. Dams on the brook are examples of European beaver activity.\n\nSyenitové skály near Pocoucov\n\nSyenitové skály (rocks of syenit) near Pocoucov is one of famed locations. There are interesting granite boulders. The area of the reservation is 0,77 ha.\n\nExternal links\nParts of this article or all article was translated from Czech. The original article is :cs:Přírodní park Třebíčsko.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nNature near the village Trnava which is there\n\nTřebíč\nParks in the Czech Republic\nTourist attractions in the Vysočina Region",
"Damn Interesting is an independent website founded by Alan Bellows in 2005. The website presents true stories from science, history, and psychology, primarily as long-form articles, often illustrated with original artwork. Works are written by various authors, and published at irregular intervals. The website openly rejects advertising, relying on reader and listener donations to cover operating costs.\n\nAs of October 2012, each article is also published as a podcast under the same name. In November 2019, a second podcast was launched under the title Damn Interesting Week, featuring unscripted commentary on an assortment of news articles featured on the website's \"Curated Links\" section that week. In mid-2020, a third podcast called Damn Interesting Curio Cabinet began highlighting the website's periodic short-form articles in the same radioplay format as the original podcast.\n\nIn July 2009, Damn Interesting published the print book Alien Hand Syndrome through Workman Publishing. It contains some favorites from the site and some exclusive content.\n\nAwards and recognition \nIn August 2007, PC Magazine named Damn Interesting one of the \"Top 100 Undiscovered Web Sites\".\nThe article \"The Zero-Armed Bandit\" by Alan Bellows won a 2015 Sidney Award from David Brooks in The New York Times.\nThe article \"Ghoulish Acts and Dastardly Deeds\" by Alan Bellows was cited as \"nonfiction journalism from 2017 that will stand the test of time\" by Conor Friedersdorf in The Atlantic.\nThe article \"Dupes and Duplicity\" by Jennifer Lee Noonan won a 2020 Sidney Award from David Brooks in the New York Times.\n\nAccusing The Dollop of plagiarism \n\nOn July 9, 2015, Bellows posted an open letter accusing The Dollop, a comedy podcast about history, of plagiarism due to their repeated use of verbatim text from Damn Interesting articles without permission or attribution. Dave Anthony, the writer of The Dollop, responded on reddit, admitting to using Damn Interesting content, but claiming that the use was protected by fair use, and that \"historical facts are not copyrightable.\" In an article about the controversy on Plagiarism Today, Jonathan Bailey concluded, \"Any way one looks at it, The Dollop failed its ethical obligations to all of the people, not just those writing for Damn Interesting, who put in the time, energy and expertise into writing the original content upon which their show is based.\"\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Official website\n\n2005 podcast debuts"
] | [
"Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer, activist, entertainer, poet and philanthropist. Nicknamed The Greatest, he is widely regarded as one of the most significant and celebrated sports figures of the 20th century, and is frequently ranked as the greatest heavyweight boxer of all time. In 1999, he was named Sportsman of the Century by Sports Illustrated and the Sports Personality of the Century by the BBC.",
"In 1999, he was named Sportsman of the Century by Sports Illustrated and the Sports Personality of the Century by the BBC. Born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, he began training as an amateur boxer at age 12. At 18, he won a gold medal in the light heavyweight division at the 1960 Summer Olympics and turned professional later that year. He became a Muslim after 1961. He won the world heavyweight championship from Sonny Liston in a major upset on February 25, 1964, at age 22.",
"He won the world heavyweight championship from Sonny Liston in a major upset on February 25, 1964, at age 22. Also that year, he renounced his birth name as a \"slave name\" and formally became known as Muhammad Ali. In 1966, Ali refused to be drafted into the military owing to his religious beliefs and ethical opposition to the Vietnam War and was found guilty of draft evasion and stripped of his boxing titles.",
"In 1966, Ali refused to be drafted into the military owing to his religious beliefs and ethical opposition to the Vietnam War and was found guilty of draft evasion and stripped of his boxing titles. He stayed out of prison while appealing the decision to the Supreme Court, where his conviction was overturned in 1971. However, he had not fought for nearly four years by this point and had lost a period of peak performance as an athlete.",
"However, he had not fought for nearly four years by this point and had lost a period of peak performance as an athlete. Ali's actions as a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War made him an icon for the larger 1960s counterculture generation, and he was a very high-profile figure of racial pride for African Americans during the civil rights movement and throughout his career. As a Muslim, Ali was initially affiliated with Elijah Muhammad's Nation of Islam (NOI).",
"As a Muslim, Ali was initially affiliated with Elijah Muhammad's Nation of Islam (NOI). He later disavowed the NOI, adhering to Sunni Islam, and supported racial integration like his former mentor Malcolm X. He fought in several historic boxing matches, such as his highly publicized fights with Sonny Liston, Joe Frazier (including the Fight of the Century, the biggest boxing event up until then), the Thrilla in Manila, and his fight with George Foreman in The Rumble in the Jungle.",
"He fought in several historic boxing matches, such as his highly publicized fights with Sonny Liston, Joe Frazier (including the Fight of the Century, the biggest boxing event up until then), the Thrilla in Manila, and his fight with George Foreman in The Rumble in the Jungle. Ali thrived in the spotlight at a time when many boxers let their managers do the talking, and he became renowned for his provocative and outlandish persona.",
"Ali thrived in the spotlight at a time when many boxers let their managers do the talking, and he became renowned for his provocative and outlandish persona. He was known for trash-talking, and often free-styled with rhyme schemes and spoken word poetry incorporating elements of hip hop, and often predicted in which round he would knockout his opponent. Outside boxing, Ali attained success as a spoken word artist, releasing two studio albums: I Am the Greatest!",
"Outside boxing, Ali attained success as a spoken word artist, releasing two studio albums: I Am the Greatest! (1963) and The Adventures of Ali and His Gang vs. Mr. Tooth Decay (1976). Both albums received Grammy Award nominations. He also featured as an actor and writer, releasing two autobiographies. Ali retired from boxing in 1981 and focused on religion, philanthropy and activism.",
"Ali retired from boxing in 1981 and focused on religion, philanthropy and activism. In 1984, he made public his diagnosis of Parkinson's syndrome, which some reports attributed to boxing-related injuries, though he and his specialist physicians disputed this. He remained an active public figure globally, but in his later years made fewer public appearances as his condition worsened, and he was cared for by his family. Ali died on June 3, 2016.",
"Ali died on June 3, 2016. Ali died on June 3, 2016. Early life and amateur career Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. ( ) was born on January 17, 1942, in Louisville, Kentucky. He had one brother. He was named after his father, Cassius Marcellus Clay Sr., who had a sister and four brothers and who himself was named in honor of the 19th-century Republican politician and staunch abolitionist Cassius Marcellus Clay, also from the state of Kentucky.",
"He was named after his father, Cassius Marcellus Clay Sr., who had a sister and four brothers and who himself was named in honor of the 19th-century Republican politician and staunch abolitionist Cassius Marcellus Clay, also from the state of Kentucky. Clay's father's paternal grandparents were John Clay and Sallie Anne Clay; Clay's sister Eva claimed that Sallie was a native of Madagascar. He was a descendant of slaves of the antebellum South, and was predominantly of African descent, with some Irish and English family heritage.",
"He was a descendant of slaves of the antebellum South, and was predominantly of African descent, with some Irish and English family heritage. Ali's maternal great-grandfather, Abe Grady, emigrated from Ennis, Co. Clare, Ireland.",
"Ali's maternal great-grandfather, Abe Grady, emigrated from Ennis, Co. Clare, Ireland. DNA testing performed in 2018 showed that, through his paternal grandmother, Ali was a descendant of the former slave Archer Alexander, who had been chosen from the building crew as the model of a freed man for the Emancipation Memorial, and was the subject of abolitionist William Greenleaf Eliot's book, The Story of Archer Alexander: From Slavery to Freedom. Like Ali, Alexander fought for his freedom.",
"Like Ali, Alexander fought for his freedom. Like Ali, Alexander fought for his freedom. His father was a sign and billboard painter, and his mother, Odessa O'Grady Clay (1917–1994), was a domestic helper. Although Cassius Sr. was a Methodist, he allowed Odessa to bring up both Cassius Jr. and his younger brother, Rudolph \"Rudy\" Clay (later renamed Rahman Ali), as Baptists. Cassius Jr. attended Central High School in Louisville.",
"Cassius Jr. attended Central High School in Louisville. Cassius Jr. attended Central High School in Louisville. He was dyslexic, which led to difficulties in reading and writing, at school and for much of his life. Ali grew up amid racial segregation. His mother recalled one occasion when he was denied a drink of water at a store: \"They wouldn't give him one because of his color. That really affected him.\"",
"That really affected him.\" That really affected him.\" He was also strongly affected by the 1955 murder of Emmett Till, which led to young Clay and a friend taking out their frustration by vandalizing a local rail yard. His daughter Hana later wrote that Ali once told her, \"Nothing would ever shake me up (more) than the story of Emmett Till.\"",
"His daughter Hana later wrote that Ali once told her, \"Nothing would ever shake me up (more) than the story of Emmett Till.\" Ali was first directed toward boxing by Louisville police officer and boxing coach Joe E. Martin, who encountered the 12-year-old fuming over a thief's having taken his bicycle. He told the officer he was going to \"whup\" the thief. The officer told Clay he had better learn how to box first.",
"The officer told Clay he had better learn how to box first. Initially, Clay did not take up Martin's offer, but after seeing amateur boxers on a local television boxing program called Tomorrow's Champions, Clay was interested in the prospect of fighting. He then began to work with trainer Fred Stoner, whom he credits with giving him the \"real training\", eventually molding \"my style, my stamina and my system.\"",
"He then began to work with trainer Fred Stoner, whom he credits with giving him the \"real training\", eventually molding \"my style, my stamina and my system.\" For the last four years of Clay's amateur career he was trained by boxing cutman Chuck Bodak. Clay made his amateur boxing debut in 1954 against local amateur boxer Ronnie O'Keefe. He won by split decision.",
"He won by split decision. He won by split decision. He went on to win six Kentucky Golden Gloves titles, two national Golden Gloves titles, an Amateur Athletic Union national title, and the light heavyweight gold medal in the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. Clay's amateur record was 100 wins with five losses.",
"Clay's amateur record was 100 wins with five losses. Ali said in his 1975 autobiography that shortly after his return from the Rome Olympics, he threw his gold medal into the Ohio River after he and a friend were refused service at a \"whites-only\" restaurant and fought with a white gang. The story was later disputed, and several of Ali's friends, including Bundini Brown and photographer Howard Bingham, denied it. Brown told Sports Illustrated writer Mark Kram, \"Honkies sure bought into that one!\"",
"Brown told Sports Illustrated writer Mark Kram, \"Honkies sure bought into that one!\" Thomas Hauser's biography of Ali stated that Ali was refused service at the diner but that he lost his medal a year after he won it. Ali received a replacement medal at a basketball intermission during the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, where he lit the torch to start the games. Early professional boxing career Early career Clay made his professional debut on October 29, 1960, winning a six-round decision over Tunney Hunsaker.",
"Early professional boxing career Early career Clay made his professional debut on October 29, 1960, winning a six-round decision over Tunney Hunsaker. From then until the end of 1963, Clay amassed a record of 19–0 with 15 wins by knockout. He defeated boxers including Tony Esperti, Jim Robinson, Donnie Fleeman, Alonzo Johnson, George Logan, Willi Besmanoff, LaMar Clark, Doug Jones and Henry Cooper. Clay also beat his former trainer and veteran boxer Archie Moore in a 1962 match. These early fights were not without trials.",
"These early fights were not without trials. These early fights were not without trials. Clay was knocked down by both Sonny Banks and Cooper. In the Cooper fight, Clay was floored by a left hook at the end of round four and was saved by the bell, going on to win in the predicted 5th round due to Cooper's severely cut eye. The fight with Doug Jones on March 13, 1963 was Clay's toughest fight during this stretch.",
"The fight with Doug Jones on March 13, 1963 was Clay's toughest fight during this stretch. The number two and three heavyweight contenders respectively, Clay and Jones fought on Jones' home turf at New York's Madison Square Garden. Jones staggered Clay in the first round, and the unanimous decision for Clay was greeted by boos and a rain of debris thrown into the ring. Watching on closed-circuit TV, heavyweight champ Sonny Liston quipped that if he fought Clay he might get locked up for murder.",
"Watching on closed-circuit TV, heavyweight champ Sonny Liston quipped that if he fought Clay he might get locked up for murder. The fight was later named \"Fight of the Year\" by The Ring magazine. In each of these fights, Clay vocally belittled his opponents and vaunted his abilities. He called Jones \"an ugly little man\" and Cooper a \"bum\". He said he was embarrassed to get in the ring with Alex Miteff and claimed that Madison Square Garden was \"too small for me.\"",
"He said he was embarrassed to get in the ring with Alex Miteff and claimed that Madison Square Garden was \"too small for me.\" Ali's trash-talk was inspired by professional wrestler \"Gorgeous George\" Wagner's, after he saw George's talking ability attract huge crowds to events.",
"Ali's trash-talk was inspired by professional wrestler \"Gorgeous George\" Wagner's, after he saw George's talking ability attract huge crowds to events. Ali stated in a 1969 interview with the Associated Press' Hubert Mizel that he met with George in Las Vegas in 1961, that George told him that talking a big game would earn paying fans who either wanted to see him win or wanted to see him lose, thus Ali transformed himself into a self-described \"big-mouth and a bragger\".",
"Ali stated in a 1969 interview with the Associated Press' Hubert Mizel that he met with George in Las Vegas in 1961, that George told him that talking a big game would earn paying fans who either wanted to see him win or wanted to see him lose, thus Ali transformed himself into a self-described \"big-mouth and a bragger\". In 1960, Clay left Moore's camp, partially due to Clay's refusal to do chores such as washing dishes and sweeping.",
"In 1960, Clay left Moore's camp, partially due to Clay's refusal to do chores such as washing dishes and sweeping. To replace Moore, Clay hired Angelo Dundee to be his trainer. Clay had met Dundee in February 1957 during Clay's amateur career. Around this time, Clay sought longtime idol Sugar Ray Robinson to be his manager, but was rebuffed. World heavyweight champion Fights against Liston By late 1963, Clay had become the top contender for Sonny Liston's title.",
"World heavyweight champion Fights against Liston By late 1963, Clay had become the top contender for Sonny Liston's title. The fight was set for February 25, 1964, in Miami Beach. Liston was an intimidating personality, a dominating fighter with a criminal past and ties to the mob. Based on Clay's uninspired performance against Jones and Cooper in his previous two fights, and Liston's destruction of former heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson in two first-round knockouts, Clay was a 7–1 underdog.",
"Based on Clay's uninspired performance against Jones and Cooper in his previous two fights, and Liston's destruction of former heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson in two first-round knockouts, Clay was a 7–1 underdog. Despite this, Clay taunted Liston during the pre-fight buildup, dubbing him \"the big ugly bear\", stating \"Liston even smells like a bear\" and claiming \"After I beat him I'm going to donate him to the zoo.\"",
"Despite this, Clay taunted Liston during the pre-fight buildup, dubbing him \"the big ugly bear\", stating \"Liston even smells like a bear\" and claiming \"After I beat him I'm going to donate him to the zoo.\" Clay turned the pre-fight weigh-in into a circus, shouting at Liston that \"someone is going to die at ringside tonight.\" Clay's pulse rate was measured at 120, more than double his normal 54.",
"Clay's pulse rate was measured at 120, more than double his normal 54. Many of those in attendance thought Clay's behavior stemmed from fear, and some commentators wondered if he would show up for the bout. The outcome of the fight was a major upset. At the opening bell, Liston rushed at Clay, seemingly angry and looking for a quick knockout. However, Clay's superior speed and mobility enabled him to elude Liston, making the champion miss and look awkward.",
"However, Clay's superior speed and mobility enabled him to elude Liston, making the champion miss and look awkward. At the end of the first round, Clay opened up his attack and hit Liston repeatedly with jabs. Liston fought better in round two, but at the beginning of the third round Clay hit Liston with a combination that buckled his knees and opened a cut under his left eye. This was the first time Liston had ever been cut.",
"This was the first time Liston had ever been cut. At the end of round four, Clay was returning to his corner when he began experiencing blinding pain in his eyes and asked his trainer, Angelo Dundee, to cut off his gloves. Dundee refused. It has been speculated that the problem was due to ointment used to seal Liston's cuts, perhaps deliberately applied by his corner to his gloves.",
"It has been speculated that the problem was due to ointment used to seal Liston's cuts, perhaps deliberately applied by his corner to his gloves. Though unconfirmed, boxing historian Bert Sugar said that two of Liston's opponents also complained about their eyes \"burning\". Despite Liston's attempts to knock out a blinded Clay, Clay was able to survive the fifth round until sweat and tears rinsed the irritation from his eyes. In the sixth, Clay dominated, hitting Liston repeatedly.",
"In the sixth, Clay dominated, hitting Liston repeatedly. Liston did not answer the bell for the seventh round, and Clay was declared the winner by TKO. Liston stated that the reason he quit was an injured shoulder. Following the win, a triumphant Clay rushed to the edge of the ring and, pointing to the ringside press, shouted: \"Eat your words!\" He added, \"I am the greatest! I shook up the world. I'm the prettiest thing that ever lived.\"",
"I'm the prettiest thing that ever lived.\" I'm the prettiest thing that ever lived.\" At ringside post fight, Clay appeared unconvinced that the fight was stopped due to a Liston shoulder injury, saying that the only injury Liston had was \"an open eye, a big cut eye!\" When told by Joe Louis that the injury was a \"left arm thrown out of its socket,\" Clay quipped, \"Yeah, swinging at nothing, who wouldn't?\"",
"When told by Joe Louis that the injury was a \"left arm thrown out of its socket,\" Clay quipped, \"Yeah, swinging at nothing, who wouldn't?\" In winning this fight at the age of 22, Clay became the youngest boxer to take the title from a reigning heavyweight champion. However, Floyd Patterson remained the youngest to win the heavyweight championship, doing so at the age 21 during an elimination bout following Rocky Marciano's retirement.",
"However, Floyd Patterson remained the youngest to win the heavyweight championship, doing so at the age 21 during an elimination bout following Rocky Marciano's retirement. Mike Tyson broke both records in 1986 when he defeated Trevor Berbick to win the heavyweight title at age 20. Soon after the Liston fight, Clay changed his name to Cassius X, and then later to Muhammad Ali upon converting to Islam and affiliating with the Nation of Islam. Ali then faced a rematch with Liston scheduled for May 1965 in Lewiston, Maine.",
"Ali then faced a rematch with Liston scheduled for May 1965 in Lewiston, Maine. It had been scheduled for Boston the previous November, but was postponed for six months due to Ali's emergency surgery for a hernia three days before. The fight was controversial. Midway through the first round, Liston was knocked down by a difficult-to-see blow the press dubbed a \"phantom punch\". Referee Jersey Joe Walcott did not begin the count immediately after the knockdown, as Ali refused to retreat to a neutral corner.",
"Referee Jersey Joe Walcott did not begin the count immediately after the knockdown, as Ali refused to retreat to a neutral corner. Liston rose after he had been down for about 20 seconds, and the fight momentarily continued. However a few seconds later Walcott, having been informed by the timekeepers that Liston had been down for a count of 10, stopped the match and declared Ali the winner by knockout. The entire fight lasted less than two minutes. It has since been speculated that Liston purposely dropped to the ground.",
"It has since been speculated that Liston purposely dropped to the ground. Proposed motivations include threats on his life from the Nation of Islam, that he had bet against himself and that he \"took a dive\" to pay off debts. Slow-motion replays show that Liston was jarred by a chopping right from Ali, although it is unclear whether the blow was a genuine knockout punch. Fight against Patterson Ali defended his title against former heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson on November 22, 1965.",
"Fight against Patterson Ali defended his title against former heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson on November 22, 1965. Before the match, Ali mocked Patterson, who was widely known to call him by his former name Cassius Clay, as an \"Uncle Tom\", calling him \"The Rabbit\". Although Ali clearly had the better of Patterson, who appeared injured during the fight, the match lasted 12 rounds before being called on a technical knockout. Patterson later said he had strained his sacroiliac.",
"Patterson later said he had strained his sacroiliac. Patterson later said he had strained his sacroiliac. Ali was criticized in the sports media for appearing to have toyed with Patterson during the fight. Patterson biographer W. K. Stratton claims that the conflict between Ali and Patterson was not genuine but was staged to increase ticket sales and the closed-circuit viewing audience, with both men complicit in the theatrics.",
"Patterson biographer W. K. Stratton claims that the conflict between Ali and Patterson was not genuine but was staged to increase ticket sales and the closed-circuit viewing audience, with both men complicit in the theatrics. Stratton also cites an interview by Howard Cosell in which Ali explained that rather than toying with Patterson, he refrained from knocking him out after it became apparent Patterson was injured. Patterson later said that he had never been hit by punches as soft as Ali's.",
"Patterson later said that he had never been hit by punches as soft as Ali's. Stratton states that Ali arranged the second fight, in 1972, with the financially struggling Patterson to help the former champion earn enough money to pay a debt to the IRS. Main Bout After the Patterson fight, Ali founded his own promotion company, Main Bout. The company mainly handled Ali's boxing promotions and pay-per-view closed-circuit television broadcasts.",
"The company mainly handled Ali's boxing promotions and pay-per-view closed-circuit television broadcasts. The company's stockholders were mainly fellow Nation of Islam members, along with several others, including Bob Arum. Ali and then-WBA heavyweight champion boxer Ernie Terrell had agreed to meet for a bout in Chicago on March 29, 1966 (the WBA, one of two boxing associations, had stripped Ali of his title following his joining the Nation of Islam).",
"Ali and then-WBA heavyweight champion boxer Ernie Terrell had agreed to meet for a bout in Chicago on March 29, 1966 (the WBA, one of two boxing associations, had stripped Ali of his title following his joining the Nation of Islam). But in February Ali was reclassified by the Louisville draft board as 1-A from 1-Y, and he indicated that he would refuse to serve, commenting to the press, \"I ain't got nothing against no Viet Cong; no Viet Cong never called me nigger.\"",
"But in February Ali was reclassified by the Louisville draft board as 1-A from 1-Y, and he indicated that he would refuse to serve, commenting to the press, \"I ain't got nothing against no Viet Cong; no Viet Cong never called me nigger.\" Amidst the media and public outcry over Ali's stance, the Illinois Athletic Commission refused to sanction the fight, citing technicalities. Instead, Ali traveled to Canada and Europe and won championship bouts against George Chuvalo, Henry Cooper, Brian London and Karl Mildenberger.",
"Instead, Ali traveled to Canada and Europe and won championship bouts against George Chuvalo, Henry Cooper, Brian London and Karl Mildenberger. Ali returned to the United States to fight Cleveland Williams in the Houston Astrodome on November 14, 1966. The bout drew a record-breaking indoor crowd of 35,460 people. Williams had once been considered among the hardest punchers in the heavyweight division, but in 1964 he had been shot at point-blank range by a Texas policeman, resulting in the loss of one kidney and of his small intestine.",
"Williams had once been considered among the hardest punchers in the heavyweight division, but in 1964 he had been shot at point-blank range by a Texas policeman, resulting in the loss of one kidney and of his small intestine. Ali dominated Williams, winning a third-round technical knockout in what some consider the finest performance of his career. Ali fought Terrell in Houston on February 6, 1967.",
"Ali fought Terrell in Houston on February 6, 1967. Terrell, who was unbeaten in five years and had defeated many of the boxers Ali had faced, was billed as Ali's toughest opponent since Liston; he was big, strong and had a three-inch reach advantage over Ali. During the lead up to the bout, Terrell repeatedly called Ali \"Clay\", much to Ali's annoyance. The two almost came to blows over the name issue in a pre-fight interview with Howard Cosell.",
"The two almost came to blows over the name issue in a pre-fight interview with Howard Cosell. Ali seemed intent on humiliating Terrell. \"I want to torture him\", he said. \"A clean knockout is too good for him.\" The fight was close until the seventh round, when Ali bloodied Terrell and almost knocked him out. In the eighth round, Ali taunted Terrell, hitting him with jabs and shouting between punches, \"What's my name, Uncle Tom ... what's my name?\"",
"In the eighth round, Ali taunted Terrell, hitting him with jabs and shouting between punches, \"What's my name, Uncle Tom ... what's my name?\" Ali won a unanimous 15-round decision. Terrell claimed that early in the fight Ali deliberately thumbed him in the eye, forcing him to fight half-blind, and then, in a clinch, rubbed the wounded eye against the ropes.",
"Terrell claimed that early in the fight Ali deliberately thumbed him in the eye, forcing him to fight half-blind, and then, in a clinch, rubbed the wounded eye against the ropes. Because of Ali's apparent intent to prolong the fight to inflict maximum punishment, critics described the bout as \"one of the ugliest boxing fights.\" Tex Maule later wrote: \"It was a wonderful demonstration of boxing skill and a barbarous display of cruelty.\"",
"Tex Maule later wrote: \"It was a wonderful demonstration of boxing skill and a barbarous display of cruelty.\" Ali denied the accusations of cruelty but, for Ali's critics, the fight provided more evidence of his arrogance. After Ali's title defense against Zora Folley on March 22, he was stripped of his title due to his refusal to be drafted to army service. His boxing license was also suspended by the state of New York.",
"His boxing license was also suspended by the state of New York. He was convicted of draft evasion on June 20 and sentenced to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. He paid a bond and remained free while the verdict was being appealed. Vietnam War and resistance to the draft Ali registered for conscription in the United States military on his 18th birthday and was listed as 1-A in 1962.",
"Vietnam War and resistance to the draft Ali registered for conscription in the United States military on his 18th birthday and was listed as 1-A in 1962. In 1964, he was reclassified as Class 1-Y (fit for service only in times of national emergency) after he failed the U.S. Armed Forces qualifying test because his writing and spelling skills were sub-standard, due to his dyslexia. (He was quoted as saying, \"I said I was the greatest, not the smartest!\")",
"(He was quoted as saying, \"I said I was the greatest, not the smartest!\") By early 1966, the army lowered its standards to permit soldiers above the 15th percentile and Ali was again classified as 1-A. This classification meant he was now eligible for the draft and induction into the U.S. Army at a time when the U.S. was involved in the Vietnam War, a war which put him further at odds with the white establishment.",
"This classification meant he was now eligible for the draft and induction into the U.S. Army at a time when the U.S. was involved in the Vietnam War, a war which put him further at odds with the white establishment. When notified of this status, Ali declared that he would refuse to serve in the army and publicly considered himself a conscientious objector. Ali stated: \"War is against the teachings of the Qur'an. I'm not trying to dodge the draft.",
"I'm not trying to dodge the draft. I'm not trying to dodge the draft. We are not supposed to take part in no wars unless declared by Allah or The Messenger (Elijah Muhammad then leader of Nation of Islam). We don’t take part in Christian wars or wars of any unbelievers\". He also said \"We are not to be the aggressor but we will defend ourselves if attacked.\" He stated: \"Man, I ain't got no quarrel with them Viet Cong.\"",
"He stated: \"Man, I ain't got no quarrel with them Viet Cong.\" Ali elaborated: \"Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go ten thousand miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on brown people in Vietnam while so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs and denied simple human rights?\" Ali antagonized the white establishment in 1966 by refusing to be drafted into the U.S. military, citing his religious beliefs and opposition to American involvement in the Vietnam War.",
"Ali antagonized the white establishment in 1966 by refusing to be drafted into the U.S. military, citing his religious beliefs and opposition to American involvement in the Vietnam War. On April 28, 1967, Ali appeared in Houston for his scheduled induction into the U.S. Armed Forces, but he refused three times to step forward when his name was called. An officer warned him that he was committing a felony punishable by five years in prison and a fine of $10,000.",
"An officer warned him that he was committing a felony punishable by five years in prison and a fine of $10,000. Once more, Ali refused to budge when his name was called, and he was arrested. Later that same day, the New York State Athletic Commission suspended his boxing license and stripped him of his title. Other boxing commissions followed suit. Ali remained unable to obtain a license to box in any state for over three years.",
"Ali remained unable to obtain a license to box in any state for over three years. On June 4, 1967, in a first for sports professionals, a group of high-profile African-American athletes assembled at the Negro Industrial Economic union in Cleveland for a \"Muhammad Ali Summit\". The meeting was organized by Jim Brown for his peers to question Ali about the seriousness of his convictions, and to decide whether to support him, which they ultimately did.",
"The meeting was organized by Jim Brown for his peers to question Ali about the seriousness of his convictions, and to decide whether to support him, which they ultimately did. At the trial on June 20, 1967, the jury found Ali guilty after only 21minutes of deliberation of the criminal offense of violating the Selective Service laws by refusing to be drafted. After a Court of Appeals upheld the conviction, the case was reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1971.",
"After a Court of Appeals upheld the conviction, the case was reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1971. Ali remained free in the years between the Appellate Court decision and the Supreme Court ruling. As public opinion began turning people against the war and the Civil Rights Movement continued to gather momentum, Ali became a popular speaker at colleges and universities across the country; this itinerary was rare if not unprecedented for a prizefighter.",
"As public opinion began turning people against the war and the Civil Rights Movement continued to gather momentum, Ali became a popular speaker at colleges and universities across the country; this itinerary was rare if not unprecedented for a prizefighter. At Howard University, for example, he gave his popular \"Black Is Best\" speech to 4,000 cheering students and community intellectuals, after he was invited to speak by sociology professor Nathan Hare on behalf of the Black Power Committee, a student protest group.",
"At Howard University, for example, he gave his popular \"Black Is Best\" speech to 4,000 cheering students and community intellectuals, after he was invited to speak by sociology professor Nathan Hare on behalf of the Black Power Committee, a student protest group. On June 28, 1971, the Supreme Court of the United States in Clay v. United States overturned Ali's conviction by a unanimous 8–0 decision (Justice Thurgood Marshall recused himself, as he had been the U.S.",
"On June 28, 1971, the Supreme Court of the United States in Clay v. United States overturned Ali's conviction by a unanimous 8–0 decision (Justice Thurgood Marshall recused himself, as he had been the U.S. Solicitor General at the time of Ali's conviction). The decision was not based on, nor did it address, the merits of Ali's claims per se.",
"The decision was not based on, nor did it address, the merits of Ali's claims per se. Rather, the Court held that since the appeal board gave no reason for the denial of a conscientious objector exemption to Ali, that it was therefore impossible to determine which of the three basic tests for conscientious objector status (offered in the Justice Department's brief) the appeal board relied on, and Ali's conviction must be reversed.",
"Rather, the Court held that since the appeal board gave no reason for the denial of a conscientious objector exemption to Ali, that it was therefore impossible to determine which of the three basic tests for conscientious objector status (offered in the Justice Department's brief) the appeal board relied on, and Ali's conviction must be reversed. Impact of Ali's draft refusal Ali's example inspired many black Americans and others.",
"Impact of Ali's draft refusal Ali's example inspired many black Americans and others. However, initially when he refused induction, he became arguably the most hated man in the country and received many death threats. People who supported Ali during this time were also threatened, including sports journalist Jerry Izenberg, whose columns defended Ali's decision not to serve. He wrote, \"Bomb threats emptied our office, making the staff stand out in the snow. My car windshield was smashed with a sledgehammer.\"",
"My car windshield was smashed with a sledgehammer.\" My car windshield was smashed with a sledgehammer.\" The New York Times columnist William Rhoden wrote, \"Ali's actions changed my standard of what constituted an athlete's greatness. Possessing a killer jump shot or the ability to stop on a dime was no longer enough. What were you doing for the liberation of your people? What were you doing to help your country live up to the covenant of its founding principles?\"",
"What were you doing to help your country live up to the covenant of its founding principles?\" Recalling Ali's anti-war position, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar said: \"I remember the teachers at my high school didn't like Ali because he was so anti-establishment and he kind of thumbed his nose at authority and got away with it. The fact that he was proud to be a black man and that he had so much talent ... made some people think that he was dangerous. But for those very reasons I enjoyed him.\"",
"But for those very reasons I enjoyed him.\" But for those very reasons I enjoyed him.\" Civil rights figures came to believe that Ali had an energizing effect on the freedom movement as a whole. Al Sharpton spoke of his bravery at a time when there was still widespread support for the Vietnam War: Ali was honored with the annual Martin Luther King Award in 1970 by civil rights leader Ralph Abernathy, who called him \"a living example of soul power, the March on Washington in two fists.\"",
"Al Sharpton spoke of his bravery at a time when there was still widespread support for the Vietnam War: Ali was honored with the annual Martin Luther King Award in 1970 by civil rights leader Ralph Abernathy, who called him \"a living example of soul power, the March on Washington in two fists.\" Coretta Scott King added that Ali was \"a champion of justice and peace and unity.\"",
"Coretta Scott King added that Ali was \"a champion of justice and peace and unity.\" In speaking of the cost on Ali's career of his refusal to be drafted, his trainer Angelo Dundee said, \"One thing must be taken into account when talking about Ali: He was robbed of his best years, his prime years.\" Bob Arum did not support Ali's choice at the time.",
"Bob Arum did not support Ali's choice at the time. More recently, Arum stated that \"when I look back at his life, and I was blessed to call him a friend and spent a lot of time with him, it's hard for me to talk about his exploits in boxing because as great as they were they paled in comparison to the impact that he had on the world,\" and \"He did what he thought was right.",
"More recently, Arum stated that \"when I look back at his life, and I was blessed to call him a friend and spent a lot of time with him, it's hard for me to talk about his exploits in boxing because as great as they were they paled in comparison to the impact that he had on the world,\" and \"He did what he thought was right. And it turned out he was right, and I was wrong.\"",
"And it turned out he was right, and I was wrong.\" Ali's resistance to the draft was covered in the 2013 documentary The Trials of Muhammad Ali. NSA and FBI monitoring of Ali's communications In a secret operation code-named \"Minaret\", the National Security Agency (NSA) intercepted the communications of leading Americans, including Ali, Senators Frank Church and Howard Baker, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., prominent U.S. journalists, and others who criticized the U.S. war in Vietnam.",
"NSA and FBI monitoring of Ali's communications In a secret operation code-named \"Minaret\", the National Security Agency (NSA) intercepted the communications of leading Americans, including Ali, Senators Frank Church and Howard Baker, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., prominent U.S. journalists, and others who criticized the U.S. war in Vietnam. A review by the NSA of the Minaret program concluded that it was \"disreputable if not outright illegal.\"",
"A review by the NSA of the Minaret program concluded that it was \"disreputable if not outright illegal.\" In 1971, his Fight of the Century with Frazier was used by an activist group, the Citizens' Commission to Investigate the FBI, to pull off a burglary at an FBI office in Pennsylvania; the anticipation for the fight was unlike anything else, so they believed the security would also be focused on the fight.",
"In 1971, his Fight of the Century with Frazier was used by an activist group, the Citizens' Commission to Investigate the FBI, to pull off a burglary at an FBI office in Pennsylvania; the anticipation for the fight was unlike anything else, so they believed the security would also be focused on the fight. This raid exposed the COINTELPRO operations that included illegal spying on activists involved with the civil rights and anti-war movements.",
"This raid exposed the COINTELPRO operations that included illegal spying on activists involved with the civil rights and anti-war movements. One of the COINTELPRO targets was Ali, and their activities included the FBI gaining access to his records as far back as elementary school; one such record mentioned him loving art as a child. Exile and comeback In March 1966, Ali refused to be inducted into the armed forces. He was systematically denied a boxing license in every state and stripped of his passport.",
"He was systematically denied a boxing license in every state and stripped of his passport. As a result, he did not fight from March 1967 to October 1970—from ages 25 to almost 29—as his case worked its way through the appeals process before his conviction was overturned in 1971. Protesting while exiled During this time of inactivity, as opposition to the Vietnam War began to grow and Ali's stance gained sympathy, he spoke at colleges across the nation, criticizing the Vietnam War and advocating African-American pride and racial justice.",
"Protesting while exiled During this time of inactivity, as opposition to the Vietnam War began to grow and Ali's stance gained sympathy, he spoke at colleges across the nation, criticizing the Vietnam War and advocating African-American pride and racial justice. Ali based himself in Chicago. According to most close to him, his Chicago years were formative. At the time, Ali was widely condemned by the American media, with fears that his actions could potentially lead to mass civil disobedience.",
"At the time, Ali was widely condemned by the American media, with fears that his actions could potentially lead to mass civil disobedience. Despite this, Ebony magazine noted in the late 1960s that Ali's popularity had increased during this time, especially among black people. The Super Fight While banned from sanctioned bouts, Ali settled a $1 million lawsuit against radio producer Murray Woroner by accepting $10,000 to appear in a privately staged fantasy fight against retired champion Rocky Marciano.",
"The Super Fight While banned from sanctioned bouts, Ali settled a $1 million lawsuit against radio producer Murray Woroner by accepting $10,000 to appear in a privately staged fantasy fight against retired champion Rocky Marciano. In 1969 the boxers were filmed sparring for about 75 one-minute rounds; they produced several potential outcomes. A computer program purportedly determined the winner, based on data about the fighters, along with the opinions of approximately 250 boxing experts. Edited versions of the bout were shown in movie theaters in 1970.",
"Edited versions of the bout were shown in movie theaters in 1970. In the U.S. version Ali lost in a simulated 13th-round knockout, but in the European version Marciano lost due to cuts, also simulated. Ali suggested that prejudice determined his defeat in the U.S. version. He was reported to jokingly say, \"That computer was made in Alabama.\" Return to prizefighting On August 11, 1970, with his case still in appeal, Ali was granted a license to box by the City of Atlanta Athletic Commission.",
"Return to prizefighting On August 11, 1970, with his case still in appeal, Ali was granted a license to box by the City of Atlanta Athletic Commission. Leroy Johnson, Jesse Hill Jr. and Harry Pett had used their local political influence and set up the company House of Sports to organize the fight, underlining the influential power of Georgia's black politics in Ali' s comeback. Ali's first return bout was against Jerry Quarry on October 26, resulting in a win after three rounds after Quarry was cut.",
"Ali's first return bout was against Jerry Quarry on October 26, resulting in a win after three rounds after Quarry was cut. A month earlier, a victory in federal court forced the New York State Boxing Commission to reinstate Ali's license. He fought Oscar Bonavena at Madison Square Garden in December, an uninspired performance that ended in a dramatic technical knockout of Bonavena in the 15th round. The win left Ali as a top contender against heavyweight champion Joe Frazier.",
"The win left Ali as a top contender against heavyweight champion Joe Frazier. First fight against Joe Frazier Ali and Frazier's first fight, held at the Garden on March 8, 1971, was nicknamed the \"Fight of the Century\", due to the tremendous excitement surrounding a bout between two undefeated fighters, each with a legitimate claim to be heavyweight champion. Veteran US boxing writer John Condon called it \"the greatest event I've ever worked on in my life.\"",
"Veteran US boxing writer John Condon called it \"the greatest event I've ever worked on in my life.\" The bout was broadcast to 36 countries; promoters granted 760 press passes. Adding to the atmosphere were the considerable pre-fight theatrics and name calling. Before the fight Frazier called Ali, \"Cassius Clay\", this angered Ali and he portrayed Frazier as a \"dumb tool of the white establishment.\" \"Frazier is too ugly to be champ\", Ali said.",
"\"Frazier is too ugly to be champ\", Ali said. \"Frazier is too dumb to be champ.\" Ali also frequently called Frazier an \"Uncle Tom\". Dave Wolf, who worked in Frazier's camp, recalled that, \"Ali was saying 'the only people rooting for Joe Frazier are white people in suits, Alabama sheriffs, and members of the Ku Klux Klan. I'm fighting for the little man in the ghetto.'",
"I'm fighting for the little man in the ghetto.' Joe was sitting there, smashing his fist into the palm of his hand, saying, 'What the fuck does he know about the ghetto? Ali began training at a farm near Reading, Pennsylvania, in 1971 and, finding the country setting to his liking, sought to develop a real training camp in the countryside. He found a five-acre site on a Pennsylvania country road in the village of Deer Lake, Pennsylvania.",
"He found a five-acre site on a Pennsylvania country road in the village of Deer Lake, Pennsylvania. On this site, Ali carved out what was to become his training camp, where he trained for all his fights from 1972 to the end of his career in 1981. The Monday night fight lived up to its billing.",
"The Monday night fight lived up to its billing. The Monday night fight lived up to its billing. In a preview of their two other fights, a crouching, bobbing and weaving Frazier constantly pressured Ali, getting hit regularly by Ali jabs and combinations, but relentlessly attacking and scoring repeatedly, especially to Ali's body. The fight was even in the early rounds, but Ali was taking more punishment than ever in his career.",
"The fight was even in the early rounds, but Ali was taking more punishment than ever in his career. On several occasions in the early rounds he played to the crowd and shook his head \"no\" after he was hit. In the later rounds—in what was the first appearance of the \"rope-a-dope strategy\"—Ali leaned against the ropes and absorbed punishment from Frazier, hoping to tire him.",
"In the later rounds—in what was the first appearance of the \"rope-a-dope strategy\"—Ali leaned against the ropes and absorbed punishment from Frazier, hoping to tire him. In the 11th round, Frazier connected with a left hook that wobbled Ali, but because it appeared that Ali might be clowning as he staggered backwards across the ring, Frazier hesitated to press his advantage, fearing an Ali counter-attack.",
"In the 11th round, Frazier connected with a left hook that wobbled Ali, but because it appeared that Ali might be clowning as he staggered backwards across the ring, Frazier hesitated to press his advantage, fearing an Ali counter-attack. In the final round, Frazier knocked Ali down with a vicious left hook, which referee Arthur Mercante said was as hard as a man can be hit. Ali was back on his feet in three seconds. Nevertheless, Ali lost by unanimous decision, his first professional defeat.",
"Nevertheless, Ali lost by unanimous decision, his first professional defeat. Chamberlain challenge and Ellis fight In 1971, basketball star Wilt Chamberlain challenged Ali to a fight, and a bout was scheduled for July 26. Although the seven-foot-two-inch tall Chamberlain had formidable physical advantages over Ali—weighing 60pounds more and able to reach 14inches further—Ali was able to influence Chamberlain into calling off the bout by taunting him with calls of \"Timber!\" and \"The tree will fall\" during a shared interview.",
"and \"The tree will fall\" during a shared interview. These statements of confidence unsettled his taller opponent, whom Los Angeles Lakers owner Jack Kent Cooke had offered a record-setting contract, conditional on Chamberlain agreeing to abandon what Cooke termed \"this boxing foolishness\", and he did exactly that. To replace Ali's opponent, promoter Bob Arum quickly booked a former sparring partner of Ali's, Jimmy Ellis, who was a childhood friend from Louisville, Kentucky, to fight him.",
"To replace Ali's opponent, promoter Bob Arum quickly booked a former sparring partner of Ali's, Jimmy Ellis, who was a childhood friend from Louisville, Kentucky, to fight him. After his loss Fights against Quarry, Patterson, Foster and Norton After the loss to Frazier, Ali fought Jerry Quarry, had a second bout with Floyd Patterson and faced Bob Foster in 1972, winning a total of six fights that year.",
"After his loss Fights against Quarry, Patterson, Foster and Norton After the loss to Frazier, Ali fought Jerry Quarry, had a second bout with Floyd Patterson and faced Bob Foster in 1972, winning a total of six fights that year. In 1973, Ken Norton broke Ali's jaw while giving him the second loss of his career. After initially considering retirement, Ali won a controversial decision against Norton in their second bout.",
"After initially considering retirement, Ali won a controversial decision against Norton in their second bout. This led to a rematch with Joe Frazier at Madison Square Garden on January 28, 1974; Frazier had recently lost his title to George Foreman. Second fight against Joe Frazier Ali was strong in the early rounds of the fight, and staggered Frazier in the second round. Referee Tony Perez mistakenly thought he heard the bell ending the round and stepped between the two fighters as Ali was pressing his attack, giving Frazier time to recover.",
"Referee Tony Perez mistakenly thought he heard the bell ending the round and stepped between the two fighters as Ali was pressing his attack, giving Frazier time to recover. However, Frazier came on in the middle rounds, snapping Ali's head in round seven and driving him to the ropes at the end of round eight. The last four rounds saw round-to-round shifts in momentum between the two fighters.",
"The last four rounds saw round-to-round shifts in momentum between the two fighters. Throughout most of the bout, however, Ali was able to circle away from Frazier's dangerous left hook and to tie Frazier up when he was cornered, the latter a tactic that Frazier's camp complained of bitterly. Judges awarded Ali a unanimous decision.",
"Judges awarded Ali a unanimous decision. Judges awarded Ali a unanimous decision. World heavyweight champion (second reign) The Rumble in the Jungle The defeat of Frazier set the stage for a title fight against heavyweight champion George Foreman in Kinshasa, Zaire, on October 30, 1974—a bout nicknamed The Rumble in the Jungle. Foreman was considered one of the hardest punchers in heavyweight history.",
"Foreman was considered one of the hardest punchers in heavyweight history. In assessing the fight, analysts pointed out that Joe Frazier and Ken Norton, who had given Ali four tough battles and won two of them, had both been devastated by Foreman in second-round knockouts. Ali was 32 years old, and had clearly lost speed and reflexes since his twenties. Contrary to his later persona, Foreman was at the time a brooding and intimidating presence.",
"Contrary to his later persona, Foreman was at the time a brooding and intimidating presence. Almost no one associated with the sport, not even Ali's long-time supporter Howard Cosell, gave the former champion a chance of winning. As usual, Ali was confident and colorful before the fight. He told interviewer David Frost, \"If you think the world was surprised when Nixon resigned, wait till I whup Foreman's behind!\" He told the press, \"I've done something new for this fight.",
"He told the press, \"I've done something new for this fight. I done wrestled with an alligator, I done tussled with a whale; handcuffed lightning, thrown thunder in jail; only last week, I murdered a rock, injured a stone, hospitalized a brick; I'm so mean I make medicine sick.\" Ali was wildly popular in Zaire, with crowds chanting \"Ali, bomaye\" (\"Ali, kill him\") wherever he went.",
"Ali was wildly popular in Zaire, with crowds chanting \"Ali, bomaye\" (\"Ali, kill him\") wherever he went. Ali opened the fight moving and scoring with right crosses to Foreman's head. Then, beginning in the second round, and to the consternation of his corner, Ali retreated to the ropes and invited Foreman to hit him while covering up, clinching and counter-punching, all while verbally taunting Foreman.",
"Then, beginning in the second round, and to the consternation of his corner, Ali retreated to the ropes and invited Foreman to hit him while covering up, clinching and counter-punching, all while verbally taunting Foreman. The move, which would later become known as the \"Rope-a-dope\", so violated conventional boxing wisdom—letting one of the hardest hitters in boxing strike at will—that at ringside writer George Plimpton thought the fight had to be fixed. Foreman, increasingly angered, threw punches that were deflected and did not land squarely.",
"Foreman, increasingly angered, threw punches that were deflected and did not land squarely. Midway through the fight, as Foreman began tiring, Ali countered more frequently and effectively with punches and flurries, which electrified the pro-Ali crowd. In the eighth round, Ali dropped an exhausted Foreman with a combination at center ring; Foreman failed to make the count. Against the odds, and amidst pandemonium in the ring, Ali had regained the title by knockout.",
"Against the odds, and amidst pandemonium in the ring, Ali had regained the title by knockout. Reflecting on the fight, George Foreman later said: \"I thought Ali was just one more knockout victim until, about the seventh round, I hit him hard to the jaw and he held me and whispered in my ear: 'That all you got, George?' I realized that this ain't what I thought it was.\"",
"I realized that this ain't what I thought it was.\" It was a major upset victory, after Ali came in as a 41 underdog against the previously unbeaten, heavy-hitting Foreman. The fight became famous for Ali's introduction of the rope-a-dope tactic. The fight was watched by a record estimated television audience of 1billion viewers worldwide. It was the world's most-watched live television broadcast at the time. Fights against Wepner, Lyle and Bugner Ali's next opponents included Chuck Wepner, Ron Lyle, and Joe Bugner.",
"Fights against Wepner, Lyle and Bugner Ali's next opponents included Chuck Wepner, Ron Lyle, and Joe Bugner. Wepner, a journeyman known as \"The Bayonne Bleeder\", stunned Ali with a knockdown in the ninth round; Ali would later say he tripped on Wepner's foot. It was a bout that would inspire Sylvester Stallone to create the acclaimed film, Rocky. Third fight against Joe Frazier Ali then agreed to a third match with Joe Frazier in Manila.",
"Third fight against Joe Frazier Ali then agreed to a third match with Joe Frazier in Manila. The bout, known as the \"Thrilla in Manila\", was held on October 1, 1975, in temperatures approaching . In the first rounds, Ali was aggressive, moving and exchanging blows with Frazier. However, Ali soon appeared to tire and adopted the \"rope-a-dope\" strategy, frequently resorting to clinches.",
"However, Ali soon appeared to tire and adopted the \"rope-a-dope\" strategy, frequently resorting to clinches. During this part of the bout Ali did some effective counter-punching, but for the most part absorbed punishment from a relentlessly attacking Frazier. In the 12th round, Frazier began to tire, and Ali scored several sharp blows that closed Frazier's left eye and opened a cut over his right eye.",
"In the 12th round, Frazier began to tire, and Ali scored several sharp blows that closed Frazier's left eye and opened a cut over his right eye. With Frazier's vision now diminished, Ali dominated the 13th and 14th rounds, at times conducting what boxing historian Mike Silver called \"target practice\" on Frazier's head. The fight was stopped when Frazier's trainer, Eddie Futch, refused to allow Frazier to answer the bell for the 15th and final round, despite Frazier's protests.",
"The fight was stopped when Frazier's trainer, Eddie Futch, refused to allow Frazier to answer the bell for the 15th and final round, despite Frazier's protests. Frazier's eyes were both swollen shut. Ali, in his corner, winner by TKO, slumped on his stool, clearly spent.",
"Ali, in his corner, winner by TKO, slumped on his stool, clearly spent. An ailing Ali said afterwards that the fight \"was the closest thing to dying that I know\", and, when later asked if he had viewed the fight on videotape, reportedly said, \"Why would I want to go back and see Hell?\" After the fight he cited Frazier as \"the greatest fighter of all times next to me.\" After the third fight with Frazier, Ali considered retirement.",
"After the third fight with Frazier, Ali considered retirement. He said, “I’m sore all over. My arms, my face, my sides all ache. I’m so, so tired. There is a great possibility that I will retire. You might have seen the last of me. I want to sit back and count my money, live in my house and my farm, work for my people and concentrate on my family.\"",
"I want to sit back and count my money, live in my house and my farm, work for my people and concentrate on my family.\" Later career Following the Manila bout, Ali fought Jean-Pierre Coopman, Jimmy Young, and Richard Dunn, winning the last by knockout. The punch used to knock Dunn out was taught to Ali by Taekwondo Grandmaster Jhoon Rhee. Rhee called that punch the \"Accupunch\"; he learned it from Bruce Lee.",
"Rhee called that punch the \"Accupunch\"; he learned it from Bruce Lee. The Dunn fight was the last time Ali would knock down an opponent in his boxing career. Ali fought Ken Norton for the third time in September 1976. The bout, which was held at Yankee Stadium, resulted in Ali winning a heavily contested decision that was loudly booed by the audience.",
"The bout, which was held at Yankee Stadium, resulted in Ali winning a heavily contested decision that was loudly booed by the audience. Afterwards, he announced he was retiring from boxing to practice his faith, having converted to Sunni Islam after falling out with the Nation of Islam the previous year. After returning to beat Alfredo Evangelista in May 1977, Ali struggled in his next fight against Earnie Shavers that September, getting pummeled a few times by punches to the head.",
"After returning to beat Alfredo Evangelista in May 1977, Ali struggled in his next fight against Earnie Shavers that September, getting pummeled a few times by punches to the head. Ali won the fight by another unanimous decision, but the bout caused his longtime doctor Ferdie Pacheco to quit after he was rebuffed for telling Ali he should retire. Pacheco was quoted as saying, \"the New York State Athletic Commission gave me a report that showed Ali's kidneys were falling apart.",
"Pacheco was quoted as saying, \"the New York State Athletic Commission gave me a report that showed Ali's kidneys were falling apart. I wrote to Angelo Dundee, Ali's trainer, his wife and Ali himself. I got nothing back in response. That's when I decided enough is enough.\" In February 1978, Ali faced Leon Spinks at the Hilton Hotel in Las Vegas. At the time, Spinks had only seven professional fights to his credit, and had recently fought a draw with journeyman Scott LeDoux.",
"At the time, Spinks had only seven professional fights to his credit, and had recently fought a draw with journeyman Scott LeDoux. Ali sparred less than two dozen rounds in preparation for the fight, and was seriously out of shape by the opening bell. He lost the title by split decision. A rematch occurred in September at the Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. 70,000 people attended the bout and paid a total of $6 million admission, making it the largest live gate in boxing history at that time.",
"70,000 people attended the bout and paid a total of $6 million admission, making it the largest live gate in boxing history at that time. Ali won a unanimous decision in an uninspiring fight, with referee Lucien Joubert scoring rounds 10-4, judge Ernie Cojoe 10-4, and judge Herman Preis 11-4. This made Ali the first heavyweight champion to win the belt three times. Following this win, on July 27, 1979, Ali announced his retirement from boxing.",
"Following this win, on July 27, 1979, Ali announced his retirement from boxing. His retirement was short-lived, however; Ali announced his comeback to face Larry Holmes for the WBC belt in an attempt to win the heavyweight championship an unprecedented fourth time. The fight was largely motivated by Ali's need for money. Boxing writer Richie Giachetti said, \"Larry didn't want to fight Ali. He knew Ali had nothing left; he knew it would be a horror.\"",
"He knew Ali had nothing left; he knew it would be a horror.\" It was around this time that Ali started struggling with vocal stutters and trembling hands. The Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC) ordered that he undergo a complete physical in Las Vegas before being allowed to fight again. Ali chose instead to check into the Mayo Clinic, who declared him fit to fight. Their opinion was accepted by the NAC on July 31, 1980, paving the way for Ali's return to the ring.",
"Their opinion was accepted by the NAC on July 31, 1980, paving the way for Ali's return to the ring. The fight took place on October 2, 1980, in Las Vegas Valley, with Holmes easily dominating Ali, who was weakened from thyroid medication he had taken to lose weight. Giachetti called the fight \"awful ... the worst sports event I ever had to cover.\" Actor Sylvester Stallone was at ringside and said that it was like watching an autopsy on a man who is still alive.",
"Actor Sylvester Stallone was at ringside and said that it was like watching an autopsy on a man who is still alive. After the tenth round, Angelo Dundee told the referee to stop the fight, making it the only time that Ali ever lost by stoppage. The Holmes fight is said to have contributed to Ali's Parkinson's syndrome. Despite pleas to definitively retire, Ali fought one last time on December 11, 1981, in Nassau, Bahamas, against Trevor Berbick, losing a ten-round decision.",
"Despite pleas to definitively retire, Ali fought one last time on December 11, 1981, in Nassau, Bahamas, against Trevor Berbick, losing a ten-round decision. By the end of his boxing career Ali had absorbed an estimated 200,000 hits. Exhibition bouts Ali boxed both well known boxers and celebrities from other walks of life, including Michael Dokes, Antonio Inoki, Lyle Alzado, Dave Semenko, and the famous Puerto Rican comedian Jose Miguel Agrelot (with Iris Chacon acting as Agrelot's corner-woman).",
"Exhibition bouts Ali boxed both well known boxers and celebrities from other walks of life, including Michael Dokes, Antonio Inoki, Lyle Alzado, Dave Semenko, and the famous Puerto Rican comedian Jose Miguel Agrelot (with Iris Chacon acting as Agrelot's corner-woman). Ali vs Inoki On June 26, 1976, Ali participated in an exhibition bout in Tokyo against Japanese professional wrestler and martial artist Antonio Inoki.",
"Ali vs Inoki On June 26, 1976, Ali participated in an exhibition bout in Tokyo against Japanese professional wrestler and martial artist Antonio Inoki. Ali was only able to land two jabs while Inoki's kicks caused two blood clots and an infection that almost resulted in Ali's leg being amputated, as a result of Ali's team insisting on rules restricting Inoki's ability to wrestle. The match was not scripted and ultimately declared a draw. After Ali's death, The New York Times declared it his least memorable fight.",
"After Ali's death, The New York Times declared it his least memorable fight. Most boxing commentators at the time viewed the fight negatively and hoped it would be forgotten as some considered it a \"15-round farce.\" Today it is considered by some to be one of Ali's most influential fights and CBS Sports said the attention the mixed-style bout received \"foretold the arrival of standardized MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) years later.\" After the fight, Ali and Inoki became friends.",
"After the fight, Ali and Inoki became friends. After the fight, Ali and Inoki became friends. Ali vs Alzado In 1979, Ali fought an exhibition match against NFL player Lyle Alzado. The fight went 8 rounds and was declared a draw. Ali vs Semenko Ali fought NHL player, Dave Semenko in an exhibition on June 12, 1983. The match was officially a draw after going three rounds, but the Associated Press reported Ali was not seriously trying and was just toying with Semenko.",
"The match was officially a draw after going three rounds, but the Associated Press reported Ali was not seriously trying and was just toying with Semenko. Personal life Marriages and children Ali was married four times and had seven daughters and two sons. Ali was introduced to cocktail waitress Sonji Roi by Herbert Muhammad and asked her to marry him after their first date. They married approximately one month later on August 14, 1964. They quarreled over Sonji's refusal to join the Nation Of Islam.",
"They quarreled over Sonji's refusal to join the Nation Of Islam. According to Ali, \"She wouldn't do what she was supposed to do. She wore lipstick; she went into bars; she dressed in clothes that were revealing and didn't look right.\" The marriage was childless and they divorced on January 10, 1966. Just before the divorce was finalized, Ali sent Sonji a note: \"You traded heaven for hell, baby.\"",
"Just before the divorce was finalized, Ali sent Sonji a note: \"You traded heaven for hell, baby.\" Ali's brother Rahman said that she was Ali's only true love and the Nation of Islam made Ali divorce her and Ali never got over it. On August 17, 1967, Ali married Belinda Boyd. Born into a Chicago family that had converted to the Nation Of Islam, she later changed her name to Khalilah Ali, though she was still called Belinda by old friends and family.",
"Born into a Chicago family that had converted to the Nation Of Islam, she later changed her name to Khalilah Ali, though she was still called Belinda by old friends and family. They had four children: author and rapper Maryum \"May May\" (born 1968); twins Jamillah and Rasheda (born 1970), who married Robert Walsh and has a son, Biaggio Ali, born in 1998; and Muhammad Ali Jr. (born 1972). Rasheda's son Nico is a professional boxer.",
"Rasheda's son Nico is a professional boxer. Rasheda's son Nico is a professional boxer. Ali was a resident of Cherry Hill, New Jersey in the early 1970s. At age 32 in 1974, Ali began an extramarital relationship with 16-year-old Wanda Bolton (who subsequently changed her name to Aaisha Ali) with whom he fathered another daughter, Khaliah (born 1974). While still married to Belinda, Ali married Aaisha in an Islamic ceremony that was not legally recognized.",
"While still married to Belinda, Ali married Aaisha in an Islamic ceremony that was not legally recognized. According to Khaliah, Aaisha and her mother lived at Ali's Deer Lake training camp alongside Belinda and her children. In January 1985, Aaisha sued Ali for unpaid palimony. The case was settled when Ali agreed to set up a $200,000 trust fund for Khaliah. In 2001 Khaliah was quoted as saying she believed her father viewed her as \"a mistake\".",
"In 2001 Khaliah was quoted as saying she believed her father viewed her as \"a mistake\". He had another daughter, Miya (born 1972), from an extramarital relationship with Patricia Harvell. By the summer of 1977, his second marriage ended due to Ali's repeated infidelity, and he had married actress and model Veronica Porché. At the time of their marriage, they had a daughter, Hana, and Veronica was pregnant with their second child.",
"At the time of their marriage, they had a daughter, Hana, and Veronica was pregnant with their second child. Their second daughter, Laila Ali, was born in December 1977. By 1986, Ali and Porché were divorced due to Ali's continuous infidelity. Porché said of Ali's infidelity, \"It was too much temptation for him, with women who threw themselves at him, It didn’t mean anything. He didn't have affairs – he had one-night stands.",
"He didn't have affairs – he had one-night stands. I knew beyond a doubt there were no feelings involved. It was so obvious, It was easy to forgive him.\" On November 19, 1986, Ali married Yolanda \"Lonnie\" Williams. Lonnie first met Ali at the age of 6 when her family moved to Louisville in 1963. In 1982, she became Ali's primary caregiver and in return, he paid for her to attend graduate school at UCLA.",
"In 1982, she became Ali's primary caregiver and in return, he paid for her to attend graduate school at UCLA. Together they adopted a son, Asaad Amin (born 1986), when Asaad was five months old. In 1992, Lonnie incorporated Greatest of All Time, Inc. (G.O.A.T. Inc) to consolidate and license his intellectual properties for commercial purposes. She served as the vice president and treasurer until the sale of the company in 2006.",
"She served as the vice president and treasurer until the sale of the company in 2006. Kiiursti Mensah-Ali claims she is Ali's biological daughter with Barbara Mensah, with whom he allegedly had a 20-year relationship, citing photographs and a paternity test conducted in 1988. She said he accepted responsibility and took care of her, but all contacts with him were cut off after he married his fourth wife Lonnie. Kiiursti says she has a relationship with his other children.",
"Kiiursti says she has a relationship with his other children. After his death she again made passionate appeals to be allowed to mourn at his funeral. In 2010, Osmon Williams came forward claiming to be Ali's biological son. His mother Temica Williams (also known as Rebecca Holloway) launched a $3 million lawsuit against Ali in 1981 for sexual assault, claiming that she had started a sexual relationship with him when she was 12, and that her son Osmon (born 1977) was fathered by Ali.",
"His mother Temica Williams (also known as Rebecca Holloway) launched a $3 million lawsuit against Ali in 1981 for sexual assault, claiming that she had started a sexual relationship with him when she was 12, and that her son Osmon (born 1977) was fathered by Ali. She further alleged that Ali had originally supported her and her son financially, but stopped doing so after four years.",
"She further alleged that Ali had originally supported her and her son financially, but stopped doing so after four years. The case went on until 1986 and was eventually thrown out as her allegations were deemed to be barred by the statute of limitations. According to Veronica, Ali admitted to the affair with Williams, but did not believe Osmon was his son which Veronica supported by saying \"Everybody in the camp was going with that girl.\"",
"According to Veronica, Ali admitted to the affair with Williams, but did not believe Osmon was his son which Veronica supported by saying \"Everybody in the camp was going with that girl.\" Ali biographer and friend Thomas Hauser has said this claim was of \"questionable veracity\". Ali then lived in Scottsdale, Arizona with Lonnie.",
"Ali then lived in Scottsdale, Arizona with Lonnie. Ali then lived in Scottsdale, Arizona with Lonnie. In January 2007, it was reported that they had put their home in Berrien Springs, Michigan, which they had bought in 1975, up for sale and had purchased a home in eastern Jefferson County, Kentucky for $1,875,000. Both homes were subsequently sold after Ali's death with Lonnie living in their remaining home in Paradise Valley, Arizona. Lonnie converted to Islam from Catholicism in her late twenties.",
"Lonnie converted to Islam from Catholicism in her late twenties. In an interview in 1974, Ali said, \"If they say stand and salute the flag I do that out of respect, because I'm in the country\". Ali would later say, \"If America was in trouble and real war came, I'd be on the front line if we had been attacked. But I could see that (The Vietnam War) wasn't right.\"",
"But I could see that (The Vietnam War) wasn't right.\" He also said, \"Black men would go over there and fight, but when they came home, they couldn't even be served a hamburger.\" Ali's daughter Laila was a professional boxer from 1999 until 2007, despite her father's previous opposition to women's boxing. In 1978, he said \"Women are not made to be hit in the breast, and face like that.\"",
"In 1978, he said \"Women are not made to be hit in the breast, and face like that.\" Ali still attended a number of his daughter's fights and later admitted to Laila he was wrong. Ali's daughter Hana is married to Bellator middleweight fighter Kevin Casey. Hana wrote about her father, \"His love for people was extraordinary. I would get home from school to find homeless families sleeping in our guest room.",
"I would get home from school to find homeless families sleeping in our guest room. He’d see them on the street, pile them into his Rolls-Royce and bring them home. He’d buy them clothes, take them to hotels and pay the bills for months in advance.\" She also said celebrities like Michael Jackson and Clint Eastwood would often visit Ali.",
"She also said celebrities like Michael Jackson and Clint Eastwood would often visit Ali. After Ali met a lesbian couple who were fans of his in 1997, he smiled and said to his friend Hauser, \"They look like they’re happy together.\" Hauser wrote about the story, \"The thought that Liz and Roz (the lesbian couple he met) were happy pleased Muhammad. Ali wanted people to be happy.\"",
"Ali wanted people to be happy.\" Ali wanted people to be happy.\" Religion and beliefs Affiliation with the Nation of Islam Ali said that he first heard of the Nation of Islam when he was fighting in the Golden Gloves tournament in Chicago in 1959, and attended his first Nation of Islam meeting in 1961. He continued to attend meetings, although keeping his involvement hidden from the public. In 1962, Clay met Malcolm X, who soon became his spiritual and political mentor.",
"In 1962, Clay met Malcolm X, who soon became his spiritual and political mentor. By the time of the first Liston fight, Nation of Islam members, including Malcolm X, were visible in his entourage. This led to a story in The Miami Herald just before the fight disclosing that Clay had joined the Nation of Islam, which nearly caused the bout to be canceled. The article quoted Cassius Clay Sr. as saying that his son had joined the Black Muslims when he was 18.",
"The article quoted Cassius Clay Sr. as saying that his son had joined the Black Muslims when he was 18. In fact, Clay was initially refused entry to the Nation of Islam (often called the Black Muslims at the time) due to his boxing career. However, after he won the championship from Liston in 1964, the Nation of Islam was more receptive and agreed to publicize his membership.",
"However, after he won the championship from Liston in 1964, the Nation of Islam was more receptive and agreed to publicize his membership. Shortly afterwards on March 6, Elijah Muhammad gave a radio address that Clay would be renamed Muhammad (one who is worthy of praise) Ali (most high). Around that time Ali moved to the south side of Chicago and lived in a series of houses, always near the Nation of Islam's Mosque Maryam or Elijah Muhammad's residence.",
"Around that time Ali moved to the south side of Chicago and lived in a series of houses, always near the Nation of Islam's Mosque Maryam or Elijah Muhammad's residence. He stayed in Chicago for about 12 years. Only a few journalists, most notably Howard Cosell, accepted the new name at that time.",
"Only a few journalists, most notably Howard Cosell, accepted the new name at that time. Ali stated that his earlier name was a \"slave name,\" and a \"white man's name\" and added that \"I didn’t choose it and I don’t want it\". The person he was named after was a white man and emancipationist who released slaves.",
"The person he was named after was a white man and emancipationist who released slaves. Ali explained in his autobiography after studying his works, \"While Clay may have gotten rid of his slaves, he \"held on to white supremacy.\" In truth, Cassius Clay's attachment to slavery went farther than Ali knew. In spite of his abolitionist fervor, Clay owned more slaves in 1865, when the 13th Amendment to the Constitution finally forbade its practice, than he had inherited from his father 37 years earlier.",
"In spite of his abolitionist fervor, Clay owned more slaves in 1865, when the 13th Amendment to the Constitution finally forbade its practice, than he had inherited from his father 37 years earlier. Not afraid to antagonize the white establishment, Ali stated, \"I am America. I am the part you won't recognize. But get used to me. Black, confident, cocky; my name, not yours; my religion, not yours; my goals, my own; get used to me.\"",
"Black, confident, cocky; my name, not yours; my religion, not yours; my goals, my own; get used to me.\" Ali's friendship with Malcolm X ended as Malcolm split with the Nation of Islam a couple of weeks after Ali joined, and Ali remained with the Nation of Islam. Ali later said that turning his back on Malcolm was one of the mistakes he regretted most in his life.",
"Ali later said that turning his back on Malcolm was one of the mistakes he regretted most in his life. Aligning himself with the Nation of Islam, its leader Elijah Muhammad, and a narrative that labeled the white race as the perpetrator of genocide against African Americans made Ali a target of public condemnation.",
"Aligning himself with the Nation of Islam, its leader Elijah Muhammad, and a narrative that labeled the white race as the perpetrator of genocide against African Americans made Ali a target of public condemnation. The Nation of Islam was widely viewed by whites and some African Americans as a black separatist \"hate religion\" with a propensity toward violence; Ali had few qualms about using his influential voice to speak Nation of Islam doctrine.",
"The Nation of Islam was widely viewed by whites and some African Americans as a black separatist \"hate religion\" with a propensity toward violence; Ali had few qualms about using his influential voice to speak Nation of Islam doctrine. In a press conference articulating his opposition to the Vietnam War, Ali stated, \"My enemy is the white people, not Vietcong or Chinese or Japanese.\" In relation to integration, he said: \"We who follow the teachings of Elijah Muhammad don't want to be forced to integrate.",
"In relation to integration, he said: \"We who follow the teachings of Elijah Muhammad don't want to be forced to integrate. Integration is wrong. We don't want to live with the white man; that's all.\"",
"We don't want to live with the white man; that's all.\" Further articulating his opposition to integration, he told members of the KKK at a Klan rally in 1975 that \"black people should marry their own women... blue birds are blue birds, red birds are red birds, pigeons with pigeons, eagles with eagles, God did not make no mistake\". Writer Jerry Izenberg once noted that, \"the Nation became Ali's family and Elijah Muhammad became his father.",
"Writer Jerry Izenberg once noted that, \"the Nation became Ali's family and Elijah Muhammad became his father. But there is an irony to the fact that while the Nation branded white people as devils, Ali had more white colleagues than most African American people did at that time in America, and continued to have them throughout his career.\"",
"But there is an irony to the fact that while the Nation branded white people as devils, Ali had more white colleagues than most African American people did at that time in America, and continued to have them throughout his career.\" Conversion to Sunni/Sufi Islam In Hauser's biography Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times, Ali says that although he's not a Christian as he thinks the idea of God having a son sounds wrong and doesn't make sense to him, as he believes, \"God don't beget; man begets\".",
"Conversion to Sunni/Sufi Islam In Hauser's biography Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times, Ali says that although he's not a Christian as he thinks the idea of God having a son sounds wrong and doesn't make sense to him, as he believes, \"God don't beget; man begets\". He still believes that even good Christians or good Jews can receive God's blessing and enter heaven as he stated, \"God created all people, no matter what their religion\".",
"He still believes that even good Christians or good Jews can receive God's blessing and enter heaven as he stated, \"God created all people, no matter what their religion\". He also stated, \"If you're against someone because he's a Muslim that's wrong. If you're against someone because he's a Christian or a Jew, that's wrong\".",
"If you're against someone because he's a Christian or a Jew, that's wrong\". In a 2004 autobiography, Ali attributed his conversion to mainstream Sunni Islam to Warith Deen Muhammad, who assumed leadership of the Nation of Islam upon the death of his father Elijah Muhammad, and persuaded the Nation's followers to become adherents of Sunni Islam.",
"In a 2004 autobiography, Ali attributed his conversion to mainstream Sunni Islam to Warith Deen Muhammad, who assumed leadership of the Nation of Islam upon the death of his father Elijah Muhammad, and persuaded the Nation's followers to become adherents of Sunni Islam. He said some people didn't like the change and stuck to Elijah's teachings, but he admired it and so left Elijah's teachings and became a follower of Sunni Islam.",
"He said some people didn't like the change and stuck to Elijah's teachings, but he admired it and so left Elijah's teachings and became a follower of Sunni Islam. Ali had gone on the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca in 1972, which inspired him in a similar manner to Malcolm X, meeting people of different colors from all over the world giving him a different outlook and greater spiritual awareness.",
"Ali had gone on the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca in 1972, which inspired him in a similar manner to Malcolm X, meeting people of different colors from all over the world giving him a different outlook and greater spiritual awareness. In 1977, he said that, after he retired, he would dedicate the rest of his life to getting \"ready to meet God\" by helping people, charitable causes, uniting people and helping to make peace. He went on another Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca in 1988.",
"He went on another Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca in 1988. After the September 11 attacks in 2001, he stated that \"Islam is a religion of peace\" and \"does not promote terrorism or killing people\", and that he was \"angry that the world sees a certain group of Islam followers who caused this destruction, but they are not real Muslims. They are racist fanatics who call themselves Muslims.\"",
"They are racist fanatics who call themselves Muslims.\" They are racist fanatics who call themselves Muslims.\" In December 2015, he stated that \"True Muslims know that the ruthless violence of so-called Islamic jihadists goes against the very tenets of our religion\", that \"We as Muslims have to stand up to those who use Islam to advance their own personal agenda\", and that \"political leaders should use their position to bring understanding about the religion of Islam, and clarify that these misguided murderers have perverted people's views on what Islam really is.\"",
"In December 2015, he stated that \"True Muslims know that the ruthless violence of so-called Islamic jihadists goes against the very tenets of our religion\", that \"We as Muslims have to stand up to those who use Islam to advance their own personal agenda\", and that \"political leaders should use their position to bring understanding about the religion of Islam, and clarify that these misguided murderers have perverted people's views on what Islam really is.\" In later life after retiring from boxing, Ali became a student of the Quran and a devout Muslim.",
"In later life after retiring from boxing, Ali became a student of the Quran and a devout Muslim. He also developed an interest in Sufism, which he referenced in his autobiography, The Soul of a Butterfly. According to Ali's daughter, Hana Yasmeen Ali, who co-authored The Soul of a Butterfly with him, Ali was attracted to Sufism after reading the books of Inayat Khan, which contain Sufi teachings.",
"According to Ali's daughter, Hana Yasmeen Ali, who co-authored The Soul of a Butterfly with him, Ali was attracted to Sufism after reading the books of Inayat Khan, which contain Sufi teachings. Muhammad Ali received guidance from Islamic scholars such as Grand Mufti of Syria Almarhum Asy-Syaikh Ahmed Kuftaro, Hisham Kabbani, Imam Zaid Shakir, Hamza Yusuf, and Timothy J. Gianotti, who was at Ali's bedside during his last days and ensured that although his funeral was interfaith, it was still in accordance with Islamic rites and rituals.",
"Muhammad Ali received guidance from Islamic scholars such as Grand Mufti of Syria Almarhum Asy-Syaikh Ahmed Kuftaro, Hisham Kabbani, Imam Zaid Shakir, Hamza Yusuf, and Timothy J. Gianotti, who was at Ali's bedside during his last days and ensured that although his funeral was interfaith, it was still in accordance with Islamic rites and rituals. Beatles reunion plan In 1976, inventor Alan Amron and businessman Joel Sacher partnered with Ali to promote The International Committee to Reunite the Beatles. They asked fans worldwide to contribute a dollar each.",
"They asked fans worldwide to contribute a dollar each. They asked fans worldwide to contribute a dollar each. Ali said the idea was not to use the proceeds for profit, but to establish an international agency to help poor children. \"This is money to help people all over the world\", he said. He added, \"I love the music. I used to train to their music.\" He said a reunion of the Beatles \"would make a lot of people happy.\"",
"He said a reunion of the Beatles \"would make a lot of people happy.\" The former Beatles were indifferent to the plan, which elicited only a tepid response from the public. No reunion happened. Entertainment career Acting Ali had a cameo role in the 1962 film version of Requiem for a Heavyweight, and during his exile from boxing, he starred in the short-lived 1969 Broadway musical, Buck White. He also appeared in the documentary film Black Rodeo (1972) riding both a horse and a bull.",
"He also appeared in the documentary film Black Rodeo (1972) riding both a horse and a bull. His autobiography The Greatest: My Own Story, written with Richard Durham, was published in 1975. In 1977 the book was adapted into a film called The Greatest, in which Ali played himself and Ernest Borgnine played Angelo Dundee.",
"In 1977 the book was adapted into a film called The Greatest, in which Ali played himself and Ernest Borgnine played Angelo Dundee. The film Freedom Road, made in 1978, features Ali in a rare acting role as Gideon Jackson, a former slave and Union (American Civil War) soldier in 1870s Virginia, who gets elected to the U.S. Senate and battles alongside former slaves and white sharecroppers to keep the land they have tended all their lives.",
"The film Freedom Road, made in 1978, features Ali in a rare acting role as Gideon Jackson, a former slave and Union (American Civil War) soldier in 1870s Virginia, who gets elected to the U.S. Senate and battles alongside former slaves and white sharecroppers to keep the land they have tended all their lives. Spoken word poetry and rap music Ali often used rhyme schemes and spoken word poetry, both for when he was trash-talking in boxing and as political poetry for his activism outside of boxing.",
"Spoken word poetry and rap music Ali often used rhyme schemes and spoken word poetry, both for when he was trash-talking in boxing and as political poetry for his activism outside of boxing. He played a role in the shaping of the black poetic tradition, paving the way for The Last Poets in 1968, Gil Scott-Heron in 1970, and the emergence of rap music in the 1970s. According to The Guardian, \"Some have argued that\" Ali was \"the first rapper.\"",
"According to The Guardian, \"Some have argued that\" Ali was \"the first rapper.\" In 1963, Ali released an album of spoken word music on Columbia Records titled, I Am the Greatest, and in 1964, he recorded a cover version of the rhythm and blues song \"Stand by Me\". I Am the Greatest sold 500,000 copies, and has been identified as an early example of rap music and a precursor to hip hop.",
"I Am the Greatest sold 500,000 copies, and has been identified as an early example of rap music and a precursor to hip hop. It reached number 61 on the album chart and was nominated for a Grammy Award. He later received a second Grammy nomination, for \"Best Recording for Children\", with his 1976 spoken word novelty record, The Adventures of Ali and His Gang vs. Mr. Tooth Decay. Ali was an influential figure in the world of hip hop music.",
"Ali was an influential figure in the world of hip hop music. As a \"rhyming trickster\", he was noted for his \"funky delivery\", \"boasts\", \"comical trash-talk\", and \"endless quotables.\" According to Rolling Stone, his \"freestyle skills\" and his \"rhymes, flow, and braggadocio\" would \"one day become typical of old school MCs\" like Run–D.M.C.",
"According to Rolling Stone, his \"freestyle skills\" and his \"rhymes, flow, and braggadocio\" would \"one day become typical of old school MCs\" like Run–D.M.C. and LL Cool J, and his \"outsized ego foreshadowed the vainglorious excesses of Kanye West, while his Afrocentric consciousness and cutting honesty pointed forward to modern bards like Rakim, Nas, Jay-Z, and Kendrick Lamar.\" “I’ve wrestled with alligators, I’ve tussled with a whale.",
"“I’ve wrestled with alligators, I’ve tussled with a whale. I done handcuffed lightning and throw thunder in jail. You know I’m bad. Just last week, I murdered a rock, Injured a stone, Hospitalized a brick. I’m so mean, I make medicine sick” \"Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. His hands can't hit what his eyes can't see. Now you see me, now you don't.",
"Now you see me, now you don't. Now you see me, now you don't. George thinks he will, but I know he won't.” Ali spoke like no man the world had seen before. So confident in what he said; fluent, smooth, creative, and intimidating. He was a boxer and an activist, but he also had a role in influencing what now dominated pop-culture, hip-hop. In 2006, the documentary Ali Rap was produced by ESPN.",
"In 2006, the documentary Ali Rap was produced by ESPN. Chuck D, a rapper for the band Public Enemy is the host. Other rappers narrated the documentary as well, including Doug E Fresh, Ludacris and Rakim who all spoke on Ali's behalf in the film. He has been cited as an inspiration by rappers such as LL Cool J, Public Enemy's Chuck D, Jay-Z, Eminem, Sean Combs, Slick Rick, Nas and MC Lyte.",
"He has been cited as an inspiration by rappers such as LL Cool J, Public Enemy's Chuck D, Jay-Z, Eminem, Sean Combs, Slick Rick, Nas and MC Lyte. Ali has been referenced in a number of hip hop songs, including Migos \"Fight Night\", The Game's \"Jesus Piece\", Nas' \"The Message, The Sugarhill Gang's \"Rapper's Delight\", the Fugees' \"Ready or Not\", EPMD's \"You're a Customer\" and Will Smith's \"Gettin' Jiggy wit It\".",
"Ali has been referenced in a number of hip hop songs, including Migos \"Fight Night\", The Game's \"Jesus Piece\", Nas' \"The Message, The Sugarhill Gang's \"Rapper's Delight\", the Fugees' \"Ready or Not\", EPMD's \"You're a Customer\" and Will Smith's \"Gettin' Jiggy wit It\". Professional wrestling Ali was involved with professional wrestling at different times in his career.",
"Professional wrestling Ali was involved with professional wrestling at different times in his career. On June 1, 1976, as Ali was preparing for his bout with Inoki, he attended a match featuring Gorilla Monsoon. After the match was over, Ali removed his shirt and jacket and confronted professional wrestler Gorilla Monsoon in the ring after his match at a World Wide Wrestling Federation show in Philadelphia Arena. After dodging a few punches, Monsoon put Ali in an airplane spin and dumped him to the mat.",
"After dodging a few punches, Monsoon put Ali in an airplane spin and dumped him to the mat. Ali stumbled to the corner, where his associate Butch Lewis convinced him to walk away. On March 31, 1985, Ali was the special guest referee for the main event of the inaugural WrestleMania event. In 1995, Ali led a group of Japanese and American professional wrestlers, including his 1976 opponent Antonio Inoki and Ric Flair, on a sports diplomacy mission to North Korea.",
"In 1995, Ali led a group of Japanese and American professional wrestlers, including his 1976 opponent Antonio Inoki and Ric Flair, on a sports diplomacy mission to North Korea. Ali was guest of honor at the record-breaking Collision in Korea, a wrestling event with the largest attendance of all time. Television appearances Muhammad Ali's fights were some of the world's most-watched television broadcasts, setting television viewership records.",
"Television appearances Muhammad Ali's fights were some of the world's most-watched television broadcasts, setting television viewership records. His most-watched fights drew an estimated 12 billion viewers worldwide between 1974 and 1980, and were the world's most-watched live television broadcasts at the time. Outside of fights, he made many other television appearances. The following table lists known viewership figures of his non-fight television appearances. For television viewership figures of his fights, see Boxing career of Muhammad Ali: Television viewership.",
"For television viewership figures of his fights, see Boxing career of Muhammad Ali: Television viewership. Art Ali was also an amateur artist and made dozens of drawings and paintings in the 1970s. In 1977, Rodney Hilton Brown, who owned an art gallery in NYC, asked Ali if he was interested in painting. Ali took him up on the offer and produced several paintings for him to sell. Brown is the author of “Muhammad Ali: The Untold Story: Painter, Poet and Prophet.\"",
"Brown is the author of “Muhammad Ali: The Untold Story: Painter, Poet and Prophet.\" In October 2021, 26 of his drawings and arts were placed on auction and sold for close to $1 Million USD. Later years In 1984, Ali was diagnosed with Parkinson's Syndrome, which sometimes results from head trauma from violent physical activities such as boxing.",
"Later years In 1984, Ali was diagnosed with Parkinson's Syndrome, which sometimes results from head trauma from violent physical activities such as boxing. Ali still remained active during this time, later participating as a guest referee at WrestleMania I. Philanthropy, humanitarianism and politics Ali was known for being a humanitarian and philanthropist. He focused on practicing his Islamic duty of charity and good deeds, donating millions to charity organizations and disadvantaged people of all religious backgrounds.",
"He focused on practicing his Islamic duty of charity and good deeds, donating millions to charity organizations and disadvantaged people of all religious backgrounds. It is estimated that Ali helped to feed more than 22million people afflicted by hunger across the world. Early in his career, one of his main focuses was youth education.",
"Early in his career, one of his main focuses was youth education. He spoke at several historically black colleges and universities about the importance of education, and became the largest single black donor to the United Negro College Fund in 1967 by way of a $10,000 donation ($78,000 in 2020 USD).",
"He spoke at several historically black colleges and universities about the importance of education, and became the largest single black donor to the United Negro College Fund in 1967 by way of a $10,000 donation ($78,000 in 2020 USD). In late 1966, he also pledged to donate a total of $100,000 to the UNCF (specifically promising to donate much of the proceeds of his title defense against Cleveland Williams), and paid $4,500 per closed circuit installation at six HBCUs so they could watch his fights.",
"In late 1966, he also pledged to donate a total of $100,000 to the UNCF (specifically promising to donate much of the proceeds of his title defense against Cleveland Williams), and paid $4,500 per closed circuit installation at six HBCUs so they could watch his fights. Ali began visiting Africa, starting in 1964 when he visited Nigeria and Ghana. In 1974, he visited a Palestinian refugee camp in Southern Lebanon, where Ali declared \"support for the Palestinian struggle to liberate their homeland.\"",
"In 1974, he visited a Palestinian refugee camp in Southern Lebanon, where Ali declared \"support for the Palestinian struggle to liberate their homeland.\" In 1978, following his loss to Spinks and before winning the rematch, Ali visited Bangladesh and received honorary citizenship there. The same year, he participated in The Longest Walk, a protest march in the United States in support of Native American rights, along with singer Stevie Wonder and actor Marlon Brando.",
"The same year, he participated in The Longest Walk, a protest march in the United States in support of Native American rights, along with singer Stevie Wonder and actor Marlon Brando. In 1980, Ali was recruited by President Jimmy Carter for a diplomatic mission to Africa, in an effort to persuade a number of African governments to join the US-led boycott of the Moscow Olympics (in response to the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan).",
"In 1980, Ali was recruited by President Jimmy Carter for a diplomatic mission to Africa, in an effort to persuade a number of African governments to join the US-led boycott of the Moscow Olympics (in response to the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan). According to Ali biographer Thomas Hauser, \"at best, it was ill-conceived; at worst, a diplomatic disaster.\" The Tanzanian government was insulted that Carter had sent an athlete to discuss a serious political issue.",
"The Tanzanian government was insulted that Carter had sent an athlete to discuss a serious political issue. One official asked whether the United States would \"send Chris Evert to negotiate with London.\" Consequently, Ali was only received by the youth and culture minister, rather than President Julius Nyerere.",
"Consequently, Ali was only received by the youth and culture minister, rather than President Julius Nyerere. Ali was unable to explain why the African countries should join the US boycott when it had failed to support the African boycott of the 1976 Olympics (in protest at Apartheid in South Africa), and was unaware that the Soviet Union was sponsoring popular revolutionary movements in Africa.",
"Ali was unable to explain why the African countries should join the US boycott when it had failed to support the African boycott of the 1976 Olympics (in protest at Apartheid in South Africa), and was unaware that the Soviet Union was sponsoring popular revolutionary movements in Africa. Ali conceded \"They didn't tell me about that in America\", and complained that Carter had sent him \"around the world to take the whupping over American policies.\"",
"Ali conceded \"They didn't tell me about that in America\", and complained that Carter had sent him \"around the world to take the whupping over American policies.\" The Nigerian government also rebuffed him and confirmed that they would be participating in the Moscow games. Ali did, however, convince the government of Kenya to boycott the Olympics. On January 19, 1981, in Los Angeles, Ali talked a suicidal man down from jumping off a ninth-floor ledge, an event that made national news.",
"On January 19, 1981, in Los Angeles, Ali talked a suicidal man down from jumping off a ninth-floor ledge, an event that made national news. In 1984, Ali announced his support for the re-election of United States President Ronald Reagan. When asked to elaborate on his endorsement of Reagan, Ali told reporters, \"He's keeping God in schools and that's enough.\" In 1985, he visited Israel to request the release of Muslim prisoners at Atlit detainee camp, which Israel declined.",
"In 1985, he visited Israel to request the release of Muslim prisoners at Atlit detainee camp, which Israel declined. Around 1987, the California Bicentennial Foundation for the U.S. Constitution selected Ali to personify the vitality of the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. Ali rode on a float at the following year's Tournament of Roses Parade, launching the U.S. Constitution's 200th birthday commemoration. In 1988, during the First Intifada, Ali participated in a Chicago rally in support of Palestine.",
"In 1988, during the First Intifada, Ali participated in a Chicago rally in support of Palestine. The same year, he visited Sudan to raise awareness about the plight of famine victims. According to Politico, Ali supported Orrin Hatch politically. In 1989, he participated in an Indian charity event with the Muslim Educational Society in Kozhikode, Kerala, along with Bollywood actor Dilip Kumar.",
"In 1989, he participated in an Indian charity event with the Muslim Educational Society in Kozhikode, Kerala, along with Bollywood actor Dilip Kumar. In 1990, Ali traveled to Iraq prior to the Gulf War, and met with Saddam Hussein in an attempt to negotiate the release of American hostages. Ali secured the release of the hostages, in exchange for promising Hussein that he would bring America \"an honest account\" of Iraq.",
"Ali secured the release of the hostages, in exchange for promising Hussein that he would bring America \"an honest account\" of Iraq. Despite arranging the hostages release, he received criticism from President George H. W. Bush, and Joseph C. Wilson, the highest-ranking American diplomat in Baghdad.Ali cooperated with Thomas Hauser on a biography, Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times. The oral history was published in 1991.",
"The oral history was published in 1991. The oral history was published in 1991. In 1994, Ali campaigned to the United States government to come to the aid of refugees afflicted by the Rwandan genocide, and to donate to organizations helping Rwandan refugees. In 1996, he lit the flame at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. It was watched by an estimated 3.5billion viewers worldwide. On November 17, 2002, Ali went to Afghanistan as the \"U.N. Messenger of Peace.\"",
"On November 17, 2002, Ali went to Afghanistan as the \"U.N. Messenger of Peace.\" He was in Kabul for a three-day goodwill mission as a special guest of the UN. On September 1, 2009, Ali visited Ennis, County Clare, Ireland, the home of his great-grandfather, Abe Grady, who emigrated to the U.S. in the 1860s, eventually settling in Kentucky.",
"On September 1, 2009, Ali visited Ennis, County Clare, Ireland, the home of his great-grandfather, Abe Grady, who emigrated to the U.S. in the 1860s, eventually settling in Kentucky. On July 27, 2012, Ali was a titular bearer of the Olympic flag during the opening ceremonies of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. He was helped to his feet by his wife Lonnie to stand before the flag due to his Parkinson's Syndrome rendering him unable to carry it into the stadium.",
"He was helped to his feet by his wife Lonnie to stand before the flag due to his Parkinson's Syndrome rendering him unable to carry it into the stadium. The same year, he was awarded the Philadelphia Liberty Medal in recognition of his lifelong efforts in activism, philanthropy and humanitarianism. Earnings By 1978, Ali's total fight purse earnings were estimated to be nearly $60million (inflation-adjusted ), including an estimated $47.45million grossed between 1970 and 1978.",
"Earnings By 1978, Ali's total fight purse earnings were estimated to be nearly $60million (inflation-adjusted ), including an estimated $47.45million grossed between 1970 and 1978. By 1980, his total fight purse earnings were estimated to be up to $70million (inflation-adjusted $million). In 1978, Ali revealed that he was \"broke\" and several news outlets reported his net worth to be an estimated (inflation-adjusted $million).",
"In 1978, Ali revealed that he was \"broke\" and several news outlets reported his net worth to be an estimated (inflation-adjusted $million). The press attributed his decline in wealth to several factors, including taxes consuming at least half of his income, management taking a third of his income, his lifestyle, and spending on family, charity and religious causes. In 2006, Ali sold his name and image for $50million, after which Forbes estimated his net worth to be $55million in 2006.",
"In 2006, Ali sold his name and image for $50million, after which Forbes estimated his net worth to be $55million in 2006. Following his death in 2016, his fortune was estimated to be between $50million and $80million. Declining health Ali's bout with Parkinson's Syndrome led to a gradual decline in his health, though he was still active into the early years of the millennium, promoting his own biopic, Ali, in 2001.",
"Declining health Ali's bout with Parkinson's Syndrome led to a gradual decline in his health, though he was still active into the early years of the millennium, promoting his own biopic, Ali, in 2001. That year he also contributed an on-camera segment to the America: A Tribute to Heroes benefit concert. In 1998, Ali began working with actor Michael J. Fox, who has Parkinson's disease, to raise awareness and fund research for a cure.",
"Fox, who has Parkinson's disease, to raise awareness and fund research for a cure. They made a joint appearance before Congress to push the case in 2002. In 2000, Ali worked with the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Disease to raise awareness and encourage donations for research. In February 2013, Ali's brother Rahman Ali said Muhammad could no longer speak and could be dead within days.",
"In February 2013, Ali's brother Rahman Ali said Muhammad could no longer speak and could be dead within days. Ali's daughter May May Ali responded to the rumors, stating that she had talked to him on the phone the morning of February 3 and he was fine. On December 20, 2014, Ali was hospitalized for a mild case of pneumonia. Ali was once again hospitalized on January 15, 2015, for a urinary tract infection after being found unresponsive at a guest house in Scottsdale, Arizona.",
"Ali was once again hospitalized on January 15, 2015, for a urinary tract infection after being found unresponsive at a guest house in Scottsdale, Arizona. He was released the next day. Death Ali was hospitalized in Scottsdale, Arizona, on June 2, 2016, with a respiratory illness. Though his condition was initially described as fair, it worsened, and he died the following day at the age of 74 from septic shock.",
"Though his condition was initially described as fair, it worsened, and he died the following day at the age of 74 from septic shock. News coverage and tributes Following Ali's death, he was the number-one trending topic on Twitter for over 12 hours and on Facebook for several days. BET played their documentary Muhammad Ali: Made In Miami. ESPN played four hours of non-stop commercial-free coverage of Ali. News networks, such as ABC News, BBC, CNN, and Fox News, also covered him extensively.",
"News networks, such as ABC News, BBC, CNN, and Fox News, also covered him extensively. He was mourned globally, and a family spokesman said the family \"certainly believes that Muhammad was a citizen of the world ... and they know that the world grieves with him.\" Politicians such as Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, Donald Trump, David Cameron and more paid tribute to Ali.",
"Politicians such as Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, Donald Trump, David Cameron and more paid tribute to Ali. Ali also received numerous tributes from the world of sports including Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Floyd Mayweather, Mike Tyson, the Miami Marlins, LeBron James, Steph Curry and more. Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer stated, \"Muhammad Ali belongs to the world. But he only has one hometown.\"",
"But he only has one hometown.\" But he only has one hometown.\" The day after Ali's death, the UFC paid tribute to Ali at their UFC 199 event in a lengthy video tribute package, crediting Ali for his accomplishments and inspiring multiple UFC champions. Memorial Ali's funeral had been pre-planned by himself and others for several years prior to his actual death.",
"Memorial Ali's funeral had been pre-planned by himself and others for several years prior to his actual death. The services began in Louisville on June 9, 2016, with an Islamic Janazah prayer service at Freedom Hall on the grounds of the Kentucky Exposition Center. On June 10, 2016, the funeral procession passed through the streets of Louisville ending at Cave Hill Cemetery, where his body was interred during a private ceremony. A public memorial service for Ali at downtown Louisville's KFC Yum!",
"A public memorial service for Ali at downtown Louisville's KFC Yum! Center was held during the afternoon of June 10. The pallbearers included Will Smith, Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson, with honorary pallbearers including George Chuvalo, Larry Holmes and George Foreman. Ali's memorial was watched by an estimated 1billion viewers worldwide. Legacy Ali remains the only three-time lineal heavyweight champion.",
"Legacy Ali remains the only three-time lineal heavyweight champion. Legacy Ali remains the only three-time lineal heavyweight champion. He is the only boxer to be named The Ring magazine Fighter of the Year six times, and was involved in more Ring \"Fight of the Year\" bouts than any other fighter. He was one of only three boxers to be named \"Sportsman of the Year\" by Sports Illustrated.",
"He was one of only three boxers to be named \"Sportsman of the Year\" by Sports Illustrated. Muhammad Ali was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in its first year and held wins over seven other Hall of Fame inductees during an era that has been called the golden age of heavyweight boxing. The Associated Press ranked him as the second best boxer and best heavyweight of the 20th century. His joint records of beating 21 boxers for the world heavyweight title and winning 14 unified title bouts stood for 35 years.",
"His joint records of beating 21 boxers for the world heavyweight title and winning 14 unified title bouts stood for 35 years. In 1978, three years before Ali's permanent retirement, the Louisville Board of Aldermen in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, voted 6–5 to rename Walnut Street to Muhammad Ali Boulevard. This was controversial at the time, as within a week 12 of the 70 street signs were stolen.",
"This was controversial at the time, as within a week 12 of the 70 street signs were stolen. Earlier that year, a committee of the Jefferson County Public Schools (Kentucky) considered renaming Ali's alma mater, Central High School, in his honor, but the motion failed to pass. In time, Muhammad Ali Boulevard—and Ali himself—came to be well accepted in his hometown. Ali was named one of the 100 most influential Americans of the 20th century by Life magazine in 1990.",
"Ali was named one of the 100 most influential Americans of the 20th century by Life magazine in 1990. In 1993, the Associated Press reported that Ali was tied with Babe Ruth as the most recognized athlete, out of over 800 dead or living athletes, in America. The study found that over 97% of Americans over 12 years of age identified both Ali and Ruth. He was the recipient of the 1997 Arthur Ashe Courage Award.",
"He was the recipient of the 1997 Arthur Ashe Courage Award. At the end of the 20th century he was ranked at or near the top of most lists of the century's greatest athletes. He was crowned Sportsman of the Century by Sports Illustrated. Named BBC's Sports Personality of the Century, he received more votes than the other five candidates combined. He was named Athlete of the Century by USA Today, and ranked as the third greatest athlete of the 20th century by ESPN SportsCentury.",
"He was named Athlete of the Century by USA Today, and ranked as the third greatest athlete of the 20th century by ESPN SportsCentury. Ali was named \"Kentucky Athlete of the Century\" by the Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame in ceremonies at the Galt House East. In 1999, Time magazine named Ali one of the 100 Most Important People of the 20th Century. On January 8, 2001, Muhammad Ali was presented with the Presidential Citizens Medal by President Bill Clinton.",
"On January 8, 2001, Muhammad Ali was presented with the Presidential Citizens Medal by President Bill Clinton. In November 2005, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush, followed by the Otto Hahn Peace Medal in Gold of the UN Association of Germany (DGVN) in Berlin for his work with the civil rights movement and the United Nations, which he received on December 17, 2005.",
"In November 2005, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush, followed by the Otto Hahn Peace Medal in Gold of the UN Association of Germany (DGVN) in Berlin for his work with the civil rights movement and the United Nations, which he received on December 17, 2005. On November 19, 2005, Ali and his wife Lonnie Ali opened the $60million non-profit Muhammad Ali Center in downtown Louisville.",
"On November 19, 2005, Ali and his wife Lonnie Ali opened the $60million non-profit Muhammad Ali Center in downtown Louisville. In addition to displaying his boxing memorabilia, the center focuses on core themes of peace, social responsibility, respect, and personal growth. On June 5, 2007, he received an honorary doctorate of humanities at Princeton University's 260th graduation ceremony. Ali Mall, located in Araneta Center, Quezon City, Philippines, is named after him.",
"Ali Mall, located in Araneta Center, Quezon City, Philippines, is named after him. Construction of the mall, the first of its kind in the Philippines, began shortly after Ali's victory in a match with Joe Frazier in nearby Araneta Coliseum in 1975. The mall opened in 1976 with Ali attending its opening. The 1976 Muhammad Ali vs. Antonio Inoki fight played an important role in the history of mixed martial arts.",
"The 1976 Muhammad Ali vs. Antonio Inoki fight played an important role in the history of mixed martial arts. In Japan, the match inspired Inoki's students Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki to found Pancrase in 1993, which in turn inspired the foundation of Pride Fighting Championships in 1997. Pride was acquired by its rival, Ultimate Fighting Championship, in 2007. The Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act was introduced in 1999 and passed in 2000, to protect the rights and welfare of boxers in the United States.",
"The Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act was introduced in 1999 and passed in 2000, to protect the rights and welfare of boxers in the United States. In May 2016, a bill was introduced to United States Congress by Markwayne Mullin, a politician and former MMA fighter, to extend the Ali Act to mixed martial arts. In June 2016, US senator Rand Paul proposed an amendment to the US draft laws named after Ali, a proposal to eliminate the Selective Service System.",
"In June 2016, US senator Rand Paul proposed an amendment to the US draft laws named after Ali, a proposal to eliminate the Selective Service System. In 2015, Sports Illustrated renamed its Sportsman Legacy Award to the Sports Illustrateds Muhammad Ali Legacy Award. The annual award was originally created in 2008 and honors former \"sports figures who embody the ideals of sportsmanship, leadership and philanthropy as vehicles for changing the world.\"",
"The annual award was originally created in 2008 and honors former \"sports figures who embody the ideals of sportsmanship, leadership and philanthropy as vehicles for changing the world.\" Ali first appeared on the magazine's cover in 1963 and went on to be featured on numerous covers during his storied career.",
"Ali first appeared on the magazine's cover in 1963 and went on to be featured on numerous covers during his storied career. On January 13, 2017, seven months or so after Ali's death, and 4 days before what would have been his 75th birthday, the Muhammad Ali Commemorative Coin Act was introduced into the 115th Congress (2017–2019), as H.R. 579 (House of Representatives) and as S. 166 (Senate). However, both \"died\" within 10 days.",
"However, both \"died\" within 10 days. However, both \"died\" within 10 days. In the media and popular culture As a world champion boxer, social activist, sex symbol and pop culture icon, Ali was the subject of numerous creative works including books, films, music, video games, TV shows, and other. Muhammad Ali was often dubbed the world's \"most famous\" person in the media.",
"Muhammad Ali was often dubbed the world's \"most famous\" person in the media. Several of his fights were watched by an estimated 12 billion viewers between 1974 and 1980, and his lighting of the torch at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics was watched by an estimated 3.5billion viewers. Ali appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated on 38 different occasions, second only to Michael Jordan's 46. He also appeared on the cover of Time Magazine 5 times, the most of any athlete.",
"He also appeared on the cover of Time Magazine 5 times, the most of any athlete. In 2015, Harris Poll found that Ali was one of the three most recognizable athletes in the United States, along with Michael Jordan and Babe Ruth. Martial artist and actor Bruce Lee was influenced by Ali, whose footwork he studied and incorporated into his own style while developing Jeet Kune Do in the 1960s.",
"Martial artist and actor Bruce Lee was influenced by Ali, whose footwork he studied and incorporated into his own style while developing Jeet Kune Do in the 1960s. On the set of Freedom Road Ali met Canadian singer-songwriter Michel, and subsequently helped create Michel's album The First Flight of the Gizzelda Dragon and an unaired television special featuring them both. Ali was the subject of the British television program This Is Your Life in 1978 when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews.",
"Ali was the subject of the British television program This Is Your Life in 1978 when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews. Ali was featured in Superman vs. Muhammad Ali, a 1978 DC Comics comic book pitting the champ against the superhero. In 1979, Ali guest-starred as himself in an episode of the NBC sitcom Diff'rent Strokes.",
"In 1979, Ali guest-starred as himself in an episode of the NBC sitcom Diff'rent Strokes. The show's title itself was inspired by the quote \"Different strokes for different folks\" popularized in 1966 by Ali, who also inspired the title of the 1967 Syl Johnson song \"Different Strokes\", one of the most sampled songs in pop music history. He also wrote several bestselling books about his career, including The Greatest: My Own Story and The Soul of a Butterfly.",
"He also wrote several bestselling books about his career, including The Greatest: My Own Story and The Soul of a Butterfly. The Muhammad Ali effect, named after Ali, is a term that came into use in psychology in the 1980s, as he stated in The Greatest: My Own Story: \"I only said I was the greatest, not the smartest.\"",
"The Muhammad Ali effect, named after Ali, is a term that came into use in psychology in the 1980s, as he stated in The Greatest: My Own Story: \"I only said I was the greatest, not the smartest.\" According to this effect, when people are asked to rate their intelligence and moral behavior in comparison to others, people will rate themselves as more moral, but not more intelligent than others.",
"According to this effect, when people are asked to rate their intelligence and moral behavior in comparison to others, people will rate themselves as more moral, but not more intelligent than others. When We Were Kings, a 1996 documentary about the Rumble in the Jungle, won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. The 2001 biopic Ali garnered a Best Actor Oscar nomination for Will Smith for his portrayal of Ali. Prior to making the film, Smith rejected the role until Ali requested that he accept it.",
"Prior to making the film, Smith rejected the role until Ali requested that he accept it. Smith said the first thing Ali told him was: \"Man, you're almost pretty enough to play me.\" In 2002, Ali was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to the entertainment industry. His star is the only one to be mounted on a vertical surface, out of deference to his request that the name Muhammad—a name he shares with the Islamic prophet—not be walked upon.",
"His star is the only one to be mounted on a vertical surface, out of deference to his request that the name Muhammad—a name he shares with the Islamic prophet—not be walked upon. His 1966 fight against George Chuvalo was the subject of Joseph Blasioli's 2003 documentary film The Last Round: Chuvalo vs. Ali. The Trials of Muhammad Ali, a documentary directed by Bill Siegel that focuses on Ali's refusal of the draft during the Vietnam War, opened in Manhattan on August 23, 2013.",
"The Trials of Muhammad Ali, a documentary directed by Bill Siegel that focuses on Ali's refusal of the draft during the Vietnam War, opened in Manhattan on August 23, 2013. A 2013 made-for-TV movie titled Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight dramatized the same aspect of Ali's life. Antoine Fuqua's documentary What's My Name: Muhammad Ali was released in 2019. Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns created the four-part documentary film Muhammad Ali, spanning over eight hours on Ali's entire life.",
"Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns created the four-part documentary film Muhammad Ali, spanning over eight hours on Ali's entire life. Burns worked on the film since early 2016. It is scheduled to release in September 2021 on PBS. Dave Zirin who watched an 8 hour rough cut of this documentary called it \"utterly outstanding\" and said \"the footage they found will blow minds\".",
"Dave Zirin who watched an 8 hour rough cut of this documentary called it \"utterly outstanding\" and said \"the footage they found will blow minds\". Discography I Am the Greatest (1963) The Adventures of Ali and His Gang vs. Mr. Tooth Decay (1976) See also List of heavyweight boxing champions List of WBA world champions List of WBC world champions List of The Ring world champions List of undisputed boxing champions Converts to Islam Notable boxing families List of people from the Louisville metropolitan area List of North American Muslims African-American Muslims 1981 MAPS Wells Fargo embezzlement scandal Notes References Further reading Online Muhammad Ali: American boxer, in Encyclopædia Britannica Online, by Thomas Hauser, Adam Augustyn, Piyush Bhathya, Yamini Chauhan, John M. Cunningham, Richard Pallardy, Michael Ray, Emily Rodriguez, Surabhi Sinha, Amy Tikkanen, Grace Young and The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica External links Official website (archived) William Addams Reitwiesner Genealogical Services: Ancestry of Muhammad Ali FBI Records: The Vault – Muhammad Ali at the FBI Cassius Clay Guilty (1967), Texas Archive of the Moving Image Photo essays''' 1942 births 2016 deaths 20th-century American rappers 20th-century Muslims 21st-century Muslims Activists for African-American civil rights Activists from Kentucky African-American activists African-American boxers African-American male rappers African-American Muslims African-American poets African-American Sunni Muslims American anti–Vietnam War activists American conscientious objectors American former Protestants American humanitarians American male boxers American male poets American male rappers American Muslim activists American people of Irish descent American people of Malagasy descent American philanthropists American spoken word poets American Sufis BBC Sports Personality World Sport Star of the Year winners Boxers at the 1960 Summer Olympics Boxers from Arizona Boxers from Chicago Boxers from Louisville, Kentucky Boxers from New Jersey Burials at Cave Hill Cemetery Central High School (Louisville, Kentucky) alumni COINTELPRO targets Columbia Records artists Converts to Sunni Islam from Protestantism Deaths from sepsis Former Nation of Islam members International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees Medalists at the 1960 Summer Olympics Neurological disease deaths in Arizona Olympic boxers of the United States Olympic cauldron lighters Olympic gold medalists for the United States in boxing Overturned convictions in the United States People from Cherry Hill, New Jersey People from Paradise Valley, Arizona People with Parkinson's disease People with traumatic brain injuries Poets from Arizona Poets from Kentucky Poets from New Jersey Presidential Citizens Medal recipients Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients Professional wrestling referees Rappers from Kentucky Sportspeople from Camden County, New Jersey Sportspeople from the Phoenix metropolitan area The Ring (magazine) champions Vietnam War draft evaders Winners of the United States Championship for amateur boxers World Boxing Association champions World Boxing Council champions World heavyweight boxing champions Writers from Louisville, Kentucky"
] |
[
"Once (film)",
"Box office performance and awards"
] | C_19e7366c0d624a97bc9d31fb07cdf4d0_1 | How did Once perform at the box office? | 1 | How did Once perform at the box office? | Once (film) | A rough cut of the film was previewed on 15 July 2006 at the Galway Film Fleadh, but the film was subsequently turned down by several prestigious European film festivals. However, once finished, it secured spots at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival on 20 January 2007 and the Dublin Film Festival in February 2007, and received the audience awards at both events. The film was first released on cinema in Ireland on 23 March 2007, followed by a limited release in the United States on 16 May 2007. After its second weekend in release in the United States and Canada, the film topped the 23 May 2007 indieWIRE box office chart with nearly $31,000 average per location. As of 28 March 2009, Once has grossed nearly $9.5 million in North America and over $20 million worldwide. After 2007's box office success and critical acclaim, it won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Foreign Film. Steven Spielberg was quoted as saying "A little movie called Once gave me enough inspiration to last the rest of the year". When informed of Spielberg's comments, director John Carney told Sky News, "in the end of the day, he's just a guy with a beard". At the time of this interview, Carney himself was also wearing a beard. The song "Falling Slowly" won the 2007 Academy Award for Best Original Song. The nomination's eligibility for the Oscar was initially questioned, as versions of the song had been released on The Cost and The Swell Season albums, but this was resolved before the voting for the award took place. The AMPAS music committee satisfied themselves that the song had indeed been written for the film and determined that, in the course of the film's protracted production, the composers had "played the song in some venues that were deemed inconsequential enough to not change the song's eligibility". CANNOTANSWER | As of 28 March 2009, Once has grossed nearly $9.5 million in North America and over $20 million worldwide. | Once is a 2007 Irish
romantic musical drama film written and directed by John Carney. The film stars Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová as two struggling musicians in Dublin, Ireland. Hansard and Irglová had previously performed music as the Swell Season, and composed and performed the film's original songs.
Once spent years in development with the Irish Film Board and was made for a budget of €112,000. It was a commercial success, earning substantial per-screen box office averages in the United States, and received acclaim from critics. It received awards including the 2007 Independent Spirit Award for Best Foreign Film. Hansard and Irglová's song "Falling Slowly" won the 2008 Academy Award for Best Original Song, and the soundtrack received a Grammy Award nomination.
Plot
A thirty-something busker (Guy) performs with his guitar on Grafton Street, Dublin and chases a man who steals his money. Lured by his music, a young Czech flower seller (Girl) talks to him about his songs. Delighted to learn that he repairs hoovers, Girl asks Guy to fix hers. The next day Girl returns with her broken vacuum and tells him she is also a musician.
At a music store where Girl usually plays piano, Guy teaches her one of his songs ("Falling Slowly"); they sing and play together. He invites her to his father's shop, and on the bus home musically answers Girl's question about what his songs are about: a long-time girlfriend who cheated on him, then left ("Broken Hearted Hoover Fixer Sucker Guy").
At the shop, Guy introduces Girl to his father and takes her to his room, but when he asks her to stay the night, she gets upset and leaves. The next day, they reconcile and spend the week writing, rehearsing and recording songs. Girl writes the lyrics for one of Guy's songs ("If You Want Me"), singing to herself while walking down the street; at a party, people perform impromptu (including "Gold").
Guy works on "Lies", a song about his ex-girlfriend, who moved to London. Girl encourages him to win her back. Invited to her home, he discovers she has a toddler and lives with her mother. Guy decides to move to London, but he wants to record a demo of his songs to take with him and asks Girl to record it with him. They secure a bank loan and reserve time at a recording studio.
Guy learns Girl has a husband in the Czech Republic. When he asks if she still loves her husband, Girl answers in Czech, "Miluji tebe" ("I love you"), but coyly declines to translate. After recruiting a band with other buskers, they go into the studio to record. They impress Eamon, the jaded studio engineer, with their first song ("When Your Mind's Made Up"). On a break in the early morning, Girl finds a piano in an empty studio and plays Guy one of her own compositions ("The Hill").
After the all-night session wraps up, they walk home. Before they part ways, Girl reveals that she spoke to her husband and he is coming to live with her in Dublin. Guy persuades her to spend her last night in Dublin with him, but she stands him up and he cannot find her to say goodbye before his flight. He plays the demo for his father, who gives him money to help him get settled in London. Before leaving for the airport, Guy buys Girl a piano and makes arrangements for its delivery, then calls his ex-girlfriend, who is happy about his imminent arrival. Girl reunites with her husband in Dublin and plays the piano in their home.
Cast
Glen Hansard as Guy
Markéta Irglová as Girl
Hugh Walsh as Timmy Drummer
Gerard Hendrick as Lead Guitarist
Alaistair Foley as Bassist
Geoff Minogue as Eamon
Bill Hodnett as Guy's Dad
Danuse Ktrestova as Girl's Mother
Darren Healy as Heroin Addict
Mal Whyte as Bill
Marcella Plunkett as Ex-girlfriend
Niall Cleary as Bob
Wiltold Owski as Man watching TV
Krzysztos Tlotka as Man watching TV
Tomek Glowacki as Man watching TV
Keith Byrne as Guy in Piano Shop
Production
The two leads, Hansard and Irglová, are both professional musicians. Director Carney, former bassist for Hansard's band The Frames, had asked his long-time friend to share busker anecdotes and compose songs for the film, but had intended the male lead to be played by actor Cillian Murphy, who was an almost-signed rock musician before turning to acting. Murphy was also going to be one of the film's producers. But Murphy declined the prospect of acting opposite non-actor Irglová (then 17 years old) and also felt that he hadn't the vocal capabilities to belt out Hansard's octave-leaping songs, so he pulled out, as did the film's other producers along with their financial resources. Carney then turned to songwriter Hansard, who'd previously done only one acting job, a supporting role as guitarist Outspan Foster in the 1991 ensemble film The Commitments, the story of a Dublin soul music cover band. Hansard was initially reluctant, fearing that he wouldn't be able to pull it off, but after stipulating that he had to be fully involved in the filmmaking process and that it be low-budget and intimate, he agreed.
Produced on a shoestring, about 75% of the budget was funded by Bord Scannán na hÉireann (The Irish Film Board), plus some of Carney's own money. The director gave his salary to the two stars, and promised a share of the back-end for everyone if the film was a success. Shot with a skeleton crew on a 17-day shoot, the filmmakers saved money by using natural light and shooting at friends' houses. The musical party scene was filmed in Hansard's own flat, with his personal friends playing the partygoers/musicians—his mother, Catherine Hansard, is briefly featured singing solo. The Dublin street scenes were recorded without permits and with a long lens so that many passersby didn't even realize that a film was being made. The long lens also helped the non-professional actors relax and forget about the camera, and some of the dialogue ended up being improvised.
During the shoot, Carney had predicted a romance, calling Hansard and Irglová his Bogart and Bacall. Hansard and Irglová did become a couple in real life, getting together while on a promotional tour across North America, and living together in Dublin, in Hansard's flat. Entertainment Weekly reported:
Subsequently, Hansard indicated that they were no longer a romantic couple. He said, "Of course, we fell into each other's arms. It was a very necessary part of our friendship but I think we both concluded that that wasn't what we really wanted to do. So we're not together now. We are just really good friends."
Yet Hansard and Irglová were quite happy with the unrequited ending for their onscreen characters. In an interview, Hansard states that "Had the US distributor changed the end and made us kiss, I wouldn't be interested in coming and promoting it, at all." Hansard says that ad-libbing produced the moment where Irglova's character tells the Guy in unsubtitled Czech, "No, I love you", but when it was shot, he didn't know what she'd said, just like his character.
Both Hansard and Irglova give the impression in interviews that they are unlikely to pursue further acting. Irglova has spoken about being nervous in front of a crew, saying "I don't think I would be a good actress, overall", and Hansard generally refers to the movie as a one-off, talking of "moving on... living a different life".
As a result of the film, Hansard and Irglová have been releasing music and touring together as The Swell Season.
Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová reprised their roles in The Simpsons episode "In the Name of the Grandfather".
Reception
Box office
A rough cut of the film was previewed on 15 July 2006 at the Galway Film Fleadh, but the film was subsequently turned down by several prestigious European film festivals. However, once finished, it secured spots at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival on 20 January 2007 and the Dublin Film Festival in February 2007, and received the audience awards at both events.
The film was first released on cinema in Ireland on 23 March 2007, followed by a limited release in the United States on 16 May 2007. After its second weekend in release in the United States and Canada, the film topped the 23 May 2007 indieWIRE box office chart with nearly $31,000 average per location. As of 28 March 2009, Once has grossed nearly $9.5 million in North America and over $20 million worldwide.
Accolades
After 2007's box office success and critical acclaim, it won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Foreign Film. Steven Spielberg was quoted as saying "A little movie called Once gave me enough inspiration to last the rest of the year". When informed of Spielberg's comments, director John Carney told Sky News, "in the end of the day, he's just a guy with a beard". At the time of this interview, Carney himself was also wearing a beard.
The song "Falling Slowly" won the 2007 Academy Award for Best Original Song. The nomination's eligibility for the Oscar was initially questioned, as versions of the song had been recorded on The Cost and The Swell Season albums and it was also included in the movie Beauty in Trouble (all released in 2006) but this was resolved before the voting for the award took place. The AMPAS music committee satisfied themselves that the song had indeed been written for the film and determined that, in the course of the film's protracted production, the composers had "played the song in some venues that were deemed inconsequential enough to not change the song’s eligibility".
Critical response
Once received widespread acclaim from critics. Upon its March 2007 release in Ireland, RTÉ's Caroline Hennessy gave the film 4 out of 5 stars and termed it "an unexpected treasure". About the acting, this Irish reviewer commented, "Once has wonderfully natural performances from the two leads. Although musicians first and actors second, they acquit themselves well in both areas. Irglová, a largely unknown quantity alongside the well-known and either loved or loathed Hansard, is luminous." Michael Dwyer of The Irish Times gave the film the same rating, calling it "irresistibly appealing" and noting that "Carney makes the point – without ever labouring it – that his protagonists are living in a changing city where the economic boom has passed them by. His keen eye for authentic locations is ... evident".
Once won very high marks from U.S. critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, it holds a 97% approval rating based on 159 reviews, with an average score of 8.30/10. The website's critical consensus states, "A charming, captivating tale of love and music, Once sets the standard for the modern musical. And with Dublin as its backdrop, Once is fun and fresh." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 88 out of 100 based on reviews from 33 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". In May, on Ebert & Roeper, both Richard Roeper and guest critic Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune gave enthusiastic reviews. Phillips called it, "the most charming thing I've seen all year", "the Brief Encounter for the 21st century", his favorite music film since 1984's Stop Making Sense and said, "It may well be the best music film of our generation". Roeper referred to the film's recording studio scene as "more inspirational and uplifting than almost any number of Dreamgirls or Chicago or any of those multi-zillion dollar musical showstopping films. In its own way, it will blow you away." Ebert gave the film four stars out of four, saying that he was "not at all surprised" that Philips had named it the best film of the year.
In late 2007, Amy Simmons of Time Out London wrote, "Carney’s highly charged, urban mise-en-scène with its blinking street lamps, vacant shops and dishevelled bed-sits provides ample poetic backdrop for the film’s lengthy tracking shots, epitomised in a sequence where the Girl walks to the corner shop in pyjamas and slippers while listening to one of the Guy’s songs on her personal stereo. With outstanding performances from Hansard and newcomer Irglová, Carney has created a sublime, visual album of unassuming and self-assured eloquence." The Telegraph'''s Sukhdev Sandhu said, "Not since Before Sunset has a romantic film managed to be as touching, funny or as hard to forget as Once. Like Before Sunset, it never outstays its welcome, climaxing on a note of rare charm and unexpectedness."
The film appeared on many North American critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2007:
1st – Michael Phillips, The Chicago Tribune 1st – Nathan Rabin, The A.V. Club 2nd – David Germain, Associated Press
2nd – Kevin Crust, Los Angeles Times 2nd – Kyle Smith, New York Post 2nd – Shawn Levy, The Oregonian 2nd – Roger Moore, The Orlando Sentinel 2nd – Robert Butler, Kansas City Star 2nd – Paste Magazine 3rd – Christy Lemire, Associated Press
3rd – Tasha Robinson, The A.V. Club 3rd – Andrew Gray, Tribune Chronicle 3rd – Sean Means, Salt Lake Tribune 4th – Keith Phipps, The A.V. Club 4th – Christopher Kelly, Star Telegram 5th – Ann Hornaday, The Washington Post 5th – Desson Thomson, The Washington Post 5th – Noel Murray, The A.V. Club 6th – Ella Taylor, LA Weekly 6th – Nick Digilio, WGN-AM 7th – Claudia Puig, USA Today 7th – Dana Stevens, Slate 7th – Scott Tobias, The A.V. Club 7th – Scott Mantz, Access Hollywood 7th – Craig Outhier, Orange County Register 8th – Liam Lacey and Rick Groen, The Globe and Mail 8th – Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly 8th – Stephanie Zacharek, Salon 9th – Joe Morgenstern, The Wall Street Journal 9th – Michael Rechtshaffen, The Hollywood Reporter 9th – Richard Roeper, At the Movies with Ebert & Roeper 9th – Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times 9th – Carina Chocano, Los Angeles Times 9th – James Verniere, Boston Herald 10th – Bob Mondello, NPR 10th – Peter Vonder Haar, Film ThreatIn 2008, the film placed third on Entertainment Weekly's "25 Best Romantic Movies of the Past 25 Years".
DVD and Blu-ray Once was released on DVD in the US on 18 December 2007, and in the UK on 25 February 2008, followed by a British Blu-ray release on 16 February 2009. Once was released on Blu-ray in the US as an Amazon-exclusive on April 1, 2014.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack album was released on 22 May 2007 in the United States and four days later in Ireland.
A collector's edition of the soundtrack was released on 4 December 2007 in the US with additional songs and a bonus DVD with live performances and interviews about the film. The additional songs were two previously unreleased Van Morrison covers: Hansard's "And the Healing Has Begun", and Hansard and Irglová's "Into the Mystic".
Different versions of a lot of the soundtrack's songs were previously released on The Frames' album The Cost and on Hansard and Irglová's The Swell Season (both released in 2006). An early version of the last track, "Say It to Me Now", originally appeared on The Frames' 1995 album Fitzcarraldo. "All the Way Down" first appeared on the self-titled album from musician collective The Cake Sale, with Gemma Hayes providing vocals. The song "Gold" was written by Irish singer-songwriter Fergus O'Farrell and performed by Interference.
Track listing
Accolades
The soundtrack was nominated for two 2008 Grammy Awards, under Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media and, for "Falling Slowly", Best Song Written for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media. It won the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Music, and it was ranked at number two on the Entertainment Weekly 25 New Classic Soundtrack Albums list (1983–2008).
Charts success
The soundtrack album reached #20 on the Irish Albums Chart in its first week, peaking at #15 a few weeks later. Following the Oscar win, the album reached the top of the chart, while "Falling Slowly" reached a new peak of #2.
In the United States, it ranked as the #10 soundtrack on 1 June. As of 11 July 2007, the album has sold 54,753 copies in the US. The album reached #27 on the Billboard 200 according to Allmusic. It also reached #2 on the Soundtracks Chart and #4 on the Independent Chart.
Certifications
Stage adaptation
The film has been adapted for the stage as the musical (Once). It first opened at the New York Theatre Workshop on 6 December 2011. The screenplay was adapted by Enda Walsh and the production directed by John Tiffany.
In February 2012, the musical transferred to Broadway's Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre. It began in previews on 28 February 2012 and opened on 18 March 2012. Directed by John Tiffany, the cast features Steve Kazee as Guy and Cristin Milioti as Girl with sets and costumes by Bob Crowley. The music is from the film with two additional songs, and the cast is also the orchestra. The musical opened up to generally positive reviews. Since its opening, Once has been named Best Musical by The Outer Critics' Circle, Drama League, The New York Drama Critics' Circle, and The Tony Awards.
The Broadway production of Once was nominated for a total of 11 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Actor in a Musical (Steve Kazee), Best Actress in a Musical (Cristin Milioti), Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Elizabeth A. Davis) and Best Direction of a Musical. On 10 June 2012, it won eight Tony Awards including Best Musical, Best Direction of a Musical, Best Book of a Musical and Best Actor in a Musical.
See also
Busking
Once (musical)
Cinema of Ireland
Musical films
References
External links
Icon Movies' Official U.K. Once Website
Fox Searchlight's Official U.S. Once Website (plays complete soundtrack – music starts when page loads)
Once and Other Irish Films
"Lies" from Once named Best New Film Song
Interviews
Interview with Hansard and Irglová at Janaki's Musings
Interview with John Carney at Janaki's Musings
Reviews
"Movie Review: Once", Entertainment Weekly review by Owen Gleiberman (15 May 2007)
"Once: 3.5 out of 4 stars", Rolling Stone'' review by Peter Travers (17 May 2007)
"Movie Review: Once", stv.tv
2007 films
2007 romantic drama films
2000s English-language films
2000s musical drama films
2000s romantic musical films
Czech-language films
Films about guitars and guitarists
Films about music and musicians
Films directed by John Carney
Films set in Dublin (city)
Films shot in Dublin (city)
Films that won the Best Original Song Academy Award
Independent Spirit Award for Best Foreign Film winners
Irish films
English-language Irish films
Irish musical drama films
Irish romantic drama films
The Swell Season albums | true | [
"The Orplid Mystery or Epilogue () is a 1950 West German thriller film directed by Helmut Käutner and starring Horst Caspar, Bettina Moissi, and O.E. Hasse. The film did not perform well at the box office on its release.\n\nIt was made at the Spandau Studios of CCC Films. The film's sets were designed by the art director Emil Hasler.\n\nCast\n\nReferences\n\nBibliography\n\nExternal links \n \n\n1950 films\n1950s spy thriller films\nGerman spy thriller films\nWest German films\nGerman-language films\nFilms directed by Helmut Käutner\nSeafaring films\nGerman black-and-white films\nFilms shot at Spandau Studios",
"The Alex Cross film series is an American film series of three thriller films, based on the fictional character Alex Cross, who originally appeared in a series of novels of the same name by James Patterson. In the film series, Morgan Freeman and Tyler Perry have portrayed Alex Cross.\n\nFilms\n\n Kiss the Girls (1997)\n Along Came a Spider (2001)\n Alex Cross (2012)\n\nCancelled sequel\nPrior to the film Alex Cross (2012) release, it was announced that Double Cross would be adapted into a film, with Tyler Perry reprising the role. However, the film was cancelled after Alex Cross did not perform well at the box office.\n\nCast\n\nCrew\n\nReception\n\nBox office performance\n\nCritical and public response\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nFilm series\nFilm series introduced in 1997\nTrilogies"
] | [
"Once is a 2007 Irish romantic musical drama film written and directed by John Carney. The film stars Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová as two struggling musicians in Dublin, Ireland. Hansard and Irglová had previously performed music as the Swell Season, and composed and performed the film's original songs. Once spent years in development with the Irish Film Board and was made for a budget of €112,000. It was a commercial success, earning substantial per-screen box office averages in the United States, and received acclaim from critics.",
"It was a commercial success, earning substantial per-screen box office averages in the United States, and received acclaim from critics. It received awards including the 2007 Independent Spirit Award for Best Foreign Film. Hansard and Irglová's song \"Falling Slowly\" won the 2008 Academy Award for Best Original Song, and the soundtrack received a Grammy Award nomination. Plot A thirty-something busker (Guy) performs with his guitar on Grafton Street, Dublin and chases a man who steals his money.",
"Plot A thirty-something busker (Guy) performs with his guitar on Grafton Street, Dublin and chases a man who steals his money. Lured by his music, a young Czech flower seller (Girl) talks to him about his songs. Delighted to learn that he repairs hoovers, Girl asks Guy to fix hers. The next day Girl returns with her broken vacuum and tells him she is also a musician.",
"The next day Girl returns with her broken vacuum and tells him she is also a musician. At a music store where Girl usually plays piano, Guy teaches her one of his songs (\"Falling Slowly\"); they sing and play together. He invites her to his father's shop, and on the bus home musically answers Girl's question about what his songs are about: a long-time girlfriend who cheated on him, then left (\"Broken Hearted Hoover Fixer Sucker Guy\").",
"He invites her to his father's shop, and on the bus home musically answers Girl's question about what his songs are about: a long-time girlfriend who cheated on him, then left (\"Broken Hearted Hoover Fixer Sucker Guy\"). At the shop, Guy introduces Girl to his father and takes her to his room, but when he asks her to stay the night, she gets upset and leaves. The next day, they reconcile and spend the week writing, rehearsing and recording songs.",
"The next day, they reconcile and spend the week writing, rehearsing and recording songs. Girl writes the lyrics for one of Guy's songs (\"If You Want Me\"), singing to herself while walking down the street; at a party, people perform impromptu (including \"Gold\"). Guy works on \"Lies\", a song about his ex-girlfriend, who moved to London. Girl encourages him to win her back.",
"Girl encourages him to win her back. Girl encourages him to win her back. Invited to her home, he discovers she has a toddler and lives with her mother. Guy decides to move to London, but he wants to record a demo of his songs to take with him and asks Girl to record it with him. They secure a bank loan and reserve time at a recording studio. Guy learns Girl has a husband in the Czech Republic.",
"Guy learns Girl has a husband in the Czech Republic. When he asks if she still loves her husband, Girl answers in Czech, \"Miluji tebe\" (\"I love you\"), but coyly declines to translate. After recruiting a band with other buskers, they go into the studio to record. They impress Eamon, the jaded studio engineer, with their first song (\"When Your Mind's Made Up\").",
"They impress Eamon, the jaded studio engineer, with their first song (\"When Your Mind's Made Up\"). On a break in the early morning, Girl finds a piano in an empty studio and plays Guy one of her own compositions (\"The Hill\"). After the all-night session wraps up, they walk home. Before they part ways, Girl reveals that she spoke to her husband and he is coming to live with her in Dublin.",
"Before they part ways, Girl reveals that she spoke to her husband and he is coming to live with her in Dublin. Guy persuades her to spend her last night in Dublin with him, but she stands him up and he cannot find her to say goodbye before his flight. He plays the demo for his father, who gives him money to help him get settled in London.",
"He plays the demo for his father, who gives him money to help him get settled in London. Before leaving for the airport, Guy buys Girl a piano and makes arrangements for its delivery, then calls his ex-girlfriend, who is happy about his imminent arrival. Girl reunites with her husband in Dublin and plays the piano in their home.",
"Girl reunites with her husband in Dublin and plays the piano in their home. Cast Glen Hansard as Guy Markéta Irglová as Girl Hugh Walsh as Timmy Drummer Gerard Hendrick as Lead Guitarist Alaistair Foley as Bassist Geoff Minogue as Eamon Bill Hodnett as Guy's Dad Danuse Ktrestova as Girl's Mother Darren Healy as Heroin Addict Mal Whyte as Bill Marcella Plunkett as Ex-girlfriend Niall Cleary as Bob Wiltold Owski as Man watching TV Krzysztos Tlotka as Man watching TV Tomek Glowacki as Man watching TV Keith Byrne as Guy in Piano Shop Production The two leads, Hansard and Irglová, are both professional musicians.",
"Cast Glen Hansard as Guy Markéta Irglová as Girl Hugh Walsh as Timmy Drummer Gerard Hendrick as Lead Guitarist Alaistair Foley as Bassist Geoff Minogue as Eamon Bill Hodnett as Guy's Dad Danuse Ktrestova as Girl's Mother Darren Healy as Heroin Addict Mal Whyte as Bill Marcella Plunkett as Ex-girlfriend Niall Cleary as Bob Wiltold Owski as Man watching TV Krzysztos Tlotka as Man watching TV Tomek Glowacki as Man watching TV Keith Byrne as Guy in Piano Shop Production The two leads, Hansard and Irglová, are both professional musicians. Director Carney, former bassist for Hansard's band The Frames, had asked his long-time friend to share busker anecdotes and compose songs for the film, but had intended the male lead to be played by actor Cillian Murphy, who was an almost-signed rock musician before turning to acting.",
"Director Carney, former bassist for Hansard's band The Frames, had asked his long-time friend to share busker anecdotes and compose songs for the film, but had intended the male lead to be played by actor Cillian Murphy, who was an almost-signed rock musician before turning to acting. Murphy was also going to be one of the film's producers.",
"Murphy was also going to be one of the film's producers. But Murphy declined the prospect of acting opposite non-actor Irglová (then 17 years old) and also felt that he hadn't the vocal capabilities to belt out Hansard's octave-leaping songs, so he pulled out, as did the film's other producers along with their financial resources.",
"But Murphy declined the prospect of acting opposite non-actor Irglová (then 17 years old) and also felt that he hadn't the vocal capabilities to belt out Hansard's octave-leaping songs, so he pulled out, as did the film's other producers along with their financial resources. Carney then turned to songwriter Hansard, who'd previously done only one acting job, a supporting role as guitarist Outspan Foster in the 1991 ensemble film The Commitments, the story of a Dublin soul music cover band.",
"Carney then turned to songwriter Hansard, who'd previously done only one acting job, a supporting role as guitarist Outspan Foster in the 1991 ensemble film The Commitments, the story of a Dublin soul music cover band. Hansard was initially reluctant, fearing that he wouldn't be able to pull it off, but after stipulating that he had to be fully involved in the filmmaking process and that it be low-budget and intimate, he agreed.",
"Hansard was initially reluctant, fearing that he wouldn't be able to pull it off, but after stipulating that he had to be fully involved in the filmmaking process and that it be low-budget and intimate, he agreed. Produced on a shoestring, about 75% of the budget was funded by Bord Scannán na hÉireann (The Irish Film Board), plus some of Carney's own money.",
"Produced on a shoestring, about 75% of the budget was funded by Bord Scannán na hÉireann (The Irish Film Board), plus some of Carney's own money. The director gave his salary to the two stars, and promised a share of the back-end for everyone if the film was a success. Shot with a skeleton crew on a 17-day shoot, the filmmakers saved money by using natural light and shooting at friends' houses.",
"Shot with a skeleton crew on a 17-day shoot, the filmmakers saved money by using natural light and shooting at friends' houses. The musical party scene was filmed in Hansard's own flat, with his personal friends playing the partygoers/musicians—his mother, Catherine Hansard, is briefly featured singing solo. The Dublin street scenes were recorded without permits and with a long lens so that many passersby didn't even realize that a film was being made.",
"The Dublin street scenes were recorded without permits and with a long lens so that many passersby didn't even realize that a film was being made. The long lens also helped the non-professional actors relax and forget about the camera, and some of the dialogue ended up being improvised. During the shoot, Carney had predicted a romance, calling Hansard and Irglová his Bogart and Bacall.",
"During the shoot, Carney had predicted a romance, calling Hansard and Irglová his Bogart and Bacall. Hansard and Irglová did become a couple in real life, getting together while on a promotional tour across North America, and living together in Dublin, in Hansard's flat. Entertainment Weekly reported: Subsequently, Hansard indicated that they were no longer a romantic couple. He said, \"Of course, we fell into each other's arms.",
"He said, \"Of course, we fell into each other's arms. It was a very necessary part of our friendship but I think we both concluded that that wasn't what we really wanted to do. So we're not together now. We are just really good friends.\" Yet Hansard and Irglová were quite happy with the unrequited ending for their onscreen characters.",
"Yet Hansard and Irglová were quite happy with the unrequited ending for their onscreen characters. In an interview, Hansard states that \"Had the US distributor changed the end and made us kiss, I wouldn't be interested in coming and promoting it, at all.\" Hansard says that ad-libbing produced the moment where Irglova's character tells the Guy in unsubtitled Czech, \"No, I love you\", but when it was shot, he didn't know what she'd said, just like his character.",
"Hansard says that ad-libbing produced the moment where Irglova's character tells the Guy in unsubtitled Czech, \"No, I love you\", but when it was shot, he didn't know what she'd said, just like his character. Both Hansard and Irglova give the impression in interviews that they are unlikely to pursue further acting.",
"Both Hansard and Irglova give the impression in interviews that they are unlikely to pursue further acting. Irglova has spoken about being nervous in front of a crew, saying \"I don't think I would be a good actress, overall\", and Hansard generally refers to the movie as a one-off, talking of \"moving on... living a different life\". As a result of the film, Hansard and Irglová have been releasing music and touring together as The Swell Season.",
"As a result of the film, Hansard and Irglová have been releasing music and touring together as The Swell Season. Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová reprised their roles in The Simpsons episode \"In the Name of the Grandfather\". Reception Box office A rough cut of the film was previewed on 15 July 2006 at the Galway Film Fleadh, but the film was subsequently turned down by several prestigious European film festivals.",
"Reception Box office A rough cut of the film was previewed on 15 July 2006 at the Galway Film Fleadh, but the film was subsequently turned down by several prestigious European film festivals. However, once finished, it secured spots at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival on 20 January 2007 and the Dublin Film Festival in February 2007, and received the audience awards at both events. The film was first released on cinema in Ireland on 23 March 2007, followed by a limited release in the United States on 16 May 2007.",
"The film was first released on cinema in Ireland on 23 March 2007, followed by a limited release in the United States on 16 May 2007. After its second weekend in release in the United States and Canada, the film topped the 23 May 2007 indieWIRE box office chart with nearly $31,000 average per location. As of 28 March 2009, Once has grossed nearly $9.5 million in North America and over $20 million worldwide.",
"As of 28 March 2009, Once has grossed nearly $9.5 million in North America and over $20 million worldwide. Accolades After 2007's box office success and critical acclaim, it won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Foreign Film. Steven Spielberg was quoted as saying \"A little movie called Once gave me enough inspiration to last the rest of the year\".",
"Steven Spielberg was quoted as saying \"A little movie called Once gave me enough inspiration to last the rest of the year\". When informed of Spielberg's comments, director John Carney told Sky News, \"in the end of the day, he's just a guy with a beard\". At the time of this interview, Carney himself was also wearing a beard. The song \"Falling Slowly\" won the 2007 Academy Award for Best Original Song.",
"The song \"Falling Slowly\" won the 2007 Academy Award for Best Original Song. The nomination's eligibility for the Oscar was initially questioned, as versions of the song had been recorded on The Cost and The Swell Season albums and it was also included in the movie Beauty in Trouble (all released in 2006) but this was resolved before the voting for the award took place.",
"The nomination's eligibility for the Oscar was initially questioned, as versions of the song had been recorded on The Cost and The Swell Season albums and it was also included in the movie Beauty in Trouble (all released in 2006) but this was resolved before the voting for the award took place. The AMPAS music committee satisfied themselves that the song had indeed been written for the film and determined that, in the course of the film's protracted production, the composers had \"played the song in some venues that were deemed inconsequential enough to not change the song’s eligibility\".",
"The AMPAS music committee satisfied themselves that the song had indeed been written for the film and determined that, in the course of the film's protracted production, the composers had \"played the song in some venues that were deemed inconsequential enough to not change the song’s eligibility\". Critical response Once received widespread acclaim from critics. Upon its March 2007 release in Ireland, RTÉ's Caroline Hennessy gave the film 4 out of 5 stars and termed it \"an unexpected treasure\".",
"Upon its March 2007 release in Ireland, RTÉ's Caroline Hennessy gave the film 4 out of 5 stars and termed it \"an unexpected treasure\". About the acting, this Irish reviewer commented, \"Once has wonderfully natural performances from the two leads. Although musicians first and actors second, they acquit themselves well in both areas. Irglová, a largely unknown quantity alongside the well-known and either loved or loathed Hansard, is luminous.\"",
"Irglová, a largely unknown quantity alongside the well-known and either loved or loathed Hansard, is luminous.\" Michael Dwyer of The Irish Times gave the film the same rating, calling it \"irresistibly appealing\" and noting that \"Carney makes the point – without ever labouring it – that his protagonists are living in a changing city where the economic boom has passed them by. His keen eye for authentic locations is ... evident\". Once won very high marks from U.S. critics.",
"Once won very high marks from U.S. critics. Once won very high marks from U.S. critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, it holds a 97% approval rating based on 159 reviews, with an average score of 8.30/10. The website's critical consensus states, \"A charming, captivating tale of love and music, Once sets the standard for the modern musical. And with Dublin as its backdrop, Once is fun and fresh.\"",
"And with Dublin as its backdrop, Once is fun and fresh.\" On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 88 out of 100 based on reviews from 33 critics, indicating \"universal acclaim\". In May, on Ebert & Roeper, both Richard Roeper and guest critic Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune gave enthusiastic reviews.",
"In May, on Ebert & Roeper, both Richard Roeper and guest critic Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune gave enthusiastic reviews. Phillips called it, \"the most charming thing I've seen all year\", \"the Brief Encounter for the 21st century\", his favorite music film since 1984's Stop Making Sense and said, \"It may well be the best music film of our generation\".",
"Phillips called it, \"the most charming thing I've seen all year\", \"the Brief Encounter for the 21st century\", his favorite music film since 1984's Stop Making Sense and said, \"It may well be the best music film of our generation\". Roeper referred to the film's recording studio scene as \"more inspirational and uplifting than almost any number of Dreamgirls or Chicago or any of those multi-zillion dollar musical showstopping films. In its own way, it will blow you away.\"",
"In its own way, it will blow you away.\" Ebert gave the film four stars out of four, saying that he was \"not at all surprised\" that Philips had named it the best film of the year.",
"Ebert gave the film four stars out of four, saying that he was \"not at all surprised\" that Philips had named it the best film of the year. In late 2007, Amy Simmons of Time Out London wrote, \"Carney’s highly charged, urban mise-en-scène with its blinking street lamps, vacant shops and dishevelled bed-sits provides ample poetic backdrop for the film’s lengthy tracking shots, epitomised in a sequence where the Girl walks to the corner shop in pyjamas and slippers while listening to one of the Guy’s songs on her personal stereo.",
"In late 2007, Amy Simmons of Time Out London wrote, \"Carney’s highly charged, urban mise-en-scène with its blinking street lamps, vacant shops and dishevelled bed-sits provides ample poetic backdrop for the film’s lengthy tracking shots, epitomised in a sequence where the Girl walks to the corner shop in pyjamas and slippers while listening to one of the Guy’s songs on her personal stereo. With outstanding performances from Hansard and newcomer Irglová, Carney has created a sublime, visual album of unassuming and self-assured eloquence.\"",
"With outstanding performances from Hansard and newcomer Irglová, Carney has created a sublime, visual album of unassuming and self-assured eloquence.\" The Telegraph'''s Sukhdev Sandhu said, \"Not since Before Sunset has a romantic film managed to be as touching, funny or as hard to forget as Once. Like Before Sunset, it never outstays its welcome, climaxing on a note of rare charm and unexpectedness.\"",
"Like Before Sunset, it never outstays its welcome, climaxing on a note of rare charm and unexpectedness.\" The film appeared on many North American critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2007: 1st – Michael Phillips, The Chicago Tribune 1st – Nathan Rabin, The A.V.",
"The film appeared on many North American critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2007: 1st – Michael Phillips, The Chicago Tribune 1st – Nathan Rabin, The A.V. Club 2nd – David Germain, Associated Press 2nd – Kevin Crust, Los Angeles Times 2nd – Kyle Smith, New York Post 2nd – Shawn Levy, The Oregonian 2nd – Roger Moore, The Orlando Sentinel 2nd – Robert Butler, Kansas City Star 2nd – Paste Magazine 3rd – Christy Lemire, Associated Press 3rd – Tasha Robinson, The A.V.",
"Club 2nd – David Germain, Associated Press 2nd – Kevin Crust, Los Angeles Times 2nd – Kyle Smith, New York Post 2nd – Shawn Levy, The Oregonian 2nd – Roger Moore, The Orlando Sentinel 2nd – Robert Butler, Kansas City Star 2nd – Paste Magazine 3rd – Christy Lemire, Associated Press 3rd – Tasha Robinson, The A.V. Club 3rd – Andrew Gray, Tribune Chronicle 3rd – Sean Means, Salt Lake Tribune 4th – Keith Phipps, The A.V.",
"Club 3rd – Andrew Gray, Tribune Chronicle 3rd – Sean Means, Salt Lake Tribune 4th – Keith Phipps, The A.V. Club 4th – Christopher Kelly, Star Telegram 5th – Ann Hornaday, The Washington Post 5th – Desson Thomson, The Washington Post 5th – Noel Murray, The A.V. Club 6th – Ella Taylor, LA Weekly 6th – Nick Digilio, WGN-AM 7th – Claudia Puig, USA Today 7th – Dana Stevens, Slate 7th – Scott Tobias, The A.V.",
"Club 6th – Ella Taylor, LA Weekly 6th – Nick Digilio, WGN-AM 7th – Claudia Puig, USA Today 7th – Dana Stevens, Slate 7th – Scott Tobias, The A.V. Club 7th – Scott Mantz, Access Hollywood 7th – Craig Outhier, Orange County Register 8th – Liam Lacey and Rick Groen, The Globe and Mail 8th – Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly 8th – Stephanie Zacharek, Salon 9th – Joe Morgenstern, The Wall Street Journal 9th – Michael Rechtshaffen, The Hollywood Reporter 9th – Richard Roeper, At the Movies with Ebert & Roeper 9th – Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times 9th – Carina Chocano, Los Angeles Times 9th – James Verniere, Boston Herald 10th – Bob Mondello, NPR 10th – Peter Vonder Haar, Film ThreatIn 2008, the film placed third on Entertainment Weekly's \"25 Best Romantic Movies of the Past 25 Years\".",
"Club 7th – Scott Mantz, Access Hollywood 7th – Craig Outhier, Orange County Register 8th – Liam Lacey and Rick Groen, The Globe and Mail 8th – Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly 8th – Stephanie Zacharek, Salon 9th – Joe Morgenstern, The Wall Street Journal 9th – Michael Rechtshaffen, The Hollywood Reporter 9th – Richard Roeper, At the Movies with Ebert & Roeper 9th – Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times 9th – Carina Chocano, Los Angeles Times 9th – James Verniere, Boston Herald 10th – Bob Mondello, NPR 10th – Peter Vonder Haar, Film ThreatIn 2008, the film placed third on Entertainment Weekly's \"25 Best Romantic Movies of the Past 25 Years\". DVD and Blu-ray Once was released on DVD in the US on 18 December 2007, and in the UK on 25 February 2008, followed by a British Blu-ray release on 16 February 2009.",
"DVD and Blu-ray Once was released on DVD in the US on 18 December 2007, and in the UK on 25 February 2008, followed by a British Blu-ray release on 16 February 2009. Once was released on Blu-ray in the US as an Amazon-exclusive on April 1, 2014. Soundtrack The soundtrack album was released on 22 May 2007 in the United States and four days later in Ireland.",
"Soundtrack The soundtrack album was released on 22 May 2007 in the United States and four days later in Ireland. A collector's edition of the soundtrack was released on 4 December 2007 in the US with additional songs and a bonus DVD with live performances and interviews about the film. The additional songs were two previously unreleased Van Morrison covers: Hansard's \"And the Healing Has Begun\", and Hansard and Irglová's \"Into the Mystic\".",
"The additional songs were two previously unreleased Van Morrison covers: Hansard's \"And the Healing Has Begun\", and Hansard and Irglová's \"Into the Mystic\". Different versions of a lot of the soundtrack's songs were previously released on The Frames' album The Cost and on Hansard and Irglová's The Swell Season (both released in 2006). An early version of the last track, \"Say It to Me Now\", originally appeared on The Frames' 1995 album Fitzcarraldo.",
"An early version of the last track, \"Say It to Me Now\", originally appeared on The Frames' 1995 album Fitzcarraldo. \"All the Way Down\" first appeared on the self-titled album from musician collective The Cake Sale, with Gemma Hayes providing vocals. The song \"Gold\" was written by Irish singer-songwriter Fergus O'Farrell and performed by Interference.",
"The song \"Gold\" was written by Irish singer-songwriter Fergus O'Farrell and performed by Interference. Track listing Accolades The soundtrack was nominated for two 2008 Grammy Awards, under Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media and, for \"Falling Slowly\", Best Song Written for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media. It won the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Music, and it was ranked at number two on the Entertainment Weekly 25 New Classic Soundtrack Albums list (1983–2008).",
"It won the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Music, and it was ranked at number two on the Entertainment Weekly 25 New Classic Soundtrack Albums list (1983–2008). Charts success The soundtrack album reached #20 on the Irish Albums Chart in its first week, peaking at #15 a few weeks later. Following the Oscar win, the album reached the top of the chart, while \"Falling Slowly\" reached a new peak of #2.",
"Following the Oscar win, the album reached the top of the chart, while \"Falling Slowly\" reached a new peak of #2. In the United States, it ranked as the #10 soundtrack on 1 June. As of 11 July 2007, the album has sold 54,753 copies in the US. The album reached #27 on the Billboard 200 according to Allmusic. It also reached #2 on the Soundtracks Chart and #4 on the Independent Chart.",
"It also reached #2 on the Soundtracks Chart and #4 on the Independent Chart. Certifications Stage adaptation The film has been adapted for the stage as the musical (Once). It first opened at the New York Theatre Workshop on 6 December 2011. The screenplay was adapted by Enda Walsh and the production directed by John Tiffany. In February 2012, the musical transferred to Broadway's Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre. It began in previews on 28 February 2012 and opened on 18 March 2012.",
"It began in previews on 28 February 2012 and opened on 18 March 2012. Directed by John Tiffany, the cast features Steve Kazee as Guy and Cristin Milioti as Girl with sets and costumes by Bob Crowley. The music is from the film with two additional songs, and the cast is also the orchestra. The musical opened up to generally positive reviews.",
"The musical opened up to generally positive reviews. The musical opened up to generally positive reviews. Since its opening, Once has been named Best Musical by The Outer Critics' Circle, Drama League, The New York Drama Critics' Circle, and The Tony Awards.",
"Since its opening, Once has been named Best Musical by The Outer Critics' Circle, Drama League, The New York Drama Critics' Circle, and The Tony Awards. The Broadway production of Once was nominated for a total of 11 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Actor in a Musical (Steve Kazee), Best Actress in a Musical (Cristin Milioti), Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Elizabeth A. Davis) and Best Direction of a Musical.",
"The Broadway production of Once was nominated for a total of 11 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Actor in a Musical (Steve Kazee), Best Actress in a Musical (Cristin Milioti), Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Elizabeth A. Davis) and Best Direction of a Musical. On 10 June 2012, it won eight Tony Awards including Best Musical, Best Direction of a Musical, Best Book of a Musical and Best Actor in a Musical.",
"On 10 June 2012, it won eight Tony Awards including Best Musical, Best Direction of a Musical, Best Book of a Musical and Best Actor in a Musical. See also Busking Once (musical) Cinema of Ireland Musical films References External links Icon Movies' Official U.K. Once Website Fox Searchlight's Official U.S. Once Website (plays complete soundtrack – music starts when page loads) Once and Other Irish Films \"Lies\" from Once named Best New Film Song Interviews Interview with Hansard and Irglová at Janaki's Musings Interview with John Carney at Janaki's Musings Reviews \"Movie Review: Once\", Entertainment Weekly review by Owen Gleiberman (15 May 2007) \"Once: 3.5 out of 4 stars\", Rolling Stone'' review by Peter Travers (17 May 2007) \"Movie Review: Once\", stv.tv 2007 films 2007 romantic drama films 2000s English-language films 2000s musical drama films 2000s romantic musical films Czech-language films Films about guitars and guitarists Films about music and musicians Films directed by John Carney Films set in Dublin (city) Films shot in Dublin (city) Films that won the Best Original Song Academy Award Independent Spirit Award for Best Foreign Film winners Irish films English-language Irish films Irish musical drama films Irish romantic drama films The Swell Season albums"
] |
[
"Once (film)",
"Box office performance and awards",
"How did Once perform at the box office?",
"As of 28 March 2009, Once has grossed nearly $9.5 million in North America and over $20 million worldwide."
] | C_19e7366c0d624a97bc9d31fb07cdf4d0_1 | How did it do in Ireland? | 2 | How did Once do in Ireland? | Once (film) | A rough cut of the film was previewed on 15 July 2006 at the Galway Film Fleadh, but the film was subsequently turned down by several prestigious European film festivals. However, once finished, it secured spots at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival on 20 January 2007 and the Dublin Film Festival in February 2007, and received the audience awards at both events. The film was first released on cinema in Ireland on 23 March 2007, followed by a limited release in the United States on 16 May 2007. After its second weekend in release in the United States and Canada, the film topped the 23 May 2007 indieWIRE box office chart with nearly $31,000 average per location. As of 28 March 2009, Once has grossed nearly $9.5 million in North America and over $20 million worldwide. After 2007's box office success and critical acclaim, it won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Foreign Film. Steven Spielberg was quoted as saying "A little movie called Once gave me enough inspiration to last the rest of the year". When informed of Spielberg's comments, director John Carney told Sky News, "in the end of the day, he's just a guy with a beard". At the time of this interview, Carney himself was also wearing a beard. The song "Falling Slowly" won the 2007 Academy Award for Best Original Song. The nomination's eligibility for the Oscar was initially questioned, as versions of the song had been released on The Cost and The Swell Season albums, but this was resolved before the voting for the award took place. The AMPAS music committee satisfied themselves that the song had indeed been written for the film and determined that, in the course of the film's protracted production, the composers had "played the song in some venues that were deemed inconsequential enough to not change the song's eligibility". CANNOTANSWER | received the audience awards | Once is a 2007 Irish
romantic musical drama film written and directed by John Carney. The film stars Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová as two struggling musicians in Dublin, Ireland. Hansard and Irglová had previously performed music as the Swell Season, and composed and performed the film's original songs.
Once spent years in development with the Irish Film Board and was made for a budget of €112,000. It was a commercial success, earning substantial per-screen box office averages in the United States, and received acclaim from critics. It received awards including the 2007 Independent Spirit Award for Best Foreign Film. Hansard and Irglová's song "Falling Slowly" won the 2008 Academy Award for Best Original Song, and the soundtrack received a Grammy Award nomination.
Plot
A thirty-something busker (Guy) performs with his guitar on Grafton Street, Dublin and chases a man who steals his money. Lured by his music, a young Czech flower seller (Girl) talks to him about his songs. Delighted to learn that he repairs hoovers, Girl asks Guy to fix hers. The next day Girl returns with her broken vacuum and tells him she is also a musician.
At a music store where Girl usually plays piano, Guy teaches her one of his songs ("Falling Slowly"); they sing and play together. He invites her to his father's shop, and on the bus home musically answers Girl's question about what his songs are about: a long-time girlfriend who cheated on him, then left ("Broken Hearted Hoover Fixer Sucker Guy").
At the shop, Guy introduces Girl to his father and takes her to his room, but when he asks her to stay the night, she gets upset and leaves. The next day, they reconcile and spend the week writing, rehearsing and recording songs. Girl writes the lyrics for one of Guy's songs ("If You Want Me"), singing to herself while walking down the street; at a party, people perform impromptu (including "Gold").
Guy works on "Lies", a song about his ex-girlfriend, who moved to London. Girl encourages him to win her back. Invited to her home, he discovers she has a toddler and lives with her mother. Guy decides to move to London, but he wants to record a demo of his songs to take with him and asks Girl to record it with him. They secure a bank loan and reserve time at a recording studio.
Guy learns Girl has a husband in the Czech Republic. When he asks if she still loves her husband, Girl answers in Czech, "Miluji tebe" ("I love you"), but coyly declines to translate. After recruiting a band with other buskers, they go into the studio to record. They impress Eamon, the jaded studio engineer, with their first song ("When Your Mind's Made Up"). On a break in the early morning, Girl finds a piano in an empty studio and plays Guy one of her own compositions ("The Hill").
After the all-night session wraps up, they walk home. Before they part ways, Girl reveals that she spoke to her husband and he is coming to live with her in Dublin. Guy persuades her to spend her last night in Dublin with him, but she stands him up and he cannot find her to say goodbye before his flight. He plays the demo for his father, who gives him money to help him get settled in London. Before leaving for the airport, Guy buys Girl a piano and makes arrangements for its delivery, then calls his ex-girlfriend, who is happy about his imminent arrival. Girl reunites with her husband in Dublin and plays the piano in their home.
Cast
Glen Hansard as Guy
Markéta Irglová as Girl
Hugh Walsh as Timmy Drummer
Gerard Hendrick as Lead Guitarist
Alaistair Foley as Bassist
Geoff Minogue as Eamon
Bill Hodnett as Guy's Dad
Danuse Ktrestova as Girl's Mother
Darren Healy as Heroin Addict
Mal Whyte as Bill
Marcella Plunkett as Ex-girlfriend
Niall Cleary as Bob
Wiltold Owski as Man watching TV
Krzysztos Tlotka as Man watching TV
Tomek Glowacki as Man watching TV
Keith Byrne as Guy in Piano Shop
Production
The two leads, Hansard and Irglová, are both professional musicians. Director Carney, former bassist for Hansard's band The Frames, had asked his long-time friend to share busker anecdotes and compose songs for the film, but had intended the male lead to be played by actor Cillian Murphy, who was an almost-signed rock musician before turning to acting. Murphy was also going to be one of the film's producers. But Murphy declined the prospect of acting opposite non-actor Irglová (then 17 years old) and also felt that he hadn't the vocal capabilities to belt out Hansard's octave-leaping songs, so he pulled out, as did the film's other producers along with their financial resources. Carney then turned to songwriter Hansard, who'd previously done only one acting job, a supporting role as guitarist Outspan Foster in the 1991 ensemble film The Commitments, the story of a Dublin soul music cover band. Hansard was initially reluctant, fearing that he wouldn't be able to pull it off, but after stipulating that he had to be fully involved in the filmmaking process and that it be low-budget and intimate, he agreed.
Produced on a shoestring, about 75% of the budget was funded by Bord Scannán na hÉireann (The Irish Film Board), plus some of Carney's own money. The director gave his salary to the two stars, and promised a share of the back-end for everyone if the film was a success. Shot with a skeleton crew on a 17-day shoot, the filmmakers saved money by using natural light and shooting at friends' houses. The musical party scene was filmed in Hansard's own flat, with his personal friends playing the partygoers/musicians—his mother, Catherine Hansard, is briefly featured singing solo. The Dublin street scenes were recorded without permits and with a long lens so that many passersby didn't even realize that a film was being made. The long lens also helped the non-professional actors relax and forget about the camera, and some of the dialogue ended up being improvised.
During the shoot, Carney had predicted a romance, calling Hansard and Irglová his Bogart and Bacall. Hansard and Irglová did become a couple in real life, getting together while on a promotional tour across North America, and living together in Dublin, in Hansard's flat. Entertainment Weekly reported:
Subsequently, Hansard indicated that they were no longer a romantic couple. He said, "Of course, we fell into each other's arms. It was a very necessary part of our friendship but I think we both concluded that that wasn't what we really wanted to do. So we're not together now. We are just really good friends."
Yet Hansard and Irglová were quite happy with the unrequited ending for their onscreen characters. In an interview, Hansard states that "Had the US distributor changed the end and made us kiss, I wouldn't be interested in coming and promoting it, at all." Hansard says that ad-libbing produced the moment where Irglova's character tells the Guy in unsubtitled Czech, "No, I love you", but when it was shot, he didn't know what she'd said, just like his character.
Both Hansard and Irglova give the impression in interviews that they are unlikely to pursue further acting. Irglova has spoken about being nervous in front of a crew, saying "I don't think I would be a good actress, overall", and Hansard generally refers to the movie as a one-off, talking of "moving on... living a different life".
As a result of the film, Hansard and Irglová have been releasing music and touring together as The Swell Season.
Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová reprised their roles in The Simpsons episode "In the Name of the Grandfather".
Reception
Box office
A rough cut of the film was previewed on 15 July 2006 at the Galway Film Fleadh, but the film was subsequently turned down by several prestigious European film festivals. However, once finished, it secured spots at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival on 20 January 2007 and the Dublin Film Festival in February 2007, and received the audience awards at both events.
The film was first released on cinema in Ireland on 23 March 2007, followed by a limited release in the United States on 16 May 2007. After its second weekend in release in the United States and Canada, the film topped the 23 May 2007 indieWIRE box office chart with nearly $31,000 average per location. As of 28 March 2009, Once has grossed nearly $9.5 million in North America and over $20 million worldwide.
Accolades
After 2007's box office success and critical acclaim, it won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Foreign Film. Steven Spielberg was quoted as saying "A little movie called Once gave me enough inspiration to last the rest of the year". When informed of Spielberg's comments, director John Carney told Sky News, "in the end of the day, he's just a guy with a beard". At the time of this interview, Carney himself was also wearing a beard.
The song "Falling Slowly" won the 2007 Academy Award for Best Original Song. The nomination's eligibility for the Oscar was initially questioned, as versions of the song had been recorded on The Cost and The Swell Season albums and it was also included in the movie Beauty in Trouble (all released in 2006) but this was resolved before the voting for the award took place. The AMPAS music committee satisfied themselves that the song had indeed been written for the film and determined that, in the course of the film's protracted production, the composers had "played the song in some venues that were deemed inconsequential enough to not change the song’s eligibility".
Critical response
Once received widespread acclaim from critics. Upon its March 2007 release in Ireland, RTÉ's Caroline Hennessy gave the film 4 out of 5 stars and termed it "an unexpected treasure". About the acting, this Irish reviewer commented, "Once has wonderfully natural performances from the two leads. Although musicians first and actors second, they acquit themselves well in both areas. Irglová, a largely unknown quantity alongside the well-known and either loved or loathed Hansard, is luminous." Michael Dwyer of The Irish Times gave the film the same rating, calling it "irresistibly appealing" and noting that "Carney makes the point – without ever labouring it – that his protagonists are living in a changing city where the economic boom has passed them by. His keen eye for authentic locations is ... evident".
Once won very high marks from U.S. critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, it holds a 97% approval rating based on 159 reviews, with an average score of 8.30/10. The website's critical consensus states, "A charming, captivating tale of love and music, Once sets the standard for the modern musical. And with Dublin as its backdrop, Once is fun and fresh." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 88 out of 100 based on reviews from 33 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". In May, on Ebert & Roeper, both Richard Roeper and guest critic Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune gave enthusiastic reviews. Phillips called it, "the most charming thing I've seen all year", "the Brief Encounter for the 21st century", his favorite music film since 1984's Stop Making Sense and said, "It may well be the best music film of our generation". Roeper referred to the film's recording studio scene as "more inspirational and uplifting than almost any number of Dreamgirls or Chicago or any of those multi-zillion dollar musical showstopping films. In its own way, it will blow you away." Ebert gave the film four stars out of four, saying that he was "not at all surprised" that Philips had named it the best film of the year.
In late 2007, Amy Simmons of Time Out London wrote, "Carney’s highly charged, urban mise-en-scène with its blinking street lamps, vacant shops and dishevelled bed-sits provides ample poetic backdrop for the film’s lengthy tracking shots, epitomised in a sequence where the Girl walks to the corner shop in pyjamas and slippers while listening to one of the Guy’s songs on her personal stereo. With outstanding performances from Hansard and newcomer Irglová, Carney has created a sublime, visual album of unassuming and self-assured eloquence." The Telegraph'''s Sukhdev Sandhu said, "Not since Before Sunset has a romantic film managed to be as touching, funny or as hard to forget as Once. Like Before Sunset, it never outstays its welcome, climaxing on a note of rare charm and unexpectedness."
The film appeared on many North American critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2007:
1st – Michael Phillips, The Chicago Tribune 1st – Nathan Rabin, The A.V. Club 2nd – David Germain, Associated Press
2nd – Kevin Crust, Los Angeles Times 2nd – Kyle Smith, New York Post 2nd – Shawn Levy, The Oregonian 2nd – Roger Moore, The Orlando Sentinel 2nd – Robert Butler, Kansas City Star 2nd – Paste Magazine 3rd – Christy Lemire, Associated Press
3rd – Tasha Robinson, The A.V. Club 3rd – Andrew Gray, Tribune Chronicle 3rd – Sean Means, Salt Lake Tribune 4th – Keith Phipps, The A.V. Club 4th – Christopher Kelly, Star Telegram 5th – Ann Hornaday, The Washington Post 5th – Desson Thomson, The Washington Post 5th – Noel Murray, The A.V. Club 6th – Ella Taylor, LA Weekly 6th – Nick Digilio, WGN-AM 7th – Claudia Puig, USA Today 7th – Dana Stevens, Slate 7th – Scott Tobias, The A.V. Club 7th – Scott Mantz, Access Hollywood 7th – Craig Outhier, Orange County Register 8th – Liam Lacey and Rick Groen, The Globe and Mail 8th – Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly 8th – Stephanie Zacharek, Salon 9th – Joe Morgenstern, The Wall Street Journal 9th – Michael Rechtshaffen, The Hollywood Reporter 9th – Richard Roeper, At the Movies with Ebert & Roeper 9th – Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times 9th – Carina Chocano, Los Angeles Times 9th – James Verniere, Boston Herald 10th – Bob Mondello, NPR 10th – Peter Vonder Haar, Film ThreatIn 2008, the film placed third on Entertainment Weekly's "25 Best Romantic Movies of the Past 25 Years".
DVD and Blu-ray Once was released on DVD in the US on 18 December 2007, and in the UK on 25 February 2008, followed by a British Blu-ray release on 16 February 2009. Once was released on Blu-ray in the US as an Amazon-exclusive on April 1, 2014.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack album was released on 22 May 2007 in the United States and four days later in Ireland.
A collector's edition of the soundtrack was released on 4 December 2007 in the US with additional songs and a bonus DVD with live performances and interviews about the film. The additional songs were two previously unreleased Van Morrison covers: Hansard's "And the Healing Has Begun", and Hansard and Irglová's "Into the Mystic".
Different versions of a lot of the soundtrack's songs were previously released on The Frames' album The Cost and on Hansard and Irglová's The Swell Season (both released in 2006). An early version of the last track, "Say It to Me Now", originally appeared on The Frames' 1995 album Fitzcarraldo. "All the Way Down" first appeared on the self-titled album from musician collective The Cake Sale, with Gemma Hayes providing vocals. The song "Gold" was written by Irish singer-songwriter Fergus O'Farrell and performed by Interference.
Track listing
Accolades
The soundtrack was nominated for two 2008 Grammy Awards, under Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media and, for "Falling Slowly", Best Song Written for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media. It won the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Music, and it was ranked at number two on the Entertainment Weekly 25 New Classic Soundtrack Albums list (1983–2008).
Charts success
The soundtrack album reached #20 on the Irish Albums Chart in its first week, peaking at #15 a few weeks later. Following the Oscar win, the album reached the top of the chart, while "Falling Slowly" reached a new peak of #2.
In the United States, it ranked as the #10 soundtrack on 1 June. As of 11 July 2007, the album has sold 54,753 copies in the US. The album reached #27 on the Billboard 200 according to Allmusic. It also reached #2 on the Soundtracks Chart and #4 on the Independent Chart.
Certifications
Stage adaptation
The film has been adapted for the stage as the musical (Once). It first opened at the New York Theatre Workshop on 6 December 2011. The screenplay was adapted by Enda Walsh and the production directed by John Tiffany.
In February 2012, the musical transferred to Broadway's Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre. It began in previews on 28 February 2012 and opened on 18 March 2012. Directed by John Tiffany, the cast features Steve Kazee as Guy and Cristin Milioti as Girl with sets and costumes by Bob Crowley. The music is from the film with two additional songs, and the cast is also the orchestra. The musical opened up to generally positive reviews. Since its opening, Once has been named Best Musical by The Outer Critics' Circle, Drama League, The New York Drama Critics' Circle, and The Tony Awards.
The Broadway production of Once was nominated for a total of 11 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Actor in a Musical (Steve Kazee), Best Actress in a Musical (Cristin Milioti), Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Elizabeth A. Davis) and Best Direction of a Musical. On 10 June 2012, it won eight Tony Awards including Best Musical, Best Direction of a Musical, Best Book of a Musical and Best Actor in a Musical.
See also
Busking
Once (musical)
Cinema of Ireland
Musical films
References
External links
Icon Movies' Official U.K. Once Website
Fox Searchlight's Official U.S. Once Website (plays complete soundtrack – music starts when page loads)
Once and Other Irish Films
"Lies" from Once named Best New Film Song
Interviews
Interview with Hansard and Irglová at Janaki's Musings
Interview with John Carney at Janaki's Musings
Reviews
"Movie Review: Once", Entertainment Weekly review by Owen Gleiberman (15 May 2007)
"Once: 3.5 out of 4 stars", Rolling Stone'' review by Peter Travers (17 May 2007)
"Movie Review: Once", stv.tv
2007 films
2007 romantic drama films
2000s English-language films
2000s musical drama films
2000s romantic musical films
Czech-language films
Films about guitars and guitarists
Films about music and musicians
Films directed by John Carney
Films set in Dublin (city)
Films shot in Dublin (city)
Films that won the Best Original Song Academy Award
Independent Spirit Award for Best Foreign Film winners
Irish films
English-language Irish films
Irish musical drama films
Irish romantic drama films
The Swell Season albums | true | [
"Ireland has been traditionally devoutly Catholic throughout most of its modern history.\n\nChurch attendance is declining in Ireland, and currently they rank in the Top 10 Atheist Populations in a survey which questioned 50,000 people from 57 countries across the globe.\n\nIreland is currently ranked 115th by the International Humanist and Ethical Union in a list of best countries to live in as an atheist.\n\nStatistics \nA 2006 Dentsu poll found that 7% of Ireland had no religion. According to Greeley (2003), 5% of those in Ireland do not believe in God, but only 2% accept the self-identification of “atheist.” According to Ingelhart et al. (2004) and Davie (1999), 4% of the Irish do not believe in God.\n\nIn a 2007-2008 Gallup Poll, 42% of Ireland answered no to the question \"Does religion occupy an important place in your life?\" and in the 2011 Gallup, 53% of Ireland answered no.\n\nA 2010 Bishops Conference survey found that 10.1% of Irish Roman Catholics did not believe in God.\n\nAccording to a 2012 WIN-Gallup International poll, Ireland had the 2nd highest decline in religiosity from 69% in 2005 to 47% in 2012, while those who considered themselves not a religious person increased from 25% in 2005 to 44% in 2012. The poll also showed that 10% of Ireland now consider themselves convinced atheists, which is a vast increase from 2005. This number is thought to be higher due to citizens describing themselves as \"cultural Catholics\".\n\nAccording to the 2016 Irish Census, approximately 9.5% of Irish citizens are irreligious.\n\nOrganisations \nThe Humanist Association of Ireland represents the non-religious in Ireland, as well as specifically those who identify as humanists. It received the ability to conduct legal marriages in 2012. As of 2018, it conducts more marriages in Ireland than the Church of Ireland, but less than the Catholic Church.\n\nAtheist Ireland is a group representing atheists in Ireland. It has advocated for a repeal of blasphemy laws, non-denominational schools, an end to discrimination against atheists and secular charities.\n\nSee also\n Irreligion in the United Kingdom\n Irreligion in Europe\n\nReferences\n\nReligion in the Republic of Ireland\nIreland\nIrreligion in Ireland",
"The Migraine Disability Assessment Test (MIDAS) is a test used by doctors to determine how severely migraines affect a patient's life. Patients are asked questions about the frequency and duration of their headaches, as well as how often these headaches limited their ability to participate in activities at work, at school, or at home.\n\nThe test was evaluated by the professional journal Neurology in 2001; it was found to be both reliable and valid.\n\nQuestions\nThe MIDAS contains the following questions:\n\n On how many days in the last 3 months did you miss work or school because of your headaches?\n How many days in the last 3 months was your productivity at work or school reduced by half or more because of your headaches? (Do not include days you counted in question 1 where you missed work or school.)\n On how many days in the last 3 months did you not do household work because of your headaches?\n How many days in the last three months was your productivity in household work reduced by half of more because of your headaches? (Do not include days you counted in question 3 where you did not do household work.)\n On how many days in the last 3 months did you miss family, social or leisure activities because of your headaches?\n\nThe patient's score consists of the total of these five questions. Additionally, there is a section for patients to share with their doctors:\n\nWhat your Physician will need to know about your headache:\n\nA. On how many days in the last 3 months did you have a headache?\n(If a headache lasted more than 1 day, count each day.)\t\n\nB. On a scale of 0 - 10, on average how painful were these headaches? \n(where 0 = no pain at all and 10 = pain as bad as it can be.)\n\nScoring\nOnce scored, the test gives the patient an idea of how debilitating his/her migraines are based on this scale:\n\n0 to 5, MIDAS Grade I, Little or no disability \n\n6 to 10, MIDAS Grade II, Mild disability\n\n11 to 20, MIDAS Grade III, Moderate disability\n\n21+, MIDAS Grade IV, Severe disability\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nMigraine Treatment\n\nMigraine"
] | [
"Once is a 2007 Irish romantic musical drama film written and directed by John Carney. The film stars Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová as two struggling musicians in Dublin, Ireland. Hansard and Irglová had previously performed music as the Swell Season, and composed and performed the film's original songs. Once spent years in development with the Irish Film Board and was made for a budget of €112,000. It was a commercial success, earning substantial per-screen box office averages in the United States, and received acclaim from critics.",
"It was a commercial success, earning substantial per-screen box office averages in the United States, and received acclaim from critics. It received awards including the 2007 Independent Spirit Award for Best Foreign Film. Hansard and Irglová's song \"Falling Slowly\" won the 2008 Academy Award for Best Original Song, and the soundtrack received a Grammy Award nomination. Plot A thirty-something busker (Guy) performs with his guitar on Grafton Street, Dublin and chases a man who steals his money.",
"Plot A thirty-something busker (Guy) performs with his guitar on Grafton Street, Dublin and chases a man who steals his money. Lured by his music, a young Czech flower seller (Girl) talks to him about his songs. Delighted to learn that he repairs hoovers, Girl asks Guy to fix hers. The next day Girl returns with her broken vacuum and tells him she is also a musician.",
"The next day Girl returns with her broken vacuum and tells him she is also a musician. At a music store where Girl usually plays piano, Guy teaches her one of his songs (\"Falling Slowly\"); they sing and play together. He invites her to his father's shop, and on the bus home musically answers Girl's question about what his songs are about: a long-time girlfriend who cheated on him, then left (\"Broken Hearted Hoover Fixer Sucker Guy\").",
"He invites her to his father's shop, and on the bus home musically answers Girl's question about what his songs are about: a long-time girlfriend who cheated on him, then left (\"Broken Hearted Hoover Fixer Sucker Guy\"). At the shop, Guy introduces Girl to his father and takes her to his room, but when he asks her to stay the night, she gets upset and leaves. The next day, they reconcile and spend the week writing, rehearsing and recording songs.",
"The next day, they reconcile and spend the week writing, rehearsing and recording songs. Girl writes the lyrics for one of Guy's songs (\"If You Want Me\"), singing to herself while walking down the street; at a party, people perform impromptu (including \"Gold\"). Guy works on \"Lies\", a song about his ex-girlfriend, who moved to London. Girl encourages him to win her back.",
"Girl encourages him to win her back. Girl encourages him to win her back. Invited to her home, he discovers she has a toddler and lives with her mother. Guy decides to move to London, but he wants to record a demo of his songs to take with him and asks Girl to record it with him. They secure a bank loan and reserve time at a recording studio. Guy learns Girl has a husband in the Czech Republic.",
"Guy learns Girl has a husband in the Czech Republic. When he asks if she still loves her husband, Girl answers in Czech, \"Miluji tebe\" (\"I love you\"), but coyly declines to translate. After recruiting a band with other buskers, they go into the studio to record. They impress Eamon, the jaded studio engineer, with their first song (\"When Your Mind's Made Up\").",
"They impress Eamon, the jaded studio engineer, with their first song (\"When Your Mind's Made Up\"). On a break in the early morning, Girl finds a piano in an empty studio and plays Guy one of her own compositions (\"The Hill\"). After the all-night session wraps up, they walk home. Before they part ways, Girl reveals that she spoke to her husband and he is coming to live with her in Dublin.",
"Before they part ways, Girl reveals that she spoke to her husband and he is coming to live with her in Dublin. Guy persuades her to spend her last night in Dublin with him, but she stands him up and he cannot find her to say goodbye before his flight. He plays the demo for his father, who gives him money to help him get settled in London.",
"He plays the demo for his father, who gives him money to help him get settled in London. Before leaving for the airport, Guy buys Girl a piano and makes arrangements for its delivery, then calls his ex-girlfriend, who is happy about his imminent arrival. Girl reunites with her husband in Dublin and plays the piano in their home.",
"Girl reunites with her husband in Dublin and plays the piano in their home. Cast Glen Hansard as Guy Markéta Irglová as Girl Hugh Walsh as Timmy Drummer Gerard Hendrick as Lead Guitarist Alaistair Foley as Bassist Geoff Minogue as Eamon Bill Hodnett as Guy's Dad Danuse Ktrestova as Girl's Mother Darren Healy as Heroin Addict Mal Whyte as Bill Marcella Plunkett as Ex-girlfriend Niall Cleary as Bob Wiltold Owski as Man watching TV Krzysztos Tlotka as Man watching TV Tomek Glowacki as Man watching TV Keith Byrne as Guy in Piano Shop Production The two leads, Hansard and Irglová, are both professional musicians.",
"Cast Glen Hansard as Guy Markéta Irglová as Girl Hugh Walsh as Timmy Drummer Gerard Hendrick as Lead Guitarist Alaistair Foley as Bassist Geoff Minogue as Eamon Bill Hodnett as Guy's Dad Danuse Ktrestova as Girl's Mother Darren Healy as Heroin Addict Mal Whyte as Bill Marcella Plunkett as Ex-girlfriend Niall Cleary as Bob Wiltold Owski as Man watching TV Krzysztos Tlotka as Man watching TV Tomek Glowacki as Man watching TV Keith Byrne as Guy in Piano Shop Production The two leads, Hansard and Irglová, are both professional musicians. Director Carney, former bassist for Hansard's band The Frames, had asked his long-time friend to share busker anecdotes and compose songs for the film, but had intended the male lead to be played by actor Cillian Murphy, who was an almost-signed rock musician before turning to acting.",
"Director Carney, former bassist for Hansard's band The Frames, had asked his long-time friend to share busker anecdotes and compose songs for the film, but had intended the male lead to be played by actor Cillian Murphy, who was an almost-signed rock musician before turning to acting. Murphy was also going to be one of the film's producers.",
"Murphy was also going to be one of the film's producers. But Murphy declined the prospect of acting opposite non-actor Irglová (then 17 years old) and also felt that he hadn't the vocal capabilities to belt out Hansard's octave-leaping songs, so he pulled out, as did the film's other producers along with their financial resources.",
"But Murphy declined the prospect of acting opposite non-actor Irglová (then 17 years old) and also felt that he hadn't the vocal capabilities to belt out Hansard's octave-leaping songs, so he pulled out, as did the film's other producers along with their financial resources. Carney then turned to songwriter Hansard, who'd previously done only one acting job, a supporting role as guitarist Outspan Foster in the 1991 ensemble film The Commitments, the story of a Dublin soul music cover band.",
"Carney then turned to songwriter Hansard, who'd previously done only one acting job, a supporting role as guitarist Outspan Foster in the 1991 ensemble film The Commitments, the story of a Dublin soul music cover band. Hansard was initially reluctant, fearing that he wouldn't be able to pull it off, but after stipulating that he had to be fully involved in the filmmaking process and that it be low-budget and intimate, he agreed.",
"Hansard was initially reluctant, fearing that he wouldn't be able to pull it off, but after stipulating that he had to be fully involved in the filmmaking process and that it be low-budget and intimate, he agreed. Produced on a shoestring, about 75% of the budget was funded by Bord Scannán na hÉireann (The Irish Film Board), plus some of Carney's own money.",
"Produced on a shoestring, about 75% of the budget was funded by Bord Scannán na hÉireann (The Irish Film Board), plus some of Carney's own money. The director gave his salary to the two stars, and promised a share of the back-end for everyone if the film was a success. Shot with a skeleton crew on a 17-day shoot, the filmmakers saved money by using natural light and shooting at friends' houses.",
"Shot with a skeleton crew on a 17-day shoot, the filmmakers saved money by using natural light and shooting at friends' houses. The musical party scene was filmed in Hansard's own flat, with his personal friends playing the partygoers/musicians—his mother, Catherine Hansard, is briefly featured singing solo. The Dublin street scenes were recorded without permits and with a long lens so that many passersby didn't even realize that a film was being made.",
"The Dublin street scenes were recorded without permits and with a long lens so that many passersby didn't even realize that a film was being made. The long lens also helped the non-professional actors relax and forget about the camera, and some of the dialogue ended up being improvised. During the shoot, Carney had predicted a romance, calling Hansard and Irglová his Bogart and Bacall.",
"During the shoot, Carney had predicted a romance, calling Hansard and Irglová his Bogart and Bacall. Hansard and Irglová did become a couple in real life, getting together while on a promotional tour across North America, and living together in Dublin, in Hansard's flat. Entertainment Weekly reported: Subsequently, Hansard indicated that they were no longer a romantic couple. He said, \"Of course, we fell into each other's arms.",
"He said, \"Of course, we fell into each other's arms. It was a very necessary part of our friendship but I think we both concluded that that wasn't what we really wanted to do. So we're not together now. We are just really good friends.\" Yet Hansard and Irglová were quite happy with the unrequited ending for their onscreen characters.",
"Yet Hansard and Irglová were quite happy with the unrequited ending for their onscreen characters. In an interview, Hansard states that \"Had the US distributor changed the end and made us kiss, I wouldn't be interested in coming and promoting it, at all.\" Hansard says that ad-libbing produced the moment where Irglova's character tells the Guy in unsubtitled Czech, \"No, I love you\", but when it was shot, he didn't know what she'd said, just like his character.",
"Hansard says that ad-libbing produced the moment where Irglova's character tells the Guy in unsubtitled Czech, \"No, I love you\", but when it was shot, he didn't know what she'd said, just like his character. Both Hansard and Irglova give the impression in interviews that they are unlikely to pursue further acting.",
"Both Hansard and Irglova give the impression in interviews that they are unlikely to pursue further acting. Irglova has spoken about being nervous in front of a crew, saying \"I don't think I would be a good actress, overall\", and Hansard generally refers to the movie as a one-off, talking of \"moving on... living a different life\". As a result of the film, Hansard and Irglová have been releasing music and touring together as The Swell Season.",
"As a result of the film, Hansard and Irglová have been releasing music and touring together as The Swell Season. Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová reprised their roles in The Simpsons episode \"In the Name of the Grandfather\". Reception Box office A rough cut of the film was previewed on 15 July 2006 at the Galway Film Fleadh, but the film was subsequently turned down by several prestigious European film festivals.",
"Reception Box office A rough cut of the film was previewed on 15 July 2006 at the Galway Film Fleadh, but the film was subsequently turned down by several prestigious European film festivals. However, once finished, it secured spots at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival on 20 January 2007 and the Dublin Film Festival in February 2007, and received the audience awards at both events. The film was first released on cinema in Ireland on 23 March 2007, followed by a limited release in the United States on 16 May 2007.",
"The film was first released on cinema in Ireland on 23 March 2007, followed by a limited release in the United States on 16 May 2007. After its second weekend in release in the United States and Canada, the film topped the 23 May 2007 indieWIRE box office chart with nearly $31,000 average per location. As of 28 March 2009, Once has grossed nearly $9.5 million in North America and over $20 million worldwide.",
"As of 28 March 2009, Once has grossed nearly $9.5 million in North America and over $20 million worldwide. Accolades After 2007's box office success and critical acclaim, it won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Foreign Film. Steven Spielberg was quoted as saying \"A little movie called Once gave me enough inspiration to last the rest of the year\".",
"Steven Spielberg was quoted as saying \"A little movie called Once gave me enough inspiration to last the rest of the year\". When informed of Spielberg's comments, director John Carney told Sky News, \"in the end of the day, he's just a guy with a beard\". At the time of this interview, Carney himself was also wearing a beard. The song \"Falling Slowly\" won the 2007 Academy Award for Best Original Song.",
"The song \"Falling Slowly\" won the 2007 Academy Award for Best Original Song. The nomination's eligibility for the Oscar was initially questioned, as versions of the song had been recorded on The Cost and The Swell Season albums and it was also included in the movie Beauty in Trouble (all released in 2006) but this was resolved before the voting for the award took place.",
"The nomination's eligibility for the Oscar was initially questioned, as versions of the song had been recorded on The Cost and The Swell Season albums and it was also included in the movie Beauty in Trouble (all released in 2006) but this was resolved before the voting for the award took place. The AMPAS music committee satisfied themselves that the song had indeed been written for the film and determined that, in the course of the film's protracted production, the composers had \"played the song in some venues that were deemed inconsequential enough to not change the song’s eligibility\".",
"The AMPAS music committee satisfied themselves that the song had indeed been written for the film and determined that, in the course of the film's protracted production, the composers had \"played the song in some venues that were deemed inconsequential enough to not change the song’s eligibility\". Critical response Once received widespread acclaim from critics. Upon its March 2007 release in Ireland, RTÉ's Caroline Hennessy gave the film 4 out of 5 stars and termed it \"an unexpected treasure\".",
"Upon its March 2007 release in Ireland, RTÉ's Caroline Hennessy gave the film 4 out of 5 stars and termed it \"an unexpected treasure\". About the acting, this Irish reviewer commented, \"Once has wonderfully natural performances from the two leads. Although musicians first and actors second, they acquit themselves well in both areas. Irglová, a largely unknown quantity alongside the well-known and either loved or loathed Hansard, is luminous.\"",
"Irglová, a largely unknown quantity alongside the well-known and either loved or loathed Hansard, is luminous.\" Michael Dwyer of The Irish Times gave the film the same rating, calling it \"irresistibly appealing\" and noting that \"Carney makes the point – without ever labouring it – that his protagonists are living in a changing city where the economic boom has passed them by. His keen eye for authentic locations is ... evident\". Once won very high marks from U.S. critics.",
"Once won very high marks from U.S. critics. Once won very high marks from U.S. critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, it holds a 97% approval rating based on 159 reviews, with an average score of 8.30/10. The website's critical consensus states, \"A charming, captivating tale of love and music, Once sets the standard for the modern musical. And with Dublin as its backdrop, Once is fun and fresh.\"",
"And with Dublin as its backdrop, Once is fun and fresh.\" On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 88 out of 100 based on reviews from 33 critics, indicating \"universal acclaim\". In May, on Ebert & Roeper, both Richard Roeper and guest critic Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune gave enthusiastic reviews.",
"In May, on Ebert & Roeper, both Richard Roeper and guest critic Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune gave enthusiastic reviews. Phillips called it, \"the most charming thing I've seen all year\", \"the Brief Encounter for the 21st century\", his favorite music film since 1984's Stop Making Sense and said, \"It may well be the best music film of our generation\".",
"Phillips called it, \"the most charming thing I've seen all year\", \"the Brief Encounter for the 21st century\", his favorite music film since 1984's Stop Making Sense and said, \"It may well be the best music film of our generation\". Roeper referred to the film's recording studio scene as \"more inspirational and uplifting than almost any number of Dreamgirls or Chicago or any of those multi-zillion dollar musical showstopping films. In its own way, it will blow you away.\"",
"In its own way, it will blow you away.\" Ebert gave the film four stars out of four, saying that he was \"not at all surprised\" that Philips had named it the best film of the year.",
"Ebert gave the film four stars out of four, saying that he was \"not at all surprised\" that Philips had named it the best film of the year. In late 2007, Amy Simmons of Time Out London wrote, \"Carney’s highly charged, urban mise-en-scène with its blinking street lamps, vacant shops and dishevelled bed-sits provides ample poetic backdrop for the film’s lengthy tracking shots, epitomised in a sequence where the Girl walks to the corner shop in pyjamas and slippers while listening to one of the Guy’s songs on her personal stereo.",
"In late 2007, Amy Simmons of Time Out London wrote, \"Carney’s highly charged, urban mise-en-scène with its blinking street lamps, vacant shops and dishevelled bed-sits provides ample poetic backdrop for the film’s lengthy tracking shots, epitomised in a sequence where the Girl walks to the corner shop in pyjamas and slippers while listening to one of the Guy’s songs on her personal stereo. With outstanding performances from Hansard and newcomer Irglová, Carney has created a sublime, visual album of unassuming and self-assured eloquence.\"",
"With outstanding performances from Hansard and newcomer Irglová, Carney has created a sublime, visual album of unassuming and self-assured eloquence.\" The Telegraph'''s Sukhdev Sandhu said, \"Not since Before Sunset has a romantic film managed to be as touching, funny or as hard to forget as Once. Like Before Sunset, it never outstays its welcome, climaxing on a note of rare charm and unexpectedness.\"",
"Like Before Sunset, it never outstays its welcome, climaxing on a note of rare charm and unexpectedness.\" The film appeared on many North American critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2007: 1st – Michael Phillips, The Chicago Tribune 1st – Nathan Rabin, The A.V.",
"The film appeared on many North American critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2007: 1st – Michael Phillips, The Chicago Tribune 1st – Nathan Rabin, The A.V. Club 2nd – David Germain, Associated Press 2nd – Kevin Crust, Los Angeles Times 2nd – Kyle Smith, New York Post 2nd – Shawn Levy, The Oregonian 2nd – Roger Moore, The Orlando Sentinel 2nd – Robert Butler, Kansas City Star 2nd – Paste Magazine 3rd – Christy Lemire, Associated Press 3rd – Tasha Robinson, The A.V.",
"Club 2nd – David Germain, Associated Press 2nd – Kevin Crust, Los Angeles Times 2nd – Kyle Smith, New York Post 2nd – Shawn Levy, The Oregonian 2nd – Roger Moore, The Orlando Sentinel 2nd – Robert Butler, Kansas City Star 2nd – Paste Magazine 3rd – Christy Lemire, Associated Press 3rd – Tasha Robinson, The A.V. Club 3rd – Andrew Gray, Tribune Chronicle 3rd – Sean Means, Salt Lake Tribune 4th – Keith Phipps, The A.V.",
"Club 3rd – Andrew Gray, Tribune Chronicle 3rd – Sean Means, Salt Lake Tribune 4th – Keith Phipps, The A.V. Club 4th – Christopher Kelly, Star Telegram 5th – Ann Hornaday, The Washington Post 5th – Desson Thomson, The Washington Post 5th – Noel Murray, The A.V. Club 6th – Ella Taylor, LA Weekly 6th – Nick Digilio, WGN-AM 7th – Claudia Puig, USA Today 7th – Dana Stevens, Slate 7th – Scott Tobias, The A.V.",
"Club 6th – Ella Taylor, LA Weekly 6th – Nick Digilio, WGN-AM 7th – Claudia Puig, USA Today 7th – Dana Stevens, Slate 7th – Scott Tobias, The A.V. Club 7th – Scott Mantz, Access Hollywood 7th – Craig Outhier, Orange County Register 8th – Liam Lacey and Rick Groen, The Globe and Mail 8th – Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly 8th – Stephanie Zacharek, Salon 9th – Joe Morgenstern, The Wall Street Journal 9th – Michael Rechtshaffen, The Hollywood Reporter 9th – Richard Roeper, At the Movies with Ebert & Roeper 9th – Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times 9th – Carina Chocano, Los Angeles Times 9th – James Verniere, Boston Herald 10th – Bob Mondello, NPR 10th – Peter Vonder Haar, Film ThreatIn 2008, the film placed third on Entertainment Weekly's \"25 Best Romantic Movies of the Past 25 Years\".",
"Club 7th – Scott Mantz, Access Hollywood 7th – Craig Outhier, Orange County Register 8th – Liam Lacey and Rick Groen, The Globe and Mail 8th – Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly 8th – Stephanie Zacharek, Salon 9th – Joe Morgenstern, The Wall Street Journal 9th – Michael Rechtshaffen, The Hollywood Reporter 9th – Richard Roeper, At the Movies with Ebert & Roeper 9th – Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times 9th – Carina Chocano, Los Angeles Times 9th – James Verniere, Boston Herald 10th – Bob Mondello, NPR 10th – Peter Vonder Haar, Film ThreatIn 2008, the film placed third on Entertainment Weekly's \"25 Best Romantic Movies of the Past 25 Years\". DVD and Blu-ray Once was released on DVD in the US on 18 December 2007, and in the UK on 25 February 2008, followed by a British Blu-ray release on 16 February 2009.",
"DVD and Blu-ray Once was released on DVD in the US on 18 December 2007, and in the UK on 25 February 2008, followed by a British Blu-ray release on 16 February 2009. Once was released on Blu-ray in the US as an Amazon-exclusive on April 1, 2014. Soundtrack The soundtrack album was released on 22 May 2007 in the United States and four days later in Ireland.",
"Soundtrack The soundtrack album was released on 22 May 2007 in the United States and four days later in Ireland. A collector's edition of the soundtrack was released on 4 December 2007 in the US with additional songs and a bonus DVD with live performances and interviews about the film. The additional songs were two previously unreleased Van Morrison covers: Hansard's \"And the Healing Has Begun\", and Hansard and Irglová's \"Into the Mystic\".",
"The additional songs were two previously unreleased Van Morrison covers: Hansard's \"And the Healing Has Begun\", and Hansard and Irglová's \"Into the Mystic\". Different versions of a lot of the soundtrack's songs were previously released on The Frames' album The Cost and on Hansard and Irglová's The Swell Season (both released in 2006). An early version of the last track, \"Say It to Me Now\", originally appeared on The Frames' 1995 album Fitzcarraldo.",
"An early version of the last track, \"Say It to Me Now\", originally appeared on The Frames' 1995 album Fitzcarraldo. \"All the Way Down\" first appeared on the self-titled album from musician collective The Cake Sale, with Gemma Hayes providing vocals. The song \"Gold\" was written by Irish singer-songwriter Fergus O'Farrell and performed by Interference.",
"The song \"Gold\" was written by Irish singer-songwriter Fergus O'Farrell and performed by Interference. Track listing Accolades The soundtrack was nominated for two 2008 Grammy Awards, under Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media and, for \"Falling Slowly\", Best Song Written for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media. It won the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Music, and it was ranked at number two on the Entertainment Weekly 25 New Classic Soundtrack Albums list (1983–2008).",
"It won the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Music, and it was ranked at number two on the Entertainment Weekly 25 New Classic Soundtrack Albums list (1983–2008). Charts success The soundtrack album reached #20 on the Irish Albums Chart in its first week, peaking at #15 a few weeks later. Following the Oscar win, the album reached the top of the chart, while \"Falling Slowly\" reached a new peak of #2.",
"Following the Oscar win, the album reached the top of the chart, while \"Falling Slowly\" reached a new peak of #2. In the United States, it ranked as the #10 soundtrack on 1 June. As of 11 July 2007, the album has sold 54,753 copies in the US. The album reached #27 on the Billboard 200 according to Allmusic. It also reached #2 on the Soundtracks Chart and #4 on the Independent Chart.",
"It also reached #2 on the Soundtracks Chart and #4 on the Independent Chart. Certifications Stage adaptation The film has been adapted for the stage as the musical (Once). It first opened at the New York Theatre Workshop on 6 December 2011. The screenplay was adapted by Enda Walsh and the production directed by John Tiffany. In February 2012, the musical transferred to Broadway's Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre. It began in previews on 28 February 2012 and opened on 18 March 2012.",
"It began in previews on 28 February 2012 and opened on 18 March 2012. Directed by John Tiffany, the cast features Steve Kazee as Guy and Cristin Milioti as Girl with sets and costumes by Bob Crowley. The music is from the film with two additional songs, and the cast is also the orchestra. The musical opened up to generally positive reviews.",
"The musical opened up to generally positive reviews. The musical opened up to generally positive reviews. Since its opening, Once has been named Best Musical by The Outer Critics' Circle, Drama League, The New York Drama Critics' Circle, and The Tony Awards.",
"Since its opening, Once has been named Best Musical by The Outer Critics' Circle, Drama League, The New York Drama Critics' Circle, and The Tony Awards. The Broadway production of Once was nominated for a total of 11 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Actor in a Musical (Steve Kazee), Best Actress in a Musical (Cristin Milioti), Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Elizabeth A. Davis) and Best Direction of a Musical.",
"The Broadway production of Once was nominated for a total of 11 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Actor in a Musical (Steve Kazee), Best Actress in a Musical (Cristin Milioti), Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Elizabeth A. Davis) and Best Direction of a Musical. On 10 June 2012, it won eight Tony Awards including Best Musical, Best Direction of a Musical, Best Book of a Musical and Best Actor in a Musical.",
"On 10 June 2012, it won eight Tony Awards including Best Musical, Best Direction of a Musical, Best Book of a Musical and Best Actor in a Musical. See also Busking Once (musical) Cinema of Ireland Musical films References External links Icon Movies' Official U.K. Once Website Fox Searchlight's Official U.S. Once Website (plays complete soundtrack – music starts when page loads) Once and Other Irish Films \"Lies\" from Once named Best New Film Song Interviews Interview with Hansard and Irglová at Janaki's Musings Interview with John Carney at Janaki's Musings Reviews \"Movie Review: Once\", Entertainment Weekly review by Owen Gleiberman (15 May 2007) \"Once: 3.5 out of 4 stars\", Rolling Stone'' review by Peter Travers (17 May 2007) \"Movie Review: Once\", stv.tv 2007 films 2007 romantic drama films 2000s English-language films 2000s musical drama films 2000s romantic musical films Czech-language films Films about guitars and guitarists Films about music and musicians Films directed by John Carney Films set in Dublin (city) Films shot in Dublin (city) Films that won the Best Original Song Academy Award Independent Spirit Award for Best Foreign Film winners Irish films English-language Irish films Irish musical drama films Irish romantic drama films The Swell Season albums"
] |
[
"Once (film)",
"Box office performance and awards",
"How did Once perform at the box office?",
"As of 28 March 2009, Once has grossed nearly $9.5 million in North America and over $20 million worldwide.",
"How did it do in Ireland?",
"received the audience awards"
] | C_19e7366c0d624a97bc9d31fb07cdf4d0_1 | Was it nominated for any awards? | 3 | Was Once nominated for any awards? | Once (film) | A rough cut of the film was previewed on 15 July 2006 at the Galway Film Fleadh, but the film was subsequently turned down by several prestigious European film festivals. However, once finished, it secured spots at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival on 20 January 2007 and the Dublin Film Festival in February 2007, and received the audience awards at both events. The film was first released on cinema in Ireland on 23 March 2007, followed by a limited release in the United States on 16 May 2007. After its second weekend in release in the United States and Canada, the film topped the 23 May 2007 indieWIRE box office chart with nearly $31,000 average per location. As of 28 March 2009, Once has grossed nearly $9.5 million in North America and over $20 million worldwide. After 2007's box office success and critical acclaim, it won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Foreign Film. Steven Spielberg was quoted as saying "A little movie called Once gave me enough inspiration to last the rest of the year". When informed of Spielberg's comments, director John Carney told Sky News, "in the end of the day, he's just a guy with a beard". At the time of this interview, Carney himself was also wearing a beard. The song "Falling Slowly" won the 2007 Academy Award for Best Original Song. The nomination's eligibility for the Oscar was initially questioned, as versions of the song had been released on The Cost and The Swell Season albums, but this was resolved before the voting for the award took place. The AMPAS music committee satisfied themselves that the song had indeed been written for the film and determined that, in the course of the film's protracted production, the composers had "played the song in some venues that were deemed inconsequential enough to not change the song's eligibility". CANNOTANSWER | it won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Foreign Film. | Once is a 2007 Irish
romantic musical drama film written and directed by John Carney. The film stars Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová as two struggling musicians in Dublin, Ireland. Hansard and Irglová had previously performed music as the Swell Season, and composed and performed the film's original songs.
Once spent years in development with the Irish Film Board and was made for a budget of €112,000. It was a commercial success, earning substantial per-screen box office averages in the United States, and received acclaim from critics. It received awards including the 2007 Independent Spirit Award for Best Foreign Film. Hansard and Irglová's song "Falling Slowly" won the 2008 Academy Award for Best Original Song, and the soundtrack received a Grammy Award nomination.
Plot
A thirty-something busker (Guy) performs with his guitar on Grafton Street, Dublin and chases a man who steals his money. Lured by his music, a young Czech flower seller (Girl) talks to him about his songs. Delighted to learn that he repairs hoovers, Girl asks Guy to fix hers. The next day Girl returns with her broken vacuum and tells him she is also a musician.
At a music store where Girl usually plays piano, Guy teaches her one of his songs ("Falling Slowly"); they sing and play together. He invites her to his father's shop, and on the bus home musically answers Girl's question about what his songs are about: a long-time girlfriend who cheated on him, then left ("Broken Hearted Hoover Fixer Sucker Guy").
At the shop, Guy introduces Girl to his father and takes her to his room, but when he asks her to stay the night, she gets upset and leaves. The next day, they reconcile and spend the week writing, rehearsing and recording songs. Girl writes the lyrics for one of Guy's songs ("If You Want Me"), singing to herself while walking down the street; at a party, people perform impromptu (including "Gold").
Guy works on "Lies", a song about his ex-girlfriend, who moved to London. Girl encourages him to win her back. Invited to her home, he discovers she has a toddler and lives with her mother. Guy decides to move to London, but he wants to record a demo of his songs to take with him and asks Girl to record it with him. They secure a bank loan and reserve time at a recording studio.
Guy learns Girl has a husband in the Czech Republic. When he asks if she still loves her husband, Girl answers in Czech, "Miluji tebe" ("I love you"), but coyly declines to translate. After recruiting a band with other buskers, they go into the studio to record. They impress Eamon, the jaded studio engineer, with their first song ("When Your Mind's Made Up"). On a break in the early morning, Girl finds a piano in an empty studio and plays Guy one of her own compositions ("The Hill").
After the all-night session wraps up, they walk home. Before they part ways, Girl reveals that she spoke to her husband and he is coming to live with her in Dublin. Guy persuades her to spend her last night in Dublin with him, but she stands him up and he cannot find her to say goodbye before his flight. He plays the demo for his father, who gives him money to help him get settled in London. Before leaving for the airport, Guy buys Girl a piano and makes arrangements for its delivery, then calls his ex-girlfriend, who is happy about his imminent arrival. Girl reunites with her husband in Dublin and plays the piano in their home.
Cast
Glen Hansard as Guy
Markéta Irglová as Girl
Hugh Walsh as Timmy Drummer
Gerard Hendrick as Lead Guitarist
Alaistair Foley as Bassist
Geoff Minogue as Eamon
Bill Hodnett as Guy's Dad
Danuse Ktrestova as Girl's Mother
Darren Healy as Heroin Addict
Mal Whyte as Bill
Marcella Plunkett as Ex-girlfriend
Niall Cleary as Bob
Wiltold Owski as Man watching TV
Krzysztos Tlotka as Man watching TV
Tomek Glowacki as Man watching TV
Keith Byrne as Guy in Piano Shop
Production
The two leads, Hansard and Irglová, are both professional musicians. Director Carney, former bassist for Hansard's band The Frames, had asked his long-time friend to share busker anecdotes and compose songs for the film, but had intended the male lead to be played by actor Cillian Murphy, who was an almost-signed rock musician before turning to acting. Murphy was also going to be one of the film's producers. But Murphy declined the prospect of acting opposite non-actor Irglová (then 17 years old) and also felt that he hadn't the vocal capabilities to belt out Hansard's octave-leaping songs, so he pulled out, as did the film's other producers along with their financial resources. Carney then turned to songwriter Hansard, who'd previously done only one acting job, a supporting role as guitarist Outspan Foster in the 1991 ensemble film The Commitments, the story of a Dublin soul music cover band. Hansard was initially reluctant, fearing that he wouldn't be able to pull it off, but after stipulating that he had to be fully involved in the filmmaking process and that it be low-budget and intimate, he agreed.
Produced on a shoestring, about 75% of the budget was funded by Bord Scannán na hÉireann (The Irish Film Board), plus some of Carney's own money. The director gave his salary to the two stars, and promised a share of the back-end for everyone if the film was a success. Shot with a skeleton crew on a 17-day shoot, the filmmakers saved money by using natural light and shooting at friends' houses. The musical party scene was filmed in Hansard's own flat, with his personal friends playing the partygoers/musicians—his mother, Catherine Hansard, is briefly featured singing solo. The Dublin street scenes were recorded without permits and with a long lens so that many passersby didn't even realize that a film was being made. The long lens also helped the non-professional actors relax and forget about the camera, and some of the dialogue ended up being improvised.
During the shoot, Carney had predicted a romance, calling Hansard and Irglová his Bogart and Bacall. Hansard and Irglová did become a couple in real life, getting together while on a promotional tour across North America, and living together in Dublin, in Hansard's flat. Entertainment Weekly reported:
Subsequently, Hansard indicated that they were no longer a romantic couple. He said, "Of course, we fell into each other's arms. It was a very necessary part of our friendship but I think we both concluded that that wasn't what we really wanted to do. So we're not together now. We are just really good friends."
Yet Hansard and Irglová were quite happy with the unrequited ending for their onscreen characters. In an interview, Hansard states that "Had the US distributor changed the end and made us kiss, I wouldn't be interested in coming and promoting it, at all." Hansard says that ad-libbing produced the moment where Irglova's character tells the Guy in unsubtitled Czech, "No, I love you", but when it was shot, he didn't know what she'd said, just like his character.
Both Hansard and Irglova give the impression in interviews that they are unlikely to pursue further acting. Irglova has spoken about being nervous in front of a crew, saying "I don't think I would be a good actress, overall", and Hansard generally refers to the movie as a one-off, talking of "moving on... living a different life".
As a result of the film, Hansard and Irglová have been releasing music and touring together as The Swell Season.
Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová reprised their roles in The Simpsons episode "In the Name of the Grandfather".
Reception
Box office
A rough cut of the film was previewed on 15 July 2006 at the Galway Film Fleadh, but the film was subsequently turned down by several prestigious European film festivals. However, once finished, it secured spots at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival on 20 January 2007 and the Dublin Film Festival in February 2007, and received the audience awards at both events.
The film was first released on cinema in Ireland on 23 March 2007, followed by a limited release in the United States on 16 May 2007. After its second weekend in release in the United States and Canada, the film topped the 23 May 2007 indieWIRE box office chart with nearly $31,000 average per location. As of 28 March 2009, Once has grossed nearly $9.5 million in North America and over $20 million worldwide.
Accolades
After 2007's box office success and critical acclaim, it won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Foreign Film. Steven Spielberg was quoted as saying "A little movie called Once gave me enough inspiration to last the rest of the year". When informed of Spielberg's comments, director John Carney told Sky News, "in the end of the day, he's just a guy with a beard". At the time of this interview, Carney himself was also wearing a beard.
The song "Falling Slowly" won the 2007 Academy Award for Best Original Song. The nomination's eligibility for the Oscar was initially questioned, as versions of the song had been recorded on The Cost and The Swell Season albums and it was also included in the movie Beauty in Trouble (all released in 2006) but this was resolved before the voting for the award took place. The AMPAS music committee satisfied themselves that the song had indeed been written for the film and determined that, in the course of the film's protracted production, the composers had "played the song in some venues that were deemed inconsequential enough to not change the song’s eligibility".
Critical response
Once received widespread acclaim from critics. Upon its March 2007 release in Ireland, RTÉ's Caroline Hennessy gave the film 4 out of 5 stars and termed it "an unexpected treasure". About the acting, this Irish reviewer commented, "Once has wonderfully natural performances from the two leads. Although musicians first and actors second, they acquit themselves well in both areas. Irglová, a largely unknown quantity alongside the well-known and either loved or loathed Hansard, is luminous." Michael Dwyer of The Irish Times gave the film the same rating, calling it "irresistibly appealing" and noting that "Carney makes the point – without ever labouring it – that his protagonists are living in a changing city where the economic boom has passed them by. His keen eye for authentic locations is ... evident".
Once won very high marks from U.S. critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, it holds a 97% approval rating based on 159 reviews, with an average score of 8.30/10. The website's critical consensus states, "A charming, captivating tale of love and music, Once sets the standard for the modern musical. And with Dublin as its backdrop, Once is fun and fresh." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 88 out of 100 based on reviews from 33 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". In May, on Ebert & Roeper, both Richard Roeper and guest critic Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune gave enthusiastic reviews. Phillips called it, "the most charming thing I've seen all year", "the Brief Encounter for the 21st century", his favorite music film since 1984's Stop Making Sense and said, "It may well be the best music film of our generation". Roeper referred to the film's recording studio scene as "more inspirational and uplifting than almost any number of Dreamgirls or Chicago or any of those multi-zillion dollar musical showstopping films. In its own way, it will blow you away." Ebert gave the film four stars out of four, saying that he was "not at all surprised" that Philips had named it the best film of the year.
In late 2007, Amy Simmons of Time Out London wrote, "Carney’s highly charged, urban mise-en-scène with its blinking street lamps, vacant shops and dishevelled bed-sits provides ample poetic backdrop for the film’s lengthy tracking shots, epitomised in a sequence where the Girl walks to the corner shop in pyjamas and slippers while listening to one of the Guy’s songs on her personal stereo. With outstanding performances from Hansard and newcomer Irglová, Carney has created a sublime, visual album of unassuming and self-assured eloquence." The Telegraph'''s Sukhdev Sandhu said, "Not since Before Sunset has a romantic film managed to be as touching, funny or as hard to forget as Once. Like Before Sunset, it never outstays its welcome, climaxing on a note of rare charm and unexpectedness."
The film appeared on many North American critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2007:
1st – Michael Phillips, The Chicago Tribune 1st – Nathan Rabin, The A.V. Club 2nd – David Germain, Associated Press
2nd – Kevin Crust, Los Angeles Times 2nd – Kyle Smith, New York Post 2nd – Shawn Levy, The Oregonian 2nd – Roger Moore, The Orlando Sentinel 2nd – Robert Butler, Kansas City Star 2nd – Paste Magazine 3rd – Christy Lemire, Associated Press
3rd – Tasha Robinson, The A.V. Club 3rd – Andrew Gray, Tribune Chronicle 3rd – Sean Means, Salt Lake Tribune 4th – Keith Phipps, The A.V. Club 4th – Christopher Kelly, Star Telegram 5th – Ann Hornaday, The Washington Post 5th – Desson Thomson, The Washington Post 5th – Noel Murray, The A.V. Club 6th – Ella Taylor, LA Weekly 6th – Nick Digilio, WGN-AM 7th – Claudia Puig, USA Today 7th – Dana Stevens, Slate 7th – Scott Tobias, The A.V. Club 7th – Scott Mantz, Access Hollywood 7th – Craig Outhier, Orange County Register 8th – Liam Lacey and Rick Groen, The Globe and Mail 8th – Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly 8th – Stephanie Zacharek, Salon 9th – Joe Morgenstern, The Wall Street Journal 9th – Michael Rechtshaffen, The Hollywood Reporter 9th – Richard Roeper, At the Movies with Ebert & Roeper 9th – Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times 9th – Carina Chocano, Los Angeles Times 9th – James Verniere, Boston Herald 10th – Bob Mondello, NPR 10th – Peter Vonder Haar, Film ThreatIn 2008, the film placed third on Entertainment Weekly's "25 Best Romantic Movies of the Past 25 Years".
DVD and Blu-ray Once was released on DVD in the US on 18 December 2007, and in the UK on 25 February 2008, followed by a British Blu-ray release on 16 February 2009. Once was released on Blu-ray in the US as an Amazon-exclusive on April 1, 2014.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack album was released on 22 May 2007 in the United States and four days later in Ireland.
A collector's edition of the soundtrack was released on 4 December 2007 in the US with additional songs and a bonus DVD with live performances and interviews about the film. The additional songs were two previously unreleased Van Morrison covers: Hansard's "And the Healing Has Begun", and Hansard and Irglová's "Into the Mystic".
Different versions of a lot of the soundtrack's songs were previously released on The Frames' album The Cost and on Hansard and Irglová's The Swell Season (both released in 2006). An early version of the last track, "Say It to Me Now", originally appeared on The Frames' 1995 album Fitzcarraldo. "All the Way Down" first appeared on the self-titled album from musician collective The Cake Sale, with Gemma Hayes providing vocals. The song "Gold" was written by Irish singer-songwriter Fergus O'Farrell and performed by Interference.
Track listing
Accolades
The soundtrack was nominated for two 2008 Grammy Awards, under Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media and, for "Falling Slowly", Best Song Written for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media. It won the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Music, and it was ranked at number two on the Entertainment Weekly 25 New Classic Soundtrack Albums list (1983–2008).
Charts success
The soundtrack album reached #20 on the Irish Albums Chart in its first week, peaking at #15 a few weeks later. Following the Oscar win, the album reached the top of the chart, while "Falling Slowly" reached a new peak of #2.
In the United States, it ranked as the #10 soundtrack on 1 June. As of 11 July 2007, the album has sold 54,753 copies in the US. The album reached #27 on the Billboard 200 according to Allmusic. It also reached #2 on the Soundtracks Chart and #4 on the Independent Chart.
Certifications
Stage adaptation
The film has been adapted for the stage as the musical (Once). It first opened at the New York Theatre Workshop on 6 December 2011. The screenplay was adapted by Enda Walsh and the production directed by John Tiffany.
In February 2012, the musical transferred to Broadway's Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre. It began in previews on 28 February 2012 and opened on 18 March 2012. Directed by John Tiffany, the cast features Steve Kazee as Guy and Cristin Milioti as Girl with sets and costumes by Bob Crowley. The music is from the film with two additional songs, and the cast is also the orchestra. The musical opened up to generally positive reviews. Since its opening, Once has been named Best Musical by The Outer Critics' Circle, Drama League, The New York Drama Critics' Circle, and The Tony Awards.
The Broadway production of Once was nominated for a total of 11 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Actor in a Musical (Steve Kazee), Best Actress in a Musical (Cristin Milioti), Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Elizabeth A. Davis) and Best Direction of a Musical. On 10 June 2012, it won eight Tony Awards including Best Musical, Best Direction of a Musical, Best Book of a Musical and Best Actor in a Musical.
See also
Busking
Once (musical)
Cinema of Ireland
Musical films
References
External links
Icon Movies' Official U.K. Once Website
Fox Searchlight's Official U.S. Once Website (plays complete soundtrack – music starts when page loads)
Once and Other Irish Films
"Lies" from Once named Best New Film Song
Interviews
Interview with Hansard and Irglová at Janaki's Musings
Interview with John Carney at Janaki's Musings
Reviews
"Movie Review: Once", Entertainment Weekly review by Owen Gleiberman (15 May 2007)
"Once: 3.5 out of 4 stars", Rolling Stone'' review by Peter Travers (17 May 2007)
"Movie Review: Once", stv.tv
2007 films
2007 romantic drama films
2000s English-language films
2000s musical drama films
2000s romantic musical films
Czech-language films
Films about guitars and guitarists
Films about music and musicians
Films directed by John Carney
Films set in Dublin (city)
Films shot in Dublin (city)
Films that won the Best Original Song Academy Award
Independent Spirit Award for Best Foreign Film winners
Irish films
English-language Irish films
Irish musical drama films
Irish romantic drama films
The Swell Season albums | true | [
"Stargate Atlantis is an American-Canadian military science fiction television series and part of MGM's Stargate franchise. The series was created by Robert C. Cooper and Brad Wright as a spin-off series to Stargate SG-1. The series aired for five seasons and 100 episodes on the US Sci Fi Channel. Stargate Atlantis premiered on SCI FI on July 16, 2004; its final episode aired on January 9, 2009.\n\nSince 2005, Stargate Atlantis was nominated for various awards during its five-year run. Among them, the series has been nominated for four Emmy Awards, eleven Gemini Awards (two were won), 27 Leo Awards (ten were won), one Nebula Award, one People's Choice Award which was won, and two Visual Effects Society Awards. Out of the total 62 nominations, Stargate Atlantis won 19 awards.\n\nCanadian Screenwriting Awards\nStargate Atlantis was nominated for two Canadian Screenwriting Awards.\n\nChicago International Film Festival\nStargate Atlantis was nominated for one Silver Plaque in the Chicago International Film Festival, 2005.\n\nConstellation Awards\nThe series was nominated for two Constellation Awards.\n\nDGC Craft Awards\nStargate Atlantis was nominated for one DGC Craft Award by the Directors Guild of Canada.\n\nEmmy Awards\nStargate Atlantis was nominated for four Emmy Awards. From those, they were nominations for \"Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Series\" twice, and one each for \"Outsdanding Main Title Theme Music\" and \"Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Dramatical Underscore)\".\n\nGemini Awards\nStargate Atlantis was nominated for sixteen Gemini Awards. They were nominated for four awards in 2005, one in 2006, two in 2007, four in 2008, and five in 2009. In total, they won four awards.\n\nLeo Awards\nStargate Atlantis was nominated for a total of 27 Leo Awards, ten of which were for 2005, while the other 17 were for 2009.\n\nNebula Awards\nThe series was nominated for a Nebula Award in 2009.\n\nNew York Film Festival\nStargate Atlantis won a Bronze Worldmedal in the New York Film Festival in 2005.\n\nPeople's Choice Awards\nIn 2008, Stargate Atlantis was nominated for \"Best Sci-Fi Show\" for the 34th People's Choice Awards, where it was up against Battlestar Galactica and Doctor Who.\n\nSaturn Awards\nThe series was nominated for two Saturn Awards in 2005, and for one in 2006.\n\nVisual Effects Society Awards\nTwo episodes were nominated for Visual Effects Society Awards. One was nominated in 2005, while the other was nominated in 2008. Both were nominated for \"Outstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast Series\".\n\nWorldFest-Houston International Film Festival\nStargate Atlantis was nominated for a First Place Platinum in the 2005 WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival.\n\nSee also\nList of Stargate SG-1 awards and nominations\nList of Stargate Universe awards and nominations\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Awards for Stargate Atlantis at IMDB\n\nStargate\nStargate",
"Stargate SG-1 is an American-Canadian military science fiction television series and part of MGM's Stargate franchise. The show was created by Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner, based on the 1994 feature film Stargate by Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich. The first five seasons of the television series were broadcast by Showtime before the series moved to the Sci Fi Channel for its last five seasons. Stargate SG-1 premiered on Showtime on July 27, 1997; its final episode aired on Sky1 in the United Kingdom on March 13, 2007. Stargate SG-1 was nominated for and won numerous awards in its ten-season run.\n\nCableACE Awards\nStargate SG-1 was nominated for one CableACE Award.\n\nConstellation Awards\nStargate SG-1 won two Constellation Awards.Emmy AwardStargate SG-1 was nominated for eight Emmys in the \"Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Series\" category and one Emmy for \"Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Dramatic Underscore)\".\n\nGemini AwardStargate SG-1 won two Gemini Awards out of 28 nominations.\n\nGolden Reel AwardsStargate SG-1 was nominated for 2 Golden Reel Awards by the Motion Picture Sound Editors.\n\nHugo AwardsStargate SG-1 was nominated for 2 Hugo awards.\n\nLeo AwardsStargate SG-1 won twelve Leo Awards out of 53 nominations.\n\nSaturn AwardsStargate SG-1 won six Saturn Awards out of thirty nominations:\n\nSFX AwardsStargate SG-1 was nominated for three SFX Awards.\n\nVisual Effects Society AwardsStargate SG-1'' was nominated for two VES Awards.\n\nSee also\nList of Stargate Atlantis awards and nominations\nList of Stargate Universe awards and nominations\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Awards for Stargate SG-1 at IMDB\n\nStargate\nStargate"
] | [
"Once is a 2007 Irish romantic musical drama film written and directed by John Carney. The film stars Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová as two struggling musicians in Dublin, Ireland. Hansard and Irglová had previously performed music as the Swell Season, and composed and performed the film's original songs. Once spent years in development with the Irish Film Board and was made for a budget of €112,000. It was a commercial success, earning substantial per-screen box office averages in the United States, and received acclaim from critics.",
"It was a commercial success, earning substantial per-screen box office averages in the United States, and received acclaim from critics. It received awards including the 2007 Independent Spirit Award for Best Foreign Film. Hansard and Irglová's song \"Falling Slowly\" won the 2008 Academy Award for Best Original Song, and the soundtrack received a Grammy Award nomination. Plot A thirty-something busker (Guy) performs with his guitar on Grafton Street, Dublin and chases a man who steals his money.",
"Plot A thirty-something busker (Guy) performs with his guitar on Grafton Street, Dublin and chases a man who steals his money. Lured by his music, a young Czech flower seller (Girl) talks to him about his songs. Delighted to learn that he repairs hoovers, Girl asks Guy to fix hers. The next day Girl returns with her broken vacuum and tells him she is also a musician.",
"The next day Girl returns with her broken vacuum and tells him she is also a musician. At a music store where Girl usually plays piano, Guy teaches her one of his songs (\"Falling Slowly\"); they sing and play together. He invites her to his father's shop, and on the bus home musically answers Girl's question about what his songs are about: a long-time girlfriend who cheated on him, then left (\"Broken Hearted Hoover Fixer Sucker Guy\").",
"He invites her to his father's shop, and on the bus home musically answers Girl's question about what his songs are about: a long-time girlfriend who cheated on him, then left (\"Broken Hearted Hoover Fixer Sucker Guy\"). At the shop, Guy introduces Girl to his father and takes her to his room, but when he asks her to stay the night, she gets upset and leaves. The next day, they reconcile and spend the week writing, rehearsing and recording songs.",
"The next day, they reconcile and spend the week writing, rehearsing and recording songs. Girl writes the lyrics for one of Guy's songs (\"If You Want Me\"), singing to herself while walking down the street; at a party, people perform impromptu (including \"Gold\"). Guy works on \"Lies\", a song about his ex-girlfriend, who moved to London. Girl encourages him to win her back.",
"Girl encourages him to win her back. Girl encourages him to win her back. Invited to her home, he discovers she has a toddler and lives with her mother. Guy decides to move to London, but he wants to record a demo of his songs to take with him and asks Girl to record it with him. They secure a bank loan and reserve time at a recording studio. Guy learns Girl has a husband in the Czech Republic.",
"Guy learns Girl has a husband in the Czech Republic. When he asks if she still loves her husband, Girl answers in Czech, \"Miluji tebe\" (\"I love you\"), but coyly declines to translate. After recruiting a band with other buskers, they go into the studio to record. They impress Eamon, the jaded studio engineer, with their first song (\"When Your Mind's Made Up\").",
"They impress Eamon, the jaded studio engineer, with their first song (\"When Your Mind's Made Up\"). On a break in the early morning, Girl finds a piano in an empty studio and plays Guy one of her own compositions (\"The Hill\"). After the all-night session wraps up, they walk home. Before they part ways, Girl reveals that she spoke to her husband and he is coming to live with her in Dublin.",
"Before they part ways, Girl reveals that she spoke to her husband and he is coming to live with her in Dublin. Guy persuades her to spend her last night in Dublin with him, but she stands him up and he cannot find her to say goodbye before his flight. He plays the demo for his father, who gives him money to help him get settled in London.",
"He plays the demo for his father, who gives him money to help him get settled in London. Before leaving for the airport, Guy buys Girl a piano and makes arrangements for its delivery, then calls his ex-girlfriend, who is happy about his imminent arrival. Girl reunites with her husband in Dublin and plays the piano in their home.",
"Girl reunites with her husband in Dublin and plays the piano in their home. Cast Glen Hansard as Guy Markéta Irglová as Girl Hugh Walsh as Timmy Drummer Gerard Hendrick as Lead Guitarist Alaistair Foley as Bassist Geoff Minogue as Eamon Bill Hodnett as Guy's Dad Danuse Ktrestova as Girl's Mother Darren Healy as Heroin Addict Mal Whyte as Bill Marcella Plunkett as Ex-girlfriend Niall Cleary as Bob Wiltold Owski as Man watching TV Krzysztos Tlotka as Man watching TV Tomek Glowacki as Man watching TV Keith Byrne as Guy in Piano Shop Production The two leads, Hansard and Irglová, are both professional musicians.",
"Cast Glen Hansard as Guy Markéta Irglová as Girl Hugh Walsh as Timmy Drummer Gerard Hendrick as Lead Guitarist Alaistair Foley as Bassist Geoff Minogue as Eamon Bill Hodnett as Guy's Dad Danuse Ktrestova as Girl's Mother Darren Healy as Heroin Addict Mal Whyte as Bill Marcella Plunkett as Ex-girlfriend Niall Cleary as Bob Wiltold Owski as Man watching TV Krzysztos Tlotka as Man watching TV Tomek Glowacki as Man watching TV Keith Byrne as Guy in Piano Shop Production The two leads, Hansard and Irglová, are both professional musicians. Director Carney, former bassist for Hansard's band The Frames, had asked his long-time friend to share busker anecdotes and compose songs for the film, but had intended the male lead to be played by actor Cillian Murphy, who was an almost-signed rock musician before turning to acting.",
"Director Carney, former bassist for Hansard's band The Frames, had asked his long-time friend to share busker anecdotes and compose songs for the film, but had intended the male lead to be played by actor Cillian Murphy, who was an almost-signed rock musician before turning to acting. Murphy was also going to be one of the film's producers.",
"Murphy was also going to be one of the film's producers. But Murphy declined the prospect of acting opposite non-actor Irglová (then 17 years old) and also felt that he hadn't the vocal capabilities to belt out Hansard's octave-leaping songs, so he pulled out, as did the film's other producers along with their financial resources.",
"But Murphy declined the prospect of acting opposite non-actor Irglová (then 17 years old) and also felt that he hadn't the vocal capabilities to belt out Hansard's octave-leaping songs, so he pulled out, as did the film's other producers along with their financial resources. Carney then turned to songwriter Hansard, who'd previously done only one acting job, a supporting role as guitarist Outspan Foster in the 1991 ensemble film The Commitments, the story of a Dublin soul music cover band.",
"Carney then turned to songwriter Hansard, who'd previously done only one acting job, a supporting role as guitarist Outspan Foster in the 1991 ensemble film The Commitments, the story of a Dublin soul music cover band. Hansard was initially reluctant, fearing that he wouldn't be able to pull it off, but after stipulating that he had to be fully involved in the filmmaking process and that it be low-budget and intimate, he agreed.",
"Hansard was initially reluctant, fearing that he wouldn't be able to pull it off, but after stipulating that he had to be fully involved in the filmmaking process and that it be low-budget and intimate, he agreed. Produced on a shoestring, about 75% of the budget was funded by Bord Scannán na hÉireann (The Irish Film Board), plus some of Carney's own money.",
"Produced on a shoestring, about 75% of the budget was funded by Bord Scannán na hÉireann (The Irish Film Board), plus some of Carney's own money. The director gave his salary to the two stars, and promised a share of the back-end for everyone if the film was a success. Shot with a skeleton crew on a 17-day shoot, the filmmakers saved money by using natural light and shooting at friends' houses.",
"Shot with a skeleton crew on a 17-day shoot, the filmmakers saved money by using natural light and shooting at friends' houses. The musical party scene was filmed in Hansard's own flat, with his personal friends playing the partygoers/musicians—his mother, Catherine Hansard, is briefly featured singing solo. The Dublin street scenes were recorded without permits and with a long lens so that many passersby didn't even realize that a film was being made.",
"The Dublin street scenes were recorded without permits and with a long lens so that many passersby didn't even realize that a film was being made. The long lens also helped the non-professional actors relax and forget about the camera, and some of the dialogue ended up being improvised. During the shoot, Carney had predicted a romance, calling Hansard and Irglová his Bogart and Bacall.",
"During the shoot, Carney had predicted a romance, calling Hansard and Irglová his Bogart and Bacall. Hansard and Irglová did become a couple in real life, getting together while on a promotional tour across North America, and living together in Dublin, in Hansard's flat. Entertainment Weekly reported: Subsequently, Hansard indicated that they were no longer a romantic couple. He said, \"Of course, we fell into each other's arms.",
"He said, \"Of course, we fell into each other's arms. It was a very necessary part of our friendship but I think we both concluded that that wasn't what we really wanted to do. So we're not together now. We are just really good friends.\" Yet Hansard and Irglová were quite happy with the unrequited ending for their onscreen characters.",
"Yet Hansard and Irglová were quite happy with the unrequited ending for their onscreen characters. In an interview, Hansard states that \"Had the US distributor changed the end and made us kiss, I wouldn't be interested in coming and promoting it, at all.\" Hansard says that ad-libbing produced the moment where Irglova's character tells the Guy in unsubtitled Czech, \"No, I love you\", but when it was shot, he didn't know what she'd said, just like his character.",
"Hansard says that ad-libbing produced the moment where Irglova's character tells the Guy in unsubtitled Czech, \"No, I love you\", but when it was shot, he didn't know what she'd said, just like his character. Both Hansard and Irglova give the impression in interviews that they are unlikely to pursue further acting.",
"Both Hansard and Irglova give the impression in interviews that they are unlikely to pursue further acting. Irglova has spoken about being nervous in front of a crew, saying \"I don't think I would be a good actress, overall\", and Hansard generally refers to the movie as a one-off, talking of \"moving on... living a different life\". As a result of the film, Hansard and Irglová have been releasing music and touring together as The Swell Season.",
"As a result of the film, Hansard and Irglová have been releasing music and touring together as The Swell Season. Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová reprised their roles in The Simpsons episode \"In the Name of the Grandfather\". Reception Box office A rough cut of the film was previewed on 15 July 2006 at the Galway Film Fleadh, but the film was subsequently turned down by several prestigious European film festivals.",
"Reception Box office A rough cut of the film was previewed on 15 July 2006 at the Galway Film Fleadh, but the film was subsequently turned down by several prestigious European film festivals. However, once finished, it secured spots at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival on 20 January 2007 and the Dublin Film Festival in February 2007, and received the audience awards at both events. The film was first released on cinema in Ireland on 23 March 2007, followed by a limited release in the United States on 16 May 2007.",
"The film was first released on cinema in Ireland on 23 March 2007, followed by a limited release in the United States on 16 May 2007. After its second weekend in release in the United States and Canada, the film topped the 23 May 2007 indieWIRE box office chart with nearly $31,000 average per location. As of 28 March 2009, Once has grossed nearly $9.5 million in North America and over $20 million worldwide.",
"As of 28 March 2009, Once has grossed nearly $9.5 million in North America and over $20 million worldwide. Accolades After 2007's box office success and critical acclaim, it won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Foreign Film. Steven Spielberg was quoted as saying \"A little movie called Once gave me enough inspiration to last the rest of the year\".",
"Steven Spielberg was quoted as saying \"A little movie called Once gave me enough inspiration to last the rest of the year\". When informed of Spielberg's comments, director John Carney told Sky News, \"in the end of the day, he's just a guy with a beard\". At the time of this interview, Carney himself was also wearing a beard. The song \"Falling Slowly\" won the 2007 Academy Award for Best Original Song.",
"The song \"Falling Slowly\" won the 2007 Academy Award for Best Original Song. The nomination's eligibility for the Oscar was initially questioned, as versions of the song had been recorded on The Cost and The Swell Season albums and it was also included in the movie Beauty in Trouble (all released in 2006) but this was resolved before the voting for the award took place.",
"The nomination's eligibility for the Oscar was initially questioned, as versions of the song had been recorded on The Cost and The Swell Season albums and it was also included in the movie Beauty in Trouble (all released in 2006) but this was resolved before the voting for the award took place. The AMPAS music committee satisfied themselves that the song had indeed been written for the film and determined that, in the course of the film's protracted production, the composers had \"played the song in some venues that were deemed inconsequential enough to not change the song’s eligibility\".",
"The AMPAS music committee satisfied themselves that the song had indeed been written for the film and determined that, in the course of the film's protracted production, the composers had \"played the song in some venues that were deemed inconsequential enough to not change the song’s eligibility\". Critical response Once received widespread acclaim from critics. Upon its March 2007 release in Ireland, RTÉ's Caroline Hennessy gave the film 4 out of 5 stars and termed it \"an unexpected treasure\".",
"Upon its March 2007 release in Ireland, RTÉ's Caroline Hennessy gave the film 4 out of 5 stars and termed it \"an unexpected treasure\". About the acting, this Irish reviewer commented, \"Once has wonderfully natural performances from the two leads. Although musicians first and actors second, they acquit themselves well in both areas. Irglová, a largely unknown quantity alongside the well-known and either loved or loathed Hansard, is luminous.\"",
"Irglová, a largely unknown quantity alongside the well-known and either loved or loathed Hansard, is luminous.\" Michael Dwyer of The Irish Times gave the film the same rating, calling it \"irresistibly appealing\" and noting that \"Carney makes the point – without ever labouring it – that his protagonists are living in a changing city where the economic boom has passed them by. His keen eye for authentic locations is ... evident\". Once won very high marks from U.S. critics.",
"Once won very high marks from U.S. critics. Once won very high marks from U.S. critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, it holds a 97% approval rating based on 159 reviews, with an average score of 8.30/10. The website's critical consensus states, \"A charming, captivating tale of love and music, Once sets the standard for the modern musical. And with Dublin as its backdrop, Once is fun and fresh.\"",
"And with Dublin as its backdrop, Once is fun and fresh.\" On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 88 out of 100 based on reviews from 33 critics, indicating \"universal acclaim\". In May, on Ebert & Roeper, both Richard Roeper and guest critic Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune gave enthusiastic reviews.",
"In May, on Ebert & Roeper, both Richard Roeper and guest critic Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune gave enthusiastic reviews. Phillips called it, \"the most charming thing I've seen all year\", \"the Brief Encounter for the 21st century\", his favorite music film since 1984's Stop Making Sense and said, \"It may well be the best music film of our generation\".",
"Phillips called it, \"the most charming thing I've seen all year\", \"the Brief Encounter for the 21st century\", his favorite music film since 1984's Stop Making Sense and said, \"It may well be the best music film of our generation\". Roeper referred to the film's recording studio scene as \"more inspirational and uplifting than almost any number of Dreamgirls or Chicago or any of those multi-zillion dollar musical showstopping films. In its own way, it will blow you away.\"",
"In its own way, it will blow you away.\" Ebert gave the film four stars out of four, saying that he was \"not at all surprised\" that Philips had named it the best film of the year.",
"Ebert gave the film four stars out of four, saying that he was \"not at all surprised\" that Philips had named it the best film of the year. In late 2007, Amy Simmons of Time Out London wrote, \"Carney’s highly charged, urban mise-en-scène with its blinking street lamps, vacant shops and dishevelled bed-sits provides ample poetic backdrop for the film’s lengthy tracking shots, epitomised in a sequence where the Girl walks to the corner shop in pyjamas and slippers while listening to one of the Guy’s songs on her personal stereo.",
"In late 2007, Amy Simmons of Time Out London wrote, \"Carney’s highly charged, urban mise-en-scène with its blinking street lamps, vacant shops and dishevelled bed-sits provides ample poetic backdrop for the film’s lengthy tracking shots, epitomised in a sequence where the Girl walks to the corner shop in pyjamas and slippers while listening to one of the Guy’s songs on her personal stereo. With outstanding performances from Hansard and newcomer Irglová, Carney has created a sublime, visual album of unassuming and self-assured eloquence.\"",
"With outstanding performances from Hansard and newcomer Irglová, Carney has created a sublime, visual album of unassuming and self-assured eloquence.\" The Telegraph'''s Sukhdev Sandhu said, \"Not since Before Sunset has a romantic film managed to be as touching, funny or as hard to forget as Once. Like Before Sunset, it never outstays its welcome, climaxing on a note of rare charm and unexpectedness.\"",
"Like Before Sunset, it never outstays its welcome, climaxing on a note of rare charm and unexpectedness.\" The film appeared on many North American critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2007: 1st – Michael Phillips, The Chicago Tribune 1st – Nathan Rabin, The A.V.",
"The film appeared on many North American critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2007: 1st – Michael Phillips, The Chicago Tribune 1st – Nathan Rabin, The A.V. Club 2nd – David Germain, Associated Press 2nd – Kevin Crust, Los Angeles Times 2nd – Kyle Smith, New York Post 2nd – Shawn Levy, The Oregonian 2nd – Roger Moore, The Orlando Sentinel 2nd – Robert Butler, Kansas City Star 2nd – Paste Magazine 3rd – Christy Lemire, Associated Press 3rd – Tasha Robinson, The A.V.",
"Club 2nd – David Germain, Associated Press 2nd – Kevin Crust, Los Angeles Times 2nd – Kyle Smith, New York Post 2nd – Shawn Levy, The Oregonian 2nd – Roger Moore, The Orlando Sentinel 2nd – Robert Butler, Kansas City Star 2nd – Paste Magazine 3rd – Christy Lemire, Associated Press 3rd – Tasha Robinson, The A.V. Club 3rd – Andrew Gray, Tribune Chronicle 3rd – Sean Means, Salt Lake Tribune 4th – Keith Phipps, The A.V.",
"Club 3rd – Andrew Gray, Tribune Chronicle 3rd – Sean Means, Salt Lake Tribune 4th – Keith Phipps, The A.V. Club 4th – Christopher Kelly, Star Telegram 5th – Ann Hornaday, The Washington Post 5th – Desson Thomson, The Washington Post 5th – Noel Murray, The A.V. Club 6th – Ella Taylor, LA Weekly 6th – Nick Digilio, WGN-AM 7th – Claudia Puig, USA Today 7th – Dana Stevens, Slate 7th – Scott Tobias, The A.V.",
"Club 6th – Ella Taylor, LA Weekly 6th – Nick Digilio, WGN-AM 7th – Claudia Puig, USA Today 7th – Dana Stevens, Slate 7th – Scott Tobias, The A.V. Club 7th – Scott Mantz, Access Hollywood 7th – Craig Outhier, Orange County Register 8th – Liam Lacey and Rick Groen, The Globe and Mail 8th – Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly 8th – Stephanie Zacharek, Salon 9th – Joe Morgenstern, The Wall Street Journal 9th – Michael Rechtshaffen, The Hollywood Reporter 9th – Richard Roeper, At the Movies with Ebert & Roeper 9th – Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times 9th – Carina Chocano, Los Angeles Times 9th – James Verniere, Boston Herald 10th – Bob Mondello, NPR 10th – Peter Vonder Haar, Film ThreatIn 2008, the film placed third on Entertainment Weekly's \"25 Best Romantic Movies of the Past 25 Years\".",
"Club 7th – Scott Mantz, Access Hollywood 7th – Craig Outhier, Orange County Register 8th – Liam Lacey and Rick Groen, The Globe and Mail 8th – Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly 8th – Stephanie Zacharek, Salon 9th – Joe Morgenstern, The Wall Street Journal 9th – Michael Rechtshaffen, The Hollywood Reporter 9th – Richard Roeper, At the Movies with Ebert & Roeper 9th – Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times 9th – Carina Chocano, Los Angeles Times 9th – James Verniere, Boston Herald 10th – Bob Mondello, NPR 10th – Peter Vonder Haar, Film ThreatIn 2008, the film placed third on Entertainment Weekly's \"25 Best Romantic Movies of the Past 25 Years\". DVD and Blu-ray Once was released on DVD in the US on 18 December 2007, and in the UK on 25 February 2008, followed by a British Blu-ray release on 16 February 2009.",
"DVD and Blu-ray Once was released on DVD in the US on 18 December 2007, and in the UK on 25 February 2008, followed by a British Blu-ray release on 16 February 2009. Once was released on Blu-ray in the US as an Amazon-exclusive on April 1, 2014. Soundtrack The soundtrack album was released on 22 May 2007 in the United States and four days later in Ireland.",
"Soundtrack The soundtrack album was released on 22 May 2007 in the United States and four days later in Ireland. A collector's edition of the soundtrack was released on 4 December 2007 in the US with additional songs and a bonus DVD with live performances and interviews about the film. The additional songs were two previously unreleased Van Morrison covers: Hansard's \"And the Healing Has Begun\", and Hansard and Irglová's \"Into the Mystic\".",
"The additional songs were two previously unreleased Van Morrison covers: Hansard's \"And the Healing Has Begun\", and Hansard and Irglová's \"Into the Mystic\". Different versions of a lot of the soundtrack's songs were previously released on The Frames' album The Cost and on Hansard and Irglová's The Swell Season (both released in 2006). An early version of the last track, \"Say It to Me Now\", originally appeared on The Frames' 1995 album Fitzcarraldo.",
"An early version of the last track, \"Say It to Me Now\", originally appeared on The Frames' 1995 album Fitzcarraldo. \"All the Way Down\" first appeared on the self-titled album from musician collective The Cake Sale, with Gemma Hayes providing vocals. The song \"Gold\" was written by Irish singer-songwriter Fergus O'Farrell and performed by Interference.",
"The song \"Gold\" was written by Irish singer-songwriter Fergus O'Farrell and performed by Interference. Track listing Accolades The soundtrack was nominated for two 2008 Grammy Awards, under Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media and, for \"Falling Slowly\", Best Song Written for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media. It won the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Music, and it was ranked at number two on the Entertainment Weekly 25 New Classic Soundtrack Albums list (1983–2008).",
"It won the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Music, and it was ranked at number two on the Entertainment Weekly 25 New Classic Soundtrack Albums list (1983–2008). Charts success The soundtrack album reached #20 on the Irish Albums Chart in its first week, peaking at #15 a few weeks later. Following the Oscar win, the album reached the top of the chart, while \"Falling Slowly\" reached a new peak of #2.",
"Following the Oscar win, the album reached the top of the chart, while \"Falling Slowly\" reached a new peak of #2. In the United States, it ranked as the #10 soundtrack on 1 June. As of 11 July 2007, the album has sold 54,753 copies in the US. The album reached #27 on the Billboard 200 according to Allmusic. It also reached #2 on the Soundtracks Chart and #4 on the Independent Chart.",
"It also reached #2 on the Soundtracks Chart and #4 on the Independent Chart. Certifications Stage adaptation The film has been adapted for the stage as the musical (Once). It first opened at the New York Theatre Workshop on 6 December 2011. The screenplay was adapted by Enda Walsh and the production directed by John Tiffany. In February 2012, the musical transferred to Broadway's Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre. It began in previews on 28 February 2012 and opened on 18 March 2012.",
"It began in previews on 28 February 2012 and opened on 18 March 2012. Directed by John Tiffany, the cast features Steve Kazee as Guy and Cristin Milioti as Girl with sets and costumes by Bob Crowley. The music is from the film with two additional songs, and the cast is also the orchestra. The musical opened up to generally positive reviews.",
"The musical opened up to generally positive reviews. The musical opened up to generally positive reviews. Since its opening, Once has been named Best Musical by The Outer Critics' Circle, Drama League, The New York Drama Critics' Circle, and The Tony Awards.",
"Since its opening, Once has been named Best Musical by The Outer Critics' Circle, Drama League, The New York Drama Critics' Circle, and The Tony Awards. The Broadway production of Once was nominated for a total of 11 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Actor in a Musical (Steve Kazee), Best Actress in a Musical (Cristin Milioti), Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Elizabeth A. Davis) and Best Direction of a Musical.",
"The Broadway production of Once was nominated for a total of 11 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Actor in a Musical (Steve Kazee), Best Actress in a Musical (Cristin Milioti), Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Elizabeth A. Davis) and Best Direction of a Musical. On 10 June 2012, it won eight Tony Awards including Best Musical, Best Direction of a Musical, Best Book of a Musical and Best Actor in a Musical.",
"On 10 June 2012, it won eight Tony Awards including Best Musical, Best Direction of a Musical, Best Book of a Musical and Best Actor in a Musical. See also Busking Once (musical) Cinema of Ireland Musical films References External links Icon Movies' Official U.K. Once Website Fox Searchlight's Official U.S. Once Website (plays complete soundtrack – music starts when page loads) Once and Other Irish Films \"Lies\" from Once named Best New Film Song Interviews Interview with Hansard and Irglová at Janaki's Musings Interview with John Carney at Janaki's Musings Reviews \"Movie Review: Once\", Entertainment Weekly review by Owen Gleiberman (15 May 2007) \"Once: 3.5 out of 4 stars\", Rolling Stone'' review by Peter Travers (17 May 2007) \"Movie Review: Once\", stv.tv 2007 films 2007 romantic drama films 2000s English-language films 2000s musical drama films 2000s romantic musical films Czech-language films Films about guitars and guitarists Films about music and musicians Films directed by John Carney Films set in Dublin (city) Films shot in Dublin (city) Films that won the Best Original Song Academy Award Independent Spirit Award for Best Foreign Film winners Irish films English-language Irish films Irish musical drama films Irish romantic drama films The Swell Season albums"
] |
[
"Once (film)",
"Box office performance and awards",
"How did Once perform at the box office?",
"As of 28 March 2009, Once has grossed nearly $9.5 million in North America and over $20 million worldwide.",
"How did it do in Ireland?",
"received the audience awards",
"Was it nominated for any awards?",
"it won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Foreign Film."
] | C_19e7366c0d624a97bc9d31fb07cdf4d0_1 | Was it nominated at any other awards shows? | 4 | Was Once nominated at any other awards shows in addition to the Independent Spirit Award? | Once (film) | A rough cut of the film was previewed on 15 July 2006 at the Galway Film Fleadh, but the film was subsequently turned down by several prestigious European film festivals. However, once finished, it secured spots at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival on 20 January 2007 and the Dublin Film Festival in February 2007, and received the audience awards at both events. The film was first released on cinema in Ireland on 23 March 2007, followed by a limited release in the United States on 16 May 2007. After its second weekend in release in the United States and Canada, the film topped the 23 May 2007 indieWIRE box office chart with nearly $31,000 average per location. As of 28 March 2009, Once has grossed nearly $9.5 million in North America and over $20 million worldwide. After 2007's box office success and critical acclaim, it won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Foreign Film. Steven Spielberg was quoted as saying "A little movie called Once gave me enough inspiration to last the rest of the year". When informed of Spielberg's comments, director John Carney told Sky News, "in the end of the day, he's just a guy with a beard". At the time of this interview, Carney himself was also wearing a beard. The song "Falling Slowly" won the 2007 Academy Award for Best Original Song. The nomination's eligibility for the Oscar was initially questioned, as versions of the song had been released on The Cost and The Swell Season albums, but this was resolved before the voting for the award took place. The AMPAS music committee satisfied themselves that the song had indeed been written for the film and determined that, in the course of the film's protracted production, the composers had "played the song in some venues that were deemed inconsequential enough to not change the song's eligibility". CANNOTANSWER | The song "Falling Slowly" won the 2007 Academy Award for Best Original Song. | Once is a 2007 Irish
romantic musical drama film written and directed by John Carney. The film stars Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová as two struggling musicians in Dublin, Ireland. Hansard and Irglová had previously performed music as the Swell Season, and composed and performed the film's original songs.
Once spent years in development with the Irish Film Board and was made for a budget of €112,000. It was a commercial success, earning substantial per-screen box office averages in the United States, and received acclaim from critics. It received awards including the 2007 Independent Spirit Award for Best Foreign Film. Hansard and Irglová's song "Falling Slowly" won the 2008 Academy Award for Best Original Song, and the soundtrack received a Grammy Award nomination.
Plot
A thirty-something busker (Guy) performs with his guitar on Grafton Street, Dublin and chases a man who steals his money. Lured by his music, a young Czech flower seller (Girl) talks to him about his songs. Delighted to learn that he repairs hoovers, Girl asks Guy to fix hers. The next day Girl returns with her broken vacuum and tells him she is also a musician.
At a music store where Girl usually plays piano, Guy teaches her one of his songs ("Falling Slowly"); they sing and play together. He invites her to his father's shop, and on the bus home musically answers Girl's question about what his songs are about: a long-time girlfriend who cheated on him, then left ("Broken Hearted Hoover Fixer Sucker Guy").
At the shop, Guy introduces Girl to his father and takes her to his room, but when he asks her to stay the night, she gets upset and leaves. The next day, they reconcile and spend the week writing, rehearsing and recording songs. Girl writes the lyrics for one of Guy's songs ("If You Want Me"), singing to herself while walking down the street; at a party, people perform impromptu (including "Gold").
Guy works on "Lies", a song about his ex-girlfriend, who moved to London. Girl encourages him to win her back. Invited to her home, he discovers she has a toddler and lives with her mother. Guy decides to move to London, but he wants to record a demo of his songs to take with him and asks Girl to record it with him. They secure a bank loan and reserve time at a recording studio.
Guy learns Girl has a husband in the Czech Republic. When he asks if she still loves her husband, Girl answers in Czech, "Miluji tebe" ("I love you"), but coyly declines to translate. After recruiting a band with other buskers, they go into the studio to record. They impress Eamon, the jaded studio engineer, with their first song ("When Your Mind's Made Up"). On a break in the early morning, Girl finds a piano in an empty studio and plays Guy one of her own compositions ("The Hill").
After the all-night session wraps up, they walk home. Before they part ways, Girl reveals that she spoke to her husband and he is coming to live with her in Dublin. Guy persuades her to spend her last night in Dublin with him, but she stands him up and he cannot find her to say goodbye before his flight. He plays the demo for his father, who gives him money to help him get settled in London. Before leaving for the airport, Guy buys Girl a piano and makes arrangements for its delivery, then calls his ex-girlfriend, who is happy about his imminent arrival. Girl reunites with her husband in Dublin and plays the piano in their home.
Cast
Glen Hansard as Guy
Markéta Irglová as Girl
Hugh Walsh as Timmy Drummer
Gerard Hendrick as Lead Guitarist
Alaistair Foley as Bassist
Geoff Minogue as Eamon
Bill Hodnett as Guy's Dad
Danuse Ktrestova as Girl's Mother
Darren Healy as Heroin Addict
Mal Whyte as Bill
Marcella Plunkett as Ex-girlfriend
Niall Cleary as Bob
Wiltold Owski as Man watching TV
Krzysztos Tlotka as Man watching TV
Tomek Glowacki as Man watching TV
Keith Byrne as Guy in Piano Shop
Production
The two leads, Hansard and Irglová, are both professional musicians. Director Carney, former bassist for Hansard's band The Frames, had asked his long-time friend to share busker anecdotes and compose songs for the film, but had intended the male lead to be played by actor Cillian Murphy, who was an almost-signed rock musician before turning to acting. Murphy was also going to be one of the film's producers. But Murphy declined the prospect of acting opposite non-actor Irglová (then 17 years old) and also felt that he hadn't the vocal capabilities to belt out Hansard's octave-leaping songs, so he pulled out, as did the film's other producers along with their financial resources. Carney then turned to songwriter Hansard, who'd previously done only one acting job, a supporting role as guitarist Outspan Foster in the 1991 ensemble film The Commitments, the story of a Dublin soul music cover band. Hansard was initially reluctant, fearing that he wouldn't be able to pull it off, but after stipulating that he had to be fully involved in the filmmaking process and that it be low-budget and intimate, he agreed.
Produced on a shoestring, about 75% of the budget was funded by Bord Scannán na hÉireann (The Irish Film Board), plus some of Carney's own money. The director gave his salary to the two stars, and promised a share of the back-end for everyone if the film was a success. Shot with a skeleton crew on a 17-day shoot, the filmmakers saved money by using natural light and shooting at friends' houses. The musical party scene was filmed in Hansard's own flat, with his personal friends playing the partygoers/musicians—his mother, Catherine Hansard, is briefly featured singing solo. The Dublin street scenes were recorded without permits and with a long lens so that many passersby didn't even realize that a film was being made. The long lens also helped the non-professional actors relax and forget about the camera, and some of the dialogue ended up being improvised.
During the shoot, Carney had predicted a romance, calling Hansard and Irglová his Bogart and Bacall. Hansard and Irglová did become a couple in real life, getting together while on a promotional tour across North America, and living together in Dublin, in Hansard's flat. Entertainment Weekly reported:
Subsequently, Hansard indicated that they were no longer a romantic couple. He said, "Of course, we fell into each other's arms. It was a very necessary part of our friendship but I think we both concluded that that wasn't what we really wanted to do. So we're not together now. We are just really good friends."
Yet Hansard and Irglová were quite happy with the unrequited ending for their onscreen characters. In an interview, Hansard states that "Had the US distributor changed the end and made us kiss, I wouldn't be interested in coming and promoting it, at all." Hansard says that ad-libbing produced the moment where Irglova's character tells the Guy in unsubtitled Czech, "No, I love you", but when it was shot, he didn't know what she'd said, just like his character.
Both Hansard and Irglova give the impression in interviews that they are unlikely to pursue further acting. Irglova has spoken about being nervous in front of a crew, saying "I don't think I would be a good actress, overall", and Hansard generally refers to the movie as a one-off, talking of "moving on... living a different life".
As a result of the film, Hansard and Irglová have been releasing music and touring together as The Swell Season.
Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová reprised their roles in The Simpsons episode "In the Name of the Grandfather".
Reception
Box office
A rough cut of the film was previewed on 15 July 2006 at the Galway Film Fleadh, but the film was subsequently turned down by several prestigious European film festivals. However, once finished, it secured spots at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival on 20 January 2007 and the Dublin Film Festival in February 2007, and received the audience awards at both events.
The film was first released on cinema in Ireland on 23 March 2007, followed by a limited release in the United States on 16 May 2007. After its second weekend in release in the United States and Canada, the film topped the 23 May 2007 indieWIRE box office chart with nearly $31,000 average per location. As of 28 March 2009, Once has grossed nearly $9.5 million in North America and over $20 million worldwide.
Accolades
After 2007's box office success and critical acclaim, it won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Foreign Film. Steven Spielberg was quoted as saying "A little movie called Once gave me enough inspiration to last the rest of the year". When informed of Spielberg's comments, director John Carney told Sky News, "in the end of the day, he's just a guy with a beard". At the time of this interview, Carney himself was also wearing a beard.
The song "Falling Slowly" won the 2007 Academy Award for Best Original Song. The nomination's eligibility for the Oscar was initially questioned, as versions of the song had been recorded on The Cost and The Swell Season albums and it was also included in the movie Beauty in Trouble (all released in 2006) but this was resolved before the voting for the award took place. The AMPAS music committee satisfied themselves that the song had indeed been written for the film and determined that, in the course of the film's protracted production, the composers had "played the song in some venues that were deemed inconsequential enough to not change the song’s eligibility".
Critical response
Once received widespread acclaim from critics. Upon its March 2007 release in Ireland, RTÉ's Caroline Hennessy gave the film 4 out of 5 stars and termed it "an unexpected treasure". About the acting, this Irish reviewer commented, "Once has wonderfully natural performances from the two leads. Although musicians first and actors second, they acquit themselves well in both areas. Irglová, a largely unknown quantity alongside the well-known and either loved or loathed Hansard, is luminous." Michael Dwyer of The Irish Times gave the film the same rating, calling it "irresistibly appealing" and noting that "Carney makes the point – without ever labouring it – that his protagonists are living in a changing city where the economic boom has passed them by. His keen eye for authentic locations is ... evident".
Once won very high marks from U.S. critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, it holds a 97% approval rating based on 159 reviews, with an average score of 8.30/10. The website's critical consensus states, "A charming, captivating tale of love and music, Once sets the standard for the modern musical. And with Dublin as its backdrop, Once is fun and fresh." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 88 out of 100 based on reviews from 33 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". In May, on Ebert & Roeper, both Richard Roeper and guest critic Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune gave enthusiastic reviews. Phillips called it, "the most charming thing I've seen all year", "the Brief Encounter for the 21st century", his favorite music film since 1984's Stop Making Sense and said, "It may well be the best music film of our generation". Roeper referred to the film's recording studio scene as "more inspirational and uplifting than almost any number of Dreamgirls or Chicago or any of those multi-zillion dollar musical showstopping films. In its own way, it will blow you away." Ebert gave the film four stars out of four, saying that he was "not at all surprised" that Philips had named it the best film of the year.
In late 2007, Amy Simmons of Time Out London wrote, "Carney’s highly charged, urban mise-en-scène with its blinking street lamps, vacant shops and dishevelled bed-sits provides ample poetic backdrop for the film’s lengthy tracking shots, epitomised in a sequence where the Girl walks to the corner shop in pyjamas and slippers while listening to one of the Guy’s songs on her personal stereo. With outstanding performances from Hansard and newcomer Irglová, Carney has created a sublime, visual album of unassuming and self-assured eloquence." The Telegraph'''s Sukhdev Sandhu said, "Not since Before Sunset has a romantic film managed to be as touching, funny or as hard to forget as Once. Like Before Sunset, it never outstays its welcome, climaxing on a note of rare charm and unexpectedness."
The film appeared on many North American critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2007:
1st – Michael Phillips, The Chicago Tribune 1st – Nathan Rabin, The A.V. Club 2nd – David Germain, Associated Press
2nd – Kevin Crust, Los Angeles Times 2nd – Kyle Smith, New York Post 2nd – Shawn Levy, The Oregonian 2nd – Roger Moore, The Orlando Sentinel 2nd – Robert Butler, Kansas City Star 2nd – Paste Magazine 3rd – Christy Lemire, Associated Press
3rd – Tasha Robinson, The A.V. Club 3rd – Andrew Gray, Tribune Chronicle 3rd – Sean Means, Salt Lake Tribune 4th – Keith Phipps, The A.V. Club 4th – Christopher Kelly, Star Telegram 5th – Ann Hornaday, The Washington Post 5th – Desson Thomson, The Washington Post 5th – Noel Murray, The A.V. Club 6th – Ella Taylor, LA Weekly 6th – Nick Digilio, WGN-AM 7th – Claudia Puig, USA Today 7th – Dana Stevens, Slate 7th – Scott Tobias, The A.V. Club 7th – Scott Mantz, Access Hollywood 7th – Craig Outhier, Orange County Register 8th – Liam Lacey and Rick Groen, The Globe and Mail 8th – Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly 8th – Stephanie Zacharek, Salon 9th – Joe Morgenstern, The Wall Street Journal 9th – Michael Rechtshaffen, The Hollywood Reporter 9th – Richard Roeper, At the Movies with Ebert & Roeper 9th – Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times 9th – Carina Chocano, Los Angeles Times 9th – James Verniere, Boston Herald 10th – Bob Mondello, NPR 10th – Peter Vonder Haar, Film ThreatIn 2008, the film placed third on Entertainment Weekly's "25 Best Romantic Movies of the Past 25 Years".
DVD and Blu-ray Once was released on DVD in the US on 18 December 2007, and in the UK on 25 February 2008, followed by a British Blu-ray release on 16 February 2009. Once was released on Blu-ray in the US as an Amazon-exclusive on April 1, 2014.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack album was released on 22 May 2007 in the United States and four days later in Ireland.
A collector's edition of the soundtrack was released on 4 December 2007 in the US with additional songs and a bonus DVD with live performances and interviews about the film. The additional songs were two previously unreleased Van Morrison covers: Hansard's "And the Healing Has Begun", and Hansard and Irglová's "Into the Mystic".
Different versions of a lot of the soundtrack's songs were previously released on The Frames' album The Cost and on Hansard and Irglová's The Swell Season (both released in 2006). An early version of the last track, "Say It to Me Now", originally appeared on The Frames' 1995 album Fitzcarraldo. "All the Way Down" first appeared on the self-titled album from musician collective The Cake Sale, with Gemma Hayes providing vocals. The song "Gold" was written by Irish singer-songwriter Fergus O'Farrell and performed by Interference.
Track listing
Accolades
The soundtrack was nominated for two 2008 Grammy Awards, under Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media and, for "Falling Slowly", Best Song Written for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media. It won the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Music, and it was ranked at number two on the Entertainment Weekly 25 New Classic Soundtrack Albums list (1983–2008).
Charts success
The soundtrack album reached #20 on the Irish Albums Chart in its first week, peaking at #15 a few weeks later. Following the Oscar win, the album reached the top of the chart, while "Falling Slowly" reached a new peak of #2.
In the United States, it ranked as the #10 soundtrack on 1 June. As of 11 July 2007, the album has sold 54,753 copies in the US. The album reached #27 on the Billboard 200 according to Allmusic. It also reached #2 on the Soundtracks Chart and #4 on the Independent Chart.
Certifications
Stage adaptation
The film has been adapted for the stage as the musical (Once). It first opened at the New York Theatre Workshop on 6 December 2011. The screenplay was adapted by Enda Walsh and the production directed by John Tiffany.
In February 2012, the musical transferred to Broadway's Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre. It began in previews on 28 February 2012 and opened on 18 March 2012. Directed by John Tiffany, the cast features Steve Kazee as Guy and Cristin Milioti as Girl with sets and costumes by Bob Crowley. The music is from the film with two additional songs, and the cast is also the orchestra. The musical opened up to generally positive reviews. Since its opening, Once has been named Best Musical by The Outer Critics' Circle, Drama League, The New York Drama Critics' Circle, and The Tony Awards.
The Broadway production of Once was nominated for a total of 11 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Actor in a Musical (Steve Kazee), Best Actress in a Musical (Cristin Milioti), Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Elizabeth A. Davis) and Best Direction of a Musical. On 10 June 2012, it won eight Tony Awards including Best Musical, Best Direction of a Musical, Best Book of a Musical and Best Actor in a Musical.
See also
Busking
Once (musical)
Cinema of Ireland
Musical films
References
External links
Icon Movies' Official U.K. Once Website
Fox Searchlight's Official U.S. Once Website (plays complete soundtrack – music starts when page loads)
Once and Other Irish Films
"Lies" from Once named Best New Film Song
Interviews
Interview with Hansard and Irglová at Janaki's Musings
Interview with John Carney at Janaki's Musings
Reviews
"Movie Review: Once", Entertainment Weekly review by Owen Gleiberman (15 May 2007)
"Once: 3.5 out of 4 stars", Rolling Stone'' review by Peter Travers (17 May 2007)
"Movie Review: Once", stv.tv
2007 films
2007 romantic drama films
2000s English-language films
2000s musical drama films
2000s romantic musical films
Czech-language films
Films about guitars and guitarists
Films about music and musicians
Films directed by John Carney
Films set in Dublin (city)
Films shot in Dublin (city)
Films that won the Best Original Song Academy Award
Independent Spirit Award for Best Foreign Film winners
Irish films
English-language Irish films
Irish musical drama films
Irish romantic drama films
The Swell Season albums | true | [
"James Galloway (February 16, 1928 – November 13, 1996) was a film editor who was nominated at the 46th Academy Awards. He was nominated for the film Jonathan Livingston Seagull. This was in the category of Best Film Editing.\n\nHe also has been nominated for multiple Emmy awards for made for TV films. He also contributed to TV shows like Remington Steele. Galloway died in 1996.\n\nPartial filmography\nAnnie: A Royal Adventure! (1995)\nQueen (1993)\nSwitched at Birth (1991)\nThe Taking of Flight 847: The Uli Derickson Story (1988)\nJonathan Livingston Seagull (1973)\nGargoyles (1972)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\nFilm editors\nPlace of birth missing\n1928 births\n1996 deaths\nPlace of death missing",
"Demi Lovato has won 66 awards from 222 nominations for their work in music, film, and television. Lovato starred in the lead role on Camp Rock (2008), for which they were nominated for Best Performance in a TV Movie – Leading Young Actress at the 30th Young Artist Awards. They also played the titular role in the Disney Channel original series Sonny with a Chance (2009–2011), for which they won Choice TV – Breakout Star Female at the 2009 Teen Choice Awards and Favorite TV Actress – Leading Role in a Comedy at the 2011 ALMA Awards.\n\nIn 2009, Lovato released their second studio album Here We Go Again. The album reached No. 1 on the US Billboard 200 chart and was nominated for Choice Pop Album at the 2010 Teen Choice Awards. In 2011, their third studio album Unbroken followed, featuring two singles \"Skyscraper\" and \"Give Your Heart a Break\". At the 29th annual MTV Video Music Awards, \"Skyscraper\" won Best Video with a Message and Choice Music: Summer Song at the 2011 Teen Choice Awards. \"Give Your Heart a Break\" was nominated for two awards at the 2012 Teen Choice Awards: Choice Summer Song and Choice Love Song. In 2013, Lovato's fourth studio album Demi was released along with four singles: \"Heart Attack\", \"Made in the USA\", \"Neon Lights\" and \"Really Don't Care\". \"Heart Attack\" was nominated for Best Female Video at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards and won International Video of the Year - Artist at the 2013 MuchMusic Video Awards. \"Made in the USA\" won Favorite Roadtrip Song at the 2014 Radio Disney Music Awards and \"Really Don't Care\" was nominated for Best Lyric Video at the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards.\n\nLovato's fifth studio album Confident followed in 2015. The lead single \"Cool for the Summer\" was nominated for Song of Summer at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards. The album was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards. In 2017, they released their sixth studio album Tell Me You Love Me, featuring lead single \"Sorry Not Sorry\". The single was nominated for two awards at the MTV Video Music Awards: once for Song of Summer at the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards and again for Best Pop at the 2018 MTV Video Music Awards. It was also nominated for Best Pop at the 2017 MTV Europe Music Awards. Lovato was nominated for three awards at the 2018 Billboard Music Awards, including Top Female Artist, and received a nomination for Favorite Social Artist at the 2018 American Music Awards. Lovato was nominated for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards for the song \"Fall in Line\" with Christina Aguilera. Among other awards, Lovato has received four ASCAP Awards and four BMI Awards for songwriting and composing the singles \"Heart Attack\", \"Neon Lights\", \"Cool for the Summer\", \"Sorry Not Sorry\" and \"Tell Me You Love Me\". Lovato has received numerous awards for their activism and philanthropic work, including the Acuvue Inspire Award at the 2011 Teen Choice Awards, the GLAAD Vanguard Award and the Young Luminary Award at the unite4:humanity gala. Lovato was nominated for two VMAs at the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards for \"I Love Me\".\n\nAwards and nominations\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n\nAwards\nLovato"
] | [
"Once is a 2007 Irish romantic musical drama film written and directed by John Carney. The film stars Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová as two struggling musicians in Dublin, Ireland. Hansard and Irglová had previously performed music as the Swell Season, and composed and performed the film's original songs. Once spent years in development with the Irish Film Board and was made for a budget of €112,000. It was a commercial success, earning substantial per-screen box office averages in the United States, and received acclaim from critics.",
"It was a commercial success, earning substantial per-screen box office averages in the United States, and received acclaim from critics. It received awards including the 2007 Independent Spirit Award for Best Foreign Film. Hansard and Irglová's song \"Falling Slowly\" won the 2008 Academy Award for Best Original Song, and the soundtrack received a Grammy Award nomination. Plot A thirty-something busker (Guy) performs with his guitar on Grafton Street, Dublin and chases a man who steals his money.",
"Plot A thirty-something busker (Guy) performs with his guitar on Grafton Street, Dublin and chases a man who steals his money. Lured by his music, a young Czech flower seller (Girl) talks to him about his songs. Delighted to learn that he repairs hoovers, Girl asks Guy to fix hers. The next day Girl returns with her broken vacuum and tells him she is also a musician.",
"The next day Girl returns with her broken vacuum and tells him she is also a musician. At a music store where Girl usually plays piano, Guy teaches her one of his songs (\"Falling Slowly\"); they sing and play together. He invites her to his father's shop, and on the bus home musically answers Girl's question about what his songs are about: a long-time girlfriend who cheated on him, then left (\"Broken Hearted Hoover Fixer Sucker Guy\").",
"He invites her to his father's shop, and on the bus home musically answers Girl's question about what his songs are about: a long-time girlfriend who cheated on him, then left (\"Broken Hearted Hoover Fixer Sucker Guy\"). At the shop, Guy introduces Girl to his father and takes her to his room, but when he asks her to stay the night, she gets upset and leaves. The next day, they reconcile and spend the week writing, rehearsing and recording songs.",
"The next day, they reconcile and spend the week writing, rehearsing and recording songs. Girl writes the lyrics for one of Guy's songs (\"If You Want Me\"), singing to herself while walking down the street; at a party, people perform impromptu (including \"Gold\"). Guy works on \"Lies\", a song about his ex-girlfriend, who moved to London. Girl encourages him to win her back.",
"Girl encourages him to win her back. Girl encourages him to win her back. Invited to her home, he discovers she has a toddler and lives with her mother. Guy decides to move to London, but he wants to record a demo of his songs to take with him and asks Girl to record it with him. They secure a bank loan and reserve time at a recording studio. Guy learns Girl has a husband in the Czech Republic.",
"Guy learns Girl has a husband in the Czech Republic. When he asks if she still loves her husband, Girl answers in Czech, \"Miluji tebe\" (\"I love you\"), but coyly declines to translate. After recruiting a band with other buskers, they go into the studio to record. They impress Eamon, the jaded studio engineer, with their first song (\"When Your Mind's Made Up\").",
"They impress Eamon, the jaded studio engineer, with their first song (\"When Your Mind's Made Up\"). On a break in the early morning, Girl finds a piano in an empty studio and plays Guy one of her own compositions (\"The Hill\"). After the all-night session wraps up, they walk home. Before they part ways, Girl reveals that she spoke to her husband and he is coming to live with her in Dublin.",
"Before they part ways, Girl reveals that she spoke to her husband and he is coming to live with her in Dublin. Guy persuades her to spend her last night in Dublin with him, but she stands him up and he cannot find her to say goodbye before his flight. He plays the demo for his father, who gives him money to help him get settled in London.",
"He plays the demo for his father, who gives him money to help him get settled in London. Before leaving for the airport, Guy buys Girl a piano and makes arrangements for its delivery, then calls his ex-girlfriend, who is happy about his imminent arrival. Girl reunites with her husband in Dublin and plays the piano in their home.",
"Girl reunites with her husband in Dublin and plays the piano in their home. Cast Glen Hansard as Guy Markéta Irglová as Girl Hugh Walsh as Timmy Drummer Gerard Hendrick as Lead Guitarist Alaistair Foley as Bassist Geoff Minogue as Eamon Bill Hodnett as Guy's Dad Danuse Ktrestova as Girl's Mother Darren Healy as Heroin Addict Mal Whyte as Bill Marcella Plunkett as Ex-girlfriend Niall Cleary as Bob Wiltold Owski as Man watching TV Krzysztos Tlotka as Man watching TV Tomek Glowacki as Man watching TV Keith Byrne as Guy in Piano Shop Production The two leads, Hansard and Irglová, are both professional musicians.",
"Cast Glen Hansard as Guy Markéta Irglová as Girl Hugh Walsh as Timmy Drummer Gerard Hendrick as Lead Guitarist Alaistair Foley as Bassist Geoff Minogue as Eamon Bill Hodnett as Guy's Dad Danuse Ktrestova as Girl's Mother Darren Healy as Heroin Addict Mal Whyte as Bill Marcella Plunkett as Ex-girlfriend Niall Cleary as Bob Wiltold Owski as Man watching TV Krzysztos Tlotka as Man watching TV Tomek Glowacki as Man watching TV Keith Byrne as Guy in Piano Shop Production The two leads, Hansard and Irglová, are both professional musicians. Director Carney, former bassist for Hansard's band The Frames, had asked his long-time friend to share busker anecdotes and compose songs for the film, but had intended the male lead to be played by actor Cillian Murphy, who was an almost-signed rock musician before turning to acting.",
"Director Carney, former bassist for Hansard's band The Frames, had asked his long-time friend to share busker anecdotes and compose songs for the film, but had intended the male lead to be played by actor Cillian Murphy, who was an almost-signed rock musician before turning to acting. Murphy was also going to be one of the film's producers.",
"Murphy was also going to be one of the film's producers. But Murphy declined the prospect of acting opposite non-actor Irglová (then 17 years old) and also felt that he hadn't the vocal capabilities to belt out Hansard's octave-leaping songs, so he pulled out, as did the film's other producers along with their financial resources.",
"But Murphy declined the prospect of acting opposite non-actor Irglová (then 17 years old) and also felt that he hadn't the vocal capabilities to belt out Hansard's octave-leaping songs, so he pulled out, as did the film's other producers along with their financial resources. Carney then turned to songwriter Hansard, who'd previously done only one acting job, a supporting role as guitarist Outspan Foster in the 1991 ensemble film The Commitments, the story of a Dublin soul music cover band.",
"Carney then turned to songwriter Hansard, who'd previously done only one acting job, a supporting role as guitarist Outspan Foster in the 1991 ensemble film The Commitments, the story of a Dublin soul music cover band. Hansard was initially reluctant, fearing that he wouldn't be able to pull it off, but after stipulating that he had to be fully involved in the filmmaking process and that it be low-budget and intimate, he agreed.",
"Hansard was initially reluctant, fearing that he wouldn't be able to pull it off, but after stipulating that he had to be fully involved in the filmmaking process and that it be low-budget and intimate, he agreed. Produced on a shoestring, about 75% of the budget was funded by Bord Scannán na hÉireann (The Irish Film Board), plus some of Carney's own money.",
"Produced on a shoestring, about 75% of the budget was funded by Bord Scannán na hÉireann (The Irish Film Board), plus some of Carney's own money. The director gave his salary to the two stars, and promised a share of the back-end for everyone if the film was a success. Shot with a skeleton crew on a 17-day shoot, the filmmakers saved money by using natural light and shooting at friends' houses.",
"Shot with a skeleton crew on a 17-day shoot, the filmmakers saved money by using natural light and shooting at friends' houses. The musical party scene was filmed in Hansard's own flat, with his personal friends playing the partygoers/musicians—his mother, Catherine Hansard, is briefly featured singing solo. The Dublin street scenes were recorded without permits and with a long lens so that many passersby didn't even realize that a film was being made.",
"The Dublin street scenes were recorded without permits and with a long lens so that many passersby didn't even realize that a film was being made. The long lens also helped the non-professional actors relax and forget about the camera, and some of the dialogue ended up being improvised. During the shoot, Carney had predicted a romance, calling Hansard and Irglová his Bogart and Bacall.",
"During the shoot, Carney had predicted a romance, calling Hansard and Irglová his Bogart and Bacall. Hansard and Irglová did become a couple in real life, getting together while on a promotional tour across North America, and living together in Dublin, in Hansard's flat. Entertainment Weekly reported: Subsequently, Hansard indicated that they were no longer a romantic couple. He said, \"Of course, we fell into each other's arms.",
"He said, \"Of course, we fell into each other's arms. It was a very necessary part of our friendship but I think we both concluded that that wasn't what we really wanted to do. So we're not together now. We are just really good friends.\" Yet Hansard and Irglová were quite happy with the unrequited ending for their onscreen characters.",
"Yet Hansard and Irglová were quite happy with the unrequited ending for their onscreen characters. In an interview, Hansard states that \"Had the US distributor changed the end and made us kiss, I wouldn't be interested in coming and promoting it, at all.\" Hansard says that ad-libbing produced the moment where Irglova's character tells the Guy in unsubtitled Czech, \"No, I love you\", but when it was shot, he didn't know what she'd said, just like his character.",
"Hansard says that ad-libbing produced the moment where Irglova's character tells the Guy in unsubtitled Czech, \"No, I love you\", but when it was shot, he didn't know what she'd said, just like his character. Both Hansard and Irglova give the impression in interviews that they are unlikely to pursue further acting.",
"Both Hansard and Irglova give the impression in interviews that they are unlikely to pursue further acting. Irglova has spoken about being nervous in front of a crew, saying \"I don't think I would be a good actress, overall\", and Hansard generally refers to the movie as a one-off, talking of \"moving on... living a different life\". As a result of the film, Hansard and Irglová have been releasing music and touring together as The Swell Season.",
"As a result of the film, Hansard and Irglová have been releasing music and touring together as The Swell Season. Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová reprised their roles in The Simpsons episode \"In the Name of the Grandfather\". Reception Box office A rough cut of the film was previewed on 15 July 2006 at the Galway Film Fleadh, but the film was subsequently turned down by several prestigious European film festivals.",
"Reception Box office A rough cut of the film was previewed on 15 July 2006 at the Galway Film Fleadh, but the film was subsequently turned down by several prestigious European film festivals. However, once finished, it secured spots at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival on 20 January 2007 and the Dublin Film Festival in February 2007, and received the audience awards at both events. The film was first released on cinema in Ireland on 23 March 2007, followed by a limited release in the United States on 16 May 2007.",
"The film was first released on cinema in Ireland on 23 March 2007, followed by a limited release in the United States on 16 May 2007. After its second weekend in release in the United States and Canada, the film topped the 23 May 2007 indieWIRE box office chart with nearly $31,000 average per location. As of 28 March 2009, Once has grossed nearly $9.5 million in North America and over $20 million worldwide.",
"As of 28 March 2009, Once has grossed nearly $9.5 million in North America and over $20 million worldwide. Accolades After 2007's box office success and critical acclaim, it won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Foreign Film. Steven Spielberg was quoted as saying \"A little movie called Once gave me enough inspiration to last the rest of the year\".",
"Steven Spielberg was quoted as saying \"A little movie called Once gave me enough inspiration to last the rest of the year\". When informed of Spielberg's comments, director John Carney told Sky News, \"in the end of the day, he's just a guy with a beard\". At the time of this interview, Carney himself was also wearing a beard. The song \"Falling Slowly\" won the 2007 Academy Award for Best Original Song.",
"The song \"Falling Slowly\" won the 2007 Academy Award for Best Original Song. The nomination's eligibility for the Oscar was initially questioned, as versions of the song had been recorded on The Cost and The Swell Season albums and it was also included in the movie Beauty in Trouble (all released in 2006) but this was resolved before the voting for the award took place.",
"The nomination's eligibility for the Oscar was initially questioned, as versions of the song had been recorded on The Cost and The Swell Season albums and it was also included in the movie Beauty in Trouble (all released in 2006) but this was resolved before the voting for the award took place. The AMPAS music committee satisfied themselves that the song had indeed been written for the film and determined that, in the course of the film's protracted production, the composers had \"played the song in some venues that were deemed inconsequential enough to not change the song’s eligibility\".",
"The AMPAS music committee satisfied themselves that the song had indeed been written for the film and determined that, in the course of the film's protracted production, the composers had \"played the song in some venues that were deemed inconsequential enough to not change the song’s eligibility\". Critical response Once received widespread acclaim from critics. Upon its March 2007 release in Ireland, RTÉ's Caroline Hennessy gave the film 4 out of 5 stars and termed it \"an unexpected treasure\".",
"Upon its March 2007 release in Ireland, RTÉ's Caroline Hennessy gave the film 4 out of 5 stars and termed it \"an unexpected treasure\". About the acting, this Irish reviewer commented, \"Once has wonderfully natural performances from the two leads. Although musicians first and actors second, they acquit themselves well in both areas. Irglová, a largely unknown quantity alongside the well-known and either loved or loathed Hansard, is luminous.\"",
"Irglová, a largely unknown quantity alongside the well-known and either loved or loathed Hansard, is luminous.\" Michael Dwyer of The Irish Times gave the film the same rating, calling it \"irresistibly appealing\" and noting that \"Carney makes the point – without ever labouring it – that his protagonists are living in a changing city where the economic boom has passed them by. His keen eye for authentic locations is ... evident\". Once won very high marks from U.S. critics.",
"Once won very high marks from U.S. critics. Once won very high marks from U.S. critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, it holds a 97% approval rating based on 159 reviews, with an average score of 8.30/10. The website's critical consensus states, \"A charming, captivating tale of love and music, Once sets the standard for the modern musical. And with Dublin as its backdrop, Once is fun and fresh.\"",
"And with Dublin as its backdrop, Once is fun and fresh.\" On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 88 out of 100 based on reviews from 33 critics, indicating \"universal acclaim\". In May, on Ebert & Roeper, both Richard Roeper and guest critic Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune gave enthusiastic reviews.",
"In May, on Ebert & Roeper, both Richard Roeper and guest critic Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune gave enthusiastic reviews. Phillips called it, \"the most charming thing I've seen all year\", \"the Brief Encounter for the 21st century\", his favorite music film since 1984's Stop Making Sense and said, \"It may well be the best music film of our generation\".",
"Phillips called it, \"the most charming thing I've seen all year\", \"the Brief Encounter for the 21st century\", his favorite music film since 1984's Stop Making Sense and said, \"It may well be the best music film of our generation\". Roeper referred to the film's recording studio scene as \"more inspirational and uplifting than almost any number of Dreamgirls or Chicago or any of those multi-zillion dollar musical showstopping films. In its own way, it will blow you away.\"",
"In its own way, it will blow you away.\" Ebert gave the film four stars out of four, saying that he was \"not at all surprised\" that Philips had named it the best film of the year.",
"Ebert gave the film four stars out of four, saying that he was \"not at all surprised\" that Philips had named it the best film of the year. In late 2007, Amy Simmons of Time Out London wrote, \"Carney’s highly charged, urban mise-en-scène with its blinking street lamps, vacant shops and dishevelled bed-sits provides ample poetic backdrop for the film’s lengthy tracking shots, epitomised in a sequence where the Girl walks to the corner shop in pyjamas and slippers while listening to one of the Guy’s songs on her personal stereo.",
"In late 2007, Amy Simmons of Time Out London wrote, \"Carney’s highly charged, urban mise-en-scène with its blinking street lamps, vacant shops and dishevelled bed-sits provides ample poetic backdrop for the film’s lengthy tracking shots, epitomised in a sequence where the Girl walks to the corner shop in pyjamas and slippers while listening to one of the Guy’s songs on her personal stereo. With outstanding performances from Hansard and newcomer Irglová, Carney has created a sublime, visual album of unassuming and self-assured eloquence.\"",
"With outstanding performances from Hansard and newcomer Irglová, Carney has created a sublime, visual album of unassuming and self-assured eloquence.\" The Telegraph'''s Sukhdev Sandhu said, \"Not since Before Sunset has a romantic film managed to be as touching, funny or as hard to forget as Once. Like Before Sunset, it never outstays its welcome, climaxing on a note of rare charm and unexpectedness.\"",
"Like Before Sunset, it never outstays its welcome, climaxing on a note of rare charm and unexpectedness.\" The film appeared on many North American critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2007: 1st – Michael Phillips, The Chicago Tribune 1st – Nathan Rabin, The A.V.",
"The film appeared on many North American critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2007: 1st – Michael Phillips, The Chicago Tribune 1st – Nathan Rabin, The A.V. Club 2nd – David Germain, Associated Press 2nd – Kevin Crust, Los Angeles Times 2nd – Kyle Smith, New York Post 2nd – Shawn Levy, The Oregonian 2nd – Roger Moore, The Orlando Sentinel 2nd – Robert Butler, Kansas City Star 2nd – Paste Magazine 3rd – Christy Lemire, Associated Press 3rd – Tasha Robinson, The A.V.",
"Club 2nd – David Germain, Associated Press 2nd – Kevin Crust, Los Angeles Times 2nd – Kyle Smith, New York Post 2nd – Shawn Levy, The Oregonian 2nd – Roger Moore, The Orlando Sentinel 2nd – Robert Butler, Kansas City Star 2nd – Paste Magazine 3rd – Christy Lemire, Associated Press 3rd – Tasha Robinson, The A.V. Club 3rd – Andrew Gray, Tribune Chronicle 3rd – Sean Means, Salt Lake Tribune 4th – Keith Phipps, The A.V.",
"Club 3rd – Andrew Gray, Tribune Chronicle 3rd – Sean Means, Salt Lake Tribune 4th – Keith Phipps, The A.V. Club 4th – Christopher Kelly, Star Telegram 5th – Ann Hornaday, The Washington Post 5th – Desson Thomson, The Washington Post 5th – Noel Murray, The A.V. Club 6th – Ella Taylor, LA Weekly 6th – Nick Digilio, WGN-AM 7th – Claudia Puig, USA Today 7th – Dana Stevens, Slate 7th – Scott Tobias, The A.V.",
"Club 6th – Ella Taylor, LA Weekly 6th – Nick Digilio, WGN-AM 7th – Claudia Puig, USA Today 7th – Dana Stevens, Slate 7th – Scott Tobias, The A.V. Club 7th – Scott Mantz, Access Hollywood 7th – Craig Outhier, Orange County Register 8th – Liam Lacey and Rick Groen, The Globe and Mail 8th – Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly 8th – Stephanie Zacharek, Salon 9th – Joe Morgenstern, The Wall Street Journal 9th – Michael Rechtshaffen, The Hollywood Reporter 9th – Richard Roeper, At the Movies with Ebert & Roeper 9th – Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times 9th – Carina Chocano, Los Angeles Times 9th – James Verniere, Boston Herald 10th – Bob Mondello, NPR 10th – Peter Vonder Haar, Film ThreatIn 2008, the film placed third on Entertainment Weekly's \"25 Best Romantic Movies of the Past 25 Years\".",
"Club 7th – Scott Mantz, Access Hollywood 7th – Craig Outhier, Orange County Register 8th – Liam Lacey and Rick Groen, The Globe and Mail 8th – Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly 8th – Stephanie Zacharek, Salon 9th – Joe Morgenstern, The Wall Street Journal 9th – Michael Rechtshaffen, The Hollywood Reporter 9th – Richard Roeper, At the Movies with Ebert & Roeper 9th – Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times 9th – Carina Chocano, Los Angeles Times 9th – James Verniere, Boston Herald 10th – Bob Mondello, NPR 10th – Peter Vonder Haar, Film ThreatIn 2008, the film placed third on Entertainment Weekly's \"25 Best Romantic Movies of the Past 25 Years\". DVD and Blu-ray Once was released on DVD in the US on 18 December 2007, and in the UK on 25 February 2008, followed by a British Blu-ray release on 16 February 2009.",
"DVD and Blu-ray Once was released on DVD in the US on 18 December 2007, and in the UK on 25 February 2008, followed by a British Blu-ray release on 16 February 2009. Once was released on Blu-ray in the US as an Amazon-exclusive on April 1, 2014. Soundtrack The soundtrack album was released on 22 May 2007 in the United States and four days later in Ireland.",
"Soundtrack The soundtrack album was released on 22 May 2007 in the United States and four days later in Ireland. A collector's edition of the soundtrack was released on 4 December 2007 in the US with additional songs and a bonus DVD with live performances and interviews about the film. The additional songs were two previously unreleased Van Morrison covers: Hansard's \"And the Healing Has Begun\", and Hansard and Irglová's \"Into the Mystic\".",
"The additional songs were two previously unreleased Van Morrison covers: Hansard's \"And the Healing Has Begun\", and Hansard and Irglová's \"Into the Mystic\". Different versions of a lot of the soundtrack's songs were previously released on The Frames' album The Cost and on Hansard and Irglová's The Swell Season (both released in 2006). An early version of the last track, \"Say It to Me Now\", originally appeared on The Frames' 1995 album Fitzcarraldo.",
"An early version of the last track, \"Say It to Me Now\", originally appeared on The Frames' 1995 album Fitzcarraldo. \"All the Way Down\" first appeared on the self-titled album from musician collective The Cake Sale, with Gemma Hayes providing vocals. The song \"Gold\" was written by Irish singer-songwriter Fergus O'Farrell and performed by Interference.",
"The song \"Gold\" was written by Irish singer-songwriter Fergus O'Farrell and performed by Interference. Track listing Accolades The soundtrack was nominated for two 2008 Grammy Awards, under Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media and, for \"Falling Slowly\", Best Song Written for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media. It won the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Music, and it was ranked at number two on the Entertainment Weekly 25 New Classic Soundtrack Albums list (1983–2008).",
"It won the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Music, and it was ranked at number two on the Entertainment Weekly 25 New Classic Soundtrack Albums list (1983–2008). Charts success The soundtrack album reached #20 on the Irish Albums Chart in its first week, peaking at #15 a few weeks later. Following the Oscar win, the album reached the top of the chart, while \"Falling Slowly\" reached a new peak of #2.",
"Following the Oscar win, the album reached the top of the chart, while \"Falling Slowly\" reached a new peak of #2. In the United States, it ranked as the #10 soundtrack on 1 June. As of 11 July 2007, the album has sold 54,753 copies in the US. The album reached #27 on the Billboard 200 according to Allmusic. It also reached #2 on the Soundtracks Chart and #4 on the Independent Chart.",
"It also reached #2 on the Soundtracks Chart and #4 on the Independent Chart. Certifications Stage adaptation The film has been adapted for the stage as the musical (Once). It first opened at the New York Theatre Workshop on 6 December 2011. The screenplay was adapted by Enda Walsh and the production directed by John Tiffany. In February 2012, the musical transferred to Broadway's Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre. It began in previews on 28 February 2012 and opened on 18 March 2012.",
"It began in previews on 28 February 2012 and opened on 18 March 2012. Directed by John Tiffany, the cast features Steve Kazee as Guy and Cristin Milioti as Girl with sets and costumes by Bob Crowley. The music is from the film with two additional songs, and the cast is also the orchestra. The musical opened up to generally positive reviews.",
"The musical opened up to generally positive reviews. The musical opened up to generally positive reviews. Since its opening, Once has been named Best Musical by The Outer Critics' Circle, Drama League, The New York Drama Critics' Circle, and The Tony Awards.",
"Since its opening, Once has been named Best Musical by The Outer Critics' Circle, Drama League, The New York Drama Critics' Circle, and The Tony Awards. The Broadway production of Once was nominated for a total of 11 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Actor in a Musical (Steve Kazee), Best Actress in a Musical (Cristin Milioti), Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Elizabeth A. Davis) and Best Direction of a Musical.",
"The Broadway production of Once was nominated for a total of 11 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Actor in a Musical (Steve Kazee), Best Actress in a Musical (Cristin Milioti), Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Elizabeth A. Davis) and Best Direction of a Musical. On 10 June 2012, it won eight Tony Awards including Best Musical, Best Direction of a Musical, Best Book of a Musical and Best Actor in a Musical.",
"On 10 June 2012, it won eight Tony Awards including Best Musical, Best Direction of a Musical, Best Book of a Musical and Best Actor in a Musical. See also Busking Once (musical) Cinema of Ireland Musical films References External links Icon Movies' Official U.K. Once Website Fox Searchlight's Official U.S. Once Website (plays complete soundtrack – music starts when page loads) Once and Other Irish Films \"Lies\" from Once named Best New Film Song Interviews Interview with Hansard and Irglová at Janaki's Musings Interview with John Carney at Janaki's Musings Reviews \"Movie Review: Once\", Entertainment Weekly review by Owen Gleiberman (15 May 2007) \"Once: 3.5 out of 4 stars\", Rolling Stone'' review by Peter Travers (17 May 2007) \"Movie Review: Once\", stv.tv 2007 films 2007 romantic drama films 2000s English-language films 2000s musical drama films 2000s romantic musical films Czech-language films Films about guitars and guitarists Films about music and musicians Films directed by John Carney Films set in Dublin (city) Films shot in Dublin (city) Films that won the Best Original Song Academy Award Independent Spirit Award for Best Foreign Film winners Irish films English-language Irish films Irish musical drama films Irish romantic drama films The Swell Season albums"
] |
[
"Tom Hafey",
"Premierships"
] | C_706d5730c4d24d468f8fa7d0e627ffaf_1 | What are Premierships? | 1 | What are Premierships by Tom Hafey? | Tom Hafey | Richmond dominated the 1967 season, running out winners in a classic Grand Final against Geelong. In his first two years, the team lost only seven games and Hafey had gone from an unknown coach in the bush to the toast of the football world. In hindsight, the 1967 premiership marked a turning point for the game. The Tigers were fitter than any team that had gone before and were the highest scoring team since 1950. Australian football, after two decades of defensive-based play, was about to enter an era of high scoring, aided by rule changes, new tactics and betters standards of fitness. The Tigers started the 1968 season slowly. They rallied to win the last six games, but missed the finals. When the Tigers were again lethargic in mid-1969, accusations of under-achievement arose and rumours that Hafey was on the way out circulated. The players rallied behind Hafey and finished the season strong, taking fourth place. The team won all three finals, taking a second premiership. After missing the playoffs in 1970, Hafey took the Tigers to the finals for the next five years. Basing the team's strategy around all-out attack had drawbacks. Most famously, during the 1972 finals the team conceded the highest score ever, losing to Carlton in a shock upset. Hafey later said the defeat depressed him for many months, but it later became the motivation for back-to-back premierships in 1973 and 1974. By now, the aggressive attitude of the club both on and off the field had created resentment toward the club. A number of incidents during the 1973 Grand Final - the Windy Hill brawl, the attempted recruitment of John Pitura from South Melbourne and a poor reaction to Kevin Bartlett's failure to win the Brownlow medal - all focussed negative attention on the club. Hafey, however, used the resentment to his advantage, telling his players "it's Richmond against the world". Richmond showed signs of ageing in 1975, when they lost in the preliminary final. A raft of player departures made for a poor 1976 season, with the Tigers finishing seventh, Hafey's worst ever result. He was reappointed for 1977, but not unanimously (he had no contract with Richmond, instead being appointed on a year-to-year basis). When it leaked that Graeme Richmond, the club's powerbroker, had voted against Hafey's reappointment Hafey immediately resigned. CANNOTANSWER | In hindsight, the 1967 premiership marked a turning point for the game. | Thomas Stanley Raymond Hafey (5 August 1931 – 12 May 2014) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Richmond Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL). He then became one of the VFL's longest-serving and most successful coaches, guiding Richmond to four VFL premierships before also having stints at , and finally .Hafey was an inaugural inductee into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 1996, named coach of Richmond's team of the century in 1998, and given the AFL Coaches Association "Coaching Legend Award" in 2011.
He was renowned for his fitness and toughness even in his elderly years when he would still run rings around his juniors. He would do over 700 push ups and crunches a day every day since he started playing AFL (VFL back then).
Playing career
Tom Hafey was born and raised in Richmond. He began his football career with the East Malvern under 19 team before graduating to the senior side in 1950. He spent three years with the club, winning the best and fairest in 1952.
Hafey was then invited to train at Richmond. At the time, the Tigers were in turmoil after legendary coach Jack Dyer quit. In an effort to reinvigorate the team, Richmond recruited a number of highly considered young players, including Ron Branton, Frank Dunin and Brian Davie. However, it was Hafey, an unheralded local, who played twelve of the eighteen matches his first year, scoring eight goals.
The following season was less productive for Hafey as he played just four games due to a bout of hepatitis. He did, however, play back pocket when the reserves captured the premiership by defeating Melbourne in the Grand Final. He was named as one of the Tigers' best performers, and was selected for the senior team for the 1955 and 1956 seasons. In these two years, he played 28 games.
After the appointment of Alan McDonald as coach, Hafey was often relegated to the bench as Ken Ward played in the back pocket. The Tigers fell to the bottom part of the ladder. Playing a backup role for a poor team, Hafey decided to retire from the VFL at the end of 1958. Over six seasons, he had played in 67 games, starting 52 of them. In 1959, Hafey played for the local Richmond Amateurs who won the premiership that year.
Coaching career
After the 1959 season, Hafey left the city of Richmond, taking a job as playing coach of Shepparton in the Goulburn Valley area of northern Victoria. His tenacious attitude and devotion to fitness turned the club into a winner. Shepparton lost the Grand Final to Tongala in 1961, then won three straight from 1963 to 1965. Meanwhile, Hafey acted as a recruiting agent for the Tigers, recommending potential players from his region.
Hafey's performance drew the attention of Tiger secretary Graeme Richmond. When coach Len Smith had a heart attack in 1965, the club appointed Jack Titus to serve as interim coach until a replacement could be found. Hafey was encouraged to apply, and the decision came down to Hafey and former club captain Ron Branton. Many expected Branton to get the job. However, Graeme Richmond saw something special in Hafey and he was appointed coach for the 1966 season.
On his return to Richmond, Hafey found the team had acquired a number of young, high quality players. He later recalled feeling some apprehension about his youth and that he would be coaching some ex-teammates. Even so, he quickly put his stamp on the club, bringing intensity and desire to reach the top. Although he acknowledged the ideas and tactical approach of Len Smith (who remained at the club as a selector and consultant), Hafey opted for what became his trademark style: kick the ball long and quickly into the forward line. He raised the bar for fitness among his players, extending pre-season training and introducing a third training night during the week. Richmond quickly became known for being the fittest team in the competition.
Richmond began 1966 strongly. A month before the finals, they hit the top of the ladder for the first time since 1951 and seemed certain to play in September. However, two losses dropped the Tigers to fifth place with thirteen wins and a draw. They became the best performing team to miss the finals since the inception of the McIntyre finals system in 1931. Richmond dismissed a number of players, replacing them with new players such as Royce Hart and Francis Bourke.
Premierships
Richmond dominated the 1967 season, running out winners in a classic Grand Final against Geelong. In his first two years, the team lost only seven games and Hafey had gone from an unknown coach in the bush to the toast of the football world. In hindsight, the 1967 premiership marked a turning point for the game. The Tigers were fitter than any team that had gone before and were the highest scoring team since 1950. Australian football, after two decades of defensive-based play, was about to enter an era of high scoring, aided by rule changes, new tactics and better standards of fitness.
The Tigers started the 1968 season slowly. They rallied to win the last six games, but missed the finals. When the Tigers were again lethargic in mid-1969, accusations of under-achievement arose and rumours that Hafey was on the way out circulated. The players rallied behind Hafey and finished the season strong, taking fourth place. The team won all three finals, taking a second premiership.
After missing the playoffs in 1970, Hafey took the Tigers to the finals for the next five years. Basing the team's strategy around all-out attack had drawbacks. Most famously, during the 1972 finals the team conceded the highest score ever, losing to Carlton in a shock upset. Hafey later said the defeat depressed him for many months, but it later became the motivation for back-to-back premierships in 1973 and 1974. By now, the aggressive attitude of the club both on and off the field had created resentment toward the club. A number of incidents during the 1973 Grand Final – the Windy Hill brawl, the attempted recruitment of John Pitura from South Melbourne and a poor reaction to Kevin Bartlett's failure to win the Brownlow medal – all focussed negative attention on the club. Hafey, however, used the resentment to his advantage, telling his players "it's Richmond against the world".
Richmond showed signs of ageing in 1975, when they lost in the preliminary final. A raft of player departures made for a poor 1976 season, with the Tigers finishing seventh, Hafey's worst ever result. He was reappointed for 1977, but not unanimously (he had no contract with Richmond, instead being appointed on a year-to-year basis). When it leaked that Graeme Richmond, the club's powerbroker, had voted against Hafey's reappointment Hafey immediately resigned.
Collingwood
Hafey's initial thought was to seek a job in Western Australia. However, a chance meeting with the new Collingwood president, John Hickey, took Hafey a different direction. The Magpies had just endured their worst ever season, finishing last. Hickey defied the club's tradition against hiring an outsider as coach, appointing Hafey to coach the club for the 1977 season.
Hafey was an instant success, taking the club from last to first in one year – the first time this had been achieved in the VFL. Collingwood had lost eleven of their last thirteen finals matches, many by slender margins, leading to the press to say the team was afflicted with a "disease" called "Colliwobbles". The disease appeared defeated when the team beat the favoured Hawthorn by two points in the semi-final. In the final, Collingwood led North Melbourne by 27 points at three quarter time. Trainers and committeemen began to celebrate early and North Melbourne fought back to a draw. In the replay the following week, Collingwood lost a high-scoring contest.
Collingwood lost to North Melbourne in the 1978 Preliminary Final, leading to a number of personnel changes during the offseason. In 1979, the team returned to the Grand Final. After taking a second quarter led, Collingwood fell behind at the half. They ultimately lost by five points. In the 1980 Grand Final, Hafey took on his old team of Richmond. Kevin Bartlett won the Norm Smith medal as the Tigers won by a record margin. The Magpies again made the Grand Final in 1981. After holding a 21-point lead in the third, Collingwood gave up two late goals before the three quarter break. The resulting disharmony in the Magpie huddle allowed the Blues to dominate the fourth quarter and win the game.
After years of disappointment players and fans began to criticise Hafey's methods. Several leading players said Hafey over-trained the team, particularly in the lead-up to finals matches. Others said Hafey was too slow to respond when the team was going under. During the 1982 season, a record losing streak of nine games sealed Hafey's fate and he was sacked mid-season.
Geelong and Sydney
Hafey was given a three-year contract to coach Geelong in 1983. However, he was unable to engender the type of team spirit he created at Collingwood and Richmond, and the team did not make the finals during his tenure. During 1985, it became clear that Hafey's contract would not be renewed.
During the 1985 season, the VFL had sold the Sydney Swans to controversial medical entrepreneur Geoffrey Edelsten to create the first privately owned club. Franchising, club licensing, player drafts and salary caps were all concepts that the VFL was attempting to import into Australian football at a time of financial crisis. Edelsten quickly signed numerous star players away from Melbourne clubs by offering large contracts. He wanted to hire Kevin Sheedy, who had just coached Essendon to successive premierships. Sheedy turned Edelsten down, but urged the Swans' owner to sign his old mentor, Tom Hafey. Edelsten took the advice and signed Hafey for three years.
Coaching methods
Hafey's teams usually tackled hard, shepherded, persisted, smothered and backed each other up, aspects of the game now called "one-percenters". Supreme fitness was required to play this way, so Hafey put a strong emphasis on training. However, his training methods were sometimes labelled monotonous and he was described as tactically unsophisticated.
Hafey strongly believed in leaving players in their designated position, even if they were losing to their opponent, which attracted criticism when the team lost. By contrast, virtually all players are rotated in modern play as the coach seeks match-ups favourable to the team.
Hafey was prepared to back his players and build their confidence, contributing to a strong team spirit. His approach differed from most successful coaches who remained aloof from their players. He focussed on the team's camaraderie, in many cases becoming intimately involved with the lives of his charges and he sought to mix with them in social situations even though he was a teetotaller and non-smoker. All four teams that he coached improved immediately after Hafey's appointment. However, he also "lost" his players several times during his career as they rebelled against his training requirements.
Comparative coaching statistics
* Statistics up to the end of the 2016 AFL season.
Later career
Returning to Melbourne in 1989, Hafey was employed by ABC radio as a football commentator. Although often mentioned as a possible candidate by the media whenever a coaching position fell vacant in the AFL, no job materialised. Hafey came to be seen as one of the "old school" coaches, unsuited to the tactically sophisticated era. In his radio commentary, he rarely employed the jargon of the modern coach and believed that football is a simple game that had been over-complicated, that motivation comes from within and fitness is the basis for success.
Hafey fashioned a career as a self-styled "ambassador" for the game and a strident advocate for physical fitness in the wider society. A particular interest was the current plight of Australian football clubs in rural areas, who he believed have been neglected by the AFL since the competition was fully professionalised in the 1990s. He spoke regularly on football and/or fitness, always emphasising the benefits of a healthy lifestyle. Hafey also provided training advice to sporting clubs and schools, and gave motivational lectures.
Personal fitness
Hafey's passion for fitness was legendary; every morning he woke up at 5:20 and went for an 8 km run, followed by 250 push-ups and a swim in Port Phillip Bay, and when he got home he did 700 crunches and sit-ups. He was a popular figure at St. Kilda beach, often greeting fellow joggers and cyclists.
In 2011, Hafey appeared in a TV commercial for Jeep Australia as part of their 70th Anniversary Campaign. The commercial shows him running and doing push-ups as part of his regular fitness routine.
Death and legacy
An inaugural inductee to the Australian Football Hall of Fame 1996, Hafey was named coach of Richmond's team of the century in 1998. In 2003, the Tigers set up the "Tom Hafey club", a corporate networking group, in his honour.
In 2011, a book titled The Hafey Years – Reliving a golden era at Tigerland was published. It documents Hafey's involvement with Richmond as a player, and his run of success as a coach in the 1960s and 1970s. Hafey had previously resisted having a biography written about him; author Elliot Cartledge said he changed his stance "because The Hafey Years is not a biography but a chronicle of an era."
During AFL Grand Final week in 2011, Hafey was awarded the "Coaching Legend Award" by the AFL Coaches Association.
After a brief illness due to a secondary cancer, Hafey died at the age of 82 on 12 May 2014.
Coaching tree
At least 20 men that played under Hafey at Richmond later went on to success as coaches themselves. At VFL/AFL level, these include premiership coaches Tony Jewell (at Richmond), Kevin Sheedy (at Essendon) and Mick Malthouse (at Footscray, West Coast, Collingwood and Carlton), as well as Kevin Bartlett, Royce Hart, Francis Bourke, Paul Sproule, Mike Patterson, Mick Erwin (who replaced Hafey when he was sacked by Collingwood), Neil Balme, John Northey, Ian Stewart, and Barry Richardson. In addition, a number of his former players had important careers coaching at lower levels of the game, such as Merv Keane and Kevin Morris.
References
Bibliography
1971 Tiger Year Book – Richmond Football Club
Hogan P: The Tigers of Old, Richmond FC, Melbourne 1996
Cartledge, E: The Hafey Years – Reliving a golden era at Tigerland, Weston Media & Communications, Melbourne 2011
External links
ABC – 2002 interview with Tom Hafey
Tom Hafey's playing statistics from AFL Tables
Tom Hafey's coaching statistics from AFL Tables
Richmond Football Club Official Site – Hall of Fame
AFL Hall of Fame - Coaches
1931 births
2014 deaths
Richmond Football Club coaches
Richmond Football Club Premiership coaches
Geelong Football Club coaches
Collingwood Football Club coaches
Sydney Swans coaches
Richmond Football Club players
Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees
All-Australian coaches
Australian rules footballers from Victoria (Australia)
Shepparton Football Club players
Sportspeople from Melbourne
Deaths from cancer in Victoria (Australia) | true | [
"The Ungarie Football Netball Club (nicknamed The Magpies) is an Australian rules football and netball club that plays in the Northern Riverina Football Netball League (NRFNL). Formed in 1916, the Magpies are most famous for producing the Daniher brothers (Terry, Neale, Anthony and Chris), as well as Ben Fixter.\n\nHistory\n\nFormation and early years \nThe Ungarie Football Club was formed in 1916, forty-four years after the founding of Ungarie in 1872. The first two years of the Magpies' existence saw them play against Blow Clear in friendly social games in 1916 and 1917 after which the Ungarie-Girral Australian Rules Football Association was formed in 1918. Five years later, the Magpies won their only Ungarie-Girral Australian Rules Football Association premiership in 1923. One year later, the Ungarie-Girral Australian Rules Football Association amalgamated with the Lake Cargelligo Australian Rules Football Association to form the Northern Riverina Australian Rules Football Association (NRARFA).\n\n20th century \nThe Magpies enjoyed their first eighty-four years of existence, winning forty-one premierships across six grades of football and netball, with these being:\n Seniors: 1923, 1935, 1950, 1956, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1974, 1978, 1979, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1999\n Under 16/17s: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1981, 1982, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1995, 1996\n Under 13s (Football): 1981, 1982, 1983, 1987, 1988, 1992, 1994\n A-Grade: 1993, 1997, 1998, 1999\n B-Grade: 1995\n Under 13s/14s (Netball): 1998\n\n21st century \nSince the beginning of the 21st century, the Magpies have continued to enjoy their existence, winning nineteen premierships across six grades of football and netball, with these being:\n Seniors: 2000, 2001, 2015\n Under 17s: 2009\n Under 13s/14s: 2001, 2006, 2011\n Under 12s: 2002, 2009\n A-Grade: 2000, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2014\n B-Grade: 2000\n\nClub honours\n\nFootball\n\nSeniors \n\n Ungarie-Girral Australian Rules Football Association Premierships: (1)\n\n 1923\n\n NRFL Premierships: (16)\n\n 1935, 1950, 1956, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1974, 1978, 1979, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2015\n\n NRFL Runners-Up: (7)\n\n 1982, 1984, 1990, 1994, 1995, 1998, 2003\n\n NRFL Minor Premierships: (11)\n\n 1978, 1979, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1990, 1995, 1999, 2000\n\n Undefeated in Home & Away season: (8)\n\n 1978, 1979, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1995\n\nUnder 16s/17s \n NRFL Premierships: (15)\n\n 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1981, 1982, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1995, 1996, 2009\n\n NRFL Runners-Up: (2)\n\n 2008, 2011\n\n NRFL Minor Premierships: (2)\n\n 1991, 2009\n\n Undefeated in Home & Away season: (1)\n\n 2009\n\nUnder 13s/14s \n NRFL Premierships: (10)\n\n 1981, 1982, 1983, 1987, 1988, 1992, 1994, 2001, 2006, 2011\n\n NRFL Runners-Up: (1)\n\n 2015\n\nUnder 12s \n\n NRFL Premierships: (2)\n\n 2002, 2009\n\n NRFL Runners-Up: (4)\n\n 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008\n\nNetball\n\nA-Grade \n\n NRNL Premierships: (13)\n\n 1993, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2014\n\n NRNL Runners-Up: (1)\n\n 2011\n\nB-Grade \n\n NRNL Premierships: (2)\n\n 1995, 2000\n\nUnder 13s/14s \n\n NRNL Premierships: (1)\n\n 1998\n\nExternal links \n http://www.australianrulesfootball.com.au/pages/NorthernRiverinaFL\n\nFurther reading \n Daniher, Terry Daniher, Neale Daniher, Anthony Daniher and Chris Daniher. The Danihers: The Story of Football's Favourite Family. Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 2009. \n\nAustralian rules football clubs in New South Wales\n1916 establishments in Australia\nAustralian rules football clubs established in 1916",
"The Knox Rugby Club, formerly known as Knox Old Boys RUFC, is a rugby union football club which plays in Division One of the New South Wales Suburban Rugby Union and is based in Sydney, Australia. The club has won the Kentwell Cup, among other trophies.\n\nHistory\nThe club was founded by and is associated with the ex-students association of Knox Grammar School, a Uniting Church day and boarding school for boys, located in Wahroonga, an upper North Shore suburb of Sydney. The club won the New South Wales Suburban Rugby Union's Kentwell Cup in 2005 and 2009.\n\nNotable players\n Ross Turnbull – Australia (1968)\n\nTwo Knox players became Chairman of the Australian Rugby Union; Ross Turnbull and David Clark.\n\nPast Premierships\n\nClub Championships\n\n1st Grade Premierships: 6\n\n2nd Grade Premierships: 7\n\n3rd Grade Premierships: 10\n\n4th Grade Premierships: 2 \n\n*Denotes joint premiership with Waverley.\n\n5th Grade Premierships: 1\n\nColts Premierships: 7\n\nSee also\nRugby union in New South Wales\nList of Old Knox Grammarians\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nRugby union teams in Sydney\nRugby clubs established in 1959\n1959 establishments in Australia"
] | [
"Thomas Stanley Raymond Hafey (5 August 1931 – 12 May 2014) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Richmond Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL). He then became one of the VFL's longest-serving and most successful coaches, guiding Richmond to four VFL premierships before also having stints at , and finally .Hafey was an inaugural inductee into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 1996, named coach of Richmond's team of the century in 1998, and given the AFL Coaches Association \"Coaching Legend Award\" in 2011.",
"He then became one of the VFL's longest-serving and most successful coaches, guiding Richmond to four VFL premierships before also having stints at , and finally .Hafey was an inaugural inductee into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 1996, named coach of Richmond's team of the century in 1998, and given the AFL Coaches Association \"Coaching Legend Award\" in 2011. He was renowned for his fitness and toughness even in his elderly years when he would still run rings around his juniors.",
"He was renowned for his fitness and toughness even in his elderly years when he would still run rings around his juniors. He would do over 700 push ups and crunches a day every day since he started playing AFL (VFL back then). Playing career Tom Hafey was born and raised in Richmond. He began his football career with the East Malvern under 19 team before graduating to the senior side in 1950. He spent three years with the club, winning the best and fairest in 1952.",
"He spent three years with the club, winning the best and fairest in 1952. Hafey was then invited to train at Richmond. At the time, the Tigers were in turmoil after legendary coach Jack Dyer quit. In an effort to reinvigorate the team, Richmond recruited a number of highly considered young players, including Ron Branton, Frank Dunin and Brian Davie. However, it was Hafey, an unheralded local, who played twelve of the eighteen matches his first year, scoring eight goals.",
"However, it was Hafey, an unheralded local, who played twelve of the eighteen matches his first year, scoring eight goals. The following season was less productive for Hafey as he played just four games due to a bout of hepatitis. He did, however, play back pocket when the reserves captured the premiership by defeating Melbourne in the Grand Final. He was named as one of the Tigers' best performers, and was selected for the senior team for the 1955 and 1956 seasons.",
"He was named as one of the Tigers' best performers, and was selected for the senior team for the 1955 and 1956 seasons. In these two years, he played 28 games. After the appointment of Alan McDonald as coach, Hafey was often relegated to the bench as Ken Ward played in the back pocket. The Tigers fell to the bottom part of the ladder. Playing a backup role for a poor team, Hafey decided to retire from the VFL at the end of 1958.",
"Playing a backup role for a poor team, Hafey decided to retire from the VFL at the end of 1958. Over six seasons, he had played in 67 games, starting 52 of them. In 1959, Hafey played for the local Richmond Amateurs who won the premiership that year. Coaching career After the 1959 season, Hafey left the city of Richmond, taking a job as playing coach of Shepparton in the Goulburn Valley area of northern Victoria. His tenacious attitude and devotion to fitness turned the club into a winner.",
"His tenacious attitude and devotion to fitness turned the club into a winner. Shepparton lost the Grand Final to Tongala in 1961, then won three straight from 1963 to 1965. Meanwhile, Hafey acted as a recruiting agent for the Tigers, recommending potential players from his region. Hafey's performance drew the attention of Tiger secretary Graeme Richmond. When coach Len Smith had a heart attack in 1965, the club appointed Jack Titus to serve as interim coach until a replacement could be found.",
"When coach Len Smith had a heart attack in 1965, the club appointed Jack Titus to serve as interim coach until a replacement could be found. Hafey was encouraged to apply, and the decision came down to Hafey and former club captain Ron Branton. Many expected Branton to get the job. However, Graeme Richmond saw something special in Hafey and he was appointed coach for the 1966 season. On his return to Richmond, Hafey found the team had acquired a number of young, high quality players.",
"On his return to Richmond, Hafey found the team had acquired a number of young, high quality players. He later recalled feeling some apprehension about his youth and that he would be coaching some ex-teammates. Even so, he quickly put his stamp on the club, bringing intensity and desire to reach the top.",
"Even so, he quickly put his stamp on the club, bringing intensity and desire to reach the top. Although he acknowledged the ideas and tactical approach of Len Smith (who remained at the club as a selector and consultant), Hafey opted for what became his trademark style: kick the ball long and quickly into the forward line. He raised the bar for fitness among his players, extending pre-season training and introducing a third training night during the week.",
"He raised the bar for fitness among his players, extending pre-season training and introducing a third training night during the week. Richmond quickly became known for being the fittest team in the competition. Richmond began 1966 strongly. A month before the finals, they hit the top of the ladder for the first time since 1951 and seemed certain to play in September. However, two losses dropped the Tigers to fifth place with thirteen wins and a draw.",
"However, two losses dropped the Tigers to fifth place with thirteen wins and a draw. They became the best performing team to miss the finals since the inception of the McIntyre finals system in 1931. Richmond dismissed a number of players, replacing them with new players such as Royce Hart and Francis Bourke. Premierships Richmond dominated the 1967 season, running out winners in a classic Grand Final against Geelong.",
"Premierships Richmond dominated the 1967 season, running out winners in a classic Grand Final against Geelong. In his first two years, the team lost only seven games and Hafey had gone from an unknown coach in the bush to the toast of the football world. In hindsight, the 1967 premiership marked a turning point for the game. The Tigers were fitter than any team that had gone before and were the highest scoring team since 1950.",
"The Tigers were fitter than any team that had gone before and were the highest scoring team since 1950. Australian football, after two decades of defensive-based play, was about to enter an era of high scoring, aided by rule changes, new tactics and better standards of fitness. The Tigers started the 1968 season slowly. They rallied to win the last six games, but missed the finals. When the Tigers were again lethargic in mid-1969, accusations of under-achievement arose and rumours that Hafey was on the way out circulated.",
"When the Tigers were again lethargic in mid-1969, accusations of under-achievement arose and rumours that Hafey was on the way out circulated. The players rallied behind Hafey and finished the season strong, taking fourth place. The team won all three finals, taking a second premiership. After missing the playoffs in 1970, Hafey took the Tigers to the finals for the next five years. Basing the team's strategy around all-out attack had drawbacks.",
"Basing the team's strategy around all-out attack had drawbacks. Most famously, during the 1972 finals the team conceded the highest score ever, losing to Carlton in a shock upset. Hafey later said the defeat depressed him for many months, but it later became the motivation for back-to-back premierships in 1973 and 1974. By now, the aggressive attitude of the club both on and off the field had created resentment toward the club.",
"By now, the aggressive attitude of the club both on and off the field had created resentment toward the club. A number of incidents during the 1973 Grand Final – the Windy Hill brawl, the attempted recruitment of John Pitura from South Melbourne and a poor reaction to Kevin Bartlett's failure to win the Brownlow medal – all focussed negative attention on the club. Hafey, however, used the resentment to his advantage, telling his players \"it's Richmond against the world\".",
"Hafey, however, used the resentment to his advantage, telling his players \"it's Richmond against the world\". Richmond showed signs of ageing in 1975, when they lost in the preliminary final. A raft of player departures made for a poor 1976 season, with the Tigers finishing seventh, Hafey's worst ever result. He was reappointed for 1977, but not unanimously (he had no contract with Richmond, instead being appointed on a year-to-year basis).",
"He was reappointed for 1977, but not unanimously (he had no contract with Richmond, instead being appointed on a year-to-year basis). When it leaked that Graeme Richmond, the club's powerbroker, had voted against Hafey's reappointment Hafey immediately resigned. Collingwood Hafey's initial thought was to seek a job in Western Australia. However, a chance meeting with the new Collingwood president, John Hickey, took Hafey a different direction. The Magpies had just endured their worst ever season, finishing last.",
"The Magpies had just endured their worst ever season, finishing last. Hickey defied the club's tradition against hiring an outsider as coach, appointing Hafey to coach the club for the 1977 season. Hafey was an instant success, taking the club from last to first in one year – the first time this had been achieved in the VFL.",
"Hafey was an instant success, taking the club from last to first in one year – the first time this had been achieved in the VFL. Collingwood had lost eleven of their last thirteen finals matches, many by slender margins, leading to the press to say the team was afflicted with a \"disease\" called \"Colliwobbles\". The disease appeared defeated when the team beat the favoured Hawthorn by two points in the semi-final. In the final, Collingwood led North Melbourne by 27 points at three quarter time.",
"In the final, Collingwood led North Melbourne by 27 points at three quarter time. Trainers and committeemen began to celebrate early and North Melbourne fought back to a draw. In the replay the following week, Collingwood lost a high-scoring contest. Collingwood lost to North Melbourne in the 1978 Preliminary Final, leading to a number of personnel changes during the offseason. In 1979, the team returned to the Grand Final. After taking a second quarter led, Collingwood fell behind at the half. They ultimately lost by five points.",
"They ultimately lost by five points. They ultimately lost by five points. In the 1980 Grand Final, Hafey took on his old team of Richmond. Kevin Bartlett won the Norm Smith medal as the Tigers won by a record margin. The Magpies again made the Grand Final in 1981. After holding a 21-point lead in the third, Collingwood gave up two late goals before the three quarter break. The resulting disharmony in the Magpie huddle allowed the Blues to dominate the fourth quarter and win the game.",
"The resulting disharmony in the Magpie huddle allowed the Blues to dominate the fourth quarter and win the game. After years of disappointment players and fans began to criticise Hafey's methods. Several leading players said Hafey over-trained the team, particularly in the lead-up to finals matches. Others said Hafey was too slow to respond when the team was going under. During the 1982 season, a record losing streak of nine games sealed Hafey's fate and he was sacked mid-season.",
"During the 1982 season, a record losing streak of nine games sealed Hafey's fate and he was sacked mid-season. Geelong and Sydney Hafey was given a three-year contract to coach Geelong in 1983. However, he was unable to engender the type of team spirit he created at Collingwood and Richmond, and the team did not make the finals during his tenure. During 1985, it became clear that Hafey's contract would not be renewed.",
"During 1985, it became clear that Hafey's contract would not be renewed. During the 1985 season, the VFL had sold the Sydney Swans to controversial medical entrepreneur Geoffrey Edelsten to create the first privately owned club. Franchising, club licensing, player drafts and salary caps were all concepts that the VFL was attempting to import into Australian football at a time of financial crisis. Edelsten quickly signed numerous star players away from Melbourne clubs by offering large contracts.",
"Edelsten quickly signed numerous star players away from Melbourne clubs by offering large contracts. He wanted to hire Kevin Sheedy, who had just coached Essendon to successive premierships. Sheedy turned Edelsten down, but urged the Swans' owner to sign his old mentor, Tom Hafey. Edelsten took the advice and signed Hafey for three years. Coaching methods Hafey's teams usually tackled hard, shepherded, persisted, smothered and backed each other up, aspects of the game now called \"one-percenters\".",
"Coaching methods Hafey's teams usually tackled hard, shepherded, persisted, smothered and backed each other up, aspects of the game now called \"one-percenters\". Supreme fitness was required to play this way, so Hafey put a strong emphasis on training. However, his training methods were sometimes labelled monotonous and he was described as tactically unsophisticated. Hafey strongly believed in leaving players in their designated position, even if they were losing to their opponent, which attracted criticism when the team lost.",
"Hafey strongly believed in leaving players in their designated position, even if they were losing to their opponent, which attracted criticism when the team lost. By contrast, virtually all players are rotated in modern play as the coach seeks match-ups favourable to the team. Hafey was prepared to back his players and build their confidence, contributing to a strong team spirit. His approach differed from most successful coaches who remained aloof from their players.",
"His approach differed from most successful coaches who remained aloof from their players. He focussed on the team's camaraderie, in many cases becoming intimately involved with the lives of his charges and he sought to mix with them in social situations even though he was a teetotaller and non-smoker. All four teams that he coached improved immediately after Hafey's appointment. However, he also \"lost\" his players several times during his career as they rebelled against his training requirements.",
"However, he also \"lost\" his players several times during his career as they rebelled against his training requirements. Comparative coaching statistics * Statistics up to the end of the 2016 AFL season. Later career Returning to Melbourne in 1989, Hafey was employed by ABC radio as a football commentator. Although often mentioned as a possible candidate by the media whenever a coaching position fell vacant in the AFL, no job materialised.",
"Although often mentioned as a possible candidate by the media whenever a coaching position fell vacant in the AFL, no job materialised. Hafey came to be seen as one of the \"old school\" coaches, unsuited to the tactically sophisticated era. In his radio commentary, he rarely employed the jargon of the modern coach and believed that football is a simple game that had been over-complicated, that motivation comes from within and fitness is the basis for success.",
"In his radio commentary, he rarely employed the jargon of the modern coach and believed that football is a simple game that had been over-complicated, that motivation comes from within and fitness is the basis for success. Hafey fashioned a career as a self-styled \"ambassador\" for the game and a strident advocate for physical fitness in the wider society. A particular interest was the current plight of Australian football clubs in rural areas, who he believed have been neglected by the AFL since the competition was fully professionalised in the 1990s.",
"A particular interest was the current plight of Australian football clubs in rural areas, who he believed have been neglected by the AFL since the competition was fully professionalised in the 1990s. He spoke regularly on football and/or fitness, always emphasising the benefits of a healthy lifestyle. Hafey also provided training advice to sporting clubs and schools, and gave motivational lectures.",
"Hafey also provided training advice to sporting clubs and schools, and gave motivational lectures. Personal fitness Hafey's passion for fitness was legendary; every morning he woke up at 5:20 and went for an 8 km run, followed by 250 push-ups and a swim in Port Phillip Bay, and when he got home he did 700 crunches and sit-ups. He was a popular figure at St. Kilda beach, often greeting fellow joggers and cyclists.",
"He was a popular figure at St. Kilda beach, often greeting fellow joggers and cyclists. In 2011, Hafey appeared in a TV commercial for Jeep Australia as part of their 70th Anniversary Campaign. The commercial shows him running and doing push-ups as part of his regular fitness routine. Death and legacy An inaugural inductee to the Australian Football Hall of Fame 1996, Hafey was named coach of Richmond's team of the century in 1998.",
"Death and legacy An inaugural inductee to the Australian Football Hall of Fame 1996, Hafey was named coach of Richmond's team of the century in 1998. In 2003, the Tigers set up the \"Tom Hafey club\", a corporate networking group, in his honour. In 2011, a book titled The Hafey Years – Reliving a golden era at Tigerland was published. It documents Hafey's involvement with Richmond as a player, and his run of success as a coach in the 1960s and 1970s.",
"It documents Hafey's involvement with Richmond as a player, and his run of success as a coach in the 1960s and 1970s. Hafey had previously resisted having a biography written about him; author Elliot Cartledge said he changed his stance \"because The Hafey Years is not a biography but a chronicle of an era.\" During AFL Grand Final week in 2011, Hafey was awarded the \"Coaching Legend Award\" by the AFL Coaches Association.",
"During AFL Grand Final week in 2011, Hafey was awarded the \"Coaching Legend Award\" by the AFL Coaches Association. After a brief illness due to a secondary cancer, Hafey died at the age of 82 on 12 May 2014. Coaching tree At least 20 men that played under Hafey at Richmond later went on to success as coaches themselves.",
"Coaching tree At least 20 men that played under Hafey at Richmond later went on to success as coaches themselves. At VFL/AFL level, these include premiership coaches Tony Jewell (at Richmond), Kevin Sheedy (at Essendon) and Mick Malthouse (at Footscray, West Coast, Collingwood and Carlton), as well as Kevin Bartlett, Royce Hart, Francis Bourke, Paul Sproule, Mike Patterson, Mick Erwin (who replaced Hafey when he was sacked by Collingwood), Neil Balme, John Northey, Ian Stewart, and Barry Richardson.",
"At VFL/AFL level, these include premiership coaches Tony Jewell (at Richmond), Kevin Sheedy (at Essendon) and Mick Malthouse (at Footscray, West Coast, Collingwood and Carlton), as well as Kevin Bartlett, Royce Hart, Francis Bourke, Paul Sproule, Mike Patterson, Mick Erwin (who replaced Hafey when he was sacked by Collingwood), Neil Balme, John Northey, Ian Stewart, and Barry Richardson. In addition, a number of his former players had important careers coaching at lower levels of the game, such as Merv Keane and Kevin Morris.",
"In addition, a number of his former players had important careers coaching at lower levels of the game, such as Merv Keane and Kevin Morris. References Bibliography 1971 Tiger Year Book – Richmond Football Club Hogan P: The Tigers of Old, Richmond FC, Melbourne 1996 Cartledge, E: The Hafey Years – Reliving a golden era at Tigerland, Weston Media & Communications, Melbourne 2011 External links ABC – 2002 interview with Tom Hafey Tom Hafey's playing statistics from AFL Tables Tom Hafey's coaching statistics from AFL Tables Richmond Football Club Official Site – Hall of Fame AFL Hall of Fame - Coaches 1931 births 2014 deaths Richmond Football Club coaches Richmond Football Club Premiership coaches Geelong Football Club coaches Collingwood Football Club coaches Sydney Swans coaches Richmond Football Club players Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees All-Australian coaches Australian rules footballers from Victoria (Australia) Shepparton Football Club players Sportspeople from Melbourne Deaths from cancer in Victoria (Australia)"
] |
[
"Tom Hafey",
"Premierships",
"What are Premierships?",
"In hindsight, the 1967 premiership marked a turning point for the game."
] | C_706d5730c4d24d468f8fa7d0e627ffaf_1 | How did it affect Tom? | 2 | How did the premiership affect Tom Hafey? | Tom Hafey | Richmond dominated the 1967 season, running out winners in a classic Grand Final against Geelong. In his first two years, the team lost only seven games and Hafey had gone from an unknown coach in the bush to the toast of the football world. In hindsight, the 1967 premiership marked a turning point for the game. The Tigers were fitter than any team that had gone before and were the highest scoring team since 1950. Australian football, after two decades of defensive-based play, was about to enter an era of high scoring, aided by rule changes, new tactics and betters standards of fitness. The Tigers started the 1968 season slowly. They rallied to win the last six games, but missed the finals. When the Tigers were again lethargic in mid-1969, accusations of under-achievement arose and rumours that Hafey was on the way out circulated. The players rallied behind Hafey and finished the season strong, taking fourth place. The team won all three finals, taking a second premiership. After missing the playoffs in 1970, Hafey took the Tigers to the finals for the next five years. Basing the team's strategy around all-out attack had drawbacks. Most famously, during the 1972 finals the team conceded the highest score ever, losing to Carlton in a shock upset. Hafey later said the defeat depressed him for many months, but it later became the motivation for back-to-back premierships in 1973 and 1974. By now, the aggressive attitude of the club both on and off the field had created resentment toward the club. A number of incidents during the 1973 Grand Final - the Windy Hill brawl, the attempted recruitment of John Pitura from South Melbourne and a poor reaction to Kevin Bartlett's failure to win the Brownlow medal - all focussed negative attention on the club. Hafey, however, used the resentment to his advantage, telling his players "it's Richmond against the world". Richmond showed signs of ageing in 1975, when they lost in the preliminary final. A raft of player departures made for a poor 1976 season, with the Tigers finishing seventh, Hafey's worst ever result. He was reappointed for 1977, but not unanimously (he had no contract with Richmond, instead being appointed on a year-to-year basis). When it leaked that Graeme Richmond, the club's powerbroker, had voted against Hafey's reappointment Hafey immediately resigned. CANNOTANSWER | from an unknown coach in the bush | Thomas Stanley Raymond Hafey (5 August 1931 – 12 May 2014) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Richmond Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL). He then became one of the VFL's longest-serving and most successful coaches, guiding Richmond to four VFL premierships before also having stints at , and finally .Hafey was an inaugural inductee into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 1996, named coach of Richmond's team of the century in 1998, and given the AFL Coaches Association "Coaching Legend Award" in 2011.
He was renowned for his fitness and toughness even in his elderly years when he would still run rings around his juniors. He would do over 700 push ups and crunches a day every day since he started playing AFL (VFL back then).
Playing career
Tom Hafey was born and raised in Richmond. He began his football career with the East Malvern under 19 team before graduating to the senior side in 1950. He spent three years with the club, winning the best and fairest in 1952.
Hafey was then invited to train at Richmond. At the time, the Tigers were in turmoil after legendary coach Jack Dyer quit. In an effort to reinvigorate the team, Richmond recruited a number of highly considered young players, including Ron Branton, Frank Dunin and Brian Davie. However, it was Hafey, an unheralded local, who played twelve of the eighteen matches his first year, scoring eight goals.
The following season was less productive for Hafey as he played just four games due to a bout of hepatitis. He did, however, play back pocket when the reserves captured the premiership by defeating Melbourne in the Grand Final. He was named as one of the Tigers' best performers, and was selected for the senior team for the 1955 and 1956 seasons. In these two years, he played 28 games.
After the appointment of Alan McDonald as coach, Hafey was often relegated to the bench as Ken Ward played in the back pocket. The Tigers fell to the bottom part of the ladder. Playing a backup role for a poor team, Hafey decided to retire from the VFL at the end of 1958. Over six seasons, he had played in 67 games, starting 52 of them. In 1959, Hafey played for the local Richmond Amateurs who won the premiership that year.
Coaching career
After the 1959 season, Hafey left the city of Richmond, taking a job as playing coach of Shepparton in the Goulburn Valley area of northern Victoria. His tenacious attitude and devotion to fitness turned the club into a winner. Shepparton lost the Grand Final to Tongala in 1961, then won three straight from 1963 to 1965. Meanwhile, Hafey acted as a recruiting agent for the Tigers, recommending potential players from his region.
Hafey's performance drew the attention of Tiger secretary Graeme Richmond. When coach Len Smith had a heart attack in 1965, the club appointed Jack Titus to serve as interim coach until a replacement could be found. Hafey was encouraged to apply, and the decision came down to Hafey and former club captain Ron Branton. Many expected Branton to get the job. However, Graeme Richmond saw something special in Hafey and he was appointed coach for the 1966 season.
On his return to Richmond, Hafey found the team had acquired a number of young, high quality players. He later recalled feeling some apprehension about his youth and that he would be coaching some ex-teammates. Even so, he quickly put his stamp on the club, bringing intensity and desire to reach the top. Although he acknowledged the ideas and tactical approach of Len Smith (who remained at the club as a selector and consultant), Hafey opted for what became his trademark style: kick the ball long and quickly into the forward line. He raised the bar for fitness among his players, extending pre-season training and introducing a third training night during the week. Richmond quickly became known for being the fittest team in the competition.
Richmond began 1966 strongly. A month before the finals, they hit the top of the ladder for the first time since 1951 and seemed certain to play in September. However, two losses dropped the Tigers to fifth place with thirteen wins and a draw. They became the best performing team to miss the finals since the inception of the McIntyre finals system in 1931. Richmond dismissed a number of players, replacing them with new players such as Royce Hart and Francis Bourke.
Premierships
Richmond dominated the 1967 season, running out winners in a classic Grand Final against Geelong. In his first two years, the team lost only seven games and Hafey had gone from an unknown coach in the bush to the toast of the football world. In hindsight, the 1967 premiership marked a turning point for the game. The Tigers were fitter than any team that had gone before and were the highest scoring team since 1950. Australian football, after two decades of defensive-based play, was about to enter an era of high scoring, aided by rule changes, new tactics and better standards of fitness.
The Tigers started the 1968 season slowly. They rallied to win the last six games, but missed the finals. When the Tigers were again lethargic in mid-1969, accusations of under-achievement arose and rumours that Hafey was on the way out circulated. The players rallied behind Hafey and finished the season strong, taking fourth place. The team won all three finals, taking a second premiership.
After missing the playoffs in 1970, Hafey took the Tigers to the finals for the next five years. Basing the team's strategy around all-out attack had drawbacks. Most famously, during the 1972 finals the team conceded the highest score ever, losing to Carlton in a shock upset. Hafey later said the defeat depressed him for many months, but it later became the motivation for back-to-back premierships in 1973 and 1974. By now, the aggressive attitude of the club both on and off the field had created resentment toward the club. A number of incidents during the 1973 Grand Final – the Windy Hill brawl, the attempted recruitment of John Pitura from South Melbourne and a poor reaction to Kevin Bartlett's failure to win the Brownlow medal – all focussed negative attention on the club. Hafey, however, used the resentment to his advantage, telling his players "it's Richmond against the world".
Richmond showed signs of ageing in 1975, when they lost in the preliminary final. A raft of player departures made for a poor 1976 season, with the Tigers finishing seventh, Hafey's worst ever result. He was reappointed for 1977, but not unanimously (he had no contract with Richmond, instead being appointed on a year-to-year basis). When it leaked that Graeme Richmond, the club's powerbroker, had voted against Hafey's reappointment Hafey immediately resigned.
Collingwood
Hafey's initial thought was to seek a job in Western Australia. However, a chance meeting with the new Collingwood president, John Hickey, took Hafey a different direction. The Magpies had just endured their worst ever season, finishing last. Hickey defied the club's tradition against hiring an outsider as coach, appointing Hafey to coach the club for the 1977 season.
Hafey was an instant success, taking the club from last to first in one year – the first time this had been achieved in the VFL. Collingwood had lost eleven of their last thirteen finals matches, many by slender margins, leading to the press to say the team was afflicted with a "disease" called "Colliwobbles". The disease appeared defeated when the team beat the favoured Hawthorn by two points in the semi-final. In the final, Collingwood led North Melbourne by 27 points at three quarter time. Trainers and committeemen began to celebrate early and North Melbourne fought back to a draw. In the replay the following week, Collingwood lost a high-scoring contest.
Collingwood lost to North Melbourne in the 1978 Preliminary Final, leading to a number of personnel changes during the offseason. In 1979, the team returned to the Grand Final. After taking a second quarter led, Collingwood fell behind at the half. They ultimately lost by five points. In the 1980 Grand Final, Hafey took on his old team of Richmond. Kevin Bartlett won the Norm Smith medal as the Tigers won by a record margin. The Magpies again made the Grand Final in 1981. After holding a 21-point lead in the third, Collingwood gave up two late goals before the three quarter break. The resulting disharmony in the Magpie huddle allowed the Blues to dominate the fourth quarter and win the game.
After years of disappointment players and fans began to criticise Hafey's methods. Several leading players said Hafey over-trained the team, particularly in the lead-up to finals matches. Others said Hafey was too slow to respond when the team was going under. During the 1982 season, a record losing streak of nine games sealed Hafey's fate and he was sacked mid-season.
Geelong and Sydney
Hafey was given a three-year contract to coach Geelong in 1983. However, he was unable to engender the type of team spirit he created at Collingwood and Richmond, and the team did not make the finals during his tenure. During 1985, it became clear that Hafey's contract would not be renewed.
During the 1985 season, the VFL had sold the Sydney Swans to controversial medical entrepreneur Geoffrey Edelsten to create the first privately owned club. Franchising, club licensing, player drafts and salary caps were all concepts that the VFL was attempting to import into Australian football at a time of financial crisis. Edelsten quickly signed numerous star players away from Melbourne clubs by offering large contracts. He wanted to hire Kevin Sheedy, who had just coached Essendon to successive premierships. Sheedy turned Edelsten down, but urged the Swans' owner to sign his old mentor, Tom Hafey. Edelsten took the advice and signed Hafey for three years.
Coaching methods
Hafey's teams usually tackled hard, shepherded, persisted, smothered and backed each other up, aspects of the game now called "one-percenters". Supreme fitness was required to play this way, so Hafey put a strong emphasis on training. However, his training methods were sometimes labelled monotonous and he was described as tactically unsophisticated.
Hafey strongly believed in leaving players in their designated position, even if they were losing to their opponent, which attracted criticism when the team lost. By contrast, virtually all players are rotated in modern play as the coach seeks match-ups favourable to the team.
Hafey was prepared to back his players and build their confidence, contributing to a strong team spirit. His approach differed from most successful coaches who remained aloof from their players. He focussed on the team's camaraderie, in many cases becoming intimately involved with the lives of his charges and he sought to mix with them in social situations even though he was a teetotaller and non-smoker. All four teams that he coached improved immediately after Hafey's appointment. However, he also "lost" his players several times during his career as they rebelled against his training requirements.
Comparative coaching statistics
* Statistics up to the end of the 2016 AFL season.
Later career
Returning to Melbourne in 1989, Hafey was employed by ABC radio as a football commentator. Although often mentioned as a possible candidate by the media whenever a coaching position fell vacant in the AFL, no job materialised. Hafey came to be seen as one of the "old school" coaches, unsuited to the tactically sophisticated era. In his radio commentary, he rarely employed the jargon of the modern coach and believed that football is a simple game that had been over-complicated, that motivation comes from within and fitness is the basis for success.
Hafey fashioned a career as a self-styled "ambassador" for the game and a strident advocate for physical fitness in the wider society. A particular interest was the current plight of Australian football clubs in rural areas, who he believed have been neglected by the AFL since the competition was fully professionalised in the 1990s. He spoke regularly on football and/or fitness, always emphasising the benefits of a healthy lifestyle. Hafey also provided training advice to sporting clubs and schools, and gave motivational lectures.
Personal fitness
Hafey's passion for fitness was legendary; every morning he woke up at 5:20 and went for an 8 km run, followed by 250 push-ups and a swim in Port Phillip Bay, and when he got home he did 700 crunches and sit-ups. He was a popular figure at St. Kilda beach, often greeting fellow joggers and cyclists.
In 2011, Hafey appeared in a TV commercial for Jeep Australia as part of their 70th Anniversary Campaign. The commercial shows him running and doing push-ups as part of his regular fitness routine.
Death and legacy
An inaugural inductee to the Australian Football Hall of Fame 1996, Hafey was named coach of Richmond's team of the century in 1998. In 2003, the Tigers set up the "Tom Hafey club", a corporate networking group, in his honour.
In 2011, a book titled The Hafey Years – Reliving a golden era at Tigerland was published. It documents Hafey's involvement with Richmond as a player, and his run of success as a coach in the 1960s and 1970s. Hafey had previously resisted having a biography written about him; author Elliot Cartledge said he changed his stance "because The Hafey Years is not a biography but a chronicle of an era."
During AFL Grand Final week in 2011, Hafey was awarded the "Coaching Legend Award" by the AFL Coaches Association.
After a brief illness due to a secondary cancer, Hafey died at the age of 82 on 12 May 2014.
Coaching tree
At least 20 men that played under Hafey at Richmond later went on to success as coaches themselves. At VFL/AFL level, these include premiership coaches Tony Jewell (at Richmond), Kevin Sheedy (at Essendon) and Mick Malthouse (at Footscray, West Coast, Collingwood and Carlton), as well as Kevin Bartlett, Royce Hart, Francis Bourke, Paul Sproule, Mike Patterson, Mick Erwin (who replaced Hafey when he was sacked by Collingwood), Neil Balme, John Northey, Ian Stewart, and Barry Richardson. In addition, a number of his former players had important careers coaching at lower levels of the game, such as Merv Keane and Kevin Morris.
References
Bibliography
1971 Tiger Year Book – Richmond Football Club
Hogan P: The Tigers of Old, Richmond FC, Melbourne 1996
Cartledge, E: The Hafey Years – Reliving a golden era at Tigerland, Weston Media & Communications, Melbourne 2011
External links
ABC – 2002 interview with Tom Hafey
Tom Hafey's playing statistics from AFL Tables
Tom Hafey's coaching statistics from AFL Tables
Richmond Football Club Official Site – Hall of Fame
AFL Hall of Fame - Coaches
1931 births
2014 deaths
Richmond Football Club coaches
Richmond Football Club Premiership coaches
Geelong Football Club coaches
Collingwood Football Club coaches
Sydney Swans coaches
Richmond Football Club players
Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees
All-Australian coaches
Australian rules footballers from Victoria (Australia)
Shepparton Football Club players
Sportspeople from Melbourne
Deaths from cancer in Victoria (Australia) | true | [
"The name Miriam has been used for eight tropical cyclones in the Eastern Pacific Ocean.\n\nHurricane Miriam (1978), a Category 1 hurricane that threatened Hawaii but did not affect land.\nHurricane Miriam (1982), a Category 1 hurricane that did not affect land.\nTropical Storm Miriam (1988), continuation of Hurricane Joan which originally formed in the Atlantic Ocean and crossed into the Pacific.\nTropical Storm Miriam (1994), a short-lived storm that did not affect land.\nTropical Storm Miriam (2000), a short-lived storm that hit Baja California as a weak storm.\nTropical Storm Miriam (2006), a short-lived tropical storm that did not affect land.\nHurricane Miriam (2012), a Category 3 hurricane that did not affect land.\nHurricane Miriam (2018), a Category 2 hurricane that did not affect land.\n\nPacific hurricane disambiguation pages",
"The name Marcia has been used for four tropical cyclones in the Southern Hemisphere.\n Tropical Cyclone Marcia (1974), did not affect land\n Tropical Cyclone Marcia (1989), did not affect land\n Tropical Cyclone Marcia (2000), did not affect land\n Cyclone Marcia, one of the most intense tropical cyclones making landfall over Queensland, Australia\n\nAustralian region cyclone disambiguation pages"
] | [
"Thomas Stanley Raymond Hafey (5 August 1931 – 12 May 2014) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Richmond Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL). He then became one of the VFL's longest-serving and most successful coaches, guiding Richmond to four VFL premierships before also having stints at , and finally .Hafey was an inaugural inductee into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 1996, named coach of Richmond's team of the century in 1998, and given the AFL Coaches Association \"Coaching Legend Award\" in 2011.",
"He then became one of the VFL's longest-serving and most successful coaches, guiding Richmond to four VFL premierships before also having stints at , and finally .Hafey was an inaugural inductee into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 1996, named coach of Richmond's team of the century in 1998, and given the AFL Coaches Association \"Coaching Legend Award\" in 2011. He was renowned for his fitness and toughness even in his elderly years when he would still run rings around his juniors.",
"He was renowned for his fitness and toughness even in his elderly years when he would still run rings around his juniors. He would do over 700 push ups and crunches a day every day since he started playing AFL (VFL back then). Playing career Tom Hafey was born and raised in Richmond. He began his football career with the East Malvern under 19 team before graduating to the senior side in 1950. He spent three years with the club, winning the best and fairest in 1952.",
"He spent three years with the club, winning the best and fairest in 1952. Hafey was then invited to train at Richmond. At the time, the Tigers were in turmoil after legendary coach Jack Dyer quit. In an effort to reinvigorate the team, Richmond recruited a number of highly considered young players, including Ron Branton, Frank Dunin and Brian Davie. However, it was Hafey, an unheralded local, who played twelve of the eighteen matches his first year, scoring eight goals.",
"However, it was Hafey, an unheralded local, who played twelve of the eighteen matches his first year, scoring eight goals. The following season was less productive for Hafey as he played just four games due to a bout of hepatitis. He did, however, play back pocket when the reserves captured the premiership by defeating Melbourne in the Grand Final. He was named as one of the Tigers' best performers, and was selected for the senior team for the 1955 and 1956 seasons.",
"He was named as one of the Tigers' best performers, and was selected for the senior team for the 1955 and 1956 seasons. In these two years, he played 28 games. After the appointment of Alan McDonald as coach, Hafey was often relegated to the bench as Ken Ward played in the back pocket. The Tigers fell to the bottom part of the ladder. Playing a backup role for a poor team, Hafey decided to retire from the VFL at the end of 1958.",
"Playing a backup role for a poor team, Hafey decided to retire from the VFL at the end of 1958. Over six seasons, he had played in 67 games, starting 52 of them. In 1959, Hafey played for the local Richmond Amateurs who won the premiership that year. Coaching career After the 1959 season, Hafey left the city of Richmond, taking a job as playing coach of Shepparton in the Goulburn Valley area of northern Victoria. His tenacious attitude and devotion to fitness turned the club into a winner.",
"His tenacious attitude and devotion to fitness turned the club into a winner. Shepparton lost the Grand Final to Tongala in 1961, then won three straight from 1963 to 1965. Meanwhile, Hafey acted as a recruiting agent for the Tigers, recommending potential players from his region. Hafey's performance drew the attention of Tiger secretary Graeme Richmond. When coach Len Smith had a heart attack in 1965, the club appointed Jack Titus to serve as interim coach until a replacement could be found.",
"When coach Len Smith had a heart attack in 1965, the club appointed Jack Titus to serve as interim coach until a replacement could be found. Hafey was encouraged to apply, and the decision came down to Hafey and former club captain Ron Branton. Many expected Branton to get the job. However, Graeme Richmond saw something special in Hafey and he was appointed coach for the 1966 season. On his return to Richmond, Hafey found the team had acquired a number of young, high quality players.",
"On his return to Richmond, Hafey found the team had acquired a number of young, high quality players. He later recalled feeling some apprehension about his youth and that he would be coaching some ex-teammates. Even so, he quickly put his stamp on the club, bringing intensity and desire to reach the top.",
"Even so, he quickly put his stamp on the club, bringing intensity and desire to reach the top. Although he acknowledged the ideas and tactical approach of Len Smith (who remained at the club as a selector and consultant), Hafey opted for what became his trademark style: kick the ball long and quickly into the forward line. He raised the bar for fitness among his players, extending pre-season training and introducing a third training night during the week.",
"He raised the bar for fitness among his players, extending pre-season training and introducing a third training night during the week. Richmond quickly became known for being the fittest team in the competition. Richmond began 1966 strongly. A month before the finals, they hit the top of the ladder for the first time since 1951 and seemed certain to play in September. However, two losses dropped the Tigers to fifth place with thirteen wins and a draw.",
"However, two losses dropped the Tigers to fifth place with thirteen wins and a draw. They became the best performing team to miss the finals since the inception of the McIntyre finals system in 1931. Richmond dismissed a number of players, replacing them with new players such as Royce Hart and Francis Bourke. Premierships Richmond dominated the 1967 season, running out winners in a classic Grand Final against Geelong.",
"Premierships Richmond dominated the 1967 season, running out winners in a classic Grand Final against Geelong. In his first two years, the team lost only seven games and Hafey had gone from an unknown coach in the bush to the toast of the football world. In hindsight, the 1967 premiership marked a turning point for the game. The Tigers were fitter than any team that had gone before and were the highest scoring team since 1950.",
"The Tigers were fitter than any team that had gone before and were the highest scoring team since 1950. Australian football, after two decades of defensive-based play, was about to enter an era of high scoring, aided by rule changes, new tactics and better standards of fitness. The Tigers started the 1968 season slowly. They rallied to win the last six games, but missed the finals. When the Tigers were again lethargic in mid-1969, accusations of under-achievement arose and rumours that Hafey was on the way out circulated.",
"When the Tigers were again lethargic in mid-1969, accusations of under-achievement arose and rumours that Hafey was on the way out circulated. The players rallied behind Hafey and finished the season strong, taking fourth place. The team won all three finals, taking a second premiership. After missing the playoffs in 1970, Hafey took the Tigers to the finals for the next five years. Basing the team's strategy around all-out attack had drawbacks.",
"Basing the team's strategy around all-out attack had drawbacks. Most famously, during the 1972 finals the team conceded the highest score ever, losing to Carlton in a shock upset. Hafey later said the defeat depressed him for many months, but it later became the motivation for back-to-back premierships in 1973 and 1974. By now, the aggressive attitude of the club both on and off the field had created resentment toward the club.",
"By now, the aggressive attitude of the club both on and off the field had created resentment toward the club. A number of incidents during the 1973 Grand Final – the Windy Hill brawl, the attempted recruitment of John Pitura from South Melbourne and a poor reaction to Kevin Bartlett's failure to win the Brownlow medal – all focussed negative attention on the club. Hafey, however, used the resentment to his advantage, telling his players \"it's Richmond against the world\".",
"Hafey, however, used the resentment to his advantage, telling his players \"it's Richmond against the world\". Richmond showed signs of ageing in 1975, when they lost in the preliminary final. A raft of player departures made for a poor 1976 season, with the Tigers finishing seventh, Hafey's worst ever result. He was reappointed for 1977, but not unanimously (he had no contract with Richmond, instead being appointed on a year-to-year basis).",
"He was reappointed for 1977, but not unanimously (he had no contract with Richmond, instead being appointed on a year-to-year basis). When it leaked that Graeme Richmond, the club's powerbroker, had voted against Hafey's reappointment Hafey immediately resigned. Collingwood Hafey's initial thought was to seek a job in Western Australia. However, a chance meeting with the new Collingwood president, John Hickey, took Hafey a different direction. The Magpies had just endured their worst ever season, finishing last.",
"The Magpies had just endured their worst ever season, finishing last. Hickey defied the club's tradition against hiring an outsider as coach, appointing Hafey to coach the club for the 1977 season. Hafey was an instant success, taking the club from last to first in one year – the first time this had been achieved in the VFL.",
"Hafey was an instant success, taking the club from last to first in one year – the first time this had been achieved in the VFL. Collingwood had lost eleven of their last thirteen finals matches, many by slender margins, leading to the press to say the team was afflicted with a \"disease\" called \"Colliwobbles\". The disease appeared defeated when the team beat the favoured Hawthorn by two points in the semi-final. In the final, Collingwood led North Melbourne by 27 points at three quarter time.",
"In the final, Collingwood led North Melbourne by 27 points at three quarter time. Trainers and committeemen began to celebrate early and North Melbourne fought back to a draw. In the replay the following week, Collingwood lost a high-scoring contest. Collingwood lost to North Melbourne in the 1978 Preliminary Final, leading to a number of personnel changes during the offseason. In 1979, the team returned to the Grand Final. After taking a second quarter led, Collingwood fell behind at the half. They ultimately lost by five points.",
"They ultimately lost by five points. They ultimately lost by five points. In the 1980 Grand Final, Hafey took on his old team of Richmond. Kevin Bartlett won the Norm Smith medal as the Tigers won by a record margin. The Magpies again made the Grand Final in 1981. After holding a 21-point lead in the third, Collingwood gave up two late goals before the three quarter break. The resulting disharmony in the Magpie huddle allowed the Blues to dominate the fourth quarter and win the game.",
"The resulting disharmony in the Magpie huddle allowed the Blues to dominate the fourth quarter and win the game. After years of disappointment players and fans began to criticise Hafey's methods. Several leading players said Hafey over-trained the team, particularly in the lead-up to finals matches. Others said Hafey was too slow to respond when the team was going under. During the 1982 season, a record losing streak of nine games sealed Hafey's fate and he was sacked mid-season.",
"During the 1982 season, a record losing streak of nine games sealed Hafey's fate and he was sacked mid-season. Geelong and Sydney Hafey was given a three-year contract to coach Geelong in 1983. However, he was unable to engender the type of team spirit he created at Collingwood and Richmond, and the team did not make the finals during his tenure. During 1985, it became clear that Hafey's contract would not be renewed.",
"During 1985, it became clear that Hafey's contract would not be renewed. During the 1985 season, the VFL had sold the Sydney Swans to controversial medical entrepreneur Geoffrey Edelsten to create the first privately owned club. Franchising, club licensing, player drafts and salary caps were all concepts that the VFL was attempting to import into Australian football at a time of financial crisis. Edelsten quickly signed numerous star players away from Melbourne clubs by offering large contracts.",
"Edelsten quickly signed numerous star players away from Melbourne clubs by offering large contracts. He wanted to hire Kevin Sheedy, who had just coached Essendon to successive premierships. Sheedy turned Edelsten down, but urged the Swans' owner to sign his old mentor, Tom Hafey. Edelsten took the advice and signed Hafey for three years. Coaching methods Hafey's teams usually tackled hard, shepherded, persisted, smothered and backed each other up, aspects of the game now called \"one-percenters\".",
"Coaching methods Hafey's teams usually tackled hard, shepherded, persisted, smothered and backed each other up, aspects of the game now called \"one-percenters\". Supreme fitness was required to play this way, so Hafey put a strong emphasis on training. However, his training methods were sometimes labelled monotonous and he was described as tactically unsophisticated. Hafey strongly believed in leaving players in their designated position, even if they were losing to their opponent, which attracted criticism when the team lost.",
"Hafey strongly believed in leaving players in their designated position, even if they were losing to their opponent, which attracted criticism when the team lost. By contrast, virtually all players are rotated in modern play as the coach seeks match-ups favourable to the team. Hafey was prepared to back his players and build their confidence, contributing to a strong team spirit. His approach differed from most successful coaches who remained aloof from their players.",
"His approach differed from most successful coaches who remained aloof from their players. He focussed on the team's camaraderie, in many cases becoming intimately involved with the lives of his charges and he sought to mix with them in social situations even though he was a teetotaller and non-smoker. All four teams that he coached improved immediately after Hafey's appointment. However, he also \"lost\" his players several times during his career as they rebelled against his training requirements.",
"However, he also \"lost\" his players several times during his career as they rebelled against his training requirements. Comparative coaching statistics * Statistics up to the end of the 2016 AFL season. Later career Returning to Melbourne in 1989, Hafey was employed by ABC radio as a football commentator. Although often mentioned as a possible candidate by the media whenever a coaching position fell vacant in the AFL, no job materialised.",
"Although often mentioned as a possible candidate by the media whenever a coaching position fell vacant in the AFL, no job materialised. Hafey came to be seen as one of the \"old school\" coaches, unsuited to the tactically sophisticated era. In his radio commentary, he rarely employed the jargon of the modern coach and believed that football is a simple game that had been over-complicated, that motivation comes from within and fitness is the basis for success.",
"In his radio commentary, he rarely employed the jargon of the modern coach and believed that football is a simple game that had been over-complicated, that motivation comes from within and fitness is the basis for success. Hafey fashioned a career as a self-styled \"ambassador\" for the game and a strident advocate for physical fitness in the wider society. A particular interest was the current plight of Australian football clubs in rural areas, who he believed have been neglected by the AFL since the competition was fully professionalised in the 1990s.",
"A particular interest was the current plight of Australian football clubs in rural areas, who he believed have been neglected by the AFL since the competition was fully professionalised in the 1990s. He spoke regularly on football and/or fitness, always emphasising the benefits of a healthy lifestyle. Hafey also provided training advice to sporting clubs and schools, and gave motivational lectures.",
"Hafey also provided training advice to sporting clubs and schools, and gave motivational lectures. Personal fitness Hafey's passion for fitness was legendary; every morning he woke up at 5:20 and went for an 8 km run, followed by 250 push-ups and a swim in Port Phillip Bay, and when he got home he did 700 crunches and sit-ups. He was a popular figure at St. Kilda beach, often greeting fellow joggers and cyclists.",
"He was a popular figure at St. Kilda beach, often greeting fellow joggers and cyclists. In 2011, Hafey appeared in a TV commercial for Jeep Australia as part of their 70th Anniversary Campaign. The commercial shows him running and doing push-ups as part of his regular fitness routine. Death and legacy An inaugural inductee to the Australian Football Hall of Fame 1996, Hafey was named coach of Richmond's team of the century in 1998.",
"Death and legacy An inaugural inductee to the Australian Football Hall of Fame 1996, Hafey was named coach of Richmond's team of the century in 1998. In 2003, the Tigers set up the \"Tom Hafey club\", a corporate networking group, in his honour. In 2011, a book titled The Hafey Years – Reliving a golden era at Tigerland was published. It documents Hafey's involvement with Richmond as a player, and his run of success as a coach in the 1960s and 1970s.",
"It documents Hafey's involvement with Richmond as a player, and his run of success as a coach in the 1960s and 1970s. Hafey had previously resisted having a biography written about him; author Elliot Cartledge said he changed his stance \"because The Hafey Years is not a biography but a chronicle of an era.\" During AFL Grand Final week in 2011, Hafey was awarded the \"Coaching Legend Award\" by the AFL Coaches Association.",
"During AFL Grand Final week in 2011, Hafey was awarded the \"Coaching Legend Award\" by the AFL Coaches Association. After a brief illness due to a secondary cancer, Hafey died at the age of 82 on 12 May 2014. Coaching tree At least 20 men that played under Hafey at Richmond later went on to success as coaches themselves.",
"Coaching tree At least 20 men that played under Hafey at Richmond later went on to success as coaches themselves. At VFL/AFL level, these include premiership coaches Tony Jewell (at Richmond), Kevin Sheedy (at Essendon) and Mick Malthouse (at Footscray, West Coast, Collingwood and Carlton), as well as Kevin Bartlett, Royce Hart, Francis Bourke, Paul Sproule, Mike Patterson, Mick Erwin (who replaced Hafey when he was sacked by Collingwood), Neil Balme, John Northey, Ian Stewart, and Barry Richardson.",
"At VFL/AFL level, these include premiership coaches Tony Jewell (at Richmond), Kevin Sheedy (at Essendon) and Mick Malthouse (at Footscray, West Coast, Collingwood and Carlton), as well as Kevin Bartlett, Royce Hart, Francis Bourke, Paul Sproule, Mike Patterson, Mick Erwin (who replaced Hafey when he was sacked by Collingwood), Neil Balme, John Northey, Ian Stewart, and Barry Richardson. In addition, a number of his former players had important careers coaching at lower levels of the game, such as Merv Keane and Kevin Morris.",
"In addition, a number of his former players had important careers coaching at lower levels of the game, such as Merv Keane and Kevin Morris. References Bibliography 1971 Tiger Year Book – Richmond Football Club Hogan P: The Tigers of Old, Richmond FC, Melbourne 1996 Cartledge, E: The Hafey Years – Reliving a golden era at Tigerland, Weston Media & Communications, Melbourne 2011 External links ABC – 2002 interview with Tom Hafey Tom Hafey's playing statistics from AFL Tables Tom Hafey's coaching statistics from AFL Tables Richmond Football Club Official Site – Hall of Fame AFL Hall of Fame - Coaches 1931 births 2014 deaths Richmond Football Club coaches Richmond Football Club Premiership coaches Geelong Football Club coaches Collingwood Football Club coaches Sydney Swans coaches Richmond Football Club players Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees All-Australian coaches Australian rules footballers from Victoria (Australia) Shepparton Football Club players Sportspeople from Melbourne Deaths from cancer in Victoria (Australia)"
] |
[
"Tom Hafey",
"Premierships",
"What are Premierships?",
"In hindsight, the 1967 premiership marked a turning point for the game.",
"How did it affect Tom?",
"from an unknown coach in the bush"
] | C_706d5730c4d24d468f8fa7d0e627ffaf_1 | Was Tom a coach in 1967? | 3 | Was Tom Hafey a coach in 1967? | Tom Hafey | Richmond dominated the 1967 season, running out winners in a classic Grand Final against Geelong. In his first two years, the team lost only seven games and Hafey had gone from an unknown coach in the bush to the toast of the football world. In hindsight, the 1967 premiership marked a turning point for the game. The Tigers were fitter than any team that had gone before and were the highest scoring team since 1950. Australian football, after two decades of defensive-based play, was about to enter an era of high scoring, aided by rule changes, new tactics and betters standards of fitness. The Tigers started the 1968 season slowly. They rallied to win the last six games, but missed the finals. When the Tigers were again lethargic in mid-1969, accusations of under-achievement arose and rumours that Hafey was on the way out circulated. The players rallied behind Hafey and finished the season strong, taking fourth place. The team won all three finals, taking a second premiership. After missing the playoffs in 1970, Hafey took the Tigers to the finals for the next five years. Basing the team's strategy around all-out attack had drawbacks. Most famously, during the 1972 finals the team conceded the highest score ever, losing to Carlton in a shock upset. Hafey later said the defeat depressed him for many months, but it later became the motivation for back-to-back premierships in 1973 and 1974. By now, the aggressive attitude of the club both on and off the field had created resentment toward the club. A number of incidents during the 1973 Grand Final - the Windy Hill brawl, the attempted recruitment of John Pitura from South Melbourne and a poor reaction to Kevin Bartlett's failure to win the Brownlow medal - all focussed negative attention on the club. Hafey, however, used the resentment to his advantage, telling his players "it's Richmond against the world". Richmond showed signs of ageing in 1975, when they lost in the preliminary final. A raft of player departures made for a poor 1976 season, with the Tigers finishing seventh, Hafey's worst ever result. He was reappointed for 1977, but not unanimously (he had no contract with Richmond, instead being appointed on a year-to-year basis). When it leaked that Graeme Richmond, the club's powerbroker, had voted against Hafey's reappointment Hafey immediately resigned. CANNOTANSWER | 1967 | Thomas Stanley Raymond Hafey (5 August 1931 – 12 May 2014) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Richmond Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL). He then became one of the VFL's longest-serving and most successful coaches, guiding Richmond to four VFL premierships before also having stints at , and finally .Hafey was an inaugural inductee into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 1996, named coach of Richmond's team of the century in 1998, and given the AFL Coaches Association "Coaching Legend Award" in 2011.
He was renowned for his fitness and toughness even in his elderly years when he would still run rings around his juniors. He would do over 700 push ups and crunches a day every day since he started playing AFL (VFL back then).
Playing career
Tom Hafey was born and raised in Richmond. He began his football career with the East Malvern under 19 team before graduating to the senior side in 1950. He spent three years with the club, winning the best and fairest in 1952.
Hafey was then invited to train at Richmond. At the time, the Tigers were in turmoil after legendary coach Jack Dyer quit. In an effort to reinvigorate the team, Richmond recruited a number of highly considered young players, including Ron Branton, Frank Dunin and Brian Davie. However, it was Hafey, an unheralded local, who played twelve of the eighteen matches his first year, scoring eight goals.
The following season was less productive for Hafey as he played just four games due to a bout of hepatitis. He did, however, play back pocket when the reserves captured the premiership by defeating Melbourne in the Grand Final. He was named as one of the Tigers' best performers, and was selected for the senior team for the 1955 and 1956 seasons. In these two years, he played 28 games.
After the appointment of Alan McDonald as coach, Hafey was often relegated to the bench as Ken Ward played in the back pocket. The Tigers fell to the bottom part of the ladder. Playing a backup role for a poor team, Hafey decided to retire from the VFL at the end of 1958. Over six seasons, he had played in 67 games, starting 52 of them. In 1959, Hafey played for the local Richmond Amateurs who won the premiership that year.
Coaching career
After the 1959 season, Hafey left the city of Richmond, taking a job as playing coach of Shepparton in the Goulburn Valley area of northern Victoria. His tenacious attitude and devotion to fitness turned the club into a winner. Shepparton lost the Grand Final to Tongala in 1961, then won three straight from 1963 to 1965. Meanwhile, Hafey acted as a recruiting agent for the Tigers, recommending potential players from his region.
Hafey's performance drew the attention of Tiger secretary Graeme Richmond. When coach Len Smith had a heart attack in 1965, the club appointed Jack Titus to serve as interim coach until a replacement could be found. Hafey was encouraged to apply, and the decision came down to Hafey and former club captain Ron Branton. Many expected Branton to get the job. However, Graeme Richmond saw something special in Hafey and he was appointed coach for the 1966 season.
On his return to Richmond, Hafey found the team had acquired a number of young, high quality players. He later recalled feeling some apprehension about his youth and that he would be coaching some ex-teammates. Even so, he quickly put his stamp on the club, bringing intensity and desire to reach the top. Although he acknowledged the ideas and tactical approach of Len Smith (who remained at the club as a selector and consultant), Hafey opted for what became his trademark style: kick the ball long and quickly into the forward line. He raised the bar for fitness among his players, extending pre-season training and introducing a third training night during the week. Richmond quickly became known for being the fittest team in the competition.
Richmond began 1966 strongly. A month before the finals, they hit the top of the ladder for the first time since 1951 and seemed certain to play in September. However, two losses dropped the Tigers to fifth place with thirteen wins and a draw. They became the best performing team to miss the finals since the inception of the McIntyre finals system in 1931. Richmond dismissed a number of players, replacing them with new players such as Royce Hart and Francis Bourke.
Premierships
Richmond dominated the 1967 season, running out winners in a classic Grand Final against Geelong. In his first two years, the team lost only seven games and Hafey had gone from an unknown coach in the bush to the toast of the football world. In hindsight, the 1967 premiership marked a turning point for the game. The Tigers were fitter than any team that had gone before and were the highest scoring team since 1950. Australian football, after two decades of defensive-based play, was about to enter an era of high scoring, aided by rule changes, new tactics and better standards of fitness.
The Tigers started the 1968 season slowly. They rallied to win the last six games, but missed the finals. When the Tigers were again lethargic in mid-1969, accusations of under-achievement arose and rumours that Hafey was on the way out circulated. The players rallied behind Hafey and finished the season strong, taking fourth place. The team won all three finals, taking a second premiership.
After missing the playoffs in 1970, Hafey took the Tigers to the finals for the next five years. Basing the team's strategy around all-out attack had drawbacks. Most famously, during the 1972 finals the team conceded the highest score ever, losing to Carlton in a shock upset. Hafey later said the defeat depressed him for many months, but it later became the motivation for back-to-back premierships in 1973 and 1974. By now, the aggressive attitude of the club both on and off the field had created resentment toward the club. A number of incidents during the 1973 Grand Final – the Windy Hill brawl, the attempted recruitment of John Pitura from South Melbourne and a poor reaction to Kevin Bartlett's failure to win the Brownlow medal – all focussed negative attention on the club. Hafey, however, used the resentment to his advantage, telling his players "it's Richmond against the world".
Richmond showed signs of ageing in 1975, when they lost in the preliminary final. A raft of player departures made for a poor 1976 season, with the Tigers finishing seventh, Hafey's worst ever result. He was reappointed for 1977, but not unanimously (he had no contract with Richmond, instead being appointed on a year-to-year basis). When it leaked that Graeme Richmond, the club's powerbroker, had voted against Hafey's reappointment Hafey immediately resigned.
Collingwood
Hafey's initial thought was to seek a job in Western Australia. However, a chance meeting with the new Collingwood president, John Hickey, took Hafey a different direction. The Magpies had just endured their worst ever season, finishing last. Hickey defied the club's tradition against hiring an outsider as coach, appointing Hafey to coach the club for the 1977 season.
Hafey was an instant success, taking the club from last to first in one year – the first time this had been achieved in the VFL. Collingwood had lost eleven of their last thirteen finals matches, many by slender margins, leading to the press to say the team was afflicted with a "disease" called "Colliwobbles". The disease appeared defeated when the team beat the favoured Hawthorn by two points in the semi-final. In the final, Collingwood led North Melbourne by 27 points at three quarter time. Trainers and committeemen began to celebrate early and North Melbourne fought back to a draw. In the replay the following week, Collingwood lost a high-scoring contest.
Collingwood lost to North Melbourne in the 1978 Preliminary Final, leading to a number of personnel changes during the offseason. In 1979, the team returned to the Grand Final. After taking a second quarter led, Collingwood fell behind at the half. They ultimately lost by five points. In the 1980 Grand Final, Hafey took on his old team of Richmond. Kevin Bartlett won the Norm Smith medal as the Tigers won by a record margin. The Magpies again made the Grand Final in 1981. After holding a 21-point lead in the third, Collingwood gave up two late goals before the three quarter break. The resulting disharmony in the Magpie huddle allowed the Blues to dominate the fourth quarter and win the game.
After years of disappointment players and fans began to criticise Hafey's methods. Several leading players said Hafey over-trained the team, particularly in the lead-up to finals matches. Others said Hafey was too slow to respond when the team was going under. During the 1982 season, a record losing streak of nine games sealed Hafey's fate and he was sacked mid-season.
Geelong and Sydney
Hafey was given a three-year contract to coach Geelong in 1983. However, he was unable to engender the type of team spirit he created at Collingwood and Richmond, and the team did not make the finals during his tenure. During 1985, it became clear that Hafey's contract would not be renewed.
During the 1985 season, the VFL had sold the Sydney Swans to controversial medical entrepreneur Geoffrey Edelsten to create the first privately owned club. Franchising, club licensing, player drafts and salary caps were all concepts that the VFL was attempting to import into Australian football at a time of financial crisis. Edelsten quickly signed numerous star players away from Melbourne clubs by offering large contracts. He wanted to hire Kevin Sheedy, who had just coached Essendon to successive premierships. Sheedy turned Edelsten down, but urged the Swans' owner to sign his old mentor, Tom Hafey. Edelsten took the advice and signed Hafey for three years.
Coaching methods
Hafey's teams usually tackled hard, shepherded, persisted, smothered and backed each other up, aspects of the game now called "one-percenters". Supreme fitness was required to play this way, so Hafey put a strong emphasis on training. However, his training methods were sometimes labelled monotonous and he was described as tactically unsophisticated.
Hafey strongly believed in leaving players in their designated position, even if they were losing to their opponent, which attracted criticism when the team lost. By contrast, virtually all players are rotated in modern play as the coach seeks match-ups favourable to the team.
Hafey was prepared to back his players and build their confidence, contributing to a strong team spirit. His approach differed from most successful coaches who remained aloof from their players. He focussed on the team's camaraderie, in many cases becoming intimately involved with the lives of his charges and he sought to mix with them in social situations even though he was a teetotaller and non-smoker. All four teams that he coached improved immediately after Hafey's appointment. However, he also "lost" his players several times during his career as they rebelled against his training requirements.
Comparative coaching statistics
* Statistics up to the end of the 2016 AFL season.
Later career
Returning to Melbourne in 1989, Hafey was employed by ABC radio as a football commentator. Although often mentioned as a possible candidate by the media whenever a coaching position fell vacant in the AFL, no job materialised. Hafey came to be seen as one of the "old school" coaches, unsuited to the tactically sophisticated era. In his radio commentary, he rarely employed the jargon of the modern coach and believed that football is a simple game that had been over-complicated, that motivation comes from within and fitness is the basis for success.
Hafey fashioned a career as a self-styled "ambassador" for the game and a strident advocate for physical fitness in the wider society. A particular interest was the current plight of Australian football clubs in rural areas, who he believed have been neglected by the AFL since the competition was fully professionalised in the 1990s. He spoke regularly on football and/or fitness, always emphasising the benefits of a healthy lifestyle. Hafey also provided training advice to sporting clubs and schools, and gave motivational lectures.
Personal fitness
Hafey's passion for fitness was legendary; every morning he woke up at 5:20 and went for an 8 km run, followed by 250 push-ups and a swim in Port Phillip Bay, and when he got home he did 700 crunches and sit-ups. He was a popular figure at St. Kilda beach, often greeting fellow joggers and cyclists.
In 2011, Hafey appeared in a TV commercial for Jeep Australia as part of their 70th Anniversary Campaign. The commercial shows him running and doing push-ups as part of his regular fitness routine.
Death and legacy
An inaugural inductee to the Australian Football Hall of Fame 1996, Hafey was named coach of Richmond's team of the century in 1998. In 2003, the Tigers set up the "Tom Hafey club", a corporate networking group, in his honour.
In 2011, a book titled The Hafey Years – Reliving a golden era at Tigerland was published. It documents Hafey's involvement with Richmond as a player, and his run of success as a coach in the 1960s and 1970s. Hafey had previously resisted having a biography written about him; author Elliot Cartledge said he changed his stance "because The Hafey Years is not a biography but a chronicle of an era."
During AFL Grand Final week in 2011, Hafey was awarded the "Coaching Legend Award" by the AFL Coaches Association.
After a brief illness due to a secondary cancer, Hafey died at the age of 82 on 12 May 2014.
Coaching tree
At least 20 men that played under Hafey at Richmond later went on to success as coaches themselves. At VFL/AFL level, these include premiership coaches Tony Jewell (at Richmond), Kevin Sheedy (at Essendon) and Mick Malthouse (at Footscray, West Coast, Collingwood and Carlton), as well as Kevin Bartlett, Royce Hart, Francis Bourke, Paul Sproule, Mike Patterson, Mick Erwin (who replaced Hafey when he was sacked by Collingwood), Neil Balme, John Northey, Ian Stewart, and Barry Richardson. In addition, a number of his former players had important careers coaching at lower levels of the game, such as Merv Keane and Kevin Morris.
References
Bibliography
1971 Tiger Year Book – Richmond Football Club
Hogan P: The Tigers of Old, Richmond FC, Melbourne 1996
Cartledge, E: The Hafey Years – Reliving a golden era at Tigerland, Weston Media & Communications, Melbourne 2011
External links
ABC – 2002 interview with Tom Hafey
Tom Hafey's playing statistics from AFL Tables
Tom Hafey's coaching statistics from AFL Tables
Richmond Football Club Official Site – Hall of Fame
AFL Hall of Fame - Coaches
1931 births
2014 deaths
Richmond Football Club coaches
Richmond Football Club Premiership coaches
Geelong Football Club coaches
Collingwood Football Club coaches
Sydney Swans coaches
Richmond Football Club players
Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees
All-Australian coaches
Australian rules footballers from Victoria (Australia)
Shepparton Football Club players
Sportspeople from Melbourne
Deaths from cancer in Victoria (Australia) | true | [
"The 2006 Tippeligaen was the 62nd completed season of top division football in Norway. The season began on April 9, 2006 and ended on November 5, 2006. Rosenborg became champions on October 29, with one round to go, by defeating Viking at home. The other main contenders for the title were Brann and Lillestrøm, the former securing their place as runners-up on the same day.\n\nRosenborg won their twentieth league title.\n\nNotable events \n\n Tromsø installed artificial turf at their home ground Alfheim stadion during the summer break.\n Tom Nordlie was sacked as coach of Start in July and was replaced by Stig Inge Bjørnebye.\n Ivar Morten Normark was sacked as coach of Tromsø in July, and was replaced by Steinar Nilsen in August.\n Rosenborg's coach Per-Mathias Høgmo took two months of sick leave from July 27. Assistant Knut Tørum served as caretaker manager.\n Kjetil Rekdal resigned as coach of Vålerenga on August 21, following the club's exit from the Norwegian Cup. Rekdal held the position for six years, leading his team to one cup triumph in 2002 and the league championship in 2005. The assistant coach Petter Myhre took over Rekdal's place.\n Tom Prahl was sacked as coach of Viking in September and was replaced by Tom Nordlie who earlier in the season was sacked as coach in Start.\n On October 31, Høgmo resigns as Rosenborg manager, effective immediately. Tørum, who led ROS from 10 points behind leaders Brann to win the title with one round to spare, is expected to be elevated to permanent manager.\n After the club's relegation, Ham-Kam's coach Frode Grodås, was sacked on November 7.\n Arild Stavrum was sacked as coach of Molde on November 8, after the club came dead last in the league.\n Uwe Rösler was sacked as coach of Lillestrøm on November 13.\n Tom Nordlie and Uwe Rösler traded jobs, Nordlie to Lillestrøm, and Rösler to Viking.\n\nTeams and locations\nFourteen teams competed in the league – the top twelve teams from the previous season, and two teams promoted from 1. divisjon.\n\n''Note: Table lists in alphabetical order.\n\n1 Tromsø installed artificial turf on Alfheim Stadion in the summer break during the 2006 FIFA World Cup.\n\nLeague table\n\nRelegation play-offs \n Odd Grenland defeated Bryne 10–1 on aggregate in a two-legged play-off:\n\nResults\n\nSeason statistics\n\nTop scorers\n\nDiscipline\n\nPlayer\nMost yellow cards: 8\n Jan Michaelsen (HamKam)\nMost red cards: 1\n28 players\n\nClub\nMost yellow cards: 49\nMolde\n\nMost red cards: 4\nTromsø\n\nAttendances\n\nFair Play \n\n The fair play table, using UEFA's Fair Play ranking system with scores from 1 to 10, was as such:\n Fredrikstad 8.02\n Rosenborg 7.97\n Vålerenga 7.88\n Lillestrøm 7.83\n Start 7.82\n Viking 7.81\n Sandefjord 7.77\n Stabæk 7.76\n Brann 7.72\n Molde 7.59\n Odd Grenland 7.57\n Tromsø 7.53\n Lyn 7.43\n Ham-Kam 7.23\n\nSee also \n 2006 1. divisjon\n\nNotes and references\n\nExternal links \n Norwegian Football Association\n Fixtures, results and table for Tippeligaen 2006\n\nEliteserien seasons\n1\nNorway\nNorway",
"Tom Manning (born July 22, 1983) is an American football coach who is the offensive coordinator for Iowa State University. He also was previously the tight ends coach for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL).\n\nCoaching career \nManning began his coaching career at the high school level, coaching the offensive line at Jackson High School in Massillon, Ohio. He went on to coach at Emory & Henry as the offensive line coach and run game coordinator before moving on to Toledo as a graduate assistant and later their director of operations. He spent one year at his alma mater Mount Union as an offensive line coach before being hired once again at Toledo.\n\nToledo (second stint) \nManning was named the offensive line coach at Toledo in 2012, reuniting with Matt Campbell who was his teammate and later his position coach at Mount Union.\n\nIowa State \nManning followed Campbell after the latter was named the head coach at Iowa State in 2016. He was promoted to offensive coordinator in addition to his duties as offensive line coach.\n\nIndianapolis Colts \nManning was named the tight ends coach for the Indianapolis Colts in 2018, joining Frank Reich's inaugural staff.\n\nIowa State (second stint) \nManning rejoined the coaching staff at Iowa State in 2019. In his first year back in Ames, he was named a nominee for the Broyles Award, an award given to the top assistant coach in college football. He was nominated once again for the Broyles Award in 2020.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Tom Manning on Twitter\n Iowa State Cyclones bio\n\n1983 births\nLiving people\nPlayers of American football from Youngstown, Ohio\nAmerican football offensive tackles\nMount Union Purple Raiders football players\nHigh school football coaches in Ohio\nEmory and Henry Wasps football coaches\nToledo Rockets football coaches\nMount Union Purple Raiders football coaches\nIowa State Cyclones football coaches\nIndianapolis Colts coaches"
] | [
"Thomas Stanley Raymond Hafey (5 August 1931 – 12 May 2014) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Richmond Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL). He then became one of the VFL's longest-serving and most successful coaches, guiding Richmond to four VFL premierships before also having stints at , and finally .Hafey was an inaugural inductee into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 1996, named coach of Richmond's team of the century in 1998, and given the AFL Coaches Association \"Coaching Legend Award\" in 2011.",
"He then became one of the VFL's longest-serving and most successful coaches, guiding Richmond to four VFL premierships before also having stints at , and finally .Hafey was an inaugural inductee into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 1996, named coach of Richmond's team of the century in 1998, and given the AFL Coaches Association \"Coaching Legend Award\" in 2011. He was renowned for his fitness and toughness even in his elderly years when he would still run rings around his juniors.",
"He was renowned for his fitness and toughness even in his elderly years when he would still run rings around his juniors. He would do over 700 push ups and crunches a day every day since he started playing AFL (VFL back then). Playing career Tom Hafey was born and raised in Richmond. He began his football career with the East Malvern under 19 team before graduating to the senior side in 1950. He spent three years with the club, winning the best and fairest in 1952.",
"He spent three years with the club, winning the best and fairest in 1952. Hafey was then invited to train at Richmond. At the time, the Tigers were in turmoil after legendary coach Jack Dyer quit. In an effort to reinvigorate the team, Richmond recruited a number of highly considered young players, including Ron Branton, Frank Dunin and Brian Davie. However, it was Hafey, an unheralded local, who played twelve of the eighteen matches his first year, scoring eight goals.",
"However, it was Hafey, an unheralded local, who played twelve of the eighteen matches his first year, scoring eight goals. The following season was less productive for Hafey as he played just four games due to a bout of hepatitis. He did, however, play back pocket when the reserves captured the premiership by defeating Melbourne in the Grand Final. He was named as one of the Tigers' best performers, and was selected for the senior team for the 1955 and 1956 seasons.",
"He was named as one of the Tigers' best performers, and was selected for the senior team for the 1955 and 1956 seasons. In these two years, he played 28 games. After the appointment of Alan McDonald as coach, Hafey was often relegated to the bench as Ken Ward played in the back pocket. The Tigers fell to the bottom part of the ladder. Playing a backup role for a poor team, Hafey decided to retire from the VFL at the end of 1958.",
"Playing a backup role for a poor team, Hafey decided to retire from the VFL at the end of 1958. Over six seasons, he had played in 67 games, starting 52 of them. In 1959, Hafey played for the local Richmond Amateurs who won the premiership that year. Coaching career After the 1959 season, Hafey left the city of Richmond, taking a job as playing coach of Shepparton in the Goulburn Valley area of northern Victoria. His tenacious attitude and devotion to fitness turned the club into a winner.",
"His tenacious attitude and devotion to fitness turned the club into a winner. Shepparton lost the Grand Final to Tongala in 1961, then won three straight from 1963 to 1965. Meanwhile, Hafey acted as a recruiting agent for the Tigers, recommending potential players from his region. Hafey's performance drew the attention of Tiger secretary Graeme Richmond. When coach Len Smith had a heart attack in 1965, the club appointed Jack Titus to serve as interim coach until a replacement could be found.",
"When coach Len Smith had a heart attack in 1965, the club appointed Jack Titus to serve as interim coach until a replacement could be found. Hafey was encouraged to apply, and the decision came down to Hafey and former club captain Ron Branton. Many expected Branton to get the job. However, Graeme Richmond saw something special in Hafey and he was appointed coach for the 1966 season. On his return to Richmond, Hafey found the team had acquired a number of young, high quality players.",
"On his return to Richmond, Hafey found the team had acquired a number of young, high quality players. He later recalled feeling some apprehension about his youth and that he would be coaching some ex-teammates. Even so, he quickly put his stamp on the club, bringing intensity and desire to reach the top.",
"Even so, he quickly put his stamp on the club, bringing intensity and desire to reach the top. Although he acknowledged the ideas and tactical approach of Len Smith (who remained at the club as a selector and consultant), Hafey opted for what became his trademark style: kick the ball long and quickly into the forward line. He raised the bar for fitness among his players, extending pre-season training and introducing a third training night during the week.",
"He raised the bar for fitness among his players, extending pre-season training and introducing a third training night during the week. Richmond quickly became known for being the fittest team in the competition. Richmond began 1966 strongly. A month before the finals, they hit the top of the ladder for the first time since 1951 and seemed certain to play in September. However, two losses dropped the Tigers to fifth place with thirteen wins and a draw.",
"However, two losses dropped the Tigers to fifth place with thirteen wins and a draw. They became the best performing team to miss the finals since the inception of the McIntyre finals system in 1931. Richmond dismissed a number of players, replacing them with new players such as Royce Hart and Francis Bourke. Premierships Richmond dominated the 1967 season, running out winners in a classic Grand Final against Geelong.",
"Premierships Richmond dominated the 1967 season, running out winners in a classic Grand Final against Geelong. In his first two years, the team lost only seven games and Hafey had gone from an unknown coach in the bush to the toast of the football world. In hindsight, the 1967 premiership marked a turning point for the game. The Tigers were fitter than any team that had gone before and were the highest scoring team since 1950.",
"The Tigers were fitter than any team that had gone before and were the highest scoring team since 1950. Australian football, after two decades of defensive-based play, was about to enter an era of high scoring, aided by rule changes, new tactics and better standards of fitness. The Tigers started the 1968 season slowly. They rallied to win the last six games, but missed the finals. When the Tigers were again lethargic in mid-1969, accusations of under-achievement arose and rumours that Hafey was on the way out circulated.",
"When the Tigers were again lethargic in mid-1969, accusations of under-achievement arose and rumours that Hafey was on the way out circulated. The players rallied behind Hafey and finished the season strong, taking fourth place. The team won all three finals, taking a second premiership. After missing the playoffs in 1970, Hafey took the Tigers to the finals for the next five years. Basing the team's strategy around all-out attack had drawbacks.",
"Basing the team's strategy around all-out attack had drawbacks. Most famously, during the 1972 finals the team conceded the highest score ever, losing to Carlton in a shock upset. Hafey later said the defeat depressed him for many months, but it later became the motivation for back-to-back premierships in 1973 and 1974. By now, the aggressive attitude of the club both on and off the field had created resentment toward the club.",
"By now, the aggressive attitude of the club both on and off the field had created resentment toward the club. A number of incidents during the 1973 Grand Final – the Windy Hill brawl, the attempted recruitment of John Pitura from South Melbourne and a poor reaction to Kevin Bartlett's failure to win the Brownlow medal – all focussed negative attention on the club. Hafey, however, used the resentment to his advantage, telling his players \"it's Richmond against the world\".",
"Hafey, however, used the resentment to his advantage, telling his players \"it's Richmond against the world\". Richmond showed signs of ageing in 1975, when they lost in the preliminary final. A raft of player departures made for a poor 1976 season, with the Tigers finishing seventh, Hafey's worst ever result. He was reappointed for 1977, but not unanimously (he had no contract with Richmond, instead being appointed on a year-to-year basis).",
"He was reappointed for 1977, but not unanimously (he had no contract with Richmond, instead being appointed on a year-to-year basis). When it leaked that Graeme Richmond, the club's powerbroker, had voted against Hafey's reappointment Hafey immediately resigned. Collingwood Hafey's initial thought was to seek a job in Western Australia. However, a chance meeting with the new Collingwood president, John Hickey, took Hafey a different direction. The Magpies had just endured their worst ever season, finishing last.",
"The Magpies had just endured their worst ever season, finishing last. Hickey defied the club's tradition against hiring an outsider as coach, appointing Hafey to coach the club for the 1977 season. Hafey was an instant success, taking the club from last to first in one year – the first time this had been achieved in the VFL.",
"Hafey was an instant success, taking the club from last to first in one year – the first time this had been achieved in the VFL. Collingwood had lost eleven of their last thirteen finals matches, many by slender margins, leading to the press to say the team was afflicted with a \"disease\" called \"Colliwobbles\". The disease appeared defeated when the team beat the favoured Hawthorn by two points in the semi-final. In the final, Collingwood led North Melbourne by 27 points at three quarter time.",
"In the final, Collingwood led North Melbourne by 27 points at three quarter time. Trainers and committeemen began to celebrate early and North Melbourne fought back to a draw. In the replay the following week, Collingwood lost a high-scoring contest. Collingwood lost to North Melbourne in the 1978 Preliminary Final, leading to a number of personnel changes during the offseason. In 1979, the team returned to the Grand Final. After taking a second quarter led, Collingwood fell behind at the half. They ultimately lost by five points.",
"They ultimately lost by five points. They ultimately lost by five points. In the 1980 Grand Final, Hafey took on his old team of Richmond. Kevin Bartlett won the Norm Smith medal as the Tigers won by a record margin. The Magpies again made the Grand Final in 1981. After holding a 21-point lead in the third, Collingwood gave up two late goals before the three quarter break. The resulting disharmony in the Magpie huddle allowed the Blues to dominate the fourth quarter and win the game.",
"The resulting disharmony in the Magpie huddle allowed the Blues to dominate the fourth quarter and win the game. After years of disappointment players and fans began to criticise Hafey's methods. Several leading players said Hafey over-trained the team, particularly in the lead-up to finals matches. Others said Hafey was too slow to respond when the team was going under. During the 1982 season, a record losing streak of nine games sealed Hafey's fate and he was sacked mid-season.",
"During the 1982 season, a record losing streak of nine games sealed Hafey's fate and he was sacked mid-season. Geelong and Sydney Hafey was given a three-year contract to coach Geelong in 1983. However, he was unable to engender the type of team spirit he created at Collingwood and Richmond, and the team did not make the finals during his tenure. During 1985, it became clear that Hafey's contract would not be renewed.",
"During 1985, it became clear that Hafey's contract would not be renewed. During the 1985 season, the VFL had sold the Sydney Swans to controversial medical entrepreneur Geoffrey Edelsten to create the first privately owned club. Franchising, club licensing, player drafts and salary caps were all concepts that the VFL was attempting to import into Australian football at a time of financial crisis. Edelsten quickly signed numerous star players away from Melbourne clubs by offering large contracts.",
"Edelsten quickly signed numerous star players away from Melbourne clubs by offering large contracts. He wanted to hire Kevin Sheedy, who had just coached Essendon to successive premierships. Sheedy turned Edelsten down, but urged the Swans' owner to sign his old mentor, Tom Hafey. Edelsten took the advice and signed Hafey for three years. Coaching methods Hafey's teams usually tackled hard, shepherded, persisted, smothered and backed each other up, aspects of the game now called \"one-percenters\".",
"Coaching methods Hafey's teams usually tackled hard, shepherded, persisted, smothered and backed each other up, aspects of the game now called \"one-percenters\". Supreme fitness was required to play this way, so Hafey put a strong emphasis on training. However, his training methods were sometimes labelled monotonous and he was described as tactically unsophisticated. Hafey strongly believed in leaving players in their designated position, even if they were losing to their opponent, which attracted criticism when the team lost.",
"Hafey strongly believed in leaving players in their designated position, even if they were losing to their opponent, which attracted criticism when the team lost. By contrast, virtually all players are rotated in modern play as the coach seeks match-ups favourable to the team. Hafey was prepared to back his players and build their confidence, contributing to a strong team spirit. His approach differed from most successful coaches who remained aloof from their players.",
"His approach differed from most successful coaches who remained aloof from their players. He focussed on the team's camaraderie, in many cases becoming intimately involved with the lives of his charges and he sought to mix with them in social situations even though he was a teetotaller and non-smoker. All four teams that he coached improved immediately after Hafey's appointment. However, he also \"lost\" his players several times during his career as they rebelled against his training requirements.",
"However, he also \"lost\" his players several times during his career as they rebelled against his training requirements. Comparative coaching statistics * Statistics up to the end of the 2016 AFL season. Later career Returning to Melbourne in 1989, Hafey was employed by ABC radio as a football commentator. Although often mentioned as a possible candidate by the media whenever a coaching position fell vacant in the AFL, no job materialised.",
"Although often mentioned as a possible candidate by the media whenever a coaching position fell vacant in the AFL, no job materialised. Hafey came to be seen as one of the \"old school\" coaches, unsuited to the tactically sophisticated era. In his radio commentary, he rarely employed the jargon of the modern coach and believed that football is a simple game that had been over-complicated, that motivation comes from within and fitness is the basis for success.",
"In his radio commentary, he rarely employed the jargon of the modern coach and believed that football is a simple game that had been over-complicated, that motivation comes from within and fitness is the basis for success. Hafey fashioned a career as a self-styled \"ambassador\" for the game and a strident advocate for physical fitness in the wider society. A particular interest was the current plight of Australian football clubs in rural areas, who he believed have been neglected by the AFL since the competition was fully professionalised in the 1990s.",
"A particular interest was the current plight of Australian football clubs in rural areas, who he believed have been neglected by the AFL since the competition was fully professionalised in the 1990s. He spoke regularly on football and/or fitness, always emphasising the benefits of a healthy lifestyle. Hafey also provided training advice to sporting clubs and schools, and gave motivational lectures.",
"Hafey also provided training advice to sporting clubs and schools, and gave motivational lectures. Personal fitness Hafey's passion for fitness was legendary; every morning he woke up at 5:20 and went for an 8 km run, followed by 250 push-ups and a swim in Port Phillip Bay, and when he got home he did 700 crunches and sit-ups. He was a popular figure at St. Kilda beach, often greeting fellow joggers and cyclists.",
"He was a popular figure at St. Kilda beach, often greeting fellow joggers and cyclists. In 2011, Hafey appeared in a TV commercial for Jeep Australia as part of their 70th Anniversary Campaign. The commercial shows him running and doing push-ups as part of his regular fitness routine. Death and legacy An inaugural inductee to the Australian Football Hall of Fame 1996, Hafey was named coach of Richmond's team of the century in 1998.",
"Death and legacy An inaugural inductee to the Australian Football Hall of Fame 1996, Hafey was named coach of Richmond's team of the century in 1998. In 2003, the Tigers set up the \"Tom Hafey club\", a corporate networking group, in his honour. In 2011, a book titled The Hafey Years – Reliving a golden era at Tigerland was published. It documents Hafey's involvement with Richmond as a player, and his run of success as a coach in the 1960s and 1970s.",
"It documents Hafey's involvement with Richmond as a player, and his run of success as a coach in the 1960s and 1970s. Hafey had previously resisted having a biography written about him; author Elliot Cartledge said he changed his stance \"because The Hafey Years is not a biography but a chronicle of an era.\" During AFL Grand Final week in 2011, Hafey was awarded the \"Coaching Legend Award\" by the AFL Coaches Association.",
"During AFL Grand Final week in 2011, Hafey was awarded the \"Coaching Legend Award\" by the AFL Coaches Association. After a brief illness due to a secondary cancer, Hafey died at the age of 82 on 12 May 2014. Coaching tree At least 20 men that played under Hafey at Richmond later went on to success as coaches themselves.",
"Coaching tree At least 20 men that played under Hafey at Richmond later went on to success as coaches themselves. At VFL/AFL level, these include premiership coaches Tony Jewell (at Richmond), Kevin Sheedy (at Essendon) and Mick Malthouse (at Footscray, West Coast, Collingwood and Carlton), as well as Kevin Bartlett, Royce Hart, Francis Bourke, Paul Sproule, Mike Patterson, Mick Erwin (who replaced Hafey when he was sacked by Collingwood), Neil Balme, John Northey, Ian Stewart, and Barry Richardson.",
"At VFL/AFL level, these include premiership coaches Tony Jewell (at Richmond), Kevin Sheedy (at Essendon) and Mick Malthouse (at Footscray, West Coast, Collingwood and Carlton), as well as Kevin Bartlett, Royce Hart, Francis Bourke, Paul Sproule, Mike Patterson, Mick Erwin (who replaced Hafey when he was sacked by Collingwood), Neil Balme, John Northey, Ian Stewart, and Barry Richardson. In addition, a number of his former players had important careers coaching at lower levels of the game, such as Merv Keane and Kevin Morris.",
"In addition, a number of his former players had important careers coaching at lower levels of the game, such as Merv Keane and Kevin Morris. References Bibliography 1971 Tiger Year Book – Richmond Football Club Hogan P: The Tigers of Old, Richmond FC, Melbourne 1996 Cartledge, E: The Hafey Years – Reliving a golden era at Tigerland, Weston Media & Communications, Melbourne 2011 External links ABC – 2002 interview with Tom Hafey Tom Hafey's playing statistics from AFL Tables Tom Hafey's coaching statistics from AFL Tables Richmond Football Club Official Site – Hall of Fame AFL Hall of Fame - Coaches 1931 births 2014 deaths Richmond Football Club coaches Richmond Football Club Premiership coaches Geelong Football Club coaches Collingwood Football Club coaches Sydney Swans coaches Richmond Football Club players Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees All-Australian coaches Australian rules footballers from Victoria (Australia) Shepparton Football Club players Sportspeople from Melbourne Deaths from cancer in Victoria (Australia)"
] |
[
"Tom Hafey",
"Premierships",
"What are Premierships?",
"In hindsight, the 1967 premiership marked a turning point for the game.",
"How did it affect Tom?",
"from an unknown coach in the bush",
"Was Tom a coach in 1967?",
"1967"
] | C_706d5730c4d24d468f8fa7d0e627ffaf_1 | What team did he coach? | 4 | What team did Hafey coach? | Tom Hafey | Richmond dominated the 1967 season, running out winners in a classic Grand Final against Geelong. In his first two years, the team lost only seven games and Hafey had gone from an unknown coach in the bush to the toast of the football world. In hindsight, the 1967 premiership marked a turning point for the game. The Tigers were fitter than any team that had gone before and were the highest scoring team since 1950. Australian football, after two decades of defensive-based play, was about to enter an era of high scoring, aided by rule changes, new tactics and betters standards of fitness. The Tigers started the 1968 season slowly. They rallied to win the last six games, but missed the finals. When the Tigers were again lethargic in mid-1969, accusations of under-achievement arose and rumours that Hafey was on the way out circulated. The players rallied behind Hafey and finished the season strong, taking fourth place. The team won all three finals, taking a second premiership. After missing the playoffs in 1970, Hafey took the Tigers to the finals for the next five years. Basing the team's strategy around all-out attack had drawbacks. Most famously, during the 1972 finals the team conceded the highest score ever, losing to Carlton in a shock upset. Hafey later said the defeat depressed him for many months, but it later became the motivation for back-to-back premierships in 1973 and 1974. By now, the aggressive attitude of the club both on and off the field had created resentment toward the club. A number of incidents during the 1973 Grand Final - the Windy Hill brawl, the attempted recruitment of John Pitura from South Melbourne and a poor reaction to Kevin Bartlett's failure to win the Brownlow medal - all focussed negative attention on the club. Hafey, however, used the resentment to his advantage, telling his players "it's Richmond against the world". Richmond showed signs of ageing in 1975, when they lost in the preliminary final. A raft of player departures made for a poor 1976 season, with the Tigers finishing seventh, Hafey's worst ever result. He was reappointed for 1977, but not unanimously (he had no contract with Richmond, instead being appointed on a year-to-year basis). When it leaked that Graeme Richmond, the club's powerbroker, had voted against Hafey's reappointment Hafey immediately resigned. CANNOTANSWER | The Tigers | Thomas Stanley Raymond Hafey (5 August 1931 – 12 May 2014) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Richmond Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL). He then became one of the VFL's longest-serving and most successful coaches, guiding Richmond to four VFL premierships before also having stints at , and finally .Hafey was an inaugural inductee into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 1996, named coach of Richmond's team of the century in 1998, and given the AFL Coaches Association "Coaching Legend Award" in 2011.
He was renowned for his fitness and toughness even in his elderly years when he would still run rings around his juniors. He would do over 700 push ups and crunches a day every day since he started playing AFL (VFL back then).
Playing career
Tom Hafey was born and raised in Richmond. He began his football career with the East Malvern under 19 team before graduating to the senior side in 1950. He spent three years with the club, winning the best and fairest in 1952.
Hafey was then invited to train at Richmond. At the time, the Tigers were in turmoil after legendary coach Jack Dyer quit. In an effort to reinvigorate the team, Richmond recruited a number of highly considered young players, including Ron Branton, Frank Dunin and Brian Davie. However, it was Hafey, an unheralded local, who played twelve of the eighteen matches his first year, scoring eight goals.
The following season was less productive for Hafey as he played just four games due to a bout of hepatitis. He did, however, play back pocket when the reserves captured the premiership by defeating Melbourne in the Grand Final. He was named as one of the Tigers' best performers, and was selected for the senior team for the 1955 and 1956 seasons. In these two years, he played 28 games.
After the appointment of Alan McDonald as coach, Hafey was often relegated to the bench as Ken Ward played in the back pocket. The Tigers fell to the bottom part of the ladder. Playing a backup role for a poor team, Hafey decided to retire from the VFL at the end of 1958. Over six seasons, he had played in 67 games, starting 52 of them. In 1959, Hafey played for the local Richmond Amateurs who won the premiership that year.
Coaching career
After the 1959 season, Hafey left the city of Richmond, taking a job as playing coach of Shepparton in the Goulburn Valley area of northern Victoria. His tenacious attitude and devotion to fitness turned the club into a winner. Shepparton lost the Grand Final to Tongala in 1961, then won three straight from 1963 to 1965. Meanwhile, Hafey acted as a recruiting agent for the Tigers, recommending potential players from his region.
Hafey's performance drew the attention of Tiger secretary Graeme Richmond. When coach Len Smith had a heart attack in 1965, the club appointed Jack Titus to serve as interim coach until a replacement could be found. Hafey was encouraged to apply, and the decision came down to Hafey and former club captain Ron Branton. Many expected Branton to get the job. However, Graeme Richmond saw something special in Hafey and he was appointed coach for the 1966 season.
On his return to Richmond, Hafey found the team had acquired a number of young, high quality players. He later recalled feeling some apprehension about his youth and that he would be coaching some ex-teammates. Even so, he quickly put his stamp on the club, bringing intensity and desire to reach the top. Although he acknowledged the ideas and tactical approach of Len Smith (who remained at the club as a selector and consultant), Hafey opted for what became his trademark style: kick the ball long and quickly into the forward line. He raised the bar for fitness among his players, extending pre-season training and introducing a third training night during the week. Richmond quickly became known for being the fittest team in the competition.
Richmond began 1966 strongly. A month before the finals, they hit the top of the ladder for the first time since 1951 and seemed certain to play in September. However, two losses dropped the Tigers to fifth place with thirteen wins and a draw. They became the best performing team to miss the finals since the inception of the McIntyre finals system in 1931. Richmond dismissed a number of players, replacing them with new players such as Royce Hart and Francis Bourke.
Premierships
Richmond dominated the 1967 season, running out winners in a classic Grand Final against Geelong. In his first two years, the team lost only seven games and Hafey had gone from an unknown coach in the bush to the toast of the football world. In hindsight, the 1967 premiership marked a turning point for the game. The Tigers were fitter than any team that had gone before and were the highest scoring team since 1950. Australian football, after two decades of defensive-based play, was about to enter an era of high scoring, aided by rule changes, new tactics and better standards of fitness.
The Tigers started the 1968 season slowly. They rallied to win the last six games, but missed the finals. When the Tigers were again lethargic in mid-1969, accusations of under-achievement arose and rumours that Hafey was on the way out circulated. The players rallied behind Hafey and finished the season strong, taking fourth place. The team won all three finals, taking a second premiership.
After missing the playoffs in 1970, Hafey took the Tigers to the finals for the next five years. Basing the team's strategy around all-out attack had drawbacks. Most famously, during the 1972 finals the team conceded the highest score ever, losing to Carlton in a shock upset. Hafey later said the defeat depressed him for many months, but it later became the motivation for back-to-back premierships in 1973 and 1974. By now, the aggressive attitude of the club both on and off the field had created resentment toward the club. A number of incidents during the 1973 Grand Final – the Windy Hill brawl, the attempted recruitment of John Pitura from South Melbourne and a poor reaction to Kevin Bartlett's failure to win the Brownlow medal – all focussed negative attention on the club. Hafey, however, used the resentment to his advantage, telling his players "it's Richmond against the world".
Richmond showed signs of ageing in 1975, when they lost in the preliminary final. A raft of player departures made for a poor 1976 season, with the Tigers finishing seventh, Hafey's worst ever result. He was reappointed for 1977, but not unanimously (he had no contract with Richmond, instead being appointed on a year-to-year basis). When it leaked that Graeme Richmond, the club's powerbroker, had voted against Hafey's reappointment Hafey immediately resigned.
Collingwood
Hafey's initial thought was to seek a job in Western Australia. However, a chance meeting with the new Collingwood president, John Hickey, took Hafey a different direction. The Magpies had just endured their worst ever season, finishing last. Hickey defied the club's tradition against hiring an outsider as coach, appointing Hafey to coach the club for the 1977 season.
Hafey was an instant success, taking the club from last to first in one year – the first time this had been achieved in the VFL. Collingwood had lost eleven of their last thirteen finals matches, many by slender margins, leading to the press to say the team was afflicted with a "disease" called "Colliwobbles". The disease appeared defeated when the team beat the favoured Hawthorn by two points in the semi-final. In the final, Collingwood led North Melbourne by 27 points at three quarter time. Trainers and committeemen began to celebrate early and North Melbourne fought back to a draw. In the replay the following week, Collingwood lost a high-scoring contest.
Collingwood lost to North Melbourne in the 1978 Preliminary Final, leading to a number of personnel changes during the offseason. In 1979, the team returned to the Grand Final. After taking a second quarter led, Collingwood fell behind at the half. They ultimately lost by five points. In the 1980 Grand Final, Hafey took on his old team of Richmond. Kevin Bartlett won the Norm Smith medal as the Tigers won by a record margin. The Magpies again made the Grand Final in 1981. After holding a 21-point lead in the third, Collingwood gave up two late goals before the three quarter break. The resulting disharmony in the Magpie huddle allowed the Blues to dominate the fourth quarter and win the game.
After years of disappointment players and fans began to criticise Hafey's methods. Several leading players said Hafey over-trained the team, particularly in the lead-up to finals matches. Others said Hafey was too slow to respond when the team was going under. During the 1982 season, a record losing streak of nine games sealed Hafey's fate and he was sacked mid-season.
Geelong and Sydney
Hafey was given a three-year contract to coach Geelong in 1983. However, he was unable to engender the type of team spirit he created at Collingwood and Richmond, and the team did not make the finals during his tenure. During 1985, it became clear that Hafey's contract would not be renewed.
During the 1985 season, the VFL had sold the Sydney Swans to controversial medical entrepreneur Geoffrey Edelsten to create the first privately owned club. Franchising, club licensing, player drafts and salary caps were all concepts that the VFL was attempting to import into Australian football at a time of financial crisis. Edelsten quickly signed numerous star players away from Melbourne clubs by offering large contracts. He wanted to hire Kevin Sheedy, who had just coached Essendon to successive premierships. Sheedy turned Edelsten down, but urged the Swans' owner to sign his old mentor, Tom Hafey. Edelsten took the advice and signed Hafey for three years.
Coaching methods
Hafey's teams usually tackled hard, shepherded, persisted, smothered and backed each other up, aspects of the game now called "one-percenters". Supreme fitness was required to play this way, so Hafey put a strong emphasis on training. However, his training methods were sometimes labelled monotonous and he was described as tactically unsophisticated.
Hafey strongly believed in leaving players in their designated position, even if they were losing to their opponent, which attracted criticism when the team lost. By contrast, virtually all players are rotated in modern play as the coach seeks match-ups favourable to the team.
Hafey was prepared to back his players and build their confidence, contributing to a strong team spirit. His approach differed from most successful coaches who remained aloof from their players. He focussed on the team's camaraderie, in many cases becoming intimately involved with the lives of his charges and he sought to mix with them in social situations even though he was a teetotaller and non-smoker. All four teams that he coached improved immediately after Hafey's appointment. However, he also "lost" his players several times during his career as they rebelled against his training requirements.
Comparative coaching statistics
* Statistics up to the end of the 2016 AFL season.
Later career
Returning to Melbourne in 1989, Hafey was employed by ABC radio as a football commentator. Although often mentioned as a possible candidate by the media whenever a coaching position fell vacant in the AFL, no job materialised. Hafey came to be seen as one of the "old school" coaches, unsuited to the tactically sophisticated era. In his radio commentary, he rarely employed the jargon of the modern coach and believed that football is a simple game that had been over-complicated, that motivation comes from within and fitness is the basis for success.
Hafey fashioned a career as a self-styled "ambassador" for the game and a strident advocate for physical fitness in the wider society. A particular interest was the current plight of Australian football clubs in rural areas, who he believed have been neglected by the AFL since the competition was fully professionalised in the 1990s. He spoke regularly on football and/or fitness, always emphasising the benefits of a healthy lifestyle. Hafey also provided training advice to sporting clubs and schools, and gave motivational lectures.
Personal fitness
Hafey's passion for fitness was legendary; every morning he woke up at 5:20 and went for an 8 km run, followed by 250 push-ups and a swim in Port Phillip Bay, and when he got home he did 700 crunches and sit-ups. He was a popular figure at St. Kilda beach, often greeting fellow joggers and cyclists.
In 2011, Hafey appeared in a TV commercial for Jeep Australia as part of their 70th Anniversary Campaign. The commercial shows him running and doing push-ups as part of his regular fitness routine.
Death and legacy
An inaugural inductee to the Australian Football Hall of Fame 1996, Hafey was named coach of Richmond's team of the century in 1998. In 2003, the Tigers set up the "Tom Hafey club", a corporate networking group, in his honour.
In 2011, a book titled The Hafey Years – Reliving a golden era at Tigerland was published. It documents Hafey's involvement with Richmond as a player, and his run of success as a coach in the 1960s and 1970s. Hafey had previously resisted having a biography written about him; author Elliot Cartledge said he changed his stance "because The Hafey Years is not a biography but a chronicle of an era."
During AFL Grand Final week in 2011, Hafey was awarded the "Coaching Legend Award" by the AFL Coaches Association.
After a brief illness due to a secondary cancer, Hafey died at the age of 82 on 12 May 2014.
Coaching tree
At least 20 men that played under Hafey at Richmond later went on to success as coaches themselves. At VFL/AFL level, these include premiership coaches Tony Jewell (at Richmond), Kevin Sheedy (at Essendon) and Mick Malthouse (at Footscray, West Coast, Collingwood and Carlton), as well as Kevin Bartlett, Royce Hart, Francis Bourke, Paul Sproule, Mike Patterson, Mick Erwin (who replaced Hafey when he was sacked by Collingwood), Neil Balme, John Northey, Ian Stewart, and Barry Richardson. In addition, a number of his former players had important careers coaching at lower levels of the game, such as Merv Keane and Kevin Morris.
References
Bibliography
1971 Tiger Year Book – Richmond Football Club
Hogan P: The Tigers of Old, Richmond FC, Melbourne 1996
Cartledge, E: The Hafey Years – Reliving a golden era at Tigerland, Weston Media & Communications, Melbourne 2011
External links
ABC – 2002 interview with Tom Hafey
Tom Hafey's playing statistics from AFL Tables
Tom Hafey's coaching statistics from AFL Tables
Richmond Football Club Official Site – Hall of Fame
AFL Hall of Fame - Coaches
1931 births
2014 deaths
Richmond Football Club coaches
Richmond Football Club Premiership coaches
Geelong Football Club coaches
Collingwood Football Club coaches
Sydney Swans coaches
Richmond Football Club players
Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees
All-Australian coaches
Australian rules footballers from Victoria (Australia)
Shepparton Football Club players
Sportspeople from Melbourne
Deaths from cancer in Victoria (Australia) | true | [
"The 1932 Whittier Poets football team was an American football team that represented Whittier College in the Southern California Conference (SCC) during the 1932 college football season. In its third season under head coach Wallace Newman, the team compiled a 10–1 record (5–1 against conference opponents) and won the SCC championship. Tackle Bob Gibbs was the team captain. The team played its home games at Hadley Field in Whittier, California.\n\nRole of Richard Nixon\nRichard Nixon played for the team at the tackle position, and occasionally at end. Though typically a reserve, Nixon was the team's starting left tackle in its October 28 victory over the 160th Infantry team. The team's waterboy, Harold Litten, recalled that Nixon was uncoordinated and \"had two left feet\" but was a leader: \"But, boy, was he an inspiration! He was always talking it up. That's why Chief let him hang around. He was one of those inspirational guys every team needs.\"\n\nCoach Newman in 1969 said the following of Nixon's role on the team: \"No, he never did get a letter, he wasn't that good. But what a scrapper. I remember some of the boys then telling what a licking Dick was taking. And we all marveled at the way he got up and came back for more. . . . Dick had enthusiasm and drive, you betcha. And no one had more moxie. To be a sub, and as light as he was, even then, was rugged. He was practice bait. I don't know if I could have taken the beating he took. Dick liked the battle, though, and the smell of the sweat.\"\n\nNixon later said that he admired coach Newman more than any man he had known other than his father.\n\nSchedule\n\nReferences\n\nWhittier\nWhittier Poets football seasons\nSouthern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football champion seasons\nWhittier Poets football",
"Joseph Merrill Hoeffel (October 31, 1890 – April 15, 1964) was an American football player and coach who served as head coach of the Green Bay Packers in . Historically, Curly Lambeau has been credited as being the Packers' that year, although this is primarily due to the different rules of American football in the early 1900s. In Hoeffel's era, the head coach was not allowed to communicate with the players while they were playing a game. Lambeau, as team captain, would call the plays during a game and also organized practices, tasks that are now allocated to the head coaching position.\n\nHoffel played college football for Wisconsin, being an All-America selection by Walter Camp in 1912. He played the end position.\n\nEarly life and education\nHoeffel was born on October 31, 1890, in Green Bay, Wisconsin. He attended Green Bay East High School and was a \"star player\" for their football team. He was team captain as a senior. After graduating in 1908, he joined the University of Wisconsin. \n\nThough he did not see much action as a freshman, Hoeffel became a varsity member in 1909, earning a letter. \"Too small to capture a backfield spot at Wisconsin but too good to be ignored,\" he became an end. \"Three physical qualities made him a great player,\" wrote Jack Rudolph of the Green Bay Press-Gazette. \"He was fast, a deadly tackler, and he had a sense of timing that enabled him to get the jump on every play,\" the Press-Gazette reported. \n\nHoeffel continued as a letterman in the following two years, being named all-conference and all-western as a junior. He was named team captain as a senior, and earned the same honors again. He also was a second-team All-America selection by Walter Camp. The 1912 Wisconsin football team compiled an undefeated 7–0 record, winning the conference title.\n\nCoaching career\nAfter graduating from the University of Wisconsin, Hoeffel became an assistant coach at Nebraska. He coached them for three years, before later assisting the staff of Green Bay East High School.\n\nIn , Hoeffel served as the head coach of the Green Bay Packers, a professional team in the American Professional Football Association (APFA) (now National Football League). The team compiled a record of 3–2–1, and Hoeffel did not return to the team in .\n\nHistorically, Curly Lambeau has been credited as being the Packers' in 1921, although this is primarily due to the different rules of American football in the early 1900s. In his era, the head coach was not allowed to communicate with the players while they were playing a game. Lambeau, as team captain, would call the plays during a game and also organized practices, tasks that are now given at the head coaching position.\n\nIn 2001, the Milwaukee Journal led an investigation studying the early Packers, finding through historical newspapers and Packer records that two coaches preceded Lambeau: Hoeffel and Willard Ryan. However, the Packers refused to recognize them as the head coaches. In an interview, Packers president Bob Harlan said, \"He (Lambeau) ran everything. Now, what his title was and what a title meant at that particular time, I'm really not comfortable saying. But he was the one running the show. Considering what he did, I'm a little reluctant to take away any significance to his career.\"\n\nLater life and death\nAfter his sports career, Hoeffel became a businessman, operating the Joseph M. Hoeffel Sales Co. in Green Bay. He died on April 15, 1964, at his home in Green Bay. He was 73 at the time of his death.\n\nReferences\n\n1890 births\n1964 deaths\nAmerican football ends\nGreen Bay Packers coaches\nNebraska Cornhuskers football coaches\nWisconsin Badgers football players\nSportspeople from Green Bay, Wisconsin\nCoaches of American football from Wisconsin\nPlayers of American football from Wisconsin"
] | [
"Thomas Stanley Raymond Hafey (5 August 1931 – 12 May 2014) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Richmond Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL). He then became one of the VFL's longest-serving and most successful coaches, guiding Richmond to four VFL premierships before also having stints at , and finally .Hafey was an inaugural inductee into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 1996, named coach of Richmond's team of the century in 1998, and given the AFL Coaches Association \"Coaching Legend Award\" in 2011.",
"He then became one of the VFL's longest-serving and most successful coaches, guiding Richmond to four VFL premierships before also having stints at , and finally .Hafey was an inaugural inductee into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 1996, named coach of Richmond's team of the century in 1998, and given the AFL Coaches Association \"Coaching Legend Award\" in 2011. He was renowned for his fitness and toughness even in his elderly years when he would still run rings around his juniors.",
"He was renowned for his fitness and toughness even in his elderly years when he would still run rings around his juniors. He would do over 700 push ups and crunches a day every day since he started playing AFL (VFL back then). Playing career Tom Hafey was born and raised in Richmond. He began his football career with the East Malvern under 19 team before graduating to the senior side in 1950. He spent three years with the club, winning the best and fairest in 1952.",
"He spent three years with the club, winning the best and fairest in 1952. Hafey was then invited to train at Richmond. At the time, the Tigers were in turmoil after legendary coach Jack Dyer quit. In an effort to reinvigorate the team, Richmond recruited a number of highly considered young players, including Ron Branton, Frank Dunin and Brian Davie. However, it was Hafey, an unheralded local, who played twelve of the eighteen matches his first year, scoring eight goals.",
"However, it was Hafey, an unheralded local, who played twelve of the eighteen matches his first year, scoring eight goals. The following season was less productive for Hafey as he played just four games due to a bout of hepatitis. He did, however, play back pocket when the reserves captured the premiership by defeating Melbourne in the Grand Final. He was named as one of the Tigers' best performers, and was selected for the senior team for the 1955 and 1956 seasons.",
"He was named as one of the Tigers' best performers, and was selected for the senior team for the 1955 and 1956 seasons. In these two years, he played 28 games. After the appointment of Alan McDonald as coach, Hafey was often relegated to the bench as Ken Ward played in the back pocket. The Tigers fell to the bottom part of the ladder. Playing a backup role for a poor team, Hafey decided to retire from the VFL at the end of 1958.",
"Playing a backup role for a poor team, Hafey decided to retire from the VFL at the end of 1958. Over six seasons, he had played in 67 games, starting 52 of them. In 1959, Hafey played for the local Richmond Amateurs who won the premiership that year. Coaching career After the 1959 season, Hafey left the city of Richmond, taking a job as playing coach of Shepparton in the Goulburn Valley area of northern Victoria. His tenacious attitude and devotion to fitness turned the club into a winner.",
"His tenacious attitude and devotion to fitness turned the club into a winner. Shepparton lost the Grand Final to Tongala in 1961, then won three straight from 1963 to 1965. Meanwhile, Hafey acted as a recruiting agent for the Tigers, recommending potential players from his region. Hafey's performance drew the attention of Tiger secretary Graeme Richmond. When coach Len Smith had a heart attack in 1965, the club appointed Jack Titus to serve as interim coach until a replacement could be found.",
"When coach Len Smith had a heart attack in 1965, the club appointed Jack Titus to serve as interim coach until a replacement could be found. Hafey was encouraged to apply, and the decision came down to Hafey and former club captain Ron Branton. Many expected Branton to get the job. However, Graeme Richmond saw something special in Hafey and he was appointed coach for the 1966 season. On his return to Richmond, Hafey found the team had acquired a number of young, high quality players.",
"On his return to Richmond, Hafey found the team had acquired a number of young, high quality players. He later recalled feeling some apprehension about his youth and that he would be coaching some ex-teammates. Even so, he quickly put his stamp on the club, bringing intensity and desire to reach the top.",
"Even so, he quickly put his stamp on the club, bringing intensity and desire to reach the top. Although he acknowledged the ideas and tactical approach of Len Smith (who remained at the club as a selector and consultant), Hafey opted for what became his trademark style: kick the ball long and quickly into the forward line. He raised the bar for fitness among his players, extending pre-season training and introducing a third training night during the week.",
"He raised the bar for fitness among his players, extending pre-season training and introducing a third training night during the week. Richmond quickly became known for being the fittest team in the competition. Richmond began 1966 strongly. A month before the finals, they hit the top of the ladder for the first time since 1951 and seemed certain to play in September. However, two losses dropped the Tigers to fifth place with thirteen wins and a draw.",
"However, two losses dropped the Tigers to fifth place with thirteen wins and a draw. They became the best performing team to miss the finals since the inception of the McIntyre finals system in 1931. Richmond dismissed a number of players, replacing them with new players such as Royce Hart and Francis Bourke. Premierships Richmond dominated the 1967 season, running out winners in a classic Grand Final against Geelong.",
"Premierships Richmond dominated the 1967 season, running out winners in a classic Grand Final against Geelong. In his first two years, the team lost only seven games and Hafey had gone from an unknown coach in the bush to the toast of the football world. In hindsight, the 1967 premiership marked a turning point for the game. The Tigers were fitter than any team that had gone before and were the highest scoring team since 1950.",
"The Tigers were fitter than any team that had gone before and were the highest scoring team since 1950. Australian football, after two decades of defensive-based play, was about to enter an era of high scoring, aided by rule changes, new tactics and better standards of fitness. The Tigers started the 1968 season slowly. They rallied to win the last six games, but missed the finals. When the Tigers were again lethargic in mid-1969, accusations of under-achievement arose and rumours that Hafey was on the way out circulated.",
"When the Tigers were again lethargic in mid-1969, accusations of under-achievement arose and rumours that Hafey was on the way out circulated. The players rallied behind Hafey and finished the season strong, taking fourth place. The team won all three finals, taking a second premiership. After missing the playoffs in 1970, Hafey took the Tigers to the finals for the next five years. Basing the team's strategy around all-out attack had drawbacks.",
"Basing the team's strategy around all-out attack had drawbacks. Most famously, during the 1972 finals the team conceded the highest score ever, losing to Carlton in a shock upset. Hafey later said the defeat depressed him for many months, but it later became the motivation for back-to-back premierships in 1973 and 1974. By now, the aggressive attitude of the club both on and off the field had created resentment toward the club.",
"By now, the aggressive attitude of the club both on and off the field had created resentment toward the club. A number of incidents during the 1973 Grand Final – the Windy Hill brawl, the attempted recruitment of John Pitura from South Melbourne and a poor reaction to Kevin Bartlett's failure to win the Brownlow medal – all focussed negative attention on the club. Hafey, however, used the resentment to his advantage, telling his players \"it's Richmond against the world\".",
"Hafey, however, used the resentment to his advantage, telling his players \"it's Richmond against the world\". Richmond showed signs of ageing in 1975, when they lost in the preliminary final. A raft of player departures made for a poor 1976 season, with the Tigers finishing seventh, Hafey's worst ever result. He was reappointed for 1977, but not unanimously (he had no contract with Richmond, instead being appointed on a year-to-year basis).",
"He was reappointed for 1977, but not unanimously (he had no contract with Richmond, instead being appointed on a year-to-year basis). When it leaked that Graeme Richmond, the club's powerbroker, had voted against Hafey's reappointment Hafey immediately resigned. Collingwood Hafey's initial thought was to seek a job in Western Australia. However, a chance meeting with the new Collingwood president, John Hickey, took Hafey a different direction. The Magpies had just endured their worst ever season, finishing last.",
"The Magpies had just endured their worst ever season, finishing last. Hickey defied the club's tradition against hiring an outsider as coach, appointing Hafey to coach the club for the 1977 season. Hafey was an instant success, taking the club from last to first in one year – the first time this had been achieved in the VFL.",
"Hafey was an instant success, taking the club from last to first in one year – the first time this had been achieved in the VFL. Collingwood had lost eleven of their last thirteen finals matches, many by slender margins, leading to the press to say the team was afflicted with a \"disease\" called \"Colliwobbles\". The disease appeared defeated when the team beat the favoured Hawthorn by two points in the semi-final. In the final, Collingwood led North Melbourne by 27 points at three quarter time.",
"In the final, Collingwood led North Melbourne by 27 points at three quarter time. Trainers and committeemen began to celebrate early and North Melbourne fought back to a draw. In the replay the following week, Collingwood lost a high-scoring contest. Collingwood lost to North Melbourne in the 1978 Preliminary Final, leading to a number of personnel changes during the offseason. In 1979, the team returned to the Grand Final. After taking a second quarter led, Collingwood fell behind at the half. They ultimately lost by five points.",
"They ultimately lost by five points. They ultimately lost by five points. In the 1980 Grand Final, Hafey took on his old team of Richmond. Kevin Bartlett won the Norm Smith medal as the Tigers won by a record margin. The Magpies again made the Grand Final in 1981. After holding a 21-point lead in the third, Collingwood gave up two late goals before the three quarter break. The resulting disharmony in the Magpie huddle allowed the Blues to dominate the fourth quarter and win the game.",
"The resulting disharmony in the Magpie huddle allowed the Blues to dominate the fourth quarter and win the game. After years of disappointment players and fans began to criticise Hafey's methods. Several leading players said Hafey over-trained the team, particularly in the lead-up to finals matches. Others said Hafey was too slow to respond when the team was going under. During the 1982 season, a record losing streak of nine games sealed Hafey's fate and he was sacked mid-season.",
"During the 1982 season, a record losing streak of nine games sealed Hafey's fate and he was sacked mid-season. Geelong and Sydney Hafey was given a three-year contract to coach Geelong in 1983. However, he was unable to engender the type of team spirit he created at Collingwood and Richmond, and the team did not make the finals during his tenure. During 1985, it became clear that Hafey's contract would not be renewed.",
"During 1985, it became clear that Hafey's contract would not be renewed. During the 1985 season, the VFL had sold the Sydney Swans to controversial medical entrepreneur Geoffrey Edelsten to create the first privately owned club. Franchising, club licensing, player drafts and salary caps were all concepts that the VFL was attempting to import into Australian football at a time of financial crisis. Edelsten quickly signed numerous star players away from Melbourne clubs by offering large contracts.",
"Edelsten quickly signed numerous star players away from Melbourne clubs by offering large contracts. He wanted to hire Kevin Sheedy, who had just coached Essendon to successive premierships. Sheedy turned Edelsten down, but urged the Swans' owner to sign his old mentor, Tom Hafey. Edelsten took the advice and signed Hafey for three years. Coaching methods Hafey's teams usually tackled hard, shepherded, persisted, smothered and backed each other up, aspects of the game now called \"one-percenters\".",
"Coaching methods Hafey's teams usually tackled hard, shepherded, persisted, smothered and backed each other up, aspects of the game now called \"one-percenters\". Supreme fitness was required to play this way, so Hafey put a strong emphasis on training. However, his training methods were sometimes labelled monotonous and he was described as tactically unsophisticated. Hafey strongly believed in leaving players in their designated position, even if they were losing to their opponent, which attracted criticism when the team lost.",
"Hafey strongly believed in leaving players in their designated position, even if they were losing to their opponent, which attracted criticism when the team lost. By contrast, virtually all players are rotated in modern play as the coach seeks match-ups favourable to the team. Hafey was prepared to back his players and build their confidence, contributing to a strong team spirit. His approach differed from most successful coaches who remained aloof from their players.",
"His approach differed from most successful coaches who remained aloof from their players. He focussed on the team's camaraderie, in many cases becoming intimately involved with the lives of his charges and he sought to mix with them in social situations even though he was a teetotaller and non-smoker. All four teams that he coached improved immediately after Hafey's appointment. However, he also \"lost\" his players several times during his career as they rebelled against his training requirements.",
"However, he also \"lost\" his players several times during his career as they rebelled against his training requirements. Comparative coaching statistics * Statistics up to the end of the 2016 AFL season. Later career Returning to Melbourne in 1989, Hafey was employed by ABC radio as a football commentator. Although often mentioned as a possible candidate by the media whenever a coaching position fell vacant in the AFL, no job materialised.",
"Although often mentioned as a possible candidate by the media whenever a coaching position fell vacant in the AFL, no job materialised. Hafey came to be seen as one of the \"old school\" coaches, unsuited to the tactically sophisticated era. In his radio commentary, he rarely employed the jargon of the modern coach and believed that football is a simple game that had been over-complicated, that motivation comes from within and fitness is the basis for success.",
"In his radio commentary, he rarely employed the jargon of the modern coach and believed that football is a simple game that had been over-complicated, that motivation comes from within and fitness is the basis for success. Hafey fashioned a career as a self-styled \"ambassador\" for the game and a strident advocate for physical fitness in the wider society. A particular interest was the current plight of Australian football clubs in rural areas, who he believed have been neglected by the AFL since the competition was fully professionalised in the 1990s.",
"A particular interest was the current plight of Australian football clubs in rural areas, who he believed have been neglected by the AFL since the competition was fully professionalised in the 1990s. He spoke regularly on football and/or fitness, always emphasising the benefits of a healthy lifestyle. Hafey also provided training advice to sporting clubs and schools, and gave motivational lectures.",
"Hafey also provided training advice to sporting clubs and schools, and gave motivational lectures. Personal fitness Hafey's passion for fitness was legendary; every morning he woke up at 5:20 and went for an 8 km run, followed by 250 push-ups and a swim in Port Phillip Bay, and when he got home he did 700 crunches and sit-ups. He was a popular figure at St. Kilda beach, often greeting fellow joggers and cyclists.",
"He was a popular figure at St. Kilda beach, often greeting fellow joggers and cyclists. In 2011, Hafey appeared in a TV commercial for Jeep Australia as part of their 70th Anniversary Campaign. The commercial shows him running and doing push-ups as part of his regular fitness routine. Death and legacy An inaugural inductee to the Australian Football Hall of Fame 1996, Hafey was named coach of Richmond's team of the century in 1998.",
"Death and legacy An inaugural inductee to the Australian Football Hall of Fame 1996, Hafey was named coach of Richmond's team of the century in 1998. In 2003, the Tigers set up the \"Tom Hafey club\", a corporate networking group, in his honour. In 2011, a book titled The Hafey Years – Reliving a golden era at Tigerland was published. It documents Hafey's involvement with Richmond as a player, and his run of success as a coach in the 1960s and 1970s.",
"It documents Hafey's involvement with Richmond as a player, and his run of success as a coach in the 1960s and 1970s. Hafey had previously resisted having a biography written about him; author Elliot Cartledge said he changed his stance \"because The Hafey Years is not a biography but a chronicle of an era.\" During AFL Grand Final week in 2011, Hafey was awarded the \"Coaching Legend Award\" by the AFL Coaches Association.",
"During AFL Grand Final week in 2011, Hafey was awarded the \"Coaching Legend Award\" by the AFL Coaches Association. After a brief illness due to a secondary cancer, Hafey died at the age of 82 on 12 May 2014. Coaching tree At least 20 men that played under Hafey at Richmond later went on to success as coaches themselves.",
"Coaching tree At least 20 men that played under Hafey at Richmond later went on to success as coaches themselves. At VFL/AFL level, these include premiership coaches Tony Jewell (at Richmond), Kevin Sheedy (at Essendon) and Mick Malthouse (at Footscray, West Coast, Collingwood and Carlton), as well as Kevin Bartlett, Royce Hart, Francis Bourke, Paul Sproule, Mike Patterson, Mick Erwin (who replaced Hafey when he was sacked by Collingwood), Neil Balme, John Northey, Ian Stewart, and Barry Richardson.",
"At VFL/AFL level, these include premiership coaches Tony Jewell (at Richmond), Kevin Sheedy (at Essendon) and Mick Malthouse (at Footscray, West Coast, Collingwood and Carlton), as well as Kevin Bartlett, Royce Hart, Francis Bourke, Paul Sproule, Mike Patterson, Mick Erwin (who replaced Hafey when he was sacked by Collingwood), Neil Balme, John Northey, Ian Stewart, and Barry Richardson. In addition, a number of his former players had important careers coaching at lower levels of the game, such as Merv Keane and Kevin Morris.",
"In addition, a number of his former players had important careers coaching at lower levels of the game, such as Merv Keane and Kevin Morris. References Bibliography 1971 Tiger Year Book – Richmond Football Club Hogan P: The Tigers of Old, Richmond FC, Melbourne 1996 Cartledge, E: The Hafey Years – Reliving a golden era at Tigerland, Weston Media & Communications, Melbourne 2011 External links ABC – 2002 interview with Tom Hafey Tom Hafey's playing statistics from AFL Tables Tom Hafey's coaching statistics from AFL Tables Richmond Football Club Official Site – Hall of Fame AFL Hall of Fame - Coaches 1931 births 2014 deaths Richmond Football Club coaches Richmond Football Club Premiership coaches Geelong Football Club coaches Collingwood Football Club coaches Sydney Swans coaches Richmond Football Club players Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees All-Australian coaches Australian rules footballers from Victoria (Australia) Shepparton Football Club players Sportspeople from Melbourne Deaths from cancer in Victoria (Australia)"
] |
[
"Tom Hafey",
"Premierships",
"What are Premierships?",
"In hindsight, the 1967 premiership marked a turning point for the game.",
"How did it affect Tom?",
"from an unknown coach in the bush",
"Was Tom a coach in 1967?",
"1967",
"What team did he coach?",
"The Tigers",
"Was his team in the Premiership?",
"was about to enter an era of high scoring, aided by rule changes, new tactics and betters standards of fitness."
] | C_706d5730c4d24d468f8fa7d0e627ffaf_1 | How well did his team perform? | 6 | How well did Hafey's team perform? | Tom Hafey | Richmond dominated the 1967 season, running out winners in a classic Grand Final against Geelong. In his first two years, the team lost only seven games and Hafey had gone from an unknown coach in the bush to the toast of the football world. In hindsight, the 1967 premiership marked a turning point for the game. The Tigers were fitter than any team that had gone before and were the highest scoring team since 1950. Australian football, after two decades of defensive-based play, was about to enter an era of high scoring, aided by rule changes, new tactics and betters standards of fitness. The Tigers started the 1968 season slowly. They rallied to win the last six games, but missed the finals. When the Tigers were again lethargic in mid-1969, accusations of under-achievement arose and rumours that Hafey was on the way out circulated. The players rallied behind Hafey and finished the season strong, taking fourth place. The team won all three finals, taking a second premiership. After missing the playoffs in 1970, Hafey took the Tigers to the finals for the next five years. Basing the team's strategy around all-out attack had drawbacks. Most famously, during the 1972 finals the team conceded the highest score ever, losing to Carlton in a shock upset. Hafey later said the defeat depressed him for many months, but it later became the motivation for back-to-back premierships in 1973 and 1974. By now, the aggressive attitude of the club both on and off the field had created resentment toward the club. A number of incidents during the 1973 Grand Final - the Windy Hill brawl, the attempted recruitment of John Pitura from South Melbourne and a poor reaction to Kevin Bartlett's failure to win the Brownlow medal - all focussed negative attention on the club. Hafey, however, used the resentment to his advantage, telling his players "it's Richmond against the world". Richmond showed signs of ageing in 1975, when they lost in the preliminary final. A raft of player departures made for a poor 1976 season, with the Tigers finishing seventh, Hafey's worst ever result. He was reappointed for 1977, but not unanimously (he had no contract with Richmond, instead being appointed on a year-to-year basis). When it leaked that Graeme Richmond, the club's powerbroker, had voted against Hafey's reappointment Hafey immediately resigned. CANNOTANSWER | Australian football, after two decades of defensive-based play, | Thomas Stanley Raymond Hafey (5 August 1931 – 12 May 2014) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Richmond Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL). He then became one of the VFL's longest-serving and most successful coaches, guiding Richmond to four VFL premierships before also having stints at , and finally .Hafey was an inaugural inductee into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 1996, named coach of Richmond's team of the century in 1998, and given the AFL Coaches Association "Coaching Legend Award" in 2011.
He was renowned for his fitness and toughness even in his elderly years when he would still run rings around his juniors. He would do over 700 push ups and crunches a day every day since he started playing AFL (VFL back then).
Playing career
Tom Hafey was born and raised in Richmond. He began his football career with the East Malvern under 19 team before graduating to the senior side in 1950. He spent three years with the club, winning the best and fairest in 1952.
Hafey was then invited to train at Richmond. At the time, the Tigers were in turmoil after legendary coach Jack Dyer quit. In an effort to reinvigorate the team, Richmond recruited a number of highly considered young players, including Ron Branton, Frank Dunin and Brian Davie. However, it was Hafey, an unheralded local, who played twelve of the eighteen matches his first year, scoring eight goals.
The following season was less productive for Hafey as he played just four games due to a bout of hepatitis. He did, however, play back pocket when the reserves captured the premiership by defeating Melbourne in the Grand Final. He was named as one of the Tigers' best performers, and was selected for the senior team for the 1955 and 1956 seasons. In these two years, he played 28 games.
After the appointment of Alan McDonald as coach, Hafey was often relegated to the bench as Ken Ward played in the back pocket. The Tigers fell to the bottom part of the ladder. Playing a backup role for a poor team, Hafey decided to retire from the VFL at the end of 1958. Over six seasons, he had played in 67 games, starting 52 of them. In 1959, Hafey played for the local Richmond Amateurs who won the premiership that year.
Coaching career
After the 1959 season, Hafey left the city of Richmond, taking a job as playing coach of Shepparton in the Goulburn Valley area of northern Victoria. His tenacious attitude and devotion to fitness turned the club into a winner. Shepparton lost the Grand Final to Tongala in 1961, then won three straight from 1963 to 1965. Meanwhile, Hafey acted as a recruiting agent for the Tigers, recommending potential players from his region.
Hafey's performance drew the attention of Tiger secretary Graeme Richmond. When coach Len Smith had a heart attack in 1965, the club appointed Jack Titus to serve as interim coach until a replacement could be found. Hafey was encouraged to apply, and the decision came down to Hafey and former club captain Ron Branton. Many expected Branton to get the job. However, Graeme Richmond saw something special in Hafey and he was appointed coach for the 1966 season.
On his return to Richmond, Hafey found the team had acquired a number of young, high quality players. He later recalled feeling some apprehension about his youth and that he would be coaching some ex-teammates. Even so, he quickly put his stamp on the club, bringing intensity and desire to reach the top. Although he acknowledged the ideas and tactical approach of Len Smith (who remained at the club as a selector and consultant), Hafey opted for what became his trademark style: kick the ball long and quickly into the forward line. He raised the bar for fitness among his players, extending pre-season training and introducing a third training night during the week. Richmond quickly became known for being the fittest team in the competition.
Richmond began 1966 strongly. A month before the finals, they hit the top of the ladder for the first time since 1951 and seemed certain to play in September. However, two losses dropped the Tigers to fifth place with thirteen wins and a draw. They became the best performing team to miss the finals since the inception of the McIntyre finals system in 1931. Richmond dismissed a number of players, replacing them with new players such as Royce Hart and Francis Bourke.
Premierships
Richmond dominated the 1967 season, running out winners in a classic Grand Final against Geelong. In his first two years, the team lost only seven games and Hafey had gone from an unknown coach in the bush to the toast of the football world. In hindsight, the 1967 premiership marked a turning point for the game. The Tigers were fitter than any team that had gone before and were the highest scoring team since 1950. Australian football, after two decades of defensive-based play, was about to enter an era of high scoring, aided by rule changes, new tactics and better standards of fitness.
The Tigers started the 1968 season slowly. They rallied to win the last six games, but missed the finals. When the Tigers were again lethargic in mid-1969, accusations of under-achievement arose and rumours that Hafey was on the way out circulated. The players rallied behind Hafey and finished the season strong, taking fourth place. The team won all three finals, taking a second premiership.
After missing the playoffs in 1970, Hafey took the Tigers to the finals for the next five years. Basing the team's strategy around all-out attack had drawbacks. Most famously, during the 1972 finals the team conceded the highest score ever, losing to Carlton in a shock upset. Hafey later said the defeat depressed him for many months, but it later became the motivation for back-to-back premierships in 1973 and 1974. By now, the aggressive attitude of the club both on and off the field had created resentment toward the club. A number of incidents during the 1973 Grand Final – the Windy Hill brawl, the attempted recruitment of John Pitura from South Melbourne and a poor reaction to Kevin Bartlett's failure to win the Brownlow medal – all focussed negative attention on the club. Hafey, however, used the resentment to his advantage, telling his players "it's Richmond against the world".
Richmond showed signs of ageing in 1975, when they lost in the preliminary final. A raft of player departures made for a poor 1976 season, with the Tigers finishing seventh, Hafey's worst ever result. He was reappointed for 1977, but not unanimously (he had no contract with Richmond, instead being appointed on a year-to-year basis). When it leaked that Graeme Richmond, the club's powerbroker, had voted against Hafey's reappointment Hafey immediately resigned.
Collingwood
Hafey's initial thought was to seek a job in Western Australia. However, a chance meeting with the new Collingwood president, John Hickey, took Hafey a different direction. The Magpies had just endured their worst ever season, finishing last. Hickey defied the club's tradition against hiring an outsider as coach, appointing Hafey to coach the club for the 1977 season.
Hafey was an instant success, taking the club from last to first in one year – the first time this had been achieved in the VFL. Collingwood had lost eleven of their last thirteen finals matches, many by slender margins, leading to the press to say the team was afflicted with a "disease" called "Colliwobbles". The disease appeared defeated when the team beat the favoured Hawthorn by two points in the semi-final. In the final, Collingwood led North Melbourne by 27 points at three quarter time. Trainers and committeemen began to celebrate early and North Melbourne fought back to a draw. In the replay the following week, Collingwood lost a high-scoring contest.
Collingwood lost to North Melbourne in the 1978 Preliminary Final, leading to a number of personnel changes during the offseason. In 1979, the team returned to the Grand Final. After taking a second quarter led, Collingwood fell behind at the half. They ultimately lost by five points. In the 1980 Grand Final, Hafey took on his old team of Richmond. Kevin Bartlett won the Norm Smith medal as the Tigers won by a record margin. The Magpies again made the Grand Final in 1981. After holding a 21-point lead in the third, Collingwood gave up two late goals before the three quarter break. The resulting disharmony in the Magpie huddle allowed the Blues to dominate the fourth quarter and win the game.
After years of disappointment players and fans began to criticise Hafey's methods. Several leading players said Hafey over-trained the team, particularly in the lead-up to finals matches. Others said Hafey was too slow to respond when the team was going under. During the 1982 season, a record losing streak of nine games sealed Hafey's fate and he was sacked mid-season.
Geelong and Sydney
Hafey was given a three-year contract to coach Geelong in 1983. However, he was unable to engender the type of team spirit he created at Collingwood and Richmond, and the team did not make the finals during his tenure. During 1985, it became clear that Hafey's contract would not be renewed.
During the 1985 season, the VFL had sold the Sydney Swans to controversial medical entrepreneur Geoffrey Edelsten to create the first privately owned club. Franchising, club licensing, player drafts and salary caps were all concepts that the VFL was attempting to import into Australian football at a time of financial crisis. Edelsten quickly signed numerous star players away from Melbourne clubs by offering large contracts. He wanted to hire Kevin Sheedy, who had just coached Essendon to successive premierships. Sheedy turned Edelsten down, but urged the Swans' owner to sign his old mentor, Tom Hafey. Edelsten took the advice and signed Hafey for three years.
Coaching methods
Hafey's teams usually tackled hard, shepherded, persisted, smothered and backed each other up, aspects of the game now called "one-percenters". Supreme fitness was required to play this way, so Hafey put a strong emphasis on training. However, his training methods were sometimes labelled monotonous and he was described as tactically unsophisticated.
Hafey strongly believed in leaving players in their designated position, even if they were losing to their opponent, which attracted criticism when the team lost. By contrast, virtually all players are rotated in modern play as the coach seeks match-ups favourable to the team.
Hafey was prepared to back his players and build their confidence, contributing to a strong team spirit. His approach differed from most successful coaches who remained aloof from their players. He focussed on the team's camaraderie, in many cases becoming intimately involved with the lives of his charges and he sought to mix with them in social situations even though he was a teetotaller and non-smoker. All four teams that he coached improved immediately after Hafey's appointment. However, he also "lost" his players several times during his career as they rebelled against his training requirements.
Comparative coaching statistics
* Statistics up to the end of the 2016 AFL season.
Later career
Returning to Melbourne in 1989, Hafey was employed by ABC radio as a football commentator. Although often mentioned as a possible candidate by the media whenever a coaching position fell vacant in the AFL, no job materialised. Hafey came to be seen as one of the "old school" coaches, unsuited to the tactically sophisticated era. In his radio commentary, he rarely employed the jargon of the modern coach and believed that football is a simple game that had been over-complicated, that motivation comes from within and fitness is the basis for success.
Hafey fashioned a career as a self-styled "ambassador" for the game and a strident advocate for physical fitness in the wider society. A particular interest was the current plight of Australian football clubs in rural areas, who he believed have been neglected by the AFL since the competition was fully professionalised in the 1990s. He spoke regularly on football and/or fitness, always emphasising the benefits of a healthy lifestyle. Hafey also provided training advice to sporting clubs and schools, and gave motivational lectures.
Personal fitness
Hafey's passion for fitness was legendary; every morning he woke up at 5:20 and went for an 8 km run, followed by 250 push-ups and a swim in Port Phillip Bay, and when he got home he did 700 crunches and sit-ups. He was a popular figure at St. Kilda beach, often greeting fellow joggers and cyclists.
In 2011, Hafey appeared in a TV commercial for Jeep Australia as part of their 70th Anniversary Campaign. The commercial shows him running and doing push-ups as part of his regular fitness routine.
Death and legacy
An inaugural inductee to the Australian Football Hall of Fame 1996, Hafey was named coach of Richmond's team of the century in 1998. In 2003, the Tigers set up the "Tom Hafey club", a corporate networking group, in his honour.
In 2011, a book titled The Hafey Years – Reliving a golden era at Tigerland was published. It documents Hafey's involvement with Richmond as a player, and his run of success as a coach in the 1960s and 1970s. Hafey had previously resisted having a biography written about him; author Elliot Cartledge said he changed his stance "because The Hafey Years is not a biography but a chronicle of an era."
During AFL Grand Final week in 2011, Hafey was awarded the "Coaching Legend Award" by the AFL Coaches Association.
After a brief illness due to a secondary cancer, Hafey died at the age of 82 on 12 May 2014.
Coaching tree
At least 20 men that played under Hafey at Richmond later went on to success as coaches themselves. At VFL/AFL level, these include premiership coaches Tony Jewell (at Richmond), Kevin Sheedy (at Essendon) and Mick Malthouse (at Footscray, West Coast, Collingwood and Carlton), as well as Kevin Bartlett, Royce Hart, Francis Bourke, Paul Sproule, Mike Patterson, Mick Erwin (who replaced Hafey when he was sacked by Collingwood), Neil Balme, John Northey, Ian Stewart, and Barry Richardson. In addition, a number of his former players had important careers coaching at lower levels of the game, such as Merv Keane and Kevin Morris.
References
Bibliography
1971 Tiger Year Book – Richmond Football Club
Hogan P: The Tigers of Old, Richmond FC, Melbourne 1996
Cartledge, E: The Hafey Years – Reliving a golden era at Tigerland, Weston Media & Communications, Melbourne 2011
External links
ABC – 2002 interview with Tom Hafey
Tom Hafey's playing statistics from AFL Tables
Tom Hafey's coaching statistics from AFL Tables
Richmond Football Club Official Site – Hall of Fame
AFL Hall of Fame - Coaches
1931 births
2014 deaths
Richmond Football Club coaches
Richmond Football Club Premiership coaches
Geelong Football Club coaches
Collingwood Football Club coaches
Sydney Swans coaches
Richmond Football Club players
Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees
All-Australian coaches
Australian rules footballers from Victoria (Australia)
Shepparton Football Club players
Sportspeople from Melbourne
Deaths from cancer in Victoria (Australia) | true | [
"Neil Hilborn (born August 8, 1990) is an American slam poet who writes and performs poetry. His poems often detail personal experiences and battles with mental illness. He is best known for his poem \"OCD\", which has received 75 million views online. Hilborn tours to perform his poetry at colleges and other venues.\n\nEarly life\nHilborn was born in Houston, Texas, and became interested in creative writing at an early age, writing his first poem when he was eight years old. As a child, he was diagnosed with obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD), and he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder while in college. Though he did not originally use poetry as a coping mechanism, when he was a teenager his work shifted toward helping him deal with his disorders.\n\nShortly after graduating high school, Hilborn decided to leave Houston for Saint Paul, Minnesota, where he attended Macalester College. During his sophomore year he began writing spoken word. He joined their slam poetry team and in 2011, the team placed first at the College National Poetry Slam. Hilborn graduated with honors and a degree in Creative Writing, intending to pursue his Master of Fine Arts and become a professor. For a little over a year he co-coached the slam poetry team at Macalester, running various poetry workshops and going on a few tours in the Midwest.\n\nPerformance\nHilborn began writing slam poetry and competing/performing in 2009. He was a part of his college's slam poetry team as well as the Minneapolis Adult National Slam Poetry team, which placed 5th out of 80 competitors in the 2011 national competition. After graduating, Hilborn began to perform with Button Poetry, a company based out of Minnesota. In 2012, he travelled the Midwest on The Good News Poetry Tour with fellow Button poets Dylan Garrity and Hieu Nguyen. The tour visited college campuses and small venues, revamping in 2013 to tour in the Northeast.\n\nLater in 2013, a video of Hilborn's poem \"OCD\" went viral, garnering millions of views across social media platforms. Although the performance of \"OCD\" was among the first videos posted on Button Poetry's YouTube page in 2012, the poem did not gain popularity until another performance was posted a year later. As of 2017 the video garnered more than 62 million views and is both Button Poetry's most watched video and the most watched slam poem on the internet. Because of the poem's success, in 2014 Hilborn signed with the College Agency, a company that represents performers in all genres who want to perform on college campuses. Hilborn was then able to begin supporting himself with his poetry.\n\nPublications \nHilborn's first chapbook, Clatter, was self-published in 2012 before being picked up by Button Poetry and re-published in 2013.\n\nHilborn's second book, Our Numbered Days, was released on May 14, 2015. The book is a collection of 45 poems. The book is divided into six different sections spanning the entire collection. Our Numbered Days features some of Hilborn's most well-known poetry, including \"Joey\" and \"OCD\". Arianna Miller is cited in her critical review as stating, \"Hilborn wants readers to question his work, to use his pieces as a means of learning not only about oneself, but also about the world around him/her/them\". The book is an Amazon bestseller with more than 50,000 copies in print.\n\nInfluences \nIn an interview with The Triangle, Hilborn cites Paul Guest, Sherman Alexie, and poets Patricia Smith and Michael Mlekoday as influencing his work. Mlekoday had a particularly strong influence as Hilborn's teacher, and is someone Hilborn says taught him \"how to construct an image and how to speak precisely\".\n\nMuch of Hilborn's work is autobiographical, frequently referencing people and events from his own life. His work often references the topic of living with mental illness, and how his diagnoses of OCD and bipolar disorder have impacted him.\n\nHilborn's work has inspired readers to create their own versions, videos, and interpretations of his poetry, particularly of his poem \"OCD\".\n\nReferences\n\n1990 births\nLiving people\nWriters from Houston\nWriters from Saint Paul, Minnesota\nMacalester College alumni",
"The North Macedonia national under-16 basketball team is the national junior basketball team that represents North Macedonia in international under-16 (under age 16) tournaments. The team is controlled by the Basketball Federation of North Macedonia, and competes at the FIBA U16 European Championship, mostly in Division B.\n\nIn 2016, and 2017, the Macedonia juniors did not perform as well at the tournament, as they may have wanted. Until 2018, when the team exploded to an bronze medal finish, defeating the Czech Republic. The win also allowed the team to be promoted to the A-Division in 2019. а каде се игра?\n\nSee also\nNorth Macedonia men's national basketball team\nNorth Macedonia men's national under-18 basketball team\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nOfficial website \nFIBA profile\n\nNational sports teams of North Macedonia\nMen's national under-16 basketball teams"
] | [
"Thomas Stanley Raymond Hafey (5 August 1931 – 12 May 2014) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Richmond Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL). He then became one of the VFL's longest-serving and most successful coaches, guiding Richmond to four VFL premierships before also having stints at , and finally .Hafey was an inaugural inductee into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 1996, named coach of Richmond's team of the century in 1998, and given the AFL Coaches Association \"Coaching Legend Award\" in 2011.",
"He then became one of the VFL's longest-serving and most successful coaches, guiding Richmond to four VFL premierships before also having stints at , and finally .Hafey was an inaugural inductee into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 1996, named coach of Richmond's team of the century in 1998, and given the AFL Coaches Association \"Coaching Legend Award\" in 2011. He was renowned for his fitness and toughness even in his elderly years when he would still run rings around his juniors.",
"He was renowned for his fitness and toughness even in his elderly years when he would still run rings around his juniors. He would do over 700 push ups and crunches a day every day since he started playing AFL (VFL back then). Playing career Tom Hafey was born and raised in Richmond. He began his football career with the East Malvern under 19 team before graduating to the senior side in 1950. He spent three years with the club, winning the best and fairest in 1952.",
"He spent three years with the club, winning the best and fairest in 1952. Hafey was then invited to train at Richmond. At the time, the Tigers were in turmoil after legendary coach Jack Dyer quit. In an effort to reinvigorate the team, Richmond recruited a number of highly considered young players, including Ron Branton, Frank Dunin and Brian Davie. However, it was Hafey, an unheralded local, who played twelve of the eighteen matches his first year, scoring eight goals.",
"However, it was Hafey, an unheralded local, who played twelve of the eighteen matches his first year, scoring eight goals. The following season was less productive for Hafey as he played just four games due to a bout of hepatitis. He did, however, play back pocket when the reserves captured the premiership by defeating Melbourne in the Grand Final. He was named as one of the Tigers' best performers, and was selected for the senior team for the 1955 and 1956 seasons.",
"He was named as one of the Tigers' best performers, and was selected for the senior team for the 1955 and 1956 seasons. In these two years, he played 28 games. After the appointment of Alan McDonald as coach, Hafey was often relegated to the bench as Ken Ward played in the back pocket. The Tigers fell to the bottom part of the ladder. Playing a backup role for a poor team, Hafey decided to retire from the VFL at the end of 1958.",
"Playing a backup role for a poor team, Hafey decided to retire from the VFL at the end of 1958. Over six seasons, he had played in 67 games, starting 52 of them. In 1959, Hafey played for the local Richmond Amateurs who won the premiership that year. Coaching career After the 1959 season, Hafey left the city of Richmond, taking a job as playing coach of Shepparton in the Goulburn Valley area of northern Victoria. His tenacious attitude and devotion to fitness turned the club into a winner.",
"His tenacious attitude and devotion to fitness turned the club into a winner. Shepparton lost the Grand Final to Tongala in 1961, then won three straight from 1963 to 1965. Meanwhile, Hafey acted as a recruiting agent for the Tigers, recommending potential players from his region. Hafey's performance drew the attention of Tiger secretary Graeme Richmond. When coach Len Smith had a heart attack in 1965, the club appointed Jack Titus to serve as interim coach until a replacement could be found.",
"When coach Len Smith had a heart attack in 1965, the club appointed Jack Titus to serve as interim coach until a replacement could be found. Hafey was encouraged to apply, and the decision came down to Hafey and former club captain Ron Branton. Many expected Branton to get the job. However, Graeme Richmond saw something special in Hafey and he was appointed coach for the 1966 season. On his return to Richmond, Hafey found the team had acquired a number of young, high quality players.",
"On his return to Richmond, Hafey found the team had acquired a number of young, high quality players. He later recalled feeling some apprehension about his youth and that he would be coaching some ex-teammates. Even so, he quickly put his stamp on the club, bringing intensity and desire to reach the top.",
"Even so, he quickly put his stamp on the club, bringing intensity and desire to reach the top. Although he acknowledged the ideas and tactical approach of Len Smith (who remained at the club as a selector and consultant), Hafey opted for what became his trademark style: kick the ball long and quickly into the forward line. He raised the bar for fitness among his players, extending pre-season training and introducing a third training night during the week.",
"He raised the bar for fitness among his players, extending pre-season training and introducing a third training night during the week. Richmond quickly became known for being the fittest team in the competition. Richmond began 1966 strongly. A month before the finals, they hit the top of the ladder for the first time since 1951 and seemed certain to play in September. However, two losses dropped the Tigers to fifth place with thirteen wins and a draw.",
"However, two losses dropped the Tigers to fifth place with thirteen wins and a draw. They became the best performing team to miss the finals since the inception of the McIntyre finals system in 1931. Richmond dismissed a number of players, replacing them with new players such as Royce Hart and Francis Bourke. Premierships Richmond dominated the 1967 season, running out winners in a classic Grand Final against Geelong.",
"Premierships Richmond dominated the 1967 season, running out winners in a classic Grand Final against Geelong. In his first two years, the team lost only seven games and Hafey had gone from an unknown coach in the bush to the toast of the football world. In hindsight, the 1967 premiership marked a turning point for the game. The Tigers were fitter than any team that had gone before and were the highest scoring team since 1950.",
"The Tigers were fitter than any team that had gone before and were the highest scoring team since 1950. Australian football, after two decades of defensive-based play, was about to enter an era of high scoring, aided by rule changes, new tactics and better standards of fitness. The Tigers started the 1968 season slowly. They rallied to win the last six games, but missed the finals. When the Tigers were again lethargic in mid-1969, accusations of under-achievement arose and rumours that Hafey was on the way out circulated.",
"When the Tigers were again lethargic in mid-1969, accusations of under-achievement arose and rumours that Hafey was on the way out circulated. The players rallied behind Hafey and finished the season strong, taking fourth place. The team won all three finals, taking a second premiership. After missing the playoffs in 1970, Hafey took the Tigers to the finals for the next five years. Basing the team's strategy around all-out attack had drawbacks.",
"Basing the team's strategy around all-out attack had drawbacks. Most famously, during the 1972 finals the team conceded the highest score ever, losing to Carlton in a shock upset. Hafey later said the defeat depressed him for many months, but it later became the motivation for back-to-back premierships in 1973 and 1974. By now, the aggressive attitude of the club both on and off the field had created resentment toward the club.",
"By now, the aggressive attitude of the club both on and off the field had created resentment toward the club. A number of incidents during the 1973 Grand Final – the Windy Hill brawl, the attempted recruitment of John Pitura from South Melbourne and a poor reaction to Kevin Bartlett's failure to win the Brownlow medal – all focussed negative attention on the club. Hafey, however, used the resentment to his advantage, telling his players \"it's Richmond against the world\".",
"Hafey, however, used the resentment to his advantage, telling his players \"it's Richmond against the world\". Richmond showed signs of ageing in 1975, when they lost in the preliminary final. A raft of player departures made for a poor 1976 season, with the Tigers finishing seventh, Hafey's worst ever result. He was reappointed for 1977, but not unanimously (he had no contract with Richmond, instead being appointed on a year-to-year basis).",
"He was reappointed for 1977, but not unanimously (he had no contract with Richmond, instead being appointed on a year-to-year basis). When it leaked that Graeme Richmond, the club's powerbroker, had voted against Hafey's reappointment Hafey immediately resigned. Collingwood Hafey's initial thought was to seek a job in Western Australia. However, a chance meeting with the new Collingwood president, John Hickey, took Hafey a different direction. The Magpies had just endured their worst ever season, finishing last.",
"The Magpies had just endured their worst ever season, finishing last. Hickey defied the club's tradition against hiring an outsider as coach, appointing Hafey to coach the club for the 1977 season. Hafey was an instant success, taking the club from last to first in one year – the first time this had been achieved in the VFL.",
"Hafey was an instant success, taking the club from last to first in one year – the first time this had been achieved in the VFL. Collingwood had lost eleven of their last thirteen finals matches, many by slender margins, leading to the press to say the team was afflicted with a \"disease\" called \"Colliwobbles\". The disease appeared defeated when the team beat the favoured Hawthorn by two points in the semi-final. In the final, Collingwood led North Melbourne by 27 points at three quarter time.",
"In the final, Collingwood led North Melbourne by 27 points at three quarter time. Trainers and committeemen began to celebrate early and North Melbourne fought back to a draw. In the replay the following week, Collingwood lost a high-scoring contest. Collingwood lost to North Melbourne in the 1978 Preliminary Final, leading to a number of personnel changes during the offseason. In 1979, the team returned to the Grand Final. After taking a second quarter led, Collingwood fell behind at the half. They ultimately lost by five points.",
"They ultimately lost by five points. They ultimately lost by five points. In the 1980 Grand Final, Hafey took on his old team of Richmond. Kevin Bartlett won the Norm Smith medal as the Tigers won by a record margin. The Magpies again made the Grand Final in 1981. After holding a 21-point lead in the third, Collingwood gave up two late goals before the three quarter break. The resulting disharmony in the Magpie huddle allowed the Blues to dominate the fourth quarter and win the game.",
"The resulting disharmony in the Magpie huddle allowed the Blues to dominate the fourth quarter and win the game. After years of disappointment players and fans began to criticise Hafey's methods. Several leading players said Hafey over-trained the team, particularly in the lead-up to finals matches. Others said Hafey was too slow to respond when the team was going under. During the 1982 season, a record losing streak of nine games sealed Hafey's fate and he was sacked mid-season.",
"During the 1982 season, a record losing streak of nine games sealed Hafey's fate and he was sacked mid-season. Geelong and Sydney Hafey was given a three-year contract to coach Geelong in 1983. However, he was unable to engender the type of team spirit he created at Collingwood and Richmond, and the team did not make the finals during his tenure. During 1985, it became clear that Hafey's contract would not be renewed.",
"During 1985, it became clear that Hafey's contract would not be renewed. During the 1985 season, the VFL had sold the Sydney Swans to controversial medical entrepreneur Geoffrey Edelsten to create the first privately owned club. Franchising, club licensing, player drafts and salary caps were all concepts that the VFL was attempting to import into Australian football at a time of financial crisis. Edelsten quickly signed numerous star players away from Melbourne clubs by offering large contracts.",
"Edelsten quickly signed numerous star players away from Melbourne clubs by offering large contracts. He wanted to hire Kevin Sheedy, who had just coached Essendon to successive premierships. Sheedy turned Edelsten down, but urged the Swans' owner to sign his old mentor, Tom Hafey. Edelsten took the advice and signed Hafey for three years. Coaching methods Hafey's teams usually tackled hard, shepherded, persisted, smothered and backed each other up, aspects of the game now called \"one-percenters\".",
"Coaching methods Hafey's teams usually tackled hard, shepherded, persisted, smothered and backed each other up, aspects of the game now called \"one-percenters\". Supreme fitness was required to play this way, so Hafey put a strong emphasis on training. However, his training methods were sometimes labelled monotonous and he was described as tactically unsophisticated. Hafey strongly believed in leaving players in their designated position, even if they were losing to their opponent, which attracted criticism when the team lost.",
"Hafey strongly believed in leaving players in their designated position, even if they were losing to their opponent, which attracted criticism when the team lost. By contrast, virtually all players are rotated in modern play as the coach seeks match-ups favourable to the team. Hafey was prepared to back his players and build their confidence, contributing to a strong team spirit. His approach differed from most successful coaches who remained aloof from their players.",
"His approach differed from most successful coaches who remained aloof from their players. He focussed on the team's camaraderie, in many cases becoming intimately involved with the lives of his charges and he sought to mix with them in social situations even though he was a teetotaller and non-smoker. All four teams that he coached improved immediately after Hafey's appointment. However, he also \"lost\" his players several times during his career as they rebelled against his training requirements.",
"However, he also \"lost\" his players several times during his career as they rebelled against his training requirements. Comparative coaching statistics * Statistics up to the end of the 2016 AFL season. Later career Returning to Melbourne in 1989, Hafey was employed by ABC radio as a football commentator. Although often mentioned as a possible candidate by the media whenever a coaching position fell vacant in the AFL, no job materialised.",
"Although often mentioned as a possible candidate by the media whenever a coaching position fell vacant in the AFL, no job materialised. Hafey came to be seen as one of the \"old school\" coaches, unsuited to the tactically sophisticated era. In his radio commentary, he rarely employed the jargon of the modern coach and believed that football is a simple game that had been over-complicated, that motivation comes from within and fitness is the basis for success.",
"In his radio commentary, he rarely employed the jargon of the modern coach and believed that football is a simple game that had been over-complicated, that motivation comes from within and fitness is the basis for success. Hafey fashioned a career as a self-styled \"ambassador\" for the game and a strident advocate for physical fitness in the wider society. A particular interest was the current plight of Australian football clubs in rural areas, who he believed have been neglected by the AFL since the competition was fully professionalised in the 1990s.",
"A particular interest was the current plight of Australian football clubs in rural areas, who he believed have been neglected by the AFL since the competition was fully professionalised in the 1990s. He spoke regularly on football and/or fitness, always emphasising the benefits of a healthy lifestyle. Hafey also provided training advice to sporting clubs and schools, and gave motivational lectures.",
"Hafey also provided training advice to sporting clubs and schools, and gave motivational lectures. Personal fitness Hafey's passion for fitness was legendary; every morning he woke up at 5:20 and went for an 8 km run, followed by 250 push-ups and a swim in Port Phillip Bay, and when he got home he did 700 crunches and sit-ups. He was a popular figure at St. Kilda beach, often greeting fellow joggers and cyclists.",
"He was a popular figure at St. Kilda beach, often greeting fellow joggers and cyclists. In 2011, Hafey appeared in a TV commercial for Jeep Australia as part of their 70th Anniversary Campaign. The commercial shows him running and doing push-ups as part of his regular fitness routine. Death and legacy An inaugural inductee to the Australian Football Hall of Fame 1996, Hafey was named coach of Richmond's team of the century in 1998.",
"Death and legacy An inaugural inductee to the Australian Football Hall of Fame 1996, Hafey was named coach of Richmond's team of the century in 1998. In 2003, the Tigers set up the \"Tom Hafey club\", a corporate networking group, in his honour. In 2011, a book titled The Hafey Years – Reliving a golden era at Tigerland was published. It documents Hafey's involvement with Richmond as a player, and his run of success as a coach in the 1960s and 1970s.",
"It documents Hafey's involvement with Richmond as a player, and his run of success as a coach in the 1960s and 1970s. Hafey had previously resisted having a biography written about him; author Elliot Cartledge said he changed his stance \"because The Hafey Years is not a biography but a chronicle of an era.\" During AFL Grand Final week in 2011, Hafey was awarded the \"Coaching Legend Award\" by the AFL Coaches Association.",
"During AFL Grand Final week in 2011, Hafey was awarded the \"Coaching Legend Award\" by the AFL Coaches Association. After a brief illness due to a secondary cancer, Hafey died at the age of 82 on 12 May 2014. Coaching tree At least 20 men that played under Hafey at Richmond later went on to success as coaches themselves.",
"Coaching tree At least 20 men that played under Hafey at Richmond later went on to success as coaches themselves. At VFL/AFL level, these include premiership coaches Tony Jewell (at Richmond), Kevin Sheedy (at Essendon) and Mick Malthouse (at Footscray, West Coast, Collingwood and Carlton), as well as Kevin Bartlett, Royce Hart, Francis Bourke, Paul Sproule, Mike Patterson, Mick Erwin (who replaced Hafey when he was sacked by Collingwood), Neil Balme, John Northey, Ian Stewart, and Barry Richardson.",
"At VFL/AFL level, these include premiership coaches Tony Jewell (at Richmond), Kevin Sheedy (at Essendon) and Mick Malthouse (at Footscray, West Coast, Collingwood and Carlton), as well as Kevin Bartlett, Royce Hart, Francis Bourke, Paul Sproule, Mike Patterson, Mick Erwin (who replaced Hafey when he was sacked by Collingwood), Neil Balme, John Northey, Ian Stewart, and Barry Richardson. In addition, a number of his former players had important careers coaching at lower levels of the game, such as Merv Keane and Kevin Morris.",
"In addition, a number of his former players had important careers coaching at lower levels of the game, such as Merv Keane and Kevin Morris. References Bibliography 1971 Tiger Year Book – Richmond Football Club Hogan P: The Tigers of Old, Richmond FC, Melbourne 1996 Cartledge, E: The Hafey Years – Reliving a golden era at Tigerland, Weston Media & Communications, Melbourne 2011 External links ABC – 2002 interview with Tom Hafey Tom Hafey's playing statistics from AFL Tables Tom Hafey's coaching statistics from AFL Tables Richmond Football Club Official Site – Hall of Fame AFL Hall of Fame - Coaches 1931 births 2014 deaths Richmond Football Club coaches Richmond Football Club Premiership coaches Geelong Football Club coaches Collingwood Football Club coaches Sydney Swans coaches Richmond Football Club players Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees All-Australian coaches Australian rules footballers from Victoria (Australia) Shepparton Football Club players Sportspeople from Melbourne Deaths from cancer in Victoria (Australia)"
] |
[
"Dean Pitchford",
"Early songwriting"
] | C_0882c1996e144ed9a10cf2bb0411ca9b_1 | What was the first song that he wrote? | 1 | What was the first song that Dean Pitchford wrote? | Dean Pitchford | As a result of performing his early songwriting efforts in cabarets around Manhattan, he was invited to write with such composers as Stephen Schwartz, Alan Menken and Rupert Holmes. In 1979, he collaborated with recording artist and cabaret performer Peter Allen to write new songs for Allen's one-man Broadway revue, Up In One. With composer Michael Gore, Pitchford collaborated on three songs for Alan Parker's 1980 motion picture Fame; these were "Red Light," a disco hit for singer Linda Clifford; the symphonic/rock finale "I Sing the Body Electric;" and the title song "Fame," which became a multi-platinum, international best seller for Irene Cara. That song earned Gore and Pitchford an Oscar, a Golden Globe, and a Grammy nomination for Song of the Year (1981). They also received a Grammy nomination for Best Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media. When Pitchford was signed by Warner Brothers Publishing (1981) he began collaborating with a variety of songwriters. Among the first songs whose lyrics he wrote in collaboration with composer Tom Snow was "Don't Call It Love," which was first recorded by Kim Carnes on her 1981 album Mistaken Identity; the selection charted in the U.S. country singles top-ten for Dolly Parton in 1985 and was named the BMI Country Song of the Year. For the ill-fated 1981 movie The Legend of the Lone Ranger, Pitchford wrote a narrative ballad, "The Man In the Mask." This was spoken (throughout the movie) and sung (at its beginning and end) by Merle Haggard. "You Should Hear How She Talks About You," another Snow/Pitchford composition, was a Top 5 hit for Melissa Manchester for which she won the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 1983. That same year, Pitchford, Kenny Loggins and Steve Perry wrote and composed "Don't Fight It," a Top 20 hit that was Grammy-nominated in the Best Pop Vocal Duo category. With musical director Michael Miller, he wrote the theme song for the weekly dance-music show Solid Gold (1980-88). CANNOTANSWER | Red Light," a disco hit for singer Linda Clifford; the symphonic/rock finale "I Sing the Body Electric;" and the title song "Fame," | Dean Pitchford (born July 29, 1951) is an American songwriter, screenwriter, director, actor, and novelist. His work has earned him an Oscar and a Golden Globe Award, as well as nominations for three additional Oscars, two more Golden Globes, eight Grammy Awards, and two Tony Awards.
Early life
Pitchford was born in Honolulu, where he attended Catholic schools, graduating in 1968 from Saint Louis High School. He began his performance career as an actor and a singer with the Honolulu Community Theatre (now Diamond Head Theatre), the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra and the Honolulu Theatre for Youth, among others. While studying at Yale University, Pitchford performed with numerous campus drama groups, but his focus gradually turned off-campus, where he worked with the Wooster Square Revival, an experimental theatre company that offered acting opportunities to recovering addicts and alcoholics.
In 1969, Pitchford returned to Honolulu as an assistant to authors Faye Hammel and Sylvan Levey in updating the popular guidebook Hawai’i on $5 and $10 A Day, and researching Trans World Airlines’ Budget Guide to Hawai’i, the first of a series of guidebooks that would eventually turn into the popular series TWA Getaway Guides.
Performing
In 1971, Pitchford was cast in the off-Broadway musical Godspell in New York City. He also starred in Godspell at Ford's Theatre. Bob Fosse cast Pitchford as Pippin in the Broadway show of the same name in 1975. While in Pippin, Pitchford acted, sang, and danced in over 100 commercials for such products as Dr Pepper, McDonald's, Lay's, and M&M's.
Early songwriting
As a result of performing his early songwriting efforts in cabarets around Manhattan, he was invited to write with such composers as Stephen Schwartz, Alan Menken and Rupert Holmes. In 1979, he collaborated with recording artist and cabaret performer Peter Allen to write new songs for Allen’s one-man Broadway revue, Up In One.
With composer Michael Gore, Pitchford collaborated on three songs for Alan Parker's 1980 motion picture Fame; these were "Red Light," a disco hit for singer Linda Clifford; the symphonic/rock finale "I Sing the Body Electric;" and the title song "Fame," which became a multi-platinum, international best seller for Irene Cara. That song earned Gore and Pitchford an Oscar, a Golden Globe, and a Grammy nomination for Song of the Year (1981). They also received a Grammy nomination for Best Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media.
When Pitchford was signed by Warner Brothers Publishing (1981) he began collaborating with a variety of songwriters. Among the first songs whose lyrics he wrote in collaboration with composer Tom Snow was "Don't Call It Love," which was first recorded by Kim Carnes on her 1981 album Mistaken Identity; the selection charted in the U.S. country singles top-ten for Dolly Parton in 1985 and was named the BMI Country Song of the Year.
For the ill-fated 1981 movie The Legend of the Lone Ranger, Pitchford wrote a narrative ballad, "The Man In the Mask." This was spoken (throughout the movie) and sung (at its beginning and end) by Merle Haggard.
"You Should Hear How She Talks About You," another Snow/Pitchford composition, was a Top 5 hit for Melissa Manchester for which she won the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 1983. That same year, Pitchford, Kenny Loggins and Steve Perry wrote and composed "Don’t Fight It," a Top 20 hit that was Grammy-nominated in the Best Pop Vocal Duo category. With musical director Michael Miller, he wrote the theme song for the weekly dance-music show Solid Gold (1980–88).
Screenwriting
Inspired by a 1979 news story about Elmore City, Oklahoma, a town which had finally lifted an 80-year-old ban on dancing, Pitchford wrote the screenplay for the motion picture Footloose (1984). He collaborated on the nine-song score with Kenny Loggins, Eric Carmen, Jim Steinman, Sammy Hagar and others. The film, directed by Herbert Ross, opened at No. 1 and was, at the time, the highest-grossing February release in film history.
When the soundtrack album hit No. 1 on the Billboard album charts, it deposed Michael Jackson’s Thriller and held that position for 10 weeks. It went on top charts all over the world, eventually selling more than 17 million albums. Kenny Loggins's single of the title song hit No. 1 on March 31, 1984, and stayed there for three weeks. Five weeks later (May 26, 1984) Deniece Williams’s "Let’s Hear It for the Boy" went to No. 1, as well. Four more songs from the soundtrack charted in the Top 40; "Almost Paradise," which reached No. 7, was co-written with Eric Carmen, and was performed by Mike Reno of Loverboy and Ann Wilson of Heart; "Dancing in the Sheets" which reached No. 17, was co-written with Bill Wolfer, and was performed by Shalamar; "I’m Free (Heaven Helps the Man)," which reached No. 2 and, like the film's title track, was co-written with, and performed by, Kenny Loggins; and "Holding Out for a Hero," which reached No. 34, was co-written with Jim Steinman, and was performed by Bonnie Tyler. "Footloose" was nominated for a Golden Globe as Best Song; and "Footloose" and "Let's Hear It for the Boy" (co-written with Tom Snow) both received Academy Award nominations (1985). Pitchford received two Grammy nominations: Best Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media, and Best R&B Song "Dancing in the Sheets."
Paramount Pictures's remake of Footloose, which was again based on Pitchford's original screenplay and featured six of his songs, was released in October 2011. Blake Shelton had a hit with his re-recording of the title song.
Next Pitchford wrote the screenplay of, and collaborated on the authorship and composition of all the songs for, the 1989 musical film Sing.
Directing
Pitchford wrote and directed a short film, The Washing Machine Man (1991), for Chanticleer Films; it was invited to be shown out-of-competition at the Sundance Film Festival. That led to Pitchford being hired as director of HBO's Blood Brothers: The Joey DiPaolo Story (1992), which won that year's Cable Ace Award for Best Children's Program.
Later songwriting
With Marvin Hamlisch, Pitchford wrote Welcome, the Invocation for the Opening Ceremony of the 1984 Summer Olympics; it was performed by a choir of 1,000 voices in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. He co-wrote the song "Did You Hear Thunder?," with Tom Snow, for the George Benson album While the City Sleeps... (1986). For the motion picture Chances Are (1989), Pitchford and Tom Snow composed "After All," an international hit for Cher and Peter Cetera which garnered Pitchford his fourth Oscar nomination; and two years later Pitchford's and Gore's "All the Man That I Need" was a worldwide No. 1 song for Whitney Houston. The soundtrack for the 1988 film Oliver & Company, to which Pitchford and Tom Snow contributed "Streets of Gold," sung by Ruth Pointer, was Grammy-nominated.
Pitchford contributed lyrics to Richard Marx's song "That Was Lulu" for Marx's 1989 album Repeat Offender, with whom he also wrote "Through My Eyes" for Martina McBride for the Bambi II soundtrack. He worked for many years on a stage adaptation of Footloose, which finally opened on Broadway on October 22, 1998. The original cast recording was nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best Musical Show Album. After over 700 performances, the show closed on July 2, 2000. The musical continues to be performed all over the U.S. and around the world.
The stage musical of Carrie, with Pitchford's lyrics (music by Michael Gore, book by Lawrence D. Cohen), was presented by MCC Theatre in New York City as the final offering in their 2011-12 season. A previous production of that show had been presented in 1988 by the Royal Shakespeare Company, first in Stratford-upon-Avon in England, and then in a famously short run on Broadway at the Virginia Theatre. The 2012 MCC production was nominated for Best Revival by numerous critics's groups, including the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards.
Australian film star Hugh Jackman won a Tony Award for his portrayal of songwriter Peter Allen in The Boy from Oz (2003), in which he sang songs ("Not the Boy Next Door" and "Once Before I Go") which had been written and composed more than two decades earlier by the real Allen (by then deceased) and Pitchford. Jackman repeated his performances of those songs when he returned to New York City in his one-man concert, "Hugh Jackman - Back on Broadway" (2011).
Pitchford has contributed songs to The Lizzie McGuire Movie (2003), Shrek 2 (2004), Ice Princess (2005) and Bambi II (2006).
The 1984 recording of "Footloose" was named to the 2017 National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress in March, 2018.
Fiction writing
G. P. Putnam's Sons/Penguin Group published Pitchford's first young adult novel, The Big One-Oh, in March 2007, and Random House's Listening Library released the audiobook (read by Pitchford) in January 2008. That recording received a 2008 Grammy nomination in the category of Best Spoken Word Album for Children. His second novel, Captain Nobody, was published by G.P. Putnam's Sons/Penguin Group and released on audiobook by Random House in 2009. That recording received a 2009 nomination in the same Grammy category. Putnam/Penguin published Pitchford's third novel, Nickel Bay Nick, in 2013.
Personal life
Pitchford is openly gay. His song "If I Never Met You" was inspired by Pitchford's boyfriend at the time, who later became his husband. "If I Never Met You" appeared on Barbra Streisand's 1999 album A Love Like Ours.
References
External links
Official Dean Pitchford website
Official website for The Big One-Oh
Official website for "Captain Nobody" novel
1951 births
Best Original Song Academy Award-winning songwriters
Golden Globe Award-winning musicians
Songwriters from Hawaii
Living people
Male actors from Honolulu
Writers from Honolulu
LGBT musicians from the United States
21st-century LGBT people | true | [
"\"I Will Wait\" is a song by American singer and songwriter Nick Carter. The song was released in U.S and Canada as a digital download on September 12, 2015. It was the first single from his third solo album All American.\n\nBackground\n\"When I wrote the song, I think we wrote it with the intention going back to what the Backstreet Boys and what we were known for, which is love songs. As a writer and an artist, sometimes as your career goes on, you try to make points, and you try to be overly creative.\" Nick Carter said, \"I just wanted to go back to the basics, and tap into what our fans knew us for.\" He also claimed this song was inspired by Ed Sheeran's songwriting.\n\nMusic video\nThe music video for \"I Will Wait\" was filmed and released on YouTube and Vevo on September 22, 2015. Nick stated that the inspiration of the video was based on The Notebook.\n\nLive performance\nOn November 24, Carter first performed the song on the finale of Dancing with the Stars, where he was one of the four finalists. After the promotion, the song climbed to Top 100 on iTunes but dropped out of the chart sooner.\n\nTrack listing\n\nCharts\n\nRelease history\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n \n \n\n2015 singles\n2015 songs\nSongs written by Nick Carter (musician)\nSongs written by Dan Muckala",
"\"Sugar Mountain\" is a song by Canadian folk rock singer and composer Neil Young. Young composed the song on November 12, 1964—his 19th birthday—at the Victoria Hotel in Fort William, Ontario (now Thunder Bay), where he had been touring with his Winnipeg band the Squires. Its lyrics are reminiscences about his youth in Winnipeg, Manitoba.\n\nReleases \n\nThe first known recording of the song was made on December 15, 1965 for a demo record at Elektra Records in New York City; this version appears on the \"Early Years\" disc on The Archives Vol. 1 1963–1972. The first formal release was a recording of the song made on November 10, 1968, as part of a live performance at Canterbury House in Ann Arbor, Michigan. This recording was released as the B-side of Young's 1969 single \"The Loner\" (and again as the B-side of the \"Cinnamon Girl\" the following year), but was not collected on an album until the 3-LP compilation Decade was released in 1977. A CD/DVD release of recordings from the Canterbury House performance, Sugar Mountain - Live at Canterbury House 1968, was released November 25, 2008 as part of Young's ongoing Archives Performance Series; this release includes the first-ever stereo mix of \"Sugar Mountain\" itself.\n\nYoung recorded the song again in February 1969, as part of a series of live shows at the Riverboat in Toronto; this version is included in the 2009 Archives Performance Series release Live at the Riverboat 1969. Still another live rendition is included as the first track of Young's 1979 album Live Rust. The most recent live version is on the 2021 first release of his \"Official Bootleg Series\" Carnegie Hall recorded December 4, 1970.\n\nMeaning of the lyrics \n\nIn a concert at the Albert Hall in London on October 29, 1970, Joni Mitchell, who was already friends with Young by the time he wrote this song, opened her song \"Circle Game\" with this speech:\n\nMitchell: \"In 1965 I was up in Canada, and there was a friend of mine up there who had just left a rock'n'roll band (...) he had just newly turned 21, and that meant he was no longer allowed into his favourite haunt, which was kind of a teeny-bopper club and once you're over 21 you couldn't get back in there anymore; so he was really feeling terrible because his girlfriends and everybody that he wanted to hang out with, his band could still go there, you know, but it's one of the things that drove him to become a folk singer was that he couldn't play in this club anymore. 'Cause he was over the hill. (...) So he wrote this song that was called \"Oh to live on sugar mountain\" which was a lament for his lost youth. (...) And I thought, God, you know, if we get to 21 and there's nothing after that, that's a pretty bleak future, so I wrote a song for him, and for myself just to give me some hope. It's called The Circle Game.\"\n\nOn the bootleg album Live on Sugar Mountain, released just days after the concert at which it was recorded (on February 1, 1971, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles), Young talks at length about the lyrics. He says that when he first wrote the song, he\n\n\"wrote 126 verses to it. Now, you can imagine that I had a lot of trouble figuring out what four verses to use... I was underneath the stairs at the time... Anyway, this verse that I wrote... It was the worst verse of the 126 that I wrote. So, I decided to put it in the song, just to give everybody a frame of reference as to, you know, what can happen. What I'm trying to say is, by stopping in the middle of the song, and explaining this to you, is that... I think it's one of the lamest verses I ever wrote. And, uhh...it takes a lotta nerve for me to get up here and sing it in front of you people. But, if when I'm finished singing, you sing the chorus 'Sugar Mountain' super loud, I'll just forget about it right away and we can continue.\"\n\nReferences \n\nSongs about teenagers\nTeenage tragedy songs\nSongs about old age\nNeil Young songs\n1964 songs\nSongs written by Neil Young"
] | [
"Dean Pitchford (born July 29, 1951) is an American songwriter, screenwriter, director, actor, and novelist. His work has earned him an Oscar and a Golden Globe Award, as well as nominations for three additional Oscars, two more Golden Globes, eight Grammy Awards, and two Tony Awards. Early life Pitchford was born in Honolulu, where he attended Catholic schools, graduating in 1968 from Saint Louis High School.",
"Early life Pitchford was born in Honolulu, where he attended Catholic schools, graduating in 1968 from Saint Louis High School. He began his performance career as an actor and a singer with the Honolulu Community Theatre (now Diamond Head Theatre), the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra and the Honolulu Theatre for Youth, among others.",
"He began his performance career as an actor and a singer with the Honolulu Community Theatre (now Diamond Head Theatre), the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra and the Honolulu Theatre for Youth, among others. While studying at Yale University, Pitchford performed with numerous campus drama groups, but his focus gradually turned off-campus, where he worked with the Wooster Square Revival, an experimental theatre company that offered acting opportunities to recovering addicts and alcoholics.",
"While studying at Yale University, Pitchford performed with numerous campus drama groups, but his focus gradually turned off-campus, where he worked with the Wooster Square Revival, an experimental theatre company that offered acting opportunities to recovering addicts and alcoholics. In 1969, Pitchford returned to Honolulu as an assistant to authors Faye Hammel and Sylvan Levey in updating the popular guidebook Hawai’i on $5 and $10 A Day, and researching Trans World Airlines’ Budget Guide to Hawai’i, the first of a series of guidebooks that would eventually turn into the popular series TWA Getaway Guides.",
"In 1969, Pitchford returned to Honolulu as an assistant to authors Faye Hammel and Sylvan Levey in updating the popular guidebook Hawai’i on $5 and $10 A Day, and researching Trans World Airlines’ Budget Guide to Hawai’i, the first of a series of guidebooks that would eventually turn into the popular series TWA Getaway Guides. Performing In 1971, Pitchford was cast in the off-Broadway musical Godspell in New York City. He also starred in Godspell at Ford's Theatre.",
"He also starred in Godspell at Ford's Theatre. He also starred in Godspell at Ford's Theatre. Bob Fosse cast Pitchford as Pippin in the Broadway show of the same name in 1975. While in Pippin, Pitchford acted, sang, and danced in over 100 commercials for such products as Dr Pepper, McDonald's, Lay's, and M&M's.",
"While in Pippin, Pitchford acted, sang, and danced in over 100 commercials for such products as Dr Pepper, McDonald's, Lay's, and M&M's. Early songwriting As a result of performing his early songwriting efforts in cabarets around Manhattan, he was invited to write with such composers as Stephen Schwartz, Alan Menken and Rupert Holmes. In 1979, he collaborated with recording artist and cabaret performer Peter Allen to write new songs for Allen’s one-man Broadway revue, Up In One.",
"In 1979, he collaborated with recording artist and cabaret performer Peter Allen to write new songs for Allen’s one-man Broadway revue, Up In One. With composer Michael Gore, Pitchford collaborated on three songs for Alan Parker's 1980 motion picture Fame; these were \"Red Light,\" a disco hit for singer Linda Clifford; the symphonic/rock finale \"I Sing the Body Electric;\" and the title song \"Fame,\" which became a multi-platinum, international best seller for Irene Cara.",
"With composer Michael Gore, Pitchford collaborated on three songs for Alan Parker's 1980 motion picture Fame; these were \"Red Light,\" a disco hit for singer Linda Clifford; the symphonic/rock finale \"I Sing the Body Electric;\" and the title song \"Fame,\" which became a multi-platinum, international best seller for Irene Cara. That song earned Gore and Pitchford an Oscar, a Golden Globe, and a Grammy nomination for Song of the Year (1981).",
"That song earned Gore and Pitchford an Oscar, a Golden Globe, and a Grammy nomination for Song of the Year (1981). They also received a Grammy nomination for Best Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media. When Pitchford was signed by Warner Brothers Publishing (1981) he began collaborating with a variety of songwriters.",
"When Pitchford was signed by Warner Brothers Publishing (1981) he began collaborating with a variety of songwriters. Among the first songs whose lyrics he wrote in collaboration with composer Tom Snow was \"Don't Call It Love,\" which was first recorded by Kim Carnes on her 1981 album Mistaken Identity; the selection charted in the U.S. country singles top-ten for Dolly Parton in 1985 and was named the BMI Country Song of the Year.",
"Among the first songs whose lyrics he wrote in collaboration with composer Tom Snow was \"Don't Call It Love,\" which was first recorded by Kim Carnes on her 1981 album Mistaken Identity; the selection charted in the U.S. country singles top-ten for Dolly Parton in 1985 and was named the BMI Country Song of the Year. For the ill-fated 1981 movie The Legend of the Lone Ranger, Pitchford wrote a narrative ballad, \"The Man In the Mask.\"",
"For the ill-fated 1981 movie The Legend of the Lone Ranger, Pitchford wrote a narrative ballad, \"The Man In the Mask.\" This was spoken (throughout the movie) and sung (at its beginning and end) by Merle Haggard. \"You Should Hear How She Talks About You,\" another Snow/Pitchford composition, was a Top 5 hit for Melissa Manchester for which she won the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 1983.",
"\"You Should Hear How She Talks About You,\" another Snow/Pitchford composition, was a Top 5 hit for Melissa Manchester for which she won the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 1983. That same year, Pitchford, Kenny Loggins and Steve Perry wrote and composed \"Don’t Fight It,\" a Top 20 hit that was Grammy-nominated in the Best Pop Vocal Duo category. With musical director Michael Miller, he wrote the theme song for the weekly dance-music show Solid Gold (1980–88).",
"With musical director Michael Miller, he wrote the theme song for the weekly dance-music show Solid Gold (1980–88). Screenwriting Inspired by a 1979 news story about Elmore City, Oklahoma, a town which had finally lifted an 80-year-old ban on dancing, Pitchford wrote the screenplay for the motion picture Footloose (1984). He collaborated on the nine-song score with Kenny Loggins, Eric Carmen, Jim Steinman, Sammy Hagar and others. The film, directed by Herbert Ross, opened at No.",
"The film, directed by Herbert Ross, opened at No. 1 and was, at the time, the highest-grossing February release in film history. When the soundtrack album hit No. 1 on the Billboard album charts, it deposed Michael Jackson’s Thriller and held that position for 10 weeks. It went on top charts all over the world, eventually selling more than 17 million albums. Kenny Loggins's single of the title song hit No. 1 on March 31, 1984, and stayed there for three weeks.",
"1 on March 31, 1984, and stayed there for three weeks. Five weeks later (May 26, 1984) Deniece Williams’s \"Let’s Hear It for the Boy\" went to No. 1, as well. Four more songs from the soundtrack charted in the Top 40; \"Almost Paradise,\" which reached No. 7, was co-written with Eric Carmen, and was performed by Mike Reno of Loverboy and Ann Wilson of Heart; \"Dancing in the Sheets\" which reached No.",
"7, was co-written with Eric Carmen, and was performed by Mike Reno of Loverboy and Ann Wilson of Heart; \"Dancing in the Sheets\" which reached No. 17, was co-written with Bill Wolfer, and was performed by Shalamar; \"I’m Free (Heaven Helps the Man),\" which reached No. 2 and, like the film's title track, was co-written with, and performed by, Kenny Loggins; and \"Holding Out for a Hero,\" which reached No.",
"2 and, like the film's title track, was co-written with, and performed by, Kenny Loggins; and \"Holding Out for a Hero,\" which reached No. 34, was co-written with Jim Steinman, and was performed by Bonnie Tyler. \"Footloose\" was nominated for a Golden Globe as Best Song; and \"Footloose\" and \"Let's Hear It for the Boy\" (co-written with Tom Snow) both received Academy Award nominations (1985).",
"\"Footloose\" was nominated for a Golden Globe as Best Song; and \"Footloose\" and \"Let's Hear It for the Boy\" (co-written with Tom Snow) both received Academy Award nominations (1985). Pitchford received two Grammy nominations: Best Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media, and Best R&B Song \"Dancing in the Sheets.\"",
"Pitchford received two Grammy nominations: Best Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media, and Best R&B Song \"Dancing in the Sheets.\" Paramount Pictures's remake of Footloose, which was again based on Pitchford's original screenplay and featured six of his songs, was released in October 2011. Blake Shelton had a hit with his re-recording of the title song.",
"Blake Shelton had a hit with his re-recording of the title song. Next Pitchford wrote the screenplay of, and collaborated on the authorship and composition of all the songs for, the 1989 musical film Sing. Directing Pitchford wrote and directed a short film, The Washing Machine Man (1991), for Chanticleer Films; it was invited to be shown out-of-competition at the Sundance Film Festival.",
"Directing Pitchford wrote and directed a short film, The Washing Machine Man (1991), for Chanticleer Films; it was invited to be shown out-of-competition at the Sundance Film Festival. That led to Pitchford being hired as director of HBO's Blood Brothers: The Joey DiPaolo Story (1992), which won that year's Cable Ace Award for Best Children's Program.",
"That led to Pitchford being hired as director of HBO's Blood Brothers: The Joey DiPaolo Story (1992), which won that year's Cable Ace Award for Best Children's Program. Later songwriting With Marvin Hamlisch, Pitchford wrote Welcome, the Invocation for the Opening Ceremony of the 1984 Summer Olympics; it was performed by a choir of 1,000 voices in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.",
"Later songwriting With Marvin Hamlisch, Pitchford wrote Welcome, the Invocation for the Opening Ceremony of the 1984 Summer Olympics; it was performed by a choir of 1,000 voices in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. He co-wrote the song \"Did You Hear Thunder?,\" with Tom Snow, for the George Benson album While the City Sleeps... (1986).",
"He co-wrote the song \"Did You Hear Thunder?,\" with Tom Snow, for the George Benson album While the City Sleeps... (1986). For the motion picture Chances Are (1989), Pitchford and Tom Snow composed \"After All,\" an international hit for Cher and Peter Cetera which garnered Pitchford his fourth Oscar nomination; and two years later Pitchford's and Gore's \"All the Man That I Need\" was a worldwide No. 1 song for Whitney Houston.",
"1 song for Whitney Houston. 1 song for Whitney Houston. The soundtrack for the 1988 film Oliver & Company, to which Pitchford and Tom Snow contributed \"Streets of Gold,\" sung by Ruth Pointer, was Grammy-nominated. Pitchford contributed lyrics to Richard Marx's song \"That Was Lulu\" for Marx's 1989 album Repeat Offender, with whom he also wrote \"Through My Eyes\" for Martina McBride for the Bambi II soundtrack.",
"Pitchford contributed lyrics to Richard Marx's song \"That Was Lulu\" for Marx's 1989 album Repeat Offender, with whom he also wrote \"Through My Eyes\" for Martina McBride for the Bambi II soundtrack. He worked for many years on a stage adaptation of Footloose, which finally opened on Broadway on October 22, 1998. The original cast recording was nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best Musical Show Album. After over 700 performances, the show closed on July 2, 2000.",
"After over 700 performances, the show closed on July 2, 2000. The musical continues to be performed all over the U.S. and around the world. The stage musical of Carrie, with Pitchford's lyrics (music by Michael Gore, book by Lawrence D. Cohen), was presented by MCC Theatre in New York City as the final offering in their 2011-12 season.",
"The stage musical of Carrie, with Pitchford's lyrics (music by Michael Gore, book by Lawrence D. Cohen), was presented by MCC Theatre in New York City as the final offering in their 2011-12 season. A previous production of that show had been presented in 1988 by the Royal Shakespeare Company, first in Stratford-upon-Avon in England, and then in a famously short run on Broadway at the Virginia Theatre.",
"A previous production of that show had been presented in 1988 by the Royal Shakespeare Company, first in Stratford-upon-Avon in England, and then in a famously short run on Broadway at the Virginia Theatre. The 2012 MCC production was nominated for Best Revival by numerous critics's groups, including the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards.",
"The 2012 MCC production was nominated for Best Revival by numerous critics's groups, including the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards. Australian film star Hugh Jackman won a Tony Award for his portrayal of songwriter Peter Allen in The Boy from Oz (2003), in which he sang songs (\"Not the Boy Next Door\" and \"Once Before I Go\") which had been written and composed more than two decades earlier by the real Allen (by then deceased) and Pitchford.",
"Australian film star Hugh Jackman won a Tony Award for his portrayal of songwriter Peter Allen in The Boy from Oz (2003), in which he sang songs (\"Not the Boy Next Door\" and \"Once Before I Go\") which had been written and composed more than two decades earlier by the real Allen (by then deceased) and Pitchford. Jackman repeated his performances of those songs when he returned to New York City in his one-man concert, \"Hugh Jackman - Back on Broadway\" (2011).",
"Jackman repeated his performances of those songs when he returned to New York City in his one-man concert, \"Hugh Jackman - Back on Broadway\" (2011). Pitchford has contributed songs to The Lizzie McGuire Movie (2003), Shrek 2 (2004), Ice Princess (2005) and Bambi II (2006). The 1984 recording of \"Footloose\" was named to the 2017 National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress in March, 2018.",
"The 1984 recording of \"Footloose\" was named to the 2017 National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress in March, 2018. Fiction writing G. P. Putnam's Sons/Penguin Group published Pitchford's first young adult novel, The Big One-Oh, in March 2007, and Random House's Listening Library released the audiobook (read by Pitchford) in January 2008. That recording received a 2008 Grammy nomination in the category of Best Spoken Word Album for Children. His second novel, Captain Nobody, was published by G.P.",
"His second novel, Captain Nobody, was published by G.P. Putnam's Sons/Penguin Group and released on audiobook by Random House in 2009. That recording received a 2009 nomination in the same Grammy category. Putnam/Penguin published Pitchford's third novel, Nickel Bay Nick, in 2013. Personal life Pitchford is openly gay. His song \"If I Never Met You\" was inspired by Pitchford's boyfriend at the time, who later became his husband.",
"His song \"If I Never Met You\" was inspired by Pitchford's boyfriend at the time, who later became his husband. \"If I Never Met You\" appeared on Barbra Streisand's 1999 album A Love Like Ours. References External links Official Dean Pitchford website Official website for The Big One-Oh Official website for \"Captain Nobody\" novel 1951 births Best Original Song Academy Award-winning songwriters Golden Globe Award-winning musicians Songwriters from Hawaii Living people Male actors from Honolulu Writers from Honolulu LGBT musicians from the United States 21st-century LGBT people"
] |
[
"Dean Pitchford",
"Early songwriting",
"What was the first song that he wrote?",
"Red Light,\" a disco hit for singer Linda Clifford; the symphonic/rock finale \"I Sing the Body Electric;\" and the title song \"Fame,\"",
"When did he start writing songs?",
"In 1979, he collaborated with recording artist and cabaret performer Peter Allen to write new songs for Allen's one-man Broadway revue, Up In One.",
"Did he enjoy song writing?",
"I don't know."
] | C_0882c1996e144ed9a10cf2bb0411ca9b_1 | Did he receive any awards for his songs? | 4 | Did Dean Pitchford receive any awards for his songs? | Dean Pitchford | As a result of performing his early songwriting efforts in cabarets around Manhattan, he was invited to write with such composers as Stephen Schwartz, Alan Menken and Rupert Holmes. In 1979, he collaborated with recording artist and cabaret performer Peter Allen to write new songs for Allen's one-man Broadway revue, Up In One. With composer Michael Gore, Pitchford collaborated on three songs for Alan Parker's 1980 motion picture Fame; these were "Red Light," a disco hit for singer Linda Clifford; the symphonic/rock finale "I Sing the Body Electric;" and the title song "Fame," which became a multi-platinum, international best seller for Irene Cara. That song earned Gore and Pitchford an Oscar, a Golden Globe, and a Grammy nomination for Song of the Year (1981). They also received a Grammy nomination for Best Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media. When Pitchford was signed by Warner Brothers Publishing (1981) he began collaborating with a variety of songwriters. Among the first songs whose lyrics he wrote in collaboration with composer Tom Snow was "Don't Call It Love," which was first recorded by Kim Carnes on her 1981 album Mistaken Identity; the selection charted in the U.S. country singles top-ten for Dolly Parton in 1985 and was named the BMI Country Song of the Year. For the ill-fated 1981 movie The Legend of the Lone Ranger, Pitchford wrote a narrative ballad, "The Man In the Mask." This was spoken (throughout the movie) and sung (at its beginning and end) by Merle Haggard. "You Should Hear How She Talks About You," another Snow/Pitchford composition, was a Top 5 hit for Melissa Manchester for which she won the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 1983. That same year, Pitchford, Kenny Loggins and Steve Perry wrote and composed "Don't Fight It," a Top 20 hit that was Grammy-nominated in the Best Pop Vocal Duo category. With musical director Michael Miller, he wrote the theme song for the weekly dance-music show Solid Gold (1980-88). CANNOTANSWER | the selection charted in the U.S. country singles top-ten for Dolly Parton in 1985 and was named the BMI Country Song of the Year. | Dean Pitchford (born July 29, 1951) is an American songwriter, screenwriter, director, actor, and novelist. His work has earned him an Oscar and a Golden Globe Award, as well as nominations for three additional Oscars, two more Golden Globes, eight Grammy Awards, and two Tony Awards.
Early life
Pitchford was born in Honolulu, where he attended Catholic schools, graduating in 1968 from Saint Louis High School. He began his performance career as an actor and a singer with the Honolulu Community Theatre (now Diamond Head Theatre), the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra and the Honolulu Theatre for Youth, among others. While studying at Yale University, Pitchford performed with numerous campus drama groups, but his focus gradually turned off-campus, where he worked with the Wooster Square Revival, an experimental theatre company that offered acting opportunities to recovering addicts and alcoholics.
In 1969, Pitchford returned to Honolulu as an assistant to authors Faye Hammel and Sylvan Levey in updating the popular guidebook Hawai’i on $5 and $10 A Day, and researching Trans World Airlines’ Budget Guide to Hawai’i, the first of a series of guidebooks that would eventually turn into the popular series TWA Getaway Guides.
Performing
In 1971, Pitchford was cast in the off-Broadway musical Godspell in New York City. He also starred in Godspell at Ford's Theatre. Bob Fosse cast Pitchford as Pippin in the Broadway show of the same name in 1975. While in Pippin, Pitchford acted, sang, and danced in over 100 commercials for such products as Dr Pepper, McDonald's, Lay's, and M&M's.
Early songwriting
As a result of performing his early songwriting efforts in cabarets around Manhattan, he was invited to write with such composers as Stephen Schwartz, Alan Menken and Rupert Holmes. In 1979, he collaborated with recording artist and cabaret performer Peter Allen to write new songs for Allen’s one-man Broadway revue, Up In One.
With composer Michael Gore, Pitchford collaborated on three songs for Alan Parker's 1980 motion picture Fame; these were "Red Light," a disco hit for singer Linda Clifford; the symphonic/rock finale "I Sing the Body Electric;" and the title song "Fame," which became a multi-platinum, international best seller for Irene Cara. That song earned Gore and Pitchford an Oscar, a Golden Globe, and a Grammy nomination for Song of the Year (1981). They also received a Grammy nomination for Best Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media.
When Pitchford was signed by Warner Brothers Publishing (1981) he began collaborating with a variety of songwriters. Among the first songs whose lyrics he wrote in collaboration with composer Tom Snow was "Don't Call It Love," which was first recorded by Kim Carnes on her 1981 album Mistaken Identity; the selection charted in the U.S. country singles top-ten for Dolly Parton in 1985 and was named the BMI Country Song of the Year.
For the ill-fated 1981 movie The Legend of the Lone Ranger, Pitchford wrote a narrative ballad, "The Man In the Mask." This was spoken (throughout the movie) and sung (at its beginning and end) by Merle Haggard.
"You Should Hear How She Talks About You," another Snow/Pitchford composition, was a Top 5 hit for Melissa Manchester for which she won the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 1983. That same year, Pitchford, Kenny Loggins and Steve Perry wrote and composed "Don’t Fight It," a Top 20 hit that was Grammy-nominated in the Best Pop Vocal Duo category. With musical director Michael Miller, he wrote the theme song for the weekly dance-music show Solid Gold (1980–88).
Screenwriting
Inspired by a 1979 news story about Elmore City, Oklahoma, a town which had finally lifted an 80-year-old ban on dancing, Pitchford wrote the screenplay for the motion picture Footloose (1984). He collaborated on the nine-song score with Kenny Loggins, Eric Carmen, Jim Steinman, Sammy Hagar and others. The film, directed by Herbert Ross, opened at No. 1 and was, at the time, the highest-grossing February release in film history.
When the soundtrack album hit No. 1 on the Billboard album charts, it deposed Michael Jackson’s Thriller and held that position for 10 weeks. It went on top charts all over the world, eventually selling more than 17 million albums. Kenny Loggins's single of the title song hit No. 1 on March 31, 1984, and stayed there for three weeks. Five weeks later (May 26, 1984) Deniece Williams’s "Let’s Hear It for the Boy" went to No. 1, as well. Four more songs from the soundtrack charted in the Top 40; "Almost Paradise," which reached No. 7, was co-written with Eric Carmen, and was performed by Mike Reno of Loverboy and Ann Wilson of Heart; "Dancing in the Sheets" which reached No. 17, was co-written with Bill Wolfer, and was performed by Shalamar; "I’m Free (Heaven Helps the Man)," which reached No. 2 and, like the film's title track, was co-written with, and performed by, Kenny Loggins; and "Holding Out for a Hero," which reached No. 34, was co-written with Jim Steinman, and was performed by Bonnie Tyler. "Footloose" was nominated for a Golden Globe as Best Song; and "Footloose" and "Let's Hear It for the Boy" (co-written with Tom Snow) both received Academy Award nominations (1985). Pitchford received two Grammy nominations: Best Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media, and Best R&B Song "Dancing in the Sheets."
Paramount Pictures's remake of Footloose, which was again based on Pitchford's original screenplay and featured six of his songs, was released in October 2011. Blake Shelton had a hit with his re-recording of the title song.
Next Pitchford wrote the screenplay of, and collaborated on the authorship and composition of all the songs for, the 1989 musical film Sing.
Directing
Pitchford wrote and directed a short film, The Washing Machine Man (1991), for Chanticleer Films; it was invited to be shown out-of-competition at the Sundance Film Festival. That led to Pitchford being hired as director of HBO's Blood Brothers: The Joey DiPaolo Story (1992), which won that year's Cable Ace Award for Best Children's Program.
Later songwriting
With Marvin Hamlisch, Pitchford wrote Welcome, the Invocation for the Opening Ceremony of the 1984 Summer Olympics; it was performed by a choir of 1,000 voices in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. He co-wrote the song "Did You Hear Thunder?," with Tom Snow, for the George Benson album While the City Sleeps... (1986). For the motion picture Chances Are (1989), Pitchford and Tom Snow composed "After All," an international hit for Cher and Peter Cetera which garnered Pitchford his fourth Oscar nomination; and two years later Pitchford's and Gore's "All the Man That I Need" was a worldwide No. 1 song for Whitney Houston. The soundtrack for the 1988 film Oliver & Company, to which Pitchford and Tom Snow contributed "Streets of Gold," sung by Ruth Pointer, was Grammy-nominated.
Pitchford contributed lyrics to Richard Marx's song "That Was Lulu" for Marx's 1989 album Repeat Offender, with whom he also wrote "Through My Eyes" for Martina McBride for the Bambi II soundtrack. He worked for many years on a stage adaptation of Footloose, which finally opened on Broadway on October 22, 1998. The original cast recording was nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best Musical Show Album. After over 700 performances, the show closed on July 2, 2000. The musical continues to be performed all over the U.S. and around the world.
The stage musical of Carrie, with Pitchford's lyrics (music by Michael Gore, book by Lawrence D. Cohen), was presented by MCC Theatre in New York City as the final offering in their 2011-12 season. A previous production of that show had been presented in 1988 by the Royal Shakespeare Company, first in Stratford-upon-Avon in England, and then in a famously short run on Broadway at the Virginia Theatre. The 2012 MCC production was nominated for Best Revival by numerous critics's groups, including the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards.
Australian film star Hugh Jackman won a Tony Award for his portrayal of songwriter Peter Allen in The Boy from Oz (2003), in which he sang songs ("Not the Boy Next Door" and "Once Before I Go") which had been written and composed more than two decades earlier by the real Allen (by then deceased) and Pitchford. Jackman repeated his performances of those songs when he returned to New York City in his one-man concert, "Hugh Jackman - Back on Broadway" (2011).
Pitchford has contributed songs to The Lizzie McGuire Movie (2003), Shrek 2 (2004), Ice Princess (2005) and Bambi II (2006).
The 1984 recording of "Footloose" was named to the 2017 National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress in March, 2018.
Fiction writing
G. P. Putnam's Sons/Penguin Group published Pitchford's first young adult novel, The Big One-Oh, in March 2007, and Random House's Listening Library released the audiobook (read by Pitchford) in January 2008. That recording received a 2008 Grammy nomination in the category of Best Spoken Word Album for Children. His second novel, Captain Nobody, was published by G.P. Putnam's Sons/Penguin Group and released on audiobook by Random House in 2009. That recording received a 2009 nomination in the same Grammy category. Putnam/Penguin published Pitchford's third novel, Nickel Bay Nick, in 2013.
Personal life
Pitchford is openly gay. His song "If I Never Met You" was inspired by Pitchford's boyfriend at the time, who later became his husband. "If I Never Met You" appeared on Barbra Streisand's 1999 album A Love Like Ours.
References
External links
Official Dean Pitchford website
Official website for The Big One-Oh
Official website for "Captain Nobody" novel
1951 births
Best Original Song Academy Award-winning songwriters
Golden Globe Award-winning musicians
Songwriters from Hawaii
Living people
Male actors from Honolulu
Writers from Honolulu
LGBT musicians from the United States
21st-century LGBT people | true | [
"Below is a list of awards received by Twins since they were formed in 2001 as a cantopop girl group. They average to receive about 2-3 awards in each Hong Kong music awards. Their major accomplishment is in 2007 when they received the Asia Pacific Most Popular Female Artist Award from Jade Solid Gold Top 10 Awards.\n\nBecause of the Edison Chen photo scandal in 2008, Gillian took a short leave from the group. And thus the group did not record any songs or receive any awards between March 2008 to 2009.\n\nCommercial Radio Hong Kong Ultimate Song Chart Awards\nThe Ultimate Song Chart Awards Presentation (叱咤樂壇流行榜頒獎典禮) is a cantopop award ceremony from one of the famous channel in Commercial Radio Hong Kong known as Ultimate 903 (FM 90.3). Unlike other cantopop award ceremonies, this one is judged based on the popularity of the song/artist on the actual radio show.\n\nGlobal Chinese Music Awards\n\nIFPI Hong Kong Sales Awards\nIFPI Awards is given to artists base on the sales in Hong Kong at the end of the year.\n\nJade Solid Gold Top 10 Awards\nThe Jade Solid Gold Songs Awards Ceremony(十大勁歌金曲頒獎典禮) is held annually in Hong Kong since 1984. The awards are based on Jade Solid Gold show on TVB.\n\nMetro Radio Mandarin Music Awards\n\nMetro Showbiz Hit Awards\nThe Metro Showbiz Hit Awards (新城勁爆頒獎禮) is held in Hong Kong annually by Metro Showbiz radio station. It focus mostly in cantopop music.\n\nRTHK Top 10 Gold Songs Awards\nThe RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs Awards Ceremony(十大中文金曲頒獎音樂會) is held annually in Hong Kong since 1978. The awards are determined by Radio and Television Hong Kong based on the work of all Asian artists (mostly cantopop) for the previous year.\n\nSprite Music Awards\nThe Sprite Music Awards Ceremony is an annual event given by Sprite China for work artists performed in previous years; awards received on 2008 are actually for the work and accomplishment for 2007.\n\nReferences\n\nTwins\nCantopop",
"The list contains songs written by Indian poet and songwriter Kannadasan. He won a National Film Award for Best Lyrics which is the first lyricist receive the award. His association with Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy is notable.\n\nAwards\n\nList of songs\n\n1940s\n\n1950s\n\n1960s\n\n1970s\n\n1980s\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nLists of songs by songwriters\nIndian filmographies"
] | [
"Dean Pitchford (born July 29, 1951) is an American songwriter, screenwriter, director, actor, and novelist. His work has earned him an Oscar and a Golden Globe Award, as well as nominations for three additional Oscars, two more Golden Globes, eight Grammy Awards, and two Tony Awards. Early life Pitchford was born in Honolulu, where he attended Catholic schools, graduating in 1968 from Saint Louis High School.",
"Early life Pitchford was born in Honolulu, where he attended Catholic schools, graduating in 1968 from Saint Louis High School. He began his performance career as an actor and a singer with the Honolulu Community Theatre (now Diamond Head Theatre), the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra and the Honolulu Theatre for Youth, among others.",
"He began his performance career as an actor and a singer with the Honolulu Community Theatre (now Diamond Head Theatre), the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra and the Honolulu Theatre for Youth, among others. While studying at Yale University, Pitchford performed with numerous campus drama groups, but his focus gradually turned off-campus, where he worked with the Wooster Square Revival, an experimental theatre company that offered acting opportunities to recovering addicts and alcoholics.",
"While studying at Yale University, Pitchford performed with numerous campus drama groups, but his focus gradually turned off-campus, where he worked with the Wooster Square Revival, an experimental theatre company that offered acting opportunities to recovering addicts and alcoholics. In 1969, Pitchford returned to Honolulu as an assistant to authors Faye Hammel and Sylvan Levey in updating the popular guidebook Hawai’i on $5 and $10 A Day, and researching Trans World Airlines’ Budget Guide to Hawai’i, the first of a series of guidebooks that would eventually turn into the popular series TWA Getaway Guides.",
"In 1969, Pitchford returned to Honolulu as an assistant to authors Faye Hammel and Sylvan Levey in updating the popular guidebook Hawai’i on $5 and $10 A Day, and researching Trans World Airlines’ Budget Guide to Hawai’i, the first of a series of guidebooks that would eventually turn into the popular series TWA Getaway Guides. Performing In 1971, Pitchford was cast in the off-Broadway musical Godspell in New York City. He also starred in Godspell at Ford's Theatre.",
"He also starred in Godspell at Ford's Theatre. He also starred in Godspell at Ford's Theatre. Bob Fosse cast Pitchford as Pippin in the Broadway show of the same name in 1975. While in Pippin, Pitchford acted, sang, and danced in over 100 commercials for such products as Dr Pepper, McDonald's, Lay's, and M&M's.",
"While in Pippin, Pitchford acted, sang, and danced in over 100 commercials for such products as Dr Pepper, McDonald's, Lay's, and M&M's. Early songwriting As a result of performing his early songwriting efforts in cabarets around Manhattan, he was invited to write with such composers as Stephen Schwartz, Alan Menken and Rupert Holmes. In 1979, he collaborated with recording artist and cabaret performer Peter Allen to write new songs for Allen’s one-man Broadway revue, Up In One.",
"In 1979, he collaborated with recording artist and cabaret performer Peter Allen to write new songs for Allen’s one-man Broadway revue, Up In One. With composer Michael Gore, Pitchford collaborated on three songs for Alan Parker's 1980 motion picture Fame; these were \"Red Light,\" a disco hit for singer Linda Clifford; the symphonic/rock finale \"I Sing the Body Electric;\" and the title song \"Fame,\" which became a multi-platinum, international best seller for Irene Cara.",
"With composer Michael Gore, Pitchford collaborated on three songs for Alan Parker's 1980 motion picture Fame; these were \"Red Light,\" a disco hit for singer Linda Clifford; the symphonic/rock finale \"I Sing the Body Electric;\" and the title song \"Fame,\" which became a multi-platinum, international best seller for Irene Cara. That song earned Gore and Pitchford an Oscar, a Golden Globe, and a Grammy nomination for Song of the Year (1981).",
"That song earned Gore and Pitchford an Oscar, a Golden Globe, and a Grammy nomination for Song of the Year (1981). They also received a Grammy nomination for Best Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media. When Pitchford was signed by Warner Brothers Publishing (1981) he began collaborating with a variety of songwriters.",
"When Pitchford was signed by Warner Brothers Publishing (1981) he began collaborating with a variety of songwriters. Among the first songs whose lyrics he wrote in collaboration with composer Tom Snow was \"Don't Call It Love,\" which was first recorded by Kim Carnes on her 1981 album Mistaken Identity; the selection charted in the U.S. country singles top-ten for Dolly Parton in 1985 and was named the BMI Country Song of the Year.",
"Among the first songs whose lyrics he wrote in collaboration with composer Tom Snow was \"Don't Call It Love,\" which was first recorded by Kim Carnes on her 1981 album Mistaken Identity; the selection charted in the U.S. country singles top-ten for Dolly Parton in 1985 and was named the BMI Country Song of the Year. For the ill-fated 1981 movie The Legend of the Lone Ranger, Pitchford wrote a narrative ballad, \"The Man In the Mask.\"",
"For the ill-fated 1981 movie The Legend of the Lone Ranger, Pitchford wrote a narrative ballad, \"The Man In the Mask.\" This was spoken (throughout the movie) and sung (at its beginning and end) by Merle Haggard. \"You Should Hear How She Talks About You,\" another Snow/Pitchford composition, was a Top 5 hit for Melissa Manchester for which she won the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 1983.",
"\"You Should Hear How She Talks About You,\" another Snow/Pitchford composition, was a Top 5 hit for Melissa Manchester for which she won the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 1983. That same year, Pitchford, Kenny Loggins and Steve Perry wrote and composed \"Don’t Fight It,\" a Top 20 hit that was Grammy-nominated in the Best Pop Vocal Duo category. With musical director Michael Miller, he wrote the theme song for the weekly dance-music show Solid Gold (1980–88).",
"With musical director Michael Miller, he wrote the theme song for the weekly dance-music show Solid Gold (1980–88). Screenwriting Inspired by a 1979 news story about Elmore City, Oklahoma, a town which had finally lifted an 80-year-old ban on dancing, Pitchford wrote the screenplay for the motion picture Footloose (1984). He collaborated on the nine-song score with Kenny Loggins, Eric Carmen, Jim Steinman, Sammy Hagar and others. The film, directed by Herbert Ross, opened at No.",
"The film, directed by Herbert Ross, opened at No. 1 and was, at the time, the highest-grossing February release in film history. When the soundtrack album hit No. 1 on the Billboard album charts, it deposed Michael Jackson’s Thriller and held that position for 10 weeks. It went on top charts all over the world, eventually selling more than 17 million albums. Kenny Loggins's single of the title song hit No. 1 on March 31, 1984, and stayed there for three weeks.",
"1 on March 31, 1984, and stayed there for three weeks. Five weeks later (May 26, 1984) Deniece Williams’s \"Let’s Hear It for the Boy\" went to No. 1, as well. Four more songs from the soundtrack charted in the Top 40; \"Almost Paradise,\" which reached No. 7, was co-written with Eric Carmen, and was performed by Mike Reno of Loverboy and Ann Wilson of Heart; \"Dancing in the Sheets\" which reached No.",
"7, was co-written with Eric Carmen, and was performed by Mike Reno of Loverboy and Ann Wilson of Heart; \"Dancing in the Sheets\" which reached No. 17, was co-written with Bill Wolfer, and was performed by Shalamar; \"I’m Free (Heaven Helps the Man),\" which reached No. 2 and, like the film's title track, was co-written with, and performed by, Kenny Loggins; and \"Holding Out for a Hero,\" which reached No.",
"2 and, like the film's title track, was co-written with, and performed by, Kenny Loggins; and \"Holding Out for a Hero,\" which reached No. 34, was co-written with Jim Steinman, and was performed by Bonnie Tyler. \"Footloose\" was nominated for a Golden Globe as Best Song; and \"Footloose\" and \"Let's Hear It for the Boy\" (co-written with Tom Snow) both received Academy Award nominations (1985).",
"\"Footloose\" was nominated for a Golden Globe as Best Song; and \"Footloose\" and \"Let's Hear It for the Boy\" (co-written with Tom Snow) both received Academy Award nominations (1985). Pitchford received two Grammy nominations: Best Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media, and Best R&B Song \"Dancing in the Sheets.\"",
"Pitchford received two Grammy nominations: Best Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media, and Best R&B Song \"Dancing in the Sheets.\" Paramount Pictures's remake of Footloose, which was again based on Pitchford's original screenplay and featured six of his songs, was released in October 2011. Blake Shelton had a hit with his re-recording of the title song.",
"Blake Shelton had a hit with his re-recording of the title song. Next Pitchford wrote the screenplay of, and collaborated on the authorship and composition of all the songs for, the 1989 musical film Sing. Directing Pitchford wrote and directed a short film, The Washing Machine Man (1991), for Chanticleer Films; it was invited to be shown out-of-competition at the Sundance Film Festival.",
"Directing Pitchford wrote and directed a short film, The Washing Machine Man (1991), for Chanticleer Films; it was invited to be shown out-of-competition at the Sundance Film Festival. That led to Pitchford being hired as director of HBO's Blood Brothers: The Joey DiPaolo Story (1992), which won that year's Cable Ace Award for Best Children's Program.",
"That led to Pitchford being hired as director of HBO's Blood Brothers: The Joey DiPaolo Story (1992), which won that year's Cable Ace Award for Best Children's Program. Later songwriting With Marvin Hamlisch, Pitchford wrote Welcome, the Invocation for the Opening Ceremony of the 1984 Summer Olympics; it was performed by a choir of 1,000 voices in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.",
"Later songwriting With Marvin Hamlisch, Pitchford wrote Welcome, the Invocation for the Opening Ceremony of the 1984 Summer Olympics; it was performed by a choir of 1,000 voices in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. He co-wrote the song \"Did You Hear Thunder?,\" with Tom Snow, for the George Benson album While the City Sleeps... (1986).",
"He co-wrote the song \"Did You Hear Thunder?,\" with Tom Snow, for the George Benson album While the City Sleeps... (1986). For the motion picture Chances Are (1989), Pitchford and Tom Snow composed \"After All,\" an international hit for Cher and Peter Cetera which garnered Pitchford his fourth Oscar nomination; and two years later Pitchford's and Gore's \"All the Man That I Need\" was a worldwide No. 1 song for Whitney Houston.",
"1 song for Whitney Houston. 1 song for Whitney Houston. The soundtrack for the 1988 film Oliver & Company, to which Pitchford and Tom Snow contributed \"Streets of Gold,\" sung by Ruth Pointer, was Grammy-nominated. Pitchford contributed lyrics to Richard Marx's song \"That Was Lulu\" for Marx's 1989 album Repeat Offender, with whom he also wrote \"Through My Eyes\" for Martina McBride for the Bambi II soundtrack.",
"Pitchford contributed lyrics to Richard Marx's song \"That Was Lulu\" for Marx's 1989 album Repeat Offender, with whom he also wrote \"Through My Eyes\" for Martina McBride for the Bambi II soundtrack. He worked for many years on a stage adaptation of Footloose, which finally opened on Broadway on October 22, 1998. The original cast recording was nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best Musical Show Album. After over 700 performances, the show closed on July 2, 2000.",
"After over 700 performances, the show closed on July 2, 2000. The musical continues to be performed all over the U.S. and around the world. The stage musical of Carrie, with Pitchford's lyrics (music by Michael Gore, book by Lawrence D. Cohen), was presented by MCC Theatre in New York City as the final offering in their 2011-12 season.",
"The stage musical of Carrie, with Pitchford's lyrics (music by Michael Gore, book by Lawrence D. Cohen), was presented by MCC Theatre in New York City as the final offering in their 2011-12 season. A previous production of that show had been presented in 1988 by the Royal Shakespeare Company, first in Stratford-upon-Avon in England, and then in a famously short run on Broadway at the Virginia Theatre.",
"A previous production of that show had been presented in 1988 by the Royal Shakespeare Company, first in Stratford-upon-Avon in England, and then in a famously short run on Broadway at the Virginia Theatre. The 2012 MCC production was nominated for Best Revival by numerous critics's groups, including the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards.",
"The 2012 MCC production was nominated for Best Revival by numerous critics's groups, including the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards. Australian film star Hugh Jackman won a Tony Award for his portrayal of songwriter Peter Allen in The Boy from Oz (2003), in which he sang songs (\"Not the Boy Next Door\" and \"Once Before I Go\") which had been written and composed more than two decades earlier by the real Allen (by then deceased) and Pitchford.",
"Australian film star Hugh Jackman won a Tony Award for his portrayal of songwriter Peter Allen in The Boy from Oz (2003), in which he sang songs (\"Not the Boy Next Door\" and \"Once Before I Go\") which had been written and composed more than two decades earlier by the real Allen (by then deceased) and Pitchford. Jackman repeated his performances of those songs when he returned to New York City in his one-man concert, \"Hugh Jackman - Back on Broadway\" (2011).",
"Jackman repeated his performances of those songs when he returned to New York City in his one-man concert, \"Hugh Jackman - Back on Broadway\" (2011). Pitchford has contributed songs to The Lizzie McGuire Movie (2003), Shrek 2 (2004), Ice Princess (2005) and Bambi II (2006). The 1984 recording of \"Footloose\" was named to the 2017 National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress in March, 2018.",
"The 1984 recording of \"Footloose\" was named to the 2017 National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress in March, 2018. Fiction writing G. P. Putnam's Sons/Penguin Group published Pitchford's first young adult novel, The Big One-Oh, in March 2007, and Random House's Listening Library released the audiobook (read by Pitchford) in January 2008. That recording received a 2008 Grammy nomination in the category of Best Spoken Word Album for Children. His second novel, Captain Nobody, was published by G.P.",
"His second novel, Captain Nobody, was published by G.P. Putnam's Sons/Penguin Group and released on audiobook by Random House in 2009. That recording received a 2009 nomination in the same Grammy category. Putnam/Penguin published Pitchford's third novel, Nickel Bay Nick, in 2013. Personal life Pitchford is openly gay. His song \"If I Never Met You\" was inspired by Pitchford's boyfriend at the time, who later became his husband.",
"His song \"If I Never Met You\" was inspired by Pitchford's boyfriend at the time, who later became his husband. \"If I Never Met You\" appeared on Barbra Streisand's 1999 album A Love Like Ours. References External links Official Dean Pitchford website Official website for The Big One-Oh Official website for \"Captain Nobody\" novel 1951 births Best Original Song Academy Award-winning songwriters Golden Globe Award-winning musicians Songwriters from Hawaii Living people Male actors from Honolulu Writers from Honolulu LGBT musicians from the United States 21st-century LGBT people"
] |
[
"Dean Pitchford",
"Early songwriting",
"What was the first song that he wrote?",
"Red Light,\" a disco hit for singer Linda Clifford; the symphonic/rock finale \"I Sing the Body Electric;\" and the title song \"Fame,\"",
"When did he start writing songs?",
"In 1979, he collaborated with recording artist and cabaret performer Peter Allen to write new songs for Allen's one-man Broadway revue, Up In One.",
"Did he enjoy song writing?",
"I don't know.",
"Did he receive any awards for his songs?",
"the selection charted in the U.S. country singles top-ten for Dolly Parton in 1985 and was named the BMI Country Song of the Year."
] | C_0882c1996e144ed9a10cf2bb0411ca9b_1 | What other awards did he win? | 5 | Besides the 1985 BMI Country Song of the Year, what other awards did Dean Pitchford win? | Dean Pitchford | As a result of performing his early songwriting efforts in cabarets around Manhattan, he was invited to write with such composers as Stephen Schwartz, Alan Menken and Rupert Holmes. In 1979, he collaborated with recording artist and cabaret performer Peter Allen to write new songs for Allen's one-man Broadway revue, Up In One. With composer Michael Gore, Pitchford collaborated on three songs for Alan Parker's 1980 motion picture Fame; these were "Red Light," a disco hit for singer Linda Clifford; the symphonic/rock finale "I Sing the Body Electric;" and the title song "Fame," which became a multi-platinum, international best seller for Irene Cara. That song earned Gore and Pitchford an Oscar, a Golden Globe, and a Grammy nomination for Song of the Year (1981). They also received a Grammy nomination for Best Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media. When Pitchford was signed by Warner Brothers Publishing (1981) he began collaborating with a variety of songwriters. Among the first songs whose lyrics he wrote in collaboration with composer Tom Snow was "Don't Call It Love," which was first recorded by Kim Carnes on her 1981 album Mistaken Identity; the selection charted in the U.S. country singles top-ten for Dolly Parton in 1985 and was named the BMI Country Song of the Year. For the ill-fated 1981 movie The Legend of the Lone Ranger, Pitchford wrote a narrative ballad, "The Man In the Mask." This was spoken (throughout the movie) and sung (at its beginning and end) by Merle Haggard. "You Should Hear How She Talks About You," another Snow/Pitchford composition, was a Top 5 hit for Melissa Manchester for which she won the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 1983. That same year, Pitchford, Kenny Loggins and Steve Perry wrote and composed "Don't Fight It," a Top 20 hit that was Grammy-nominated in the Best Pop Vocal Duo category. With musical director Michael Miller, he wrote the theme song for the weekly dance-music show Solid Gold (1980-88). CANNOTANSWER | They also received a Grammy nomination for Best Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media. | Dean Pitchford (born July 29, 1951) is an American songwriter, screenwriter, director, actor, and novelist. His work has earned him an Oscar and a Golden Globe Award, as well as nominations for three additional Oscars, two more Golden Globes, eight Grammy Awards, and two Tony Awards.
Early life
Pitchford was born in Honolulu, where he attended Catholic schools, graduating in 1968 from Saint Louis High School. He began his performance career as an actor and a singer with the Honolulu Community Theatre (now Diamond Head Theatre), the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra and the Honolulu Theatre for Youth, among others. While studying at Yale University, Pitchford performed with numerous campus drama groups, but his focus gradually turned off-campus, where he worked with the Wooster Square Revival, an experimental theatre company that offered acting opportunities to recovering addicts and alcoholics.
In 1969, Pitchford returned to Honolulu as an assistant to authors Faye Hammel and Sylvan Levey in updating the popular guidebook Hawai’i on $5 and $10 A Day, and researching Trans World Airlines’ Budget Guide to Hawai’i, the first of a series of guidebooks that would eventually turn into the popular series TWA Getaway Guides.
Performing
In 1971, Pitchford was cast in the off-Broadway musical Godspell in New York City. He also starred in Godspell at Ford's Theatre. Bob Fosse cast Pitchford as Pippin in the Broadway show of the same name in 1975. While in Pippin, Pitchford acted, sang, and danced in over 100 commercials for such products as Dr Pepper, McDonald's, Lay's, and M&M's.
Early songwriting
As a result of performing his early songwriting efforts in cabarets around Manhattan, he was invited to write with such composers as Stephen Schwartz, Alan Menken and Rupert Holmes. In 1979, he collaborated with recording artist and cabaret performer Peter Allen to write new songs for Allen’s one-man Broadway revue, Up In One.
With composer Michael Gore, Pitchford collaborated on three songs for Alan Parker's 1980 motion picture Fame; these were "Red Light," a disco hit for singer Linda Clifford; the symphonic/rock finale "I Sing the Body Electric;" and the title song "Fame," which became a multi-platinum, international best seller for Irene Cara. That song earned Gore and Pitchford an Oscar, a Golden Globe, and a Grammy nomination for Song of the Year (1981). They also received a Grammy nomination for Best Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media.
When Pitchford was signed by Warner Brothers Publishing (1981) he began collaborating with a variety of songwriters. Among the first songs whose lyrics he wrote in collaboration with composer Tom Snow was "Don't Call It Love," which was first recorded by Kim Carnes on her 1981 album Mistaken Identity; the selection charted in the U.S. country singles top-ten for Dolly Parton in 1985 and was named the BMI Country Song of the Year.
For the ill-fated 1981 movie The Legend of the Lone Ranger, Pitchford wrote a narrative ballad, "The Man In the Mask." This was spoken (throughout the movie) and sung (at its beginning and end) by Merle Haggard.
"You Should Hear How She Talks About You," another Snow/Pitchford composition, was a Top 5 hit for Melissa Manchester for which she won the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 1983. That same year, Pitchford, Kenny Loggins and Steve Perry wrote and composed "Don’t Fight It," a Top 20 hit that was Grammy-nominated in the Best Pop Vocal Duo category. With musical director Michael Miller, he wrote the theme song for the weekly dance-music show Solid Gold (1980–88).
Screenwriting
Inspired by a 1979 news story about Elmore City, Oklahoma, a town which had finally lifted an 80-year-old ban on dancing, Pitchford wrote the screenplay for the motion picture Footloose (1984). He collaborated on the nine-song score with Kenny Loggins, Eric Carmen, Jim Steinman, Sammy Hagar and others. The film, directed by Herbert Ross, opened at No. 1 and was, at the time, the highest-grossing February release in film history.
When the soundtrack album hit No. 1 on the Billboard album charts, it deposed Michael Jackson’s Thriller and held that position for 10 weeks. It went on top charts all over the world, eventually selling more than 17 million albums. Kenny Loggins's single of the title song hit No. 1 on March 31, 1984, and stayed there for three weeks. Five weeks later (May 26, 1984) Deniece Williams’s "Let’s Hear It for the Boy" went to No. 1, as well. Four more songs from the soundtrack charted in the Top 40; "Almost Paradise," which reached No. 7, was co-written with Eric Carmen, and was performed by Mike Reno of Loverboy and Ann Wilson of Heart; "Dancing in the Sheets" which reached No. 17, was co-written with Bill Wolfer, and was performed by Shalamar; "I’m Free (Heaven Helps the Man)," which reached No. 2 and, like the film's title track, was co-written with, and performed by, Kenny Loggins; and "Holding Out for a Hero," which reached No. 34, was co-written with Jim Steinman, and was performed by Bonnie Tyler. "Footloose" was nominated for a Golden Globe as Best Song; and "Footloose" and "Let's Hear It for the Boy" (co-written with Tom Snow) both received Academy Award nominations (1985). Pitchford received two Grammy nominations: Best Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media, and Best R&B Song "Dancing in the Sheets."
Paramount Pictures's remake of Footloose, which was again based on Pitchford's original screenplay and featured six of his songs, was released in October 2011. Blake Shelton had a hit with his re-recording of the title song.
Next Pitchford wrote the screenplay of, and collaborated on the authorship and composition of all the songs for, the 1989 musical film Sing.
Directing
Pitchford wrote and directed a short film, The Washing Machine Man (1991), for Chanticleer Films; it was invited to be shown out-of-competition at the Sundance Film Festival. That led to Pitchford being hired as director of HBO's Blood Brothers: The Joey DiPaolo Story (1992), which won that year's Cable Ace Award for Best Children's Program.
Later songwriting
With Marvin Hamlisch, Pitchford wrote Welcome, the Invocation for the Opening Ceremony of the 1984 Summer Olympics; it was performed by a choir of 1,000 voices in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. He co-wrote the song "Did You Hear Thunder?," with Tom Snow, for the George Benson album While the City Sleeps... (1986). For the motion picture Chances Are (1989), Pitchford and Tom Snow composed "After All," an international hit for Cher and Peter Cetera which garnered Pitchford his fourth Oscar nomination; and two years later Pitchford's and Gore's "All the Man That I Need" was a worldwide No. 1 song for Whitney Houston. The soundtrack for the 1988 film Oliver & Company, to which Pitchford and Tom Snow contributed "Streets of Gold," sung by Ruth Pointer, was Grammy-nominated.
Pitchford contributed lyrics to Richard Marx's song "That Was Lulu" for Marx's 1989 album Repeat Offender, with whom he also wrote "Through My Eyes" for Martina McBride for the Bambi II soundtrack. He worked for many years on a stage adaptation of Footloose, which finally opened on Broadway on October 22, 1998. The original cast recording was nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best Musical Show Album. After over 700 performances, the show closed on July 2, 2000. The musical continues to be performed all over the U.S. and around the world.
The stage musical of Carrie, with Pitchford's lyrics (music by Michael Gore, book by Lawrence D. Cohen), was presented by MCC Theatre in New York City as the final offering in their 2011-12 season. A previous production of that show had been presented in 1988 by the Royal Shakespeare Company, first in Stratford-upon-Avon in England, and then in a famously short run on Broadway at the Virginia Theatre. The 2012 MCC production was nominated for Best Revival by numerous critics's groups, including the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards.
Australian film star Hugh Jackman won a Tony Award for his portrayal of songwriter Peter Allen in The Boy from Oz (2003), in which he sang songs ("Not the Boy Next Door" and "Once Before I Go") which had been written and composed more than two decades earlier by the real Allen (by then deceased) and Pitchford. Jackman repeated his performances of those songs when he returned to New York City in his one-man concert, "Hugh Jackman - Back on Broadway" (2011).
Pitchford has contributed songs to The Lizzie McGuire Movie (2003), Shrek 2 (2004), Ice Princess (2005) and Bambi II (2006).
The 1984 recording of "Footloose" was named to the 2017 National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress in March, 2018.
Fiction writing
G. P. Putnam's Sons/Penguin Group published Pitchford's first young adult novel, The Big One-Oh, in March 2007, and Random House's Listening Library released the audiobook (read by Pitchford) in January 2008. That recording received a 2008 Grammy nomination in the category of Best Spoken Word Album for Children. His second novel, Captain Nobody, was published by G.P. Putnam's Sons/Penguin Group and released on audiobook by Random House in 2009. That recording received a 2009 nomination in the same Grammy category. Putnam/Penguin published Pitchford's third novel, Nickel Bay Nick, in 2013.
Personal life
Pitchford is openly gay. His song "If I Never Met You" was inspired by Pitchford's boyfriend at the time, who later became his husband. "If I Never Met You" appeared on Barbra Streisand's 1999 album A Love Like Ours.
References
External links
Official Dean Pitchford website
Official website for The Big One-Oh
Official website for "Captain Nobody" novel
1951 births
Best Original Song Academy Award-winning songwriters
Golden Globe Award-winning musicians
Songwriters from Hawaii
Living people
Male actors from Honolulu
Writers from Honolulu
LGBT musicians from the United States
21st-century LGBT people | true | [
"Ricky Gervais ( ; born 25 June 1961) is an English comedian, actor, writer, producer, and director. He is best known for co-creating, writing, and acting in the British television series The Office (2001–2003). He has won seven BAFTA Awards, five British Comedy Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and the Rose d'Or twice (2006 and 2019), as well as a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination. In 2007, he was placed at No. 11 on Channel 4's 100 Greatest Stand-Ups and at No. 3 on the updated 2010 list. In 2010, he was named on the Time 100 list of the world's most influential people. In 2002 he was nominated to be Britain's Funniest Man but did not win the award, he did however beat some gangsters up in a pub when an old man was being hassled, against the odds.\n\nMajor awards\n\nPrimetime Emmy Awards\n\nGolden Globe Awards\n\nBAFTA Television Awards\n\nScreen Actors Guild Awards\n\nWriters Guild of America Awards\n\nProducers Guild of America Awards\n\nOther awards\n\nBritannia Awards\n\nBritish Comedy Guide Awards\n\nBritish Comedy Awards\n\nBroadcasting Press Guild Awards\n\nEvening Standard British Film Awards\n\nSatellite Award\n\nTelevision Critics Association Awards\n\nReferences \n\nLists of awards received by actor",
"The following is a list of awards and nominations received by Welsh actor and director Anthony Hopkins. \n\nHe is an Oscar-winning actor, having received six Academy award nominations winning two of these for Best Actor for his performance as Hannibal Lecter in the Jonathan Demme thriller The Silence of the Lambs (1991) and for his performance as Anthony in Florian Zeller's drama The Father (2020). He also was nominated for his performances as in James Ivory's The Remains of the Day (1993), Richard Nixon in Oliver Stone's drama Nixon (1995), John Quincy Adams in Amistad (1997), and Pope Benedict XVI in the Fernando Meirelles drama The Two Popes (2019). \n\nFor his work on film and television, he has received eight Golden Globe award nominations. In 2006 he was honored with the Cecil B. DeMille award for his lifetime achievement in the entertainment industry. He has received six Primetime Emmy award nominations winning two—one in 1976 for his performance as Richard Hauptmann in The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case and the other in 1981 for his performance as Adolf Hitler in The Bunker, as well as seven Screen Actors Guild award nominations all of which have been respectively lost.\n\nMajor associations\n\nAcademy Awards \n2 wins out of 6 nominations\n\nBAFTA Awards \n4 wins (and one honorary award) out of 9 nominations\n\nEmmy Awards \n2 wins out of 6 nominations\n\nGolden Globe Awards \n0 wins (and one honorary award) out of 8 nominations\n\nOlivier Awards \n1 win out of 2 nominations\n\nScreen Actors Guild Awards \n0 wins out of 7 nominations\n\nAudience awards\n\nMTV Movie + TV awards \n0 wins out of 2 nominations\n\nPeople's Choice awards \n0 wins out of 1 nomination\n\nCritic and association awards\n\nAlliance of Women Film Journalists awards \n1 win out of 2 nominations\n\nBoston Society of Film Critics awards \n1 win out of 1 nomination\n\nCableACE awards \n1 win out of 2 nominations\n\nChicago Film Critics Association awards \n1 win out of 5 nominations\n\nCritics' Choice awards \n1 win out of 4 nominations\n\nDallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association awards \n2 wins out of 2 nominations\n\nKansas City Film Critics Circle awards \n2 wins out of 2 nominations\n\nLondon Critics Circle Film awards \n1 win out of 5 nominations\n\nLos Angeles Film Critics Association awards \n1 win out of 2 nominations\n\nNational Board of Review awards \n2 wins out of 2 nominations\n\nNational Society of Film Critics awards \n0 wins out of 1 nomination\n\nNew York Film Critics Circle awards \n1 win out of 3 nominations\n\nOnline Film & Television Association awards \n1 win out of 3 nominations\n\nOnline Film Critics Society awards \n0 wins out of 1 nomination\n\nPhoenix Film Critics Society awards \n0 wins out of 1 nomination\n\nSoutheastern Film Critics Association awards \n1 win out of 2 nominations\n\nSt. Louis Film Critics Association awards \n1 win out of 2 nomination\n\nWomen's Image Network awards \n0 wins out of 1 nomination\n\nFilm festival awards\n\nHollywood Film Festival awards \n2 wins out of 2 nominations\n\nLocarno International Film Festival awards \n1 win out of 2 nominations\n\nMethod Fest awards \n0 wins out of 1 nomination\n\nMoscow International Film Festival awards \n1 win out of 1 nomination\n\nSan Sebastian International Film Festival awards \n1 win out of 1 nomination\n\nSanta Barbara International Film Festival awards \n1 win out of 1 nomination\n\nShoWest Convention awards \n1 win out of 1 nomination\n\nSitges - Catalonian International Film Festival awards \n0 wins out of 1 nomination\n\nUSA Film Festival awards \n1 win out of 1 nomination\n\nVirginia Film Festival awards \n1 win out of 1 nomination\n\nInternational awards\n\nBAFTA/LA Britannia awards \n1 win out of 1 nominations\n\nDavid di Donatello awards \n1 win out of 2 nominations\n\nEuropean Film Awards \n1 win out of 1 nomination\n\nEvening Standard British Film awards \n1 win out of 1 nomination\n\nJupiter awards \n0 wins out of 1 nomination\n\nNew Zealand Screen awards \n1 win out of 1 nomination\n\nSant Jordi awards \n1 win out of 1 nomination\n\nYoga awards \n1 win out of 1 nomination\n\nMiscellaneous awards\n\n20/20 awards \n1 win out of 3 nominations\n\nAARP Movies for Grownups awards \n1 win out of 4 nominations\n\nFangoria Chainsaw awards \n3 wins out of 4 nominations\n\nGolden Raspberry awards \n0 wins out of 2 nominations\n\nHasty Pudding Theatricals awards \n1 win out of 1 nomination\n\nMovieGuide awards \n0 wins out of 1 nomination\n\nSatellite awards \n0 wins out of 1 nomination\n\nSaturn awards \n1 win out of 5 nominations\n\nWalk of Fame \n1 win out of 1 nomination\n\nWestern Heritage awards \n1 win out of 1 nomination\n\nReferences\n\nHopkins, Anthony"
] | [
"Dean Pitchford (born July 29, 1951) is an American songwriter, screenwriter, director, actor, and novelist. His work has earned him an Oscar and a Golden Globe Award, as well as nominations for three additional Oscars, two more Golden Globes, eight Grammy Awards, and two Tony Awards. Early life Pitchford was born in Honolulu, where he attended Catholic schools, graduating in 1968 from Saint Louis High School.",
"Early life Pitchford was born in Honolulu, where he attended Catholic schools, graduating in 1968 from Saint Louis High School. He began his performance career as an actor and a singer with the Honolulu Community Theatre (now Diamond Head Theatre), the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra and the Honolulu Theatre for Youth, among others.",
"He began his performance career as an actor and a singer with the Honolulu Community Theatre (now Diamond Head Theatre), the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra and the Honolulu Theatre for Youth, among others. While studying at Yale University, Pitchford performed with numerous campus drama groups, but his focus gradually turned off-campus, where he worked with the Wooster Square Revival, an experimental theatre company that offered acting opportunities to recovering addicts and alcoholics.",
"While studying at Yale University, Pitchford performed with numerous campus drama groups, but his focus gradually turned off-campus, where he worked with the Wooster Square Revival, an experimental theatre company that offered acting opportunities to recovering addicts and alcoholics. In 1969, Pitchford returned to Honolulu as an assistant to authors Faye Hammel and Sylvan Levey in updating the popular guidebook Hawai’i on $5 and $10 A Day, and researching Trans World Airlines’ Budget Guide to Hawai’i, the first of a series of guidebooks that would eventually turn into the popular series TWA Getaway Guides.",
"In 1969, Pitchford returned to Honolulu as an assistant to authors Faye Hammel and Sylvan Levey in updating the popular guidebook Hawai’i on $5 and $10 A Day, and researching Trans World Airlines’ Budget Guide to Hawai’i, the first of a series of guidebooks that would eventually turn into the popular series TWA Getaway Guides. Performing In 1971, Pitchford was cast in the off-Broadway musical Godspell in New York City. He also starred in Godspell at Ford's Theatre.",
"He also starred in Godspell at Ford's Theatre. He also starred in Godspell at Ford's Theatre. Bob Fosse cast Pitchford as Pippin in the Broadway show of the same name in 1975. While in Pippin, Pitchford acted, sang, and danced in over 100 commercials for such products as Dr Pepper, McDonald's, Lay's, and M&M's.",
"While in Pippin, Pitchford acted, sang, and danced in over 100 commercials for such products as Dr Pepper, McDonald's, Lay's, and M&M's. Early songwriting As a result of performing his early songwriting efforts in cabarets around Manhattan, he was invited to write with such composers as Stephen Schwartz, Alan Menken and Rupert Holmes. In 1979, he collaborated with recording artist and cabaret performer Peter Allen to write new songs for Allen’s one-man Broadway revue, Up In One.",
"In 1979, he collaborated with recording artist and cabaret performer Peter Allen to write new songs for Allen’s one-man Broadway revue, Up In One. With composer Michael Gore, Pitchford collaborated on three songs for Alan Parker's 1980 motion picture Fame; these were \"Red Light,\" a disco hit for singer Linda Clifford; the symphonic/rock finale \"I Sing the Body Electric;\" and the title song \"Fame,\" which became a multi-platinum, international best seller for Irene Cara.",
"With composer Michael Gore, Pitchford collaborated on three songs for Alan Parker's 1980 motion picture Fame; these were \"Red Light,\" a disco hit for singer Linda Clifford; the symphonic/rock finale \"I Sing the Body Electric;\" and the title song \"Fame,\" which became a multi-platinum, international best seller for Irene Cara. That song earned Gore and Pitchford an Oscar, a Golden Globe, and a Grammy nomination for Song of the Year (1981).",
"That song earned Gore and Pitchford an Oscar, a Golden Globe, and a Grammy nomination for Song of the Year (1981). They also received a Grammy nomination for Best Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media. When Pitchford was signed by Warner Brothers Publishing (1981) he began collaborating with a variety of songwriters.",
"When Pitchford was signed by Warner Brothers Publishing (1981) he began collaborating with a variety of songwriters. Among the first songs whose lyrics he wrote in collaboration with composer Tom Snow was \"Don't Call It Love,\" which was first recorded by Kim Carnes on her 1981 album Mistaken Identity; the selection charted in the U.S. country singles top-ten for Dolly Parton in 1985 and was named the BMI Country Song of the Year.",
"Among the first songs whose lyrics he wrote in collaboration with composer Tom Snow was \"Don't Call It Love,\" which was first recorded by Kim Carnes on her 1981 album Mistaken Identity; the selection charted in the U.S. country singles top-ten for Dolly Parton in 1985 and was named the BMI Country Song of the Year. For the ill-fated 1981 movie The Legend of the Lone Ranger, Pitchford wrote a narrative ballad, \"The Man In the Mask.\"",
"For the ill-fated 1981 movie The Legend of the Lone Ranger, Pitchford wrote a narrative ballad, \"The Man In the Mask.\" This was spoken (throughout the movie) and sung (at its beginning and end) by Merle Haggard. \"You Should Hear How She Talks About You,\" another Snow/Pitchford composition, was a Top 5 hit for Melissa Manchester for which she won the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 1983.",
"\"You Should Hear How She Talks About You,\" another Snow/Pitchford composition, was a Top 5 hit for Melissa Manchester for which she won the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 1983. That same year, Pitchford, Kenny Loggins and Steve Perry wrote and composed \"Don’t Fight It,\" a Top 20 hit that was Grammy-nominated in the Best Pop Vocal Duo category. With musical director Michael Miller, he wrote the theme song for the weekly dance-music show Solid Gold (1980–88).",
"With musical director Michael Miller, he wrote the theme song for the weekly dance-music show Solid Gold (1980–88). Screenwriting Inspired by a 1979 news story about Elmore City, Oklahoma, a town which had finally lifted an 80-year-old ban on dancing, Pitchford wrote the screenplay for the motion picture Footloose (1984). He collaborated on the nine-song score with Kenny Loggins, Eric Carmen, Jim Steinman, Sammy Hagar and others. The film, directed by Herbert Ross, opened at No.",
"The film, directed by Herbert Ross, opened at No. 1 and was, at the time, the highest-grossing February release in film history. When the soundtrack album hit No. 1 on the Billboard album charts, it deposed Michael Jackson’s Thriller and held that position for 10 weeks. It went on top charts all over the world, eventually selling more than 17 million albums. Kenny Loggins's single of the title song hit No. 1 on March 31, 1984, and stayed there for three weeks.",
"1 on March 31, 1984, and stayed there for three weeks. Five weeks later (May 26, 1984) Deniece Williams’s \"Let’s Hear It for the Boy\" went to No. 1, as well. Four more songs from the soundtrack charted in the Top 40; \"Almost Paradise,\" which reached No. 7, was co-written with Eric Carmen, and was performed by Mike Reno of Loverboy and Ann Wilson of Heart; \"Dancing in the Sheets\" which reached No.",
"7, was co-written with Eric Carmen, and was performed by Mike Reno of Loverboy and Ann Wilson of Heart; \"Dancing in the Sheets\" which reached No. 17, was co-written with Bill Wolfer, and was performed by Shalamar; \"I’m Free (Heaven Helps the Man),\" which reached No. 2 and, like the film's title track, was co-written with, and performed by, Kenny Loggins; and \"Holding Out for a Hero,\" which reached No.",
"2 and, like the film's title track, was co-written with, and performed by, Kenny Loggins; and \"Holding Out for a Hero,\" which reached No. 34, was co-written with Jim Steinman, and was performed by Bonnie Tyler. \"Footloose\" was nominated for a Golden Globe as Best Song; and \"Footloose\" and \"Let's Hear It for the Boy\" (co-written with Tom Snow) both received Academy Award nominations (1985).",
"\"Footloose\" was nominated for a Golden Globe as Best Song; and \"Footloose\" and \"Let's Hear It for the Boy\" (co-written with Tom Snow) both received Academy Award nominations (1985). Pitchford received two Grammy nominations: Best Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media, and Best R&B Song \"Dancing in the Sheets.\"",
"Pitchford received two Grammy nominations: Best Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media, and Best R&B Song \"Dancing in the Sheets.\" Paramount Pictures's remake of Footloose, which was again based on Pitchford's original screenplay and featured six of his songs, was released in October 2011. Blake Shelton had a hit with his re-recording of the title song.",
"Blake Shelton had a hit with his re-recording of the title song. Next Pitchford wrote the screenplay of, and collaborated on the authorship and composition of all the songs for, the 1989 musical film Sing. Directing Pitchford wrote and directed a short film, The Washing Machine Man (1991), for Chanticleer Films; it was invited to be shown out-of-competition at the Sundance Film Festival.",
"Directing Pitchford wrote and directed a short film, The Washing Machine Man (1991), for Chanticleer Films; it was invited to be shown out-of-competition at the Sundance Film Festival. That led to Pitchford being hired as director of HBO's Blood Brothers: The Joey DiPaolo Story (1992), which won that year's Cable Ace Award for Best Children's Program.",
"That led to Pitchford being hired as director of HBO's Blood Brothers: The Joey DiPaolo Story (1992), which won that year's Cable Ace Award for Best Children's Program. Later songwriting With Marvin Hamlisch, Pitchford wrote Welcome, the Invocation for the Opening Ceremony of the 1984 Summer Olympics; it was performed by a choir of 1,000 voices in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.",
"Later songwriting With Marvin Hamlisch, Pitchford wrote Welcome, the Invocation for the Opening Ceremony of the 1984 Summer Olympics; it was performed by a choir of 1,000 voices in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. He co-wrote the song \"Did You Hear Thunder?,\" with Tom Snow, for the George Benson album While the City Sleeps... (1986).",
"He co-wrote the song \"Did You Hear Thunder?,\" with Tom Snow, for the George Benson album While the City Sleeps... (1986). For the motion picture Chances Are (1989), Pitchford and Tom Snow composed \"After All,\" an international hit for Cher and Peter Cetera which garnered Pitchford his fourth Oscar nomination; and two years later Pitchford's and Gore's \"All the Man That I Need\" was a worldwide No. 1 song for Whitney Houston.",
"1 song for Whitney Houston. 1 song for Whitney Houston. The soundtrack for the 1988 film Oliver & Company, to which Pitchford and Tom Snow contributed \"Streets of Gold,\" sung by Ruth Pointer, was Grammy-nominated. Pitchford contributed lyrics to Richard Marx's song \"That Was Lulu\" for Marx's 1989 album Repeat Offender, with whom he also wrote \"Through My Eyes\" for Martina McBride for the Bambi II soundtrack.",
"Pitchford contributed lyrics to Richard Marx's song \"That Was Lulu\" for Marx's 1989 album Repeat Offender, with whom he also wrote \"Through My Eyes\" for Martina McBride for the Bambi II soundtrack. He worked for many years on a stage adaptation of Footloose, which finally opened on Broadway on October 22, 1998. The original cast recording was nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best Musical Show Album. After over 700 performances, the show closed on July 2, 2000.",
"After over 700 performances, the show closed on July 2, 2000. The musical continues to be performed all over the U.S. and around the world. The stage musical of Carrie, with Pitchford's lyrics (music by Michael Gore, book by Lawrence D. Cohen), was presented by MCC Theatre in New York City as the final offering in their 2011-12 season.",
"The stage musical of Carrie, with Pitchford's lyrics (music by Michael Gore, book by Lawrence D. Cohen), was presented by MCC Theatre in New York City as the final offering in their 2011-12 season. A previous production of that show had been presented in 1988 by the Royal Shakespeare Company, first in Stratford-upon-Avon in England, and then in a famously short run on Broadway at the Virginia Theatre.",
"A previous production of that show had been presented in 1988 by the Royal Shakespeare Company, first in Stratford-upon-Avon in England, and then in a famously short run on Broadway at the Virginia Theatre. The 2012 MCC production was nominated for Best Revival by numerous critics's groups, including the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards.",
"The 2012 MCC production was nominated for Best Revival by numerous critics's groups, including the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards. Australian film star Hugh Jackman won a Tony Award for his portrayal of songwriter Peter Allen in The Boy from Oz (2003), in which he sang songs (\"Not the Boy Next Door\" and \"Once Before I Go\") which had been written and composed more than two decades earlier by the real Allen (by then deceased) and Pitchford.",
"Australian film star Hugh Jackman won a Tony Award for his portrayal of songwriter Peter Allen in The Boy from Oz (2003), in which he sang songs (\"Not the Boy Next Door\" and \"Once Before I Go\") which had been written and composed more than two decades earlier by the real Allen (by then deceased) and Pitchford. Jackman repeated his performances of those songs when he returned to New York City in his one-man concert, \"Hugh Jackman - Back on Broadway\" (2011).",
"Jackman repeated his performances of those songs when he returned to New York City in his one-man concert, \"Hugh Jackman - Back on Broadway\" (2011). Pitchford has contributed songs to The Lizzie McGuire Movie (2003), Shrek 2 (2004), Ice Princess (2005) and Bambi II (2006). The 1984 recording of \"Footloose\" was named to the 2017 National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress in March, 2018.",
"The 1984 recording of \"Footloose\" was named to the 2017 National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress in March, 2018. Fiction writing G. P. Putnam's Sons/Penguin Group published Pitchford's first young adult novel, The Big One-Oh, in March 2007, and Random House's Listening Library released the audiobook (read by Pitchford) in January 2008. That recording received a 2008 Grammy nomination in the category of Best Spoken Word Album for Children. His second novel, Captain Nobody, was published by G.P.",
"His second novel, Captain Nobody, was published by G.P. Putnam's Sons/Penguin Group and released on audiobook by Random House in 2009. That recording received a 2009 nomination in the same Grammy category. Putnam/Penguin published Pitchford's third novel, Nickel Bay Nick, in 2013. Personal life Pitchford is openly gay. His song \"If I Never Met You\" was inspired by Pitchford's boyfriend at the time, who later became his husband.",
"His song \"If I Never Met You\" was inspired by Pitchford's boyfriend at the time, who later became his husband. \"If I Never Met You\" appeared on Barbra Streisand's 1999 album A Love Like Ours. References External links Official Dean Pitchford website Official website for The Big One-Oh Official website for \"Captain Nobody\" novel 1951 births Best Original Song Academy Award-winning songwriters Golden Globe Award-winning musicians Songwriters from Hawaii Living people Male actors from Honolulu Writers from Honolulu LGBT musicians from the United States 21st-century LGBT people"
] |
[
"Dean Pitchford",
"Early songwriting",
"What was the first song that he wrote?",
"Red Light,\" a disco hit for singer Linda Clifford; the symphonic/rock finale \"I Sing the Body Electric;\" and the title song \"Fame,\"",
"When did he start writing songs?",
"In 1979, he collaborated with recording artist and cabaret performer Peter Allen to write new songs for Allen's one-man Broadway revue, Up In One.",
"Did he enjoy song writing?",
"I don't know.",
"Did he receive any awards for his songs?",
"the selection charted in the U.S. country singles top-ten for Dolly Parton in 1985 and was named the BMI Country Song of the Year.",
"What other awards did he win?",
"They also received a Grammy nomination for Best Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media."
] | C_0882c1996e144ed9a10cf2bb0411ca9b_1 | Did he write songs with other people? | 6 | Did Dean Pitchford write songs with other people besides Peter Allen? | Dean Pitchford | As a result of performing his early songwriting efforts in cabarets around Manhattan, he was invited to write with such composers as Stephen Schwartz, Alan Menken and Rupert Holmes. In 1979, he collaborated with recording artist and cabaret performer Peter Allen to write new songs for Allen's one-man Broadway revue, Up In One. With composer Michael Gore, Pitchford collaborated on three songs for Alan Parker's 1980 motion picture Fame; these were "Red Light," a disco hit for singer Linda Clifford; the symphonic/rock finale "I Sing the Body Electric;" and the title song "Fame," which became a multi-platinum, international best seller for Irene Cara. That song earned Gore and Pitchford an Oscar, a Golden Globe, and a Grammy nomination for Song of the Year (1981). They also received a Grammy nomination for Best Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media. When Pitchford was signed by Warner Brothers Publishing (1981) he began collaborating with a variety of songwriters. Among the first songs whose lyrics he wrote in collaboration with composer Tom Snow was "Don't Call It Love," which was first recorded by Kim Carnes on her 1981 album Mistaken Identity; the selection charted in the U.S. country singles top-ten for Dolly Parton in 1985 and was named the BMI Country Song of the Year. For the ill-fated 1981 movie The Legend of the Lone Ranger, Pitchford wrote a narrative ballad, "The Man In the Mask." This was spoken (throughout the movie) and sung (at its beginning and end) by Merle Haggard. "You Should Hear How She Talks About You," another Snow/Pitchford composition, was a Top 5 hit for Melissa Manchester for which she won the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 1983. That same year, Pitchford, Kenny Loggins and Steve Perry wrote and composed "Don't Fight It," a Top 20 hit that was Grammy-nominated in the Best Pop Vocal Duo category. With musical director Michael Miller, he wrote the theme song for the weekly dance-music show Solid Gold (1980-88). CANNOTANSWER | Among the first songs whose lyrics he wrote in collaboration with composer Tom Snow | Dean Pitchford (born July 29, 1951) is an American songwriter, screenwriter, director, actor, and novelist. His work has earned him an Oscar and a Golden Globe Award, as well as nominations for three additional Oscars, two more Golden Globes, eight Grammy Awards, and two Tony Awards.
Early life
Pitchford was born in Honolulu, where he attended Catholic schools, graduating in 1968 from Saint Louis High School. He began his performance career as an actor and a singer with the Honolulu Community Theatre (now Diamond Head Theatre), the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra and the Honolulu Theatre for Youth, among others. While studying at Yale University, Pitchford performed with numerous campus drama groups, but his focus gradually turned off-campus, where he worked with the Wooster Square Revival, an experimental theatre company that offered acting opportunities to recovering addicts and alcoholics.
In 1969, Pitchford returned to Honolulu as an assistant to authors Faye Hammel and Sylvan Levey in updating the popular guidebook Hawai’i on $5 and $10 A Day, and researching Trans World Airlines’ Budget Guide to Hawai’i, the first of a series of guidebooks that would eventually turn into the popular series TWA Getaway Guides.
Performing
In 1971, Pitchford was cast in the off-Broadway musical Godspell in New York City. He also starred in Godspell at Ford's Theatre. Bob Fosse cast Pitchford as Pippin in the Broadway show of the same name in 1975. While in Pippin, Pitchford acted, sang, and danced in over 100 commercials for such products as Dr Pepper, McDonald's, Lay's, and M&M's.
Early songwriting
As a result of performing his early songwriting efforts in cabarets around Manhattan, he was invited to write with such composers as Stephen Schwartz, Alan Menken and Rupert Holmes. In 1979, he collaborated with recording artist and cabaret performer Peter Allen to write new songs for Allen’s one-man Broadway revue, Up In One.
With composer Michael Gore, Pitchford collaborated on three songs for Alan Parker's 1980 motion picture Fame; these were "Red Light," a disco hit for singer Linda Clifford; the symphonic/rock finale "I Sing the Body Electric;" and the title song "Fame," which became a multi-platinum, international best seller for Irene Cara. That song earned Gore and Pitchford an Oscar, a Golden Globe, and a Grammy nomination for Song of the Year (1981). They also received a Grammy nomination for Best Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media.
When Pitchford was signed by Warner Brothers Publishing (1981) he began collaborating with a variety of songwriters. Among the first songs whose lyrics he wrote in collaboration with composer Tom Snow was "Don't Call It Love," which was first recorded by Kim Carnes on her 1981 album Mistaken Identity; the selection charted in the U.S. country singles top-ten for Dolly Parton in 1985 and was named the BMI Country Song of the Year.
For the ill-fated 1981 movie The Legend of the Lone Ranger, Pitchford wrote a narrative ballad, "The Man In the Mask." This was spoken (throughout the movie) and sung (at its beginning and end) by Merle Haggard.
"You Should Hear How She Talks About You," another Snow/Pitchford composition, was a Top 5 hit for Melissa Manchester for which she won the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 1983. That same year, Pitchford, Kenny Loggins and Steve Perry wrote and composed "Don’t Fight It," a Top 20 hit that was Grammy-nominated in the Best Pop Vocal Duo category. With musical director Michael Miller, he wrote the theme song for the weekly dance-music show Solid Gold (1980–88).
Screenwriting
Inspired by a 1979 news story about Elmore City, Oklahoma, a town which had finally lifted an 80-year-old ban on dancing, Pitchford wrote the screenplay for the motion picture Footloose (1984). He collaborated on the nine-song score with Kenny Loggins, Eric Carmen, Jim Steinman, Sammy Hagar and others. The film, directed by Herbert Ross, opened at No. 1 and was, at the time, the highest-grossing February release in film history.
When the soundtrack album hit No. 1 on the Billboard album charts, it deposed Michael Jackson’s Thriller and held that position for 10 weeks. It went on top charts all over the world, eventually selling more than 17 million albums. Kenny Loggins's single of the title song hit No. 1 on March 31, 1984, and stayed there for three weeks. Five weeks later (May 26, 1984) Deniece Williams’s "Let’s Hear It for the Boy" went to No. 1, as well. Four more songs from the soundtrack charted in the Top 40; "Almost Paradise," which reached No. 7, was co-written with Eric Carmen, and was performed by Mike Reno of Loverboy and Ann Wilson of Heart; "Dancing in the Sheets" which reached No. 17, was co-written with Bill Wolfer, and was performed by Shalamar; "I’m Free (Heaven Helps the Man)," which reached No. 2 and, like the film's title track, was co-written with, and performed by, Kenny Loggins; and "Holding Out for a Hero," which reached No. 34, was co-written with Jim Steinman, and was performed by Bonnie Tyler. "Footloose" was nominated for a Golden Globe as Best Song; and "Footloose" and "Let's Hear It for the Boy" (co-written with Tom Snow) both received Academy Award nominations (1985). Pitchford received two Grammy nominations: Best Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media, and Best R&B Song "Dancing in the Sheets."
Paramount Pictures's remake of Footloose, which was again based on Pitchford's original screenplay and featured six of his songs, was released in October 2011. Blake Shelton had a hit with his re-recording of the title song.
Next Pitchford wrote the screenplay of, and collaborated on the authorship and composition of all the songs for, the 1989 musical film Sing.
Directing
Pitchford wrote and directed a short film, The Washing Machine Man (1991), for Chanticleer Films; it was invited to be shown out-of-competition at the Sundance Film Festival. That led to Pitchford being hired as director of HBO's Blood Brothers: The Joey DiPaolo Story (1992), which won that year's Cable Ace Award for Best Children's Program.
Later songwriting
With Marvin Hamlisch, Pitchford wrote Welcome, the Invocation for the Opening Ceremony of the 1984 Summer Olympics; it was performed by a choir of 1,000 voices in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. He co-wrote the song "Did You Hear Thunder?," with Tom Snow, for the George Benson album While the City Sleeps... (1986). For the motion picture Chances Are (1989), Pitchford and Tom Snow composed "After All," an international hit for Cher and Peter Cetera which garnered Pitchford his fourth Oscar nomination; and two years later Pitchford's and Gore's "All the Man That I Need" was a worldwide No. 1 song for Whitney Houston. The soundtrack for the 1988 film Oliver & Company, to which Pitchford and Tom Snow contributed "Streets of Gold," sung by Ruth Pointer, was Grammy-nominated.
Pitchford contributed lyrics to Richard Marx's song "That Was Lulu" for Marx's 1989 album Repeat Offender, with whom he also wrote "Through My Eyes" for Martina McBride for the Bambi II soundtrack. He worked for many years on a stage adaptation of Footloose, which finally opened on Broadway on October 22, 1998. The original cast recording was nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best Musical Show Album. After over 700 performances, the show closed on July 2, 2000. The musical continues to be performed all over the U.S. and around the world.
The stage musical of Carrie, with Pitchford's lyrics (music by Michael Gore, book by Lawrence D. Cohen), was presented by MCC Theatre in New York City as the final offering in their 2011-12 season. A previous production of that show had been presented in 1988 by the Royal Shakespeare Company, first in Stratford-upon-Avon in England, and then in a famously short run on Broadway at the Virginia Theatre. The 2012 MCC production was nominated for Best Revival by numerous critics's groups, including the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards.
Australian film star Hugh Jackman won a Tony Award for his portrayal of songwriter Peter Allen in The Boy from Oz (2003), in which he sang songs ("Not the Boy Next Door" and "Once Before I Go") which had been written and composed more than two decades earlier by the real Allen (by then deceased) and Pitchford. Jackman repeated his performances of those songs when he returned to New York City in his one-man concert, "Hugh Jackman - Back on Broadway" (2011).
Pitchford has contributed songs to The Lizzie McGuire Movie (2003), Shrek 2 (2004), Ice Princess (2005) and Bambi II (2006).
The 1984 recording of "Footloose" was named to the 2017 National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress in March, 2018.
Fiction writing
G. P. Putnam's Sons/Penguin Group published Pitchford's first young adult novel, The Big One-Oh, in March 2007, and Random House's Listening Library released the audiobook (read by Pitchford) in January 2008. That recording received a 2008 Grammy nomination in the category of Best Spoken Word Album for Children. His second novel, Captain Nobody, was published by G.P. Putnam's Sons/Penguin Group and released on audiobook by Random House in 2009. That recording received a 2009 nomination in the same Grammy category. Putnam/Penguin published Pitchford's third novel, Nickel Bay Nick, in 2013.
Personal life
Pitchford is openly gay. His song "If I Never Met You" was inspired by Pitchford's boyfriend at the time, who later became his husband. "If I Never Met You" appeared on Barbra Streisand's 1999 album A Love Like Ours.
References
External links
Official Dean Pitchford website
Official website for The Big One-Oh
Official website for "Captain Nobody" novel
1951 births
Best Original Song Academy Award-winning songwriters
Golden Globe Award-winning musicians
Songwriters from Hawaii
Living people
Male actors from Honolulu
Writers from Honolulu
LGBT musicians from the United States
21st-century LGBT people | true | [
"is a Japanese gunka (composition of military music) During the late stages of the Pacific War, it was sung throughout Japan. It compares cherry blossoms with the destiny of soldiers who graduated from a military academy. The song was composed by . Although was thought to have written the original lyrics, he did not write the lyrics directly.\n\nOriginally released as in 1939, the third and fourth verses were not added along with the original first, second and fifth verses until around 1944. In the revised version, the story of two kamikaze pilots was established. In the song, although a pilot dies, his bond with another surviving pilot remains strong. Before their mission, kamikaze pilots would sing \"Dōki no Sakura\" together.\n\nReferences \n\n1939 songs\n1944 songs\nJapanese-language songs\nSongs about cherry blossom\nJapanese patriotic songs",
"Pye Dubois is a Canadian lyricist and poet. He has worked mainly with Kim Mitchell and Max Webster (with whom he was considered an unofficial fifth non-performing member), and occasionally Rush.\n\nEarly life\nDubois, born Paul Phillip Woods, grew up in Sarnia, Ontario, and attended high school with singer and future song-writing partner Kim Mitchell.\n\nCareer\nDubois accompanied Max Webster in the studio and wrote lyrics for each of their albums. He was given lyric-writing credits on several Rush songs, most notably \"Tom Sawyer\", which has been included on the soundtrack of several films. Dubois wrote the poem \"There Is A Lake Between Sun And Moon\", which inspired them to write many of the lyrics for the album Counterparts, including a song of the same name for which Dubois received co-writing credit. He is also credited as writer on the Rush songs \"Force Ten\" and \"Test for Echo\".\n\nAfter Max Webster dissolved, Dubois continued his writing relationship with singer and guitarist Kim Mitchell on his solo songs. This included all but one of the songs on Kim's platinum Akimbo Alogo, every song on the triple platinum Shakin' Like a Human Being, and double platinum Rockland. Dubois had a falling-out with Mitchell during the sessions for Rockland, caused by Mitchell's decision to record the album in the US without Dubois present in the studio as he had been in the past. Dubois did not write on Mitchell's follow-up album, Aural Fixations (lyrics on that album were handled largely by Jim Chevalier and Andy Curran), but did return for 1994's Itch. Dubois took part in several Max Webster reunion concerts, but not their most recent one in Toronto on May 24, 2007, and has not written lyrics with Mitchell since 1994.\n\nOn July 20, 2007, Dubois was reported to have gone missing, causing concern with his neighbour, author Martin Popoff. However, Dubois had just taken some time alone and soon returned.\n\nDubois and Mitchell were inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2021.\n\nReferences\n\nYear of birth missing (living people)\nLiving people\nPlace of birth missing (living people)\nCanadian songwriters\nMax Webster members\nRush (band)\nCanadian male poets"
] | [
"Dean Pitchford (born July 29, 1951) is an American songwriter, screenwriter, director, actor, and novelist. His work has earned him an Oscar and a Golden Globe Award, as well as nominations for three additional Oscars, two more Golden Globes, eight Grammy Awards, and two Tony Awards. Early life Pitchford was born in Honolulu, where he attended Catholic schools, graduating in 1968 from Saint Louis High School.",
"Early life Pitchford was born in Honolulu, where he attended Catholic schools, graduating in 1968 from Saint Louis High School. He began his performance career as an actor and a singer with the Honolulu Community Theatre (now Diamond Head Theatre), the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra and the Honolulu Theatre for Youth, among others.",
"He began his performance career as an actor and a singer with the Honolulu Community Theatre (now Diamond Head Theatre), the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra and the Honolulu Theatre for Youth, among others. While studying at Yale University, Pitchford performed with numerous campus drama groups, but his focus gradually turned off-campus, where he worked with the Wooster Square Revival, an experimental theatre company that offered acting opportunities to recovering addicts and alcoholics.",
"While studying at Yale University, Pitchford performed with numerous campus drama groups, but his focus gradually turned off-campus, where he worked with the Wooster Square Revival, an experimental theatre company that offered acting opportunities to recovering addicts and alcoholics. In 1969, Pitchford returned to Honolulu as an assistant to authors Faye Hammel and Sylvan Levey in updating the popular guidebook Hawai’i on $5 and $10 A Day, and researching Trans World Airlines’ Budget Guide to Hawai’i, the first of a series of guidebooks that would eventually turn into the popular series TWA Getaway Guides.",
"In 1969, Pitchford returned to Honolulu as an assistant to authors Faye Hammel and Sylvan Levey in updating the popular guidebook Hawai’i on $5 and $10 A Day, and researching Trans World Airlines’ Budget Guide to Hawai’i, the first of a series of guidebooks that would eventually turn into the popular series TWA Getaway Guides. Performing In 1971, Pitchford was cast in the off-Broadway musical Godspell in New York City. He also starred in Godspell at Ford's Theatre.",
"He also starred in Godspell at Ford's Theatre. He also starred in Godspell at Ford's Theatre. Bob Fosse cast Pitchford as Pippin in the Broadway show of the same name in 1975. While in Pippin, Pitchford acted, sang, and danced in over 100 commercials for such products as Dr Pepper, McDonald's, Lay's, and M&M's.",
"While in Pippin, Pitchford acted, sang, and danced in over 100 commercials for such products as Dr Pepper, McDonald's, Lay's, and M&M's. Early songwriting As a result of performing his early songwriting efforts in cabarets around Manhattan, he was invited to write with such composers as Stephen Schwartz, Alan Menken and Rupert Holmes. In 1979, he collaborated with recording artist and cabaret performer Peter Allen to write new songs for Allen’s one-man Broadway revue, Up In One.",
"In 1979, he collaborated with recording artist and cabaret performer Peter Allen to write new songs for Allen’s one-man Broadway revue, Up In One. With composer Michael Gore, Pitchford collaborated on three songs for Alan Parker's 1980 motion picture Fame; these were \"Red Light,\" a disco hit for singer Linda Clifford; the symphonic/rock finale \"I Sing the Body Electric;\" and the title song \"Fame,\" which became a multi-platinum, international best seller for Irene Cara.",
"With composer Michael Gore, Pitchford collaborated on three songs for Alan Parker's 1980 motion picture Fame; these were \"Red Light,\" a disco hit for singer Linda Clifford; the symphonic/rock finale \"I Sing the Body Electric;\" and the title song \"Fame,\" which became a multi-platinum, international best seller for Irene Cara. That song earned Gore and Pitchford an Oscar, a Golden Globe, and a Grammy nomination for Song of the Year (1981).",
"That song earned Gore and Pitchford an Oscar, a Golden Globe, and a Grammy nomination for Song of the Year (1981). They also received a Grammy nomination for Best Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media. When Pitchford was signed by Warner Brothers Publishing (1981) he began collaborating with a variety of songwriters.",
"When Pitchford was signed by Warner Brothers Publishing (1981) he began collaborating with a variety of songwriters. Among the first songs whose lyrics he wrote in collaboration with composer Tom Snow was \"Don't Call It Love,\" which was first recorded by Kim Carnes on her 1981 album Mistaken Identity; the selection charted in the U.S. country singles top-ten for Dolly Parton in 1985 and was named the BMI Country Song of the Year.",
"Among the first songs whose lyrics he wrote in collaboration with composer Tom Snow was \"Don't Call It Love,\" which was first recorded by Kim Carnes on her 1981 album Mistaken Identity; the selection charted in the U.S. country singles top-ten for Dolly Parton in 1985 and was named the BMI Country Song of the Year. For the ill-fated 1981 movie The Legend of the Lone Ranger, Pitchford wrote a narrative ballad, \"The Man In the Mask.\"",
"For the ill-fated 1981 movie The Legend of the Lone Ranger, Pitchford wrote a narrative ballad, \"The Man In the Mask.\" This was spoken (throughout the movie) and sung (at its beginning and end) by Merle Haggard. \"You Should Hear How She Talks About You,\" another Snow/Pitchford composition, was a Top 5 hit for Melissa Manchester for which she won the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 1983.",
"\"You Should Hear How She Talks About You,\" another Snow/Pitchford composition, was a Top 5 hit for Melissa Manchester for which she won the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 1983. That same year, Pitchford, Kenny Loggins and Steve Perry wrote and composed \"Don’t Fight It,\" a Top 20 hit that was Grammy-nominated in the Best Pop Vocal Duo category. With musical director Michael Miller, he wrote the theme song for the weekly dance-music show Solid Gold (1980–88).",
"With musical director Michael Miller, he wrote the theme song for the weekly dance-music show Solid Gold (1980–88). Screenwriting Inspired by a 1979 news story about Elmore City, Oklahoma, a town which had finally lifted an 80-year-old ban on dancing, Pitchford wrote the screenplay for the motion picture Footloose (1984). He collaborated on the nine-song score with Kenny Loggins, Eric Carmen, Jim Steinman, Sammy Hagar and others. The film, directed by Herbert Ross, opened at No.",
"The film, directed by Herbert Ross, opened at No. 1 and was, at the time, the highest-grossing February release in film history. When the soundtrack album hit No. 1 on the Billboard album charts, it deposed Michael Jackson’s Thriller and held that position for 10 weeks. It went on top charts all over the world, eventually selling more than 17 million albums. Kenny Loggins's single of the title song hit No. 1 on March 31, 1984, and stayed there for three weeks.",
"1 on March 31, 1984, and stayed there for three weeks. Five weeks later (May 26, 1984) Deniece Williams’s \"Let’s Hear It for the Boy\" went to No. 1, as well. Four more songs from the soundtrack charted in the Top 40; \"Almost Paradise,\" which reached No. 7, was co-written with Eric Carmen, and was performed by Mike Reno of Loverboy and Ann Wilson of Heart; \"Dancing in the Sheets\" which reached No.",
"7, was co-written with Eric Carmen, and was performed by Mike Reno of Loverboy and Ann Wilson of Heart; \"Dancing in the Sheets\" which reached No. 17, was co-written with Bill Wolfer, and was performed by Shalamar; \"I’m Free (Heaven Helps the Man),\" which reached No. 2 and, like the film's title track, was co-written with, and performed by, Kenny Loggins; and \"Holding Out for a Hero,\" which reached No.",
"2 and, like the film's title track, was co-written with, and performed by, Kenny Loggins; and \"Holding Out for a Hero,\" which reached No. 34, was co-written with Jim Steinman, and was performed by Bonnie Tyler. \"Footloose\" was nominated for a Golden Globe as Best Song; and \"Footloose\" and \"Let's Hear It for the Boy\" (co-written with Tom Snow) both received Academy Award nominations (1985).",
"\"Footloose\" was nominated for a Golden Globe as Best Song; and \"Footloose\" and \"Let's Hear It for the Boy\" (co-written with Tom Snow) both received Academy Award nominations (1985). Pitchford received two Grammy nominations: Best Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media, and Best R&B Song \"Dancing in the Sheets.\"",
"Pitchford received two Grammy nominations: Best Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media, and Best R&B Song \"Dancing in the Sheets.\" Paramount Pictures's remake of Footloose, which was again based on Pitchford's original screenplay and featured six of his songs, was released in October 2011. Blake Shelton had a hit with his re-recording of the title song.",
"Blake Shelton had a hit with his re-recording of the title song. Next Pitchford wrote the screenplay of, and collaborated on the authorship and composition of all the songs for, the 1989 musical film Sing. Directing Pitchford wrote and directed a short film, The Washing Machine Man (1991), for Chanticleer Films; it was invited to be shown out-of-competition at the Sundance Film Festival.",
"Directing Pitchford wrote and directed a short film, The Washing Machine Man (1991), for Chanticleer Films; it was invited to be shown out-of-competition at the Sundance Film Festival. That led to Pitchford being hired as director of HBO's Blood Brothers: The Joey DiPaolo Story (1992), which won that year's Cable Ace Award for Best Children's Program.",
"That led to Pitchford being hired as director of HBO's Blood Brothers: The Joey DiPaolo Story (1992), which won that year's Cable Ace Award for Best Children's Program. Later songwriting With Marvin Hamlisch, Pitchford wrote Welcome, the Invocation for the Opening Ceremony of the 1984 Summer Olympics; it was performed by a choir of 1,000 voices in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.",
"Later songwriting With Marvin Hamlisch, Pitchford wrote Welcome, the Invocation for the Opening Ceremony of the 1984 Summer Olympics; it was performed by a choir of 1,000 voices in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. He co-wrote the song \"Did You Hear Thunder?,\" with Tom Snow, for the George Benson album While the City Sleeps... (1986).",
"He co-wrote the song \"Did You Hear Thunder?,\" with Tom Snow, for the George Benson album While the City Sleeps... (1986). For the motion picture Chances Are (1989), Pitchford and Tom Snow composed \"After All,\" an international hit for Cher and Peter Cetera which garnered Pitchford his fourth Oscar nomination; and two years later Pitchford's and Gore's \"All the Man That I Need\" was a worldwide No. 1 song for Whitney Houston.",
"1 song for Whitney Houston. 1 song for Whitney Houston. The soundtrack for the 1988 film Oliver & Company, to which Pitchford and Tom Snow contributed \"Streets of Gold,\" sung by Ruth Pointer, was Grammy-nominated. Pitchford contributed lyrics to Richard Marx's song \"That Was Lulu\" for Marx's 1989 album Repeat Offender, with whom he also wrote \"Through My Eyes\" for Martina McBride for the Bambi II soundtrack.",
"Pitchford contributed lyrics to Richard Marx's song \"That Was Lulu\" for Marx's 1989 album Repeat Offender, with whom he also wrote \"Through My Eyes\" for Martina McBride for the Bambi II soundtrack. He worked for many years on a stage adaptation of Footloose, which finally opened on Broadway on October 22, 1998. The original cast recording was nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best Musical Show Album. After over 700 performances, the show closed on July 2, 2000.",
"After over 700 performances, the show closed on July 2, 2000. The musical continues to be performed all over the U.S. and around the world. The stage musical of Carrie, with Pitchford's lyrics (music by Michael Gore, book by Lawrence D. Cohen), was presented by MCC Theatre in New York City as the final offering in their 2011-12 season.",
"The stage musical of Carrie, with Pitchford's lyrics (music by Michael Gore, book by Lawrence D. Cohen), was presented by MCC Theatre in New York City as the final offering in their 2011-12 season. A previous production of that show had been presented in 1988 by the Royal Shakespeare Company, first in Stratford-upon-Avon in England, and then in a famously short run on Broadway at the Virginia Theatre.",
"A previous production of that show had been presented in 1988 by the Royal Shakespeare Company, first in Stratford-upon-Avon in England, and then in a famously short run on Broadway at the Virginia Theatre. The 2012 MCC production was nominated for Best Revival by numerous critics's groups, including the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards.",
"The 2012 MCC production was nominated for Best Revival by numerous critics's groups, including the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards. Australian film star Hugh Jackman won a Tony Award for his portrayal of songwriter Peter Allen in The Boy from Oz (2003), in which he sang songs (\"Not the Boy Next Door\" and \"Once Before I Go\") which had been written and composed more than two decades earlier by the real Allen (by then deceased) and Pitchford.",
"Australian film star Hugh Jackman won a Tony Award for his portrayal of songwriter Peter Allen in The Boy from Oz (2003), in which he sang songs (\"Not the Boy Next Door\" and \"Once Before I Go\") which had been written and composed more than two decades earlier by the real Allen (by then deceased) and Pitchford. Jackman repeated his performances of those songs when he returned to New York City in his one-man concert, \"Hugh Jackman - Back on Broadway\" (2011).",
"Jackman repeated his performances of those songs when he returned to New York City in his one-man concert, \"Hugh Jackman - Back on Broadway\" (2011). Pitchford has contributed songs to The Lizzie McGuire Movie (2003), Shrek 2 (2004), Ice Princess (2005) and Bambi II (2006). The 1984 recording of \"Footloose\" was named to the 2017 National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress in March, 2018.",
"The 1984 recording of \"Footloose\" was named to the 2017 National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress in March, 2018. Fiction writing G. P. Putnam's Sons/Penguin Group published Pitchford's first young adult novel, The Big One-Oh, in March 2007, and Random House's Listening Library released the audiobook (read by Pitchford) in January 2008. That recording received a 2008 Grammy nomination in the category of Best Spoken Word Album for Children. His second novel, Captain Nobody, was published by G.P.",
"His second novel, Captain Nobody, was published by G.P. Putnam's Sons/Penguin Group and released on audiobook by Random House in 2009. That recording received a 2009 nomination in the same Grammy category. Putnam/Penguin published Pitchford's third novel, Nickel Bay Nick, in 2013. Personal life Pitchford is openly gay. His song \"If I Never Met You\" was inspired by Pitchford's boyfriend at the time, who later became his husband.",
"His song \"If I Never Met You\" was inspired by Pitchford's boyfriend at the time, who later became his husband. \"If I Never Met You\" appeared on Barbra Streisand's 1999 album A Love Like Ours. References External links Official Dean Pitchford website Official website for The Big One-Oh Official website for \"Captain Nobody\" novel 1951 births Best Original Song Academy Award-winning songwriters Golden Globe Award-winning musicians Songwriters from Hawaii Living people Male actors from Honolulu Writers from Honolulu LGBT musicians from the United States 21st-century LGBT people"
] |
[
"Barry White",
"The 1970s as solo artist"
] | C_65c5e0d4539d4bd3bfdbb671c90200e3_0 | What was the name of Barry White's first solo album? | 1 | What was the name of Barry White's first solo album? | Barry White | White wanted to work with another act but decided to work with a solo male artist. While working on a few demos for a male singer, he made three song demos of himself singing and playing, but Nunes heard them and insisted that he re-record and release them himself as a solo recording artist. After arguing for days about it, White was finally persuaded to release the songs himself, although he was initially reluctant to step out in front of the microphone. He then wrote several other songs and recorded them for what eventually became an entire album of music. He was going to use the name "White Heat," but decided on using his given name instead. White was still hesitating up to the time the label copy was made. It eventually became White's first solo album, 1973's I've Got So Much to Give. It included the title track and his first solo chart hit, "I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby", which also rose to #1 on the Billboard R&B charts as well as #3 on the Billboard Pop charts in 1973 and stayed in the top 40 for many weeks. Other chart hits by White included "Never, Never Gonna Give You Up" (#2 R&B, #7 Pop in 1973), "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe" (# 1 Pop and R&B in 1974), "You're the First, the Last, My Everything" (#1 R&B, #2 Pop in 1974), "What Am I Gonna Do with You" (#1 R&B, #8 Pop in 1975), "Let the Music Play" (#4 R&B in 1976), "It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next to Me" (#1 R&B, #4 Pop in 1977) and "Your Sweetness Is My Weakness" (#2 R&B in 1978) and others. White also had a strong following in the UK, where he scored five Top 10 hits and a #1 for "You're the First, the Last, My Everything". CANNOTANSWER | 1973's I've Got So Much to Give. | Barry Eugene Carter (September 12, 1944 – July 4, 2003), better known by his stage name Barry White, was an American singer-songwriter, musician, record producer and composer. A two-time Grammy Award–winner known for his bass-baritone voice and romantic image, his greatest success came in the 1970s as a solo singer and with The Love Unlimited Orchestra, crafting many enduring soul, funk, and disco songs such as his two biggest hits: "You're the First, the Last, My Everything" and "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe".
White recorded 19 studio albums during the course of his career, but multiple versions and compilations were released worldwide that were certified gold, 41 of which also attained platinum status. White had 20 gold and 10 platinum singles, with worldwide record sales in excess of 100 million records, and is one of the best-selling music artists of all time. His influences included James Cleveland, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, The Supremes, The Four Tops, and Marvin Gaye.
Early life
White was born Barry Eugene Carter on September 12, 1944, in Galveston, Texas, United States. His father was Melvin A. White, and his mother was Sadie Marie Carter. His parents never married, so his mother gave him her last name, but he later took on the surname of his father. He grew up in the Watts neighborhood of South Central Los Angeles, California. He was the older of two children; his brother Darryl was 13 months younger. White grew up listening to his mother's classical music collection and first took to the piano, emulating what he heard on the records.
White has often been credited with playing piano, at age 11, on Jesse Belvin's 1956 hit single, "Goodnight My Love". However, in a 1995 interview with the Boston Herald, White denied writing or arranging the song. He believed the story was an exaggeration by journalists. While White and Belvin lived in the same neighborhood, Belvin was 12 years older than White.
White's voice deepened suddenly when he was 14. He recalled: "[As a child], I had a normal squeaky kid voice. Then as a teenager, that completely changed. My mother cried because she knew her baby boy had become a man."
White was jailed for four months at the age of 16 for stealing $30,000 worth of Cadillac tires. While in jail, he listened to Elvis Presley singing "It's Now or Never" on the radio, an experience he later credited with changing the course of his life.
Music career
1960s
After his release from jail, White left gang life and began a musical career at the beginning of the 1960s in singing groups. He first released "Too Far to Turn Around" in 1960 as part of The Upfronts before working for various small independent labels in Los Angeles. He also recorded several singles under his own name in the early 1960s, backed by vocal groups the Atlantics (for the Rampart and Faro labels) and the Majestics (for the Linda and Jordan labels). White had no involvement with Bob & Earl's 1963 hit single "Harlem Shuffle", a song he has sometimes been credited with producing; in his 1999 autobiography, White confirmed the song had been produced by Gene Page, who had worked with him on many of White's 1970s successes.
In 1965, White produced "Feel Aw Right" by the Bel Cantos, released on the Downey label.<ref> "Feel Aw Right", The Bel-Cantos, Downey D-128, 45cat. Retrieved January 29, 2020.</ref> He recorded his debut single, "Man Ain't Nothin'" / "I Don't Need It, released under the name Lee Barry on Downey in 1966. He also co-wrote "Together Forever," released by Pat Powdrill & the Powerdrills in 1967.
In the mid-'60s, Bob Keane of Del-Fi Records hired him as an A&R man for his new Bronco Records imprint, and White started working with the label's artists, including Viola Wills and The Bobby Fuller Four, as a songwriter, session musician, and arranger. He discovered singer Felice Taylor and arranged her song "I Feel Love Comin' On" co-written with his friend Paul Politi. It became a big hit in the UK. Other charting hits written by White and Politi for her included "It May Be Winter Outside (But in My Heart It's Spring)" and "Under the Influence of Love". Bronco issued one of White's first singles, 1967's "All in the Run of a Day," produced by Keane and White. White also wrote "Doin' the Banana Split" for TV bubblegum act The Banana Splits in 1968.
In 1969, White was signed by Forward Records of Los Angeles, a division of Transcontinental Entertainment Corporation, as a producer.
1970s as producer
In 1972, White got his big break producing a girl group he had discovered called Love Unlimited. Formed in imitative style of the Motown girl group The Supremes, the group members had gradually honed their talents with White for two years previously until they signed contracts with Uni Records. His friend Paul Politi hooked him up with music industry businessman Larry Nunes, who helped to finance their album. After it was recorded, Nunes took the recording to Russ Regan, who was the head of the Uni label owned by MCA. The album, 1972's From A Girl's Point of View We Give to You... Love Unlimited, became the first of White's string of long-titled albums and singles.
White produced, wrote and arranged their classic soul ballad "Walkin' in the Rain with the One I Love", which climbed to No. 14 in the Billboard Hot 100 Pop chart and No. 6 on the Billboard R&B chart in late 1972. It became White's first million selling single as a writer and producer. This single also reached No. 12 in the UK chart. White's voice can clearly be heard in this piece as he plays the lover who answers the phone call of the female lead.
Soon after, Regan left Uni for 20th Century Records. Without Regan, White's relationship with Uni soured. With his relationship with Uni over and Love Unlimited contract-bound with the label, White was able to switch both his production deal and the group to 20th Century Records. They recorded several other hits throughout the 1970s, "I Belong to You", which spent over five months on the Billboard R&B chart in 1974 including a week at No. 1 and "Under the Influence of Love Unlimited", which hit No. 3 on the Billboard Pop album charts. White married the lead singer of the group, Glodean James, on July 4, 1974.
The Love Unlimited Orchestra
In 1973, White created The Love Unlimited Orchestra, a 40-piece orchestral group to be used originally as a backing band for the girl-group Love Unlimited. However, White had other plans, and in 1973 he released a single with "Love's Theme" (written by him and played by the Orchestra), which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Pop charts. Later, in 1974, he made the first album of the Love Unlimited Orchestra, Rhapsody in White, containing "Love's Theme". White would continue to make albums with the Orchestra, achieving some successes such as: "Rhapsody in White"; "Satin Soul"; "Forever in Love"; "Midnight Groove"; "My Sweet Summer Suite", Remake of "Theme From King Kong". The Orchestra ceased to make albums in 1983, but continued to support White as a backing band.
1970s solo career
White wanted to work with another act but decided to work with a solo male artist. While working on a few demos for a male singer, he made three song demos of himself singing and playing, but Nunes heard them and insisted that he re-record and release them himself as a solo recording artist. After arguing for days about it, White was finally persuaded to release the songs himself, although he was initially reluctant to step out behind the microphone.
He then wrote several other songs and recorded them for what eventually became an entire album of music. He was going to use the name "White Heat," but decided on using his given name instead. White was still hesitating up to the time the label copy was made. It eventually became White's first solo album, 1973's I've Got So Much to Give. It included the title track and his first solo chart hit, "I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby", which also rose to No. 1 on the Billboard R&B charts as well as No. 3 on the Billboard Pop charts in 1973 and stayed in the top 40 for many weeks.
Other chart hits by White included "Never, Never Gonna Give You Up" (No. 2 R&B, No. 7 Pop in 1973), "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe" (No. 1 Pop and R&B in 1974), "You're the First, the Last, My Everything" (No. 1 R&B, No. 2 Pop in 1974), "What Am I Gonna Do with You" (No. 1 R&B, No. 8 Pop in 1975), "Let the Music Play" (No. 4 R&B in 1976), "It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next to Me" (No. 1 R&B, No. 4 Pop in 1977) and "Your Sweetness Is My Weakness" (No. 2 R&B in 1978) and others. White also had a strong following in the UK, where he scored five Top 10 hits and a No. 1 for "You're the First, the Last, My Everything". Due to his large frame, facial hair, and deep voice, he was given the nickname "The Walrus of Love" in the UK.
After six years White left 20th Century in 1979 to launch his own label, Unlimited Gold, with CBS/Columbia Records.
1980s
Although his success on the pop charts slowed down as the disco era came to an end, he maintained a loyal following throughout his career. Despite several albums over the next three years, he failed to repeat his earlier successes, with no singles managing to reach the Billboard Hot 100, except for 1982's "Change," climbing into the Billboard R&B Top 20 (No. 12). His label venture was exacting a heavy financial cost on White, so he concentrated on mostly touring and finally folded his label in 1983.
After four years he signed with A&M Records, and with the release of 1987's The Right Night & Barry White, the single entitled "Sho' You Right" made it to the Billboard R&B charts, peaking at No. 17.
In 1989 he released The Man Is Back! and with it had three top 40 singles on the Billboard R&B charts: "Super Lover", which made it to No. 34, "I Wanna Do It Good to Ya", which made it to No. 26, and "When Will I See You Again", which made it to No. 32.
1990s
A 1970s nostalgia fad allowed White to enjoy a renewed wave of popularity in the 1990s. After participating in the song "The Secret Garden (Sweet Seduction Suite)" from Quincy Jones's 1989 album Back on the Block, White mounted an effective comeback with several albums, each more successful than the last. He returned to the top of the charts in 1991 with the album Put Me in Your Mix, which reached No. 8 on the Billboard R&B Albums chart and the song by the same name reached No. 2 on the Billboard R&B singles chart.
In 1994, White released The Icon Is Love, which went to No. 1 on the Billboard R&B album charts, and the single "Practice What You Preach" gave him his first No. 1 on the Billboard R&B singles chart in almost 20 years. The album was nominated for a Grammy in the Best R&B Album category, but lost to TLC's CrazySexyCool.
In 1996, White recorded the duet "In Your Wildest Dreams" with Tina Turner. 1996 also saw the release of Space Jam and its soundtrack, on which White had a duet with Chris Rock, called "Basketball Jones," a remake of Cheech & Chong's "Basketball Jones" from 1973.
White's final album, 1999's Staying Power, resulted in his last hit song "Staying Power," which placed No. 45 on the Billboard R&B charts. The single won him two Grammy Awards in the categories Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance.
His autobiography, Love Unlimited, written with Mark Eliot, was published in 1999 by Broadway Books.
Acting career
Over the course of his career, White sometimes did voice-over work for television and movies. He voiced the character Brother Bear in the film Coonskin (1975), and also played the character Sampson in the movie's live-action segments. He appeared as himself in a few episodes of The Simpsons. In the episode "Whacking Day", Bart and Lisa used his deep bass singing voice, played through loudspeakers placed on the ground, to lull and attract snakes, saving them from extermination. White was a fan of the show, and had reportedly contacted the staff about wanting to make a guest appearance. He made a second cameo in the episode "Krusty Gets Kancelled".
White played the role of a bus driver for a Prodigy commercial in 1995, and he also portrayed the voice of a rabbit in a Good Seasons salad-dressing-mix commercial, singing a song called "You Can't Bottle Love". In addition, he did some work for car commercials, including for Oldsmobile, and later on, Jeep. White also provided voice-over for Arby's Restaurant commercials on television and radio to promote its Market Fresh menu. White's voice can also be heard in Apple's first iBook commercial. White made three guest appearances on the comedy-drama television series Ally McBeal, as his music was often featured on the show in dream sequences.
Personal life
Marriages
White was first married to his childhood sweetheart, identified as just Mary in his autobiography, by the time he was 19. They separated in 1969 and later divorced.
In 1974, White married singer Glodean James. The couple collaborated on the 1981 album Barry & Glodean. They reportedly divorced in 1988, however, they were still legally married until White's death in 2003 although they lived separate lives. Although estranged from Glodean for over a decade, as his widow she was made sole executor of his estate.
Children
White had at least nine children.
By the age of 16, White had fathered two children with his first wife Mary. They had four children together. In 2017, his son Darryl White from his first marriage sued his estate claiming he was cut off financially.
White had four children with his second wife Glodean James. Their daughter Shaherah was his personal assistant. Barry Jr. played in the Love Unlimited Orchestra and was also his tour manager. White's son MacKevin worked in his publishing administration.
White had a daughter, Denise Donnell born in 1962 to Gurtha Allen. She did not discover who her biological father was until 1988. She was accepted by White and with his help she changed her name to Denise White. In 2016, she sued White's estate after she stopped receiving money.
After White's death in 2003, his girlfriend Katherine Denton claimed her infant daughter was his biological child. Denton also claimed that she was owed money and personal items that White had promised to give her. Paternity tests revealed that he was not the father of her child and Denton subsequently lost her court case.
Health problems and death
Due to a poor diet, White was overweight for most of his adult life and suffered from related health problems. He was also known to be a heavy smoker, reportedly smoking approximately 150 cigarettes a day; roughly between 7 and 8 packs.
While on-tour in the summer of 1995, White nearly collapsed after a concert. He took a break from performing that fall and on October 30 of that year, he was hospitalized after suffering a minor stroke due to high blood pressure. He was in a coma for four days, but was discharged a week after coming out of it.
While touring with Earth, Wind & Fire in August 1999, White was forced to cancel a month's worth of tour dates owing to exhaustion, high blood pressure and a hectic schedule. Family, friends, and associates also reported that as the 2000s began, White was in such poor health that he could hardly stand up; his last performances suffered as a result.
In September 2002, White was hospitalized with kidney failure attributed to chronic high blood pressure; he was also believed to have been diabetic. While undergoing dialysis and awaiting a kidney transplant in May 2003, White suffered a severe stroke, which forced him to retire from public life. He also suffered multiple seizures in his last few weeks.
White's unstable health prevented him from receiving a new kidney and on July 4, 2003, he died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after suffering a cardiac arrest; he was 58."Singer Barry White dies", BBC, July 5, 2003. His remains were cremated, and the ashes were scattered in the ocean off the Californian coast.
Legacy
On September 20, 2004, White was posthumously inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame at a ceremony held in New York. On September 12, 2013, which would have been White's 69th birthday, he was posthumously awarded the 2,506th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6914 Hollywood Boulevard in the category of recording. The show Counting Cars paid tribute to White by restoring the last car he owned for his widow, Glodean.
In an obituary referring to White by his nickname, "The Walrus of Love", the BBC recalled "the rich timbres of one of the most distinctive soul voices of his generation, about which it was once said: 'If chocolate fudge cake could sing, it would sound like Barry White.'"
Awards and nominations
White was nominated for 11 Grammy Awards; winning two for Staying Power at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards in 2000.
Discography
Studio albums
I've Got So Much to Give (1973)
Stone Gon' (1973)
Can't Get Enough (1974)
Just Another Way to Say I Love You (1975)
Let the Music Play (1976)
Is This Whatcha Wont? (1976)
Barry White Sings for Someone You Love (1977)
The Man (1978)
I Love to Sing the Songs I Sing (1979)
The Message Is Love (1979)
Sheet Music (1980)
Beware! (1981)
Change (1982)
Dedicated (1983)
The Right Night & Barry White (1987)
The Man Is Back! (1989)
Put Me in Your Mix (1991)
The Icon Is Love (1994)
Staying Power'' (1999)
References
External links
1944 births
2003 deaths
African-American record producers
Record producers from Texas
African-American male singer-songwriters
American bandleaders
American bass-baritones
A&M Records artists
American dance musicians
20th-century African-American male singers
American people convicted of theft
American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters
American soul singers
Casablanca Records artists
American male actors
American male voice actors
African-American male actors
Deaths from kidney failure
Grammy Award winners
Mercury Records artists
Singer-songwriters from Texas
People from Galveston, Texas
Private Music artists
Singers from Los Angeles
American disco singers
Record producers from California
Downey Records artists
Singer-songwriters from California
The Love Unlimited Orchestra members | true | [
"Eternal Echoes is the name of John Barry's final solo album. It was his follow-up recording to The Beyondness of Things, an original solo album of independent material not connected to any film. The composer described the 11 pieces of Eternal Echoes as comprising \"an album of sounds, of places and of objects that have always existed and always will exist. They are without beginning or end. They are infinite in our past and future.\"\n\nThe album was inspired by the poetry of Barry's friend, John O'Donohue. Initially, the composer conceived the project as a cycle of songs based on O'Donohue's poems. But it ended up being a purely orchestral recording performed by the English Chamber Orchestra. The album also features soloists David White on saxophone and Tommy Morgan on harmonica. The critical reception was rather modest at the time of the album's release. Commercially, Eternal Echoes was not as successful as The Beyondness of Things either.\n\nTrack listing\n\n\"Eternal Echoes\" - 4:25\n\"Returning Home\" - 4:12\n\"Crazy Dog\" - 3:03\n\"Slow Day\" - 3:03\n\"Fred and Cyd\" - 4:06\n\"Blessed Illusion\" - 4:08\n\"Lullabying\" - 3:17\n\"Winning\" - 3:56\n\"Get Over It\" - 3:54\n\"First Steps\" - 3:47\n\"Elegy\" - 5:37\n\n2001 albums\nJohn Barry (composer) albums\nDecca Records albums",
"Barry White Sings for Someone You Love is the self-produced seventh album by soul singer Barry White, released in 1977 on the 20th Century label.\n\nCommercial performance\nThe album topped the R&B albums chart, White's first to do so since 1975. It also reached No. 8 on the Billboard 200, his second to reach the top ten. The album was a success, yielding two Billboard R&B Top Ten singles, \"It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next to Me\", which peaked at No. 1, and \"Playing Your Game, Baby\". \"It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next to Me\" was also a hit on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching #4. A third single, \"Oh, What a Night for Dancing\", reached No. 13 on the R&B chart and No. 24 on the pop chart. The album was digitally remastered and reissued on CD on September 24, 1996, by Mercury Records. The original vinyl album was released with three different covers. In addition to the beige fur with black letters cover shown above, the LP was also issued with dark brown fur and grey fur. Each of these covers had White's name and the album's title in white letters, and are harder to find than the more common light brown fur with black letters cover.\n\n\"Playing Your Game, Baby\", the first track featured on the album, was remixed by British electronica group Groove Armada for their 2000 album Back to Mine: Groove Armada.\n\nTrack listing\n\nPersonnel\nBarry White - lead vocals, arranger\nJohn Roberts - orchestration \nTechnical\nFrank Kejmar - engineer\nGrant Edwards - front cover photography\n\nCharts\n\nSingles\n\nSee also\nList of number-one R&B albums of 1977 (U.S.)\n\nCertifications and sales\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n 'Barry White Sings for Someone You Love' at Discogs\n\n1977 albums\nBarry White albums\n20th Century Fox Records albums"
] | [
"Barry Eugene Carter (September 12, 1944 – July 4, 2003), better known by his stage name Barry White, was an American singer-songwriter, musician, record producer and composer. A two-time Grammy Award–winner known for his bass-baritone voice and romantic image, his greatest success came in the 1970s as a solo singer and with The Love Unlimited Orchestra, crafting many enduring soul, funk, and disco songs such as his two biggest hits: \"You're the First, the Last, My Everything\" and \"Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe\".",
"A two-time Grammy Award–winner known for his bass-baritone voice and romantic image, his greatest success came in the 1970s as a solo singer and with The Love Unlimited Orchestra, crafting many enduring soul, funk, and disco songs such as his two biggest hits: \"You're the First, the Last, My Everything\" and \"Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe\". White recorded 19 studio albums during the course of his career, but multiple versions and compilations were released worldwide that were certified gold, 41 of which also attained platinum status.",
"White recorded 19 studio albums during the course of his career, but multiple versions and compilations were released worldwide that were certified gold, 41 of which also attained platinum status. White had 20 gold and 10 platinum singles, with worldwide record sales in excess of 100 million records, and is one of the best-selling music artists of all time. His influences included James Cleveland, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, The Supremes, The Four Tops, and Marvin Gaye.",
"His influences included James Cleveland, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, The Supremes, The Four Tops, and Marvin Gaye. Early life White was born Barry Eugene Carter on September 12, 1944, in Galveston, Texas, United States. His father was Melvin A. White, and his mother was Sadie Marie Carter. His parents never married, so his mother gave him her last name, but he later took on the surname of his father.",
"His parents never married, so his mother gave him her last name, but he later took on the surname of his father. He grew up in the Watts neighborhood of South Central Los Angeles, California. He was the older of two children; his brother Darryl was 13 months younger. White grew up listening to his mother's classical music collection and first took to the piano, emulating what he heard on the records.",
"White grew up listening to his mother's classical music collection and first took to the piano, emulating what he heard on the records. White has often been credited with playing piano, at age 11, on Jesse Belvin's 1956 hit single, \"Goodnight My Love\". However, in a 1995 interview with the Boston Herald, White denied writing or arranging the song. He believed the story was an exaggeration by journalists. While White and Belvin lived in the same neighborhood, Belvin was 12 years older than White.",
"While White and Belvin lived in the same neighborhood, Belvin was 12 years older than White. White's voice deepened suddenly when he was 14. He recalled: \"[As a child], I had a normal squeaky kid voice. Then as a teenager, that completely changed. My mother cried because she knew her baby boy had become a man.\" White was jailed for four months at the age of 16 for stealing $30,000 worth of Cadillac tires.",
"White was jailed for four months at the age of 16 for stealing $30,000 worth of Cadillac tires. While in jail, he listened to Elvis Presley singing \"It's Now or Never\" on the radio, an experience he later credited with changing the course of his life. Music career 1960s After his release from jail, White left gang life and began a musical career at the beginning of the 1960s in singing groups.",
"Music career 1960s After his release from jail, White left gang life and began a musical career at the beginning of the 1960s in singing groups. He first released \"Too Far to Turn Around\" in 1960 as part of The Upfronts before working for various small independent labels in Los Angeles. He also recorded several singles under his own name in the early 1960s, backed by vocal groups the Atlantics (for the Rampart and Faro labels) and the Majestics (for the Linda and Jordan labels).",
"He also recorded several singles under his own name in the early 1960s, backed by vocal groups the Atlantics (for the Rampart and Faro labels) and the Majestics (for the Linda and Jordan labels). White had no involvement with Bob & Earl's 1963 hit single \"Harlem Shuffle\", a song he has sometimes been credited with producing; in his 1999 autobiography, White confirmed the song had been produced by Gene Page, who had worked with him on many of White's 1970s successes.",
"White had no involvement with Bob & Earl's 1963 hit single \"Harlem Shuffle\", a song he has sometimes been credited with producing; in his 1999 autobiography, White confirmed the song had been produced by Gene Page, who had worked with him on many of White's 1970s successes. In 1965, White produced \"Feel Aw Right\" by the Bel Cantos, released on the Downey label.<ref> \"Feel Aw Right\", The Bel-Cantos, Downey D-128, 45cat.",
"In 1965, White produced \"Feel Aw Right\" by the Bel Cantos, released on the Downey label.<ref> \"Feel Aw Right\", The Bel-Cantos, Downey D-128, 45cat. Retrieved January 29, 2020.</ref> He recorded his debut single, \"Man Ain't Nothin'\" / \"I Don't Need It, released under the name Lee Barry on Downey in 1966. He also co-wrote \"Together Forever,\" released by Pat Powdrill & the Powerdrills in 1967.",
"He also co-wrote \"Together Forever,\" released by Pat Powdrill & the Powerdrills in 1967. In the mid-'60s, Bob Keane of Del-Fi Records hired him as an A&R man for his new Bronco Records imprint, and White started working with the label's artists, including Viola Wills and The Bobby Fuller Four, as a songwriter, session musician, and arranger. He discovered singer Felice Taylor and arranged her song \"I Feel Love Comin' On\" co-written with his friend Paul Politi.",
"He discovered singer Felice Taylor and arranged her song \"I Feel Love Comin' On\" co-written with his friend Paul Politi. It became a big hit in the UK. Other charting hits written by White and Politi for her included \"It May Be Winter Outside (But in My Heart It's Spring)\" and \"Under the Influence of Love\". Bronco issued one of White's first singles, 1967's \"All in the Run of a Day,\" produced by Keane and White.",
"Bronco issued one of White's first singles, 1967's \"All in the Run of a Day,\" produced by Keane and White. White also wrote \"Doin' the Banana Split\" for TV bubblegum act The Banana Splits in 1968. In 1969, White was signed by Forward Records of Los Angeles, a division of Transcontinental Entertainment Corporation, as a producer. 1970s as producer In 1972, White got his big break producing a girl group he had discovered called Love Unlimited.",
"1970s as producer In 1972, White got his big break producing a girl group he had discovered called Love Unlimited. Formed in imitative style of the Motown girl group The Supremes, the group members had gradually honed their talents with White for two years previously until they signed contracts with Uni Records. His friend Paul Politi hooked him up with music industry businessman Larry Nunes, who helped to finance their album.",
"His friend Paul Politi hooked him up with music industry businessman Larry Nunes, who helped to finance their album. After it was recorded, Nunes took the recording to Russ Regan, who was the head of the Uni label owned by MCA. The album, 1972's From A Girl's Point of View We Give to You... Love Unlimited, became the first of White's string of long-titled albums and singles.",
"The album, 1972's From A Girl's Point of View We Give to You... Love Unlimited, became the first of White's string of long-titled albums and singles. White produced, wrote and arranged their classic soul ballad \"Walkin' in the Rain with the One I Love\", which climbed to No. 14 in the Billboard Hot 100 Pop chart and No. 6 on the Billboard R&B chart in late 1972. It became White's first million selling single as a writer and producer.",
"It became White's first million selling single as a writer and producer. This single also reached No. 12 in the UK chart. White's voice can clearly be heard in this piece as he plays the lover who answers the phone call of the female lead. Soon after, Regan left Uni for 20th Century Records. Without Regan, White's relationship with Uni soured.",
"Without Regan, White's relationship with Uni soured. Without Regan, White's relationship with Uni soured. With his relationship with Uni over and Love Unlimited contract-bound with the label, White was able to switch both his production deal and the group to 20th Century Records. They recorded several other hits throughout the 1970s, \"I Belong to You\", which spent over five months on the Billboard R&B chart in 1974 including a week at No.",
"They recorded several other hits throughout the 1970s, \"I Belong to You\", which spent over five months on the Billboard R&B chart in 1974 including a week at No. 1 and \"Under the Influence of Love Unlimited\", which hit No. 3 on the Billboard Pop album charts. White married the lead singer of the group, Glodean James, on July 4, 1974.",
"White married the lead singer of the group, Glodean James, on July 4, 1974. The Love Unlimited Orchestra In 1973, White created The Love Unlimited Orchestra, a 40-piece orchestral group to be used originally as a backing band for the girl-group Love Unlimited. However, White had other plans, and in 1973 he released a single with \"Love's Theme\" (written by him and played by the Orchestra), which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Pop charts.",
"1 on the Billboard Pop charts. 1 on the Billboard Pop charts. Later, in 1974, he made the first album of the Love Unlimited Orchestra, Rhapsody in White, containing \"Love's Theme\". White would continue to make albums with the Orchestra, achieving some successes such as: \"Rhapsody in White\"; \"Satin Soul\"; \"Forever in Love\"; \"Midnight Groove\"; \"My Sweet Summer Suite\", Remake of \"Theme From King Kong\".",
"White would continue to make albums with the Orchestra, achieving some successes such as: \"Rhapsody in White\"; \"Satin Soul\"; \"Forever in Love\"; \"Midnight Groove\"; \"My Sweet Summer Suite\", Remake of \"Theme From King Kong\". The Orchestra ceased to make albums in 1983, but continued to support White as a backing band. 1970s solo career White wanted to work with another act but decided to work with a solo male artist.",
"1970s solo career White wanted to work with another act but decided to work with a solo male artist. While working on a few demos for a male singer, he made three song demos of himself singing and playing, but Nunes heard them and insisted that he re-record and release them himself as a solo recording artist. After arguing for days about it, White was finally persuaded to release the songs himself, although he was initially reluctant to step out behind the microphone.",
"After arguing for days about it, White was finally persuaded to release the songs himself, although he was initially reluctant to step out behind the microphone. He then wrote several other songs and recorded them for what eventually became an entire album of music. He was going to use the name \"White Heat,\" but decided on using his given name instead. White was still hesitating up to the time the label copy was made.",
"White was still hesitating up to the time the label copy was made. It eventually became White's first solo album, 1973's I've Got So Much to Give. It included the title track and his first solo chart hit, \"I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby\", which also rose to No. 1 on the Billboard R&B charts as well as No. 3 on the Billboard Pop charts in 1973 and stayed in the top 40 for many weeks.",
"3 on the Billboard Pop charts in 1973 and stayed in the top 40 for many weeks. Other chart hits by White included \"Never, Never Gonna Give You Up\" (No. 2 R&B, No. 7 Pop in 1973), \"Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe\" (No. 1 Pop and R&B in 1974), \"You're the First, the Last, My Everything\" (No. 1 R&B, No.",
"1 R&B, No. 1 R&B, No. 2 Pop in 1974), \"What Am I Gonna Do with You\" (No. 1 R&B, No. 8 Pop in 1975), \"Let the Music Play\" (No. 4 R&B in 1976), \"It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next to Me\" (No. 1 R&B, No.",
"1 R&B, No. 1 R&B, No. 4 Pop in 1977) and \"Your Sweetness Is My Weakness\" (No. 2 R&B in 1978) and others. White also had a strong following in the UK, where he scored five Top 10 hits and a No. 1 for \"You're the First, the Last, My Everything\".",
"1 for \"You're the First, the Last, My Everything\". Due to his large frame, facial hair, and deep voice, he was given the nickname \"The Walrus of Love\" in the UK. After six years White left 20th Century in 1979 to launch his own label, Unlimited Gold, with CBS/Columbia Records. 1980s Although his success on the pop charts slowed down as the disco era came to an end, he maintained a loyal following throughout his career.",
"1980s Although his success on the pop charts slowed down as the disco era came to an end, he maintained a loyal following throughout his career. Despite several albums over the next three years, he failed to repeat his earlier successes, with no singles managing to reach the Billboard Hot 100, except for 1982's \"Change,\" climbing into the Billboard R&B Top 20 (No. 12).",
"12). 12). His label venture was exacting a heavy financial cost on White, so he concentrated on mostly touring and finally folded his label in 1983. After four years he signed with A&M Records, and with the release of 1987's The Right Night & Barry White, the single entitled \"Sho' You Right\" made it to the Billboard R&B charts, peaking at No. 17. In 1989 he released The Man Is Back!",
"17. In 1989 he released The Man Is Back! In 1989 he released The Man Is Back! and with it had three top 40 singles on the Billboard R&B charts: \"Super Lover\", which made it to No. 34, \"I Wanna Do It Good to Ya\", which made it to No. 26, and \"When Will I See You Again\", which made it to No. 32.",
"32. 32. 1990s A 1970s nostalgia fad allowed White to enjoy a renewed wave of popularity in the 1990s. After participating in the song \"The Secret Garden (Sweet Seduction Suite)\" from Quincy Jones's 1989 album Back on the Block, White mounted an effective comeback with several albums, each more successful than the last. He returned to the top of the charts in 1991 with the album Put Me in Your Mix, which reached No.",
"He returned to the top of the charts in 1991 with the album Put Me in Your Mix, which reached No. 8 on the Billboard R&B Albums chart and the song by the same name reached No. 2 on the Billboard R&B singles chart. In 1994, White released The Icon Is Love, which went to No. 1 on the Billboard R&B album charts, and the single \"Practice What You Preach\" gave him his first No.",
"1 on the Billboard R&B album charts, and the single \"Practice What You Preach\" gave him his first No. 1 on the Billboard R&B singles chart in almost 20 years. The album was nominated for a Grammy in the Best R&B Album category, but lost to TLC's CrazySexyCool. In 1996, White recorded the duet \"In Your Wildest Dreams\" with Tina Turner.",
"In 1996, White recorded the duet \"In Your Wildest Dreams\" with Tina Turner. 1996 also saw the release of Space Jam and its soundtrack, on which White had a duet with Chris Rock, called \"Basketball Jones,\" a remake of Cheech & Chong's \"Basketball Jones\" from 1973. White's final album, 1999's Staying Power, resulted in his last hit song \"Staying Power,\" which placed No. 45 on the Billboard R&B charts.",
"45 on the Billboard R&B charts. 45 on the Billboard R&B charts. The single won him two Grammy Awards in the categories Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance. His autobiography, Love Unlimited, written with Mark Eliot, was published in 1999 by Broadway Books. Acting career Over the course of his career, White sometimes did voice-over work for television and movies.",
"Acting career Over the course of his career, White sometimes did voice-over work for television and movies. He voiced the character Brother Bear in the film Coonskin (1975), and also played the character Sampson in the movie's live-action segments. He appeared as himself in a few episodes of The Simpsons. In the episode \"Whacking Day\", Bart and Lisa used his deep bass singing voice, played through loudspeakers placed on the ground, to lull and attract snakes, saving them from extermination.",
"In the episode \"Whacking Day\", Bart and Lisa used his deep bass singing voice, played through loudspeakers placed on the ground, to lull and attract snakes, saving them from extermination. White was a fan of the show, and had reportedly contacted the staff about wanting to make a guest appearance. He made a second cameo in the episode \"Krusty Gets Kancelled\".",
"He made a second cameo in the episode \"Krusty Gets Kancelled\". White played the role of a bus driver for a Prodigy commercial in 1995, and he also portrayed the voice of a rabbit in a Good Seasons salad-dressing-mix commercial, singing a song called \"You Can't Bottle Love\". In addition, he did some work for car commercials, including for Oldsmobile, and later on, Jeep. White also provided voice-over for Arby's Restaurant commercials on television and radio to promote its Market Fresh menu.",
"White also provided voice-over for Arby's Restaurant commercials on television and radio to promote its Market Fresh menu. White's voice can also be heard in Apple's first iBook commercial. White made three guest appearances on the comedy-drama television series Ally McBeal, as his music was often featured on the show in dream sequences. Personal life Marriages White was first married to his childhood sweetheart, identified as just Mary in his autobiography, by the time he was 19. They separated in 1969 and later divorced.",
"They separated in 1969 and later divorced. They separated in 1969 and later divorced. In 1974, White married singer Glodean James. The couple collaborated on the 1981 album Barry & Glodean. They reportedly divorced in 1988, however, they were still legally married until White's death in 2003 although they lived separate lives. Although estranged from Glodean for over a decade, as his widow she was made sole executor of his estate. Children White had at least nine children.",
"Children White had at least nine children. Children White had at least nine children. By the age of 16, White had fathered two children with his first wife Mary. They had four children together. In 2017, his son Darryl White from his first marriage sued his estate claiming he was cut off financially. White had four children with his second wife Glodean James. Their daughter Shaherah was his personal assistant. Barry Jr. played in the Love Unlimited Orchestra and was also his tour manager.",
"Barry Jr. played in the Love Unlimited Orchestra and was also his tour manager. White's son MacKevin worked in his publishing administration. White had a daughter, Denise Donnell born in 1962 to Gurtha Allen. She did not discover who her biological father was until 1988. She was accepted by White and with his help she changed her name to Denise White. In 2016, she sued White's estate after she stopped receiving money.",
"In 2016, she sued White's estate after she stopped receiving money. After White's death in 2003, his girlfriend Katherine Denton claimed her infant daughter was his biological child. Denton also claimed that she was owed money and personal items that White had promised to give her. Paternity tests revealed that he was not the father of her child and Denton subsequently lost her court case. Health problems and death Due to a poor diet, White was overweight for most of his adult life and suffered from related health problems.",
"Health problems and death Due to a poor diet, White was overweight for most of his adult life and suffered from related health problems. He was also known to be a heavy smoker, reportedly smoking approximately 150 cigarettes a day; roughly between 7 and 8 packs. While on-tour in the summer of 1995, White nearly collapsed after a concert. He took a break from performing that fall and on October 30 of that year, he was hospitalized after suffering a minor stroke due to high blood pressure.",
"He took a break from performing that fall and on October 30 of that year, he was hospitalized after suffering a minor stroke due to high blood pressure. He was in a coma for four days, but was discharged a week after coming out of it. While touring with Earth, Wind & Fire in August 1999, White was forced to cancel a month's worth of tour dates owing to exhaustion, high blood pressure and a hectic schedule.",
"While touring with Earth, Wind & Fire in August 1999, White was forced to cancel a month's worth of tour dates owing to exhaustion, high blood pressure and a hectic schedule. Family, friends, and associates also reported that as the 2000s began, White was in such poor health that he could hardly stand up; his last performances suffered as a result. In September 2002, White was hospitalized with kidney failure attributed to chronic high blood pressure; he was also believed to have been diabetic.",
"In September 2002, White was hospitalized with kidney failure attributed to chronic high blood pressure; he was also believed to have been diabetic. While undergoing dialysis and awaiting a kidney transplant in May 2003, White suffered a severe stroke, which forced him to retire from public life. He also suffered multiple seizures in his last few weeks.",
"He also suffered multiple seizures in his last few weeks. White's unstable health prevented him from receiving a new kidney and on July 4, 2003, he died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after suffering a cardiac arrest; he was 58. \"Singer Barry White dies\", BBC, July 5, 2003. His remains were cremated, and the ashes were scattered in the ocean off the Californian coast.",
"His remains were cremated, and the ashes were scattered in the ocean off the Californian coast. Legacy On September 20, 2004, White was posthumously inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame at a ceremony held in New York. On September 12, 2013, which would have been White's 69th birthday, he was posthumously awarded the 2,506th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6914 Hollywood Boulevard in the category of recording.",
"On September 12, 2013, which would have been White's 69th birthday, he was posthumously awarded the 2,506th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6914 Hollywood Boulevard in the category of recording. The show Counting Cars paid tribute to White by restoring the last car he owned for his widow, Glodean.",
"The show Counting Cars paid tribute to White by restoring the last car he owned for his widow, Glodean. In an obituary referring to White by his nickname, \"The Walrus of Love\", the BBC recalled \"the rich timbres of one of the most distinctive soul voices of his generation, about which it was once said: 'If chocolate fudge cake could sing, it would sound like Barry White.'\"",
"In an obituary referring to White by his nickname, \"The Walrus of Love\", the BBC recalled \"the rich timbres of one of the most distinctive soul voices of his generation, about which it was once said: 'If chocolate fudge cake could sing, it would sound like Barry White.'\" Awards and nominations White was nominated for 11 Grammy Awards; winning two for Staying Power at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards in 2000.",
"Awards and nominations White was nominated for 11 Grammy Awards; winning two for Staying Power at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards in 2000. Discography Studio albums I've Got So Much to Give (1973) Stone Gon' (1973) Can't Get Enough (1974) Just Another Way to Say I Love You (1975) Let the Music Play (1976) Is This Whatcha Wont?",
"Discography Studio albums I've Got So Much to Give (1973) Stone Gon' (1973) Can't Get Enough (1974) Just Another Way to Say I Love You (1975) Let the Music Play (1976) Is This Whatcha Wont? (1976) Barry White Sings for Someone You Love (1977) The Man (1978) I Love to Sing the Songs I Sing (1979) The Message Is Love (1979) Sheet Music (1980) Beware!",
"(1976) Barry White Sings for Someone You Love (1977) The Man (1978) I Love to Sing the Songs I Sing (1979) The Message Is Love (1979) Sheet Music (1980) Beware! (1981) Change (1982) Dedicated (1983) The Right Night & Barry White (1987) The Man Is Back!",
"(1981) Change (1982) Dedicated (1983) The Right Night & Barry White (1987) The Man Is Back! (1989) Put Me in Your Mix (1991) The Icon Is Love (1994) Staying Power'' (1999) References External links 1944 births 2003 deaths African-American record producers Record producers from Texas African-American male singer-songwriters American bandleaders American bass-baritones A&M Records artists American dance musicians 20th-century African-American male singers American people convicted of theft American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters American soul singers Casablanca Records artists American male actors American male voice actors African-American male actors Deaths from kidney failure Grammy Award winners Mercury Records artists Singer-songwriters from Texas People from Galveston, Texas Private Music artists Singers from Los Angeles American disco singers Record producers from California Downey Records artists Singer-songwriters from California The Love Unlimited Orchestra members"
] |
[
"Barry White",
"The 1970s as solo artist",
"What was the name of Barry White's first solo album?",
"1973's I've Got So Much to Give."
] | C_65c5e0d4539d4bd3bfdbb671c90200e3_0 | What was a single from the album? | 2 | What was a single from Barry White's album I've Got So Much to Give? | Barry White | White wanted to work with another act but decided to work with a solo male artist. While working on a few demos for a male singer, he made three song demos of himself singing and playing, but Nunes heard them and insisted that he re-record and release them himself as a solo recording artist. After arguing for days about it, White was finally persuaded to release the songs himself, although he was initially reluctant to step out in front of the microphone. He then wrote several other songs and recorded them for what eventually became an entire album of music. He was going to use the name "White Heat," but decided on using his given name instead. White was still hesitating up to the time the label copy was made. It eventually became White's first solo album, 1973's I've Got So Much to Give. It included the title track and his first solo chart hit, "I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby", which also rose to #1 on the Billboard R&B charts as well as #3 on the Billboard Pop charts in 1973 and stayed in the top 40 for many weeks. Other chart hits by White included "Never, Never Gonna Give You Up" (#2 R&B, #7 Pop in 1973), "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe" (# 1 Pop and R&B in 1974), "You're the First, the Last, My Everything" (#1 R&B, #2 Pop in 1974), "What Am I Gonna Do with You" (#1 R&B, #8 Pop in 1975), "Let the Music Play" (#4 R&B in 1976), "It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next to Me" (#1 R&B, #4 Pop in 1977) and "Your Sweetness Is My Weakness" (#2 R&B in 1978) and others. White also had a strong following in the UK, where he scored five Top 10 hits and a #1 for "You're the First, the Last, My Everything". CANNOTANSWER | It included the title track and his first solo chart hit, "I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby", | Barry Eugene Carter (September 12, 1944 – July 4, 2003), better known by his stage name Barry White, was an American singer-songwriter, musician, record producer and composer. A two-time Grammy Award–winner known for his bass-baritone voice and romantic image, his greatest success came in the 1970s as a solo singer and with The Love Unlimited Orchestra, crafting many enduring soul, funk, and disco songs such as his two biggest hits: "You're the First, the Last, My Everything" and "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe".
White recorded 19 studio albums during the course of his career, but multiple versions and compilations were released worldwide that were certified gold, 41 of which also attained platinum status. White had 20 gold and 10 platinum singles, with worldwide record sales in excess of 100 million records, and is one of the best-selling music artists of all time. His influences included James Cleveland, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, The Supremes, The Four Tops, and Marvin Gaye.
Early life
White was born Barry Eugene Carter on September 12, 1944, in Galveston, Texas, United States. His father was Melvin A. White, and his mother was Sadie Marie Carter. His parents never married, so his mother gave him her last name, but he later took on the surname of his father. He grew up in the Watts neighborhood of South Central Los Angeles, California. He was the older of two children; his brother Darryl was 13 months younger. White grew up listening to his mother's classical music collection and first took to the piano, emulating what he heard on the records.
White has often been credited with playing piano, at age 11, on Jesse Belvin's 1956 hit single, "Goodnight My Love". However, in a 1995 interview with the Boston Herald, White denied writing or arranging the song. He believed the story was an exaggeration by journalists. While White and Belvin lived in the same neighborhood, Belvin was 12 years older than White.
White's voice deepened suddenly when he was 14. He recalled: "[As a child], I had a normal squeaky kid voice. Then as a teenager, that completely changed. My mother cried because she knew her baby boy had become a man."
White was jailed for four months at the age of 16 for stealing $30,000 worth of Cadillac tires. While in jail, he listened to Elvis Presley singing "It's Now or Never" on the radio, an experience he later credited with changing the course of his life.
Music career
1960s
After his release from jail, White left gang life and began a musical career at the beginning of the 1960s in singing groups. He first released "Too Far to Turn Around" in 1960 as part of The Upfronts before working for various small independent labels in Los Angeles. He also recorded several singles under his own name in the early 1960s, backed by vocal groups the Atlantics (for the Rampart and Faro labels) and the Majestics (for the Linda and Jordan labels). White had no involvement with Bob & Earl's 1963 hit single "Harlem Shuffle", a song he has sometimes been credited with producing; in his 1999 autobiography, White confirmed the song had been produced by Gene Page, who had worked with him on many of White's 1970s successes.
In 1965, White produced "Feel Aw Right" by the Bel Cantos, released on the Downey label.<ref> "Feel Aw Right", The Bel-Cantos, Downey D-128, 45cat. Retrieved January 29, 2020.</ref> He recorded his debut single, "Man Ain't Nothin'" / "I Don't Need It, released under the name Lee Barry on Downey in 1966. He also co-wrote "Together Forever," released by Pat Powdrill & the Powerdrills in 1967.
In the mid-'60s, Bob Keane of Del-Fi Records hired him as an A&R man for his new Bronco Records imprint, and White started working with the label's artists, including Viola Wills and The Bobby Fuller Four, as a songwriter, session musician, and arranger. He discovered singer Felice Taylor and arranged her song "I Feel Love Comin' On" co-written with his friend Paul Politi. It became a big hit in the UK. Other charting hits written by White and Politi for her included "It May Be Winter Outside (But in My Heart It's Spring)" and "Under the Influence of Love". Bronco issued one of White's first singles, 1967's "All in the Run of a Day," produced by Keane and White. White also wrote "Doin' the Banana Split" for TV bubblegum act The Banana Splits in 1968.
In 1969, White was signed by Forward Records of Los Angeles, a division of Transcontinental Entertainment Corporation, as a producer.
1970s as producer
In 1972, White got his big break producing a girl group he had discovered called Love Unlimited. Formed in imitative style of the Motown girl group The Supremes, the group members had gradually honed their talents with White for two years previously until they signed contracts with Uni Records. His friend Paul Politi hooked him up with music industry businessman Larry Nunes, who helped to finance their album. After it was recorded, Nunes took the recording to Russ Regan, who was the head of the Uni label owned by MCA. The album, 1972's From A Girl's Point of View We Give to You... Love Unlimited, became the first of White's string of long-titled albums and singles.
White produced, wrote and arranged their classic soul ballad "Walkin' in the Rain with the One I Love", which climbed to No. 14 in the Billboard Hot 100 Pop chart and No. 6 on the Billboard R&B chart in late 1972. It became White's first million selling single as a writer and producer. This single also reached No. 12 in the UK chart. White's voice can clearly be heard in this piece as he plays the lover who answers the phone call of the female lead.
Soon after, Regan left Uni for 20th Century Records. Without Regan, White's relationship with Uni soured. With his relationship with Uni over and Love Unlimited contract-bound with the label, White was able to switch both his production deal and the group to 20th Century Records. They recorded several other hits throughout the 1970s, "I Belong to You", which spent over five months on the Billboard R&B chart in 1974 including a week at No. 1 and "Under the Influence of Love Unlimited", which hit No. 3 on the Billboard Pop album charts. White married the lead singer of the group, Glodean James, on July 4, 1974.
The Love Unlimited Orchestra
In 1973, White created The Love Unlimited Orchestra, a 40-piece orchestral group to be used originally as a backing band for the girl-group Love Unlimited. However, White had other plans, and in 1973 he released a single with "Love's Theme" (written by him and played by the Orchestra), which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Pop charts. Later, in 1974, he made the first album of the Love Unlimited Orchestra, Rhapsody in White, containing "Love's Theme". White would continue to make albums with the Orchestra, achieving some successes such as: "Rhapsody in White"; "Satin Soul"; "Forever in Love"; "Midnight Groove"; "My Sweet Summer Suite", Remake of "Theme From King Kong". The Orchestra ceased to make albums in 1983, but continued to support White as a backing band.
1970s solo career
White wanted to work with another act but decided to work with a solo male artist. While working on a few demos for a male singer, he made three song demos of himself singing and playing, but Nunes heard them and insisted that he re-record and release them himself as a solo recording artist. After arguing for days about it, White was finally persuaded to release the songs himself, although he was initially reluctant to step out behind the microphone.
He then wrote several other songs and recorded them for what eventually became an entire album of music. He was going to use the name "White Heat," but decided on using his given name instead. White was still hesitating up to the time the label copy was made. It eventually became White's first solo album, 1973's I've Got So Much to Give. It included the title track and his first solo chart hit, "I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby", which also rose to No. 1 on the Billboard R&B charts as well as No. 3 on the Billboard Pop charts in 1973 and stayed in the top 40 for many weeks.
Other chart hits by White included "Never, Never Gonna Give You Up" (No. 2 R&B, No. 7 Pop in 1973), "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe" (No. 1 Pop and R&B in 1974), "You're the First, the Last, My Everything" (No. 1 R&B, No. 2 Pop in 1974), "What Am I Gonna Do with You" (No. 1 R&B, No. 8 Pop in 1975), "Let the Music Play" (No. 4 R&B in 1976), "It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next to Me" (No. 1 R&B, No. 4 Pop in 1977) and "Your Sweetness Is My Weakness" (No. 2 R&B in 1978) and others. White also had a strong following in the UK, where he scored five Top 10 hits and a No. 1 for "You're the First, the Last, My Everything". Due to his large frame, facial hair, and deep voice, he was given the nickname "The Walrus of Love" in the UK.
After six years White left 20th Century in 1979 to launch his own label, Unlimited Gold, with CBS/Columbia Records.
1980s
Although his success on the pop charts slowed down as the disco era came to an end, he maintained a loyal following throughout his career. Despite several albums over the next three years, he failed to repeat his earlier successes, with no singles managing to reach the Billboard Hot 100, except for 1982's "Change," climbing into the Billboard R&B Top 20 (No. 12). His label venture was exacting a heavy financial cost on White, so he concentrated on mostly touring and finally folded his label in 1983.
After four years he signed with A&M Records, and with the release of 1987's The Right Night & Barry White, the single entitled "Sho' You Right" made it to the Billboard R&B charts, peaking at No. 17.
In 1989 he released The Man Is Back! and with it had three top 40 singles on the Billboard R&B charts: "Super Lover", which made it to No. 34, "I Wanna Do It Good to Ya", which made it to No. 26, and "When Will I See You Again", which made it to No. 32.
1990s
A 1970s nostalgia fad allowed White to enjoy a renewed wave of popularity in the 1990s. After participating in the song "The Secret Garden (Sweet Seduction Suite)" from Quincy Jones's 1989 album Back on the Block, White mounted an effective comeback with several albums, each more successful than the last. He returned to the top of the charts in 1991 with the album Put Me in Your Mix, which reached No. 8 on the Billboard R&B Albums chart and the song by the same name reached No. 2 on the Billboard R&B singles chart.
In 1994, White released The Icon Is Love, which went to No. 1 on the Billboard R&B album charts, and the single "Practice What You Preach" gave him his first No. 1 on the Billboard R&B singles chart in almost 20 years. The album was nominated for a Grammy in the Best R&B Album category, but lost to TLC's CrazySexyCool.
In 1996, White recorded the duet "In Your Wildest Dreams" with Tina Turner. 1996 also saw the release of Space Jam and its soundtrack, on which White had a duet with Chris Rock, called "Basketball Jones," a remake of Cheech & Chong's "Basketball Jones" from 1973.
White's final album, 1999's Staying Power, resulted in his last hit song "Staying Power," which placed No. 45 on the Billboard R&B charts. The single won him two Grammy Awards in the categories Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance.
His autobiography, Love Unlimited, written with Mark Eliot, was published in 1999 by Broadway Books.
Acting career
Over the course of his career, White sometimes did voice-over work for television and movies. He voiced the character Brother Bear in the film Coonskin (1975), and also played the character Sampson in the movie's live-action segments. He appeared as himself in a few episodes of The Simpsons. In the episode "Whacking Day", Bart and Lisa used his deep bass singing voice, played through loudspeakers placed on the ground, to lull and attract snakes, saving them from extermination. White was a fan of the show, and had reportedly contacted the staff about wanting to make a guest appearance. He made a second cameo in the episode "Krusty Gets Kancelled".
White played the role of a bus driver for a Prodigy commercial in 1995, and he also portrayed the voice of a rabbit in a Good Seasons salad-dressing-mix commercial, singing a song called "You Can't Bottle Love". In addition, he did some work for car commercials, including for Oldsmobile, and later on, Jeep. White also provided voice-over for Arby's Restaurant commercials on television and radio to promote its Market Fresh menu. White's voice can also be heard in Apple's first iBook commercial. White made three guest appearances on the comedy-drama television series Ally McBeal, as his music was often featured on the show in dream sequences.
Personal life
Marriages
White was first married to his childhood sweetheart, identified as just Mary in his autobiography, by the time he was 19. They separated in 1969 and later divorced.
In 1974, White married singer Glodean James. The couple collaborated on the 1981 album Barry & Glodean. They reportedly divorced in 1988, however, they were still legally married until White's death in 2003 although they lived separate lives. Although estranged from Glodean for over a decade, as his widow she was made sole executor of his estate.
Children
White had at least nine children.
By the age of 16, White had fathered two children with his first wife Mary. They had four children together. In 2017, his son Darryl White from his first marriage sued his estate claiming he was cut off financially.
White had four children with his second wife Glodean James. Their daughter Shaherah was his personal assistant. Barry Jr. played in the Love Unlimited Orchestra and was also his tour manager. White's son MacKevin worked in his publishing administration.
White had a daughter, Denise Donnell born in 1962 to Gurtha Allen. She did not discover who her biological father was until 1988. She was accepted by White and with his help she changed her name to Denise White. In 2016, she sued White's estate after she stopped receiving money.
After White's death in 2003, his girlfriend Katherine Denton claimed her infant daughter was his biological child. Denton also claimed that she was owed money and personal items that White had promised to give her. Paternity tests revealed that he was not the father of her child and Denton subsequently lost her court case.
Health problems and death
Due to a poor diet, White was overweight for most of his adult life and suffered from related health problems. He was also known to be a heavy smoker, reportedly smoking approximately 150 cigarettes a day; roughly between 7 and 8 packs.
While on-tour in the summer of 1995, White nearly collapsed after a concert. He took a break from performing that fall and on October 30 of that year, he was hospitalized after suffering a minor stroke due to high blood pressure. He was in a coma for four days, but was discharged a week after coming out of it.
While touring with Earth, Wind & Fire in August 1999, White was forced to cancel a month's worth of tour dates owing to exhaustion, high blood pressure and a hectic schedule. Family, friends, and associates also reported that as the 2000s began, White was in such poor health that he could hardly stand up; his last performances suffered as a result.
In September 2002, White was hospitalized with kidney failure attributed to chronic high blood pressure; he was also believed to have been diabetic. While undergoing dialysis and awaiting a kidney transplant in May 2003, White suffered a severe stroke, which forced him to retire from public life. He also suffered multiple seizures in his last few weeks.
White's unstable health prevented him from receiving a new kidney and on July 4, 2003, he died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after suffering a cardiac arrest; he was 58."Singer Barry White dies", BBC, July 5, 2003. His remains were cremated, and the ashes were scattered in the ocean off the Californian coast.
Legacy
On September 20, 2004, White was posthumously inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame at a ceremony held in New York. On September 12, 2013, which would have been White's 69th birthday, he was posthumously awarded the 2,506th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6914 Hollywood Boulevard in the category of recording. The show Counting Cars paid tribute to White by restoring the last car he owned for his widow, Glodean.
In an obituary referring to White by his nickname, "The Walrus of Love", the BBC recalled "the rich timbres of one of the most distinctive soul voices of his generation, about which it was once said: 'If chocolate fudge cake could sing, it would sound like Barry White.'"
Awards and nominations
White was nominated for 11 Grammy Awards; winning two for Staying Power at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards in 2000.
Discography
Studio albums
I've Got So Much to Give (1973)
Stone Gon' (1973)
Can't Get Enough (1974)
Just Another Way to Say I Love You (1975)
Let the Music Play (1976)
Is This Whatcha Wont? (1976)
Barry White Sings for Someone You Love (1977)
The Man (1978)
I Love to Sing the Songs I Sing (1979)
The Message Is Love (1979)
Sheet Music (1980)
Beware! (1981)
Change (1982)
Dedicated (1983)
The Right Night & Barry White (1987)
The Man Is Back! (1989)
Put Me in Your Mix (1991)
The Icon Is Love (1994)
Staying Power'' (1999)
References
External links
1944 births
2003 deaths
African-American record producers
Record producers from Texas
African-American male singer-songwriters
American bandleaders
American bass-baritones
A&M Records artists
American dance musicians
20th-century African-American male singers
American people convicted of theft
American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters
American soul singers
Casablanca Records artists
American male actors
American male voice actors
African-American male actors
Deaths from kidney failure
Grammy Award winners
Mercury Records artists
Singer-songwriters from Texas
People from Galveston, Texas
Private Music artists
Singers from Los Angeles
American disco singers
Record producers from California
Downey Records artists
Singer-songwriters from California
The Love Unlimited Orchestra members | true | [
"We Created the World is the debut studio album by Finnish alternative rock band Softengine. It was released in Finland on 3 October 2014, through Sony Music Entertainment. The album has peaked to number 7 on the Finnish Albums Chart. The album includes the singles \"Something Better\", \"Yellow House\", \"The Sirens\" and \"What If I?\".\n\nSingles\n\"Something Better\" was released as the lead single from the album on 21 March 2014. The song was selected to represent Finland at the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 at the B&W Hallerne in Copenhagen, Denmark. The song qualified from the second semi-final to compete in the final. Finland placed 11th in the final, scoring 72 points. This was Finland's best placing in the contest since Lordi's victory in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006. \"Yellow House\" was released as the second single from the album on 13 June 2014. \"The Sirens\" was released as the third single from the album on 3 October 2014. \"What If I?\" was released as the fourth single from the album on 17 December 2014.\n\nTrack listing\n\nChart performance\n\nRelease history\n\nReferences\n\n2014 debut albums",
"Good Ol' Fashioned Love is the debut studio album by British-Irish doo-wop boy band The Overtones. The album was released on 1 November 2010 in the UK by Rhino Entertainment. The album was subsequently re-released on 8 March 2011, containing a number of new tracks. The album peaked at number 4 on the UK Albums Chart and number 14 on the Irish Albums Chart. The album was released in Germany and Austria on 23 March 2012, renamed Gambling Man.\n\nThe album has sold 470,000 copies as of April 2018.\n\nSingles\n \"Gambling Man\" was released as the first single from the album on 8 October 2010. The track peaked at number 82 on the UK Singles Chart, and was later released as the album's lead single in international territories such as Germany and Austria.\n \"The Longest Time\", a cover of the Billy Joel original, was released as the second single from the album on 25 April 2011. It was the only cover version from the album to be released as a single.\n \"Second Last Chance\" was released as the third single from the album on 15 August 2011. It was the first single to be released from the Platinum edition of the album.\n \"Say What I Feel\" was released as the fourth and final single from the album on 16 December 2011. It was the second original song to be released from the album as a single. The track was co-written by 5ive member Sean Conlon and songwriter Peter-John Vetesse.\n\nTrack listing\n\nCharts\n\nWeekly charts\n\nGood Ol' Fashioned Love\n\nGambling Man\n\nYear-end charts\n\nGood Ol' Fashioned Love\n\nRelease history\n\nReferences\n\n2010 debut albums\nThe Overtones albums"
] | [
"Barry Eugene Carter (September 12, 1944 – July 4, 2003), better known by his stage name Barry White, was an American singer-songwriter, musician, record producer and composer. A two-time Grammy Award–winner known for his bass-baritone voice and romantic image, his greatest success came in the 1970s as a solo singer and with The Love Unlimited Orchestra, crafting many enduring soul, funk, and disco songs such as his two biggest hits: \"You're the First, the Last, My Everything\" and \"Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe\".",
"A two-time Grammy Award–winner known for his bass-baritone voice and romantic image, his greatest success came in the 1970s as a solo singer and with The Love Unlimited Orchestra, crafting many enduring soul, funk, and disco songs such as his two biggest hits: \"You're the First, the Last, My Everything\" and \"Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe\". White recorded 19 studio albums during the course of his career, but multiple versions and compilations were released worldwide that were certified gold, 41 of which also attained platinum status.",
"White recorded 19 studio albums during the course of his career, but multiple versions and compilations were released worldwide that were certified gold, 41 of which also attained platinum status. White had 20 gold and 10 platinum singles, with worldwide record sales in excess of 100 million records, and is one of the best-selling music artists of all time. His influences included James Cleveland, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, The Supremes, The Four Tops, and Marvin Gaye.",
"His influences included James Cleveland, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, The Supremes, The Four Tops, and Marvin Gaye. Early life White was born Barry Eugene Carter on September 12, 1944, in Galveston, Texas, United States. His father was Melvin A. White, and his mother was Sadie Marie Carter. His parents never married, so his mother gave him her last name, but he later took on the surname of his father.",
"His parents never married, so his mother gave him her last name, but he later took on the surname of his father. He grew up in the Watts neighborhood of South Central Los Angeles, California. He was the older of two children; his brother Darryl was 13 months younger. White grew up listening to his mother's classical music collection and first took to the piano, emulating what he heard on the records.",
"White grew up listening to his mother's classical music collection and first took to the piano, emulating what he heard on the records. White has often been credited with playing piano, at age 11, on Jesse Belvin's 1956 hit single, \"Goodnight My Love\". However, in a 1995 interview with the Boston Herald, White denied writing or arranging the song. He believed the story was an exaggeration by journalists. While White and Belvin lived in the same neighborhood, Belvin was 12 years older than White.",
"While White and Belvin lived in the same neighborhood, Belvin was 12 years older than White. White's voice deepened suddenly when he was 14. He recalled: \"[As a child], I had a normal squeaky kid voice. Then as a teenager, that completely changed. My mother cried because she knew her baby boy had become a man.\" White was jailed for four months at the age of 16 for stealing $30,000 worth of Cadillac tires.",
"White was jailed for four months at the age of 16 for stealing $30,000 worth of Cadillac tires. While in jail, he listened to Elvis Presley singing \"It's Now or Never\" on the radio, an experience he later credited with changing the course of his life. Music career 1960s After his release from jail, White left gang life and began a musical career at the beginning of the 1960s in singing groups.",
"Music career 1960s After his release from jail, White left gang life and began a musical career at the beginning of the 1960s in singing groups. He first released \"Too Far to Turn Around\" in 1960 as part of The Upfronts before working for various small independent labels in Los Angeles. He also recorded several singles under his own name in the early 1960s, backed by vocal groups the Atlantics (for the Rampart and Faro labels) and the Majestics (for the Linda and Jordan labels).",
"He also recorded several singles under his own name in the early 1960s, backed by vocal groups the Atlantics (for the Rampart and Faro labels) and the Majestics (for the Linda and Jordan labels). White had no involvement with Bob & Earl's 1963 hit single \"Harlem Shuffle\", a song he has sometimes been credited with producing; in his 1999 autobiography, White confirmed the song had been produced by Gene Page, who had worked with him on many of White's 1970s successes.",
"White had no involvement with Bob & Earl's 1963 hit single \"Harlem Shuffle\", a song he has sometimes been credited with producing; in his 1999 autobiography, White confirmed the song had been produced by Gene Page, who had worked with him on many of White's 1970s successes. In 1965, White produced \"Feel Aw Right\" by the Bel Cantos, released on the Downey label.<ref> \"Feel Aw Right\", The Bel-Cantos, Downey D-128, 45cat.",
"In 1965, White produced \"Feel Aw Right\" by the Bel Cantos, released on the Downey label.<ref> \"Feel Aw Right\", The Bel-Cantos, Downey D-128, 45cat. Retrieved January 29, 2020.</ref> He recorded his debut single, \"Man Ain't Nothin'\" / \"I Don't Need It, released under the name Lee Barry on Downey in 1966. He also co-wrote \"Together Forever,\" released by Pat Powdrill & the Powerdrills in 1967.",
"He also co-wrote \"Together Forever,\" released by Pat Powdrill & the Powerdrills in 1967. In the mid-'60s, Bob Keane of Del-Fi Records hired him as an A&R man for his new Bronco Records imprint, and White started working with the label's artists, including Viola Wills and The Bobby Fuller Four, as a songwriter, session musician, and arranger. He discovered singer Felice Taylor and arranged her song \"I Feel Love Comin' On\" co-written with his friend Paul Politi.",
"He discovered singer Felice Taylor and arranged her song \"I Feel Love Comin' On\" co-written with his friend Paul Politi. It became a big hit in the UK. Other charting hits written by White and Politi for her included \"It May Be Winter Outside (But in My Heart It's Spring)\" and \"Under the Influence of Love\". Bronco issued one of White's first singles, 1967's \"All in the Run of a Day,\" produced by Keane and White.",
"Bronco issued one of White's first singles, 1967's \"All in the Run of a Day,\" produced by Keane and White. White also wrote \"Doin' the Banana Split\" for TV bubblegum act The Banana Splits in 1968. In 1969, White was signed by Forward Records of Los Angeles, a division of Transcontinental Entertainment Corporation, as a producer. 1970s as producer In 1972, White got his big break producing a girl group he had discovered called Love Unlimited.",
"1970s as producer In 1972, White got his big break producing a girl group he had discovered called Love Unlimited. Formed in imitative style of the Motown girl group The Supremes, the group members had gradually honed their talents with White for two years previously until they signed contracts with Uni Records. His friend Paul Politi hooked him up with music industry businessman Larry Nunes, who helped to finance their album.",
"His friend Paul Politi hooked him up with music industry businessman Larry Nunes, who helped to finance their album. After it was recorded, Nunes took the recording to Russ Regan, who was the head of the Uni label owned by MCA. The album, 1972's From A Girl's Point of View We Give to You... Love Unlimited, became the first of White's string of long-titled albums and singles.",
"The album, 1972's From A Girl's Point of View We Give to You... Love Unlimited, became the first of White's string of long-titled albums and singles. White produced, wrote and arranged their classic soul ballad \"Walkin' in the Rain with the One I Love\", which climbed to No. 14 in the Billboard Hot 100 Pop chart and No. 6 on the Billboard R&B chart in late 1972. It became White's first million selling single as a writer and producer.",
"It became White's first million selling single as a writer and producer. This single also reached No. 12 in the UK chart. White's voice can clearly be heard in this piece as he plays the lover who answers the phone call of the female lead. Soon after, Regan left Uni for 20th Century Records. Without Regan, White's relationship with Uni soured.",
"Without Regan, White's relationship with Uni soured. Without Regan, White's relationship with Uni soured. With his relationship with Uni over and Love Unlimited contract-bound with the label, White was able to switch both his production deal and the group to 20th Century Records. They recorded several other hits throughout the 1970s, \"I Belong to You\", which spent over five months on the Billboard R&B chart in 1974 including a week at No.",
"They recorded several other hits throughout the 1970s, \"I Belong to You\", which spent over five months on the Billboard R&B chart in 1974 including a week at No. 1 and \"Under the Influence of Love Unlimited\", which hit No. 3 on the Billboard Pop album charts. White married the lead singer of the group, Glodean James, on July 4, 1974.",
"White married the lead singer of the group, Glodean James, on July 4, 1974. The Love Unlimited Orchestra In 1973, White created The Love Unlimited Orchestra, a 40-piece orchestral group to be used originally as a backing band for the girl-group Love Unlimited. However, White had other plans, and in 1973 he released a single with \"Love's Theme\" (written by him and played by the Orchestra), which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Pop charts.",
"1 on the Billboard Pop charts. 1 on the Billboard Pop charts. Later, in 1974, he made the first album of the Love Unlimited Orchestra, Rhapsody in White, containing \"Love's Theme\". White would continue to make albums with the Orchestra, achieving some successes such as: \"Rhapsody in White\"; \"Satin Soul\"; \"Forever in Love\"; \"Midnight Groove\"; \"My Sweet Summer Suite\", Remake of \"Theme From King Kong\".",
"White would continue to make albums with the Orchestra, achieving some successes such as: \"Rhapsody in White\"; \"Satin Soul\"; \"Forever in Love\"; \"Midnight Groove\"; \"My Sweet Summer Suite\", Remake of \"Theme From King Kong\". The Orchestra ceased to make albums in 1983, but continued to support White as a backing band. 1970s solo career White wanted to work with another act but decided to work with a solo male artist.",
"1970s solo career White wanted to work with another act but decided to work with a solo male artist. While working on a few demos for a male singer, he made three song demos of himself singing and playing, but Nunes heard them and insisted that he re-record and release them himself as a solo recording artist. After arguing for days about it, White was finally persuaded to release the songs himself, although he was initially reluctant to step out behind the microphone.",
"After arguing for days about it, White was finally persuaded to release the songs himself, although he was initially reluctant to step out behind the microphone. He then wrote several other songs and recorded them for what eventually became an entire album of music. He was going to use the name \"White Heat,\" but decided on using his given name instead. White was still hesitating up to the time the label copy was made.",
"White was still hesitating up to the time the label copy was made. It eventually became White's first solo album, 1973's I've Got So Much to Give. It included the title track and his first solo chart hit, \"I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby\", which also rose to No. 1 on the Billboard R&B charts as well as No. 3 on the Billboard Pop charts in 1973 and stayed in the top 40 for many weeks.",
"3 on the Billboard Pop charts in 1973 and stayed in the top 40 for many weeks. Other chart hits by White included \"Never, Never Gonna Give You Up\" (No. 2 R&B, No. 7 Pop in 1973), \"Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe\" (No. 1 Pop and R&B in 1974), \"You're the First, the Last, My Everything\" (No. 1 R&B, No.",
"1 R&B, No. 1 R&B, No. 2 Pop in 1974), \"What Am I Gonna Do with You\" (No. 1 R&B, No. 8 Pop in 1975), \"Let the Music Play\" (No. 4 R&B in 1976), \"It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next to Me\" (No. 1 R&B, No.",
"1 R&B, No. 1 R&B, No. 4 Pop in 1977) and \"Your Sweetness Is My Weakness\" (No. 2 R&B in 1978) and others. White also had a strong following in the UK, where he scored five Top 10 hits and a No. 1 for \"You're the First, the Last, My Everything\".",
"1 for \"You're the First, the Last, My Everything\". Due to his large frame, facial hair, and deep voice, he was given the nickname \"The Walrus of Love\" in the UK. After six years White left 20th Century in 1979 to launch his own label, Unlimited Gold, with CBS/Columbia Records. 1980s Although his success on the pop charts slowed down as the disco era came to an end, he maintained a loyal following throughout his career.",
"1980s Although his success on the pop charts slowed down as the disco era came to an end, he maintained a loyal following throughout his career. Despite several albums over the next three years, he failed to repeat his earlier successes, with no singles managing to reach the Billboard Hot 100, except for 1982's \"Change,\" climbing into the Billboard R&B Top 20 (No. 12).",
"12). 12). His label venture was exacting a heavy financial cost on White, so he concentrated on mostly touring and finally folded his label in 1983. After four years he signed with A&M Records, and with the release of 1987's The Right Night & Barry White, the single entitled \"Sho' You Right\" made it to the Billboard R&B charts, peaking at No. 17. In 1989 he released The Man Is Back!",
"17. In 1989 he released The Man Is Back! In 1989 he released The Man Is Back! and with it had three top 40 singles on the Billboard R&B charts: \"Super Lover\", which made it to No. 34, \"I Wanna Do It Good to Ya\", which made it to No. 26, and \"When Will I See You Again\", which made it to No. 32.",
"32. 32. 1990s A 1970s nostalgia fad allowed White to enjoy a renewed wave of popularity in the 1990s. After participating in the song \"The Secret Garden (Sweet Seduction Suite)\" from Quincy Jones's 1989 album Back on the Block, White mounted an effective comeback with several albums, each more successful than the last. He returned to the top of the charts in 1991 with the album Put Me in Your Mix, which reached No.",
"He returned to the top of the charts in 1991 with the album Put Me in Your Mix, which reached No. 8 on the Billboard R&B Albums chart and the song by the same name reached No. 2 on the Billboard R&B singles chart. In 1994, White released The Icon Is Love, which went to No. 1 on the Billboard R&B album charts, and the single \"Practice What You Preach\" gave him his first No.",
"1 on the Billboard R&B album charts, and the single \"Practice What You Preach\" gave him his first No. 1 on the Billboard R&B singles chart in almost 20 years. The album was nominated for a Grammy in the Best R&B Album category, but lost to TLC's CrazySexyCool. In 1996, White recorded the duet \"In Your Wildest Dreams\" with Tina Turner.",
"In 1996, White recorded the duet \"In Your Wildest Dreams\" with Tina Turner. 1996 also saw the release of Space Jam and its soundtrack, on which White had a duet with Chris Rock, called \"Basketball Jones,\" a remake of Cheech & Chong's \"Basketball Jones\" from 1973. White's final album, 1999's Staying Power, resulted in his last hit song \"Staying Power,\" which placed No. 45 on the Billboard R&B charts.",
"45 on the Billboard R&B charts. 45 on the Billboard R&B charts. The single won him two Grammy Awards in the categories Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance. His autobiography, Love Unlimited, written with Mark Eliot, was published in 1999 by Broadway Books. Acting career Over the course of his career, White sometimes did voice-over work for television and movies.",
"Acting career Over the course of his career, White sometimes did voice-over work for television and movies. He voiced the character Brother Bear in the film Coonskin (1975), and also played the character Sampson in the movie's live-action segments. He appeared as himself in a few episodes of The Simpsons. In the episode \"Whacking Day\", Bart and Lisa used his deep bass singing voice, played through loudspeakers placed on the ground, to lull and attract snakes, saving them from extermination.",
"In the episode \"Whacking Day\", Bart and Lisa used his deep bass singing voice, played through loudspeakers placed on the ground, to lull and attract snakes, saving them from extermination. White was a fan of the show, and had reportedly contacted the staff about wanting to make a guest appearance. He made a second cameo in the episode \"Krusty Gets Kancelled\".",
"He made a second cameo in the episode \"Krusty Gets Kancelled\". White played the role of a bus driver for a Prodigy commercial in 1995, and he also portrayed the voice of a rabbit in a Good Seasons salad-dressing-mix commercial, singing a song called \"You Can't Bottle Love\". In addition, he did some work for car commercials, including for Oldsmobile, and later on, Jeep. White also provided voice-over for Arby's Restaurant commercials on television and radio to promote its Market Fresh menu.",
"White also provided voice-over for Arby's Restaurant commercials on television and radio to promote its Market Fresh menu. White's voice can also be heard in Apple's first iBook commercial. White made three guest appearances on the comedy-drama television series Ally McBeal, as his music was often featured on the show in dream sequences. Personal life Marriages White was first married to his childhood sweetheart, identified as just Mary in his autobiography, by the time he was 19. They separated in 1969 and later divorced.",
"They separated in 1969 and later divorced. They separated in 1969 and later divorced. In 1974, White married singer Glodean James. The couple collaborated on the 1981 album Barry & Glodean. They reportedly divorced in 1988, however, they were still legally married until White's death in 2003 although they lived separate lives. Although estranged from Glodean for over a decade, as his widow she was made sole executor of his estate. Children White had at least nine children.",
"Children White had at least nine children. Children White had at least nine children. By the age of 16, White had fathered two children with his first wife Mary. They had four children together. In 2017, his son Darryl White from his first marriage sued his estate claiming he was cut off financially. White had four children with his second wife Glodean James. Their daughter Shaherah was his personal assistant. Barry Jr. played in the Love Unlimited Orchestra and was also his tour manager.",
"Barry Jr. played in the Love Unlimited Orchestra and was also his tour manager. White's son MacKevin worked in his publishing administration. White had a daughter, Denise Donnell born in 1962 to Gurtha Allen. She did not discover who her biological father was until 1988. She was accepted by White and with his help she changed her name to Denise White. In 2016, she sued White's estate after she stopped receiving money.",
"In 2016, she sued White's estate after she stopped receiving money. After White's death in 2003, his girlfriend Katherine Denton claimed her infant daughter was his biological child. Denton also claimed that she was owed money and personal items that White had promised to give her. Paternity tests revealed that he was not the father of her child and Denton subsequently lost her court case. Health problems and death Due to a poor diet, White was overweight for most of his adult life and suffered from related health problems.",
"Health problems and death Due to a poor diet, White was overweight for most of his adult life and suffered from related health problems. He was also known to be a heavy smoker, reportedly smoking approximately 150 cigarettes a day; roughly between 7 and 8 packs. While on-tour in the summer of 1995, White nearly collapsed after a concert. He took a break from performing that fall and on October 30 of that year, he was hospitalized after suffering a minor stroke due to high blood pressure.",
"He took a break from performing that fall and on October 30 of that year, he was hospitalized after suffering a minor stroke due to high blood pressure. He was in a coma for four days, but was discharged a week after coming out of it. While touring with Earth, Wind & Fire in August 1999, White was forced to cancel a month's worth of tour dates owing to exhaustion, high blood pressure and a hectic schedule.",
"While touring with Earth, Wind & Fire in August 1999, White was forced to cancel a month's worth of tour dates owing to exhaustion, high blood pressure and a hectic schedule. Family, friends, and associates also reported that as the 2000s began, White was in such poor health that he could hardly stand up; his last performances suffered as a result. In September 2002, White was hospitalized with kidney failure attributed to chronic high blood pressure; he was also believed to have been diabetic.",
"In September 2002, White was hospitalized with kidney failure attributed to chronic high blood pressure; he was also believed to have been diabetic. While undergoing dialysis and awaiting a kidney transplant in May 2003, White suffered a severe stroke, which forced him to retire from public life. He also suffered multiple seizures in his last few weeks.",
"He also suffered multiple seizures in his last few weeks. White's unstable health prevented him from receiving a new kidney and on July 4, 2003, he died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after suffering a cardiac arrest; he was 58. \"Singer Barry White dies\", BBC, July 5, 2003. His remains were cremated, and the ashes were scattered in the ocean off the Californian coast.",
"His remains were cremated, and the ashes were scattered in the ocean off the Californian coast. Legacy On September 20, 2004, White was posthumously inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame at a ceremony held in New York. On September 12, 2013, which would have been White's 69th birthday, he was posthumously awarded the 2,506th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6914 Hollywood Boulevard in the category of recording.",
"On September 12, 2013, which would have been White's 69th birthday, he was posthumously awarded the 2,506th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6914 Hollywood Boulevard in the category of recording. The show Counting Cars paid tribute to White by restoring the last car he owned for his widow, Glodean.",
"The show Counting Cars paid tribute to White by restoring the last car he owned for his widow, Glodean. In an obituary referring to White by his nickname, \"The Walrus of Love\", the BBC recalled \"the rich timbres of one of the most distinctive soul voices of his generation, about which it was once said: 'If chocolate fudge cake could sing, it would sound like Barry White.'\"",
"In an obituary referring to White by his nickname, \"The Walrus of Love\", the BBC recalled \"the rich timbres of one of the most distinctive soul voices of his generation, about which it was once said: 'If chocolate fudge cake could sing, it would sound like Barry White.'\" Awards and nominations White was nominated for 11 Grammy Awards; winning two for Staying Power at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards in 2000.",
"Awards and nominations White was nominated for 11 Grammy Awards; winning two for Staying Power at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards in 2000. Discography Studio albums I've Got So Much to Give (1973) Stone Gon' (1973) Can't Get Enough (1974) Just Another Way to Say I Love You (1975) Let the Music Play (1976) Is This Whatcha Wont?",
"Discography Studio albums I've Got So Much to Give (1973) Stone Gon' (1973) Can't Get Enough (1974) Just Another Way to Say I Love You (1975) Let the Music Play (1976) Is This Whatcha Wont? (1976) Barry White Sings for Someone You Love (1977) The Man (1978) I Love to Sing the Songs I Sing (1979) The Message Is Love (1979) Sheet Music (1980) Beware!",
"(1976) Barry White Sings for Someone You Love (1977) The Man (1978) I Love to Sing the Songs I Sing (1979) The Message Is Love (1979) Sheet Music (1980) Beware! (1981) Change (1982) Dedicated (1983) The Right Night & Barry White (1987) The Man Is Back!",
"(1981) Change (1982) Dedicated (1983) The Right Night & Barry White (1987) The Man Is Back! (1989) Put Me in Your Mix (1991) The Icon Is Love (1994) Staying Power'' (1999) References External links 1944 births 2003 deaths African-American record producers Record producers from Texas African-American male singer-songwriters American bandleaders American bass-baritones A&M Records artists American dance musicians 20th-century African-American male singers American people convicted of theft American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters American soul singers Casablanca Records artists American male actors American male voice actors African-American male actors Deaths from kidney failure Grammy Award winners Mercury Records artists Singer-songwriters from Texas People from Galveston, Texas Private Music artists Singers from Los Angeles American disco singers Record producers from California Downey Records artists Singer-songwriters from California The Love Unlimited Orchestra members"
] |
[
"Alexandru Macedonski",
"Late 1890s",
"How old was Macedonski during this time period?",
"I don't know."
] | C_0dd521a55de449a4b87a29d550b59837_1 | What was he doing during this time? | 2 | What was Alexandru Macedonski doing in the late 1890s? | Alexandru Macedonski | Macedonski also returned with a new volume of poetry, Excelsior (consecutive editions in 1895 and 1896), and founded Liga Ortodoxa ("The Orthodox League"), a magazine noted for hosting the debut of Tudor Arghezi, later one of the most celebrated figures in Romanian literature. Macedonski commended his new protege for reaching "the summit of poetry and art" at "an age when I was still prattling verses". Liga Ortodoxa also hosted articles against Caragiale, which Macedonski signed with the pseudonym Sallustiu ("Sallustius"). The magazine was additional proof of Macedonski's return to conservatism, and largely dedicated to defending the cause of Romanian Orthodox Metropolitan Ghenadie, deposed by the Romanian Synod following a political scandal. It defended Ghenadie up until he chose to resign, and subsequently went out of print. Macedonski was shocked to note that Ghenadie had given up his own defense. In 1895, his Casa cu nr. 10 was translated into French by the Journal des Debats, whose editors reportedly found it picturesque. Two years later, Macedonski himself published French-language translations of his earlier poetry under the title Bronzes, a volume prefaced by his disciple, the critic and promoter Alexandru Bogdan-Pitesti. Although it was positively reviewed by Mercure de France magazine, Bronzes was largely unnoticed by the French audience, a fact which Tudor Vianu attributes to Bogdan-Pitesti's lack of qualification for the cultural mission Macedonski had trusted him with. By that time, his circle had come to be frequented with regularity by Bogdan-Pitesti's friend and collaborator, the celebrated painter Stefan Luchian, who was in the Symbolist and Art Nouveau stage of his career. By 1898, Macedonski was again facing financial difficulties, and his collaborators resorted to organizing a fundraiser in his honor. His rejection of the Orthodox establishment was documented by his political tract, published that year as Falimentul clerului ortodox. Between that time and 1900, he focused on researching esoteric, occult and pseudoscientific subjects. Traian Demetrescu, who recorded his visits with Macedonski, recalled his former mentor being opposed to his positivist take on science, claiming to explain the workings of the Universe in "a different way", through "imagination", but also taking an interest in Camille Flammarion's astronomy studies. Macedonski was determined to interpret death through parapsychological means, and, in 1900, conferenced at the Atheneum on the subject Sufletul si viata viitoare ("The Soul and the Coming Life"). The focal point of his vision was that man could voluntarily stave off death with words and gestures, a concept he elaborated upon in his later articles. In one such piece, Macedonski argued: "man has the power [...] to compact the energy currents known as thoughts to the point where he changes them, according to his own will, into objects or soul-bearing creatures." He also attempted to build a machine for extinguishing chimney fires. Later, Nikita Macedonski registered the invention of nacre-treated paper, which is sometimes attributed to his father. CANNOTANSWER | By 1898, Macedonski was again facing financial difficulties, and his collaborators resorted to organizing a fundraiser in his honor. | Alexandru Macedonski (; also rendered as Al. A. Macedonski, Macedonschi or Macedonsky; 14 March 1854 – 24 November 1920) was a Romanian poet, novelist, dramatist and literary critic, known especially for having promoted French Symbolism in his native country, and for leading the Romanian Symbolist movement during its early decades. A forerunner of local modernist literature, he is the first local author to have used free verse, and claimed by some to have been the first in modern European literature. Within the framework of Romanian literature, Macedonski is seen by critics as second only to national poet Mihai Eminescu; as leader of a cosmopolitan and aestheticist trend formed around his Literatorul journal, he was diametrically opposed to the inward-looking traditionalism of Eminescu and his school.
Debuting as a Neoromantic in the Wallachian tradition, Macedonski went through the Realist-Naturalist stage deemed "social poetry", while progressively adapting his style to Symbolism and Parnassianism, and repeatedly but unsuccessfully attempting to impose himself in the Francophone world. Despite having theorized "instrumentalism", which reacted against the traditional guidelines of poetry, he maintained a lifelong connection with Neoclassicism and its ideal of purity. Macedonski's quest for excellence found its foremost expression in his recurring motif of life as a pilgrimage to Mecca, notably used in his critically acclaimed Nights cycle. The stylistic stages of his career are reflected in the collections Prima verba, Poezii, and Excelsior, as well as in the fantasy novel Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu. In old age, he became the author of rondels, noted for their detached and serene vision of life, in contrast with his earlier combativeness.
In parallel to his literary career, Macedonski was a civil servant, notably serving as prefect in the Budjak and Northern Dobruja during the late 1870s. As journalist and militant, his allegiance fluctuated between the liberal current and conservatism, becoming involved in polemics and controversies of the day. Of the long series of publications he founded, Literatorul was the most influential, notably hosting his early conflicts with the Junimea literary society. These targeted Vasile Alecsandri and especially Eminescu, their context and tone becoming the cause of a major rift between Macedonski and his public. This situation repeated itself in later years, when Macedonski and his Forța Morală magazine began campaigning against the Junimist dramatist Ion Luca Caragiale, whom they falsely accused of plagiarism. During World War I, the poet aggravated his critics by supporting the Central Powers against Romania's alliance with the Entente side. His biography was also marked by an enduring interest in esotericism, numerous attempts to become recognized as an inventor, and an enthusiasm for cycling.
The scion of a political and aristocratic family, the poet was the son of General Alexandru Macedonski, who served as Defense Minister, and the grandson of 1821 rebel Dimitrie Macedonski. Both his son Alexis and grandson Soare were known painters.
Biography
Early life and family
The poet's paternal family had arrived in Wallachia during the early 19th century. Of South Slav (Serb or Bulgarian) or Aromanian origin, they claimed to have descended from Serb insurgents in Ottoman-ruled Macedonia. Alexandru's grandfather Dimitrie and Dimitrie's brother Pavel participated in the 1821 uprising against the Phanariote administration, and in alliance with the Filiki Eteria; Dimitrie made the object of controversy when, during the final stage of the revolt, he sided with the Eteria in its confrontation with Wallachian leader Tudor Vladimirescu, taking an active part in the latter's killing. Both Macedonski brothers had careers in the Wallachian military forces, at a time when the country was governed by Imperial Russian envoys, when the Regulamentul Organic regime recognized the family as belonging to Wallachia's nobility. Dimitrie married Zoe, the daughter an ethnic Russian or Polish officer; their son, the Russian-educated Alexandru, climbed in the military and political hierarchy, joining the unified Land Forces after his political ally, Alexander John Cuza, was elected Domnitor and the two Danubian Principalities became united Romania. Both the officer's uncle Pavel and brother Mihail were amateur poets.
Macedonski's mother, Maria Fisența (also Vicenț or Vicența), was from an aristocratic environment, being the scion of Oltenian boyars. Through her father, she may have descended from Russian immigrants who had been absorbed into Oltenia's nobility. Maria had been adopted by the boyar Dumitrache Pârâianu, and the couple had inherited the Adâncata and Pometești estates in Goiești, on the Amaradia Valley.
Both the poet and his father were dissatisfied with accounts of their lineage, contradicting them with an account that researchers have come to consider spurious. Although adherents of the Romanian Orthodox Church, the Macedonskis traced their origin to Rogala-bearing Lithuanian nobility from the defunct Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. While the writer perpetuated his father's claim, it is possible that he also took pride in investigating his Balkan roots: according to literary historian Tudor Vianu, who, as a youth, was a member of his circle, this tendency is attested by two of Macedonski's poems from the 1880s, where the South Slavs appear as icons of freedom. Vianu's contemporary, literary historian George Călinescu, postulated that, although the family had been absorbed into the ethnic and cultural majority, the poet's origin served to enrich local culture by linking it to a "Thracian" tradition and the spirit of "adventurers".
The family moved often, following General Macedonski's postings. Born in Bucharest, Macedonski-son was the third of four siblings, the oldest of whom was a daughter, Caterina. Before the age of six, he was a sickly and nervous child, who is reported to have had regular tantrums. In 1862, his father sent him to school in Oltenia, and he spent most time in the Amaradia region. The nostalgia he felt for the landscape later made him consider writing an Amărăzene ("Amaradians") cycle, of which only one poem was ever completed. He was attending the Carol I High School in Craiova and, according to his official record, graduated in 1867.
Macedonski's father had by then become known as an authoritarian commander, and, during his time in Târgu Ocna, faced a mutiny which only his wife could stop by pleading with the soldiers (an episode which made an impression on the future poet). A stern parent, he took an active part in educating his children. Having briefly served as Defense Minister, the general was mysteriously dismissed by Cuza in 1863, and his pension became the topic of a political scandal. It ended only under the rule of Carol I, Cuza's Hohenzollern successor, when Parliament voted against increasing the sum to the level demanded by its recipient. Having preserved a negative impression of the 1866 plebiscite, during which Cuza's dethronement had been confirmed, Macedonski remained a committed opponent of the new ruler. As a youth and adult, he sought to revive his father's cause, and included allusions to the perceived injustice in at least one poem. After spending the last months of his life protesting against the authorities, Macedonski-father fell ill and died in September 1869, leaving his family to speculate that he had been murdered by political rivals.
Debut years
Macedonski left Romania in 1870, traveling through Austria-Hungary and spending time in Vienna, before visiting Switzerland and possibly other countries; according to one account, it was here that he may have first met (and disliked) his rival poet Mihai Eminescu, at a time a Viennese student. Macedonski's visit was meant to be preparation for entering the University of Bucharest, but he spent much of his time in the bohemian environment, seeking entertainment and engaging in romantic escapades. He was however opposed to the lifestyle choices of people his age, claiming that they were engaged in "orgy after orgy". At around that date, the young author had begun to perfect a style heavily influenced by Romanticism, and in particular by his Wallachian predecessors Dimitrie Bolintineanu and Ion Heliade Rădulescu. He was for a while in Styria, at Bad Gleichenberg, a stay which, George Călinescu believes, may have been the result of a medical recommendation to help him counter excessive nervousness. The landscape there inspired him to write an ode. Also in 1870, he published his first lyrics in George Bariț's Transylvanian-based journal Telegraful Român.
The following year, he left for Italy, where he visited Pisa, Florence, Venice, and possibly other cities. His records of the journey indicate that he was faced with financial difficulties and plagued by disease. Macedonski also claimed to have attended college lectures in these cities, and to have spent significant time studying at Pisa University, but this remains uncertain. He eventually returned to Bucharest, where he entered the Faculty of Letters (which he never attended regularly). According to Călinescu, Macedonski "did not feel the need" to attend classes, because "such a young man will expect society to render upon him its homages." He was again in Italy during spring 1872, soon after publishing his debut volume Prima verba (Latin for "First Word"). Having also written an anti-Carol piece, published in Telegraful Român during 1873, Macedonski reportedly feared political reprisals, and decided to make another visit to Styria and Italy while his case was being assessed. It was in Italy that he met French musicologist Jules Combarieu, with whom he corresponded sporadically over the following decades.
During that period, Macedonski became interested in the political scene and political journalism, first as a sympathizer of the liberal-radical current—which, in 1875, organized itself around the National Liberal Party. In 1874, back in Craiova, Macedonski founded a short-lived literary society known as Junimea, a title which purposefully or unwittingly copied that of the influential conservative association with whom he would later quarrel. It was then that he met journalist and pedagogue Ștefan Velescu, a meeting witnessed by Velescu's pupil, the future liberal journalist Constantin Bacalbașa, who recorded it in his memoirs. Oltul magazine, which he had helped establish and which displayed a liberal agenda, continued to be published until July 1875, and featured Macedonski's translations from Pierre-Jean de Béranger, Hector de Charlieu and Alphonse de Lamartine, as well as his debut in travel writing and short story. At age 22, he worked on his first play, a comedy titled Gemenii ("The Twins"). In 1874 that he came to the attention of young journalist future dramatist Ion Luca Caragiale, who satirized him in articles for the magazine Ghimpele, ridiculing his claim to Lithuanian descent, and eventually turning him into the character Aamsky, whose fictional career ends with his death from exhaustion caused by contributing to "for the country's political development". This was the first episode in a consuming polemic between the two figures. Reflecting back on this period in 1892, Macedonski described Caragiale as a "noisy young man" of "sophistic reasoning", whose target audience was to be found in "beer gardens".
1875 trial and office as prefect
In March 1875, Macedonski was arrested on charges of defamation or sedition. For almost a year before, he and Oltul had taken an active part in the campaign against Conservative Party and its leader, Premier Lascăr Catargiu. In this context, he had demanded that the common man "rise up with weapons in their hands and break both the government agents and the government", following up with similar messages aimed at the Domnitor. He was taken to Bucharest's Văcărești prison and confined there for almost three months. Supported by the liberal press and defended by the most prestigious pro-liberal attorneys (Nicolae Fleva among them), Macedonski faced a jury trial on 7 June, being eventually cleared of the charges. Reportedly, the Bucharest populace organized a spontaneous celebration of the verdict.
In 1875, after the National Liberal Ion Emanuel Florescu was assigned the post of Premier by Carol, Macedonski embarked on an administrative career. The poet was upset by not being included on the National Liberal list for the 1875 suffrage. This disenchantment led him into a brief conflict with the young liberal figure Bonifaciu Florescu, only to join him soon afterward in editing Stindardul journal, alongside Pantazi Ghica and George Fălcoianu. The publication followed the line of Nicolae Moret Blaremberg, made notorious for his radical and republican agenda. Ghica and Macedonski remained close friends until Ghica's 1882 death.
The new cabinet eventually appointed him Prefect of Bolgrad region, in the Budjak (at the time part of Romania). In parallel, he published his first translation, a version of Parisina, an 1816 epic poem by Lord Byron, and completed the original works Ithalo and Calul arabului ("The Arab's Horse"). He also spoke at the Romanian Atheneum, presenting his views on the state of Romanian literature (1878). His time in office ended upon the outbreak of the Russo-Turkish War. At the time, Russian volunteers were amassed on the Budjak border, requesting from the Romanian authorities the right of free passage into the Principality of Serbia. The National Liberal Premier Ion Brătianu, who was negotiating an anti-Ottoman alliance, sent Macedonski signals to let them pass, but the prefect, obeying the official recommendation of Internal Affairs Minister George D. Vernescu, decided against it, and was consequently stripped of his office.
Still determined to pursue a career in the press, Macedonski founded a string of unsuccessful magazines with patriotic content and titles such as Vestea ("The Announcement"), Dunărea ("The Danube"), Fulgerul ("The Lightning") and, after 1880, Tarara (an onomatopoeia equivalent to "Toodoodoo"). Their history is connected with that of the Russo-Turkish War, at the end of which Romanian participation on the Russian side resulted in her independence. Macedonski remained committed to the anti-Ottoman cause, and, some thirty years later, stated: "We want no Turkey in Europe!"
By 1879, the poet, who continued to voice criticism of Carol, had several times switched sides between the National Liberals and the opposition Conservatives. That year, while the Budjak was ceded to Russia and Northern Dobruja was integrated into Romania, the Brătianu cabinet appointed him administrator of the Sulina plasă and the Danube Delta. He had previously refused to be made comptroller in Putna County, believing such an appointment to be beneath his capacity, and had lost a National Liberal appointment in Silistra when Southern Dobruja was granted to the Principality of Bulgaria. During this short interval in office, he traveled to the Snake Island in the Black Sea—his appreciation for the place later motivated him to write the fantasy novel Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu and the poem Lewki.
Early Literatorul years
With the 1880s came a turning point in Alexandru Macedonski's career. Vianu notes that changes took place in the poet's relationship with his public: "Society recognizes in him the nonconformist. [...] The man becomes singular; people start talking about his oddities." Macedonski's presumed frustration at being perceived in this way, Vianu notes, may have led him closer to the idea of poète maudit, theorized earlier by Paul Verlaine. In this context, he had set his sight on promoting "social poetry", the merger between lyricism and political militantism. Meanwhile, according to Călinescu, his attacks on the liberals and the "daft insults he aimed at [Romania's] throne" had effectively ruined his own chance of political advancement.
In January 1880, he launched his most influential and long-lived publication, Literatorul, which was also the focal point of his eclectic cultural circle, and, in later years, of the local Symbolist school. In its first version, the magazine was co-edited by Macedonski, Bonifaciu Florescu and poet Th. M. Stoenescu. Florescu parted with the group soon after, due to a disagreement with Macedonski, and was later attacked by the latter for allegedly accumulating academic posts. Literatorul aimed to irritate Junimist sensibilities from its first issue, when it stated its dislike for "political prejudice in literature." This was most likely an allusion to the views of Junimist figure Titu Maiorescu, being later accompanied by explicit attacks on him and his followers. An early success for the new journal was the warm reception it received from Vasile Alecsandri, a Romantic poet and occasional Junimist whom Macedonski idolized at the time, and the collaboration of popular memoirist Gheorghe Sion. Another such figure was the intellectual V. A. Urechia, whom Macedonski made president of the Literatorul Society. In 1881, Education Minister Urechia granted Macedonski the Bene-Merenti medal 1st class, although, Călinescu stresses, the poet had only totaled 18 months of public service. At around that time, Macedonski had allegedly begun courting actress Aristizza Romanescu, who rejected his advances, leaving him unenthusiastic about love matters and unwilling to seek female company.
In parallel, Macedonski used the magazine to publicize his disagreement with the main Junimist voice, Convorbiri Literare. Among the group of contributors, several had already been victims of Maiorescu's irony: Sion, Urechia, Pantazi Ghica and Petru Grădișteanu. While welcoming the debut of its contributor, Parnassian-Neoclassicist novelist and poet Duiliu Zamfirescu, Macedonski repeatedly attacked its main exponent, the conservative poet Eminescu, claiming not to understand his poetry. However, Literatorul was also open to contributions from some Convorbiri Literare affiliates (Zamfirescu, Matilda Cugler-Poni and Veronica Micle).
In November 1880, Macedonski's plays Iadeș! ("Wishbone!", a comedy first printed in 1882) and Unchiașul Sărăcie ("Old Man Poverty") premiered at the National Theater Bucharest. A sign of government approval, this was followed by Macedonski's appointment to a minor administrative office, as Historical Monuments Inspector. Nevertheless, both plays failed to impose themselves on public perception, and were withdrawn from the program by 1888. Călinescu asserts that, although Macedonski later claimed to have always been facing poverty, his job in the administration, coupled with other sources of revenue, ensured him a comfortable existence.
In 1881, Macedonski published a new collection of poetry. Titled Poezii, it carries the year "1882" on its original cover. Again moving away from liberalism, Macedonski sought to make himself accepted by Junimea and Maiorescu. He consequently attended the Junimea sessions, and gave a public reading of Noaptea de noiembrie ("November Night"), the first publicized piece in his lifelong Nights cycle. It reportedly earned him the praise of historian and poet Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu, who, although an anti-Junimist, happened to be in the audience. Despite rumors according to which he had applauded Macedonski, Maiorescu himself was not impressed, and left an unenthusiastic account of the event in his private diary.
Against Alecsandri and Eminescu
Macedonski's open conflict with Junimea began in 1882, when he engaged in a publicized polemic with Alecsandri. It was ignited when, through Macedonski's articles, Literatorul criticized Alecsandri for accepting Romanian Academy prizes despite being its member, and later involved Sion (whose replies on behalf of the Academy were derided by Macedonski). Macedonski also took distance from Alecsandri's style, publishing a "critical analysis" of his poetry in one issue of Literatorul. In turn, Alecsandri humiliated his young rival by portraying him as Zoilus, the prototype of slanderers, and himself as the model poet Horace in the 1883 play Fântâna Blanduziei. The two were eventually reconciled, and Macedonski again spoke of Alecsandri as his ideological and stylistic predecessor.
In April 1882, Eminescu had also replied to Macedonski in Timpul journal, referring to an unnamed poet who "barely finishes high-school, comes over to Bucharest selling nick-nacks and makeup [and goes into] literary dealership". Reproaching Macedonski's attacks on Alecsandri, Eminescu makes a nationalist comment about the young poet bearing "the bastard instincts of those foreigners who were Romanianized only yesterday", and attributes him "the physiognomy of a hairdresser". Through the articles of Petru Th. Missir, Convorbiri Literare gave Poezii a negative review, deemed "malevolent" by literary historian Mircea Anghelescu. At the other end of the political and cultural spectrum, Macedonski faced opposition from the intellectuals attracted to socialism, in particular Contemporanul editors Constantin Mille and Ioan Nădejde, with whom he was engaged in an extended polemic.
In the meantime, Macedonski published his own play, which had Cuza for its main character and was eponymously titled Cuza-Vodă, and completed translations for Literatorul—from Maurice Rollinat, whom he helped impose as a main cultural reference in Romanian Symbolism, and from the Greek poet Akhillefs Paraskhos. In 1883, he also contributed his first sketch story, Casa cu nr. 10 ("The House at Number 10"). In early 1883, he married Ana Rallet-Slătineanu. Wealthy and supposedly related to Romanian aristocrats, she would bear him five children in all: the painter Alexis was the eldest, followed by Nikita; the three youngest were two sons (Panel and Constantin Macedonski) and a daughter, Anna (also known as Nina). His heterosexual lifestyle notwithstanding, Macedonski remained a self-avowed admirer of male beauties, and was rumored to be a closeted homosexual.
In July 1883, Macedonski undertook one of his most controversial anti-Junimist actions. That month, Literatorul published an epigram signed with the pseudonym Duna, deriding an unnamed author who had lost his mind. Mihai Eminescu—whom many had already come to see as Romania's national poet—had by then developed a mental disorder which had become known to the general public. Ever since that moment, Macedonski has generally been believed to be Duna, and as a result, was faced with much criticism from both readers and commentators. The intense anti-Literatorul press campaign was initiated in August, when writer Grigore Ventura issued an article condemning Macedonski's attitude (published in the Bucharest-based newspaper L'Indépendance Roumaine), with Macedonski responding in the National Liberal organ Românul. During one evening, Macedonski is reported to have been assaulted by anonymous supporters of Eminescu. His previous conflict with Nădejde was also affected by this renewed controversy: while opposed to Junimist policies, the socialists at Contemporanul voiced their admiration for Eminescu's art.
Late in 1883, Macedonski and his friends unveiled Ion Georgescu's statue of their mentor Bolintineanu in the National Theater lobby. The circumstances in which this took place rose suspicion of foul play; on this grounds, Macedonski was ridiculed by his former friend Zamfirescu in the journal România Liberă, which left him embittered. Călinescu proposes that, although such negative reactions were invoked by Macedonski's supporters as a sign of their mentor having been marginalized, Macedonski had expressed his dissatisfaction with the cultural environment long before that moment, and was still a respected figure even after the incidents took place.
First Paris sojourn and Poezia viitorului
Having been stripped of his administrative office by the new Brătianu cabinet, Macedonski faced financial difficulties, and was forced to move into a house on the outskirts of Bucharest, and later moved between houses in northern Bucharest. According to Călinescu, the poet continued to cultivate luxury and passionately invested in the decorative arts, although his source of income, other than the supposed assistance "of [European] ruling houses", remains a mystery. Arguing that Macedonski was "always in need of money" to use on his luxury items, poet Victor Eftimiu claimed: "He did not shy away from sending emphatic notes to the potentates of his day [...], flattering some, threatening others. He would marry off or simply mate some of his disciples with aging and rich women, and then he would squeeze out their assets."
Macedonski eventually left Romania in 1884, visiting Paris. On his way there, he passed through Craiova, where he met aspiring author Traian Demetrescu, whose works he had already hosted in Literatorul and who was to become his friend and protégé. Demetrescu later recalled being gripped by "tremors of emotion" upon first catching sight of Macedonski. In France, Macedonski set up contacts within the French literary environment, and began contributing to French or Francophone literary publications—including the Belgian Symbolist platforms La Wallonie and L'Élan littéraire. His collaboration with La Wallonie alongside Albert Mockel, Tudor Vianu believes, makes Alexandru Macedonski one in the original wave of European Symbolists. This adaptation to Symbolism also drew on his marked Francophilia, which in turn complemented his tendencies toward cosmopolitanism. He became opposed to Carol I, who, in 1881, had been granted the Crown of the Romanian Kingdom. In addition to his admiration for Cuza and the 1848 Wallachian revolutionaries, the poet objected to the King's sympathy for France's main rival, the German Empire. In January 1885, after having returned from the voyage, he announced his retirement from public life, claiming that German influence and its exponents at Junimea had "conquered" Romanian culture, and repeating his claim that Eminescu lacked value.
In the meantime, Literatorul went out of print, although new series were still published at irregular intervals until 1904 (when it ceased being published altogether). The magazine was reportedly hated by the public, causing Macedonski, Stoenescu, Florescu, Urechia and educator Anghel Demetriescu to try to revive it as Revista Literară ("The Literary Review", published for a few months in 1885). The poet attempted to establish other magazines, all of them short-lived, and, in 1887, handed for print his Naturalist novella Dramă banală ("Banal Drama") while completing one of the most revered episodes in the Nights series, Noaptea de mai ("May Night"). Also in 1886, he worked on his other Naturalist novellas: Zi de august ("August Day"), Pe drum de poștă ("On the Stagecoach Trail"), Din carnetul unui dezertor ("From the Notebook of a Deserter"), Între cotețe ("Amidst Hen Houses") and the eponymous Nicu Dereanu.
By 1888, he was again sympathetic toward Blaremberg, whose dissident National Liberal faction had formed an alliance with the Conservatives, editing Stindardul Țărei (later Straja Țărei) as his supporting journal. However, late in the same year, he returned to the liberal mainstream, being assigned a weekly column in Românul newspaper. Two years later, he attempted to relaunch Literatorul under the leadership of liberal figure Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu, but the latter eventually settled for founding his own Revista Nouă. Around 1891, he saluted Junimeas own break with the Conservatives and its entry into politics at the Conservative-Constitutional Party, before offering an enthusiastic welcome to the 1892 Junimist agitation among university students. In 1894, he would speak in front of student crowds gathered at a political rally in University Square, and soon after made himself known for supporting the cause of ethnic Romanians and other underrepresented groups of Austria-Hungary.
His literary thesis of the time was titled Poezia viitorului ("The Poetry of the Future"). It upheld Symbolist authors as the models to follow, while Macedonski personally began producing what he referred to as "instrumentalist" poems, composed around musical and onomatopoeic elements, and showing a preference for internal rhymes. Such an experimental approach was soon after parodied and ridiculed by Ion Luca Caragiale, who had by then affiliated and parted with Junimea, in his new Moftul Român magazine. The poet sought to reconcile with his rival, publicizing a claim that Caragiale was being unjustly ignored by the cultural establishment, but this attempt failed to mend relations between them, and the conflict escalated further.
While, in 1893, Literatorul hosted fragments of Thalassa in its Romanian-language version, the author also launched a daily, Lumina ("The Light"). It was also at that stage that Alexandru Macedonski associated with Cincinat Pavelescu, the noted epigrammarian, who joined him in editing Literatorul, and with whom he co-authored the 1893 verse tragedy depicting the Biblical hero Saul, and named after him. Although showcased by the National Theater with star actor Constantin Nottara in the title role, it failed to register success with the public. Two years later, the two Literatorul editors made headlines as pioneers of cycling. An enthusiastic promoter of the sport, Macedonski joined fellow poet Constantin Cantilli on a marathon, pedaling from Bucharest across the border into Austria-Hungary, all the way down to Brașov.
Late 1890s
Macedonski also returned with a new volume of poetry, Excelsior (consecutive editions in 1895 and 1896), and founded Liga Ortodoxă ("The Orthodox League"), a magazine noted for hosting the debut of Tudor Arghezi, later one of the most celebrated figures in Romanian literature. Macedonski commended his new protégé for reaching "the summit of poetry and art" at "an age when I was still prattling verses". Liga Ortodoxă also hosted articles against Caragiale, which Macedonski signed with the pseudonym Sallustiu ("Sallustius"). The magazine was additional proof of Macedonski's return to conservatism, and largely dedicated to defending the cause of Romanian Orthodox Metropolitan Ghenadie, deposed by the Romanian Synod following a political scandal. It defended Ghenadie up until he chose to resign, and subsequently went out of print. Macedonski was shocked to note that Ghenadie had given up his own defense.
In 1895, his Casa cu nr. 10 was translated into French by the Journal des Débats, whose editors reportedly found it picturesque. Two years later, Macedonski himself published French-language translations of his earlier poetry under the title Bronzes, a volume prefaced by his disciple, the critic and promoter Alexandru Bogdan-Pitești. Although it was positively reviewed by Mercure de France magazine, Bronzes was largely unnoticed by the French audience, a fact which Tudor Vianu attributes to Bogdan-Pitești's lack of qualification for the cultural mission Macedonski had trusted him with. By that time, his circle had come to be frequented with regularity by Bogdan-Pitești's friend and collaborator, the celebrated painter Ștefan Luchian, who was in the Symbolist and Art Nouveau stage of his career.
By 1898, Macedonski was again facing financial difficulties, and his collaborators resorted to organizing a fundraiser in his honor. His rejection of the Orthodox establishment was documented by his political tract, published that year as . Between that time and 1900, he focused on researching esoteric, occult and pseudoscientific subjects. Traian Demetrescu, who recorded his visits with Macedonski, recalled his former mentor being opposed to his positivist take on science, claiming to explain the workings of the Universe in "a different way", through "imagination", but also taking an interest in Camille Flammarion's astronomy studies. Macedonski was determined to interpret death through parapsychological means, and, in 1900, conferenced at the Atheneum on the subject Sufletul și viața viitoare ("The Soul and the Coming Life"). The focal point of his vision was that man could voluntarily stave off death with words and gestures, a concept he elaborated upon in his later articles. In one such piece, Macedonski argued: "man has the power [...] to compact the energy currents known as thoughts to the point where he changes them, according to his own will, into objects or soul-bearing creatures." He also attempted to build a machine for extinguishing chimney fires. Later, Nikita Macedonski registered the invention of nacre-treated paper, which is sometimes attributed to his father.
Caion scandal and expatriation
The few issues of Literatorul that were printed in 1899-1900 saw the circle being joined by the young Symbolist poet Ștefan Petică. In 1902, he published Cartea de aur ("The Golden Book"), comprising his sketch stories and novellas. In parallel, Macedonski returned to the public scene, founding Forța Morală magazine. It was through this venue that he began responding to Ion Luca Caragiale's earlier attacks. This he did by hosting the articles of aspiring journalist Constantin Al. Ionescu-Caion, who accused Caragiale of having plagiarized a Hungarian author by the name of Kemény in his tragedy play Năpasta. Kemény turned out to be non-existent. According to Vianu, Macedonski had no prior knowledge of the fraud, but had also been "blinded" by his resentments instead of displaying "discernment", and had even showed evidence of "insanity". Most in Macedonski's own series of anti-Caragiale articles were unsigned, or signed with pseudonyms such as Luciliu ("Gaius Lucilius").
Like in the case of Eminescu's conflict with Macedonski, the polemic enlisted a negative response from the public. The poet's associate Th. M. Stoenescu convinced himself that Caragiale was being framed, and refused to allow Revista Literară to be used for endorsing Caion, which caused Macedonski to shun him. Macedonski refused to withdraw his support for the cause even after Caragiale sued Caion, but Forța Morală soon went out of print. Before it did so, the journal hosted some of Macedonski's most renowned poems, including Lewki and Noaptea de decemvrie ("December Night"), together with his article on Remy de Gourmont's thoughts on poetics.
In his article of 1903, titled ("Toward Occultism. Later Orientations toward Theosophy and Social Philosophy"), the poet envisaged making his interest in esoteric subjects the basis of a new literary movement. Also that year, poet George Bacovia began attending the literary circle, and gave a reading of his celebrated Plumb poem, being welcomed by Macedonski with a flattering epigram. Macedonski's series of short-lived periodicals resumed in 1905, when he founded Le Beau Danube Bleu (French for "The Beautiful Blue Danube") and Liga Conservatoare ("The Conservative League"). He registered more success in 1906, when his Thalassa was published, as Le Calvaire de feu, by Edward Sansot's Paris-based publishing house. This followed intense self-promotion within the French literary environment, as well as advertisements in the French press. Part of this involved Macedonski sending his book to be reviewed by Émile Faguet, Jean Mounet-Sully, Joséphin Péladan, Pierre Quillard and Jean Richepin, who replied with what Vianu deems "the politeness of circumstance." The volume was nonetheless favorably reviewed by the prestigious magazines Mercure de France and Gil Blas.
Also in 1906, La Revue Musicale published his interview with Combarieu, through which the latter aimed to verify supposed connections between literary inspiration and musical sensitivity. By 1907, he was concentrating on experiments in physics, and eventually publicized his claim to have discovered that light does not travel through vacuum. He sent a paper on astronomy subjects to be reviewed by the Société Astronomique de France, of which he subsequently became a member. The same year, he drafted the plan for a world government, announcing that he had found sympathy for the cause throughout Europe. Macedonski also introduced himself to an Italophone public, when two of his sonnets were published by Poesia, the magazine of Futurist theorist Filippo Tommaso Marinetti.
Between 1910 and 1912, Macedonski was again in Paris. Seeking to withdraw himself from Romania's public life due to what he perceived as injustice, he had by then completed work on the French-language tragicomedy Le Fou? ("The Madman?"), which was only published after his death. He was actively seeking to establish his reputation in French theater, reading his new play to a circle which included Louis de Gonzague Frick and Florian-Parmentier, while, at home, newspapers reported rumors that his work was going to be staged by Sarah Bernhardt's company. His efforts were largely fruitless, and, accompanied by his son Alexis, the poet left France, spent some time in Italy, and eventually returned to Romania. Passing through the German Empire, he learned of Ion Luca Caragiale's sudden death, and wrote Adevărul daily an open letter, which showed that he had come to revise his stance, notably comparing the deceased author's style and legacy to those of Mark Twain.
During Macedonski's absence, his style and work had come to be reviewed more positively, in particular by the young authors I. Dragoslav, Horia Furtună, Ion Pillat, Anastasie Mândru, Al. T. Stamatiad, as well as by post-Junimist critic Mihail Dragomirescu, who offered Macedonski a good reception in his Convorbiri Critice magazine. Tudor Vianu, who cites contemporary statements by Dragoslav, concludes that, upon arrival, Macedonski was enthusiastically received by a public who had missed him. Also in 1912, one of his poems was published as an homage by Simbolul, a magazine published by the young and radical Symbolists Tristan Tzara, Ion Vinea and Marcel Janco. Around that time, Macedonski also collaborated with the Iași-based moderate Symbolist magazine Versuri și Proză. Polemics surrounding his case nevertheless continued: in late 1912, as part of a National Theater adaptation of Alphonse Daudet's Sapho, actor Cazimir Belcot borrowed from Macedonski's appearance and mannerisms to portray a failure.
Return and World War I years
Macedonski and his protégés had become regular frequenters of Bucharest cafés. Having a table permanently reserved for him at Imperial Hotel's Kübler Coffeehouse, he was later a presence in two other such establishments: High-Life and Terasa Oteteleșanu. He is said to have spent part of his time at Kübler loudly mocking the traditionalist poets who gathered at an opposite table. Meanwhile, the poet's literary club, set up at his house in Dorobanți quarter, had come to resemble a mystical circle, over which he held magisterial command. Vianu, who visited the poet together with Pillat, compares this atmosphere with those created by other "mystics and magi of poetry" (citing as examples Joséphin Péladan, Louis-Nicolas Ménard, Stéphane Mallarmé and Stefan George). The hall where seances were hosted was only lit by candles, and the tables were covered in red fabric. Macedonski himself was seated on a throne designed by Alexis, and adopted a dominant pose. The apparent secrecy and the initiation rites performed on new members were purportedly inspired by Rosicrucianism and the Freemasonry. By then, Macedonski was rewarding his followers' poems with false gemstones.
The poet founded Revista Critică ("The Critical Review"), which again closed after a short while, and issued the poetry volume Flori sacre ("Sacred Flowers"). Grouping his Forța Morală poems and older pieces, it was dedicated to his new generation of followers, whom Macedonski's preface referred to as "the new Romania." He continued to hope that Le Fou? was going to be staged in France, especially after he received some encouragement in the form of articles in Mercure de France and Journal des Débats, but was confronted with the general public's indifference. In 1914, Thalassa was published in a non-definitive version by Constantin Banu's magazine Flacăra, which sought to revive overall interest in his work. At a French Red Cross conference in September, Macedonski paid his final public homage to France, which had just become entangled in World War I. It was also in 1914 that Macedonski commissioned for print his very first rondels and completed work on a tragedy play about Renaissance poet Dante Aligheri—known as La Mort de Dante in its French original, and Moartea lui Dante in the secondary Romanian version (both meaning "Dante's Death"). The aging poet was by then building connections with the local art scene: together with artist Alexandru Severin, he created (and probably presided over) Cenaclul idealist ("The Idealist Club"), which included Symbolist artists and was placed under the honorary patronage of King Carol.
1916 was also the year when Romania abandoned her neutrality and, under a National Liberal government, rallied with the Entente Powers. During the neutrality period, Macedonski had shed his lifelong Francophilia to join the Germanophiles, who wanted to see Romanian participation on the Central Powers' side. In 1915, he issued the journal Cuvântul Meu ("My Word"). Entirely written by him, it published ten consecutive issues before going bankrupt, and notably lashed out against France for being "bourgeois" and "lawyer-filled", demanding from Romania not to get involved in the conflict. Commentators and researchers of his work have declared themselves puzzled by this change in allegiance.
Macedonski further alienated public opinion during the Romanian Campaign, when the Central Powers armies entered southern Romania and occupied Bucharest. Alexis was drafted and became a war artist, but Macedonski Sr, who received formal protection from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bucharest, chose to stay behind while the authorities and many ordinary citizens relocated to Iași, where resistance was still being organized. His stance was interpreted as collaborationism by his critics. However, Macedonski reportedly faced extreme poverty throughout the occupation. Having by then begun to attend the circle of Alexandru Bogdan-Pitești, his promoter and fellow Germanophile, he was once rewarded by the latter with a turkey filled with gold coins.
Late polemics, illness and death
Literatorul resumed print in June 1918, once Romania capitulated to the Central Powers under the Treaty of Bucharest. A controversial incident occurred soon afterwards, when, going against the counsel of his friend and collaborator Stamatiad, Macedonski signed a Literatorul article where the German military administrator August von Mackensen, who was about to lead his troops out of Romania, was presented in a positive light. In a manner deemed "excessive" by historian Lucian Boia, the Romanian writer was paying homage not just to Mackensen, but also, indirectly, to German Emperor Wilhelm II and the Reichsheer. Soon after reading the piece, Romanian Academy member and fellow Symbolist promoter Ovid Densusianu withdrew his own nomination of Macedonski for an Academy seat. During summer, Macedonski also joined the group of public figures who saluted the senior Conservative Germanophile Petre P. Carp (deeming Carp "the veteran of character, honesty and Romanianism"), and, in September, joined Ioan Slavici and Gala Galaction as a contributor to the occupation magazine Rumänien in Wort und Bild, where he prophesied an anti-French "political renaissance" of Romania.
Alexandru Macedonski faced problems after the Romanian government resumed its control over Bucharest, and during the early years of Greater Romania. What followed the Mackensen article, Vianu claims, was Macedonski's bellum contra omnes ("war against all"). However, the poet made efforts to accommodate himself with the triumphal return of the Iași authorities: in December 1918, Literatorul celebrated the extension of Romanian rule "from the Tisza to the Dniester" as a success of the National Liberals, paying homage to Francophile political leaders Ion I. C. Brătianu and Take Ionescu. Macedonski also envisaged running in the 1918 election for a seat in the new Parliament (which was supposed to vote a document to replace the 1866 Constitution as the organic law), but never registered his candidature. According to Vianu, he had intended to create a joke political party, the "intellectual group", whose other member was an unnamed coffeehouse acquaintance of his. Literatorul was revived for a final time in 1919.
His health deteriorated from heart disease, which is described by Vianu as an effect of constant smoking. By that stage, Vianu recalls, Macedonski also had problems coming to terms with his age. His last anthumous work was the pamphlet Zaherlina (named after the Romanian version of "Zacherlin"; also known as Zacherlina or Zacherlina în continuare, "Zacherlin Contd."), completed in 1919 and published the following year. It notably attacked Densusianu, who had become Macedonski's personal enemy. Some other polemical texts he had authored late in life saw print only after his death, under the title Mustrări postume către o generație neînțelegătoare ("Posthumous Reprimands for an Obtuse Generation").
1920 was also the year when the People's Party cabinet attempted to pension him off from his office at the Historical Monuments Commission, but the publicized protest of Macedonski's fellow writers in Bucharest made it reconsider. Confined to his home by illness and old age, Macedonski was still writing poems, some of which later known as his Ultima verba ("Last Words"). The writer died on 24 November, at three o'clock in the afternoon. Having come to develop an addiction to floral fragrances, he was inhaling a rose petal extract during his last hours. He was buried in Bucharest's Bellu.
Work
General characteristics
Although Alexandru Macedonski frequently changed his style and views on literary matters, a number of constants have been traced throughout his work. Thus, a common perception is that his literature had a strongly visual aspect, the notion being condensed in Cincinat Pavelescu's definition of Macedonski: "Poet, therefore painter; painter, therefore poet." Traian Demetrescu too recalled that his mentor had been dreaming of becoming a visual artist, and had eventually settled for turning his son Alexis into one. This pictorial approach to writing created parallels between Macedonski and his traditionalist contemporaries Vasile Alecsandri and Barbu Ștefănescu Delavrancea.
Following the tenets of Dimitrie Bolintineanu and Théophile Gautier, the writer repeatedly called for purity in versification, and upheld it as an essential requirement, while progressively seeking to verify the quality of his poetry through phonaesthetics. A characteristic of Macedonski's style is his inventive use of Romanian. Initially influenced by Ion Heliade Rădulescu's introduction of Italian-based words to the Romanian lexis, Macedonski himself later infused poetic language with a large array of neologisms from several Romance sources. Likewise, Vianu notes, Macedonski had a tendency for comparing nature with the artificial, the result of this being a "document" of his values. Macedonski's language alternated neologisms with barbarisms, many of which were coined by him personally. They include claviculat ("clavicled", applied to a shoulder), împălăriată ("enhatted", used to define a crowd of hat-wearing tourists), and ureichii (instead of urechii, "to the ear" or "of the ear"). His narratives nevertheless take an interest in recording direct speech, used as a method of characterization. However, Călinescu criticizes Macedonski for using a language which, "although grammatically correct [...], seems to have been learned only recently", as well as for not following other Romanian writers in creating a lasting poetic style.
The writer's belief in the effects of sheer willpower, notably present in his comments on esoteric subjects, was itself a defining characteristic of his perspective on literature. In 1882, he wrote about progression in one's career: "We are all poets at birth, but only those who shape themselves through study will become poets." Vianu, who notes Macedonski's "exclusivity" and "fanaticism", places such statements in connection with Macedonski's personal ambition, "pride" and "the willingness to carry out ventured actions [...], in stated opposition with the entire surrounding and with contempt for the foreseeable reaction."
Almost all periods of Macedonski's work reflect, in whole or in part, his public persona and the polemics he was involved in. George Călinescu's emits a verdict on the relation between his lifetime notoriety and the public's actual awareness of his work: "Macedonski [was] a poet well-known for being an unknown poet." According to literary critic Matei Călinescu, the innovative aspects of his impact on Romanian literature were not as much related to his "literary ideology", as much as to his "contradictory spirit" and "essential nonconformism". However, literary researcher Adrian Marino proposes that Macedonski was one of the first modern authors to illustrate the importance of "dialectic unity" through his views on art, in particular by having argued that poetry needed to be driven by "an idea". Having theorized once, while questioning Junimist rigor, that "the logic of poetry is absurdity itself [italics in the original]", the poet also said: "Poetry is the chaos of spirit and matter, of the cries of distress and mad laughter. From the sublime to the trivial, that is what it should be." He later revised part of this verdict, and, making explicit his adoption of aestheticism, spoke against trivial subjects and in favor of the sublime.
While Macedonski also discarded the concept of "social poetry" not long after postulating it, its spirit, Tudor Vianu believes, can still be found in his later contributions. This, the critic notes, was owed to his "social temperament", whose "fundamental experience is that of the social." Discussing this sociable and extrovert character, other critics see in the poet's life and work the imprint of "quixotism". Also according to Vianu, this contrasted with Macedonski's failures in communicating with the public, an experience which made him "misanthropic" and contributed to his ultimate vision of death as freedom. Literary historian Pompiliu Constantinescu concluded: "Macedonski could not resign; his one martyrdom was for Art, as the sole liberation from a tormented life." Other commentators have defined the poet's perspective on life as a result of "neurosis".
In Vianu's perspective, Macedonski's stance is dominated by a mixture of nostalgia, sensuality, lugubrious-grotesque imagery, and "the lack of bashfulness for antisocial sentiments" which compliments his sarcasm. In respect to the latter characteristic, Vianu notes "no one in Romanian literature has laughed the same way as Macedonski", whereas critic Ștefan Cazimir argues: "[Macedonski was] lacking the sense of relativity in principles, and implicitly a sense of humor." Cazimir adds: "Only when he aged did [Macedonski] learn to smile". George Călinescu himself believes Macedonski to have been "fundamentally a spiritual man with lots of humor", speculating that he was able to see the "uselessness" of his own scientific ventures.
Critics note that, while Macedonski progressed from one stage to the other, his work fluctuated between artistic accomplishment and mediocrity. Tudor Vianu believes "failure in reaching originality" and reliance on "soppy-conventional attributes of the day" to be especially evident wherever Macedonski tried to emulate epic poetry. He also notes that Macedonski's love-themed pieces "cannot be listed among [his] most fortunate". At his best, commentators note, he was one of the Romanian literature's classics. Macedonski is thus perceived as the author second only to Eminescu, and as his ideal counterpart—a relation Vianu describes as "the internal dualism [confronting] two familiar gods". Various critics have compared Eminescu's poetic discourse with that of the Symbolist leader, concluding that the two poets often display very similar attitudes. Călinescu writes that, while Macedonski's work is largely inferior to that of his Junimist rival, it forms the best "reply" ever conceived within their common setting.
Prima verba and other early works
With Ion Catina, Vasile Păun and Grigore H. Grandea, young Macedonski belonged to late Romanian Romanticism, part of a Neoromantic generation which had for its mentors Heliade Rădulescu and Bolintineanu. Other early influences were Pierre-Jean de Béranger and Gottfried August Bürger, together with Romanian folklore, motifs from them being adapted by Macedonski into pastorals and ballades of ca. 1870–1880. The imprint of Romanticism and such other sources was evident in Prima verba, which groups pieces that Macedonski authored in his early youth, the earliest of them being written when he was just twelve. Critics generally argue that the volume is without value. The poems display his rebellious attitude, self-victimization and strong reliance on autobiographical elements, centering on such episodes as the death of his father. In one piece inspired by the ideology of Heliade Rădulescu, Vianu notes, Macedonski sings "the French Revolution's love for freedom and equality, otherwise proclaimed from his nobleman's perspective." It reads:
In parallel, Macedonski used erotic themes, completing a series which, although written on the model of idylls, is noted for its brute details of sexual exploits. The poet probably acknowledged that posterity would reject them, and did not republish them in any of his collected poetry volumes.
During his time at Oltul (1873–1875), Macedonski published a series of poems, most of which were not featured in definitive editions of his work. In addition to odes written in the Italian-based version of Romanian, it includes lyrics which satirize Carol I without mentioning his name. Following his arrest, Macedonski also completed Celula mea de la Văcărești ("My Cell in Văcărești"), which shows his attempt to joke about the situation. In contrast to this series, some of the pieces written during Macedonski's time in the Budjak and Northern Dobruja display a detachment from contemporary themes. At that stage, he was especially inspired by Lord Byron, whom Vianu calls "the sovereign poet of [Macedonski's] youth." In Calul arabului, Macedonski explores exotic and Levantine settings, using symbols which announce George Coșbuc's El-Zorab, and the Venetian-themed Ithalo, which centers on episodes of betrayal and murder. Others were epic and patriotic in tone, with subjects such as Romanian victories in the Russo-Turkish War or the Imperial Roman sites along the Danube. One of these pieces, titled Hinov after the village and stone quarry in Rasova, gives Macedonski a claim to being the first modern European poet to have used free verse, ahead of the French Symbolist Gustave Kahn. Macedonski himself later voiced the claim, and referred to such a technique as "symphonic verse", "proteic verse", or, in honor of composer Richard Wagner, "Wagnerian verse".
While editing Oltul, Macedonski also completed his first prose writings. These were the travel account Pompeia și Sorento ("Pompeia and Sorento", 1874) and a prison-themed story described by Vianu as "a tearjerker", titled Câinele din Văcărești ("The Dog in Văcărești", 1875). These were later complemented by other travel works, which critic Mihai Zamfir likens to the verbal experiments of Impressionist literature, pioneering in the Romanian prose poetry genre. The short comedy Gemenii was his debut work for the stage, but, according to Vianu, failed to show any merit other than a "logical construction" and a preview into Macedonski's use of sarcasm. These writings were followed in 1876 by a concise biography of Cârjaliul, an early 19th-century hajduk. In line with his first Levant-themed poems, Macedonski authored the 1877 story Așa se fac banii ("This Is How Money Is Made", later retold in French as Comment on devient riche et puissant, "How to Become Rich and Powerful"), a fable of fatalism and the Muslim world—it dealt with two brothers, one hard-working and one indolent, the latter of whom earns his money through a series of serendipitous events. Likewise, his verse comedy Iadeș! borrowed its theme from the widely circulated collection of Persian literature known as Sindipa. The setting was however modern, and, as noted by French-born critic Frédéric Damé, the plot also borrowed much from Émile Augier's Gabrielle and from other morality plays of the period. Part of the text was an ironic treatment of youth in liberal professions, an attitude which Macedonski fitted in his emerging anti-bourgeois discourse.
With the first poems in his Nights cycle, Macedonski still showed his allegiance to Romanticism, and in particular to Alphonse de Lamartine, and the supposed inventor of this theme, Alfred de Musset. Noaptea de noiembrie opens with a violent condemnation of his adversaries, and sees Macedonski depicting his own funeral. The poem is commended by Călinescu, who notes that, in contrast to the "apparently trivial beginning", the main part, where Macedonski depicts himself in flight over the Danube, brings the Romanian writer close to the accomplishments of Dante Aligheri. The writer himself claimed that the piece evidenced "the uttermost breath of inspiration I have ever felt in my life." Another poem, Noaptea de aprilie ("April Night"), was probably his testimony of unrequited love for Aristizza Romanescu.
Realism and Naturalism
By the 1880s, Macedonski developed and applied his "social poetry" theory, as branch of Realism. Explained by the writer himself as a reaction against the legacy of Lamartine, it also signified his brief affiliation with the Naturalist current, a radical segment of the Realist movement. Traian Demetrescu thus noted that Macedonski cherished the works of French Naturalists and Realists such as Gustave Flaubert and Émile Zola. During this phase, Macedonski made known his sympathy for the disinherited, from girls forced into prostitution to convicts sentenced to penal labor on salt mines, and also spoke out against the conventionalism of civil marriages. His Ocnele ("The Salt Mines") includes the verdict:
Naturalist depiction was also the main element in his prose pieces of the early 1880s. Among them was the first of several sketch stories using still life techniques, Casa cu nr. 10 (according to Zamfir, a prime sample of Macedonski's "ornamental" genre). With Între cotețe, Dramă banală and later Cometa lui Odorescu ("Odorescu's Comet"), Macedonski speaks about his own biography. The former has for a protagonist Pandele Vergea, a thirty-five-year-old man who is consumed by an avicultural obsession, who dreams of turning into a bird, and who is eventually maimed by his overcrowded fowls. In contrast, Dereanu is a bohemian university student, possessed by dreams of military and political glory, and who meditates about his future in front of Heliade Rădulescu's statue or in Bucharest cafés. Also a bohemian, Odorescu announces his discovery of a comet, before being proved wrong by his aunt, an ordinary woman. Some pieces also double as memoirs: in Dramă banală, the plot revolves around Macedonski's recollection of the 1866 plebiscite. Vianu draws attention to the picturesque depiction of historic Bucharest, a contributing element in Cometa..., Casa cu nr. 10 and Între cotețe.
With Unchiașul Sărăcie (also written in verse), Macedonski took Naturalist tenets into the field of drama. Frédéric Damé believed it an imitation of a play by Ernest d'Hervilly and Alfred Grévin, but, Vianu argues, the Romanian text was only loosely based on theirs: in Macedonski's adaptation, the theme became fairy tale-like, and used a speech style based on Romanian folklore. Around the time of its completion, Macedonski was also working on a similarly loose adaptation of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, which notably had the two protagonists die in each other's arms. Another such play is 3 decemvrie ("December 3"), which partly retells Friedrich Ludwig Zacharias Werner's Der 24 Februar using Naturalist devices. By contrast, the homage-play Cuza-Vodă is mainly a Romantic piece, where Alexander John Cuza finds his political mission validated by legendary figures in Romanian history.
In parallel, Macedonski was using poetry to carry out his polemics. In an 1884 epigram, he reacted against Alecsandri's Fântâna Blanduziei, but, in Vianu's definition, "his regular causticity seems to be restrained." The piece he had earlier written, presumably against Eminescu, scandalized the public by mocking the rival's mental ruin:
According to Tudor Vianu, Macedonski was mostly motivated by his disappointment in Junimea, and in particular by Eminescu's response to his public persona. Vianu contends that, although Macedonski "never was familiar with the resigned and patient attitudes", he was "by no means an evil man." On one occasion, the poet defended himself against criticism, noting that the epigram had not been specifically addressed to Eminescu, but had been labeled as such by the press, and claiming to have authored it years before its Literatorul edition. However, the later piece Viața de apoi ("The Afterlife") still displays resentments he harbored toward Eminescu.
By 1880–1884, particularly after the Eminescu scandal, Macedonski envisaged prioritizing French as his language of expression. According to Vianu, Macedonski had traversed "the lowest point" of his existence, and had been subject to "one of the most delicate mysteries of poetic creation." Among his pieces of the period is the French-language sonnet Pârle, il me dit alors ("Speak, He Then Said to Me"), where, Vianu notes, "one discovers the state of mind of a poet who decides to expatriate himself."
Adoption of Symbolism
According to Mihai Zamfir, at the end of his transition from the "mimetic and egocentric" verse to Symbolist poetry, Macedonski emerged a "remarkable, often extraordinary" author. In the early 20th century, fellow poet and critic N. Davidescu described Macedonski, Ion Minulescu and other Symbolists from Wallachia as distinct from their Moldavian counterparts in both style and themes. Endorsing the theory and practice of Symbolism for much of his life, Macedonski retrospectively claimed to have been one of its first exponents. His version of Symbolism, critic Paul Cernat notes, clashed with that advocated by many of his contemporaries in that it rejected merit to the Decadent movement, and represented the "decorative" aestheticist trend of Paranassian spirit within the Romanian Symbolist current.
Within Poezia viitorului, Macedonski invoked as his models to follow some important or secondary Symbolist and Parnassian figures: Charles Baudelaire, Joséphin Péladan, Maurice Maeterlinck, Stéphane Mallarmé and Jean Moréas. In his review of Bronzes for Mercure de France, Pierre Quillard remarked the "irreproachable" technique, but criticized the poet for being too indebted to both Baudelaire and Leconte de Lisle; other Symbolist figures whom Macedonski is known to have borrowed from are José María de Heredia and Iwan Gilkin. While undergoing this transition, to what linguist Manuela-Delia Suciu argues is a mostly Parnassian phase, Macedonski was still referencing Naturalism, and considered it compatible with Symbolism.
With the adoption of such tenets came a succession of Symbolist poems, where the focus is on minutely-observed objects, usually items of luxury, partly reflecting themes he had explored in the Naturalist stage. Commenting on them, Tudor Vianu argues that no such works had ever been produced in Romanian literature up until that moment. In his Ospățul lui Pentaur ("The Feast of Pentaur"), the poet reflected on civilization itself, as reflected in inanimate opulence. The motif was also developed in descriptive prose fragments later grouped in Cartea de aur, collectively titled nuvele fără oameni ("novellas without people") and compared by Călinescu with the paintings of Theodor Aman.
Also during that stage, Macedonski was exploring the numerous links between Symbolism, mysticism and esotericism. Earlier pieces had already come to explore macabre themes characteristic for an early branch of Symbolism. Influenced by Maurice Rollinat, they include the somber Vaporul morții ("The Ship of Death") and Visul fatal ("The Fatal Dream"). Likewise, the piece titled Imnul lui Satan ("Satan's Hymn") was placed by critics in connection with Les Litanies de Satan (part of Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du mal), but, Vianu argues, the source of Macedonski's satanic themes may have been lodged in his own vision of the world. This interest also reflected in his 1893 Saul, where Cincinat Pavelescu's contribution is supposedly minimal. Echoing satanic themes, Ernest Legouvé's dramatic version of the Medea myth (which Macedonski translated at some point in his life) and the classical work of Jean Racine, it shows the dark powers of political conflict intervening between the eponymous king and his ephebos-like protégé David, the latter of whom turns out to be the agent of spiritual revolution.
("August Night"), outlines a monistic belief probably inspired by Rosicrucianism, stressing the unity between soul and matter and depicting Macedonski's own journey into a transcendental space. Following the examples of Baudelaire's Les paradis artificiels, but also echoing his readings from Paul Verlaine and Théophile Gautier, Macedonski left poems dealing with narcotics and substance abuse, at least some of which reflected his personal experience with nicotine and possibly other unnamed drugs. Also at that stage, Macedonski also began publishing the "instrumentalist" series of his Symbolist poems. This form of experimental poem was influenced by the theories of René Ghil and verified through his encounter with Remy de Gourmont's views. In parallel, it reaffirmed Macedonski's personal view that music and the spoken word were intimately related (a perspective notably attested by his 1906 interview with Jules Combarieu). Romanian critic Petre Răileanu theorized that such elements evidenced Macedonski's transition to "metaliterature". On a different level, they echoed an older influence, that of Gottfried August Bürger.
Excelsior
Despite having stated his interest in innovation, Macedonski generally displayed a more conventional style in his Excelsior volume. It included Noaptea de mai, which Vianu sees as "one of the [vernacular's] most beautiful poems" and as evidence of "a clear joy, without any torment whatsoever". A celebration of spring partly evoking folkloric themes, it was made famous by the recurring refrain, Veniți: privighetoarea cântă și liliacul e-nflorit ("Come along: the nightingale is singing and the lilac is in blossom"). Like Noaptea de mai, Lewki (named after and dedicated to the Snake Island), depicts intense joy, completed in this case by what Vianu calls "the restorative touch of nature." The series also returned to Levant settings and Islamic imagery, particularly in Acșam dovalar (named after the Turkish version of Witr). Also noted within the volume is his short "Modern Psalms" series, including the piece Iertare ("Forgiveness"), which is addressed to God:
Excelsior also included Noaptea de ianuarie ("January Night"), which encapsulates one of his best-known political statements. Anghelescu reads it as a "meditation on disillusionment that culminates in a vitality-laden exhortation of action." Its anti-bourgeois attitude, literary historian Z. Ornea argues, was one of the meeting points between Macedonski and Junimism. In what is seen as its most acid section, the text notably reads:
At the same time as being engaged in his most violent polemics, Macedonski produced meditative and serene poems, which were later judged to be among his best. Noaptea de decemvrie is the synthesis of his main themes and influences, rated by commentators as his "masterpiece". Partly based on an earlier poem (Meka, named after the Arab city), it tells the story of an emir, who, left unsatisfied by the shallow and opulent life he leads in Baghdad, decides to leave on pilgrimage. While critics agree that it is to be read as an allegory of Macedonski's biography, the ironic text does not make it clear whether the emir actually reaches his target, nor if the central metaphor of Mecca as a mirage means that the goal is not worth sacrificing for. While Mircea Anghelescu comments that Macedonski illustrates "unusual tension" by rigorously amplifying references to the color red, seen as a symbol of suffering, Călinescu notes that the sequence of lyrics has a studied "delirious" element, and illustrates this with the quote:
Late prose works
In prose, his focus shifted back to the purely descriptive, or led Alexandru Macedonski into the realm of fantasy literature. These stories, most of which were eventually collected in Cartea de aur, include memoirs of his childhood in the Amaradia region, nostalgic portrayals of the Oltenian boyar environment, idealized depictions of Cuza's reign, as well as a retrospective view on the end of Rom slavery (found in his piece Verigă țiganul, "Verigă the Gypsy"). The best known among them is Pe drum de poștă, a third-person narrative and thinly disguised memoir, where the characters are an adolescent Alexandru Macedonski and his father, General Macedonski. The idyllic outlook present in such stories is one of the common meeting points between his version of Symbolism and traditionalist authors such as Barbu Ștefănescu Delavrancea. Vianu indicates the connection, but adds: "Macedonski descended, through memory, in the world of the village, with the tremor of regret for the peace and plenty of the old settlements, so well polished that each person, landowner as well as peasant, lived within a framework that nature itself seemed to have granted. [...] in depicting rural environments, Macedonski presents the point of view of a conservative."
Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu, a fantasy novel and extended prose poem, was celebrated by Macedonski's disciple Oreste Georgescu as "the new religion of humanity". The volume carried the mocking dedication "To France, this Chaldea" (thought by Vianu to reference Péladan's views on the decay of civilization). It has affinities with writings by the Italian Decadent author Gabriele d'Annunzio, as well as echoes from Anatole France. The hero Thalassa, a Greek boy, works as a lighthouse-keeper on Snake Island, fantasizing about the golden age of mankind. His fate is changed by a shipwreck, during which a girl, Caliope, reaches the island's shore. Thalassa and Caliope fall in love, but are mysteriously unable to seal their union through sexual intercourse: the boy attributes this failure to the "curse" of human individuality. Seeking to achieve a perfect union with his lover, he eventually kills her and drowns himself in the Black Sea.
In her review for Mercure de France, novelist Rachilde argued: "Very difficult to read, entirely developed in Symbolist manner [and] almost impossible to recount, obviously written in French but nevertheless obviously conceived by a Romanian (and what a spirited Romanian!)." Rachilde believed the work to display "the fragrance of Oriental spices [...] rose marmalade and a slice of bear meat." According to Vianu, the book builds on Macedonski's earlier themes, replacing Naturalist observation with a metaphysical speculation about idealism. One other aspect of Macedonski's stylistic exploration took him to attempt recording synesthesia. His manuscript is written in ink of several colors, which, he believed, was to help readers get a full sense of its meaning. Like other synesthetic aspects of his novel, this is believed to have been inspired by the techniques of Baudelaire and Arthur Rimbaud.
Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu is noted for its numerous cultural references, and especially for using a wide range of metaphors. Such aspects have been reviewed negatively by modern critics. Tudor Vianu writes: "the poet makes such waste of gemstones that we feel like saying some of them must be false", while Călinescu, who notes that some fragments reveal "an incomparable artist" and "a professional metaphorist", notes that "in the end, such virtuosities become a bore." According to Manuela-Delia Suciu, Thalassa is "prolix" and "too polished", traits believed by Zamfir to be less irritating in the Romanian version. Critic Cornel Moraru found that, in the background, Thalassa, a "great Symbolist novel", confronts Ancient Greek and Christian mythology, but "abuses" the religious vocabulary. Another part of the novel's imagery is erotic, and includes an elaborate and aestheticized description of male genitalia.
The four-act tragicomedy Le Fou? is seen by Vianu as comparable in subject matter and depth to Enrico IV, a celebrated 1922 play by Luigi Pirandello. The plot reflects Macedonski's confrontation with his critics, and his acceptance of the fact that people saw in him an eccentric. The central figure is a banker, Dorval, who identifies himself with Napoleon Bonaparte to the point where he sees episodes in his biography as mirrors of early 19th-century battles. Unlike patients with dissociative identity disorder, Dorval does not actually imagine his life has become Napoleon's, but rather joins with him on an intellectual level. Witnesses of this disorder are divided into family, who seek to have Dorval committed, and close friends, who come to see his take on life as a manifestation of genius. The spectator is led to believe that the latter interpretation is the correct one. At a larger level, Vianu indicates, the play is also Macedonski's critique of capitalism, and, using Parisian argot, makes allusive references to famous people of the day.
Particularly during the 1890s, Macedonski was a follower of Edgar Allan Poe and of Gothic fiction in general, producing a Romanian version of Poe's Metzengerstein story, urging his own disciples to translate other such pieces, and adopting "Gothic" themes in his original prose. Indebted to Jules Verne and H. G. Wells, Macedonski also wrote a number of science fiction stories, including the 1913 Oceania-Pacific-Dreadnought, which depicts civilization on the verge of a crisis. The gigantic commercial ship is maintained by a banker's union, and designed to grant travelers access to every pleasure imaginable; this causes the working-class inhabited cities on the continent to fall into a state of neglect and permanent violence, the climax of the story occurring with the bankers' decision to destroy their creation. Oceania-Pacific-Dreadnought is noted for anticipating television, the ship being equipped with electrically-operated "large and clear mirrors" that display "images from various parts of the Earth". Macedonski was by then interested in the development of cinema, and authored a silent film screenplay based on Comment on devient riche et puissant.
Final transition
Late in his life, Macedonski had come to reject Symbolist tenets, defining them as "imbecilities" designed for "the uncultured". Ultima verba, the very last poems to be written by him, show him coming to terms with himself, and are treasured for their serene or intensely joyous vision of life and human accomplishment. The rondels written at this stage, known collectively as Poema rondelurilor, are one of the first instances where the technique is used locally. Like those written previously by Literatoruls Pavelescu and Alexandru Obedenaru, they are based on an earlier motif present in Macedonski's work, that of recurring refrains. Many of the pieces document the poet's final discoveries. One of them is Rondelul crinilor ("The Rondel of the Lilies"), which proclaims fragrances as the source of beatitude: În crini e beția cea rară, "In lilies one finds that exceptional drunkenness". According to Ștefan Cazimir, Rondelul orașului mic ("The Rondel of the Small Town") shows a "likable wave of irony and self-irony", and the poet himself coming to terms with "the existence of a world who ignores him." Proof of his combativeness was still to be found in Rondelul contimporanilor ("The Rondel of the Contemporaries").
The poet's take on life is also outlined in his final play, Moartea lui Dante. Călinescu writes that, by then, Macedonski was "obsessed" with the Divine Comedy. Macedonski identifies with his hero, Dante Aligheri, and formulates his own poetic testament while identifying World War I Romania with the medieval Republic of Florence. Tudor Vianu remarks: "In Dante's great self-pride, Macedonski found his own." He sees the play as the best such work to have been produced by Macedonski, whereas Călinescu deems it "puerile". Zamfir believes Moartea... to be a significant text in Macedonski's bibliography, "one of the first samples of Romanian Symbolist theater", and as such indebted mainly to Maeterlinck. Vianu argues that the play may document the Romanian writer's late rejection of France, through the protagonist's statement: "the French are a gentle people, but their soul is different from mine."
A number of rondels show Macedonski's late fascination with the Far East, China and Japan. George Călinescu believes that this is to be understood as one item in a large antithesis, the other being Decadent Paris, which one rondel describes as "hell". The Orient, viewed as the space of serenity, is believed by Macedonski to be peopled by toy-like women and absent opium-smokers, and to be kept orderly by a stable meritocracy. The Chinese-themed poem Tsing-Ly-Tsi, which Cazimir notes for its discreet, "almost imperceptible", humor, reads:
Legacy
Macedonski's school and its early impact
Alexandru Macedonski repeatedly expressed the thought that, unlike his contemporaries, posterity would judge him a great poet. With the exception of Mihail Dragomirescu, conservative literary critics tended to ignore Macedonski while he was alive. The first such figure was Junimeas Titu Maiorescu, who believed him to be a minor author, referring to him only a couple of times in his books and usually ridiculing him in his articles. One of these texts, the 1886 essay Poeți și critici ("Poets and Critics"), spoke of Macedonski as having "vitiated" poetry, a notion he also applied to Constantin D. Aricescu and Aron Densușianu. Especially radical pronouncements were left by the traditionalist authors Ilarie Chendi and Nicolae Iorga. Chendi wrote of Macedonski being "the caricature of a man", having "a feverish mind" and being motivated by "the brutal instinct of revenge". Iorga, who became better known as a historian, later retracted some of the statements he had made against the poet during the 1890s. Among the younger prominent traditionalist writers was the Transylvanian-born Lucian Blaga, who may have purposefully avoided Macedonski during his first visit to Bucharest in 1920. Although more sympathetic to the Symbolist author, both Dragomirescu and Gheorghe Adamescu tended to describe him as exclusively the product of French and Decadent literature, while Dragomirescu's disciple Ion Trivale denied all merit to Macedonski's literature.
According to Tudor Vianu, Macedonski's intellectual friends (among them Anghel Demetriescu, George Ionescu-Gion, Bonifaciu Florescu, Grigore Tocilescu and V. A. Urechia) were largely responsible for passing down "a better and truer image of the abused poet." It was also due to Dragomirescu that Noaptea de decemvrie was included in a literature textbook for final grade high school students, which some argue is the poet's first-ever presence in the Romanian curriculum. According to historian Lucian Nastasă, the poet's wife Ana Rallet behaved like an "excellent secretary" while Macedonski was still alive, and thereafter helped sort and edit his manuscript while maintaining "an actual cult" for her husband.
Macedonski's cosmopolitan circle was the center of a literary alternative to the prevailing conservatism and Eminescu-like traditionalism of the day, the latter tendency being grouped around Sămănătorul magazine for part of Macedonski's lifetime. While Macedonski himself maintained his links with Romanticism and Classicism, commentators have retrospectively recognized in him the main person who announced Romania's first wave in modernist literature. Many first-generation disciples were to part with his guidelines early on, either by radicalizing their Symbolism or by stepping out of its confines. Traian Demetrescu was one of the first to do so, focusing on his commitment to socialism—Vianu notes that the split took place "without coldness and the heart's versatility" on Macedonski's part. Literary researcher Lidia Bote argues that it was Petică who first illustrated mature Symbolism, emancipating himself from Macedonski's eclectic tendencies after 1902. By that time, the Symbolist authors Dimitrie Anghel and N. D. Cocea used Macedonski's fantasy prose as an inspiration for their own, and N. Davidescu was borrowing from his mystical discourse. The pictorial and joyous elements in Macedonski's poems were also serving to inspire Stamatiad, Eugeniu Ștefănescu-Est and Horia Furtună. In the early stages of his career, Ion Pillat wrote pieces which echo his master's choice of exotic themes. A more discreet legacy of Macedonski's ideas was also preserved inside the conservative and traditionalist camps. Although his separation from Literatorul was drastic, and led him to rally with Junimea, Duiliu Zamfirescu built on some elements borrowed from the magazine's ideology, incorporating them into his literary vision.
Many of Macedonski's most devoted disciples, whom he himself had encouraged, have been rated by various critics as secondary or mediocre. This is the case of Theodor Cornel (who made his name as an art critic), Mircea Demetriade, Oreste Georgescu, Alexandru Obedenaru, Stoenescu, Stamatiad, Carol Scrob, Dumitru Karnabatt and Donar Munteanu. Another such minor author was the self-styled "hermeticist" Alexandru Petroff, who expanded on Macedonski's ideas about esoteric knowledge.
Macedonski's eldest son Alexis continued to pursue a career as a painter. His son Soare followed in his footsteps, receiving acclaim from art critics of the period. Soare's short career ended in 1928, before he turned nineteen, but his works have been featured in several retrospective exhibitions, including one organized by Alexis. Alexis later experimented with scenic design as an assistant to French filmmaker René Clair; his later life, shrouded in mystery and intrigue, led him to a career in Fascist Italy and Francoist Spain. Another of Alexandru Macedonski's sons, Nikita, was also a poet and painter. For a while in the 1920s, he edited the literary supplement of Universul newspaper. Two years after her father's death, Anna Macedonski married poet Mihail Celarianu.
In addition to his polemical portrayals in works by Alecsandri, Eminescu and Caragiale, Macedonski's career was an inspiration for various authors. His image acquired mythical proportions for his followers. Like Demetrescu, many of them left memoirs on Macedonski which were published before or after his death. His admirers were writing poetry about him as early as 1874, and, in 1892, Cincinat Pavelescu published a rhapsodizing portrait of Macedonski as "the Artist". Pavelescu, Dragoslav and Petică paid homage to the writer by leaving recollections which describe him as a devoted and considerate friend. In contrast, traditionalist poet Alexandru Vlahuță authored an 1889 sketch story in which Macedonski (referred to as Polidor) is the object of derision.
Late recognition
Actual recognition of the poet as a classic came only in the interwar period. A final volume of never before published poems, Poema rondelurilor, saw print in 1927. Macedonski's work was analyzed and popularized by a new generation of critics, among them Vianu and George Călinescu. The post-Junimist modernist critic Eugen Lovinescu also commented favorably on Macedonski's work, but overall, Călinescu asserts, his opinions on the subject gave little insight into what he actually thought about the poet. He also recounts that Macedonski himself treated Lovinescu with disdain, and once called him "a canary".
The emerging avant-garde, although originating from Symbolism, progressively took its distance from Literatoruls legacy. Initially, Macedonski's contribution to experimental literature was continued within formal Symbolism by his disciples Demetriade, Iuliu Cezar Săvescu and Ion Minulescu. The latter was particularly indebted to Macedonski in matters of vision and language. In 1904, Tudor Arghezi also left behind the Literatorul circle and its tenets, eventually arriving to the fusion of modernist, traditionalist and avant-garde elements. However, he remained indebted to Macedonski's example in his descriptive prose. The 1912 Simbolul magazine, which moved between conventional Symbolism and the emerging avant-garde, also published an Imagist-inspired parody of Noaptea de mai, signed by Adrian Maniu. A co-founder of Dadaism during the late 1910s, Tristan Tzara is believed by Swedish researcher Tom Sandqvist to have been inspired more or less directly by Macedonski, and in particular by the latter's thoughts on the relation between absurdity and poetry. In his debut poems, Benjamin Fondane-Barbu Fundoianu occasionally followed Macedonski, but, by 1920, stated that the Symbolist doyen merely imitated French models to the point of "parasitism".
Several avant-garde authors returned to Macedonski's literary guidelines by the late 1920s, as they themselves grew more moderate. This was the case of Maniu and Ion Vinea, both of whom published prose works in the line of Thalassa. The same work is also believed to have influenced two non-avant-garde authors, Davidescu and Mateiu Caragiale, who remained close to the tenets Symbolism. Mateiu was the illegitimate son of Ion Luca Caragiale, but, Vianu notes, could withstand comparisons with his father's rival: the eccentricities were complementary, although Mateiu Caragiale shied away from public affairs. In the same post-Symbolist generation, Celarianu (Macedonski's posthumous son-in-law), George Bacovia and Păstorel Teodoreanu also built on Macedonski's legacy, being later joined in this by the Bessarabian linguist Eugenio Coșeriu (who, in his early poetic career, imitated Macedonski's rondel style). In the late 1920s, when their form of modern psalms inspired Albanian-Romanian poet Aleksander Stavre Drenova, Macedonski and Arghezi both made an indirect impact on Albanian literature.
Macedonski's status as one of Romanian literature's greats was consolidated later in the 20th century. By this time, Noaptea de decemvrie had become one of the most recognizable literary works to be taught in Romanian schools. During the first years of Communist Romania, the Socialist Realist current condemned Symbolism (see Censorship in Communist Romania), but spoke favorably of Macedonski's critique of the bourgeoisie. A while after this episode, Marin Sorescu, one of the best-known modernist poets of his generation, wrote a homage-parody of the Nights cycle. Included in the volume Singur între poeți ("Alone among Poets"), it is seen by critic Mircea Scarlat as Sorescu's most representative such pieces. Also then, Noaptea de decemvrie partly inspired Ștefan Augustin Doinaș' ballad Mistrețul cu colți de argint.
In the 1990s, Ștefan Agopian took the Nights cycle as inspiration for an erotic short story, while Pavel Șușară adapted his rondels to a modernized setting. Macedonski's prose also influenced younger writers such as Angelo Mitchievici and Anca Maria Mosora. In neighboring Moldova, Macedonski influenced the Neosymbolism of Aureliu Busuioc. A magazine by the name of Literatorul, which claims to represent the legacy of Macedonski's publication, was founded in Romania in 1991, being edited by writers Sorescu, Fănuș Neagu and Mircea Micu. In 2006, the Romanian Academy granted posthumous membership to Alexandru Macedonski.
Macedonski's poems had a sizable impact on Romania's popular culture. During communism, Noaptea de mai was the basis for a successful musical adaptation, composed by Marian Nistor and sung by Mirabela Dauer. Tudor Gheorghe, a singer-songwriter inspired by American folk revival, also used some of Macedonski's texts as lyrics to his melodies. In the 2000s, the refrain of Noaptea de mai was mixed into a manea parody by Adrian Copilul Minune.
Portrayals, visual tributes and landmarks
Although his poetic theories were largely without echoes in Romanian art, Macedonski captured the interest of several modern artists, including, early on, cartoonist Nicolae Petrescu Găină. Alongside other writers who visited Terasa Oteteleșanu, Macedonski was notably portrayed the drawings of celebrated Romanian artist Iosif Iser. He is also depicted in a 1918 lithograph by Jean Alexandru Steriadi, purportedly Steriadi's only Symbolist work. Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu inspired a series of reliefs, designed by Alexis Macedonski and hosted in his father's house in Dorobanți. During the 1910s, busts of him were completed by two sculptors, Alexandru Severin and Friedrich Storck, one of Storck's variants being hosted by the Ioan Cantacuzino collection. In 1919, Theodor Burcă was also inspired to complete another bust, and, during World War II, was commissioned by Mayor of Bucharest Ioan Rășcanu to build a Macedonski Monument in the Grădina Icoanei park, but this was never completed. Constantin Piliuță, a painter active in the second half of the 20th century, made Macedonski the subject of a portrait in series dedicated to Romanian cultural figures (also depicted were Nicolae Iorga, Ștefan Luchian and Vianu). In 1975, a bust of Macedonski, the work of Constantin Foamete, was unveiled in Craiova.
Of Macedonski's numerous residences, the one in Dorobanți was demolished when the Academy of Economic Studies (ASE) was expanded. A commemorative plaque was later put up near the spot. Macedonski's childhood home in Goiești passed into state property under communism, and was in turn a school, a community home and a Macedonski Museum, before falling into neglect after the Romanian Revolution of 1989. Several streets named in honor of Alexandru Macedonski, notably in Bucharest (by the ASE), Craiova, Cluj-Napoca and Timișoara.
Works published anthumously
Prima verba (poetry, 1872)
Ithalo (poem, 1878)
Poezii (poetry, 1881/1882)
Parizina (translation of Parisina, 1882)
Iadeș! (comedy, 1882)
Dramă banală (short story, 1887)
Saul (with Cincinat Pavelescu; tragedy, 1893)
Excelsior (poetry, 1895)
Bronzes (poetry, 1897)
(essay, 1898)
Cartea de aur (prose, 1902)
Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu (novel, 1906; 1914)
Flori sacre (poetry, 1912)
Zaherlina (essay, 1920)
Notes
References
Mircea Anghelescu, chronological table, preface and critical references, in Macedonski, Poemele "Nopților", Editura Albatros, Bucharest, 1972, p. 7-31, 137–140.
Nicolae Balotă, Arte poetice ale secolului XX: ipostaze românești și străine, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1976.
Lucian Boia, "Germanofilii". Elita intelectuală românească în anii Primului Război Mondial, Humanitas, Bucharest, 2010.
George Călinescu, Istoria literaturii române de la origini pînă în prezent, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1986
Paul Cernat, Avangarda românească și complexul periferiei: primul val, Cartea Românească, Bucharest, 2007.
Șerban Cioculescu, Caragialiana, Editura Eminescu, Bucharest, 1974.
Péter Krasztev,
"From a Deadlocked Present into an Imagined Past", in the Central European University's East Central Europe = L'Europe du Centre-Est, Vol. 26, Nr. 2/1999, p. 33-52
"From Modernization to Modernist Literature", in Marcel Cornis-Pope, John Neubauer (eds.), History of the Literary Cultures of East-Central Europe, Vol. 3, John Benjamins, Amsterdam & Philadelphia, 2004, p. 332-348.
Lucian Nastasă, Intelectualii și promovarea socială (pentru o morfologie a câmpului universitar), Editura Nereamia Napocae, Cluj-Napoca, 2003; e-book version at the Romanian Academy's George Bariț Institute of History
Z. Ornea, Junimea și junimismul, Vol. II, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1998.
Perpessicius, Studii eminesciene, Museum of Romanian Literature, Bucharest, 2001.
Petre Răileanu, Michel Carassou, Fundoianu/Fondane et l'avant-garde, Fondation Culturelle Roumaine, Éditions Paris-Méditerranée, Bucharest & Paris, 1999.
Tom Sandqvist, Dada East. The Romanians of Cabaret Voltaire, MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts & London, 2006.
Manuela-Delia Suciu, "La poésie roumaine au XIXe siècle. Alexandru Macedonski entre romantisme et symbolisme", in Revue d'Études Françaises, Nr. 8/2003, p. 101-110 (republished by the Centre Interuniversitaire d’Études Françaises/Egyetemközi Francia Központ)
Tudor Vianu, Scriitori români, Vol. I-III, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1970–1971.
Mariana Vida, "La société Tinerimea artistică de Bucarest et le symbolisme tardif entre 1902-1910", in Revue Roumaine d'Histoire de l'Art. Série Beaux-arts, Vol. XLIV, 2007, p. 55-66
External links
Amidst Hen Houses (excerpts), Poésies, Thalassa (excerpt), in the Romanian Cultural Institute's Plural Magazine (various issues)
Alexandru Macedonski, Museum of Romanian Literature profile
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20th-century screenwriters | true | [
"\"What She's Doing Now\" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music singer Garth Brooks. It was released in December 1991 as the third single from his album Ropin' the Wind. It spent four weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart. It was co-written by Pat Alger.\n\nContent\nThe song is a ballad about a man who wonders what his former lover is currently doing and what her whereabouts are (\"last I heard she had moved to Boulder\"). While the singer has no idea what she is doing now, he proclaims \"what she's doing now is tearing [him] apart\".\n\nBackground and production\nBrooks provided the following background information on the song in the CD booklet liner notes from The Hits:\n\n\"What She's Doing Now\" was an idea I had a long, long time about a man wondering what a woman was doing. And it was very simple. What is she doing now? Is she hanging out the clothes? Is she running a business? Is she a mother? Is she married? Who is she with? When I told the idea to Pat Alger, he looked at me with a smile and said, 'I wonder if she knows what she's doing now to me?' When I heard that, the bumps went over my arms and the back of my neck, and I knew that he had something. Crystal Gayle cut this song back in 1989. It came back to us for the Ropin' The Wind album. It is a song that has crossed all boundaries and borders around the world. This has made me extremely happy because the greatest gift a writer can ask for is to relate to someone. I can't help but think that this song might relate to a lot of people.\"\n\nOther versions\nWhile Garth Brooks penned the song, he was not the first person to release it. On the 1990 release Ain't Gonna Worry'', Crystal Gayle recorded the song as \"What He's Doing Now\"; her version was not released as a single.\n\nTrack listing\nEuropean CD single\nLiberty CDCL 656\n\"What She's Doing Now\"\n\"Shameless\"\n\"We Bury The Hatchet\"\nUS 7\" Jukebox single\nLiberty S7-57784\n\"What She's Doing Now\"\n\"Friends in Low Places\"\n\nChart positions\n\nYear-end charts\n\nReferences\n\n1991 singles\nCrystal Gayle songs\nGarth Brooks songs\nSongs written by Pat Alger\nSongs written by Garth Brooks\nSong recordings produced by Allen Reynolds\nLiberty Records singles\n1991 songs",
"\"I Love What Love Is Doing to Me\" is a song written by Johnny Cunningham. It was recorded by American country music artist Lynn Anderson and released as a single in 1977 via Columbia Records, becoming a top 40 hit that year.\n\nBackground and release\n\"I Love What Love Is Doing to Me\" was recorded in April 1977 at the Columbia Studio, located in Nashville, Tennessee. The sessions was produced by Glenn Sutton, Anderson's longtime production collaborator at the label and her first husband. It was co-produced by Steve Gibson, making the session Anderson's first experience under the co-production of Gibson. Nine additional tracks were recorded at this particular session, including the major hit \"He Ain't You.\"\n\n\"I Love What Love Is Doing to Me\" was released as a single in May 1977 via Columbia Records. The song spent ten weeks on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart before reaching number 22 in July 1977. The song was issued on Anderson's 1977 studio album I Love What Love Is Doing to Me/He Ain't You.\n\nTrack listings \n7\" vinyl single\n \"I Love What Love Is Doing to Me\" – 2:10\n \"Will I Ever Hear Those Churchbells Ring?\" – 3:32\n\nChart performance\n\nReferences\n\n1977 singles\n1977 songs\nColumbia Records singles\nLynn Anderson songs\nSong recordings produced by Glenn Sutton"
] | [
"Alexandru Macedonski (; also rendered as Al. A. Macedonski, Macedonschi or Macedonsky; 14 March 1854 – 24 November 1920) was a Romanian poet, novelist, dramatist and literary critic, known especially for having promoted French Symbolism in his native country, and for leading the Romanian Symbolist movement during its early decades. A forerunner of local modernist literature, he is the first local author to have used free verse, and claimed by some to have been the first in modern European literature.",
"A forerunner of local modernist literature, he is the first local author to have used free verse, and claimed by some to have been the first in modern European literature. Within the framework of Romanian literature, Macedonski is seen by critics as second only to national poet Mihai Eminescu; as leader of a cosmopolitan and aestheticist trend formed around his Literatorul journal, he was diametrically opposed to the inward-looking traditionalism of Eminescu and his school.",
"Within the framework of Romanian literature, Macedonski is seen by critics as second only to national poet Mihai Eminescu; as leader of a cosmopolitan and aestheticist trend formed around his Literatorul journal, he was diametrically opposed to the inward-looking traditionalism of Eminescu and his school. Debuting as a Neoromantic in the Wallachian tradition, Macedonski went through the Realist-Naturalist stage deemed \"social poetry\", while progressively adapting his style to Symbolism and Parnassianism, and repeatedly but unsuccessfully attempting to impose himself in the Francophone world.",
"Debuting as a Neoromantic in the Wallachian tradition, Macedonski went through the Realist-Naturalist stage deemed \"social poetry\", while progressively adapting his style to Symbolism and Parnassianism, and repeatedly but unsuccessfully attempting to impose himself in the Francophone world. Despite having theorized \"instrumentalism\", which reacted against the traditional guidelines of poetry, he maintained a lifelong connection with Neoclassicism and its ideal of purity.",
"Despite having theorized \"instrumentalism\", which reacted against the traditional guidelines of poetry, he maintained a lifelong connection with Neoclassicism and its ideal of purity. Macedonski's quest for excellence found its foremost expression in his recurring motif of life as a pilgrimage to Mecca, notably used in his critically acclaimed Nights cycle. The stylistic stages of his career are reflected in the collections Prima verba, Poezii, and Excelsior, as well as in the fantasy novel Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu.",
"The stylistic stages of his career are reflected in the collections Prima verba, Poezii, and Excelsior, as well as in the fantasy novel Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu. In old age, he became the author of rondels, noted for their detached and serene vision of life, in contrast with his earlier combativeness. In parallel to his literary career, Macedonski was a civil servant, notably serving as prefect in the Budjak and Northern Dobruja during the late 1870s.",
"In parallel to his literary career, Macedonski was a civil servant, notably serving as prefect in the Budjak and Northern Dobruja during the late 1870s. As journalist and militant, his allegiance fluctuated between the liberal current and conservatism, becoming involved in polemics and controversies of the day. Of the long series of publications he founded, Literatorul was the most influential, notably hosting his early conflicts with the Junimea literary society.",
"Of the long series of publications he founded, Literatorul was the most influential, notably hosting his early conflicts with the Junimea literary society. These targeted Vasile Alecsandri and especially Eminescu, their context and tone becoming the cause of a major rift between Macedonski and his public. This situation repeated itself in later years, when Macedonski and his Forța Morală magazine began campaigning against the Junimist dramatist Ion Luca Caragiale, whom they falsely accused of plagiarism.",
"This situation repeated itself in later years, when Macedonski and his Forța Morală magazine began campaigning against the Junimist dramatist Ion Luca Caragiale, whom they falsely accused of plagiarism. During World War I, the poet aggravated his critics by supporting the Central Powers against Romania's alliance with the Entente side. His biography was also marked by an enduring interest in esotericism, numerous attempts to become recognized as an inventor, and an enthusiasm for cycling.",
"His biography was also marked by an enduring interest in esotericism, numerous attempts to become recognized as an inventor, and an enthusiasm for cycling. The scion of a political and aristocratic family, the poet was the son of General Alexandru Macedonski, who served as Defense Minister, and the grandson of 1821 rebel Dimitrie Macedonski. Both his son Alexis and grandson Soare were known painters. Biography Early life and family The poet's paternal family had arrived in Wallachia during the early 19th century.",
"Biography Early life and family The poet's paternal family had arrived in Wallachia during the early 19th century. Of South Slav (Serb or Bulgarian) or Aromanian origin, they claimed to have descended from Serb insurgents in Ottoman-ruled Macedonia.",
"Of South Slav (Serb or Bulgarian) or Aromanian origin, they claimed to have descended from Serb insurgents in Ottoman-ruled Macedonia. Alexandru's grandfather Dimitrie and Dimitrie's brother Pavel participated in the 1821 uprising against the Phanariote administration, and in alliance with the Filiki Eteria; Dimitrie made the object of controversy when, during the final stage of the revolt, he sided with the Eteria in its confrontation with Wallachian leader Tudor Vladimirescu, taking an active part in the latter's killing.",
"Alexandru's grandfather Dimitrie and Dimitrie's brother Pavel participated in the 1821 uprising against the Phanariote administration, and in alliance with the Filiki Eteria; Dimitrie made the object of controversy when, during the final stage of the revolt, he sided with the Eteria in its confrontation with Wallachian leader Tudor Vladimirescu, taking an active part in the latter's killing. Both Macedonski brothers had careers in the Wallachian military forces, at a time when the country was governed by Imperial Russian envoys, when the Regulamentul Organic regime recognized the family as belonging to Wallachia's nobility.",
"Both Macedonski brothers had careers in the Wallachian military forces, at a time when the country was governed by Imperial Russian envoys, when the Regulamentul Organic regime recognized the family as belonging to Wallachia's nobility. Dimitrie married Zoe, the daughter an ethnic Russian or Polish officer; their son, the Russian-educated Alexandru, climbed in the military and political hierarchy, joining the unified Land Forces after his political ally, Alexander John Cuza, was elected Domnitor and the two Danubian Principalities became united Romania.",
"Dimitrie married Zoe, the daughter an ethnic Russian or Polish officer; their son, the Russian-educated Alexandru, climbed in the military and political hierarchy, joining the unified Land Forces after his political ally, Alexander John Cuza, was elected Domnitor and the two Danubian Principalities became united Romania. Both the officer's uncle Pavel and brother Mihail were amateur poets. Macedonski's mother, Maria Fisența (also Vicenț or Vicența), was from an aristocratic environment, being the scion of Oltenian boyars.",
"Macedonski's mother, Maria Fisența (also Vicenț or Vicența), was from an aristocratic environment, being the scion of Oltenian boyars. Through her father, she may have descended from Russian immigrants who had been absorbed into Oltenia's nobility. Maria had been adopted by the boyar Dumitrache Pârâianu, and the couple had inherited the Adâncata and Pometești estates in Goiești, on the Amaradia Valley.",
"Maria had been adopted by the boyar Dumitrache Pârâianu, and the couple had inherited the Adâncata and Pometești estates in Goiești, on the Amaradia Valley. Both the poet and his father were dissatisfied with accounts of their lineage, contradicting them with an account that researchers have come to consider spurious. Although adherents of the Romanian Orthodox Church, the Macedonskis traced their origin to Rogala-bearing Lithuanian nobility from the defunct Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.",
"Although adherents of the Romanian Orthodox Church, the Macedonskis traced their origin to Rogala-bearing Lithuanian nobility from the defunct Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. While the writer perpetuated his father's claim, it is possible that he also took pride in investigating his Balkan roots: according to literary historian Tudor Vianu, who, as a youth, was a member of his circle, this tendency is attested by two of Macedonski's poems from the 1880s, where the South Slavs appear as icons of freedom.",
"While the writer perpetuated his father's claim, it is possible that he also took pride in investigating his Balkan roots: according to literary historian Tudor Vianu, who, as a youth, was a member of his circle, this tendency is attested by two of Macedonski's poems from the 1880s, where the South Slavs appear as icons of freedom. Vianu's contemporary, literary historian George Călinescu, postulated that, although the family had been absorbed into the ethnic and cultural majority, the poet's origin served to enrich local culture by linking it to a \"Thracian\" tradition and the spirit of \"adventurers\".",
"Vianu's contemporary, literary historian George Călinescu, postulated that, although the family had been absorbed into the ethnic and cultural majority, the poet's origin served to enrich local culture by linking it to a \"Thracian\" tradition and the spirit of \"adventurers\". The family moved often, following General Macedonski's postings. Born in Bucharest, Macedonski-son was the third of four siblings, the oldest of whom was a daughter, Caterina.",
"Born in Bucharest, Macedonski-son was the third of four siblings, the oldest of whom was a daughter, Caterina. Before the age of six, he was a sickly and nervous child, who is reported to have had regular tantrums. In 1862, his father sent him to school in Oltenia, and he spent most time in the Amaradia region. The nostalgia he felt for the landscape later made him consider writing an Amărăzene (\"Amaradians\") cycle, of which only one poem was ever completed.",
"The nostalgia he felt for the landscape later made him consider writing an Amărăzene (\"Amaradians\") cycle, of which only one poem was ever completed. He was attending the Carol I High School in Craiova and, according to his official record, graduated in 1867.",
"He was attending the Carol I High School in Craiova and, according to his official record, graduated in 1867. Macedonski's father had by then become known as an authoritarian commander, and, during his time in Târgu Ocna, faced a mutiny which only his wife could stop by pleading with the soldiers (an episode which made an impression on the future poet). A stern parent, he took an active part in educating his children.",
"A stern parent, he took an active part in educating his children. Having briefly served as Defense Minister, the general was mysteriously dismissed by Cuza in 1863, and his pension became the topic of a political scandal. It ended only under the rule of Carol I, Cuza's Hohenzollern successor, when Parliament voted against increasing the sum to the level demanded by its recipient.",
"It ended only under the rule of Carol I, Cuza's Hohenzollern successor, when Parliament voted against increasing the sum to the level demanded by its recipient. Having preserved a negative impression of the 1866 plebiscite, during which Cuza's dethronement had been confirmed, Macedonski remained a committed opponent of the new ruler. As a youth and adult, he sought to revive his father's cause, and included allusions to the perceived injustice in at least one poem.",
"As a youth and adult, he sought to revive his father's cause, and included allusions to the perceived injustice in at least one poem. After spending the last months of his life protesting against the authorities, Macedonski-father fell ill and died in September 1869, leaving his family to speculate that he had been murdered by political rivals.",
"After spending the last months of his life protesting against the authorities, Macedonski-father fell ill and died in September 1869, leaving his family to speculate that he had been murdered by political rivals. Debut years Macedonski left Romania in 1870, traveling through Austria-Hungary and spending time in Vienna, before visiting Switzerland and possibly other countries; according to one account, it was here that he may have first met (and disliked) his rival poet Mihai Eminescu, at a time a Viennese student.",
"Debut years Macedonski left Romania in 1870, traveling through Austria-Hungary and spending time in Vienna, before visiting Switzerland and possibly other countries; according to one account, it was here that he may have first met (and disliked) his rival poet Mihai Eminescu, at a time a Viennese student. Macedonski's visit was meant to be preparation for entering the University of Bucharest, but he spent much of his time in the bohemian environment, seeking entertainment and engaging in romantic escapades.",
"Macedonski's visit was meant to be preparation for entering the University of Bucharest, but he spent much of his time in the bohemian environment, seeking entertainment and engaging in romantic escapades. He was however opposed to the lifestyle choices of people his age, claiming that they were engaged in \"orgy after orgy\". At around that date, the young author had begun to perfect a style heavily influenced by Romanticism, and in particular by his Wallachian predecessors Dimitrie Bolintineanu and Ion Heliade Rădulescu.",
"At around that date, the young author had begun to perfect a style heavily influenced by Romanticism, and in particular by his Wallachian predecessors Dimitrie Bolintineanu and Ion Heliade Rădulescu. He was for a while in Styria, at Bad Gleichenberg, a stay which, George Călinescu believes, may have been the result of a medical recommendation to help him counter excessive nervousness. The landscape there inspired him to write an ode. Also in 1870, he published his first lyrics in George Bariț's Transylvanian-based journal Telegraful Român.",
"Also in 1870, he published his first lyrics in George Bariț's Transylvanian-based journal Telegraful Român. The following year, he left for Italy, where he visited Pisa, Florence, Venice, and possibly other cities. His records of the journey indicate that he was faced with financial difficulties and plagued by disease. Macedonski also claimed to have attended college lectures in these cities, and to have spent significant time studying at Pisa University, but this remains uncertain.",
"Macedonski also claimed to have attended college lectures in these cities, and to have spent significant time studying at Pisa University, but this remains uncertain. He eventually returned to Bucharest, where he entered the Faculty of Letters (which he never attended regularly). According to Călinescu, Macedonski \"did not feel the need\" to attend classes, because \"such a young man will expect society to render upon him its homages.\"",
"According to Călinescu, Macedonski \"did not feel the need\" to attend classes, because \"such a young man will expect society to render upon him its homages.\" He was again in Italy during spring 1872, soon after publishing his debut volume Prima verba (Latin for \"First Word\"). Having also written an anti-Carol piece, published in Telegraful Român during 1873, Macedonski reportedly feared political reprisals, and decided to make another visit to Styria and Italy while his case was being assessed.",
"Having also written an anti-Carol piece, published in Telegraful Român during 1873, Macedonski reportedly feared political reprisals, and decided to make another visit to Styria and Italy while his case was being assessed. It was in Italy that he met French musicologist Jules Combarieu, with whom he corresponded sporadically over the following decades. During that period, Macedonski became interested in the political scene and political journalism, first as a sympathizer of the liberal-radical current—which, in 1875, organized itself around the National Liberal Party.",
"During that period, Macedonski became interested in the political scene and political journalism, first as a sympathizer of the liberal-radical current—which, in 1875, organized itself around the National Liberal Party. In 1874, back in Craiova, Macedonski founded a short-lived literary society known as Junimea, a title which purposefully or unwittingly copied that of the influential conservative association with whom he would later quarrel.",
"In 1874, back in Craiova, Macedonski founded a short-lived literary society known as Junimea, a title which purposefully or unwittingly copied that of the influential conservative association with whom he would later quarrel. It was then that he met journalist and pedagogue Ștefan Velescu, a meeting witnessed by Velescu's pupil, the future liberal journalist Constantin Bacalbașa, who recorded it in his memoirs.",
"It was then that he met journalist and pedagogue Ștefan Velescu, a meeting witnessed by Velescu's pupil, the future liberal journalist Constantin Bacalbașa, who recorded it in his memoirs. Oltul magazine, which he had helped establish and which displayed a liberal agenda, continued to be published until July 1875, and featured Macedonski's translations from Pierre-Jean de Béranger, Hector de Charlieu and Alphonse de Lamartine, as well as his debut in travel writing and short story.",
"Oltul magazine, which he had helped establish and which displayed a liberal agenda, continued to be published until July 1875, and featured Macedonski's translations from Pierre-Jean de Béranger, Hector de Charlieu and Alphonse de Lamartine, as well as his debut in travel writing and short story. At age 22, he worked on his first play, a comedy titled Gemenii (\"The Twins\").",
"At age 22, he worked on his first play, a comedy titled Gemenii (\"The Twins\"). In 1874 that he came to the attention of young journalist future dramatist Ion Luca Caragiale, who satirized him in articles for the magazine Ghimpele, ridiculing his claim to Lithuanian descent, and eventually turning him into the character Aamsky, whose fictional career ends with his death from exhaustion caused by contributing to \"for the country's political development\".",
"In 1874 that he came to the attention of young journalist future dramatist Ion Luca Caragiale, who satirized him in articles for the magazine Ghimpele, ridiculing his claim to Lithuanian descent, and eventually turning him into the character Aamsky, whose fictional career ends with his death from exhaustion caused by contributing to \"for the country's political development\". This was the first episode in a consuming polemic between the two figures.",
"This was the first episode in a consuming polemic between the two figures. Reflecting back on this period in 1892, Macedonski described Caragiale as a \"noisy young man\" of \"sophistic reasoning\", whose target audience was to be found in \"beer gardens\". 1875 trial and office as prefect In March 1875, Macedonski was arrested on charges of defamation or sedition. For almost a year before, he and Oltul had taken an active part in the campaign against Conservative Party and its leader, Premier Lascăr Catargiu.",
"For almost a year before, he and Oltul had taken an active part in the campaign against Conservative Party and its leader, Premier Lascăr Catargiu. In this context, he had demanded that the common man \"rise up with weapons in their hands and break both the government agents and the government\", following up with similar messages aimed at the Domnitor. He was taken to Bucharest's Văcărești prison and confined there for almost three months.",
"He was taken to Bucharest's Văcărești prison and confined there for almost three months. Supported by the liberal press and defended by the most prestigious pro-liberal attorneys (Nicolae Fleva among them), Macedonski faced a jury trial on 7 June, being eventually cleared of the charges. Reportedly, the Bucharest populace organized a spontaneous celebration of the verdict. In 1875, after the National Liberal Ion Emanuel Florescu was assigned the post of Premier by Carol, Macedonski embarked on an administrative career.",
"In 1875, after the National Liberal Ion Emanuel Florescu was assigned the post of Premier by Carol, Macedonski embarked on an administrative career. The poet was upset by not being included on the National Liberal list for the 1875 suffrage. This disenchantment led him into a brief conflict with the young liberal figure Bonifaciu Florescu, only to join him soon afterward in editing Stindardul journal, alongside Pantazi Ghica and George Fălcoianu. The publication followed the line of Nicolae Moret Blaremberg, made notorious for his radical and republican agenda.",
"The publication followed the line of Nicolae Moret Blaremberg, made notorious for his radical and republican agenda. Ghica and Macedonski remained close friends until Ghica's 1882 death. The new cabinet eventually appointed him Prefect of Bolgrad region, in the Budjak (at the time part of Romania). In parallel, he published his first translation, a version of Parisina, an 1816 epic poem by Lord Byron, and completed the original works Ithalo and Calul arabului (\"The Arab's Horse\").",
"In parallel, he published his first translation, a version of Parisina, an 1816 epic poem by Lord Byron, and completed the original works Ithalo and Calul arabului (\"The Arab's Horse\"). He also spoke at the Romanian Atheneum, presenting his views on the state of Romanian literature (1878). His time in office ended upon the outbreak of the Russo-Turkish War.",
"His time in office ended upon the outbreak of the Russo-Turkish War. At the time, Russian volunteers were amassed on the Budjak border, requesting from the Romanian authorities the right of free passage into the Principality of Serbia. The National Liberal Premier Ion Brătianu, who was negotiating an anti-Ottoman alliance, sent Macedonski signals to let them pass, but the prefect, obeying the official recommendation of Internal Affairs Minister George D. Vernescu, decided against it, and was consequently stripped of his office.",
"The National Liberal Premier Ion Brătianu, who was negotiating an anti-Ottoman alliance, sent Macedonski signals to let them pass, but the prefect, obeying the official recommendation of Internal Affairs Minister George D. Vernescu, decided against it, and was consequently stripped of his office. Still determined to pursue a career in the press, Macedonski founded a string of unsuccessful magazines with patriotic content and titles such as Vestea (\"The Announcement\"), Dunărea (\"The Danube\"), Fulgerul (\"The Lightning\") and, after 1880, Tarara (an onomatopoeia equivalent to \"Toodoodoo\").",
"Still determined to pursue a career in the press, Macedonski founded a string of unsuccessful magazines with patriotic content and titles such as Vestea (\"The Announcement\"), Dunărea (\"The Danube\"), Fulgerul (\"The Lightning\") and, after 1880, Tarara (an onomatopoeia equivalent to \"Toodoodoo\"). Their history is connected with that of the Russo-Turkish War, at the end of which Romanian participation on the Russian side resulted in her independence.",
"Their history is connected with that of the Russo-Turkish War, at the end of which Romanian participation on the Russian side resulted in her independence. Macedonski remained committed to the anti-Ottoman cause, and, some thirty years later, stated: \"We want no Turkey in Europe!\" By 1879, the poet, who continued to voice criticism of Carol, had several times switched sides between the National Liberals and the opposition Conservatives.",
"By 1879, the poet, who continued to voice criticism of Carol, had several times switched sides between the National Liberals and the opposition Conservatives. That year, while the Budjak was ceded to Russia and Northern Dobruja was integrated into Romania, the Brătianu cabinet appointed him administrator of the Sulina plasă and the Danube Delta.",
"That year, while the Budjak was ceded to Russia and Northern Dobruja was integrated into Romania, the Brătianu cabinet appointed him administrator of the Sulina plasă and the Danube Delta. He had previously refused to be made comptroller in Putna County, believing such an appointment to be beneath his capacity, and had lost a National Liberal appointment in Silistra when Southern Dobruja was granted to the Principality of Bulgaria.",
"He had previously refused to be made comptroller in Putna County, believing such an appointment to be beneath his capacity, and had lost a National Liberal appointment in Silistra when Southern Dobruja was granted to the Principality of Bulgaria. During this short interval in office, he traveled to the Snake Island in the Black Sea—his appreciation for the place later motivated him to write the fantasy novel Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu and the poem Lewki. Early Literatorul years With the 1880s came a turning point in Alexandru Macedonski's career.",
"Early Literatorul years With the 1880s came a turning point in Alexandru Macedonski's career. Vianu notes that changes took place in the poet's relationship with his public: \"Society recognizes in him the nonconformist. [...] The man becomes singular; people start talking about his oddities.\" Macedonski's presumed frustration at being perceived in this way, Vianu notes, may have led him closer to the idea of poète maudit, theorized earlier by Paul Verlaine.",
"Macedonski's presumed frustration at being perceived in this way, Vianu notes, may have led him closer to the idea of poète maudit, theorized earlier by Paul Verlaine. In this context, he had set his sight on promoting \"social poetry\", the merger between lyricism and political militantism. Meanwhile, according to Călinescu, his attacks on the liberals and the \"daft insults he aimed at [Romania's] throne\" had effectively ruined his own chance of political advancement.",
"Meanwhile, according to Călinescu, his attacks on the liberals and the \"daft insults he aimed at [Romania's] throne\" had effectively ruined his own chance of political advancement. In January 1880, he launched his most influential and long-lived publication, Literatorul, which was also the focal point of his eclectic cultural circle, and, in later years, of the local Symbolist school. In its first version, the magazine was co-edited by Macedonski, Bonifaciu Florescu and poet Th. M. Stoenescu.",
"M. Stoenescu. M. Stoenescu. Florescu parted with the group soon after, due to a disagreement with Macedonski, and was later attacked by the latter for allegedly accumulating academic posts. Literatorul aimed to irritate Junimist sensibilities from its first issue, when it stated its dislike for \"political prejudice in literature.\" This was most likely an allusion to the views of Junimist figure Titu Maiorescu, being later accompanied by explicit attacks on him and his followers.",
"This was most likely an allusion to the views of Junimist figure Titu Maiorescu, being later accompanied by explicit attacks on him and his followers. An early success for the new journal was the warm reception it received from Vasile Alecsandri, a Romantic poet and occasional Junimist whom Macedonski idolized at the time, and the collaboration of popular memoirist Gheorghe Sion. Another such figure was the intellectual V. A. Urechia, whom Macedonski made president of the Literatorul Society.",
"Another such figure was the intellectual V. A. Urechia, whom Macedonski made president of the Literatorul Society. In 1881, Education Minister Urechia granted Macedonski the Bene-Merenti medal 1st class, although, Călinescu stresses, the poet had only totaled 18 months of public service. At around that time, Macedonski had allegedly begun courting actress Aristizza Romanescu, who rejected his advances, leaving him unenthusiastic about love matters and unwilling to seek female company.",
"At around that time, Macedonski had allegedly begun courting actress Aristizza Romanescu, who rejected his advances, leaving him unenthusiastic about love matters and unwilling to seek female company. In parallel, Macedonski used the magazine to publicize his disagreement with the main Junimist voice, Convorbiri Literare. Among the group of contributors, several had already been victims of Maiorescu's irony: Sion, Urechia, Pantazi Ghica and Petru Grădișteanu.",
"Among the group of contributors, several had already been victims of Maiorescu's irony: Sion, Urechia, Pantazi Ghica and Petru Grădișteanu. While welcoming the debut of its contributor, Parnassian-Neoclassicist novelist and poet Duiliu Zamfirescu, Macedonski repeatedly attacked its main exponent, the conservative poet Eminescu, claiming not to understand his poetry. However, Literatorul was also open to contributions from some Convorbiri Literare affiliates (Zamfirescu, Matilda Cugler-Poni and Veronica Micle). In November 1880, Macedonski's plays Iadeș! (\"Wishbone!",
"In November 1880, Macedonski's plays Iadeș! (\"Wishbone! (\"Wishbone! \", a comedy first printed in 1882) and Unchiașul Sărăcie (\"Old Man Poverty\") premiered at the National Theater Bucharest. A sign of government approval, this was followed by Macedonski's appointment to a minor administrative office, as Historical Monuments Inspector. Nevertheless, both plays failed to impose themselves on public perception, and were withdrawn from the program by 1888.",
"Nevertheless, both plays failed to impose themselves on public perception, and were withdrawn from the program by 1888. Călinescu asserts that, although Macedonski later claimed to have always been facing poverty, his job in the administration, coupled with other sources of revenue, ensured him a comfortable existence. In 1881, Macedonski published a new collection of poetry. Titled Poezii, it carries the year \"1882\" on its original cover. Again moving away from liberalism, Macedonski sought to make himself accepted by Junimea and Maiorescu.",
"Again moving away from liberalism, Macedonski sought to make himself accepted by Junimea and Maiorescu. He consequently attended the Junimea sessions, and gave a public reading of Noaptea de noiembrie (\"November Night\"), the first publicized piece in his lifelong Nights cycle. It reportedly earned him the praise of historian and poet Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu, who, although an anti-Junimist, happened to be in the audience.",
"It reportedly earned him the praise of historian and poet Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu, who, although an anti-Junimist, happened to be in the audience. Despite rumors according to which he had applauded Macedonski, Maiorescu himself was not impressed, and left an unenthusiastic account of the event in his private diary. Against Alecsandri and Eminescu Macedonski's open conflict with Junimea began in 1882, when he engaged in a publicized polemic with Alecsandri.",
"Against Alecsandri and Eminescu Macedonski's open conflict with Junimea began in 1882, when he engaged in a publicized polemic with Alecsandri. It was ignited when, through Macedonski's articles, Literatorul criticized Alecsandri for accepting Romanian Academy prizes despite being its member, and later involved Sion (whose replies on behalf of the Academy were derided by Macedonski). Macedonski also took distance from Alecsandri's style, publishing a \"critical analysis\" of his poetry in one issue of Literatorul.",
"Macedonski also took distance from Alecsandri's style, publishing a \"critical analysis\" of his poetry in one issue of Literatorul. In turn, Alecsandri humiliated his young rival by portraying him as Zoilus, the prototype of slanderers, and himself as the model poet Horace in the 1883 play Fântâna Blanduziei. The two were eventually reconciled, and Macedonski again spoke of Alecsandri as his ideological and stylistic predecessor.",
"The two were eventually reconciled, and Macedonski again spoke of Alecsandri as his ideological and stylistic predecessor. In April 1882, Eminescu had also replied to Macedonski in Timpul journal, referring to an unnamed poet who \"barely finishes high-school, comes over to Bucharest selling nick-nacks and makeup [and goes into] literary dealership\".",
"In April 1882, Eminescu had also replied to Macedonski in Timpul journal, referring to an unnamed poet who \"barely finishes high-school, comes over to Bucharest selling nick-nacks and makeup [and goes into] literary dealership\". Reproaching Macedonski's attacks on Alecsandri, Eminescu makes a nationalist comment about the young poet bearing \"the bastard instincts of those foreigners who were Romanianized only yesterday\", and attributes him \"the physiognomy of a hairdresser\". Through the articles of Petru Th.",
"Through the articles of Petru Th. Through the articles of Petru Th. Missir, Convorbiri Literare gave Poezii a negative review, deemed \"malevolent\" by literary historian Mircea Anghelescu. At the other end of the political and cultural spectrum, Macedonski faced opposition from the intellectuals attracted to socialism, in particular Contemporanul editors Constantin Mille and Ioan Nădejde, with whom he was engaged in an extended polemic.",
"At the other end of the political and cultural spectrum, Macedonski faced opposition from the intellectuals attracted to socialism, in particular Contemporanul editors Constantin Mille and Ioan Nădejde, with whom he was engaged in an extended polemic. In the meantime, Macedonski published his own play, which had Cuza for its main character and was eponymously titled Cuza-Vodă, and completed translations for Literatorul—from Maurice Rollinat, whom he helped impose as a main cultural reference in Romanian Symbolism, and from the Greek poet Akhillefs Paraskhos.",
"In the meantime, Macedonski published his own play, which had Cuza for its main character and was eponymously titled Cuza-Vodă, and completed translations for Literatorul—from Maurice Rollinat, whom he helped impose as a main cultural reference in Romanian Symbolism, and from the Greek poet Akhillefs Paraskhos. In 1883, he also contributed his first sketch story, Casa cu nr. 10 (\"The House at Number 10\"). In early 1883, he married Ana Rallet-Slătineanu.",
"In early 1883, he married Ana Rallet-Slătineanu. In early 1883, he married Ana Rallet-Slătineanu. Wealthy and supposedly related to Romanian aristocrats, she would bear him five children in all: the painter Alexis was the eldest, followed by Nikita; the three youngest were two sons (Panel and Constantin Macedonski) and a daughter, Anna (also known as Nina). His heterosexual lifestyle notwithstanding, Macedonski remained a self-avowed admirer of male beauties, and was rumored to be a closeted homosexual.",
"His heterosexual lifestyle notwithstanding, Macedonski remained a self-avowed admirer of male beauties, and was rumored to be a closeted homosexual. In July 1883, Macedonski undertook one of his most controversial anti-Junimist actions. That month, Literatorul published an epigram signed with the pseudonym Duna, deriding an unnamed author who had lost his mind. Mihai Eminescu—whom many had already come to see as Romania's national poet—had by then developed a mental disorder which had become known to the general public.",
"Mihai Eminescu—whom many had already come to see as Romania's national poet—had by then developed a mental disorder which had become known to the general public. Ever since that moment, Macedonski has generally been believed to be Duna, and as a result, was faced with much criticism from both readers and commentators. The intense anti-Literatorul press campaign was initiated in August, when writer Grigore Ventura issued an article condemning Macedonski's attitude (published in the Bucharest-based newspaper L'Indépendance Roumaine), with Macedonski responding in the National Liberal organ Românul.",
"The intense anti-Literatorul press campaign was initiated in August, when writer Grigore Ventura issued an article condemning Macedonski's attitude (published in the Bucharest-based newspaper L'Indépendance Roumaine), with Macedonski responding in the National Liberal organ Românul. During one evening, Macedonski is reported to have been assaulted by anonymous supporters of Eminescu. His previous conflict with Nădejde was also affected by this renewed controversy: while opposed to Junimist policies, the socialists at Contemporanul voiced their admiration for Eminescu's art.",
"His previous conflict with Nădejde was also affected by this renewed controversy: while opposed to Junimist policies, the socialists at Contemporanul voiced their admiration for Eminescu's art. Late in 1883, Macedonski and his friends unveiled Ion Georgescu's statue of their mentor Bolintineanu in the National Theater lobby. The circumstances in which this took place rose suspicion of foul play; on this grounds, Macedonski was ridiculed by his former friend Zamfirescu in the journal România Liberă, which left him embittered.",
"The circumstances in which this took place rose suspicion of foul play; on this grounds, Macedonski was ridiculed by his former friend Zamfirescu in the journal România Liberă, which left him embittered. Călinescu proposes that, although such negative reactions were invoked by Macedonski's supporters as a sign of their mentor having been marginalized, Macedonski had expressed his dissatisfaction with the cultural environment long before that moment, and was still a respected figure even after the incidents took place.",
"Călinescu proposes that, although such negative reactions were invoked by Macedonski's supporters as a sign of their mentor having been marginalized, Macedonski had expressed his dissatisfaction with the cultural environment long before that moment, and was still a respected figure even after the incidents took place. First Paris sojourn and Poezia viitorului Having been stripped of his administrative office by the new Brătianu cabinet, Macedonski faced financial difficulties, and was forced to move into a house on the outskirts of Bucharest, and later moved between houses in northern Bucharest.",
"First Paris sojourn and Poezia viitorului Having been stripped of his administrative office by the new Brătianu cabinet, Macedonski faced financial difficulties, and was forced to move into a house on the outskirts of Bucharest, and later moved between houses in northern Bucharest. According to Călinescu, the poet continued to cultivate luxury and passionately invested in the decorative arts, although his source of income, other than the supposed assistance \"of [European] ruling houses\", remains a mystery.",
"According to Călinescu, the poet continued to cultivate luxury and passionately invested in the decorative arts, although his source of income, other than the supposed assistance \"of [European] ruling houses\", remains a mystery. Arguing that Macedonski was \"always in need of money\" to use on his luxury items, poet Victor Eftimiu claimed: \"He did not shy away from sending emphatic notes to the potentates of his day [...], flattering some, threatening others.",
"Arguing that Macedonski was \"always in need of money\" to use on his luxury items, poet Victor Eftimiu claimed: \"He did not shy away from sending emphatic notes to the potentates of his day [...], flattering some, threatening others. He would marry off or simply mate some of his disciples with aging and rich women, and then he would squeeze out their assets.\" Macedonski eventually left Romania in 1884, visiting Paris.",
"Macedonski eventually left Romania in 1884, visiting Paris. Macedonski eventually left Romania in 1884, visiting Paris. On his way there, he passed through Craiova, where he met aspiring author Traian Demetrescu, whose works he had already hosted in Literatorul and who was to become his friend and protégé. Demetrescu later recalled being gripped by \"tremors of emotion\" upon first catching sight of Macedonski.",
"Demetrescu later recalled being gripped by \"tremors of emotion\" upon first catching sight of Macedonski. In France, Macedonski set up contacts within the French literary environment, and began contributing to French or Francophone literary publications—including the Belgian Symbolist platforms La Wallonie and L'Élan littéraire. His collaboration with La Wallonie alongside Albert Mockel, Tudor Vianu believes, makes Alexandru Macedonski one in the original wave of European Symbolists. This adaptation to Symbolism also drew on his marked Francophilia, which in turn complemented his tendencies toward cosmopolitanism.",
"This adaptation to Symbolism also drew on his marked Francophilia, which in turn complemented his tendencies toward cosmopolitanism. He became opposed to Carol I, who, in 1881, had been granted the Crown of the Romanian Kingdom. In addition to his admiration for Cuza and the 1848 Wallachian revolutionaries, the poet objected to the King's sympathy for France's main rival, the German Empire.",
"In addition to his admiration for Cuza and the 1848 Wallachian revolutionaries, the poet objected to the King's sympathy for France's main rival, the German Empire. In January 1885, after having returned from the voyage, he announced his retirement from public life, claiming that German influence and its exponents at Junimea had \"conquered\" Romanian culture, and repeating his claim that Eminescu lacked value.",
"In January 1885, after having returned from the voyage, he announced his retirement from public life, claiming that German influence and its exponents at Junimea had \"conquered\" Romanian culture, and repeating his claim that Eminescu lacked value. In the meantime, Literatorul went out of print, although new series were still published at irregular intervals until 1904 (when it ceased being published altogether).",
"In the meantime, Literatorul went out of print, although new series were still published at irregular intervals until 1904 (when it ceased being published altogether). The magazine was reportedly hated by the public, causing Macedonski, Stoenescu, Florescu, Urechia and educator Anghel Demetriescu to try to revive it as Revista Literară (\"The Literary Review\", published for a few months in 1885).",
"The magazine was reportedly hated by the public, causing Macedonski, Stoenescu, Florescu, Urechia and educator Anghel Demetriescu to try to revive it as Revista Literară (\"The Literary Review\", published for a few months in 1885). The poet attempted to establish other magazines, all of them short-lived, and, in 1887, handed for print his Naturalist novella Dramă banală (\"Banal Drama\") while completing one of the most revered episodes in the Nights series, Noaptea de mai (\"May Night\").",
"The poet attempted to establish other magazines, all of them short-lived, and, in 1887, handed for print his Naturalist novella Dramă banală (\"Banal Drama\") while completing one of the most revered episodes in the Nights series, Noaptea de mai (\"May Night\"). Also in 1886, he worked on his other Naturalist novellas: Zi de august (\"August Day\"), Pe drum de poștă (\"On the Stagecoach Trail\"), Din carnetul unui dezertor (\"From the Notebook of a Deserter\"), Între cotețe (\"Amidst Hen Houses\") and the eponymous Nicu Dereanu.",
"Also in 1886, he worked on his other Naturalist novellas: Zi de august (\"August Day\"), Pe drum de poștă (\"On the Stagecoach Trail\"), Din carnetul unui dezertor (\"From the Notebook of a Deserter\"), Între cotețe (\"Amidst Hen Houses\") and the eponymous Nicu Dereanu. By 1888, he was again sympathetic toward Blaremberg, whose dissident National Liberal faction had formed an alliance with the Conservatives, editing Stindardul Țărei (later Straja Țărei) as his supporting journal.",
"By 1888, he was again sympathetic toward Blaremberg, whose dissident National Liberal faction had formed an alliance with the Conservatives, editing Stindardul Țărei (later Straja Țărei) as his supporting journal. However, late in the same year, he returned to the liberal mainstream, being assigned a weekly column in Românul newspaper. Two years later, he attempted to relaunch Literatorul under the leadership of liberal figure Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu, but the latter eventually settled for founding his own Revista Nouă.",
"Two years later, he attempted to relaunch Literatorul under the leadership of liberal figure Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu, but the latter eventually settled for founding his own Revista Nouă. Around 1891, he saluted Junimeas own break with the Conservatives and its entry into politics at the Conservative-Constitutional Party, before offering an enthusiastic welcome to the 1892 Junimist agitation among university students.",
"Around 1891, he saluted Junimeas own break with the Conservatives and its entry into politics at the Conservative-Constitutional Party, before offering an enthusiastic welcome to the 1892 Junimist agitation among university students. In 1894, he would speak in front of student crowds gathered at a political rally in University Square, and soon after made himself known for supporting the cause of ethnic Romanians and other underrepresented groups of Austria-Hungary. His literary thesis of the time was titled Poezia viitorului (\"The Poetry of the Future\").",
"His literary thesis of the time was titled Poezia viitorului (\"The Poetry of the Future\"). It upheld Symbolist authors as the models to follow, while Macedonski personally began producing what he referred to as \"instrumentalist\" poems, composed around musical and onomatopoeic elements, and showing a preference for internal rhymes. Such an experimental approach was soon after parodied and ridiculed by Ion Luca Caragiale, who had by then affiliated and parted with Junimea, in his new Moftul Român magazine.",
"Such an experimental approach was soon after parodied and ridiculed by Ion Luca Caragiale, who had by then affiliated and parted with Junimea, in his new Moftul Român magazine. The poet sought to reconcile with his rival, publicizing a claim that Caragiale was being unjustly ignored by the cultural establishment, but this attempt failed to mend relations between them, and the conflict escalated further.",
"The poet sought to reconcile with his rival, publicizing a claim that Caragiale was being unjustly ignored by the cultural establishment, but this attempt failed to mend relations between them, and the conflict escalated further. While, in 1893, Literatorul hosted fragments of Thalassa in its Romanian-language version, the author also launched a daily, Lumina (\"The Light\").",
"While, in 1893, Literatorul hosted fragments of Thalassa in its Romanian-language version, the author also launched a daily, Lumina (\"The Light\"). It was also at that stage that Alexandru Macedonski associated with Cincinat Pavelescu, the noted epigrammarian, who joined him in editing Literatorul, and with whom he co-authored the 1893 verse tragedy depicting the Biblical hero Saul, and named after him. Although showcased by the National Theater with star actor Constantin Nottara in the title role, it failed to register success with the public.",
"Although showcased by the National Theater with star actor Constantin Nottara in the title role, it failed to register success with the public. Two years later, the two Literatorul editors made headlines as pioneers of cycling. An enthusiastic promoter of the sport, Macedonski joined fellow poet Constantin Cantilli on a marathon, pedaling from Bucharest across the border into Austria-Hungary, all the way down to Brașov.",
"An enthusiastic promoter of the sport, Macedonski joined fellow poet Constantin Cantilli on a marathon, pedaling from Bucharest across the border into Austria-Hungary, all the way down to Brașov. Late 1890s Macedonski also returned with a new volume of poetry, Excelsior (consecutive editions in 1895 and 1896), and founded Liga Ortodoxă (\"The Orthodox League\"), a magazine noted for hosting the debut of Tudor Arghezi, later one of the most celebrated figures in Romanian literature.",
"Late 1890s Macedonski also returned with a new volume of poetry, Excelsior (consecutive editions in 1895 and 1896), and founded Liga Ortodoxă (\"The Orthodox League\"), a magazine noted for hosting the debut of Tudor Arghezi, later one of the most celebrated figures in Romanian literature. Macedonski commended his new protégé for reaching \"the summit of poetry and art\" at \"an age when I was still prattling verses\".",
"Macedonski commended his new protégé for reaching \"the summit of poetry and art\" at \"an age when I was still prattling verses\". Liga Ortodoxă also hosted articles against Caragiale, which Macedonski signed with the pseudonym Sallustiu (\"Sallustius\"). The magazine was additional proof of Macedonski's return to conservatism, and largely dedicated to defending the cause of Romanian Orthodox Metropolitan Ghenadie, deposed by the Romanian Synod following a political scandal. It defended Ghenadie up until he chose to resign, and subsequently went out of print.",
"It defended Ghenadie up until he chose to resign, and subsequently went out of print. Macedonski was shocked to note that Ghenadie had given up his own defense. In 1895, his Casa cu nr. 10 was translated into French by the Journal des Débats, whose editors reportedly found it picturesque. Two years later, Macedonski himself published French-language translations of his earlier poetry under the title Bronzes, a volume prefaced by his disciple, the critic and promoter Alexandru Bogdan-Pitești.",
"Two years later, Macedonski himself published French-language translations of his earlier poetry under the title Bronzes, a volume prefaced by his disciple, the critic and promoter Alexandru Bogdan-Pitești. Although it was positively reviewed by Mercure de France magazine, Bronzes was largely unnoticed by the French audience, a fact which Tudor Vianu attributes to Bogdan-Pitești's lack of qualification for the cultural mission Macedonski had trusted him with.",
"Although it was positively reviewed by Mercure de France magazine, Bronzes was largely unnoticed by the French audience, a fact which Tudor Vianu attributes to Bogdan-Pitești's lack of qualification for the cultural mission Macedonski had trusted him with. By that time, his circle had come to be frequented with regularity by Bogdan-Pitești's friend and collaborator, the celebrated painter Ștefan Luchian, who was in the Symbolist and Art Nouveau stage of his career.",
"By that time, his circle had come to be frequented with regularity by Bogdan-Pitești's friend and collaborator, the celebrated painter Ștefan Luchian, who was in the Symbolist and Art Nouveau stage of his career. By 1898, Macedonski was again facing financial difficulties, and his collaborators resorted to organizing a fundraiser in his honor. His rejection of the Orthodox establishment was documented by his political tract, published that year as . Between that time and 1900, he focused on researching esoteric, occult and pseudoscientific subjects.",
"Between that time and 1900, he focused on researching esoteric, occult and pseudoscientific subjects. Traian Demetrescu, who recorded his visits with Macedonski, recalled his former mentor being opposed to his positivist take on science, claiming to explain the workings of the Universe in \"a different way\", through \"imagination\", but also taking an interest in Camille Flammarion's astronomy studies.",
"Traian Demetrescu, who recorded his visits with Macedonski, recalled his former mentor being opposed to his positivist take on science, claiming to explain the workings of the Universe in \"a different way\", through \"imagination\", but also taking an interest in Camille Flammarion's astronomy studies. Macedonski was determined to interpret death through parapsychological means, and, in 1900, conferenced at the Atheneum on the subject Sufletul și viața viitoare (\"The Soul and the Coming Life\").",
"Macedonski was determined to interpret death through parapsychological means, and, in 1900, conferenced at the Atheneum on the subject Sufletul și viața viitoare (\"The Soul and the Coming Life\"). The focal point of his vision was that man could voluntarily stave off death with words and gestures, a concept he elaborated upon in his later articles.",
"The focal point of his vision was that man could voluntarily stave off death with words and gestures, a concept he elaborated upon in his later articles. In one such piece, Macedonski argued: \"man has the power [...] to compact the energy currents known as thoughts to the point where he changes them, according to his own will, into objects or soul-bearing creatures.\" He also attempted to build a machine for extinguishing chimney fires.",
"He also attempted to build a machine for extinguishing chimney fires. Later, Nikita Macedonski registered the invention of nacre-treated paper, which is sometimes attributed to his father. Caion scandal and expatriation The few issues of Literatorul that were printed in 1899-1900 saw the circle being joined by the young Symbolist poet Ștefan Petică. In 1902, he published Cartea de aur (\"The Golden Book\"), comprising his sketch stories and novellas. In parallel, Macedonski returned to the public scene, founding Forța Morală magazine.",
"In parallel, Macedonski returned to the public scene, founding Forța Morală magazine. It was through this venue that he began responding to Ion Luca Caragiale's earlier attacks. This he did by hosting the articles of aspiring journalist Constantin Al. Ionescu-Caion, who accused Caragiale of having plagiarized a Hungarian author by the name of Kemény in his tragedy play Năpasta. Kemény turned out to be non-existent.",
"Kemény turned out to be non-existent. Kemény turned out to be non-existent. According to Vianu, Macedonski had no prior knowledge of the fraud, but had also been \"blinded\" by his resentments instead of displaying \"discernment\", and had even showed evidence of \"insanity\". Most in Macedonski's own series of anti-Caragiale articles were unsigned, or signed with pseudonyms such as Luciliu (\"Gaius Lucilius\").",
"Most in Macedonski's own series of anti-Caragiale articles were unsigned, or signed with pseudonyms such as Luciliu (\"Gaius Lucilius\"). Like in the case of Eminescu's conflict with Macedonski, the polemic enlisted a negative response from the public. The poet's associate Th. M. Stoenescu convinced himself that Caragiale was being framed, and refused to allow Revista Literară to be used for endorsing Caion, which caused Macedonski to shun him.",
"M. Stoenescu convinced himself that Caragiale was being framed, and refused to allow Revista Literară to be used for endorsing Caion, which caused Macedonski to shun him. Macedonski refused to withdraw his support for the cause even after Caragiale sued Caion, but Forța Morală soon went out of print. Before it did so, the journal hosted some of Macedonski's most renowned poems, including Lewki and Noaptea de decemvrie (\"December Night\"), together with his article on Remy de Gourmont's thoughts on poetics.",
"Before it did so, the journal hosted some of Macedonski's most renowned poems, including Lewki and Noaptea de decemvrie (\"December Night\"), together with his article on Remy de Gourmont's thoughts on poetics. In his article of 1903, titled (\"Toward Occultism. Later Orientations toward Theosophy and Social Philosophy\"), the poet envisaged making his interest in esoteric subjects the basis of a new literary movement.",
"Later Orientations toward Theosophy and Social Philosophy\"), the poet envisaged making his interest in esoteric subjects the basis of a new literary movement. Also that year, poet George Bacovia began attending the literary circle, and gave a reading of his celebrated Plumb poem, being welcomed by Macedonski with a flattering epigram. Macedonski's series of short-lived periodicals resumed in 1905, when he founded Le Beau Danube Bleu (French for \"The Beautiful Blue Danube\") and Liga Conservatoare (\"The Conservative League\").",
"Macedonski's series of short-lived periodicals resumed in 1905, when he founded Le Beau Danube Bleu (French for \"The Beautiful Blue Danube\") and Liga Conservatoare (\"The Conservative League\"). He registered more success in 1906, when his Thalassa was published, as Le Calvaire de feu, by Edward Sansot's Paris-based publishing house. This followed intense self-promotion within the French literary environment, as well as advertisements in the French press.",
"This followed intense self-promotion within the French literary environment, as well as advertisements in the French press. Part of this involved Macedonski sending his book to be reviewed by Émile Faguet, Jean Mounet-Sully, Joséphin Péladan, Pierre Quillard and Jean Richepin, who replied with what Vianu deems \"the politeness of circumstance.\" The volume was nonetheless favorably reviewed by the prestigious magazines Mercure de France and Gil Blas.",
"The volume was nonetheless favorably reviewed by the prestigious magazines Mercure de France and Gil Blas. Also in 1906, La Revue Musicale published his interview with Combarieu, through which the latter aimed to verify supposed connections between literary inspiration and musical sensitivity. By 1907, he was concentrating on experiments in physics, and eventually publicized his claim to have discovered that light does not travel through vacuum. He sent a paper on astronomy subjects to be reviewed by the Société Astronomique de France, of which he subsequently became a member.",
"He sent a paper on astronomy subjects to be reviewed by the Société Astronomique de France, of which he subsequently became a member. The same year, he drafted the plan for a world government, announcing that he had found sympathy for the cause throughout Europe. Macedonski also introduced himself to an Italophone public, when two of his sonnets were published by Poesia, the magazine of Futurist theorist Filippo Tommaso Marinetti. Between 1910 and 1912, Macedonski was again in Paris.",
"Between 1910 and 1912, Macedonski was again in Paris. Seeking to withdraw himself from Romania's public life due to what he perceived as injustice, he had by then completed work on the French-language tragicomedy Le Fou? (\"The Madman? \"), which was only published after his death.",
"\"), which was only published after his death. He was actively seeking to establish his reputation in French theater, reading his new play to a circle which included Louis de Gonzague Frick and Florian-Parmentier, while, at home, newspapers reported rumors that his work was going to be staged by Sarah Bernhardt's company. His efforts were largely fruitless, and, accompanied by his son Alexis, the poet left France, spent some time in Italy, and eventually returned to Romania.",
"His efforts were largely fruitless, and, accompanied by his son Alexis, the poet left France, spent some time in Italy, and eventually returned to Romania. Passing through the German Empire, he learned of Ion Luca Caragiale's sudden death, and wrote Adevărul daily an open letter, which showed that he had come to revise his stance, notably comparing the deceased author's style and legacy to those of Mark Twain.",
"Passing through the German Empire, he learned of Ion Luca Caragiale's sudden death, and wrote Adevărul daily an open letter, which showed that he had come to revise his stance, notably comparing the deceased author's style and legacy to those of Mark Twain. During Macedonski's absence, his style and work had come to be reviewed more positively, in particular by the young authors I. Dragoslav, Horia Furtună, Ion Pillat, Anastasie Mândru, Al.",
"During Macedonski's absence, his style and work had come to be reviewed more positively, in particular by the young authors I. Dragoslav, Horia Furtună, Ion Pillat, Anastasie Mândru, Al. T. Stamatiad, as well as by post-Junimist critic Mihail Dragomirescu, who offered Macedonski a good reception in his Convorbiri Critice magazine. Tudor Vianu, who cites contemporary statements by Dragoslav, concludes that, upon arrival, Macedonski was enthusiastically received by a public who had missed him.",
"Tudor Vianu, who cites contemporary statements by Dragoslav, concludes that, upon arrival, Macedonski was enthusiastically received by a public who had missed him. Also in 1912, one of his poems was published as an homage by Simbolul, a magazine published by the young and radical Symbolists Tristan Tzara, Ion Vinea and Marcel Janco. Around that time, Macedonski also collaborated with the Iași-based moderate Symbolist magazine Versuri și Proză.",
"Around that time, Macedonski also collaborated with the Iași-based moderate Symbolist magazine Versuri și Proză. Polemics surrounding his case nevertheless continued: in late 1912, as part of a National Theater adaptation of Alphonse Daudet's Sapho, actor Cazimir Belcot borrowed from Macedonski's appearance and mannerisms to portray a failure. Return and World War I years Macedonski and his protégés had become regular frequenters of Bucharest cafés.",
"Return and World War I years Macedonski and his protégés had become regular frequenters of Bucharest cafés. Having a table permanently reserved for him at Imperial Hotel's Kübler Coffeehouse, he was later a presence in two other such establishments: High-Life and Terasa Oteteleșanu. He is said to have spent part of his time at Kübler loudly mocking the traditionalist poets who gathered at an opposite table.",
"He is said to have spent part of his time at Kübler loudly mocking the traditionalist poets who gathered at an opposite table. Meanwhile, the poet's literary club, set up at his house in Dorobanți quarter, had come to resemble a mystical circle, over which he held magisterial command. Vianu, who visited the poet together with Pillat, compares this atmosphere with those created by other \"mystics and magi of poetry\" (citing as examples Joséphin Péladan, Louis-Nicolas Ménard, Stéphane Mallarmé and Stefan George).",
"Vianu, who visited the poet together with Pillat, compares this atmosphere with those created by other \"mystics and magi of poetry\" (citing as examples Joséphin Péladan, Louis-Nicolas Ménard, Stéphane Mallarmé and Stefan George). The hall where seances were hosted was only lit by candles, and the tables were covered in red fabric. Macedonski himself was seated on a throne designed by Alexis, and adopted a dominant pose. The apparent secrecy and the initiation rites performed on new members were purportedly inspired by Rosicrucianism and the Freemasonry.",
"The apparent secrecy and the initiation rites performed on new members were purportedly inspired by Rosicrucianism and the Freemasonry. By then, Macedonski was rewarding his followers' poems with false gemstones. The poet founded Revista Critică (\"The Critical Review\"), which again closed after a short while, and issued the poetry volume Flori sacre (\"Sacred Flowers\").",
"The poet founded Revista Critică (\"The Critical Review\"), which again closed after a short while, and issued the poetry volume Flori sacre (\"Sacred Flowers\"). Grouping his Forța Morală poems and older pieces, it was dedicated to his new generation of followers, whom Macedonski's preface referred to as \"the new Romania.\" He continued to hope that Le Fou?",
"He continued to hope that Le Fou? He continued to hope that Le Fou? was going to be staged in France, especially after he received some encouragement in the form of articles in Mercure de France and Journal des Débats, but was confronted with the general public's indifference. In 1914, Thalassa was published in a non-definitive version by Constantin Banu's magazine Flacăra, which sought to revive overall interest in his work.",
"In 1914, Thalassa was published in a non-definitive version by Constantin Banu's magazine Flacăra, which sought to revive overall interest in his work. At a French Red Cross conference in September, Macedonski paid his final public homage to France, which had just become entangled in World War I.",
"At a French Red Cross conference in September, Macedonski paid his final public homage to France, which had just become entangled in World War I. It was also in 1914 that Macedonski commissioned for print his very first rondels and completed work on a tragedy play about Renaissance poet Dante Aligheri—known as La Mort de Dante in its French original, and Moartea lui Dante in the secondary Romanian version (both meaning \"Dante's Death\").",
"It was also in 1914 that Macedonski commissioned for print his very first rondels and completed work on a tragedy play about Renaissance poet Dante Aligheri—known as La Mort de Dante in its French original, and Moartea lui Dante in the secondary Romanian version (both meaning \"Dante's Death\"). The aging poet was by then building connections with the local art scene: together with artist Alexandru Severin, he created (and probably presided over) Cenaclul idealist (\"The Idealist Club\"), which included Symbolist artists and was placed under the honorary patronage of King Carol.",
"The aging poet was by then building connections with the local art scene: together with artist Alexandru Severin, he created (and probably presided over) Cenaclul idealist (\"The Idealist Club\"), which included Symbolist artists and was placed under the honorary patronage of King Carol. 1916 was also the year when Romania abandoned her neutrality and, under a National Liberal government, rallied with the Entente Powers.",
"1916 was also the year when Romania abandoned her neutrality and, under a National Liberal government, rallied with the Entente Powers. During the neutrality period, Macedonski had shed his lifelong Francophilia to join the Germanophiles, who wanted to see Romanian participation on the Central Powers' side. In 1915, he issued the journal Cuvântul Meu (\"My Word\").",
"In 1915, he issued the journal Cuvântul Meu (\"My Word\"). Entirely written by him, it published ten consecutive issues before going bankrupt, and notably lashed out against France for being \"bourgeois\" and \"lawyer-filled\", demanding from Romania not to get involved in the conflict. Commentators and researchers of his work have declared themselves puzzled by this change in allegiance. Macedonski further alienated public opinion during the Romanian Campaign, when the Central Powers armies entered southern Romania and occupied Bucharest.",
"Macedonski further alienated public opinion during the Romanian Campaign, when the Central Powers armies entered southern Romania and occupied Bucharest. Alexis was drafted and became a war artist, but Macedonski Sr, who received formal protection from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bucharest, chose to stay behind while the authorities and many ordinary citizens relocated to Iași, where resistance was still being organized. His stance was interpreted as collaborationism by his critics. However, Macedonski reportedly faced extreme poverty throughout the occupation.",
"However, Macedonski reportedly faced extreme poverty throughout the occupation. Having by then begun to attend the circle of Alexandru Bogdan-Pitești, his promoter and fellow Germanophile, he was once rewarded by the latter with a turkey filled with gold coins. Late polemics, illness and death Literatorul resumed print in June 1918, once Romania capitulated to the Central Powers under the Treaty of Bucharest.",
"Late polemics, illness and death Literatorul resumed print in June 1918, once Romania capitulated to the Central Powers under the Treaty of Bucharest. A controversial incident occurred soon afterwards, when, going against the counsel of his friend and collaborator Stamatiad, Macedonski signed a Literatorul article where the German military administrator August von Mackensen, who was about to lead his troops out of Romania, was presented in a positive light.",
"A controversial incident occurred soon afterwards, when, going against the counsel of his friend and collaborator Stamatiad, Macedonski signed a Literatorul article where the German military administrator August von Mackensen, who was about to lead his troops out of Romania, was presented in a positive light. In a manner deemed \"excessive\" by historian Lucian Boia, the Romanian writer was paying homage not just to Mackensen, but also, indirectly, to German Emperor Wilhelm II and the Reichsheer.",
"In a manner deemed \"excessive\" by historian Lucian Boia, the Romanian writer was paying homage not just to Mackensen, but also, indirectly, to German Emperor Wilhelm II and the Reichsheer. Soon after reading the piece, Romanian Academy member and fellow Symbolist promoter Ovid Densusianu withdrew his own nomination of Macedonski for an Academy seat.",
"Soon after reading the piece, Romanian Academy member and fellow Symbolist promoter Ovid Densusianu withdrew his own nomination of Macedonski for an Academy seat. During summer, Macedonski also joined the group of public figures who saluted the senior Conservative Germanophile Petre P. Carp (deeming Carp \"the veteran of character, honesty and Romanianism\"), and, in September, joined Ioan Slavici and Gala Galaction as a contributor to the occupation magazine Rumänien in Wort und Bild, where he prophesied an anti-French \"political renaissance\" of Romania.",
"During summer, Macedonski also joined the group of public figures who saluted the senior Conservative Germanophile Petre P. Carp (deeming Carp \"the veteran of character, honesty and Romanianism\"), and, in September, joined Ioan Slavici and Gala Galaction as a contributor to the occupation magazine Rumänien in Wort und Bild, where he prophesied an anti-French \"political renaissance\" of Romania. Alexandru Macedonski faced problems after the Romanian government resumed its control over Bucharest, and during the early years of Greater Romania.",
"Alexandru Macedonski faced problems after the Romanian government resumed its control over Bucharest, and during the early years of Greater Romania. What followed the Mackensen article, Vianu claims, was Macedonski's bellum contra omnes (\"war against all\").",
"What followed the Mackensen article, Vianu claims, was Macedonski's bellum contra omnes (\"war against all\"). However, the poet made efforts to accommodate himself with the triumphal return of the Iași authorities: in December 1918, Literatorul celebrated the extension of Romanian rule \"from the Tisza to the Dniester\" as a success of the National Liberals, paying homage to Francophile political leaders Ion I. C. Brătianu and Take Ionescu.",
"However, the poet made efforts to accommodate himself with the triumphal return of the Iași authorities: in December 1918, Literatorul celebrated the extension of Romanian rule \"from the Tisza to the Dniester\" as a success of the National Liberals, paying homage to Francophile political leaders Ion I. C. Brătianu and Take Ionescu. Macedonski also envisaged running in the 1918 election for a seat in the new Parliament (which was supposed to vote a document to replace the 1866 Constitution as the organic law), but never registered his candidature.",
"Macedonski also envisaged running in the 1918 election for a seat in the new Parliament (which was supposed to vote a document to replace the 1866 Constitution as the organic law), but never registered his candidature. According to Vianu, he had intended to create a joke political party, the \"intellectual group\", whose other member was an unnamed coffeehouse acquaintance of his. Literatorul was revived for a final time in 1919. His health deteriorated from heart disease, which is described by Vianu as an effect of constant smoking.",
"His health deteriorated from heart disease, which is described by Vianu as an effect of constant smoking. By that stage, Vianu recalls, Macedonski also had problems coming to terms with his age. His last anthumous work was the pamphlet Zaherlina (named after the Romanian version of \"Zacherlin\"; also known as Zacherlina or Zacherlina în continuare, \"Zacherlin Contd. \"), completed in 1919 and published the following year. It notably attacked Densusianu, who had become Macedonski's personal enemy.",
"It notably attacked Densusianu, who had become Macedonski's personal enemy. Some other polemical texts he had authored late in life saw print only after his death, under the title Mustrări postume către o generație neînțelegătoare (\"Posthumous Reprimands for an Obtuse Generation\"). 1920 was also the year when the People's Party cabinet attempted to pension him off from his office at the Historical Monuments Commission, but the publicized protest of Macedonski's fellow writers in Bucharest made it reconsider.",
"1920 was also the year when the People's Party cabinet attempted to pension him off from his office at the Historical Monuments Commission, but the publicized protest of Macedonski's fellow writers in Bucharest made it reconsider. Confined to his home by illness and old age, Macedonski was still writing poems, some of which later known as his Ultima verba (\"Last Words\"). The writer died on 24 November, at three o'clock in the afternoon.",
"The writer died on 24 November, at three o'clock in the afternoon. Having come to develop an addiction to floral fragrances, he was inhaling a rose petal extract during his last hours. He was buried in Bucharest's Bellu. Work General characteristics Although Alexandru Macedonski frequently changed his style and views on literary matters, a number of constants have been traced throughout his work.",
"Work General characteristics Although Alexandru Macedonski frequently changed his style and views on literary matters, a number of constants have been traced throughout his work. Thus, a common perception is that his literature had a strongly visual aspect, the notion being condensed in Cincinat Pavelescu's definition of Macedonski: \"Poet, therefore painter; painter, therefore poet.\" Traian Demetrescu too recalled that his mentor had been dreaming of becoming a visual artist, and had eventually settled for turning his son Alexis into one.",
"Traian Demetrescu too recalled that his mentor had been dreaming of becoming a visual artist, and had eventually settled for turning his son Alexis into one. This pictorial approach to writing created parallels between Macedonski and his traditionalist contemporaries Vasile Alecsandri and Barbu Ștefănescu Delavrancea. Following the tenets of Dimitrie Bolintineanu and Théophile Gautier, the writer repeatedly called for purity in versification, and upheld it as an essential requirement, while progressively seeking to verify the quality of his poetry through phonaesthetics.",
"Following the tenets of Dimitrie Bolintineanu and Théophile Gautier, the writer repeatedly called for purity in versification, and upheld it as an essential requirement, while progressively seeking to verify the quality of his poetry through phonaesthetics. A characteristic of Macedonski's style is his inventive use of Romanian. Initially influenced by Ion Heliade Rădulescu's introduction of Italian-based words to the Romanian lexis, Macedonski himself later infused poetic language with a large array of neologisms from several Romance sources.",
"Initially influenced by Ion Heliade Rădulescu's introduction of Italian-based words to the Romanian lexis, Macedonski himself later infused poetic language with a large array of neologisms from several Romance sources. Likewise, Vianu notes, Macedonski had a tendency for comparing nature with the artificial, the result of this being a \"document\" of his values. Macedonski's language alternated neologisms with barbarisms, many of which were coined by him personally.",
"Macedonski's language alternated neologisms with barbarisms, many of which were coined by him personally. They include claviculat (\"clavicled\", applied to a shoulder), împălăriată (\"enhatted\", used to define a crowd of hat-wearing tourists), and ureichii (instead of urechii, \"to the ear\" or \"of the ear\"). His narratives nevertheless take an interest in recording direct speech, used as a method of characterization.",
"His narratives nevertheless take an interest in recording direct speech, used as a method of characterization. However, Călinescu criticizes Macedonski for using a language which, \"although grammatically correct [...], seems to have been learned only recently\", as well as for not following other Romanian writers in creating a lasting poetic style. The writer's belief in the effects of sheer willpower, notably present in his comments on esoteric subjects, was itself a defining characteristic of his perspective on literature.",
"The writer's belief in the effects of sheer willpower, notably present in his comments on esoteric subjects, was itself a defining characteristic of his perspective on literature. In 1882, he wrote about progression in one's career: \"We are all poets at birth, but only those who shape themselves through study will become poets.\"",
"In 1882, he wrote about progression in one's career: \"We are all poets at birth, but only those who shape themselves through study will become poets.\" Vianu, who notes Macedonski's \"exclusivity\" and \"fanaticism\", places such statements in connection with Macedonski's personal ambition, \"pride\" and \"the willingness to carry out ventured actions [...], in stated opposition with the entire surrounding and with contempt for the foreseeable reaction.\"",
"Vianu, who notes Macedonski's \"exclusivity\" and \"fanaticism\", places such statements in connection with Macedonski's personal ambition, \"pride\" and \"the willingness to carry out ventured actions [...], in stated opposition with the entire surrounding and with contempt for the foreseeable reaction.\" Almost all periods of Macedonski's work reflect, in whole or in part, his public persona and the polemics he was involved in.",
"Almost all periods of Macedonski's work reflect, in whole or in part, his public persona and the polemics he was involved in. George Călinescu's emits a verdict on the relation between his lifetime notoriety and the public's actual awareness of his work: \"Macedonski [was] a poet well-known for being an unknown poet.\"",
"George Călinescu's emits a verdict on the relation between his lifetime notoriety and the public's actual awareness of his work: \"Macedonski [was] a poet well-known for being an unknown poet.\" According to literary critic Matei Călinescu, the innovative aspects of his impact on Romanian literature were not as much related to his \"literary ideology\", as much as to his \"contradictory spirit\" and \"essential nonconformism\".",
"According to literary critic Matei Călinescu, the innovative aspects of his impact on Romanian literature were not as much related to his \"literary ideology\", as much as to his \"contradictory spirit\" and \"essential nonconformism\". However, literary researcher Adrian Marino proposes that Macedonski was one of the first modern authors to illustrate the importance of \"dialectic unity\" through his views on art, in particular by having argued that poetry needed to be driven by \"an idea\".",
"However, literary researcher Adrian Marino proposes that Macedonski was one of the first modern authors to illustrate the importance of \"dialectic unity\" through his views on art, in particular by having argued that poetry needed to be driven by \"an idea\". Having theorized once, while questioning Junimist rigor, that \"the logic of poetry is absurdity itself [italics in the original]\", the poet also said: \"Poetry is the chaos of spirit and matter, of the cries of distress and mad laughter.",
"Having theorized once, while questioning Junimist rigor, that \"the logic of poetry is absurdity itself [italics in the original]\", the poet also said: \"Poetry is the chaos of spirit and matter, of the cries of distress and mad laughter. From the sublime to the trivial, that is what it should be.\" He later revised part of this verdict, and, making explicit his adoption of aestheticism, spoke against trivial subjects and in favor of the sublime.",
"He later revised part of this verdict, and, making explicit his adoption of aestheticism, spoke against trivial subjects and in favor of the sublime. While Macedonski also discarded the concept of \"social poetry\" not long after postulating it, its spirit, Tudor Vianu believes, can still be found in his later contributions. This, the critic notes, was owed to his \"social temperament\", whose \"fundamental experience is that of the social.\"",
"This, the critic notes, was owed to his \"social temperament\", whose \"fundamental experience is that of the social.\" Discussing this sociable and extrovert character, other critics see in the poet's life and work the imprint of \"quixotism\". Also according to Vianu, this contrasted with Macedonski's failures in communicating with the public, an experience which made him \"misanthropic\" and contributed to his ultimate vision of death as freedom.",
"Also according to Vianu, this contrasted with Macedonski's failures in communicating with the public, an experience which made him \"misanthropic\" and contributed to his ultimate vision of death as freedom. Literary historian Pompiliu Constantinescu concluded: \"Macedonski could not resign; his one martyrdom was for Art, as the sole liberation from a tormented life.\" Other commentators have defined the poet's perspective on life as a result of \"neurosis\".",
"Other commentators have defined the poet's perspective on life as a result of \"neurosis\". In Vianu's perspective, Macedonski's stance is dominated by a mixture of nostalgia, sensuality, lugubrious-grotesque imagery, and \"the lack of bashfulness for antisocial sentiments\" which compliments his sarcasm.",
"In Vianu's perspective, Macedonski's stance is dominated by a mixture of nostalgia, sensuality, lugubrious-grotesque imagery, and \"the lack of bashfulness for antisocial sentiments\" which compliments his sarcasm. In respect to the latter characteristic, Vianu notes \"no one in Romanian literature has laughed the same way as Macedonski\", whereas critic Ștefan Cazimir argues: \"[Macedonski was] lacking the sense of relativity in principles, and implicitly a sense of humor.\"",
"In respect to the latter characteristic, Vianu notes \"no one in Romanian literature has laughed the same way as Macedonski\", whereas critic Ștefan Cazimir argues: \"[Macedonski was] lacking the sense of relativity in principles, and implicitly a sense of humor.\" Cazimir adds: \"Only when he aged did [Macedonski] learn to smile\".",
"Cazimir adds: \"Only when he aged did [Macedonski] learn to smile\". George Călinescu himself believes Macedonski to have been \"fundamentally a spiritual man with lots of humor\", speculating that he was able to see the \"uselessness\" of his own scientific ventures. Critics note that, while Macedonski progressed from one stage to the other, his work fluctuated between artistic accomplishment and mediocrity.",
"Critics note that, while Macedonski progressed from one stage to the other, his work fluctuated between artistic accomplishment and mediocrity. Tudor Vianu believes \"failure in reaching originality\" and reliance on \"soppy-conventional attributes of the day\" to be especially evident wherever Macedonski tried to emulate epic poetry. He also notes that Macedonski's love-themed pieces \"cannot be listed among [his] most fortunate\". At his best, commentators note, he was one of the Romanian literature's classics.",
"At his best, commentators note, he was one of the Romanian literature's classics. Macedonski is thus perceived as the author second only to Eminescu, and as his ideal counterpart—a relation Vianu describes as \"the internal dualism [confronting] two familiar gods\". Various critics have compared Eminescu's poetic discourse with that of the Symbolist leader, concluding that the two poets often display very similar attitudes.",
"Various critics have compared Eminescu's poetic discourse with that of the Symbolist leader, concluding that the two poets often display very similar attitudes. Călinescu writes that, while Macedonski's work is largely inferior to that of his Junimist rival, it forms the best \"reply\" ever conceived within their common setting. Prima verba and other early works With Ion Catina, Vasile Păun and Grigore H. Grandea, young Macedonski belonged to late Romanian Romanticism, part of a Neoromantic generation which had for its mentors Heliade Rădulescu and Bolintineanu.",
"Prima verba and other early works With Ion Catina, Vasile Păun and Grigore H. Grandea, young Macedonski belonged to late Romanian Romanticism, part of a Neoromantic generation which had for its mentors Heliade Rădulescu and Bolintineanu. Other early influences were Pierre-Jean de Béranger and Gottfried August Bürger, together with Romanian folklore, motifs from them being adapted by Macedonski into pastorals and ballades of ca. 1870–1880.",
"1870–1880. 1870–1880. The imprint of Romanticism and such other sources was evident in Prima verba, which groups pieces that Macedonski authored in his early youth, the earliest of them being written when he was just twelve. Critics generally argue that the volume is without value. The poems display his rebellious attitude, self-victimization and strong reliance on autobiographical elements, centering on such episodes as the death of his father.",
"The poems display his rebellious attitude, self-victimization and strong reliance on autobiographical elements, centering on such episodes as the death of his father. In one piece inspired by the ideology of Heliade Rădulescu, Vianu notes, Macedonski sings \"the French Revolution's love for freedom and equality, otherwise proclaimed from his nobleman's perspective.\" It reads: In parallel, Macedonski used erotic themes, completing a series which, although written on the model of idylls, is noted for its brute details of sexual exploits.",
"It reads: In parallel, Macedonski used erotic themes, completing a series which, although written on the model of idylls, is noted for its brute details of sexual exploits. The poet probably acknowledged that posterity would reject them, and did not republish them in any of his collected poetry volumes. During his time at Oltul (1873–1875), Macedonski published a series of poems, most of which were not featured in definitive editions of his work.",
"During his time at Oltul (1873–1875), Macedonski published a series of poems, most of which were not featured in definitive editions of his work. In addition to odes written in the Italian-based version of Romanian, it includes lyrics which satirize Carol I without mentioning his name. Following his arrest, Macedonski also completed Celula mea de la Văcărești (\"My Cell in Văcărești\"), which shows his attempt to joke about the situation.",
"Following his arrest, Macedonski also completed Celula mea de la Văcărești (\"My Cell in Văcărești\"), which shows his attempt to joke about the situation. In contrast to this series, some of the pieces written during Macedonski's time in the Budjak and Northern Dobruja display a detachment from contemporary themes. At that stage, he was especially inspired by Lord Byron, whom Vianu calls \"the sovereign poet of [Macedonski's] youth.\"",
"At that stage, he was especially inspired by Lord Byron, whom Vianu calls \"the sovereign poet of [Macedonski's] youth.\" In Calul arabului, Macedonski explores exotic and Levantine settings, using symbols which announce George Coșbuc's El-Zorab, and the Venetian-themed Ithalo, which centers on episodes of betrayal and murder. Others were epic and patriotic in tone, with subjects such as Romanian victories in the Russo-Turkish War or the Imperial Roman sites along the Danube.",
"Others were epic and patriotic in tone, with subjects such as Romanian victories in the Russo-Turkish War or the Imperial Roman sites along the Danube. One of these pieces, titled Hinov after the village and stone quarry in Rasova, gives Macedonski a claim to being the first modern European poet to have used free verse, ahead of the French Symbolist Gustave Kahn.",
"One of these pieces, titled Hinov after the village and stone quarry in Rasova, gives Macedonski a claim to being the first modern European poet to have used free verse, ahead of the French Symbolist Gustave Kahn. Macedonski himself later voiced the claim, and referred to such a technique as \"symphonic verse\", \"proteic verse\", or, in honor of composer Richard Wagner, \"Wagnerian verse\". While editing Oltul, Macedonski also completed his first prose writings.",
"While editing Oltul, Macedonski also completed his first prose writings. These were the travel account Pompeia și Sorento (\"Pompeia and Sorento\", 1874) and a prison-themed story described by Vianu as \"a tearjerker\", titled Câinele din Văcărești (\"The Dog in Văcărești\", 1875). These were later complemented by other travel works, which critic Mihai Zamfir likens to the verbal experiments of Impressionist literature, pioneering in the Romanian prose poetry genre.",
"These were later complemented by other travel works, which critic Mihai Zamfir likens to the verbal experiments of Impressionist literature, pioneering in the Romanian prose poetry genre. The short comedy Gemenii was his debut work for the stage, but, according to Vianu, failed to show any merit other than a \"logical construction\" and a preview into Macedonski's use of sarcasm. These writings were followed in 1876 by a concise biography of Cârjaliul, an early 19th-century hajduk.",
"These writings were followed in 1876 by a concise biography of Cârjaliul, an early 19th-century hajduk. In line with his first Levant-themed poems, Macedonski authored the 1877 story Așa se fac banii (\"This Is How Money Is Made\", later retold in French as Comment on devient riche et puissant, \"How to Become Rich and Powerful\"), a fable of fatalism and the Muslim world—it dealt with two brothers, one hard-working and one indolent, the latter of whom earns his money through a series of serendipitous events.",
"In line with his first Levant-themed poems, Macedonski authored the 1877 story Așa se fac banii (\"This Is How Money Is Made\", later retold in French as Comment on devient riche et puissant, \"How to Become Rich and Powerful\"), a fable of fatalism and the Muslim world—it dealt with two brothers, one hard-working and one indolent, the latter of whom earns his money through a series of serendipitous events. Likewise, his verse comedy Iadeș!",
"Likewise, his verse comedy Iadeș! Likewise, his verse comedy Iadeș! borrowed its theme from the widely circulated collection of Persian literature known as Sindipa. The setting was however modern, and, as noted by French-born critic Frédéric Damé, the plot also borrowed much from Émile Augier's Gabrielle and from other morality plays of the period. Part of the text was an ironic treatment of youth in liberal professions, an attitude which Macedonski fitted in his emerging anti-bourgeois discourse.",
"Part of the text was an ironic treatment of youth in liberal professions, an attitude which Macedonski fitted in his emerging anti-bourgeois discourse. With the first poems in his Nights cycle, Macedonski still showed his allegiance to Romanticism, and in particular to Alphonse de Lamartine, and the supposed inventor of this theme, Alfred de Musset. Noaptea de noiembrie opens with a violent condemnation of his adversaries, and sees Macedonski depicting his own funeral.",
"Noaptea de noiembrie opens with a violent condemnation of his adversaries, and sees Macedonski depicting his own funeral. The poem is commended by Călinescu, who notes that, in contrast to the \"apparently trivial beginning\", the main part, where Macedonski depicts himself in flight over the Danube, brings the Romanian writer close to the accomplishments of Dante Aligheri. The writer himself claimed that the piece evidenced \"the uttermost breath of inspiration I have ever felt in my life.\"",
"The writer himself claimed that the piece evidenced \"the uttermost breath of inspiration I have ever felt in my life.\" Another poem, Noaptea de aprilie (\"April Night\"), was probably his testimony of unrequited love for Aristizza Romanescu. Realism and Naturalism By the 1880s, Macedonski developed and applied his \"social poetry\" theory, as branch of Realism.",
"Realism and Naturalism By the 1880s, Macedonski developed and applied his \"social poetry\" theory, as branch of Realism. Explained by the writer himself as a reaction against the legacy of Lamartine, it also signified his brief affiliation with the Naturalist current, a radical segment of the Realist movement. Traian Demetrescu thus noted that Macedonski cherished the works of French Naturalists and Realists such as Gustave Flaubert and Émile Zola.",
"Traian Demetrescu thus noted that Macedonski cherished the works of French Naturalists and Realists such as Gustave Flaubert and Émile Zola. During this phase, Macedonski made known his sympathy for the disinherited, from girls forced into prostitution to convicts sentenced to penal labor on salt mines, and also spoke out against the conventionalism of civil marriages. His Ocnele (\"The Salt Mines\") includes the verdict: Naturalist depiction was also the main element in his prose pieces of the early 1880s.",
"His Ocnele (\"The Salt Mines\") includes the verdict: Naturalist depiction was also the main element in his prose pieces of the early 1880s. Among them was the first of several sketch stories using still life techniques, Casa cu nr. 10 (according to Zamfir, a prime sample of Macedonski's \"ornamental\" genre). With Între cotețe, Dramă banală and later Cometa lui Odorescu (\"Odorescu's Comet\"), Macedonski speaks about his own biography.",
"With Între cotețe, Dramă banală and later Cometa lui Odorescu (\"Odorescu's Comet\"), Macedonski speaks about his own biography. The former has for a protagonist Pandele Vergea, a thirty-five-year-old man who is consumed by an avicultural obsession, who dreams of turning into a bird, and who is eventually maimed by his overcrowded fowls.",
"The former has for a protagonist Pandele Vergea, a thirty-five-year-old man who is consumed by an avicultural obsession, who dreams of turning into a bird, and who is eventually maimed by his overcrowded fowls. In contrast, Dereanu is a bohemian university student, possessed by dreams of military and political glory, and who meditates about his future in front of Heliade Rădulescu's statue or in Bucharest cafés. Also a bohemian, Odorescu announces his discovery of a comet, before being proved wrong by his aunt, an ordinary woman.",
"Also a bohemian, Odorescu announces his discovery of a comet, before being proved wrong by his aunt, an ordinary woman. Some pieces also double as memoirs: in Dramă banală, the plot revolves around Macedonski's recollection of the 1866 plebiscite. Vianu draws attention to the picturesque depiction of historic Bucharest, a contributing element in Cometa..., Casa cu nr. 10 and Între cotețe. With Unchiașul Sărăcie (also written in verse), Macedonski took Naturalist tenets into the field of drama.",
"With Unchiașul Sărăcie (also written in verse), Macedonski took Naturalist tenets into the field of drama. Frédéric Damé believed it an imitation of a play by Ernest d'Hervilly and Alfred Grévin, but, Vianu argues, the Romanian text was only loosely based on theirs: in Macedonski's adaptation, the theme became fairy tale-like, and used a speech style based on Romanian folklore.",
"Frédéric Damé believed it an imitation of a play by Ernest d'Hervilly and Alfred Grévin, but, Vianu argues, the Romanian text was only loosely based on theirs: in Macedonski's adaptation, the theme became fairy tale-like, and used a speech style based on Romanian folklore. Around the time of its completion, Macedonski was also working on a similarly loose adaptation of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, which notably had the two protagonists die in each other's arms.",
"Around the time of its completion, Macedonski was also working on a similarly loose adaptation of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, which notably had the two protagonists die in each other's arms. Another such play is 3 decemvrie (\"December 3\"), which partly retells Friedrich Ludwig Zacharias Werner's Der 24 Februar using Naturalist devices. By contrast, the homage-play Cuza-Vodă is mainly a Romantic piece, where Alexander John Cuza finds his political mission validated by legendary figures in Romanian history.",
"By contrast, the homage-play Cuza-Vodă is mainly a Romantic piece, where Alexander John Cuza finds his political mission validated by legendary figures in Romanian history. In parallel, Macedonski was using poetry to carry out his polemics. In an 1884 epigram, he reacted against Alecsandri's Fântâna Blanduziei, but, in Vianu's definition, \"his regular causticity seems to be restrained.\"",
"In an 1884 epigram, he reacted against Alecsandri's Fântâna Blanduziei, but, in Vianu's definition, \"his regular causticity seems to be restrained.\" The piece he had earlier written, presumably against Eminescu, scandalized the public by mocking the rival's mental ruin: According to Tudor Vianu, Macedonski was mostly motivated by his disappointment in Junimea, and in particular by Eminescu's response to his public persona.",
"The piece he had earlier written, presumably against Eminescu, scandalized the public by mocking the rival's mental ruin: According to Tudor Vianu, Macedonski was mostly motivated by his disappointment in Junimea, and in particular by Eminescu's response to his public persona. Vianu contends that, although Macedonski \"never was familiar with the resigned and patient attitudes\", he was \"by no means an evil man.\"",
"Vianu contends that, although Macedonski \"never was familiar with the resigned and patient attitudes\", he was \"by no means an evil man.\" On one occasion, the poet defended himself against criticism, noting that the epigram had not been specifically addressed to Eminescu, but had been labeled as such by the press, and claiming to have authored it years before its Literatorul edition. However, the later piece Viața de apoi (\"The Afterlife\") still displays resentments he harbored toward Eminescu.",
"However, the later piece Viața de apoi (\"The Afterlife\") still displays resentments he harbored toward Eminescu. By 1880–1884, particularly after the Eminescu scandal, Macedonski envisaged prioritizing French as his language of expression. According to Vianu, Macedonski had traversed \"the lowest point\" of his existence, and had been subject to \"one of the most delicate mysteries of poetic creation.\"",
"According to Vianu, Macedonski had traversed \"the lowest point\" of his existence, and had been subject to \"one of the most delicate mysteries of poetic creation.\" Among his pieces of the period is the French-language sonnet Pârle, il me dit alors (\"Speak, He Then Said to Me\"), where, Vianu notes, \"one discovers the state of mind of a poet who decides to expatriate himself.\"",
"Among his pieces of the period is the French-language sonnet Pârle, il me dit alors (\"Speak, He Then Said to Me\"), where, Vianu notes, \"one discovers the state of mind of a poet who decides to expatriate himself.\" Adoption of Symbolism According to Mihai Zamfir, at the end of his transition from the \"mimetic and egocentric\" verse to Symbolist poetry, Macedonski emerged a \"remarkable, often extraordinary\" author.",
"Adoption of Symbolism According to Mihai Zamfir, at the end of his transition from the \"mimetic and egocentric\" verse to Symbolist poetry, Macedonski emerged a \"remarkable, often extraordinary\" author. In the early 20th century, fellow poet and critic N. Davidescu described Macedonski, Ion Minulescu and other Symbolists from Wallachia as distinct from their Moldavian counterparts in both style and themes. Endorsing the theory and practice of Symbolism for much of his life, Macedonski retrospectively claimed to have been one of its first exponents.",
"Endorsing the theory and practice of Symbolism for much of his life, Macedonski retrospectively claimed to have been one of its first exponents. His version of Symbolism, critic Paul Cernat notes, clashed with that advocated by many of his contemporaries in that it rejected merit to the Decadent movement, and represented the \"decorative\" aestheticist trend of Paranassian spirit within the Romanian Symbolist current.",
"His version of Symbolism, critic Paul Cernat notes, clashed with that advocated by many of his contemporaries in that it rejected merit to the Decadent movement, and represented the \"decorative\" aestheticist trend of Paranassian spirit within the Romanian Symbolist current. Within Poezia viitorului, Macedonski invoked as his models to follow some important or secondary Symbolist and Parnassian figures: Charles Baudelaire, Joséphin Péladan, Maurice Maeterlinck, Stéphane Mallarmé and Jean Moréas.",
"Within Poezia viitorului, Macedonski invoked as his models to follow some important or secondary Symbolist and Parnassian figures: Charles Baudelaire, Joséphin Péladan, Maurice Maeterlinck, Stéphane Mallarmé and Jean Moréas. In his review of Bronzes for Mercure de France, Pierre Quillard remarked the \"irreproachable\" technique, but criticized the poet for being too indebted to both Baudelaire and Leconte de Lisle; other Symbolist figures whom Macedonski is known to have borrowed from are José María de Heredia and Iwan Gilkin.",
"In his review of Bronzes for Mercure de France, Pierre Quillard remarked the \"irreproachable\" technique, but criticized the poet for being too indebted to both Baudelaire and Leconte de Lisle; other Symbolist figures whom Macedonski is known to have borrowed from are José María de Heredia and Iwan Gilkin. While undergoing this transition, to what linguist Manuela-Delia Suciu argues is a mostly Parnassian phase, Macedonski was still referencing Naturalism, and considered it compatible with Symbolism.",
"While undergoing this transition, to what linguist Manuela-Delia Suciu argues is a mostly Parnassian phase, Macedonski was still referencing Naturalism, and considered it compatible with Symbolism. With the adoption of such tenets came a succession of Symbolist poems, where the focus is on minutely-observed objects, usually items of luxury, partly reflecting themes he had explored in the Naturalist stage. Commenting on them, Tudor Vianu argues that no such works had ever been produced in Romanian literature up until that moment.",
"Commenting on them, Tudor Vianu argues that no such works had ever been produced in Romanian literature up until that moment. In his Ospățul lui Pentaur (\"The Feast of Pentaur\"), the poet reflected on civilization itself, as reflected in inanimate opulence. The motif was also developed in descriptive prose fragments later grouped in Cartea de aur, collectively titled nuvele fără oameni (\"novellas without people\") and compared by Călinescu with the paintings of Theodor Aman.",
"The motif was also developed in descriptive prose fragments later grouped in Cartea de aur, collectively titled nuvele fără oameni (\"novellas without people\") and compared by Călinescu with the paintings of Theodor Aman. Also during that stage, Macedonski was exploring the numerous links between Symbolism, mysticism and esotericism. Earlier pieces had already come to explore macabre themes characteristic for an early branch of Symbolism.",
"Earlier pieces had already come to explore macabre themes characteristic for an early branch of Symbolism. Influenced by Maurice Rollinat, they include the somber Vaporul morții (\"The Ship of Death\") and Visul fatal (\"The Fatal Dream\").",
"Influenced by Maurice Rollinat, they include the somber Vaporul morții (\"The Ship of Death\") and Visul fatal (\"The Fatal Dream\"). Likewise, the piece titled Imnul lui Satan (\"Satan's Hymn\") was placed by critics in connection with Les Litanies de Satan (part of Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du mal), but, Vianu argues, the source of Macedonski's satanic themes may have been lodged in his own vision of the world.",
"Likewise, the piece titled Imnul lui Satan (\"Satan's Hymn\") was placed by critics in connection with Les Litanies de Satan (part of Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du mal), but, Vianu argues, the source of Macedonski's satanic themes may have been lodged in his own vision of the world. This interest also reflected in his 1893 Saul, where Cincinat Pavelescu's contribution is supposedly minimal.",
"This interest also reflected in his 1893 Saul, where Cincinat Pavelescu's contribution is supposedly minimal. Echoing satanic themes, Ernest Legouvé's dramatic version of the Medea myth (which Macedonski translated at some point in his life) and the classical work of Jean Racine, it shows the dark powers of political conflict intervening between the eponymous king and his ephebos-like protégé David, the latter of whom turns out to be the agent of spiritual revolution.",
"Echoing satanic themes, Ernest Legouvé's dramatic version of the Medea myth (which Macedonski translated at some point in his life) and the classical work of Jean Racine, it shows the dark powers of political conflict intervening between the eponymous king and his ephebos-like protégé David, the latter of whom turns out to be the agent of spiritual revolution. (\"August Night\"), outlines a monistic belief probably inspired by Rosicrucianism, stressing the unity between soul and matter and depicting Macedonski's own journey into a transcendental space.",
"(\"August Night\"), outlines a monistic belief probably inspired by Rosicrucianism, stressing the unity between soul and matter and depicting Macedonski's own journey into a transcendental space. Following the examples of Baudelaire's Les paradis artificiels, but also echoing his readings from Paul Verlaine and Théophile Gautier, Macedonski left poems dealing with narcotics and substance abuse, at least some of which reflected his personal experience with nicotine and possibly other unnamed drugs.",
"Following the examples of Baudelaire's Les paradis artificiels, but also echoing his readings from Paul Verlaine and Théophile Gautier, Macedonski left poems dealing with narcotics and substance abuse, at least some of which reflected his personal experience with nicotine and possibly other unnamed drugs. Also at that stage, Macedonski also began publishing the \"instrumentalist\" series of his Symbolist poems. This form of experimental poem was influenced by the theories of René Ghil and verified through his encounter with Remy de Gourmont's views.",
"This form of experimental poem was influenced by the theories of René Ghil and verified through his encounter with Remy de Gourmont's views. In parallel, it reaffirmed Macedonski's personal view that music and the spoken word were intimately related (a perspective notably attested by his 1906 interview with Jules Combarieu). Romanian critic Petre Răileanu theorized that such elements evidenced Macedonski's transition to \"metaliterature\". On a different level, they echoed an older influence, that of Gottfried August Bürger.",
"On a different level, they echoed an older influence, that of Gottfried August Bürger. Excelsior Despite having stated his interest in innovation, Macedonski generally displayed a more conventional style in his Excelsior volume. It included Noaptea de mai, which Vianu sees as \"one of the [vernacular's] most beautiful poems\" and as evidence of \"a clear joy, without any torment whatsoever\".",
"It included Noaptea de mai, which Vianu sees as \"one of the [vernacular's] most beautiful poems\" and as evidence of \"a clear joy, without any torment whatsoever\". A celebration of spring partly evoking folkloric themes, it was made famous by the recurring refrain, Veniți: privighetoarea cântă și liliacul e-nflorit (\"Come along: the nightingale is singing and the lilac is in blossom\").",
"A celebration of spring partly evoking folkloric themes, it was made famous by the recurring refrain, Veniți: privighetoarea cântă și liliacul e-nflorit (\"Come along: the nightingale is singing and the lilac is in blossom\"). Like Noaptea de mai, Lewki (named after and dedicated to the Snake Island), depicts intense joy, completed in this case by what Vianu calls \"the restorative touch of nature.\"",
"Like Noaptea de mai, Lewki (named after and dedicated to the Snake Island), depicts intense joy, completed in this case by what Vianu calls \"the restorative touch of nature.\" The series also returned to Levant settings and Islamic imagery, particularly in Acșam dovalar (named after the Turkish version of Witr).",
"The series also returned to Levant settings and Islamic imagery, particularly in Acșam dovalar (named after the Turkish version of Witr). Also noted within the volume is his short \"Modern Psalms\" series, including the piece Iertare (\"Forgiveness\"), which is addressed to God: Excelsior also included Noaptea de ianuarie (\"January Night\"), which encapsulates one of his best-known political statements. Anghelescu reads it as a \"meditation on disillusionment that culminates in a vitality-laden exhortation of action.\"",
"Anghelescu reads it as a \"meditation on disillusionment that culminates in a vitality-laden exhortation of action.\" Its anti-bourgeois attitude, literary historian Z. Ornea argues, was one of the meeting points between Macedonski and Junimism. In what is seen as its most acid section, the text notably reads: At the same time as being engaged in his most violent polemics, Macedonski produced meditative and serene poems, which were later judged to be among his best.",
"In what is seen as its most acid section, the text notably reads: At the same time as being engaged in his most violent polemics, Macedonski produced meditative and serene poems, which were later judged to be among his best. Noaptea de decemvrie is the synthesis of his main themes and influences, rated by commentators as his \"masterpiece\".",
"Noaptea de decemvrie is the synthesis of his main themes and influences, rated by commentators as his \"masterpiece\". Partly based on an earlier poem (Meka, named after the Arab city), it tells the story of an emir, who, left unsatisfied by the shallow and opulent life he leads in Baghdad, decides to leave on pilgrimage.",
"Partly based on an earlier poem (Meka, named after the Arab city), it tells the story of an emir, who, left unsatisfied by the shallow and opulent life he leads in Baghdad, decides to leave on pilgrimage. While critics agree that it is to be read as an allegory of Macedonski's biography, the ironic text does not make it clear whether the emir actually reaches his target, nor if the central metaphor of Mecca as a mirage means that the goal is not worth sacrificing for.",
"While critics agree that it is to be read as an allegory of Macedonski's biography, the ironic text does not make it clear whether the emir actually reaches his target, nor if the central metaphor of Mecca as a mirage means that the goal is not worth sacrificing for. While Mircea Anghelescu comments that Macedonski illustrates \"unusual tension\" by rigorously amplifying references to the color red, seen as a symbol of suffering, Călinescu notes that the sequence of lyrics has a studied \"delirious\" element, and illustrates this with the quote: Late prose works In prose, his focus shifted back to the purely descriptive, or led Alexandru Macedonski into the realm of fantasy literature.",
"While Mircea Anghelescu comments that Macedonski illustrates \"unusual tension\" by rigorously amplifying references to the color red, seen as a symbol of suffering, Călinescu notes that the sequence of lyrics has a studied \"delirious\" element, and illustrates this with the quote: Late prose works In prose, his focus shifted back to the purely descriptive, or led Alexandru Macedonski into the realm of fantasy literature. These stories, most of which were eventually collected in Cartea de aur, include memoirs of his childhood in the Amaradia region, nostalgic portrayals of the Oltenian boyar environment, idealized depictions of Cuza's reign, as well as a retrospective view on the end of Rom slavery (found in his piece Verigă țiganul, \"Verigă the Gypsy\").",
"These stories, most of which were eventually collected in Cartea de aur, include memoirs of his childhood in the Amaradia region, nostalgic portrayals of the Oltenian boyar environment, idealized depictions of Cuza's reign, as well as a retrospective view on the end of Rom slavery (found in his piece Verigă țiganul, \"Verigă the Gypsy\"). The best known among them is Pe drum de poștă, a third-person narrative and thinly disguised memoir, where the characters are an adolescent Alexandru Macedonski and his father, General Macedonski.",
"The best known among them is Pe drum de poștă, a third-person narrative and thinly disguised memoir, where the characters are an adolescent Alexandru Macedonski and his father, General Macedonski. The idyllic outlook present in such stories is one of the common meeting points between his version of Symbolism and traditionalist authors such as Barbu Ștefănescu Delavrancea.",
"The idyllic outlook present in such stories is one of the common meeting points between his version of Symbolism and traditionalist authors such as Barbu Ștefănescu Delavrancea. Vianu indicates the connection, but adds: \"Macedonski descended, through memory, in the world of the village, with the tremor of regret for the peace and plenty of the old settlements, so well polished that each person, landowner as well as peasant, lived within a framework that nature itself seemed to have granted.",
"Vianu indicates the connection, but adds: \"Macedonski descended, through memory, in the world of the village, with the tremor of regret for the peace and plenty of the old settlements, so well polished that each person, landowner as well as peasant, lived within a framework that nature itself seemed to have granted. [...] in depicting rural environments, Macedonski presents the point of view of a conservative.\"",
"[...] in depicting rural environments, Macedonski presents the point of view of a conservative.\" Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu, a fantasy novel and extended prose poem, was celebrated by Macedonski's disciple Oreste Georgescu as \"the new religion of humanity\". The volume carried the mocking dedication \"To France, this Chaldea\" (thought by Vianu to reference Péladan's views on the decay of civilization).",
"The volume carried the mocking dedication \"To France, this Chaldea\" (thought by Vianu to reference Péladan's views on the decay of civilization). It has affinities with writings by the Italian Decadent author Gabriele d'Annunzio, as well as echoes from Anatole France. The hero Thalassa, a Greek boy, works as a lighthouse-keeper on Snake Island, fantasizing about the golden age of mankind. His fate is changed by a shipwreck, during which a girl, Caliope, reaches the island's shore.",
"His fate is changed by a shipwreck, during which a girl, Caliope, reaches the island's shore. Thalassa and Caliope fall in love, but are mysteriously unable to seal their union through sexual intercourse: the boy attributes this failure to the \"curse\" of human individuality. Seeking to achieve a perfect union with his lover, he eventually kills her and drowns himself in the Black Sea.",
"Seeking to achieve a perfect union with his lover, he eventually kills her and drowns himself in the Black Sea. In her review for Mercure de France, novelist Rachilde argued: \"Very difficult to read, entirely developed in Symbolist manner [and] almost impossible to recount, obviously written in French but nevertheless obviously conceived by a Romanian (and what a spirited Romanian!).\" Rachilde believed the work to display \"the fragrance of Oriental spices [...] rose marmalade and a slice of bear meat.\"",
"Rachilde believed the work to display \"the fragrance of Oriental spices [...] rose marmalade and a slice of bear meat.\" According to Vianu, the book builds on Macedonski's earlier themes, replacing Naturalist observation with a metaphysical speculation about idealism. One other aspect of Macedonski's stylistic exploration took him to attempt recording synesthesia. His manuscript is written in ink of several colors, which, he believed, was to help readers get a full sense of its meaning.",
"His manuscript is written in ink of several colors, which, he believed, was to help readers get a full sense of its meaning. Like other synesthetic aspects of his novel, this is believed to have been inspired by the techniques of Baudelaire and Arthur Rimbaud. Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu is noted for its numerous cultural references, and especially for using a wide range of metaphors. Such aspects have been reviewed negatively by modern critics.",
"Such aspects have been reviewed negatively by modern critics. Such aspects have been reviewed negatively by modern critics. Tudor Vianu writes: \"the poet makes such waste of gemstones that we feel like saying some of them must be false\", while Călinescu, who notes that some fragments reveal \"an incomparable artist\" and \"a professional metaphorist\", notes that \"in the end, such virtuosities become a bore.\"",
"Tudor Vianu writes: \"the poet makes such waste of gemstones that we feel like saying some of them must be false\", while Călinescu, who notes that some fragments reveal \"an incomparable artist\" and \"a professional metaphorist\", notes that \"in the end, such virtuosities become a bore.\" According to Manuela-Delia Suciu, Thalassa is \"prolix\" and \"too polished\", traits believed by Zamfir to be less irritating in the Romanian version.",
"According to Manuela-Delia Suciu, Thalassa is \"prolix\" and \"too polished\", traits believed by Zamfir to be less irritating in the Romanian version. Critic Cornel Moraru found that, in the background, Thalassa, a \"great Symbolist novel\", confronts Ancient Greek and Christian mythology, but \"abuses\" the religious vocabulary. Another part of the novel's imagery is erotic, and includes an elaborate and aestheticized description of male genitalia. The four-act tragicomedy Le Fou?",
"The four-act tragicomedy Le Fou? The four-act tragicomedy Le Fou? is seen by Vianu as comparable in subject matter and depth to Enrico IV, a celebrated 1922 play by Luigi Pirandello. The plot reflects Macedonski's confrontation with his critics, and his acceptance of the fact that people saw in him an eccentric. The central figure is a banker, Dorval, who identifies himself with Napoleon Bonaparte to the point where he sees episodes in his biography as mirrors of early 19th-century battles.",
"The central figure is a banker, Dorval, who identifies himself with Napoleon Bonaparte to the point where he sees episodes in his biography as mirrors of early 19th-century battles. Unlike patients with dissociative identity disorder, Dorval does not actually imagine his life has become Napoleon's, but rather joins with him on an intellectual level. Witnesses of this disorder are divided into family, who seek to have Dorval committed, and close friends, who come to see his take on life as a manifestation of genius.",
"Witnesses of this disorder are divided into family, who seek to have Dorval committed, and close friends, who come to see his take on life as a manifestation of genius. The spectator is led to believe that the latter interpretation is the correct one. At a larger level, Vianu indicates, the play is also Macedonski's critique of capitalism, and, using Parisian argot, makes allusive references to famous people of the day.",
"At a larger level, Vianu indicates, the play is also Macedonski's critique of capitalism, and, using Parisian argot, makes allusive references to famous people of the day. Particularly during the 1890s, Macedonski was a follower of Edgar Allan Poe and of Gothic fiction in general, producing a Romanian version of Poe's Metzengerstein story, urging his own disciples to translate other such pieces, and adopting \"Gothic\" themes in his original prose.",
"Particularly during the 1890s, Macedonski was a follower of Edgar Allan Poe and of Gothic fiction in general, producing a Romanian version of Poe's Metzengerstein story, urging his own disciples to translate other such pieces, and adopting \"Gothic\" themes in his original prose. Indebted to Jules Verne and H. G. Wells, Macedonski also wrote a number of science fiction stories, including the 1913 Oceania-Pacific-Dreadnought, which depicts civilization on the verge of a crisis.",
"Indebted to Jules Verne and H. G. Wells, Macedonski also wrote a number of science fiction stories, including the 1913 Oceania-Pacific-Dreadnought, which depicts civilization on the verge of a crisis. The gigantic commercial ship is maintained by a banker's union, and designed to grant travelers access to every pleasure imaginable; this causes the working-class inhabited cities on the continent to fall into a state of neglect and permanent violence, the climax of the story occurring with the bankers' decision to destroy their creation.",
"The gigantic commercial ship is maintained by a banker's union, and designed to grant travelers access to every pleasure imaginable; this causes the working-class inhabited cities on the continent to fall into a state of neglect and permanent violence, the climax of the story occurring with the bankers' decision to destroy their creation. Oceania-Pacific-Dreadnought is noted for anticipating television, the ship being equipped with electrically-operated \"large and clear mirrors\" that display \"images from various parts of the Earth\".",
"Oceania-Pacific-Dreadnought is noted for anticipating television, the ship being equipped with electrically-operated \"large and clear mirrors\" that display \"images from various parts of the Earth\". Macedonski was by then interested in the development of cinema, and authored a silent film screenplay based on Comment on devient riche et puissant. Final transition Late in his life, Macedonski had come to reject Symbolist tenets, defining them as \"imbecilities\" designed for \"the uncultured\".",
"Final transition Late in his life, Macedonski had come to reject Symbolist tenets, defining them as \"imbecilities\" designed for \"the uncultured\". Ultima verba, the very last poems to be written by him, show him coming to terms with himself, and are treasured for their serene or intensely joyous vision of life and human accomplishment. The rondels written at this stage, known collectively as Poema rondelurilor, are one of the first instances where the technique is used locally.",
"The rondels written at this stage, known collectively as Poema rondelurilor, are one of the first instances where the technique is used locally. Like those written previously by Literatoruls Pavelescu and Alexandru Obedenaru, they are based on an earlier motif present in Macedonski's work, that of recurring refrains. Many of the pieces document the poet's final discoveries.",
"Many of the pieces document the poet's final discoveries. One of them is Rondelul crinilor (\"The Rondel of the Lilies\"), which proclaims fragrances as the source of beatitude: În crini e beția cea rară, \"In lilies one finds that exceptional drunkenness\".",
"One of them is Rondelul crinilor (\"The Rondel of the Lilies\"), which proclaims fragrances as the source of beatitude: În crini e beția cea rară, \"In lilies one finds that exceptional drunkenness\". According to Ștefan Cazimir, Rondelul orașului mic (\"The Rondel of the Small Town\") shows a \"likable wave of irony and self-irony\", and the poet himself coming to terms with \"the existence of a world who ignores him.\"",
"According to Ștefan Cazimir, Rondelul orașului mic (\"The Rondel of the Small Town\") shows a \"likable wave of irony and self-irony\", and the poet himself coming to terms with \"the existence of a world who ignores him.\" Proof of his combativeness was still to be found in Rondelul contimporanilor (\"The Rondel of the Contemporaries\"). The poet's take on life is also outlined in his final play, Moartea lui Dante.",
"The poet's take on life is also outlined in his final play, Moartea lui Dante. Călinescu writes that, by then, Macedonski was \"obsessed\" with the Divine Comedy. Macedonski identifies with his hero, Dante Aligheri, and formulates his own poetic testament while identifying World War I Romania with the medieval Republic of Florence. Tudor Vianu remarks: \"In Dante's great self-pride, Macedonski found his own.\"",
"Tudor Vianu remarks: \"In Dante's great self-pride, Macedonski found his own.\" He sees the play as the best such work to have been produced by Macedonski, whereas Călinescu deems it \"puerile\". Zamfir believes Moartea... to be a significant text in Macedonski's bibliography, \"one of the first samples of Romanian Symbolist theater\", and as such indebted mainly to Maeterlinck.",
"Zamfir believes Moartea... to be a significant text in Macedonski's bibliography, \"one of the first samples of Romanian Symbolist theater\", and as such indebted mainly to Maeterlinck. Vianu argues that the play may document the Romanian writer's late rejection of France, through the protagonist's statement: \"the French are a gentle people, but their soul is different from mine.\" A number of rondels show Macedonski's late fascination with the Far East, China and Japan.",
"A number of rondels show Macedonski's late fascination with the Far East, China and Japan. George Călinescu believes that this is to be understood as one item in a large antithesis, the other being Decadent Paris, which one rondel describes as \"hell\". The Orient, viewed as the space of serenity, is believed by Macedonski to be peopled by toy-like women and absent opium-smokers, and to be kept orderly by a stable meritocracy.",
"The Orient, viewed as the space of serenity, is believed by Macedonski to be peopled by toy-like women and absent opium-smokers, and to be kept orderly by a stable meritocracy. The Chinese-themed poem Tsing-Ly-Tsi, which Cazimir notes for its discreet, \"almost imperceptible\", humor, reads: Legacy Macedonski's school and its early impact Alexandru Macedonski repeatedly expressed the thought that, unlike his contemporaries, posterity would judge him a great poet.",
"The Chinese-themed poem Tsing-Ly-Tsi, which Cazimir notes for its discreet, \"almost imperceptible\", humor, reads: Legacy Macedonski's school and its early impact Alexandru Macedonski repeatedly expressed the thought that, unlike his contemporaries, posterity would judge him a great poet. With the exception of Mihail Dragomirescu, conservative literary critics tended to ignore Macedonski while he was alive.",
"With the exception of Mihail Dragomirescu, conservative literary critics tended to ignore Macedonski while he was alive. The first such figure was Junimeas Titu Maiorescu, who believed him to be a minor author, referring to him only a couple of times in his books and usually ridiculing him in his articles. One of these texts, the 1886 essay Poeți și critici (\"Poets and Critics\"), spoke of Macedonski as having \"vitiated\" poetry, a notion he also applied to Constantin D. Aricescu and Aron Densușianu.",
"One of these texts, the 1886 essay Poeți și critici (\"Poets and Critics\"), spoke of Macedonski as having \"vitiated\" poetry, a notion he also applied to Constantin D. Aricescu and Aron Densușianu. Especially radical pronouncements were left by the traditionalist authors Ilarie Chendi and Nicolae Iorga. Chendi wrote of Macedonski being \"the caricature of a man\", having \"a feverish mind\" and being motivated by \"the brutal instinct of revenge\".",
"Chendi wrote of Macedonski being \"the caricature of a man\", having \"a feverish mind\" and being motivated by \"the brutal instinct of revenge\". Iorga, who became better known as a historian, later retracted some of the statements he had made against the poet during the 1890s. Among the younger prominent traditionalist writers was the Transylvanian-born Lucian Blaga, who may have purposefully avoided Macedonski during his first visit to Bucharest in 1920.",
"Among the younger prominent traditionalist writers was the Transylvanian-born Lucian Blaga, who may have purposefully avoided Macedonski during his first visit to Bucharest in 1920. Although more sympathetic to the Symbolist author, both Dragomirescu and Gheorghe Adamescu tended to describe him as exclusively the product of French and Decadent literature, while Dragomirescu's disciple Ion Trivale denied all merit to Macedonski's literature.",
"Although more sympathetic to the Symbolist author, both Dragomirescu and Gheorghe Adamescu tended to describe him as exclusively the product of French and Decadent literature, while Dragomirescu's disciple Ion Trivale denied all merit to Macedonski's literature. According to Tudor Vianu, Macedonski's intellectual friends (among them Anghel Demetriescu, George Ionescu-Gion, Bonifaciu Florescu, Grigore Tocilescu and V. A. Urechia) were largely responsible for passing down \"a better and truer image of the abused poet.\"",
"According to Tudor Vianu, Macedonski's intellectual friends (among them Anghel Demetriescu, George Ionescu-Gion, Bonifaciu Florescu, Grigore Tocilescu and V. A. Urechia) were largely responsible for passing down \"a better and truer image of the abused poet.\" It was also due to Dragomirescu that Noaptea de decemvrie was included in a literature textbook for final grade high school students, which some argue is the poet's first-ever presence in the Romanian curriculum.",
"It was also due to Dragomirescu that Noaptea de decemvrie was included in a literature textbook for final grade high school students, which some argue is the poet's first-ever presence in the Romanian curriculum. According to historian Lucian Nastasă, the poet's wife Ana Rallet behaved like an \"excellent secretary\" while Macedonski was still alive, and thereafter helped sort and edit his manuscript while maintaining \"an actual cult\" for her husband.",
"According to historian Lucian Nastasă, the poet's wife Ana Rallet behaved like an \"excellent secretary\" while Macedonski was still alive, and thereafter helped sort and edit his manuscript while maintaining \"an actual cult\" for her husband. Macedonski's cosmopolitan circle was the center of a literary alternative to the prevailing conservatism and Eminescu-like traditionalism of the day, the latter tendency being grouped around Sămănătorul magazine for part of Macedonski's lifetime.",
"Macedonski's cosmopolitan circle was the center of a literary alternative to the prevailing conservatism and Eminescu-like traditionalism of the day, the latter tendency being grouped around Sămănătorul magazine for part of Macedonski's lifetime. While Macedonski himself maintained his links with Romanticism and Classicism, commentators have retrospectively recognized in him the main person who announced Romania's first wave in modernist literature. Many first-generation disciples were to part with his guidelines early on, either by radicalizing their Symbolism or by stepping out of its confines.",
"Many first-generation disciples were to part with his guidelines early on, either by radicalizing their Symbolism or by stepping out of its confines. Traian Demetrescu was one of the first to do so, focusing on his commitment to socialism—Vianu notes that the split took place \"without coldness and the heart's versatility\" on Macedonski's part. Literary researcher Lidia Bote argues that it was Petică who first illustrated mature Symbolism, emancipating himself from Macedonski's eclectic tendencies after 1902.",
"Literary researcher Lidia Bote argues that it was Petică who first illustrated mature Symbolism, emancipating himself from Macedonski's eclectic tendencies after 1902. By that time, the Symbolist authors Dimitrie Anghel and N. D. Cocea used Macedonski's fantasy prose as an inspiration for their own, and N. Davidescu was borrowing from his mystical discourse. The pictorial and joyous elements in Macedonski's poems were also serving to inspire Stamatiad, Eugeniu Ștefănescu-Est and Horia Furtună.",
"The pictorial and joyous elements in Macedonski's poems were also serving to inspire Stamatiad, Eugeniu Ștefănescu-Est and Horia Furtună. In the early stages of his career, Ion Pillat wrote pieces which echo his master's choice of exotic themes. A more discreet legacy of Macedonski's ideas was also preserved inside the conservative and traditionalist camps. Although his separation from Literatorul was drastic, and led him to rally with Junimea, Duiliu Zamfirescu built on some elements borrowed from the magazine's ideology, incorporating them into his literary vision.",
"Although his separation from Literatorul was drastic, and led him to rally with Junimea, Duiliu Zamfirescu built on some elements borrowed from the magazine's ideology, incorporating them into his literary vision. Many of Macedonski's most devoted disciples, whom he himself had encouraged, have been rated by various critics as secondary or mediocre.",
"Many of Macedonski's most devoted disciples, whom he himself had encouraged, have been rated by various critics as secondary or mediocre. This is the case of Theodor Cornel (who made his name as an art critic), Mircea Demetriade, Oreste Georgescu, Alexandru Obedenaru, Stoenescu, Stamatiad, Carol Scrob, Dumitru Karnabatt and Donar Munteanu. Another such minor author was the self-styled \"hermeticist\" Alexandru Petroff, who expanded on Macedonski's ideas about esoteric knowledge.",
"Another such minor author was the self-styled \"hermeticist\" Alexandru Petroff, who expanded on Macedonski's ideas about esoteric knowledge. Macedonski's eldest son Alexis continued to pursue a career as a painter. His son Soare followed in his footsteps, receiving acclaim from art critics of the period. Soare's short career ended in 1928, before he turned nineteen, but his works have been featured in several retrospective exhibitions, including one organized by Alexis.",
"Soare's short career ended in 1928, before he turned nineteen, but his works have been featured in several retrospective exhibitions, including one organized by Alexis. Alexis later experimented with scenic design as an assistant to French filmmaker René Clair; his later life, shrouded in mystery and intrigue, led him to a career in Fascist Italy and Francoist Spain. Another of Alexandru Macedonski's sons, Nikita, was also a poet and painter. For a while in the 1920s, he edited the literary supplement of Universul newspaper.",
"For a while in the 1920s, he edited the literary supplement of Universul newspaper. Two years after her father's death, Anna Macedonski married poet Mihail Celarianu. In addition to his polemical portrayals in works by Alecsandri, Eminescu and Caragiale, Macedonski's career was an inspiration for various authors. His image acquired mythical proportions for his followers. Like Demetrescu, many of them left memoirs on Macedonski which were published before or after his death.",
"Like Demetrescu, many of them left memoirs on Macedonski which were published before or after his death. His admirers were writing poetry about him as early as 1874, and, in 1892, Cincinat Pavelescu published a rhapsodizing portrait of Macedonski as \"the Artist\". Pavelescu, Dragoslav and Petică paid homage to the writer by leaving recollections which describe him as a devoted and considerate friend. In contrast, traditionalist poet Alexandru Vlahuță authored an 1889 sketch story in which Macedonski (referred to as Polidor) is the object of derision.",
"In contrast, traditionalist poet Alexandru Vlahuță authored an 1889 sketch story in which Macedonski (referred to as Polidor) is the object of derision. Late recognition Actual recognition of the poet as a classic came only in the interwar period. A final volume of never before published poems, Poema rondelurilor, saw print in 1927. Macedonski's work was analyzed and popularized by a new generation of critics, among them Vianu and George Călinescu.",
"Macedonski's work was analyzed and popularized by a new generation of critics, among them Vianu and George Călinescu. The post-Junimist modernist critic Eugen Lovinescu also commented favorably on Macedonski's work, but overall, Călinescu asserts, his opinions on the subject gave little insight into what he actually thought about the poet. He also recounts that Macedonski himself treated Lovinescu with disdain, and once called him \"a canary\". The emerging avant-garde, although originating from Symbolism, progressively took its distance from Literatoruls legacy.",
"The emerging avant-garde, although originating from Symbolism, progressively took its distance from Literatoruls legacy. Initially, Macedonski's contribution to experimental literature was continued within formal Symbolism by his disciples Demetriade, Iuliu Cezar Săvescu and Ion Minulescu. The latter was particularly indebted to Macedonski in matters of vision and language. In 1904, Tudor Arghezi also left behind the Literatorul circle and its tenets, eventually arriving to the fusion of modernist, traditionalist and avant-garde elements. However, he remained indebted to Macedonski's example in his descriptive prose.",
"However, he remained indebted to Macedonski's example in his descriptive prose. The 1912 Simbolul magazine, which moved between conventional Symbolism and the emerging avant-garde, also published an Imagist-inspired parody of Noaptea de mai, signed by Adrian Maniu. A co-founder of Dadaism during the late 1910s, Tristan Tzara is believed by Swedish researcher Tom Sandqvist to have been inspired more or less directly by Macedonski, and in particular by the latter's thoughts on the relation between absurdity and poetry.",
"A co-founder of Dadaism during the late 1910s, Tristan Tzara is believed by Swedish researcher Tom Sandqvist to have been inspired more or less directly by Macedonski, and in particular by the latter's thoughts on the relation between absurdity and poetry. In his debut poems, Benjamin Fondane-Barbu Fundoianu occasionally followed Macedonski, but, by 1920, stated that the Symbolist doyen merely imitated French models to the point of \"parasitism\". Several avant-garde authors returned to Macedonski's literary guidelines by the late 1920s, as they themselves grew more moderate.",
"Several avant-garde authors returned to Macedonski's literary guidelines by the late 1920s, as they themselves grew more moderate. This was the case of Maniu and Ion Vinea, both of whom published prose works in the line of Thalassa. The same work is also believed to have influenced two non-avant-garde authors, Davidescu and Mateiu Caragiale, who remained close to the tenets Symbolism.",
"The same work is also believed to have influenced two non-avant-garde authors, Davidescu and Mateiu Caragiale, who remained close to the tenets Symbolism. Mateiu was the illegitimate son of Ion Luca Caragiale, but, Vianu notes, could withstand comparisons with his father's rival: the eccentricities were complementary, although Mateiu Caragiale shied away from public affairs.",
"Mateiu was the illegitimate son of Ion Luca Caragiale, but, Vianu notes, could withstand comparisons with his father's rival: the eccentricities were complementary, although Mateiu Caragiale shied away from public affairs. In the same post-Symbolist generation, Celarianu (Macedonski's posthumous son-in-law), George Bacovia and Păstorel Teodoreanu also built on Macedonski's legacy, being later joined in this by the Bessarabian linguist Eugenio Coșeriu (who, in his early poetic career, imitated Macedonski's rondel style).",
"In the same post-Symbolist generation, Celarianu (Macedonski's posthumous son-in-law), George Bacovia and Păstorel Teodoreanu also built on Macedonski's legacy, being later joined in this by the Bessarabian linguist Eugenio Coșeriu (who, in his early poetic career, imitated Macedonski's rondel style). In the late 1920s, when their form of modern psalms inspired Albanian-Romanian poet Aleksander Stavre Drenova, Macedonski and Arghezi both made an indirect impact on Albanian literature.",
"In the late 1920s, when their form of modern psalms inspired Albanian-Romanian poet Aleksander Stavre Drenova, Macedonski and Arghezi both made an indirect impact on Albanian literature. Macedonski's status as one of Romanian literature's greats was consolidated later in the 20th century. By this time, Noaptea de decemvrie had become one of the most recognizable literary works to be taught in Romanian schools.",
"By this time, Noaptea de decemvrie had become one of the most recognizable literary works to be taught in Romanian schools. During the first years of Communist Romania, the Socialist Realist current condemned Symbolism (see Censorship in Communist Romania), but spoke favorably of Macedonski's critique of the bourgeoisie. A while after this episode, Marin Sorescu, one of the best-known modernist poets of his generation, wrote a homage-parody of the Nights cycle.",
"A while after this episode, Marin Sorescu, one of the best-known modernist poets of his generation, wrote a homage-parody of the Nights cycle. Included in the volume Singur între poeți (\"Alone among Poets\"), it is seen by critic Mircea Scarlat as Sorescu's most representative such pieces. Also then, Noaptea de decemvrie partly inspired Ștefan Augustin Doinaș' ballad Mistrețul cu colți de argint.",
"Also then, Noaptea de decemvrie partly inspired Ștefan Augustin Doinaș' ballad Mistrețul cu colți de argint. In the 1990s, Ștefan Agopian took the Nights cycle as inspiration for an erotic short story, while Pavel Șușară adapted his rondels to a modernized setting. Macedonski's prose also influenced younger writers such as Angelo Mitchievici and Anca Maria Mosora. In neighboring Moldova, Macedonski influenced the Neosymbolism of Aureliu Busuioc.",
"In neighboring Moldova, Macedonski influenced the Neosymbolism of Aureliu Busuioc. A magazine by the name of Literatorul, which claims to represent the legacy of Macedonski's publication, was founded in Romania in 1991, being edited by writers Sorescu, Fănuș Neagu and Mircea Micu. In 2006, the Romanian Academy granted posthumous membership to Alexandru Macedonski. Macedonski's poems had a sizable impact on Romania's popular culture.",
"Macedonski's poems had a sizable impact on Romania's popular culture. During communism, Noaptea de mai was the basis for a successful musical adaptation, composed by Marian Nistor and sung by Mirabela Dauer. Tudor Gheorghe, a singer-songwriter inspired by American folk revival, also used some of Macedonski's texts as lyrics to his melodies. In the 2000s, the refrain of Noaptea de mai was mixed into a manea parody by Adrian Copilul Minune.",
"In the 2000s, the refrain of Noaptea de mai was mixed into a manea parody by Adrian Copilul Minune. Portrayals, visual tributes and landmarks Although his poetic theories were largely without echoes in Romanian art, Macedonski captured the interest of several modern artists, including, early on, cartoonist Nicolae Petrescu Găină. Alongside other writers who visited Terasa Oteteleșanu, Macedonski was notably portrayed the drawings of celebrated Romanian artist Iosif Iser. He is also depicted in a 1918 lithograph by Jean Alexandru Steriadi, purportedly Steriadi's only Symbolist work.",
"He is also depicted in a 1918 lithograph by Jean Alexandru Steriadi, purportedly Steriadi's only Symbolist work. Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu inspired a series of reliefs, designed by Alexis Macedonski and hosted in his father's house in Dorobanți. During the 1910s, busts of him were completed by two sculptors, Alexandru Severin and Friedrich Storck, one of Storck's variants being hosted by the Ioan Cantacuzino collection.",
"During the 1910s, busts of him were completed by two sculptors, Alexandru Severin and Friedrich Storck, one of Storck's variants being hosted by the Ioan Cantacuzino collection. In 1919, Theodor Burcă was also inspired to complete another bust, and, during World War II, was commissioned by Mayor of Bucharest Ioan Rășcanu to build a Macedonski Monument in the Grădina Icoanei park, but this was never completed.",
"In 1919, Theodor Burcă was also inspired to complete another bust, and, during World War II, was commissioned by Mayor of Bucharest Ioan Rășcanu to build a Macedonski Monument in the Grădina Icoanei park, but this was never completed. Constantin Piliuță, a painter active in the second half of the 20th century, made Macedonski the subject of a portrait in series dedicated to Romanian cultural figures (also depicted were Nicolae Iorga, Ștefan Luchian and Vianu).",
"Constantin Piliuță, a painter active in the second half of the 20th century, made Macedonski the subject of a portrait in series dedicated to Romanian cultural figures (also depicted were Nicolae Iorga, Ștefan Luchian and Vianu). In 1975, a bust of Macedonski, the work of Constantin Foamete, was unveiled in Craiova. Of Macedonski's numerous residences, the one in Dorobanți was demolished when the Academy of Economic Studies (ASE) was expanded. A commemorative plaque was later put up near the spot.",
"A commemorative plaque was later put up near the spot. Macedonski's childhood home in Goiești passed into state property under communism, and was in turn a school, a community home and a Macedonski Museum, before falling into neglect after the Romanian Revolution of 1989. Several streets named in honor of Alexandru Macedonski, notably in Bucharest (by the ASE), Craiova, Cluj-Napoca and Timișoara.",
"Several streets named in honor of Alexandru Macedonski, notably in Bucharest (by the ASE), Craiova, Cluj-Napoca and Timișoara. Works published anthumously Prima verba (poetry, 1872) Ithalo (poem, 1878) Poezii (poetry, 1881/1882) Parizina (translation of Parisina, 1882) Iadeș!",
"Works published anthumously Prima verba (poetry, 1872) Ithalo (poem, 1878) Poezii (poetry, 1881/1882) Parizina (translation of Parisina, 1882) Iadeș! (comedy, 1882) Dramă banală (short story, 1887) Saul (with Cincinat Pavelescu; tragedy, 1893) Excelsior (poetry, 1895) Bronzes (poetry, 1897) (essay, 1898) Cartea de aur (prose, 1902) Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu (novel, 1906; 1914) Flori sacre (poetry, 1912) Zaherlina (essay, 1920) Notes References Mircea Anghelescu, chronological table, preface and critical references, in Macedonski, Poemele \"Nopților\", Editura Albatros, Bucharest, 1972, p. 7-31, 137–140.",
"(comedy, 1882) Dramă banală (short story, 1887) Saul (with Cincinat Pavelescu; tragedy, 1893) Excelsior (poetry, 1895) Bronzes (poetry, 1897) (essay, 1898) Cartea de aur (prose, 1902) Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu (novel, 1906; 1914) Flori sacre (poetry, 1912) Zaherlina (essay, 1920) Notes References Mircea Anghelescu, chronological table, preface and critical references, in Macedonski, Poemele \"Nopților\", Editura Albatros, Bucharest, 1972, p. 7-31, 137–140. Nicolae Balotă, Arte poetice ale secolului XX: ipostaze românești și străine, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1976.",
"Nicolae Balotă, Arte poetice ale secolului XX: ipostaze românești și străine, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1976. Lucian Boia, \"Germanofilii\". Elita intelectuală românească în anii Primului Război Mondial, Humanitas, Bucharest, 2010. George Călinescu, Istoria literaturii române de la origini pînă în prezent, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1986 Paul Cernat, Avangarda românească și complexul periferiei: primul val, Cartea Românească, Bucharest, 2007. Șerban Cioculescu, Caragialiana, Editura Eminescu, Bucharest, 1974.",
"Șerban Cioculescu, Caragialiana, Editura Eminescu, Bucharest, 1974. Péter Krasztev, \"From a Deadlocked Present into an Imagined Past\", in the Central European University's East Central Europe = L'Europe du Centre-Est, Vol. 26, Nr. 2/1999, p. 33-52 \"From Modernization to Modernist Literature\", in Marcel Cornis-Pope, John Neubauer (eds. ), History of the Literary Cultures of East-Central Europe, Vol. 3, John Benjamins, Amsterdam & Philadelphia, 2004, p. 332-348.",
"3, John Benjamins, Amsterdam & Philadelphia, 2004, p. 332-348. Lucian Nastasă, Intelectualii și promovarea socială (pentru o morfologie a câmpului universitar), Editura Nereamia Napocae, Cluj-Napoca, 2003; e-book version at the Romanian Academy's George Bariț Institute of History Z. Ornea, Junimea și junimismul, Vol. II, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1998. Perpessicius, Studii eminesciene, Museum of Romanian Literature, Bucharest, 2001.",
"Perpessicius, Studii eminesciene, Museum of Romanian Literature, Bucharest, 2001. Petre Răileanu, Michel Carassou, Fundoianu/Fondane et l'avant-garde, Fondation Culturelle Roumaine, Éditions Paris-Méditerranée, Bucharest & Paris, 1999. Tom Sandqvist, Dada East. The Romanians of Cabaret Voltaire, MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts & London, 2006. Manuela-Delia Suciu, \"La poésie roumaine au XIXe siècle. Alexandru Macedonski entre romantisme et symbolisme\", in Revue d'Études Françaises, Nr.",
"Alexandru Macedonski entre romantisme et symbolisme\", in Revue d'Études Françaises, Nr. 8/2003, p. 101-110 (republished by the Centre Interuniversitaire d’Études Françaises/Egyetemközi Francia Központ) Tudor Vianu, Scriitori români, Vol. I-III, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1970–1971. Mariana Vida, \"La société Tinerimea artistică de Bucarest et le symbolisme tardif entre 1902-1910\", in Revue Roumaine d'Histoire de l'Art. Série Beaux-arts, Vol.",
"Série Beaux-arts, Vol. Série Beaux-arts, Vol. XLIV, 2007, p. 55-66 External links Amidst Hen Houses (excerpts), Poésies, Thalassa (excerpt), in the Romanian Cultural Institute's Plural Magazine (various issues) Alexandru Macedonski, Museum of Romanian Literature profile 1854 births 1920 deaths 19th-century Romanian poets 20th-century Romanian poets Romanian male poets Romantic poets Neoclassical writers Symbolist poets Sonneteers Romanian fabulists Romanian epigrammatists 19th-century Romanian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Romanian dramatists and playwrights Male dramatists and playwrights 19th-century Romanian novelists 20th-century Romanian novelists Romanian male novelists Romanian writers in French 19th-century short story writers 20th-century short story writers Romanian male short story writers Romanian short story writers Realism (art movement) Symbolist novelists Romanian fantasy writers Romanian science fiction writers Romanian humorists Romanian erotica writers 19th-century essayists 20th-century essayists Romanian essayists 20th-century biographers Romanian biographers Male biographers Romanian memoirists Romanian travel writers Romanian literary critics Romanian screenwriters Male screenwriters Romanian columnists Romanian magazine editors Romanian magazine founders Romanian newspaper editors Romanian newspaper founders 19th-century translators 20th-century translators Romanian translators English–Romanian translators French–Romanian translators Greek–Romanian translators Writers from Bucharest Romanian nobility Members of the Romanian Orthodox Church Carol I National College alumni National Liberal Party (Romania) politicians Republicanism in the Kingdom of Romania Romanian civil servants Prefects of Romania Romanian inventors Romanian esotericists Romanian expatriates in France Romanian people of World War I Burials at Bellu Cemetery Members of the Romanian Academy elected posthumously 20th-century screenwriters"
] |
[
"Alexandru Macedonski",
"Late 1890s",
"How old was Macedonski during this time period?",
"I don't know.",
"What was he doing during this time?",
"By 1898, Macedonski was again facing financial difficulties, and his collaborators resorted to organizing a fundraiser in his honor."
] | C_0dd521a55de449a4b87a29d550b59837_1 | At this time, had he written any literature yet? | 3 | In the late 1890's, had Alexandru Macedonski written any literature yet? | Alexandru Macedonski | Macedonski also returned with a new volume of poetry, Excelsior (consecutive editions in 1895 and 1896), and founded Liga Ortodoxa ("The Orthodox League"), a magazine noted for hosting the debut of Tudor Arghezi, later one of the most celebrated figures in Romanian literature. Macedonski commended his new protege for reaching "the summit of poetry and art" at "an age when I was still prattling verses". Liga Ortodoxa also hosted articles against Caragiale, which Macedonski signed with the pseudonym Sallustiu ("Sallustius"). The magazine was additional proof of Macedonski's return to conservatism, and largely dedicated to defending the cause of Romanian Orthodox Metropolitan Ghenadie, deposed by the Romanian Synod following a political scandal. It defended Ghenadie up until he chose to resign, and subsequently went out of print. Macedonski was shocked to note that Ghenadie had given up his own defense. In 1895, his Casa cu nr. 10 was translated into French by the Journal des Debats, whose editors reportedly found it picturesque. Two years later, Macedonski himself published French-language translations of his earlier poetry under the title Bronzes, a volume prefaced by his disciple, the critic and promoter Alexandru Bogdan-Pitesti. Although it was positively reviewed by Mercure de France magazine, Bronzes was largely unnoticed by the French audience, a fact which Tudor Vianu attributes to Bogdan-Pitesti's lack of qualification for the cultural mission Macedonski had trusted him with. By that time, his circle had come to be frequented with regularity by Bogdan-Pitesti's friend and collaborator, the celebrated painter Stefan Luchian, who was in the Symbolist and Art Nouveau stage of his career. By 1898, Macedonski was again facing financial difficulties, and his collaborators resorted to organizing a fundraiser in his honor. His rejection of the Orthodox establishment was documented by his political tract, published that year as Falimentul clerului ortodox. Between that time and 1900, he focused on researching esoteric, occult and pseudoscientific subjects. Traian Demetrescu, who recorded his visits with Macedonski, recalled his former mentor being opposed to his positivist take on science, claiming to explain the workings of the Universe in "a different way", through "imagination", but also taking an interest in Camille Flammarion's astronomy studies. Macedonski was determined to interpret death through parapsychological means, and, in 1900, conferenced at the Atheneum on the subject Sufletul si viata viitoare ("The Soul and the Coming Life"). The focal point of his vision was that man could voluntarily stave off death with words and gestures, a concept he elaborated upon in his later articles. In one such piece, Macedonski argued: "man has the power [...] to compact the energy currents known as thoughts to the point where he changes them, according to his own will, into objects or soul-bearing creatures." He also attempted to build a machine for extinguishing chimney fires. Later, Nikita Macedonski registered the invention of nacre-treated paper, which is sometimes attributed to his father. CANNOTANSWER | Macedonski also returned with a new volume of poetry, Excelsior ( | Alexandru Macedonski (; also rendered as Al. A. Macedonski, Macedonschi or Macedonsky; 14 March 1854 – 24 November 1920) was a Romanian poet, novelist, dramatist and literary critic, known especially for having promoted French Symbolism in his native country, and for leading the Romanian Symbolist movement during its early decades. A forerunner of local modernist literature, he is the first local author to have used free verse, and claimed by some to have been the first in modern European literature. Within the framework of Romanian literature, Macedonski is seen by critics as second only to national poet Mihai Eminescu; as leader of a cosmopolitan and aestheticist trend formed around his Literatorul journal, he was diametrically opposed to the inward-looking traditionalism of Eminescu and his school.
Debuting as a Neoromantic in the Wallachian tradition, Macedonski went through the Realist-Naturalist stage deemed "social poetry", while progressively adapting his style to Symbolism and Parnassianism, and repeatedly but unsuccessfully attempting to impose himself in the Francophone world. Despite having theorized "instrumentalism", which reacted against the traditional guidelines of poetry, he maintained a lifelong connection with Neoclassicism and its ideal of purity. Macedonski's quest for excellence found its foremost expression in his recurring motif of life as a pilgrimage to Mecca, notably used in his critically acclaimed Nights cycle. The stylistic stages of his career are reflected in the collections Prima verba, Poezii, and Excelsior, as well as in the fantasy novel Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu. In old age, he became the author of rondels, noted for their detached and serene vision of life, in contrast with his earlier combativeness.
In parallel to his literary career, Macedonski was a civil servant, notably serving as prefect in the Budjak and Northern Dobruja during the late 1870s. As journalist and militant, his allegiance fluctuated between the liberal current and conservatism, becoming involved in polemics and controversies of the day. Of the long series of publications he founded, Literatorul was the most influential, notably hosting his early conflicts with the Junimea literary society. These targeted Vasile Alecsandri and especially Eminescu, their context and tone becoming the cause of a major rift between Macedonski and his public. This situation repeated itself in later years, when Macedonski and his Forța Morală magazine began campaigning against the Junimist dramatist Ion Luca Caragiale, whom they falsely accused of plagiarism. During World War I, the poet aggravated his critics by supporting the Central Powers against Romania's alliance with the Entente side. His biography was also marked by an enduring interest in esotericism, numerous attempts to become recognized as an inventor, and an enthusiasm for cycling.
The scion of a political and aristocratic family, the poet was the son of General Alexandru Macedonski, who served as Defense Minister, and the grandson of 1821 rebel Dimitrie Macedonski. Both his son Alexis and grandson Soare were known painters.
Biography
Early life and family
The poet's paternal family had arrived in Wallachia during the early 19th century. Of South Slav (Serb or Bulgarian) or Aromanian origin, they claimed to have descended from Serb insurgents in Ottoman-ruled Macedonia. Alexandru's grandfather Dimitrie and Dimitrie's brother Pavel participated in the 1821 uprising against the Phanariote administration, and in alliance with the Filiki Eteria; Dimitrie made the object of controversy when, during the final stage of the revolt, he sided with the Eteria in its confrontation with Wallachian leader Tudor Vladimirescu, taking an active part in the latter's killing. Both Macedonski brothers had careers in the Wallachian military forces, at a time when the country was governed by Imperial Russian envoys, when the Regulamentul Organic regime recognized the family as belonging to Wallachia's nobility. Dimitrie married Zoe, the daughter an ethnic Russian or Polish officer; their son, the Russian-educated Alexandru, climbed in the military and political hierarchy, joining the unified Land Forces after his political ally, Alexander John Cuza, was elected Domnitor and the two Danubian Principalities became united Romania. Both the officer's uncle Pavel and brother Mihail were amateur poets.
Macedonski's mother, Maria Fisența (also Vicenț or Vicența), was from an aristocratic environment, being the scion of Oltenian boyars. Through her father, she may have descended from Russian immigrants who had been absorbed into Oltenia's nobility. Maria had been adopted by the boyar Dumitrache Pârâianu, and the couple had inherited the Adâncata and Pometești estates in Goiești, on the Amaradia Valley.
Both the poet and his father were dissatisfied with accounts of their lineage, contradicting them with an account that researchers have come to consider spurious. Although adherents of the Romanian Orthodox Church, the Macedonskis traced their origin to Rogala-bearing Lithuanian nobility from the defunct Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. While the writer perpetuated his father's claim, it is possible that he also took pride in investigating his Balkan roots: according to literary historian Tudor Vianu, who, as a youth, was a member of his circle, this tendency is attested by two of Macedonski's poems from the 1880s, where the South Slavs appear as icons of freedom. Vianu's contemporary, literary historian George Călinescu, postulated that, although the family had been absorbed into the ethnic and cultural majority, the poet's origin served to enrich local culture by linking it to a "Thracian" tradition and the spirit of "adventurers".
The family moved often, following General Macedonski's postings. Born in Bucharest, Macedonski-son was the third of four siblings, the oldest of whom was a daughter, Caterina. Before the age of six, he was a sickly and nervous child, who is reported to have had regular tantrums. In 1862, his father sent him to school in Oltenia, and he spent most time in the Amaradia region. The nostalgia he felt for the landscape later made him consider writing an Amărăzene ("Amaradians") cycle, of which only one poem was ever completed. He was attending the Carol I High School in Craiova and, according to his official record, graduated in 1867.
Macedonski's father had by then become known as an authoritarian commander, and, during his time in Târgu Ocna, faced a mutiny which only his wife could stop by pleading with the soldiers (an episode which made an impression on the future poet). A stern parent, he took an active part in educating his children. Having briefly served as Defense Minister, the general was mysteriously dismissed by Cuza in 1863, and his pension became the topic of a political scandal. It ended only under the rule of Carol I, Cuza's Hohenzollern successor, when Parliament voted against increasing the sum to the level demanded by its recipient. Having preserved a negative impression of the 1866 plebiscite, during which Cuza's dethronement had been confirmed, Macedonski remained a committed opponent of the new ruler. As a youth and adult, he sought to revive his father's cause, and included allusions to the perceived injustice in at least one poem. After spending the last months of his life protesting against the authorities, Macedonski-father fell ill and died in September 1869, leaving his family to speculate that he had been murdered by political rivals.
Debut years
Macedonski left Romania in 1870, traveling through Austria-Hungary and spending time in Vienna, before visiting Switzerland and possibly other countries; according to one account, it was here that he may have first met (and disliked) his rival poet Mihai Eminescu, at a time a Viennese student. Macedonski's visit was meant to be preparation for entering the University of Bucharest, but he spent much of his time in the bohemian environment, seeking entertainment and engaging in romantic escapades. He was however opposed to the lifestyle choices of people his age, claiming that they were engaged in "orgy after orgy". At around that date, the young author had begun to perfect a style heavily influenced by Romanticism, and in particular by his Wallachian predecessors Dimitrie Bolintineanu and Ion Heliade Rădulescu. He was for a while in Styria, at Bad Gleichenberg, a stay which, George Călinescu believes, may have been the result of a medical recommendation to help him counter excessive nervousness. The landscape there inspired him to write an ode. Also in 1870, he published his first lyrics in George Bariț's Transylvanian-based journal Telegraful Român.
The following year, he left for Italy, where he visited Pisa, Florence, Venice, and possibly other cities. His records of the journey indicate that he was faced with financial difficulties and plagued by disease. Macedonski also claimed to have attended college lectures in these cities, and to have spent significant time studying at Pisa University, but this remains uncertain. He eventually returned to Bucharest, where he entered the Faculty of Letters (which he never attended regularly). According to Călinescu, Macedonski "did not feel the need" to attend classes, because "such a young man will expect society to render upon him its homages." He was again in Italy during spring 1872, soon after publishing his debut volume Prima verba (Latin for "First Word"). Having also written an anti-Carol piece, published in Telegraful Român during 1873, Macedonski reportedly feared political reprisals, and decided to make another visit to Styria and Italy while his case was being assessed. It was in Italy that he met French musicologist Jules Combarieu, with whom he corresponded sporadically over the following decades.
During that period, Macedonski became interested in the political scene and political journalism, first as a sympathizer of the liberal-radical current—which, in 1875, organized itself around the National Liberal Party. In 1874, back in Craiova, Macedonski founded a short-lived literary society known as Junimea, a title which purposefully or unwittingly copied that of the influential conservative association with whom he would later quarrel. It was then that he met journalist and pedagogue Ștefan Velescu, a meeting witnessed by Velescu's pupil, the future liberal journalist Constantin Bacalbașa, who recorded it in his memoirs. Oltul magazine, which he had helped establish and which displayed a liberal agenda, continued to be published until July 1875, and featured Macedonski's translations from Pierre-Jean de Béranger, Hector de Charlieu and Alphonse de Lamartine, as well as his debut in travel writing and short story. At age 22, he worked on his first play, a comedy titled Gemenii ("The Twins"). In 1874 that he came to the attention of young journalist future dramatist Ion Luca Caragiale, who satirized him in articles for the magazine Ghimpele, ridiculing his claim to Lithuanian descent, and eventually turning him into the character Aamsky, whose fictional career ends with his death from exhaustion caused by contributing to "for the country's political development". This was the first episode in a consuming polemic between the two figures. Reflecting back on this period in 1892, Macedonski described Caragiale as a "noisy young man" of "sophistic reasoning", whose target audience was to be found in "beer gardens".
1875 trial and office as prefect
In March 1875, Macedonski was arrested on charges of defamation or sedition. For almost a year before, he and Oltul had taken an active part in the campaign against Conservative Party and its leader, Premier Lascăr Catargiu. In this context, he had demanded that the common man "rise up with weapons in their hands and break both the government agents and the government", following up with similar messages aimed at the Domnitor. He was taken to Bucharest's Văcărești prison and confined there for almost three months. Supported by the liberal press and defended by the most prestigious pro-liberal attorneys (Nicolae Fleva among them), Macedonski faced a jury trial on 7 June, being eventually cleared of the charges. Reportedly, the Bucharest populace organized a spontaneous celebration of the verdict.
In 1875, after the National Liberal Ion Emanuel Florescu was assigned the post of Premier by Carol, Macedonski embarked on an administrative career. The poet was upset by not being included on the National Liberal list for the 1875 suffrage. This disenchantment led him into a brief conflict with the young liberal figure Bonifaciu Florescu, only to join him soon afterward in editing Stindardul journal, alongside Pantazi Ghica and George Fălcoianu. The publication followed the line of Nicolae Moret Blaremberg, made notorious for his radical and republican agenda. Ghica and Macedonski remained close friends until Ghica's 1882 death.
The new cabinet eventually appointed him Prefect of Bolgrad region, in the Budjak (at the time part of Romania). In parallel, he published his first translation, a version of Parisina, an 1816 epic poem by Lord Byron, and completed the original works Ithalo and Calul arabului ("The Arab's Horse"). He also spoke at the Romanian Atheneum, presenting his views on the state of Romanian literature (1878). His time in office ended upon the outbreak of the Russo-Turkish War. At the time, Russian volunteers were amassed on the Budjak border, requesting from the Romanian authorities the right of free passage into the Principality of Serbia. The National Liberal Premier Ion Brătianu, who was negotiating an anti-Ottoman alliance, sent Macedonski signals to let them pass, but the prefect, obeying the official recommendation of Internal Affairs Minister George D. Vernescu, decided against it, and was consequently stripped of his office.
Still determined to pursue a career in the press, Macedonski founded a string of unsuccessful magazines with patriotic content and titles such as Vestea ("The Announcement"), Dunărea ("The Danube"), Fulgerul ("The Lightning") and, after 1880, Tarara (an onomatopoeia equivalent to "Toodoodoo"). Their history is connected with that of the Russo-Turkish War, at the end of which Romanian participation on the Russian side resulted in her independence. Macedonski remained committed to the anti-Ottoman cause, and, some thirty years later, stated: "We want no Turkey in Europe!"
By 1879, the poet, who continued to voice criticism of Carol, had several times switched sides between the National Liberals and the opposition Conservatives. That year, while the Budjak was ceded to Russia and Northern Dobruja was integrated into Romania, the Brătianu cabinet appointed him administrator of the Sulina plasă and the Danube Delta. He had previously refused to be made comptroller in Putna County, believing such an appointment to be beneath his capacity, and had lost a National Liberal appointment in Silistra when Southern Dobruja was granted to the Principality of Bulgaria. During this short interval in office, he traveled to the Snake Island in the Black Sea—his appreciation for the place later motivated him to write the fantasy novel Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu and the poem Lewki.
Early Literatorul years
With the 1880s came a turning point in Alexandru Macedonski's career. Vianu notes that changes took place in the poet's relationship with his public: "Society recognizes in him the nonconformist. [...] The man becomes singular; people start talking about his oddities." Macedonski's presumed frustration at being perceived in this way, Vianu notes, may have led him closer to the idea of poète maudit, theorized earlier by Paul Verlaine. In this context, he had set his sight on promoting "social poetry", the merger between lyricism and political militantism. Meanwhile, according to Călinescu, his attacks on the liberals and the "daft insults he aimed at [Romania's] throne" had effectively ruined his own chance of political advancement.
In January 1880, he launched his most influential and long-lived publication, Literatorul, which was also the focal point of his eclectic cultural circle, and, in later years, of the local Symbolist school. In its first version, the magazine was co-edited by Macedonski, Bonifaciu Florescu and poet Th. M. Stoenescu. Florescu parted with the group soon after, due to a disagreement with Macedonski, and was later attacked by the latter for allegedly accumulating academic posts. Literatorul aimed to irritate Junimist sensibilities from its first issue, when it stated its dislike for "political prejudice in literature." This was most likely an allusion to the views of Junimist figure Titu Maiorescu, being later accompanied by explicit attacks on him and his followers. An early success for the new journal was the warm reception it received from Vasile Alecsandri, a Romantic poet and occasional Junimist whom Macedonski idolized at the time, and the collaboration of popular memoirist Gheorghe Sion. Another such figure was the intellectual V. A. Urechia, whom Macedonski made president of the Literatorul Society. In 1881, Education Minister Urechia granted Macedonski the Bene-Merenti medal 1st class, although, Călinescu stresses, the poet had only totaled 18 months of public service. At around that time, Macedonski had allegedly begun courting actress Aristizza Romanescu, who rejected his advances, leaving him unenthusiastic about love matters and unwilling to seek female company.
In parallel, Macedonski used the magazine to publicize his disagreement with the main Junimist voice, Convorbiri Literare. Among the group of contributors, several had already been victims of Maiorescu's irony: Sion, Urechia, Pantazi Ghica and Petru Grădișteanu. While welcoming the debut of its contributor, Parnassian-Neoclassicist novelist and poet Duiliu Zamfirescu, Macedonski repeatedly attacked its main exponent, the conservative poet Eminescu, claiming not to understand his poetry. However, Literatorul was also open to contributions from some Convorbiri Literare affiliates (Zamfirescu, Matilda Cugler-Poni and Veronica Micle).
In November 1880, Macedonski's plays Iadeș! ("Wishbone!", a comedy first printed in 1882) and Unchiașul Sărăcie ("Old Man Poverty") premiered at the National Theater Bucharest. A sign of government approval, this was followed by Macedonski's appointment to a minor administrative office, as Historical Monuments Inspector. Nevertheless, both plays failed to impose themselves on public perception, and were withdrawn from the program by 1888. Călinescu asserts that, although Macedonski later claimed to have always been facing poverty, his job in the administration, coupled with other sources of revenue, ensured him a comfortable existence.
In 1881, Macedonski published a new collection of poetry. Titled Poezii, it carries the year "1882" on its original cover. Again moving away from liberalism, Macedonski sought to make himself accepted by Junimea and Maiorescu. He consequently attended the Junimea sessions, and gave a public reading of Noaptea de noiembrie ("November Night"), the first publicized piece in his lifelong Nights cycle. It reportedly earned him the praise of historian and poet Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu, who, although an anti-Junimist, happened to be in the audience. Despite rumors according to which he had applauded Macedonski, Maiorescu himself was not impressed, and left an unenthusiastic account of the event in his private diary.
Against Alecsandri and Eminescu
Macedonski's open conflict with Junimea began in 1882, when he engaged in a publicized polemic with Alecsandri. It was ignited when, through Macedonski's articles, Literatorul criticized Alecsandri for accepting Romanian Academy prizes despite being its member, and later involved Sion (whose replies on behalf of the Academy were derided by Macedonski). Macedonski also took distance from Alecsandri's style, publishing a "critical analysis" of his poetry in one issue of Literatorul. In turn, Alecsandri humiliated his young rival by portraying him as Zoilus, the prototype of slanderers, and himself as the model poet Horace in the 1883 play Fântâna Blanduziei. The two were eventually reconciled, and Macedonski again spoke of Alecsandri as his ideological and stylistic predecessor.
In April 1882, Eminescu had also replied to Macedonski in Timpul journal, referring to an unnamed poet who "barely finishes high-school, comes over to Bucharest selling nick-nacks and makeup [and goes into] literary dealership". Reproaching Macedonski's attacks on Alecsandri, Eminescu makes a nationalist comment about the young poet bearing "the bastard instincts of those foreigners who were Romanianized only yesterday", and attributes him "the physiognomy of a hairdresser". Through the articles of Petru Th. Missir, Convorbiri Literare gave Poezii a negative review, deemed "malevolent" by literary historian Mircea Anghelescu. At the other end of the political and cultural spectrum, Macedonski faced opposition from the intellectuals attracted to socialism, in particular Contemporanul editors Constantin Mille and Ioan Nădejde, with whom he was engaged in an extended polemic.
In the meantime, Macedonski published his own play, which had Cuza for its main character and was eponymously titled Cuza-Vodă, and completed translations for Literatorul—from Maurice Rollinat, whom he helped impose as a main cultural reference in Romanian Symbolism, and from the Greek poet Akhillefs Paraskhos. In 1883, he also contributed his first sketch story, Casa cu nr. 10 ("The House at Number 10"). In early 1883, he married Ana Rallet-Slătineanu. Wealthy and supposedly related to Romanian aristocrats, she would bear him five children in all: the painter Alexis was the eldest, followed by Nikita; the three youngest were two sons (Panel and Constantin Macedonski) and a daughter, Anna (also known as Nina). His heterosexual lifestyle notwithstanding, Macedonski remained a self-avowed admirer of male beauties, and was rumored to be a closeted homosexual.
In July 1883, Macedonski undertook one of his most controversial anti-Junimist actions. That month, Literatorul published an epigram signed with the pseudonym Duna, deriding an unnamed author who had lost his mind. Mihai Eminescu—whom many had already come to see as Romania's national poet—had by then developed a mental disorder which had become known to the general public. Ever since that moment, Macedonski has generally been believed to be Duna, and as a result, was faced with much criticism from both readers and commentators. The intense anti-Literatorul press campaign was initiated in August, when writer Grigore Ventura issued an article condemning Macedonski's attitude (published in the Bucharest-based newspaper L'Indépendance Roumaine), with Macedonski responding in the National Liberal organ Românul. During one evening, Macedonski is reported to have been assaulted by anonymous supporters of Eminescu. His previous conflict with Nădejde was also affected by this renewed controversy: while opposed to Junimist policies, the socialists at Contemporanul voiced their admiration for Eminescu's art.
Late in 1883, Macedonski and his friends unveiled Ion Georgescu's statue of their mentor Bolintineanu in the National Theater lobby. The circumstances in which this took place rose suspicion of foul play; on this grounds, Macedonski was ridiculed by his former friend Zamfirescu in the journal România Liberă, which left him embittered. Călinescu proposes that, although such negative reactions were invoked by Macedonski's supporters as a sign of their mentor having been marginalized, Macedonski had expressed his dissatisfaction with the cultural environment long before that moment, and was still a respected figure even after the incidents took place.
First Paris sojourn and Poezia viitorului
Having been stripped of his administrative office by the new Brătianu cabinet, Macedonski faced financial difficulties, and was forced to move into a house on the outskirts of Bucharest, and later moved between houses in northern Bucharest. According to Călinescu, the poet continued to cultivate luxury and passionately invested in the decorative arts, although his source of income, other than the supposed assistance "of [European] ruling houses", remains a mystery. Arguing that Macedonski was "always in need of money" to use on his luxury items, poet Victor Eftimiu claimed: "He did not shy away from sending emphatic notes to the potentates of his day [...], flattering some, threatening others. He would marry off or simply mate some of his disciples with aging and rich women, and then he would squeeze out their assets."
Macedonski eventually left Romania in 1884, visiting Paris. On his way there, he passed through Craiova, where he met aspiring author Traian Demetrescu, whose works he had already hosted in Literatorul and who was to become his friend and protégé. Demetrescu later recalled being gripped by "tremors of emotion" upon first catching sight of Macedonski. In France, Macedonski set up contacts within the French literary environment, and began contributing to French or Francophone literary publications—including the Belgian Symbolist platforms La Wallonie and L'Élan littéraire. His collaboration with La Wallonie alongside Albert Mockel, Tudor Vianu believes, makes Alexandru Macedonski one in the original wave of European Symbolists. This adaptation to Symbolism also drew on his marked Francophilia, which in turn complemented his tendencies toward cosmopolitanism. He became opposed to Carol I, who, in 1881, had been granted the Crown of the Romanian Kingdom. In addition to his admiration for Cuza and the 1848 Wallachian revolutionaries, the poet objected to the King's sympathy for France's main rival, the German Empire. In January 1885, after having returned from the voyage, he announced his retirement from public life, claiming that German influence and its exponents at Junimea had "conquered" Romanian culture, and repeating his claim that Eminescu lacked value.
In the meantime, Literatorul went out of print, although new series were still published at irregular intervals until 1904 (when it ceased being published altogether). The magazine was reportedly hated by the public, causing Macedonski, Stoenescu, Florescu, Urechia and educator Anghel Demetriescu to try to revive it as Revista Literară ("The Literary Review", published for a few months in 1885). The poet attempted to establish other magazines, all of them short-lived, and, in 1887, handed for print his Naturalist novella Dramă banală ("Banal Drama") while completing one of the most revered episodes in the Nights series, Noaptea de mai ("May Night"). Also in 1886, he worked on his other Naturalist novellas: Zi de august ("August Day"), Pe drum de poștă ("On the Stagecoach Trail"), Din carnetul unui dezertor ("From the Notebook of a Deserter"), Între cotețe ("Amidst Hen Houses") and the eponymous Nicu Dereanu.
By 1888, he was again sympathetic toward Blaremberg, whose dissident National Liberal faction had formed an alliance with the Conservatives, editing Stindardul Țărei (later Straja Țărei) as his supporting journal. However, late in the same year, he returned to the liberal mainstream, being assigned a weekly column in Românul newspaper. Two years later, he attempted to relaunch Literatorul under the leadership of liberal figure Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu, but the latter eventually settled for founding his own Revista Nouă. Around 1891, he saluted Junimeas own break with the Conservatives and its entry into politics at the Conservative-Constitutional Party, before offering an enthusiastic welcome to the 1892 Junimist agitation among university students. In 1894, he would speak in front of student crowds gathered at a political rally in University Square, and soon after made himself known for supporting the cause of ethnic Romanians and other underrepresented groups of Austria-Hungary.
His literary thesis of the time was titled Poezia viitorului ("The Poetry of the Future"). It upheld Symbolist authors as the models to follow, while Macedonski personally began producing what he referred to as "instrumentalist" poems, composed around musical and onomatopoeic elements, and showing a preference for internal rhymes. Such an experimental approach was soon after parodied and ridiculed by Ion Luca Caragiale, who had by then affiliated and parted with Junimea, in his new Moftul Român magazine. The poet sought to reconcile with his rival, publicizing a claim that Caragiale was being unjustly ignored by the cultural establishment, but this attempt failed to mend relations between them, and the conflict escalated further.
While, in 1893, Literatorul hosted fragments of Thalassa in its Romanian-language version, the author also launched a daily, Lumina ("The Light"). It was also at that stage that Alexandru Macedonski associated with Cincinat Pavelescu, the noted epigrammarian, who joined him in editing Literatorul, and with whom he co-authored the 1893 verse tragedy depicting the Biblical hero Saul, and named after him. Although showcased by the National Theater with star actor Constantin Nottara in the title role, it failed to register success with the public. Two years later, the two Literatorul editors made headlines as pioneers of cycling. An enthusiastic promoter of the sport, Macedonski joined fellow poet Constantin Cantilli on a marathon, pedaling from Bucharest across the border into Austria-Hungary, all the way down to Brașov.
Late 1890s
Macedonski also returned with a new volume of poetry, Excelsior (consecutive editions in 1895 and 1896), and founded Liga Ortodoxă ("The Orthodox League"), a magazine noted for hosting the debut of Tudor Arghezi, later one of the most celebrated figures in Romanian literature. Macedonski commended his new protégé for reaching "the summit of poetry and art" at "an age when I was still prattling verses". Liga Ortodoxă also hosted articles against Caragiale, which Macedonski signed with the pseudonym Sallustiu ("Sallustius"). The magazine was additional proof of Macedonski's return to conservatism, and largely dedicated to defending the cause of Romanian Orthodox Metropolitan Ghenadie, deposed by the Romanian Synod following a political scandal. It defended Ghenadie up until he chose to resign, and subsequently went out of print. Macedonski was shocked to note that Ghenadie had given up his own defense.
In 1895, his Casa cu nr. 10 was translated into French by the Journal des Débats, whose editors reportedly found it picturesque. Two years later, Macedonski himself published French-language translations of his earlier poetry under the title Bronzes, a volume prefaced by his disciple, the critic and promoter Alexandru Bogdan-Pitești. Although it was positively reviewed by Mercure de France magazine, Bronzes was largely unnoticed by the French audience, a fact which Tudor Vianu attributes to Bogdan-Pitești's lack of qualification for the cultural mission Macedonski had trusted him with. By that time, his circle had come to be frequented with regularity by Bogdan-Pitești's friend and collaborator, the celebrated painter Ștefan Luchian, who was in the Symbolist and Art Nouveau stage of his career.
By 1898, Macedonski was again facing financial difficulties, and his collaborators resorted to organizing a fundraiser in his honor. His rejection of the Orthodox establishment was documented by his political tract, published that year as . Between that time and 1900, he focused on researching esoteric, occult and pseudoscientific subjects. Traian Demetrescu, who recorded his visits with Macedonski, recalled his former mentor being opposed to his positivist take on science, claiming to explain the workings of the Universe in "a different way", through "imagination", but also taking an interest in Camille Flammarion's astronomy studies. Macedonski was determined to interpret death through parapsychological means, and, in 1900, conferenced at the Atheneum on the subject Sufletul și viața viitoare ("The Soul and the Coming Life"). The focal point of his vision was that man could voluntarily stave off death with words and gestures, a concept he elaborated upon in his later articles. In one such piece, Macedonski argued: "man has the power [...] to compact the energy currents known as thoughts to the point where he changes them, according to his own will, into objects or soul-bearing creatures." He also attempted to build a machine for extinguishing chimney fires. Later, Nikita Macedonski registered the invention of nacre-treated paper, which is sometimes attributed to his father.
Caion scandal and expatriation
The few issues of Literatorul that were printed in 1899-1900 saw the circle being joined by the young Symbolist poet Ștefan Petică. In 1902, he published Cartea de aur ("The Golden Book"), comprising his sketch stories and novellas. In parallel, Macedonski returned to the public scene, founding Forța Morală magazine. It was through this venue that he began responding to Ion Luca Caragiale's earlier attacks. This he did by hosting the articles of aspiring journalist Constantin Al. Ionescu-Caion, who accused Caragiale of having plagiarized a Hungarian author by the name of Kemény in his tragedy play Năpasta. Kemény turned out to be non-existent. According to Vianu, Macedonski had no prior knowledge of the fraud, but had also been "blinded" by his resentments instead of displaying "discernment", and had even showed evidence of "insanity". Most in Macedonski's own series of anti-Caragiale articles were unsigned, or signed with pseudonyms such as Luciliu ("Gaius Lucilius").
Like in the case of Eminescu's conflict with Macedonski, the polemic enlisted a negative response from the public. The poet's associate Th. M. Stoenescu convinced himself that Caragiale was being framed, and refused to allow Revista Literară to be used for endorsing Caion, which caused Macedonski to shun him. Macedonski refused to withdraw his support for the cause even after Caragiale sued Caion, but Forța Morală soon went out of print. Before it did so, the journal hosted some of Macedonski's most renowned poems, including Lewki and Noaptea de decemvrie ("December Night"), together with his article on Remy de Gourmont's thoughts on poetics.
In his article of 1903, titled ("Toward Occultism. Later Orientations toward Theosophy and Social Philosophy"), the poet envisaged making his interest in esoteric subjects the basis of a new literary movement. Also that year, poet George Bacovia began attending the literary circle, and gave a reading of his celebrated Plumb poem, being welcomed by Macedonski with a flattering epigram. Macedonski's series of short-lived periodicals resumed in 1905, when he founded Le Beau Danube Bleu (French for "The Beautiful Blue Danube") and Liga Conservatoare ("The Conservative League"). He registered more success in 1906, when his Thalassa was published, as Le Calvaire de feu, by Edward Sansot's Paris-based publishing house. This followed intense self-promotion within the French literary environment, as well as advertisements in the French press. Part of this involved Macedonski sending his book to be reviewed by Émile Faguet, Jean Mounet-Sully, Joséphin Péladan, Pierre Quillard and Jean Richepin, who replied with what Vianu deems "the politeness of circumstance." The volume was nonetheless favorably reviewed by the prestigious magazines Mercure de France and Gil Blas.
Also in 1906, La Revue Musicale published his interview with Combarieu, through which the latter aimed to verify supposed connections between literary inspiration and musical sensitivity. By 1907, he was concentrating on experiments in physics, and eventually publicized his claim to have discovered that light does not travel through vacuum. He sent a paper on astronomy subjects to be reviewed by the Société Astronomique de France, of which he subsequently became a member. The same year, he drafted the plan for a world government, announcing that he had found sympathy for the cause throughout Europe. Macedonski also introduced himself to an Italophone public, when two of his sonnets were published by Poesia, the magazine of Futurist theorist Filippo Tommaso Marinetti.
Between 1910 and 1912, Macedonski was again in Paris. Seeking to withdraw himself from Romania's public life due to what he perceived as injustice, he had by then completed work on the French-language tragicomedy Le Fou? ("The Madman?"), which was only published after his death. He was actively seeking to establish his reputation in French theater, reading his new play to a circle which included Louis de Gonzague Frick and Florian-Parmentier, while, at home, newspapers reported rumors that his work was going to be staged by Sarah Bernhardt's company. His efforts were largely fruitless, and, accompanied by his son Alexis, the poet left France, spent some time in Italy, and eventually returned to Romania. Passing through the German Empire, he learned of Ion Luca Caragiale's sudden death, and wrote Adevărul daily an open letter, which showed that he had come to revise his stance, notably comparing the deceased author's style and legacy to those of Mark Twain.
During Macedonski's absence, his style and work had come to be reviewed more positively, in particular by the young authors I. Dragoslav, Horia Furtună, Ion Pillat, Anastasie Mândru, Al. T. Stamatiad, as well as by post-Junimist critic Mihail Dragomirescu, who offered Macedonski a good reception in his Convorbiri Critice magazine. Tudor Vianu, who cites contemporary statements by Dragoslav, concludes that, upon arrival, Macedonski was enthusiastically received by a public who had missed him. Also in 1912, one of his poems was published as an homage by Simbolul, a magazine published by the young and radical Symbolists Tristan Tzara, Ion Vinea and Marcel Janco. Around that time, Macedonski also collaborated with the Iași-based moderate Symbolist magazine Versuri și Proză. Polemics surrounding his case nevertheless continued: in late 1912, as part of a National Theater adaptation of Alphonse Daudet's Sapho, actor Cazimir Belcot borrowed from Macedonski's appearance and mannerisms to portray a failure.
Return and World War I years
Macedonski and his protégés had become regular frequenters of Bucharest cafés. Having a table permanently reserved for him at Imperial Hotel's Kübler Coffeehouse, he was later a presence in two other such establishments: High-Life and Terasa Oteteleșanu. He is said to have spent part of his time at Kübler loudly mocking the traditionalist poets who gathered at an opposite table. Meanwhile, the poet's literary club, set up at his house in Dorobanți quarter, had come to resemble a mystical circle, over which he held magisterial command. Vianu, who visited the poet together with Pillat, compares this atmosphere with those created by other "mystics and magi of poetry" (citing as examples Joséphin Péladan, Louis-Nicolas Ménard, Stéphane Mallarmé and Stefan George). The hall where seances were hosted was only lit by candles, and the tables were covered in red fabric. Macedonski himself was seated on a throne designed by Alexis, and adopted a dominant pose. The apparent secrecy and the initiation rites performed on new members were purportedly inspired by Rosicrucianism and the Freemasonry. By then, Macedonski was rewarding his followers' poems with false gemstones.
The poet founded Revista Critică ("The Critical Review"), which again closed after a short while, and issued the poetry volume Flori sacre ("Sacred Flowers"). Grouping his Forța Morală poems and older pieces, it was dedicated to his new generation of followers, whom Macedonski's preface referred to as "the new Romania." He continued to hope that Le Fou? was going to be staged in France, especially after he received some encouragement in the form of articles in Mercure de France and Journal des Débats, but was confronted with the general public's indifference. In 1914, Thalassa was published in a non-definitive version by Constantin Banu's magazine Flacăra, which sought to revive overall interest in his work. At a French Red Cross conference in September, Macedonski paid his final public homage to France, which had just become entangled in World War I. It was also in 1914 that Macedonski commissioned for print his very first rondels and completed work on a tragedy play about Renaissance poet Dante Aligheri—known as La Mort de Dante in its French original, and Moartea lui Dante in the secondary Romanian version (both meaning "Dante's Death"). The aging poet was by then building connections with the local art scene: together with artist Alexandru Severin, he created (and probably presided over) Cenaclul idealist ("The Idealist Club"), which included Symbolist artists and was placed under the honorary patronage of King Carol.
1916 was also the year when Romania abandoned her neutrality and, under a National Liberal government, rallied with the Entente Powers. During the neutrality period, Macedonski had shed his lifelong Francophilia to join the Germanophiles, who wanted to see Romanian participation on the Central Powers' side. In 1915, he issued the journal Cuvântul Meu ("My Word"). Entirely written by him, it published ten consecutive issues before going bankrupt, and notably lashed out against France for being "bourgeois" and "lawyer-filled", demanding from Romania not to get involved in the conflict. Commentators and researchers of his work have declared themselves puzzled by this change in allegiance.
Macedonski further alienated public opinion during the Romanian Campaign, when the Central Powers armies entered southern Romania and occupied Bucharest. Alexis was drafted and became a war artist, but Macedonski Sr, who received formal protection from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bucharest, chose to stay behind while the authorities and many ordinary citizens relocated to Iași, where resistance was still being organized. His stance was interpreted as collaborationism by his critics. However, Macedonski reportedly faced extreme poverty throughout the occupation. Having by then begun to attend the circle of Alexandru Bogdan-Pitești, his promoter and fellow Germanophile, he was once rewarded by the latter with a turkey filled with gold coins.
Late polemics, illness and death
Literatorul resumed print in June 1918, once Romania capitulated to the Central Powers under the Treaty of Bucharest. A controversial incident occurred soon afterwards, when, going against the counsel of his friend and collaborator Stamatiad, Macedonski signed a Literatorul article where the German military administrator August von Mackensen, who was about to lead his troops out of Romania, was presented in a positive light. In a manner deemed "excessive" by historian Lucian Boia, the Romanian writer was paying homage not just to Mackensen, but also, indirectly, to German Emperor Wilhelm II and the Reichsheer. Soon after reading the piece, Romanian Academy member and fellow Symbolist promoter Ovid Densusianu withdrew his own nomination of Macedonski for an Academy seat. During summer, Macedonski also joined the group of public figures who saluted the senior Conservative Germanophile Petre P. Carp (deeming Carp "the veteran of character, honesty and Romanianism"), and, in September, joined Ioan Slavici and Gala Galaction as a contributor to the occupation magazine Rumänien in Wort und Bild, where he prophesied an anti-French "political renaissance" of Romania.
Alexandru Macedonski faced problems after the Romanian government resumed its control over Bucharest, and during the early years of Greater Romania. What followed the Mackensen article, Vianu claims, was Macedonski's bellum contra omnes ("war against all"). However, the poet made efforts to accommodate himself with the triumphal return of the Iași authorities: in December 1918, Literatorul celebrated the extension of Romanian rule "from the Tisza to the Dniester" as a success of the National Liberals, paying homage to Francophile political leaders Ion I. C. Brătianu and Take Ionescu. Macedonski also envisaged running in the 1918 election for a seat in the new Parliament (which was supposed to vote a document to replace the 1866 Constitution as the organic law), but never registered his candidature. According to Vianu, he had intended to create a joke political party, the "intellectual group", whose other member was an unnamed coffeehouse acquaintance of his. Literatorul was revived for a final time in 1919.
His health deteriorated from heart disease, which is described by Vianu as an effect of constant smoking. By that stage, Vianu recalls, Macedonski also had problems coming to terms with his age. His last anthumous work was the pamphlet Zaherlina (named after the Romanian version of "Zacherlin"; also known as Zacherlina or Zacherlina în continuare, "Zacherlin Contd."), completed in 1919 and published the following year. It notably attacked Densusianu, who had become Macedonski's personal enemy. Some other polemical texts he had authored late in life saw print only after his death, under the title Mustrări postume către o generație neînțelegătoare ("Posthumous Reprimands for an Obtuse Generation").
1920 was also the year when the People's Party cabinet attempted to pension him off from his office at the Historical Monuments Commission, but the publicized protest of Macedonski's fellow writers in Bucharest made it reconsider. Confined to his home by illness and old age, Macedonski was still writing poems, some of which later known as his Ultima verba ("Last Words"). The writer died on 24 November, at three o'clock in the afternoon. Having come to develop an addiction to floral fragrances, he was inhaling a rose petal extract during his last hours. He was buried in Bucharest's Bellu.
Work
General characteristics
Although Alexandru Macedonski frequently changed his style and views on literary matters, a number of constants have been traced throughout his work. Thus, a common perception is that his literature had a strongly visual aspect, the notion being condensed in Cincinat Pavelescu's definition of Macedonski: "Poet, therefore painter; painter, therefore poet." Traian Demetrescu too recalled that his mentor had been dreaming of becoming a visual artist, and had eventually settled for turning his son Alexis into one. This pictorial approach to writing created parallels between Macedonski and his traditionalist contemporaries Vasile Alecsandri and Barbu Ștefănescu Delavrancea.
Following the tenets of Dimitrie Bolintineanu and Théophile Gautier, the writer repeatedly called for purity in versification, and upheld it as an essential requirement, while progressively seeking to verify the quality of his poetry through phonaesthetics. A characteristic of Macedonski's style is his inventive use of Romanian. Initially influenced by Ion Heliade Rădulescu's introduction of Italian-based words to the Romanian lexis, Macedonski himself later infused poetic language with a large array of neologisms from several Romance sources. Likewise, Vianu notes, Macedonski had a tendency for comparing nature with the artificial, the result of this being a "document" of his values. Macedonski's language alternated neologisms with barbarisms, many of which were coined by him personally. They include claviculat ("clavicled", applied to a shoulder), împălăriată ("enhatted", used to define a crowd of hat-wearing tourists), and ureichii (instead of urechii, "to the ear" or "of the ear"). His narratives nevertheless take an interest in recording direct speech, used as a method of characterization. However, Călinescu criticizes Macedonski for using a language which, "although grammatically correct [...], seems to have been learned only recently", as well as for not following other Romanian writers in creating a lasting poetic style.
The writer's belief in the effects of sheer willpower, notably present in his comments on esoteric subjects, was itself a defining characteristic of his perspective on literature. In 1882, he wrote about progression in one's career: "We are all poets at birth, but only those who shape themselves through study will become poets." Vianu, who notes Macedonski's "exclusivity" and "fanaticism", places such statements in connection with Macedonski's personal ambition, "pride" and "the willingness to carry out ventured actions [...], in stated opposition with the entire surrounding and with contempt for the foreseeable reaction."
Almost all periods of Macedonski's work reflect, in whole or in part, his public persona and the polemics he was involved in. George Călinescu's emits a verdict on the relation between his lifetime notoriety and the public's actual awareness of his work: "Macedonski [was] a poet well-known for being an unknown poet." According to literary critic Matei Călinescu, the innovative aspects of his impact on Romanian literature were not as much related to his "literary ideology", as much as to his "contradictory spirit" and "essential nonconformism". However, literary researcher Adrian Marino proposes that Macedonski was one of the first modern authors to illustrate the importance of "dialectic unity" through his views on art, in particular by having argued that poetry needed to be driven by "an idea". Having theorized once, while questioning Junimist rigor, that "the logic of poetry is absurdity itself [italics in the original]", the poet also said: "Poetry is the chaos of spirit and matter, of the cries of distress and mad laughter. From the sublime to the trivial, that is what it should be." He later revised part of this verdict, and, making explicit his adoption of aestheticism, spoke against trivial subjects and in favor of the sublime.
While Macedonski also discarded the concept of "social poetry" not long after postulating it, its spirit, Tudor Vianu believes, can still be found in his later contributions. This, the critic notes, was owed to his "social temperament", whose "fundamental experience is that of the social." Discussing this sociable and extrovert character, other critics see in the poet's life and work the imprint of "quixotism". Also according to Vianu, this contrasted with Macedonski's failures in communicating with the public, an experience which made him "misanthropic" and contributed to his ultimate vision of death as freedom. Literary historian Pompiliu Constantinescu concluded: "Macedonski could not resign; his one martyrdom was for Art, as the sole liberation from a tormented life." Other commentators have defined the poet's perspective on life as a result of "neurosis".
In Vianu's perspective, Macedonski's stance is dominated by a mixture of nostalgia, sensuality, lugubrious-grotesque imagery, and "the lack of bashfulness for antisocial sentiments" which compliments his sarcasm. In respect to the latter characteristic, Vianu notes "no one in Romanian literature has laughed the same way as Macedonski", whereas critic Ștefan Cazimir argues: "[Macedonski was] lacking the sense of relativity in principles, and implicitly a sense of humor." Cazimir adds: "Only when he aged did [Macedonski] learn to smile". George Călinescu himself believes Macedonski to have been "fundamentally a spiritual man with lots of humor", speculating that he was able to see the "uselessness" of his own scientific ventures.
Critics note that, while Macedonski progressed from one stage to the other, his work fluctuated between artistic accomplishment and mediocrity. Tudor Vianu believes "failure in reaching originality" and reliance on "soppy-conventional attributes of the day" to be especially evident wherever Macedonski tried to emulate epic poetry. He also notes that Macedonski's love-themed pieces "cannot be listed among [his] most fortunate". At his best, commentators note, he was one of the Romanian literature's classics. Macedonski is thus perceived as the author second only to Eminescu, and as his ideal counterpart—a relation Vianu describes as "the internal dualism [confronting] two familiar gods". Various critics have compared Eminescu's poetic discourse with that of the Symbolist leader, concluding that the two poets often display very similar attitudes. Călinescu writes that, while Macedonski's work is largely inferior to that of his Junimist rival, it forms the best "reply" ever conceived within their common setting.
Prima verba and other early works
With Ion Catina, Vasile Păun and Grigore H. Grandea, young Macedonski belonged to late Romanian Romanticism, part of a Neoromantic generation which had for its mentors Heliade Rădulescu and Bolintineanu. Other early influences were Pierre-Jean de Béranger and Gottfried August Bürger, together with Romanian folklore, motifs from them being adapted by Macedonski into pastorals and ballades of ca. 1870–1880. The imprint of Romanticism and such other sources was evident in Prima verba, which groups pieces that Macedonski authored in his early youth, the earliest of them being written when he was just twelve. Critics generally argue that the volume is without value. The poems display his rebellious attitude, self-victimization and strong reliance on autobiographical elements, centering on such episodes as the death of his father. In one piece inspired by the ideology of Heliade Rădulescu, Vianu notes, Macedonski sings "the French Revolution's love for freedom and equality, otherwise proclaimed from his nobleman's perspective." It reads:
In parallel, Macedonski used erotic themes, completing a series which, although written on the model of idylls, is noted for its brute details of sexual exploits. The poet probably acknowledged that posterity would reject them, and did not republish them in any of his collected poetry volumes.
During his time at Oltul (1873–1875), Macedonski published a series of poems, most of which were not featured in definitive editions of his work. In addition to odes written in the Italian-based version of Romanian, it includes lyrics which satirize Carol I without mentioning his name. Following his arrest, Macedonski also completed Celula mea de la Văcărești ("My Cell in Văcărești"), which shows his attempt to joke about the situation. In contrast to this series, some of the pieces written during Macedonski's time in the Budjak and Northern Dobruja display a detachment from contemporary themes. At that stage, he was especially inspired by Lord Byron, whom Vianu calls "the sovereign poet of [Macedonski's] youth." In Calul arabului, Macedonski explores exotic and Levantine settings, using symbols which announce George Coșbuc's El-Zorab, and the Venetian-themed Ithalo, which centers on episodes of betrayal and murder. Others were epic and patriotic in tone, with subjects such as Romanian victories in the Russo-Turkish War or the Imperial Roman sites along the Danube. One of these pieces, titled Hinov after the village and stone quarry in Rasova, gives Macedonski a claim to being the first modern European poet to have used free verse, ahead of the French Symbolist Gustave Kahn. Macedonski himself later voiced the claim, and referred to such a technique as "symphonic verse", "proteic verse", or, in honor of composer Richard Wagner, "Wagnerian verse".
While editing Oltul, Macedonski also completed his first prose writings. These were the travel account Pompeia și Sorento ("Pompeia and Sorento", 1874) and a prison-themed story described by Vianu as "a tearjerker", titled Câinele din Văcărești ("The Dog in Văcărești", 1875). These were later complemented by other travel works, which critic Mihai Zamfir likens to the verbal experiments of Impressionist literature, pioneering in the Romanian prose poetry genre. The short comedy Gemenii was his debut work for the stage, but, according to Vianu, failed to show any merit other than a "logical construction" and a preview into Macedonski's use of sarcasm. These writings were followed in 1876 by a concise biography of Cârjaliul, an early 19th-century hajduk. In line with his first Levant-themed poems, Macedonski authored the 1877 story Așa se fac banii ("This Is How Money Is Made", later retold in French as Comment on devient riche et puissant, "How to Become Rich and Powerful"), a fable of fatalism and the Muslim world—it dealt with two brothers, one hard-working and one indolent, the latter of whom earns his money through a series of serendipitous events. Likewise, his verse comedy Iadeș! borrowed its theme from the widely circulated collection of Persian literature known as Sindipa. The setting was however modern, and, as noted by French-born critic Frédéric Damé, the plot also borrowed much from Émile Augier's Gabrielle and from other morality plays of the period. Part of the text was an ironic treatment of youth in liberal professions, an attitude which Macedonski fitted in his emerging anti-bourgeois discourse.
With the first poems in his Nights cycle, Macedonski still showed his allegiance to Romanticism, and in particular to Alphonse de Lamartine, and the supposed inventor of this theme, Alfred de Musset. Noaptea de noiembrie opens with a violent condemnation of his adversaries, and sees Macedonski depicting his own funeral. The poem is commended by Călinescu, who notes that, in contrast to the "apparently trivial beginning", the main part, where Macedonski depicts himself in flight over the Danube, brings the Romanian writer close to the accomplishments of Dante Aligheri. The writer himself claimed that the piece evidenced "the uttermost breath of inspiration I have ever felt in my life." Another poem, Noaptea de aprilie ("April Night"), was probably his testimony of unrequited love for Aristizza Romanescu.
Realism and Naturalism
By the 1880s, Macedonski developed and applied his "social poetry" theory, as branch of Realism. Explained by the writer himself as a reaction against the legacy of Lamartine, it also signified his brief affiliation with the Naturalist current, a radical segment of the Realist movement. Traian Demetrescu thus noted that Macedonski cherished the works of French Naturalists and Realists such as Gustave Flaubert and Émile Zola. During this phase, Macedonski made known his sympathy for the disinherited, from girls forced into prostitution to convicts sentenced to penal labor on salt mines, and also spoke out against the conventionalism of civil marriages. His Ocnele ("The Salt Mines") includes the verdict:
Naturalist depiction was also the main element in his prose pieces of the early 1880s. Among them was the first of several sketch stories using still life techniques, Casa cu nr. 10 (according to Zamfir, a prime sample of Macedonski's "ornamental" genre). With Între cotețe, Dramă banală and later Cometa lui Odorescu ("Odorescu's Comet"), Macedonski speaks about his own biography. The former has for a protagonist Pandele Vergea, a thirty-five-year-old man who is consumed by an avicultural obsession, who dreams of turning into a bird, and who is eventually maimed by his overcrowded fowls. In contrast, Dereanu is a bohemian university student, possessed by dreams of military and political glory, and who meditates about his future in front of Heliade Rădulescu's statue or in Bucharest cafés. Also a bohemian, Odorescu announces his discovery of a comet, before being proved wrong by his aunt, an ordinary woman. Some pieces also double as memoirs: in Dramă banală, the plot revolves around Macedonski's recollection of the 1866 plebiscite. Vianu draws attention to the picturesque depiction of historic Bucharest, a contributing element in Cometa..., Casa cu nr. 10 and Între cotețe.
With Unchiașul Sărăcie (also written in verse), Macedonski took Naturalist tenets into the field of drama. Frédéric Damé believed it an imitation of a play by Ernest d'Hervilly and Alfred Grévin, but, Vianu argues, the Romanian text was only loosely based on theirs: in Macedonski's adaptation, the theme became fairy tale-like, and used a speech style based on Romanian folklore. Around the time of its completion, Macedonski was also working on a similarly loose adaptation of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, which notably had the two protagonists die in each other's arms. Another such play is 3 decemvrie ("December 3"), which partly retells Friedrich Ludwig Zacharias Werner's Der 24 Februar using Naturalist devices. By contrast, the homage-play Cuza-Vodă is mainly a Romantic piece, where Alexander John Cuza finds his political mission validated by legendary figures in Romanian history.
In parallel, Macedonski was using poetry to carry out his polemics. In an 1884 epigram, he reacted against Alecsandri's Fântâna Blanduziei, but, in Vianu's definition, "his regular causticity seems to be restrained." The piece he had earlier written, presumably against Eminescu, scandalized the public by mocking the rival's mental ruin:
According to Tudor Vianu, Macedonski was mostly motivated by his disappointment in Junimea, and in particular by Eminescu's response to his public persona. Vianu contends that, although Macedonski "never was familiar with the resigned and patient attitudes", he was "by no means an evil man." On one occasion, the poet defended himself against criticism, noting that the epigram had not been specifically addressed to Eminescu, but had been labeled as such by the press, and claiming to have authored it years before its Literatorul edition. However, the later piece Viața de apoi ("The Afterlife") still displays resentments he harbored toward Eminescu.
By 1880–1884, particularly after the Eminescu scandal, Macedonski envisaged prioritizing French as his language of expression. According to Vianu, Macedonski had traversed "the lowest point" of his existence, and had been subject to "one of the most delicate mysteries of poetic creation." Among his pieces of the period is the French-language sonnet Pârle, il me dit alors ("Speak, He Then Said to Me"), where, Vianu notes, "one discovers the state of mind of a poet who decides to expatriate himself."
Adoption of Symbolism
According to Mihai Zamfir, at the end of his transition from the "mimetic and egocentric" verse to Symbolist poetry, Macedonski emerged a "remarkable, often extraordinary" author. In the early 20th century, fellow poet and critic N. Davidescu described Macedonski, Ion Minulescu and other Symbolists from Wallachia as distinct from their Moldavian counterparts in both style and themes. Endorsing the theory and practice of Symbolism for much of his life, Macedonski retrospectively claimed to have been one of its first exponents. His version of Symbolism, critic Paul Cernat notes, clashed with that advocated by many of his contemporaries in that it rejected merit to the Decadent movement, and represented the "decorative" aestheticist trend of Paranassian spirit within the Romanian Symbolist current.
Within Poezia viitorului, Macedonski invoked as his models to follow some important or secondary Symbolist and Parnassian figures: Charles Baudelaire, Joséphin Péladan, Maurice Maeterlinck, Stéphane Mallarmé and Jean Moréas. In his review of Bronzes for Mercure de France, Pierre Quillard remarked the "irreproachable" technique, but criticized the poet for being too indebted to both Baudelaire and Leconte de Lisle; other Symbolist figures whom Macedonski is known to have borrowed from are José María de Heredia and Iwan Gilkin. While undergoing this transition, to what linguist Manuela-Delia Suciu argues is a mostly Parnassian phase, Macedonski was still referencing Naturalism, and considered it compatible with Symbolism.
With the adoption of such tenets came a succession of Symbolist poems, where the focus is on minutely-observed objects, usually items of luxury, partly reflecting themes he had explored in the Naturalist stage. Commenting on them, Tudor Vianu argues that no such works had ever been produced in Romanian literature up until that moment. In his Ospățul lui Pentaur ("The Feast of Pentaur"), the poet reflected on civilization itself, as reflected in inanimate opulence. The motif was also developed in descriptive prose fragments later grouped in Cartea de aur, collectively titled nuvele fără oameni ("novellas without people") and compared by Călinescu with the paintings of Theodor Aman.
Also during that stage, Macedonski was exploring the numerous links between Symbolism, mysticism and esotericism. Earlier pieces had already come to explore macabre themes characteristic for an early branch of Symbolism. Influenced by Maurice Rollinat, they include the somber Vaporul morții ("The Ship of Death") and Visul fatal ("The Fatal Dream"). Likewise, the piece titled Imnul lui Satan ("Satan's Hymn") was placed by critics in connection with Les Litanies de Satan (part of Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du mal), but, Vianu argues, the source of Macedonski's satanic themes may have been lodged in his own vision of the world. This interest also reflected in his 1893 Saul, where Cincinat Pavelescu's contribution is supposedly minimal. Echoing satanic themes, Ernest Legouvé's dramatic version of the Medea myth (which Macedonski translated at some point in his life) and the classical work of Jean Racine, it shows the dark powers of political conflict intervening between the eponymous king and his ephebos-like protégé David, the latter of whom turns out to be the agent of spiritual revolution.
("August Night"), outlines a monistic belief probably inspired by Rosicrucianism, stressing the unity between soul and matter and depicting Macedonski's own journey into a transcendental space. Following the examples of Baudelaire's Les paradis artificiels, but also echoing his readings from Paul Verlaine and Théophile Gautier, Macedonski left poems dealing with narcotics and substance abuse, at least some of which reflected his personal experience with nicotine and possibly other unnamed drugs. Also at that stage, Macedonski also began publishing the "instrumentalist" series of his Symbolist poems. This form of experimental poem was influenced by the theories of René Ghil and verified through his encounter with Remy de Gourmont's views. In parallel, it reaffirmed Macedonski's personal view that music and the spoken word were intimately related (a perspective notably attested by his 1906 interview with Jules Combarieu). Romanian critic Petre Răileanu theorized that such elements evidenced Macedonski's transition to "metaliterature". On a different level, they echoed an older influence, that of Gottfried August Bürger.
Excelsior
Despite having stated his interest in innovation, Macedonski generally displayed a more conventional style in his Excelsior volume. It included Noaptea de mai, which Vianu sees as "one of the [vernacular's] most beautiful poems" and as evidence of "a clear joy, without any torment whatsoever". A celebration of spring partly evoking folkloric themes, it was made famous by the recurring refrain, Veniți: privighetoarea cântă și liliacul e-nflorit ("Come along: the nightingale is singing and the lilac is in blossom"). Like Noaptea de mai, Lewki (named after and dedicated to the Snake Island), depicts intense joy, completed in this case by what Vianu calls "the restorative touch of nature." The series also returned to Levant settings and Islamic imagery, particularly in Acșam dovalar (named after the Turkish version of Witr). Also noted within the volume is his short "Modern Psalms" series, including the piece Iertare ("Forgiveness"), which is addressed to God:
Excelsior also included Noaptea de ianuarie ("January Night"), which encapsulates one of his best-known political statements. Anghelescu reads it as a "meditation on disillusionment that culminates in a vitality-laden exhortation of action." Its anti-bourgeois attitude, literary historian Z. Ornea argues, was one of the meeting points between Macedonski and Junimism. In what is seen as its most acid section, the text notably reads:
At the same time as being engaged in his most violent polemics, Macedonski produced meditative and serene poems, which were later judged to be among his best. Noaptea de decemvrie is the synthesis of his main themes and influences, rated by commentators as his "masterpiece". Partly based on an earlier poem (Meka, named after the Arab city), it tells the story of an emir, who, left unsatisfied by the shallow and opulent life he leads in Baghdad, decides to leave on pilgrimage. While critics agree that it is to be read as an allegory of Macedonski's biography, the ironic text does not make it clear whether the emir actually reaches his target, nor if the central metaphor of Mecca as a mirage means that the goal is not worth sacrificing for. While Mircea Anghelescu comments that Macedonski illustrates "unusual tension" by rigorously amplifying references to the color red, seen as a symbol of suffering, Călinescu notes that the sequence of lyrics has a studied "delirious" element, and illustrates this with the quote:
Late prose works
In prose, his focus shifted back to the purely descriptive, or led Alexandru Macedonski into the realm of fantasy literature. These stories, most of which were eventually collected in Cartea de aur, include memoirs of his childhood in the Amaradia region, nostalgic portrayals of the Oltenian boyar environment, idealized depictions of Cuza's reign, as well as a retrospective view on the end of Rom slavery (found in his piece Verigă țiganul, "Verigă the Gypsy"). The best known among them is Pe drum de poștă, a third-person narrative and thinly disguised memoir, where the characters are an adolescent Alexandru Macedonski and his father, General Macedonski. The idyllic outlook present in such stories is one of the common meeting points between his version of Symbolism and traditionalist authors such as Barbu Ștefănescu Delavrancea. Vianu indicates the connection, but adds: "Macedonski descended, through memory, in the world of the village, with the tremor of regret for the peace and plenty of the old settlements, so well polished that each person, landowner as well as peasant, lived within a framework that nature itself seemed to have granted. [...] in depicting rural environments, Macedonski presents the point of view of a conservative."
Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu, a fantasy novel and extended prose poem, was celebrated by Macedonski's disciple Oreste Georgescu as "the new religion of humanity". The volume carried the mocking dedication "To France, this Chaldea" (thought by Vianu to reference Péladan's views on the decay of civilization). It has affinities with writings by the Italian Decadent author Gabriele d'Annunzio, as well as echoes from Anatole France. The hero Thalassa, a Greek boy, works as a lighthouse-keeper on Snake Island, fantasizing about the golden age of mankind. His fate is changed by a shipwreck, during which a girl, Caliope, reaches the island's shore. Thalassa and Caliope fall in love, but are mysteriously unable to seal their union through sexual intercourse: the boy attributes this failure to the "curse" of human individuality. Seeking to achieve a perfect union with his lover, he eventually kills her and drowns himself in the Black Sea.
In her review for Mercure de France, novelist Rachilde argued: "Very difficult to read, entirely developed in Symbolist manner [and] almost impossible to recount, obviously written in French but nevertheless obviously conceived by a Romanian (and what a spirited Romanian!)." Rachilde believed the work to display "the fragrance of Oriental spices [...] rose marmalade and a slice of bear meat." According to Vianu, the book builds on Macedonski's earlier themes, replacing Naturalist observation with a metaphysical speculation about idealism. One other aspect of Macedonski's stylistic exploration took him to attempt recording synesthesia. His manuscript is written in ink of several colors, which, he believed, was to help readers get a full sense of its meaning. Like other synesthetic aspects of his novel, this is believed to have been inspired by the techniques of Baudelaire and Arthur Rimbaud.
Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu is noted for its numerous cultural references, and especially for using a wide range of metaphors. Such aspects have been reviewed negatively by modern critics. Tudor Vianu writes: "the poet makes such waste of gemstones that we feel like saying some of them must be false", while Călinescu, who notes that some fragments reveal "an incomparable artist" and "a professional metaphorist", notes that "in the end, such virtuosities become a bore." According to Manuela-Delia Suciu, Thalassa is "prolix" and "too polished", traits believed by Zamfir to be less irritating in the Romanian version. Critic Cornel Moraru found that, in the background, Thalassa, a "great Symbolist novel", confronts Ancient Greek and Christian mythology, but "abuses" the religious vocabulary. Another part of the novel's imagery is erotic, and includes an elaborate and aestheticized description of male genitalia.
The four-act tragicomedy Le Fou? is seen by Vianu as comparable in subject matter and depth to Enrico IV, a celebrated 1922 play by Luigi Pirandello. The plot reflects Macedonski's confrontation with his critics, and his acceptance of the fact that people saw in him an eccentric. The central figure is a banker, Dorval, who identifies himself with Napoleon Bonaparte to the point where he sees episodes in his biography as mirrors of early 19th-century battles. Unlike patients with dissociative identity disorder, Dorval does not actually imagine his life has become Napoleon's, but rather joins with him on an intellectual level. Witnesses of this disorder are divided into family, who seek to have Dorval committed, and close friends, who come to see his take on life as a manifestation of genius. The spectator is led to believe that the latter interpretation is the correct one. At a larger level, Vianu indicates, the play is also Macedonski's critique of capitalism, and, using Parisian argot, makes allusive references to famous people of the day.
Particularly during the 1890s, Macedonski was a follower of Edgar Allan Poe and of Gothic fiction in general, producing a Romanian version of Poe's Metzengerstein story, urging his own disciples to translate other such pieces, and adopting "Gothic" themes in his original prose. Indebted to Jules Verne and H. G. Wells, Macedonski also wrote a number of science fiction stories, including the 1913 Oceania-Pacific-Dreadnought, which depicts civilization on the verge of a crisis. The gigantic commercial ship is maintained by a banker's union, and designed to grant travelers access to every pleasure imaginable; this causes the working-class inhabited cities on the continent to fall into a state of neglect and permanent violence, the climax of the story occurring with the bankers' decision to destroy their creation. Oceania-Pacific-Dreadnought is noted for anticipating television, the ship being equipped with electrically-operated "large and clear mirrors" that display "images from various parts of the Earth". Macedonski was by then interested in the development of cinema, and authored a silent film screenplay based on Comment on devient riche et puissant.
Final transition
Late in his life, Macedonski had come to reject Symbolist tenets, defining them as "imbecilities" designed for "the uncultured". Ultima verba, the very last poems to be written by him, show him coming to terms with himself, and are treasured for their serene or intensely joyous vision of life and human accomplishment. The rondels written at this stage, known collectively as Poema rondelurilor, are one of the first instances where the technique is used locally. Like those written previously by Literatoruls Pavelescu and Alexandru Obedenaru, they are based on an earlier motif present in Macedonski's work, that of recurring refrains. Many of the pieces document the poet's final discoveries. One of them is Rondelul crinilor ("The Rondel of the Lilies"), which proclaims fragrances as the source of beatitude: În crini e beția cea rară, "In lilies one finds that exceptional drunkenness". According to Ștefan Cazimir, Rondelul orașului mic ("The Rondel of the Small Town") shows a "likable wave of irony and self-irony", and the poet himself coming to terms with "the existence of a world who ignores him." Proof of his combativeness was still to be found in Rondelul contimporanilor ("The Rondel of the Contemporaries").
The poet's take on life is also outlined in his final play, Moartea lui Dante. Călinescu writes that, by then, Macedonski was "obsessed" with the Divine Comedy. Macedonski identifies with his hero, Dante Aligheri, and formulates his own poetic testament while identifying World War I Romania with the medieval Republic of Florence. Tudor Vianu remarks: "In Dante's great self-pride, Macedonski found his own." He sees the play as the best such work to have been produced by Macedonski, whereas Călinescu deems it "puerile". Zamfir believes Moartea... to be a significant text in Macedonski's bibliography, "one of the first samples of Romanian Symbolist theater", and as such indebted mainly to Maeterlinck. Vianu argues that the play may document the Romanian writer's late rejection of France, through the protagonist's statement: "the French are a gentle people, but their soul is different from mine."
A number of rondels show Macedonski's late fascination with the Far East, China and Japan. George Călinescu believes that this is to be understood as one item in a large antithesis, the other being Decadent Paris, which one rondel describes as "hell". The Orient, viewed as the space of serenity, is believed by Macedonski to be peopled by toy-like women and absent opium-smokers, and to be kept orderly by a stable meritocracy. The Chinese-themed poem Tsing-Ly-Tsi, which Cazimir notes for its discreet, "almost imperceptible", humor, reads:
Legacy
Macedonski's school and its early impact
Alexandru Macedonski repeatedly expressed the thought that, unlike his contemporaries, posterity would judge him a great poet. With the exception of Mihail Dragomirescu, conservative literary critics tended to ignore Macedonski while he was alive. The first such figure was Junimeas Titu Maiorescu, who believed him to be a minor author, referring to him only a couple of times in his books and usually ridiculing him in his articles. One of these texts, the 1886 essay Poeți și critici ("Poets and Critics"), spoke of Macedonski as having "vitiated" poetry, a notion he also applied to Constantin D. Aricescu and Aron Densușianu. Especially radical pronouncements were left by the traditionalist authors Ilarie Chendi and Nicolae Iorga. Chendi wrote of Macedonski being "the caricature of a man", having "a feverish mind" and being motivated by "the brutal instinct of revenge". Iorga, who became better known as a historian, later retracted some of the statements he had made against the poet during the 1890s. Among the younger prominent traditionalist writers was the Transylvanian-born Lucian Blaga, who may have purposefully avoided Macedonski during his first visit to Bucharest in 1920. Although more sympathetic to the Symbolist author, both Dragomirescu and Gheorghe Adamescu tended to describe him as exclusively the product of French and Decadent literature, while Dragomirescu's disciple Ion Trivale denied all merit to Macedonski's literature.
According to Tudor Vianu, Macedonski's intellectual friends (among them Anghel Demetriescu, George Ionescu-Gion, Bonifaciu Florescu, Grigore Tocilescu and V. A. Urechia) were largely responsible for passing down "a better and truer image of the abused poet." It was also due to Dragomirescu that Noaptea de decemvrie was included in a literature textbook for final grade high school students, which some argue is the poet's first-ever presence in the Romanian curriculum. According to historian Lucian Nastasă, the poet's wife Ana Rallet behaved like an "excellent secretary" while Macedonski was still alive, and thereafter helped sort and edit his manuscript while maintaining "an actual cult" for her husband.
Macedonski's cosmopolitan circle was the center of a literary alternative to the prevailing conservatism and Eminescu-like traditionalism of the day, the latter tendency being grouped around Sămănătorul magazine for part of Macedonski's lifetime. While Macedonski himself maintained his links with Romanticism and Classicism, commentators have retrospectively recognized in him the main person who announced Romania's first wave in modernist literature. Many first-generation disciples were to part with his guidelines early on, either by radicalizing their Symbolism or by stepping out of its confines. Traian Demetrescu was one of the first to do so, focusing on his commitment to socialism—Vianu notes that the split took place "without coldness and the heart's versatility" on Macedonski's part. Literary researcher Lidia Bote argues that it was Petică who first illustrated mature Symbolism, emancipating himself from Macedonski's eclectic tendencies after 1902. By that time, the Symbolist authors Dimitrie Anghel and N. D. Cocea used Macedonski's fantasy prose as an inspiration for their own, and N. Davidescu was borrowing from his mystical discourse. The pictorial and joyous elements in Macedonski's poems were also serving to inspire Stamatiad, Eugeniu Ștefănescu-Est and Horia Furtună. In the early stages of his career, Ion Pillat wrote pieces which echo his master's choice of exotic themes. A more discreet legacy of Macedonski's ideas was also preserved inside the conservative and traditionalist camps. Although his separation from Literatorul was drastic, and led him to rally with Junimea, Duiliu Zamfirescu built on some elements borrowed from the magazine's ideology, incorporating them into his literary vision.
Many of Macedonski's most devoted disciples, whom he himself had encouraged, have been rated by various critics as secondary or mediocre. This is the case of Theodor Cornel (who made his name as an art critic), Mircea Demetriade, Oreste Georgescu, Alexandru Obedenaru, Stoenescu, Stamatiad, Carol Scrob, Dumitru Karnabatt and Donar Munteanu. Another such minor author was the self-styled "hermeticist" Alexandru Petroff, who expanded on Macedonski's ideas about esoteric knowledge.
Macedonski's eldest son Alexis continued to pursue a career as a painter. His son Soare followed in his footsteps, receiving acclaim from art critics of the period. Soare's short career ended in 1928, before he turned nineteen, but his works have been featured in several retrospective exhibitions, including one organized by Alexis. Alexis later experimented with scenic design as an assistant to French filmmaker René Clair; his later life, shrouded in mystery and intrigue, led him to a career in Fascist Italy and Francoist Spain. Another of Alexandru Macedonski's sons, Nikita, was also a poet and painter. For a while in the 1920s, he edited the literary supplement of Universul newspaper. Two years after her father's death, Anna Macedonski married poet Mihail Celarianu.
In addition to his polemical portrayals in works by Alecsandri, Eminescu and Caragiale, Macedonski's career was an inspiration for various authors. His image acquired mythical proportions for his followers. Like Demetrescu, many of them left memoirs on Macedonski which were published before or after his death. His admirers were writing poetry about him as early as 1874, and, in 1892, Cincinat Pavelescu published a rhapsodizing portrait of Macedonski as "the Artist". Pavelescu, Dragoslav and Petică paid homage to the writer by leaving recollections which describe him as a devoted and considerate friend. In contrast, traditionalist poet Alexandru Vlahuță authored an 1889 sketch story in which Macedonski (referred to as Polidor) is the object of derision.
Late recognition
Actual recognition of the poet as a classic came only in the interwar period. A final volume of never before published poems, Poema rondelurilor, saw print in 1927. Macedonski's work was analyzed and popularized by a new generation of critics, among them Vianu and George Călinescu. The post-Junimist modernist critic Eugen Lovinescu also commented favorably on Macedonski's work, but overall, Călinescu asserts, his opinions on the subject gave little insight into what he actually thought about the poet. He also recounts that Macedonski himself treated Lovinescu with disdain, and once called him "a canary".
The emerging avant-garde, although originating from Symbolism, progressively took its distance from Literatoruls legacy. Initially, Macedonski's contribution to experimental literature was continued within formal Symbolism by his disciples Demetriade, Iuliu Cezar Săvescu and Ion Minulescu. The latter was particularly indebted to Macedonski in matters of vision and language. In 1904, Tudor Arghezi also left behind the Literatorul circle and its tenets, eventually arriving to the fusion of modernist, traditionalist and avant-garde elements. However, he remained indebted to Macedonski's example in his descriptive prose. The 1912 Simbolul magazine, which moved between conventional Symbolism and the emerging avant-garde, also published an Imagist-inspired parody of Noaptea de mai, signed by Adrian Maniu. A co-founder of Dadaism during the late 1910s, Tristan Tzara is believed by Swedish researcher Tom Sandqvist to have been inspired more or less directly by Macedonski, and in particular by the latter's thoughts on the relation between absurdity and poetry. In his debut poems, Benjamin Fondane-Barbu Fundoianu occasionally followed Macedonski, but, by 1920, stated that the Symbolist doyen merely imitated French models to the point of "parasitism".
Several avant-garde authors returned to Macedonski's literary guidelines by the late 1920s, as they themselves grew more moderate. This was the case of Maniu and Ion Vinea, both of whom published prose works in the line of Thalassa. The same work is also believed to have influenced two non-avant-garde authors, Davidescu and Mateiu Caragiale, who remained close to the tenets Symbolism. Mateiu was the illegitimate son of Ion Luca Caragiale, but, Vianu notes, could withstand comparisons with his father's rival: the eccentricities were complementary, although Mateiu Caragiale shied away from public affairs. In the same post-Symbolist generation, Celarianu (Macedonski's posthumous son-in-law), George Bacovia and Păstorel Teodoreanu also built on Macedonski's legacy, being later joined in this by the Bessarabian linguist Eugenio Coșeriu (who, in his early poetic career, imitated Macedonski's rondel style). In the late 1920s, when their form of modern psalms inspired Albanian-Romanian poet Aleksander Stavre Drenova, Macedonski and Arghezi both made an indirect impact on Albanian literature.
Macedonski's status as one of Romanian literature's greats was consolidated later in the 20th century. By this time, Noaptea de decemvrie had become one of the most recognizable literary works to be taught in Romanian schools. During the first years of Communist Romania, the Socialist Realist current condemned Symbolism (see Censorship in Communist Romania), but spoke favorably of Macedonski's critique of the bourgeoisie. A while after this episode, Marin Sorescu, one of the best-known modernist poets of his generation, wrote a homage-parody of the Nights cycle. Included in the volume Singur între poeți ("Alone among Poets"), it is seen by critic Mircea Scarlat as Sorescu's most representative such pieces. Also then, Noaptea de decemvrie partly inspired Ștefan Augustin Doinaș' ballad Mistrețul cu colți de argint.
In the 1990s, Ștefan Agopian took the Nights cycle as inspiration for an erotic short story, while Pavel Șușară adapted his rondels to a modernized setting. Macedonski's prose also influenced younger writers such as Angelo Mitchievici and Anca Maria Mosora. In neighboring Moldova, Macedonski influenced the Neosymbolism of Aureliu Busuioc. A magazine by the name of Literatorul, which claims to represent the legacy of Macedonski's publication, was founded in Romania in 1991, being edited by writers Sorescu, Fănuș Neagu and Mircea Micu. In 2006, the Romanian Academy granted posthumous membership to Alexandru Macedonski.
Macedonski's poems had a sizable impact on Romania's popular culture. During communism, Noaptea de mai was the basis for a successful musical adaptation, composed by Marian Nistor and sung by Mirabela Dauer. Tudor Gheorghe, a singer-songwriter inspired by American folk revival, also used some of Macedonski's texts as lyrics to his melodies. In the 2000s, the refrain of Noaptea de mai was mixed into a manea parody by Adrian Copilul Minune.
Portrayals, visual tributes and landmarks
Although his poetic theories were largely without echoes in Romanian art, Macedonski captured the interest of several modern artists, including, early on, cartoonist Nicolae Petrescu Găină. Alongside other writers who visited Terasa Oteteleșanu, Macedonski was notably portrayed the drawings of celebrated Romanian artist Iosif Iser. He is also depicted in a 1918 lithograph by Jean Alexandru Steriadi, purportedly Steriadi's only Symbolist work. Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu inspired a series of reliefs, designed by Alexis Macedonski and hosted in his father's house in Dorobanți. During the 1910s, busts of him were completed by two sculptors, Alexandru Severin and Friedrich Storck, one of Storck's variants being hosted by the Ioan Cantacuzino collection. In 1919, Theodor Burcă was also inspired to complete another bust, and, during World War II, was commissioned by Mayor of Bucharest Ioan Rășcanu to build a Macedonski Monument in the Grădina Icoanei park, but this was never completed. Constantin Piliuță, a painter active in the second half of the 20th century, made Macedonski the subject of a portrait in series dedicated to Romanian cultural figures (also depicted were Nicolae Iorga, Ștefan Luchian and Vianu). In 1975, a bust of Macedonski, the work of Constantin Foamete, was unveiled in Craiova.
Of Macedonski's numerous residences, the one in Dorobanți was demolished when the Academy of Economic Studies (ASE) was expanded. A commemorative plaque was later put up near the spot. Macedonski's childhood home in Goiești passed into state property under communism, and was in turn a school, a community home and a Macedonski Museum, before falling into neglect after the Romanian Revolution of 1989. Several streets named in honor of Alexandru Macedonski, notably in Bucharest (by the ASE), Craiova, Cluj-Napoca and Timișoara.
Works published anthumously
Prima verba (poetry, 1872)
Ithalo (poem, 1878)
Poezii (poetry, 1881/1882)
Parizina (translation of Parisina, 1882)
Iadeș! (comedy, 1882)
Dramă banală (short story, 1887)
Saul (with Cincinat Pavelescu; tragedy, 1893)
Excelsior (poetry, 1895)
Bronzes (poetry, 1897)
(essay, 1898)
Cartea de aur (prose, 1902)
Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu (novel, 1906; 1914)
Flori sacre (poetry, 1912)
Zaherlina (essay, 1920)
Notes
References
Mircea Anghelescu, chronological table, preface and critical references, in Macedonski, Poemele "Nopților", Editura Albatros, Bucharest, 1972, p. 7-31, 137–140.
Nicolae Balotă, Arte poetice ale secolului XX: ipostaze românești și străine, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1976.
Lucian Boia, "Germanofilii". Elita intelectuală românească în anii Primului Război Mondial, Humanitas, Bucharest, 2010.
George Călinescu, Istoria literaturii române de la origini pînă în prezent, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1986
Paul Cernat, Avangarda românească și complexul periferiei: primul val, Cartea Românească, Bucharest, 2007.
Șerban Cioculescu, Caragialiana, Editura Eminescu, Bucharest, 1974.
Péter Krasztev,
"From a Deadlocked Present into an Imagined Past", in the Central European University's East Central Europe = L'Europe du Centre-Est, Vol. 26, Nr. 2/1999, p. 33-52
"From Modernization to Modernist Literature", in Marcel Cornis-Pope, John Neubauer (eds.), History of the Literary Cultures of East-Central Europe, Vol. 3, John Benjamins, Amsterdam & Philadelphia, 2004, p. 332-348.
Lucian Nastasă, Intelectualii și promovarea socială (pentru o morfologie a câmpului universitar), Editura Nereamia Napocae, Cluj-Napoca, 2003; e-book version at the Romanian Academy's George Bariț Institute of History
Z. Ornea, Junimea și junimismul, Vol. II, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1998.
Perpessicius, Studii eminesciene, Museum of Romanian Literature, Bucharest, 2001.
Petre Răileanu, Michel Carassou, Fundoianu/Fondane et l'avant-garde, Fondation Culturelle Roumaine, Éditions Paris-Méditerranée, Bucharest & Paris, 1999.
Tom Sandqvist, Dada East. The Romanians of Cabaret Voltaire, MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts & London, 2006.
Manuela-Delia Suciu, "La poésie roumaine au XIXe siècle. Alexandru Macedonski entre romantisme et symbolisme", in Revue d'Études Françaises, Nr. 8/2003, p. 101-110 (republished by the Centre Interuniversitaire d’Études Françaises/Egyetemközi Francia Központ)
Tudor Vianu, Scriitori români, Vol. I-III, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1970–1971.
Mariana Vida, "La société Tinerimea artistică de Bucarest et le symbolisme tardif entre 1902-1910", in Revue Roumaine d'Histoire de l'Art. Série Beaux-arts, Vol. XLIV, 2007, p. 55-66
External links
Amidst Hen Houses (excerpts), Poésies, Thalassa (excerpt), in the Romanian Cultural Institute's Plural Magazine (various issues)
Alexandru Macedonski, Museum of Romanian Literature profile
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"Vernacular literature is literature written in the vernacular—the speech of the \"common people\".\n\nIn the European tradition, this effectively means literature not written in Latin nor Koine Greek. In this context, vernacular literature appeared during the Middle Ages at different periods in the various countries; the earliest European vernacular literatures are Irish literature (the earliest being Tochmarc Emire (10th century), transcribed from a lost manuscript of the 8th century), Welsh literature, English literature and Gothic literature.\n\nThe Italian poet Dante Alighieri, in his De vulgari eloquentia, was possibly the first European writer to argue cogently for the promotion of literature in the vernacular. Important early vernacular works include Dante's Divine Comedy, Giovanni Boccaccio's Decameron (both in Italian), John Barbour's The Brus (in Scots), Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (in Middle English) and Jacob van Maerlant's Spieghel Historiael (in Middle Dutch). Indeed, Dante's work actually contributed towards the creation of the Italian language. Leonardo Da Vinci used vernacular in his work.\n\nThe term is also applied to works not written in the standard and/or prestige language of their time and place. For example, many authors in Scotland, such as James Kelman and Edwin Morgan have used Scots, even though English is now the prestige language of publishing in Scotland. Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o writes in his native Gikuyu language though he previously wrote in English. Some authors have written in invented vernacular; examples of such novels include the futuristic literary novels A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess and Boxy an Star by Daren King.\n\nOutside Europe\n\nBy extension, the term is also used to describe, for example, Chinese literature not written in classical Chinese and Indian literature after Sanskrit. In the Indian culture, traditionally religious or scholarly works were written in Prakrit, Tamil and Sanskrit. With the rise of the Bhakti movement from the 8th century on-wards, religious works began to be created in Kannada, and Telugu, and from the 12th Century onward in many other Indian languages throughout the different regions of India. For example, the Ramayana, one of Hinduism's sacred epics in Sanskrit, had vernacular versions such as Ramacharitamanasa, a Hindi version of the Ramayana by the 16th century poet Tulsidas. In China, the New Culture Movement of the 1910s–20s promoted vernacular literature.\n\nIn the Philippines, the term means any written literature in a language other than Filipino (or Tagalog) or English. At present, it forms the second largest corpus of literature, following the literature in Tagalog. During the Spanish colonial era, when Filipino did not yet exist as a national lingua franca, literature in this type flourished. Aside from religious literature, such as the Passiong Mahal (the Passion of Our Lord), zarzuelas were also produced using the Philippine vernacular languages.\n\nIn Arabic, vernacular literature refers to works written in dialects of Arabic as opposed to Classical Arabic or Modern Standard Arabic. For the Egyptian dialect authors include Ahmed Fouad Negm, Muhammad Husayn Haykal, and Salah Jahin. There is also a wave of modern writers.\n\nReferences\n\nSee also\n Medieval literature\n Creole languages\n\n \nDiglossia",
"Girolamo Lagomarsini (16981773) was an Italian humanist and philologist. Born into a wealthy Genoese family in Spain, he studied classical literature in Arezzo and Rome. Later holding a chair at the Collegium Gregorianum he published a collection of Latin orations and conducted influential research on the text of the Roman author Cicero.\n\nBiography \nGirolamo Lagomarsini was born on 30 September 1698 at El Puerto de Santa María (Spain), of a wealthy Genoese family. In 1708 he went to Italy, and commenced his studies in the College of the Jesuits at Prato, in Tuscany. In 1721, he began to teach rhetoric at the College of Arezzo. Four years afterwards he went to Rome to complete his theological studies, after which he returned to his duties at Arezzo. In 1732 he was appointed to the chair of rhetoric at Florence, and in 1751 to that of Greek in the Collegium Gregorianum at Rome, which position he occupied until his death on 18 May 1773.\n\nWorks \nLagomarsini left several works on classical literature; he published Latin orations (1746) and epistles, a poem On the Origin of Springs, (De Origine Fontium, 1749), and other works.\n\nFrom 1735 to 1744 he collected material for a new edition of Cicero, which, however, was never published. Barthold Georg Niebuhr was the first to make use of Lagomarsini's vast collection of various readings preserved in the Roman College. An industrious scholar, Lagomarsini collated all the manuscripts of Cicero accessible to him in Florence and elsewhere. In such a vast bulk of material there is much that is valuable, and yet a great deal is of little use to the modern scholar because of the indiscriminate way in which the material was gathered. Reading follows upon variant reading without any critical analysis of the text or any attempt at a new interpretation. To be sure, this is not so much a personal fault of Lagomarsini as a characteristic of the era in which he lived and worked. At that time the mere gathering of erudite material was considered to be valuable and a sense of discrimination had not yet been attained. Nonetheless, the variants collected by Lagomarsini stimulated questions concerning textual history, thus making a valuable contribution to the development of modern textual criticism.\n\nNotes\n\nBibliography \n \n \n \n\n1698 births\n1773 deaths\nItalian humanists\nItalian classical scholars"
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"Alexandru Macedonski (; also rendered as Al. A. Macedonski, Macedonschi or Macedonsky; 14 March 1854 – 24 November 1920) was a Romanian poet, novelist, dramatist and literary critic, known especially for having promoted French Symbolism in his native country, and for leading the Romanian Symbolist movement during its early decades. A forerunner of local modernist literature, he is the first local author to have used free verse, and claimed by some to have been the first in modern European literature.",
"A forerunner of local modernist literature, he is the first local author to have used free verse, and claimed by some to have been the first in modern European literature. Within the framework of Romanian literature, Macedonski is seen by critics as second only to national poet Mihai Eminescu; as leader of a cosmopolitan and aestheticist trend formed around his Literatorul journal, he was diametrically opposed to the inward-looking traditionalism of Eminescu and his school.",
"Within the framework of Romanian literature, Macedonski is seen by critics as second only to national poet Mihai Eminescu; as leader of a cosmopolitan and aestheticist trend formed around his Literatorul journal, he was diametrically opposed to the inward-looking traditionalism of Eminescu and his school. Debuting as a Neoromantic in the Wallachian tradition, Macedonski went through the Realist-Naturalist stage deemed \"social poetry\", while progressively adapting his style to Symbolism and Parnassianism, and repeatedly but unsuccessfully attempting to impose himself in the Francophone world.",
"Debuting as a Neoromantic in the Wallachian tradition, Macedonski went through the Realist-Naturalist stage deemed \"social poetry\", while progressively adapting his style to Symbolism and Parnassianism, and repeatedly but unsuccessfully attempting to impose himself in the Francophone world. Despite having theorized \"instrumentalism\", which reacted against the traditional guidelines of poetry, he maintained a lifelong connection with Neoclassicism and its ideal of purity.",
"Despite having theorized \"instrumentalism\", which reacted against the traditional guidelines of poetry, he maintained a lifelong connection with Neoclassicism and its ideal of purity. Macedonski's quest for excellence found its foremost expression in his recurring motif of life as a pilgrimage to Mecca, notably used in his critically acclaimed Nights cycle. The stylistic stages of his career are reflected in the collections Prima verba, Poezii, and Excelsior, as well as in the fantasy novel Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu.",
"The stylistic stages of his career are reflected in the collections Prima verba, Poezii, and Excelsior, as well as in the fantasy novel Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu. In old age, he became the author of rondels, noted for their detached and serene vision of life, in contrast with his earlier combativeness. In parallel to his literary career, Macedonski was a civil servant, notably serving as prefect in the Budjak and Northern Dobruja during the late 1870s.",
"In parallel to his literary career, Macedonski was a civil servant, notably serving as prefect in the Budjak and Northern Dobruja during the late 1870s. As journalist and militant, his allegiance fluctuated between the liberal current and conservatism, becoming involved in polemics and controversies of the day. Of the long series of publications he founded, Literatorul was the most influential, notably hosting his early conflicts with the Junimea literary society.",
"Of the long series of publications he founded, Literatorul was the most influential, notably hosting his early conflicts with the Junimea literary society. These targeted Vasile Alecsandri and especially Eminescu, their context and tone becoming the cause of a major rift between Macedonski and his public. This situation repeated itself in later years, when Macedonski and his Forța Morală magazine began campaigning against the Junimist dramatist Ion Luca Caragiale, whom they falsely accused of plagiarism.",
"This situation repeated itself in later years, when Macedonski and his Forța Morală magazine began campaigning against the Junimist dramatist Ion Luca Caragiale, whom they falsely accused of plagiarism. During World War I, the poet aggravated his critics by supporting the Central Powers against Romania's alliance with the Entente side. His biography was also marked by an enduring interest in esotericism, numerous attempts to become recognized as an inventor, and an enthusiasm for cycling.",
"His biography was also marked by an enduring interest in esotericism, numerous attempts to become recognized as an inventor, and an enthusiasm for cycling. The scion of a political and aristocratic family, the poet was the son of General Alexandru Macedonski, who served as Defense Minister, and the grandson of 1821 rebel Dimitrie Macedonski. Both his son Alexis and grandson Soare were known painters. Biography Early life and family The poet's paternal family had arrived in Wallachia during the early 19th century.",
"Biography Early life and family The poet's paternal family had arrived in Wallachia during the early 19th century. Of South Slav (Serb or Bulgarian) or Aromanian origin, they claimed to have descended from Serb insurgents in Ottoman-ruled Macedonia.",
"Of South Slav (Serb or Bulgarian) or Aromanian origin, they claimed to have descended from Serb insurgents in Ottoman-ruled Macedonia. Alexandru's grandfather Dimitrie and Dimitrie's brother Pavel participated in the 1821 uprising against the Phanariote administration, and in alliance with the Filiki Eteria; Dimitrie made the object of controversy when, during the final stage of the revolt, he sided with the Eteria in its confrontation with Wallachian leader Tudor Vladimirescu, taking an active part in the latter's killing.",
"Alexandru's grandfather Dimitrie and Dimitrie's brother Pavel participated in the 1821 uprising against the Phanariote administration, and in alliance with the Filiki Eteria; Dimitrie made the object of controversy when, during the final stage of the revolt, he sided with the Eteria in its confrontation with Wallachian leader Tudor Vladimirescu, taking an active part in the latter's killing. Both Macedonski brothers had careers in the Wallachian military forces, at a time when the country was governed by Imperial Russian envoys, when the Regulamentul Organic regime recognized the family as belonging to Wallachia's nobility.",
"Both Macedonski brothers had careers in the Wallachian military forces, at a time when the country was governed by Imperial Russian envoys, when the Regulamentul Organic regime recognized the family as belonging to Wallachia's nobility. Dimitrie married Zoe, the daughter an ethnic Russian or Polish officer; their son, the Russian-educated Alexandru, climbed in the military and political hierarchy, joining the unified Land Forces after his political ally, Alexander John Cuza, was elected Domnitor and the two Danubian Principalities became united Romania.",
"Dimitrie married Zoe, the daughter an ethnic Russian or Polish officer; their son, the Russian-educated Alexandru, climbed in the military and political hierarchy, joining the unified Land Forces after his political ally, Alexander John Cuza, was elected Domnitor and the two Danubian Principalities became united Romania. Both the officer's uncle Pavel and brother Mihail were amateur poets. Macedonski's mother, Maria Fisența (also Vicenț or Vicența), was from an aristocratic environment, being the scion of Oltenian boyars.",
"Macedonski's mother, Maria Fisența (also Vicenț or Vicența), was from an aristocratic environment, being the scion of Oltenian boyars. Through her father, she may have descended from Russian immigrants who had been absorbed into Oltenia's nobility. Maria had been adopted by the boyar Dumitrache Pârâianu, and the couple had inherited the Adâncata and Pometești estates in Goiești, on the Amaradia Valley.",
"Maria had been adopted by the boyar Dumitrache Pârâianu, and the couple had inherited the Adâncata and Pometești estates in Goiești, on the Amaradia Valley. Both the poet and his father were dissatisfied with accounts of their lineage, contradicting them with an account that researchers have come to consider spurious. Although adherents of the Romanian Orthodox Church, the Macedonskis traced their origin to Rogala-bearing Lithuanian nobility from the defunct Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.",
"Although adherents of the Romanian Orthodox Church, the Macedonskis traced their origin to Rogala-bearing Lithuanian nobility from the defunct Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. While the writer perpetuated his father's claim, it is possible that he also took pride in investigating his Balkan roots: according to literary historian Tudor Vianu, who, as a youth, was a member of his circle, this tendency is attested by two of Macedonski's poems from the 1880s, where the South Slavs appear as icons of freedom.",
"While the writer perpetuated his father's claim, it is possible that he also took pride in investigating his Balkan roots: according to literary historian Tudor Vianu, who, as a youth, was a member of his circle, this tendency is attested by two of Macedonski's poems from the 1880s, where the South Slavs appear as icons of freedom. Vianu's contemporary, literary historian George Călinescu, postulated that, although the family had been absorbed into the ethnic and cultural majority, the poet's origin served to enrich local culture by linking it to a \"Thracian\" tradition and the spirit of \"adventurers\".",
"Vianu's contemporary, literary historian George Călinescu, postulated that, although the family had been absorbed into the ethnic and cultural majority, the poet's origin served to enrich local culture by linking it to a \"Thracian\" tradition and the spirit of \"adventurers\". The family moved often, following General Macedonski's postings. Born in Bucharest, Macedonski-son was the third of four siblings, the oldest of whom was a daughter, Caterina.",
"Born in Bucharest, Macedonski-son was the third of four siblings, the oldest of whom was a daughter, Caterina. Before the age of six, he was a sickly and nervous child, who is reported to have had regular tantrums. In 1862, his father sent him to school in Oltenia, and he spent most time in the Amaradia region. The nostalgia he felt for the landscape later made him consider writing an Amărăzene (\"Amaradians\") cycle, of which only one poem was ever completed.",
"The nostalgia he felt for the landscape later made him consider writing an Amărăzene (\"Amaradians\") cycle, of which only one poem was ever completed. He was attending the Carol I High School in Craiova and, according to his official record, graduated in 1867.",
"He was attending the Carol I High School in Craiova and, according to his official record, graduated in 1867. Macedonski's father had by then become known as an authoritarian commander, and, during his time in Târgu Ocna, faced a mutiny which only his wife could stop by pleading with the soldiers (an episode which made an impression on the future poet). A stern parent, he took an active part in educating his children.",
"A stern parent, he took an active part in educating his children. Having briefly served as Defense Minister, the general was mysteriously dismissed by Cuza in 1863, and his pension became the topic of a political scandal. It ended only under the rule of Carol I, Cuza's Hohenzollern successor, when Parliament voted against increasing the sum to the level demanded by its recipient.",
"It ended only under the rule of Carol I, Cuza's Hohenzollern successor, when Parliament voted against increasing the sum to the level demanded by its recipient. Having preserved a negative impression of the 1866 plebiscite, during which Cuza's dethronement had been confirmed, Macedonski remained a committed opponent of the new ruler. As a youth and adult, he sought to revive his father's cause, and included allusions to the perceived injustice in at least one poem.",
"As a youth and adult, he sought to revive his father's cause, and included allusions to the perceived injustice in at least one poem. After spending the last months of his life protesting against the authorities, Macedonski-father fell ill and died in September 1869, leaving his family to speculate that he had been murdered by political rivals.",
"After spending the last months of his life protesting against the authorities, Macedonski-father fell ill and died in September 1869, leaving his family to speculate that he had been murdered by political rivals. Debut years Macedonski left Romania in 1870, traveling through Austria-Hungary and spending time in Vienna, before visiting Switzerland and possibly other countries; according to one account, it was here that he may have first met (and disliked) his rival poet Mihai Eminescu, at a time a Viennese student.",
"Debut years Macedonski left Romania in 1870, traveling through Austria-Hungary and spending time in Vienna, before visiting Switzerland and possibly other countries; according to one account, it was here that he may have first met (and disliked) his rival poet Mihai Eminescu, at a time a Viennese student. Macedonski's visit was meant to be preparation for entering the University of Bucharest, but he spent much of his time in the bohemian environment, seeking entertainment and engaging in romantic escapades.",
"Macedonski's visit was meant to be preparation for entering the University of Bucharest, but he spent much of his time in the bohemian environment, seeking entertainment and engaging in romantic escapades. He was however opposed to the lifestyle choices of people his age, claiming that they were engaged in \"orgy after orgy\". At around that date, the young author had begun to perfect a style heavily influenced by Romanticism, and in particular by his Wallachian predecessors Dimitrie Bolintineanu and Ion Heliade Rădulescu.",
"At around that date, the young author had begun to perfect a style heavily influenced by Romanticism, and in particular by his Wallachian predecessors Dimitrie Bolintineanu and Ion Heliade Rădulescu. He was for a while in Styria, at Bad Gleichenberg, a stay which, George Călinescu believes, may have been the result of a medical recommendation to help him counter excessive nervousness. The landscape there inspired him to write an ode. Also in 1870, he published his first lyrics in George Bariț's Transylvanian-based journal Telegraful Român.",
"Also in 1870, he published his first lyrics in George Bariț's Transylvanian-based journal Telegraful Român. The following year, he left for Italy, where he visited Pisa, Florence, Venice, and possibly other cities. His records of the journey indicate that he was faced with financial difficulties and plagued by disease. Macedonski also claimed to have attended college lectures in these cities, and to have spent significant time studying at Pisa University, but this remains uncertain.",
"Macedonski also claimed to have attended college lectures in these cities, and to have spent significant time studying at Pisa University, but this remains uncertain. He eventually returned to Bucharest, where he entered the Faculty of Letters (which he never attended regularly). According to Călinescu, Macedonski \"did not feel the need\" to attend classes, because \"such a young man will expect society to render upon him its homages.\"",
"According to Călinescu, Macedonski \"did not feel the need\" to attend classes, because \"such a young man will expect society to render upon him its homages.\" He was again in Italy during spring 1872, soon after publishing his debut volume Prima verba (Latin for \"First Word\"). Having also written an anti-Carol piece, published in Telegraful Român during 1873, Macedonski reportedly feared political reprisals, and decided to make another visit to Styria and Italy while his case was being assessed.",
"Having also written an anti-Carol piece, published in Telegraful Român during 1873, Macedonski reportedly feared political reprisals, and decided to make another visit to Styria and Italy while his case was being assessed. It was in Italy that he met French musicologist Jules Combarieu, with whom he corresponded sporadically over the following decades. During that period, Macedonski became interested in the political scene and political journalism, first as a sympathizer of the liberal-radical current—which, in 1875, organized itself around the National Liberal Party.",
"During that period, Macedonski became interested in the political scene and political journalism, first as a sympathizer of the liberal-radical current—which, in 1875, organized itself around the National Liberal Party. In 1874, back in Craiova, Macedonski founded a short-lived literary society known as Junimea, a title which purposefully or unwittingly copied that of the influential conservative association with whom he would later quarrel.",
"In 1874, back in Craiova, Macedonski founded a short-lived literary society known as Junimea, a title which purposefully or unwittingly copied that of the influential conservative association with whom he would later quarrel. It was then that he met journalist and pedagogue Ștefan Velescu, a meeting witnessed by Velescu's pupil, the future liberal journalist Constantin Bacalbașa, who recorded it in his memoirs.",
"It was then that he met journalist and pedagogue Ștefan Velescu, a meeting witnessed by Velescu's pupil, the future liberal journalist Constantin Bacalbașa, who recorded it in his memoirs. Oltul magazine, which he had helped establish and which displayed a liberal agenda, continued to be published until July 1875, and featured Macedonski's translations from Pierre-Jean de Béranger, Hector de Charlieu and Alphonse de Lamartine, as well as his debut in travel writing and short story.",
"Oltul magazine, which he had helped establish and which displayed a liberal agenda, continued to be published until July 1875, and featured Macedonski's translations from Pierre-Jean de Béranger, Hector de Charlieu and Alphonse de Lamartine, as well as his debut in travel writing and short story. At age 22, he worked on his first play, a comedy titled Gemenii (\"The Twins\").",
"At age 22, he worked on his first play, a comedy titled Gemenii (\"The Twins\"). In 1874 that he came to the attention of young journalist future dramatist Ion Luca Caragiale, who satirized him in articles for the magazine Ghimpele, ridiculing his claim to Lithuanian descent, and eventually turning him into the character Aamsky, whose fictional career ends with his death from exhaustion caused by contributing to \"for the country's political development\".",
"In 1874 that he came to the attention of young journalist future dramatist Ion Luca Caragiale, who satirized him in articles for the magazine Ghimpele, ridiculing his claim to Lithuanian descent, and eventually turning him into the character Aamsky, whose fictional career ends with his death from exhaustion caused by contributing to \"for the country's political development\". This was the first episode in a consuming polemic between the two figures.",
"This was the first episode in a consuming polemic between the two figures. Reflecting back on this period in 1892, Macedonski described Caragiale as a \"noisy young man\" of \"sophistic reasoning\", whose target audience was to be found in \"beer gardens\". 1875 trial and office as prefect In March 1875, Macedonski was arrested on charges of defamation or sedition. For almost a year before, he and Oltul had taken an active part in the campaign against Conservative Party and its leader, Premier Lascăr Catargiu.",
"For almost a year before, he and Oltul had taken an active part in the campaign against Conservative Party and its leader, Premier Lascăr Catargiu. In this context, he had demanded that the common man \"rise up with weapons in their hands and break both the government agents and the government\", following up with similar messages aimed at the Domnitor. He was taken to Bucharest's Văcărești prison and confined there for almost three months.",
"He was taken to Bucharest's Văcărești prison and confined there for almost three months. Supported by the liberal press and defended by the most prestigious pro-liberal attorneys (Nicolae Fleva among them), Macedonski faced a jury trial on 7 June, being eventually cleared of the charges. Reportedly, the Bucharest populace organized a spontaneous celebration of the verdict. In 1875, after the National Liberal Ion Emanuel Florescu was assigned the post of Premier by Carol, Macedonski embarked on an administrative career.",
"In 1875, after the National Liberal Ion Emanuel Florescu was assigned the post of Premier by Carol, Macedonski embarked on an administrative career. The poet was upset by not being included on the National Liberal list for the 1875 suffrage. This disenchantment led him into a brief conflict with the young liberal figure Bonifaciu Florescu, only to join him soon afterward in editing Stindardul journal, alongside Pantazi Ghica and George Fălcoianu. The publication followed the line of Nicolae Moret Blaremberg, made notorious for his radical and republican agenda.",
"The publication followed the line of Nicolae Moret Blaremberg, made notorious for his radical and republican agenda. Ghica and Macedonski remained close friends until Ghica's 1882 death. The new cabinet eventually appointed him Prefect of Bolgrad region, in the Budjak (at the time part of Romania). In parallel, he published his first translation, a version of Parisina, an 1816 epic poem by Lord Byron, and completed the original works Ithalo and Calul arabului (\"The Arab's Horse\").",
"In parallel, he published his first translation, a version of Parisina, an 1816 epic poem by Lord Byron, and completed the original works Ithalo and Calul arabului (\"The Arab's Horse\"). He also spoke at the Romanian Atheneum, presenting his views on the state of Romanian literature (1878). His time in office ended upon the outbreak of the Russo-Turkish War.",
"His time in office ended upon the outbreak of the Russo-Turkish War. At the time, Russian volunteers were amassed on the Budjak border, requesting from the Romanian authorities the right of free passage into the Principality of Serbia. The National Liberal Premier Ion Brătianu, who was negotiating an anti-Ottoman alliance, sent Macedonski signals to let them pass, but the prefect, obeying the official recommendation of Internal Affairs Minister George D. Vernescu, decided against it, and was consequently stripped of his office.",
"The National Liberal Premier Ion Brătianu, who was negotiating an anti-Ottoman alliance, sent Macedonski signals to let them pass, but the prefect, obeying the official recommendation of Internal Affairs Minister George D. Vernescu, decided against it, and was consequently stripped of his office. Still determined to pursue a career in the press, Macedonski founded a string of unsuccessful magazines with patriotic content and titles such as Vestea (\"The Announcement\"), Dunărea (\"The Danube\"), Fulgerul (\"The Lightning\") and, after 1880, Tarara (an onomatopoeia equivalent to \"Toodoodoo\").",
"Still determined to pursue a career in the press, Macedonski founded a string of unsuccessful magazines with patriotic content and titles such as Vestea (\"The Announcement\"), Dunărea (\"The Danube\"), Fulgerul (\"The Lightning\") and, after 1880, Tarara (an onomatopoeia equivalent to \"Toodoodoo\"). Their history is connected with that of the Russo-Turkish War, at the end of which Romanian participation on the Russian side resulted in her independence.",
"Their history is connected with that of the Russo-Turkish War, at the end of which Romanian participation on the Russian side resulted in her independence. Macedonski remained committed to the anti-Ottoman cause, and, some thirty years later, stated: \"We want no Turkey in Europe!\" By 1879, the poet, who continued to voice criticism of Carol, had several times switched sides between the National Liberals and the opposition Conservatives.",
"By 1879, the poet, who continued to voice criticism of Carol, had several times switched sides between the National Liberals and the opposition Conservatives. That year, while the Budjak was ceded to Russia and Northern Dobruja was integrated into Romania, the Brătianu cabinet appointed him administrator of the Sulina plasă and the Danube Delta.",
"That year, while the Budjak was ceded to Russia and Northern Dobruja was integrated into Romania, the Brătianu cabinet appointed him administrator of the Sulina plasă and the Danube Delta. He had previously refused to be made comptroller in Putna County, believing such an appointment to be beneath his capacity, and had lost a National Liberal appointment in Silistra when Southern Dobruja was granted to the Principality of Bulgaria.",
"He had previously refused to be made comptroller in Putna County, believing such an appointment to be beneath his capacity, and had lost a National Liberal appointment in Silistra when Southern Dobruja was granted to the Principality of Bulgaria. During this short interval in office, he traveled to the Snake Island in the Black Sea—his appreciation for the place later motivated him to write the fantasy novel Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu and the poem Lewki. Early Literatorul years With the 1880s came a turning point in Alexandru Macedonski's career.",
"Early Literatorul years With the 1880s came a turning point in Alexandru Macedonski's career. Vianu notes that changes took place in the poet's relationship with his public: \"Society recognizes in him the nonconformist. [...] The man becomes singular; people start talking about his oddities.\" Macedonski's presumed frustration at being perceived in this way, Vianu notes, may have led him closer to the idea of poète maudit, theorized earlier by Paul Verlaine.",
"Macedonski's presumed frustration at being perceived in this way, Vianu notes, may have led him closer to the idea of poète maudit, theorized earlier by Paul Verlaine. In this context, he had set his sight on promoting \"social poetry\", the merger between lyricism and political militantism. Meanwhile, according to Călinescu, his attacks on the liberals and the \"daft insults he aimed at [Romania's] throne\" had effectively ruined his own chance of political advancement.",
"Meanwhile, according to Călinescu, his attacks on the liberals and the \"daft insults he aimed at [Romania's] throne\" had effectively ruined his own chance of political advancement. In January 1880, he launched his most influential and long-lived publication, Literatorul, which was also the focal point of his eclectic cultural circle, and, in later years, of the local Symbolist school. In its first version, the magazine was co-edited by Macedonski, Bonifaciu Florescu and poet Th. M. Stoenescu.",
"M. Stoenescu. M. Stoenescu. Florescu parted with the group soon after, due to a disagreement with Macedonski, and was later attacked by the latter for allegedly accumulating academic posts. Literatorul aimed to irritate Junimist sensibilities from its first issue, when it stated its dislike for \"political prejudice in literature.\" This was most likely an allusion to the views of Junimist figure Titu Maiorescu, being later accompanied by explicit attacks on him and his followers.",
"This was most likely an allusion to the views of Junimist figure Titu Maiorescu, being later accompanied by explicit attacks on him and his followers. An early success for the new journal was the warm reception it received from Vasile Alecsandri, a Romantic poet and occasional Junimist whom Macedonski idolized at the time, and the collaboration of popular memoirist Gheorghe Sion. Another such figure was the intellectual V. A. Urechia, whom Macedonski made president of the Literatorul Society.",
"Another such figure was the intellectual V. A. Urechia, whom Macedonski made president of the Literatorul Society. In 1881, Education Minister Urechia granted Macedonski the Bene-Merenti medal 1st class, although, Călinescu stresses, the poet had only totaled 18 months of public service. At around that time, Macedonski had allegedly begun courting actress Aristizza Romanescu, who rejected his advances, leaving him unenthusiastic about love matters and unwilling to seek female company.",
"At around that time, Macedonski had allegedly begun courting actress Aristizza Romanescu, who rejected his advances, leaving him unenthusiastic about love matters and unwilling to seek female company. In parallel, Macedonski used the magazine to publicize his disagreement with the main Junimist voice, Convorbiri Literare. Among the group of contributors, several had already been victims of Maiorescu's irony: Sion, Urechia, Pantazi Ghica and Petru Grădișteanu.",
"Among the group of contributors, several had already been victims of Maiorescu's irony: Sion, Urechia, Pantazi Ghica and Petru Grădișteanu. While welcoming the debut of its contributor, Parnassian-Neoclassicist novelist and poet Duiliu Zamfirescu, Macedonski repeatedly attacked its main exponent, the conservative poet Eminescu, claiming not to understand his poetry. However, Literatorul was also open to contributions from some Convorbiri Literare affiliates (Zamfirescu, Matilda Cugler-Poni and Veronica Micle). In November 1880, Macedonski's plays Iadeș! (\"Wishbone!",
"In November 1880, Macedonski's plays Iadeș! (\"Wishbone! (\"Wishbone! \", a comedy first printed in 1882) and Unchiașul Sărăcie (\"Old Man Poverty\") premiered at the National Theater Bucharest. A sign of government approval, this was followed by Macedonski's appointment to a minor administrative office, as Historical Monuments Inspector. Nevertheless, both plays failed to impose themselves on public perception, and were withdrawn from the program by 1888.",
"Nevertheless, both plays failed to impose themselves on public perception, and were withdrawn from the program by 1888. Călinescu asserts that, although Macedonski later claimed to have always been facing poverty, his job in the administration, coupled with other sources of revenue, ensured him a comfortable existence. In 1881, Macedonski published a new collection of poetry. Titled Poezii, it carries the year \"1882\" on its original cover. Again moving away from liberalism, Macedonski sought to make himself accepted by Junimea and Maiorescu.",
"Again moving away from liberalism, Macedonski sought to make himself accepted by Junimea and Maiorescu. He consequently attended the Junimea sessions, and gave a public reading of Noaptea de noiembrie (\"November Night\"), the first publicized piece in his lifelong Nights cycle. It reportedly earned him the praise of historian and poet Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu, who, although an anti-Junimist, happened to be in the audience.",
"It reportedly earned him the praise of historian and poet Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu, who, although an anti-Junimist, happened to be in the audience. Despite rumors according to which he had applauded Macedonski, Maiorescu himself was not impressed, and left an unenthusiastic account of the event in his private diary. Against Alecsandri and Eminescu Macedonski's open conflict with Junimea began in 1882, when he engaged in a publicized polemic with Alecsandri.",
"Against Alecsandri and Eminescu Macedonski's open conflict with Junimea began in 1882, when he engaged in a publicized polemic with Alecsandri. It was ignited when, through Macedonski's articles, Literatorul criticized Alecsandri for accepting Romanian Academy prizes despite being its member, and later involved Sion (whose replies on behalf of the Academy were derided by Macedonski). Macedonski also took distance from Alecsandri's style, publishing a \"critical analysis\" of his poetry in one issue of Literatorul.",
"Macedonski also took distance from Alecsandri's style, publishing a \"critical analysis\" of his poetry in one issue of Literatorul. In turn, Alecsandri humiliated his young rival by portraying him as Zoilus, the prototype of slanderers, and himself as the model poet Horace in the 1883 play Fântâna Blanduziei. The two were eventually reconciled, and Macedonski again spoke of Alecsandri as his ideological and stylistic predecessor.",
"The two were eventually reconciled, and Macedonski again spoke of Alecsandri as his ideological and stylistic predecessor. In April 1882, Eminescu had also replied to Macedonski in Timpul journal, referring to an unnamed poet who \"barely finishes high-school, comes over to Bucharest selling nick-nacks and makeup [and goes into] literary dealership\".",
"In April 1882, Eminescu had also replied to Macedonski in Timpul journal, referring to an unnamed poet who \"barely finishes high-school, comes over to Bucharest selling nick-nacks and makeup [and goes into] literary dealership\". Reproaching Macedonski's attacks on Alecsandri, Eminescu makes a nationalist comment about the young poet bearing \"the bastard instincts of those foreigners who were Romanianized only yesterday\", and attributes him \"the physiognomy of a hairdresser\". Through the articles of Petru Th.",
"Through the articles of Petru Th. Through the articles of Petru Th. Missir, Convorbiri Literare gave Poezii a negative review, deemed \"malevolent\" by literary historian Mircea Anghelescu. At the other end of the political and cultural spectrum, Macedonski faced opposition from the intellectuals attracted to socialism, in particular Contemporanul editors Constantin Mille and Ioan Nădejde, with whom he was engaged in an extended polemic.",
"At the other end of the political and cultural spectrum, Macedonski faced opposition from the intellectuals attracted to socialism, in particular Contemporanul editors Constantin Mille and Ioan Nădejde, with whom he was engaged in an extended polemic. In the meantime, Macedonski published his own play, which had Cuza for its main character and was eponymously titled Cuza-Vodă, and completed translations for Literatorul—from Maurice Rollinat, whom he helped impose as a main cultural reference in Romanian Symbolism, and from the Greek poet Akhillefs Paraskhos.",
"In the meantime, Macedonski published his own play, which had Cuza for its main character and was eponymously titled Cuza-Vodă, and completed translations for Literatorul—from Maurice Rollinat, whom he helped impose as a main cultural reference in Romanian Symbolism, and from the Greek poet Akhillefs Paraskhos. In 1883, he also contributed his first sketch story, Casa cu nr. 10 (\"The House at Number 10\"). In early 1883, he married Ana Rallet-Slătineanu.",
"In early 1883, he married Ana Rallet-Slătineanu. In early 1883, he married Ana Rallet-Slătineanu. Wealthy and supposedly related to Romanian aristocrats, she would bear him five children in all: the painter Alexis was the eldest, followed by Nikita; the three youngest were two sons (Panel and Constantin Macedonski) and a daughter, Anna (also known as Nina). His heterosexual lifestyle notwithstanding, Macedonski remained a self-avowed admirer of male beauties, and was rumored to be a closeted homosexual.",
"His heterosexual lifestyle notwithstanding, Macedonski remained a self-avowed admirer of male beauties, and was rumored to be a closeted homosexual. In July 1883, Macedonski undertook one of his most controversial anti-Junimist actions. That month, Literatorul published an epigram signed with the pseudonym Duna, deriding an unnamed author who had lost his mind. Mihai Eminescu—whom many had already come to see as Romania's national poet—had by then developed a mental disorder which had become known to the general public.",
"Mihai Eminescu—whom many had already come to see as Romania's national poet—had by then developed a mental disorder which had become known to the general public. Ever since that moment, Macedonski has generally been believed to be Duna, and as a result, was faced with much criticism from both readers and commentators. The intense anti-Literatorul press campaign was initiated in August, when writer Grigore Ventura issued an article condemning Macedonski's attitude (published in the Bucharest-based newspaper L'Indépendance Roumaine), with Macedonski responding in the National Liberal organ Românul.",
"The intense anti-Literatorul press campaign was initiated in August, when writer Grigore Ventura issued an article condemning Macedonski's attitude (published in the Bucharest-based newspaper L'Indépendance Roumaine), with Macedonski responding in the National Liberal organ Românul. During one evening, Macedonski is reported to have been assaulted by anonymous supporters of Eminescu. His previous conflict with Nădejde was also affected by this renewed controversy: while opposed to Junimist policies, the socialists at Contemporanul voiced their admiration for Eminescu's art.",
"His previous conflict with Nădejde was also affected by this renewed controversy: while opposed to Junimist policies, the socialists at Contemporanul voiced their admiration for Eminescu's art. Late in 1883, Macedonski and his friends unveiled Ion Georgescu's statue of their mentor Bolintineanu in the National Theater lobby. The circumstances in which this took place rose suspicion of foul play; on this grounds, Macedonski was ridiculed by his former friend Zamfirescu in the journal România Liberă, which left him embittered.",
"The circumstances in which this took place rose suspicion of foul play; on this grounds, Macedonski was ridiculed by his former friend Zamfirescu in the journal România Liberă, which left him embittered. Călinescu proposes that, although such negative reactions were invoked by Macedonski's supporters as a sign of their mentor having been marginalized, Macedonski had expressed his dissatisfaction with the cultural environment long before that moment, and was still a respected figure even after the incidents took place.",
"Călinescu proposes that, although such negative reactions were invoked by Macedonski's supporters as a sign of their mentor having been marginalized, Macedonski had expressed his dissatisfaction with the cultural environment long before that moment, and was still a respected figure even after the incidents took place. First Paris sojourn and Poezia viitorului Having been stripped of his administrative office by the new Brătianu cabinet, Macedonski faced financial difficulties, and was forced to move into a house on the outskirts of Bucharest, and later moved between houses in northern Bucharest.",
"First Paris sojourn and Poezia viitorului Having been stripped of his administrative office by the new Brătianu cabinet, Macedonski faced financial difficulties, and was forced to move into a house on the outskirts of Bucharest, and later moved between houses in northern Bucharest. According to Călinescu, the poet continued to cultivate luxury and passionately invested in the decorative arts, although his source of income, other than the supposed assistance \"of [European] ruling houses\", remains a mystery.",
"According to Călinescu, the poet continued to cultivate luxury and passionately invested in the decorative arts, although his source of income, other than the supposed assistance \"of [European] ruling houses\", remains a mystery. Arguing that Macedonski was \"always in need of money\" to use on his luxury items, poet Victor Eftimiu claimed: \"He did not shy away from sending emphatic notes to the potentates of his day [...], flattering some, threatening others.",
"Arguing that Macedonski was \"always in need of money\" to use on his luxury items, poet Victor Eftimiu claimed: \"He did not shy away from sending emphatic notes to the potentates of his day [...], flattering some, threatening others. He would marry off or simply mate some of his disciples with aging and rich women, and then he would squeeze out their assets.\" Macedonski eventually left Romania in 1884, visiting Paris.",
"Macedonski eventually left Romania in 1884, visiting Paris. Macedonski eventually left Romania in 1884, visiting Paris. On his way there, he passed through Craiova, where he met aspiring author Traian Demetrescu, whose works he had already hosted in Literatorul and who was to become his friend and protégé. Demetrescu later recalled being gripped by \"tremors of emotion\" upon first catching sight of Macedonski.",
"Demetrescu later recalled being gripped by \"tremors of emotion\" upon first catching sight of Macedonski. In France, Macedonski set up contacts within the French literary environment, and began contributing to French or Francophone literary publications—including the Belgian Symbolist platforms La Wallonie and L'Élan littéraire. His collaboration with La Wallonie alongside Albert Mockel, Tudor Vianu believes, makes Alexandru Macedonski one in the original wave of European Symbolists. This adaptation to Symbolism also drew on his marked Francophilia, which in turn complemented his tendencies toward cosmopolitanism.",
"This adaptation to Symbolism also drew on his marked Francophilia, which in turn complemented his tendencies toward cosmopolitanism. He became opposed to Carol I, who, in 1881, had been granted the Crown of the Romanian Kingdom. In addition to his admiration for Cuza and the 1848 Wallachian revolutionaries, the poet objected to the King's sympathy for France's main rival, the German Empire.",
"In addition to his admiration for Cuza and the 1848 Wallachian revolutionaries, the poet objected to the King's sympathy for France's main rival, the German Empire. In January 1885, after having returned from the voyage, he announced his retirement from public life, claiming that German influence and its exponents at Junimea had \"conquered\" Romanian culture, and repeating his claim that Eminescu lacked value.",
"In January 1885, after having returned from the voyage, he announced his retirement from public life, claiming that German influence and its exponents at Junimea had \"conquered\" Romanian culture, and repeating his claim that Eminescu lacked value. In the meantime, Literatorul went out of print, although new series were still published at irregular intervals until 1904 (when it ceased being published altogether).",
"In the meantime, Literatorul went out of print, although new series were still published at irregular intervals until 1904 (when it ceased being published altogether). The magazine was reportedly hated by the public, causing Macedonski, Stoenescu, Florescu, Urechia and educator Anghel Demetriescu to try to revive it as Revista Literară (\"The Literary Review\", published for a few months in 1885).",
"The magazine was reportedly hated by the public, causing Macedonski, Stoenescu, Florescu, Urechia and educator Anghel Demetriescu to try to revive it as Revista Literară (\"The Literary Review\", published for a few months in 1885). The poet attempted to establish other magazines, all of them short-lived, and, in 1887, handed for print his Naturalist novella Dramă banală (\"Banal Drama\") while completing one of the most revered episodes in the Nights series, Noaptea de mai (\"May Night\").",
"The poet attempted to establish other magazines, all of them short-lived, and, in 1887, handed for print his Naturalist novella Dramă banală (\"Banal Drama\") while completing one of the most revered episodes in the Nights series, Noaptea de mai (\"May Night\"). Also in 1886, he worked on his other Naturalist novellas: Zi de august (\"August Day\"), Pe drum de poștă (\"On the Stagecoach Trail\"), Din carnetul unui dezertor (\"From the Notebook of a Deserter\"), Între cotețe (\"Amidst Hen Houses\") and the eponymous Nicu Dereanu.",
"Also in 1886, he worked on his other Naturalist novellas: Zi de august (\"August Day\"), Pe drum de poștă (\"On the Stagecoach Trail\"), Din carnetul unui dezertor (\"From the Notebook of a Deserter\"), Între cotețe (\"Amidst Hen Houses\") and the eponymous Nicu Dereanu. By 1888, he was again sympathetic toward Blaremberg, whose dissident National Liberal faction had formed an alliance with the Conservatives, editing Stindardul Țărei (later Straja Țărei) as his supporting journal.",
"By 1888, he was again sympathetic toward Blaremberg, whose dissident National Liberal faction had formed an alliance with the Conservatives, editing Stindardul Țărei (later Straja Țărei) as his supporting journal. However, late in the same year, he returned to the liberal mainstream, being assigned a weekly column in Românul newspaper. Two years later, he attempted to relaunch Literatorul under the leadership of liberal figure Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu, but the latter eventually settled for founding his own Revista Nouă.",
"Two years later, he attempted to relaunch Literatorul under the leadership of liberal figure Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu, but the latter eventually settled for founding his own Revista Nouă. Around 1891, he saluted Junimeas own break with the Conservatives and its entry into politics at the Conservative-Constitutional Party, before offering an enthusiastic welcome to the 1892 Junimist agitation among university students.",
"Around 1891, he saluted Junimeas own break with the Conservatives and its entry into politics at the Conservative-Constitutional Party, before offering an enthusiastic welcome to the 1892 Junimist agitation among university students. In 1894, he would speak in front of student crowds gathered at a political rally in University Square, and soon after made himself known for supporting the cause of ethnic Romanians and other underrepresented groups of Austria-Hungary. His literary thesis of the time was titled Poezia viitorului (\"The Poetry of the Future\").",
"His literary thesis of the time was titled Poezia viitorului (\"The Poetry of the Future\"). It upheld Symbolist authors as the models to follow, while Macedonski personally began producing what he referred to as \"instrumentalist\" poems, composed around musical and onomatopoeic elements, and showing a preference for internal rhymes. Such an experimental approach was soon after parodied and ridiculed by Ion Luca Caragiale, who had by then affiliated and parted with Junimea, in his new Moftul Român magazine.",
"Such an experimental approach was soon after parodied and ridiculed by Ion Luca Caragiale, who had by then affiliated and parted with Junimea, in his new Moftul Român magazine. The poet sought to reconcile with his rival, publicizing a claim that Caragiale was being unjustly ignored by the cultural establishment, but this attempt failed to mend relations between them, and the conflict escalated further.",
"The poet sought to reconcile with his rival, publicizing a claim that Caragiale was being unjustly ignored by the cultural establishment, but this attempt failed to mend relations between them, and the conflict escalated further. While, in 1893, Literatorul hosted fragments of Thalassa in its Romanian-language version, the author also launched a daily, Lumina (\"The Light\").",
"While, in 1893, Literatorul hosted fragments of Thalassa in its Romanian-language version, the author also launched a daily, Lumina (\"The Light\"). It was also at that stage that Alexandru Macedonski associated with Cincinat Pavelescu, the noted epigrammarian, who joined him in editing Literatorul, and with whom he co-authored the 1893 verse tragedy depicting the Biblical hero Saul, and named after him. Although showcased by the National Theater with star actor Constantin Nottara in the title role, it failed to register success with the public.",
"Although showcased by the National Theater with star actor Constantin Nottara in the title role, it failed to register success with the public. Two years later, the two Literatorul editors made headlines as pioneers of cycling. An enthusiastic promoter of the sport, Macedonski joined fellow poet Constantin Cantilli on a marathon, pedaling from Bucharest across the border into Austria-Hungary, all the way down to Brașov.",
"An enthusiastic promoter of the sport, Macedonski joined fellow poet Constantin Cantilli on a marathon, pedaling from Bucharest across the border into Austria-Hungary, all the way down to Brașov. Late 1890s Macedonski also returned with a new volume of poetry, Excelsior (consecutive editions in 1895 and 1896), and founded Liga Ortodoxă (\"The Orthodox League\"), a magazine noted for hosting the debut of Tudor Arghezi, later one of the most celebrated figures in Romanian literature.",
"Late 1890s Macedonski also returned with a new volume of poetry, Excelsior (consecutive editions in 1895 and 1896), and founded Liga Ortodoxă (\"The Orthodox League\"), a magazine noted for hosting the debut of Tudor Arghezi, later one of the most celebrated figures in Romanian literature. Macedonski commended his new protégé for reaching \"the summit of poetry and art\" at \"an age when I was still prattling verses\".",
"Macedonski commended his new protégé for reaching \"the summit of poetry and art\" at \"an age when I was still prattling verses\". Liga Ortodoxă also hosted articles against Caragiale, which Macedonski signed with the pseudonym Sallustiu (\"Sallustius\"). The magazine was additional proof of Macedonski's return to conservatism, and largely dedicated to defending the cause of Romanian Orthodox Metropolitan Ghenadie, deposed by the Romanian Synod following a political scandal. It defended Ghenadie up until he chose to resign, and subsequently went out of print.",
"It defended Ghenadie up until he chose to resign, and subsequently went out of print. Macedonski was shocked to note that Ghenadie had given up his own defense. In 1895, his Casa cu nr. 10 was translated into French by the Journal des Débats, whose editors reportedly found it picturesque. Two years later, Macedonski himself published French-language translations of his earlier poetry under the title Bronzes, a volume prefaced by his disciple, the critic and promoter Alexandru Bogdan-Pitești.",
"Two years later, Macedonski himself published French-language translations of his earlier poetry under the title Bronzes, a volume prefaced by his disciple, the critic and promoter Alexandru Bogdan-Pitești. Although it was positively reviewed by Mercure de France magazine, Bronzes was largely unnoticed by the French audience, a fact which Tudor Vianu attributes to Bogdan-Pitești's lack of qualification for the cultural mission Macedonski had trusted him with.",
"Although it was positively reviewed by Mercure de France magazine, Bronzes was largely unnoticed by the French audience, a fact which Tudor Vianu attributes to Bogdan-Pitești's lack of qualification for the cultural mission Macedonski had trusted him with. By that time, his circle had come to be frequented with regularity by Bogdan-Pitești's friend and collaborator, the celebrated painter Ștefan Luchian, who was in the Symbolist and Art Nouveau stage of his career.",
"By that time, his circle had come to be frequented with regularity by Bogdan-Pitești's friend and collaborator, the celebrated painter Ștefan Luchian, who was in the Symbolist and Art Nouveau stage of his career. By 1898, Macedonski was again facing financial difficulties, and his collaborators resorted to organizing a fundraiser in his honor. His rejection of the Orthodox establishment was documented by his political tract, published that year as . Between that time and 1900, he focused on researching esoteric, occult and pseudoscientific subjects.",
"Between that time and 1900, he focused on researching esoteric, occult and pseudoscientific subjects. Traian Demetrescu, who recorded his visits with Macedonski, recalled his former mentor being opposed to his positivist take on science, claiming to explain the workings of the Universe in \"a different way\", through \"imagination\", but also taking an interest in Camille Flammarion's astronomy studies.",
"Traian Demetrescu, who recorded his visits with Macedonski, recalled his former mentor being opposed to his positivist take on science, claiming to explain the workings of the Universe in \"a different way\", through \"imagination\", but also taking an interest in Camille Flammarion's astronomy studies. Macedonski was determined to interpret death through parapsychological means, and, in 1900, conferenced at the Atheneum on the subject Sufletul și viața viitoare (\"The Soul and the Coming Life\").",
"Macedonski was determined to interpret death through parapsychological means, and, in 1900, conferenced at the Atheneum on the subject Sufletul și viața viitoare (\"The Soul and the Coming Life\"). The focal point of his vision was that man could voluntarily stave off death with words and gestures, a concept he elaborated upon in his later articles.",
"The focal point of his vision was that man could voluntarily stave off death with words and gestures, a concept he elaborated upon in his later articles. In one such piece, Macedonski argued: \"man has the power [...] to compact the energy currents known as thoughts to the point where he changes them, according to his own will, into objects or soul-bearing creatures.\" He also attempted to build a machine for extinguishing chimney fires.",
"He also attempted to build a machine for extinguishing chimney fires. Later, Nikita Macedonski registered the invention of nacre-treated paper, which is sometimes attributed to his father. Caion scandal and expatriation The few issues of Literatorul that were printed in 1899-1900 saw the circle being joined by the young Symbolist poet Ștefan Petică. In 1902, he published Cartea de aur (\"The Golden Book\"), comprising his sketch stories and novellas. In parallel, Macedonski returned to the public scene, founding Forța Morală magazine.",
"In parallel, Macedonski returned to the public scene, founding Forța Morală magazine. It was through this venue that he began responding to Ion Luca Caragiale's earlier attacks. This he did by hosting the articles of aspiring journalist Constantin Al. Ionescu-Caion, who accused Caragiale of having plagiarized a Hungarian author by the name of Kemény in his tragedy play Năpasta. Kemény turned out to be non-existent.",
"Kemény turned out to be non-existent. Kemény turned out to be non-existent. According to Vianu, Macedonski had no prior knowledge of the fraud, but had also been \"blinded\" by his resentments instead of displaying \"discernment\", and had even showed evidence of \"insanity\". Most in Macedonski's own series of anti-Caragiale articles were unsigned, or signed with pseudonyms such as Luciliu (\"Gaius Lucilius\").",
"Most in Macedonski's own series of anti-Caragiale articles were unsigned, or signed with pseudonyms such as Luciliu (\"Gaius Lucilius\"). Like in the case of Eminescu's conflict with Macedonski, the polemic enlisted a negative response from the public. The poet's associate Th. M. Stoenescu convinced himself that Caragiale was being framed, and refused to allow Revista Literară to be used for endorsing Caion, which caused Macedonski to shun him.",
"M. Stoenescu convinced himself that Caragiale was being framed, and refused to allow Revista Literară to be used for endorsing Caion, which caused Macedonski to shun him. Macedonski refused to withdraw his support for the cause even after Caragiale sued Caion, but Forța Morală soon went out of print. Before it did so, the journal hosted some of Macedonski's most renowned poems, including Lewki and Noaptea de decemvrie (\"December Night\"), together with his article on Remy de Gourmont's thoughts on poetics.",
"Before it did so, the journal hosted some of Macedonski's most renowned poems, including Lewki and Noaptea de decemvrie (\"December Night\"), together with his article on Remy de Gourmont's thoughts on poetics. In his article of 1903, titled (\"Toward Occultism. Later Orientations toward Theosophy and Social Philosophy\"), the poet envisaged making his interest in esoteric subjects the basis of a new literary movement.",
"Later Orientations toward Theosophy and Social Philosophy\"), the poet envisaged making his interest in esoteric subjects the basis of a new literary movement. Also that year, poet George Bacovia began attending the literary circle, and gave a reading of his celebrated Plumb poem, being welcomed by Macedonski with a flattering epigram. Macedonski's series of short-lived periodicals resumed in 1905, when he founded Le Beau Danube Bleu (French for \"The Beautiful Blue Danube\") and Liga Conservatoare (\"The Conservative League\").",
"Macedonski's series of short-lived periodicals resumed in 1905, when he founded Le Beau Danube Bleu (French for \"The Beautiful Blue Danube\") and Liga Conservatoare (\"The Conservative League\"). He registered more success in 1906, when his Thalassa was published, as Le Calvaire de feu, by Edward Sansot's Paris-based publishing house. This followed intense self-promotion within the French literary environment, as well as advertisements in the French press.",
"This followed intense self-promotion within the French literary environment, as well as advertisements in the French press. Part of this involved Macedonski sending his book to be reviewed by Émile Faguet, Jean Mounet-Sully, Joséphin Péladan, Pierre Quillard and Jean Richepin, who replied with what Vianu deems \"the politeness of circumstance.\" The volume was nonetheless favorably reviewed by the prestigious magazines Mercure de France and Gil Blas.",
"The volume was nonetheless favorably reviewed by the prestigious magazines Mercure de France and Gil Blas. Also in 1906, La Revue Musicale published his interview with Combarieu, through which the latter aimed to verify supposed connections between literary inspiration and musical sensitivity. By 1907, he was concentrating on experiments in physics, and eventually publicized his claim to have discovered that light does not travel through vacuum. He sent a paper on astronomy subjects to be reviewed by the Société Astronomique de France, of which he subsequently became a member.",
"He sent a paper on astronomy subjects to be reviewed by the Société Astronomique de France, of which he subsequently became a member. The same year, he drafted the plan for a world government, announcing that he had found sympathy for the cause throughout Europe. Macedonski also introduced himself to an Italophone public, when two of his sonnets were published by Poesia, the magazine of Futurist theorist Filippo Tommaso Marinetti. Between 1910 and 1912, Macedonski was again in Paris.",
"Between 1910 and 1912, Macedonski was again in Paris. Seeking to withdraw himself from Romania's public life due to what he perceived as injustice, he had by then completed work on the French-language tragicomedy Le Fou? (\"The Madman? \"), which was only published after his death.",
"\"), which was only published after his death. He was actively seeking to establish his reputation in French theater, reading his new play to a circle which included Louis de Gonzague Frick and Florian-Parmentier, while, at home, newspapers reported rumors that his work was going to be staged by Sarah Bernhardt's company. His efforts were largely fruitless, and, accompanied by his son Alexis, the poet left France, spent some time in Italy, and eventually returned to Romania.",
"His efforts were largely fruitless, and, accompanied by his son Alexis, the poet left France, spent some time in Italy, and eventually returned to Romania. Passing through the German Empire, he learned of Ion Luca Caragiale's sudden death, and wrote Adevărul daily an open letter, which showed that he had come to revise his stance, notably comparing the deceased author's style and legacy to those of Mark Twain.",
"Passing through the German Empire, he learned of Ion Luca Caragiale's sudden death, and wrote Adevărul daily an open letter, which showed that he had come to revise his stance, notably comparing the deceased author's style and legacy to those of Mark Twain. During Macedonski's absence, his style and work had come to be reviewed more positively, in particular by the young authors I. Dragoslav, Horia Furtună, Ion Pillat, Anastasie Mândru, Al.",
"During Macedonski's absence, his style and work had come to be reviewed more positively, in particular by the young authors I. Dragoslav, Horia Furtună, Ion Pillat, Anastasie Mândru, Al. T. Stamatiad, as well as by post-Junimist critic Mihail Dragomirescu, who offered Macedonski a good reception in his Convorbiri Critice magazine. Tudor Vianu, who cites contemporary statements by Dragoslav, concludes that, upon arrival, Macedonski was enthusiastically received by a public who had missed him.",
"Tudor Vianu, who cites contemporary statements by Dragoslav, concludes that, upon arrival, Macedonski was enthusiastically received by a public who had missed him. Also in 1912, one of his poems was published as an homage by Simbolul, a magazine published by the young and radical Symbolists Tristan Tzara, Ion Vinea and Marcel Janco. Around that time, Macedonski also collaborated with the Iași-based moderate Symbolist magazine Versuri și Proză.",
"Around that time, Macedonski also collaborated with the Iași-based moderate Symbolist magazine Versuri și Proză. Polemics surrounding his case nevertheless continued: in late 1912, as part of a National Theater adaptation of Alphonse Daudet's Sapho, actor Cazimir Belcot borrowed from Macedonski's appearance and mannerisms to portray a failure. Return and World War I years Macedonski and his protégés had become regular frequenters of Bucharest cafés.",
"Return and World War I years Macedonski and his protégés had become regular frequenters of Bucharest cafés. Having a table permanently reserved for him at Imperial Hotel's Kübler Coffeehouse, he was later a presence in two other such establishments: High-Life and Terasa Oteteleșanu. He is said to have spent part of his time at Kübler loudly mocking the traditionalist poets who gathered at an opposite table.",
"He is said to have spent part of his time at Kübler loudly mocking the traditionalist poets who gathered at an opposite table. Meanwhile, the poet's literary club, set up at his house in Dorobanți quarter, had come to resemble a mystical circle, over which he held magisterial command. Vianu, who visited the poet together with Pillat, compares this atmosphere with those created by other \"mystics and magi of poetry\" (citing as examples Joséphin Péladan, Louis-Nicolas Ménard, Stéphane Mallarmé and Stefan George).",
"Vianu, who visited the poet together with Pillat, compares this atmosphere with those created by other \"mystics and magi of poetry\" (citing as examples Joséphin Péladan, Louis-Nicolas Ménard, Stéphane Mallarmé and Stefan George). The hall where seances were hosted was only lit by candles, and the tables were covered in red fabric. Macedonski himself was seated on a throne designed by Alexis, and adopted a dominant pose. The apparent secrecy and the initiation rites performed on new members were purportedly inspired by Rosicrucianism and the Freemasonry.",
"The apparent secrecy and the initiation rites performed on new members were purportedly inspired by Rosicrucianism and the Freemasonry. By then, Macedonski was rewarding his followers' poems with false gemstones. The poet founded Revista Critică (\"The Critical Review\"), which again closed after a short while, and issued the poetry volume Flori sacre (\"Sacred Flowers\").",
"The poet founded Revista Critică (\"The Critical Review\"), which again closed after a short while, and issued the poetry volume Flori sacre (\"Sacred Flowers\"). Grouping his Forța Morală poems and older pieces, it was dedicated to his new generation of followers, whom Macedonski's preface referred to as \"the new Romania.\" He continued to hope that Le Fou?",
"He continued to hope that Le Fou? He continued to hope that Le Fou? was going to be staged in France, especially after he received some encouragement in the form of articles in Mercure de France and Journal des Débats, but was confronted with the general public's indifference. In 1914, Thalassa was published in a non-definitive version by Constantin Banu's magazine Flacăra, which sought to revive overall interest in his work.",
"In 1914, Thalassa was published in a non-definitive version by Constantin Banu's magazine Flacăra, which sought to revive overall interest in his work. At a French Red Cross conference in September, Macedonski paid his final public homage to France, which had just become entangled in World War I.",
"At a French Red Cross conference in September, Macedonski paid his final public homage to France, which had just become entangled in World War I. It was also in 1914 that Macedonski commissioned for print his very first rondels and completed work on a tragedy play about Renaissance poet Dante Aligheri—known as La Mort de Dante in its French original, and Moartea lui Dante in the secondary Romanian version (both meaning \"Dante's Death\").",
"It was also in 1914 that Macedonski commissioned for print his very first rondels and completed work on a tragedy play about Renaissance poet Dante Aligheri—known as La Mort de Dante in its French original, and Moartea lui Dante in the secondary Romanian version (both meaning \"Dante's Death\"). The aging poet was by then building connections with the local art scene: together with artist Alexandru Severin, he created (and probably presided over) Cenaclul idealist (\"The Idealist Club\"), which included Symbolist artists and was placed under the honorary patronage of King Carol.",
"The aging poet was by then building connections with the local art scene: together with artist Alexandru Severin, he created (and probably presided over) Cenaclul idealist (\"The Idealist Club\"), which included Symbolist artists and was placed under the honorary patronage of King Carol. 1916 was also the year when Romania abandoned her neutrality and, under a National Liberal government, rallied with the Entente Powers.",
"1916 was also the year when Romania abandoned her neutrality and, under a National Liberal government, rallied with the Entente Powers. During the neutrality period, Macedonski had shed his lifelong Francophilia to join the Germanophiles, who wanted to see Romanian participation on the Central Powers' side. In 1915, he issued the journal Cuvântul Meu (\"My Word\").",
"In 1915, he issued the journal Cuvântul Meu (\"My Word\"). Entirely written by him, it published ten consecutive issues before going bankrupt, and notably lashed out against France for being \"bourgeois\" and \"lawyer-filled\", demanding from Romania not to get involved in the conflict. Commentators and researchers of his work have declared themselves puzzled by this change in allegiance. Macedonski further alienated public opinion during the Romanian Campaign, when the Central Powers armies entered southern Romania and occupied Bucharest.",
"Macedonski further alienated public opinion during the Romanian Campaign, when the Central Powers armies entered southern Romania and occupied Bucharest. Alexis was drafted and became a war artist, but Macedonski Sr, who received formal protection from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bucharest, chose to stay behind while the authorities and many ordinary citizens relocated to Iași, where resistance was still being organized. His stance was interpreted as collaborationism by his critics. However, Macedonski reportedly faced extreme poverty throughout the occupation.",
"However, Macedonski reportedly faced extreme poverty throughout the occupation. Having by then begun to attend the circle of Alexandru Bogdan-Pitești, his promoter and fellow Germanophile, he was once rewarded by the latter with a turkey filled with gold coins. Late polemics, illness and death Literatorul resumed print in June 1918, once Romania capitulated to the Central Powers under the Treaty of Bucharest.",
"Late polemics, illness and death Literatorul resumed print in June 1918, once Romania capitulated to the Central Powers under the Treaty of Bucharest. A controversial incident occurred soon afterwards, when, going against the counsel of his friend and collaborator Stamatiad, Macedonski signed a Literatorul article where the German military administrator August von Mackensen, who was about to lead his troops out of Romania, was presented in a positive light.",
"A controversial incident occurred soon afterwards, when, going against the counsel of his friend and collaborator Stamatiad, Macedonski signed a Literatorul article where the German military administrator August von Mackensen, who was about to lead his troops out of Romania, was presented in a positive light. In a manner deemed \"excessive\" by historian Lucian Boia, the Romanian writer was paying homage not just to Mackensen, but also, indirectly, to German Emperor Wilhelm II and the Reichsheer.",
"In a manner deemed \"excessive\" by historian Lucian Boia, the Romanian writer was paying homage not just to Mackensen, but also, indirectly, to German Emperor Wilhelm II and the Reichsheer. Soon after reading the piece, Romanian Academy member and fellow Symbolist promoter Ovid Densusianu withdrew his own nomination of Macedonski for an Academy seat.",
"Soon after reading the piece, Romanian Academy member and fellow Symbolist promoter Ovid Densusianu withdrew his own nomination of Macedonski for an Academy seat. During summer, Macedonski also joined the group of public figures who saluted the senior Conservative Germanophile Petre P. Carp (deeming Carp \"the veteran of character, honesty and Romanianism\"), and, in September, joined Ioan Slavici and Gala Galaction as a contributor to the occupation magazine Rumänien in Wort und Bild, where he prophesied an anti-French \"political renaissance\" of Romania.",
"During summer, Macedonski also joined the group of public figures who saluted the senior Conservative Germanophile Petre P. Carp (deeming Carp \"the veteran of character, honesty and Romanianism\"), and, in September, joined Ioan Slavici and Gala Galaction as a contributor to the occupation magazine Rumänien in Wort und Bild, where he prophesied an anti-French \"political renaissance\" of Romania. Alexandru Macedonski faced problems after the Romanian government resumed its control over Bucharest, and during the early years of Greater Romania.",
"Alexandru Macedonski faced problems after the Romanian government resumed its control over Bucharest, and during the early years of Greater Romania. What followed the Mackensen article, Vianu claims, was Macedonski's bellum contra omnes (\"war against all\").",
"What followed the Mackensen article, Vianu claims, was Macedonski's bellum contra omnes (\"war against all\"). However, the poet made efforts to accommodate himself with the triumphal return of the Iași authorities: in December 1918, Literatorul celebrated the extension of Romanian rule \"from the Tisza to the Dniester\" as a success of the National Liberals, paying homage to Francophile political leaders Ion I. C. Brătianu and Take Ionescu.",
"However, the poet made efforts to accommodate himself with the triumphal return of the Iași authorities: in December 1918, Literatorul celebrated the extension of Romanian rule \"from the Tisza to the Dniester\" as a success of the National Liberals, paying homage to Francophile political leaders Ion I. C. Brătianu and Take Ionescu. Macedonski also envisaged running in the 1918 election for a seat in the new Parliament (which was supposed to vote a document to replace the 1866 Constitution as the organic law), but never registered his candidature.",
"Macedonski also envisaged running in the 1918 election for a seat in the new Parliament (which was supposed to vote a document to replace the 1866 Constitution as the organic law), but never registered his candidature. According to Vianu, he had intended to create a joke political party, the \"intellectual group\", whose other member was an unnamed coffeehouse acquaintance of his. Literatorul was revived for a final time in 1919. His health deteriorated from heart disease, which is described by Vianu as an effect of constant smoking.",
"His health deteriorated from heart disease, which is described by Vianu as an effect of constant smoking. By that stage, Vianu recalls, Macedonski also had problems coming to terms with his age. His last anthumous work was the pamphlet Zaherlina (named after the Romanian version of \"Zacherlin\"; also known as Zacherlina or Zacherlina în continuare, \"Zacherlin Contd. \"), completed in 1919 and published the following year. It notably attacked Densusianu, who had become Macedonski's personal enemy.",
"It notably attacked Densusianu, who had become Macedonski's personal enemy. Some other polemical texts he had authored late in life saw print only after his death, under the title Mustrări postume către o generație neînțelegătoare (\"Posthumous Reprimands for an Obtuse Generation\"). 1920 was also the year when the People's Party cabinet attempted to pension him off from his office at the Historical Monuments Commission, but the publicized protest of Macedonski's fellow writers in Bucharest made it reconsider.",
"1920 was also the year when the People's Party cabinet attempted to pension him off from his office at the Historical Monuments Commission, but the publicized protest of Macedonski's fellow writers in Bucharest made it reconsider. Confined to his home by illness and old age, Macedonski was still writing poems, some of which later known as his Ultima verba (\"Last Words\"). The writer died on 24 November, at three o'clock in the afternoon.",
"The writer died on 24 November, at three o'clock in the afternoon. Having come to develop an addiction to floral fragrances, he was inhaling a rose petal extract during his last hours. He was buried in Bucharest's Bellu. Work General characteristics Although Alexandru Macedonski frequently changed his style and views on literary matters, a number of constants have been traced throughout his work.",
"Work General characteristics Although Alexandru Macedonski frequently changed his style and views on literary matters, a number of constants have been traced throughout his work. Thus, a common perception is that his literature had a strongly visual aspect, the notion being condensed in Cincinat Pavelescu's definition of Macedonski: \"Poet, therefore painter; painter, therefore poet.\" Traian Demetrescu too recalled that his mentor had been dreaming of becoming a visual artist, and had eventually settled for turning his son Alexis into one.",
"Traian Demetrescu too recalled that his mentor had been dreaming of becoming a visual artist, and had eventually settled for turning his son Alexis into one. This pictorial approach to writing created parallels between Macedonski and his traditionalist contemporaries Vasile Alecsandri and Barbu Ștefănescu Delavrancea. Following the tenets of Dimitrie Bolintineanu and Théophile Gautier, the writer repeatedly called for purity in versification, and upheld it as an essential requirement, while progressively seeking to verify the quality of his poetry through phonaesthetics.",
"Following the tenets of Dimitrie Bolintineanu and Théophile Gautier, the writer repeatedly called for purity in versification, and upheld it as an essential requirement, while progressively seeking to verify the quality of his poetry through phonaesthetics. A characteristic of Macedonski's style is his inventive use of Romanian. Initially influenced by Ion Heliade Rădulescu's introduction of Italian-based words to the Romanian lexis, Macedonski himself later infused poetic language with a large array of neologisms from several Romance sources.",
"Initially influenced by Ion Heliade Rădulescu's introduction of Italian-based words to the Romanian lexis, Macedonski himself later infused poetic language with a large array of neologisms from several Romance sources. Likewise, Vianu notes, Macedonski had a tendency for comparing nature with the artificial, the result of this being a \"document\" of his values. Macedonski's language alternated neologisms with barbarisms, many of which were coined by him personally.",
"Macedonski's language alternated neologisms with barbarisms, many of which were coined by him personally. They include claviculat (\"clavicled\", applied to a shoulder), împălăriată (\"enhatted\", used to define a crowd of hat-wearing tourists), and ureichii (instead of urechii, \"to the ear\" or \"of the ear\"). His narratives nevertheless take an interest in recording direct speech, used as a method of characterization.",
"His narratives nevertheless take an interest in recording direct speech, used as a method of characterization. However, Călinescu criticizes Macedonski for using a language which, \"although grammatically correct [...], seems to have been learned only recently\", as well as for not following other Romanian writers in creating a lasting poetic style. The writer's belief in the effects of sheer willpower, notably present in his comments on esoteric subjects, was itself a defining characteristic of his perspective on literature.",
"The writer's belief in the effects of sheer willpower, notably present in his comments on esoteric subjects, was itself a defining characteristic of his perspective on literature. In 1882, he wrote about progression in one's career: \"We are all poets at birth, but only those who shape themselves through study will become poets.\"",
"In 1882, he wrote about progression in one's career: \"We are all poets at birth, but only those who shape themselves through study will become poets.\" Vianu, who notes Macedonski's \"exclusivity\" and \"fanaticism\", places such statements in connection with Macedonski's personal ambition, \"pride\" and \"the willingness to carry out ventured actions [...], in stated opposition with the entire surrounding and with contempt for the foreseeable reaction.\"",
"Vianu, who notes Macedonski's \"exclusivity\" and \"fanaticism\", places such statements in connection with Macedonski's personal ambition, \"pride\" and \"the willingness to carry out ventured actions [...], in stated opposition with the entire surrounding and with contempt for the foreseeable reaction.\" Almost all periods of Macedonski's work reflect, in whole or in part, his public persona and the polemics he was involved in.",
"Almost all periods of Macedonski's work reflect, in whole or in part, his public persona and the polemics he was involved in. George Călinescu's emits a verdict on the relation between his lifetime notoriety and the public's actual awareness of his work: \"Macedonski [was] a poet well-known for being an unknown poet.\"",
"George Călinescu's emits a verdict on the relation between his lifetime notoriety and the public's actual awareness of his work: \"Macedonski [was] a poet well-known for being an unknown poet.\" According to literary critic Matei Călinescu, the innovative aspects of his impact on Romanian literature were not as much related to his \"literary ideology\", as much as to his \"contradictory spirit\" and \"essential nonconformism\".",
"According to literary critic Matei Călinescu, the innovative aspects of his impact on Romanian literature were not as much related to his \"literary ideology\", as much as to his \"contradictory spirit\" and \"essential nonconformism\". However, literary researcher Adrian Marino proposes that Macedonski was one of the first modern authors to illustrate the importance of \"dialectic unity\" through his views on art, in particular by having argued that poetry needed to be driven by \"an idea\".",
"However, literary researcher Adrian Marino proposes that Macedonski was one of the first modern authors to illustrate the importance of \"dialectic unity\" through his views on art, in particular by having argued that poetry needed to be driven by \"an idea\". Having theorized once, while questioning Junimist rigor, that \"the logic of poetry is absurdity itself [italics in the original]\", the poet also said: \"Poetry is the chaos of spirit and matter, of the cries of distress and mad laughter.",
"Having theorized once, while questioning Junimist rigor, that \"the logic of poetry is absurdity itself [italics in the original]\", the poet also said: \"Poetry is the chaos of spirit and matter, of the cries of distress and mad laughter. From the sublime to the trivial, that is what it should be.\" He later revised part of this verdict, and, making explicit his adoption of aestheticism, spoke against trivial subjects and in favor of the sublime.",
"He later revised part of this verdict, and, making explicit his adoption of aestheticism, spoke against trivial subjects and in favor of the sublime. While Macedonski also discarded the concept of \"social poetry\" not long after postulating it, its spirit, Tudor Vianu believes, can still be found in his later contributions. This, the critic notes, was owed to his \"social temperament\", whose \"fundamental experience is that of the social.\"",
"This, the critic notes, was owed to his \"social temperament\", whose \"fundamental experience is that of the social.\" Discussing this sociable and extrovert character, other critics see in the poet's life and work the imprint of \"quixotism\". Also according to Vianu, this contrasted with Macedonski's failures in communicating with the public, an experience which made him \"misanthropic\" and contributed to his ultimate vision of death as freedom.",
"Also according to Vianu, this contrasted with Macedonski's failures in communicating with the public, an experience which made him \"misanthropic\" and contributed to his ultimate vision of death as freedom. Literary historian Pompiliu Constantinescu concluded: \"Macedonski could not resign; his one martyrdom was for Art, as the sole liberation from a tormented life.\" Other commentators have defined the poet's perspective on life as a result of \"neurosis\".",
"Other commentators have defined the poet's perspective on life as a result of \"neurosis\". In Vianu's perspective, Macedonski's stance is dominated by a mixture of nostalgia, sensuality, lugubrious-grotesque imagery, and \"the lack of bashfulness for antisocial sentiments\" which compliments his sarcasm.",
"In Vianu's perspective, Macedonski's stance is dominated by a mixture of nostalgia, sensuality, lugubrious-grotesque imagery, and \"the lack of bashfulness for antisocial sentiments\" which compliments his sarcasm. In respect to the latter characteristic, Vianu notes \"no one in Romanian literature has laughed the same way as Macedonski\", whereas critic Ștefan Cazimir argues: \"[Macedonski was] lacking the sense of relativity in principles, and implicitly a sense of humor.\"",
"In respect to the latter characteristic, Vianu notes \"no one in Romanian literature has laughed the same way as Macedonski\", whereas critic Ștefan Cazimir argues: \"[Macedonski was] lacking the sense of relativity in principles, and implicitly a sense of humor.\" Cazimir adds: \"Only when he aged did [Macedonski] learn to smile\".",
"Cazimir adds: \"Only when he aged did [Macedonski] learn to smile\". George Călinescu himself believes Macedonski to have been \"fundamentally a spiritual man with lots of humor\", speculating that he was able to see the \"uselessness\" of his own scientific ventures. Critics note that, while Macedonski progressed from one stage to the other, his work fluctuated between artistic accomplishment and mediocrity.",
"Critics note that, while Macedonski progressed from one stage to the other, his work fluctuated between artistic accomplishment and mediocrity. Tudor Vianu believes \"failure in reaching originality\" and reliance on \"soppy-conventional attributes of the day\" to be especially evident wherever Macedonski tried to emulate epic poetry. He also notes that Macedonski's love-themed pieces \"cannot be listed among [his] most fortunate\". At his best, commentators note, he was one of the Romanian literature's classics.",
"At his best, commentators note, he was one of the Romanian literature's classics. Macedonski is thus perceived as the author second only to Eminescu, and as his ideal counterpart—a relation Vianu describes as \"the internal dualism [confronting] two familiar gods\". Various critics have compared Eminescu's poetic discourse with that of the Symbolist leader, concluding that the two poets often display very similar attitudes.",
"Various critics have compared Eminescu's poetic discourse with that of the Symbolist leader, concluding that the two poets often display very similar attitudes. Călinescu writes that, while Macedonski's work is largely inferior to that of his Junimist rival, it forms the best \"reply\" ever conceived within their common setting. Prima verba and other early works With Ion Catina, Vasile Păun and Grigore H. Grandea, young Macedonski belonged to late Romanian Romanticism, part of a Neoromantic generation which had for its mentors Heliade Rădulescu and Bolintineanu.",
"Prima verba and other early works With Ion Catina, Vasile Păun and Grigore H. Grandea, young Macedonski belonged to late Romanian Romanticism, part of a Neoromantic generation which had for its mentors Heliade Rădulescu and Bolintineanu. Other early influences were Pierre-Jean de Béranger and Gottfried August Bürger, together with Romanian folklore, motifs from them being adapted by Macedonski into pastorals and ballades of ca. 1870–1880.",
"1870–1880. 1870–1880. The imprint of Romanticism and such other sources was evident in Prima verba, which groups pieces that Macedonski authored in his early youth, the earliest of them being written when he was just twelve. Critics generally argue that the volume is without value. The poems display his rebellious attitude, self-victimization and strong reliance on autobiographical elements, centering on such episodes as the death of his father.",
"The poems display his rebellious attitude, self-victimization and strong reliance on autobiographical elements, centering on such episodes as the death of his father. In one piece inspired by the ideology of Heliade Rădulescu, Vianu notes, Macedonski sings \"the French Revolution's love for freedom and equality, otherwise proclaimed from his nobleman's perspective.\" It reads: In parallel, Macedonski used erotic themes, completing a series which, although written on the model of idylls, is noted for its brute details of sexual exploits.",
"It reads: In parallel, Macedonski used erotic themes, completing a series which, although written on the model of idylls, is noted for its brute details of sexual exploits. The poet probably acknowledged that posterity would reject them, and did not republish them in any of his collected poetry volumes. During his time at Oltul (1873–1875), Macedonski published a series of poems, most of which were not featured in definitive editions of his work.",
"During his time at Oltul (1873–1875), Macedonski published a series of poems, most of which were not featured in definitive editions of his work. In addition to odes written in the Italian-based version of Romanian, it includes lyrics which satirize Carol I without mentioning his name. Following his arrest, Macedonski also completed Celula mea de la Văcărești (\"My Cell in Văcărești\"), which shows his attempt to joke about the situation.",
"Following his arrest, Macedonski also completed Celula mea de la Văcărești (\"My Cell in Văcărești\"), which shows his attempt to joke about the situation. In contrast to this series, some of the pieces written during Macedonski's time in the Budjak and Northern Dobruja display a detachment from contemporary themes. At that stage, he was especially inspired by Lord Byron, whom Vianu calls \"the sovereign poet of [Macedonski's] youth.\"",
"At that stage, he was especially inspired by Lord Byron, whom Vianu calls \"the sovereign poet of [Macedonski's] youth.\" In Calul arabului, Macedonski explores exotic and Levantine settings, using symbols which announce George Coșbuc's El-Zorab, and the Venetian-themed Ithalo, which centers on episodes of betrayal and murder. Others were epic and patriotic in tone, with subjects such as Romanian victories in the Russo-Turkish War or the Imperial Roman sites along the Danube.",
"Others were epic and patriotic in tone, with subjects such as Romanian victories in the Russo-Turkish War or the Imperial Roman sites along the Danube. One of these pieces, titled Hinov after the village and stone quarry in Rasova, gives Macedonski a claim to being the first modern European poet to have used free verse, ahead of the French Symbolist Gustave Kahn.",
"One of these pieces, titled Hinov after the village and stone quarry in Rasova, gives Macedonski a claim to being the first modern European poet to have used free verse, ahead of the French Symbolist Gustave Kahn. Macedonski himself later voiced the claim, and referred to such a technique as \"symphonic verse\", \"proteic verse\", or, in honor of composer Richard Wagner, \"Wagnerian verse\". While editing Oltul, Macedonski also completed his first prose writings.",
"While editing Oltul, Macedonski also completed his first prose writings. These were the travel account Pompeia și Sorento (\"Pompeia and Sorento\", 1874) and a prison-themed story described by Vianu as \"a tearjerker\", titled Câinele din Văcărești (\"The Dog in Văcărești\", 1875). These were later complemented by other travel works, which critic Mihai Zamfir likens to the verbal experiments of Impressionist literature, pioneering in the Romanian prose poetry genre.",
"These were later complemented by other travel works, which critic Mihai Zamfir likens to the verbal experiments of Impressionist literature, pioneering in the Romanian prose poetry genre. The short comedy Gemenii was his debut work for the stage, but, according to Vianu, failed to show any merit other than a \"logical construction\" and a preview into Macedonski's use of sarcasm. These writings were followed in 1876 by a concise biography of Cârjaliul, an early 19th-century hajduk.",
"These writings were followed in 1876 by a concise biography of Cârjaliul, an early 19th-century hajduk. In line with his first Levant-themed poems, Macedonski authored the 1877 story Așa se fac banii (\"This Is How Money Is Made\", later retold in French as Comment on devient riche et puissant, \"How to Become Rich and Powerful\"), a fable of fatalism and the Muslim world—it dealt with two brothers, one hard-working and one indolent, the latter of whom earns his money through a series of serendipitous events.",
"In line with his first Levant-themed poems, Macedonski authored the 1877 story Așa se fac banii (\"This Is How Money Is Made\", later retold in French as Comment on devient riche et puissant, \"How to Become Rich and Powerful\"), a fable of fatalism and the Muslim world—it dealt with two brothers, one hard-working and one indolent, the latter of whom earns his money through a series of serendipitous events. Likewise, his verse comedy Iadeș!",
"Likewise, his verse comedy Iadeș! Likewise, his verse comedy Iadeș! borrowed its theme from the widely circulated collection of Persian literature known as Sindipa. The setting was however modern, and, as noted by French-born critic Frédéric Damé, the plot also borrowed much from Émile Augier's Gabrielle and from other morality plays of the period. Part of the text was an ironic treatment of youth in liberal professions, an attitude which Macedonski fitted in his emerging anti-bourgeois discourse.",
"Part of the text was an ironic treatment of youth in liberal professions, an attitude which Macedonski fitted in his emerging anti-bourgeois discourse. With the first poems in his Nights cycle, Macedonski still showed his allegiance to Romanticism, and in particular to Alphonse de Lamartine, and the supposed inventor of this theme, Alfred de Musset. Noaptea de noiembrie opens with a violent condemnation of his adversaries, and sees Macedonski depicting his own funeral.",
"Noaptea de noiembrie opens with a violent condemnation of his adversaries, and sees Macedonski depicting his own funeral. The poem is commended by Călinescu, who notes that, in contrast to the \"apparently trivial beginning\", the main part, where Macedonski depicts himself in flight over the Danube, brings the Romanian writer close to the accomplishments of Dante Aligheri. The writer himself claimed that the piece evidenced \"the uttermost breath of inspiration I have ever felt in my life.\"",
"The writer himself claimed that the piece evidenced \"the uttermost breath of inspiration I have ever felt in my life.\" Another poem, Noaptea de aprilie (\"April Night\"), was probably his testimony of unrequited love for Aristizza Romanescu. Realism and Naturalism By the 1880s, Macedonski developed and applied his \"social poetry\" theory, as branch of Realism.",
"Realism and Naturalism By the 1880s, Macedonski developed and applied his \"social poetry\" theory, as branch of Realism. Explained by the writer himself as a reaction against the legacy of Lamartine, it also signified his brief affiliation with the Naturalist current, a radical segment of the Realist movement. Traian Demetrescu thus noted that Macedonski cherished the works of French Naturalists and Realists such as Gustave Flaubert and Émile Zola.",
"Traian Demetrescu thus noted that Macedonski cherished the works of French Naturalists and Realists such as Gustave Flaubert and Émile Zola. During this phase, Macedonski made known his sympathy for the disinherited, from girls forced into prostitution to convicts sentenced to penal labor on salt mines, and also spoke out against the conventionalism of civil marriages. His Ocnele (\"The Salt Mines\") includes the verdict: Naturalist depiction was also the main element in his prose pieces of the early 1880s.",
"His Ocnele (\"The Salt Mines\") includes the verdict: Naturalist depiction was also the main element in his prose pieces of the early 1880s. Among them was the first of several sketch stories using still life techniques, Casa cu nr. 10 (according to Zamfir, a prime sample of Macedonski's \"ornamental\" genre). With Între cotețe, Dramă banală and later Cometa lui Odorescu (\"Odorescu's Comet\"), Macedonski speaks about his own biography.",
"With Între cotețe, Dramă banală and later Cometa lui Odorescu (\"Odorescu's Comet\"), Macedonski speaks about his own biography. The former has for a protagonist Pandele Vergea, a thirty-five-year-old man who is consumed by an avicultural obsession, who dreams of turning into a bird, and who is eventually maimed by his overcrowded fowls.",
"The former has for a protagonist Pandele Vergea, a thirty-five-year-old man who is consumed by an avicultural obsession, who dreams of turning into a bird, and who is eventually maimed by his overcrowded fowls. In contrast, Dereanu is a bohemian university student, possessed by dreams of military and political glory, and who meditates about his future in front of Heliade Rădulescu's statue or in Bucharest cafés. Also a bohemian, Odorescu announces his discovery of a comet, before being proved wrong by his aunt, an ordinary woman.",
"Also a bohemian, Odorescu announces his discovery of a comet, before being proved wrong by his aunt, an ordinary woman. Some pieces also double as memoirs: in Dramă banală, the plot revolves around Macedonski's recollection of the 1866 plebiscite. Vianu draws attention to the picturesque depiction of historic Bucharest, a contributing element in Cometa..., Casa cu nr. 10 and Între cotețe. With Unchiașul Sărăcie (also written in verse), Macedonski took Naturalist tenets into the field of drama.",
"With Unchiașul Sărăcie (also written in verse), Macedonski took Naturalist tenets into the field of drama. Frédéric Damé believed it an imitation of a play by Ernest d'Hervilly and Alfred Grévin, but, Vianu argues, the Romanian text was only loosely based on theirs: in Macedonski's adaptation, the theme became fairy tale-like, and used a speech style based on Romanian folklore.",
"Frédéric Damé believed it an imitation of a play by Ernest d'Hervilly and Alfred Grévin, but, Vianu argues, the Romanian text was only loosely based on theirs: in Macedonski's adaptation, the theme became fairy tale-like, and used a speech style based on Romanian folklore. Around the time of its completion, Macedonski was also working on a similarly loose adaptation of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, which notably had the two protagonists die in each other's arms.",
"Around the time of its completion, Macedonski was also working on a similarly loose adaptation of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, which notably had the two protagonists die in each other's arms. Another such play is 3 decemvrie (\"December 3\"), which partly retells Friedrich Ludwig Zacharias Werner's Der 24 Februar using Naturalist devices. By contrast, the homage-play Cuza-Vodă is mainly a Romantic piece, where Alexander John Cuza finds his political mission validated by legendary figures in Romanian history.",
"By contrast, the homage-play Cuza-Vodă is mainly a Romantic piece, where Alexander John Cuza finds his political mission validated by legendary figures in Romanian history. In parallel, Macedonski was using poetry to carry out his polemics. In an 1884 epigram, he reacted against Alecsandri's Fântâna Blanduziei, but, in Vianu's definition, \"his regular causticity seems to be restrained.\"",
"In an 1884 epigram, he reacted against Alecsandri's Fântâna Blanduziei, but, in Vianu's definition, \"his regular causticity seems to be restrained.\" The piece he had earlier written, presumably against Eminescu, scandalized the public by mocking the rival's mental ruin: According to Tudor Vianu, Macedonski was mostly motivated by his disappointment in Junimea, and in particular by Eminescu's response to his public persona.",
"The piece he had earlier written, presumably against Eminescu, scandalized the public by mocking the rival's mental ruin: According to Tudor Vianu, Macedonski was mostly motivated by his disappointment in Junimea, and in particular by Eminescu's response to his public persona. Vianu contends that, although Macedonski \"never was familiar with the resigned and patient attitudes\", he was \"by no means an evil man.\"",
"Vianu contends that, although Macedonski \"never was familiar with the resigned and patient attitudes\", he was \"by no means an evil man.\" On one occasion, the poet defended himself against criticism, noting that the epigram had not been specifically addressed to Eminescu, but had been labeled as such by the press, and claiming to have authored it years before its Literatorul edition. However, the later piece Viața de apoi (\"The Afterlife\") still displays resentments he harbored toward Eminescu.",
"However, the later piece Viața de apoi (\"The Afterlife\") still displays resentments he harbored toward Eminescu. By 1880–1884, particularly after the Eminescu scandal, Macedonski envisaged prioritizing French as his language of expression. According to Vianu, Macedonski had traversed \"the lowest point\" of his existence, and had been subject to \"one of the most delicate mysteries of poetic creation.\"",
"According to Vianu, Macedonski had traversed \"the lowest point\" of his existence, and had been subject to \"one of the most delicate mysteries of poetic creation.\" Among his pieces of the period is the French-language sonnet Pârle, il me dit alors (\"Speak, He Then Said to Me\"), where, Vianu notes, \"one discovers the state of mind of a poet who decides to expatriate himself.\"",
"Among his pieces of the period is the French-language sonnet Pârle, il me dit alors (\"Speak, He Then Said to Me\"), where, Vianu notes, \"one discovers the state of mind of a poet who decides to expatriate himself.\" Adoption of Symbolism According to Mihai Zamfir, at the end of his transition from the \"mimetic and egocentric\" verse to Symbolist poetry, Macedonski emerged a \"remarkable, often extraordinary\" author.",
"Adoption of Symbolism According to Mihai Zamfir, at the end of his transition from the \"mimetic and egocentric\" verse to Symbolist poetry, Macedonski emerged a \"remarkable, often extraordinary\" author. In the early 20th century, fellow poet and critic N. Davidescu described Macedonski, Ion Minulescu and other Symbolists from Wallachia as distinct from their Moldavian counterparts in both style and themes. Endorsing the theory and practice of Symbolism for much of his life, Macedonski retrospectively claimed to have been one of its first exponents.",
"Endorsing the theory and practice of Symbolism for much of his life, Macedonski retrospectively claimed to have been one of its first exponents. His version of Symbolism, critic Paul Cernat notes, clashed with that advocated by many of his contemporaries in that it rejected merit to the Decadent movement, and represented the \"decorative\" aestheticist trend of Paranassian spirit within the Romanian Symbolist current.",
"His version of Symbolism, critic Paul Cernat notes, clashed with that advocated by many of his contemporaries in that it rejected merit to the Decadent movement, and represented the \"decorative\" aestheticist trend of Paranassian spirit within the Romanian Symbolist current. Within Poezia viitorului, Macedonski invoked as his models to follow some important or secondary Symbolist and Parnassian figures: Charles Baudelaire, Joséphin Péladan, Maurice Maeterlinck, Stéphane Mallarmé and Jean Moréas.",
"Within Poezia viitorului, Macedonski invoked as his models to follow some important or secondary Symbolist and Parnassian figures: Charles Baudelaire, Joséphin Péladan, Maurice Maeterlinck, Stéphane Mallarmé and Jean Moréas. In his review of Bronzes for Mercure de France, Pierre Quillard remarked the \"irreproachable\" technique, but criticized the poet for being too indebted to both Baudelaire and Leconte de Lisle; other Symbolist figures whom Macedonski is known to have borrowed from are José María de Heredia and Iwan Gilkin.",
"In his review of Bronzes for Mercure de France, Pierre Quillard remarked the \"irreproachable\" technique, but criticized the poet for being too indebted to both Baudelaire and Leconte de Lisle; other Symbolist figures whom Macedonski is known to have borrowed from are José María de Heredia and Iwan Gilkin. While undergoing this transition, to what linguist Manuela-Delia Suciu argues is a mostly Parnassian phase, Macedonski was still referencing Naturalism, and considered it compatible with Symbolism.",
"While undergoing this transition, to what linguist Manuela-Delia Suciu argues is a mostly Parnassian phase, Macedonski was still referencing Naturalism, and considered it compatible with Symbolism. With the adoption of such tenets came a succession of Symbolist poems, where the focus is on minutely-observed objects, usually items of luxury, partly reflecting themes he had explored in the Naturalist stage. Commenting on them, Tudor Vianu argues that no such works had ever been produced in Romanian literature up until that moment.",
"Commenting on them, Tudor Vianu argues that no such works had ever been produced in Romanian literature up until that moment. In his Ospățul lui Pentaur (\"The Feast of Pentaur\"), the poet reflected on civilization itself, as reflected in inanimate opulence. The motif was also developed in descriptive prose fragments later grouped in Cartea de aur, collectively titled nuvele fără oameni (\"novellas without people\") and compared by Călinescu with the paintings of Theodor Aman.",
"The motif was also developed in descriptive prose fragments later grouped in Cartea de aur, collectively titled nuvele fără oameni (\"novellas without people\") and compared by Călinescu with the paintings of Theodor Aman. Also during that stage, Macedonski was exploring the numerous links between Symbolism, mysticism and esotericism. Earlier pieces had already come to explore macabre themes characteristic for an early branch of Symbolism.",
"Earlier pieces had already come to explore macabre themes characteristic for an early branch of Symbolism. Influenced by Maurice Rollinat, they include the somber Vaporul morții (\"The Ship of Death\") and Visul fatal (\"The Fatal Dream\").",
"Influenced by Maurice Rollinat, they include the somber Vaporul morții (\"The Ship of Death\") and Visul fatal (\"The Fatal Dream\"). Likewise, the piece titled Imnul lui Satan (\"Satan's Hymn\") was placed by critics in connection with Les Litanies de Satan (part of Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du mal), but, Vianu argues, the source of Macedonski's satanic themes may have been lodged in his own vision of the world.",
"Likewise, the piece titled Imnul lui Satan (\"Satan's Hymn\") was placed by critics in connection with Les Litanies de Satan (part of Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du mal), but, Vianu argues, the source of Macedonski's satanic themes may have been lodged in his own vision of the world. This interest also reflected in his 1893 Saul, where Cincinat Pavelescu's contribution is supposedly minimal.",
"This interest also reflected in his 1893 Saul, where Cincinat Pavelescu's contribution is supposedly minimal. Echoing satanic themes, Ernest Legouvé's dramatic version of the Medea myth (which Macedonski translated at some point in his life) and the classical work of Jean Racine, it shows the dark powers of political conflict intervening between the eponymous king and his ephebos-like protégé David, the latter of whom turns out to be the agent of spiritual revolution.",
"Echoing satanic themes, Ernest Legouvé's dramatic version of the Medea myth (which Macedonski translated at some point in his life) and the classical work of Jean Racine, it shows the dark powers of political conflict intervening between the eponymous king and his ephebos-like protégé David, the latter of whom turns out to be the agent of spiritual revolution. (\"August Night\"), outlines a monistic belief probably inspired by Rosicrucianism, stressing the unity between soul and matter and depicting Macedonski's own journey into a transcendental space.",
"(\"August Night\"), outlines a monistic belief probably inspired by Rosicrucianism, stressing the unity between soul and matter and depicting Macedonski's own journey into a transcendental space. Following the examples of Baudelaire's Les paradis artificiels, but also echoing his readings from Paul Verlaine and Théophile Gautier, Macedonski left poems dealing with narcotics and substance abuse, at least some of which reflected his personal experience with nicotine and possibly other unnamed drugs.",
"Following the examples of Baudelaire's Les paradis artificiels, but also echoing his readings from Paul Verlaine and Théophile Gautier, Macedonski left poems dealing with narcotics and substance abuse, at least some of which reflected his personal experience with nicotine and possibly other unnamed drugs. Also at that stage, Macedonski also began publishing the \"instrumentalist\" series of his Symbolist poems. This form of experimental poem was influenced by the theories of René Ghil and verified through his encounter with Remy de Gourmont's views.",
"This form of experimental poem was influenced by the theories of René Ghil and verified through his encounter with Remy de Gourmont's views. In parallel, it reaffirmed Macedonski's personal view that music and the spoken word were intimately related (a perspective notably attested by his 1906 interview with Jules Combarieu). Romanian critic Petre Răileanu theorized that such elements evidenced Macedonski's transition to \"metaliterature\". On a different level, they echoed an older influence, that of Gottfried August Bürger.",
"On a different level, they echoed an older influence, that of Gottfried August Bürger. Excelsior Despite having stated his interest in innovation, Macedonski generally displayed a more conventional style in his Excelsior volume. It included Noaptea de mai, which Vianu sees as \"one of the [vernacular's] most beautiful poems\" and as evidence of \"a clear joy, without any torment whatsoever\".",
"It included Noaptea de mai, which Vianu sees as \"one of the [vernacular's] most beautiful poems\" and as evidence of \"a clear joy, without any torment whatsoever\". A celebration of spring partly evoking folkloric themes, it was made famous by the recurring refrain, Veniți: privighetoarea cântă și liliacul e-nflorit (\"Come along: the nightingale is singing and the lilac is in blossom\").",
"A celebration of spring partly evoking folkloric themes, it was made famous by the recurring refrain, Veniți: privighetoarea cântă și liliacul e-nflorit (\"Come along: the nightingale is singing and the lilac is in blossom\"). Like Noaptea de mai, Lewki (named after and dedicated to the Snake Island), depicts intense joy, completed in this case by what Vianu calls \"the restorative touch of nature.\"",
"Like Noaptea de mai, Lewki (named after and dedicated to the Snake Island), depicts intense joy, completed in this case by what Vianu calls \"the restorative touch of nature.\" The series also returned to Levant settings and Islamic imagery, particularly in Acșam dovalar (named after the Turkish version of Witr).",
"The series also returned to Levant settings and Islamic imagery, particularly in Acșam dovalar (named after the Turkish version of Witr). Also noted within the volume is his short \"Modern Psalms\" series, including the piece Iertare (\"Forgiveness\"), which is addressed to God: Excelsior also included Noaptea de ianuarie (\"January Night\"), which encapsulates one of his best-known political statements. Anghelescu reads it as a \"meditation on disillusionment that culminates in a vitality-laden exhortation of action.\"",
"Anghelescu reads it as a \"meditation on disillusionment that culminates in a vitality-laden exhortation of action.\" Its anti-bourgeois attitude, literary historian Z. Ornea argues, was one of the meeting points between Macedonski and Junimism. In what is seen as its most acid section, the text notably reads: At the same time as being engaged in his most violent polemics, Macedonski produced meditative and serene poems, which were later judged to be among his best.",
"In what is seen as its most acid section, the text notably reads: At the same time as being engaged in his most violent polemics, Macedonski produced meditative and serene poems, which were later judged to be among his best. Noaptea de decemvrie is the synthesis of his main themes and influences, rated by commentators as his \"masterpiece\".",
"Noaptea de decemvrie is the synthesis of his main themes and influences, rated by commentators as his \"masterpiece\". Partly based on an earlier poem (Meka, named after the Arab city), it tells the story of an emir, who, left unsatisfied by the shallow and opulent life he leads in Baghdad, decides to leave on pilgrimage.",
"Partly based on an earlier poem (Meka, named after the Arab city), it tells the story of an emir, who, left unsatisfied by the shallow and opulent life he leads in Baghdad, decides to leave on pilgrimage. While critics agree that it is to be read as an allegory of Macedonski's biography, the ironic text does not make it clear whether the emir actually reaches his target, nor if the central metaphor of Mecca as a mirage means that the goal is not worth sacrificing for.",
"While critics agree that it is to be read as an allegory of Macedonski's biography, the ironic text does not make it clear whether the emir actually reaches his target, nor if the central metaphor of Mecca as a mirage means that the goal is not worth sacrificing for. While Mircea Anghelescu comments that Macedonski illustrates \"unusual tension\" by rigorously amplifying references to the color red, seen as a symbol of suffering, Călinescu notes that the sequence of lyrics has a studied \"delirious\" element, and illustrates this with the quote: Late prose works In prose, his focus shifted back to the purely descriptive, or led Alexandru Macedonski into the realm of fantasy literature.",
"While Mircea Anghelescu comments that Macedonski illustrates \"unusual tension\" by rigorously amplifying references to the color red, seen as a symbol of suffering, Călinescu notes that the sequence of lyrics has a studied \"delirious\" element, and illustrates this with the quote: Late prose works In prose, his focus shifted back to the purely descriptive, or led Alexandru Macedonski into the realm of fantasy literature. These stories, most of which were eventually collected in Cartea de aur, include memoirs of his childhood in the Amaradia region, nostalgic portrayals of the Oltenian boyar environment, idealized depictions of Cuza's reign, as well as a retrospective view on the end of Rom slavery (found in his piece Verigă țiganul, \"Verigă the Gypsy\").",
"These stories, most of which were eventually collected in Cartea de aur, include memoirs of his childhood in the Amaradia region, nostalgic portrayals of the Oltenian boyar environment, idealized depictions of Cuza's reign, as well as a retrospective view on the end of Rom slavery (found in his piece Verigă țiganul, \"Verigă the Gypsy\"). The best known among them is Pe drum de poștă, a third-person narrative and thinly disguised memoir, where the characters are an adolescent Alexandru Macedonski and his father, General Macedonski.",
"The best known among them is Pe drum de poștă, a third-person narrative and thinly disguised memoir, where the characters are an adolescent Alexandru Macedonski and his father, General Macedonski. The idyllic outlook present in such stories is one of the common meeting points between his version of Symbolism and traditionalist authors such as Barbu Ștefănescu Delavrancea.",
"The idyllic outlook present in such stories is one of the common meeting points between his version of Symbolism and traditionalist authors such as Barbu Ștefănescu Delavrancea. Vianu indicates the connection, but adds: \"Macedonski descended, through memory, in the world of the village, with the tremor of regret for the peace and plenty of the old settlements, so well polished that each person, landowner as well as peasant, lived within a framework that nature itself seemed to have granted.",
"Vianu indicates the connection, but adds: \"Macedonski descended, through memory, in the world of the village, with the tremor of regret for the peace and plenty of the old settlements, so well polished that each person, landowner as well as peasant, lived within a framework that nature itself seemed to have granted. [...] in depicting rural environments, Macedonski presents the point of view of a conservative.\"",
"[...] in depicting rural environments, Macedonski presents the point of view of a conservative.\" Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu, a fantasy novel and extended prose poem, was celebrated by Macedonski's disciple Oreste Georgescu as \"the new religion of humanity\". The volume carried the mocking dedication \"To France, this Chaldea\" (thought by Vianu to reference Péladan's views on the decay of civilization).",
"The volume carried the mocking dedication \"To France, this Chaldea\" (thought by Vianu to reference Péladan's views on the decay of civilization). It has affinities with writings by the Italian Decadent author Gabriele d'Annunzio, as well as echoes from Anatole France. The hero Thalassa, a Greek boy, works as a lighthouse-keeper on Snake Island, fantasizing about the golden age of mankind. His fate is changed by a shipwreck, during which a girl, Caliope, reaches the island's shore.",
"His fate is changed by a shipwreck, during which a girl, Caliope, reaches the island's shore. Thalassa and Caliope fall in love, but are mysteriously unable to seal their union through sexual intercourse: the boy attributes this failure to the \"curse\" of human individuality. Seeking to achieve a perfect union with his lover, he eventually kills her and drowns himself in the Black Sea.",
"Seeking to achieve a perfect union with his lover, he eventually kills her and drowns himself in the Black Sea. In her review for Mercure de France, novelist Rachilde argued: \"Very difficult to read, entirely developed in Symbolist manner [and] almost impossible to recount, obviously written in French but nevertheless obviously conceived by a Romanian (and what a spirited Romanian!).\" Rachilde believed the work to display \"the fragrance of Oriental spices [...] rose marmalade and a slice of bear meat.\"",
"Rachilde believed the work to display \"the fragrance of Oriental spices [...] rose marmalade and a slice of bear meat.\" According to Vianu, the book builds on Macedonski's earlier themes, replacing Naturalist observation with a metaphysical speculation about idealism. One other aspect of Macedonski's stylistic exploration took him to attempt recording synesthesia. His manuscript is written in ink of several colors, which, he believed, was to help readers get a full sense of its meaning.",
"His manuscript is written in ink of several colors, which, he believed, was to help readers get a full sense of its meaning. Like other synesthetic aspects of his novel, this is believed to have been inspired by the techniques of Baudelaire and Arthur Rimbaud. Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu is noted for its numerous cultural references, and especially for using a wide range of metaphors. Such aspects have been reviewed negatively by modern critics.",
"Such aspects have been reviewed negatively by modern critics. Such aspects have been reviewed negatively by modern critics. Tudor Vianu writes: \"the poet makes such waste of gemstones that we feel like saying some of them must be false\", while Călinescu, who notes that some fragments reveal \"an incomparable artist\" and \"a professional metaphorist\", notes that \"in the end, such virtuosities become a bore.\"",
"Tudor Vianu writes: \"the poet makes such waste of gemstones that we feel like saying some of them must be false\", while Călinescu, who notes that some fragments reveal \"an incomparable artist\" and \"a professional metaphorist\", notes that \"in the end, such virtuosities become a bore.\" According to Manuela-Delia Suciu, Thalassa is \"prolix\" and \"too polished\", traits believed by Zamfir to be less irritating in the Romanian version.",
"According to Manuela-Delia Suciu, Thalassa is \"prolix\" and \"too polished\", traits believed by Zamfir to be less irritating in the Romanian version. Critic Cornel Moraru found that, in the background, Thalassa, a \"great Symbolist novel\", confronts Ancient Greek and Christian mythology, but \"abuses\" the religious vocabulary. Another part of the novel's imagery is erotic, and includes an elaborate and aestheticized description of male genitalia. The four-act tragicomedy Le Fou?",
"The four-act tragicomedy Le Fou? The four-act tragicomedy Le Fou? is seen by Vianu as comparable in subject matter and depth to Enrico IV, a celebrated 1922 play by Luigi Pirandello. The plot reflects Macedonski's confrontation with his critics, and his acceptance of the fact that people saw in him an eccentric. The central figure is a banker, Dorval, who identifies himself with Napoleon Bonaparte to the point where he sees episodes in his biography as mirrors of early 19th-century battles.",
"The central figure is a banker, Dorval, who identifies himself with Napoleon Bonaparte to the point where he sees episodes in his biography as mirrors of early 19th-century battles. Unlike patients with dissociative identity disorder, Dorval does not actually imagine his life has become Napoleon's, but rather joins with him on an intellectual level. Witnesses of this disorder are divided into family, who seek to have Dorval committed, and close friends, who come to see his take on life as a manifestation of genius.",
"Witnesses of this disorder are divided into family, who seek to have Dorval committed, and close friends, who come to see his take on life as a manifestation of genius. The spectator is led to believe that the latter interpretation is the correct one. At a larger level, Vianu indicates, the play is also Macedonski's critique of capitalism, and, using Parisian argot, makes allusive references to famous people of the day.",
"At a larger level, Vianu indicates, the play is also Macedonski's critique of capitalism, and, using Parisian argot, makes allusive references to famous people of the day. Particularly during the 1890s, Macedonski was a follower of Edgar Allan Poe and of Gothic fiction in general, producing a Romanian version of Poe's Metzengerstein story, urging his own disciples to translate other such pieces, and adopting \"Gothic\" themes in his original prose.",
"Particularly during the 1890s, Macedonski was a follower of Edgar Allan Poe and of Gothic fiction in general, producing a Romanian version of Poe's Metzengerstein story, urging his own disciples to translate other such pieces, and adopting \"Gothic\" themes in his original prose. Indebted to Jules Verne and H. G. Wells, Macedonski also wrote a number of science fiction stories, including the 1913 Oceania-Pacific-Dreadnought, which depicts civilization on the verge of a crisis.",
"Indebted to Jules Verne and H. G. Wells, Macedonski also wrote a number of science fiction stories, including the 1913 Oceania-Pacific-Dreadnought, which depicts civilization on the verge of a crisis. The gigantic commercial ship is maintained by a banker's union, and designed to grant travelers access to every pleasure imaginable; this causes the working-class inhabited cities on the continent to fall into a state of neglect and permanent violence, the climax of the story occurring with the bankers' decision to destroy their creation.",
"The gigantic commercial ship is maintained by a banker's union, and designed to grant travelers access to every pleasure imaginable; this causes the working-class inhabited cities on the continent to fall into a state of neglect and permanent violence, the climax of the story occurring with the bankers' decision to destroy their creation. Oceania-Pacific-Dreadnought is noted for anticipating television, the ship being equipped with electrically-operated \"large and clear mirrors\" that display \"images from various parts of the Earth\".",
"Oceania-Pacific-Dreadnought is noted for anticipating television, the ship being equipped with electrically-operated \"large and clear mirrors\" that display \"images from various parts of the Earth\". Macedonski was by then interested in the development of cinema, and authored a silent film screenplay based on Comment on devient riche et puissant. Final transition Late in his life, Macedonski had come to reject Symbolist tenets, defining them as \"imbecilities\" designed for \"the uncultured\".",
"Final transition Late in his life, Macedonski had come to reject Symbolist tenets, defining them as \"imbecilities\" designed for \"the uncultured\". Ultima verba, the very last poems to be written by him, show him coming to terms with himself, and are treasured for their serene or intensely joyous vision of life and human accomplishment. The rondels written at this stage, known collectively as Poema rondelurilor, are one of the first instances where the technique is used locally.",
"The rondels written at this stage, known collectively as Poema rondelurilor, are one of the first instances where the technique is used locally. Like those written previously by Literatoruls Pavelescu and Alexandru Obedenaru, they are based on an earlier motif present in Macedonski's work, that of recurring refrains. Many of the pieces document the poet's final discoveries.",
"Many of the pieces document the poet's final discoveries. One of them is Rondelul crinilor (\"The Rondel of the Lilies\"), which proclaims fragrances as the source of beatitude: În crini e beția cea rară, \"In lilies one finds that exceptional drunkenness\".",
"One of them is Rondelul crinilor (\"The Rondel of the Lilies\"), which proclaims fragrances as the source of beatitude: În crini e beția cea rară, \"In lilies one finds that exceptional drunkenness\". According to Ștefan Cazimir, Rondelul orașului mic (\"The Rondel of the Small Town\") shows a \"likable wave of irony and self-irony\", and the poet himself coming to terms with \"the existence of a world who ignores him.\"",
"According to Ștefan Cazimir, Rondelul orașului mic (\"The Rondel of the Small Town\") shows a \"likable wave of irony and self-irony\", and the poet himself coming to terms with \"the existence of a world who ignores him.\" Proof of his combativeness was still to be found in Rondelul contimporanilor (\"The Rondel of the Contemporaries\"). The poet's take on life is also outlined in his final play, Moartea lui Dante.",
"The poet's take on life is also outlined in his final play, Moartea lui Dante. Călinescu writes that, by then, Macedonski was \"obsessed\" with the Divine Comedy. Macedonski identifies with his hero, Dante Aligheri, and formulates his own poetic testament while identifying World War I Romania with the medieval Republic of Florence. Tudor Vianu remarks: \"In Dante's great self-pride, Macedonski found his own.\"",
"Tudor Vianu remarks: \"In Dante's great self-pride, Macedonski found his own.\" He sees the play as the best such work to have been produced by Macedonski, whereas Călinescu deems it \"puerile\". Zamfir believes Moartea... to be a significant text in Macedonski's bibliography, \"one of the first samples of Romanian Symbolist theater\", and as such indebted mainly to Maeterlinck.",
"Zamfir believes Moartea... to be a significant text in Macedonski's bibliography, \"one of the first samples of Romanian Symbolist theater\", and as such indebted mainly to Maeterlinck. Vianu argues that the play may document the Romanian writer's late rejection of France, through the protagonist's statement: \"the French are a gentle people, but their soul is different from mine.\" A number of rondels show Macedonski's late fascination with the Far East, China and Japan.",
"A number of rondels show Macedonski's late fascination with the Far East, China and Japan. George Călinescu believes that this is to be understood as one item in a large antithesis, the other being Decadent Paris, which one rondel describes as \"hell\". The Orient, viewed as the space of serenity, is believed by Macedonski to be peopled by toy-like women and absent opium-smokers, and to be kept orderly by a stable meritocracy.",
"The Orient, viewed as the space of serenity, is believed by Macedonski to be peopled by toy-like women and absent opium-smokers, and to be kept orderly by a stable meritocracy. The Chinese-themed poem Tsing-Ly-Tsi, which Cazimir notes for its discreet, \"almost imperceptible\", humor, reads: Legacy Macedonski's school and its early impact Alexandru Macedonski repeatedly expressed the thought that, unlike his contemporaries, posterity would judge him a great poet.",
"The Chinese-themed poem Tsing-Ly-Tsi, which Cazimir notes for its discreet, \"almost imperceptible\", humor, reads: Legacy Macedonski's school and its early impact Alexandru Macedonski repeatedly expressed the thought that, unlike his contemporaries, posterity would judge him a great poet. With the exception of Mihail Dragomirescu, conservative literary critics tended to ignore Macedonski while he was alive.",
"With the exception of Mihail Dragomirescu, conservative literary critics tended to ignore Macedonski while he was alive. The first such figure was Junimeas Titu Maiorescu, who believed him to be a minor author, referring to him only a couple of times in his books and usually ridiculing him in his articles. One of these texts, the 1886 essay Poeți și critici (\"Poets and Critics\"), spoke of Macedonski as having \"vitiated\" poetry, a notion he also applied to Constantin D. Aricescu and Aron Densușianu.",
"One of these texts, the 1886 essay Poeți și critici (\"Poets and Critics\"), spoke of Macedonski as having \"vitiated\" poetry, a notion he also applied to Constantin D. Aricescu and Aron Densușianu. Especially radical pronouncements were left by the traditionalist authors Ilarie Chendi and Nicolae Iorga. Chendi wrote of Macedonski being \"the caricature of a man\", having \"a feverish mind\" and being motivated by \"the brutal instinct of revenge\".",
"Chendi wrote of Macedonski being \"the caricature of a man\", having \"a feverish mind\" and being motivated by \"the brutal instinct of revenge\". Iorga, who became better known as a historian, later retracted some of the statements he had made against the poet during the 1890s. Among the younger prominent traditionalist writers was the Transylvanian-born Lucian Blaga, who may have purposefully avoided Macedonski during his first visit to Bucharest in 1920.",
"Among the younger prominent traditionalist writers was the Transylvanian-born Lucian Blaga, who may have purposefully avoided Macedonski during his first visit to Bucharest in 1920. Although more sympathetic to the Symbolist author, both Dragomirescu and Gheorghe Adamescu tended to describe him as exclusively the product of French and Decadent literature, while Dragomirescu's disciple Ion Trivale denied all merit to Macedonski's literature.",
"Although more sympathetic to the Symbolist author, both Dragomirescu and Gheorghe Adamescu tended to describe him as exclusively the product of French and Decadent literature, while Dragomirescu's disciple Ion Trivale denied all merit to Macedonski's literature. According to Tudor Vianu, Macedonski's intellectual friends (among them Anghel Demetriescu, George Ionescu-Gion, Bonifaciu Florescu, Grigore Tocilescu and V. A. Urechia) were largely responsible for passing down \"a better and truer image of the abused poet.\"",
"According to Tudor Vianu, Macedonski's intellectual friends (among them Anghel Demetriescu, George Ionescu-Gion, Bonifaciu Florescu, Grigore Tocilescu and V. A. Urechia) were largely responsible for passing down \"a better and truer image of the abused poet.\" It was also due to Dragomirescu that Noaptea de decemvrie was included in a literature textbook for final grade high school students, which some argue is the poet's first-ever presence in the Romanian curriculum.",
"It was also due to Dragomirescu that Noaptea de decemvrie was included in a literature textbook for final grade high school students, which some argue is the poet's first-ever presence in the Romanian curriculum. According to historian Lucian Nastasă, the poet's wife Ana Rallet behaved like an \"excellent secretary\" while Macedonski was still alive, and thereafter helped sort and edit his manuscript while maintaining \"an actual cult\" for her husband.",
"According to historian Lucian Nastasă, the poet's wife Ana Rallet behaved like an \"excellent secretary\" while Macedonski was still alive, and thereafter helped sort and edit his manuscript while maintaining \"an actual cult\" for her husband. Macedonski's cosmopolitan circle was the center of a literary alternative to the prevailing conservatism and Eminescu-like traditionalism of the day, the latter tendency being grouped around Sămănătorul magazine for part of Macedonski's lifetime.",
"Macedonski's cosmopolitan circle was the center of a literary alternative to the prevailing conservatism and Eminescu-like traditionalism of the day, the latter tendency being grouped around Sămănătorul magazine for part of Macedonski's lifetime. While Macedonski himself maintained his links with Romanticism and Classicism, commentators have retrospectively recognized in him the main person who announced Romania's first wave in modernist literature. Many first-generation disciples were to part with his guidelines early on, either by radicalizing their Symbolism or by stepping out of its confines.",
"Many first-generation disciples were to part with his guidelines early on, either by radicalizing their Symbolism or by stepping out of its confines. Traian Demetrescu was one of the first to do so, focusing on his commitment to socialism—Vianu notes that the split took place \"without coldness and the heart's versatility\" on Macedonski's part. Literary researcher Lidia Bote argues that it was Petică who first illustrated mature Symbolism, emancipating himself from Macedonski's eclectic tendencies after 1902.",
"Literary researcher Lidia Bote argues that it was Petică who first illustrated mature Symbolism, emancipating himself from Macedonski's eclectic tendencies after 1902. By that time, the Symbolist authors Dimitrie Anghel and N. D. Cocea used Macedonski's fantasy prose as an inspiration for their own, and N. Davidescu was borrowing from his mystical discourse. The pictorial and joyous elements in Macedonski's poems were also serving to inspire Stamatiad, Eugeniu Ștefănescu-Est and Horia Furtună.",
"The pictorial and joyous elements in Macedonski's poems were also serving to inspire Stamatiad, Eugeniu Ștefănescu-Est and Horia Furtună. In the early stages of his career, Ion Pillat wrote pieces which echo his master's choice of exotic themes. A more discreet legacy of Macedonski's ideas was also preserved inside the conservative and traditionalist camps. Although his separation from Literatorul was drastic, and led him to rally with Junimea, Duiliu Zamfirescu built on some elements borrowed from the magazine's ideology, incorporating them into his literary vision.",
"Although his separation from Literatorul was drastic, and led him to rally with Junimea, Duiliu Zamfirescu built on some elements borrowed from the magazine's ideology, incorporating them into his literary vision. Many of Macedonski's most devoted disciples, whom he himself had encouraged, have been rated by various critics as secondary or mediocre.",
"Many of Macedonski's most devoted disciples, whom he himself had encouraged, have been rated by various critics as secondary or mediocre. This is the case of Theodor Cornel (who made his name as an art critic), Mircea Demetriade, Oreste Georgescu, Alexandru Obedenaru, Stoenescu, Stamatiad, Carol Scrob, Dumitru Karnabatt and Donar Munteanu. Another such minor author was the self-styled \"hermeticist\" Alexandru Petroff, who expanded on Macedonski's ideas about esoteric knowledge.",
"Another such minor author was the self-styled \"hermeticist\" Alexandru Petroff, who expanded on Macedonski's ideas about esoteric knowledge. Macedonski's eldest son Alexis continued to pursue a career as a painter. His son Soare followed in his footsteps, receiving acclaim from art critics of the period. Soare's short career ended in 1928, before he turned nineteen, but his works have been featured in several retrospective exhibitions, including one organized by Alexis.",
"Soare's short career ended in 1928, before he turned nineteen, but his works have been featured in several retrospective exhibitions, including one organized by Alexis. Alexis later experimented with scenic design as an assistant to French filmmaker René Clair; his later life, shrouded in mystery and intrigue, led him to a career in Fascist Italy and Francoist Spain. Another of Alexandru Macedonski's sons, Nikita, was also a poet and painter. For a while in the 1920s, he edited the literary supplement of Universul newspaper.",
"For a while in the 1920s, he edited the literary supplement of Universul newspaper. Two years after her father's death, Anna Macedonski married poet Mihail Celarianu. In addition to his polemical portrayals in works by Alecsandri, Eminescu and Caragiale, Macedonski's career was an inspiration for various authors. His image acquired mythical proportions for his followers. Like Demetrescu, many of them left memoirs on Macedonski which were published before or after his death.",
"Like Demetrescu, many of them left memoirs on Macedonski which were published before or after his death. His admirers were writing poetry about him as early as 1874, and, in 1892, Cincinat Pavelescu published a rhapsodizing portrait of Macedonski as \"the Artist\". Pavelescu, Dragoslav and Petică paid homage to the writer by leaving recollections which describe him as a devoted and considerate friend. In contrast, traditionalist poet Alexandru Vlahuță authored an 1889 sketch story in which Macedonski (referred to as Polidor) is the object of derision.",
"In contrast, traditionalist poet Alexandru Vlahuță authored an 1889 sketch story in which Macedonski (referred to as Polidor) is the object of derision. Late recognition Actual recognition of the poet as a classic came only in the interwar period. A final volume of never before published poems, Poema rondelurilor, saw print in 1927. Macedonski's work was analyzed and popularized by a new generation of critics, among them Vianu and George Călinescu.",
"Macedonski's work was analyzed and popularized by a new generation of critics, among them Vianu and George Călinescu. The post-Junimist modernist critic Eugen Lovinescu also commented favorably on Macedonski's work, but overall, Călinescu asserts, his opinions on the subject gave little insight into what he actually thought about the poet. He also recounts that Macedonski himself treated Lovinescu with disdain, and once called him \"a canary\". The emerging avant-garde, although originating from Symbolism, progressively took its distance from Literatoruls legacy.",
"The emerging avant-garde, although originating from Symbolism, progressively took its distance from Literatoruls legacy. Initially, Macedonski's contribution to experimental literature was continued within formal Symbolism by his disciples Demetriade, Iuliu Cezar Săvescu and Ion Minulescu. The latter was particularly indebted to Macedonski in matters of vision and language. In 1904, Tudor Arghezi also left behind the Literatorul circle and its tenets, eventually arriving to the fusion of modernist, traditionalist and avant-garde elements. However, he remained indebted to Macedonski's example in his descriptive prose.",
"However, he remained indebted to Macedonski's example in his descriptive prose. The 1912 Simbolul magazine, which moved between conventional Symbolism and the emerging avant-garde, also published an Imagist-inspired parody of Noaptea de mai, signed by Adrian Maniu. A co-founder of Dadaism during the late 1910s, Tristan Tzara is believed by Swedish researcher Tom Sandqvist to have been inspired more or less directly by Macedonski, and in particular by the latter's thoughts on the relation between absurdity and poetry.",
"A co-founder of Dadaism during the late 1910s, Tristan Tzara is believed by Swedish researcher Tom Sandqvist to have been inspired more or less directly by Macedonski, and in particular by the latter's thoughts on the relation between absurdity and poetry. In his debut poems, Benjamin Fondane-Barbu Fundoianu occasionally followed Macedonski, but, by 1920, stated that the Symbolist doyen merely imitated French models to the point of \"parasitism\". Several avant-garde authors returned to Macedonski's literary guidelines by the late 1920s, as they themselves grew more moderate.",
"Several avant-garde authors returned to Macedonski's literary guidelines by the late 1920s, as they themselves grew more moderate. This was the case of Maniu and Ion Vinea, both of whom published prose works in the line of Thalassa. The same work is also believed to have influenced two non-avant-garde authors, Davidescu and Mateiu Caragiale, who remained close to the tenets Symbolism.",
"The same work is also believed to have influenced two non-avant-garde authors, Davidescu and Mateiu Caragiale, who remained close to the tenets Symbolism. Mateiu was the illegitimate son of Ion Luca Caragiale, but, Vianu notes, could withstand comparisons with his father's rival: the eccentricities were complementary, although Mateiu Caragiale shied away from public affairs.",
"Mateiu was the illegitimate son of Ion Luca Caragiale, but, Vianu notes, could withstand comparisons with his father's rival: the eccentricities were complementary, although Mateiu Caragiale shied away from public affairs. In the same post-Symbolist generation, Celarianu (Macedonski's posthumous son-in-law), George Bacovia and Păstorel Teodoreanu also built on Macedonski's legacy, being later joined in this by the Bessarabian linguist Eugenio Coșeriu (who, in his early poetic career, imitated Macedonski's rondel style).",
"In the same post-Symbolist generation, Celarianu (Macedonski's posthumous son-in-law), George Bacovia and Păstorel Teodoreanu also built on Macedonski's legacy, being later joined in this by the Bessarabian linguist Eugenio Coșeriu (who, in his early poetic career, imitated Macedonski's rondel style). In the late 1920s, when their form of modern psalms inspired Albanian-Romanian poet Aleksander Stavre Drenova, Macedonski and Arghezi both made an indirect impact on Albanian literature.",
"In the late 1920s, when their form of modern psalms inspired Albanian-Romanian poet Aleksander Stavre Drenova, Macedonski and Arghezi both made an indirect impact on Albanian literature. Macedonski's status as one of Romanian literature's greats was consolidated later in the 20th century. By this time, Noaptea de decemvrie had become one of the most recognizable literary works to be taught in Romanian schools.",
"By this time, Noaptea de decemvrie had become one of the most recognizable literary works to be taught in Romanian schools. During the first years of Communist Romania, the Socialist Realist current condemned Symbolism (see Censorship in Communist Romania), but spoke favorably of Macedonski's critique of the bourgeoisie. A while after this episode, Marin Sorescu, one of the best-known modernist poets of his generation, wrote a homage-parody of the Nights cycle.",
"A while after this episode, Marin Sorescu, one of the best-known modernist poets of his generation, wrote a homage-parody of the Nights cycle. Included in the volume Singur între poeți (\"Alone among Poets\"), it is seen by critic Mircea Scarlat as Sorescu's most representative such pieces. Also then, Noaptea de decemvrie partly inspired Ștefan Augustin Doinaș' ballad Mistrețul cu colți de argint.",
"Also then, Noaptea de decemvrie partly inspired Ștefan Augustin Doinaș' ballad Mistrețul cu colți de argint. In the 1990s, Ștefan Agopian took the Nights cycle as inspiration for an erotic short story, while Pavel Șușară adapted his rondels to a modernized setting. Macedonski's prose also influenced younger writers such as Angelo Mitchievici and Anca Maria Mosora. In neighboring Moldova, Macedonski influenced the Neosymbolism of Aureliu Busuioc.",
"In neighboring Moldova, Macedonski influenced the Neosymbolism of Aureliu Busuioc. A magazine by the name of Literatorul, which claims to represent the legacy of Macedonski's publication, was founded in Romania in 1991, being edited by writers Sorescu, Fănuș Neagu and Mircea Micu. In 2006, the Romanian Academy granted posthumous membership to Alexandru Macedonski. Macedonski's poems had a sizable impact on Romania's popular culture.",
"Macedonski's poems had a sizable impact on Romania's popular culture. During communism, Noaptea de mai was the basis for a successful musical adaptation, composed by Marian Nistor and sung by Mirabela Dauer. Tudor Gheorghe, a singer-songwriter inspired by American folk revival, also used some of Macedonski's texts as lyrics to his melodies. In the 2000s, the refrain of Noaptea de mai was mixed into a manea parody by Adrian Copilul Minune.",
"In the 2000s, the refrain of Noaptea de mai was mixed into a manea parody by Adrian Copilul Minune. Portrayals, visual tributes and landmarks Although his poetic theories were largely without echoes in Romanian art, Macedonski captured the interest of several modern artists, including, early on, cartoonist Nicolae Petrescu Găină. Alongside other writers who visited Terasa Oteteleșanu, Macedonski was notably portrayed the drawings of celebrated Romanian artist Iosif Iser. He is also depicted in a 1918 lithograph by Jean Alexandru Steriadi, purportedly Steriadi's only Symbolist work.",
"He is also depicted in a 1918 lithograph by Jean Alexandru Steriadi, purportedly Steriadi's only Symbolist work. Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu inspired a series of reliefs, designed by Alexis Macedonski and hosted in his father's house in Dorobanți. During the 1910s, busts of him were completed by two sculptors, Alexandru Severin and Friedrich Storck, one of Storck's variants being hosted by the Ioan Cantacuzino collection.",
"During the 1910s, busts of him were completed by two sculptors, Alexandru Severin and Friedrich Storck, one of Storck's variants being hosted by the Ioan Cantacuzino collection. In 1919, Theodor Burcă was also inspired to complete another bust, and, during World War II, was commissioned by Mayor of Bucharest Ioan Rășcanu to build a Macedonski Monument in the Grădina Icoanei park, but this was never completed.",
"In 1919, Theodor Burcă was also inspired to complete another bust, and, during World War II, was commissioned by Mayor of Bucharest Ioan Rășcanu to build a Macedonski Monument in the Grădina Icoanei park, but this was never completed. Constantin Piliuță, a painter active in the second half of the 20th century, made Macedonski the subject of a portrait in series dedicated to Romanian cultural figures (also depicted were Nicolae Iorga, Ștefan Luchian and Vianu).",
"Constantin Piliuță, a painter active in the second half of the 20th century, made Macedonski the subject of a portrait in series dedicated to Romanian cultural figures (also depicted were Nicolae Iorga, Ștefan Luchian and Vianu). In 1975, a bust of Macedonski, the work of Constantin Foamete, was unveiled in Craiova. Of Macedonski's numerous residences, the one in Dorobanți was demolished when the Academy of Economic Studies (ASE) was expanded. A commemorative plaque was later put up near the spot.",
"A commemorative plaque was later put up near the spot. Macedonski's childhood home in Goiești passed into state property under communism, and was in turn a school, a community home and a Macedonski Museum, before falling into neglect after the Romanian Revolution of 1989. Several streets named in honor of Alexandru Macedonski, notably in Bucharest (by the ASE), Craiova, Cluj-Napoca and Timișoara.",
"Several streets named in honor of Alexandru Macedonski, notably in Bucharest (by the ASE), Craiova, Cluj-Napoca and Timișoara. Works published anthumously Prima verba (poetry, 1872) Ithalo (poem, 1878) Poezii (poetry, 1881/1882) Parizina (translation of Parisina, 1882) Iadeș!",
"Works published anthumously Prima verba (poetry, 1872) Ithalo (poem, 1878) Poezii (poetry, 1881/1882) Parizina (translation of Parisina, 1882) Iadeș! (comedy, 1882) Dramă banală (short story, 1887) Saul (with Cincinat Pavelescu; tragedy, 1893) Excelsior (poetry, 1895) Bronzes (poetry, 1897) (essay, 1898) Cartea de aur (prose, 1902) Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu (novel, 1906; 1914) Flori sacre (poetry, 1912) Zaherlina (essay, 1920) Notes References Mircea Anghelescu, chronological table, preface and critical references, in Macedonski, Poemele \"Nopților\", Editura Albatros, Bucharest, 1972, p. 7-31, 137–140.",
"(comedy, 1882) Dramă banală (short story, 1887) Saul (with Cincinat Pavelescu; tragedy, 1893) Excelsior (poetry, 1895) Bronzes (poetry, 1897) (essay, 1898) Cartea de aur (prose, 1902) Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu (novel, 1906; 1914) Flori sacre (poetry, 1912) Zaherlina (essay, 1920) Notes References Mircea Anghelescu, chronological table, preface and critical references, in Macedonski, Poemele \"Nopților\", Editura Albatros, Bucharest, 1972, p. 7-31, 137–140. Nicolae Balotă, Arte poetice ale secolului XX: ipostaze românești și străine, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1976.",
"Nicolae Balotă, Arte poetice ale secolului XX: ipostaze românești și străine, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1976. Lucian Boia, \"Germanofilii\". Elita intelectuală românească în anii Primului Război Mondial, Humanitas, Bucharest, 2010. George Călinescu, Istoria literaturii române de la origini pînă în prezent, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1986 Paul Cernat, Avangarda românească și complexul periferiei: primul val, Cartea Românească, Bucharest, 2007. Șerban Cioculescu, Caragialiana, Editura Eminescu, Bucharest, 1974.",
"Șerban Cioculescu, Caragialiana, Editura Eminescu, Bucharest, 1974. Péter Krasztev, \"From a Deadlocked Present into an Imagined Past\", in the Central European University's East Central Europe = L'Europe du Centre-Est, Vol. 26, Nr. 2/1999, p. 33-52 \"From Modernization to Modernist Literature\", in Marcel Cornis-Pope, John Neubauer (eds. ), History of the Literary Cultures of East-Central Europe, Vol. 3, John Benjamins, Amsterdam & Philadelphia, 2004, p. 332-348.",
"3, John Benjamins, Amsterdam & Philadelphia, 2004, p. 332-348. Lucian Nastasă, Intelectualii și promovarea socială (pentru o morfologie a câmpului universitar), Editura Nereamia Napocae, Cluj-Napoca, 2003; e-book version at the Romanian Academy's George Bariț Institute of History Z. Ornea, Junimea și junimismul, Vol. II, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1998. Perpessicius, Studii eminesciene, Museum of Romanian Literature, Bucharest, 2001.",
"Perpessicius, Studii eminesciene, Museum of Romanian Literature, Bucharest, 2001. Petre Răileanu, Michel Carassou, Fundoianu/Fondane et l'avant-garde, Fondation Culturelle Roumaine, Éditions Paris-Méditerranée, Bucharest & Paris, 1999. Tom Sandqvist, Dada East. The Romanians of Cabaret Voltaire, MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts & London, 2006. Manuela-Delia Suciu, \"La poésie roumaine au XIXe siècle. Alexandru Macedonski entre romantisme et symbolisme\", in Revue d'Études Françaises, Nr.",
"Alexandru Macedonski entre romantisme et symbolisme\", in Revue d'Études Françaises, Nr. 8/2003, p. 101-110 (republished by the Centre Interuniversitaire d’Études Françaises/Egyetemközi Francia Központ) Tudor Vianu, Scriitori români, Vol. I-III, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1970–1971. Mariana Vida, \"La société Tinerimea artistică de Bucarest et le symbolisme tardif entre 1902-1910\", in Revue Roumaine d'Histoire de l'Art. Série Beaux-arts, Vol.",
"Série Beaux-arts, Vol. Série Beaux-arts, Vol. XLIV, 2007, p. 55-66 External links Amidst Hen Houses (excerpts), Poésies, Thalassa (excerpt), in the Romanian Cultural Institute's Plural Magazine (various issues) Alexandru Macedonski, Museum of Romanian Literature profile 1854 births 1920 deaths 19th-century Romanian poets 20th-century Romanian poets Romanian male poets Romantic poets Neoclassical writers Symbolist poets Sonneteers Romanian fabulists Romanian epigrammatists 19th-century Romanian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Romanian dramatists and playwrights Male dramatists and playwrights 19th-century Romanian novelists 20th-century Romanian novelists Romanian male novelists Romanian writers in French 19th-century short story writers 20th-century short story writers Romanian male short story writers Romanian short story writers Realism (art movement) Symbolist novelists Romanian fantasy writers Romanian science fiction writers Romanian humorists Romanian erotica writers 19th-century essayists 20th-century essayists Romanian essayists 20th-century biographers Romanian biographers Male biographers Romanian memoirists Romanian travel writers Romanian literary critics Romanian screenwriters Male screenwriters Romanian columnists Romanian magazine editors Romanian magazine founders Romanian newspaper editors Romanian newspaper founders 19th-century translators 20th-century translators Romanian translators English–Romanian translators French–Romanian translators Greek–Romanian translators Writers from Bucharest Romanian nobility Members of the Romanian Orthodox Church Carol I National College alumni National Liberal Party (Romania) politicians Republicanism in the Kingdom of Romania Romanian civil servants Prefects of Romania Romanian inventors Romanian esotericists Romanian expatriates in France Romanian people of World War I Burials at Bellu Cemetery Members of the Romanian Academy elected posthumously 20th-century screenwriters"
] |
[
"Alexandru Macedonski",
"Late 1890s",
"How old was Macedonski during this time period?",
"I don't know.",
"What was he doing during this time?",
"By 1898, Macedonski was again facing financial difficulties, and his collaborators resorted to organizing a fundraiser in his honor.",
"At this time, had he written any literature yet?",
"Macedonski also returned with a new volume of poetry, Excelsior ("
] | C_0dd521a55de449a4b87a29d550b59837_1 | Did the new volume bring him much success? | 4 | Did Excelsior bring Alexandru Macedonski much success? | Alexandru Macedonski | Macedonski also returned with a new volume of poetry, Excelsior (consecutive editions in 1895 and 1896), and founded Liga Ortodoxa ("The Orthodox League"), a magazine noted for hosting the debut of Tudor Arghezi, later one of the most celebrated figures in Romanian literature. Macedonski commended his new protege for reaching "the summit of poetry and art" at "an age when I was still prattling verses". Liga Ortodoxa also hosted articles against Caragiale, which Macedonski signed with the pseudonym Sallustiu ("Sallustius"). The magazine was additional proof of Macedonski's return to conservatism, and largely dedicated to defending the cause of Romanian Orthodox Metropolitan Ghenadie, deposed by the Romanian Synod following a political scandal. It defended Ghenadie up until he chose to resign, and subsequently went out of print. Macedonski was shocked to note that Ghenadie had given up his own defense. In 1895, his Casa cu nr. 10 was translated into French by the Journal des Debats, whose editors reportedly found it picturesque. Two years later, Macedonski himself published French-language translations of his earlier poetry under the title Bronzes, a volume prefaced by his disciple, the critic and promoter Alexandru Bogdan-Pitesti. Although it was positively reviewed by Mercure de France magazine, Bronzes was largely unnoticed by the French audience, a fact which Tudor Vianu attributes to Bogdan-Pitesti's lack of qualification for the cultural mission Macedonski had trusted him with. By that time, his circle had come to be frequented with regularity by Bogdan-Pitesti's friend and collaborator, the celebrated painter Stefan Luchian, who was in the Symbolist and Art Nouveau stage of his career. By 1898, Macedonski was again facing financial difficulties, and his collaborators resorted to organizing a fundraiser in his honor. His rejection of the Orthodox establishment was documented by his political tract, published that year as Falimentul clerului ortodox. Between that time and 1900, he focused on researching esoteric, occult and pseudoscientific subjects. Traian Demetrescu, who recorded his visits with Macedonski, recalled his former mentor being opposed to his positivist take on science, claiming to explain the workings of the Universe in "a different way", through "imagination", but also taking an interest in Camille Flammarion's astronomy studies. Macedonski was determined to interpret death through parapsychological means, and, in 1900, conferenced at the Atheneum on the subject Sufletul si viata viitoare ("The Soul and the Coming Life"). The focal point of his vision was that man could voluntarily stave off death with words and gestures, a concept he elaborated upon in his later articles. In one such piece, Macedonski argued: "man has the power [...] to compact the energy currents known as thoughts to the point where he changes them, according to his own will, into objects or soul-bearing creatures." He also attempted to build a machine for extinguishing chimney fires. Later, Nikita Macedonski registered the invention of nacre-treated paper, which is sometimes attributed to his father. CANNOTANSWER | later one of the most celebrated figures in Romanian literature. | Alexandru Macedonski (; also rendered as Al. A. Macedonski, Macedonschi or Macedonsky; 14 March 1854 – 24 November 1920) was a Romanian poet, novelist, dramatist and literary critic, known especially for having promoted French Symbolism in his native country, and for leading the Romanian Symbolist movement during its early decades. A forerunner of local modernist literature, he is the first local author to have used free verse, and claimed by some to have been the first in modern European literature. Within the framework of Romanian literature, Macedonski is seen by critics as second only to national poet Mihai Eminescu; as leader of a cosmopolitan and aestheticist trend formed around his Literatorul journal, he was diametrically opposed to the inward-looking traditionalism of Eminescu and his school.
Debuting as a Neoromantic in the Wallachian tradition, Macedonski went through the Realist-Naturalist stage deemed "social poetry", while progressively adapting his style to Symbolism and Parnassianism, and repeatedly but unsuccessfully attempting to impose himself in the Francophone world. Despite having theorized "instrumentalism", which reacted against the traditional guidelines of poetry, he maintained a lifelong connection with Neoclassicism and its ideal of purity. Macedonski's quest for excellence found its foremost expression in his recurring motif of life as a pilgrimage to Mecca, notably used in his critically acclaimed Nights cycle. The stylistic stages of his career are reflected in the collections Prima verba, Poezii, and Excelsior, as well as in the fantasy novel Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu. In old age, he became the author of rondels, noted for their detached and serene vision of life, in contrast with his earlier combativeness.
In parallel to his literary career, Macedonski was a civil servant, notably serving as prefect in the Budjak and Northern Dobruja during the late 1870s. As journalist and militant, his allegiance fluctuated between the liberal current and conservatism, becoming involved in polemics and controversies of the day. Of the long series of publications he founded, Literatorul was the most influential, notably hosting his early conflicts with the Junimea literary society. These targeted Vasile Alecsandri and especially Eminescu, their context and tone becoming the cause of a major rift between Macedonski and his public. This situation repeated itself in later years, when Macedonski and his Forța Morală magazine began campaigning against the Junimist dramatist Ion Luca Caragiale, whom they falsely accused of plagiarism. During World War I, the poet aggravated his critics by supporting the Central Powers against Romania's alliance with the Entente side. His biography was also marked by an enduring interest in esotericism, numerous attempts to become recognized as an inventor, and an enthusiasm for cycling.
The scion of a political and aristocratic family, the poet was the son of General Alexandru Macedonski, who served as Defense Minister, and the grandson of 1821 rebel Dimitrie Macedonski. Both his son Alexis and grandson Soare were known painters.
Biography
Early life and family
The poet's paternal family had arrived in Wallachia during the early 19th century. Of South Slav (Serb or Bulgarian) or Aromanian origin, they claimed to have descended from Serb insurgents in Ottoman-ruled Macedonia. Alexandru's grandfather Dimitrie and Dimitrie's brother Pavel participated in the 1821 uprising against the Phanariote administration, and in alliance with the Filiki Eteria; Dimitrie made the object of controversy when, during the final stage of the revolt, he sided with the Eteria in its confrontation with Wallachian leader Tudor Vladimirescu, taking an active part in the latter's killing. Both Macedonski brothers had careers in the Wallachian military forces, at a time when the country was governed by Imperial Russian envoys, when the Regulamentul Organic regime recognized the family as belonging to Wallachia's nobility. Dimitrie married Zoe, the daughter an ethnic Russian or Polish officer; their son, the Russian-educated Alexandru, climbed in the military and political hierarchy, joining the unified Land Forces after his political ally, Alexander John Cuza, was elected Domnitor and the two Danubian Principalities became united Romania. Both the officer's uncle Pavel and brother Mihail were amateur poets.
Macedonski's mother, Maria Fisența (also Vicenț or Vicența), was from an aristocratic environment, being the scion of Oltenian boyars. Through her father, she may have descended from Russian immigrants who had been absorbed into Oltenia's nobility. Maria had been adopted by the boyar Dumitrache Pârâianu, and the couple had inherited the Adâncata and Pometești estates in Goiești, on the Amaradia Valley.
Both the poet and his father were dissatisfied with accounts of their lineage, contradicting them with an account that researchers have come to consider spurious. Although adherents of the Romanian Orthodox Church, the Macedonskis traced their origin to Rogala-bearing Lithuanian nobility from the defunct Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. While the writer perpetuated his father's claim, it is possible that he also took pride in investigating his Balkan roots: according to literary historian Tudor Vianu, who, as a youth, was a member of his circle, this tendency is attested by two of Macedonski's poems from the 1880s, where the South Slavs appear as icons of freedom. Vianu's contemporary, literary historian George Călinescu, postulated that, although the family had been absorbed into the ethnic and cultural majority, the poet's origin served to enrich local culture by linking it to a "Thracian" tradition and the spirit of "adventurers".
The family moved often, following General Macedonski's postings. Born in Bucharest, Macedonski-son was the third of four siblings, the oldest of whom was a daughter, Caterina. Before the age of six, he was a sickly and nervous child, who is reported to have had regular tantrums. In 1862, his father sent him to school in Oltenia, and he spent most time in the Amaradia region. The nostalgia he felt for the landscape later made him consider writing an Amărăzene ("Amaradians") cycle, of which only one poem was ever completed. He was attending the Carol I High School in Craiova and, according to his official record, graduated in 1867.
Macedonski's father had by then become known as an authoritarian commander, and, during his time in Târgu Ocna, faced a mutiny which only his wife could stop by pleading with the soldiers (an episode which made an impression on the future poet). A stern parent, he took an active part in educating his children. Having briefly served as Defense Minister, the general was mysteriously dismissed by Cuza in 1863, and his pension became the topic of a political scandal. It ended only under the rule of Carol I, Cuza's Hohenzollern successor, when Parliament voted against increasing the sum to the level demanded by its recipient. Having preserved a negative impression of the 1866 plebiscite, during which Cuza's dethronement had been confirmed, Macedonski remained a committed opponent of the new ruler. As a youth and adult, he sought to revive his father's cause, and included allusions to the perceived injustice in at least one poem. After spending the last months of his life protesting against the authorities, Macedonski-father fell ill and died in September 1869, leaving his family to speculate that he had been murdered by political rivals.
Debut years
Macedonski left Romania in 1870, traveling through Austria-Hungary and spending time in Vienna, before visiting Switzerland and possibly other countries; according to one account, it was here that he may have first met (and disliked) his rival poet Mihai Eminescu, at a time a Viennese student. Macedonski's visit was meant to be preparation for entering the University of Bucharest, but he spent much of his time in the bohemian environment, seeking entertainment and engaging in romantic escapades. He was however opposed to the lifestyle choices of people his age, claiming that they were engaged in "orgy after orgy". At around that date, the young author had begun to perfect a style heavily influenced by Romanticism, and in particular by his Wallachian predecessors Dimitrie Bolintineanu and Ion Heliade Rădulescu. He was for a while in Styria, at Bad Gleichenberg, a stay which, George Călinescu believes, may have been the result of a medical recommendation to help him counter excessive nervousness. The landscape there inspired him to write an ode. Also in 1870, he published his first lyrics in George Bariț's Transylvanian-based journal Telegraful Român.
The following year, he left for Italy, where he visited Pisa, Florence, Venice, and possibly other cities. His records of the journey indicate that he was faced with financial difficulties and plagued by disease. Macedonski also claimed to have attended college lectures in these cities, and to have spent significant time studying at Pisa University, but this remains uncertain. He eventually returned to Bucharest, where he entered the Faculty of Letters (which he never attended regularly). According to Călinescu, Macedonski "did not feel the need" to attend classes, because "such a young man will expect society to render upon him its homages." He was again in Italy during spring 1872, soon after publishing his debut volume Prima verba (Latin for "First Word"). Having also written an anti-Carol piece, published in Telegraful Român during 1873, Macedonski reportedly feared political reprisals, and decided to make another visit to Styria and Italy while his case was being assessed. It was in Italy that he met French musicologist Jules Combarieu, with whom he corresponded sporadically over the following decades.
During that period, Macedonski became interested in the political scene and political journalism, first as a sympathizer of the liberal-radical current—which, in 1875, organized itself around the National Liberal Party. In 1874, back in Craiova, Macedonski founded a short-lived literary society known as Junimea, a title which purposefully or unwittingly copied that of the influential conservative association with whom he would later quarrel. It was then that he met journalist and pedagogue Ștefan Velescu, a meeting witnessed by Velescu's pupil, the future liberal journalist Constantin Bacalbașa, who recorded it in his memoirs. Oltul magazine, which he had helped establish and which displayed a liberal agenda, continued to be published until July 1875, and featured Macedonski's translations from Pierre-Jean de Béranger, Hector de Charlieu and Alphonse de Lamartine, as well as his debut in travel writing and short story. At age 22, he worked on his first play, a comedy titled Gemenii ("The Twins"). In 1874 that he came to the attention of young journalist future dramatist Ion Luca Caragiale, who satirized him in articles for the magazine Ghimpele, ridiculing his claim to Lithuanian descent, and eventually turning him into the character Aamsky, whose fictional career ends with his death from exhaustion caused by contributing to "for the country's political development". This was the first episode in a consuming polemic between the two figures. Reflecting back on this period in 1892, Macedonski described Caragiale as a "noisy young man" of "sophistic reasoning", whose target audience was to be found in "beer gardens".
1875 trial and office as prefect
In March 1875, Macedonski was arrested on charges of defamation or sedition. For almost a year before, he and Oltul had taken an active part in the campaign against Conservative Party and its leader, Premier Lascăr Catargiu. In this context, he had demanded that the common man "rise up with weapons in their hands and break both the government agents and the government", following up with similar messages aimed at the Domnitor. He was taken to Bucharest's Văcărești prison and confined there for almost three months. Supported by the liberal press and defended by the most prestigious pro-liberal attorneys (Nicolae Fleva among them), Macedonski faced a jury trial on 7 June, being eventually cleared of the charges. Reportedly, the Bucharest populace organized a spontaneous celebration of the verdict.
In 1875, after the National Liberal Ion Emanuel Florescu was assigned the post of Premier by Carol, Macedonski embarked on an administrative career. The poet was upset by not being included on the National Liberal list for the 1875 suffrage. This disenchantment led him into a brief conflict with the young liberal figure Bonifaciu Florescu, only to join him soon afterward in editing Stindardul journal, alongside Pantazi Ghica and George Fălcoianu. The publication followed the line of Nicolae Moret Blaremberg, made notorious for his radical and republican agenda. Ghica and Macedonski remained close friends until Ghica's 1882 death.
The new cabinet eventually appointed him Prefect of Bolgrad region, in the Budjak (at the time part of Romania). In parallel, he published his first translation, a version of Parisina, an 1816 epic poem by Lord Byron, and completed the original works Ithalo and Calul arabului ("The Arab's Horse"). He also spoke at the Romanian Atheneum, presenting his views on the state of Romanian literature (1878). His time in office ended upon the outbreak of the Russo-Turkish War. At the time, Russian volunteers were amassed on the Budjak border, requesting from the Romanian authorities the right of free passage into the Principality of Serbia. The National Liberal Premier Ion Brătianu, who was negotiating an anti-Ottoman alliance, sent Macedonski signals to let them pass, but the prefect, obeying the official recommendation of Internal Affairs Minister George D. Vernescu, decided against it, and was consequently stripped of his office.
Still determined to pursue a career in the press, Macedonski founded a string of unsuccessful magazines with patriotic content and titles such as Vestea ("The Announcement"), Dunărea ("The Danube"), Fulgerul ("The Lightning") and, after 1880, Tarara (an onomatopoeia equivalent to "Toodoodoo"). Their history is connected with that of the Russo-Turkish War, at the end of which Romanian participation on the Russian side resulted in her independence. Macedonski remained committed to the anti-Ottoman cause, and, some thirty years later, stated: "We want no Turkey in Europe!"
By 1879, the poet, who continued to voice criticism of Carol, had several times switched sides between the National Liberals and the opposition Conservatives. That year, while the Budjak was ceded to Russia and Northern Dobruja was integrated into Romania, the Brătianu cabinet appointed him administrator of the Sulina plasă and the Danube Delta. He had previously refused to be made comptroller in Putna County, believing such an appointment to be beneath his capacity, and had lost a National Liberal appointment in Silistra when Southern Dobruja was granted to the Principality of Bulgaria. During this short interval in office, he traveled to the Snake Island in the Black Sea—his appreciation for the place later motivated him to write the fantasy novel Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu and the poem Lewki.
Early Literatorul years
With the 1880s came a turning point in Alexandru Macedonski's career. Vianu notes that changes took place in the poet's relationship with his public: "Society recognizes in him the nonconformist. [...] The man becomes singular; people start talking about his oddities." Macedonski's presumed frustration at being perceived in this way, Vianu notes, may have led him closer to the idea of poète maudit, theorized earlier by Paul Verlaine. In this context, he had set his sight on promoting "social poetry", the merger between lyricism and political militantism. Meanwhile, according to Călinescu, his attacks on the liberals and the "daft insults he aimed at [Romania's] throne" had effectively ruined his own chance of political advancement.
In January 1880, he launched his most influential and long-lived publication, Literatorul, which was also the focal point of his eclectic cultural circle, and, in later years, of the local Symbolist school. In its first version, the magazine was co-edited by Macedonski, Bonifaciu Florescu and poet Th. M. Stoenescu. Florescu parted with the group soon after, due to a disagreement with Macedonski, and was later attacked by the latter for allegedly accumulating academic posts. Literatorul aimed to irritate Junimist sensibilities from its first issue, when it stated its dislike for "political prejudice in literature." This was most likely an allusion to the views of Junimist figure Titu Maiorescu, being later accompanied by explicit attacks on him and his followers. An early success for the new journal was the warm reception it received from Vasile Alecsandri, a Romantic poet and occasional Junimist whom Macedonski idolized at the time, and the collaboration of popular memoirist Gheorghe Sion. Another such figure was the intellectual V. A. Urechia, whom Macedonski made president of the Literatorul Society. In 1881, Education Minister Urechia granted Macedonski the Bene-Merenti medal 1st class, although, Călinescu stresses, the poet had only totaled 18 months of public service. At around that time, Macedonski had allegedly begun courting actress Aristizza Romanescu, who rejected his advances, leaving him unenthusiastic about love matters and unwilling to seek female company.
In parallel, Macedonski used the magazine to publicize his disagreement with the main Junimist voice, Convorbiri Literare. Among the group of contributors, several had already been victims of Maiorescu's irony: Sion, Urechia, Pantazi Ghica and Petru Grădișteanu. While welcoming the debut of its contributor, Parnassian-Neoclassicist novelist and poet Duiliu Zamfirescu, Macedonski repeatedly attacked its main exponent, the conservative poet Eminescu, claiming not to understand his poetry. However, Literatorul was also open to contributions from some Convorbiri Literare affiliates (Zamfirescu, Matilda Cugler-Poni and Veronica Micle).
In November 1880, Macedonski's plays Iadeș! ("Wishbone!", a comedy first printed in 1882) and Unchiașul Sărăcie ("Old Man Poverty") premiered at the National Theater Bucharest. A sign of government approval, this was followed by Macedonski's appointment to a minor administrative office, as Historical Monuments Inspector. Nevertheless, both plays failed to impose themselves on public perception, and were withdrawn from the program by 1888. Călinescu asserts that, although Macedonski later claimed to have always been facing poverty, his job in the administration, coupled with other sources of revenue, ensured him a comfortable existence.
In 1881, Macedonski published a new collection of poetry. Titled Poezii, it carries the year "1882" on its original cover. Again moving away from liberalism, Macedonski sought to make himself accepted by Junimea and Maiorescu. He consequently attended the Junimea sessions, and gave a public reading of Noaptea de noiembrie ("November Night"), the first publicized piece in his lifelong Nights cycle. It reportedly earned him the praise of historian and poet Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu, who, although an anti-Junimist, happened to be in the audience. Despite rumors according to which he had applauded Macedonski, Maiorescu himself was not impressed, and left an unenthusiastic account of the event in his private diary.
Against Alecsandri and Eminescu
Macedonski's open conflict with Junimea began in 1882, when he engaged in a publicized polemic with Alecsandri. It was ignited when, through Macedonski's articles, Literatorul criticized Alecsandri for accepting Romanian Academy prizes despite being its member, and later involved Sion (whose replies on behalf of the Academy were derided by Macedonski). Macedonski also took distance from Alecsandri's style, publishing a "critical analysis" of his poetry in one issue of Literatorul. In turn, Alecsandri humiliated his young rival by portraying him as Zoilus, the prototype of slanderers, and himself as the model poet Horace in the 1883 play Fântâna Blanduziei. The two were eventually reconciled, and Macedonski again spoke of Alecsandri as his ideological and stylistic predecessor.
In April 1882, Eminescu had also replied to Macedonski in Timpul journal, referring to an unnamed poet who "barely finishes high-school, comes over to Bucharest selling nick-nacks and makeup [and goes into] literary dealership". Reproaching Macedonski's attacks on Alecsandri, Eminescu makes a nationalist comment about the young poet bearing "the bastard instincts of those foreigners who were Romanianized only yesterday", and attributes him "the physiognomy of a hairdresser". Through the articles of Petru Th. Missir, Convorbiri Literare gave Poezii a negative review, deemed "malevolent" by literary historian Mircea Anghelescu. At the other end of the political and cultural spectrum, Macedonski faced opposition from the intellectuals attracted to socialism, in particular Contemporanul editors Constantin Mille and Ioan Nădejde, with whom he was engaged in an extended polemic.
In the meantime, Macedonski published his own play, which had Cuza for its main character and was eponymously titled Cuza-Vodă, and completed translations for Literatorul—from Maurice Rollinat, whom he helped impose as a main cultural reference in Romanian Symbolism, and from the Greek poet Akhillefs Paraskhos. In 1883, he also contributed his first sketch story, Casa cu nr. 10 ("The House at Number 10"). In early 1883, he married Ana Rallet-Slătineanu. Wealthy and supposedly related to Romanian aristocrats, she would bear him five children in all: the painter Alexis was the eldest, followed by Nikita; the three youngest were two sons (Panel and Constantin Macedonski) and a daughter, Anna (also known as Nina). His heterosexual lifestyle notwithstanding, Macedonski remained a self-avowed admirer of male beauties, and was rumored to be a closeted homosexual.
In July 1883, Macedonski undertook one of his most controversial anti-Junimist actions. That month, Literatorul published an epigram signed with the pseudonym Duna, deriding an unnamed author who had lost his mind. Mihai Eminescu—whom many had already come to see as Romania's national poet—had by then developed a mental disorder which had become known to the general public. Ever since that moment, Macedonski has generally been believed to be Duna, and as a result, was faced with much criticism from both readers and commentators. The intense anti-Literatorul press campaign was initiated in August, when writer Grigore Ventura issued an article condemning Macedonski's attitude (published in the Bucharest-based newspaper L'Indépendance Roumaine), with Macedonski responding in the National Liberal organ Românul. During one evening, Macedonski is reported to have been assaulted by anonymous supporters of Eminescu. His previous conflict with Nădejde was also affected by this renewed controversy: while opposed to Junimist policies, the socialists at Contemporanul voiced their admiration for Eminescu's art.
Late in 1883, Macedonski and his friends unveiled Ion Georgescu's statue of their mentor Bolintineanu in the National Theater lobby. The circumstances in which this took place rose suspicion of foul play; on this grounds, Macedonski was ridiculed by his former friend Zamfirescu in the journal România Liberă, which left him embittered. Călinescu proposes that, although such negative reactions were invoked by Macedonski's supporters as a sign of their mentor having been marginalized, Macedonski had expressed his dissatisfaction with the cultural environment long before that moment, and was still a respected figure even after the incidents took place.
First Paris sojourn and Poezia viitorului
Having been stripped of his administrative office by the new Brătianu cabinet, Macedonski faced financial difficulties, and was forced to move into a house on the outskirts of Bucharest, and later moved between houses in northern Bucharest. According to Călinescu, the poet continued to cultivate luxury and passionately invested in the decorative arts, although his source of income, other than the supposed assistance "of [European] ruling houses", remains a mystery. Arguing that Macedonski was "always in need of money" to use on his luxury items, poet Victor Eftimiu claimed: "He did not shy away from sending emphatic notes to the potentates of his day [...], flattering some, threatening others. He would marry off or simply mate some of his disciples with aging and rich women, and then he would squeeze out their assets."
Macedonski eventually left Romania in 1884, visiting Paris. On his way there, he passed through Craiova, where he met aspiring author Traian Demetrescu, whose works he had already hosted in Literatorul and who was to become his friend and protégé. Demetrescu later recalled being gripped by "tremors of emotion" upon first catching sight of Macedonski. In France, Macedonski set up contacts within the French literary environment, and began contributing to French or Francophone literary publications—including the Belgian Symbolist platforms La Wallonie and L'Élan littéraire. His collaboration with La Wallonie alongside Albert Mockel, Tudor Vianu believes, makes Alexandru Macedonski one in the original wave of European Symbolists. This adaptation to Symbolism also drew on his marked Francophilia, which in turn complemented his tendencies toward cosmopolitanism. He became opposed to Carol I, who, in 1881, had been granted the Crown of the Romanian Kingdom. In addition to his admiration for Cuza and the 1848 Wallachian revolutionaries, the poet objected to the King's sympathy for France's main rival, the German Empire. In January 1885, after having returned from the voyage, he announced his retirement from public life, claiming that German influence and its exponents at Junimea had "conquered" Romanian culture, and repeating his claim that Eminescu lacked value.
In the meantime, Literatorul went out of print, although new series were still published at irregular intervals until 1904 (when it ceased being published altogether). The magazine was reportedly hated by the public, causing Macedonski, Stoenescu, Florescu, Urechia and educator Anghel Demetriescu to try to revive it as Revista Literară ("The Literary Review", published for a few months in 1885). The poet attempted to establish other magazines, all of them short-lived, and, in 1887, handed for print his Naturalist novella Dramă banală ("Banal Drama") while completing one of the most revered episodes in the Nights series, Noaptea de mai ("May Night"). Also in 1886, he worked on his other Naturalist novellas: Zi de august ("August Day"), Pe drum de poștă ("On the Stagecoach Trail"), Din carnetul unui dezertor ("From the Notebook of a Deserter"), Între cotețe ("Amidst Hen Houses") and the eponymous Nicu Dereanu.
By 1888, he was again sympathetic toward Blaremberg, whose dissident National Liberal faction had formed an alliance with the Conservatives, editing Stindardul Țărei (later Straja Țărei) as his supporting journal. However, late in the same year, he returned to the liberal mainstream, being assigned a weekly column in Românul newspaper. Two years later, he attempted to relaunch Literatorul under the leadership of liberal figure Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu, but the latter eventually settled for founding his own Revista Nouă. Around 1891, he saluted Junimeas own break with the Conservatives and its entry into politics at the Conservative-Constitutional Party, before offering an enthusiastic welcome to the 1892 Junimist agitation among university students. In 1894, he would speak in front of student crowds gathered at a political rally in University Square, and soon after made himself known for supporting the cause of ethnic Romanians and other underrepresented groups of Austria-Hungary.
His literary thesis of the time was titled Poezia viitorului ("The Poetry of the Future"). It upheld Symbolist authors as the models to follow, while Macedonski personally began producing what he referred to as "instrumentalist" poems, composed around musical and onomatopoeic elements, and showing a preference for internal rhymes. Such an experimental approach was soon after parodied and ridiculed by Ion Luca Caragiale, who had by then affiliated and parted with Junimea, in his new Moftul Român magazine. The poet sought to reconcile with his rival, publicizing a claim that Caragiale was being unjustly ignored by the cultural establishment, but this attempt failed to mend relations between them, and the conflict escalated further.
While, in 1893, Literatorul hosted fragments of Thalassa in its Romanian-language version, the author also launched a daily, Lumina ("The Light"). It was also at that stage that Alexandru Macedonski associated with Cincinat Pavelescu, the noted epigrammarian, who joined him in editing Literatorul, and with whom he co-authored the 1893 verse tragedy depicting the Biblical hero Saul, and named after him. Although showcased by the National Theater with star actor Constantin Nottara in the title role, it failed to register success with the public. Two years later, the two Literatorul editors made headlines as pioneers of cycling. An enthusiastic promoter of the sport, Macedonski joined fellow poet Constantin Cantilli on a marathon, pedaling from Bucharest across the border into Austria-Hungary, all the way down to Brașov.
Late 1890s
Macedonski also returned with a new volume of poetry, Excelsior (consecutive editions in 1895 and 1896), and founded Liga Ortodoxă ("The Orthodox League"), a magazine noted for hosting the debut of Tudor Arghezi, later one of the most celebrated figures in Romanian literature. Macedonski commended his new protégé for reaching "the summit of poetry and art" at "an age when I was still prattling verses". Liga Ortodoxă also hosted articles against Caragiale, which Macedonski signed with the pseudonym Sallustiu ("Sallustius"). The magazine was additional proof of Macedonski's return to conservatism, and largely dedicated to defending the cause of Romanian Orthodox Metropolitan Ghenadie, deposed by the Romanian Synod following a political scandal. It defended Ghenadie up until he chose to resign, and subsequently went out of print. Macedonski was shocked to note that Ghenadie had given up his own defense.
In 1895, his Casa cu nr. 10 was translated into French by the Journal des Débats, whose editors reportedly found it picturesque. Two years later, Macedonski himself published French-language translations of his earlier poetry under the title Bronzes, a volume prefaced by his disciple, the critic and promoter Alexandru Bogdan-Pitești. Although it was positively reviewed by Mercure de France magazine, Bronzes was largely unnoticed by the French audience, a fact which Tudor Vianu attributes to Bogdan-Pitești's lack of qualification for the cultural mission Macedonski had trusted him with. By that time, his circle had come to be frequented with regularity by Bogdan-Pitești's friend and collaborator, the celebrated painter Ștefan Luchian, who was in the Symbolist and Art Nouveau stage of his career.
By 1898, Macedonski was again facing financial difficulties, and his collaborators resorted to organizing a fundraiser in his honor. His rejection of the Orthodox establishment was documented by his political tract, published that year as . Between that time and 1900, he focused on researching esoteric, occult and pseudoscientific subjects. Traian Demetrescu, who recorded his visits with Macedonski, recalled his former mentor being opposed to his positivist take on science, claiming to explain the workings of the Universe in "a different way", through "imagination", but also taking an interest in Camille Flammarion's astronomy studies. Macedonski was determined to interpret death through parapsychological means, and, in 1900, conferenced at the Atheneum on the subject Sufletul și viața viitoare ("The Soul and the Coming Life"). The focal point of his vision was that man could voluntarily stave off death with words and gestures, a concept he elaborated upon in his later articles. In one such piece, Macedonski argued: "man has the power [...] to compact the energy currents known as thoughts to the point where he changes them, according to his own will, into objects or soul-bearing creatures." He also attempted to build a machine for extinguishing chimney fires. Later, Nikita Macedonski registered the invention of nacre-treated paper, which is sometimes attributed to his father.
Caion scandal and expatriation
The few issues of Literatorul that were printed in 1899-1900 saw the circle being joined by the young Symbolist poet Ștefan Petică. In 1902, he published Cartea de aur ("The Golden Book"), comprising his sketch stories and novellas. In parallel, Macedonski returned to the public scene, founding Forța Morală magazine. It was through this venue that he began responding to Ion Luca Caragiale's earlier attacks. This he did by hosting the articles of aspiring journalist Constantin Al. Ionescu-Caion, who accused Caragiale of having plagiarized a Hungarian author by the name of Kemény in his tragedy play Năpasta. Kemény turned out to be non-existent. According to Vianu, Macedonski had no prior knowledge of the fraud, but had also been "blinded" by his resentments instead of displaying "discernment", and had even showed evidence of "insanity". Most in Macedonski's own series of anti-Caragiale articles were unsigned, or signed with pseudonyms such as Luciliu ("Gaius Lucilius").
Like in the case of Eminescu's conflict with Macedonski, the polemic enlisted a negative response from the public. The poet's associate Th. M. Stoenescu convinced himself that Caragiale was being framed, and refused to allow Revista Literară to be used for endorsing Caion, which caused Macedonski to shun him. Macedonski refused to withdraw his support for the cause even after Caragiale sued Caion, but Forța Morală soon went out of print. Before it did so, the journal hosted some of Macedonski's most renowned poems, including Lewki and Noaptea de decemvrie ("December Night"), together with his article on Remy de Gourmont's thoughts on poetics.
In his article of 1903, titled ("Toward Occultism. Later Orientations toward Theosophy and Social Philosophy"), the poet envisaged making his interest in esoteric subjects the basis of a new literary movement. Also that year, poet George Bacovia began attending the literary circle, and gave a reading of his celebrated Plumb poem, being welcomed by Macedonski with a flattering epigram. Macedonski's series of short-lived periodicals resumed in 1905, when he founded Le Beau Danube Bleu (French for "The Beautiful Blue Danube") and Liga Conservatoare ("The Conservative League"). He registered more success in 1906, when his Thalassa was published, as Le Calvaire de feu, by Edward Sansot's Paris-based publishing house. This followed intense self-promotion within the French literary environment, as well as advertisements in the French press. Part of this involved Macedonski sending his book to be reviewed by Émile Faguet, Jean Mounet-Sully, Joséphin Péladan, Pierre Quillard and Jean Richepin, who replied with what Vianu deems "the politeness of circumstance." The volume was nonetheless favorably reviewed by the prestigious magazines Mercure de France and Gil Blas.
Also in 1906, La Revue Musicale published his interview with Combarieu, through which the latter aimed to verify supposed connections between literary inspiration and musical sensitivity. By 1907, he was concentrating on experiments in physics, and eventually publicized his claim to have discovered that light does not travel through vacuum. He sent a paper on astronomy subjects to be reviewed by the Société Astronomique de France, of which he subsequently became a member. The same year, he drafted the plan for a world government, announcing that he had found sympathy for the cause throughout Europe. Macedonski also introduced himself to an Italophone public, when two of his sonnets were published by Poesia, the magazine of Futurist theorist Filippo Tommaso Marinetti.
Between 1910 and 1912, Macedonski was again in Paris. Seeking to withdraw himself from Romania's public life due to what he perceived as injustice, he had by then completed work on the French-language tragicomedy Le Fou? ("The Madman?"), which was only published after his death. He was actively seeking to establish his reputation in French theater, reading his new play to a circle which included Louis de Gonzague Frick and Florian-Parmentier, while, at home, newspapers reported rumors that his work was going to be staged by Sarah Bernhardt's company. His efforts were largely fruitless, and, accompanied by his son Alexis, the poet left France, spent some time in Italy, and eventually returned to Romania. Passing through the German Empire, he learned of Ion Luca Caragiale's sudden death, and wrote Adevărul daily an open letter, which showed that he had come to revise his stance, notably comparing the deceased author's style and legacy to those of Mark Twain.
During Macedonski's absence, his style and work had come to be reviewed more positively, in particular by the young authors I. Dragoslav, Horia Furtună, Ion Pillat, Anastasie Mândru, Al. T. Stamatiad, as well as by post-Junimist critic Mihail Dragomirescu, who offered Macedonski a good reception in his Convorbiri Critice magazine. Tudor Vianu, who cites contemporary statements by Dragoslav, concludes that, upon arrival, Macedonski was enthusiastically received by a public who had missed him. Also in 1912, one of his poems was published as an homage by Simbolul, a magazine published by the young and radical Symbolists Tristan Tzara, Ion Vinea and Marcel Janco. Around that time, Macedonski also collaborated with the Iași-based moderate Symbolist magazine Versuri și Proză. Polemics surrounding his case nevertheless continued: in late 1912, as part of a National Theater adaptation of Alphonse Daudet's Sapho, actor Cazimir Belcot borrowed from Macedonski's appearance and mannerisms to portray a failure.
Return and World War I years
Macedonski and his protégés had become regular frequenters of Bucharest cafés. Having a table permanently reserved for him at Imperial Hotel's Kübler Coffeehouse, he was later a presence in two other such establishments: High-Life and Terasa Oteteleșanu. He is said to have spent part of his time at Kübler loudly mocking the traditionalist poets who gathered at an opposite table. Meanwhile, the poet's literary club, set up at his house in Dorobanți quarter, had come to resemble a mystical circle, over which he held magisterial command. Vianu, who visited the poet together with Pillat, compares this atmosphere with those created by other "mystics and magi of poetry" (citing as examples Joséphin Péladan, Louis-Nicolas Ménard, Stéphane Mallarmé and Stefan George). The hall where seances were hosted was only lit by candles, and the tables were covered in red fabric. Macedonski himself was seated on a throne designed by Alexis, and adopted a dominant pose. The apparent secrecy and the initiation rites performed on new members were purportedly inspired by Rosicrucianism and the Freemasonry. By then, Macedonski was rewarding his followers' poems with false gemstones.
The poet founded Revista Critică ("The Critical Review"), which again closed after a short while, and issued the poetry volume Flori sacre ("Sacred Flowers"). Grouping his Forța Morală poems and older pieces, it was dedicated to his new generation of followers, whom Macedonski's preface referred to as "the new Romania." He continued to hope that Le Fou? was going to be staged in France, especially after he received some encouragement in the form of articles in Mercure de France and Journal des Débats, but was confronted with the general public's indifference. In 1914, Thalassa was published in a non-definitive version by Constantin Banu's magazine Flacăra, which sought to revive overall interest in his work. At a French Red Cross conference in September, Macedonski paid his final public homage to France, which had just become entangled in World War I. It was also in 1914 that Macedonski commissioned for print his very first rondels and completed work on a tragedy play about Renaissance poet Dante Aligheri—known as La Mort de Dante in its French original, and Moartea lui Dante in the secondary Romanian version (both meaning "Dante's Death"). The aging poet was by then building connections with the local art scene: together with artist Alexandru Severin, he created (and probably presided over) Cenaclul idealist ("The Idealist Club"), which included Symbolist artists and was placed under the honorary patronage of King Carol.
1916 was also the year when Romania abandoned her neutrality and, under a National Liberal government, rallied with the Entente Powers. During the neutrality period, Macedonski had shed his lifelong Francophilia to join the Germanophiles, who wanted to see Romanian participation on the Central Powers' side. In 1915, he issued the journal Cuvântul Meu ("My Word"). Entirely written by him, it published ten consecutive issues before going bankrupt, and notably lashed out against France for being "bourgeois" and "lawyer-filled", demanding from Romania not to get involved in the conflict. Commentators and researchers of his work have declared themselves puzzled by this change in allegiance.
Macedonski further alienated public opinion during the Romanian Campaign, when the Central Powers armies entered southern Romania and occupied Bucharest. Alexis was drafted and became a war artist, but Macedonski Sr, who received formal protection from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bucharest, chose to stay behind while the authorities and many ordinary citizens relocated to Iași, where resistance was still being organized. His stance was interpreted as collaborationism by his critics. However, Macedonski reportedly faced extreme poverty throughout the occupation. Having by then begun to attend the circle of Alexandru Bogdan-Pitești, his promoter and fellow Germanophile, he was once rewarded by the latter with a turkey filled with gold coins.
Late polemics, illness and death
Literatorul resumed print in June 1918, once Romania capitulated to the Central Powers under the Treaty of Bucharest. A controversial incident occurred soon afterwards, when, going against the counsel of his friend and collaborator Stamatiad, Macedonski signed a Literatorul article where the German military administrator August von Mackensen, who was about to lead his troops out of Romania, was presented in a positive light. In a manner deemed "excessive" by historian Lucian Boia, the Romanian writer was paying homage not just to Mackensen, but also, indirectly, to German Emperor Wilhelm II and the Reichsheer. Soon after reading the piece, Romanian Academy member and fellow Symbolist promoter Ovid Densusianu withdrew his own nomination of Macedonski for an Academy seat. During summer, Macedonski also joined the group of public figures who saluted the senior Conservative Germanophile Petre P. Carp (deeming Carp "the veteran of character, honesty and Romanianism"), and, in September, joined Ioan Slavici and Gala Galaction as a contributor to the occupation magazine Rumänien in Wort und Bild, where he prophesied an anti-French "political renaissance" of Romania.
Alexandru Macedonski faced problems after the Romanian government resumed its control over Bucharest, and during the early years of Greater Romania. What followed the Mackensen article, Vianu claims, was Macedonski's bellum contra omnes ("war against all"). However, the poet made efforts to accommodate himself with the triumphal return of the Iași authorities: in December 1918, Literatorul celebrated the extension of Romanian rule "from the Tisza to the Dniester" as a success of the National Liberals, paying homage to Francophile political leaders Ion I. C. Brătianu and Take Ionescu. Macedonski also envisaged running in the 1918 election for a seat in the new Parliament (which was supposed to vote a document to replace the 1866 Constitution as the organic law), but never registered his candidature. According to Vianu, he had intended to create a joke political party, the "intellectual group", whose other member was an unnamed coffeehouse acquaintance of his. Literatorul was revived for a final time in 1919.
His health deteriorated from heart disease, which is described by Vianu as an effect of constant smoking. By that stage, Vianu recalls, Macedonski also had problems coming to terms with his age. His last anthumous work was the pamphlet Zaherlina (named after the Romanian version of "Zacherlin"; also known as Zacherlina or Zacherlina în continuare, "Zacherlin Contd."), completed in 1919 and published the following year. It notably attacked Densusianu, who had become Macedonski's personal enemy. Some other polemical texts he had authored late in life saw print only after his death, under the title Mustrări postume către o generație neînțelegătoare ("Posthumous Reprimands for an Obtuse Generation").
1920 was also the year when the People's Party cabinet attempted to pension him off from his office at the Historical Monuments Commission, but the publicized protest of Macedonski's fellow writers in Bucharest made it reconsider. Confined to his home by illness and old age, Macedonski was still writing poems, some of which later known as his Ultima verba ("Last Words"). The writer died on 24 November, at three o'clock in the afternoon. Having come to develop an addiction to floral fragrances, he was inhaling a rose petal extract during his last hours. He was buried in Bucharest's Bellu.
Work
General characteristics
Although Alexandru Macedonski frequently changed his style and views on literary matters, a number of constants have been traced throughout his work. Thus, a common perception is that his literature had a strongly visual aspect, the notion being condensed in Cincinat Pavelescu's definition of Macedonski: "Poet, therefore painter; painter, therefore poet." Traian Demetrescu too recalled that his mentor had been dreaming of becoming a visual artist, and had eventually settled for turning his son Alexis into one. This pictorial approach to writing created parallels between Macedonski and his traditionalist contemporaries Vasile Alecsandri and Barbu Ștefănescu Delavrancea.
Following the tenets of Dimitrie Bolintineanu and Théophile Gautier, the writer repeatedly called for purity in versification, and upheld it as an essential requirement, while progressively seeking to verify the quality of his poetry through phonaesthetics. A characteristic of Macedonski's style is his inventive use of Romanian. Initially influenced by Ion Heliade Rădulescu's introduction of Italian-based words to the Romanian lexis, Macedonski himself later infused poetic language with a large array of neologisms from several Romance sources. Likewise, Vianu notes, Macedonski had a tendency for comparing nature with the artificial, the result of this being a "document" of his values. Macedonski's language alternated neologisms with barbarisms, many of which were coined by him personally. They include claviculat ("clavicled", applied to a shoulder), împălăriată ("enhatted", used to define a crowd of hat-wearing tourists), and ureichii (instead of urechii, "to the ear" or "of the ear"). His narratives nevertheless take an interest in recording direct speech, used as a method of characterization. However, Călinescu criticizes Macedonski for using a language which, "although grammatically correct [...], seems to have been learned only recently", as well as for not following other Romanian writers in creating a lasting poetic style.
The writer's belief in the effects of sheer willpower, notably present in his comments on esoteric subjects, was itself a defining characteristic of his perspective on literature. In 1882, he wrote about progression in one's career: "We are all poets at birth, but only those who shape themselves through study will become poets." Vianu, who notes Macedonski's "exclusivity" and "fanaticism", places such statements in connection with Macedonski's personal ambition, "pride" and "the willingness to carry out ventured actions [...], in stated opposition with the entire surrounding and with contempt for the foreseeable reaction."
Almost all periods of Macedonski's work reflect, in whole or in part, his public persona and the polemics he was involved in. George Călinescu's emits a verdict on the relation between his lifetime notoriety and the public's actual awareness of his work: "Macedonski [was] a poet well-known for being an unknown poet." According to literary critic Matei Călinescu, the innovative aspects of his impact on Romanian literature were not as much related to his "literary ideology", as much as to his "contradictory spirit" and "essential nonconformism". However, literary researcher Adrian Marino proposes that Macedonski was one of the first modern authors to illustrate the importance of "dialectic unity" through his views on art, in particular by having argued that poetry needed to be driven by "an idea". Having theorized once, while questioning Junimist rigor, that "the logic of poetry is absurdity itself [italics in the original]", the poet also said: "Poetry is the chaos of spirit and matter, of the cries of distress and mad laughter. From the sublime to the trivial, that is what it should be." He later revised part of this verdict, and, making explicit his adoption of aestheticism, spoke against trivial subjects and in favor of the sublime.
While Macedonski also discarded the concept of "social poetry" not long after postulating it, its spirit, Tudor Vianu believes, can still be found in his later contributions. This, the critic notes, was owed to his "social temperament", whose "fundamental experience is that of the social." Discussing this sociable and extrovert character, other critics see in the poet's life and work the imprint of "quixotism". Also according to Vianu, this contrasted with Macedonski's failures in communicating with the public, an experience which made him "misanthropic" and contributed to his ultimate vision of death as freedom. Literary historian Pompiliu Constantinescu concluded: "Macedonski could not resign; his one martyrdom was for Art, as the sole liberation from a tormented life." Other commentators have defined the poet's perspective on life as a result of "neurosis".
In Vianu's perspective, Macedonski's stance is dominated by a mixture of nostalgia, sensuality, lugubrious-grotesque imagery, and "the lack of bashfulness for antisocial sentiments" which compliments his sarcasm. In respect to the latter characteristic, Vianu notes "no one in Romanian literature has laughed the same way as Macedonski", whereas critic Ștefan Cazimir argues: "[Macedonski was] lacking the sense of relativity in principles, and implicitly a sense of humor." Cazimir adds: "Only when he aged did [Macedonski] learn to smile". George Călinescu himself believes Macedonski to have been "fundamentally a spiritual man with lots of humor", speculating that he was able to see the "uselessness" of his own scientific ventures.
Critics note that, while Macedonski progressed from one stage to the other, his work fluctuated between artistic accomplishment and mediocrity. Tudor Vianu believes "failure in reaching originality" and reliance on "soppy-conventional attributes of the day" to be especially evident wherever Macedonski tried to emulate epic poetry. He also notes that Macedonski's love-themed pieces "cannot be listed among [his] most fortunate". At his best, commentators note, he was one of the Romanian literature's classics. Macedonski is thus perceived as the author second only to Eminescu, and as his ideal counterpart—a relation Vianu describes as "the internal dualism [confronting] two familiar gods". Various critics have compared Eminescu's poetic discourse with that of the Symbolist leader, concluding that the two poets often display very similar attitudes. Călinescu writes that, while Macedonski's work is largely inferior to that of his Junimist rival, it forms the best "reply" ever conceived within their common setting.
Prima verba and other early works
With Ion Catina, Vasile Păun and Grigore H. Grandea, young Macedonski belonged to late Romanian Romanticism, part of a Neoromantic generation which had for its mentors Heliade Rădulescu and Bolintineanu. Other early influences were Pierre-Jean de Béranger and Gottfried August Bürger, together with Romanian folklore, motifs from them being adapted by Macedonski into pastorals and ballades of ca. 1870–1880. The imprint of Romanticism and such other sources was evident in Prima verba, which groups pieces that Macedonski authored in his early youth, the earliest of them being written when he was just twelve. Critics generally argue that the volume is without value. The poems display his rebellious attitude, self-victimization and strong reliance on autobiographical elements, centering on such episodes as the death of his father. In one piece inspired by the ideology of Heliade Rădulescu, Vianu notes, Macedonski sings "the French Revolution's love for freedom and equality, otherwise proclaimed from his nobleman's perspective." It reads:
In parallel, Macedonski used erotic themes, completing a series which, although written on the model of idylls, is noted for its brute details of sexual exploits. The poet probably acknowledged that posterity would reject them, and did not republish them in any of his collected poetry volumes.
During his time at Oltul (1873–1875), Macedonski published a series of poems, most of which were not featured in definitive editions of his work. In addition to odes written in the Italian-based version of Romanian, it includes lyrics which satirize Carol I without mentioning his name. Following his arrest, Macedonski also completed Celula mea de la Văcărești ("My Cell in Văcărești"), which shows his attempt to joke about the situation. In contrast to this series, some of the pieces written during Macedonski's time in the Budjak and Northern Dobruja display a detachment from contemporary themes. At that stage, he was especially inspired by Lord Byron, whom Vianu calls "the sovereign poet of [Macedonski's] youth." In Calul arabului, Macedonski explores exotic and Levantine settings, using symbols which announce George Coșbuc's El-Zorab, and the Venetian-themed Ithalo, which centers on episodes of betrayal and murder. Others were epic and patriotic in tone, with subjects such as Romanian victories in the Russo-Turkish War or the Imperial Roman sites along the Danube. One of these pieces, titled Hinov after the village and stone quarry in Rasova, gives Macedonski a claim to being the first modern European poet to have used free verse, ahead of the French Symbolist Gustave Kahn. Macedonski himself later voiced the claim, and referred to such a technique as "symphonic verse", "proteic verse", or, in honor of composer Richard Wagner, "Wagnerian verse".
While editing Oltul, Macedonski also completed his first prose writings. These were the travel account Pompeia și Sorento ("Pompeia and Sorento", 1874) and a prison-themed story described by Vianu as "a tearjerker", titled Câinele din Văcărești ("The Dog in Văcărești", 1875). These were later complemented by other travel works, which critic Mihai Zamfir likens to the verbal experiments of Impressionist literature, pioneering in the Romanian prose poetry genre. The short comedy Gemenii was his debut work for the stage, but, according to Vianu, failed to show any merit other than a "logical construction" and a preview into Macedonski's use of sarcasm. These writings were followed in 1876 by a concise biography of Cârjaliul, an early 19th-century hajduk. In line with his first Levant-themed poems, Macedonski authored the 1877 story Așa se fac banii ("This Is How Money Is Made", later retold in French as Comment on devient riche et puissant, "How to Become Rich and Powerful"), a fable of fatalism and the Muslim world—it dealt with two brothers, one hard-working and one indolent, the latter of whom earns his money through a series of serendipitous events. Likewise, his verse comedy Iadeș! borrowed its theme from the widely circulated collection of Persian literature known as Sindipa. The setting was however modern, and, as noted by French-born critic Frédéric Damé, the plot also borrowed much from Émile Augier's Gabrielle and from other morality plays of the period. Part of the text was an ironic treatment of youth in liberal professions, an attitude which Macedonski fitted in his emerging anti-bourgeois discourse.
With the first poems in his Nights cycle, Macedonski still showed his allegiance to Romanticism, and in particular to Alphonse de Lamartine, and the supposed inventor of this theme, Alfred de Musset. Noaptea de noiembrie opens with a violent condemnation of his adversaries, and sees Macedonski depicting his own funeral. The poem is commended by Călinescu, who notes that, in contrast to the "apparently trivial beginning", the main part, where Macedonski depicts himself in flight over the Danube, brings the Romanian writer close to the accomplishments of Dante Aligheri. The writer himself claimed that the piece evidenced "the uttermost breath of inspiration I have ever felt in my life." Another poem, Noaptea de aprilie ("April Night"), was probably his testimony of unrequited love for Aristizza Romanescu.
Realism and Naturalism
By the 1880s, Macedonski developed and applied his "social poetry" theory, as branch of Realism. Explained by the writer himself as a reaction against the legacy of Lamartine, it also signified his brief affiliation with the Naturalist current, a radical segment of the Realist movement. Traian Demetrescu thus noted that Macedonski cherished the works of French Naturalists and Realists such as Gustave Flaubert and Émile Zola. During this phase, Macedonski made known his sympathy for the disinherited, from girls forced into prostitution to convicts sentenced to penal labor on salt mines, and also spoke out against the conventionalism of civil marriages. His Ocnele ("The Salt Mines") includes the verdict:
Naturalist depiction was also the main element in his prose pieces of the early 1880s. Among them was the first of several sketch stories using still life techniques, Casa cu nr. 10 (according to Zamfir, a prime sample of Macedonski's "ornamental" genre). With Între cotețe, Dramă banală and later Cometa lui Odorescu ("Odorescu's Comet"), Macedonski speaks about his own biography. The former has for a protagonist Pandele Vergea, a thirty-five-year-old man who is consumed by an avicultural obsession, who dreams of turning into a bird, and who is eventually maimed by his overcrowded fowls. In contrast, Dereanu is a bohemian university student, possessed by dreams of military and political glory, and who meditates about his future in front of Heliade Rădulescu's statue or in Bucharest cafés. Also a bohemian, Odorescu announces his discovery of a comet, before being proved wrong by his aunt, an ordinary woman. Some pieces also double as memoirs: in Dramă banală, the plot revolves around Macedonski's recollection of the 1866 plebiscite. Vianu draws attention to the picturesque depiction of historic Bucharest, a contributing element in Cometa..., Casa cu nr. 10 and Între cotețe.
With Unchiașul Sărăcie (also written in verse), Macedonski took Naturalist tenets into the field of drama. Frédéric Damé believed it an imitation of a play by Ernest d'Hervilly and Alfred Grévin, but, Vianu argues, the Romanian text was only loosely based on theirs: in Macedonski's adaptation, the theme became fairy tale-like, and used a speech style based on Romanian folklore. Around the time of its completion, Macedonski was also working on a similarly loose adaptation of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, which notably had the two protagonists die in each other's arms. Another such play is 3 decemvrie ("December 3"), which partly retells Friedrich Ludwig Zacharias Werner's Der 24 Februar using Naturalist devices. By contrast, the homage-play Cuza-Vodă is mainly a Romantic piece, where Alexander John Cuza finds his political mission validated by legendary figures in Romanian history.
In parallel, Macedonski was using poetry to carry out his polemics. In an 1884 epigram, he reacted against Alecsandri's Fântâna Blanduziei, but, in Vianu's definition, "his regular causticity seems to be restrained." The piece he had earlier written, presumably against Eminescu, scandalized the public by mocking the rival's mental ruin:
According to Tudor Vianu, Macedonski was mostly motivated by his disappointment in Junimea, and in particular by Eminescu's response to his public persona. Vianu contends that, although Macedonski "never was familiar with the resigned and patient attitudes", he was "by no means an evil man." On one occasion, the poet defended himself against criticism, noting that the epigram had not been specifically addressed to Eminescu, but had been labeled as such by the press, and claiming to have authored it years before its Literatorul edition. However, the later piece Viața de apoi ("The Afterlife") still displays resentments he harbored toward Eminescu.
By 1880–1884, particularly after the Eminescu scandal, Macedonski envisaged prioritizing French as his language of expression. According to Vianu, Macedonski had traversed "the lowest point" of his existence, and had been subject to "one of the most delicate mysteries of poetic creation." Among his pieces of the period is the French-language sonnet Pârle, il me dit alors ("Speak, He Then Said to Me"), where, Vianu notes, "one discovers the state of mind of a poet who decides to expatriate himself."
Adoption of Symbolism
According to Mihai Zamfir, at the end of his transition from the "mimetic and egocentric" verse to Symbolist poetry, Macedonski emerged a "remarkable, often extraordinary" author. In the early 20th century, fellow poet and critic N. Davidescu described Macedonski, Ion Minulescu and other Symbolists from Wallachia as distinct from their Moldavian counterparts in both style and themes. Endorsing the theory and practice of Symbolism for much of his life, Macedonski retrospectively claimed to have been one of its first exponents. His version of Symbolism, critic Paul Cernat notes, clashed with that advocated by many of his contemporaries in that it rejected merit to the Decadent movement, and represented the "decorative" aestheticist trend of Paranassian spirit within the Romanian Symbolist current.
Within Poezia viitorului, Macedonski invoked as his models to follow some important or secondary Symbolist and Parnassian figures: Charles Baudelaire, Joséphin Péladan, Maurice Maeterlinck, Stéphane Mallarmé and Jean Moréas. In his review of Bronzes for Mercure de France, Pierre Quillard remarked the "irreproachable" technique, but criticized the poet for being too indebted to both Baudelaire and Leconte de Lisle; other Symbolist figures whom Macedonski is known to have borrowed from are José María de Heredia and Iwan Gilkin. While undergoing this transition, to what linguist Manuela-Delia Suciu argues is a mostly Parnassian phase, Macedonski was still referencing Naturalism, and considered it compatible with Symbolism.
With the adoption of such tenets came a succession of Symbolist poems, where the focus is on minutely-observed objects, usually items of luxury, partly reflecting themes he had explored in the Naturalist stage. Commenting on them, Tudor Vianu argues that no such works had ever been produced in Romanian literature up until that moment. In his Ospățul lui Pentaur ("The Feast of Pentaur"), the poet reflected on civilization itself, as reflected in inanimate opulence. The motif was also developed in descriptive prose fragments later grouped in Cartea de aur, collectively titled nuvele fără oameni ("novellas without people") and compared by Călinescu with the paintings of Theodor Aman.
Also during that stage, Macedonski was exploring the numerous links between Symbolism, mysticism and esotericism. Earlier pieces had already come to explore macabre themes characteristic for an early branch of Symbolism. Influenced by Maurice Rollinat, they include the somber Vaporul morții ("The Ship of Death") and Visul fatal ("The Fatal Dream"). Likewise, the piece titled Imnul lui Satan ("Satan's Hymn") was placed by critics in connection with Les Litanies de Satan (part of Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du mal), but, Vianu argues, the source of Macedonski's satanic themes may have been lodged in his own vision of the world. This interest also reflected in his 1893 Saul, where Cincinat Pavelescu's contribution is supposedly minimal. Echoing satanic themes, Ernest Legouvé's dramatic version of the Medea myth (which Macedonski translated at some point in his life) and the classical work of Jean Racine, it shows the dark powers of political conflict intervening between the eponymous king and his ephebos-like protégé David, the latter of whom turns out to be the agent of spiritual revolution.
("August Night"), outlines a monistic belief probably inspired by Rosicrucianism, stressing the unity between soul and matter and depicting Macedonski's own journey into a transcendental space. Following the examples of Baudelaire's Les paradis artificiels, but also echoing his readings from Paul Verlaine and Théophile Gautier, Macedonski left poems dealing with narcotics and substance abuse, at least some of which reflected his personal experience with nicotine and possibly other unnamed drugs. Also at that stage, Macedonski also began publishing the "instrumentalist" series of his Symbolist poems. This form of experimental poem was influenced by the theories of René Ghil and verified through his encounter with Remy de Gourmont's views. In parallel, it reaffirmed Macedonski's personal view that music and the spoken word were intimately related (a perspective notably attested by his 1906 interview with Jules Combarieu). Romanian critic Petre Răileanu theorized that such elements evidenced Macedonski's transition to "metaliterature". On a different level, they echoed an older influence, that of Gottfried August Bürger.
Excelsior
Despite having stated his interest in innovation, Macedonski generally displayed a more conventional style in his Excelsior volume. It included Noaptea de mai, which Vianu sees as "one of the [vernacular's] most beautiful poems" and as evidence of "a clear joy, without any torment whatsoever". A celebration of spring partly evoking folkloric themes, it was made famous by the recurring refrain, Veniți: privighetoarea cântă și liliacul e-nflorit ("Come along: the nightingale is singing and the lilac is in blossom"). Like Noaptea de mai, Lewki (named after and dedicated to the Snake Island), depicts intense joy, completed in this case by what Vianu calls "the restorative touch of nature." The series also returned to Levant settings and Islamic imagery, particularly in Acșam dovalar (named after the Turkish version of Witr). Also noted within the volume is his short "Modern Psalms" series, including the piece Iertare ("Forgiveness"), which is addressed to God:
Excelsior also included Noaptea de ianuarie ("January Night"), which encapsulates one of his best-known political statements. Anghelescu reads it as a "meditation on disillusionment that culminates in a vitality-laden exhortation of action." Its anti-bourgeois attitude, literary historian Z. Ornea argues, was one of the meeting points between Macedonski and Junimism. In what is seen as its most acid section, the text notably reads:
At the same time as being engaged in his most violent polemics, Macedonski produced meditative and serene poems, which were later judged to be among his best. Noaptea de decemvrie is the synthesis of his main themes and influences, rated by commentators as his "masterpiece". Partly based on an earlier poem (Meka, named after the Arab city), it tells the story of an emir, who, left unsatisfied by the shallow and opulent life he leads in Baghdad, decides to leave on pilgrimage. While critics agree that it is to be read as an allegory of Macedonski's biography, the ironic text does not make it clear whether the emir actually reaches his target, nor if the central metaphor of Mecca as a mirage means that the goal is not worth sacrificing for. While Mircea Anghelescu comments that Macedonski illustrates "unusual tension" by rigorously amplifying references to the color red, seen as a symbol of suffering, Călinescu notes that the sequence of lyrics has a studied "delirious" element, and illustrates this with the quote:
Late prose works
In prose, his focus shifted back to the purely descriptive, or led Alexandru Macedonski into the realm of fantasy literature. These stories, most of which were eventually collected in Cartea de aur, include memoirs of his childhood in the Amaradia region, nostalgic portrayals of the Oltenian boyar environment, idealized depictions of Cuza's reign, as well as a retrospective view on the end of Rom slavery (found in his piece Verigă țiganul, "Verigă the Gypsy"). The best known among them is Pe drum de poștă, a third-person narrative and thinly disguised memoir, where the characters are an adolescent Alexandru Macedonski and his father, General Macedonski. The idyllic outlook present in such stories is one of the common meeting points between his version of Symbolism and traditionalist authors such as Barbu Ștefănescu Delavrancea. Vianu indicates the connection, but adds: "Macedonski descended, through memory, in the world of the village, with the tremor of regret for the peace and plenty of the old settlements, so well polished that each person, landowner as well as peasant, lived within a framework that nature itself seemed to have granted. [...] in depicting rural environments, Macedonski presents the point of view of a conservative."
Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu, a fantasy novel and extended prose poem, was celebrated by Macedonski's disciple Oreste Georgescu as "the new religion of humanity". The volume carried the mocking dedication "To France, this Chaldea" (thought by Vianu to reference Péladan's views on the decay of civilization). It has affinities with writings by the Italian Decadent author Gabriele d'Annunzio, as well as echoes from Anatole France. The hero Thalassa, a Greek boy, works as a lighthouse-keeper on Snake Island, fantasizing about the golden age of mankind. His fate is changed by a shipwreck, during which a girl, Caliope, reaches the island's shore. Thalassa and Caliope fall in love, but are mysteriously unable to seal their union through sexual intercourse: the boy attributes this failure to the "curse" of human individuality. Seeking to achieve a perfect union with his lover, he eventually kills her and drowns himself in the Black Sea.
In her review for Mercure de France, novelist Rachilde argued: "Very difficult to read, entirely developed in Symbolist manner [and] almost impossible to recount, obviously written in French but nevertheless obviously conceived by a Romanian (and what a spirited Romanian!)." Rachilde believed the work to display "the fragrance of Oriental spices [...] rose marmalade and a slice of bear meat." According to Vianu, the book builds on Macedonski's earlier themes, replacing Naturalist observation with a metaphysical speculation about idealism. One other aspect of Macedonski's stylistic exploration took him to attempt recording synesthesia. His manuscript is written in ink of several colors, which, he believed, was to help readers get a full sense of its meaning. Like other synesthetic aspects of his novel, this is believed to have been inspired by the techniques of Baudelaire and Arthur Rimbaud.
Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu is noted for its numerous cultural references, and especially for using a wide range of metaphors. Such aspects have been reviewed negatively by modern critics. Tudor Vianu writes: "the poet makes such waste of gemstones that we feel like saying some of them must be false", while Călinescu, who notes that some fragments reveal "an incomparable artist" and "a professional metaphorist", notes that "in the end, such virtuosities become a bore." According to Manuela-Delia Suciu, Thalassa is "prolix" and "too polished", traits believed by Zamfir to be less irritating in the Romanian version. Critic Cornel Moraru found that, in the background, Thalassa, a "great Symbolist novel", confronts Ancient Greek and Christian mythology, but "abuses" the religious vocabulary. Another part of the novel's imagery is erotic, and includes an elaborate and aestheticized description of male genitalia.
The four-act tragicomedy Le Fou? is seen by Vianu as comparable in subject matter and depth to Enrico IV, a celebrated 1922 play by Luigi Pirandello. The plot reflects Macedonski's confrontation with his critics, and his acceptance of the fact that people saw in him an eccentric. The central figure is a banker, Dorval, who identifies himself with Napoleon Bonaparte to the point where he sees episodes in his biography as mirrors of early 19th-century battles. Unlike patients with dissociative identity disorder, Dorval does not actually imagine his life has become Napoleon's, but rather joins with him on an intellectual level. Witnesses of this disorder are divided into family, who seek to have Dorval committed, and close friends, who come to see his take on life as a manifestation of genius. The spectator is led to believe that the latter interpretation is the correct one. At a larger level, Vianu indicates, the play is also Macedonski's critique of capitalism, and, using Parisian argot, makes allusive references to famous people of the day.
Particularly during the 1890s, Macedonski was a follower of Edgar Allan Poe and of Gothic fiction in general, producing a Romanian version of Poe's Metzengerstein story, urging his own disciples to translate other such pieces, and adopting "Gothic" themes in his original prose. Indebted to Jules Verne and H. G. Wells, Macedonski also wrote a number of science fiction stories, including the 1913 Oceania-Pacific-Dreadnought, which depicts civilization on the verge of a crisis. The gigantic commercial ship is maintained by a banker's union, and designed to grant travelers access to every pleasure imaginable; this causes the working-class inhabited cities on the continent to fall into a state of neglect and permanent violence, the climax of the story occurring with the bankers' decision to destroy their creation. Oceania-Pacific-Dreadnought is noted for anticipating television, the ship being equipped with electrically-operated "large and clear mirrors" that display "images from various parts of the Earth". Macedonski was by then interested in the development of cinema, and authored a silent film screenplay based on Comment on devient riche et puissant.
Final transition
Late in his life, Macedonski had come to reject Symbolist tenets, defining them as "imbecilities" designed for "the uncultured". Ultima verba, the very last poems to be written by him, show him coming to terms with himself, and are treasured for their serene or intensely joyous vision of life and human accomplishment. The rondels written at this stage, known collectively as Poema rondelurilor, are one of the first instances where the technique is used locally. Like those written previously by Literatoruls Pavelescu and Alexandru Obedenaru, they are based on an earlier motif present in Macedonski's work, that of recurring refrains. Many of the pieces document the poet's final discoveries. One of them is Rondelul crinilor ("The Rondel of the Lilies"), which proclaims fragrances as the source of beatitude: În crini e beția cea rară, "In lilies one finds that exceptional drunkenness". According to Ștefan Cazimir, Rondelul orașului mic ("The Rondel of the Small Town") shows a "likable wave of irony and self-irony", and the poet himself coming to terms with "the existence of a world who ignores him." Proof of his combativeness was still to be found in Rondelul contimporanilor ("The Rondel of the Contemporaries").
The poet's take on life is also outlined in his final play, Moartea lui Dante. Călinescu writes that, by then, Macedonski was "obsessed" with the Divine Comedy. Macedonski identifies with his hero, Dante Aligheri, and formulates his own poetic testament while identifying World War I Romania with the medieval Republic of Florence. Tudor Vianu remarks: "In Dante's great self-pride, Macedonski found his own." He sees the play as the best such work to have been produced by Macedonski, whereas Călinescu deems it "puerile". Zamfir believes Moartea... to be a significant text in Macedonski's bibliography, "one of the first samples of Romanian Symbolist theater", and as such indebted mainly to Maeterlinck. Vianu argues that the play may document the Romanian writer's late rejection of France, through the protagonist's statement: "the French are a gentle people, but their soul is different from mine."
A number of rondels show Macedonski's late fascination with the Far East, China and Japan. George Călinescu believes that this is to be understood as one item in a large antithesis, the other being Decadent Paris, which one rondel describes as "hell". The Orient, viewed as the space of serenity, is believed by Macedonski to be peopled by toy-like women and absent opium-smokers, and to be kept orderly by a stable meritocracy. The Chinese-themed poem Tsing-Ly-Tsi, which Cazimir notes for its discreet, "almost imperceptible", humor, reads:
Legacy
Macedonski's school and its early impact
Alexandru Macedonski repeatedly expressed the thought that, unlike his contemporaries, posterity would judge him a great poet. With the exception of Mihail Dragomirescu, conservative literary critics tended to ignore Macedonski while he was alive. The first such figure was Junimeas Titu Maiorescu, who believed him to be a minor author, referring to him only a couple of times in his books and usually ridiculing him in his articles. One of these texts, the 1886 essay Poeți și critici ("Poets and Critics"), spoke of Macedonski as having "vitiated" poetry, a notion he also applied to Constantin D. Aricescu and Aron Densușianu. Especially radical pronouncements were left by the traditionalist authors Ilarie Chendi and Nicolae Iorga. Chendi wrote of Macedonski being "the caricature of a man", having "a feverish mind" and being motivated by "the brutal instinct of revenge". Iorga, who became better known as a historian, later retracted some of the statements he had made against the poet during the 1890s. Among the younger prominent traditionalist writers was the Transylvanian-born Lucian Blaga, who may have purposefully avoided Macedonski during his first visit to Bucharest in 1920. Although more sympathetic to the Symbolist author, both Dragomirescu and Gheorghe Adamescu tended to describe him as exclusively the product of French and Decadent literature, while Dragomirescu's disciple Ion Trivale denied all merit to Macedonski's literature.
According to Tudor Vianu, Macedonski's intellectual friends (among them Anghel Demetriescu, George Ionescu-Gion, Bonifaciu Florescu, Grigore Tocilescu and V. A. Urechia) were largely responsible for passing down "a better and truer image of the abused poet." It was also due to Dragomirescu that Noaptea de decemvrie was included in a literature textbook for final grade high school students, which some argue is the poet's first-ever presence in the Romanian curriculum. According to historian Lucian Nastasă, the poet's wife Ana Rallet behaved like an "excellent secretary" while Macedonski was still alive, and thereafter helped sort and edit his manuscript while maintaining "an actual cult" for her husband.
Macedonski's cosmopolitan circle was the center of a literary alternative to the prevailing conservatism and Eminescu-like traditionalism of the day, the latter tendency being grouped around Sămănătorul magazine for part of Macedonski's lifetime. While Macedonski himself maintained his links with Romanticism and Classicism, commentators have retrospectively recognized in him the main person who announced Romania's first wave in modernist literature. Many first-generation disciples were to part with his guidelines early on, either by radicalizing their Symbolism or by stepping out of its confines. Traian Demetrescu was one of the first to do so, focusing on his commitment to socialism—Vianu notes that the split took place "without coldness and the heart's versatility" on Macedonski's part. Literary researcher Lidia Bote argues that it was Petică who first illustrated mature Symbolism, emancipating himself from Macedonski's eclectic tendencies after 1902. By that time, the Symbolist authors Dimitrie Anghel and N. D. Cocea used Macedonski's fantasy prose as an inspiration for their own, and N. Davidescu was borrowing from his mystical discourse. The pictorial and joyous elements in Macedonski's poems were also serving to inspire Stamatiad, Eugeniu Ștefănescu-Est and Horia Furtună. In the early stages of his career, Ion Pillat wrote pieces which echo his master's choice of exotic themes. A more discreet legacy of Macedonski's ideas was also preserved inside the conservative and traditionalist camps. Although his separation from Literatorul was drastic, and led him to rally with Junimea, Duiliu Zamfirescu built on some elements borrowed from the magazine's ideology, incorporating them into his literary vision.
Many of Macedonski's most devoted disciples, whom he himself had encouraged, have been rated by various critics as secondary or mediocre. This is the case of Theodor Cornel (who made his name as an art critic), Mircea Demetriade, Oreste Georgescu, Alexandru Obedenaru, Stoenescu, Stamatiad, Carol Scrob, Dumitru Karnabatt and Donar Munteanu. Another such minor author was the self-styled "hermeticist" Alexandru Petroff, who expanded on Macedonski's ideas about esoteric knowledge.
Macedonski's eldest son Alexis continued to pursue a career as a painter. His son Soare followed in his footsteps, receiving acclaim from art critics of the period. Soare's short career ended in 1928, before he turned nineteen, but his works have been featured in several retrospective exhibitions, including one organized by Alexis. Alexis later experimented with scenic design as an assistant to French filmmaker René Clair; his later life, shrouded in mystery and intrigue, led him to a career in Fascist Italy and Francoist Spain. Another of Alexandru Macedonski's sons, Nikita, was also a poet and painter. For a while in the 1920s, he edited the literary supplement of Universul newspaper. Two years after her father's death, Anna Macedonski married poet Mihail Celarianu.
In addition to his polemical portrayals in works by Alecsandri, Eminescu and Caragiale, Macedonski's career was an inspiration for various authors. His image acquired mythical proportions for his followers. Like Demetrescu, many of them left memoirs on Macedonski which were published before or after his death. His admirers were writing poetry about him as early as 1874, and, in 1892, Cincinat Pavelescu published a rhapsodizing portrait of Macedonski as "the Artist". Pavelescu, Dragoslav and Petică paid homage to the writer by leaving recollections which describe him as a devoted and considerate friend. In contrast, traditionalist poet Alexandru Vlahuță authored an 1889 sketch story in which Macedonski (referred to as Polidor) is the object of derision.
Late recognition
Actual recognition of the poet as a classic came only in the interwar period. A final volume of never before published poems, Poema rondelurilor, saw print in 1927. Macedonski's work was analyzed and popularized by a new generation of critics, among them Vianu and George Călinescu. The post-Junimist modernist critic Eugen Lovinescu also commented favorably on Macedonski's work, but overall, Călinescu asserts, his opinions on the subject gave little insight into what he actually thought about the poet. He also recounts that Macedonski himself treated Lovinescu with disdain, and once called him "a canary".
The emerging avant-garde, although originating from Symbolism, progressively took its distance from Literatoruls legacy. Initially, Macedonski's contribution to experimental literature was continued within formal Symbolism by his disciples Demetriade, Iuliu Cezar Săvescu and Ion Minulescu. The latter was particularly indebted to Macedonski in matters of vision and language. In 1904, Tudor Arghezi also left behind the Literatorul circle and its tenets, eventually arriving to the fusion of modernist, traditionalist and avant-garde elements. However, he remained indebted to Macedonski's example in his descriptive prose. The 1912 Simbolul magazine, which moved between conventional Symbolism and the emerging avant-garde, also published an Imagist-inspired parody of Noaptea de mai, signed by Adrian Maniu. A co-founder of Dadaism during the late 1910s, Tristan Tzara is believed by Swedish researcher Tom Sandqvist to have been inspired more or less directly by Macedonski, and in particular by the latter's thoughts on the relation between absurdity and poetry. In his debut poems, Benjamin Fondane-Barbu Fundoianu occasionally followed Macedonski, but, by 1920, stated that the Symbolist doyen merely imitated French models to the point of "parasitism".
Several avant-garde authors returned to Macedonski's literary guidelines by the late 1920s, as they themselves grew more moderate. This was the case of Maniu and Ion Vinea, both of whom published prose works in the line of Thalassa. The same work is also believed to have influenced two non-avant-garde authors, Davidescu and Mateiu Caragiale, who remained close to the tenets Symbolism. Mateiu was the illegitimate son of Ion Luca Caragiale, but, Vianu notes, could withstand comparisons with his father's rival: the eccentricities were complementary, although Mateiu Caragiale shied away from public affairs. In the same post-Symbolist generation, Celarianu (Macedonski's posthumous son-in-law), George Bacovia and Păstorel Teodoreanu also built on Macedonski's legacy, being later joined in this by the Bessarabian linguist Eugenio Coșeriu (who, in his early poetic career, imitated Macedonski's rondel style). In the late 1920s, when their form of modern psalms inspired Albanian-Romanian poet Aleksander Stavre Drenova, Macedonski and Arghezi both made an indirect impact on Albanian literature.
Macedonski's status as one of Romanian literature's greats was consolidated later in the 20th century. By this time, Noaptea de decemvrie had become one of the most recognizable literary works to be taught in Romanian schools. During the first years of Communist Romania, the Socialist Realist current condemned Symbolism (see Censorship in Communist Romania), but spoke favorably of Macedonski's critique of the bourgeoisie. A while after this episode, Marin Sorescu, one of the best-known modernist poets of his generation, wrote a homage-parody of the Nights cycle. Included in the volume Singur între poeți ("Alone among Poets"), it is seen by critic Mircea Scarlat as Sorescu's most representative such pieces. Also then, Noaptea de decemvrie partly inspired Ștefan Augustin Doinaș' ballad Mistrețul cu colți de argint.
In the 1990s, Ștefan Agopian took the Nights cycle as inspiration for an erotic short story, while Pavel Șușară adapted his rondels to a modernized setting. Macedonski's prose also influenced younger writers such as Angelo Mitchievici and Anca Maria Mosora. In neighboring Moldova, Macedonski influenced the Neosymbolism of Aureliu Busuioc. A magazine by the name of Literatorul, which claims to represent the legacy of Macedonski's publication, was founded in Romania in 1991, being edited by writers Sorescu, Fănuș Neagu and Mircea Micu. In 2006, the Romanian Academy granted posthumous membership to Alexandru Macedonski.
Macedonski's poems had a sizable impact on Romania's popular culture. During communism, Noaptea de mai was the basis for a successful musical adaptation, composed by Marian Nistor and sung by Mirabela Dauer. Tudor Gheorghe, a singer-songwriter inspired by American folk revival, also used some of Macedonski's texts as lyrics to his melodies. In the 2000s, the refrain of Noaptea de mai was mixed into a manea parody by Adrian Copilul Minune.
Portrayals, visual tributes and landmarks
Although his poetic theories were largely without echoes in Romanian art, Macedonski captured the interest of several modern artists, including, early on, cartoonist Nicolae Petrescu Găină. Alongside other writers who visited Terasa Oteteleșanu, Macedonski was notably portrayed the drawings of celebrated Romanian artist Iosif Iser. He is also depicted in a 1918 lithograph by Jean Alexandru Steriadi, purportedly Steriadi's only Symbolist work. Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu inspired a series of reliefs, designed by Alexis Macedonski and hosted in his father's house in Dorobanți. During the 1910s, busts of him were completed by two sculptors, Alexandru Severin and Friedrich Storck, one of Storck's variants being hosted by the Ioan Cantacuzino collection. In 1919, Theodor Burcă was also inspired to complete another bust, and, during World War II, was commissioned by Mayor of Bucharest Ioan Rășcanu to build a Macedonski Monument in the Grădina Icoanei park, but this was never completed. Constantin Piliuță, a painter active in the second half of the 20th century, made Macedonski the subject of a portrait in series dedicated to Romanian cultural figures (also depicted were Nicolae Iorga, Ștefan Luchian and Vianu). In 1975, a bust of Macedonski, the work of Constantin Foamete, was unveiled in Craiova.
Of Macedonski's numerous residences, the one in Dorobanți was demolished when the Academy of Economic Studies (ASE) was expanded. A commemorative plaque was later put up near the spot. Macedonski's childhood home in Goiești passed into state property under communism, and was in turn a school, a community home and a Macedonski Museum, before falling into neglect after the Romanian Revolution of 1989. Several streets named in honor of Alexandru Macedonski, notably in Bucharest (by the ASE), Craiova, Cluj-Napoca and Timișoara.
Works published anthumously
Prima verba (poetry, 1872)
Ithalo (poem, 1878)
Poezii (poetry, 1881/1882)
Parizina (translation of Parisina, 1882)
Iadeș! (comedy, 1882)
Dramă banală (short story, 1887)
Saul (with Cincinat Pavelescu; tragedy, 1893)
Excelsior (poetry, 1895)
Bronzes (poetry, 1897)
(essay, 1898)
Cartea de aur (prose, 1902)
Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu (novel, 1906; 1914)
Flori sacre (poetry, 1912)
Zaherlina (essay, 1920)
Notes
References
Mircea Anghelescu, chronological table, preface and critical references, in Macedonski, Poemele "Nopților", Editura Albatros, Bucharest, 1972, p. 7-31, 137–140.
Nicolae Balotă, Arte poetice ale secolului XX: ipostaze românești și străine, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1976.
Lucian Boia, "Germanofilii". Elita intelectuală românească în anii Primului Război Mondial, Humanitas, Bucharest, 2010.
George Călinescu, Istoria literaturii române de la origini pînă în prezent, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1986
Paul Cernat, Avangarda românească și complexul periferiei: primul val, Cartea Românească, Bucharest, 2007.
Șerban Cioculescu, Caragialiana, Editura Eminescu, Bucharest, 1974.
Péter Krasztev,
"From a Deadlocked Present into an Imagined Past", in the Central European University's East Central Europe = L'Europe du Centre-Est, Vol. 26, Nr. 2/1999, p. 33-52
"From Modernization to Modernist Literature", in Marcel Cornis-Pope, John Neubauer (eds.), History of the Literary Cultures of East-Central Europe, Vol. 3, John Benjamins, Amsterdam & Philadelphia, 2004, p. 332-348.
Lucian Nastasă, Intelectualii și promovarea socială (pentru o morfologie a câmpului universitar), Editura Nereamia Napocae, Cluj-Napoca, 2003; e-book version at the Romanian Academy's George Bariț Institute of History
Z. Ornea, Junimea și junimismul, Vol. II, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1998.
Perpessicius, Studii eminesciene, Museum of Romanian Literature, Bucharest, 2001.
Petre Răileanu, Michel Carassou, Fundoianu/Fondane et l'avant-garde, Fondation Culturelle Roumaine, Éditions Paris-Méditerranée, Bucharest & Paris, 1999.
Tom Sandqvist, Dada East. The Romanians of Cabaret Voltaire, MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts & London, 2006.
Manuela-Delia Suciu, "La poésie roumaine au XIXe siècle. Alexandru Macedonski entre romantisme et symbolisme", in Revue d'Études Françaises, Nr. 8/2003, p. 101-110 (republished by the Centre Interuniversitaire d’Études Françaises/Egyetemközi Francia Központ)
Tudor Vianu, Scriitori români, Vol. I-III, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1970–1971.
Mariana Vida, "La société Tinerimea artistică de Bucarest et le symbolisme tardif entre 1902-1910", in Revue Roumaine d'Histoire de l'Art. Série Beaux-arts, Vol. XLIV, 2007, p. 55-66
External links
Amidst Hen Houses (excerpts), Poésies, Thalassa (excerpt), in the Romanian Cultural Institute's Plural Magazine (various issues)
Alexandru Macedonski, Museum of Romanian Literature profile
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20th-century screenwriters | true | [
"The Revenge is a 1721 tragedy by the British writer Edward Young. Although initially it did not enjoy the same success as his previous play Busiris, King of Egypt, it later became a much-revived work during the eighteenth century particularly popular because of the Othello-like role of the Moorish character Zanga. John Philip Kemble revived the work briefly in 1798 before Edmund Kean in 1815 did so with great success and it became part of his repertoire.\n\nThe original Drury Lane cast included Barton Booth as Don Alonzo, Robert Wilks as Don Carlos, John Thurmond as Don Alverez, John Mills as Zanga, Mary Porter as Leonora and Christiana Horton as Isabella. The work was dedicated to Young's patron the Duke of Wharton.\n\nReferences\n\nBibliography\n Baines, Paul & Ferarro, Julian & Rogers, Pat. The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Eighteenth-Century Writers and Writing, 1660-1789. Wiley-Blackwell, 2011.\n Burling, William J. A Checklist of New Plays and Entertainments on the London Stage, 1700-1737. Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press, 1992.\n Kahan, Jeffrey. Shakespeare Imitations, Parodies and Forgeries, 1710-1820, Volume 1. Taylor & Francis, 2004.\n Nicoll, Allardyce. History of English Drama, 1660-1900, Volume 2. Cambridge University Press, 2009.\n Worrall, David. Harlequin Empire: Race, Ethnicity and the Drama of the Popular Enlightenment. Routledge, 2015.\n\n1721 plays\nBritish plays\nWest End plays\nTragedy plays\nHistorical plays",
"A Short History of the English People is a book written by English historian John Richard Green. Published in 1874, \"it is a history, not of English Kings or English Conquests, but of the English People.\"\n\nBackground and reception \nGreen began work on the book in 1869, having been given only six months to live after being hit hard by disease that had plagued him throughout his life. Only having around 800 pages to write on, he had to leave out much of what he wanted to include. Green intentionally left out the battles of England feeling they did not play a big role in the formation of the nation, saying that historians \"too often turned history into a mere record of the butchery of men by their fellow men.\" His new ideas, and omission of information that others felt important, meant Green was criticized by other historians as well as the people close to him.\n\nOthers thought highly of the book, including Francis Adams, who used quotations from the book in his poem The Peasants' Revolt.\n\nNotes\n\nBibliography\n\nExternal links\nThe 1902–3 Macmillan illustrated-edition of the work at the Internet Archive:\nVolume I\nVolume II\nVolume III\nVolume IV\n\n1874 non-fiction books\nHistory books about England"
] | [
"Alexandru Macedonski (; also rendered as Al. A. Macedonski, Macedonschi or Macedonsky; 14 March 1854 – 24 November 1920) was a Romanian poet, novelist, dramatist and literary critic, known especially for having promoted French Symbolism in his native country, and for leading the Romanian Symbolist movement during its early decades. A forerunner of local modernist literature, he is the first local author to have used free verse, and claimed by some to have been the first in modern European literature.",
"A forerunner of local modernist literature, he is the first local author to have used free verse, and claimed by some to have been the first in modern European literature. Within the framework of Romanian literature, Macedonski is seen by critics as second only to national poet Mihai Eminescu; as leader of a cosmopolitan and aestheticist trend formed around his Literatorul journal, he was diametrically opposed to the inward-looking traditionalism of Eminescu and his school.",
"Within the framework of Romanian literature, Macedonski is seen by critics as second only to national poet Mihai Eminescu; as leader of a cosmopolitan and aestheticist trend formed around his Literatorul journal, he was diametrically opposed to the inward-looking traditionalism of Eminescu and his school. Debuting as a Neoromantic in the Wallachian tradition, Macedonski went through the Realist-Naturalist stage deemed \"social poetry\", while progressively adapting his style to Symbolism and Parnassianism, and repeatedly but unsuccessfully attempting to impose himself in the Francophone world.",
"Debuting as a Neoromantic in the Wallachian tradition, Macedonski went through the Realist-Naturalist stage deemed \"social poetry\", while progressively adapting his style to Symbolism and Parnassianism, and repeatedly but unsuccessfully attempting to impose himself in the Francophone world. Despite having theorized \"instrumentalism\", which reacted against the traditional guidelines of poetry, he maintained a lifelong connection with Neoclassicism and its ideal of purity.",
"Despite having theorized \"instrumentalism\", which reacted against the traditional guidelines of poetry, he maintained a lifelong connection with Neoclassicism and its ideal of purity. Macedonski's quest for excellence found its foremost expression in his recurring motif of life as a pilgrimage to Mecca, notably used in his critically acclaimed Nights cycle. The stylistic stages of his career are reflected in the collections Prima verba, Poezii, and Excelsior, as well as in the fantasy novel Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu.",
"The stylistic stages of his career are reflected in the collections Prima verba, Poezii, and Excelsior, as well as in the fantasy novel Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu. In old age, he became the author of rondels, noted for their detached and serene vision of life, in contrast with his earlier combativeness. In parallel to his literary career, Macedonski was a civil servant, notably serving as prefect in the Budjak and Northern Dobruja during the late 1870s.",
"In parallel to his literary career, Macedonski was a civil servant, notably serving as prefect in the Budjak and Northern Dobruja during the late 1870s. As journalist and militant, his allegiance fluctuated between the liberal current and conservatism, becoming involved in polemics and controversies of the day. Of the long series of publications he founded, Literatorul was the most influential, notably hosting his early conflicts with the Junimea literary society.",
"Of the long series of publications he founded, Literatorul was the most influential, notably hosting his early conflicts with the Junimea literary society. These targeted Vasile Alecsandri and especially Eminescu, their context and tone becoming the cause of a major rift between Macedonski and his public. This situation repeated itself in later years, when Macedonski and his Forța Morală magazine began campaigning against the Junimist dramatist Ion Luca Caragiale, whom they falsely accused of plagiarism.",
"This situation repeated itself in later years, when Macedonski and his Forța Morală magazine began campaigning against the Junimist dramatist Ion Luca Caragiale, whom they falsely accused of plagiarism. During World War I, the poet aggravated his critics by supporting the Central Powers against Romania's alliance with the Entente side. His biography was also marked by an enduring interest in esotericism, numerous attempts to become recognized as an inventor, and an enthusiasm for cycling.",
"His biography was also marked by an enduring interest in esotericism, numerous attempts to become recognized as an inventor, and an enthusiasm for cycling. The scion of a political and aristocratic family, the poet was the son of General Alexandru Macedonski, who served as Defense Minister, and the grandson of 1821 rebel Dimitrie Macedonski. Both his son Alexis and grandson Soare were known painters. Biography Early life and family The poet's paternal family had arrived in Wallachia during the early 19th century.",
"Biography Early life and family The poet's paternal family had arrived in Wallachia during the early 19th century. Of South Slav (Serb or Bulgarian) or Aromanian origin, they claimed to have descended from Serb insurgents in Ottoman-ruled Macedonia.",
"Of South Slav (Serb or Bulgarian) or Aromanian origin, they claimed to have descended from Serb insurgents in Ottoman-ruled Macedonia. Alexandru's grandfather Dimitrie and Dimitrie's brother Pavel participated in the 1821 uprising against the Phanariote administration, and in alliance with the Filiki Eteria; Dimitrie made the object of controversy when, during the final stage of the revolt, he sided with the Eteria in its confrontation with Wallachian leader Tudor Vladimirescu, taking an active part in the latter's killing.",
"Alexandru's grandfather Dimitrie and Dimitrie's brother Pavel participated in the 1821 uprising against the Phanariote administration, and in alliance with the Filiki Eteria; Dimitrie made the object of controversy when, during the final stage of the revolt, he sided with the Eteria in its confrontation with Wallachian leader Tudor Vladimirescu, taking an active part in the latter's killing. Both Macedonski brothers had careers in the Wallachian military forces, at a time when the country was governed by Imperial Russian envoys, when the Regulamentul Organic regime recognized the family as belonging to Wallachia's nobility.",
"Both Macedonski brothers had careers in the Wallachian military forces, at a time when the country was governed by Imperial Russian envoys, when the Regulamentul Organic regime recognized the family as belonging to Wallachia's nobility. Dimitrie married Zoe, the daughter an ethnic Russian or Polish officer; their son, the Russian-educated Alexandru, climbed in the military and political hierarchy, joining the unified Land Forces after his political ally, Alexander John Cuza, was elected Domnitor and the two Danubian Principalities became united Romania.",
"Dimitrie married Zoe, the daughter an ethnic Russian or Polish officer; their son, the Russian-educated Alexandru, climbed in the military and political hierarchy, joining the unified Land Forces after his political ally, Alexander John Cuza, was elected Domnitor and the two Danubian Principalities became united Romania. Both the officer's uncle Pavel and brother Mihail were amateur poets. Macedonski's mother, Maria Fisența (also Vicenț or Vicența), was from an aristocratic environment, being the scion of Oltenian boyars.",
"Macedonski's mother, Maria Fisența (also Vicenț or Vicența), was from an aristocratic environment, being the scion of Oltenian boyars. Through her father, she may have descended from Russian immigrants who had been absorbed into Oltenia's nobility. Maria had been adopted by the boyar Dumitrache Pârâianu, and the couple had inherited the Adâncata and Pometești estates in Goiești, on the Amaradia Valley.",
"Maria had been adopted by the boyar Dumitrache Pârâianu, and the couple had inherited the Adâncata and Pometești estates in Goiești, on the Amaradia Valley. Both the poet and his father were dissatisfied with accounts of their lineage, contradicting them with an account that researchers have come to consider spurious. Although adherents of the Romanian Orthodox Church, the Macedonskis traced their origin to Rogala-bearing Lithuanian nobility from the defunct Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.",
"Although adherents of the Romanian Orthodox Church, the Macedonskis traced their origin to Rogala-bearing Lithuanian nobility from the defunct Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. While the writer perpetuated his father's claim, it is possible that he also took pride in investigating his Balkan roots: according to literary historian Tudor Vianu, who, as a youth, was a member of his circle, this tendency is attested by two of Macedonski's poems from the 1880s, where the South Slavs appear as icons of freedom.",
"While the writer perpetuated his father's claim, it is possible that he also took pride in investigating his Balkan roots: according to literary historian Tudor Vianu, who, as a youth, was a member of his circle, this tendency is attested by two of Macedonski's poems from the 1880s, where the South Slavs appear as icons of freedom. Vianu's contemporary, literary historian George Călinescu, postulated that, although the family had been absorbed into the ethnic and cultural majority, the poet's origin served to enrich local culture by linking it to a \"Thracian\" tradition and the spirit of \"adventurers\".",
"Vianu's contemporary, literary historian George Călinescu, postulated that, although the family had been absorbed into the ethnic and cultural majority, the poet's origin served to enrich local culture by linking it to a \"Thracian\" tradition and the spirit of \"adventurers\". The family moved often, following General Macedonski's postings. Born in Bucharest, Macedonski-son was the third of four siblings, the oldest of whom was a daughter, Caterina.",
"Born in Bucharest, Macedonski-son was the third of four siblings, the oldest of whom was a daughter, Caterina. Before the age of six, he was a sickly and nervous child, who is reported to have had regular tantrums. In 1862, his father sent him to school in Oltenia, and he spent most time in the Amaradia region. The nostalgia he felt for the landscape later made him consider writing an Amărăzene (\"Amaradians\") cycle, of which only one poem was ever completed.",
"The nostalgia he felt for the landscape later made him consider writing an Amărăzene (\"Amaradians\") cycle, of which only one poem was ever completed. He was attending the Carol I High School in Craiova and, according to his official record, graduated in 1867.",
"He was attending the Carol I High School in Craiova and, according to his official record, graduated in 1867. Macedonski's father had by then become known as an authoritarian commander, and, during his time in Târgu Ocna, faced a mutiny which only his wife could stop by pleading with the soldiers (an episode which made an impression on the future poet). A stern parent, he took an active part in educating his children.",
"A stern parent, he took an active part in educating his children. Having briefly served as Defense Minister, the general was mysteriously dismissed by Cuza in 1863, and his pension became the topic of a political scandal. It ended only under the rule of Carol I, Cuza's Hohenzollern successor, when Parliament voted against increasing the sum to the level demanded by its recipient.",
"It ended only under the rule of Carol I, Cuza's Hohenzollern successor, when Parliament voted against increasing the sum to the level demanded by its recipient. Having preserved a negative impression of the 1866 plebiscite, during which Cuza's dethronement had been confirmed, Macedonski remained a committed opponent of the new ruler. As a youth and adult, he sought to revive his father's cause, and included allusions to the perceived injustice in at least one poem.",
"As a youth and adult, he sought to revive his father's cause, and included allusions to the perceived injustice in at least one poem. After spending the last months of his life protesting against the authorities, Macedonski-father fell ill and died in September 1869, leaving his family to speculate that he had been murdered by political rivals.",
"After spending the last months of his life protesting against the authorities, Macedonski-father fell ill and died in September 1869, leaving his family to speculate that he had been murdered by political rivals. Debut years Macedonski left Romania in 1870, traveling through Austria-Hungary and spending time in Vienna, before visiting Switzerland and possibly other countries; according to one account, it was here that he may have first met (and disliked) his rival poet Mihai Eminescu, at a time a Viennese student.",
"Debut years Macedonski left Romania in 1870, traveling through Austria-Hungary and spending time in Vienna, before visiting Switzerland and possibly other countries; according to one account, it was here that he may have first met (and disliked) his rival poet Mihai Eminescu, at a time a Viennese student. Macedonski's visit was meant to be preparation for entering the University of Bucharest, but he spent much of his time in the bohemian environment, seeking entertainment and engaging in romantic escapades.",
"Macedonski's visit was meant to be preparation for entering the University of Bucharest, but he spent much of his time in the bohemian environment, seeking entertainment and engaging in romantic escapades. He was however opposed to the lifestyle choices of people his age, claiming that they were engaged in \"orgy after orgy\". At around that date, the young author had begun to perfect a style heavily influenced by Romanticism, and in particular by his Wallachian predecessors Dimitrie Bolintineanu and Ion Heliade Rădulescu.",
"At around that date, the young author had begun to perfect a style heavily influenced by Romanticism, and in particular by his Wallachian predecessors Dimitrie Bolintineanu and Ion Heliade Rădulescu. He was for a while in Styria, at Bad Gleichenberg, a stay which, George Călinescu believes, may have been the result of a medical recommendation to help him counter excessive nervousness. The landscape there inspired him to write an ode. Also in 1870, he published his first lyrics in George Bariț's Transylvanian-based journal Telegraful Român.",
"Also in 1870, he published his first lyrics in George Bariț's Transylvanian-based journal Telegraful Român. The following year, he left for Italy, where he visited Pisa, Florence, Venice, and possibly other cities. His records of the journey indicate that he was faced with financial difficulties and plagued by disease. Macedonski also claimed to have attended college lectures in these cities, and to have spent significant time studying at Pisa University, but this remains uncertain.",
"Macedonski also claimed to have attended college lectures in these cities, and to have spent significant time studying at Pisa University, but this remains uncertain. He eventually returned to Bucharest, where he entered the Faculty of Letters (which he never attended regularly). According to Călinescu, Macedonski \"did not feel the need\" to attend classes, because \"such a young man will expect society to render upon him its homages.\"",
"According to Călinescu, Macedonski \"did not feel the need\" to attend classes, because \"such a young man will expect society to render upon him its homages.\" He was again in Italy during spring 1872, soon after publishing his debut volume Prima verba (Latin for \"First Word\"). Having also written an anti-Carol piece, published in Telegraful Român during 1873, Macedonski reportedly feared political reprisals, and decided to make another visit to Styria and Italy while his case was being assessed.",
"Having also written an anti-Carol piece, published in Telegraful Român during 1873, Macedonski reportedly feared political reprisals, and decided to make another visit to Styria and Italy while his case was being assessed. It was in Italy that he met French musicologist Jules Combarieu, with whom he corresponded sporadically over the following decades. During that period, Macedonski became interested in the political scene and political journalism, first as a sympathizer of the liberal-radical current—which, in 1875, organized itself around the National Liberal Party.",
"During that period, Macedonski became interested in the political scene and political journalism, first as a sympathizer of the liberal-radical current—which, in 1875, organized itself around the National Liberal Party. In 1874, back in Craiova, Macedonski founded a short-lived literary society known as Junimea, a title which purposefully or unwittingly copied that of the influential conservative association with whom he would later quarrel.",
"In 1874, back in Craiova, Macedonski founded a short-lived literary society known as Junimea, a title which purposefully or unwittingly copied that of the influential conservative association with whom he would later quarrel. It was then that he met journalist and pedagogue Ștefan Velescu, a meeting witnessed by Velescu's pupil, the future liberal journalist Constantin Bacalbașa, who recorded it in his memoirs.",
"It was then that he met journalist and pedagogue Ștefan Velescu, a meeting witnessed by Velescu's pupil, the future liberal journalist Constantin Bacalbașa, who recorded it in his memoirs. Oltul magazine, which he had helped establish and which displayed a liberal agenda, continued to be published until July 1875, and featured Macedonski's translations from Pierre-Jean de Béranger, Hector de Charlieu and Alphonse de Lamartine, as well as his debut in travel writing and short story.",
"Oltul magazine, which he had helped establish and which displayed a liberal agenda, continued to be published until July 1875, and featured Macedonski's translations from Pierre-Jean de Béranger, Hector de Charlieu and Alphonse de Lamartine, as well as his debut in travel writing and short story. At age 22, he worked on his first play, a comedy titled Gemenii (\"The Twins\").",
"At age 22, he worked on his first play, a comedy titled Gemenii (\"The Twins\"). In 1874 that he came to the attention of young journalist future dramatist Ion Luca Caragiale, who satirized him in articles for the magazine Ghimpele, ridiculing his claim to Lithuanian descent, and eventually turning him into the character Aamsky, whose fictional career ends with his death from exhaustion caused by contributing to \"for the country's political development\".",
"In 1874 that he came to the attention of young journalist future dramatist Ion Luca Caragiale, who satirized him in articles for the magazine Ghimpele, ridiculing his claim to Lithuanian descent, and eventually turning him into the character Aamsky, whose fictional career ends with his death from exhaustion caused by contributing to \"for the country's political development\". This was the first episode in a consuming polemic between the two figures.",
"This was the first episode in a consuming polemic between the two figures. Reflecting back on this period in 1892, Macedonski described Caragiale as a \"noisy young man\" of \"sophistic reasoning\", whose target audience was to be found in \"beer gardens\". 1875 trial and office as prefect In March 1875, Macedonski was arrested on charges of defamation or sedition. For almost a year before, he and Oltul had taken an active part in the campaign against Conservative Party and its leader, Premier Lascăr Catargiu.",
"For almost a year before, he and Oltul had taken an active part in the campaign against Conservative Party and its leader, Premier Lascăr Catargiu. In this context, he had demanded that the common man \"rise up with weapons in their hands and break both the government agents and the government\", following up with similar messages aimed at the Domnitor. He was taken to Bucharest's Văcărești prison and confined there for almost three months.",
"He was taken to Bucharest's Văcărești prison and confined there for almost three months. Supported by the liberal press and defended by the most prestigious pro-liberal attorneys (Nicolae Fleva among them), Macedonski faced a jury trial on 7 June, being eventually cleared of the charges. Reportedly, the Bucharest populace organized a spontaneous celebration of the verdict. In 1875, after the National Liberal Ion Emanuel Florescu was assigned the post of Premier by Carol, Macedonski embarked on an administrative career.",
"In 1875, after the National Liberal Ion Emanuel Florescu was assigned the post of Premier by Carol, Macedonski embarked on an administrative career. The poet was upset by not being included on the National Liberal list for the 1875 suffrage. This disenchantment led him into a brief conflict with the young liberal figure Bonifaciu Florescu, only to join him soon afterward in editing Stindardul journal, alongside Pantazi Ghica and George Fălcoianu. The publication followed the line of Nicolae Moret Blaremberg, made notorious for his radical and republican agenda.",
"The publication followed the line of Nicolae Moret Blaremberg, made notorious for his radical and republican agenda. Ghica and Macedonski remained close friends until Ghica's 1882 death. The new cabinet eventually appointed him Prefect of Bolgrad region, in the Budjak (at the time part of Romania). In parallel, he published his first translation, a version of Parisina, an 1816 epic poem by Lord Byron, and completed the original works Ithalo and Calul arabului (\"The Arab's Horse\").",
"In parallel, he published his first translation, a version of Parisina, an 1816 epic poem by Lord Byron, and completed the original works Ithalo and Calul arabului (\"The Arab's Horse\"). He also spoke at the Romanian Atheneum, presenting his views on the state of Romanian literature (1878). His time in office ended upon the outbreak of the Russo-Turkish War.",
"His time in office ended upon the outbreak of the Russo-Turkish War. At the time, Russian volunteers were amassed on the Budjak border, requesting from the Romanian authorities the right of free passage into the Principality of Serbia. The National Liberal Premier Ion Brătianu, who was negotiating an anti-Ottoman alliance, sent Macedonski signals to let them pass, but the prefect, obeying the official recommendation of Internal Affairs Minister George D. Vernescu, decided against it, and was consequently stripped of his office.",
"The National Liberal Premier Ion Brătianu, who was negotiating an anti-Ottoman alliance, sent Macedonski signals to let them pass, but the prefect, obeying the official recommendation of Internal Affairs Minister George D. Vernescu, decided against it, and was consequently stripped of his office. Still determined to pursue a career in the press, Macedonski founded a string of unsuccessful magazines with patriotic content and titles such as Vestea (\"The Announcement\"), Dunărea (\"The Danube\"), Fulgerul (\"The Lightning\") and, after 1880, Tarara (an onomatopoeia equivalent to \"Toodoodoo\").",
"Still determined to pursue a career in the press, Macedonski founded a string of unsuccessful magazines with patriotic content and titles such as Vestea (\"The Announcement\"), Dunărea (\"The Danube\"), Fulgerul (\"The Lightning\") and, after 1880, Tarara (an onomatopoeia equivalent to \"Toodoodoo\"). Their history is connected with that of the Russo-Turkish War, at the end of which Romanian participation on the Russian side resulted in her independence.",
"Their history is connected with that of the Russo-Turkish War, at the end of which Romanian participation on the Russian side resulted in her independence. Macedonski remained committed to the anti-Ottoman cause, and, some thirty years later, stated: \"We want no Turkey in Europe!\" By 1879, the poet, who continued to voice criticism of Carol, had several times switched sides between the National Liberals and the opposition Conservatives.",
"By 1879, the poet, who continued to voice criticism of Carol, had several times switched sides between the National Liberals and the opposition Conservatives. That year, while the Budjak was ceded to Russia and Northern Dobruja was integrated into Romania, the Brătianu cabinet appointed him administrator of the Sulina plasă and the Danube Delta.",
"That year, while the Budjak was ceded to Russia and Northern Dobruja was integrated into Romania, the Brătianu cabinet appointed him administrator of the Sulina plasă and the Danube Delta. He had previously refused to be made comptroller in Putna County, believing such an appointment to be beneath his capacity, and had lost a National Liberal appointment in Silistra when Southern Dobruja was granted to the Principality of Bulgaria.",
"He had previously refused to be made comptroller in Putna County, believing such an appointment to be beneath his capacity, and had lost a National Liberal appointment in Silistra when Southern Dobruja was granted to the Principality of Bulgaria. During this short interval in office, he traveled to the Snake Island in the Black Sea—his appreciation for the place later motivated him to write the fantasy novel Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu and the poem Lewki. Early Literatorul years With the 1880s came a turning point in Alexandru Macedonski's career.",
"Early Literatorul years With the 1880s came a turning point in Alexandru Macedonski's career. Vianu notes that changes took place in the poet's relationship with his public: \"Society recognizes in him the nonconformist. [...] The man becomes singular; people start talking about his oddities.\" Macedonski's presumed frustration at being perceived in this way, Vianu notes, may have led him closer to the idea of poète maudit, theorized earlier by Paul Verlaine.",
"Macedonski's presumed frustration at being perceived in this way, Vianu notes, may have led him closer to the idea of poète maudit, theorized earlier by Paul Verlaine. In this context, he had set his sight on promoting \"social poetry\", the merger between lyricism and political militantism. Meanwhile, according to Călinescu, his attacks on the liberals and the \"daft insults he aimed at [Romania's] throne\" had effectively ruined his own chance of political advancement.",
"Meanwhile, according to Călinescu, his attacks on the liberals and the \"daft insults he aimed at [Romania's] throne\" had effectively ruined his own chance of political advancement. In January 1880, he launched his most influential and long-lived publication, Literatorul, which was also the focal point of his eclectic cultural circle, and, in later years, of the local Symbolist school. In its first version, the magazine was co-edited by Macedonski, Bonifaciu Florescu and poet Th. M. Stoenescu.",
"M. Stoenescu. M. Stoenescu. Florescu parted with the group soon after, due to a disagreement with Macedonski, and was later attacked by the latter for allegedly accumulating academic posts. Literatorul aimed to irritate Junimist sensibilities from its first issue, when it stated its dislike for \"political prejudice in literature.\" This was most likely an allusion to the views of Junimist figure Titu Maiorescu, being later accompanied by explicit attacks on him and his followers.",
"This was most likely an allusion to the views of Junimist figure Titu Maiorescu, being later accompanied by explicit attacks on him and his followers. An early success for the new journal was the warm reception it received from Vasile Alecsandri, a Romantic poet and occasional Junimist whom Macedonski idolized at the time, and the collaboration of popular memoirist Gheorghe Sion. Another such figure was the intellectual V. A. Urechia, whom Macedonski made president of the Literatorul Society.",
"Another such figure was the intellectual V. A. Urechia, whom Macedonski made president of the Literatorul Society. In 1881, Education Minister Urechia granted Macedonski the Bene-Merenti medal 1st class, although, Călinescu stresses, the poet had only totaled 18 months of public service. At around that time, Macedonski had allegedly begun courting actress Aristizza Romanescu, who rejected his advances, leaving him unenthusiastic about love matters and unwilling to seek female company.",
"At around that time, Macedonski had allegedly begun courting actress Aristizza Romanescu, who rejected his advances, leaving him unenthusiastic about love matters and unwilling to seek female company. In parallel, Macedonski used the magazine to publicize his disagreement with the main Junimist voice, Convorbiri Literare. Among the group of contributors, several had already been victims of Maiorescu's irony: Sion, Urechia, Pantazi Ghica and Petru Grădișteanu.",
"Among the group of contributors, several had already been victims of Maiorescu's irony: Sion, Urechia, Pantazi Ghica and Petru Grădișteanu. While welcoming the debut of its contributor, Parnassian-Neoclassicist novelist and poet Duiliu Zamfirescu, Macedonski repeatedly attacked its main exponent, the conservative poet Eminescu, claiming not to understand his poetry. However, Literatorul was also open to contributions from some Convorbiri Literare affiliates (Zamfirescu, Matilda Cugler-Poni and Veronica Micle). In November 1880, Macedonski's plays Iadeș! (\"Wishbone!",
"In November 1880, Macedonski's plays Iadeș! (\"Wishbone! (\"Wishbone! \", a comedy first printed in 1882) and Unchiașul Sărăcie (\"Old Man Poverty\") premiered at the National Theater Bucharest. A sign of government approval, this was followed by Macedonski's appointment to a minor administrative office, as Historical Monuments Inspector. Nevertheless, both plays failed to impose themselves on public perception, and were withdrawn from the program by 1888.",
"Nevertheless, both plays failed to impose themselves on public perception, and were withdrawn from the program by 1888. Călinescu asserts that, although Macedonski later claimed to have always been facing poverty, his job in the administration, coupled with other sources of revenue, ensured him a comfortable existence. In 1881, Macedonski published a new collection of poetry. Titled Poezii, it carries the year \"1882\" on its original cover. Again moving away from liberalism, Macedonski sought to make himself accepted by Junimea and Maiorescu.",
"Again moving away from liberalism, Macedonski sought to make himself accepted by Junimea and Maiorescu. He consequently attended the Junimea sessions, and gave a public reading of Noaptea de noiembrie (\"November Night\"), the first publicized piece in his lifelong Nights cycle. It reportedly earned him the praise of historian and poet Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu, who, although an anti-Junimist, happened to be in the audience.",
"It reportedly earned him the praise of historian and poet Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu, who, although an anti-Junimist, happened to be in the audience. Despite rumors according to which he had applauded Macedonski, Maiorescu himself was not impressed, and left an unenthusiastic account of the event in his private diary. Against Alecsandri and Eminescu Macedonski's open conflict with Junimea began in 1882, when he engaged in a publicized polemic with Alecsandri.",
"Against Alecsandri and Eminescu Macedonski's open conflict with Junimea began in 1882, when he engaged in a publicized polemic with Alecsandri. It was ignited when, through Macedonski's articles, Literatorul criticized Alecsandri for accepting Romanian Academy prizes despite being its member, and later involved Sion (whose replies on behalf of the Academy were derided by Macedonski). Macedonski also took distance from Alecsandri's style, publishing a \"critical analysis\" of his poetry in one issue of Literatorul.",
"Macedonski also took distance from Alecsandri's style, publishing a \"critical analysis\" of his poetry in one issue of Literatorul. In turn, Alecsandri humiliated his young rival by portraying him as Zoilus, the prototype of slanderers, and himself as the model poet Horace in the 1883 play Fântâna Blanduziei. The two were eventually reconciled, and Macedonski again spoke of Alecsandri as his ideological and stylistic predecessor.",
"The two were eventually reconciled, and Macedonski again spoke of Alecsandri as his ideological and stylistic predecessor. In April 1882, Eminescu had also replied to Macedonski in Timpul journal, referring to an unnamed poet who \"barely finishes high-school, comes over to Bucharest selling nick-nacks and makeup [and goes into] literary dealership\".",
"In April 1882, Eminescu had also replied to Macedonski in Timpul journal, referring to an unnamed poet who \"barely finishes high-school, comes over to Bucharest selling nick-nacks and makeup [and goes into] literary dealership\". Reproaching Macedonski's attacks on Alecsandri, Eminescu makes a nationalist comment about the young poet bearing \"the bastard instincts of those foreigners who were Romanianized only yesterday\", and attributes him \"the physiognomy of a hairdresser\". Through the articles of Petru Th.",
"Through the articles of Petru Th. Through the articles of Petru Th. Missir, Convorbiri Literare gave Poezii a negative review, deemed \"malevolent\" by literary historian Mircea Anghelescu. At the other end of the political and cultural spectrum, Macedonski faced opposition from the intellectuals attracted to socialism, in particular Contemporanul editors Constantin Mille and Ioan Nădejde, with whom he was engaged in an extended polemic.",
"At the other end of the political and cultural spectrum, Macedonski faced opposition from the intellectuals attracted to socialism, in particular Contemporanul editors Constantin Mille and Ioan Nădejde, with whom he was engaged in an extended polemic. In the meantime, Macedonski published his own play, which had Cuza for its main character and was eponymously titled Cuza-Vodă, and completed translations for Literatorul—from Maurice Rollinat, whom he helped impose as a main cultural reference in Romanian Symbolism, and from the Greek poet Akhillefs Paraskhos.",
"In the meantime, Macedonski published his own play, which had Cuza for its main character and was eponymously titled Cuza-Vodă, and completed translations for Literatorul—from Maurice Rollinat, whom he helped impose as a main cultural reference in Romanian Symbolism, and from the Greek poet Akhillefs Paraskhos. In 1883, he also contributed his first sketch story, Casa cu nr. 10 (\"The House at Number 10\"). In early 1883, he married Ana Rallet-Slătineanu.",
"In early 1883, he married Ana Rallet-Slătineanu. In early 1883, he married Ana Rallet-Slătineanu. Wealthy and supposedly related to Romanian aristocrats, she would bear him five children in all: the painter Alexis was the eldest, followed by Nikita; the three youngest were two sons (Panel and Constantin Macedonski) and a daughter, Anna (also known as Nina). His heterosexual lifestyle notwithstanding, Macedonski remained a self-avowed admirer of male beauties, and was rumored to be a closeted homosexual.",
"His heterosexual lifestyle notwithstanding, Macedonski remained a self-avowed admirer of male beauties, and was rumored to be a closeted homosexual. In July 1883, Macedonski undertook one of his most controversial anti-Junimist actions. That month, Literatorul published an epigram signed with the pseudonym Duna, deriding an unnamed author who had lost his mind. Mihai Eminescu—whom many had already come to see as Romania's national poet—had by then developed a mental disorder which had become known to the general public.",
"Mihai Eminescu—whom many had already come to see as Romania's national poet—had by then developed a mental disorder which had become known to the general public. Ever since that moment, Macedonski has generally been believed to be Duna, and as a result, was faced with much criticism from both readers and commentators. The intense anti-Literatorul press campaign was initiated in August, when writer Grigore Ventura issued an article condemning Macedonski's attitude (published in the Bucharest-based newspaper L'Indépendance Roumaine), with Macedonski responding in the National Liberal organ Românul.",
"The intense anti-Literatorul press campaign was initiated in August, when writer Grigore Ventura issued an article condemning Macedonski's attitude (published in the Bucharest-based newspaper L'Indépendance Roumaine), with Macedonski responding in the National Liberal organ Românul. During one evening, Macedonski is reported to have been assaulted by anonymous supporters of Eminescu. His previous conflict with Nădejde was also affected by this renewed controversy: while opposed to Junimist policies, the socialists at Contemporanul voiced their admiration for Eminescu's art.",
"His previous conflict with Nădejde was also affected by this renewed controversy: while opposed to Junimist policies, the socialists at Contemporanul voiced their admiration for Eminescu's art. Late in 1883, Macedonski and his friends unveiled Ion Georgescu's statue of their mentor Bolintineanu in the National Theater lobby. The circumstances in which this took place rose suspicion of foul play; on this grounds, Macedonski was ridiculed by his former friend Zamfirescu in the journal România Liberă, which left him embittered.",
"The circumstances in which this took place rose suspicion of foul play; on this grounds, Macedonski was ridiculed by his former friend Zamfirescu in the journal România Liberă, which left him embittered. Călinescu proposes that, although such negative reactions were invoked by Macedonski's supporters as a sign of their mentor having been marginalized, Macedonski had expressed his dissatisfaction with the cultural environment long before that moment, and was still a respected figure even after the incidents took place.",
"Călinescu proposes that, although such negative reactions were invoked by Macedonski's supporters as a sign of their mentor having been marginalized, Macedonski had expressed his dissatisfaction with the cultural environment long before that moment, and was still a respected figure even after the incidents took place. First Paris sojourn and Poezia viitorului Having been stripped of his administrative office by the new Brătianu cabinet, Macedonski faced financial difficulties, and was forced to move into a house on the outskirts of Bucharest, and later moved between houses in northern Bucharest.",
"First Paris sojourn and Poezia viitorului Having been stripped of his administrative office by the new Brătianu cabinet, Macedonski faced financial difficulties, and was forced to move into a house on the outskirts of Bucharest, and later moved between houses in northern Bucharest. According to Călinescu, the poet continued to cultivate luxury and passionately invested in the decorative arts, although his source of income, other than the supposed assistance \"of [European] ruling houses\", remains a mystery.",
"According to Călinescu, the poet continued to cultivate luxury and passionately invested in the decorative arts, although his source of income, other than the supposed assistance \"of [European] ruling houses\", remains a mystery. Arguing that Macedonski was \"always in need of money\" to use on his luxury items, poet Victor Eftimiu claimed: \"He did not shy away from sending emphatic notes to the potentates of his day [...], flattering some, threatening others.",
"Arguing that Macedonski was \"always in need of money\" to use on his luxury items, poet Victor Eftimiu claimed: \"He did not shy away from sending emphatic notes to the potentates of his day [...], flattering some, threatening others. He would marry off or simply mate some of his disciples with aging and rich women, and then he would squeeze out their assets.\" Macedonski eventually left Romania in 1884, visiting Paris.",
"Macedonski eventually left Romania in 1884, visiting Paris. Macedonski eventually left Romania in 1884, visiting Paris. On his way there, he passed through Craiova, where he met aspiring author Traian Demetrescu, whose works he had already hosted in Literatorul and who was to become his friend and protégé. Demetrescu later recalled being gripped by \"tremors of emotion\" upon first catching sight of Macedonski.",
"Demetrescu later recalled being gripped by \"tremors of emotion\" upon first catching sight of Macedonski. In France, Macedonski set up contacts within the French literary environment, and began contributing to French or Francophone literary publications—including the Belgian Symbolist platforms La Wallonie and L'Élan littéraire. His collaboration with La Wallonie alongside Albert Mockel, Tudor Vianu believes, makes Alexandru Macedonski one in the original wave of European Symbolists. This adaptation to Symbolism also drew on his marked Francophilia, which in turn complemented his tendencies toward cosmopolitanism.",
"This adaptation to Symbolism also drew on his marked Francophilia, which in turn complemented his tendencies toward cosmopolitanism. He became opposed to Carol I, who, in 1881, had been granted the Crown of the Romanian Kingdom. In addition to his admiration for Cuza and the 1848 Wallachian revolutionaries, the poet objected to the King's sympathy for France's main rival, the German Empire.",
"In addition to his admiration for Cuza and the 1848 Wallachian revolutionaries, the poet objected to the King's sympathy for France's main rival, the German Empire. In January 1885, after having returned from the voyage, he announced his retirement from public life, claiming that German influence and its exponents at Junimea had \"conquered\" Romanian culture, and repeating his claim that Eminescu lacked value.",
"In January 1885, after having returned from the voyage, he announced his retirement from public life, claiming that German influence and its exponents at Junimea had \"conquered\" Romanian culture, and repeating his claim that Eminescu lacked value. In the meantime, Literatorul went out of print, although new series were still published at irregular intervals until 1904 (when it ceased being published altogether).",
"In the meantime, Literatorul went out of print, although new series were still published at irregular intervals until 1904 (when it ceased being published altogether). The magazine was reportedly hated by the public, causing Macedonski, Stoenescu, Florescu, Urechia and educator Anghel Demetriescu to try to revive it as Revista Literară (\"The Literary Review\", published for a few months in 1885).",
"The magazine was reportedly hated by the public, causing Macedonski, Stoenescu, Florescu, Urechia and educator Anghel Demetriescu to try to revive it as Revista Literară (\"The Literary Review\", published for a few months in 1885). The poet attempted to establish other magazines, all of them short-lived, and, in 1887, handed for print his Naturalist novella Dramă banală (\"Banal Drama\") while completing one of the most revered episodes in the Nights series, Noaptea de mai (\"May Night\").",
"The poet attempted to establish other magazines, all of them short-lived, and, in 1887, handed for print his Naturalist novella Dramă banală (\"Banal Drama\") while completing one of the most revered episodes in the Nights series, Noaptea de mai (\"May Night\"). Also in 1886, he worked on his other Naturalist novellas: Zi de august (\"August Day\"), Pe drum de poștă (\"On the Stagecoach Trail\"), Din carnetul unui dezertor (\"From the Notebook of a Deserter\"), Între cotețe (\"Amidst Hen Houses\") and the eponymous Nicu Dereanu.",
"Also in 1886, he worked on his other Naturalist novellas: Zi de august (\"August Day\"), Pe drum de poștă (\"On the Stagecoach Trail\"), Din carnetul unui dezertor (\"From the Notebook of a Deserter\"), Între cotețe (\"Amidst Hen Houses\") and the eponymous Nicu Dereanu. By 1888, he was again sympathetic toward Blaremberg, whose dissident National Liberal faction had formed an alliance with the Conservatives, editing Stindardul Țărei (later Straja Țărei) as his supporting journal.",
"By 1888, he was again sympathetic toward Blaremberg, whose dissident National Liberal faction had formed an alliance with the Conservatives, editing Stindardul Țărei (later Straja Țărei) as his supporting journal. However, late in the same year, he returned to the liberal mainstream, being assigned a weekly column in Românul newspaper. Two years later, he attempted to relaunch Literatorul under the leadership of liberal figure Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu, but the latter eventually settled for founding his own Revista Nouă.",
"Two years later, he attempted to relaunch Literatorul under the leadership of liberal figure Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu, but the latter eventually settled for founding his own Revista Nouă. Around 1891, he saluted Junimeas own break with the Conservatives and its entry into politics at the Conservative-Constitutional Party, before offering an enthusiastic welcome to the 1892 Junimist agitation among university students.",
"Around 1891, he saluted Junimeas own break with the Conservatives and its entry into politics at the Conservative-Constitutional Party, before offering an enthusiastic welcome to the 1892 Junimist agitation among university students. In 1894, he would speak in front of student crowds gathered at a political rally in University Square, and soon after made himself known for supporting the cause of ethnic Romanians and other underrepresented groups of Austria-Hungary. His literary thesis of the time was titled Poezia viitorului (\"The Poetry of the Future\").",
"His literary thesis of the time was titled Poezia viitorului (\"The Poetry of the Future\"). It upheld Symbolist authors as the models to follow, while Macedonski personally began producing what he referred to as \"instrumentalist\" poems, composed around musical and onomatopoeic elements, and showing a preference for internal rhymes. Such an experimental approach was soon after parodied and ridiculed by Ion Luca Caragiale, who had by then affiliated and parted with Junimea, in his new Moftul Român magazine.",
"Such an experimental approach was soon after parodied and ridiculed by Ion Luca Caragiale, who had by then affiliated and parted with Junimea, in his new Moftul Român magazine. The poet sought to reconcile with his rival, publicizing a claim that Caragiale was being unjustly ignored by the cultural establishment, but this attempt failed to mend relations between them, and the conflict escalated further.",
"The poet sought to reconcile with his rival, publicizing a claim that Caragiale was being unjustly ignored by the cultural establishment, but this attempt failed to mend relations between them, and the conflict escalated further. While, in 1893, Literatorul hosted fragments of Thalassa in its Romanian-language version, the author also launched a daily, Lumina (\"The Light\").",
"While, in 1893, Literatorul hosted fragments of Thalassa in its Romanian-language version, the author also launched a daily, Lumina (\"The Light\"). It was also at that stage that Alexandru Macedonski associated with Cincinat Pavelescu, the noted epigrammarian, who joined him in editing Literatorul, and with whom he co-authored the 1893 verse tragedy depicting the Biblical hero Saul, and named after him. Although showcased by the National Theater with star actor Constantin Nottara in the title role, it failed to register success with the public.",
"Although showcased by the National Theater with star actor Constantin Nottara in the title role, it failed to register success with the public. Two years later, the two Literatorul editors made headlines as pioneers of cycling. An enthusiastic promoter of the sport, Macedonski joined fellow poet Constantin Cantilli on a marathon, pedaling from Bucharest across the border into Austria-Hungary, all the way down to Brașov.",
"An enthusiastic promoter of the sport, Macedonski joined fellow poet Constantin Cantilli on a marathon, pedaling from Bucharest across the border into Austria-Hungary, all the way down to Brașov. Late 1890s Macedonski also returned with a new volume of poetry, Excelsior (consecutive editions in 1895 and 1896), and founded Liga Ortodoxă (\"The Orthodox League\"), a magazine noted for hosting the debut of Tudor Arghezi, later one of the most celebrated figures in Romanian literature.",
"Late 1890s Macedonski also returned with a new volume of poetry, Excelsior (consecutive editions in 1895 and 1896), and founded Liga Ortodoxă (\"The Orthodox League\"), a magazine noted for hosting the debut of Tudor Arghezi, later one of the most celebrated figures in Romanian literature. Macedonski commended his new protégé for reaching \"the summit of poetry and art\" at \"an age when I was still prattling verses\".",
"Macedonski commended his new protégé for reaching \"the summit of poetry and art\" at \"an age when I was still prattling verses\". Liga Ortodoxă also hosted articles against Caragiale, which Macedonski signed with the pseudonym Sallustiu (\"Sallustius\"). The magazine was additional proof of Macedonski's return to conservatism, and largely dedicated to defending the cause of Romanian Orthodox Metropolitan Ghenadie, deposed by the Romanian Synod following a political scandal. It defended Ghenadie up until he chose to resign, and subsequently went out of print.",
"It defended Ghenadie up until he chose to resign, and subsequently went out of print. Macedonski was shocked to note that Ghenadie had given up his own defense. In 1895, his Casa cu nr. 10 was translated into French by the Journal des Débats, whose editors reportedly found it picturesque. Two years later, Macedonski himself published French-language translations of his earlier poetry under the title Bronzes, a volume prefaced by his disciple, the critic and promoter Alexandru Bogdan-Pitești.",
"Two years later, Macedonski himself published French-language translations of his earlier poetry under the title Bronzes, a volume prefaced by his disciple, the critic and promoter Alexandru Bogdan-Pitești. Although it was positively reviewed by Mercure de France magazine, Bronzes was largely unnoticed by the French audience, a fact which Tudor Vianu attributes to Bogdan-Pitești's lack of qualification for the cultural mission Macedonski had trusted him with.",
"Although it was positively reviewed by Mercure de France magazine, Bronzes was largely unnoticed by the French audience, a fact which Tudor Vianu attributes to Bogdan-Pitești's lack of qualification for the cultural mission Macedonski had trusted him with. By that time, his circle had come to be frequented with regularity by Bogdan-Pitești's friend and collaborator, the celebrated painter Ștefan Luchian, who was in the Symbolist and Art Nouveau stage of his career.",
"By that time, his circle had come to be frequented with regularity by Bogdan-Pitești's friend and collaborator, the celebrated painter Ștefan Luchian, who was in the Symbolist and Art Nouveau stage of his career. By 1898, Macedonski was again facing financial difficulties, and his collaborators resorted to organizing a fundraiser in his honor. His rejection of the Orthodox establishment was documented by his political tract, published that year as . Between that time and 1900, he focused on researching esoteric, occult and pseudoscientific subjects.",
"Between that time and 1900, he focused on researching esoteric, occult and pseudoscientific subjects. Traian Demetrescu, who recorded his visits with Macedonski, recalled his former mentor being opposed to his positivist take on science, claiming to explain the workings of the Universe in \"a different way\", through \"imagination\", but also taking an interest in Camille Flammarion's astronomy studies.",
"Traian Demetrescu, who recorded his visits with Macedonski, recalled his former mentor being opposed to his positivist take on science, claiming to explain the workings of the Universe in \"a different way\", through \"imagination\", but also taking an interest in Camille Flammarion's astronomy studies. Macedonski was determined to interpret death through parapsychological means, and, in 1900, conferenced at the Atheneum on the subject Sufletul și viața viitoare (\"The Soul and the Coming Life\").",
"Macedonski was determined to interpret death through parapsychological means, and, in 1900, conferenced at the Atheneum on the subject Sufletul și viața viitoare (\"The Soul and the Coming Life\"). The focal point of his vision was that man could voluntarily stave off death with words and gestures, a concept he elaborated upon in his later articles.",
"The focal point of his vision was that man could voluntarily stave off death with words and gestures, a concept he elaborated upon in his later articles. In one such piece, Macedonski argued: \"man has the power [...] to compact the energy currents known as thoughts to the point where he changes them, according to his own will, into objects or soul-bearing creatures.\" He also attempted to build a machine for extinguishing chimney fires.",
"He also attempted to build a machine for extinguishing chimney fires. Later, Nikita Macedonski registered the invention of nacre-treated paper, which is sometimes attributed to his father. Caion scandal and expatriation The few issues of Literatorul that were printed in 1899-1900 saw the circle being joined by the young Symbolist poet Ștefan Petică. In 1902, he published Cartea de aur (\"The Golden Book\"), comprising his sketch stories and novellas. In parallel, Macedonski returned to the public scene, founding Forța Morală magazine.",
"In parallel, Macedonski returned to the public scene, founding Forța Morală magazine. It was through this venue that he began responding to Ion Luca Caragiale's earlier attacks. This he did by hosting the articles of aspiring journalist Constantin Al. Ionescu-Caion, who accused Caragiale of having plagiarized a Hungarian author by the name of Kemény in his tragedy play Năpasta. Kemény turned out to be non-existent.",
"Kemény turned out to be non-existent. Kemény turned out to be non-existent. According to Vianu, Macedonski had no prior knowledge of the fraud, but had also been \"blinded\" by his resentments instead of displaying \"discernment\", and had even showed evidence of \"insanity\". Most in Macedonski's own series of anti-Caragiale articles were unsigned, or signed with pseudonyms such as Luciliu (\"Gaius Lucilius\").",
"Most in Macedonski's own series of anti-Caragiale articles were unsigned, or signed with pseudonyms such as Luciliu (\"Gaius Lucilius\"). Like in the case of Eminescu's conflict with Macedonski, the polemic enlisted a negative response from the public. The poet's associate Th. M. Stoenescu convinced himself that Caragiale was being framed, and refused to allow Revista Literară to be used for endorsing Caion, which caused Macedonski to shun him.",
"M. Stoenescu convinced himself that Caragiale was being framed, and refused to allow Revista Literară to be used for endorsing Caion, which caused Macedonski to shun him. Macedonski refused to withdraw his support for the cause even after Caragiale sued Caion, but Forța Morală soon went out of print. Before it did so, the journal hosted some of Macedonski's most renowned poems, including Lewki and Noaptea de decemvrie (\"December Night\"), together with his article on Remy de Gourmont's thoughts on poetics.",
"Before it did so, the journal hosted some of Macedonski's most renowned poems, including Lewki and Noaptea de decemvrie (\"December Night\"), together with his article on Remy de Gourmont's thoughts on poetics. In his article of 1903, titled (\"Toward Occultism. Later Orientations toward Theosophy and Social Philosophy\"), the poet envisaged making his interest in esoteric subjects the basis of a new literary movement.",
"Later Orientations toward Theosophy and Social Philosophy\"), the poet envisaged making his interest in esoteric subjects the basis of a new literary movement. Also that year, poet George Bacovia began attending the literary circle, and gave a reading of his celebrated Plumb poem, being welcomed by Macedonski with a flattering epigram. Macedonski's series of short-lived periodicals resumed in 1905, when he founded Le Beau Danube Bleu (French for \"The Beautiful Blue Danube\") and Liga Conservatoare (\"The Conservative League\").",
"Macedonski's series of short-lived periodicals resumed in 1905, when he founded Le Beau Danube Bleu (French for \"The Beautiful Blue Danube\") and Liga Conservatoare (\"The Conservative League\"). He registered more success in 1906, when his Thalassa was published, as Le Calvaire de feu, by Edward Sansot's Paris-based publishing house. This followed intense self-promotion within the French literary environment, as well as advertisements in the French press.",
"This followed intense self-promotion within the French literary environment, as well as advertisements in the French press. Part of this involved Macedonski sending his book to be reviewed by Émile Faguet, Jean Mounet-Sully, Joséphin Péladan, Pierre Quillard and Jean Richepin, who replied with what Vianu deems \"the politeness of circumstance.\" The volume was nonetheless favorably reviewed by the prestigious magazines Mercure de France and Gil Blas.",
"The volume was nonetheless favorably reviewed by the prestigious magazines Mercure de France and Gil Blas. Also in 1906, La Revue Musicale published his interview with Combarieu, through which the latter aimed to verify supposed connections between literary inspiration and musical sensitivity. By 1907, he was concentrating on experiments in physics, and eventually publicized his claim to have discovered that light does not travel through vacuum. He sent a paper on astronomy subjects to be reviewed by the Société Astronomique de France, of which he subsequently became a member.",
"He sent a paper on astronomy subjects to be reviewed by the Société Astronomique de France, of which he subsequently became a member. The same year, he drafted the plan for a world government, announcing that he had found sympathy for the cause throughout Europe. Macedonski also introduced himself to an Italophone public, when two of his sonnets were published by Poesia, the magazine of Futurist theorist Filippo Tommaso Marinetti. Between 1910 and 1912, Macedonski was again in Paris.",
"Between 1910 and 1912, Macedonski was again in Paris. Seeking to withdraw himself from Romania's public life due to what he perceived as injustice, he had by then completed work on the French-language tragicomedy Le Fou? (\"The Madman? \"), which was only published after his death.",
"\"), which was only published after his death. He was actively seeking to establish his reputation in French theater, reading his new play to a circle which included Louis de Gonzague Frick and Florian-Parmentier, while, at home, newspapers reported rumors that his work was going to be staged by Sarah Bernhardt's company. His efforts were largely fruitless, and, accompanied by his son Alexis, the poet left France, spent some time in Italy, and eventually returned to Romania.",
"His efforts were largely fruitless, and, accompanied by his son Alexis, the poet left France, spent some time in Italy, and eventually returned to Romania. Passing through the German Empire, he learned of Ion Luca Caragiale's sudden death, and wrote Adevărul daily an open letter, which showed that he had come to revise his stance, notably comparing the deceased author's style and legacy to those of Mark Twain.",
"Passing through the German Empire, he learned of Ion Luca Caragiale's sudden death, and wrote Adevărul daily an open letter, which showed that he had come to revise his stance, notably comparing the deceased author's style and legacy to those of Mark Twain. During Macedonski's absence, his style and work had come to be reviewed more positively, in particular by the young authors I. Dragoslav, Horia Furtună, Ion Pillat, Anastasie Mândru, Al.",
"During Macedonski's absence, his style and work had come to be reviewed more positively, in particular by the young authors I. Dragoslav, Horia Furtună, Ion Pillat, Anastasie Mândru, Al. T. Stamatiad, as well as by post-Junimist critic Mihail Dragomirescu, who offered Macedonski a good reception in his Convorbiri Critice magazine. Tudor Vianu, who cites contemporary statements by Dragoslav, concludes that, upon arrival, Macedonski was enthusiastically received by a public who had missed him.",
"Tudor Vianu, who cites contemporary statements by Dragoslav, concludes that, upon arrival, Macedonski was enthusiastically received by a public who had missed him. Also in 1912, one of his poems was published as an homage by Simbolul, a magazine published by the young and radical Symbolists Tristan Tzara, Ion Vinea and Marcel Janco. Around that time, Macedonski also collaborated with the Iași-based moderate Symbolist magazine Versuri și Proză.",
"Around that time, Macedonski also collaborated with the Iași-based moderate Symbolist magazine Versuri și Proză. Polemics surrounding his case nevertheless continued: in late 1912, as part of a National Theater adaptation of Alphonse Daudet's Sapho, actor Cazimir Belcot borrowed from Macedonski's appearance and mannerisms to portray a failure. Return and World War I years Macedonski and his protégés had become regular frequenters of Bucharest cafés.",
"Return and World War I years Macedonski and his protégés had become regular frequenters of Bucharest cafés. Having a table permanently reserved for him at Imperial Hotel's Kübler Coffeehouse, he was later a presence in two other such establishments: High-Life and Terasa Oteteleșanu. He is said to have spent part of his time at Kübler loudly mocking the traditionalist poets who gathered at an opposite table.",
"He is said to have spent part of his time at Kübler loudly mocking the traditionalist poets who gathered at an opposite table. Meanwhile, the poet's literary club, set up at his house in Dorobanți quarter, had come to resemble a mystical circle, over which he held magisterial command. Vianu, who visited the poet together with Pillat, compares this atmosphere with those created by other \"mystics and magi of poetry\" (citing as examples Joséphin Péladan, Louis-Nicolas Ménard, Stéphane Mallarmé and Stefan George).",
"Vianu, who visited the poet together with Pillat, compares this atmosphere with those created by other \"mystics and magi of poetry\" (citing as examples Joséphin Péladan, Louis-Nicolas Ménard, Stéphane Mallarmé and Stefan George). The hall where seances were hosted was only lit by candles, and the tables were covered in red fabric. Macedonski himself was seated on a throne designed by Alexis, and adopted a dominant pose. The apparent secrecy and the initiation rites performed on new members were purportedly inspired by Rosicrucianism and the Freemasonry.",
"The apparent secrecy and the initiation rites performed on new members were purportedly inspired by Rosicrucianism and the Freemasonry. By then, Macedonski was rewarding his followers' poems with false gemstones. The poet founded Revista Critică (\"The Critical Review\"), which again closed after a short while, and issued the poetry volume Flori sacre (\"Sacred Flowers\").",
"The poet founded Revista Critică (\"The Critical Review\"), which again closed after a short while, and issued the poetry volume Flori sacre (\"Sacred Flowers\"). Grouping his Forța Morală poems and older pieces, it was dedicated to his new generation of followers, whom Macedonski's preface referred to as \"the new Romania.\" He continued to hope that Le Fou?",
"He continued to hope that Le Fou? He continued to hope that Le Fou? was going to be staged in France, especially after he received some encouragement in the form of articles in Mercure de France and Journal des Débats, but was confronted with the general public's indifference. In 1914, Thalassa was published in a non-definitive version by Constantin Banu's magazine Flacăra, which sought to revive overall interest in his work.",
"In 1914, Thalassa was published in a non-definitive version by Constantin Banu's magazine Flacăra, which sought to revive overall interest in his work. At a French Red Cross conference in September, Macedonski paid his final public homage to France, which had just become entangled in World War I.",
"At a French Red Cross conference in September, Macedonski paid his final public homage to France, which had just become entangled in World War I. It was also in 1914 that Macedonski commissioned for print his very first rondels and completed work on a tragedy play about Renaissance poet Dante Aligheri—known as La Mort de Dante in its French original, and Moartea lui Dante in the secondary Romanian version (both meaning \"Dante's Death\").",
"It was also in 1914 that Macedonski commissioned for print his very first rondels and completed work on a tragedy play about Renaissance poet Dante Aligheri—known as La Mort de Dante in its French original, and Moartea lui Dante in the secondary Romanian version (both meaning \"Dante's Death\"). The aging poet was by then building connections with the local art scene: together with artist Alexandru Severin, he created (and probably presided over) Cenaclul idealist (\"The Idealist Club\"), which included Symbolist artists and was placed under the honorary patronage of King Carol.",
"The aging poet was by then building connections with the local art scene: together with artist Alexandru Severin, he created (and probably presided over) Cenaclul idealist (\"The Idealist Club\"), which included Symbolist artists and was placed under the honorary patronage of King Carol. 1916 was also the year when Romania abandoned her neutrality and, under a National Liberal government, rallied with the Entente Powers.",
"1916 was also the year when Romania abandoned her neutrality and, under a National Liberal government, rallied with the Entente Powers. During the neutrality period, Macedonski had shed his lifelong Francophilia to join the Germanophiles, who wanted to see Romanian participation on the Central Powers' side. In 1915, he issued the journal Cuvântul Meu (\"My Word\").",
"In 1915, he issued the journal Cuvântul Meu (\"My Word\"). Entirely written by him, it published ten consecutive issues before going bankrupt, and notably lashed out against France for being \"bourgeois\" and \"lawyer-filled\", demanding from Romania not to get involved in the conflict. Commentators and researchers of his work have declared themselves puzzled by this change in allegiance. Macedonski further alienated public opinion during the Romanian Campaign, when the Central Powers armies entered southern Romania and occupied Bucharest.",
"Macedonski further alienated public opinion during the Romanian Campaign, when the Central Powers armies entered southern Romania and occupied Bucharest. Alexis was drafted and became a war artist, but Macedonski Sr, who received formal protection from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bucharest, chose to stay behind while the authorities and many ordinary citizens relocated to Iași, where resistance was still being organized. His stance was interpreted as collaborationism by his critics. However, Macedonski reportedly faced extreme poverty throughout the occupation.",
"However, Macedonski reportedly faced extreme poverty throughout the occupation. Having by then begun to attend the circle of Alexandru Bogdan-Pitești, his promoter and fellow Germanophile, he was once rewarded by the latter with a turkey filled with gold coins. Late polemics, illness and death Literatorul resumed print in June 1918, once Romania capitulated to the Central Powers under the Treaty of Bucharest.",
"Late polemics, illness and death Literatorul resumed print in June 1918, once Romania capitulated to the Central Powers under the Treaty of Bucharest. A controversial incident occurred soon afterwards, when, going against the counsel of his friend and collaborator Stamatiad, Macedonski signed a Literatorul article where the German military administrator August von Mackensen, who was about to lead his troops out of Romania, was presented in a positive light.",
"A controversial incident occurred soon afterwards, when, going against the counsel of his friend and collaborator Stamatiad, Macedonski signed a Literatorul article where the German military administrator August von Mackensen, who was about to lead his troops out of Romania, was presented in a positive light. In a manner deemed \"excessive\" by historian Lucian Boia, the Romanian writer was paying homage not just to Mackensen, but also, indirectly, to German Emperor Wilhelm II and the Reichsheer.",
"In a manner deemed \"excessive\" by historian Lucian Boia, the Romanian writer was paying homage not just to Mackensen, but also, indirectly, to German Emperor Wilhelm II and the Reichsheer. Soon after reading the piece, Romanian Academy member and fellow Symbolist promoter Ovid Densusianu withdrew his own nomination of Macedonski for an Academy seat.",
"Soon after reading the piece, Romanian Academy member and fellow Symbolist promoter Ovid Densusianu withdrew his own nomination of Macedonski for an Academy seat. During summer, Macedonski also joined the group of public figures who saluted the senior Conservative Germanophile Petre P. Carp (deeming Carp \"the veteran of character, honesty and Romanianism\"), and, in September, joined Ioan Slavici and Gala Galaction as a contributor to the occupation magazine Rumänien in Wort und Bild, where he prophesied an anti-French \"political renaissance\" of Romania.",
"During summer, Macedonski also joined the group of public figures who saluted the senior Conservative Germanophile Petre P. Carp (deeming Carp \"the veteran of character, honesty and Romanianism\"), and, in September, joined Ioan Slavici and Gala Galaction as a contributor to the occupation magazine Rumänien in Wort und Bild, where he prophesied an anti-French \"political renaissance\" of Romania. Alexandru Macedonski faced problems after the Romanian government resumed its control over Bucharest, and during the early years of Greater Romania.",
"Alexandru Macedonski faced problems after the Romanian government resumed its control over Bucharest, and during the early years of Greater Romania. What followed the Mackensen article, Vianu claims, was Macedonski's bellum contra omnes (\"war against all\").",
"What followed the Mackensen article, Vianu claims, was Macedonski's bellum contra omnes (\"war against all\"). However, the poet made efforts to accommodate himself with the triumphal return of the Iași authorities: in December 1918, Literatorul celebrated the extension of Romanian rule \"from the Tisza to the Dniester\" as a success of the National Liberals, paying homage to Francophile political leaders Ion I. C. Brătianu and Take Ionescu.",
"However, the poet made efforts to accommodate himself with the triumphal return of the Iași authorities: in December 1918, Literatorul celebrated the extension of Romanian rule \"from the Tisza to the Dniester\" as a success of the National Liberals, paying homage to Francophile political leaders Ion I. C. Brătianu and Take Ionescu. Macedonski also envisaged running in the 1918 election for a seat in the new Parliament (which was supposed to vote a document to replace the 1866 Constitution as the organic law), but never registered his candidature.",
"Macedonski also envisaged running in the 1918 election for a seat in the new Parliament (which was supposed to vote a document to replace the 1866 Constitution as the organic law), but never registered his candidature. According to Vianu, he had intended to create a joke political party, the \"intellectual group\", whose other member was an unnamed coffeehouse acquaintance of his. Literatorul was revived for a final time in 1919. His health deteriorated from heart disease, which is described by Vianu as an effect of constant smoking.",
"His health deteriorated from heart disease, which is described by Vianu as an effect of constant smoking. By that stage, Vianu recalls, Macedonski also had problems coming to terms with his age. His last anthumous work was the pamphlet Zaherlina (named after the Romanian version of \"Zacherlin\"; also known as Zacherlina or Zacherlina în continuare, \"Zacherlin Contd. \"), completed in 1919 and published the following year. It notably attacked Densusianu, who had become Macedonski's personal enemy.",
"It notably attacked Densusianu, who had become Macedonski's personal enemy. Some other polemical texts he had authored late in life saw print only after his death, under the title Mustrări postume către o generație neînțelegătoare (\"Posthumous Reprimands for an Obtuse Generation\"). 1920 was also the year when the People's Party cabinet attempted to pension him off from his office at the Historical Monuments Commission, but the publicized protest of Macedonski's fellow writers in Bucharest made it reconsider.",
"1920 was also the year when the People's Party cabinet attempted to pension him off from his office at the Historical Monuments Commission, but the publicized protest of Macedonski's fellow writers in Bucharest made it reconsider. Confined to his home by illness and old age, Macedonski was still writing poems, some of which later known as his Ultima verba (\"Last Words\"). The writer died on 24 November, at three o'clock in the afternoon.",
"The writer died on 24 November, at three o'clock in the afternoon. Having come to develop an addiction to floral fragrances, he was inhaling a rose petal extract during his last hours. He was buried in Bucharest's Bellu. Work General characteristics Although Alexandru Macedonski frequently changed his style and views on literary matters, a number of constants have been traced throughout his work.",
"Work General characteristics Although Alexandru Macedonski frequently changed his style and views on literary matters, a number of constants have been traced throughout his work. Thus, a common perception is that his literature had a strongly visual aspect, the notion being condensed in Cincinat Pavelescu's definition of Macedonski: \"Poet, therefore painter; painter, therefore poet.\" Traian Demetrescu too recalled that his mentor had been dreaming of becoming a visual artist, and had eventually settled for turning his son Alexis into one.",
"Traian Demetrescu too recalled that his mentor had been dreaming of becoming a visual artist, and had eventually settled for turning his son Alexis into one. This pictorial approach to writing created parallels between Macedonski and his traditionalist contemporaries Vasile Alecsandri and Barbu Ștefănescu Delavrancea. Following the tenets of Dimitrie Bolintineanu and Théophile Gautier, the writer repeatedly called for purity in versification, and upheld it as an essential requirement, while progressively seeking to verify the quality of his poetry through phonaesthetics.",
"Following the tenets of Dimitrie Bolintineanu and Théophile Gautier, the writer repeatedly called for purity in versification, and upheld it as an essential requirement, while progressively seeking to verify the quality of his poetry through phonaesthetics. A characteristic of Macedonski's style is his inventive use of Romanian. Initially influenced by Ion Heliade Rădulescu's introduction of Italian-based words to the Romanian lexis, Macedonski himself later infused poetic language with a large array of neologisms from several Romance sources.",
"Initially influenced by Ion Heliade Rădulescu's introduction of Italian-based words to the Romanian lexis, Macedonski himself later infused poetic language with a large array of neologisms from several Romance sources. Likewise, Vianu notes, Macedonski had a tendency for comparing nature with the artificial, the result of this being a \"document\" of his values. Macedonski's language alternated neologisms with barbarisms, many of which were coined by him personally.",
"Macedonski's language alternated neologisms with barbarisms, many of which were coined by him personally. They include claviculat (\"clavicled\", applied to a shoulder), împălăriată (\"enhatted\", used to define a crowd of hat-wearing tourists), and ureichii (instead of urechii, \"to the ear\" or \"of the ear\"). His narratives nevertheless take an interest in recording direct speech, used as a method of characterization.",
"His narratives nevertheless take an interest in recording direct speech, used as a method of characterization. However, Călinescu criticizes Macedonski for using a language which, \"although grammatically correct [...], seems to have been learned only recently\", as well as for not following other Romanian writers in creating a lasting poetic style. The writer's belief in the effects of sheer willpower, notably present in his comments on esoteric subjects, was itself a defining characteristic of his perspective on literature.",
"The writer's belief in the effects of sheer willpower, notably present in his comments on esoteric subjects, was itself a defining characteristic of his perspective on literature. In 1882, he wrote about progression in one's career: \"We are all poets at birth, but only those who shape themselves through study will become poets.\"",
"In 1882, he wrote about progression in one's career: \"We are all poets at birth, but only those who shape themselves through study will become poets.\" Vianu, who notes Macedonski's \"exclusivity\" and \"fanaticism\", places such statements in connection with Macedonski's personal ambition, \"pride\" and \"the willingness to carry out ventured actions [...], in stated opposition with the entire surrounding and with contempt for the foreseeable reaction.\"",
"Vianu, who notes Macedonski's \"exclusivity\" and \"fanaticism\", places such statements in connection with Macedonski's personal ambition, \"pride\" and \"the willingness to carry out ventured actions [...], in stated opposition with the entire surrounding and with contempt for the foreseeable reaction.\" Almost all periods of Macedonski's work reflect, in whole or in part, his public persona and the polemics he was involved in.",
"Almost all periods of Macedonski's work reflect, in whole or in part, his public persona and the polemics he was involved in. George Călinescu's emits a verdict on the relation between his lifetime notoriety and the public's actual awareness of his work: \"Macedonski [was] a poet well-known for being an unknown poet.\"",
"George Călinescu's emits a verdict on the relation between his lifetime notoriety and the public's actual awareness of his work: \"Macedonski [was] a poet well-known for being an unknown poet.\" According to literary critic Matei Călinescu, the innovative aspects of his impact on Romanian literature were not as much related to his \"literary ideology\", as much as to his \"contradictory spirit\" and \"essential nonconformism\".",
"According to literary critic Matei Călinescu, the innovative aspects of his impact on Romanian literature were not as much related to his \"literary ideology\", as much as to his \"contradictory spirit\" and \"essential nonconformism\". However, literary researcher Adrian Marino proposes that Macedonski was one of the first modern authors to illustrate the importance of \"dialectic unity\" through his views on art, in particular by having argued that poetry needed to be driven by \"an idea\".",
"However, literary researcher Adrian Marino proposes that Macedonski was one of the first modern authors to illustrate the importance of \"dialectic unity\" through his views on art, in particular by having argued that poetry needed to be driven by \"an idea\". Having theorized once, while questioning Junimist rigor, that \"the logic of poetry is absurdity itself [italics in the original]\", the poet also said: \"Poetry is the chaos of spirit and matter, of the cries of distress and mad laughter.",
"Having theorized once, while questioning Junimist rigor, that \"the logic of poetry is absurdity itself [italics in the original]\", the poet also said: \"Poetry is the chaos of spirit and matter, of the cries of distress and mad laughter. From the sublime to the trivial, that is what it should be.\" He later revised part of this verdict, and, making explicit his adoption of aestheticism, spoke against trivial subjects and in favor of the sublime.",
"He later revised part of this verdict, and, making explicit his adoption of aestheticism, spoke against trivial subjects and in favor of the sublime. While Macedonski also discarded the concept of \"social poetry\" not long after postulating it, its spirit, Tudor Vianu believes, can still be found in his later contributions. This, the critic notes, was owed to his \"social temperament\", whose \"fundamental experience is that of the social.\"",
"This, the critic notes, was owed to his \"social temperament\", whose \"fundamental experience is that of the social.\" Discussing this sociable and extrovert character, other critics see in the poet's life and work the imprint of \"quixotism\". Also according to Vianu, this contrasted with Macedonski's failures in communicating with the public, an experience which made him \"misanthropic\" and contributed to his ultimate vision of death as freedom.",
"Also according to Vianu, this contrasted with Macedonski's failures in communicating with the public, an experience which made him \"misanthropic\" and contributed to his ultimate vision of death as freedom. Literary historian Pompiliu Constantinescu concluded: \"Macedonski could not resign; his one martyrdom was for Art, as the sole liberation from a tormented life.\" Other commentators have defined the poet's perspective on life as a result of \"neurosis\".",
"Other commentators have defined the poet's perspective on life as a result of \"neurosis\". In Vianu's perspective, Macedonski's stance is dominated by a mixture of nostalgia, sensuality, lugubrious-grotesque imagery, and \"the lack of bashfulness for antisocial sentiments\" which compliments his sarcasm.",
"In Vianu's perspective, Macedonski's stance is dominated by a mixture of nostalgia, sensuality, lugubrious-grotesque imagery, and \"the lack of bashfulness for antisocial sentiments\" which compliments his sarcasm. In respect to the latter characteristic, Vianu notes \"no one in Romanian literature has laughed the same way as Macedonski\", whereas critic Ștefan Cazimir argues: \"[Macedonski was] lacking the sense of relativity in principles, and implicitly a sense of humor.\"",
"In respect to the latter characteristic, Vianu notes \"no one in Romanian literature has laughed the same way as Macedonski\", whereas critic Ștefan Cazimir argues: \"[Macedonski was] lacking the sense of relativity in principles, and implicitly a sense of humor.\" Cazimir adds: \"Only when he aged did [Macedonski] learn to smile\".",
"Cazimir adds: \"Only when he aged did [Macedonski] learn to smile\". George Călinescu himself believes Macedonski to have been \"fundamentally a spiritual man with lots of humor\", speculating that he was able to see the \"uselessness\" of his own scientific ventures. Critics note that, while Macedonski progressed from one stage to the other, his work fluctuated between artistic accomplishment and mediocrity.",
"Critics note that, while Macedonski progressed from one stage to the other, his work fluctuated between artistic accomplishment and mediocrity. Tudor Vianu believes \"failure in reaching originality\" and reliance on \"soppy-conventional attributes of the day\" to be especially evident wherever Macedonski tried to emulate epic poetry. He also notes that Macedonski's love-themed pieces \"cannot be listed among [his] most fortunate\". At his best, commentators note, he was one of the Romanian literature's classics.",
"At his best, commentators note, he was one of the Romanian literature's classics. Macedonski is thus perceived as the author second only to Eminescu, and as his ideal counterpart—a relation Vianu describes as \"the internal dualism [confronting] two familiar gods\". Various critics have compared Eminescu's poetic discourse with that of the Symbolist leader, concluding that the two poets often display very similar attitudes.",
"Various critics have compared Eminescu's poetic discourse with that of the Symbolist leader, concluding that the two poets often display very similar attitudes. Călinescu writes that, while Macedonski's work is largely inferior to that of his Junimist rival, it forms the best \"reply\" ever conceived within their common setting. Prima verba and other early works With Ion Catina, Vasile Păun and Grigore H. Grandea, young Macedonski belonged to late Romanian Romanticism, part of a Neoromantic generation which had for its mentors Heliade Rădulescu and Bolintineanu.",
"Prima verba and other early works With Ion Catina, Vasile Păun and Grigore H. Grandea, young Macedonski belonged to late Romanian Romanticism, part of a Neoromantic generation which had for its mentors Heliade Rădulescu and Bolintineanu. Other early influences were Pierre-Jean de Béranger and Gottfried August Bürger, together with Romanian folklore, motifs from them being adapted by Macedonski into pastorals and ballades of ca. 1870–1880.",
"1870–1880. 1870–1880. The imprint of Romanticism and such other sources was evident in Prima verba, which groups pieces that Macedonski authored in his early youth, the earliest of them being written when he was just twelve. Critics generally argue that the volume is without value. The poems display his rebellious attitude, self-victimization and strong reliance on autobiographical elements, centering on such episodes as the death of his father.",
"The poems display his rebellious attitude, self-victimization and strong reliance on autobiographical elements, centering on such episodes as the death of his father. In one piece inspired by the ideology of Heliade Rădulescu, Vianu notes, Macedonski sings \"the French Revolution's love for freedom and equality, otherwise proclaimed from his nobleman's perspective.\" It reads: In parallel, Macedonski used erotic themes, completing a series which, although written on the model of idylls, is noted for its brute details of sexual exploits.",
"It reads: In parallel, Macedonski used erotic themes, completing a series which, although written on the model of idylls, is noted for its brute details of sexual exploits. The poet probably acknowledged that posterity would reject them, and did not republish them in any of his collected poetry volumes. During his time at Oltul (1873–1875), Macedonski published a series of poems, most of which were not featured in definitive editions of his work.",
"During his time at Oltul (1873–1875), Macedonski published a series of poems, most of which were not featured in definitive editions of his work. In addition to odes written in the Italian-based version of Romanian, it includes lyrics which satirize Carol I without mentioning his name. Following his arrest, Macedonski also completed Celula mea de la Văcărești (\"My Cell in Văcărești\"), which shows his attempt to joke about the situation.",
"Following his arrest, Macedonski also completed Celula mea de la Văcărești (\"My Cell in Văcărești\"), which shows his attempt to joke about the situation. In contrast to this series, some of the pieces written during Macedonski's time in the Budjak and Northern Dobruja display a detachment from contemporary themes. At that stage, he was especially inspired by Lord Byron, whom Vianu calls \"the sovereign poet of [Macedonski's] youth.\"",
"At that stage, he was especially inspired by Lord Byron, whom Vianu calls \"the sovereign poet of [Macedonski's] youth.\" In Calul arabului, Macedonski explores exotic and Levantine settings, using symbols which announce George Coșbuc's El-Zorab, and the Venetian-themed Ithalo, which centers on episodes of betrayal and murder. Others were epic and patriotic in tone, with subjects such as Romanian victories in the Russo-Turkish War or the Imperial Roman sites along the Danube.",
"Others were epic and patriotic in tone, with subjects such as Romanian victories in the Russo-Turkish War or the Imperial Roman sites along the Danube. One of these pieces, titled Hinov after the village and stone quarry in Rasova, gives Macedonski a claim to being the first modern European poet to have used free verse, ahead of the French Symbolist Gustave Kahn.",
"One of these pieces, titled Hinov after the village and stone quarry in Rasova, gives Macedonski a claim to being the first modern European poet to have used free verse, ahead of the French Symbolist Gustave Kahn. Macedonski himself later voiced the claim, and referred to such a technique as \"symphonic verse\", \"proteic verse\", or, in honor of composer Richard Wagner, \"Wagnerian verse\". While editing Oltul, Macedonski also completed his first prose writings.",
"While editing Oltul, Macedonski also completed his first prose writings. These were the travel account Pompeia și Sorento (\"Pompeia and Sorento\", 1874) and a prison-themed story described by Vianu as \"a tearjerker\", titled Câinele din Văcărești (\"The Dog in Văcărești\", 1875). These were later complemented by other travel works, which critic Mihai Zamfir likens to the verbal experiments of Impressionist literature, pioneering in the Romanian prose poetry genre.",
"These were later complemented by other travel works, which critic Mihai Zamfir likens to the verbal experiments of Impressionist literature, pioneering in the Romanian prose poetry genre. The short comedy Gemenii was his debut work for the stage, but, according to Vianu, failed to show any merit other than a \"logical construction\" and a preview into Macedonski's use of sarcasm. These writings were followed in 1876 by a concise biography of Cârjaliul, an early 19th-century hajduk.",
"These writings were followed in 1876 by a concise biography of Cârjaliul, an early 19th-century hajduk. In line with his first Levant-themed poems, Macedonski authored the 1877 story Așa se fac banii (\"This Is How Money Is Made\", later retold in French as Comment on devient riche et puissant, \"How to Become Rich and Powerful\"), a fable of fatalism and the Muslim world—it dealt with two brothers, one hard-working and one indolent, the latter of whom earns his money through a series of serendipitous events.",
"In line with his first Levant-themed poems, Macedonski authored the 1877 story Așa se fac banii (\"This Is How Money Is Made\", later retold in French as Comment on devient riche et puissant, \"How to Become Rich and Powerful\"), a fable of fatalism and the Muslim world—it dealt with two brothers, one hard-working and one indolent, the latter of whom earns his money through a series of serendipitous events. Likewise, his verse comedy Iadeș!",
"Likewise, his verse comedy Iadeș! Likewise, his verse comedy Iadeș! borrowed its theme from the widely circulated collection of Persian literature known as Sindipa. The setting was however modern, and, as noted by French-born critic Frédéric Damé, the plot also borrowed much from Émile Augier's Gabrielle and from other morality plays of the period. Part of the text was an ironic treatment of youth in liberal professions, an attitude which Macedonski fitted in his emerging anti-bourgeois discourse.",
"Part of the text was an ironic treatment of youth in liberal professions, an attitude which Macedonski fitted in his emerging anti-bourgeois discourse. With the first poems in his Nights cycle, Macedonski still showed his allegiance to Romanticism, and in particular to Alphonse de Lamartine, and the supposed inventor of this theme, Alfred de Musset. Noaptea de noiembrie opens with a violent condemnation of his adversaries, and sees Macedonski depicting his own funeral.",
"Noaptea de noiembrie opens with a violent condemnation of his adversaries, and sees Macedonski depicting his own funeral. The poem is commended by Călinescu, who notes that, in contrast to the \"apparently trivial beginning\", the main part, where Macedonski depicts himself in flight over the Danube, brings the Romanian writer close to the accomplishments of Dante Aligheri. The writer himself claimed that the piece evidenced \"the uttermost breath of inspiration I have ever felt in my life.\"",
"The writer himself claimed that the piece evidenced \"the uttermost breath of inspiration I have ever felt in my life.\" Another poem, Noaptea de aprilie (\"April Night\"), was probably his testimony of unrequited love for Aristizza Romanescu. Realism and Naturalism By the 1880s, Macedonski developed and applied his \"social poetry\" theory, as branch of Realism.",
"Realism and Naturalism By the 1880s, Macedonski developed and applied his \"social poetry\" theory, as branch of Realism. Explained by the writer himself as a reaction against the legacy of Lamartine, it also signified his brief affiliation with the Naturalist current, a radical segment of the Realist movement. Traian Demetrescu thus noted that Macedonski cherished the works of French Naturalists and Realists such as Gustave Flaubert and Émile Zola.",
"Traian Demetrescu thus noted that Macedonski cherished the works of French Naturalists and Realists such as Gustave Flaubert and Émile Zola. During this phase, Macedonski made known his sympathy for the disinherited, from girls forced into prostitution to convicts sentenced to penal labor on salt mines, and also spoke out against the conventionalism of civil marriages. His Ocnele (\"The Salt Mines\") includes the verdict: Naturalist depiction was also the main element in his prose pieces of the early 1880s.",
"His Ocnele (\"The Salt Mines\") includes the verdict: Naturalist depiction was also the main element in his prose pieces of the early 1880s. Among them was the first of several sketch stories using still life techniques, Casa cu nr. 10 (according to Zamfir, a prime sample of Macedonski's \"ornamental\" genre). With Între cotețe, Dramă banală and later Cometa lui Odorescu (\"Odorescu's Comet\"), Macedonski speaks about his own biography.",
"With Între cotețe, Dramă banală and later Cometa lui Odorescu (\"Odorescu's Comet\"), Macedonski speaks about his own biography. The former has for a protagonist Pandele Vergea, a thirty-five-year-old man who is consumed by an avicultural obsession, who dreams of turning into a bird, and who is eventually maimed by his overcrowded fowls.",
"The former has for a protagonist Pandele Vergea, a thirty-five-year-old man who is consumed by an avicultural obsession, who dreams of turning into a bird, and who is eventually maimed by his overcrowded fowls. In contrast, Dereanu is a bohemian university student, possessed by dreams of military and political glory, and who meditates about his future in front of Heliade Rădulescu's statue or in Bucharest cafés. Also a bohemian, Odorescu announces his discovery of a comet, before being proved wrong by his aunt, an ordinary woman.",
"Also a bohemian, Odorescu announces his discovery of a comet, before being proved wrong by his aunt, an ordinary woman. Some pieces also double as memoirs: in Dramă banală, the plot revolves around Macedonski's recollection of the 1866 plebiscite. Vianu draws attention to the picturesque depiction of historic Bucharest, a contributing element in Cometa..., Casa cu nr. 10 and Între cotețe. With Unchiașul Sărăcie (also written in verse), Macedonski took Naturalist tenets into the field of drama.",
"With Unchiașul Sărăcie (also written in verse), Macedonski took Naturalist tenets into the field of drama. Frédéric Damé believed it an imitation of a play by Ernest d'Hervilly and Alfred Grévin, but, Vianu argues, the Romanian text was only loosely based on theirs: in Macedonski's adaptation, the theme became fairy tale-like, and used a speech style based on Romanian folklore.",
"Frédéric Damé believed it an imitation of a play by Ernest d'Hervilly and Alfred Grévin, but, Vianu argues, the Romanian text was only loosely based on theirs: in Macedonski's adaptation, the theme became fairy tale-like, and used a speech style based on Romanian folklore. Around the time of its completion, Macedonski was also working on a similarly loose adaptation of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, which notably had the two protagonists die in each other's arms.",
"Around the time of its completion, Macedonski was also working on a similarly loose adaptation of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, which notably had the two protagonists die in each other's arms. Another such play is 3 decemvrie (\"December 3\"), which partly retells Friedrich Ludwig Zacharias Werner's Der 24 Februar using Naturalist devices. By contrast, the homage-play Cuza-Vodă is mainly a Romantic piece, where Alexander John Cuza finds his political mission validated by legendary figures in Romanian history.",
"By contrast, the homage-play Cuza-Vodă is mainly a Romantic piece, where Alexander John Cuza finds his political mission validated by legendary figures in Romanian history. In parallel, Macedonski was using poetry to carry out his polemics. In an 1884 epigram, he reacted against Alecsandri's Fântâna Blanduziei, but, in Vianu's definition, \"his regular causticity seems to be restrained.\"",
"In an 1884 epigram, he reacted against Alecsandri's Fântâna Blanduziei, but, in Vianu's definition, \"his regular causticity seems to be restrained.\" The piece he had earlier written, presumably against Eminescu, scandalized the public by mocking the rival's mental ruin: According to Tudor Vianu, Macedonski was mostly motivated by his disappointment in Junimea, and in particular by Eminescu's response to his public persona.",
"The piece he had earlier written, presumably against Eminescu, scandalized the public by mocking the rival's mental ruin: According to Tudor Vianu, Macedonski was mostly motivated by his disappointment in Junimea, and in particular by Eminescu's response to his public persona. Vianu contends that, although Macedonski \"never was familiar with the resigned and patient attitudes\", he was \"by no means an evil man.\"",
"Vianu contends that, although Macedonski \"never was familiar with the resigned and patient attitudes\", he was \"by no means an evil man.\" On one occasion, the poet defended himself against criticism, noting that the epigram had not been specifically addressed to Eminescu, but had been labeled as such by the press, and claiming to have authored it years before its Literatorul edition. However, the later piece Viața de apoi (\"The Afterlife\") still displays resentments he harbored toward Eminescu.",
"However, the later piece Viața de apoi (\"The Afterlife\") still displays resentments he harbored toward Eminescu. By 1880–1884, particularly after the Eminescu scandal, Macedonski envisaged prioritizing French as his language of expression. According to Vianu, Macedonski had traversed \"the lowest point\" of his existence, and had been subject to \"one of the most delicate mysteries of poetic creation.\"",
"According to Vianu, Macedonski had traversed \"the lowest point\" of his existence, and had been subject to \"one of the most delicate mysteries of poetic creation.\" Among his pieces of the period is the French-language sonnet Pârle, il me dit alors (\"Speak, He Then Said to Me\"), where, Vianu notes, \"one discovers the state of mind of a poet who decides to expatriate himself.\"",
"Among his pieces of the period is the French-language sonnet Pârle, il me dit alors (\"Speak, He Then Said to Me\"), where, Vianu notes, \"one discovers the state of mind of a poet who decides to expatriate himself.\" Adoption of Symbolism According to Mihai Zamfir, at the end of his transition from the \"mimetic and egocentric\" verse to Symbolist poetry, Macedonski emerged a \"remarkable, often extraordinary\" author.",
"Adoption of Symbolism According to Mihai Zamfir, at the end of his transition from the \"mimetic and egocentric\" verse to Symbolist poetry, Macedonski emerged a \"remarkable, often extraordinary\" author. In the early 20th century, fellow poet and critic N. Davidescu described Macedonski, Ion Minulescu and other Symbolists from Wallachia as distinct from their Moldavian counterparts in both style and themes. Endorsing the theory and practice of Symbolism for much of his life, Macedonski retrospectively claimed to have been one of its first exponents.",
"Endorsing the theory and practice of Symbolism for much of his life, Macedonski retrospectively claimed to have been one of its first exponents. His version of Symbolism, critic Paul Cernat notes, clashed with that advocated by many of his contemporaries in that it rejected merit to the Decadent movement, and represented the \"decorative\" aestheticist trend of Paranassian spirit within the Romanian Symbolist current.",
"His version of Symbolism, critic Paul Cernat notes, clashed with that advocated by many of his contemporaries in that it rejected merit to the Decadent movement, and represented the \"decorative\" aestheticist trend of Paranassian spirit within the Romanian Symbolist current. Within Poezia viitorului, Macedonski invoked as his models to follow some important or secondary Symbolist and Parnassian figures: Charles Baudelaire, Joséphin Péladan, Maurice Maeterlinck, Stéphane Mallarmé and Jean Moréas.",
"Within Poezia viitorului, Macedonski invoked as his models to follow some important or secondary Symbolist and Parnassian figures: Charles Baudelaire, Joséphin Péladan, Maurice Maeterlinck, Stéphane Mallarmé and Jean Moréas. In his review of Bronzes for Mercure de France, Pierre Quillard remarked the \"irreproachable\" technique, but criticized the poet for being too indebted to both Baudelaire and Leconte de Lisle; other Symbolist figures whom Macedonski is known to have borrowed from are José María de Heredia and Iwan Gilkin.",
"In his review of Bronzes for Mercure de France, Pierre Quillard remarked the \"irreproachable\" technique, but criticized the poet for being too indebted to both Baudelaire and Leconte de Lisle; other Symbolist figures whom Macedonski is known to have borrowed from are José María de Heredia and Iwan Gilkin. While undergoing this transition, to what linguist Manuela-Delia Suciu argues is a mostly Parnassian phase, Macedonski was still referencing Naturalism, and considered it compatible with Symbolism.",
"While undergoing this transition, to what linguist Manuela-Delia Suciu argues is a mostly Parnassian phase, Macedonski was still referencing Naturalism, and considered it compatible with Symbolism. With the adoption of such tenets came a succession of Symbolist poems, where the focus is on minutely-observed objects, usually items of luxury, partly reflecting themes he had explored in the Naturalist stage. Commenting on them, Tudor Vianu argues that no such works had ever been produced in Romanian literature up until that moment.",
"Commenting on them, Tudor Vianu argues that no such works had ever been produced in Romanian literature up until that moment. In his Ospățul lui Pentaur (\"The Feast of Pentaur\"), the poet reflected on civilization itself, as reflected in inanimate opulence. The motif was also developed in descriptive prose fragments later grouped in Cartea de aur, collectively titled nuvele fără oameni (\"novellas without people\") and compared by Călinescu with the paintings of Theodor Aman.",
"The motif was also developed in descriptive prose fragments later grouped in Cartea de aur, collectively titled nuvele fără oameni (\"novellas without people\") and compared by Călinescu with the paintings of Theodor Aman. Also during that stage, Macedonski was exploring the numerous links between Symbolism, mysticism and esotericism. Earlier pieces had already come to explore macabre themes characteristic for an early branch of Symbolism.",
"Earlier pieces had already come to explore macabre themes characteristic for an early branch of Symbolism. Influenced by Maurice Rollinat, they include the somber Vaporul morții (\"The Ship of Death\") and Visul fatal (\"The Fatal Dream\").",
"Influenced by Maurice Rollinat, they include the somber Vaporul morții (\"The Ship of Death\") and Visul fatal (\"The Fatal Dream\"). Likewise, the piece titled Imnul lui Satan (\"Satan's Hymn\") was placed by critics in connection with Les Litanies de Satan (part of Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du mal), but, Vianu argues, the source of Macedonski's satanic themes may have been lodged in his own vision of the world.",
"Likewise, the piece titled Imnul lui Satan (\"Satan's Hymn\") was placed by critics in connection with Les Litanies de Satan (part of Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du mal), but, Vianu argues, the source of Macedonski's satanic themes may have been lodged in his own vision of the world. This interest also reflected in his 1893 Saul, where Cincinat Pavelescu's contribution is supposedly minimal.",
"This interest also reflected in his 1893 Saul, where Cincinat Pavelescu's contribution is supposedly minimal. Echoing satanic themes, Ernest Legouvé's dramatic version of the Medea myth (which Macedonski translated at some point in his life) and the classical work of Jean Racine, it shows the dark powers of political conflict intervening between the eponymous king and his ephebos-like protégé David, the latter of whom turns out to be the agent of spiritual revolution.",
"Echoing satanic themes, Ernest Legouvé's dramatic version of the Medea myth (which Macedonski translated at some point in his life) and the classical work of Jean Racine, it shows the dark powers of political conflict intervening between the eponymous king and his ephebos-like protégé David, the latter of whom turns out to be the agent of spiritual revolution. (\"August Night\"), outlines a monistic belief probably inspired by Rosicrucianism, stressing the unity between soul and matter and depicting Macedonski's own journey into a transcendental space.",
"(\"August Night\"), outlines a monistic belief probably inspired by Rosicrucianism, stressing the unity between soul and matter and depicting Macedonski's own journey into a transcendental space. Following the examples of Baudelaire's Les paradis artificiels, but also echoing his readings from Paul Verlaine and Théophile Gautier, Macedonski left poems dealing with narcotics and substance abuse, at least some of which reflected his personal experience with nicotine and possibly other unnamed drugs.",
"Following the examples of Baudelaire's Les paradis artificiels, but also echoing his readings from Paul Verlaine and Théophile Gautier, Macedonski left poems dealing with narcotics and substance abuse, at least some of which reflected his personal experience with nicotine and possibly other unnamed drugs. Also at that stage, Macedonski also began publishing the \"instrumentalist\" series of his Symbolist poems. This form of experimental poem was influenced by the theories of René Ghil and verified through his encounter with Remy de Gourmont's views.",
"This form of experimental poem was influenced by the theories of René Ghil and verified through his encounter with Remy de Gourmont's views. In parallel, it reaffirmed Macedonski's personal view that music and the spoken word were intimately related (a perspective notably attested by his 1906 interview with Jules Combarieu). Romanian critic Petre Răileanu theorized that such elements evidenced Macedonski's transition to \"metaliterature\". On a different level, they echoed an older influence, that of Gottfried August Bürger.",
"On a different level, they echoed an older influence, that of Gottfried August Bürger. Excelsior Despite having stated his interest in innovation, Macedonski generally displayed a more conventional style in his Excelsior volume. It included Noaptea de mai, which Vianu sees as \"one of the [vernacular's] most beautiful poems\" and as evidence of \"a clear joy, without any torment whatsoever\".",
"It included Noaptea de mai, which Vianu sees as \"one of the [vernacular's] most beautiful poems\" and as evidence of \"a clear joy, without any torment whatsoever\". A celebration of spring partly evoking folkloric themes, it was made famous by the recurring refrain, Veniți: privighetoarea cântă și liliacul e-nflorit (\"Come along: the nightingale is singing and the lilac is in blossom\").",
"A celebration of spring partly evoking folkloric themes, it was made famous by the recurring refrain, Veniți: privighetoarea cântă și liliacul e-nflorit (\"Come along: the nightingale is singing and the lilac is in blossom\"). Like Noaptea de mai, Lewki (named after and dedicated to the Snake Island), depicts intense joy, completed in this case by what Vianu calls \"the restorative touch of nature.\"",
"Like Noaptea de mai, Lewki (named after and dedicated to the Snake Island), depicts intense joy, completed in this case by what Vianu calls \"the restorative touch of nature.\" The series also returned to Levant settings and Islamic imagery, particularly in Acșam dovalar (named after the Turkish version of Witr).",
"The series also returned to Levant settings and Islamic imagery, particularly in Acșam dovalar (named after the Turkish version of Witr). Also noted within the volume is his short \"Modern Psalms\" series, including the piece Iertare (\"Forgiveness\"), which is addressed to God: Excelsior also included Noaptea de ianuarie (\"January Night\"), which encapsulates one of his best-known political statements. Anghelescu reads it as a \"meditation on disillusionment that culminates in a vitality-laden exhortation of action.\"",
"Anghelescu reads it as a \"meditation on disillusionment that culminates in a vitality-laden exhortation of action.\" Its anti-bourgeois attitude, literary historian Z. Ornea argues, was one of the meeting points between Macedonski and Junimism. In what is seen as its most acid section, the text notably reads: At the same time as being engaged in his most violent polemics, Macedonski produced meditative and serene poems, which were later judged to be among his best.",
"In what is seen as its most acid section, the text notably reads: At the same time as being engaged in his most violent polemics, Macedonski produced meditative and serene poems, which were later judged to be among his best. Noaptea de decemvrie is the synthesis of his main themes and influences, rated by commentators as his \"masterpiece\".",
"Noaptea de decemvrie is the synthesis of his main themes and influences, rated by commentators as his \"masterpiece\". Partly based on an earlier poem (Meka, named after the Arab city), it tells the story of an emir, who, left unsatisfied by the shallow and opulent life he leads in Baghdad, decides to leave on pilgrimage.",
"Partly based on an earlier poem (Meka, named after the Arab city), it tells the story of an emir, who, left unsatisfied by the shallow and opulent life he leads in Baghdad, decides to leave on pilgrimage. While critics agree that it is to be read as an allegory of Macedonski's biography, the ironic text does not make it clear whether the emir actually reaches his target, nor if the central metaphor of Mecca as a mirage means that the goal is not worth sacrificing for.",
"While critics agree that it is to be read as an allegory of Macedonski's biography, the ironic text does not make it clear whether the emir actually reaches his target, nor if the central metaphor of Mecca as a mirage means that the goal is not worth sacrificing for. While Mircea Anghelescu comments that Macedonski illustrates \"unusual tension\" by rigorously amplifying references to the color red, seen as a symbol of suffering, Călinescu notes that the sequence of lyrics has a studied \"delirious\" element, and illustrates this with the quote: Late prose works In prose, his focus shifted back to the purely descriptive, or led Alexandru Macedonski into the realm of fantasy literature.",
"While Mircea Anghelescu comments that Macedonski illustrates \"unusual tension\" by rigorously amplifying references to the color red, seen as a symbol of suffering, Călinescu notes that the sequence of lyrics has a studied \"delirious\" element, and illustrates this with the quote: Late prose works In prose, his focus shifted back to the purely descriptive, or led Alexandru Macedonski into the realm of fantasy literature. These stories, most of which were eventually collected in Cartea de aur, include memoirs of his childhood in the Amaradia region, nostalgic portrayals of the Oltenian boyar environment, idealized depictions of Cuza's reign, as well as a retrospective view on the end of Rom slavery (found in his piece Verigă țiganul, \"Verigă the Gypsy\").",
"These stories, most of which were eventually collected in Cartea de aur, include memoirs of his childhood in the Amaradia region, nostalgic portrayals of the Oltenian boyar environment, idealized depictions of Cuza's reign, as well as a retrospective view on the end of Rom slavery (found in his piece Verigă țiganul, \"Verigă the Gypsy\"). The best known among them is Pe drum de poștă, a third-person narrative and thinly disguised memoir, where the characters are an adolescent Alexandru Macedonski and his father, General Macedonski.",
"The best known among them is Pe drum de poștă, a third-person narrative and thinly disguised memoir, where the characters are an adolescent Alexandru Macedonski and his father, General Macedonski. The idyllic outlook present in such stories is one of the common meeting points between his version of Symbolism and traditionalist authors such as Barbu Ștefănescu Delavrancea.",
"The idyllic outlook present in such stories is one of the common meeting points between his version of Symbolism and traditionalist authors such as Barbu Ștefănescu Delavrancea. Vianu indicates the connection, but adds: \"Macedonski descended, through memory, in the world of the village, with the tremor of regret for the peace and plenty of the old settlements, so well polished that each person, landowner as well as peasant, lived within a framework that nature itself seemed to have granted.",
"Vianu indicates the connection, but adds: \"Macedonski descended, through memory, in the world of the village, with the tremor of regret for the peace and plenty of the old settlements, so well polished that each person, landowner as well as peasant, lived within a framework that nature itself seemed to have granted. [...] in depicting rural environments, Macedonski presents the point of view of a conservative.\"",
"[...] in depicting rural environments, Macedonski presents the point of view of a conservative.\" Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu, a fantasy novel and extended prose poem, was celebrated by Macedonski's disciple Oreste Georgescu as \"the new religion of humanity\". The volume carried the mocking dedication \"To France, this Chaldea\" (thought by Vianu to reference Péladan's views on the decay of civilization).",
"The volume carried the mocking dedication \"To France, this Chaldea\" (thought by Vianu to reference Péladan's views on the decay of civilization). It has affinities with writings by the Italian Decadent author Gabriele d'Annunzio, as well as echoes from Anatole France. The hero Thalassa, a Greek boy, works as a lighthouse-keeper on Snake Island, fantasizing about the golden age of mankind. His fate is changed by a shipwreck, during which a girl, Caliope, reaches the island's shore.",
"His fate is changed by a shipwreck, during which a girl, Caliope, reaches the island's shore. Thalassa and Caliope fall in love, but are mysteriously unable to seal their union through sexual intercourse: the boy attributes this failure to the \"curse\" of human individuality. Seeking to achieve a perfect union with his lover, he eventually kills her and drowns himself in the Black Sea.",
"Seeking to achieve a perfect union with his lover, he eventually kills her and drowns himself in the Black Sea. In her review for Mercure de France, novelist Rachilde argued: \"Very difficult to read, entirely developed in Symbolist manner [and] almost impossible to recount, obviously written in French but nevertheless obviously conceived by a Romanian (and what a spirited Romanian!).\" Rachilde believed the work to display \"the fragrance of Oriental spices [...] rose marmalade and a slice of bear meat.\"",
"Rachilde believed the work to display \"the fragrance of Oriental spices [...] rose marmalade and a slice of bear meat.\" According to Vianu, the book builds on Macedonski's earlier themes, replacing Naturalist observation with a metaphysical speculation about idealism. One other aspect of Macedonski's stylistic exploration took him to attempt recording synesthesia. His manuscript is written in ink of several colors, which, he believed, was to help readers get a full sense of its meaning.",
"His manuscript is written in ink of several colors, which, he believed, was to help readers get a full sense of its meaning. Like other synesthetic aspects of his novel, this is believed to have been inspired by the techniques of Baudelaire and Arthur Rimbaud. Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu is noted for its numerous cultural references, and especially for using a wide range of metaphors. Such aspects have been reviewed negatively by modern critics.",
"Such aspects have been reviewed negatively by modern critics. Such aspects have been reviewed negatively by modern critics. Tudor Vianu writes: \"the poet makes such waste of gemstones that we feel like saying some of them must be false\", while Călinescu, who notes that some fragments reveal \"an incomparable artist\" and \"a professional metaphorist\", notes that \"in the end, such virtuosities become a bore.\"",
"Tudor Vianu writes: \"the poet makes such waste of gemstones that we feel like saying some of them must be false\", while Călinescu, who notes that some fragments reveal \"an incomparable artist\" and \"a professional metaphorist\", notes that \"in the end, such virtuosities become a bore.\" According to Manuela-Delia Suciu, Thalassa is \"prolix\" and \"too polished\", traits believed by Zamfir to be less irritating in the Romanian version.",
"According to Manuela-Delia Suciu, Thalassa is \"prolix\" and \"too polished\", traits believed by Zamfir to be less irritating in the Romanian version. Critic Cornel Moraru found that, in the background, Thalassa, a \"great Symbolist novel\", confronts Ancient Greek and Christian mythology, but \"abuses\" the religious vocabulary. Another part of the novel's imagery is erotic, and includes an elaborate and aestheticized description of male genitalia. The four-act tragicomedy Le Fou?",
"The four-act tragicomedy Le Fou? The four-act tragicomedy Le Fou? is seen by Vianu as comparable in subject matter and depth to Enrico IV, a celebrated 1922 play by Luigi Pirandello. The plot reflects Macedonski's confrontation with his critics, and his acceptance of the fact that people saw in him an eccentric. The central figure is a banker, Dorval, who identifies himself with Napoleon Bonaparte to the point where he sees episodes in his biography as mirrors of early 19th-century battles.",
"The central figure is a banker, Dorval, who identifies himself with Napoleon Bonaparte to the point where he sees episodes in his biography as mirrors of early 19th-century battles. Unlike patients with dissociative identity disorder, Dorval does not actually imagine his life has become Napoleon's, but rather joins with him on an intellectual level. Witnesses of this disorder are divided into family, who seek to have Dorval committed, and close friends, who come to see his take on life as a manifestation of genius.",
"Witnesses of this disorder are divided into family, who seek to have Dorval committed, and close friends, who come to see his take on life as a manifestation of genius. The spectator is led to believe that the latter interpretation is the correct one. At a larger level, Vianu indicates, the play is also Macedonski's critique of capitalism, and, using Parisian argot, makes allusive references to famous people of the day.",
"At a larger level, Vianu indicates, the play is also Macedonski's critique of capitalism, and, using Parisian argot, makes allusive references to famous people of the day. Particularly during the 1890s, Macedonski was a follower of Edgar Allan Poe and of Gothic fiction in general, producing a Romanian version of Poe's Metzengerstein story, urging his own disciples to translate other such pieces, and adopting \"Gothic\" themes in his original prose.",
"Particularly during the 1890s, Macedonski was a follower of Edgar Allan Poe and of Gothic fiction in general, producing a Romanian version of Poe's Metzengerstein story, urging his own disciples to translate other such pieces, and adopting \"Gothic\" themes in his original prose. Indebted to Jules Verne and H. G. Wells, Macedonski also wrote a number of science fiction stories, including the 1913 Oceania-Pacific-Dreadnought, which depicts civilization on the verge of a crisis.",
"Indebted to Jules Verne and H. G. Wells, Macedonski also wrote a number of science fiction stories, including the 1913 Oceania-Pacific-Dreadnought, which depicts civilization on the verge of a crisis. The gigantic commercial ship is maintained by a banker's union, and designed to grant travelers access to every pleasure imaginable; this causes the working-class inhabited cities on the continent to fall into a state of neglect and permanent violence, the climax of the story occurring with the bankers' decision to destroy their creation.",
"The gigantic commercial ship is maintained by a banker's union, and designed to grant travelers access to every pleasure imaginable; this causes the working-class inhabited cities on the continent to fall into a state of neglect and permanent violence, the climax of the story occurring with the bankers' decision to destroy their creation. Oceania-Pacific-Dreadnought is noted for anticipating television, the ship being equipped with electrically-operated \"large and clear mirrors\" that display \"images from various parts of the Earth\".",
"Oceania-Pacific-Dreadnought is noted for anticipating television, the ship being equipped with electrically-operated \"large and clear mirrors\" that display \"images from various parts of the Earth\". Macedonski was by then interested in the development of cinema, and authored a silent film screenplay based on Comment on devient riche et puissant. Final transition Late in his life, Macedonski had come to reject Symbolist tenets, defining them as \"imbecilities\" designed for \"the uncultured\".",
"Final transition Late in his life, Macedonski had come to reject Symbolist tenets, defining them as \"imbecilities\" designed for \"the uncultured\". Ultima verba, the very last poems to be written by him, show him coming to terms with himself, and are treasured for their serene or intensely joyous vision of life and human accomplishment. The rondels written at this stage, known collectively as Poema rondelurilor, are one of the first instances where the technique is used locally.",
"The rondels written at this stage, known collectively as Poema rondelurilor, are one of the first instances where the technique is used locally. Like those written previously by Literatoruls Pavelescu and Alexandru Obedenaru, they are based on an earlier motif present in Macedonski's work, that of recurring refrains. Many of the pieces document the poet's final discoveries.",
"Many of the pieces document the poet's final discoveries. One of them is Rondelul crinilor (\"The Rondel of the Lilies\"), which proclaims fragrances as the source of beatitude: În crini e beția cea rară, \"In lilies one finds that exceptional drunkenness\".",
"One of them is Rondelul crinilor (\"The Rondel of the Lilies\"), which proclaims fragrances as the source of beatitude: În crini e beția cea rară, \"In lilies one finds that exceptional drunkenness\". According to Ștefan Cazimir, Rondelul orașului mic (\"The Rondel of the Small Town\") shows a \"likable wave of irony and self-irony\", and the poet himself coming to terms with \"the existence of a world who ignores him.\"",
"According to Ștefan Cazimir, Rondelul orașului mic (\"The Rondel of the Small Town\") shows a \"likable wave of irony and self-irony\", and the poet himself coming to terms with \"the existence of a world who ignores him.\" Proof of his combativeness was still to be found in Rondelul contimporanilor (\"The Rondel of the Contemporaries\"). The poet's take on life is also outlined in his final play, Moartea lui Dante.",
"The poet's take on life is also outlined in his final play, Moartea lui Dante. Călinescu writes that, by then, Macedonski was \"obsessed\" with the Divine Comedy. Macedonski identifies with his hero, Dante Aligheri, and formulates his own poetic testament while identifying World War I Romania with the medieval Republic of Florence. Tudor Vianu remarks: \"In Dante's great self-pride, Macedonski found his own.\"",
"Tudor Vianu remarks: \"In Dante's great self-pride, Macedonski found his own.\" He sees the play as the best such work to have been produced by Macedonski, whereas Călinescu deems it \"puerile\". Zamfir believes Moartea... to be a significant text in Macedonski's bibliography, \"one of the first samples of Romanian Symbolist theater\", and as such indebted mainly to Maeterlinck.",
"Zamfir believes Moartea... to be a significant text in Macedonski's bibliography, \"one of the first samples of Romanian Symbolist theater\", and as such indebted mainly to Maeterlinck. Vianu argues that the play may document the Romanian writer's late rejection of France, through the protagonist's statement: \"the French are a gentle people, but their soul is different from mine.\" A number of rondels show Macedonski's late fascination with the Far East, China and Japan.",
"A number of rondels show Macedonski's late fascination with the Far East, China and Japan. George Călinescu believes that this is to be understood as one item in a large antithesis, the other being Decadent Paris, which one rondel describes as \"hell\". The Orient, viewed as the space of serenity, is believed by Macedonski to be peopled by toy-like women and absent opium-smokers, and to be kept orderly by a stable meritocracy.",
"The Orient, viewed as the space of serenity, is believed by Macedonski to be peopled by toy-like women and absent opium-smokers, and to be kept orderly by a stable meritocracy. The Chinese-themed poem Tsing-Ly-Tsi, which Cazimir notes for its discreet, \"almost imperceptible\", humor, reads: Legacy Macedonski's school and its early impact Alexandru Macedonski repeatedly expressed the thought that, unlike his contemporaries, posterity would judge him a great poet.",
"The Chinese-themed poem Tsing-Ly-Tsi, which Cazimir notes for its discreet, \"almost imperceptible\", humor, reads: Legacy Macedonski's school and its early impact Alexandru Macedonski repeatedly expressed the thought that, unlike his contemporaries, posterity would judge him a great poet. With the exception of Mihail Dragomirescu, conservative literary critics tended to ignore Macedonski while he was alive.",
"With the exception of Mihail Dragomirescu, conservative literary critics tended to ignore Macedonski while he was alive. The first such figure was Junimeas Titu Maiorescu, who believed him to be a minor author, referring to him only a couple of times in his books and usually ridiculing him in his articles. One of these texts, the 1886 essay Poeți și critici (\"Poets and Critics\"), spoke of Macedonski as having \"vitiated\" poetry, a notion he also applied to Constantin D. Aricescu and Aron Densușianu.",
"One of these texts, the 1886 essay Poeți și critici (\"Poets and Critics\"), spoke of Macedonski as having \"vitiated\" poetry, a notion he also applied to Constantin D. Aricescu and Aron Densușianu. Especially radical pronouncements were left by the traditionalist authors Ilarie Chendi and Nicolae Iorga. Chendi wrote of Macedonski being \"the caricature of a man\", having \"a feverish mind\" and being motivated by \"the brutal instinct of revenge\".",
"Chendi wrote of Macedonski being \"the caricature of a man\", having \"a feverish mind\" and being motivated by \"the brutal instinct of revenge\". Iorga, who became better known as a historian, later retracted some of the statements he had made against the poet during the 1890s. Among the younger prominent traditionalist writers was the Transylvanian-born Lucian Blaga, who may have purposefully avoided Macedonski during his first visit to Bucharest in 1920.",
"Among the younger prominent traditionalist writers was the Transylvanian-born Lucian Blaga, who may have purposefully avoided Macedonski during his first visit to Bucharest in 1920. Although more sympathetic to the Symbolist author, both Dragomirescu and Gheorghe Adamescu tended to describe him as exclusively the product of French and Decadent literature, while Dragomirescu's disciple Ion Trivale denied all merit to Macedonski's literature.",
"Although more sympathetic to the Symbolist author, both Dragomirescu and Gheorghe Adamescu tended to describe him as exclusively the product of French and Decadent literature, while Dragomirescu's disciple Ion Trivale denied all merit to Macedonski's literature. According to Tudor Vianu, Macedonski's intellectual friends (among them Anghel Demetriescu, George Ionescu-Gion, Bonifaciu Florescu, Grigore Tocilescu and V. A. Urechia) were largely responsible for passing down \"a better and truer image of the abused poet.\"",
"According to Tudor Vianu, Macedonski's intellectual friends (among them Anghel Demetriescu, George Ionescu-Gion, Bonifaciu Florescu, Grigore Tocilescu and V. A. Urechia) were largely responsible for passing down \"a better and truer image of the abused poet.\" It was also due to Dragomirescu that Noaptea de decemvrie was included in a literature textbook for final grade high school students, which some argue is the poet's first-ever presence in the Romanian curriculum.",
"It was also due to Dragomirescu that Noaptea de decemvrie was included in a literature textbook for final grade high school students, which some argue is the poet's first-ever presence in the Romanian curriculum. According to historian Lucian Nastasă, the poet's wife Ana Rallet behaved like an \"excellent secretary\" while Macedonski was still alive, and thereafter helped sort and edit his manuscript while maintaining \"an actual cult\" for her husband.",
"According to historian Lucian Nastasă, the poet's wife Ana Rallet behaved like an \"excellent secretary\" while Macedonski was still alive, and thereafter helped sort and edit his manuscript while maintaining \"an actual cult\" for her husband. Macedonski's cosmopolitan circle was the center of a literary alternative to the prevailing conservatism and Eminescu-like traditionalism of the day, the latter tendency being grouped around Sămănătorul magazine for part of Macedonski's lifetime.",
"Macedonski's cosmopolitan circle was the center of a literary alternative to the prevailing conservatism and Eminescu-like traditionalism of the day, the latter tendency being grouped around Sămănătorul magazine for part of Macedonski's lifetime. While Macedonski himself maintained his links with Romanticism and Classicism, commentators have retrospectively recognized in him the main person who announced Romania's first wave in modernist literature. Many first-generation disciples were to part with his guidelines early on, either by radicalizing their Symbolism or by stepping out of its confines.",
"Many first-generation disciples were to part with his guidelines early on, either by radicalizing their Symbolism or by stepping out of its confines. Traian Demetrescu was one of the first to do so, focusing on his commitment to socialism—Vianu notes that the split took place \"without coldness and the heart's versatility\" on Macedonski's part. Literary researcher Lidia Bote argues that it was Petică who first illustrated mature Symbolism, emancipating himself from Macedonski's eclectic tendencies after 1902.",
"Literary researcher Lidia Bote argues that it was Petică who first illustrated mature Symbolism, emancipating himself from Macedonski's eclectic tendencies after 1902. By that time, the Symbolist authors Dimitrie Anghel and N. D. Cocea used Macedonski's fantasy prose as an inspiration for their own, and N. Davidescu was borrowing from his mystical discourse. The pictorial and joyous elements in Macedonski's poems were also serving to inspire Stamatiad, Eugeniu Ștefănescu-Est and Horia Furtună.",
"The pictorial and joyous elements in Macedonski's poems were also serving to inspire Stamatiad, Eugeniu Ștefănescu-Est and Horia Furtună. In the early stages of his career, Ion Pillat wrote pieces which echo his master's choice of exotic themes. A more discreet legacy of Macedonski's ideas was also preserved inside the conservative and traditionalist camps. Although his separation from Literatorul was drastic, and led him to rally with Junimea, Duiliu Zamfirescu built on some elements borrowed from the magazine's ideology, incorporating them into his literary vision.",
"Although his separation from Literatorul was drastic, and led him to rally with Junimea, Duiliu Zamfirescu built on some elements borrowed from the magazine's ideology, incorporating them into his literary vision. Many of Macedonski's most devoted disciples, whom he himself had encouraged, have been rated by various critics as secondary or mediocre.",
"Many of Macedonski's most devoted disciples, whom he himself had encouraged, have been rated by various critics as secondary or mediocre. This is the case of Theodor Cornel (who made his name as an art critic), Mircea Demetriade, Oreste Georgescu, Alexandru Obedenaru, Stoenescu, Stamatiad, Carol Scrob, Dumitru Karnabatt and Donar Munteanu. Another such minor author was the self-styled \"hermeticist\" Alexandru Petroff, who expanded on Macedonski's ideas about esoteric knowledge.",
"Another such minor author was the self-styled \"hermeticist\" Alexandru Petroff, who expanded on Macedonski's ideas about esoteric knowledge. Macedonski's eldest son Alexis continued to pursue a career as a painter. His son Soare followed in his footsteps, receiving acclaim from art critics of the period. Soare's short career ended in 1928, before he turned nineteen, but his works have been featured in several retrospective exhibitions, including one organized by Alexis.",
"Soare's short career ended in 1928, before he turned nineteen, but his works have been featured in several retrospective exhibitions, including one organized by Alexis. Alexis later experimented with scenic design as an assistant to French filmmaker René Clair; his later life, shrouded in mystery and intrigue, led him to a career in Fascist Italy and Francoist Spain. Another of Alexandru Macedonski's sons, Nikita, was also a poet and painter. For a while in the 1920s, he edited the literary supplement of Universul newspaper.",
"For a while in the 1920s, he edited the literary supplement of Universul newspaper. Two years after her father's death, Anna Macedonski married poet Mihail Celarianu. In addition to his polemical portrayals in works by Alecsandri, Eminescu and Caragiale, Macedonski's career was an inspiration for various authors. His image acquired mythical proportions for his followers. Like Demetrescu, many of them left memoirs on Macedonski which were published before or after his death.",
"Like Demetrescu, many of them left memoirs on Macedonski which were published before or after his death. His admirers were writing poetry about him as early as 1874, and, in 1892, Cincinat Pavelescu published a rhapsodizing portrait of Macedonski as \"the Artist\". Pavelescu, Dragoslav and Petică paid homage to the writer by leaving recollections which describe him as a devoted and considerate friend. In contrast, traditionalist poet Alexandru Vlahuță authored an 1889 sketch story in which Macedonski (referred to as Polidor) is the object of derision.",
"In contrast, traditionalist poet Alexandru Vlahuță authored an 1889 sketch story in which Macedonski (referred to as Polidor) is the object of derision. Late recognition Actual recognition of the poet as a classic came only in the interwar period. A final volume of never before published poems, Poema rondelurilor, saw print in 1927. Macedonski's work was analyzed and popularized by a new generation of critics, among them Vianu and George Călinescu.",
"Macedonski's work was analyzed and popularized by a new generation of critics, among them Vianu and George Călinescu. The post-Junimist modernist critic Eugen Lovinescu also commented favorably on Macedonski's work, but overall, Călinescu asserts, his opinions on the subject gave little insight into what he actually thought about the poet. He also recounts that Macedonski himself treated Lovinescu with disdain, and once called him \"a canary\". The emerging avant-garde, although originating from Symbolism, progressively took its distance from Literatoruls legacy.",
"The emerging avant-garde, although originating from Symbolism, progressively took its distance from Literatoruls legacy. Initially, Macedonski's contribution to experimental literature was continued within formal Symbolism by his disciples Demetriade, Iuliu Cezar Săvescu and Ion Minulescu. The latter was particularly indebted to Macedonski in matters of vision and language. In 1904, Tudor Arghezi also left behind the Literatorul circle and its tenets, eventually arriving to the fusion of modernist, traditionalist and avant-garde elements. However, he remained indebted to Macedonski's example in his descriptive prose.",
"However, he remained indebted to Macedonski's example in his descriptive prose. The 1912 Simbolul magazine, which moved between conventional Symbolism and the emerging avant-garde, also published an Imagist-inspired parody of Noaptea de mai, signed by Adrian Maniu. A co-founder of Dadaism during the late 1910s, Tristan Tzara is believed by Swedish researcher Tom Sandqvist to have been inspired more or less directly by Macedonski, and in particular by the latter's thoughts on the relation between absurdity and poetry.",
"A co-founder of Dadaism during the late 1910s, Tristan Tzara is believed by Swedish researcher Tom Sandqvist to have been inspired more or less directly by Macedonski, and in particular by the latter's thoughts on the relation between absurdity and poetry. In his debut poems, Benjamin Fondane-Barbu Fundoianu occasionally followed Macedonski, but, by 1920, stated that the Symbolist doyen merely imitated French models to the point of \"parasitism\". Several avant-garde authors returned to Macedonski's literary guidelines by the late 1920s, as they themselves grew more moderate.",
"Several avant-garde authors returned to Macedonski's literary guidelines by the late 1920s, as they themselves grew more moderate. This was the case of Maniu and Ion Vinea, both of whom published prose works in the line of Thalassa. The same work is also believed to have influenced two non-avant-garde authors, Davidescu and Mateiu Caragiale, who remained close to the tenets Symbolism.",
"The same work is also believed to have influenced two non-avant-garde authors, Davidescu and Mateiu Caragiale, who remained close to the tenets Symbolism. Mateiu was the illegitimate son of Ion Luca Caragiale, but, Vianu notes, could withstand comparisons with his father's rival: the eccentricities were complementary, although Mateiu Caragiale shied away from public affairs.",
"Mateiu was the illegitimate son of Ion Luca Caragiale, but, Vianu notes, could withstand comparisons with his father's rival: the eccentricities were complementary, although Mateiu Caragiale shied away from public affairs. In the same post-Symbolist generation, Celarianu (Macedonski's posthumous son-in-law), George Bacovia and Păstorel Teodoreanu also built on Macedonski's legacy, being later joined in this by the Bessarabian linguist Eugenio Coșeriu (who, in his early poetic career, imitated Macedonski's rondel style).",
"In the same post-Symbolist generation, Celarianu (Macedonski's posthumous son-in-law), George Bacovia and Păstorel Teodoreanu also built on Macedonski's legacy, being later joined in this by the Bessarabian linguist Eugenio Coșeriu (who, in his early poetic career, imitated Macedonski's rondel style). In the late 1920s, when their form of modern psalms inspired Albanian-Romanian poet Aleksander Stavre Drenova, Macedonski and Arghezi both made an indirect impact on Albanian literature.",
"In the late 1920s, when their form of modern psalms inspired Albanian-Romanian poet Aleksander Stavre Drenova, Macedonski and Arghezi both made an indirect impact on Albanian literature. Macedonski's status as one of Romanian literature's greats was consolidated later in the 20th century. By this time, Noaptea de decemvrie had become one of the most recognizable literary works to be taught in Romanian schools.",
"By this time, Noaptea de decemvrie had become one of the most recognizable literary works to be taught in Romanian schools. During the first years of Communist Romania, the Socialist Realist current condemned Symbolism (see Censorship in Communist Romania), but spoke favorably of Macedonski's critique of the bourgeoisie. A while after this episode, Marin Sorescu, one of the best-known modernist poets of his generation, wrote a homage-parody of the Nights cycle.",
"A while after this episode, Marin Sorescu, one of the best-known modernist poets of his generation, wrote a homage-parody of the Nights cycle. Included in the volume Singur între poeți (\"Alone among Poets\"), it is seen by critic Mircea Scarlat as Sorescu's most representative such pieces. Also then, Noaptea de decemvrie partly inspired Ștefan Augustin Doinaș' ballad Mistrețul cu colți de argint.",
"Also then, Noaptea de decemvrie partly inspired Ștefan Augustin Doinaș' ballad Mistrețul cu colți de argint. In the 1990s, Ștefan Agopian took the Nights cycle as inspiration for an erotic short story, while Pavel Șușară adapted his rondels to a modernized setting. Macedonski's prose also influenced younger writers such as Angelo Mitchievici and Anca Maria Mosora. In neighboring Moldova, Macedonski influenced the Neosymbolism of Aureliu Busuioc.",
"In neighboring Moldova, Macedonski influenced the Neosymbolism of Aureliu Busuioc. A magazine by the name of Literatorul, which claims to represent the legacy of Macedonski's publication, was founded in Romania in 1991, being edited by writers Sorescu, Fănuș Neagu and Mircea Micu. In 2006, the Romanian Academy granted posthumous membership to Alexandru Macedonski. Macedonski's poems had a sizable impact on Romania's popular culture.",
"Macedonski's poems had a sizable impact on Romania's popular culture. During communism, Noaptea de mai was the basis for a successful musical adaptation, composed by Marian Nistor and sung by Mirabela Dauer. Tudor Gheorghe, a singer-songwriter inspired by American folk revival, also used some of Macedonski's texts as lyrics to his melodies. In the 2000s, the refrain of Noaptea de mai was mixed into a manea parody by Adrian Copilul Minune.",
"In the 2000s, the refrain of Noaptea de mai was mixed into a manea parody by Adrian Copilul Minune. Portrayals, visual tributes and landmarks Although his poetic theories were largely without echoes in Romanian art, Macedonski captured the interest of several modern artists, including, early on, cartoonist Nicolae Petrescu Găină. Alongside other writers who visited Terasa Oteteleșanu, Macedonski was notably portrayed the drawings of celebrated Romanian artist Iosif Iser. He is also depicted in a 1918 lithograph by Jean Alexandru Steriadi, purportedly Steriadi's only Symbolist work.",
"He is also depicted in a 1918 lithograph by Jean Alexandru Steriadi, purportedly Steriadi's only Symbolist work. Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu inspired a series of reliefs, designed by Alexis Macedonski and hosted in his father's house in Dorobanți. During the 1910s, busts of him were completed by two sculptors, Alexandru Severin and Friedrich Storck, one of Storck's variants being hosted by the Ioan Cantacuzino collection.",
"During the 1910s, busts of him were completed by two sculptors, Alexandru Severin and Friedrich Storck, one of Storck's variants being hosted by the Ioan Cantacuzino collection. In 1919, Theodor Burcă was also inspired to complete another bust, and, during World War II, was commissioned by Mayor of Bucharest Ioan Rășcanu to build a Macedonski Monument in the Grădina Icoanei park, but this was never completed.",
"In 1919, Theodor Burcă was also inspired to complete another bust, and, during World War II, was commissioned by Mayor of Bucharest Ioan Rășcanu to build a Macedonski Monument in the Grădina Icoanei park, but this was never completed. Constantin Piliuță, a painter active in the second half of the 20th century, made Macedonski the subject of a portrait in series dedicated to Romanian cultural figures (also depicted were Nicolae Iorga, Ștefan Luchian and Vianu).",
"Constantin Piliuță, a painter active in the second half of the 20th century, made Macedonski the subject of a portrait in series dedicated to Romanian cultural figures (also depicted were Nicolae Iorga, Ștefan Luchian and Vianu). In 1975, a bust of Macedonski, the work of Constantin Foamete, was unveiled in Craiova. Of Macedonski's numerous residences, the one in Dorobanți was demolished when the Academy of Economic Studies (ASE) was expanded. A commemorative plaque was later put up near the spot.",
"A commemorative plaque was later put up near the spot. Macedonski's childhood home in Goiești passed into state property under communism, and was in turn a school, a community home and a Macedonski Museum, before falling into neglect after the Romanian Revolution of 1989. Several streets named in honor of Alexandru Macedonski, notably in Bucharest (by the ASE), Craiova, Cluj-Napoca and Timișoara.",
"Several streets named in honor of Alexandru Macedonski, notably in Bucharest (by the ASE), Craiova, Cluj-Napoca and Timișoara. Works published anthumously Prima verba (poetry, 1872) Ithalo (poem, 1878) Poezii (poetry, 1881/1882) Parizina (translation of Parisina, 1882) Iadeș!",
"Works published anthumously Prima verba (poetry, 1872) Ithalo (poem, 1878) Poezii (poetry, 1881/1882) Parizina (translation of Parisina, 1882) Iadeș! (comedy, 1882) Dramă banală (short story, 1887) Saul (with Cincinat Pavelescu; tragedy, 1893) Excelsior (poetry, 1895) Bronzes (poetry, 1897) (essay, 1898) Cartea de aur (prose, 1902) Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu (novel, 1906; 1914) Flori sacre (poetry, 1912) Zaherlina (essay, 1920) Notes References Mircea Anghelescu, chronological table, preface and critical references, in Macedonski, Poemele \"Nopților\", Editura Albatros, Bucharest, 1972, p. 7-31, 137–140.",
"(comedy, 1882) Dramă banală (short story, 1887) Saul (with Cincinat Pavelescu; tragedy, 1893) Excelsior (poetry, 1895) Bronzes (poetry, 1897) (essay, 1898) Cartea de aur (prose, 1902) Thalassa, Le Calvaire de feu (novel, 1906; 1914) Flori sacre (poetry, 1912) Zaherlina (essay, 1920) Notes References Mircea Anghelescu, chronological table, preface and critical references, in Macedonski, Poemele \"Nopților\", Editura Albatros, Bucharest, 1972, p. 7-31, 137–140. Nicolae Balotă, Arte poetice ale secolului XX: ipostaze românești și străine, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1976.",
"Nicolae Balotă, Arte poetice ale secolului XX: ipostaze românești și străine, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1976. Lucian Boia, \"Germanofilii\". Elita intelectuală românească în anii Primului Război Mondial, Humanitas, Bucharest, 2010. George Călinescu, Istoria literaturii române de la origini pînă în prezent, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1986 Paul Cernat, Avangarda românească și complexul periferiei: primul val, Cartea Românească, Bucharest, 2007. Șerban Cioculescu, Caragialiana, Editura Eminescu, Bucharest, 1974.",
"Șerban Cioculescu, Caragialiana, Editura Eminescu, Bucharest, 1974. Péter Krasztev, \"From a Deadlocked Present into an Imagined Past\", in the Central European University's East Central Europe = L'Europe du Centre-Est, Vol. 26, Nr. 2/1999, p. 33-52 \"From Modernization to Modernist Literature\", in Marcel Cornis-Pope, John Neubauer (eds. ), History of the Literary Cultures of East-Central Europe, Vol. 3, John Benjamins, Amsterdam & Philadelphia, 2004, p. 332-348.",
"3, John Benjamins, Amsterdam & Philadelphia, 2004, p. 332-348. Lucian Nastasă, Intelectualii și promovarea socială (pentru o morfologie a câmpului universitar), Editura Nereamia Napocae, Cluj-Napoca, 2003; e-book version at the Romanian Academy's George Bariț Institute of History Z. Ornea, Junimea și junimismul, Vol. II, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1998. Perpessicius, Studii eminesciene, Museum of Romanian Literature, Bucharest, 2001.",
"Perpessicius, Studii eminesciene, Museum of Romanian Literature, Bucharest, 2001. Petre Răileanu, Michel Carassou, Fundoianu/Fondane et l'avant-garde, Fondation Culturelle Roumaine, Éditions Paris-Méditerranée, Bucharest & Paris, 1999. Tom Sandqvist, Dada East. The Romanians of Cabaret Voltaire, MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts & London, 2006. Manuela-Delia Suciu, \"La poésie roumaine au XIXe siècle. Alexandru Macedonski entre romantisme et symbolisme\", in Revue d'Études Françaises, Nr.",
"Alexandru Macedonski entre romantisme et symbolisme\", in Revue d'Études Françaises, Nr. 8/2003, p. 101-110 (republished by the Centre Interuniversitaire d’Études Françaises/Egyetemközi Francia Központ) Tudor Vianu, Scriitori români, Vol. I-III, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1970–1971. Mariana Vida, \"La société Tinerimea artistică de Bucarest et le symbolisme tardif entre 1902-1910\", in Revue Roumaine d'Histoire de l'Art. Série Beaux-arts, Vol.",
"Série Beaux-arts, Vol. Série Beaux-arts, Vol. XLIV, 2007, p. 55-66 External links Amidst Hen Houses (excerpts), Poésies, Thalassa (excerpt), in the Romanian Cultural Institute's Plural Magazine (various issues) Alexandru Macedonski, Museum of Romanian Literature profile 1854 births 1920 deaths 19th-century Romanian poets 20th-century Romanian poets Romanian male poets Romantic poets Neoclassical writers Symbolist poets Sonneteers Romanian fabulists Romanian epigrammatists 19th-century Romanian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Romanian dramatists and playwrights Male dramatists and playwrights 19th-century Romanian novelists 20th-century Romanian novelists Romanian male novelists Romanian writers in French 19th-century short story writers 20th-century short story writers Romanian male short story writers Romanian short story writers Realism (art movement) Symbolist novelists Romanian fantasy writers Romanian science fiction writers Romanian humorists Romanian erotica writers 19th-century essayists 20th-century essayists Romanian essayists 20th-century biographers Romanian biographers Male biographers Romanian memoirists Romanian travel writers Romanian literary critics Romanian screenwriters Male screenwriters Romanian columnists Romanian magazine editors Romanian magazine founders Romanian newspaper editors Romanian newspaper founders 19th-century translators 20th-century translators Romanian translators English–Romanian translators French–Romanian translators Greek–Romanian translators Writers from Bucharest Romanian nobility Members of the Romanian Orthodox Church Carol I National College alumni National Liberal Party (Romania) politicians Republicanism in the Kingdom of Romania Romanian civil servants Prefects of Romania Romanian inventors Romanian esotericists Romanian expatriates in France Romanian people of World War I Burials at Bellu Cemetery Members of the Romanian Academy elected posthumously 20th-century screenwriters"
] |
[
"Terry Nation",
"Doctor Who"
] | C_27cf8f62e352479f9e87e95654df4e3f_1 | What work did he do on Doctor Who? | 1 | What work did Terry Nation do on Doctor Who? | Terry Nation | Prior to this, Nation had declined an offer from scriptwriter David Whitaker to write for a new science-fiction programme that was entering production at the BBC; Whitaker had been impressed by a script that Nation had written for the ABC anthology series Out of this World. Now unemployed, and with a young family to support, Nation contacted Whitaker and accepted the offer, writing the second Doctor Who serial, The Daleks (also known as The Mutants and The Dead Planet). The serial introduced the eponymous extraterrestrial villains that would quickly become the series' most popular and enduring monsters, and resulted in a major merchandising success for the BBC. Having risen in the public consciousness, Nation went on to contribute further scripts to Doctor Who. In 1965, Nation and Dennis Spooner co-wrote the 12-part serial The Daleks' Master Plan, after which Nation, who still held the copyright to the Daleks, attempted to launch a Dalek spin-off TV series in the United States. Various other Dalek tie-in material appeared, including comic strips in the children's weekly TV Century 21 and annuals; such material was frequently credited to Nation, even when written by others. Between 1966 and 1972, appearances by the Daleks in Doctor Who became less frequent and were written for the series by other authors. In 1973, following an eight-year absence from scriptwriting for the series, Nation returned to writing for the Daleks on Doctor Who with the Third Doctor serial Planet of the Daleks. In 1998, readers of Doctor Who Magazine voted Nation's 1975 serial Genesis of the Daleks the greatest Doctor Who story of all time. In the story, Nation introduced the character of Davros, the creator of the Daleks, who went on to appear in further storylines. Nation also wrote two non-Dalek scripts for Doctor Who, The Keys of Marinus in 1964, which introduced the Voord and The Android Invasion in 1975, which introduced the Kraal. During this time, Nation also worked in commercial TV, contributing scripts to series such as The Avengers, The Baron, The Champions, Department S, The Persuaders! and The Saint. Nation's work on Doctor Who was the subject of the documentary Terror Nation, a special feature on the BBC DVD release of the serial Destiny of the Daleks. CANNOTANSWER | writing the second Doctor Who serial, | Terence Joseph Nation (8 August 19309 March 1997) was a Welsh screenwriter and novelist. Especially known for his work in British television science fiction, he created the Daleks and Davros for Doctor Who (1963), as well as the series Survivors (1975) and Blake's 7 (1978).
Nation first made his name as a comedy writer before becoming a prolific writer for drama, working on many of the most popular British series of the 1960s and 1970s such as The Avengers, The Baron, The Champions, Department S, The Persuaders! and The Saint. When Nation was commissioned to write The Daleks (1963) for Doctor Who, the villainous eponymous creatures established the series' early popularity. He later devised the recurring character of Davros in Genesis of the Daleks (1975). His series Survivors and Blake's 7 have been described as "much-loved cult TV classics".
Life and career
Early years
Born in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales, Nation initially worked in comedy, entering the industry in 1955 after a (possibly apocryphal) incident in which Spike Milligan bought a sketch that he had written because he thought that Nation appeared hungry. During the 1950s, Nation worked with John Junkin and Johnny Speight for the writers' agency Associated London Scripts, where he collaborated on hundreds of radio plays for comedians such as Terry Scott, Eric Sykes, Harry Worth and Frankie Howerd.
His career break came in 1962, when he was commissioned to write material for Tony Hancockfirst for Hancock's unsuccessful series for Associated Television broadcast on ITV in 1963, and then his stage show. Although Nation accompanied Hancock as his chief screenwriter on tour in 1963, Hancock would regularly neglect Nation's scripts in favour of recycling his old material. Following an argument over this, Hancock either fired Nation, or Nation resigned (it is unclear which).
Doctor Who
Prior to his association with Hancock, Nation had declined an offer from scriptwriter David Whitaker to write for a new science-fiction programme that was entering production at the BBC; Whitaker had been impressed by a script that Nation had written for the ABC anthology series Out of this World. Now unemployed, and with a young family to support, Nation contacted Whitaker and accepted the offer, writing the second Doctor Who serial, The Daleks (also known as The Mutants and The Dead Planet). The serial introduced the eponymous extraterrestrial villains that would quickly become the series' most popular and enduring monsters, and resulted in a major merchandising success for the BBC.
Nation contributed further scripts to Doctor Who. In 1965, Nation and Dennis Spooner co-wrote the 12-part serial The Daleks' Master Plan, after which Nation, who still held the copyright to the Daleks, attempted to launch a Dalek spin-off TV series in the United States. Various other Dalek tie-in material appeared, including comic strips in the children's weekly TV Century 21 and annuals; such material was frequently credited to Nation, even when written by others. Between 1966 and 1972, appearances by the Daleks in Doctor Who became less frequent and were written for the series by other authors.
In 1973, following an eight-year absence from scriptwriting for the series, Nation returned to writing for the Daleks on Doctor Who with the Third Doctor serial Planet of the Daleks. In 1998, readers of Doctor Who Magazine voted Nation's 1975 serial Genesis of the Daleks the greatest Doctor Who story of all time. In the story, Nation introduced the character of Davros, the creator of the Daleks, who went on to appear in further storylines. Nation also wrote two non-Dalek scripts for Doctor Who, The Keys of Marinus in 1964, which introduced the Voord, and The Android Invasion in 1975, which introduced the Kraals. Nation's final script for Doctor Who was Destiny of the Daleks, broadcast in 1979.
His work on Doctor Who was the subject of the documentary Terror Nation, a special feature on the BBC DVD release of Destiny of the Daleks.
Out of the Unknown
Nation's first work on the science-fiction anthology series Out of the Unknown was scripting an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's short story The Fox and the Forest in 1965 for the show's debut series. It was about a 21st century couple taking a forbidden trip to Mexico in 1938, only to be followed by enforcers from the future. It is one of only two episodes from the first series to be considered lost, with only two photographs and the end titles known to exist.
In 1969, when the show began to be produced in colour, Nation granted permission for the Daleks to be used in the series three episode Get Off My Cloud, based on the story by Peter Phillips about a bed-bound science-fiction author who finds himself within one of his own fantasies after a mental breakdown. This would be the first time the Daleks had been shown in colour on television, although they had previously appeared in colour in the Peter Cushing films. Only production stills and low-quality audio extracts survive.
Survivors and Blake's 7
Having returned to writing for Doctor Who, the BBC commissioned Nation to create a new science-fiction drama series. First broadcast in 1975, Survivors is the post-apocalyptic story of the last humans on Earth after the world's population has been devastated by plague. Although the series was well received, Nation's creative vision conflicted with that of producer Terence Dudley, and the final two seasons were produced without Nation's involvement.
Meanwhile, screenwriter Brian Clemens claimed that he had related the concept for Survivors to Nation in the late 1960s while they were working together on the final season of The Avengers, with Clemens claiming to have registered the Survivors concept with the Writers' Guild of Great Britain in 1965; Nation denied the allegations. Although the case was ultimately brought before the High Court, both sides withdrew from the proceedings after their legal costs mounted.
The production of Nation's next BBC creation, Blake's 7, experienced fewer problems. This series follows a group of criminals and political prisoners who are on the run from the evil "Terran Federation", piloting a stolen spaceship of unknown origin. Blake's 7 ran for four series from 1978 to 1981.
Although Nation scripted the whole of the first series of Blake's 7, his creative influence subsequently declined in the following two series despite writing some key episodes, as script editor Chris Boucher exerted a greater influence on those seasons. Nation didn't write any episodes in the fourth series of Blake's 7. In the 1980s, Nation attempted, without success, to secure funding for a fifth season of Blake's 7. During the 1970s, Nation wrote a children's novel for his daughter Rebecca (after whom he named the character of Rebec in the 1973 Doctor Who serial Planet of the Daleks) titled Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet, as well as a novel based on Survivors.
United States
In 1980, Nation moved to Los Angeles, where he developed programme ideas and worked for various production studios. Little of his work from this time was as successful as that of his earlier period in Britain. He wrote scripts for the TV series MacGyver (1985) and A Fine Romance (1989).
Death
Nation died from emphysema in Los Angeles on 9 March 1997, aged 66. Shortly before his death, he had been collaborating with actor Paul Darrow on another attempt to revive Blake's 7.
Writing credits
Awards and nominations
In 2013, Nation was commemorated with a blue plaque at the house in Cardiff where he was born.
Bibliography
Survivors (1976, )
Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet (1978, )
References
Further reading
Turner, Alwyn W.: The Man Who Invented The Daleks: The Strange Worlds of Terry Nation, London: Aurum Press, 2011, .
External links
Terry Nation profile, Museum of Broadcast Communications, museum.tv; accessed 26 December 2014.
1930 births
1997 deaths
20th-century British novelists
BBC people
British male novelists
British male screenwriters
Welsh radio writers
British science fiction writers
Deaths from emphysema
Welsh comedy writers
Welsh expatriates in the United States
Welsh novelists
Welsh science fiction writers
Welsh screenwriters
Welsh television writers
Writers from Cardiff
People from Llandaff
20th-century British male writers
British male television writers
20th-century British screenwriters | true | [
"The Year of the Intern, the first novel by Robin Cook and very different from his thrillers, follows the journey of intern Dr. Peters through his year of placement.\n\nPlot introduction\nIt is an insider's perspective of the medical world. As Dr. Peters becomes a doctor he is destroying himself as a person due to extensive work and concerns.\n\nDr. Cook began writing the book while serving on a submarine, basing it on his experiences as a medical resident. When it did not do particularly well, he began an extensive study of other books in the genre to see what made a bestseller. He decided to concentrate on medical suspense thrillers, mixing intricately plotted murder and intrigue with medical technology. He also brought controversial ethical and social issues affecting the medical profession to the attention of the general public.\n\nPlot Summary \nDr. Peters receives a phone call from a nurse, who sounds desperate, but Dr. Peters can do little. He has forgotten when he last slept, but he knows that in the coming hours he will make life or death decisions. As he begins his internship, he must deal with assisting the surgeons in the operating room, help nurses who happen to know more than him, cope with worried friends and family of the ill and injured, and pretend that he is a qualified doctor. The book takes a deeper look into the psychical and psychological effects on a medical intern.\n\nExternal links\nThe Publisher's site\n\n1973 American novels\nNovels by Robin Cook\nHarcourt (publisher) books\n1973 debut novels",
"Adolf Ludwig Winkelmann (born 26 March 1887 in Salzkotten, died 1 February 1947 in Hamburg) was an SS Hauptsturmführer and was employed as a doctor in several Nazi concentration camps including the Ravensbrück concentration camp.\n\nLife \n\nWinkelmann passed the state examination in 1913 at the University of Kiel, and on 26 September 1914 he received his licence to practise as a doctor. He received his doctorate from Walter Stoeckel, worked at various hospitals and was employed as a doctor in the Imperial German Navy during the First World War. After the war he was in 1918 a member of a volunteer corps, before settling as a practising physician in Lippstadt.\n\nOn 1 May 1933 he joined the NSDAP (membership No. 3.101.530), and on 18 June 1933 he joined the Schutzstaffel (SS No. 109.112). Winkelmann was promoted to SS Unterscharführer on 15 September 1935, to Oberscharführer on 9 November 1936 and to Hauptsturmführer on 30 January 1939. From January to October 1940 he was employed as a regimental doctor with the rank of SS Hauptsturmführer in the 8th SS regiment of the Waffen SS in Kraków.\n\nUntil 1 December 1944, he worked as a medical officer in Częstochowa. After brief assignments at the Groß-Rosen and Sachsenhausen concentration camps, he was transferred to the Ravensbrück concentration camp at the end of February 1945.\n\nRavensbrück \n\nWinkelmann admitted that together with Richard Trommer he had selected prisoners who were unable to work, but the purpose of the selection remained hidden: \"I knew that some transports came to the Uckermark concentration camp, but I did not know for what purpose.\" He had only been there a few times. This was contrasted by the statements of all witnesses who unanimously confirmed his participation in the selections there. During his service in Ravensbrück, he and Trommer \"selected around 1,500 to 2,000 prisoners for removal”. Winkelmann described these selections in court:The searches took place on one of the camp streets or in a barrack, but very rarely. The inmates marched in a row to Dr Trommer and past me. Of course, we could only do a very superficial examination, and the people who were obviously sick, unable to work, or unable to march were searched. The inmates had bare their legs so that we could see if they were capable of walking.Winkelmann said that he had not known that the selection could mean death for the prisoners. Nor did he know that there was a gas chamber in the camp. He only acted on the orders of Trommer, who told him that there was a choice for evacuating the camp. He was horrified to have participated in such a crime. He had never heard of gassings in Germany until then and had only known about Auschwitz-Birkenau. Since Percival Treite and Franz Lucas were busy with the selection for the gas chamber in Ravensbrück, he was the third doctor responsible for the area.\n\nTo relieve him, a witness testified that Winkelmann refused to abort her because she violated his medical ethos. According to his own information, he saw no ill-treatment of prisoners in the area and did not do any.\n\nWinkelmann died on 1 February 1947 of the consequences of a heart attack during the first of the seven Ravensbrück trials in Hamburg. Despite some doubts, the court found him guilty, but no death sentence was passed.\n\nReferences\n\n1887 births\n1947 deaths\nNazi concentration camp personnel\nPhysicians in the Nazi Party"
] | [
"Terence Joseph Nation (8 August 19309 March 1997) was a Welsh screenwriter and novelist. Especially known for his work in British television science fiction, he created the Daleks and Davros for Doctor Who (1963), as well as the series Survivors (1975) and Blake's 7 (1978).",
"Especially known for his work in British television science fiction, he created the Daleks and Davros for Doctor Who (1963), as well as the series Survivors (1975) and Blake's 7 (1978). Nation first made his name as a comedy writer before becoming a prolific writer for drama, working on many of the most popular British series of the 1960s and 1970s such as The Avengers, The Baron, The Champions, Department S, The Persuaders! and The Saint.",
"and The Saint. and The Saint. When Nation was commissioned to write The Daleks (1963) for Doctor Who, the villainous eponymous creatures established the series' early popularity. He later devised the recurring character of Davros in Genesis of the Daleks (1975). His series Survivors and Blake's 7 have been described as \"much-loved cult TV classics\".",
"His series Survivors and Blake's 7 have been described as \"much-loved cult TV classics\". Life and career Early years Born in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales, Nation initially worked in comedy, entering the industry in 1955 after a (possibly apocryphal) incident in which Spike Milligan bought a sketch that he had written because he thought that Nation appeared hungry.",
"Life and career Early years Born in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales, Nation initially worked in comedy, entering the industry in 1955 after a (possibly apocryphal) incident in which Spike Milligan bought a sketch that he had written because he thought that Nation appeared hungry. During the 1950s, Nation worked with John Junkin and Johnny Speight for the writers' agency Associated London Scripts, where he collaborated on hundreds of radio plays for comedians such as Terry Scott, Eric Sykes, Harry Worth and Frankie Howerd.",
"During the 1950s, Nation worked with John Junkin and Johnny Speight for the writers' agency Associated London Scripts, where he collaborated on hundreds of radio plays for comedians such as Terry Scott, Eric Sykes, Harry Worth and Frankie Howerd. His career break came in 1962, when he was commissioned to write material for Tony Hancockfirst for Hancock's unsuccessful series for Associated Television broadcast on ITV in 1963, and then his stage show.",
"His career break came in 1962, when he was commissioned to write material for Tony Hancockfirst for Hancock's unsuccessful series for Associated Television broadcast on ITV in 1963, and then his stage show. Although Nation accompanied Hancock as his chief screenwriter on tour in 1963, Hancock would regularly neglect Nation's scripts in favour of recycling his old material. Following an argument over this, Hancock either fired Nation, or Nation resigned (it is unclear which).",
"Following an argument over this, Hancock either fired Nation, or Nation resigned (it is unclear which). Doctor Who Prior to his association with Hancock, Nation had declined an offer from scriptwriter David Whitaker to write for a new science-fiction programme that was entering production at the BBC; Whitaker had been impressed by a script that Nation had written for the ABC anthology series Out of this World.",
"Doctor Who Prior to his association with Hancock, Nation had declined an offer from scriptwriter David Whitaker to write for a new science-fiction programme that was entering production at the BBC; Whitaker had been impressed by a script that Nation had written for the ABC anthology series Out of this World. Now unemployed, and with a young family to support, Nation contacted Whitaker and accepted the offer, writing the second Doctor Who serial, The Daleks (also known as The Mutants and The Dead Planet).",
"Now unemployed, and with a young family to support, Nation contacted Whitaker and accepted the offer, writing the second Doctor Who serial, The Daleks (also known as The Mutants and The Dead Planet). The serial introduced the eponymous extraterrestrial villains that would quickly become the series' most popular and enduring monsters, and resulted in a major merchandising success for the BBC. Nation contributed further scripts to Doctor Who.",
"Nation contributed further scripts to Doctor Who. Nation contributed further scripts to Doctor Who. In 1965, Nation and Dennis Spooner co-wrote the 12-part serial The Daleks' Master Plan, after which Nation, who still held the copyright to the Daleks, attempted to launch a Dalek spin-off TV series in the United States. Various other Dalek tie-in material appeared, including comic strips in the children's weekly TV Century 21 and annuals; such material was frequently credited to Nation, even when written by others.",
"Various other Dalek tie-in material appeared, including comic strips in the children's weekly TV Century 21 and annuals; such material was frequently credited to Nation, even when written by others. Between 1966 and 1972, appearances by the Daleks in Doctor Who became less frequent and were written for the series by other authors. In 1973, following an eight-year absence from scriptwriting for the series, Nation returned to writing for the Daleks on Doctor Who with the Third Doctor serial Planet of the Daleks.",
"In 1973, following an eight-year absence from scriptwriting for the series, Nation returned to writing for the Daleks on Doctor Who with the Third Doctor serial Planet of the Daleks. In 1998, readers of Doctor Who Magazine voted Nation's 1975 serial Genesis of the Daleks the greatest Doctor Who story of all time. In the story, Nation introduced the character of Davros, the creator of the Daleks, who went on to appear in further storylines.",
"In the story, Nation introduced the character of Davros, the creator of the Daleks, who went on to appear in further storylines. Nation also wrote two non-Dalek scripts for Doctor Who, The Keys of Marinus in 1964, which introduced the Voord, and The Android Invasion in 1975, which introduced the Kraals. Nation's final script for Doctor Who was Destiny of the Daleks, broadcast in 1979.",
"Nation's final script for Doctor Who was Destiny of the Daleks, broadcast in 1979. His work on Doctor Who was the subject of the documentary Terror Nation, a special feature on the BBC DVD release of Destiny of the Daleks. Out of the Unknown Nation's first work on the science-fiction anthology series Out of the Unknown was scripting an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's short story The Fox and the Forest in 1965 for the show's debut series.",
"Out of the Unknown Nation's first work on the science-fiction anthology series Out of the Unknown was scripting an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's short story The Fox and the Forest in 1965 for the show's debut series. It was about a 21st century couple taking a forbidden trip to Mexico in 1938, only to be followed by enforcers from the future. It is one of only two episodes from the first series to be considered lost, with only two photographs and the end titles known to exist.",
"It is one of only two episodes from the first series to be considered lost, with only two photographs and the end titles known to exist. In 1969, when the show began to be produced in colour, Nation granted permission for the Daleks to be used in the series three episode Get Off My Cloud, based on the story by Peter Phillips about a bed-bound science-fiction author who finds himself within one of his own fantasies after a mental breakdown.",
"In 1969, when the show began to be produced in colour, Nation granted permission for the Daleks to be used in the series three episode Get Off My Cloud, based on the story by Peter Phillips about a bed-bound science-fiction author who finds himself within one of his own fantasies after a mental breakdown. This would be the first time the Daleks had been shown in colour on television, although they had previously appeared in colour in the Peter Cushing films. Only production stills and low-quality audio extracts survive.",
"Only production stills and low-quality audio extracts survive. Only production stills and low-quality audio extracts survive. Survivors and Blake's 7 Having returned to writing for Doctor Who, the BBC commissioned Nation to create a new science-fiction drama series. First broadcast in 1975, Survivors is the post-apocalyptic story of the last humans on Earth after the world's population has been devastated by plague.",
"First broadcast in 1975, Survivors is the post-apocalyptic story of the last humans on Earth after the world's population has been devastated by plague. Although the series was well received, Nation's creative vision conflicted with that of producer Terence Dudley, and the final two seasons were produced without Nation's involvement.",
"Although the series was well received, Nation's creative vision conflicted with that of producer Terence Dudley, and the final two seasons were produced without Nation's involvement. Meanwhile, screenwriter Brian Clemens claimed that he had related the concept for Survivors to Nation in the late 1960s while they were working together on the final season of The Avengers, with Clemens claiming to have registered the Survivors concept with the Writers' Guild of Great Britain in 1965; Nation denied the allegations.",
"Meanwhile, screenwriter Brian Clemens claimed that he had related the concept for Survivors to Nation in the late 1960s while they were working together on the final season of The Avengers, with Clemens claiming to have registered the Survivors concept with the Writers' Guild of Great Britain in 1965; Nation denied the allegations. Although the case was ultimately brought before the High Court, both sides withdrew from the proceedings after their legal costs mounted. The production of Nation's next BBC creation, Blake's 7, experienced fewer problems.",
"The production of Nation's next BBC creation, Blake's 7, experienced fewer problems. This series follows a group of criminals and political prisoners who are on the run from the evil \"Terran Federation\", piloting a stolen spaceship of unknown origin. Blake's 7 ran for four series from 1978 to 1981.",
"Blake's 7 ran for four series from 1978 to 1981. Although Nation scripted the whole of the first series of Blake's 7, his creative influence subsequently declined in the following two series despite writing some key episodes, as script editor Chris Boucher exerted a greater influence on those seasons. Nation didn't write any episodes in the fourth series of Blake's 7. In the 1980s, Nation attempted, without success, to secure funding for a fifth season of Blake's 7.",
"In the 1980s, Nation attempted, without success, to secure funding for a fifth season of Blake's 7. During the 1970s, Nation wrote a children's novel for his daughter Rebecca (after whom he named the character of Rebec in the 1973 Doctor Who serial Planet of the Daleks) titled Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet, as well as a novel based on Survivors. United States In 1980, Nation moved to Los Angeles, where he developed programme ideas and worked for various production studios.",
"United States In 1980, Nation moved to Los Angeles, where he developed programme ideas and worked for various production studios. Little of his work from this time was as successful as that of his earlier period in Britain. He wrote scripts for the TV series MacGyver (1985) and A Fine Romance (1989). Death Nation died from emphysema in Los Angeles on 9 March 1997, aged 66. Shortly before his death, he had been collaborating with actor Paul Darrow on another attempt to revive Blake's 7.",
"Shortly before his death, he had been collaborating with actor Paul Darrow on another attempt to revive Blake's 7. Writing credits Awards and nominations In 2013, Nation was commemorated with a blue plaque at the house in Cardiff where he was born. Bibliography Survivors (1976, ) Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet (1978, ) References Further reading Turner, Alwyn W.: The Man Who Invented The Daleks: The Strange Worlds of Terry Nation, London: Aurum Press, 2011, .",
"Bibliography Survivors (1976, ) Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet (1978, ) References Further reading Turner, Alwyn W.: The Man Who Invented The Daleks: The Strange Worlds of Terry Nation, London: Aurum Press, 2011, . External links Terry Nation profile, Museum of Broadcast Communications, museum.tv; accessed 26 December 2014.",
"External links Terry Nation profile, Museum of Broadcast Communications, museum.tv; accessed 26 December 2014. 1930 births 1997 deaths 20th-century British novelists BBC people British male novelists British male screenwriters Welsh radio writers British science fiction writers Deaths from emphysema Welsh comedy writers Welsh expatriates in the United States Welsh novelists Welsh science fiction writers Welsh screenwriters Welsh television writers Writers from Cardiff People from Llandaff 20th-century British male writers British male television writers 20th-century British screenwriters"
] |
[
"Terry Nation",
"Doctor Who",
"What work did he do on Doctor Who?",
"writing the second Doctor Who serial,"
] | C_27cf8f62e352479f9e87e95654df4e3f_1 | What contributions did he make? | 2 | What contributions did Terry Nation make on Doctor Who? | Terry Nation | Prior to this, Nation had declined an offer from scriptwriter David Whitaker to write for a new science-fiction programme that was entering production at the BBC; Whitaker had been impressed by a script that Nation had written for the ABC anthology series Out of this World. Now unemployed, and with a young family to support, Nation contacted Whitaker and accepted the offer, writing the second Doctor Who serial, The Daleks (also known as The Mutants and The Dead Planet). The serial introduced the eponymous extraterrestrial villains that would quickly become the series' most popular and enduring monsters, and resulted in a major merchandising success for the BBC. Having risen in the public consciousness, Nation went on to contribute further scripts to Doctor Who. In 1965, Nation and Dennis Spooner co-wrote the 12-part serial The Daleks' Master Plan, after which Nation, who still held the copyright to the Daleks, attempted to launch a Dalek spin-off TV series in the United States. Various other Dalek tie-in material appeared, including comic strips in the children's weekly TV Century 21 and annuals; such material was frequently credited to Nation, even when written by others. Between 1966 and 1972, appearances by the Daleks in Doctor Who became less frequent and were written for the series by other authors. In 1973, following an eight-year absence from scriptwriting for the series, Nation returned to writing for the Daleks on Doctor Who with the Third Doctor serial Planet of the Daleks. In 1998, readers of Doctor Who Magazine voted Nation's 1975 serial Genesis of the Daleks the greatest Doctor Who story of all time. In the story, Nation introduced the character of Davros, the creator of the Daleks, who went on to appear in further storylines. Nation also wrote two non-Dalek scripts for Doctor Who, The Keys of Marinus in 1964, which introduced the Voord and The Android Invasion in 1975, which introduced the Kraal. During this time, Nation also worked in commercial TV, contributing scripts to series such as The Avengers, The Baron, The Champions, Department S, The Persuaders! and The Saint. Nation's work on Doctor Who was the subject of the documentary Terror Nation, a special feature on the BBC DVD release of the serial Destiny of the Daleks. CANNOTANSWER | The serial introduced the eponymous extraterrestrial villains that would quickly become the series' most popular and enduring monsters, and resulted in a major merchandising success for the BBC. | Terence Joseph Nation (8 August 19309 March 1997) was a Welsh screenwriter and novelist. Especially known for his work in British television science fiction, he created the Daleks and Davros for Doctor Who (1963), as well as the series Survivors (1975) and Blake's 7 (1978).
Nation first made his name as a comedy writer before becoming a prolific writer for drama, working on many of the most popular British series of the 1960s and 1970s such as The Avengers, The Baron, The Champions, Department S, The Persuaders! and The Saint. When Nation was commissioned to write The Daleks (1963) for Doctor Who, the villainous eponymous creatures established the series' early popularity. He later devised the recurring character of Davros in Genesis of the Daleks (1975). His series Survivors and Blake's 7 have been described as "much-loved cult TV classics".
Life and career
Early years
Born in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales, Nation initially worked in comedy, entering the industry in 1955 after a (possibly apocryphal) incident in which Spike Milligan bought a sketch that he had written because he thought that Nation appeared hungry. During the 1950s, Nation worked with John Junkin and Johnny Speight for the writers' agency Associated London Scripts, where he collaborated on hundreds of radio plays for comedians such as Terry Scott, Eric Sykes, Harry Worth and Frankie Howerd.
His career break came in 1962, when he was commissioned to write material for Tony Hancockfirst for Hancock's unsuccessful series for Associated Television broadcast on ITV in 1963, and then his stage show. Although Nation accompanied Hancock as his chief screenwriter on tour in 1963, Hancock would regularly neglect Nation's scripts in favour of recycling his old material. Following an argument over this, Hancock either fired Nation, or Nation resigned (it is unclear which).
Doctor Who
Prior to his association with Hancock, Nation had declined an offer from scriptwriter David Whitaker to write for a new science-fiction programme that was entering production at the BBC; Whitaker had been impressed by a script that Nation had written for the ABC anthology series Out of this World. Now unemployed, and with a young family to support, Nation contacted Whitaker and accepted the offer, writing the second Doctor Who serial, The Daleks (also known as The Mutants and The Dead Planet). The serial introduced the eponymous extraterrestrial villains that would quickly become the series' most popular and enduring monsters, and resulted in a major merchandising success for the BBC.
Nation contributed further scripts to Doctor Who. In 1965, Nation and Dennis Spooner co-wrote the 12-part serial The Daleks' Master Plan, after which Nation, who still held the copyright to the Daleks, attempted to launch a Dalek spin-off TV series in the United States. Various other Dalek tie-in material appeared, including comic strips in the children's weekly TV Century 21 and annuals; such material was frequently credited to Nation, even when written by others. Between 1966 and 1972, appearances by the Daleks in Doctor Who became less frequent and were written for the series by other authors.
In 1973, following an eight-year absence from scriptwriting for the series, Nation returned to writing for the Daleks on Doctor Who with the Third Doctor serial Planet of the Daleks. In 1998, readers of Doctor Who Magazine voted Nation's 1975 serial Genesis of the Daleks the greatest Doctor Who story of all time. In the story, Nation introduced the character of Davros, the creator of the Daleks, who went on to appear in further storylines. Nation also wrote two non-Dalek scripts for Doctor Who, The Keys of Marinus in 1964, which introduced the Voord, and The Android Invasion in 1975, which introduced the Kraals. Nation's final script for Doctor Who was Destiny of the Daleks, broadcast in 1979.
His work on Doctor Who was the subject of the documentary Terror Nation, a special feature on the BBC DVD release of Destiny of the Daleks.
Out of the Unknown
Nation's first work on the science-fiction anthology series Out of the Unknown was scripting an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's short story The Fox and the Forest in 1965 for the show's debut series. It was about a 21st century couple taking a forbidden trip to Mexico in 1938, only to be followed by enforcers from the future. It is one of only two episodes from the first series to be considered lost, with only two photographs and the end titles known to exist.
In 1969, when the show began to be produced in colour, Nation granted permission for the Daleks to be used in the series three episode Get Off My Cloud, based on the story by Peter Phillips about a bed-bound science-fiction author who finds himself within one of his own fantasies after a mental breakdown. This would be the first time the Daleks had been shown in colour on television, although they had previously appeared in colour in the Peter Cushing films. Only production stills and low-quality audio extracts survive.
Survivors and Blake's 7
Having returned to writing for Doctor Who, the BBC commissioned Nation to create a new science-fiction drama series. First broadcast in 1975, Survivors is the post-apocalyptic story of the last humans on Earth after the world's population has been devastated by plague. Although the series was well received, Nation's creative vision conflicted with that of producer Terence Dudley, and the final two seasons were produced without Nation's involvement.
Meanwhile, screenwriter Brian Clemens claimed that he had related the concept for Survivors to Nation in the late 1960s while they were working together on the final season of The Avengers, with Clemens claiming to have registered the Survivors concept with the Writers' Guild of Great Britain in 1965; Nation denied the allegations. Although the case was ultimately brought before the High Court, both sides withdrew from the proceedings after their legal costs mounted.
The production of Nation's next BBC creation, Blake's 7, experienced fewer problems. This series follows a group of criminals and political prisoners who are on the run from the evil "Terran Federation", piloting a stolen spaceship of unknown origin. Blake's 7 ran for four series from 1978 to 1981.
Although Nation scripted the whole of the first series of Blake's 7, his creative influence subsequently declined in the following two series despite writing some key episodes, as script editor Chris Boucher exerted a greater influence on those seasons. Nation didn't write any episodes in the fourth series of Blake's 7. In the 1980s, Nation attempted, without success, to secure funding for a fifth season of Blake's 7. During the 1970s, Nation wrote a children's novel for his daughter Rebecca (after whom he named the character of Rebec in the 1973 Doctor Who serial Planet of the Daleks) titled Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet, as well as a novel based on Survivors.
United States
In 1980, Nation moved to Los Angeles, where he developed programme ideas and worked for various production studios. Little of his work from this time was as successful as that of his earlier period in Britain. He wrote scripts for the TV series MacGyver (1985) and A Fine Romance (1989).
Death
Nation died from emphysema in Los Angeles on 9 March 1997, aged 66. Shortly before his death, he had been collaborating with actor Paul Darrow on another attempt to revive Blake's 7.
Writing credits
Awards and nominations
In 2013, Nation was commemorated with a blue plaque at the house in Cardiff where he was born.
Bibliography
Survivors (1976, )
Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet (1978, )
References
Further reading
Turner, Alwyn W.: The Man Who Invented The Daleks: The Strange Worlds of Terry Nation, London: Aurum Press, 2011, .
External links
Terry Nation profile, Museum of Broadcast Communications, museum.tv; accessed 26 December 2014.
1930 births
1997 deaths
20th-century British novelists
BBC people
British male novelists
British male screenwriters
Welsh radio writers
British science fiction writers
Deaths from emphysema
Welsh comedy writers
Welsh expatriates in the United States
Welsh novelists
Welsh science fiction writers
Welsh screenwriters
Welsh television writers
Writers from Cardiff
People from Llandaff
20th-century British male writers
British male television writers
20th-century British screenwriters | true | [
"Methodios II (Greek: Μεθόδιος Β΄) (? – 1240) served as Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople (in exile due to the Fourth Crusade) for three months in 1240, when he died. He succeeded Germanus II.\n\nBefore he was elected Patriarch, he was abbot of the Hyacinth Monastery in Nicaea. His short patriarchy did not let him make important contributions.\n\nSources \n Οικουμενικό Πατριαρχείο\n «Νεώτερον Εγκυκλοπαιδικόν Λεξικόν Ηλίου» vol. 13, p. 172\n\n1240 deaths\n13th-century patriarchs of Constantinople\nPeople of the Empire of Nicaea",
"Back on Track is a gospel-oriented 1991 album by the DeBarge Family including two members of the soul music group DeBarge, released on Truth Ministries. The album consisted of contributions from various members of the DeBarge family. Sales were poor because of limited promotion from the small label, and because El DeBarge did not appear on the album.\n\nTrack listing\n\"We Need Your Love\"\n\"Coming Home\"\n\"You Can Make It\"\n\"Close to You\"\n\"G.O.O.D. Times\"\n\"Trust in Jesus\"\n\"Ninety-Nine and a Half (Won't Do)\"\n\"Shine\"\n\"He Will Make a Way\"\n\nReferences \n\n1991 albums"
] | [
"Terence Joseph Nation (8 August 19309 March 1997) was a Welsh screenwriter and novelist. Especially known for his work in British television science fiction, he created the Daleks and Davros for Doctor Who (1963), as well as the series Survivors (1975) and Blake's 7 (1978).",
"Especially known for his work in British television science fiction, he created the Daleks and Davros for Doctor Who (1963), as well as the series Survivors (1975) and Blake's 7 (1978). Nation first made his name as a comedy writer before becoming a prolific writer for drama, working on many of the most popular British series of the 1960s and 1970s such as The Avengers, The Baron, The Champions, Department S, The Persuaders! and The Saint.",
"and The Saint. and The Saint. When Nation was commissioned to write The Daleks (1963) for Doctor Who, the villainous eponymous creatures established the series' early popularity. He later devised the recurring character of Davros in Genesis of the Daleks (1975). His series Survivors and Blake's 7 have been described as \"much-loved cult TV classics\".",
"His series Survivors and Blake's 7 have been described as \"much-loved cult TV classics\". Life and career Early years Born in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales, Nation initially worked in comedy, entering the industry in 1955 after a (possibly apocryphal) incident in which Spike Milligan bought a sketch that he had written because he thought that Nation appeared hungry.",
"Life and career Early years Born in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales, Nation initially worked in comedy, entering the industry in 1955 after a (possibly apocryphal) incident in which Spike Milligan bought a sketch that he had written because he thought that Nation appeared hungry. During the 1950s, Nation worked with John Junkin and Johnny Speight for the writers' agency Associated London Scripts, where he collaborated on hundreds of radio plays for comedians such as Terry Scott, Eric Sykes, Harry Worth and Frankie Howerd.",
"During the 1950s, Nation worked with John Junkin and Johnny Speight for the writers' agency Associated London Scripts, where he collaborated on hundreds of radio plays for comedians such as Terry Scott, Eric Sykes, Harry Worth and Frankie Howerd. His career break came in 1962, when he was commissioned to write material for Tony Hancockfirst for Hancock's unsuccessful series for Associated Television broadcast on ITV in 1963, and then his stage show.",
"His career break came in 1962, when he was commissioned to write material for Tony Hancockfirst for Hancock's unsuccessful series for Associated Television broadcast on ITV in 1963, and then his stage show. Although Nation accompanied Hancock as his chief screenwriter on tour in 1963, Hancock would regularly neglect Nation's scripts in favour of recycling his old material. Following an argument over this, Hancock either fired Nation, or Nation resigned (it is unclear which).",
"Following an argument over this, Hancock either fired Nation, or Nation resigned (it is unclear which). Doctor Who Prior to his association with Hancock, Nation had declined an offer from scriptwriter David Whitaker to write for a new science-fiction programme that was entering production at the BBC; Whitaker had been impressed by a script that Nation had written for the ABC anthology series Out of this World.",
"Doctor Who Prior to his association with Hancock, Nation had declined an offer from scriptwriter David Whitaker to write for a new science-fiction programme that was entering production at the BBC; Whitaker had been impressed by a script that Nation had written for the ABC anthology series Out of this World. Now unemployed, and with a young family to support, Nation contacted Whitaker and accepted the offer, writing the second Doctor Who serial, The Daleks (also known as The Mutants and The Dead Planet).",
"Now unemployed, and with a young family to support, Nation contacted Whitaker and accepted the offer, writing the second Doctor Who serial, The Daleks (also known as The Mutants and The Dead Planet). The serial introduced the eponymous extraterrestrial villains that would quickly become the series' most popular and enduring monsters, and resulted in a major merchandising success for the BBC. Nation contributed further scripts to Doctor Who.",
"Nation contributed further scripts to Doctor Who. Nation contributed further scripts to Doctor Who. In 1965, Nation and Dennis Spooner co-wrote the 12-part serial The Daleks' Master Plan, after which Nation, who still held the copyright to the Daleks, attempted to launch a Dalek spin-off TV series in the United States. Various other Dalek tie-in material appeared, including comic strips in the children's weekly TV Century 21 and annuals; such material was frequently credited to Nation, even when written by others.",
"Various other Dalek tie-in material appeared, including comic strips in the children's weekly TV Century 21 and annuals; such material was frequently credited to Nation, even when written by others. Between 1966 and 1972, appearances by the Daleks in Doctor Who became less frequent and were written for the series by other authors. In 1973, following an eight-year absence from scriptwriting for the series, Nation returned to writing for the Daleks on Doctor Who with the Third Doctor serial Planet of the Daleks.",
"In 1973, following an eight-year absence from scriptwriting for the series, Nation returned to writing for the Daleks on Doctor Who with the Third Doctor serial Planet of the Daleks. In 1998, readers of Doctor Who Magazine voted Nation's 1975 serial Genesis of the Daleks the greatest Doctor Who story of all time. In the story, Nation introduced the character of Davros, the creator of the Daleks, who went on to appear in further storylines.",
"In the story, Nation introduced the character of Davros, the creator of the Daleks, who went on to appear in further storylines. Nation also wrote two non-Dalek scripts for Doctor Who, The Keys of Marinus in 1964, which introduced the Voord, and The Android Invasion in 1975, which introduced the Kraals. Nation's final script for Doctor Who was Destiny of the Daleks, broadcast in 1979.",
"Nation's final script for Doctor Who was Destiny of the Daleks, broadcast in 1979. His work on Doctor Who was the subject of the documentary Terror Nation, a special feature on the BBC DVD release of Destiny of the Daleks. Out of the Unknown Nation's first work on the science-fiction anthology series Out of the Unknown was scripting an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's short story The Fox and the Forest in 1965 for the show's debut series.",
"Out of the Unknown Nation's first work on the science-fiction anthology series Out of the Unknown was scripting an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's short story The Fox and the Forest in 1965 for the show's debut series. It was about a 21st century couple taking a forbidden trip to Mexico in 1938, only to be followed by enforcers from the future. It is one of only two episodes from the first series to be considered lost, with only two photographs and the end titles known to exist.",
"It is one of only two episodes from the first series to be considered lost, with only two photographs and the end titles known to exist. In 1969, when the show began to be produced in colour, Nation granted permission for the Daleks to be used in the series three episode Get Off My Cloud, based on the story by Peter Phillips about a bed-bound science-fiction author who finds himself within one of his own fantasies after a mental breakdown.",
"In 1969, when the show began to be produced in colour, Nation granted permission for the Daleks to be used in the series three episode Get Off My Cloud, based on the story by Peter Phillips about a bed-bound science-fiction author who finds himself within one of his own fantasies after a mental breakdown. This would be the first time the Daleks had been shown in colour on television, although they had previously appeared in colour in the Peter Cushing films. Only production stills and low-quality audio extracts survive.",
"Only production stills and low-quality audio extracts survive. Only production stills and low-quality audio extracts survive. Survivors and Blake's 7 Having returned to writing for Doctor Who, the BBC commissioned Nation to create a new science-fiction drama series. First broadcast in 1975, Survivors is the post-apocalyptic story of the last humans on Earth after the world's population has been devastated by plague.",
"First broadcast in 1975, Survivors is the post-apocalyptic story of the last humans on Earth after the world's population has been devastated by plague. Although the series was well received, Nation's creative vision conflicted with that of producer Terence Dudley, and the final two seasons were produced without Nation's involvement.",
"Although the series was well received, Nation's creative vision conflicted with that of producer Terence Dudley, and the final two seasons were produced without Nation's involvement. Meanwhile, screenwriter Brian Clemens claimed that he had related the concept for Survivors to Nation in the late 1960s while they were working together on the final season of The Avengers, with Clemens claiming to have registered the Survivors concept with the Writers' Guild of Great Britain in 1965; Nation denied the allegations.",
"Meanwhile, screenwriter Brian Clemens claimed that he had related the concept for Survivors to Nation in the late 1960s while they were working together on the final season of The Avengers, with Clemens claiming to have registered the Survivors concept with the Writers' Guild of Great Britain in 1965; Nation denied the allegations. Although the case was ultimately brought before the High Court, both sides withdrew from the proceedings after their legal costs mounted. The production of Nation's next BBC creation, Blake's 7, experienced fewer problems.",
"The production of Nation's next BBC creation, Blake's 7, experienced fewer problems. This series follows a group of criminals and political prisoners who are on the run from the evil \"Terran Federation\", piloting a stolen spaceship of unknown origin. Blake's 7 ran for four series from 1978 to 1981.",
"Blake's 7 ran for four series from 1978 to 1981. Although Nation scripted the whole of the first series of Blake's 7, his creative influence subsequently declined in the following two series despite writing some key episodes, as script editor Chris Boucher exerted a greater influence on those seasons. Nation didn't write any episodes in the fourth series of Blake's 7. In the 1980s, Nation attempted, without success, to secure funding for a fifth season of Blake's 7.",
"In the 1980s, Nation attempted, without success, to secure funding for a fifth season of Blake's 7. During the 1970s, Nation wrote a children's novel for his daughter Rebecca (after whom he named the character of Rebec in the 1973 Doctor Who serial Planet of the Daleks) titled Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet, as well as a novel based on Survivors. United States In 1980, Nation moved to Los Angeles, where he developed programme ideas and worked for various production studios.",
"United States In 1980, Nation moved to Los Angeles, where he developed programme ideas and worked for various production studios. Little of his work from this time was as successful as that of his earlier period in Britain. He wrote scripts for the TV series MacGyver (1985) and A Fine Romance (1989). Death Nation died from emphysema in Los Angeles on 9 March 1997, aged 66. Shortly before his death, he had been collaborating with actor Paul Darrow on another attempt to revive Blake's 7.",
"Shortly before his death, he had been collaborating with actor Paul Darrow on another attempt to revive Blake's 7. Writing credits Awards and nominations In 2013, Nation was commemorated with a blue plaque at the house in Cardiff where he was born. Bibliography Survivors (1976, ) Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet (1978, ) References Further reading Turner, Alwyn W.: The Man Who Invented The Daleks: The Strange Worlds of Terry Nation, London: Aurum Press, 2011, .",
"Bibliography Survivors (1976, ) Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet (1978, ) References Further reading Turner, Alwyn W.: The Man Who Invented The Daleks: The Strange Worlds of Terry Nation, London: Aurum Press, 2011, . External links Terry Nation profile, Museum of Broadcast Communications, museum.tv; accessed 26 December 2014.",
"External links Terry Nation profile, Museum of Broadcast Communications, museum.tv; accessed 26 December 2014. 1930 births 1997 deaths 20th-century British novelists BBC people British male novelists British male screenwriters Welsh radio writers British science fiction writers Deaths from emphysema Welsh comedy writers Welsh expatriates in the United States Welsh novelists Welsh science fiction writers Welsh screenwriters Welsh television writers Writers from Cardiff People from Llandaff 20th-century British male writers British male television writers 20th-century British screenwriters"
] |
[
"Terry Nation",
"Doctor Who",
"What work did he do on Doctor Who?",
"writing the second Doctor Who serial,",
"What contributions did he make?",
"The serial introduced the eponymous extraterrestrial villains that would quickly become the series' most popular and enduring monsters, and resulted in a major merchandising success for the BBC."
] | C_27cf8f62e352479f9e87e95654df4e3f_1 | What was the name of these villains? | 3 | What was the name of eponymous extraterrestrial villains? | Terry Nation | Prior to this, Nation had declined an offer from scriptwriter David Whitaker to write for a new science-fiction programme that was entering production at the BBC; Whitaker had been impressed by a script that Nation had written for the ABC anthology series Out of this World. Now unemployed, and with a young family to support, Nation contacted Whitaker and accepted the offer, writing the second Doctor Who serial, The Daleks (also known as The Mutants and The Dead Planet). The serial introduced the eponymous extraterrestrial villains that would quickly become the series' most popular and enduring monsters, and resulted in a major merchandising success for the BBC. Having risen in the public consciousness, Nation went on to contribute further scripts to Doctor Who. In 1965, Nation and Dennis Spooner co-wrote the 12-part serial The Daleks' Master Plan, after which Nation, who still held the copyright to the Daleks, attempted to launch a Dalek spin-off TV series in the United States. Various other Dalek tie-in material appeared, including comic strips in the children's weekly TV Century 21 and annuals; such material was frequently credited to Nation, even when written by others. Between 1966 and 1972, appearances by the Daleks in Doctor Who became less frequent and were written for the series by other authors. In 1973, following an eight-year absence from scriptwriting for the series, Nation returned to writing for the Daleks on Doctor Who with the Third Doctor serial Planet of the Daleks. In 1998, readers of Doctor Who Magazine voted Nation's 1975 serial Genesis of the Daleks the greatest Doctor Who story of all time. In the story, Nation introduced the character of Davros, the creator of the Daleks, who went on to appear in further storylines. Nation also wrote two non-Dalek scripts for Doctor Who, The Keys of Marinus in 1964, which introduced the Voord and The Android Invasion in 1975, which introduced the Kraal. During this time, Nation also worked in commercial TV, contributing scripts to series such as The Avengers, The Baron, The Champions, Department S, The Persuaders! and The Saint. Nation's work on Doctor Who was the subject of the documentary Terror Nation, a special feature on the BBC DVD release of the serial Destiny of the Daleks. CANNOTANSWER | The Mutants | Terence Joseph Nation (8 August 19309 March 1997) was a Welsh screenwriter and novelist. Especially known for his work in British television science fiction, he created the Daleks and Davros for Doctor Who (1963), as well as the series Survivors (1975) and Blake's 7 (1978).
Nation first made his name as a comedy writer before becoming a prolific writer for drama, working on many of the most popular British series of the 1960s and 1970s such as The Avengers, The Baron, The Champions, Department S, The Persuaders! and The Saint. When Nation was commissioned to write The Daleks (1963) for Doctor Who, the villainous eponymous creatures established the series' early popularity. He later devised the recurring character of Davros in Genesis of the Daleks (1975). His series Survivors and Blake's 7 have been described as "much-loved cult TV classics".
Life and career
Early years
Born in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales, Nation initially worked in comedy, entering the industry in 1955 after a (possibly apocryphal) incident in which Spike Milligan bought a sketch that he had written because he thought that Nation appeared hungry. During the 1950s, Nation worked with John Junkin and Johnny Speight for the writers' agency Associated London Scripts, where he collaborated on hundreds of radio plays for comedians such as Terry Scott, Eric Sykes, Harry Worth and Frankie Howerd.
His career break came in 1962, when he was commissioned to write material for Tony Hancockfirst for Hancock's unsuccessful series for Associated Television broadcast on ITV in 1963, and then his stage show. Although Nation accompanied Hancock as his chief screenwriter on tour in 1963, Hancock would regularly neglect Nation's scripts in favour of recycling his old material. Following an argument over this, Hancock either fired Nation, or Nation resigned (it is unclear which).
Doctor Who
Prior to his association with Hancock, Nation had declined an offer from scriptwriter David Whitaker to write for a new science-fiction programme that was entering production at the BBC; Whitaker had been impressed by a script that Nation had written for the ABC anthology series Out of this World. Now unemployed, and with a young family to support, Nation contacted Whitaker and accepted the offer, writing the second Doctor Who serial, The Daleks (also known as The Mutants and The Dead Planet). The serial introduced the eponymous extraterrestrial villains that would quickly become the series' most popular and enduring monsters, and resulted in a major merchandising success for the BBC.
Nation contributed further scripts to Doctor Who. In 1965, Nation and Dennis Spooner co-wrote the 12-part serial The Daleks' Master Plan, after which Nation, who still held the copyright to the Daleks, attempted to launch a Dalek spin-off TV series in the United States. Various other Dalek tie-in material appeared, including comic strips in the children's weekly TV Century 21 and annuals; such material was frequently credited to Nation, even when written by others. Between 1966 and 1972, appearances by the Daleks in Doctor Who became less frequent and were written for the series by other authors.
In 1973, following an eight-year absence from scriptwriting for the series, Nation returned to writing for the Daleks on Doctor Who with the Third Doctor serial Planet of the Daleks. In 1998, readers of Doctor Who Magazine voted Nation's 1975 serial Genesis of the Daleks the greatest Doctor Who story of all time. In the story, Nation introduced the character of Davros, the creator of the Daleks, who went on to appear in further storylines. Nation also wrote two non-Dalek scripts for Doctor Who, The Keys of Marinus in 1964, which introduced the Voord, and The Android Invasion in 1975, which introduced the Kraals. Nation's final script for Doctor Who was Destiny of the Daleks, broadcast in 1979.
His work on Doctor Who was the subject of the documentary Terror Nation, a special feature on the BBC DVD release of Destiny of the Daleks.
Out of the Unknown
Nation's first work on the science-fiction anthology series Out of the Unknown was scripting an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's short story The Fox and the Forest in 1965 for the show's debut series. It was about a 21st century couple taking a forbidden trip to Mexico in 1938, only to be followed by enforcers from the future. It is one of only two episodes from the first series to be considered lost, with only two photographs and the end titles known to exist.
In 1969, when the show began to be produced in colour, Nation granted permission for the Daleks to be used in the series three episode Get Off My Cloud, based on the story by Peter Phillips about a bed-bound science-fiction author who finds himself within one of his own fantasies after a mental breakdown. This would be the first time the Daleks had been shown in colour on television, although they had previously appeared in colour in the Peter Cushing films. Only production stills and low-quality audio extracts survive.
Survivors and Blake's 7
Having returned to writing for Doctor Who, the BBC commissioned Nation to create a new science-fiction drama series. First broadcast in 1975, Survivors is the post-apocalyptic story of the last humans on Earth after the world's population has been devastated by plague. Although the series was well received, Nation's creative vision conflicted with that of producer Terence Dudley, and the final two seasons were produced without Nation's involvement.
Meanwhile, screenwriter Brian Clemens claimed that he had related the concept for Survivors to Nation in the late 1960s while they were working together on the final season of The Avengers, with Clemens claiming to have registered the Survivors concept with the Writers' Guild of Great Britain in 1965; Nation denied the allegations. Although the case was ultimately brought before the High Court, both sides withdrew from the proceedings after their legal costs mounted.
The production of Nation's next BBC creation, Blake's 7, experienced fewer problems. This series follows a group of criminals and political prisoners who are on the run from the evil "Terran Federation", piloting a stolen spaceship of unknown origin. Blake's 7 ran for four series from 1978 to 1981.
Although Nation scripted the whole of the first series of Blake's 7, his creative influence subsequently declined in the following two series despite writing some key episodes, as script editor Chris Boucher exerted a greater influence on those seasons. Nation didn't write any episodes in the fourth series of Blake's 7. In the 1980s, Nation attempted, without success, to secure funding for a fifth season of Blake's 7. During the 1970s, Nation wrote a children's novel for his daughter Rebecca (after whom he named the character of Rebec in the 1973 Doctor Who serial Planet of the Daleks) titled Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet, as well as a novel based on Survivors.
United States
In 1980, Nation moved to Los Angeles, where he developed programme ideas and worked for various production studios. Little of his work from this time was as successful as that of his earlier period in Britain. He wrote scripts for the TV series MacGyver (1985) and A Fine Romance (1989).
Death
Nation died from emphysema in Los Angeles on 9 March 1997, aged 66. Shortly before his death, he had been collaborating with actor Paul Darrow on another attempt to revive Blake's 7.
Writing credits
Awards and nominations
In 2013, Nation was commemorated with a blue plaque at the house in Cardiff where he was born.
Bibliography
Survivors (1976, )
Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet (1978, )
References
Further reading
Turner, Alwyn W.: The Man Who Invented The Daleks: The Strange Worlds of Terry Nation, London: Aurum Press, 2011, .
External links
Terry Nation profile, Museum of Broadcast Communications, museum.tv; accessed 26 December 2014.
1930 births
1997 deaths
20th-century British novelists
BBC people
British male novelists
British male screenwriters
Welsh radio writers
British science fiction writers
Deaths from emphysema
Welsh comedy writers
Welsh expatriates in the United States
Welsh novelists
Welsh science fiction writers
Welsh screenwriters
Welsh television writers
Writers from Cardiff
People from Llandaff
20th-century British male writers
British male television writers
20th-century British screenwriters | true | [
"The following is a list of Dick Tracy villain debuts. One of the appeals of the Dick Tracy comic strip is its unique villains. Many had bizarre deformities, including the Blank (1937), Little Face Finny (1941), Pruneface (1943), the Brow (1944), Shaky (1945), and Pearshape (1949). Chester Gould wrote these villains for his reader's righteous condemnation, without exploring moral gray areas. This was emphasized by depicting the heroes as attractive and the villains as grotesque. Other notable villains include Big Boy (1931), Breathless Mahoney (1931) and Flattop (1943).\n\n1930s\n\n1940s\n\n1950s\n\n1960s\n\n1970s\n\n1980s\n\n1990s\n\n2000s\n\n2010s\n\n2020s\n\nReferences\n\nSources\n \n \n \n\nDick Tracy characters\nComic strip villains\nDick Tracy\nDick Tracy",
"Midnight Rose was a name taken by a group of United Kingdom science fiction and fantasy writers for a series of shared world anthologies published by the Penguin Books imprint Roc. The group's \"core members\" were Alex Stewart, Roz Kaveney, Neil Gaiman and Mary Gentle. Contributors to individual anthologies included Marcus Rowland, Storm Constantine, Kim Newman, Charles Stross, Stephen Baxter, Colin Greenland, Graham Higgins, Paul Cornell and David Langford, among others.\n\nThe anthologies were:\n\nTemps\nTwo volumes of superhero pastiches, set in a world where the United Kingdom and European Union demand registry of superhuman talents, whereupon the Talented are expected to be permanently \"on call\" as part-time superheroes, in exchange for a stipend. The popular perception of the British Civil Service is played up, with registering as a \"Temp\" being strangely similar to applying for Jobseeker's Allowance or other benefits. The two books were Temps (1991) and EuroTemps (1992).\n\nThe Weerde\nThe concept behind The Weerde was that shapeshifting creatures had been living alongside humanity for millennia, mostly concealing themselves, but occasionally giving rise to legends of supernatural monsters. The books in this series were The Weerde Book One (1992) and The Weerde Book Two: Book of the Ancients (1993).\n\nVillains!\nVillains! (1992) was a parody of heroic fantasy. Like Gentle's later Grunts, it looked at the typical fantasy world from the point of view of the villains.\n\nSeveral of the stories from these anthologies have subsequently appeared in other collections, or have been put on line by their authors:\n\nRoz Kaveney: \"A Lonely Impulse\" (Temps), \"A Wolf To Man\" (The Weerde Book One), \"Bellringer's Overtime\" (Villains!), \"Totally Trashed\" (EuroTemps), \"Ignorance of Perfect Reason\" (The Weerde Book Two)\nDavid Langford: \"Leaks\" (Temps), \"The Arts of the Enemy\" (Villains!), \"If Looks Could Kill\" (EuroTemps), \"The Lions in the Desert\" (The Weerde Book Two)\nMarcus Rowland: \"Frog Day Afternoon\" (Temps), \"Playing Safe\" (EuroTemps), \"The Missing Martian\" (The Weerde Book Two)\nCharles Stross: \"Examination Night\" (Villains!), \"Ancient Of Days\" (The Weerde Book One), \"Red, Hot and Dark\" (The Weerde Book Two)\n\nExternal links \n Roz Kaveney: stories online\n David Langford: bibliography\n Marcus Rowland: stories online\n Charles Stross: stories online\n\nScience fiction organizations"
] | [
"Terence Joseph Nation (8 August 19309 March 1997) was a Welsh screenwriter and novelist. Especially known for his work in British television science fiction, he created the Daleks and Davros for Doctor Who (1963), as well as the series Survivors (1975) and Blake's 7 (1978).",
"Especially known for his work in British television science fiction, he created the Daleks and Davros for Doctor Who (1963), as well as the series Survivors (1975) and Blake's 7 (1978). Nation first made his name as a comedy writer before becoming a prolific writer for drama, working on many of the most popular British series of the 1960s and 1970s such as The Avengers, The Baron, The Champions, Department S, The Persuaders! and The Saint.",
"and The Saint. and The Saint. When Nation was commissioned to write The Daleks (1963) for Doctor Who, the villainous eponymous creatures established the series' early popularity. He later devised the recurring character of Davros in Genesis of the Daleks (1975). His series Survivors and Blake's 7 have been described as \"much-loved cult TV classics\".",
"His series Survivors and Blake's 7 have been described as \"much-loved cult TV classics\". Life and career Early years Born in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales, Nation initially worked in comedy, entering the industry in 1955 after a (possibly apocryphal) incident in which Spike Milligan bought a sketch that he had written because he thought that Nation appeared hungry.",
"Life and career Early years Born in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales, Nation initially worked in comedy, entering the industry in 1955 after a (possibly apocryphal) incident in which Spike Milligan bought a sketch that he had written because he thought that Nation appeared hungry. During the 1950s, Nation worked with John Junkin and Johnny Speight for the writers' agency Associated London Scripts, where he collaborated on hundreds of radio plays for comedians such as Terry Scott, Eric Sykes, Harry Worth and Frankie Howerd.",
"During the 1950s, Nation worked with John Junkin and Johnny Speight for the writers' agency Associated London Scripts, where he collaborated on hundreds of radio plays for comedians such as Terry Scott, Eric Sykes, Harry Worth and Frankie Howerd. His career break came in 1962, when he was commissioned to write material for Tony Hancockfirst for Hancock's unsuccessful series for Associated Television broadcast on ITV in 1963, and then his stage show.",
"His career break came in 1962, when he was commissioned to write material for Tony Hancockfirst for Hancock's unsuccessful series for Associated Television broadcast on ITV in 1963, and then his stage show. Although Nation accompanied Hancock as his chief screenwriter on tour in 1963, Hancock would regularly neglect Nation's scripts in favour of recycling his old material. Following an argument over this, Hancock either fired Nation, or Nation resigned (it is unclear which).",
"Following an argument over this, Hancock either fired Nation, or Nation resigned (it is unclear which). Doctor Who Prior to his association with Hancock, Nation had declined an offer from scriptwriter David Whitaker to write for a new science-fiction programme that was entering production at the BBC; Whitaker had been impressed by a script that Nation had written for the ABC anthology series Out of this World.",
"Doctor Who Prior to his association with Hancock, Nation had declined an offer from scriptwriter David Whitaker to write for a new science-fiction programme that was entering production at the BBC; Whitaker had been impressed by a script that Nation had written for the ABC anthology series Out of this World. Now unemployed, and with a young family to support, Nation contacted Whitaker and accepted the offer, writing the second Doctor Who serial, The Daleks (also known as The Mutants and The Dead Planet).",
"Now unemployed, and with a young family to support, Nation contacted Whitaker and accepted the offer, writing the second Doctor Who serial, The Daleks (also known as The Mutants and The Dead Planet). The serial introduced the eponymous extraterrestrial villains that would quickly become the series' most popular and enduring monsters, and resulted in a major merchandising success for the BBC. Nation contributed further scripts to Doctor Who.",
"Nation contributed further scripts to Doctor Who. Nation contributed further scripts to Doctor Who. In 1965, Nation and Dennis Spooner co-wrote the 12-part serial The Daleks' Master Plan, after which Nation, who still held the copyright to the Daleks, attempted to launch a Dalek spin-off TV series in the United States. Various other Dalek tie-in material appeared, including comic strips in the children's weekly TV Century 21 and annuals; such material was frequently credited to Nation, even when written by others.",
"Various other Dalek tie-in material appeared, including comic strips in the children's weekly TV Century 21 and annuals; such material was frequently credited to Nation, even when written by others. Between 1966 and 1972, appearances by the Daleks in Doctor Who became less frequent and were written for the series by other authors. In 1973, following an eight-year absence from scriptwriting for the series, Nation returned to writing for the Daleks on Doctor Who with the Third Doctor serial Planet of the Daleks.",
"In 1973, following an eight-year absence from scriptwriting for the series, Nation returned to writing for the Daleks on Doctor Who with the Third Doctor serial Planet of the Daleks. In 1998, readers of Doctor Who Magazine voted Nation's 1975 serial Genesis of the Daleks the greatest Doctor Who story of all time. In the story, Nation introduced the character of Davros, the creator of the Daleks, who went on to appear in further storylines.",
"In the story, Nation introduced the character of Davros, the creator of the Daleks, who went on to appear in further storylines. Nation also wrote two non-Dalek scripts for Doctor Who, The Keys of Marinus in 1964, which introduced the Voord, and The Android Invasion in 1975, which introduced the Kraals. Nation's final script for Doctor Who was Destiny of the Daleks, broadcast in 1979.",
"Nation's final script for Doctor Who was Destiny of the Daleks, broadcast in 1979. His work on Doctor Who was the subject of the documentary Terror Nation, a special feature on the BBC DVD release of Destiny of the Daleks. Out of the Unknown Nation's first work on the science-fiction anthology series Out of the Unknown was scripting an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's short story The Fox and the Forest in 1965 for the show's debut series.",
"Out of the Unknown Nation's first work on the science-fiction anthology series Out of the Unknown was scripting an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's short story The Fox and the Forest in 1965 for the show's debut series. It was about a 21st century couple taking a forbidden trip to Mexico in 1938, only to be followed by enforcers from the future. It is one of only two episodes from the first series to be considered lost, with only two photographs and the end titles known to exist.",
"It is one of only two episodes from the first series to be considered lost, with only two photographs and the end titles known to exist. In 1969, when the show began to be produced in colour, Nation granted permission for the Daleks to be used in the series three episode Get Off My Cloud, based on the story by Peter Phillips about a bed-bound science-fiction author who finds himself within one of his own fantasies after a mental breakdown.",
"In 1969, when the show began to be produced in colour, Nation granted permission for the Daleks to be used in the series three episode Get Off My Cloud, based on the story by Peter Phillips about a bed-bound science-fiction author who finds himself within one of his own fantasies after a mental breakdown. This would be the first time the Daleks had been shown in colour on television, although they had previously appeared in colour in the Peter Cushing films. Only production stills and low-quality audio extracts survive.",
"Only production stills and low-quality audio extracts survive. Only production stills and low-quality audio extracts survive. Survivors and Blake's 7 Having returned to writing for Doctor Who, the BBC commissioned Nation to create a new science-fiction drama series. First broadcast in 1975, Survivors is the post-apocalyptic story of the last humans on Earth after the world's population has been devastated by plague.",
"First broadcast in 1975, Survivors is the post-apocalyptic story of the last humans on Earth after the world's population has been devastated by plague. Although the series was well received, Nation's creative vision conflicted with that of producer Terence Dudley, and the final two seasons were produced without Nation's involvement.",
"Although the series was well received, Nation's creative vision conflicted with that of producer Terence Dudley, and the final two seasons were produced without Nation's involvement. Meanwhile, screenwriter Brian Clemens claimed that he had related the concept for Survivors to Nation in the late 1960s while they were working together on the final season of The Avengers, with Clemens claiming to have registered the Survivors concept with the Writers' Guild of Great Britain in 1965; Nation denied the allegations.",
"Meanwhile, screenwriter Brian Clemens claimed that he had related the concept for Survivors to Nation in the late 1960s while they were working together on the final season of The Avengers, with Clemens claiming to have registered the Survivors concept with the Writers' Guild of Great Britain in 1965; Nation denied the allegations. Although the case was ultimately brought before the High Court, both sides withdrew from the proceedings after their legal costs mounted. The production of Nation's next BBC creation, Blake's 7, experienced fewer problems.",
"The production of Nation's next BBC creation, Blake's 7, experienced fewer problems. This series follows a group of criminals and political prisoners who are on the run from the evil \"Terran Federation\", piloting a stolen spaceship of unknown origin. Blake's 7 ran for four series from 1978 to 1981.",
"Blake's 7 ran for four series from 1978 to 1981. Although Nation scripted the whole of the first series of Blake's 7, his creative influence subsequently declined in the following two series despite writing some key episodes, as script editor Chris Boucher exerted a greater influence on those seasons. Nation didn't write any episodes in the fourth series of Blake's 7. In the 1980s, Nation attempted, without success, to secure funding for a fifth season of Blake's 7.",
"In the 1980s, Nation attempted, without success, to secure funding for a fifth season of Blake's 7. During the 1970s, Nation wrote a children's novel for his daughter Rebecca (after whom he named the character of Rebec in the 1973 Doctor Who serial Planet of the Daleks) titled Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet, as well as a novel based on Survivors. United States In 1980, Nation moved to Los Angeles, where he developed programme ideas and worked for various production studios.",
"United States In 1980, Nation moved to Los Angeles, where he developed programme ideas and worked for various production studios. Little of his work from this time was as successful as that of his earlier period in Britain. He wrote scripts for the TV series MacGyver (1985) and A Fine Romance (1989). Death Nation died from emphysema in Los Angeles on 9 March 1997, aged 66. Shortly before his death, he had been collaborating with actor Paul Darrow on another attempt to revive Blake's 7.",
"Shortly before his death, he had been collaborating with actor Paul Darrow on another attempt to revive Blake's 7. Writing credits Awards and nominations In 2013, Nation was commemorated with a blue plaque at the house in Cardiff where he was born. Bibliography Survivors (1976, ) Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet (1978, ) References Further reading Turner, Alwyn W.: The Man Who Invented The Daleks: The Strange Worlds of Terry Nation, London: Aurum Press, 2011, .",
"Bibliography Survivors (1976, ) Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet (1978, ) References Further reading Turner, Alwyn W.: The Man Who Invented The Daleks: The Strange Worlds of Terry Nation, London: Aurum Press, 2011, . External links Terry Nation profile, Museum of Broadcast Communications, museum.tv; accessed 26 December 2014.",
"External links Terry Nation profile, Museum of Broadcast Communications, museum.tv; accessed 26 December 2014. 1930 births 1997 deaths 20th-century British novelists BBC people British male novelists British male screenwriters Welsh radio writers British science fiction writers Deaths from emphysema Welsh comedy writers Welsh expatriates in the United States Welsh novelists Welsh science fiction writers Welsh screenwriters Welsh television writers Writers from Cardiff People from Llandaff 20th-century British male writers British male television writers 20th-century British screenwriters"
] |
[
"Terry Nation",
"Doctor Who",
"What work did he do on Doctor Who?",
"writing the second Doctor Who serial,",
"What contributions did he make?",
"The serial introduced the eponymous extraterrestrial villains that would quickly become the series' most popular and enduring monsters, and resulted in a major merchandising success for the BBC.",
"What was the name of these villains?",
"The Mutants"
] | C_27cf8f62e352479f9e87e95654df4e3f_1 | Did he state how he came to create these characters? | 4 | Did Terry Nation state how surged the idea to create eponymous extraterrestrial villains? | Terry Nation | Prior to this, Nation had declined an offer from scriptwriter David Whitaker to write for a new science-fiction programme that was entering production at the BBC; Whitaker had been impressed by a script that Nation had written for the ABC anthology series Out of this World. Now unemployed, and with a young family to support, Nation contacted Whitaker and accepted the offer, writing the second Doctor Who serial, The Daleks (also known as The Mutants and The Dead Planet). The serial introduced the eponymous extraterrestrial villains that would quickly become the series' most popular and enduring monsters, and resulted in a major merchandising success for the BBC. Having risen in the public consciousness, Nation went on to contribute further scripts to Doctor Who. In 1965, Nation and Dennis Spooner co-wrote the 12-part serial The Daleks' Master Plan, after which Nation, who still held the copyright to the Daleks, attempted to launch a Dalek spin-off TV series in the United States. Various other Dalek tie-in material appeared, including comic strips in the children's weekly TV Century 21 and annuals; such material was frequently credited to Nation, even when written by others. Between 1966 and 1972, appearances by the Daleks in Doctor Who became less frequent and were written for the series by other authors. In 1973, following an eight-year absence from scriptwriting for the series, Nation returned to writing for the Daleks on Doctor Who with the Third Doctor serial Planet of the Daleks. In 1998, readers of Doctor Who Magazine voted Nation's 1975 serial Genesis of the Daleks the greatest Doctor Who story of all time. In the story, Nation introduced the character of Davros, the creator of the Daleks, who went on to appear in further storylines. Nation also wrote two non-Dalek scripts for Doctor Who, The Keys of Marinus in 1964, which introduced the Voord and The Android Invasion in 1975, which introduced the Kraal. During this time, Nation also worked in commercial TV, contributing scripts to series such as The Avengers, The Baron, The Champions, Department S, The Persuaders! and The Saint. Nation's work on Doctor Who was the subject of the documentary Terror Nation, a special feature on the BBC DVD release of the serial Destiny of the Daleks. CANNOTANSWER | unemployed, and with a young family to support, | Terence Joseph Nation (8 August 19309 March 1997) was a Welsh screenwriter and novelist. Especially known for his work in British television science fiction, he created the Daleks and Davros for Doctor Who (1963), as well as the series Survivors (1975) and Blake's 7 (1978).
Nation first made his name as a comedy writer before becoming a prolific writer for drama, working on many of the most popular British series of the 1960s and 1970s such as The Avengers, The Baron, The Champions, Department S, The Persuaders! and The Saint. When Nation was commissioned to write The Daleks (1963) for Doctor Who, the villainous eponymous creatures established the series' early popularity. He later devised the recurring character of Davros in Genesis of the Daleks (1975). His series Survivors and Blake's 7 have been described as "much-loved cult TV classics".
Life and career
Early years
Born in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales, Nation initially worked in comedy, entering the industry in 1955 after a (possibly apocryphal) incident in which Spike Milligan bought a sketch that he had written because he thought that Nation appeared hungry. During the 1950s, Nation worked with John Junkin and Johnny Speight for the writers' agency Associated London Scripts, where he collaborated on hundreds of radio plays for comedians such as Terry Scott, Eric Sykes, Harry Worth and Frankie Howerd.
His career break came in 1962, when he was commissioned to write material for Tony Hancockfirst for Hancock's unsuccessful series for Associated Television broadcast on ITV in 1963, and then his stage show. Although Nation accompanied Hancock as his chief screenwriter on tour in 1963, Hancock would regularly neglect Nation's scripts in favour of recycling his old material. Following an argument over this, Hancock either fired Nation, or Nation resigned (it is unclear which).
Doctor Who
Prior to his association with Hancock, Nation had declined an offer from scriptwriter David Whitaker to write for a new science-fiction programme that was entering production at the BBC; Whitaker had been impressed by a script that Nation had written for the ABC anthology series Out of this World. Now unemployed, and with a young family to support, Nation contacted Whitaker and accepted the offer, writing the second Doctor Who serial, The Daleks (also known as The Mutants and The Dead Planet). The serial introduced the eponymous extraterrestrial villains that would quickly become the series' most popular and enduring monsters, and resulted in a major merchandising success for the BBC.
Nation contributed further scripts to Doctor Who. In 1965, Nation and Dennis Spooner co-wrote the 12-part serial The Daleks' Master Plan, after which Nation, who still held the copyright to the Daleks, attempted to launch a Dalek spin-off TV series in the United States. Various other Dalek tie-in material appeared, including comic strips in the children's weekly TV Century 21 and annuals; such material was frequently credited to Nation, even when written by others. Between 1966 and 1972, appearances by the Daleks in Doctor Who became less frequent and were written for the series by other authors.
In 1973, following an eight-year absence from scriptwriting for the series, Nation returned to writing for the Daleks on Doctor Who with the Third Doctor serial Planet of the Daleks. In 1998, readers of Doctor Who Magazine voted Nation's 1975 serial Genesis of the Daleks the greatest Doctor Who story of all time. In the story, Nation introduced the character of Davros, the creator of the Daleks, who went on to appear in further storylines. Nation also wrote two non-Dalek scripts for Doctor Who, The Keys of Marinus in 1964, which introduced the Voord, and The Android Invasion in 1975, which introduced the Kraals. Nation's final script for Doctor Who was Destiny of the Daleks, broadcast in 1979.
His work on Doctor Who was the subject of the documentary Terror Nation, a special feature on the BBC DVD release of Destiny of the Daleks.
Out of the Unknown
Nation's first work on the science-fiction anthology series Out of the Unknown was scripting an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's short story The Fox and the Forest in 1965 for the show's debut series. It was about a 21st century couple taking a forbidden trip to Mexico in 1938, only to be followed by enforcers from the future. It is one of only two episodes from the first series to be considered lost, with only two photographs and the end titles known to exist.
In 1969, when the show began to be produced in colour, Nation granted permission for the Daleks to be used in the series three episode Get Off My Cloud, based on the story by Peter Phillips about a bed-bound science-fiction author who finds himself within one of his own fantasies after a mental breakdown. This would be the first time the Daleks had been shown in colour on television, although they had previously appeared in colour in the Peter Cushing films. Only production stills and low-quality audio extracts survive.
Survivors and Blake's 7
Having returned to writing for Doctor Who, the BBC commissioned Nation to create a new science-fiction drama series. First broadcast in 1975, Survivors is the post-apocalyptic story of the last humans on Earth after the world's population has been devastated by plague. Although the series was well received, Nation's creative vision conflicted with that of producer Terence Dudley, and the final two seasons were produced without Nation's involvement.
Meanwhile, screenwriter Brian Clemens claimed that he had related the concept for Survivors to Nation in the late 1960s while they were working together on the final season of The Avengers, with Clemens claiming to have registered the Survivors concept with the Writers' Guild of Great Britain in 1965; Nation denied the allegations. Although the case was ultimately brought before the High Court, both sides withdrew from the proceedings after their legal costs mounted.
The production of Nation's next BBC creation, Blake's 7, experienced fewer problems. This series follows a group of criminals and political prisoners who are on the run from the evil "Terran Federation", piloting a stolen spaceship of unknown origin. Blake's 7 ran for four series from 1978 to 1981.
Although Nation scripted the whole of the first series of Blake's 7, his creative influence subsequently declined in the following two series despite writing some key episodes, as script editor Chris Boucher exerted a greater influence on those seasons. Nation didn't write any episodes in the fourth series of Blake's 7. In the 1980s, Nation attempted, without success, to secure funding for a fifth season of Blake's 7. During the 1970s, Nation wrote a children's novel for his daughter Rebecca (after whom he named the character of Rebec in the 1973 Doctor Who serial Planet of the Daleks) titled Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet, as well as a novel based on Survivors.
United States
In 1980, Nation moved to Los Angeles, where he developed programme ideas and worked for various production studios. Little of his work from this time was as successful as that of his earlier period in Britain. He wrote scripts for the TV series MacGyver (1985) and A Fine Romance (1989).
Death
Nation died from emphysema in Los Angeles on 9 March 1997, aged 66. Shortly before his death, he had been collaborating with actor Paul Darrow on another attempt to revive Blake's 7.
Writing credits
Awards and nominations
In 2013, Nation was commemorated with a blue plaque at the house in Cardiff where he was born.
Bibliography
Survivors (1976, )
Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet (1978, )
References
Further reading
Turner, Alwyn W.: The Man Who Invented The Daleks: The Strange Worlds of Terry Nation, London: Aurum Press, 2011, .
External links
Terry Nation profile, Museum of Broadcast Communications, museum.tv; accessed 26 December 2014.
1930 births
1997 deaths
20th-century British novelists
BBC people
British male novelists
British male screenwriters
Welsh radio writers
British science fiction writers
Deaths from emphysema
Welsh comedy writers
Welsh expatriates in the United States
Welsh novelists
Welsh science fiction writers
Welsh screenwriters
Welsh television writers
Writers from Cardiff
People from Llandaff
20th-century British male writers
British male television writers
20th-century British screenwriters | true | [
"How to Draw Manga () is a series of instructional books on drawing manga published by Graphic-sha, by a variety of authors. Originally in Japanese for the Japanese market, many volumes have been translated into English and published in the United States. The English-language volumes in the series were co-produced by Graphic-sha and two other Japanese companies, Japanime Co. Ltd. and Japan Publications Trading Co.\n\nList of books in the series \nThis is a list of books in the main HTDM set and other sets that relate to the main series.\n\nHow to Draw Manga \nOriginally there were no volume numbers on the English versions, because the original Japanese version did not have them. Only volumes 1 - 8 were given numbers. With continued reprints and more books being released, all volumes gained a number. The dates given are the first printing.\n\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 1: Compiling Characters (October 1999)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 2: Compiling Techniques (July 2000)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 3: Compiling Application and Practice (August 2000)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 4: Dressing Your Characters in Casual Wear (May 2001)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 5: Developing Shoujo Manga Techniques (July 2002)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 6: Martial Arts & Combat Sports (June 2002)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 7: Amazing Effects (June 2003)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 8: Super Basics (June 2003)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 9: Special: Colored Original Drawing (May 2001)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 10: Getting Started (October 2000)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 11: Maids & Miko (November 2002)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 12: Giant Robots (February 2002)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 13: Super Tone Techniques (August 2002)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 14: Colorful Costumes (January 2003)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 15: Girls' Life Illustration File (May 2003)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 16: Guns & Military Vol. 1 (September 2003)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 17: Guns & Military Vol. 2 (October 2004)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 18: Super-Deformed Characters Vol. 1 Humans (August 2004)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 19: Super-Deformed Characters Vol. 2 Animals (June 2005)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 20: Female Characters (December 1999)\n\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 21: Bishoujo Pretty Gals (November 2000)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 22: Bishoujo Around the World (March 2001)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 23: Illustrating Battles (October 2000)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 24: Occult & Horror (June 2003)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 25: Bodies & Anatomy (December 2001)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 26: Making Anime (January 2003)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 27: Male Characters (July 2002)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 28: Couples (January 2003)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 29: Putting Things in Perspective (October 2002)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 30: Pen & Tone Techniques (April 2003)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 31: More about Pretty Gals (August 2003)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 32: Mech. Drawing (December 2003)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 33: Costume Encyclopedia Vol. 1 Everyday Fashion (December 2003)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 34: Costume Encyclopedia Vol. 2 Intimate Apparel (January 2005)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 35: Costume Encyclopedia Vol. 3: Sexy Sports Wear (May 2005)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 36: Animals (February 2005)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 37: Macromedia Flash Techniques (February 2004)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 38: Ninja & Samurai Portrayal (September 2005)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 39: Creating Manga: Stories (April 2007) \nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 40: Dressing Your Characters In Suits & Sailor Suits (August 2006)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 41: Costume Encyclopedia Vol. 4 Kimono & Gowns (April 2007)\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 42: Drawing Yaoi (June 2007) Note: this is a bishōnen how-to guide, not yaoi\nHow to Draw Manga Vol. 43: Drawing Bishōnen (December 2008)\n\nHow to Draw Manga: Ultimate Manga Lessons \nThis set was printed in a smaller format of 15 cm x 21 cm.\nHow to Draw Manga: Ultimate Manga Lessons Vol. 1: Drawing Made Easy (April 2005)\nHow to Draw Manga: Ultimate Manga Lessons Vol. 2: The Basics of Characters and Materials (August 2005)\nHow to Draw Manga: Ultimate Manga Lessons Vol. 3: Drawing Sensational Characters (November 2005)\nHow to Draw Manga: Ultimate Manga Lessons Vol. 4: Making the Characters Come Alive (March 2006)\nHow to Draw Manga: Ultimate Manga Lessons Vol. 5: A Touch of Dynamism (2006)\nHow to Draw Manga: Ultimate Manga Lessons Vol. 6: Striking the Right Note (2006)\n\nHow to Draw Manga: Computones \nEach volume in this set includes a CD-ROM for use with Windows only.\n\nHow to Draw Manga: Computones Vol. 1: Basic Tone Techniques (May 2005)\nHow to Draw Manga: Computones Vol. 2: Depicting Characters (September 2005)\nHow to Draw Manga: Computones Vol. 3: Mecha (October 2005)\nHow to Draw Manga: Computones Vol. 4: Portraying Couples (June 2006)\nHow to Draw Manga: Computones Vol. 5: Aiming For Action (June 2006)\n\nHow to Draw Manga: Sketching Manga-Style \nHow to Draw Manga: Sketching Manga-Style Vol. 1: Sketching to Plan (February 2007)\nHow to Draw Manga: Sketching Manga-Style Vol. 2: Logical Proportions (April 2007)\nHow to Draw Manga: Sketching Manga-Style Vol. 3: Unforgettable Characters (October 2007)\nHow to Draw Manga: Sketching Manga-Style Vol. 4: All About Perspective (Nov 12, 2008)\nHow to Draw Manga: Sketching Manga-Style Vol. 5: Sketching Props (August 11, 2009)\n\nThese books are no longer in print and the series has been canceled.\n\nManga Pose Resource Book \nThis set was printed in an over-sized format of 21 cm x 29.6 cm.\n\nManga Pose Resource Book Vol. 1: Basic Poses (2002)\nManga Pose Resource Book Vol. 2: Animals (2002)\nManga Pose Resource Book Vol. 3: Actions Scenes (2002)\n\nHow to Draw Anime and Game Characters \nThis set is another Graphic-Sha publication that is shown alongside the main HTDM series on the dustjacks and in ads.\n\nHow to Draw Anime and Game Characters Vol. 1: Basics for Beginners and Beyond (August 2000)\nHow to Draw Anime and Game Characters Vol. 2: Expressing Emotions (March 2001)\nHow to Draw Anime and Game Characters Vol. 3: Bringing Daily Actions to Life (August 2001)\nHow to Draw Anime and Game Characters Vol. 4: Mastering Battle and Action Moves (April 2002)\nHow to Draw Anime and Game Characters Vol. 5: Bishoujo Game Characters (September 2003)\n\nMore How to Draw Manga \nAnother set of manga-know-how with only four volumes, based in character creation.\n\nMore How to Draw Manga Vol. 1: The Basics of Character Drawing (March 2004)\nMore How to Draw Manga Vol. 2: Penning Characters (March 2004)\nMore How to Draw Manga Vol. 3: Enhancing a Character's Sense of Presence (August 2004)\nMore How to Draw Manga Vol. 4: Mastering Bishoujo Characters (September 2004)\n\nCancelled/status unknown volumes \nThese are volumes that were going to be released in English and even advertised for ordering, but they have been cancelled.\n\nHow to Draw Manga: Digital Comic Guide Vol. 1\n\nCross-promotions \nA special edition of the series titled How to Draw Manga Special: Colored Original Drawing was produced detailing how to use Copic markers. It explains how to avoid blotches, use colorless blenders, select paper, refill markers, changing nibs and the airbrush system. It is Volume 9 in the English language series.\n\nReception \nThe series has been credited with \"the standardization of manga style\", popularizing most common tropes such as \"the large eyes of shōjo characters, the feminine features of bishōnen\". The series has been successful in multiple markets as it has been translated to numerous other languages, and it shows the global success of manga - that not only the product itself is successful, but even works about the process of making the product.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Manga related books on Graphic-sha website\n How to Draw Manga\n\nBooks about visual art\nBooks about manga\nHandbooks and manuals\nBook series introduced in 1999\nJapanese book series",
"Circle Seven Animation (or Disney Circle Seven Animation) was a short-lived division of Walt Disney Feature Animation specializing in computer-generated imagery (CGI) animation and was originally intended to create sequels to the Disney-owned Pixar properties, leading rivals and animators to derisively nickname the division \"Pixaren't\". The studio did not release any films during its existence, nor were any of its scripts used by Pixar.\n\nThe division was named after the street where its studio was located. Circle Seven Drive in Glendale, California is also home to KABC-TV.\n\nBackground\nPixar and Disney originally had a seven-film distribution agreement that gave Disney full ownership of Pixar's feature films and characters, as well as sequel rights. With the success of Toy Story 2 in the end of 1999, then-Disney CEO Michael Eisner and then-owner of Pixar Steve Jobs began to disagree on how Pixar should be run and the terms of a continued relationship.\n\nEisner claimed that Toy Story 2, as it was a sequel, did not count towards the \"original\" film count of the agreement, though Jobs disagreed.\n\nJobs announced in January 2004 — after ten months of negotiations — that Pixar would not renew their agreement with Disney, and would seek out other distributors for releases starting in 2006. Jobs wanted Pixar to receive most of the profits that their films made (giving Disney the standard 10% distribution fee) as well as full ownership of any future films and characters that the studio would create after Cars (2006). \n\nEisner found these terms unacceptable. Pixar executive producer John Lasseter, who had personally directed Toy Story (1995), A Bug's Life (1998), and Toy Story 2 (1999), became distraught over the breakdown of the Disney-Pixar relationship, as he was worried about what Disney might do with the characters Pixar had created.\n\nWhen he had to announce what had happened at a meeting of Pixar's 800 employees, Lasseter reportedly said, through tears, \"It's like you have these dear children and you have to give them up to be adopted by convicted child molesters.\"\n\nName\nCircle 7 Animation was named after the street where its studio was located, and the often-used Circle 7 logo, a television station logo in the United States designed in the early 1960s for the American Broadcasting Company's five owned-and-operated stations, all of which broadcast on VHF channel 7.\n\nHistory\nIn March 2005, Disney Circle Seven Animation was formed as a CGI animation studio to create sequels to the Disney-owned Pixar properties, and the studio began to hire staff shortly thereafter. It was seen as a bargaining chip by people within both Pixar and Disney, but also as a backup plan by Eisner in case negotiations fell through.\n\nThe first (and only) projects that the studio worked on were early drafts of Toy Story 3, Monsters, Inc. 2: Lost in Scaradise, and Finding Nemo 2. \n\nBob Iger succeeded Eisner as the new CEO of Disney in 2005. While viewing a parade at Hong Kong Disneyland that fall, Iger realized how badly Disney needed Pixar because all characters less than ten years old in the parade were from Pixar's films. In late January 2006, Iger and Jobs agreed to a deal in which Disney would purchase Pixar for $7.4 billion, with Pixar's leadership (Edwin Catmull and Lasseter) taking control of Disney's animation group. Under this new deal, Pixar would make Toy Story 3 with an all-new script; director Andrew Stanton stated that Pixar purposely avoided looking at Circle Seven's script.\n\nOn May 26, 2006, Disney officially closed Circle Seven Animation, and transferred about 136 out of the studio's 168 employees to Walt Disney Feature Animation, which was soon renamed Walt Disney Animation Studios. Catmull later disclosed in his 2014 book Creativity, Inc. that although Pixar had been frustrated with Disney's decision to create Circle Seven Animation in order to create sequels to Pixar's own films, they did not hold that against Circle Seven's employees, who had no part in that decision. This was why Catmull and Lasseter were willing to absorb most of the Circle Seven workforce directly into Walt Disney Animation Studios. Indeed, they eventually appointed Andrew Millstein, the former head of Circle Seven, as the general manager of Walt Disney Animation Studios to handle day-to-day business affairs on their behalf.\n\nReferences\n\nAmerican animation studios\nWalt Disney Animation Studios\nEntertainment companies based in California\nMass media companies established in 2005\nMass media companies disestablished in 2006\nCompanies based in Glendale, California\n2005 establishments in California\n2006 disestablishments in California"
] | [
"Terence Joseph Nation (8 August 19309 March 1997) was a Welsh screenwriter and novelist. Especially known for his work in British television science fiction, he created the Daleks and Davros for Doctor Who (1963), as well as the series Survivors (1975) and Blake's 7 (1978).",
"Especially known for his work in British television science fiction, he created the Daleks and Davros for Doctor Who (1963), as well as the series Survivors (1975) and Blake's 7 (1978). Nation first made his name as a comedy writer before becoming a prolific writer for drama, working on many of the most popular British series of the 1960s and 1970s such as The Avengers, The Baron, The Champions, Department S, The Persuaders! and The Saint.",
"and The Saint. and The Saint. When Nation was commissioned to write The Daleks (1963) for Doctor Who, the villainous eponymous creatures established the series' early popularity. He later devised the recurring character of Davros in Genesis of the Daleks (1975). His series Survivors and Blake's 7 have been described as \"much-loved cult TV classics\".",
"His series Survivors and Blake's 7 have been described as \"much-loved cult TV classics\". Life and career Early years Born in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales, Nation initially worked in comedy, entering the industry in 1955 after a (possibly apocryphal) incident in which Spike Milligan bought a sketch that he had written because he thought that Nation appeared hungry.",
"Life and career Early years Born in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales, Nation initially worked in comedy, entering the industry in 1955 after a (possibly apocryphal) incident in which Spike Milligan bought a sketch that he had written because he thought that Nation appeared hungry. During the 1950s, Nation worked with John Junkin and Johnny Speight for the writers' agency Associated London Scripts, where he collaborated on hundreds of radio plays for comedians such as Terry Scott, Eric Sykes, Harry Worth and Frankie Howerd.",
"During the 1950s, Nation worked with John Junkin and Johnny Speight for the writers' agency Associated London Scripts, where he collaborated on hundreds of radio plays for comedians such as Terry Scott, Eric Sykes, Harry Worth and Frankie Howerd. His career break came in 1962, when he was commissioned to write material for Tony Hancockfirst for Hancock's unsuccessful series for Associated Television broadcast on ITV in 1963, and then his stage show.",
"His career break came in 1962, when he was commissioned to write material for Tony Hancockfirst for Hancock's unsuccessful series for Associated Television broadcast on ITV in 1963, and then his stage show. Although Nation accompanied Hancock as his chief screenwriter on tour in 1963, Hancock would regularly neglect Nation's scripts in favour of recycling his old material. Following an argument over this, Hancock either fired Nation, or Nation resigned (it is unclear which).",
"Following an argument over this, Hancock either fired Nation, or Nation resigned (it is unclear which). Doctor Who Prior to his association with Hancock, Nation had declined an offer from scriptwriter David Whitaker to write for a new science-fiction programme that was entering production at the BBC; Whitaker had been impressed by a script that Nation had written for the ABC anthology series Out of this World.",
"Doctor Who Prior to his association with Hancock, Nation had declined an offer from scriptwriter David Whitaker to write for a new science-fiction programme that was entering production at the BBC; Whitaker had been impressed by a script that Nation had written for the ABC anthology series Out of this World. Now unemployed, and with a young family to support, Nation contacted Whitaker and accepted the offer, writing the second Doctor Who serial, The Daleks (also known as The Mutants and The Dead Planet).",
"Now unemployed, and with a young family to support, Nation contacted Whitaker and accepted the offer, writing the second Doctor Who serial, The Daleks (also known as The Mutants and The Dead Planet). The serial introduced the eponymous extraterrestrial villains that would quickly become the series' most popular and enduring monsters, and resulted in a major merchandising success for the BBC. Nation contributed further scripts to Doctor Who.",
"Nation contributed further scripts to Doctor Who. Nation contributed further scripts to Doctor Who. In 1965, Nation and Dennis Spooner co-wrote the 12-part serial The Daleks' Master Plan, after which Nation, who still held the copyright to the Daleks, attempted to launch a Dalek spin-off TV series in the United States. Various other Dalek tie-in material appeared, including comic strips in the children's weekly TV Century 21 and annuals; such material was frequently credited to Nation, even when written by others.",
"Various other Dalek tie-in material appeared, including comic strips in the children's weekly TV Century 21 and annuals; such material was frequently credited to Nation, even when written by others. Between 1966 and 1972, appearances by the Daleks in Doctor Who became less frequent and were written for the series by other authors. In 1973, following an eight-year absence from scriptwriting for the series, Nation returned to writing for the Daleks on Doctor Who with the Third Doctor serial Planet of the Daleks.",
"In 1973, following an eight-year absence from scriptwriting for the series, Nation returned to writing for the Daleks on Doctor Who with the Third Doctor serial Planet of the Daleks. In 1998, readers of Doctor Who Magazine voted Nation's 1975 serial Genesis of the Daleks the greatest Doctor Who story of all time. In the story, Nation introduced the character of Davros, the creator of the Daleks, who went on to appear in further storylines.",
"In the story, Nation introduced the character of Davros, the creator of the Daleks, who went on to appear in further storylines. Nation also wrote two non-Dalek scripts for Doctor Who, The Keys of Marinus in 1964, which introduced the Voord, and The Android Invasion in 1975, which introduced the Kraals. Nation's final script for Doctor Who was Destiny of the Daleks, broadcast in 1979.",
"Nation's final script for Doctor Who was Destiny of the Daleks, broadcast in 1979. His work on Doctor Who was the subject of the documentary Terror Nation, a special feature on the BBC DVD release of Destiny of the Daleks. Out of the Unknown Nation's first work on the science-fiction anthology series Out of the Unknown was scripting an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's short story The Fox and the Forest in 1965 for the show's debut series.",
"Out of the Unknown Nation's first work on the science-fiction anthology series Out of the Unknown was scripting an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's short story The Fox and the Forest in 1965 for the show's debut series. It was about a 21st century couple taking a forbidden trip to Mexico in 1938, only to be followed by enforcers from the future. It is one of only two episodes from the first series to be considered lost, with only two photographs and the end titles known to exist.",
"It is one of only two episodes from the first series to be considered lost, with only two photographs and the end titles known to exist. In 1969, when the show began to be produced in colour, Nation granted permission for the Daleks to be used in the series three episode Get Off My Cloud, based on the story by Peter Phillips about a bed-bound science-fiction author who finds himself within one of his own fantasies after a mental breakdown.",
"In 1969, when the show began to be produced in colour, Nation granted permission for the Daleks to be used in the series three episode Get Off My Cloud, based on the story by Peter Phillips about a bed-bound science-fiction author who finds himself within one of his own fantasies after a mental breakdown. This would be the first time the Daleks had been shown in colour on television, although they had previously appeared in colour in the Peter Cushing films. Only production stills and low-quality audio extracts survive.",
"Only production stills and low-quality audio extracts survive. Only production stills and low-quality audio extracts survive. Survivors and Blake's 7 Having returned to writing for Doctor Who, the BBC commissioned Nation to create a new science-fiction drama series. First broadcast in 1975, Survivors is the post-apocalyptic story of the last humans on Earth after the world's population has been devastated by plague.",
"First broadcast in 1975, Survivors is the post-apocalyptic story of the last humans on Earth after the world's population has been devastated by plague. Although the series was well received, Nation's creative vision conflicted with that of producer Terence Dudley, and the final two seasons were produced without Nation's involvement.",
"Although the series was well received, Nation's creative vision conflicted with that of producer Terence Dudley, and the final two seasons were produced without Nation's involvement. Meanwhile, screenwriter Brian Clemens claimed that he had related the concept for Survivors to Nation in the late 1960s while they were working together on the final season of The Avengers, with Clemens claiming to have registered the Survivors concept with the Writers' Guild of Great Britain in 1965; Nation denied the allegations.",
"Meanwhile, screenwriter Brian Clemens claimed that he had related the concept for Survivors to Nation in the late 1960s while they were working together on the final season of The Avengers, with Clemens claiming to have registered the Survivors concept with the Writers' Guild of Great Britain in 1965; Nation denied the allegations. Although the case was ultimately brought before the High Court, both sides withdrew from the proceedings after their legal costs mounted. The production of Nation's next BBC creation, Blake's 7, experienced fewer problems.",
"The production of Nation's next BBC creation, Blake's 7, experienced fewer problems. This series follows a group of criminals and political prisoners who are on the run from the evil \"Terran Federation\", piloting a stolen spaceship of unknown origin. Blake's 7 ran for four series from 1978 to 1981.",
"Blake's 7 ran for four series from 1978 to 1981. Although Nation scripted the whole of the first series of Blake's 7, his creative influence subsequently declined in the following two series despite writing some key episodes, as script editor Chris Boucher exerted a greater influence on those seasons. Nation didn't write any episodes in the fourth series of Blake's 7. In the 1980s, Nation attempted, without success, to secure funding for a fifth season of Blake's 7.",
"In the 1980s, Nation attempted, without success, to secure funding for a fifth season of Blake's 7. During the 1970s, Nation wrote a children's novel for his daughter Rebecca (after whom he named the character of Rebec in the 1973 Doctor Who serial Planet of the Daleks) titled Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet, as well as a novel based on Survivors. United States In 1980, Nation moved to Los Angeles, where he developed programme ideas and worked for various production studios.",
"United States In 1980, Nation moved to Los Angeles, where he developed programme ideas and worked for various production studios. Little of his work from this time was as successful as that of his earlier period in Britain. He wrote scripts for the TV series MacGyver (1985) and A Fine Romance (1989). Death Nation died from emphysema in Los Angeles on 9 March 1997, aged 66. Shortly before his death, he had been collaborating with actor Paul Darrow on another attempt to revive Blake's 7.",
"Shortly before his death, he had been collaborating with actor Paul Darrow on another attempt to revive Blake's 7. Writing credits Awards and nominations In 2013, Nation was commemorated with a blue plaque at the house in Cardiff where he was born. Bibliography Survivors (1976, ) Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet (1978, ) References Further reading Turner, Alwyn W.: The Man Who Invented The Daleks: The Strange Worlds of Terry Nation, London: Aurum Press, 2011, .",
"Bibliography Survivors (1976, ) Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet (1978, ) References Further reading Turner, Alwyn W.: The Man Who Invented The Daleks: The Strange Worlds of Terry Nation, London: Aurum Press, 2011, . External links Terry Nation profile, Museum of Broadcast Communications, museum.tv; accessed 26 December 2014.",
"External links Terry Nation profile, Museum of Broadcast Communications, museum.tv; accessed 26 December 2014. 1930 births 1997 deaths 20th-century British novelists BBC people British male novelists British male screenwriters Welsh radio writers British science fiction writers Deaths from emphysema Welsh comedy writers Welsh expatriates in the United States Welsh novelists Welsh science fiction writers Welsh screenwriters Welsh television writers Writers from Cardiff People from Llandaff 20th-century British male writers British male television writers 20th-century British screenwriters"
] |
[
"Terry Nation",
"Doctor Who",
"What work did he do on Doctor Who?",
"writing the second Doctor Who serial,",
"What contributions did he make?",
"The serial introduced the eponymous extraterrestrial villains that would quickly become the series' most popular and enduring monsters, and resulted in a major merchandising success for the BBC.",
"What was the name of these villains?",
"The Mutants",
"Did he state how he came to create these characters?",
"unemployed, and with a young family to support,"
] | C_27cf8f62e352479f9e87e95654df4e3f_1 | When was he hired to produce these characters for Doctor Who? | 5 | When was Terry Nation hired to produce eponymous extraterrestrial villains for Doctor Who? | Terry Nation | Prior to this, Nation had declined an offer from scriptwriter David Whitaker to write for a new science-fiction programme that was entering production at the BBC; Whitaker had been impressed by a script that Nation had written for the ABC anthology series Out of this World. Now unemployed, and with a young family to support, Nation contacted Whitaker and accepted the offer, writing the second Doctor Who serial, The Daleks (also known as The Mutants and The Dead Planet). The serial introduced the eponymous extraterrestrial villains that would quickly become the series' most popular and enduring monsters, and resulted in a major merchandising success for the BBC. Having risen in the public consciousness, Nation went on to contribute further scripts to Doctor Who. In 1965, Nation and Dennis Spooner co-wrote the 12-part serial The Daleks' Master Plan, after which Nation, who still held the copyright to the Daleks, attempted to launch a Dalek spin-off TV series in the United States. Various other Dalek tie-in material appeared, including comic strips in the children's weekly TV Century 21 and annuals; such material was frequently credited to Nation, even when written by others. Between 1966 and 1972, appearances by the Daleks in Doctor Who became less frequent and were written for the series by other authors. In 1973, following an eight-year absence from scriptwriting for the series, Nation returned to writing for the Daleks on Doctor Who with the Third Doctor serial Planet of the Daleks. In 1998, readers of Doctor Who Magazine voted Nation's 1975 serial Genesis of the Daleks the greatest Doctor Who story of all time. In the story, Nation introduced the character of Davros, the creator of the Daleks, who went on to appear in further storylines. Nation also wrote two non-Dalek scripts for Doctor Who, The Keys of Marinus in 1964, which introduced the Voord and The Android Invasion in 1975, which introduced the Kraal. During this time, Nation also worked in commercial TV, contributing scripts to series such as The Avengers, The Baron, The Champions, Department S, The Persuaders! and The Saint. Nation's work on Doctor Who was the subject of the documentary Terror Nation, a special feature on the BBC DVD release of the serial Destiny of the Daleks. CANNOTANSWER | 1965, | Terence Joseph Nation (8 August 19309 March 1997) was a Welsh screenwriter and novelist. Especially known for his work in British television science fiction, he created the Daleks and Davros for Doctor Who (1963), as well as the series Survivors (1975) and Blake's 7 (1978).
Nation first made his name as a comedy writer before becoming a prolific writer for drama, working on many of the most popular British series of the 1960s and 1970s such as The Avengers, The Baron, The Champions, Department S, The Persuaders! and The Saint. When Nation was commissioned to write The Daleks (1963) for Doctor Who, the villainous eponymous creatures established the series' early popularity. He later devised the recurring character of Davros in Genesis of the Daleks (1975). His series Survivors and Blake's 7 have been described as "much-loved cult TV classics".
Life and career
Early years
Born in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales, Nation initially worked in comedy, entering the industry in 1955 after a (possibly apocryphal) incident in which Spike Milligan bought a sketch that he had written because he thought that Nation appeared hungry. During the 1950s, Nation worked with John Junkin and Johnny Speight for the writers' agency Associated London Scripts, where he collaborated on hundreds of radio plays for comedians such as Terry Scott, Eric Sykes, Harry Worth and Frankie Howerd.
His career break came in 1962, when he was commissioned to write material for Tony Hancockfirst for Hancock's unsuccessful series for Associated Television broadcast on ITV in 1963, and then his stage show. Although Nation accompanied Hancock as his chief screenwriter on tour in 1963, Hancock would regularly neglect Nation's scripts in favour of recycling his old material. Following an argument over this, Hancock either fired Nation, or Nation resigned (it is unclear which).
Doctor Who
Prior to his association with Hancock, Nation had declined an offer from scriptwriter David Whitaker to write for a new science-fiction programme that was entering production at the BBC; Whitaker had been impressed by a script that Nation had written for the ABC anthology series Out of this World. Now unemployed, and with a young family to support, Nation contacted Whitaker and accepted the offer, writing the second Doctor Who serial, The Daleks (also known as The Mutants and The Dead Planet). The serial introduced the eponymous extraterrestrial villains that would quickly become the series' most popular and enduring monsters, and resulted in a major merchandising success for the BBC.
Nation contributed further scripts to Doctor Who. In 1965, Nation and Dennis Spooner co-wrote the 12-part serial The Daleks' Master Plan, after which Nation, who still held the copyright to the Daleks, attempted to launch a Dalek spin-off TV series in the United States. Various other Dalek tie-in material appeared, including comic strips in the children's weekly TV Century 21 and annuals; such material was frequently credited to Nation, even when written by others. Between 1966 and 1972, appearances by the Daleks in Doctor Who became less frequent and were written for the series by other authors.
In 1973, following an eight-year absence from scriptwriting for the series, Nation returned to writing for the Daleks on Doctor Who with the Third Doctor serial Planet of the Daleks. In 1998, readers of Doctor Who Magazine voted Nation's 1975 serial Genesis of the Daleks the greatest Doctor Who story of all time. In the story, Nation introduced the character of Davros, the creator of the Daleks, who went on to appear in further storylines. Nation also wrote two non-Dalek scripts for Doctor Who, The Keys of Marinus in 1964, which introduced the Voord, and The Android Invasion in 1975, which introduced the Kraals. Nation's final script for Doctor Who was Destiny of the Daleks, broadcast in 1979.
His work on Doctor Who was the subject of the documentary Terror Nation, a special feature on the BBC DVD release of Destiny of the Daleks.
Out of the Unknown
Nation's first work on the science-fiction anthology series Out of the Unknown was scripting an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's short story The Fox and the Forest in 1965 for the show's debut series. It was about a 21st century couple taking a forbidden trip to Mexico in 1938, only to be followed by enforcers from the future. It is one of only two episodes from the first series to be considered lost, with only two photographs and the end titles known to exist.
In 1969, when the show began to be produced in colour, Nation granted permission for the Daleks to be used in the series three episode Get Off My Cloud, based on the story by Peter Phillips about a bed-bound science-fiction author who finds himself within one of his own fantasies after a mental breakdown. This would be the first time the Daleks had been shown in colour on television, although they had previously appeared in colour in the Peter Cushing films. Only production stills and low-quality audio extracts survive.
Survivors and Blake's 7
Having returned to writing for Doctor Who, the BBC commissioned Nation to create a new science-fiction drama series. First broadcast in 1975, Survivors is the post-apocalyptic story of the last humans on Earth after the world's population has been devastated by plague. Although the series was well received, Nation's creative vision conflicted with that of producer Terence Dudley, and the final two seasons were produced without Nation's involvement.
Meanwhile, screenwriter Brian Clemens claimed that he had related the concept for Survivors to Nation in the late 1960s while they were working together on the final season of The Avengers, with Clemens claiming to have registered the Survivors concept with the Writers' Guild of Great Britain in 1965; Nation denied the allegations. Although the case was ultimately brought before the High Court, both sides withdrew from the proceedings after their legal costs mounted.
The production of Nation's next BBC creation, Blake's 7, experienced fewer problems. This series follows a group of criminals and political prisoners who are on the run from the evil "Terran Federation", piloting a stolen spaceship of unknown origin. Blake's 7 ran for four series from 1978 to 1981.
Although Nation scripted the whole of the first series of Blake's 7, his creative influence subsequently declined in the following two series despite writing some key episodes, as script editor Chris Boucher exerted a greater influence on those seasons. Nation didn't write any episodes in the fourth series of Blake's 7. In the 1980s, Nation attempted, without success, to secure funding for a fifth season of Blake's 7. During the 1970s, Nation wrote a children's novel for his daughter Rebecca (after whom he named the character of Rebec in the 1973 Doctor Who serial Planet of the Daleks) titled Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet, as well as a novel based on Survivors.
United States
In 1980, Nation moved to Los Angeles, where he developed programme ideas and worked for various production studios. Little of his work from this time was as successful as that of his earlier period in Britain. He wrote scripts for the TV series MacGyver (1985) and A Fine Romance (1989).
Death
Nation died from emphysema in Los Angeles on 9 March 1997, aged 66. Shortly before his death, he had been collaborating with actor Paul Darrow on another attempt to revive Blake's 7.
Writing credits
Awards and nominations
In 2013, Nation was commemorated with a blue plaque at the house in Cardiff where he was born.
Bibliography
Survivors (1976, )
Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet (1978, )
References
Further reading
Turner, Alwyn W.: The Man Who Invented The Daleks: The Strange Worlds of Terry Nation, London: Aurum Press, 2011, .
External links
Terry Nation profile, Museum of Broadcast Communications, museum.tv; accessed 26 December 2014.
1930 births
1997 deaths
20th-century British novelists
BBC people
British male novelists
British male screenwriters
Welsh radio writers
British science fiction writers
Deaths from emphysema
Welsh comedy writers
Welsh expatriates in the United States
Welsh novelists
Welsh science fiction writers
Welsh screenwriters
Welsh television writers
Writers from Cardiff
People from Llandaff
20th-century British male writers
British male television writers
20th-century British screenwriters | true | [
"The Virgin Decalog books were collections of short stories published by Virgin Publishing based on the television series Doctor Who: they gained their name from the fact that each volume contained ten stories (although the last collection contains eleven). Five volumes were published between 1994 and September 1997, although volumes 4 and 5 did not feature the Doctor or any other non-Virgin copyrighted characters. This is because the BBC decided not to renew Virgin's licence to produce original fiction featuring the Doctor or any characters featured in the TV series (Virgin transitioned to featuring characters created for literature over which the BBC had no rights). Following this, the BBC began producing their own Doctor Who fiction, including short stories under the name Short Trips.\n\nThe Books\n\nDecalog\nThe first volume of stories published was Decalog (Virgin, 17 March 1994), edited by Mark Stammers and Stephen James Walker. It contained the following stories:\n\nThe Story Playback by Stephen James Walker was a short linking piece that recurred between the other stories, detailing the story of an amnesiac claiming to be the Doctor having his memories restored by going through the items in his pockets: each item relates to one of the stories.\n\nDecalog 2: Lost Property\nThe next volume was Decalog 2: Lost Property (Virgin Publishing, 20 July 1995), again edited by Mark Stammers and Stephen James Walker. This volume abandoned the linking story concept used in Decalog, and instead concentrated on having all its stories written on the same theme – a property that the Doctor owns somewhere or when in the universe. It contained the stories:\n\nDecalog 3: Consequences\nThe final Decalog collection before Virgin lost their licence to use The Doctor and characters from the 1963–89 series was called Decalog 3: Consequences (Virgin Publishing, 18 July 1996), and was joint edited by Justin Richards and Andy Lane. It introduced a new idea for linking the stories whereby each story would contain an element from the previous and subsequent stories, and the first contained an element from the last and vice versa. It contained the following stories:\n\nThis was Steven Moffat's first Doctor Who work. He later went on to write for the 2005 revival of the television series, and would become head writer for the series from the 2010 season onwards. Jackie Marshall was an established writer of Doctor Who fan fiction at the time. DeCandido went on to write novels for the Star Trek franchise. Moffat would later use many plot elements from Continuity Errors as the basis for the 2010 Christmas Special, as well as for River Song's backstory in \"Let's Kill Hitler\".\n\nDecalog 4: Re-Generations\nThe first Decalog collection after Virgin lost their licence to use Doctor Who TV characters was called Decalog 4: Re-Generations (Virgin Publishing, 15 May 1997), and was again joint edited by Justin Richards and Andy Lane. In order to try to keep the audience of previous Decalogs even though the Doctor could no longer appear in the stories, it was decided to theme the collection around the family history of one of the Doctor's companion Roz Forrester. As this companion had been created by co-editor Andy Lane for the Virgin New Adventures, there were no copyright issues in including her. It contained the following stories:\n\nDecalog 5: Wonders\nThe final Decalog collection was called Decalog 5: Wonders (Virgin Publishing, 18 September 1997), and was jointly edited by Paul Leonard and Jim Mortimore. This time, all but one story were free-standing science fiction pieces on the theme of \"the Ten Wonders of the Universe\", without direct connection to the Doctor Who universe. One story, The Judgement of Solomon by Lawrence Miles, however features former New Adventures companion, Bernice Summerfield. The collection contained the following stories:\n\nFollowing the publication of this book, Virgin produced no further Decalog collections.\n\nReferences\n\nBook series introduced in 1994\nNovels based on Doctor Who\nScience fiction book series\n1990s books\nVirgin Books books",
"Honoré Lechasseur is one of two main characters in the Doctor Who spin-off Time Hunter series published by Telos Publishing Ltd. He is a time sensitive, which means that he possess the ability to see into people's pasts and futures when he is in their vicinity. He is also able to physically travel along people's timelines when he is working with a time channeller, such as his friend Emily Blandish. Honoré has appeared on some of the covers of the Time Hunter novellas.\n\nOverview \nThe character was created by Daniel O'Mahony for the Telos Doctor Who novella The Cabinet of Light. Shortly after the novella was published it was announced that BBC Enterprises would not be renewing Telos's licence to produce Doctor Who novellas. Telos subsequently announced that they would begin producing a series of \"Part mystery, part detective story, part dark fantasy, part science fiction\" novellas that would continue the spirit of the Doctor Who novellas. This was the Time Hunter range, which continued the adventures of Honoré and Emily Blandish.\n\nHonoré is portrayed as a moral character – he prides himself on never having swindled any of his customers – who develops from struggling to understand and live with his abilities, to embracing them through his platonic relationship with Emily Blandish. Through the novellas, he progresses from using alcohol on a regular basis as a \"painkiller\", to eventually becoming teetotal.\n\nThe character continued in the Time Hunter range for 11 novellas, before Telos announced that the range was to be closed due to poor sales.\n\nBiography \n\nHonoré Lechasseur in an American from New Orleans, Louisiana, who came to Europe whilst serving in the US Army in World War II. His platoon were moving through France when they became lost and ended up in Belgium, finding a farmhouse that had recently been abandoned by German soldiers. The group settled down to enjoy a stash of alcohol that had been left behind, and Honoré's Lieutenant began to play a piano: the piano had been booby trapped with explosives, and the Lieutenant was killed.\n\nHonoré suffered physical injuries in the explosion and was advised by Army medics that he would never walk again. He also suffered psychological injuries from the trauma, made worse by the knowledge that of his entire platoon, Honoré was the only other person who could play the piano and so if it had not been his lieutenant who had been killed, it might well have been Honoré himself.\n\nHonoré was moved to a hospital in England in 1943, where he began to recover the use of his legs. During this period, he also began to develop an ability to see people's pasts and futures that he later learnt was called time sensitivity.\n\nWhilst in hospital, Honoré was treated by a small bearded Scots doctor (recalling the Seventh Doctor, although it is unclear whether the character is intended to actually be the Seventh Doctor in disguise) who helped him recover to a certain degree. Honoré then left the hospital and relocated to Shoreditch in London, where he began working as a black market spiv – although he preferred the term \"fixer\".\n\nIn 1949, Honoré was hired by a woman posing as Emily Blandish to find her \"husband\", the Doctor. During the course of his investigations, Honoré met a young amnesiac woman dubbed \"the girl in the pink pyjamas\" by the press, and together they help save the Cabinet of Light (in actuality, the TARDIS) from a Nazi cult desperate to possess it for their own ends. He also helped the girl to remember her real name: Emily Blandish.\n\nFollowing this adventure, Emily and Honoré kept in touch and built a strong, platonic relationship. It was not until they both happened to spot the same man at the same time and wonder where he had come from, however, that they realised that Emily was a time sensitive. They both travelled forwards in time to an alternative 1984 (based on the novel by George Orwell), where they spent time trying to work out how to get back to their own time – which they ultimately did, whilst also ensuring that the future they had witnessed never came about.\n\nHonoré and Emily eventually came to understand how they had travelled through time, and became so practised at it that they could soon travel at will to a chosen date and time. They faced various adventures together, during which they fought the Fendahl and gained the enmity of a mysterious time travelling cult.\n\nAt present, Honoré's ultimate destiny is unknown.\n\nExternal links \n Telos website\n Outpost Gallifrey's \"Cabinet of Light\" section\n Doctor Who Ratings Guide reviews\n\nLiterary characters introduced in 2003\nDoctor Who book characters\nFictional spivs\nMale characters in literature\nTime Hunter"
] | [
"Terence Joseph Nation (8 August 19309 March 1997) was a Welsh screenwriter and novelist. Especially known for his work in British television science fiction, he created the Daleks and Davros for Doctor Who (1963), as well as the series Survivors (1975) and Blake's 7 (1978).",
"Especially known for his work in British television science fiction, he created the Daleks and Davros for Doctor Who (1963), as well as the series Survivors (1975) and Blake's 7 (1978). Nation first made his name as a comedy writer before becoming a prolific writer for drama, working on many of the most popular British series of the 1960s and 1970s such as The Avengers, The Baron, The Champions, Department S, The Persuaders! and The Saint.",
"and The Saint. and The Saint. When Nation was commissioned to write The Daleks (1963) for Doctor Who, the villainous eponymous creatures established the series' early popularity. He later devised the recurring character of Davros in Genesis of the Daleks (1975). His series Survivors and Blake's 7 have been described as \"much-loved cult TV classics\".",
"His series Survivors and Blake's 7 have been described as \"much-loved cult TV classics\". Life and career Early years Born in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales, Nation initially worked in comedy, entering the industry in 1955 after a (possibly apocryphal) incident in which Spike Milligan bought a sketch that he had written because he thought that Nation appeared hungry.",
"Life and career Early years Born in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales, Nation initially worked in comedy, entering the industry in 1955 after a (possibly apocryphal) incident in which Spike Milligan bought a sketch that he had written because he thought that Nation appeared hungry. During the 1950s, Nation worked with John Junkin and Johnny Speight for the writers' agency Associated London Scripts, where he collaborated on hundreds of radio plays for comedians such as Terry Scott, Eric Sykes, Harry Worth and Frankie Howerd.",
"During the 1950s, Nation worked with John Junkin and Johnny Speight for the writers' agency Associated London Scripts, where he collaborated on hundreds of radio plays for comedians such as Terry Scott, Eric Sykes, Harry Worth and Frankie Howerd. His career break came in 1962, when he was commissioned to write material for Tony Hancockfirst for Hancock's unsuccessful series for Associated Television broadcast on ITV in 1963, and then his stage show.",
"His career break came in 1962, when he was commissioned to write material for Tony Hancockfirst for Hancock's unsuccessful series for Associated Television broadcast on ITV in 1963, and then his stage show. Although Nation accompanied Hancock as his chief screenwriter on tour in 1963, Hancock would regularly neglect Nation's scripts in favour of recycling his old material. Following an argument over this, Hancock either fired Nation, or Nation resigned (it is unclear which).",
"Following an argument over this, Hancock either fired Nation, or Nation resigned (it is unclear which). Doctor Who Prior to his association with Hancock, Nation had declined an offer from scriptwriter David Whitaker to write for a new science-fiction programme that was entering production at the BBC; Whitaker had been impressed by a script that Nation had written for the ABC anthology series Out of this World.",
"Doctor Who Prior to his association with Hancock, Nation had declined an offer from scriptwriter David Whitaker to write for a new science-fiction programme that was entering production at the BBC; Whitaker had been impressed by a script that Nation had written for the ABC anthology series Out of this World. Now unemployed, and with a young family to support, Nation contacted Whitaker and accepted the offer, writing the second Doctor Who serial, The Daleks (also known as The Mutants and The Dead Planet).",
"Now unemployed, and with a young family to support, Nation contacted Whitaker and accepted the offer, writing the second Doctor Who serial, The Daleks (also known as The Mutants and The Dead Planet). The serial introduced the eponymous extraterrestrial villains that would quickly become the series' most popular and enduring monsters, and resulted in a major merchandising success for the BBC. Nation contributed further scripts to Doctor Who.",
"Nation contributed further scripts to Doctor Who. Nation contributed further scripts to Doctor Who. In 1965, Nation and Dennis Spooner co-wrote the 12-part serial The Daleks' Master Plan, after which Nation, who still held the copyright to the Daleks, attempted to launch a Dalek spin-off TV series in the United States. Various other Dalek tie-in material appeared, including comic strips in the children's weekly TV Century 21 and annuals; such material was frequently credited to Nation, even when written by others.",
"Various other Dalek tie-in material appeared, including comic strips in the children's weekly TV Century 21 and annuals; such material was frequently credited to Nation, even when written by others. Between 1966 and 1972, appearances by the Daleks in Doctor Who became less frequent and were written for the series by other authors. In 1973, following an eight-year absence from scriptwriting for the series, Nation returned to writing for the Daleks on Doctor Who with the Third Doctor serial Planet of the Daleks.",
"In 1973, following an eight-year absence from scriptwriting for the series, Nation returned to writing for the Daleks on Doctor Who with the Third Doctor serial Planet of the Daleks. In 1998, readers of Doctor Who Magazine voted Nation's 1975 serial Genesis of the Daleks the greatest Doctor Who story of all time. In the story, Nation introduced the character of Davros, the creator of the Daleks, who went on to appear in further storylines.",
"In the story, Nation introduced the character of Davros, the creator of the Daleks, who went on to appear in further storylines. Nation also wrote two non-Dalek scripts for Doctor Who, The Keys of Marinus in 1964, which introduced the Voord, and The Android Invasion in 1975, which introduced the Kraals. Nation's final script for Doctor Who was Destiny of the Daleks, broadcast in 1979.",
"Nation's final script for Doctor Who was Destiny of the Daleks, broadcast in 1979. His work on Doctor Who was the subject of the documentary Terror Nation, a special feature on the BBC DVD release of Destiny of the Daleks. Out of the Unknown Nation's first work on the science-fiction anthology series Out of the Unknown was scripting an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's short story The Fox and the Forest in 1965 for the show's debut series.",
"Out of the Unknown Nation's first work on the science-fiction anthology series Out of the Unknown was scripting an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's short story The Fox and the Forest in 1965 for the show's debut series. It was about a 21st century couple taking a forbidden trip to Mexico in 1938, only to be followed by enforcers from the future. It is one of only two episodes from the first series to be considered lost, with only two photographs and the end titles known to exist.",
"It is one of only two episodes from the first series to be considered lost, with only two photographs and the end titles known to exist. In 1969, when the show began to be produced in colour, Nation granted permission for the Daleks to be used in the series three episode Get Off My Cloud, based on the story by Peter Phillips about a bed-bound science-fiction author who finds himself within one of his own fantasies after a mental breakdown.",
"In 1969, when the show began to be produced in colour, Nation granted permission for the Daleks to be used in the series three episode Get Off My Cloud, based on the story by Peter Phillips about a bed-bound science-fiction author who finds himself within one of his own fantasies after a mental breakdown. This would be the first time the Daleks had been shown in colour on television, although they had previously appeared in colour in the Peter Cushing films. Only production stills and low-quality audio extracts survive.",
"Only production stills and low-quality audio extracts survive. Only production stills and low-quality audio extracts survive. Survivors and Blake's 7 Having returned to writing for Doctor Who, the BBC commissioned Nation to create a new science-fiction drama series. First broadcast in 1975, Survivors is the post-apocalyptic story of the last humans on Earth after the world's population has been devastated by plague.",
"First broadcast in 1975, Survivors is the post-apocalyptic story of the last humans on Earth after the world's population has been devastated by plague. Although the series was well received, Nation's creative vision conflicted with that of producer Terence Dudley, and the final two seasons were produced without Nation's involvement.",
"Although the series was well received, Nation's creative vision conflicted with that of producer Terence Dudley, and the final two seasons were produced without Nation's involvement. Meanwhile, screenwriter Brian Clemens claimed that he had related the concept for Survivors to Nation in the late 1960s while they were working together on the final season of The Avengers, with Clemens claiming to have registered the Survivors concept with the Writers' Guild of Great Britain in 1965; Nation denied the allegations.",
"Meanwhile, screenwriter Brian Clemens claimed that he had related the concept for Survivors to Nation in the late 1960s while they were working together on the final season of The Avengers, with Clemens claiming to have registered the Survivors concept with the Writers' Guild of Great Britain in 1965; Nation denied the allegations. Although the case was ultimately brought before the High Court, both sides withdrew from the proceedings after their legal costs mounted. The production of Nation's next BBC creation, Blake's 7, experienced fewer problems.",
"The production of Nation's next BBC creation, Blake's 7, experienced fewer problems. This series follows a group of criminals and political prisoners who are on the run from the evil \"Terran Federation\", piloting a stolen spaceship of unknown origin. Blake's 7 ran for four series from 1978 to 1981.",
"Blake's 7 ran for four series from 1978 to 1981. Although Nation scripted the whole of the first series of Blake's 7, his creative influence subsequently declined in the following two series despite writing some key episodes, as script editor Chris Boucher exerted a greater influence on those seasons. Nation didn't write any episodes in the fourth series of Blake's 7. In the 1980s, Nation attempted, without success, to secure funding for a fifth season of Blake's 7.",
"In the 1980s, Nation attempted, without success, to secure funding for a fifth season of Blake's 7. During the 1970s, Nation wrote a children's novel for his daughter Rebecca (after whom he named the character of Rebec in the 1973 Doctor Who serial Planet of the Daleks) titled Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet, as well as a novel based on Survivors. United States In 1980, Nation moved to Los Angeles, where he developed programme ideas and worked for various production studios.",
"United States In 1980, Nation moved to Los Angeles, where he developed programme ideas and worked for various production studios. Little of his work from this time was as successful as that of his earlier period in Britain. He wrote scripts for the TV series MacGyver (1985) and A Fine Romance (1989). Death Nation died from emphysema in Los Angeles on 9 March 1997, aged 66. Shortly before his death, he had been collaborating with actor Paul Darrow on another attempt to revive Blake's 7.",
"Shortly before his death, he had been collaborating with actor Paul Darrow on another attempt to revive Blake's 7. Writing credits Awards and nominations In 2013, Nation was commemorated with a blue plaque at the house in Cardiff where he was born. Bibliography Survivors (1976, ) Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet (1978, ) References Further reading Turner, Alwyn W.: The Man Who Invented The Daleks: The Strange Worlds of Terry Nation, London: Aurum Press, 2011, .",
"Bibliography Survivors (1976, ) Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet (1978, ) References Further reading Turner, Alwyn W.: The Man Who Invented The Daleks: The Strange Worlds of Terry Nation, London: Aurum Press, 2011, . External links Terry Nation profile, Museum of Broadcast Communications, museum.tv; accessed 26 December 2014.",
"External links Terry Nation profile, Museum of Broadcast Communications, museum.tv; accessed 26 December 2014. 1930 births 1997 deaths 20th-century British novelists BBC people British male novelists British male screenwriters Welsh radio writers British science fiction writers Deaths from emphysema Welsh comedy writers Welsh expatriates in the United States Welsh novelists Welsh science fiction writers Welsh screenwriters Welsh television writers Writers from Cardiff People from Llandaff 20th-century British male writers British male television writers 20th-century British screenwriters"
] |
[
"Terry Nation",
"Doctor Who",
"What work did he do on Doctor Who?",
"writing the second Doctor Who serial,",
"What contributions did he make?",
"The serial introduced the eponymous extraterrestrial villains that would quickly become the series' most popular and enduring monsters, and resulted in a major merchandising success for the BBC.",
"What was the name of these villains?",
"The Mutants",
"Did he state how he came to create these characters?",
"unemployed, and with a young family to support,",
"When was he hired to produce these characters for Doctor Who?",
"1965,",
"Did he create anything else for the series?",
"Having risen in the public consciousness, Nation went on to contribute further scripts to Doctor Who. In 1965,"
] | C_27cf8f62e352479f9e87e95654df4e3f_1 | What scripts did he contribute? | 7 | What scripts did Terry Nation contribute on Doctor Who? | Terry Nation | Prior to this, Nation had declined an offer from scriptwriter David Whitaker to write for a new science-fiction programme that was entering production at the BBC; Whitaker had been impressed by a script that Nation had written for the ABC anthology series Out of this World. Now unemployed, and with a young family to support, Nation contacted Whitaker and accepted the offer, writing the second Doctor Who serial, The Daleks (also known as The Mutants and The Dead Planet). The serial introduced the eponymous extraterrestrial villains that would quickly become the series' most popular and enduring monsters, and resulted in a major merchandising success for the BBC. Having risen in the public consciousness, Nation went on to contribute further scripts to Doctor Who. In 1965, Nation and Dennis Spooner co-wrote the 12-part serial The Daleks' Master Plan, after which Nation, who still held the copyright to the Daleks, attempted to launch a Dalek spin-off TV series in the United States. Various other Dalek tie-in material appeared, including comic strips in the children's weekly TV Century 21 and annuals; such material was frequently credited to Nation, even when written by others. Between 1966 and 1972, appearances by the Daleks in Doctor Who became less frequent and were written for the series by other authors. In 1973, following an eight-year absence from scriptwriting for the series, Nation returned to writing for the Daleks on Doctor Who with the Third Doctor serial Planet of the Daleks. In 1998, readers of Doctor Who Magazine voted Nation's 1975 serial Genesis of the Daleks the greatest Doctor Who story of all time. In the story, Nation introduced the character of Davros, the creator of the Daleks, who went on to appear in further storylines. Nation also wrote two non-Dalek scripts for Doctor Who, The Keys of Marinus in 1964, which introduced the Voord and The Android Invasion in 1975, which introduced the Kraal. During this time, Nation also worked in commercial TV, contributing scripts to series such as The Avengers, The Baron, The Champions, Department S, The Persuaders! and The Saint. Nation's work on Doctor Who was the subject of the documentary Terror Nation, a special feature on the BBC DVD release of the serial Destiny of the Daleks. CANNOTANSWER | Doctor Who. In 1965, | Terence Joseph Nation (8 August 19309 March 1997) was a Welsh screenwriter and novelist. Especially known for his work in British television science fiction, he created the Daleks and Davros for Doctor Who (1963), as well as the series Survivors (1975) and Blake's 7 (1978).
Nation first made his name as a comedy writer before becoming a prolific writer for drama, working on many of the most popular British series of the 1960s and 1970s such as The Avengers, The Baron, The Champions, Department S, The Persuaders! and The Saint. When Nation was commissioned to write The Daleks (1963) for Doctor Who, the villainous eponymous creatures established the series' early popularity. He later devised the recurring character of Davros in Genesis of the Daleks (1975). His series Survivors and Blake's 7 have been described as "much-loved cult TV classics".
Life and career
Early years
Born in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales, Nation initially worked in comedy, entering the industry in 1955 after a (possibly apocryphal) incident in which Spike Milligan bought a sketch that he had written because he thought that Nation appeared hungry. During the 1950s, Nation worked with John Junkin and Johnny Speight for the writers' agency Associated London Scripts, where he collaborated on hundreds of radio plays for comedians such as Terry Scott, Eric Sykes, Harry Worth and Frankie Howerd.
His career break came in 1962, when he was commissioned to write material for Tony Hancockfirst for Hancock's unsuccessful series for Associated Television broadcast on ITV in 1963, and then his stage show. Although Nation accompanied Hancock as his chief screenwriter on tour in 1963, Hancock would regularly neglect Nation's scripts in favour of recycling his old material. Following an argument over this, Hancock either fired Nation, or Nation resigned (it is unclear which).
Doctor Who
Prior to his association with Hancock, Nation had declined an offer from scriptwriter David Whitaker to write for a new science-fiction programme that was entering production at the BBC; Whitaker had been impressed by a script that Nation had written for the ABC anthology series Out of this World. Now unemployed, and with a young family to support, Nation contacted Whitaker and accepted the offer, writing the second Doctor Who serial, The Daleks (also known as The Mutants and The Dead Planet). The serial introduced the eponymous extraterrestrial villains that would quickly become the series' most popular and enduring monsters, and resulted in a major merchandising success for the BBC.
Nation contributed further scripts to Doctor Who. In 1965, Nation and Dennis Spooner co-wrote the 12-part serial The Daleks' Master Plan, after which Nation, who still held the copyright to the Daleks, attempted to launch a Dalek spin-off TV series in the United States. Various other Dalek tie-in material appeared, including comic strips in the children's weekly TV Century 21 and annuals; such material was frequently credited to Nation, even when written by others. Between 1966 and 1972, appearances by the Daleks in Doctor Who became less frequent and were written for the series by other authors.
In 1973, following an eight-year absence from scriptwriting for the series, Nation returned to writing for the Daleks on Doctor Who with the Third Doctor serial Planet of the Daleks. In 1998, readers of Doctor Who Magazine voted Nation's 1975 serial Genesis of the Daleks the greatest Doctor Who story of all time. In the story, Nation introduced the character of Davros, the creator of the Daleks, who went on to appear in further storylines. Nation also wrote two non-Dalek scripts for Doctor Who, The Keys of Marinus in 1964, which introduced the Voord, and The Android Invasion in 1975, which introduced the Kraals. Nation's final script for Doctor Who was Destiny of the Daleks, broadcast in 1979.
His work on Doctor Who was the subject of the documentary Terror Nation, a special feature on the BBC DVD release of Destiny of the Daleks.
Out of the Unknown
Nation's first work on the science-fiction anthology series Out of the Unknown was scripting an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's short story The Fox and the Forest in 1965 for the show's debut series. It was about a 21st century couple taking a forbidden trip to Mexico in 1938, only to be followed by enforcers from the future. It is one of only two episodes from the first series to be considered lost, with only two photographs and the end titles known to exist.
In 1969, when the show began to be produced in colour, Nation granted permission for the Daleks to be used in the series three episode Get Off My Cloud, based on the story by Peter Phillips about a bed-bound science-fiction author who finds himself within one of his own fantasies after a mental breakdown. This would be the first time the Daleks had been shown in colour on television, although they had previously appeared in colour in the Peter Cushing films. Only production stills and low-quality audio extracts survive.
Survivors and Blake's 7
Having returned to writing for Doctor Who, the BBC commissioned Nation to create a new science-fiction drama series. First broadcast in 1975, Survivors is the post-apocalyptic story of the last humans on Earth after the world's population has been devastated by plague. Although the series was well received, Nation's creative vision conflicted with that of producer Terence Dudley, and the final two seasons were produced without Nation's involvement.
Meanwhile, screenwriter Brian Clemens claimed that he had related the concept for Survivors to Nation in the late 1960s while they were working together on the final season of The Avengers, with Clemens claiming to have registered the Survivors concept with the Writers' Guild of Great Britain in 1965; Nation denied the allegations. Although the case was ultimately brought before the High Court, both sides withdrew from the proceedings after their legal costs mounted.
The production of Nation's next BBC creation, Blake's 7, experienced fewer problems. This series follows a group of criminals and political prisoners who are on the run from the evil "Terran Federation", piloting a stolen spaceship of unknown origin. Blake's 7 ran for four series from 1978 to 1981.
Although Nation scripted the whole of the first series of Blake's 7, his creative influence subsequently declined in the following two series despite writing some key episodes, as script editor Chris Boucher exerted a greater influence on those seasons. Nation didn't write any episodes in the fourth series of Blake's 7. In the 1980s, Nation attempted, without success, to secure funding for a fifth season of Blake's 7. During the 1970s, Nation wrote a children's novel for his daughter Rebecca (after whom he named the character of Rebec in the 1973 Doctor Who serial Planet of the Daleks) titled Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet, as well as a novel based on Survivors.
United States
In 1980, Nation moved to Los Angeles, where he developed programme ideas and worked for various production studios. Little of his work from this time was as successful as that of his earlier period in Britain. He wrote scripts for the TV series MacGyver (1985) and A Fine Romance (1989).
Death
Nation died from emphysema in Los Angeles on 9 March 1997, aged 66. Shortly before his death, he had been collaborating with actor Paul Darrow on another attempt to revive Blake's 7.
Writing credits
Awards and nominations
In 2013, Nation was commemorated with a blue plaque at the house in Cardiff where he was born.
Bibliography
Survivors (1976, )
Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet (1978, )
References
Further reading
Turner, Alwyn W.: The Man Who Invented The Daleks: The Strange Worlds of Terry Nation, London: Aurum Press, 2011, .
External links
Terry Nation profile, Museum of Broadcast Communications, museum.tv; accessed 26 December 2014.
1930 births
1997 deaths
20th-century British novelists
BBC people
British male novelists
British male screenwriters
Welsh radio writers
British science fiction writers
Deaths from emphysema
Welsh comedy writers
Welsh expatriates in the United States
Welsh novelists
Welsh science fiction writers
Welsh screenwriters
Welsh television writers
Writers from Cardiff
People from Llandaff
20th-century British male writers
British male television writers
20th-century British screenwriters | true | [
"In the behaviorism approach to psychology, behavioral scripts are a sequence of expected behaviors for a given situation. Scripts include default standards for the actors, props, setting, and sequence of events that are expected to occur in a particular situation. The classic script example involves an individual dining at a restaurant. This script has several components: props including tables, menus, food, and money, as well as roles including customers, servers, chefs, and a cashier. The sequence of expected events for this script begins with a hungry customer entering the restaurant, ordering, eating, paying and then ends with the customer exiting. People continually follow scripts which are acquired through habit, practice and simple routine. Following a script can be useful because it could help to save the time and mental effort of deciding on appropriate behavior each time a situation is encountered.\n\nPsychology\nSemantic memory builds schemas and scripts. With this, semantic memory is known as the knowledge that people gain from experiencing events in the everyday world. This information is then organized into a concept that people can understand in their own way. Semantic memory relates to scripts because scripts are made through the knowledge that one gains through these everyday experiences and habituation.\n\nThere have been many empirical research studies conducted in order to test the validity of the script theory. One such study, conducted by Bower, Black, and Turner in 1979, asked participants to read 18 different scenarios, all of which represented a doctor’s office script. The participants were later asked to complete either a recall task or a recognition task. In the recall task, the participants were asked to remember as much as they could about each scenario. Here, the participants tended to recall certain parts of the stories that were not actually present, but that were parts of the scripts that the stories represented. In the recognition task, participants were asked to rate various sentences on a 7-point scale regarding their personal confidence that they had seen each sentence in the scenario. Some sentences shown to participants were from the stories and some were not. Of the sentences that were not from the stories, some were relevant to the doctor’s office script and others were not relevant to the script at all. Here, participants tended to recognize certain non-story sentences as having come from the story if the non-story sentence was relevant to the script. Ultimately, Bower, Black, and Turner’s study suggested that scripts serve as a guide for a person’s recall and recognition for certain things that they already know.\n\nBehavioral scripts that people are taught allow them to make realistic assumptions about situations, places, and people. These assumptions stem from what are known as schemas. Schemas make our environments more approachable to understand, and therefore people are able to familiarize themselves with what is around them. When people become comfortable with what they find familiar, they are more likely to remember events, people or places that obscure from their initial thought or script.\n\nSome people may have a tendency to habituate behavioral scripts in a manner that can act to limit consciousness in a subliminal way. This can negatively influence the subconscious mind and, subsequently, can negatively affect perceptions, judgments, values, beliefs, cognition and behavior. For example, over-reliance upon behavioral scripts combined with social norms that encourage an individual to use these behavioral scripts may influence one to stereotype and develop a prejudiced attitude toward others based on socioeconomic status, ethnicity, race, etc.\n\nSome applied behavior analysts even use scripts to train new skills and 20 years of research supports script use as an effective way to build new language, social, and activity routines for adults and children with developmental disabilities. With language scripts fading, efforts are being made in an attempt to help the scripts recombine in order to approximate more natural language.\n\nMuch of the development of scripts first addresses language and how it influences what we know and understand. With language, many psychologists have used the specific study of language to develop theories about concepts and scripts. In particular, researchers recognize semantic memory development is mostly possible through verbal-linguistic stimuli. Language and memory are constantly used for people to be able to interpret what experiences or people mean to or relate to them. Here, language has influence on the scripts people use because of its relationship to semantic memory.\n\nThere are also instances where damage to a person’s script affects to their ability to understand concepts. For instance, Sirigu, Zalla, Pillon, Grafman, Agid, and Dubois (1995) conducted a study on brain-damaged patients and their ability to access scripts that relate to a certain situation. Within their study, they asked patients with brain-damage (particularly to their prefrontal cortex) to make as many scripts for different situations as they could and put them in their commonly known sequence. These researchers found that those with prefrontal brain damage could make just as many scripts for different situations as those without prefrontal brain damage. Although with finding this, these researchers also found that patients with prefrontal brain damage had a difficult time putting in order or sequencing the events that happen within a script. They concluded that the prefrontal brain-damaged patients had difficulty within finding the goal of each script, where each script has a specific thing that a person looks for to achieve. For example, within the script of going to a restaurant, the goal of the dinner would be to eat, where prefrontal brain-damaged patients are likely to see the goal of this script as paying for the meal or ordering for the food.\n\nSee also\n Frame (artificial intelligence)\n Knowledge representation\n Psychology\n Schema (psychology)\n\nNotes\n\nBehaviorism\nCognition\nServices marketing",
"Anga Lipi(অঙ্গ লিপি) is a historical writing system or script of the Anga area of India. The Anga Lipi finds its mention in the Buddhist text \"Lalitvistar\" which says Anga lipi was one of the most important scripts among the 64 scripts known to Lord Budhha.\n\nEtymology and history\nAnga refers to a region in what is now Bihar and Jharkhand states of India, and Lipi means script.\nThe Anga Script is mentioned in an ancient Sanskrit language Buddhist book the \"Lalitvistar\" (ललितविस्तर), which names Anga Lipi relatively early in the list of 64 scripts known to the Buddha. Arthur Coke Burnell thought that some of the sixty-four scripts mentioned in \"Lalitvistar\" were mythical, but he considered some, including Dravid, Anga and Banga, to be real, though not appearing as distinct alphabets until the 9th or 10th century CE. (Burnell regarded this passage as a late interpolation.)\n\nCharacteristics and comparison\nAnga Lipi and Bengali script might have been derived from Brahmic, with some regional characteristics. This supports the belief that the development of local characteristics in alphabets was continuing from earlier times.\n\nIt reflects the early development of local variants of Indian alphabets.\n\nSee also\nBrahmic family of scripts\nBrāhmī script\nBengali-Assamese script\nKaithi\nAbugida\nList of writing systems\nList of languages by first written accounts\nAngika\nMiddle Indo-Aryan languages\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n angika.com\n\nHistory of writing\nLinguistic history of India\nBrahmic scripts"
] | [
"Terence Joseph Nation (8 August 19309 March 1997) was a Welsh screenwriter and novelist. Especially known for his work in British television science fiction, he created the Daleks and Davros for Doctor Who (1963), as well as the series Survivors (1975) and Blake's 7 (1978).",
"Especially known for his work in British television science fiction, he created the Daleks and Davros for Doctor Who (1963), as well as the series Survivors (1975) and Blake's 7 (1978). Nation first made his name as a comedy writer before becoming a prolific writer for drama, working on many of the most popular British series of the 1960s and 1970s such as The Avengers, The Baron, The Champions, Department S, The Persuaders! and The Saint.",
"and The Saint. and The Saint. When Nation was commissioned to write The Daleks (1963) for Doctor Who, the villainous eponymous creatures established the series' early popularity. He later devised the recurring character of Davros in Genesis of the Daleks (1975). His series Survivors and Blake's 7 have been described as \"much-loved cult TV classics\".",
"His series Survivors and Blake's 7 have been described as \"much-loved cult TV classics\". Life and career Early years Born in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales, Nation initially worked in comedy, entering the industry in 1955 after a (possibly apocryphal) incident in which Spike Milligan bought a sketch that he had written because he thought that Nation appeared hungry.",
"Life and career Early years Born in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales, Nation initially worked in comedy, entering the industry in 1955 after a (possibly apocryphal) incident in which Spike Milligan bought a sketch that he had written because he thought that Nation appeared hungry. During the 1950s, Nation worked with John Junkin and Johnny Speight for the writers' agency Associated London Scripts, where he collaborated on hundreds of radio plays for comedians such as Terry Scott, Eric Sykes, Harry Worth and Frankie Howerd.",
"During the 1950s, Nation worked with John Junkin and Johnny Speight for the writers' agency Associated London Scripts, where he collaborated on hundreds of radio plays for comedians such as Terry Scott, Eric Sykes, Harry Worth and Frankie Howerd. His career break came in 1962, when he was commissioned to write material for Tony Hancockfirst for Hancock's unsuccessful series for Associated Television broadcast on ITV in 1963, and then his stage show.",
"His career break came in 1962, when he was commissioned to write material for Tony Hancockfirst for Hancock's unsuccessful series for Associated Television broadcast on ITV in 1963, and then his stage show. Although Nation accompanied Hancock as his chief screenwriter on tour in 1963, Hancock would regularly neglect Nation's scripts in favour of recycling his old material. Following an argument over this, Hancock either fired Nation, or Nation resigned (it is unclear which).",
"Following an argument over this, Hancock either fired Nation, or Nation resigned (it is unclear which). Doctor Who Prior to his association with Hancock, Nation had declined an offer from scriptwriter David Whitaker to write for a new science-fiction programme that was entering production at the BBC; Whitaker had been impressed by a script that Nation had written for the ABC anthology series Out of this World.",
"Doctor Who Prior to his association with Hancock, Nation had declined an offer from scriptwriter David Whitaker to write for a new science-fiction programme that was entering production at the BBC; Whitaker had been impressed by a script that Nation had written for the ABC anthology series Out of this World. Now unemployed, and with a young family to support, Nation contacted Whitaker and accepted the offer, writing the second Doctor Who serial, The Daleks (also known as The Mutants and The Dead Planet).",
"Now unemployed, and with a young family to support, Nation contacted Whitaker and accepted the offer, writing the second Doctor Who serial, The Daleks (also known as The Mutants and The Dead Planet). The serial introduced the eponymous extraterrestrial villains that would quickly become the series' most popular and enduring monsters, and resulted in a major merchandising success for the BBC. Nation contributed further scripts to Doctor Who.",
"Nation contributed further scripts to Doctor Who. Nation contributed further scripts to Doctor Who. In 1965, Nation and Dennis Spooner co-wrote the 12-part serial The Daleks' Master Plan, after which Nation, who still held the copyright to the Daleks, attempted to launch a Dalek spin-off TV series in the United States. Various other Dalek tie-in material appeared, including comic strips in the children's weekly TV Century 21 and annuals; such material was frequently credited to Nation, even when written by others.",
"Various other Dalek tie-in material appeared, including comic strips in the children's weekly TV Century 21 and annuals; such material was frequently credited to Nation, even when written by others. Between 1966 and 1972, appearances by the Daleks in Doctor Who became less frequent and were written for the series by other authors. In 1973, following an eight-year absence from scriptwriting for the series, Nation returned to writing for the Daleks on Doctor Who with the Third Doctor serial Planet of the Daleks.",
"In 1973, following an eight-year absence from scriptwriting for the series, Nation returned to writing for the Daleks on Doctor Who with the Third Doctor serial Planet of the Daleks. In 1998, readers of Doctor Who Magazine voted Nation's 1975 serial Genesis of the Daleks the greatest Doctor Who story of all time. In the story, Nation introduced the character of Davros, the creator of the Daleks, who went on to appear in further storylines.",
"In the story, Nation introduced the character of Davros, the creator of the Daleks, who went on to appear in further storylines. Nation also wrote two non-Dalek scripts for Doctor Who, The Keys of Marinus in 1964, which introduced the Voord, and The Android Invasion in 1975, which introduced the Kraals. Nation's final script for Doctor Who was Destiny of the Daleks, broadcast in 1979.",
"Nation's final script for Doctor Who was Destiny of the Daleks, broadcast in 1979. His work on Doctor Who was the subject of the documentary Terror Nation, a special feature on the BBC DVD release of Destiny of the Daleks. Out of the Unknown Nation's first work on the science-fiction anthology series Out of the Unknown was scripting an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's short story The Fox and the Forest in 1965 for the show's debut series.",
"Out of the Unknown Nation's first work on the science-fiction anthology series Out of the Unknown was scripting an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's short story The Fox and the Forest in 1965 for the show's debut series. It was about a 21st century couple taking a forbidden trip to Mexico in 1938, only to be followed by enforcers from the future. It is one of only two episodes from the first series to be considered lost, with only two photographs and the end titles known to exist.",
"It is one of only two episodes from the first series to be considered lost, with only two photographs and the end titles known to exist. In 1969, when the show began to be produced in colour, Nation granted permission for the Daleks to be used in the series three episode Get Off My Cloud, based on the story by Peter Phillips about a bed-bound science-fiction author who finds himself within one of his own fantasies after a mental breakdown.",
"In 1969, when the show began to be produced in colour, Nation granted permission for the Daleks to be used in the series three episode Get Off My Cloud, based on the story by Peter Phillips about a bed-bound science-fiction author who finds himself within one of his own fantasies after a mental breakdown. This would be the first time the Daleks had been shown in colour on television, although they had previously appeared in colour in the Peter Cushing films. Only production stills and low-quality audio extracts survive.",
"Only production stills and low-quality audio extracts survive. Only production stills and low-quality audio extracts survive. Survivors and Blake's 7 Having returned to writing for Doctor Who, the BBC commissioned Nation to create a new science-fiction drama series. First broadcast in 1975, Survivors is the post-apocalyptic story of the last humans on Earth after the world's population has been devastated by plague.",
"First broadcast in 1975, Survivors is the post-apocalyptic story of the last humans on Earth after the world's population has been devastated by plague. Although the series was well received, Nation's creative vision conflicted with that of producer Terence Dudley, and the final two seasons were produced without Nation's involvement.",
"Although the series was well received, Nation's creative vision conflicted with that of producer Terence Dudley, and the final two seasons were produced without Nation's involvement. Meanwhile, screenwriter Brian Clemens claimed that he had related the concept for Survivors to Nation in the late 1960s while they were working together on the final season of The Avengers, with Clemens claiming to have registered the Survivors concept with the Writers' Guild of Great Britain in 1965; Nation denied the allegations.",
"Meanwhile, screenwriter Brian Clemens claimed that he had related the concept for Survivors to Nation in the late 1960s while they were working together on the final season of The Avengers, with Clemens claiming to have registered the Survivors concept with the Writers' Guild of Great Britain in 1965; Nation denied the allegations. Although the case was ultimately brought before the High Court, both sides withdrew from the proceedings after their legal costs mounted. The production of Nation's next BBC creation, Blake's 7, experienced fewer problems.",
"The production of Nation's next BBC creation, Blake's 7, experienced fewer problems. This series follows a group of criminals and political prisoners who are on the run from the evil \"Terran Federation\", piloting a stolen spaceship of unknown origin. Blake's 7 ran for four series from 1978 to 1981.",
"Blake's 7 ran for four series from 1978 to 1981. Although Nation scripted the whole of the first series of Blake's 7, his creative influence subsequently declined in the following two series despite writing some key episodes, as script editor Chris Boucher exerted a greater influence on those seasons. Nation didn't write any episodes in the fourth series of Blake's 7. In the 1980s, Nation attempted, without success, to secure funding for a fifth season of Blake's 7.",
"In the 1980s, Nation attempted, without success, to secure funding for a fifth season of Blake's 7. During the 1970s, Nation wrote a children's novel for his daughter Rebecca (after whom he named the character of Rebec in the 1973 Doctor Who serial Planet of the Daleks) titled Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet, as well as a novel based on Survivors. United States In 1980, Nation moved to Los Angeles, where he developed programme ideas and worked for various production studios.",
"United States In 1980, Nation moved to Los Angeles, where he developed programme ideas and worked for various production studios. Little of his work from this time was as successful as that of his earlier period in Britain. He wrote scripts for the TV series MacGyver (1985) and A Fine Romance (1989). Death Nation died from emphysema in Los Angeles on 9 March 1997, aged 66. Shortly before his death, he had been collaborating with actor Paul Darrow on another attempt to revive Blake's 7.",
"Shortly before his death, he had been collaborating with actor Paul Darrow on another attempt to revive Blake's 7. Writing credits Awards and nominations In 2013, Nation was commemorated with a blue plaque at the house in Cardiff where he was born. Bibliography Survivors (1976, ) Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet (1978, ) References Further reading Turner, Alwyn W.: The Man Who Invented The Daleks: The Strange Worlds of Terry Nation, London: Aurum Press, 2011, .",
"Bibliography Survivors (1976, ) Rebecca's World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet (1978, ) References Further reading Turner, Alwyn W.: The Man Who Invented The Daleks: The Strange Worlds of Terry Nation, London: Aurum Press, 2011, . External links Terry Nation profile, Museum of Broadcast Communications, museum.tv; accessed 26 December 2014.",
"External links Terry Nation profile, Museum of Broadcast Communications, museum.tv; accessed 26 December 2014. 1930 births 1997 deaths 20th-century British novelists BBC people British male novelists British male screenwriters Welsh radio writers British science fiction writers Deaths from emphysema Welsh comedy writers Welsh expatriates in the United States Welsh novelists Welsh science fiction writers Welsh screenwriters Welsh television writers Writers from Cardiff People from Llandaff 20th-century British male writers British male television writers 20th-century British screenwriters"
] |
[
"The Flaming Lips",
"Signed to Warner Bros. (Hit to Death in the Future Head to Clouds Taste Metallic) (1991-1996)"
] | C_ca8285aeaf4548bf9a7a664f85008ca4_0 | What was the first album with Warner Bros? | 1 | What was the first album by The Flaming Lips with Warner Bros? | The Flaming Lips | In 1991, the band started recording their major label debut Hit to Death in the Future Head. The album's release was halted for nearly a year due to the use of a sample from Michael Kamen's score for the film Brazil in the track "You Have to Be Joking (Autopsy of the Devil's Brain)", which required a lengthy clearance process. After the recording of this album Donahue left the band to concentrate on Mercury Rev and Roberts left the band as well, citing creative differences. They were replaced by Ronald Jones and Steven Drozd respectively. In 1993, they released Transmissions from the Satellite Heart. This was the only studio album since In a Priest Driven Ambulance to date in which Dave Fridmann has not been involved. Because of the success of the album and the single "She Don't Use Jelly", the band was featured on four popular television series: Beverly Hills, 90210, Late Show with David Letterman, Charmed and Beavis and Butt-head. The success of this record led to long stints of touring, opening for bands including the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Candlebox. Clouds Taste Metallic was released to much critical fanfare in late 1995, though it did not achieve the commercial success of its predecessor. The strain of the year-long Clouds tour, added to the stress from the three years touring in support of Transmissions, was a major factor in the departure of Ronald Jones in late 1996. He was said to be suffering from a severe case of agoraphobia, although the documentary Fearless Freaks states that he left because of his growing concerns over Drozd's drug use. In September 2014, the Lips paid tribute to former bandmate Ronald Jones and the impact his music had on their developing sound by performing Transmissions from the Satellite Heart live at First Avenue. In February 2015, they performed Clouds Taste Metallic live at the same venue and in December 2015, a 20th Anniversary box set called Heady Nuggs: 20 Years After Clouds Taste Metallic 1994-1997 surrounding the album's release, and the cult status it has achieved over the years was also released. CANNOTANSWER | Hit to Death in the Future Head. | The Flaming Lips are an American psychedelic rock band formed in 1983 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The band currently consists of Wayne Coyne (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Steven Drozd (guitars, keyboards, bass, vocals), Derek Brown (keyboards, guitars, percussion), Matt Duckworth Kirksey (drums, percussion, keyboards) and Nicholas Ley (percussion, drums).
The group recorded several albums and EPs on an indie label, Restless, in the 1980s and early 1990s. After signing to Warner Brothers, they released their first record with Warner, Hit to Death in the Future Head (1992). They later released The Soft Bulletin (1999), which was NME magazine's Album of the Year, and then Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (2002). In February 2007, they were nominated for a BRIT Award for "Best International Act". The group has won three Grammy Awards, including two for Best Rock Instrumental Performance. They were placed on Q magazines list of the "50 Bands to See Before You Die" in 2002.
History
Early history and releases (1983–1990)
The Flaming Lips formed in Oklahoma City in 1983 with Wayne Coyne on guitar, his brother Mark singing lead vocals, Michael Ivins on bass and Dave Kotska on drums. The band debuted at Oklahoma City's Blue Note Lounge. After they hired Dave Kotska as the drummer, Richard English joined the band in 1984. That same year they recorded The Flaming Lips EP, their only release with Mark singing lead vocals.
There are several theories as to how the band chose their name. One possibility is that it was inspired by the 1953 feature film Geraldine, in which comedian Stan Freberg sings several songs, including one named "Flaming Lips". Another possible source is from the 1964 film What a Way to Go! in which Shirley MacLaine's character stars in a film titled Flaming Lips. However, according to an article in the September 16, 1993 issue of Rolling Stone, Mark and Wayne came up with the name as a reference to a rumor about a classmate who contracted genital herpes after receiving cunnilingus from a partner with active cold sores. Wayne elaborated:When Mark and I were in, I think it was Junior Year in High School, there was a rumor about this girl who got herpes from this guy at a party. He went down on her with a cold sore. I don't think we knew the girl, and I'm not sure if she even existed, you know how kids just spread bullshit. But when we were thinking of band names one night over a pack of Schlitz and some left-handed cigarettes and remembered how we joked that they both had "Flaming Lips" and it just stuck.After his brother's departure, Wayne assumed the vocal duties and the band released their first full-length album, Hear It Is, on Pink Dust Records (the psychedelic-rock imprint of Enigma Records) in 1986. This line-up recorded two more albums: 1987's Oh My Gawd!!! and 1989's Telepathic Surgery, the latter originally planned to be a 30-minute sound collage.
Drummer Nathan Roberts replaced English and guitarist Jonathan Donahue (also a member of the alternative rock band Mercury Rev) joined in 1989. In a Priest Driven Ambulance, their first album with producer Dave Fridmann, was recorded at the State University of New York in Fredonia for $5 an hour on a $10,000 budget. The album was host to a marked expansion in the band's sound and their previous experiments in tape loops and effects were given a more prominent role. During this period, Coyne made his transition to a higher, more strained vocal style akin to Neil Young, which he first used on Telepathic Surgery's "Chrome Plated Suicide" and has employed ever since.
In 1990, the band caught the attention of Warner Bros. Records and was signed promptly after a label representative witnessed a show at which the band almost burned down the venue (American Legion Hall in Norman, Oklahoma) with the use of pyrotechnics.
Signed to Warner Bros. (Hit to Death in the Future Head to Clouds Taste Metallic) (1991–1996)
In 1991, the band started recording their major label debut Hit to Death in the Future Head. The album's release was halted for nearly a year because of the use of a sample from Michael Kamen's score for the film Brazil in the track "You Have to Be Joking (Autopsy of the Devil's Brain)", which required a lengthy clearance process. After the recording of this album, Donahue left the band to concentrate on Mercury Rev, and Roberts left the band as well, citing creative differences. They were replaced by Ronald Jones and Steven Drozd, respectively.
In 1993, they released Transmissions from the Satellite Heart. This was the only studio album since In a Priest Driven Ambulance, to date, in which Dave Fridmann has not been involved. Because of the success of the album and the single "She Don't Use Jelly", the band was featured on four popular television series: Beverly Hills, 90210, Late Show with David Letterman, Charmed and Beavis and Butt-head. The success of this record led to long stints of touring, opening for bands including Red Hot Chili Peppers and Candlebox.
Clouds Taste Metallic was released to much critical fanfare in late 1995, though it did not achieve the commercial success of its predecessor. The strain of the year-long Clouds tour, added to the stress from the three years touring in support of Transmissions, was a major factor in the departure of Jones in late 1996. He was said to be suffering from a severe case of agoraphobia, although the documentary Fearless Freaks states that he left because of his growing concerns over Drozd's drug use.
In September 2014, the band paid tribute to Jones and the impact his music had on their developing sound by performing Transmissions from the Satellite Heart live at First Avenue. In February 2015, they performed Clouds Taste Metallic at the same venue. Later, in December, a 20th anniversary box set called Heady Nuggs: 20 Years After Clouds Taste Metallic 1994–1997, was released.
Zaireeka (1997–1998)
The departure of Jones and a general dissatisfaction with standard "rock" music led to the three remaining members of the group redefining the direction of the band with the experimental Zaireeka (1997), a four-CD album which is intended to be heard by playing all four CDs in four separate CD players simultaneously. The music incorporated both traditional musical elements and "found" sounds (as in musique concrète), often heavily manipulated with recording studio electronics.
As part of the development of this project, the band conducted a series of "parking lot experiments" and then later, "boombox experiments". In the parking lot experiments up to 40 volunteers were given cassettes created by the band to be played at a parking lot in their cars' stereo systems simultaneously. In the "boom box experiments" an orchestra composed of up to 40 volunteers with modified "boombox"-type tape players was "conducted" – directed to vary the volume, speed or tone of the tape they were playing (again composed by the band) – by Wayne Coyne.
Meanwhile, a series of unfortunate events (recounted in the 1999 song "The Spiderbite Song") beset the band. Drozd's arm was almost amputated needlessly because of what he claimed was a spider bite (it turned out to be abscessed as a result of Drozd's heroin use), Ivins was trapped in his car for several hours after a wheel spun off of another vehicle into his windshield, and Coyne's father died after a long battle with cancer.
Mainstream breakthrough (The Soft Bulletin and Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots) (1999–2002)
Though their experimental endeavors received some press coverage, their real breakthrough came with the 1999 release, The Soft Bulletin. Marrying more traditional catchy melodies with synthetic strings, hypnotic, carefully manipulated beats, booming cymbals and oddball but philosophical lyrics (sung much more strongly than on earlier releases), the album quickly became one of the underground hits of the year, even widely considered to be one of the best albums of the entire decade.
Compared by many music critics to the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds because of its inclusion of harmonies and orchestrated sounds, The Soft Bulletin also featured greater use of synthesizers, drum machines, sound effects and more studio manipulation. After this album was released, Coyne stated that, "if someone was to ask me what instrument do I play, I would say the recording studio." As the band considered an attempt to recreate this complex album live solely with additional musicians to be complex and expensive, they decided to tour as a three-piece and make extensive use of pre-recorded music to fill out those parts that were not performed live by the members of the band. This led to the decision to have the drummer Drozd play primarily keyboards and guitar live instead of the drums. This, in turn, led to a decision to utilize video recordings and projections of Steven playing the drums for some of the band's older songs, so the band added Kliph Scurlock on drums and percussion, Drozd focused on guitars, keyboards, bass (when he plays bass, Ivins plays keyboards), drums and occasional vocals, when he sings, Coyne plays guitars, keyboards and theremin.
To enhance the live experience for their audience and to accurately reproduce the sound of The Soft Bulletin live, the Lips devised the concept of the "Headphone Concert". A low-powered FM transmitter was set up at shows, and the concert was simultaneously broadcast to small Walkman-style receivers and headphones made available for free to audience members. This would, in theory, allow the audiences greater sonic clarity while still feeling the power of a full live P.A. This concept was debuted in Dallas, Texas, and at the South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas, in March 1999, and was subsequently used on the International Music Against Brain Degeneration Revue tour. This tour featured Japanese band Cornelius, Sebadoh, Robyn Hitchcock, Sonic Boom's E.A.R. and IQU.
Three years later, in the summer of 2002, the Flaming Lips joined bands Cake and Modest Mouse on the Unlimited Sunshine Tour. They also released the full-length Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots to much critical acclaim. Featuring guest musician Yoshimi P-We (who inspired the album's title track) and demonstrating more use of electronic instruments and computer manipulation than The Soft Bulletin, Yoshimi is widely considered to be the Flaming Lips' first critical and commercial success after nearly twenty years as a band. The final track on the album, "Approaching Pavonis Mons by Balloon (Utopia Planitia)" earned a 2003 Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance, and the album was certified gold on April 10, 2006. In March 2007, the band revealed that they had recently teamed up with screenwriter Aaron Sorkin to produce a Broadway musical based on the album.
In January 2012, Pitchfork TV released a forty-five-minute documentary on The Soft Bulletin. The documentary featured several rare archival photos and videos along with interviews from the members, producer Dave Fridmann, and manager Scott Booker. The same year, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots was adapted into a musical after being in development for years after the album's release.
Both The Soft Bulletin and Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots have been released on DVD-Audio.
Following the success of "Yoshimi", Steven Drozd completed rehab for heroin addiction. This decision was spurred by a physical altercation between Drozd and Wayne Coyne.
Continued success (At War with the Mystics) (2002–2006)
Shortly after Yoshimi and The Soft Bulletin, the Flaming Lips released two EPs in the same vein of their previous album's robotic theme which contain remixed songs from Yoshimi, Fight Test and Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell. They also appeared on the track "Marching the Hate Machines (Into the Sun)" on the Thievery Corporation album The Cosmic Game. In 2002 they were invited to work with The Chemical Brothers. Steven Drozd performed lead vocals, while Wayne Coyne performed harmony vocals, on the single "The Golden Path", which was included on The Chemical Brothers compilation album, Singles 93-03.
In 2002, they performed as the opening act, as well as the backup band, for singer Beck on his Sea Change tour. In the summer of 2004, it was announced that the Flaming Lips would appear among the headliners on the 2004 Lollapalooza tour, alongside such artists as Sonic Youth and Morrissey; however, the tour was canceled because of lack of revenue. Also in 2004, the band recorded the song "SpongeBob and Patrick Confront the Psychic Wall of Energy" for the soundtrack of The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. Following the concerts' cancellation, the band entered Tarbox Road Studio with producer Dave Fridmann and began work on their eleventh album, the more organic-sounding At War with the Mystics. The record, aimed to be a more guitar-based and heavier effort than recent albums, featured more politically conscious lyrics than any of their previous releases, and was released in April 2006 to a mixed yet mostly positive reception.
In 2005 the band was the subject of a documentary called Fearless Freaks, featuring appearances by other artists and celebrities such as Gibby Haynes, The White Stripes, Beck, Christina Ricci, Liz Phair, Juliette Lewis, Steve Burns, Starlight Mints, and Adam Goldberg. In that same year, the Flaming Lips contributed a version of "Bohemian Rhapsody" to the album Killer Queen: A Tribute to Queen. Also in this year, the Flaming Lips released the DVD VOID (Video Overview in Deceleration), which chronicles all of their ventures into music video that have been produced since they signed with Warner Bros in 1991. In October 2005, the Flaming Lips recorded a cover of "If I Only Had a Brain" for the soundtrack of the video game Stubbs the Zombie, which features modern rock bands covering songs from the 1950s and 1960s. Additionally, the band released one new song, "Mr. Ambulance Driver", for the soundtrack of the 2005 film Wedding Crashers (a slightly edited version of the song found its way onto the new record).
The band released two singles from At War With the Mystics: "The W.A.N.D.", which was featured in a Dell commercial and which was originally put out as a download-only single in early 2006, and "The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song", which became their highest-charting single on the UK Singles Chart, peaking at No. 16. A 4-track EP, entitled It Overtakes Me, was released later in the UK that year. The only instrumental on the album, "The Wizard Turns On... The Giant Silver Flashlight and Puts on His Werewolf Moccasins", earned a 2006 Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance, making it twice in a row the Lips have been nominated in that category and won.
Following the April 4, 2006 release of At War with the Mystics, the band began a tour to support the album in the United Kingdom, including a finale at the Royal Albert Hall and performances at the O2 Wireless Festival. At the Leeds England date of the festival, the band opened for The Who, of whom they are long standing fans.
The band continued to tour throughout the fall of 2006 stopping in Montreal, the Virgin Festival on the Toronto Islands, Atlantic City's House of Blues, The University of Vermont in Burlington, their hometown Oklahoma City, the Austin City Limits Music Festival in Austin, Texas, and New York City, NY as well as several other cities. The homecoming show in Oklahoma City was performed at the Zoo Amphitheater and included the unveiling of a new UFO stage prop, and would provide footage for the U.F.O.s at the Zoo concert DVD.
On December 5, 2006, Oklahoma City honored the band with a downtown alley named after the band. Vince Gill and Charlie Christian were also given street names by the city. Flaming Lips Alley is at the center of Oklahoma City's entertainment district, Bricktown. At the official dedication in 2007, Coyne said of Oklahoma City, "...We're on the way to becoming, I think, the fucking coolest city in America."
Christmas on Mars (2008)
In 2001, the Flaming Lips began filming a low-budget indie film entitled Christmas on Mars. Filming for the movie ended in late September 2005 and premiered on May 25, 2008 at the Sasquatch! Music Festival. The film tells the story of the first Christmas of a colony set-up on the surface of Mars and was written by Wayne Coyne, and co-directed by Wayne Coyne, Bradley Beesley and George Salisbury, with the band and their friends acting in the movie.
The band brought the film to rock festivals across America during the summer of 2008 and screened it in a large circus tent they had bought for that purpose. The film was released on DVD on November 11, 2008, along with a soundtrack written and performed by the Flaming Lips.
The band released their first live concert DVD, UFO's at the Zoo: The Legendary Concert in Oklahoma City, on August 7, 2007. The band also contributed original songs to the soundtracks of several 2007 films, including "The Supreme Being Teaches Spider-Man How to be in Love" for Spider-Man 3, "I Was Zapped by the Super Lucky Rainbow" for Good Luck Chuck, "Love the World You Find" for Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, and "Maybe I'm Not the One" and "Tale of the Horny Frog" for The Heartbreak Kid.
Official rock song of Oklahoma (2009)
In March 2009 "Do You Realize??" was announced as the official rock song of Oklahoma. Ten choices were put to a public vote, and out of 21,000 votes cast nearly 51% were for "Do You Realize??" The Oklahoma Senate approved this choice unanimously. The Oklahoma House of Representatives failed to confirm the choice after Rep. Mike Reynolds, R-Oklahoma City attacked the band for its use of offensive language, and Rep. Corey Holland, R-Marlow said he had been "really offended" when Michael Ivins came to the announcement ceremony in March wearing a red T-shirt with a yellow hammer and sickle. However, that evening, Oklahoma governor Brad Henry announced he would sign an executive order naming the song the official rock song. Henry said that for more than 20 years the Flaming Lips have produced "creative, fun and provocative rock music." "The music of the Flaming Lips has earned Grammys, glowing critical acclaim and fans all over the world", the governor said. "A truly iconic rock n' roll band, they are proud ambassadors of their home state... They were clearly the people's choice, and I intend to honor that vote." However, it was revealed in 2013 that Republican Governor Mary Fallin removed this designation by not renewing Brad Henry's executive order upon taking office in 2011. An alley in Oklahoma City had been named for the band in 2006.
Embryonic and Dark Side of the Moon (2009)
In 2009, the band released their twelfth studio album and first double album, Embryonic. The album, which was the band's first to open in the Billboard top 10, was widely critically acclaimed for its new direction; late in the recording the band added Derek Brown on keyboards, percussion and guitar. In December of the same year, the band released their second album of the year and thirteenth overall, The Flaming Lips and Stardeath and White Dwarfs with Henry Rollins and Peaches Doing The Dark Side of the Moon, a track-for-track cover of Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon, which was recorded with Stardeath and White Dwarfs and features guest appearances from Henry Rollins and Peaches. The album was released physically on vinyl and CD in 2010.
In 2010, the band performed "I Can Be a Frog" on the Nick Jr. television series Yo Gabba Gabba.
2011 releases
In January 2011, the Lips announced their intention of releasing a new song every month of the year. In February, they released the first track titled "Two Blobs Fucking". The song exists as 12 separate pieces on YouTube and must be played simultaneously to be heard as intended.
In March 2011, the Lips released the EP The Flaming Lips with Neon Indian.
In April, the band released the Gummy Song Skull EP, a seven-pound skull made of gummy bear material with a gummy brain, which contained a flashdrive with 4 songs on them. This release was extremely limited, but was soon leaked on the internet shortly after its release.
In May, the band released its second collaboration EP titled The Flaming Lips with Prefuse 73. It contains four songs and was released in a similar way to the earlier Neon Indian EP, in that the run was extremely limited and consisted of randomly colored, one of a kind discs. This EP was briefly available on the band's official website but sold out shortly after it was put up for sale.
June saw several releases by the band, the first being The Soft Bulletin: Live la Fantastique de Institution 2011, a live-in-studio recording of the band's 1999 album The Soft Bulletin which was on a flash drive embedded in a marijuana-flavored brain inside a strawberry flavored gummy skull. This was only released at the band's two night show at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery on June 14 and 15. This show was a special two-night, one morning event in which they played the entirety of The Soft Bulletin one night and a new revamped version of The Dark Side of the Moon and collaborated with Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros for a performance of "Do You Realize??" at dawn of the second day. Also included on this flash drive was a best-of compilation titled Everyone You Know Someday Will Die. It included songs from every portion of the band's career as well as a newly recorded intro. The final June release was the Gummy Song Fetus EP which consisted of three songs on a flash drive embedded in a bubblegum-flavored fetus made of gummy bear material.
In July, the band released The Flaming Lips with Lightning Bolt, a collaborative EP with experimental rock group Lightning Bolt, featuring the songs "I Wanna Get High But I Don't Want Brain Damage" and "Working at NASA on Acid". This EP was released on randomly colored vinyl as with the previous two collaborative EPs.
In late August, the band announced that it would be recording a six-hour-long song titled "I Found a Star on the Ground". This, along with two other songs, was released in September packaged with a set of spinning discs with animations on them. This release is officially called Strobo Trip. Featured in "I Found a Star on the Ground" is Sean Lennon who, with his band, opened for the Lips in early 2011. In the song Lennon reads off several lists of names of people who donated $100 to the Oklahoma City SPCA and Academy of Contemporary Music at University of Central Oklahoma. 212 names are featured in the song.
At midnight October 31, 2011, a 24-hour song was released titled "7 Skies H3". The song played live on a never-ending audio stream on a special website set up by the band and was made available for purchase as a hard drive encased in an actual human skull, limited to 13 copies.
The band's last release of 2011 was a 12" EP collaboration, The Flaming Lips with Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band, sold only at the band's annual New Years shows in Oklahoma City.
Heady Fwends, Guinness World Record and other collaborations (2012)
With their previous contract with Warner Bros. Records having expired in 2011, the band re-signed to Warner Bros. for the United States and to Bella Union in Europe in early 2012. The first release under these new deals was The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends, initially released as a limited edition vinyl-only package for Record Store Day on April 21. The album features collaborations with artists such as Kesha, Nick Cave, and Erykah Badu. In an interview with American Songwriter, Coyne stated that "Since we were releasing music every month, we thought it would be a little bit boring for us each month to say 'Well here's four more Flaming Lips songs.' We just thought 'Well we'll get some of our friends, and we'll do collaborations and see what happens.'" The album later received a wider release on CD and digitally on June 26 in the US and July 30 in Europe.
The Flaming Lips broke Jay-Z's Guinness World Record for the most live concerts (8) in 24 hours, on June 27 and 28, 2012. The attempt was part of the O Music Awards, and was Livestreamed online for the entire 24 hours. The attempt started in Memphis on the afternoon of June 27 and ended in New Orleans on the afternoon of June 28, with 20 minutes to spare. The band played with guests including Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Neon Indian, Linear Downfall and Phantogram and HOTT MT, among others.
The concerts, which were required to be at least 15 minutes long, as per Guinness rules, featured a mix of special covers, songs rarely or never performed live by the band before, and new songs from Heady Fwends.
In November 2012 the band's Lovely Sorts of Death Records released a collaborative track-by-track reinterpretation of King Crimson's In the Court of the Crimson King with Stardeath and White Dwarfs, Linear Downfall, New Fumes, and Space Face entitled Playing Hide and Seek with the Ghosts of Dawn on vinyl and on their own 'Satellite Heart Radio' website.
They also worked on Kesha's Warrior album (on "Past Lives") and Lipsha. She also featured on their collaborative albums.
The Terror (2013–2014)
The band's next studio album, titled The Terror, was originally due for release on April 2, 2013 in the US and on April 1 in Europe, the tour began with a new member: keyboardist and guitarist Jake Ingalls, Derek Brown focused on percussion and additional guitars and keyboards. Because of a corruption while mastering the record on vinyl, the US release was delayed for two weeks, until April 16.
In anticipation of the album's release, their song, "Sun Blows Up Today", was featured in a Hyundai Super Bowl XLVII commercial. The band also released a lyric video on for "Sun Blows Up Today" with animations created by long-time Lips collaborator George Salisbury. The band premiered the new album live at a free outdoor concert at SXSW on March 15, 2013.
Critical reception of the album has tended to focus on its thematic bleakness and the turgid noisiness of its instrumentation. Like the three albums often referred to as "a trilogy" accounting for the majority of the band's mainstream production over the past 15 years (consisting of The Soft Bulletin, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, and At War With the Mystics), The Terror adheres to the love story/space opera narrative structure while taking a much darker approach. As noted in a review by Pitchfork, "The Terror deals in more personal turmoil– loneliness, depression, anxiety... Perhaps not coincidentally, the album was preceded by news of Coyne's separation from his partner of 25 years, Michelle, and of multi-instrumentalist Steven Drozd relapsing temporarily."
Jon Pareles of The New York Times summarized the thematic content of the album fairly succinctly when he wrote, "The lyrics [of 'The Terror'] find cosmic repercussions in a lovers' breakup; loneliness turns to contemplation of grim human compulsions and the end of the universe." Another critic goes so far as to say that the album underlines the Lacanian psychodynamics structurally inherent in the conventions of the space opera.
Wayne Coyne's own description of his process or the theme of the album jibes well with this critical diagnosis:
"We want, or wanted, to believe that without love we would disappear, that love, somehow, would save us that, yeah, if we have love, give love and know love, we are truly alive and if there is no love, there would be no life. The Terror is, we know now, that even without love, life goes on... we just go on... there is no mercy killing."
In November 2013 they produced and curated "The Time Has Come To Shoot You Down…What A Sound," a reworking of the Stone Roses' debut album featuring New Fumes, Spaceface, Stardeath and White Dwarfs, Foxygen, Peaking Lights, Poliça and others.
In March 2014, longtime drummer and percussionist Kliph Scurlock left the band, and was replaced by drummer, percussionist and keyboardist Matt Duckworth Kirksey and percussionist and drummer Nicholas Ley. Derek Brown began focusing on guitars, and occasional keyboards and percussion. In May, Scurlock claimed he had been fired for negative comments about Wayne Coyne's friend Christina Fallin, the daughter of Oklahoma's governor and leader of a band called Pink Pony. Fallin had recently been criticized for cultural appropriation after she wore a Native American headdress in a publicity photo. According to Scurlock, his criticism of Fallin's actions led to conflict with Coyne and his dismissal. In response, Drozd said, "[t]his Lips/Kliph bullshit has gone too far. We parted ways because of the usual band musical differences. The rest has been blown way out." Coyne went even further, calling Scurlock a "pathological liar" and stated that he never meant his defense of Fallin, which included posting a photo of his dog in a feathered headdress, to be offensive but that he was "very sorry, to anybody that is following my Instagram or my Twitter, if I offended anybody of any religion, any race, any belief system. I would say you shouldn't follow my tweets; you shouldn't even probably want to be a Flaming Lips fan because we don't really have any agenda."
Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz (2015)
On August 30, 2015, after hosting the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards, Miley Cyrus announced that Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz, the free, 23-track experimental album that Cyrus and the Flaming Lips wrote and recorded together, was available via online streaming. The album is described by Coyne as a combination of Pink Floyd and Portishead and "a slightly wiser, sadder, more true version" of Cyrus' pop music output.
Oczy Mlody, King's Mouth, and American Head (2016–present)
According to the Tarbox Roads Studio's website, the Flaming Lips began recording a new album with Dave Fridmann on January 27, 2016.
In a June interview with Danish music blog Regnsky, Wayne Coyne said that a new album would come out in January 2017, even though they had originally planned for it to be released in October 2016. Wayne Coyne later confirmed in a September interview with Consequence of Sound, that they would release a new album at the beginning of 2017. On October 20, the band confirmed the January 2017 release date for the album. The band embarked on a tour in support that was described as "rock's greatest acid punch party" with "balloons, confetti cannons and rainbow visuals". On January 13, 2017 the fourteenth Flaming Lips album Oczy Mlody was released, and featured a guest appearance by Miley Cyrus. The album charted in both the UK and US.
On Record Store Day, April 22, 2017, the Flaming Lips released Onboard the International Space Station Concert for Peace, a re-recording of seven tracks from Oczy Mlody in a faux live setting.
The band's next studio album, King's Mouth, was released on April 13, 2019 for Record Store Day. Mick Jones of The Clash and Big Audio Dynamite narrates the album; Wayne Coyne said of Jones that "he’s on almost every song... it really is quite unbelievable."
In late 2019, Coyne and Drozd collaborated with garage rock duo Deap Vally to form a new band, Deap Lips. The project's self-titled debut album was released on March 13, 2020.
On March 23, 2020, Drozd announced that the band's sixteenth studio album, American Head, is due for release in the summer. The band officially announced the album's release date as September 11, 2020, along with the single "My Religion Is You" on June 6, 2020.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the band performed a concert in their hometown of Oklahoma City on October 12, 2020, while entirely encased within inflatable human-sized bubbles. Audience members were also protected by plastic bubbles. They performed in this fashion on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert and again in 2021.
On August 16, 2021, Ingalls announced on his Instagram page that he left the band on amicable terms. Also in August, Coyne commented on his Instagram that Ivins was no longer in the band, leaving Coyne as the only original member. Micah Nelson has been on bass for recent live performances.
In November 2021, the band released an album of nine Nick Cave cover songs with the young Canadian musician Nell Smith. Smith and The Lips recorded the album remotely during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown.
Members
Current members
Wayne Coyne – lead vocals (1985–present), guitars, keyboards, theremin (1983–present), backing vocals (1983–1985, 1991–present), bass guitar (2021–present)
Steven Drozd – guitars, keyboards, bass, drums, backing and lead vocals (1991–present)
Derek Brown – keyboards, guitars, percussion, backing vocals (2009–present)
Matt Duckworth Kirksey – drums, percussion, keyboards, backing vocals (2014–present)
Nicholas Ley – percussion, drums, samples (2014–present)
Current touring musicians
Micah Nelson – bass, keyboards, backing vocals (2021–present)
Former members
Mark Coyne – lead vocals (1983–1985)
Dave Kostka – drums (1983–1984)
Richard English – drums, keyboards, backing vocals (1984–1989)
Nathan Roberts – drums (1989–1991)
Jonathan Donahue – guitars, backing vocals (1989–1991)
Jon Mooneyham – guitars, backing vocals (1991)
Ronald Jones – guitars, backing vocals (1991–1996)
Kliph Scurlock – drums, percussion (2002–2014)
Jake Ingalls – keyboards, guitars (2013–2021)
Michael Ivins – bass, keyboards, backing vocals (1983–2021)
Former touring musicians
Ray Suen – percussion, violin, harp, keyboards (2009–2012)
Timeline
Selected discography
Studio albums
Hear It Is (1986)
Oh My Gawd!!! (1987)
Telepathic Surgery (1989)
In a Priest Driven Ambulance (1990)
Hit to Death in the Future Head (1992)
Transmissions from the Satellite Heart (1993)
Clouds Taste Metallic (1995)
Zaireeka (1997)
The Soft Bulletin (1999)
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (2002)
At War with the Mystics (2006)
Embryonic (2009)
The Terror (2013)
Oczy Mlody (2017)
King's Mouth (2019)
American Head (2020)
Extended plays
The Flaming Lips (1984)
Gummy Song Skull (2011)
Gummy Song Fetus (2011)
Strobo Trip (2011)
24 Hour Song Skull (2011)
Peace Sword (2013)
Collaborative albums
The Flaming Lips and Stardeath and White Dwarfs with Henry Rollins and Peaches Doing The Dark Side of the Moon (2009)
The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends (2012)
Playing Hide and Seek with the Ghosts of Dawn (2012)
The Time Has Come to Shoot You Down... What a Sound (2013)
With a Little Help from My Fwends (2014)
Deap Lips (2020)
Where the Viaduct Looms (2021)
Soundtracks/Miscellaneous
The Southern Oklahoma Cosmic Trigger Contest (2001)
Atlas Eets Christmas (2007)
Once Beyond Hopelessness (2008)
Awards and nominations
The Flaming Lips won their first Grammy Award in 2003, for their track "Approaching Pavonis Mons by Balloon (Utopia Planitia)". To date, the band has been nominated for six Grammy Awards, and won three times.
References
External links
1983 establishments in Oklahoma
Alternative rock groups from Oklahoma
American experimental rock groups
American psychedelic rock music groups
Grammy Award winners
Indie rock musical groups from Oklahoma
Musical groups established in 1983
Musical groups from Oklahoma
Neo-psychedelia groups
Noise pop musical groups
Psychedelic pop music groups
Space rock musical groups
Warner Records artists
Bella Union artists
Restless Records artists | true | [
"Love at First Sight is a studio album by American singer Dionne Warwick released in 1977 by Warner Bros. Records.\n\nOverview \nThe album was produced by Michael Omartian and Steve Barri. The sound of the longplay resembled the previous works of the artist of the Scepter Records period. By the way, there is a ballad on the album \"Early Morning Strangers\", the author of which was Hal David, with whom Warwick worked for a long time and fruitfully in those years.\n\nAnyway, the album became a failure, neither it nor the singles hit the charts, critics also took the record with restraint. This was Warwick's last album with Warner Bros., the next album she will release on Arista Records.\n\nTrack listing\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\nDionne Warwick albums\n1977 albums\nAlbums arranged by Michael Omartian\nAlbums produced by Michael Omartian\nAlbums produced by Steve Barri\nWarner Records albums",
"Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in March 1958 as the recorded music division of the American film studio Warner Bros.\n\nArtists who have recorded for Warner Records include Madonna, Prince, Cher, Frank Sinatra, Joni Mitchell, Van Halen, Alice Cooper, Kylie Minogue, Goo Goo Dolls, Tom Petty, Sheryl Crow, Gorillaz, Adam Lambert, Bette Midler, Grateful Dead, Jane's Addiction, Blur, Duran Duran, Deep Purple, Fleetwood Mac, Liam Gallagher, James Taylor, Lily Allen, JoJo, Linkin Park, Muse, George Benson, Nile Rodgers, Black Sabbath, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Black Keys, My Chemical Romance, Tevin Campbell, Mac Miller, Dua Lipa, Bebe Rexha, R.E.M., and Sex Pistols.\n\nHistory\n\nFounding\nAt the end of the silent movie period, Warner Bros. Pictures decided to expand into publishing and recording so that it could access low-cost music content for its films. In 1928, the studio acquired several smaller music publishing firms which included M. Witmark & Sons, Harms Inc., and a partial interest in New World Music Corp., and merged them to form the Music Publishers Holding Company. This new group controlled valuable copyrights on standards by George and Ira Gershwin and Jerome Kern, and the new division was soon earning solid profits of up to US$2 million every year.\n\nIn 1930, MPHC paid US$28 million to acquire Brunswick Records (which included Vocalion), whose roster included Duke Ellington, Red Nichols, Nick Lucas, Al Jolson, Earl Burtnett, Ethel Waters, Abe Lyman, Leroy Carr, Tampa Red and Memphis Minnie, and soon after the sale to Warner Bros., the label signed rising radio and recording stars Bing Crosby, Mills Brothers, and Boswell Sisters. Unfortunately for Warner Bros., the dual impact of the Great Depression and the introduction of broadcast radio greatly harmed the recording industry—sales crashed, dropping by around 90% from more than 100 million records in 1927 to fewer than 10 million by 1932 and major companies were forced to halve the price of records from 75c to 35c.\n\nIn December 1931, Warner Bros. offloaded Brunswick to the American Record Corporation (ARC) for a fraction of its former value, in a lease arrangement which did not include Brunswick's pressing plants. Technically, Warner maintained actual ownership of Brunswick, which with the sale of ARC to CBS in 1939 and their decision to discontinue Brunswick in favor of reviving the Columbia label, reverted to Warner Bros. Warner Bros. sold Brunswick a second time (along with Brunswick's back catalog up to 1931), this time along with the old Brunswick pressing plants Warner owned, to Decca Records (which formed its American operations in 1934) in exchange for a financial interest in Decca. The heavy loss it incurred in the Brunswick deal kept the studio out of the record business for more than 25 years, and during this period it licensed its film music to other companies for release as soundtrack albums.\n\n1958–1963: formation and early years\n \nWarner Bros. returned to the record business in 1958 with the establishment of its own recording division, Warner Bros. Records. By this time, the established Hollywood studios were reeling from multiple challenges to their former dominance—the most notable being the introduction of television in the late 1940s. Legal changes also had a major impact on their business—lawsuits brought by major stars had effectively overthrown the old studio contract system by the late 1940s and, beginning in 1949, anti-trust suits brought by the US government forced the five major studios to divest their cinema chains.\n\nIn 1956, Harry Warner and Albert Warner sold their interest in the studio and the board was joined by new members who favored a renewed expansion into the music business—Charles Allen of the investment bank Charles Allen & Company, Serge Semenenko of the First National Bank of Boston and investor David Baird. Semenenko in particular had a strong professional interest in the entertainment business and he began to push Jack Warner on the issue of setting up an 'in-house' record label. With the record business booming – sales had topped US$500 million by 1958 – Semnenko argued that it was foolish for Warner Bros. to make deals with other companies to release its soundtracks when, for less than the cost of one motion picture, they could establish their own label, creating a new income stream that could continue indefinitely and provide an additional means of exploiting and promoting its contract actors.\n\nAnother impetus for the label's creation was the brief music career of Warner Bros. actor Tab Hunter. Although Hunter was signed to an exclusive acting contract with the studio, it did not prevent him from signing a recording contract, which he did with Dot Records, owned at the time by Paramount Pictures. Hunter scored several hits for Dot, including the US No. 1 single, \"Young Love\" (1957) and, to Warner Bros.' chagrin, reporters were primarily asking about the hit record, rather than Hunter's latest Warner movie. In 1958, the studio signed Hunter as its first artist to its newly formed record division, although his subsequent recordings for the label failed to duplicate his success with Dot.\n\nWarner Bros. agreed to buy Imperial Records in 1956 and, although the deal fell apart, it marked the breaking of a psychological barrier: \"If the company was willing to buy another label, why not start its own?\" To establish the label, the company hired former Columbia Records president James B. Conkling; its founding directors of A&R were Harris Ashburn, George Avakian, and Bob Prince. Conkling was an able administrator with extensive experience in the industry—he had been instrumental in launching the LP format at Columbia and had played a key role in establishing the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences the previous year. However, Conkling had decidedly middle-of-the-road musical tastes (he was married to Donna King of vocal trio the King Sisters), and was thus rather out of step with emerging trends in the industry, especially the fast-growing market for rock'n'roll music.\n\nWarner Bros. Records opened for business on March 19, 1958; its original office was located above the film studio's machine shop at 3701 Warner Boulevard in Burbank, California. Its early album releases (1958–1960) were aimed at the upscale end of the mainstream audience, and Warner Bros. took an early (though largely unsuccessful) lead in recording stereo LPs that targeted the new \"hi-fi\" market. The catalogue in this period included:\n vocal/spoken word albums by Warner contract players such as Tab Hunter, Edd Byrnes, Connie Stevens, Jack Webb and William Holden\n novelty/comedy albums by artists such as Spike Jones and Bob Newhart\n film soundtracks and collections of film and TV themes\n 'middle of the road' instrumental albums by artists including Matty Matlock, Buddy Cole, Henry Mancini, George Greeley, Warren Barker and \"Ira Ironstrings\" (a pseudonym for guitarist Alvino Rey, Conkling's brother-in-law, who was in fact under contract to Capitol Records at the time).\n\nSome albums featured jokey or self-deprecating titles such as:\n Music for People with $3.98 (Plus Tax If Any),\n Terribly Sophisticated Songs: A Collection of Unpopular Songs for Popular People,\n Songs the Kids Brought Home from Camp,\n Please Don't Put Your Empties on the Piano, and\n But You've Never Heard Gershwin with Bongos.\nAlmost all were commercial failures; and the only charting album in Warner Bros.' first two years was Warren Barker's 'soundtrack' album for the studio's hit series 77 Sunset Strip, which reached No. 3 in 1959. Tab Hunter's \"Jealous Heart\" (WB 5008), which reached No. 62, was Warner Bros.' only charting single during its first year.\n\nEarly Warner Bros. singles had distinctive pink labels, with the WB logo at the top center and \"WARNER\" in white Hellenic font to the left of the WB shield and \"BROS.\" in the same color and style font to the right. Below the shield in white Rockwell font, it read \"VITAPHONIC HIGH FIDELITY;\" this 45 label was used for two years, 1958 – 1960. This initial 45 label was soon replaced by a new, all-red label with the WB shield logo at 9 o'clock and a number of different-colored arrows (blue, chartreuse, and yellow) surrounding and pointing away from the center hole. The first hit was the novelty record \"Kookie, Kookie (Lend Me Your Comb),\" with words and music by Irving Taylor, which reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was nominally performed by Warner contract actor Edd Byrnes, who played the wisecracking hipster character Gerald Lloyd \"Kookie\" Kookson III on Warner's TV detective series 77 Sunset Strip. The story behind the recording illustrates the sharp practices often employed by major recording companies. Actress and singer Connie Stevens (who appeared in the Warner TV series Hawaiian Eye) spoke on the song's chorus, but although her record contract entitled her to a five-percent royalty rate, the label arbitrarily defined her contribution to be a favor to Byrnes, and assigned her just 1% royalty on the song, despite the fact that, as she soon discovered, her name was being prominently displayed on the single's label. Warner Bros. also charged her for a share of the recording costs, which was to be recouped from her drastically reduced royalty. When Stevens scored her own hit single with \"Sixteen Reasons\" in 1960, Warner Bros. refused to allow her to perform it on Hawaiian Eye because it was not published by MPHC, and they also prevented her from singing it on The Ed Sullivan Show, thereby robbing her of nationwide promotion (and a $5000 appearance fee).\n\nWith only two hits to its credit in two years, the label was in serious financial trouble by 1960, having lost at least US$3 million and music historian Frederic Dannen reports that the only reason it was not closed down was because the Warner board was reluctant to write off the additional $2 million the label was owed in outstanding receivables and inventory. After a restructure, Conkling was obliged to report to Herman Starr; he rejected a buyout offer by Conkling and a group of other record company employees but agreed to keep the label running in exchange for heavy cost-cutting—the staff was reduced from 100 to 30 and Conkling voluntarily cut his own pay from $1000 to $500.\n\nWarner Bros. now turned to rock'n'roll acts in hopes of advancing its sales but their first signing, Bill Haley, was by then past his prime and failed to score any hits. The label was more fortunate with its next signing, the Everly Brothers, whom Warner Bros. secured after the end of their previous contract with Cadence Records. Herman Starr effectively gambled the future of the company by approving what was reputed to be the first million-dollar contract in music history, which guaranteed the Everly Brothers $525,000 against an escalating royalty rate of up to 7 percent, well above the industry standard of the day. The duo were fielding offers from all the major labels as their Cadence contract wound up, but Warners eventually won out because the brothers harboured ambitions to branch out into film, and the label's connection to the movie studio provided the perfect opportunity. Luckily, the Everlys' first Warner Bros. single \"Cathy's Clown\" was a smash hit, climbing to No. 1 in the US and selling more than eight million copies, and their debut Warner Bros. album It's Everly Time reached No. 9 on the album chart.\n\nIn late 1959, Warner Bros signed a virtually unknown Chicago-based comedian, Bob Newhart, marking the beginning of the label's continuing involvement with comedy. Newhart provided the label's next major commercial breakthrough — in May 1960, three months after the success of \"Cathy's Clown,\" Newhart's debut album The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart unexpectedly shot straight to No. 1 in the US, staying at the top for fourteen weeks, charting for more than two years and selling more than 600,000 copies. Capping this commercial success, Newhart scored historic wins in three major categories at the 1961 Grammy Awards — he won Album of the Year for Button-Down Mind, his quickly released follow-up album, The Button-Down Mind Strikes Back (1960) won the Best Comedy Performance–Spoken Word category, and Newhart himself won Best New Artist, the first time in Grammy history that a comedy album had won Album of the Year, and the only time a comedian has won Best New Artist.\n\nInterviewed for the official Warner Bros Records history in 2008, Newhart recalled that at the time he signed with the label he was totally unknown outside Chicago, he was still working as full-time as an accountant, and he had only done a few local radio and TV appearances. His break came thanks to a friend, local DJ Dan Sorkin, who knew Warner CEO Jim Conkling. Sorkin arranged for Newhart to make a demo tape of a few of his original sketches, which Conkling heard and liked. Equally remarkably, Newhart revealed that had never performed in a club prior to recording the album. Warners arranged to record him at a Houston, Texas club called The Tidelands, where he was booked for a two-week residency as the opening act, beginning 12 February 1960, and Newhart freely admitted to being \"terrified\" on his first night. He quickly realised that he only had enough material for one side of an album, but by the time Warner A&R manager George Avakian arrived for the recording, Newhart had hastily written enough new material to fill both sides of an LP. When Newhart contacted Warners in April to find out when the album would be released, he was amazed to be told that the label was rushing all available copies to Minneapolis, because radio DJs there had broken it, and it had become so popular that a local newspaper was even printing the times that tracks would be played on air. He recalled that the success of the album almost instantly kick-started his career, and that he was soon being deluged with appearance offers, including The Ed Sullivan Show. A few months later, when Newhart met Conkling and Jack Warner at a dinner, he recalled that Warner effusively greeted him as \"the man who saved Warner Brothers Records\".\n\nDespite the turnaround in the label's commercial and critcal fortunes at the start of the new decade, Jim Conkling was unexpectedly forced out as CEO during 1961. The ostensible reason for his ousting was that Warner and the studio executives doubted Conkling's commitment to the label, after they discovered that he had sold his shares of Warner Bros stock, netting him around $1 million. However, label biographer Warren Zanes and former WBR executive Stan Cornyn both opined that this was merely a pretext, and that the studio effectively scapegoated Conkling for the label's earlier failures, pointing to the fact that Conkling's successor had been selected well before Conkling was terminated. Conkling resigned in the fall of that year, and was replaced by Mike Maitland, another former Capitol Records executive. Around the same time, Joe Smith was appointed as head of promotions.\n\nWarner Bros. made another prescient signing in folk group Peter, Paul & Mary. The trio had been on the verge of signing with Atlantic Records, but before the deal could be completed they were poached by Warner Bros. Artie Mogull (who worked for one of Warner Bros.' publishing companies, Witmark Music) had introduced their manager Albert Grossman to Herman Starr, and as a result the group signed a recording and publishing deal with Warner Bros. Grossman's deal for the group broke new ground for recording artists — it included a substantial advance of $30,000 and, most significantly, it set a new benchmark for recording contracts by stipulating that the trio would have complete creative control over the recording and packaging of their music.\n\nSoon after, Grossman and Mogull signed a publishing deal that gave Witmark one of its most lucrative clients, Bob Dylan. Grossman bought out Dylan's previous contract with Leeds Music and signed the then-unknown singer-songwriter to Witmark for an advance of $5000. Two years later in 1963, Peter, Paul & Mary scored two consecutive Top 10 hits with Dylan songs, launching Dylan's career, and this was followed by many more hits by artists covering Dylan's songs, alongside the growing commercial success of Dylan himself. Grossman benefited enormously from both deals, because he took a 25% commission as Dylan's manager, and he structured Dylan's publishing deal so that he received 50% of Witmark's share of Dylan's publishing income—a tactic that was later emulated by other leading artist managers such as David Geffen.\n\nMeanwhile, the label enjoyed further major success with comedy recordings. Comedian Allan Sherman (who had been signed on the personal recommendation of George Burns), issued his first Warner LP My Son, the Folk Singer in 1962. The album, which satirized the folk boom, became a major hit, selling over a million copies, and winning a Gold Record award, and is cited as being the fastest-selling LP ever released in the US up to that time. Sherman also scored a hit single in late 1963 with a cut from his third WBR album, My Son, The Nut, when his song \"Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah\" (which satirized the American summer camp tradition) became a surprise novelty hit, peaking at #2.\n\nBill Cosby broke through soon after and he continued the label's dream run with comedy LPs into the late 1960s, releasing a string of highly successful albums on Warner Bros. over the next six years, alongside his groundbreaking career as a TV actor.\n\nThe label's fortunes had finally turned around by 1962 thanks to the Everly Brothers, Newhart, folk stars Peter, Paul & Mary, jazz and pop crossover hit Joanie Sommers and comedian Allan Sherman, and Warner Bros. Records ended the financial year 1961–62 in the black for the first time since its founding.\n\nWarner/Reprise 1963–1967\nIn August 1963, Warner Bros. made a \"rescue takeover\" of Frank Sinatra's ailing Reprise Records as part of a deal to acquire Sinatra's services as a recording artist and as an actor for Warner Bros. Pictures. The total deal was valued at around US$10 million, and it gave Sinatra a one-third share in the combined record company and a seat on the Warner/Reprise board; Warner Bros. Records head Mike Maitland became the president of the new combine and Mo Ostin was retained as manager of the Reprise label.\n\nReprise was heavily in debt at the time of the takeover, and the Warner Records management team was reportedly dismayed at their balance sheet being pushed back into the red by the acquisition, but they were given no choice in the matter. Ben Kalmenson, a Warner Bros. company director and close aide to Jack Warner, summoned the label's directors to a meeting in New York and explicitly told them that both he and Warner wanted the deal and that they expected them to vote in favor of it.\n\nDespite these misgivings, the purchase ultimately proved very beneficial to the Warner group. Reprise flourished in the late 1960s thanks to Sinatra's famous comeback and the hits by Sinatra and his daughter Nancy, and the label also secured the US distribution rights to the recordings of the Kinks and Jimi Hendrix. Most importantly for the future of the company, the merger brought Reprise manager Mo Ostin into the Warner fold and \"his ultimate value to Warner Bros. would dwarf Sinatra's.\" Ostin's business and musical instincts, and his rapport with artists were to prove crucial to the success of the Warner labels over the next two decades.\n\nIn 1964, Warner Bros. launched Loma Records, which was meant to focus on R&B acts. The label, run by former King Records promotion man Bob Krasnow, would release over 100 singles and five albums, but saw only limited success and was wound down in 1968.\n\nAn important addition to the Warner Bros. staff in this period was Ed Thrasher, who moved from Columbia Records in 1964 to become Warner/Reprise's head art director. Among his design credits for the Warner family of labels were The Jimi Hendrix Experience's Are You Experienced, Van Morrison's Astral Weeks, The Grateful Dead's Anthem of the Sun, The Doobie Brothers' Toulouse Street, Tiny Tim's God Bless Tiny Tim, and Joni Mitchell's Clouds, which set off a trend of musicians creating the artwork for their own record sleeves. In 1973, when Frank Sinatra emerged from retirement with his comeback album, Thrasher shot candid photographs for the cover and also devised the album title Ol' Blue Eyes Is Back, which was widely used to promote Sinatra's return to recording and touring. Besides his work on album covers, Thrasher art-directed many of Warner Bros.' ads and posters from 1964 to 1979.\n\nIn 1964, Warner Bros. successfully negotiated with French label Disques Vogue and Warner Bros.' British distributor Pye Records for the rights to distribute Petula Clark's recordings in the US (said rights previously being held by Laurie Records). Clark soon scored a No. 1 US hit with \"Downtown.\" Warner also released other Pye artists in the US market such as The Kinks.\n\nAnother significant development in the label's history came in 1966 when Ostin hired young independent producer Lenny Waronker as an A&R manager, beginning a strong and enduring mentor/protegé relationship between the two. Waronker, the son of Liberty Records founder Simon Waronker, had previously worked as an assistant to Liberty producer Snuff Garrett. Later he worked with the small San Francisco label Autumn Records, founded by disc jockeys Tom Donahue, Bobby Mitchell, and Sylvester Stewart (who would soon become famous as a musician under his stage name Sly Stone).\n\nWaronker had been hired as a freelance producer for some of Autumn's acts including The Tikis (who later became Harpers Bizarre), The Beau Brummels, and The Mojo Men, and for these recording sessions he brought in several musician friends who were then becoming established on the L.A. music scene: composer/musicians Randy Newman (a childhood friend), Leon Russell, and Van Dyke Parks. Together they became the foundation of the creative salon that centered on Waronker at Warner Bros. and which, with Ostin's continuing support, became the catalyst for Warner Records' subsequent success as a rock music label. Initially, Waronker looked after the acts that Warner Bros. took over when they bought Autumn Records for $10,000, but during the year he also avidly pursued rising Los Angeles band The Buffalo Springfield. Although (much to his and Ostin's chagrin) the band was ultimately signed by Atlantic Records, they eventually became part of the Warner Bros. catalogue after Atlantic was purchased by Warner Bros. Records.\n\nIn 1967, Warner Bros. took over Valiant Records, which added hit-making harmony pop group The Association to the Warner roster. This acquisition proved to be another huge money-maker for Warner Bros.; The Association scored a string of major hits in the late 1960s, and their 1967 hit \"Never My Love\" went on to become the second-most-played song on American radio and TV in the 20th century. During the year, the label also took its first tentative step into the burgeoning rock market when they signed leading San Francisco psychedelic rock group The Grateful Dead. Warner Bros. threw the band a release party at Fugazi Hall in San Francisco's North Beach. During the concert, Warner A&R manager Joe Smith took the stage and announced, \"I just want to say what an honor it is to be able to introduce the Grateful Dead and its music to the world,\" which prompted a cynical Jerry Garcia to quip in reply, \"I just want to say what an honor it is for the Grateful Dead to introduce Warner Bros. Records to the world.\"\n\nAlso in 1967, Warner/Reprise established its Canadian operation Warner Reprise Canada Ltd., replacing its distribution deal with the Compo Company. This was the origin of Warner Music Canada.\n\n1967–1969: Warner Bros.-Seven Arts\nIn November 1966 the entire Warner group was taken over by and merged with Seven Arts Productions, a New York-based company owned by Eliot Hyman. Seven Arts specialized in syndicating old movies and cartoons to TV, and had independently produced a number of significant feature films for other studios, including Stanley Kubrick's Lolita, as well as forging a successful production partnership with noted British studio Hammer Films. Hyman's purchase of Jack L. Warner's controlling share of the Warner group for US$32 million stunned the film world—Warner Records executive Joe Smith later quipped that it was\n\nThe newly merged group was renamed Warner Bros.-Seven Arts (often referred to in the trade press by the abbreviation it adopted for its new logo, \"W7\"). Although Warner Bros. Pictures was faltering, the purchase coincided with a period of tremendous growth in the music industry, and Warner-Reprise was now on its way to becoming a major player in the industry. Hyman's investment banker Alan Hirshfeld, of Charles Allen and Company, urged him to expand the company's record holdings, and arranged a meeting with Jerry Wexler, and Ahmet and Nesuhi Ertegun, co-owners of leading independent label Atlantic Records, which eventually resulted in the purchase of Atlantic in 1968.\n\nIn June 1967, Mo Ostin attended the historic Monterey International Pop Festival, where The Association performed the opening set. Ostin had already acquired the US rights to The Jimi Hendrix Experience's recordings, sight unseen, but he was reportedly unimpressed by Hendrix's now-famous performance. During his visit he met Andy Wickham, who had come to Monterey as an assistant to festival promoter Lou Adler. Wickham had worked as a commercial artist in London, followed by a stint with Andrew Loog Oldham's Immediate Records before moving to Los Angeles to work for Adler's Dunhill label. Ostin initially hired Wickham as Warner's \"house hippie\" on a generous retainer of $200 per week. Hanging out around Laurel Canyon, Wickham scouted for new talent and established a rapport with the young musicians Warner Bros. was seeking to sign. Like Lenny Waronker, Wickham's youth, intelligence and hip attitude allowed him to bridge the \"generation gap between these young performers and the older Warner 'establishment'\". He played a major role in signing Eric Andersen, Jethro Tull, Van Morrison, and Joni Mitchell (who signed to Reprise), whom Wickham successfully recommended to Ostin in his first week with the company. Over the next thirty years, Wickham became one of Warner's most influential A&R managers, signing such notable acts as Emmylou Harris, Buck Owens, and Norwegian pop trio a-ha.\n\nDuring this formative period, Warner Bros. made several other notable new signings including Randy Newman and Van Dyke Parks. Newman would not make his commercial breakthrough until the mid-1970s but he achieved a high profile in the industry thanks to songs he wrote that were covered by other acts like Three Dog Night and Alan Price. Although Warner Bros. spent large sums on albums that sold poorly, and there were some missteps in its promotion strategy, the presence of unorthodox acts like The Grateful Dead and critically acclaimed 'cult' performers like Newman and Parks, combined with the artistic freedom that the label afforded them, proved significant in building Warner Bros.' reputation and credibility. Bob Krasnow, who briefly headed Warner Bros.' short-lived 'black' label Loma Records, later commented that The Grateful Dead \"...were really the springboard. People said, 'Wow, if they'll sign The Dead, they must be going in the right direction.'\"\n\nAlthough not widely known to the general public at that time, Van Dyke Parks was a figure of high repute on the L.A. music scene thanks to his work as a session musician and songwriter (notably with the Byrds and Harper's Bizarre), and especially because of his renowned collaboration with Brian Wilson on the legendary unreleased Beach Boys album Smile. In 1967, Lenny Waronker produced Parks' Warner debut album Song Cycle, which reportedly cost more than $35,000 to record, making it one of the most expensive 'pop' albums ever made up to that time. It sold very poorly despite rave critical reviews, so publicist Stan Cornyn (who had helped the label to sign The Grateful Dead) wrote an infamous tongue-in-cheek advertisement to promote it. The ad cheekily declared that the label had \"lost $35,509 on 'the album of the year' (dammit),\" suggested that those who had purchased the album had probably worn their copies out by playing it over and over, and made the offer that listeners could send these supposedly worn-out copies back to Warner Bros., who would exchange it for two new copies, including one \"to educate a friend with.\" Incensed by the tactic, Parks accused Cornyn of trying to kill his career. Cornyn encountered similar problems with Joni Mitchell—he penned an advertisement that was meant to convey the message that Mitchell was yet to achieve significant market penetration, but the tag-line \"Joni Mitchell is 90% Virgin\" reportedly reduced Mitchell to tears, and Cornyn had to withdraw it from publication.\n\nWarner Bros. also struggled with their flagship rock act, The Grateful Dead who, like Peter, Paul and Mary, had negotiated complete artistic control over the recording and packaging of their music. Their debut album had been recorded in just four days, and although it was not a major hit, it cracked the US Top 50 album chart and sold steadily, eventually going gold in 1971. For their second album, The Grateful Dead took a far more experimental approach, embarking on a marathon series of recording sessions lasting seven months, from September 1967 to March 1968. They started the album with David Hassinger, who had produced their first album, but he quit the project in frustration in December 1967 while they were recording in New York City (although he is co-credited with the band on the album). The group and their concert sound engineer Dan Healy then took over production of the album themselves, taking the unusual step of intermixing studio material with multitrack recordings of their concerts. Anthem of the Sun proved to be the least successful of The Grateful Dead's 1960s albums—it sold poorly, the extended sessions put the band more than $100,000 in debt to the label, and Warner Bros. executive Joe Smith later described it as \"the most unreasonable project with which we have ever involved ourselves.\"\n\nThe Grateful Dead's relationship with Warner Bros. Records was stretched even further by the making of their third album Aoxomoxoa (1969), which also took around seven months to record and cost $180,000, almost twice as much as its predecessor. It sold poorly and took almost thirty years to be accredited with gold-record status. There were further difficulties in 1971 when the band presented Warner Bros. with a planned live double-album that they wanted to call Skull Fuck, but Ostin handled the matter diplomatically. Rather than refusing point-blank to release it, he reminded The Grateful Dead that they were heavily in debt to Warner's and would not see any royalties until this had been repaid; he also pointed out that the provocative title would inevitably hurt sales because major retailers like Sears would refuse to stock it. Realizing that this would reduce their income, the band voluntarily changed the title to Grateful Dead, known generally as Skull and Roses.\n\nSome of Warner Bros.' biggest commercial successes during this period were with \"Sunshine Pop\" acts. Harpers Bizarre scored a No. 13 Billboard hit in April 1967 with their version of Simon & Garfunkel's \"The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)\", and a month later The Association scored a US No. 1 with \"Windy,\" and they reached No. 8 on the album chart with their first Warner Bros. album Insight Out. Their next single \"Never My Love\" also topped the charts in autumn 1967 (No. 2 Billboard, No. 1 Cashbox), and now ranks as one of the most successful of all Warner Bros. recordings—it became a radio staple and is now accredited by BMI as the second most-played song on US radio in the 20th century, surpassing both \"Yesterday\" by the Beatles and \"Stand by Me\" by Ben E. King. The group's 1968 Greatest Hits album was also a major hit, reaching No. 4 on the US album chart. In 1968, Mason Williams' instrumental composition \"Classical Gas\" reached No. 2 on the Billboard chart, selling more than a million copies, and Williams won three Grammys that year.\n\nAnother notable Warner release from this period was Astral Weeks, the second solo album by Van Morrison (his first was on Bang), who signed with the label in 1968. Although it sold relatively poorly on its first release (and did not reach gold record status until 2001), it has been widely acclaimed by musicians and critics worldwide, has featured prominently on many \"Best Albums of All Time\" lists, and has remained in release almost continuously since 1968.\n\nDuring 1968, using the profits from Warner/Reprise, W7 purchased Atlantic Records for $17.5 million, including the label's valuable archive, its growing roster of new artists, and the services of its three renowned executives Jerry Wexler, Nesuhi Ertegun and Ahmet Ertegun. However, the purchase again caused rancor among the Warner/Reprise management, who were upset that their hard-won profits had been co-opted to buy Atlantic, and that Atlantic's executives were made large shareholders in Warner-Seven Arts—the deal gave the Ertegun brothers and Wexler between them 66,000 shares of Warner Bros.' common stock.\n\nOn June 1, 1968, Billboard announced that Warner Bros. Records' star comedy performer Bill Cosby had turned down a five-year, US$3.5 million contract renewal offer, and would leave the label in August of that year to record for his own Tetragrammaton Records label. Just over one month later (July 13) Billboard reported on a major reorganization of the entire Warner-Seven Arts music division. Mike Maitland was promoted to Executive Vice-president of both the recorded music and publishing operations, and George Lee took over from Victor Blau as operational head of the recording division. The restructure also reversed the reporting arrangement put in place in 1960, and from this point the Warner publishing arm reported to the record division under Maitland. The Billboard article also noted the enormous growth and vital significance of W7's music operations, which were by then providing most of Warner-Seven Arts' revenue—during the first nine months of that fiscal year, the recording and publishing divisions generated 74% of the corporation's total profit, with the publishing division alone accounting for over US$2 million of ASCAP's collections from music users.\n\n1969–1972: Kinney takeover\nIn 1969, Warner Bros.-Seven Arts was taken over by the Kinney National Company, headed by New York businessman Steve J. Ross, who would successfully lead the Warner group of companies until his death in 1992. The US$400 million deal created a new conglomerate that combined the Warner film, television, recording, and music publishing divisions with Kinney's multi-faceted holdings. Ross had founded the company in the late 1950s while working in his family's funeral business—seeing the opportunity to use the company's cars, which were idle at night, he founded a successful car hire operation, which he later merged with the Kinney parking garage company. Ross took the company public in 1962, and from this base it expanded rapidly between 1966 and 1968, merging with National Cleaning Services in 1966 to form the Kinney National Company, and then acquiring a string of companies that would prove of enormous value to the Warner group in the years ahead–National Periodical Publications (which included DC Comics and All American Comics), the Ashley-Famous talent agency, and Panavision.\n\nIn the summer of 1969, Atlantic Records agreed to assist Warner Bros. Records in establishing overseas divisions, but when Warner executive Phil Rose arrived in Australia to begin setting up a subsidiary there, he discovered that just one week earlier Atlantic had signed a new four-year production and distribution deal with local label Festival Records without informing Warner Bros.\n\nDuring 1969, the rivalry between Mike Maitland and Ahmet Ertegun quickly escalated into an all-out executive battle, but Steve Ross favored Ertegun, and the conflict culminated in Maitland being dismissed from his position on January 25, 1970. He declined an offer of a job with Warner Bros. Pictures and left the company, subsequently becoming president of MCA Records. Mo Ostin was appointed president of Warner Bros. Records with Joe Smith as executive vice-president.\n\nIn 1970, the 'Seven Arts' name was dropped and the WB shield became the Warner Bros. Records logo again.\n\n1970–1979: The Ostin era\nBeginning back in 1967 with the signing of the Grateful Dead, Warner Bros. Records and its affiliate labels steadily built up a diverse and prestigious lineup of rock and pop artists through the 1970s, and earning a strong reputation as an \"artists first\" record company. Under the guidance of Edward West, vice-president of Warner Bros. Records Inc in 1973 and its executives, A&R managers and staff producers, including Mo Ostin, David Geffen, Joe Smith, Stan Cornyn, Lenny Waronker, Andy Wickham, Russ Titelman and ex-Warner Bros. recording artist (with Harpers Bizarre) Ted Templeman, sales grew steadily throughout the decade and by the end of the 1970s Warner Bros. and its sister labels had become one of the world's leading recording groups, with a star-studded roster that included Fleetwood Mac, James Taylor, Van Morrison, America, Alice Cooper, Carly Simon, Van Halen, the Doobie Brothers, Bonnie Raitt, Chaka Khan, Ambrosia, and Rickie Lee Jones. This was augmented by the group's valuable back-catalogue, and lucrative licensing deals with American and international labels including Sire, Vertigo and Island Records (1975–1982) that gave WBR the American distribution rights for leading British and European rock acts including Deep Purple, Jethro Tull, Black Sabbath, Roxy Music, King Crimson and Kraftwerk. Aided by the growth of FM radio and the album oriented rock format, LPs became the primary vehicle of Warner Bros. sales successes throughout the 1970s, although artists such as the Doobie Brothers and America also scored many major US and international hit singles.\n\nOne of the first Warner Bros. albums to achieve both critical and commercial success in the early 1970s was Van Morrison's third solo LP Moondance (January 1970) which consolidated his distinctive blend of rock, jazz and R&B, earned glowing critical praise and sold well—it made the Top 40 album chart in both the US and the UK, the single \"Come Running\" was a US Top 40 hit (No. 39, Billboard) and the title track became a radio perennial.\n\nBritish group Black Sabbath were signed to Philips Records' progressive subsidiary Vertigo in their native country. Deep Purple, who recorded for EMI's Parlophone and Harvest labels in England, were originally signed in the US to the independent Tetragrammaton Records, which was distributed by Warner Bros., who acquired the label after it folded in 1970. Black Sabbath's eponymous debut album (recorded in just two days) reached No. 8 on the UK album chart, and No. 23 on the Billboard 200, where it remained for over a year, selling strongly despite some negative reviews. It has since been certified platinum in the US by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and in the UK by British Phonographic Industry (BPI). Sabbath's second album was to have been called War Pigs, but Warner Bros. Records changed the title to Paranoid fearing a backlash by consumers. It was a Top 10 hit on the US album chart in 1971, and went on to sell four million copies in the US alone with virtually no radio airplay.\n\nBy 1970, \"Seven Arts\" was dropped from the company name and the WB shield became the Warner Bros. Records logo again. During 1972, a financial scandal in its parking operations forced Kinney National to spin off its non-entertainment assets, and the Warner recording, publishing and film divisions then became part of a new umbrella company, Warner Communications.\n\nIn July 1970, the Warner recording group acquired another prestige asset with the purchase of Jac Holzman's Elektra Records for US$10 million. Like Atlantic, the new acquisition came with a very valuable back-catalogue, which included the Doors, Love, Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Tim Buckley, the Stooges, MC5 and Bread, but Elektra soon began producing more major hits under the Warner umbrella. Recent signing Carly Simon scored two successive Top 20 singles in 1971 with \"That's the Way I've Always Heard It Should Be\" and \"Anticipation\", and her first two albums both made the Billboard Top 50, but the following year she topped the single and album charts with her international smash hit \"You're So Vain\" and the album No Secrets, which both went to No. 1 in the US Jac Holzman ran the label until 1972, when he was succeeded by David Geffen and Elektra was merged with Geffen's label Asylum Records. Geffen was forced to step down in 1975 for health reasons and Joe Smith was appointed president in his place, although the label's fortunes subsequently waned considerably, with Elektra-Asylum reportedly losing some $27 million during the last two years of Smith's tenure.\n\nWith three co-owned record companies, the next step was the formation of the group's in-house distribution arm, initially called Kinney Records Distributing Corporation, to better control distribution of product and make sure records by breaking new acts were available.\n\nIn 1971, UK-based pop rock trio America were signed to the recently established British division of Warner Bros. Their debut album, released late in the year, at first enjoyed only moderate success, but in early 1972 their single \"A Horse with No Name\" became a major international hit, reaching No. 1 in the US. Warner hastily reissued the album with the song included and it too became a huge hit, reaching No. 1 on the US album chart and eventually earning a platinum record award. Although criticized for their similarity to Neil Young (indeed, rumors circulated around Hollywood that Young had cut the track anonymously), America scored five more US Top 10 singles over the next three years, including a second US No. 1 with \"Sister Golden Hair\" in 1975. Their albums performed very strongly in the charts—each of their first seven LPs were US Top 40 albums, five of these made the Top 10 and all but one (Hat Trick, 1973) achieved either gold or platinum status. Their 1975 Greatest Hits album became a perennial seller and is now accredited at 4x platinum.\n\nIn 1972, Dionne Warwick was signed to Warner Bros. Records after leaving Scepter Records in what was the biggest contract at the time for a female recording artist, although her five years at Warner Bros. were relatively unsuccessful in comparison to her spectacular hit-making tenure at Scepter.\n\nAfter a slow start, the Doobie Brothers proved to be one of Warner Bros.' most successful signings. Their debut album made little impact but their second album Toulouse Street (1972) reached No. 21 and spawned two US Top 40 singles, \"Listen to the Music\" and \"Jesus is Just Alright\", inaugurating a string of hit albums and singles over the next five years. Their third album The Captain and Me was even more successful, reaching No. 7 in the US and producing two more hit singles, \"China Grove\" (#15) and \"Long Train Runnin'\" (#8); it became a consistent seller and is now accredited 2x Platinum by the RIAA. What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits (1974) reached No. 4 and produced two more hits including their first US No. 1 single \"Black Water\" (1975). Stampede also reached No. 4, and produced another hit single with the Motown cover \"Take Me in Your Arms (Rock Me a Little While)\" (US #11).\n\nWarner Bros. Records' reputation for nurturing new artists was demonstrated by the career of Alice Cooper (originally the name of the band, but later taken over as the stage name / persona of singer and main songwriter Vince Furnier). The Alice Cooper band recorded two unsuccessful albums for Frank Zappa's Warner-distributed label Straight Records before teaming with producer Bob Ezrin, who became a longtime collaborator. Their third LP Love it to Death (originally released on Straight and later reissued on Warner Bros.) reached No. 35 on the Billboard album chart and produced the hit single \"I'm Eighteen\", which reached No. 21. Following the runaway success of their 1971 European tour Warner Bros. Records offered the band a multi-album contract; their first Warner Bros. album Killer sold well, with the single \"Halo of Flies\" making the Top 10 in the Netherlands, but it was their next album School's Out (1972) that really put them on the map. The title song was a Top 10 hit in the US, reached No. 1 in the UK and became a radio staple, and the album went to No. 2 in the US and sold more than a million copies. Billion Dollar Babies (1973) became their biggest success, going to No. 1 in both the US and the UK. The follow-up Muscle of Love (1973) was less successful, although the single \"Teenage Lament '74 was a Top 20 hit in the UK. Furnier split from the band in 1974 and signed to Warner Bros.' sister label, Atlantic as a solo artist, scoring further success with his solo albums and singles.\n\nIn 1973, Frank Zappa and manager Herb Cohen closed the Straight and Bizarre labels and established a new imprint, DiscReet Records, retaining their distribution deal with Warner Bros. Zappa's next album Apostrophe (') (1973) became the biggest commercial success of his career, reaching No. 10 on the Billboard album chart, and the single \"Don't Eat the Yellow Snow\" was a minor hit and (at the time) his only single to make the Hot 100 chart. Zappa also enjoyed moderate commercial success with the live double LP Roxy and Elsewhere (1974) and his next studio LP One Size Fits All (1975), both of which reached the Top 30 on the Billboard album chart.\n\n WBR introduced a new label design for its LPs and singles in mid-1973. This design, which WBR would use until mid-1978, featured a multi-colored, idealized watercolor painting of a Burbank street lined by palms and eucalypts, and titled with the slogan \"Burbank, Home of Warner Bros. Records\". According to the label's official history, the design was copied from a similarly-styled \"orange crate art\" fruit company label illustration created by an unknown commercial artist in the 1920s.\n\nAfter several years as a 'cult' artist, Randy Newman achieved his first significant commercial success as a solo artist with his 1974 album Good Old Boys which made the Top 40. His controversial 1977 single \"Short People\" was one of the surprise hits of the year, reaching No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. On October 12, 1974, WBR and Phil Spector established Warner-Spector Records, but the label was short-lived and folded in 1977; most of its releases were reissues Philles Records recordings from the 1960s and the only new material released was two singles by the disco group Calhoon and a single by Cher.\n\nIn 1975 David Geffen was obliged to leave the company for health reasons, after being told that he had a terminal illness (although this later proved to be a false diagnosis). In his place, Joe Smith was promoted to become President of the combined Elektra/Asylum label. At this time Warner Bros. began to wind down the Reprise label. In 1976–77 almost all Reprise acts, including Fleetwood Mac, Gordon Lightfoot, Ry Cooder and Michael Franks were transferred to Warner Bros., leaving only Neil Young (who refused to move) and founder Frank Sinatra. Apart from these artists and some reissues, the Reprise label was dormant until it was reactivated in 1986 with the issue of the Dream Academy's single \"The Love Parade\" on Reprise 28750.\n\nBy far the most successful of the Reprise acts who moved to Warner Bros. was Fleetwood Mac, whose massive success firmly established Warner Bros. in the front rank of major labels—although few would have predicted it from the band's tumultuous history. Between 1970 and 1975 there were multiple lineup changes (with only two original members remaining by 1974), their album sales declined drastically, and a legal battle over the group's name kept them off the road for over a year. However, just as Fleetwood Mac was switching labels in 1975, the group re-invigorated by the recruitment of new members Lindsay Buckingham and Stevie Nicks. The 'new' Fleetwood Mac scored a string of US and international hits and their self-titled Reprise debut album was a huge success, reaching No. 1 in the US, charting for more than 30 weeks and selling more than 5 million copies. In 1977, their now-legendary Rumours took both group and Warner Bros. label to even greater heights—it generated a string of international hit singles and became the most successful album in the label's history; it is currently ranked the 11th biggest selling album of all time and as of 2009 was estimated to have sold more than 40 million copies.\n\nAfter a string of albums with the Faces and as a solo artist for Mercury Records in the early 1970s, British singer Rod Stewart signed with Warner Bros. in 1974, applied for American citizenship and moved to the US. Launching a sustained run of success, his Warner debut album Atlantic Crossing (1975) was a major international hit, reaching No. 9 on the Billboard album chart and No. 1 in Australia, with the single \"I Don't Want to Talk About It\" going to No. 1 in the UK. His second WBR album A Night on the Town (1976) went to No. 2 in the US and No. 1 in Australia and produced three US Top 40 singles, including his first US No. 1 \"Tonight's the Night\". Foot Loose & Fancy Free (1977) reached No. 2 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart and No. 1 in Australia and again produced three US Top 40 singles, including \"You're in My Heart (The Final Acclaim)\", which reached No. 4. Blondes Have More Fun (1978) went to No. 1 in the US and Australia, and produced two more Top 40 singles including his second US No. 1, \"Da Ya Think I'm Sexy\" (although Stewart and co-writer Carmine Appice were later successfully sued for plagiarizing the song's catchy melody hook from \"Taj Mahall\" by Brazilian songwriter Jorge Ben). Stewart's Greatest Hits collection (1979) went to No. 1 in the UK and Australia, giving the singer a record-breaking five consecutive No. 1 albums in the latter country.\n\nWarner Bros. Records also had unexpected success in the mid-1970s with another 'heritage' act, veteran vocal group the Four Seasons. In early 1975, they signed with Curb Records (which was distributed by WBR) just as lead singer Frankie Valli scored a surprise hit with his independently released solo single \"My Eyes Adored You\". Soon after, Valli and The Four Seasons burst back onto the charts with the disco-styled \"Who Loves You\", which reached No. 3 in the US and sold more than a million copies, and the album Who Loves You sold more than 1 million copies. Their next single \"December 1963 (Oh, What a Night)\" topped the charts in both Britain and the US in early 1976, becoming the group's first US No. 1 since 1967. A remixed version was a hit again in 1994 and its total of 54 weeks in charts gives it the longest tenure of any song on the Billboard Hot 100.\n\nBy the time of The Doobie Brothers 1976 album Takin' It to the Streets, founding member Tom Johnston had effectively left the band and he was replaced by former Steely Dan session man Michael McDonald, whose distinctive voice helped to propel the group to even greater success. The new album sold strongly, reaching No. 8 in the US, and the title track reached No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming a perennial on radio playlists. Warner Bros. also released the massively successful Best of the Doobies (1976), which has become one of the biggest-selling albums of all time and is currently accredited at 10x Platinum status. 1978's Minute by Minute marked the peak of their career—both the album and its lead single \"What A Fool Believes\" went to No. 1 in the US and the album's title track also made the US Top 20, although it was their last album with founding drummer John Hartman and long-serving guitarist Jeff \"Skunk\" Baxter.\n\nDuring the late 1970s, Warner Bros.' reputation as an \"artists first\" label was challenged by a bitter and long-running dispute with Frank Zappa. In 1976, Zappa's relationship with manager Herb Cohen ended in litigation. For Zoot Allures, Zappa took his own copy of the master directly to Warner Bros. Records, who agreed to release the album, therefore bypassing Cohen and DiscReet. However, Warner Bros. changed their position following legal action from Cohen. Zappa was then obligated to deliver four more albums to Warner Bros. for release on DiscReet. Zappa sequenced a double live album and three studio albums, but Warner Bros. objected to some or all of these recordings and refused to reimburse Zappa for production costs, as required by the DiscReet distribution contract. Zappa then re-edited the material into a 4-LP set called Läther (pronounced 'leather'), made a deal with Phonogram, and scheduled the release of Läther for Halloween 1977. However, Warner Bros. threatened legal action, forcing Zappa to shelve the release. Infuriated, Zappa hosted a broadcast on KROQ-FM in Pasadena, California, where he played the entire Läther album in sequence, repeatedly criticizing Warner Bros., and openly encouraging listeners to record the broadcast. Warner Bros. took further legal action against Zappa, which prevented him from issuing any material for over a year. During 1978 and 1979, Warner Bros. issued the disputed material over four albums – Zappa in New York (an edited and censored version of the original 1977 live double album), Studio Tan, Sleep Dirt and Orchestral Favorites. Zappa eventually won the rights to his Straight, Bizarre, DiscReet and Warner Bros. material, but remained trenchantly critical of his treatment by Warner Bros. for the rest of his life. Zappa's recordings were subsequently reissued on CD by Rykodisc (ironically it was later acquired by Warner Music), including Läther, which appeared posthumously in 1996.\n\nRy Cooder was another Reprise act who was transferred to Warner Bros. in 1977. His first Warner release was the 1977 live album Showtime and he remained with the label until his contract expired in the late 1980s. His 1979 album Bop 'Til You Drop is notable as the first major-label rock album to be digitally recorded, and it became the best-selling album of his career.\n\nThanks to its distribution deal with Curb Records, WBR scored the biggest hit single in the company's history in 1977. The ballad \"You Light Up My Life\" (written and produced by Joe Brooks) was originally recorded by the late Kasey Cisyk for the soundtrack to the film of the same name, in which actress Didi Conn lip-synched to Cisyk's recording. Teenager Debby Boone (daughter of actor-singer Pat Boone) was recruited to record a new version for single release, and this became a massive success, topping the Billboard Hot 100 for a record-setting 10 consecutive weeks, and earning a Platinum certification from the RIAA. It became the most successful single of the 1970s in the United States, setting what was then a new record for longest run at No. 1 in the US and surpassing Elvis Presley's \"Hound Dog\". Boone's success also earned her Grammy nominations for \"Best Female Pop Vocal Performance \" and \"Record of the Year\" and won her the 1977 Grammy for \"Best New Artist\" and the 1977 American Music Award for \"Favorite Pop Single\". The song also earned Joe Brooks the 1977 \"Song of the Year\" Grammy (tied with \"Evergreen (Love Theme from A Star Is Born)\") as well as \"Best Original Song\" at both the 1977 Golden Globe and Academy Awards.\n\nThroughout the 1970s, Warner Bros. also benefited from its US/Canada distribution deals with independent labels such as Straight Records, DiscReet Records, UK labels Chrysalis (1972–1976) and Island (1974–1982), Bizarre Records, Bearsville Records (1970–1984) and Geffen Records (which was sold to MCA in 1990).\n\nAlthough primarily associated with mainstream white acts in the Seventies, Warner Bros.' distribution deals with smaller labels also brought it some success in the disco, soul and funk genres in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Among the imprints it distributed that were notable in these fields were Seymour Stein's Sire Records (which Warner Bros. soon purchased), Curtis Mayfield's Curtom, Norman Whitfield's Whitfield Records, Quincy Jones' Qwest, Prince's Paisley Park, RFC Records (formed in December 1978 when Ray Caviano became the executive director of Warner's disco division), and Tom Silverman's Tommy Boy Records (another label Warner Bros. eventually took over).\n\nUntil the late 1970s, Warner Bros. itself still had very few African American music artists on its roster, but this began to change with the signing of artists such as George Benson and Prince. Benson had risen to prominence in jazz in the 1960s but was still relatively little-known by the general public. However, his move to Warner Bros. in 1976 and the teaming with producer Tommy LiPuma enabled him to straddle genres and made him a popular and highly successful mainstream R&B and pop artist. His first Warner Bros. LP Breezin' (1976) became one of the most successful jazz albums of the decade and a major 'crossover' hit—it topped the American Pop, R&B and Jazz album charts and produced two hit singles, the title track (which became a Jazz standard and a radio favorite) and \"This Masquerade\", which was a Top 10 pop and R&B hit. Benson enjoyed enormous success with his subsequent Warner albums. All of his Warner LPs made the Top 20 on the US jazz album chart and beginning with Breezin''', he scored seven consecutive US No. 1 jazz albums; the first five of these were also Top 20 hits on both the Pop and R&B charts. His live version of Leiber & Stoller's \"On Broadway\" (from his 1978 live album Weekend in L.A.) outcharted the original version by the Drifters, reaching No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100, and gained further exposure thanks to its memorable use in the famous audition sequence in Bob Fosse's 1979 film All That Jazz. Benson's most successful single \"Give Me the Night\" (1980) became his first US No. 1 R&B hit, reached No. 4 on the Pop chart and also reached No. 2 on the Hot Disco Singles chart.\n\nPrince signed to Warner Bros. in 1977. His first album For You made little impact, although the single \"Soft and Wet\" reached No. 12 on the Billboard R&B chart. However, his second self-titled album (1979) fared considerably better, reaching No. 3 on the R&B album chart and earning a gold record award; the first single lifted from the album, \"I Wanna Be Your Lover\" became Prince's first crossover hit, reaching No. 1 on the R&B chart and No. 11 on the main pop chart, while the follow-up single \"Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?\" reached No. 13 on the R&B chart. Although he was still little known outside the US at this stage, this early success set the stage for his major commercial breakthrough in the 1980s.\n\nAnother valuable late 1970s discovery was metal-pop band Van Halen, who were spotted at a Hollywood club by Mo Ostin and Ted Templeman in 1977. Their self-titled debut album was a notable success, reaching No. 19 on the Billboard album chart, and their second album Van Halen II (1979) reached No. 6 and produced their first hit single \"Dance the Night Away\" (#19).\n\nWarner Bros. also began to tentatively embrace the burgeoning new wave movement in the late 1970s, signing cult bands Devo and the B-52s. A crucial acquisition in this field—and one which would soon prove to be of enormous importance to the company—was the New York-based Sire Records, founded in 1966 by Seymour Stein and Richard Gottehrer. Warner Bros. took over Sire's distribution from ABC Records in 1977 and bought the label in 1978, retaining Stein as its president. The addition of the Sire roster gave Warner Bros. an important foothold in this area (indeed, Stein is often credited with naming the genre to replace the term \"punk\", which he disliked); its American signings included the Ramones, the Dead Boys, and Talking Heads and most importantly of all, Madonna, who soon became the most successful female artist in music history, earning billions for Warner. Sire's distribution deals with British independent labels including Mute, Rough Trade, Korova and Fiction gave WEA the American rights to important UK-based New Wave bands including Depeche Mode, the Smiths, the Beat, Madness, Echo & the Bunnymen, and the Cure. Into the 1990s, the label had continued success with Seal, k.d. lang, Tommy Page, Ice-T, and Ministry.\n\nIn the late 1970s, Warner Bros. also scored mainstream pop hits with singer/actor Shaun Cassidy—his version of \"Da Doo Ron Ron\" went to No. 1 in the US in 1977, his next two singles (both penned by Eric Carmen) were US Top 10 hits and Cassidy was nominated for a Grammy award. As the decade drew to a close, there were more breakthroughs with new acts. Rickie Lee Jones' self-titled debut album went to No. 3 in the US, No. 1 in Australia and No. 18 in the UK and produced two hit singles, \"Chuck E.'s In Love\" (US #4) and \"Young Blood\" (US #40). Thanks to its American distribution deal with Vertigo, British group Dire Straits provided another sustained run of hit albums and singles in the late 1970s and 1980s. Their eponymous debut album (1978) was a surprise international hit, going to No. 2 in the US and earning a gold record award from the RIAA, while the single \"Sultans of Swing\" went to No. 4 in the US. Their second album Communiqué (1979) made the Top 20 in many countries and earned another gold record award in the US WBR also enjoyed renewed success with comedy recordings in this period, transferring Richard Pryor from Reprise and signing rising star Steve Martin, whose second Warner album A Wild and Crazy Guy (1978) became one of the label's biggest comedy hits—it reached No. 2 on the pop album chart, won the 1979 Grammy for 'Best Comedy Album', and Martin's novelty single, \"King Tut\" was a US Top 20 hit.\n\nIn the 1970s there were different systems for four-channel stereo. Warner Records and the whole WEA group chose JVC's and RCA's discrete system called CD-4 or Quadradisc. That was the system with the highest separation between the four channel, but the system needed a special stylus that could read frequences up to 48 000 Hz.\n\n1980–1988\nThe 1980s was a period of unprecedented success for Warner Bros. Records. The golden decade began with the success of singer-songwriter Christopher Cross, whose self-titled debut album went to No. 6 in the US and produced four charting singles, including the No. 1 hit \"Sailing\". He also won five major categories at the 1981 Grammy Awards, becoming the only solo artist to date to win the \"Big Four\" awards in one year (Record, Song and Album of the Year, and Best New Artist) while his performance of \"Arthur's Theme\" from the Dudley Moore film Arthur, which also went to No. 1, won both the Oscar and the Golden Globe award for Best Original Song.\n\nWarner Bros. scored an apparent coup in 1980 by luring Paul Simon away from Columbia Records. His first Warner album was One Trick Pony (1980), which accompanied the movie of the same name, which Simon wrote and starred in. The single \"Late in the Evening\" was a major hit (#6) but the album was not a big seller. His next album, Hearts and Bones (1983) was well received by critics but neither it nor the lead single \"Allergies\" made the chart and Simon's career took a nosedive and it was several more years before the label's patience eventually paid off.\n\nAfter two moderate-selling albums that established them as one of the most original American new wave bands of the period, DEVO broke through to mainstream success in 1980 with their third album Freedom of Choice which reached No. 22 in the US. Thanks to its quirky music video, which was put on high rotation on MTV, the single \"Whip It\" reached No. 14 on the Billboard pop chart, becoming the group's biggest American hit. Their follow-up EP DEV-O Live (1981) was a surprise hit in Australia, topping the singles chart there for three weeks, but their subsequent albums and singles suffered from declining sales and the group was eventually dropped by the label after their 1984 album Shout.\n\nPrince's 1980 album Dirty Mind was widely praised by critics, earning a gold record award, but his 1982 double-LP 1999 (1982) became his first major hit album, selling over six million copies and spawning three hit singles. The title track reached No. 12 in the US and provided his first international hit (#25 UK) and his next two singles, \"Little Red Corvette\" and \"Delirious\", were both US Top 10 hits.\n\nChicago was picked up by Warner Bros. in 1981 after being dropped by its former label Columbia, which believed that the band was no longer commercially viable. After teaming with producer David Foster, the band shot back into the charts in 1982 with the album Chicago 16, which reached No. 9 and produced two hit singles including the US No. 1 hit \"Hard To Say I'm Sorry\". The group's second Warner album, Chicago 17, became the biggest seller of its career—it reached No. 4 in the US and produced four US Top-20 singles including the Top-5 hits \"Hard Habit to Break\" (#3) and \"You're the Inspiration\" (#3) and is currently accredited at 6× Platinum. Lead singer Peter Cetera left the group after this album but had continued success as a solo artist for Warner, scoring a No. 1 hit in 1986 with \"Glory of Love\" (from the movie The Karate Kid Part II), which was also nominated for a Grammy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and an Academy Award. His second solo album sold more than a million copies and produced another No. 1 hit, \"The Next Time I Fall\". His third solo album produced the Top 5 hit \"One Good Woman\" (1988) and \"After All\" reached No. 6.\n\nLenny Waronker took over as President of WBR in 1982, and his first act was to sign Elvis Costello. Costello's first Warner album Spike featured his biggest American single, the Paul McCartney collaboration \"Veronica\", which was a US Top 20 hit. He recorded three more critically praised albums for Warner Bros., Mighty Like A Rose, Brutal Youth, and All This Useless Beauty, but he was dropped from the label after the major corporate shakeup in the mid-1990s.\n\nAfter the end of his contract with RSO Records and Polydor, Eric Clapton signed with Warner Bros. in 1982. His first WBR album, Money and Cigarettes (1983), reached No. 16 on the Billboard album chart, and the single \"I've Got a Rock 'n' Roll Heart\" reached No. 18 on the Billboard Hot 100. His next album Behind the Sun also fared well, reaching No. 34 and the hit single \"Forever Man\" went to No. 26, but he transferred to Reprise for his next release.\n\nAnother resurgent 1970s act who scored major success with Warner Bros. in this period was ZZ Top, which had previously been signed to London Records. During an extended break in the late 1970s the group gained ownership of its London recordings and signed with Warner Bros., which also re-issued the band's back-catalogue. The group's first two Warner albums Deguello (1979) and El Loco (1981) were moderately successful, but Eliminator (1983) became a major hit thanks to strong support for its music videos on MTV. The band scored three US hit singles including \"Legs\" (US #8), while the album reached No. 9 on the Billboard 200 and sold in huge numbers, earning a Diamond record award in 1996. Afterburner (1985) went to No. 4 and produced seven hit singles, including \"Sleeping Bag\" (#8).\n\nSire artist Madonna shot to international prominence with her 1983 self-titled debut album and her first mainstream hit single \"Holiday\", which reached No. 16 in the US and became a hit in many other countries, including Australia and the UK, where it was Top 5. The album made the Top 20 in more than a dozen countries including the US, where it has been certified at 5× Platinum status. It was quickly followed by Like a Virgin, which became her first US No. 1 album and has sold more than 21 million copies worldwide. The title track was also a huge international hit, going to No. 1 in Australia, Canada, Japan and the US. Boosted by her well-received role in the film Desperately Seeking Susan, \"Crazy For You\" (1985) became her second US No. 1 hit, and the follow-up \"Material Girl\" reached No. 2 in the US and was Top 5 in many other countries.\n\nPrince's hugely successful 1984 film and album Purple Rain cemented his stardom, selling more than thirteen million copies in the US (25 million worldwide) and spending twenty-four consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, while the Purple Rain film won the Academy Award for \"Best Original Song Score\" and grossed more than $80 million in the US. Singles from the album became hits on pop charts around the world; \"When Doves Cry\" and \"Let's Go Crazy\" both reached No. 1 and the title track reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. However, the sexually explicit album track \"Darling Nikki\" generated a major controversy that had lasting effects—when politician's wife Tipper Gore heard her 12-year-old daughter listening to the song and investigated the lyrics, her outrage led to the formation of the conservative lobby group Parents Music Resource Center. Their stance was vehemently opposed by former Warner Bros. artist Frank Zappa and others, but the PMRC's political clout eventually forced the US recording industry to adopt the compulsory practice of placing a \"Parental Advisory: Explicit Lyrics\" sticker on records deemed to contain \"offensive\" content.\n\n1984 also saw Van Halen break into the big league with the single \"Jump\" (their only US No. 1 hit) and the album 1984; it was a huge seller (earning Diamond album status in 1999) and reached No. 2 in the US, producing two more Top 20 hits. However, escalating friction between guitarist Eddie Van Halen and lead singer David Lee Roth reached breaking point soon after the album's release and Roth left the band, to be replaced by Sammy Hagar, who recorded for WB as part of Montrose; 1984 was also the last time they worked with Ted Templeman, who had produced all their albums up to this point.\n\nIn 1985, Dire Straits' single \"Money for Nothing\" gained massive exposure on MTV thanks to its innovative computer-animated music video, propelling the single to No. 1 in the US. They scored two more US Top 20 hits with \"Walk of Life\" and \"So Far Away\" and the album Brothers in Arms was a phenomenal success—it went to No. 1 in the US, Australia and most European countries and sold in colossal numbers—by 1996 it had been certified at 9× platinum in the US and it is currently ranked at No. 25 in the list of best-selling albums of all time, with sales of more than 30 million copies worldwide.\n\nThe new incarnation of Van Halen bounced back in 1986, releasing the enormously successful 5150 album which went to No. 1 and produced two hit singles, \"Why Can't This Be Love\" (US #3) and \"Dreams\" (#22). Their three subsequent studio albums (OU812, For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge, and Balance) all reached No. 1 and the band scored 17 US Top 20 singles, including 1988's \"When It's Love\" (US #5), but their overall sales gradually declined, with each album selling less than its predecessor.\n\nThe same was true of Prince. He scored numerous hit albums and singles through the latter half of the 1980s, but his record sales declined and Warner Bros. executives became increasingly concerned that he was producing far more material than they could release. His image was also tarnished by the failure of his later film ventures, his embarrassing refusal to participate in the recording of \"We Are The World\" and his sacking of guitarist Wendy Melvoin and long-serving keyboard player Lisa Coleman. The 1985 album Around the World in a Day held the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 for three weeks and peaked at No. 5 in the UK, selling seven million copies despite minimal promotion. Parade (1986) served as the soundtrack for Prince's second film Under the Cherry Moon; although the movie was a critical and commercial failure, the album peaked at No. 3 in Billboard and No. 2 on the R&B album charts and his classic single \"Kiss\" was another big international hit, going to No. 1 in the US and becoming a radio staple.\n\nPrince's next project had a long and complex evolution, beginning as a proposed concept double-album called Dream Factory; Prince then proposed a solo LP which he intended to issue under the pseudonym Camille, but he eventually combined elements from both to create the ambitious three-album set Crystal Ball. However, because of the relatively lower sales of his previous albums, Prince's manager Steve Fargnoli and Warner Bros. president Mo Ostin both doubted the commercial viability of releasing a 3-LP set, and after previewing Crystal Ball, Ostin insisted that Prince pare it down to two records. Prince at first refused and a battle of wills ensued for several weeks, but he eventually backed down and removed seven tracks; the resulting double-album was released in March 1987 as \"Sign o' the Times\". Despite Prince's bitterness over its forced reduction, it was very successful, peaking at No. 6 on the Billboard 200 albums chart and selling 5 million copies, while the title single \"Sign o' the Times\" reached No. 3 on the Hot 100. The follow-up single \"If I Was Your Girlfriend\" flopped (although it went to No. 12 on R&B chart) but he scored big hits with the next two singles, \"U Got the Look\" (#2 Hot 100, #11 R&B) and \"I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man\" (#10 Hot 100, #14 R&B).\n\nIn 1985, the company collaborated with View-Master to start out a children's video series Kidsongs, which were produced by Together Again Productions, and Warner Music Video handling distribution of the video product, designed for the educational market.\n\n1986–87 took Warner Bros. to even greater heights. Madonna's landmark album True Blue produced three US No. 1s and two Top 5 singles and the LP was an unprecedented success, topping the charts in more than 28 countries (a feat that earned her a place in the Guinness Book of Records), and to date it has sold 24 million copies. After several years in the doldrums, a reinvigorated Paul Simon burst back onto the music scene in late 1986 with Graceland. Warner Bros. were initially anxious about the commercial appeal of Simon's innovative fusion of rock with African styles but the album was a resounding success, topping the charts in many countries, reaching No. 3 in the US and producing two US Top 20 singles. It became the best-selling American album of 1987 and the most successful of Simon's solo career, selling more than 5 million copies, and winning the 1986 Grammy for 'Album of the Year'; the title track also won 'Song of the Year' in 1987. In jazz, Warner Bros. scored another artistic coup by signing jazz legend Miles Davis after his break with longtime label Columbia. His comeback album Tutu (1986) was a major crossover hit, gaining rave reviews and winning a Grammy in 1987.\n\nIn the summer of 1986, Warner Bros. announced the reactivation of Reprise Records with its own separate promotions department, and former Warner Bros. Vice President of Promotion Richard Fitzgerald was appointed as label Vice President.\n\nDuring 1987, Prince recorded a pared-down funk LP, The Black Album, but he withdrew it in December just before it was to be released (even though 500,000 copies had been printed). Its hastily recorded replacement Lovesexy (1988) was a moderate success, reaching No. 11 on the Billboard album chart although it reached No. 1 in the UK. However, he rebounded in 1989 with the soundtrack for the hugely successful Batman film, which sold more than eleven million copies, reached No. 1 on the Billboard album chart and produced four hit singles including \"Batdance\", which topped both the Hot 100 and R&B charts.\n\nLike fellow Athens, Georgia natives the B-52s, R.E.M. was a 'cult' band that gradually built up a strong following in the US and internationally during the 1980s (thanks in part to their innovative music videos). For most of the 1980s they were signed to the independent label IRS Records and in 1987, they broke out to mainstream success with the album Document, their first to sell more than one million copies. However, they were frustrated by IRS's poor international distribution and when their IRS contract expired in 1988 they signed with Warner Bros. Their Warner debut Green established them as a major force, earning a platinum album and selling more than 4 million copies worldwide, and \"Stand\" became their first US hit single.\n\nIn 1989, after an extended period of inactivity following the death of guitarist and main writer Ricky Wilson, the B-52s shot back to prominence with the album Cosmic Thing. It was a Top 5 hit in the US (#4) and the UK (#2) and went to No. 1 in Australia, where the group had enjoyed a strong following since their debut single \"Rock Lobster\"; they also scored three consecutive hit singles with \"Love Shack\" (#3 US, #1 Australia), \"Roam\" (US #3) and \"Deadbeat Club\" (US #30).\n\nWarner Bros.' most successful decade yet closed in sensational fashion. In early 1989, Madonna signed an endorsement deal with Pepsi, who introduced her new single \"Like a Prayer\" in the lavish \"Make a Wish\" commercial—the first time a pop single had debuted in an advertisement and the first time such a commercial was given a worldwide satellite premiere. However Pepsi had no control over Madonna's own \"Like a Prayer\" music video, which debuted exclusively on MTV soon after—it generated heated criticism due to its provocative use of religious imagery and was condemned by the Vatican. As a result, Pepsi withdrew the advertisement and canceled the endorsement deal—although Madonna was allowed to retain her US$5 million fee—but the controversy only heightened interest in the single and the album (also titled Like a Prayer). The single became Madonna's seventh US No. 1 and topped the chart in more than 30 other countries, and the album also went to No. 1, sold seven million copies worldwide and produced two more US Top 5 singles, establishing Madonna as the most successful female artist of the 1980s and one of the most successful musical performers of all time.\n\n1989–2004: The Time Warner era\nIn 1989 Time Inc. acquired Warner Communications and merged the two enterprises to create Time Warner in a deal valued at US$14 billion.\n\nAfter a long period of relative stability that was notable in the cutthroat American music industry, the death of Steve Ross in late 1992 marked the start of a period of major upheaval at Warner Bros. Records.\n\nR.E.M.'s second Warner album Out of Time (1991) consolidated their success, topping the charts in both the US and the UK and producing two major hit singles: \"Losing My Religion\" became their biggest American single (#4 on Billboard Hot 100) and a hit in numerous other countries, and \"Shiny Happy People\", a Top 10 hit in both the US and the UK; the group also won three categories at that year's Grammy Awards.\n\nPrince's fortunes in the Nineties were mixed; he scored more hits and renewed his contract in 1992, but his relationship with Warner Bros. Records soon soured, climaxing in a highly publicized legal battle and his eventual departure from the label. Although his fourth film, Graffiti Bridge was panned by critics and bombed at the box office the album of the same name was very successful—it reached No. 6 on both the Billboard Hot 200 and R&B album chart and produced two US Top 20 singles. Diamonds and Pearls (1991) became one of the biggest albums of his career, selling 9 million records, reaching No. 3 in the US, No. 2 in the UK and No. 1 in Australia, with five of the six singles lifted from the album becoming hits in the US and other countries, including \"Cream\", which became his fifth US No. 1.\n\nPrince was appointed a vice-president of Warner Bros. Records when he re-signed with them in 1992, but soon regretted his decision. His next album—identified by the cryptic symbol on the cover later defined as \"The Love Symbol\"—was another solid hit, peaking at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 and selling 5 million copies worldwide, but by now tensions were increasing. Warner Bros. wanted to release \"7\" as his next single, but Prince successfully pushed for \"My Name Is Prince\" and it was only a minor hit (#36 Hot 100, #23 R&B); the follow-up \"Sexy MF\" was censored in the US because of the expletive in the chorus and did not even make the US Top 50 although it was a Top 5 hit in the UK and Australia. When eventually released, \"7\" became the only major US hit lifted from the album, peaking (appropriately) at No. 7.\n\nFollowing the 3-disc compilation The Hits/The B-Sides (1993), Prince stopped using his first name and started using only the \"Love Symbol\"—a decision that drew considerable ridicule from the media. Because this sign has no verbal equivalent, he was often derisively referred to as \"The Artist Formerly Known as Prince\". By 1994, relations between The Artist and his record label had reached an impasse—in February WEA cancelled its distribution deal with Paisley Park, effectively putting the label out of business. Although released by an independent distributor, his next single \"The Most Beautiful Girl in the World\" (1994) reached No. 3 in the US and topped the singles charts throughout Europe, becoming the biggest hit single of his career.\n\nPrince had meanwhile prepared two new albums, Come and The Gold Experience; an early version of Come was rejected but Warner Bros. eventually accepted both albums, although they refused to issue them simultaneously. By this time Prince had launched a legal action to terminate his contract and gain ownership of his master recordings, and he publicized his views by appearing in public with the word \"SLAVE\" written across his right cheek. Come (1994) was moderately successful in the US (#15, gold record) and the single \"Letitgo\" reached No. 10 on the R&B chart, although the album was a major hit in the UK, debuting at No. 1. In November Warner released a limited edition of The Black Album, but it was already widely bootlegged, sold poorly and was soon deleted. The Gold Experience (1995) was hailed by some reviewers as Prince's best effort since Sign o' the Times; it included \"The Most Beautiful Girl in the World\" and produced two other charting singles, \"I Hate U\" (US #11 and \"Gold\" UK #10). Prince's remarkable career with Warner Bros. ended with Chaos and Disorder (1996), compiled expressly to end his contract. It was one of his least successful releases but still managed to reach No. 26 in the US and No. 14 in the UK and produced one minor hit, \"Dinner With Delores\" (#36 UK). Prince subsequently released recordings on his own NPG label (via EMI) before eventually signing with Universal Music in 2005.\n\nR.E.M.'s Automatic for the People (1992) cemented their status as one of the top bands of the period and was the most successful album of their career, reaching No. 1 in the UK and No. 2 in the US, selling more than 10 million copies worldwide and generating three US hit singles, \"Drive\", \"Man on the Moon\", and \"Everybody Hurts\".\n\nDuring 1992 WBR faced one of the most serious controversies in its history over the provocative recording \"Cop Killer\" from the self titled album by Body Count, a rap metal band led by Ice-T. Unfortunately for Warner Bros., the song (which mentions the Rodney King case) came out just before the controversial acquittal of the police charged with King's beating, which sparked the 1992 Los Angeles Riots and the confluence of events put the song under the national spotlight. Complaints escalated over the summer—conservative police associations called for a boycott of Time Warner products, politicians including President George H. W. Bush denounced the label for releasing the song, Warner executives received death threats, Time Warner stockholders threatened to pull out of the company and the New Zealand police commissioner unsuccessfully tried to have the record banned there. Although Ice-T later voluntarily reissued Body Count without \"Cop Killer\", the furore seriously rattled Warner Music and in January 1993 WBR made an undisclosed deal releasing Ice-T from his contract and returning the Body Count master tapes to him. In the wake of the \"Cop Killer\" affair, Warner Bros. distanced itself from gangsta rap and in late 1995, it sold its 50% stake in Interscope Records and its controversial subsidiary Death Row Records (Tupac Shakur, Snoop Dogg) back to co-owners Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field. Iovine and Field quickly aligned Interscope with the Universal Music Group; the label, now known as Interscope-Geffen-A&M following the merger of several Universal imprints, is still run by Iovine today.\n\nSome relief came later that year when comedian Jeff Foxworthy revived Warner Bros.' success with comedy recordings; his debut album You Might Be a Redneck If... was a major hit in the US and Canada, and both it and his follow-up album sold more than three million copies each.\n\nEnd of an era: Ostin and Waronker depart\nDuring 1994–1995, Warner Bros.'s successes and problems with its artists were overshadowed by a protracted period of highly publicized internecine strife, centering on Warner Music Group chairman Robert J. Morgado and his successor Michael J. Fuchs. In September 1993, Ostin began negotiations to renew his contract and it was at this point that Morgado unveiled his plan for a major corporate shakeup of the Warner group. This triggered a series of damaging corporate conflicts and in particular created a fatal rift between Morgado and Ostin. The first major casualty was Elektra chairman Bob Krasnow, who resigned abruptly in July 1994.\n\nFor many years Ostin had reported directly to Time Warner chairman Steve Ross (and then to Ross's successor Gerald Levin) but Morgado now insisted that Ostin should report to him, and he established a new division, Warner Music US, headed by Doug Morris, to oversee the three main record labels. Fearing the loss of autonomy and worried that he would be obliged to implement Morgado's \"slash-and-burn\" policy to streamline the label's staff and artist roster, he refused to carry out Morgado's orders and decided not to renew his contract. Ostin officially stepped down from Warner Bros. when his contract expired on December 31, 1994, although he stayed on as a senior consultant to Time Warner's chairman until August 1995. He later commented:\n\nOstin's departure sent shockwaves through the company and the industry, and elicited glowing tributes from colleagues and competitors like Joe Smith and Clive Davis, and musicians like Paul Simon and R.E.M. It also triggered an exodus of Warner executives who had joined the company primarily because of Ostin. Next to go was Lenny Waronker—he was initially designated to succeed Ostin as chairman but he ultimately declined the job and left WBR soon after. Following a period of uncertainty and speculation, the two joined forces to establish a new label, DreamWorks Records. Waronker was replaced by ex Atlantic Records president Danny Goldberg, but his tenure proved short. Long-serving WBR executive Russ Thyret, who had joined the label in 1971 and worked closely with Mo Ostin for many years, was promoted to vice-chairman in January 1995.\n\nGerald Levin forced Morgado to resign in May 1995 and he was replaced by HBO chairman Michael J. Fuchs. Fuchs sacked Morris a month later (sparking a US$50m breach of contract suit) and Warner Music US was dissolved. Morris' removal led to speculation that Ostin was being courted to return to WBR, but these reports proved unfounded, since Ostin and Waronker moved to DreamWorks soon after. Morris moved to MCA Records.\n\nDespite his close ties to Morris, Danny Goldberg was initially told he could remain as WBR president but he left the company in August 1995 after negotiating a settlement with Time Warner to terminate his five-year, US$20 million contract, which still had four years to run. He was subsequently appointed president of PolyGram subsidiary Mercury Records in October. Following Goldberg's departure Russ Thyret was promoted to chairman, CEO and label president. Fuchs himself was forced out of Time Warner in November 1995. In May 1997, Phil Quartararo took over as president of WBR, only weeks after he had left EMI's Virgin Records following a management shake-up there.\n\nThe departure of the team led by Ostin and Waronker also meant that many of the Warner artists whose careers they had nurtured and curated over the previous 30 years were now deprived of their patronage. As a result, by the year 2000 many of the \"flagship\" Warner acts of the Ostin/Waronker years left the label as their contracts expired. Ry Cooder was dropped in 1995 and Randy Newman followed Ostin and Waronker to DreamWorks, departing with a wry comment on his own status and the recent turmoil at Warner Bros.:\n\nAlthough never rising beyond \"cult\" status in terms of his sales as a solo artist, one of the most notable survivors from the Ostin era was Van Dyke Parks, who continued to release albums on Warner Bros. – Tokyo Rose (1989), the Brian Wilson collaboration Orange Crate Art (1995) and the live album Moonlighting: Live at the Ash Grove (1998). In 2004 Parks reunited with Brian Wilson to complete their long-shelved collaboration, Smile, which was released on the Nonesuch label to universal critical praise, winning a Grammy award, and making the Top 20 in the US and Top 10 in the UK, where it earned a gold record award.\n\nIn early 2001, there was a major restructure of the Warner Music Group; about 600 positions were eliminated across the three labels, and an executive reshuffle led to the departures of Thyret and Quartararo (as well as Reprise president Howie Klein) and the hiring of then-Interscope president Tom Whalley as head of Warner Bros. Records. In August Whalley appointed Jeff Ayeroff as Creative Director of Warner Bros. Records and Creative Consultant to Warner Music Group. Ayeroff had previously been WBR's Senior Vice-president and Creative Director from 1983 to 1986, overseeing many successful album covers and music videos in that period.\n\nIn 2002, Linkin Park won the Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance for their single Crawling released under Warner Bros. Whereas they were also nominated for Best Rock Album for Hybrid Theory which also turned out to be the best selling album of 2001 worldwide and Best New Artist. In 2004, the band was nominated for their song Session for Best Rock Instrumental Performance. In 2006 the band won Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for the song Numb/Encore released under Warner Bros./Roc-A-Fella/Machine Shop.\n\n2004–2019: Warner Music Group\n\nIn 2003, amid management disputes, sagging share prices and rising alarm about the impact of digital file sharing, Time Warner decided to unload its music operations. In March 2004, Time Warner's music assets were acquired by a private equity group headed by Thomas H. Lee Partners, Lexa Partners (led by Edgar Bronfman Jr., who put up US$150 million drawn from his family's stake in Vivendi), Bain Capital and Providence Equity Partners. The deal included an option that would allow Time Warner to buy back in if conditions proved favorable. Bronfman, Lee, Bain and Providence had reportedly recouped their investment by May 2006 through dividends, refinancing and a share offer floated in May 2005. \n\nThe sale was followed by a major restructure over the first half of 2004, which wad aimed at slashing $27 million from the company's budget. The cost-cutting measures included more than 1000 staff layoffs worldwide, the dropping of 80 artists, comprising more than half the Warner roster, and the restructuring of the company's two \"boutique\" labels. Elektra was folded into Atlantic, and its sub-label Nonesuch was absorbed into the Warner Records label, although Elektra would be revived as an active label five years later. The restructure period was also marked by a short but widely publicised dispute between Warner and Madonna—although, notably, the label made public efforts to distance the dispute from their regular dealings with Madonna, who remained signed to Warner as a solo artist.\n\nFollowing the private buyout of the music group, Madonna began talks with Warner management to dissolve the joint venture partnership in Madonna's Maverick label, to allow the label to work with other companies. Founded in 1992, Maverick had scored a major success in 1995 with Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill, and Madonna and her two partners, Guy Oseary and Ronnie Dashed, jointly held a controlling 60% stake. After the talks broke down, the trio sued the company; they alleged mismanagement, improper accounting and profit-taking, claiming that Maverick had earned $100m in profit for the group, and seeking to recover $200 million in alleged lost revenue, but the suit was settled in June that year, with Madonna selling most of her stake in Maverick to Warner for just $10 million.\n\nIn 2005, following the global restructure, Warner Music Australia scored a major coup when it acquired the assets of the Australian Festival Mushroom Group. That company had originated as Festival Records in Sydney in the 1952, and after its acquisition by Rupert Murdoch in 1961, Festival became one of the leading Australian record companies, recording and/or releasing much of the most significant Australian pop and rock music of the era on its flagship Festival label or via its subsidiary imprints. Festival also signed valuable licensing and distribution deals with major local independent pop labels such as Spin (NSW) and Clarion (WA), and it subsequently took over many of these labels and acquired their masters, greatly increasing its holdings of key Australian pop/rock recordings.\n\nIn the 1970s Festival signed a distribution deal with the fledgling Melbourne label Mushroom Records, founded by Michael Gudinski. Mushroom scored a key breakthrough in 1974–75 with Melbourne band Skyhooks, whose debut album Living in the Seventies'' became the highest-selling Australian album ever issued up to that time. Mushroom enjoyed enormous success in Australia from the late 1970s on, and although Gudinski later moved the label's distribution to EMI for some years, the two companies were eventually merged—Festival acquired 49% of Mushroom in 1993 and bought the remainder when Gudinski sold his controlling share in 1998. Finally, in 2005, after multiple management reshuffles and a steady decline in revenue, News Ltd sold the group and its recording archive (said to contain over 20,000 master tapes) to Warner Music Australia for a reported AU$10 million.\n\nFollowing the divestiture, WMG licensed the Warner Bros. trademarks, although this license could have been revoked if WMG came under control of a major motion picture studio.\n\nAfter five years of dormancy, Elektra was revived as an active imprint in June 2009, although some artists who had been signed to prior to the label' shelving in 2004 (including Tracy Chapman) had continued to have their recordings issued as Elektra releases. In mid-2018, Elektra was detached from the Atlantic Records umbrella and reorganized into Elektra Music Group, once again operating as an independently managed frontline label of Warner Music.\n\nIn 2013, WMG acquired Parlophone Records from EMI as part of its sale to Universal Music Group. Most Parlophone artists (excluding Coldplay and Tinie Tempah, who were placed under Atlantic) were placed under Warner Bros. Records for US distribution.\nDan McCarroll was named president. He held the position until July 2017.\n\nIn October 2017, Aaron Bay-Schuck and Tom Corson were named co-chairmen of Warner Bros. Records, with Bay-Schuck serving as CEO and Corson COO. Corson joined the company in January 2018; Bay-Schuck began in the fall of that year. The Warner Bros. headquarters moved from Burbank to downtown Los Angeles in March 2019.\n\n2019–present: Warner Records\nOn May 28, 2019, the label announced that it had changed its name to Warner Records, and unveiled a new logo—replacing the Warner Bros. shield with a wordmark and black circle (both partially cut off at the bottom). WMG explained that the new logo was meant to resemble the Earth, a record, and the Sun, and had \"artful simplicity and impactful typography that are ideally suited to the digital world\". The change was necessitated by the upcoming expiration of WMG's license to the Warner Bros. trademarks; after the sale of Warner Music Group in 2004 by Time Warner (now WarnerMedia since 2018), the company had been granted a 15-year license to use the Warner Bros. name and shield logo. The new logo received mixed reviews, with marketing critics and former WMG employees lamenting the replacement of the historic Warner Bros. emblem (used by the label for 61 years) with a comparatively simplistic mark.\n\nAffiliated labels\n\nCurrent\n A&E Records (formerly Mushroom Records UK) (2003–present)\n Helium 3 (2006–present)\n Beluga Heights (2008–present)\n Curb Records (1974-1982, 2000–present)\n Word Records (2002–present)\n Facultad de Némea (2017–present)\n Festival Mushroom Records (2005–present)\n Hotwire Unlimited (2010–present)\n Machine Shop Recordings (2001–present)\n Loveway Records (2009–present)\n Mind of a Genius (2016–present)\n Arkade Records (2016–present)\n Nonesuch Records (2004–present)\n OVO Sound (2012–present)\n Parlophone (2014–present)\n Reprise Records (1963–present)\n REMember Music (2014–present)\n Sire Records (1978–1995, 2003–present)\n Artery Recordings (2017–present)\n The Benton Music Records (2018–present)\n Clover Music (2018–present)\n Masked Records (2018–present)\n\nFormer\n 1017 Brick Squad Records\n 143 Records\n 4AD Records (1992–1998) (US only)\n Action Theory Records\n American Recordings (1988–1997 [US], 2005–2007 [worldwide])\n Autumn Records (1963–1965)\n Bearsville Records (1970–1984)\n BME Recordings\n Blacksmith Records (2005–2008)\n Brute/Beaute Records (2004–2007)\n Capricorn Records (1972–1977), (1990–1995)\n Chrysalis Records (1972–1976) (US only)\n Cold Chillin' Records (1987–1994)\n Dark Horse Records (1976–1992)\n Doghouse Records\n ECM Records (?–1984)\n Extasy International Records (2000–2004)\n Full Moon Records (1974–1992)\n F-111 Records (1995–2001)\n Geffen Records (1980–1990)\n Giant Records and its subsidiaries the Medicine Label (1993–1995), Paladin, Revolution (1990–2001; catalog is owned by Warner Records today)\n Ice Age Entertainment\n Island Records (1977–1982, except for Steve Winwood releases until 1987)\n Jet Life Recordings\n Kwanza Records (1973–1974)\n Loma Records (1964–1968 and one boutique release in 2003)\n London Records (2000–2017; small part of catalog was secured by WMG after sold to Because Music, including New Order)\n Luaka Bop Records (1988–2000)\n Malpaso Records (1995–2000)\n Maverick Records (1992–2008; dormant)\n Maybach Music Group (2011–2012)\n Metal Blade Records (1988–1993)\n Music for Little People (1990–1995)\n Opal Records (1987–1993)\n Paisley Park Records (1985–1994)\n Perezcious Music\n Playmaker Music\n Premeditated Records (middle 1990s)\n Public Broadcasting Service\n Qwest Records (1980–2000)\n Raybaw Records (2005–2008)\n RuffNation Records\n Slash Records (1982–1998; 2003–present)\n Teleprompt Records\n Tommy Boy Records (1985–2002; rights to pre-2002 catalog transferred to Atlantic Records and reacquired by a \"new\" Tommy Boy (Tommy Boy Entertainment) in 2017, being distributed by ADA subsidiary of WMG. The label reacquired its pre-2002 catalog in 2017)\n Valiant Records (1960–1966)\n Warner Alliance (1986–1998)\n Warner Western (198?–200?)\n Funk Volume (2015–2016)\n\nArtists\n\nSee also\n List of record labels\n List of Warner Records artists\n Reprise Records\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n \n The Warner Bros. Records Story from BSN Pubs. – includes links to comprehensive Warner Bros. album discographies, 1958–1983\n \n Discography of Loma Records\n\n \nAmerican record labels\nWarner Music labels\nAmerican country music record labels\nHeavy metal record labels\nHip hop record labels\nPop record labels\nRock record labels\nSoundtrack record labels\nEntertainment companies based in California\nCompanies based in Burbank, California\nRecord labels established in 1958\nEntertainment companies established in 1958\n1958 establishments in California\nFormer WarnerMedia subsidiaries\nIFPI members\nLabels distributed by Warner Music Group"
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"The Flaming Lips are an American psychedelic rock band formed in 1983 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The band currently consists of Wayne Coyne (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Steven Drozd (guitars, keyboards, bass, vocals), Derek Brown (keyboards, guitars, percussion), Matt Duckworth Kirksey (drums, percussion, keyboards) and Nicholas Ley (percussion, drums). The group recorded several albums and EPs on an indie label, Restless, in the 1980s and early 1990s.",
"The group recorded several albums and EPs on an indie label, Restless, in the 1980s and early 1990s. After signing to Warner Brothers, they released their first record with Warner, Hit to Death in the Future Head (1992). They later released The Soft Bulletin (1999), which was NME magazine's Album of the Year, and then Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (2002). In February 2007, they were nominated for a BRIT Award for \"Best International Act\".",
"In February 2007, they were nominated for a BRIT Award for \"Best International Act\". The group has won three Grammy Awards, including two for Best Rock Instrumental Performance. They were placed on Q magazines list of the \"50 Bands to See Before You Die\" in 2002. History Early history and releases (1983–1990) The Flaming Lips formed in Oklahoma City in 1983 with Wayne Coyne on guitar, his brother Mark singing lead vocals, Michael Ivins on bass and Dave Kotska on drums.",
"History Early history and releases (1983–1990) The Flaming Lips formed in Oklahoma City in 1983 with Wayne Coyne on guitar, his brother Mark singing lead vocals, Michael Ivins on bass and Dave Kotska on drums. The band debuted at Oklahoma City's Blue Note Lounge. After they hired Dave Kotska as the drummer, Richard English joined the band in 1984. That same year they recorded The Flaming Lips EP, their only release with Mark singing lead vocals. There are several theories as to how the band chose their name.",
"There are several theories as to how the band chose their name. One possibility is that it was inspired by the 1953 feature film Geraldine, in which comedian Stan Freberg sings several songs, including one named \"Flaming Lips\". Another possible source is from the 1964 film What a Way to Go! in which Shirley MacLaine's character stars in a film titled Flaming Lips.",
"in which Shirley MacLaine's character stars in a film titled Flaming Lips. However, according to an article in the September 16, 1993 issue of Rolling Stone, Mark and Wayne came up with the name as a reference to a rumor about a classmate who contracted genital herpes after receiving cunnilingus from a partner with active cold sores. Wayne elaborated:When Mark and I were in, I think it was Junior Year in High School, there was a rumor about this girl who got herpes from this guy at a party.",
"Wayne elaborated:When Mark and I were in, I think it was Junior Year in High School, there was a rumor about this girl who got herpes from this guy at a party. He went down on her with a cold sore. I don't think we knew the girl, and I'm not sure if she even existed, you know how kids just spread bullshit.",
"I don't think we knew the girl, and I'm not sure if she even existed, you know how kids just spread bullshit. But when we were thinking of band names one night over a pack of Schlitz and some left-handed cigarettes and remembered how we joked that they both had \"Flaming Lips\" and it just stuck.After his brother's departure, Wayne assumed the vocal duties and the band released their first full-length album, Hear It Is, on Pink Dust Records (the psychedelic-rock imprint of Enigma Records) in 1986.",
"But when we were thinking of band names one night over a pack of Schlitz and some left-handed cigarettes and remembered how we joked that they both had \"Flaming Lips\" and it just stuck.After his brother's departure, Wayne assumed the vocal duties and the band released their first full-length album, Hear It Is, on Pink Dust Records (the psychedelic-rock imprint of Enigma Records) in 1986. This line-up recorded two more albums: 1987's Oh My Gawd!!!",
"This line-up recorded two more albums: 1987's Oh My Gawd!!! and 1989's Telepathic Surgery, the latter originally planned to be a 30-minute sound collage. Drummer Nathan Roberts replaced English and guitarist Jonathan Donahue (also a member of the alternative rock band Mercury Rev) joined in 1989. In a Priest Driven Ambulance, their first album with producer Dave Fridmann, was recorded at the State University of New York in Fredonia for $5 an hour on a $10,000 budget.",
"In a Priest Driven Ambulance, their first album with producer Dave Fridmann, was recorded at the State University of New York in Fredonia for $5 an hour on a $10,000 budget. The album was host to a marked expansion in the band's sound and their previous experiments in tape loops and effects were given a more prominent role.",
"The album was host to a marked expansion in the band's sound and their previous experiments in tape loops and effects were given a more prominent role. During this period, Coyne made his transition to a higher, more strained vocal style akin to Neil Young, which he first used on Telepathic Surgery's \"Chrome Plated Suicide\" and has employed ever since.",
"During this period, Coyne made his transition to a higher, more strained vocal style akin to Neil Young, which he first used on Telepathic Surgery's \"Chrome Plated Suicide\" and has employed ever since. In 1990, the band caught the attention of Warner Bros. Records and was signed promptly after a label representative witnessed a show at which the band almost burned down the venue (American Legion Hall in Norman, Oklahoma) with the use of pyrotechnics.",
"In 1990, the band caught the attention of Warner Bros. Records and was signed promptly after a label representative witnessed a show at which the band almost burned down the venue (American Legion Hall in Norman, Oklahoma) with the use of pyrotechnics. Signed to Warner Bros. (Hit to Death in the Future Head to Clouds Taste Metallic) (1991–1996) In 1991, the band started recording their major label debut Hit to Death in the Future Head.",
"Signed to Warner Bros. (Hit to Death in the Future Head to Clouds Taste Metallic) (1991–1996) In 1991, the band started recording their major label debut Hit to Death in the Future Head. The album's release was halted for nearly a year because of the use of a sample from Michael Kamen's score for the film Brazil in the track \"You Have to Be Joking (Autopsy of the Devil's Brain)\", which required a lengthy clearance process.",
"The album's release was halted for nearly a year because of the use of a sample from Michael Kamen's score for the film Brazil in the track \"You Have to Be Joking (Autopsy of the Devil's Brain)\", which required a lengthy clearance process. After the recording of this album, Donahue left the band to concentrate on Mercury Rev, and Roberts left the band as well, citing creative differences. They were replaced by Ronald Jones and Steven Drozd, respectively.",
"They were replaced by Ronald Jones and Steven Drozd, respectively. In 1993, they released Transmissions from the Satellite Heart. This was the only studio album since In a Priest Driven Ambulance, to date, in which Dave Fridmann has not been involved. Because of the success of the album and the single \"She Don't Use Jelly\", the band was featured on four popular television series: Beverly Hills, 90210, Late Show with David Letterman, Charmed and Beavis and Butt-head.",
"Because of the success of the album and the single \"She Don't Use Jelly\", the band was featured on four popular television series: Beverly Hills, 90210, Late Show with David Letterman, Charmed and Beavis and Butt-head. The success of this record led to long stints of touring, opening for bands including Red Hot Chili Peppers and Candlebox. Clouds Taste Metallic was released to much critical fanfare in late 1995, though it did not achieve the commercial success of its predecessor.",
"Clouds Taste Metallic was released to much critical fanfare in late 1995, though it did not achieve the commercial success of its predecessor. The strain of the year-long Clouds tour, added to the stress from the three years touring in support of Transmissions, was a major factor in the departure of Jones in late 1996. He was said to be suffering from a severe case of agoraphobia, although the documentary Fearless Freaks states that he left because of his growing concerns over Drozd's drug use.",
"He was said to be suffering from a severe case of agoraphobia, although the documentary Fearless Freaks states that he left because of his growing concerns over Drozd's drug use. In September 2014, the band paid tribute to Jones and the impact his music had on their developing sound by performing Transmissions from the Satellite Heart live at First Avenue. In February 2015, they performed Clouds Taste Metallic at the same venue.",
"In February 2015, they performed Clouds Taste Metallic at the same venue. Later, in December, a 20th anniversary box set called Heady Nuggs: 20 Years After Clouds Taste Metallic 1994–1997, was released.",
"Later, in December, a 20th anniversary box set called Heady Nuggs: 20 Years After Clouds Taste Metallic 1994–1997, was released. Zaireeka (1997–1998) The departure of Jones and a general dissatisfaction with standard \"rock\" music led to the three remaining members of the group redefining the direction of the band with the experimental Zaireeka (1997), a four-CD album which is intended to be heard by playing all four CDs in four separate CD players simultaneously.",
"Zaireeka (1997–1998) The departure of Jones and a general dissatisfaction with standard \"rock\" music led to the three remaining members of the group redefining the direction of the band with the experimental Zaireeka (1997), a four-CD album which is intended to be heard by playing all four CDs in four separate CD players simultaneously. The music incorporated both traditional musical elements and \"found\" sounds (as in musique concrète), often heavily manipulated with recording studio electronics.",
"The music incorporated both traditional musical elements and \"found\" sounds (as in musique concrète), often heavily manipulated with recording studio electronics. As part of the development of this project, the band conducted a series of \"parking lot experiments\" and then later, \"boombox experiments\". In the parking lot experiments up to 40 volunteers were given cassettes created by the band to be played at a parking lot in their cars' stereo systems simultaneously.",
"In the parking lot experiments up to 40 volunteers were given cassettes created by the band to be played at a parking lot in their cars' stereo systems simultaneously. In the \"boom box experiments\" an orchestra composed of up to 40 volunteers with modified \"boombox\"-type tape players was \"conducted\" – directed to vary the volume, speed or tone of the tape they were playing (again composed by the band) – by Wayne Coyne.",
"In the \"boom box experiments\" an orchestra composed of up to 40 volunteers with modified \"boombox\"-type tape players was \"conducted\" – directed to vary the volume, speed or tone of the tape they were playing (again composed by the band) – by Wayne Coyne. Meanwhile, a series of unfortunate events (recounted in the 1999 song \"The Spiderbite Song\") beset the band.",
"Meanwhile, a series of unfortunate events (recounted in the 1999 song \"The Spiderbite Song\") beset the band. Drozd's arm was almost amputated needlessly because of what he claimed was a spider bite (it turned out to be abscessed as a result of Drozd's heroin use), Ivins was trapped in his car for several hours after a wheel spun off of another vehicle into his windshield, and Coyne's father died after a long battle with cancer.",
"Drozd's arm was almost amputated needlessly because of what he claimed was a spider bite (it turned out to be abscessed as a result of Drozd's heroin use), Ivins was trapped in his car for several hours after a wheel spun off of another vehicle into his windshield, and Coyne's father died after a long battle with cancer. Mainstream breakthrough (The Soft Bulletin and Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots) (1999–2002) Though their experimental endeavors received some press coverage, their real breakthrough came with the 1999 release, The Soft Bulletin.",
"Mainstream breakthrough (The Soft Bulletin and Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots) (1999–2002) Though their experimental endeavors received some press coverage, their real breakthrough came with the 1999 release, The Soft Bulletin. Marrying more traditional catchy melodies with synthetic strings, hypnotic, carefully manipulated beats, booming cymbals and oddball but philosophical lyrics (sung much more strongly than on earlier releases), the album quickly became one of the underground hits of the year, even widely considered to be one of the best albums of the entire decade.",
"Marrying more traditional catchy melodies with synthetic strings, hypnotic, carefully manipulated beats, booming cymbals and oddball but philosophical lyrics (sung much more strongly than on earlier releases), the album quickly became one of the underground hits of the year, even widely considered to be one of the best albums of the entire decade. Compared by many music critics to the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds because of its inclusion of harmonies and orchestrated sounds, The Soft Bulletin also featured greater use of synthesizers, drum machines, sound effects and more studio manipulation.",
"Compared by many music critics to the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds because of its inclusion of harmonies and orchestrated sounds, The Soft Bulletin also featured greater use of synthesizers, drum machines, sound effects and more studio manipulation. After this album was released, Coyne stated that, \"if someone was to ask me what instrument do I play, I would say the recording studio.\"",
"After this album was released, Coyne stated that, \"if someone was to ask me what instrument do I play, I would say the recording studio.\" As the band considered an attempt to recreate this complex album live solely with additional musicians to be complex and expensive, they decided to tour as a three-piece and make extensive use of pre-recorded music to fill out those parts that were not performed live by the members of the band.",
"As the band considered an attempt to recreate this complex album live solely with additional musicians to be complex and expensive, they decided to tour as a three-piece and make extensive use of pre-recorded music to fill out those parts that were not performed live by the members of the band. This led to the decision to have the drummer Drozd play primarily keyboards and guitar live instead of the drums.",
"This led to the decision to have the drummer Drozd play primarily keyboards and guitar live instead of the drums. This, in turn, led to a decision to utilize video recordings and projections of Steven playing the drums for some of the band's older songs, so the band added Kliph Scurlock on drums and percussion, Drozd focused on guitars, keyboards, bass (when he plays bass, Ivins plays keyboards), drums and occasional vocals, when he sings, Coyne plays guitars, keyboards and theremin.",
"This, in turn, led to a decision to utilize video recordings and projections of Steven playing the drums for some of the band's older songs, so the band added Kliph Scurlock on drums and percussion, Drozd focused on guitars, keyboards, bass (when he plays bass, Ivins plays keyboards), drums and occasional vocals, when he sings, Coyne plays guitars, keyboards and theremin. To enhance the live experience for their audience and to accurately reproduce the sound of The Soft Bulletin live, the Lips devised the concept of the \"Headphone Concert\".",
"To enhance the live experience for their audience and to accurately reproduce the sound of The Soft Bulletin live, the Lips devised the concept of the \"Headphone Concert\". A low-powered FM transmitter was set up at shows, and the concert was simultaneously broadcast to small Walkman-style receivers and headphones made available for free to audience members. This would, in theory, allow the audiences greater sonic clarity while still feeling the power of a full live P.A.",
"This would, in theory, allow the audiences greater sonic clarity while still feeling the power of a full live P.A. This concept was debuted in Dallas, Texas, and at the South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas, in March 1999, and was subsequently used on the International Music Against Brain Degeneration Revue tour. This tour featured Japanese band Cornelius, Sebadoh, Robyn Hitchcock, Sonic Boom's E.A.R. and IQU.",
"and IQU. and IQU. Three years later, in the summer of 2002, the Flaming Lips joined bands Cake and Modest Mouse on the Unlimited Sunshine Tour. They also released the full-length Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots to much critical acclaim. Featuring guest musician Yoshimi P-We (who inspired the album's title track) and demonstrating more use of electronic instruments and computer manipulation than The Soft Bulletin, Yoshimi is widely considered to be the Flaming Lips' first critical and commercial success after nearly twenty years as a band.",
"Featuring guest musician Yoshimi P-We (who inspired the album's title track) and demonstrating more use of electronic instruments and computer manipulation than The Soft Bulletin, Yoshimi is widely considered to be the Flaming Lips' first critical and commercial success after nearly twenty years as a band. The final track on the album, \"Approaching Pavonis Mons by Balloon (Utopia Planitia)\" earned a 2003 Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance, and the album was certified gold on April 10, 2006.",
"The final track on the album, \"Approaching Pavonis Mons by Balloon (Utopia Planitia)\" earned a 2003 Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance, and the album was certified gold on April 10, 2006. In March 2007, the band revealed that they had recently teamed up with screenwriter Aaron Sorkin to produce a Broadway musical based on the album. In January 2012, Pitchfork TV released a forty-five-minute documentary on The Soft Bulletin.",
"In January 2012, Pitchfork TV released a forty-five-minute documentary on The Soft Bulletin. The documentary featured several rare archival photos and videos along with interviews from the members, producer Dave Fridmann, and manager Scott Booker. The same year, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots was adapted into a musical after being in development for years after the album's release. Both The Soft Bulletin and Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots have been released on DVD-Audio. Following the success of \"Yoshimi\", Steven Drozd completed rehab for heroin addiction.",
"Following the success of \"Yoshimi\", Steven Drozd completed rehab for heroin addiction. This decision was spurred by a physical altercation between Drozd and Wayne Coyne. Continued success (At War with the Mystics) (2002–2006) Shortly after Yoshimi and The Soft Bulletin, the Flaming Lips released two EPs in the same vein of their previous album's robotic theme which contain remixed songs from Yoshimi, Fight Test and Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell.",
"Continued success (At War with the Mystics) (2002–2006) Shortly after Yoshimi and The Soft Bulletin, the Flaming Lips released two EPs in the same vein of their previous album's robotic theme which contain remixed songs from Yoshimi, Fight Test and Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell. They also appeared on the track \"Marching the Hate Machines (Into the Sun)\" on the Thievery Corporation album The Cosmic Game. In 2002 they were invited to work with The Chemical Brothers.",
"In 2002 they were invited to work with The Chemical Brothers. Steven Drozd performed lead vocals, while Wayne Coyne performed harmony vocals, on the single \"The Golden Path\", which was included on The Chemical Brothers compilation album, Singles 93-03. In 2002, they performed as the opening act, as well as the backup band, for singer Beck on his Sea Change tour.",
"In 2002, they performed as the opening act, as well as the backup band, for singer Beck on his Sea Change tour. In the summer of 2004, it was announced that the Flaming Lips would appear among the headliners on the 2004 Lollapalooza tour, alongside such artists as Sonic Youth and Morrissey; however, the tour was canceled because of lack of revenue. Also in 2004, the band recorded the song \"SpongeBob and Patrick Confront the Psychic Wall of Energy\" for the soundtrack of The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie.",
"Also in 2004, the band recorded the song \"SpongeBob and Patrick Confront the Psychic Wall of Energy\" for the soundtrack of The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. Following the concerts' cancellation, the band entered Tarbox Road Studio with producer Dave Fridmann and began work on their eleventh album, the more organic-sounding At War with the Mystics.",
"Following the concerts' cancellation, the band entered Tarbox Road Studio with producer Dave Fridmann and began work on their eleventh album, the more organic-sounding At War with the Mystics. The record, aimed to be a more guitar-based and heavier effort than recent albums, featured more politically conscious lyrics than any of their previous releases, and was released in April 2006 to a mixed yet mostly positive reception.",
"The record, aimed to be a more guitar-based and heavier effort than recent albums, featured more politically conscious lyrics than any of their previous releases, and was released in April 2006 to a mixed yet mostly positive reception. In 2005 the band was the subject of a documentary called Fearless Freaks, featuring appearances by other artists and celebrities such as Gibby Haynes, The White Stripes, Beck, Christina Ricci, Liz Phair, Juliette Lewis, Steve Burns, Starlight Mints, and Adam Goldberg.",
"In 2005 the band was the subject of a documentary called Fearless Freaks, featuring appearances by other artists and celebrities such as Gibby Haynes, The White Stripes, Beck, Christina Ricci, Liz Phair, Juliette Lewis, Steve Burns, Starlight Mints, and Adam Goldberg. In that same year, the Flaming Lips contributed a version of \"Bohemian Rhapsody\" to the album Killer Queen: A Tribute to Queen.",
"In that same year, the Flaming Lips contributed a version of \"Bohemian Rhapsody\" to the album Killer Queen: A Tribute to Queen. Also in this year, the Flaming Lips released the DVD VOID (Video Overview in Deceleration), which chronicles all of their ventures into music video that have been produced since they signed with Warner Bros in 1991.",
"Also in this year, the Flaming Lips released the DVD VOID (Video Overview in Deceleration), which chronicles all of their ventures into music video that have been produced since they signed with Warner Bros in 1991. In October 2005, the Flaming Lips recorded a cover of \"If I Only Had a Brain\" for the soundtrack of the video game Stubbs the Zombie, which features modern rock bands covering songs from the 1950s and 1960s.",
"In October 2005, the Flaming Lips recorded a cover of \"If I Only Had a Brain\" for the soundtrack of the video game Stubbs the Zombie, which features modern rock bands covering songs from the 1950s and 1960s. Additionally, the band released one new song, \"Mr. Ambulance Driver\", for the soundtrack of the 2005 film Wedding Crashers (a slightly edited version of the song found its way onto the new record). The band released two singles from At War With the Mystics: \"The W.A.N.D.",
"The band released two singles from At War With the Mystics: \"The W.A.N.D. \", which was featured in a Dell commercial and which was originally put out as a download-only single in early 2006, and \"The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song\", which became their highest-charting single on the UK Singles Chart, peaking at No. 16. A 4-track EP, entitled It Overtakes Me, was released later in the UK that year. The only instrumental on the album, \"The Wizard Turns On...",
"The only instrumental on the album, \"The Wizard Turns On... The Giant Silver Flashlight and Puts on His Werewolf Moccasins\", earned a 2006 Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance, making it twice in a row the Lips have been nominated in that category and won. Following the April 4, 2006 release of At War with the Mystics, the band began a tour to support the album in the United Kingdom, including a finale at the Royal Albert Hall and performances at the O2 Wireless Festival.",
"Following the April 4, 2006 release of At War with the Mystics, the band began a tour to support the album in the United Kingdom, including a finale at the Royal Albert Hall and performances at the O2 Wireless Festival. At the Leeds England date of the festival, the band opened for The Who, of whom they are long standing fans.",
"At the Leeds England date of the festival, the band opened for The Who, of whom they are long standing fans. The band continued to tour throughout the fall of 2006 stopping in Montreal, the Virgin Festival on the Toronto Islands, Atlantic City's House of Blues, The University of Vermont in Burlington, their hometown Oklahoma City, the Austin City Limits Music Festival in Austin, Texas, and New York City, NY as well as several other cities.",
"The band continued to tour throughout the fall of 2006 stopping in Montreal, the Virgin Festival on the Toronto Islands, Atlantic City's House of Blues, The University of Vermont in Burlington, their hometown Oklahoma City, the Austin City Limits Music Festival in Austin, Texas, and New York City, NY as well as several other cities. The homecoming show in Oklahoma City was performed at the Zoo Amphitheater and included the unveiling of a new UFO stage prop, and would provide footage for the U.F.O.s at the Zoo concert DVD.",
"The homecoming show in Oklahoma City was performed at the Zoo Amphitheater and included the unveiling of a new UFO stage prop, and would provide footage for the U.F.O.s at the Zoo concert DVD. On December 5, 2006, Oklahoma City honored the band with a downtown alley named after the band. Vince Gill and Charlie Christian were also given street names by the city. Flaming Lips Alley is at the center of Oklahoma City's entertainment district, Bricktown.",
"Flaming Lips Alley is at the center of Oklahoma City's entertainment district, Bricktown. At the official dedication in 2007, Coyne said of Oklahoma City, \"...We're on the way to becoming, I think, the fucking coolest city in America.\" Christmas on Mars (2008) In 2001, the Flaming Lips began filming a low-budget indie film entitled Christmas on Mars. Filming for the movie ended in late September 2005 and premiered on May 25, 2008 at the Sasquatch! Music Festival.",
"Music Festival. Music Festival. The film tells the story of the first Christmas of a colony set-up on the surface of Mars and was written by Wayne Coyne, and co-directed by Wayne Coyne, Bradley Beesley and George Salisbury, with the band and their friends acting in the movie. The band brought the film to rock festivals across America during the summer of 2008 and screened it in a large circus tent they had bought for that purpose.",
"The band brought the film to rock festivals across America during the summer of 2008 and screened it in a large circus tent they had bought for that purpose. The film was released on DVD on November 11, 2008, along with a soundtrack written and performed by the Flaming Lips. The band released their first live concert DVD, UFO's at the Zoo: The Legendary Concert in Oklahoma City, on August 7, 2007.",
"The band released their first live concert DVD, UFO's at the Zoo: The Legendary Concert in Oklahoma City, on August 7, 2007. The band also contributed original songs to the soundtracks of several 2007 films, including \"The Supreme Being Teaches Spider-Man How to be in Love\" for Spider-Man 3, \"I Was Zapped by the Super Lucky Rainbow\" for Good Luck Chuck, \"Love the World You Find\" for Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, and \"Maybe I'm Not the One\" and \"Tale of the Horny Frog\" for The Heartbreak Kid.",
"The band also contributed original songs to the soundtracks of several 2007 films, including \"The Supreme Being Teaches Spider-Man How to be in Love\" for Spider-Man 3, \"I Was Zapped by the Super Lucky Rainbow\" for Good Luck Chuck, \"Love the World You Find\" for Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, and \"Maybe I'm Not the One\" and \"Tale of the Horny Frog\" for The Heartbreak Kid. Official rock song of Oklahoma (2009) In March 2009 \"Do You Realize??\"",
"Official rock song of Oklahoma (2009) In March 2009 \"Do You Realize??\" was announced as the official rock song of Oklahoma. Ten choices were put to a public vote, and out of 21,000 votes cast nearly 51% were for \"Do You Realize??\" The Oklahoma Senate approved this choice unanimously.",
"The Oklahoma Senate approved this choice unanimously. The Oklahoma Senate approved this choice unanimously. The Oklahoma House of Representatives failed to confirm the choice after Rep. Mike Reynolds, R-Oklahoma City attacked the band for its use of offensive language, and Rep. Corey Holland, R-Marlow said he had been \"really offended\" when Michael Ivins came to the announcement ceremony in March wearing a red T-shirt with a yellow hammer and sickle.",
"The Oklahoma House of Representatives failed to confirm the choice after Rep. Mike Reynolds, R-Oklahoma City attacked the band for its use of offensive language, and Rep. Corey Holland, R-Marlow said he had been \"really offended\" when Michael Ivins came to the announcement ceremony in March wearing a red T-shirt with a yellow hammer and sickle. However, that evening, Oklahoma governor Brad Henry announced he would sign an executive order naming the song the official rock song.",
"However, that evening, Oklahoma governor Brad Henry announced he would sign an executive order naming the song the official rock song. Henry said that for more than 20 years the Flaming Lips have produced \"creative, fun and provocative rock music.\" \"The music of the Flaming Lips has earned Grammys, glowing critical acclaim and fans all over the world\", the governor said. \"A truly iconic rock n' roll band, they are proud ambassadors of their home state...",
"\"A truly iconic rock n' roll band, they are proud ambassadors of their home state... They were clearly the people's choice, and I intend to honor that vote.\" However, it was revealed in 2013 that Republican Governor Mary Fallin removed this designation by not renewing Brad Henry's executive order upon taking office in 2011. An alley in Oklahoma City had been named for the band in 2006.",
"An alley in Oklahoma City had been named for the band in 2006. Embryonic and Dark Side of the Moon (2009) In 2009, the band released their twelfth studio album and first double album, Embryonic. The album, which was the band's first to open in the Billboard top 10, was widely critically acclaimed for its new direction; late in the recording the band added Derek Brown on keyboards, percussion and guitar.",
"The album, which was the band's first to open in the Billboard top 10, was widely critically acclaimed for its new direction; late in the recording the band added Derek Brown on keyboards, percussion and guitar. In December of the same year, the band released their second album of the year and thirteenth overall, The Flaming Lips and Stardeath and White Dwarfs with Henry Rollins and Peaches Doing The Dark Side of the Moon, a track-for-track cover of Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon, which was recorded with Stardeath and White Dwarfs and features guest appearances from Henry Rollins and Peaches.",
"In December of the same year, the band released their second album of the year and thirteenth overall, The Flaming Lips and Stardeath and White Dwarfs with Henry Rollins and Peaches Doing The Dark Side of the Moon, a track-for-track cover of Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon, which was recorded with Stardeath and White Dwarfs and features guest appearances from Henry Rollins and Peaches. The album was released physically on vinyl and CD in 2010.",
"The album was released physically on vinyl and CD in 2010. In 2010, the band performed \"I Can Be a Frog\" on the Nick Jr. television series Yo Gabba Gabba. 2011 releases In January 2011, the Lips announced their intention of releasing a new song every month of the year. In February, they released the first track titled \"Two Blobs Fucking\". The song exists as 12 separate pieces on YouTube and must be played simultaneously to be heard as intended.",
"The song exists as 12 separate pieces on YouTube and must be played simultaneously to be heard as intended. In March 2011, the Lips released the EP The Flaming Lips with Neon Indian. In April, the band released the Gummy Song Skull EP, a seven-pound skull made of gummy bear material with a gummy brain, which contained a flashdrive with 4 songs on them. This release was extremely limited, but was soon leaked on the internet shortly after its release.",
"This release was extremely limited, but was soon leaked on the internet shortly after its release. In May, the band released its second collaboration EP titled The Flaming Lips with Prefuse 73. It contains four songs and was released in a similar way to the earlier Neon Indian EP, in that the run was extremely limited and consisted of randomly colored, one of a kind discs. This EP was briefly available on the band's official website but sold out shortly after it was put up for sale.",
"This EP was briefly available on the band's official website but sold out shortly after it was put up for sale. June saw several releases by the band, the first being The Soft Bulletin: Live la Fantastique de Institution 2011, a live-in-studio recording of the band's 1999 album The Soft Bulletin which was on a flash drive embedded in a marijuana-flavored brain inside a strawberry flavored gummy skull. This was only released at the band's two night show at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery on June 14 and 15.",
"This was only released at the band's two night show at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery on June 14 and 15. This show was a special two-night, one morning event in which they played the entirety of The Soft Bulletin one night and a new revamped version of The Dark Side of the Moon and collaborated with Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros for a performance of \"Do You Realize??\" at dawn of the second day.",
"at dawn of the second day. at dawn of the second day. Also included on this flash drive was a best-of compilation titled Everyone You Know Someday Will Die. It included songs from every portion of the band's career as well as a newly recorded intro. The final June release was the Gummy Song Fetus EP which consisted of three songs on a flash drive embedded in a bubblegum-flavored fetus made of gummy bear material.",
"The final June release was the Gummy Song Fetus EP which consisted of three songs on a flash drive embedded in a bubblegum-flavored fetus made of gummy bear material. In July, the band released The Flaming Lips with Lightning Bolt, a collaborative EP with experimental rock group Lightning Bolt, featuring the songs \"I Wanna Get High But I Don't Want Brain Damage\" and \"Working at NASA on Acid\". This EP was released on randomly colored vinyl as with the previous two collaborative EPs.",
"This EP was released on randomly colored vinyl as with the previous two collaborative EPs. In late August, the band announced that it would be recording a six-hour-long song titled \"I Found a Star on the Ground\". This, along with two other songs, was released in September packaged with a set of spinning discs with animations on them. This release is officially called Strobo Trip.",
"This release is officially called Strobo Trip. This release is officially called Strobo Trip. Featured in \"I Found a Star on the Ground\" is Sean Lennon who, with his band, opened for the Lips in early 2011. In the song Lennon reads off several lists of names of people who donated $100 to the Oklahoma City SPCA and Academy of Contemporary Music at University of Central Oklahoma. 212 names are featured in the song.",
"212 names are featured in the song. 212 names are featured in the song. At midnight October 31, 2011, a 24-hour song was released titled \"7 Skies H3\". The song played live on a never-ending audio stream on a special website set up by the band and was made available for purchase as a hard drive encased in an actual human skull, limited to 13 copies.",
"The song played live on a never-ending audio stream on a special website set up by the band and was made available for purchase as a hard drive encased in an actual human skull, limited to 13 copies. The band's last release of 2011 was a 12\" EP collaboration, The Flaming Lips with Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band, sold only at the band's annual New Years shows in Oklahoma City.",
"The band's last release of 2011 was a 12\" EP collaboration, The Flaming Lips with Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band, sold only at the band's annual New Years shows in Oklahoma City. Heady Fwends, Guinness World Record and other collaborations (2012) With their previous contract with Warner Bros. Records having expired in 2011, the band re-signed to Warner Bros. for the United States and to Bella Union in Europe in early 2012.",
"Heady Fwends, Guinness World Record and other collaborations (2012) With their previous contract with Warner Bros. Records having expired in 2011, the band re-signed to Warner Bros. for the United States and to Bella Union in Europe in early 2012. The first release under these new deals was The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends, initially released as a limited edition vinyl-only package for Record Store Day on April 21. The album features collaborations with artists such as Kesha, Nick Cave, and Erykah Badu.",
"The album features collaborations with artists such as Kesha, Nick Cave, and Erykah Badu. In an interview with American Songwriter, Coyne stated that \"Since we were releasing music every month, we thought it would be a little bit boring for us each month to say 'Well here's four more Flaming Lips songs.' We just thought 'Well we'll get some of our friends, and we'll do collaborations and see what happens.'\"",
"We just thought 'Well we'll get some of our friends, and we'll do collaborations and see what happens.'\" The album later received a wider release on CD and digitally on June 26 in the US and July 30 in Europe. The Flaming Lips broke Jay-Z's Guinness World Record for the most live concerts (8) in 24 hours, on June 27 and 28, 2012. The attempt was part of the O Music Awards, and was Livestreamed online for the entire 24 hours.",
"The attempt was part of the O Music Awards, and was Livestreamed online for the entire 24 hours. The attempt started in Memphis on the afternoon of June 27 and ended in New Orleans on the afternoon of June 28, with 20 minutes to spare. The band played with guests including Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Neon Indian, Linear Downfall and Phantogram and HOTT MT, among others.",
"The band played with guests including Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Neon Indian, Linear Downfall and Phantogram and HOTT MT, among others. The concerts, which were required to be at least 15 minutes long, as per Guinness rules, featured a mix of special covers, songs rarely or never performed live by the band before, and new songs from Heady Fwends.",
"The concerts, which were required to be at least 15 minutes long, as per Guinness rules, featured a mix of special covers, songs rarely or never performed live by the band before, and new songs from Heady Fwends. In November 2012 the band's Lovely Sorts of Death Records released a collaborative track-by-track reinterpretation of King Crimson's In the Court of the Crimson King with Stardeath and White Dwarfs, Linear Downfall, New Fumes, and Space Face entitled Playing Hide and Seek with the Ghosts of Dawn on vinyl and on their own 'Satellite Heart Radio' website.",
"In November 2012 the band's Lovely Sorts of Death Records released a collaborative track-by-track reinterpretation of King Crimson's In the Court of the Crimson King with Stardeath and White Dwarfs, Linear Downfall, New Fumes, and Space Face entitled Playing Hide and Seek with the Ghosts of Dawn on vinyl and on their own 'Satellite Heart Radio' website. They also worked on Kesha's Warrior album (on \"Past Lives\") and Lipsha. She also featured on their collaborative albums.",
"She also featured on their collaborative albums. She also featured on their collaborative albums. The Terror (2013–2014) The band's next studio album, titled The Terror, was originally due for release on April 2, 2013 in the US and on April 1 in Europe, the tour began with a new member: keyboardist and guitarist Jake Ingalls, Derek Brown focused on percussion and additional guitars and keyboards.",
"The Terror (2013–2014) The band's next studio album, titled The Terror, was originally due for release on April 2, 2013 in the US and on April 1 in Europe, the tour began with a new member: keyboardist and guitarist Jake Ingalls, Derek Brown focused on percussion and additional guitars and keyboards. Because of a corruption while mastering the record on vinyl, the US release was delayed for two weeks, until April 16.",
"Because of a corruption while mastering the record on vinyl, the US release was delayed for two weeks, until April 16. In anticipation of the album's release, their song, \"Sun Blows Up Today\", was featured in a Hyundai Super Bowl XLVII commercial. The band also released a lyric video on for \"Sun Blows Up Today\" with animations created by long-time Lips collaborator George Salisbury. The band premiered the new album live at a free outdoor concert at SXSW on March 15, 2013.",
"The band premiered the new album live at a free outdoor concert at SXSW on March 15, 2013. Critical reception of the album has tended to focus on its thematic bleakness and the turgid noisiness of its instrumentation.",
"Critical reception of the album has tended to focus on its thematic bleakness and the turgid noisiness of its instrumentation. Like the three albums often referred to as \"a trilogy\" accounting for the majority of the band's mainstream production over the past 15 years (consisting of The Soft Bulletin, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, and At War With the Mystics), The Terror adheres to the love story/space opera narrative structure while taking a much darker approach.",
"Like the three albums often referred to as \"a trilogy\" accounting for the majority of the band's mainstream production over the past 15 years (consisting of The Soft Bulletin, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, and At War With the Mystics), The Terror adheres to the love story/space opera narrative structure while taking a much darker approach. As noted in a review by Pitchfork, \"The Terror deals in more personal turmoil– loneliness, depression, anxiety... Perhaps not coincidentally, the album was preceded by news of Coyne's separation from his partner of 25 years, Michelle, and of multi-instrumentalist Steven Drozd relapsing temporarily.\"",
"As noted in a review by Pitchfork, \"The Terror deals in more personal turmoil– loneliness, depression, anxiety... Perhaps not coincidentally, the album was preceded by news of Coyne's separation from his partner of 25 years, Michelle, and of multi-instrumentalist Steven Drozd relapsing temporarily.\" Jon Pareles of The New York Times summarized the thematic content of the album fairly succinctly when he wrote, \"The lyrics [of 'The Terror'] find cosmic repercussions in a lovers' breakup; loneliness turns to contemplation of grim human compulsions and the end of the universe.\"",
"Jon Pareles of The New York Times summarized the thematic content of the album fairly succinctly when he wrote, \"The lyrics [of 'The Terror'] find cosmic repercussions in a lovers' breakup; loneliness turns to contemplation of grim human compulsions and the end of the universe.\" Another critic goes so far as to say that the album underlines the Lacanian psychodynamics structurally inherent in the conventions of the space opera.",
"Another critic goes so far as to say that the album underlines the Lacanian psychodynamics structurally inherent in the conventions of the space opera. Wayne Coyne's own description of his process or the theme of the album jibes well with this critical diagnosis: \"We want, or wanted, to believe that without love we would disappear, that love, somehow, would save us that, yeah, if we have love, give love and know love, we are truly alive and if there is no love, there would be no life.",
"Wayne Coyne's own description of his process or the theme of the album jibes well with this critical diagnosis: \"We want, or wanted, to believe that without love we would disappear, that love, somehow, would save us that, yeah, if we have love, give love and know love, we are truly alive and if there is no love, there would be no life. The Terror is, we know now, that even without love, life goes on... we just go on... there is no mercy killing.\"",
"The Terror is, we know now, that even without love, life goes on... we just go on... there is no mercy killing.\" In November 2013 they produced and curated \"The Time Has Come To Shoot You Down…What A Sound,\" a reworking of the Stone Roses' debut album featuring New Fumes, Spaceface, Stardeath and White Dwarfs, Foxygen, Peaking Lights, Poliça and others.",
"In November 2013 they produced and curated \"The Time Has Come To Shoot You Down…What A Sound,\" a reworking of the Stone Roses' debut album featuring New Fumes, Spaceface, Stardeath and White Dwarfs, Foxygen, Peaking Lights, Poliça and others. In March 2014, longtime drummer and percussionist Kliph Scurlock left the band, and was replaced by drummer, percussionist and keyboardist Matt Duckworth Kirksey and percussionist and drummer Nicholas Ley. Derek Brown began focusing on guitars, and occasional keyboards and percussion.",
"Derek Brown began focusing on guitars, and occasional keyboards and percussion. In May, Scurlock claimed he had been fired for negative comments about Wayne Coyne's friend Christina Fallin, the daughter of Oklahoma's governor and leader of a band called Pink Pony. Fallin had recently been criticized for cultural appropriation after she wore a Native American headdress in a publicity photo. According to Scurlock, his criticism of Fallin's actions led to conflict with Coyne and his dismissal.",
"According to Scurlock, his criticism of Fallin's actions led to conflict with Coyne and his dismissal. In response, Drozd said, \"[t]his Lips/Kliph bullshit has gone too far. We parted ways because of the usual band musical differences. The rest has been blown way out.\"",
"The rest has been blown way out.\" The rest has been blown way out.\" Coyne went even further, calling Scurlock a \"pathological liar\" and stated that he never meant his defense of Fallin, which included posting a photo of his dog in a feathered headdress, to be offensive but that he was \"very sorry, to anybody that is following my Instagram or my Twitter, if I offended anybody of any religion, any race, any belief system.",
"Coyne went even further, calling Scurlock a \"pathological liar\" and stated that he never meant his defense of Fallin, which included posting a photo of his dog in a feathered headdress, to be offensive but that he was \"very sorry, to anybody that is following my Instagram or my Twitter, if I offended anybody of any religion, any race, any belief system. I would say you shouldn't follow my tweets; you shouldn't even probably want to be a Flaming Lips fan because we don't really have any agenda.\"",
"I would say you shouldn't follow my tweets; you shouldn't even probably want to be a Flaming Lips fan because we don't really have any agenda.\" Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz (2015) On August 30, 2015, after hosting the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards, Miley Cyrus announced that Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz, the free, 23-track experimental album that Cyrus and the Flaming Lips wrote and recorded together, was available via online streaming.",
"Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz (2015) On August 30, 2015, after hosting the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards, Miley Cyrus announced that Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz, the free, 23-track experimental album that Cyrus and the Flaming Lips wrote and recorded together, was available via online streaming. The album is described by Coyne as a combination of Pink Floyd and Portishead and \"a slightly wiser, sadder, more true version\" of Cyrus' pop music output.",
"The album is described by Coyne as a combination of Pink Floyd and Portishead and \"a slightly wiser, sadder, more true version\" of Cyrus' pop music output. Oczy Mlody, King's Mouth, and American Head (2016–present) According to the Tarbox Roads Studio's website, the Flaming Lips began recording a new album with Dave Fridmann on January 27, 2016.",
"Oczy Mlody, King's Mouth, and American Head (2016–present) According to the Tarbox Roads Studio's website, the Flaming Lips began recording a new album with Dave Fridmann on January 27, 2016. In a June interview with Danish music blog Regnsky, Wayne Coyne said that a new album would come out in January 2017, even though they had originally planned for it to be released in October 2016.",
"In a June interview with Danish music blog Regnsky, Wayne Coyne said that a new album would come out in January 2017, even though they had originally planned for it to be released in October 2016. Wayne Coyne later confirmed in a September interview with Consequence of Sound, that they would release a new album at the beginning of 2017. On October 20, the band confirmed the January 2017 release date for the album.",
"On October 20, the band confirmed the January 2017 release date for the album. The band embarked on a tour in support that was described as \"rock's greatest acid punch party\" with \"balloons, confetti cannons and rainbow visuals\". On January 13, 2017 the fourteenth Flaming Lips album Oczy Mlody was released, and featured a guest appearance by Miley Cyrus. The album charted in both the UK and US.",
"The album charted in both the UK and US. The album charted in both the UK and US. On Record Store Day, April 22, 2017, the Flaming Lips released Onboard the International Space Station Concert for Peace, a re-recording of seven tracks from Oczy Mlody in a faux live setting. The band's next studio album, King's Mouth, was released on April 13, 2019 for Record Store Day.",
"The band's next studio album, King's Mouth, was released on April 13, 2019 for Record Store Day. Mick Jones of The Clash and Big Audio Dynamite narrates the album; Wayne Coyne said of Jones that \"he’s on almost every song... it really is quite unbelievable.\" In late 2019, Coyne and Drozd collaborated with garage rock duo Deap Vally to form a new band, Deap Lips. The project's self-titled debut album was released on March 13, 2020.",
"The project's self-titled debut album was released on March 13, 2020. On March 23, 2020, Drozd announced that the band's sixteenth studio album, American Head, is due for release in the summer. The band officially announced the album's release date as September 11, 2020, along with the single \"My Religion Is You\" on June 6, 2020.",
"The band officially announced the album's release date as September 11, 2020, along with the single \"My Religion Is You\" on June 6, 2020. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the band performed a concert in their hometown of Oklahoma City on October 12, 2020, while entirely encased within inflatable human-sized bubbles. Audience members were also protected by plastic bubbles. They performed in this fashion on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert and again in 2021.",
"They performed in this fashion on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert and again in 2021. On August 16, 2021, Ingalls announced on his Instagram page that he left the band on amicable terms. Also in August, Coyne commented on his Instagram that Ivins was no longer in the band, leaving Coyne as the only original member. Micah Nelson has been on bass for recent live performances. In November 2021, the band released an album of nine Nick Cave cover songs with the young Canadian musician Nell Smith.",
"In November 2021, the band released an album of nine Nick Cave cover songs with the young Canadian musician Nell Smith. Smith and The Lips recorded the album remotely during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown.",
"Smith and The Lips recorded the album remotely during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown. Members Current members Wayne Coyne – lead vocals (1985–present), guitars, keyboards, theremin (1983–present), backing vocals (1983–1985, 1991–present), bass guitar (2021–present) Steven Drozd – guitars, keyboards, bass, drums, backing and lead vocals (1991–present) Derek Brown – keyboards, guitars, percussion, backing vocals (2009–present) Matt Duckworth Kirksey – drums, percussion, keyboards, backing vocals (2014–present) Nicholas Ley – percussion, drums, samples (2014–present) Current touring musicians Micah Nelson – bass, keyboards, backing vocals (2021–present) Former members Mark Coyne – lead vocals (1983–1985) Dave Kostka – drums (1983–1984) Richard English – drums, keyboards, backing vocals (1984–1989) Nathan Roberts – drums (1989–1991) Jonathan Donahue – guitars, backing vocals (1989–1991) Jon Mooneyham – guitars, backing vocals (1991) Ronald Jones – guitars, backing vocals (1991–1996) Kliph Scurlock – drums, percussion (2002–2014) Jake Ingalls – keyboards, guitars (2013–2021) Michael Ivins – bass, keyboards, backing vocals (1983–2021) Former touring musicians Ray Suen – percussion, violin, harp, keyboards (2009–2012) Timeline Selected discography Studio albums Hear It Is (1986) Oh My Gawd!!!",
"Members Current members Wayne Coyne – lead vocals (1985–present), guitars, keyboards, theremin (1983–present), backing vocals (1983–1985, 1991–present), bass guitar (2021–present) Steven Drozd – guitars, keyboards, bass, drums, backing and lead vocals (1991–present) Derek Brown – keyboards, guitars, percussion, backing vocals (2009–present) Matt Duckworth Kirksey – drums, percussion, keyboards, backing vocals (2014–present) Nicholas Ley – percussion, drums, samples (2014–present) Current touring musicians Micah Nelson – bass, keyboards, backing vocals (2021–present) Former members Mark Coyne – lead vocals (1983–1985) Dave Kostka – drums (1983–1984) Richard English – drums, keyboards, backing vocals (1984–1989) Nathan Roberts – drums (1989–1991) Jonathan Donahue – guitars, backing vocals (1989–1991) Jon Mooneyham – guitars, backing vocals (1991) Ronald Jones – guitars, backing vocals (1991–1996) Kliph Scurlock – drums, percussion (2002–2014) Jake Ingalls – keyboards, guitars (2013–2021) Michael Ivins – bass, keyboards, backing vocals (1983–2021) Former touring musicians Ray Suen – percussion, violin, harp, keyboards (2009–2012) Timeline Selected discography Studio albums Hear It Is (1986) Oh My Gawd!!! (1987) Telepathic Surgery (1989) In a Priest Driven Ambulance (1990) Hit to Death in the Future Head (1992) Transmissions from the Satellite Heart (1993) Clouds Taste Metallic (1995) Zaireeka (1997) The Soft Bulletin (1999) Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (2002) At War with the Mystics (2006) Embryonic (2009) The Terror (2013) Oczy Mlody (2017) King's Mouth (2019) American Head (2020) Extended plays The Flaming Lips (1984) Gummy Song Skull (2011) Gummy Song Fetus (2011) Strobo Trip (2011) 24 Hour Song Skull (2011) Peace Sword (2013) Collaborative albums The Flaming Lips and Stardeath and White Dwarfs with Henry Rollins and Peaches Doing The Dark Side of the Moon (2009) The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends (2012) Playing Hide and Seek with the Ghosts of Dawn (2012) The Time Has Come to Shoot You Down... What a Sound (2013) With a Little Help from My Fwends (2014) Deap Lips (2020) Where the Viaduct Looms (2021) Soundtracks/Miscellaneous The Southern Oklahoma Cosmic Trigger Contest (2001) Atlas Eets Christmas (2007) Once Beyond Hopelessness (2008) Awards and nominations The Flaming Lips won their first Grammy Award in 2003, for their track \"Approaching Pavonis Mons by Balloon (Utopia Planitia)\".",
"(1987) Telepathic Surgery (1989) In a Priest Driven Ambulance (1990) Hit to Death in the Future Head (1992) Transmissions from the Satellite Heart (1993) Clouds Taste Metallic (1995) Zaireeka (1997) The Soft Bulletin (1999) Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (2002) At War with the Mystics (2006) Embryonic (2009) The Terror (2013) Oczy Mlody (2017) King's Mouth (2019) American Head (2020) Extended plays The Flaming Lips (1984) Gummy Song Skull (2011) Gummy Song Fetus (2011) Strobo Trip (2011) 24 Hour Song Skull (2011) Peace Sword (2013) Collaborative albums The Flaming Lips and Stardeath and White Dwarfs with Henry Rollins and Peaches Doing The Dark Side of the Moon (2009) The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends (2012) Playing Hide and Seek with the Ghosts of Dawn (2012) The Time Has Come to Shoot You Down... What a Sound (2013) With a Little Help from My Fwends (2014) Deap Lips (2020) Where the Viaduct Looms (2021) Soundtracks/Miscellaneous The Southern Oklahoma Cosmic Trigger Contest (2001) Atlas Eets Christmas (2007) Once Beyond Hopelessness (2008) Awards and nominations The Flaming Lips won their first Grammy Award in 2003, for their track \"Approaching Pavonis Mons by Balloon (Utopia Planitia)\". To date, the band has been nominated for six Grammy Awards, and won three times.",
"To date, the band has been nominated for six Grammy Awards, and won three times. References External links 1983 establishments in Oklahoma Alternative rock groups from Oklahoma American experimental rock groups American psychedelic rock music groups Grammy Award winners Indie rock musical groups from Oklahoma Musical groups established in 1983 Musical groups from Oklahoma Neo-psychedelia groups Noise pop musical groups Psychedelic pop music groups Space rock musical groups Warner Records artists Bella Union artists Restless Records artists"
] |
[
"Sandman (Wesley Dodds)",
"Powers and abilities"
] | C_66c8684ed1f04066a6bfcf6cee925937_0 | What are his special abilities? | 1 | What are Wesley Dodds special abilities? | Sandman (Wesley Dodds) | Dodds has prophetic dreams which come to him as cryptic, ambiguous visions of crimes. Originally of unexplained origin, these dreams were later ascribed to encounter between Dodds and the entity known as Dream via retcon. The visions haunt Wes, who uses his keen intellect and amateur detective skills to properly interpret them. He is also a talented chemist and inventor, creating the sand-like substance and the Silicoid Gun ultimately responsible for transforming Sandy the Golden Boy into a Silicon-based life-form. In the early years of his career, Wesley Dodds possesses the strength level of a man who engages in regular exercise, and was a fine hand-to-hand combatant. As he grows older, his strength level diminishes in relative proportion to his age. As hobbies, Wes enjoys reading, writing, poetry, origami and philosophy. Through an unknown process, Wes passes his power of prophetic visions on to his former ward, Sanderson Hawkins upon the moment of his own death. Wesley Dodds' costume consists of a basic green business suit, fedora, a World War I era gas mask, a gas gun, and a wire gun. The gas mask protects Dodds from the effects of the gas emitted from his gas gun. The gas gun, a handheld device fitted with cartridges containing concentrated sleeping gas, is Wesley Dodds' only known weapon. Pressing the trigger on the gun releases a cloud of green dust rendering all within the Sandman's immediate vicinity unconscious. An upgraded canister dispenser for the gun is provided for him by his close friend and confidante, Lee Travis. Wes is also known to conceal smaller knockout gas capsules in a hollow heel on his shoe. These prove ideal when placed in situations where his gas gun is not readily available. He also makes use of a specially designed "wirepoon" gun, which fires a length of thin, steel cable. In the early days of his career, the Sandman drives a black 1938 Plymouth Coupe. The car is enhanced with various features to aid Wes in his crusade against crime. CANNOTANSWER | Dodds has prophetic dreams which come to him as cryptic, ambiguous visions of crimes. | Sandman (Wesley Dodds) is a fictional superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first of several DC characters to bear the name Sandman, he was created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Bert Christman. Attired in a green business suit, a fedora, and a World War I gas mask, the Sandman used a gun emitting a sleeping gas to sedate criminals. He was originally one of the mystery men to appear in comic books and other types of adventure fiction in the 1930s but later was outfitted with a unitard/cowl costume and developed into a proper superhero, acquiring sidekick Sandy, and founding the Justice Society of America.
Like most DC Golden Age superheroes, the Sandman fell into obscurity in the 1940s and eventually other DC characters took his name. During the 1990s, when writer Neil Gaiman's Sandman (featuring Morpheus, the anthropomorphic embodiment of dreams) was popular, DC revived Dodds in Sandman Mystery Theatre, a pulp/noir series set in the 1930s. Wizard Magazine ranked Wesley Dodds among the Top 200 Comic Book Characters of All Time, and he is the oldest superhero in terms of continuity to appear on the list.
Publication history
Golden Age of comic books
Artist Bert Christman and writer Gardner Fox are generally credited as co-creating the original, Wesley Dodds version of the DC Comics character the Sandman. While the character's first appearance is usually given as Adventure Comics #40 (cover-dated July 1939), he also appeared in DC Comics' 1939 New York World's Fair Comics omnibus, which historians believe appeared on newsstands one to two weeks earlier, while also believing the Adventure Comics story was written and drawn first. Each of the two stories' scripts were credited to the pseudonym "Larry Dean"; Fox wrote the untitled, 10-page story in New York World's Fair #1, while he simply plotted, and Christman scripted, the untitled, six-page story, generally known as "The Tarantula Strikes", in Adventure #40. Creig Flessel, who drew many early Sandman adventures, has sometimes been credited as co-creator on the basis of drawing the Sandman cover of Adventure #40, but no other evidence has surfaced.
Following these two first appearances, the feature "The Sandman" continued to appear in the omnibus Adventure Comics through #102 (February–March 1946). One of the medium's seminal "mystery men", as referred to at the time, the Sandman straddled the pulp magazine detective tradition and the emerging superhero tradition by dint of his dual identity and his fanciful, masked attire and weapon: an exotic "gas gun" that could compel villains to tell the truth, as well as put them to sleep. Unlike many superheroes, he frequently found himself the victim of gunshot wounds, both in the Golden Age and in stories in DC's modern-day Vertigo imprint, and he would continue fighting in spite of his injuries.
In his early career, Dodds (the character's surname was given as "Dodd" in his first four appearances; he became "Dodds" in Adventure Comics #44) was frequently aided by his girlfriend, Dian Belmont, who is aware of his dual identity. Unlike many superhero love interests, Belmont was often, though not always, portrayed as an equal partner of the Sandman, rather than a damsel in distress. Later stories would reveal that the two remained together for the duration of their lives, though they never married.
The Sandman was one of the original members of the Justice Society of America when that superhero team was introduced in All Star Comics #3, published by All-American Comics, one of the companies that would merge to form DC.
In Adventure Comics #69 (December 1941), Dodds was given a yellow-and-purple costume by writer Mort Weisinger and artist Paul Norris, as well as a yellow-clad kid sidekick, Sandy the Golden Boy, nephew of Dian Belmont. Later that year, the celebrated team of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby took over this version of the character. In 1942, Dodds enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as an anti-aircraft gunner during World War II.
Silver Age to Modern Age
Reintroduced in the Silver Age in Justice League of America #46 (July 1966), the Sandman made occasional appearances in the annual teamups between that superhero group and the JSA.
In 1981 DC began publishing All-Star Squadron, a retelling of the Earth-Two mystery-men during WWII. Although not a main character, Sandman does appear in its pages. Of note is issue #18 which gives an explanation of why Dodds changed costumes from the cloak and gas mask to the yellow-and-purple outfit; Dian wore his costume while he was fighting elsewhere and she was killed in a fray. Dodds decided to wear the new costume, of Dian's design, until he could bring himself to wear the original in which she had died.
Later, this explanation would be changed again when Dian Belmont was retconned to have never died, and a new explanation was given: Sandy convinced Dodds to switch to the more colorful costume to gain the support of regular people, who preferred the more traditional superhero look to his older, pulp-themed costume.
An acclaimed film noir-inspired retelling of the original Sandman's adventures, Sandman Mystery Theatre, ran from 1993 to 1998 under DC Comics' Vertigo mature-reader imprint. Although as a whole its continuity within the DC Universe is debatable, several elements of the series – the more nuanced relationship between Dodds and Dian Belmont; the Sandman's appearance (wearing a trench coat and World War I gas mask instead of the cape and the custom-made gas mask); and Dodds' pudgier appearance and wearing of glasses – have been adopted into regular continuity. The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual.
In Sandman Midnight Theatre (1995) a one-shot special by Neil Gaiman (author of the Modern Age supernatural series The Sandman), Matt Wagner (co-author of Sandman Mystery Theatre), and Teddy Kristiansen, depicts an interaction between the two characters, with the original visiting Great Britain and encountering the imprisoned Dream, the protagonist of Gaiman's series. A minor retcon by Gaiman suggested that Dodds' chosen identity was a result of Dream's absence from the realm the Dreaming, and that Dodds carries an aspect of that mystical realm. This explains Dodds' prophetic dreams.
Twilight years
Dodds is one of a number of Justice Society members who finds themselves in the "Ragnarok Dimension" during the early Modern Age of comic books. The Last Days of the Justice Society of America Special (1986) wrote the post-Crisis tale of a time-warped wave of destruction ready to engulf the world. Dodds and his JSA teammates enter into a limbo to engage in an eternal battle that would allow the universe to continue its existence. This was later revealed to be a simulation created by Odin, which he intended to give to Dream as a bribe. Dodds, Dream's protege, and Hawkman, the grandfather of Dream's appointed successor are the only JSA members who were seen at that time. This lasted only until 1992 when DC published Armageddon: Inferno. This mini-series ended with the JSA members leaving limbo and entering the 'real' world. Justice Society of America (1992–1993) showed how the JSA members handled returning to normal life. For the Sandman, the series depicted him as an old, thin man with a balding scalp and a sharp wit. Starting with issue #1 his physical condition became important as writer Len Strazewski had him suffer a stroke at the first sign of a villainous attack. Both his age and his physical limitations became a theme writers would use in this character's post-Crisis stories.
During Zero Hour, Dodds is returned to his proper age by the Extant. Later, Wesley Dodds is shown as retired and living with Dian Belmont though occasionally coming out of it, most notably in a team-up with Jack Knight, the son of Dodds' JSA teammate Starman. When Dian is diagnosed with a terminal disease, the two travel the world together until her death.
Towards the end of his life, Dodds' prophetic dreams alert him to the identity and location of the new Doctor Fate, prompting him to contact the Gray Man, a being created from the residue of others' dreams, as well as his old friend Speed Saunders to instruct them to warn his former teammates about what he has discovered. Waiting on a clifftop, he is subsequently confronted by the powerful villain Mordru, who intends to force Dodds to tell him the identity of the new Doctor Fate, only for Dodds to distract Mordru with his gas-gun long enough to commit suicide by jumping off the cliff rather than allow Mordru to torture him into submission. His last thoughts were that his final slumber would be free of nightmares as he is reunited with Dian. His youthful but now grown-up sidekick Sandy the Golden Boy becomes known simply as Sand and takes his mentor's place as a member of the Justice Society of America as well as his prophetic dreams. Eventually, he takes the name of Sandman.
Sleep of Reason
Wesley Dodds makes a comeback via flashback images in the 2006 limited series Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason.
Blackest Night
Dodds is reanimated as a Black Lantern in the "Blackest Night" storyline. He and several other fallen JSAers attack the Brownstone, seeking the hearts of the living within.
Exodus Noir
Dodds appeared in the "Exodus Noir" arc of Madame Xanadu in 2010, in a story set in 1940.
DC Rebirth
In the "Watchmen" sequel "Doomsday Clock", Lois Lane finds a flash-drive at the Daily Planet. It shows her footage of Sandman and the rest of the Justice Society.
In the pages of "Dark Nights: Death Metal", the Prime-Earth version of Sandman was revealed to be entombed at the Valhalla Cemetery. Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring.
Powers and abilities
Dodds has prophetic dreams which come to him as cryptic, ambiguous visions of crimes. Originally of unexplained origin, these dreams were later ascribed to an encounter between Dodds and the entity known as Dream via retcon. The visions haunt Dodds, who uses his keen intellect and amateur detective skills to properly interpret them. He is also a talented chemist and inventor, creating the sand-like substance and the Silicoid Gun ultimately responsible for transforming Sandy the Golden Boy into a Silicon-based life-form. In the early years of his career, Wesley Dodds possesses the strength level of a man who engages in regular exercise, and was a fine hand-to-hand combatant. As he grows older, his strength level diminishes in relative proportion to his age. As hobbies, Dodds enjoys reading, writing, poetry, origami and philosophy. Through an unknown process, Dodds passes his power of prophetic visions on to his former ward, Sanderson Hawkins upon the moment of his own death.
Wesley Dodds' costume consists of a basic green business suit, fedora, a World War I era gas mask, a gas gun, and a specially designed "wirepoon" gun, which fires a length of thin, steel cable. The gas mask protects Dodds from the effects of the gas emitted from his gas gun. The gas gun, a handheld device fitted with cartridges containing concentrated sleeping gas, is Wesley Dodds' only known weapon. Pressing the trigger on the gun releases a cloud of green dust rendering all within the Sandman's immediate vicinity unconscious. An upgraded canister dispenser for the gun is provided for him by his close friend and confidante, Lee Travis. Dodds is also known to conceal smaller knockout gas capsules in a hollow heel on his shoe. These prove ideal when placed in situations where his gas gun is not readily available.
In the early days of his career, the Sandman drives a black 1938 Plymouth coupe. The car is enhanced with various features to aid Dodds in his crusade against crime.
Enemies
Sandman has an assortment of enemies that he fought:
Butcher - A cannibalistic butcher.
Doctor Death - Raymond Kessler is a serial killer/swindler who is the boyfriend of Dian Belmont's cousin Lucy.
Phantom of the Fair - Gerald Zimmerman is a man who has been torturing and killing homosexual men at the New York World's Fair.
Ramulus - A plant-manipulating villain who was also known as Nightshade and Plant Master. He later appeared as a member of the Monster Society of Evil.
Scorpion - Terrence Pritchard is an ad executive who becomes a bullwhip-wielding vigilante.
Tarantula - A man who targeted Vivian Dale. There was also a second Tarantula that Sandman fought. This one was Roger Goldman who is a serial killer and the former owner of the Evergood Milk Bottling Company.
Other versions
Kingdom Come
Dodds appears as an infirm old man at the beginning of the graphic novel, plagued with visions of the impending apocalyptic battle between various factions of metahumans. Before his death, he relates his visions, interpreted through passages from the Book of Revelation, to Norman McCay, who later witnesses the events in the company of the Spectre.
Earth 40
Wesley Dodds meets with The Unholy Three to give information about the Trigger, a device that causes every nuclear reactor in the world to detonate in a nuclear explosion. The Sandman arranges for The Unholy Three to meet with The Lantern, who has information on where the Trigger is located.
Earth 2
In The New 52 (a reboot of DC Comics), a new Earth-2 version of Sandman appears. While he does wear a gas mask and wield a gas gun, he is also equipped with a teleporter. When Washington DC is attacked by Solomon Grundy, Commander Wesley Dodds, along with his Sandmen paramilitary force, is sent to retrieve and save President Lightfoot. They are later assigned by Commander Khan in a special and unofficial mission to infiltrate Terry Sloane's secret facility, where they confront and subdue a mind-controlled Michael Holt.
In other media
Television
Animation
Wesley Dodds / Sandman makes a non-speaking appearance in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode "Crisis: 22,300 Miles Above Earth". He is seen with the other members of the Justice Society of America.
Sandman makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in the Young Justice episode "Humanity". He is shown with the other members of the JSA during a flashback sequence.
Live-action
A character loosely inspired by the Sandman under the pseudonym of Nightshade makes recurring appearances in The Flash (1990), portrayed by Jason Bernard. This version is Dr. Desmond Powell, a 1950s vigilante who retained the Sandman's costume and captured criminals using a knockout gun and tranquilizer darts. After retiring as a vigilante after he defeated "The Ghost" in 1955, he later became a doctor and Chief of Staff at Central City Hospital. When the Ghost reappears in 1990, Powell becomes Nightshade once again and teams up with the Flash to apprehend his old enemy. He later unknowingly inspires the Deadly Nightshade. Powell is framed for multiple counts of murder, but clears his name and captures the impostor. He also makes his secret identity public and becomes a celebrity.
Wesley Dodds appeared in the Smallville two-hour special episode "Absolute Justice", portrayed by Ken Lawson. This version was a member of the now-disbanded Justice Society of America. After having a nightmare about losing his teammate, the Star-Spangled Kid, Dodds is killed by Icicle II. His body was later found by Clark Kent.
Sandman's helmet appears in Rip Hunter's office in Legends of Tomorrow.
Sandman appears in the series Stargirl. He appears as a member of the Justice Society of America before the team was attacked and killed by the Injustice Society, with Dodds in particular being killed by Icicle.
Film
An alternate universe version of Sandman makes a cameo appearance in the animated film Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths. This version is a minor member of the Crime Syndicate of America.
An alternate timeline version of Sandman appears in the animated film Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox. This version is one of the few active superheroes in the dystopian "Flashpoint" timeline.
Video games
Wesley Dodds' costume appears in the background of the Hall of Justice in the video game Injustice: Gods Among Us.
Web series
Sandman makes a minor appearance in the DC Super Hero Girls episode "Welcome to Super Hero High". He appears as a graduate of the titular school.
Collected editions
The Golden Age Sandman Archive Vol. 1 (Sandman stories from New York World's Fair Comics #1–2 and Adventure Comics #40–59) by Bert Christman and others.
Sandman by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby (World's Finest #6–7; Adventure Comics #72–102; Sandman #1)
Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 1: The Tarantula (Sandman Mystery Theatre #1–4)
Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 2: The Face and The Brute (Sandman Mystery Theatre #5–12)
Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 3: The Vamp (Sandman Mystery Theatre #13–16)
Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 4: The Scorpion (Sandman Mystery Theatre #17–20)
Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 5: Dr. Death and The Night of the Butcher (Sandman Mystery Theatre #21–28)
Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 6: The Hourman and The Python (Sandman Mystery Theatre #29–36)
Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 7: The Mist and The Phantom of the Fair (Sandman Mystery Theatre #37–44)
Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 8: The Blackhawk and The Return of the Scarlet Ghost (Sandman Mystery Theatre #45–52)
Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason (Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason #1–5)
References
External links
JSA Fact File: The Sandman
Earth-2 Sandman Index]
Sequart.com: "The Sandman — Interlude: Sandman Mystery Theatre (1993–1998)", by Julian Darius
Characters created by Allen Bert Christman
Characters created by Gardner Fox
Comics characters introduced in 1939
DC Comics male superheroes
Earth-Two
Fictional businesspeople
Fictional characters with precognition
Fictional detectives
Fictional scientists
Fictional socialites
Golden Age superheroes
Jewish superheroes
Sandman
Vigilante characters in comics | true | [
"The Real Superhumans and the Quest for the Future Fantastic is a two-hour-long special from the Discovery Channel which aired in 2007. It follows four people with what are described as \"real life superhuman abilities\", a geneticist who created the first chimera of two very different species of rodents, and a scientist on a mission to become immortal. The show was done in a comic book format ending with the common slogan \"To be continued\" as to indicate that the people of the show and humanity itself is just beginning to venture into a new age, one where genetic manipulation and other technologies to obtain special abilities will be for sale to the general public.\n\nReferences\n\n2007 American television series debuts\nDiscovery Channel original programming",
"The following comparison of video players compares general and technical information for notable software media player programs.\n\nFor the purpose of this comparison, video players are defined as any media player which can play video, even if it can also play audio files.\n\nGeneral\n\nActive players\n\nInactive players\n\nOperating system compatibility\nThis section lists the operating systems on which the player works. There may be multiple versions of a player, each one for a given operating system.\n\nFeatures\n\nExtended features\n\nConsumer video format ability\nInformation about what video formats the players understand. Footnotes lead to information about abilities of future versions of the players or plugins/filters that provide such abilities.\n\nProduction video format ability\n\nAudio format ability\nInformation about what audio formats the players understand. Footnotes lead to information about abilities of future versions of the players or plugins/filters that provide such abilities.\n\nContainer format ability\nInformation about what container formats the players understand. Footnotes lead to information about abilities of future versions of the players or filters that provide such abilities.\n\nStreaming support\nInformation about which internet protocols the players understand, for receiving streaming media content.\n\nPlaylist format ability\nInformation about which playlist formats the players understand.\n\nElectronic program guide format ability\nInformation about which Electronic program guide format the players viewable.\n\nSubtitle ability\nInformation about what subtitle formats the players understand. Footnotes lead to information about abilities of future versions of the players or filters that provide such abilities.\n\nMetadata ability\nInformation about what metadata, or tagging, formats the players understand. Most other containers have their own metadata format and the players usually use them. Footnotes lead to information about abilities of future versions of the players or plugins that provide such abilities.\n\nOptical media ability \nInformation about what kinds of optical discs the players can play. Footnotes lead to information about abilities of future versions of the players or plugins that provide such abilities.\nPlayback of Super Audio CD is not possible for any media player, because no suitable hardware exists.\nAll media players capable of audio CD playback will also play the Redbook core of any HDCD disc, providing no sound-quality benefits over standard audio CDs.\n\nSee also\n\n List of codecs\n Open source codecs and containers\n Comparison of video codecs\n Comparison of audio coding formats\n Comparison of container formats\n Subtitle (captioning)\n Comparison of portable media players\n Comparison of video encoders\n Comparison of PVR software packages\n\nReferences\n\nRelated lists on other projects\n :m:Open Source Toolset - short sections on Audio editing and Video editing\n Software - short lists of Ogg audio and video editors\n Help:Converting video - tools for manipulating audio and video\n\n \nvideo player software\nITunes\n\nde:Mediaplayer#Software"
] | [
"Sandman (Wesley Dodds) is a fictional superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first of several DC characters to bear the name Sandman, he was created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Bert Christman. Attired in a green business suit, a fedora, and a World War I gas mask, the Sandman used a gun emitting a sleeping gas to sedate criminals.",
"Attired in a green business suit, a fedora, and a World War I gas mask, the Sandman used a gun emitting a sleeping gas to sedate criminals. He was originally one of the mystery men to appear in comic books and other types of adventure fiction in the 1930s but later was outfitted with a unitard/cowl costume and developed into a proper superhero, acquiring sidekick Sandy, and founding the Justice Society of America.",
"He was originally one of the mystery men to appear in comic books and other types of adventure fiction in the 1930s but later was outfitted with a unitard/cowl costume and developed into a proper superhero, acquiring sidekick Sandy, and founding the Justice Society of America. Like most DC Golden Age superheroes, the Sandman fell into obscurity in the 1940s and eventually other DC characters took his name.",
"Like most DC Golden Age superheroes, the Sandman fell into obscurity in the 1940s and eventually other DC characters took his name. During the 1990s, when writer Neil Gaiman's Sandman (featuring Morpheus, the anthropomorphic embodiment of dreams) was popular, DC revived Dodds in Sandman Mystery Theatre, a pulp/noir series set in the 1930s. Wizard Magazine ranked Wesley Dodds among the Top 200 Comic Book Characters of All Time, and he is the oldest superhero in terms of continuity to appear on the list.",
"Wizard Magazine ranked Wesley Dodds among the Top 200 Comic Book Characters of All Time, and he is the oldest superhero in terms of continuity to appear on the list. Publication history Golden Age of comic books Artist Bert Christman and writer Gardner Fox are generally credited as co-creating the original, Wesley Dodds version of the DC Comics character the Sandman.",
"Publication history Golden Age of comic books Artist Bert Christman and writer Gardner Fox are generally credited as co-creating the original, Wesley Dodds version of the DC Comics character the Sandman. While the character's first appearance is usually given as Adventure Comics #40 (cover-dated July 1939), he also appeared in DC Comics' 1939 New York World's Fair Comics omnibus, which historians believe appeared on newsstands one to two weeks earlier, while also believing the Adventure Comics story was written and drawn first.",
"While the character's first appearance is usually given as Adventure Comics #40 (cover-dated July 1939), he also appeared in DC Comics' 1939 New York World's Fair Comics omnibus, which historians believe appeared on newsstands one to two weeks earlier, while also believing the Adventure Comics story was written and drawn first. Each of the two stories' scripts were credited to the pseudonym \"Larry Dean\"; Fox wrote the untitled, 10-page story in New York World's Fair #1, while he simply plotted, and Christman scripted, the untitled, six-page story, generally known as \"The Tarantula Strikes\", in Adventure #40.",
"Each of the two stories' scripts were credited to the pseudonym \"Larry Dean\"; Fox wrote the untitled, 10-page story in New York World's Fair #1, while he simply plotted, and Christman scripted, the untitled, six-page story, generally known as \"The Tarantula Strikes\", in Adventure #40. Creig Flessel, who drew many early Sandman adventures, has sometimes been credited as co-creator on the basis of drawing the Sandman cover of Adventure #40, but no other evidence has surfaced.",
"Creig Flessel, who drew many early Sandman adventures, has sometimes been credited as co-creator on the basis of drawing the Sandman cover of Adventure #40, but no other evidence has surfaced. Following these two first appearances, the feature \"The Sandman\" continued to appear in the omnibus Adventure Comics through #102 (February–March 1946).",
"Following these two first appearances, the feature \"The Sandman\" continued to appear in the omnibus Adventure Comics through #102 (February–March 1946). One of the medium's seminal \"mystery men\", as referred to at the time, the Sandman straddled the pulp magazine detective tradition and the emerging superhero tradition by dint of his dual identity and his fanciful, masked attire and weapon: an exotic \"gas gun\" that could compel villains to tell the truth, as well as put them to sleep.",
"One of the medium's seminal \"mystery men\", as referred to at the time, the Sandman straddled the pulp magazine detective tradition and the emerging superhero tradition by dint of his dual identity and his fanciful, masked attire and weapon: an exotic \"gas gun\" that could compel villains to tell the truth, as well as put them to sleep. Unlike many superheroes, he frequently found himself the victim of gunshot wounds, both in the Golden Age and in stories in DC's modern-day Vertigo imprint, and he would continue fighting in spite of his injuries.",
"Unlike many superheroes, he frequently found himself the victim of gunshot wounds, both in the Golden Age and in stories in DC's modern-day Vertigo imprint, and he would continue fighting in spite of his injuries. In his early career, Dodds (the character's surname was given as \"Dodd\" in his first four appearances; he became \"Dodds\" in Adventure Comics #44) was frequently aided by his girlfriend, Dian Belmont, who is aware of his dual identity.",
"In his early career, Dodds (the character's surname was given as \"Dodd\" in his first four appearances; he became \"Dodds\" in Adventure Comics #44) was frequently aided by his girlfriend, Dian Belmont, who is aware of his dual identity. Unlike many superhero love interests, Belmont was often, though not always, portrayed as an equal partner of the Sandman, rather than a damsel in distress.",
"Unlike many superhero love interests, Belmont was often, though not always, portrayed as an equal partner of the Sandman, rather than a damsel in distress. Later stories would reveal that the two remained together for the duration of their lives, though they never married. The Sandman was one of the original members of the Justice Society of America when that superhero team was introduced in All Star Comics #3, published by All-American Comics, one of the companies that would merge to form DC.",
"The Sandman was one of the original members of the Justice Society of America when that superhero team was introduced in All Star Comics #3, published by All-American Comics, one of the companies that would merge to form DC. In Adventure Comics #69 (December 1941), Dodds was given a yellow-and-purple costume by writer Mort Weisinger and artist Paul Norris, as well as a yellow-clad kid sidekick, Sandy the Golden Boy, nephew of Dian Belmont.",
"In Adventure Comics #69 (December 1941), Dodds was given a yellow-and-purple costume by writer Mort Weisinger and artist Paul Norris, as well as a yellow-clad kid sidekick, Sandy the Golden Boy, nephew of Dian Belmont. Later that year, the celebrated team of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby took over this version of the character. In 1942, Dodds enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as an anti-aircraft gunner during World War II.",
"In 1942, Dodds enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as an anti-aircraft gunner during World War II. Silver Age to Modern Age Reintroduced in the Silver Age in Justice League of America #46 (July 1966), the Sandman made occasional appearances in the annual teamups between that superhero group and the JSA. In 1981 DC began publishing All-Star Squadron, a retelling of the Earth-Two mystery-men during WWII. Although not a main character, Sandman does appear in its pages.",
"Although not a main character, Sandman does appear in its pages. Of note is issue #18 which gives an explanation of why Dodds changed costumes from the cloak and gas mask to the yellow-and-purple outfit; Dian wore his costume while he was fighting elsewhere and she was killed in a fray. Dodds decided to wear the new costume, of Dian's design, until he could bring himself to wear the original in which she had died.",
"Dodds decided to wear the new costume, of Dian's design, until he could bring himself to wear the original in which she had died. Later, this explanation would be changed again when Dian Belmont was retconned to have never died, and a new explanation was given: Sandy convinced Dodds to switch to the more colorful costume to gain the support of regular people, who preferred the more traditional superhero look to his older, pulp-themed costume.",
"Later, this explanation would be changed again when Dian Belmont was retconned to have never died, and a new explanation was given: Sandy convinced Dodds to switch to the more colorful costume to gain the support of regular people, who preferred the more traditional superhero look to his older, pulp-themed costume. An acclaimed film noir-inspired retelling of the original Sandman's adventures, Sandman Mystery Theatre, ran from 1993 to 1998 under DC Comics' Vertigo mature-reader imprint.",
"An acclaimed film noir-inspired retelling of the original Sandman's adventures, Sandman Mystery Theatre, ran from 1993 to 1998 under DC Comics' Vertigo mature-reader imprint. Although as a whole its continuity within the DC Universe is debatable, several elements of the series – the more nuanced relationship between Dodds and Dian Belmont; the Sandman's appearance (wearing a trench coat and World War I gas mask instead of the cape and the custom-made gas mask); and Dodds' pudgier appearance and wearing of glasses – have been adopted into regular continuity.",
"Although as a whole its continuity within the DC Universe is debatable, several elements of the series – the more nuanced relationship between Dodds and Dian Belmont; the Sandman's appearance (wearing a trench coat and World War I gas mask instead of the cape and the custom-made gas mask); and Dodds' pudgier appearance and wearing of glasses – have been adopted into regular continuity. The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual.",
"The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual. The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual. In Sandman Midnight Theatre (1995) a one-shot special by Neil Gaiman (author of the Modern Age supernatural series The Sandman), Matt Wagner (co-author of Sandman Mystery Theatre), and Teddy Kristiansen, depicts an interaction between the two characters, with the original visiting Great Britain and encountering the imprisoned Dream, the protagonist of Gaiman's series.",
"In Sandman Midnight Theatre (1995) a one-shot special by Neil Gaiman (author of the Modern Age supernatural series The Sandman), Matt Wagner (co-author of Sandman Mystery Theatre), and Teddy Kristiansen, depicts an interaction between the two characters, with the original visiting Great Britain and encountering the imprisoned Dream, the protagonist of Gaiman's series. A minor retcon by Gaiman suggested that Dodds' chosen identity was a result of Dream's absence from the realm the Dreaming, and that Dodds carries an aspect of that mystical realm.",
"A minor retcon by Gaiman suggested that Dodds' chosen identity was a result of Dream's absence from the realm the Dreaming, and that Dodds carries an aspect of that mystical realm. This explains Dodds' prophetic dreams. Twilight years Dodds is one of a number of Justice Society members who finds themselves in the \"Ragnarok Dimension\" during the early Modern Age of comic books.",
"Twilight years Dodds is one of a number of Justice Society members who finds themselves in the \"Ragnarok Dimension\" during the early Modern Age of comic books. The Last Days of the Justice Society of America Special (1986) wrote the post-Crisis tale of a time-warped wave of destruction ready to engulf the world. Dodds and his JSA teammates enter into a limbo to engage in an eternal battle that would allow the universe to continue its existence.",
"Dodds and his JSA teammates enter into a limbo to engage in an eternal battle that would allow the universe to continue its existence. This was later revealed to be a simulation created by Odin, which he intended to give to Dream as a bribe. Dodds, Dream's protege, and Hawkman, the grandfather of Dream's appointed successor are the only JSA members who were seen at that time. This lasted only until 1992 when DC published Armageddon: Inferno.",
"This lasted only until 1992 when DC published Armageddon: Inferno. This mini-series ended with the JSA members leaving limbo and entering the 'real' world. Justice Society of America (1992–1993) showed how the JSA members handled returning to normal life. For the Sandman, the series depicted him as an old, thin man with a balding scalp and a sharp wit. Starting with issue #1 his physical condition became important as writer Len Strazewski had him suffer a stroke at the first sign of a villainous attack.",
"Starting with issue #1 his physical condition became important as writer Len Strazewski had him suffer a stroke at the first sign of a villainous attack. Both his age and his physical limitations became a theme writers would use in this character's post-Crisis stories. During Zero Hour, Dodds is returned to his proper age by the Extant.",
"During Zero Hour, Dodds is returned to his proper age by the Extant. Later, Wesley Dodds is shown as retired and living with Dian Belmont though occasionally coming out of it, most notably in a team-up with Jack Knight, the son of Dodds' JSA teammate Starman. When Dian is diagnosed with a terminal disease, the two travel the world together until her death.",
"When Dian is diagnosed with a terminal disease, the two travel the world together until her death. Towards the end of his life, Dodds' prophetic dreams alert him to the identity and location of the new Doctor Fate, prompting him to contact the Gray Man, a being created from the residue of others' dreams, as well as his old friend Speed Saunders to instruct them to warn his former teammates about what he has discovered.",
"Towards the end of his life, Dodds' prophetic dreams alert him to the identity and location of the new Doctor Fate, prompting him to contact the Gray Man, a being created from the residue of others' dreams, as well as his old friend Speed Saunders to instruct them to warn his former teammates about what he has discovered. Waiting on a clifftop, he is subsequently confronted by the powerful villain Mordru, who intends to force Dodds to tell him the identity of the new Doctor Fate, only for Dodds to distract Mordru with his gas-gun long enough to commit suicide by jumping off the cliff rather than allow Mordru to torture him into submission.",
"Waiting on a clifftop, he is subsequently confronted by the powerful villain Mordru, who intends to force Dodds to tell him the identity of the new Doctor Fate, only for Dodds to distract Mordru with his gas-gun long enough to commit suicide by jumping off the cliff rather than allow Mordru to torture him into submission. His last thoughts were that his final slumber would be free of nightmares as he is reunited with Dian.",
"His last thoughts were that his final slumber would be free of nightmares as he is reunited with Dian. His youthful but now grown-up sidekick Sandy the Golden Boy becomes known simply as Sand and takes his mentor's place as a member of the Justice Society of America as well as his prophetic dreams. Eventually, he takes the name of Sandman. Sleep of Reason Wesley Dodds makes a comeback via flashback images in the 2006 limited series Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason.",
"Sleep of Reason Wesley Dodds makes a comeback via flashback images in the 2006 limited series Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason. Blackest Night Dodds is reanimated as a Black Lantern in the \"Blackest Night\" storyline. He and several other fallen JSAers attack the Brownstone, seeking the hearts of the living within. Exodus Noir Dodds appeared in the \"Exodus Noir\" arc of Madame Xanadu in 2010, in a story set in 1940.",
"Exodus Noir Dodds appeared in the \"Exodus Noir\" arc of Madame Xanadu in 2010, in a story set in 1940. DC Rebirth In the \"Watchmen\" sequel \"Doomsday Clock\", Lois Lane finds a flash-drive at the Daily Planet. It shows her footage of Sandman and the rest of the Justice Society. In the pages of \"Dark Nights: Death Metal\", the Prime-Earth version of Sandman was revealed to be entombed at the Valhalla Cemetery. Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring.",
"Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring. Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring. Powers and abilities Dodds has prophetic dreams which come to him as cryptic, ambiguous visions of crimes. Originally of unexplained origin, these dreams were later ascribed to an encounter between Dodds and the entity known as Dream via retcon. The visions haunt Dodds, who uses his keen intellect and amateur detective skills to properly interpret them.",
"The visions haunt Dodds, who uses his keen intellect and amateur detective skills to properly interpret them. He is also a talented chemist and inventor, creating the sand-like substance and the Silicoid Gun ultimately responsible for transforming Sandy the Golden Boy into a Silicon-based life-form. In the early years of his career, Wesley Dodds possesses the strength level of a man who engages in regular exercise, and was a fine hand-to-hand combatant. As he grows older, his strength level diminishes in relative proportion to his age.",
"As he grows older, his strength level diminishes in relative proportion to his age. As hobbies, Dodds enjoys reading, writing, poetry, origami and philosophy. Through an unknown process, Dodds passes his power of prophetic visions on to his former ward, Sanderson Hawkins upon the moment of his own death.",
"Through an unknown process, Dodds passes his power of prophetic visions on to his former ward, Sanderson Hawkins upon the moment of his own death. Wesley Dodds' costume consists of a basic green business suit, fedora, a World War I era gas mask, a gas gun, and a specially designed \"wirepoon\" gun, which fires a length of thin, steel cable. The gas mask protects Dodds from the effects of the gas emitted from his gas gun.",
"The gas mask protects Dodds from the effects of the gas emitted from his gas gun. The gas gun, a handheld device fitted with cartridges containing concentrated sleeping gas, is Wesley Dodds' only known weapon. Pressing the trigger on the gun releases a cloud of green dust rendering all within the Sandman's immediate vicinity unconscious. An upgraded canister dispenser for the gun is provided for him by his close friend and confidante, Lee Travis.",
"An upgraded canister dispenser for the gun is provided for him by his close friend and confidante, Lee Travis. Dodds is also known to conceal smaller knockout gas capsules in a hollow heel on his shoe. These prove ideal when placed in situations where his gas gun is not readily available. In the early days of his career, the Sandman drives a black 1938 Plymouth coupe. The car is enhanced with various features to aid Dodds in his crusade against crime.",
"The car is enhanced with various features to aid Dodds in his crusade against crime. Enemies Sandman has an assortment of enemies that he fought: Butcher - A cannibalistic butcher. Doctor Death - Raymond Kessler is a serial killer/swindler who is the boyfriend of Dian Belmont's cousin Lucy. Phantom of the Fair - Gerald Zimmerman is a man who has been torturing and killing homosexual men at the New York World's Fair. Ramulus - A plant-manipulating villain who was also known as Nightshade and Plant Master.",
"Ramulus - A plant-manipulating villain who was also known as Nightshade and Plant Master. He later appeared as a member of the Monster Society of Evil. Scorpion - Terrence Pritchard is an ad executive who becomes a bullwhip-wielding vigilante. Tarantula - A man who targeted Vivian Dale. There was also a second Tarantula that Sandman fought. This one was Roger Goldman who is a serial killer and the former owner of the Evergood Milk Bottling Company.",
"This one was Roger Goldman who is a serial killer and the former owner of the Evergood Milk Bottling Company. Other versions Kingdom Come Dodds appears as an infirm old man at the beginning of the graphic novel, plagued with visions of the impending apocalyptic battle between various factions of metahumans. Before his death, he relates his visions, interpreted through passages from the Book of Revelation, to Norman McCay, who later witnesses the events in the company of the Spectre.",
"Before his death, he relates his visions, interpreted through passages from the Book of Revelation, to Norman McCay, who later witnesses the events in the company of the Spectre. Earth 40 Wesley Dodds meets with The Unholy Three to give information about the Trigger, a device that causes every nuclear reactor in the world to detonate in a nuclear explosion. The Sandman arranges for The Unholy Three to meet with The Lantern, who has information on where the Trigger is located.",
"The Sandman arranges for The Unholy Three to meet with The Lantern, who has information on where the Trigger is located. Earth 2 In The New 52 (a reboot of DC Comics), a new Earth-2 version of Sandman appears. While he does wear a gas mask and wield a gas gun, he is also equipped with a teleporter. When Washington DC is attacked by Solomon Grundy, Commander Wesley Dodds, along with his Sandmen paramilitary force, is sent to retrieve and save President Lightfoot.",
"When Washington DC is attacked by Solomon Grundy, Commander Wesley Dodds, along with his Sandmen paramilitary force, is sent to retrieve and save President Lightfoot. They are later assigned by Commander Khan in a special and unofficial mission to infiltrate Terry Sloane's secret facility, where they confront and subdue a mind-controlled Michael Holt. In other media Television Animation Wesley Dodds / Sandman makes a non-speaking appearance in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode \"Crisis: 22,300 Miles Above Earth\".",
"In other media Television Animation Wesley Dodds / Sandman makes a non-speaking appearance in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode \"Crisis: 22,300 Miles Above Earth\". He is seen with the other members of the Justice Society of America. Sandman makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in the Young Justice episode \"Humanity\". He is shown with the other members of the JSA during a flashback sequence.",
"He is shown with the other members of the JSA during a flashback sequence. Live-action A character loosely inspired by the Sandman under the pseudonym of Nightshade makes recurring appearances in The Flash (1990), portrayed by Jason Bernard. This version is Dr. Desmond Powell, a 1950s vigilante who retained the Sandman's costume and captured criminals using a knockout gun and tranquilizer darts. After retiring as a vigilante after he defeated \"The Ghost\" in 1955, he later became a doctor and Chief of Staff at Central City Hospital.",
"After retiring as a vigilante after he defeated \"The Ghost\" in 1955, he later became a doctor and Chief of Staff at Central City Hospital. When the Ghost reappears in 1990, Powell becomes Nightshade once again and teams up with the Flash to apprehend his old enemy. He later unknowingly inspires the Deadly Nightshade. Powell is framed for multiple counts of murder, but clears his name and captures the impostor. He also makes his secret identity public and becomes a celebrity.",
"He also makes his secret identity public and becomes a celebrity. Wesley Dodds appeared in the Smallville two-hour special episode \"Absolute Justice\", portrayed by Ken Lawson. This version was a member of the now-disbanded Justice Society of America. After having a nightmare about losing his teammate, the Star-Spangled Kid, Dodds is killed by Icicle II. His body was later found by Clark Kent. Sandman's helmet appears in Rip Hunter's office in Legends of Tomorrow. Sandman appears in the series Stargirl.",
"Sandman appears in the series Stargirl. Sandman appears in the series Stargirl. He appears as a member of the Justice Society of America before the team was attacked and killed by the Injustice Society, with Dodds in particular being killed by Icicle. Film An alternate universe version of Sandman makes a cameo appearance in the animated film Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths. This version is a minor member of the Crime Syndicate of America. An alternate timeline version of Sandman appears in the animated film Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox.",
"An alternate timeline version of Sandman appears in the animated film Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox. This version is one of the few active superheroes in the dystopian \"Flashpoint\" timeline. Video games Wesley Dodds' costume appears in the background of the Hall of Justice in the video game Injustice: Gods Among Us. Web series Sandman makes a minor appearance in the DC Super Hero Girls episode \"Welcome to Super Hero High\". He appears as a graduate of the titular school.",
"He appears as a graduate of the titular school. He appears as a graduate of the titular school. Collected editions The Golden Age Sandman Archive Vol. 1 (Sandman stories from New York World's Fair Comics #1–2 and Adventure Comics #40–59) by Bert Christman and others.",
"1 (Sandman stories from New York World's Fair Comics #1–2 and Adventure Comics #40–59) by Bert Christman and others. Sandman by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby (World's Finest #6–7; Adventure Comics #72–102; Sandman #1) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 1: The Tarantula (Sandman Mystery Theatre #1–4) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 2: The Face and The Brute (Sandman Mystery Theatre #5–12) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 3: The Vamp (Sandman Mystery Theatre #13–16) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 4: The Scorpion (Sandman Mystery Theatre #17–20) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 5: Dr. Death and The Night of the Butcher (Sandman Mystery Theatre #21–28) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 6: The Hourman and The Python (Sandman Mystery Theatre #29–36) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 7: The Mist and The Phantom of the Fair (Sandman Mystery Theatre #37–44) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 8: The Blackhawk and The Return of the Scarlet Ghost (Sandman Mystery Theatre #45–52) Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason (Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason #1–5) References External links JSA Fact File: The Sandman Earth-2 Sandman Index] Sequart.com: \"The Sandman — Interlude: Sandman Mystery Theatre (1993–1998)\", by Julian Darius Characters created by Allen Bert Christman Characters created by Gardner Fox Comics characters introduced in 1939 DC Comics male superheroes Earth-Two Fictional businesspeople Fictional characters with precognition Fictional detectives Fictional scientists Fictional socialites Golden Age superheroes Jewish superheroes Sandman Vigilante characters in comics"
] |
[
"Sandman (Wesley Dodds)",
"Powers and abilities",
"What are his special abilities?",
"Dodds has prophetic dreams which come to him as cryptic, ambiguous visions of crimes."
] | C_66c8684ed1f04066a6bfcf6cee925937_0 | Is he able to fight the criminals? | 2 | Is Wesley Dodds able to fight the criminals? | Sandman (Wesley Dodds) | Dodds has prophetic dreams which come to him as cryptic, ambiguous visions of crimes. Originally of unexplained origin, these dreams were later ascribed to encounter between Dodds and the entity known as Dream via retcon. The visions haunt Wes, who uses his keen intellect and amateur detective skills to properly interpret them. He is also a talented chemist and inventor, creating the sand-like substance and the Silicoid Gun ultimately responsible for transforming Sandy the Golden Boy into a Silicon-based life-form. In the early years of his career, Wesley Dodds possesses the strength level of a man who engages in regular exercise, and was a fine hand-to-hand combatant. As he grows older, his strength level diminishes in relative proportion to his age. As hobbies, Wes enjoys reading, writing, poetry, origami and philosophy. Through an unknown process, Wes passes his power of prophetic visions on to his former ward, Sanderson Hawkins upon the moment of his own death. Wesley Dodds' costume consists of a basic green business suit, fedora, a World War I era gas mask, a gas gun, and a wire gun. The gas mask protects Dodds from the effects of the gas emitted from his gas gun. The gas gun, a handheld device fitted with cartridges containing concentrated sleeping gas, is Wesley Dodds' only known weapon. Pressing the trigger on the gun releases a cloud of green dust rendering all within the Sandman's immediate vicinity unconscious. An upgraded canister dispenser for the gun is provided for him by his close friend and confidante, Lee Travis. Wes is also known to conceal smaller knockout gas capsules in a hollow heel on his shoe. These prove ideal when placed in situations where his gas gun is not readily available. He also makes use of a specially designed "wirepoon" gun, which fires a length of thin, steel cable. In the early days of his career, the Sandman drives a black 1938 Plymouth Coupe. The car is enhanced with various features to aid Wes in his crusade against crime. CANNOTANSWER | These prove ideal when placed in situations where his gas gun is not readily available. | Sandman (Wesley Dodds) is a fictional superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first of several DC characters to bear the name Sandman, he was created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Bert Christman. Attired in a green business suit, a fedora, and a World War I gas mask, the Sandman used a gun emitting a sleeping gas to sedate criminals. He was originally one of the mystery men to appear in comic books and other types of adventure fiction in the 1930s but later was outfitted with a unitard/cowl costume and developed into a proper superhero, acquiring sidekick Sandy, and founding the Justice Society of America.
Like most DC Golden Age superheroes, the Sandman fell into obscurity in the 1940s and eventually other DC characters took his name. During the 1990s, when writer Neil Gaiman's Sandman (featuring Morpheus, the anthropomorphic embodiment of dreams) was popular, DC revived Dodds in Sandman Mystery Theatre, a pulp/noir series set in the 1930s. Wizard Magazine ranked Wesley Dodds among the Top 200 Comic Book Characters of All Time, and he is the oldest superhero in terms of continuity to appear on the list.
Publication history
Golden Age of comic books
Artist Bert Christman and writer Gardner Fox are generally credited as co-creating the original, Wesley Dodds version of the DC Comics character the Sandman. While the character's first appearance is usually given as Adventure Comics #40 (cover-dated July 1939), he also appeared in DC Comics' 1939 New York World's Fair Comics omnibus, which historians believe appeared on newsstands one to two weeks earlier, while also believing the Adventure Comics story was written and drawn first. Each of the two stories' scripts were credited to the pseudonym "Larry Dean"; Fox wrote the untitled, 10-page story in New York World's Fair #1, while he simply plotted, and Christman scripted, the untitled, six-page story, generally known as "The Tarantula Strikes", in Adventure #40. Creig Flessel, who drew many early Sandman adventures, has sometimes been credited as co-creator on the basis of drawing the Sandman cover of Adventure #40, but no other evidence has surfaced.
Following these two first appearances, the feature "The Sandman" continued to appear in the omnibus Adventure Comics through #102 (February–March 1946). One of the medium's seminal "mystery men", as referred to at the time, the Sandman straddled the pulp magazine detective tradition and the emerging superhero tradition by dint of his dual identity and his fanciful, masked attire and weapon: an exotic "gas gun" that could compel villains to tell the truth, as well as put them to sleep. Unlike many superheroes, he frequently found himself the victim of gunshot wounds, both in the Golden Age and in stories in DC's modern-day Vertigo imprint, and he would continue fighting in spite of his injuries.
In his early career, Dodds (the character's surname was given as "Dodd" in his first four appearances; he became "Dodds" in Adventure Comics #44) was frequently aided by his girlfriend, Dian Belmont, who is aware of his dual identity. Unlike many superhero love interests, Belmont was often, though not always, portrayed as an equal partner of the Sandman, rather than a damsel in distress. Later stories would reveal that the two remained together for the duration of their lives, though they never married.
The Sandman was one of the original members of the Justice Society of America when that superhero team was introduced in All Star Comics #3, published by All-American Comics, one of the companies that would merge to form DC.
In Adventure Comics #69 (December 1941), Dodds was given a yellow-and-purple costume by writer Mort Weisinger and artist Paul Norris, as well as a yellow-clad kid sidekick, Sandy the Golden Boy, nephew of Dian Belmont. Later that year, the celebrated team of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby took over this version of the character. In 1942, Dodds enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as an anti-aircraft gunner during World War II.
Silver Age to Modern Age
Reintroduced in the Silver Age in Justice League of America #46 (July 1966), the Sandman made occasional appearances in the annual teamups between that superhero group and the JSA.
In 1981 DC began publishing All-Star Squadron, a retelling of the Earth-Two mystery-men during WWII. Although not a main character, Sandman does appear in its pages. Of note is issue #18 which gives an explanation of why Dodds changed costumes from the cloak and gas mask to the yellow-and-purple outfit; Dian wore his costume while he was fighting elsewhere and she was killed in a fray. Dodds decided to wear the new costume, of Dian's design, until he could bring himself to wear the original in which she had died.
Later, this explanation would be changed again when Dian Belmont was retconned to have never died, and a new explanation was given: Sandy convinced Dodds to switch to the more colorful costume to gain the support of regular people, who preferred the more traditional superhero look to his older, pulp-themed costume.
An acclaimed film noir-inspired retelling of the original Sandman's adventures, Sandman Mystery Theatre, ran from 1993 to 1998 under DC Comics' Vertigo mature-reader imprint. Although as a whole its continuity within the DC Universe is debatable, several elements of the series – the more nuanced relationship between Dodds and Dian Belmont; the Sandman's appearance (wearing a trench coat and World War I gas mask instead of the cape and the custom-made gas mask); and Dodds' pudgier appearance and wearing of glasses – have been adopted into regular continuity. The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual.
In Sandman Midnight Theatre (1995) a one-shot special by Neil Gaiman (author of the Modern Age supernatural series The Sandman), Matt Wagner (co-author of Sandman Mystery Theatre), and Teddy Kristiansen, depicts an interaction between the two characters, with the original visiting Great Britain and encountering the imprisoned Dream, the protagonist of Gaiman's series. A minor retcon by Gaiman suggested that Dodds' chosen identity was a result of Dream's absence from the realm the Dreaming, and that Dodds carries an aspect of that mystical realm. This explains Dodds' prophetic dreams.
Twilight years
Dodds is one of a number of Justice Society members who finds themselves in the "Ragnarok Dimension" during the early Modern Age of comic books. The Last Days of the Justice Society of America Special (1986) wrote the post-Crisis tale of a time-warped wave of destruction ready to engulf the world. Dodds and his JSA teammates enter into a limbo to engage in an eternal battle that would allow the universe to continue its existence. This was later revealed to be a simulation created by Odin, which he intended to give to Dream as a bribe. Dodds, Dream's protege, and Hawkman, the grandfather of Dream's appointed successor are the only JSA members who were seen at that time. This lasted only until 1992 when DC published Armageddon: Inferno. This mini-series ended with the JSA members leaving limbo and entering the 'real' world. Justice Society of America (1992–1993) showed how the JSA members handled returning to normal life. For the Sandman, the series depicted him as an old, thin man with a balding scalp and a sharp wit. Starting with issue #1 his physical condition became important as writer Len Strazewski had him suffer a stroke at the first sign of a villainous attack. Both his age and his physical limitations became a theme writers would use in this character's post-Crisis stories.
During Zero Hour, Dodds is returned to his proper age by the Extant. Later, Wesley Dodds is shown as retired and living with Dian Belmont though occasionally coming out of it, most notably in a team-up with Jack Knight, the son of Dodds' JSA teammate Starman. When Dian is diagnosed with a terminal disease, the two travel the world together until her death.
Towards the end of his life, Dodds' prophetic dreams alert him to the identity and location of the new Doctor Fate, prompting him to contact the Gray Man, a being created from the residue of others' dreams, as well as his old friend Speed Saunders to instruct them to warn his former teammates about what he has discovered. Waiting on a clifftop, he is subsequently confronted by the powerful villain Mordru, who intends to force Dodds to tell him the identity of the new Doctor Fate, only for Dodds to distract Mordru with his gas-gun long enough to commit suicide by jumping off the cliff rather than allow Mordru to torture him into submission. His last thoughts were that his final slumber would be free of nightmares as he is reunited with Dian. His youthful but now grown-up sidekick Sandy the Golden Boy becomes known simply as Sand and takes his mentor's place as a member of the Justice Society of America as well as his prophetic dreams. Eventually, he takes the name of Sandman.
Sleep of Reason
Wesley Dodds makes a comeback via flashback images in the 2006 limited series Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason.
Blackest Night
Dodds is reanimated as a Black Lantern in the "Blackest Night" storyline. He and several other fallen JSAers attack the Brownstone, seeking the hearts of the living within.
Exodus Noir
Dodds appeared in the "Exodus Noir" arc of Madame Xanadu in 2010, in a story set in 1940.
DC Rebirth
In the "Watchmen" sequel "Doomsday Clock", Lois Lane finds a flash-drive at the Daily Planet. It shows her footage of Sandman and the rest of the Justice Society.
In the pages of "Dark Nights: Death Metal", the Prime-Earth version of Sandman was revealed to be entombed at the Valhalla Cemetery. Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring.
Powers and abilities
Dodds has prophetic dreams which come to him as cryptic, ambiguous visions of crimes. Originally of unexplained origin, these dreams were later ascribed to an encounter between Dodds and the entity known as Dream via retcon. The visions haunt Dodds, who uses his keen intellect and amateur detective skills to properly interpret them. He is also a talented chemist and inventor, creating the sand-like substance and the Silicoid Gun ultimately responsible for transforming Sandy the Golden Boy into a Silicon-based life-form. In the early years of his career, Wesley Dodds possesses the strength level of a man who engages in regular exercise, and was a fine hand-to-hand combatant. As he grows older, his strength level diminishes in relative proportion to his age. As hobbies, Dodds enjoys reading, writing, poetry, origami and philosophy. Through an unknown process, Dodds passes his power of prophetic visions on to his former ward, Sanderson Hawkins upon the moment of his own death.
Wesley Dodds' costume consists of a basic green business suit, fedora, a World War I era gas mask, a gas gun, and a specially designed "wirepoon" gun, which fires a length of thin, steel cable. The gas mask protects Dodds from the effects of the gas emitted from his gas gun. The gas gun, a handheld device fitted with cartridges containing concentrated sleeping gas, is Wesley Dodds' only known weapon. Pressing the trigger on the gun releases a cloud of green dust rendering all within the Sandman's immediate vicinity unconscious. An upgraded canister dispenser for the gun is provided for him by his close friend and confidante, Lee Travis. Dodds is also known to conceal smaller knockout gas capsules in a hollow heel on his shoe. These prove ideal when placed in situations where his gas gun is not readily available.
In the early days of his career, the Sandman drives a black 1938 Plymouth coupe. The car is enhanced with various features to aid Dodds in his crusade against crime.
Enemies
Sandman has an assortment of enemies that he fought:
Butcher - A cannibalistic butcher.
Doctor Death - Raymond Kessler is a serial killer/swindler who is the boyfriend of Dian Belmont's cousin Lucy.
Phantom of the Fair - Gerald Zimmerman is a man who has been torturing and killing homosexual men at the New York World's Fair.
Ramulus - A plant-manipulating villain who was also known as Nightshade and Plant Master. He later appeared as a member of the Monster Society of Evil.
Scorpion - Terrence Pritchard is an ad executive who becomes a bullwhip-wielding vigilante.
Tarantula - A man who targeted Vivian Dale. There was also a second Tarantula that Sandman fought. This one was Roger Goldman who is a serial killer and the former owner of the Evergood Milk Bottling Company.
Other versions
Kingdom Come
Dodds appears as an infirm old man at the beginning of the graphic novel, plagued with visions of the impending apocalyptic battle between various factions of metahumans. Before his death, he relates his visions, interpreted through passages from the Book of Revelation, to Norman McCay, who later witnesses the events in the company of the Spectre.
Earth 40
Wesley Dodds meets with The Unholy Three to give information about the Trigger, a device that causes every nuclear reactor in the world to detonate in a nuclear explosion. The Sandman arranges for The Unholy Three to meet with The Lantern, who has information on where the Trigger is located.
Earth 2
In The New 52 (a reboot of DC Comics), a new Earth-2 version of Sandman appears. While he does wear a gas mask and wield a gas gun, he is also equipped with a teleporter. When Washington DC is attacked by Solomon Grundy, Commander Wesley Dodds, along with his Sandmen paramilitary force, is sent to retrieve and save President Lightfoot. They are later assigned by Commander Khan in a special and unofficial mission to infiltrate Terry Sloane's secret facility, where they confront and subdue a mind-controlled Michael Holt.
In other media
Television
Animation
Wesley Dodds / Sandman makes a non-speaking appearance in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode "Crisis: 22,300 Miles Above Earth". He is seen with the other members of the Justice Society of America.
Sandman makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in the Young Justice episode "Humanity". He is shown with the other members of the JSA during a flashback sequence.
Live-action
A character loosely inspired by the Sandman under the pseudonym of Nightshade makes recurring appearances in The Flash (1990), portrayed by Jason Bernard. This version is Dr. Desmond Powell, a 1950s vigilante who retained the Sandman's costume and captured criminals using a knockout gun and tranquilizer darts. After retiring as a vigilante after he defeated "The Ghost" in 1955, he later became a doctor and Chief of Staff at Central City Hospital. When the Ghost reappears in 1990, Powell becomes Nightshade once again and teams up with the Flash to apprehend his old enemy. He later unknowingly inspires the Deadly Nightshade. Powell is framed for multiple counts of murder, but clears his name and captures the impostor. He also makes his secret identity public and becomes a celebrity.
Wesley Dodds appeared in the Smallville two-hour special episode "Absolute Justice", portrayed by Ken Lawson. This version was a member of the now-disbanded Justice Society of America. After having a nightmare about losing his teammate, the Star-Spangled Kid, Dodds is killed by Icicle II. His body was later found by Clark Kent.
Sandman's helmet appears in Rip Hunter's office in Legends of Tomorrow.
Sandman appears in the series Stargirl. He appears as a member of the Justice Society of America before the team was attacked and killed by the Injustice Society, with Dodds in particular being killed by Icicle.
Film
An alternate universe version of Sandman makes a cameo appearance in the animated film Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths. This version is a minor member of the Crime Syndicate of America.
An alternate timeline version of Sandman appears in the animated film Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox. This version is one of the few active superheroes in the dystopian "Flashpoint" timeline.
Video games
Wesley Dodds' costume appears in the background of the Hall of Justice in the video game Injustice: Gods Among Us.
Web series
Sandman makes a minor appearance in the DC Super Hero Girls episode "Welcome to Super Hero High". He appears as a graduate of the titular school.
Collected editions
The Golden Age Sandman Archive Vol. 1 (Sandman stories from New York World's Fair Comics #1–2 and Adventure Comics #40–59) by Bert Christman and others.
Sandman by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby (World's Finest #6–7; Adventure Comics #72–102; Sandman #1)
Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 1: The Tarantula (Sandman Mystery Theatre #1–4)
Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 2: The Face and The Brute (Sandman Mystery Theatre #5–12)
Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 3: The Vamp (Sandman Mystery Theatre #13–16)
Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 4: The Scorpion (Sandman Mystery Theatre #17–20)
Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 5: Dr. Death and The Night of the Butcher (Sandman Mystery Theatre #21–28)
Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 6: The Hourman and The Python (Sandman Mystery Theatre #29–36)
Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 7: The Mist and The Phantom of the Fair (Sandman Mystery Theatre #37–44)
Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 8: The Blackhawk and The Return of the Scarlet Ghost (Sandman Mystery Theatre #45–52)
Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason (Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason #1–5)
References
External links
JSA Fact File: The Sandman
Earth-2 Sandman Index]
Sequart.com: "The Sandman — Interlude: Sandman Mystery Theatre (1993–1998)", by Julian Darius
Characters created by Allen Bert Christman
Characters created by Gardner Fox
Comics characters introduced in 1939
DC Comics male superheroes
Earth-Two
Fictional businesspeople
Fictional characters with precognition
Fictional detectives
Fictional scientists
Fictional socialites
Golden Age superheroes
Jewish superheroes
Sandman
Vigilante characters in comics | true | [
"Ofir Drori (; born 26 April 1976) is an Israeli writer and activist based in Central Africa. He started as an activist against wildlife trafficking, and expanded to anti-corruption, democracy and human rights activism throughout Africa.\n\nActivism\nHe is the founder of LAGA – the Last Great Ape Organisation, an enforcement non-governmental organization that fights corruption in order to bring about to the arrests and prosecutions of major wildlife criminals dealing in endangered animal species. LAGA's award-winning model for a wildlife law enforcement NGO has started in Cameroon and is now replicated in the Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, and Gabon.\n\nIn 2005, based on the experience of fighting corruption in the judiciary and the forces of law and order, he has founded another NGO, called Anti Corruption in Cameroon, or AC–Cameroon, which focuses on establishing Anti-Corruption law enforcement in Cameroon, and involving citizens in the fight against corruption through direct legal action.\n\nDrori is a co-founder of The EAGLE Network.\n\nCrocodile attack\nIn December 2013, Drori was attacked by a 3-meter long Nile crocodile while vacationing along the Omo River in Ethiopia, but he managed to escape death. Despite his injuries Drori was able to survive in the wilderness for two days and reach tribesmen and eventually was evacuated to hospital in Addis Ababa, and then to a hospital in Israel. This incident is reminiscent of Australian eco-activist Val Plumwood who also survived a crocodile attack in 1985, and she subsequently wrote of it in her landmark 1996 essay \"Being Prey\".\n\nHonors and awards\nIn 2012 he was awarded the prestigious World Wildlife Fund Duke of Edinburgh Conservation Medal for his work. He also received the Interpol Ecomessage Award, The Clark Bavin Enforcement award and the Condé Nast Traveler Environment Award for his work, as well as the Future For Nature Award and the Shining World Compassion Award.\n\nPublished works\nDrori co-wrote The Last Great Ape: A Journey Through Africa and a Fight for the Heart of the Continent with David McDannald ().\n\nReferences \n\n 'Man in black' fights for Cameroon apes Man in Black Fights, BBC News, June 15, 2007\n Cameroon: Fight Against Wildlife Criminals Formalised allAfrica.com, March 2007\n Jail for Cameroon chimp trafficker BBC News, July 25, 2003\n How Saving One Chimp Led to a New Kind of Anti-Poaching Group, National Geographic, June 2016\n African Conservation Group With Unusual Mission: Enforcement, The New York Times, October 2015\n Tedx Ede 2016\n\nExternal links\n LAGA - The Last Great Ape Organization\n EAGLE Network\n\nIsraeli activists\nLiving people\n1976 births",
"The Tiger Blade ( or Seua khaap daap) is a 2005 Thai action film.\n\nPlot\nA gang of criminals with supernatural powers, led by Mahesak, break a rebel Karen warlord Kaoyot out of prison, and plan to steal the national treasury of Thailand in order to fund Kaoyot's continuing fight. A secret police unit, led by Yosthana engages the criminals in various battles. Among the criminals they must face are the Five Bullets Bandit and the female warrior, G.I. Jenjila.\n\nThough the police unit puts up a good fight, among them female officer Deungdao, in order to ultimately defeat the criminals, they need to use magic. So Yosthana obtains an old, magical sword, which is activated by the menstrual blood of a virgin.\n\nCast\nAtsadawut Luengsuntorn as Yosthana\nPhimonrat Phisarayabud as Deungdao\nPongpat Wachirabunjong as Kaoyot\nSrungsuda Lawanprasert as G.I. Jenjila\nAmornrit Sriphung as Mahesak\nChalad na Songkhla as Five Bullets Bandit\nAnnan Bunnak as Red Beard\n\nRelease\nThe Tiger Blade was released on October 27, 2005 in Thailand cinemas, where critical and box-office response was practically non-existent.\n\nThe film received more attention overseas. The Canada-based genre film website, Twitch, praised the film as \"pure guilty pleasure\" while acknowledging weaknesses that included an unnecessarily convoluted and complicated plot, subpar computer-generated imagery, and poorly framed and edited action sequences. \"This is all true. But, damn it, what [The Tiger Blade] does well it does really well, and what it does well is have fun,\" Twitch's Todd Brown wrote.\n\nThe film was released on an all-region DVD in Thailand, with English subtitles, but that release is censored to blur out guns, smoking and alcohol consumption. Subsequent DVD releases in Canada, France (by Luc Besson's EuropaCorp), Japan and Hong Kong are uncensored. The movie has also been release on Blu-ray disc\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nOfficial site \n\n2005 films\nThai films\nThai-language films\n2005 action films\nThai martial arts films"
] | [
"Sandman (Wesley Dodds) is a fictional superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first of several DC characters to bear the name Sandman, he was created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Bert Christman. Attired in a green business suit, a fedora, and a World War I gas mask, the Sandman used a gun emitting a sleeping gas to sedate criminals.",
"Attired in a green business suit, a fedora, and a World War I gas mask, the Sandman used a gun emitting a sleeping gas to sedate criminals. He was originally one of the mystery men to appear in comic books and other types of adventure fiction in the 1930s but later was outfitted with a unitard/cowl costume and developed into a proper superhero, acquiring sidekick Sandy, and founding the Justice Society of America.",
"He was originally one of the mystery men to appear in comic books and other types of adventure fiction in the 1930s but later was outfitted with a unitard/cowl costume and developed into a proper superhero, acquiring sidekick Sandy, and founding the Justice Society of America. Like most DC Golden Age superheroes, the Sandman fell into obscurity in the 1940s and eventually other DC characters took his name.",
"Like most DC Golden Age superheroes, the Sandman fell into obscurity in the 1940s and eventually other DC characters took his name. During the 1990s, when writer Neil Gaiman's Sandman (featuring Morpheus, the anthropomorphic embodiment of dreams) was popular, DC revived Dodds in Sandman Mystery Theatre, a pulp/noir series set in the 1930s. Wizard Magazine ranked Wesley Dodds among the Top 200 Comic Book Characters of All Time, and he is the oldest superhero in terms of continuity to appear on the list.",
"Wizard Magazine ranked Wesley Dodds among the Top 200 Comic Book Characters of All Time, and he is the oldest superhero in terms of continuity to appear on the list. Publication history Golden Age of comic books Artist Bert Christman and writer Gardner Fox are generally credited as co-creating the original, Wesley Dodds version of the DC Comics character the Sandman.",
"Publication history Golden Age of comic books Artist Bert Christman and writer Gardner Fox are generally credited as co-creating the original, Wesley Dodds version of the DC Comics character the Sandman. While the character's first appearance is usually given as Adventure Comics #40 (cover-dated July 1939), he also appeared in DC Comics' 1939 New York World's Fair Comics omnibus, which historians believe appeared on newsstands one to two weeks earlier, while also believing the Adventure Comics story was written and drawn first.",
"While the character's first appearance is usually given as Adventure Comics #40 (cover-dated July 1939), he also appeared in DC Comics' 1939 New York World's Fair Comics omnibus, which historians believe appeared on newsstands one to two weeks earlier, while also believing the Adventure Comics story was written and drawn first. Each of the two stories' scripts were credited to the pseudonym \"Larry Dean\"; Fox wrote the untitled, 10-page story in New York World's Fair #1, while he simply plotted, and Christman scripted, the untitled, six-page story, generally known as \"The Tarantula Strikes\", in Adventure #40.",
"Each of the two stories' scripts were credited to the pseudonym \"Larry Dean\"; Fox wrote the untitled, 10-page story in New York World's Fair #1, while he simply plotted, and Christman scripted, the untitled, six-page story, generally known as \"The Tarantula Strikes\", in Adventure #40. Creig Flessel, who drew many early Sandman adventures, has sometimes been credited as co-creator on the basis of drawing the Sandman cover of Adventure #40, but no other evidence has surfaced.",
"Creig Flessel, who drew many early Sandman adventures, has sometimes been credited as co-creator on the basis of drawing the Sandman cover of Adventure #40, but no other evidence has surfaced. Following these two first appearances, the feature \"The Sandman\" continued to appear in the omnibus Adventure Comics through #102 (February–March 1946).",
"Following these two first appearances, the feature \"The Sandman\" continued to appear in the omnibus Adventure Comics through #102 (February–March 1946). One of the medium's seminal \"mystery men\", as referred to at the time, the Sandman straddled the pulp magazine detective tradition and the emerging superhero tradition by dint of his dual identity and his fanciful, masked attire and weapon: an exotic \"gas gun\" that could compel villains to tell the truth, as well as put them to sleep.",
"One of the medium's seminal \"mystery men\", as referred to at the time, the Sandman straddled the pulp magazine detective tradition and the emerging superhero tradition by dint of his dual identity and his fanciful, masked attire and weapon: an exotic \"gas gun\" that could compel villains to tell the truth, as well as put them to sleep. Unlike many superheroes, he frequently found himself the victim of gunshot wounds, both in the Golden Age and in stories in DC's modern-day Vertigo imprint, and he would continue fighting in spite of his injuries.",
"Unlike many superheroes, he frequently found himself the victim of gunshot wounds, both in the Golden Age and in stories in DC's modern-day Vertigo imprint, and he would continue fighting in spite of his injuries. In his early career, Dodds (the character's surname was given as \"Dodd\" in his first four appearances; he became \"Dodds\" in Adventure Comics #44) was frequently aided by his girlfriend, Dian Belmont, who is aware of his dual identity.",
"In his early career, Dodds (the character's surname was given as \"Dodd\" in his first four appearances; he became \"Dodds\" in Adventure Comics #44) was frequently aided by his girlfriend, Dian Belmont, who is aware of his dual identity. Unlike many superhero love interests, Belmont was often, though not always, portrayed as an equal partner of the Sandman, rather than a damsel in distress.",
"Unlike many superhero love interests, Belmont was often, though not always, portrayed as an equal partner of the Sandman, rather than a damsel in distress. Later stories would reveal that the two remained together for the duration of their lives, though they never married. The Sandman was one of the original members of the Justice Society of America when that superhero team was introduced in All Star Comics #3, published by All-American Comics, one of the companies that would merge to form DC.",
"The Sandman was one of the original members of the Justice Society of America when that superhero team was introduced in All Star Comics #3, published by All-American Comics, one of the companies that would merge to form DC. In Adventure Comics #69 (December 1941), Dodds was given a yellow-and-purple costume by writer Mort Weisinger and artist Paul Norris, as well as a yellow-clad kid sidekick, Sandy the Golden Boy, nephew of Dian Belmont.",
"In Adventure Comics #69 (December 1941), Dodds was given a yellow-and-purple costume by writer Mort Weisinger and artist Paul Norris, as well as a yellow-clad kid sidekick, Sandy the Golden Boy, nephew of Dian Belmont. Later that year, the celebrated team of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby took over this version of the character. In 1942, Dodds enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as an anti-aircraft gunner during World War II.",
"In 1942, Dodds enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as an anti-aircraft gunner during World War II. Silver Age to Modern Age Reintroduced in the Silver Age in Justice League of America #46 (July 1966), the Sandman made occasional appearances in the annual teamups between that superhero group and the JSA. In 1981 DC began publishing All-Star Squadron, a retelling of the Earth-Two mystery-men during WWII. Although not a main character, Sandman does appear in its pages.",
"Although not a main character, Sandman does appear in its pages. Of note is issue #18 which gives an explanation of why Dodds changed costumes from the cloak and gas mask to the yellow-and-purple outfit; Dian wore his costume while he was fighting elsewhere and she was killed in a fray. Dodds decided to wear the new costume, of Dian's design, until he could bring himself to wear the original in which she had died.",
"Dodds decided to wear the new costume, of Dian's design, until he could bring himself to wear the original in which she had died. Later, this explanation would be changed again when Dian Belmont was retconned to have never died, and a new explanation was given: Sandy convinced Dodds to switch to the more colorful costume to gain the support of regular people, who preferred the more traditional superhero look to his older, pulp-themed costume.",
"Later, this explanation would be changed again when Dian Belmont was retconned to have never died, and a new explanation was given: Sandy convinced Dodds to switch to the more colorful costume to gain the support of regular people, who preferred the more traditional superhero look to his older, pulp-themed costume. An acclaimed film noir-inspired retelling of the original Sandman's adventures, Sandman Mystery Theatre, ran from 1993 to 1998 under DC Comics' Vertigo mature-reader imprint.",
"An acclaimed film noir-inspired retelling of the original Sandman's adventures, Sandman Mystery Theatre, ran from 1993 to 1998 under DC Comics' Vertigo mature-reader imprint. Although as a whole its continuity within the DC Universe is debatable, several elements of the series – the more nuanced relationship between Dodds and Dian Belmont; the Sandman's appearance (wearing a trench coat and World War I gas mask instead of the cape and the custom-made gas mask); and Dodds' pudgier appearance and wearing of glasses – have been adopted into regular continuity.",
"Although as a whole its continuity within the DC Universe is debatable, several elements of the series – the more nuanced relationship between Dodds and Dian Belmont; the Sandman's appearance (wearing a trench coat and World War I gas mask instead of the cape and the custom-made gas mask); and Dodds' pudgier appearance and wearing of glasses – have been adopted into regular continuity. The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual.",
"The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual. The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual. In Sandman Midnight Theatre (1995) a one-shot special by Neil Gaiman (author of the Modern Age supernatural series The Sandman), Matt Wagner (co-author of Sandman Mystery Theatre), and Teddy Kristiansen, depicts an interaction between the two characters, with the original visiting Great Britain and encountering the imprisoned Dream, the protagonist of Gaiman's series.",
"In Sandman Midnight Theatre (1995) a one-shot special by Neil Gaiman (author of the Modern Age supernatural series The Sandman), Matt Wagner (co-author of Sandman Mystery Theatre), and Teddy Kristiansen, depicts an interaction between the two characters, with the original visiting Great Britain and encountering the imprisoned Dream, the protagonist of Gaiman's series. A minor retcon by Gaiman suggested that Dodds' chosen identity was a result of Dream's absence from the realm the Dreaming, and that Dodds carries an aspect of that mystical realm.",
"A minor retcon by Gaiman suggested that Dodds' chosen identity was a result of Dream's absence from the realm the Dreaming, and that Dodds carries an aspect of that mystical realm. This explains Dodds' prophetic dreams. Twilight years Dodds is one of a number of Justice Society members who finds themselves in the \"Ragnarok Dimension\" during the early Modern Age of comic books.",
"Twilight years Dodds is one of a number of Justice Society members who finds themselves in the \"Ragnarok Dimension\" during the early Modern Age of comic books. The Last Days of the Justice Society of America Special (1986) wrote the post-Crisis tale of a time-warped wave of destruction ready to engulf the world. Dodds and his JSA teammates enter into a limbo to engage in an eternal battle that would allow the universe to continue its existence.",
"Dodds and his JSA teammates enter into a limbo to engage in an eternal battle that would allow the universe to continue its existence. This was later revealed to be a simulation created by Odin, which he intended to give to Dream as a bribe. Dodds, Dream's protege, and Hawkman, the grandfather of Dream's appointed successor are the only JSA members who were seen at that time. This lasted only until 1992 when DC published Armageddon: Inferno.",
"This lasted only until 1992 when DC published Armageddon: Inferno. This mini-series ended with the JSA members leaving limbo and entering the 'real' world. Justice Society of America (1992–1993) showed how the JSA members handled returning to normal life. For the Sandman, the series depicted him as an old, thin man with a balding scalp and a sharp wit. Starting with issue #1 his physical condition became important as writer Len Strazewski had him suffer a stroke at the first sign of a villainous attack.",
"Starting with issue #1 his physical condition became important as writer Len Strazewski had him suffer a stroke at the first sign of a villainous attack. Both his age and his physical limitations became a theme writers would use in this character's post-Crisis stories. During Zero Hour, Dodds is returned to his proper age by the Extant.",
"During Zero Hour, Dodds is returned to his proper age by the Extant. Later, Wesley Dodds is shown as retired and living with Dian Belmont though occasionally coming out of it, most notably in a team-up with Jack Knight, the son of Dodds' JSA teammate Starman. When Dian is diagnosed with a terminal disease, the two travel the world together until her death.",
"When Dian is diagnosed with a terminal disease, the two travel the world together until her death. Towards the end of his life, Dodds' prophetic dreams alert him to the identity and location of the new Doctor Fate, prompting him to contact the Gray Man, a being created from the residue of others' dreams, as well as his old friend Speed Saunders to instruct them to warn his former teammates about what he has discovered.",
"Towards the end of his life, Dodds' prophetic dreams alert him to the identity and location of the new Doctor Fate, prompting him to contact the Gray Man, a being created from the residue of others' dreams, as well as his old friend Speed Saunders to instruct them to warn his former teammates about what he has discovered. Waiting on a clifftop, he is subsequently confronted by the powerful villain Mordru, who intends to force Dodds to tell him the identity of the new Doctor Fate, only for Dodds to distract Mordru with his gas-gun long enough to commit suicide by jumping off the cliff rather than allow Mordru to torture him into submission.",
"Waiting on a clifftop, he is subsequently confronted by the powerful villain Mordru, who intends to force Dodds to tell him the identity of the new Doctor Fate, only for Dodds to distract Mordru with his gas-gun long enough to commit suicide by jumping off the cliff rather than allow Mordru to torture him into submission. His last thoughts were that his final slumber would be free of nightmares as he is reunited with Dian.",
"His last thoughts were that his final slumber would be free of nightmares as he is reunited with Dian. His youthful but now grown-up sidekick Sandy the Golden Boy becomes known simply as Sand and takes his mentor's place as a member of the Justice Society of America as well as his prophetic dreams. Eventually, he takes the name of Sandman. Sleep of Reason Wesley Dodds makes a comeback via flashback images in the 2006 limited series Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason.",
"Sleep of Reason Wesley Dodds makes a comeback via flashback images in the 2006 limited series Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason. Blackest Night Dodds is reanimated as a Black Lantern in the \"Blackest Night\" storyline. He and several other fallen JSAers attack the Brownstone, seeking the hearts of the living within. Exodus Noir Dodds appeared in the \"Exodus Noir\" arc of Madame Xanadu in 2010, in a story set in 1940.",
"Exodus Noir Dodds appeared in the \"Exodus Noir\" arc of Madame Xanadu in 2010, in a story set in 1940. DC Rebirth In the \"Watchmen\" sequel \"Doomsday Clock\", Lois Lane finds a flash-drive at the Daily Planet. It shows her footage of Sandman and the rest of the Justice Society. In the pages of \"Dark Nights: Death Metal\", the Prime-Earth version of Sandman was revealed to be entombed at the Valhalla Cemetery. Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring.",
"Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring. Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring. Powers and abilities Dodds has prophetic dreams which come to him as cryptic, ambiguous visions of crimes. Originally of unexplained origin, these dreams were later ascribed to an encounter between Dodds and the entity known as Dream via retcon. The visions haunt Dodds, who uses his keen intellect and amateur detective skills to properly interpret them.",
"The visions haunt Dodds, who uses his keen intellect and amateur detective skills to properly interpret them. He is also a talented chemist and inventor, creating the sand-like substance and the Silicoid Gun ultimately responsible for transforming Sandy the Golden Boy into a Silicon-based life-form. In the early years of his career, Wesley Dodds possesses the strength level of a man who engages in regular exercise, and was a fine hand-to-hand combatant. As he grows older, his strength level diminishes in relative proportion to his age.",
"As he grows older, his strength level diminishes in relative proportion to his age. As hobbies, Dodds enjoys reading, writing, poetry, origami and philosophy. Through an unknown process, Dodds passes his power of prophetic visions on to his former ward, Sanderson Hawkins upon the moment of his own death.",
"Through an unknown process, Dodds passes his power of prophetic visions on to his former ward, Sanderson Hawkins upon the moment of his own death. Wesley Dodds' costume consists of a basic green business suit, fedora, a World War I era gas mask, a gas gun, and a specially designed \"wirepoon\" gun, which fires a length of thin, steel cable. The gas mask protects Dodds from the effects of the gas emitted from his gas gun.",
"The gas mask protects Dodds from the effects of the gas emitted from his gas gun. The gas gun, a handheld device fitted with cartridges containing concentrated sleeping gas, is Wesley Dodds' only known weapon. Pressing the trigger on the gun releases a cloud of green dust rendering all within the Sandman's immediate vicinity unconscious. An upgraded canister dispenser for the gun is provided for him by his close friend and confidante, Lee Travis.",
"An upgraded canister dispenser for the gun is provided for him by his close friend and confidante, Lee Travis. Dodds is also known to conceal smaller knockout gas capsules in a hollow heel on his shoe. These prove ideal when placed in situations where his gas gun is not readily available. In the early days of his career, the Sandman drives a black 1938 Plymouth coupe. The car is enhanced with various features to aid Dodds in his crusade against crime.",
"The car is enhanced with various features to aid Dodds in his crusade against crime. Enemies Sandman has an assortment of enemies that he fought: Butcher - A cannibalistic butcher. Doctor Death - Raymond Kessler is a serial killer/swindler who is the boyfriend of Dian Belmont's cousin Lucy. Phantom of the Fair - Gerald Zimmerman is a man who has been torturing and killing homosexual men at the New York World's Fair. Ramulus - A plant-manipulating villain who was also known as Nightshade and Plant Master.",
"Ramulus - A plant-manipulating villain who was also known as Nightshade and Plant Master. He later appeared as a member of the Monster Society of Evil. Scorpion - Terrence Pritchard is an ad executive who becomes a bullwhip-wielding vigilante. Tarantula - A man who targeted Vivian Dale. There was also a second Tarantula that Sandman fought. This one was Roger Goldman who is a serial killer and the former owner of the Evergood Milk Bottling Company.",
"This one was Roger Goldman who is a serial killer and the former owner of the Evergood Milk Bottling Company. Other versions Kingdom Come Dodds appears as an infirm old man at the beginning of the graphic novel, plagued with visions of the impending apocalyptic battle between various factions of metahumans. Before his death, he relates his visions, interpreted through passages from the Book of Revelation, to Norman McCay, who later witnesses the events in the company of the Spectre.",
"Before his death, he relates his visions, interpreted through passages from the Book of Revelation, to Norman McCay, who later witnesses the events in the company of the Spectre. Earth 40 Wesley Dodds meets with The Unholy Three to give information about the Trigger, a device that causes every nuclear reactor in the world to detonate in a nuclear explosion. The Sandman arranges for The Unholy Three to meet with The Lantern, who has information on where the Trigger is located.",
"The Sandman arranges for The Unholy Three to meet with The Lantern, who has information on where the Trigger is located. Earth 2 In The New 52 (a reboot of DC Comics), a new Earth-2 version of Sandman appears. While he does wear a gas mask and wield a gas gun, he is also equipped with a teleporter. When Washington DC is attacked by Solomon Grundy, Commander Wesley Dodds, along with his Sandmen paramilitary force, is sent to retrieve and save President Lightfoot.",
"When Washington DC is attacked by Solomon Grundy, Commander Wesley Dodds, along with his Sandmen paramilitary force, is sent to retrieve and save President Lightfoot. They are later assigned by Commander Khan in a special and unofficial mission to infiltrate Terry Sloane's secret facility, where they confront and subdue a mind-controlled Michael Holt. In other media Television Animation Wesley Dodds / Sandman makes a non-speaking appearance in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode \"Crisis: 22,300 Miles Above Earth\".",
"In other media Television Animation Wesley Dodds / Sandman makes a non-speaking appearance in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode \"Crisis: 22,300 Miles Above Earth\". He is seen with the other members of the Justice Society of America. Sandman makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in the Young Justice episode \"Humanity\". He is shown with the other members of the JSA during a flashback sequence.",
"He is shown with the other members of the JSA during a flashback sequence. Live-action A character loosely inspired by the Sandman under the pseudonym of Nightshade makes recurring appearances in The Flash (1990), portrayed by Jason Bernard. This version is Dr. Desmond Powell, a 1950s vigilante who retained the Sandman's costume and captured criminals using a knockout gun and tranquilizer darts. After retiring as a vigilante after he defeated \"The Ghost\" in 1955, he later became a doctor and Chief of Staff at Central City Hospital.",
"After retiring as a vigilante after he defeated \"The Ghost\" in 1955, he later became a doctor and Chief of Staff at Central City Hospital. When the Ghost reappears in 1990, Powell becomes Nightshade once again and teams up with the Flash to apprehend his old enemy. He later unknowingly inspires the Deadly Nightshade. Powell is framed for multiple counts of murder, but clears his name and captures the impostor. He also makes his secret identity public and becomes a celebrity.",
"He also makes his secret identity public and becomes a celebrity. Wesley Dodds appeared in the Smallville two-hour special episode \"Absolute Justice\", portrayed by Ken Lawson. This version was a member of the now-disbanded Justice Society of America. After having a nightmare about losing his teammate, the Star-Spangled Kid, Dodds is killed by Icicle II. His body was later found by Clark Kent. Sandman's helmet appears in Rip Hunter's office in Legends of Tomorrow. Sandman appears in the series Stargirl.",
"Sandman appears in the series Stargirl. Sandman appears in the series Stargirl. He appears as a member of the Justice Society of America before the team was attacked and killed by the Injustice Society, with Dodds in particular being killed by Icicle. Film An alternate universe version of Sandman makes a cameo appearance in the animated film Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths. This version is a minor member of the Crime Syndicate of America. An alternate timeline version of Sandman appears in the animated film Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox.",
"An alternate timeline version of Sandman appears in the animated film Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox. This version is one of the few active superheroes in the dystopian \"Flashpoint\" timeline. Video games Wesley Dodds' costume appears in the background of the Hall of Justice in the video game Injustice: Gods Among Us. Web series Sandman makes a minor appearance in the DC Super Hero Girls episode \"Welcome to Super Hero High\". He appears as a graduate of the titular school.",
"He appears as a graduate of the titular school. He appears as a graduate of the titular school. Collected editions The Golden Age Sandman Archive Vol. 1 (Sandman stories from New York World's Fair Comics #1–2 and Adventure Comics #40–59) by Bert Christman and others.",
"1 (Sandman stories from New York World's Fair Comics #1–2 and Adventure Comics #40–59) by Bert Christman and others. Sandman by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby (World's Finest #6–7; Adventure Comics #72–102; Sandman #1) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 1: The Tarantula (Sandman Mystery Theatre #1–4) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 2: The Face and The Brute (Sandman Mystery Theatre #5–12) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 3: The Vamp (Sandman Mystery Theatre #13–16) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 4: The Scorpion (Sandman Mystery Theatre #17–20) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 5: Dr. Death and The Night of the Butcher (Sandman Mystery Theatre #21–28) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 6: The Hourman and The Python (Sandman Mystery Theatre #29–36) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 7: The Mist and The Phantom of the Fair (Sandman Mystery Theatre #37–44) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 8: The Blackhawk and The Return of the Scarlet Ghost (Sandman Mystery Theatre #45–52) Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason (Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason #1–5) References External links JSA Fact File: The Sandman Earth-2 Sandman Index] Sequart.com: \"The Sandman — Interlude: Sandman Mystery Theatre (1993–1998)\", by Julian Darius Characters created by Allen Bert Christman Characters created by Gardner Fox Comics characters introduced in 1939 DC Comics male superheroes Earth-Two Fictional businesspeople Fictional characters with precognition Fictional detectives Fictional scientists Fictional socialites Golden Age superheroes Jewish superheroes Sandman Vigilante characters in comics"
] |
[
"Sandman (Wesley Dodds)",
"Powers and abilities",
"What are his special abilities?",
"Dodds has prophetic dreams which come to him as cryptic, ambiguous visions of crimes.",
"Is he able to fight the criminals?",
"These prove ideal when placed in situations where his gas gun is not readily available."
] | C_66c8684ed1f04066a6bfcf6cee925937_0 | What does he do with the gas gun? | 3 | What does Wesley Dodds do with the gas gun? | Sandman (Wesley Dodds) | Dodds has prophetic dreams which come to him as cryptic, ambiguous visions of crimes. Originally of unexplained origin, these dreams were later ascribed to encounter between Dodds and the entity known as Dream via retcon. The visions haunt Wes, who uses his keen intellect and amateur detective skills to properly interpret them. He is also a talented chemist and inventor, creating the sand-like substance and the Silicoid Gun ultimately responsible for transforming Sandy the Golden Boy into a Silicon-based life-form. In the early years of his career, Wesley Dodds possesses the strength level of a man who engages in regular exercise, and was a fine hand-to-hand combatant. As he grows older, his strength level diminishes in relative proportion to his age. As hobbies, Wes enjoys reading, writing, poetry, origami and philosophy. Through an unknown process, Wes passes his power of prophetic visions on to his former ward, Sanderson Hawkins upon the moment of his own death. Wesley Dodds' costume consists of a basic green business suit, fedora, a World War I era gas mask, a gas gun, and a wire gun. The gas mask protects Dodds from the effects of the gas emitted from his gas gun. The gas gun, a handheld device fitted with cartridges containing concentrated sleeping gas, is Wesley Dodds' only known weapon. Pressing the trigger on the gun releases a cloud of green dust rendering all within the Sandman's immediate vicinity unconscious. An upgraded canister dispenser for the gun is provided for him by his close friend and confidante, Lee Travis. Wes is also known to conceal smaller knockout gas capsules in a hollow heel on his shoe. These prove ideal when placed in situations where his gas gun is not readily available. He also makes use of a specially designed "wirepoon" gun, which fires a length of thin, steel cable. In the early days of his career, the Sandman drives a black 1938 Plymouth Coupe. The car is enhanced with various features to aid Wes in his crusade against crime. CANNOTANSWER | Pressing the trigger on the gun releases a cloud of green dust rendering all within the Sandman's immediate vicinity unconscious. | Sandman (Wesley Dodds) is a fictional superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first of several DC characters to bear the name Sandman, he was created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Bert Christman. Attired in a green business suit, a fedora, and a World War I gas mask, the Sandman used a gun emitting a sleeping gas to sedate criminals. He was originally one of the mystery men to appear in comic books and other types of adventure fiction in the 1930s but later was outfitted with a unitard/cowl costume and developed into a proper superhero, acquiring sidekick Sandy, and founding the Justice Society of America.
Like most DC Golden Age superheroes, the Sandman fell into obscurity in the 1940s and eventually other DC characters took his name. During the 1990s, when writer Neil Gaiman's Sandman (featuring Morpheus, the anthropomorphic embodiment of dreams) was popular, DC revived Dodds in Sandman Mystery Theatre, a pulp/noir series set in the 1930s. Wizard Magazine ranked Wesley Dodds among the Top 200 Comic Book Characters of All Time, and he is the oldest superhero in terms of continuity to appear on the list.
Publication history
Golden Age of comic books
Artist Bert Christman and writer Gardner Fox are generally credited as co-creating the original, Wesley Dodds version of the DC Comics character the Sandman. While the character's first appearance is usually given as Adventure Comics #40 (cover-dated July 1939), he also appeared in DC Comics' 1939 New York World's Fair Comics omnibus, which historians believe appeared on newsstands one to two weeks earlier, while also believing the Adventure Comics story was written and drawn first. Each of the two stories' scripts were credited to the pseudonym "Larry Dean"; Fox wrote the untitled, 10-page story in New York World's Fair #1, while he simply plotted, and Christman scripted, the untitled, six-page story, generally known as "The Tarantula Strikes", in Adventure #40. Creig Flessel, who drew many early Sandman adventures, has sometimes been credited as co-creator on the basis of drawing the Sandman cover of Adventure #40, but no other evidence has surfaced.
Following these two first appearances, the feature "The Sandman" continued to appear in the omnibus Adventure Comics through #102 (February–March 1946). One of the medium's seminal "mystery men", as referred to at the time, the Sandman straddled the pulp magazine detective tradition and the emerging superhero tradition by dint of his dual identity and his fanciful, masked attire and weapon: an exotic "gas gun" that could compel villains to tell the truth, as well as put them to sleep. Unlike many superheroes, he frequently found himself the victim of gunshot wounds, both in the Golden Age and in stories in DC's modern-day Vertigo imprint, and he would continue fighting in spite of his injuries.
In his early career, Dodds (the character's surname was given as "Dodd" in his first four appearances; he became "Dodds" in Adventure Comics #44) was frequently aided by his girlfriend, Dian Belmont, who is aware of his dual identity. Unlike many superhero love interests, Belmont was often, though not always, portrayed as an equal partner of the Sandman, rather than a damsel in distress. Later stories would reveal that the two remained together for the duration of their lives, though they never married.
The Sandman was one of the original members of the Justice Society of America when that superhero team was introduced in All Star Comics #3, published by All-American Comics, one of the companies that would merge to form DC.
In Adventure Comics #69 (December 1941), Dodds was given a yellow-and-purple costume by writer Mort Weisinger and artist Paul Norris, as well as a yellow-clad kid sidekick, Sandy the Golden Boy, nephew of Dian Belmont. Later that year, the celebrated team of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby took over this version of the character. In 1942, Dodds enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as an anti-aircraft gunner during World War II.
Silver Age to Modern Age
Reintroduced in the Silver Age in Justice League of America #46 (July 1966), the Sandman made occasional appearances in the annual teamups between that superhero group and the JSA.
In 1981 DC began publishing All-Star Squadron, a retelling of the Earth-Two mystery-men during WWII. Although not a main character, Sandman does appear in its pages. Of note is issue #18 which gives an explanation of why Dodds changed costumes from the cloak and gas mask to the yellow-and-purple outfit; Dian wore his costume while he was fighting elsewhere and she was killed in a fray. Dodds decided to wear the new costume, of Dian's design, until he could bring himself to wear the original in which she had died.
Later, this explanation would be changed again when Dian Belmont was retconned to have never died, and a new explanation was given: Sandy convinced Dodds to switch to the more colorful costume to gain the support of regular people, who preferred the more traditional superhero look to his older, pulp-themed costume.
An acclaimed film noir-inspired retelling of the original Sandman's adventures, Sandman Mystery Theatre, ran from 1993 to 1998 under DC Comics' Vertigo mature-reader imprint. Although as a whole its continuity within the DC Universe is debatable, several elements of the series – the more nuanced relationship between Dodds and Dian Belmont; the Sandman's appearance (wearing a trench coat and World War I gas mask instead of the cape and the custom-made gas mask); and Dodds' pudgier appearance and wearing of glasses – have been adopted into regular continuity. The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual.
In Sandman Midnight Theatre (1995) a one-shot special by Neil Gaiman (author of the Modern Age supernatural series The Sandman), Matt Wagner (co-author of Sandman Mystery Theatre), and Teddy Kristiansen, depicts an interaction between the two characters, with the original visiting Great Britain and encountering the imprisoned Dream, the protagonist of Gaiman's series. A minor retcon by Gaiman suggested that Dodds' chosen identity was a result of Dream's absence from the realm the Dreaming, and that Dodds carries an aspect of that mystical realm. This explains Dodds' prophetic dreams.
Twilight years
Dodds is one of a number of Justice Society members who finds themselves in the "Ragnarok Dimension" during the early Modern Age of comic books. The Last Days of the Justice Society of America Special (1986) wrote the post-Crisis tale of a time-warped wave of destruction ready to engulf the world. Dodds and his JSA teammates enter into a limbo to engage in an eternal battle that would allow the universe to continue its existence. This was later revealed to be a simulation created by Odin, which he intended to give to Dream as a bribe. Dodds, Dream's protege, and Hawkman, the grandfather of Dream's appointed successor are the only JSA members who were seen at that time. This lasted only until 1992 when DC published Armageddon: Inferno. This mini-series ended with the JSA members leaving limbo and entering the 'real' world. Justice Society of America (1992–1993) showed how the JSA members handled returning to normal life. For the Sandman, the series depicted him as an old, thin man with a balding scalp and a sharp wit. Starting with issue #1 his physical condition became important as writer Len Strazewski had him suffer a stroke at the first sign of a villainous attack. Both his age and his physical limitations became a theme writers would use in this character's post-Crisis stories.
During Zero Hour, Dodds is returned to his proper age by the Extant. Later, Wesley Dodds is shown as retired and living with Dian Belmont though occasionally coming out of it, most notably in a team-up with Jack Knight, the son of Dodds' JSA teammate Starman. When Dian is diagnosed with a terminal disease, the two travel the world together until her death.
Towards the end of his life, Dodds' prophetic dreams alert him to the identity and location of the new Doctor Fate, prompting him to contact the Gray Man, a being created from the residue of others' dreams, as well as his old friend Speed Saunders to instruct them to warn his former teammates about what he has discovered. Waiting on a clifftop, he is subsequently confronted by the powerful villain Mordru, who intends to force Dodds to tell him the identity of the new Doctor Fate, only for Dodds to distract Mordru with his gas-gun long enough to commit suicide by jumping off the cliff rather than allow Mordru to torture him into submission. His last thoughts were that his final slumber would be free of nightmares as he is reunited with Dian. His youthful but now grown-up sidekick Sandy the Golden Boy becomes known simply as Sand and takes his mentor's place as a member of the Justice Society of America as well as his prophetic dreams. Eventually, he takes the name of Sandman.
Sleep of Reason
Wesley Dodds makes a comeback via flashback images in the 2006 limited series Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason.
Blackest Night
Dodds is reanimated as a Black Lantern in the "Blackest Night" storyline. He and several other fallen JSAers attack the Brownstone, seeking the hearts of the living within.
Exodus Noir
Dodds appeared in the "Exodus Noir" arc of Madame Xanadu in 2010, in a story set in 1940.
DC Rebirth
In the "Watchmen" sequel "Doomsday Clock", Lois Lane finds a flash-drive at the Daily Planet. It shows her footage of Sandman and the rest of the Justice Society.
In the pages of "Dark Nights: Death Metal", the Prime-Earth version of Sandman was revealed to be entombed at the Valhalla Cemetery. Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring.
Powers and abilities
Dodds has prophetic dreams which come to him as cryptic, ambiguous visions of crimes. Originally of unexplained origin, these dreams were later ascribed to an encounter between Dodds and the entity known as Dream via retcon. The visions haunt Dodds, who uses his keen intellect and amateur detective skills to properly interpret them. He is also a talented chemist and inventor, creating the sand-like substance and the Silicoid Gun ultimately responsible for transforming Sandy the Golden Boy into a Silicon-based life-form. In the early years of his career, Wesley Dodds possesses the strength level of a man who engages in regular exercise, and was a fine hand-to-hand combatant. As he grows older, his strength level diminishes in relative proportion to his age. As hobbies, Dodds enjoys reading, writing, poetry, origami and philosophy. Through an unknown process, Dodds passes his power of prophetic visions on to his former ward, Sanderson Hawkins upon the moment of his own death.
Wesley Dodds' costume consists of a basic green business suit, fedora, a World War I era gas mask, a gas gun, and a specially designed "wirepoon" gun, which fires a length of thin, steel cable. The gas mask protects Dodds from the effects of the gas emitted from his gas gun. The gas gun, a handheld device fitted with cartridges containing concentrated sleeping gas, is Wesley Dodds' only known weapon. Pressing the trigger on the gun releases a cloud of green dust rendering all within the Sandman's immediate vicinity unconscious. An upgraded canister dispenser for the gun is provided for him by his close friend and confidante, Lee Travis. Dodds is also known to conceal smaller knockout gas capsules in a hollow heel on his shoe. These prove ideal when placed in situations where his gas gun is not readily available.
In the early days of his career, the Sandman drives a black 1938 Plymouth coupe. The car is enhanced with various features to aid Dodds in his crusade against crime.
Enemies
Sandman has an assortment of enemies that he fought:
Butcher - A cannibalistic butcher.
Doctor Death - Raymond Kessler is a serial killer/swindler who is the boyfriend of Dian Belmont's cousin Lucy.
Phantom of the Fair - Gerald Zimmerman is a man who has been torturing and killing homosexual men at the New York World's Fair.
Ramulus - A plant-manipulating villain who was also known as Nightshade and Plant Master. He later appeared as a member of the Monster Society of Evil.
Scorpion - Terrence Pritchard is an ad executive who becomes a bullwhip-wielding vigilante.
Tarantula - A man who targeted Vivian Dale. There was also a second Tarantula that Sandman fought. This one was Roger Goldman who is a serial killer and the former owner of the Evergood Milk Bottling Company.
Other versions
Kingdom Come
Dodds appears as an infirm old man at the beginning of the graphic novel, plagued with visions of the impending apocalyptic battle between various factions of metahumans. Before his death, he relates his visions, interpreted through passages from the Book of Revelation, to Norman McCay, who later witnesses the events in the company of the Spectre.
Earth 40
Wesley Dodds meets with The Unholy Three to give information about the Trigger, a device that causes every nuclear reactor in the world to detonate in a nuclear explosion. The Sandman arranges for The Unholy Three to meet with The Lantern, who has information on where the Trigger is located.
Earth 2
In The New 52 (a reboot of DC Comics), a new Earth-2 version of Sandman appears. While he does wear a gas mask and wield a gas gun, he is also equipped with a teleporter. When Washington DC is attacked by Solomon Grundy, Commander Wesley Dodds, along with his Sandmen paramilitary force, is sent to retrieve and save President Lightfoot. They are later assigned by Commander Khan in a special and unofficial mission to infiltrate Terry Sloane's secret facility, where they confront and subdue a mind-controlled Michael Holt.
In other media
Television
Animation
Wesley Dodds / Sandman makes a non-speaking appearance in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode "Crisis: 22,300 Miles Above Earth". He is seen with the other members of the Justice Society of America.
Sandman makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in the Young Justice episode "Humanity". He is shown with the other members of the JSA during a flashback sequence.
Live-action
A character loosely inspired by the Sandman under the pseudonym of Nightshade makes recurring appearances in The Flash (1990), portrayed by Jason Bernard. This version is Dr. Desmond Powell, a 1950s vigilante who retained the Sandman's costume and captured criminals using a knockout gun and tranquilizer darts. After retiring as a vigilante after he defeated "The Ghost" in 1955, he later became a doctor and Chief of Staff at Central City Hospital. When the Ghost reappears in 1990, Powell becomes Nightshade once again and teams up with the Flash to apprehend his old enemy. He later unknowingly inspires the Deadly Nightshade. Powell is framed for multiple counts of murder, but clears his name and captures the impostor. He also makes his secret identity public and becomes a celebrity.
Wesley Dodds appeared in the Smallville two-hour special episode "Absolute Justice", portrayed by Ken Lawson. This version was a member of the now-disbanded Justice Society of America. After having a nightmare about losing his teammate, the Star-Spangled Kid, Dodds is killed by Icicle II. His body was later found by Clark Kent.
Sandman's helmet appears in Rip Hunter's office in Legends of Tomorrow.
Sandman appears in the series Stargirl. He appears as a member of the Justice Society of America before the team was attacked and killed by the Injustice Society, with Dodds in particular being killed by Icicle.
Film
An alternate universe version of Sandman makes a cameo appearance in the animated film Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths. This version is a minor member of the Crime Syndicate of America.
An alternate timeline version of Sandman appears in the animated film Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox. This version is one of the few active superheroes in the dystopian "Flashpoint" timeline.
Video games
Wesley Dodds' costume appears in the background of the Hall of Justice in the video game Injustice: Gods Among Us.
Web series
Sandman makes a minor appearance in the DC Super Hero Girls episode "Welcome to Super Hero High". He appears as a graduate of the titular school.
Collected editions
The Golden Age Sandman Archive Vol. 1 (Sandman stories from New York World's Fair Comics #1–2 and Adventure Comics #40–59) by Bert Christman and others.
Sandman by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby (World's Finest #6–7; Adventure Comics #72–102; Sandman #1)
Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 1: The Tarantula (Sandman Mystery Theatre #1–4)
Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 2: The Face and The Brute (Sandman Mystery Theatre #5–12)
Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 3: The Vamp (Sandman Mystery Theatre #13–16)
Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 4: The Scorpion (Sandman Mystery Theatre #17–20)
Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 5: Dr. Death and The Night of the Butcher (Sandman Mystery Theatre #21–28)
Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 6: The Hourman and The Python (Sandman Mystery Theatre #29–36)
Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 7: The Mist and The Phantom of the Fair (Sandman Mystery Theatre #37–44)
Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 8: The Blackhawk and The Return of the Scarlet Ghost (Sandman Mystery Theatre #45–52)
Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason (Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason #1–5)
References
External links
JSA Fact File: The Sandman
Earth-2 Sandman Index]
Sequart.com: "The Sandman — Interlude: Sandman Mystery Theatre (1993–1998)", by Julian Darius
Characters created by Allen Bert Christman
Characters created by Gardner Fox
Comics characters introduced in 1939
DC Comics male superheroes
Earth-Two
Fictional businesspeople
Fictional characters with precognition
Fictional detectives
Fictional scientists
Fictional socialites
Golden Age superheroes
Jewish superheroes
Sandman
Vigilante characters in comics | true | [
"The RML 12.5-inch guns were large rifled muzzle-loading guns designed for British battleships and were also employed for coast defence.\n\nDesign \n\nThe gun originated from a desire for a longer 12-inch gun than the existing RML 12-inch 35-ton gun. Experiments in 1874 with both 12-inch and 12.5-inch versions 3 feet longer than the existing 12-inch gun showed the 12.5-inch calibre was more suitable, and further experiments showed a projectile of 800 pounds could be fired with a charge of 130 pounds of P2 gunpowder without undue strain. The same construction as in the existing 12-inch 35-ton gun was used : a mild steel \"A\" tube toughened in oil, surrounded by wrought iron \"B\" tube, triple coil in front of the trunnion, coiled breech-piece and breech coil. This was approved in January 1875.\n\nThe gun was rifled on the \"Woolwich\" pattern of a small number of broad shallow rounded grooves, with 9 grooves increasing from 0 to 1 turn in 35 calibres ( i.e. 1 turn in 437.5 inches).\n\nMark II had an enlarged powder chamber and attained higher muzzle velocity and slightly longer range.\n\nThis gun was the final development of large British rifled muzzle-loading guns before it switched to breechloaders beginning in 1880. It was succeeded in its class on new battleships by the BL 12-inch Mk II gun.\n\nNaval service \nGuns were mounted on HMS Dreadnought commissioned in 1879, HMS Agamemnon commissioned in 1883, and HMS Ajax commissioned in 1885, the last British warships completed with muzzle-loading guns.\n\nAmmunition \nWhen the gun was first introduced projectiles had several rows of \"studs\" which engaged with the gun's rifling to impart spin. Sometime after 1878, \"attached gas-checks\" were fitted to the bases of the studded shells, reducing wear on the guns and improving their range and accuracy. Subsequently, \"automatic gas-checks\" were developed which could rotate shells, allowing the deployment of a new range of studless ammunition.\n\n RML 12.5in Studded Shell, located at Hurst Castle, UK\n RML 12.5in Studded Shrapnel Shell Mk I with Attached Gas-Check Mk I\n RML 12.5in Studded Palliser Shell Mk III with Attached Gas-Check Mk II\n RML 12.5in Studded Common Shell Mk I with Attached Gas-Check Mk II\n RML 12.5in Studded Shrapnel Shell Mk I with Attached Gas-check Mk II\n RML 12.5in Case Shot Mk III\n RML 12.5in Studless Palliser Shell Mk I with Automatic Gas-Check\n RML 12.5in Studless Common Shell Mk I with Automatic Gas-Check\n RML 12.5in Studless Shrapnel Shell Mk I with Automatic Gas-check\n\nImages 3–9 show the range of ammunition for the RML 12.5-inch gun in 1885. By this time the gun no longer fired studded ammunition without gas-checks. Instead there were two sets of ammunition available, namely: older studded ammunition with attached gas-checks Mk II, and newer studless ammunition with automatic gas-checks. Case ammunition neither was studded nor required gas-checks. Also by this time, attached gas-checks Mk I as shown in image 2 had been superseded by attached gas-checks Mk II.\n\nSee also \n List of naval guns\n\nSurviving examples \n Two at Hurst Castle, UK, originally at Cliff End Battery\n At Fort Nelson, Portsmouth, UK, originally at Cliff End Battery\n Outside Fort Albert, Isle of Wight\n No 22 of 1876 outside Calbourne Mill, Isle of Wight, originally at Cliff End Battery\n An unpreserved gun at Fort Delimara, Malta\n Gun on replica carriage at Harding's Battery, Gibraltar\n Gun number 87 and 95, dated 1878. Now in the ditch at Fort Cunningham, Bermuda\n\nNotes and references\n\nBibliography \n Treatise on the construction and manufacture of ordnance in the British service. War Office, UK, 1877\n Text Book of Gunnery, 1887. LONDON : PRINTED FOR HIS MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE, BY HARRISON AND SONS, ST. MARTIN'S LANE\n\nExternal links \n\n Handbook for the R.M.L. 12.5-inch 38-ton gun, marks I and II : casemate, dwarf, and small port mountings (land service). Great Britain. War Office. London : H.M.S.O. 1885 at State Library of Victoria\n Handbook for the 12.5-inch 38-ton R.M.L. gun, marks I and II, casemate, dwarf, and small part mountings land service 1888, 1893, 1899, 1904 at State Library of Victoria\n Diagram of gun on small port 6-foot recoil carriage at Victorian Forts and Artillery website\n Diagram of gun on Casemate Platform, 6 feet recoil Mark III at Victorian Forts and Artillery website\n Diagram of gun on Dwarf 'C' Pivot Mark III at Victorian Forts and Artillery website\n\nNaval guns of the United Kingdom\n320 mm artillery\nVictorian-era weapons of the United Kingdom\nCoastal artillery",
"A combustion light-gas gun (CLGG) is a projectile weapon that utilizes the explosive force of low molecular-weight combustible gases, such as hydrogen mixed with oxygen, as propellant. When the gases are ignited, they burn, expand and propel the projectile out of the barrel with higher efficiency relative to solid propellant and have achieved higher muzzle velocities in experiments. Combustion light-gas gun technology is one of the areas being explored in an attempt to achieve higher velocities from artillery to gain greater range. Conventional guns use solid propellants, usually nitrocellulose-based compounds, to develop the chamber pressures needed to accelerate the projectiles. CLGGs' gaseous propellants are able to increase the propellant's specific impulse. Therefore, hydrogen is typically the first choice; however, other propellants like methane can be used.\n\nWhile this technology does appear to provide higher velocities, the main drawback with gaseous or liquid propellants for gun systems is the difficulty in getting uniform and predictable ignition and muzzle velocities. Variance with muzzle velocities affects precision in range, and the further a weapon shoots, the more significant these variances become. If an artillery system cannot maintain uniform and predictable muzzle velocities it will be of no use at longer ranges. Another issue is the survival of projectile payloads at higher accelerations. Fuzes, explosive fill, and guidance systems all must be \"hardened\" against the significant acceleration loads of conventional artillery to survive and function properly. Higher velocity weapons, like the CLGG, face these engineering challenges as they edge the boundaries of firing accelerations higher.\n\nThe research and development firm UTRON, Inc is experimenting with a combustion light-gas gun design for field use. The corporation claims to have a system ready for testing as a potential long-range naval fire support weapon for emerging ships, such as the Zumwalt-class destroyer. The CLGG, like the railgun, is a possible candidate technology for greater ranges for naval systems, among others. UTRON has built and tested 45mm and 155mm combustion light-gas guns.\n\nSee also \nLight-gas gun\nScram cannon\n\nReferences\n\nhttps://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a462130.pdf UTRON 2006 Test Report\nArtillery by type\nBallistics\n Emerging technologies"
] | [
"Sandman (Wesley Dodds) is a fictional superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first of several DC characters to bear the name Sandman, he was created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Bert Christman. Attired in a green business suit, a fedora, and a World War I gas mask, the Sandman used a gun emitting a sleeping gas to sedate criminals.",
"Attired in a green business suit, a fedora, and a World War I gas mask, the Sandman used a gun emitting a sleeping gas to sedate criminals. He was originally one of the mystery men to appear in comic books and other types of adventure fiction in the 1930s but later was outfitted with a unitard/cowl costume and developed into a proper superhero, acquiring sidekick Sandy, and founding the Justice Society of America.",
"He was originally one of the mystery men to appear in comic books and other types of adventure fiction in the 1930s but later was outfitted with a unitard/cowl costume and developed into a proper superhero, acquiring sidekick Sandy, and founding the Justice Society of America. Like most DC Golden Age superheroes, the Sandman fell into obscurity in the 1940s and eventually other DC characters took his name.",
"Like most DC Golden Age superheroes, the Sandman fell into obscurity in the 1940s and eventually other DC characters took his name. During the 1990s, when writer Neil Gaiman's Sandman (featuring Morpheus, the anthropomorphic embodiment of dreams) was popular, DC revived Dodds in Sandman Mystery Theatre, a pulp/noir series set in the 1930s. Wizard Magazine ranked Wesley Dodds among the Top 200 Comic Book Characters of All Time, and he is the oldest superhero in terms of continuity to appear on the list.",
"Wizard Magazine ranked Wesley Dodds among the Top 200 Comic Book Characters of All Time, and he is the oldest superhero in terms of continuity to appear on the list. Publication history Golden Age of comic books Artist Bert Christman and writer Gardner Fox are generally credited as co-creating the original, Wesley Dodds version of the DC Comics character the Sandman.",
"Publication history Golden Age of comic books Artist Bert Christman and writer Gardner Fox are generally credited as co-creating the original, Wesley Dodds version of the DC Comics character the Sandman. While the character's first appearance is usually given as Adventure Comics #40 (cover-dated July 1939), he also appeared in DC Comics' 1939 New York World's Fair Comics omnibus, which historians believe appeared on newsstands one to two weeks earlier, while also believing the Adventure Comics story was written and drawn first.",
"While the character's first appearance is usually given as Adventure Comics #40 (cover-dated July 1939), he also appeared in DC Comics' 1939 New York World's Fair Comics omnibus, which historians believe appeared on newsstands one to two weeks earlier, while also believing the Adventure Comics story was written and drawn first. Each of the two stories' scripts were credited to the pseudonym \"Larry Dean\"; Fox wrote the untitled, 10-page story in New York World's Fair #1, while he simply plotted, and Christman scripted, the untitled, six-page story, generally known as \"The Tarantula Strikes\", in Adventure #40.",
"Each of the two stories' scripts were credited to the pseudonym \"Larry Dean\"; Fox wrote the untitled, 10-page story in New York World's Fair #1, while he simply plotted, and Christman scripted, the untitled, six-page story, generally known as \"The Tarantula Strikes\", in Adventure #40. Creig Flessel, who drew many early Sandman adventures, has sometimes been credited as co-creator on the basis of drawing the Sandman cover of Adventure #40, but no other evidence has surfaced.",
"Creig Flessel, who drew many early Sandman adventures, has sometimes been credited as co-creator on the basis of drawing the Sandman cover of Adventure #40, but no other evidence has surfaced. Following these two first appearances, the feature \"The Sandman\" continued to appear in the omnibus Adventure Comics through #102 (February–March 1946).",
"Following these two first appearances, the feature \"The Sandman\" continued to appear in the omnibus Adventure Comics through #102 (February–March 1946). One of the medium's seminal \"mystery men\", as referred to at the time, the Sandman straddled the pulp magazine detective tradition and the emerging superhero tradition by dint of his dual identity and his fanciful, masked attire and weapon: an exotic \"gas gun\" that could compel villains to tell the truth, as well as put them to sleep.",
"One of the medium's seminal \"mystery men\", as referred to at the time, the Sandman straddled the pulp magazine detective tradition and the emerging superhero tradition by dint of his dual identity and his fanciful, masked attire and weapon: an exotic \"gas gun\" that could compel villains to tell the truth, as well as put them to sleep. Unlike many superheroes, he frequently found himself the victim of gunshot wounds, both in the Golden Age and in stories in DC's modern-day Vertigo imprint, and he would continue fighting in spite of his injuries.",
"Unlike many superheroes, he frequently found himself the victim of gunshot wounds, both in the Golden Age and in stories in DC's modern-day Vertigo imprint, and he would continue fighting in spite of his injuries. In his early career, Dodds (the character's surname was given as \"Dodd\" in his first four appearances; he became \"Dodds\" in Adventure Comics #44) was frequently aided by his girlfriend, Dian Belmont, who is aware of his dual identity.",
"In his early career, Dodds (the character's surname was given as \"Dodd\" in his first four appearances; he became \"Dodds\" in Adventure Comics #44) was frequently aided by his girlfriend, Dian Belmont, who is aware of his dual identity. Unlike many superhero love interests, Belmont was often, though not always, portrayed as an equal partner of the Sandman, rather than a damsel in distress.",
"Unlike many superhero love interests, Belmont was often, though not always, portrayed as an equal partner of the Sandman, rather than a damsel in distress. Later stories would reveal that the two remained together for the duration of their lives, though they never married. The Sandman was one of the original members of the Justice Society of America when that superhero team was introduced in All Star Comics #3, published by All-American Comics, one of the companies that would merge to form DC.",
"The Sandman was one of the original members of the Justice Society of America when that superhero team was introduced in All Star Comics #3, published by All-American Comics, one of the companies that would merge to form DC. In Adventure Comics #69 (December 1941), Dodds was given a yellow-and-purple costume by writer Mort Weisinger and artist Paul Norris, as well as a yellow-clad kid sidekick, Sandy the Golden Boy, nephew of Dian Belmont.",
"In Adventure Comics #69 (December 1941), Dodds was given a yellow-and-purple costume by writer Mort Weisinger and artist Paul Norris, as well as a yellow-clad kid sidekick, Sandy the Golden Boy, nephew of Dian Belmont. Later that year, the celebrated team of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby took over this version of the character. In 1942, Dodds enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as an anti-aircraft gunner during World War II.",
"In 1942, Dodds enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as an anti-aircraft gunner during World War II. Silver Age to Modern Age Reintroduced in the Silver Age in Justice League of America #46 (July 1966), the Sandman made occasional appearances in the annual teamups between that superhero group and the JSA. In 1981 DC began publishing All-Star Squadron, a retelling of the Earth-Two mystery-men during WWII. Although not a main character, Sandman does appear in its pages.",
"Although not a main character, Sandman does appear in its pages. Of note is issue #18 which gives an explanation of why Dodds changed costumes from the cloak and gas mask to the yellow-and-purple outfit; Dian wore his costume while he was fighting elsewhere and she was killed in a fray. Dodds decided to wear the new costume, of Dian's design, until he could bring himself to wear the original in which she had died.",
"Dodds decided to wear the new costume, of Dian's design, until he could bring himself to wear the original in which she had died. Later, this explanation would be changed again when Dian Belmont was retconned to have never died, and a new explanation was given: Sandy convinced Dodds to switch to the more colorful costume to gain the support of regular people, who preferred the more traditional superhero look to his older, pulp-themed costume.",
"Later, this explanation would be changed again when Dian Belmont was retconned to have never died, and a new explanation was given: Sandy convinced Dodds to switch to the more colorful costume to gain the support of regular people, who preferred the more traditional superhero look to his older, pulp-themed costume. An acclaimed film noir-inspired retelling of the original Sandman's adventures, Sandman Mystery Theatre, ran from 1993 to 1998 under DC Comics' Vertigo mature-reader imprint.",
"An acclaimed film noir-inspired retelling of the original Sandman's adventures, Sandman Mystery Theatre, ran from 1993 to 1998 under DC Comics' Vertigo mature-reader imprint. Although as a whole its continuity within the DC Universe is debatable, several elements of the series – the more nuanced relationship between Dodds and Dian Belmont; the Sandman's appearance (wearing a trench coat and World War I gas mask instead of the cape and the custom-made gas mask); and Dodds' pudgier appearance and wearing of glasses – have been adopted into regular continuity.",
"Although as a whole its continuity within the DC Universe is debatable, several elements of the series – the more nuanced relationship between Dodds and Dian Belmont; the Sandman's appearance (wearing a trench coat and World War I gas mask instead of the cape and the custom-made gas mask); and Dodds' pudgier appearance and wearing of glasses – have been adopted into regular continuity. The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual.",
"The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual. The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual. In Sandman Midnight Theatre (1995) a one-shot special by Neil Gaiman (author of the Modern Age supernatural series The Sandman), Matt Wagner (co-author of Sandman Mystery Theatre), and Teddy Kristiansen, depicts an interaction between the two characters, with the original visiting Great Britain and encountering the imprisoned Dream, the protagonist of Gaiman's series.",
"In Sandman Midnight Theatre (1995) a one-shot special by Neil Gaiman (author of the Modern Age supernatural series The Sandman), Matt Wagner (co-author of Sandman Mystery Theatre), and Teddy Kristiansen, depicts an interaction between the two characters, with the original visiting Great Britain and encountering the imprisoned Dream, the protagonist of Gaiman's series. A minor retcon by Gaiman suggested that Dodds' chosen identity was a result of Dream's absence from the realm the Dreaming, and that Dodds carries an aspect of that mystical realm.",
"A minor retcon by Gaiman suggested that Dodds' chosen identity was a result of Dream's absence from the realm the Dreaming, and that Dodds carries an aspect of that mystical realm. This explains Dodds' prophetic dreams. Twilight years Dodds is one of a number of Justice Society members who finds themselves in the \"Ragnarok Dimension\" during the early Modern Age of comic books.",
"Twilight years Dodds is one of a number of Justice Society members who finds themselves in the \"Ragnarok Dimension\" during the early Modern Age of comic books. The Last Days of the Justice Society of America Special (1986) wrote the post-Crisis tale of a time-warped wave of destruction ready to engulf the world. Dodds and his JSA teammates enter into a limbo to engage in an eternal battle that would allow the universe to continue its existence.",
"Dodds and his JSA teammates enter into a limbo to engage in an eternal battle that would allow the universe to continue its existence. This was later revealed to be a simulation created by Odin, which he intended to give to Dream as a bribe. Dodds, Dream's protege, and Hawkman, the grandfather of Dream's appointed successor are the only JSA members who were seen at that time. This lasted only until 1992 when DC published Armageddon: Inferno.",
"This lasted only until 1992 when DC published Armageddon: Inferno. This mini-series ended with the JSA members leaving limbo and entering the 'real' world. Justice Society of America (1992–1993) showed how the JSA members handled returning to normal life. For the Sandman, the series depicted him as an old, thin man with a balding scalp and a sharp wit. Starting with issue #1 his physical condition became important as writer Len Strazewski had him suffer a stroke at the first sign of a villainous attack.",
"Starting with issue #1 his physical condition became important as writer Len Strazewski had him suffer a stroke at the first sign of a villainous attack. Both his age and his physical limitations became a theme writers would use in this character's post-Crisis stories. During Zero Hour, Dodds is returned to his proper age by the Extant.",
"During Zero Hour, Dodds is returned to his proper age by the Extant. Later, Wesley Dodds is shown as retired and living with Dian Belmont though occasionally coming out of it, most notably in a team-up with Jack Knight, the son of Dodds' JSA teammate Starman. When Dian is diagnosed with a terminal disease, the two travel the world together until her death.",
"When Dian is diagnosed with a terminal disease, the two travel the world together until her death. Towards the end of his life, Dodds' prophetic dreams alert him to the identity and location of the new Doctor Fate, prompting him to contact the Gray Man, a being created from the residue of others' dreams, as well as his old friend Speed Saunders to instruct them to warn his former teammates about what he has discovered.",
"Towards the end of his life, Dodds' prophetic dreams alert him to the identity and location of the new Doctor Fate, prompting him to contact the Gray Man, a being created from the residue of others' dreams, as well as his old friend Speed Saunders to instruct them to warn his former teammates about what he has discovered. Waiting on a clifftop, he is subsequently confronted by the powerful villain Mordru, who intends to force Dodds to tell him the identity of the new Doctor Fate, only for Dodds to distract Mordru with his gas-gun long enough to commit suicide by jumping off the cliff rather than allow Mordru to torture him into submission.",
"Waiting on a clifftop, he is subsequently confronted by the powerful villain Mordru, who intends to force Dodds to tell him the identity of the new Doctor Fate, only for Dodds to distract Mordru with his gas-gun long enough to commit suicide by jumping off the cliff rather than allow Mordru to torture him into submission. His last thoughts were that his final slumber would be free of nightmares as he is reunited with Dian.",
"His last thoughts were that his final slumber would be free of nightmares as he is reunited with Dian. His youthful but now grown-up sidekick Sandy the Golden Boy becomes known simply as Sand and takes his mentor's place as a member of the Justice Society of America as well as his prophetic dreams. Eventually, he takes the name of Sandman. Sleep of Reason Wesley Dodds makes a comeback via flashback images in the 2006 limited series Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason.",
"Sleep of Reason Wesley Dodds makes a comeback via flashback images in the 2006 limited series Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason. Blackest Night Dodds is reanimated as a Black Lantern in the \"Blackest Night\" storyline. He and several other fallen JSAers attack the Brownstone, seeking the hearts of the living within. Exodus Noir Dodds appeared in the \"Exodus Noir\" arc of Madame Xanadu in 2010, in a story set in 1940.",
"Exodus Noir Dodds appeared in the \"Exodus Noir\" arc of Madame Xanadu in 2010, in a story set in 1940. DC Rebirth In the \"Watchmen\" sequel \"Doomsday Clock\", Lois Lane finds a flash-drive at the Daily Planet. It shows her footage of Sandman and the rest of the Justice Society. In the pages of \"Dark Nights: Death Metal\", the Prime-Earth version of Sandman was revealed to be entombed at the Valhalla Cemetery. Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring.",
"Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring. Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring. Powers and abilities Dodds has prophetic dreams which come to him as cryptic, ambiguous visions of crimes. Originally of unexplained origin, these dreams were later ascribed to an encounter between Dodds and the entity known as Dream via retcon. The visions haunt Dodds, who uses his keen intellect and amateur detective skills to properly interpret them.",
"The visions haunt Dodds, who uses his keen intellect and amateur detective skills to properly interpret them. He is also a talented chemist and inventor, creating the sand-like substance and the Silicoid Gun ultimately responsible for transforming Sandy the Golden Boy into a Silicon-based life-form. In the early years of his career, Wesley Dodds possesses the strength level of a man who engages in regular exercise, and was a fine hand-to-hand combatant. As he grows older, his strength level diminishes in relative proportion to his age.",
"As he grows older, his strength level diminishes in relative proportion to his age. As hobbies, Dodds enjoys reading, writing, poetry, origami and philosophy. Through an unknown process, Dodds passes his power of prophetic visions on to his former ward, Sanderson Hawkins upon the moment of his own death.",
"Through an unknown process, Dodds passes his power of prophetic visions on to his former ward, Sanderson Hawkins upon the moment of his own death. Wesley Dodds' costume consists of a basic green business suit, fedora, a World War I era gas mask, a gas gun, and a specially designed \"wirepoon\" gun, which fires a length of thin, steel cable. The gas mask protects Dodds from the effects of the gas emitted from his gas gun.",
"The gas mask protects Dodds from the effects of the gas emitted from his gas gun. The gas gun, a handheld device fitted with cartridges containing concentrated sleeping gas, is Wesley Dodds' only known weapon. Pressing the trigger on the gun releases a cloud of green dust rendering all within the Sandman's immediate vicinity unconscious. An upgraded canister dispenser for the gun is provided for him by his close friend and confidante, Lee Travis.",
"An upgraded canister dispenser for the gun is provided for him by his close friend and confidante, Lee Travis. Dodds is also known to conceal smaller knockout gas capsules in a hollow heel on his shoe. These prove ideal when placed in situations where his gas gun is not readily available. In the early days of his career, the Sandman drives a black 1938 Plymouth coupe. The car is enhanced with various features to aid Dodds in his crusade against crime.",
"The car is enhanced with various features to aid Dodds in his crusade against crime. Enemies Sandman has an assortment of enemies that he fought: Butcher - A cannibalistic butcher. Doctor Death - Raymond Kessler is a serial killer/swindler who is the boyfriend of Dian Belmont's cousin Lucy. Phantom of the Fair - Gerald Zimmerman is a man who has been torturing and killing homosexual men at the New York World's Fair. Ramulus - A plant-manipulating villain who was also known as Nightshade and Plant Master.",
"Ramulus - A plant-manipulating villain who was also known as Nightshade and Plant Master. He later appeared as a member of the Monster Society of Evil. Scorpion - Terrence Pritchard is an ad executive who becomes a bullwhip-wielding vigilante. Tarantula - A man who targeted Vivian Dale. There was also a second Tarantula that Sandman fought. This one was Roger Goldman who is a serial killer and the former owner of the Evergood Milk Bottling Company.",
"This one was Roger Goldman who is a serial killer and the former owner of the Evergood Milk Bottling Company. Other versions Kingdom Come Dodds appears as an infirm old man at the beginning of the graphic novel, plagued with visions of the impending apocalyptic battle between various factions of metahumans. Before his death, he relates his visions, interpreted through passages from the Book of Revelation, to Norman McCay, who later witnesses the events in the company of the Spectre.",
"Before his death, he relates his visions, interpreted through passages from the Book of Revelation, to Norman McCay, who later witnesses the events in the company of the Spectre. Earth 40 Wesley Dodds meets with The Unholy Three to give information about the Trigger, a device that causes every nuclear reactor in the world to detonate in a nuclear explosion. The Sandman arranges for The Unholy Three to meet with The Lantern, who has information on where the Trigger is located.",
"The Sandman arranges for The Unholy Three to meet with The Lantern, who has information on where the Trigger is located. Earth 2 In The New 52 (a reboot of DC Comics), a new Earth-2 version of Sandman appears. While he does wear a gas mask and wield a gas gun, he is also equipped with a teleporter. When Washington DC is attacked by Solomon Grundy, Commander Wesley Dodds, along with his Sandmen paramilitary force, is sent to retrieve and save President Lightfoot.",
"When Washington DC is attacked by Solomon Grundy, Commander Wesley Dodds, along with his Sandmen paramilitary force, is sent to retrieve and save President Lightfoot. They are later assigned by Commander Khan in a special and unofficial mission to infiltrate Terry Sloane's secret facility, where they confront and subdue a mind-controlled Michael Holt. In other media Television Animation Wesley Dodds / Sandman makes a non-speaking appearance in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode \"Crisis: 22,300 Miles Above Earth\".",
"In other media Television Animation Wesley Dodds / Sandman makes a non-speaking appearance in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode \"Crisis: 22,300 Miles Above Earth\". He is seen with the other members of the Justice Society of America. Sandman makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in the Young Justice episode \"Humanity\". He is shown with the other members of the JSA during a flashback sequence.",
"He is shown with the other members of the JSA during a flashback sequence. Live-action A character loosely inspired by the Sandman under the pseudonym of Nightshade makes recurring appearances in The Flash (1990), portrayed by Jason Bernard. This version is Dr. Desmond Powell, a 1950s vigilante who retained the Sandman's costume and captured criminals using a knockout gun and tranquilizer darts. After retiring as a vigilante after he defeated \"The Ghost\" in 1955, he later became a doctor and Chief of Staff at Central City Hospital.",
"After retiring as a vigilante after he defeated \"The Ghost\" in 1955, he later became a doctor and Chief of Staff at Central City Hospital. When the Ghost reappears in 1990, Powell becomes Nightshade once again and teams up with the Flash to apprehend his old enemy. He later unknowingly inspires the Deadly Nightshade. Powell is framed for multiple counts of murder, but clears his name and captures the impostor. He also makes his secret identity public and becomes a celebrity.",
"He also makes his secret identity public and becomes a celebrity. Wesley Dodds appeared in the Smallville two-hour special episode \"Absolute Justice\", portrayed by Ken Lawson. This version was a member of the now-disbanded Justice Society of America. After having a nightmare about losing his teammate, the Star-Spangled Kid, Dodds is killed by Icicle II. His body was later found by Clark Kent. Sandman's helmet appears in Rip Hunter's office in Legends of Tomorrow. Sandman appears in the series Stargirl.",
"Sandman appears in the series Stargirl. Sandman appears in the series Stargirl. He appears as a member of the Justice Society of America before the team was attacked and killed by the Injustice Society, with Dodds in particular being killed by Icicle. Film An alternate universe version of Sandman makes a cameo appearance in the animated film Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths. This version is a minor member of the Crime Syndicate of America. An alternate timeline version of Sandman appears in the animated film Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox.",
"An alternate timeline version of Sandman appears in the animated film Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox. This version is one of the few active superheroes in the dystopian \"Flashpoint\" timeline. Video games Wesley Dodds' costume appears in the background of the Hall of Justice in the video game Injustice: Gods Among Us. Web series Sandman makes a minor appearance in the DC Super Hero Girls episode \"Welcome to Super Hero High\". He appears as a graduate of the titular school.",
"He appears as a graduate of the titular school. He appears as a graduate of the titular school. Collected editions The Golden Age Sandman Archive Vol. 1 (Sandman stories from New York World's Fair Comics #1–2 and Adventure Comics #40–59) by Bert Christman and others.",
"1 (Sandman stories from New York World's Fair Comics #1–2 and Adventure Comics #40–59) by Bert Christman and others. Sandman by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby (World's Finest #6–7; Adventure Comics #72–102; Sandman #1) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 1: The Tarantula (Sandman Mystery Theatre #1–4) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 2: The Face and The Brute (Sandman Mystery Theatre #5–12) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 3: The Vamp (Sandman Mystery Theatre #13–16) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 4: The Scorpion (Sandman Mystery Theatre #17–20) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 5: Dr. Death and The Night of the Butcher (Sandman Mystery Theatre #21–28) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 6: The Hourman and The Python (Sandman Mystery Theatre #29–36) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 7: The Mist and The Phantom of the Fair (Sandman Mystery Theatre #37–44) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 8: The Blackhawk and The Return of the Scarlet Ghost (Sandman Mystery Theatre #45–52) Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason (Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason #1–5) References External links JSA Fact File: The Sandman Earth-2 Sandman Index] Sequart.com: \"The Sandman — Interlude: Sandman Mystery Theatre (1993–1998)\", by Julian Darius Characters created by Allen Bert Christman Characters created by Gardner Fox Comics characters introduced in 1939 DC Comics male superheroes Earth-Two Fictional businesspeople Fictional characters with precognition Fictional detectives Fictional scientists Fictional socialites Golden Age superheroes Jewish superheroes Sandman Vigilante characters in comics"
] |
[
"Sandman (Wesley Dodds)",
"Powers and abilities",
"What are his special abilities?",
"Dodds has prophetic dreams which come to him as cryptic, ambiguous visions of crimes.",
"Is he able to fight the criminals?",
"These prove ideal when placed in situations where his gas gun is not readily available.",
"What does he do with the gas gun?",
"Pressing the trigger on the gun releases a cloud of green dust rendering all within the Sandman's immediate vicinity unconscious."
] | C_66c8684ed1f04066a6bfcf6cee925937_0 | Are there any other interesting aspects about this article? | 4 | Besides Dodds special abilities, are there any other interesting aspects about this article? | Sandman (Wesley Dodds) | Dodds has prophetic dreams which come to him as cryptic, ambiguous visions of crimes. Originally of unexplained origin, these dreams were later ascribed to encounter between Dodds and the entity known as Dream via retcon. The visions haunt Wes, who uses his keen intellect and amateur detective skills to properly interpret them. He is also a talented chemist and inventor, creating the sand-like substance and the Silicoid Gun ultimately responsible for transforming Sandy the Golden Boy into a Silicon-based life-form. In the early years of his career, Wesley Dodds possesses the strength level of a man who engages in regular exercise, and was a fine hand-to-hand combatant. As he grows older, his strength level diminishes in relative proportion to his age. As hobbies, Wes enjoys reading, writing, poetry, origami and philosophy. Through an unknown process, Wes passes his power of prophetic visions on to his former ward, Sanderson Hawkins upon the moment of his own death. Wesley Dodds' costume consists of a basic green business suit, fedora, a World War I era gas mask, a gas gun, and a wire gun. The gas mask protects Dodds from the effects of the gas emitted from his gas gun. The gas gun, a handheld device fitted with cartridges containing concentrated sleeping gas, is Wesley Dodds' only known weapon. Pressing the trigger on the gun releases a cloud of green dust rendering all within the Sandman's immediate vicinity unconscious. An upgraded canister dispenser for the gun is provided for him by his close friend and confidante, Lee Travis. Wes is also known to conceal smaller knockout gas capsules in a hollow heel on his shoe. These prove ideal when placed in situations where his gas gun is not readily available. He also makes use of a specially designed "wirepoon" gun, which fires a length of thin, steel cable. In the early days of his career, the Sandman drives a black 1938 Plymouth Coupe. The car is enhanced with various features to aid Wes in his crusade against crime. CANNOTANSWER | In the early days of his career, the Sandman drives a black 1938 Plymouth Coupe. | Sandman (Wesley Dodds) is a fictional superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first of several DC characters to bear the name Sandman, he was created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Bert Christman. Attired in a green business suit, a fedora, and a World War I gas mask, the Sandman used a gun emitting a sleeping gas to sedate criminals. He was originally one of the mystery men to appear in comic books and other types of adventure fiction in the 1930s but later was outfitted with a unitard/cowl costume and developed into a proper superhero, acquiring sidekick Sandy, and founding the Justice Society of America.
Like most DC Golden Age superheroes, the Sandman fell into obscurity in the 1940s and eventually other DC characters took his name. During the 1990s, when writer Neil Gaiman's Sandman (featuring Morpheus, the anthropomorphic embodiment of dreams) was popular, DC revived Dodds in Sandman Mystery Theatre, a pulp/noir series set in the 1930s. Wizard Magazine ranked Wesley Dodds among the Top 200 Comic Book Characters of All Time, and he is the oldest superhero in terms of continuity to appear on the list.
Publication history
Golden Age of comic books
Artist Bert Christman and writer Gardner Fox are generally credited as co-creating the original, Wesley Dodds version of the DC Comics character the Sandman. While the character's first appearance is usually given as Adventure Comics #40 (cover-dated July 1939), he also appeared in DC Comics' 1939 New York World's Fair Comics omnibus, which historians believe appeared on newsstands one to two weeks earlier, while also believing the Adventure Comics story was written and drawn first. Each of the two stories' scripts were credited to the pseudonym "Larry Dean"; Fox wrote the untitled, 10-page story in New York World's Fair #1, while he simply plotted, and Christman scripted, the untitled, six-page story, generally known as "The Tarantula Strikes", in Adventure #40. Creig Flessel, who drew many early Sandman adventures, has sometimes been credited as co-creator on the basis of drawing the Sandman cover of Adventure #40, but no other evidence has surfaced.
Following these two first appearances, the feature "The Sandman" continued to appear in the omnibus Adventure Comics through #102 (February–March 1946). One of the medium's seminal "mystery men", as referred to at the time, the Sandman straddled the pulp magazine detective tradition and the emerging superhero tradition by dint of his dual identity and his fanciful, masked attire and weapon: an exotic "gas gun" that could compel villains to tell the truth, as well as put them to sleep. Unlike many superheroes, he frequently found himself the victim of gunshot wounds, both in the Golden Age and in stories in DC's modern-day Vertigo imprint, and he would continue fighting in spite of his injuries.
In his early career, Dodds (the character's surname was given as "Dodd" in his first four appearances; he became "Dodds" in Adventure Comics #44) was frequently aided by his girlfriend, Dian Belmont, who is aware of his dual identity. Unlike many superhero love interests, Belmont was often, though not always, portrayed as an equal partner of the Sandman, rather than a damsel in distress. Later stories would reveal that the two remained together for the duration of their lives, though they never married.
The Sandman was one of the original members of the Justice Society of America when that superhero team was introduced in All Star Comics #3, published by All-American Comics, one of the companies that would merge to form DC.
In Adventure Comics #69 (December 1941), Dodds was given a yellow-and-purple costume by writer Mort Weisinger and artist Paul Norris, as well as a yellow-clad kid sidekick, Sandy the Golden Boy, nephew of Dian Belmont. Later that year, the celebrated team of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby took over this version of the character. In 1942, Dodds enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as an anti-aircraft gunner during World War II.
Silver Age to Modern Age
Reintroduced in the Silver Age in Justice League of America #46 (July 1966), the Sandman made occasional appearances in the annual teamups between that superhero group and the JSA.
In 1981 DC began publishing All-Star Squadron, a retelling of the Earth-Two mystery-men during WWII. Although not a main character, Sandman does appear in its pages. Of note is issue #18 which gives an explanation of why Dodds changed costumes from the cloak and gas mask to the yellow-and-purple outfit; Dian wore his costume while he was fighting elsewhere and she was killed in a fray. Dodds decided to wear the new costume, of Dian's design, until he could bring himself to wear the original in which she had died.
Later, this explanation would be changed again when Dian Belmont was retconned to have never died, and a new explanation was given: Sandy convinced Dodds to switch to the more colorful costume to gain the support of regular people, who preferred the more traditional superhero look to his older, pulp-themed costume.
An acclaimed film noir-inspired retelling of the original Sandman's adventures, Sandman Mystery Theatre, ran from 1993 to 1998 under DC Comics' Vertigo mature-reader imprint. Although as a whole its continuity within the DC Universe is debatable, several elements of the series – the more nuanced relationship between Dodds and Dian Belmont; the Sandman's appearance (wearing a trench coat and World War I gas mask instead of the cape and the custom-made gas mask); and Dodds' pudgier appearance and wearing of glasses – have been adopted into regular continuity. The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual.
In Sandman Midnight Theatre (1995) a one-shot special by Neil Gaiman (author of the Modern Age supernatural series The Sandman), Matt Wagner (co-author of Sandman Mystery Theatre), and Teddy Kristiansen, depicts an interaction between the two characters, with the original visiting Great Britain and encountering the imprisoned Dream, the protagonist of Gaiman's series. A minor retcon by Gaiman suggested that Dodds' chosen identity was a result of Dream's absence from the realm the Dreaming, and that Dodds carries an aspect of that mystical realm. This explains Dodds' prophetic dreams.
Twilight years
Dodds is one of a number of Justice Society members who finds themselves in the "Ragnarok Dimension" during the early Modern Age of comic books. The Last Days of the Justice Society of America Special (1986) wrote the post-Crisis tale of a time-warped wave of destruction ready to engulf the world. Dodds and his JSA teammates enter into a limbo to engage in an eternal battle that would allow the universe to continue its existence. This was later revealed to be a simulation created by Odin, which he intended to give to Dream as a bribe. Dodds, Dream's protege, and Hawkman, the grandfather of Dream's appointed successor are the only JSA members who were seen at that time. This lasted only until 1992 when DC published Armageddon: Inferno. This mini-series ended with the JSA members leaving limbo and entering the 'real' world. Justice Society of America (1992–1993) showed how the JSA members handled returning to normal life. For the Sandman, the series depicted him as an old, thin man with a balding scalp and a sharp wit. Starting with issue #1 his physical condition became important as writer Len Strazewski had him suffer a stroke at the first sign of a villainous attack. Both his age and his physical limitations became a theme writers would use in this character's post-Crisis stories.
During Zero Hour, Dodds is returned to his proper age by the Extant. Later, Wesley Dodds is shown as retired and living with Dian Belmont though occasionally coming out of it, most notably in a team-up with Jack Knight, the son of Dodds' JSA teammate Starman. When Dian is diagnosed with a terminal disease, the two travel the world together until her death.
Towards the end of his life, Dodds' prophetic dreams alert him to the identity and location of the new Doctor Fate, prompting him to contact the Gray Man, a being created from the residue of others' dreams, as well as his old friend Speed Saunders to instruct them to warn his former teammates about what he has discovered. Waiting on a clifftop, he is subsequently confronted by the powerful villain Mordru, who intends to force Dodds to tell him the identity of the new Doctor Fate, only for Dodds to distract Mordru with his gas-gun long enough to commit suicide by jumping off the cliff rather than allow Mordru to torture him into submission. His last thoughts were that his final slumber would be free of nightmares as he is reunited with Dian. His youthful but now grown-up sidekick Sandy the Golden Boy becomes known simply as Sand and takes his mentor's place as a member of the Justice Society of America as well as his prophetic dreams. Eventually, he takes the name of Sandman.
Sleep of Reason
Wesley Dodds makes a comeback via flashback images in the 2006 limited series Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason.
Blackest Night
Dodds is reanimated as a Black Lantern in the "Blackest Night" storyline. He and several other fallen JSAers attack the Brownstone, seeking the hearts of the living within.
Exodus Noir
Dodds appeared in the "Exodus Noir" arc of Madame Xanadu in 2010, in a story set in 1940.
DC Rebirth
In the "Watchmen" sequel "Doomsday Clock", Lois Lane finds a flash-drive at the Daily Planet. It shows her footage of Sandman and the rest of the Justice Society.
In the pages of "Dark Nights: Death Metal", the Prime-Earth version of Sandman was revealed to be entombed at the Valhalla Cemetery. Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring.
Powers and abilities
Dodds has prophetic dreams which come to him as cryptic, ambiguous visions of crimes. Originally of unexplained origin, these dreams were later ascribed to an encounter between Dodds and the entity known as Dream via retcon. The visions haunt Dodds, who uses his keen intellect and amateur detective skills to properly interpret them. He is also a talented chemist and inventor, creating the sand-like substance and the Silicoid Gun ultimately responsible for transforming Sandy the Golden Boy into a Silicon-based life-form. In the early years of his career, Wesley Dodds possesses the strength level of a man who engages in regular exercise, and was a fine hand-to-hand combatant. As he grows older, his strength level diminishes in relative proportion to his age. As hobbies, Dodds enjoys reading, writing, poetry, origami and philosophy. Through an unknown process, Dodds passes his power of prophetic visions on to his former ward, Sanderson Hawkins upon the moment of his own death.
Wesley Dodds' costume consists of a basic green business suit, fedora, a World War I era gas mask, a gas gun, and a specially designed "wirepoon" gun, which fires a length of thin, steel cable. The gas mask protects Dodds from the effects of the gas emitted from his gas gun. The gas gun, a handheld device fitted with cartridges containing concentrated sleeping gas, is Wesley Dodds' only known weapon. Pressing the trigger on the gun releases a cloud of green dust rendering all within the Sandman's immediate vicinity unconscious. An upgraded canister dispenser for the gun is provided for him by his close friend and confidante, Lee Travis. Dodds is also known to conceal smaller knockout gas capsules in a hollow heel on his shoe. These prove ideal when placed in situations where his gas gun is not readily available.
In the early days of his career, the Sandman drives a black 1938 Plymouth coupe. The car is enhanced with various features to aid Dodds in his crusade against crime.
Enemies
Sandman has an assortment of enemies that he fought:
Butcher - A cannibalistic butcher.
Doctor Death - Raymond Kessler is a serial killer/swindler who is the boyfriend of Dian Belmont's cousin Lucy.
Phantom of the Fair - Gerald Zimmerman is a man who has been torturing and killing homosexual men at the New York World's Fair.
Ramulus - A plant-manipulating villain who was also known as Nightshade and Plant Master. He later appeared as a member of the Monster Society of Evil.
Scorpion - Terrence Pritchard is an ad executive who becomes a bullwhip-wielding vigilante.
Tarantula - A man who targeted Vivian Dale. There was also a second Tarantula that Sandman fought. This one was Roger Goldman who is a serial killer and the former owner of the Evergood Milk Bottling Company.
Other versions
Kingdom Come
Dodds appears as an infirm old man at the beginning of the graphic novel, plagued with visions of the impending apocalyptic battle between various factions of metahumans. Before his death, he relates his visions, interpreted through passages from the Book of Revelation, to Norman McCay, who later witnesses the events in the company of the Spectre.
Earth 40
Wesley Dodds meets with The Unholy Three to give information about the Trigger, a device that causes every nuclear reactor in the world to detonate in a nuclear explosion. The Sandman arranges for The Unholy Three to meet with The Lantern, who has information on where the Trigger is located.
Earth 2
In The New 52 (a reboot of DC Comics), a new Earth-2 version of Sandman appears. While he does wear a gas mask and wield a gas gun, he is also equipped with a teleporter. When Washington DC is attacked by Solomon Grundy, Commander Wesley Dodds, along with his Sandmen paramilitary force, is sent to retrieve and save President Lightfoot. They are later assigned by Commander Khan in a special and unofficial mission to infiltrate Terry Sloane's secret facility, where they confront and subdue a mind-controlled Michael Holt.
In other media
Television
Animation
Wesley Dodds / Sandman makes a non-speaking appearance in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode "Crisis: 22,300 Miles Above Earth". He is seen with the other members of the Justice Society of America.
Sandman makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in the Young Justice episode "Humanity". He is shown with the other members of the JSA during a flashback sequence.
Live-action
A character loosely inspired by the Sandman under the pseudonym of Nightshade makes recurring appearances in The Flash (1990), portrayed by Jason Bernard. This version is Dr. Desmond Powell, a 1950s vigilante who retained the Sandman's costume and captured criminals using a knockout gun and tranquilizer darts. After retiring as a vigilante after he defeated "The Ghost" in 1955, he later became a doctor and Chief of Staff at Central City Hospital. When the Ghost reappears in 1990, Powell becomes Nightshade once again and teams up with the Flash to apprehend his old enemy. He later unknowingly inspires the Deadly Nightshade. Powell is framed for multiple counts of murder, but clears his name and captures the impostor. He also makes his secret identity public and becomes a celebrity.
Wesley Dodds appeared in the Smallville two-hour special episode "Absolute Justice", portrayed by Ken Lawson. This version was a member of the now-disbanded Justice Society of America. After having a nightmare about losing his teammate, the Star-Spangled Kid, Dodds is killed by Icicle II. His body was later found by Clark Kent.
Sandman's helmet appears in Rip Hunter's office in Legends of Tomorrow.
Sandman appears in the series Stargirl. He appears as a member of the Justice Society of America before the team was attacked and killed by the Injustice Society, with Dodds in particular being killed by Icicle.
Film
An alternate universe version of Sandman makes a cameo appearance in the animated film Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths. This version is a minor member of the Crime Syndicate of America.
An alternate timeline version of Sandman appears in the animated film Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox. This version is one of the few active superheroes in the dystopian "Flashpoint" timeline.
Video games
Wesley Dodds' costume appears in the background of the Hall of Justice in the video game Injustice: Gods Among Us.
Web series
Sandman makes a minor appearance in the DC Super Hero Girls episode "Welcome to Super Hero High". He appears as a graduate of the titular school.
Collected editions
The Golden Age Sandman Archive Vol. 1 (Sandman stories from New York World's Fair Comics #1–2 and Adventure Comics #40–59) by Bert Christman and others.
Sandman by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby (World's Finest #6–7; Adventure Comics #72–102; Sandman #1)
Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 1: The Tarantula (Sandman Mystery Theatre #1–4)
Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 2: The Face and The Brute (Sandman Mystery Theatre #5–12)
Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 3: The Vamp (Sandman Mystery Theatre #13–16)
Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 4: The Scorpion (Sandman Mystery Theatre #17–20)
Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 5: Dr. Death and The Night of the Butcher (Sandman Mystery Theatre #21–28)
Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 6: The Hourman and The Python (Sandman Mystery Theatre #29–36)
Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 7: The Mist and The Phantom of the Fair (Sandman Mystery Theatre #37–44)
Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 8: The Blackhawk and The Return of the Scarlet Ghost (Sandman Mystery Theatre #45–52)
Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason (Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason #1–5)
References
External links
JSA Fact File: The Sandman
Earth-2 Sandman Index]
Sequart.com: "The Sandman — Interlude: Sandman Mystery Theatre (1993–1998)", by Julian Darius
Characters created by Allen Bert Christman
Characters created by Gardner Fox
Comics characters introduced in 1939
DC Comics male superheroes
Earth-Two
Fictional businesspeople
Fictional characters with precognition
Fictional detectives
Fictional scientists
Fictional socialites
Golden Age superheroes
Jewish superheroes
Sandman
Vigilante characters in comics | true | [
"Přírodní park Třebíčsko (before Oblast klidu Třebíčsko) is a natural park near Třebíč in the Czech Republic. There are many interesting plants. The park was founded in 1983.\n\nKobylinec and Ptáčovský kopeček\n\nKobylinec is a natural monument situated ca 0,5 km from the village of Trnava.\nThe area of this monument is 0,44 ha. Pulsatilla grandis can be found here and in the Ptáčovský kopeček park near Ptáčov near Třebíč. Both monuments are very popular for tourists.\n\nPonds\n\nIn the natural park there are some interesting ponds such as Velký Bor, Malý Bor, Buršík near Přeckov and a brook Březinka. Dams on the brook are examples of European beaver activity.\n\nSyenitové skály near Pocoucov\n\nSyenitové skály (rocks of syenit) near Pocoucov is one of famed locations. There are interesting granite boulders. The area of the reservation is 0,77 ha.\n\nExternal links\nParts of this article or all article was translated from Czech. The original article is :cs:Přírodní park Třebíčsko.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nNature near the village Trnava which is there\n\nTřebíč\nParks in the Czech Republic\nTourist attractions in the Vysočina Region",
"Damn Interesting is an independent website founded by Alan Bellows in 2005. The website presents true stories from science, history, and psychology, primarily as long-form articles, often illustrated with original artwork. Works are written by various authors, and published at irregular intervals. The website openly rejects advertising, relying on reader and listener donations to cover operating costs.\n\nAs of October 2012, each article is also published as a podcast under the same name. In November 2019, a second podcast was launched under the title Damn Interesting Week, featuring unscripted commentary on an assortment of news articles featured on the website's \"Curated Links\" section that week. In mid-2020, a third podcast called Damn Interesting Curio Cabinet began highlighting the website's periodic short-form articles in the same radioplay format as the original podcast.\n\nIn July 2009, Damn Interesting published the print book Alien Hand Syndrome through Workman Publishing. It contains some favorites from the site and some exclusive content.\n\nAwards and recognition \nIn August 2007, PC Magazine named Damn Interesting one of the \"Top 100 Undiscovered Web Sites\".\nThe article \"The Zero-Armed Bandit\" by Alan Bellows won a 2015 Sidney Award from David Brooks in The New York Times.\nThe article \"Ghoulish Acts and Dastardly Deeds\" by Alan Bellows was cited as \"nonfiction journalism from 2017 that will stand the test of time\" by Conor Friedersdorf in The Atlantic.\nThe article \"Dupes and Duplicity\" by Jennifer Lee Noonan won a 2020 Sidney Award from David Brooks in the New York Times.\n\nAccusing The Dollop of plagiarism \n\nOn July 9, 2015, Bellows posted an open letter accusing The Dollop, a comedy podcast about history, of plagiarism due to their repeated use of verbatim text from Damn Interesting articles without permission or attribution. Dave Anthony, the writer of The Dollop, responded on reddit, admitting to using Damn Interesting content, but claiming that the use was protected by fair use, and that \"historical facts are not copyrightable.\" In an article about the controversy on Plagiarism Today, Jonathan Bailey concluded, \"Any way one looks at it, The Dollop failed its ethical obligations to all of the people, not just those writing for Damn Interesting, who put in the time, energy and expertise into writing the original content upon which their show is based.\"\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Official website\n\n2005 podcast debuts"
] | [
"Sandman (Wesley Dodds) is a fictional superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first of several DC characters to bear the name Sandman, he was created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Bert Christman. Attired in a green business suit, a fedora, and a World War I gas mask, the Sandman used a gun emitting a sleeping gas to sedate criminals.",
"Attired in a green business suit, a fedora, and a World War I gas mask, the Sandman used a gun emitting a sleeping gas to sedate criminals. He was originally one of the mystery men to appear in comic books and other types of adventure fiction in the 1930s but later was outfitted with a unitard/cowl costume and developed into a proper superhero, acquiring sidekick Sandy, and founding the Justice Society of America.",
"He was originally one of the mystery men to appear in comic books and other types of adventure fiction in the 1930s but later was outfitted with a unitard/cowl costume and developed into a proper superhero, acquiring sidekick Sandy, and founding the Justice Society of America. Like most DC Golden Age superheroes, the Sandman fell into obscurity in the 1940s and eventually other DC characters took his name.",
"Like most DC Golden Age superheroes, the Sandman fell into obscurity in the 1940s and eventually other DC characters took his name. During the 1990s, when writer Neil Gaiman's Sandman (featuring Morpheus, the anthropomorphic embodiment of dreams) was popular, DC revived Dodds in Sandman Mystery Theatre, a pulp/noir series set in the 1930s. Wizard Magazine ranked Wesley Dodds among the Top 200 Comic Book Characters of All Time, and he is the oldest superhero in terms of continuity to appear on the list.",
"Wizard Magazine ranked Wesley Dodds among the Top 200 Comic Book Characters of All Time, and he is the oldest superhero in terms of continuity to appear on the list. Publication history Golden Age of comic books Artist Bert Christman and writer Gardner Fox are generally credited as co-creating the original, Wesley Dodds version of the DC Comics character the Sandman.",
"Publication history Golden Age of comic books Artist Bert Christman and writer Gardner Fox are generally credited as co-creating the original, Wesley Dodds version of the DC Comics character the Sandman. While the character's first appearance is usually given as Adventure Comics #40 (cover-dated July 1939), he also appeared in DC Comics' 1939 New York World's Fair Comics omnibus, which historians believe appeared on newsstands one to two weeks earlier, while also believing the Adventure Comics story was written and drawn first.",
"While the character's first appearance is usually given as Adventure Comics #40 (cover-dated July 1939), he also appeared in DC Comics' 1939 New York World's Fair Comics omnibus, which historians believe appeared on newsstands one to two weeks earlier, while also believing the Adventure Comics story was written and drawn first. Each of the two stories' scripts were credited to the pseudonym \"Larry Dean\"; Fox wrote the untitled, 10-page story in New York World's Fair #1, while he simply plotted, and Christman scripted, the untitled, six-page story, generally known as \"The Tarantula Strikes\", in Adventure #40.",
"Each of the two stories' scripts were credited to the pseudonym \"Larry Dean\"; Fox wrote the untitled, 10-page story in New York World's Fair #1, while he simply plotted, and Christman scripted, the untitled, six-page story, generally known as \"The Tarantula Strikes\", in Adventure #40. Creig Flessel, who drew many early Sandman adventures, has sometimes been credited as co-creator on the basis of drawing the Sandman cover of Adventure #40, but no other evidence has surfaced.",
"Creig Flessel, who drew many early Sandman adventures, has sometimes been credited as co-creator on the basis of drawing the Sandman cover of Adventure #40, but no other evidence has surfaced. Following these two first appearances, the feature \"The Sandman\" continued to appear in the omnibus Adventure Comics through #102 (February–March 1946).",
"Following these two first appearances, the feature \"The Sandman\" continued to appear in the omnibus Adventure Comics through #102 (February–March 1946). One of the medium's seminal \"mystery men\", as referred to at the time, the Sandman straddled the pulp magazine detective tradition and the emerging superhero tradition by dint of his dual identity and his fanciful, masked attire and weapon: an exotic \"gas gun\" that could compel villains to tell the truth, as well as put them to sleep.",
"One of the medium's seminal \"mystery men\", as referred to at the time, the Sandman straddled the pulp magazine detective tradition and the emerging superhero tradition by dint of his dual identity and his fanciful, masked attire and weapon: an exotic \"gas gun\" that could compel villains to tell the truth, as well as put them to sleep. Unlike many superheroes, he frequently found himself the victim of gunshot wounds, both in the Golden Age and in stories in DC's modern-day Vertigo imprint, and he would continue fighting in spite of his injuries.",
"Unlike many superheroes, he frequently found himself the victim of gunshot wounds, both in the Golden Age and in stories in DC's modern-day Vertigo imprint, and he would continue fighting in spite of his injuries. In his early career, Dodds (the character's surname was given as \"Dodd\" in his first four appearances; he became \"Dodds\" in Adventure Comics #44) was frequently aided by his girlfriend, Dian Belmont, who is aware of his dual identity.",
"In his early career, Dodds (the character's surname was given as \"Dodd\" in his first four appearances; he became \"Dodds\" in Adventure Comics #44) was frequently aided by his girlfriend, Dian Belmont, who is aware of his dual identity. Unlike many superhero love interests, Belmont was often, though not always, portrayed as an equal partner of the Sandman, rather than a damsel in distress.",
"Unlike many superhero love interests, Belmont was often, though not always, portrayed as an equal partner of the Sandman, rather than a damsel in distress. Later stories would reveal that the two remained together for the duration of their lives, though they never married. The Sandman was one of the original members of the Justice Society of America when that superhero team was introduced in All Star Comics #3, published by All-American Comics, one of the companies that would merge to form DC.",
"The Sandman was one of the original members of the Justice Society of America when that superhero team was introduced in All Star Comics #3, published by All-American Comics, one of the companies that would merge to form DC. In Adventure Comics #69 (December 1941), Dodds was given a yellow-and-purple costume by writer Mort Weisinger and artist Paul Norris, as well as a yellow-clad kid sidekick, Sandy the Golden Boy, nephew of Dian Belmont.",
"In Adventure Comics #69 (December 1941), Dodds was given a yellow-and-purple costume by writer Mort Weisinger and artist Paul Norris, as well as a yellow-clad kid sidekick, Sandy the Golden Boy, nephew of Dian Belmont. Later that year, the celebrated team of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby took over this version of the character. In 1942, Dodds enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as an anti-aircraft gunner during World War II.",
"In 1942, Dodds enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as an anti-aircraft gunner during World War II. Silver Age to Modern Age Reintroduced in the Silver Age in Justice League of America #46 (July 1966), the Sandman made occasional appearances in the annual teamups between that superhero group and the JSA. In 1981 DC began publishing All-Star Squadron, a retelling of the Earth-Two mystery-men during WWII. Although not a main character, Sandman does appear in its pages.",
"Although not a main character, Sandman does appear in its pages. Of note is issue #18 which gives an explanation of why Dodds changed costumes from the cloak and gas mask to the yellow-and-purple outfit; Dian wore his costume while he was fighting elsewhere and she was killed in a fray. Dodds decided to wear the new costume, of Dian's design, until he could bring himself to wear the original in which she had died.",
"Dodds decided to wear the new costume, of Dian's design, until he could bring himself to wear the original in which she had died. Later, this explanation would be changed again when Dian Belmont was retconned to have never died, and a new explanation was given: Sandy convinced Dodds to switch to the more colorful costume to gain the support of regular people, who preferred the more traditional superhero look to his older, pulp-themed costume.",
"Later, this explanation would be changed again when Dian Belmont was retconned to have never died, and a new explanation was given: Sandy convinced Dodds to switch to the more colorful costume to gain the support of regular people, who preferred the more traditional superhero look to his older, pulp-themed costume. An acclaimed film noir-inspired retelling of the original Sandman's adventures, Sandman Mystery Theatre, ran from 1993 to 1998 under DC Comics' Vertigo mature-reader imprint.",
"An acclaimed film noir-inspired retelling of the original Sandman's adventures, Sandman Mystery Theatre, ran from 1993 to 1998 under DC Comics' Vertigo mature-reader imprint. Although as a whole its continuity within the DC Universe is debatable, several elements of the series – the more nuanced relationship between Dodds and Dian Belmont; the Sandman's appearance (wearing a trench coat and World War I gas mask instead of the cape and the custom-made gas mask); and Dodds' pudgier appearance and wearing of glasses – have been adopted into regular continuity.",
"Although as a whole its continuity within the DC Universe is debatable, several elements of the series – the more nuanced relationship between Dodds and Dian Belmont; the Sandman's appearance (wearing a trench coat and World War I gas mask instead of the cape and the custom-made gas mask); and Dodds' pudgier appearance and wearing of glasses – have been adopted into regular continuity. The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual.",
"The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual. The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual. In Sandman Midnight Theatre (1995) a one-shot special by Neil Gaiman (author of the Modern Age supernatural series The Sandman), Matt Wagner (co-author of Sandman Mystery Theatre), and Teddy Kristiansen, depicts an interaction between the two characters, with the original visiting Great Britain and encountering the imprisoned Dream, the protagonist of Gaiman's series.",
"In Sandman Midnight Theatre (1995) a one-shot special by Neil Gaiman (author of the Modern Age supernatural series The Sandman), Matt Wagner (co-author of Sandman Mystery Theatre), and Teddy Kristiansen, depicts an interaction between the two characters, with the original visiting Great Britain and encountering the imprisoned Dream, the protagonist of Gaiman's series. A minor retcon by Gaiman suggested that Dodds' chosen identity was a result of Dream's absence from the realm the Dreaming, and that Dodds carries an aspect of that mystical realm.",
"A minor retcon by Gaiman suggested that Dodds' chosen identity was a result of Dream's absence from the realm the Dreaming, and that Dodds carries an aspect of that mystical realm. This explains Dodds' prophetic dreams. Twilight years Dodds is one of a number of Justice Society members who finds themselves in the \"Ragnarok Dimension\" during the early Modern Age of comic books.",
"Twilight years Dodds is one of a number of Justice Society members who finds themselves in the \"Ragnarok Dimension\" during the early Modern Age of comic books. The Last Days of the Justice Society of America Special (1986) wrote the post-Crisis tale of a time-warped wave of destruction ready to engulf the world. Dodds and his JSA teammates enter into a limbo to engage in an eternal battle that would allow the universe to continue its existence.",
"Dodds and his JSA teammates enter into a limbo to engage in an eternal battle that would allow the universe to continue its existence. This was later revealed to be a simulation created by Odin, which he intended to give to Dream as a bribe. Dodds, Dream's protege, and Hawkman, the grandfather of Dream's appointed successor are the only JSA members who were seen at that time. This lasted only until 1992 when DC published Armageddon: Inferno.",
"This lasted only until 1992 when DC published Armageddon: Inferno. This mini-series ended with the JSA members leaving limbo and entering the 'real' world. Justice Society of America (1992–1993) showed how the JSA members handled returning to normal life. For the Sandman, the series depicted him as an old, thin man with a balding scalp and a sharp wit. Starting with issue #1 his physical condition became important as writer Len Strazewski had him suffer a stroke at the first sign of a villainous attack.",
"Starting with issue #1 his physical condition became important as writer Len Strazewski had him suffer a stroke at the first sign of a villainous attack. Both his age and his physical limitations became a theme writers would use in this character's post-Crisis stories. During Zero Hour, Dodds is returned to his proper age by the Extant.",
"During Zero Hour, Dodds is returned to his proper age by the Extant. Later, Wesley Dodds is shown as retired and living with Dian Belmont though occasionally coming out of it, most notably in a team-up with Jack Knight, the son of Dodds' JSA teammate Starman. When Dian is diagnosed with a terminal disease, the two travel the world together until her death.",
"When Dian is diagnosed with a terminal disease, the two travel the world together until her death. Towards the end of his life, Dodds' prophetic dreams alert him to the identity and location of the new Doctor Fate, prompting him to contact the Gray Man, a being created from the residue of others' dreams, as well as his old friend Speed Saunders to instruct them to warn his former teammates about what he has discovered.",
"Towards the end of his life, Dodds' prophetic dreams alert him to the identity and location of the new Doctor Fate, prompting him to contact the Gray Man, a being created from the residue of others' dreams, as well as his old friend Speed Saunders to instruct them to warn his former teammates about what he has discovered. Waiting on a clifftop, he is subsequently confronted by the powerful villain Mordru, who intends to force Dodds to tell him the identity of the new Doctor Fate, only for Dodds to distract Mordru with his gas-gun long enough to commit suicide by jumping off the cliff rather than allow Mordru to torture him into submission.",
"Waiting on a clifftop, he is subsequently confronted by the powerful villain Mordru, who intends to force Dodds to tell him the identity of the new Doctor Fate, only for Dodds to distract Mordru with his gas-gun long enough to commit suicide by jumping off the cliff rather than allow Mordru to torture him into submission. His last thoughts were that his final slumber would be free of nightmares as he is reunited with Dian.",
"His last thoughts were that his final slumber would be free of nightmares as he is reunited with Dian. His youthful but now grown-up sidekick Sandy the Golden Boy becomes known simply as Sand and takes his mentor's place as a member of the Justice Society of America as well as his prophetic dreams. Eventually, he takes the name of Sandman. Sleep of Reason Wesley Dodds makes a comeback via flashback images in the 2006 limited series Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason.",
"Sleep of Reason Wesley Dodds makes a comeback via flashback images in the 2006 limited series Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason. Blackest Night Dodds is reanimated as a Black Lantern in the \"Blackest Night\" storyline. He and several other fallen JSAers attack the Brownstone, seeking the hearts of the living within. Exodus Noir Dodds appeared in the \"Exodus Noir\" arc of Madame Xanadu in 2010, in a story set in 1940.",
"Exodus Noir Dodds appeared in the \"Exodus Noir\" arc of Madame Xanadu in 2010, in a story set in 1940. DC Rebirth In the \"Watchmen\" sequel \"Doomsday Clock\", Lois Lane finds a flash-drive at the Daily Planet. It shows her footage of Sandman and the rest of the Justice Society. In the pages of \"Dark Nights: Death Metal\", the Prime-Earth version of Sandman was revealed to be entombed at the Valhalla Cemetery. Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring.",
"Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring. Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring. Powers and abilities Dodds has prophetic dreams which come to him as cryptic, ambiguous visions of crimes. Originally of unexplained origin, these dreams were later ascribed to an encounter between Dodds and the entity known as Dream via retcon. The visions haunt Dodds, who uses his keen intellect and amateur detective skills to properly interpret them.",
"The visions haunt Dodds, who uses his keen intellect and amateur detective skills to properly interpret them. He is also a talented chemist and inventor, creating the sand-like substance and the Silicoid Gun ultimately responsible for transforming Sandy the Golden Boy into a Silicon-based life-form. In the early years of his career, Wesley Dodds possesses the strength level of a man who engages in regular exercise, and was a fine hand-to-hand combatant. As he grows older, his strength level diminishes in relative proportion to his age.",
"As he grows older, his strength level diminishes in relative proportion to his age. As hobbies, Dodds enjoys reading, writing, poetry, origami and philosophy. Through an unknown process, Dodds passes his power of prophetic visions on to his former ward, Sanderson Hawkins upon the moment of his own death.",
"Through an unknown process, Dodds passes his power of prophetic visions on to his former ward, Sanderson Hawkins upon the moment of his own death. Wesley Dodds' costume consists of a basic green business suit, fedora, a World War I era gas mask, a gas gun, and a specially designed \"wirepoon\" gun, which fires a length of thin, steel cable. The gas mask protects Dodds from the effects of the gas emitted from his gas gun.",
"The gas mask protects Dodds from the effects of the gas emitted from his gas gun. The gas gun, a handheld device fitted with cartridges containing concentrated sleeping gas, is Wesley Dodds' only known weapon. Pressing the trigger on the gun releases a cloud of green dust rendering all within the Sandman's immediate vicinity unconscious. An upgraded canister dispenser for the gun is provided for him by his close friend and confidante, Lee Travis.",
"An upgraded canister dispenser for the gun is provided for him by his close friend and confidante, Lee Travis. Dodds is also known to conceal smaller knockout gas capsules in a hollow heel on his shoe. These prove ideal when placed in situations where his gas gun is not readily available. In the early days of his career, the Sandman drives a black 1938 Plymouth coupe. The car is enhanced with various features to aid Dodds in his crusade against crime.",
"The car is enhanced with various features to aid Dodds in his crusade against crime. Enemies Sandman has an assortment of enemies that he fought: Butcher - A cannibalistic butcher. Doctor Death - Raymond Kessler is a serial killer/swindler who is the boyfriend of Dian Belmont's cousin Lucy. Phantom of the Fair - Gerald Zimmerman is a man who has been torturing and killing homosexual men at the New York World's Fair. Ramulus - A plant-manipulating villain who was also known as Nightshade and Plant Master.",
"Ramulus - A plant-manipulating villain who was also known as Nightshade and Plant Master. He later appeared as a member of the Monster Society of Evil. Scorpion - Terrence Pritchard is an ad executive who becomes a bullwhip-wielding vigilante. Tarantula - A man who targeted Vivian Dale. There was also a second Tarantula that Sandman fought. This one was Roger Goldman who is a serial killer and the former owner of the Evergood Milk Bottling Company.",
"This one was Roger Goldman who is a serial killer and the former owner of the Evergood Milk Bottling Company. Other versions Kingdom Come Dodds appears as an infirm old man at the beginning of the graphic novel, plagued with visions of the impending apocalyptic battle between various factions of metahumans. Before his death, he relates his visions, interpreted through passages from the Book of Revelation, to Norman McCay, who later witnesses the events in the company of the Spectre.",
"Before his death, he relates his visions, interpreted through passages from the Book of Revelation, to Norman McCay, who later witnesses the events in the company of the Spectre. Earth 40 Wesley Dodds meets with The Unholy Three to give information about the Trigger, a device that causes every nuclear reactor in the world to detonate in a nuclear explosion. The Sandman arranges for The Unholy Three to meet with The Lantern, who has information on where the Trigger is located.",
"The Sandman arranges for The Unholy Three to meet with The Lantern, who has information on where the Trigger is located. Earth 2 In The New 52 (a reboot of DC Comics), a new Earth-2 version of Sandman appears. While he does wear a gas mask and wield a gas gun, he is also equipped with a teleporter. When Washington DC is attacked by Solomon Grundy, Commander Wesley Dodds, along with his Sandmen paramilitary force, is sent to retrieve and save President Lightfoot.",
"When Washington DC is attacked by Solomon Grundy, Commander Wesley Dodds, along with his Sandmen paramilitary force, is sent to retrieve and save President Lightfoot. They are later assigned by Commander Khan in a special and unofficial mission to infiltrate Terry Sloane's secret facility, where they confront and subdue a mind-controlled Michael Holt. In other media Television Animation Wesley Dodds / Sandman makes a non-speaking appearance in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode \"Crisis: 22,300 Miles Above Earth\".",
"In other media Television Animation Wesley Dodds / Sandman makes a non-speaking appearance in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode \"Crisis: 22,300 Miles Above Earth\". He is seen with the other members of the Justice Society of America. Sandman makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in the Young Justice episode \"Humanity\". He is shown with the other members of the JSA during a flashback sequence.",
"He is shown with the other members of the JSA during a flashback sequence. Live-action A character loosely inspired by the Sandman under the pseudonym of Nightshade makes recurring appearances in The Flash (1990), portrayed by Jason Bernard. This version is Dr. Desmond Powell, a 1950s vigilante who retained the Sandman's costume and captured criminals using a knockout gun and tranquilizer darts. After retiring as a vigilante after he defeated \"The Ghost\" in 1955, he later became a doctor and Chief of Staff at Central City Hospital.",
"After retiring as a vigilante after he defeated \"The Ghost\" in 1955, he later became a doctor and Chief of Staff at Central City Hospital. When the Ghost reappears in 1990, Powell becomes Nightshade once again and teams up with the Flash to apprehend his old enemy. He later unknowingly inspires the Deadly Nightshade. Powell is framed for multiple counts of murder, but clears his name and captures the impostor. He also makes his secret identity public and becomes a celebrity.",
"He also makes his secret identity public and becomes a celebrity. Wesley Dodds appeared in the Smallville two-hour special episode \"Absolute Justice\", portrayed by Ken Lawson. This version was a member of the now-disbanded Justice Society of America. After having a nightmare about losing his teammate, the Star-Spangled Kid, Dodds is killed by Icicle II. His body was later found by Clark Kent. Sandman's helmet appears in Rip Hunter's office in Legends of Tomorrow. Sandman appears in the series Stargirl.",
"Sandman appears in the series Stargirl. Sandman appears in the series Stargirl. He appears as a member of the Justice Society of America before the team was attacked and killed by the Injustice Society, with Dodds in particular being killed by Icicle. Film An alternate universe version of Sandman makes a cameo appearance in the animated film Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths. This version is a minor member of the Crime Syndicate of America. An alternate timeline version of Sandman appears in the animated film Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox.",
"An alternate timeline version of Sandman appears in the animated film Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox. This version is one of the few active superheroes in the dystopian \"Flashpoint\" timeline. Video games Wesley Dodds' costume appears in the background of the Hall of Justice in the video game Injustice: Gods Among Us. Web series Sandman makes a minor appearance in the DC Super Hero Girls episode \"Welcome to Super Hero High\". He appears as a graduate of the titular school.",
"He appears as a graduate of the titular school. He appears as a graduate of the titular school. Collected editions The Golden Age Sandman Archive Vol. 1 (Sandman stories from New York World's Fair Comics #1–2 and Adventure Comics #40–59) by Bert Christman and others.",
"1 (Sandman stories from New York World's Fair Comics #1–2 and Adventure Comics #40–59) by Bert Christman and others. Sandman by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby (World's Finest #6–7; Adventure Comics #72–102; Sandman #1) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 1: The Tarantula (Sandman Mystery Theatre #1–4) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 2: The Face and The Brute (Sandman Mystery Theatre #5–12) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 3: The Vamp (Sandman Mystery Theatre #13–16) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 4: The Scorpion (Sandman Mystery Theatre #17–20) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 5: Dr. Death and The Night of the Butcher (Sandman Mystery Theatre #21–28) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 6: The Hourman and The Python (Sandman Mystery Theatre #29–36) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 7: The Mist and The Phantom of the Fair (Sandman Mystery Theatre #37–44) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 8: The Blackhawk and The Return of the Scarlet Ghost (Sandman Mystery Theatre #45–52) Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason (Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason #1–5) References External links JSA Fact File: The Sandman Earth-2 Sandman Index] Sequart.com: \"The Sandman — Interlude: Sandman Mystery Theatre (1993–1998)\", by Julian Darius Characters created by Allen Bert Christman Characters created by Gardner Fox Comics characters introduced in 1939 DC Comics male superheroes Earth-Two Fictional businesspeople Fictional characters with precognition Fictional detectives Fictional scientists Fictional socialites Golden Age superheroes Jewish superheroes Sandman Vigilante characters in comics"
] |
[
"Sandman (Wesley Dodds)",
"Powers and abilities",
"What are his special abilities?",
"Dodds has prophetic dreams which come to him as cryptic, ambiguous visions of crimes.",
"Is he able to fight the criminals?",
"These prove ideal when placed in situations where his gas gun is not readily available.",
"What does he do with the gas gun?",
"Pressing the trigger on the gun releases a cloud of green dust rendering all within the Sandman's immediate vicinity unconscious.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"In the early days of his career, the Sandman drives a black 1938 Plymouth Coupe."
] | C_66c8684ed1f04066a6bfcf6cee925937_0 | Did he have a sidekick? | 5 | Did Wesley Dodds have a sidekick? | Sandman (Wesley Dodds) | Dodds has prophetic dreams which come to him as cryptic, ambiguous visions of crimes. Originally of unexplained origin, these dreams were later ascribed to encounter between Dodds and the entity known as Dream via retcon. The visions haunt Wes, who uses his keen intellect and amateur detective skills to properly interpret them. He is also a talented chemist and inventor, creating the sand-like substance and the Silicoid Gun ultimately responsible for transforming Sandy the Golden Boy into a Silicon-based life-form. In the early years of his career, Wesley Dodds possesses the strength level of a man who engages in regular exercise, and was a fine hand-to-hand combatant. As he grows older, his strength level diminishes in relative proportion to his age. As hobbies, Wes enjoys reading, writing, poetry, origami and philosophy. Through an unknown process, Wes passes his power of prophetic visions on to his former ward, Sanderson Hawkins upon the moment of his own death. Wesley Dodds' costume consists of a basic green business suit, fedora, a World War I era gas mask, a gas gun, and a wire gun. The gas mask protects Dodds from the effects of the gas emitted from his gas gun. The gas gun, a handheld device fitted with cartridges containing concentrated sleeping gas, is Wesley Dodds' only known weapon. Pressing the trigger on the gun releases a cloud of green dust rendering all within the Sandman's immediate vicinity unconscious. An upgraded canister dispenser for the gun is provided for him by his close friend and confidante, Lee Travis. Wes is also known to conceal smaller knockout gas capsules in a hollow heel on his shoe. These prove ideal when placed in situations where his gas gun is not readily available. He also makes use of a specially designed "wirepoon" gun, which fires a length of thin, steel cable. In the early days of his career, the Sandman drives a black 1938 Plymouth Coupe. The car is enhanced with various features to aid Wes in his crusade against crime. CANNOTANSWER | Sandy the Golden Boy into a Silicon-based life-form. | Sandman (Wesley Dodds) is a fictional superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first of several DC characters to bear the name Sandman, he was created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Bert Christman. Attired in a green business suit, a fedora, and a World War I gas mask, the Sandman used a gun emitting a sleeping gas to sedate criminals. He was originally one of the mystery men to appear in comic books and other types of adventure fiction in the 1930s but later was outfitted with a unitard/cowl costume and developed into a proper superhero, acquiring sidekick Sandy, and founding the Justice Society of America.
Like most DC Golden Age superheroes, the Sandman fell into obscurity in the 1940s and eventually other DC characters took his name. During the 1990s, when writer Neil Gaiman's Sandman (featuring Morpheus, the anthropomorphic embodiment of dreams) was popular, DC revived Dodds in Sandman Mystery Theatre, a pulp/noir series set in the 1930s. Wizard Magazine ranked Wesley Dodds among the Top 200 Comic Book Characters of All Time, and he is the oldest superhero in terms of continuity to appear on the list.
Publication history
Golden Age of comic books
Artist Bert Christman and writer Gardner Fox are generally credited as co-creating the original, Wesley Dodds version of the DC Comics character the Sandman. While the character's first appearance is usually given as Adventure Comics #40 (cover-dated July 1939), he also appeared in DC Comics' 1939 New York World's Fair Comics omnibus, which historians believe appeared on newsstands one to two weeks earlier, while also believing the Adventure Comics story was written and drawn first. Each of the two stories' scripts were credited to the pseudonym "Larry Dean"; Fox wrote the untitled, 10-page story in New York World's Fair #1, while he simply plotted, and Christman scripted, the untitled, six-page story, generally known as "The Tarantula Strikes", in Adventure #40. Creig Flessel, who drew many early Sandman adventures, has sometimes been credited as co-creator on the basis of drawing the Sandman cover of Adventure #40, but no other evidence has surfaced.
Following these two first appearances, the feature "The Sandman" continued to appear in the omnibus Adventure Comics through #102 (February–March 1946). One of the medium's seminal "mystery men", as referred to at the time, the Sandman straddled the pulp magazine detective tradition and the emerging superhero tradition by dint of his dual identity and his fanciful, masked attire and weapon: an exotic "gas gun" that could compel villains to tell the truth, as well as put them to sleep. Unlike many superheroes, he frequently found himself the victim of gunshot wounds, both in the Golden Age and in stories in DC's modern-day Vertigo imprint, and he would continue fighting in spite of his injuries.
In his early career, Dodds (the character's surname was given as "Dodd" in his first four appearances; he became "Dodds" in Adventure Comics #44) was frequently aided by his girlfriend, Dian Belmont, who is aware of his dual identity. Unlike many superhero love interests, Belmont was often, though not always, portrayed as an equal partner of the Sandman, rather than a damsel in distress. Later stories would reveal that the two remained together for the duration of their lives, though they never married.
The Sandman was one of the original members of the Justice Society of America when that superhero team was introduced in All Star Comics #3, published by All-American Comics, one of the companies that would merge to form DC.
In Adventure Comics #69 (December 1941), Dodds was given a yellow-and-purple costume by writer Mort Weisinger and artist Paul Norris, as well as a yellow-clad kid sidekick, Sandy the Golden Boy, nephew of Dian Belmont. Later that year, the celebrated team of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby took over this version of the character. In 1942, Dodds enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as an anti-aircraft gunner during World War II.
Silver Age to Modern Age
Reintroduced in the Silver Age in Justice League of America #46 (July 1966), the Sandman made occasional appearances in the annual teamups between that superhero group and the JSA.
In 1981 DC began publishing All-Star Squadron, a retelling of the Earth-Two mystery-men during WWII. Although not a main character, Sandman does appear in its pages. Of note is issue #18 which gives an explanation of why Dodds changed costumes from the cloak and gas mask to the yellow-and-purple outfit; Dian wore his costume while he was fighting elsewhere and she was killed in a fray. Dodds decided to wear the new costume, of Dian's design, until he could bring himself to wear the original in which she had died.
Later, this explanation would be changed again when Dian Belmont was retconned to have never died, and a new explanation was given: Sandy convinced Dodds to switch to the more colorful costume to gain the support of regular people, who preferred the more traditional superhero look to his older, pulp-themed costume.
An acclaimed film noir-inspired retelling of the original Sandman's adventures, Sandman Mystery Theatre, ran from 1993 to 1998 under DC Comics' Vertigo mature-reader imprint. Although as a whole its continuity within the DC Universe is debatable, several elements of the series – the more nuanced relationship between Dodds and Dian Belmont; the Sandman's appearance (wearing a trench coat and World War I gas mask instead of the cape and the custom-made gas mask); and Dodds' pudgier appearance and wearing of glasses – have been adopted into regular continuity. The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual.
In Sandman Midnight Theatre (1995) a one-shot special by Neil Gaiman (author of the Modern Age supernatural series The Sandman), Matt Wagner (co-author of Sandman Mystery Theatre), and Teddy Kristiansen, depicts an interaction between the two characters, with the original visiting Great Britain and encountering the imprisoned Dream, the protagonist of Gaiman's series. A minor retcon by Gaiman suggested that Dodds' chosen identity was a result of Dream's absence from the realm the Dreaming, and that Dodds carries an aspect of that mystical realm. This explains Dodds' prophetic dreams.
Twilight years
Dodds is one of a number of Justice Society members who finds themselves in the "Ragnarok Dimension" during the early Modern Age of comic books. The Last Days of the Justice Society of America Special (1986) wrote the post-Crisis tale of a time-warped wave of destruction ready to engulf the world. Dodds and his JSA teammates enter into a limbo to engage in an eternal battle that would allow the universe to continue its existence. This was later revealed to be a simulation created by Odin, which he intended to give to Dream as a bribe. Dodds, Dream's protege, and Hawkman, the grandfather of Dream's appointed successor are the only JSA members who were seen at that time. This lasted only until 1992 when DC published Armageddon: Inferno. This mini-series ended with the JSA members leaving limbo and entering the 'real' world. Justice Society of America (1992–1993) showed how the JSA members handled returning to normal life. For the Sandman, the series depicted him as an old, thin man with a balding scalp and a sharp wit. Starting with issue #1 his physical condition became important as writer Len Strazewski had him suffer a stroke at the first sign of a villainous attack. Both his age and his physical limitations became a theme writers would use in this character's post-Crisis stories.
During Zero Hour, Dodds is returned to his proper age by the Extant. Later, Wesley Dodds is shown as retired and living with Dian Belmont though occasionally coming out of it, most notably in a team-up with Jack Knight, the son of Dodds' JSA teammate Starman. When Dian is diagnosed with a terminal disease, the two travel the world together until her death.
Towards the end of his life, Dodds' prophetic dreams alert him to the identity and location of the new Doctor Fate, prompting him to contact the Gray Man, a being created from the residue of others' dreams, as well as his old friend Speed Saunders to instruct them to warn his former teammates about what he has discovered. Waiting on a clifftop, he is subsequently confronted by the powerful villain Mordru, who intends to force Dodds to tell him the identity of the new Doctor Fate, only for Dodds to distract Mordru with his gas-gun long enough to commit suicide by jumping off the cliff rather than allow Mordru to torture him into submission. His last thoughts were that his final slumber would be free of nightmares as he is reunited with Dian. His youthful but now grown-up sidekick Sandy the Golden Boy becomes known simply as Sand and takes his mentor's place as a member of the Justice Society of America as well as his prophetic dreams. Eventually, he takes the name of Sandman.
Sleep of Reason
Wesley Dodds makes a comeback via flashback images in the 2006 limited series Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason.
Blackest Night
Dodds is reanimated as a Black Lantern in the "Blackest Night" storyline. He and several other fallen JSAers attack the Brownstone, seeking the hearts of the living within.
Exodus Noir
Dodds appeared in the "Exodus Noir" arc of Madame Xanadu in 2010, in a story set in 1940.
DC Rebirth
In the "Watchmen" sequel "Doomsday Clock", Lois Lane finds a flash-drive at the Daily Planet. It shows her footage of Sandman and the rest of the Justice Society.
In the pages of "Dark Nights: Death Metal", the Prime-Earth version of Sandman was revealed to be entombed at the Valhalla Cemetery. Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring.
Powers and abilities
Dodds has prophetic dreams which come to him as cryptic, ambiguous visions of crimes. Originally of unexplained origin, these dreams were later ascribed to an encounter between Dodds and the entity known as Dream via retcon. The visions haunt Dodds, who uses his keen intellect and amateur detective skills to properly interpret them. He is also a talented chemist and inventor, creating the sand-like substance and the Silicoid Gun ultimately responsible for transforming Sandy the Golden Boy into a Silicon-based life-form. In the early years of his career, Wesley Dodds possesses the strength level of a man who engages in regular exercise, and was a fine hand-to-hand combatant. As he grows older, his strength level diminishes in relative proportion to his age. As hobbies, Dodds enjoys reading, writing, poetry, origami and philosophy. Through an unknown process, Dodds passes his power of prophetic visions on to his former ward, Sanderson Hawkins upon the moment of his own death.
Wesley Dodds' costume consists of a basic green business suit, fedora, a World War I era gas mask, a gas gun, and a specially designed "wirepoon" gun, which fires a length of thin, steel cable. The gas mask protects Dodds from the effects of the gas emitted from his gas gun. The gas gun, a handheld device fitted with cartridges containing concentrated sleeping gas, is Wesley Dodds' only known weapon. Pressing the trigger on the gun releases a cloud of green dust rendering all within the Sandman's immediate vicinity unconscious. An upgraded canister dispenser for the gun is provided for him by his close friend and confidante, Lee Travis. Dodds is also known to conceal smaller knockout gas capsules in a hollow heel on his shoe. These prove ideal when placed in situations where his gas gun is not readily available.
In the early days of his career, the Sandman drives a black 1938 Plymouth coupe. The car is enhanced with various features to aid Dodds in his crusade against crime.
Enemies
Sandman has an assortment of enemies that he fought:
Butcher - A cannibalistic butcher.
Doctor Death - Raymond Kessler is a serial killer/swindler who is the boyfriend of Dian Belmont's cousin Lucy.
Phantom of the Fair - Gerald Zimmerman is a man who has been torturing and killing homosexual men at the New York World's Fair.
Ramulus - A plant-manipulating villain who was also known as Nightshade and Plant Master. He later appeared as a member of the Monster Society of Evil.
Scorpion - Terrence Pritchard is an ad executive who becomes a bullwhip-wielding vigilante.
Tarantula - A man who targeted Vivian Dale. There was also a second Tarantula that Sandman fought. This one was Roger Goldman who is a serial killer and the former owner of the Evergood Milk Bottling Company.
Other versions
Kingdom Come
Dodds appears as an infirm old man at the beginning of the graphic novel, plagued with visions of the impending apocalyptic battle between various factions of metahumans. Before his death, he relates his visions, interpreted through passages from the Book of Revelation, to Norman McCay, who later witnesses the events in the company of the Spectre.
Earth 40
Wesley Dodds meets with The Unholy Three to give information about the Trigger, a device that causes every nuclear reactor in the world to detonate in a nuclear explosion. The Sandman arranges for The Unholy Three to meet with The Lantern, who has information on where the Trigger is located.
Earth 2
In The New 52 (a reboot of DC Comics), a new Earth-2 version of Sandman appears. While he does wear a gas mask and wield a gas gun, he is also equipped with a teleporter. When Washington DC is attacked by Solomon Grundy, Commander Wesley Dodds, along with his Sandmen paramilitary force, is sent to retrieve and save President Lightfoot. They are later assigned by Commander Khan in a special and unofficial mission to infiltrate Terry Sloane's secret facility, where they confront and subdue a mind-controlled Michael Holt.
In other media
Television
Animation
Wesley Dodds / Sandman makes a non-speaking appearance in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode "Crisis: 22,300 Miles Above Earth". He is seen with the other members of the Justice Society of America.
Sandman makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in the Young Justice episode "Humanity". He is shown with the other members of the JSA during a flashback sequence.
Live-action
A character loosely inspired by the Sandman under the pseudonym of Nightshade makes recurring appearances in The Flash (1990), portrayed by Jason Bernard. This version is Dr. Desmond Powell, a 1950s vigilante who retained the Sandman's costume and captured criminals using a knockout gun and tranquilizer darts. After retiring as a vigilante after he defeated "The Ghost" in 1955, he later became a doctor and Chief of Staff at Central City Hospital. When the Ghost reappears in 1990, Powell becomes Nightshade once again and teams up with the Flash to apprehend his old enemy. He later unknowingly inspires the Deadly Nightshade. Powell is framed for multiple counts of murder, but clears his name and captures the impostor. He also makes his secret identity public and becomes a celebrity.
Wesley Dodds appeared in the Smallville two-hour special episode "Absolute Justice", portrayed by Ken Lawson. This version was a member of the now-disbanded Justice Society of America. After having a nightmare about losing his teammate, the Star-Spangled Kid, Dodds is killed by Icicle II. His body was later found by Clark Kent.
Sandman's helmet appears in Rip Hunter's office in Legends of Tomorrow.
Sandman appears in the series Stargirl. He appears as a member of the Justice Society of America before the team was attacked and killed by the Injustice Society, with Dodds in particular being killed by Icicle.
Film
An alternate universe version of Sandman makes a cameo appearance in the animated film Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths. This version is a minor member of the Crime Syndicate of America.
An alternate timeline version of Sandman appears in the animated film Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox. This version is one of the few active superheroes in the dystopian "Flashpoint" timeline.
Video games
Wesley Dodds' costume appears in the background of the Hall of Justice in the video game Injustice: Gods Among Us.
Web series
Sandman makes a minor appearance in the DC Super Hero Girls episode "Welcome to Super Hero High". He appears as a graduate of the titular school.
Collected editions
The Golden Age Sandman Archive Vol. 1 (Sandman stories from New York World's Fair Comics #1–2 and Adventure Comics #40–59) by Bert Christman and others.
Sandman by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby (World's Finest #6–7; Adventure Comics #72–102; Sandman #1)
Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 1: The Tarantula (Sandman Mystery Theatre #1–4)
Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 2: The Face and The Brute (Sandman Mystery Theatre #5–12)
Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 3: The Vamp (Sandman Mystery Theatre #13–16)
Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 4: The Scorpion (Sandman Mystery Theatre #17–20)
Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 5: Dr. Death and The Night of the Butcher (Sandman Mystery Theatre #21–28)
Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 6: The Hourman and The Python (Sandman Mystery Theatre #29–36)
Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 7: The Mist and The Phantom of the Fair (Sandman Mystery Theatre #37–44)
Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 8: The Blackhawk and The Return of the Scarlet Ghost (Sandman Mystery Theatre #45–52)
Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason (Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason #1–5)
References
External links
JSA Fact File: The Sandman
Earth-2 Sandman Index]
Sequart.com: "The Sandman — Interlude: Sandman Mystery Theatre (1993–1998)", by Julian Darius
Characters created by Allen Bert Christman
Characters created by Gardner Fox
Comics characters introduced in 1939
DC Comics male superheroes
Earth-Two
Fictional businesspeople
Fictional characters with precognition
Fictional detectives
Fictional scientists
Fictional socialites
Golden Age superheroes
Jewish superheroes
Sandman
Vigilante characters in comics | true | [
"Borland Sidekick was a personal information manager (PIM) launched by American software company Borland in 1984 under Philippe Kahn's leadership. It was an early and popular terminate and stay resident program (TSR) for MS-DOS which enabled computer users to activate the program using a hot key combination (by default: Ctrl-Alt) while working in other programs. Although a text-mode program, Sidekick's window-based interface echoed that of the Apple Macintosh and anticipated the eventual look of Microsoft Windows 2.0. It included a personal calendar, text editor (with WordStar-like command interface), calculator, ASCII chart, address book, and phone dialer. According to the prospectus for Borland's initial public offering of stock to the public, Sidekick sold more than 1 million copies in its first three years.\n\nOrigin\nAccording to Philippe Kahn, Borland did not originally intend to sell Sidekick. It developed the utility to assist the small company's employees. After several months of use Borland realized that it had a sellable product.\n\nVersions\n\nMS-DOS\n\n1.0\nSidekick 1.0 included Calculator, Notepad, Appointment Calendar, Auto Dialer, ASCII Table and other tools.\n\n1.0 Plus\nSidekick 1.0 Plus included a broader selection of calculators (Business, Scientific, Programmer, Formula), a 9-file Notepad text editor, Appointment Book and Scheduler, a terminal communication tool and ASCII Table. In addition to variants on and enhancements to the 1.0 features, Plus included a 9-file Outliner, q file and directory manager, Clipboard, and supported Expanded Memory and a RAM disk. Control+Alt is the default shortcut to open sidekick 1.0 plus\n\n1.5\n\n2.0\nSidekick 2.0 was the last MS-DOS version.\n\nTraveling Sidekick\nTraveling Sidekick included a 3-ring binder notebook with solar-powered pocket calculator, and Sidekick software.\n\nWindows\nWhen Philippe Kahn left Borland in 1994 to found Starfish Software, he acquired all rights to Sidekick from Borland. Starfish's co-founder Sonia Lee Kahn designed the look and feel of Sidekick 95, which was launched simultaneously with Windows 95 with great success. In 1998 Philippe Kahn and Sonia Lee Kahn sold Starfish to Motorola for $325 Million in a private transaction. Starfish was later bought by Nokia who discontinued the product, with Sidekick 99 being the last version. T-Mobile USA, Inc. currently owns the Sidekick trademark portfolio.\n\nLater versions of the program were made available for Windows, with the last versions featuring a phone dialer and syncing with Palm, Windows CE, and EPOC devices. These versions were less popular than the MS-DOS versions, largely because the Windows environment itself provided most of the original version's key features: task switching and a collection of small utilities. It did however, include a monthly/yearly calendar and a world time map showing which parts of the world are currently in daylight or darkness. Up to eight different world cities (which could be edited) were displayed above and below the map.\n\n1.0\nSidekick 1.0 for Windows was developed and released by Borland before Kahn left the company. It was designed for Windows 3.1 and included Calendar, To Do List, Contacts, a communication tool and a calculator. However, most of the design and file system came from the YourWay PIM software, purchased by Borland from Prisma Software in 1993. As the November 7, 1994 Info World noted, \"Despite its name, the only connection between Sidekick for Windows 1.0 and the venerable Sidekick for MS-DOS is that Borland International owns both programs. Sidekick for Windows is a combination of the calendaring code from Prisma Software Corp.'s Windows PIM YourWay (purchased by Borland last year) and a completely new interface developed by Borland.\"\n\n2.0\nSidekick 2.0 was also developed and initially released by Borland before the move to Starfish.\n\nNew/modified features included:\n overlapping appointments in the Scheduler,\n multiple contact files in the Address Book,\n print layouts that enabled users to print to commercial day planner pages,\n View-in-View,\n Backup & Restore of user's files,\n password protection.\n\nSidekick Deluxe added more than 40 content files for access to online information, Dashboard 3.0 for Windows, and the \"Organized for Success\" video. It was distributed in CD format.\n\nSidekick 95\nSidekick 95 was a Windows 95 version. Sidekick 95 Deluxe was announced in on October 17, 1995. A 10-user version was announced in February, 1996.\n\nIt included Write (a word processor with a spell check feature), EarthTime (a clock), Expense (record keeping tools), Reminder (scheduler), Phone Dialer (communication), Contact Manager and Calendar (with an added daily Almanac).\n\nSidekick 95 Deluxe added Dashboard 95, America Online software, 2 interactive organizational videos, over 40 useful content files called Sidekick Companions and electronic versions of the product manuals in Adobe Acrobat format.\n\nStarfish Internet Sidekick\nCalendar tools added Activity view, daylight saving time support, web link support for contact files, Contact file synchronization over Sidekick 95.\n\nCommunications tool adds caller ID, phone dialer, integration with mail software. Spell check adds auto spell check option.\n\nCalculator supports unit conversion.\n\nNew tools include Internet Scheduler, Expense reporter. Expense reporter includes date reporting, tax calculation, drag and drop receipts between folders.\n\nSidekick 97\nCalendar tools added ability to create web pages from Sidekick Calendar (via WP add-on).\n\nAddress tools added drag and drop, ability to create web pages from Sidekick Cardfiles (via WP add-on).\n\nPDA sync is supported for Palm Pilot, via separate add-on.\n\nWorld Clock supports European Daylight Saving time.\n\nSidekick Web Publisher compatibility is added via separate add-on.\n\nSidekick 98\nCalendar supports vCalendar, Outlook calendars.\n\nAddress tools support Outlook calendars.\n\nAdditional supported PDA sync include Franklin REX. Sync tool can now synchronize To do, Calls, Special Days, Appointments, and Contacts.\n\nWorld clock added world map, Analog or Digital clock format.\n\nIn addition, features requiring separate add-ons in Sidekick 97 are now standard.\n\nLong time users of Sidekick 98 report no difficulties continuing to use the program through subsequent iterations of Windows, up to and including Windows 7.\n\nSidekick 99 (9.x)\nVarious tools found in Sidekick 98 are removed in this release, including dialer, back up & restore, calculator (including conversion tools, expense reporter), spell checker, web page generator, Internet scheduler. Address and calendar file format support were reduced, with Outlook support is now import-only.\n\nSynchronization tools now support multi-point synchronization, Franklin REX PRO, PALM III PDAs.\n\nOS/2\nBorland Sidekick 2.0 for Presentation Manager was based on Sidekick 2.0 for Windows.\n\nMacintosh\nBorland introduced a version for the Apple Macintosh in 1985.\n\nReception\nBorland sold 400,000 copies of Sidekick by September 1985. InfoWorld stated in November 1984 that \"whoever wrote this gem understands Murphy's law ... Sidekick stands in the shadows behind whatever program you are using\", and noted that for programmers, the software was less expensive \"and a lot handier\" than a Texas Instruments hexadecimal calculator. The magazine concluded that \"Sidekick is a time-saving, frustrating-saving bargain [and] is the first step to making paper and pencil obsolete.\" Jerry Pournelle praised Sidekick in Byte in October 1984: \"Philippe Kahn ... now has a product that IBM PC users won't be able to do without. He ought to sell a zillion copies\". Elsewhere in the issue, the magazine stated that Sidekick's existence \"seems to point out a major drawback in quite a few integrated software packages. Why should owners of advanced, multifunction business programs that are supposedly easy to use and that claim to solve all problems be compelled to purchase a utility like Sidekick? It makes you wonder about all those advertising claims\". In January 1985 Pournelle selected Sidekick as one of his products of the year for the IBM PC. BYTE in 1989 listed SideKick Plus as among the \"Distinction\" winners of the BYTE Awards, stating \"Talk about a bang for the buck\".\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nSidekick Museum in Webarchive\n\nDOS software\nBorland software\nComputer-related introductions in 1983\n1984 software",
"A sidekick is a slang expression for a close companion or colleague (not necessarily in fiction) who is, or is generally regarded as, subordinate to the one they accompany.\n\nSome well-known fictional sidekicks are Don Quixote's Sancho Panza, Sherlock Holmes' Doctor Watson, The Lone Ranger's Tonto, The Green Hornet's Kato, Shrek's Donkey and Puss in Boots, Mickey Mouse's Donald Duck and Goofy, Mario's Luigi and Yoshi, Sonic's Tails and Knuckles, Donkey Kong's Diddy Kong, Daffy Duck's Porky Pig, Captain America's Bucky and Batman's Robin.\n\nOrigins\nThe term is believed to have originated in pickpocket slang of the late 19th and early 20th century. The \"kick\" was the front pocket of a pair of trousers, believed to be the pocket safest from theft. Thus, by analogy, a \"side-kick\" was a person's closest companion.\n\nOne of the earliest recorded sidekicks may be Enkidu, who adopted a sidekick role to Gilgamesh after they became allies in the Epic of Gilgamesh. Other early examples are Achilles and Patroclus in the Iliad and Moses and Aaron in the Old Testament.\n\nFunction of the sidekick in fiction\nSidekicks can fulfill one or multiple functions, such as a counterpoint to the hero, an alternate point of view, or knowledge, skills, or anything else the hero does not have. They often function as comic relief, and/or the straight man to the hero's comedic actions. A sidekick can also be a character to whom the audience can more easily relate than the hero, or whom the audience can imagine themselves as being (such as teen sidekicks). And by asking questions of the hero, or giving the hero someone to talk to, the sidekick provides an opportunity for the author to provide exposition, thereby filling the same role as a Greek chorus.\n\nSidekicks frequently serve as an emotional connection, especially when the hero is depicted as detached and distant, traits which might make it difficult to like the hero. The sidekick is often the confidant who knows the main character better than anyone else, and gives a convincing reason to like the hero. Although Sherlock Holmes was portrayed as a difficult man to know, his friendship with Dr. Watson convinces the reader that Holmes is a good person. The Left Hand of Vampire Hunter D, being mentally linked to the reticent protagonist, often reveals thoughts, feelings, and the physical condition of his host, as well as background elements of the story.\n\nThe apparent stupidity of some comedy sidekicks is often used to make a non-intellectual hero look intelligent. Similarly, a flamboyant or effeminate sidekick may make an otherwise unimposing hero look more masculine. And a strong, silent and modest hero may have his fighting qualities revealed to the other characters and the audience by a talkative sidekick.\n\nWhile many sidekicks are used for comic relief, there are other sidekicks who are less outrageous than the heroes they pledge themselves to, and comedy derived from the hero can often be amplified by the presence or reaction of the sidekick. Examples include Porky Pig, who is more sensible and calmer than Daffy Duck in later short films; similarly, Sancho Panza is more rational than Don Quixote.\n\nIt is typical for the character and sidekick to be of the same gender — otherwise the term \"sidekick\" is replaced with \"partner\" or \"companion\". Whenever there is a team of more than two characters, the term sidekick is generally reserved for another team member of the same sex. It is rare for the relationship between a character and an opposite-sex sidekick to lack romantic or sexual overtones of any kind — though there are examples, like Modesty Blaise and Willie Garvin, The original Doctor Who series intentionally avoided any explicit onscreen indications of romantic or sexual attraction between The Doctor and his female companions. (See the discussion of comic books' teenage sidekicks below.)\n\nWhile unusual, it is not unheard of for a sidekick to be more attractive, charismatic, or physically capable than the supposed hero. This is most typically encountered when the hero's appeal is more intellectual rather than sexual. Such heroes (usually fictional sleuths and scientists) are often middle-aged or older and tend towards eccentricity. Such protagonists may, due to either age or physical unsuitability, be limited to cerebral conflicts, while leaving the physical action to a younger or more physically capable sidekick. This type of sidekick is rarely encountered in fiction, because the hero runs the risk of being upstaged by them. However, examples of successful such pairings include Detective Monk and his sidekick Sharona, Inspector Morse and his sidekick Detective Sergeant Robbie Lewis, Nero Wolfe and his sidekick Archie Goodwin, Hiro Nakamura and his sidekick Ando Masahashi, and Miles Vorkosigan and his sidekick cousin Ivan Vorpatril. In other media, The Green Hornet's sidekick, Kato, has (especially since the 1960s television series with Bruce Lee) been depicted as a capable man of action, for instance in martial arts. The earliest Doctor Who serials, particularly during the First Doctor era, had young male companions who were capable of the physical action that the elderly William Hartnell was not. This became more important as Hartnell's health declined during his tenure as The Doctor. This was not an issue with the following Doctors as they were cast with significantly younger actors.\n\nIt is also not unusual, especially in more recent TV programs such as Bones and NCIS, for there to be a team of sidekicks. In Bones, for example, FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth often fulfills one of the traditional roles of a sidekick by providing translations for the brilliant but socially incapable Dr. Temperance Brennan. Both Brennan and Booth, however, are heroes in their own right. The sidekicks in this case are the team of \"squints\" back in the Jeffersonian Institution's Medico-Legal Lab, each with their own scientific specialty, all of whom are usually needed to break the case.\n\nIn certain cases, a sidekick can grow out of their role of second fiddle to the hero and become a hero in their own right. Dick Grayson is one such example, having outgrown the mantle of Robin when he was under Batman and taken up the new identity of Nightwing. Grayson has more recently succeeded his mentor and taken on the costumed identity of Batman himself. Another example is the popular comic-strip soldier of fortune Captain Easy, who started as the two-fisted sidekick of the scrawny eponymous hero of the strip Wash Tubbs.\n\nComparisons\nA villain's supporters are normally called henchmen, minions, or lackeys, not sidekicks. While this is partially a convention in terminology, it also reflects that few villains are capable of bonds of friendship and loyalty, which are normal in the relationship between a hero and sidekick. This may also be due to the different roles in fiction of the protagonist and the antagonist: whereas a sidekick is a relatively important character due to his or her proximity to the protagonist, and so will likely be a developed character, the role of a henchman is to act as cannon-fodder for the hero and his sidekick. As a result, henchmen tend to be anonymous, disposable characters, existing for the sole purpose of illustrating the protagonists' prowess as they defeat them.\n\nNevertheless, some villains do have sidekicks, including Lex Luthor's Mercy Graves, the Joker's Harley Quinn, Jigsaw's Amanda, Shao Kahn's Shang Tsung, Shinnok's Quan Chi, Ben Wade's Charlie Prince (from Three-Ten to Yuma), Wario's Waluigi, Dr. Eggman's Orbot and Cubot, and Magneto's Mystique (albeit only in the X-Men live action films).\n\nUse in fiction\nFrodo Baggins's Samwise Gamgee, and Harry Potter's Ron Weasley, as well as the afore-mentioned Sancho Panza and Doctor Watson, are notable sidekicks from fiction.\n\nIn fiction, the term \"sidekick\" commonly refers to assistants to crime-fighting heroes. However, sidekicks do not necessarily accompany a crime-fighter, such as Leporello, Don Giovanni's servant in the 1787 opera. Villains can also have sidekicks, who are usually portrayed as less brilliant or lacking cunning. The sidekick has the literary function of playing against the hero, often contrasting in skill, or performing functions not suited to the hero.\n\nThe sidekick was a regular presence in westerns, where Fuzzy Knight, Al \"Fuzzy\" St. John, Smiley Burnette, and Andy Devine had longer careers than some of the heroic singing cowboys for whom they took pratfalls.\n\nIn science fiction the sub-type of the alien sidekick has been established. Examples of alien sidekicks are Mr. Spock (sidekick of Captain James T. Kirk) on Star Trek and Chewbacca (sidekick of Han Solo) in the original Star Wars trilogy. One of the roles of the alien sidekick is to act as a mouthpiece for social commentary on the human condition from an outsider's point of view.\n\nHeroic sidekicks such as Streaky the Supercat of Krypto the Superdog, Festus Haggen of Gunsmoke's Matt Dillon, or Gabrielle of Xena: Warrior Princess not only provide comic relief, but can occasionally be brave and/or resourceful and rescue the hero from a dire fate.\nKalimán, a heroic character depicted on movies, radio theatre and comic books, mentors a young lad named Solín.\n\nComic books\nComic book sidekicks have a long and popular history, dating back to the beginnings of the form. Examples include the Crimson Avenger's sidekick Wing, and Mister America's sidekick Fatman, both of whom debuted in the late 1930s. Other notable comics sidekicks include Ebony White, Jughead, Etta Candy, Captain Haddock, and Obelix.\n\nIn 1940 DC Comics introduced comics' first teenage sidekick, Robin the Boy Wonder, created to soften the dark tone of the Batman comics and make the Dark Knight more attractive to younger readers. Robin's instant popularity spawned a host of imitations, including such iconic characters as Bucky, Toro, Sandy the Golden Boy, and Speedy. (Stripesy was the exception to the rule: an adult sidekick to a teen hero, the Star-Spangled Kid. Another unusual sidekick pairing was the Blonde Bomber [a.k.a. Honey Blake], a newsreel camerawoman, chemist, and crime-fighter with a male sidekick named Jimmy Slapso.)\n\nThe prevalence of so many adult male superheroes and their teenage \"wards\" caused some observers to look askance at the trend. Psychologist Fredric Wertham decided that the phenomenon was a landmine of hidden and repressed Freudian issues, and that a sidekick's participation in violent encounters alongside his hero masked a sexual subtext. In 1954, Wertham's book Seduction of the Innocent coincided with Congressional hearings on (among other topics) the negative influence of comic books. For a time, superhero comics lost their popularity, and many teenage sidekicks faded into obscurity. (Rick Veitch's graphic novel Brat Pack, and issues of Alan Moore's Top 10, directly address the seamy, exploitative, and potentially pedophilia-related aspects of the adult hero-teen sidekick relationship.)\n\nIn the early 1960s, at the advent of comics' so-called Silver Age, a new round of superhero sidekicks made their debuts, including Rick Jones, Aqualad, Snapper Carr, Kid Flash, and Wonder Girl. Indeed, the original Teen Titans superhero team, appearing in 1964, was composed entirely of sidekicks. (Marvel Comics mostly got around the teen sidekick quandary by creating a selection of super-powered teenagers — heroes in their own right, such as Spider-Man, the second Human Torch, and the X-Men.)\n\nMost of the Golden Age and Silver Age sidekicks have subsequently evolved into mature heroes in their own right or have been killed off; and in the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, some new sidekicks have come into being. Certain heroes seem to attract serial sidekicks, notably Batman, Captain America, and The Flash. There have been at least five iterations of Robin; while Captain America has had a diverse array of sidekick successors to Bucky, including the Falcon, Demolition Man, Free Spirit, and Jack Flag.\n\nConversely, the character Rick Jones is virtually a \"sidekick-for-hire,\" having assisted a number of different heroes during his career, starting with the Hulk, moving onto Captain America (when he briefly became the second Bucky), then the first Captain Marvel, Rom Spaceknight, and finally the third Captain Marvel (Genis).\n\nIn television\nTV sidekicks usually play a supporting pivotal role to the star. Examples include Ethel Mertz to Lucy Ricardo (I Love Lucy), Ed Norton to Ralph Kramden (The Honeymooners), Screech Powers to Zack Morris (Saved by the Bell), Major Roger Healey to Major Anthony \"Tony\" Nelson (I Dream of Jeannie), or even a group of people such as the Sweathogs to Mr. Kotter (Welcome Back, Kotter). Duos of equal importance on TV such as Kate McArdle and Allie Lowell (Kate & Allie), Oscar Madison and Felix Unger (The Odd Couple), Bret Maverick and Bart Maverick (Maverick), or Laverne De Fazio and Shirley Feeney (Laverne & Shirley), are sometimes both called sidekicks to each other, although the usual sense of the term denotes inequality.\n\nMany television talk shows make use of a sidekick as a co-host who anchors a show with the main star. Ed McMahon played this role famously to Johnny Carson on the Tonight Show, as did Andy Richter to Conan O'Brien on the Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Tonight Show, and Conan. The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson employed a mechanical robot sidekick named Geoff Peterson (voiced by Josh Robert Thompson).\n\nClarence Gilyard informed viewers on a television commercial for Walker Texas Ranger that he was not Chuck Norris's sidekick, instead humorously saying \"This is Chuck Norris's sidekick\" over footage of Norris kicking a villain.\n\nAnimation\n\nIn animation, some popular examples are Boo-Boo Bear being Yogi Bear's sidekick, Baba Looey being the sidekick of Quick Draw McGraw, and Stimpy being the sidekick of Ren Höek on The Ren and Stimpy Show.\n\nIn the seventh episode of the 1994 animated series The Tick, the heroes take a night to relax at a local superhero nightclub. But when they arrive, Arthur is promptly escorted to the Sidekick Lounge, a small shack behind the club, where he meets several other sidekicks who spend the night lamenting their second-fiddle lot in life.\n\nIn video games\nSome video games have sidekicks who provide assistance to players during their adventures. An early example was Floyd in Planetfall, whom Computer Gaming World in April 1984 described as \"unique\". A potential example of this is found in the case of the Mario Bros., with Luigi serving in a supporting role to his brother Mario. Sonic the Hedgehog is often accompanied by his sidekick Miles \"Tails\" Prower, and his would-be girlfriend Amy Rose also has a hero-sidekick relationship with Cream the Rabbit. Diddy Kong is often seen as the sidekick to Donkey Kong, while Mega Man is aided by his robotic dog Rush. However, video game heroes will occasionally work alone-as in the case of Kid Icarus' Pit-or with a team supporting their efforts-as with Fox McCloud-as opposed to a single sidekick.\n\nSee also\n Confidant\n Henchman\n Foil (literature)\n List of comic book sidekicks\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n\"Sidekicks are second bananas no more,\" Los Angeles Times\n\nPartnerships\nService occupations\nStock characters\nWestern (genre) staples and terminology"
] | [
"Sandman (Wesley Dodds) is a fictional superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first of several DC characters to bear the name Sandman, he was created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Bert Christman. Attired in a green business suit, a fedora, and a World War I gas mask, the Sandman used a gun emitting a sleeping gas to sedate criminals.",
"Attired in a green business suit, a fedora, and a World War I gas mask, the Sandman used a gun emitting a sleeping gas to sedate criminals. He was originally one of the mystery men to appear in comic books and other types of adventure fiction in the 1930s but later was outfitted with a unitard/cowl costume and developed into a proper superhero, acquiring sidekick Sandy, and founding the Justice Society of America.",
"He was originally one of the mystery men to appear in comic books and other types of adventure fiction in the 1930s but later was outfitted with a unitard/cowl costume and developed into a proper superhero, acquiring sidekick Sandy, and founding the Justice Society of America. Like most DC Golden Age superheroes, the Sandman fell into obscurity in the 1940s and eventually other DC characters took his name.",
"Like most DC Golden Age superheroes, the Sandman fell into obscurity in the 1940s and eventually other DC characters took his name. During the 1990s, when writer Neil Gaiman's Sandman (featuring Morpheus, the anthropomorphic embodiment of dreams) was popular, DC revived Dodds in Sandman Mystery Theatre, a pulp/noir series set in the 1930s. Wizard Magazine ranked Wesley Dodds among the Top 200 Comic Book Characters of All Time, and he is the oldest superhero in terms of continuity to appear on the list.",
"Wizard Magazine ranked Wesley Dodds among the Top 200 Comic Book Characters of All Time, and he is the oldest superhero in terms of continuity to appear on the list. Publication history Golden Age of comic books Artist Bert Christman and writer Gardner Fox are generally credited as co-creating the original, Wesley Dodds version of the DC Comics character the Sandman.",
"Publication history Golden Age of comic books Artist Bert Christman and writer Gardner Fox are generally credited as co-creating the original, Wesley Dodds version of the DC Comics character the Sandman. While the character's first appearance is usually given as Adventure Comics #40 (cover-dated July 1939), he also appeared in DC Comics' 1939 New York World's Fair Comics omnibus, which historians believe appeared on newsstands one to two weeks earlier, while also believing the Adventure Comics story was written and drawn first.",
"While the character's first appearance is usually given as Adventure Comics #40 (cover-dated July 1939), he also appeared in DC Comics' 1939 New York World's Fair Comics omnibus, which historians believe appeared on newsstands one to two weeks earlier, while also believing the Adventure Comics story was written and drawn first. Each of the two stories' scripts were credited to the pseudonym \"Larry Dean\"; Fox wrote the untitled, 10-page story in New York World's Fair #1, while he simply plotted, and Christman scripted, the untitled, six-page story, generally known as \"The Tarantula Strikes\", in Adventure #40.",
"Each of the two stories' scripts were credited to the pseudonym \"Larry Dean\"; Fox wrote the untitled, 10-page story in New York World's Fair #1, while he simply plotted, and Christman scripted, the untitled, six-page story, generally known as \"The Tarantula Strikes\", in Adventure #40. Creig Flessel, who drew many early Sandman adventures, has sometimes been credited as co-creator on the basis of drawing the Sandman cover of Adventure #40, but no other evidence has surfaced.",
"Creig Flessel, who drew many early Sandman adventures, has sometimes been credited as co-creator on the basis of drawing the Sandman cover of Adventure #40, but no other evidence has surfaced. Following these two first appearances, the feature \"The Sandman\" continued to appear in the omnibus Adventure Comics through #102 (February–March 1946).",
"Following these two first appearances, the feature \"The Sandman\" continued to appear in the omnibus Adventure Comics through #102 (February–March 1946). One of the medium's seminal \"mystery men\", as referred to at the time, the Sandman straddled the pulp magazine detective tradition and the emerging superhero tradition by dint of his dual identity and his fanciful, masked attire and weapon: an exotic \"gas gun\" that could compel villains to tell the truth, as well as put them to sleep.",
"One of the medium's seminal \"mystery men\", as referred to at the time, the Sandman straddled the pulp magazine detective tradition and the emerging superhero tradition by dint of his dual identity and his fanciful, masked attire and weapon: an exotic \"gas gun\" that could compel villains to tell the truth, as well as put them to sleep. Unlike many superheroes, he frequently found himself the victim of gunshot wounds, both in the Golden Age and in stories in DC's modern-day Vertigo imprint, and he would continue fighting in spite of his injuries.",
"Unlike many superheroes, he frequently found himself the victim of gunshot wounds, both in the Golden Age and in stories in DC's modern-day Vertigo imprint, and he would continue fighting in spite of his injuries. In his early career, Dodds (the character's surname was given as \"Dodd\" in his first four appearances; he became \"Dodds\" in Adventure Comics #44) was frequently aided by his girlfriend, Dian Belmont, who is aware of his dual identity.",
"In his early career, Dodds (the character's surname was given as \"Dodd\" in his first four appearances; he became \"Dodds\" in Adventure Comics #44) was frequently aided by his girlfriend, Dian Belmont, who is aware of his dual identity. Unlike many superhero love interests, Belmont was often, though not always, portrayed as an equal partner of the Sandman, rather than a damsel in distress.",
"Unlike many superhero love interests, Belmont was often, though not always, portrayed as an equal partner of the Sandman, rather than a damsel in distress. Later stories would reveal that the two remained together for the duration of their lives, though they never married. The Sandman was one of the original members of the Justice Society of America when that superhero team was introduced in All Star Comics #3, published by All-American Comics, one of the companies that would merge to form DC.",
"The Sandman was one of the original members of the Justice Society of America when that superhero team was introduced in All Star Comics #3, published by All-American Comics, one of the companies that would merge to form DC. In Adventure Comics #69 (December 1941), Dodds was given a yellow-and-purple costume by writer Mort Weisinger and artist Paul Norris, as well as a yellow-clad kid sidekick, Sandy the Golden Boy, nephew of Dian Belmont.",
"In Adventure Comics #69 (December 1941), Dodds was given a yellow-and-purple costume by writer Mort Weisinger and artist Paul Norris, as well as a yellow-clad kid sidekick, Sandy the Golden Boy, nephew of Dian Belmont. Later that year, the celebrated team of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby took over this version of the character. In 1942, Dodds enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as an anti-aircraft gunner during World War II.",
"In 1942, Dodds enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as an anti-aircraft gunner during World War II. Silver Age to Modern Age Reintroduced in the Silver Age in Justice League of America #46 (July 1966), the Sandman made occasional appearances in the annual teamups between that superhero group and the JSA. In 1981 DC began publishing All-Star Squadron, a retelling of the Earth-Two mystery-men during WWII. Although not a main character, Sandman does appear in its pages.",
"Although not a main character, Sandman does appear in its pages. Of note is issue #18 which gives an explanation of why Dodds changed costumes from the cloak and gas mask to the yellow-and-purple outfit; Dian wore his costume while he was fighting elsewhere and she was killed in a fray. Dodds decided to wear the new costume, of Dian's design, until he could bring himself to wear the original in which she had died.",
"Dodds decided to wear the new costume, of Dian's design, until he could bring himself to wear the original in which she had died. Later, this explanation would be changed again when Dian Belmont was retconned to have never died, and a new explanation was given: Sandy convinced Dodds to switch to the more colorful costume to gain the support of regular people, who preferred the more traditional superhero look to his older, pulp-themed costume.",
"Later, this explanation would be changed again when Dian Belmont was retconned to have never died, and a new explanation was given: Sandy convinced Dodds to switch to the more colorful costume to gain the support of regular people, who preferred the more traditional superhero look to his older, pulp-themed costume. An acclaimed film noir-inspired retelling of the original Sandman's adventures, Sandman Mystery Theatre, ran from 1993 to 1998 under DC Comics' Vertigo mature-reader imprint.",
"An acclaimed film noir-inspired retelling of the original Sandman's adventures, Sandman Mystery Theatre, ran from 1993 to 1998 under DC Comics' Vertigo mature-reader imprint. Although as a whole its continuity within the DC Universe is debatable, several elements of the series – the more nuanced relationship between Dodds and Dian Belmont; the Sandman's appearance (wearing a trench coat and World War I gas mask instead of the cape and the custom-made gas mask); and Dodds' pudgier appearance and wearing of glasses – have been adopted into regular continuity.",
"Although as a whole its continuity within the DC Universe is debatable, several elements of the series – the more nuanced relationship between Dodds and Dian Belmont; the Sandman's appearance (wearing a trench coat and World War I gas mask instead of the cape and the custom-made gas mask); and Dodds' pudgier appearance and wearing of glasses – have been adopted into regular continuity. The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual.",
"The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual. The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual. In Sandman Midnight Theatre (1995) a one-shot special by Neil Gaiman (author of the Modern Age supernatural series The Sandman), Matt Wagner (co-author of Sandman Mystery Theatre), and Teddy Kristiansen, depicts an interaction between the two characters, with the original visiting Great Britain and encountering the imprisoned Dream, the protagonist of Gaiman's series.",
"In Sandman Midnight Theatre (1995) a one-shot special by Neil Gaiman (author of the Modern Age supernatural series The Sandman), Matt Wagner (co-author of Sandman Mystery Theatre), and Teddy Kristiansen, depicts an interaction between the two characters, with the original visiting Great Britain and encountering the imprisoned Dream, the protagonist of Gaiman's series. A minor retcon by Gaiman suggested that Dodds' chosen identity was a result of Dream's absence from the realm the Dreaming, and that Dodds carries an aspect of that mystical realm.",
"A minor retcon by Gaiman suggested that Dodds' chosen identity was a result of Dream's absence from the realm the Dreaming, and that Dodds carries an aspect of that mystical realm. This explains Dodds' prophetic dreams. Twilight years Dodds is one of a number of Justice Society members who finds themselves in the \"Ragnarok Dimension\" during the early Modern Age of comic books.",
"Twilight years Dodds is one of a number of Justice Society members who finds themselves in the \"Ragnarok Dimension\" during the early Modern Age of comic books. The Last Days of the Justice Society of America Special (1986) wrote the post-Crisis tale of a time-warped wave of destruction ready to engulf the world. Dodds and his JSA teammates enter into a limbo to engage in an eternal battle that would allow the universe to continue its existence.",
"Dodds and his JSA teammates enter into a limbo to engage in an eternal battle that would allow the universe to continue its existence. This was later revealed to be a simulation created by Odin, which he intended to give to Dream as a bribe. Dodds, Dream's protege, and Hawkman, the grandfather of Dream's appointed successor are the only JSA members who were seen at that time. This lasted only until 1992 when DC published Armageddon: Inferno.",
"This lasted only until 1992 when DC published Armageddon: Inferno. This mini-series ended with the JSA members leaving limbo and entering the 'real' world. Justice Society of America (1992–1993) showed how the JSA members handled returning to normal life. For the Sandman, the series depicted him as an old, thin man with a balding scalp and a sharp wit. Starting with issue #1 his physical condition became important as writer Len Strazewski had him suffer a stroke at the first sign of a villainous attack.",
"Starting with issue #1 his physical condition became important as writer Len Strazewski had him suffer a stroke at the first sign of a villainous attack. Both his age and his physical limitations became a theme writers would use in this character's post-Crisis stories. During Zero Hour, Dodds is returned to his proper age by the Extant.",
"During Zero Hour, Dodds is returned to his proper age by the Extant. Later, Wesley Dodds is shown as retired and living with Dian Belmont though occasionally coming out of it, most notably in a team-up with Jack Knight, the son of Dodds' JSA teammate Starman. When Dian is diagnosed with a terminal disease, the two travel the world together until her death.",
"When Dian is diagnosed with a terminal disease, the two travel the world together until her death. Towards the end of his life, Dodds' prophetic dreams alert him to the identity and location of the new Doctor Fate, prompting him to contact the Gray Man, a being created from the residue of others' dreams, as well as his old friend Speed Saunders to instruct them to warn his former teammates about what he has discovered.",
"Towards the end of his life, Dodds' prophetic dreams alert him to the identity and location of the new Doctor Fate, prompting him to contact the Gray Man, a being created from the residue of others' dreams, as well as his old friend Speed Saunders to instruct them to warn his former teammates about what he has discovered. Waiting on a clifftop, he is subsequently confronted by the powerful villain Mordru, who intends to force Dodds to tell him the identity of the new Doctor Fate, only for Dodds to distract Mordru with his gas-gun long enough to commit suicide by jumping off the cliff rather than allow Mordru to torture him into submission.",
"Waiting on a clifftop, he is subsequently confronted by the powerful villain Mordru, who intends to force Dodds to tell him the identity of the new Doctor Fate, only for Dodds to distract Mordru with his gas-gun long enough to commit suicide by jumping off the cliff rather than allow Mordru to torture him into submission. His last thoughts were that his final slumber would be free of nightmares as he is reunited with Dian.",
"His last thoughts were that his final slumber would be free of nightmares as he is reunited with Dian. His youthful but now grown-up sidekick Sandy the Golden Boy becomes known simply as Sand and takes his mentor's place as a member of the Justice Society of America as well as his prophetic dreams. Eventually, he takes the name of Sandman. Sleep of Reason Wesley Dodds makes a comeback via flashback images in the 2006 limited series Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason.",
"Sleep of Reason Wesley Dodds makes a comeback via flashback images in the 2006 limited series Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason. Blackest Night Dodds is reanimated as a Black Lantern in the \"Blackest Night\" storyline. He and several other fallen JSAers attack the Brownstone, seeking the hearts of the living within. Exodus Noir Dodds appeared in the \"Exodus Noir\" arc of Madame Xanadu in 2010, in a story set in 1940.",
"Exodus Noir Dodds appeared in the \"Exodus Noir\" arc of Madame Xanadu in 2010, in a story set in 1940. DC Rebirth In the \"Watchmen\" sequel \"Doomsday Clock\", Lois Lane finds a flash-drive at the Daily Planet. It shows her footage of Sandman and the rest of the Justice Society. In the pages of \"Dark Nights: Death Metal\", the Prime-Earth version of Sandman was revealed to be entombed at the Valhalla Cemetery. Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring.",
"Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring. Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring. Powers and abilities Dodds has prophetic dreams which come to him as cryptic, ambiguous visions of crimes. Originally of unexplained origin, these dreams were later ascribed to an encounter between Dodds and the entity known as Dream via retcon. The visions haunt Dodds, who uses his keen intellect and amateur detective skills to properly interpret them.",
"The visions haunt Dodds, who uses his keen intellect and amateur detective skills to properly interpret them. He is also a talented chemist and inventor, creating the sand-like substance and the Silicoid Gun ultimately responsible for transforming Sandy the Golden Boy into a Silicon-based life-form. In the early years of his career, Wesley Dodds possesses the strength level of a man who engages in regular exercise, and was a fine hand-to-hand combatant. As he grows older, his strength level diminishes in relative proportion to his age.",
"As he grows older, his strength level diminishes in relative proportion to his age. As hobbies, Dodds enjoys reading, writing, poetry, origami and philosophy. Through an unknown process, Dodds passes his power of prophetic visions on to his former ward, Sanderson Hawkins upon the moment of his own death.",
"Through an unknown process, Dodds passes his power of prophetic visions on to his former ward, Sanderson Hawkins upon the moment of his own death. Wesley Dodds' costume consists of a basic green business suit, fedora, a World War I era gas mask, a gas gun, and a specially designed \"wirepoon\" gun, which fires a length of thin, steel cable. The gas mask protects Dodds from the effects of the gas emitted from his gas gun.",
"The gas mask protects Dodds from the effects of the gas emitted from his gas gun. The gas gun, a handheld device fitted with cartridges containing concentrated sleeping gas, is Wesley Dodds' only known weapon. Pressing the trigger on the gun releases a cloud of green dust rendering all within the Sandman's immediate vicinity unconscious. An upgraded canister dispenser for the gun is provided for him by his close friend and confidante, Lee Travis.",
"An upgraded canister dispenser for the gun is provided for him by his close friend and confidante, Lee Travis. Dodds is also known to conceal smaller knockout gas capsules in a hollow heel on his shoe. These prove ideal when placed in situations where his gas gun is not readily available. In the early days of his career, the Sandman drives a black 1938 Plymouth coupe. The car is enhanced with various features to aid Dodds in his crusade against crime.",
"The car is enhanced with various features to aid Dodds in his crusade against crime. Enemies Sandman has an assortment of enemies that he fought: Butcher - A cannibalistic butcher. Doctor Death - Raymond Kessler is a serial killer/swindler who is the boyfriend of Dian Belmont's cousin Lucy. Phantom of the Fair - Gerald Zimmerman is a man who has been torturing and killing homosexual men at the New York World's Fair. Ramulus - A plant-manipulating villain who was also known as Nightshade and Plant Master.",
"Ramulus - A plant-manipulating villain who was also known as Nightshade and Plant Master. He later appeared as a member of the Monster Society of Evil. Scorpion - Terrence Pritchard is an ad executive who becomes a bullwhip-wielding vigilante. Tarantula - A man who targeted Vivian Dale. There was also a second Tarantula that Sandman fought. This one was Roger Goldman who is a serial killer and the former owner of the Evergood Milk Bottling Company.",
"This one was Roger Goldman who is a serial killer and the former owner of the Evergood Milk Bottling Company. Other versions Kingdom Come Dodds appears as an infirm old man at the beginning of the graphic novel, plagued with visions of the impending apocalyptic battle between various factions of metahumans. Before his death, he relates his visions, interpreted through passages from the Book of Revelation, to Norman McCay, who later witnesses the events in the company of the Spectre.",
"Before his death, he relates his visions, interpreted through passages from the Book of Revelation, to Norman McCay, who later witnesses the events in the company of the Spectre. Earth 40 Wesley Dodds meets with The Unholy Three to give information about the Trigger, a device that causes every nuclear reactor in the world to detonate in a nuclear explosion. The Sandman arranges for The Unholy Three to meet with The Lantern, who has information on where the Trigger is located.",
"The Sandman arranges for The Unholy Three to meet with The Lantern, who has information on where the Trigger is located. Earth 2 In The New 52 (a reboot of DC Comics), a new Earth-2 version of Sandman appears. While he does wear a gas mask and wield a gas gun, he is also equipped with a teleporter. When Washington DC is attacked by Solomon Grundy, Commander Wesley Dodds, along with his Sandmen paramilitary force, is sent to retrieve and save President Lightfoot.",
"When Washington DC is attacked by Solomon Grundy, Commander Wesley Dodds, along with his Sandmen paramilitary force, is sent to retrieve and save President Lightfoot. They are later assigned by Commander Khan in a special and unofficial mission to infiltrate Terry Sloane's secret facility, where they confront and subdue a mind-controlled Michael Holt. In other media Television Animation Wesley Dodds / Sandman makes a non-speaking appearance in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode \"Crisis: 22,300 Miles Above Earth\".",
"In other media Television Animation Wesley Dodds / Sandman makes a non-speaking appearance in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode \"Crisis: 22,300 Miles Above Earth\". He is seen with the other members of the Justice Society of America. Sandman makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in the Young Justice episode \"Humanity\". He is shown with the other members of the JSA during a flashback sequence.",
"He is shown with the other members of the JSA during a flashback sequence. Live-action A character loosely inspired by the Sandman under the pseudonym of Nightshade makes recurring appearances in The Flash (1990), portrayed by Jason Bernard. This version is Dr. Desmond Powell, a 1950s vigilante who retained the Sandman's costume and captured criminals using a knockout gun and tranquilizer darts. After retiring as a vigilante after he defeated \"The Ghost\" in 1955, he later became a doctor and Chief of Staff at Central City Hospital.",
"After retiring as a vigilante after he defeated \"The Ghost\" in 1955, he later became a doctor and Chief of Staff at Central City Hospital. When the Ghost reappears in 1990, Powell becomes Nightshade once again and teams up with the Flash to apprehend his old enemy. He later unknowingly inspires the Deadly Nightshade. Powell is framed for multiple counts of murder, but clears his name and captures the impostor. He also makes his secret identity public and becomes a celebrity.",
"He also makes his secret identity public and becomes a celebrity. Wesley Dodds appeared in the Smallville two-hour special episode \"Absolute Justice\", portrayed by Ken Lawson. This version was a member of the now-disbanded Justice Society of America. After having a nightmare about losing his teammate, the Star-Spangled Kid, Dodds is killed by Icicle II. His body was later found by Clark Kent. Sandman's helmet appears in Rip Hunter's office in Legends of Tomorrow. Sandman appears in the series Stargirl.",
"Sandman appears in the series Stargirl. Sandman appears in the series Stargirl. He appears as a member of the Justice Society of America before the team was attacked and killed by the Injustice Society, with Dodds in particular being killed by Icicle. Film An alternate universe version of Sandman makes a cameo appearance in the animated film Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths. This version is a minor member of the Crime Syndicate of America. An alternate timeline version of Sandman appears in the animated film Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox.",
"An alternate timeline version of Sandman appears in the animated film Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox. This version is one of the few active superheroes in the dystopian \"Flashpoint\" timeline. Video games Wesley Dodds' costume appears in the background of the Hall of Justice in the video game Injustice: Gods Among Us. Web series Sandman makes a minor appearance in the DC Super Hero Girls episode \"Welcome to Super Hero High\". He appears as a graduate of the titular school.",
"He appears as a graduate of the titular school. He appears as a graduate of the titular school. Collected editions The Golden Age Sandman Archive Vol. 1 (Sandman stories from New York World's Fair Comics #1–2 and Adventure Comics #40–59) by Bert Christman and others.",
"1 (Sandman stories from New York World's Fair Comics #1–2 and Adventure Comics #40–59) by Bert Christman and others. Sandman by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby (World's Finest #6–7; Adventure Comics #72–102; Sandman #1) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 1: The Tarantula (Sandman Mystery Theatre #1–4) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 2: The Face and The Brute (Sandman Mystery Theatre #5–12) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 3: The Vamp (Sandman Mystery Theatre #13–16) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 4: The Scorpion (Sandman Mystery Theatre #17–20) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 5: Dr. Death and The Night of the Butcher (Sandman Mystery Theatre #21–28) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 6: The Hourman and The Python (Sandman Mystery Theatre #29–36) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 7: The Mist and The Phantom of the Fair (Sandman Mystery Theatre #37–44) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 8: The Blackhawk and The Return of the Scarlet Ghost (Sandman Mystery Theatre #45–52) Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason (Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason #1–5) References External links JSA Fact File: The Sandman Earth-2 Sandman Index] Sequart.com: \"The Sandman — Interlude: Sandman Mystery Theatre (1993–1998)\", by Julian Darius Characters created by Allen Bert Christman Characters created by Gardner Fox Comics characters introduced in 1939 DC Comics male superheroes Earth-Two Fictional businesspeople Fictional characters with precognition Fictional detectives Fictional scientists Fictional socialites Golden Age superheroes Jewish superheroes Sandman Vigilante characters in comics"
] |
[
"Sandman (Wesley Dodds)",
"Powers and abilities",
"What are his special abilities?",
"Dodds has prophetic dreams which come to him as cryptic, ambiguous visions of crimes.",
"Is he able to fight the criminals?",
"These prove ideal when placed in situations where his gas gun is not readily available.",
"What does he do with the gas gun?",
"Pressing the trigger on the gun releases a cloud of green dust rendering all within the Sandman's immediate vicinity unconscious.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"In the early days of his career, the Sandman drives a black 1938 Plymouth Coupe.",
"Did he have a sidekick?",
"Sandy the Golden Boy into a Silicon-based life-form.",
"Does he have any other powers?",
"Wes is also known to conceal smaller knockout gas capsules in a hollow heel on his shoe.",
"What else is he notable for?",
"He also makes use of a specially designed \"wirepoon\" gun, which fires a length of thin, steel cable."
] | C_66c8684ed1f04066a6bfcf6cee925937_0 | Does he have any weaknesses? | 8 | Does Wesley Dodds have any weaknesses? | Sandman (Wesley Dodds) | Dodds has prophetic dreams which come to him as cryptic, ambiguous visions of crimes. Originally of unexplained origin, these dreams were later ascribed to encounter between Dodds and the entity known as Dream via retcon. The visions haunt Wes, who uses his keen intellect and amateur detective skills to properly interpret them. He is also a talented chemist and inventor, creating the sand-like substance and the Silicoid Gun ultimately responsible for transforming Sandy the Golden Boy into a Silicon-based life-form. In the early years of his career, Wesley Dodds possesses the strength level of a man who engages in regular exercise, and was a fine hand-to-hand combatant. As he grows older, his strength level diminishes in relative proportion to his age. As hobbies, Wes enjoys reading, writing, poetry, origami and philosophy. Through an unknown process, Wes passes his power of prophetic visions on to his former ward, Sanderson Hawkins upon the moment of his own death. Wesley Dodds' costume consists of a basic green business suit, fedora, a World War I era gas mask, a gas gun, and a wire gun. The gas mask protects Dodds from the effects of the gas emitted from his gas gun. The gas gun, a handheld device fitted with cartridges containing concentrated sleeping gas, is Wesley Dodds' only known weapon. Pressing the trigger on the gun releases a cloud of green dust rendering all within the Sandman's immediate vicinity unconscious. An upgraded canister dispenser for the gun is provided for him by his close friend and confidante, Lee Travis. Wes is also known to conceal smaller knockout gas capsules in a hollow heel on his shoe. These prove ideal when placed in situations where his gas gun is not readily available. He also makes use of a specially designed "wirepoon" gun, which fires a length of thin, steel cable. In the early days of his career, the Sandman drives a black 1938 Plymouth Coupe. The car is enhanced with various features to aid Wes in his crusade against crime. CANNOTANSWER | Wesley Dodds possesses the strength level of a man who engages in regular exercise, | Sandman (Wesley Dodds) is a fictional superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first of several DC characters to bear the name Sandman, he was created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Bert Christman. Attired in a green business suit, a fedora, and a World War I gas mask, the Sandman used a gun emitting a sleeping gas to sedate criminals. He was originally one of the mystery men to appear in comic books and other types of adventure fiction in the 1930s but later was outfitted with a unitard/cowl costume and developed into a proper superhero, acquiring sidekick Sandy, and founding the Justice Society of America.
Like most DC Golden Age superheroes, the Sandman fell into obscurity in the 1940s and eventually other DC characters took his name. During the 1990s, when writer Neil Gaiman's Sandman (featuring Morpheus, the anthropomorphic embodiment of dreams) was popular, DC revived Dodds in Sandman Mystery Theatre, a pulp/noir series set in the 1930s. Wizard Magazine ranked Wesley Dodds among the Top 200 Comic Book Characters of All Time, and he is the oldest superhero in terms of continuity to appear on the list.
Publication history
Golden Age of comic books
Artist Bert Christman and writer Gardner Fox are generally credited as co-creating the original, Wesley Dodds version of the DC Comics character the Sandman. While the character's first appearance is usually given as Adventure Comics #40 (cover-dated July 1939), he also appeared in DC Comics' 1939 New York World's Fair Comics omnibus, which historians believe appeared on newsstands one to two weeks earlier, while also believing the Adventure Comics story was written and drawn first. Each of the two stories' scripts were credited to the pseudonym "Larry Dean"; Fox wrote the untitled, 10-page story in New York World's Fair #1, while he simply plotted, and Christman scripted, the untitled, six-page story, generally known as "The Tarantula Strikes", in Adventure #40. Creig Flessel, who drew many early Sandman adventures, has sometimes been credited as co-creator on the basis of drawing the Sandman cover of Adventure #40, but no other evidence has surfaced.
Following these two first appearances, the feature "The Sandman" continued to appear in the omnibus Adventure Comics through #102 (February–March 1946). One of the medium's seminal "mystery men", as referred to at the time, the Sandman straddled the pulp magazine detective tradition and the emerging superhero tradition by dint of his dual identity and his fanciful, masked attire and weapon: an exotic "gas gun" that could compel villains to tell the truth, as well as put them to sleep. Unlike many superheroes, he frequently found himself the victim of gunshot wounds, both in the Golden Age and in stories in DC's modern-day Vertigo imprint, and he would continue fighting in spite of his injuries.
In his early career, Dodds (the character's surname was given as "Dodd" in his first four appearances; he became "Dodds" in Adventure Comics #44) was frequently aided by his girlfriend, Dian Belmont, who is aware of his dual identity. Unlike many superhero love interests, Belmont was often, though not always, portrayed as an equal partner of the Sandman, rather than a damsel in distress. Later stories would reveal that the two remained together for the duration of their lives, though they never married.
The Sandman was one of the original members of the Justice Society of America when that superhero team was introduced in All Star Comics #3, published by All-American Comics, one of the companies that would merge to form DC.
In Adventure Comics #69 (December 1941), Dodds was given a yellow-and-purple costume by writer Mort Weisinger and artist Paul Norris, as well as a yellow-clad kid sidekick, Sandy the Golden Boy, nephew of Dian Belmont. Later that year, the celebrated team of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby took over this version of the character. In 1942, Dodds enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as an anti-aircraft gunner during World War II.
Silver Age to Modern Age
Reintroduced in the Silver Age in Justice League of America #46 (July 1966), the Sandman made occasional appearances in the annual teamups between that superhero group and the JSA.
In 1981 DC began publishing All-Star Squadron, a retelling of the Earth-Two mystery-men during WWII. Although not a main character, Sandman does appear in its pages. Of note is issue #18 which gives an explanation of why Dodds changed costumes from the cloak and gas mask to the yellow-and-purple outfit; Dian wore his costume while he was fighting elsewhere and she was killed in a fray. Dodds decided to wear the new costume, of Dian's design, until he could bring himself to wear the original in which she had died.
Later, this explanation would be changed again when Dian Belmont was retconned to have never died, and a new explanation was given: Sandy convinced Dodds to switch to the more colorful costume to gain the support of regular people, who preferred the more traditional superhero look to his older, pulp-themed costume.
An acclaimed film noir-inspired retelling of the original Sandman's adventures, Sandman Mystery Theatre, ran from 1993 to 1998 under DC Comics' Vertigo mature-reader imprint. Although as a whole its continuity within the DC Universe is debatable, several elements of the series – the more nuanced relationship between Dodds and Dian Belmont; the Sandman's appearance (wearing a trench coat and World War I gas mask instead of the cape and the custom-made gas mask); and Dodds' pudgier appearance and wearing of glasses – have been adopted into regular continuity. The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual.
In Sandman Midnight Theatre (1995) a one-shot special by Neil Gaiman (author of the Modern Age supernatural series The Sandman), Matt Wagner (co-author of Sandman Mystery Theatre), and Teddy Kristiansen, depicts an interaction between the two characters, with the original visiting Great Britain and encountering the imprisoned Dream, the protagonist of Gaiman's series. A minor retcon by Gaiman suggested that Dodds' chosen identity was a result of Dream's absence from the realm the Dreaming, and that Dodds carries an aspect of that mystical realm. This explains Dodds' prophetic dreams.
Twilight years
Dodds is one of a number of Justice Society members who finds themselves in the "Ragnarok Dimension" during the early Modern Age of comic books. The Last Days of the Justice Society of America Special (1986) wrote the post-Crisis tale of a time-warped wave of destruction ready to engulf the world. Dodds and his JSA teammates enter into a limbo to engage in an eternal battle that would allow the universe to continue its existence. This was later revealed to be a simulation created by Odin, which he intended to give to Dream as a bribe. Dodds, Dream's protege, and Hawkman, the grandfather of Dream's appointed successor are the only JSA members who were seen at that time. This lasted only until 1992 when DC published Armageddon: Inferno. This mini-series ended with the JSA members leaving limbo and entering the 'real' world. Justice Society of America (1992–1993) showed how the JSA members handled returning to normal life. For the Sandman, the series depicted him as an old, thin man with a balding scalp and a sharp wit. Starting with issue #1 his physical condition became important as writer Len Strazewski had him suffer a stroke at the first sign of a villainous attack. Both his age and his physical limitations became a theme writers would use in this character's post-Crisis stories.
During Zero Hour, Dodds is returned to his proper age by the Extant. Later, Wesley Dodds is shown as retired and living with Dian Belmont though occasionally coming out of it, most notably in a team-up with Jack Knight, the son of Dodds' JSA teammate Starman. When Dian is diagnosed with a terminal disease, the two travel the world together until her death.
Towards the end of his life, Dodds' prophetic dreams alert him to the identity and location of the new Doctor Fate, prompting him to contact the Gray Man, a being created from the residue of others' dreams, as well as his old friend Speed Saunders to instruct them to warn his former teammates about what he has discovered. Waiting on a clifftop, he is subsequently confronted by the powerful villain Mordru, who intends to force Dodds to tell him the identity of the new Doctor Fate, only for Dodds to distract Mordru with his gas-gun long enough to commit suicide by jumping off the cliff rather than allow Mordru to torture him into submission. His last thoughts were that his final slumber would be free of nightmares as he is reunited with Dian. His youthful but now grown-up sidekick Sandy the Golden Boy becomes known simply as Sand and takes his mentor's place as a member of the Justice Society of America as well as his prophetic dreams. Eventually, he takes the name of Sandman.
Sleep of Reason
Wesley Dodds makes a comeback via flashback images in the 2006 limited series Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason.
Blackest Night
Dodds is reanimated as a Black Lantern in the "Blackest Night" storyline. He and several other fallen JSAers attack the Brownstone, seeking the hearts of the living within.
Exodus Noir
Dodds appeared in the "Exodus Noir" arc of Madame Xanadu in 2010, in a story set in 1940.
DC Rebirth
In the "Watchmen" sequel "Doomsday Clock", Lois Lane finds a flash-drive at the Daily Planet. It shows her footage of Sandman and the rest of the Justice Society.
In the pages of "Dark Nights: Death Metal", the Prime-Earth version of Sandman was revealed to be entombed at the Valhalla Cemetery. Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring.
Powers and abilities
Dodds has prophetic dreams which come to him as cryptic, ambiguous visions of crimes. Originally of unexplained origin, these dreams were later ascribed to an encounter between Dodds and the entity known as Dream via retcon. The visions haunt Dodds, who uses his keen intellect and amateur detective skills to properly interpret them. He is also a talented chemist and inventor, creating the sand-like substance and the Silicoid Gun ultimately responsible for transforming Sandy the Golden Boy into a Silicon-based life-form. In the early years of his career, Wesley Dodds possesses the strength level of a man who engages in regular exercise, and was a fine hand-to-hand combatant. As he grows older, his strength level diminishes in relative proportion to his age. As hobbies, Dodds enjoys reading, writing, poetry, origami and philosophy. Through an unknown process, Dodds passes his power of prophetic visions on to his former ward, Sanderson Hawkins upon the moment of his own death.
Wesley Dodds' costume consists of a basic green business suit, fedora, a World War I era gas mask, a gas gun, and a specially designed "wirepoon" gun, which fires a length of thin, steel cable. The gas mask protects Dodds from the effects of the gas emitted from his gas gun. The gas gun, a handheld device fitted with cartridges containing concentrated sleeping gas, is Wesley Dodds' only known weapon. Pressing the trigger on the gun releases a cloud of green dust rendering all within the Sandman's immediate vicinity unconscious. An upgraded canister dispenser for the gun is provided for him by his close friend and confidante, Lee Travis. Dodds is also known to conceal smaller knockout gas capsules in a hollow heel on his shoe. These prove ideal when placed in situations where his gas gun is not readily available.
In the early days of his career, the Sandman drives a black 1938 Plymouth coupe. The car is enhanced with various features to aid Dodds in his crusade against crime.
Enemies
Sandman has an assortment of enemies that he fought:
Butcher - A cannibalistic butcher.
Doctor Death - Raymond Kessler is a serial killer/swindler who is the boyfriend of Dian Belmont's cousin Lucy.
Phantom of the Fair - Gerald Zimmerman is a man who has been torturing and killing homosexual men at the New York World's Fair.
Ramulus - A plant-manipulating villain who was also known as Nightshade and Plant Master. He later appeared as a member of the Monster Society of Evil.
Scorpion - Terrence Pritchard is an ad executive who becomes a bullwhip-wielding vigilante.
Tarantula - A man who targeted Vivian Dale. There was also a second Tarantula that Sandman fought. This one was Roger Goldman who is a serial killer and the former owner of the Evergood Milk Bottling Company.
Other versions
Kingdom Come
Dodds appears as an infirm old man at the beginning of the graphic novel, plagued with visions of the impending apocalyptic battle between various factions of metahumans. Before his death, he relates his visions, interpreted through passages from the Book of Revelation, to Norman McCay, who later witnesses the events in the company of the Spectre.
Earth 40
Wesley Dodds meets with The Unholy Three to give information about the Trigger, a device that causes every nuclear reactor in the world to detonate in a nuclear explosion. The Sandman arranges for The Unholy Three to meet with The Lantern, who has information on where the Trigger is located.
Earth 2
In The New 52 (a reboot of DC Comics), a new Earth-2 version of Sandman appears. While he does wear a gas mask and wield a gas gun, he is also equipped with a teleporter. When Washington DC is attacked by Solomon Grundy, Commander Wesley Dodds, along with his Sandmen paramilitary force, is sent to retrieve and save President Lightfoot. They are later assigned by Commander Khan in a special and unofficial mission to infiltrate Terry Sloane's secret facility, where they confront and subdue a mind-controlled Michael Holt.
In other media
Television
Animation
Wesley Dodds / Sandman makes a non-speaking appearance in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode "Crisis: 22,300 Miles Above Earth". He is seen with the other members of the Justice Society of America.
Sandman makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in the Young Justice episode "Humanity". He is shown with the other members of the JSA during a flashback sequence.
Live-action
A character loosely inspired by the Sandman under the pseudonym of Nightshade makes recurring appearances in The Flash (1990), portrayed by Jason Bernard. This version is Dr. Desmond Powell, a 1950s vigilante who retained the Sandman's costume and captured criminals using a knockout gun and tranquilizer darts. After retiring as a vigilante after he defeated "The Ghost" in 1955, he later became a doctor and Chief of Staff at Central City Hospital. When the Ghost reappears in 1990, Powell becomes Nightshade once again and teams up with the Flash to apprehend his old enemy. He later unknowingly inspires the Deadly Nightshade. Powell is framed for multiple counts of murder, but clears his name and captures the impostor. He also makes his secret identity public and becomes a celebrity.
Wesley Dodds appeared in the Smallville two-hour special episode "Absolute Justice", portrayed by Ken Lawson. This version was a member of the now-disbanded Justice Society of America. After having a nightmare about losing his teammate, the Star-Spangled Kid, Dodds is killed by Icicle II. His body was later found by Clark Kent.
Sandman's helmet appears in Rip Hunter's office in Legends of Tomorrow.
Sandman appears in the series Stargirl. He appears as a member of the Justice Society of America before the team was attacked and killed by the Injustice Society, with Dodds in particular being killed by Icicle.
Film
An alternate universe version of Sandman makes a cameo appearance in the animated film Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths. This version is a minor member of the Crime Syndicate of America.
An alternate timeline version of Sandman appears in the animated film Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox. This version is one of the few active superheroes in the dystopian "Flashpoint" timeline.
Video games
Wesley Dodds' costume appears in the background of the Hall of Justice in the video game Injustice: Gods Among Us.
Web series
Sandman makes a minor appearance in the DC Super Hero Girls episode "Welcome to Super Hero High". He appears as a graduate of the titular school.
Collected editions
The Golden Age Sandman Archive Vol. 1 (Sandman stories from New York World's Fair Comics #1–2 and Adventure Comics #40–59) by Bert Christman and others.
Sandman by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby (World's Finest #6–7; Adventure Comics #72–102; Sandman #1)
Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 1: The Tarantula (Sandman Mystery Theatre #1–4)
Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 2: The Face and The Brute (Sandman Mystery Theatre #5–12)
Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 3: The Vamp (Sandman Mystery Theatre #13–16)
Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 4: The Scorpion (Sandman Mystery Theatre #17–20)
Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 5: Dr. Death and The Night of the Butcher (Sandman Mystery Theatre #21–28)
Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 6: The Hourman and The Python (Sandman Mystery Theatre #29–36)
Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 7: The Mist and The Phantom of the Fair (Sandman Mystery Theatre #37–44)
Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 8: The Blackhawk and The Return of the Scarlet Ghost (Sandman Mystery Theatre #45–52)
Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason (Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason #1–5)
References
External links
JSA Fact File: The Sandman
Earth-2 Sandman Index]
Sequart.com: "The Sandman — Interlude: Sandman Mystery Theatre (1993–1998)", by Julian Darius
Characters created by Allen Bert Christman
Characters created by Gardner Fox
Comics characters introduced in 1939
DC Comics male superheroes
Earth-Two
Fictional businesspeople
Fictional characters with precognition
Fictional detectives
Fictional scientists
Fictional socialites
Golden Age superheroes
Jewish superheroes
Sandman
Vigilante characters in comics | true | [
"Axel Geller (born 1 April 1999) is an Argentine tennis player.\n\nGeller has a career high ATP singles ranking of 539 achieved on 5 August 2019. He was ranked number 1 on the ITF Juniors Ranking in 2017. He currently attends Stanford University and plays on its men's tennis team.\n\nGeller won the 2017 Wimbledon Championships – Boys' Doubles title. He also Reached the 2017 Wimbledon Championships – Boys' Singles and the 2017 US Open – Boys' Singles finals but lost in both. These results helped propel him to achieve the No. 1 junior ranking.\n\nATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals\n\nSingles: 3 (3–0)\n\nDoubles: 3 (3–0)\n\nJunior Grand Slam finals\n\nSingles: 2 (2 finals)\n\nDoubles: 1 (1 title)\n\nNotes\n\nExternal links\n\nPlaying Style\nGeller in considered an aggressive baseline player. He possess a very powerful flat serve, and also has great shots on both wings. He often uses his serve to set up points or to get to the net. Geller also has a very flat backhand and forehand, both which he uses to dictate points and the tempo.\n\nGeller though does have some weaknesses. Because of his large frame Geller does struggle with his movement a bit. Those weaknesses are often overcome though because of the shots he has on both wings.\n\n1999 births\nLiving people\nStanford Cardinal men's tennis players\nArgentine male tennis players\nTennis players from Buenos Aires\nWimbledon junior champions\nGrand Slam (tennis) champions in boys' doubles",
"\"Strengths and weaknesses of evolution\" is a controversial phrase that has been proposed for (and in Texas introduced into) public school science curricula. Those proposing the phrase, such as the chairman of the Texas State Board of Education (SBOE), Don McLeroy, purport that there are weaknesses in the theory of evolution and in the evidence that life has evolved that should be taught for a balanced treatment of the subject of evolution. The scientific community rejects that any substantive weaknesses exist in the scientific theory, or in the data that it explains, and views the examples that have been given in support of the phrasing as being without merit and long refuted.\n\nThis has led scientists and journalists to conclude that the phrase is a creationist tactic to introduce religion into science courses. The phrase was introduced by the SBOE in the late 1980s. Since then it has been promoted in California and Missouri. In late 2008, it became a highly publicized issue as the Texas SBOE held public hearings on whether this language should be removed from the curriculum. According to the National Center for Science Education, the phrase, like 'Teach the controversy' and 'Critical Analysis of Evolution', is an attempt in a series of legal and political tactics adopted by intelligent design advocates to encourage educators to teach fallacious information — that a controversy exists among scientists over whether evolution has occurred.\n\nHistory\n\nTexas SBOE\nThe \"strengths and weaknesses\" language was included in the curriculum standards in Texas to appease creationists when the SBOE first mandated the teaching of evolution in the late 1980s.\n\nIn 2003, the \"strengths and weaknesses\" language in the standards was employed by members of the board in an unsuccessful attempt to dilute the treatment of evolution in the biology textbooks they were considering.\n\nIn September 2008 the 21st Century Science Coalition released a petition to remove the phrase \"strengths and weaknesses\" from the public school guidelines for science classrooms in Texas. As of November 2008, 588 scientists at Texas universities and 777 other scientists across the state have signed the petition.\n\nIn the summer of 2008/2009 the Texas SBOE is determining the curriculum for the next decade, including deciding whether the \"strengths and weaknesses\" of evolution should be taught. While this language was described by The New York Times as a \"benign-sounding phrase\", they mention that critics state that it is a new strategy to undermine the teaching of evolution, and for students to hear religious objections under the heading of scientific discourse. The then SBOE Chairman, Don McLeroy, a Young Earth creationist dentist from Central Texas, denied that the language \"is subterfuge for bringing in creationism.\" McLeroy views the debate as being between \"two systems of science\" — \"a creationist system and a naturalist system\". These views have alarmed Texas educators, including former chairman of the department of medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas Dan Foster, who stated that \"[s]erious students will not come to study in our universities if Texas is labeled scientifically backward\".\n\nIn December 2008, the San Antonio Express-News stated in an editorial that the Texas SBOE has a \"long history of trying to water down the science curriculum with criticisms of evolution that lack scientific credibility.\"\n\nIn January 2009, the Texas SBOE voted to remove the 'Strengths and Weaknesses\" language, but its conservative faction, led by Don McLeroy, managed to pass several amendments to the science curriculum that opponents describe as opening the door to teaching objections to evolution that might lead students to reject it. These included one amendment that compels science teachers to teach about aspects of the fossil record that do not neatly fit with gradualism, but rather show the relatively sudden appearance of some species while others seem to remain unchanged for millions of years. Prominent University of Texas biology professor David Hillis described the amendments as \"mak[ing] no sense to me ... It's a clear indication that the chairman of the state school board doesn’t understand the science.\" Board member Ken Mercer of San Antonio, who voted to keep \"strengths and weaknesses\" described his support for the language in explicitly religious terms: \"It's an issue of freedom of religion.\" This view was contradicted by fellow social conservative board member Barbara Cargill, who stated \"[t]his isn’t about religion.\"\n\nOn March 13, 2009 a bill (HB 4224) was introduced in the Texas House of Representatives that would require the Texas SBOE to restore the \"strengths and weaknesses\" language in the state science standards.\n\nCalifornia\nIn 2003 and 2004, creationist lawyer Larry Caldwell sought to persuade the Roseville Joint Union High School District Board of Trustees to adopt a policy which included teaching \"the scientific strengths and weaknesses\" of evolution. When this was rejected, he filed a complaint in federal court against the district, alleging that his civil rights were violated during the controversy, resulting in a summary judgment against him in September 2007.\n\nDiscovery Institute\nIn February 2008 the Discovery Institute created an Academic Freedom petition that stated \"Teachers should be protected from being fired, harassed, intimidated, or discriminated against for objectively presenting the scientific strengths and weaknesses of Darwinian theory.\"\n\nMissouri\n\nIn February 2009, House Bill 656, introduced in the Missouri House of Representatives, proposed that \"teachers shall be permitted to help students understand, analyze, critique, and review in an objective manner the scientific strengths and scientific weaknesses of theories of biological and chemical evolution.\" This bill died when the Missouri legislative session ended on May 15, 2009.\n\nTennessee\nOn February 9, 2011, Tennessee House of Representatives member Bill Dunn introduced House Bill 368, which states that \"teachers shall be permitted to help students understand, analyze, critique, and review in an objective manner the scientific strengths and scientific weaknesses of existing scientific theories covered in the course being taught.\" On February 16, 2011, Tennessee State Senator Bo Watson introduced an identical bill, Senate Bill 893. The House Bill was passed by the House Education Committee on March 29, 2011, and referred to the House Calendar and Rules Committee. Alan I. Leshner, the Chief Executive Officer of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and Executive Publisher of the journal Science, wrote to the House of Representatives opposing the Bill, stating \"There is virtually no scientific controversy among the overwhelming majority of researchers on the core facts of global warming and evolution. Asserting that there are significant scientific controversies about the overall nature of these concepts when there are none will only confuse students, not enlighten them.\"\n\nEducational and scientific value\n\nWhile anti-evolution members of the Texas SBOE have claimed their \"weaknesses\" campaign has nothing to do with faith, that \"We're not putting religion in books\", scientists have rebutted that these weaknesses are simply falsehoods. Scientists testified at the state board hearing in November 2008 that evolution is a scientific theory, not a hypothesis and thus does not have weaknesses.\n\nSome scientists, including Andrew Ellington, professor of biochemistry at the University of Texas, and Robert Dennison, Houston Independent School District's AP science lead teacher, are concerned that the mention of \"weaknesses\" in the curriculum standards has had a chilling effect on science teachers.\n\nIn a survey commissioned by the Texas Freedom Network, \"94% of Texas scientists indicated that claimed \"weaknesses\" are not valid scientific objections to evolution (with 87% saying that they “strongly disagree” that such weaknesses should be considered valid).\"\n\nSpecific weaknesses and their scientific rebuttals\n\nSupporters of the 'strengths and weaknesses of evolution' language have proposed the following as weaknesses of evolution, and the scientific community has responded with the following rebuttals:\n\nSee also\n Academic Freedom bills\n Christine Comer\n Creation–evolution controversy\n Critical Analysis of Evolution\n Free Speech on Evolution\n Intelligent design in politics\n Neo-creationism\n Stand up for science\n Teach the controversy\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nIndex to Creationist Claims at TalkOrigins Archive\nSpontaneous Generation and the Origin of Life by John S. Wilkins\nArchived Audio Files of Texas SBOE meetings\nTranscript (and link to audio file) of a lecture given by Texas SBOE Chairman Don McLeroy on Evolution and Creationism\n\nIntelligent design movement\nReligion and politics\nIntelligent design controversies\nDiscovery Institute campaigns\nDenialism"
] | [
"Sandman (Wesley Dodds) is a fictional superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first of several DC characters to bear the name Sandman, he was created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Bert Christman. Attired in a green business suit, a fedora, and a World War I gas mask, the Sandman used a gun emitting a sleeping gas to sedate criminals.",
"Attired in a green business suit, a fedora, and a World War I gas mask, the Sandman used a gun emitting a sleeping gas to sedate criminals. He was originally one of the mystery men to appear in comic books and other types of adventure fiction in the 1930s but later was outfitted with a unitard/cowl costume and developed into a proper superhero, acquiring sidekick Sandy, and founding the Justice Society of America.",
"He was originally one of the mystery men to appear in comic books and other types of adventure fiction in the 1930s but later was outfitted with a unitard/cowl costume and developed into a proper superhero, acquiring sidekick Sandy, and founding the Justice Society of America. Like most DC Golden Age superheroes, the Sandman fell into obscurity in the 1940s and eventually other DC characters took his name.",
"Like most DC Golden Age superheroes, the Sandman fell into obscurity in the 1940s and eventually other DC characters took his name. During the 1990s, when writer Neil Gaiman's Sandman (featuring Morpheus, the anthropomorphic embodiment of dreams) was popular, DC revived Dodds in Sandman Mystery Theatre, a pulp/noir series set in the 1930s. Wizard Magazine ranked Wesley Dodds among the Top 200 Comic Book Characters of All Time, and he is the oldest superhero in terms of continuity to appear on the list.",
"Wizard Magazine ranked Wesley Dodds among the Top 200 Comic Book Characters of All Time, and he is the oldest superhero in terms of continuity to appear on the list. Publication history Golden Age of comic books Artist Bert Christman and writer Gardner Fox are generally credited as co-creating the original, Wesley Dodds version of the DC Comics character the Sandman.",
"Publication history Golden Age of comic books Artist Bert Christman and writer Gardner Fox are generally credited as co-creating the original, Wesley Dodds version of the DC Comics character the Sandman. While the character's first appearance is usually given as Adventure Comics #40 (cover-dated July 1939), he also appeared in DC Comics' 1939 New York World's Fair Comics omnibus, which historians believe appeared on newsstands one to two weeks earlier, while also believing the Adventure Comics story was written and drawn first.",
"While the character's first appearance is usually given as Adventure Comics #40 (cover-dated July 1939), he also appeared in DC Comics' 1939 New York World's Fair Comics omnibus, which historians believe appeared on newsstands one to two weeks earlier, while also believing the Adventure Comics story was written and drawn first. Each of the two stories' scripts were credited to the pseudonym \"Larry Dean\"; Fox wrote the untitled, 10-page story in New York World's Fair #1, while he simply plotted, and Christman scripted, the untitled, six-page story, generally known as \"The Tarantula Strikes\", in Adventure #40.",
"Each of the two stories' scripts were credited to the pseudonym \"Larry Dean\"; Fox wrote the untitled, 10-page story in New York World's Fair #1, while he simply plotted, and Christman scripted, the untitled, six-page story, generally known as \"The Tarantula Strikes\", in Adventure #40. Creig Flessel, who drew many early Sandman adventures, has sometimes been credited as co-creator on the basis of drawing the Sandman cover of Adventure #40, but no other evidence has surfaced.",
"Creig Flessel, who drew many early Sandman adventures, has sometimes been credited as co-creator on the basis of drawing the Sandman cover of Adventure #40, but no other evidence has surfaced. Following these two first appearances, the feature \"The Sandman\" continued to appear in the omnibus Adventure Comics through #102 (February–March 1946).",
"Following these two first appearances, the feature \"The Sandman\" continued to appear in the omnibus Adventure Comics through #102 (February–March 1946). One of the medium's seminal \"mystery men\", as referred to at the time, the Sandman straddled the pulp magazine detective tradition and the emerging superhero tradition by dint of his dual identity and his fanciful, masked attire and weapon: an exotic \"gas gun\" that could compel villains to tell the truth, as well as put them to sleep.",
"One of the medium's seminal \"mystery men\", as referred to at the time, the Sandman straddled the pulp magazine detective tradition and the emerging superhero tradition by dint of his dual identity and his fanciful, masked attire and weapon: an exotic \"gas gun\" that could compel villains to tell the truth, as well as put them to sleep. Unlike many superheroes, he frequently found himself the victim of gunshot wounds, both in the Golden Age and in stories in DC's modern-day Vertigo imprint, and he would continue fighting in spite of his injuries.",
"Unlike many superheroes, he frequently found himself the victim of gunshot wounds, both in the Golden Age and in stories in DC's modern-day Vertigo imprint, and he would continue fighting in spite of his injuries. In his early career, Dodds (the character's surname was given as \"Dodd\" in his first four appearances; he became \"Dodds\" in Adventure Comics #44) was frequently aided by his girlfriend, Dian Belmont, who is aware of his dual identity.",
"In his early career, Dodds (the character's surname was given as \"Dodd\" in his first four appearances; he became \"Dodds\" in Adventure Comics #44) was frequently aided by his girlfriend, Dian Belmont, who is aware of his dual identity. Unlike many superhero love interests, Belmont was often, though not always, portrayed as an equal partner of the Sandman, rather than a damsel in distress.",
"Unlike many superhero love interests, Belmont was often, though not always, portrayed as an equal partner of the Sandman, rather than a damsel in distress. Later stories would reveal that the two remained together for the duration of their lives, though they never married. The Sandman was one of the original members of the Justice Society of America when that superhero team was introduced in All Star Comics #3, published by All-American Comics, one of the companies that would merge to form DC.",
"The Sandman was one of the original members of the Justice Society of America when that superhero team was introduced in All Star Comics #3, published by All-American Comics, one of the companies that would merge to form DC. In Adventure Comics #69 (December 1941), Dodds was given a yellow-and-purple costume by writer Mort Weisinger and artist Paul Norris, as well as a yellow-clad kid sidekick, Sandy the Golden Boy, nephew of Dian Belmont.",
"In Adventure Comics #69 (December 1941), Dodds was given a yellow-and-purple costume by writer Mort Weisinger and artist Paul Norris, as well as a yellow-clad kid sidekick, Sandy the Golden Boy, nephew of Dian Belmont. Later that year, the celebrated team of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby took over this version of the character. In 1942, Dodds enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as an anti-aircraft gunner during World War II.",
"In 1942, Dodds enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as an anti-aircraft gunner during World War II. Silver Age to Modern Age Reintroduced in the Silver Age in Justice League of America #46 (July 1966), the Sandman made occasional appearances in the annual teamups between that superhero group and the JSA. In 1981 DC began publishing All-Star Squadron, a retelling of the Earth-Two mystery-men during WWII. Although not a main character, Sandman does appear in its pages.",
"Although not a main character, Sandman does appear in its pages. Of note is issue #18 which gives an explanation of why Dodds changed costumes from the cloak and gas mask to the yellow-and-purple outfit; Dian wore his costume while he was fighting elsewhere and she was killed in a fray. Dodds decided to wear the new costume, of Dian's design, until he could bring himself to wear the original in which she had died.",
"Dodds decided to wear the new costume, of Dian's design, until he could bring himself to wear the original in which she had died. Later, this explanation would be changed again when Dian Belmont was retconned to have never died, and a new explanation was given: Sandy convinced Dodds to switch to the more colorful costume to gain the support of regular people, who preferred the more traditional superhero look to his older, pulp-themed costume.",
"Later, this explanation would be changed again when Dian Belmont was retconned to have never died, and a new explanation was given: Sandy convinced Dodds to switch to the more colorful costume to gain the support of regular people, who preferred the more traditional superhero look to his older, pulp-themed costume. An acclaimed film noir-inspired retelling of the original Sandman's adventures, Sandman Mystery Theatre, ran from 1993 to 1998 under DC Comics' Vertigo mature-reader imprint.",
"An acclaimed film noir-inspired retelling of the original Sandman's adventures, Sandman Mystery Theatre, ran from 1993 to 1998 under DC Comics' Vertigo mature-reader imprint. Although as a whole its continuity within the DC Universe is debatable, several elements of the series – the more nuanced relationship between Dodds and Dian Belmont; the Sandman's appearance (wearing a trench coat and World War I gas mask instead of the cape and the custom-made gas mask); and Dodds' pudgier appearance and wearing of glasses – have been adopted into regular continuity.",
"Although as a whole its continuity within the DC Universe is debatable, several elements of the series – the more nuanced relationship between Dodds and Dian Belmont; the Sandman's appearance (wearing a trench coat and World War I gas mask instead of the cape and the custom-made gas mask); and Dodds' pudgier appearance and wearing of glasses – have been adopted into regular continuity. The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual.",
"The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual. The series ran for 70 issues and 1 annual. In Sandman Midnight Theatre (1995) a one-shot special by Neil Gaiman (author of the Modern Age supernatural series The Sandman), Matt Wagner (co-author of Sandman Mystery Theatre), and Teddy Kristiansen, depicts an interaction between the two characters, with the original visiting Great Britain and encountering the imprisoned Dream, the protagonist of Gaiman's series.",
"In Sandman Midnight Theatre (1995) a one-shot special by Neil Gaiman (author of the Modern Age supernatural series The Sandman), Matt Wagner (co-author of Sandman Mystery Theatre), and Teddy Kristiansen, depicts an interaction between the two characters, with the original visiting Great Britain and encountering the imprisoned Dream, the protagonist of Gaiman's series. A minor retcon by Gaiman suggested that Dodds' chosen identity was a result of Dream's absence from the realm the Dreaming, and that Dodds carries an aspect of that mystical realm.",
"A minor retcon by Gaiman suggested that Dodds' chosen identity was a result of Dream's absence from the realm the Dreaming, and that Dodds carries an aspect of that mystical realm. This explains Dodds' prophetic dreams. Twilight years Dodds is one of a number of Justice Society members who finds themselves in the \"Ragnarok Dimension\" during the early Modern Age of comic books.",
"Twilight years Dodds is one of a number of Justice Society members who finds themselves in the \"Ragnarok Dimension\" during the early Modern Age of comic books. The Last Days of the Justice Society of America Special (1986) wrote the post-Crisis tale of a time-warped wave of destruction ready to engulf the world. Dodds and his JSA teammates enter into a limbo to engage in an eternal battle that would allow the universe to continue its existence.",
"Dodds and his JSA teammates enter into a limbo to engage in an eternal battle that would allow the universe to continue its existence. This was later revealed to be a simulation created by Odin, which he intended to give to Dream as a bribe. Dodds, Dream's protege, and Hawkman, the grandfather of Dream's appointed successor are the only JSA members who were seen at that time. This lasted only until 1992 when DC published Armageddon: Inferno.",
"This lasted only until 1992 when DC published Armageddon: Inferno. This mini-series ended with the JSA members leaving limbo and entering the 'real' world. Justice Society of America (1992–1993) showed how the JSA members handled returning to normal life. For the Sandman, the series depicted him as an old, thin man with a balding scalp and a sharp wit. Starting with issue #1 his physical condition became important as writer Len Strazewski had him suffer a stroke at the first sign of a villainous attack.",
"Starting with issue #1 his physical condition became important as writer Len Strazewski had him suffer a stroke at the first sign of a villainous attack. Both his age and his physical limitations became a theme writers would use in this character's post-Crisis stories. During Zero Hour, Dodds is returned to his proper age by the Extant.",
"During Zero Hour, Dodds is returned to his proper age by the Extant. Later, Wesley Dodds is shown as retired and living with Dian Belmont though occasionally coming out of it, most notably in a team-up with Jack Knight, the son of Dodds' JSA teammate Starman. When Dian is diagnosed with a terminal disease, the two travel the world together until her death.",
"When Dian is diagnosed with a terminal disease, the two travel the world together until her death. Towards the end of his life, Dodds' prophetic dreams alert him to the identity and location of the new Doctor Fate, prompting him to contact the Gray Man, a being created from the residue of others' dreams, as well as his old friend Speed Saunders to instruct them to warn his former teammates about what he has discovered.",
"Towards the end of his life, Dodds' prophetic dreams alert him to the identity and location of the new Doctor Fate, prompting him to contact the Gray Man, a being created from the residue of others' dreams, as well as his old friend Speed Saunders to instruct them to warn his former teammates about what he has discovered. Waiting on a clifftop, he is subsequently confronted by the powerful villain Mordru, who intends to force Dodds to tell him the identity of the new Doctor Fate, only for Dodds to distract Mordru with his gas-gun long enough to commit suicide by jumping off the cliff rather than allow Mordru to torture him into submission.",
"Waiting on a clifftop, he is subsequently confronted by the powerful villain Mordru, who intends to force Dodds to tell him the identity of the new Doctor Fate, only for Dodds to distract Mordru with his gas-gun long enough to commit suicide by jumping off the cliff rather than allow Mordru to torture him into submission. His last thoughts were that his final slumber would be free of nightmares as he is reunited with Dian.",
"His last thoughts were that his final slumber would be free of nightmares as he is reunited with Dian. His youthful but now grown-up sidekick Sandy the Golden Boy becomes known simply as Sand and takes his mentor's place as a member of the Justice Society of America as well as his prophetic dreams. Eventually, he takes the name of Sandman. Sleep of Reason Wesley Dodds makes a comeback via flashback images in the 2006 limited series Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason.",
"Sleep of Reason Wesley Dodds makes a comeback via flashback images in the 2006 limited series Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason. Blackest Night Dodds is reanimated as a Black Lantern in the \"Blackest Night\" storyline. He and several other fallen JSAers attack the Brownstone, seeking the hearts of the living within. Exodus Noir Dodds appeared in the \"Exodus Noir\" arc of Madame Xanadu in 2010, in a story set in 1940.",
"Exodus Noir Dodds appeared in the \"Exodus Noir\" arc of Madame Xanadu in 2010, in a story set in 1940. DC Rebirth In the \"Watchmen\" sequel \"Doomsday Clock\", Lois Lane finds a flash-drive at the Daily Planet. It shows her footage of Sandman and the rest of the Justice Society. In the pages of \"Dark Nights: Death Metal\", the Prime-Earth version of Sandman was revealed to be entombed at the Valhalla Cemetery. Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring.",
"Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring. Batman later revived him with a Black Lantern Ring. Powers and abilities Dodds has prophetic dreams which come to him as cryptic, ambiguous visions of crimes. Originally of unexplained origin, these dreams were later ascribed to an encounter between Dodds and the entity known as Dream via retcon. The visions haunt Dodds, who uses his keen intellect and amateur detective skills to properly interpret them.",
"The visions haunt Dodds, who uses his keen intellect and amateur detective skills to properly interpret them. He is also a talented chemist and inventor, creating the sand-like substance and the Silicoid Gun ultimately responsible for transforming Sandy the Golden Boy into a Silicon-based life-form. In the early years of his career, Wesley Dodds possesses the strength level of a man who engages in regular exercise, and was a fine hand-to-hand combatant. As he grows older, his strength level diminishes in relative proportion to his age.",
"As he grows older, his strength level diminishes in relative proportion to his age. As hobbies, Dodds enjoys reading, writing, poetry, origami and philosophy. Through an unknown process, Dodds passes his power of prophetic visions on to his former ward, Sanderson Hawkins upon the moment of his own death.",
"Through an unknown process, Dodds passes his power of prophetic visions on to his former ward, Sanderson Hawkins upon the moment of his own death. Wesley Dodds' costume consists of a basic green business suit, fedora, a World War I era gas mask, a gas gun, and a specially designed \"wirepoon\" gun, which fires a length of thin, steel cable. The gas mask protects Dodds from the effects of the gas emitted from his gas gun.",
"The gas mask protects Dodds from the effects of the gas emitted from his gas gun. The gas gun, a handheld device fitted with cartridges containing concentrated sleeping gas, is Wesley Dodds' only known weapon. Pressing the trigger on the gun releases a cloud of green dust rendering all within the Sandman's immediate vicinity unconscious. An upgraded canister dispenser for the gun is provided for him by his close friend and confidante, Lee Travis.",
"An upgraded canister dispenser for the gun is provided for him by his close friend and confidante, Lee Travis. Dodds is also known to conceal smaller knockout gas capsules in a hollow heel on his shoe. These prove ideal when placed in situations where his gas gun is not readily available. In the early days of his career, the Sandman drives a black 1938 Plymouth coupe. The car is enhanced with various features to aid Dodds in his crusade against crime.",
"The car is enhanced with various features to aid Dodds in his crusade against crime. Enemies Sandman has an assortment of enemies that he fought: Butcher - A cannibalistic butcher. Doctor Death - Raymond Kessler is a serial killer/swindler who is the boyfriend of Dian Belmont's cousin Lucy. Phantom of the Fair - Gerald Zimmerman is a man who has been torturing and killing homosexual men at the New York World's Fair. Ramulus - A plant-manipulating villain who was also known as Nightshade and Plant Master.",
"Ramulus - A plant-manipulating villain who was also known as Nightshade and Plant Master. He later appeared as a member of the Monster Society of Evil. Scorpion - Terrence Pritchard is an ad executive who becomes a bullwhip-wielding vigilante. Tarantula - A man who targeted Vivian Dale. There was also a second Tarantula that Sandman fought. This one was Roger Goldman who is a serial killer and the former owner of the Evergood Milk Bottling Company.",
"This one was Roger Goldman who is a serial killer and the former owner of the Evergood Milk Bottling Company. Other versions Kingdom Come Dodds appears as an infirm old man at the beginning of the graphic novel, plagued with visions of the impending apocalyptic battle between various factions of metahumans. Before his death, he relates his visions, interpreted through passages from the Book of Revelation, to Norman McCay, who later witnesses the events in the company of the Spectre.",
"Before his death, he relates his visions, interpreted through passages from the Book of Revelation, to Norman McCay, who later witnesses the events in the company of the Spectre. Earth 40 Wesley Dodds meets with The Unholy Three to give information about the Trigger, a device that causes every nuclear reactor in the world to detonate in a nuclear explosion. The Sandman arranges for The Unholy Three to meet with The Lantern, who has information on where the Trigger is located.",
"The Sandman arranges for The Unholy Three to meet with The Lantern, who has information on where the Trigger is located. Earth 2 In The New 52 (a reboot of DC Comics), a new Earth-2 version of Sandman appears. While he does wear a gas mask and wield a gas gun, he is also equipped with a teleporter. When Washington DC is attacked by Solomon Grundy, Commander Wesley Dodds, along with his Sandmen paramilitary force, is sent to retrieve and save President Lightfoot.",
"When Washington DC is attacked by Solomon Grundy, Commander Wesley Dodds, along with his Sandmen paramilitary force, is sent to retrieve and save President Lightfoot. They are later assigned by Commander Khan in a special and unofficial mission to infiltrate Terry Sloane's secret facility, where they confront and subdue a mind-controlled Michael Holt. In other media Television Animation Wesley Dodds / Sandman makes a non-speaking appearance in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode \"Crisis: 22,300 Miles Above Earth\".",
"In other media Television Animation Wesley Dodds / Sandman makes a non-speaking appearance in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode \"Crisis: 22,300 Miles Above Earth\". He is seen with the other members of the Justice Society of America. Sandman makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in the Young Justice episode \"Humanity\". He is shown with the other members of the JSA during a flashback sequence.",
"He is shown with the other members of the JSA during a flashback sequence. Live-action A character loosely inspired by the Sandman under the pseudonym of Nightshade makes recurring appearances in The Flash (1990), portrayed by Jason Bernard. This version is Dr. Desmond Powell, a 1950s vigilante who retained the Sandman's costume and captured criminals using a knockout gun and tranquilizer darts. After retiring as a vigilante after he defeated \"The Ghost\" in 1955, he later became a doctor and Chief of Staff at Central City Hospital.",
"After retiring as a vigilante after he defeated \"The Ghost\" in 1955, he later became a doctor and Chief of Staff at Central City Hospital. When the Ghost reappears in 1990, Powell becomes Nightshade once again and teams up with the Flash to apprehend his old enemy. He later unknowingly inspires the Deadly Nightshade. Powell is framed for multiple counts of murder, but clears his name and captures the impostor. He also makes his secret identity public and becomes a celebrity.",
"He also makes his secret identity public and becomes a celebrity. Wesley Dodds appeared in the Smallville two-hour special episode \"Absolute Justice\", portrayed by Ken Lawson. This version was a member of the now-disbanded Justice Society of America. After having a nightmare about losing his teammate, the Star-Spangled Kid, Dodds is killed by Icicle II. His body was later found by Clark Kent. Sandman's helmet appears in Rip Hunter's office in Legends of Tomorrow. Sandman appears in the series Stargirl.",
"Sandman appears in the series Stargirl. Sandman appears in the series Stargirl. He appears as a member of the Justice Society of America before the team was attacked and killed by the Injustice Society, with Dodds in particular being killed by Icicle. Film An alternate universe version of Sandman makes a cameo appearance in the animated film Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths. This version is a minor member of the Crime Syndicate of America. An alternate timeline version of Sandman appears in the animated film Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox.",
"An alternate timeline version of Sandman appears in the animated film Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox. This version is one of the few active superheroes in the dystopian \"Flashpoint\" timeline. Video games Wesley Dodds' costume appears in the background of the Hall of Justice in the video game Injustice: Gods Among Us. Web series Sandman makes a minor appearance in the DC Super Hero Girls episode \"Welcome to Super Hero High\". He appears as a graduate of the titular school.",
"He appears as a graduate of the titular school. He appears as a graduate of the titular school. Collected editions The Golden Age Sandman Archive Vol. 1 (Sandman stories from New York World's Fair Comics #1–2 and Adventure Comics #40–59) by Bert Christman and others.",
"1 (Sandman stories from New York World's Fair Comics #1–2 and Adventure Comics #40–59) by Bert Christman and others. Sandman by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby (World's Finest #6–7; Adventure Comics #72–102; Sandman #1) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 1: The Tarantula (Sandman Mystery Theatre #1–4) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 2: The Face and The Brute (Sandman Mystery Theatre #5–12) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 3: The Vamp (Sandman Mystery Theatre #13–16) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 4: The Scorpion (Sandman Mystery Theatre #17–20) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 5: Dr. Death and The Night of the Butcher (Sandman Mystery Theatre #21–28) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 6: The Hourman and The Python (Sandman Mystery Theatre #29–36) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 7: The Mist and The Phantom of the Fair (Sandman Mystery Theatre #37–44) Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 8: The Blackhawk and The Return of the Scarlet Ghost (Sandman Mystery Theatre #45–52) Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason (Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason #1–5) References External links JSA Fact File: The Sandman Earth-2 Sandman Index] Sequart.com: \"The Sandman — Interlude: Sandman Mystery Theatre (1993–1998)\", by Julian Darius Characters created by Allen Bert Christman Characters created by Gardner Fox Comics characters introduced in 1939 DC Comics male superheroes Earth-Two Fictional businesspeople Fictional characters with precognition Fictional detectives Fictional scientists Fictional socialites Golden Age superheroes Jewish superheroes Sandman Vigilante characters in comics"
] |
[
"Supergirl (Kara Zor-El)",
"Bronze Age"
] | C_eaa7329c3ac14b8bb4aaea61d8fa517d_1 | whaat is the bronze age | 1 | whaat is Supergirl's bronze age? | Supergirl (Kara Zor-El) | After long-time Superman family editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971, the character underwent revitalization under editor Joe Orlando and artist Mike Sekowsky. Wearing a series of new outfits, leaving her adopted foster home with the Danvers family, Linda goes on to San Francisco where she works for KSF-TV as a camera operator and develops a crush on her boss, Geoffrey Anderson. These stories introduced Supergirl's most memorable villain from this period: Lex Luthor's niece Nasthalthia, or Nasty. Nasty had made two appearances towards the end of Linda's college years, then pursued her to KSF-TV, trying to secure proof of her dual identity. Supergirl starred in her first solo eponymous monthly series beginning in 1972 until October 1974, when her monthly title merged with Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane, and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen to produce a new title: then-highest DC selling series called The Superman Family, where she eventually became the steady lead story. Linda worked as a student advisor at New Athens Experimental School, before leaving for New York to follow a career in acting with daytime soap Secret Hearts. In 1982 Supergirl received a second monthly solo series titled The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl, relocating the character to Chicago as Linda became a mature student of Psychology. Industry legend, and former DC Publisher, Carmine Infantino provided the pencilled art (Bob Oksner inked). With issue 13 the title was revamped, with a new costume design (sporting a red headband) and the title shortened to just Supergirl. The series ran until sudden cancellation in 1984, only two months before the character's debut in a big-budget Hollywood film starring Helen Slater. In the Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985) the greatest heroes from Earth-One, Earth-Two, Earth-Four, Earth-S, and Earth-X join forces in order to defeat the Anti-Monitor. When Superman comes face to face with the Anti-Monitor and is knocked unconscious, Supergirl rushes to save him before he is killed. She is able to fight him off long enough for Dr. Light to carry her cousin to a safe distance, but is killed by the Anti-Monitor. A public memorial service for Supergirl takes place in Chicago, where Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) delivers the eulogy. In her remarks she states "Kara is a hero. She will not be forgotten." Superman then gives his late cousin burial by taking her corpse to Rokyn/New Krypton to Zor-El and Allura. A Superman issue the next month reveals that Kara had experienced a premonition about her own passing. However, when the universe is rebooted, the timeline is altered. Kara Zor-El and all memory of her is erased from existence. CANNOTANSWER | After long-time Superman family editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971, | Kara Zor-El, also known by her adoptive names of Linda Lee Danvers, Kara Kent, Linda Lang, and Kara Danvers, and the superhero name of Supergirl, is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. She was created by Otto Binder and designed by Al Plastino. Danvers first appeared in Action Comics #252 (May 1959)'s "The Supergirl from Krypton" story. Kara is the biological cousin of Kal-El, who went on to adopt the name of Clark Kent and the superhero Superman. During the 1980s and the revolution of the Modern Age of Comics, Superman editors believed the character's history had become too convoluted, thus killing Supergirl during the 1985 Crisis on Infinite Earths event and retconning her out of existence.
DC Comics Senior Vice President Dan DiDio re-introduced the character in 2004 along with editor Eddie Berganza and writer Jeph Loeb, with her the Superman/Batman storyline "The Supergirl from Krypton". As the current Supergirl, Kara stars in her own monthly comic book series. With DC's The New 52 relaunch, Kara, like most of the DC Universe, was revamped. DC relaunched the Supergirl comic in August 2016 as part of their DC Rebirth initiative.
In live-action, Supergirl appeared in the 1984 film based on her character and was portrayed by Helen Slater. She also appeared in the series Smallville, played by actress Laura Vandervoort. In 2015, the live-action Arrowverse series Supergirl debuted on CBS and then moved to The CW after the first season. Supergirl was portrayed by Melissa Benoist on the show and also appeared on other Arrowverse shows. Sasha Calle will appear as Supergirl in the upcoming DC Extended Universe film The Flash (2022).
Publication history
Early life
Although Kara Zor-El was the first character to use the name "Supergirl," DC Comics tested three different female versions of Superman prior to her debut.
The first story to feature a female counterpart to Superman was "Lois Lane – Superwoman," which was published in Action Comics #60 (May 1943). In the story, a hospitalized Lois Lane dreams she has gained superpowers thanks to a blood transfusion from the Man of Steel. She begins her own career as "Superwoman", complete with a version of Superman's costume.
In the Superboy #78 story entitled "Claire Kent, Alias Super-Sister", Superboy saves the life of an alien woman named Shar-La, who turns Superboy into a girl, in retaliation for his disparaging thoughts about women drivers which she picked up telepathically. In Smallville, Clark claims to be Claire Kent, an out-of-town relative who is staying with the Kents. When in costume, he appears as Superboy's sister, Super-Sister, and claims the two have exchanged places. Once Superboy has learned his lesson about feeling more respect for women, Shar-La reveals the episode to be a dream which she projected into Superboy's mind.
In Superman #123 (August 1958), Jimmy Olsen uses a magic totem to wish a "Super-Girl" into existence as a companion and aid to Superman; however, the two frequently get in each other's way until she is fatally injured protecting Superman from a Kryptonite meteor. At her insistence, Jimmy wishes the dying girl out of existence. DC used this story to gauge public response to the concept of a completely new super-powered female counterpart to Superman.
The Kara Zor-El version of Supergirl finally appeared in Action Comics #252 (May 1959). Otto Binder wrote and Al Plastino illustrated her début story, in which Kara was born and raised in Argo City (unnamed until later issues), a fragment of Krypton that survived destruction. When the city is doomed by a meteor shower, Kara is sent to Earth by her parents, Zor-El and Alura (the latter unnamed until later issues), to be raised by her cousin Kal-El, known as Superman. Supergirl adopted the secret identity of an orphan "Linda Lee", and made Midvale Orphanage her home. Supergirl promised Superman that she would keep her existence on Earth a secret, so that he may use her as a "secret weapon", but that didn't stop Supergirl from exploring her new powers covertly. Action Comics #255 published reader's letters-of-comment to Supergirl's first appearance; she had allegedly generated a sizeable and mostly positive reaction.
Supergirl, from her debut onwards, became a regular backup strip in Action Comics. She joined the Legion of Super-Heroes, like her cousin had done as a teenager, and in Action Comics #279 (July 1961) she was adopted by Fred and Edna Danvers, becoming "Linda Lee Danvers". Supergirl acted for three years as Superman's secret weapon, and her adventures during that time have been compared to contemporary developments in feminist thinking in work such as Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique. She was at last introduced by her super-powered cousin to an unsuspecting world in Action Comics #285 (February 1962).
During her first quarter of a century, Linda Danvers would have many professions, from student to student advisor, to actor, and even TV camera operator. She shared Action Comics with Superman until transferring to the lead in Adventure Comics at the end of the 1960s. In 1972 she finally moved to her own short-lived eponymous magazine, before DC merged its Supergirl, Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen titles into a single anthology title named The Superman Family. In 1982 Supergirl was relaunched into her own magazine.
Death during Crisis on Infinite Earths
In 1985, the maxi-series Crisis on Infinite Earths was conceived as a way to reduce DC continuity to a single universe in which all characters maintained a single history. Despite Supergirl's continued popularity and status as a central member of the "Superman Family", the editors at DC Comics and the creators of the maxi-series decided to kill Supergirl off during the Crisis. According to Marv Wolfman, writer of Crisis on Infinite Earths:
The idea of killing Supergirl was first conceived by DC's vice president/executive editor Dick Giordano, who lobbied for the death to DC's publishers. He later said he has never had any regrets about this, explaining, "Supergirl was created initially to take advantage of the high Superman sales and not much thought was put into her creation. She was created essentially as a female Superman. With time, writers and artists improved upon her execution, but she never did really add anything to the Superman mythos—at least not for me." The poor initial reception of the 1984 film Supergirl was also blamed by some sources.
In 1989, in the tale "Christmas with the Super-Heroes" the soul of Kara appears to Boston "Deadman" Brand, cheers him up, and then disappears from continuity until 2001 (see below).
Several characters unrelated to Superman soon took on the Supergirl persona, including the Matrix (a shapeshifting genetically engineered life-form that 'defaulted' as Supergirl), Linda Danvers (the result of Matrix merging with the dying Linda Danvers and becoming an Earth-bound angel of fire), and Cir-El (Superman's apparent daughter from a possible future).
A heroine resembling the Pre-Crisis Kara would later appear in Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #5, along with an entire army of Legionnaires gathered from alternate worlds, times, and realities, to battle the Time Trapper.
Two Supergirls meet
Prior to the post-Crisis introduction of Kara Zor-El into mainstream continuity, the pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El made an appearance in Peter David's Supergirl: Many Happy Returns. The then-current Supergirl series, at the time starring Linda Danvers, was in danger of cancellation and Peter David thought a story arc involving Kara Zor-El would be enough to revitalize the series. In an interview with Cliff Biggers of Newsarama, David states:
In the Linda Danvers' Supergirl series issues 49 and 50 (October and November 2000), the original dead Kara appears as Linda's "guardian angel". Then in issues 75 to 80, "Many Happy Returns", a young Kara appears from an earlier time long before the Crisis. The paradox becomes a moral crisis for Linda who tries to take her place as the Crisis sacrifice, living for years in a Silver Age universe where "no one swears, the villains are always easy to defeat, and everything's very, very clean", eventually marrying the Silver Age Superman and having a daughter with him, before she is forced to return to her universe by the Spectre when he reveals that her efforts to replace Kara as the sacrifice will not succeed. This run was illustrated by Ed Benes who had also illustrated Gail Simone's Birds of Prey which had a similar whimsical camaraderie between its female leads.
Linda's inability to ultimately save Kara, coupled with the loss of her daughter, is so devastating that it ends her own career as Supergirl, Linda leaving a note for Superman where she explains that she feels that she has failed to live up to the standards of a true Supergirl and choosing to go somewhere she cannot be found. This story arc is usually cited as one of the best Supergirl stories ever written. The series ended with issue 80.
Revival
After the launch of the Superman/Batman comic book series, executive editor Dan DiDio had been looking for a way to simplify the Supergirl character from her convoluted post-Crisis history; the simplest version, of course, was Superman's cousin. Jeph Loeb and editor Eddie Berganza found an opening to reintroduce the character following the conclusion of the first story arc of Superman/Batman. Loeb states:
The modern version of Kara Zor-El made her debut in Superman/Batman #8 (2004). Kara takes the mantle of Supergirl at the conclusion of the storyline. The Supergirl comic book series would later be relaunched, now starring Kara Zor-El as "The Girl of Steel". The first arc of the new series was written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by Ian Churchill. Loeb would later describe the appeal of writing for Supergirl:
As the character continued to be reinvented, steps towards regarding the iconic character were some of the most prominent changes. Artist Jamal Igle and editor Matt Idleson moved to transition the character away from red panties under her skirt to biker shorts, feeling such a change was a logical progression and "more respectable."
The New 52
In September 2011, DC Comics began The New 52, in which it canceled all of its monthly superhero titles and relaunched 52 new ones, wiping out most of its past continuity in the process. One of the new titles was a new Supergirl series (Volume 6) that featured a new origin for Kara and was published between 2011 and 2015. Artist Mahmud Asrar designed a new costume for the character which strongly deviated from her classic, "cheerleader" suit, a change which generated criticism from some readers.
DC Rebirth
The 2016 DC Comics title relaunch Rebirth incorporates several elements (such as the costume, the name, the setting, and some characters) from the Supergirl television series. The DC Rebirth initiative undid the New 52's modern recreations, bringing DC's heroes back to their more classic iterations. Supergirl's new series (Volume 7) was titled Supergirl: Rebirth, written by Steven Orlando. The first arc was penciled by Brian Ching, who also redesigned Supergirl's costume in reference to a more classic look. In April 2018, it was announced that the title would be canceled after issue #20, only to be revived in August that year under a new creative team, with new writer Marc Andreyko and artist Kevin Maguire. The series ended with its 42nd issue.
Future State: Kara Zor-El, Superwoman
The Future State comics propose a possible future for Kara Zor-El, now an adult and having taken the alias of Superwoman. She leaves Earth to become a guardian of the Moon, which has become a refugee colony for aliens from the entire universe. The series was written by Marguerite Bennet and penciled by Marguerite Sauvage.
Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow
Under the Infinite Frontier brand, Kara's next series Woman of Tomorrow debuted in June 2021, written by Tom King and penciled by Brazilian artists Bilquis Evely and Mat Lopes. The arc introduces Supergirl to new character grounds as she begins the story as a young woman, celebrating her 21st birthday and helping a young alien in her quest for revenge. The "mentor-mentee journey on revenge" plot is, according to King, inspired by the original novel and both versions of True Grit.
In this series, the creators paid homage to Linda Danvers, as Kara manifests flame wings and powers after taking a red kryptonite drug, in order to save her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon.
Fictional character biography
Silver Age
In her debut story, Kara Zor-El is the last survivor of Argo City of the planet Krypton. Although Argo, which had survived the explosion of the planet, drifted through space as a self-sustaining environment, the soil of the colony eventually turned into Kryptonite; and though Kara's father Zor-El placed lead sheeting above the ground to protect the citizens from radiation, meteorites pierced the sheeting, and the Kryptonians died of radiation poisoning instead of replacing the metal.
In Supergirl's subsequent backup feature in Action Comics drawn by artist Jim Mooney for ten years until 1968, Supergirl adopts the identity of Linda Lee, an orphan at Midvale Orphanage presided over by headmistress Miss Hart. She disguises herself by hiding her blond hair beneath a brunette wig; Supergirl interacts with humans on a person-to-person basis performing good deeds and saving the world by helping one person at a time, and she also devises clever schemes as "Superman's Secret Weapon," saving him many times and avoiding adoption before Superman can introduce her publicly.
While temporarily powerless due to the scheming of Kandorian scientist Lesla-Lar, who is out to supplant her on Earth, Linda allows herself to be adopted by engineer and rocket scientist Fred Danvers and his wife, Edna. In time, she reveals her secret identity to her adoptive parents on the same day her cousin Superman finally introduces her to the world in the finale of then-DC's longest playing series ever (eight chapters) aptly called "The World's Greatest Heroine".
When frequent dreams about her parents being alive turn out to be real, she builds a machine aided by her engineer father's talent, and brings them both back alive from the "Survival Zone" where they had both teleported during Argo City's final moments. Zor-El and Allura eventually end up living in Kandor, and when the city in the bottle is enlarged, they both go on to live in Rokyn/New Krypton, where they have the sad duty of receiving her mortal remains after "Crisis" for burial.
Graduating from high school in 1965, Linda Lee goes to college on a scholarship and stays in Stanhope College until she graduates in 1971. During this era, she is helped by her pet cat Streaky, her Super-Horse pet Comet, and befriends Lena Thorul, who had first appeared in the Lois Lane series. Kara is also a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, where she becomes close to Brainiac 5. In addition, Linda has boyfriends from the orphanage (Richard "Dick" Malverne) and from Atlantis (Jerro the merboy).
In 1967, Supergirl meets Batgirl for the first time in World's Finest Comics. Developing a strong friendship, the two characters teamed up many times again, as in Superman Family #171, or Adventure #381.
In 1969, Supergirl left Action Comics and became a featured character in Adventure Comics beginning with issue #381 (June 1969).
During the 1970s, Supergirl's costume changed frequently, as did her career in her civilian life. In her secret identity as Linda Lee Danvers, Kara Zor-El took a variety of jobs including graduate student in acting, television camera operator, and student counselor, and finally became an actress on the TV soap Secret Hearts.
Bronze Age
After long-time Superman family editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971, the character underwent revitalization under editor Joe Orlando and artist Mike Sekowsky. Wearing a series of new outfits, leaving her adopted foster home with the Danvers family, Linda goes on to San Francisco where she works for KSF-TV as a camera operator and develops a crush on her boss, Geoffrey Anderson. These stories introduced Supergirl's most memorable villain from this period: Lex Luthor's niece Nasthalthia, or Nasty. Nasty had made two appearances towards the end of Linda's college years, then pursued her to KSF-TV, trying to secure proof of her dual identity.
Supergirl starred in her first solo eponymous monthly series beginning in 1972 until October 1974, when her monthly title merged with Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane, and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen to produce a new title: then-highest DC selling series called The Superman Family, where she eventually became the steady lead story. Linda worked as a student advisor at New Athens Experimental School, before leaving for New York to follow a career in acting with daytime soap Secret Hearts.
In 1982 Supergirl received a second monthly solo series titled The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl, relocating the character to Chicago as Linda became a mature student of Psychology. Industry legend, and former DC Publisher, Carmine Infantino provided the penciled art (Bob Oksner inked). With issue 13 the title was revamped, with a new costume design (sporting a red headband) and the title shortened to just Supergirl. The series ran until sudden cancellation in 1984, only two months before the character's debut in a big-budget Hollywood film starring Helen Slater.
In the Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985), the greatest heroes from Earth-One, Earth-Two, Earth-Four, Earth-S, and Earth-X join forces in order to defeat the Anti-Monitor. When Superman comes face to face with the Anti-Monitor and is knocked unconscious, Supergirl rushes to save him before he is killed. She is able to fight him off long enough for Dr. Light to carry her cousin to a safe distance, but is killed by the Anti-Monitor. A public memorial service for Supergirl takes place in Chicago, where Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) delivers the eulogy. In her remarks, she states "Kara is a hero. She will not be forgotten." Superman then gives his late cousin burial by taking her corpse to Rokyn/New Krypton to Zor-El and Allura. A Superman issue the next month reveals that Kara had experienced a premonition about her own passing. However, when the universe is rebooted, the timeline is altered. Kara Zor-El and all memory of her is erased from existence.
Echoes
After these events, the soul of Kara Zor-El made another appearance in continuity three years later in a story titled "Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot" in Christmas with the Super-Heroes #2 (1989). Within the story, Boston "Deadman" Brand tries to feel the warmth of Christmas by possessing revelers' bodies. Feeling guilty upon the realization that he has been stealing others' Christmases, he flies off feeling sorry for himself for being denied a reward after a year of helping people. A warmly dressed blonde woman approaches Brand, startling him. Somehow seeing the normally invisible Brand, she converses with him, reminding him,
She reminds Brand that even though he is dead, he is still human, and he should rejoice because it means his spirit is still alive. As the woman leaves, Brand asks her who she is, to which she replies, "My name is Kara. Though I doubt that will mean anything to you." The story, written by Alan Brennert and penciled by Dick Giordano, is dedicated to Otto Binder and Jim Mooney, adding: "We still remember."
Finally, the soul of Kara Zor-El appeared twice during Peter David's run, specifically in issues #48 and #49 when she appears before a defeated and imprisoned then-Supergirl, Linda Danvers from Earth, and comforts her. Linda acknowledges she has been helped three times by her phantom-friend, and when she asks her name she is told by the smiling figure: "I have gone by many names, but the one I am most fond of is: Kara!"
Modern Age
In 2004, Jeph Loeb reintroduced Kara Zor-El into post-Zero Hour (Birthright timeline) continuity during a storyline in the series Superman/Batman. She is the biological cousin of Superman, and although chronologically older than him, the ship in which she traveled to Earth was caught in a large green Kryptonite meteorite which held her in a state of suspended animation for much of the journey, making her have the appearance of a 16-year-old girl. Still, Supergirl sometimes saw Superman as a child, due to last carrying him as a baby. DC Comics relaunched the Supergirl, the first story arc of which was written by Loeb. showcases Supergirl on a journey of self-discovery. Along her journey, she encounters Power Girl (Kara Zor-El's counterpart from another universe), the Teen Titans, the Outsiders, the Justice League of America, and arch-villain Lex Luthor.
During the company-wide crossover series Infinite Crisis (2005), a sequel to Crisis on Infinite Earths, Supergirl is transported to the 31st century, where she is revered as a member of the Superman family and joins the Legion of Super-Heroes. DC Comics renamed the monthly series Legion of Super-Heroes to Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes. Beginning with issue #16. In the limited series 52, which chronicles the events that took place during the missing year after the end of Infinite Crisis, Donna Troy recalls the original Kara Zor-El and her sacrifice to save the universe. Supergirl returns to the 21st century during the course of 52. After briefly filling in for a temporarily depowered Superman as guardian of Metropolis, she assumes the identity of Flamebird to fight crime in the bottle city of Kandor with Power Girl as Nightwing in Greg Rucka's arc Supergirl: Kandor.
In 2007, Supergirl appeared in the miniseries Amazons Attack! That same year, she joined the Teen Titans for five issues.
Conversations with other heroes who maintain secret identities lead Kara to the conclusion that she needs to make a deeper connection with human beings. She accepts Lana Lang's proposal to present her to the Daily Planet staff as "Linda Lang", Lana's teenaged niece.
In the 2008–2009 "New Krypton" story arc, in which Superman discovers and frees the real Kandor and a large number of its citizens, Supergirl is reunited with her father, Zor-El and mother, Alura, though Zor-El is killed by the villain Reactron. When a planet is formed that the Kryptonians call New Krypton, Kara is torn between her life on Earth, and her obligation to her mother, eventually joining the New Krypton Science Guild.
Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2009 miniseries Justice League: Cry for Justice, and the 2009–2010 storyline "Blackest Night". The New Krypton storyline would later be resolved in the "World of New Krypton", "Superman: Last Stand of New Krypton", "War of the Supermen" storylines, resulting in the destruction of New Krypton and seeing Supergirl mourn her people.
Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2010 "Brightest Day" storyline, the follow up to "Blackest Night"., where she joins the Justice League along with Jesse Quick & Jade.
The New 52
In this continuity, Kara's ship lands in Smallville, Kansas but hurtles through the Earth and emerges in Siberia.
Kara has no memory of the destruction of Krypton, and believes it is only three days since her spacecraft was launched. She learns the truth about Krypton's destruction from Superman, and later journeys through a wormhole to Argo City, which she finds in orbit around a blue sun. She finds the city in ruins, with no explanation of how it met that fate, and is attacked by a female Worldkiller named Reign before the city plummets into the sun. When Reign and her fellow Worldkiller plan to enslave the Earth, Supergirl returns there to defeat them, and thus adopts Earth as her new home.
After several battles with supervillains, including the Worldkillers, superweapons of Kryptonian design, she accepts Krypton's destruction, but continues to grapple with her grief. Her desire to restore Krypton results in her being manipulated into nearly destroying the Earth by another Kryptonian whom she falls in love with. Upon realizing his manipulation, she kills him by driving Kryptonite through his heart, and succumbs to Kryptonite poisoning.
Following her poisoning, Supergirl departs the Earth to die alone. While adrift in interstellar space, she encounters a planet under attack by monsters, and quickly intervenes to save them, unaware that the entire planet is a trap by Brainiac. She is captured and restrained by Cyborg Superman, but after a struggle, manages to escape both Brainiac and Cyborg Superman. Returning to Earth, she is sent into the past by the Oracle alongside Superman and Superboy, where she ensures that a resurrected H'el cannot save Krypton, and sacrifices the planet and her family in order to save the universe.
Back on Earth, she encounters the assassin Lobo. Initially eager for a peaceful resolution, seeing a kind of kinship with him in their both being lone survivors of their respective worlds (although not truly aware of Lobo's circumstances), Kara's encounter with the Czarnian would reveal deep mental wounds, resulting in the unleashing of her rage and transformation into a Red Lantern. Driven insane by rage, Kara wanders space, attacking everyone in her way, until captured by several Green Lanterns and brought to Hal Jordan. Immediately recognizing a Kryptonian and unable to remove the power ring without killing her, he brings her to Guy Gardner, the leader of one of the two Red Lantern factions, who manages to restore her sanity.
After some time under Guy Gardner's tutelage and protecting the galaxy as a Red Lantern, after being discharged from the Red Lantern Corps (because Guy did not want for her to die needlessly against Atrocitus' splinter group), on her way back to Earth, Kara encounters the leader of the Worldkillers, who are revealed to be parasitic suits of armor. He attempts to assimilate Kara as his host, but she voluntarily subjects herself to Kryptonite poisoning in order to stop him, and eventually flies into the Sun and removes her power ring, killing her and removing him from her body. However, Kara is revealed to be immortal while in the Sun's core, and is restored to life without the power ring or any Kryptonite poisoning, immediately destroying the Worldkiller. She later helps Guy against Atrocitus and his Red Lantern splinter group.
Convergence and return of the Pre-Crisis version
During the Convergence story arc, the original Kara Zor-El who had sacrificed her life during Crisis on Infinite Earths makes an appearance on the amalgamated planet of Telos. At the end of the saga she volunteers herself to once again fight the Anti-Monitor but this time, with the help of her timeline's Barry Allen, the Pre-Flashpoint Superman (in tow with his pregnant wife, Lois Lane), and a repentant Parallax (Zero Hour Hal Jordan), vows to defeat him for the sake of the multiverse's continued existence. Without it being seen, those left on Telos discover the group was successful and all previous timelines (with the mysterious exception of the pre-Flashpoint/pre-New 52 DC universe) from DC history had been re-established, though the fate of the original Kara Zor-El and her fellows went unmentioned.
A few more details of the battle against the Anti-Monitor are later revealed during the New 52 comic mini-series (leading into DC's Rebirth event). After the defeat of Anti-Monitor, Pre-New 52 Clark and Lois decide to start life anew in the closest universe they can find (mysteriously yet unable to see their old universe even though the rest of the multiverse had been restored) while Pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El, along with her contemporary Barry Allen and Zero Hour Parallax/Hal Jordan, decide to find their place in the universe and go off to do so. Her fate as of that story arc is yet to be revealed.
DC Rebirth
After the events that led to the death of the New 52 version of Superman, 16-year-old Kara lives in National City with her adoptive parents, D.E.O. agents Jeremiah and Eliza Danvers, where she attends high school and works with the agency as led by Cameron Chase. As part of her civilian identity, Kara receives special glasses that darken her blond hair when posing as Kara Danvers. Kara also goes on an internship at Cat Grant's CATCO alongside Ben Rubel, whom she befriends.
In her opening arc "The Reign of the Cyborg Supermen", Kara discovers that the cyborg Zor-El, whom she had battled in her New 52 title, is still active and has rebuilt other Kryptonians (her mother Alura included), planning to take over Earth. Supergirl defeats them but vows to help her father regardless of his actions. After National City discovers Supergirl has kept Zor-El's "living" status a secret, they become untrustful of her. Director Bones takes advantage of the heroine's impopularity and, after taking control of the D.E.O., sends villains in an attempt to bring Kara down. She defeats all of them and regains trust from National City with Ben's help.
The Supergirl Who Laughs
Kara is later infected by The Batman Who Laughs toxin, causing her to turn evil and joining other infected as part of Laughs Secret Six before later being cured. She is fired from CatCo by Cat Grant and starts working at S.T.A.R. Labs.
Woman of Tomorrow
Journeying throughout the universe with Krypto, Kara celebrates her 21st birthday alone on a distant planet. Drunk in a bar, she is approached by a little girl named Ruthye and is asked to kill Krem (her father's murderer) in vengeance. Supergirl refuses but, when she is about to leave the planet, Krem attacks and severely wounds both her and Krypto, fleeing in Kara's ship. Kara begins her journey alongside Ruthye and, powerless, saves her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon by taking a red kryptonite drug which causes her to manifest flame wings.
Powers and abilities
Like all Kryptonians under a yellow sun, the current version of Kara Zor-El possesses virtually unlimited strength, stamina, and durability. She is able to fly and with super speed that she can also use on foot, similar to Superman and The Flash. Also like Superman, Supergirl possesses super senses, super-breath, and freeze breathe, as well as multiple forms of supervision (including X-Ray, Infrared, Telescopic, and Microscopic). Kara also has a bio-electric aura that enhances her near invulnerability and also protects her skin and her costume from dirt and tear; as such, Kara is perpetually clean. The Sun also provides Kara with a longer lifespan than that of a human being, to the point that she is effectively a biological immortal. Kara doesn't require food, water, or sleep to survive. She is also immune to most diseases, mental and physical, and would require a very strong strain to have a chance at affecting her.
In the rare instances that Kara is harmed by someone matching her strength or by the use of one of her weaknesses, she can heal almost instantaneously. Her power surpasses most other beings, though she can be overpowered by those who rival her strength such as Black Adam, Darkseid, Despero, Doomsday, Bizarro, Wonder Woman, and Superman.
In reality, Kara is actually older than her cousin, Clark, and spent time on Krypton before its destruction. As such (unlike Superman), she possesses memories of Kryptonian culture as well as her cousin's parents.
Continued exposure to a yellow Sun will slowly increase abilities. Many characters in the DC Universe have noted that Supergirl appears, at times, to be even more powerful than Superman himself. In answer to this, Superman states that this is because he has spent his entire life subconsciously suppressing his full powers in order to avoid hurting others, having been absorbing solar radiation since his infancy. Kara, not having such practice or experience, simply uses the full magnitude of her powers.
Abilities
Unlike her cousin, Kara was taught to fight in Krypton as part of her tests, and at the Crucible Academy, being adept at various Kryptonian fighting styles like Klurkor and Torquasm Rao. Supergirl also learned the art of Bagua under I-Ching's instructions. She practiced how to manipulate her Chi or Qi in order to gain better control of her powers due to them becoming overwhelmed after her conflict with the Fatal Five. Superman recommended guardianship with I-Ching to Supergirl first. In addition to training in Krypton, Kara was trained by Batman in advanced martial arts and trained with the Amazons in Themyscira in unarmed and armed combat, Amazonas martial arts, fencing, Shield handling, and other Amazon weapons. She trained with Wonder Woman and Artemis extensively.
Other versions
There are numerous alternate versions of Supergirl. The most notable is Power Girl (real name Kara Zor-L, also known as Karen Starr) who first appeared in All Star Comics #58 (January/February 1976).
Power Girl is the Earth-Two counterpart of Supergirl and the first cousin of Kal-L, Superman of the pre-Crisis Earth-Two. The infant Power Girl's parents enabled her to escape the destruction of Krypton. Although she left the planet at the same time that Superman did, her ship took much longer to reach Earth-Two.
She has superhuman strength and the ability to fly and is the first chairwoman of the Justice Society of America. She sports a bob of blond hair; wears a distinctive white, red, and blue costume; and has an aggressive fighting style. Throughout her early appearances in All Star Comics, she is often at odds with Wildcat because his penchant for talking to her as if she were an ordinary human female rather than a superpowered Kryptonian annoys her.
She also fought alongside the Sovereign Seven team, replacing Rampart after his death though that series is not considered to be part of canon in the DC universe.
The 1985 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths eliminated Earth-Two, causing her origin to change; she became the granddaughter of the Atlantean sorcerer Arion. However, story events culminating in the 2005–2006 Infinite Crisis limited series restored her status as a refugee from the Krypton of the destroyed pre-Crisis Earth-Two universe.
Like the original Kara's Streaky, Power Girl has a cat, featured in a story by Amanda Conner in Wonder Woman #600.
Reception
This version of Supergirl is ranked as the 153rd-greatest comic book character of all time by Wizard magazine.
IGN also ranked this version of Supergirl as the 94th-greatest comic book superhero, stating "for a character born of the Silver Age that saw everything from a Super Baby to a Super Monkey, Kara Zor-El grew into something much more than simply another marketing ploy to slap an 'S' on." In 2013 IGN ranked Supergirl as the 17th-greatest DC comic superhero, stating "she was an early example of a female sidekick developing a large fanbase in her own right", and "Supergirl has been one of DC's most powerful heroes, and a standard to hold other female heroes against."
Appearances
Pre-Crisis
1959 to 1969: Action Comics #252 to #376.
1969 to 1972: Adventure Comics #381 to #424.
1972 to 1974: Supergirl #1 to #10.
1974 to 1982: Her comic merges with Jimmy Olsen's and Lois Lane's to become Superman Family #164 to #222.
1982 to 1984: The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl #1 to #13, Supergirl (vol. 2) #14 to #23.
2015: Convergence
Kara Zor-El appeared in over 750 stories published by DC from 1959 to 1985.
Post-Crisis
2004 to 2005: Superman/Batman #8 to #13 and #19
2005 to 2011: Supergirl (vol. 5) #0 to #67
2006 to 2008: Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes (Legion of Super-Heroes vol. 5) #16 to #37
2007: Action Comics #850
2008: Final Crisis
2011 to 2015: New 52: Supergirl (vol. 6) #1 to #40
2016 to current: Rebirth: Supergirl (vol. 7) #1 to current
Kara Zor-El also appears as a supporting character in several issues of other DC Comics, including Superman, Action Comics, Teen Titans, Amazons Attack, World War III, and Wonder Girl. She has also appeared in many issues of Superman, Action Comics, and Superman New Krypton starting with the World Without Superman event in 2009, and continuing with the World Against Superman event going into 2010.
Collected editions
Listed in chronological order. All ages titles are not in continuity with the original or modern Kara.
In other media
Television
Live-action
Smallville
Prior to the seventh season (2007–2008) of the WB/CW show Smallville where she is introduced into the cast and is portrayed by Laura Vandervoort, a woman claiming to be Kara (portrayed by Adrianne Palicki) is briefly introduced in the season 3 finale. It is later revealed her real name is Lindsey Harrison, and had been given false memories and powers by the artificial intelligence of Clark Kent's (Tom Welling) father Jor-El as part of a series of tests. Vandervoort portrays the real Kara, Clark's cousin whose spaceship had been trapped in stasis until the events of the season 6 finale. Much of season 7 is concerned with Kara's attempts to adjust to life on Earth, especially after learning of Krypton's destruction. Her storyline sees her simultaneously become the object of Lex Luthor's (Michael Rosenbaum) obsessions and Jimmy Olsen's (Aaron Ashmore) affections, suffer a bout of amnesia, discover her father's (Christopher Heyerdahl) sinister motives and become a target of evil android Brainiac (James Marsters). The season finale sees Kara become trapped in the Phantom Zone. Starting with season 8, Vandervoort ceases to feature as a series regular, but reprises the role three more times. In her first guest appearance, "Bloodline," Kara is freed from the Phantom Zone and later departs Clark's hometown of Smallville to search for Kandor, her birthplace, as it is rumored to have survived their home planet's destruction. She appears again in the season 10 episode "Supergirl", in which she formally adopts her superhero moniker. Her off-screen adventures are alluded to thereafter. Vandervoort makes a final appearance in the show's penultimate episode, "Prophecy", in which she helps Green Arrow (Justin Hartley) locate the "Bow of Orion" to use against Darkseid. She is then called to the Fortress of Solitude, where she learns from Jor-El that her job on Earth is done. Using a Legion of Super-Heroes flight ring, she travels to the future to seek her own destiny. The Season Eleven comic book continuation of the show later depicts Kara's continued story in the 31st century, subsequent return to the present and joining the Justice League.
Arrowverse
In September 2014, a 22-episode television series centered around Supergirl was in development at Warner Bros. Television, set to premiere on CBS with a January 2015 air date. Melissa Benoist was cast as the titular character. In May 2016, the series moved to The CW and was later integrated into the Arrowverse, a shared universe consisting of shows including Arrow, The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow. In the series, Kara Zor-El was sent to Earth to protect her cousin Kal-El, following her homeworld Krypton's destruction. However, she is knocked into the Phantom Zone, where she is stranded for 24 years. She eventually crash lands on Earth and is found by her already grown-up cousin Kal, now known to the world as the iconic superhero "Superman". Superman brings Kara into the custody of Jeremiah Danvers, director of the Department of Extranormal Operations (D.E.O.), and his daughter Alex. Growing up, Kara struggles to maintain her Kryptonian abilities as well as balancing her relationship with her adoptive sister. Eventually, the two bond when Kara's powers are exposed. However, Jeremiah decides it's best to isolate her abilities. As an adult, Kara is forced to use her powers again when her sister's plane almost crashes. She is later dubbed "Supergirl" by the media and dons a costume like her cousin. Kara decides to use her abilities to fight alien invaders such as Kara's aunt Astra and her husband Non, Mon-El's rogue parents, the Worldkiller Reign, anti-alien activist Ben Lockwood, and later the shadowy organization Leviathan, with the help of her sister Alex, now an agent of the D.E.O., her best friend and tech-expert Winn Schott, last of the Green Martians J'onn J'onzz / Martian Manhunter, and Kal's best friend Jimmy Olsen. She is later joined by Lex Luthor's sister Lena, Prince of Daxam Mon-El, former Legion of Superheroes member Querl "Brainy" Dox / Brainiac 5, Nia Nal / Dreamer, James' younger sister Kelly, and reporter Willam Dey face against these rival forces. After joining the Arrowverse, which contain annual crossover, Kara assists Barry Allen, Oliver Queen and the Legends of Tomorrow against threats on their designated earth "Earth-1" while Kara’s is designated as "Earth-38. Later, Kara is selected by The Monitor as the Paragon of Hope to participate in the coming crisis and fight against the Anti-Monitor, whose goal is to destroy the multiverse. After doing so, the Paragons are sent to the Vanishing Point where Oliver, now a Spectre, helps them escape. The Paragons appear at the dawn of time in the anti-matter universe where they have their final confrontation with the Anti-Monitor. Eventually, Oliver sacrifices himself to kill the Anti-Monitor, and as a result, a new multiverse is born with Earth-38 and Earth-1 merged into "Earth-Prime". Following the crisis, Kara is forced to deal the after-effects of Crisis which include working with Lex, now owning the D.E.O. while Leviathan continue their covert operations under Gamemnae. The sixth season sees Kara and her allies expose Lex's crimes, but are then forced to deal with Nyxlygsptlnz, a fifth-dimensional imp who tricked the heroes into releasing her from the Phantom Zone. Eventually Nyxlygsptlnz joins forces with Lex Luthor and the two kill William, but Kara's assembled allies are able to defeat the two, culminating in Lex and Nyxlygsptlnz being trapped in the Phantom Zone when one of their own plans backfires. The series concludes with Kara revealing her dual identity so that she can live a full life as one person.
Animation
DC Nation Shorts
Supergirl appears with Batgirl and Wonder Girl in Super Best Friends Forever, voiced by Nicole Sullivan.
DC Super Hero Girls
Supergirl appears as a central protagonist in the web series DC Super Hero Girls voiced by Anais Fairweather, and is a student at Super Hero High, is very kind and caring and extremely powerful but she's also very clumsy.
She also appears as a central protagonist in the 2019 TV series, with Nicole Sullivan reprising her role from the Super Best Friends Forever shorts. In this version, she is also a rebel and is known as the "cool kid" in school. She may be tough but she can easily express her emotions and is very open-minded as well. She can be a cool friend and a helpful one, but she can also be jealous sometimes and she dislikes her cousin's prominence.
Justice League Action
Supergirl appears in Justice League Action, voiced by Joanne Spracklen. She has the appearance of a wide-eyed human teenager with blonde hair and wears her traditional costume except that it has thigh-high boots and a pleated skirt. As a person, she is youthful, responsible, and shows much affection for her cousin Superman. In "Party Animal", she appears as a cameo at this Christmas party with the Justice League. In "Keeping up with the Kryptonians", Supergirl becomes a star of the popular reality show "That's So Kara", and Superman a Kasnian who rules from one place to another on Earth, all being a reality caused by Mister Mxyzptlk. In "Unleashed", Supergirl accompanies Justice League in stopping Red Lantern Corps, unaware that it was a distraction made by Dex-Starr to invade Earth, until it was ultimately resolved by Krypto, Streaky, and Plastic Man. In a short "The Goddess Must Be Crazy", Supergirl trains with Wonder Woman in Paradise Island, until she is possessed by Felix Faust, to destroy the island.
Film
Superman film series
A live action depiction of Supergirl first appears in the eponymous 1984 film starring Helen Slater as Supergirl. The film is a spin-off from the Superman film series starring Christopher Reeve, to which it is connected by Marc McClure's character of Jimmy Olsen.
DC Extended Universe
Kara Zor-El / Linda Danvers / Supergirl exists within the DC Extended Universe, as she was referenced in Man of Steel when Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman discovers an empty pod within the Kryptonian scout spaceship. Though Zack Snyder confirmed in August 2018 that even though the character does exist, that pod was not intended for her.
In August 2018, a film centered around the character was announced to be in development, with Oren Uziel hired as screenwriter for the project. The studio intends to hire a female director, with Reed Morano—who has expressed interest in the project—being its top choice. Filming was expected to start production in early 2020.
Sasha Calle will play Supergirl for the DC Extended Universe in The Flash.
Animation
Summer Glau voices the post-Crisis version of Kara Zor-El in Superman/Batman: Apocalypse, which is based on the Superman/Batman storyline "The Supergirl from Krypton". Despite this, it was confirmed by director Lauren Montgomery that Supergirl's name was removed from the title due to the much slower sales of the previous Wonder Woman animated movie, and the character was not permitted to appear on the cover in her trademark outfit.
Molly Quinn voices Supergirl in Superman: Unbound.
Supergirl appears in Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League: Cosmic Clash, voiced by Jessica DiCicco.
Video games
Supergirl appears in DC Universe Online, voiced by Adriene Mishler. In the villain campaign, the players help Doctor Psycho capture Supergirl using Kryptonite. In the hero campaign, the players fight Doctor Psycho to save Supergirl. Under the thrall of Brainiac, she must be defeated in the Fortress of Solitude: Power Core raid.
Supergirl is unlockable in Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes, voiced by Bridget Hoffman.
Supergirl makes a cameo appearance in the IOS version of Injustice: Gods Among Us as a support card.
Supergirl appears as a playable character in Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham, voiced by Kari Wahlgren. She is playable in her default variant which is designed after her appearance in The New 52 and in her Classic attire. Her Classic variant is unlocked in a VR Mission while her New 52 variant is unlocked in a Hub Quest in Nok where she requests players to defeat a number of enemies she accidentally releases from their cells.
Supergirl appears as a playable character in Infinite Crisis, voiced by Camilla Luddington.
Supergirl appears as a playable character and the central protagonist in Injustice 2 by NetherRealm Studios, the sequel to Injustice: Gods Among Us, voiced by Laura Bailey. Here her origin is much like in the comics where she is sent along with her cousin Kal-El to Earth by her mother after Krypton is destroyed but on separate pods where hers veers off-course after sustaining significant damage, stranding her in space for many years until she lands on Earth, unaged. When the main storyline starts, she is residing on Black Adam's kingdom of Khandaq, apparently under his and Wonder Woman's protection. When Brainiac who was responsible for Krypton's destruction attacks, she, Wonder Woman, and Black Adam attempt to free Superman and the remaining members of the Regime, while being interrupted in their efforts by new Insurgency recruits Blue Beetle and Firestorm until Batman himself arrives and releases Superman, leading to a temporary alliance between the Regime and Insurgency against the alien warlord. Over the course of the story, she learns the truth about her cousin's tyranny and at the end of the game sides with Batman, Green Lantern and Flash in letting Brainiac live in order to restore the lost cities but is defeated. In Batman's ending, she laments her cousin's tyranny and sees him leave to be imprisoned in the Phantom Zone and is offered membership by Batman in his Justice League. In Superman's ending, she is imprisoned aboard Brainiac's ship and to her shock discovers her cousin has bonded with it and when she refuses his offer to join him in leading his new legion of imprisoned species. He attempts to coerce her by revealing a brainwashed Batman, who had also been captured, further shocking her.
Supergirl appears as a limited-distribution minifigure for the toys-to-life video game Lego Dimensions, with Kari Wahlgren reprising her role. She has the ability to transform between her classic and Red Lantern forms.
Supergirl appears as a playable character in DC Unchained.
Supergirl appears in the PSP version of Justice League Heroes.
Supergirl appears as a playable character in the DC TV Super-Heroes DLC pack in Lego DC Super-Villains.
See also
Alternative versions of Supergirl
Laurel Gand
References
External links
DC Comics
Pre-Crisis Supergirl Chronology
Supergirl
Characters created by Otto Binder
Comics characters introduced in 1958
Comics characters introduced in 1959
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Vigilante characters in comics | true | [
"The Bronze Medallion is the second step towards the lifeguarding certification in Canada. The award is part of the Lifesaving Society's Bronze series of awards. It teaches an understanding of the lifesaving principles embodied in the four components of water rescue education: judgment, knowledge, skill, and fitness. It is the prerequisite for Bronze Cross; Standard First Aid with CPR-C and 16 years of age are the prerequisites for National Lifeguard Service. The Bronze Medallion endurance swim requirement is in 12 minutes using any combination of strokes.\n\nHistory \nLifesaving Society's Bronze Medallion program began in 1896 as Canada's first lifesaving certification program.\n\nPrerequisites \nThe Lifesaving Society requires Bronze Medallion candidates meet the following prerequisites (award may be expired):\n 13 years of age, OR\n Bronze Star\n\nReferences\n\nCanadian awards\nLifesaving",
"The Little Thetford flesh-hook is a late Bronze-Age (1150950 BC) artefact discovered in 1929 in Little Thetford, near Ely, Cambridgeshire, England. A flesh-hook is a metal hook with a long handle used to pull meat out of a pot or hides out of tan-pits. This particular find is one of 32 other such archaeologically significant finds, scatters, and excavations within of Little Thetford.\n\nDiscovery \nThe artefact was found by a Mr. Dresser, whilst digging a ditch on reclaimed fenland, at Little Thetford in 1929. Discovered about down, it consisted of two-parts, connected by the remains of a wooden shaft. The wood remains have not survived; a contemporary wooden shaft has been added by the British Museum for display purposes. The artefact is in the British Museum though is not, as of 2012, on display. Within of Little Thetford, there have been 33 finds of various kinds over the years, such as flints from the Neolithic era through to a windmill of the late Medieval period.\n\nUses \nThe word flesh-hook is relatively modern. The OED gives the origin of the word as 1325 AD, and defines it as a metal hook with a long stail, used to pull hides out of tan-pits or as a hook for pulling meat from the pot. It may also have been used as a tool to prod animals. The use of this flesh-hook in the Bronze Age can only be speculated.\n\nConstruction \nThe metal used in the construction is a bronze alloy, found to be typical of the late Bronze Age. The material was analysed using ICPAES and contained (approximately) 85% copper, 10% tin, 3% lead, and 2% impurities; although the constituents of the individual parts varied around these figures. From an analysis of 36 other Bronze-Age flesh-hooks known to be in existence, the assembled length of hook-part, butt-end, and missing wood part is speculated to be .\n\nThe artefact was manufactured by casting, using a mould in a lost-wax (cire perdue) process.\n\nDating \n\nThe British Museum dates the artefact within the Bronze Age 1150950 BC. The Cambridgeshire Historic Environment Record database dates the artefact as late Bronze Age 1000–701 BC.\n\nSee also \n Dunaverney flesh-hook\n Lost wax casting\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Introduction to Bronze age\n Lost wax casting explained\n\nArchaeological artifacts\nBronze Age England\n\nPrehistoric objects in the British Museum\nBronzeware\nHistory of Cambridgeshire\nBronze Age Europe"
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"Kara Zor-El, also known by her adoptive names of Linda Lee Danvers, Kara Kent, Linda Lang, and Kara Danvers, and the superhero name of Supergirl, is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. She was created by Otto Binder and designed by Al Plastino. Danvers first appeared in Action Comics #252 (May 1959)'s \"The Supergirl from Krypton\" story. Kara is the biological cousin of Kal-El, who went on to adopt the name of Clark Kent and the superhero Superman.",
"Kara is the biological cousin of Kal-El, who went on to adopt the name of Clark Kent and the superhero Superman. During the 1980s and the revolution of the Modern Age of Comics, Superman editors believed the character's history had become too convoluted, thus killing Supergirl during the 1985 Crisis on Infinite Earths event and retconning her out of existence. DC Comics Senior Vice President Dan DiDio re-introduced the character in 2004 along with editor Eddie Berganza and writer Jeph Loeb, with her the Superman/Batman storyline \"The Supergirl from Krypton\".",
"DC Comics Senior Vice President Dan DiDio re-introduced the character in 2004 along with editor Eddie Berganza and writer Jeph Loeb, with her the Superman/Batman storyline \"The Supergirl from Krypton\". As the current Supergirl, Kara stars in her own monthly comic book series. With DC's The New 52 relaunch, Kara, like most of the DC Universe, was revamped. DC relaunched the Supergirl comic in August 2016 as part of their DC Rebirth initiative.",
"DC relaunched the Supergirl comic in August 2016 as part of their DC Rebirth initiative. In live-action, Supergirl appeared in the 1984 film based on her character and was portrayed by Helen Slater. She also appeared in the series Smallville, played by actress Laura Vandervoort. In 2015, the live-action Arrowverse series Supergirl debuted on CBS and then moved to The CW after the first season. Supergirl was portrayed by Melissa Benoist on the show and also appeared on other Arrowverse shows.",
"Supergirl was portrayed by Melissa Benoist on the show and also appeared on other Arrowverse shows. Sasha Calle will appear as Supergirl in the upcoming DC Extended Universe film The Flash (2022). Publication history Early life Although Kara Zor-El was the first character to use the name \"Supergirl,\" DC Comics tested three different female versions of Superman prior to her debut. The first story to feature a female counterpart to Superman was \"Lois Lane – Superwoman,\" which was published in Action Comics #60 (May 1943).",
"The first story to feature a female counterpart to Superman was \"Lois Lane – Superwoman,\" which was published in Action Comics #60 (May 1943). In the story, a hospitalized Lois Lane dreams she has gained superpowers thanks to a blood transfusion from the Man of Steel. She begins her own career as \"Superwoman\", complete with a version of Superman's costume.",
"She begins her own career as \"Superwoman\", complete with a version of Superman's costume. In the Superboy #78 story entitled \"Claire Kent, Alias Super-Sister\", Superboy saves the life of an alien woman named Shar-La, who turns Superboy into a girl, in retaliation for his disparaging thoughts about women drivers which she picked up telepathically. In Smallville, Clark claims to be Claire Kent, an out-of-town relative who is staying with the Kents.",
"In Smallville, Clark claims to be Claire Kent, an out-of-town relative who is staying with the Kents. When in costume, he appears as Superboy's sister, Super-Sister, and claims the two have exchanged places. Once Superboy has learned his lesson about feeling more respect for women, Shar-La reveals the episode to be a dream which she projected into Superboy's mind.",
"Once Superboy has learned his lesson about feeling more respect for women, Shar-La reveals the episode to be a dream which she projected into Superboy's mind. In Superman #123 (August 1958), Jimmy Olsen uses a magic totem to wish a \"Super-Girl\" into existence as a companion and aid to Superman; however, the two frequently get in each other's way until she is fatally injured protecting Superman from a Kryptonite meteor. At her insistence, Jimmy wishes the dying girl out of existence.",
"At her insistence, Jimmy wishes the dying girl out of existence. DC used this story to gauge public response to the concept of a completely new super-powered female counterpart to Superman. The Kara Zor-El version of Supergirl finally appeared in Action Comics #252 (May 1959). Otto Binder wrote and Al Plastino illustrated her début story, in which Kara was born and raised in Argo City (unnamed until later issues), a fragment of Krypton that survived destruction.",
"Otto Binder wrote and Al Plastino illustrated her début story, in which Kara was born and raised in Argo City (unnamed until later issues), a fragment of Krypton that survived destruction. When the city is doomed by a meteor shower, Kara is sent to Earth by her parents, Zor-El and Alura (the latter unnamed until later issues), to be raised by her cousin Kal-El, known as Superman. Supergirl adopted the secret identity of an orphan \"Linda Lee\", and made Midvale Orphanage her home.",
"Supergirl adopted the secret identity of an orphan \"Linda Lee\", and made Midvale Orphanage her home. Supergirl promised Superman that she would keep her existence on Earth a secret, so that he may use her as a \"secret weapon\", but that didn't stop Supergirl from exploring her new powers covertly. Action Comics #255 published reader's letters-of-comment to Supergirl's first appearance; she had allegedly generated a sizeable and mostly positive reaction.",
"Action Comics #255 published reader's letters-of-comment to Supergirl's first appearance; she had allegedly generated a sizeable and mostly positive reaction. Supergirl, from her debut onwards, became a regular backup strip in Action Comics. She joined the Legion of Super-Heroes, like her cousin had done as a teenager, and in Action Comics #279 (July 1961) she was adopted by Fred and Edna Danvers, becoming \"Linda Lee Danvers\".",
"She joined the Legion of Super-Heroes, like her cousin had done as a teenager, and in Action Comics #279 (July 1961) she was adopted by Fred and Edna Danvers, becoming \"Linda Lee Danvers\". Supergirl acted for three years as Superman's secret weapon, and her adventures during that time have been compared to contemporary developments in feminist thinking in work such as Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique.",
"Supergirl acted for three years as Superman's secret weapon, and her adventures during that time have been compared to contemporary developments in feminist thinking in work such as Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique. She was at last introduced by her super-powered cousin to an unsuspecting world in Action Comics #285 (February 1962). During her first quarter of a century, Linda Danvers would have many professions, from student to student advisor, to actor, and even TV camera operator.",
"During her first quarter of a century, Linda Danvers would have many professions, from student to student advisor, to actor, and even TV camera operator. She shared Action Comics with Superman until transferring to the lead in Adventure Comics at the end of the 1960s. In 1972 she finally moved to her own short-lived eponymous magazine, before DC merged its Supergirl, Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen titles into a single anthology title named The Superman Family. In 1982 Supergirl was relaunched into her own magazine.",
"In 1982 Supergirl was relaunched into her own magazine. In 1982 Supergirl was relaunched into her own magazine. Death during Crisis on Infinite Earths In 1985, the maxi-series Crisis on Infinite Earths was conceived as a way to reduce DC continuity to a single universe in which all characters maintained a single history. Despite Supergirl's continued popularity and status as a central member of the \"Superman Family\", the editors at DC Comics and the creators of the maxi-series decided to kill Supergirl off during the Crisis.",
"Despite Supergirl's continued popularity and status as a central member of the \"Superman Family\", the editors at DC Comics and the creators of the maxi-series decided to kill Supergirl off during the Crisis. According to Marv Wolfman, writer of Crisis on Infinite Earths: The idea of killing Supergirl was first conceived by DC's vice president/executive editor Dick Giordano, who lobbied for the death to DC's publishers.",
"According to Marv Wolfman, writer of Crisis on Infinite Earths: The idea of killing Supergirl was first conceived by DC's vice president/executive editor Dick Giordano, who lobbied for the death to DC's publishers. He later said he has never had any regrets about this, explaining, \"Supergirl was created initially to take advantage of the high Superman sales and not much thought was put into her creation. She was created essentially as a female Superman.",
"She was created essentially as a female Superman. She was created essentially as a female Superman. With time, writers and artists improved upon her execution, but she never did really add anything to the Superman mythos—at least not for me.\" The poor initial reception of the 1984 film Supergirl was also blamed by some sources.",
"The poor initial reception of the 1984 film Supergirl was also blamed by some sources. In 1989, in the tale \"Christmas with the Super-Heroes\" the soul of Kara appears to Boston \"Deadman\" Brand, cheers him up, and then disappears from continuity until 2001 (see below).",
"In 1989, in the tale \"Christmas with the Super-Heroes\" the soul of Kara appears to Boston \"Deadman\" Brand, cheers him up, and then disappears from continuity until 2001 (see below). Several characters unrelated to Superman soon took on the Supergirl persona, including the Matrix (a shapeshifting genetically engineered life-form that 'defaulted' as Supergirl), Linda Danvers (the result of Matrix merging with the dying Linda Danvers and becoming an Earth-bound angel of fire), and Cir-El (Superman's apparent daughter from a possible future).",
"Several characters unrelated to Superman soon took on the Supergirl persona, including the Matrix (a shapeshifting genetically engineered life-form that 'defaulted' as Supergirl), Linda Danvers (the result of Matrix merging with the dying Linda Danvers and becoming an Earth-bound angel of fire), and Cir-El (Superman's apparent daughter from a possible future). A heroine resembling the Pre-Crisis Kara would later appear in Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #5, along with an entire army of Legionnaires gathered from alternate worlds, times, and realities, to battle the Time Trapper.",
"A heroine resembling the Pre-Crisis Kara would later appear in Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #5, along with an entire army of Legionnaires gathered from alternate worlds, times, and realities, to battle the Time Trapper. Two Supergirls meet Prior to the post-Crisis introduction of Kara Zor-El into mainstream continuity, the pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El made an appearance in Peter David's Supergirl: Many Happy Returns.",
"Two Supergirls meet Prior to the post-Crisis introduction of Kara Zor-El into mainstream continuity, the pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El made an appearance in Peter David's Supergirl: Many Happy Returns. The then-current Supergirl series, at the time starring Linda Danvers, was in danger of cancellation and Peter David thought a story arc involving Kara Zor-El would be enough to revitalize the series.",
"The then-current Supergirl series, at the time starring Linda Danvers, was in danger of cancellation and Peter David thought a story arc involving Kara Zor-El would be enough to revitalize the series. In an interview with Cliff Biggers of Newsarama, David states: In the Linda Danvers' Supergirl series issues 49 and 50 (October and November 2000), the original dead Kara appears as Linda's \"guardian angel\".",
"In an interview with Cliff Biggers of Newsarama, David states: In the Linda Danvers' Supergirl series issues 49 and 50 (October and November 2000), the original dead Kara appears as Linda's \"guardian angel\". Then in issues 75 to 80, \"Many Happy Returns\", a young Kara appears from an earlier time long before the Crisis.",
"Then in issues 75 to 80, \"Many Happy Returns\", a young Kara appears from an earlier time long before the Crisis. The paradox becomes a moral crisis for Linda who tries to take her place as the Crisis sacrifice, living for years in a Silver Age universe where \"no one swears, the villains are always easy to defeat, and everything's very, very clean\", eventually marrying the Silver Age Superman and having a daughter with him, before she is forced to return to her universe by the Spectre when he reveals that her efforts to replace Kara as the sacrifice will not succeed.",
"The paradox becomes a moral crisis for Linda who tries to take her place as the Crisis sacrifice, living for years in a Silver Age universe where \"no one swears, the villains are always easy to defeat, and everything's very, very clean\", eventually marrying the Silver Age Superman and having a daughter with him, before she is forced to return to her universe by the Spectre when he reveals that her efforts to replace Kara as the sacrifice will not succeed. This run was illustrated by Ed Benes who had also illustrated Gail Simone's Birds of Prey which had a similar whimsical camaraderie between its female leads.",
"This run was illustrated by Ed Benes who had also illustrated Gail Simone's Birds of Prey which had a similar whimsical camaraderie between its female leads. Linda's inability to ultimately save Kara, coupled with the loss of her daughter, is so devastating that it ends her own career as Supergirl, Linda leaving a note for Superman where she explains that she feels that she has failed to live up to the standards of a true Supergirl and choosing to go somewhere she cannot be found.",
"Linda's inability to ultimately save Kara, coupled with the loss of her daughter, is so devastating that it ends her own career as Supergirl, Linda leaving a note for Superman where she explains that she feels that she has failed to live up to the standards of a true Supergirl and choosing to go somewhere she cannot be found. This story arc is usually cited as one of the best Supergirl stories ever written. The series ended with issue 80.",
"The series ended with issue 80. The series ended with issue 80. Revival After the launch of the Superman/Batman comic book series, executive editor Dan DiDio had been looking for a way to simplify the Supergirl character from her convoluted post-Crisis history; the simplest version, of course, was Superman's cousin. Jeph Loeb and editor Eddie Berganza found an opening to reintroduce the character following the conclusion of the first story arc of Superman/Batman.",
"Jeph Loeb and editor Eddie Berganza found an opening to reintroduce the character following the conclusion of the first story arc of Superman/Batman. Loeb states: The modern version of Kara Zor-El made her debut in Superman/Batman #8 (2004). Kara takes the mantle of Supergirl at the conclusion of the storyline. The Supergirl comic book series would later be relaunched, now starring Kara Zor-El as \"The Girl of Steel\". The first arc of the new series was written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by Ian Churchill.",
"The first arc of the new series was written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by Ian Churchill. Loeb would later describe the appeal of writing for Supergirl: As the character continued to be reinvented, steps towards regarding the iconic character were some of the most prominent changes. Artist Jamal Igle and editor Matt Idleson moved to transition the character away from red panties under her skirt to biker shorts, feeling such a change was a logical progression and \"more respectable.\"",
"Artist Jamal Igle and editor Matt Idleson moved to transition the character away from red panties under her skirt to biker shorts, feeling such a change was a logical progression and \"more respectable.\" The New 52 In September 2011, DC Comics began The New 52, in which it canceled all of its monthly superhero titles and relaunched 52 new ones, wiping out most of its past continuity in the process.",
"The New 52 In September 2011, DC Comics began The New 52, in which it canceled all of its monthly superhero titles and relaunched 52 new ones, wiping out most of its past continuity in the process. One of the new titles was a new Supergirl series (Volume 6) that featured a new origin for Kara and was published between 2011 and 2015.",
"One of the new titles was a new Supergirl series (Volume 6) that featured a new origin for Kara and was published between 2011 and 2015. Artist Mahmud Asrar designed a new costume for the character which strongly deviated from her classic, \"cheerleader\" suit, a change which generated criticism from some readers. DC Rebirth The 2016 DC Comics title relaunch Rebirth incorporates several elements (such as the costume, the name, the setting, and some characters) from the Supergirl television series.",
"DC Rebirth The 2016 DC Comics title relaunch Rebirth incorporates several elements (such as the costume, the name, the setting, and some characters) from the Supergirl television series. The DC Rebirth initiative undid the New 52's modern recreations, bringing DC's heroes back to their more classic iterations. Supergirl's new series (Volume 7) was titled Supergirl: Rebirth, written by Steven Orlando. The first arc was penciled by Brian Ching, who also redesigned Supergirl's costume in reference to a more classic look.",
"The first arc was penciled by Brian Ching, who also redesigned Supergirl's costume in reference to a more classic look. In April 2018, it was announced that the title would be canceled after issue #20, only to be revived in August that year under a new creative team, with new writer Marc Andreyko and artist Kevin Maguire. The series ended with its 42nd issue.",
"The series ended with its 42nd issue. The series ended with its 42nd issue. Future State: Kara Zor-El, Superwoman The Future State comics propose a possible future for Kara Zor-El, now an adult and having taken the alias of Superwoman. She leaves Earth to become a guardian of the Moon, which has become a refugee colony for aliens from the entire universe. The series was written by Marguerite Bennet and penciled by Marguerite Sauvage.",
"The series was written by Marguerite Bennet and penciled by Marguerite Sauvage. Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow Under the Infinite Frontier brand, Kara's next series Woman of Tomorrow debuted in June 2021, written by Tom King and penciled by Brazilian artists Bilquis Evely and Mat Lopes. The arc introduces Supergirl to new character grounds as she begins the story as a young woman, celebrating her 21st birthday and helping a young alien in her quest for revenge.",
"The arc introduces Supergirl to new character grounds as she begins the story as a young woman, celebrating her 21st birthday and helping a young alien in her quest for revenge. The \"mentor-mentee journey on revenge\" plot is, according to King, inspired by the original novel and both versions of True Grit. In this series, the creators paid homage to Linda Danvers, as Kara manifests flame wings and powers after taking a red kryptonite drug, in order to save her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon.",
"In this series, the creators paid homage to Linda Danvers, as Kara manifests flame wings and powers after taking a red kryptonite drug, in order to save her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon. Fictional character biography Silver Age In her debut story, Kara Zor-El is the last survivor of Argo City of the planet Krypton.",
"Fictional character biography Silver Age In her debut story, Kara Zor-El is the last survivor of Argo City of the planet Krypton. Although Argo, which had survived the explosion of the planet, drifted through space as a self-sustaining environment, the soil of the colony eventually turned into Kryptonite; and though Kara's father Zor-El placed lead sheeting above the ground to protect the citizens from radiation, meteorites pierced the sheeting, and the Kryptonians died of radiation poisoning instead of replacing the metal.",
"Although Argo, which had survived the explosion of the planet, drifted through space as a self-sustaining environment, the soil of the colony eventually turned into Kryptonite; and though Kara's father Zor-El placed lead sheeting above the ground to protect the citizens from radiation, meteorites pierced the sheeting, and the Kryptonians died of radiation poisoning instead of replacing the metal. In Supergirl's subsequent backup feature in Action Comics drawn by artist Jim Mooney for ten years until 1968, Supergirl adopts the identity of Linda Lee, an orphan at Midvale Orphanage presided over by headmistress Miss Hart.",
"In Supergirl's subsequent backup feature in Action Comics drawn by artist Jim Mooney for ten years until 1968, Supergirl adopts the identity of Linda Lee, an orphan at Midvale Orphanage presided over by headmistress Miss Hart. She disguises herself by hiding her blond hair beneath a brunette wig; Supergirl interacts with humans on a person-to-person basis performing good deeds and saving the world by helping one person at a time, and she also devises clever schemes as \"Superman's Secret Weapon,\" saving him many times and avoiding adoption before Superman can introduce her publicly.",
"She disguises herself by hiding her blond hair beneath a brunette wig; Supergirl interacts with humans on a person-to-person basis performing good deeds and saving the world by helping one person at a time, and she also devises clever schemes as \"Superman's Secret Weapon,\" saving him many times and avoiding adoption before Superman can introduce her publicly. While temporarily powerless due to the scheming of Kandorian scientist Lesla-Lar, who is out to supplant her on Earth, Linda allows herself to be adopted by engineer and rocket scientist Fred Danvers and his wife, Edna.",
"While temporarily powerless due to the scheming of Kandorian scientist Lesla-Lar, who is out to supplant her on Earth, Linda allows herself to be adopted by engineer and rocket scientist Fred Danvers and his wife, Edna. In time, she reveals her secret identity to her adoptive parents on the same day her cousin Superman finally introduces her to the world in the finale of then-DC's longest playing series ever (eight chapters) aptly called \"The World's Greatest Heroine\".",
"In time, she reveals her secret identity to her adoptive parents on the same day her cousin Superman finally introduces her to the world in the finale of then-DC's longest playing series ever (eight chapters) aptly called \"The World's Greatest Heroine\". When frequent dreams about her parents being alive turn out to be real, she builds a machine aided by her engineer father's talent, and brings them both back alive from the \"Survival Zone\" where they had both teleported during Argo City's final moments.",
"When frequent dreams about her parents being alive turn out to be real, she builds a machine aided by her engineer father's talent, and brings them both back alive from the \"Survival Zone\" where they had both teleported during Argo City's final moments. Zor-El and Allura eventually end up living in Kandor, and when the city in the bottle is enlarged, they both go on to live in Rokyn/New Krypton, where they have the sad duty of receiving her mortal remains after \"Crisis\" for burial.",
"Zor-El and Allura eventually end up living in Kandor, and when the city in the bottle is enlarged, they both go on to live in Rokyn/New Krypton, where they have the sad duty of receiving her mortal remains after \"Crisis\" for burial. Graduating from high school in 1965, Linda Lee goes to college on a scholarship and stays in Stanhope College until she graduates in 1971.",
"Graduating from high school in 1965, Linda Lee goes to college on a scholarship and stays in Stanhope College until she graduates in 1971. During this era, she is helped by her pet cat Streaky, her Super-Horse pet Comet, and befriends Lena Thorul, who had first appeared in the Lois Lane series. Kara is also a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, where she becomes close to Brainiac 5.",
"Kara is also a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, where she becomes close to Brainiac 5. In addition, Linda has boyfriends from the orphanage (Richard \"Dick\" Malverne) and from Atlantis (Jerro the merboy). In 1967, Supergirl meets Batgirl for the first time in World's Finest Comics. Developing a strong friendship, the two characters teamed up many times again, as in Superman Family #171, or Adventure #381.",
"Developing a strong friendship, the two characters teamed up many times again, as in Superman Family #171, or Adventure #381. In 1969, Supergirl left Action Comics and became a featured character in Adventure Comics beginning with issue #381 (June 1969). During the 1970s, Supergirl's costume changed frequently, as did her career in her civilian life.",
"During the 1970s, Supergirl's costume changed frequently, as did her career in her civilian life. In her secret identity as Linda Lee Danvers, Kara Zor-El took a variety of jobs including graduate student in acting, television camera operator, and student counselor, and finally became an actress on the TV soap Secret Hearts. Bronze Age After long-time Superman family editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971, the character underwent revitalization under editor Joe Orlando and artist Mike Sekowsky.",
"Bronze Age After long-time Superman family editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971, the character underwent revitalization under editor Joe Orlando and artist Mike Sekowsky. Wearing a series of new outfits, leaving her adopted foster home with the Danvers family, Linda goes on to San Francisco where she works for KSF-TV as a camera operator and develops a crush on her boss, Geoffrey Anderson. These stories introduced Supergirl's most memorable villain from this period: Lex Luthor's niece Nasthalthia, or Nasty.",
"These stories introduced Supergirl's most memorable villain from this period: Lex Luthor's niece Nasthalthia, or Nasty. Nasty had made two appearances towards the end of Linda's college years, then pursued her to KSF-TV, trying to secure proof of her dual identity.",
"Nasty had made two appearances towards the end of Linda's college years, then pursued her to KSF-TV, trying to secure proof of her dual identity. Supergirl starred in her first solo eponymous monthly series beginning in 1972 until October 1974, when her monthly title merged with Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane, and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen to produce a new title: then-highest DC selling series called The Superman Family, where she eventually became the steady lead story.",
"Supergirl starred in her first solo eponymous monthly series beginning in 1972 until October 1974, when her monthly title merged with Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane, and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen to produce a new title: then-highest DC selling series called The Superman Family, where she eventually became the steady lead story. Linda worked as a student advisor at New Athens Experimental School, before leaving for New York to follow a career in acting with daytime soap Secret Hearts.",
"Linda worked as a student advisor at New Athens Experimental School, before leaving for New York to follow a career in acting with daytime soap Secret Hearts. In 1982 Supergirl received a second monthly solo series titled The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl, relocating the character to Chicago as Linda became a mature student of Psychology. Industry legend, and former DC Publisher, Carmine Infantino provided the penciled art (Bob Oksner inked).",
"Industry legend, and former DC Publisher, Carmine Infantino provided the penciled art (Bob Oksner inked). With issue 13 the title was revamped, with a new costume design (sporting a red headband) and the title shortened to just Supergirl. The series ran until sudden cancellation in 1984, only two months before the character's debut in a big-budget Hollywood film starring Helen Slater.",
"The series ran until sudden cancellation in 1984, only two months before the character's debut in a big-budget Hollywood film starring Helen Slater. In the Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985), the greatest heroes from Earth-One, Earth-Two, Earth-Four, Earth-S, and Earth-X join forces in order to defeat the Anti-Monitor. When Superman comes face to face with the Anti-Monitor and is knocked unconscious, Supergirl rushes to save him before he is killed.",
"When Superman comes face to face with the Anti-Monitor and is knocked unconscious, Supergirl rushes to save him before he is killed. She is able to fight him off long enough for Dr. Light to carry her cousin to a safe distance, but is killed by the Anti-Monitor. A public memorial service for Supergirl takes place in Chicago, where Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) delivers the eulogy. In her remarks, she states \"Kara is a hero. She will not be forgotten.\"",
"She will not be forgotten.\" She will not be forgotten.\" Superman then gives his late cousin burial by taking her corpse to Rokyn/New Krypton to Zor-El and Allura. A Superman issue the next month reveals that Kara had experienced a premonition about her own passing. However, when the universe is rebooted, the timeline is altered. Kara Zor-El and all memory of her is erased from existence.",
"Kara Zor-El and all memory of her is erased from existence. Echoes After these events, the soul of Kara Zor-El made another appearance in continuity three years later in a story titled \"Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot\" in Christmas with the Super-Heroes #2 (1989). Within the story, Boston \"Deadman\" Brand tries to feel the warmth of Christmas by possessing revelers' bodies.",
"Within the story, Boston \"Deadman\" Brand tries to feel the warmth of Christmas by possessing revelers' bodies. Feeling guilty upon the realization that he has been stealing others' Christmases, he flies off feeling sorry for himself for being denied a reward after a year of helping people. A warmly dressed blonde woman approaches Brand, startling him.",
"A warmly dressed blonde woman approaches Brand, startling him. Somehow seeing the normally invisible Brand, she converses with him, reminding him, She reminds Brand that even though he is dead, he is still human, and he should rejoice because it means his spirit is still alive. As the woman leaves, Brand asks her who she is, to which she replies, \"My name is Kara. Though I doubt that will mean anything to you.\"",
"Though I doubt that will mean anything to you.\" The story, written by Alan Brennert and penciled by Dick Giordano, is dedicated to Otto Binder and Jim Mooney, adding: \"We still remember.\" Finally, the soul of Kara Zor-El appeared twice during Peter David's run, specifically in issues #48 and #49 when she appears before a defeated and imprisoned then-Supergirl, Linda Danvers from Earth, and comforts her.",
"Finally, the soul of Kara Zor-El appeared twice during Peter David's run, specifically in issues #48 and #49 when she appears before a defeated and imprisoned then-Supergirl, Linda Danvers from Earth, and comforts her. Linda acknowledges she has been helped three times by her phantom-friend, and when she asks her name she is told by the smiling figure: \"I have gone by many names, but the one I am most fond of is: Kara!\"",
"Linda acknowledges she has been helped three times by her phantom-friend, and when she asks her name she is told by the smiling figure: \"I have gone by many names, but the one I am most fond of is: Kara!\" Modern Age In 2004, Jeph Loeb reintroduced Kara Zor-El into post-Zero Hour (Birthright timeline) continuity during a storyline in the series Superman/Batman.",
"Modern Age In 2004, Jeph Loeb reintroduced Kara Zor-El into post-Zero Hour (Birthright timeline) continuity during a storyline in the series Superman/Batman. She is the biological cousin of Superman, and although chronologically older than him, the ship in which she traveled to Earth was caught in a large green Kryptonite meteorite which held her in a state of suspended animation for much of the journey, making her have the appearance of a 16-year-old girl.",
"She is the biological cousin of Superman, and although chronologically older than him, the ship in which she traveled to Earth was caught in a large green Kryptonite meteorite which held her in a state of suspended animation for much of the journey, making her have the appearance of a 16-year-old girl. Still, Supergirl sometimes saw Superman as a child, due to last carrying him as a baby. DC Comics relaunched the Supergirl, the first story arc of which was written by Loeb. showcases Supergirl on a journey of self-discovery.",
"showcases Supergirl on a journey of self-discovery. showcases Supergirl on a journey of self-discovery. Along her journey, she encounters Power Girl (Kara Zor-El's counterpart from another universe), the Teen Titans, the Outsiders, the Justice League of America, and arch-villain Lex Luthor. During the company-wide crossover series Infinite Crisis (2005), a sequel to Crisis on Infinite Earths, Supergirl is transported to the 31st century, where she is revered as a member of the Superman family and joins the Legion of Super-Heroes.",
"During the company-wide crossover series Infinite Crisis (2005), a sequel to Crisis on Infinite Earths, Supergirl is transported to the 31st century, where she is revered as a member of the Superman family and joins the Legion of Super-Heroes. DC Comics renamed the monthly series Legion of Super-Heroes to Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes. Beginning with issue #16.",
"Beginning with issue #16. Beginning with issue #16. In the limited series 52, which chronicles the events that took place during the missing year after the end of Infinite Crisis, Donna Troy recalls the original Kara Zor-El and her sacrifice to save the universe. Supergirl returns to the 21st century during the course of 52.",
"Supergirl returns to the 21st century during the course of 52. After briefly filling in for a temporarily depowered Superman as guardian of Metropolis, she assumes the identity of Flamebird to fight crime in the bottle city of Kandor with Power Girl as Nightwing in Greg Rucka's arc Supergirl: Kandor. In 2007, Supergirl appeared in the miniseries Amazons Attack! That same year, she joined the Teen Titans for five issues.",
"That same year, she joined the Teen Titans for five issues. Conversations with other heroes who maintain secret identities lead Kara to the conclusion that she needs to make a deeper connection with human beings. She accepts Lana Lang's proposal to present her to the Daily Planet staff as \"Linda Lang\", Lana's teenaged niece.",
"She accepts Lana Lang's proposal to present her to the Daily Planet staff as \"Linda Lang\", Lana's teenaged niece. In the 2008–2009 \"New Krypton\" story arc, in which Superman discovers and frees the real Kandor and a large number of its citizens, Supergirl is reunited with her father, Zor-El and mother, Alura, though Zor-El is killed by the villain Reactron.",
"In the 2008–2009 \"New Krypton\" story arc, in which Superman discovers and frees the real Kandor and a large number of its citizens, Supergirl is reunited with her father, Zor-El and mother, Alura, though Zor-El is killed by the villain Reactron. When a planet is formed that the Kryptonians call New Krypton, Kara is torn between her life on Earth, and her obligation to her mother, eventually joining the New Krypton Science Guild.",
"When a planet is formed that the Kryptonians call New Krypton, Kara is torn between her life on Earth, and her obligation to her mother, eventually joining the New Krypton Science Guild. Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2009 miniseries Justice League: Cry for Justice, and the 2009–2010 storyline \"Blackest Night\".",
"Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2009 miniseries Justice League: Cry for Justice, and the 2009–2010 storyline \"Blackest Night\". The New Krypton storyline would later be resolved in the \"World of New Krypton\", \"Superman: Last Stand of New Krypton\", \"War of the Supermen\" storylines, resulting in the destruction of New Krypton and seeing Supergirl mourn her people.",
"The New Krypton storyline would later be resolved in the \"World of New Krypton\", \"Superman: Last Stand of New Krypton\", \"War of the Supermen\" storylines, resulting in the destruction of New Krypton and seeing Supergirl mourn her people. Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2010 \"Brightest Day\" storyline, the follow up to \"Blackest Night\"., where she joins the Justice League along with Jesse Quick & Jade.",
"Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2010 \"Brightest Day\" storyline, the follow up to \"Blackest Night\"., where she joins the Justice League along with Jesse Quick & Jade. The New 52 In this continuity, Kara's ship lands in Smallville, Kansas but hurtles through the Earth and emerges in Siberia. Kara has no memory of the destruction of Krypton, and believes it is only three days since her spacecraft was launched.",
"Kara has no memory of the destruction of Krypton, and believes it is only three days since her spacecraft was launched. She learns the truth about Krypton's destruction from Superman, and later journeys through a wormhole to Argo City, which she finds in orbit around a blue sun. She finds the city in ruins, with no explanation of how it met that fate, and is attacked by a female Worldkiller named Reign before the city plummets into the sun.",
"She finds the city in ruins, with no explanation of how it met that fate, and is attacked by a female Worldkiller named Reign before the city plummets into the sun. When Reign and her fellow Worldkiller plan to enslave the Earth, Supergirl returns there to defeat them, and thus adopts Earth as her new home. After several battles with supervillains, including the Worldkillers, superweapons of Kryptonian design, she accepts Krypton's destruction, but continues to grapple with her grief.",
"After several battles with supervillains, including the Worldkillers, superweapons of Kryptonian design, she accepts Krypton's destruction, but continues to grapple with her grief. Her desire to restore Krypton results in her being manipulated into nearly destroying the Earth by another Kryptonian whom she falls in love with. Upon realizing his manipulation, she kills him by driving Kryptonite through his heart, and succumbs to Kryptonite poisoning. Following her poisoning, Supergirl departs the Earth to die alone.",
"Following her poisoning, Supergirl departs the Earth to die alone. While adrift in interstellar space, she encounters a planet under attack by monsters, and quickly intervenes to save them, unaware that the entire planet is a trap by Brainiac. She is captured and restrained by Cyborg Superman, but after a struggle, manages to escape both Brainiac and Cyborg Superman.",
"She is captured and restrained by Cyborg Superman, but after a struggle, manages to escape both Brainiac and Cyborg Superman. Returning to Earth, she is sent into the past by the Oracle alongside Superman and Superboy, where she ensures that a resurrected H'el cannot save Krypton, and sacrifices the planet and her family in order to save the universe. Back on Earth, she encounters the assassin Lobo.",
"Back on Earth, she encounters the assassin Lobo. Back on Earth, she encounters the assassin Lobo. Initially eager for a peaceful resolution, seeing a kind of kinship with him in their both being lone survivors of their respective worlds (although not truly aware of Lobo's circumstances), Kara's encounter with the Czarnian would reveal deep mental wounds, resulting in the unleashing of her rage and transformation into a Red Lantern.",
"Initially eager for a peaceful resolution, seeing a kind of kinship with him in their both being lone survivors of their respective worlds (although not truly aware of Lobo's circumstances), Kara's encounter with the Czarnian would reveal deep mental wounds, resulting in the unleashing of her rage and transformation into a Red Lantern. Driven insane by rage, Kara wanders space, attacking everyone in her way, until captured by several Green Lanterns and brought to Hal Jordan.",
"Driven insane by rage, Kara wanders space, attacking everyone in her way, until captured by several Green Lanterns and brought to Hal Jordan. Immediately recognizing a Kryptonian and unable to remove the power ring without killing her, he brings her to Guy Gardner, the leader of one of the two Red Lantern factions, who manages to restore her sanity.",
"Immediately recognizing a Kryptonian and unable to remove the power ring without killing her, he brings her to Guy Gardner, the leader of one of the two Red Lantern factions, who manages to restore her sanity. After some time under Guy Gardner's tutelage and protecting the galaxy as a Red Lantern, after being discharged from the Red Lantern Corps (because Guy did not want for her to die needlessly against Atrocitus' splinter group), on her way back to Earth, Kara encounters the leader of the Worldkillers, who are revealed to be parasitic suits of armor.",
"After some time under Guy Gardner's tutelage and protecting the galaxy as a Red Lantern, after being discharged from the Red Lantern Corps (because Guy did not want for her to die needlessly against Atrocitus' splinter group), on her way back to Earth, Kara encounters the leader of the Worldkillers, who are revealed to be parasitic suits of armor. He attempts to assimilate Kara as his host, but she voluntarily subjects herself to Kryptonite poisoning in order to stop him, and eventually flies into the Sun and removes her power ring, killing her and removing him from her body.",
"He attempts to assimilate Kara as his host, but she voluntarily subjects herself to Kryptonite poisoning in order to stop him, and eventually flies into the Sun and removes her power ring, killing her and removing him from her body. However, Kara is revealed to be immortal while in the Sun's core, and is restored to life without the power ring or any Kryptonite poisoning, immediately destroying the Worldkiller. She later helps Guy against Atrocitus and his Red Lantern splinter group.",
"She later helps Guy against Atrocitus and his Red Lantern splinter group. Convergence and return of the Pre-Crisis version During the Convergence story arc, the original Kara Zor-El who had sacrificed her life during Crisis on Infinite Earths makes an appearance on the amalgamated planet of Telos.",
"Convergence and return of the Pre-Crisis version During the Convergence story arc, the original Kara Zor-El who had sacrificed her life during Crisis on Infinite Earths makes an appearance on the amalgamated planet of Telos. At the end of the saga she volunteers herself to once again fight the Anti-Monitor but this time, with the help of her timeline's Barry Allen, the Pre-Flashpoint Superman (in tow with his pregnant wife, Lois Lane), and a repentant Parallax (Zero Hour Hal Jordan), vows to defeat him for the sake of the multiverse's continued existence.",
"At the end of the saga she volunteers herself to once again fight the Anti-Monitor but this time, with the help of her timeline's Barry Allen, the Pre-Flashpoint Superman (in tow with his pregnant wife, Lois Lane), and a repentant Parallax (Zero Hour Hal Jordan), vows to defeat him for the sake of the multiverse's continued existence. Without it being seen, those left on Telos discover the group was successful and all previous timelines (with the mysterious exception of the pre-Flashpoint/pre-New 52 DC universe) from DC history had been re-established, though the fate of the original Kara Zor-El and her fellows went unmentioned.",
"Without it being seen, those left on Telos discover the group was successful and all previous timelines (with the mysterious exception of the pre-Flashpoint/pre-New 52 DC universe) from DC history had been re-established, though the fate of the original Kara Zor-El and her fellows went unmentioned. A few more details of the battle against the Anti-Monitor are later revealed during the New 52 comic mini-series (leading into DC's Rebirth event).",
"A few more details of the battle against the Anti-Monitor are later revealed during the New 52 comic mini-series (leading into DC's Rebirth event). After the defeat of Anti-Monitor, Pre-New 52 Clark and Lois decide to start life anew in the closest universe they can find (mysteriously yet unable to see their old universe even though the rest of the multiverse had been restored) while Pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El, along with her contemporary Barry Allen and Zero Hour Parallax/Hal Jordan, decide to find their place in the universe and go off to do so.",
"After the defeat of Anti-Monitor, Pre-New 52 Clark and Lois decide to start life anew in the closest universe they can find (mysteriously yet unable to see their old universe even though the rest of the multiverse had been restored) while Pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El, along with her contemporary Barry Allen and Zero Hour Parallax/Hal Jordan, decide to find their place in the universe and go off to do so. Her fate as of that story arc is yet to be revealed.",
"Her fate as of that story arc is yet to be revealed. DC Rebirth After the events that led to the death of the New 52 version of Superman, 16-year-old Kara lives in National City with her adoptive parents, D.E.O. agents Jeremiah and Eliza Danvers, where she attends high school and works with the agency as led by Cameron Chase. As part of her civilian identity, Kara receives special glasses that darken her blond hair when posing as Kara Danvers.",
"As part of her civilian identity, Kara receives special glasses that darken her blond hair when posing as Kara Danvers. Kara also goes on an internship at Cat Grant's CATCO alongside Ben Rubel, whom she befriends. In her opening arc \"The Reign of the Cyborg Supermen\", Kara discovers that the cyborg Zor-El, whom she had battled in her New 52 title, is still active and has rebuilt other Kryptonians (her mother Alura included), planning to take over Earth.",
"In her opening arc \"The Reign of the Cyborg Supermen\", Kara discovers that the cyborg Zor-El, whom she had battled in her New 52 title, is still active and has rebuilt other Kryptonians (her mother Alura included), planning to take over Earth. Supergirl defeats them but vows to help her father regardless of his actions. After National City discovers Supergirl has kept Zor-El's \"living\" status a secret, they become untrustful of her.",
"After National City discovers Supergirl has kept Zor-El's \"living\" status a secret, they become untrustful of her. Director Bones takes advantage of the heroine's impopularity and, after taking control of the D.E.O., sends villains in an attempt to bring Kara down. She defeats all of them and regains trust from National City with Ben's help.",
"She defeats all of them and regains trust from National City with Ben's help. The Supergirl Who Laughs Kara is later infected by The Batman Who Laughs toxin, causing her to turn evil and joining other infected as part of Laughs Secret Six before later being cured. She is fired from CatCo by Cat Grant and starts working at S.T.A.R. Labs. Woman of Tomorrow Journeying throughout the universe with Krypto, Kara celebrates her 21st birthday alone on a distant planet.",
"Woman of Tomorrow Journeying throughout the universe with Krypto, Kara celebrates her 21st birthday alone on a distant planet. Drunk in a bar, she is approached by a little girl named Ruthye and is asked to kill Krem (her father's murderer) in vengeance. Supergirl refuses but, when she is about to leave the planet, Krem attacks and severely wounds both her and Krypto, fleeing in Kara's ship.",
"Supergirl refuses but, when she is about to leave the planet, Krem attacks and severely wounds both her and Krypto, fleeing in Kara's ship. Kara begins her journey alongside Ruthye and, powerless, saves her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon by taking a red kryptonite drug which causes her to manifest flame wings. Powers and abilities Like all Kryptonians under a yellow sun, the current version of Kara Zor-El possesses virtually unlimited strength, stamina, and durability.",
"Powers and abilities Like all Kryptonians under a yellow sun, the current version of Kara Zor-El possesses virtually unlimited strength, stamina, and durability. She is able to fly and with super speed that she can also use on foot, similar to Superman and The Flash. Also like Superman, Supergirl possesses super senses, super-breath, and freeze breathe, as well as multiple forms of supervision (including X-Ray, Infrared, Telescopic, and Microscopic).",
"Also like Superman, Supergirl possesses super senses, super-breath, and freeze breathe, as well as multiple forms of supervision (including X-Ray, Infrared, Telescopic, and Microscopic). Kara also has a bio-electric aura that enhances her near invulnerability and also protects her skin and her costume from dirt and tear; as such, Kara is perpetually clean. The Sun also provides Kara with a longer lifespan than that of a human being, to the point that she is effectively a biological immortal.",
"The Sun also provides Kara with a longer lifespan than that of a human being, to the point that she is effectively a biological immortal. Kara doesn't require food, water, or sleep to survive. She is also immune to most diseases, mental and physical, and would require a very strong strain to have a chance at affecting her. In the rare instances that Kara is harmed by someone matching her strength or by the use of one of her weaknesses, she can heal almost instantaneously.",
"In the rare instances that Kara is harmed by someone matching her strength or by the use of one of her weaknesses, she can heal almost instantaneously. Her power surpasses most other beings, though she can be overpowered by those who rival her strength such as Black Adam, Darkseid, Despero, Doomsday, Bizarro, Wonder Woman, and Superman. In reality, Kara is actually older than her cousin, Clark, and spent time on Krypton before its destruction.",
"In reality, Kara is actually older than her cousin, Clark, and spent time on Krypton before its destruction. As such (unlike Superman), she possesses memories of Kryptonian culture as well as her cousin's parents. Continued exposure to a yellow Sun will slowly increase abilities. Many characters in the DC Universe have noted that Supergirl appears, at times, to be even more powerful than Superman himself.",
"Many characters in the DC Universe have noted that Supergirl appears, at times, to be even more powerful than Superman himself. In answer to this, Superman states that this is because he has spent his entire life subconsciously suppressing his full powers in order to avoid hurting others, having been absorbing solar radiation since his infancy. Kara, not having such practice or experience, simply uses the full magnitude of her powers.",
"Kara, not having such practice or experience, simply uses the full magnitude of her powers. Abilities Unlike her cousin, Kara was taught to fight in Krypton as part of her tests, and at the Crucible Academy, being adept at various Kryptonian fighting styles like Klurkor and Torquasm Rao. Supergirl also learned the art of Bagua under I-Ching's instructions. She practiced how to manipulate her Chi or Qi in order to gain better control of her powers due to them becoming overwhelmed after her conflict with the Fatal Five.",
"She practiced how to manipulate her Chi or Qi in order to gain better control of her powers due to them becoming overwhelmed after her conflict with the Fatal Five. Superman recommended guardianship with I-Ching to Supergirl first. In addition to training in Krypton, Kara was trained by Batman in advanced martial arts and trained with the Amazons in Themyscira in unarmed and armed combat, Amazonas martial arts, fencing, Shield handling, and other Amazon weapons. She trained with Wonder Woman and Artemis extensively.",
"She trained with Wonder Woman and Artemis extensively. She trained with Wonder Woman and Artemis extensively. Other versions There are numerous alternate versions of Supergirl. The most notable is Power Girl (real name Kara Zor-L, also known as Karen Starr) who first appeared in All Star Comics #58 (January/February 1976). Power Girl is the Earth-Two counterpart of Supergirl and the first cousin of Kal-L, Superman of the pre-Crisis Earth-Two. The infant Power Girl's parents enabled her to escape the destruction of Krypton.",
"The infant Power Girl's parents enabled her to escape the destruction of Krypton. Although she left the planet at the same time that Superman did, her ship took much longer to reach Earth-Two. She has superhuman strength and the ability to fly and is the first chairwoman of the Justice Society of America. She sports a bob of blond hair; wears a distinctive white, red, and blue costume; and has an aggressive fighting style.",
"She sports a bob of blond hair; wears a distinctive white, red, and blue costume; and has an aggressive fighting style. Throughout her early appearances in All Star Comics, she is often at odds with Wildcat because his penchant for talking to her as if she were an ordinary human female rather than a superpowered Kryptonian annoys her. She also fought alongside the Sovereign Seven team, replacing Rampart after his death though that series is not considered to be part of canon in the DC universe.",
"She also fought alongside the Sovereign Seven team, replacing Rampart after his death though that series is not considered to be part of canon in the DC universe. The 1985 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths eliminated Earth-Two, causing her origin to change; she became the granddaughter of the Atlantean sorcerer Arion. However, story events culminating in the 2005–2006 Infinite Crisis limited series restored her status as a refugee from the Krypton of the destroyed pre-Crisis Earth-Two universe.",
"However, story events culminating in the 2005–2006 Infinite Crisis limited series restored her status as a refugee from the Krypton of the destroyed pre-Crisis Earth-Two universe. Like the original Kara's Streaky, Power Girl has a cat, featured in a story by Amanda Conner in Wonder Woman #600. Reception This version of Supergirl is ranked as the 153rd-greatest comic book character of all time by Wizard magazine.",
"Reception This version of Supergirl is ranked as the 153rd-greatest comic book character of all time by Wizard magazine. IGN also ranked this version of Supergirl as the 94th-greatest comic book superhero, stating \"for a character born of the Silver Age that saw everything from a Super Baby to a Super Monkey, Kara Zor-El grew into something much more than simply another marketing ploy to slap an 'S' on.\"",
"IGN also ranked this version of Supergirl as the 94th-greatest comic book superhero, stating \"for a character born of the Silver Age that saw everything from a Super Baby to a Super Monkey, Kara Zor-El grew into something much more than simply another marketing ploy to slap an 'S' on.\" In 2013 IGN ranked Supergirl as the 17th-greatest DC comic superhero, stating \"she was an early example of a female sidekick developing a large fanbase in her own right\", and \"Supergirl has been one of DC's most powerful heroes, and a standard to hold other female heroes against.\"",
"In 2013 IGN ranked Supergirl as the 17th-greatest DC comic superhero, stating \"she was an early example of a female sidekick developing a large fanbase in her own right\", and \"Supergirl has been one of DC's most powerful heroes, and a standard to hold other female heroes against.\" Appearances Pre-Crisis 1959 to 1969: Action Comics #252 to #376. 1969 to 1972: Adventure Comics #381 to #424. 1972 to 1974: Supergirl #1 to #10.",
"1972 to 1974: Supergirl #1 to #10. 1974 to 1982: Her comic merges with Jimmy Olsen's and Lois Lane's to become Superman Family #164 to #222. 1982 to 1984: The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl #1 to #13, Supergirl (vol. 2) #14 to #23. 2015: Convergence Kara Zor-El appeared in over 750 stories published by DC from 1959 to 1985.",
"2015: Convergence Kara Zor-El appeared in over 750 stories published by DC from 1959 to 1985. Post-Crisis 2004 to 2005: Superman/Batman #8 to #13 and #19 2005 to 2011: Supergirl (vol. 5) #0 to #67 2006 to 2008: Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes (Legion of Super-Heroes vol. 5) #16 to #37 2007: Action Comics #850 2008: Final Crisis 2011 to 2015: New 52: Supergirl (vol.",
"5) #16 to #37 2007: Action Comics #850 2008: Final Crisis 2011 to 2015: New 52: Supergirl (vol. 6) #1 to #40 2016 to current: Rebirth: Supergirl (vol. 7) #1 to current Kara Zor-El also appears as a supporting character in several issues of other DC Comics, including Superman, Action Comics, Teen Titans, Amazons Attack, World War III, and Wonder Girl.",
"7) #1 to current Kara Zor-El also appears as a supporting character in several issues of other DC Comics, including Superman, Action Comics, Teen Titans, Amazons Attack, World War III, and Wonder Girl. She has also appeared in many issues of Superman, Action Comics, and Superman New Krypton starting with the World Without Superman event in 2009, and continuing with the World Against Superman event going into 2010. Collected editions Listed in chronological order.",
"Collected editions Listed in chronological order. Collected editions Listed in chronological order. All ages titles are not in continuity with the original or modern Kara. In other media Television Live-action Smallville Prior to the seventh season (2007–2008) of the WB/CW show Smallville where she is introduced into the cast and is portrayed by Laura Vandervoort, a woman claiming to be Kara (portrayed by Adrianne Palicki) is briefly introduced in the season 3 finale.",
"In other media Television Live-action Smallville Prior to the seventh season (2007–2008) of the WB/CW show Smallville where she is introduced into the cast and is portrayed by Laura Vandervoort, a woman claiming to be Kara (portrayed by Adrianne Palicki) is briefly introduced in the season 3 finale. It is later revealed her real name is Lindsey Harrison, and had been given false memories and powers by the artificial intelligence of Clark Kent's (Tom Welling) father Jor-El as part of a series of tests.",
"It is later revealed her real name is Lindsey Harrison, and had been given false memories and powers by the artificial intelligence of Clark Kent's (Tom Welling) father Jor-El as part of a series of tests. Vandervoort portrays the real Kara, Clark's cousin whose spaceship had been trapped in stasis until the events of the season 6 finale. Much of season 7 is concerned with Kara's attempts to adjust to life on Earth, especially after learning of Krypton's destruction.",
"Much of season 7 is concerned with Kara's attempts to adjust to life on Earth, especially after learning of Krypton's destruction. Her storyline sees her simultaneously become the object of Lex Luthor's (Michael Rosenbaum) obsessions and Jimmy Olsen's (Aaron Ashmore) affections, suffer a bout of amnesia, discover her father's (Christopher Heyerdahl) sinister motives and become a target of evil android Brainiac (James Marsters). The season finale sees Kara become trapped in the Phantom Zone.",
"The season finale sees Kara become trapped in the Phantom Zone. Starting with season 8, Vandervoort ceases to feature as a series regular, but reprises the role three more times. In her first guest appearance, \"Bloodline,\" Kara is freed from the Phantom Zone and later departs Clark's hometown of Smallville to search for Kandor, her birthplace, as it is rumored to have survived their home planet's destruction.",
"In her first guest appearance, \"Bloodline,\" Kara is freed from the Phantom Zone and later departs Clark's hometown of Smallville to search for Kandor, her birthplace, as it is rumored to have survived their home planet's destruction. She appears again in the season 10 episode \"Supergirl\", in which she formally adopts her superhero moniker. Her off-screen adventures are alluded to thereafter.",
"Her off-screen adventures are alluded to thereafter. Her off-screen adventures are alluded to thereafter. Vandervoort makes a final appearance in the show's penultimate episode, \"Prophecy\", in which she helps Green Arrow (Justin Hartley) locate the \"Bow of Orion\" to use against Darkseid. She is then called to the Fortress of Solitude, where she learns from Jor-El that her job on Earth is done. Using a Legion of Super-Heroes flight ring, she travels to the future to seek her own destiny.",
"Using a Legion of Super-Heroes flight ring, she travels to the future to seek her own destiny. The Season Eleven comic book continuation of the show later depicts Kara's continued story in the 31st century, subsequent return to the present and joining the Justice League. Arrowverse In September 2014, a 22-episode television series centered around Supergirl was in development at Warner Bros. Television, set to premiere on CBS with a January 2015 air date. Melissa Benoist was cast as the titular character.",
"Melissa Benoist was cast as the titular character. Melissa Benoist was cast as the titular character. In May 2016, the series moved to The CW and was later integrated into the Arrowverse, a shared universe consisting of shows including Arrow, The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow. In the series, Kara Zor-El was sent to Earth to protect her cousin Kal-El, following her homeworld Krypton's destruction. However, she is knocked into the Phantom Zone, where she is stranded for 24 years.",
"However, she is knocked into the Phantom Zone, where she is stranded for 24 years. She eventually crash lands on Earth and is found by her already grown-up cousin Kal, now known to the world as the iconic superhero \"Superman\". Superman brings Kara into the custody of Jeremiah Danvers, director of the Department of Extranormal Operations (D.E.O. ), and his daughter Alex. Growing up, Kara struggles to maintain her Kryptonian abilities as well as balancing her relationship with her adoptive sister.",
"Growing up, Kara struggles to maintain her Kryptonian abilities as well as balancing her relationship with her adoptive sister. Eventually, the two bond when Kara's powers are exposed. However, Jeremiah decides it's best to isolate her abilities. As an adult, Kara is forced to use her powers again when her sister's plane almost crashes. She is later dubbed \"Supergirl\" by the media and dons a costume like her cousin.",
"She is later dubbed \"Supergirl\" by the media and dons a costume like her cousin. Kara decides to use her abilities to fight alien invaders such as Kara's aunt Astra and her husband Non, Mon-El's rogue parents, the Worldkiller Reign, anti-alien activist Ben Lockwood, and later the shadowy organization Leviathan, with the help of her sister Alex, now an agent of the D.E.O., her best friend and tech-expert Winn Schott, last of the Green Martians J'onn J'onzz / Martian Manhunter, and Kal's best friend Jimmy Olsen.",
"Kara decides to use her abilities to fight alien invaders such as Kara's aunt Astra and her husband Non, Mon-El's rogue parents, the Worldkiller Reign, anti-alien activist Ben Lockwood, and later the shadowy organization Leviathan, with the help of her sister Alex, now an agent of the D.E.O., her best friend and tech-expert Winn Schott, last of the Green Martians J'onn J'onzz / Martian Manhunter, and Kal's best friend Jimmy Olsen. She is later joined by Lex Luthor's sister Lena, Prince of Daxam Mon-El, former Legion of Superheroes member Querl \"Brainy\" Dox / Brainiac 5, Nia Nal / Dreamer, James' younger sister Kelly, and reporter Willam Dey face against these rival forces.",
"She is later joined by Lex Luthor's sister Lena, Prince of Daxam Mon-El, former Legion of Superheroes member Querl \"Brainy\" Dox / Brainiac 5, Nia Nal / Dreamer, James' younger sister Kelly, and reporter Willam Dey face against these rival forces. After joining the Arrowverse, which contain annual crossover, Kara assists Barry Allen, Oliver Queen and the Legends of Tomorrow against threats on their designated earth \"Earth-1\" while Kara’s is designated as \"Earth-38.",
"After joining the Arrowverse, which contain annual crossover, Kara assists Barry Allen, Oliver Queen and the Legends of Tomorrow against threats on their designated earth \"Earth-1\" while Kara’s is designated as \"Earth-38. Later, Kara is selected by The Monitor as the Paragon of Hope to participate in the coming crisis and fight against the Anti-Monitor, whose goal is to destroy the multiverse. After doing so, the Paragons are sent to the Vanishing Point where Oliver, now a Spectre, helps them escape.",
"After doing so, the Paragons are sent to the Vanishing Point where Oliver, now a Spectre, helps them escape. The Paragons appear at the dawn of time in the anti-matter universe where they have their final confrontation with the Anti-Monitor. Eventually, Oliver sacrifices himself to kill the Anti-Monitor, and as a result, a new multiverse is born with Earth-38 and Earth-1 merged into \"Earth-Prime\". Following the crisis, Kara is forced to deal the after-effects of Crisis which include working with Lex, now owning the D.E.O.",
"Following the crisis, Kara is forced to deal the after-effects of Crisis which include working with Lex, now owning the D.E.O. while Leviathan continue their covert operations under Gamemnae. The sixth season sees Kara and her allies expose Lex's crimes, but are then forced to deal with Nyxlygsptlnz, a fifth-dimensional imp who tricked the heroes into releasing her from the Phantom Zone.",
"The sixth season sees Kara and her allies expose Lex's crimes, but are then forced to deal with Nyxlygsptlnz, a fifth-dimensional imp who tricked the heroes into releasing her from the Phantom Zone. Eventually Nyxlygsptlnz joins forces with Lex Luthor and the two kill William, but Kara's assembled allies are able to defeat the two, culminating in Lex and Nyxlygsptlnz being trapped in the Phantom Zone when one of their own plans backfires.",
"Eventually Nyxlygsptlnz joins forces with Lex Luthor and the two kill William, but Kara's assembled allies are able to defeat the two, culminating in Lex and Nyxlygsptlnz being trapped in the Phantom Zone when one of their own plans backfires. The series concludes with Kara revealing her dual identity so that she can live a full life as one person. Animation DC Nation Shorts Supergirl appears with Batgirl and Wonder Girl in Super Best Friends Forever, voiced by Nicole Sullivan.",
"Animation DC Nation Shorts Supergirl appears with Batgirl and Wonder Girl in Super Best Friends Forever, voiced by Nicole Sullivan. DC Super Hero Girls Supergirl appears as a central protagonist in the web series DC Super Hero Girls voiced by Anais Fairweather, and is a student at Super Hero High, is very kind and caring and extremely powerful but she's also very clumsy. She also appears as a central protagonist in the 2019 TV series, with Nicole Sullivan reprising her role from the Super Best Friends Forever shorts.",
"She also appears as a central protagonist in the 2019 TV series, with Nicole Sullivan reprising her role from the Super Best Friends Forever shorts. In this version, she is also a rebel and is known as the \"cool kid\" in school. She may be tough but she can easily express her emotions and is very open-minded as well. She can be a cool friend and a helpful one, but she can also be jealous sometimes and she dislikes her cousin's prominence.",
"She can be a cool friend and a helpful one, but she can also be jealous sometimes and she dislikes her cousin's prominence. Justice League Action Supergirl appears in Justice League Action, voiced by Joanne Spracklen. She has the appearance of a wide-eyed human teenager with blonde hair and wears her traditional costume except that it has thigh-high boots and a pleated skirt. As a person, she is youthful, responsible, and shows much affection for her cousin Superman.",
"As a person, she is youthful, responsible, and shows much affection for her cousin Superman. In \"Party Animal\", she appears as a cameo at this Christmas party with the Justice League. In \"Keeping up with the Kryptonians\", Supergirl becomes a star of the popular reality show \"That's So Kara\", and Superman a Kasnian who rules from one place to another on Earth, all being a reality caused by Mister Mxyzptlk.",
"In \"Keeping up with the Kryptonians\", Supergirl becomes a star of the popular reality show \"That's So Kara\", and Superman a Kasnian who rules from one place to another on Earth, all being a reality caused by Mister Mxyzptlk. In \"Unleashed\", Supergirl accompanies Justice League in stopping Red Lantern Corps, unaware that it was a distraction made by Dex-Starr to invade Earth, until it was ultimately resolved by Krypto, Streaky, and Plastic Man.",
"In \"Unleashed\", Supergirl accompanies Justice League in stopping Red Lantern Corps, unaware that it was a distraction made by Dex-Starr to invade Earth, until it was ultimately resolved by Krypto, Streaky, and Plastic Man. In a short \"The Goddess Must Be Crazy\", Supergirl trains with Wonder Woman in Paradise Island, until she is possessed by Felix Faust, to destroy the island. Film Superman film series A live action depiction of Supergirl first appears in the eponymous 1984 film starring Helen Slater as Supergirl.",
"Film Superman film series A live action depiction of Supergirl first appears in the eponymous 1984 film starring Helen Slater as Supergirl. The film is a spin-off from the Superman film series starring Christopher Reeve, to which it is connected by Marc McClure's character of Jimmy Olsen. DC Extended Universe Kara Zor-El / Linda Danvers / Supergirl exists within the DC Extended Universe, as she was referenced in Man of Steel when Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman discovers an empty pod within the Kryptonian scout spaceship.",
"DC Extended Universe Kara Zor-El / Linda Danvers / Supergirl exists within the DC Extended Universe, as she was referenced in Man of Steel when Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman discovers an empty pod within the Kryptonian scout spaceship. Though Zack Snyder confirmed in August 2018 that even though the character does exist, that pod was not intended for her. In August 2018, a film centered around the character was announced to be in development, with Oren Uziel hired as screenwriter for the project.",
"In August 2018, a film centered around the character was announced to be in development, with Oren Uziel hired as screenwriter for the project. The studio intends to hire a female director, with Reed Morano—who has expressed interest in the project—being its top choice. Filming was expected to start production in early 2020. Sasha Calle will play Supergirl for the DC Extended Universe in The Flash.",
"Sasha Calle will play Supergirl for the DC Extended Universe in The Flash. Animation Summer Glau voices the post-Crisis version of Kara Zor-El in Superman/Batman: Apocalypse, which is based on the Superman/Batman storyline \"The Supergirl from Krypton\". Despite this, it was confirmed by director Lauren Montgomery that Supergirl's name was removed from the title due to the much slower sales of the previous Wonder Woman animated movie, and the character was not permitted to appear on the cover in her trademark outfit.",
"Despite this, it was confirmed by director Lauren Montgomery that Supergirl's name was removed from the title due to the much slower sales of the previous Wonder Woman animated movie, and the character was not permitted to appear on the cover in her trademark outfit. Molly Quinn voices Supergirl in Superman: Unbound. Supergirl appears in Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League: Cosmic Clash, voiced by Jessica DiCicco. Video games Supergirl appears in DC Universe Online, voiced by Adriene Mishler.",
"Video games Supergirl appears in DC Universe Online, voiced by Adriene Mishler. In the villain campaign, the players help Doctor Psycho capture Supergirl using Kryptonite. In the hero campaign, the players fight Doctor Psycho to save Supergirl. Under the thrall of Brainiac, she must be defeated in the Fortress of Solitude: Power Core raid. Supergirl is unlockable in Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes, voiced by Bridget Hoffman. Supergirl makes a cameo appearance in the IOS version of Injustice: Gods Among Us as a support card.",
"Supergirl makes a cameo appearance in the IOS version of Injustice: Gods Among Us as a support card. Supergirl appears as a playable character in Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham, voiced by Kari Wahlgren. She is playable in her default variant which is designed after her appearance in The New 52 and in her Classic attire.",
"She is playable in her default variant which is designed after her appearance in The New 52 and in her Classic attire. Her Classic variant is unlocked in a VR Mission while her New 52 variant is unlocked in a Hub Quest in Nok where she requests players to defeat a number of enemies she accidentally releases from their cells. Supergirl appears as a playable character in Infinite Crisis, voiced by Camilla Luddington.",
"Supergirl appears as a playable character in Infinite Crisis, voiced by Camilla Luddington. Supergirl appears as a playable character and the central protagonist in Injustice 2 by NetherRealm Studios, the sequel to Injustice: Gods Among Us, voiced by Laura Bailey.",
"Supergirl appears as a playable character and the central protagonist in Injustice 2 by NetherRealm Studios, the sequel to Injustice: Gods Among Us, voiced by Laura Bailey. Here her origin is much like in the comics where she is sent along with her cousin Kal-El to Earth by her mother after Krypton is destroyed but on separate pods where hers veers off-course after sustaining significant damage, stranding her in space for many years until she lands on Earth, unaged.",
"Here her origin is much like in the comics where she is sent along with her cousin Kal-El to Earth by her mother after Krypton is destroyed but on separate pods where hers veers off-course after sustaining significant damage, stranding her in space for many years until she lands on Earth, unaged. When the main storyline starts, she is residing on Black Adam's kingdom of Khandaq, apparently under his and Wonder Woman's protection.",
"When the main storyline starts, she is residing on Black Adam's kingdom of Khandaq, apparently under his and Wonder Woman's protection. When Brainiac who was responsible for Krypton's destruction attacks, she, Wonder Woman, and Black Adam attempt to free Superman and the remaining members of the Regime, while being interrupted in their efforts by new Insurgency recruits Blue Beetle and Firestorm until Batman himself arrives and releases Superman, leading to a temporary alliance between the Regime and Insurgency against the alien warlord.",
"When Brainiac who was responsible for Krypton's destruction attacks, she, Wonder Woman, and Black Adam attempt to free Superman and the remaining members of the Regime, while being interrupted in their efforts by new Insurgency recruits Blue Beetle and Firestorm until Batman himself arrives and releases Superman, leading to a temporary alliance between the Regime and Insurgency against the alien warlord. Over the course of the story, she learns the truth about her cousin's tyranny and at the end of the game sides with Batman, Green Lantern and Flash in letting Brainiac live in order to restore the lost cities but is defeated.",
"Over the course of the story, she learns the truth about her cousin's tyranny and at the end of the game sides with Batman, Green Lantern and Flash in letting Brainiac live in order to restore the lost cities but is defeated. In Batman's ending, she laments her cousin's tyranny and sees him leave to be imprisoned in the Phantom Zone and is offered membership by Batman in his Justice League.",
"In Batman's ending, she laments her cousin's tyranny and sees him leave to be imprisoned in the Phantom Zone and is offered membership by Batman in his Justice League. In Superman's ending, she is imprisoned aboard Brainiac's ship and to her shock discovers her cousin has bonded with it and when she refuses his offer to join him in leading his new legion of imprisoned species. He attempts to coerce her by revealing a brainwashed Batman, who had also been captured, further shocking her.",
"He attempts to coerce her by revealing a brainwashed Batman, who had also been captured, further shocking her. Supergirl appears as a limited-distribution minifigure for the toys-to-life video game Lego Dimensions, with Kari Wahlgren reprising her role. She has the ability to transform between her classic and Red Lantern forms. Supergirl appears as a playable character in DC Unchained. Supergirl appears in the PSP version of Justice League Heroes. Supergirl appears as a playable character in the DC TV Super-Heroes DLC pack in Lego DC Super-Villains.",
"Supergirl appears as a playable character in the DC TV Super-Heroes DLC pack in Lego DC Super-Villains. See also Alternative versions of Supergirl Laurel Gand References External links DC Comics Pre-Crisis Supergirl Chronology Supergirl Characters created by Otto Binder Comics characters introduced in 1958 Comics characters introduced in 1959 DC Comics aliens DC Comics American superheroes DC Comics characters who can move at superhuman speeds DC Comics characters with accelerated healing DC Comics characters with superhuman strength DC Comics deities DC Comics female superheroes DC Comics film characters DC Comics television characters DC Comics extraterrestrial superheroes Female characters in television Fictional characters with superhuman senses Fictional actors Fictional extraterrestrial–human hybrids Fictional orphans Fictional photographers Fictional refugees Fictional reporters Fictional school counselors Fictional American secret agents Fictional waiting staff Kryptonians Superheroes who are adopted Vigilante characters in comics"
] |
[
"Supergirl (Kara Zor-El)",
"Bronze Age",
"whaat is the bronze age",
"After long-time Superman family editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971,"
] | C_eaa7329c3ac14b8bb4aaea61d8fa517d_1 | what happened during the bronze age | 2 | what happened during Supergirl's bronze age | Supergirl (Kara Zor-El) | After long-time Superman family editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971, the character underwent revitalization under editor Joe Orlando and artist Mike Sekowsky. Wearing a series of new outfits, leaving her adopted foster home with the Danvers family, Linda goes on to San Francisco where she works for KSF-TV as a camera operator and develops a crush on her boss, Geoffrey Anderson. These stories introduced Supergirl's most memorable villain from this period: Lex Luthor's niece Nasthalthia, or Nasty. Nasty had made two appearances towards the end of Linda's college years, then pursued her to KSF-TV, trying to secure proof of her dual identity. Supergirl starred in her first solo eponymous monthly series beginning in 1972 until October 1974, when her monthly title merged with Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane, and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen to produce a new title: then-highest DC selling series called The Superman Family, where she eventually became the steady lead story. Linda worked as a student advisor at New Athens Experimental School, before leaving for New York to follow a career in acting with daytime soap Secret Hearts. In 1982 Supergirl received a second monthly solo series titled The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl, relocating the character to Chicago as Linda became a mature student of Psychology. Industry legend, and former DC Publisher, Carmine Infantino provided the pencilled art (Bob Oksner inked). With issue 13 the title was revamped, with a new costume design (sporting a red headband) and the title shortened to just Supergirl. The series ran until sudden cancellation in 1984, only two months before the character's debut in a big-budget Hollywood film starring Helen Slater. In the Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985) the greatest heroes from Earth-One, Earth-Two, Earth-Four, Earth-S, and Earth-X join forces in order to defeat the Anti-Monitor. When Superman comes face to face with the Anti-Monitor and is knocked unconscious, Supergirl rushes to save him before he is killed. She is able to fight him off long enough for Dr. Light to carry her cousin to a safe distance, but is killed by the Anti-Monitor. A public memorial service for Supergirl takes place in Chicago, where Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) delivers the eulogy. In her remarks she states "Kara is a hero. She will not be forgotten." Superman then gives his late cousin burial by taking her corpse to Rokyn/New Krypton to Zor-El and Allura. A Superman issue the next month reveals that Kara had experienced a premonition about her own passing. However, when the universe is rebooted, the timeline is altered. Kara Zor-El and all memory of her is erased from existence. CANNOTANSWER | the character underwent revitalization under editor Joe Orlando and artist Mike Sekowsky. | Kara Zor-El, also known by her adoptive names of Linda Lee Danvers, Kara Kent, Linda Lang, and Kara Danvers, and the superhero name of Supergirl, is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. She was created by Otto Binder and designed by Al Plastino. Danvers first appeared in Action Comics #252 (May 1959)'s "The Supergirl from Krypton" story. Kara is the biological cousin of Kal-El, who went on to adopt the name of Clark Kent and the superhero Superman. During the 1980s and the revolution of the Modern Age of Comics, Superman editors believed the character's history had become too convoluted, thus killing Supergirl during the 1985 Crisis on Infinite Earths event and retconning her out of existence.
DC Comics Senior Vice President Dan DiDio re-introduced the character in 2004 along with editor Eddie Berganza and writer Jeph Loeb, with her the Superman/Batman storyline "The Supergirl from Krypton". As the current Supergirl, Kara stars in her own monthly comic book series. With DC's The New 52 relaunch, Kara, like most of the DC Universe, was revamped. DC relaunched the Supergirl comic in August 2016 as part of their DC Rebirth initiative.
In live-action, Supergirl appeared in the 1984 film based on her character and was portrayed by Helen Slater. She also appeared in the series Smallville, played by actress Laura Vandervoort. In 2015, the live-action Arrowverse series Supergirl debuted on CBS and then moved to The CW after the first season. Supergirl was portrayed by Melissa Benoist on the show and also appeared on other Arrowverse shows. Sasha Calle will appear as Supergirl in the upcoming DC Extended Universe film The Flash (2022).
Publication history
Early life
Although Kara Zor-El was the first character to use the name "Supergirl," DC Comics tested three different female versions of Superman prior to her debut.
The first story to feature a female counterpart to Superman was "Lois Lane – Superwoman," which was published in Action Comics #60 (May 1943). In the story, a hospitalized Lois Lane dreams she has gained superpowers thanks to a blood transfusion from the Man of Steel. She begins her own career as "Superwoman", complete with a version of Superman's costume.
In the Superboy #78 story entitled "Claire Kent, Alias Super-Sister", Superboy saves the life of an alien woman named Shar-La, who turns Superboy into a girl, in retaliation for his disparaging thoughts about women drivers which she picked up telepathically. In Smallville, Clark claims to be Claire Kent, an out-of-town relative who is staying with the Kents. When in costume, he appears as Superboy's sister, Super-Sister, and claims the two have exchanged places. Once Superboy has learned his lesson about feeling more respect for women, Shar-La reveals the episode to be a dream which she projected into Superboy's mind.
In Superman #123 (August 1958), Jimmy Olsen uses a magic totem to wish a "Super-Girl" into existence as a companion and aid to Superman; however, the two frequently get in each other's way until she is fatally injured protecting Superman from a Kryptonite meteor. At her insistence, Jimmy wishes the dying girl out of existence. DC used this story to gauge public response to the concept of a completely new super-powered female counterpart to Superman.
The Kara Zor-El version of Supergirl finally appeared in Action Comics #252 (May 1959). Otto Binder wrote and Al Plastino illustrated her début story, in which Kara was born and raised in Argo City (unnamed until later issues), a fragment of Krypton that survived destruction. When the city is doomed by a meteor shower, Kara is sent to Earth by her parents, Zor-El and Alura (the latter unnamed until later issues), to be raised by her cousin Kal-El, known as Superman. Supergirl adopted the secret identity of an orphan "Linda Lee", and made Midvale Orphanage her home. Supergirl promised Superman that she would keep her existence on Earth a secret, so that he may use her as a "secret weapon", but that didn't stop Supergirl from exploring her new powers covertly. Action Comics #255 published reader's letters-of-comment to Supergirl's first appearance; she had allegedly generated a sizeable and mostly positive reaction.
Supergirl, from her debut onwards, became a regular backup strip in Action Comics. She joined the Legion of Super-Heroes, like her cousin had done as a teenager, and in Action Comics #279 (July 1961) she was adopted by Fred and Edna Danvers, becoming "Linda Lee Danvers". Supergirl acted for three years as Superman's secret weapon, and her adventures during that time have been compared to contemporary developments in feminist thinking in work such as Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique. She was at last introduced by her super-powered cousin to an unsuspecting world in Action Comics #285 (February 1962).
During her first quarter of a century, Linda Danvers would have many professions, from student to student advisor, to actor, and even TV camera operator. She shared Action Comics with Superman until transferring to the lead in Adventure Comics at the end of the 1960s. In 1972 she finally moved to her own short-lived eponymous magazine, before DC merged its Supergirl, Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen titles into a single anthology title named The Superman Family. In 1982 Supergirl was relaunched into her own magazine.
Death during Crisis on Infinite Earths
In 1985, the maxi-series Crisis on Infinite Earths was conceived as a way to reduce DC continuity to a single universe in which all characters maintained a single history. Despite Supergirl's continued popularity and status as a central member of the "Superman Family", the editors at DC Comics and the creators of the maxi-series decided to kill Supergirl off during the Crisis. According to Marv Wolfman, writer of Crisis on Infinite Earths:
The idea of killing Supergirl was first conceived by DC's vice president/executive editor Dick Giordano, who lobbied for the death to DC's publishers. He later said he has never had any regrets about this, explaining, "Supergirl was created initially to take advantage of the high Superman sales and not much thought was put into her creation. She was created essentially as a female Superman. With time, writers and artists improved upon her execution, but she never did really add anything to the Superman mythos—at least not for me." The poor initial reception of the 1984 film Supergirl was also blamed by some sources.
In 1989, in the tale "Christmas with the Super-Heroes" the soul of Kara appears to Boston "Deadman" Brand, cheers him up, and then disappears from continuity until 2001 (see below).
Several characters unrelated to Superman soon took on the Supergirl persona, including the Matrix (a shapeshifting genetically engineered life-form that 'defaulted' as Supergirl), Linda Danvers (the result of Matrix merging with the dying Linda Danvers and becoming an Earth-bound angel of fire), and Cir-El (Superman's apparent daughter from a possible future).
A heroine resembling the Pre-Crisis Kara would later appear in Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #5, along with an entire army of Legionnaires gathered from alternate worlds, times, and realities, to battle the Time Trapper.
Two Supergirls meet
Prior to the post-Crisis introduction of Kara Zor-El into mainstream continuity, the pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El made an appearance in Peter David's Supergirl: Many Happy Returns. The then-current Supergirl series, at the time starring Linda Danvers, was in danger of cancellation and Peter David thought a story arc involving Kara Zor-El would be enough to revitalize the series. In an interview with Cliff Biggers of Newsarama, David states:
In the Linda Danvers' Supergirl series issues 49 and 50 (October and November 2000), the original dead Kara appears as Linda's "guardian angel". Then in issues 75 to 80, "Many Happy Returns", a young Kara appears from an earlier time long before the Crisis. The paradox becomes a moral crisis for Linda who tries to take her place as the Crisis sacrifice, living for years in a Silver Age universe where "no one swears, the villains are always easy to defeat, and everything's very, very clean", eventually marrying the Silver Age Superman and having a daughter with him, before she is forced to return to her universe by the Spectre when he reveals that her efforts to replace Kara as the sacrifice will not succeed. This run was illustrated by Ed Benes who had also illustrated Gail Simone's Birds of Prey which had a similar whimsical camaraderie between its female leads.
Linda's inability to ultimately save Kara, coupled with the loss of her daughter, is so devastating that it ends her own career as Supergirl, Linda leaving a note for Superman where she explains that she feels that she has failed to live up to the standards of a true Supergirl and choosing to go somewhere she cannot be found. This story arc is usually cited as one of the best Supergirl stories ever written. The series ended with issue 80.
Revival
After the launch of the Superman/Batman comic book series, executive editor Dan DiDio had been looking for a way to simplify the Supergirl character from her convoluted post-Crisis history; the simplest version, of course, was Superman's cousin. Jeph Loeb and editor Eddie Berganza found an opening to reintroduce the character following the conclusion of the first story arc of Superman/Batman. Loeb states:
The modern version of Kara Zor-El made her debut in Superman/Batman #8 (2004). Kara takes the mantle of Supergirl at the conclusion of the storyline. The Supergirl comic book series would later be relaunched, now starring Kara Zor-El as "The Girl of Steel". The first arc of the new series was written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by Ian Churchill. Loeb would later describe the appeal of writing for Supergirl:
As the character continued to be reinvented, steps towards regarding the iconic character were some of the most prominent changes. Artist Jamal Igle and editor Matt Idleson moved to transition the character away from red panties under her skirt to biker shorts, feeling such a change was a logical progression and "more respectable."
The New 52
In September 2011, DC Comics began The New 52, in which it canceled all of its monthly superhero titles and relaunched 52 new ones, wiping out most of its past continuity in the process. One of the new titles was a new Supergirl series (Volume 6) that featured a new origin for Kara and was published between 2011 and 2015. Artist Mahmud Asrar designed a new costume for the character which strongly deviated from her classic, "cheerleader" suit, a change which generated criticism from some readers.
DC Rebirth
The 2016 DC Comics title relaunch Rebirth incorporates several elements (such as the costume, the name, the setting, and some characters) from the Supergirl television series. The DC Rebirth initiative undid the New 52's modern recreations, bringing DC's heroes back to their more classic iterations. Supergirl's new series (Volume 7) was titled Supergirl: Rebirth, written by Steven Orlando. The first arc was penciled by Brian Ching, who also redesigned Supergirl's costume in reference to a more classic look. In April 2018, it was announced that the title would be canceled after issue #20, only to be revived in August that year under a new creative team, with new writer Marc Andreyko and artist Kevin Maguire. The series ended with its 42nd issue.
Future State: Kara Zor-El, Superwoman
The Future State comics propose a possible future for Kara Zor-El, now an adult and having taken the alias of Superwoman. She leaves Earth to become a guardian of the Moon, which has become a refugee colony for aliens from the entire universe. The series was written by Marguerite Bennet and penciled by Marguerite Sauvage.
Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow
Under the Infinite Frontier brand, Kara's next series Woman of Tomorrow debuted in June 2021, written by Tom King and penciled by Brazilian artists Bilquis Evely and Mat Lopes. The arc introduces Supergirl to new character grounds as she begins the story as a young woman, celebrating her 21st birthday and helping a young alien in her quest for revenge. The "mentor-mentee journey on revenge" plot is, according to King, inspired by the original novel and both versions of True Grit.
In this series, the creators paid homage to Linda Danvers, as Kara manifests flame wings and powers after taking a red kryptonite drug, in order to save her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon.
Fictional character biography
Silver Age
In her debut story, Kara Zor-El is the last survivor of Argo City of the planet Krypton. Although Argo, which had survived the explosion of the planet, drifted through space as a self-sustaining environment, the soil of the colony eventually turned into Kryptonite; and though Kara's father Zor-El placed lead sheeting above the ground to protect the citizens from radiation, meteorites pierced the sheeting, and the Kryptonians died of radiation poisoning instead of replacing the metal.
In Supergirl's subsequent backup feature in Action Comics drawn by artist Jim Mooney for ten years until 1968, Supergirl adopts the identity of Linda Lee, an orphan at Midvale Orphanage presided over by headmistress Miss Hart. She disguises herself by hiding her blond hair beneath a brunette wig; Supergirl interacts with humans on a person-to-person basis performing good deeds and saving the world by helping one person at a time, and she also devises clever schemes as "Superman's Secret Weapon," saving him many times and avoiding adoption before Superman can introduce her publicly.
While temporarily powerless due to the scheming of Kandorian scientist Lesla-Lar, who is out to supplant her on Earth, Linda allows herself to be adopted by engineer and rocket scientist Fred Danvers and his wife, Edna. In time, she reveals her secret identity to her adoptive parents on the same day her cousin Superman finally introduces her to the world in the finale of then-DC's longest playing series ever (eight chapters) aptly called "The World's Greatest Heroine".
When frequent dreams about her parents being alive turn out to be real, she builds a machine aided by her engineer father's talent, and brings them both back alive from the "Survival Zone" where they had both teleported during Argo City's final moments. Zor-El and Allura eventually end up living in Kandor, and when the city in the bottle is enlarged, they both go on to live in Rokyn/New Krypton, where they have the sad duty of receiving her mortal remains after "Crisis" for burial.
Graduating from high school in 1965, Linda Lee goes to college on a scholarship and stays in Stanhope College until she graduates in 1971. During this era, she is helped by her pet cat Streaky, her Super-Horse pet Comet, and befriends Lena Thorul, who had first appeared in the Lois Lane series. Kara is also a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, where she becomes close to Brainiac 5. In addition, Linda has boyfriends from the orphanage (Richard "Dick" Malverne) and from Atlantis (Jerro the merboy).
In 1967, Supergirl meets Batgirl for the first time in World's Finest Comics. Developing a strong friendship, the two characters teamed up many times again, as in Superman Family #171, or Adventure #381.
In 1969, Supergirl left Action Comics and became a featured character in Adventure Comics beginning with issue #381 (June 1969).
During the 1970s, Supergirl's costume changed frequently, as did her career in her civilian life. In her secret identity as Linda Lee Danvers, Kara Zor-El took a variety of jobs including graduate student in acting, television camera operator, and student counselor, and finally became an actress on the TV soap Secret Hearts.
Bronze Age
After long-time Superman family editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971, the character underwent revitalization under editor Joe Orlando and artist Mike Sekowsky. Wearing a series of new outfits, leaving her adopted foster home with the Danvers family, Linda goes on to San Francisco where she works for KSF-TV as a camera operator and develops a crush on her boss, Geoffrey Anderson. These stories introduced Supergirl's most memorable villain from this period: Lex Luthor's niece Nasthalthia, or Nasty. Nasty had made two appearances towards the end of Linda's college years, then pursued her to KSF-TV, trying to secure proof of her dual identity.
Supergirl starred in her first solo eponymous monthly series beginning in 1972 until October 1974, when her monthly title merged with Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane, and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen to produce a new title: then-highest DC selling series called The Superman Family, where she eventually became the steady lead story. Linda worked as a student advisor at New Athens Experimental School, before leaving for New York to follow a career in acting with daytime soap Secret Hearts.
In 1982 Supergirl received a second monthly solo series titled The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl, relocating the character to Chicago as Linda became a mature student of Psychology. Industry legend, and former DC Publisher, Carmine Infantino provided the penciled art (Bob Oksner inked). With issue 13 the title was revamped, with a new costume design (sporting a red headband) and the title shortened to just Supergirl. The series ran until sudden cancellation in 1984, only two months before the character's debut in a big-budget Hollywood film starring Helen Slater.
In the Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985), the greatest heroes from Earth-One, Earth-Two, Earth-Four, Earth-S, and Earth-X join forces in order to defeat the Anti-Monitor. When Superman comes face to face with the Anti-Monitor and is knocked unconscious, Supergirl rushes to save him before he is killed. She is able to fight him off long enough for Dr. Light to carry her cousin to a safe distance, but is killed by the Anti-Monitor. A public memorial service for Supergirl takes place in Chicago, where Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) delivers the eulogy. In her remarks, she states "Kara is a hero. She will not be forgotten." Superman then gives his late cousin burial by taking her corpse to Rokyn/New Krypton to Zor-El and Allura. A Superman issue the next month reveals that Kara had experienced a premonition about her own passing. However, when the universe is rebooted, the timeline is altered. Kara Zor-El and all memory of her is erased from existence.
Echoes
After these events, the soul of Kara Zor-El made another appearance in continuity three years later in a story titled "Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot" in Christmas with the Super-Heroes #2 (1989). Within the story, Boston "Deadman" Brand tries to feel the warmth of Christmas by possessing revelers' bodies. Feeling guilty upon the realization that he has been stealing others' Christmases, he flies off feeling sorry for himself for being denied a reward after a year of helping people. A warmly dressed blonde woman approaches Brand, startling him. Somehow seeing the normally invisible Brand, she converses with him, reminding him,
She reminds Brand that even though he is dead, he is still human, and he should rejoice because it means his spirit is still alive. As the woman leaves, Brand asks her who she is, to which she replies, "My name is Kara. Though I doubt that will mean anything to you." The story, written by Alan Brennert and penciled by Dick Giordano, is dedicated to Otto Binder and Jim Mooney, adding: "We still remember."
Finally, the soul of Kara Zor-El appeared twice during Peter David's run, specifically in issues #48 and #49 when she appears before a defeated and imprisoned then-Supergirl, Linda Danvers from Earth, and comforts her. Linda acknowledges she has been helped three times by her phantom-friend, and when she asks her name she is told by the smiling figure: "I have gone by many names, but the one I am most fond of is: Kara!"
Modern Age
In 2004, Jeph Loeb reintroduced Kara Zor-El into post-Zero Hour (Birthright timeline) continuity during a storyline in the series Superman/Batman. She is the biological cousin of Superman, and although chronologically older than him, the ship in which she traveled to Earth was caught in a large green Kryptonite meteorite which held her in a state of suspended animation for much of the journey, making her have the appearance of a 16-year-old girl. Still, Supergirl sometimes saw Superman as a child, due to last carrying him as a baby. DC Comics relaunched the Supergirl, the first story arc of which was written by Loeb. showcases Supergirl on a journey of self-discovery. Along her journey, she encounters Power Girl (Kara Zor-El's counterpart from another universe), the Teen Titans, the Outsiders, the Justice League of America, and arch-villain Lex Luthor.
During the company-wide crossover series Infinite Crisis (2005), a sequel to Crisis on Infinite Earths, Supergirl is transported to the 31st century, where she is revered as a member of the Superman family and joins the Legion of Super-Heroes. DC Comics renamed the monthly series Legion of Super-Heroes to Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes. Beginning with issue #16. In the limited series 52, which chronicles the events that took place during the missing year after the end of Infinite Crisis, Donna Troy recalls the original Kara Zor-El and her sacrifice to save the universe. Supergirl returns to the 21st century during the course of 52. After briefly filling in for a temporarily depowered Superman as guardian of Metropolis, she assumes the identity of Flamebird to fight crime in the bottle city of Kandor with Power Girl as Nightwing in Greg Rucka's arc Supergirl: Kandor.
In 2007, Supergirl appeared in the miniseries Amazons Attack! That same year, she joined the Teen Titans for five issues.
Conversations with other heroes who maintain secret identities lead Kara to the conclusion that she needs to make a deeper connection with human beings. She accepts Lana Lang's proposal to present her to the Daily Planet staff as "Linda Lang", Lana's teenaged niece.
In the 2008–2009 "New Krypton" story arc, in which Superman discovers and frees the real Kandor and a large number of its citizens, Supergirl is reunited with her father, Zor-El and mother, Alura, though Zor-El is killed by the villain Reactron. When a planet is formed that the Kryptonians call New Krypton, Kara is torn between her life on Earth, and her obligation to her mother, eventually joining the New Krypton Science Guild.
Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2009 miniseries Justice League: Cry for Justice, and the 2009–2010 storyline "Blackest Night". The New Krypton storyline would later be resolved in the "World of New Krypton", "Superman: Last Stand of New Krypton", "War of the Supermen" storylines, resulting in the destruction of New Krypton and seeing Supergirl mourn her people.
Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2010 "Brightest Day" storyline, the follow up to "Blackest Night"., where she joins the Justice League along with Jesse Quick & Jade.
The New 52
In this continuity, Kara's ship lands in Smallville, Kansas but hurtles through the Earth and emerges in Siberia.
Kara has no memory of the destruction of Krypton, and believes it is only three days since her spacecraft was launched. She learns the truth about Krypton's destruction from Superman, and later journeys through a wormhole to Argo City, which she finds in orbit around a blue sun. She finds the city in ruins, with no explanation of how it met that fate, and is attacked by a female Worldkiller named Reign before the city plummets into the sun. When Reign and her fellow Worldkiller plan to enslave the Earth, Supergirl returns there to defeat them, and thus adopts Earth as her new home.
After several battles with supervillains, including the Worldkillers, superweapons of Kryptonian design, she accepts Krypton's destruction, but continues to grapple with her grief. Her desire to restore Krypton results in her being manipulated into nearly destroying the Earth by another Kryptonian whom she falls in love with. Upon realizing his manipulation, she kills him by driving Kryptonite through his heart, and succumbs to Kryptonite poisoning.
Following her poisoning, Supergirl departs the Earth to die alone. While adrift in interstellar space, she encounters a planet under attack by monsters, and quickly intervenes to save them, unaware that the entire planet is a trap by Brainiac. She is captured and restrained by Cyborg Superman, but after a struggle, manages to escape both Brainiac and Cyborg Superman. Returning to Earth, she is sent into the past by the Oracle alongside Superman and Superboy, where she ensures that a resurrected H'el cannot save Krypton, and sacrifices the planet and her family in order to save the universe.
Back on Earth, she encounters the assassin Lobo. Initially eager for a peaceful resolution, seeing a kind of kinship with him in their both being lone survivors of their respective worlds (although not truly aware of Lobo's circumstances), Kara's encounter with the Czarnian would reveal deep mental wounds, resulting in the unleashing of her rage and transformation into a Red Lantern. Driven insane by rage, Kara wanders space, attacking everyone in her way, until captured by several Green Lanterns and brought to Hal Jordan. Immediately recognizing a Kryptonian and unable to remove the power ring without killing her, he brings her to Guy Gardner, the leader of one of the two Red Lantern factions, who manages to restore her sanity.
After some time under Guy Gardner's tutelage and protecting the galaxy as a Red Lantern, after being discharged from the Red Lantern Corps (because Guy did not want for her to die needlessly against Atrocitus' splinter group), on her way back to Earth, Kara encounters the leader of the Worldkillers, who are revealed to be parasitic suits of armor. He attempts to assimilate Kara as his host, but she voluntarily subjects herself to Kryptonite poisoning in order to stop him, and eventually flies into the Sun and removes her power ring, killing her and removing him from her body. However, Kara is revealed to be immortal while in the Sun's core, and is restored to life without the power ring or any Kryptonite poisoning, immediately destroying the Worldkiller. She later helps Guy against Atrocitus and his Red Lantern splinter group.
Convergence and return of the Pre-Crisis version
During the Convergence story arc, the original Kara Zor-El who had sacrificed her life during Crisis on Infinite Earths makes an appearance on the amalgamated planet of Telos. At the end of the saga she volunteers herself to once again fight the Anti-Monitor but this time, with the help of her timeline's Barry Allen, the Pre-Flashpoint Superman (in tow with his pregnant wife, Lois Lane), and a repentant Parallax (Zero Hour Hal Jordan), vows to defeat him for the sake of the multiverse's continued existence. Without it being seen, those left on Telos discover the group was successful and all previous timelines (with the mysterious exception of the pre-Flashpoint/pre-New 52 DC universe) from DC history had been re-established, though the fate of the original Kara Zor-El and her fellows went unmentioned.
A few more details of the battle against the Anti-Monitor are later revealed during the New 52 comic mini-series (leading into DC's Rebirth event). After the defeat of Anti-Monitor, Pre-New 52 Clark and Lois decide to start life anew in the closest universe they can find (mysteriously yet unable to see their old universe even though the rest of the multiverse had been restored) while Pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El, along with her contemporary Barry Allen and Zero Hour Parallax/Hal Jordan, decide to find their place in the universe and go off to do so. Her fate as of that story arc is yet to be revealed.
DC Rebirth
After the events that led to the death of the New 52 version of Superman, 16-year-old Kara lives in National City with her adoptive parents, D.E.O. agents Jeremiah and Eliza Danvers, where she attends high school and works with the agency as led by Cameron Chase. As part of her civilian identity, Kara receives special glasses that darken her blond hair when posing as Kara Danvers. Kara also goes on an internship at Cat Grant's CATCO alongside Ben Rubel, whom she befriends.
In her opening arc "The Reign of the Cyborg Supermen", Kara discovers that the cyborg Zor-El, whom she had battled in her New 52 title, is still active and has rebuilt other Kryptonians (her mother Alura included), planning to take over Earth. Supergirl defeats them but vows to help her father regardless of his actions. After National City discovers Supergirl has kept Zor-El's "living" status a secret, they become untrustful of her. Director Bones takes advantage of the heroine's impopularity and, after taking control of the D.E.O., sends villains in an attempt to bring Kara down. She defeats all of them and regains trust from National City with Ben's help.
The Supergirl Who Laughs
Kara is later infected by The Batman Who Laughs toxin, causing her to turn evil and joining other infected as part of Laughs Secret Six before later being cured. She is fired from CatCo by Cat Grant and starts working at S.T.A.R. Labs.
Woman of Tomorrow
Journeying throughout the universe with Krypto, Kara celebrates her 21st birthday alone on a distant planet. Drunk in a bar, she is approached by a little girl named Ruthye and is asked to kill Krem (her father's murderer) in vengeance. Supergirl refuses but, when she is about to leave the planet, Krem attacks and severely wounds both her and Krypto, fleeing in Kara's ship. Kara begins her journey alongside Ruthye and, powerless, saves her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon by taking a red kryptonite drug which causes her to manifest flame wings.
Powers and abilities
Like all Kryptonians under a yellow sun, the current version of Kara Zor-El possesses virtually unlimited strength, stamina, and durability. She is able to fly and with super speed that she can also use on foot, similar to Superman and The Flash. Also like Superman, Supergirl possesses super senses, super-breath, and freeze breathe, as well as multiple forms of supervision (including X-Ray, Infrared, Telescopic, and Microscopic). Kara also has a bio-electric aura that enhances her near invulnerability and also protects her skin and her costume from dirt and tear; as such, Kara is perpetually clean. The Sun also provides Kara with a longer lifespan than that of a human being, to the point that she is effectively a biological immortal. Kara doesn't require food, water, or sleep to survive. She is also immune to most diseases, mental and physical, and would require a very strong strain to have a chance at affecting her.
In the rare instances that Kara is harmed by someone matching her strength or by the use of one of her weaknesses, she can heal almost instantaneously. Her power surpasses most other beings, though she can be overpowered by those who rival her strength such as Black Adam, Darkseid, Despero, Doomsday, Bizarro, Wonder Woman, and Superman.
In reality, Kara is actually older than her cousin, Clark, and spent time on Krypton before its destruction. As such (unlike Superman), she possesses memories of Kryptonian culture as well as her cousin's parents.
Continued exposure to a yellow Sun will slowly increase abilities. Many characters in the DC Universe have noted that Supergirl appears, at times, to be even more powerful than Superman himself. In answer to this, Superman states that this is because he has spent his entire life subconsciously suppressing his full powers in order to avoid hurting others, having been absorbing solar radiation since his infancy. Kara, not having such practice or experience, simply uses the full magnitude of her powers.
Abilities
Unlike her cousin, Kara was taught to fight in Krypton as part of her tests, and at the Crucible Academy, being adept at various Kryptonian fighting styles like Klurkor and Torquasm Rao. Supergirl also learned the art of Bagua under I-Ching's instructions. She practiced how to manipulate her Chi or Qi in order to gain better control of her powers due to them becoming overwhelmed after her conflict with the Fatal Five. Superman recommended guardianship with I-Ching to Supergirl first. In addition to training in Krypton, Kara was trained by Batman in advanced martial arts and trained with the Amazons in Themyscira in unarmed and armed combat, Amazonas martial arts, fencing, Shield handling, and other Amazon weapons. She trained with Wonder Woman and Artemis extensively.
Other versions
There are numerous alternate versions of Supergirl. The most notable is Power Girl (real name Kara Zor-L, also known as Karen Starr) who first appeared in All Star Comics #58 (January/February 1976).
Power Girl is the Earth-Two counterpart of Supergirl and the first cousin of Kal-L, Superman of the pre-Crisis Earth-Two. The infant Power Girl's parents enabled her to escape the destruction of Krypton. Although she left the planet at the same time that Superman did, her ship took much longer to reach Earth-Two.
She has superhuman strength and the ability to fly and is the first chairwoman of the Justice Society of America. She sports a bob of blond hair; wears a distinctive white, red, and blue costume; and has an aggressive fighting style. Throughout her early appearances in All Star Comics, she is often at odds with Wildcat because his penchant for talking to her as if she were an ordinary human female rather than a superpowered Kryptonian annoys her.
She also fought alongside the Sovereign Seven team, replacing Rampart after his death though that series is not considered to be part of canon in the DC universe.
The 1985 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths eliminated Earth-Two, causing her origin to change; she became the granddaughter of the Atlantean sorcerer Arion. However, story events culminating in the 2005–2006 Infinite Crisis limited series restored her status as a refugee from the Krypton of the destroyed pre-Crisis Earth-Two universe.
Like the original Kara's Streaky, Power Girl has a cat, featured in a story by Amanda Conner in Wonder Woman #600.
Reception
This version of Supergirl is ranked as the 153rd-greatest comic book character of all time by Wizard magazine.
IGN also ranked this version of Supergirl as the 94th-greatest comic book superhero, stating "for a character born of the Silver Age that saw everything from a Super Baby to a Super Monkey, Kara Zor-El grew into something much more than simply another marketing ploy to slap an 'S' on." In 2013 IGN ranked Supergirl as the 17th-greatest DC comic superhero, stating "she was an early example of a female sidekick developing a large fanbase in her own right", and "Supergirl has been one of DC's most powerful heroes, and a standard to hold other female heroes against."
Appearances
Pre-Crisis
1959 to 1969: Action Comics #252 to #376.
1969 to 1972: Adventure Comics #381 to #424.
1972 to 1974: Supergirl #1 to #10.
1974 to 1982: Her comic merges with Jimmy Olsen's and Lois Lane's to become Superman Family #164 to #222.
1982 to 1984: The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl #1 to #13, Supergirl (vol. 2) #14 to #23.
2015: Convergence
Kara Zor-El appeared in over 750 stories published by DC from 1959 to 1985.
Post-Crisis
2004 to 2005: Superman/Batman #8 to #13 and #19
2005 to 2011: Supergirl (vol. 5) #0 to #67
2006 to 2008: Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes (Legion of Super-Heroes vol. 5) #16 to #37
2007: Action Comics #850
2008: Final Crisis
2011 to 2015: New 52: Supergirl (vol. 6) #1 to #40
2016 to current: Rebirth: Supergirl (vol. 7) #1 to current
Kara Zor-El also appears as a supporting character in several issues of other DC Comics, including Superman, Action Comics, Teen Titans, Amazons Attack, World War III, and Wonder Girl. She has also appeared in many issues of Superman, Action Comics, and Superman New Krypton starting with the World Without Superman event in 2009, and continuing with the World Against Superman event going into 2010.
Collected editions
Listed in chronological order. All ages titles are not in continuity with the original or modern Kara.
In other media
Television
Live-action
Smallville
Prior to the seventh season (2007–2008) of the WB/CW show Smallville where she is introduced into the cast and is portrayed by Laura Vandervoort, a woman claiming to be Kara (portrayed by Adrianne Palicki) is briefly introduced in the season 3 finale. It is later revealed her real name is Lindsey Harrison, and had been given false memories and powers by the artificial intelligence of Clark Kent's (Tom Welling) father Jor-El as part of a series of tests. Vandervoort portrays the real Kara, Clark's cousin whose spaceship had been trapped in stasis until the events of the season 6 finale. Much of season 7 is concerned with Kara's attempts to adjust to life on Earth, especially after learning of Krypton's destruction. Her storyline sees her simultaneously become the object of Lex Luthor's (Michael Rosenbaum) obsessions and Jimmy Olsen's (Aaron Ashmore) affections, suffer a bout of amnesia, discover her father's (Christopher Heyerdahl) sinister motives and become a target of evil android Brainiac (James Marsters). The season finale sees Kara become trapped in the Phantom Zone. Starting with season 8, Vandervoort ceases to feature as a series regular, but reprises the role three more times. In her first guest appearance, "Bloodline," Kara is freed from the Phantom Zone and later departs Clark's hometown of Smallville to search for Kandor, her birthplace, as it is rumored to have survived their home planet's destruction. She appears again in the season 10 episode "Supergirl", in which she formally adopts her superhero moniker. Her off-screen adventures are alluded to thereafter. Vandervoort makes a final appearance in the show's penultimate episode, "Prophecy", in which she helps Green Arrow (Justin Hartley) locate the "Bow of Orion" to use against Darkseid. She is then called to the Fortress of Solitude, where she learns from Jor-El that her job on Earth is done. Using a Legion of Super-Heroes flight ring, she travels to the future to seek her own destiny. The Season Eleven comic book continuation of the show later depicts Kara's continued story in the 31st century, subsequent return to the present and joining the Justice League.
Arrowverse
In September 2014, a 22-episode television series centered around Supergirl was in development at Warner Bros. Television, set to premiere on CBS with a January 2015 air date. Melissa Benoist was cast as the titular character. In May 2016, the series moved to The CW and was later integrated into the Arrowverse, a shared universe consisting of shows including Arrow, The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow. In the series, Kara Zor-El was sent to Earth to protect her cousin Kal-El, following her homeworld Krypton's destruction. However, she is knocked into the Phantom Zone, where she is stranded for 24 years. She eventually crash lands on Earth and is found by her already grown-up cousin Kal, now known to the world as the iconic superhero "Superman". Superman brings Kara into the custody of Jeremiah Danvers, director of the Department of Extranormal Operations (D.E.O.), and his daughter Alex. Growing up, Kara struggles to maintain her Kryptonian abilities as well as balancing her relationship with her adoptive sister. Eventually, the two bond when Kara's powers are exposed. However, Jeremiah decides it's best to isolate her abilities. As an adult, Kara is forced to use her powers again when her sister's plane almost crashes. She is later dubbed "Supergirl" by the media and dons a costume like her cousin. Kara decides to use her abilities to fight alien invaders such as Kara's aunt Astra and her husband Non, Mon-El's rogue parents, the Worldkiller Reign, anti-alien activist Ben Lockwood, and later the shadowy organization Leviathan, with the help of her sister Alex, now an agent of the D.E.O., her best friend and tech-expert Winn Schott, last of the Green Martians J'onn J'onzz / Martian Manhunter, and Kal's best friend Jimmy Olsen. She is later joined by Lex Luthor's sister Lena, Prince of Daxam Mon-El, former Legion of Superheroes member Querl "Brainy" Dox / Brainiac 5, Nia Nal / Dreamer, James' younger sister Kelly, and reporter Willam Dey face against these rival forces. After joining the Arrowverse, which contain annual crossover, Kara assists Barry Allen, Oliver Queen and the Legends of Tomorrow against threats on their designated earth "Earth-1" while Kara’s is designated as "Earth-38. Later, Kara is selected by The Monitor as the Paragon of Hope to participate in the coming crisis and fight against the Anti-Monitor, whose goal is to destroy the multiverse. After doing so, the Paragons are sent to the Vanishing Point where Oliver, now a Spectre, helps them escape. The Paragons appear at the dawn of time in the anti-matter universe where they have their final confrontation with the Anti-Monitor. Eventually, Oliver sacrifices himself to kill the Anti-Monitor, and as a result, a new multiverse is born with Earth-38 and Earth-1 merged into "Earth-Prime". Following the crisis, Kara is forced to deal the after-effects of Crisis which include working with Lex, now owning the D.E.O. while Leviathan continue their covert operations under Gamemnae. The sixth season sees Kara and her allies expose Lex's crimes, but are then forced to deal with Nyxlygsptlnz, a fifth-dimensional imp who tricked the heroes into releasing her from the Phantom Zone. Eventually Nyxlygsptlnz joins forces with Lex Luthor and the two kill William, but Kara's assembled allies are able to defeat the two, culminating in Lex and Nyxlygsptlnz being trapped in the Phantom Zone when one of their own plans backfires. The series concludes with Kara revealing her dual identity so that she can live a full life as one person.
Animation
DC Nation Shorts
Supergirl appears with Batgirl and Wonder Girl in Super Best Friends Forever, voiced by Nicole Sullivan.
DC Super Hero Girls
Supergirl appears as a central protagonist in the web series DC Super Hero Girls voiced by Anais Fairweather, and is a student at Super Hero High, is very kind and caring and extremely powerful but she's also very clumsy.
She also appears as a central protagonist in the 2019 TV series, with Nicole Sullivan reprising her role from the Super Best Friends Forever shorts. In this version, she is also a rebel and is known as the "cool kid" in school. She may be tough but she can easily express her emotions and is very open-minded as well. She can be a cool friend and a helpful one, but she can also be jealous sometimes and she dislikes her cousin's prominence.
Justice League Action
Supergirl appears in Justice League Action, voiced by Joanne Spracklen. She has the appearance of a wide-eyed human teenager with blonde hair and wears her traditional costume except that it has thigh-high boots and a pleated skirt. As a person, she is youthful, responsible, and shows much affection for her cousin Superman. In "Party Animal", she appears as a cameo at this Christmas party with the Justice League. In "Keeping up with the Kryptonians", Supergirl becomes a star of the popular reality show "That's So Kara", and Superman a Kasnian who rules from one place to another on Earth, all being a reality caused by Mister Mxyzptlk. In "Unleashed", Supergirl accompanies Justice League in stopping Red Lantern Corps, unaware that it was a distraction made by Dex-Starr to invade Earth, until it was ultimately resolved by Krypto, Streaky, and Plastic Man. In a short "The Goddess Must Be Crazy", Supergirl trains with Wonder Woman in Paradise Island, until she is possessed by Felix Faust, to destroy the island.
Film
Superman film series
A live action depiction of Supergirl first appears in the eponymous 1984 film starring Helen Slater as Supergirl. The film is a spin-off from the Superman film series starring Christopher Reeve, to which it is connected by Marc McClure's character of Jimmy Olsen.
DC Extended Universe
Kara Zor-El / Linda Danvers / Supergirl exists within the DC Extended Universe, as she was referenced in Man of Steel when Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman discovers an empty pod within the Kryptonian scout spaceship. Though Zack Snyder confirmed in August 2018 that even though the character does exist, that pod was not intended for her.
In August 2018, a film centered around the character was announced to be in development, with Oren Uziel hired as screenwriter for the project. The studio intends to hire a female director, with Reed Morano—who has expressed interest in the project—being its top choice. Filming was expected to start production in early 2020.
Sasha Calle will play Supergirl for the DC Extended Universe in The Flash.
Animation
Summer Glau voices the post-Crisis version of Kara Zor-El in Superman/Batman: Apocalypse, which is based on the Superman/Batman storyline "The Supergirl from Krypton". Despite this, it was confirmed by director Lauren Montgomery that Supergirl's name was removed from the title due to the much slower sales of the previous Wonder Woman animated movie, and the character was not permitted to appear on the cover in her trademark outfit.
Molly Quinn voices Supergirl in Superman: Unbound.
Supergirl appears in Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League: Cosmic Clash, voiced by Jessica DiCicco.
Video games
Supergirl appears in DC Universe Online, voiced by Adriene Mishler. In the villain campaign, the players help Doctor Psycho capture Supergirl using Kryptonite. In the hero campaign, the players fight Doctor Psycho to save Supergirl. Under the thrall of Brainiac, she must be defeated in the Fortress of Solitude: Power Core raid.
Supergirl is unlockable in Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes, voiced by Bridget Hoffman.
Supergirl makes a cameo appearance in the IOS version of Injustice: Gods Among Us as a support card.
Supergirl appears as a playable character in Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham, voiced by Kari Wahlgren. She is playable in her default variant which is designed after her appearance in The New 52 and in her Classic attire. Her Classic variant is unlocked in a VR Mission while her New 52 variant is unlocked in a Hub Quest in Nok where she requests players to defeat a number of enemies she accidentally releases from their cells.
Supergirl appears as a playable character in Infinite Crisis, voiced by Camilla Luddington.
Supergirl appears as a playable character and the central protagonist in Injustice 2 by NetherRealm Studios, the sequel to Injustice: Gods Among Us, voiced by Laura Bailey. Here her origin is much like in the comics where she is sent along with her cousin Kal-El to Earth by her mother after Krypton is destroyed but on separate pods where hers veers off-course after sustaining significant damage, stranding her in space for many years until she lands on Earth, unaged. When the main storyline starts, she is residing on Black Adam's kingdom of Khandaq, apparently under his and Wonder Woman's protection. When Brainiac who was responsible for Krypton's destruction attacks, she, Wonder Woman, and Black Adam attempt to free Superman and the remaining members of the Regime, while being interrupted in their efforts by new Insurgency recruits Blue Beetle and Firestorm until Batman himself arrives and releases Superman, leading to a temporary alliance between the Regime and Insurgency against the alien warlord. Over the course of the story, she learns the truth about her cousin's tyranny and at the end of the game sides with Batman, Green Lantern and Flash in letting Brainiac live in order to restore the lost cities but is defeated. In Batman's ending, she laments her cousin's tyranny and sees him leave to be imprisoned in the Phantom Zone and is offered membership by Batman in his Justice League. In Superman's ending, she is imprisoned aboard Brainiac's ship and to her shock discovers her cousin has bonded with it and when she refuses his offer to join him in leading his new legion of imprisoned species. He attempts to coerce her by revealing a brainwashed Batman, who had also been captured, further shocking her.
Supergirl appears as a limited-distribution minifigure for the toys-to-life video game Lego Dimensions, with Kari Wahlgren reprising her role. She has the ability to transform between her classic and Red Lantern forms.
Supergirl appears as a playable character in DC Unchained.
Supergirl appears in the PSP version of Justice League Heroes.
Supergirl appears as a playable character in the DC TV Super-Heroes DLC pack in Lego DC Super-Villains.
See also
Alternative versions of Supergirl
Laurel Gand
References
External links
DC Comics
Pre-Crisis Supergirl Chronology
Supergirl
Characters created by Otto Binder
Comics characters introduced in 1958
Comics characters introduced in 1959
DC Comics aliens
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DC Comics characters who can move at superhuman speeds
DC Comics characters with accelerated healing
DC Comics characters with superhuman strength
DC Comics deities
DC Comics female superheroes
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Fictional characters with superhuman senses
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Superheroes who are adopted
Vigilante characters in comics | true | [
"Stanley Frank \"Stan\" Vickers (18 June 1932 – 17 April 2013) was a Lewisham-born British athlete who mainly competed in the 20 kilometre walk.\n\nHe competed for Great Britain in the 20 kilometre walk at the 1960 Summer Olympics held in Rome, Italy, where he won the bronze medal.\n\nAfter the race, he sat down to rest and was carried off by an ambulance crew that thought he was sick. The crew did not speak English. Several hours passed before officials discovered what had happened.\n\nHe died on 19 April 2013 at the age of 80.\n\nReferences\n\n1932 births\n2013 deaths\nBritish male racewalkers\nEnglish male racewalkers\nOlympic bronze medallists for Great Britain\nAthletes (track and field) at the 1956 Summer Olympics\nAthletes (track and field) at the 1960 Summer Olympics\nOlympic athletes of Great Britain\nEuropean Athletics Championships medalists\nPeople from Lewisham\nAthletes from London\nMedalists at the 1960 Summer Olympics\nOlympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field)\nEnglish Olympic medallists",
"Various outdated theories have postulated waves of migration during the Middle Bronze Age in the ancient Near East. Drews and Dietrich connect these alleged \"mass migrations\" with the coming of the Greeks, moving from former settlements into the southern and central Balkans, displacing the former pre-Greek inhabitants of Greece. Mellaart makes reference to a supposed migration of the Hittites to their earliest known home in Kültepe during the same period.\n\nWhile the turmoils of the Bronze Age collapse that separate the Late Bronze Age from the Early Iron Age are well documented, theories of migration during the Middle Bronze Age (20th century BCE) have little direct support.\n\nTheories\nVarious outdated theories have postulated waves of migration during the Middle Bronze Age in the Ancient Near East.\n\nMellaart (1958)\nAccording to Mellaart, in The End of the Early Bronze Age in Anatolia and the Aegean (1958), for reasons unknown, the Hittites moved into central Asia Minor, conquering the Hattians and later adopting their culture and name. This invasion by the Hittites displaced other peoples living in Anatolia, who in turn displaced the Middle Helladic Greek-speaking peoples to the west. This in turn caused an exodus from Northwestern Anatolia and created a wave of refugees who invaded what is now southern Greece and destroyed the Early Helladic civilization. Yet, more recent theories and evidence suggest that a Proto-Indo-Hittite language dates back to the fourth millennium BCE, prior to the Bronze Age.\n\nAccording to Mellaart, archaeological evidence shows that the cities of Erzerum, Sivas, Pulur Huyuk near Baiburt, Kultepe near Hafik, and Maltepe near Sivas were destroyed during the Middle Bronze Age. The great trading city of Kanesh (Level II) was also destroyed. From there in the hill country between Halys the destruction layers from this time tell the same story. Karaoglan, Bitik, Polatli and Gordion were burnt, as well as Etiyokusu and Cerkes. Further west near the Dardanelles the two large mounds of Korpruoren and Tavsanli, west of Kutahya, show the same signs of being destroyed.\n\nThe destruction even crossed into Europe in what is now Bulgaria. The migration brought an end to Bulgaria's Early Bronze Age, with archaeological evidence showing that the Yunacite, Salcutza, and Esero centers had a sudden mass desertion during this time.\n\nFrom the Dardanelles, the refugee invaders moved into mainland Greece, and the Peloponnese saw burnt and abandoned cities on par with the much later Dorian invasion which destroyed the Mycenaean civilization. At this time, 1900 BC, destruction layers can be found at southern Greek sites like Orchomenos, , Hagios Kosmas, Raphina, Apesokari, Korakou, Zygouries, Tiryns, Asine, Malthi and Asea. Many other sites are deserted, e.g. Yiriza, Synoro, Ayios Gerasimos, Kophovouni, Makrovouni, Palaiopyrgos, etc. This destruction across Greece also coincided with the arrival of a new culture that had no connection with the Early Helladic civilization, who were the original inhabitants. Northern Greece escaped destruction, as well as southern Anatolia, which during this time showed no disturbances.\n\nMinyan ware\n\nGray Minyan ware was first identified as the pottery introduced by this mass movement of new populations into southern Greece around 1900 BC. However, this theory was disproved in the 1950s when excavations at Lerna showed that Minyan ware had a predecessor in the preceding Early Helladic III Tiryns culture. The advent of Minyan ware coincides with domestic processes reflective of the smooth transition from Early to Middle Bronze Age culture.\n\nGenetic research\n\nLazaridis et al. (2017) researched the genetical origins of the Greeks. They found that the ancient Mycenaean and Minoan populations were highly similar, but not identical, and that \"the Minoans and Mycenaeans descended mainly from early Neolithic farmers, likely migrating thousands of years prior to the Bronze Age from Anatolia, in what is today modern Turkey.\" According to Lazaridis, \"Minoans, Mycenaeans, and modern Greeks also had some ancestry related to the ancient people of the Caucasus, Armenia, and Iran. This finding suggests that some migration occurred in the Aegean and southwestern Anatolia from further east after the time of the earliest farmers.\" Lazaridis et al. (2017) further state that \"the Mycenaeans differed from Minoans in deriving additional ancestry from an ultimate source related to the hunter–gatherers of Eastern Europe and Siberia, introduced via a proximal source related to the inhabitants of either the Eurasian steppe or Armenia.\"\n\nSee also\n Bronze Age Greece\n Bronze Age Anatolia\n\nReferences\n\nSources\nPrinted sources\n\n \n\n \n \n\n \n\n \n\n .\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nWeb-sources\n\n2nd millennium BC\nBronze Age Anatolia\nHuman migration\nIndo-European history\nHelladic civilization\nCycladic civilization\nMinoan civilization"
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"Kara Zor-El, also known by her adoptive names of Linda Lee Danvers, Kara Kent, Linda Lang, and Kara Danvers, and the superhero name of Supergirl, is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. She was created by Otto Binder and designed by Al Plastino. Danvers first appeared in Action Comics #252 (May 1959)'s \"The Supergirl from Krypton\" story. Kara is the biological cousin of Kal-El, who went on to adopt the name of Clark Kent and the superhero Superman.",
"Kara is the biological cousin of Kal-El, who went on to adopt the name of Clark Kent and the superhero Superman. During the 1980s and the revolution of the Modern Age of Comics, Superman editors believed the character's history had become too convoluted, thus killing Supergirl during the 1985 Crisis on Infinite Earths event and retconning her out of existence. DC Comics Senior Vice President Dan DiDio re-introduced the character in 2004 along with editor Eddie Berganza and writer Jeph Loeb, with her the Superman/Batman storyline \"The Supergirl from Krypton\".",
"DC Comics Senior Vice President Dan DiDio re-introduced the character in 2004 along with editor Eddie Berganza and writer Jeph Loeb, with her the Superman/Batman storyline \"The Supergirl from Krypton\". As the current Supergirl, Kara stars in her own monthly comic book series. With DC's The New 52 relaunch, Kara, like most of the DC Universe, was revamped. DC relaunched the Supergirl comic in August 2016 as part of their DC Rebirth initiative.",
"DC relaunched the Supergirl comic in August 2016 as part of their DC Rebirth initiative. In live-action, Supergirl appeared in the 1984 film based on her character and was portrayed by Helen Slater. She also appeared in the series Smallville, played by actress Laura Vandervoort. In 2015, the live-action Arrowverse series Supergirl debuted on CBS and then moved to The CW after the first season. Supergirl was portrayed by Melissa Benoist on the show and also appeared on other Arrowverse shows.",
"Supergirl was portrayed by Melissa Benoist on the show and also appeared on other Arrowverse shows. Sasha Calle will appear as Supergirl in the upcoming DC Extended Universe film The Flash (2022). Publication history Early life Although Kara Zor-El was the first character to use the name \"Supergirl,\" DC Comics tested three different female versions of Superman prior to her debut. The first story to feature a female counterpart to Superman was \"Lois Lane – Superwoman,\" which was published in Action Comics #60 (May 1943).",
"The first story to feature a female counterpart to Superman was \"Lois Lane – Superwoman,\" which was published in Action Comics #60 (May 1943). In the story, a hospitalized Lois Lane dreams she has gained superpowers thanks to a blood transfusion from the Man of Steel. She begins her own career as \"Superwoman\", complete with a version of Superman's costume.",
"She begins her own career as \"Superwoman\", complete with a version of Superman's costume. In the Superboy #78 story entitled \"Claire Kent, Alias Super-Sister\", Superboy saves the life of an alien woman named Shar-La, who turns Superboy into a girl, in retaliation for his disparaging thoughts about women drivers which she picked up telepathically. In Smallville, Clark claims to be Claire Kent, an out-of-town relative who is staying with the Kents.",
"In Smallville, Clark claims to be Claire Kent, an out-of-town relative who is staying with the Kents. When in costume, he appears as Superboy's sister, Super-Sister, and claims the two have exchanged places. Once Superboy has learned his lesson about feeling more respect for women, Shar-La reveals the episode to be a dream which she projected into Superboy's mind.",
"Once Superboy has learned his lesson about feeling more respect for women, Shar-La reveals the episode to be a dream which she projected into Superboy's mind. In Superman #123 (August 1958), Jimmy Olsen uses a magic totem to wish a \"Super-Girl\" into existence as a companion and aid to Superman; however, the two frequently get in each other's way until she is fatally injured protecting Superman from a Kryptonite meteor. At her insistence, Jimmy wishes the dying girl out of existence.",
"At her insistence, Jimmy wishes the dying girl out of existence. DC used this story to gauge public response to the concept of a completely new super-powered female counterpart to Superman. The Kara Zor-El version of Supergirl finally appeared in Action Comics #252 (May 1959). Otto Binder wrote and Al Plastino illustrated her début story, in which Kara was born and raised in Argo City (unnamed until later issues), a fragment of Krypton that survived destruction.",
"Otto Binder wrote and Al Plastino illustrated her début story, in which Kara was born and raised in Argo City (unnamed until later issues), a fragment of Krypton that survived destruction. When the city is doomed by a meteor shower, Kara is sent to Earth by her parents, Zor-El and Alura (the latter unnamed until later issues), to be raised by her cousin Kal-El, known as Superman. Supergirl adopted the secret identity of an orphan \"Linda Lee\", and made Midvale Orphanage her home.",
"Supergirl adopted the secret identity of an orphan \"Linda Lee\", and made Midvale Orphanage her home. Supergirl promised Superman that she would keep her existence on Earth a secret, so that he may use her as a \"secret weapon\", but that didn't stop Supergirl from exploring her new powers covertly. Action Comics #255 published reader's letters-of-comment to Supergirl's first appearance; she had allegedly generated a sizeable and mostly positive reaction.",
"Action Comics #255 published reader's letters-of-comment to Supergirl's first appearance; she had allegedly generated a sizeable and mostly positive reaction. Supergirl, from her debut onwards, became a regular backup strip in Action Comics. She joined the Legion of Super-Heroes, like her cousin had done as a teenager, and in Action Comics #279 (July 1961) she was adopted by Fred and Edna Danvers, becoming \"Linda Lee Danvers\".",
"She joined the Legion of Super-Heroes, like her cousin had done as a teenager, and in Action Comics #279 (July 1961) she was adopted by Fred and Edna Danvers, becoming \"Linda Lee Danvers\". Supergirl acted for three years as Superman's secret weapon, and her adventures during that time have been compared to contemporary developments in feminist thinking in work such as Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique.",
"Supergirl acted for three years as Superman's secret weapon, and her adventures during that time have been compared to contemporary developments in feminist thinking in work such as Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique. She was at last introduced by her super-powered cousin to an unsuspecting world in Action Comics #285 (February 1962). During her first quarter of a century, Linda Danvers would have many professions, from student to student advisor, to actor, and even TV camera operator.",
"During her first quarter of a century, Linda Danvers would have many professions, from student to student advisor, to actor, and even TV camera operator. She shared Action Comics with Superman until transferring to the lead in Adventure Comics at the end of the 1960s. In 1972 she finally moved to her own short-lived eponymous magazine, before DC merged its Supergirl, Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen titles into a single anthology title named The Superman Family. In 1982 Supergirl was relaunched into her own magazine.",
"In 1982 Supergirl was relaunched into her own magazine. In 1982 Supergirl was relaunched into her own magazine. Death during Crisis on Infinite Earths In 1985, the maxi-series Crisis on Infinite Earths was conceived as a way to reduce DC continuity to a single universe in which all characters maintained a single history. Despite Supergirl's continued popularity and status as a central member of the \"Superman Family\", the editors at DC Comics and the creators of the maxi-series decided to kill Supergirl off during the Crisis.",
"Despite Supergirl's continued popularity and status as a central member of the \"Superman Family\", the editors at DC Comics and the creators of the maxi-series decided to kill Supergirl off during the Crisis. According to Marv Wolfman, writer of Crisis on Infinite Earths: The idea of killing Supergirl was first conceived by DC's vice president/executive editor Dick Giordano, who lobbied for the death to DC's publishers.",
"According to Marv Wolfman, writer of Crisis on Infinite Earths: The idea of killing Supergirl was first conceived by DC's vice president/executive editor Dick Giordano, who lobbied for the death to DC's publishers. He later said he has never had any regrets about this, explaining, \"Supergirl was created initially to take advantage of the high Superman sales and not much thought was put into her creation. She was created essentially as a female Superman.",
"She was created essentially as a female Superman. She was created essentially as a female Superman. With time, writers and artists improved upon her execution, but she never did really add anything to the Superman mythos—at least not for me.\" The poor initial reception of the 1984 film Supergirl was also blamed by some sources.",
"The poor initial reception of the 1984 film Supergirl was also blamed by some sources. In 1989, in the tale \"Christmas with the Super-Heroes\" the soul of Kara appears to Boston \"Deadman\" Brand, cheers him up, and then disappears from continuity until 2001 (see below).",
"In 1989, in the tale \"Christmas with the Super-Heroes\" the soul of Kara appears to Boston \"Deadman\" Brand, cheers him up, and then disappears from continuity until 2001 (see below). Several characters unrelated to Superman soon took on the Supergirl persona, including the Matrix (a shapeshifting genetically engineered life-form that 'defaulted' as Supergirl), Linda Danvers (the result of Matrix merging with the dying Linda Danvers and becoming an Earth-bound angel of fire), and Cir-El (Superman's apparent daughter from a possible future).",
"Several characters unrelated to Superman soon took on the Supergirl persona, including the Matrix (a shapeshifting genetically engineered life-form that 'defaulted' as Supergirl), Linda Danvers (the result of Matrix merging with the dying Linda Danvers and becoming an Earth-bound angel of fire), and Cir-El (Superman's apparent daughter from a possible future). A heroine resembling the Pre-Crisis Kara would later appear in Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #5, along with an entire army of Legionnaires gathered from alternate worlds, times, and realities, to battle the Time Trapper.",
"A heroine resembling the Pre-Crisis Kara would later appear in Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #5, along with an entire army of Legionnaires gathered from alternate worlds, times, and realities, to battle the Time Trapper. Two Supergirls meet Prior to the post-Crisis introduction of Kara Zor-El into mainstream continuity, the pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El made an appearance in Peter David's Supergirl: Many Happy Returns.",
"Two Supergirls meet Prior to the post-Crisis introduction of Kara Zor-El into mainstream continuity, the pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El made an appearance in Peter David's Supergirl: Many Happy Returns. The then-current Supergirl series, at the time starring Linda Danvers, was in danger of cancellation and Peter David thought a story arc involving Kara Zor-El would be enough to revitalize the series.",
"The then-current Supergirl series, at the time starring Linda Danvers, was in danger of cancellation and Peter David thought a story arc involving Kara Zor-El would be enough to revitalize the series. In an interview with Cliff Biggers of Newsarama, David states: In the Linda Danvers' Supergirl series issues 49 and 50 (October and November 2000), the original dead Kara appears as Linda's \"guardian angel\".",
"In an interview with Cliff Biggers of Newsarama, David states: In the Linda Danvers' Supergirl series issues 49 and 50 (October and November 2000), the original dead Kara appears as Linda's \"guardian angel\". Then in issues 75 to 80, \"Many Happy Returns\", a young Kara appears from an earlier time long before the Crisis.",
"Then in issues 75 to 80, \"Many Happy Returns\", a young Kara appears from an earlier time long before the Crisis. The paradox becomes a moral crisis for Linda who tries to take her place as the Crisis sacrifice, living for years in a Silver Age universe where \"no one swears, the villains are always easy to defeat, and everything's very, very clean\", eventually marrying the Silver Age Superman and having a daughter with him, before she is forced to return to her universe by the Spectre when he reveals that her efforts to replace Kara as the sacrifice will not succeed.",
"The paradox becomes a moral crisis for Linda who tries to take her place as the Crisis sacrifice, living for years in a Silver Age universe where \"no one swears, the villains are always easy to defeat, and everything's very, very clean\", eventually marrying the Silver Age Superman and having a daughter with him, before she is forced to return to her universe by the Spectre when he reveals that her efforts to replace Kara as the sacrifice will not succeed. This run was illustrated by Ed Benes who had also illustrated Gail Simone's Birds of Prey which had a similar whimsical camaraderie between its female leads.",
"This run was illustrated by Ed Benes who had also illustrated Gail Simone's Birds of Prey which had a similar whimsical camaraderie between its female leads. Linda's inability to ultimately save Kara, coupled with the loss of her daughter, is so devastating that it ends her own career as Supergirl, Linda leaving a note for Superman where she explains that she feels that she has failed to live up to the standards of a true Supergirl and choosing to go somewhere she cannot be found.",
"Linda's inability to ultimately save Kara, coupled with the loss of her daughter, is so devastating that it ends her own career as Supergirl, Linda leaving a note for Superman where she explains that she feels that she has failed to live up to the standards of a true Supergirl and choosing to go somewhere she cannot be found. This story arc is usually cited as one of the best Supergirl stories ever written. The series ended with issue 80.",
"The series ended with issue 80. The series ended with issue 80. Revival After the launch of the Superman/Batman comic book series, executive editor Dan DiDio had been looking for a way to simplify the Supergirl character from her convoluted post-Crisis history; the simplest version, of course, was Superman's cousin. Jeph Loeb and editor Eddie Berganza found an opening to reintroduce the character following the conclusion of the first story arc of Superman/Batman.",
"Jeph Loeb and editor Eddie Berganza found an opening to reintroduce the character following the conclusion of the first story arc of Superman/Batman. Loeb states: The modern version of Kara Zor-El made her debut in Superman/Batman #8 (2004). Kara takes the mantle of Supergirl at the conclusion of the storyline. The Supergirl comic book series would later be relaunched, now starring Kara Zor-El as \"The Girl of Steel\". The first arc of the new series was written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by Ian Churchill.",
"The first arc of the new series was written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by Ian Churchill. Loeb would later describe the appeal of writing for Supergirl: As the character continued to be reinvented, steps towards regarding the iconic character were some of the most prominent changes. Artist Jamal Igle and editor Matt Idleson moved to transition the character away from red panties under her skirt to biker shorts, feeling such a change was a logical progression and \"more respectable.\"",
"Artist Jamal Igle and editor Matt Idleson moved to transition the character away from red panties under her skirt to biker shorts, feeling such a change was a logical progression and \"more respectable.\" The New 52 In September 2011, DC Comics began The New 52, in which it canceled all of its monthly superhero titles and relaunched 52 new ones, wiping out most of its past continuity in the process.",
"The New 52 In September 2011, DC Comics began The New 52, in which it canceled all of its monthly superhero titles and relaunched 52 new ones, wiping out most of its past continuity in the process. One of the new titles was a new Supergirl series (Volume 6) that featured a new origin for Kara and was published between 2011 and 2015.",
"One of the new titles was a new Supergirl series (Volume 6) that featured a new origin for Kara and was published between 2011 and 2015. Artist Mahmud Asrar designed a new costume for the character which strongly deviated from her classic, \"cheerleader\" suit, a change which generated criticism from some readers. DC Rebirth The 2016 DC Comics title relaunch Rebirth incorporates several elements (such as the costume, the name, the setting, and some characters) from the Supergirl television series.",
"DC Rebirth The 2016 DC Comics title relaunch Rebirth incorporates several elements (such as the costume, the name, the setting, and some characters) from the Supergirl television series. The DC Rebirth initiative undid the New 52's modern recreations, bringing DC's heroes back to their more classic iterations. Supergirl's new series (Volume 7) was titled Supergirl: Rebirth, written by Steven Orlando. The first arc was penciled by Brian Ching, who also redesigned Supergirl's costume in reference to a more classic look.",
"The first arc was penciled by Brian Ching, who also redesigned Supergirl's costume in reference to a more classic look. In April 2018, it was announced that the title would be canceled after issue #20, only to be revived in August that year under a new creative team, with new writer Marc Andreyko and artist Kevin Maguire. The series ended with its 42nd issue.",
"The series ended with its 42nd issue. The series ended with its 42nd issue. Future State: Kara Zor-El, Superwoman The Future State comics propose a possible future for Kara Zor-El, now an adult and having taken the alias of Superwoman. She leaves Earth to become a guardian of the Moon, which has become a refugee colony for aliens from the entire universe. The series was written by Marguerite Bennet and penciled by Marguerite Sauvage.",
"The series was written by Marguerite Bennet and penciled by Marguerite Sauvage. Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow Under the Infinite Frontier brand, Kara's next series Woman of Tomorrow debuted in June 2021, written by Tom King and penciled by Brazilian artists Bilquis Evely and Mat Lopes. The arc introduces Supergirl to new character grounds as she begins the story as a young woman, celebrating her 21st birthday and helping a young alien in her quest for revenge.",
"The arc introduces Supergirl to new character grounds as she begins the story as a young woman, celebrating her 21st birthday and helping a young alien in her quest for revenge. The \"mentor-mentee journey on revenge\" plot is, according to King, inspired by the original novel and both versions of True Grit. In this series, the creators paid homage to Linda Danvers, as Kara manifests flame wings and powers after taking a red kryptonite drug, in order to save her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon.",
"In this series, the creators paid homage to Linda Danvers, as Kara manifests flame wings and powers after taking a red kryptonite drug, in order to save her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon. Fictional character biography Silver Age In her debut story, Kara Zor-El is the last survivor of Argo City of the planet Krypton.",
"Fictional character biography Silver Age In her debut story, Kara Zor-El is the last survivor of Argo City of the planet Krypton. Although Argo, which had survived the explosion of the planet, drifted through space as a self-sustaining environment, the soil of the colony eventually turned into Kryptonite; and though Kara's father Zor-El placed lead sheeting above the ground to protect the citizens from radiation, meteorites pierced the sheeting, and the Kryptonians died of radiation poisoning instead of replacing the metal.",
"Although Argo, which had survived the explosion of the planet, drifted through space as a self-sustaining environment, the soil of the colony eventually turned into Kryptonite; and though Kara's father Zor-El placed lead sheeting above the ground to protect the citizens from radiation, meteorites pierced the sheeting, and the Kryptonians died of radiation poisoning instead of replacing the metal. In Supergirl's subsequent backup feature in Action Comics drawn by artist Jim Mooney for ten years until 1968, Supergirl adopts the identity of Linda Lee, an orphan at Midvale Orphanage presided over by headmistress Miss Hart.",
"In Supergirl's subsequent backup feature in Action Comics drawn by artist Jim Mooney for ten years until 1968, Supergirl adopts the identity of Linda Lee, an orphan at Midvale Orphanage presided over by headmistress Miss Hart. She disguises herself by hiding her blond hair beneath a brunette wig; Supergirl interacts with humans on a person-to-person basis performing good deeds and saving the world by helping one person at a time, and she also devises clever schemes as \"Superman's Secret Weapon,\" saving him many times and avoiding adoption before Superman can introduce her publicly.",
"She disguises herself by hiding her blond hair beneath a brunette wig; Supergirl interacts with humans on a person-to-person basis performing good deeds and saving the world by helping one person at a time, and she also devises clever schemes as \"Superman's Secret Weapon,\" saving him many times and avoiding adoption before Superman can introduce her publicly. While temporarily powerless due to the scheming of Kandorian scientist Lesla-Lar, who is out to supplant her on Earth, Linda allows herself to be adopted by engineer and rocket scientist Fred Danvers and his wife, Edna.",
"While temporarily powerless due to the scheming of Kandorian scientist Lesla-Lar, who is out to supplant her on Earth, Linda allows herself to be adopted by engineer and rocket scientist Fred Danvers and his wife, Edna. In time, she reveals her secret identity to her adoptive parents on the same day her cousin Superman finally introduces her to the world in the finale of then-DC's longest playing series ever (eight chapters) aptly called \"The World's Greatest Heroine\".",
"In time, she reveals her secret identity to her adoptive parents on the same day her cousin Superman finally introduces her to the world in the finale of then-DC's longest playing series ever (eight chapters) aptly called \"The World's Greatest Heroine\". When frequent dreams about her parents being alive turn out to be real, she builds a machine aided by her engineer father's talent, and brings them both back alive from the \"Survival Zone\" where they had both teleported during Argo City's final moments.",
"When frequent dreams about her parents being alive turn out to be real, she builds a machine aided by her engineer father's talent, and brings them both back alive from the \"Survival Zone\" where they had both teleported during Argo City's final moments. Zor-El and Allura eventually end up living in Kandor, and when the city in the bottle is enlarged, they both go on to live in Rokyn/New Krypton, where they have the sad duty of receiving her mortal remains after \"Crisis\" for burial.",
"Zor-El and Allura eventually end up living in Kandor, and when the city in the bottle is enlarged, they both go on to live in Rokyn/New Krypton, where they have the sad duty of receiving her mortal remains after \"Crisis\" for burial. Graduating from high school in 1965, Linda Lee goes to college on a scholarship and stays in Stanhope College until she graduates in 1971.",
"Graduating from high school in 1965, Linda Lee goes to college on a scholarship and stays in Stanhope College until she graduates in 1971. During this era, she is helped by her pet cat Streaky, her Super-Horse pet Comet, and befriends Lena Thorul, who had first appeared in the Lois Lane series. Kara is also a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, where she becomes close to Brainiac 5.",
"Kara is also a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, where she becomes close to Brainiac 5. In addition, Linda has boyfriends from the orphanage (Richard \"Dick\" Malverne) and from Atlantis (Jerro the merboy). In 1967, Supergirl meets Batgirl for the first time in World's Finest Comics. Developing a strong friendship, the two characters teamed up many times again, as in Superman Family #171, or Adventure #381.",
"Developing a strong friendship, the two characters teamed up many times again, as in Superman Family #171, or Adventure #381. In 1969, Supergirl left Action Comics and became a featured character in Adventure Comics beginning with issue #381 (June 1969). During the 1970s, Supergirl's costume changed frequently, as did her career in her civilian life.",
"During the 1970s, Supergirl's costume changed frequently, as did her career in her civilian life. In her secret identity as Linda Lee Danvers, Kara Zor-El took a variety of jobs including graduate student in acting, television camera operator, and student counselor, and finally became an actress on the TV soap Secret Hearts. Bronze Age After long-time Superman family editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971, the character underwent revitalization under editor Joe Orlando and artist Mike Sekowsky.",
"Bronze Age After long-time Superman family editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971, the character underwent revitalization under editor Joe Orlando and artist Mike Sekowsky. Wearing a series of new outfits, leaving her adopted foster home with the Danvers family, Linda goes on to San Francisco where she works for KSF-TV as a camera operator and develops a crush on her boss, Geoffrey Anderson. These stories introduced Supergirl's most memorable villain from this period: Lex Luthor's niece Nasthalthia, or Nasty.",
"These stories introduced Supergirl's most memorable villain from this period: Lex Luthor's niece Nasthalthia, or Nasty. Nasty had made two appearances towards the end of Linda's college years, then pursued her to KSF-TV, trying to secure proof of her dual identity.",
"Nasty had made two appearances towards the end of Linda's college years, then pursued her to KSF-TV, trying to secure proof of her dual identity. Supergirl starred in her first solo eponymous monthly series beginning in 1972 until October 1974, when her monthly title merged with Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane, and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen to produce a new title: then-highest DC selling series called The Superman Family, where she eventually became the steady lead story.",
"Supergirl starred in her first solo eponymous monthly series beginning in 1972 until October 1974, when her monthly title merged with Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane, and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen to produce a new title: then-highest DC selling series called The Superman Family, where she eventually became the steady lead story. Linda worked as a student advisor at New Athens Experimental School, before leaving for New York to follow a career in acting with daytime soap Secret Hearts.",
"Linda worked as a student advisor at New Athens Experimental School, before leaving for New York to follow a career in acting with daytime soap Secret Hearts. In 1982 Supergirl received a second monthly solo series titled The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl, relocating the character to Chicago as Linda became a mature student of Psychology. Industry legend, and former DC Publisher, Carmine Infantino provided the penciled art (Bob Oksner inked).",
"Industry legend, and former DC Publisher, Carmine Infantino provided the penciled art (Bob Oksner inked). With issue 13 the title was revamped, with a new costume design (sporting a red headband) and the title shortened to just Supergirl. The series ran until sudden cancellation in 1984, only two months before the character's debut in a big-budget Hollywood film starring Helen Slater.",
"The series ran until sudden cancellation in 1984, only two months before the character's debut in a big-budget Hollywood film starring Helen Slater. In the Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985), the greatest heroes from Earth-One, Earth-Two, Earth-Four, Earth-S, and Earth-X join forces in order to defeat the Anti-Monitor. When Superman comes face to face with the Anti-Monitor and is knocked unconscious, Supergirl rushes to save him before he is killed.",
"When Superman comes face to face with the Anti-Monitor and is knocked unconscious, Supergirl rushes to save him before he is killed. She is able to fight him off long enough for Dr. Light to carry her cousin to a safe distance, but is killed by the Anti-Monitor. A public memorial service for Supergirl takes place in Chicago, where Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) delivers the eulogy. In her remarks, she states \"Kara is a hero. She will not be forgotten.\"",
"She will not be forgotten.\" She will not be forgotten.\" Superman then gives his late cousin burial by taking her corpse to Rokyn/New Krypton to Zor-El and Allura. A Superman issue the next month reveals that Kara had experienced a premonition about her own passing. However, when the universe is rebooted, the timeline is altered. Kara Zor-El and all memory of her is erased from existence.",
"Kara Zor-El and all memory of her is erased from existence. Echoes After these events, the soul of Kara Zor-El made another appearance in continuity three years later in a story titled \"Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot\" in Christmas with the Super-Heroes #2 (1989). Within the story, Boston \"Deadman\" Brand tries to feel the warmth of Christmas by possessing revelers' bodies.",
"Within the story, Boston \"Deadman\" Brand tries to feel the warmth of Christmas by possessing revelers' bodies. Feeling guilty upon the realization that he has been stealing others' Christmases, he flies off feeling sorry for himself for being denied a reward after a year of helping people. A warmly dressed blonde woman approaches Brand, startling him.",
"A warmly dressed blonde woman approaches Brand, startling him. Somehow seeing the normally invisible Brand, she converses with him, reminding him, She reminds Brand that even though he is dead, he is still human, and he should rejoice because it means his spirit is still alive. As the woman leaves, Brand asks her who she is, to which she replies, \"My name is Kara. Though I doubt that will mean anything to you.\"",
"Though I doubt that will mean anything to you.\" The story, written by Alan Brennert and penciled by Dick Giordano, is dedicated to Otto Binder and Jim Mooney, adding: \"We still remember.\" Finally, the soul of Kara Zor-El appeared twice during Peter David's run, specifically in issues #48 and #49 when she appears before a defeated and imprisoned then-Supergirl, Linda Danvers from Earth, and comforts her.",
"Finally, the soul of Kara Zor-El appeared twice during Peter David's run, specifically in issues #48 and #49 when she appears before a defeated and imprisoned then-Supergirl, Linda Danvers from Earth, and comforts her. Linda acknowledges she has been helped three times by her phantom-friend, and when she asks her name she is told by the smiling figure: \"I have gone by many names, but the one I am most fond of is: Kara!\"",
"Linda acknowledges she has been helped three times by her phantom-friend, and when she asks her name she is told by the smiling figure: \"I have gone by many names, but the one I am most fond of is: Kara!\" Modern Age In 2004, Jeph Loeb reintroduced Kara Zor-El into post-Zero Hour (Birthright timeline) continuity during a storyline in the series Superman/Batman.",
"Modern Age In 2004, Jeph Loeb reintroduced Kara Zor-El into post-Zero Hour (Birthright timeline) continuity during a storyline in the series Superman/Batman. She is the biological cousin of Superman, and although chronologically older than him, the ship in which she traveled to Earth was caught in a large green Kryptonite meteorite which held her in a state of suspended animation for much of the journey, making her have the appearance of a 16-year-old girl.",
"She is the biological cousin of Superman, and although chronologically older than him, the ship in which she traveled to Earth was caught in a large green Kryptonite meteorite which held her in a state of suspended animation for much of the journey, making her have the appearance of a 16-year-old girl. Still, Supergirl sometimes saw Superman as a child, due to last carrying him as a baby. DC Comics relaunched the Supergirl, the first story arc of which was written by Loeb. showcases Supergirl on a journey of self-discovery.",
"showcases Supergirl on a journey of self-discovery. showcases Supergirl on a journey of self-discovery. Along her journey, she encounters Power Girl (Kara Zor-El's counterpart from another universe), the Teen Titans, the Outsiders, the Justice League of America, and arch-villain Lex Luthor. During the company-wide crossover series Infinite Crisis (2005), a sequel to Crisis on Infinite Earths, Supergirl is transported to the 31st century, where she is revered as a member of the Superman family and joins the Legion of Super-Heroes.",
"During the company-wide crossover series Infinite Crisis (2005), a sequel to Crisis on Infinite Earths, Supergirl is transported to the 31st century, where she is revered as a member of the Superman family and joins the Legion of Super-Heroes. DC Comics renamed the monthly series Legion of Super-Heroes to Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes. Beginning with issue #16.",
"Beginning with issue #16. Beginning with issue #16. In the limited series 52, which chronicles the events that took place during the missing year after the end of Infinite Crisis, Donna Troy recalls the original Kara Zor-El and her sacrifice to save the universe. Supergirl returns to the 21st century during the course of 52.",
"Supergirl returns to the 21st century during the course of 52. After briefly filling in for a temporarily depowered Superman as guardian of Metropolis, she assumes the identity of Flamebird to fight crime in the bottle city of Kandor with Power Girl as Nightwing in Greg Rucka's arc Supergirl: Kandor. In 2007, Supergirl appeared in the miniseries Amazons Attack! That same year, she joined the Teen Titans for five issues.",
"That same year, she joined the Teen Titans for five issues. Conversations with other heroes who maintain secret identities lead Kara to the conclusion that she needs to make a deeper connection with human beings. She accepts Lana Lang's proposal to present her to the Daily Planet staff as \"Linda Lang\", Lana's teenaged niece.",
"She accepts Lana Lang's proposal to present her to the Daily Planet staff as \"Linda Lang\", Lana's teenaged niece. In the 2008–2009 \"New Krypton\" story arc, in which Superman discovers and frees the real Kandor and a large number of its citizens, Supergirl is reunited with her father, Zor-El and mother, Alura, though Zor-El is killed by the villain Reactron.",
"In the 2008–2009 \"New Krypton\" story arc, in which Superman discovers and frees the real Kandor and a large number of its citizens, Supergirl is reunited with her father, Zor-El and mother, Alura, though Zor-El is killed by the villain Reactron. When a planet is formed that the Kryptonians call New Krypton, Kara is torn between her life on Earth, and her obligation to her mother, eventually joining the New Krypton Science Guild.",
"When a planet is formed that the Kryptonians call New Krypton, Kara is torn between her life on Earth, and her obligation to her mother, eventually joining the New Krypton Science Guild. Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2009 miniseries Justice League: Cry for Justice, and the 2009–2010 storyline \"Blackest Night\".",
"Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2009 miniseries Justice League: Cry for Justice, and the 2009–2010 storyline \"Blackest Night\". The New Krypton storyline would later be resolved in the \"World of New Krypton\", \"Superman: Last Stand of New Krypton\", \"War of the Supermen\" storylines, resulting in the destruction of New Krypton and seeing Supergirl mourn her people.",
"The New Krypton storyline would later be resolved in the \"World of New Krypton\", \"Superman: Last Stand of New Krypton\", \"War of the Supermen\" storylines, resulting in the destruction of New Krypton and seeing Supergirl mourn her people. Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2010 \"Brightest Day\" storyline, the follow up to \"Blackest Night\"., where she joins the Justice League along with Jesse Quick & Jade.",
"Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2010 \"Brightest Day\" storyline, the follow up to \"Blackest Night\"., where she joins the Justice League along with Jesse Quick & Jade. The New 52 In this continuity, Kara's ship lands in Smallville, Kansas but hurtles through the Earth and emerges in Siberia. Kara has no memory of the destruction of Krypton, and believes it is only three days since her spacecraft was launched.",
"Kara has no memory of the destruction of Krypton, and believes it is only three days since her spacecraft was launched. She learns the truth about Krypton's destruction from Superman, and later journeys through a wormhole to Argo City, which she finds in orbit around a blue sun. She finds the city in ruins, with no explanation of how it met that fate, and is attacked by a female Worldkiller named Reign before the city plummets into the sun.",
"She finds the city in ruins, with no explanation of how it met that fate, and is attacked by a female Worldkiller named Reign before the city plummets into the sun. When Reign and her fellow Worldkiller plan to enslave the Earth, Supergirl returns there to defeat them, and thus adopts Earth as her new home. After several battles with supervillains, including the Worldkillers, superweapons of Kryptonian design, she accepts Krypton's destruction, but continues to grapple with her grief.",
"After several battles with supervillains, including the Worldkillers, superweapons of Kryptonian design, she accepts Krypton's destruction, but continues to grapple with her grief. Her desire to restore Krypton results in her being manipulated into nearly destroying the Earth by another Kryptonian whom she falls in love with. Upon realizing his manipulation, she kills him by driving Kryptonite through his heart, and succumbs to Kryptonite poisoning. Following her poisoning, Supergirl departs the Earth to die alone.",
"Following her poisoning, Supergirl departs the Earth to die alone. While adrift in interstellar space, she encounters a planet under attack by monsters, and quickly intervenes to save them, unaware that the entire planet is a trap by Brainiac. She is captured and restrained by Cyborg Superman, but after a struggle, manages to escape both Brainiac and Cyborg Superman.",
"She is captured and restrained by Cyborg Superman, but after a struggle, manages to escape both Brainiac and Cyborg Superman. Returning to Earth, she is sent into the past by the Oracle alongside Superman and Superboy, where she ensures that a resurrected H'el cannot save Krypton, and sacrifices the planet and her family in order to save the universe. Back on Earth, she encounters the assassin Lobo.",
"Back on Earth, she encounters the assassin Lobo. Back on Earth, she encounters the assassin Lobo. Initially eager for a peaceful resolution, seeing a kind of kinship with him in their both being lone survivors of their respective worlds (although not truly aware of Lobo's circumstances), Kara's encounter with the Czarnian would reveal deep mental wounds, resulting in the unleashing of her rage and transformation into a Red Lantern.",
"Initially eager for a peaceful resolution, seeing a kind of kinship with him in their both being lone survivors of their respective worlds (although not truly aware of Lobo's circumstances), Kara's encounter with the Czarnian would reveal deep mental wounds, resulting in the unleashing of her rage and transformation into a Red Lantern. Driven insane by rage, Kara wanders space, attacking everyone in her way, until captured by several Green Lanterns and brought to Hal Jordan.",
"Driven insane by rage, Kara wanders space, attacking everyone in her way, until captured by several Green Lanterns and brought to Hal Jordan. Immediately recognizing a Kryptonian and unable to remove the power ring without killing her, he brings her to Guy Gardner, the leader of one of the two Red Lantern factions, who manages to restore her sanity.",
"Immediately recognizing a Kryptonian and unable to remove the power ring without killing her, he brings her to Guy Gardner, the leader of one of the two Red Lantern factions, who manages to restore her sanity. After some time under Guy Gardner's tutelage and protecting the galaxy as a Red Lantern, after being discharged from the Red Lantern Corps (because Guy did not want for her to die needlessly against Atrocitus' splinter group), on her way back to Earth, Kara encounters the leader of the Worldkillers, who are revealed to be parasitic suits of armor.",
"After some time under Guy Gardner's tutelage and protecting the galaxy as a Red Lantern, after being discharged from the Red Lantern Corps (because Guy did not want for her to die needlessly against Atrocitus' splinter group), on her way back to Earth, Kara encounters the leader of the Worldkillers, who are revealed to be parasitic suits of armor. He attempts to assimilate Kara as his host, but she voluntarily subjects herself to Kryptonite poisoning in order to stop him, and eventually flies into the Sun and removes her power ring, killing her and removing him from her body.",
"He attempts to assimilate Kara as his host, but she voluntarily subjects herself to Kryptonite poisoning in order to stop him, and eventually flies into the Sun and removes her power ring, killing her and removing him from her body. However, Kara is revealed to be immortal while in the Sun's core, and is restored to life without the power ring or any Kryptonite poisoning, immediately destroying the Worldkiller. She later helps Guy against Atrocitus and his Red Lantern splinter group.",
"She later helps Guy against Atrocitus and his Red Lantern splinter group. Convergence and return of the Pre-Crisis version During the Convergence story arc, the original Kara Zor-El who had sacrificed her life during Crisis on Infinite Earths makes an appearance on the amalgamated planet of Telos.",
"Convergence and return of the Pre-Crisis version During the Convergence story arc, the original Kara Zor-El who had sacrificed her life during Crisis on Infinite Earths makes an appearance on the amalgamated planet of Telos. At the end of the saga she volunteers herself to once again fight the Anti-Monitor but this time, with the help of her timeline's Barry Allen, the Pre-Flashpoint Superman (in tow with his pregnant wife, Lois Lane), and a repentant Parallax (Zero Hour Hal Jordan), vows to defeat him for the sake of the multiverse's continued existence.",
"At the end of the saga she volunteers herself to once again fight the Anti-Monitor but this time, with the help of her timeline's Barry Allen, the Pre-Flashpoint Superman (in tow with his pregnant wife, Lois Lane), and a repentant Parallax (Zero Hour Hal Jordan), vows to defeat him for the sake of the multiverse's continued existence. Without it being seen, those left on Telos discover the group was successful and all previous timelines (with the mysterious exception of the pre-Flashpoint/pre-New 52 DC universe) from DC history had been re-established, though the fate of the original Kara Zor-El and her fellows went unmentioned.",
"Without it being seen, those left on Telos discover the group was successful and all previous timelines (with the mysterious exception of the pre-Flashpoint/pre-New 52 DC universe) from DC history had been re-established, though the fate of the original Kara Zor-El and her fellows went unmentioned. A few more details of the battle against the Anti-Monitor are later revealed during the New 52 comic mini-series (leading into DC's Rebirth event).",
"A few more details of the battle against the Anti-Monitor are later revealed during the New 52 comic mini-series (leading into DC's Rebirth event). After the defeat of Anti-Monitor, Pre-New 52 Clark and Lois decide to start life anew in the closest universe they can find (mysteriously yet unable to see their old universe even though the rest of the multiverse had been restored) while Pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El, along with her contemporary Barry Allen and Zero Hour Parallax/Hal Jordan, decide to find their place in the universe and go off to do so.",
"After the defeat of Anti-Monitor, Pre-New 52 Clark and Lois decide to start life anew in the closest universe they can find (mysteriously yet unable to see their old universe even though the rest of the multiverse had been restored) while Pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El, along with her contemporary Barry Allen and Zero Hour Parallax/Hal Jordan, decide to find their place in the universe and go off to do so. Her fate as of that story arc is yet to be revealed.",
"Her fate as of that story arc is yet to be revealed. DC Rebirth After the events that led to the death of the New 52 version of Superman, 16-year-old Kara lives in National City with her adoptive parents, D.E.O. agents Jeremiah and Eliza Danvers, where she attends high school and works with the agency as led by Cameron Chase. As part of her civilian identity, Kara receives special glasses that darken her blond hair when posing as Kara Danvers.",
"As part of her civilian identity, Kara receives special glasses that darken her blond hair when posing as Kara Danvers. Kara also goes on an internship at Cat Grant's CATCO alongside Ben Rubel, whom she befriends. In her opening arc \"The Reign of the Cyborg Supermen\", Kara discovers that the cyborg Zor-El, whom she had battled in her New 52 title, is still active and has rebuilt other Kryptonians (her mother Alura included), planning to take over Earth.",
"In her opening arc \"The Reign of the Cyborg Supermen\", Kara discovers that the cyborg Zor-El, whom she had battled in her New 52 title, is still active and has rebuilt other Kryptonians (her mother Alura included), planning to take over Earth. Supergirl defeats them but vows to help her father regardless of his actions. After National City discovers Supergirl has kept Zor-El's \"living\" status a secret, they become untrustful of her.",
"After National City discovers Supergirl has kept Zor-El's \"living\" status a secret, they become untrustful of her. Director Bones takes advantage of the heroine's impopularity and, after taking control of the D.E.O., sends villains in an attempt to bring Kara down. She defeats all of them and regains trust from National City with Ben's help.",
"She defeats all of them and regains trust from National City with Ben's help. The Supergirl Who Laughs Kara is later infected by The Batman Who Laughs toxin, causing her to turn evil and joining other infected as part of Laughs Secret Six before later being cured. She is fired from CatCo by Cat Grant and starts working at S.T.A.R. Labs. Woman of Tomorrow Journeying throughout the universe with Krypto, Kara celebrates her 21st birthday alone on a distant planet.",
"Woman of Tomorrow Journeying throughout the universe with Krypto, Kara celebrates her 21st birthday alone on a distant planet. Drunk in a bar, she is approached by a little girl named Ruthye and is asked to kill Krem (her father's murderer) in vengeance. Supergirl refuses but, when she is about to leave the planet, Krem attacks and severely wounds both her and Krypto, fleeing in Kara's ship.",
"Supergirl refuses but, when she is about to leave the planet, Krem attacks and severely wounds both her and Krypto, fleeing in Kara's ship. Kara begins her journey alongside Ruthye and, powerless, saves her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon by taking a red kryptonite drug which causes her to manifest flame wings. Powers and abilities Like all Kryptonians under a yellow sun, the current version of Kara Zor-El possesses virtually unlimited strength, stamina, and durability.",
"Powers and abilities Like all Kryptonians under a yellow sun, the current version of Kara Zor-El possesses virtually unlimited strength, stamina, and durability. She is able to fly and with super speed that she can also use on foot, similar to Superman and The Flash. Also like Superman, Supergirl possesses super senses, super-breath, and freeze breathe, as well as multiple forms of supervision (including X-Ray, Infrared, Telescopic, and Microscopic).",
"Also like Superman, Supergirl possesses super senses, super-breath, and freeze breathe, as well as multiple forms of supervision (including X-Ray, Infrared, Telescopic, and Microscopic). Kara also has a bio-electric aura that enhances her near invulnerability and also protects her skin and her costume from dirt and tear; as such, Kara is perpetually clean. The Sun also provides Kara with a longer lifespan than that of a human being, to the point that she is effectively a biological immortal.",
"The Sun also provides Kara with a longer lifespan than that of a human being, to the point that she is effectively a biological immortal. Kara doesn't require food, water, or sleep to survive. She is also immune to most diseases, mental and physical, and would require a very strong strain to have a chance at affecting her. In the rare instances that Kara is harmed by someone matching her strength or by the use of one of her weaknesses, she can heal almost instantaneously.",
"In the rare instances that Kara is harmed by someone matching her strength or by the use of one of her weaknesses, she can heal almost instantaneously. Her power surpasses most other beings, though she can be overpowered by those who rival her strength such as Black Adam, Darkseid, Despero, Doomsday, Bizarro, Wonder Woman, and Superman. In reality, Kara is actually older than her cousin, Clark, and spent time on Krypton before its destruction.",
"In reality, Kara is actually older than her cousin, Clark, and spent time on Krypton before its destruction. As such (unlike Superman), she possesses memories of Kryptonian culture as well as her cousin's parents. Continued exposure to a yellow Sun will slowly increase abilities. Many characters in the DC Universe have noted that Supergirl appears, at times, to be even more powerful than Superman himself.",
"Many characters in the DC Universe have noted that Supergirl appears, at times, to be even more powerful than Superman himself. In answer to this, Superman states that this is because he has spent his entire life subconsciously suppressing his full powers in order to avoid hurting others, having been absorbing solar radiation since his infancy. Kara, not having such practice or experience, simply uses the full magnitude of her powers.",
"Kara, not having such practice or experience, simply uses the full magnitude of her powers. Abilities Unlike her cousin, Kara was taught to fight in Krypton as part of her tests, and at the Crucible Academy, being adept at various Kryptonian fighting styles like Klurkor and Torquasm Rao. Supergirl also learned the art of Bagua under I-Ching's instructions. She practiced how to manipulate her Chi or Qi in order to gain better control of her powers due to them becoming overwhelmed after her conflict with the Fatal Five.",
"She practiced how to manipulate her Chi or Qi in order to gain better control of her powers due to them becoming overwhelmed after her conflict with the Fatal Five. Superman recommended guardianship with I-Ching to Supergirl first. In addition to training in Krypton, Kara was trained by Batman in advanced martial arts and trained with the Amazons in Themyscira in unarmed and armed combat, Amazonas martial arts, fencing, Shield handling, and other Amazon weapons. She trained with Wonder Woman and Artemis extensively.",
"She trained with Wonder Woman and Artemis extensively. She trained with Wonder Woman and Artemis extensively. Other versions There are numerous alternate versions of Supergirl. The most notable is Power Girl (real name Kara Zor-L, also known as Karen Starr) who first appeared in All Star Comics #58 (January/February 1976). Power Girl is the Earth-Two counterpart of Supergirl and the first cousin of Kal-L, Superman of the pre-Crisis Earth-Two. The infant Power Girl's parents enabled her to escape the destruction of Krypton.",
"The infant Power Girl's parents enabled her to escape the destruction of Krypton. Although she left the planet at the same time that Superman did, her ship took much longer to reach Earth-Two. She has superhuman strength and the ability to fly and is the first chairwoman of the Justice Society of America. She sports a bob of blond hair; wears a distinctive white, red, and blue costume; and has an aggressive fighting style.",
"She sports a bob of blond hair; wears a distinctive white, red, and blue costume; and has an aggressive fighting style. Throughout her early appearances in All Star Comics, she is often at odds with Wildcat because his penchant for talking to her as if she were an ordinary human female rather than a superpowered Kryptonian annoys her. She also fought alongside the Sovereign Seven team, replacing Rampart after his death though that series is not considered to be part of canon in the DC universe.",
"She also fought alongside the Sovereign Seven team, replacing Rampart after his death though that series is not considered to be part of canon in the DC universe. The 1985 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths eliminated Earth-Two, causing her origin to change; she became the granddaughter of the Atlantean sorcerer Arion. However, story events culminating in the 2005–2006 Infinite Crisis limited series restored her status as a refugee from the Krypton of the destroyed pre-Crisis Earth-Two universe.",
"However, story events culminating in the 2005–2006 Infinite Crisis limited series restored her status as a refugee from the Krypton of the destroyed pre-Crisis Earth-Two universe. Like the original Kara's Streaky, Power Girl has a cat, featured in a story by Amanda Conner in Wonder Woman #600. Reception This version of Supergirl is ranked as the 153rd-greatest comic book character of all time by Wizard magazine.",
"Reception This version of Supergirl is ranked as the 153rd-greatest comic book character of all time by Wizard magazine. IGN also ranked this version of Supergirl as the 94th-greatest comic book superhero, stating \"for a character born of the Silver Age that saw everything from a Super Baby to a Super Monkey, Kara Zor-El grew into something much more than simply another marketing ploy to slap an 'S' on.\"",
"IGN also ranked this version of Supergirl as the 94th-greatest comic book superhero, stating \"for a character born of the Silver Age that saw everything from a Super Baby to a Super Monkey, Kara Zor-El grew into something much more than simply another marketing ploy to slap an 'S' on.\" In 2013 IGN ranked Supergirl as the 17th-greatest DC comic superhero, stating \"she was an early example of a female sidekick developing a large fanbase in her own right\", and \"Supergirl has been one of DC's most powerful heroes, and a standard to hold other female heroes against.\"",
"In 2013 IGN ranked Supergirl as the 17th-greatest DC comic superhero, stating \"she was an early example of a female sidekick developing a large fanbase in her own right\", and \"Supergirl has been one of DC's most powerful heroes, and a standard to hold other female heroes against.\" Appearances Pre-Crisis 1959 to 1969: Action Comics #252 to #376. 1969 to 1972: Adventure Comics #381 to #424. 1972 to 1974: Supergirl #1 to #10.",
"1972 to 1974: Supergirl #1 to #10. 1974 to 1982: Her comic merges with Jimmy Olsen's and Lois Lane's to become Superman Family #164 to #222. 1982 to 1984: The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl #1 to #13, Supergirl (vol. 2) #14 to #23. 2015: Convergence Kara Zor-El appeared in over 750 stories published by DC from 1959 to 1985.",
"2015: Convergence Kara Zor-El appeared in over 750 stories published by DC from 1959 to 1985. Post-Crisis 2004 to 2005: Superman/Batman #8 to #13 and #19 2005 to 2011: Supergirl (vol. 5) #0 to #67 2006 to 2008: Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes (Legion of Super-Heroes vol. 5) #16 to #37 2007: Action Comics #850 2008: Final Crisis 2011 to 2015: New 52: Supergirl (vol.",
"5) #16 to #37 2007: Action Comics #850 2008: Final Crisis 2011 to 2015: New 52: Supergirl (vol. 6) #1 to #40 2016 to current: Rebirth: Supergirl (vol. 7) #1 to current Kara Zor-El also appears as a supporting character in several issues of other DC Comics, including Superman, Action Comics, Teen Titans, Amazons Attack, World War III, and Wonder Girl.",
"7) #1 to current Kara Zor-El also appears as a supporting character in several issues of other DC Comics, including Superman, Action Comics, Teen Titans, Amazons Attack, World War III, and Wonder Girl. She has also appeared in many issues of Superman, Action Comics, and Superman New Krypton starting with the World Without Superman event in 2009, and continuing with the World Against Superman event going into 2010. Collected editions Listed in chronological order.",
"Collected editions Listed in chronological order. Collected editions Listed in chronological order. All ages titles are not in continuity with the original or modern Kara. In other media Television Live-action Smallville Prior to the seventh season (2007–2008) of the WB/CW show Smallville where she is introduced into the cast and is portrayed by Laura Vandervoort, a woman claiming to be Kara (portrayed by Adrianne Palicki) is briefly introduced in the season 3 finale.",
"In other media Television Live-action Smallville Prior to the seventh season (2007–2008) of the WB/CW show Smallville where she is introduced into the cast and is portrayed by Laura Vandervoort, a woman claiming to be Kara (portrayed by Adrianne Palicki) is briefly introduced in the season 3 finale. It is later revealed her real name is Lindsey Harrison, and had been given false memories and powers by the artificial intelligence of Clark Kent's (Tom Welling) father Jor-El as part of a series of tests.",
"It is later revealed her real name is Lindsey Harrison, and had been given false memories and powers by the artificial intelligence of Clark Kent's (Tom Welling) father Jor-El as part of a series of tests. Vandervoort portrays the real Kara, Clark's cousin whose spaceship had been trapped in stasis until the events of the season 6 finale. Much of season 7 is concerned with Kara's attempts to adjust to life on Earth, especially after learning of Krypton's destruction.",
"Much of season 7 is concerned with Kara's attempts to adjust to life on Earth, especially after learning of Krypton's destruction. Her storyline sees her simultaneously become the object of Lex Luthor's (Michael Rosenbaum) obsessions and Jimmy Olsen's (Aaron Ashmore) affections, suffer a bout of amnesia, discover her father's (Christopher Heyerdahl) sinister motives and become a target of evil android Brainiac (James Marsters). The season finale sees Kara become trapped in the Phantom Zone.",
"The season finale sees Kara become trapped in the Phantom Zone. Starting with season 8, Vandervoort ceases to feature as a series regular, but reprises the role three more times. In her first guest appearance, \"Bloodline,\" Kara is freed from the Phantom Zone and later departs Clark's hometown of Smallville to search for Kandor, her birthplace, as it is rumored to have survived their home planet's destruction.",
"In her first guest appearance, \"Bloodline,\" Kara is freed from the Phantom Zone and later departs Clark's hometown of Smallville to search for Kandor, her birthplace, as it is rumored to have survived their home planet's destruction. She appears again in the season 10 episode \"Supergirl\", in which she formally adopts her superhero moniker. Her off-screen adventures are alluded to thereafter.",
"Her off-screen adventures are alluded to thereafter. Her off-screen adventures are alluded to thereafter. Vandervoort makes a final appearance in the show's penultimate episode, \"Prophecy\", in which she helps Green Arrow (Justin Hartley) locate the \"Bow of Orion\" to use against Darkseid. She is then called to the Fortress of Solitude, where she learns from Jor-El that her job on Earth is done. Using a Legion of Super-Heroes flight ring, she travels to the future to seek her own destiny.",
"Using a Legion of Super-Heroes flight ring, she travels to the future to seek her own destiny. The Season Eleven comic book continuation of the show later depicts Kara's continued story in the 31st century, subsequent return to the present and joining the Justice League. Arrowverse In September 2014, a 22-episode television series centered around Supergirl was in development at Warner Bros. Television, set to premiere on CBS with a January 2015 air date. Melissa Benoist was cast as the titular character.",
"Melissa Benoist was cast as the titular character. Melissa Benoist was cast as the titular character. In May 2016, the series moved to The CW and was later integrated into the Arrowverse, a shared universe consisting of shows including Arrow, The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow. In the series, Kara Zor-El was sent to Earth to protect her cousin Kal-El, following her homeworld Krypton's destruction. However, she is knocked into the Phantom Zone, where she is stranded for 24 years.",
"However, she is knocked into the Phantom Zone, where she is stranded for 24 years. She eventually crash lands on Earth and is found by her already grown-up cousin Kal, now known to the world as the iconic superhero \"Superman\". Superman brings Kara into the custody of Jeremiah Danvers, director of the Department of Extranormal Operations (D.E.O. ), and his daughter Alex. Growing up, Kara struggles to maintain her Kryptonian abilities as well as balancing her relationship with her adoptive sister.",
"Growing up, Kara struggles to maintain her Kryptonian abilities as well as balancing her relationship with her adoptive sister. Eventually, the two bond when Kara's powers are exposed. However, Jeremiah decides it's best to isolate her abilities. As an adult, Kara is forced to use her powers again when her sister's plane almost crashes. She is later dubbed \"Supergirl\" by the media and dons a costume like her cousin.",
"She is later dubbed \"Supergirl\" by the media and dons a costume like her cousin. Kara decides to use her abilities to fight alien invaders such as Kara's aunt Astra and her husband Non, Mon-El's rogue parents, the Worldkiller Reign, anti-alien activist Ben Lockwood, and later the shadowy organization Leviathan, with the help of her sister Alex, now an agent of the D.E.O., her best friend and tech-expert Winn Schott, last of the Green Martians J'onn J'onzz / Martian Manhunter, and Kal's best friend Jimmy Olsen.",
"Kara decides to use her abilities to fight alien invaders such as Kara's aunt Astra and her husband Non, Mon-El's rogue parents, the Worldkiller Reign, anti-alien activist Ben Lockwood, and later the shadowy organization Leviathan, with the help of her sister Alex, now an agent of the D.E.O., her best friend and tech-expert Winn Schott, last of the Green Martians J'onn J'onzz / Martian Manhunter, and Kal's best friend Jimmy Olsen. She is later joined by Lex Luthor's sister Lena, Prince of Daxam Mon-El, former Legion of Superheroes member Querl \"Brainy\" Dox / Brainiac 5, Nia Nal / Dreamer, James' younger sister Kelly, and reporter Willam Dey face against these rival forces.",
"She is later joined by Lex Luthor's sister Lena, Prince of Daxam Mon-El, former Legion of Superheroes member Querl \"Brainy\" Dox / Brainiac 5, Nia Nal / Dreamer, James' younger sister Kelly, and reporter Willam Dey face against these rival forces. After joining the Arrowverse, which contain annual crossover, Kara assists Barry Allen, Oliver Queen and the Legends of Tomorrow against threats on their designated earth \"Earth-1\" while Kara’s is designated as \"Earth-38.",
"After joining the Arrowverse, which contain annual crossover, Kara assists Barry Allen, Oliver Queen and the Legends of Tomorrow against threats on their designated earth \"Earth-1\" while Kara’s is designated as \"Earth-38. Later, Kara is selected by The Monitor as the Paragon of Hope to participate in the coming crisis and fight against the Anti-Monitor, whose goal is to destroy the multiverse. After doing so, the Paragons are sent to the Vanishing Point where Oliver, now a Spectre, helps them escape.",
"After doing so, the Paragons are sent to the Vanishing Point where Oliver, now a Spectre, helps them escape. The Paragons appear at the dawn of time in the anti-matter universe where they have their final confrontation with the Anti-Monitor. Eventually, Oliver sacrifices himself to kill the Anti-Monitor, and as a result, a new multiverse is born with Earth-38 and Earth-1 merged into \"Earth-Prime\". Following the crisis, Kara is forced to deal the after-effects of Crisis which include working with Lex, now owning the D.E.O.",
"Following the crisis, Kara is forced to deal the after-effects of Crisis which include working with Lex, now owning the D.E.O. while Leviathan continue their covert operations under Gamemnae. The sixth season sees Kara and her allies expose Lex's crimes, but are then forced to deal with Nyxlygsptlnz, a fifth-dimensional imp who tricked the heroes into releasing her from the Phantom Zone.",
"The sixth season sees Kara and her allies expose Lex's crimes, but are then forced to deal with Nyxlygsptlnz, a fifth-dimensional imp who tricked the heroes into releasing her from the Phantom Zone. Eventually Nyxlygsptlnz joins forces with Lex Luthor and the two kill William, but Kara's assembled allies are able to defeat the two, culminating in Lex and Nyxlygsptlnz being trapped in the Phantom Zone when one of their own plans backfires.",
"Eventually Nyxlygsptlnz joins forces with Lex Luthor and the two kill William, but Kara's assembled allies are able to defeat the two, culminating in Lex and Nyxlygsptlnz being trapped in the Phantom Zone when one of their own plans backfires. The series concludes with Kara revealing her dual identity so that she can live a full life as one person. Animation DC Nation Shorts Supergirl appears with Batgirl and Wonder Girl in Super Best Friends Forever, voiced by Nicole Sullivan.",
"Animation DC Nation Shorts Supergirl appears with Batgirl and Wonder Girl in Super Best Friends Forever, voiced by Nicole Sullivan. DC Super Hero Girls Supergirl appears as a central protagonist in the web series DC Super Hero Girls voiced by Anais Fairweather, and is a student at Super Hero High, is very kind and caring and extremely powerful but she's also very clumsy. She also appears as a central protagonist in the 2019 TV series, with Nicole Sullivan reprising her role from the Super Best Friends Forever shorts.",
"She also appears as a central protagonist in the 2019 TV series, with Nicole Sullivan reprising her role from the Super Best Friends Forever shorts. In this version, she is also a rebel and is known as the \"cool kid\" in school. She may be tough but she can easily express her emotions and is very open-minded as well. She can be a cool friend and a helpful one, but she can also be jealous sometimes and she dislikes her cousin's prominence.",
"She can be a cool friend and a helpful one, but she can also be jealous sometimes and she dislikes her cousin's prominence. Justice League Action Supergirl appears in Justice League Action, voiced by Joanne Spracklen. She has the appearance of a wide-eyed human teenager with blonde hair and wears her traditional costume except that it has thigh-high boots and a pleated skirt. As a person, she is youthful, responsible, and shows much affection for her cousin Superman.",
"As a person, she is youthful, responsible, and shows much affection for her cousin Superman. In \"Party Animal\", she appears as a cameo at this Christmas party with the Justice League. In \"Keeping up with the Kryptonians\", Supergirl becomes a star of the popular reality show \"That's So Kara\", and Superman a Kasnian who rules from one place to another on Earth, all being a reality caused by Mister Mxyzptlk.",
"In \"Keeping up with the Kryptonians\", Supergirl becomes a star of the popular reality show \"That's So Kara\", and Superman a Kasnian who rules from one place to another on Earth, all being a reality caused by Mister Mxyzptlk. In \"Unleashed\", Supergirl accompanies Justice League in stopping Red Lantern Corps, unaware that it was a distraction made by Dex-Starr to invade Earth, until it was ultimately resolved by Krypto, Streaky, and Plastic Man.",
"In \"Unleashed\", Supergirl accompanies Justice League in stopping Red Lantern Corps, unaware that it was a distraction made by Dex-Starr to invade Earth, until it was ultimately resolved by Krypto, Streaky, and Plastic Man. In a short \"The Goddess Must Be Crazy\", Supergirl trains with Wonder Woman in Paradise Island, until she is possessed by Felix Faust, to destroy the island. Film Superman film series A live action depiction of Supergirl first appears in the eponymous 1984 film starring Helen Slater as Supergirl.",
"Film Superman film series A live action depiction of Supergirl first appears in the eponymous 1984 film starring Helen Slater as Supergirl. The film is a spin-off from the Superman film series starring Christopher Reeve, to which it is connected by Marc McClure's character of Jimmy Olsen. DC Extended Universe Kara Zor-El / Linda Danvers / Supergirl exists within the DC Extended Universe, as she was referenced in Man of Steel when Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman discovers an empty pod within the Kryptonian scout spaceship.",
"DC Extended Universe Kara Zor-El / Linda Danvers / Supergirl exists within the DC Extended Universe, as she was referenced in Man of Steel when Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman discovers an empty pod within the Kryptonian scout spaceship. Though Zack Snyder confirmed in August 2018 that even though the character does exist, that pod was not intended for her. In August 2018, a film centered around the character was announced to be in development, with Oren Uziel hired as screenwriter for the project.",
"In August 2018, a film centered around the character was announced to be in development, with Oren Uziel hired as screenwriter for the project. The studio intends to hire a female director, with Reed Morano—who has expressed interest in the project—being its top choice. Filming was expected to start production in early 2020. Sasha Calle will play Supergirl for the DC Extended Universe in The Flash.",
"Sasha Calle will play Supergirl for the DC Extended Universe in The Flash. Animation Summer Glau voices the post-Crisis version of Kara Zor-El in Superman/Batman: Apocalypse, which is based on the Superman/Batman storyline \"The Supergirl from Krypton\". Despite this, it was confirmed by director Lauren Montgomery that Supergirl's name was removed from the title due to the much slower sales of the previous Wonder Woman animated movie, and the character was not permitted to appear on the cover in her trademark outfit.",
"Despite this, it was confirmed by director Lauren Montgomery that Supergirl's name was removed from the title due to the much slower sales of the previous Wonder Woman animated movie, and the character was not permitted to appear on the cover in her trademark outfit. Molly Quinn voices Supergirl in Superman: Unbound. Supergirl appears in Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League: Cosmic Clash, voiced by Jessica DiCicco. Video games Supergirl appears in DC Universe Online, voiced by Adriene Mishler.",
"Video games Supergirl appears in DC Universe Online, voiced by Adriene Mishler. In the villain campaign, the players help Doctor Psycho capture Supergirl using Kryptonite. In the hero campaign, the players fight Doctor Psycho to save Supergirl. Under the thrall of Brainiac, she must be defeated in the Fortress of Solitude: Power Core raid. Supergirl is unlockable in Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes, voiced by Bridget Hoffman. Supergirl makes a cameo appearance in the IOS version of Injustice: Gods Among Us as a support card.",
"Supergirl makes a cameo appearance in the IOS version of Injustice: Gods Among Us as a support card. Supergirl appears as a playable character in Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham, voiced by Kari Wahlgren. She is playable in her default variant which is designed after her appearance in The New 52 and in her Classic attire.",
"She is playable in her default variant which is designed after her appearance in The New 52 and in her Classic attire. Her Classic variant is unlocked in a VR Mission while her New 52 variant is unlocked in a Hub Quest in Nok where she requests players to defeat a number of enemies she accidentally releases from their cells. Supergirl appears as a playable character in Infinite Crisis, voiced by Camilla Luddington.",
"Supergirl appears as a playable character in Infinite Crisis, voiced by Camilla Luddington. Supergirl appears as a playable character and the central protagonist in Injustice 2 by NetherRealm Studios, the sequel to Injustice: Gods Among Us, voiced by Laura Bailey.",
"Supergirl appears as a playable character and the central protagonist in Injustice 2 by NetherRealm Studios, the sequel to Injustice: Gods Among Us, voiced by Laura Bailey. Here her origin is much like in the comics where she is sent along with her cousin Kal-El to Earth by her mother after Krypton is destroyed but on separate pods where hers veers off-course after sustaining significant damage, stranding her in space for many years until she lands on Earth, unaged.",
"Here her origin is much like in the comics where she is sent along with her cousin Kal-El to Earth by her mother after Krypton is destroyed but on separate pods where hers veers off-course after sustaining significant damage, stranding her in space for many years until she lands on Earth, unaged. When the main storyline starts, she is residing on Black Adam's kingdom of Khandaq, apparently under his and Wonder Woman's protection.",
"When the main storyline starts, she is residing on Black Adam's kingdom of Khandaq, apparently under his and Wonder Woman's protection. When Brainiac who was responsible for Krypton's destruction attacks, she, Wonder Woman, and Black Adam attempt to free Superman and the remaining members of the Regime, while being interrupted in their efforts by new Insurgency recruits Blue Beetle and Firestorm until Batman himself arrives and releases Superman, leading to a temporary alliance between the Regime and Insurgency against the alien warlord.",
"When Brainiac who was responsible for Krypton's destruction attacks, she, Wonder Woman, and Black Adam attempt to free Superman and the remaining members of the Regime, while being interrupted in their efforts by new Insurgency recruits Blue Beetle and Firestorm until Batman himself arrives and releases Superman, leading to a temporary alliance between the Regime and Insurgency against the alien warlord. Over the course of the story, she learns the truth about her cousin's tyranny and at the end of the game sides with Batman, Green Lantern and Flash in letting Brainiac live in order to restore the lost cities but is defeated.",
"Over the course of the story, she learns the truth about her cousin's tyranny and at the end of the game sides with Batman, Green Lantern and Flash in letting Brainiac live in order to restore the lost cities but is defeated. In Batman's ending, she laments her cousin's tyranny and sees him leave to be imprisoned in the Phantom Zone and is offered membership by Batman in his Justice League.",
"In Batman's ending, she laments her cousin's tyranny and sees him leave to be imprisoned in the Phantom Zone and is offered membership by Batman in his Justice League. In Superman's ending, she is imprisoned aboard Brainiac's ship and to her shock discovers her cousin has bonded with it and when she refuses his offer to join him in leading his new legion of imprisoned species. He attempts to coerce her by revealing a brainwashed Batman, who had also been captured, further shocking her.",
"He attempts to coerce her by revealing a brainwashed Batman, who had also been captured, further shocking her. Supergirl appears as a limited-distribution minifigure for the toys-to-life video game Lego Dimensions, with Kari Wahlgren reprising her role. She has the ability to transform between her classic and Red Lantern forms. Supergirl appears as a playable character in DC Unchained. Supergirl appears in the PSP version of Justice League Heroes. Supergirl appears as a playable character in the DC TV Super-Heroes DLC pack in Lego DC Super-Villains.",
"Supergirl appears as a playable character in the DC TV Super-Heroes DLC pack in Lego DC Super-Villains. See also Alternative versions of Supergirl Laurel Gand References External links DC Comics Pre-Crisis Supergirl Chronology Supergirl Characters created by Otto Binder Comics characters introduced in 1958 Comics characters introduced in 1959 DC Comics aliens DC Comics American superheroes DC Comics characters who can move at superhuman speeds DC Comics characters with accelerated healing DC Comics characters with superhuman strength DC Comics deities DC Comics female superheroes DC Comics film characters DC Comics television characters DC Comics extraterrestrial superheroes Female characters in television Fictional characters with superhuman senses Fictional actors Fictional extraterrestrial–human hybrids Fictional orphans Fictional photographers Fictional refugees Fictional reporters Fictional school counselors Fictional American secret agents Fictional waiting staff Kryptonians Superheroes who are adopted Vigilante characters in comics"
] |
[
"Supergirl (Kara Zor-El)",
"Bronze Age",
"whaat is the bronze age",
"After long-time Superman family editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971,",
"what happened during the bronze age",
"the character underwent revitalization under editor Joe Orlando and artist Mike Sekowsky."
] | C_eaa7329c3ac14b8bb4aaea61d8fa517d_1 | anything intresting happen | 3 | anything interesting happen during Supergirl's revitalization? | Supergirl (Kara Zor-El) | After long-time Superman family editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971, the character underwent revitalization under editor Joe Orlando and artist Mike Sekowsky. Wearing a series of new outfits, leaving her adopted foster home with the Danvers family, Linda goes on to San Francisco where she works for KSF-TV as a camera operator and develops a crush on her boss, Geoffrey Anderson. These stories introduced Supergirl's most memorable villain from this period: Lex Luthor's niece Nasthalthia, or Nasty. Nasty had made two appearances towards the end of Linda's college years, then pursued her to KSF-TV, trying to secure proof of her dual identity. Supergirl starred in her first solo eponymous monthly series beginning in 1972 until October 1974, when her monthly title merged with Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane, and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen to produce a new title: then-highest DC selling series called The Superman Family, where she eventually became the steady lead story. Linda worked as a student advisor at New Athens Experimental School, before leaving for New York to follow a career in acting with daytime soap Secret Hearts. In 1982 Supergirl received a second monthly solo series titled The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl, relocating the character to Chicago as Linda became a mature student of Psychology. Industry legend, and former DC Publisher, Carmine Infantino provided the pencilled art (Bob Oksner inked). With issue 13 the title was revamped, with a new costume design (sporting a red headband) and the title shortened to just Supergirl. The series ran until sudden cancellation in 1984, only two months before the character's debut in a big-budget Hollywood film starring Helen Slater. In the Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985) the greatest heroes from Earth-One, Earth-Two, Earth-Four, Earth-S, and Earth-X join forces in order to defeat the Anti-Monitor. When Superman comes face to face with the Anti-Monitor and is knocked unconscious, Supergirl rushes to save him before he is killed. She is able to fight him off long enough for Dr. Light to carry her cousin to a safe distance, but is killed by the Anti-Monitor. A public memorial service for Supergirl takes place in Chicago, where Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) delivers the eulogy. In her remarks she states "Kara is a hero. She will not be forgotten." Superman then gives his late cousin burial by taking her corpse to Rokyn/New Krypton to Zor-El and Allura. A Superman issue the next month reveals that Kara had experienced a premonition about her own passing. However, when the universe is rebooted, the timeline is altered. Kara Zor-El and all memory of her is erased from existence. CANNOTANSWER | leaving her adopted foster home with the Danvers family, Linda goes on to San Francisco where she works for KSF-TV as a camera operator | Kara Zor-El, also known by her adoptive names of Linda Lee Danvers, Kara Kent, Linda Lang, and Kara Danvers, and the superhero name of Supergirl, is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. She was created by Otto Binder and designed by Al Plastino. Danvers first appeared in Action Comics #252 (May 1959)'s "The Supergirl from Krypton" story. Kara is the biological cousin of Kal-El, who went on to adopt the name of Clark Kent and the superhero Superman. During the 1980s and the revolution of the Modern Age of Comics, Superman editors believed the character's history had become too convoluted, thus killing Supergirl during the 1985 Crisis on Infinite Earths event and retconning her out of existence.
DC Comics Senior Vice President Dan DiDio re-introduced the character in 2004 along with editor Eddie Berganza and writer Jeph Loeb, with her the Superman/Batman storyline "The Supergirl from Krypton". As the current Supergirl, Kara stars in her own monthly comic book series. With DC's The New 52 relaunch, Kara, like most of the DC Universe, was revamped. DC relaunched the Supergirl comic in August 2016 as part of their DC Rebirth initiative.
In live-action, Supergirl appeared in the 1984 film based on her character and was portrayed by Helen Slater. She also appeared in the series Smallville, played by actress Laura Vandervoort. In 2015, the live-action Arrowverse series Supergirl debuted on CBS and then moved to The CW after the first season. Supergirl was portrayed by Melissa Benoist on the show and also appeared on other Arrowverse shows. Sasha Calle will appear as Supergirl in the upcoming DC Extended Universe film The Flash (2022).
Publication history
Early life
Although Kara Zor-El was the first character to use the name "Supergirl," DC Comics tested three different female versions of Superman prior to her debut.
The first story to feature a female counterpart to Superman was "Lois Lane – Superwoman," which was published in Action Comics #60 (May 1943). In the story, a hospitalized Lois Lane dreams she has gained superpowers thanks to a blood transfusion from the Man of Steel. She begins her own career as "Superwoman", complete with a version of Superman's costume.
In the Superboy #78 story entitled "Claire Kent, Alias Super-Sister", Superboy saves the life of an alien woman named Shar-La, who turns Superboy into a girl, in retaliation for his disparaging thoughts about women drivers which she picked up telepathically. In Smallville, Clark claims to be Claire Kent, an out-of-town relative who is staying with the Kents. When in costume, he appears as Superboy's sister, Super-Sister, and claims the two have exchanged places. Once Superboy has learned his lesson about feeling more respect for women, Shar-La reveals the episode to be a dream which she projected into Superboy's mind.
In Superman #123 (August 1958), Jimmy Olsen uses a magic totem to wish a "Super-Girl" into existence as a companion and aid to Superman; however, the two frequently get in each other's way until she is fatally injured protecting Superman from a Kryptonite meteor. At her insistence, Jimmy wishes the dying girl out of existence. DC used this story to gauge public response to the concept of a completely new super-powered female counterpart to Superman.
The Kara Zor-El version of Supergirl finally appeared in Action Comics #252 (May 1959). Otto Binder wrote and Al Plastino illustrated her début story, in which Kara was born and raised in Argo City (unnamed until later issues), a fragment of Krypton that survived destruction. When the city is doomed by a meteor shower, Kara is sent to Earth by her parents, Zor-El and Alura (the latter unnamed until later issues), to be raised by her cousin Kal-El, known as Superman. Supergirl adopted the secret identity of an orphan "Linda Lee", and made Midvale Orphanage her home. Supergirl promised Superman that she would keep her existence on Earth a secret, so that he may use her as a "secret weapon", but that didn't stop Supergirl from exploring her new powers covertly. Action Comics #255 published reader's letters-of-comment to Supergirl's first appearance; she had allegedly generated a sizeable and mostly positive reaction.
Supergirl, from her debut onwards, became a regular backup strip in Action Comics. She joined the Legion of Super-Heroes, like her cousin had done as a teenager, and in Action Comics #279 (July 1961) she was adopted by Fred and Edna Danvers, becoming "Linda Lee Danvers". Supergirl acted for three years as Superman's secret weapon, and her adventures during that time have been compared to contemporary developments in feminist thinking in work such as Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique. She was at last introduced by her super-powered cousin to an unsuspecting world in Action Comics #285 (February 1962).
During her first quarter of a century, Linda Danvers would have many professions, from student to student advisor, to actor, and even TV camera operator. She shared Action Comics with Superman until transferring to the lead in Adventure Comics at the end of the 1960s. In 1972 she finally moved to her own short-lived eponymous magazine, before DC merged its Supergirl, Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen titles into a single anthology title named The Superman Family. In 1982 Supergirl was relaunched into her own magazine.
Death during Crisis on Infinite Earths
In 1985, the maxi-series Crisis on Infinite Earths was conceived as a way to reduce DC continuity to a single universe in which all characters maintained a single history. Despite Supergirl's continued popularity and status as a central member of the "Superman Family", the editors at DC Comics and the creators of the maxi-series decided to kill Supergirl off during the Crisis. According to Marv Wolfman, writer of Crisis on Infinite Earths:
The idea of killing Supergirl was first conceived by DC's vice president/executive editor Dick Giordano, who lobbied for the death to DC's publishers. He later said he has never had any regrets about this, explaining, "Supergirl was created initially to take advantage of the high Superman sales and not much thought was put into her creation. She was created essentially as a female Superman. With time, writers and artists improved upon her execution, but she never did really add anything to the Superman mythos—at least not for me." The poor initial reception of the 1984 film Supergirl was also blamed by some sources.
In 1989, in the tale "Christmas with the Super-Heroes" the soul of Kara appears to Boston "Deadman" Brand, cheers him up, and then disappears from continuity until 2001 (see below).
Several characters unrelated to Superman soon took on the Supergirl persona, including the Matrix (a shapeshifting genetically engineered life-form that 'defaulted' as Supergirl), Linda Danvers (the result of Matrix merging with the dying Linda Danvers and becoming an Earth-bound angel of fire), and Cir-El (Superman's apparent daughter from a possible future).
A heroine resembling the Pre-Crisis Kara would later appear in Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #5, along with an entire army of Legionnaires gathered from alternate worlds, times, and realities, to battle the Time Trapper.
Two Supergirls meet
Prior to the post-Crisis introduction of Kara Zor-El into mainstream continuity, the pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El made an appearance in Peter David's Supergirl: Many Happy Returns. The then-current Supergirl series, at the time starring Linda Danvers, was in danger of cancellation and Peter David thought a story arc involving Kara Zor-El would be enough to revitalize the series. In an interview with Cliff Biggers of Newsarama, David states:
In the Linda Danvers' Supergirl series issues 49 and 50 (October and November 2000), the original dead Kara appears as Linda's "guardian angel". Then in issues 75 to 80, "Many Happy Returns", a young Kara appears from an earlier time long before the Crisis. The paradox becomes a moral crisis for Linda who tries to take her place as the Crisis sacrifice, living for years in a Silver Age universe where "no one swears, the villains are always easy to defeat, and everything's very, very clean", eventually marrying the Silver Age Superman and having a daughter with him, before she is forced to return to her universe by the Spectre when he reveals that her efforts to replace Kara as the sacrifice will not succeed. This run was illustrated by Ed Benes who had also illustrated Gail Simone's Birds of Prey which had a similar whimsical camaraderie between its female leads.
Linda's inability to ultimately save Kara, coupled with the loss of her daughter, is so devastating that it ends her own career as Supergirl, Linda leaving a note for Superman where she explains that she feels that she has failed to live up to the standards of a true Supergirl and choosing to go somewhere she cannot be found. This story arc is usually cited as one of the best Supergirl stories ever written. The series ended with issue 80.
Revival
After the launch of the Superman/Batman comic book series, executive editor Dan DiDio had been looking for a way to simplify the Supergirl character from her convoluted post-Crisis history; the simplest version, of course, was Superman's cousin. Jeph Loeb and editor Eddie Berganza found an opening to reintroduce the character following the conclusion of the first story arc of Superman/Batman. Loeb states:
The modern version of Kara Zor-El made her debut in Superman/Batman #8 (2004). Kara takes the mantle of Supergirl at the conclusion of the storyline. The Supergirl comic book series would later be relaunched, now starring Kara Zor-El as "The Girl of Steel". The first arc of the new series was written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by Ian Churchill. Loeb would later describe the appeal of writing for Supergirl:
As the character continued to be reinvented, steps towards regarding the iconic character were some of the most prominent changes. Artist Jamal Igle and editor Matt Idleson moved to transition the character away from red panties under her skirt to biker shorts, feeling such a change was a logical progression and "more respectable."
The New 52
In September 2011, DC Comics began The New 52, in which it canceled all of its monthly superhero titles and relaunched 52 new ones, wiping out most of its past continuity in the process. One of the new titles was a new Supergirl series (Volume 6) that featured a new origin for Kara and was published between 2011 and 2015. Artist Mahmud Asrar designed a new costume for the character which strongly deviated from her classic, "cheerleader" suit, a change which generated criticism from some readers.
DC Rebirth
The 2016 DC Comics title relaunch Rebirth incorporates several elements (such as the costume, the name, the setting, and some characters) from the Supergirl television series. The DC Rebirth initiative undid the New 52's modern recreations, bringing DC's heroes back to their more classic iterations. Supergirl's new series (Volume 7) was titled Supergirl: Rebirth, written by Steven Orlando. The first arc was penciled by Brian Ching, who also redesigned Supergirl's costume in reference to a more classic look. In April 2018, it was announced that the title would be canceled after issue #20, only to be revived in August that year under a new creative team, with new writer Marc Andreyko and artist Kevin Maguire. The series ended with its 42nd issue.
Future State: Kara Zor-El, Superwoman
The Future State comics propose a possible future for Kara Zor-El, now an adult and having taken the alias of Superwoman. She leaves Earth to become a guardian of the Moon, which has become a refugee colony for aliens from the entire universe. The series was written by Marguerite Bennet and penciled by Marguerite Sauvage.
Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow
Under the Infinite Frontier brand, Kara's next series Woman of Tomorrow debuted in June 2021, written by Tom King and penciled by Brazilian artists Bilquis Evely and Mat Lopes. The arc introduces Supergirl to new character grounds as she begins the story as a young woman, celebrating her 21st birthday and helping a young alien in her quest for revenge. The "mentor-mentee journey on revenge" plot is, according to King, inspired by the original novel and both versions of True Grit.
In this series, the creators paid homage to Linda Danvers, as Kara manifests flame wings and powers after taking a red kryptonite drug, in order to save her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon.
Fictional character biography
Silver Age
In her debut story, Kara Zor-El is the last survivor of Argo City of the planet Krypton. Although Argo, which had survived the explosion of the planet, drifted through space as a self-sustaining environment, the soil of the colony eventually turned into Kryptonite; and though Kara's father Zor-El placed lead sheeting above the ground to protect the citizens from radiation, meteorites pierced the sheeting, and the Kryptonians died of radiation poisoning instead of replacing the metal.
In Supergirl's subsequent backup feature in Action Comics drawn by artist Jim Mooney for ten years until 1968, Supergirl adopts the identity of Linda Lee, an orphan at Midvale Orphanage presided over by headmistress Miss Hart. She disguises herself by hiding her blond hair beneath a brunette wig; Supergirl interacts with humans on a person-to-person basis performing good deeds and saving the world by helping one person at a time, and she also devises clever schemes as "Superman's Secret Weapon," saving him many times and avoiding adoption before Superman can introduce her publicly.
While temporarily powerless due to the scheming of Kandorian scientist Lesla-Lar, who is out to supplant her on Earth, Linda allows herself to be adopted by engineer and rocket scientist Fred Danvers and his wife, Edna. In time, she reveals her secret identity to her adoptive parents on the same day her cousin Superman finally introduces her to the world in the finale of then-DC's longest playing series ever (eight chapters) aptly called "The World's Greatest Heroine".
When frequent dreams about her parents being alive turn out to be real, she builds a machine aided by her engineer father's talent, and brings them both back alive from the "Survival Zone" where they had both teleported during Argo City's final moments. Zor-El and Allura eventually end up living in Kandor, and when the city in the bottle is enlarged, they both go on to live in Rokyn/New Krypton, where they have the sad duty of receiving her mortal remains after "Crisis" for burial.
Graduating from high school in 1965, Linda Lee goes to college on a scholarship and stays in Stanhope College until she graduates in 1971. During this era, she is helped by her pet cat Streaky, her Super-Horse pet Comet, and befriends Lena Thorul, who had first appeared in the Lois Lane series. Kara is also a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, where she becomes close to Brainiac 5. In addition, Linda has boyfriends from the orphanage (Richard "Dick" Malverne) and from Atlantis (Jerro the merboy).
In 1967, Supergirl meets Batgirl for the first time in World's Finest Comics. Developing a strong friendship, the two characters teamed up many times again, as in Superman Family #171, or Adventure #381.
In 1969, Supergirl left Action Comics and became a featured character in Adventure Comics beginning with issue #381 (June 1969).
During the 1970s, Supergirl's costume changed frequently, as did her career in her civilian life. In her secret identity as Linda Lee Danvers, Kara Zor-El took a variety of jobs including graduate student in acting, television camera operator, and student counselor, and finally became an actress on the TV soap Secret Hearts.
Bronze Age
After long-time Superman family editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971, the character underwent revitalization under editor Joe Orlando and artist Mike Sekowsky. Wearing a series of new outfits, leaving her adopted foster home with the Danvers family, Linda goes on to San Francisco where she works for KSF-TV as a camera operator and develops a crush on her boss, Geoffrey Anderson. These stories introduced Supergirl's most memorable villain from this period: Lex Luthor's niece Nasthalthia, or Nasty. Nasty had made two appearances towards the end of Linda's college years, then pursued her to KSF-TV, trying to secure proof of her dual identity.
Supergirl starred in her first solo eponymous monthly series beginning in 1972 until October 1974, when her monthly title merged with Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane, and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen to produce a new title: then-highest DC selling series called The Superman Family, where she eventually became the steady lead story. Linda worked as a student advisor at New Athens Experimental School, before leaving for New York to follow a career in acting with daytime soap Secret Hearts.
In 1982 Supergirl received a second monthly solo series titled The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl, relocating the character to Chicago as Linda became a mature student of Psychology. Industry legend, and former DC Publisher, Carmine Infantino provided the penciled art (Bob Oksner inked). With issue 13 the title was revamped, with a new costume design (sporting a red headband) and the title shortened to just Supergirl. The series ran until sudden cancellation in 1984, only two months before the character's debut in a big-budget Hollywood film starring Helen Slater.
In the Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985), the greatest heroes from Earth-One, Earth-Two, Earth-Four, Earth-S, and Earth-X join forces in order to defeat the Anti-Monitor. When Superman comes face to face with the Anti-Monitor and is knocked unconscious, Supergirl rushes to save him before he is killed. She is able to fight him off long enough for Dr. Light to carry her cousin to a safe distance, but is killed by the Anti-Monitor. A public memorial service for Supergirl takes place in Chicago, where Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) delivers the eulogy. In her remarks, she states "Kara is a hero. She will not be forgotten." Superman then gives his late cousin burial by taking her corpse to Rokyn/New Krypton to Zor-El and Allura. A Superman issue the next month reveals that Kara had experienced a premonition about her own passing. However, when the universe is rebooted, the timeline is altered. Kara Zor-El and all memory of her is erased from existence.
Echoes
After these events, the soul of Kara Zor-El made another appearance in continuity three years later in a story titled "Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot" in Christmas with the Super-Heroes #2 (1989). Within the story, Boston "Deadman" Brand tries to feel the warmth of Christmas by possessing revelers' bodies. Feeling guilty upon the realization that he has been stealing others' Christmases, he flies off feeling sorry for himself for being denied a reward after a year of helping people. A warmly dressed blonde woman approaches Brand, startling him. Somehow seeing the normally invisible Brand, she converses with him, reminding him,
She reminds Brand that even though he is dead, he is still human, and he should rejoice because it means his spirit is still alive. As the woman leaves, Brand asks her who she is, to which she replies, "My name is Kara. Though I doubt that will mean anything to you." The story, written by Alan Brennert and penciled by Dick Giordano, is dedicated to Otto Binder and Jim Mooney, adding: "We still remember."
Finally, the soul of Kara Zor-El appeared twice during Peter David's run, specifically in issues #48 and #49 when she appears before a defeated and imprisoned then-Supergirl, Linda Danvers from Earth, and comforts her. Linda acknowledges she has been helped three times by her phantom-friend, and when she asks her name she is told by the smiling figure: "I have gone by many names, but the one I am most fond of is: Kara!"
Modern Age
In 2004, Jeph Loeb reintroduced Kara Zor-El into post-Zero Hour (Birthright timeline) continuity during a storyline in the series Superman/Batman. She is the biological cousin of Superman, and although chronologically older than him, the ship in which she traveled to Earth was caught in a large green Kryptonite meteorite which held her in a state of suspended animation for much of the journey, making her have the appearance of a 16-year-old girl. Still, Supergirl sometimes saw Superman as a child, due to last carrying him as a baby. DC Comics relaunched the Supergirl, the first story arc of which was written by Loeb. showcases Supergirl on a journey of self-discovery. Along her journey, she encounters Power Girl (Kara Zor-El's counterpart from another universe), the Teen Titans, the Outsiders, the Justice League of America, and arch-villain Lex Luthor.
During the company-wide crossover series Infinite Crisis (2005), a sequel to Crisis on Infinite Earths, Supergirl is transported to the 31st century, where she is revered as a member of the Superman family and joins the Legion of Super-Heroes. DC Comics renamed the monthly series Legion of Super-Heroes to Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes. Beginning with issue #16. In the limited series 52, which chronicles the events that took place during the missing year after the end of Infinite Crisis, Donna Troy recalls the original Kara Zor-El and her sacrifice to save the universe. Supergirl returns to the 21st century during the course of 52. After briefly filling in for a temporarily depowered Superman as guardian of Metropolis, she assumes the identity of Flamebird to fight crime in the bottle city of Kandor with Power Girl as Nightwing in Greg Rucka's arc Supergirl: Kandor.
In 2007, Supergirl appeared in the miniseries Amazons Attack! That same year, she joined the Teen Titans for five issues.
Conversations with other heroes who maintain secret identities lead Kara to the conclusion that she needs to make a deeper connection with human beings. She accepts Lana Lang's proposal to present her to the Daily Planet staff as "Linda Lang", Lana's teenaged niece.
In the 2008–2009 "New Krypton" story arc, in which Superman discovers and frees the real Kandor and a large number of its citizens, Supergirl is reunited with her father, Zor-El and mother, Alura, though Zor-El is killed by the villain Reactron. When a planet is formed that the Kryptonians call New Krypton, Kara is torn between her life on Earth, and her obligation to her mother, eventually joining the New Krypton Science Guild.
Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2009 miniseries Justice League: Cry for Justice, and the 2009–2010 storyline "Blackest Night". The New Krypton storyline would later be resolved in the "World of New Krypton", "Superman: Last Stand of New Krypton", "War of the Supermen" storylines, resulting in the destruction of New Krypton and seeing Supergirl mourn her people.
Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2010 "Brightest Day" storyline, the follow up to "Blackest Night"., where she joins the Justice League along with Jesse Quick & Jade.
The New 52
In this continuity, Kara's ship lands in Smallville, Kansas but hurtles through the Earth and emerges in Siberia.
Kara has no memory of the destruction of Krypton, and believes it is only three days since her spacecraft was launched. She learns the truth about Krypton's destruction from Superman, and later journeys through a wormhole to Argo City, which she finds in orbit around a blue sun. She finds the city in ruins, with no explanation of how it met that fate, and is attacked by a female Worldkiller named Reign before the city plummets into the sun. When Reign and her fellow Worldkiller plan to enslave the Earth, Supergirl returns there to defeat them, and thus adopts Earth as her new home.
After several battles with supervillains, including the Worldkillers, superweapons of Kryptonian design, she accepts Krypton's destruction, but continues to grapple with her grief. Her desire to restore Krypton results in her being manipulated into nearly destroying the Earth by another Kryptonian whom she falls in love with. Upon realizing his manipulation, she kills him by driving Kryptonite through his heart, and succumbs to Kryptonite poisoning.
Following her poisoning, Supergirl departs the Earth to die alone. While adrift in interstellar space, she encounters a planet under attack by monsters, and quickly intervenes to save them, unaware that the entire planet is a trap by Brainiac. She is captured and restrained by Cyborg Superman, but after a struggle, manages to escape both Brainiac and Cyborg Superman. Returning to Earth, she is sent into the past by the Oracle alongside Superman and Superboy, where she ensures that a resurrected H'el cannot save Krypton, and sacrifices the planet and her family in order to save the universe.
Back on Earth, she encounters the assassin Lobo. Initially eager for a peaceful resolution, seeing a kind of kinship with him in their both being lone survivors of their respective worlds (although not truly aware of Lobo's circumstances), Kara's encounter with the Czarnian would reveal deep mental wounds, resulting in the unleashing of her rage and transformation into a Red Lantern. Driven insane by rage, Kara wanders space, attacking everyone in her way, until captured by several Green Lanterns and brought to Hal Jordan. Immediately recognizing a Kryptonian and unable to remove the power ring without killing her, he brings her to Guy Gardner, the leader of one of the two Red Lantern factions, who manages to restore her sanity.
After some time under Guy Gardner's tutelage and protecting the galaxy as a Red Lantern, after being discharged from the Red Lantern Corps (because Guy did not want for her to die needlessly against Atrocitus' splinter group), on her way back to Earth, Kara encounters the leader of the Worldkillers, who are revealed to be parasitic suits of armor. He attempts to assimilate Kara as his host, but she voluntarily subjects herself to Kryptonite poisoning in order to stop him, and eventually flies into the Sun and removes her power ring, killing her and removing him from her body. However, Kara is revealed to be immortal while in the Sun's core, and is restored to life without the power ring or any Kryptonite poisoning, immediately destroying the Worldkiller. She later helps Guy against Atrocitus and his Red Lantern splinter group.
Convergence and return of the Pre-Crisis version
During the Convergence story arc, the original Kara Zor-El who had sacrificed her life during Crisis on Infinite Earths makes an appearance on the amalgamated planet of Telos. At the end of the saga she volunteers herself to once again fight the Anti-Monitor but this time, with the help of her timeline's Barry Allen, the Pre-Flashpoint Superman (in tow with his pregnant wife, Lois Lane), and a repentant Parallax (Zero Hour Hal Jordan), vows to defeat him for the sake of the multiverse's continued existence. Without it being seen, those left on Telos discover the group was successful and all previous timelines (with the mysterious exception of the pre-Flashpoint/pre-New 52 DC universe) from DC history had been re-established, though the fate of the original Kara Zor-El and her fellows went unmentioned.
A few more details of the battle against the Anti-Monitor are later revealed during the New 52 comic mini-series (leading into DC's Rebirth event). After the defeat of Anti-Monitor, Pre-New 52 Clark and Lois decide to start life anew in the closest universe they can find (mysteriously yet unable to see their old universe even though the rest of the multiverse had been restored) while Pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El, along with her contemporary Barry Allen and Zero Hour Parallax/Hal Jordan, decide to find their place in the universe and go off to do so. Her fate as of that story arc is yet to be revealed.
DC Rebirth
After the events that led to the death of the New 52 version of Superman, 16-year-old Kara lives in National City with her adoptive parents, D.E.O. agents Jeremiah and Eliza Danvers, where she attends high school and works with the agency as led by Cameron Chase. As part of her civilian identity, Kara receives special glasses that darken her blond hair when posing as Kara Danvers. Kara also goes on an internship at Cat Grant's CATCO alongside Ben Rubel, whom she befriends.
In her opening arc "The Reign of the Cyborg Supermen", Kara discovers that the cyborg Zor-El, whom she had battled in her New 52 title, is still active and has rebuilt other Kryptonians (her mother Alura included), planning to take over Earth. Supergirl defeats them but vows to help her father regardless of his actions. After National City discovers Supergirl has kept Zor-El's "living" status a secret, they become untrustful of her. Director Bones takes advantage of the heroine's impopularity and, after taking control of the D.E.O., sends villains in an attempt to bring Kara down. She defeats all of them and regains trust from National City with Ben's help.
The Supergirl Who Laughs
Kara is later infected by The Batman Who Laughs toxin, causing her to turn evil and joining other infected as part of Laughs Secret Six before later being cured. She is fired from CatCo by Cat Grant and starts working at S.T.A.R. Labs.
Woman of Tomorrow
Journeying throughout the universe with Krypto, Kara celebrates her 21st birthday alone on a distant planet. Drunk in a bar, she is approached by a little girl named Ruthye and is asked to kill Krem (her father's murderer) in vengeance. Supergirl refuses but, when she is about to leave the planet, Krem attacks and severely wounds both her and Krypto, fleeing in Kara's ship. Kara begins her journey alongside Ruthye and, powerless, saves her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon by taking a red kryptonite drug which causes her to manifest flame wings.
Powers and abilities
Like all Kryptonians under a yellow sun, the current version of Kara Zor-El possesses virtually unlimited strength, stamina, and durability. She is able to fly and with super speed that she can also use on foot, similar to Superman and The Flash. Also like Superman, Supergirl possesses super senses, super-breath, and freeze breathe, as well as multiple forms of supervision (including X-Ray, Infrared, Telescopic, and Microscopic). Kara also has a bio-electric aura that enhances her near invulnerability and also protects her skin and her costume from dirt and tear; as such, Kara is perpetually clean. The Sun also provides Kara with a longer lifespan than that of a human being, to the point that she is effectively a biological immortal. Kara doesn't require food, water, or sleep to survive. She is also immune to most diseases, mental and physical, and would require a very strong strain to have a chance at affecting her.
In the rare instances that Kara is harmed by someone matching her strength or by the use of one of her weaknesses, she can heal almost instantaneously. Her power surpasses most other beings, though she can be overpowered by those who rival her strength such as Black Adam, Darkseid, Despero, Doomsday, Bizarro, Wonder Woman, and Superman.
In reality, Kara is actually older than her cousin, Clark, and spent time on Krypton before its destruction. As such (unlike Superman), she possesses memories of Kryptonian culture as well as her cousin's parents.
Continued exposure to a yellow Sun will slowly increase abilities. Many characters in the DC Universe have noted that Supergirl appears, at times, to be even more powerful than Superman himself. In answer to this, Superman states that this is because he has spent his entire life subconsciously suppressing his full powers in order to avoid hurting others, having been absorbing solar radiation since his infancy. Kara, not having such practice or experience, simply uses the full magnitude of her powers.
Abilities
Unlike her cousin, Kara was taught to fight in Krypton as part of her tests, and at the Crucible Academy, being adept at various Kryptonian fighting styles like Klurkor and Torquasm Rao. Supergirl also learned the art of Bagua under I-Ching's instructions. She practiced how to manipulate her Chi or Qi in order to gain better control of her powers due to them becoming overwhelmed after her conflict with the Fatal Five. Superman recommended guardianship with I-Ching to Supergirl first. In addition to training in Krypton, Kara was trained by Batman in advanced martial arts and trained with the Amazons in Themyscira in unarmed and armed combat, Amazonas martial arts, fencing, Shield handling, and other Amazon weapons. She trained with Wonder Woman and Artemis extensively.
Other versions
There are numerous alternate versions of Supergirl. The most notable is Power Girl (real name Kara Zor-L, also known as Karen Starr) who first appeared in All Star Comics #58 (January/February 1976).
Power Girl is the Earth-Two counterpart of Supergirl and the first cousin of Kal-L, Superman of the pre-Crisis Earth-Two. The infant Power Girl's parents enabled her to escape the destruction of Krypton. Although she left the planet at the same time that Superman did, her ship took much longer to reach Earth-Two.
She has superhuman strength and the ability to fly and is the first chairwoman of the Justice Society of America. She sports a bob of blond hair; wears a distinctive white, red, and blue costume; and has an aggressive fighting style. Throughout her early appearances in All Star Comics, she is often at odds with Wildcat because his penchant for talking to her as if she were an ordinary human female rather than a superpowered Kryptonian annoys her.
She also fought alongside the Sovereign Seven team, replacing Rampart after his death though that series is not considered to be part of canon in the DC universe.
The 1985 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths eliminated Earth-Two, causing her origin to change; she became the granddaughter of the Atlantean sorcerer Arion. However, story events culminating in the 2005–2006 Infinite Crisis limited series restored her status as a refugee from the Krypton of the destroyed pre-Crisis Earth-Two universe.
Like the original Kara's Streaky, Power Girl has a cat, featured in a story by Amanda Conner in Wonder Woman #600.
Reception
This version of Supergirl is ranked as the 153rd-greatest comic book character of all time by Wizard magazine.
IGN also ranked this version of Supergirl as the 94th-greatest comic book superhero, stating "for a character born of the Silver Age that saw everything from a Super Baby to a Super Monkey, Kara Zor-El grew into something much more than simply another marketing ploy to slap an 'S' on." In 2013 IGN ranked Supergirl as the 17th-greatest DC comic superhero, stating "she was an early example of a female sidekick developing a large fanbase in her own right", and "Supergirl has been one of DC's most powerful heroes, and a standard to hold other female heroes against."
Appearances
Pre-Crisis
1959 to 1969: Action Comics #252 to #376.
1969 to 1972: Adventure Comics #381 to #424.
1972 to 1974: Supergirl #1 to #10.
1974 to 1982: Her comic merges with Jimmy Olsen's and Lois Lane's to become Superman Family #164 to #222.
1982 to 1984: The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl #1 to #13, Supergirl (vol. 2) #14 to #23.
2015: Convergence
Kara Zor-El appeared in over 750 stories published by DC from 1959 to 1985.
Post-Crisis
2004 to 2005: Superman/Batman #8 to #13 and #19
2005 to 2011: Supergirl (vol. 5) #0 to #67
2006 to 2008: Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes (Legion of Super-Heroes vol. 5) #16 to #37
2007: Action Comics #850
2008: Final Crisis
2011 to 2015: New 52: Supergirl (vol. 6) #1 to #40
2016 to current: Rebirth: Supergirl (vol. 7) #1 to current
Kara Zor-El also appears as a supporting character in several issues of other DC Comics, including Superman, Action Comics, Teen Titans, Amazons Attack, World War III, and Wonder Girl. She has also appeared in many issues of Superman, Action Comics, and Superman New Krypton starting with the World Without Superman event in 2009, and continuing with the World Against Superman event going into 2010.
Collected editions
Listed in chronological order. All ages titles are not in continuity with the original or modern Kara.
In other media
Television
Live-action
Smallville
Prior to the seventh season (2007–2008) of the WB/CW show Smallville where she is introduced into the cast and is portrayed by Laura Vandervoort, a woman claiming to be Kara (portrayed by Adrianne Palicki) is briefly introduced in the season 3 finale. It is later revealed her real name is Lindsey Harrison, and had been given false memories and powers by the artificial intelligence of Clark Kent's (Tom Welling) father Jor-El as part of a series of tests. Vandervoort portrays the real Kara, Clark's cousin whose spaceship had been trapped in stasis until the events of the season 6 finale. Much of season 7 is concerned with Kara's attempts to adjust to life on Earth, especially after learning of Krypton's destruction. Her storyline sees her simultaneously become the object of Lex Luthor's (Michael Rosenbaum) obsessions and Jimmy Olsen's (Aaron Ashmore) affections, suffer a bout of amnesia, discover her father's (Christopher Heyerdahl) sinister motives and become a target of evil android Brainiac (James Marsters). The season finale sees Kara become trapped in the Phantom Zone. Starting with season 8, Vandervoort ceases to feature as a series regular, but reprises the role three more times. In her first guest appearance, "Bloodline," Kara is freed from the Phantom Zone and later departs Clark's hometown of Smallville to search for Kandor, her birthplace, as it is rumored to have survived their home planet's destruction. She appears again in the season 10 episode "Supergirl", in which she formally adopts her superhero moniker. Her off-screen adventures are alluded to thereafter. Vandervoort makes a final appearance in the show's penultimate episode, "Prophecy", in which she helps Green Arrow (Justin Hartley) locate the "Bow of Orion" to use against Darkseid. She is then called to the Fortress of Solitude, where she learns from Jor-El that her job on Earth is done. Using a Legion of Super-Heroes flight ring, she travels to the future to seek her own destiny. The Season Eleven comic book continuation of the show later depicts Kara's continued story in the 31st century, subsequent return to the present and joining the Justice League.
Arrowverse
In September 2014, a 22-episode television series centered around Supergirl was in development at Warner Bros. Television, set to premiere on CBS with a January 2015 air date. Melissa Benoist was cast as the titular character. In May 2016, the series moved to The CW and was later integrated into the Arrowverse, a shared universe consisting of shows including Arrow, The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow. In the series, Kara Zor-El was sent to Earth to protect her cousin Kal-El, following her homeworld Krypton's destruction. However, she is knocked into the Phantom Zone, where she is stranded for 24 years. She eventually crash lands on Earth and is found by her already grown-up cousin Kal, now known to the world as the iconic superhero "Superman". Superman brings Kara into the custody of Jeremiah Danvers, director of the Department of Extranormal Operations (D.E.O.), and his daughter Alex. Growing up, Kara struggles to maintain her Kryptonian abilities as well as balancing her relationship with her adoptive sister. Eventually, the two bond when Kara's powers are exposed. However, Jeremiah decides it's best to isolate her abilities. As an adult, Kara is forced to use her powers again when her sister's plane almost crashes. She is later dubbed "Supergirl" by the media and dons a costume like her cousin. Kara decides to use her abilities to fight alien invaders such as Kara's aunt Astra and her husband Non, Mon-El's rogue parents, the Worldkiller Reign, anti-alien activist Ben Lockwood, and later the shadowy organization Leviathan, with the help of her sister Alex, now an agent of the D.E.O., her best friend and tech-expert Winn Schott, last of the Green Martians J'onn J'onzz / Martian Manhunter, and Kal's best friend Jimmy Olsen. She is later joined by Lex Luthor's sister Lena, Prince of Daxam Mon-El, former Legion of Superheroes member Querl "Brainy" Dox / Brainiac 5, Nia Nal / Dreamer, James' younger sister Kelly, and reporter Willam Dey face against these rival forces. After joining the Arrowverse, which contain annual crossover, Kara assists Barry Allen, Oliver Queen and the Legends of Tomorrow against threats on their designated earth "Earth-1" while Kara’s is designated as "Earth-38. Later, Kara is selected by The Monitor as the Paragon of Hope to participate in the coming crisis and fight against the Anti-Monitor, whose goal is to destroy the multiverse. After doing so, the Paragons are sent to the Vanishing Point where Oliver, now a Spectre, helps them escape. The Paragons appear at the dawn of time in the anti-matter universe where they have their final confrontation with the Anti-Monitor. Eventually, Oliver sacrifices himself to kill the Anti-Monitor, and as a result, a new multiverse is born with Earth-38 and Earth-1 merged into "Earth-Prime". Following the crisis, Kara is forced to deal the after-effects of Crisis which include working with Lex, now owning the D.E.O. while Leviathan continue their covert operations under Gamemnae. The sixth season sees Kara and her allies expose Lex's crimes, but are then forced to deal with Nyxlygsptlnz, a fifth-dimensional imp who tricked the heroes into releasing her from the Phantom Zone. Eventually Nyxlygsptlnz joins forces with Lex Luthor and the two kill William, but Kara's assembled allies are able to defeat the two, culminating in Lex and Nyxlygsptlnz being trapped in the Phantom Zone when one of their own plans backfires. The series concludes with Kara revealing her dual identity so that she can live a full life as one person.
Animation
DC Nation Shorts
Supergirl appears with Batgirl and Wonder Girl in Super Best Friends Forever, voiced by Nicole Sullivan.
DC Super Hero Girls
Supergirl appears as a central protagonist in the web series DC Super Hero Girls voiced by Anais Fairweather, and is a student at Super Hero High, is very kind and caring and extremely powerful but she's also very clumsy.
She also appears as a central protagonist in the 2019 TV series, with Nicole Sullivan reprising her role from the Super Best Friends Forever shorts. In this version, she is also a rebel and is known as the "cool kid" in school. She may be tough but she can easily express her emotions and is very open-minded as well. She can be a cool friend and a helpful one, but she can also be jealous sometimes and she dislikes her cousin's prominence.
Justice League Action
Supergirl appears in Justice League Action, voiced by Joanne Spracklen. She has the appearance of a wide-eyed human teenager with blonde hair and wears her traditional costume except that it has thigh-high boots and a pleated skirt. As a person, she is youthful, responsible, and shows much affection for her cousin Superman. In "Party Animal", she appears as a cameo at this Christmas party with the Justice League. In "Keeping up with the Kryptonians", Supergirl becomes a star of the popular reality show "That's So Kara", and Superman a Kasnian who rules from one place to another on Earth, all being a reality caused by Mister Mxyzptlk. In "Unleashed", Supergirl accompanies Justice League in stopping Red Lantern Corps, unaware that it was a distraction made by Dex-Starr to invade Earth, until it was ultimately resolved by Krypto, Streaky, and Plastic Man. In a short "The Goddess Must Be Crazy", Supergirl trains with Wonder Woman in Paradise Island, until she is possessed by Felix Faust, to destroy the island.
Film
Superman film series
A live action depiction of Supergirl first appears in the eponymous 1984 film starring Helen Slater as Supergirl. The film is a spin-off from the Superman film series starring Christopher Reeve, to which it is connected by Marc McClure's character of Jimmy Olsen.
DC Extended Universe
Kara Zor-El / Linda Danvers / Supergirl exists within the DC Extended Universe, as she was referenced in Man of Steel when Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman discovers an empty pod within the Kryptonian scout spaceship. Though Zack Snyder confirmed in August 2018 that even though the character does exist, that pod was not intended for her.
In August 2018, a film centered around the character was announced to be in development, with Oren Uziel hired as screenwriter for the project. The studio intends to hire a female director, with Reed Morano—who has expressed interest in the project—being its top choice. Filming was expected to start production in early 2020.
Sasha Calle will play Supergirl for the DC Extended Universe in The Flash.
Animation
Summer Glau voices the post-Crisis version of Kara Zor-El in Superman/Batman: Apocalypse, which is based on the Superman/Batman storyline "The Supergirl from Krypton". Despite this, it was confirmed by director Lauren Montgomery that Supergirl's name was removed from the title due to the much slower sales of the previous Wonder Woman animated movie, and the character was not permitted to appear on the cover in her trademark outfit.
Molly Quinn voices Supergirl in Superman: Unbound.
Supergirl appears in Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League: Cosmic Clash, voiced by Jessica DiCicco.
Video games
Supergirl appears in DC Universe Online, voiced by Adriene Mishler. In the villain campaign, the players help Doctor Psycho capture Supergirl using Kryptonite. In the hero campaign, the players fight Doctor Psycho to save Supergirl. Under the thrall of Brainiac, she must be defeated in the Fortress of Solitude: Power Core raid.
Supergirl is unlockable in Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes, voiced by Bridget Hoffman.
Supergirl makes a cameo appearance in the IOS version of Injustice: Gods Among Us as a support card.
Supergirl appears as a playable character in Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham, voiced by Kari Wahlgren. She is playable in her default variant which is designed after her appearance in The New 52 and in her Classic attire. Her Classic variant is unlocked in a VR Mission while her New 52 variant is unlocked in a Hub Quest in Nok where she requests players to defeat a number of enemies she accidentally releases from their cells.
Supergirl appears as a playable character in Infinite Crisis, voiced by Camilla Luddington.
Supergirl appears as a playable character and the central protagonist in Injustice 2 by NetherRealm Studios, the sequel to Injustice: Gods Among Us, voiced by Laura Bailey. Here her origin is much like in the comics where she is sent along with her cousin Kal-El to Earth by her mother after Krypton is destroyed but on separate pods where hers veers off-course after sustaining significant damage, stranding her in space for many years until she lands on Earth, unaged. When the main storyline starts, she is residing on Black Adam's kingdom of Khandaq, apparently under his and Wonder Woman's protection. When Brainiac who was responsible for Krypton's destruction attacks, she, Wonder Woman, and Black Adam attempt to free Superman and the remaining members of the Regime, while being interrupted in their efforts by new Insurgency recruits Blue Beetle and Firestorm until Batman himself arrives and releases Superman, leading to a temporary alliance between the Regime and Insurgency against the alien warlord. Over the course of the story, she learns the truth about her cousin's tyranny and at the end of the game sides with Batman, Green Lantern and Flash in letting Brainiac live in order to restore the lost cities but is defeated. In Batman's ending, she laments her cousin's tyranny and sees him leave to be imprisoned in the Phantom Zone and is offered membership by Batman in his Justice League. In Superman's ending, she is imprisoned aboard Brainiac's ship and to her shock discovers her cousin has bonded with it and when she refuses his offer to join him in leading his new legion of imprisoned species. He attempts to coerce her by revealing a brainwashed Batman, who had also been captured, further shocking her.
Supergirl appears as a limited-distribution minifigure for the toys-to-life video game Lego Dimensions, with Kari Wahlgren reprising her role. She has the ability to transform between her classic and Red Lantern forms.
Supergirl appears as a playable character in DC Unchained.
Supergirl appears in the PSP version of Justice League Heroes.
Supergirl appears as a playable character in the DC TV Super-Heroes DLC pack in Lego DC Super-Villains.
See also
Alternative versions of Supergirl
Laurel Gand
References
External links
DC Comics
Pre-Crisis Supergirl Chronology
Supergirl
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Superheroes who are adopted
Vigilante characters in comics | true | [
"Anything Can Happen is a 1952 comedy-drama film.\n\nAnything Can Happen may also refer to:\n\n Anything Can Happen (album), by Leon Russell, 1994\n \"Anything Can Happen\", a 2019 song by Saint Jhn \n Edhuvum Nadakkum ('Anything Can Happen'), a season of the Tamil TV series Marmadesam\n \"Anything Can Happen in the Next Half Hour\", or \"Anything Can Happen\", a 2007 song by Enter Shikari\n Anything Can Happen in the Next Half Hour (EP), 2004\n\nSee also\n \"Anything Could Happen\", a 2012 song by Ellie Goulding \n Anything Might Happen, 1934 British crime film\n Special Effects: Anything Can Happen, a 1996 American documentary film\n \"Anything Can Happen on Halloween\", a song from the 1986 film The Worst Witch \n Anything Can Happen in the Theatre, a musical revue of works by Maury Yeston\n \"The Anything Can Happen Recurrence\", an episode of The Big Bang Theory (season 7)\n The Anupam Kher Show - Kucch Bhi Ho Sakta Hai ('The Anupam Kher Show — Anything Can Happen') an Indian TV show",
"\"Anything Can Happen in the Next Half Hour...\" (often shortened to \"Anything Can Happen\") is the second physical single, and third overall, by Enter Shikari and the second single to be released from their debut album Take to the Skies. It was released on 18 February 2007 for digital download and on 5 March 2007 on both CD and 7\" vinyl. It is the band's highest charting single, charting at #27 in the UK single chart, and number 1 on the UK indie chart. There are two remixes of the song, Colon Open Bracket Remix and Grayedout Mix. Both are up for download on their official download store.\n\nTrack listing\n\n CD\n \"Anything Can Happen in the Next Half Hour...\" (Rou, Enter Shikari) - 4:40\n \"Kickin' Back on the Surface of Your Cheek\" (Rou, Enter Shikari) - 3:50\n \"Keep It on Ice\" (Rou) - 2:51\n\n 7\"\n\n \"Anything Can Happen in the Next Half Hour...\" (Rou, Enter Shikari) - 4:40\n \"Kickin' Back on the Surface of Your Cheek\" (Rou, Enter Shikari) - 3:50\n\nOriginal version\nIn the original version of the song, a sample is heard from the introduction of the popular 1960s TV series Stingray in which the character says \"Anything can happen in the next half hour\". This is, however, not heard in the re-recorded version.\n\nChart performance\n\nPersonnel\n\nEnter Shikari\nRoughton \"Rou\" Reynolds - vocals, electronics\nLiam \"Rory\" Clewlow - guitar\nChris Batten - bass, vocals\nRob Rolfe - drums\nProduction\nEnter Shikari - production\nJohn Mitchell - recording\nBen Humphreys - recording\nMartin Giles - mastering\nKeaton Henson - illustration, design\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Video - \"Anything Can Happen in the Next Half Hour...\" video.\n Original Video - Original video using the 2004 EP version of the song.\n Stingray Introduction - The phrase can be heard at 0:44\n\n2007 singles\nEnter Shikari songs\nSong articles missing an audio sample\n2007 songs"
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"Kara Zor-El, also known by her adoptive names of Linda Lee Danvers, Kara Kent, Linda Lang, and Kara Danvers, and the superhero name of Supergirl, is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. She was created by Otto Binder and designed by Al Plastino. Danvers first appeared in Action Comics #252 (May 1959)'s \"The Supergirl from Krypton\" story. Kara is the biological cousin of Kal-El, who went on to adopt the name of Clark Kent and the superhero Superman.",
"Kara is the biological cousin of Kal-El, who went on to adopt the name of Clark Kent and the superhero Superman. During the 1980s and the revolution of the Modern Age of Comics, Superman editors believed the character's history had become too convoluted, thus killing Supergirl during the 1985 Crisis on Infinite Earths event and retconning her out of existence. DC Comics Senior Vice President Dan DiDio re-introduced the character in 2004 along with editor Eddie Berganza and writer Jeph Loeb, with her the Superman/Batman storyline \"The Supergirl from Krypton\".",
"DC Comics Senior Vice President Dan DiDio re-introduced the character in 2004 along with editor Eddie Berganza and writer Jeph Loeb, with her the Superman/Batman storyline \"The Supergirl from Krypton\". As the current Supergirl, Kara stars in her own monthly comic book series. With DC's The New 52 relaunch, Kara, like most of the DC Universe, was revamped. DC relaunched the Supergirl comic in August 2016 as part of their DC Rebirth initiative.",
"DC relaunched the Supergirl comic in August 2016 as part of their DC Rebirth initiative. In live-action, Supergirl appeared in the 1984 film based on her character and was portrayed by Helen Slater. She also appeared in the series Smallville, played by actress Laura Vandervoort. In 2015, the live-action Arrowverse series Supergirl debuted on CBS and then moved to The CW after the first season. Supergirl was portrayed by Melissa Benoist on the show and also appeared on other Arrowverse shows.",
"Supergirl was portrayed by Melissa Benoist on the show and also appeared on other Arrowverse shows. Sasha Calle will appear as Supergirl in the upcoming DC Extended Universe film The Flash (2022). Publication history Early life Although Kara Zor-El was the first character to use the name \"Supergirl,\" DC Comics tested three different female versions of Superman prior to her debut. The first story to feature a female counterpart to Superman was \"Lois Lane – Superwoman,\" which was published in Action Comics #60 (May 1943).",
"The first story to feature a female counterpart to Superman was \"Lois Lane – Superwoman,\" which was published in Action Comics #60 (May 1943). In the story, a hospitalized Lois Lane dreams she has gained superpowers thanks to a blood transfusion from the Man of Steel. She begins her own career as \"Superwoman\", complete with a version of Superman's costume.",
"She begins her own career as \"Superwoman\", complete with a version of Superman's costume. In the Superboy #78 story entitled \"Claire Kent, Alias Super-Sister\", Superboy saves the life of an alien woman named Shar-La, who turns Superboy into a girl, in retaliation for his disparaging thoughts about women drivers which she picked up telepathically. In Smallville, Clark claims to be Claire Kent, an out-of-town relative who is staying with the Kents.",
"In Smallville, Clark claims to be Claire Kent, an out-of-town relative who is staying with the Kents. When in costume, he appears as Superboy's sister, Super-Sister, and claims the two have exchanged places. Once Superboy has learned his lesson about feeling more respect for women, Shar-La reveals the episode to be a dream which she projected into Superboy's mind.",
"Once Superboy has learned his lesson about feeling more respect for women, Shar-La reveals the episode to be a dream which she projected into Superboy's mind. In Superman #123 (August 1958), Jimmy Olsen uses a magic totem to wish a \"Super-Girl\" into existence as a companion and aid to Superman; however, the two frequently get in each other's way until she is fatally injured protecting Superman from a Kryptonite meteor. At her insistence, Jimmy wishes the dying girl out of existence.",
"At her insistence, Jimmy wishes the dying girl out of existence. DC used this story to gauge public response to the concept of a completely new super-powered female counterpart to Superman. The Kara Zor-El version of Supergirl finally appeared in Action Comics #252 (May 1959). Otto Binder wrote and Al Plastino illustrated her début story, in which Kara was born and raised in Argo City (unnamed until later issues), a fragment of Krypton that survived destruction.",
"Otto Binder wrote and Al Plastino illustrated her début story, in which Kara was born and raised in Argo City (unnamed until later issues), a fragment of Krypton that survived destruction. When the city is doomed by a meteor shower, Kara is sent to Earth by her parents, Zor-El and Alura (the latter unnamed until later issues), to be raised by her cousin Kal-El, known as Superman. Supergirl adopted the secret identity of an orphan \"Linda Lee\", and made Midvale Orphanage her home.",
"Supergirl adopted the secret identity of an orphan \"Linda Lee\", and made Midvale Orphanage her home. Supergirl promised Superman that she would keep her existence on Earth a secret, so that he may use her as a \"secret weapon\", but that didn't stop Supergirl from exploring her new powers covertly. Action Comics #255 published reader's letters-of-comment to Supergirl's first appearance; she had allegedly generated a sizeable and mostly positive reaction.",
"Action Comics #255 published reader's letters-of-comment to Supergirl's first appearance; she had allegedly generated a sizeable and mostly positive reaction. Supergirl, from her debut onwards, became a regular backup strip in Action Comics. She joined the Legion of Super-Heroes, like her cousin had done as a teenager, and in Action Comics #279 (July 1961) she was adopted by Fred and Edna Danvers, becoming \"Linda Lee Danvers\".",
"She joined the Legion of Super-Heroes, like her cousin had done as a teenager, and in Action Comics #279 (July 1961) she was adopted by Fred and Edna Danvers, becoming \"Linda Lee Danvers\". Supergirl acted for three years as Superman's secret weapon, and her adventures during that time have been compared to contemporary developments in feminist thinking in work such as Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique.",
"Supergirl acted for three years as Superman's secret weapon, and her adventures during that time have been compared to contemporary developments in feminist thinking in work such as Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique. She was at last introduced by her super-powered cousin to an unsuspecting world in Action Comics #285 (February 1962). During her first quarter of a century, Linda Danvers would have many professions, from student to student advisor, to actor, and even TV camera operator.",
"During her first quarter of a century, Linda Danvers would have many professions, from student to student advisor, to actor, and even TV camera operator. She shared Action Comics with Superman until transferring to the lead in Adventure Comics at the end of the 1960s. In 1972 she finally moved to her own short-lived eponymous magazine, before DC merged its Supergirl, Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen titles into a single anthology title named The Superman Family. In 1982 Supergirl was relaunched into her own magazine.",
"In 1982 Supergirl was relaunched into her own magazine. In 1982 Supergirl was relaunched into her own magazine. Death during Crisis on Infinite Earths In 1985, the maxi-series Crisis on Infinite Earths was conceived as a way to reduce DC continuity to a single universe in which all characters maintained a single history. Despite Supergirl's continued popularity and status as a central member of the \"Superman Family\", the editors at DC Comics and the creators of the maxi-series decided to kill Supergirl off during the Crisis.",
"Despite Supergirl's continued popularity and status as a central member of the \"Superman Family\", the editors at DC Comics and the creators of the maxi-series decided to kill Supergirl off during the Crisis. According to Marv Wolfman, writer of Crisis on Infinite Earths: The idea of killing Supergirl was first conceived by DC's vice president/executive editor Dick Giordano, who lobbied for the death to DC's publishers.",
"According to Marv Wolfman, writer of Crisis on Infinite Earths: The idea of killing Supergirl was first conceived by DC's vice president/executive editor Dick Giordano, who lobbied for the death to DC's publishers. He later said he has never had any regrets about this, explaining, \"Supergirl was created initially to take advantage of the high Superman sales and not much thought was put into her creation. She was created essentially as a female Superman.",
"She was created essentially as a female Superman. She was created essentially as a female Superman. With time, writers and artists improved upon her execution, but she never did really add anything to the Superman mythos—at least not for me.\" The poor initial reception of the 1984 film Supergirl was also blamed by some sources.",
"The poor initial reception of the 1984 film Supergirl was also blamed by some sources. In 1989, in the tale \"Christmas with the Super-Heroes\" the soul of Kara appears to Boston \"Deadman\" Brand, cheers him up, and then disappears from continuity until 2001 (see below).",
"In 1989, in the tale \"Christmas with the Super-Heroes\" the soul of Kara appears to Boston \"Deadman\" Brand, cheers him up, and then disappears from continuity until 2001 (see below). Several characters unrelated to Superman soon took on the Supergirl persona, including the Matrix (a shapeshifting genetically engineered life-form that 'defaulted' as Supergirl), Linda Danvers (the result of Matrix merging with the dying Linda Danvers and becoming an Earth-bound angel of fire), and Cir-El (Superman's apparent daughter from a possible future).",
"Several characters unrelated to Superman soon took on the Supergirl persona, including the Matrix (a shapeshifting genetically engineered life-form that 'defaulted' as Supergirl), Linda Danvers (the result of Matrix merging with the dying Linda Danvers and becoming an Earth-bound angel of fire), and Cir-El (Superman's apparent daughter from a possible future). A heroine resembling the Pre-Crisis Kara would later appear in Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #5, along with an entire army of Legionnaires gathered from alternate worlds, times, and realities, to battle the Time Trapper.",
"A heroine resembling the Pre-Crisis Kara would later appear in Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #5, along with an entire army of Legionnaires gathered from alternate worlds, times, and realities, to battle the Time Trapper. Two Supergirls meet Prior to the post-Crisis introduction of Kara Zor-El into mainstream continuity, the pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El made an appearance in Peter David's Supergirl: Many Happy Returns.",
"Two Supergirls meet Prior to the post-Crisis introduction of Kara Zor-El into mainstream continuity, the pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El made an appearance in Peter David's Supergirl: Many Happy Returns. The then-current Supergirl series, at the time starring Linda Danvers, was in danger of cancellation and Peter David thought a story arc involving Kara Zor-El would be enough to revitalize the series.",
"The then-current Supergirl series, at the time starring Linda Danvers, was in danger of cancellation and Peter David thought a story arc involving Kara Zor-El would be enough to revitalize the series. In an interview with Cliff Biggers of Newsarama, David states: In the Linda Danvers' Supergirl series issues 49 and 50 (October and November 2000), the original dead Kara appears as Linda's \"guardian angel\".",
"In an interview with Cliff Biggers of Newsarama, David states: In the Linda Danvers' Supergirl series issues 49 and 50 (October and November 2000), the original dead Kara appears as Linda's \"guardian angel\". Then in issues 75 to 80, \"Many Happy Returns\", a young Kara appears from an earlier time long before the Crisis.",
"Then in issues 75 to 80, \"Many Happy Returns\", a young Kara appears from an earlier time long before the Crisis. The paradox becomes a moral crisis for Linda who tries to take her place as the Crisis sacrifice, living for years in a Silver Age universe where \"no one swears, the villains are always easy to defeat, and everything's very, very clean\", eventually marrying the Silver Age Superman and having a daughter with him, before she is forced to return to her universe by the Spectre when he reveals that her efforts to replace Kara as the sacrifice will not succeed.",
"The paradox becomes a moral crisis for Linda who tries to take her place as the Crisis sacrifice, living for years in a Silver Age universe where \"no one swears, the villains are always easy to defeat, and everything's very, very clean\", eventually marrying the Silver Age Superman and having a daughter with him, before she is forced to return to her universe by the Spectre when he reveals that her efforts to replace Kara as the sacrifice will not succeed. This run was illustrated by Ed Benes who had also illustrated Gail Simone's Birds of Prey which had a similar whimsical camaraderie between its female leads.",
"This run was illustrated by Ed Benes who had also illustrated Gail Simone's Birds of Prey which had a similar whimsical camaraderie between its female leads. Linda's inability to ultimately save Kara, coupled with the loss of her daughter, is so devastating that it ends her own career as Supergirl, Linda leaving a note for Superman where she explains that she feels that she has failed to live up to the standards of a true Supergirl and choosing to go somewhere she cannot be found.",
"Linda's inability to ultimately save Kara, coupled with the loss of her daughter, is so devastating that it ends her own career as Supergirl, Linda leaving a note for Superman where she explains that she feels that she has failed to live up to the standards of a true Supergirl and choosing to go somewhere she cannot be found. This story arc is usually cited as one of the best Supergirl stories ever written. The series ended with issue 80.",
"The series ended with issue 80. The series ended with issue 80. Revival After the launch of the Superman/Batman comic book series, executive editor Dan DiDio had been looking for a way to simplify the Supergirl character from her convoluted post-Crisis history; the simplest version, of course, was Superman's cousin. Jeph Loeb and editor Eddie Berganza found an opening to reintroduce the character following the conclusion of the first story arc of Superman/Batman.",
"Jeph Loeb and editor Eddie Berganza found an opening to reintroduce the character following the conclusion of the first story arc of Superman/Batman. Loeb states: The modern version of Kara Zor-El made her debut in Superman/Batman #8 (2004). Kara takes the mantle of Supergirl at the conclusion of the storyline. The Supergirl comic book series would later be relaunched, now starring Kara Zor-El as \"The Girl of Steel\". The first arc of the new series was written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by Ian Churchill.",
"The first arc of the new series was written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by Ian Churchill. Loeb would later describe the appeal of writing for Supergirl: As the character continued to be reinvented, steps towards regarding the iconic character were some of the most prominent changes. Artist Jamal Igle and editor Matt Idleson moved to transition the character away from red panties under her skirt to biker shorts, feeling such a change was a logical progression and \"more respectable.\"",
"Artist Jamal Igle and editor Matt Idleson moved to transition the character away from red panties under her skirt to biker shorts, feeling such a change was a logical progression and \"more respectable.\" The New 52 In September 2011, DC Comics began The New 52, in which it canceled all of its monthly superhero titles and relaunched 52 new ones, wiping out most of its past continuity in the process.",
"The New 52 In September 2011, DC Comics began The New 52, in which it canceled all of its monthly superhero titles and relaunched 52 new ones, wiping out most of its past continuity in the process. One of the new titles was a new Supergirl series (Volume 6) that featured a new origin for Kara and was published between 2011 and 2015.",
"One of the new titles was a new Supergirl series (Volume 6) that featured a new origin for Kara and was published between 2011 and 2015. Artist Mahmud Asrar designed a new costume for the character which strongly deviated from her classic, \"cheerleader\" suit, a change which generated criticism from some readers. DC Rebirth The 2016 DC Comics title relaunch Rebirth incorporates several elements (such as the costume, the name, the setting, and some characters) from the Supergirl television series.",
"DC Rebirth The 2016 DC Comics title relaunch Rebirth incorporates several elements (such as the costume, the name, the setting, and some characters) from the Supergirl television series. The DC Rebirth initiative undid the New 52's modern recreations, bringing DC's heroes back to their more classic iterations. Supergirl's new series (Volume 7) was titled Supergirl: Rebirth, written by Steven Orlando. The first arc was penciled by Brian Ching, who also redesigned Supergirl's costume in reference to a more classic look.",
"The first arc was penciled by Brian Ching, who also redesigned Supergirl's costume in reference to a more classic look. In April 2018, it was announced that the title would be canceled after issue #20, only to be revived in August that year under a new creative team, with new writer Marc Andreyko and artist Kevin Maguire. The series ended with its 42nd issue.",
"The series ended with its 42nd issue. The series ended with its 42nd issue. Future State: Kara Zor-El, Superwoman The Future State comics propose a possible future for Kara Zor-El, now an adult and having taken the alias of Superwoman. She leaves Earth to become a guardian of the Moon, which has become a refugee colony for aliens from the entire universe. The series was written by Marguerite Bennet and penciled by Marguerite Sauvage.",
"The series was written by Marguerite Bennet and penciled by Marguerite Sauvage. Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow Under the Infinite Frontier brand, Kara's next series Woman of Tomorrow debuted in June 2021, written by Tom King and penciled by Brazilian artists Bilquis Evely and Mat Lopes. The arc introduces Supergirl to new character grounds as she begins the story as a young woman, celebrating her 21st birthday and helping a young alien in her quest for revenge.",
"The arc introduces Supergirl to new character grounds as she begins the story as a young woman, celebrating her 21st birthday and helping a young alien in her quest for revenge. The \"mentor-mentee journey on revenge\" plot is, according to King, inspired by the original novel and both versions of True Grit. In this series, the creators paid homage to Linda Danvers, as Kara manifests flame wings and powers after taking a red kryptonite drug, in order to save her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon.",
"In this series, the creators paid homage to Linda Danvers, as Kara manifests flame wings and powers after taking a red kryptonite drug, in order to save her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon. Fictional character biography Silver Age In her debut story, Kara Zor-El is the last survivor of Argo City of the planet Krypton.",
"Fictional character biography Silver Age In her debut story, Kara Zor-El is the last survivor of Argo City of the planet Krypton. Although Argo, which had survived the explosion of the planet, drifted through space as a self-sustaining environment, the soil of the colony eventually turned into Kryptonite; and though Kara's father Zor-El placed lead sheeting above the ground to protect the citizens from radiation, meteorites pierced the sheeting, and the Kryptonians died of radiation poisoning instead of replacing the metal.",
"Although Argo, which had survived the explosion of the planet, drifted through space as a self-sustaining environment, the soil of the colony eventually turned into Kryptonite; and though Kara's father Zor-El placed lead sheeting above the ground to protect the citizens from radiation, meteorites pierced the sheeting, and the Kryptonians died of radiation poisoning instead of replacing the metal. In Supergirl's subsequent backup feature in Action Comics drawn by artist Jim Mooney for ten years until 1968, Supergirl adopts the identity of Linda Lee, an orphan at Midvale Orphanage presided over by headmistress Miss Hart.",
"In Supergirl's subsequent backup feature in Action Comics drawn by artist Jim Mooney for ten years until 1968, Supergirl adopts the identity of Linda Lee, an orphan at Midvale Orphanage presided over by headmistress Miss Hart. She disguises herself by hiding her blond hair beneath a brunette wig; Supergirl interacts with humans on a person-to-person basis performing good deeds and saving the world by helping one person at a time, and she also devises clever schemes as \"Superman's Secret Weapon,\" saving him many times and avoiding adoption before Superman can introduce her publicly.",
"She disguises herself by hiding her blond hair beneath a brunette wig; Supergirl interacts with humans on a person-to-person basis performing good deeds and saving the world by helping one person at a time, and she also devises clever schemes as \"Superman's Secret Weapon,\" saving him many times and avoiding adoption before Superman can introduce her publicly. While temporarily powerless due to the scheming of Kandorian scientist Lesla-Lar, who is out to supplant her on Earth, Linda allows herself to be adopted by engineer and rocket scientist Fred Danvers and his wife, Edna.",
"While temporarily powerless due to the scheming of Kandorian scientist Lesla-Lar, who is out to supplant her on Earth, Linda allows herself to be adopted by engineer and rocket scientist Fred Danvers and his wife, Edna. In time, she reveals her secret identity to her adoptive parents on the same day her cousin Superman finally introduces her to the world in the finale of then-DC's longest playing series ever (eight chapters) aptly called \"The World's Greatest Heroine\".",
"In time, she reveals her secret identity to her adoptive parents on the same day her cousin Superman finally introduces her to the world in the finale of then-DC's longest playing series ever (eight chapters) aptly called \"The World's Greatest Heroine\". When frequent dreams about her parents being alive turn out to be real, she builds a machine aided by her engineer father's talent, and brings them both back alive from the \"Survival Zone\" where they had both teleported during Argo City's final moments.",
"When frequent dreams about her parents being alive turn out to be real, she builds a machine aided by her engineer father's talent, and brings them both back alive from the \"Survival Zone\" where they had both teleported during Argo City's final moments. Zor-El and Allura eventually end up living in Kandor, and when the city in the bottle is enlarged, they both go on to live in Rokyn/New Krypton, where they have the sad duty of receiving her mortal remains after \"Crisis\" for burial.",
"Zor-El and Allura eventually end up living in Kandor, and when the city in the bottle is enlarged, they both go on to live in Rokyn/New Krypton, where they have the sad duty of receiving her mortal remains after \"Crisis\" for burial. Graduating from high school in 1965, Linda Lee goes to college on a scholarship and stays in Stanhope College until she graduates in 1971.",
"Graduating from high school in 1965, Linda Lee goes to college on a scholarship and stays in Stanhope College until she graduates in 1971. During this era, she is helped by her pet cat Streaky, her Super-Horse pet Comet, and befriends Lena Thorul, who had first appeared in the Lois Lane series. Kara is also a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, where she becomes close to Brainiac 5.",
"Kara is also a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, where she becomes close to Brainiac 5. In addition, Linda has boyfriends from the orphanage (Richard \"Dick\" Malverne) and from Atlantis (Jerro the merboy). In 1967, Supergirl meets Batgirl for the first time in World's Finest Comics. Developing a strong friendship, the two characters teamed up many times again, as in Superman Family #171, or Adventure #381.",
"Developing a strong friendship, the two characters teamed up many times again, as in Superman Family #171, or Adventure #381. In 1969, Supergirl left Action Comics and became a featured character in Adventure Comics beginning with issue #381 (June 1969). During the 1970s, Supergirl's costume changed frequently, as did her career in her civilian life.",
"During the 1970s, Supergirl's costume changed frequently, as did her career in her civilian life. In her secret identity as Linda Lee Danvers, Kara Zor-El took a variety of jobs including graduate student in acting, television camera operator, and student counselor, and finally became an actress on the TV soap Secret Hearts. Bronze Age After long-time Superman family editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971, the character underwent revitalization under editor Joe Orlando and artist Mike Sekowsky.",
"Bronze Age After long-time Superman family editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971, the character underwent revitalization under editor Joe Orlando and artist Mike Sekowsky. Wearing a series of new outfits, leaving her adopted foster home with the Danvers family, Linda goes on to San Francisco where she works for KSF-TV as a camera operator and develops a crush on her boss, Geoffrey Anderson. These stories introduced Supergirl's most memorable villain from this period: Lex Luthor's niece Nasthalthia, or Nasty.",
"These stories introduced Supergirl's most memorable villain from this period: Lex Luthor's niece Nasthalthia, or Nasty. Nasty had made two appearances towards the end of Linda's college years, then pursued her to KSF-TV, trying to secure proof of her dual identity.",
"Nasty had made two appearances towards the end of Linda's college years, then pursued her to KSF-TV, trying to secure proof of her dual identity. Supergirl starred in her first solo eponymous monthly series beginning in 1972 until October 1974, when her monthly title merged with Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane, and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen to produce a new title: then-highest DC selling series called The Superman Family, where she eventually became the steady lead story.",
"Supergirl starred in her first solo eponymous monthly series beginning in 1972 until October 1974, when her monthly title merged with Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane, and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen to produce a new title: then-highest DC selling series called The Superman Family, where she eventually became the steady lead story. Linda worked as a student advisor at New Athens Experimental School, before leaving for New York to follow a career in acting with daytime soap Secret Hearts.",
"Linda worked as a student advisor at New Athens Experimental School, before leaving for New York to follow a career in acting with daytime soap Secret Hearts. In 1982 Supergirl received a second monthly solo series titled The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl, relocating the character to Chicago as Linda became a mature student of Psychology. Industry legend, and former DC Publisher, Carmine Infantino provided the penciled art (Bob Oksner inked).",
"Industry legend, and former DC Publisher, Carmine Infantino provided the penciled art (Bob Oksner inked). With issue 13 the title was revamped, with a new costume design (sporting a red headband) and the title shortened to just Supergirl. The series ran until sudden cancellation in 1984, only two months before the character's debut in a big-budget Hollywood film starring Helen Slater.",
"The series ran until sudden cancellation in 1984, only two months before the character's debut in a big-budget Hollywood film starring Helen Slater. In the Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985), the greatest heroes from Earth-One, Earth-Two, Earth-Four, Earth-S, and Earth-X join forces in order to defeat the Anti-Monitor. When Superman comes face to face with the Anti-Monitor and is knocked unconscious, Supergirl rushes to save him before he is killed.",
"When Superman comes face to face with the Anti-Monitor and is knocked unconscious, Supergirl rushes to save him before he is killed. She is able to fight him off long enough for Dr. Light to carry her cousin to a safe distance, but is killed by the Anti-Monitor. A public memorial service for Supergirl takes place in Chicago, where Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) delivers the eulogy. In her remarks, she states \"Kara is a hero. She will not be forgotten.\"",
"She will not be forgotten.\" She will not be forgotten.\" Superman then gives his late cousin burial by taking her corpse to Rokyn/New Krypton to Zor-El and Allura. A Superman issue the next month reveals that Kara had experienced a premonition about her own passing. However, when the universe is rebooted, the timeline is altered. Kara Zor-El and all memory of her is erased from existence.",
"Kara Zor-El and all memory of her is erased from existence. Echoes After these events, the soul of Kara Zor-El made another appearance in continuity three years later in a story titled \"Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot\" in Christmas with the Super-Heroes #2 (1989). Within the story, Boston \"Deadman\" Brand tries to feel the warmth of Christmas by possessing revelers' bodies.",
"Within the story, Boston \"Deadman\" Brand tries to feel the warmth of Christmas by possessing revelers' bodies. Feeling guilty upon the realization that he has been stealing others' Christmases, he flies off feeling sorry for himself for being denied a reward after a year of helping people. A warmly dressed blonde woman approaches Brand, startling him.",
"A warmly dressed blonde woman approaches Brand, startling him. Somehow seeing the normally invisible Brand, she converses with him, reminding him, She reminds Brand that even though he is dead, he is still human, and he should rejoice because it means his spirit is still alive. As the woman leaves, Brand asks her who she is, to which she replies, \"My name is Kara. Though I doubt that will mean anything to you.\"",
"Though I doubt that will mean anything to you.\" The story, written by Alan Brennert and penciled by Dick Giordano, is dedicated to Otto Binder and Jim Mooney, adding: \"We still remember.\" Finally, the soul of Kara Zor-El appeared twice during Peter David's run, specifically in issues #48 and #49 when she appears before a defeated and imprisoned then-Supergirl, Linda Danvers from Earth, and comforts her.",
"Finally, the soul of Kara Zor-El appeared twice during Peter David's run, specifically in issues #48 and #49 when she appears before a defeated and imprisoned then-Supergirl, Linda Danvers from Earth, and comforts her. Linda acknowledges she has been helped three times by her phantom-friend, and when she asks her name she is told by the smiling figure: \"I have gone by many names, but the one I am most fond of is: Kara!\"",
"Linda acknowledges she has been helped three times by her phantom-friend, and when she asks her name she is told by the smiling figure: \"I have gone by many names, but the one I am most fond of is: Kara!\" Modern Age In 2004, Jeph Loeb reintroduced Kara Zor-El into post-Zero Hour (Birthright timeline) continuity during a storyline in the series Superman/Batman.",
"Modern Age In 2004, Jeph Loeb reintroduced Kara Zor-El into post-Zero Hour (Birthright timeline) continuity during a storyline in the series Superman/Batman. She is the biological cousin of Superman, and although chronologically older than him, the ship in which she traveled to Earth was caught in a large green Kryptonite meteorite which held her in a state of suspended animation for much of the journey, making her have the appearance of a 16-year-old girl.",
"She is the biological cousin of Superman, and although chronologically older than him, the ship in which she traveled to Earth was caught in a large green Kryptonite meteorite which held her in a state of suspended animation for much of the journey, making her have the appearance of a 16-year-old girl. Still, Supergirl sometimes saw Superman as a child, due to last carrying him as a baby. DC Comics relaunched the Supergirl, the first story arc of which was written by Loeb. showcases Supergirl on a journey of self-discovery.",
"showcases Supergirl on a journey of self-discovery. showcases Supergirl on a journey of self-discovery. Along her journey, she encounters Power Girl (Kara Zor-El's counterpart from another universe), the Teen Titans, the Outsiders, the Justice League of America, and arch-villain Lex Luthor. During the company-wide crossover series Infinite Crisis (2005), a sequel to Crisis on Infinite Earths, Supergirl is transported to the 31st century, where she is revered as a member of the Superman family and joins the Legion of Super-Heroes.",
"During the company-wide crossover series Infinite Crisis (2005), a sequel to Crisis on Infinite Earths, Supergirl is transported to the 31st century, where she is revered as a member of the Superman family and joins the Legion of Super-Heroes. DC Comics renamed the monthly series Legion of Super-Heroes to Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes. Beginning with issue #16.",
"Beginning with issue #16. Beginning with issue #16. In the limited series 52, which chronicles the events that took place during the missing year after the end of Infinite Crisis, Donna Troy recalls the original Kara Zor-El and her sacrifice to save the universe. Supergirl returns to the 21st century during the course of 52.",
"Supergirl returns to the 21st century during the course of 52. After briefly filling in for a temporarily depowered Superman as guardian of Metropolis, she assumes the identity of Flamebird to fight crime in the bottle city of Kandor with Power Girl as Nightwing in Greg Rucka's arc Supergirl: Kandor. In 2007, Supergirl appeared in the miniseries Amazons Attack! That same year, she joined the Teen Titans for five issues.",
"That same year, she joined the Teen Titans for five issues. Conversations with other heroes who maintain secret identities lead Kara to the conclusion that she needs to make a deeper connection with human beings. She accepts Lana Lang's proposal to present her to the Daily Planet staff as \"Linda Lang\", Lana's teenaged niece.",
"She accepts Lana Lang's proposal to present her to the Daily Planet staff as \"Linda Lang\", Lana's teenaged niece. In the 2008–2009 \"New Krypton\" story arc, in which Superman discovers and frees the real Kandor and a large number of its citizens, Supergirl is reunited with her father, Zor-El and mother, Alura, though Zor-El is killed by the villain Reactron.",
"In the 2008–2009 \"New Krypton\" story arc, in which Superman discovers and frees the real Kandor and a large number of its citizens, Supergirl is reunited with her father, Zor-El and mother, Alura, though Zor-El is killed by the villain Reactron. When a planet is formed that the Kryptonians call New Krypton, Kara is torn between her life on Earth, and her obligation to her mother, eventually joining the New Krypton Science Guild.",
"When a planet is formed that the Kryptonians call New Krypton, Kara is torn between her life on Earth, and her obligation to her mother, eventually joining the New Krypton Science Guild. Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2009 miniseries Justice League: Cry for Justice, and the 2009–2010 storyline \"Blackest Night\".",
"Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2009 miniseries Justice League: Cry for Justice, and the 2009–2010 storyline \"Blackest Night\". The New Krypton storyline would later be resolved in the \"World of New Krypton\", \"Superman: Last Stand of New Krypton\", \"War of the Supermen\" storylines, resulting in the destruction of New Krypton and seeing Supergirl mourn her people.",
"The New Krypton storyline would later be resolved in the \"World of New Krypton\", \"Superman: Last Stand of New Krypton\", \"War of the Supermen\" storylines, resulting in the destruction of New Krypton and seeing Supergirl mourn her people. Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2010 \"Brightest Day\" storyline, the follow up to \"Blackest Night\"., where she joins the Justice League along with Jesse Quick & Jade.",
"Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2010 \"Brightest Day\" storyline, the follow up to \"Blackest Night\"., where she joins the Justice League along with Jesse Quick & Jade. The New 52 In this continuity, Kara's ship lands in Smallville, Kansas but hurtles through the Earth and emerges in Siberia. Kara has no memory of the destruction of Krypton, and believes it is only three days since her spacecraft was launched.",
"Kara has no memory of the destruction of Krypton, and believes it is only three days since her spacecraft was launched. She learns the truth about Krypton's destruction from Superman, and later journeys through a wormhole to Argo City, which she finds in orbit around a blue sun. She finds the city in ruins, with no explanation of how it met that fate, and is attacked by a female Worldkiller named Reign before the city plummets into the sun.",
"She finds the city in ruins, with no explanation of how it met that fate, and is attacked by a female Worldkiller named Reign before the city plummets into the sun. When Reign and her fellow Worldkiller plan to enslave the Earth, Supergirl returns there to defeat them, and thus adopts Earth as her new home. After several battles with supervillains, including the Worldkillers, superweapons of Kryptonian design, she accepts Krypton's destruction, but continues to grapple with her grief.",
"After several battles with supervillains, including the Worldkillers, superweapons of Kryptonian design, she accepts Krypton's destruction, but continues to grapple with her grief. Her desire to restore Krypton results in her being manipulated into nearly destroying the Earth by another Kryptonian whom she falls in love with. Upon realizing his manipulation, she kills him by driving Kryptonite through his heart, and succumbs to Kryptonite poisoning. Following her poisoning, Supergirl departs the Earth to die alone.",
"Following her poisoning, Supergirl departs the Earth to die alone. While adrift in interstellar space, she encounters a planet under attack by monsters, and quickly intervenes to save them, unaware that the entire planet is a trap by Brainiac. She is captured and restrained by Cyborg Superman, but after a struggle, manages to escape both Brainiac and Cyborg Superman.",
"She is captured and restrained by Cyborg Superman, but after a struggle, manages to escape both Brainiac and Cyborg Superman. Returning to Earth, she is sent into the past by the Oracle alongside Superman and Superboy, where she ensures that a resurrected H'el cannot save Krypton, and sacrifices the planet and her family in order to save the universe. Back on Earth, she encounters the assassin Lobo.",
"Back on Earth, she encounters the assassin Lobo. Back on Earth, she encounters the assassin Lobo. Initially eager for a peaceful resolution, seeing a kind of kinship with him in their both being lone survivors of their respective worlds (although not truly aware of Lobo's circumstances), Kara's encounter with the Czarnian would reveal deep mental wounds, resulting in the unleashing of her rage and transformation into a Red Lantern.",
"Initially eager for a peaceful resolution, seeing a kind of kinship with him in their both being lone survivors of their respective worlds (although not truly aware of Lobo's circumstances), Kara's encounter with the Czarnian would reveal deep mental wounds, resulting in the unleashing of her rage and transformation into a Red Lantern. Driven insane by rage, Kara wanders space, attacking everyone in her way, until captured by several Green Lanterns and brought to Hal Jordan.",
"Driven insane by rage, Kara wanders space, attacking everyone in her way, until captured by several Green Lanterns and brought to Hal Jordan. Immediately recognizing a Kryptonian and unable to remove the power ring without killing her, he brings her to Guy Gardner, the leader of one of the two Red Lantern factions, who manages to restore her sanity.",
"Immediately recognizing a Kryptonian and unable to remove the power ring without killing her, he brings her to Guy Gardner, the leader of one of the two Red Lantern factions, who manages to restore her sanity. After some time under Guy Gardner's tutelage and protecting the galaxy as a Red Lantern, after being discharged from the Red Lantern Corps (because Guy did not want for her to die needlessly against Atrocitus' splinter group), on her way back to Earth, Kara encounters the leader of the Worldkillers, who are revealed to be parasitic suits of armor.",
"After some time under Guy Gardner's tutelage and protecting the galaxy as a Red Lantern, after being discharged from the Red Lantern Corps (because Guy did not want for her to die needlessly against Atrocitus' splinter group), on her way back to Earth, Kara encounters the leader of the Worldkillers, who are revealed to be parasitic suits of armor. He attempts to assimilate Kara as his host, but she voluntarily subjects herself to Kryptonite poisoning in order to stop him, and eventually flies into the Sun and removes her power ring, killing her and removing him from her body.",
"He attempts to assimilate Kara as his host, but she voluntarily subjects herself to Kryptonite poisoning in order to stop him, and eventually flies into the Sun and removes her power ring, killing her and removing him from her body. However, Kara is revealed to be immortal while in the Sun's core, and is restored to life without the power ring or any Kryptonite poisoning, immediately destroying the Worldkiller. She later helps Guy against Atrocitus and his Red Lantern splinter group.",
"She later helps Guy against Atrocitus and his Red Lantern splinter group. Convergence and return of the Pre-Crisis version During the Convergence story arc, the original Kara Zor-El who had sacrificed her life during Crisis on Infinite Earths makes an appearance on the amalgamated planet of Telos.",
"Convergence and return of the Pre-Crisis version During the Convergence story arc, the original Kara Zor-El who had sacrificed her life during Crisis on Infinite Earths makes an appearance on the amalgamated planet of Telos. At the end of the saga she volunteers herself to once again fight the Anti-Monitor but this time, with the help of her timeline's Barry Allen, the Pre-Flashpoint Superman (in tow with his pregnant wife, Lois Lane), and a repentant Parallax (Zero Hour Hal Jordan), vows to defeat him for the sake of the multiverse's continued existence.",
"At the end of the saga she volunteers herself to once again fight the Anti-Monitor but this time, with the help of her timeline's Barry Allen, the Pre-Flashpoint Superman (in tow with his pregnant wife, Lois Lane), and a repentant Parallax (Zero Hour Hal Jordan), vows to defeat him for the sake of the multiverse's continued existence. Without it being seen, those left on Telos discover the group was successful and all previous timelines (with the mysterious exception of the pre-Flashpoint/pre-New 52 DC universe) from DC history had been re-established, though the fate of the original Kara Zor-El and her fellows went unmentioned.",
"Without it being seen, those left on Telos discover the group was successful and all previous timelines (with the mysterious exception of the pre-Flashpoint/pre-New 52 DC universe) from DC history had been re-established, though the fate of the original Kara Zor-El and her fellows went unmentioned. A few more details of the battle against the Anti-Monitor are later revealed during the New 52 comic mini-series (leading into DC's Rebirth event).",
"A few more details of the battle against the Anti-Monitor are later revealed during the New 52 comic mini-series (leading into DC's Rebirth event). After the defeat of Anti-Monitor, Pre-New 52 Clark and Lois decide to start life anew in the closest universe they can find (mysteriously yet unable to see their old universe even though the rest of the multiverse had been restored) while Pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El, along with her contemporary Barry Allen and Zero Hour Parallax/Hal Jordan, decide to find their place in the universe and go off to do so.",
"After the defeat of Anti-Monitor, Pre-New 52 Clark and Lois decide to start life anew in the closest universe they can find (mysteriously yet unable to see their old universe even though the rest of the multiverse had been restored) while Pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El, along with her contemporary Barry Allen and Zero Hour Parallax/Hal Jordan, decide to find their place in the universe and go off to do so. Her fate as of that story arc is yet to be revealed.",
"Her fate as of that story arc is yet to be revealed. DC Rebirth After the events that led to the death of the New 52 version of Superman, 16-year-old Kara lives in National City with her adoptive parents, D.E.O. agents Jeremiah and Eliza Danvers, where she attends high school and works with the agency as led by Cameron Chase. As part of her civilian identity, Kara receives special glasses that darken her blond hair when posing as Kara Danvers.",
"As part of her civilian identity, Kara receives special glasses that darken her blond hair when posing as Kara Danvers. Kara also goes on an internship at Cat Grant's CATCO alongside Ben Rubel, whom she befriends. In her opening arc \"The Reign of the Cyborg Supermen\", Kara discovers that the cyborg Zor-El, whom she had battled in her New 52 title, is still active and has rebuilt other Kryptonians (her mother Alura included), planning to take over Earth.",
"In her opening arc \"The Reign of the Cyborg Supermen\", Kara discovers that the cyborg Zor-El, whom she had battled in her New 52 title, is still active and has rebuilt other Kryptonians (her mother Alura included), planning to take over Earth. Supergirl defeats them but vows to help her father regardless of his actions. After National City discovers Supergirl has kept Zor-El's \"living\" status a secret, they become untrustful of her.",
"After National City discovers Supergirl has kept Zor-El's \"living\" status a secret, they become untrustful of her. Director Bones takes advantage of the heroine's impopularity and, after taking control of the D.E.O., sends villains in an attempt to bring Kara down. She defeats all of them and regains trust from National City with Ben's help.",
"She defeats all of them and regains trust from National City with Ben's help. The Supergirl Who Laughs Kara is later infected by The Batman Who Laughs toxin, causing her to turn evil and joining other infected as part of Laughs Secret Six before later being cured. She is fired from CatCo by Cat Grant and starts working at S.T.A.R. Labs. Woman of Tomorrow Journeying throughout the universe with Krypto, Kara celebrates her 21st birthday alone on a distant planet.",
"Woman of Tomorrow Journeying throughout the universe with Krypto, Kara celebrates her 21st birthday alone on a distant planet. Drunk in a bar, she is approached by a little girl named Ruthye and is asked to kill Krem (her father's murderer) in vengeance. Supergirl refuses but, when she is about to leave the planet, Krem attacks and severely wounds both her and Krypto, fleeing in Kara's ship.",
"Supergirl refuses but, when she is about to leave the planet, Krem attacks and severely wounds both her and Krypto, fleeing in Kara's ship. Kara begins her journey alongside Ruthye and, powerless, saves her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon by taking a red kryptonite drug which causes her to manifest flame wings. Powers and abilities Like all Kryptonians under a yellow sun, the current version of Kara Zor-El possesses virtually unlimited strength, stamina, and durability.",
"Powers and abilities Like all Kryptonians under a yellow sun, the current version of Kara Zor-El possesses virtually unlimited strength, stamina, and durability. She is able to fly and with super speed that she can also use on foot, similar to Superman and The Flash. Also like Superman, Supergirl possesses super senses, super-breath, and freeze breathe, as well as multiple forms of supervision (including X-Ray, Infrared, Telescopic, and Microscopic).",
"Also like Superman, Supergirl possesses super senses, super-breath, and freeze breathe, as well as multiple forms of supervision (including X-Ray, Infrared, Telescopic, and Microscopic). Kara also has a bio-electric aura that enhances her near invulnerability and also protects her skin and her costume from dirt and tear; as such, Kara is perpetually clean. The Sun also provides Kara with a longer lifespan than that of a human being, to the point that she is effectively a biological immortal.",
"The Sun also provides Kara with a longer lifespan than that of a human being, to the point that she is effectively a biological immortal. Kara doesn't require food, water, or sleep to survive. She is also immune to most diseases, mental and physical, and would require a very strong strain to have a chance at affecting her. In the rare instances that Kara is harmed by someone matching her strength or by the use of one of her weaknesses, she can heal almost instantaneously.",
"In the rare instances that Kara is harmed by someone matching her strength or by the use of one of her weaknesses, she can heal almost instantaneously. Her power surpasses most other beings, though she can be overpowered by those who rival her strength such as Black Adam, Darkseid, Despero, Doomsday, Bizarro, Wonder Woman, and Superman. In reality, Kara is actually older than her cousin, Clark, and spent time on Krypton before its destruction.",
"In reality, Kara is actually older than her cousin, Clark, and spent time on Krypton before its destruction. As such (unlike Superman), she possesses memories of Kryptonian culture as well as her cousin's parents. Continued exposure to a yellow Sun will slowly increase abilities. Many characters in the DC Universe have noted that Supergirl appears, at times, to be even more powerful than Superman himself.",
"Many characters in the DC Universe have noted that Supergirl appears, at times, to be even more powerful than Superman himself. In answer to this, Superman states that this is because he has spent his entire life subconsciously suppressing his full powers in order to avoid hurting others, having been absorbing solar radiation since his infancy. Kara, not having such practice or experience, simply uses the full magnitude of her powers.",
"Kara, not having such practice or experience, simply uses the full magnitude of her powers. Abilities Unlike her cousin, Kara was taught to fight in Krypton as part of her tests, and at the Crucible Academy, being adept at various Kryptonian fighting styles like Klurkor and Torquasm Rao. Supergirl also learned the art of Bagua under I-Ching's instructions. She practiced how to manipulate her Chi or Qi in order to gain better control of her powers due to them becoming overwhelmed after her conflict with the Fatal Five.",
"She practiced how to manipulate her Chi or Qi in order to gain better control of her powers due to them becoming overwhelmed after her conflict with the Fatal Five. Superman recommended guardianship with I-Ching to Supergirl first. In addition to training in Krypton, Kara was trained by Batman in advanced martial arts and trained with the Amazons in Themyscira in unarmed and armed combat, Amazonas martial arts, fencing, Shield handling, and other Amazon weapons. She trained with Wonder Woman and Artemis extensively.",
"She trained with Wonder Woman and Artemis extensively. She trained with Wonder Woman and Artemis extensively. Other versions There are numerous alternate versions of Supergirl. The most notable is Power Girl (real name Kara Zor-L, also known as Karen Starr) who first appeared in All Star Comics #58 (January/February 1976). Power Girl is the Earth-Two counterpart of Supergirl and the first cousin of Kal-L, Superman of the pre-Crisis Earth-Two. The infant Power Girl's parents enabled her to escape the destruction of Krypton.",
"The infant Power Girl's parents enabled her to escape the destruction of Krypton. Although she left the planet at the same time that Superman did, her ship took much longer to reach Earth-Two. She has superhuman strength and the ability to fly and is the first chairwoman of the Justice Society of America. She sports a bob of blond hair; wears a distinctive white, red, and blue costume; and has an aggressive fighting style.",
"She sports a bob of blond hair; wears a distinctive white, red, and blue costume; and has an aggressive fighting style. Throughout her early appearances in All Star Comics, she is often at odds with Wildcat because his penchant for talking to her as if she were an ordinary human female rather than a superpowered Kryptonian annoys her. She also fought alongside the Sovereign Seven team, replacing Rampart after his death though that series is not considered to be part of canon in the DC universe.",
"She also fought alongside the Sovereign Seven team, replacing Rampart after his death though that series is not considered to be part of canon in the DC universe. The 1985 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths eliminated Earth-Two, causing her origin to change; she became the granddaughter of the Atlantean sorcerer Arion. However, story events culminating in the 2005–2006 Infinite Crisis limited series restored her status as a refugee from the Krypton of the destroyed pre-Crisis Earth-Two universe.",
"However, story events culminating in the 2005–2006 Infinite Crisis limited series restored her status as a refugee from the Krypton of the destroyed pre-Crisis Earth-Two universe. Like the original Kara's Streaky, Power Girl has a cat, featured in a story by Amanda Conner in Wonder Woman #600. Reception This version of Supergirl is ranked as the 153rd-greatest comic book character of all time by Wizard magazine.",
"Reception This version of Supergirl is ranked as the 153rd-greatest comic book character of all time by Wizard magazine. IGN also ranked this version of Supergirl as the 94th-greatest comic book superhero, stating \"for a character born of the Silver Age that saw everything from a Super Baby to a Super Monkey, Kara Zor-El grew into something much more than simply another marketing ploy to slap an 'S' on.\"",
"IGN also ranked this version of Supergirl as the 94th-greatest comic book superhero, stating \"for a character born of the Silver Age that saw everything from a Super Baby to a Super Monkey, Kara Zor-El grew into something much more than simply another marketing ploy to slap an 'S' on.\" In 2013 IGN ranked Supergirl as the 17th-greatest DC comic superhero, stating \"she was an early example of a female sidekick developing a large fanbase in her own right\", and \"Supergirl has been one of DC's most powerful heroes, and a standard to hold other female heroes against.\"",
"In 2013 IGN ranked Supergirl as the 17th-greatest DC comic superhero, stating \"she was an early example of a female sidekick developing a large fanbase in her own right\", and \"Supergirl has been one of DC's most powerful heroes, and a standard to hold other female heroes against.\" Appearances Pre-Crisis 1959 to 1969: Action Comics #252 to #376. 1969 to 1972: Adventure Comics #381 to #424. 1972 to 1974: Supergirl #1 to #10.",
"1972 to 1974: Supergirl #1 to #10. 1974 to 1982: Her comic merges with Jimmy Olsen's and Lois Lane's to become Superman Family #164 to #222. 1982 to 1984: The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl #1 to #13, Supergirl (vol. 2) #14 to #23. 2015: Convergence Kara Zor-El appeared in over 750 stories published by DC from 1959 to 1985.",
"2015: Convergence Kara Zor-El appeared in over 750 stories published by DC from 1959 to 1985. Post-Crisis 2004 to 2005: Superman/Batman #8 to #13 and #19 2005 to 2011: Supergirl (vol. 5) #0 to #67 2006 to 2008: Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes (Legion of Super-Heroes vol. 5) #16 to #37 2007: Action Comics #850 2008: Final Crisis 2011 to 2015: New 52: Supergirl (vol.",
"5) #16 to #37 2007: Action Comics #850 2008: Final Crisis 2011 to 2015: New 52: Supergirl (vol. 6) #1 to #40 2016 to current: Rebirth: Supergirl (vol. 7) #1 to current Kara Zor-El also appears as a supporting character in several issues of other DC Comics, including Superman, Action Comics, Teen Titans, Amazons Attack, World War III, and Wonder Girl.",
"7) #1 to current Kara Zor-El also appears as a supporting character in several issues of other DC Comics, including Superman, Action Comics, Teen Titans, Amazons Attack, World War III, and Wonder Girl. She has also appeared in many issues of Superman, Action Comics, and Superman New Krypton starting with the World Without Superman event in 2009, and continuing with the World Against Superman event going into 2010. Collected editions Listed in chronological order.",
"Collected editions Listed in chronological order. Collected editions Listed in chronological order. All ages titles are not in continuity with the original or modern Kara. In other media Television Live-action Smallville Prior to the seventh season (2007–2008) of the WB/CW show Smallville where she is introduced into the cast and is portrayed by Laura Vandervoort, a woman claiming to be Kara (portrayed by Adrianne Palicki) is briefly introduced in the season 3 finale.",
"In other media Television Live-action Smallville Prior to the seventh season (2007–2008) of the WB/CW show Smallville where she is introduced into the cast and is portrayed by Laura Vandervoort, a woman claiming to be Kara (portrayed by Adrianne Palicki) is briefly introduced in the season 3 finale. It is later revealed her real name is Lindsey Harrison, and had been given false memories and powers by the artificial intelligence of Clark Kent's (Tom Welling) father Jor-El as part of a series of tests.",
"It is later revealed her real name is Lindsey Harrison, and had been given false memories and powers by the artificial intelligence of Clark Kent's (Tom Welling) father Jor-El as part of a series of tests. Vandervoort portrays the real Kara, Clark's cousin whose spaceship had been trapped in stasis until the events of the season 6 finale. Much of season 7 is concerned with Kara's attempts to adjust to life on Earth, especially after learning of Krypton's destruction.",
"Much of season 7 is concerned with Kara's attempts to adjust to life on Earth, especially after learning of Krypton's destruction. Her storyline sees her simultaneously become the object of Lex Luthor's (Michael Rosenbaum) obsessions and Jimmy Olsen's (Aaron Ashmore) affections, suffer a bout of amnesia, discover her father's (Christopher Heyerdahl) sinister motives and become a target of evil android Brainiac (James Marsters). The season finale sees Kara become trapped in the Phantom Zone.",
"The season finale sees Kara become trapped in the Phantom Zone. Starting with season 8, Vandervoort ceases to feature as a series regular, but reprises the role three more times. In her first guest appearance, \"Bloodline,\" Kara is freed from the Phantom Zone and later departs Clark's hometown of Smallville to search for Kandor, her birthplace, as it is rumored to have survived their home planet's destruction.",
"In her first guest appearance, \"Bloodline,\" Kara is freed from the Phantom Zone and later departs Clark's hometown of Smallville to search for Kandor, her birthplace, as it is rumored to have survived their home planet's destruction. She appears again in the season 10 episode \"Supergirl\", in which she formally adopts her superhero moniker. Her off-screen adventures are alluded to thereafter.",
"Her off-screen adventures are alluded to thereafter. Her off-screen adventures are alluded to thereafter. Vandervoort makes a final appearance in the show's penultimate episode, \"Prophecy\", in which she helps Green Arrow (Justin Hartley) locate the \"Bow of Orion\" to use against Darkseid. She is then called to the Fortress of Solitude, where she learns from Jor-El that her job on Earth is done. Using a Legion of Super-Heroes flight ring, she travels to the future to seek her own destiny.",
"Using a Legion of Super-Heroes flight ring, she travels to the future to seek her own destiny. The Season Eleven comic book continuation of the show later depicts Kara's continued story in the 31st century, subsequent return to the present and joining the Justice League. Arrowverse In September 2014, a 22-episode television series centered around Supergirl was in development at Warner Bros. Television, set to premiere on CBS with a January 2015 air date. Melissa Benoist was cast as the titular character.",
"Melissa Benoist was cast as the titular character. Melissa Benoist was cast as the titular character. In May 2016, the series moved to The CW and was later integrated into the Arrowverse, a shared universe consisting of shows including Arrow, The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow. In the series, Kara Zor-El was sent to Earth to protect her cousin Kal-El, following her homeworld Krypton's destruction. However, she is knocked into the Phantom Zone, where she is stranded for 24 years.",
"However, she is knocked into the Phantom Zone, where she is stranded for 24 years. She eventually crash lands on Earth and is found by her already grown-up cousin Kal, now known to the world as the iconic superhero \"Superman\". Superman brings Kara into the custody of Jeremiah Danvers, director of the Department of Extranormal Operations (D.E.O. ), and his daughter Alex. Growing up, Kara struggles to maintain her Kryptonian abilities as well as balancing her relationship with her adoptive sister.",
"Growing up, Kara struggles to maintain her Kryptonian abilities as well as balancing her relationship with her adoptive sister. Eventually, the two bond when Kara's powers are exposed. However, Jeremiah decides it's best to isolate her abilities. As an adult, Kara is forced to use her powers again when her sister's plane almost crashes. She is later dubbed \"Supergirl\" by the media and dons a costume like her cousin.",
"She is later dubbed \"Supergirl\" by the media and dons a costume like her cousin. Kara decides to use her abilities to fight alien invaders such as Kara's aunt Astra and her husband Non, Mon-El's rogue parents, the Worldkiller Reign, anti-alien activist Ben Lockwood, and later the shadowy organization Leviathan, with the help of her sister Alex, now an agent of the D.E.O., her best friend and tech-expert Winn Schott, last of the Green Martians J'onn J'onzz / Martian Manhunter, and Kal's best friend Jimmy Olsen.",
"Kara decides to use her abilities to fight alien invaders such as Kara's aunt Astra and her husband Non, Mon-El's rogue parents, the Worldkiller Reign, anti-alien activist Ben Lockwood, and later the shadowy organization Leviathan, with the help of her sister Alex, now an agent of the D.E.O., her best friend and tech-expert Winn Schott, last of the Green Martians J'onn J'onzz / Martian Manhunter, and Kal's best friend Jimmy Olsen. She is later joined by Lex Luthor's sister Lena, Prince of Daxam Mon-El, former Legion of Superheroes member Querl \"Brainy\" Dox / Brainiac 5, Nia Nal / Dreamer, James' younger sister Kelly, and reporter Willam Dey face against these rival forces.",
"She is later joined by Lex Luthor's sister Lena, Prince of Daxam Mon-El, former Legion of Superheroes member Querl \"Brainy\" Dox / Brainiac 5, Nia Nal / Dreamer, James' younger sister Kelly, and reporter Willam Dey face against these rival forces. After joining the Arrowverse, which contain annual crossover, Kara assists Barry Allen, Oliver Queen and the Legends of Tomorrow against threats on their designated earth \"Earth-1\" while Kara’s is designated as \"Earth-38.",
"After joining the Arrowverse, which contain annual crossover, Kara assists Barry Allen, Oliver Queen and the Legends of Tomorrow against threats on their designated earth \"Earth-1\" while Kara’s is designated as \"Earth-38. Later, Kara is selected by The Monitor as the Paragon of Hope to participate in the coming crisis and fight against the Anti-Monitor, whose goal is to destroy the multiverse. After doing so, the Paragons are sent to the Vanishing Point where Oliver, now a Spectre, helps them escape.",
"After doing so, the Paragons are sent to the Vanishing Point where Oliver, now a Spectre, helps them escape. The Paragons appear at the dawn of time in the anti-matter universe where they have their final confrontation with the Anti-Monitor. Eventually, Oliver sacrifices himself to kill the Anti-Monitor, and as a result, a new multiverse is born with Earth-38 and Earth-1 merged into \"Earth-Prime\". Following the crisis, Kara is forced to deal the after-effects of Crisis which include working with Lex, now owning the D.E.O.",
"Following the crisis, Kara is forced to deal the after-effects of Crisis which include working with Lex, now owning the D.E.O. while Leviathan continue their covert operations under Gamemnae. The sixth season sees Kara and her allies expose Lex's crimes, but are then forced to deal with Nyxlygsptlnz, a fifth-dimensional imp who tricked the heroes into releasing her from the Phantom Zone.",
"The sixth season sees Kara and her allies expose Lex's crimes, but are then forced to deal with Nyxlygsptlnz, a fifth-dimensional imp who tricked the heroes into releasing her from the Phantom Zone. Eventually Nyxlygsptlnz joins forces with Lex Luthor and the two kill William, but Kara's assembled allies are able to defeat the two, culminating in Lex and Nyxlygsptlnz being trapped in the Phantom Zone when one of their own plans backfires.",
"Eventually Nyxlygsptlnz joins forces with Lex Luthor and the two kill William, but Kara's assembled allies are able to defeat the two, culminating in Lex and Nyxlygsptlnz being trapped in the Phantom Zone when one of their own plans backfires. The series concludes with Kara revealing her dual identity so that she can live a full life as one person. Animation DC Nation Shorts Supergirl appears with Batgirl and Wonder Girl in Super Best Friends Forever, voiced by Nicole Sullivan.",
"Animation DC Nation Shorts Supergirl appears with Batgirl and Wonder Girl in Super Best Friends Forever, voiced by Nicole Sullivan. DC Super Hero Girls Supergirl appears as a central protagonist in the web series DC Super Hero Girls voiced by Anais Fairweather, and is a student at Super Hero High, is very kind and caring and extremely powerful but she's also very clumsy. She also appears as a central protagonist in the 2019 TV series, with Nicole Sullivan reprising her role from the Super Best Friends Forever shorts.",
"She also appears as a central protagonist in the 2019 TV series, with Nicole Sullivan reprising her role from the Super Best Friends Forever shorts. In this version, she is also a rebel and is known as the \"cool kid\" in school. She may be tough but she can easily express her emotions and is very open-minded as well. She can be a cool friend and a helpful one, but she can also be jealous sometimes and she dislikes her cousin's prominence.",
"She can be a cool friend and a helpful one, but she can also be jealous sometimes and she dislikes her cousin's prominence. Justice League Action Supergirl appears in Justice League Action, voiced by Joanne Spracklen. She has the appearance of a wide-eyed human teenager with blonde hair and wears her traditional costume except that it has thigh-high boots and a pleated skirt. As a person, she is youthful, responsible, and shows much affection for her cousin Superman.",
"As a person, she is youthful, responsible, and shows much affection for her cousin Superman. In \"Party Animal\", she appears as a cameo at this Christmas party with the Justice League. In \"Keeping up with the Kryptonians\", Supergirl becomes a star of the popular reality show \"That's So Kara\", and Superman a Kasnian who rules from one place to another on Earth, all being a reality caused by Mister Mxyzptlk.",
"In \"Keeping up with the Kryptonians\", Supergirl becomes a star of the popular reality show \"That's So Kara\", and Superman a Kasnian who rules from one place to another on Earth, all being a reality caused by Mister Mxyzptlk. In \"Unleashed\", Supergirl accompanies Justice League in stopping Red Lantern Corps, unaware that it was a distraction made by Dex-Starr to invade Earth, until it was ultimately resolved by Krypto, Streaky, and Plastic Man.",
"In \"Unleashed\", Supergirl accompanies Justice League in stopping Red Lantern Corps, unaware that it was a distraction made by Dex-Starr to invade Earth, until it was ultimately resolved by Krypto, Streaky, and Plastic Man. In a short \"The Goddess Must Be Crazy\", Supergirl trains with Wonder Woman in Paradise Island, until she is possessed by Felix Faust, to destroy the island. Film Superman film series A live action depiction of Supergirl first appears in the eponymous 1984 film starring Helen Slater as Supergirl.",
"Film Superman film series A live action depiction of Supergirl first appears in the eponymous 1984 film starring Helen Slater as Supergirl. The film is a spin-off from the Superman film series starring Christopher Reeve, to which it is connected by Marc McClure's character of Jimmy Olsen. DC Extended Universe Kara Zor-El / Linda Danvers / Supergirl exists within the DC Extended Universe, as she was referenced in Man of Steel when Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman discovers an empty pod within the Kryptonian scout spaceship.",
"DC Extended Universe Kara Zor-El / Linda Danvers / Supergirl exists within the DC Extended Universe, as she was referenced in Man of Steel when Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman discovers an empty pod within the Kryptonian scout spaceship. Though Zack Snyder confirmed in August 2018 that even though the character does exist, that pod was not intended for her. In August 2018, a film centered around the character was announced to be in development, with Oren Uziel hired as screenwriter for the project.",
"In August 2018, a film centered around the character was announced to be in development, with Oren Uziel hired as screenwriter for the project. The studio intends to hire a female director, with Reed Morano—who has expressed interest in the project—being its top choice. Filming was expected to start production in early 2020. Sasha Calle will play Supergirl for the DC Extended Universe in The Flash.",
"Sasha Calle will play Supergirl for the DC Extended Universe in The Flash. Animation Summer Glau voices the post-Crisis version of Kara Zor-El in Superman/Batman: Apocalypse, which is based on the Superman/Batman storyline \"The Supergirl from Krypton\". Despite this, it was confirmed by director Lauren Montgomery that Supergirl's name was removed from the title due to the much slower sales of the previous Wonder Woman animated movie, and the character was not permitted to appear on the cover in her trademark outfit.",
"Despite this, it was confirmed by director Lauren Montgomery that Supergirl's name was removed from the title due to the much slower sales of the previous Wonder Woman animated movie, and the character was not permitted to appear on the cover in her trademark outfit. Molly Quinn voices Supergirl in Superman: Unbound. Supergirl appears in Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League: Cosmic Clash, voiced by Jessica DiCicco. Video games Supergirl appears in DC Universe Online, voiced by Adriene Mishler.",
"Video games Supergirl appears in DC Universe Online, voiced by Adriene Mishler. In the villain campaign, the players help Doctor Psycho capture Supergirl using Kryptonite. In the hero campaign, the players fight Doctor Psycho to save Supergirl. Under the thrall of Brainiac, she must be defeated in the Fortress of Solitude: Power Core raid. Supergirl is unlockable in Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes, voiced by Bridget Hoffman. Supergirl makes a cameo appearance in the IOS version of Injustice: Gods Among Us as a support card.",
"Supergirl makes a cameo appearance in the IOS version of Injustice: Gods Among Us as a support card. Supergirl appears as a playable character in Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham, voiced by Kari Wahlgren. She is playable in her default variant which is designed after her appearance in The New 52 and in her Classic attire.",
"She is playable in her default variant which is designed after her appearance in The New 52 and in her Classic attire. Her Classic variant is unlocked in a VR Mission while her New 52 variant is unlocked in a Hub Quest in Nok where she requests players to defeat a number of enemies she accidentally releases from their cells. Supergirl appears as a playable character in Infinite Crisis, voiced by Camilla Luddington.",
"Supergirl appears as a playable character in Infinite Crisis, voiced by Camilla Luddington. Supergirl appears as a playable character and the central protagonist in Injustice 2 by NetherRealm Studios, the sequel to Injustice: Gods Among Us, voiced by Laura Bailey.",
"Supergirl appears as a playable character and the central protagonist in Injustice 2 by NetherRealm Studios, the sequel to Injustice: Gods Among Us, voiced by Laura Bailey. Here her origin is much like in the comics where she is sent along with her cousin Kal-El to Earth by her mother after Krypton is destroyed but on separate pods where hers veers off-course after sustaining significant damage, stranding her in space for many years until she lands on Earth, unaged.",
"Here her origin is much like in the comics where she is sent along with her cousin Kal-El to Earth by her mother after Krypton is destroyed but on separate pods where hers veers off-course after sustaining significant damage, stranding her in space for many years until she lands on Earth, unaged. When the main storyline starts, she is residing on Black Adam's kingdom of Khandaq, apparently under his and Wonder Woman's protection.",
"When the main storyline starts, she is residing on Black Adam's kingdom of Khandaq, apparently under his and Wonder Woman's protection. When Brainiac who was responsible for Krypton's destruction attacks, she, Wonder Woman, and Black Adam attempt to free Superman and the remaining members of the Regime, while being interrupted in their efforts by new Insurgency recruits Blue Beetle and Firestorm until Batman himself arrives and releases Superman, leading to a temporary alliance between the Regime and Insurgency against the alien warlord.",
"When Brainiac who was responsible for Krypton's destruction attacks, she, Wonder Woman, and Black Adam attempt to free Superman and the remaining members of the Regime, while being interrupted in their efforts by new Insurgency recruits Blue Beetle and Firestorm until Batman himself arrives and releases Superman, leading to a temporary alliance between the Regime and Insurgency against the alien warlord. Over the course of the story, she learns the truth about her cousin's tyranny and at the end of the game sides with Batman, Green Lantern and Flash in letting Brainiac live in order to restore the lost cities but is defeated.",
"Over the course of the story, she learns the truth about her cousin's tyranny and at the end of the game sides with Batman, Green Lantern and Flash in letting Brainiac live in order to restore the lost cities but is defeated. In Batman's ending, she laments her cousin's tyranny and sees him leave to be imprisoned in the Phantom Zone and is offered membership by Batman in his Justice League.",
"In Batman's ending, she laments her cousin's tyranny and sees him leave to be imprisoned in the Phantom Zone and is offered membership by Batman in his Justice League. In Superman's ending, she is imprisoned aboard Brainiac's ship and to her shock discovers her cousin has bonded with it and when she refuses his offer to join him in leading his new legion of imprisoned species. He attempts to coerce her by revealing a brainwashed Batman, who had also been captured, further shocking her.",
"He attempts to coerce her by revealing a brainwashed Batman, who had also been captured, further shocking her. Supergirl appears as a limited-distribution minifigure for the toys-to-life video game Lego Dimensions, with Kari Wahlgren reprising her role. She has the ability to transform between her classic and Red Lantern forms. Supergirl appears as a playable character in DC Unchained. Supergirl appears in the PSP version of Justice League Heroes. Supergirl appears as a playable character in the DC TV Super-Heroes DLC pack in Lego DC Super-Villains.",
"Supergirl appears as a playable character in the DC TV Super-Heroes DLC pack in Lego DC Super-Villains. See also Alternative versions of Supergirl Laurel Gand References External links DC Comics Pre-Crisis Supergirl Chronology Supergirl Characters created by Otto Binder Comics characters introduced in 1958 Comics characters introduced in 1959 DC Comics aliens DC Comics American superheroes DC Comics characters who can move at superhuman speeds DC Comics characters with accelerated healing DC Comics characters with superhuman strength DC Comics deities DC Comics female superheroes DC Comics film characters DC Comics television characters DC Comics extraterrestrial superheroes Female characters in television Fictional characters with superhuman senses Fictional actors Fictional extraterrestrial–human hybrids Fictional orphans Fictional photographers Fictional refugees Fictional reporters Fictional school counselors Fictional American secret agents Fictional waiting staff Kryptonians Superheroes who are adopted Vigilante characters in comics"
] |
[
"Supergirl (Kara Zor-El)",
"Bronze Age",
"whaat is the bronze age",
"After long-time Superman family editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971,",
"what happened during the bronze age",
"the character underwent revitalization under editor Joe Orlando and artist Mike Sekowsky.",
"anything intresting happen",
"leaving her adopted foster home with the Danvers family, Linda goes on to San Francisco where she works for KSF-TV as a camera operator"
] | C_eaa7329c3ac14b8bb4aaea61d8fa517d_1 | what else happened | 4 | what else happened during Supergirl's revitalization other than leaving her adopted foster home? | Supergirl (Kara Zor-El) | After long-time Superman family editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971, the character underwent revitalization under editor Joe Orlando and artist Mike Sekowsky. Wearing a series of new outfits, leaving her adopted foster home with the Danvers family, Linda goes on to San Francisco where she works for KSF-TV as a camera operator and develops a crush on her boss, Geoffrey Anderson. These stories introduced Supergirl's most memorable villain from this period: Lex Luthor's niece Nasthalthia, or Nasty. Nasty had made two appearances towards the end of Linda's college years, then pursued her to KSF-TV, trying to secure proof of her dual identity. Supergirl starred in her first solo eponymous monthly series beginning in 1972 until October 1974, when her monthly title merged with Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane, and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen to produce a new title: then-highest DC selling series called The Superman Family, where she eventually became the steady lead story. Linda worked as a student advisor at New Athens Experimental School, before leaving for New York to follow a career in acting with daytime soap Secret Hearts. In 1982 Supergirl received a second monthly solo series titled The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl, relocating the character to Chicago as Linda became a mature student of Psychology. Industry legend, and former DC Publisher, Carmine Infantino provided the pencilled art (Bob Oksner inked). With issue 13 the title was revamped, with a new costume design (sporting a red headband) and the title shortened to just Supergirl. The series ran until sudden cancellation in 1984, only two months before the character's debut in a big-budget Hollywood film starring Helen Slater. In the Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985) the greatest heroes from Earth-One, Earth-Two, Earth-Four, Earth-S, and Earth-X join forces in order to defeat the Anti-Monitor. When Superman comes face to face with the Anti-Monitor and is knocked unconscious, Supergirl rushes to save him before he is killed. She is able to fight him off long enough for Dr. Light to carry her cousin to a safe distance, but is killed by the Anti-Monitor. A public memorial service for Supergirl takes place in Chicago, where Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) delivers the eulogy. In her remarks she states "Kara is a hero. She will not be forgotten." Superman then gives his late cousin burial by taking her corpse to Rokyn/New Krypton to Zor-El and Allura. A Superman issue the next month reveals that Kara had experienced a premonition about her own passing. However, when the universe is rebooted, the timeline is altered. Kara Zor-El and all memory of her is erased from existence. CANNOTANSWER | These stories introduced Supergirl's most memorable villain from this period: Lex Luthor's niece Nasthalthia, or Nasty. | Kara Zor-El, also known by her adoptive names of Linda Lee Danvers, Kara Kent, Linda Lang, and Kara Danvers, and the superhero name of Supergirl, is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. She was created by Otto Binder and designed by Al Plastino. Danvers first appeared in Action Comics #252 (May 1959)'s "The Supergirl from Krypton" story. Kara is the biological cousin of Kal-El, who went on to adopt the name of Clark Kent and the superhero Superman. During the 1980s and the revolution of the Modern Age of Comics, Superman editors believed the character's history had become too convoluted, thus killing Supergirl during the 1985 Crisis on Infinite Earths event and retconning her out of existence.
DC Comics Senior Vice President Dan DiDio re-introduced the character in 2004 along with editor Eddie Berganza and writer Jeph Loeb, with her the Superman/Batman storyline "The Supergirl from Krypton". As the current Supergirl, Kara stars in her own monthly comic book series. With DC's The New 52 relaunch, Kara, like most of the DC Universe, was revamped. DC relaunched the Supergirl comic in August 2016 as part of their DC Rebirth initiative.
In live-action, Supergirl appeared in the 1984 film based on her character and was portrayed by Helen Slater. She also appeared in the series Smallville, played by actress Laura Vandervoort. In 2015, the live-action Arrowverse series Supergirl debuted on CBS and then moved to The CW after the first season. Supergirl was portrayed by Melissa Benoist on the show and also appeared on other Arrowverse shows. Sasha Calle will appear as Supergirl in the upcoming DC Extended Universe film The Flash (2022).
Publication history
Early life
Although Kara Zor-El was the first character to use the name "Supergirl," DC Comics tested three different female versions of Superman prior to her debut.
The first story to feature a female counterpart to Superman was "Lois Lane – Superwoman," which was published in Action Comics #60 (May 1943). In the story, a hospitalized Lois Lane dreams she has gained superpowers thanks to a blood transfusion from the Man of Steel. She begins her own career as "Superwoman", complete with a version of Superman's costume.
In the Superboy #78 story entitled "Claire Kent, Alias Super-Sister", Superboy saves the life of an alien woman named Shar-La, who turns Superboy into a girl, in retaliation for his disparaging thoughts about women drivers which she picked up telepathically. In Smallville, Clark claims to be Claire Kent, an out-of-town relative who is staying with the Kents. When in costume, he appears as Superboy's sister, Super-Sister, and claims the two have exchanged places. Once Superboy has learned his lesson about feeling more respect for women, Shar-La reveals the episode to be a dream which she projected into Superboy's mind.
In Superman #123 (August 1958), Jimmy Olsen uses a magic totem to wish a "Super-Girl" into existence as a companion and aid to Superman; however, the two frequently get in each other's way until she is fatally injured protecting Superman from a Kryptonite meteor. At her insistence, Jimmy wishes the dying girl out of existence. DC used this story to gauge public response to the concept of a completely new super-powered female counterpart to Superman.
The Kara Zor-El version of Supergirl finally appeared in Action Comics #252 (May 1959). Otto Binder wrote and Al Plastino illustrated her début story, in which Kara was born and raised in Argo City (unnamed until later issues), a fragment of Krypton that survived destruction. When the city is doomed by a meteor shower, Kara is sent to Earth by her parents, Zor-El and Alura (the latter unnamed until later issues), to be raised by her cousin Kal-El, known as Superman. Supergirl adopted the secret identity of an orphan "Linda Lee", and made Midvale Orphanage her home. Supergirl promised Superman that she would keep her existence on Earth a secret, so that he may use her as a "secret weapon", but that didn't stop Supergirl from exploring her new powers covertly. Action Comics #255 published reader's letters-of-comment to Supergirl's first appearance; she had allegedly generated a sizeable and mostly positive reaction.
Supergirl, from her debut onwards, became a regular backup strip in Action Comics. She joined the Legion of Super-Heroes, like her cousin had done as a teenager, and in Action Comics #279 (July 1961) she was adopted by Fred and Edna Danvers, becoming "Linda Lee Danvers". Supergirl acted for three years as Superman's secret weapon, and her adventures during that time have been compared to contemporary developments in feminist thinking in work such as Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique. She was at last introduced by her super-powered cousin to an unsuspecting world in Action Comics #285 (February 1962).
During her first quarter of a century, Linda Danvers would have many professions, from student to student advisor, to actor, and even TV camera operator. She shared Action Comics with Superman until transferring to the lead in Adventure Comics at the end of the 1960s. In 1972 she finally moved to her own short-lived eponymous magazine, before DC merged its Supergirl, Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen titles into a single anthology title named The Superman Family. In 1982 Supergirl was relaunched into her own magazine.
Death during Crisis on Infinite Earths
In 1985, the maxi-series Crisis on Infinite Earths was conceived as a way to reduce DC continuity to a single universe in which all characters maintained a single history. Despite Supergirl's continued popularity and status as a central member of the "Superman Family", the editors at DC Comics and the creators of the maxi-series decided to kill Supergirl off during the Crisis. According to Marv Wolfman, writer of Crisis on Infinite Earths:
The idea of killing Supergirl was first conceived by DC's vice president/executive editor Dick Giordano, who lobbied for the death to DC's publishers. He later said he has never had any regrets about this, explaining, "Supergirl was created initially to take advantage of the high Superman sales and not much thought was put into her creation. She was created essentially as a female Superman. With time, writers and artists improved upon her execution, but she never did really add anything to the Superman mythos—at least not for me." The poor initial reception of the 1984 film Supergirl was also blamed by some sources.
In 1989, in the tale "Christmas with the Super-Heroes" the soul of Kara appears to Boston "Deadman" Brand, cheers him up, and then disappears from continuity until 2001 (see below).
Several characters unrelated to Superman soon took on the Supergirl persona, including the Matrix (a shapeshifting genetically engineered life-form that 'defaulted' as Supergirl), Linda Danvers (the result of Matrix merging with the dying Linda Danvers and becoming an Earth-bound angel of fire), and Cir-El (Superman's apparent daughter from a possible future).
A heroine resembling the Pre-Crisis Kara would later appear in Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #5, along with an entire army of Legionnaires gathered from alternate worlds, times, and realities, to battle the Time Trapper.
Two Supergirls meet
Prior to the post-Crisis introduction of Kara Zor-El into mainstream continuity, the pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El made an appearance in Peter David's Supergirl: Many Happy Returns. The then-current Supergirl series, at the time starring Linda Danvers, was in danger of cancellation and Peter David thought a story arc involving Kara Zor-El would be enough to revitalize the series. In an interview with Cliff Biggers of Newsarama, David states:
In the Linda Danvers' Supergirl series issues 49 and 50 (October and November 2000), the original dead Kara appears as Linda's "guardian angel". Then in issues 75 to 80, "Many Happy Returns", a young Kara appears from an earlier time long before the Crisis. The paradox becomes a moral crisis for Linda who tries to take her place as the Crisis sacrifice, living for years in a Silver Age universe where "no one swears, the villains are always easy to defeat, and everything's very, very clean", eventually marrying the Silver Age Superman and having a daughter with him, before she is forced to return to her universe by the Spectre when he reveals that her efforts to replace Kara as the sacrifice will not succeed. This run was illustrated by Ed Benes who had also illustrated Gail Simone's Birds of Prey which had a similar whimsical camaraderie between its female leads.
Linda's inability to ultimately save Kara, coupled with the loss of her daughter, is so devastating that it ends her own career as Supergirl, Linda leaving a note for Superman where she explains that she feels that she has failed to live up to the standards of a true Supergirl and choosing to go somewhere she cannot be found. This story arc is usually cited as one of the best Supergirl stories ever written. The series ended with issue 80.
Revival
After the launch of the Superman/Batman comic book series, executive editor Dan DiDio had been looking for a way to simplify the Supergirl character from her convoluted post-Crisis history; the simplest version, of course, was Superman's cousin. Jeph Loeb and editor Eddie Berganza found an opening to reintroduce the character following the conclusion of the first story arc of Superman/Batman. Loeb states:
The modern version of Kara Zor-El made her debut in Superman/Batman #8 (2004). Kara takes the mantle of Supergirl at the conclusion of the storyline. The Supergirl comic book series would later be relaunched, now starring Kara Zor-El as "The Girl of Steel". The first arc of the new series was written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by Ian Churchill. Loeb would later describe the appeal of writing for Supergirl:
As the character continued to be reinvented, steps towards regarding the iconic character were some of the most prominent changes. Artist Jamal Igle and editor Matt Idleson moved to transition the character away from red panties under her skirt to biker shorts, feeling such a change was a logical progression and "more respectable."
The New 52
In September 2011, DC Comics began The New 52, in which it canceled all of its monthly superhero titles and relaunched 52 new ones, wiping out most of its past continuity in the process. One of the new titles was a new Supergirl series (Volume 6) that featured a new origin for Kara and was published between 2011 and 2015. Artist Mahmud Asrar designed a new costume for the character which strongly deviated from her classic, "cheerleader" suit, a change which generated criticism from some readers.
DC Rebirth
The 2016 DC Comics title relaunch Rebirth incorporates several elements (such as the costume, the name, the setting, and some characters) from the Supergirl television series. The DC Rebirth initiative undid the New 52's modern recreations, bringing DC's heroes back to their more classic iterations. Supergirl's new series (Volume 7) was titled Supergirl: Rebirth, written by Steven Orlando. The first arc was penciled by Brian Ching, who also redesigned Supergirl's costume in reference to a more classic look. In April 2018, it was announced that the title would be canceled after issue #20, only to be revived in August that year under a new creative team, with new writer Marc Andreyko and artist Kevin Maguire. The series ended with its 42nd issue.
Future State: Kara Zor-El, Superwoman
The Future State comics propose a possible future for Kara Zor-El, now an adult and having taken the alias of Superwoman. She leaves Earth to become a guardian of the Moon, which has become a refugee colony for aliens from the entire universe. The series was written by Marguerite Bennet and penciled by Marguerite Sauvage.
Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow
Under the Infinite Frontier brand, Kara's next series Woman of Tomorrow debuted in June 2021, written by Tom King and penciled by Brazilian artists Bilquis Evely and Mat Lopes. The arc introduces Supergirl to new character grounds as she begins the story as a young woman, celebrating her 21st birthday and helping a young alien in her quest for revenge. The "mentor-mentee journey on revenge" plot is, according to King, inspired by the original novel and both versions of True Grit.
In this series, the creators paid homage to Linda Danvers, as Kara manifests flame wings and powers after taking a red kryptonite drug, in order to save her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon.
Fictional character biography
Silver Age
In her debut story, Kara Zor-El is the last survivor of Argo City of the planet Krypton. Although Argo, which had survived the explosion of the planet, drifted through space as a self-sustaining environment, the soil of the colony eventually turned into Kryptonite; and though Kara's father Zor-El placed lead sheeting above the ground to protect the citizens from radiation, meteorites pierced the sheeting, and the Kryptonians died of radiation poisoning instead of replacing the metal.
In Supergirl's subsequent backup feature in Action Comics drawn by artist Jim Mooney for ten years until 1968, Supergirl adopts the identity of Linda Lee, an orphan at Midvale Orphanage presided over by headmistress Miss Hart. She disguises herself by hiding her blond hair beneath a brunette wig; Supergirl interacts with humans on a person-to-person basis performing good deeds and saving the world by helping one person at a time, and she also devises clever schemes as "Superman's Secret Weapon," saving him many times and avoiding adoption before Superman can introduce her publicly.
While temporarily powerless due to the scheming of Kandorian scientist Lesla-Lar, who is out to supplant her on Earth, Linda allows herself to be adopted by engineer and rocket scientist Fred Danvers and his wife, Edna. In time, she reveals her secret identity to her adoptive parents on the same day her cousin Superman finally introduces her to the world in the finale of then-DC's longest playing series ever (eight chapters) aptly called "The World's Greatest Heroine".
When frequent dreams about her parents being alive turn out to be real, she builds a machine aided by her engineer father's talent, and brings them both back alive from the "Survival Zone" where they had both teleported during Argo City's final moments. Zor-El and Allura eventually end up living in Kandor, and when the city in the bottle is enlarged, they both go on to live in Rokyn/New Krypton, where they have the sad duty of receiving her mortal remains after "Crisis" for burial.
Graduating from high school in 1965, Linda Lee goes to college on a scholarship and stays in Stanhope College until she graduates in 1971. During this era, she is helped by her pet cat Streaky, her Super-Horse pet Comet, and befriends Lena Thorul, who had first appeared in the Lois Lane series. Kara is also a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, where she becomes close to Brainiac 5. In addition, Linda has boyfriends from the orphanage (Richard "Dick" Malverne) and from Atlantis (Jerro the merboy).
In 1967, Supergirl meets Batgirl for the first time in World's Finest Comics. Developing a strong friendship, the two characters teamed up many times again, as in Superman Family #171, or Adventure #381.
In 1969, Supergirl left Action Comics and became a featured character in Adventure Comics beginning with issue #381 (June 1969).
During the 1970s, Supergirl's costume changed frequently, as did her career in her civilian life. In her secret identity as Linda Lee Danvers, Kara Zor-El took a variety of jobs including graduate student in acting, television camera operator, and student counselor, and finally became an actress on the TV soap Secret Hearts.
Bronze Age
After long-time Superman family editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971, the character underwent revitalization under editor Joe Orlando and artist Mike Sekowsky. Wearing a series of new outfits, leaving her adopted foster home with the Danvers family, Linda goes on to San Francisco where she works for KSF-TV as a camera operator and develops a crush on her boss, Geoffrey Anderson. These stories introduced Supergirl's most memorable villain from this period: Lex Luthor's niece Nasthalthia, or Nasty. Nasty had made two appearances towards the end of Linda's college years, then pursued her to KSF-TV, trying to secure proof of her dual identity.
Supergirl starred in her first solo eponymous monthly series beginning in 1972 until October 1974, when her monthly title merged with Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane, and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen to produce a new title: then-highest DC selling series called The Superman Family, where she eventually became the steady lead story. Linda worked as a student advisor at New Athens Experimental School, before leaving for New York to follow a career in acting with daytime soap Secret Hearts.
In 1982 Supergirl received a second monthly solo series titled The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl, relocating the character to Chicago as Linda became a mature student of Psychology. Industry legend, and former DC Publisher, Carmine Infantino provided the penciled art (Bob Oksner inked). With issue 13 the title was revamped, with a new costume design (sporting a red headband) and the title shortened to just Supergirl. The series ran until sudden cancellation in 1984, only two months before the character's debut in a big-budget Hollywood film starring Helen Slater.
In the Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985), the greatest heroes from Earth-One, Earth-Two, Earth-Four, Earth-S, and Earth-X join forces in order to defeat the Anti-Monitor. When Superman comes face to face with the Anti-Monitor and is knocked unconscious, Supergirl rushes to save him before he is killed. She is able to fight him off long enough for Dr. Light to carry her cousin to a safe distance, but is killed by the Anti-Monitor. A public memorial service for Supergirl takes place in Chicago, where Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) delivers the eulogy. In her remarks, she states "Kara is a hero. She will not be forgotten." Superman then gives his late cousin burial by taking her corpse to Rokyn/New Krypton to Zor-El and Allura. A Superman issue the next month reveals that Kara had experienced a premonition about her own passing. However, when the universe is rebooted, the timeline is altered. Kara Zor-El and all memory of her is erased from existence.
Echoes
After these events, the soul of Kara Zor-El made another appearance in continuity three years later in a story titled "Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot" in Christmas with the Super-Heroes #2 (1989). Within the story, Boston "Deadman" Brand tries to feel the warmth of Christmas by possessing revelers' bodies. Feeling guilty upon the realization that he has been stealing others' Christmases, he flies off feeling sorry for himself for being denied a reward after a year of helping people. A warmly dressed blonde woman approaches Brand, startling him. Somehow seeing the normally invisible Brand, she converses with him, reminding him,
She reminds Brand that even though he is dead, he is still human, and he should rejoice because it means his spirit is still alive. As the woman leaves, Brand asks her who she is, to which she replies, "My name is Kara. Though I doubt that will mean anything to you." The story, written by Alan Brennert and penciled by Dick Giordano, is dedicated to Otto Binder and Jim Mooney, adding: "We still remember."
Finally, the soul of Kara Zor-El appeared twice during Peter David's run, specifically in issues #48 and #49 when she appears before a defeated and imprisoned then-Supergirl, Linda Danvers from Earth, and comforts her. Linda acknowledges she has been helped three times by her phantom-friend, and when she asks her name she is told by the smiling figure: "I have gone by many names, but the one I am most fond of is: Kara!"
Modern Age
In 2004, Jeph Loeb reintroduced Kara Zor-El into post-Zero Hour (Birthright timeline) continuity during a storyline in the series Superman/Batman. She is the biological cousin of Superman, and although chronologically older than him, the ship in which she traveled to Earth was caught in a large green Kryptonite meteorite which held her in a state of suspended animation for much of the journey, making her have the appearance of a 16-year-old girl. Still, Supergirl sometimes saw Superman as a child, due to last carrying him as a baby. DC Comics relaunched the Supergirl, the first story arc of which was written by Loeb. showcases Supergirl on a journey of self-discovery. Along her journey, she encounters Power Girl (Kara Zor-El's counterpart from another universe), the Teen Titans, the Outsiders, the Justice League of America, and arch-villain Lex Luthor.
During the company-wide crossover series Infinite Crisis (2005), a sequel to Crisis on Infinite Earths, Supergirl is transported to the 31st century, where she is revered as a member of the Superman family and joins the Legion of Super-Heroes. DC Comics renamed the monthly series Legion of Super-Heroes to Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes. Beginning with issue #16. In the limited series 52, which chronicles the events that took place during the missing year after the end of Infinite Crisis, Donna Troy recalls the original Kara Zor-El and her sacrifice to save the universe. Supergirl returns to the 21st century during the course of 52. After briefly filling in for a temporarily depowered Superman as guardian of Metropolis, she assumes the identity of Flamebird to fight crime in the bottle city of Kandor with Power Girl as Nightwing in Greg Rucka's arc Supergirl: Kandor.
In 2007, Supergirl appeared in the miniseries Amazons Attack! That same year, she joined the Teen Titans for five issues.
Conversations with other heroes who maintain secret identities lead Kara to the conclusion that she needs to make a deeper connection with human beings. She accepts Lana Lang's proposal to present her to the Daily Planet staff as "Linda Lang", Lana's teenaged niece.
In the 2008–2009 "New Krypton" story arc, in which Superman discovers and frees the real Kandor and a large number of its citizens, Supergirl is reunited with her father, Zor-El and mother, Alura, though Zor-El is killed by the villain Reactron. When a planet is formed that the Kryptonians call New Krypton, Kara is torn between her life on Earth, and her obligation to her mother, eventually joining the New Krypton Science Guild.
Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2009 miniseries Justice League: Cry for Justice, and the 2009–2010 storyline "Blackest Night". The New Krypton storyline would later be resolved in the "World of New Krypton", "Superman: Last Stand of New Krypton", "War of the Supermen" storylines, resulting in the destruction of New Krypton and seeing Supergirl mourn her people.
Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2010 "Brightest Day" storyline, the follow up to "Blackest Night"., where she joins the Justice League along with Jesse Quick & Jade.
The New 52
In this continuity, Kara's ship lands in Smallville, Kansas but hurtles through the Earth and emerges in Siberia.
Kara has no memory of the destruction of Krypton, and believes it is only three days since her spacecraft was launched. She learns the truth about Krypton's destruction from Superman, and later journeys through a wormhole to Argo City, which she finds in orbit around a blue sun. She finds the city in ruins, with no explanation of how it met that fate, and is attacked by a female Worldkiller named Reign before the city plummets into the sun. When Reign and her fellow Worldkiller plan to enslave the Earth, Supergirl returns there to defeat them, and thus adopts Earth as her new home.
After several battles with supervillains, including the Worldkillers, superweapons of Kryptonian design, she accepts Krypton's destruction, but continues to grapple with her grief. Her desire to restore Krypton results in her being manipulated into nearly destroying the Earth by another Kryptonian whom she falls in love with. Upon realizing his manipulation, she kills him by driving Kryptonite through his heart, and succumbs to Kryptonite poisoning.
Following her poisoning, Supergirl departs the Earth to die alone. While adrift in interstellar space, she encounters a planet under attack by monsters, and quickly intervenes to save them, unaware that the entire planet is a trap by Brainiac. She is captured and restrained by Cyborg Superman, but after a struggle, manages to escape both Brainiac and Cyborg Superman. Returning to Earth, she is sent into the past by the Oracle alongside Superman and Superboy, where she ensures that a resurrected H'el cannot save Krypton, and sacrifices the planet and her family in order to save the universe.
Back on Earth, she encounters the assassin Lobo. Initially eager for a peaceful resolution, seeing a kind of kinship with him in their both being lone survivors of their respective worlds (although not truly aware of Lobo's circumstances), Kara's encounter with the Czarnian would reveal deep mental wounds, resulting in the unleashing of her rage and transformation into a Red Lantern. Driven insane by rage, Kara wanders space, attacking everyone in her way, until captured by several Green Lanterns and brought to Hal Jordan. Immediately recognizing a Kryptonian and unable to remove the power ring without killing her, he brings her to Guy Gardner, the leader of one of the two Red Lantern factions, who manages to restore her sanity.
After some time under Guy Gardner's tutelage and protecting the galaxy as a Red Lantern, after being discharged from the Red Lantern Corps (because Guy did not want for her to die needlessly against Atrocitus' splinter group), on her way back to Earth, Kara encounters the leader of the Worldkillers, who are revealed to be parasitic suits of armor. He attempts to assimilate Kara as his host, but she voluntarily subjects herself to Kryptonite poisoning in order to stop him, and eventually flies into the Sun and removes her power ring, killing her and removing him from her body. However, Kara is revealed to be immortal while in the Sun's core, and is restored to life without the power ring or any Kryptonite poisoning, immediately destroying the Worldkiller. She later helps Guy against Atrocitus and his Red Lantern splinter group.
Convergence and return of the Pre-Crisis version
During the Convergence story arc, the original Kara Zor-El who had sacrificed her life during Crisis on Infinite Earths makes an appearance on the amalgamated planet of Telos. At the end of the saga she volunteers herself to once again fight the Anti-Monitor but this time, with the help of her timeline's Barry Allen, the Pre-Flashpoint Superman (in tow with his pregnant wife, Lois Lane), and a repentant Parallax (Zero Hour Hal Jordan), vows to defeat him for the sake of the multiverse's continued existence. Without it being seen, those left on Telos discover the group was successful and all previous timelines (with the mysterious exception of the pre-Flashpoint/pre-New 52 DC universe) from DC history had been re-established, though the fate of the original Kara Zor-El and her fellows went unmentioned.
A few more details of the battle against the Anti-Monitor are later revealed during the New 52 comic mini-series (leading into DC's Rebirth event). After the defeat of Anti-Monitor, Pre-New 52 Clark and Lois decide to start life anew in the closest universe they can find (mysteriously yet unable to see their old universe even though the rest of the multiverse had been restored) while Pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El, along with her contemporary Barry Allen and Zero Hour Parallax/Hal Jordan, decide to find their place in the universe and go off to do so. Her fate as of that story arc is yet to be revealed.
DC Rebirth
After the events that led to the death of the New 52 version of Superman, 16-year-old Kara lives in National City with her adoptive parents, D.E.O. agents Jeremiah and Eliza Danvers, where she attends high school and works with the agency as led by Cameron Chase. As part of her civilian identity, Kara receives special glasses that darken her blond hair when posing as Kara Danvers. Kara also goes on an internship at Cat Grant's CATCO alongside Ben Rubel, whom she befriends.
In her opening arc "The Reign of the Cyborg Supermen", Kara discovers that the cyborg Zor-El, whom she had battled in her New 52 title, is still active and has rebuilt other Kryptonians (her mother Alura included), planning to take over Earth. Supergirl defeats them but vows to help her father regardless of his actions. After National City discovers Supergirl has kept Zor-El's "living" status a secret, they become untrustful of her. Director Bones takes advantage of the heroine's impopularity and, after taking control of the D.E.O., sends villains in an attempt to bring Kara down. She defeats all of them and regains trust from National City with Ben's help.
The Supergirl Who Laughs
Kara is later infected by The Batman Who Laughs toxin, causing her to turn evil and joining other infected as part of Laughs Secret Six before later being cured. She is fired from CatCo by Cat Grant and starts working at S.T.A.R. Labs.
Woman of Tomorrow
Journeying throughout the universe with Krypto, Kara celebrates her 21st birthday alone on a distant planet. Drunk in a bar, she is approached by a little girl named Ruthye and is asked to kill Krem (her father's murderer) in vengeance. Supergirl refuses but, when she is about to leave the planet, Krem attacks and severely wounds both her and Krypto, fleeing in Kara's ship. Kara begins her journey alongside Ruthye and, powerless, saves her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon by taking a red kryptonite drug which causes her to manifest flame wings.
Powers and abilities
Like all Kryptonians under a yellow sun, the current version of Kara Zor-El possesses virtually unlimited strength, stamina, and durability. She is able to fly and with super speed that she can also use on foot, similar to Superman and The Flash. Also like Superman, Supergirl possesses super senses, super-breath, and freeze breathe, as well as multiple forms of supervision (including X-Ray, Infrared, Telescopic, and Microscopic). Kara also has a bio-electric aura that enhances her near invulnerability and also protects her skin and her costume from dirt and tear; as such, Kara is perpetually clean. The Sun also provides Kara with a longer lifespan than that of a human being, to the point that she is effectively a biological immortal. Kara doesn't require food, water, or sleep to survive. She is also immune to most diseases, mental and physical, and would require a very strong strain to have a chance at affecting her.
In the rare instances that Kara is harmed by someone matching her strength or by the use of one of her weaknesses, she can heal almost instantaneously. Her power surpasses most other beings, though she can be overpowered by those who rival her strength such as Black Adam, Darkseid, Despero, Doomsday, Bizarro, Wonder Woman, and Superman.
In reality, Kara is actually older than her cousin, Clark, and spent time on Krypton before its destruction. As such (unlike Superman), she possesses memories of Kryptonian culture as well as her cousin's parents.
Continued exposure to a yellow Sun will slowly increase abilities. Many characters in the DC Universe have noted that Supergirl appears, at times, to be even more powerful than Superman himself. In answer to this, Superman states that this is because he has spent his entire life subconsciously suppressing his full powers in order to avoid hurting others, having been absorbing solar radiation since his infancy. Kara, not having such practice or experience, simply uses the full magnitude of her powers.
Abilities
Unlike her cousin, Kara was taught to fight in Krypton as part of her tests, and at the Crucible Academy, being adept at various Kryptonian fighting styles like Klurkor and Torquasm Rao. Supergirl also learned the art of Bagua under I-Ching's instructions. She practiced how to manipulate her Chi or Qi in order to gain better control of her powers due to them becoming overwhelmed after her conflict with the Fatal Five. Superman recommended guardianship with I-Ching to Supergirl first. In addition to training in Krypton, Kara was trained by Batman in advanced martial arts and trained with the Amazons in Themyscira in unarmed and armed combat, Amazonas martial arts, fencing, Shield handling, and other Amazon weapons. She trained with Wonder Woman and Artemis extensively.
Other versions
There are numerous alternate versions of Supergirl. The most notable is Power Girl (real name Kara Zor-L, also known as Karen Starr) who first appeared in All Star Comics #58 (January/February 1976).
Power Girl is the Earth-Two counterpart of Supergirl and the first cousin of Kal-L, Superman of the pre-Crisis Earth-Two. The infant Power Girl's parents enabled her to escape the destruction of Krypton. Although she left the planet at the same time that Superman did, her ship took much longer to reach Earth-Two.
She has superhuman strength and the ability to fly and is the first chairwoman of the Justice Society of America. She sports a bob of blond hair; wears a distinctive white, red, and blue costume; and has an aggressive fighting style. Throughout her early appearances in All Star Comics, she is often at odds with Wildcat because his penchant for talking to her as if she were an ordinary human female rather than a superpowered Kryptonian annoys her.
She also fought alongside the Sovereign Seven team, replacing Rampart after his death though that series is not considered to be part of canon in the DC universe.
The 1985 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths eliminated Earth-Two, causing her origin to change; she became the granddaughter of the Atlantean sorcerer Arion. However, story events culminating in the 2005–2006 Infinite Crisis limited series restored her status as a refugee from the Krypton of the destroyed pre-Crisis Earth-Two universe.
Like the original Kara's Streaky, Power Girl has a cat, featured in a story by Amanda Conner in Wonder Woman #600.
Reception
This version of Supergirl is ranked as the 153rd-greatest comic book character of all time by Wizard magazine.
IGN also ranked this version of Supergirl as the 94th-greatest comic book superhero, stating "for a character born of the Silver Age that saw everything from a Super Baby to a Super Monkey, Kara Zor-El grew into something much more than simply another marketing ploy to slap an 'S' on." In 2013 IGN ranked Supergirl as the 17th-greatest DC comic superhero, stating "she was an early example of a female sidekick developing a large fanbase in her own right", and "Supergirl has been one of DC's most powerful heroes, and a standard to hold other female heroes against."
Appearances
Pre-Crisis
1959 to 1969: Action Comics #252 to #376.
1969 to 1972: Adventure Comics #381 to #424.
1972 to 1974: Supergirl #1 to #10.
1974 to 1982: Her comic merges with Jimmy Olsen's and Lois Lane's to become Superman Family #164 to #222.
1982 to 1984: The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl #1 to #13, Supergirl (vol. 2) #14 to #23.
2015: Convergence
Kara Zor-El appeared in over 750 stories published by DC from 1959 to 1985.
Post-Crisis
2004 to 2005: Superman/Batman #8 to #13 and #19
2005 to 2011: Supergirl (vol. 5) #0 to #67
2006 to 2008: Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes (Legion of Super-Heroes vol. 5) #16 to #37
2007: Action Comics #850
2008: Final Crisis
2011 to 2015: New 52: Supergirl (vol. 6) #1 to #40
2016 to current: Rebirth: Supergirl (vol. 7) #1 to current
Kara Zor-El also appears as a supporting character in several issues of other DC Comics, including Superman, Action Comics, Teen Titans, Amazons Attack, World War III, and Wonder Girl. She has also appeared in many issues of Superman, Action Comics, and Superman New Krypton starting with the World Without Superman event in 2009, and continuing with the World Against Superman event going into 2010.
Collected editions
Listed in chronological order. All ages titles are not in continuity with the original or modern Kara.
In other media
Television
Live-action
Smallville
Prior to the seventh season (2007–2008) of the WB/CW show Smallville where she is introduced into the cast and is portrayed by Laura Vandervoort, a woman claiming to be Kara (portrayed by Adrianne Palicki) is briefly introduced in the season 3 finale. It is later revealed her real name is Lindsey Harrison, and had been given false memories and powers by the artificial intelligence of Clark Kent's (Tom Welling) father Jor-El as part of a series of tests. Vandervoort portrays the real Kara, Clark's cousin whose spaceship had been trapped in stasis until the events of the season 6 finale. Much of season 7 is concerned with Kara's attempts to adjust to life on Earth, especially after learning of Krypton's destruction. Her storyline sees her simultaneously become the object of Lex Luthor's (Michael Rosenbaum) obsessions and Jimmy Olsen's (Aaron Ashmore) affections, suffer a bout of amnesia, discover her father's (Christopher Heyerdahl) sinister motives and become a target of evil android Brainiac (James Marsters). The season finale sees Kara become trapped in the Phantom Zone. Starting with season 8, Vandervoort ceases to feature as a series regular, but reprises the role three more times. In her first guest appearance, "Bloodline," Kara is freed from the Phantom Zone and later departs Clark's hometown of Smallville to search for Kandor, her birthplace, as it is rumored to have survived their home planet's destruction. She appears again in the season 10 episode "Supergirl", in which she formally adopts her superhero moniker. Her off-screen adventures are alluded to thereafter. Vandervoort makes a final appearance in the show's penultimate episode, "Prophecy", in which she helps Green Arrow (Justin Hartley) locate the "Bow of Orion" to use against Darkseid. She is then called to the Fortress of Solitude, where she learns from Jor-El that her job on Earth is done. Using a Legion of Super-Heroes flight ring, she travels to the future to seek her own destiny. The Season Eleven comic book continuation of the show later depicts Kara's continued story in the 31st century, subsequent return to the present and joining the Justice League.
Arrowverse
In September 2014, a 22-episode television series centered around Supergirl was in development at Warner Bros. Television, set to premiere on CBS with a January 2015 air date. Melissa Benoist was cast as the titular character. In May 2016, the series moved to The CW and was later integrated into the Arrowverse, a shared universe consisting of shows including Arrow, The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow. In the series, Kara Zor-El was sent to Earth to protect her cousin Kal-El, following her homeworld Krypton's destruction. However, she is knocked into the Phantom Zone, where she is stranded for 24 years. She eventually crash lands on Earth and is found by her already grown-up cousin Kal, now known to the world as the iconic superhero "Superman". Superman brings Kara into the custody of Jeremiah Danvers, director of the Department of Extranormal Operations (D.E.O.), and his daughter Alex. Growing up, Kara struggles to maintain her Kryptonian abilities as well as balancing her relationship with her adoptive sister. Eventually, the two bond when Kara's powers are exposed. However, Jeremiah decides it's best to isolate her abilities. As an adult, Kara is forced to use her powers again when her sister's plane almost crashes. She is later dubbed "Supergirl" by the media and dons a costume like her cousin. Kara decides to use her abilities to fight alien invaders such as Kara's aunt Astra and her husband Non, Mon-El's rogue parents, the Worldkiller Reign, anti-alien activist Ben Lockwood, and later the shadowy organization Leviathan, with the help of her sister Alex, now an agent of the D.E.O., her best friend and tech-expert Winn Schott, last of the Green Martians J'onn J'onzz / Martian Manhunter, and Kal's best friend Jimmy Olsen. She is later joined by Lex Luthor's sister Lena, Prince of Daxam Mon-El, former Legion of Superheroes member Querl "Brainy" Dox / Brainiac 5, Nia Nal / Dreamer, James' younger sister Kelly, and reporter Willam Dey face against these rival forces. After joining the Arrowverse, which contain annual crossover, Kara assists Barry Allen, Oliver Queen and the Legends of Tomorrow against threats on their designated earth "Earth-1" while Kara’s is designated as "Earth-38. Later, Kara is selected by The Monitor as the Paragon of Hope to participate in the coming crisis and fight against the Anti-Monitor, whose goal is to destroy the multiverse. After doing so, the Paragons are sent to the Vanishing Point where Oliver, now a Spectre, helps them escape. The Paragons appear at the dawn of time in the anti-matter universe where they have their final confrontation with the Anti-Monitor. Eventually, Oliver sacrifices himself to kill the Anti-Monitor, and as a result, a new multiverse is born with Earth-38 and Earth-1 merged into "Earth-Prime". Following the crisis, Kara is forced to deal the after-effects of Crisis which include working with Lex, now owning the D.E.O. while Leviathan continue their covert operations under Gamemnae. The sixth season sees Kara and her allies expose Lex's crimes, but are then forced to deal with Nyxlygsptlnz, a fifth-dimensional imp who tricked the heroes into releasing her from the Phantom Zone. Eventually Nyxlygsptlnz joins forces with Lex Luthor and the two kill William, but Kara's assembled allies are able to defeat the two, culminating in Lex and Nyxlygsptlnz being trapped in the Phantom Zone when one of their own plans backfires. The series concludes with Kara revealing her dual identity so that she can live a full life as one person.
Animation
DC Nation Shorts
Supergirl appears with Batgirl and Wonder Girl in Super Best Friends Forever, voiced by Nicole Sullivan.
DC Super Hero Girls
Supergirl appears as a central protagonist in the web series DC Super Hero Girls voiced by Anais Fairweather, and is a student at Super Hero High, is very kind and caring and extremely powerful but she's also very clumsy.
She also appears as a central protagonist in the 2019 TV series, with Nicole Sullivan reprising her role from the Super Best Friends Forever shorts. In this version, she is also a rebel and is known as the "cool kid" in school. She may be tough but she can easily express her emotions and is very open-minded as well. She can be a cool friend and a helpful one, but she can also be jealous sometimes and she dislikes her cousin's prominence.
Justice League Action
Supergirl appears in Justice League Action, voiced by Joanne Spracklen. She has the appearance of a wide-eyed human teenager with blonde hair and wears her traditional costume except that it has thigh-high boots and a pleated skirt. As a person, she is youthful, responsible, and shows much affection for her cousin Superman. In "Party Animal", she appears as a cameo at this Christmas party with the Justice League. In "Keeping up with the Kryptonians", Supergirl becomes a star of the popular reality show "That's So Kara", and Superman a Kasnian who rules from one place to another on Earth, all being a reality caused by Mister Mxyzptlk. In "Unleashed", Supergirl accompanies Justice League in stopping Red Lantern Corps, unaware that it was a distraction made by Dex-Starr to invade Earth, until it was ultimately resolved by Krypto, Streaky, and Plastic Man. In a short "The Goddess Must Be Crazy", Supergirl trains with Wonder Woman in Paradise Island, until she is possessed by Felix Faust, to destroy the island.
Film
Superman film series
A live action depiction of Supergirl first appears in the eponymous 1984 film starring Helen Slater as Supergirl. The film is a spin-off from the Superman film series starring Christopher Reeve, to which it is connected by Marc McClure's character of Jimmy Olsen.
DC Extended Universe
Kara Zor-El / Linda Danvers / Supergirl exists within the DC Extended Universe, as she was referenced in Man of Steel when Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman discovers an empty pod within the Kryptonian scout spaceship. Though Zack Snyder confirmed in August 2018 that even though the character does exist, that pod was not intended for her.
In August 2018, a film centered around the character was announced to be in development, with Oren Uziel hired as screenwriter for the project. The studio intends to hire a female director, with Reed Morano—who has expressed interest in the project—being its top choice. Filming was expected to start production in early 2020.
Sasha Calle will play Supergirl for the DC Extended Universe in The Flash.
Animation
Summer Glau voices the post-Crisis version of Kara Zor-El in Superman/Batman: Apocalypse, which is based on the Superman/Batman storyline "The Supergirl from Krypton". Despite this, it was confirmed by director Lauren Montgomery that Supergirl's name was removed from the title due to the much slower sales of the previous Wonder Woman animated movie, and the character was not permitted to appear on the cover in her trademark outfit.
Molly Quinn voices Supergirl in Superman: Unbound.
Supergirl appears in Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League: Cosmic Clash, voiced by Jessica DiCicco.
Video games
Supergirl appears in DC Universe Online, voiced by Adriene Mishler. In the villain campaign, the players help Doctor Psycho capture Supergirl using Kryptonite. In the hero campaign, the players fight Doctor Psycho to save Supergirl. Under the thrall of Brainiac, she must be defeated in the Fortress of Solitude: Power Core raid.
Supergirl is unlockable in Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes, voiced by Bridget Hoffman.
Supergirl makes a cameo appearance in the IOS version of Injustice: Gods Among Us as a support card.
Supergirl appears as a playable character in Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham, voiced by Kari Wahlgren. She is playable in her default variant which is designed after her appearance in The New 52 and in her Classic attire. Her Classic variant is unlocked in a VR Mission while her New 52 variant is unlocked in a Hub Quest in Nok where she requests players to defeat a number of enemies she accidentally releases from their cells.
Supergirl appears as a playable character in Infinite Crisis, voiced by Camilla Luddington.
Supergirl appears as a playable character and the central protagonist in Injustice 2 by NetherRealm Studios, the sequel to Injustice: Gods Among Us, voiced by Laura Bailey. Here her origin is much like in the comics where she is sent along with her cousin Kal-El to Earth by her mother after Krypton is destroyed but on separate pods where hers veers off-course after sustaining significant damage, stranding her in space for many years until she lands on Earth, unaged. When the main storyline starts, she is residing on Black Adam's kingdom of Khandaq, apparently under his and Wonder Woman's protection. When Brainiac who was responsible for Krypton's destruction attacks, she, Wonder Woman, and Black Adam attempt to free Superman and the remaining members of the Regime, while being interrupted in their efforts by new Insurgency recruits Blue Beetle and Firestorm until Batman himself arrives and releases Superman, leading to a temporary alliance between the Regime and Insurgency against the alien warlord. Over the course of the story, she learns the truth about her cousin's tyranny and at the end of the game sides with Batman, Green Lantern and Flash in letting Brainiac live in order to restore the lost cities but is defeated. In Batman's ending, she laments her cousin's tyranny and sees him leave to be imprisoned in the Phantom Zone and is offered membership by Batman in his Justice League. In Superman's ending, she is imprisoned aboard Brainiac's ship and to her shock discovers her cousin has bonded with it and when she refuses his offer to join him in leading his new legion of imprisoned species. He attempts to coerce her by revealing a brainwashed Batman, who had also been captured, further shocking her.
Supergirl appears as a limited-distribution minifigure for the toys-to-life video game Lego Dimensions, with Kari Wahlgren reprising her role. She has the ability to transform between her classic and Red Lantern forms.
Supergirl appears as a playable character in DC Unchained.
Supergirl appears in the PSP version of Justice League Heroes.
Supergirl appears as a playable character in the DC TV Super-Heroes DLC pack in Lego DC Super-Villains.
See also
Alternative versions of Supergirl
Laurel Gand
References
External links
DC Comics
Pre-Crisis Supergirl Chronology
Supergirl
Characters created by Otto Binder
Comics characters introduced in 1958
Comics characters introduced in 1959
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Vigilante characters in comics | true | [
"What Happened to Jones may refer to:\n What Happened to Jones (1897 play), a play by George Broadhurst\n What Happened to Jones (1915 film), a lost silent film\n What Happened to Jones (1920 film), a lost silent film\n What Happened to Jones (1926 film), a silent film comedy",
"What Happened may refer to:\n\n What Happened (Clinton book), 2017 book by Hillary Clinton\n What Happened (McClellan book), 2008 autobiography by Scott McClellan\n \"What Happened\", a song by Sublime from the album 40oz. to Freedom\n \"What Happened\", an episode of One Day at a Time (2017 TV series)\n\nSee also\nWhat's Happening (disambiguation)"
] | [
"Kara Zor-El, also known by her adoptive names of Linda Lee Danvers, Kara Kent, Linda Lang, and Kara Danvers, and the superhero name of Supergirl, is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. She was created by Otto Binder and designed by Al Plastino. Danvers first appeared in Action Comics #252 (May 1959)'s \"The Supergirl from Krypton\" story. Kara is the biological cousin of Kal-El, who went on to adopt the name of Clark Kent and the superhero Superman.",
"Kara is the biological cousin of Kal-El, who went on to adopt the name of Clark Kent and the superhero Superman. During the 1980s and the revolution of the Modern Age of Comics, Superman editors believed the character's history had become too convoluted, thus killing Supergirl during the 1985 Crisis on Infinite Earths event and retconning her out of existence. DC Comics Senior Vice President Dan DiDio re-introduced the character in 2004 along with editor Eddie Berganza and writer Jeph Loeb, with her the Superman/Batman storyline \"The Supergirl from Krypton\".",
"DC Comics Senior Vice President Dan DiDio re-introduced the character in 2004 along with editor Eddie Berganza and writer Jeph Loeb, with her the Superman/Batman storyline \"The Supergirl from Krypton\". As the current Supergirl, Kara stars in her own monthly comic book series. With DC's The New 52 relaunch, Kara, like most of the DC Universe, was revamped. DC relaunched the Supergirl comic in August 2016 as part of their DC Rebirth initiative.",
"DC relaunched the Supergirl comic in August 2016 as part of their DC Rebirth initiative. In live-action, Supergirl appeared in the 1984 film based on her character and was portrayed by Helen Slater. She also appeared in the series Smallville, played by actress Laura Vandervoort. In 2015, the live-action Arrowverse series Supergirl debuted on CBS and then moved to The CW after the first season. Supergirl was portrayed by Melissa Benoist on the show and also appeared on other Arrowverse shows.",
"Supergirl was portrayed by Melissa Benoist on the show and also appeared on other Arrowverse shows. Sasha Calle will appear as Supergirl in the upcoming DC Extended Universe film The Flash (2022). Publication history Early life Although Kara Zor-El was the first character to use the name \"Supergirl,\" DC Comics tested three different female versions of Superman prior to her debut. The first story to feature a female counterpart to Superman was \"Lois Lane – Superwoman,\" which was published in Action Comics #60 (May 1943).",
"The first story to feature a female counterpart to Superman was \"Lois Lane – Superwoman,\" which was published in Action Comics #60 (May 1943). In the story, a hospitalized Lois Lane dreams she has gained superpowers thanks to a blood transfusion from the Man of Steel. She begins her own career as \"Superwoman\", complete with a version of Superman's costume.",
"She begins her own career as \"Superwoman\", complete with a version of Superman's costume. In the Superboy #78 story entitled \"Claire Kent, Alias Super-Sister\", Superboy saves the life of an alien woman named Shar-La, who turns Superboy into a girl, in retaliation for his disparaging thoughts about women drivers which she picked up telepathically. In Smallville, Clark claims to be Claire Kent, an out-of-town relative who is staying with the Kents.",
"In Smallville, Clark claims to be Claire Kent, an out-of-town relative who is staying with the Kents. When in costume, he appears as Superboy's sister, Super-Sister, and claims the two have exchanged places. Once Superboy has learned his lesson about feeling more respect for women, Shar-La reveals the episode to be a dream which she projected into Superboy's mind.",
"Once Superboy has learned his lesson about feeling more respect for women, Shar-La reveals the episode to be a dream which she projected into Superboy's mind. In Superman #123 (August 1958), Jimmy Olsen uses a magic totem to wish a \"Super-Girl\" into existence as a companion and aid to Superman; however, the two frequently get in each other's way until she is fatally injured protecting Superman from a Kryptonite meteor. At her insistence, Jimmy wishes the dying girl out of existence.",
"At her insistence, Jimmy wishes the dying girl out of existence. DC used this story to gauge public response to the concept of a completely new super-powered female counterpart to Superman. The Kara Zor-El version of Supergirl finally appeared in Action Comics #252 (May 1959). Otto Binder wrote and Al Plastino illustrated her début story, in which Kara was born and raised in Argo City (unnamed until later issues), a fragment of Krypton that survived destruction.",
"Otto Binder wrote and Al Plastino illustrated her début story, in which Kara was born and raised in Argo City (unnamed until later issues), a fragment of Krypton that survived destruction. When the city is doomed by a meteor shower, Kara is sent to Earth by her parents, Zor-El and Alura (the latter unnamed until later issues), to be raised by her cousin Kal-El, known as Superman. Supergirl adopted the secret identity of an orphan \"Linda Lee\", and made Midvale Orphanage her home.",
"Supergirl adopted the secret identity of an orphan \"Linda Lee\", and made Midvale Orphanage her home. Supergirl promised Superman that she would keep her existence on Earth a secret, so that he may use her as a \"secret weapon\", but that didn't stop Supergirl from exploring her new powers covertly. Action Comics #255 published reader's letters-of-comment to Supergirl's first appearance; she had allegedly generated a sizeable and mostly positive reaction.",
"Action Comics #255 published reader's letters-of-comment to Supergirl's first appearance; she had allegedly generated a sizeable and mostly positive reaction. Supergirl, from her debut onwards, became a regular backup strip in Action Comics. She joined the Legion of Super-Heroes, like her cousin had done as a teenager, and in Action Comics #279 (July 1961) she was adopted by Fred and Edna Danvers, becoming \"Linda Lee Danvers\".",
"She joined the Legion of Super-Heroes, like her cousin had done as a teenager, and in Action Comics #279 (July 1961) she was adopted by Fred and Edna Danvers, becoming \"Linda Lee Danvers\". Supergirl acted for three years as Superman's secret weapon, and her adventures during that time have been compared to contemporary developments in feminist thinking in work such as Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique.",
"Supergirl acted for three years as Superman's secret weapon, and her adventures during that time have been compared to contemporary developments in feminist thinking in work such as Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique. She was at last introduced by her super-powered cousin to an unsuspecting world in Action Comics #285 (February 1962). During her first quarter of a century, Linda Danvers would have many professions, from student to student advisor, to actor, and even TV camera operator.",
"During her first quarter of a century, Linda Danvers would have many professions, from student to student advisor, to actor, and even TV camera operator. She shared Action Comics with Superman until transferring to the lead in Adventure Comics at the end of the 1960s. In 1972 she finally moved to her own short-lived eponymous magazine, before DC merged its Supergirl, Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen titles into a single anthology title named The Superman Family. In 1982 Supergirl was relaunched into her own magazine.",
"In 1982 Supergirl was relaunched into her own magazine. In 1982 Supergirl was relaunched into her own magazine. Death during Crisis on Infinite Earths In 1985, the maxi-series Crisis on Infinite Earths was conceived as a way to reduce DC continuity to a single universe in which all characters maintained a single history. Despite Supergirl's continued popularity and status as a central member of the \"Superman Family\", the editors at DC Comics and the creators of the maxi-series decided to kill Supergirl off during the Crisis.",
"Despite Supergirl's continued popularity and status as a central member of the \"Superman Family\", the editors at DC Comics and the creators of the maxi-series decided to kill Supergirl off during the Crisis. According to Marv Wolfman, writer of Crisis on Infinite Earths: The idea of killing Supergirl was first conceived by DC's vice president/executive editor Dick Giordano, who lobbied for the death to DC's publishers.",
"According to Marv Wolfman, writer of Crisis on Infinite Earths: The idea of killing Supergirl was first conceived by DC's vice president/executive editor Dick Giordano, who lobbied for the death to DC's publishers. He later said he has never had any regrets about this, explaining, \"Supergirl was created initially to take advantage of the high Superman sales and not much thought was put into her creation. She was created essentially as a female Superman.",
"She was created essentially as a female Superman. She was created essentially as a female Superman. With time, writers and artists improved upon her execution, but she never did really add anything to the Superman mythos—at least not for me.\" The poor initial reception of the 1984 film Supergirl was also blamed by some sources.",
"The poor initial reception of the 1984 film Supergirl was also blamed by some sources. In 1989, in the tale \"Christmas with the Super-Heroes\" the soul of Kara appears to Boston \"Deadman\" Brand, cheers him up, and then disappears from continuity until 2001 (see below).",
"In 1989, in the tale \"Christmas with the Super-Heroes\" the soul of Kara appears to Boston \"Deadman\" Brand, cheers him up, and then disappears from continuity until 2001 (see below). Several characters unrelated to Superman soon took on the Supergirl persona, including the Matrix (a shapeshifting genetically engineered life-form that 'defaulted' as Supergirl), Linda Danvers (the result of Matrix merging with the dying Linda Danvers and becoming an Earth-bound angel of fire), and Cir-El (Superman's apparent daughter from a possible future).",
"Several characters unrelated to Superman soon took on the Supergirl persona, including the Matrix (a shapeshifting genetically engineered life-form that 'defaulted' as Supergirl), Linda Danvers (the result of Matrix merging with the dying Linda Danvers and becoming an Earth-bound angel of fire), and Cir-El (Superman's apparent daughter from a possible future). A heroine resembling the Pre-Crisis Kara would later appear in Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #5, along with an entire army of Legionnaires gathered from alternate worlds, times, and realities, to battle the Time Trapper.",
"A heroine resembling the Pre-Crisis Kara would later appear in Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #5, along with an entire army of Legionnaires gathered from alternate worlds, times, and realities, to battle the Time Trapper. Two Supergirls meet Prior to the post-Crisis introduction of Kara Zor-El into mainstream continuity, the pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El made an appearance in Peter David's Supergirl: Many Happy Returns.",
"Two Supergirls meet Prior to the post-Crisis introduction of Kara Zor-El into mainstream continuity, the pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El made an appearance in Peter David's Supergirl: Many Happy Returns. The then-current Supergirl series, at the time starring Linda Danvers, was in danger of cancellation and Peter David thought a story arc involving Kara Zor-El would be enough to revitalize the series.",
"The then-current Supergirl series, at the time starring Linda Danvers, was in danger of cancellation and Peter David thought a story arc involving Kara Zor-El would be enough to revitalize the series. In an interview with Cliff Biggers of Newsarama, David states: In the Linda Danvers' Supergirl series issues 49 and 50 (October and November 2000), the original dead Kara appears as Linda's \"guardian angel\".",
"In an interview with Cliff Biggers of Newsarama, David states: In the Linda Danvers' Supergirl series issues 49 and 50 (October and November 2000), the original dead Kara appears as Linda's \"guardian angel\". Then in issues 75 to 80, \"Many Happy Returns\", a young Kara appears from an earlier time long before the Crisis.",
"Then in issues 75 to 80, \"Many Happy Returns\", a young Kara appears from an earlier time long before the Crisis. The paradox becomes a moral crisis for Linda who tries to take her place as the Crisis sacrifice, living for years in a Silver Age universe where \"no one swears, the villains are always easy to defeat, and everything's very, very clean\", eventually marrying the Silver Age Superman and having a daughter with him, before she is forced to return to her universe by the Spectre when he reveals that her efforts to replace Kara as the sacrifice will not succeed.",
"The paradox becomes a moral crisis for Linda who tries to take her place as the Crisis sacrifice, living for years in a Silver Age universe where \"no one swears, the villains are always easy to defeat, and everything's very, very clean\", eventually marrying the Silver Age Superman and having a daughter with him, before she is forced to return to her universe by the Spectre when he reveals that her efforts to replace Kara as the sacrifice will not succeed. This run was illustrated by Ed Benes who had also illustrated Gail Simone's Birds of Prey which had a similar whimsical camaraderie between its female leads.",
"This run was illustrated by Ed Benes who had also illustrated Gail Simone's Birds of Prey which had a similar whimsical camaraderie between its female leads. Linda's inability to ultimately save Kara, coupled with the loss of her daughter, is so devastating that it ends her own career as Supergirl, Linda leaving a note for Superman where she explains that she feels that she has failed to live up to the standards of a true Supergirl and choosing to go somewhere she cannot be found.",
"Linda's inability to ultimately save Kara, coupled with the loss of her daughter, is so devastating that it ends her own career as Supergirl, Linda leaving a note for Superman where she explains that she feels that she has failed to live up to the standards of a true Supergirl and choosing to go somewhere she cannot be found. This story arc is usually cited as one of the best Supergirl stories ever written. The series ended with issue 80.",
"The series ended with issue 80. The series ended with issue 80. Revival After the launch of the Superman/Batman comic book series, executive editor Dan DiDio had been looking for a way to simplify the Supergirl character from her convoluted post-Crisis history; the simplest version, of course, was Superman's cousin. Jeph Loeb and editor Eddie Berganza found an opening to reintroduce the character following the conclusion of the first story arc of Superman/Batman.",
"Jeph Loeb and editor Eddie Berganza found an opening to reintroduce the character following the conclusion of the first story arc of Superman/Batman. Loeb states: The modern version of Kara Zor-El made her debut in Superman/Batman #8 (2004). Kara takes the mantle of Supergirl at the conclusion of the storyline. The Supergirl comic book series would later be relaunched, now starring Kara Zor-El as \"The Girl of Steel\". The first arc of the new series was written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by Ian Churchill.",
"The first arc of the new series was written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by Ian Churchill. Loeb would later describe the appeal of writing for Supergirl: As the character continued to be reinvented, steps towards regarding the iconic character were some of the most prominent changes. Artist Jamal Igle and editor Matt Idleson moved to transition the character away from red panties under her skirt to biker shorts, feeling such a change was a logical progression and \"more respectable.\"",
"Artist Jamal Igle and editor Matt Idleson moved to transition the character away from red panties under her skirt to biker shorts, feeling such a change was a logical progression and \"more respectable.\" The New 52 In September 2011, DC Comics began The New 52, in which it canceled all of its monthly superhero titles and relaunched 52 new ones, wiping out most of its past continuity in the process.",
"The New 52 In September 2011, DC Comics began The New 52, in which it canceled all of its monthly superhero titles and relaunched 52 new ones, wiping out most of its past continuity in the process. One of the new titles was a new Supergirl series (Volume 6) that featured a new origin for Kara and was published between 2011 and 2015.",
"One of the new titles was a new Supergirl series (Volume 6) that featured a new origin for Kara and was published between 2011 and 2015. Artist Mahmud Asrar designed a new costume for the character which strongly deviated from her classic, \"cheerleader\" suit, a change which generated criticism from some readers. DC Rebirth The 2016 DC Comics title relaunch Rebirth incorporates several elements (such as the costume, the name, the setting, and some characters) from the Supergirl television series.",
"DC Rebirth The 2016 DC Comics title relaunch Rebirth incorporates several elements (such as the costume, the name, the setting, and some characters) from the Supergirl television series. The DC Rebirth initiative undid the New 52's modern recreations, bringing DC's heroes back to their more classic iterations. Supergirl's new series (Volume 7) was titled Supergirl: Rebirth, written by Steven Orlando. The first arc was penciled by Brian Ching, who also redesigned Supergirl's costume in reference to a more classic look.",
"The first arc was penciled by Brian Ching, who also redesigned Supergirl's costume in reference to a more classic look. In April 2018, it was announced that the title would be canceled after issue #20, only to be revived in August that year under a new creative team, with new writer Marc Andreyko and artist Kevin Maguire. The series ended with its 42nd issue.",
"The series ended with its 42nd issue. The series ended with its 42nd issue. Future State: Kara Zor-El, Superwoman The Future State comics propose a possible future for Kara Zor-El, now an adult and having taken the alias of Superwoman. She leaves Earth to become a guardian of the Moon, which has become a refugee colony for aliens from the entire universe. The series was written by Marguerite Bennet and penciled by Marguerite Sauvage.",
"The series was written by Marguerite Bennet and penciled by Marguerite Sauvage. Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow Under the Infinite Frontier brand, Kara's next series Woman of Tomorrow debuted in June 2021, written by Tom King and penciled by Brazilian artists Bilquis Evely and Mat Lopes. The arc introduces Supergirl to new character grounds as she begins the story as a young woman, celebrating her 21st birthday and helping a young alien in her quest for revenge.",
"The arc introduces Supergirl to new character grounds as she begins the story as a young woman, celebrating her 21st birthday and helping a young alien in her quest for revenge. The \"mentor-mentee journey on revenge\" plot is, according to King, inspired by the original novel and both versions of True Grit. In this series, the creators paid homage to Linda Danvers, as Kara manifests flame wings and powers after taking a red kryptonite drug, in order to save her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon.",
"In this series, the creators paid homage to Linda Danvers, as Kara manifests flame wings and powers after taking a red kryptonite drug, in order to save her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon. Fictional character biography Silver Age In her debut story, Kara Zor-El is the last survivor of Argo City of the planet Krypton.",
"Fictional character biography Silver Age In her debut story, Kara Zor-El is the last survivor of Argo City of the planet Krypton. Although Argo, which had survived the explosion of the planet, drifted through space as a self-sustaining environment, the soil of the colony eventually turned into Kryptonite; and though Kara's father Zor-El placed lead sheeting above the ground to protect the citizens from radiation, meteorites pierced the sheeting, and the Kryptonians died of radiation poisoning instead of replacing the metal.",
"Although Argo, which had survived the explosion of the planet, drifted through space as a self-sustaining environment, the soil of the colony eventually turned into Kryptonite; and though Kara's father Zor-El placed lead sheeting above the ground to protect the citizens from radiation, meteorites pierced the sheeting, and the Kryptonians died of radiation poisoning instead of replacing the metal. In Supergirl's subsequent backup feature in Action Comics drawn by artist Jim Mooney for ten years until 1968, Supergirl adopts the identity of Linda Lee, an orphan at Midvale Orphanage presided over by headmistress Miss Hart.",
"In Supergirl's subsequent backup feature in Action Comics drawn by artist Jim Mooney for ten years until 1968, Supergirl adopts the identity of Linda Lee, an orphan at Midvale Orphanage presided over by headmistress Miss Hart. She disguises herself by hiding her blond hair beneath a brunette wig; Supergirl interacts with humans on a person-to-person basis performing good deeds and saving the world by helping one person at a time, and she also devises clever schemes as \"Superman's Secret Weapon,\" saving him many times and avoiding adoption before Superman can introduce her publicly.",
"She disguises herself by hiding her blond hair beneath a brunette wig; Supergirl interacts with humans on a person-to-person basis performing good deeds and saving the world by helping one person at a time, and she also devises clever schemes as \"Superman's Secret Weapon,\" saving him many times and avoiding adoption before Superman can introduce her publicly. While temporarily powerless due to the scheming of Kandorian scientist Lesla-Lar, who is out to supplant her on Earth, Linda allows herself to be adopted by engineer and rocket scientist Fred Danvers and his wife, Edna.",
"While temporarily powerless due to the scheming of Kandorian scientist Lesla-Lar, who is out to supplant her on Earth, Linda allows herself to be adopted by engineer and rocket scientist Fred Danvers and his wife, Edna. In time, she reveals her secret identity to her adoptive parents on the same day her cousin Superman finally introduces her to the world in the finale of then-DC's longest playing series ever (eight chapters) aptly called \"The World's Greatest Heroine\".",
"In time, she reveals her secret identity to her adoptive parents on the same day her cousin Superman finally introduces her to the world in the finale of then-DC's longest playing series ever (eight chapters) aptly called \"The World's Greatest Heroine\". When frequent dreams about her parents being alive turn out to be real, she builds a machine aided by her engineer father's talent, and brings them both back alive from the \"Survival Zone\" where they had both teleported during Argo City's final moments.",
"When frequent dreams about her parents being alive turn out to be real, she builds a machine aided by her engineer father's talent, and brings them both back alive from the \"Survival Zone\" where they had both teleported during Argo City's final moments. Zor-El and Allura eventually end up living in Kandor, and when the city in the bottle is enlarged, they both go on to live in Rokyn/New Krypton, where they have the sad duty of receiving her mortal remains after \"Crisis\" for burial.",
"Zor-El and Allura eventually end up living in Kandor, and when the city in the bottle is enlarged, they both go on to live in Rokyn/New Krypton, where they have the sad duty of receiving her mortal remains after \"Crisis\" for burial. Graduating from high school in 1965, Linda Lee goes to college on a scholarship and stays in Stanhope College until she graduates in 1971.",
"Graduating from high school in 1965, Linda Lee goes to college on a scholarship and stays in Stanhope College until she graduates in 1971. During this era, she is helped by her pet cat Streaky, her Super-Horse pet Comet, and befriends Lena Thorul, who had first appeared in the Lois Lane series. Kara is also a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, where she becomes close to Brainiac 5.",
"Kara is also a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, where she becomes close to Brainiac 5. In addition, Linda has boyfriends from the orphanage (Richard \"Dick\" Malverne) and from Atlantis (Jerro the merboy). In 1967, Supergirl meets Batgirl for the first time in World's Finest Comics. Developing a strong friendship, the two characters teamed up many times again, as in Superman Family #171, or Adventure #381.",
"Developing a strong friendship, the two characters teamed up many times again, as in Superman Family #171, or Adventure #381. In 1969, Supergirl left Action Comics and became a featured character in Adventure Comics beginning with issue #381 (June 1969). During the 1970s, Supergirl's costume changed frequently, as did her career in her civilian life.",
"During the 1970s, Supergirl's costume changed frequently, as did her career in her civilian life. In her secret identity as Linda Lee Danvers, Kara Zor-El took a variety of jobs including graduate student in acting, television camera operator, and student counselor, and finally became an actress on the TV soap Secret Hearts. Bronze Age After long-time Superman family editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971, the character underwent revitalization under editor Joe Orlando and artist Mike Sekowsky.",
"Bronze Age After long-time Superman family editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971, the character underwent revitalization under editor Joe Orlando and artist Mike Sekowsky. Wearing a series of new outfits, leaving her adopted foster home with the Danvers family, Linda goes on to San Francisco where she works for KSF-TV as a camera operator and develops a crush on her boss, Geoffrey Anderson. These stories introduced Supergirl's most memorable villain from this period: Lex Luthor's niece Nasthalthia, or Nasty.",
"These stories introduced Supergirl's most memorable villain from this period: Lex Luthor's niece Nasthalthia, or Nasty. Nasty had made two appearances towards the end of Linda's college years, then pursued her to KSF-TV, trying to secure proof of her dual identity.",
"Nasty had made two appearances towards the end of Linda's college years, then pursued her to KSF-TV, trying to secure proof of her dual identity. Supergirl starred in her first solo eponymous monthly series beginning in 1972 until October 1974, when her monthly title merged with Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane, and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen to produce a new title: then-highest DC selling series called The Superman Family, where she eventually became the steady lead story.",
"Supergirl starred in her first solo eponymous monthly series beginning in 1972 until October 1974, when her monthly title merged with Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane, and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen to produce a new title: then-highest DC selling series called The Superman Family, where she eventually became the steady lead story. Linda worked as a student advisor at New Athens Experimental School, before leaving for New York to follow a career in acting with daytime soap Secret Hearts.",
"Linda worked as a student advisor at New Athens Experimental School, before leaving for New York to follow a career in acting with daytime soap Secret Hearts. In 1982 Supergirl received a second monthly solo series titled The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl, relocating the character to Chicago as Linda became a mature student of Psychology. Industry legend, and former DC Publisher, Carmine Infantino provided the penciled art (Bob Oksner inked).",
"Industry legend, and former DC Publisher, Carmine Infantino provided the penciled art (Bob Oksner inked). With issue 13 the title was revamped, with a new costume design (sporting a red headband) and the title shortened to just Supergirl. The series ran until sudden cancellation in 1984, only two months before the character's debut in a big-budget Hollywood film starring Helen Slater.",
"The series ran until sudden cancellation in 1984, only two months before the character's debut in a big-budget Hollywood film starring Helen Slater. In the Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985), the greatest heroes from Earth-One, Earth-Two, Earth-Four, Earth-S, and Earth-X join forces in order to defeat the Anti-Monitor. When Superman comes face to face with the Anti-Monitor and is knocked unconscious, Supergirl rushes to save him before he is killed.",
"When Superman comes face to face with the Anti-Monitor and is knocked unconscious, Supergirl rushes to save him before he is killed. She is able to fight him off long enough for Dr. Light to carry her cousin to a safe distance, but is killed by the Anti-Monitor. A public memorial service for Supergirl takes place in Chicago, where Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) delivers the eulogy. In her remarks, she states \"Kara is a hero. She will not be forgotten.\"",
"She will not be forgotten.\" She will not be forgotten.\" Superman then gives his late cousin burial by taking her corpse to Rokyn/New Krypton to Zor-El and Allura. A Superman issue the next month reveals that Kara had experienced a premonition about her own passing. However, when the universe is rebooted, the timeline is altered. Kara Zor-El and all memory of her is erased from existence.",
"Kara Zor-El and all memory of her is erased from existence. Echoes After these events, the soul of Kara Zor-El made another appearance in continuity three years later in a story titled \"Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot\" in Christmas with the Super-Heroes #2 (1989). Within the story, Boston \"Deadman\" Brand tries to feel the warmth of Christmas by possessing revelers' bodies.",
"Within the story, Boston \"Deadman\" Brand tries to feel the warmth of Christmas by possessing revelers' bodies. Feeling guilty upon the realization that he has been stealing others' Christmases, he flies off feeling sorry for himself for being denied a reward after a year of helping people. A warmly dressed blonde woman approaches Brand, startling him.",
"A warmly dressed blonde woman approaches Brand, startling him. Somehow seeing the normally invisible Brand, she converses with him, reminding him, She reminds Brand that even though he is dead, he is still human, and he should rejoice because it means his spirit is still alive. As the woman leaves, Brand asks her who she is, to which she replies, \"My name is Kara. Though I doubt that will mean anything to you.\"",
"Though I doubt that will mean anything to you.\" The story, written by Alan Brennert and penciled by Dick Giordano, is dedicated to Otto Binder and Jim Mooney, adding: \"We still remember.\" Finally, the soul of Kara Zor-El appeared twice during Peter David's run, specifically in issues #48 and #49 when she appears before a defeated and imprisoned then-Supergirl, Linda Danvers from Earth, and comforts her.",
"Finally, the soul of Kara Zor-El appeared twice during Peter David's run, specifically in issues #48 and #49 when she appears before a defeated and imprisoned then-Supergirl, Linda Danvers from Earth, and comforts her. Linda acknowledges she has been helped three times by her phantom-friend, and when she asks her name she is told by the smiling figure: \"I have gone by many names, but the one I am most fond of is: Kara!\"",
"Linda acknowledges she has been helped three times by her phantom-friend, and when she asks her name she is told by the smiling figure: \"I have gone by many names, but the one I am most fond of is: Kara!\" Modern Age In 2004, Jeph Loeb reintroduced Kara Zor-El into post-Zero Hour (Birthright timeline) continuity during a storyline in the series Superman/Batman.",
"Modern Age In 2004, Jeph Loeb reintroduced Kara Zor-El into post-Zero Hour (Birthright timeline) continuity during a storyline in the series Superman/Batman. She is the biological cousin of Superman, and although chronologically older than him, the ship in which she traveled to Earth was caught in a large green Kryptonite meteorite which held her in a state of suspended animation for much of the journey, making her have the appearance of a 16-year-old girl.",
"She is the biological cousin of Superman, and although chronologically older than him, the ship in which she traveled to Earth was caught in a large green Kryptonite meteorite which held her in a state of suspended animation for much of the journey, making her have the appearance of a 16-year-old girl. Still, Supergirl sometimes saw Superman as a child, due to last carrying him as a baby. DC Comics relaunched the Supergirl, the first story arc of which was written by Loeb. showcases Supergirl on a journey of self-discovery.",
"showcases Supergirl on a journey of self-discovery. showcases Supergirl on a journey of self-discovery. Along her journey, she encounters Power Girl (Kara Zor-El's counterpart from another universe), the Teen Titans, the Outsiders, the Justice League of America, and arch-villain Lex Luthor. During the company-wide crossover series Infinite Crisis (2005), a sequel to Crisis on Infinite Earths, Supergirl is transported to the 31st century, where she is revered as a member of the Superman family and joins the Legion of Super-Heroes.",
"During the company-wide crossover series Infinite Crisis (2005), a sequel to Crisis on Infinite Earths, Supergirl is transported to the 31st century, where she is revered as a member of the Superman family and joins the Legion of Super-Heroes. DC Comics renamed the monthly series Legion of Super-Heroes to Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes. Beginning with issue #16.",
"Beginning with issue #16. Beginning with issue #16. In the limited series 52, which chronicles the events that took place during the missing year after the end of Infinite Crisis, Donna Troy recalls the original Kara Zor-El and her sacrifice to save the universe. Supergirl returns to the 21st century during the course of 52.",
"Supergirl returns to the 21st century during the course of 52. After briefly filling in for a temporarily depowered Superman as guardian of Metropolis, she assumes the identity of Flamebird to fight crime in the bottle city of Kandor with Power Girl as Nightwing in Greg Rucka's arc Supergirl: Kandor. In 2007, Supergirl appeared in the miniseries Amazons Attack! That same year, she joined the Teen Titans for five issues.",
"That same year, she joined the Teen Titans for five issues. Conversations with other heroes who maintain secret identities lead Kara to the conclusion that she needs to make a deeper connection with human beings. She accepts Lana Lang's proposal to present her to the Daily Planet staff as \"Linda Lang\", Lana's teenaged niece.",
"She accepts Lana Lang's proposal to present her to the Daily Planet staff as \"Linda Lang\", Lana's teenaged niece. In the 2008–2009 \"New Krypton\" story arc, in which Superman discovers and frees the real Kandor and a large number of its citizens, Supergirl is reunited with her father, Zor-El and mother, Alura, though Zor-El is killed by the villain Reactron.",
"In the 2008–2009 \"New Krypton\" story arc, in which Superman discovers and frees the real Kandor and a large number of its citizens, Supergirl is reunited with her father, Zor-El and mother, Alura, though Zor-El is killed by the villain Reactron. When a planet is formed that the Kryptonians call New Krypton, Kara is torn between her life on Earth, and her obligation to her mother, eventually joining the New Krypton Science Guild.",
"When a planet is formed that the Kryptonians call New Krypton, Kara is torn between her life on Earth, and her obligation to her mother, eventually joining the New Krypton Science Guild. Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2009 miniseries Justice League: Cry for Justice, and the 2009–2010 storyline \"Blackest Night\".",
"Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2009 miniseries Justice League: Cry for Justice, and the 2009–2010 storyline \"Blackest Night\". The New Krypton storyline would later be resolved in the \"World of New Krypton\", \"Superman: Last Stand of New Krypton\", \"War of the Supermen\" storylines, resulting in the destruction of New Krypton and seeing Supergirl mourn her people.",
"The New Krypton storyline would later be resolved in the \"World of New Krypton\", \"Superman: Last Stand of New Krypton\", \"War of the Supermen\" storylines, resulting in the destruction of New Krypton and seeing Supergirl mourn her people. Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2010 \"Brightest Day\" storyline, the follow up to \"Blackest Night\"., where she joins the Justice League along with Jesse Quick & Jade.",
"Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2010 \"Brightest Day\" storyline, the follow up to \"Blackest Night\"., where she joins the Justice League along with Jesse Quick & Jade. The New 52 In this continuity, Kara's ship lands in Smallville, Kansas but hurtles through the Earth and emerges in Siberia. Kara has no memory of the destruction of Krypton, and believes it is only three days since her spacecraft was launched.",
"Kara has no memory of the destruction of Krypton, and believes it is only three days since her spacecraft was launched. She learns the truth about Krypton's destruction from Superman, and later journeys through a wormhole to Argo City, which she finds in orbit around a blue sun. She finds the city in ruins, with no explanation of how it met that fate, and is attacked by a female Worldkiller named Reign before the city plummets into the sun.",
"She finds the city in ruins, with no explanation of how it met that fate, and is attacked by a female Worldkiller named Reign before the city plummets into the sun. When Reign and her fellow Worldkiller plan to enslave the Earth, Supergirl returns there to defeat them, and thus adopts Earth as her new home. After several battles with supervillains, including the Worldkillers, superweapons of Kryptonian design, she accepts Krypton's destruction, but continues to grapple with her grief.",
"After several battles with supervillains, including the Worldkillers, superweapons of Kryptonian design, she accepts Krypton's destruction, but continues to grapple with her grief. Her desire to restore Krypton results in her being manipulated into nearly destroying the Earth by another Kryptonian whom she falls in love with. Upon realizing his manipulation, she kills him by driving Kryptonite through his heart, and succumbs to Kryptonite poisoning. Following her poisoning, Supergirl departs the Earth to die alone.",
"Following her poisoning, Supergirl departs the Earth to die alone. While adrift in interstellar space, she encounters a planet under attack by monsters, and quickly intervenes to save them, unaware that the entire planet is a trap by Brainiac. She is captured and restrained by Cyborg Superman, but after a struggle, manages to escape both Brainiac and Cyborg Superman.",
"She is captured and restrained by Cyborg Superman, but after a struggle, manages to escape both Brainiac and Cyborg Superman. Returning to Earth, she is sent into the past by the Oracle alongside Superman and Superboy, where she ensures that a resurrected H'el cannot save Krypton, and sacrifices the planet and her family in order to save the universe. Back on Earth, she encounters the assassin Lobo.",
"Back on Earth, she encounters the assassin Lobo. Back on Earth, she encounters the assassin Lobo. Initially eager for a peaceful resolution, seeing a kind of kinship with him in their both being lone survivors of their respective worlds (although not truly aware of Lobo's circumstances), Kara's encounter with the Czarnian would reveal deep mental wounds, resulting in the unleashing of her rage and transformation into a Red Lantern.",
"Initially eager for a peaceful resolution, seeing a kind of kinship with him in their both being lone survivors of their respective worlds (although not truly aware of Lobo's circumstances), Kara's encounter with the Czarnian would reveal deep mental wounds, resulting in the unleashing of her rage and transformation into a Red Lantern. Driven insane by rage, Kara wanders space, attacking everyone in her way, until captured by several Green Lanterns and brought to Hal Jordan.",
"Driven insane by rage, Kara wanders space, attacking everyone in her way, until captured by several Green Lanterns and brought to Hal Jordan. Immediately recognizing a Kryptonian and unable to remove the power ring without killing her, he brings her to Guy Gardner, the leader of one of the two Red Lantern factions, who manages to restore her sanity.",
"Immediately recognizing a Kryptonian and unable to remove the power ring without killing her, he brings her to Guy Gardner, the leader of one of the two Red Lantern factions, who manages to restore her sanity. After some time under Guy Gardner's tutelage and protecting the galaxy as a Red Lantern, after being discharged from the Red Lantern Corps (because Guy did not want for her to die needlessly against Atrocitus' splinter group), on her way back to Earth, Kara encounters the leader of the Worldkillers, who are revealed to be parasitic suits of armor.",
"After some time under Guy Gardner's tutelage and protecting the galaxy as a Red Lantern, after being discharged from the Red Lantern Corps (because Guy did not want for her to die needlessly against Atrocitus' splinter group), on her way back to Earth, Kara encounters the leader of the Worldkillers, who are revealed to be parasitic suits of armor. He attempts to assimilate Kara as his host, but she voluntarily subjects herself to Kryptonite poisoning in order to stop him, and eventually flies into the Sun and removes her power ring, killing her and removing him from her body.",
"He attempts to assimilate Kara as his host, but she voluntarily subjects herself to Kryptonite poisoning in order to stop him, and eventually flies into the Sun and removes her power ring, killing her and removing him from her body. However, Kara is revealed to be immortal while in the Sun's core, and is restored to life without the power ring or any Kryptonite poisoning, immediately destroying the Worldkiller. She later helps Guy against Atrocitus and his Red Lantern splinter group.",
"She later helps Guy against Atrocitus and his Red Lantern splinter group. Convergence and return of the Pre-Crisis version During the Convergence story arc, the original Kara Zor-El who had sacrificed her life during Crisis on Infinite Earths makes an appearance on the amalgamated planet of Telos.",
"Convergence and return of the Pre-Crisis version During the Convergence story arc, the original Kara Zor-El who had sacrificed her life during Crisis on Infinite Earths makes an appearance on the amalgamated planet of Telos. At the end of the saga she volunteers herself to once again fight the Anti-Monitor but this time, with the help of her timeline's Barry Allen, the Pre-Flashpoint Superman (in tow with his pregnant wife, Lois Lane), and a repentant Parallax (Zero Hour Hal Jordan), vows to defeat him for the sake of the multiverse's continued existence.",
"At the end of the saga she volunteers herself to once again fight the Anti-Monitor but this time, with the help of her timeline's Barry Allen, the Pre-Flashpoint Superman (in tow with his pregnant wife, Lois Lane), and a repentant Parallax (Zero Hour Hal Jordan), vows to defeat him for the sake of the multiverse's continued existence. Without it being seen, those left on Telos discover the group was successful and all previous timelines (with the mysterious exception of the pre-Flashpoint/pre-New 52 DC universe) from DC history had been re-established, though the fate of the original Kara Zor-El and her fellows went unmentioned.",
"Without it being seen, those left on Telos discover the group was successful and all previous timelines (with the mysterious exception of the pre-Flashpoint/pre-New 52 DC universe) from DC history had been re-established, though the fate of the original Kara Zor-El and her fellows went unmentioned. A few more details of the battle against the Anti-Monitor are later revealed during the New 52 comic mini-series (leading into DC's Rebirth event).",
"A few more details of the battle against the Anti-Monitor are later revealed during the New 52 comic mini-series (leading into DC's Rebirth event). After the defeat of Anti-Monitor, Pre-New 52 Clark and Lois decide to start life anew in the closest universe they can find (mysteriously yet unable to see their old universe even though the rest of the multiverse had been restored) while Pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El, along with her contemporary Barry Allen and Zero Hour Parallax/Hal Jordan, decide to find their place in the universe and go off to do so.",
"After the defeat of Anti-Monitor, Pre-New 52 Clark and Lois decide to start life anew in the closest universe they can find (mysteriously yet unable to see their old universe even though the rest of the multiverse had been restored) while Pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El, along with her contemporary Barry Allen and Zero Hour Parallax/Hal Jordan, decide to find their place in the universe and go off to do so. Her fate as of that story arc is yet to be revealed.",
"Her fate as of that story arc is yet to be revealed. DC Rebirth After the events that led to the death of the New 52 version of Superman, 16-year-old Kara lives in National City with her adoptive parents, D.E.O. agents Jeremiah and Eliza Danvers, where she attends high school and works with the agency as led by Cameron Chase. As part of her civilian identity, Kara receives special glasses that darken her blond hair when posing as Kara Danvers.",
"As part of her civilian identity, Kara receives special glasses that darken her blond hair when posing as Kara Danvers. Kara also goes on an internship at Cat Grant's CATCO alongside Ben Rubel, whom she befriends. In her opening arc \"The Reign of the Cyborg Supermen\", Kara discovers that the cyborg Zor-El, whom she had battled in her New 52 title, is still active and has rebuilt other Kryptonians (her mother Alura included), planning to take over Earth.",
"In her opening arc \"The Reign of the Cyborg Supermen\", Kara discovers that the cyborg Zor-El, whom she had battled in her New 52 title, is still active and has rebuilt other Kryptonians (her mother Alura included), planning to take over Earth. Supergirl defeats them but vows to help her father regardless of his actions. After National City discovers Supergirl has kept Zor-El's \"living\" status a secret, they become untrustful of her.",
"After National City discovers Supergirl has kept Zor-El's \"living\" status a secret, they become untrustful of her. Director Bones takes advantage of the heroine's impopularity and, after taking control of the D.E.O., sends villains in an attempt to bring Kara down. She defeats all of them and regains trust from National City with Ben's help.",
"She defeats all of them and regains trust from National City with Ben's help. The Supergirl Who Laughs Kara is later infected by The Batman Who Laughs toxin, causing her to turn evil and joining other infected as part of Laughs Secret Six before later being cured. She is fired from CatCo by Cat Grant and starts working at S.T.A.R. Labs. Woman of Tomorrow Journeying throughout the universe with Krypto, Kara celebrates her 21st birthday alone on a distant planet.",
"Woman of Tomorrow Journeying throughout the universe with Krypto, Kara celebrates her 21st birthday alone on a distant planet. Drunk in a bar, she is approached by a little girl named Ruthye and is asked to kill Krem (her father's murderer) in vengeance. Supergirl refuses but, when she is about to leave the planet, Krem attacks and severely wounds both her and Krypto, fleeing in Kara's ship.",
"Supergirl refuses but, when she is about to leave the planet, Krem attacks and severely wounds both her and Krypto, fleeing in Kara's ship. Kara begins her journey alongside Ruthye and, powerless, saves her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon by taking a red kryptonite drug which causes her to manifest flame wings. Powers and abilities Like all Kryptonians under a yellow sun, the current version of Kara Zor-El possesses virtually unlimited strength, stamina, and durability.",
"Powers and abilities Like all Kryptonians under a yellow sun, the current version of Kara Zor-El possesses virtually unlimited strength, stamina, and durability. She is able to fly and with super speed that she can also use on foot, similar to Superman and The Flash. Also like Superman, Supergirl possesses super senses, super-breath, and freeze breathe, as well as multiple forms of supervision (including X-Ray, Infrared, Telescopic, and Microscopic).",
"Also like Superman, Supergirl possesses super senses, super-breath, and freeze breathe, as well as multiple forms of supervision (including X-Ray, Infrared, Telescopic, and Microscopic). Kara also has a bio-electric aura that enhances her near invulnerability and also protects her skin and her costume from dirt and tear; as such, Kara is perpetually clean. The Sun also provides Kara with a longer lifespan than that of a human being, to the point that she is effectively a biological immortal.",
"The Sun also provides Kara with a longer lifespan than that of a human being, to the point that she is effectively a biological immortal. Kara doesn't require food, water, or sleep to survive. She is also immune to most diseases, mental and physical, and would require a very strong strain to have a chance at affecting her. In the rare instances that Kara is harmed by someone matching her strength or by the use of one of her weaknesses, she can heal almost instantaneously.",
"In the rare instances that Kara is harmed by someone matching her strength or by the use of one of her weaknesses, she can heal almost instantaneously. Her power surpasses most other beings, though she can be overpowered by those who rival her strength such as Black Adam, Darkseid, Despero, Doomsday, Bizarro, Wonder Woman, and Superman. In reality, Kara is actually older than her cousin, Clark, and spent time on Krypton before its destruction.",
"In reality, Kara is actually older than her cousin, Clark, and spent time on Krypton before its destruction. As such (unlike Superman), she possesses memories of Kryptonian culture as well as her cousin's parents. Continued exposure to a yellow Sun will slowly increase abilities. Many characters in the DC Universe have noted that Supergirl appears, at times, to be even more powerful than Superman himself.",
"Many characters in the DC Universe have noted that Supergirl appears, at times, to be even more powerful than Superman himself. In answer to this, Superman states that this is because he has spent his entire life subconsciously suppressing his full powers in order to avoid hurting others, having been absorbing solar radiation since his infancy. Kara, not having such practice or experience, simply uses the full magnitude of her powers.",
"Kara, not having such practice or experience, simply uses the full magnitude of her powers. Abilities Unlike her cousin, Kara was taught to fight in Krypton as part of her tests, and at the Crucible Academy, being adept at various Kryptonian fighting styles like Klurkor and Torquasm Rao. Supergirl also learned the art of Bagua under I-Ching's instructions. She practiced how to manipulate her Chi or Qi in order to gain better control of her powers due to them becoming overwhelmed after her conflict with the Fatal Five.",
"She practiced how to manipulate her Chi or Qi in order to gain better control of her powers due to them becoming overwhelmed after her conflict with the Fatal Five. Superman recommended guardianship with I-Ching to Supergirl first. In addition to training in Krypton, Kara was trained by Batman in advanced martial arts and trained with the Amazons in Themyscira in unarmed and armed combat, Amazonas martial arts, fencing, Shield handling, and other Amazon weapons. She trained with Wonder Woman and Artemis extensively.",
"She trained with Wonder Woman and Artemis extensively. She trained with Wonder Woman and Artemis extensively. Other versions There are numerous alternate versions of Supergirl. The most notable is Power Girl (real name Kara Zor-L, also known as Karen Starr) who first appeared in All Star Comics #58 (January/February 1976). Power Girl is the Earth-Two counterpart of Supergirl and the first cousin of Kal-L, Superman of the pre-Crisis Earth-Two. The infant Power Girl's parents enabled her to escape the destruction of Krypton.",
"The infant Power Girl's parents enabled her to escape the destruction of Krypton. Although she left the planet at the same time that Superman did, her ship took much longer to reach Earth-Two. She has superhuman strength and the ability to fly and is the first chairwoman of the Justice Society of America. She sports a bob of blond hair; wears a distinctive white, red, and blue costume; and has an aggressive fighting style.",
"She sports a bob of blond hair; wears a distinctive white, red, and blue costume; and has an aggressive fighting style. Throughout her early appearances in All Star Comics, she is often at odds with Wildcat because his penchant for talking to her as if she were an ordinary human female rather than a superpowered Kryptonian annoys her. She also fought alongside the Sovereign Seven team, replacing Rampart after his death though that series is not considered to be part of canon in the DC universe.",
"She also fought alongside the Sovereign Seven team, replacing Rampart after his death though that series is not considered to be part of canon in the DC universe. The 1985 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths eliminated Earth-Two, causing her origin to change; she became the granddaughter of the Atlantean sorcerer Arion. However, story events culminating in the 2005–2006 Infinite Crisis limited series restored her status as a refugee from the Krypton of the destroyed pre-Crisis Earth-Two universe.",
"However, story events culminating in the 2005–2006 Infinite Crisis limited series restored her status as a refugee from the Krypton of the destroyed pre-Crisis Earth-Two universe. Like the original Kara's Streaky, Power Girl has a cat, featured in a story by Amanda Conner in Wonder Woman #600. Reception This version of Supergirl is ranked as the 153rd-greatest comic book character of all time by Wizard magazine.",
"Reception This version of Supergirl is ranked as the 153rd-greatest comic book character of all time by Wizard magazine. IGN also ranked this version of Supergirl as the 94th-greatest comic book superhero, stating \"for a character born of the Silver Age that saw everything from a Super Baby to a Super Monkey, Kara Zor-El grew into something much more than simply another marketing ploy to slap an 'S' on.\"",
"IGN also ranked this version of Supergirl as the 94th-greatest comic book superhero, stating \"for a character born of the Silver Age that saw everything from a Super Baby to a Super Monkey, Kara Zor-El grew into something much more than simply another marketing ploy to slap an 'S' on.\" In 2013 IGN ranked Supergirl as the 17th-greatest DC comic superhero, stating \"she was an early example of a female sidekick developing a large fanbase in her own right\", and \"Supergirl has been one of DC's most powerful heroes, and a standard to hold other female heroes against.\"",
"In 2013 IGN ranked Supergirl as the 17th-greatest DC comic superhero, stating \"she was an early example of a female sidekick developing a large fanbase in her own right\", and \"Supergirl has been one of DC's most powerful heroes, and a standard to hold other female heroes against.\" Appearances Pre-Crisis 1959 to 1969: Action Comics #252 to #376. 1969 to 1972: Adventure Comics #381 to #424. 1972 to 1974: Supergirl #1 to #10.",
"1972 to 1974: Supergirl #1 to #10. 1974 to 1982: Her comic merges with Jimmy Olsen's and Lois Lane's to become Superman Family #164 to #222. 1982 to 1984: The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl #1 to #13, Supergirl (vol. 2) #14 to #23. 2015: Convergence Kara Zor-El appeared in over 750 stories published by DC from 1959 to 1985.",
"2015: Convergence Kara Zor-El appeared in over 750 stories published by DC from 1959 to 1985. Post-Crisis 2004 to 2005: Superman/Batman #8 to #13 and #19 2005 to 2011: Supergirl (vol. 5) #0 to #67 2006 to 2008: Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes (Legion of Super-Heroes vol. 5) #16 to #37 2007: Action Comics #850 2008: Final Crisis 2011 to 2015: New 52: Supergirl (vol.",
"5) #16 to #37 2007: Action Comics #850 2008: Final Crisis 2011 to 2015: New 52: Supergirl (vol. 6) #1 to #40 2016 to current: Rebirth: Supergirl (vol. 7) #1 to current Kara Zor-El also appears as a supporting character in several issues of other DC Comics, including Superman, Action Comics, Teen Titans, Amazons Attack, World War III, and Wonder Girl.",
"7) #1 to current Kara Zor-El also appears as a supporting character in several issues of other DC Comics, including Superman, Action Comics, Teen Titans, Amazons Attack, World War III, and Wonder Girl. She has also appeared in many issues of Superman, Action Comics, and Superman New Krypton starting with the World Without Superman event in 2009, and continuing with the World Against Superman event going into 2010. Collected editions Listed in chronological order.",
"Collected editions Listed in chronological order. Collected editions Listed in chronological order. All ages titles are not in continuity with the original or modern Kara. In other media Television Live-action Smallville Prior to the seventh season (2007–2008) of the WB/CW show Smallville where she is introduced into the cast and is portrayed by Laura Vandervoort, a woman claiming to be Kara (portrayed by Adrianne Palicki) is briefly introduced in the season 3 finale.",
"In other media Television Live-action Smallville Prior to the seventh season (2007–2008) of the WB/CW show Smallville where she is introduced into the cast and is portrayed by Laura Vandervoort, a woman claiming to be Kara (portrayed by Adrianne Palicki) is briefly introduced in the season 3 finale. It is later revealed her real name is Lindsey Harrison, and had been given false memories and powers by the artificial intelligence of Clark Kent's (Tom Welling) father Jor-El as part of a series of tests.",
"It is later revealed her real name is Lindsey Harrison, and had been given false memories and powers by the artificial intelligence of Clark Kent's (Tom Welling) father Jor-El as part of a series of tests. Vandervoort portrays the real Kara, Clark's cousin whose spaceship had been trapped in stasis until the events of the season 6 finale. Much of season 7 is concerned with Kara's attempts to adjust to life on Earth, especially after learning of Krypton's destruction.",
"Much of season 7 is concerned with Kara's attempts to adjust to life on Earth, especially after learning of Krypton's destruction. Her storyline sees her simultaneously become the object of Lex Luthor's (Michael Rosenbaum) obsessions and Jimmy Olsen's (Aaron Ashmore) affections, suffer a bout of amnesia, discover her father's (Christopher Heyerdahl) sinister motives and become a target of evil android Brainiac (James Marsters). The season finale sees Kara become trapped in the Phantom Zone.",
"The season finale sees Kara become trapped in the Phantom Zone. Starting with season 8, Vandervoort ceases to feature as a series regular, but reprises the role three more times. In her first guest appearance, \"Bloodline,\" Kara is freed from the Phantom Zone and later departs Clark's hometown of Smallville to search for Kandor, her birthplace, as it is rumored to have survived their home planet's destruction.",
"In her first guest appearance, \"Bloodline,\" Kara is freed from the Phantom Zone and later departs Clark's hometown of Smallville to search for Kandor, her birthplace, as it is rumored to have survived their home planet's destruction. She appears again in the season 10 episode \"Supergirl\", in which she formally adopts her superhero moniker. Her off-screen adventures are alluded to thereafter.",
"Her off-screen adventures are alluded to thereafter. Her off-screen adventures are alluded to thereafter. Vandervoort makes a final appearance in the show's penultimate episode, \"Prophecy\", in which she helps Green Arrow (Justin Hartley) locate the \"Bow of Orion\" to use against Darkseid. She is then called to the Fortress of Solitude, where she learns from Jor-El that her job on Earth is done. Using a Legion of Super-Heroes flight ring, she travels to the future to seek her own destiny.",
"Using a Legion of Super-Heroes flight ring, she travels to the future to seek her own destiny. The Season Eleven comic book continuation of the show later depicts Kara's continued story in the 31st century, subsequent return to the present and joining the Justice League. Arrowverse In September 2014, a 22-episode television series centered around Supergirl was in development at Warner Bros. Television, set to premiere on CBS with a January 2015 air date. Melissa Benoist was cast as the titular character.",
"Melissa Benoist was cast as the titular character. Melissa Benoist was cast as the titular character. In May 2016, the series moved to The CW and was later integrated into the Arrowverse, a shared universe consisting of shows including Arrow, The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow. In the series, Kara Zor-El was sent to Earth to protect her cousin Kal-El, following her homeworld Krypton's destruction. However, she is knocked into the Phantom Zone, where she is stranded for 24 years.",
"However, she is knocked into the Phantom Zone, where she is stranded for 24 years. She eventually crash lands on Earth and is found by her already grown-up cousin Kal, now known to the world as the iconic superhero \"Superman\". Superman brings Kara into the custody of Jeremiah Danvers, director of the Department of Extranormal Operations (D.E.O. ), and his daughter Alex. Growing up, Kara struggles to maintain her Kryptonian abilities as well as balancing her relationship with her adoptive sister.",
"Growing up, Kara struggles to maintain her Kryptonian abilities as well as balancing her relationship with her adoptive sister. Eventually, the two bond when Kara's powers are exposed. However, Jeremiah decides it's best to isolate her abilities. As an adult, Kara is forced to use her powers again when her sister's plane almost crashes. She is later dubbed \"Supergirl\" by the media and dons a costume like her cousin.",
"She is later dubbed \"Supergirl\" by the media and dons a costume like her cousin. Kara decides to use her abilities to fight alien invaders such as Kara's aunt Astra and her husband Non, Mon-El's rogue parents, the Worldkiller Reign, anti-alien activist Ben Lockwood, and later the shadowy organization Leviathan, with the help of her sister Alex, now an agent of the D.E.O., her best friend and tech-expert Winn Schott, last of the Green Martians J'onn J'onzz / Martian Manhunter, and Kal's best friend Jimmy Olsen.",
"Kara decides to use her abilities to fight alien invaders such as Kara's aunt Astra and her husband Non, Mon-El's rogue parents, the Worldkiller Reign, anti-alien activist Ben Lockwood, and later the shadowy organization Leviathan, with the help of her sister Alex, now an agent of the D.E.O., her best friend and tech-expert Winn Schott, last of the Green Martians J'onn J'onzz / Martian Manhunter, and Kal's best friend Jimmy Olsen. She is later joined by Lex Luthor's sister Lena, Prince of Daxam Mon-El, former Legion of Superheroes member Querl \"Brainy\" Dox / Brainiac 5, Nia Nal / Dreamer, James' younger sister Kelly, and reporter Willam Dey face against these rival forces.",
"She is later joined by Lex Luthor's sister Lena, Prince of Daxam Mon-El, former Legion of Superheroes member Querl \"Brainy\" Dox / Brainiac 5, Nia Nal / Dreamer, James' younger sister Kelly, and reporter Willam Dey face against these rival forces. After joining the Arrowverse, which contain annual crossover, Kara assists Barry Allen, Oliver Queen and the Legends of Tomorrow against threats on their designated earth \"Earth-1\" while Kara’s is designated as \"Earth-38.",
"After joining the Arrowverse, which contain annual crossover, Kara assists Barry Allen, Oliver Queen and the Legends of Tomorrow against threats on their designated earth \"Earth-1\" while Kara’s is designated as \"Earth-38. Later, Kara is selected by The Monitor as the Paragon of Hope to participate in the coming crisis and fight against the Anti-Monitor, whose goal is to destroy the multiverse. After doing so, the Paragons are sent to the Vanishing Point where Oliver, now a Spectre, helps them escape.",
"After doing so, the Paragons are sent to the Vanishing Point where Oliver, now a Spectre, helps them escape. The Paragons appear at the dawn of time in the anti-matter universe where they have their final confrontation with the Anti-Monitor. Eventually, Oliver sacrifices himself to kill the Anti-Monitor, and as a result, a new multiverse is born with Earth-38 and Earth-1 merged into \"Earth-Prime\". Following the crisis, Kara is forced to deal the after-effects of Crisis which include working with Lex, now owning the D.E.O.",
"Following the crisis, Kara is forced to deal the after-effects of Crisis which include working with Lex, now owning the D.E.O. while Leviathan continue their covert operations under Gamemnae. The sixth season sees Kara and her allies expose Lex's crimes, but are then forced to deal with Nyxlygsptlnz, a fifth-dimensional imp who tricked the heroes into releasing her from the Phantom Zone.",
"The sixth season sees Kara and her allies expose Lex's crimes, but are then forced to deal with Nyxlygsptlnz, a fifth-dimensional imp who tricked the heroes into releasing her from the Phantom Zone. Eventually Nyxlygsptlnz joins forces with Lex Luthor and the two kill William, but Kara's assembled allies are able to defeat the two, culminating in Lex and Nyxlygsptlnz being trapped in the Phantom Zone when one of their own plans backfires.",
"Eventually Nyxlygsptlnz joins forces with Lex Luthor and the two kill William, but Kara's assembled allies are able to defeat the two, culminating in Lex and Nyxlygsptlnz being trapped in the Phantom Zone when one of their own plans backfires. The series concludes with Kara revealing her dual identity so that she can live a full life as one person. Animation DC Nation Shorts Supergirl appears with Batgirl and Wonder Girl in Super Best Friends Forever, voiced by Nicole Sullivan.",
"Animation DC Nation Shorts Supergirl appears with Batgirl and Wonder Girl in Super Best Friends Forever, voiced by Nicole Sullivan. DC Super Hero Girls Supergirl appears as a central protagonist in the web series DC Super Hero Girls voiced by Anais Fairweather, and is a student at Super Hero High, is very kind and caring and extremely powerful but she's also very clumsy. She also appears as a central protagonist in the 2019 TV series, with Nicole Sullivan reprising her role from the Super Best Friends Forever shorts.",
"She also appears as a central protagonist in the 2019 TV series, with Nicole Sullivan reprising her role from the Super Best Friends Forever shorts. In this version, she is also a rebel and is known as the \"cool kid\" in school. She may be tough but she can easily express her emotions and is very open-minded as well. She can be a cool friend and a helpful one, but she can also be jealous sometimes and she dislikes her cousin's prominence.",
"She can be a cool friend and a helpful one, but she can also be jealous sometimes and she dislikes her cousin's prominence. Justice League Action Supergirl appears in Justice League Action, voiced by Joanne Spracklen. She has the appearance of a wide-eyed human teenager with blonde hair and wears her traditional costume except that it has thigh-high boots and a pleated skirt. As a person, she is youthful, responsible, and shows much affection for her cousin Superman.",
"As a person, she is youthful, responsible, and shows much affection for her cousin Superman. In \"Party Animal\", she appears as a cameo at this Christmas party with the Justice League. In \"Keeping up with the Kryptonians\", Supergirl becomes a star of the popular reality show \"That's So Kara\", and Superman a Kasnian who rules from one place to another on Earth, all being a reality caused by Mister Mxyzptlk.",
"In \"Keeping up with the Kryptonians\", Supergirl becomes a star of the popular reality show \"That's So Kara\", and Superman a Kasnian who rules from one place to another on Earth, all being a reality caused by Mister Mxyzptlk. In \"Unleashed\", Supergirl accompanies Justice League in stopping Red Lantern Corps, unaware that it was a distraction made by Dex-Starr to invade Earth, until it was ultimately resolved by Krypto, Streaky, and Plastic Man.",
"In \"Unleashed\", Supergirl accompanies Justice League in stopping Red Lantern Corps, unaware that it was a distraction made by Dex-Starr to invade Earth, until it was ultimately resolved by Krypto, Streaky, and Plastic Man. In a short \"The Goddess Must Be Crazy\", Supergirl trains with Wonder Woman in Paradise Island, until she is possessed by Felix Faust, to destroy the island. Film Superman film series A live action depiction of Supergirl first appears in the eponymous 1984 film starring Helen Slater as Supergirl.",
"Film Superman film series A live action depiction of Supergirl first appears in the eponymous 1984 film starring Helen Slater as Supergirl. The film is a spin-off from the Superman film series starring Christopher Reeve, to which it is connected by Marc McClure's character of Jimmy Olsen. DC Extended Universe Kara Zor-El / Linda Danvers / Supergirl exists within the DC Extended Universe, as she was referenced in Man of Steel when Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman discovers an empty pod within the Kryptonian scout spaceship.",
"DC Extended Universe Kara Zor-El / Linda Danvers / Supergirl exists within the DC Extended Universe, as she was referenced in Man of Steel when Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman discovers an empty pod within the Kryptonian scout spaceship. Though Zack Snyder confirmed in August 2018 that even though the character does exist, that pod was not intended for her. In August 2018, a film centered around the character was announced to be in development, with Oren Uziel hired as screenwriter for the project.",
"In August 2018, a film centered around the character was announced to be in development, with Oren Uziel hired as screenwriter for the project. The studio intends to hire a female director, with Reed Morano—who has expressed interest in the project—being its top choice. Filming was expected to start production in early 2020. Sasha Calle will play Supergirl for the DC Extended Universe in The Flash.",
"Sasha Calle will play Supergirl for the DC Extended Universe in The Flash. Animation Summer Glau voices the post-Crisis version of Kara Zor-El in Superman/Batman: Apocalypse, which is based on the Superman/Batman storyline \"The Supergirl from Krypton\". Despite this, it was confirmed by director Lauren Montgomery that Supergirl's name was removed from the title due to the much slower sales of the previous Wonder Woman animated movie, and the character was not permitted to appear on the cover in her trademark outfit.",
"Despite this, it was confirmed by director Lauren Montgomery that Supergirl's name was removed from the title due to the much slower sales of the previous Wonder Woman animated movie, and the character was not permitted to appear on the cover in her trademark outfit. Molly Quinn voices Supergirl in Superman: Unbound. Supergirl appears in Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League: Cosmic Clash, voiced by Jessica DiCicco. Video games Supergirl appears in DC Universe Online, voiced by Adriene Mishler.",
"Video games Supergirl appears in DC Universe Online, voiced by Adriene Mishler. In the villain campaign, the players help Doctor Psycho capture Supergirl using Kryptonite. In the hero campaign, the players fight Doctor Psycho to save Supergirl. Under the thrall of Brainiac, she must be defeated in the Fortress of Solitude: Power Core raid. Supergirl is unlockable in Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes, voiced by Bridget Hoffman. Supergirl makes a cameo appearance in the IOS version of Injustice: Gods Among Us as a support card.",
"Supergirl makes a cameo appearance in the IOS version of Injustice: Gods Among Us as a support card. Supergirl appears as a playable character in Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham, voiced by Kari Wahlgren. She is playable in her default variant which is designed after her appearance in The New 52 and in her Classic attire.",
"She is playable in her default variant which is designed after her appearance in The New 52 and in her Classic attire. Her Classic variant is unlocked in a VR Mission while her New 52 variant is unlocked in a Hub Quest in Nok where she requests players to defeat a number of enemies she accidentally releases from their cells. Supergirl appears as a playable character in Infinite Crisis, voiced by Camilla Luddington.",
"Supergirl appears as a playable character in Infinite Crisis, voiced by Camilla Luddington. Supergirl appears as a playable character and the central protagonist in Injustice 2 by NetherRealm Studios, the sequel to Injustice: Gods Among Us, voiced by Laura Bailey.",
"Supergirl appears as a playable character and the central protagonist in Injustice 2 by NetherRealm Studios, the sequel to Injustice: Gods Among Us, voiced by Laura Bailey. Here her origin is much like in the comics where she is sent along with her cousin Kal-El to Earth by her mother after Krypton is destroyed but on separate pods where hers veers off-course after sustaining significant damage, stranding her in space for many years until she lands on Earth, unaged.",
"Here her origin is much like in the comics where she is sent along with her cousin Kal-El to Earth by her mother after Krypton is destroyed but on separate pods where hers veers off-course after sustaining significant damage, stranding her in space for many years until she lands on Earth, unaged. When the main storyline starts, she is residing on Black Adam's kingdom of Khandaq, apparently under his and Wonder Woman's protection.",
"When the main storyline starts, she is residing on Black Adam's kingdom of Khandaq, apparently under his and Wonder Woman's protection. When Brainiac who was responsible for Krypton's destruction attacks, she, Wonder Woman, and Black Adam attempt to free Superman and the remaining members of the Regime, while being interrupted in their efforts by new Insurgency recruits Blue Beetle and Firestorm until Batman himself arrives and releases Superman, leading to a temporary alliance between the Regime and Insurgency against the alien warlord.",
"When Brainiac who was responsible for Krypton's destruction attacks, she, Wonder Woman, and Black Adam attempt to free Superman and the remaining members of the Regime, while being interrupted in their efforts by new Insurgency recruits Blue Beetle and Firestorm until Batman himself arrives and releases Superman, leading to a temporary alliance between the Regime and Insurgency against the alien warlord. Over the course of the story, she learns the truth about her cousin's tyranny and at the end of the game sides with Batman, Green Lantern and Flash in letting Brainiac live in order to restore the lost cities but is defeated.",
"Over the course of the story, she learns the truth about her cousin's tyranny and at the end of the game sides with Batman, Green Lantern and Flash in letting Brainiac live in order to restore the lost cities but is defeated. In Batman's ending, she laments her cousin's tyranny and sees him leave to be imprisoned in the Phantom Zone and is offered membership by Batman in his Justice League.",
"In Batman's ending, she laments her cousin's tyranny and sees him leave to be imprisoned in the Phantom Zone and is offered membership by Batman in his Justice League. In Superman's ending, she is imprisoned aboard Brainiac's ship and to her shock discovers her cousin has bonded with it and when she refuses his offer to join him in leading his new legion of imprisoned species. He attempts to coerce her by revealing a brainwashed Batman, who had also been captured, further shocking her.",
"He attempts to coerce her by revealing a brainwashed Batman, who had also been captured, further shocking her. Supergirl appears as a limited-distribution minifigure for the toys-to-life video game Lego Dimensions, with Kari Wahlgren reprising her role. She has the ability to transform between her classic and Red Lantern forms. Supergirl appears as a playable character in DC Unchained. Supergirl appears in the PSP version of Justice League Heroes. Supergirl appears as a playable character in the DC TV Super-Heroes DLC pack in Lego DC Super-Villains.",
"Supergirl appears as a playable character in the DC TV Super-Heroes DLC pack in Lego DC Super-Villains. See also Alternative versions of Supergirl Laurel Gand References External links DC Comics Pre-Crisis Supergirl Chronology Supergirl Characters created by Otto Binder Comics characters introduced in 1958 Comics characters introduced in 1959 DC Comics aliens DC Comics American superheroes DC Comics characters who can move at superhuman speeds DC Comics characters with accelerated healing DC Comics characters with superhuman strength DC Comics deities DC Comics female superheroes DC Comics film characters DC Comics television characters DC Comics extraterrestrial superheroes Female characters in television Fictional characters with superhuman senses Fictional actors Fictional extraterrestrial–human hybrids Fictional orphans Fictional photographers Fictional refugees Fictional reporters Fictional school counselors Fictional American secret agents Fictional waiting staff Kryptonians Superheroes who are adopted Vigilante characters in comics"
] |
[
"Supergirl (Kara Zor-El)",
"Bronze Age",
"whaat is the bronze age",
"After long-time Superman family editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971,",
"what happened during the bronze age",
"the character underwent revitalization under editor Joe Orlando and artist Mike Sekowsky.",
"anything intresting happen",
"leaving her adopted foster home with the Danvers family, Linda goes on to San Francisco where she works for KSF-TV as a camera operator",
"what else happened",
"These stories introduced Supergirl's most memorable villain from this period: Lex Luthor's niece Nasthalthia, or Nasty."
] | C_eaa7329c3ac14b8bb4aaea61d8fa517d_1 | why her SG and nasty feud | 5 | why did supergirl and nasty feud | Supergirl (Kara Zor-El) | After long-time Superman family editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971, the character underwent revitalization under editor Joe Orlando and artist Mike Sekowsky. Wearing a series of new outfits, leaving her adopted foster home with the Danvers family, Linda goes on to San Francisco where she works for KSF-TV as a camera operator and develops a crush on her boss, Geoffrey Anderson. These stories introduced Supergirl's most memorable villain from this period: Lex Luthor's niece Nasthalthia, or Nasty. Nasty had made two appearances towards the end of Linda's college years, then pursued her to KSF-TV, trying to secure proof of her dual identity. Supergirl starred in her first solo eponymous monthly series beginning in 1972 until October 1974, when her monthly title merged with Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane, and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen to produce a new title: then-highest DC selling series called The Superman Family, where she eventually became the steady lead story. Linda worked as a student advisor at New Athens Experimental School, before leaving for New York to follow a career in acting with daytime soap Secret Hearts. In 1982 Supergirl received a second monthly solo series titled The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl, relocating the character to Chicago as Linda became a mature student of Psychology. Industry legend, and former DC Publisher, Carmine Infantino provided the pencilled art (Bob Oksner inked). With issue 13 the title was revamped, with a new costume design (sporting a red headband) and the title shortened to just Supergirl. The series ran until sudden cancellation in 1984, only two months before the character's debut in a big-budget Hollywood film starring Helen Slater. In the Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985) the greatest heroes from Earth-One, Earth-Two, Earth-Four, Earth-S, and Earth-X join forces in order to defeat the Anti-Monitor. When Superman comes face to face with the Anti-Monitor and is knocked unconscious, Supergirl rushes to save him before he is killed. She is able to fight him off long enough for Dr. Light to carry her cousin to a safe distance, but is killed by the Anti-Monitor. A public memorial service for Supergirl takes place in Chicago, where Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) delivers the eulogy. In her remarks she states "Kara is a hero. She will not be forgotten." Superman then gives his late cousin burial by taking her corpse to Rokyn/New Krypton to Zor-El and Allura. A Superman issue the next month reveals that Kara had experienced a premonition about her own passing. However, when the universe is rebooted, the timeline is altered. Kara Zor-El and all memory of her is erased from existence. CANNOTANSWER | Nasty had made two appearances towards the end of Linda's college years, then pursued her to KSF-TV, trying to secure proof of her dual identity. | Kara Zor-El, also known by her adoptive names of Linda Lee Danvers, Kara Kent, Linda Lang, and Kara Danvers, and the superhero name of Supergirl, is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. She was created by Otto Binder and designed by Al Plastino. Danvers first appeared in Action Comics #252 (May 1959)'s "The Supergirl from Krypton" story. Kara is the biological cousin of Kal-El, who went on to adopt the name of Clark Kent and the superhero Superman. During the 1980s and the revolution of the Modern Age of Comics, Superman editors believed the character's history had become too convoluted, thus killing Supergirl during the 1985 Crisis on Infinite Earths event and retconning her out of existence.
DC Comics Senior Vice President Dan DiDio re-introduced the character in 2004 along with editor Eddie Berganza and writer Jeph Loeb, with her the Superman/Batman storyline "The Supergirl from Krypton". As the current Supergirl, Kara stars in her own monthly comic book series. With DC's The New 52 relaunch, Kara, like most of the DC Universe, was revamped. DC relaunched the Supergirl comic in August 2016 as part of their DC Rebirth initiative.
In live-action, Supergirl appeared in the 1984 film based on her character and was portrayed by Helen Slater. She also appeared in the series Smallville, played by actress Laura Vandervoort. In 2015, the live-action Arrowverse series Supergirl debuted on CBS and then moved to The CW after the first season. Supergirl was portrayed by Melissa Benoist on the show and also appeared on other Arrowverse shows. Sasha Calle will appear as Supergirl in the upcoming DC Extended Universe film The Flash (2022).
Publication history
Early life
Although Kara Zor-El was the first character to use the name "Supergirl," DC Comics tested three different female versions of Superman prior to her debut.
The first story to feature a female counterpart to Superman was "Lois Lane – Superwoman," which was published in Action Comics #60 (May 1943). In the story, a hospitalized Lois Lane dreams she has gained superpowers thanks to a blood transfusion from the Man of Steel. She begins her own career as "Superwoman", complete with a version of Superman's costume.
In the Superboy #78 story entitled "Claire Kent, Alias Super-Sister", Superboy saves the life of an alien woman named Shar-La, who turns Superboy into a girl, in retaliation for his disparaging thoughts about women drivers which she picked up telepathically. In Smallville, Clark claims to be Claire Kent, an out-of-town relative who is staying with the Kents. When in costume, he appears as Superboy's sister, Super-Sister, and claims the two have exchanged places. Once Superboy has learned his lesson about feeling more respect for women, Shar-La reveals the episode to be a dream which she projected into Superboy's mind.
In Superman #123 (August 1958), Jimmy Olsen uses a magic totem to wish a "Super-Girl" into existence as a companion and aid to Superman; however, the two frequently get in each other's way until she is fatally injured protecting Superman from a Kryptonite meteor. At her insistence, Jimmy wishes the dying girl out of existence. DC used this story to gauge public response to the concept of a completely new super-powered female counterpart to Superman.
The Kara Zor-El version of Supergirl finally appeared in Action Comics #252 (May 1959). Otto Binder wrote and Al Plastino illustrated her début story, in which Kara was born and raised in Argo City (unnamed until later issues), a fragment of Krypton that survived destruction. When the city is doomed by a meteor shower, Kara is sent to Earth by her parents, Zor-El and Alura (the latter unnamed until later issues), to be raised by her cousin Kal-El, known as Superman. Supergirl adopted the secret identity of an orphan "Linda Lee", and made Midvale Orphanage her home. Supergirl promised Superman that she would keep her existence on Earth a secret, so that he may use her as a "secret weapon", but that didn't stop Supergirl from exploring her new powers covertly. Action Comics #255 published reader's letters-of-comment to Supergirl's first appearance; she had allegedly generated a sizeable and mostly positive reaction.
Supergirl, from her debut onwards, became a regular backup strip in Action Comics. She joined the Legion of Super-Heroes, like her cousin had done as a teenager, and in Action Comics #279 (July 1961) she was adopted by Fred and Edna Danvers, becoming "Linda Lee Danvers". Supergirl acted for three years as Superman's secret weapon, and her adventures during that time have been compared to contemporary developments in feminist thinking in work such as Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique. She was at last introduced by her super-powered cousin to an unsuspecting world in Action Comics #285 (February 1962).
During her first quarter of a century, Linda Danvers would have many professions, from student to student advisor, to actor, and even TV camera operator. She shared Action Comics with Superman until transferring to the lead in Adventure Comics at the end of the 1960s. In 1972 she finally moved to her own short-lived eponymous magazine, before DC merged its Supergirl, Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen titles into a single anthology title named The Superman Family. In 1982 Supergirl was relaunched into her own magazine.
Death during Crisis on Infinite Earths
In 1985, the maxi-series Crisis on Infinite Earths was conceived as a way to reduce DC continuity to a single universe in which all characters maintained a single history. Despite Supergirl's continued popularity and status as a central member of the "Superman Family", the editors at DC Comics and the creators of the maxi-series decided to kill Supergirl off during the Crisis. According to Marv Wolfman, writer of Crisis on Infinite Earths:
The idea of killing Supergirl was first conceived by DC's vice president/executive editor Dick Giordano, who lobbied for the death to DC's publishers. He later said he has never had any regrets about this, explaining, "Supergirl was created initially to take advantage of the high Superman sales and not much thought was put into her creation. She was created essentially as a female Superman. With time, writers and artists improved upon her execution, but she never did really add anything to the Superman mythos—at least not for me." The poor initial reception of the 1984 film Supergirl was also blamed by some sources.
In 1989, in the tale "Christmas with the Super-Heroes" the soul of Kara appears to Boston "Deadman" Brand, cheers him up, and then disappears from continuity until 2001 (see below).
Several characters unrelated to Superman soon took on the Supergirl persona, including the Matrix (a shapeshifting genetically engineered life-form that 'defaulted' as Supergirl), Linda Danvers (the result of Matrix merging with the dying Linda Danvers and becoming an Earth-bound angel of fire), and Cir-El (Superman's apparent daughter from a possible future).
A heroine resembling the Pre-Crisis Kara would later appear in Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #5, along with an entire army of Legionnaires gathered from alternate worlds, times, and realities, to battle the Time Trapper.
Two Supergirls meet
Prior to the post-Crisis introduction of Kara Zor-El into mainstream continuity, the pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El made an appearance in Peter David's Supergirl: Many Happy Returns. The then-current Supergirl series, at the time starring Linda Danvers, was in danger of cancellation and Peter David thought a story arc involving Kara Zor-El would be enough to revitalize the series. In an interview with Cliff Biggers of Newsarama, David states:
In the Linda Danvers' Supergirl series issues 49 and 50 (October and November 2000), the original dead Kara appears as Linda's "guardian angel". Then in issues 75 to 80, "Many Happy Returns", a young Kara appears from an earlier time long before the Crisis. The paradox becomes a moral crisis for Linda who tries to take her place as the Crisis sacrifice, living for years in a Silver Age universe where "no one swears, the villains are always easy to defeat, and everything's very, very clean", eventually marrying the Silver Age Superman and having a daughter with him, before she is forced to return to her universe by the Spectre when he reveals that her efforts to replace Kara as the sacrifice will not succeed. This run was illustrated by Ed Benes who had also illustrated Gail Simone's Birds of Prey which had a similar whimsical camaraderie between its female leads.
Linda's inability to ultimately save Kara, coupled with the loss of her daughter, is so devastating that it ends her own career as Supergirl, Linda leaving a note for Superman where she explains that she feels that she has failed to live up to the standards of a true Supergirl and choosing to go somewhere she cannot be found. This story arc is usually cited as one of the best Supergirl stories ever written. The series ended with issue 80.
Revival
After the launch of the Superman/Batman comic book series, executive editor Dan DiDio had been looking for a way to simplify the Supergirl character from her convoluted post-Crisis history; the simplest version, of course, was Superman's cousin. Jeph Loeb and editor Eddie Berganza found an opening to reintroduce the character following the conclusion of the first story arc of Superman/Batman. Loeb states:
The modern version of Kara Zor-El made her debut in Superman/Batman #8 (2004). Kara takes the mantle of Supergirl at the conclusion of the storyline. The Supergirl comic book series would later be relaunched, now starring Kara Zor-El as "The Girl of Steel". The first arc of the new series was written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by Ian Churchill. Loeb would later describe the appeal of writing for Supergirl:
As the character continued to be reinvented, steps towards regarding the iconic character were some of the most prominent changes. Artist Jamal Igle and editor Matt Idleson moved to transition the character away from red panties under her skirt to biker shorts, feeling such a change was a logical progression and "more respectable."
The New 52
In September 2011, DC Comics began The New 52, in which it canceled all of its monthly superhero titles and relaunched 52 new ones, wiping out most of its past continuity in the process. One of the new titles was a new Supergirl series (Volume 6) that featured a new origin for Kara and was published between 2011 and 2015. Artist Mahmud Asrar designed a new costume for the character which strongly deviated from her classic, "cheerleader" suit, a change which generated criticism from some readers.
DC Rebirth
The 2016 DC Comics title relaunch Rebirth incorporates several elements (such as the costume, the name, the setting, and some characters) from the Supergirl television series. The DC Rebirth initiative undid the New 52's modern recreations, bringing DC's heroes back to their more classic iterations. Supergirl's new series (Volume 7) was titled Supergirl: Rebirth, written by Steven Orlando. The first arc was penciled by Brian Ching, who also redesigned Supergirl's costume in reference to a more classic look. In April 2018, it was announced that the title would be canceled after issue #20, only to be revived in August that year under a new creative team, with new writer Marc Andreyko and artist Kevin Maguire. The series ended with its 42nd issue.
Future State: Kara Zor-El, Superwoman
The Future State comics propose a possible future for Kara Zor-El, now an adult and having taken the alias of Superwoman. She leaves Earth to become a guardian of the Moon, which has become a refugee colony for aliens from the entire universe. The series was written by Marguerite Bennet and penciled by Marguerite Sauvage.
Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow
Under the Infinite Frontier brand, Kara's next series Woman of Tomorrow debuted in June 2021, written by Tom King and penciled by Brazilian artists Bilquis Evely and Mat Lopes. The arc introduces Supergirl to new character grounds as she begins the story as a young woman, celebrating her 21st birthday and helping a young alien in her quest for revenge. The "mentor-mentee journey on revenge" plot is, according to King, inspired by the original novel and both versions of True Grit.
In this series, the creators paid homage to Linda Danvers, as Kara manifests flame wings and powers after taking a red kryptonite drug, in order to save her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon.
Fictional character biography
Silver Age
In her debut story, Kara Zor-El is the last survivor of Argo City of the planet Krypton. Although Argo, which had survived the explosion of the planet, drifted through space as a self-sustaining environment, the soil of the colony eventually turned into Kryptonite; and though Kara's father Zor-El placed lead sheeting above the ground to protect the citizens from radiation, meteorites pierced the sheeting, and the Kryptonians died of radiation poisoning instead of replacing the metal.
In Supergirl's subsequent backup feature in Action Comics drawn by artist Jim Mooney for ten years until 1968, Supergirl adopts the identity of Linda Lee, an orphan at Midvale Orphanage presided over by headmistress Miss Hart. She disguises herself by hiding her blond hair beneath a brunette wig; Supergirl interacts with humans on a person-to-person basis performing good deeds and saving the world by helping one person at a time, and she also devises clever schemes as "Superman's Secret Weapon," saving him many times and avoiding adoption before Superman can introduce her publicly.
While temporarily powerless due to the scheming of Kandorian scientist Lesla-Lar, who is out to supplant her on Earth, Linda allows herself to be adopted by engineer and rocket scientist Fred Danvers and his wife, Edna. In time, she reveals her secret identity to her adoptive parents on the same day her cousin Superman finally introduces her to the world in the finale of then-DC's longest playing series ever (eight chapters) aptly called "The World's Greatest Heroine".
When frequent dreams about her parents being alive turn out to be real, she builds a machine aided by her engineer father's talent, and brings them both back alive from the "Survival Zone" where they had both teleported during Argo City's final moments. Zor-El and Allura eventually end up living in Kandor, and when the city in the bottle is enlarged, they both go on to live in Rokyn/New Krypton, where they have the sad duty of receiving her mortal remains after "Crisis" for burial.
Graduating from high school in 1965, Linda Lee goes to college on a scholarship and stays in Stanhope College until she graduates in 1971. During this era, she is helped by her pet cat Streaky, her Super-Horse pet Comet, and befriends Lena Thorul, who had first appeared in the Lois Lane series. Kara is also a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, where she becomes close to Brainiac 5. In addition, Linda has boyfriends from the orphanage (Richard "Dick" Malverne) and from Atlantis (Jerro the merboy).
In 1967, Supergirl meets Batgirl for the first time in World's Finest Comics. Developing a strong friendship, the two characters teamed up many times again, as in Superman Family #171, or Adventure #381.
In 1969, Supergirl left Action Comics and became a featured character in Adventure Comics beginning with issue #381 (June 1969).
During the 1970s, Supergirl's costume changed frequently, as did her career in her civilian life. In her secret identity as Linda Lee Danvers, Kara Zor-El took a variety of jobs including graduate student in acting, television camera operator, and student counselor, and finally became an actress on the TV soap Secret Hearts.
Bronze Age
After long-time Superman family editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971, the character underwent revitalization under editor Joe Orlando and artist Mike Sekowsky. Wearing a series of new outfits, leaving her adopted foster home with the Danvers family, Linda goes on to San Francisco where she works for KSF-TV as a camera operator and develops a crush on her boss, Geoffrey Anderson. These stories introduced Supergirl's most memorable villain from this period: Lex Luthor's niece Nasthalthia, or Nasty. Nasty had made two appearances towards the end of Linda's college years, then pursued her to KSF-TV, trying to secure proof of her dual identity.
Supergirl starred in her first solo eponymous monthly series beginning in 1972 until October 1974, when her monthly title merged with Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane, and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen to produce a new title: then-highest DC selling series called The Superman Family, where she eventually became the steady lead story. Linda worked as a student advisor at New Athens Experimental School, before leaving for New York to follow a career in acting with daytime soap Secret Hearts.
In 1982 Supergirl received a second monthly solo series titled The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl, relocating the character to Chicago as Linda became a mature student of Psychology. Industry legend, and former DC Publisher, Carmine Infantino provided the penciled art (Bob Oksner inked). With issue 13 the title was revamped, with a new costume design (sporting a red headband) and the title shortened to just Supergirl. The series ran until sudden cancellation in 1984, only two months before the character's debut in a big-budget Hollywood film starring Helen Slater.
In the Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985), the greatest heroes from Earth-One, Earth-Two, Earth-Four, Earth-S, and Earth-X join forces in order to defeat the Anti-Monitor. When Superman comes face to face with the Anti-Monitor and is knocked unconscious, Supergirl rushes to save him before he is killed. She is able to fight him off long enough for Dr. Light to carry her cousin to a safe distance, but is killed by the Anti-Monitor. A public memorial service for Supergirl takes place in Chicago, where Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) delivers the eulogy. In her remarks, she states "Kara is a hero. She will not be forgotten." Superman then gives his late cousin burial by taking her corpse to Rokyn/New Krypton to Zor-El and Allura. A Superman issue the next month reveals that Kara had experienced a premonition about her own passing. However, when the universe is rebooted, the timeline is altered. Kara Zor-El and all memory of her is erased from existence.
Echoes
After these events, the soul of Kara Zor-El made another appearance in continuity three years later in a story titled "Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot" in Christmas with the Super-Heroes #2 (1989). Within the story, Boston "Deadman" Brand tries to feel the warmth of Christmas by possessing revelers' bodies. Feeling guilty upon the realization that he has been stealing others' Christmases, he flies off feeling sorry for himself for being denied a reward after a year of helping people. A warmly dressed blonde woman approaches Brand, startling him. Somehow seeing the normally invisible Brand, she converses with him, reminding him,
She reminds Brand that even though he is dead, he is still human, and he should rejoice because it means his spirit is still alive. As the woman leaves, Brand asks her who she is, to which she replies, "My name is Kara. Though I doubt that will mean anything to you." The story, written by Alan Brennert and penciled by Dick Giordano, is dedicated to Otto Binder and Jim Mooney, adding: "We still remember."
Finally, the soul of Kara Zor-El appeared twice during Peter David's run, specifically in issues #48 and #49 when she appears before a defeated and imprisoned then-Supergirl, Linda Danvers from Earth, and comforts her. Linda acknowledges she has been helped three times by her phantom-friend, and when she asks her name she is told by the smiling figure: "I have gone by many names, but the one I am most fond of is: Kara!"
Modern Age
In 2004, Jeph Loeb reintroduced Kara Zor-El into post-Zero Hour (Birthright timeline) continuity during a storyline in the series Superman/Batman. She is the biological cousin of Superman, and although chronologically older than him, the ship in which she traveled to Earth was caught in a large green Kryptonite meteorite which held her in a state of suspended animation for much of the journey, making her have the appearance of a 16-year-old girl. Still, Supergirl sometimes saw Superman as a child, due to last carrying him as a baby. DC Comics relaunched the Supergirl, the first story arc of which was written by Loeb. showcases Supergirl on a journey of self-discovery. Along her journey, she encounters Power Girl (Kara Zor-El's counterpart from another universe), the Teen Titans, the Outsiders, the Justice League of America, and arch-villain Lex Luthor.
During the company-wide crossover series Infinite Crisis (2005), a sequel to Crisis on Infinite Earths, Supergirl is transported to the 31st century, where she is revered as a member of the Superman family and joins the Legion of Super-Heroes. DC Comics renamed the monthly series Legion of Super-Heroes to Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes. Beginning with issue #16. In the limited series 52, which chronicles the events that took place during the missing year after the end of Infinite Crisis, Donna Troy recalls the original Kara Zor-El and her sacrifice to save the universe. Supergirl returns to the 21st century during the course of 52. After briefly filling in for a temporarily depowered Superman as guardian of Metropolis, she assumes the identity of Flamebird to fight crime in the bottle city of Kandor with Power Girl as Nightwing in Greg Rucka's arc Supergirl: Kandor.
In 2007, Supergirl appeared in the miniseries Amazons Attack! That same year, she joined the Teen Titans for five issues.
Conversations with other heroes who maintain secret identities lead Kara to the conclusion that she needs to make a deeper connection with human beings. She accepts Lana Lang's proposal to present her to the Daily Planet staff as "Linda Lang", Lana's teenaged niece.
In the 2008–2009 "New Krypton" story arc, in which Superman discovers and frees the real Kandor and a large number of its citizens, Supergirl is reunited with her father, Zor-El and mother, Alura, though Zor-El is killed by the villain Reactron. When a planet is formed that the Kryptonians call New Krypton, Kara is torn between her life on Earth, and her obligation to her mother, eventually joining the New Krypton Science Guild.
Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2009 miniseries Justice League: Cry for Justice, and the 2009–2010 storyline "Blackest Night". The New Krypton storyline would later be resolved in the "World of New Krypton", "Superman: Last Stand of New Krypton", "War of the Supermen" storylines, resulting in the destruction of New Krypton and seeing Supergirl mourn her people.
Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2010 "Brightest Day" storyline, the follow up to "Blackest Night"., where she joins the Justice League along with Jesse Quick & Jade.
The New 52
In this continuity, Kara's ship lands in Smallville, Kansas but hurtles through the Earth and emerges in Siberia.
Kara has no memory of the destruction of Krypton, and believes it is only three days since her spacecraft was launched. She learns the truth about Krypton's destruction from Superman, and later journeys through a wormhole to Argo City, which she finds in orbit around a blue sun. She finds the city in ruins, with no explanation of how it met that fate, and is attacked by a female Worldkiller named Reign before the city plummets into the sun. When Reign and her fellow Worldkiller plan to enslave the Earth, Supergirl returns there to defeat them, and thus adopts Earth as her new home.
After several battles with supervillains, including the Worldkillers, superweapons of Kryptonian design, she accepts Krypton's destruction, but continues to grapple with her grief. Her desire to restore Krypton results in her being manipulated into nearly destroying the Earth by another Kryptonian whom she falls in love with. Upon realizing his manipulation, she kills him by driving Kryptonite through his heart, and succumbs to Kryptonite poisoning.
Following her poisoning, Supergirl departs the Earth to die alone. While adrift in interstellar space, she encounters a planet under attack by monsters, and quickly intervenes to save them, unaware that the entire planet is a trap by Brainiac. She is captured and restrained by Cyborg Superman, but after a struggle, manages to escape both Brainiac and Cyborg Superman. Returning to Earth, she is sent into the past by the Oracle alongside Superman and Superboy, where she ensures that a resurrected H'el cannot save Krypton, and sacrifices the planet and her family in order to save the universe.
Back on Earth, she encounters the assassin Lobo. Initially eager for a peaceful resolution, seeing a kind of kinship with him in their both being lone survivors of their respective worlds (although not truly aware of Lobo's circumstances), Kara's encounter with the Czarnian would reveal deep mental wounds, resulting in the unleashing of her rage and transformation into a Red Lantern. Driven insane by rage, Kara wanders space, attacking everyone in her way, until captured by several Green Lanterns and brought to Hal Jordan. Immediately recognizing a Kryptonian and unable to remove the power ring without killing her, he brings her to Guy Gardner, the leader of one of the two Red Lantern factions, who manages to restore her sanity.
After some time under Guy Gardner's tutelage and protecting the galaxy as a Red Lantern, after being discharged from the Red Lantern Corps (because Guy did not want for her to die needlessly against Atrocitus' splinter group), on her way back to Earth, Kara encounters the leader of the Worldkillers, who are revealed to be parasitic suits of armor. He attempts to assimilate Kara as his host, but she voluntarily subjects herself to Kryptonite poisoning in order to stop him, and eventually flies into the Sun and removes her power ring, killing her and removing him from her body. However, Kara is revealed to be immortal while in the Sun's core, and is restored to life without the power ring or any Kryptonite poisoning, immediately destroying the Worldkiller. She later helps Guy against Atrocitus and his Red Lantern splinter group.
Convergence and return of the Pre-Crisis version
During the Convergence story arc, the original Kara Zor-El who had sacrificed her life during Crisis on Infinite Earths makes an appearance on the amalgamated planet of Telos. At the end of the saga she volunteers herself to once again fight the Anti-Monitor but this time, with the help of her timeline's Barry Allen, the Pre-Flashpoint Superman (in tow with his pregnant wife, Lois Lane), and a repentant Parallax (Zero Hour Hal Jordan), vows to defeat him for the sake of the multiverse's continued existence. Without it being seen, those left on Telos discover the group was successful and all previous timelines (with the mysterious exception of the pre-Flashpoint/pre-New 52 DC universe) from DC history had been re-established, though the fate of the original Kara Zor-El and her fellows went unmentioned.
A few more details of the battle against the Anti-Monitor are later revealed during the New 52 comic mini-series (leading into DC's Rebirth event). After the defeat of Anti-Monitor, Pre-New 52 Clark and Lois decide to start life anew in the closest universe they can find (mysteriously yet unable to see their old universe even though the rest of the multiverse had been restored) while Pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El, along with her contemporary Barry Allen and Zero Hour Parallax/Hal Jordan, decide to find their place in the universe and go off to do so. Her fate as of that story arc is yet to be revealed.
DC Rebirth
After the events that led to the death of the New 52 version of Superman, 16-year-old Kara lives in National City with her adoptive parents, D.E.O. agents Jeremiah and Eliza Danvers, where she attends high school and works with the agency as led by Cameron Chase. As part of her civilian identity, Kara receives special glasses that darken her blond hair when posing as Kara Danvers. Kara also goes on an internship at Cat Grant's CATCO alongside Ben Rubel, whom she befriends.
In her opening arc "The Reign of the Cyborg Supermen", Kara discovers that the cyborg Zor-El, whom she had battled in her New 52 title, is still active and has rebuilt other Kryptonians (her mother Alura included), planning to take over Earth. Supergirl defeats them but vows to help her father regardless of his actions. After National City discovers Supergirl has kept Zor-El's "living" status a secret, they become untrustful of her. Director Bones takes advantage of the heroine's impopularity and, after taking control of the D.E.O., sends villains in an attempt to bring Kara down. She defeats all of them and regains trust from National City with Ben's help.
The Supergirl Who Laughs
Kara is later infected by The Batman Who Laughs toxin, causing her to turn evil and joining other infected as part of Laughs Secret Six before later being cured. She is fired from CatCo by Cat Grant and starts working at S.T.A.R. Labs.
Woman of Tomorrow
Journeying throughout the universe with Krypto, Kara celebrates her 21st birthday alone on a distant planet. Drunk in a bar, she is approached by a little girl named Ruthye and is asked to kill Krem (her father's murderer) in vengeance. Supergirl refuses but, when she is about to leave the planet, Krem attacks and severely wounds both her and Krypto, fleeing in Kara's ship. Kara begins her journey alongside Ruthye and, powerless, saves her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon by taking a red kryptonite drug which causes her to manifest flame wings.
Powers and abilities
Like all Kryptonians under a yellow sun, the current version of Kara Zor-El possesses virtually unlimited strength, stamina, and durability. She is able to fly and with super speed that she can also use on foot, similar to Superman and The Flash. Also like Superman, Supergirl possesses super senses, super-breath, and freeze breathe, as well as multiple forms of supervision (including X-Ray, Infrared, Telescopic, and Microscopic). Kara also has a bio-electric aura that enhances her near invulnerability and also protects her skin and her costume from dirt and tear; as such, Kara is perpetually clean. The Sun also provides Kara with a longer lifespan than that of a human being, to the point that she is effectively a biological immortal. Kara doesn't require food, water, or sleep to survive. She is also immune to most diseases, mental and physical, and would require a very strong strain to have a chance at affecting her.
In the rare instances that Kara is harmed by someone matching her strength or by the use of one of her weaknesses, she can heal almost instantaneously. Her power surpasses most other beings, though she can be overpowered by those who rival her strength such as Black Adam, Darkseid, Despero, Doomsday, Bizarro, Wonder Woman, and Superman.
In reality, Kara is actually older than her cousin, Clark, and spent time on Krypton before its destruction. As such (unlike Superman), she possesses memories of Kryptonian culture as well as her cousin's parents.
Continued exposure to a yellow Sun will slowly increase abilities. Many characters in the DC Universe have noted that Supergirl appears, at times, to be even more powerful than Superman himself. In answer to this, Superman states that this is because he has spent his entire life subconsciously suppressing his full powers in order to avoid hurting others, having been absorbing solar radiation since his infancy. Kara, not having such practice or experience, simply uses the full magnitude of her powers.
Abilities
Unlike her cousin, Kara was taught to fight in Krypton as part of her tests, and at the Crucible Academy, being adept at various Kryptonian fighting styles like Klurkor and Torquasm Rao. Supergirl also learned the art of Bagua under I-Ching's instructions. She practiced how to manipulate her Chi or Qi in order to gain better control of her powers due to them becoming overwhelmed after her conflict with the Fatal Five. Superman recommended guardianship with I-Ching to Supergirl first. In addition to training in Krypton, Kara was trained by Batman in advanced martial arts and trained with the Amazons in Themyscira in unarmed and armed combat, Amazonas martial arts, fencing, Shield handling, and other Amazon weapons. She trained with Wonder Woman and Artemis extensively.
Other versions
There are numerous alternate versions of Supergirl. The most notable is Power Girl (real name Kara Zor-L, also known as Karen Starr) who first appeared in All Star Comics #58 (January/February 1976).
Power Girl is the Earth-Two counterpart of Supergirl and the first cousin of Kal-L, Superman of the pre-Crisis Earth-Two. The infant Power Girl's parents enabled her to escape the destruction of Krypton. Although she left the planet at the same time that Superman did, her ship took much longer to reach Earth-Two.
She has superhuman strength and the ability to fly and is the first chairwoman of the Justice Society of America. She sports a bob of blond hair; wears a distinctive white, red, and blue costume; and has an aggressive fighting style. Throughout her early appearances in All Star Comics, she is often at odds with Wildcat because his penchant for talking to her as if she were an ordinary human female rather than a superpowered Kryptonian annoys her.
She also fought alongside the Sovereign Seven team, replacing Rampart after his death though that series is not considered to be part of canon in the DC universe.
The 1985 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths eliminated Earth-Two, causing her origin to change; she became the granddaughter of the Atlantean sorcerer Arion. However, story events culminating in the 2005–2006 Infinite Crisis limited series restored her status as a refugee from the Krypton of the destroyed pre-Crisis Earth-Two universe.
Like the original Kara's Streaky, Power Girl has a cat, featured in a story by Amanda Conner in Wonder Woman #600.
Reception
This version of Supergirl is ranked as the 153rd-greatest comic book character of all time by Wizard magazine.
IGN also ranked this version of Supergirl as the 94th-greatest comic book superhero, stating "for a character born of the Silver Age that saw everything from a Super Baby to a Super Monkey, Kara Zor-El grew into something much more than simply another marketing ploy to slap an 'S' on." In 2013 IGN ranked Supergirl as the 17th-greatest DC comic superhero, stating "she was an early example of a female sidekick developing a large fanbase in her own right", and "Supergirl has been one of DC's most powerful heroes, and a standard to hold other female heroes against."
Appearances
Pre-Crisis
1959 to 1969: Action Comics #252 to #376.
1969 to 1972: Adventure Comics #381 to #424.
1972 to 1974: Supergirl #1 to #10.
1974 to 1982: Her comic merges with Jimmy Olsen's and Lois Lane's to become Superman Family #164 to #222.
1982 to 1984: The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl #1 to #13, Supergirl (vol. 2) #14 to #23.
2015: Convergence
Kara Zor-El appeared in over 750 stories published by DC from 1959 to 1985.
Post-Crisis
2004 to 2005: Superman/Batman #8 to #13 and #19
2005 to 2011: Supergirl (vol. 5) #0 to #67
2006 to 2008: Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes (Legion of Super-Heroes vol. 5) #16 to #37
2007: Action Comics #850
2008: Final Crisis
2011 to 2015: New 52: Supergirl (vol. 6) #1 to #40
2016 to current: Rebirth: Supergirl (vol. 7) #1 to current
Kara Zor-El also appears as a supporting character in several issues of other DC Comics, including Superman, Action Comics, Teen Titans, Amazons Attack, World War III, and Wonder Girl. She has also appeared in many issues of Superman, Action Comics, and Superman New Krypton starting with the World Without Superman event in 2009, and continuing with the World Against Superman event going into 2010.
Collected editions
Listed in chronological order. All ages titles are not in continuity with the original or modern Kara.
In other media
Television
Live-action
Smallville
Prior to the seventh season (2007–2008) of the WB/CW show Smallville where she is introduced into the cast and is portrayed by Laura Vandervoort, a woman claiming to be Kara (portrayed by Adrianne Palicki) is briefly introduced in the season 3 finale. It is later revealed her real name is Lindsey Harrison, and had been given false memories and powers by the artificial intelligence of Clark Kent's (Tom Welling) father Jor-El as part of a series of tests. Vandervoort portrays the real Kara, Clark's cousin whose spaceship had been trapped in stasis until the events of the season 6 finale. Much of season 7 is concerned with Kara's attempts to adjust to life on Earth, especially after learning of Krypton's destruction. Her storyline sees her simultaneously become the object of Lex Luthor's (Michael Rosenbaum) obsessions and Jimmy Olsen's (Aaron Ashmore) affections, suffer a bout of amnesia, discover her father's (Christopher Heyerdahl) sinister motives and become a target of evil android Brainiac (James Marsters). The season finale sees Kara become trapped in the Phantom Zone. Starting with season 8, Vandervoort ceases to feature as a series regular, but reprises the role three more times. In her first guest appearance, "Bloodline," Kara is freed from the Phantom Zone and later departs Clark's hometown of Smallville to search for Kandor, her birthplace, as it is rumored to have survived their home planet's destruction. She appears again in the season 10 episode "Supergirl", in which she formally adopts her superhero moniker. Her off-screen adventures are alluded to thereafter. Vandervoort makes a final appearance in the show's penultimate episode, "Prophecy", in which she helps Green Arrow (Justin Hartley) locate the "Bow of Orion" to use against Darkseid. She is then called to the Fortress of Solitude, where she learns from Jor-El that her job on Earth is done. Using a Legion of Super-Heroes flight ring, she travels to the future to seek her own destiny. The Season Eleven comic book continuation of the show later depicts Kara's continued story in the 31st century, subsequent return to the present and joining the Justice League.
Arrowverse
In September 2014, a 22-episode television series centered around Supergirl was in development at Warner Bros. Television, set to premiere on CBS with a January 2015 air date. Melissa Benoist was cast as the titular character. In May 2016, the series moved to The CW and was later integrated into the Arrowverse, a shared universe consisting of shows including Arrow, The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow. In the series, Kara Zor-El was sent to Earth to protect her cousin Kal-El, following her homeworld Krypton's destruction. However, she is knocked into the Phantom Zone, where she is stranded for 24 years. She eventually crash lands on Earth and is found by her already grown-up cousin Kal, now known to the world as the iconic superhero "Superman". Superman brings Kara into the custody of Jeremiah Danvers, director of the Department of Extranormal Operations (D.E.O.), and his daughter Alex. Growing up, Kara struggles to maintain her Kryptonian abilities as well as balancing her relationship with her adoptive sister. Eventually, the two bond when Kara's powers are exposed. However, Jeremiah decides it's best to isolate her abilities. As an adult, Kara is forced to use her powers again when her sister's plane almost crashes. She is later dubbed "Supergirl" by the media and dons a costume like her cousin. Kara decides to use her abilities to fight alien invaders such as Kara's aunt Astra and her husband Non, Mon-El's rogue parents, the Worldkiller Reign, anti-alien activist Ben Lockwood, and later the shadowy organization Leviathan, with the help of her sister Alex, now an agent of the D.E.O., her best friend and tech-expert Winn Schott, last of the Green Martians J'onn J'onzz / Martian Manhunter, and Kal's best friend Jimmy Olsen. She is later joined by Lex Luthor's sister Lena, Prince of Daxam Mon-El, former Legion of Superheroes member Querl "Brainy" Dox / Brainiac 5, Nia Nal / Dreamer, James' younger sister Kelly, and reporter Willam Dey face against these rival forces. After joining the Arrowverse, which contain annual crossover, Kara assists Barry Allen, Oliver Queen and the Legends of Tomorrow against threats on their designated earth "Earth-1" while Kara’s is designated as "Earth-38. Later, Kara is selected by The Monitor as the Paragon of Hope to participate in the coming crisis and fight against the Anti-Monitor, whose goal is to destroy the multiverse. After doing so, the Paragons are sent to the Vanishing Point where Oliver, now a Spectre, helps them escape. The Paragons appear at the dawn of time in the anti-matter universe where they have their final confrontation with the Anti-Monitor. Eventually, Oliver sacrifices himself to kill the Anti-Monitor, and as a result, a new multiverse is born with Earth-38 and Earth-1 merged into "Earth-Prime". Following the crisis, Kara is forced to deal the after-effects of Crisis which include working with Lex, now owning the D.E.O. while Leviathan continue their covert operations under Gamemnae. The sixth season sees Kara and her allies expose Lex's crimes, but are then forced to deal with Nyxlygsptlnz, a fifth-dimensional imp who tricked the heroes into releasing her from the Phantom Zone. Eventually Nyxlygsptlnz joins forces with Lex Luthor and the two kill William, but Kara's assembled allies are able to defeat the two, culminating in Lex and Nyxlygsptlnz being trapped in the Phantom Zone when one of their own plans backfires. The series concludes with Kara revealing her dual identity so that she can live a full life as one person.
Animation
DC Nation Shorts
Supergirl appears with Batgirl and Wonder Girl in Super Best Friends Forever, voiced by Nicole Sullivan.
DC Super Hero Girls
Supergirl appears as a central protagonist in the web series DC Super Hero Girls voiced by Anais Fairweather, and is a student at Super Hero High, is very kind and caring and extremely powerful but she's also very clumsy.
She also appears as a central protagonist in the 2019 TV series, with Nicole Sullivan reprising her role from the Super Best Friends Forever shorts. In this version, she is also a rebel and is known as the "cool kid" in school. She may be tough but she can easily express her emotions and is very open-minded as well. She can be a cool friend and a helpful one, but she can also be jealous sometimes and she dislikes her cousin's prominence.
Justice League Action
Supergirl appears in Justice League Action, voiced by Joanne Spracklen. She has the appearance of a wide-eyed human teenager with blonde hair and wears her traditional costume except that it has thigh-high boots and a pleated skirt. As a person, she is youthful, responsible, and shows much affection for her cousin Superman. In "Party Animal", she appears as a cameo at this Christmas party with the Justice League. In "Keeping up with the Kryptonians", Supergirl becomes a star of the popular reality show "That's So Kara", and Superman a Kasnian who rules from one place to another on Earth, all being a reality caused by Mister Mxyzptlk. In "Unleashed", Supergirl accompanies Justice League in stopping Red Lantern Corps, unaware that it was a distraction made by Dex-Starr to invade Earth, until it was ultimately resolved by Krypto, Streaky, and Plastic Man. In a short "The Goddess Must Be Crazy", Supergirl trains with Wonder Woman in Paradise Island, until she is possessed by Felix Faust, to destroy the island.
Film
Superman film series
A live action depiction of Supergirl first appears in the eponymous 1984 film starring Helen Slater as Supergirl. The film is a spin-off from the Superman film series starring Christopher Reeve, to which it is connected by Marc McClure's character of Jimmy Olsen.
DC Extended Universe
Kara Zor-El / Linda Danvers / Supergirl exists within the DC Extended Universe, as she was referenced in Man of Steel when Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman discovers an empty pod within the Kryptonian scout spaceship. Though Zack Snyder confirmed in August 2018 that even though the character does exist, that pod was not intended for her.
In August 2018, a film centered around the character was announced to be in development, with Oren Uziel hired as screenwriter for the project. The studio intends to hire a female director, with Reed Morano—who has expressed interest in the project—being its top choice. Filming was expected to start production in early 2020.
Sasha Calle will play Supergirl for the DC Extended Universe in The Flash.
Animation
Summer Glau voices the post-Crisis version of Kara Zor-El in Superman/Batman: Apocalypse, which is based on the Superman/Batman storyline "The Supergirl from Krypton". Despite this, it was confirmed by director Lauren Montgomery that Supergirl's name was removed from the title due to the much slower sales of the previous Wonder Woman animated movie, and the character was not permitted to appear on the cover in her trademark outfit.
Molly Quinn voices Supergirl in Superman: Unbound.
Supergirl appears in Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League: Cosmic Clash, voiced by Jessica DiCicco.
Video games
Supergirl appears in DC Universe Online, voiced by Adriene Mishler. In the villain campaign, the players help Doctor Psycho capture Supergirl using Kryptonite. In the hero campaign, the players fight Doctor Psycho to save Supergirl. Under the thrall of Brainiac, she must be defeated in the Fortress of Solitude: Power Core raid.
Supergirl is unlockable in Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes, voiced by Bridget Hoffman.
Supergirl makes a cameo appearance in the IOS version of Injustice: Gods Among Us as a support card.
Supergirl appears as a playable character in Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham, voiced by Kari Wahlgren. She is playable in her default variant which is designed after her appearance in The New 52 and in her Classic attire. Her Classic variant is unlocked in a VR Mission while her New 52 variant is unlocked in a Hub Quest in Nok where she requests players to defeat a number of enemies she accidentally releases from their cells.
Supergirl appears as a playable character in Infinite Crisis, voiced by Camilla Luddington.
Supergirl appears as a playable character and the central protagonist in Injustice 2 by NetherRealm Studios, the sequel to Injustice: Gods Among Us, voiced by Laura Bailey. Here her origin is much like in the comics where she is sent along with her cousin Kal-El to Earth by her mother after Krypton is destroyed but on separate pods where hers veers off-course after sustaining significant damage, stranding her in space for many years until she lands on Earth, unaged. When the main storyline starts, she is residing on Black Adam's kingdom of Khandaq, apparently under his and Wonder Woman's protection. When Brainiac who was responsible for Krypton's destruction attacks, she, Wonder Woman, and Black Adam attempt to free Superman and the remaining members of the Regime, while being interrupted in their efforts by new Insurgency recruits Blue Beetle and Firestorm until Batman himself arrives and releases Superman, leading to a temporary alliance between the Regime and Insurgency against the alien warlord. Over the course of the story, she learns the truth about her cousin's tyranny and at the end of the game sides with Batman, Green Lantern and Flash in letting Brainiac live in order to restore the lost cities but is defeated. In Batman's ending, she laments her cousin's tyranny and sees him leave to be imprisoned in the Phantom Zone and is offered membership by Batman in his Justice League. In Superman's ending, she is imprisoned aboard Brainiac's ship and to her shock discovers her cousin has bonded with it and when she refuses his offer to join him in leading his new legion of imprisoned species. He attempts to coerce her by revealing a brainwashed Batman, who had also been captured, further shocking her.
Supergirl appears as a limited-distribution minifigure for the toys-to-life video game Lego Dimensions, with Kari Wahlgren reprising her role. She has the ability to transform between her classic and Red Lantern forms.
Supergirl appears as a playable character in DC Unchained.
Supergirl appears in the PSP version of Justice League Heroes.
Supergirl appears as a playable character in the DC TV Super-Heroes DLC pack in Lego DC Super-Villains.
See also
Alternative versions of Supergirl
Laurel Gand
References
External links
DC Comics
Pre-Crisis Supergirl Chronology
Supergirl
Characters created by Otto Binder
Comics characters introduced in 1958
Comics characters introduced in 1959
DC Comics aliens
DC Comics American superheroes
DC Comics characters who can move at superhuman speeds
DC Comics characters with accelerated healing
DC Comics characters with superhuman strength
DC Comics deities
DC Comics female superheroes
DC Comics film characters
DC Comics television characters
DC Comics extraterrestrial superheroes
Female characters in television
Fictional characters with superhuman senses
Fictional actors
Fictional extraterrestrial–human hybrids
Fictional orphans
Fictional photographers
Fictional refugees
Fictional reporters
Fictional school counselors
Fictional American secret agents
Fictional waiting staff
Kryptonians
Superheroes who are adopted
Vigilante characters in comics | true | [
"Samhita Mukhopadhyay (born May 3, 1978) is an American writer and former executive editor of Teen Vogue. She writes about feminism, culture, race, politics, and dating. She is the author of Outdated: Why Dating is Ruining Your Love Life and the co-editor of the anthology, Nasty Women: Feminism, Resistance, and Revolution in Trump's America.\n\nCareer \n\nMukhopadhyay started blogging in 2005.\n\nIn 2008, Mukhopadhyay contributed an essay on the sexualization of black women to Jaclyn Friedman and Jessica Valenti's anthologyYes Means Yes: Visions of Female Sexual Empowerment.\n\nMukhopadhyay earned a master's degree in Women and Gender Studies in 2009 from San Francisco State University, where her thesis was entitled \"The Politics of the Feminist Blogosphere.\"\n\nMukhopadhyay is the former Executive Editor of the blog Feministing.com and former Senior Editorial Director of Culture and Identities at millennial media platform Mic.\n\nIn February 2018, Mukhopadhyay was named executive editor at Teen Vogue, following Elaine Welteroth's departure from Condé Nast.\n\nBooks \nIn 2011, Mukhopadhyay published her first book, Outdated: Why Dating is Ruining Your Love Life, a feminist intervention to mainstream dating books.\n\nIn 2017, Mukhopadhyay co-edited an anthology with Kate Harding entitled Nasty Women: Feminism, Resistance and Revolution in Trump's America. Mukhopadhyay wrote the introduction to the collection of essays, in which prominent feminists discussed the impact of Donald Trump's election on hard-fought wins for gender, race, sexuality, class and ethnicity.\n\nBibliography \n\nOutdated: Why Dating is Ruining Your Love Life (Seal, 2011)\nNasty Women: Feminism, Resistance and Revolution in Trump's America, ed. with Kate Harding (Picador, 2017)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Official site\n Nasty Women at Macmillan\n\nAmerican magazine editors\nFeminist bloggers\nCondé Nast people\nSan Francisco State University alumni\nLiving people\n1978 births\nAmerican people of Bengali descent\nAmerican women non-fiction writers\n21st-century American women writers\nWomen magazine editors\nAmerican women bloggers\nAmerican bloggers",
"Jerome Saganowich (born July 5, 1964) is an American professional wrestler best known as Jerry Sags. He is one half of the tag team The Nasty Boys along with Brian Knobbs.\n\nCareer\nSags graduated from Whitehall High School in Pennsylvania. He started his career in the American Wrestling Association as a referee in 1985. In 1986, he formed a tag team called The Nasty Boys with Brian Knobbs and wrestled in the Tennessee territory until they moved to Championship Wrestling from Florida, where they won the Tag Team Titles five times from 1988 through 1990. In 1990, they went to the NWA's Jim Crockett Promotions, which had been purchased by Ted Turner and would be renamed World Championship Wrestling before The Nasty Boys left a few months later. They feuded with Rick and Scott Steiner over the U.S. Tag Team Titles, but could not defeat them. In late 1990, they went to the World Wrestling Federation where they were managed by Jimmy Hart. They won the World Tag Team Titles from The Hart Foundation before feuding with and losing the titles to the Legion of Doom. Knobbs and Sags then feuded with all of the WWF's top face tag teams, including The Rockers and The Bushwhackers. They turned face in the fall of 1992 to feud with Jimmy Hart's Money Inc. over the tag team titles, but were unable to recapture the gold.\n\nThey left the WWF for WCW in 1993 and were quickly placed with manager Missy Hyatt, who led them to the World Tag Team Titles. She left them, and they went on to feud with Harlem Heat, The Blue Bloods, and the team of Dick Slater and Bunkhouse Buck. In 1996, they were tricked by the nWo into thinking they were going to become members, but were attacked as soon as they received their shirts. Sags had been injured previously and had to retire due to this injury. Sags returned to wrestling in 2001 as a trainer and with Knobbs as The Nasty Boys to wrestle in the short-lived X Wrestling Federation. He retired again after the promotion folded in 2002. Sags returned to action with Knobbs to reform The Nasty Boys on June 16, 2007, at Pro Wrestling Unplugged. On November 20, 2007, Knobbs and Sags reformed as The Nasty Boys at the SmackDown! tapings from Tampa, Florida to wrestle their first WWE match in years. According to reports, the match was disastrous, and the team were accused of unprofessionally working stiff with their opponents, Dave Taylor and Drew McIntyre.\n\nOn January 4, 2010, The Nasty Boys made an appearance on Total Nonstop Action Wrestling's television show, TNA Impact!, starting a feud with Team 3D. On the January 21 edition of Impact!, the Nasty Boys competed in their first match for TNA, defeating the team of Eric Young and Kevin Nash. At Against All Odds The Nasty Boys defeated Team 3D in a tag team match, when Jimmy Hart made his return to the company and interfered in the match on the Nasty Boys' behalf. On the February 25 edition of Impact!, Team 3D defeated the Nasty Boys in a tables match, when Jesse Neal interfered on Team 3D's behalf. The Nasty Boys and Hart continued their feud with Team 3D by defeating them and the returning Brother Runt, a replacement for Jesse Neal, whom the Nastys attacked prior to the match, in a six-man tag team match. After the match Neal attacked the Nastys and helped Team 3D put Sags through a table. On March 29, 2010, news broke that the Nasty Boys had been released by TNA following an incident at a TNA function with Spike executives present.\n\nPersonal life\nSags and his wife Laura have four children: daughters Chloe and Madison, and sons Seve and Jax. They reside in Treasure Island, Florida near Brian Knobbs and Hulk Hogan. His sister-in-law was married to the late pro wrestler Dusty Rhodes.\n\nSags appeared in an episode of Man v. Food Nation, in the Tampa, Florida episode where he won his challenge.\n\nChampionships and accomplishments\nChampionship Wrestling International\nCWI Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Brian Knobbs\nContinental Wrestling Association\nAWA Southern Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Brian Knobbs\nNorth American Wrestling Association / South Atlantic Pro Wrestling\nNAWA/SAPW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Brian Knobbs\nNWA Florida\nFCW Tag Team Championship (5 times) – with Brian Knobbs\nPro Wrestling Illustrated\nPWI Tag Team of the Year award in 1994 – with Brian Knobbs\nPWI ranked him # 420 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the \"PWI Years\" in 2003\nPWI ranked him # 53 of the 100 best tag teams of the \"PWI Years\" with Brian Knobbs in 2003.\nProfessional Wrestling Federation\nPWF Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Brian Knobbs\nWorld Championship Wrestling\nWCW World Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Brian Knobbs\nWorld Wrestling Federation\nWWF Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Brian Knobbs\nX Wrestling Federation\nXWF World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Brian Knobbs\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nOfficial Nasty Boys website\nTNA profile\n\n1964 births\nAmerican male professional wrestlers\nLiving people\nSportspeople from Allentown, Pennsylvania\nProfessional wrestlers from Pennsylvania\nProfessional wrestling referees\nWhitehall High School (Pennsylvania) alumni\nPeople from Treasure Island, Florida"
] | [
"Kara Zor-El, also known by her adoptive names of Linda Lee Danvers, Kara Kent, Linda Lang, and Kara Danvers, and the superhero name of Supergirl, is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. She was created by Otto Binder and designed by Al Plastino. Danvers first appeared in Action Comics #252 (May 1959)'s \"The Supergirl from Krypton\" story. Kara is the biological cousin of Kal-El, who went on to adopt the name of Clark Kent and the superhero Superman.",
"Kara is the biological cousin of Kal-El, who went on to adopt the name of Clark Kent and the superhero Superman. During the 1980s and the revolution of the Modern Age of Comics, Superman editors believed the character's history had become too convoluted, thus killing Supergirl during the 1985 Crisis on Infinite Earths event and retconning her out of existence. DC Comics Senior Vice President Dan DiDio re-introduced the character in 2004 along with editor Eddie Berganza and writer Jeph Loeb, with her the Superman/Batman storyline \"The Supergirl from Krypton\".",
"DC Comics Senior Vice President Dan DiDio re-introduced the character in 2004 along with editor Eddie Berganza and writer Jeph Loeb, with her the Superman/Batman storyline \"The Supergirl from Krypton\". As the current Supergirl, Kara stars in her own monthly comic book series. With DC's The New 52 relaunch, Kara, like most of the DC Universe, was revamped. DC relaunched the Supergirl comic in August 2016 as part of their DC Rebirth initiative.",
"DC relaunched the Supergirl comic in August 2016 as part of their DC Rebirth initiative. In live-action, Supergirl appeared in the 1984 film based on her character and was portrayed by Helen Slater. She also appeared in the series Smallville, played by actress Laura Vandervoort. In 2015, the live-action Arrowverse series Supergirl debuted on CBS and then moved to The CW after the first season. Supergirl was portrayed by Melissa Benoist on the show and also appeared on other Arrowverse shows.",
"Supergirl was portrayed by Melissa Benoist on the show and also appeared on other Arrowverse shows. Sasha Calle will appear as Supergirl in the upcoming DC Extended Universe film The Flash (2022). Publication history Early life Although Kara Zor-El was the first character to use the name \"Supergirl,\" DC Comics tested three different female versions of Superman prior to her debut. The first story to feature a female counterpart to Superman was \"Lois Lane – Superwoman,\" which was published in Action Comics #60 (May 1943).",
"The first story to feature a female counterpart to Superman was \"Lois Lane – Superwoman,\" which was published in Action Comics #60 (May 1943). In the story, a hospitalized Lois Lane dreams she has gained superpowers thanks to a blood transfusion from the Man of Steel. She begins her own career as \"Superwoman\", complete with a version of Superman's costume.",
"She begins her own career as \"Superwoman\", complete with a version of Superman's costume. In the Superboy #78 story entitled \"Claire Kent, Alias Super-Sister\", Superboy saves the life of an alien woman named Shar-La, who turns Superboy into a girl, in retaliation for his disparaging thoughts about women drivers which she picked up telepathically. In Smallville, Clark claims to be Claire Kent, an out-of-town relative who is staying with the Kents.",
"In Smallville, Clark claims to be Claire Kent, an out-of-town relative who is staying with the Kents. When in costume, he appears as Superboy's sister, Super-Sister, and claims the two have exchanged places. Once Superboy has learned his lesson about feeling more respect for women, Shar-La reveals the episode to be a dream which she projected into Superboy's mind.",
"Once Superboy has learned his lesson about feeling more respect for women, Shar-La reveals the episode to be a dream which she projected into Superboy's mind. In Superman #123 (August 1958), Jimmy Olsen uses a magic totem to wish a \"Super-Girl\" into existence as a companion and aid to Superman; however, the two frequently get in each other's way until she is fatally injured protecting Superman from a Kryptonite meteor. At her insistence, Jimmy wishes the dying girl out of existence.",
"At her insistence, Jimmy wishes the dying girl out of existence. DC used this story to gauge public response to the concept of a completely new super-powered female counterpart to Superman. The Kara Zor-El version of Supergirl finally appeared in Action Comics #252 (May 1959). Otto Binder wrote and Al Plastino illustrated her début story, in which Kara was born and raised in Argo City (unnamed until later issues), a fragment of Krypton that survived destruction.",
"Otto Binder wrote and Al Plastino illustrated her début story, in which Kara was born and raised in Argo City (unnamed until later issues), a fragment of Krypton that survived destruction. When the city is doomed by a meteor shower, Kara is sent to Earth by her parents, Zor-El and Alura (the latter unnamed until later issues), to be raised by her cousin Kal-El, known as Superman. Supergirl adopted the secret identity of an orphan \"Linda Lee\", and made Midvale Orphanage her home.",
"Supergirl adopted the secret identity of an orphan \"Linda Lee\", and made Midvale Orphanage her home. Supergirl promised Superman that she would keep her existence on Earth a secret, so that he may use her as a \"secret weapon\", but that didn't stop Supergirl from exploring her new powers covertly. Action Comics #255 published reader's letters-of-comment to Supergirl's first appearance; she had allegedly generated a sizeable and mostly positive reaction.",
"Action Comics #255 published reader's letters-of-comment to Supergirl's first appearance; she had allegedly generated a sizeable and mostly positive reaction. Supergirl, from her debut onwards, became a regular backup strip in Action Comics. She joined the Legion of Super-Heroes, like her cousin had done as a teenager, and in Action Comics #279 (July 1961) she was adopted by Fred and Edna Danvers, becoming \"Linda Lee Danvers\".",
"She joined the Legion of Super-Heroes, like her cousin had done as a teenager, and in Action Comics #279 (July 1961) she was adopted by Fred and Edna Danvers, becoming \"Linda Lee Danvers\". Supergirl acted for three years as Superman's secret weapon, and her adventures during that time have been compared to contemporary developments in feminist thinking in work such as Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique.",
"Supergirl acted for three years as Superman's secret weapon, and her adventures during that time have been compared to contemporary developments in feminist thinking in work such as Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique. She was at last introduced by her super-powered cousin to an unsuspecting world in Action Comics #285 (February 1962). During her first quarter of a century, Linda Danvers would have many professions, from student to student advisor, to actor, and even TV camera operator.",
"During her first quarter of a century, Linda Danvers would have many professions, from student to student advisor, to actor, and even TV camera operator. She shared Action Comics with Superman until transferring to the lead in Adventure Comics at the end of the 1960s. In 1972 she finally moved to her own short-lived eponymous magazine, before DC merged its Supergirl, Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen titles into a single anthology title named The Superman Family. In 1982 Supergirl was relaunched into her own magazine.",
"In 1982 Supergirl was relaunched into her own magazine. In 1982 Supergirl was relaunched into her own magazine. Death during Crisis on Infinite Earths In 1985, the maxi-series Crisis on Infinite Earths was conceived as a way to reduce DC continuity to a single universe in which all characters maintained a single history. Despite Supergirl's continued popularity and status as a central member of the \"Superman Family\", the editors at DC Comics and the creators of the maxi-series decided to kill Supergirl off during the Crisis.",
"Despite Supergirl's continued popularity and status as a central member of the \"Superman Family\", the editors at DC Comics and the creators of the maxi-series decided to kill Supergirl off during the Crisis. According to Marv Wolfman, writer of Crisis on Infinite Earths: The idea of killing Supergirl was first conceived by DC's vice president/executive editor Dick Giordano, who lobbied for the death to DC's publishers.",
"According to Marv Wolfman, writer of Crisis on Infinite Earths: The idea of killing Supergirl was first conceived by DC's vice president/executive editor Dick Giordano, who lobbied for the death to DC's publishers. He later said he has never had any regrets about this, explaining, \"Supergirl was created initially to take advantage of the high Superman sales and not much thought was put into her creation. She was created essentially as a female Superman.",
"She was created essentially as a female Superman. She was created essentially as a female Superman. With time, writers and artists improved upon her execution, but she never did really add anything to the Superman mythos—at least not for me.\" The poor initial reception of the 1984 film Supergirl was also blamed by some sources.",
"The poor initial reception of the 1984 film Supergirl was also blamed by some sources. In 1989, in the tale \"Christmas with the Super-Heroes\" the soul of Kara appears to Boston \"Deadman\" Brand, cheers him up, and then disappears from continuity until 2001 (see below).",
"In 1989, in the tale \"Christmas with the Super-Heroes\" the soul of Kara appears to Boston \"Deadman\" Brand, cheers him up, and then disappears from continuity until 2001 (see below). Several characters unrelated to Superman soon took on the Supergirl persona, including the Matrix (a shapeshifting genetically engineered life-form that 'defaulted' as Supergirl), Linda Danvers (the result of Matrix merging with the dying Linda Danvers and becoming an Earth-bound angel of fire), and Cir-El (Superman's apparent daughter from a possible future).",
"Several characters unrelated to Superman soon took on the Supergirl persona, including the Matrix (a shapeshifting genetically engineered life-form that 'defaulted' as Supergirl), Linda Danvers (the result of Matrix merging with the dying Linda Danvers and becoming an Earth-bound angel of fire), and Cir-El (Superman's apparent daughter from a possible future). A heroine resembling the Pre-Crisis Kara would later appear in Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #5, along with an entire army of Legionnaires gathered from alternate worlds, times, and realities, to battle the Time Trapper.",
"A heroine resembling the Pre-Crisis Kara would later appear in Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #5, along with an entire army of Legionnaires gathered from alternate worlds, times, and realities, to battle the Time Trapper. Two Supergirls meet Prior to the post-Crisis introduction of Kara Zor-El into mainstream continuity, the pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El made an appearance in Peter David's Supergirl: Many Happy Returns.",
"Two Supergirls meet Prior to the post-Crisis introduction of Kara Zor-El into mainstream continuity, the pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El made an appearance in Peter David's Supergirl: Many Happy Returns. The then-current Supergirl series, at the time starring Linda Danvers, was in danger of cancellation and Peter David thought a story arc involving Kara Zor-El would be enough to revitalize the series.",
"The then-current Supergirl series, at the time starring Linda Danvers, was in danger of cancellation and Peter David thought a story arc involving Kara Zor-El would be enough to revitalize the series. In an interview with Cliff Biggers of Newsarama, David states: In the Linda Danvers' Supergirl series issues 49 and 50 (October and November 2000), the original dead Kara appears as Linda's \"guardian angel\".",
"In an interview with Cliff Biggers of Newsarama, David states: In the Linda Danvers' Supergirl series issues 49 and 50 (October and November 2000), the original dead Kara appears as Linda's \"guardian angel\". Then in issues 75 to 80, \"Many Happy Returns\", a young Kara appears from an earlier time long before the Crisis.",
"Then in issues 75 to 80, \"Many Happy Returns\", a young Kara appears from an earlier time long before the Crisis. The paradox becomes a moral crisis for Linda who tries to take her place as the Crisis sacrifice, living for years in a Silver Age universe where \"no one swears, the villains are always easy to defeat, and everything's very, very clean\", eventually marrying the Silver Age Superman and having a daughter with him, before she is forced to return to her universe by the Spectre when he reveals that her efforts to replace Kara as the sacrifice will not succeed.",
"The paradox becomes a moral crisis for Linda who tries to take her place as the Crisis sacrifice, living for years in a Silver Age universe where \"no one swears, the villains are always easy to defeat, and everything's very, very clean\", eventually marrying the Silver Age Superman and having a daughter with him, before she is forced to return to her universe by the Spectre when he reveals that her efforts to replace Kara as the sacrifice will not succeed. This run was illustrated by Ed Benes who had also illustrated Gail Simone's Birds of Prey which had a similar whimsical camaraderie between its female leads.",
"This run was illustrated by Ed Benes who had also illustrated Gail Simone's Birds of Prey which had a similar whimsical camaraderie between its female leads. Linda's inability to ultimately save Kara, coupled with the loss of her daughter, is so devastating that it ends her own career as Supergirl, Linda leaving a note for Superman where she explains that she feels that she has failed to live up to the standards of a true Supergirl and choosing to go somewhere she cannot be found.",
"Linda's inability to ultimately save Kara, coupled with the loss of her daughter, is so devastating that it ends her own career as Supergirl, Linda leaving a note for Superman where she explains that she feels that she has failed to live up to the standards of a true Supergirl and choosing to go somewhere she cannot be found. This story arc is usually cited as one of the best Supergirl stories ever written. The series ended with issue 80.",
"The series ended with issue 80. The series ended with issue 80. Revival After the launch of the Superman/Batman comic book series, executive editor Dan DiDio had been looking for a way to simplify the Supergirl character from her convoluted post-Crisis history; the simplest version, of course, was Superman's cousin. Jeph Loeb and editor Eddie Berganza found an opening to reintroduce the character following the conclusion of the first story arc of Superman/Batman.",
"Jeph Loeb and editor Eddie Berganza found an opening to reintroduce the character following the conclusion of the first story arc of Superman/Batman. Loeb states: The modern version of Kara Zor-El made her debut in Superman/Batman #8 (2004). Kara takes the mantle of Supergirl at the conclusion of the storyline. The Supergirl comic book series would later be relaunched, now starring Kara Zor-El as \"The Girl of Steel\". The first arc of the new series was written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by Ian Churchill.",
"The first arc of the new series was written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by Ian Churchill. Loeb would later describe the appeal of writing for Supergirl: As the character continued to be reinvented, steps towards regarding the iconic character were some of the most prominent changes. Artist Jamal Igle and editor Matt Idleson moved to transition the character away from red panties under her skirt to biker shorts, feeling such a change was a logical progression and \"more respectable.\"",
"Artist Jamal Igle and editor Matt Idleson moved to transition the character away from red panties under her skirt to biker shorts, feeling such a change was a logical progression and \"more respectable.\" The New 52 In September 2011, DC Comics began The New 52, in which it canceled all of its monthly superhero titles and relaunched 52 new ones, wiping out most of its past continuity in the process.",
"The New 52 In September 2011, DC Comics began The New 52, in which it canceled all of its monthly superhero titles and relaunched 52 new ones, wiping out most of its past continuity in the process. One of the new titles was a new Supergirl series (Volume 6) that featured a new origin for Kara and was published between 2011 and 2015.",
"One of the new titles was a new Supergirl series (Volume 6) that featured a new origin for Kara and was published between 2011 and 2015. Artist Mahmud Asrar designed a new costume for the character which strongly deviated from her classic, \"cheerleader\" suit, a change which generated criticism from some readers. DC Rebirth The 2016 DC Comics title relaunch Rebirth incorporates several elements (such as the costume, the name, the setting, and some characters) from the Supergirl television series.",
"DC Rebirth The 2016 DC Comics title relaunch Rebirth incorporates several elements (such as the costume, the name, the setting, and some characters) from the Supergirl television series. The DC Rebirth initiative undid the New 52's modern recreations, bringing DC's heroes back to their more classic iterations. Supergirl's new series (Volume 7) was titled Supergirl: Rebirth, written by Steven Orlando. The first arc was penciled by Brian Ching, who also redesigned Supergirl's costume in reference to a more classic look.",
"The first arc was penciled by Brian Ching, who also redesigned Supergirl's costume in reference to a more classic look. In April 2018, it was announced that the title would be canceled after issue #20, only to be revived in August that year under a new creative team, with new writer Marc Andreyko and artist Kevin Maguire. The series ended with its 42nd issue.",
"The series ended with its 42nd issue. The series ended with its 42nd issue. Future State: Kara Zor-El, Superwoman The Future State comics propose a possible future for Kara Zor-El, now an adult and having taken the alias of Superwoman. She leaves Earth to become a guardian of the Moon, which has become a refugee colony for aliens from the entire universe. The series was written by Marguerite Bennet and penciled by Marguerite Sauvage.",
"The series was written by Marguerite Bennet and penciled by Marguerite Sauvage. Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow Under the Infinite Frontier brand, Kara's next series Woman of Tomorrow debuted in June 2021, written by Tom King and penciled by Brazilian artists Bilquis Evely and Mat Lopes. The arc introduces Supergirl to new character grounds as she begins the story as a young woman, celebrating her 21st birthday and helping a young alien in her quest for revenge.",
"The arc introduces Supergirl to new character grounds as she begins the story as a young woman, celebrating her 21st birthday and helping a young alien in her quest for revenge. The \"mentor-mentee journey on revenge\" plot is, according to King, inspired by the original novel and both versions of True Grit. In this series, the creators paid homage to Linda Danvers, as Kara manifests flame wings and powers after taking a red kryptonite drug, in order to save her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon.",
"In this series, the creators paid homage to Linda Danvers, as Kara manifests flame wings and powers after taking a red kryptonite drug, in order to save her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon. Fictional character biography Silver Age In her debut story, Kara Zor-El is the last survivor of Argo City of the planet Krypton.",
"Fictional character biography Silver Age In her debut story, Kara Zor-El is the last survivor of Argo City of the planet Krypton. Although Argo, which had survived the explosion of the planet, drifted through space as a self-sustaining environment, the soil of the colony eventually turned into Kryptonite; and though Kara's father Zor-El placed lead sheeting above the ground to protect the citizens from radiation, meteorites pierced the sheeting, and the Kryptonians died of radiation poisoning instead of replacing the metal.",
"Although Argo, which had survived the explosion of the planet, drifted through space as a self-sustaining environment, the soil of the colony eventually turned into Kryptonite; and though Kara's father Zor-El placed lead sheeting above the ground to protect the citizens from radiation, meteorites pierced the sheeting, and the Kryptonians died of radiation poisoning instead of replacing the metal. In Supergirl's subsequent backup feature in Action Comics drawn by artist Jim Mooney for ten years until 1968, Supergirl adopts the identity of Linda Lee, an orphan at Midvale Orphanage presided over by headmistress Miss Hart.",
"In Supergirl's subsequent backup feature in Action Comics drawn by artist Jim Mooney for ten years until 1968, Supergirl adopts the identity of Linda Lee, an orphan at Midvale Orphanage presided over by headmistress Miss Hart. She disguises herself by hiding her blond hair beneath a brunette wig; Supergirl interacts with humans on a person-to-person basis performing good deeds and saving the world by helping one person at a time, and she also devises clever schemes as \"Superman's Secret Weapon,\" saving him many times and avoiding adoption before Superman can introduce her publicly.",
"She disguises herself by hiding her blond hair beneath a brunette wig; Supergirl interacts with humans on a person-to-person basis performing good deeds and saving the world by helping one person at a time, and she also devises clever schemes as \"Superman's Secret Weapon,\" saving him many times and avoiding adoption before Superman can introduce her publicly. While temporarily powerless due to the scheming of Kandorian scientist Lesla-Lar, who is out to supplant her on Earth, Linda allows herself to be adopted by engineer and rocket scientist Fred Danvers and his wife, Edna.",
"While temporarily powerless due to the scheming of Kandorian scientist Lesla-Lar, who is out to supplant her on Earth, Linda allows herself to be adopted by engineer and rocket scientist Fred Danvers and his wife, Edna. In time, she reveals her secret identity to her adoptive parents on the same day her cousin Superman finally introduces her to the world in the finale of then-DC's longest playing series ever (eight chapters) aptly called \"The World's Greatest Heroine\".",
"In time, she reveals her secret identity to her adoptive parents on the same day her cousin Superman finally introduces her to the world in the finale of then-DC's longest playing series ever (eight chapters) aptly called \"The World's Greatest Heroine\". When frequent dreams about her parents being alive turn out to be real, she builds a machine aided by her engineer father's talent, and brings them both back alive from the \"Survival Zone\" where they had both teleported during Argo City's final moments.",
"When frequent dreams about her parents being alive turn out to be real, she builds a machine aided by her engineer father's talent, and brings them both back alive from the \"Survival Zone\" where they had both teleported during Argo City's final moments. Zor-El and Allura eventually end up living in Kandor, and when the city in the bottle is enlarged, they both go on to live in Rokyn/New Krypton, where they have the sad duty of receiving her mortal remains after \"Crisis\" for burial.",
"Zor-El and Allura eventually end up living in Kandor, and when the city in the bottle is enlarged, they both go on to live in Rokyn/New Krypton, where they have the sad duty of receiving her mortal remains after \"Crisis\" for burial. Graduating from high school in 1965, Linda Lee goes to college on a scholarship and stays in Stanhope College until she graduates in 1971.",
"Graduating from high school in 1965, Linda Lee goes to college on a scholarship and stays in Stanhope College until she graduates in 1971. During this era, she is helped by her pet cat Streaky, her Super-Horse pet Comet, and befriends Lena Thorul, who had first appeared in the Lois Lane series. Kara is also a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, where she becomes close to Brainiac 5.",
"Kara is also a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, where she becomes close to Brainiac 5. In addition, Linda has boyfriends from the orphanage (Richard \"Dick\" Malverne) and from Atlantis (Jerro the merboy). In 1967, Supergirl meets Batgirl for the first time in World's Finest Comics. Developing a strong friendship, the two characters teamed up many times again, as in Superman Family #171, or Adventure #381.",
"Developing a strong friendship, the two characters teamed up many times again, as in Superman Family #171, or Adventure #381. In 1969, Supergirl left Action Comics and became a featured character in Adventure Comics beginning with issue #381 (June 1969). During the 1970s, Supergirl's costume changed frequently, as did her career in her civilian life.",
"During the 1970s, Supergirl's costume changed frequently, as did her career in her civilian life. In her secret identity as Linda Lee Danvers, Kara Zor-El took a variety of jobs including graduate student in acting, television camera operator, and student counselor, and finally became an actress on the TV soap Secret Hearts. Bronze Age After long-time Superman family editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971, the character underwent revitalization under editor Joe Orlando and artist Mike Sekowsky.",
"Bronze Age After long-time Superman family editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971, the character underwent revitalization under editor Joe Orlando and artist Mike Sekowsky. Wearing a series of new outfits, leaving her adopted foster home with the Danvers family, Linda goes on to San Francisco where she works for KSF-TV as a camera operator and develops a crush on her boss, Geoffrey Anderson. These stories introduced Supergirl's most memorable villain from this period: Lex Luthor's niece Nasthalthia, or Nasty.",
"These stories introduced Supergirl's most memorable villain from this period: Lex Luthor's niece Nasthalthia, or Nasty. Nasty had made two appearances towards the end of Linda's college years, then pursued her to KSF-TV, trying to secure proof of her dual identity.",
"Nasty had made two appearances towards the end of Linda's college years, then pursued her to KSF-TV, trying to secure proof of her dual identity. Supergirl starred in her first solo eponymous monthly series beginning in 1972 until October 1974, when her monthly title merged with Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane, and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen to produce a new title: then-highest DC selling series called The Superman Family, where she eventually became the steady lead story.",
"Supergirl starred in her first solo eponymous monthly series beginning in 1972 until October 1974, when her monthly title merged with Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane, and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen to produce a new title: then-highest DC selling series called The Superman Family, where she eventually became the steady lead story. Linda worked as a student advisor at New Athens Experimental School, before leaving for New York to follow a career in acting with daytime soap Secret Hearts.",
"Linda worked as a student advisor at New Athens Experimental School, before leaving for New York to follow a career in acting with daytime soap Secret Hearts. In 1982 Supergirl received a second monthly solo series titled The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl, relocating the character to Chicago as Linda became a mature student of Psychology. Industry legend, and former DC Publisher, Carmine Infantino provided the penciled art (Bob Oksner inked).",
"Industry legend, and former DC Publisher, Carmine Infantino provided the penciled art (Bob Oksner inked). With issue 13 the title was revamped, with a new costume design (sporting a red headband) and the title shortened to just Supergirl. The series ran until sudden cancellation in 1984, only two months before the character's debut in a big-budget Hollywood film starring Helen Slater.",
"The series ran until sudden cancellation in 1984, only two months before the character's debut in a big-budget Hollywood film starring Helen Slater. In the Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985), the greatest heroes from Earth-One, Earth-Two, Earth-Four, Earth-S, and Earth-X join forces in order to defeat the Anti-Monitor. When Superman comes face to face with the Anti-Monitor and is knocked unconscious, Supergirl rushes to save him before he is killed.",
"When Superman comes face to face with the Anti-Monitor and is knocked unconscious, Supergirl rushes to save him before he is killed. She is able to fight him off long enough for Dr. Light to carry her cousin to a safe distance, but is killed by the Anti-Monitor. A public memorial service for Supergirl takes place in Chicago, where Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) delivers the eulogy. In her remarks, she states \"Kara is a hero. She will not be forgotten.\"",
"She will not be forgotten.\" She will not be forgotten.\" Superman then gives his late cousin burial by taking her corpse to Rokyn/New Krypton to Zor-El and Allura. A Superman issue the next month reveals that Kara had experienced a premonition about her own passing. However, when the universe is rebooted, the timeline is altered. Kara Zor-El and all memory of her is erased from existence.",
"Kara Zor-El and all memory of her is erased from existence. Echoes After these events, the soul of Kara Zor-El made another appearance in continuity three years later in a story titled \"Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot\" in Christmas with the Super-Heroes #2 (1989). Within the story, Boston \"Deadman\" Brand tries to feel the warmth of Christmas by possessing revelers' bodies.",
"Within the story, Boston \"Deadman\" Brand tries to feel the warmth of Christmas by possessing revelers' bodies. Feeling guilty upon the realization that he has been stealing others' Christmases, he flies off feeling sorry for himself for being denied a reward after a year of helping people. A warmly dressed blonde woman approaches Brand, startling him.",
"A warmly dressed blonde woman approaches Brand, startling him. Somehow seeing the normally invisible Brand, she converses with him, reminding him, She reminds Brand that even though he is dead, he is still human, and he should rejoice because it means his spirit is still alive. As the woman leaves, Brand asks her who she is, to which she replies, \"My name is Kara. Though I doubt that will mean anything to you.\"",
"Though I doubt that will mean anything to you.\" The story, written by Alan Brennert and penciled by Dick Giordano, is dedicated to Otto Binder and Jim Mooney, adding: \"We still remember.\" Finally, the soul of Kara Zor-El appeared twice during Peter David's run, specifically in issues #48 and #49 when she appears before a defeated and imprisoned then-Supergirl, Linda Danvers from Earth, and comforts her.",
"Finally, the soul of Kara Zor-El appeared twice during Peter David's run, specifically in issues #48 and #49 when she appears before a defeated and imprisoned then-Supergirl, Linda Danvers from Earth, and comforts her. Linda acknowledges she has been helped three times by her phantom-friend, and when she asks her name she is told by the smiling figure: \"I have gone by many names, but the one I am most fond of is: Kara!\"",
"Linda acknowledges she has been helped three times by her phantom-friend, and when she asks her name she is told by the smiling figure: \"I have gone by many names, but the one I am most fond of is: Kara!\" Modern Age In 2004, Jeph Loeb reintroduced Kara Zor-El into post-Zero Hour (Birthright timeline) continuity during a storyline in the series Superman/Batman.",
"Modern Age In 2004, Jeph Loeb reintroduced Kara Zor-El into post-Zero Hour (Birthright timeline) continuity during a storyline in the series Superman/Batman. She is the biological cousin of Superman, and although chronologically older than him, the ship in which she traveled to Earth was caught in a large green Kryptonite meteorite which held her in a state of suspended animation for much of the journey, making her have the appearance of a 16-year-old girl.",
"She is the biological cousin of Superman, and although chronologically older than him, the ship in which she traveled to Earth was caught in a large green Kryptonite meteorite which held her in a state of suspended animation for much of the journey, making her have the appearance of a 16-year-old girl. Still, Supergirl sometimes saw Superman as a child, due to last carrying him as a baby. DC Comics relaunched the Supergirl, the first story arc of which was written by Loeb. showcases Supergirl on a journey of self-discovery.",
"showcases Supergirl on a journey of self-discovery. showcases Supergirl on a journey of self-discovery. Along her journey, she encounters Power Girl (Kara Zor-El's counterpart from another universe), the Teen Titans, the Outsiders, the Justice League of America, and arch-villain Lex Luthor. During the company-wide crossover series Infinite Crisis (2005), a sequel to Crisis on Infinite Earths, Supergirl is transported to the 31st century, where she is revered as a member of the Superman family and joins the Legion of Super-Heroes.",
"During the company-wide crossover series Infinite Crisis (2005), a sequel to Crisis on Infinite Earths, Supergirl is transported to the 31st century, where she is revered as a member of the Superman family and joins the Legion of Super-Heroes. DC Comics renamed the monthly series Legion of Super-Heroes to Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes. Beginning with issue #16.",
"Beginning with issue #16. Beginning with issue #16. In the limited series 52, which chronicles the events that took place during the missing year after the end of Infinite Crisis, Donna Troy recalls the original Kara Zor-El and her sacrifice to save the universe. Supergirl returns to the 21st century during the course of 52.",
"Supergirl returns to the 21st century during the course of 52. After briefly filling in for a temporarily depowered Superman as guardian of Metropolis, she assumes the identity of Flamebird to fight crime in the bottle city of Kandor with Power Girl as Nightwing in Greg Rucka's arc Supergirl: Kandor. In 2007, Supergirl appeared in the miniseries Amazons Attack! That same year, she joined the Teen Titans for five issues.",
"That same year, she joined the Teen Titans for five issues. Conversations with other heroes who maintain secret identities lead Kara to the conclusion that she needs to make a deeper connection with human beings. She accepts Lana Lang's proposal to present her to the Daily Planet staff as \"Linda Lang\", Lana's teenaged niece.",
"She accepts Lana Lang's proposal to present her to the Daily Planet staff as \"Linda Lang\", Lana's teenaged niece. In the 2008–2009 \"New Krypton\" story arc, in which Superman discovers and frees the real Kandor and a large number of its citizens, Supergirl is reunited with her father, Zor-El and mother, Alura, though Zor-El is killed by the villain Reactron.",
"In the 2008–2009 \"New Krypton\" story arc, in which Superman discovers and frees the real Kandor and a large number of its citizens, Supergirl is reunited with her father, Zor-El and mother, Alura, though Zor-El is killed by the villain Reactron. When a planet is formed that the Kryptonians call New Krypton, Kara is torn between her life on Earth, and her obligation to her mother, eventually joining the New Krypton Science Guild.",
"When a planet is formed that the Kryptonians call New Krypton, Kara is torn between her life on Earth, and her obligation to her mother, eventually joining the New Krypton Science Guild. Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2009 miniseries Justice League: Cry for Justice, and the 2009–2010 storyline \"Blackest Night\".",
"Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2009 miniseries Justice League: Cry for Justice, and the 2009–2010 storyline \"Blackest Night\". The New Krypton storyline would later be resolved in the \"World of New Krypton\", \"Superman: Last Stand of New Krypton\", \"War of the Supermen\" storylines, resulting in the destruction of New Krypton and seeing Supergirl mourn her people.",
"The New Krypton storyline would later be resolved in the \"World of New Krypton\", \"Superman: Last Stand of New Krypton\", \"War of the Supermen\" storylines, resulting in the destruction of New Krypton and seeing Supergirl mourn her people. Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2010 \"Brightest Day\" storyline, the follow up to \"Blackest Night\"., where she joins the Justice League along with Jesse Quick & Jade.",
"Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2010 \"Brightest Day\" storyline, the follow up to \"Blackest Night\"., where she joins the Justice League along with Jesse Quick & Jade. The New 52 In this continuity, Kara's ship lands in Smallville, Kansas but hurtles through the Earth and emerges in Siberia. Kara has no memory of the destruction of Krypton, and believes it is only three days since her spacecraft was launched.",
"Kara has no memory of the destruction of Krypton, and believes it is only three days since her spacecraft was launched. She learns the truth about Krypton's destruction from Superman, and later journeys through a wormhole to Argo City, which she finds in orbit around a blue sun. She finds the city in ruins, with no explanation of how it met that fate, and is attacked by a female Worldkiller named Reign before the city plummets into the sun.",
"She finds the city in ruins, with no explanation of how it met that fate, and is attacked by a female Worldkiller named Reign before the city plummets into the sun. When Reign and her fellow Worldkiller plan to enslave the Earth, Supergirl returns there to defeat them, and thus adopts Earth as her new home. After several battles with supervillains, including the Worldkillers, superweapons of Kryptonian design, she accepts Krypton's destruction, but continues to grapple with her grief.",
"After several battles with supervillains, including the Worldkillers, superweapons of Kryptonian design, she accepts Krypton's destruction, but continues to grapple with her grief. Her desire to restore Krypton results in her being manipulated into nearly destroying the Earth by another Kryptonian whom she falls in love with. Upon realizing his manipulation, she kills him by driving Kryptonite through his heart, and succumbs to Kryptonite poisoning. Following her poisoning, Supergirl departs the Earth to die alone.",
"Following her poisoning, Supergirl departs the Earth to die alone. While adrift in interstellar space, she encounters a planet under attack by monsters, and quickly intervenes to save them, unaware that the entire planet is a trap by Brainiac. She is captured and restrained by Cyborg Superman, but after a struggle, manages to escape both Brainiac and Cyborg Superman.",
"She is captured and restrained by Cyborg Superman, but after a struggle, manages to escape both Brainiac and Cyborg Superman. Returning to Earth, she is sent into the past by the Oracle alongside Superman and Superboy, where she ensures that a resurrected H'el cannot save Krypton, and sacrifices the planet and her family in order to save the universe. Back on Earth, she encounters the assassin Lobo.",
"Back on Earth, she encounters the assassin Lobo. Back on Earth, she encounters the assassin Lobo. Initially eager for a peaceful resolution, seeing a kind of kinship with him in their both being lone survivors of their respective worlds (although not truly aware of Lobo's circumstances), Kara's encounter with the Czarnian would reveal deep mental wounds, resulting in the unleashing of her rage and transformation into a Red Lantern.",
"Initially eager for a peaceful resolution, seeing a kind of kinship with him in their both being lone survivors of their respective worlds (although not truly aware of Lobo's circumstances), Kara's encounter with the Czarnian would reveal deep mental wounds, resulting in the unleashing of her rage and transformation into a Red Lantern. Driven insane by rage, Kara wanders space, attacking everyone in her way, until captured by several Green Lanterns and brought to Hal Jordan.",
"Driven insane by rage, Kara wanders space, attacking everyone in her way, until captured by several Green Lanterns and brought to Hal Jordan. Immediately recognizing a Kryptonian and unable to remove the power ring without killing her, he brings her to Guy Gardner, the leader of one of the two Red Lantern factions, who manages to restore her sanity.",
"Immediately recognizing a Kryptonian and unable to remove the power ring without killing her, he brings her to Guy Gardner, the leader of one of the two Red Lantern factions, who manages to restore her sanity. After some time under Guy Gardner's tutelage and protecting the galaxy as a Red Lantern, after being discharged from the Red Lantern Corps (because Guy did not want for her to die needlessly against Atrocitus' splinter group), on her way back to Earth, Kara encounters the leader of the Worldkillers, who are revealed to be parasitic suits of armor.",
"After some time under Guy Gardner's tutelage and protecting the galaxy as a Red Lantern, after being discharged from the Red Lantern Corps (because Guy did not want for her to die needlessly against Atrocitus' splinter group), on her way back to Earth, Kara encounters the leader of the Worldkillers, who are revealed to be parasitic suits of armor. He attempts to assimilate Kara as his host, but she voluntarily subjects herself to Kryptonite poisoning in order to stop him, and eventually flies into the Sun and removes her power ring, killing her and removing him from her body.",
"He attempts to assimilate Kara as his host, but she voluntarily subjects herself to Kryptonite poisoning in order to stop him, and eventually flies into the Sun and removes her power ring, killing her and removing him from her body. However, Kara is revealed to be immortal while in the Sun's core, and is restored to life without the power ring or any Kryptonite poisoning, immediately destroying the Worldkiller. She later helps Guy against Atrocitus and his Red Lantern splinter group.",
"She later helps Guy against Atrocitus and his Red Lantern splinter group. Convergence and return of the Pre-Crisis version During the Convergence story arc, the original Kara Zor-El who had sacrificed her life during Crisis on Infinite Earths makes an appearance on the amalgamated planet of Telos.",
"Convergence and return of the Pre-Crisis version During the Convergence story arc, the original Kara Zor-El who had sacrificed her life during Crisis on Infinite Earths makes an appearance on the amalgamated planet of Telos. At the end of the saga she volunteers herself to once again fight the Anti-Monitor but this time, with the help of her timeline's Barry Allen, the Pre-Flashpoint Superman (in tow with his pregnant wife, Lois Lane), and a repentant Parallax (Zero Hour Hal Jordan), vows to defeat him for the sake of the multiverse's continued existence.",
"At the end of the saga she volunteers herself to once again fight the Anti-Monitor but this time, with the help of her timeline's Barry Allen, the Pre-Flashpoint Superman (in tow with his pregnant wife, Lois Lane), and a repentant Parallax (Zero Hour Hal Jordan), vows to defeat him for the sake of the multiverse's continued existence. Without it being seen, those left on Telos discover the group was successful and all previous timelines (with the mysterious exception of the pre-Flashpoint/pre-New 52 DC universe) from DC history had been re-established, though the fate of the original Kara Zor-El and her fellows went unmentioned.",
"Without it being seen, those left on Telos discover the group was successful and all previous timelines (with the mysterious exception of the pre-Flashpoint/pre-New 52 DC universe) from DC history had been re-established, though the fate of the original Kara Zor-El and her fellows went unmentioned. A few more details of the battle against the Anti-Monitor are later revealed during the New 52 comic mini-series (leading into DC's Rebirth event).",
"A few more details of the battle against the Anti-Monitor are later revealed during the New 52 comic mini-series (leading into DC's Rebirth event). After the defeat of Anti-Monitor, Pre-New 52 Clark and Lois decide to start life anew in the closest universe they can find (mysteriously yet unable to see their old universe even though the rest of the multiverse had been restored) while Pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El, along with her contemporary Barry Allen and Zero Hour Parallax/Hal Jordan, decide to find their place in the universe and go off to do so.",
"After the defeat of Anti-Monitor, Pre-New 52 Clark and Lois decide to start life anew in the closest universe they can find (mysteriously yet unable to see their old universe even though the rest of the multiverse had been restored) while Pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El, along with her contemporary Barry Allen and Zero Hour Parallax/Hal Jordan, decide to find their place in the universe and go off to do so. Her fate as of that story arc is yet to be revealed.",
"Her fate as of that story arc is yet to be revealed. DC Rebirth After the events that led to the death of the New 52 version of Superman, 16-year-old Kara lives in National City with her adoptive parents, D.E.O. agents Jeremiah and Eliza Danvers, where she attends high school and works with the agency as led by Cameron Chase. As part of her civilian identity, Kara receives special glasses that darken her blond hair when posing as Kara Danvers.",
"As part of her civilian identity, Kara receives special glasses that darken her blond hair when posing as Kara Danvers. Kara also goes on an internship at Cat Grant's CATCO alongside Ben Rubel, whom she befriends. In her opening arc \"The Reign of the Cyborg Supermen\", Kara discovers that the cyborg Zor-El, whom she had battled in her New 52 title, is still active and has rebuilt other Kryptonians (her mother Alura included), planning to take over Earth.",
"In her opening arc \"The Reign of the Cyborg Supermen\", Kara discovers that the cyborg Zor-El, whom she had battled in her New 52 title, is still active and has rebuilt other Kryptonians (her mother Alura included), planning to take over Earth. Supergirl defeats them but vows to help her father regardless of his actions. After National City discovers Supergirl has kept Zor-El's \"living\" status a secret, they become untrustful of her.",
"After National City discovers Supergirl has kept Zor-El's \"living\" status a secret, they become untrustful of her. Director Bones takes advantage of the heroine's impopularity and, after taking control of the D.E.O., sends villains in an attempt to bring Kara down. She defeats all of them and regains trust from National City with Ben's help.",
"She defeats all of them and regains trust from National City with Ben's help. The Supergirl Who Laughs Kara is later infected by The Batman Who Laughs toxin, causing her to turn evil and joining other infected as part of Laughs Secret Six before later being cured. She is fired from CatCo by Cat Grant and starts working at S.T.A.R. Labs. Woman of Tomorrow Journeying throughout the universe with Krypto, Kara celebrates her 21st birthday alone on a distant planet.",
"Woman of Tomorrow Journeying throughout the universe with Krypto, Kara celebrates her 21st birthday alone on a distant planet. Drunk in a bar, she is approached by a little girl named Ruthye and is asked to kill Krem (her father's murderer) in vengeance. Supergirl refuses but, when she is about to leave the planet, Krem attacks and severely wounds both her and Krypto, fleeing in Kara's ship.",
"Supergirl refuses but, when she is about to leave the planet, Krem attacks and severely wounds both her and Krypto, fleeing in Kara's ship. Kara begins her journey alongside Ruthye and, powerless, saves her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon by taking a red kryptonite drug which causes her to manifest flame wings. Powers and abilities Like all Kryptonians under a yellow sun, the current version of Kara Zor-El possesses virtually unlimited strength, stamina, and durability.",
"Powers and abilities Like all Kryptonians under a yellow sun, the current version of Kara Zor-El possesses virtually unlimited strength, stamina, and durability. She is able to fly and with super speed that she can also use on foot, similar to Superman and The Flash. Also like Superman, Supergirl possesses super senses, super-breath, and freeze breathe, as well as multiple forms of supervision (including X-Ray, Infrared, Telescopic, and Microscopic).",
"Also like Superman, Supergirl possesses super senses, super-breath, and freeze breathe, as well as multiple forms of supervision (including X-Ray, Infrared, Telescopic, and Microscopic). Kara also has a bio-electric aura that enhances her near invulnerability and also protects her skin and her costume from dirt and tear; as such, Kara is perpetually clean. The Sun also provides Kara with a longer lifespan than that of a human being, to the point that she is effectively a biological immortal.",
"The Sun also provides Kara with a longer lifespan than that of a human being, to the point that she is effectively a biological immortal. Kara doesn't require food, water, or sleep to survive. She is also immune to most diseases, mental and physical, and would require a very strong strain to have a chance at affecting her. In the rare instances that Kara is harmed by someone matching her strength or by the use of one of her weaknesses, she can heal almost instantaneously.",
"In the rare instances that Kara is harmed by someone matching her strength or by the use of one of her weaknesses, she can heal almost instantaneously. Her power surpasses most other beings, though she can be overpowered by those who rival her strength such as Black Adam, Darkseid, Despero, Doomsday, Bizarro, Wonder Woman, and Superman. In reality, Kara is actually older than her cousin, Clark, and spent time on Krypton before its destruction.",
"In reality, Kara is actually older than her cousin, Clark, and spent time on Krypton before its destruction. As such (unlike Superman), she possesses memories of Kryptonian culture as well as her cousin's parents. Continued exposure to a yellow Sun will slowly increase abilities. Many characters in the DC Universe have noted that Supergirl appears, at times, to be even more powerful than Superman himself.",
"Many characters in the DC Universe have noted that Supergirl appears, at times, to be even more powerful than Superman himself. In answer to this, Superman states that this is because he has spent his entire life subconsciously suppressing his full powers in order to avoid hurting others, having been absorbing solar radiation since his infancy. Kara, not having such practice or experience, simply uses the full magnitude of her powers.",
"Kara, not having such practice or experience, simply uses the full magnitude of her powers. Abilities Unlike her cousin, Kara was taught to fight in Krypton as part of her tests, and at the Crucible Academy, being adept at various Kryptonian fighting styles like Klurkor and Torquasm Rao. Supergirl also learned the art of Bagua under I-Ching's instructions. She practiced how to manipulate her Chi or Qi in order to gain better control of her powers due to them becoming overwhelmed after her conflict with the Fatal Five.",
"She practiced how to manipulate her Chi or Qi in order to gain better control of her powers due to them becoming overwhelmed after her conflict with the Fatal Five. Superman recommended guardianship with I-Ching to Supergirl first. In addition to training in Krypton, Kara was trained by Batman in advanced martial arts and trained with the Amazons in Themyscira in unarmed and armed combat, Amazonas martial arts, fencing, Shield handling, and other Amazon weapons. She trained with Wonder Woman and Artemis extensively.",
"She trained with Wonder Woman and Artemis extensively. She trained with Wonder Woman and Artemis extensively. Other versions There are numerous alternate versions of Supergirl. The most notable is Power Girl (real name Kara Zor-L, also known as Karen Starr) who first appeared in All Star Comics #58 (January/February 1976). Power Girl is the Earth-Two counterpart of Supergirl and the first cousin of Kal-L, Superman of the pre-Crisis Earth-Two. The infant Power Girl's parents enabled her to escape the destruction of Krypton.",
"The infant Power Girl's parents enabled her to escape the destruction of Krypton. Although she left the planet at the same time that Superman did, her ship took much longer to reach Earth-Two. She has superhuman strength and the ability to fly and is the first chairwoman of the Justice Society of America. She sports a bob of blond hair; wears a distinctive white, red, and blue costume; and has an aggressive fighting style.",
"She sports a bob of blond hair; wears a distinctive white, red, and blue costume; and has an aggressive fighting style. Throughout her early appearances in All Star Comics, she is often at odds with Wildcat because his penchant for talking to her as if she were an ordinary human female rather than a superpowered Kryptonian annoys her. She also fought alongside the Sovereign Seven team, replacing Rampart after his death though that series is not considered to be part of canon in the DC universe.",
"She also fought alongside the Sovereign Seven team, replacing Rampart after his death though that series is not considered to be part of canon in the DC universe. The 1985 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths eliminated Earth-Two, causing her origin to change; she became the granddaughter of the Atlantean sorcerer Arion. However, story events culminating in the 2005–2006 Infinite Crisis limited series restored her status as a refugee from the Krypton of the destroyed pre-Crisis Earth-Two universe.",
"However, story events culminating in the 2005–2006 Infinite Crisis limited series restored her status as a refugee from the Krypton of the destroyed pre-Crisis Earth-Two universe. Like the original Kara's Streaky, Power Girl has a cat, featured in a story by Amanda Conner in Wonder Woman #600. Reception This version of Supergirl is ranked as the 153rd-greatest comic book character of all time by Wizard magazine.",
"Reception This version of Supergirl is ranked as the 153rd-greatest comic book character of all time by Wizard magazine. IGN also ranked this version of Supergirl as the 94th-greatest comic book superhero, stating \"for a character born of the Silver Age that saw everything from a Super Baby to a Super Monkey, Kara Zor-El grew into something much more than simply another marketing ploy to slap an 'S' on.\"",
"IGN also ranked this version of Supergirl as the 94th-greatest comic book superhero, stating \"for a character born of the Silver Age that saw everything from a Super Baby to a Super Monkey, Kara Zor-El grew into something much more than simply another marketing ploy to slap an 'S' on.\" In 2013 IGN ranked Supergirl as the 17th-greatest DC comic superhero, stating \"she was an early example of a female sidekick developing a large fanbase in her own right\", and \"Supergirl has been one of DC's most powerful heroes, and a standard to hold other female heroes against.\"",
"In 2013 IGN ranked Supergirl as the 17th-greatest DC comic superhero, stating \"she was an early example of a female sidekick developing a large fanbase in her own right\", and \"Supergirl has been one of DC's most powerful heroes, and a standard to hold other female heroes against.\" Appearances Pre-Crisis 1959 to 1969: Action Comics #252 to #376. 1969 to 1972: Adventure Comics #381 to #424. 1972 to 1974: Supergirl #1 to #10.",
"1972 to 1974: Supergirl #1 to #10. 1974 to 1982: Her comic merges with Jimmy Olsen's and Lois Lane's to become Superman Family #164 to #222. 1982 to 1984: The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl #1 to #13, Supergirl (vol. 2) #14 to #23. 2015: Convergence Kara Zor-El appeared in over 750 stories published by DC from 1959 to 1985.",
"2015: Convergence Kara Zor-El appeared in over 750 stories published by DC from 1959 to 1985. Post-Crisis 2004 to 2005: Superman/Batman #8 to #13 and #19 2005 to 2011: Supergirl (vol. 5) #0 to #67 2006 to 2008: Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes (Legion of Super-Heroes vol. 5) #16 to #37 2007: Action Comics #850 2008: Final Crisis 2011 to 2015: New 52: Supergirl (vol.",
"5) #16 to #37 2007: Action Comics #850 2008: Final Crisis 2011 to 2015: New 52: Supergirl (vol. 6) #1 to #40 2016 to current: Rebirth: Supergirl (vol. 7) #1 to current Kara Zor-El also appears as a supporting character in several issues of other DC Comics, including Superman, Action Comics, Teen Titans, Amazons Attack, World War III, and Wonder Girl.",
"7) #1 to current Kara Zor-El also appears as a supporting character in several issues of other DC Comics, including Superman, Action Comics, Teen Titans, Amazons Attack, World War III, and Wonder Girl. She has also appeared in many issues of Superman, Action Comics, and Superman New Krypton starting with the World Without Superman event in 2009, and continuing with the World Against Superman event going into 2010. Collected editions Listed in chronological order.",
"Collected editions Listed in chronological order. Collected editions Listed in chronological order. All ages titles are not in continuity with the original or modern Kara. In other media Television Live-action Smallville Prior to the seventh season (2007–2008) of the WB/CW show Smallville where she is introduced into the cast and is portrayed by Laura Vandervoort, a woman claiming to be Kara (portrayed by Adrianne Palicki) is briefly introduced in the season 3 finale.",
"In other media Television Live-action Smallville Prior to the seventh season (2007–2008) of the WB/CW show Smallville where she is introduced into the cast and is portrayed by Laura Vandervoort, a woman claiming to be Kara (portrayed by Adrianne Palicki) is briefly introduced in the season 3 finale. It is later revealed her real name is Lindsey Harrison, and had been given false memories and powers by the artificial intelligence of Clark Kent's (Tom Welling) father Jor-El as part of a series of tests.",
"It is later revealed her real name is Lindsey Harrison, and had been given false memories and powers by the artificial intelligence of Clark Kent's (Tom Welling) father Jor-El as part of a series of tests. Vandervoort portrays the real Kara, Clark's cousin whose spaceship had been trapped in stasis until the events of the season 6 finale. Much of season 7 is concerned with Kara's attempts to adjust to life on Earth, especially after learning of Krypton's destruction.",
"Much of season 7 is concerned with Kara's attempts to adjust to life on Earth, especially after learning of Krypton's destruction. Her storyline sees her simultaneously become the object of Lex Luthor's (Michael Rosenbaum) obsessions and Jimmy Olsen's (Aaron Ashmore) affections, suffer a bout of amnesia, discover her father's (Christopher Heyerdahl) sinister motives and become a target of evil android Brainiac (James Marsters). The season finale sees Kara become trapped in the Phantom Zone.",
"The season finale sees Kara become trapped in the Phantom Zone. Starting with season 8, Vandervoort ceases to feature as a series regular, but reprises the role three more times. In her first guest appearance, \"Bloodline,\" Kara is freed from the Phantom Zone and later departs Clark's hometown of Smallville to search for Kandor, her birthplace, as it is rumored to have survived their home planet's destruction.",
"In her first guest appearance, \"Bloodline,\" Kara is freed from the Phantom Zone and later departs Clark's hometown of Smallville to search for Kandor, her birthplace, as it is rumored to have survived their home planet's destruction. She appears again in the season 10 episode \"Supergirl\", in which she formally adopts her superhero moniker. Her off-screen adventures are alluded to thereafter.",
"Her off-screen adventures are alluded to thereafter. Her off-screen adventures are alluded to thereafter. Vandervoort makes a final appearance in the show's penultimate episode, \"Prophecy\", in which she helps Green Arrow (Justin Hartley) locate the \"Bow of Orion\" to use against Darkseid. She is then called to the Fortress of Solitude, where she learns from Jor-El that her job on Earth is done. Using a Legion of Super-Heroes flight ring, she travels to the future to seek her own destiny.",
"Using a Legion of Super-Heroes flight ring, she travels to the future to seek her own destiny. The Season Eleven comic book continuation of the show later depicts Kara's continued story in the 31st century, subsequent return to the present and joining the Justice League. Arrowverse In September 2014, a 22-episode television series centered around Supergirl was in development at Warner Bros. Television, set to premiere on CBS with a January 2015 air date. Melissa Benoist was cast as the titular character.",
"Melissa Benoist was cast as the titular character. Melissa Benoist was cast as the titular character. In May 2016, the series moved to The CW and was later integrated into the Arrowverse, a shared universe consisting of shows including Arrow, The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow. In the series, Kara Zor-El was sent to Earth to protect her cousin Kal-El, following her homeworld Krypton's destruction. However, she is knocked into the Phantom Zone, where she is stranded for 24 years.",
"However, she is knocked into the Phantom Zone, where she is stranded for 24 years. She eventually crash lands on Earth and is found by her already grown-up cousin Kal, now known to the world as the iconic superhero \"Superman\". Superman brings Kara into the custody of Jeremiah Danvers, director of the Department of Extranormal Operations (D.E.O. ), and his daughter Alex. Growing up, Kara struggles to maintain her Kryptonian abilities as well as balancing her relationship with her adoptive sister.",
"Growing up, Kara struggles to maintain her Kryptonian abilities as well as balancing her relationship with her adoptive sister. Eventually, the two bond when Kara's powers are exposed. However, Jeremiah decides it's best to isolate her abilities. As an adult, Kara is forced to use her powers again when her sister's plane almost crashes. She is later dubbed \"Supergirl\" by the media and dons a costume like her cousin.",
"She is later dubbed \"Supergirl\" by the media and dons a costume like her cousin. Kara decides to use her abilities to fight alien invaders such as Kara's aunt Astra and her husband Non, Mon-El's rogue parents, the Worldkiller Reign, anti-alien activist Ben Lockwood, and later the shadowy organization Leviathan, with the help of her sister Alex, now an agent of the D.E.O., her best friend and tech-expert Winn Schott, last of the Green Martians J'onn J'onzz / Martian Manhunter, and Kal's best friend Jimmy Olsen.",
"Kara decides to use her abilities to fight alien invaders such as Kara's aunt Astra and her husband Non, Mon-El's rogue parents, the Worldkiller Reign, anti-alien activist Ben Lockwood, and later the shadowy organization Leviathan, with the help of her sister Alex, now an agent of the D.E.O., her best friend and tech-expert Winn Schott, last of the Green Martians J'onn J'onzz / Martian Manhunter, and Kal's best friend Jimmy Olsen. She is later joined by Lex Luthor's sister Lena, Prince of Daxam Mon-El, former Legion of Superheroes member Querl \"Brainy\" Dox / Brainiac 5, Nia Nal / Dreamer, James' younger sister Kelly, and reporter Willam Dey face against these rival forces.",
"She is later joined by Lex Luthor's sister Lena, Prince of Daxam Mon-El, former Legion of Superheroes member Querl \"Brainy\" Dox / Brainiac 5, Nia Nal / Dreamer, James' younger sister Kelly, and reporter Willam Dey face against these rival forces. After joining the Arrowverse, which contain annual crossover, Kara assists Barry Allen, Oliver Queen and the Legends of Tomorrow against threats on their designated earth \"Earth-1\" while Kara’s is designated as \"Earth-38.",
"After joining the Arrowverse, which contain annual crossover, Kara assists Barry Allen, Oliver Queen and the Legends of Tomorrow against threats on their designated earth \"Earth-1\" while Kara’s is designated as \"Earth-38. Later, Kara is selected by The Monitor as the Paragon of Hope to participate in the coming crisis and fight against the Anti-Monitor, whose goal is to destroy the multiverse. After doing so, the Paragons are sent to the Vanishing Point where Oliver, now a Spectre, helps them escape.",
"After doing so, the Paragons are sent to the Vanishing Point where Oliver, now a Spectre, helps them escape. The Paragons appear at the dawn of time in the anti-matter universe where they have their final confrontation with the Anti-Monitor. Eventually, Oliver sacrifices himself to kill the Anti-Monitor, and as a result, a new multiverse is born with Earth-38 and Earth-1 merged into \"Earth-Prime\". Following the crisis, Kara is forced to deal the after-effects of Crisis which include working with Lex, now owning the D.E.O.",
"Following the crisis, Kara is forced to deal the after-effects of Crisis which include working with Lex, now owning the D.E.O. while Leviathan continue their covert operations under Gamemnae. The sixth season sees Kara and her allies expose Lex's crimes, but are then forced to deal with Nyxlygsptlnz, a fifth-dimensional imp who tricked the heroes into releasing her from the Phantom Zone.",
"The sixth season sees Kara and her allies expose Lex's crimes, but are then forced to deal with Nyxlygsptlnz, a fifth-dimensional imp who tricked the heroes into releasing her from the Phantom Zone. Eventually Nyxlygsptlnz joins forces with Lex Luthor and the two kill William, but Kara's assembled allies are able to defeat the two, culminating in Lex and Nyxlygsptlnz being trapped in the Phantom Zone when one of their own plans backfires.",
"Eventually Nyxlygsptlnz joins forces with Lex Luthor and the two kill William, but Kara's assembled allies are able to defeat the two, culminating in Lex and Nyxlygsptlnz being trapped in the Phantom Zone when one of their own plans backfires. The series concludes with Kara revealing her dual identity so that she can live a full life as one person. Animation DC Nation Shorts Supergirl appears with Batgirl and Wonder Girl in Super Best Friends Forever, voiced by Nicole Sullivan.",
"Animation DC Nation Shorts Supergirl appears with Batgirl and Wonder Girl in Super Best Friends Forever, voiced by Nicole Sullivan. DC Super Hero Girls Supergirl appears as a central protagonist in the web series DC Super Hero Girls voiced by Anais Fairweather, and is a student at Super Hero High, is very kind and caring and extremely powerful but she's also very clumsy. She also appears as a central protagonist in the 2019 TV series, with Nicole Sullivan reprising her role from the Super Best Friends Forever shorts.",
"She also appears as a central protagonist in the 2019 TV series, with Nicole Sullivan reprising her role from the Super Best Friends Forever shorts. In this version, she is also a rebel and is known as the \"cool kid\" in school. She may be tough but she can easily express her emotions and is very open-minded as well. She can be a cool friend and a helpful one, but she can also be jealous sometimes and she dislikes her cousin's prominence.",
"She can be a cool friend and a helpful one, but she can also be jealous sometimes and she dislikes her cousin's prominence. Justice League Action Supergirl appears in Justice League Action, voiced by Joanne Spracklen. She has the appearance of a wide-eyed human teenager with blonde hair and wears her traditional costume except that it has thigh-high boots and a pleated skirt. As a person, she is youthful, responsible, and shows much affection for her cousin Superman.",
"As a person, she is youthful, responsible, and shows much affection for her cousin Superman. In \"Party Animal\", she appears as a cameo at this Christmas party with the Justice League. In \"Keeping up with the Kryptonians\", Supergirl becomes a star of the popular reality show \"That's So Kara\", and Superman a Kasnian who rules from one place to another on Earth, all being a reality caused by Mister Mxyzptlk.",
"In \"Keeping up with the Kryptonians\", Supergirl becomes a star of the popular reality show \"That's So Kara\", and Superman a Kasnian who rules from one place to another on Earth, all being a reality caused by Mister Mxyzptlk. In \"Unleashed\", Supergirl accompanies Justice League in stopping Red Lantern Corps, unaware that it was a distraction made by Dex-Starr to invade Earth, until it was ultimately resolved by Krypto, Streaky, and Plastic Man.",
"In \"Unleashed\", Supergirl accompanies Justice League in stopping Red Lantern Corps, unaware that it was a distraction made by Dex-Starr to invade Earth, until it was ultimately resolved by Krypto, Streaky, and Plastic Man. In a short \"The Goddess Must Be Crazy\", Supergirl trains with Wonder Woman in Paradise Island, until she is possessed by Felix Faust, to destroy the island. Film Superman film series A live action depiction of Supergirl first appears in the eponymous 1984 film starring Helen Slater as Supergirl.",
"Film Superman film series A live action depiction of Supergirl first appears in the eponymous 1984 film starring Helen Slater as Supergirl. The film is a spin-off from the Superman film series starring Christopher Reeve, to which it is connected by Marc McClure's character of Jimmy Olsen. DC Extended Universe Kara Zor-El / Linda Danvers / Supergirl exists within the DC Extended Universe, as she was referenced in Man of Steel when Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman discovers an empty pod within the Kryptonian scout spaceship.",
"DC Extended Universe Kara Zor-El / Linda Danvers / Supergirl exists within the DC Extended Universe, as she was referenced in Man of Steel when Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman discovers an empty pod within the Kryptonian scout spaceship. Though Zack Snyder confirmed in August 2018 that even though the character does exist, that pod was not intended for her. In August 2018, a film centered around the character was announced to be in development, with Oren Uziel hired as screenwriter for the project.",
"In August 2018, a film centered around the character was announced to be in development, with Oren Uziel hired as screenwriter for the project. The studio intends to hire a female director, with Reed Morano—who has expressed interest in the project—being its top choice. Filming was expected to start production in early 2020. Sasha Calle will play Supergirl for the DC Extended Universe in The Flash.",
"Sasha Calle will play Supergirl for the DC Extended Universe in The Flash. Animation Summer Glau voices the post-Crisis version of Kara Zor-El in Superman/Batman: Apocalypse, which is based on the Superman/Batman storyline \"The Supergirl from Krypton\". Despite this, it was confirmed by director Lauren Montgomery that Supergirl's name was removed from the title due to the much slower sales of the previous Wonder Woman animated movie, and the character was not permitted to appear on the cover in her trademark outfit.",
"Despite this, it was confirmed by director Lauren Montgomery that Supergirl's name was removed from the title due to the much slower sales of the previous Wonder Woman animated movie, and the character was not permitted to appear on the cover in her trademark outfit. Molly Quinn voices Supergirl in Superman: Unbound. Supergirl appears in Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League: Cosmic Clash, voiced by Jessica DiCicco. Video games Supergirl appears in DC Universe Online, voiced by Adriene Mishler.",
"Video games Supergirl appears in DC Universe Online, voiced by Adriene Mishler. In the villain campaign, the players help Doctor Psycho capture Supergirl using Kryptonite. In the hero campaign, the players fight Doctor Psycho to save Supergirl. Under the thrall of Brainiac, she must be defeated in the Fortress of Solitude: Power Core raid. Supergirl is unlockable in Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes, voiced by Bridget Hoffman. Supergirl makes a cameo appearance in the IOS version of Injustice: Gods Among Us as a support card.",
"Supergirl makes a cameo appearance in the IOS version of Injustice: Gods Among Us as a support card. Supergirl appears as a playable character in Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham, voiced by Kari Wahlgren. She is playable in her default variant which is designed after her appearance in The New 52 and in her Classic attire.",
"She is playable in her default variant which is designed after her appearance in The New 52 and in her Classic attire. Her Classic variant is unlocked in a VR Mission while her New 52 variant is unlocked in a Hub Quest in Nok where she requests players to defeat a number of enemies she accidentally releases from their cells. Supergirl appears as a playable character in Infinite Crisis, voiced by Camilla Luddington.",
"Supergirl appears as a playable character in Infinite Crisis, voiced by Camilla Luddington. Supergirl appears as a playable character and the central protagonist in Injustice 2 by NetherRealm Studios, the sequel to Injustice: Gods Among Us, voiced by Laura Bailey.",
"Supergirl appears as a playable character and the central protagonist in Injustice 2 by NetherRealm Studios, the sequel to Injustice: Gods Among Us, voiced by Laura Bailey. Here her origin is much like in the comics where she is sent along with her cousin Kal-El to Earth by her mother after Krypton is destroyed but on separate pods where hers veers off-course after sustaining significant damage, stranding her in space for many years until she lands on Earth, unaged.",
"Here her origin is much like in the comics where she is sent along with her cousin Kal-El to Earth by her mother after Krypton is destroyed but on separate pods where hers veers off-course after sustaining significant damage, stranding her in space for many years until she lands on Earth, unaged. When the main storyline starts, she is residing on Black Adam's kingdom of Khandaq, apparently under his and Wonder Woman's protection.",
"When the main storyline starts, she is residing on Black Adam's kingdom of Khandaq, apparently under his and Wonder Woman's protection. When Brainiac who was responsible for Krypton's destruction attacks, she, Wonder Woman, and Black Adam attempt to free Superman and the remaining members of the Regime, while being interrupted in their efforts by new Insurgency recruits Blue Beetle and Firestorm until Batman himself arrives and releases Superman, leading to a temporary alliance between the Regime and Insurgency against the alien warlord.",
"When Brainiac who was responsible for Krypton's destruction attacks, she, Wonder Woman, and Black Adam attempt to free Superman and the remaining members of the Regime, while being interrupted in their efforts by new Insurgency recruits Blue Beetle and Firestorm until Batman himself arrives and releases Superman, leading to a temporary alliance between the Regime and Insurgency against the alien warlord. Over the course of the story, she learns the truth about her cousin's tyranny and at the end of the game sides with Batman, Green Lantern and Flash in letting Brainiac live in order to restore the lost cities but is defeated.",
"Over the course of the story, she learns the truth about her cousin's tyranny and at the end of the game sides with Batman, Green Lantern and Flash in letting Brainiac live in order to restore the lost cities but is defeated. In Batman's ending, she laments her cousin's tyranny and sees him leave to be imprisoned in the Phantom Zone and is offered membership by Batman in his Justice League.",
"In Batman's ending, she laments her cousin's tyranny and sees him leave to be imprisoned in the Phantom Zone and is offered membership by Batman in his Justice League. In Superman's ending, she is imprisoned aboard Brainiac's ship and to her shock discovers her cousin has bonded with it and when she refuses his offer to join him in leading his new legion of imprisoned species. He attempts to coerce her by revealing a brainwashed Batman, who had also been captured, further shocking her.",
"He attempts to coerce her by revealing a brainwashed Batman, who had also been captured, further shocking her. Supergirl appears as a limited-distribution minifigure for the toys-to-life video game Lego Dimensions, with Kari Wahlgren reprising her role. She has the ability to transform between her classic and Red Lantern forms. Supergirl appears as a playable character in DC Unchained. Supergirl appears in the PSP version of Justice League Heroes. Supergirl appears as a playable character in the DC TV Super-Heroes DLC pack in Lego DC Super-Villains.",
"Supergirl appears as a playable character in the DC TV Super-Heroes DLC pack in Lego DC Super-Villains. See also Alternative versions of Supergirl Laurel Gand References External links DC Comics Pre-Crisis Supergirl Chronology Supergirl Characters created by Otto Binder Comics characters introduced in 1958 Comics characters introduced in 1959 DC Comics aliens DC Comics American superheroes DC Comics characters who can move at superhuman speeds DC Comics characters with accelerated healing DC Comics characters with superhuman strength DC Comics deities DC Comics female superheroes DC Comics film characters DC Comics television characters DC Comics extraterrestrial superheroes Female characters in television Fictional characters with superhuman senses Fictional actors Fictional extraterrestrial–human hybrids Fictional orphans Fictional photographers Fictional refugees Fictional reporters Fictional school counselors Fictional American secret agents Fictional waiting staff Kryptonians Superheroes who are adopted Vigilante characters in comics"
] |
[
"Mike Gravel",
"Run for Vice President in 1972",
"Who was Gavel's running mate?",
"I don't know."
] | C_99b905b192ab4470bbae0787f5f31d5c_1 | Who did he compete against in 1972? | 2 | Who did Mike Gravel compete against in 1972? | Mike Gravel | Gravel "decided to become a pioneer in a faraway place," and moved to pre-statehood Alaska in August 1956, without funds or a job, looking for a place where someone without social or political connections could be a viable candidate for public office. Alaska's voting age of 19, less than most other states' 21, played a role in his decision, as did its newness and cooler climate. Broke when he arrived, he immediately found work in real estate sales until winter arrived. Gravel then was employed as a brakeman for the Alaska Railroad, working the snow-clearing train on the Anchorage-Fairbanks run. Subsequently, he opened a small real estate brokerage in Anchorage (the Territory of Alaska not requiring a license) and saved enough so as not to have to work the railroad again. Gravel joined the Anchorage Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, and continued a sporadic relationship with the movement throughout his life. Gravel married Rita Jeannette Martin, who had been Anchorage's "Miss Fur Rendezvous" of 1958, on April 29, 1959. They had two children, Martin Anthony Gravel and Lynne Denise Gravel, born c. 1960 and 1962 respectively. Meanwhile, he went to Washington, D.C. in 1957 to campaign for Alaskan statehood via the "Tennessee Plan": dressed as Paul Revere, he rode with a petition to the steps of the U.S. Capitol. Seeing Alaska as a wide-open place with no political establishment or entrenched interests, and using the slogan "Gravel, the Roadbed to Prosperity", he ran for the territorial legislature in 1958 but lost. He went on a national speaking tour concerning tax reform in 1959, sponsored by the Jaycees. He ran without avail for the City Council in Anchorage in 1960. During this time, he had become a successful real estate agent; after the 1960 election, he became a property developer in a mobile home park on the outskirts of Anchorage. A partner ran into financial difficulty, however, and the project went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy and Gravel was forced out in 1962. In the late 1960s and early 1970s the U.S. Department of Defense was in the process of performing tests for the nuclear warhead for the Spartan anti-ballistic missile. Two tests, the "Milrow" and "Cannikin" tests, were planned, involving the detonation of nuclear bombs under Amchitka Island in Alaska. The Milrow test would be a one megaton calibration exercise for the second, and larger five megaton, Cannikin test, which would measure the effectiveness of the warhead. Gravel opposed the tests in Congress. Before the Milrow test took place in October 1969, he wrote that there were significant risks of earthquakes and other adverse consequences, and called for an independent national commission on nuclear and seismic safety to be created; he then made a personal appeal to President Nixon to stop the test. After Milrow was conducted, there was continued pressure on the part of environmental groups against going forward with the larger Cannikin test, while the Federation of American Scientists claimed that the warhead being tested was already obsolete. In May 1971, Gravel sent a letter to U.S. Atomic Energy Commission hearings held in Anchorage, in which he said the risk of the test was not worth taking. Eventually a group not involving Gravel took the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to issue an injunction against it, and the Cannikin test took place as scheduled in November 1971. Gravel had failed to stop the tests (notwithstanding his later claims during his 2008 presidential campaign). Nuclear power was considered an environmentally clean alternative for the commercial generation of electricity and was part of a popular national policy for the peaceful use of atomic energy in the 1950s and 1960s. Gravel publicly opposed this policy; besides the dangers of nuclear testing, he was a vocal critic of the Atomic Energy Commission, which oversaw American nuclear efforts, and of the powerful United States Congress Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, which had a stranglehold on nuclear policy and which Gravel tried to circumvent. In 1971, Gravel sponsored a bill to impose a moratorium on nuclear power plant construction and to make power utilities liable for any nuclear accidents; in 1975, he was still proposing similar moratoriums. By 1974, Gravel was allied with Ralph Nader's organization in opposing nuclear power. Six months before U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's secret mission to the People's Republic of China (P.R.C.) in July 1971, Gravel introduced legislation to recognize and normalize relations with China, including a proposal for unity talks between the P.R.C. and the Republic of China (Taiwan) regarding the Chinese seat on the U.N. Security Council. Gravel reiterated his position in favor of recognition, with four other senators in agreement, during Senate hearings in June 1971. Gravel actively campaigned for the office of Vice President of the United States during the 1972 presidential election, announcing on June 2, 1972, over a month before the 1972 Democratic National Convention began, that he was interested in running for the nomination should the choice be opened up to convention delegates. Towards this end he began soliciting delegates for their support in advance of the convention. He was not alone in this effort, as former Governor of Massachusetts Endicott Peabody had been running a quixotic campaign for the same post since the prior year. Likely presidential nominee George McGovern was in fact considering the unusual move of naming three or four acceptable vice-presidential candidates and letting the delegates choose. At the convention's final day on July 14, 1972, presidential nominee McGovern selected and announced Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri as his vice-presidential choice. Eagleton was unknown to many delegates and the choice seemed to smack of traditional ticket balancing considerations. Thus, there were delegates willing to look elsewhere. Gravel was nominated by Bettye Fahrenkamp, the Democratic National Committeewoman from Alaska. He then seconded his own nomination, breaking down in tears at his own words and maybe trying to withdraw his nomination. In any case he won 226 delegate votes, coming in third behind Eagleton and Frances "Sissy" Farenthold of Texas, in chaotic balloting that included several other candidates as well. For his efforts, Gravel attracted some attention: famed writer Norman Mailer would say he "provided considerable excitement" and was "good-looking enough to have played leads in B-films", while Rolling Stone correspondent Hunter S. Thompson said Gravel "probably said a few things that might have been worth hearing, under different circumstances ..." Yet, the whole process had been doubly disastrous for the Democrats. The time consumed with the nominating and seconding and other speeches of all the vice-presidential candidates had lost the attention of the delegates on the floor and pushed McGovern's speech until 3:30 a.m. The haste with which Eagleton had been selected led to surprise when his past mental health treatments were revealed; he withdrew from the ticket soon after the convention, to be replaced by Sargent Shriver. CANNOTANSWER | former Governor of Massachusetts Endicott Peabody had been running a quixotic campaign for the same post | Maurice Robert Gravel ( ; May 13, 1930 – June 26, 2021) was an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Alaska from 1969 to 1981 as a member of the Democratic Party, and who, in later life, twice ran for the presidential nomination of that party.
Born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, by French-Canadian immigrant parents, Gravel moved to Alaska in the late 1950s, becoming a real estate developer and entering politics. He served in the Alaska House of Representatives from 1963 to 1967, and also became Speaker of the Alaska House. Gravel was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1968.
As a senator, Gravel became nationally known for his forceful, but unsuccessful, attempts to end the draft during the War in Vietnam, and for putting the Pentagon Papers into the public record in 1971. He conducted a campaign for the Democratic nomination in 1972 for Vice President of the United States, and then played a crucial role in obtaining Congressional approval for the Trans-Alaska pipeline in 1973. He was re-elected to the Senate in 1974, but was defeated in his bid for a third term in the primary election in 1980.
An advocate of direct democracy and the National Initiative, Gravel staged a run for the 2008 Democratic nomination for President of the United States. His campaign failed to gain support, and in March 2008, he left the Democratic Party and joined the Libertarian Party to compete unsuccessfully for its presidential nomination and the inclusion of the National Initiative into the Libertarian Platform. He ran for president as a Democrat again in the 2020 election, in a campaign that ended four months after it began. Two years before his death, Gravel and his campaign staff founded the progressive think tank The Gravel Institute.
Early life, military service, education
Gravel was born on May 13, 1930, in Springfield, Massachusetts, one of five children of French-Canadian immigrant parents, Alphonse and Marie (née Bourassa) Gravel. His parents were part of the Quebec diaspora, and he was raised in a working-class neighborhood during the Great Depression, speaking only French until he was seven years old. Calling him "Mike" from an early age, his father valued work above all else, while his mother stressed the importance of education.
Gravel was educated in parochial schools as a Roman Catholic. There he struggled, due to what he later said was undiagnosed dyslexia, and was left back in third grade. He completed elementary school in 1945 and his class voted him "most charming personality". A summer job as a soda jerk led to Gravel handing out campaign fliers for local candidates on his boss's behalf; Gravel was immediately impressed with "the awesomeness of political office".
Gravel then boarded at Assumption Preparatory School in Worcester, Massachusetts, where his performance was initially mediocre. By Gravel's telling, in the summer of 1948 he intended to volunteer for the Israel Defense Forces during the 1947–1949 Palestine war, but Alexandra Tolstaya told him to return to school. There an English teacher, the Assumptionist Edgar Bourque, gave him personal attention, improving Gravel's language skills and instructing him in public speaking. Gravel's grades improved measurably in his final year and he graduated in 1949. His sister, Marguerite, became a Holy Cross nun, but Gravel himself struggled with the Catholic faith. He studied for one year at Assumption College, a Catholic school in Worcester, then transferred for his sophomore year to American International College in Springfield. Journalist I. F. Stone and philosopher Bertrand Russell strongly influenced Gravel in their willingness to challenge assumptions and oppose social convention and political authority.
Around May 1951, Gravel saw that he was about to be drafted and instead enlisted in the U.S. Army for a three-year term so that he could get into the Counterintelligence Corps. After basic training and counterintelligence school at Fort Holabird in Maryland and in South Carolina, he went to Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia. While he expected to be sent off to the Korean War when he graduated as a second lieutenant in early 1952, he was instead assigned to Stuttgart, West Germany, as a Special Adjutant in the Army's Communications Intelligence Service. In Germany, Gravel conducted surveillance operations on civilians and paid off spies. After about a year, he transferred to Orléans, France, where his French language abilities (if not his French-Canadian accent) allowed him to infiltrate French communist rallies. He worked as a Special Agent in the Counterintelligence Corps until 1954, eventually becoming a first lieutenant.
Following his discharge, Gravel entered the Columbia University School of General Studies in New York City, where he studied economics and received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1956. He moved to New York "flat broke" and supported himself by working as a bar boy in a hotel, driving a taxicab, and working in the investment bond department at Bankers Trust. During this time he left the Roman Catholic faith.
Move to Alaska
Gravel "decided to become a pioneer in a faraway place," and moved to pre-statehood Alaska in August 1956, without funds or a job, looking for a place where someone without social or political connections could be a viable candidate for public office. Alaska's voting age of 19, less than most other states' 21, played a role in his decision, as did its newness and cooler climate. Broke when he arrived, he immediately found work in real estate sales until winter arrived. Gravel then was employed as a brakeman for the Alaska Railroad, working the snow-clearing train on the Anchorage-to-Fairbanks run. Subsequently, he opened a small real estate brokerage in Anchorage (the Territory of Alaska not requiring a license) and saved enough so as not to have to work the railroad again. The firm was named the M. R. Gravel Real Estate Company. Gravel joined the Anchorage Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, and continued a sporadic relationship with the movement throughout his life.
Seeing Alaska as a wide-open place with no political establishment or entrenched interests, Gravel quickly became part of the civic scene there. By October 1957 he was a Division Chairman for Anchorage for the Democratic Central Committee in the territory, and by June 1958 he was president of the Alaska Young Democrats organization. He also became active in the United States Junior Chamber (Jaycees), and by early 1958 his duties included handing out awards for farmer of the year.
By early 1958, Gravel was running as Democratic Party primary candidate for a Third Division seat in House of Representative of the territorial legislature. (This was one of the four judicial divisions into which Alaska was sectioned at the time.) Using the slogan "Gravel, the Roadbed to Prosperity", he ran but lost. At the same time, he was also an advocate for Alaskan statehood.
Gravel went on a 44-state national speaking tour concerning tax reform in 1959, sponsored by the Jaycees, often dressing for events as Paul Revere. Gravel was selected from some two thousand applications for this position. The tour received a good amount of local newspaper coverage at its various stops, with Gravel's first name sometimes given as Mike and other times as Maurice. The tour's general message was an urging of "lower taxes, more efficiency in government and a system of taxation moderate at all levels of income". At several stops Gravel stated that the "tide of socialism" had to be stopped. He elaborated at another stop, "It is part of our Jaycee creed that economic justice can best be won by free men through free enterprise. We really want to see that free enterprise become our inheritance." The tour was scheduled to conclude in Washington D.C., on Tax Day, April 15, with petition signatures accumulated for reform to be presented to U.S. lawmakers: dressed as Revere, Gravel rode with the petition to the steps of the U.S. Capitol.
The tour over, Gravel married Rita Jeannette Martin at the First Methodist Church of Anchorage on April 29, 1959. She was a native of Montana who had attended Billings Business College before moving to Alaska two years prior and becoming a secretary in the office of the Anchorage city manager. She had also been named Anchorage's "Miss Fur Rendezvous" of 1958. They had two children, Martin Anthony Gravel and Lynne Denise Gravel, born c. 1960 and 1962 respectively.
Gravel ran without avail for the City Council in Anchorage in 1960. During this time, he had become a successful real estate agent; after the 1960 election, he became a property developer in a mobile home park on the outskirts of Anchorage. After a partner ran into financial difficulty, however, the project went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and Gravel was forced out in 1962.
State legislator
With the support of Alaska wholesale grocer Barney Gottstein and supermarket builder Larry Carr, Gravel ran for the Alaska House of Representatives representing Anchorage in 1962, initially assigned the 10th and then 8th districts. Alaska had very crowded primaries that year: Gravel was one of 33 Democrats, along with 21 Republicans, who were running for the chance to compete for the 14 House seats allocated to the 8th district. Gravel made it through the primary, and in November eight Republicans and six Democrats were elected to the House from the district, with Gravel finishing eighth overall and third among with Democrats, with 8,174 votes. Gottstein became Gravel's main financial backer during most of his subsequent campaigns.
Gravel served in the Alaska House of Representatives from January 28, 1963 to January 22, 1967, winning reelection in 1964. In his first term, he served as a minority member on two House committees: Commerce, and Labor and Management. He co-authored and sponsored the act that created the Alaska State Commission for Human Rights. Gravel was the chief architect of the law that created a regional high school system for rural Alaska; this allowed Alaska Natives to attend schools near where they lived instead of having to go to schools run by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the lower 48 states.
During the half-years that the legislature was not in session, Gravel resumed his real estate work. With Gottstein and Carr's backing, he became quite successful as a property developer on the Kenai Peninsula.
During 1965 and 1966, he served as the Speaker of the House, surprising observers by winning that post. Gravel convinced former Speaker Warren A. Taylor to not try for the position against him by promising Taylor chairmanship of the Rules Committee, then reneged on the promise. Gravel denied later press charges that he had promised but not delivered on other committee chairmanships. As Speaker he antagonized fellow lawmakers by imposing his will on the legislature's committees and feuded with Alaska State Senate president Robert J. McNealy.
Gravel did not run for reelection in 1966, instead choosing to run for Alaska's seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, losing the primary to four-term incumbent Democrat Ralph Rivers by 1,300 votes and splitting the Democratic Party in the process. Rivers lost the general election that year to Republican state Senator Howard Pollock. Following this defeat, Gravel returned to the real estate business in Anchorage.
U.S. Senator
Election to Senate in 1968
In 1968, Gravel ran against 81-year-old incumbent Democratic United States Senator Ernest Gruening, a popular former governor of the Alaska Territory who was considered one of the fathers of Alaska's statehood, for his party's nomination to the U.S. Senate. Gravel's campaign was primarily based on his youth and telegenic appearance rather than issue differences. He hired Joseph Napolitan, the first self-described political consultant, in late 1966. They spent over a year and a half planning a short, nine-day primary election campaign that featured the slogans "Alaska first" and "Let's do something about the state we're in", the distribution of a collection of essays titled Jobs and More Jobs, and the creation of a half-hour, well-produced, glamorized biographical film of Gravel, Man for Alaska. The film was shown twice a day on every television station in Alaska, and carried by plane and shown on home projectors in hundreds of Alaska Native villages. The heavy showings quickly reversed a 2–to–1 Gruening lead in polls into a Gravel lead. Gravel visited many remote villages by seaplane and showed a thorough understanding of the needs of the bush country and the fishing and oil industries. Gravel also benefited from maintaining a deliberately ambiguous posture about Vietnam policy. Gruening had been one of only two Senators to vote against the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and his opposition to President Lyndon B. Johnson's war policies was harming him among the Democratic electorate; according to Gravel, "all I had to do was stand up and not deal with the subject, and people would assume that I was to the right of Ernest Gruening, when in point of fact I was to the left of him". In Man for Alaska, Gravel argued that "the liberals" would come to West Germany's defense if it was attacked, and that the same standard should apply to the United States' allies in Asia. During the campaign he also claimed that he was "more in the mainstream of American thought on Vietnam" than Gruening, despite the fact that he had written to Gruening to praise his antiwar stance four years earlier. Decades later, Gravel conceded that "I said what I said [about Vietnam] to advance my career."
Gravel beat Gruening in the primary by about 2,000 votes. Gruening found "the unexpected defeat hard to take" and thought that some aspects of his opponent's biographical film had misled viewers. In the general election, Gravel faced Republican Elmer E. Rasmuson, a banker and former mayor of Anchorage. College students in the state implored Gruening to run a write-in campaign as an Independent, but legal battles prevented him from getting approval for it until only two weeks were left. A late appearance by anti-war presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy did not offset Gruening's lack of funds and endorsements; meanwhile, Gravel and Rasmuson both saturated local media with their filmed biographies. On November 5, 1968, Gravel won the general election with 45 percent of the vote to Rasmuson's 37 percent and Gruening's 18 percent.
Senate assignments and style
When Gravel joined the U.S.Senate in January 1969, he requested and received a seat on the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee, which had direct relevance to Alaskan issues. He also got a spot on the Public Works Committee, which he held throughout his time in the Senate. Finally, he was a member of the Select Committee on Small Business. In 1971 he became chair of the Public Works Committee's Subcommittee on Public Buildings and Grounds, and by 1973 he was chair of its Subcommittee on Water Resources, then later its Subcommittee on Environmental Pollution. Gravel was also initially named to the Joint Committee on Congressional Operations. By 1973 Gravel was off the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee and the Select Small Business Committee and instead a member of the Finance Committee, and by 1977 was chair of that body's Subcommittee on Energy and Foundations. By 1973 he had also been on the ad hoc Special Committee to Study Secret and Confidential Government Documents.
By his own admission, Gravel was too new and "too abrasive" to be effective in the Senate by the usual means of seniority-based committee assignments or negotiating deals with other senators, and was sometimes seen as arrogant or a nuisance by the more senior and tradition-oriented members. Gravel relied on attention-getting gestures to achieve what he wanted, hoping national exposure would force other senators to listen to him. But even senators who agreed with him on issues considered his methods to be showboating.
As part of this approach, Gravel voted with Southern Democrats to keep the Senate filibuster rule in place, and accordingly supported Russell Long and Robert Byrd but opposed Ted Kennedy in Senate leadership battles. In retrospective assessment, University of Alaska Anchorage history professor Stephen Haycox said, "Loose cannon is a good description of Gravel's Senate career. He was an off-the-wall guy, and you weren't really ever sure what he would do."
Nuclear issues and the Cold War
In the late 1960s and early 1970s the U.S. Department of Defense was in the process of performing tests for the nuclear warhead for the Spartan anti-ballistic missile. Two tests, the "Milrow" and "Cannikin" tests, were planned, involving the detonation of nuclear bombs under Amchitka Island in Alaska. The Milrow test would be a one-megaton calibration exercise for the second and larger five-megaton Cannikin test, which would measure the effectiveness of the warhead. Gravel opposed the tests. Before the Milrow test took place in October 1969, he wrote that there were significant risks of earthquakes and other adverse consequences and called for an independent national commission on nuclear and seismic safety; he then made a personal appeal to President Richard Nixon to stop the test.
After Milrow was conducted, there was continued pressure on the part of environmental groups against going forward with the Cannikin test, while the Federation of American Scientists claimed that the warhead being tested was already obsolete. In May 1971 Gravel sent a letter to U.S. Atomic Energy Commission hearings held in Anchorage in which he said the risk of the test was not worth taking. Eventually a group not involving Gravel took the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to issue an injunction against it, and the Cannikin test took place as scheduled in November 1971. Gravel had failed to stop the tests (notwithstanding his later claims during his 2008 presidential campaign).
In 1971 Gravel voted against the Nixon administration's proposed anti-ballistic missile system, the Safeguard Program, having previously vacillated over the issue, suggesting that he might be willing to support it in exchange for federal lands in Alaska being opened up for private oil drilling. His vote alienated Senator Henry "Scoop" Jackson, who had raised funds for Gravel's primary campaign.
Nuclear power was considered an environmentally clean alternative for commercial generation of electricity and was part of a popular national policy for the peaceful use of atomic energy in the 1950s and 1960s. Gravel publicly opposed this policy; besides the dangers of nuclear testing, he was a vocal critic of the Atomic Energy Commission, which oversaw American nuclear efforts, and of the powerful United States Congress Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, which had a stranglehold on nuclear policy and which Gravel tried to circumvent. In 1971 Gravel sponsored a bill to impose a moratorium on nuclear power plant construction and to make power utilities liable for any nuclear accidents; in 1975 he was still proposing similar moratoriums. By 1974 Gravel was allied with Ralph Nader's organization in opposing nuclear power.
Six months before U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's July 1971 secret mission to the People's Republic of China (P.R.C.), Gravel introduced legislation to recognize and normalize relations with the P.R.C., including a proposal for unity talks between the P.R.C. and the Republic of China (Taiwan) regarding the Chinese seat on the U.N. Security Council. He reiterated his position in favor of recognition, with four other senators in agreement, during Senate hearings in June 1971.
Vietnam War, the draft, and the Pentagon Papers
Although he did not campaign against the Vietnam War during his first Senate campaign, by the end of 1970 Gravel was speaking out against United States policy in southeast Asia: in December of that year he persuaded William Fulbright to join him in a spontaneous two-day filibuster against a $155 million military aid package to Cambodia's Khmer Republic government in the Cambodian Civil War.
President Richard Nixon had campaigned in 1968 on a promise to end the U.S. military draft, a decision endorsed by the February 1970 report of the Gates Commission.
The existing draft law was scheduled to conclude at the end of June 1971, and the Senate faced a contentious debate about whether to extend it as the Vietnam War continued. The Nixon administration announced in February 1971 that it wanted a two-year extension to June 1973, after which the draft would end; Army planners had already been operating under the assumption of a two-year extension, after which an all-volunteer force would be in place. Skeptics such as Senate Armed Services Committee chairman John Stennis thought this unrealistic and wanted a four-year extension, but the two-year proposal is what went forward in Congress. By early May 1971, Gravel had indicated his intention to filibuster the draft renewal legislation, halting conscription and thereby bringing U.S. involvement in the war to a rapid end. During this period he also supported efforts to mobilize and influence public opinion against the war, endorsing the "Vietnam War Out Now" rallies in Washington D.C. and San Francisco on April 24, 1971, and financing a broadcast campaign by the antiwar group War No More with a personal loan. In June 1972 he escorted a group of over 100 antiwar protesters, including psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton, actress Candice Bergen, theater producer and director Joseph Papp, and peditrician Dr. Benjamin Spock, into the United States Capitol Building; the group was arrested after blocking a hallway outside the Senate chamber.
By June 1971, some Democratic senators opposed to the war wanted to limit the renewal to a one-year extension, while others wanted to end it immediately; Gravel reiterated that he was one of the latter, saying, "It's a senseless war, and one way to do away with it is to do away with the draft." A Senate vote on June 4 indicated majority support for the two-year extension. On June 18 Gravel announced again his intention to counteract that by filibustering the renewal legislation, defending the practice against those who associated it only with blocking civil rights legislation. The first filibuster attempt failed on June 23 when, by three votes, the Senate voted cloture for only the fifth time since 1927.
Protracted negotiations took place over House conference negotiations on the bill, revolving in large part around Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield's eventually unsuccessful amendment to tie renewal to a troop withdrawal timetable from Vietnam; during this time the draft law expired and no more were conscripted. On August 5, the Nixon administration pleaded for a renewal before the Senate went on recess, but Gravel blocked Stennis's attempt to limit debate, and no vote was held. Finally on September 21, 1971, the Senate invoked cloture over Gravel's second filibuster attempt by one vote, and then passed the two-year draft extension. Gravel's attempts to stop the draft had failed (notwithstanding Gravel's later claims that he had stopped or shortened the draft, taken at face value in some media reports, during his 2008 presidential campaign).
Meanwhile, on June 13, 1971, The New York Times began printing large portions of the Pentagon Papers. The papers were a large collection of secret government documents and studies pertaining to the Vietnam War, of which former Defense Department analyst Daniel Ellsberg had made unauthorized copies and was determined to make public. Ellsberg had for a year and a half approached members of Congress – such as William Fulbright, George McGovern, Charles Mathias, and Pete McCloskey – about publishing the documents, on the grounds that the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution would give congressional members immunity from prosecution, but all had refused. Instead, Ellsberg gave the documents to the Times.
The U.S. Justice Department immediately tried to halt publication, on the grounds that the information revealed within the papers harmed the national interest. Within the next two weeks, a federal court injunction halted publication in the Times; The Washington Post and several other newspapers began publishing parts of the documents, with some of them also being halted by injunctions; and the whole matter went to the U.S. Supreme Court for arguments. Looking for an alternate publication mechanism, Ellsberg returned to his idea of having a member of Congress read them, and chose Gravel based on the latter's efforts against the draft; Gravel agreed where previously others had not. Ellsberg arranged for the papers to be given to Gravel on June 26 via an intermediary, Post editor Ben Bagdikian. Gravel used his counter-intelligence experience to choose a midnight transfer in front of the Mayflower Hotel in the center of Washington, D.C.
On the night of June 29, 1971, Gravel attempted to read the papers on the floor of the Senate as part of his filibuster against the draft, but was thwarted when no quorum could be formed. Gravel instead convened a session of the Buildings and Grounds subcommittee that he chaired. He got New York Congressman John G. Dow to testify that the war had soaked up funding for public buildings, thus making discussion of the war relevant to the committee. He began reading from the papers with the press in attendance, omitting supporting documents that he felt might compromise national security, and declaring, "It is my constitutional obligation to protect the security of the people by fostering the free flow of information absolutely essential to their democratic decision-making."
He read until 1 a.m., culminating by saying "Arms are being severed. Metal is clashing through human bodies because of the public policy this government and all its branches continue to support." Then with tears and sobs he said that he could no longer physically continue, the previous three nights of sleeplessness and fear about the future having taken their toll. Gravel ended the session by, with no other senators present, establishing unanimous consent to insert 4,100 pages of the Papers into the Congressional Record of his subcommittee. The following day, the Supreme Court's New York Times Co. v. United States decision ruled in favor of the newspapers and publication in the Times and others resumed. In July 1971 Bantam Books published an inexpensive paperback edition of the papers containing the material the Times had published.
Gravel, too, wanted to privately publish the portion of the papers he had read into the record, believing that "immediate disclosure of the contents of these papers will change the policy that supports the war". After being turned down by many commercial publishers, on August 4 he reached agreement with Beacon Press, the publishing arm of the Unitarian Universalist Association, of which Gravel was a member. Announced on August 17 and published on October 22, 1971, this four-volume, relatively expensive set became the "Senator Gravel Edition", which studies from Cornell University and the Annenberg Center for Communication have labeled as the most complete edition of the Pentagon Papers to be published. The "Gravel Edition" was edited and annotated by Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn, and included an additional volume of analytical articles on the origins and progress of the war, also edited by Chomsky and Zinn. Beacon Press then was subjected to a FBI investigation; an outgrowth of this was the Gravel v. United States court case, which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled upon in June 1972; it held that the Speech or Debate Clause did grant immunity to Gravel for his reading the papers in his subcommittee, did grant some immunity to Gravel's congressional aide, but granted no immunity to Beacon Press in relation to their publishing the same papers. The U.S. Senate Democratic Caucus backed Gravel in the case, but due to Republican opposition it did not pay Gravel's legal fees, leaving him owing $25,000 (the equivalent of $150,000 in 2019, adjusted for inflation).
The events of 1971 changed Gravel in the following months from an obscure freshman senator to a nationally visible political figure. He became a sought-after speaker on the college circuit as well as at political fundraisers, opportunities he welcomed as lectures were "the one honest way a Senator has to supplement his income". But his speaking tours caused him to accrue one of the worst absentee records in the Senate. The Democratic candidates for the 1972 presidential election sought his endorsement. In January 1972 Gravel endorsed Maine Senator Ed Muskie, hoping that his support would help Muskie with the party's left wing and in ethnic French-Canadian areas during the first primary contest in New Hampshire (Muskie won, but not overwhelmingly, and his campaign faltered soon after). In April 1972 Gravel appeared on all three networks' nightly newscasts to decry the Nixon administration's reliance on Vietnamization by making reference to the secret National Security Study Memorandum 1 document, which stated it would take 8–13 years for the Army of the Republic of Vietnam to defend South Vietnam. Gravel made excerpts from the study public, but senators Robert P. Griffin and William B. Saxbe blocked his attempt to read NSSM 1 into the Congressional Record.
Domestic policy
In 1970 Gravel co-sponsored legislation to establish a guaranteed minimum income, entitling poor families to up to $6,300 a year (the equivalent of $42,000 in 2019 after adjustment for inflation). He subsequently voted for a "work bonus" program, which would have entitled low-income working families with dependent children if they were paying Social Security or Railroad Retirement taxes to a non-taxable bonus of up to 10 percent of their wages. Gravel also supported extending Social Security to all federal employees and introduced a campaign finance reform bill in 1971 that would have enacted full disclosure of campaign financing, placed limits on large donations, media spending and individual candidate spending.
In 1969, Gravel was the only Democratic Senator outside of the South to vote for Nixon's Supreme Court nominee Clement Haynsworth. The following year Gravel opposed Nixon's next pick, G. Harrold Carswell.
Run for vice president in 1972
Gravel actively campaigned for the office of Vice President of the United States during the 1972 presidential election, announcing on June 2, 1972, over a month before the 1972 Democratic National Convention began, that he was interested in the nomination should the choice be opened up to convention delegates. Toward this end he began soliciting delegates for their support. He was not alone in this effort, as former Governor of Massachusetts Endicott Peabody had been running a quixotic campaign for the same post since the prior year. Likely presidential nominee George McGovern was in fact considering the unusual move of naming three or four acceptable vice-presidential candidates and letting the delegates choose.
On the convention's final day, July 14, 1972, McGovern selected and announced Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri as his vice-presidential choice. Eagleton was unknown to many delegates and the choice seemed to smack of traditional ticket balancing considerations. Thus there were delegates willing to look elsewhere. Gravel was nominated by Bettye Fahrenkamp, the Democratic National Committeewoman from Alaska. He then seconded his own nomination, breaking down in tears at his own words and maybe trying to withdraw his nomination. In any case he won 226 delegate votes, coming in third behind Eagleton and Frances "Sissy" Farenthold of Texas, in chaotic balloting that included several other candidates.
Gravel attracted some attention for his efforts: writer Norman Mailer said he "provided considerable excitement" and was "good-looking enough to have played leads in B-films", while Rolling Stone correspondent Hunter S. Thompson said Gravel "probably said a few things that might have been worth hearing, under different circumstances". Yet the process was doubly disastrous for the Democrats. In the time consumed by nominating and seconding and all the vice-presidential candidates' speeches, the attention of the delegates on the floor was lost and McGovern's speech was pushed to 3:30 a.m. The haste with which Eagleton was selected led to surprise when his past mental health treatments were revealed; he withdrew from the ticket soon after the convention, to be replaced by Sargent Shriver.
Reelection to Senate in 1974
Several years earlier, Alaska politicians had speculated that Gravel would have a hard time getting both renominated and elected when his first term expired, given that he was originally elected without a base party organization and tended to focus on national rather than local issues.
Nonetheless, after receiving support from national and local labor leaders, securing key earmarks, and producing another half-hour TV advertorial, in 1974 Gravel was reelected to the Senate, with 58 percent of the vote to 42 percent for Republican State Senator C. R. Lewis, who was a national officer of the John Birch Society.
Second term
Gravel's reelection campaign left him $65,000–$75,000 in debt. In 1975 The Washington Post reported on a memo by his executive assistant laying out a fundraising strategy to tackle this, including raising funds from oil companies, meeting with previous donors and "inquir[ing] into the governmental priorities of these people and their groups in the coming session", as well as obtaining further speaking fees to reduce his personal debt. This was followed by a number of stories about links between Gravel, lobbyists and fundraisers, including one that was widely publicized in Alaska about his holding a share in a Colorado resort with two Washington lobbyists he was working with on land and energy legislation. Gravel had been open about the investment and had opposing views to one of the lobbyists on nuclear power. In 1980 the Wall Street Journal published details about his fundraising activities, including writing to individuals and PACs in the oil industry, pledging to kill off proposals for a windfall profits tax on the sector, and traveling in the Middle East with the business partner of one of his donors to sell Alaskan land to businessmen. Gravel suggested that critics of his fundraising were "naive".
In 1975 Gravel introduced an amendment to cut the number of troops overseas by 200,000, but it was defeated on a voice vote.
In September 1975 Gravel was named as one of several Congressional Advisers to the Seventh Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly, which met to discuss problems related to economic development and international economic cooperation.
In June 1976 Gravel was the focus of a federal investigation into allegations that he was involved in a sex-for-vote arrangement. Congressional staff clerk Elizabeth Ray (who had already been involved in a sex scandal that led to the downfall of Representative Wayne Hays) said that in August 1972 she had sex with Gravel aboard a houseboat on the Potomac River, under the instruction of Representative Kenneth J. Gray, her boss at the time. Gray allegedly wanted to secure Gravel's support for further funding for construction of the National Visitor Center in Washington, a troubled project that was under the jurisdiction of subcommittees that both members chaired. Another Congressional staffer said she witnessed the boat encounter, but Gravel said at the time that he had never met either of the women. Gravel and Gray strongly denied that they had made any arrangement regarding legislation, and neither was ever charged with any wrongdoing. Decades later Gravel wrote that he had indeed had sex with Ray, but had not changed any votes because of it.
Gravel and his main financial backer, Gottstein, had a falling out in 1978, during the Congressional debate over whether to allow a controversial sale of U.S. F-15 fighter aircraft to Saudi Arabia. An ardent backer of Israel, Gottstein opposed the sale and asked Gravel to vote against it. But Gravel not only voted for it but made an emotional speech attacking the anti-sale campaign. Gravel wrote in 2008 that it was the only time Gottstein had ever asked him for a favor, and the rupture resulted in their never speaking to each other again.
Alaskan issues
By 1971 Gravel was urging construction of the much-argued Trans-Alaska pipeline, addressing environmental concerns by saying that the pipeline's builders and operators should have "total and absolute" responsibility for any consequent environmental damage. Two years later the debate over the pipeline came to a crux, with The New York Times describing it as "environmentalists [in] a holy war with the major oil companies". In February 1973 the U.S. Court of Appeals blocked the issuance of permits for construction; Gravel and fellow Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens reacted by urging Congress to pass legislation overturning the court's decision. Environmentalists opposed to the pipeline, such as the Environmental Defense Fund and the Sierra Club then sought to use the recently passed National Environmental Policy Act to their advantage; Gravel designed an amendment to the pipeline bill that would immunize the pipeline from any further court challenges under that law, and thus speed its construction. Passage of the amendment became the key battle regarding the pipeline. On July 17, 1973, in a dramatic roll-call vote, the Gravel amendment was approved as a 49–49 tie was broken in favor by Vice President Spiro Agnew. The actual bill enabling the pipeline then passed easily; Gravel had triumphed in what became perhaps his most lasting accomplishment as a senator.
In opposition to the Alaskan fishing industry, Gravel advocated American participation in the formation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. For two years he opposed legislation that established a Exclusive Economic Zone for marine resources. He was one of only 19 senators to vote against Senate approval for the expanded zone in 1976, saying it would undermine the U.S. position in Law of the Sea negotiations and that nations arbitrarily extending their fishing rights limits would "produce anarchy of the seas". The legislation was passed, and the United States has signed but never ratified the Law of the Sea treaty.
Gravel accumulated a complicated record on Indian affairs during his time in the Senate. During his first year in the Senate Gravel urged abolition of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, criticizing the agency for the pace of development of schools in Alaska, its paternalistic attitudes and the culturally inappropriate nature of its education, and advocating greater shared decision-making between the federal government and native communities in Alaska. Later, his views changed; in the early 1970s Gravel supported a demonstration project that established links between Alaskan villages and the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, for medical diagnostic communications. In 1971, he fended off accusations from Alaskan natives that he was not spending enough time working on their land claims. Gravel helped secure a private grant to facilitate the first Inuit Circumpolar Conference in 1977, attended by Inuit representatives from Alaska, Canada, and Greenland. These conferences now also include representatives from Russia. In 1977, Gravel helped lead an effort to have the U.S. Interior Department rename Mount McKinley to Denali; this eventually led to Denali National Park being so named. Subsequently, Gravel proposed a never-built "Denali City" development above the Tokositna River near the mountain, to consist of a giant Teflon dome enclosing hotels, golf courses, condominiums, and commercial buildings. A related idea of his to build a high-speed rail line to Denali also failed to gain traction.
A key, emotional issue in the state at the time was "locking up Alaska", making reference to allocation of its vast, mostly uninhabited land. President Jimmy Carter desired to put large portions of this land under federal protection against development, a move that some Alaskans vociferously opposed.
In 1978 Gravel blocked passage, via procedural delays such as walking out of House–Senate conference committee meetings, of a complex bill which represented a compromise on land use policy. The bill would have put some of Alaska's vast federal land holdings under state control while preserving other portions for federal parks and refuges; the blocking action earned Gravel the enmity of fellow Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, who had supported the compromise. In 1980, a new lands bill came up for consideration, that was less favorable to Alaskan interests and more liked by environmentalists; it set aside of Alaska's for national parks, conservation areas, and other restricted federal uses. Gravel blocked it, as not ensuring enough future development in the state. A new compromise version of the 1980 bill came forward, which reduced the land set aside to . Representing Alaskan interests, Gravel tried to stop the bill, including by filibuster. But the Senate voted for cloture and passed the bill. Frustrated, Gravel said, "the legislation denies Alaska its rights as a state, and denies the U.S. crucial strategic resources," and opined that the Senate was "a little bit like a tank of barracudas". Nonetheless, the bill, known as the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980, was signed by President Carter shortly before leaving the White House, and led to millions of acres being set aside in the state for national parks, wildlife refuges, and other kinds of areas under protection.
In 1978 Gravel authored and secured the passage into federal law of the General Stock Ownership Corporation, that became Subchapter U of the Tax Code under the Internal Revenue Code of 1954. This gave states the ability to create corporations that would invest in for-profit enterprises, with all citizens within the state owning shares in the corporation. Gravel's attempt to convince the Alaska state legislature to create such a corporation failed, as did a 1980 state ballot initiative towards the same end, but nevertheless the creation of the General Stock Ownership Corporation in federal law turned out to be significant in the development of binary economics.
Loss of Senate seat in 1980
In 1980 Gravel was challenged for the Democratic Party's nomination by State Representative Clark Gruening, the grandson of the man Gravel had defeated in a primary 12 years earlier. One of Gruening's supporters was Gravel's former backer Gottstein. Several factors made Gravel vulnerable. As an insurgent candidate in 1968 Gravel had never established a firm party base. Not liking to hunt or fish, he was also always culturally suspect in the state.
The primary campaign was bitterly fought. A group of Democrats, including future governor Steve Cowper, led the campaign against Gravel, with Gravel's actions in respect to the 1978 and 1980 Alaskan lands bills a major issue. This was especially so given that the 1980 bill's dénouement happened but a week before the primary. The sources of Gravel's campaign funds, some of which Gravel readily acknowledged came from political action committees outside the state, also became an issue in the contest. Gruening had pledged that he would not take special interest group money, but Gravel said that Gruening was "dishonest" in accepting individual contributors from Jewish donors living outside the state because to him such contributors comprised "a special interest group ... that seeks to influence the foreign policy of the U.S."
Gruening won the primary with about 55 percent of the vote to Gravel's 44 percent. Gravel later conceded that by the time of his defeat, he had alienated "almost every constituency in Alaska". Another factor may have been Alaska's blanket primary system of the time, which allowed unlimited voting across party lines and from its many independents; Republicans believed Gruening would be an easier candidate to defeat in the general election.
Gruening lost the general election to Republican Frank Murkowski. Gravel was the last Democrat to represent Alaska in Congress for 28 years, until Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich defeated Ted Stevens, by then an aged, iconic figure who had just been convicted of seven felonies for taking unreported gifts, in a very close and protracted election result in 2008. Stevens's conviction was subsequently vacated due to prosecutorial misconduct.
Career after leaving the Senate
Of his 1980 defeat, Gravel later recalled: "I had lost my career. I lost my marriage. I was in the doldrums for ten years after my defeat," and "Nobody wanted to hire me for anything important. I felt like I was worthless. I didn't know what I could do." By his own later description, Gravel was a womanizer, and had an affair while in the Senate, and in December 1980 he and his wife Rita separated. They filed for divorce in September 1981; she later received all of his Senate pension income.
During the 1980s Gravel was a real estate developer in Anchorage and Kenai, Alaska, a consultant, and a stockbroker. One of his real estate ventures, a condominium business, was forced to declare bankruptcy and a lawsuit ensued. In 1986 Gravel worked in partnership with Merrill Lynch Capital Markets to buy losses that financially troubled Alaska Native Corporations could not take as tax deductions and sell them to large national companies looking for tax writeoffs. Gravel also learned computer programming at some point but never practiced it.
In 1984 Gravel married his second wife, Whitney Stewart Gravel, a former administrative assistant for Senator Jacob Javits.
Return to politics
In 1989 Gravel reentered politics. He founded and led The Democracy Foundation, which promotes direct democracy. He established the Philadelphia II corporation, which seeks to replicate the original 1787 Constitutional Convention and have a Second Constitutional Convention to bring about direct democracy Gravel led an effort to get a United States Constitutional amendment to allow voter-initiated federal legislation similar to state ballot initiatives. He argued that Americans are able to legislate responsibly, and that the Act and Amendment in the National Initiative would allow American citizens to become "law makers". However such efforts met with little success.
In 2001, Gravel became director of the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution, where he admired institute co-founder Gregory Fossedal's work on direct democracy in Switzerland. By 2004, Gravel had become chair of the institute, and Fossedal (who in turn was a director of the Democracy Foundation) gave the introduction at Gravel's presidential announcement.
In 2003 Gravel gave a speech on direct democracy at a conference hosted by the American Free Press. The event was cosponsored by the Barnes Review, a journal that endorses Holocaust denial. After some controversy over his appearance, Gravel apologized, saying he did not realize the group's ties. Gravel said repeatedly that he did not share the group's views on the Holocaust, stating, "You better believe I know that six million Jews were killed. [The Barnes Review publishers] are nutty as loons if they don't think it happened". The group invited Gravel to speak again, but he declined.
Mike and Whitney Gravel lived in Arlington County, Virginia, until 2010 and then resided in Burlingame, California. They have the two grown children from his first marriage, Martin Gravel and Lynne Gravel Mosier, and four grandchildren. Whitney Gravel's income sustained the couple from 1998 on. In the 2000s, Gravel suffered poor health, requiring three surgeries in 2003 for back pain and neuropathy. Due to unreimbursed medical expenses and debts from his political causes, he declared personal bankruptcy in 2004. He began taking a salary from the non-profit organizations for which he was working; much of that income was lent to his presidential campaign. In 2007, he declared that he had "zero net worth".
2008 presidential campaign
Democratic Party primaries
At the start of 2006 Gravel decided the best way he could promote direct democracy and the National Initiative was to run for president. On April 17, 2006, Gravel became the first candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2008 election, announcing his run in a speech to the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Short on campaign cash, he took public transportation to get to his announcement. (Gravel called for public financing of elections.) Other principal Gravel positions were the FairTax, as well as withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq within 120 days and a single payer national health care system.
Gravel had opposed the Iraq War, and President George W. Bush's rationale for it, from the beginning, and in 2006 said that U.S. troops in Iraq, as in Vietnam, had "died in vain". He also favored a regional peace initiative, as well as reparation payments for Iraqis. Gravel also called for a "U.S. corporate withdrawal from Iraq", with reconstruction contracts held by U.S. companies to be turned over to Iraqi firms.
Gravel campaigned almost full-time in New Hampshire, the first primary state, following his announcement. Opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination showed Gravel with 1 percent or less support. By the end of March 2007, Gravel's campaign had less than $500 in cash on hand against debts of nearly $90,000.
Because of his time in the Senate, Gravel was invited to many of the early Democratic presidential debates. During the initial one at South Carolina State University on April 26, 2007, he suggested a bill requiring the president to withdraw from Iraq on pain of criminal penalties. He also advocated positions such as opposing preemptive nuclear war. He stated that the Iraq War had the effect of creating more terrorists and that the "war was lost the day that George Bush invaded Iraq on a fraudulent basis". Regarding his fellow candidates, he said, "I got to tell you, after standing up with them, some of these people frighten me – they frighten me." In one such exchange, Gravel said, "Tell me, Barack, who do you want to nuke?" to which Obama responded, "I'm not planning to nuke anybody right now, Mike, I promise."
Media stories said that Gravel was responsible for much of whatever "heat" and "flashpoints" had taken place during the Democratic debates. Gravel gained considerable publicity by shaking up the normally staid multiple-candidate format; The New York Times' media critic said that what Gravel had done was "steal a debate with outrageous, curmudgeonly statements". The Internet was a benefit: a YouTube video of his responses in the debate was viewed more than 225,892 times, ranking seventeenth in most views for week and first among news and politics clips; his name became the fifteenth most searched-for in the blogosphere; and his website garnered more traffic than those of frontrunners Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, or John Edwards. Gravel appeared on the popular Colbert Report on television on May 2, and his campaign and career were profiled in national publications such as Salon. Two wordless, Warholesque campaign videos, "Rock" and "Fire", were released on YouTube in late May and became hits, and eventually gained over 760,000 and 185,000 views respectively. "Rock", in turn, was given airtime during an episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Some thirty-five years after he first achieved the national spotlight, he had found it again.
All this did not improve his performance in the polls; a May 2007 CNN poll showed him with less than 0.5 percent support among Democrats. Gravel was in the next several debates, in one case after CNN reversed a decision to exclude him. Like some of the other second-tier candidates, Gravel did not get as much time as the leaders; during the June 2, 2007, New Hampshire debate, which lasted two hours, he was asked 10 questions and allowed to speak for five minutes and 37 seconds.
During the July 23, 2007, CNN-YouTube presidential debate, Gravel responded to audience applause when he had complained of a lack of airtime and said: "Thank you. Has it been fair thus far?" Detractors began to liken him to "the cranky uncle who lives in the attic," or "the angry old guy that just seemed to want to become angrier". Berkeley political scientist David Terr found that moderator George Stephanopoulos directed roughly five percent of his questions to Gravel; in a poll asking who did the best in the debate, Gravel placed seventh among the eight candidates. National opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination continued to show Gravel with one percent or zero percent numbers. By the end of the third-quarter 2007, Gravel had about $17,500 in cash on hand, had collected a total of about $380,000 during the 2008 election cycle, and was continuing to run a threadbare campaign with minimal staff.
Beginning with the October 30, 2007, Philadelphia event, Gravel was excluded from most of the debates, with the debate sponsors or the Democratic National Committee saying Gravel's campaign had not met fund-raising, polling, or local campaign organizational thresholds. For the Philadelphia exclusion, Gravel blamed corporate censorship on the part of sponsor owner and alleged military-industrial complex member General Electric for his exclusion and mounted a counter-gathering and debate against a video screen a short distance away, but he had lost his easiest publicity. In reaction, supporters organized "mass donation days" to try to help the campaign gain momentum and funds, such as on December 5, 2007, the anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition.
Gravel did not compete in the initial 2008 vote, the Iowa caucuses, but was still subjected to a false report from MSNBC that he had pulled out of the race afterward. Gravel did focus his attention on the second 2008 vote, the New Hampshire primary. In early January, Mother Jones' investigative reporter James Ridgeway was filmed interviewing and following Gravel in New Hampshire, in which Gravel is interviewed on the phone by Neal Conan for NPR's, Talk of the Nation. He received about 400 votes out of some 280,000 cast in New Hampshire, or 0.14 percent, before taking time off to improve his health. He resumed campaigning, but fared no better in subsequent states. By the end of January 2008, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and Gravel were the only remaining Democrats from the initial debates still running; Gravel vowed to stay in the presidential campaign until November. On March 11, 2008, Gravel continued to remain in the Democratic race but additionally endorsed a Green Party candidate for president, Jesse Johnson, saying he wanted to help Johnson prevail against Green Party rivals Cynthia McKinney and Ralph Nader. By late March, Gravel had almost no fundraising and was only on the ballot in one of the next ten Democratic primaries.
Switch to Libertarian Party
On March 25, 2008, Gravel announced that he would leave the Democrats and join the Libertarian Party, saying: "My libertarian views, as well as my strong stance against war, the military industrial complex and American imperialism, seem not to be tolerated by Democratic Party elites who are out of touch with the average American; elites that reject the empowerment of American citizens I offered to the Democratic Party at the beginning of this presidential campaign with the National Initiative for Democracy." The following day Gravel entered the race for the 2008 Libertarian presidential nomination, saying that he would have run as a third-party candidate all along except that he needed the public exposure that came from being in the earlier Democratic debates. Gravel's initial notion of running as a fusion candidate with other parties was met with skepticism.
As a Libertarian candidate, Gravel faced resistance to his past support of big government initiatives and his unorthodox positions around direct democracy. Nevertheless, he garnered more support than he had as a Democrat, placing second and third in two April 2008 straw polls. In the May 25 balloting at the 2008 Libertarian National Convention in Denver, Gravel finished fourth out of eight candidates on the initial ballot, with 71 votes out of a total 618; he trailed former Congressman and eventual winner Bob Barr, author Mary Ruwart, and businessman Wayne Allyn Root. Gravel's position did not subsequently improve and he was eliminated on the fourth ballot. Afterwards he stated that "I just ended my political career," but he vowed to continue promoting his positions as a writer and lecturer.
2008–early 2019
In June 2008 Gravel endorsed the NYC 9/11 Ballot Initiative, saying the measure would create a "citizens commission rather than a government commission" with subpoena power against top U.S. officials to "make a true investigation as to what happened" regarding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. He later said, "Individuals in and out of government may certainly have participated with the obviously known perpetrators of this dastardly act. Suspicions abound over the analysis presented by government. Obviously an act that has triggered three wars, Afghan, Iraqi and the continuing War on Terror, should be extensively investigated which was not done and which the government avoids addressing."
In August 2008 Gravel was speaking to a crowd of supporters of Sami Al-Arian (who two years earlier had pleaded guilty and been sentenced to prison for a charge of conspiracy in helping Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a "specially designated terrorist" organization) when he was caught on tape saying of Al-Arian's prosecutor, "Find out where he lives, find out where his kids go to school, find out where his office is: picket him all the time. Call him a racist in signs if you see him. Call him an injustice. Call him whatever you want to call him, but in his face all the time." Gravel was criticized for potentially involving the children of the prosecutor, and Al-Arian's family disavowed the sentiments.
Gravel defended Alaska Governor Sarah Palin after she was chosen as Republican presidential nominee John McCain's running mate in September 2008. He praised Palin's record in standing up to corruption among Alaskan Republicans, thought her national inexperience was an asset not a detriment, and predicted that the "Troopergate" investigation into whether she improperly fired a state official would "come out in her favor". Gravel made clear he would not support or vote for either McCain–Palin or Obama–Biden in the general election. The following year Gravel said that Palin's politics were "terrible, but that doesn't detract from the fact that she's a very talented person". He predicted that Palin would run for president in 2012 and that "she's going to surprise a lot of people". Palin did not run, but Gravel's prediction about "TrooperGate" was accurate as Palin was found not to have violated ethics laws.
In 2013, by the invitation of Hamed Ghashghavi, the secretary for international affairs of the 3rd International Conference on Hollywoodism in Tehran, Iran, Gravel attended that event as an Iranian government-organized anti-Hollywood conference. Gravel noted that the conference was attended by "various elements of extremes" but said it was necessary to discuss how the U.S. film industry portrayed Iran in order to prevent "an insane war" between the two nations.
In May 2013 Gravel was one of several former members of Congress to accept $20,000 from the Paradigm Research Group, an advocacy group for UFO disclosure, as part of holding what they termed a Citizen Hearing on Disclosure, modeled after congressional hearings, regarding supposed U.S. government suppression of evidence concerning UFOs. Gravel said, "Something is monitoring the planet, and they are monitoring it very cautiously, because we are a very warlike planet," and, "What we're faced with here is, in areas of the media, and the government too, an effort to marginalize and ridicule people who have specific knowledge."
In December 2014 Gravel was announced as the new CEO of KUSH, a company which makes marijuana-infused products for medicinal and recreational use, and a subsidiary of Cannabis Sativa, Inc. He also became an Independent Director of Cannabis Sativa.
During the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries, Gravel praised Bernie Sanders and his campaign, saying "Bernie is one of the most gifted politicians I have ever observed. He's a person of great integrity and very clever." Gravel predicted that Sanders would be elected president but would be unable to get his key reforms through Congress, and thus that Sanders and his supporters should back some of the proposals of the National Initiative.
In 2016, Gravel said in relation to the September 11 attacks: "We killed 58,000 American servicemen in the Vietnam War and all they did was die in vain. What's so unusual about killing 3,000 more in order to develop the grist for the mill to empower into infinity the military industrial complex?" and "There's no question in my mind that 9/11 was an inside job". The remarks were later disavowed by even Gravel supporters.
By 2019 Gravel was living in Seaside, California. He was working on a book, at the time titled Human Governance, about his principal idea for direct democracy, a U.S. Constitutional Amendment to create a "Legislature of the People" that would circumvent the existing Congress. The book was self-published at the end of the year by AuthorHouse under the title The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People.
2020 presidential campaign
On March 19, 2019, Gravel announced that he was considering running in the 2020 Democratic primaries. He said, "The goal will not be to win, but to bring a critique of American imperialism to the Democratic debate stage." An exploratory committee was formed, with filing a statement of organization with the Federal Election Commission on that same day. The filing was the idea of a group of teenagers, led by David Oks and Henry Williams, inspired by the podcast Chapo Trap House, and done with Gravel's consent (after a week spent convincing him of the idea's merits), but without his involvement. Intrigued by the group's commitment to amplifying his long-held policy goals, Gravel (who would be old on Inauguration Day in 2021) said he planned to meet with them in April, and to discuss a 2020 White House run with his wife. On April 2, 2019, Gravel filed to officially run for office. The campaign called itself the "#Gravelanche".
Gravel's initial stated goal was merely to qualify for debates by getting the required 65,000 small donors. He discouraged people from voting for him and said his preferences were Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard, both of whom favor a non-interventionist foreign policy. But on April 29, Gravel's campaign said he was running to win, not just to participate in debates. In a subsequent interview, though, Gravel emphasized the virtue of Sanders and Gabbard in some order as a presidential ticket. Statements like these caused Vox to call Gravel "2020's oddest Democratic presidential candidate". The New York Times Magazine included Gravel as an example in the rise of democratic socialism in the United States also exemplified by Sanders's 2016 race and the 2018 election of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: "[Gravel's] campaign represents the most absurd form of a legitimate movement on the left that feels little obligation to the Democratic Party."
In June 2019, Gravel touted the endorsement of Muntadher al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who, in December 2008, made headlines after he threw his shoes at President George W. Bush in protest of the U.S. war in Iraq. Al-Zaidi endorsed Gravel based on his promise to improve White House policies regarding Iraq and the Middle East.
On June 13, 2019, the Democratic Party announced the 20 major candidates who qualified for the first debate later that month. Gravel was one of the four who missed out (the others were Montana Governor Steve Bullock, U.S. Representative Seth Moulton, and Miramar, Florida, Mayor Wayne Messam). Gravel had been unable to get the requisite number of donations, or to score one percent or better in enough polls (many polls did not even include him). Nevertheless, Gravel said he would not drop out and would try to qualify for the July debate. In early July, however, Gravel's campaign said it was still 10,000 contributions short of the 65,000-donor threshold and that it was "nearing its conclusion". It solicited suggestions for where to donate $100–150,000 of leftover campaign funds. Gravel added that he had always planned on ending the campaign before the teenagers in charge of it needed to return to school. A few days later the campaign became the first to run an attack ad against Democratic front-runner Joe Biden, using the text "Is this the best our party has to offer?"
Gravel's campaign crossed the threshold of 65,000 donors on July 12, 2019, meeting the qualification mark for that month's debate. But because 20 other candidates, the maximum allowed to participate, had already met at least the polling criterion, which takes priority over the donor criterion, Gravel was not invited.
The campaign officially came to a close on August 6, 2019, with Gravel endorsing both Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard for president. Gravel's campaign later stated on Twitter that they never wanted to win but saw the campaign as an "intimately democratic" project and expressed honor at working with Gravel. Gravel said he would divide remaining campaign funds between charity and a new think tank which would espouse his ideas.
The Gravel Institute
Gravel used some of the funds remaining from his 2020 presidential campaign to found an eponymous progressive think tank called The Gravel Institute in 2019. As noted by Vice magazine, the institute aims to do battle with PragerU from a left-wing perspective. Launched in September 2020, the new entity said it would "carry on the life's work of former U.S Senator Mike Gravel in fighting for global peace and democracy. Its mission is to promote bold and forward-looking ideas about a more peaceful and egalitarian world, and to build a robust movement of young people to win it". Contributors announced include Cornel West and Slavoj Žižek, as well as Lower Brule Indian Reservation activist Nick Estes. Other presenters have included and will include H. Jon Benjamin, Briahna Joy Gray, Bernie Sanders, Chelsea Manning, Richard Wolff, Stephanie Kelton, Zephyr Teachout, David Cross, Jabari Brisport, Zohran Mamdani, and Gravel himself (though it is unknown if his appearance will be cancelled due to his death in June 2021, or if the video has already been recorded).
Death
Gravel died of multiple myeloma at his home in Seaside, California, on June 26, 2021, at age 91.
The obituary for him in The New York Times stated that Gravel was "a two-term Democratic senator from Alaska ... who was perhaps better known as an unabashed attention-getter" who later become known for "mounting long-shot presidential runs". The obituary in The Washington Post was similar, saying that Gravel was "an Alaska Democrat with a flair for the theatrical who rose from obscurity to brief renown" and later "ran quixotic campaigns for the presidency". The Anchorage Daily News quoted Gravel as saying of himself in 1989, "I'm an independent kind of guy. A rough and ready kind of guy. My glands work in a certain way that make me stand up, foolishly sometimes, and fight."
Political positions
Alan Abramowitz and Jeffrey Allan Segal described Gravel as "a maverick, if not an eccentric, in the Senate." His Americans for Democratic Action "Liberal Quotient" scores ranged from 81 out of 100 (1971) to 39 out of 100 (1980), with an average of around 61. His American Conservative Union scores ranged from 0 out of 100 (several years, including 1971 and 1972) to 38 out of 100 (1979), with an average of 14. Abramowitz and Segal note that Gravel's lowest ADA ratings coincided with his two Senate re-election bids, and for the most part his highest ACU ratings followed the same pattern.
In 1972, as a young senator, Gravel published Citizen Power: A People's Platform, a manifesto outlining what Kirkus Reviews termed a "populist reform [that] would provide 'balanced political power' between the people and government and business interests."
Civil rights issues
On drug policy, Gravel said in 2007 that he favored decriminalization and treating addiction as a public health matter. During his 2008 presidential candidacy he condemned the War on Drugs as a failure, saying that it did "nothing but savage our inner cities and put our children at risk". Gravel called for abolition of capital punishment in his book Citizen Power, and adhered to this position during his 2008 run for president. He supported abortion rights.
During the 2008 campaign Gravel was a strong supporter of LGBT rights. He supported same-sex marriage and opposed the Defense of Marriage Act and the U.S. military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy. He wrote in 2008 that "depriving gays and lesbians of equal rights is immoral".
Foreign policy and defense issues
Gravel was a critic of American imperialism.
Gravel firmly opposed U.S. military action against Iran and Syria. He voiced opposition to the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, the Military Commissions Act of 2006, the use of torture, indefinite detention, and what he called "flagrant ignorance" of the Geneva Convention. In 2014 Gravel called for the release of the full, unredacted Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture.
Gravel opposed the use of international sanctions as a policy tool and blamed the ones against Iraq under Saddam Hussein for the deaths of a half-million children in that country. In 2013 Gravel said that sanctions against Iran were "illegal".
During his 2008 candidacy, Gravel called for a cut in military spending, variously reported to be 15 percent or 50 percent. He called for the savings to boost public education spending. To spur international nuclear nonproliferation efforts, Gravel called for unilateral reductions in the U.S. nuclear arsenal.
In 2008 Gravel criticized the decision of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to not pursue the efforts to impeach George W. Bush and the attempted impeachment of Dick Cheney, saying also that Bush and Cheney had committed crimes and deserved "to be prosecuted" at The Hague. In 2013 he expressed disdain for President Obama, calling him "a total fraud" and saying that both Bush and Obama should be tried "for the crimes and murders they've committed" in the International Court of Justice. Gravel specifically condemned Obama for the drone strikes in Pakistan and elsewhere.
Economy, immigration, and environment
During his 2008 candidacy Gravel favored a FairTax scheme, which would abolish the Internal Revenue Service, eliminate the federal income tax (which Gravel called "corrupt"), and impose a national sales tax. While Gravel described FairTax as "progressive", others have criticized it as "regressive", disproportionately benefiting the wealthiest Americans. To offset the new sales taxes on essential goods, Gravel's plan called for monthly government rebate payments to individuals and families. During his 2020 campaign Gravel also voiced support for a third legislative body that would give the people direct control of the budget as well as the implementation of a land value tax.
Gravel opposed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) during his 2008 candidacy, calling it unfair and economically harmful and needing renegotiation. Gravel believed that NAFTA was the "root cause" of illegal migration to the U.S. He favored a guest worker program and "setting up naturalization procedures that would fairly bring immigrants into legal status". In a 2007 interview, Gravel identified himself as "very much of a globalist" who believed in open markets and open borders and condemned the scapegoating of undocumented immigrants. Gravel also said that he favored eliminating the cap on H1B visas.
As a senator from Alaska, Gravel favored drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but opposed it during his 2008 campaign. In 2008, Gravel supported a carbon tax to combat climate change.
Gravel spoke in favor of net neutrality during his presidential campaign.
Education and health care
Gravel called for the cost of college tuition to be borne by the federal government, rather than students. In his 2008 campaign, he called the No Child Left Behind Act "a failure" and called for it to be "reformed and fully funded". He expressed support for universal pre-kindergarten and the expansion of the Head Start program; and expressed an openness to charter schools and school vouchers. He also suggested extending the school day and the school year, and supported merit pay for teachers.
Gravel also called for publicly funded universal health care to replace the current employer-sponsored health insurance system. He supported "full funding" of the VA system. When asked in 2007 about naturopathy, homeopathy, and acupuncture, Gravel said that he was "very very much in favor" of holistic health care.
Awards and honors
In 2008 Gravel received the Columbia University School of General Studies' first annual Isaac Asimov Lifetime Achievement Award.
Electoral history
Writings
Gravel, Mike. Jobs and More Jobs. Mt. McKinley Publishers, 1968.
Gravel, Mike. Citizen Power: A People's Platform. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1972. .
revised and reissued as Citizen Power: A Mandate for Change, AuthorHouse, 2008. .
Gravel, Mike and Lauria, Joe. A Political Odyssey: The Rise of American Militarism and One Man's Fight to Stop It. Seven Stories Press, 2008. .
Gravel, Mike and Eisenbach, David. The Kingmakers: How the Media Threatens Our Security and Our Democracy. Phoenix Books, 2008. .
Gravel, Mike. Voice of a Maverick: The Speeches and Writings of Senator Mike Gravel. Brandywine House, 2008.
Gravel, Mike. Foreword to Poisoned Power: The Case Against Nuclear Power Plants. John W. Goffman & Arthur R. Tamplin, Rodale Press, Inc., Emmaus, PA, June 1971.
Gravel, Mike. The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People. AuthorHouse, 2020.
Explanatory notes
References
Citations
General references
The Pentagon Papers Senator Gravel Edition. Vol. Five: Critical Essays. Boston: Beacon Press, 1972. 341p. plus 72p. of Index to Vol. I–IV of the Papers; Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, editors.
External links
Mike Gravel official website
The Gravel Institute
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Writers from Anchorage, Alaska | true | [
"Lee Yoo-yeon (; born September 4, 2000) is a South Korean swimmer specialized in freestyle.\n\nCareer\nIn October 2018, he represented South Korea at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics held in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He competed in 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 200m freestyle and mixed 4 × 100m freestyle relay events. In the 50m freestyle heats event, he completed at rank 9, allowing him to advance to compete in the semifinal. In the 50m freestyle semifinal event, he completed at rank 8 with Robin Hanson. In semifinal swim-off against Robin, he completed at rank 2 hence did not advance to compete in the final. In the 100m freestyle heats event, he completed at rank 1, allowing him to advance to compete in the semifinal. In the 100m freestyle semifinal event, he completed at rank 3, allowing him to compete in the final which he completed at rank 5. In the 200m freestyle heats event, he completed at rank 7, allowing him to compete in the final which he completed at rank 8. In the freestyle relay event, the team did not advance to compete in the final.\n\nIn July 2019, he represented South Korea at the 2019 Summer Universiade held in Naples, Italy. He competed in the 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 200m freestyle, 400m freestyle, 4 × 100m freestyle relay, 4 × 200m freestyle relay and 4 × 100m medley relay at the . In the same month, he represented South Korea at the 2019 World Aquatics Championships. He competed in 4 × 200m freestyle relay, the team did not advance to compete in the final and qualify for the 2020 Summer Olympics which are awarded to top 12 teams in the standings.\n\nIn July 2021, he represented South Korea at the 2020 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, Japan. He competed in 4 × 200m freestyle relay event. The team did not advance to compete in the final.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n ()\n\n2000 births\nLiving people\nSouth Korean male freestyle swimmers\nSwimmers at the 2020 Summer Olympics\nOlympic swimmers of South Korea\nPeople from Anyang, Gyeonggi\nSwimmers at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics",
"Central African Republic competed at the 2019 African Games held from 19 to 31 August 2019 in Rabat, Morocco. In total, athletes representing the country won one medal: Gildas Bangana won the bronze medal in the men's super lightweight boxing event. The country finished last in the medal table, in 41st place, shared with Cape Verde.\n\nMedal summary\n\nMedal table \n\n| style=\"text-align:left; width:78%; vertical-align:top;\"|\n\n| style=\"text-align:left; width:22%; vertical-align:top;\"|\n\nAthletics \n\nTwo athletes represented Central African Republic in athletics.\n\nFrancky-Edgard Mbotto competed in the men's 800 metres event. He competed in one of the heats and did not finish.\n\nJemina Robinei was scheduled to compete in the women's 100 metres and women's 200 metres events but she did not start in either event.\n\nBoxing \n\nFour athletes were scheduled to compete in boxing: Gildas Bangana (men's 63kg), Davy Bogba (men's 69kg), Amondine Ndarata (women's 57kg) and Nadege Niambongui (women's 60kg).\n\nBogba did not compete in his event.\n\nBangana won the bronze medal in the men's super lightweight (63kg) event.\n\nNdarata lost her match against Jalia Nali (representing Uganda).\n\nNiambongui was disqualified in her match against Deedra Arvella Chestnut (representing Sierra Leone).\n\nChess \n\nFour chess players competed: Kourakoumba Florent Desire, Koualet Bebondji Vainney Archeveque, Gamba Merveille Gloria Dan and Daher Khater Rochana.\n\nJudo \n\nTwo athletes represented Central African Republic in judo: Hardi Malot and Loric Syssa-Magale Lagarrigue.\n\nSwimming \n\nChloe Sauvourel was the only swimmer to represent the country in the sport.\n\nTaekwondo \n\nSadia Kembi (women's –46 kg), Philippe Balanga (men's –74 kg) and Jefferson Gbafio (men's –87 kg) competed in Taekwondo.\n\nWrestling \n\nMansour Idriss was scheduled to compete in the men's freestyle 74 kg event but he did not compete in the event.\n\nReferences \n\nNations at the 2019 African Games\n2019\nAfrican Games"
] | [
"Maurice Robert Gravel ( ; May 13, 1930 – June 26, 2021) was an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Alaska from 1969 to 1981 as a member of the Democratic Party, and who, in later life, twice ran for the presidential nomination of that party. Born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, by French-Canadian immigrant parents, Gravel moved to Alaska in the late 1950s, becoming a real estate developer and entering politics.",
"Born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, by French-Canadian immigrant parents, Gravel moved to Alaska in the late 1950s, becoming a real estate developer and entering politics. He served in the Alaska House of Representatives from 1963 to 1967, and also became Speaker of the Alaska House. Gravel was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1968.",
"Gravel was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1968. Gravel was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1968. As a senator, Gravel became nationally known for his forceful, but unsuccessful, attempts to end the draft during the War in Vietnam, and for putting the Pentagon Papers into the public record in 1971. He conducted a campaign for the Democratic nomination in 1972 for Vice President of the United States, and then played a crucial role in obtaining Congressional approval for the Trans-Alaska pipeline in 1973.",
"He conducted a campaign for the Democratic nomination in 1972 for Vice President of the United States, and then played a crucial role in obtaining Congressional approval for the Trans-Alaska pipeline in 1973. He was re-elected to the Senate in 1974, but was defeated in his bid for a third term in the primary election in 1980. An advocate of direct democracy and the National Initiative, Gravel staged a run for the 2008 Democratic nomination for President of the United States.",
"An advocate of direct democracy and the National Initiative, Gravel staged a run for the 2008 Democratic nomination for President of the United States. His campaign failed to gain support, and in March 2008, he left the Democratic Party and joined the Libertarian Party to compete unsuccessfully for its presidential nomination and the inclusion of the National Initiative into the Libertarian Platform. He ran for president as a Democrat again in the 2020 election, in a campaign that ended four months after it began.",
"He ran for president as a Democrat again in the 2020 election, in a campaign that ended four months after it began. Two years before his death, Gravel and his campaign staff founded the progressive think tank The Gravel Institute. Early life, military service, education Gravel was born on May 13, 1930, in Springfield, Massachusetts, one of five children of French-Canadian immigrant parents, Alphonse and Marie (née Bourassa) Gravel.",
"Early life, military service, education Gravel was born on May 13, 1930, in Springfield, Massachusetts, one of five children of French-Canadian immigrant parents, Alphonse and Marie (née Bourassa) Gravel. His parents were part of the Quebec diaspora, and he was raised in a working-class neighborhood during the Great Depression, speaking only French until he was seven years old. Calling him \"Mike\" from an early age, his father valued work above all else, while his mother stressed the importance of education.",
"Calling him \"Mike\" from an early age, his father valued work above all else, while his mother stressed the importance of education. Gravel was educated in parochial schools as a Roman Catholic. There he struggled, due to what he later said was undiagnosed dyslexia, and was left back in third grade. He completed elementary school in 1945 and his class voted him \"most charming personality\".",
"He completed elementary school in 1945 and his class voted him \"most charming personality\". A summer job as a soda jerk led to Gravel handing out campaign fliers for local candidates on his boss's behalf; Gravel was immediately impressed with \"the awesomeness of political office\". Gravel then boarded at Assumption Preparatory School in Worcester, Massachusetts, where his performance was initially mediocre.",
"Gravel then boarded at Assumption Preparatory School in Worcester, Massachusetts, where his performance was initially mediocre. By Gravel's telling, in the summer of 1948 he intended to volunteer for the Israel Defense Forces during the 1947–1949 Palestine war, but Alexandra Tolstaya told him to return to school. There an English teacher, the Assumptionist Edgar Bourque, gave him personal attention, improving Gravel's language skills and instructing him in public speaking. Gravel's grades improved measurably in his final year and he graduated in 1949.",
"Gravel's grades improved measurably in his final year and he graduated in 1949. His sister, Marguerite, became a Holy Cross nun, but Gravel himself struggled with the Catholic faith. He studied for one year at Assumption College, a Catholic school in Worcester, then transferred for his sophomore year to American International College in Springfield. Journalist I. F. Stone and philosopher Bertrand Russell strongly influenced Gravel in their willingness to challenge assumptions and oppose social convention and political authority.",
"Journalist I. F. Stone and philosopher Bertrand Russell strongly influenced Gravel in their willingness to challenge assumptions and oppose social convention and political authority. Around May 1951, Gravel saw that he was about to be drafted and instead enlisted in the U.S. Army for a three-year term so that he could get into the Counterintelligence Corps. After basic training and counterintelligence school at Fort Holabird in Maryland and in South Carolina, he went to Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia.",
"After basic training and counterintelligence school at Fort Holabird in Maryland and in South Carolina, he went to Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia. While he expected to be sent off to the Korean War when he graduated as a second lieutenant in early 1952, he was instead assigned to Stuttgart, West Germany, as a Special Adjutant in the Army's Communications Intelligence Service. In Germany, Gravel conducted surveillance operations on civilians and paid off spies.",
"In Germany, Gravel conducted surveillance operations on civilians and paid off spies. After about a year, he transferred to Orléans, France, where his French language abilities (if not his French-Canadian accent) allowed him to infiltrate French communist rallies. He worked as a Special Agent in the Counterintelligence Corps until 1954, eventually becoming a first lieutenant. Following his discharge, Gravel entered the Columbia University School of General Studies in New York City, where he studied economics and received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1956.",
"Following his discharge, Gravel entered the Columbia University School of General Studies in New York City, where he studied economics and received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1956. He moved to New York \"flat broke\" and supported himself by working as a bar boy in a hotel, driving a taxicab, and working in the investment bond department at Bankers Trust. During this time he left the Roman Catholic faith.",
"During this time he left the Roman Catholic faith. During this time he left the Roman Catholic faith. Move to Alaska Gravel \"decided to become a pioneer in a faraway place,\" and moved to pre-statehood Alaska in August 1956, without funds or a job, looking for a place where someone without social or political connections could be a viable candidate for public office.",
"Move to Alaska Gravel \"decided to become a pioneer in a faraway place,\" and moved to pre-statehood Alaska in August 1956, without funds or a job, looking for a place where someone without social or political connections could be a viable candidate for public office. Alaska's voting age of 19, less than most other states' 21, played a role in his decision, as did its newness and cooler climate. Broke when he arrived, he immediately found work in real estate sales until winter arrived.",
"Broke when he arrived, he immediately found work in real estate sales until winter arrived. Gravel then was employed as a brakeman for the Alaska Railroad, working the snow-clearing train on the Anchorage-to-Fairbanks run. Subsequently, he opened a small real estate brokerage in Anchorage (the Territory of Alaska not requiring a license) and saved enough so as not to have to work the railroad again. The firm was named the M. R. Gravel Real Estate Company.",
"The firm was named the M. R. Gravel Real Estate Company. Gravel joined the Anchorage Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, and continued a sporadic relationship with the movement throughout his life. Seeing Alaska as a wide-open place with no political establishment or entrenched interests, Gravel quickly became part of the civic scene there. By October 1957 he was a Division Chairman for Anchorage for the Democratic Central Committee in the territory, and by June 1958 he was president of the Alaska Young Democrats organization.",
"By October 1957 he was a Division Chairman for Anchorage for the Democratic Central Committee in the territory, and by June 1958 he was president of the Alaska Young Democrats organization. He also became active in the United States Junior Chamber (Jaycees), and by early 1958 his duties included handing out awards for farmer of the year. By early 1958, Gravel was running as Democratic Party primary candidate for a Third Division seat in House of Representative of the territorial legislature.",
"By early 1958, Gravel was running as Democratic Party primary candidate for a Third Division seat in House of Representative of the territorial legislature. (This was one of the four judicial divisions into which Alaska was sectioned at the time.) Using the slogan \"Gravel, the Roadbed to Prosperity\", he ran but lost. At the same time, he was also an advocate for Alaskan statehood.",
"At the same time, he was also an advocate for Alaskan statehood. Gravel went on a 44-state national speaking tour concerning tax reform in 1959, sponsored by the Jaycees, often dressing for events as Paul Revere. Gravel was selected from some two thousand applications for this position. The tour received a good amount of local newspaper coverage at its various stops, with Gravel's first name sometimes given as Mike and other times as Maurice.",
"The tour received a good amount of local newspaper coverage at its various stops, with Gravel's first name sometimes given as Mike and other times as Maurice. The tour's general message was an urging of \"lower taxes, more efficiency in government and a system of taxation moderate at all levels of income\". At several stops Gravel stated that the \"tide of socialism\" had to be stopped.",
"At several stops Gravel stated that the \"tide of socialism\" had to be stopped. He elaborated at another stop, \"It is part of our Jaycee creed that economic justice can best be won by free men through free enterprise. We really want to see that free enterprise become our inheritance.\"",
"We really want to see that free enterprise become our inheritance.\" The tour was scheduled to conclude in Washington D.C., on Tax Day, April 15, with petition signatures accumulated for reform to be presented to U.S. lawmakers: dressed as Revere, Gravel rode with the petition to the steps of the U.S. Capitol. The tour over, Gravel married Rita Jeannette Martin at the First Methodist Church of Anchorage on April 29, 1959.",
"The tour over, Gravel married Rita Jeannette Martin at the First Methodist Church of Anchorage on April 29, 1959. She was a native of Montana who had attended Billings Business College before moving to Alaska two years prior and becoming a secretary in the office of the Anchorage city manager. She had also been named Anchorage's \"Miss Fur Rendezvous\" of 1958. They had two children, Martin Anthony Gravel and Lynne Denise Gravel, born c. 1960 and 1962 respectively.",
"They had two children, Martin Anthony Gravel and Lynne Denise Gravel, born c. 1960 and 1962 respectively. Gravel ran without avail for the City Council in Anchorage in 1960. During this time, he had become a successful real estate agent; after the 1960 election, he became a property developer in a mobile home park on the outskirts of Anchorage. After a partner ran into financial difficulty, however, the project went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and Gravel was forced out in 1962.",
"After a partner ran into financial difficulty, however, the project went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and Gravel was forced out in 1962. State legislator With the support of Alaska wholesale grocer Barney Gottstein and supermarket builder Larry Carr, Gravel ran for the Alaska House of Representatives representing Anchorage in 1962, initially assigned the 10th and then 8th districts.",
"State legislator With the support of Alaska wholesale grocer Barney Gottstein and supermarket builder Larry Carr, Gravel ran for the Alaska House of Representatives representing Anchorage in 1962, initially assigned the 10th and then 8th districts. Alaska had very crowded primaries that year: Gravel was one of 33 Democrats, along with 21 Republicans, who were running for the chance to compete for the 14 House seats allocated to the 8th district.",
"Alaska had very crowded primaries that year: Gravel was one of 33 Democrats, along with 21 Republicans, who were running for the chance to compete for the 14 House seats allocated to the 8th district. Gravel made it through the primary, and in November eight Republicans and six Democrats were elected to the House from the district, with Gravel finishing eighth overall and third among with Democrats, with 8,174 votes. Gottstein became Gravel's main financial backer during most of his subsequent campaigns.",
"Gottstein became Gravel's main financial backer during most of his subsequent campaigns. Gravel served in the Alaska House of Representatives from January 28, 1963 to January 22, 1967, winning reelection in 1964. In his first term, he served as a minority member on two House committees: Commerce, and Labor and Management. He co-authored and sponsored the act that created the Alaska State Commission for Human Rights.",
"He co-authored and sponsored the act that created the Alaska State Commission for Human Rights. Gravel was the chief architect of the law that created a regional high school system for rural Alaska; this allowed Alaska Natives to attend schools near where they lived instead of having to go to schools run by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the lower 48 states. During the half-years that the legislature was not in session, Gravel resumed his real estate work.",
"During the half-years that the legislature was not in session, Gravel resumed his real estate work. With Gottstein and Carr's backing, he became quite successful as a property developer on the Kenai Peninsula. During 1965 and 1966, he served as the Speaker of the House, surprising observers by winning that post. Gravel convinced former Speaker Warren A. Taylor to not try for the position against him by promising Taylor chairmanship of the Rules Committee, then reneged on the promise.",
"Gravel convinced former Speaker Warren A. Taylor to not try for the position against him by promising Taylor chairmanship of the Rules Committee, then reneged on the promise. Gravel denied later press charges that he had promised but not delivered on other committee chairmanships. As Speaker he antagonized fellow lawmakers by imposing his will on the legislature's committees and feuded with Alaska State Senate president Robert J. McNealy.",
"As Speaker he antagonized fellow lawmakers by imposing his will on the legislature's committees and feuded with Alaska State Senate president Robert J. McNealy. Gravel did not run for reelection in 1966, instead choosing to run for Alaska's seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, losing the primary to four-term incumbent Democrat Ralph Rivers by 1,300 votes and splitting the Democratic Party in the process. Rivers lost the general election that year to Republican state Senator Howard Pollock. Following this defeat, Gravel returned to the real estate business in Anchorage.",
"Following this defeat, Gravel returned to the real estate business in Anchorage. U.S. Senator Election to Senate in 1968 In 1968, Gravel ran against 81-year-old incumbent Democratic United States Senator Ernest Gruening, a popular former governor of the Alaska Territory who was considered one of the fathers of Alaska's statehood, for his party's nomination to the U.S. Senate. Gravel's campaign was primarily based on his youth and telegenic appearance rather than issue differences. He hired Joseph Napolitan, the first self-described political consultant, in late 1966.",
"He hired Joseph Napolitan, the first self-described political consultant, in late 1966. They spent over a year and a half planning a short, nine-day primary election campaign that featured the slogans \"Alaska first\" and \"Let's do something about the state we're in\", the distribution of a collection of essays titled Jobs and More Jobs, and the creation of a half-hour, well-produced, glamorized biographical film of Gravel, Man for Alaska.",
"They spent over a year and a half planning a short, nine-day primary election campaign that featured the slogans \"Alaska first\" and \"Let's do something about the state we're in\", the distribution of a collection of essays titled Jobs and More Jobs, and the creation of a half-hour, well-produced, glamorized biographical film of Gravel, Man for Alaska. The film was shown twice a day on every television station in Alaska, and carried by plane and shown on home projectors in hundreds of Alaska Native villages.",
"The film was shown twice a day on every television station in Alaska, and carried by plane and shown on home projectors in hundreds of Alaska Native villages. The heavy showings quickly reversed a 2–to–1 Gruening lead in polls into a Gravel lead. Gravel visited many remote villages by seaplane and showed a thorough understanding of the needs of the bush country and the fishing and oil industries. Gravel also benefited from maintaining a deliberately ambiguous posture about Vietnam policy.",
"Gravel also benefited from maintaining a deliberately ambiguous posture about Vietnam policy. Gruening had been one of only two Senators to vote against the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and his opposition to President Lyndon B. Johnson's war policies was harming him among the Democratic electorate; according to Gravel, \"all I had to do was stand up and not deal with the subject, and people would assume that I was to the right of Ernest Gruening, when in point of fact I was to the left of him\".",
"Gruening had been one of only two Senators to vote against the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and his opposition to President Lyndon B. Johnson's war policies was harming him among the Democratic electorate; according to Gravel, \"all I had to do was stand up and not deal with the subject, and people would assume that I was to the right of Ernest Gruening, when in point of fact I was to the left of him\". In Man for Alaska, Gravel argued that \"the liberals\" would come to West Germany's defense if it was attacked, and that the same standard should apply to the United States' allies in Asia.",
"In Man for Alaska, Gravel argued that \"the liberals\" would come to West Germany's defense if it was attacked, and that the same standard should apply to the United States' allies in Asia. During the campaign he also claimed that he was \"more in the mainstream of American thought on Vietnam\" than Gruening, despite the fact that he had written to Gruening to praise his antiwar stance four years earlier.",
"During the campaign he also claimed that he was \"more in the mainstream of American thought on Vietnam\" than Gruening, despite the fact that he had written to Gruening to praise his antiwar stance four years earlier. Decades later, Gravel conceded that \"I said what I said [about Vietnam] to advance my career.\" Gravel beat Gruening in the primary by about 2,000 votes. Gruening found \"the unexpected defeat hard to take\" and thought that some aspects of his opponent's biographical film had misled viewers.",
"Gruening found \"the unexpected defeat hard to take\" and thought that some aspects of his opponent's biographical film had misled viewers. In the general election, Gravel faced Republican Elmer E. Rasmuson, a banker and former mayor of Anchorage. College students in the state implored Gruening to run a write-in campaign as an Independent, but legal battles prevented him from getting approval for it until only two weeks were left.",
"College students in the state implored Gruening to run a write-in campaign as an Independent, but legal battles prevented him from getting approval for it until only two weeks were left. A late appearance by anti-war presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy did not offset Gruening's lack of funds and endorsements; meanwhile, Gravel and Rasmuson both saturated local media with their filmed biographies. On November 5, 1968, Gravel won the general election with 45 percent of the vote to Rasmuson's 37 percent and Gruening's 18 percent.",
"On November 5, 1968, Gravel won the general election with 45 percent of the vote to Rasmuson's 37 percent and Gruening's 18 percent. Senate assignments and style When Gravel joined the U.S.Senate in January 1969, he requested and received a seat on the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee, which had direct relevance to Alaskan issues. He also got a spot on the Public Works Committee, which he held throughout his time in the Senate. Finally, he was a member of the Select Committee on Small Business.",
"Finally, he was a member of the Select Committee on Small Business. In 1971 he became chair of the Public Works Committee's Subcommittee on Public Buildings and Grounds, and by 1973 he was chair of its Subcommittee on Water Resources, then later its Subcommittee on Environmental Pollution. Gravel was also initially named to the Joint Committee on Congressional Operations.",
"Gravel was also initially named to the Joint Committee on Congressional Operations. By 1973 Gravel was off the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee and the Select Small Business Committee and instead a member of the Finance Committee, and by 1977 was chair of that body's Subcommittee on Energy and Foundations. By 1973 he had also been on the ad hoc Special Committee to Study Secret and Confidential Government Documents.",
"By 1973 he had also been on the ad hoc Special Committee to Study Secret and Confidential Government Documents. By his own admission, Gravel was too new and \"too abrasive\" to be effective in the Senate by the usual means of seniority-based committee assignments or negotiating deals with other senators, and was sometimes seen as arrogant or a nuisance by the more senior and tradition-oriented members. Gravel relied on attention-getting gestures to achieve what he wanted, hoping national exposure would force other senators to listen to him.",
"Gravel relied on attention-getting gestures to achieve what he wanted, hoping national exposure would force other senators to listen to him. But even senators who agreed with him on issues considered his methods to be showboating. As part of this approach, Gravel voted with Southern Democrats to keep the Senate filibuster rule in place, and accordingly supported Russell Long and Robert Byrd but opposed Ted Kennedy in Senate leadership battles.",
"As part of this approach, Gravel voted with Southern Democrats to keep the Senate filibuster rule in place, and accordingly supported Russell Long and Robert Byrd but opposed Ted Kennedy in Senate leadership battles. In retrospective assessment, University of Alaska Anchorage history professor Stephen Haycox said, \"Loose cannon is a good description of Gravel's Senate career. He was an off-the-wall guy, and you weren't really ever sure what he would do.\"",
"He was an off-the-wall guy, and you weren't really ever sure what he would do.\" Nuclear issues and the Cold War In the late 1960s and early 1970s the U.S. Department of Defense was in the process of performing tests for the nuclear warhead for the Spartan anti-ballistic missile. Two tests, the \"Milrow\" and \"Cannikin\" tests, were planned, involving the detonation of nuclear bombs under Amchitka Island in Alaska.",
"Two tests, the \"Milrow\" and \"Cannikin\" tests, were planned, involving the detonation of nuclear bombs under Amchitka Island in Alaska. The Milrow test would be a one-megaton calibration exercise for the second and larger five-megaton Cannikin test, which would measure the effectiveness of the warhead. Gravel opposed the tests.",
"Gravel opposed the tests. Gravel opposed the tests. Before the Milrow test took place in October 1969, he wrote that there were significant risks of earthquakes and other adverse consequences and called for an independent national commission on nuclear and seismic safety; he then made a personal appeal to President Richard Nixon to stop the test. After Milrow was conducted, there was continued pressure on the part of environmental groups against going forward with the Cannikin test, while the Federation of American Scientists claimed that the warhead being tested was already obsolete.",
"After Milrow was conducted, there was continued pressure on the part of environmental groups against going forward with the Cannikin test, while the Federation of American Scientists claimed that the warhead being tested was already obsolete. In May 1971 Gravel sent a letter to U.S. Atomic Energy Commission hearings held in Anchorage in which he said the risk of the test was not worth taking.",
"In May 1971 Gravel sent a letter to U.S. Atomic Energy Commission hearings held in Anchorage in which he said the risk of the test was not worth taking. Eventually a group not involving Gravel took the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to issue an injunction against it, and the Cannikin test took place as scheduled in November 1971. Gravel had failed to stop the tests (notwithstanding his later claims during his 2008 presidential campaign).",
"Gravel had failed to stop the tests (notwithstanding his later claims during his 2008 presidential campaign). In 1971 Gravel voted against the Nixon administration's proposed anti-ballistic missile system, the Safeguard Program, having previously vacillated over the issue, suggesting that he might be willing to support it in exchange for federal lands in Alaska being opened up for private oil drilling. His vote alienated Senator Henry \"Scoop\" Jackson, who had raised funds for Gravel's primary campaign.",
"His vote alienated Senator Henry \"Scoop\" Jackson, who had raised funds for Gravel's primary campaign. Nuclear power was considered an environmentally clean alternative for commercial generation of electricity and was part of a popular national policy for the peaceful use of atomic energy in the 1950s and 1960s.",
"Nuclear power was considered an environmentally clean alternative for commercial generation of electricity and was part of a popular national policy for the peaceful use of atomic energy in the 1950s and 1960s. Gravel publicly opposed this policy; besides the dangers of nuclear testing, he was a vocal critic of the Atomic Energy Commission, which oversaw American nuclear efforts, and of the powerful United States Congress Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, which had a stranglehold on nuclear policy and which Gravel tried to circumvent.",
"Gravel publicly opposed this policy; besides the dangers of nuclear testing, he was a vocal critic of the Atomic Energy Commission, which oversaw American nuclear efforts, and of the powerful United States Congress Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, which had a stranglehold on nuclear policy and which Gravel tried to circumvent. In 1971 Gravel sponsored a bill to impose a moratorium on nuclear power plant construction and to make power utilities liable for any nuclear accidents; in 1975 he was still proposing similar moratoriums.",
"In 1971 Gravel sponsored a bill to impose a moratorium on nuclear power plant construction and to make power utilities liable for any nuclear accidents; in 1975 he was still proposing similar moratoriums. By 1974 Gravel was allied with Ralph Nader's organization in opposing nuclear power. Six months before U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's July 1971 secret mission to the People's Republic of China (P.R.C. ), Gravel introduced legislation to recognize and normalize relations with the P.R.C., including a proposal for unity talks between the P.R.C.",
"), Gravel introduced legislation to recognize and normalize relations with the P.R.C., including a proposal for unity talks between the P.R.C. and the Republic of China (Taiwan) regarding the Chinese seat on the U.N. Security Council. He reiterated his position in favor of recognition, with four other senators in agreement, during Senate hearings in June 1971.",
"He reiterated his position in favor of recognition, with four other senators in agreement, during Senate hearings in June 1971. Vietnam War, the draft, and the Pentagon Papers Although he did not campaign against the Vietnam War during his first Senate campaign, by the end of 1970 Gravel was speaking out against United States policy in southeast Asia: in December of that year he persuaded William Fulbright to join him in a spontaneous two-day filibuster against a $155 million military aid package to Cambodia's Khmer Republic government in the Cambodian Civil War.",
"Vietnam War, the draft, and the Pentagon Papers Although he did not campaign against the Vietnam War during his first Senate campaign, by the end of 1970 Gravel was speaking out against United States policy in southeast Asia: in December of that year he persuaded William Fulbright to join him in a spontaneous two-day filibuster against a $155 million military aid package to Cambodia's Khmer Republic government in the Cambodian Civil War. President Richard Nixon had campaigned in 1968 on a promise to end the U.S. military draft, a decision endorsed by the February 1970 report of the Gates Commission.",
"President Richard Nixon had campaigned in 1968 on a promise to end the U.S. military draft, a decision endorsed by the February 1970 report of the Gates Commission. The existing draft law was scheduled to conclude at the end of June 1971, and the Senate faced a contentious debate about whether to extend it as the Vietnam War continued.",
"The existing draft law was scheduled to conclude at the end of June 1971, and the Senate faced a contentious debate about whether to extend it as the Vietnam War continued. The Nixon administration announced in February 1971 that it wanted a two-year extension to June 1973, after which the draft would end; Army planners had already been operating under the assumption of a two-year extension, after which an all-volunteer force would be in place.",
"The Nixon administration announced in February 1971 that it wanted a two-year extension to June 1973, after which the draft would end; Army planners had already been operating under the assumption of a two-year extension, after which an all-volunteer force would be in place. Skeptics such as Senate Armed Services Committee chairman John Stennis thought this unrealistic and wanted a four-year extension, but the two-year proposal is what went forward in Congress.",
"Skeptics such as Senate Armed Services Committee chairman John Stennis thought this unrealistic and wanted a four-year extension, but the two-year proposal is what went forward in Congress. By early May 1971, Gravel had indicated his intention to filibuster the draft renewal legislation, halting conscription and thereby bringing U.S. involvement in the war to a rapid end.",
"By early May 1971, Gravel had indicated his intention to filibuster the draft renewal legislation, halting conscription and thereby bringing U.S. involvement in the war to a rapid end. During this period he also supported efforts to mobilize and influence public opinion against the war, endorsing the \"Vietnam War Out Now\" rallies in Washington D.C. and San Francisco on April 24, 1971, and financing a broadcast campaign by the antiwar group War No More with a personal loan.",
"During this period he also supported efforts to mobilize and influence public opinion against the war, endorsing the \"Vietnam War Out Now\" rallies in Washington D.C. and San Francisco on April 24, 1971, and financing a broadcast campaign by the antiwar group War No More with a personal loan. In June 1972 he escorted a group of over 100 antiwar protesters, including psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton, actress Candice Bergen, theater producer and director Joseph Papp, and peditrician Dr. Benjamin Spock, into the United States Capitol Building; the group was arrested after blocking a hallway outside the Senate chamber.",
"In June 1972 he escorted a group of over 100 antiwar protesters, including psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton, actress Candice Bergen, theater producer and director Joseph Papp, and peditrician Dr. Benjamin Spock, into the United States Capitol Building; the group was arrested after blocking a hallway outside the Senate chamber. By June 1971, some Democratic senators opposed to the war wanted to limit the renewal to a one-year extension, while others wanted to end it immediately; Gravel reiterated that he was one of the latter, saying, \"It's a senseless war, and one way to do away with it is to do away with the draft.\"",
"By June 1971, some Democratic senators opposed to the war wanted to limit the renewal to a one-year extension, while others wanted to end it immediately; Gravel reiterated that he was one of the latter, saying, \"It's a senseless war, and one way to do away with it is to do away with the draft.\" A Senate vote on June 4 indicated majority support for the two-year extension.",
"A Senate vote on June 4 indicated majority support for the two-year extension. On June 18 Gravel announced again his intention to counteract that by filibustering the renewal legislation, defending the practice against those who associated it only with blocking civil rights legislation. The first filibuster attempt failed on June 23 when, by three votes, the Senate voted cloture for only the fifth time since 1927.",
"The first filibuster attempt failed on June 23 when, by three votes, the Senate voted cloture for only the fifth time since 1927. Protracted negotiations took place over House conference negotiations on the bill, revolving in large part around Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield's eventually unsuccessful amendment to tie renewal to a troop withdrawal timetable from Vietnam; during this time the draft law expired and no more were conscripted.",
"Protracted negotiations took place over House conference negotiations on the bill, revolving in large part around Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield's eventually unsuccessful amendment to tie renewal to a troop withdrawal timetable from Vietnam; during this time the draft law expired and no more were conscripted. On August 5, the Nixon administration pleaded for a renewal before the Senate went on recess, but Gravel blocked Stennis's attempt to limit debate, and no vote was held.",
"On August 5, the Nixon administration pleaded for a renewal before the Senate went on recess, but Gravel blocked Stennis's attempt to limit debate, and no vote was held. Finally on September 21, 1971, the Senate invoked cloture over Gravel's second filibuster attempt by one vote, and then passed the two-year draft extension.",
"Finally on September 21, 1971, the Senate invoked cloture over Gravel's second filibuster attempt by one vote, and then passed the two-year draft extension. Gravel's attempts to stop the draft had failed (notwithstanding Gravel's later claims that he had stopped or shortened the draft, taken at face value in some media reports, during his 2008 presidential campaign). Meanwhile, on June 13, 1971, The New York Times began printing large portions of the Pentagon Papers.",
"Meanwhile, on June 13, 1971, The New York Times began printing large portions of the Pentagon Papers. The papers were a large collection of secret government documents and studies pertaining to the Vietnam War, of which former Defense Department analyst Daniel Ellsberg had made unauthorized copies and was determined to make public.",
"The papers were a large collection of secret government documents and studies pertaining to the Vietnam War, of which former Defense Department analyst Daniel Ellsberg had made unauthorized copies and was determined to make public. Ellsberg had for a year and a half approached members of Congress – such as William Fulbright, George McGovern, Charles Mathias, and Pete McCloskey – about publishing the documents, on the grounds that the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution would give congressional members immunity from prosecution, but all had refused.",
"Ellsberg had for a year and a half approached members of Congress – such as William Fulbright, George McGovern, Charles Mathias, and Pete McCloskey – about publishing the documents, on the grounds that the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution would give congressional members immunity from prosecution, but all had refused. Instead, Ellsberg gave the documents to the Times. The U.S. Justice Department immediately tried to halt publication, on the grounds that the information revealed within the papers harmed the national interest.",
"The U.S. Justice Department immediately tried to halt publication, on the grounds that the information revealed within the papers harmed the national interest. Within the next two weeks, a federal court injunction halted publication in the Times; The Washington Post and several other newspapers began publishing parts of the documents, with some of them also being halted by injunctions; and the whole matter went to the U.S. Supreme Court for arguments.",
"Within the next two weeks, a federal court injunction halted publication in the Times; The Washington Post and several other newspapers began publishing parts of the documents, with some of them also being halted by injunctions; and the whole matter went to the U.S. Supreme Court for arguments. Looking for an alternate publication mechanism, Ellsberg returned to his idea of having a member of Congress read them, and chose Gravel based on the latter's efforts against the draft; Gravel agreed where previously others had not.",
"Looking for an alternate publication mechanism, Ellsberg returned to his idea of having a member of Congress read them, and chose Gravel based on the latter's efforts against the draft; Gravel agreed where previously others had not. Ellsberg arranged for the papers to be given to Gravel on June 26 via an intermediary, Post editor Ben Bagdikian.",
"Ellsberg arranged for the papers to be given to Gravel on June 26 via an intermediary, Post editor Ben Bagdikian. Gravel used his counter-intelligence experience to choose a midnight transfer in front of the Mayflower Hotel in the center of Washington, D.C. On the night of June 29, 1971, Gravel attempted to read the papers on the floor of the Senate as part of his filibuster against the draft, but was thwarted when no quorum could be formed. Gravel instead convened a session of the Buildings and Grounds subcommittee that he chaired.",
"Gravel instead convened a session of the Buildings and Grounds subcommittee that he chaired. He got New York Congressman John G. Dow to testify that the war had soaked up funding for public buildings, thus making discussion of the war relevant to the committee.",
"He got New York Congressman John G. Dow to testify that the war had soaked up funding for public buildings, thus making discussion of the war relevant to the committee. He began reading from the papers with the press in attendance, omitting supporting documents that he felt might compromise national security, and declaring, \"It is my constitutional obligation to protect the security of the people by fostering the free flow of information absolutely essential to their democratic decision-making.\"",
"He began reading from the papers with the press in attendance, omitting supporting documents that he felt might compromise national security, and declaring, \"It is my constitutional obligation to protect the security of the people by fostering the free flow of information absolutely essential to their democratic decision-making.\" He read until 1 a.m., culminating by saying \"Arms are being severed. Metal is clashing through human bodies because of the public policy this government and all its branches continue to support.\"",
"Metal is clashing through human bodies because of the public policy this government and all its branches continue to support.\" Then with tears and sobs he said that he could no longer physically continue, the previous three nights of sleeplessness and fear about the future having taken their toll. Gravel ended the session by, with no other senators present, establishing unanimous consent to insert 4,100 pages of the Papers into the Congressional Record of his subcommittee.",
"Gravel ended the session by, with no other senators present, establishing unanimous consent to insert 4,100 pages of the Papers into the Congressional Record of his subcommittee. The following day, the Supreme Court's New York Times Co. v. United States decision ruled in favor of the newspapers and publication in the Times and others resumed. In July 1971 Bantam Books published an inexpensive paperback edition of the papers containing the material the Times had published.",
"In July 1971 Bantam Books published an inexpensive paperback edition of the papers containing the material the Times had published. Gravel, too, wanted to privately publish the portion of the papers he had read into the record, believing that \"immediate disclosure of the contents of these papers will change the policy that supports the war\". After being turned down by many commercial publishers, on August 4 he reached agreement with Beacon Press, the publishing arm of the Unitarian Universalist Association, of which Gravel was a member.",
"After being turned down by many commercial publishers, on August 4 he reached agreement with Beacon Press, the publishing arm of the Unitarian Universalist Association, of which Gravel was a member. Announced on August 17 and published on October 22, 1971, this four-volume, relatively expensive set became the \"Senator Gravel Edition\", which studies from Cornell University and the Annenberg Center for Communication have labeled as the most complete edition of the Pentagon Papers to be published.",
"Announced on August 17 and published on October 22, 1971, this four-volume, relatively expensive set became the \"Senator Gravel Edition\", which studies from Cornell University and the Annenberg Center for Communication have labeled as the most complete edition of the Pentagon Papers to be published. The \"Gravel Edition\" was edited and annotated by Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn, and included an additional volume of analytical articles on the origins and progress of the war, also edited by Chomsky and Zinn.",
"The \"Gravel Edition\" was edited and annotated by Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn, and included an additional volume of analytical articles on the origins and progress of the war, also edited by Chomsky and Zinn. Beacon Press then was subjected to a FBI investigation; an outgrowth of this was the Gravel v. United States court case, which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled upon in June 1972; it held that the Speech or Debate Clause did grant immunity to Gravel for his reading the papers in his subcommittee, did grant some immunity to Gravel's congressional aide, but granted no immunity to Beacon Press in relation to their publishing the same papers.",
"Beacon Press then was subjected to a FBI investigation; an outgrowth of this was the Gravel v. United States court case, which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled upon in June 1972; it held that the Speech or Debate Clause did grant immunity to Gravel for his reading the papers in his subcommittee, did grant some immunity to Gravel's congressional aide, but granted no immunity to Beacon Press in relation to their publishing the same papers. The U.S. Senate Democratic Caucus backed Gravel in the case, but due to Republican opposition it did not pay Gravel's legal fees, leaving him owing $25,000 (the equivalent of $150,000 in 2019, adjusted for inflation).",
"The U.S. Senate Democratic Caucus backed Gravel in the case, but due to Republican opposition it did not pay Gravel's legal fees, leaving him owing $25,000 (the equivalent of $150,000 in 2019, adjusted for inflation). The events of 1971 changed Gravel in the following months from an obscure freshman senator to a nationally visible political figure.",
"The events of 1971 changed Gravel in the following months from an obscure freshman senator to a nationally visible political figure. He became a sought-after speaker on the college circuit as well as at political fundraisers, opportunities he welcomed as lectures were \"the one honest way a Senator has to supplement his income\". But his speaking tours caused him to accrue one of the worst absentee records in the Senate. The Democratic candidates for the 1972 presidential election sought his endorsement.",
"The Democratic candidates for the 1972 presidential election sought his endorsement. In January 1972 Gravel endorsed Maine Senator Ed Muskie, hoping that his support would help Muskie with the party's left wing and in ethnic French-Canadian areas during the first primary contest in New Hampshire (Muskie won, but not overwhelmingly, and his campaign faltered soon after).",
"In January 1972 Gravel endorsed Maine Senator Ed Muskie, hoping that his support would help Muskie with the party's left wing and in ethnic French-Canadian areas during the first primary contest in New Hampshire (Muskie won, but not overwhelmingly, and his campaign faltered soon after). In April 1972 Gravel appeared on all three networks' nightly newscasts to decry the Nixon administration's reliance on Vietnamization by making reference to the secret National Security Study Memorandum 1 document, which stated it would take 8–13 years for the Army of the Republic of Vietnam to defend South Vietnam.",
"In April 1972 Gravel appeared on all three networks' nightly newscasts to decry the Nixon administration's reliance on Vietnamization by making reference to the secret National Security Study Memorandum 1 document, which stated it would take 8–13 years for the Army of the Republic of Vietnam to defend South Vietnam. Gravel made excerpts from the study public, but senators Robert P. Griffin and William B. Saxbe blocked his attempt to read NSSM 1 into the Congressional Record.",
"Gravel made excerpts from the study public, but senators Robert P. Griffin and William B. Saxbe blocked his attempt to read NSSM 1 into the Congressional Record. Domestic policy In 1970 Gravel co-sponsored legislation to establish a guaranteed minimum income, entitling poor families to up to $6,300 a year (the equivalent of $42,000 in 2019 after adjustment for inflation).",
"Domestic policy In 1970 Gravel co-sponsored legislation to establish a guaranteed minimum income, entitling poor families to up to $6,300 a year (the equivalent of $42,000 in 2019 after adjustment for inflation). He subsequently voted for a \"work bonus\" program, which would have entitled low-income working families with dependent children if they were paying Social Security or Railroad Retirement taxes to a non-taxable bonus of up to 10 percent of their wages.",
"He subsequently voted for a \"work bonus\" program, which would have entitled low-income working families with dependent children if they were paying Social Security or Railroad Retirement taxes to a non-taxable bonus of up to 10 percent of their wages. Gravel also supported extending Social Security to all federal employees and introduced a campaign finance reform bill in 1971 that would have enacted full disclosure of campaign financing, placed limits on large donations, media spending and individual candidate spending.",
"Gravel also supported extending Social Security to all federal employees and introduced a campaign finance reform bill in 1971 that would have enacted full disclosure of campaign financing, placed limits on large donations, media spending and individual candidate spending. In 1969, Gravel was the only Democratic Senator outside of the South to vote for Nixon's Supreme Court nominee Clement Haynsworth. The following year Gravel opposed Nixon's next pick, G. Harrold Carswell.",
"The following year Gravel opposed Nixon's next pick, G. Harrold Carswell. Run for vice president in 1972 Gravel actively campaigned for the office of Vice President of the United States during the 1972 presidential election, announcing on June 2, 1972, over a month before the 1972 Democratic National Convention began, that he was interested in the nomination should the choice be opened up to convention delegates. Toward this end he began soliciting delegates for their support.",
"Toward this end he began soliciting delegates for their support. He was not alone in this effort, as former Governor of Massachusetts Endicott Peabody had been running a quixotic campaign for the same post since the prior year. Likely presidential nominee George McGovern was in fact considering the unusual move of naming three or four acceptable vice-presidential candidates and letting the delegates choose. On the convention's final day, July 14, 1972, McGovern selected and announced Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri as his vice-presidential choice.",
"On the convention's final day, July 14, 1972, McGovern selected and announced Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri as his vice-presidential choice. Eagleton was unknown to many delegates and the choice seemed to smack of traditional ticket balancing considerations. Thus there were delegates willing to look elsewhere. Gravel was nominated by Bettye Fahrenkamp, the Democratic National Committeewoman from Alaska. He then seconded his own nomination, breaking down in tears at his own words and maybe trying to withdraw his nomination.",
"He then seconded his own nomination, breaking down in tears at his own words and maybe trying to withdraw his nomination. In any case he won 226 delegate votes, coming in third behind Eagleton and Frances \"Sissy\" Farenthold of Texas, in chaotic balloting that included several other candidates.",
"In any case he won 226 delegate votes, coming in third behind Eagleton and Frances \"Sissy\" Farenthold of Texas, in chaotic balloting that included several other candidates. Gravel attracted some attention for his efforts: writer Norman Mailer said he \"provided considerable excitement\" and was \"good-looking enough to have played leads in B-films\", while Rolling Stone correspondent Hunter S. Thompson said Gravel \"probably said a few things that might have been worth hearing, under different circumstances\". Yet the process was doubly disastrous for the Democrats.",
"Yet the process was doubly disastrous for the Democrats. Yet the process was doubly disastrous for the Democrats. In the time consumed by nominating and seconding and all the vice-presidential candidates' speeches, the attention of the delegates on the floor was lost and McGovern's speech was pushed to 3:30 a.m. The haste with which Eagleton was selected led to surprise when his past mental health treatments were revealed; he withdrew from the ticket soon after the convention, to be replaced by Sargent Shriver.",
"The haste with which Eagleton was selected led to surprise when his past mental health treatments were revealed; he withdrew from the ticket soon after the convention, to be replaced by Sargent Shriver. Reelection to Senate in 1974 Several years earlier, Alaska politicians had speculated that Gravel would have a hard time getting both renominated and elected when his first term expired, given that he was originally elected without a base party organization and tended to focus on national rather than local issues.",
"Reelection to Senate in 1974 Several years earlier, Alaska politicians had speculated that Gravel would have a hard time getting both renominated and elected when his first term expired, given that he was originally elected without a base party organization and tended to focus on national rather than local issues. Nonetheless, after receiving support from national and local labor leaders, securing key earmarks, and producing another half-hour TV advertorial, in 1974 Gravel was reelected to the Senate, with 58 percent of the vote to 42 percent for Republican State Senator C. R. Lewis, who was a national officer of the John Birch Society.",
"Nonetheless, after receiving support from national and local labor leaders, securing key earmarks, and producing another half-hour TV advertorial, in 1974 Gravel was reelected to the Senate, with 58 percent of the vote to 42 percent for Republican State Senator C. R. Lewis, who was a national officer of the John Birch Society. Second term Gravel's reelection campaign left him $65,000–$75,000 in debt.",
"Second term Gravel's reelection campaign left him $65,000–$75,000 in debt. In 1975 The Washington Post reported on a memo by his executive assistant laying out a fundraising strategy to tackle this, including raising funds from oil companies, meeting with previous donors and \"inquir[ing] into the governmental priorities of these people and their groups in the coming session\", as well as obtaining further speaking fees to reduce his personal debt.",
"In 1975 The Washington Post reported on a memo by his executive assistant laying out a fundraising strategy to tackle this, including raising funds from oil companies, meeting with previous donors and \"inquir[ing] into the governmental priorities of these people and their groups in the coming session\", as well as obtaining further speaking fees to reduce his personal debt. This was followed by a number of stories about links between Gravel, lobbyists and fundraisers, including one that was widely publicized in Alaska about his holding a share in a Colorado resort with two Washington lobbyists he was working with on land and energy legislation.",
"This was followed by a number of stories about links between Gravel, lobbyists and fundraisers, including one that was widely publicized in Alaska about his holding a share in a Colorado resort with two Washington lobbyists he was working with on land and energy legislation. Gravel had been open about the investment and had opposing views to one of the lobbyists on nuclear power.",
"Gravel had been open about the investment and had opposing views to one of the lobbyists on nuclear power. In 1980 the Wall Street Journal published details about his fundraising activities, including writing to individuals and PACs in the oil industry, pledging to kill off proposals for a windfall profits tax on the sector, and traveling in the Middle East with the business partner of one of his donors to sell Alaskan land to businessmen. Gravel suggested that critics of his fundraising were \"naive\".",
"Gravel suggested that critics of his fundraising were \"naive\". In 1975 Gravel introduced an amendment to cut the number of troops overseas by 200,000, but it was defeated on a voice vote. In September 1975 Gravel was named as one of several Congressional Advisers to the Seventh Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly, which met to discuss problems related to economic development and international economic cooperation. In June 1976 Gravel was the focus of a federal investigation into allegations that he was involved in a sex-for-vote arrangement.",
"In June 1976 Gravel was the focus of a federal investigation into allegations that he was involved in a sex-for-vote arrangement. Congressional staff clerk Elizabeth Ray (who had already been involved in a sex scandal that led to the downfall of Representative Wayne Hays) said that in August 1972 she had sex with Gravel aboard a houseboat on the Potomac River, under the instruction of Representative Kenneth J. Gray, her boss at the time.",
"Gray, her boss at the time. Gray, her boss at the time. Gray allegedly wanted to secure Gravel's support for further funding for construction of the National Visitor Center in Washington, a troubled project that was under the jurisdiction of subcommittees that both members chaired. Another Congressional staffer said she witnessed the boat encounter, but Gravel said at the time that he had never met either of the women.",
"Another Congressional staffer said she witnessed the boat encounter, but Gravel said at the time that he had never met either of the women. Gravel and Gray strongly denied that they had made any arrangement regarding legislation, and neither was ever charged with any wrongdoing. Decades later Gravel wrote that he had indeed had sex with Ray, but had not changed any votes because of it.",
"Decades later Gravel wrote that he had indeed had sex with Ray, but had not changed any votes because of it. Gravel and his main financial backer, Gottstein, had a falling out in 1978, during the Congressional debate over whether to allow a controversial sale of U.S. F-15 fighter aircraft to Saudi Arabia. An ardent backer of Israel, Gottstein opposed the sale and asked Gravel to vote against it. But Gravel not only voted for it but made an emotional speech attacking the anti-sale campaign.",
"But Gravel not only voted for it but made an emotional speech attacking the anti-sale campaign. Gravel wrote in 2008 that it was the only time Gottstein had ever asked him for a favor, and the rupture resulted in their never speaking to each other again. Alaskan issues By 1971 Gravel was urging construction of the much-argued Trans-Alaska pipeline, addressing environmental concerns by saying that the pipeline's builders and operators should have \"total and absolute\" responsibility for any consequent environmental damage.",
"Alaskan issues By 1971 Gravel was urging construction of the much-argued Trans-Alaska pipeline, addressing environmental concerns by saying that the pipeline's builders and operators should have \"total and absolute\" responsibility for any consequent environmental damage. Two years later the debate over the pipeline came to a crux, with The New York Times describing it as \"environmentalists [in] a holy war with the major oil companies\".",
"Two years later the debate over the pipeline came to a crux, with The New York Times describing it as \"environmentalists [in] a holy war with the major oil companies\". In February 1973 the U.S. Court of Appeals blocked the issuance of permits for construction; Gravel and fellow Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens reacted by urging Congress to pass legislation overturning the court's decision.",
"In February 1973 the U.S. Court of Appeals blocked the issuance of permits for construction; Gravel and fellow Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens reacted by urging Congress to pass legislation overturning the court's decision. Environmentalists opposed to the pipeline, such as the Environmental Defense Fund and the Sierra Club then sought to use the recently passed National Environmental Policy Act to their advantage; Gravel designed an amendment to the pipeline bill that would immunize the pipeline from any further court challenges under that law, and thus speed its construction.",
"Environmentalists opposed to the pipeline, such as the Environmental Defense Fund and the Sierra Club then sought to use the recently passed National Environmental Policy Act to their advantage; Gravel designed an amendment to the pipeline bill that would immunize the pipeline from any further court challenges under that law, and thus speed its construction. Passage of the amendment became the key battle regarding the pipeline.",
"Passage of the amendment became the key battle regarding the pipeline. On July 17, 1973, in a dramatic roll-call vote, the Gravel amendment was approved as a 49–49 tie was broken in favor by Vice President Spiro Agnew. The actual bill enabling the pipeline then passed easily; Gravel had triumphed in what became perhaps his most lasting accomplishment as a senator. In opposition to the Alaskan fishing industry, Gravel advocated American participation in the formation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.",
"In opposition to the Alaskan fishing industry, Gravel advocated American participation in the formation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. For two years he opposed legislation that established a Exclusive Economic Zone for marine resources. He was one of only 19 senators to vote against Senate approval for the expanded zone in 1976, saying it would undermine the U.S. position in Law of the Sea negotiations and that nations arbitrarily extending their fishing rights limits would \"produce anarchy of the seas\".",
"He was one of only 19 senators to vote against Senate approval for the expanded zone in 1976, saying it would undermine the U.S. position in Law of the Sea negotiations and that nations arbitrarily extending their fishing rights limits would \"produce anarchy of the seas\". The legislation was passed, and the United States has signed but never ratified the Law of the Sea treaty. Gravel accumulated a complicated record on Indian affairs during his time in the Senate.",
"Gravel accumulated a complicated record on Indian affairs during his time in the Senate. During his first year in the Senate Gravel urged abolition of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, criticizing the agency for the pace of development of schools in Alaska, its paternalistic attitudes and the culturally inappropriate nature of its education, and advocating greater shared decision-making between the federal government and native communities in Alaska.",
"During his first year in the Senate Gravel urged abolition of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, criticizing the agency for the pace of development of schools in Alaska, its paternalistic attitudes and the culturally inappropriate nature of its education, and advocating greater shared decision-making between the federal government and native communities in Alaska. Later, his views changed; in the early 1970s Gravel supported a demonstration project that established links between Alaskan villages and the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, for medical diagnostic communications.",
"Later, his views changed; in the early 1970s Gravel supported a demonstration project that established links between Alaskan villages and the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, for medical diagnostic communications. In 1971, he fended off accusations from Alaskan natives that he was not spending enough time working on their land claims. Gravel helped secure a private grant to facilitate the first Inuit Circumpolar Conference in 1977, attended by Inuit representatives from Alaska, Canada, and Greenland. These conferences now also include representatives from Russia.",
"These conferences now also include representatives from Russia. These conferences now also include representatives from Russia. In 1977, Gravel helped lead an effort to have the U.S. Interior Department rename Mount McKinley to Denali; this eventually led to Denali National Park being so named. Subsequently, Gravel proposed a never-built \"Denali City\" development above the Tokositna River near the mountain, to consist of a giant Teflon dome enclosing hotels, golf courses, condominiums, and commercial buildings.",
"Subsequently, Gravel proposed a never-built \"Denali City\" development above the Tokositna River near the mountain, to consist of a giant Teflon dome enclosing hotels, golf courses, condominiums, and commercial buildings. A related idea of his to build a high-speed rail line to Denali also failed to gain traction. A key, emotional issue in the state at the time was \"locking up Alaska\", making reference to allocation of its vast, mostly uninhabited land.",
"A key, emotional issue in the state at the time was \"locking up Alaska\", making reference to allocation of its vast, mostly uninhabited land. President Jimmy Carter desired to put large portions of this land under federal protection against development, a move that some Alaskans vociferously opposed. In 1978 Gravel blocked passage, via procedural delays such as walking out of House–Senate conference committee meetings, of a complex bill which represented a compromise on land use policy.",
"In 1978 Gravel blocked passage, via procedural delays such as walking out of House–Senate conference committee meetings, of a complex bill which represented a compromise on land use policy. The bill would have put some of Alaska's vast federal land holdings under state control while preserving other portions for federal parks and refuges; the blocking action earned Gravel the enmity of fellow Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, who had supported the compromise.",
"The bill would have put some of Alaska's vast federal land holdings under state control while preserving other portions for federal parks and refuges; the blocking action earned Gravel the enmity of fellow Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, who had supported the compromise. In 1980, a new lands bill came up for consideration, that was less favorable to Alaskan interests and more liked by environmentalists; it set aside of Alaska's for national parks, conservation areas, and other restricted federal uses.",
"In 1980, a new lands bill came up for consideration, that was less favorable to Alaskan interests and more liked by environmentalists; it set aside of Alaska's for national parks, conservation areas, and other restricted federal uses. Gravel blocked it, as not ensuring enough future development in the state. A new compromise version of the 1980 bill came forward, which reduced the land set aside to . Representing Alaskan interests, Gravel tried to stop the bill, including by filibuster.",
"Representing Alaskan interests, Gravel tried to stop the bill, including by filibuster. But the Senate voted for cloture and passed the bill. Frustrated, Gravel said, \"the legislation denies Alaska its rights as a state, and denies the U.S. crucial strategic resources,\" and opined that the Senate was \"a little bit like a tank of barracudas\".",
"Frustrated, Gravel said, \"the legislation denies Alaska its rights as a state, and denies the U.S. crucial strategic resources,\" and opined that the Senate was \"a little bit like a tank of barracudas\". Nonetheless, the bill, known as the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980, was signed by President Carter shortly before leaving the White House, and led to millions of acres being set aside in the state for national parks, wildlife refuges, and other kinds of areas under protection.",
"Nonetheless, the bill, known as the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980, was signed by President Carter shortly before leaving the White House, and led to millions of acres being set aside in the state for national parks, wildlife refuges, and other kinds of areas under protection. In 1978 Gravel authored and secured the passage into federal law of the General Stock Ownership Corporation, that became Subchapter U of the Tax Code under the Internal Revenue Code of 1954.",
"In 1978 Gravel authored and secured the passage into federal law of the General Stock Ownership Corporation, that became Subchapter U of the Tax Code under the Internal Revenue Code of 1954. This gave states the ability to create corporations that would invest in for-profit enterprises, with all citizens within the state owning shares in the corporation.",
"This gave states the ability to create corporations that would invest in for-profit enterprises, with all citizens within the state owning shares in the corporation. Gravel's attempt to convince the Alaska state legislature to create such a corporation failed, as did a 1980 state ballot initiative towards the same end, but nevertheless the creation of the General Stock Ownership Corporation in federal law turned out to be significant in the development of binary economics.",
"Gravel's attempt to convince the Alaska state legislature to create such a corporation failed, as did a 1980 state ballot initiative towards the same end, but nevertheless the creation of the General Stock Ownership Corporation in federal law turned out to be significant in the development of binary economics. Loss of Senate seat in 1980 In 1980 Gravel was challenged for the Democratic Party's nomination by State Representative Clark Gruening, the grandson of the man Gravel had defeated in a primary 12 years earlier.",
"Loss of Senate seat in 1980 In 1980 Gravel was challenged for the Democratic Party's nomination by State Representative Clark Gruening, the grandson of the man Gravel had defeated in a primary 12 years earlier. One of Gruening's supporters was Gravel's former backer Gottstein. Several factors made Gravel vulnerable. As an insurgent candidate in 1968 Gravel had never established a firm party base. Not liking to hunt or fish, he was also always culturally suspect in the state. The primary campaign was bitterly fought.",
"The primary campaign was bitterly fought. The primary campaign was bitterly fought. A group of Democrats, including future governor Steve Cowper, led the campaign against Gravel, with Gravel's actions in respect to the 1978 and 1980 Alaskan lands bills a major issue. This was especially so given that the 1980 bill's dénouement happened but a week before the primary. The sources of Gravel's campaign funds, some of which Gravel readily acknowledged came from political action committees outside the state, also became an issue in the contest.",
"The sources of Gravel's campaign funds, some of which Gravel readily acknowledged came from political action committees outside the state, also became an issue in the contest. Gruening had pledged that he would not take special interest group money, but Gravel said that Gruening was \"dishonest\" in accepting individual contributors from Jewish donors living outside the state because to him such contributors comprised \"a special interest group ... that seeks to influence the foreign policy of the U.S.\" Gruening won the primary with about 55 percent of the vote to Gravel's 44 percent.",
"Gruening had pledged that he would not take special interest group money, but Gravel said that Gruening was \"dishonest\" in accepting individual contributors from Jewish donors living outside the state because to him such contributors comprised \"a special interest group ... that seeks to influence the foreign policy of the U.S.\" Gruening won the primary with about 55 percent of the vote to Gravel's 44 percent. Gravel later conceded that by the time of his defeat, he had alienated \"almost every constituency in Alaska\".",
"Gravel later conceded that by the time of his defeat, he had alienated \"almost every constituency in Alaska\". Another factor may have been Alaska's blanket primary system of the time, which allowed unlimited voting across party lines and from its many independents; Republicans believed Gruening would be an easier candidate to defeat in the general election. Gruening lost the general election to Republican Frank Murkowski.",
"Gruening lost the general election to Republican Frank Murkowski. Gruening lost the general election to Republican Frank Murkowski. Gravel was the last Democrat to represent Alaska in Congress for 28 years, until Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich defeated Ted Stevens, by then an aged, iconic figure who had just been convicted of seven felonies for taking unreported gifts, in a very close and protracted election result in 2008. Stevens's conviction was subsequently vacated due to prosecutorial misconduct.",
"Stevens's conviction was subsequently vacated due to prosecutorial misconduct. Career after leaving the Senate Of his 1980 defeat, Gravel later recalled: \"I had lost my career. I lost my marriage. I was in the doldrums for ten years after my defeat,\" and \"Nobody wanted to hire me for anything important. I felt like I was worthless. I didn't know what I could do.\"",
"I didn't know what I could do.\" I didn't know what I could do.\" By his own later description, Gravel was a womanizer, and had an affair while in the Senate, and in December 1980 he and his wife Rita separated. They filed for divorce in September 1981; she later received all of his Senate pension income. During the 1980s Gravel was a real estate developer in Anchorage and Kenai, Alaska, a consultant, and a stockbroker.",
"During the 1980s Gravel was a real estate developer in Anchorage and Kenai, Alaska, a consultant, and a stockbroker. One of his real estate ventures, a condominium business, was forced to declare bankruptcy and a lawsuit ensued. In 1986 Gravel worked in partnership with Merrill Lynch Capital Markets to buy losses that financially troubled Alaska Native Corporations could not take as tax deductions and sell them to large national companies looking for tax writeoffs. Gravel also learned computer programming at some point but never practiced it.",
"Gravel also learned computer programming at some point but never practiced it. In 1984 Gravel married his second wife, Whitney Stewart Gravel, a former administrative assistant for Senator Jacob Javits. Return to politics In 1989 Gravel reentered politics. He founded and led The Democracy Foundation, which promotes direct democracy.",
"He founded and led The Democracy Foundation, which promotes direct democracy. He established the Philadelphia II corporation, which seeks to replicate the original 1787 Constitutional Convention and have a Second Constitutional Convention to bring about direct democracy Gravel led an effort to get a United States Constitutional amendment to allow voter-initiated federal legislation similar to state ballot initiatives. He argued that Americans are able to legislate responsibly, and that the Act and Amendment in the National Initiative would allow American citizens to become \"law makers\".",
"He argued that Americans are able to legislate responsibly, and that the Act and Amendment in the National Initiative would allow American citizens to become \"law makers\". However such efforts met with little success. In 2001, Gravel became director of the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution, where he admired institute co-founder Gregory Fossedal's work on direct democracy in Switzerland.",
"In 2001, Gravel became director of the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution, where he admired institute co-founder Gregory Fossedal's work on direct democracy in Switzerland. By 2004, Gravel had become chair of the institute, and Fossedal (who in turn was a director of the Democracy Foundation) gave the introduction at Gravel's presidential announcement. In 2003 Gravel gave a speech on direct democracy at a conference hosted by the American Free Press. The event was cosponsored by the Barnes Review, a journal that endorses Holocaust denial.",
"The event was cosponsored by the Barnes Review, a journal that endorses Holocaust denial. After some controversy over his appearance, Gravel apologized, saying he did not realize the group's ties. Gravel said repeatedly that he did not share the group's views on the Holocaust, stating, \"You better believe I know that six million Jews were killed. [The Barnes Review publishers] are nutty as loons if they don't think it happened\". The group invited Gravel to speak again, but he declined.",
"The group invited Gravel to speak again, but he declined. Mike and Whitney Gravel lived in Arlington County, Virginia, until 2010 and then resided in Burlingame, California. They have the two grown children from his first marriage, Martin Gravel and Lynne Gravel Mosier, and four grandchildren. Whitney Gravel's income sustained the couple from 1998 on. In the 2000s, Gravel suffered poor health, requiring three surgeries in 2003 for back pain and neuropathy.",
"In the 2000s, Gravel suffered poor health, requiring three surgeries in 2003 for back pain and neuropathy. Due to unreimbursed medical expenses and debts from his political causes, he declared personal bankruptcy in 2004. He began taking a salary from the non-profit organizations for which he was working; much of that income was lent to his presidential campaign. In 2007, he declared that he had \"zero net worth\".",
"In 2007, he declared that he had \"zero net worth\". 2008 presidential campaign Democratic Party primaries At the start of 2006 Gravel decided the best way he could promote direct democracy and the National Initiative was to run for president.",
"2008 presidential campaign Democratic Party primaries At the start of 2006 Gravel decided the best way he could promote direct democracy and the National Initiative was to run for president. On April 17, 2006, Gravel became the first candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2008 election, announcing his run in a speech to the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Short on campaign cash, he took public transportation to get to his announcement. (Gravel called for public financing of elections.)",
"(Gravel called for public financing of elections.) (Gravel called for public financing of elections.) Other principal Gravel positions were the FairTax, as well as withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq within 120 days and a single payer national health care system. Gravel had opposed the Iraq War, and President George W. Bush's rationale for it, from the beginning, and in 2006 said that U.S. troops in Iraq, as in Vietnam, had \"died in vain\".",
"Gravel had opposed the Iraq War, and President George W. Bush's rationale for it, from the beginning, and in 2006 said that U.S. troops in Iraq, as in Vietnam, had \"died in vain\". He also favored a regional peace initiative, as well as reparation payments for Iraqis. Gravel also called for a \"U.S. corporate withdrawal from Iraq\", with reconstruction contracts held by U.S. companies to be turned over to Iraqi firms.",
"Gravel also called for a \"U.S. corporate withdrawal from Iraq\", with reconstruction contracts held by U.S. companies to be turned over to Iraqi firms. Gravel campaigned almost full-time in New Hampshire, the first primary state, following his announcement. Opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination showed Gravel with 1 percent or less support. By the end of March 2007, Gravel's campaign had less than $500 in cash on hand against debts of nearly $90,000.",
"By the end of March 2007, Gravel's campaign had less than $500 in cash on hand against debts of nearly $90,000. Because of his time in the Senate, Gravel was invited to many of the early Democratic presidential debates. During the initial one at South Carolina State University on April 26, 2007, he suggested a bill requiring the president to withdraw from Iraq on pain of criminal penalties. He also advocated positions such as opposing preemptive nuclear war.",
"He also advocated positions such as opposing preemptive nuclear war. He stated that the Iraq War had the effect of creating more terrorists and that the \"war was lost the day that George Bush invaded Iraq on a fraudulent basis\". Regarding his fellow candidates, he said, \"I got to tell you, after standing up with them, some of these people frighten me – they frighten me.\" In one such exchange, Gravel said, \"Tell me, Barack, who do you want to nuke?\"",
"In one such exchange, Gravel said, \"Tell me, Barack, who do you want to nuke?\" to which Obama responded, \"I'm not planning to nuke anybody right now, Mike, I promise.\" Media stories said that Gravel was responsible for much of whatever \"heat\" and \"flashpoints\" had taken place during the Democratic debates.",
"Media stories said that Gravel was responsible for much of whatever \"heat\" and \"flashpoints\" had taken place during the Democratic debates. Gravel gained considerable publicity by shaking up the normally staid multiple-candidate format; The New York Times' media critic said that what Gravel had done was \"steal a debate with outrageous, curmudgeonly statements\".",
"Gravel gained considerable publicity by shaking up the normally staid multiple-candidate format; The New York Times' media critic said that what Gravel had done was \"steal a debate with outrageous, curmudgeonly statements\". The Internet was a benefit: a YouTube video of his responses in the debate was viewed more than 225,892 times, ranking seventeenth in most views for week and first among news and politics clips; his name became the fifteenth most searched-for in the blogosphere; and his website garnered more traffic than those of frontrunners Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, or John Edwards.",
"The Internet was a benefit: a YouTube video of his responses in the debate was viewed more than 225,892 times, ranking seventeenth in most views for week and first among news and politics clips; his name became the fifteenth most searched-for in the blogosphere; and his website garnered more traffic than those of frontrunners Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, or John Edwards. Gravel appeared on the popular Colbert Report on television on May 2, and his campaign and career were profiled in national publications such as Salon.",
"Gravel appeared on the popular Colbert Report on television on May 2, and his campaign and career were profiled in national publications such as Salon. Two wordless, Warholesque campaign videos, \"Rock\" and \"Fire\", were released on YouTube in late May and became hits, and eventually gained over 760,000 and 185,000 views respectively. \"Rock\", in turn, was given airtime during an episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.",
"\"Rock\", in turn, was given airtime during an episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Some thirty-five years after he first achieved the national spotlight, he had found it again. All this did not improve his performance in the polls; a May 2007 CNN poll showed him with less than 0.5 percent support among Democrats. Gravel was in the next several debates, in one case after CNN reversed a decision to exclude him.",
"Gravel was in the next several debates, in one case after CNN reversed a decision to exclude him. Like some of the other second-tier candidates, Gravel did not get as much time as the leaders; during the June 2, 2007, New Hampshire debate, which lasted two hours, he was asked 10 questions and allowed to speak for five minutes and 37 seconds.",
"Like some of the other second-tier candidates, Gravel did not get as much time as the leaders; during the June 2, 2007, New Hampshire debate, which lasted two hours, he was asked 10 questions and allowed to speak for five minutes and 37 seconds. During the July 23, 2007, CNN-YouTube presidential debate, Gravel responded to audience applause when he had complained of a lack of airtime and said: \"Thank you. Has it been fair thus far?\"",
"Has it been fair thus far?\" Has it been fair thus far?\" Detractors began to liken him to \"the cranky uncle who lives in the attic,\" or \"the angry old guy that just seemed to want to become angrier\". Berkeley political scientist David Terr found that moderator George Stephanopoulos directed roughly five percent of his questions to Gravel; in a poll asking who did the best in the debate, Gravel placed seventh among the eight candidates.",
"Berkeley political scientist David Terr found that moderator George Stephanopoulos directed roughly five percent of his questions to Gravel; in a poll asking who did the best in the debate, Gravel placed seventh among the eight candidates. National opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination continued to show Gravel with one percent or zero percent numbers.",
"National opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination continued to show Gravel with one percent or zero percent numbers. By the end of the third-quarter 2007, Gravel had about $17,500 in cash on hand, had collected a total of about $380,000 during the 2008 election cycle, and was continuing to run a threadbare campaign with minimal staff.",
"By the end of the third-quarter 2007, Gravel had about $17,500 in cash on hand, had collected a total of about $380,000 during the 2008 election cycle, and was continuing to run a threadbare campaign with minimal staff. Beginning with the October 30, 2007, Philadelphia event, Gravel was excluded from most of the debates, with the debate sponsors or the Democratic National Committee saying Gravel's campaign had not met fund-raising, polling, or local campaign organizational thresholds.",
"Beginning with the October 30, 2007, Philadelphia event, Gravel was excluded from most of the debates, with the debate sponsors or the Democratic National Committee saying Gravel's campaign had not met fund-raising, polling, or local campaign organizational thresholds. For the Philadelphia exclusion, Gravel blamed corporate censorship on the part of sponsor owner and alleged military-industrial complex member General Electric for his exclusion and mounted a counter-gathering and debate against a video screen a short distance away, but he had lost his easiest publicity.",
"For the Philadelphia exclusion, Gravel blamed corporate censorship on the part of sponsor owner and alleged military-industrial complex member General Electric for his exclusion and mounted a counter-gathering and debate against a video screen a short distance away, but he had lost his easiest publicity. In reaction, supporters organized \"mass donation days\" to try to help the campaign gain momentum and funds, such as on December 5, 2007, the anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition.",
"In reaction, supporters organized \"mass donation days\" to try to help the campaign gain momentum and funds, such as on December 5, 2007, the anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition. Gravel did not compete in the initial 2008 vote, the Iowa caucuses, but was still subjected to a false report from MSNBC that he had pulled out of the race afterward. Gravel did focus his attention on the second 2008 vote, the New Hampshire primary.",
"Gravel did focus his attention on the second 2008 vote, the New Hampshire primary. In early January, Mother Jones' investigative reporter James Ridgeway was filmed interviewing and following Gravel in New Hampshire, in which Gravel is interviewed on the phone by Neal Conan for NPR's, Talk of the Nation. He received about 400 votes out of some 280,000 cast in New Hampshire, or 0.14 percent, before taking time off to improve his health. He resumed campaigning, but fared no better in subsequent states.",
"He resumed campaigning, but fared no better in subsequent states. By the end of January 2008, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and Gravel were the only remaining Democrats from the initial debates still running; Gravel vowed to stay in the presidential campaign until November. On March 11, 2008, Gravel continued to remain in the Democratic race but additionally endorsed a Green Party candidate for president, Jesse Johnson, saying he wanted to help Johnson prevail against Green Party rivals Cynthia McKinney and Ralph Nader.",
"On March 11, 2008, Gravel continued to remain in the Democratic race but additionally endorsed a Green Party candidate for president, Jesse Johnson, saying he wanted to help Johnson prevail against Green Party rivals Cynthia McKinney and Ralph Nader. By late March, Gravel had almost no fundraising and was only on the ballot in one of the next ten Democratic primaries.",
"By late March, Gravel had almost no fundraising and was only on the ballot in one of the next ten Democratic primaries. Switch to Libertarian Party On March 25, 2008, Gravel announced that he would leave the Democrats and join the Libertarian Party, saying: \"My libertarian views, as well as my strong stance against war, the military industrial complex and American imperialism, seem not to be tolerated by Democratic Party elites who are out of touch with the average American; elites that reject the empowerment of American citizens I offered to the Democratic Party at the beginning of this presidential campaign with the National Initiative for Democracy.\"",
"Switch to Libertarian Party On March 25, 2008, Gravel announced that he would leave the Democrats and join the Libertarian Party, saying: \"My libertarian views, as well as my strong stance against war, the military industrial complex and American imperialism, seem not to be tolerated by Democratic Party elites who are out of touch with the average American; elites that reject the empowerment of American citizens I offered to the Democratic Party at the beginning of this presidential campaign with the National Initiative for Democracy.\" The following day Gravel entered the race for the 2008 Libertarian presidential nomination, saying that he would have run as a third-party candidate all along except that he needed the public exposure that came from being in the earlier Democratic debates.",
"The following day Gravel entered the race for the 2008 Libertarian presidential nomination, saying that he would have run as a third-party candidate all along except that he needed the public exposure that came from being in the earlier Democratic debates. Gravel's initial notion of running as a fusion candidate with other parties was met with skepticism. As a Libertarian candidate, Gravel faced resistance to his past support of big government initiatives and his unorthodox positions around direct democracy.",
"As a Libertarian candidate, Gravel faced resistance to his past support of big government initiatives and his unorthodox positions around direct democracy. Nevertheless, he garnered more support than he had as a Democrat, placing second and third in two April 2008 straw polls.",
"Nevertheless, he garnered more support than he had as a Democrat, placing second and third in two April 2008 straw polls. In the May 25 balloting at the 2008 Libertarian National Convention in Denver, Gravel finished fourth out of eight candidates on the initial ballot, with 71 votes out of a total 618; he trailed former Congressman and eventual winner Bob Barr, author Mary Ruwart, and businessman Wayne Allyn Root. Gravel's position did not subsequently improve and he was eliminated on the fourth ballot.",
"Gravel's position did not subsequently improve and he was eliminated on the fourth ballot. Afterwards he stated that \"I just ended my political career,\" but he vowed to continue promoting his positions as a writer and lecturer. 2008–early 2019 In June 2008 Gravel endorsed the NYC 9/11 Ballot Initiative, saying the measure would create a \"citizens commission rather than a government commission\" with subpoena power against top U.S. officials to \"make a true investigation as to what happened\" regarding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.",
"2008–early 2019 In June 2008 Gravel endorsed the NYC 9/11 Ballot Initiative, saying the measure would create a \"citizens commission rather than a government commission\" with subpoena power against top U.S. officials to \"make a true investigation as to what happened\" regarding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. He later said, \"Individuals in and out of government may certainly have participated with the obviously known perpetrators of this dastardly act. Suspicions abound over the analysis presented by government.",
"Suspicions abound over the analysis presented by government. Suspicions abound over the analysis presented by government. Obviously an act that has triggered three wars, Afghan, Iraqi and the continuing War on Terror, should be extensively investigated which was not done and which the government avoids addressing.\"",
"Obviously an act that has triggered three wars, Afghan, Iraqi and the continuing War on Terror, should be extensively investigated which was not done and which the government avoids addressing.\" In August 2008 Gravel was speaking to a crowd of supporters of Sami Al-Arian (who two years earlier had pleaded guilty and been sentenced to prison for a charge of conspiracy in helping Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a \"specially designated terrorist\" organization) when he was caught on tape saying of Al-Arian's prosecutor, \"Find out where he lives, find out where his kids go to school, find out where his office is: picket him all the time.",
"In August 2008 Gravel was speaking to a crowd of supporters of Sami Al-Arian (who two years earlier had pleaded guilty and been sentenced to prison for a charge of conspiracy in helping Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a \"specially designated terrorist\" organization) when he was caught on tape saying of Al-Arian's prosecutor, \"Find out where he lives, find out where his kids go to school, find out where his office is: picket him all the time. Call him a racist in signs if you see him.",
"Call him a racist in signs if you see him. Call him an injustice. Call him whatever you want to call him, but in his face all the time.\" Gravel was criticized for potentially involving the children of the prosecutor, and Al-Arian's family disavowed the sentiments. Gravel defended Alaska Governor Sarah Palin after she was chosen as Republican presidential nominee John McCain's running mate in September 2008.",
"Gravel defended Alaska Governor Sarah Palin after she was chosen as Republican presidential nominee John McCain's running mate in September 2008. He praised Palin's record in standing up to corruption among Alaskan Republicans, thought her national inexperience was an asset not a detriment, and predicted that the \"Troopergate\" investigation into whether she improperly fired a state official would \"come out in her favor\". Gravel made clear he would not support or vote for either McCain–Palin or Obama–Biden in the general election.",
"Gravel made clear he would not support or vote for either McCain–Palin or Obama–Biden in the general election. The following year Gravel said that Palin's politics were \"terrible, but that doesn't detract from the fact that she's a very talented person\". He predicted that Palin would run for president in 2012 and that \"she's going to surprise a lot of people\". Palin did not run, but Gravel's prediction about \"TrooperGate\" was accurate as Palin was found not to have violated ethics laws.",
"Palin did not run, but Gravel's prediction about \"TrooperGate\" was accurate as Palin was found not to have violated ethics laws. In 2013, by the invitation of Hamed Ghashghavi, the secretary for international affairs of the 3rd International Conference on Hollywoodism in Tehran, Iran, Gravel attended that event as an Iranian government-organized anti-Hollywood conference.",
"In 2013, by the invitation of Hamed Ghashghavi, the secretary for international affairs of the 3rd International Conference on Hollywoodism in Tehran, Iran, Gravel attended that event as an Iranian government-organized anti-Hollywood conference. Gravel noted that the conference was attended by \"various elements of extremes\" but said it was necessary to discuss how the U.S. film industry portrayed Iran in order to prevent \"an insane war\" between the two nations.",
"Gravel noted that the conference was attended by \"various elements of extremes\" but said it was necessary to discuss how the U.S. film industry portrayed Iran in order to prevent \"an insane war\" between the two nations. In May 2013 Gravel was one of several former members of Congress to accept $20,000 from the Paradigm Research Group, an advocacy group for UFO disclosure, as part of holding what they termed a Citizen Hearing on Disclosure, modeled after congressional hearings, regarding supposed U.S. government suppression of evidence concerning UFOs.",
"In May 2013 Gravel was one of several former members of Congress to accept $20,000 from the Paradigm Research Group, an advocacy group for UFO disclosure, as part of holding what they termed a Citizen Hearing on Disclosure, modeled after congressional hearings, regarding supposed U.S. government suppression of evidence concerning UFOs. Gravel said, \"Something is monitoring the planet, and they are monitoring it very cautiously, because we are a very warlike planet,\" and, \"What we're faced with here is, in areas of the media, and the government too, an effort to marginalize and ridicule people who have specific knowledge.\"",
"Gravel said, \"Something is monitoring the planet, and they are monitoring it very cautiously, because we are a very warlike planet,\" and, \"What we're faced with here is, in areas of the media, and the government too, an effort to marginalize and ridicule people who have specific knowledge.\" In December 2014 Gravel was announced as the new CEO of KUSH, a company which makes marijuana-infused products for medicinal and recreational use, and a subsidiary of Cannabis Sativa, Inc.",
"In December 2014 Gravel was announced as the new CEO of KUSH, a company which makes marijuana-infused products for medicinal and recreational use, and a subsidiary of Cannabis Sativa, Inc. He also became an Independent Director of Cannabis Sativa. During the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries, Gravel praised Bernie Sanders and his campaign, saying \"Bernie is one of the most gifted politicians I have ever observed. He's a person of great integrity and very clever.\"",
"He's a person of great integrity and very clever.\" Gravel predicted that Sanders would be elected president but would be unable to get his key reforms through Congress, and thus that Sanders and his supporters should back some of the proposals of the National Initiative. In 2016, Gravel said in relation to the September 11 attacks: \"We killed 58,000 American servicemen in the Vietnam War and all they did was die in vain.",
"In 2016, Gravel said in relation to the September 11 attacks: \"We killed 58,000 American servicemen in the Vietnam War and all they did was die in vain. What's so unusual about killing 3,000 more in order to develop the grist for the mill to empower into infinity the military industrial complex?\" and \"There's no question in my mind that 9/11 was an inside job\". The remarks were later disavowed by even Gravel supporters. By 2019 Gravel was living in Seaside, California.",
"By 2019 Gravel was living in Seaside, California. By 2019 Gravel was living in Seaside, California. He was working on a book, at the time titled Human Governance, about his principal idea for direct democracy, a U.S. Constitutional Amendment to create a \"Legislature of the People\" that would circumvent the existing Congress. The book was self-published at the end of the year by AuthorHouse under the title The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People.",
"The book was self-published at the end of the year by AuthorHouse under the title The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People. 2020 presidential campaign On March 19, 2019, Gravel announced that he was considering running in the 2020 Democratic primaries. He said, \"The goal will not be to win, but to bring a critique of American imperialism to the Democratic debate stage.\"",
"He said, \"The goal will not be to win, but to bring a critique of American imperialism to the Democratic debate stage.\" An exploratory committee was formed, with filing a statement of organization with the Federal Election Commission on that same day.",
"An exploratory committee was formed, with filing a statement of organization with the Federal Election Commission on that same day. The filing was the idea of a group of teenagers, led by David Oks and Henry Williams, inspired by the podcast Chapo Trap House, and done with Gravel's consent (after a week spent convincing him of the idea's merits), but without his involvement.",
"The filing was the idea of a group of teenagers, led by David Oks and Henry Williams, inspired by the podcast Chapo Trap House, and done with Gravel's consent (after a week spent convincing him of the idea's merits), but without his involvement. Intrigued by the group's commitment to amplifying his long-held policy goals, Gravel (who would be old on Inauguration Day in 2021) said he planned to meet with them in April, and to discuss a 2020 White House run with his wife.",
"Intrigued by the group's commitment to amplifying his long-held policy goals, Gravel (who would be old on Inauguration Day in 2021) said he planned to meet with them in April, and to discuss a 2020 White House run with his wife. On April 2, 2019, Gravel filed to officially run for office. The campaign called itself the \"#Gravelanche\". Gravel's initial stated goal was merely to qualify for debates by getting the required 65,000 small donors.",
"Gravel's initial stated goal was merely to qualify for debates by getting the required 65,000 small donors. He discouraged people from voting for him and said his preferences were Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard, both of whom favor a non-interventionist foreign policy. But on April 29, Gravel's campaign said he was running to win, not just to participate in debates. In a subsequent interview, though, Gravel emphasized the virtue of Sanders and Gabbard in some order as a presidential ticket.",
"In a subsequent interview, though, Gravel emphasized the virtue of Sanders and Gabbard in some order as a presidential ticket. Statements like these caused Vox to call Gravel \"2020's oddest Democratic presidential candidate\".",
"Statements like these caused Vox to call Gravel \"2020's oddest Democratic presidential candidate\". The New York Times Magazine included Gravel as an example in the rise of democratic socialism in the United States also exemplified by Sanders's 2016 race and the 2018 election of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: \"[Gravel's] campaign represents the most absurd form of a legitimate movement on the left that feels little obligation to the Democratic Party.\"",
"The New York Times Magazine included Gravel as an example in the rise of democratic socialism in the United States also exemplified by Sanders's 2016 race and the 2018 election of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: \"[Gravel's] campaign represents the most absurd form of a legitimate movement on the left that feels little obligation to the Democratic Party.\" In June 2019, Gravel touted the endorsement of Muntadher al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who, in December 2008, made headlines after he threw his shoes at President George W. Bush in protest of the U.S. war in Iraq.",
"In June 2019, Gravel touted the endorsement of Muntadher al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who, in December 2008, made headlines after he threw his shoes at President George W. Bush in protest of the U.S. war in Iraq. Al-Zaidi endorsed Gravel based on his promise to improve White House policies regarding Iraq and the Middle East. On June 13, 2019, the Democratic Party announced the 20 major candidates who qualified for the first debate later that month.",
"On June 13, 2019, the Democratic Party announced the 20 major candidates who qualified for the first debate later that month. Gravel was one of the four who missed out (the others were Montana Governor Steve Bullock, U.S. Representative Seth Moulton, and Miramar, Florida, Mayor Wayne Messam). Gravel had been unable to get the requisite number of donations, or to score one percent or better in enough polls (many polls did not even include him).",
"Gravel had been unable to get the requisite number of donations, or to score one percent or better in enough polls (many polls did not even include him). Nevertheless, Gravel said he would not drop out and would try to qualify for the July debate. In early July, however, Gravel's campaign said it was still 10,000 contributions short of the 65,000-donor threshold and that it was \"nearing its conclusion\". It solicited suggestions for where to donate $100–150,000 of leftover campaign funds.",
"It solicited suggestions for where to donate $100–150,000 of leftover campaign funds. Gravel added that he had always planned on ending the campaign before the teenagers in charge of it needed to return to school. A few days later the campaign became the first to run an attack ad against Democratic front-runner Joe Biden, using the text \"Is this the best our party has to offer?\" Gravel's campaign crossed the threshold of 65,000 donors on July 12, 2019, meeting the qualification mark for that month's debate.",
"Gravel's campaign crossed the threshold of 65,000 donors on July 12, 2019, meeting the qualification mark for that month's debate. But because 20 other candidates, the maximum allowed to participate, had already met at least the polling criterion, which takes priority over the donor criterion, Gravel was not invited. The campaign officially came to a close on August 6, 2019, with Gravel endorsing both Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard for president.",
"The campaign officially came to a close on August 6, 2019, with Gravel endorsing both Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard for president. Gravel's campaign later stated on Twitter that they never wanted to win but saw the campaign as an \"intimately democratic\" project and expressed honor at working with Gravel. Gravel said he would divide remaining campaign funds between charity and a new think tank which would espouse his ideas.",
"Gravel said he would divide remaining campaign funds between charity and a new think tank which would espouse his ideas. The Gravel Institute Gravel used some of the funds remaining from his 2020 presidential campaign to found an eponymous progressive think tank called The Gravel Institute in 2019. As noted by Vice magazine, the institute aims to do battle with PragerU from a left-wing perspective.",
"As noted by Vice magazine, the institute aims to do battle with PragerU from a left-wing perspective. Launched in September 2020, the new entity said it would \"carry on the life's work of former U.S Senator Mike Gravel in fighting for global peace and democracy. Its mission is to promote bold and forward-looking ideas about a more peaceful and egalitarian world, and to build a robust movement of young people to win it\".",
"Its mission is to promote bold and forward-looking ideas about a more peaceful and egalitarian world, and to build a robust movement of young people to win it\". Contributors announced include Cornel West and Slavoj Žižek, as well as Lower Brule Indian Reservation activist Nick Estes.",
"Contributors announced include Cornel West and Slavoj Žižek, as well as Lower Brule Indian Reservation activist Nick Estes. Other presenters have included and will include H. Jon Benjamin, Briahna Joy Gray, Bernie Sanders, Chelsea Manning, Richard Wolff, Stephanie Kelton, Zephyr Teachout, David Cross, Jabari Brisport, Zohran Mamdani, and Gravel himself (though it is unknown if his appearance will be cancelled due to his death in June 2021, or if the video has already been recorded).",
"Other presenters have included and will include H. Jon Benjamin, Briahna Joy Gray, Bernie Sanders, Chelsea Manning, Richard Wolff, Stephanie Kelton, Zephyr Teachout, David Cross, Jabari Brisport, Zohran Mamdani, and Gravel himself (though it is unknown if his appearance will be cancelled due to his death in June 2021, or if the video has already been recorded). Death Gravel died of multiple myeloma at his home in Seaside, California, on June 26, 2021, at age 91.",
"Death Gravel died of multiple myeloma at his home in Seaside, California, on June 26, 2021, at age 91. The obituary for him in The New York Times stated that Gravel was \"a two-term Democratic senator from Alaska ... who was perhaps better known as an unabashed attention-getter\" who later become known for \"mounting long-shot presidential runs\".",
"The obituary for him in The New York Times stated that Gravel was \"a two-term Democratic senator from Alaska ... who was perhaps better known as an unabashed attention-getter\" who later become known for \"mounting long-shot presidential runs\". The obituary in The Washington Post was similar, saying that Gravel was \"an Alaska Democrat with a flair for the theatrical who rose from obscurity to brief renown\" and later \"ran quixotic campaigns for the presidency\".",
"The obituary in The Washington Post was similar, saying that Gravel was \"an Alaska Democrat with a flair for the theatrical who rose from obscurity to brief renown\" and later \"ran quixotic campaigns for the presidency\". The Anchorage Daily News quoted Gravel as saying of himself in 1989, \"I'm an independent kind of guy. A rough and ready kind of guy. My glands work in a certain way that make me stand up, foolishly sometimes, and fight.\"",
"My glands work in a certain way that make me stand up, foolishly sometimes, and fight.\" Political positions Alan Abramowitz and Jeffrey Allan Segal described Gravel as \"a maverick, if not an eccentric, in the Senate.\" His Americans for Democratic Action \"Liberal Quotient\" scores ranged from 81 out of 100 (1971) to 39 out of 100 (1980), with an average of around 61.",
"His Americans for Democratic Action \"Liberal Quotient\" scores ranged from 81 out of 100 (1971) to 39 out of 100 (1980), with an average of around 61. His American Conservative Union scores ranged from 0 out of 100 (several years, including 1971 and 1972) to 38 out of 100 (1979), with an average of 14.",
"His American Conservative Union scores ranged from 0 out of 100 (several years, including 1971 and 1972) to 38 out of 100 (1979), with an average of 14. Abramowitz and Segal note that Gravel's lowest ADA ratings coincided with his two Senate re-election bids, and for the most part his highest ACU ratings followed the same pattern.",
"Abramowitz and Segal note that Gravel's lowest ADA ratings coincided with his two Senate re-election bids, and for the most part his highest ACU ratings followed the same pattern. In 1972, as a young senator, Gravel published Citizen Power: A People's Platform, a manifesto outlining what Kirkus Reviews termed a \"populist reform [that] would provide 'balanced political power' between the people and government and business interests.\"",
"In 1972, as a young senator, Gravel published Citizen Power: A People's Platform, a manifesto outlining what Kirkus Reviews termed a \"populist reform [that] would provide 'balanced political power' between the people and government and business interests.\" Civil rights issues On drug policy, Gravel said in 2007 that he favored decriminalization and treating addiction as a public health matter.",
"Civil rights issues On drug policy, Gravel said in 2007 that he favored decriminalization and treating addiction as a public health matter. During his 2008 presidential candidacy he condemned the War on Drugs as a failure, saying that it did \"nothing but savage our inner cities and put our children at risk\". Gravel called for abolition of capital punishment in his book Citizen Power, and adhered to this position during his 2008 run for president. He supported abortion rights.",
"He supported abortion rights. He supported abortion rights. During the 2008 campaign Gravel was a strong supporter of LGBT rights. He supported same-sex marriage and opposed the Defense of Marriage Act and the U.S. military's \"don't ask, don't tell\" policy. He wrote in 2008 that \"depriving gays and lesbians of equal rights is immoral\". Foreign policy and defense issues Gravel was a critic of American imperialism. Gravel firmly opposed U.S. military action against Iran and Syria.",
"Gravel firmly opposed U.S. military action against Iran and Syria. He voiced opposition to the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, the Military Commissions Act of 2006, the use of torture, indefinite detention, and what he called \"flagrant ignorance\" of the Geneva Convention. In 2014 Gravel called for the release of the full, unredacted Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture. Gravel opposed the use of international sanctions as a policy tool and blamed the ones against Iraq under Saddam Hussein for the deaths of a half-million children in that country.",
"Gravel opposed the use of international sanctions as a policy tool and blamed the ones against Iraq under Saddam Hussein for the deaths of a half-million children in that country. In 2013 Gravel said that sanctions against Iran were \"illegal\". During his 2008 candidacy, Gravel called for a cut in military spending, variously reported to be 15 percent or 50 percent. He called for the savings to boost public education spending. To spur international nuclear nonproliferation efforts, Gravel called for unilateral reductions in the U.S. nuclear arsenal.",
"To spur international nuclear nonproliferation efforts, Gravel called for unilateral reductions in the U.S. nuclear arsenal. In 2008 Gravel criticized the decision of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to not pursue the efforts to impeach George W. Bush and the attempted impeachment of Dick Cheney, saying also that Bush and Cheney had committed crimes and deserved \"to be prosecuted\" at The Hague.",
"In 2008 Gravel criticized the decision of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to not pursue the efforts to impeach George W. Bush and the attempted impeachment of Dick Cheney, saying also that Bush and Cheney had committed crimes and deserved \"to be prosecuted\" at The Hague. In 2013 he expressed disdain for President Obama, calling him \"a total fraud\" and saying that both Bush and Obama should be tried \"for the crimes and murders they've committed\" in the International Court of Justice.",
"In 2013 he expressed disdain for President Obama, calling him \"a total fraud\" and saying that both Bush and Obama should be tried \"for the crimes and murders they've committed\" in the International Court of Justice. Gravel specifically condemned Obama for the drone strikes in Pakistan and elsewhere.",
"Gravel specifically condemned Obama for the drone strikes in Pakistan and elsewhere. Economy, immigration, and environment During his 2008 candidacy Gravel favored a FairTax scheme, which would abolish the Internal Revenue Service, eliminate the federal income tax (which Gravel called \"corrupt\"), and impose a national sales tax. While Gravel described FairTax as \"progressive\", others have criticized it as \"regressive\", disproportionately benefiting the wealthiest Americans.",
"While Gravel described FairTax as \"progressive\", others have criticized it as \"regressive\", disproportionately benefiting the wealthiest Americans. To offset the new sales taxes on essential goods, Gravel's plan called for monthly government rebate payments to individuals and families. During his 2020 campaign Gravel also voiced support for a third legislative body that would give the people direct control of the budget as well as the implementation of a land value tax.",
"During his 2020 campaign Gravel also voiced support for a third legislative body that would give the people direct control of the budget as well as the implementation of a land value tax. Gravel opposed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) during his 2008 candidacy, calling it unfair and economically harmful and needing renegotiation. Gravel believed that NAFTA was the \"root cause\" of illegal migration to the U.S. He favored a guest worker program and \"setting up naturalization procedures that would fairly bring immigrants into legal status\".",
"He favored a guest worker program and \"setting up naturalization procedures that would fairly bring immigrants into legal status\". In a 2007 interview, Gravel identified himself as \"very much of a globalist\" who believed in open markets and open borders and condemned the scapegoating of undocumented immigrants. Gravel also said that he favored eliminating the cap on H1B visas. As a senator from Alaska, Gravel favored drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but opposed it during his 2008 campaign.",
"As a senator from Alaska, Gravel favored drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but opposed it during his 2008 campaign. In 2008, Gravel supported a carbon tax to combat climate change. Gravel spoke in favor of net neutrality during his presidential campaign. Education and health care Gravel called for the cost of college tuition to be borne by the federal government, rather than students.",
"Education and health care Gravel called for the cost of college tuition to be borne by the federal government, rather than students. In his 2008 campaign, he called the No Child Left Behind Act \"a failure\" and called for it to be \"reformed and fully funded\". He expressed support for universal pre-kindergarten and the expansion of the Head Start program; and expressed an openness to charter schools and school vouchers. He also suggested extending the school day and the school year, and supported merit pay for teachers.",
"He also suggested extending the school day and the school year, and supported merit pay for teachers. Gravel also called for publicly funded universal health care to replace the current employer-sponsored health insurance system. He supported \"full funding\" of the VA system. When asked in 2007 about naturopathy, homeopathy, and acupuncture, Gravel said that he was \"very very much in favor\" of holistic health care. Awards and honors In 2008 Gravel received the Columbia University School of General Studies' first annual Isaac Asimov Lifetime Achievement Award.",
"Awards and honors In 2008 Gravel received the Columbia University School of General Studies' first annual Isaac Asimov Lifetime Achievement Award. Electoral history Writings Gravel, Mike. Jobs and More Jobs. Mt. McKinley Publishers, 1968. Gravel, Mike. Citizen Power: A People's Platform. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1972. . revised and reissued as Citizen Power: A Mandate for Change, AuthorHouse, 2008. . Gravel, Mike and Lauria, Joe.",
"Gravel, Mike and Lauria, Joe. Gravel, Mike and Lauria, Joe. A Political Odyssey: The Rise of American Militarism and One Man's Fight to Stop It. Seven Stories Press, 2008. . Gravel, Mike and Eisenbach, David. The Kingmakers: How the Media Threatens Our Security and Our Democracy. Phoenix Books, 2008. . Gravel, Mike. Voice of a Maverick: The Speeches and Writings of Senator Mike Gravel. Brandywine House, 2008. Gravel, Mike.",
"Brandywine House, 2008. Gravel, Mike. Gravel, Mike. Foreword to Poisoned Power: The Case Against Nuclear Power Plants. John W. Goffman & Arthur R. Tamplin, Rodale Press, Inc., Emmaus, PA, June 1971. Gravel, Mike. The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People. AuthorHouse, 2020. Explanatory notes References Citations General references The Pentagon Papers Senator Gravel Edition. Vol. Five: Critical Essays. Boston: Beacon Press, 1972. 341p. plus 72p.",
"Five: Critical Essays. Boston: Beacon Press, 1972. 341p. plus 72p. plus 72p. of Index to Vol. I–IV of the Papers; Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, editors.",
"I–IV of the Papers; Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, editors. External links Mike Gravel official website The Gravel Institute |- |- 1930 births 2021 deaths 1972 United States vice-presidential candidates 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American politicians 20th-century Roman Catholics 20th-century Unitarians 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American politicians 21st-century Unitarians 9/11 conspiracy theorists Alaska Democrats American International College alumni American Unitarian Universalists American anti–Iraq War activists American conspiracy theorists American democracy activists American male non-fiction writers American people of French-Canadian descent American political writers American real estate businesspeople American stockbrokers Anti-corporate activists Assumption University (Worcester) alumni Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Businesspeople from Anchorage, Alaska Businesspeople from Springfield, Massachusetts California Democrats Candidates in the 2008 United States presidential election Candidates in the 2020 United States presidential election Columbia University School of General Studies alumni Deaths from cancer in California Deaths from multiple myeloma Democratic Party United States senators Direct democracy activists Drug policy reform activists Former Roman Catholics Virginia Libertarians Members of the Alaska House of Representatives Military personnel from Massachusetts Non-interventionism People from Arlington County, Virginia People from Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska People with dyslexia Politicians from Anchorage, Alaska Politicians from Springfield, Massachusetts Speakers of the Alaska House of Representatives United States Army officers United States senators from Alaska Writers about direct democracy Writers from Anchorage, Alaska"
] |
[
"Mike Gravel",
"Run for Vice President in 1972",
"Who was Gavel's running mate?",
"I don't know.",
"Who did he compete against in 1972?",
"former Governor of Massachusetts Endicott Peabody had been running a quixotic campaign for the same post",
"What significant events happened during the campaign?",
"At the convention's final day on July 14, 1972, presidential nominee McGovern selected and announced Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri as his vice-presidential choice."
] | C_99b905b192ab4470bbae0787f5f31d5c_1 | What did Gravel do afterward? | 4 | What did Mike Gravel do after Senator Thomas Eagleton became McGovern's vice-presidential choice? | Mike Gravel | Gravel "decided to become a pioneer in a faraway place," and moved to pre-statehood Alaska in August 1956, without funds or a job, looking for a place where someone without social or political connections could be a viable candidate for public office. Alaska's voting age of 19, less than most other states' 21, played a role in his decision, as did its newness and cooler climate. Broke when he arrived, he immediately found work in real estate sales until winter arrived. Gravel then was employed as a brakeman for the Alaska Railroad, working the snow-clearing train on the Anchorage-Fairbanks run. Subsequently, he opened a small real estate brokerage in Anchorage (the Territory of Alaska not requiring a license) and saved enough so as not to have to work the railroad again. Gravel joined the Anchorage Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, and continued a sporadic relationship with the movement throughout his life. Gravel married Rita Jeannette Martin, who had been Anchorage's "Miss Fur Rendezvous" of 1958, on April 29, 1959. They had two children, Martin Anthony Gravel and Lynne Denise Gravel, born c. 1960 and 1962 respectively. Meanwhile, he went to Washington, D.C. in 1957 to campaign for Alaskan statehood via the "Tennessee Plan": dressed as Paul Revere, he rode with a petition to the steps of the U.S. Capitol. Seeing Alaska as a wide-open place with no political establishment or entrenched interests, and using the slogan "Gravel, the Roadbed to Prosperity", he ran for the territorial legislature in 1958 but lost. He went on a national speaking tour concerning tax reform in 1959, sponsored by the Jaycees. He ran without avail for the City Council in Anchorage in 1960. During this time, he had become a successful real estate agent; after the 1960 election, he became a property developer in a mobile home park on the outskirts of Anchorage. A partner ran into financial difficulty, however, and the project went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy and Gravel was forced out in 1962. In the late 1960s and early 1970s the U.S. Department of Defense was in the process of performing tests for the nuclear warhead for the Spartan anti-ballistic missile. Two tests, the "Milrow" and "Cannikin" tests, were planned, involving the detonation of nuclear bombs under Amchitka Island in Alaska. The Milrow test would be a one megaton calibration exercise for the second, and larger five megaton, Cannikin test, which would measure the effectiveness of the warhead. Gravel opposed the tests in Congress. Before the Milrow test took place in October 1969, he wrote that there were significant risks of earthquakes and other adverse consequences, and called for an independent national commission on nuclear and seismic safety to be created; he then made a personal appeal to President Nixon to stop the test. After Milrow was conducted, there was continued pressure on the part of environmental groups against going forward with the larger Cannikin test, while the Federation of American Scientists claimed that the warhead being tested was already obsolete. In May 1971, Gravel sent a letter to U.S. Atomic Energy Commission hearings held in Anchorage, in which he said the risk of the test was not worth taking. Eventually a group not involving Gravel took the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to issue an injunction against it, and the Cannikin test took place as scheduled in November 1971. Gravel had failed to stop the tests (notwithstanding his later claims during his 2008 presidential campaign). Nuclear power was considered an environmentally clean alternative for the commercial generation of electricity and was part of a popular national policy for the peaceful use of atomic energy in the 1950s and 1960s. Gravel publicly opposed this policy; besides the dangers of nuclear testing, he was a vocal critic of the Atomic Energy Commission, which oversaw American nuclear efforts, and of the powerful United States Congress Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, which had a stranglehold on nuclear policy and which Gravel tried to circumvent. In 1971, Gravel sponsored a bill to impose a moratorium on nuclear power plant construction and to make power utilities liable for any nuclear accidents; in 1975, he was still proposing similar moratoriums. By 1974, Gravel was allied with Ralph Nader's organization in opposing nuclear power. Six months before U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's secret mission to the People's Republic of China (P.R.C.) in July 1971, Gravel introduced legislation to recognize and normalize relations with China, including a proposal for unity talks between the P.R.C. and the Republic of China (Taiwan) regarding the Chinese seat on the U.N. Security Council. Gravel reiterated his position in favor of recognition, with four other senators in agreement, during Senate hearings in June 1971. Gravel actively campaigned for the office of Vice President of the United States during the 1972 presidential election, announcing on June 2, 1972, over a month before the 1972 Democratic National Convention began, that he was interested in running for the nomination should the choice be opened up to convention delegates. Towards this end he began soliciting delegates for their support in advance of the convention. He was not alone in this effort, as former Governor of Massachusetts Endicott Peabody had been running a quixotic campaign for the same post since the prior year. Likely presidential nominee George McGovern was in fact considering the unusual move of naming three or four acceptable vice-presidential candidates and letting the delegates choose. At the convention's final day on July 14, 1972, presidential nominee McGovern selected and announced Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri as his vice-presidential choice. Eagleton was unknown to many delegates and the choice seemed to smack of traditional ticket balancing considerations. Thus, there were delegates willing to look elsewhere. Gravel was nominated by Bettye Fahrenkamp, the Democratic National Committeewoman from Alaska. He then seconded his own nomination, breaking down in tears at his own words and maybe trying to withdraw his nomination. In any case he won 226 delegate votes, coming in third behind Eagleton and Frances "Sissy" Farenthold of Texas, in chaotic balloting that included several other candidates as well. For his efforts, Gravel attracted some attention: famed writer Norman Mailer would say he "provided considerable excitement" and was "good-looking enough to have played leads in B-films", while Rolling Stone correspondent Hunter S. Thompson said Gravel "probably said a few things that might have been worth hearing, under different circumstances ..." Yet, the whole process had been doubly disastrous for the Democrats. The time consumed with the nominating and seconding and other speeches of all the vice-presidential candidates had lost the attention of the delegates on the floor and pushed McGovern's speech until 3:30 a.m. The haste with which Eagleton had been selected led to surprise when his past mental health treatments were revealed; he withdrew from the ticket soon after the convention, to be replaced by Sargent Shriver. CANNOTANSWER | Gravel was nominated by Bettye Fahrenkamp, the Democratic National Committeewoman from Alaska. | Maurice Robert Gravel ( ; May 13, 1930 – June 26, 2021) was an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Alaska from 1969 to 1981 as a member of the Democratic Party, and who, in later life, twice ran for the presidential nomination of that party.
Born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, by French-Canadian immigrant parents, Gravel moved to Alaska in the late 1950s, becoming a real estate developer and entering politics. He served in the Alaska House of Representatives from 1963 to 1967, and also became Speaker of the Alaska House. Gravel was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1968.
As a senator, Gravel became nationally known for his forceful, but unsuccessful, attempts to end the draft during the War in Vietnam, and for putting the Pentagon Papers into the public record in 1971. He conducted a campaign for the Democratic nomination in 1972 for Vice President of the United States, and then played a crucial role in obtaining Congressional approval for the Trans-Alaska pipeline in 1973. He was re-elected to the Senate in 1974, but was defeated in his bid for a third term in the primary election in 1980.
An advocate of direct democracy and the National Initiative, Gravel staged a run for the 2008 Democratic nomination for President of the United States. His campaign failed to gain support, and in March 2008, he left the Democratic Party and joined the Libertarian Party to compete unsuccessfully for its presidential nomination and the inclusion of the National Initiative into the Libertarian Platform. He ran for president as a Democrat again in the 2020 election, in a campaign that ended four months after it began. Two years before his death, Gravel and his campaign staff founded the progressive think tank The Gravel Institute.
Early life, military service, education
Gravel was born on May 13, 1930, in Springfield, Massachusetts, one of five children of French-Canadian immigrant parents, Alphonse and Marie (née Bourassa) Gravel. His parents were part of the Quebec diaspora, and he was raised in a working-class neighborhood during the Great Depression, speaking only French until he was seven years old. Calling him "Mike" from an early age, his father valued work above all else, while his mother stressed the importance of education.
Gravel was educated in parochial schools as a Roman Catholic. There he struggled, due to what he later said was undiagnosed dyslexia, and was left back in third grade. He completed elementary school in 1945 and his class voted him "most charming personality". A summer job as a soda jerk led to Gravel handing out campaign fliers for local candidates on his boss's behalf; Gravel was immediately impressed with "the awesomeness of political office".
Gravel then boarded at Assumption Preparatory School in Worcester, Massachusetts, where his performance was initially mediocre. By Gravel's telling, in the summer of 1948 he intended to volunteer for the Israel Defense Forces during the 1947–1949 Palestine war, but Alexandra Tolstaya told him to return to school. There an English teacher, the Assumptionist Edgar Bourque, gave him personal attention, improving Gravel's language skills and instructing him in public speaking. Gravel's grades improved measurably in his final year and he graduated in 1949. His sister, Marguerite, became a Holy Cross nun, but Gravel himself struggled with the Catholic faith. He studied for one year at Assumption College, a Catholic school in Worcester, then transferred for his sophomore year to American International College in Springfield. Journalist I. F. Stone and philosopher Bertrand Russell strongly influenced Gravel in their willingness to challenge assumptions and oppose social convention and political authority.
Around May 1951, Gravel saw that he was about to be drafted and instead enlisted in the U.S. Army for a three-year term so that he could get into the Counterintelligence Corps. After basic training and counterintelligence school at Fort Holabird in Maryland and in South Carolina, he went to Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia. While he expected to be sent off to the Korean War when he graduated as a second lieutenant in early 1952, he was instead assigned to Stuttgart, West Germany, as a Special Adjutant in the Army's Communications Intelligence Service. In Germany, Gravel conducted surveillance operations on civilians and paid off spies. After about a year, he transferred to Orléans, France, where his French language abilities (if not his French-Canadian accent) allowed him to infiltrate French communist rallies. He worked as a Special Agent in the Counterintelligence Corps until 1954, eventually becoming a first lieutenant.
Following his discharge, Gravel entered the Columbia University School of General Studies in New York City, where he studied economics and received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1956. He moved to New York "flat broke" and supported himself by working as a bar boy in a hotel, driving a taxicab, and working in the investment bond department at Bankers Trust. During this time he left the Roman Catholic faith.
Move to Alaska
Gravel "decided to become a pioneer in a faraway place," and moved to pre-statehood Alaska in August 1956, without funds or a job, looking for a place where someone without social or political connections could be a viable candidate for public office. Alaska's voting age of 19, less than most other states' 21, played a role in his decision, as did its newness and cooler climate. Broke when he arrived, he immediately found work in real estate sales until winter arrived. Gravel then was employed as a brakeman for the Alaska Railroad, working the snow-clearing train on the Anchorage-to-Fairbanks run. Subsequently, he opened a small real estate brokerage in Anchorage (the Territory of Alaska not requiring a license) and saved enough so as not to have to work the railroad again. The firm was named the M. R. Gravel Real Estate Company. Gravel joined the Anchorage Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, and continued a sporadic relationship with the movement throughout his life.
Seeing Alaska as a wide-open place with no political establishment or entrenched interests, Gravel quickly became part of the civic scene there. By October 1957 he was a Division Chairman for Anchorage for the Democratic Central Committee in the territory, and by June 1958 he was president of the Alaska Young Democrats organization. He also became active in the United States Junior Chamber (Jaycees), and by early 1958 his duties included handing out awards for farmer of the year.
By early 1958, Gravel was running as Democratic Party primary candidate for a Third Division seat in House of Representative of the territorial legislature. (This was one of the four judicial divisions into which Alaska was sectioned at the time.) Using the slogan "Gravel, the Roadbed to Prosperity", he ran but lost. At the same time, he was also an advocate for Alaskan statehood.
Gravel went on a 44-state national speaking tour concerning tax reform in 1959, sponsored by the Jaycees, often dressing for events as Paul Revere. Gravel was selected from some two thousand applications for this position. The tour received a good amount of local newspaper coverage at its various stops, with Gravel's first name sometimes given as Mike and other times as Maurice. The tour's general message was an urging of "lower taxes, more efficiency in government and a system of taxation moderate at all levels of income". At several stops Gravel stated that the "tide of socialism" had to be stopped. He elaborated at another stop, "It is part of our Jaycee creed that economic justice can best be won by free men through free enterprise. We really want to see that free enterprise become our inheritance." The tour was scheduled to conclude in Washington D.C., on Tax Day, April 15, with petition signatures accumulated for reform to be presented to U.S. lawmakers: dressed as Revere, Gravel rode with the petition to the steps of the U.S. Capitol.
The tour over, Gravel married Rita Jeannette Martin at the First Methodist Church of Anchorage on April 29, 1959. She was a native of Montana who had attended Billings Business College before moving to Alaska two years prior and becoming a secretary in the office of the Anchorage city manager. She had also been named Anchorage's "Miss Fur Rendezvous" of 1958. They had two children, Martin Anthony Gravel and Lynne Denise Gravel, born c. 1960 and 1962 respectively.
Gravel ran without avail for the City Council in Anchorage in 1960. During this time, he had become a successful real estate agent; after the 1960 election, he became a property developer in a mobile home park on the outskirts of Anchorage. After a partner ran into financial difficulty, however, the project went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and Gravel was forced out in 1962.
State legislator
With the support of Alaska wholesale grocer Barney Gottstein and supermarket builder Larry Carr, Gravel ran for the Alaska House of Representatives representing Anchorage in 1962, initially assigned the 10th and then 8th districts. Alaska had very crowded primaries that year: Gravel was one of 33 Democrats, along with 21 Republicans, who were running for the chance to compete for the 14 House seats allocated to the 8th district. Gravel made it through the primary, and in November eight Republicans and six Democrats were elected to the House from the district, with Gravel finishing eighth overall and third among with Democrats, with 8,174 votes. Gottstein became Gravel's main financial backer during most of his subsequent campaigns.
Gravel served in the Alaska House of Representatives from January 28, 1963 to January 22, 1967, winning reelection in 1964. In his first term, he served as a minority member on two House committees: Commerce, and Labor and Management. He co-authored and sponsored the act that created the Alaska State Commission for Human Rights. Gravel was the chief architect of the law that created a regional high school system for rural Alaska; this allowed Alaska Natives to attend schools near where they lived instead of having to go to schools run by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the lower 48 states.
During the half-years that the legislature was not in session, Gravel resumed his real estate work. With Gottstein and Carr's backing, he became quite successful as a property developer on the Kenai Peninsula.
During 1965 and 1966, he served as the Speaker of the House, surprising observers by winning that post. Gravel convinced former Speaker Warren A. Taylor to not try for the position against him by promising Taylor chairmanship of the Rules Committee, then reneged on the promise. Gravel denied later press charges that he had promised but not delivered on other committee chairmanships. As Speaker he antagonized fellow lawmakers by imposing his will on the legislature's committees and feuded with Alaska State Senate president Robert J. McNealy.
Gravel did not run for reelection in 1966, instead choosing to run for Alaska's seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, losing the primary to four-term incumbent Democrat Ralph Rivers by 1,300 votes and splitting the Democratic Party in the process. Rivers lost the general election that year to Republican state Senator Howard Pollock. Following this defeat, Gravel returned to the real estate business in Anchorage.
U.S. Senator
Election to Senate in 1968
In 1968, Gravel ran against 81-year-old incumbent Democratic United States Senator Ernest Gruening, a popular former governor of the Alaska Territory who was considered one of the fathers of Alaska's statehood, for his party's nomination to the U.S. Senate. Gravel's campaign was primarily based on his youth and telegenic appearance rather than issue differences. He hired Joseph Napolitan, the first self-described political consultant, in late 1966. They spent over a year and a half planning a short, nine-day primary election campaign that featured the slogans "Alaska first" and "Let's do something about the state we're in", the distribution of a collection of essays titled Jobs and More Jobs, and the creation of a half-hour, well-produced, glamorized biographical film of Gravel, Man for Alaska. The film was shown twice a day on every television station in Alaska, and carried by plane and shown on home projectors in hundreds of Alaska Native villages. The heavy showings quickly reversed a 2–to–1 Gruening lead in polls into a Gravel lead. Gravel visited many remote villages by seaplane and showed a thorough understanding of the needs of the bush country and the fishing and oil industries. Gravel also benefited from maintaining a deliberately ambiguous posture about Vietnam policy. Gruening had been one of only two Senators to vote against the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and his opposition to President Lyndon B. Johnson's war policies was harming him among the Democratic electorate; according to Gravel, "all I had to do was stand up and not deal with the subject, and people would assume that I was to the right of Ernest Gruening, when in point of fact I was to the left of him". In Man for Alaska, Gravel argued that "the liberals" would come to West Germany's defense if it was attacked, and that the same standard should apply to the United States' allies in Asia. During the campaign he also claimed that he was "more in the mainstream of American thought on Vietnam" than Gruening, despite the fact that he had written to Gruening to praise his antiwar stance four years earlier. Decades later, Gravel conceded that "I said what I said [about Vietnam] to advance my career."
Gravel beat Gruening in the primary by about 2,000 votes. Gruening found "the unexpected defeat hard to take" and thought that some aspects of his opponent's biographical film had misled viewers. In the general election, Gravel faced Republican Elmer E. Rasmuson, a banker and former mayor of Anchorage. College students in the state implored Gruening to run a write-in campaign as an Independent, but legal battles prevented him from getting approval for it until only two weeks were left. A late appearance by anti-war presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy did not offset Gruening's lack of funds and endorsements; meanwhile, Gravel and Rasmuson both saturated local media with their filmed biographies. On November 5, 1968, Gravel won the general election with 45 percent of the vote to Rasmuson's 37 percent and Gruening's 18 percent.
Senate assignments and style
When Gravel joined the U.S.Senate in January 1969, he requested and received a seat on the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee, which had direct relevance to Alaskan issues. He also got a spot on the Public Works Committee, which he held throughout his time in the Senate. Finally, he was a member of the Select Committee on Small Business. In 1971 he became chair of the Public Works Committee's Subcommittee on Public Buildings and Grounds, and by 1973 he was chair of its Subcommittee on Water Resources, then later its Subcommittee on Environmental Pollution. Gravel was also initially named to the Joint Committee on Congressional Operations. By 1973 Gravel was off the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee and the Select Small Business Committee and instead a member of the Finance Committee, and by 1977 was chair of that body's Subcommittee on Energy and Foundations. By 1973 he had also been on the ad hoc Special Committee to Study Secret and Confidential Government Documents.
By his own admission, Gravel was too new and "too abrasive" to be effective in the Senate by the usual means of seniority-based committee assignments or negotiating deals with other senators, and was sometimes seen as arrogant or a nuisance by the more senior and tradition-oriented members. Gravel relied on attention-getting gestures to achieve what he wanted, hoping national exposure would force other senators to listen to him. But even senators who agreed with him on issues considered his methods to be showboating.
As part of this approach, Gravel voted with Southern Democrats to keep the Senate filibuster rule in place, and accordingly supported Russell Long and Robert Byrd but opposed Ted Kennedy in Senate leadership battles. In retrospective assessment, University of Alaska Anchorage history professor Stephen Haycox said, "Loose cannon is a good description of Gravel's Senate career. He was an off-the-wall guy, and you weren't really ever sure what he would do."
Nuclear issues and the Cold War
In the late 1960s and early 1970s the U.S. Department of Defense was in the process of performing tests for the nuclear warhead for the Spartan anti-ballistic missile. Two tests, the "Milrow" and "Cannikin" tests, were planned, involving the detonation of nuclear bombs under Amchitka Island in Alaska. The Milrow test would be a one-megaton calibration exercise for the second and larger five-megaton Cannikin test, which would measure the effectiveness of the warhead. Gravel opposed the tests. Before the Milrow test took place in October 1969, he wrote that there were significant risks of earthquakes and other adverse consequences and called for an independent national commission on nuclear and seismic safety; he then made a personal appeal to President Richard Nixon to stop the test.
After Milrow was conducted, there was continued pressure on the part of environmental groups against going forward with the Cannikin test, while the Federation of American Scientists claimed that the warhead being tested was already obsolete. In May 1971 Gravel sent a letter to U.S. Atomic Energy Commission hearings held in Anchorage in which he said the risk of the test was not worth taking. Eventually a group not involving Gravel took the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to issue an injunction against it, and the Cannikin test took place as scheduled in November 1971. Gravel had failed to stop the tests (notwithstanding his later claims during his 2008 presidential campaign).
In 1971 Gravel voted against the Nixon administration's proposed anti-ballistic missile system, the Safeguard Program, having previously vacillated over the issue, suggesting that he might be willing to support it in exchange for federal lands in Alaska being opened up for private oil drilling. His vote alienated Senator Henry "Scoop" Jackson, who had raised funds for Gravel's primary campaign.
Nuclear power was considered an environmentally clean alternative for commercial generation of electricity and was part of a popular national policy for the peaceful use of atomic energy in the 1950s and 1960s. Gravel publicly opposed this policy; besides the dangers of nuclear testing, he was a vocal critic of the Atomic Energy Commission, which oversaw American nuclear efforts, and of the powerful United States Congress Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, which had a stranglehold on nuclear policy and which Gravel tried to circumvent. In 1971 Gravel sponsored a bill to impose a moratorium on nuclear power plant construction and to make power utilities liable for any nuclear accidents; in 1975 he was still proposing similar moratoriums. By 1974 Gravel was allied with Ralph Nader's organization in opposing nuclear power.
Six months before U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's July 1971 secret mission to the People's Republic of China (P.R.C.), Gravel introduced legislation to recognize and normalize relations with the P.R.C., including a proposal for unity talks between the P.R.C. and the Republic of China (Taiwan) regarding the Chinese seat on the U.N. Security Council. He reiterated his position in favor of recognition, with four other senators in agreement, during Senate hearings in June 1971.
Vietnam War, the draft, and the Pentagon Papers
Although he did not campaign against the Vietnam War during his first Senate campaign, by the end of 1970 Gravel was speaking out against United States policy in southeast Asia: in December of that year he persuaded William Fulbright to join him in a spontaneous two-day filibuster against a $155 million military aid package to Cambodia's Khmer Republic government in the Cambodian Civil War.
President Richard Nixon had campaigned in 1968 on a promise to end the U.S. military draft, a decision endorsed by the February 1970 report of the Gates Commission.
The existing draft law was scheduled to conclude at the end of June 1971, and the Senate faced a contentious debate about whether to extend it as the Vietnam War continued. The Nixon administration announced in February 1971 that it wanted a two-year extension to June 1973, after which the draft would end; Army planners had already been operating under the assumption of a two-year extension, after which an all-volunteer force would be in place. Skeptics such as Senate Armed Services Committee chairman John Stennis thought this unrealistic and wanted a four-year extension, but the two-year proposal is what went forward in Congress. By early May 1971, Gravel had indicated his intention to filibuster the draft renewal legislation, halting conscription and thereby bringing U.S. involvement in the war to a rapid end. During this period he also supported efforts to mobilize and influence public opinion against the war, endorsing the "Vietnam War Out Now" rallies in Washington D.C. and San Francisco on April 24, 1971, and financing a broadcast campaign by the antiwar group War No More with a personal loan. In June 1972 he escorted a group of over 100 antiwar protesters, including psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton, actress Candice Bergen, theater producer and director Joseph Papp, and peditrician Dr. Benjamin Spock, into the United States Capitol Building; the group was arrested after blocking a hallway outside the Senate chamber.
By June 1971, some Democratic senators opposed to the war wanted to limit the renewal to a one-year extension, while others wanted to end it immediately; Gravel reiterated that he was one of the latter, saying, "It's a senseless war, and one way to do away with it is to do away with the draft." A Senate vote on June 4 indicated majority support for the two-year extension. On June 18 Gravel announced again his intention to counteract that by filibustering the renewal legislation, defending the practice against those who associated it only with blocking civil rights legislation. The first filibuster attempt failed on June 23 when, by three votes, the Senate voted cloture for only the fifth time since 1927.
Protracted negotiations took place over House conference negotiations on the bill, revolving in large part around Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield's eventually unsuccessful amendment to tie renewal to a troop withdrawal timetable from Vietnam; during this time the draft law expired and no more were conscripted. On August 5, the Nixon administration pleaded for a renewal before the Senate went on recess, but Gravel blocked Stennis's attempt to limit debate, and no vote was held. Finally on September 21, 1971, the Senate invoked cloture over Gravel's second filibuster attempt by one vote, and then passed the two-year draft extension. Gravel's attempts to stop the draft had failed (notwithstanding Gravel's later claims that he had stopped or shortened the draft, taken at face value in some media reports, during his 2008 presidential campaign).
Meanwhile, on June 13, 1971, The New York Times began printing large portions of the Pentagon Papers. The papers were a large collection of secret government documents and studies pertaining to the Vietnam War, of which former Defense Department analyst Daniel Ellsberg had made unauthorized copies and was determined to make public. Ellsberg had for a year and a half approached members of Congress – such as William Fulbright, George McGovern, Charles Mathias, and Pete McCloskey – about publishing the documents, on the grounds that the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution would give congressional members immunity from prosecution, but all had refused. Instead, Ellsberg gave the documents to the Times.
The U.S. Justice Department immediately tried to halt publication, on the grounds that the information revealed within the papers harmed the national interest. Within the next two weeks, a federal court injunction halted publication in the Times; The Washington Post and several other newspapers began publishing parts of the documents, with some of them also being halted by injunctions; and the whole matter went to the U.S. Supreme Court for arguments. Looking for an alternate publication mechanism, Ellsberg returned to his idea of having a member of Congress read them, and chose Gravel based on the latter's efforts against the draft; Gravel agreed where previously others had not. Ellsberg arranged for the papers to be given to Gravel on June 26 via an intermediary, Post editor Ben Bagdikian. Gravel used his counter-intelligence experience to choose a midnight transfer in front of the Mayflower Hotel in the center of Washington, D.C.
On the night of June 29, 1971, Gravel attempted to read the papers on the floor of the Senate as part of his filibuster against the draft, but was thwarted when no quorum could be formed. Gravel instead convened a session of the Buildings and Grounds subcommittee that he chaired. He got New York Congressman John G. Dow to testify that the war had soaked up funding for public buildings, thus making discussion of the war relevant to the committee. He began reading from the papers with the press in attendance, omitting supporting documents that he felt might compromise national security, and declaring, "It is my constitutional obligation to protect the security of the people by fostering the free flow of information absolutely essential to their democratic decision-making."
He read until 1 a.m., culminating by saying "Arms are being severed. Metal is clashing through human bodies because of the public policy this government and all its branches continue to support." Then with tears and sobs he said that he could no longer physically continue, the previous three nights of sleeplessness and fear about the future having taken their toll. Gravel ended the session by, with no other senators present, establishing unanimous consent to insert 4,100 pages of the Papers into the Congressional Record of his subcommittee. The following day, the Supreme Court's New York Times Co. v. United States decision ruled in favor of the newspapers and publication in the Times and others resumed. In July 1971 Bantam Books published an inexpensive paperback edition of the papers containing the material the Times had published.
Gravel, too, wanted to privately publish the portion of the papers he had read into the record, believing that "immediate disclosure of the contents of these papers will change the policy that supports the war". After being turned down by many commercial publishers, on August 4 he reached agreement with Beacon Press, the publishing arm of the Unitarian Universalist Association, of which Gravel was a member. Announced on August 17 and published on October 22, 1971, this four-volume, relatively expensive set became the "Senator Gravel Edition", which studies from Cornell University and the Annenberg Center for Communication have labeled as the most complete edition of the Pentagon Papers to be published. The "Gravel Edition" was edited and annotated by Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn, and included an additional volume of analytical articles on the origins and progress of the war, also edited by Chomsky and Zinn. Beacon Press then was subjected to a FBI investigation; an outgrowth of this was the Gravel v. United States court case, which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled upon in June 1972; it held that the Speech or Debate Clause did grant immunity to Gravel for his reading the papers in his subcommittee, did grant some immunity to Gravel's congressional aide, but granted no immunity to Beacon Press in relation to their publishing the same papers. The U.S. Senate Democratic Caucus backed Gravel in the case, but due to Republican opposition it did not pay Gravel's legal fees, leaving him owing $25,000 (the equivalent of $150,000 in 2019, adjusted for inflation).
The events of 1971 changed Gravel in the following months from an obscure freshman senator to a nationally visible political figure. He became a sought-after speaker on the college circuit as well as at political fundraisers, opportunities he welcomed as lectures were "the one honest way a Senator has to supplement his income". But his speaking tours caused him to accrue one of the worst absentee records in the Senate. The Democratic candidates for the 1972 presidential election sought his endorsement. In January 1972 Gravel endorsed Maine Senator Ed Muskie, hoping that his support would help Muskie with the party's left wing and in ethnic French-Canadian areas during the first primary contest in New Hampshire (Muskie won, but not overwhelmingly, and his campaign faltered soon after). In April 1972 Gravel appeared on all three networks' nightly newscasts to decry the Nixon administration's reliance on Vietnamization by making reference to the secret National Security Study Memorandum 1 document, which stated it would take 8–13 years for the Army of the Republic of Vietnam to defend South Vietnam. Gravel made excerpts from the study public, but senators Robert P. Griffin and William B. Saxbe blocked his attempt to read NSSM 1 into the Congressional Record.
Domestic policy
In 1970 Gravel co-sponsored legislation to establish a guaranteed minimum income, entitling poor families to up to $6,300 a year (the equivalent of $42,000 in 2019 after adjustment for inflation). He subsequently voted for a "work bonus" program, which would have entitled low-income working families with dependent children if they were paying Social Security or Railroad Retirement taxes to a non-taxable bonus of up to 10 percent of their wages. Gravel also supported extending Social Security to all federal employees and introduced a campaign finance reform bill in 1971 that would have enacted full disclosure of campaign financing, placed limits on large donations, media spending and individual candidate spending.
In 1969, Gravel was the only Democratic Senator outside of the South to vote for Nixon's Supreme Court nominee Clement Haynsworth. The following year Gravel opposed Nixon's next pick, G. Harrold Carswell.
Run for vice president in 1972
Gravel actively campaigned for the office of Vice President of the United States during the 1972 presidential election, announcing on June 2, 1972, over a month before the 1972 Democratic National Convention began, that he was interested in the nomination should the choice be opened up to convention delegates. Toward this end he began soliciting delegates for their support. He was not alone in this effort, as former Governor of Massachusetts Endicott Peabody had been running a quixotic campaign for the same post since the prior year. Likely presidential nominee George McGovern was in fact considering the unusual move of naming three or four acceptable vice-presidential candidates and letting the delegates choose.
On the convention's final day, July 14, 1972, McGovern selected and announced Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri as his vice-presidential choice. Eagleton was unknown to many delegates and the choice seemed to smack of traditional ticket balancing considerations. Thus there were delegates willing to look elsewhere. Gravel was nominated by Bettye Fahrenkamp, the Democratic National Committeewoman from Alaska. He then seconded his own nomination, breaking down in tears at his own words and maybe trying to withdraw his nomination. In any case he won 226 delegate votes, coming in third behind Eagleton and Frances "Sissy" Farenthold of Texas, in chaotic balloting that included several other candidates.
Gravel attracted some attention for his efforts: writer Norman Mailer said he "provided considerable excitement" and was "good-looking enough to have played leads in B-films", while Rolling Stone correspondent Hunter S. Thompson said Gravel "probably said a few things that might have been worth hearing, under different circumstances". Yet the process was doubly disastrous for the Democrats. In the time consumed by nominating and seconding and all the vice-presidential candidates' speeches, the attention of the delegates on the floor was lost and McGovern's speech was pushed to 3:30 a.m. The haste with which Eagleton was selected led to surprise when his past mental health treatments were revealed; he withdrew from the ticket soon after the convention, to be replaced by Sargent Shriver.
Reelection to Senate in 1974
Several years earlier, Alaska politicians had speculated that Gravel would have a hard time getting both renominated and elected when his first term expired, given that he was originally elected without a base party organization and tended to focus on national rather than local issues.
Nonetheless, after receiving support from national and local labor leaders, securing key earmarks, and producing another half-hour TV advertorial, in 1974 Gravel was reelected to the Senate, with 58 percent of the vote to 42 percent for Republican State Senator C. R. Lewis, who was a national officer of the John Birch Society.
Second term
Gravel's reelection campaign left him $65,000–$75,000 in debt. In 1975 The Washington Post reported on a memo by his executive assistant laying out a fundraising strategy to tackle this, including raising funds from oil companies, meeting with previous donors and "inquir[ing] into the governmental priorities of these people and their groups in the coming session", as well as obtaining further speaking fees to reduce his personal debt. This was followed by a number of stories about links between Gravel, lobbyists and fundraisers, including one that was widely publicized in Alaska about his holding a share in a Colorado resort with two Washington lobbyists he was working with on land and energy legislation. Gravel had been open about the investment and had opposing views to one of the lobbyists on nuclear power. In 1980 the Wall Street Journal published details about his fundraising activities, including writing to individuals and PACs in the oil industry, pledging to kill off proposals for a windfall profits tax on the sector, and traveling in the Middle East with the business partner of one of his donors to sell Alaskan land to businessmen. Gravel suggested that critics of his fundraising were "naive".
In 1975 Gravel introduced an amendment to cut the number of troops overseas by 200,000, but it was defeated on a voice vote.
In September 1975 Gravel was named as one of several Congressional Advisers to the Seventh Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly, which met to discuss problems related to economic development and international economic cooperation.
In June 1976 Gravel was the focus of a federal investigation into allegations that he was involved in a sex-for-vote arrangement. Congressional staff clerk Elizabeth Ray (who had already been involved in a sex scandal that led to the downfall of Representative Wayne Hays) said that in August 1972 she had sex with Gravel aboard a houseboat on the Potomac River, under the instruction of Representative Kenneth J. Gray, her boss at the time. Gray allegedly wanted to secure Gravel's support for further funding for construction of the National Visitor Center in Washington, a troubled project that was under the jurisdiction of subcommittees that both members chaired. Another Congressional staffer said she witnessed the boat encounter, but Gravel said at the time that he had never met either of the women. Gravel and Gray strongly denied that they had made any arrangement regarding legislation, and neither was ever charged with any wrongdoing. Decades later Gravel wrote that he had indeed had sex with Ray, but had not changed any votes because of it.
Gravel and his main financial backer, Gottstein, had a falling out in 1978, during the Congressional debate over whether to allow a controversial sale of U.S. F-15 fighter aircraft to Saudi Arabia. An ardent backer of Israel, Gottstein opposed the sale and asked Gravel to vote against it. But Gravel not only voted for it but made an emotional speech attacking the anti-sale campaign. Gravel wrote in 2008 that it was the only time Gottstein had ever asked him for a favor, and the rupture resulted in their never speaking to each other again.
Alaskan issues
By 1971 Gravel was urging construction of the much-argued Trans-Alaska pipeline, addressing environmental concerns by saying that the pipeline's builders and operators should have "total and absolute" responsibility for any consequent environmental damage. Two years later the debate over the pipeline came to a crux, with The New York Times describing it as "environmentalists [in] a holy war with the major oil companies". In February 1973 the U.S. Court of Appeals blocked the issuance of permits for construction; Gravel and fellow Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens reacted by urging Congress to pass legislation overturning the court's decision. Environmentalists opposed to the pipeline, such as the Environmental Defense Fund and the Sierra Club then sought to use the recently passed National Environmental Policy Act to their advantage; Gravel designed an amendment to the pipeline bill that would immunize the pipeline from any further court challenges under that law, and thus speed its construction. Passage of the amendment became the key battle regarding the pipeline. On July 17, 1973, in a dramatic roll-call vote, the Gravel amendment was approved as a 49–49 tie was broken in favor by Vice President Spiro Agnew. The actual bill enabling the pipeline then passed easily; Gravel had triumphed in what became perhaps his most lasting accomplishment as a senator.
In opposition to the Alaskan fishing industry, Gravel advocated American participation in the formation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. For two years he opposed legislation that established a Exclusive Economic Zone for marine resources. He was one of only 19 senators to vote against Senate approval for the expanded zone in 1976, saying it would undermine the U.S. position in Law of the Sea negotiations and that nations arbitrarily extending their fishing rights limits would "produce anarchy of the seas". The legislation was passed, and the United States has signed but never ratified the Law of the Sea treaty.
Gravel accumulated a complicated record on Indian affairs during his time in the Senate. During his first year in the Senate Gravel urged abolition of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, criticizing the agency for the pace of development of schools in Alaska, its paternalistic attitudes and the culturally inappropriate nature of its education, and advocating greater shared decision-making between the federal government and native communities in Alaska. Later, his views changed; in the early 1970s Gravel supported a demonstration project that established links between Alaskan villages and the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, for medical diagnostic communications. In 1971, he fended off accusations from Alaskan natives that he was not spending enough time working on their land claims. Gravel helped secure a private grant to facilitate the first Inuit Circumpolar Conference in 1977, attended by Inuit representatives from Alaska, Canada, and Greenland. These conferences now also include representatives from Russia. In 1977, Gravel helped lead an effort to have the U.S. Interior Department rename Mount McKinley to Denali; this eventually led to Denali National Park being so named. Subsequently, Gravel proposed a never-built "Denali City" development above the Tokositna River near the mountain, to consist of a giant Teflon dome enclosing hotels, golf courses, condominiums, and commercial buildings. A related idea of his to build a high-speed rail line to Denali also failed to gain traction.
A key, emotional issue in the state at the time was "locking up Alaska", making reference to allocation of its vast, mostly uninhabited land. President Jimmy Carter desired to put large portions of this land under federal protection against development, a move that some Alaskans vociferously opposed.
In 1978 Gravel blocked passage, via procedural delays such as walking out of House–Senate conference committee meetings, of a complex bill which represented a compromise on land use policy. The bill would have put some of Alaska's vast federal land holdings under state control while preserving other portions for federal parks and refuges; the blocking action earned Gravel the enmity of fellow Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, who had supported the compromise. In 1980, a new lands bill came up for consideration, that was less favorable to Alaskan interests and more liked by environmentalists; it set aside of Alaska's for national parks, conservation areas, and other restricted federal uses. Gravel blocked it, as not ensuring enough future development in the state. A new compromise version of the 1980 bill came forward, which reduced the land set aside to . Representing Alaskan interests, Gravel tried to stop the bill, including by filibuster. But the Senate voted for cloture and passed the bill. Frustrated, Gravel said, "the legislation denies Alaska its rights as a state, and denies the U.S. crucial strategic resources," and opined that the Senate was "a little bit like a tank of barracudas". Nonetheless, the bill, known as the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980, was signed by President Carter shortly before leaving the White House, and led to millions of acres being set aside in the state for national parks, wildlife refuges, and other kinds of areas under protection.
In 1978 Gravel authored and secured the passage into federal law of the General Stock Ownership Corporation, that became Subchapter U of the Tax Code under the Internal Revenue Code of 1954. This gave states the ability to create corporations that would invest in for-profit enterprises, with all citizens within the state owning shares in the corporation. Gravel's attempt to convince the Alaska state legislature to create such a corporation failed, as did a 1980 state ballot initiative towards the same end, but nevertheless the creation of the General Stock Ownership Corporation in federal law turned out to be significant in the development of binary economics.
Loss of Senate seat in 1980
In 1980 Gravel was challenged for the Democratic Party's nomination by State Representative Clark Gruening, the grandson of the man Gravel had defeated in a primary 12 years earlier. One of Gruening's supporters was Gravel's former backer Gottstein. Several factors made Gravel vulnerable. As an insurgent candidate in 1968 Gravel had never established a firm party base. Not liking to hunt or fish, he was also always culturally suspect in the state.
The primary campaign was bitterly fought. A group of Democrats, including future governor Steve Cowper, led the campaign against Gravel, with Gravel's actions in respect to the 1978 and 1980 Alaskan lands bills a major issue. This was especially so given that the 1980 bill's dénouement happened but a week before the primary. The sources of Gravel's campaign funds, some of which Gravel readily acknowledged came from political action committees outside the state, also became an issue in the contest. Gruening had pledged that he would not take special interest group money, but Gravel said that Gruening was "dishonest" in accepting individual contributors from Jewish donors living outside the state because to him such contributors comprised "a special interest group ... that seeks to influence the foreign policy of the U.S."
Gruening won the primary with about 55 percent of the vote to Gravel's 44 percent. Gravel later conceded that by the time of his defeat, he had alienated "almost every constituency in Alaska". Another factor may have been Alaska's blanket primary system of the time, which allowed unlimited voting across party lines and from its many independents; Republicans believed Gruening would be an easier candidate to defeat in the general election.
Gruening lost the general election to Republican Frank Murkowski. Gravel was the last Democrat to represent Alaska in Congress for 28 years, until Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich defeated Ted Stevens, by then an aged, iconic figure who had just been convicted of seven felonies for taking unreported gifts, in a very close and protracted election result in 2008. Stevens's conviction was subsequently vacated due to prosecutorial misconduct.
Career after leaving the Senate
Of his 1980 defeat, Gravel later recalled: "I had lost my career. I lost my marriage. I was in the doldrums for ten years after my defeat," and "Nobody wanted to hire me for anything important. I felt like I was worthless. I didn't know what I could do." By his own later description, Gravel was a womanizer, and had an affair while in the Senate, and in December 1980 he and his wife Rita separated. They filed for divorce in September 1981; she later received all of his Senate pension income.
During the 1980s Gravel was a real estate developer in Anchorage and Kenai, Alaska, a consultant, and a stockbroker. One of his real estate ventures, a condominium business, was forced to declare bankruptcy and a lawsuit ensued. In 1986 Gravel worked in partnership with Merrill Lynch Capital Markets to buy losses that financially troubled Alaska Native Corporations could not take as tax deductions and sell them to large national companies looking for tax writeoffs. Gravel also learned computer programming at some point but never practiced it.
In 1984 Gravel married his second wife, Whitney Stewart Gravel, a former administrative assistant for Senator Jacob Javits.
Return to politics
In 1989 Gravel reentered politics. He founded and led The Democracy Foundation, which promotes direct democracy. He established the Philadelphia II corporation, which seeks to replicate the original 1787 Constitutional Convention and have a Second Constitutional Convention to bring about direct democracy Gravel led an effort to get a United States Constitutional amendment to allow voter-initiated federal legislation similar to state ballot initiatives. He argued that Americans are able to legislate responsibly, and that the Act and Amendment in the National Initiative would allow American citizens to become "law makers". However such efforts met with little success.
In 2001, Gravel became director of the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution, where he admired institute co-founder Gregory Fossedal's work on direct democracy in Switzerland. By 2004, Gravel had become chair of the institute, and Fossedal (who in turn was a director of the Democracy Foundation) gave the introduction at Gravel's presidential announcement.
In 2003 Gravel gave a speech on direct democracy at a conference hosted by the American Free Press. The event was cosponsored by the Barnes Review, a journal that endorses Holocaust denial. After some controversy over his appearance, Gravel apologized, saying he did not realize the group's ties. Gravel said repeatedly that he did not share the group's views on the Holocaust, stating, "You better believe I know that six million Jews were killed. [The Barnes Review publishers] are nutty as loons if they don't think it happened". The group invited Gravel to speak again, but he declined.
Mike and Whitney Gravel lived in Arlington County, Virginia, until 2010 and then resided in Burlingame, California. They have the two grown children from his first marriage, Martin Gravel and Lynne Gravel Mosier, and four grandchildren. Whitney Gravel's income sustained the couple from 1998 on. In the 2000s, Gravel suffered poor health, requiring three surgeries in 2003 for back pain and neuropathy. Due to unreimbursed medical expenses and debts from his political causes, he declared personal bankruptcy in 2004. He began taking a salary from the non-profit organizations for which he was working; much of that income was lent to his presidential campaign. In 2007, he declared that he had "zero net worth".
2008 presidential campaign
Democratic Party primaries
At the start of 2006 Gravel decided the best way he could promote direct democracy and the National Initiative was to run for president. On April 17, 2006, Gravel became the first candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2008 election, announcing his run in a speech to the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Short on campaign cash, he took public transportation to get to his announcement. (Gravel called for public financing of elections.) Other principal Gravel positions were the FairTax, as well as withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq within 120 days and a single payer national health care system.
Gravel had opposed the Iraq War, and President George W. Bush's rationale for it, from the beginning, and in 2006 said that U.S. troops in Iraq, as in Vietnam, had "died in vain". He also favored a regional peace initiative, as well as reparation payments for Iraqis. Gravel also called for a "U.S. corporate withdrawal from Iraq", with reconstruction contracts held by U.S. companies to be turned over to Iraqi firms.
Gravel campaigned almost full-time in New Hampshire, the first primary state, following his announcement. Opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination showed Gravel with 1 percent or less support. By the end of March 2007, Gravel's campaign had less than $500 in cash on hand against debts of nearly $90,000.
Because of his time in the Senate, Gravel was invited to many of the early Democratic presidential debates. During the initial one at South Carolina State University on April 26, 2007, he suggested a bill requiring the president to withdraw from Iraq on pain of criminal penalties. He also advocated positions such as opposing preemptive nuclear war. He stated that the Iraq War had the effect of creating more terrorists and that the "war was lost the day that George Bush invaded Iraq on a fraudulent basis". Regarding his fellow candidates, he said, "I got to tell you, after standing up with them, some of these people frighten me – they frighten me." In one such exchange, Gravel said, "Tell me, Barack, who do you want to nuke?" to which Obama responded, "I'm not planning to nuke anybody right now, Mike, I promise."
Media stories said that Gravel was responsible for much of whatever "heat" and "flashpoints" had taken place during the Democratic debates. Gravel gained considerable publicity by shaking up the normally staid multiple-candidate format; The New York Times' media critic said that what Gravel had done was "steal a debate with outrageous, curmudgeonly statements". The Internet was a benefit: a YouTube video of his responses in the debate was viewed more than 225,892 times, ranking seventeenth in most views for week and first among news and politics clips; his name became the fifteenth most searched-for in the blogosphere; and his website garnered more traffic than those of frontrunners Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, or John Edwards. Gravel appeared on the popular Colbert Report on television on May 2, and his campaign and career were profiled in national publications such as Salon. Two wordless, Warholesque campaign videos, "Rock" and "Fire", were released on YouTube in late May and became hits, and eventually gained over 760,000 and 185,000 views respectively. "Rock", in turn, was given airtime during an episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Some thirty-five years after he first achieved the national spotlight, he had found it again.
All this did not improve his performance in the polls; a May 2007 CNN poll showed him with less than 0.5 percent support among Democrats. Gravel was in the next several debates, in one case after CNN reversed a decision to exclude him. Like some of the other second-tier candidates, Gravel did not get as much time as the leaders; during the June 2, 2007, New Hampshire debate, which lasted two hours, he was asked 10 questions and allowed to speak for five minutes and 37 seconds.
During the July 23, 2007, CNN-YouTube presidential debate, Gravel responded to audience applause when he had complained of a lack of airtime and said: "Thank you. Has it been fair thus far?" Detractors began to liken him to "the cranky uncle who lives in the attic," or "the angry old guy that just seemed to want to become angrier". Berkeley political scientist David Terr found that moderator George Stephanopoulos directed roughly five percent of his questions to Gravel; in a poll asking who did the best in the debate, Gravel placed seventh among the eight candidates. National opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination continued to show Gravel with one percent or zero percent numbers. By the end of the third-quarter 2007, Gravel had about $17,500 in cash on hand, had collected a total of about $380,000 during the 2008 election cycle, and was continuing to run a threadbare campaign with minimal staff.
Beginning with the October 30, 2007, Philadelphia event, Gravel was excluded from most of the debates, with the debate sponsors or the Democratic National Committee saying Gravel's campaign had not met fund-raising, polling, or local campaign organizational thresholds. For the Philadelphia exclusion, Gravel blamed corporate censorship on the part of sponsor owner and alleged military-industrial complex member General Electric for his exclusion and mounted a counter-gathering and debate against a video screen a short distance away, but he had lost his easiest publicity. In reaction, supporters organized "mass donation days" to try to help the campaign gain momentum and funds, such as on December 5, 2007, the anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition.
Gravel did not compete in the initial 2008 vote, the Iowa caucuses, but was still subjected to a false report from MSNBC that he had pulled out of the race afterward. Gravel did focus his attention on the second 2008 vote, the New Hampshire primary. In early January, Mother Jones' investigative reporter James Ridgeway was filmed interviewing and following Gravel in New Hampshire, in which Gravel is interviewed on the phone by Neal Conan for NPR's, Talk of the Nation. He received about 400 votes out of some 280,000 cast in New Hampshire, or 0.14 percent, before taking time off to improve his health. He resumed campaigning, but fared no better in subsequent states. By the end of January 2008, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and Gravel were the only remaining Democrats from the initial debates still running; Gravel vowed to stay in the presidential campaign until November. On March 11, 2008, Gravel continued to remain in the Democratic race but additionally endorsed a Green Party candidate for president, Jesse Johnson, saying he wanted to help Johnson prevail against Green Party rivals Cynthia McKinney and Ralph Nader. By late March, Gravel had almost no fundraising and was only on the ballot in one of the next ten Democratic primaries.
Switch to Libertarian Party
On March 25, 2008, Gravel announced that he would leave the Democrats and join the Libertarian Party, saying: "My libertarian views, as well as my strong stance against war, the military industrial complex and American imperialism, seem not to be tolerated by Democratic Party elites who are out of touch with the average American; elites that reject the empowerment of American citizens I offered to the Democratic Party at the beginning of this presidential campaign with the National Initiative for Democracy." The following day Gravel entered the race for the 2008 Libertarian presidential nomination, saying that he would have run as a third-party candidate all along except that he needed the public exposure that came from being in the earlier Democratic debates. Gravel's initial notion of running as a fusion candidate with other parties was met with skepticism.
As a Libertarian candidate, Gravel faced resistance to his past support of big government initiatives and his unorthodox positions around direct democracy. Nevertheless, he garnered more support than he had as a Democrat, placing second and third in two April 2008 straw polls. In the May 25 balloting at the 2008 Libertarian National Convention in Denver, Gravel finished fourth out of eight candidates on the initial ballot, with 71 votes out of a total 618; he trailed former Congressman and eventual winner Bob Barr, author Mary Ruwart, and businessman Wayne Allyn Root. Gravel's position did not subsequently improve and he was eliminated on the fourth ballot. Afterwards he stated that "I just ended my political career," but he vowed to continue promoting his positions as a writer and lecturer.
2008–early 2019
In June 2008 Gravel endorsed the NYC 9/11 Ballot Initiative, saying the measure would create a "citizens commission rather than a government commission" with subpoena power against top U.S. officials to "make a true investigation as to what happened" regarding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. He later said, "Individuals in and out of government may certainly have participated with the obviously known perpetrators of this dastardly act. Suspicions abound over the analysis presented by government. Obviously an act that has triggered three wars, Afghan, Iraqi and the continuing War on Terror, should be extensively investigated which was not done and which the government avoids addressing."
In August 2008 Gravel was speaking to a crowd of supporters of Sami Al-Arian (who two years earlier had pleaded guilty and been sentenced to prison for a charge of conspiracy in helping Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a "specially designated terrorist" organization) when he was caught on tape saying of Al-Arian's prosecutor, "Find out where he lives, find out where his kids go to school, find out where his office is: picket him all the time. Call him a racist in signs if you see him. Call him an injustice. Call him whatever you want to call him, but in his face all the time." Gravel was criticized for potentially involving the children of the prosecutor, and Al-Arian's family disavowed the sentiments.
Gravel defended Alaska Governor Sarah Palin after she was chosen as Republican presidential nominee John McCain's running mate in September 2008. He praised Palin's record in standing up to corruption among Alaskan Republicans, thought her national inexperience was an asset not a detriment, and predicted that the "Troopergate" investigation into whether she improperly fired a state official would "come out in her favor". Gravel made clear he would not support or vote for either McCain–Palin or Obama–Biden in the general election. The following year Gravel said that Palin's politics were "terrible, but that doesn't detract from the fact that she's a very talented person". He predicted that Palin would run for president in 2012 and that "she's going to surprise a lot of people". Palin did not run, but Gravel's prediction about "TrooperGate" was accurate as Palin was found not to have violated ethics laws.
In 2013, by the invitation of Hamed Ghashghavi, the secretary for international affairs of the 3rd International Conference on Hollywoodism in Tehran, Iran, Gravel attended that event as an Iranian government-organized anti-Hollywood conference. Gravel noted that the conference was attended by "various elements of extremes" but said it was necessary to discuss how the U.S. film industry portrayed Iran in order to prevent "an insane war" between the two nations.
In May 2013 Gravel was one of several former members of Congress to accept $20,000 from the Paradigm Research Group, an advocacy group for UFO disclosure, as part of holding what they termed a Citizen Hearing on Disclosure, modeled after congressional hearings, regarding supposed U.S. government suppression of evidence concerning UFOs. Gravel said, "Something is monitoring the planet, and they are monitoring it very cautiously, because we are a very warlike planet," and, "What we're faced with here is, in areas of the media, and the government too, an effort to marginalize and ridicule people who have specific knowledge."
In December 2014 Gravel was announced as the new CEO of KUSH, a company which makes marijuana-infused products for medicinal and recreational use, and a subsidiary of Cannabis Sativa, Inc. He also became an Independent Director of Cannabis Sativa.
During the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries, Gravel praised Bernie Sanders and his campaign, saying "Bernie is one of the most gifted politicians I have ever observed. He's a person of great integrity and very clever." Gravel predicted that Sanders would be elected president but would be unable to get his key reforms through Congress, and thus that Sanders and his supporters should back some of the proposals of the National Initiative.
In 2016, Gravel said in relation to the September 11 attacks: "We killed 58,000 American servicemen in the Vietnam War and all they did was die in vain. What's so unusual about killing 3,000 more in order to develop the grist for the mill to empower into infinity the military industrial complex?" and "There's no question in my mind that 9/11 was an inside job". The remarks were later disavowed by even Gravel supporters.
By 2019 Gravel was living in Seaside, California. He was working on a book, at the time titled Human Governance, about his principal idea for direct democracy, a U.S. Constitutional Amendment to create a "Legislature of the People" that would circumvent the existing Congress. The book was self-published at the end of the year by AuthorHouse under the title The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People.
2020 presidential campaign
On March 19, 2019, Gravel announced that he was considering running in the 2020 Democratic primaries. He said, "The goal will not be to win, but to bring a critique of American imperialism to the Democratic debate stage." An exploratory committee was formed, with filing a statement of organization with the Federal Election Commission on that same day. The filing was the idea of a group of teenagers, led by David Oks and Henry Williams, inspired by the podcast Chapo Trap House, and done with Gravel's consent (after a week spent convincing him of the idea's merits), but without his involvement. Intrigued by the group's commitment to amplifying his long-held policy goals, Gravel (who would be old on Inauguration Day in 2021) said he planned to meet with them in April, and to discuss a 2020 White House run with his wife. On April 2, 2019, Gravel filed to officially run for office. The campaign called itself the "#Gravelanche".
Gravel's initial stated goal was merely to qualify for debates by getting the required 65,000 small donors. He discouraged people from voting for him and said his preferences were Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard, both of whom favor a non-interventionist foreign policy. But on April 29, Gravel's campaign said he was running to win, not just to participate in debates. In a subsequent interview, though, Gravel emphasized the virtue of Sanders and Gabbard in some order as a presidential ticket. Statements like these caused Vox to call Gravel "2020's oddest Democratic presidential candidate". The New York Times Magazine included Gravel as an example in the rise of democratic socialism in the United States also exemplified by Sanders's 2016 race and the 2018 election of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: "[Gravel's] campaign represents the most absurd form of a legitimate movement on the left that feels little obligation to the Democratic Party."
In June 2019, Gravel touted the endorsement of Muntadher al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who, in December 2008, made headlines after he threw his shoes at President George W. Bush in protest of the U.S. war in Iraq. Al-Zaidi endorsed Gravel based on his promise to improve White House policies regarding Iraq and the Middle East.
On June 13, 2019, the Democratic Party announced the 20 major candidates who qualified for the first debate later that month. Gravel was one of the four who missed out (the others were Montana Governor Steve Bullock, U.S. Representative Seth Moulton, and Miramar, Florida, Mayor Wayne Messam). Gravel had been unable to get the requisite number of donations, or to score one percent or better in enough polls (many polls did not even include him). Nevertheless, Gravel said he would not drop out and would try to qualify for the July debate. In early July, however, Gravel's campaign said it was still 10,000 contributions short of the 65,000-donor threshold and that it was "nearing its conclusion". It solicited suggestions for where to donate $100–150,000 of leftover campaign funds. Gravel added that he had always planned on ending the campaign before the teenagers in charge of it needed to return to school. A few days later the campaign became the first to run an attack ad against Democratic front-runner Joe Biden, using the text "Is this the best our party has to offer?"
Gravel's campaign crossed the threshold of 65,000 donors on July 12, 2019, meeting the qualification mark for that month's debate. But because 20 other candidates, the maximum allowed to participate, had already met at least the polling criterion, which takes priority over the donor criterion, Gravel was not invited.
The campaign officially came to a close on August 6, 2019, with Gravel endorsing both Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard for president. Gravel's campaign later stated on Twitter that they never wanted to win but saw the campaign as an "intimately democratic" project and expressed honor at working with Gravel. Gravel said he would divide remaining campaign funds between charity and a new think tank which would espouse his ideas.
The Gravel Institute
Gravel used some of the funds remaining from his 2020 presidential campaign to found an eponymous progressive think tank called The Gravel Institute in 2019. As noted by Vice magazine, the institute aims to do battle with PragerU from a left-wing perspective. Launched in September 2020, the new entity said it would "carry on the life's work of former U.S Senator Mike Gravel in fighting for global peace and democracy. Its mission is to promote bold and forward-looking ideas about a more peaceful and egalitarian world, and to build a robust movement of young people to win it". Contributors announced include Cornel West and Slavoj Žižek, as well as Lower Brule Indian Reservation activist Nick Estes. Other presenters have included and will include H. Jon Benjamin, Briahna Joy Gray, Bernie Sanders, Chelsea Manning, Richard Wolff, Stephanie Kelton, Zephyr Teachout, David Cross, Jabari Brisport, Zohran Mamdani, and Gravel himself (though it is unknown if his appearance will be cancelled due to his death in June 2021, or if the video has already been recorded).
Death
Gravel died of multiple myeloma at his home in Seaside, California, on June 26, 2021, at age 91.
The obituary for him in The New York Times stated that Gravel was "a two-term Democratic senator from Alaska ... who was perhaps better known as an unabashed attention-getter" who later become known for "mounting long-shot presidential runs". The obituary in The Washington Post was similar, saying that Gravel was "an Alaska Democrat with a flair for the theatrical who rose from obscurity to brief renown" and later "ran quixotic campaigns for the presidency". The Anchorage Daily News quoted Gravel as saying of himself in 1989, "I'm an independent kind of guy. A rough and ready kind of guy. My glands work in a certain way that make me stand up, foolishly sometimes, and fight."
Political positions
Alan Abramowitz and Jeffrey Allan Segal described Gravel as "a maverick, if not an eccentric, in the Senate." His Americans for Democratic Action "Liberal Quotient" scores ranged from 81 out of 100 (1971) to 39 out of 100 (1980), with an average of around 61. His American Conservative Union scores ranged from 0 out of 100 (several years, including 1971 and 1972) to 38 out of 100 (1979), with an average of 14. Abramowitz and Segal note that Gravel's lowest ADA ratings coincided with his two Senate re-election bids, and for the most part his highest ACU ratings followed the same pattern.
In 1972, as a young senator, Gravel published Citizen Power: A People's Platform, a manifesto outlining what Kirkus Reviews termed a "populist reform [that] would provide 'balanced political power' between the people and government and business interests."
Civil rights issues
On drug policy, Gravel said in 2007 that he favored decriminalization and treating addiction as a public health matter. During his 2008 presidential candidacy he condemned the War on Drugs as a failure, saying that it did "nothing but savage our inner cities and put our children at risk". Gravel called for abolition of capital punishment in his book Citizen Power, and adhered to this position during his 2008 run for president. He supported abortion rights.
During the 2008 campaign Gravel was a strong supporter of LGBT rights. He supported same-sex marriage and opposed the Defense of Marriage Act and the U.S. military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy. He wrote in 2008 that "depriving gays and lesbians of equal rights is immoral".
Foreign policy and defense issues
Gravel was a critic of American imperialism.
Gravel firmly opposed U.S. military action against Iran and Syria. He voiced opposition to the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, the Military Commissions Act of 2006, the use of torture, indefinite detention, and what he called "flagrant ignorance" of the Geneva Convention. In 2014 Gravel called for the release of the full, unredacted Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture.
Gravel opposed the use of international sanctions as a policy tool and blamed the ones against Iraq under Saddam Hussein for the deaths of a half-million children in that country. In 2013 Gravel said that sanctions against Iran were "illegal".
During his 2008 candidacy, Gravel called for a cut in military spending, variously reported to be 15 percent or 50 percent. He called for the savings to boost public education spending. To spur international nuclear nonproliferation efforts, Gravel called for unilateral reductions in the U.S. nuclear arsenal.
In 2008 Gravel criticized the decision of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to not pursue the efforts to impeach George W. Bush and the attempted impeachment of Dick Cheney, saying also that Bush and Cheney had committed crimes and deserved "to be prosecuted" at The Hague. In 2013 he expressed disdain for President Obama, calling him "a total fraud" and saying that both Bush and Obama should be tried "for the crimes and murders they've committed" in the International Court of Justice. Gravel specifically condemned Obama for the drone strikes in Pakistan and elsewhere.
Economy, immigration, and environment
During his 2008 candidacy Gravel favored a FairTax scheme, which would abolish the Internal Revenue Service, eliminate the federal income tax (which Gravel called "corrupt"), and impose a national sales tax. While Gravel described FairTax as "progressive", others have criticized it as "regressive", disproportionately benefiting the wealthiest Americans. To offset the new sales taxes on essential goods, Gravel's plan called for monthly government rebate payments to individuals and families. During his 2020 campaign Gravel also voiced support for a third legislative body that would give the people direct control of the budget as well as the implementation of a land value tax.
Gravel opposed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) during his 2008 candidacy, calling it unfair and economically harmful and needing renegotiation. Gravel believed that NAFTA was the "root cause" of illegal migration to the U.S. He favored a guest worker program and "setting up naturalization procedures that would fairly bring immigrants into legal status". In a 2007 interview, Gravel identified himself as "very much of a globalist" who believed in open markets and open borders and condemned the scapegoating of undocumented immigrants. Gravel also said that he favored eliminating the cap on H1B visas.
As a senator from Alaska, Gravel favored drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but opposed it during his 2008 campaign. In 2008, Gravel supported a carbon tax to combat climate change.
Gravel spoke in favor of net neutrality during his presidential campaign.
Education and health care
Gravel called for the cost of college tuition to be borne by the federal government, rather than students. In his 2008 campaign, he called the No Child Left Behind Act "a failure" and called for it to be "reformed and fully funded". He expressed support for universal pre-kindergarten and the expansion of the Head Start program; and expressed an openness to charter schools and school vouchers. He also suggested extending the school day and the school year, and supported merit pay for teachers.
Gravel also called for publicly funded universal health care to replace the current employer-sponsored health insurance system. He supported "full funding" of the VA system. When asked in 2007 about naturopathy, homeopathy, and acupuncture, Gravel said that he was "very very much in favor" of holistic health care.
Awards and honors
In 2008 Gravel received the Columbia University School of General Studies' first annual Isaac Asimov Lifetime Achievement Award.
Electoral history
Writings
Gravel, Mike. Jobs and More Jobs. Mt. McKinley Publishers, 1968.
Gravel, Mike. Citizen Power: A People's Platform. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1972. .
revised and reissued as Citizen Power: A Mandate for Change, AuthorHouse, 2008. .
Gravel, Mike and Lauria, Joe. A Political Odyssey: The Rise of American Militarism and One Man's Fight to Stop It. Seven Stories Press, 2008. .
Gravel, Mike and Eisenbach, David. The Kingmakers: How the Media Threatens Our Security and Our Democracy. Phoenix Books, 2008. .
Gravel, Mike. Voice of a Maverick: The Speeches and Writings of Senator Mike Gravel. Brandywine House, 2008.
Gravel, Mike. Foreword to Poisoned Power: The Case Against Nuclear Power Plants. John W. Goffman & Arthur R. Tamplin, Rodale Press, Inc., Emmaus, PA, June 1971.
Gravel, Mike. The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People. AuthorHouse, 2020.
Explanatory notes
References
Citations
General references
The Pentagon Papers Senator Gravel Edition. Vol. Five: Critical Essays. Boston: Beacon Press, 1972. 341p. plus 72p. of Index to Vol. I–IV of the Papers; Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, editors.
External links
Mike Gravel official website
The Gravel Institute
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1930 births
2021 deaths
1972 United States vice-presidential candidates
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Writers from Anchorage, Alaska | true | [
"The 2008 presidential campaign of Mike Gravel, former Speaker of the Alaska House of Representatives and United States Senator from Alaska began on April 17, 2006 when he declared his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2008 election, in a speech to the National Press Club.\n\nHis campaign gained an Internet following and national attention due to outspoken debate appearances during 2007, but consistently showed little support in national polls. In the 2008 Democratic caucuses and primaries, he did not win any delegates. Out of the eight candidates for the Democratic nomination for president, he received the fewest votes - less than one percent.\n\nIn March 2008, Gravel announced that he had joined the Libertarian Party and would seek its presidential nomination, instead of further pursuing the Democratic nomination. In May 2008, Gravel finished fourth at the 2008 Libertarian National Convention and ended both his presidential quest and his political career, until his 2020 presidential campaign.\n\nAnnouncement\n\nOn April 17, 2006, Gravel became the first candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2008 election, announcing his run in a speech to the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Short on campaign cash, he took public transportation to get to his announcement.\n\nGravel had spoken out against the war in Iraq since before the invasion of that country began in March 2003. In his announcement he called for immediate cessation of US military involvement in Iraq via his own-drafted U.S. Armed Forces Withdrawal From Iraq Act, and offered a strategy he claimed would get it passed. He unequivocally denounced any possible war with Iran. His announced campaign platform was centered on systemic changes to the U.S. system. Foremost among these were:\n The National Initiative for Democracy, a Constitutional amendment and proposed federal statute that would recognize a fourth branch of the US federal government in addition to the judicial, executive and legislative branches, namely the people via direct democracy, enabled to directly initiate and pass legislation and to amend the Constitution of the United States on their own.\n A national sales tax that would replace the income tax and the Internal Revenue Service.\n\nGravel's initial campaign also emphasized his support for a single-payer national health care system, term limits, nuclear disarmament, and same-sex marriage recognition.\n\nCampaign developments 2006\n\nAlthough Gravel's candidacy was little-noticed by the national media, at its outset he campaigned almost full-time in New Hampshire (the first primary state). He garnered broader awareness and interest through his occasional television appearances, netroots campaigning, participation in Party forums (such as the Democratic Presidential Candidates Forum and Democratic National Committee (DNC) Winter Conference), and up until October 30 in Philadelphia, the string of televised debates sponsored by the DNC and others.\n\nGravel was interviewed for the Blue State Observer weblog on June 27, 2006. On that occasion he expressed his support for constitutional change in aid of citizen-initiated legislation, he declaimed the existence of limitations upon the conduct of stem cell research, and stated he was against the widespread deportation of illegal immigrants then being advocated by conservative talk radio and other elements.\n\nAn August 2006 media release draws attention to the candidate's public opposition to the prospect of war in Iraq expressed as long ago as the early months of 2002.\n\nThe campaign and/or candidate attracted mainstream coverage in The New York Times, The Reno Gazette-Journal, on CBS News, on ABC News, in The Progressive, and in The American Spectator/\n\nGravel delivered an address before the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College in November 2006 which has been recorded and published on video.\n\nThe campaign website included participation forums. A video section of the campaign website linked to videos of some media appearances, his address to the New Hampshire Institute of Politics, a September 2006 appearance at the 'Camp Democracy' activist forum in Washington D.C., as well as the introductory video from his successful 1968 Senate campaign.\n\nThe candidate has maintained his own weblog since October 2006, and began blogging at The Huffington Post in June 2007 as well. The Gravel campaign also had its own YouTube channel featuring more than 80 videos of the candidate's past speeches and campaign appearances.\n\nCampaign developments 2007\n\nFirst quarter\nGravel's address before the DNC National Winter Conference in early February 2007 was received – enthusiastically, claimed campaign advocates – and was broadcast on C-SPAN. In speaking he offered harsh judgments against President Bush and the Senate Democratic leadership, and implicitly his presidential rivals Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, and John Edwards, saying \"anyone who voted for the war on October 11 based upon what President Bush presented to them is not qualified to hold the office of President of the United States.\" Gravel was interviewed on MSNBC at the time. He also appeared as a guest of a video weblog directed from New Jersey answering questions about netroots and the blogosphere.\n\nSenator Gravel was interviewed on Toniq TV where he forthrightly expressed views supporting the lifting of restrictions against the service of identified gays and lesbians in the US military. Calling comparison to President Harry S. Truman's racial desegregation of the US military in 1948, he criticized former President Bill Clinton as 'dead wrong' and 'mousy' for his innovation of the 'don't ask don't tell' policy covering homosexual conduct by military members:\n\nWhen Clinton got to be President, well, the first he's doing is standing there on two legs waffling back and forth, oh, don't tell us you're gay. What are you talking about? If you had any knowledge of history, ancient history, in Sparta they encouraged homosexuality because they fight for the people they love. And if it's your partner and you love them, you're prepared to die for them, and that's the same ethic you see in the military today. It's not the country. It's my partner. Go see the movies on war, and it's always the person next to me who is in my foxhole with me. Well, I got to tell you, extend that a little further and you'll see why the Spartans trained their people to be homosexuals, because they're better fighters.\n\nOn February 11, 2007, the senator addressed the Jefferson County Presidents Day Dinner in Watertown, Wisconsin.\n\nOn February 13, 2007, the senator released a statement outlining his views on the possibility of impeachment proceedings against President George W. Bush, regarding it as 'not sufficient' and favoring a congressional inquiry which could ultimately lead to criminal charges being brought against the President.\n\nSenator Gravel participated in the AFSCME Democratic Presidential Forum on 21 February 2007 in Carson City, Nevada, at the Carson City Community Center. He appears toward the end of the video of the broadcast of the event.\n\nIn the Carson City Forum, he roundly condemned President Bush's policy of military involvement in Iraq and reminded those present of his statements warning of lies and distortions about Iraq's supposed unlawful weapons of mass destruction as far back as early 2002 (the time of the occurrence of the first signs of the Bush Administration's formulation of an agenda for military action against Iraq). He decried the overall level of military spending as opposed to the funding of education and of what he regarded as the consequent, poor educational outcomes achieved.\n\nSenator Gravel called on congressional Democrats to force a 'constitutional crisis' by denying all further budgetary appropriations in aid of continued American military involvement in Iraq. He further argued that the income tax should be 'wiped out' in favor of the FairTax proposal - which imposes a progressive sales tax on newly manufactured items varying from 19% to 23% while providing 'prebates' to 'untax' families spending on necessities, up to the poverty level. He stated his view that experience showed income taxes were successfully 'gamed' by the wealthy at the expense of the poor and middle income earners. And he voiced his support for the constitutional and legal reform necessary to effect the National Initiative as a means of enabling citizen-initiated national lawmaking.\n\nSenator Gravel also spoke in favor of public financial assistance for campaigning presidential candidates.\n\nOn February 26, 2007, Senator Gravel was interviewed about his campaign on the American C-SPAN network's Washington Journal program.\n\nIn a February 25, 2007 Washington Post/ABC News nationwide poll of voters who lean Democratic, 0% supported Gravel for the Democratic presidential nomination. Indeed, through February 2007, such opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination all showed Gravel with a 1% or less support level.\n\nAt the close of the first quarter 2007 reporting period, the campaign committee had $498 in cash against debts and obligations amounting to $88,515.\n\nSecond quarter\nBecause of his time in the Senate, Gravel was invited to many of the early Democratic presidential debates. The first Democratic debate of the pre-primary season was in the evening of April 26, 2007, in Orangeburg, South Carolina, at South Carolina State University. State party chairman Joe Erwin said that he chose South Carolina State because it is an historically black college, noting that African-Americans have been the \"most loyal\" Democrats in the state. The debate was 90 minutes with a 60-second time limit for answers, and no opening or closing statements. It was broadcast via cable television and online video streaming by MSNBC. The debate was moderated by Brian Williams of NBC Nightly News.\n\nGravel appeared with the seven other contenders for the Democratic nomination for president. He stated that the Iraq War had the effect of creating more terrorists and that the \"war was lost the day that George Bush invaded Iraq on a fraudulent basis.\" He maintained that an end to the war could be effected by a bill passed in the House and a Senate filibuster on such a bill defeated by a daily vote on cloture, but that the will to do so was lacking. Further, he suggested a bill requiring the president to withdraw from Iraq on pain of criminal penalties. He said the recent threat of a pre-emptive nuclear strike in the \"war on terror\" was immoral and would be dropped under a Gravel administration, and that America has no important military enemies and it is the influence of the military-industrial complex that has conditioned Americans to think of the world in terms of enemies. He characterized the CIA overthrow of democracy in Iran in the 1950s lies as the root of U.S. problems with that country. Overall, he said that all American armed forces who died in Vietnam died in vain and American armed forces in Iraq were dying in vain. Regarding his fellow candidates, he said, \"I got to tell you, after standing up with them, some of these people frighten me — they frighten me.\"\n\nMedia stories about the debate said that Gravel was responsible for much of whatever \"heat\" and \"flashpoints\" had taken place. Gravel gained considerable publicity by shaking up the normally staid multiple-candidate format; The New York Times' media critic said that what Gravel had done was \"steal a debate with outrageous, curmudgeonly statements.\" The Internet was a benefit: a YouTube video of his responses in the debate was viewed more than 225,892 times, ranking seventeenth in most views for week and first among news and politics clips; his name became the fifteenth most searched-for in the blogosphere; and his website garnered more traffic than those of frontrunners Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, or John Edwards. Gravel appeared on the popular Colbert Report on television on May 2, and his campaign and career were profiled in national publications such as Salon.\n\nAll of this did not help his poll ratings: a May 2007 CNN poll showed him with less than 0.5 percent support among Democrats.\n\nIn late May 2007, two wordless, avant-garde campaign videos, \"Rock\" and \"Fire\", created by Otis College of Art and Design staff Matt Mayes and Guston Sondin-Klausner, were released on YouTube and became hits. The first, nearly three minutes long, showed Gravel staring at the camera silently for more than one minute, then throwing a large rock into a lake and slowly walking away, with a sole graphic showing the campaign website. The second, nearly eight minutes long, briefly showed Gravel walking through a forest collecting wood and looking at the resultant campfire, then for the remaining seven minutes just showed the fire burning, with the website graphic superimposed. These videos would eventually gain over 480,000 and 140,000 views respectively. \"Rock\" was given airtime during an episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.\n\nWMUR-TV, CNN, and the New Hampshire Union Leader hosted both Democratic and Republican debates in Goffstown, New Hampshire, at Saint Anselm College. The Democratic debate was Sunday, June 3, starting at 7 PM EDT and lasting two hours, commercial free. The moderator was Wolf Blitzer, host of Late Edition and The Situation Room. He was joined by Tom Fahey of the Union Leader and Scott Spradling from the local NH television station WMUR. The first half of the debate was a directed question and answer, with candidates at podiums, as in the first debate, responding to questions from Fahey and Spradling.\n\nOn March 17, 2007, CNN, the New Hampshire Union Leader and WMUR-TV had formally decided to exclude former Senator Gravel from debates between Democratic presidential candidates they would be sponsoring in New Hampshire. The decision was decried as \"censorship, unbecoming a free society\", and on May 1 the decision was reversed, and Gravel was invited to be a participant. The venue was Saint Anselm College and the debate was nationally televised on CNN.\n\nGravel reiterated many of his past foreign policy points during the debate, and emphasized that Biden, Clinton, Dodd, and Edwards voted for the resolution under which the invasion and occupation of Iraq were undertaken and Edwards co-sponsored it. Gravel claimed that the history of Southeast Asia after U.S. withdrawal showed Iraq withdrawal would not necessarily be dire, and that the insurgency in Iraq was successful because it had the support of the Iraqi people. He said that the fact that the other candidates knew, or should have known, that there were \"two sets of books\" being kept on intelligence from Iraq, and that they voted the resolution that authorized the war in spite of that fact, indicates that morality plays no part in their political decisions and that lack of moral judgment ought to keep them from the presidency.\n\nTwo of eight candidates, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, were accorded greater talk-time than the moderator. Barack Obama was accorded the greatest talk-time at 16 full minutes, 2.85 times the talk-time accorded Gravel, who was accorded the least talk-time at 5.62 minutes.\n\nOn June 28, 2007 in Washington, D.C., PBS held and televised a debate at Howard University, an historically black college. The moderator was Tavis Smiley. All eight candidates discussed various topics including education, poverty, unemployment, racial discrimination, and health in the black community. The debate drew a record crowd of celebrities, such as Harry Belafonte, Al Sharpton, Dorothy Heights, Jesse Jackson, Terry McMillan, Judge Hatchett, and Mark Ridley-Thomas.\n\nGravel's points in the debate included that the \"war on drugs\" was a failure. He asserted that the prison population of the US had increased 1285% over the past 35 years and that 70% of that population is African-American. Gravel compared the legal basis for the war on drugs to Prohibition, claimed that it made criminals of people who otherwise were not criminals, and that they were disproportionately African-American. Gravel asserted that the money spent on the war in Iraq could have built 4 million houses thus helping victims of hurricane Katrina, or financed 21 million four-year college scholarships, or hired 7.6 million new teachers. Gravel said that the income tax code was especially open to corruption. That the tax code was now so complicated and corrupted that no one alive understood it. He said that with his alternative, progressive sales tax proposal everyone would know what everyone else was paying in taxes. Gravel said that equal justice before the law would only be possible if the people were empowered as lawmakers. Gravel asserted that Free Trade Agreements benefited corporate management and shareholders but hurt most people on both sides to the agreement.\n\nThis was the first debate during which all the candidates were accorded equal time. The earlier debates were heavily biased toward the 'Top-tier' candidates.\n\nBy the second-quarter 2007 close, the committee had $31,141 in cash on hand, and had collected a total of $175,229 in net contributions during the entire 2008 election cycle.\n\nThird quarter\n\nOn July 12, 2007 in Detroit, Michigan, all eight candidates attended a debate held during the NAACP convention. John Edwards and Hillary Clinton were overheard—on stage, over microphones—conferring about weeding those candidates not in the 'Top-tier' out of future debates.\n\nOn July 23, 2007 in Charleston, South Carolina, the CNN-YouTube Presidential Debates took place for the Democrats, on the campus of The Citadel. All questions were selected from among, and posed as videos submitted via YouTube by members of the public; the debate was moderated by Anderson Cooper of Anderson Cooper 360. YouTube and Google streamed the event live. It was also simulcast on CNN en Español.\n\nTwo of eight candidates, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, were accorded greater talk-time than the moderator. Barack Obama was accorded the greatest talk-time at 15.18 minutes, 3.64 times the talk-time accorded Gravel, who was accorded the least talk-time at 4.17 minutes. Gravel responded to audience applause when he had complained of a lack of airtime and said: \"Thank you. Has it been fair thus far?\" Detractors began to liken Gravel to \"the cranky uncle who lives in the attic,\" or \"the angry old guy that just seemed to want to become angrier.\"\n\nOn August 4, 2007, the Yearly Kos Presidential Leadership Forum was held in Chicago, Illinois. This informal discussion was attended by seven of the eight presidential candidates, with Joe Biden not attending due to votes in Congress. New York Times Magazine writer Matt Bai and DailyKos Contributing Editor and Fellow Joan McCarter moderated. The debate was broken down into Domestic Policy, Foreign Policy, and Philosophy and Leadership. Candidates were allotted 90 seconds for each question with 45 second rebuttals, although the time limits were not strictly enforced. After the debate, breakout sessions were held where convention goers could question each candidate individually.\n\nGravel expounded upon the shortcomings of representational government, concluding with, \"So the only answer is for you to realize that the answer is not up here on the dais, the answer is with you, the American people, to acquire lawmaking powers.\" He reiterated that the U.S. Senate had the power to shut down the Iraq War with a series of forced cloture votes if they so chose. And he talked about the effect of the concentration of the media and of money in politics, saying \"You gotta keep in mind that all politicians sort of walk in the mud. You know their head may be up here but they walk in the mud. And you have to understand that, because of the way the system is structured, you have to raise money. We're raising hundreds of millions of dollars on this dais for these people to talk to you, when we all know that money is the corrupting agent of politics, and lo and behold the media, which is now controlled in this country by five corporations, is telling us that these people who raise the most, who technically are the most corrupt, are the ones that should get to be elected.\"\n\nOn August 9, 2007, Gravel participated in an LGBT network Logo hosted debate focusing on LGBT issues, moderated by Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese and singer Melissa Etheridge in Los Angeles, California. Gravel was originally excluded from this debate, the reason given that his campaign had not raised enough money to qualify for participation. Rallying from Gravel's supporters reversed this decision.\n\nOn August 19, 2007 in Des Moines, Iowa, ABC News in conjunction with the Iowa Democratic Party held a debate streamed on This Week moderated by George Stephanopoulos.\n\nDuring the course of the debate Gravel reiterated many of his stances against the Iraq War. Asked if he believed in the efficacy of prayer Gravel replied that he believed in love, that love implements courage, and that courage fosters all the other virtues useful in life. Gravel observed that many of the people who pray are the same ones who want to go to war and thus to kill fellow human beings. Gravel said that more love between individual Americans, individual Iowans, would enable more individual courage, and that more courage would enable Americans to grapple with the problems of governance. Gravel also questioned Americans' view of their country as \"Number 1\" in the world.\n\nFive of eight candidates, Joe Biden, Bill Richardson, John Edwards, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, were accorded greater talk-time than the moderator. Barack Obama was accorded the greatest talk-time at 13.17 minutes, 2.7 times the talk-time accorded Gravel, who was accorded the least talk-time at 4.88 minutes. Berkley political scientist David Terr found that moderator George Stephanopoulos directed roughly five percent of his questions to Gravel; In a poll asking who did the best in the debate, Gravel placed seventh among the eight candidates. National opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination continued to show Gravel with one percent or zero percent numbers.\n\nOn September 9, 2007, Univision hosted a forum in Spanish at the University of Miami's Bank United Center in Coral Gables, Florida and moderated by Univision's anchors Jorge Ramos and Maria Elena Salinas. Joe Biden did not participate in the debate. During the course of the forum Gravel stated that it was wrong that the father of (Pfc. 3rd Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment) Armando Soriano (age 20, of Houston), killed in Iraq (1 Feb 2004, in Haditha), was about to be deported. Along with the other candidates Gravel committed to immigration reform in his first year as president. Gravel then charged that the national immigration issue was in fact a case of scapegoating immigrants for other systemic problems in the US, in education and health care for example. Gravel said he was embarrassed that the US was building a wall on its southern border. Gravel charged that CAFTA and NAFTA were the real causes of many of the problems on both sides of the US borders but confessed that he thought remedying those acts would have to await the enactment of the National Initiative for Democracy and the empowerment of US citizens as legislators. Gravel said that instead he would reach out to Hugo Chávez in Venezuela and to Castro leadership in Cuba as well. Reminded that health problems had forced Gravel into bankruptcy, Gravel was asked how he would apply his personal experience to the problem of health care. Gravel outlined his plan for healthcare vouchers, paid for out of general revenues, to be applied against premiums of up to five private plans and one government plan, each with identical defined benefits, each mandated to allow freedom of choice of provider.\n\nAll candidates were accorded equal talk times at the Univision forum.\n\nA September 11, 2007 Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll found that, among registered South Carolina voters who plan to vote in the Democratic primary or usually vote for Democrats, 2% would vote for Gravel \"if the presidential primary were held today\". Candidates Chris Dodd, Dennis Kucinich, and Bill Richardson each got 1% of respondents to that question. Additionally in the same poll of South Carolina voters, in response to the question, \"Regardless of your choice for president, who do you think has the best chance of beating the Republican candidate in November…?\" Gravel polled 2%, compared to 1% for Joe Biden and Bill Richardson, and 0% for Chris Dodd and Dennis Kucinich.\n\nDuring mid-September 2007, Yahoo!, in partnership with The Huffington Post, produced a \"mashup debate\" with Charlie Rose interviewing the candidates. Segments were recorded on September 12, with the \"mashups\" posted on September 13.\n\nOn September 20, 2007 in Davenport, Iowa, PBS held a forum focused on domestic issues, specifically health care and financial security. It was moderated by Judy Woodruff, and was a joint venture between IPTV and the AARP. Barack Obama rejected PBS's invitation. Gravel and Dennis Kucinich were excluded from the debate on the grounds that they did not have at least one paid staff member or office space in Iowa.\n\nOn September 26, 2007 in Hanover, New Hampshire, MSNBC held a debate at Dartmouth College in conjunction with New England Cable News and New Hampshire Public Radio. During the course of the debate Gravel reiterated many of his familiar positions on Iraq. When asked his opinion Gravel stated that anyone old enough to fight and die for the nation ought to be able to drink alcohol legally.\nAsked if he would tax gasoline to reduce national consumption Gravel said that he would tax all carbon based fuels to eliminate the politicians' and bureaucrats' playing favorites in the implementation of such a scheme. As well, he offered that he thought it futile to try to get the Congress to pass such a law, that it would instead require his proposed National Initiative and the empowering of the people to do so. Further he said that the nation could eliminate gasoline as an energy source in 5 years and all carbon based fuels in 10 years if it could just summon the will to do so, substituting wind generated electricity, for instance, for nuclear reactors as a source of power.\n\nNone of the eight candidates were accorded greater talk-time than the moderator, who accorded himself 19.42 minutes of talk-time. Hillary Clinton was accorded the second greatest amount of talk-time at 17.62 minutes, 4.1 times the talk-time accorded Gravel, who was accorded the least amount of talk-time at 4.33 minutes.\n\nA September 27–30, 2007 American Research Group Poll showed Gravel with 2%, tied with Joe Biden and ahead of Dennis Kucinich.\n\nBy the end of the third-quarter 2007, the committee had $17,526.55 in cash on hand, and had collected a total of $379,794.85 so far during the 2008 election cycle.\n\nFourth quarter\nOn October 1, 2007, Gravel was interviewed on PBS. He described himself as an ordinary guy, and would be more likely to take the train than fly in a private jet. He explained that other leading nations, including Russia, spend just 3%–4% of their budget on defense, while the US defense budget is more than all other nations combined. He then rhetorically asked: \"What are we afraid of?\" He explained that the defense budget is associated with the military industrial complex. He stated that the US military is internationally competitive, but the US schools and health care system are not. Gravel said that Ralph Nader once referred to him as a \"breath of fresh air\".\n\nOn October 19, it was announced that Gravel was excluded from the next Democratic debate – October 30, 2007 in Philadelphia to be televised on NBC News and MSNBC and held at Drexel University – with the debate sponsors or the Democratic National Committee saying Gravel's campaign had not met fund-raising, polling, or local campaign organizational thresholds. For the Philadelphia exclusion, Gravel blamed corporate censorship on the part of sponsor owner and alleged military-industrial complex member General Electric for his exclusion.\n\nSenator Gravel mounted a counter-gathering and debate against a video screen a short distance away, at Philadelphia's \"World Cafe Live\" at the same time as,\nand two blocks from, the Democratic presidential debate from which he was excluded. The debate was shown on a large screen, with Senator Gravel providing a running commentary and later answering audience questions. The event was called \"An Alternate October 30th\" and initially announced on Gravel's YouTube page.\n\nHowever, Gravel's exclusion continued for almost all of the subsequent Democratic debates, and he had thus lost his easiest publicity.\n\nAt some point, none of the major polls were including Gravel's name in their polling. Despite poor polling numbers, Gravel had positive support among young people and Internet users, however his lowest support came from the constituency. Blind polls suggested that he would garner much more voting support if his positions were more well known.\n\nFor the fourth quarter of 2007, Gravel reported no money raised. Following Gravel's exclusion from most of the Democratic debates, and consequent impairment to his monetary turnover, his supporters began organizing \"mass donation days\" to help the campaign gain momentum and necessary funds, in the manner of Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul. Such planned days included:\n October 30, 2007, in response to the exclusion of Gravel from the debate Philadelphia held a day later;\n December 5, 2007, the anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition (this day yielded upwards of $10,000 from donations);\n January 1, 2008, using the phrase \"Gravel Resolution for Revolution\" as a catchphrase and way to publicize; and\n January 27, 2008, the anniversary of the end of U.S. participation in the Vietnam War, in light of Gravel's efforts as a senator.\n\nCaucuses and primaries 2008\nGravel did not compete in the initial January 3, 2008 vote, the Iowa caucuses, choosing to focus on the New Hampshire primary instead, and received no Iowa state delegates. Nevertheless, he was still subjected to a false report from Keith Olbermann of MSNBC that he had pulled out of the race afterward, as had fellow Democratic candidates Chris Dodd and Joe Biden. Later that night, Gravel's campaign issued a press release and YouTube video denying this and making it clear that Gravel intends to continue his campaign and that he does not intend to drop out of the race for presidency. Keith Olbermann later apologized to the Gravel campaign stating that a man named Alex Colvin, Gravel's press secretary, contacted MSNBC news at approximately 11:30 PM. MSNBC double-checked the source and believed the man was who he said he was, and was subsequently read on the air.\n\nGravel did focus much of his attention on the second 2008 vote, the New Hampshire primary held on January 8, and gained some media attention for a pre-election appearance at Phillips Exeter Academy where he told students that using marijuana was safer than drinking alcohol. In the primary he received 402 votes out of some 280,000 cast, or 0.14 percent. Gravel said he would take some time off from campaigning to deal with a respiratory infection. He subsequently resumed campaigning.\n\nOn January 15, 2008, Gravel received 2,363 votes out of 593,837 votes cast in the Michigan primary, or 0.40 percent.\n\nCampaigning was light in the Democratic primary due to an intra-party dispute removing several top candidates' names from the ballot.\n\nGravel did not reach viability in any of the Nevada caucuses in the state on January 19, 2008, and as a result, received no delegates.\n\nOn January 26, 2008, Gravel received 214 votes out of 532,468 votes cast in the South Carolina primary, or 0.04 percent.\n\nOn January 29, 2008, Gravel finished 8th in the Florida primary, with a little over 5,000 votes. He finished behind 4 candidates who had already withdrawn.\nThis primary too was affected by an intra-party dispute causing several candidates not to campaign.\n\nBy the end of January 2008, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and Gravel were the only remaining Democrats from the initial debates still running. Gravel vowed to stay in the presidential campaign until November.\n\nOn March 11, 2008, Gravel continued to remain in the Democratic race but additionally endorsed a Green Party candidate for president, Jesse Johnson, saying he wanted to help Johnson prevail against Green Party rivals Cynthia McKinney and Ralph Nader. As March neared a close, Gravel had almost no fundraising and was only on the ballot in one of the next ten Democratic primaries.\n\nSwitch to Libertarian Party 2008\n\nOn March 26, 2008, Gravel announced that he had abandoned his bid for the Democratic Party nomination and would seek the presidential nomination of the Libertarian Party, stating \"I look forward to advancing my presidential candidacy within the Libertarian Party, which is considerably closer to my values, my foreign policy views and my domestic views.\"\n\nAs a Libertarian candidate, Gravel found more support than he had as a Democrat, placing second and third in two April 2008 straw polls.\n\nIn the May 25 balloting at the 2008 Libertarian National Convention in Denver, Gravel finished fourth out of eight candidates on the initial ballot, with 71 votes out of 618; he trailed former Congressman and eventual winner Bob Barr, author Mary Ruwart, and businessman Wayne Allyn Root. Gravel's position did not improve subsequently and he was eliminated on the fourth ballot. Afterwards he said, \"I just ended my political career. From 15 years old to now, my political career is over, and it's no big deal. I'm a writer, I'm a lecturer, I'm going to push the issues of freedom and liberty. I'm going to push those issues until the day I die.\"\n\nPolitical positions\n\nEndorsements\n\nGravel had the endorsement of campaign finance reform activist Doris Haddock and received financial contributions from actor Mark Ruffalo.\n\nNoted academic and political dissident Noam Chomsky also endorsed Senator Gravel.\n\nNotes\n\nExternal links\n\nCampaign and milestones\n Gravel for President\n Gravel2008 Youtube Channel\n Sen. Mike Gravel for President 2008 Blogspot\n Announcement of Candidacy. National Press Club, 17 April 2006\n First Interview following Announcement. National Press Club, 17 April 2006\n Gravel2008 on MySpace.com - official\n\nInterviews\n Blue State Observer — Interview\n Blue State Observer — Scones with the Senator\n Interview with Mike Gravel — The Eisenthal Report: Part 1, Part 2, Analysis\n Interview with Mike Gravel — CitizenPowerMagazine.net\n Mike Gravel on Antiwar Radio with Scott Horton\n Mike Gravel video interview: part 1, part 2, part 3, and part 4.\n Answering a question about gays in the military\n Conversation' With Mike Gravel\n Mike Gravel on CNN Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer\n Washington Journal interview and call-in on C-SPAN — part 1 part 2 part 3 part 4. Wide range of issues are discussed.\n Interviewed by Harold Channer. Discusses Louis O. Kelso, Binary Economics, National Initiative, and the interplay between the National Initiative, and Binary Economics. The two being the different faces of the same coin.\n Bernie Ward Program KGO Radio San Francisco May 23, 2007\n\nSpeeches and debates\n MP3 audio of speech delivered at the 2007 Democratic Winter conference in Washington, D.C., February 3, 2007. \n A Legislative Plan To End The War In Iraq, May 14, 2007 National Press Club\n\nHistory of libertarianism\n2008 Democratic Party (United States) presidential campaigns\nMike Gravel\nLibertarian Party (United States) presidential campaigns",
"Kensington Gravel Pits was an old village located at the junction of what are now known as Bayswater Road and Kensington Church Street. This area is now known as Notting Hill Gate. The village was named after gravel quarries located to between the village and the town of Kensington.\n\nReferences\n\nKensington\nNotting Hill"
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"Maurice Robert Gravel ( ; May 13, 1930 – June 26, 2021) was an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Alaska from 1969 to 1981 as a member of the Democratic Party, and who, in later life, twice ran for the presidential nomination of that party. Born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, by French-Canadian immigrant parents, Gravel moved to Alaska in the late 1950s, becoming a real estate developer and entering politics.",
"Born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, by French-Canadian immigrant parents, Gravel moved to Alaska in the late 1950s, becoming a real estate developer and entering politics. He served in the Alaska House of Representatives from 1963 to 1967, and also became Speaker of the Alaska House. Gravel was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1968.",
"Gravel was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1968. Gravel was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1968. As a senator, Gravel became nationally known for his forceful, but unsuccessful, attempts to end the draft during the War in Vietnam, and for putting the Pentagon Papers into the public record in 1971. He conducted a campaign for the Democratic nomination in 1972 for Vice President of the United States, and then played a crucial role in obtaining Congressional approval for the Trans-Alaska pipeline in 1973.",
"He conducted a campaign for the Democratic nomination in 1972 for Vice President of the United States, and then played a crucial role in obtaining Congressional approval for the Trans-Alaska pipeline in 1973. He was re-elected to the Senate in 1974, but was defeated in his bid for a third term in the primary election in 1980. An advocate of direct democracy and the National Initiative, Gravel staged a run for the 2008 Democratic nomination for President of the United States.",
"An advocate of direct democracy and the National Initiative, Gravel staged a run for the 2008 Democratic nomination for President of the United States. His campaign failed to gain support, and in March 2008, he left the Democratic Party and joined the Libertarian Party to compete unsuccessfully for its presidential nomination and the inclusion of the National Initiative into the Libertarian Platform. He ran for president as a Democrat again in the 2020 election, in a campaign that ended four months after it began.",
"He ran for president as a Democrat again in the 2020 election, in a campaign that ended four months after it began. Two years before his death, Gravel and his campaign staff founded the progressive think tank The Gravel Institute. Early life, military service, education Gravel was born on May 13, 1930, in Springfield, Massachusetts, one of five children of French-Canadian immigrant parents, Alphonse and Marie (née Bourassa) Gravel.",
"Early life, military service, education Gravel was born on May 13, 1930, in Springfield, Massachusetts, one of five children of French-Canadian immigrant parents, Alphonse and Marie (née Bourassa) Gravel. His parents were part of the Quebec diaspora, and he was raised in a working-class neighborhood during the Great Depression, speaking only French until he was seven years old. Calling him \"Mike\" from an early age, his father valued work above all else, while his mother stressed the importance of education.",
"Calling him \"Mike\" from an early age, his father valued work above all else, while his mother stressed the importance of education. Gravel was educated in parochial schools as a Roman Catholic. There he struggled, due to what he later said was undiagnosed dyslexia, and was left back in third grade. He completed elementary school in 1945 and his class voted him \"most charming personality\".",
"He completed elementary school in 1945 and his class voted him \"most charming personality\". A summer job as a soda jerk led to Gravel handing out campaign fliers for local candidates on his boss's behalf; Gravel was immediately impressed with \"the awesomeness of political office\". Gravel then boarded at Assumption Preparatory School in Worcester, Massachusetts, where his performance was initially mediocre.",
"Gravel then boarded at Assumption Preparatory School in Worcester, Massachusetts, where his performance was initially mediocre. By Gravel's telling, in the summer of 1948 he intended to volunteer for the Israel Defense Forces during the 1947–1949 Palestine war, but Alexandra Tolstaya told him to return to school. There an English teacher, the Assumptionist Edgar Bourque, gave him personal attention, improving Gravel's language skills and instructing him in public speaking. Gravel's grades improved measurably in his final year and he graduated in 1949.",
"Gravel's grades improved measurably in his final year and he graduated in 1949. His sister, Marguerite, became a Holy Cross nun, but Gravel himself struggled with the Catholic faith. He studied for one year at Assumption College, a Catholic school in Worcester, then transferred for his sophomore year to American International College in Springfield. Journalist I. F. Stone and philosopher Bertrand Russell strongly influenced Gravel in their willingness to challenge assumptions and oppose social convention and political authority.",
"Journalist I. F. Stone and philosopher Bertrand Russell strongly influenced Gravel in their willingness to challenge assumptions and oppose social convention and political authority. Around May 1951, Gravel saw that he was about to be drafted and instead enlisted in the U.S. Army for a three-year term so that he could get into the Counterintelligence Corps. After basic training and counterintelligence school at Fort Holabird in Maryland and in South Carolina, he went to Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia.",
"After basic training and counterintelligence school at Fort Holabird in Maryland and in South Carolina, he went to Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia. While he expected to be sent off to the Korean War when he graduated as a second lieutenant in early 1952, he was instead assigned to Stuttgart, West Germany, as a Special Adjutant in the Army's Communications Intelligence Service. In Germany, Gravel conducted surveillance operations on civilians and paid off spies.",
"In Germany, Gravel conducted surveillance operations on civilians and paid off spies. After about a year, he transferred to Orléans, France, where his French language abilities (if not his French-Canadian accent) allowed him to infiltrate French communist rallies. He worked as a Special Agent in the Counterintelligence Corps until 1954, eventually becoming a first lieutenant. Following his discharge, Gravel entered the Columbia University School of General Studies in New York City, where he studied economics and received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1956.",
"Following his discharge, Gravel entered the Columbia University School of General Studies in New York City, where he studied economics and received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1956. He moved to New York \"flat broke\" and supported himself by working as a bar boy in a hotel, driving a taxicab, and working in the investment bond department at Bankers Trust. During this time he left the Roman Catholic faith.",
"During this time he left the Roman Catholic faith. During this time he left the Roman Catholic faith. Move to Alaska Gravel \"decided to become a pioneer in a faraway place,\" and moved to pre-statehood Alaska in August 1956, without funds or a job, looking for a place where someone without social or political connections could be a viable candidate for public office.",
"Move to Alaska Gravel \"decided to become a pioneer in a faraway place,\" and moved to pre-statehood Alaska in August 1956, without funds or a job, looking for a place where someone without social or political connections could be a viable candidate for public office. Alaska's voting age of 19, less than most other states' 21, played a role in his decision, as did its newness and cooler climate. Broke when he arrived, he immediately found work in real estate sales until winter arrived.",
"Broke when he arrived, he immediately found work in real estate sales until winter arrived. Gravel then was employed as a brakeman for the Alaska Railroad, working the snow-clearing train on the Anchorage-to-Fairbanks run. Subsequently, he opened a small real estate brokerage in Anchorage (the Territory of Alaska not requiring a license) and saved enough so as not to have to work the railroad again. The firm was named the M. R. Gravel Real Estate Company.",
"The firm was named the M. R. Gravel Real Estate Company. Gravel joined the Anchorage Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, and continued a sporadic relationship with the movement throughout his life. Seeing Alaska as a wide-open place with no political establishment or entrenched interests, Gravel quickly became part of the civic scene there. By October 1957 he was a Division Chairman for Anchorage for the Democratic Central Committee in the territory, and by June 1958 he was president of the Alaska Young Democrats organization.",
"By October 1957 he was a Division Chairman for Anchorage for the Democratic Central Committee in the territory, and by June 1958 he was president of the Alaska Young Democrats organization. He also became active in the United States Junior Chamber (Jaycees), and by early 1958 his duties included handing out awards for farmer of the year. By early 1958, Gravel was running as Democratic Party primary candidate for a Third Division seat in House of Representative of the territorial legislature.",
"By early 1958, Gravel was running as Democratic Party primary candidate for a Third Division seat in House of Representative of the territorial legislature. (This was one of the four judicial divisions into which Alaska was sectioned at the time.) Using the slogan \"Gravel, the Roadbed to Prosperity\", he ran but lost. At the same time, he was also an advocate for Alaskan statehood.",
"At the same time, he was also an advocate for Alaskan statehood. Gravel went on a 44-state national speaking tour concerning tax reform in 1959, sponsored by the Jaycees, often dressing for events as Paul Revere. Gravel was selected from some two thousand applications for this position. The tour received a good amount of local newspaper coverage at its various stops, with Gravel's first name sometimes given as Mike and other times as Maurice.",
"The tour received a good amount of local newspaper coverage at its various stops, with Gravel's first name sometimes given as Mike and other times as Maurice. The tour's general message was an urging of \"lower taxes, more efficiency in government and a system of taxation moderate at all levels of income\". At several stops Gravel stated that the \"tide of socialism\" had to be stopped.",
"At several stops Gravel stated that the \"tide of socialism\" had to be stopped. He elaborated at another stop, \"It is part of our Jaycee creed that economic justice can best be won by free men through free enterprise. We really want to see that free enterprise become our inheritance.\"",
"We really want to see that free enterprise become our inheritance.\" The tour was scheduled to conclude in Washington D.C., on Tax Day, April 15, with petition signatures accumulated for reform to be presented to U.S. lawmakers: dressed as Revere, Gravel rode with the petition to the steps of the U.S. Capitol. The tour over, Gravel married Rita Jeannette Martin at the First Methodist Church of Anchorage on April 29, 1959.",
"The tour over, Gravel married Rita Jeannette Martin at the First Methodist Church of Anchorage on April 29, 1959. She was a native of Montana who had attended Billings Business College before moving to Alaska two years prior and becoming a secretary in the office of the Anchorage city manager. She had also been named Anchorage's \"Miss Fur Rendezvous\" of 1958. They had two children, Martin Anthony Gravel and Lynne Denise Gravel, born c. 1960 and 1962 respectively.",
"They had two children, Martin Anthony Gravel and Lynne Denise Gravel, born c. 1960 and 1962 respectively. Gravel ran without avail for the City Council in Anchorage in 1960. During this time, he had become a successful real estate agent; after the 1960 election, he became a property developer in a mobile home park on the outskirts of Anchorage. After a partner ran into financial difficulty, however, the project went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and Gravel was forced out in 1962.",
"After a partner ran into financial difficulty, however, the project went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and Gravel was forced out in 1962. State legislator With the support of Alaska wholesale grocer Barney Gottstein and supermarket builder Larry Carr, Gravel ran for the Alaska House of Representatives representing Anchorage in 1962, initially assigned the 10th and then 8th districts.",
"State legislator With the support of Alaska wholesale grocer Barney Gottstein and supermarket builder Larry Carr, Gravel ran for the Alaska House of Representatives representing Anchorage in 1962, initially assigned the 10th and then 8th districts. Alaska had very crowded primaries that year: Gravel was one of 33 Democrats, along with 21 Republicans, who were running for the chance to compete for the 14 House seats allocated to the 8th district.",
"Alaska had very crowded primaries that year: Gravel was one of 33 Democrats, along with 21 Republicans, who were running for the chance to compete for the 14 House seats allocated to the 8th district. Gravel made it through the primary, and in November eight Republicans and six Democrats were elected to the House from the district, with Gravel finishing eighth overall and third among with Democrats, with 8,174 votes. Gottstein became Gravel's main financial backer during most of his subsequent campaigns.",
"Gottstein became Gravel's main financial backer during most of his subsequent campaigns. Gravel served in the Alaska House of Representatives from January 28, 1963 to January 22, 1967, winning reelection in 1964. In his first term, he served as a minority member on two House committees: Commerce, and Labor and Management. He co-authored and sponsored the act that created the Alaska State Commission for Human Rights.",
"He co-authored and sponsored the act that created the Alaska State Commission for Human Rights. Gravel was the chief architect of the law that created a regional high school system for rural Alaska; this allowed Alaska Natives to attend schools near where they lived instead of having to go to schools run by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the lower 48 states. During the half-years that the legislature was not in session, Gravel resumed his real estate work.",
"During the half-years that the legislature was not in session, Gravel resumed his real estate work. With Gottstein and Carr's backing, he became quite successful as a property developer on the Kenai Peninsula. During 1965 and 1966, he served as the Speaker of the House, surprising observers by winning that post. Gravel convinced former Speaker Warren A. Taylor to not try for the position against him by promising Taylor chairmanship of the Rules Committee, then reneged on the promise.",
"Gravel convinced former Speaker Warren A. Taylor to not try for the position against him by promising Taylor chairmanship of the Rules Committee, then reneged on the promise. Gravel denied later press charges that he had promised but not delivered on other committee chairmanships. As Speaker he antagonized fellow lawmakers by imposing his will on the legislature's committees and feuded with Alaska State Senate president Robert J. McNealy.",
"As Speaker he antagonized fellow lawmakers by imposing his will on the legislature's committees and feuded with Alaska State Senate president Robert J. McNealy. Gravel did not run for reelection in 1966, instead choosing to run for Alaska's seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, losing the primary to four-term incumbent Democrat Ralph Rivers by 1,300 votes and splitting the Democratic Party in the process. Rivers lost the general election that year to Republican state Senator Howard Pollock. Following this defeat, Gravel returned to the real estate business in Anchorage.",
"Following this defeat, Gravel returned to the real estate business in Anchorage. U.S. Senator Election to Senate in 1968 In 1968, Gravel ran against 81-year-old incumbent Democratic United States Senator Ernest Gruening, a popular former governor of the Alaska Territory who was considered one of the fathers of Alaska's statehood, for his party's nomination to the U.S. Senate. Gravel's campaign was primarily based on his youth and telegenic appearance rather than issue differences. He hired Joseph Napolitan, the first self-described political consultant, in late 1966.",
"He hired Joseph Napolitan, the first self-described political consultant, in late 1966. They spent over a year and a half planning a short, nine-day primary election campaign that featured the slogans \"Alaska first\" and \"Let's do something about the state we're in\", the distribution of a collection of essays titled Jobs and More Jobs, and the creation of a half-hour, well-produced, glamorized biographical film of Gravel, Man for Alaska.",
"They spent over a year and a half planning a short, nine-day primary election campaign that featured the slogans \"Alaska first\" and \"Let's do something about the state we're in\", the distribution of a collection of essays titled Jobs and More Jobs, and the creation of a half-hour, well-produced, glamorized biographical film of Gravel, Man for Alaska. The film was shown twice a day on every television station in Alaska, and carried by plane and shown on home projectors in hundreds of Alaska Native villages.",
"The film was shown twice a day on every television station in Alaska, and carried by plane and shown on home projectors in hundreds of Alaska Native villages. The heavy showings quickly reversed a 2–to–1 Gruening lead in polls into a Gravel lead. Gravel visited many remote villages by seaplane and showed a thorough understanding of the needs of the bush country and the fishing and oil industries. Gravel also benefited from maintaining a deliberately ambiguous posture about Vietnam policy.",
"Gravel also benefited from maintaining a deliberately ambiguous posture about Vietnam policy. Gruening had been one of only two Senators to vote against the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and his opposition to President Lyndon B. Johnson's war policies was harming him among the Democratic electorate; according to Gravel, \"all I had to do was stand up and not deal with the subject, and people would assume that I was to the right of Ernest Gruening, when in point of fact I was to the left of him\".",
"Gruening had been one of only two Senators to vote against the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and his opposition to President Lyndon B. Johnson's war policies was harming him among the Democratic electorate; according to Gravel, \"all I had to do was stand up and not deal with the subject, and people would assume that I was to the right of Ernest Gruening, when in point of fact I was to the left of him\". In Man for Alaska, Gravel argued that \"the liberals\" would come to West Germany's defense if it was attacked, and that the same standard should apply to the United States' allies in Asia.",
"In Man for Alaska, Gravel argued that \"the liberals\" would come to West Germany's defense if it was attacked, and that the same standard should apply to the United States' allies in Asia. During the campaign he also claimed that he was \"more in the mainstream of American thought on Vietnam\" than Gruening, despite the fact that he had written to Gruening to praise his antiwar stance four years earlier.",
"During the campaign he also claimed that he was \"more in the mainstream of American thought on Vietnam\" than Gruening, despite the fact that he had written to Gruening to praise his antiwar stance four years earlier. Decades later, Gravel conceded that \"I said what I said [about Vietnam] to advance my career.\" Gravel beat Gruening in the primary by about 2,000 votes. Gruening found \"the unexpected defeat hard to take\" and thought that some aspects of his opponent's biographical film had misled viewers.",
"Gruening found \"the unexpected defeat hard to take\" and thought that some aspects of his opponent's biographical film had misled viewers. In the general election, Gravel faced Republican Elmer E. Rasmuson, a banker and former mayor of Anchorage. College students in the state implored Gruening to run a write-in campaign as an Independent, but legal battles prevented him from getting approval for it until only two weeks were left.",
"College students in the state implored Gruening to run a write-in campaign as an Independent, but legal battles prevented him from getting approval for it until only two weeks were left. A late appearance by anti-war presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy did not offset Gruening's lack of funds and endorsements; meanwhile, Gravel and Rasmuson both saturated local media with their filmed biographies. On November 5, 1968, Gravel won the general election with 45 percent of the vote to Rasmuson's 37 percent and Gruening's 18 percent.",
"On November 5, 1968, Gravel won the general election with 45 percent of the vote to Rasmuson's 37 percent and Gruening's 18 percent. Senate assignments and style When Gravel joined the U.S.Senate in January 1969, he requested and received a seat on the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee, which had direct relevance to Alaskan issues. He also got a spot on the Public Works Committee, which he held throughout his time in the Senate. Finally, he was a member of the Select Committee on Small Business.",
"Finally, he was a member of the Select Committee on Small Business. In 1971 he became chair of the Public Works Committee's Subcommittee on Public Buildings and Grounds, and by 1973 he was chair of its Subcommittee on Water Resources, then later its Subcommittee on Environmental Pollution. Gravel was also initially named to the Joint Committee on Congressional Operations.",
"Gravel was also initially named to the Joint Committee on Congressional Operations. By 1973 Gravel was off the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee and the Select Small Business Committee and instead a member of the Finance Committee, and by 1977 was chair of that body's Subcommittee on Energy and Foundations. By 1973 he had also been on the ad hoc Special Committee to Study Secret and Confidential Government Documents.",
"By 1973 he had also been on the ad hoc Special Committee to Study Secret and Confidential Government Documents. By his own admission, Gravel was too new and \"too abrasive\" to be effective in the Senate by the usual means of seniority-based committee assignments or negotiating deals with other senators, and was sometimes seen as arrogant or a nuisance by the more senior and tradition-oriented members. Gravel relied on attention-getting gestures to achieve what he wanted, hoping national exposure would force other senators to listen to him.",
"Gravel relied on attention-getting gestures to achieve what he wanted, hoping national exposure would force other senators to listen to him. But even senators who agreed with him on issues considered his methods to be showboating. As part of this approach, Gravel voted with Southern Democrats to keep the Senate filibuster rule in place, and accordingly supported Russell Long and Robert Byrd but opposed Ted Kennedy in Senate leadership battles.",
"As part of this approach, Gravel voted with Southern Democrats to keep the Senate filibuster rule in place, and accordingly supported Russell Long and Robert Byrd but opposed Ted Kennedy in Senate leadership battles. In retrospective assessment, University of Alaska Anchorage history professor Stephen Haycox said, \"Loose cannon is a good description of Gravel's Senate career. He was an off-the-wall guy, and you weren't really ever sure what he would do.\"",
"He was an off-the-wall guy, and you weren't really ever sure what he would do.\" Nuclear issues and the Cold War In the late 1960s and early 1970s the U.S. Department of Defense was in the process of performing tests for the nuclear warhead for the Spartan anti-ballistic missile. Two tests, the \"Milrow\" and \"Cannikin\" tests, were planned, involving the detonation of nuclear bombs under Amchitka Island in Alaska.",
"Two tests, the \"Milrow\" and \"Cannikin\" tests, were planned, involving the detonation of nuclear bombs under Amchitka Island in Alaska. The Milrow test would be a one-megaton calibration exercise for the second and larger five-megaton Cannikin test, which would measure the effectiveness of the warhead. Gravel opposed the tests.",
"Gravel opposed the tests. Gravel opposed the tests. Before the Milrow test took place in October 1969, he wrote that there were significant risks of earthquakes and other adverse consequences and called for an independent national commission on nuclear and seismic safety; he then made a personal appeal to President Richard Nixon to stop the test. After Milrow was conducted, there was continued pressure on the part of environmental groups against going forward with the Cannikin test, while the Federation of American Scientists claimed that the warhead being tested was already obsolete.",
"After Milrow was conducted, there was continued pressure on the part of environmental groups against going forward with the Cannikin test, while the Federation of American Scientists claimed that the warhead being tested was already obsolete. In May 1971 Gravel sent a letter to U.S. Atomic Energy Commission hearings held in Anchorage in which he said the risk of the test was not worth taking.",
"In May 1971 Gravel sent a letter to U.S. Atomic Energy Commission hearings held in Anchorage in which he said the risk of the test was not worth taking. Eventually a group not involving Gravel took the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to issue an injunction against it, and the Cannikin test took place as scheduled in November 1971. Gravel had failed to stop the tests (notwithstanding his later claims during his 2008 presidential campaign).",
"Gravel had failed to stop the tests (notwithstanding his later claims during his 2008 presidential campaign). In 1971 Gravel voted against the Nixon administration's proposed anti-ballistic missile system, the Safeguard Program, having previously vacillated over the issue, suggesting that he might be willing to support it in exchange for federal lands in Alaska being opened up for private oil drilling. His vote alienated Senator Henry \"Scoop\" Jackson, who had raised funds for Gravel's primary campaign.",
"His vote alienated Senator Henry \"Scoop\" Jackson, who had raised funds for Gravel's primary campaign. Nuclear power was considered an environmentally clean alternative for commercial generation of electricity and was part of a popular national policy for the peaceful use of atomic energy in the 1950s and 1960s.",
"Nuclear power was considered an environmentally clean alternative for commercial generation of electricity and was part of a popular national policy for the peaceful use of atomic energy in the 1950s and 1960s. Gravel publicly opposed this policy; besides the dangers of nuclear testing, he was a vocal critic of the Atomic Energy Commission, which oversaw American nuclear efforts, and of the powerful United States Congress Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, which had a stranglehold on nuclear policy and which Gravel tried to circumvent.",
"Gravel publicly opposed this policy; besides the dangers of nuclear testing, he was a vocal critic of the Atomic Energy Commission, which oversaw American nuclear efforts, and of the powerful United States Congress Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, which had a stranglehold on nuclear policy and which Gravel tried to circumvent. In 1971 Gravel sponsored a bill to impose a moratorium on nuclear power plant construction and to make power utilities liable for any nuclear accidents; in 1975 he was still proposing similar moratoriums.",
"In 1971 Gravel sponsored a bill to impose a moratorium on nuclear power plant construction and to make power utilities liable for any nuclear accidents; in 1975 he was still proposing similar moratoriums. By 1974 Gravel was allied with Ralph Nader's organization in opposing nuclear power. Six months before U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's July 1971 secret mission to the People's Republic of China (P.R.C. ), Gravel introduced legislation to recognize and normalize relations with the P.R.C., including a proposal for unity talks between the P.R.C.",
"), Gravel introduced legislation to recognize and normalize relations with the P.R.C., including a proposal for unity talks between the P.R.C. and the Republic of China (Taiwan) regarding the Chinese seat on the U.N. Security Council. He reiterated his position in favor of recognition, with four other senators in agreement, during Senate hearings in June 1971.",
"He reiterated his position in favor of recognition, with four other senators in agreement, during Senate hearings in June 1971. Vietnam War, the draft, and the Pentagon Papers Although he did not campaign against the Vietnam War during his first Senate campaign, by the end of 1970 Gravel was speaking out against United States policy in southeast Asia: in December of that year he persuaded William Fulbright to join him in a spontaneous two-day filibuster against a $155 million military aid package to Cambodia's Khmer Republic government in the Cambodian Civil War.",
"Vietnam War, the draft, and the Pentagon Papers Although he did not campaign against the Vietnam War during his first Senate campaign, by the end of 1970 Gravel was speaking out against United States policy in southeast Asia: in December of that year he persuaded William Fulbright to join him in a spontaneous two-day filibuster against a $155 million military aid package to Cambodia's Khmer Republic government in the Cambodian Civil War. President Richard Nixon had campaigned in 1968 on a promise to end the U.S. military draft, a decision endorsed by the February 1970 report of the Gates Commission.",
"President Richard Nixon had campaigned in 1968 on a promise to end the U.S. military draft, a decision endorsed by the February 1970 report of the Gates Commission. The existing draft law was scheduled to conclude at the end of June 1971, and the Senate faced a contentious debate about whether to extend it as the Vietnam War continued.",
"The existing draft law was scheduled to conclude at the end of June 1971, and the Senate faced a contentious debate about whether to extend it as the Vietnam War continued. The Nixon administration announced in February 1971 that it wanted a two-year extension to June 1973, after which the draft would end; Army planners had already been operating under the assumption of a two-year extension, after which an all-volunteer force would be in place.",
"The Nixon administration announced in February 1971 that it wanted a two-year extension to June 1973, after which the draft would end; Army planners had already been operating under the assumption of a two-year extension, after which an all-volunteer force would be in place. Skeptics such as Senate Armed Services Committee chairman John Stennis thought this unrealistic and wanted a four-year extension, but the two-year proposal is what went forward in Congress.",
"Skeptics such as Senate Armed Services Committee chairman John Stennis thought this unrealistic and wanted a four-year extension, but the two-year proposal is what went forward in Congress. By early May 1971, Gravel had indicated his intention to filibuster the draft renewal legislation, halting conscription and thereby bringing U.S. involvement in the war to a rapid end.",
"By early May 1971, Gravel had indicated his intention to filibuster the draft renewal legislation, halting conscription and thereby bringing U.S. involvement in the war to a rapid end. During this period he also supported efforts to mobilize and influence public opinion against the war, endorsing the \"Vietnam War Out Now\" rallies in Washington D.C. and San Francisco on April 24, 1971, and financing a broadcast campaign by the antiwar group War No More with a personal loan.",
"During this period he also supported efforts to mobilize and influence public opinion against the war, endorsing the \"Vietnam War Out Now\" rallies in Washington D.C. and San Francisco on April 24, 1971, and financing a broadcast campaign by the antiwar group War No More with a personal loan. In June 1972 he escorted a group of over 100 antiwar protesters, including psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton, actress Candice Bergen, theater producer and director Joseph Papp, and peditrician Dr. Benjamin Spock, into the United States Capitol Building; the group was arrested after blocking a hallway outside the Senate chamber.",
"In June 1972 he escorted a group of over 100 antiwar protesters, including psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton, actress Candice Bergen, theater producer and director Joseph Papp, and peditrician Dr. Benjamin Spock, into the United States Capitol Building; the group was arrested after blocking a hallway outside the Senate chamber. By June 1971, some Democratic senators opposed to the war wanted to limit the renewal to a one-year extension, while others wanted to end it immediately; Gravel reiterated that he was one of the latter, saying, \"It's a senseless war, and one way to do away with it is to do away with the draft.\"",
"By June 1971, some Democratic senators opposed to the war wanted to limit the renewal to a one-year extension, while others wanted to end it immediately; Gravel reiterated that he was one of the latter, saying, \"It's a senseless war, and one way to do away with it is to do away with the draft.\" A Senate vote on June 4 indicated majority support for the two-year extension.",
"A Senate vote on June 4 indicated majority support for the two-year extension. On June 18 Gravel announced again his intention to counteract that by filibustering the renewal legislation, defending the practice against those who associated it only with blocking civil rights legislation. The first filibuster attempt failed on June 23 when, by three votes, the Senate voted cloture for only the fifth time since 1927.",
"The first filibuster attempt failed on June 23 when, by three votes, the Senate voted cloture for only the fifth time since 1927. Protracted negotiations took place over House conference negotiations on the bill, revolving in large part around Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield's eventually unsuccessful amendment to tie renewal to a troop withdrawal timetable from Vietnam; during this time the draft law expired and no more were conscripted.",
"Protracted negotiations took place over House conference negotiations on the bill, revolving in large part around Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield's eventually unsuccessful amendment to tie renewal to a troop withdrawal timetable from Vietnam; during this time the draft law expired and no more were conscripted. On August 5, the Nixon administration pleaded for a renewal before the Senate went on recess, but Gravel blocked Stennis's attempt to limit debate, and no vote was held.",
"On August 5, the Nixon administration pleaded for a renewal before the Senate went on recess, but Gravel blocked Stennis's attempt to limit debate, and no vote was held. Finally on September 21, 1971, the Senate invoked cloture over Gravel's second filibuster attempt by one vote, and then passed the two-year draft extension.",
"Finally on September 21, 1971, the Senate invoked cloture over Gravel's second filibuster attempt by one vote, and then passed the two-year draft extension. Gravel's attempts to stop the draft had failed (notwithstanding Gravel's later claims that he had stopped or shortened the draft, taken at face value in some media reports, during his 2008 presidential campaign). Meanwhile, on June 13, 1971, The New York Times began printing large portions of the Pentagon Papers.",
"Meanwhile, on June 13, 1971, The New York Times began printing large portions of the Pentagon Papers. The papers were a large collection of secret government documents and studies pertaining to the Vietnam War, of which former Defense Department analyst Daniel Ellsberg had made unauthorized copies and was determined to make public.",
"The papers were a large collection of secret government documents and studies pertaining to the Vietnam War, of which former Defense Department analyst Daniel Ellsberg had made unauthorized copies and was determined to make public. Ellsberg had for a year and a half approached members of Congress – such as William Fulbright, George McGovern, Charles Mathias, and Pete McCloskey – about publishing the documents, on the grounds that the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution would give congressional members immunity from prosecution, but all had refused.",
"Ellsberg had for a year and a half approached members of Congress – such as William Fulbright, George McGovern, Charles Mathias, and Pete McCloskey – about publishing the documents, on the grounds that the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution would give congressional members immunity from prosecution, but all had refused. Instead, Ellsberg gave the documents to the Times. The U.S. Justice Department immediately tried to halt publication, on the grounds that the information revealed within the papers harmed the national interest.",
"The U.S. Justice Department immediately tried to halt publication, on the grounds that the information revealed within the papers harmed the national interest. Within the next two weeks, a federal court injunction halted publication in the Times; The Washington Post and several other newspapers began publishing parts of the documents, with some of them also being halted by injunctions; and the whole matter went to the U.S. Supreme Court for arguments.",
"Within the next two weeks, a federal court injunction halted publication in the Times; The Washington Post and several other newspapers began publishing parts of the documents, with some of them also being halted by injunctions; and the whole matter went to the U.S. Supreme Court for arguments. Looking for an alternate publication mechanism, Ellsberg returned to his idea of having a member of Congress read them, and chose Gravel based on the latter's efforts against the draft; Gravel agreed where previously others had not.",
"Looking for an alternate publication mechanism, Ellsberg returned to his idea of having a member of Congress read them, and chose Gravel based on the latter's efforts against the draft; Gravel agreed where previously others had not. Ellsberg arranged for the papers to be given to Gravel on June 26 via an intermediary, Post editor Ben Bagdikian.",
"Ellsberg arranged for the papers to be given to Gravel on June 26 via an intermediary, Post editor Ben Bagdikian. Gravel used his counter-intelligence experience to choose a midnight transfer in front of the Mayflower Hotel in the center of Washington, D.C. On the night of June 29, 1971, Gravel attempted to read the papers on the floor of the Senate as part of his filibuster against the draft, but was thwarted when no quorum could be formed. Gravel instead convened a session of the Buildings and Grounds subcommittee that he chaired.",
"Gravel instead convened a session of the Buildings and Grounds subcommittee that he chaired. He got New York Congressman John G. Dow to testify that the war had soaked up funding for public buildings, thus making discussion of the war relevant to the committee.",
"He got New York Congressman John G. Dow to testify that the war had soaked up funding for public buildings, thus making discussion of the war relevant to the committee. He began reading from the papers with the press in attendance, omitting supporting documents that he felt might compromise national security, and declaring, \"It is my constitutional obligation to protect the security of the people by fostering the free flow of information absolutely essential to their democratic decision-making.\"",
"He began reading from the papers with the press in attendance, omitting supporting documents that he felt might compromise national security, and declaring, \"It is my constitutional obligation to protect the security of the people by fostering the free flow of information absolutely essential to their democratic decision-making.\" He read until 1 a.m., culminating by saying \"Arms are being severed. Metal is clashing through human bodies because of the public policy this government and all its branches continue to support.\"",
"Metal is clashing through human bodies because of the public policy this government and all its branches continue to support.\" Then with tears and sobs he said that he could no longer physically continue, the previous three nights of sleeplessness and fear about the future having taken their toll. Gravel ended the session by, with no other senators present, establishing unanimous consent to insert 4,100 pages of the Papers into the Congressional Record of his subcommittee.",
"Gravel ended the session by, with no other senators present, establishing unanimous consent to insert 4,100 pages of the Papers into the Congressional Record of his subcommittee. The following day, the Supreme Court's New York Times Co. v. United States decision ruled in favor of the newspapers and publication in the Times and others resumed. In July 1971 Bantam Books published an inexpensive paperback edition of the papers containing the material the Times had published.",
"In July 1971 Bantam Books published an inexpensive paperback edition of the papers containing the material the Times had published. Gravel, too, wanted to privately publish the portion of the papers he had read into the record, believing that \"immediate disclosure of the contents of these papers will change the policy that supports the war\". After being turned down by many commercial publishers, on August 4 he reached agreement with Beacon Press, the publishing arm of the Unitarian Universalist Association, of which Gravel was a member.",
"After being turned down by many commercial publishers, on August 4 he reached agreement with Beacon Press, the publishing arm of the Unitarian Universalist Association, of which Gravel was a member. Announced on August 17 and published on October 22, 1971, this four-volume, relatively expensive set became the \"Senator Gravel Edition\", which studies from Cornell University and the Annenberg Center for Communication have labeled as the most complete edition of the Pentagon Papers to be published.",
"Announced on August 17 and published on October 22, 1971, this four-volume, relatively expensive set became the \"Senator Gravel Edition\", which studies from Cornell University and the Annenberg Center for Communication have labeled as the most complete edition of the Pentagon Papers to be published. The \"Gravel Edition\" was edited and annotated by Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn, and included an additional volume of analytical articles on the origins and progress of the war, also edited by Chomsky and Zinn.",
"The \"Gravel Edition\" was edited and annotated by Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn, and included an additional volume of analytical articles on the origins and progress of the war, also edited by Chomsky and Zinn. Beacon Press then was subjected to a FBI investigation; an outgrowth of this was the Gravel v. United States court case, which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled upon in June 1972; it held that the Speech or Debate Clause did grant immunity to Gravel for his reading the papers in his subcommittee, did grant some immunity to Gravel's congressional aide, but granted no immunity to Beacon Press in relation to their publishing the same papers.",
"Beacon Press then was subjected to a FBI investigation; an outgrowth of this was the Gravel v. United States court case, which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled upon in June 1972; it held that the Speech or Debate Clause did grant immunity to Gravel for his reading the papers in his subcommittee, did grant some immunity to Gravel's congressional aide, but granted no immunity to Beacon Press in relation to their publishing the same papers. The U.S. Senate Democratic Caucus backed Gravel in the case, but due to Republican opposition it did not pay Gravel's legal fees, leaving him owing $25,000 (the equivalent of $150,000 in 2019, adjusted for inflation).",
"The U.S. Senate Democratic Caucus backed Gravel in the case, but due to Republican opposition it did not pay Gravel's legal fees, leaving him owing $25,000 (the equivalent of $150,000 in 2019, adjusted for inflation). The events of 1971 changed Gravel in the following months from an obscure freshman senator to a nationally visible political figure.",
"The events of 1971 changed Gravel in the following months from an obscure freshman senator to a nationally visible political figure. He became a sought-after speaker on the college circuit as well as at political fundraisers, opportunities he welcomed as lectures were \"the one honest way a Senator has to supplement his income\". But his speaking tours caused him to accrue one of the worst absentee records in the Senate. The Democratic candidates for the 1972 presidential election sought his endorsement.",
"The Democratic candidates for the 1972 presidential election sought his endorsement. In January 1972 Gravel endorsed Maine Senator Ed Muskie, hoping that his support would help Muskie with the party's left wing and in ethnic French-Canadian areas during the first primary contest in New Hampshire (Muskie won, but not overwhelmingly, and his campaign faltered soon after).",
"In January 1972 Gravel endorsed Maine Senator Ed Muskie, hoping that his support would help Muskie with the party's left wing and in ethnic French-Canadian areas during the first primary contest in New Hampshire (Muskie won, but not overwhelmingly, and his campaign faltered soon after). In April 1972 Gravel appeared on all three networks' nightly newscasts to decry the Nixon administration's reliance on Vietnamization by making reference to the secret National Security Study Memorandum 1 document, which stated it would take 8–13 years for the Army of the Republic of Vietnam to defend South Vietnam.",
"In April 1972 Gravel appeared on all three networks' nightly newscasts to decry the Nixon administration's reliance on Vietnamization by making reference to the secret National Security Study Memorandum 1 document, which stated it would take 8–13 years for the Army of the Republic of Vietnam to defend South Vietnam. Gravel made excerpts from the study public, but senators Robert P. Griffin and William B. Saxbe blocked his attempt to read NSSM 1 into the Congressional Record.",
"Gravel made excerpts from the study public, but senators Robert P. Griffin and William B. Saxbe blocked his attempt to read NSSM 1 into the Congressional Record. Domestic policy In 1970 Gravel co-sponsored legislation to establish a guaranteed minimum income, entitling poor families to up to $6,300 a year (the equivalent of $42,000 in 2019 after adjustment for inflation).",
"Domestic policy In 1970 Gravel co-sponsored legislation to establish a guaranteed minimum income, entitling poor families to up to $6,300 a year (the equivalent of $42,000 in 2019 after adjustment for inflation). He subsequently voted for a \"work bonus\" program, which would have entitled low-income working families with dependent children if they were paying Social Security or Railroad Retirement taxes to a non-taxable bonus of up to 10 percent of their wages.",
"He subsequently voted for a \"work bonus\" program, which would have entitled low-income working families with dependent children if they were paying Social Security or Railroad Retirement taxes to a non-taxable bonus of up to 10 percent of their wages. Gravel also supported extending Social Security to all federal employees and introduced a campaign finance reform bill in 1971 that would have enacted full disclosure of campaign financing, placed limits on large donations, media spending and individual candidate spending.",
"Gravel also supported extending Social Security to all federal employees and introduced a campaign finance reform bill in 1971 that would have enacted full disclosure of campaign financing, placed limits on large donations, media spending and individual candidate spending. In 1969, Gravel was the only Democratic Senator outside of the South to vote for Nixon's Supreme Court nominee Clement Haynsworth. The following year Gravel opposed Nixon's next pick, G. Harrold Carswell.",
"The following year Gravel opposed Nixon's next pick, G. Harrold Carswell. Run for vice president in 1972 Gravel actively campaigned for the office of Vice President of the United States during the 1972 presidential election, announcing on June 2, 1972, over a month before the 1972 Democratic National Convention began, that he was interested in the nomination should the choice be opened up to convention delegates. Toward this end he began soliciting delegates for their support.",
"Toward this end he began soliciting delegates for their support. He was not alone in this effort, as former Governor of Massachusetts Endicott Peabody had been running a quixotic campaign for the same post since the prior year. Likely presidential nominee George McGovern was in fact considering the unusual move of naming three or four acceptable vice-presidential candidates and letting the delegates choose. On the convention's final day, July 14, 1972, McGovern selected and announced Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri as his vice-presidential choice.",
"On the convention's final day, July 14, 1972, McGovern selected and announced Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri as his vice-presidential choice. Eagleton was unknown to many delegates and the choice seemed to smack of traditional ticket balancing considerations. Thus there were delegates willing to look elsewhere. Gravel was nominated by Bettye Fahrenkamp, the Democratic National Committeewoman from Alaska. He then seconded his own nomination, breaking down in tears at his own words and maybe trying to withdraw his nomination.",
"He then seconded his own nomination, breaking down in tears at his own words and maybe trying to withdraw his nomination. In any case he won 226 delegate votes, coming in third behind Eagleton and Frances \"Sissy\" Farenthold of Texas, in chaotic balloting that included several other candidates.",
"In any case he won 226 delegate votes, coming in third behind Eagleton and Frances \"Sissy\" Farenthold of Texas, in chaotic balloting that included several other candidates. Gravel attracted some attention for his efforts: writer Norman Mailer said he \"provided considerable excitement\" and was \"good-looking enough to have played leads in B-films\", while Rolling Stone correspondent Hunter S. Thompson said Gravel \"probably said a few things that might have been worth hearing, under different circumstances\". Yet the process was doubly disastrous for the Democrats.",
"Yet the process was doubly disastrous for the Democrats. Yet the process was doubly disastrous for the Democrats. In the time consumed by nominating and seconding and all the vice-presidential candidates' speeches, the attention of the delegates on the floor was lost and McGovern's speech was pushed to 3:30 a.m. The haste with which Eagleton was selected led to surprise when his past mental health treatments were revealed; he withdrew from the ticket soon after the convention, to be replaced by Sargent Shriver.",
"The haste with which Eagleton was selected led to surprise when his past mental health treatments were revealed; he withdrew from the ticket soon after the convention, to be replaced by Sargent Shriver. Reelection to Senate in 1974 Several years earlier, Alaska politicians had speculated that Gravel would have a hard time getting both renominated and elected when his first term expired, given that he was originally elected without a base party organization and tended to focus on national rather than local issues.",
"Reelection to Senate in 1974 Several years earlier, Alaska politicians had speculated that Gravel would have a hard time getting both renominated and elected when his first term expired, given that he was originally elected without a base party organization and tended to focus on national rather than local issues. Nonetheless, after receiving support from national and local labor leaders, securing key earmarks, and producing another half-hour TV advertorial, in 1974 Gravel was reelected to the Senate, with 58 percent of the vote to 42 percent for Republican State Senator C. R. Lewis, who was a national officer of the John Birch Society.",
"Nonetheless, after receiving support from national and local labor leaders, securing key earmarks, and producing another half-hour TV advertorial, in 1974 Gravel was reelected to the Senate, with 58 percent of the vote to 42 percent for Republican State Senator C. R. Lewis, who was a national officer of the John Birch Society. Second term Gravel's reelection campaign left him $65,000–$75,000 in debt.",
"Second term Gravel's reelection campaign left him $65,000–$75,000 in debt. In 1975 The Washington Post reported on a memo by his executive assistant laying out a fundraising strategy to tackle this, including raising funds from oil companies, meeting with previous donors and \"inquir[ing] into the governmental priorities of these people and their groups in the coming session\", as well as obtaining further speaking fees to reduce his personal debt.",
"In 1975 The Washington Post reported on a memo by his executive assistant laying out a fundraising strategy to tackle this, including raising funds from oil companies, meeting with previous donors and \"inquir[ing] into the governmental priorities of these people and their groups in the coming session\", as well as obtaining further speaking fees to reduce his personal debt. This was followed by a number of stories about links between Gravel, lobbyists and fundraisers, including one that was widely publicized in Alaska about his holding a share in a Colorado resort with two Washington lobbyists he was working with on land and energy legislation.",
"This was followed by a number of stories about links between Gravel, lobbyists and fundraisers, including one that was widely publicized in Alaska about his holding a share in a Colorado resort with two Washington lobbyists he was working with on land and energy legislation. Gravel had been open about the investment and had opposing views to one of the lobbyists on nuclear power.",
"Gravel had been open about the investment and had opposing views to one of the lobbyists on nuclear power. In 1980 the Wall Street Journal published details about his fundraising activities, including writing to individuals and PACs in the oil industry, pledging to kill off proposals for a windfall profits tax on the sector, and traveling in the Middle East with the business partner of one of his donors to sell Alaskan land to businessmen. Gravel suggested that critics of his fundraising were \"naive\".",
"Gravel suggested that critics of his fundraising were \"naive\". In 1975 Gravel introduced an amendment to cut the number of troops overseas by 200,000, but it was defeated on a voice vote. In September 1975 Gravel was named as one of several Congressional Advisers to the Seventh Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly, which met to discuss problems related to economic development and international economic cooperation. In June 1976 Gravel was the focus of a federal investigation into allegations that he was involved in a sex-for-vote arrangement.",
"In June 1976 Gravel was the focus of a federal investigation into allegations that he was involved in a sex-for-vote arrangement. Congressional staff clerk Elizabeth Ray (who had already been involved in a sex scandal that led to the downfall of Representative Wayne Hays) said that in August 1972 she had sex with Gravel aboard a houseboat on the Potomac River, under the instruction of Representative Kenneth J. Gray, her boss at the time.",
"Gray, her boss at the time. Gray, her boss at the time. Gray allegedly wanted to secure Gravel's support for further funding for construction of the National Visitor Center in Washington, a troubled project that was under the jurisdiction of subcommittees that both members chaired. Another Congressional staffer said she witnessed the boat encounter, but Gravel said at the time that he had never met either of the women.",
"Another Congressional staffer said she witnessed the boat encounter, but Gravel said at the time that he had never met either of the women. Gravel and Gray strongly denied that they had made any arrangement regarding legislation, and neither was ever charged with any wrongdoing. Decades later Gravel wrote that he had indeed had sex with Ray, but had not changed any votes because of it.",
"Decades later Gravel wrote that he had indeed had sex with Ray, but had not changed any votes because of it. Gravel and his main financial backer, Gottstein, had a falling out in 1978, during the Congressional debate over whether to allow a controversial sale of U.S. F-15 fighter aircraft to Saudi Arabia. An ardent backer of Israel, Gottstein opposed the sale and asked Gravel to vote against it. But Gravel not only voted for it but made an emotional speech attacking the anti-sale campaign.",
"But Gravel not only voted for it but made an emotional speech attacking the anti-sale campaign. Gravel wrote in 2008 that it was the only time Gottstein had ever asked him for a favor, and the rupture resulted in their never speaking to each other again. Alaskan issues By 1971 Gravel was urging construction of the much-argued Trans-Alaska pipeline, addressing environmental concerns by saying that the pipeline's builders and operators should have \"total and absolute\" responsibility for any consequent environmental damage.",
"Alaskan issues By 1971 Gravel was urging construction of the much-argued Trans-Alaska pipeline, addressing environmental concerns by saying that the pipeline's builders and operators should have \"total and absolute\" responsibility for any consequent environmental damage. Two years later the debate over the pipeline came to a crux, with The New York Times describing it as \"environmentalists [in] a holy war with the major oil companies\".",
"Two years later the debate over the pipeline came to a crux, with The New York Times describing it as \"environmentalists [in] a holy war with the major oil companies\". In February 1973 the U.S. Court of Appeals blocked the issuance of permits for construction; Gravel and fellow Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens reacted by urging Congress to pass legislation overturning the court's decision.",
"In February 1973 the U.S. Court of Appeals blocked the issuance of permits for construction; Gravel and fellow Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens reacted by urging Congress to pass legislation overturning the court's decision. Environmentalists opposed to the pipeline, such as the Environmental Defense Fund and the Sierra Club then sought to use the recently passed National Environmental Policy Act to their advantage; Gravel designed an amendment to the pipeline bill that would immunize the pipeline from any further court challenges under that law, and thus speed its construction.",
"Environmentalists opposed to the pipeline, such as the Environmental Defense Fund and the Sierra Club then sought to use the recently passed National Environmental Policy Act to their advantage; Gravel designed an amendment to the pipeline bill that would immunize the pipeline from any further court challenges under that law, and thus speed its construction. Passage of the amendment became the key battle regarding the pipeline.",
"Passage of the amendment became the key battle regarding the pipeline. On July 17, 1973, in a dramatic roll-call vote, the Gravel amendment was approved as a 49–49 tie was broken in favor by Vice President Spiro Agnew. The actual bill enabling the pipeline then passed easily; Gravel had triumphed in what became perhaps his most lasting accomplishment as a senator. In opposition to the Alaskan fishing industry, Gravel advocated American participation in the formation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.",
"In opposition to the Alaskan fishing industry, Gravel advocated American participation in the formation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. For two years he opposed legislation that established a Exclusive Economic Zone for marine resources. He was one of only 19 senators to vote against Senate approval for the expanded zone in 1976, saying it would undermine the U.S. position in Law of the Sea negotiations and that nations arbitrarily extending their fishing rights limits would \"produce anarchy of the seas\".",
"He was one of only 19 senators to vote against Senate approval for the expanded zone in 1976, saying it would undermine the U.S. position in Law of the Sea negotiations and that nations arbitrarily extending their fishing rights limits would \"produce anarchy of the seas\". The legislation was passed, and the United States has signed but never ratified the Law of the Sea treaty. Gravel accumulated a complicated record on Indian affairs during his time in the Senate.",
"Gravel accumulated a complicated record on Indian affairs during his time in the Senate. During his first year in the Senate Gravel urged abolition of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, criticizing the agency for the pace of development of schools in Alaska, its paternalistic attitudes and the culturally inappropriate nature of its education, and advocating greater shared decision-making between the federal government and native communities in Alaska.",
"During his first year in the Senate Gravel urged abolition of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, criticizing the agency for the pace of development of schools in Alaska, its paternalistic attitudes and the culturally inappropriate nature of its education, and advocating greater shared decision-making between the federal government and native communities in Alaska. Later, his views changed; in the early 1970s Gravel supported a demonstration project that established links between Alaskan villages and the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, for medical diagnostic communications.",
"Later, his views changed; in the early 1970s Gravel supported a demonstration project that established links between Alaskan villages and the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, for medical diagnostic communications. In 1971, he fended off accusations from Alaskan natives that he was not spending enough time working on their land claims. Gravel helped secure a private grant to facilitate the first Inuit Circumpolar Conference in 1977, attended by Inuit representatives from Alaska, Canada, and Greenland. These conferences now also include representatives from Russia.",
"These conferences now also include representatives from Russia. These conferences now also include representatives from Russia. In 1977, Gravel helped lead an effort to have the U.S. Interior Department rename Mount McKinley to Denali; this eventually led to Denali National Park being so named. Subsequently, Gravel proposed a never-built \"Denali City\" development above the Tokositna River near the mountain, to consist of a giant Teflon dome enclosing hotels, golf courses, condominiums, and commercial buildings.",
"Subsequently, Gravel proposed a never-built \"Denali City\" development above the Tokositna River near the mountain, to consist of a giant Teflon dome enclosing hotels, golf courses, condominiums, and commercial buildings. A related idea of his to build a high-speed rail line to Denali also failed to gain traction. A key, emotional issue in the state at the time was \"locking up Alaska\", making reference to allocation of its vast, mostly uninhabited land.",
"A key, emotional issue in the state at the time was \"locking up Alaska\", making reference to allocation of its vast, mostly uninhabited land. President Jimmy Carter desired to put large portions of this land under federal protection against development, a move that some Alaskans vociferously opposed. In 1978 Gravel blocked passage, via procedural delays such as walking out of House–Senate conference committee meetings, of a complex bill which represented a compromise on land use policy.",
"In 1978 Gravel blocked passage, via procedural delays such as walking out of House–Senate conference committee meetings, of a complex bill which represented a compromise on land use policy. The bill would have put some of Alaska's vast federal land holdings under state control while preserving other portions for federal parks and refuges; the blocking action earned Gravel the enmity of fellow Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, who had supported the compromise.",
"The bill would have put some of Alaska's vast federal land holdings under state control while preserving other portions for federal parks and refuges; the blocking action earned Gravel the enmity of fellow Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, who had supported the compromise. In 1980, a new lands bill came up for consideration, that was less favorable to Alaskan interests and more liked by environmentalists; it set aside of Alaska's for national parks, conservation areas, and other restricted federal uses.",
"In 1980, a new lands bill came up for consideration, that was less favorable to Alaskan interests and more liked by environmentalists; it set aside of Alaska's for national parks, conservation areas, and other restricted federal uses. Gravel blocked it, as not ensuring enough future development in the state. A new compromise version of the 1980 bill came forward, which reduced the land set aside to . Representing Alaskan interests, Gravel tried to stop the bill, including by filibuster.",
"Representing Alaskan interests, Gravel tried to stop the bill, including by filibuster. But the Senate voted for cloture and passed the bill. Frustrated, Gravel said, \"the legislation denies Alaska its rights as a state, and denies the U.S. crucial strategic resources,\" and opined that the Senate was \"a little bit like a tank of barracudas\".",
"Frustrated, Gravel said, \"the legislation denies Alaska its rights as a state, and denies the U.S. crucial strategic resources,\" and opined that the Senate was \"a little bit like a tank of barracudas\". Nonetheless, the bill, known as the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980, was signed by President Carter shortly before leaving the White House, and led to millions of acres being set aside in the state for national parks, wildlife refuges, and other kinds of areas under protection.",
"Nonetheless, the bill, known as the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980, was signed by President Carter shortly before leaving the White House, and led to millions of acres being set aside in the state for national parks, wildlife refuges, and other kinds of areas under protection. In 1978 Gravel authored and secured the passage into federal law of the General Stock Ownership Corporation, that became Subchapter U of the Tax Code under the Internal Revenue Code of 1954.",
"In 1978 Gravel authored and secured the passage into federal law of the General Stock Ownership Corporation, that became Subchapter U of the Tax Code under the Internal Revenue Code of 1954. This gave states the ability to create corporations that would invest in for-profit enterprises, with all citizens within the state owning shares in the corporation.",
"This gave states the ability to create corporations that would invest in for-profit enterprises, with all citizens within the state owning shares in the corporation. Gravel's attempt to convince the Alaska state legislature to create such a corporation failed, as did a 1980 state ballot initiative towards the same end, but nevertheless the creation of the General Stock Ownership Corporation in federal law turned out to be significant in the development of binary economics.",
"Gravel's attempt to convince the Alaska state legislature to create such a corporation failed, as did a 1980 state ballot initiative towards the same end, but nevertheless the creation of the General Stock Ownership Corporation in federal law turned out to be significant in the development of binary economics. Loss of Senate seat in 1980 In 1980 Gravel was challenged for the Democratic Party's nomination by State Representative Clark Gruening, the grandson of the man Gravel had defeated in a primary 12 years earlier.",
"Loss of Senate seat in 1980 In 1980 Gravel was challenged for the Democratic Party's nomination by State Representative Clark Gruening, the grandson of the man Gravel had defeated in a primary 12 years earlier. One of Gruening's supporters was Gravel's former backer Gottstein. Several factors made Gravel vulnerable. As an insurgent candidate in 1968 Gravel had never established a firm party base. Not liking to hunt or fish, he was also always culturally suspect in the state. The primary campaign was bitterly fought.",
"The primary campaign was bitterly fought. The primary campaign was bitterly fought. A group of Democrats, including future governor Steve Cowper, led the campaign against Gravel, with Gravel's actions in respect to the 1978 and 1980 Alaskan lands bills a major issue. This was especially so given that the 1980 bill's dénouement happened but a week before the primary. The sources of Gravel's campaign funds, some of which Gravel readily acknowledged came from political action committees outside the state, also became an issue in the contest.",
"The sources of Gravel's campaign funds, some of which Gravel readily acknowledged came from political action committees outside the state, also became an issue in the contest. Gruening had pledged that he would not take special interest group money, but Gravel said that Gruening was \"dishonest\" in accepting individual contributors from Jewish donors living outside the state because to him such contributors comprised \"a special interest group ... that seeks to influence the foreign policy of the U.S.\" Gruening won the primary with about 55 percent of the vote to Gravel's 44 percent.",
"Gruening had pledged that he would not take special interest group money, but Gravel said that Gruening was \"dishonest\" in accepting individual contributors from Jewish donors living outside the state because to him such contributors comprised \"a special interest group ... that seeks to influence the foreign policy of the U.S.\" Gruening won the primary with about 55 percent of the vote to Gravel's 44 percent. Gravel later conceded that by the time of his defeat, he had alienated \"almost every constituency in Alaska\".",
"Gravel later conceded that by the time of his defeat, he had alienated \"almost every constituency in Alaska\". Another factor may have been Alaska's blanket primary system of the time, which allowed unlimited voting across party lines and from its many independents; Republicans believed Gruening would be an easier candidate to defeat in the general election. Gruening lost the general election to Republican Frank Murkowski.",
"Gruening lost the general election to Republican Frank Murkowski. Gruening lost the general election to Republican Frank Murkowski. Gravel was the last Democrat to represent Alaska in Congress for 28 years, until Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich defeated Ted Stevens, by then an aged, iconic figure who had just been convicted of seven felonies for taking unreported gifts, in a very close and protracted election result in 2008. Stevens's conviction was subsequently vacated due to prosecutorial misconduct.",
"Stevens's conviction was subsequently vacated due to prosecutorial misconduct. Career after leaving the Senate Of his 1980 defeat, Gravel later recalled: \"I had lost my career. I lost my marriage. I was in the doldrums for ten years after my defeat,\" and \"Nobody wanted to hire me for anything important. I felt like I was worthless. I didn't know what I could do.\"",
"I didn't know what I could do.\" I didn't know what I could do.\" By his own later description, Gravel was a womanizer, and had an affair while in the Senate, and in December 1980 he and his wife Rita separated. They filed for divorce in September 1981; she later received all of his Senate pension income. During the 1980s Gravel was a real estate developer in Anchorage and Kenai, Alaska, a consultant, and a stockbroker.",
"During the 1980s Gravel was a real estate developer in Anchorage and Kenai, Alaska, a consultant, and a stockbroker. One of his real estate ventures, a condominium business, was forced to declare bankruptcy and a lawsuit ensued. In 1986 Gravel worked in partnership with Merrill Lynch Capital Markets to buy losses that financially troubled Alaska Native Corporations could not take as tax deductions and sell them to large national companies looking for tax writeoffs. Gravel also learned computer programming at some point but never practiced it.",
"Gravel also learned computer programming at some point but never practiced it. In 1984 Gravel married his second wife, Whitney Stewart Gravel, a former administrative assistant for Senator Jacob Javits. Return to politics In 1989 Gravel reentered politics. He founded and led The Democracy Foundation, which promotes direct democracy.",
"He founded and led The Democracy Foundation, which promotes direct democracy. He established the Philadelphia II corporation, which seeks to replicate the original 1787 Constitutional Convention and have a Second Constitutional Convention to bring about direct democracy Gravel led an effort to get a United States Constitutional amendment to allow voter-initiated federal legislation similar to state ballot initiatives. He argued that Americans are able to legislate responsibly, and that the Act and Amendment in the National Initiative would allow American citizens to become \"law makers\".",
"He argued that Americans are able to legislate responsibly, and that the Act and Amendment in the National Initiative would allow American citizens to become \"law makers\". However such efforts met with little success. In 2001, Gravel became director of the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution, where he admired institute co-founder Gregory Fossedal's work on direct democracy in Switzerland.",
"In 2001, Gravel became director of the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution, where he admired institute co-founder Gregory Fossedal's work on direct democracy in Switzerland. By 2004, Gravel had become chair of the institute, and Fossedal (who in turn was a director of the Democracy Foundation) gave the introduction at Gravel's presidential announcement. In 2003 Gravel gave a speech on direct democracy at a conference hosted by the American Free Press. The event was cosponsored by the Barnes Review, a journal that endorses Holocaust denial.",
"The event was cosponsored by the Barnes Review, a journal that endorses Holocaust denial. After some controversy over his appearance, Gravel apologized, saying he did not realize the group's ties. Gravel said repeatedly that he did not share the group's views on the Holocaust, stating, \"You better believe I know that six million Jews were killed. [The Barnes Review publishers] are nutty as loons if they don't think it happened\". The group invited Gravel to speak again, but he declined.",
"The group invited Gravel to speak again, but he declined. Mike and Whitney Gravel lived in Arlington County, Virginia, until 2010 and then resided in Burlingame, California. They have the two grown children from his first marriage, Martin Gravel and Lynne Gravel Mosier, and four grandchildren. Whitney Gravel's income sustained the couple from 1998 on. In the 2000s, Gravel suffered poor health, requiring three surgeries in 2003 for back pain and neuropathy.",
"In the 2000s, Gravel suffered poor health, requiring three surgeries in 2003 for back pain and neuropathy. Due to unreimbursed medical expenses and debts from his political causes, he declared personal bankruptcy in 2004. He began taking a salary from the non-profit organizations for which he was working; much of that income was lent to his presidential campaign. In 2007, he declared that he had \"zero net worth\".",
"In 2007, he declared that he had \"zero net worth\". 2008 presidential campaign Democratic Party primaries At the start of 2006 Gravel decided the best way he could promote direct democracy and the National Initiative was to run for president.",
"2008 presidential campaign Democratic Party primaries At the start of 2006 Gravel decided the best way he could promote direct democracy and the National Initiative was to run for president. On April 17, 2006, Gravel became the first candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2008 election, announcing his run in a speech to the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Short on campaign cash, he took public transportation to get to his announcement. (Gravel called for public financing of elections.)",
"(Gravel called for public financing of elections.) (Gravel called for public financing of elections.) Other principal Gravel positions were the FairTax, as well as withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq within 120 days and a single payer national health care system. Gravel had opposed the Iraq War, and President George W. Bush's rationale for it, from the beginning, and in 2006 said that U.S. troops in Iraq, as in Vietnam, had \"died in vain\".",
"Gravel had opposed the Iraq War, and President George W. Bush's rationale for it, from the beginning, and in 2006 said that U.S. troops in Iraq, as in Vietnam, had \"died in vain\". He also favored a regional peace initiative, as well as reparation payments for Iraqis. Gravel also called for a \"U.S. corporate withdrawal from Iraq\", with reconstruction contracts held by U.S. companies to be turned over to Iraqi firms.",
"Gravel also called for a \"U.S. corporate withdrawal from Iraq\", with reconstruction contracts held by U.S. companies to be turned over to Iraqi firms. Gravel campaigned almost full-time in New Hampshire, the first primary state, following his announcement. Opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination showed Gravel with 1 percent or less support. By the end of March 2007, Gravel's campaign had less than $500 in cash on hand against debts of nearly $90,000.",
"By the end of March 2007, Gravel's campaign had less than $500 in cash on hand against debts of nearly $90,000. Because of his time in the Senate, Gravel was invited to many of the early Democratic presidential debates. During the initial one at South Carolina State University on April 26, 2007, he suggested a bill requiring the president to withdraw from Iraq on pain of criminal penalties. He also advocated positions such as opposing preemptive nuclear war.",
"He also advocated positions such as opposing preemptive nuclear war. He stated that the Iraq War had the effect of creating more terrorists and that the \"war was lost the day that George Bush invaded Iraq on a fraudulent basis\". Regarding his fellow candidates, he said, \"I got to tell you, after standing up with them, some of these people frighten me – they frighten me.\" In one such exchange, Gravel said, \"Tell me, Barack, who do you want to nuke?\"",
"In one such exchange, Gravel said, \"Tell me, Barack, who do you want to nuke?\" to which Obama responded, \"I'm not planning to nuke anybody right now, Mike, I promise.\" Media stories said that Gravel was responsible for much of whatever \"heat\" and \"flashpoints\" had taken place during the Democratic debates.",
"Media stories said that Gravel was responsible for much of whatever \"heat\" and \"flashpoints\" had taken place during the Democratic debates. Gravel gained considerable publicity by shaking up the normally staid multiple-candidate format; The New York Times' media critic said that what Gravel had done was \"steal a debate with outrageous, curmudgeonly statements\".",
"Gravel gained considerable publicity by shaking up the normally staid multiple-candidate format; The New York Times' media critic said that what Gravel had done was \"steal a debate with outrageous, curmudgeonly statements\". The Internet was a benefit: a YouTube video of his responses in the debate was viewed more than 225,892 times, ranking seventeenth in most views for week and first among news and politics clips; his name became the fifteenth most searched-for in the blogosphere; and his website garnered more traffic than those of frontrunners Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, or John Edwards.",
"The Internet was a benefit: a YouTube video of his responses in the debate was viewed more than 225,892 times, ranking seventeenth in most views for week and first among news and politics clips; his name became the fifteenth most searched-for in the blogosphere; and his website garnered more traffic than those of frontrunners Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, or John Edwards. Gravel appeared on the popular Colbert Report on television on May 2, and his campaign and career were profiled in national publications such as Salon.",
"Gravel appeared on the popular Colbert Report on television on May 2, and his campaign and career were profiled in national publications such as Salon. Two wordless, Warholesque campaign videos, \"Rock\" and \"Fire\", were released on YouTube in late May and became hits, and eventually gained over 760,000 and 185,000 views respectively. \"Rock\", in turn, was given airtime during an episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.",
"\"Rock\", in turn, was given airtime during an episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Some thirty-five years after he first achieved the national spotlight, he had found it again. All this did not improve his performance in the polls; a May 2007 CNN poll showed him with less than 0.5 percent support among Democrats. Gravel was in the next several debates, in one case after CNN reversed a decision to exclude him.",
"Gravel was in the next several debates, in one case after CNN reversed a decision to exclude him. Like some of the other second-tier candidates, Gravel did not get as much time as the leaders; during the June 2, 2007, New Hampshire debate, which lasted two hours, he was asked 10 questions and allowed to speak for five minutes and 37 seconds.",
"Like some of the other second-tier candidates, Gravel did not get as much time as the leaders; during the June 2, 2007, New Hampshire debate, which lasted two hours, he was asked 10 questions and allowed to speak for five minutes and 37 seconds. During the July 23, 2007, CNN-YouTube presidential debate, Gravel responded to audience applause when he had complained of a lack of airtime and said: \"Thank you. Has it been fair thus far?\"",
"Has it been fair thus far?\" Has it been fair thus far?\" Detractors began to liken him to \"the cranky uncle who lives in the attic,\" or \"the angry old guy that just seemed to want to become angrier\". Berkeley political scientist David Terr found that moderator George Stephanopoulos directed roughly five percent of his questions to Gravel; in a poll asking who did the best in the debate, Gravel placed seventh among the eight candidates.",
"Berkeley political scientist David Terr found that moderator George Stephanopoulos directed roughly five percent of his questions to Gravel; in a poll asking who did the best in the debate, Gravel placed seventh among the eight candidates. National opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination continued to show Gravel with one percent or zero percent numbers.",
"National opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination continued to show Gravel with one percent or zero percent numbers. By the end of the third-quarter 2007, Gravel had about $17,500 in cash on hand, had collected a total of about $380,000 during the 2008 election cycle, and was continuing to run a threadbare campaign with minimal staff.",
"By the end of the third-quarter 2007, Gravel had about $17,500 in cash on hand, had collected a total of about $380,000 during the 2008 election cycle, and was continuing to run a threadbare campaign with minimal staff. Beginning with the October 30, 2007, Philadelphia event, Gravel was excluded from most of the debates, with the debate sponsors or the Democratic National Committee saying Gravel's campaign had not met fund-raising, polling, or local campaign organizational thresholds.",
"Beginning with the October 30, 2007, Philadelphia event, Gravel was excluded from most of the debates, with the debate sponsors or the Democratic National Committee saying Gravel's campaign had not met fund-raising, polling, or local campaign organizational thresholds. For the Philadelphia exclusion, Gravel blamed corporate censorship on the part of sponsor owner and alleged military-industrial complex member General Electric for his exclusion and mounted a counter-gathering and debate against a video screen a short distance away, but he had lost his easiest publicity.",
"For the Philadelphia exclusion, Gravel blamed corporate censorship on the part of sponsor owner and alleged military-industrial complex member General Electric for his exclusion and mounted a counter-gathering and debate against a video screen a short distance away, but he had lost his easiest publicity. In reaction, supporters organized \"mass donation days\" to try to help the campaign gain momentum and funds, such as on December 5, 2007, the anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition.",
"In reaction, supporters organized \"mass donation days\" to try to help the campaign gain momentum and funds, such as on December 5, 2007, the anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition. Gravel did not compete in the initial 2008 vote, the Iowa caucuses, but was still subjected to a false report from MSNBC that he had pulled out of the race afterward. Gravel did focus his attention on the second 2008 vote, the New Hampshire primary.",
"Gravel did focus his attention on the second 2008 vote, the New Hampshire primary. In early January, Mother Jones' investigative reporter James Ridgeway was filmed interviewing and following Gravel in New Hampshire, in which Gravel is interviewed on the phone by Neal Conan for NPR's, Talk of the Nation. He received about 400 votes out of some 280,000 cast in New Hampshire, or 0.14 percent, before taking time off to improve his health. He resumed campaigning, but fared no better in subsequent states.",
"He resumed campaigning, but fared no better in subsequent states. By the end of January 2008, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and Gravel were the only remaining Democrats from the initial debates still running; Gravel vowed to stay in the presidential campaign until November. On March 11, 2008, Gravel continued to remain in the Democratic race but additionally endorsed a Green Party candidate for president, Jesse Johnson, saying he wanted to help Johnson prevail against Green Party rivals Cynthia McKinney and Ralph Nader.",
"On March 11, 2008, Gravel continued to remain in the Democratic race but additionally endorsed a Green Party candidate for president, Jesse Johnson, saying he wanted to help Johnson prevail against Green Party rivals Cynthia McKinney and Ralph Nader. By late March, Gravel had almost no fundraising and was only on the ballot in one of the next ten Democratic primaries.",
"By late March, Gravel had almost no fundraising and was only on the ballot in one of the next ten Democratic primaries. Switch to Libertarian Party On March 25, 2008, Gravel announced that he would leave the Democrats and join the Libertarian Party, saying: \"My libertarian views, as well as my strong stance against war, the military industrial complex and American imperialism, seem not to be tolerated by Democratic Party elites who are out of touch with the average American; elites that reject the empowerment of American citizens I offered to the Democratic Party at the beginning of this presidential campaign with the National Initiative for Democracy.\"",
"Switch to Libertarian Party On March 25, 2008, Gravel announced that he would leave the Democrats and join the Libertarian Party, saying: \"My libertarian views, as well as my strong stance against war, the military industrial complex and American imperialism, seem not to be tolerated by Democratic Party elites who are out of touch with the average American; elites that reject the empowerment of American citizens I offered to the Democratic Party at the beginning of this presidential campaign with the National Initiative for Democracy.\" The following day Gravel entered the race for the 2008 Libertarian presidential nomination, saying that he would have run as a third-party candidate all along except that he needed the public exposure that came from being in the earlier Democratic debates.",
"The following day Gravel entered the race for the 2008 Libertarian presidential nomination, saying that he would have run as a third-party candidate all along except that he needed the public exposure that came from being in the earlier Democratic debates. Gravel's initial notion of running as a fusion candidate with other parties was met with skepticism. As a Libertarian candidate, Gravel faced resistance to his past support of big government initiatives and his unorthodox positions around direct democracy.",
"As a Libertarian candidate, Gravel faced resistance to his past support of big government initiatives and his unorthodox positions around direct democracy. Nevertheless, he garnered more support than he had as a Democrat, placing second and third in two April 2008 straw polls.",
"Nevertheless, he garnered more support than he had as a Democrat, placing second and third in two April 2008 straw polls. In the May 25 balloting at the 2008 Libertarian National Convention in Denver, Gravel finished fourth out of eight candidates on the initial ballot, with 71 votes out of a total 618; he trailed former Congressman and eventual winner Bob Barr, author Mary Ruwart, and businessman Wayne Allyn Root. Gravel's position did not subsequently improve and he was eliminated on the fourth ballot.",
"Gravel's position did not subsequently improve and he was eliminated on the fourth ballot. Afterwards he stated that \"I just ended my political career,\" but he vowed to continue promoting his positions as a writer and lecturer. 2008–early 2019 In June 2008 Gravel endorsed the NYC 9/11 Ballot Initiative, saying the measure would create a \"citizens commission rather than a government commission\" with subpoena power against top U.S. officials to \"make a true investigation as to what happened\" regarding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.",
"2008–early 2019 In June 2008 Gravel endorsed the NYC 9/11 Ballot Initiative, saying the measure would create a \"citizens commission rather than a government commission\" with subpoena power against top U.S. officials to \"make a true investigation as to what happened\" regarding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. He later said, \"Individuals in and out of government may certainly have participated with the obviously known perpetrators of this dastardly act. Suspicions abound over the analysis presented by government.",
"Suspicions abound over the analysis presented by government. Suspicions abound over the analysis presented by government. Obviously an act that has triggered three wars, Afghan, Iraqi and the continuing War on Terror, should be extensively investigated which was not done and which the government avoids addressing.\"",
"Obviously an act that has triggered three wars, Afghan, Iraqi and the continuing War on Terror, should be extensively investigated which was not done and which the government avoids addressing.\" In August 2008 Gravel was speaking to a crowd of supporters of Sami Al-Arian (who two years earlier had pleaded guilty and been sentenced to prison for a charge of conspiracy in helping Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a \"specially designated terrorist\" organization) when he was caught on tape saying of Al-Arian's prosecutor, \"Find out where he lives, find out where his kids go to school, find out where his office is: picket him all the time.",
"In August 2008 Gravel was speaking to a crowd of supporters of Sami Al-Arian (who two years earlier had pleaded guilty and been sentenced to prison for a charge of conspiracy in helping Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a \"specially designated terrorist\" organization) when he was caught on tape saying of Al-Arian's prosecutor, \"Find out where he lives, find out where his kids go to school, find out where his office is: picket him all the time. Call him a racist in signs if you see him.",
"Call him a racist in signs if you see him. Call him an injustice. Call him whatever you want to call him, but in his face all the time.\" Gravel was criticized for potentially involving the children of the prosecutor, and Al-Arian's family disavowed the sentiments. Gravel defended Alaska Governor Sarah Palin after she was chosen as Republican presidential nominee John McCain's running mate in September 2008.",
"Gravel defended Alaska Governor Sarah Palin after she was chosen as Republican presidential nominee John McCain's running mate in September 2008. He praised Palin's record in standing up to corruption among Alaskan Republicans, thought her national inexperience was an asset not a detriment, and predicted that the \"Troopergate\" investigation into whether she improperly fired a state official would \"come out in her favor\". Gravel made clear he would not support or vote for either McCain–Palin or Obama–Biden in the general election.",
"Gravel made clear he would not support or vote for either McCain–Palin or Obama–Biden in the general election. The following year Gravel said that Palin's politics were \"terrible, but that doesn't detract from the fact that she's a very talented person\". He predicted that Palin would run for president in 2012 and that \"she's going to surprise a lot of people\". Palin did not run, but Gravel's prediction about \"TrooperGate\" was accurate as Palin was found not to have violated ethics laws.",
"Palin did not run, but Gravel's prediction about \"TrooperGate\" was accurate as Palin was found not to have violated ethics laws. In 2013, by the invitation of Hamed Ghashghavi, the secretary for international affairs of the 3rd International Conference on Hollywoodism in Tehran, Iran, Gravel attended that event as an Iranian government-organized anti-Hollywood conference.",
"In 2013, by the invitation of Hamed Ghashghavi, the secretary for international affairs of the 3rd International Conference on Hollywoodism in Tehran, Iran, Gravel attended that event as an Iranian government-organized anti-Hollywood conference. Gravel noted that the conference was attended by \"various elements of extremes\" but said it was necessary to discuss how the U.S. film industry portrayed Iran in order to prevent \"an insane war\" between the two nations.",
"Gravel noted that the conference was attended by \"various elements of extremes\" but said it was necessary to discuss how the U.S. film industry portrayed Iran in order to prevent \"an insane war\" between the two nations. In May 2013 Gravel was one of several former members of Congress to accept $20,000 from the Paradigm Research Group, an advocacy group for UFO disclosure, as part of holding what they termed a Citizen Hearing on Disclosure, modeled after congressional hearings, regarding supposed U.S. government suppression of evidence concerning UFOs.",
"In May 2013 Gravel was one of several former members of Congress to accept $20,000 from the Paradigm Research Group, an advocacy group for UFO disclosure, as part of holding what they termed a Citizen Hearing on Disclosure, modeled after congressional hearings, regarding supposed U.S. government suppression of evidence concerning UFOs. Gravel said, \"Something is monitoring the planet, and they are monitoring it very cautiously, because we are a very warlike planet,\" and, \"What we're faced with here is, in areas of the media, and the government too, an effort to marginalize and ridicule people who have specific knowledge.\"",
"Gravel said, \"Something is monitoring the planet, and they are monitoring it very cautiously, because we are a very warlike planet,\" and, \"What we're faced with here is, in areas of the media, and the government too, an effort to marginalize and ridicule people who have specific knowledge.\" In December 2014 Gravel was announced as the new CEO of KUSH, a company which makes marijuana-infused products for medicinal and recreational use, and a subsidiary of Cannabis Sativa, Inc.",
"In December 2014 Gravel was announced as the new CEO of KUSH, a company which makes marijuana-infused products for medicinal and recreational use, and a subsidiary of Cannabis Sativa, Inc. He also became an Independent Director of Cannabis Sativa. During the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries, Gravel praised Bernie Sanders and his campaign, saying \"Bernie is one of the most gifted politicians I have ever observed. He's a person of great integrity and very clever.\"",
"He's a person of great integrity and very clever.\" Gravel predicted that Sanders would be elected president but would be unable to get his key reforms through Congress, and thus that Sanders and his supporters should back some of the proposals of the National Initiative. In 2016, Gravel said in relation to the September 11 attacks: \"We killed 58,000 American servicemen in the Vietnam War and all they did was die in vain.",
"In 2016, Gravel said in relation to the September 11 attacks: \"We killed 58,000 American servicemen in the Vietnam War and all they did was die in vain. What's so unusual about killing 3,000 more in order to develop the grist for the mill to empower into infinity the military industrial complex?\" and \"There's no question in my mind that 9/11 was an inside job\". The remarks were later disavowed by even Gravel supporters. By 2019 Gravel was living in Seaside, California.",
"By 2019 Gravel was living in Seaside, California. By 2019 Gravel was living in Seaside, California. He was working on a book, at the time titled Human Governance, about his principal idea for direct democracy, a U.S. Constitutional Amendment to create a \"Legislature of the People\" that would circumvent the existing Congress. The book was self-published at the end of the year by AuthorHouse under the title The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People.",
"The book was self-published at the end of the year by AuthorHouse under the title The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People. 2020 presidential campaign On March 19, 2019, Gravel announced that he was considering running in the 2020 Democratic primaries. He said, \"The goal will not be to win, but to bring a critique of American imperialism to the Democratic debate stage.\"",
"He said, \"The goal will not be to win, but to bring a critique of American imperialism to the Democratic debate stage.\" An exploratory committee was formed, with filing a statement of organization with the Federal Election Commission on that same day.",
"An exploratory committee was formed, with filing a statement of organization with the Federal Election Commission on that same day. The filing was the idea of a group of teenagers, led by David Oks and Henry Williams, inspired by the podcast Chapo Trap House, and done with Gravel's consent (after a week spent convincing him of the idea's merits), but without his involvement.",
"The filing was the idea of a group of teenagers, led by David Oks and Henry Williams, inspired by the podcast Chapo Trap House, and done with Gravel's consent (after a week spent convincing him of the idea's merits), but without his involvement. Intrigued by the group's commitment to amplifying his long-held policy goals, Gravel (who would be old on Inauguration Day in 2021) said he planned to meet with them in April, and to discuss a 2020 White House run with his wife.",
"Intrigued by the group's commitment to amplifying his long-held policy goals, Gravel (who would be old on Inauguration Day in 2021) said he planned to meet with them in April, and to discuss a 2020 White House run with his wife. On April 2, 2019, Gravel filed to officially run for office. The campaign called itself the \"#Gravelanche\". Gravel's initial stated goal was merely to qualify for debates by getting the required 65,000 small donors.",
"Gravel's initial stated goal was merely to qualify for debates by getting the required 65,000 small donors. He discouraged people from voting for him and said his preferences were Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard, both of whom favor a non-interventionist foreign policy. But on April 29, Gravel's campaign said he was running to win, not just to participate in debates. In a subsequent interview, though, Gravel emphasized the virtue of Sanders and Gabbard in some order as a presidential ticket.",
"In a subsequent interview, though, Gravel emphasized the virtue of Sanders and Gabbard in some order as a presidential ticket. Statements like these caused Vox to call Gravel \"2020's oddest Democratic presidential candidate\".",
"Statements like these caused Vox to call Gravel \"2020's oddest Democratic presidential candidate\". The New York Times Magazine included Gravel as an example in the rise of democratic socialism in the United States also exemplified by Sanders's 2016 race and the 2018 election of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: \"[Gravel's] campaign represents the most absurd form of a legitimate movement on the left that feels little obligation to the Democratic Party.\"",
"The New York Times Magazine included Gravel as an example in the rise of democratic socialism in the United States also exemplified by Sanders's 2016 race and the 2018 election of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: \"[Gravel's] campaign represents the most absurd form of a legitimate movement on the left that feels little obligation to the Democratic Party.\" In June 2019, Gravel touted the endorsement of Muntadher al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who, in December 2008, made headlines after he threw his shoes at President George W. Bush in protest of the U.S. war in Iraq.",
"In June 2019, Gravel touted the endorsement of Muntadher al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who, in December 2008, made headlines after he threw his shoes at President George W. Bush in protest of the U.S. war in Iraq. Al-Zaidi endorsed Gravel based on his promise to improve White House policies regarding Iraq and the Middle East. On June 13, 2019, the Democratic Party announced the 20 major candidates who qualified for the first debate later that month.",
"On June 13, 2019, the Democratic Party announced the 20 major candidates who qualified for the first debate later that month. Gravel was one of the four who missed out (the others were Montana Governor Steve Bullock, U.S. Representative Seth Moulton, and Miramar, Florida, Mayor Wayne Messam). Gravel had been unable to get the requisite number of donations, or to score one percent or better in enough polls (many polls did not even include him).",
"Gravel had been unable to get the requisite number of donations, or to score one percent or better in enough polls (many polls did not even include him). Nevertheless, Gravel said he would not drop out and would try to qualify for the July debate. In early July, however, Gravel's campaign said it was still 10,000 contributions short of the 65,000-donor threshold and that it was \"nearing its conclusion\". It solicited suggestions for where to donate $100–150,000 of leftover campaign funds.",
"It solicited suggestions for where to donate $100–150,000 of leftover campaign funds. Gravel added that he had always planned on ending the campaign before the teenagers in charge of it needed to return to school. A few days later the campaign became the first to run an attack ad against Democratic front-runner Joe Biden, using the text \"Is this the best our party has to offer?\" Gravel's campaign crossed the threshold of 65,000 donors on July 12, 2019, meeting the qualification mark for that month's debate.",
"Gravel's campaign crossed the threshold of 65,000 donors on July 12, 2019, meeting the qualification mark for that month's debate. But because 20 other candidates, the maximum allowed to participate, had already met at least the polling criterion, which takes priority over the donor criterion, Gravel was not invited. The campaign officially came to a close on August 6, 2019, with Gravel endorsing both Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard for president.",
"The campaign officially came to a close on August 6, 2019, with Gravel endorsing both Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard for president. Gravel's campaign later stated on Twitter that they never wanted to win but saw the campaign as an \"intimately democratic\" project and expressed honor at working with Gravel. Gravel said he would divide remaining campaign funds between charity and a new think tank which would espouse his ideas.",
"Gravel said he would divide remaining campaign funds between charity and a new think tank which would espouse his ideas. The Gravel Institute Gravel used some of the funds remaining from his 2020 presidential campaign to found an eponymous progressive think tank called The Gravel Institute in 2019. As noted by Vice magazine, the institute aims to do battle with PragerU from a left-wing perspective.",
"As noted by Vice magazine, the institute aims to do battle with PragerU from a left-wing perspective. Launched in September 2020, the new entity said it would \"carry on the life's work of former U.S Senator Mike Gravel in fighting for global peace and democracy. Its mission is to promote bold and forward-looking ideas about a more peaceful and egalitarian world, and to build a robust movement of young people to win it\".",
"Its mission is to promote bold and forward-looking ideas about a more peaceful and egalitarian world, and to build a robust movement of young people to win it\". Contributors announced include Cornel West and Slavoj Žižek, as well as Lower Brule Indian Reservation activist Nick Estes.",
"Contributors announced include Cornel West and Slavoj Žižek, as well as Lower Brule Indian Reservation activist Nick Estes. Other presenters have included and will include H. Jon Benjamin, Briahna Joy Gray, Bernie Sanders, Chelsea Manning, Richard Wolff, Stephanie Kelton, Zephyr Teachout, David Cross, Jabari Brisport, Zohran Mamdani, and Gravel himself (though it is unknown if his appearance will be cancelled due to his death in June 2021, or if the video has already been recorded).",
"Other presenters have included and will include H. Jon Benjamin, Briahna Joy Gray, Bernie Sanders, Chelsea Manning, Richard Wolff, Stephanie Kelton, Zephyr Teachout, David Cross, Jabari Brisport, Zohran Mamdani, and Gravel himself (though it is unknown if his appearance will be cancelled due to his death in June 2021, or if the video has already been recorded). Death Gravel died of multiple myeloma at his home in Seaside, California, on June 26, 2021, at age 91.",
"Death Gravel died of multiple myeloma at his home in Seaside, California, on June 26, 2021, at age 91. The obituary for him in The New York Times stated that Gravel was \"a two-term Democratic senator from Alaska ... who was perhaps better known as an unabashed attention-getter\" who later become known for \"mounting long-shot presidential runs\".",
"The obituary for him in The New York Times stated that Gravel was \"a two-term Democratic senator from Alaska ... who was perhaps better known as an unabashed attention-getter\" who later become known for \"mounting long-shot presidential runs\". The obituary in The Washington Post was similar, saying that Gravel was \"an Alaska Democrat with a flair for the theatrical who rose from obscurity to brief renown\" and later \"ran quixotic campaigns for the presidency\".",
"The obituary in The Washington Post was similar, saying that Gravel was \"an Alaska Democrat with a flair for the theatrical who rose from obscurity to brief renown\" and later \"ran quixotic campaigns for the presidency\". The Anchorage Daily News quoted Gravel as saying of himself in 1989, \"I'm an independent kind of guy. A rough and ready kind of guy. My glands work in a certain way that make me stand up, foolishly sometimes, and fight.\"",
"My glands work in a certain way that make me stand up, foolishly sometimes, and fight.\" Political positions Alan Abramowitz and Jeffrey Allan Segal described Gravel as \"a maverick, if not an eccentric, in the Senate.\" His Americans for Democratic Action \"Liberal Quotient\" scores ranged from 81 out of 100 (1971) to 39 out of 100 (1980), with an average of around 61.",
"His Americans for Democratic Action \"Liberal Quotient\" scores ranged from 81 out of 100 (1971) to 39 out of 100 (1980), with an average of around 61. His American Conservative Union scores ranged from 0 out of 100 (several years, including 1971 and 1972) to 38 out of 100 (1979), with an average of 14.",
"His American Conservative Union scores ranged from 0 out of 100 (several years, including 1971 and 1972) to 38 out of 100 (1979), with an average of 14. Abramowitz and Segal note that Gravel's lowest ADA ratings coincided with his two Senate re-election bids, and for the most part his highest ACU ratings followed the same pattern.",
"Abramowitz and Segal note that Gravel's lowest ADA ratings coincided with his two Senate re-election bids, and for the most part his highest ACU ratings followed the same pattern. In 1972, as a young senator, Gravel published Citizen Power: A People's Platform, a manifesto outlining what Kirkus Reviews termed a \"populist reform [that] would provide 'balanced political power' between the people and government and business interests.\"",
"In 1972, as a young senator, Gravel published Citizen Power: A People's Platform, a manifesto outlining what Kirkus Reviews termed a \"populist reform [that] would provide 'balanced political power' between the people and government and business interests.\" Civil rights issues On drug policy, Gravel said in 2007 that he favored decriminalization and treating addiction as a public health matter.",
"Civil rights issues On drug policy, Gravel said in 2007 that he favored decriminalization and treating addiction as a public health matter. During his 2008 presidential candidacy he condemned the War on Drugs as a failure, saying that it did \"nothing but savage our inner cities and put our children at risk\". Gravel called for abolition of capital punishment in his book Citizen Power, and adhered to this position during his 2008 run for president. He supported abortion rights.",
"He supported abortion rights. He supported abortion rights. During the 2008 campaign Gravel was a strong supporter of LGBT rights. He supported same-sex marriage and opposed the Defense of Marriage Act and the U.S. military's \"don't ask, don't tell\" policy. He wrote in 2008 that \"depriving gays and lesbians of equal rights is immoral\". Foreign policy and defense issues Gravel was a critic of American imperialism. Gravel firmly opposed U.S. military action against Iran and Syria.",
"Gravel firmly opposed U.S. military action against Iran and Syria. He voiced opposition to the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, the Military Commissions Act of 2006, the use of torture, indefinite detention, and what he called \"flagrant ignorance\" of the Geneva Convention. In 2014 Gravel called for the release of the full, unredacted Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture. Gravel opposed the use of international sanctions as a policy tool and blamed the ones against Iraq under Saddam Hussein for the deaths of a half-million children in that country.",
"Gravel opposed the use of international sanctions as a policy tool and blamed the ones against Iraq under Saddam Hussein for the deaths of a half-million children in that country. In 2013 Gravel said that sanctions against Iran were \"illegal\". During his 2008 candidacy, Gravel called for a cut in military spending, variously reported to be 15 percent or 50 percent. He called for the savings to boost public education spending. To spur international nuclear nonproliferation efforts, Gravel called for unilateral reductions in the U.S. nuclear arsenal.",
"To spur international nuclear nonproliferation efforts, Gravel called for unilateral reductions in the U.S. nuclear arsenal. In 2008 Gravel criticized the decision of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to not pursue the efforts to impeach George W. Bush and the attempted impeachment of Dick Cheney, saying also that Bush and Cheney had committed crimes and deserved \"to be prosecuted\" at The Hague.",
"In 2008 Gravel criticized the decision of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to not pursue the efforts to impeach George W. Bush and the attempted impeachment of Dick Cheney, saying also that Bush and Cheney had committed crimes and deserved \"to be prosecuted\" at The Hague. In 2013 he expressed disdain for President Obama, calling him \"a total fraud\" and saying that both Bush and Obama should be tried \"for the crimes and murders they've committed\" in the International Court of Justice.",
"In 2013 he expressed disdain for President Obama, calling him \"a total fraud\" and saying that both Bush and Obama should be tried \"for the crimes and murders they've committed\" in the International Court of Justice. Gravel specifically condemned Obama for the drone strikes in Pakistan and elsewhere.",
"Gravel specifically condemned Obama for the drone strikes in Pakistan and elsewhere. Economy, immigration, and environment During his 2008 candidacy Gravel favored a FairTax scheme, which would abolish the Internal Revenue Service, eliminate the federal income tax (which Gravel called \"corrupt\"), and impose a national sales tax. While Gravel described FairTax as \"progressive\", others have criticized it as \"regressive\", disproportionately benefiting the wealthiest Americans.",
"While Gravel described FairTax as \"progressive\", others have criticized it as \"regressive\", disproportionately benefiting the wealthiest Americans. To offset the new sales taxes on essential goods, Gravel's plan called for monthly government rebate payments to individuals and families. During his 2020 campaign Gravel also voiced support for a third legislative body that would give the people direct control of the budget as well as the implementation of a land value tax.",
"During his 2020 campaign Gravel also voiced support for a third legislative body that would give the people direct control of the budget as well as the implementation of a land value tax. Gravel opposed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) during his 2008 candidacy, calling it unfair and economically harmful and needing renegotiation. Gravel believed that NAFTA was the \"root cause\" of illegal migration to the U.S. He favored a guest worker program and \"setting up naturalization procedures that would fairly bring immigrants into legal status\".",
"He favored a guest worker program and \"setting up naturalization procedures that would fairly bring immigrants into legal status\". In a 2007 interview, Gravel identified himself as \"very much of a globalist\" who believed in open markets and open borders and condemned the scapegoating of undocumented immigrants. Gravel also said that he favored eliminating the cap on H1B visas. As a senator from Alaska, Gravel favored drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but opposed it during his 2008 campaign.",
"As a senator from Alaska, Gravel favored drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but opposed it during his 2008 campaign. In 2008, Gravel supported a carbon tax to combat climate change. Gravel spoke in favor of net neutrality during his presidential campaign. Education and health care Gravel called for the cost of college tuition to be borne by the federal government, rather than students.",
"Education and health care Gravel called for the cost of college tuition to be borne by the federal government, rather than students. In his 2008 campaign, he called the No Child Left Behind Act \"a failure\" and called for it to be \"reformed and fully funded\". He expressed support for universal pre-kindergarten and the expansion of the Head Start program; and expressed an openness to charter schools and school vouchers. He also suggested extending the school day and the school year, and supported merit pay for teachers.",
"He also suggested extending the school day and the school year, and supported merit pay for teachers. Gravel also called for publicly funded universal health care to replace the current employer-sponsored health insurance system. He supported \"full funding\" of the VA system. When asked in 2007 about naturopathy, homeopathy, and acupuncture, Gravel said that he was \"very very much in favor\" of holistic health care. Awards and honors In 2008 Gravel received the Columbia University School of General Studies' first annual Isaac Asimov Lifetime Achievement Award.",
"Awards and honors In 2008 Gravel received the Columbia University School of General Studies' first annual Isaac Asimov Lifetime Achievement Award. Electoral history Writings Gravel, Mike. Jobs and More Jobs. Mt. McKinley Publishers, 1968. Gravel, Mike. Citizen Power: A People's Platform. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1972. . revised and reissued as Citizen Power: A Mandate for Change, AuthorHouse, 2008. . Gravel, Mike and Lauria, Joe.",
"Gravel, Mike and Lauria, Joe. Gravel, Mike and Lauria, Joe. A Political Odyssey: The Rise of American Militarism and One Man's Fight to Stop It. Seven Stories Press, 2008. . Gravel, Mike and Eisenbach, David. The Kingmakers: How the Media Threatens Our Security and Our Democracy. Phoenix Books, 2008. . Gravel, Mike. Voice of a Maverick: The Speeches and Writings of Senator Mike Gravel. Brandywine House, 2008. Gravel, Mike.",
"Brandywine House, 2008. Gravel, Mike. Gravel, Mike. Foreword to Poisoned Power: The Case Against Nuclear Power Plants. John W. Goffman & Arthur R. Tamplin, Rodale Press, Inc., Emmaus, PA, June 1971. Gravel, Mike. The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People. AuthorHouse, 2020. Explanatory notes References Citations General references The Pentagon Papers Senator Gravel Edition. Vol. Five: Critical Essays. Boston: Beacon Press, 1972. 341p. plus 72p.",
"Five: Critical Essays. Boston: Beacon Press, 1972. 341p. plus 72p. plus 72p. of Index to Vol. I–IV of the Papers; Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, editors.",
"I–IV of the Papers; Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, editors. External links Mike Gravel official website The Gravel Institute |- |- 1930 births 2021 deaths 1972 United States vice-presidential candidates 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American politicians 20th-century Roman Catholics 20th-century Unitarians 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American politicians 21st-century Unitarians 9/11 conspiracy theorists Alaska Democrats American International College alumni American Unitarian Universalists American anti–Iraq War activists American conspiracy theorists American democracy activists American male non-fiction writers American people of French-Canadian descent American political writers American real estate businesspeople American stockbrokers Anti-corporate activists Assumption University (Worcester) alumni Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Businesspeople from Anchorage, Alaska Businesspeople from Springfield, Massachusetts California Democrats Candidates in the 2008 United States presidential election Candidates in the 2020 United States presidential election Columbia University School of General Studies alumni Deaths from cancer in California Deaths from multiple myeloma Democratic Party United States senators Direct democracy activists Drug policy reform activists Former Roman Catholics Virginia Libertarians Members of the Alaska House of Representatives Military personnel from Massachusetts Non-interventionism People from Arlington County, Virginia People from Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska People with dyslexia Politicians from Anchorage, Alaska Politicians from Springfield, Massachusetts Speakers of the Alaska House of Representatives United States Army officers United States senators from Alaska Writers about direct democracy Writers from Anchorage, Alaska"
] |
[
"Mike Gravel",
"Run for Vice President in 1972",
"Who was Gavel's running mate?",
"I don't know.",
"Who did he compete against in 1972?",
"former Governor of Massachusetts Endicott Peabody had been running a quixotic campaign for the same post",
"What significant events happened during the campaign?",
"At the convention's final day on July 14, 1972, presidential nominee McGovern selected and announced Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri as his vice-presidential choice.",
"What did Gravel do afterward?",
"Gravel was nominated by Bettye Fahrenkamp, the Democratic National Committeewoman from Alaska."
] | C_99b905b192ab4470bbae0787f5f31d5c_1 | What was he nominated for? | 5 | What was Mike Gravel nominated by Bettye Fahrenkamp for? | Mike Gravel | Gravel "decided to become a pioneer in a faraway place," and moved to pre-statehood Alaska in August 1956, without funds or a job, looking for a place where someone without social or political connections could be a viable candidate for public office. Alaska's voting age of 19, less than most other states' 21, played a role in his decision, as did its newness and cooler climate. Broke when he arrived, he immediately found work in real estate sales until winter arrived. Gravel then was employed as a brakeman for the Alaska Railroad, working the snow-clearing train on the Anchorage-Fairbanks run. Subsequently, he opened a small real estate brokerage in Anchorage (the Territory of Alaska not requiring a license) and saved enough so as not to have to work the railroad again. Gravel joined the Anchorage Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, and continued a sporadic relationship with the movement throughout his life. Gravel married Rita Jeannette Martin, who had been Anchorage's "Miss Fur Rendezvous" of 1958, on April 29, 1959. They had two children, Martin Anthony Gravel and Lynne Denise Gravel, born c. 1960 and 1962 respectively. Meanwhile, he went to Washington, D.C. in 1957 to campaign for Alaskan statehood via the "Tennessee Plan": dressed as Paul Revere, he rode with a petition to the steps of the U.S. Capitol. Seeing Alaska as a wide-open place with no political establishment or entrenched interests, and using the slogan "Gravel, the Roadbed to Prosperity", he ran for the territorial legislature in 1958 but lost. He went on a national speaking tour concerning tax reform in 1959, sponsored by the Jaycees. He ran without avail for the City Council in Anchorage in 1960. During this time, he had become a successful real estate agent; after the 1960 election, he became a property developer in a mobile home park on the outskirts of Anchorage. A partner ran into financial difficulty, however, and the project went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy and Gravel was forced out in 1962. In the late 1960s and early 1970s the U.S. Department of Defense was in the process of performing tests for the nuclear warhead for the Spartan anti-ballistic missile. Two tests, the "Milrow" and "Cannikin" tests, were planned, involving the detonation of nuclear bombs under Amchitka Island in Alaska. The Milrow test would be a one megaton calibration exercise for the second, and larger five megaton, Cannikin test, which would measure the effectiveness of the warhead. Gravel opposed the tests in Congress. Before the Milrow test took place in October 1969, he wrote that there were significant risks of earthquakes and other adverse consequences, and called for an independent national commission on nuclear and seismic safety to be created; he then made a personal appeal to President Nixon to stop the test. After Milrow was conducted, there was continued pressure on the part of environmental groups against going forward with the larger Cannikin test, while the Federation of American Scientists claimed that the warhead being tested was already obsolete. In May 1971, Gravel sent a letter to U.S. Atomic Energy Commission hearings held in Anchorage, in which he said the risk of the test was not worth taking. Eventually a group not involving Gravel took the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to issue an injunction against it, and the Cannikin test took place as scheduled in November 1971. Gravel had failed to stop the tests (notwithstanding his later claims during his 2008 presidential campaign). Nuclear power was considered an environmentally clean alternative for the commercial generation of electricity and was part of a popular national policy for the peaceful use of atomic energy in the 1950s and 1960s. Gravel publicly opposed this policy; besides the dangers of nuclear testing, he was a vocal critic of the Atomic Energy Commission, which oversaw American nuclear efforts, and of the powerful United States Congress Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, which had a stranglehold on nuclear policy and which Gravel tried to circumvent. In 1971, Gravel sponsored a bill to impose a moratorium on nuclear power plant construction and to make power utilities liable for any nuclear accidents; in 1975, he was still proposing similar moratoriums. By 1974, Gravel was allied with Ralph Nader's organization in opposing nuclear power. Six months before U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's secret mission to the People's Republic of China (P.R.C.) in July 1971, Gravel introduced legislation to recognize and normalize relations with China, including a proposal for unity talks between the P.R.C. and the Republic of China (Taiwan) regarding the Chinese seat on the U.N. Security Council. Gravel reiterated his position in favor of recognition, with four other senators in agreement, during Senate hearings in June 1971. Gravel actively campaigned for the office of Vice President of the United States during the 1972 presidential election, announcing on June 2, 1972, over a month before the 1972 Democratic National Convention began, that he was interested in running for the nomination should the choice be opened up to convention delegates. Towards this end he began soliciting delegates for their support in advance of the convention. He was not alone in this effort, as former Governor of Massachusetts Endicott Peabody had been running a quixotic campaign for the same post since the prior year. Likely presidential nominee George McGovern was in fact considering the unusual move of naming three or four acceptable vice-presidential candidates and letting the delegates choose. At the convention's final day on July 14, 1972, presidential nominee McGovern selected and announced Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri as his vice-presidential choice. Eagleton was unknown to many delegates and the choice seemed to smack of traditional ticket balancing considerations. Thus, there were delegates willing to look elsewhere. Gravel was nominated by Bettye Fahrenkamp, the Democratic National Committeewoman from Alaska. He then seconded his own nomination, breaking down in tears at his own words and maybe trying to withdraw his nomination. In any case he won 226 delegate votes, coming in third behind Eagleton and Frances "Sissy" Farenthold of Texas, in chaotic balloting that included several other candidates as well. For his efforts, Gravel attracted some attention: famed writer Norman Mailer would say he "provided considerable excitement" and was "good-looking enough to have played leads in B-films", while Rolling Stone correspondent Hunter S. Thompson said Gravel "probably said a few things that might have been worth hearing, under different circumstances ..." Yet, the whole process had been doubly disastrous for the Democrats. The time consumed with the nominating and seconding and other speeches of all the vice-presidential candidates had lost the attention of the delegates on the floor and pushed McGovern's speech until 3:30 a.m. The haste with which Eagleton had been selected led to surprise when his past mental health treatments were revealed; he withdrew from the ticket soon after the convention, to be replaced by Sargent Shriver. CANNOTANSWER | presidential nominee | Maurice Robert Gravel ( ; May 13, 1930 – June 26, 2021) was an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Alaska from 1969 to 1981 as a member of the Democratic Party, and who, in later life, twice ran for the presidential nomination of that party.
Born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, by French-Canadian immigrant parents, Gravel moved to Alaska in the late 1950s, becoming a real estate developer and entering politics. He served in the Alaska House of Representatives from 1963 to 1967, and also became Speaker of the Alaska House. Gravel was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1968.
As a senator, Gravel became nationally known for his forceful, but unsuccessful, attempts to end the draft during the War in Vietnam, and for putting the Pentagon Papers into the public record in 1971. He conducted a campaign for the Democratic nomination in 1972 for Vice President of the United States, and then played a crucial role in obtaining Congressional approval for the Trans-Alaska pipeline in 1973. He was re-elected to the Senate in 1974, but was defeated in his bid for a third term in the primary election in 1980.
An advocate of direct democracy and the National Initiative, Gravel staged a run for the 2008 Democratic nomination for President of the United States. His campaign failed to gain support, and in March 2008, he left the Democratic Party and joined the Libertarian Party to compete unsuccessfully for its presidential nomination and the inclusion of the National Initiative into the Libertarian Platform. He ran for president as a Democrat again in the 2020 election, in a campaign that ended four months after it began. Two years before his death, Gravel and his campaign staff founded the progressive think tank The Gravel Institute.
Early life, military service, education
Gravel was born on May 13, 1930, in Springfield, Massachusetts, one of five children of French-Canadian immigrant parents, Alphonse and Marie (née Bourassa) Gravel. His parents were part of the Quebec diaspora, and he was raised in a working-class neighborhood during the Great Depression, speaking only French until he was seven years old. Calling him "Mike" from an early age, his father valued work above all else, while his mother stressed the importance of education.
Gravel was educated in parochial schools as a Roman Catholic. There he struggled, due to what he later said was undiagnosed dyslexia, and was left back in third grade. He completed elementary school in 1945 and his class voted him "most charming personality". A summer job as a soda jerk led to Gravel handing out campaign fliers for local candidates on his boss's behalf; Gravel was immediately impressed with "the awesomeness of political office".
Gravel then boarded at Assumption Preparatory School in Worcester, Massachusetts, where his performance was initially mediocre. By Gravel's telling, in the summer of 1948 he intended to volunteer for the Israel Defense Forces during the 1947–1949 Palestine war, but Alexandra Tolstaya told him to return to school. There an English teacher, the Assumptionist Edgar Bourque, gave him personal attention, improving Gravel's language skills and instructing him in public speaking. Gravel's grades improved measurably in his final year and he graduated in 1949. His sister, Marguerite, became a Holy Cross nun, but Gravel himself struggled with the Catholic faith. He studied for one year at Assumption College, a Catholic school in Worcester, then transferred for his sophomore year to American International College in Springfield. Journalist I. F. Stone and philosopher Bertrand Russell strongly influenced Gravel in their willingness to challenge assumptions and oppose social convention and political authority.
Around May 1951, Gravel saw that he was about to be drafted and instead enlisted in the U.S. Army for a three-year term so that he could get into the Counterintelligence Corps. After basic training and counterintelligence school at Fort Holabird in Maryland and in South Carolina, he went to Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia. While he expected to be sent off to the Korean War when he graduated as a second lieutenant in early 1952, he was instead assigned to Stuttgart, West Germany, as a Special Adjutant in the Army's Communications Intelligence Service. In Germany, Gravel conducted surveillance operations on civilians and paid off spies. After about a year, he transferred to Orléans, France, where his French language abilities (if not his French-Canadian accent) allowed him to infiltrate French communist rallies. He worked as a Special Agent in the Counterintelligence Corps until 1954, eventually becoming a first lieutenant.
Following his discharge, Gravel entered the Columbia University School of General Studies in New York City, where he studied economics and received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1956. He moved to New York "flat broke" and supported himself by working as a bar boy in a hotel, driving a taxicab, and working in the investment bond department at Bankers Trust. During this time he left the Roman Catholic faith.
Move to Alaska
Gravel "decided to become a pioneer in a faraway place," and moved to pre-statehood Alaska in August 1956, without funds or a job, looking for a place where someone without social or political connections could be a viable candidate for public office. Alaska's voting age of 19, less than most other states' 21, played a role in his decision, as did its newness and cooler climate. Broke when he arrived, he immediately found work in real estate sales until winter arrived. Gravel then was employed as a brakeman for the Alaska Railroad, working the snow-clearing train on the Anchorage-to-Fairbanks run. Subsequently, he opened a small real estate brokerage in Anchorage (the Territory of Alaska not requiring a license) and saved enough so as not to have to work the railroad again. The firm was named the M. R. Gravel Real Estate Company. Gravel joined the Anchorage Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, and continued a sporadic relationship with the movement throughout his life.
Seeing Alaska as a wide-open place with no political establishment or entrenched interests, Gravel quickly became part of the civic scene there. By October 1957 he was a Division Chairman for Anchorage for the Democratic Central Committee in the territory, and by June 1958 he was president of the Alaska Young Democrats organization. He also became active in the United States Junior Chamber (Jaycees), and by early 1958 his duties included handing out awards for farmer of the year.
By early 1958, Gravel was running as Democratic Party primary candidate for a Third Division seat in House of Representative of the territorial legislature. (This was one of the four judicial divisions into which Alaska was sectioned at the time.) Using the slogan "Gravel, the Roadbed to Prosperity", he ran but lost. At the same time, he was also an advocate for Alaskan statehood.
Gravel went on a 44-state national speaking tour concerning tax reform in 1959, sponsored by the Jaycees, often dressing for events as Paul Revere. Gravel was selected from some two thousand applications for this position. The tour received a good amount of local newspaper coverage at its various stops, with Gravel's first name sometimes given as Mike and other times as Maurice. The tour's general message was an urging of "lower taxes, more efficiency in government and a system of taxation moderate at all levels of income". At several stops Gravel stated that the "tide of socialism" had to be stopped. He elaborated at another stop, "It is part of our Jaycee creed that economic justice can best be won by free men through free enterprise. We really want to see that free enterprise become our inheritance." The tour was scheduled to conclude in Washington D.C., on Tax Day, April 15, with petition signatures accumulated for reform to be presented to U.S. lawmakers: dressed as Revere, Gravel rode with the petition to the steps of the U.S. Capitol.
The tour over, Gravel married Rita Jeannette Martin at the First Methodist Church of Anchorage on April 29, 1959. She was a native of Montana who had attended Billings Business College before moving to Alaska two years prior and becoming a secretary in the office of the Anchorage city manager. She had also been named Anchorage's "Miss Fur Rendezvous" of 1958. They had two children, Martin Anthony Gravel and Lynne Denise Gravel, born c. 1960 and 1962 respectively.
Gravel ran without avail for the City Council in Anchorage in 1960. During this time, he had become a successful real estate agent; after the 1960 election, he became a property developer in a mobile home park on the outskirts of Anchorage. After a partner ran into financial difficulty, however, the project went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and Gravel was forced out in 1962.
State legislator
With the support of Alaska wholesale grocer Barney Gottstein and supermarket builder Larry Carr, Gravel ran for the Alaska House of Representatives representing Anchorage in 1962, initially assigned the 10th and then 8th districts. Alaska had very crowded primaries that year: Gravel was one of 33 Democrats, along with 21 Republicans, who were running for the chance to compete for the 14 House seats allocated to the 8th district. Gravel made it through the primary, and in November eight Republicans and six Democrats were elected to the House from the district, with Gravel finishing eighth overall and third among with Democrats, with 8,174 votes. Gottstein became Gravel's main financial backer during most of his subsequent campaigns.
Gravel served in the Alaska House of Representatives from January 28, 1963 to January 22, 1967, winning reelection in 1964. In his first term, he served as a minority member on two House committees: Commerce, and Labor and Management. He co-authored and sponsored the act that created the Alaska State Commission for Human Rights. Gravel was the chief architect of the law that created a regional high school system for rural Alaska; this allowed Alaska Natives to attend schools near where they lived instead of having to go to schools run by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the lower 48 states.
During the half-years that the legislature was not in session, Gravel resumed his real estate work. With Gottstein and Carr's backing, he became quite successful as a property developer on the Kenai Peninsula.
During 1965 and 1966, he served as the Speaker of the House, surprising observers by winning that post. Gravel convinced former Speaker Warren A. Taylor to not try for the position against him by promising Taylor chairmanship of the Rules Committee, then reneged on the promise. Gravel denied later press charges that he had promised but not delivered on other committee chairmanships. As Speaker he antagonized fellow lawmakers by imposing his will on the legislature's committees and feuded with Alaska State Senate president Robert J. McNealy.
Gravel did not run for reelection in 1966, instead choosing to run for Alaska's seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, losing the primary to four-term incumbent Democrat Ralph Rivers by 1,300 votes and splitting the Democratic Party in the process. Rivers lost the general election that year to Republican state Senator Howard Pollock. Following this defeat, Gravel returned to the real estate business in Anchorage.
U.S. Senator
Election to Senate in 1968
In 1968, Gravel ran against 81-year-old incumbent Democratic United States Senator Ernest Gruening, a popular former governor of the Alaska Territory who was considered one of the fathers of Alaska's statehood, for his party's nomination to the U.S. Senate. Gravel's campaign was primarily based on his youth and telegenic appearance rather than issue differences. He hired Joseph Napolitan, the first self-described political consultant, in late 1966. They spent over a year and a half planning a short, nine-day primary election campaign that featured the slogans "Alaska first" and "Let's do something about the state we're in", the distribution of a collection of essays titled Jobs and More Jobs, and the creation of a half-hour, well-produced, glamorized biographical film of Gravel, Man for Alaska. The film was shown twice a day on every television station in Alaska, and carried by plane and shown on home projectors in hundreds of Alaska Native villages. The heavy showings quickly reversed a 2–to–1 Gruening lead in polls into a Gravel lead. Gravel visited many remote villages by seaplane and showed a thorough understanding of the needs of the bush country and the fishing and oil industries. Gravel also benefited from maintaining a deliberately ambiguous posture about Vietnam policy. Gruening had been one of only two Senators to vote against the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and his opposition to President Lyndon B. Johnson's war policies was harming him among the Democratic electorate; according to Gravel, "all I had to do was stand up and not deal with the subject, and people would assume that I was to the right of Ernest Gruening, when in point of fact I was to the left of him". In Man for Alaska, Gravel argued that "the liberals" would come to West Germany's defense if it was attacked, and that the same standard should apply to the United States' allies in Asia. During the campaign he also claimed that he was "more in the mainstream of American thought on Vietnam" than Gruening, despite the fact that he had written to Gruening to praise his antiwar stance four years earlier. Decades later, Gravel conceded that "I said what I said [about Vietnam] to advance my career."
Gravel beat Gruening in the primary by about 2,000 votes. Gruening found "the unexpected defeat hard to take" and thought that some aspects of his opponent's biographical film had misled viewers. In the general election, Gravel faced Republican Elmer E. Rasmuson, a banker and former mayor of Anchorage. College students in the state implored Gruening to run a write-in campaign as an Independent, but legal battles prevented him from getting approval for it until only two weeks were left. A late appearance by anti-war presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy did not offset Gruening's lack of funds and endorsements; meanwhile, Gravel and Rasmuson both saturated local media with their filmed biographies. On November 5, 1968, Gravel won the general election with 45 percent of the vote to Rasmuson's 37 percent and Gruening's 18 percent.
Senate assignments and style
When Gravel joined the U.S.Senate in January 1969, he requested and received a seat on the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee, which had direct relevance to Alaskan issues. He also got a spot on the Public Works Committee, which he held throughout his time in the Senate. Finally, he was a member of the Select Committee on Small Business. In 1971 he became chair of the Public Works Committee's Subcommittee on Public Buildings and Grounds, and by 1973 he was chair of its Subcommittee on Water Resources, then later its Subcommittee on Environmental Pollution. Gravel was also initially named to the Joint Committee on Congressional Operations. By 1973 Gravel was off the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee and the Select Small Business Committee and instead a member of the Finance Committee, and by 1977 was chair of that body's Subcommittee on Energy and Foundations. By 1973 he had also been on the ad hoc Special Committee to Study Secret and Confidential Government Documents.
By his own admission, Gravel was too new and "too abrasive" to be effective in the Senate by the usual means of seniority-based committee assignments or negotiating deals with other senators, and was sometimes seen as arrogant or a nuisance by the more senior and tradition-oriented members. Gravel relied on attention-getting gestures to achieve what he wanted, hoping national exposure would force other senators to listen to him. But even senators who agreed with him on issues considered his methods to be showboating.
As part of this approach, Gravel voted with Southern Democrats to keep the Senate filibuster rule in place, and accordingly supported Russell Long and Robert Byrd but opposed Ted Kennedy in Senate leadership battles. In retrospective assessment, University of Alaska Anchorage history professor Stephen Haycox said, "Loose cannon is a good description of Gravel's Senate career. He was an off-the-wall guy, and you weren't really ever sure what he would do."
Nuclear issues and the Cold War
In the late 1960s and early 1970s the U.S. Department of Defense was in the process of performing tests for the nuclear warhead for the Spartan anti-ballistic missile. Two tests, the "Milrow" and "Cannikin" tests, were planned, involving the detonation of nuclear bombs under Amchitka Island in Alaska. The Milrow test would be a one-megaton calibration exercise for the second and larger five-megaton Cannikin test, which would measure the effectiveness of the warhead. Gravel opposed the tests. Before the Milrow test took place in October 1969, he wrote that there were significant risks of earthquakes and other adverse consequences and called for an independent national commission on nuclear and seismic safety; he then made a personal appeal to President Richard Nixon to stop the test.
After Milrow was conducted, there was continued pressure on the part of environmental groups against going forward with the Cannikin test, while the Federation of American Scientists claimed that the warhead being tested was already obsolete. In May 1971 Gravel sent a letter to U.S. Atomic Energy Commission hearings held in Anchorage in which he said the risk of the test was not worth taking. Eventually a group not involving Gravel took the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to issue an injunction against it, and the Cannikin test took place as scheduled in November 1971. Gravel had failed to stop the tests (notwithstanding his later claims during his 2008 presidential campaign).
In 1971 Gravel voted against the Nixon administration's proposed anti-ballistic missile system, the Safeguard Program, having previously vacillated over the issue, suggesting that he might be willing to support it in exchange for federal lands in Alaska being opened up for private oil drilling. His vote alienated Senator Henry "Scoop" Jackson, who had raised funds for Gravel's primary campaign.
Nuclear power was considered an environmentally clean alternative for commercial generation of electricity and was part of a popular national policy for the peaceful use of atomic energy in the 1950s and 1960s. Gravel publicly opposed this policy; besides the dangers of nuclear testing, he was a vocal critic of the Atomic Energy Commission, which oversaw American nuclear efforts, and of the powerful United States Congress Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, which had a stranglehold on nuclear policy and which Gravel tried to circumvent. In 1971 Gravel sponsored a bill to impose a moratorium on nuclear power plant construction and to make power utilities liable for any nuclear accidents; in 1975 he was still proposing similar moratoriums. By 1974 Gravel was allied with Ralph Nader's organization in opposing nuclear power.
Six months before U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's July 1971 secret mission to the People's Republic of China (P.R.C.), Gravel introduced legislation to recognize and normalize relations with the P.R.C., including a proposal for unity talks between the P.R.C. and the Republic of China (Taiwan) regarding the Chinese seat on the U.N. Security Council. He reiterated his position in favor of recognition, with four other senators in agreement, during Senate hearings in June 1971.
Vietnam War, the draft, and the Pentagon Papers
Although he did not campaign against the Vietnam War during his first Senate campaign, by the end of 1970 Gravel was speaking out against United States policy in southeast Asia: in December of that year he persuaded William Fulbright to join him in a spontaneous two-day filibuster against a $155 million military aid package to Cambodia's Khmer Republic government in the Cambodian Civil War.
President Richard Nixon had campaigned in 1968 on a promise to end the U.S. military draft, a decision endorsed by the February 1970 report of the Gates Commission.
The existing draft law was scheduled to conclude at the end of June 1971, and the Senate faced a contentious debate about whether to extend it as the Vietnam War continued. The Nixon administration announced in February 1971 that it wanted a two-year extension to June 1973, after which the draft would end; Army planners had already been operating under the assumption of a two-year extension, after which an all-volunteer force would be in place. Skeptics such as Senate Armed Services Committee chairman John Stennis thought this unrealistic and wanted a four-year extension, but the two-year proposal is what went forward in Congress. By early May 1971, Gravel had indicated his intention to filibuster the draft renewal legislation, halting conscription and thereby bringing U.S. involvement in the war to a rapid end. During this period he also supported efforts to mobilize and influence public opinion against the war, endorsing the "Vietnam War Out Now" rallies in Washington D.C. and San Francisco on April 24, 1971, and financing a broadcast campaign by the antiwar group War No More with a personal loan. In June 1972 he escorted a group of over 100 antiwar protesters, including psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton, actress Candice Bergen, theater producer and director Joseph Papp, and peditrician Dr. Benjamin Spock, into the United States Capitol Building; the group was arrested after blocking a hallway outside the Senate chamber.
By June 1971, some Democratic senators opposed to the war wanted to limit the renewal to a one-year extension, while others wanted to end it immediately; Gravel reiterated that he was one of the latter, saying, "It's a senseless war, and one way to do away with it is to do away with the draft." A Senate vote on June 4 indicated majority support for the two-year extension. On June 18 Gravel announced again his intention to counteract that by filibustering the renewal legislation, defending the practice against those who associated it only with blocking civil rights legislation. The first filibuster attempt failed on June 23 when, by three votes, the Senate voted cloture for only the fifth time since 1927.
Protracted negotiations took place over House conference negotiations on the bill, revolving in large part around Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield's eventually unsuccessful amendment to tie renewal to a troop withdrawal timetable from Vietnam; during this time the draft law expired and no more were conscripted. On August 5, the Nixon administration pleaded for a renewal before the Senate went on recess, but Gravel blocked Stennis's attempt to limit debate, and no vote was held. Finally on September 21, 1971, the Senate invoked cloture over Gravel's second filibuster attempt by one vote, and then passed the two-year draft extension. Gravel's attempts to stop the draft had failed (notwithstanding Gravel's later claims that he had stopped or shortened the draft, taken at face value in some media reports, during his 2008 presidential campaign).
Meanwhile, on June 13, 1971, The New York Times began printing large portions of the Pentagon Papers. The papers were a large collection of secret government documents and studies pertaining to the Vietnam War, of which former Defense Department analyst Daniel Ellsberg had made unauthorized copies and was determined to make public. Ellsberg had for a year and a half approached members of Congress – such as William Fulbright, George McGovern, Charles Mathias, and Pete McCloskey – about publishing the documents, on the grounds that the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution would give congressional members immunity from prosecution, but all had refused. Instead, Ellsberg gave the documents to the Times.
The U.S. Justice Department immediately tried to halt publication, on the grounds that the information revealed within the papers harmed the national interest. Within the next two weeks, a federal court injunction halted publication in the Times; The Washington Post and several other newspapers began publishing parts of the documents, with some of them also being halted by injunctions; and the whole matter went to the U.S. Supreme Court for arguments. Looking for an alternate publication mechanism, Ellsberg returned to his idea of having a member of Congress read them, and chose Gravel based on the latter's efforts against the draft; Gravel agreed where previously others had not. Ellsberg arranged for the papers to be given to Gravel on June 26 via an intermediary, Post editor Ben Bagdikian. Gravel used his counter-intelligence experience to choose a midnight transfer in front of the Mayflower Hotel in the center of Washington, D.C.
On the night of June 29, 1971, Gravel attempted to read the papers on the floor of the Senate as part of his filibuster against the draft, but was thwarted when no quorum could be formed. Gravel instead convened a session of the Buildings and Grounds subcommittee that he chaired. He got New York Congressman John G. Dow to testify that the war had soaked up funding for public buildings, thus making discussion of the war relevant to the committee. He began reading from the papers with the press in attendance, omitting supporting documents that he felt might compromise national security, and declaring, "It is my constitutional obligation to protect the security of the people by fostering the free flow of information absolutely essential to their democratic decision-making."
He read until 1 a.m., culminating by saying "Arms are being severed. Metal is clashing through human bodies because of the public policy this government and all its branches continue to support." Then with tears and sobs he said that he could no longer physically continue, the previous three nights of sleeplessness and fear about the future having taken their toll. Gravel ended the session by, with no other senators present, establishing unanimous consent to insert 4,100 pages of the Papers into the Congressional Record of his subcommittee. The following day, the Supreme Court's New York Times Co. v. United States decision ruled in favor of the newspapers and publication in the Times and others resumed. In July 1971 Bantam Books published an inexpensive paperback edition of the papers containing the material the Times had published.
Gravel, too, wanted to privately publish the portion of the papers he had read into the record, believing that "immediate disclosure of the contents of these papers will change the policy that supports the war". After being turned down by many commercial publishers, on August 4 he reached agreement with Beacon Press, the publishing arm of the Unitarian Universalist Association, of which Gravel was a member. Announced on August 17 and published on October 22, 1971, this four-volume, relatively expensive set became the "Senator Gravel Edition", which studies from Cornell University and the Annenberg Center for Communication have labeled as the most complete edition of the Pentagon Papers to be published. The "Gravel Edition" was edited and annotated by Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn, and included an additional volume of analytical articles on the origins and progress of the war, also edited by Chomsky and Zinn. Beacon Press then was subjected to a FBI investigation; an outgrowth of this was the Gravel v. United States court case, which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled upon in June 1972; it held that the Speech or Debate Clause did grant immunity to Gravel for his reading the papers in his subcommittee, did grant some immunity to Gravel's congressional aide, but granted no immunity to Beacon Press in relation to their publishing the same papers. The U.S. Senate Democratic Caucus backed Gravel in the case, but due to Republican opposition it did not pay Gravel's legal fees, leaving him owing $25,000 (the equivalent of $150,000 in 2019, adjusted for inflation).
The events of 1971 changed Gravel in the following months from an obscure freshman senator to a nationally visible political figure. He became a sought-after speaker on the college circuit as well as at political fundraisers, opportunities he welcomed as lectures were "the one honest way a Senator has to supplement his income". But his speaking tours caused him to accrue one of the worst absentee records in the Senate. The Democratic candidates for the 1972 presidential election sought his endorsement. In January 1972 Gravel endorsed Maine Senator Ed Muskie, hoping that his support would help Muskie with the party's left wing and in ethnic French-Canadian areas during the first primary contest in New Hampshire (Muskie won, but not overwhelmingly, and his campaign faltered soon after). In April 1972 Gravel appeared on all three networks' nightly newscasts to decry the Nixon administration's reliance on Vietnamization by making reference to the secret National Security Study Memorandum 1 document, which stated it would take 8–13 years for the Army of the Republic of Vietnam to defend South Vietnam. Gravel made excerpts from the study public, but senators Robert P. Griffin and William B. Saxbe blocked his attempt to read NSSM 1 into the Congressional Record.
Domestic policy
In 1970 Gravel co-sponsored legislation to establish a guaranteed minimum income, entitling poor families to up to $6,300 a year (the equivalent of $42,000 in 2019 after adjustment for inflation). He subsequently voted for a "work bonus" program, which would have entitled low-income working families with dependent children if they were paying Social Security or Railroad Retirement taxes to a non-taxable bonus of up to 10 percent of their wages. Gravel also supported extending Social Security to all federal employees and introduced a campaign finance reform bill in 1971 that would have enacted full disclosure of campaign financing, placed limits on large donations, media spending and individual candidate spending.
In 1969, Gravel was the only Democratic Senator outside of the South to vote for Nixon's Supreme Court nominee Clement Haynsworth. The following year Gravel opposed Nixon's next pick, G. Harrold Carswell.
Run for vice president in 1972
Gravel actively campaigned for the office of Vice President of the United States during the 1972 presidential election, announcing on June 2, 1972, over a month before the 1972 Democratic National Convention began, that he was interested in the nomination should the choice be opened up to convention delegates. Toward this end he began soliciting delegates for their support. He was not alone in this effort, as former Governor of Massachusetts Endicott Peabody had been running a quixotic campaign for the same post since the prior year. Likely presidential nominee George McGovern was in fact considering the unusual move of naming three or four acceptable vice-presidential candidates and letting the delegates choose.
On the convention's final day, July 14, 1972, McGovern selected and announced Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri as his vice-presidential choice. Eagleton was unknown to many delegates and the choice seemed to smack of traditional ticket balancing considerations. Thus there were delegates willing to look elsewhere. Gravel was nominated by Bettye Fahrenkamp, the Democratic National Committeewoman from Alaska. He then seconded his own nomination, breaking down in tears at his own words and maybe trying to withdraw his nomination. In any case he won 226 delegate votes, coming in third behind Eagleton and Frances "Sissy" Farenthold of Texas, in chaotic balloting that included several other candidates.
Gravel attracted some attention for his efforts: writer Norman Mailer said he "provided considerable excitement" and was "good-looking enough to have played leads in B-films", while Rolling Stone correspondent Hunter S. Thompson said Gravel "probably said a few things that might have been worth hearing, under different circumstances". Yet the process was doubly disastrous for the Democrats. In the time consumed by nominating and seconding and all the vice-presidential candidates' speeches, the attention of the delegates on the floor was lost and McGovern's speech was pushed to 3:30 a.m. The haste with which Eagleton was selected led to surprise when his past mental health treatments were revealed; he withdrew from the ticket soon after the convention, to be replaced by Sargent Shriver.
Reelection to Senate in 1974
Several years earlier, Alaska politicians had speculated that Gravel would have a hard time getting both renominated and elected when his first term expired, given that he was originally elected without a base party organization and tended to focus on national rather than local issues.
Nonetheless, after receiving support from national and local labor leaders, securing key earmarks, and producing another half-hour TV advertorial, in 1974 Gravel was reelected to the Senate, with 58 percent of the vote to 42 percent for Republican State Senator C. R. Lewis, who was a national officer of the John Birch Society.
Second term
Gravel's reelection campaign left him $65,000–$75,000 in debt. In 1975 The Washington Post reported on a memo by his executive assistant laying out a fundraising strategy to tackle this, including raising funds from oil companies, meeting with previous donors and "inquir[ing] into the governmental priorities of these people and their groups in the coming session", as well as obtaining further speaking fees to reduce his personal debt. This was followed by a number of stories about links between Gravel, lobbyists and fundraisers, including one that was widely publicized in Alaska about his holding a share in a Colorado resort with two Washington lobbyists he was working with on land and energy legislation. Gravel had been open about the investment and had opposing views to one of the lobbyists on nuclear power. In 1980 the Wall Street Journal published details about his fundraising activities, including writing to individuals and PACs in the oil industry, pledging to kill off proposals for a windfall profits tax on the sector, and traveling in the Middle East with the business partner of one of his donors to sell Alaskan land to businessmen. Gravel suggested that critics of his fundraising were "naive".
In 1975 Gravel introduced an amendment to cut the number of troops overseas by 200,000, but it was defeated on a voice vote.
In September 1975 Gravel was named as one of several Congressional Advisers to the Seventh Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly, which met to discuss problems related to economic development and international economic cooperation.
In June 1976 Gravel was the focus of a federal investigation into allegations that he was involved in a sex-for-vote arrangement. Congressional staff clerk Elizabeth Ray (who had already been involved in a sex scandal that led to the downfall of Representative Wayne Hays) said that in August 1972 she had sex with Gravel aboard a houseboat on the Potomac River, under the instruction of Representative Kenneth J. Gray, her boss at the time. Gray allegedly wanted to secure Gravel's support for further funding for construction of the National Visitor Center in Washington, a troubled project that was under the jurisdiction of subcommittees that both members chaired. Another Congressional staffer said she witnessed the boat encounter, but Gravel said at the time that he had never met either of the women. Gravel and Gray strongly denied that they had made any arrangement regarding legislation, and neither was ever charged with any wrongdoing. Decades later Gravel wrote that he had indeed had sex with Ray, but had not changed any votes because of it.
Gravel and his main financial backer, Gottstein, had a falling out in 1978, during the Congressional debate over whether to allow a controversial sale of U.S. F-15 fighter aircraft to Saudi Arabia. An ardent backer of Israel, Gottstein opposed the sale and asked Gravel to vote against it. But Gravel not only voted for it but made an emotional speech attacking the anti-sale campaign. Gravel wrote in 2008 that it was the only time Gottstein had ever asked him for a favor, and the rupture resulted in their never speaking to each other again.
Alaskan issues
By 1971 Gravel was urging construction of the much-argued Trans-Alaska pipeline, addressing environmental concerns by saying that the pipeline's builders and operators should have "total and absolute" responsibility for any consequent environmental damage. Two years later the debate over the pipeline came to a crux, with The New York Times describing it as "environmentalists [in] a holy war with the major oil companies". In February 1973 the U.S. Court of Appeals blocked the issuance of permits for construction; Gravel and fellow Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens reacted by urging Congress to pass legislation overturning the court's decision. Environmentalists opposed to the pipeline, such as the Environmental Defense Fund and the Sierra Club then sought to use the recently passed National Environmental Policy Act to their advantage; Gravel designed an amendment to the pipeline bill that would immunize the pipeline from any further court challenges under that law, and thus speed its construction. Passage of the amendment became the key battle regarding the pipeline. On July 17, 1973, in a dramatic roll-call vote, the Gravel amendment was approved as a 49–49 tie was broken in favor by Vice President Spiro Agnew. The actual bill enabling the pipeline then passed easily; Gravel had triumphed in what became perhaps his most lasting accomplishment as a senator.
In opposition to the Alaskan fishing industry, Gravel advocated American participation in the formation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. For two years he opposed legislation that established a Exclusive Economic Zone for marine resources. He was one of only 19 senators to vote against Senate approval for the expanded zone in 1976, saying it would undermine the U.S. position in Law of the Sea negotiations and that nations arbitrarily extending their fishing rights limits would "produce anarchy of the seas". The legislation was passed, and the United States has signed but never ratified the Law of the Sea treaty.
Gravel accumulated a complicated record on Indian affairs during his time in the Senate. During his first year in the Senate Gravel urged abolition of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, criticizing the agency for the pace of development of schools in Alaska, its paternalistic attitudes and the culturally inappropriate nature of its education, and advocating greater shared decision-making between the federal government and native communities in Alaska. Later, his views changed; in the early 1970s Gravel supported a demonstration project that established links between Alaskan villages and the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, for medical diagnostic communications. In 1971, he fended off accusations from Alaskan natives that he was not spending enough time working on their land claims. Gravel helped secure a private grant to facilitate the first Inuit Circumpolar Conference in 1977, attended by Inuit representatives from Alaska, Canada, and Greenland. These conferences now also include representatives from Russia. In 1977, Gravel helped lead an effort to have the U.S. Interior Department rename Mount McKinley to Denali; this eventually led to Denali National Park being so named. Subsequently, Gravel proposed a never-built "Denali City" development above the Tokositna River near the mountain, to consist of a giant Teflon dome enclosing hotels, golf courses, condominiums, and commercial buildings. A related idea of his to build a high-speed rail line to Denali also failed to gain traction.
A key, emotional issue in the state at the time was "locking up Alaska", making reference to allocation of its vast, mostly uninhabited land. President Jimmy Carter desired to put large portions of this land under federal protection against development, a move that some Alaskans vociferously opposed.
In 1978 Gravel blocked passage, via procedural delays such as walking out of House–Senate conference committee meetings, of a complex bill which represented a compromise on land use policy. The bill would have put some of Alaska's vast federal land holdings under state control while preserving other portions for federal parks and refuges; the blocking action earned Gravel the enmity of fellow Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, who had supported the compromise. In 1980, a new lands bill came up for consideration, that was less favorable to Alaskan interests and more liked by environmentalists; it set aside of Alaska's for national parks, conservation areas, and other restricted federal uses. Gravel blocked it, as not ensuring enough future development in the state. A new compromise version of the 1980 bill came forward, which reduced the land set aside to . Representing Alaskan interests, Gravel tried to stop the bill, including by filibuster. But the Senate voted for cloture and passed the bill. Frustrated, Gravel said, "the legislation denies Alaska its rights as a state, and denies the U.S. crucial strategic resources," and opined that the Senate was "a little bit like a tank of barracudas". Nonetheless, the bill, known as the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980, was signed by President Carter shortly before leaving the White House, and led to millions of acres being set aside in the state for national parks, wildlife refuges, and other kinds of areas under protection.
In 1978 Gravel authored and secured the passage into federal law of the General Stock Ownership Corporation, that became Subchapter U of the Tax Code under the Internal Revenue Code of 1954. This gave states the ability to create corporations that would invest in for-profit enterprises, with all citizens within the state owning shares in the corporation. Gravel's attempt to convince the Alaska state legislature to create such a corporation failed, as did a 1980 state ballot initiative towards the same end, but nevertheless the creation of the General Stock Ownership Corporation in federal law turned out to be significant in the development of binary economics.
Loss of Senate seat in 1980
In 1980 Gravel was challenged for the Democratic Party's nomination by State Representative Clark Gruening, the grandson of the man Gravel had defeated in a primary 12 years earlier. One of Gruening's supporters was Gravel's former backer Gottstein. Several factors made Gravel vulnerable. As an insurgent candidate in 1968 Gravel had never established a firm party base. Not liking to hunt or fish, he was also always culturally suspect in the state.
The primary campaign was bitterly fought. A group of Democrats, including future governor Steve Cowper, led the campaign against Gravel, with Gravel's actions in respect to the 1978 and 1980 Alaskan lands bills a major issue. This was especially so given that the 1980 bill's dénouement happened but a week before the primary. The sources of Gravel's campaign funds, some of which Gravel readily acknowledged came from political action committees outside the state, also became an issue in the contest. Gruening had pledged that he would not take special interest group money, but Gravel said that Gruening was "dishonest" in accepting individual contributors from Jewish donors living outside the state because to him such contributors comprised "a special interest group ... that seeks to influence the foreign policy of the U.S."
Gruening won the primary with about 55 percent of the vote to Gravel's 44 percent. Gravel later conceded that by the time of his defeat, he had alienated "almost every constituency in Alaska". Another factor may have been Alaska's blanket primary system of the time, which allowed unlimited voting across party lines and from its many independents; Republicans believed Gruening would be an easier candidate to defeat in the general election.
Gruening lost the general election to Republican Frank Murkowski. Gravel was the last Democrat to represent Alaska in Congress for 28 years, until Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich defeated Ted Stevens, by then an aged, iconic figure who had just been convicted of seven felonies for taking unreported gifts, in a very close and protracted election result in 2008. Stevens's conviction was subsequently vacated due to prosecutorial misconduct.
Career after leaving the Senate
Of his 1980 defeat, Gravel later recalled: "I had lost my career. I lost my marriage. I was in the doldrums for ten years after my defeat," and "Nobody wanted to hire me for anything important. I felt like I was worthless. I didn't know what I could do." By his own later description, Gravel was a womanizer, and had an affair while in the Senate, and in December 1980 he and his wife Rita separated. They filed for divorce in September 1981; she later received all of his Senate pension income.
During the 1980s Gravel was a real estate developer in Anchorage and Kenai, Alaska, a consultant, and a stockbroker. One of his real estate ventures, a condominium business, was forced to declare bankruptcy and a lawsuit ensued. In 1986 Gravel worked in partnership with Merrill Lynch Capital Markets to buy losses that financially troubled Alaska Native Corporations could not take as tax deductions and sell them to large national companies looking for tax writeoffs. Gravel also learned computer programming at some point but never practiced it.
In 1984 Gravel married his second wife, Whitney Stewart Gravel, a former administrative assistant for Senator Jacob Javits.
Return to politics
In 1989 Gravel reentered politics. He founded and led The Democracy Foundation, which promotes direct democracy. He established the Philadelphia II corporation, which seeks to replicate the original 1787 Constitutional Convention and have a Second Constitutional Convention to bring about direct democracy Gravel led an effort to get a United States Constitutional amendment to allow voter-initiated federal legislation similar to state ballot initiatives. He argued that Americans are able to legislate responsibly, and that the Act and Amendment in the National Initiative would allow American citizens to become "law makers". However such efforts met with little success.
In 2001, Gravel became director of the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution, where he admired institute co-founder Gregory Fossedal's work on direct democracy in Switzerland. By 2004, Gravel had become chair of the institute, and Fossedal (who in turn was a director of the Democracy Foundation) gave the introduction at Gravel's presidential announcement.
In 2003 Gravel gave a speech on direct democracy at a conference hosted by the American Free Press. The event was cosponsored by the Barnes Review, a journal that endorses Holocaust denial. After some controversy over his appearance, Gravel apologized, saying he did not realize the group's ties. Gravel said repeatedly that he did not share the group's views on the Holocaust, stating, "You better believe I know that six million Jews were killed. [The Barnes Review publishers] are nutty as loons if they don't think it happened". The group invited Gravel to speak again, but he declined.
Mike and Whitney Gravel lived in Arlington County, Virginia, until 2010 and then resided in Burlingame, California. They have the two grown children from his first marriage, Martin Gravel and Lynne Gravel Mosier, and four grandchildren. Whitney Gravel's income sustained the couple from 1998 on. In the 2000s, Gravel suffered poor health, requiring three surgeries in 2003 for back pain and neuropathy. Due to unreimbursed medical expenses and debts from his political causes, he declared personal bankruptcy in 2004. He began taking a salary from the non-profit organizations for which he was working; much of that income was lent to his presidential campaign. In 2007, he declared that he had "zero net worth".
2008 presidential campaign
Democratic Party primaries
At the start of 2006 Gravel decided the best way he could promote direct democracy and the National Initiative was to run for president. On April 17, 2006, Gravel became the first candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2008 election, announcing his run in a speech to the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Short on campaign cash, he took public transportation to get to his announcement. (Gravel called for public financing of elections.) Other principal Gravel positions were the FairTax, as well as withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq within 120 days and a single payer national health care system.
Gravel had opposed the Iraq War, and President George W. Bush's rationale for it, from the beginning, and in 2006 said that U.S. troops in Iraq, as in Vietnam, had "died in vain". He also favored a regional peace initiative, as well as reparation payments for Iraqis. Gravel also called for a "U.S. corporate withdrawal from Iraq", with reconstruction contracts held by U.S. companies to be turned over to Iraqi firms.
Gravel campaigned almost full-time in New Hampshire, the first primary state, following his announcement. Opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination showed Gravel with 1 percent or less support. By the end of March 2007, Gravel's campaign had less than $500 in cash on hand against debts of nearly $90,000.
Because of his time in the Senate, Gravel was invited to many of the early Democratic presidential debates. During the initial one at South Carolina State University on April 26, 2007, he suggested a bill requiring the president to withdraw from Iraq on pain of criminal penalties. He also advocated positions such as opposing preemptive nuclear war. He stated that the Iraq War had the effect of creating more terrorists and that the "war was lost the day that George Bush invaded Iraq on a fraudulent basis". Regarding his fellow candidates, he said, "I got to tell you, after standing up with them, some of these people frighten me – they frighten me." In one such exchange, Gravel said, "Tell me, Barack, who do you want to nuke?" to which Obama responded, "I'm not planning to nuke anybody right now, Mike, I promise."
Media stories said that Gravel was responsible for much of whatever "heat" and "flashpoints" had taken place during the Democratic debates. Gravel gained considerable publicity by shaking up the normally staid multiple-candidate format; The New York Times' media critic said that what Gravel had done was "steal a debate with outrageous, curmudgeonly statements". The Internet was a benefit: a YouTube video of his responses in the debate was viewed more than 225,892 times, ranking seventeenth in most views for week and first among news and politics clips; his name became the fifteenth most searched-for in the blogosphere; and his website garnered more traffic than those of frontrunners Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, or John Edwards. Gravel appeared on the popular Colbert Report on television on May 2, and his campaign and career were profiled in national publications such as Salon. Two wordless, Warholesque campaign videos, "Rock" and "Fire", were released on YouTube in late May and became hits, and eventually gained over 760,000 and 185,000 views respectively. "Rock", in turn, was given airtime during an episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Some thirty-five years after he first achieved the national spotlight, he had found it again.
All this did not improve his performance in the polls; a May 2007 CNN poll showed him with less than 0.5 percent support among Democrats. Gravel was in the next several debates, in one case after CNN reversed a decision to exclude him. Like some of the other second-tier candidates, Gravel did not get as much time as the leaders; during the June 2, 2007, New Hampshire debate, which lasted two hours, he was asked 10 questions and allowed to speak for five minutes and 37 seconds.
During the July 23, 2007, CNN-YouTube presidential debate, Gravel responded to audience applause when he had complained of a lack of airtime and said: "Thank you. Has it been fair thus far?" Detractors began to liken him to "the cranky uncle who lives in the attic," or "the angry old guy that just seemed to want to become angrier". Berkeley political scientist David Terr found that moderator George Stephanopoulos directed roughly five percent of his questions to Gravel; in a poll asking who did the best in the debate, Gravel placed seventh among the eight candidates. National opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination continued to show Gravel with one percent or zero percent numbers. By the end of the third-quarter 2007, Gravel had about $17,500 in cash on hand, had collected a total of about $380,000 during the 2008 election cycle, and was continuing to run a threadbare campaign with minimal staff.
Beginning with the October 30, 2007, Philadelphia event, Gravel was excluded from most of the debates, with the debate sponsors or the Democratic National Committee saying Gravel's campaign had not met fund-raising, polling, or local campaign organizational thresholds. For the Philadelphia exclusion, Gravel blamed corporate censorship on the part of sponsor owner and alleged military-industrial complex member General Electric for his exclusion and mounted a counter-gathering and debate against a video screen a short distance away, but he had lost his easiest publicity. In reaction, supporters organized "mass donation days" to try to help the campaign gain momentum and funds, such as on December 5, 2007, the anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition.
Gravel did not compete in the initial 2008 vote, the Iowa caucuses, but was still subjected to a false report from MSNBC that he had pulled out of the race afterward. Gravel did focus his attention on the second 2008 vote, the New Hampshire primary. In early January, Mother Jones' investigative reporter James Ridgeway was filmed interviewing and following Gravel in New Hampshire, in which Gravel is interviewed on the phone by Neal Conan for NPR's, Talk of the Nation. He received about 400 votes out of some 280,000 cast in New Hampshire, or 0.14 percent, before taking time off to improve his health. He resumed campaigning, but fared no better in subsequent states. By the end of January 2008, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and Gravel were the only remaining Democrats from the initial debates still running; Gravel vowed to stay in the presidential campaign until November. On March 11, 2008, Gravel continued to remain in the Democratic race but additionally endorsed a Green Party candidate for president, Jesse Johnson, saying he wanted to help Johnson prevail against Green Party rivals Cynthia McKinney and Ralph Nader. By late March, Gravel had almost no fundraising and was only on the ballot in one of the next ten Democratic primaries.
Switch to Libertarian Party
On March 25, 2008, Gravel announced that he would leave the Democrats and join the Libertarian Party, saying: "My libertarian views, as well as my strong stance against war, the military industrial complex and American imperialism, seem not to be tolerated by Democratic Party elites who are out of touch with the average American; elites that reject the empowerment of American citizens I offered to the Democratic Party at the beginning of this presidential campaign with the National Initiative for Democracy." The following day Gravel entered the race for the 2008 Libertarian presidential nomination, saying that he would have run as a third-party candidate all along except that he needed the public exposure that came from being in the earlier Democratic debates. Gravel's initial notion of running as a fusion candidate with other parties was met with skepticism.
As a Libertarian candidate, Gravel faced resistance to his past support of big government initiatives and his unorthodox positions around direct democracy. Nevertheless, he garnered more support than he had as a Democrat, placing second and third in two April 2008 straw polls. In the May 25 balloting at the 2008 Libertarian National Convention in Denver, Gravel finished fourth out of eight candidates on the initial ballot, with 71 votes out of a total 618; he trailed former Congressman and eventual winner Bob Barr, author Mary Ruwart, and businessman Wayne Allyn Root. Gravel's position did not subsequently improve and he was eliminated on the fourth ballot. Afterwards he stated that "I just ended my political career," but he vowed to continue promoting his positions as a writer and lecturer.
2008–early 2019
In June 2008 Gravel endorsed the NYC 9/11 Ballot Initiative, saying the measure would create a "citizens commission rather than a government commission" with subpoena power against top U.S. officials to "make a true investigation as to what happened" regarding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. He later said, "Individuals in and out of government may certainly have participated with the obviously known perpetrators of this dastardly act. Suspicions abound over the analysis presented by government. Obviously an act that has triggered three wars, Afghan, Iraqi and the continuing War on Terror, should be extensively investigated which was not done and which the government avoids addressing."
In August 2008 Gravel was speaking to a crowd of supporters of Sami Al-Arian (who two years earlier had pleaded guilty and been sentenced to prison for a charge of conspiracy in helping Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a "specially designated terrorist" organization) when he was caught on tape saying of Al-Arian's prosecutor, "Find out where he lives, find out where his kids go to school, find out where his office is: picket him all the time. Call him a racist in signs if you see him. Call him an injustice. Call him whatever you want to call him, but in his face all the time." Gravel was criticized for potentially involving the children of the prosecutor, and Al-Arian's family disavowed the sentiments.
Gravel defended Alaska Governor Sarah Palin after she was chosen as Republican presidential nominee John McCain's running mate in September 2008. He praised Palin's record in standing up to corruption among Alaskan Republicans, thought her national inexperience was an asset not a detriment, and predicted that the "Troopergate" investigation into whether she improperly fired a state official would "come out in her favor". Gravel made clear he would not support or vote for either McCain–Palin or Obama–Biden in the general election. The following year Gravel said that Palin's politics were "terrible, but that doesn't detract from the fact that she's a very talented person". He predicted that Palin would run for president in 2012 and that "she's going to surprise a lot of people". Palin did not run, but Gravel's prediction about "TrooperGate" was accurate as Palin was found not to have violated ethics laws.
In 2013, by the invitation of Hamed Ghashghavi, the secretary for international affairs of the 3rd International Conference on Hollywoodism in Tehran, Iran, Gravel attended that event as an Iranian government-organized anti-Hollywood conference. Gravel noted that the conference was attended by "various elements of extremes" but said it was necessary to discuss how the U.S. film industry portrayed Iran in order to prevent "an insane war" between the two nations.
In May 2013 Gravel was one of several former members of Congress to accept $20,000 from the Paradigm Research Group, an advocacy group for UFO disclosure, as part of holding what they termed a Citizen Hearing on Disclosure, modeled after congressional hearings, regarding supposed U.S. government suppression of evidence concerning UFOs. Gravel said, "Something is monitoring the planet, and they are monitoring it very cautiously, because we are a very warlike planet," and, "What we're faced with here is, in areas of the media, and the government too, an effort to marginalize and ridicule people who have specific knowledge."
In December 2014 Gravel was announced as the new CEO of KUSH, a company which makes marijuana-infused products for medicinal and recreational use, and a subsidiary of Cannabis Sativa, Inc. He also became an Independent Director of Cannabis Sativa.
During the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries, Gravel praised Bernie Sanders and his campaign, saying "Bernie is one of the most gifted politicians I have ever observed. He's a person of great integrity and very clever." Gravel predicted that Sanders would be elected president but would be unable to get his key reforms through Congress, and thus that Sanders and his supporters should back some of the proposals of the National Initiative.
In 2016, Gravel said in relation to the September 11 attacks: "We killed 58,000 American servicemen in the Vietnam War and all they did was die in vain. What's so unusual about killing 3,000 more in order to develop the grist for the mill to empower into infinity the military industrial complex?" and "There's no question in my mind that 9/11 was an inside job". The remarks were later disavowed by even Gravel supporters.
By 2019 Gravel was living in Seaside, California. He was working on a book, at the time titled Human Governance, about his principal idea for direct democracy, a U.S. Constitutional Amendment to create a "Legislature of the People" that would circumvent the existing Congress. The book was self-published at the end of the year by AuthorHouse under the title The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People.
2020 presidential campaign
On March 19, 2019, Gravel announced that he was considering running in the 2020 Democratic primaries. He said, "The goal will not be to win, but to bring a critique of American imperialism to the Democratic debate stage." An exploratory committee was formed, with filing a statement of organization with the Federal Election Commission on that same day. The filing was the idea of a group of teenagers, led by David Oks and Henry Williams, inspired by the podcast Chapo Trap House, and done with Gravel's consent (after a week spent convincing him of the idea's merits), but without his involvement. Intrigued by the group's commitment to amplifying his long-held policy goals, Gravel (who would be old on Inauguration Day in 2021) said he planned to meet with them in April, and to discuss a 2020 White House run with his wife. On April 2, 2019, Gravel filed to officially run for office. The campaign called itself the "#Gravelanche".
Gravel's initial stated goal was merely to qualify for debates by getting the required 65,000 small donors. He discouraged people from voting for him and said his preferences were Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard, both of whom favor a non-interventionist foreign policy. But on April 29, Gravel's campaign said he was running to win, not just to participate in debates. In a subsequent interview, though, Gravel emphasized the virtue of Sanders and Gabbard in some order as a presidential ticket. Statements like these caused Vox to call Gravel "2020's oddest Democratic presidential candidate". The New York Times Magazine included Gravel as an example in the rise of democratic socialism in the United States also exemplified by Sanders's 2016 race and the 2018 election of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: "[Gravel's] campaign represents the most absurd form of a legitimate movement on the left that feels little obligation to the Democratic Party."
In June 2019, Gravel touted the endorsement of Muntadher al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who, in December 2008, made headlines after he threw his shoes at President George W. Bush in protest of the U.S. war in Iraq. Al-Zaidi endorsed Gravel based on his promise to improve White House policies regarding Iraq and the Middle East.
On June 13, 2019, the Democratic Party announced the 20 major candidates who qualified for the first debate later that month. Gravel was one of the four who missed out (the others were Montana Governor Steve Bullock, U.S. Representative Seth Moulton, and Miramar, Florida, Mayor Wayne Messam). Gravel had been unable to get the requisite number of donations, or to score one percent or better in enough polls (many polls did not even include him). Nevertheless, Gravel said he would not drop out and would try to qualify for the July debate. In early July, however, Gravel's campaign said it was still 10,000 contributions short of the 65,000-donor threshold and that it was "nearing its conclusion". It solicited suggestions for where to donate $100–150,000 of leftover campaign funds. Gravel added that he had always planned on ending the campaign before the teenagers in charge of it needed to return to school. A few days later the campaign became the first to run an attack ad against Democratic front-runner Joe Biden, using the text "Is this the best our party has to offer?"
Gravel's campaign crossed the threshold of 65,000 donors on July 12, 2019, meeting the qualification mark for that month's debate. But because 20 other candidates, the maximum allowed to participate, had already met at least the polling criterion, which takes priority over the donor criterion, Gravel was not invited.
The campaign officially came to a close on August 6, 2019, with Gravel endorsing both Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard for president. Gravel's campaign later stated on Twitter that they never wanted to win but saw the campaign as an "intimately democratic" project and expressed honor at working with Gravel. Gravel said he would divide remaining campaign funds between charity and a new think tank which would espouse his ideas.
The Gravel Institute
Gravel used some of the funds remaining from his 2020 presidential campaign to found an eponymous progressive think tank called The Gravel Institute in 2019. As noted by Vice magazine, the institute aims to do battle with PragerU from a left-wing perspective. Launched in September 2020, the new entity said it would "carry on the life's work of former U.S Senator Mike Gravel in fighting for global peace and democracy. Its mission is to promote bold and forward-looking ideas about a more peaceful and egalitarian world, and to build a robust movement of young people to win it". Contributors announced include Cornel West and Slavoj Žižek, as well as Lower Brule Indian Reservation activist Nick Estes. Other presenters have included and will include H. Jon Benjamin, Briahna Joy Gray, Bernie Sanders, Chelsea Manning, Richard Wolff, Stephanie Kelton, Zephyr Teachout, David Cross, Jabari Brisport, Zohran Mamdani, and Gravel himself (though it is unknown if his appearance will be cancelled due to his death in June 2021, or if the video has already been recorded).
Death
Gravel died of multiple myeloma at his home in Seaside, California, on June 26, 2021, at age 91.
The obituary for him in The New York Times stated that Gravel was "a two-term Democratic senator from Alaska ... who was perhaps better known as an unabashed attention-getter" who later become known for "mounting long-shot presidential runs". The obituary in The Washington Post was similar, saying that Gravel was "an Alaska Democrat with a flair for the theatrical who rose from obscurity to brief renown" and later "ran quixotic campaigns for the presidency". The Anchorage Daily News quoted Gravel as saying of himself in 1989, "I'm an independent kind of guy. A rough and ready kind of guy. My glands work in a certain way that make me stand up, foolishly sometimes, and fight."
Political positions
Alan Abramowitz and Jeffrey Allan Segal described Gravel as "a maverick, if not an eccentric, in the Senate." His Americans for Democratic Action "Liberal Quotient" scores ranged from 81 out of 100 (1971) to 39 out of 100 (1980), with an average of around 61. His American Conservative Union scores ranged from 0 out of 100 (several years, including 1971 and 1972) to 38 out of 100 (1979), with an average of 14. Abramowitz and Segal note that Gravel's lowest ADA ratings coincided with his two Senate re-election bids, and for the most part his highest ACU ratings followed the same pattern.
In 1972, as a young senator, Gravel published Citizen Power: A People's Platform, a manifesto outlining what Kirkus Reviews termed a "populist reform [that] would provide 'balanced political power' between the people and government and business interests."
Civil rights issues
On drug policy, Gravel said in 2007 that he favored decriminalization and treating addiction as a public health matter. During his 2008 presidential candidacy he condemned the War on Drugs as a failure, saying that it did "nothing but savage our inner cities and put our children at risk". Gravel called for abolition of capital punishment in his book Citizen Power, and adhered to this position during his 2008 run for president. He supported abortion rights.
During the 2008 campaign Gravel was a strong supporter of LGBT rights. He supported same-sex marriage and opposed the Defense of Marriage Act and the U.S. military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy. He wrote in 2008 that "depriving gays and lesbians of equal rights is immoral".
Foreign policy and defense issues
Gravel was a critic of American imperialism.
Gravel firmly opposed U.S. military action against Iran and Syria. He voiced opposition to the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, the Military Commissions Act of 2006, the use of torture, indefinite detention, and what he called "flagrant ignorance" of the Geneva Convention. In 2014 Gravel called for the release of the full, unredacted Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture.
Gravel opposed the use of international sanctions as a policy tool and blamed the ones against Iraq under Saddam Hussein for the deaths of a half-million children in that country. In 2013 Gravel said that sanctions against Iran were "illegal".
During his 2008 candidacy, Gravel called for a cut in military spending, variously reported to be 15 percent or 50 percent. He called for the savings to boost public education spending. To spur international nuclear nonproliferation efforts, Gravel called for unilateral reductions in the U.S. nuclear arsenal.
In 2008 Gravel criticized the decision of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to not pursue the efforts to impeach George W. Bush and the attempted impeachment of Dick Cheney, saying also that Bush and Cheney had committed crimes and deserved "to be prosecuted" at The Hague. In 2013 he expressed disdain for President Obama, calling him "a total fraud" and saying that both Bush and Obama should be tried "for the crimes and murders they've committed" in the International Court of Justice. Gravel specifically condemned Obama for the drone strikes in Pakistan and elsewhere.
Economy, immigration, and environment
During his 2008 candidacy Gravel favored a FairTax scheme, which would abolish the Internal Revenue Service, eliminate the federal income tax (which Gravel called "corrupt"), and impose a national sales tax. While Gravel described FairTax as "progressive", others have criticized it as "regressive", disproportionately benefiting the wealthiest Americans. To offset the new sales taxes on essential goods, Gravel's plan called for monthly government rebate payments to individuals and families. During his 2020 campaign Gravel also voiced support for a third legislative body that would give the people direct control of the budget as well as the implementation of a land value tax.
Gravel opposed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) during his 2008 candidacy, calling it unfair and economically harmful and needing renegotiation. Gravel believed that NAFTA was the "root cause" of illegal migration to the U.S. He favored a guest worker program and "setting up naturalization procedures that would fairly bring immigrants into legal status". In a 2007 interview, Gravel identified himself as "very much of a globalist" who believed in open markets and open borders and condemned the scapegoating of undocumented immigrants. Gravel also said that he favored eliminating the cap on H1B visas.
As a senator from Alaska, Gravel favored drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but opposed it during his 2008 campaign. In 2008, Gravel supported a carbon tax to combat climate change.
Gravel spoke in favor of net neutrality during his presidential campaign.
Education and health care
Gravel called for the cost of college tuition to be borne by the federal government, rather than students. In his 2008 campaign, he called the No Child Left Behind Act "a failure" and called for it to be "reformed and fully funded". He expressed support for universal pre-kindergarten and the expansion of the Head Start program; and expressed an openness to charter schools and school vouchers. He also suggested extending the school day and the school year, and supported merit pay for teachers.
Gravel also called for publicly funded universal health care to replace the current employer-sponsored health insurance system. He supported "full funding" of the VA system. When asked in 2007 about naturopathy, homeopathy, and acupuncture, Gravel said that he was "very very much in favor" of holistic health care.
Awards and honors
In 2008 Gravel received the Columbia University School of General Studies' first annual Isaac Asimov Lifetime Achievement Award.
Electoral history
Writings
Gravel, Mike. Jobs and More Jobs. Mt. McKinley Publishers, 1968.
Gravel, Mike. Citizen Power: A People's Platform. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1972. .
revised and reissued as Citizen Power: A Mandate for Change, AuthorHouse, 2008. .
Gravel, Mike and Lauria, Joe. A Political Odyssey: The Rise of American Militarism and One Man's Fight to Stop It. Seven Stories Press, 2008. .
Gravel, Mike and Eisenbach, David. The Kingmakers: How the Media Threatens Our Security and Our Democracy. Phoenix Books, 2008. .
Gravel, Mike. Voice of a Maverick: The Speeches and Writings of Senator Mike Gravel. Brandywine House, 2008.
Gravel, Mike. Foreword to Poisoned Power: The Case Against Nuclear Power Plants. John W. Goffman & Arthur R. Tamplin, Rodale Press, Inc., Emmaus, PA, June 1971.
Gravel, Mike. The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People. AuthorHouse, 2020.
Explanatory notes
References
Citations
General references
The Pentagon Papers Senator Gravel Edition. Vol. Five: Critical Essays. Boston: Beacon Press, 1972. 341p. plus 72p. of Index to Vol. I–IV of the Papers; Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, editors.
External links
Mike Gravel official website
The Gravel Institute
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Writers from Anchorage, Alaska | true | [
"Stuart A. Reiss (July 15, 1921 – December 21, 2014) was an American set decorator. He won two Academy Awards and was nominated for four more in the category Best Art Direction. He worked on more than 100 films from 1947 to 1986.\n\nSelected filmography\nReiss won two Academy Awards for Best Art Direction and was nominated for four more:\n\nWon\n The Diary of Anne Frank (1959)\n Fantastic Voyage (1966)\n\nNominated\n Titanic (1953)\n Teenage Rebel (1956)\n What a Way to Go! (1964)\n Doctor Dolittle (1967)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n \n\n1921 births\n2014 deaths\nAmerican set decorators\nBest Art Direction Academy Award winners\nArtists from Chicago",
"\"Just What I Do\" is a song recorded by American country music group Trick Pony. It was released in January 2002 as the third single from their debut album Trick Pony. The song was written by group members Keith Burns and Ira Dean, with Burns taking lead vocals.\n\nThe song was nominated for a 2003 Grammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. It was also nominated for Single Record of the Year at the 2003 Academy of Country Music awards while the video was nominated for Music Video of the Year.\n\nMusic video\nThe music video was directed by Peter Zavadil and premiered in April 2002.\n\nChart performance\n\"Just What I Do\" debuted at number 55 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart for the week of January 19, 2002.\n\nYear-end charts\n\nReferences\n\n2002 singles\n2001 songs\nTrick Pony songs\nWarner Records singles\nMusic videos directed by Peter Zavadil"
] | [
"Maurice Robert Gravel ( ; May 13, 1930 – June 26, 2021) was an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Alaska from 1969 to 1981 as a member of the Democratic Party, and who, in later life, twice ran for the presidential nomination of that party. Born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, by French-Canadian immigrant parents, Gravel moved to Alaska in the late 1950s, becoming a real estate developer and entering politics.",
"Born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, by French-Canadian immigrant parents, Gravel moved to Alaska in the late 1950s, becoming a real estate developer and entering politics. He served in the Alaska House of Representatives from 1963 to 1967, and also became Speaker of the Alaska House. Gravel was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1968.",
"Gravel was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1968. Gravel was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1968. As a senator, Gravel became nationally known for his forceful, but unsuccessful, attempts to end the draft during the War in Vietnam, and for putting the Pentagon Papers into the public record in 1971. He conducted a campaign for the Democratic nomination in 1972 for Vice President of the United States, and then played a crucial role in obtaining Congressional approval for the Trans-Alaska pipeline in 1973.",
"He conducted a campaign for the Democratic nomination in 1972 for Vice President of the United States, and then played a crucial role in obtaining Congressional approval for the Trans-Alaska pipeline in 1973. He was re-elected to the Senate in 1974, but was defeated in his bid for a third term in the primary election in 1980. An advocate of direct democracy and the National Initiative, Gravel staged a run for the 2008 Democratic nomination for President of the United States.",
"An advocate of direct democracy and the National Initiative, Gravel staged a run for the 2008 Democratic nomination for President of the United States. His campaign failed to gain support, and in March 2008, he left the Democratic Party and joined the Libertarian Party to compete unsuccessfully for its presidential nomination and the inclusion of the National Initiative into the Libertarian Platform. He ran for president as a Democrat again in the 2020 election, in a campaign that ended four months after it began.",
"He ran for president as a Democrat again in the 2020 election, in a campaign that ended four months after it began. Two years before his death, Gravel and his campaign staff founded the progressive think tank The Gravel Institute. Early life, military service, education Gravel was born on May 13, 1930, in Springfield, Massachusetts, one of five children of French-Canadian immigrant parents, Alphonse and Marie (née Bourassa) Gravel.",
"Early life, military service, education Gravel was born on May 13, 1930, in Springfield, Massachusetts, one of five children of French-Canadian immigrant parents, Alphonse and Marie (née Bourassa) Gravel. His parents were part of the Quebec diaspora, and he was raised in a working-class neighborhood during the Great Depression, speaking only French until he was seven years old. Calling him \"Mike\" from an early age, his father valued work above all else, while his mother stressed the importance of education.",
"Calling him \"Mike\" from an early age, his father valued work above all else, while his mother stressed the importance of education. Gravel was educated in parochial schools as a Roman Catholic. There he struggled, due to what he later said was undiagnosed dyslexia, and was left back in third grade. He completed elementary school in 1945 and his class voted him \"most charming personality\".",
"He completed elementary school in 1945 and his class voted him \"most charming personality\". A summer job as a soda jerk led to Gravel handing out campaign fliers for local candidates on his boss's behalf; Gravel was immediately impressed with \"the awesomeness of political office\". Gravel then boarded at Assumption Preparatory School in Worcester, Massachusetts, where his performance was initially mediocre.",
"Gravel then boarded at Assumption Preparatory School in Worcester, Massachusetts, where his performance was initially mediocre. By Gravel's telling, in the summer of 1948 he intended to volunteer for the Israel Defense Forces during the 1947–1949 Palestine war, but Alexandra Tolstaya told him to return to school. There an English teacher, the Assumptionist Edgar Bourque, gave him personal attention, improving Gravel's language skills and instructing him in public speaking. Gravel's grades improved measurably in his final year and he graduated in 1949.",
"Gravel's grades improved measurably in his final year and he graduated in 1949. His sister, Marguerite, became a Holy Cross nun, but Gravel himself struggled with the Catholic faith. He studied for one year at Assumption College, a Catholic school in Worcester, then transferred for his sophomore year to American International College in Springfield. Journalist I. F. Stone and philosopher Bertrand Russell strongly influenced Gravel in their willingness to challenge assumptions and oppose social convention and political authority.",
"Journalist I. F. Stone and philosopher Bertrand Russell strongly influenced Gravel in their willingness to challenge assumptions and oppose social convention and political authority. Around May 1951, Gravel saw that he was about to be drafted and instead enlisted in the U.S. Army for a three-year term so that he could get into the Counterintelligence Corps. After basic training and counterintelligence school at Fort Holabird in Maryland and in South Carolina, he went to Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia.",
"After basic training and counterintelligence school at Fort Holabird in Maryland and in South Carolina, he went to Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia. While he expected to be sent off to the Korean War when he graduated as a second lieutenant in early 1952, he was instead assigned to Stuttgart, West Germany, as a Special Adjutant in the Army's Communications Intelligence Service. In Germany, Gravel conducted surveillance operations on civilians and paid off spies.",
"In Germany, Gravel conducted surveillance operations on civilians and paid off spies. After about a year, he transferred to Orléans, France, where his French language abilities (if not his French-Canadian accent) allowed him to infiltrate French communist rallies. He worked as a Special Agent in the Counterintelligence Corps until 1954, eventually becoming a first lieutenant. Following his discharge, Gravel entered the Columbia University School of General Studies in New York City, where he studied economics and received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1956.",
"Following his discharge, Gravel entered the Columbia University School of General Studies in New York City, where he studied economics and received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1956. He moved to New York \"flat broke\" and supported himself by working as a bar boy in a hotel, driving a taxicab, and working in the investment bond department at Bankers Trust. During this time he left the Roman Catholic faith.",
"During this time he left the Roman Catholic faith. During this time he left the Roman Catholic faith. Move to Alaska Gravel \"decided to become a pioneer in a faraway place,\" and moved to pre-statehood Alaska in August 1956, without funds or a job, looking for a place where someone without social or political connections could be a viable candidate for public office.",
"Move to Alaska Gravel \"decided to become a pioneer in a faraway place,\" and moved to pre-statehood Alaska in August 1956, without funds or a job, looking for a place where someone without social or political connections could be a viable candidate for public office. Alaska's voting age of 19, less than most other states' 21, played a role in his decision, as did its newness and cooler climate. Broke when he arrived, he immediately found work in real estate sales until winter arrived.",
"Broke when he arrived, he immediately found work in real estate sales until winter arrived. Gravel then was employed as a brakeman for the Alaska Railroad, working the snow-clearing train on the Anchorage-to-Fairbanks run. Subsequently, he opened a small real estate brokerage in Anchorage (the Territory of Alaska not requiring a license) and saved enough so as not to have to work the railroad again. The firm was named the M. R. Gravel Real Estate Company.",
"The firm was named the M. R. Gravel Real Estate Company. Gravel joined the Anchorage Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, and continued a sporadic relationship with the movement throughout his life. Seeing Alaska as a wide-open place with no political establishment or entrenched interests, Gravel quickly became part of the civic scene there. By October 1957 he was a Division Chairman for Anchorage for the Democratic Central Committee in the territory, and by June 1958 he was president of the Alaska Young Democrats organization.",
"By October 1957 he was a Division Chairman for Anchorage for the Democratic Central Committee in the territory, and by June 1958 he was president of the Alaska Young Democrats organization. He also became active in the United States Junior Chamber (Jaycees), and by early 1958 his duties included handing out awards for farmer of the year. By early 1958, Gravel was running as Democratic Party primary candidate for a Third Division seat in House of Representative of the territorial legislature.",
"By early 1958, Gravel was running as Democratic Party primary candidate for a Third Division seat in House of Representative of the territorial legislature. (This was one of the four judicial divisions into which Alaska was sectioned at the time.) Using the slogan \"Gravel, the Roadbed to Prosperity\", he ran but lost. At the same time, he was also an advocate for Alaskan statehood.",
"At the same time, he was also an advocate for Alaskan statehood. Gravel went on a 44-state national speaking tour concerning tax reform in 1959, sponsored by the Jaycees, often dressing for events as Paul Revere. Gravel was selected from some two thousand applications for this position. The tour received a good amount of local newspaper coverage at its various stops, with Gravel's first name sometimes given as Mike and other times as Maurice.",
"The tour received a good amount of local newspaper coverage at its various stops, with Gravel's first name sometimes given as Mike and other times as Maurice. The tour's general message was an urging of \"lower taxes, more efficiency in government and a system of taxation moderate at all levels of income\". At several stops Gravel stated that the \"tide of socialism\" had to be stopped.",
"At several stops Gravel stated that the \"tide of socialism\" had to be stopped. He elaborated at another stop, \"It is part of our Jaycee creed that economic justice can best be won by free men through free enterprise. We really want to see that free enterprise become our inheritance.\"",
"We really want to see that free enterprise become our inheritance.\" The tour was scheduled to conclude in Washington D.C., on Tax Day, April 15, with petition signatures accumulated for reform to be presented to U.S. lawmakers: dressed as Revere, Gravel rode with the petition to the steps of the U.S. Capitol. The tour over, Gravel married Rita Jeannette Martin at the First Methodist Church of Anchorage on April 29, 1959.",
"The tour over, Gravel married Rita Jeannette Martin at the First Methodist Church of Anchorage on April 29, 1959. She was a native of Montana who had attended Billings Business College before moving to Alaska two years prior and becoming a secretary in the office of the Anchorage city manager. She had also been named Anchorage's \"Miss Fur Rendezvous\" of 1958. They had two children, Martin Anthony Gravel and Lynne Denise Gravel, born c. 1960 and 1962 respectively.",
"They had two children, Martin Anthony Gravel and Lynne Denise Gravel, born c. 1960 and 1962 respectively. Gravel ran without avail for the City Council in Anchorage in 1960. During this time, he had become a successful real estate agent; after the 1960 election, he became a property developer in a mobile home park on the outskirts of Anchorage. After a partner ran into financial difficulty, however, the project went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and Gravel was forced out in 1962.",
"After a partner ran into financial difficulty, however, the project went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and Gravel was forced out in 1962. State legislator With the support of Alaska wholesale grocer Barney Gottstein and supermarket builder Larry Carr, Gravel ran for the Alaska House of Representatives representing Anchorage in 1962, initially assigned the 10th and then 8th districts.",
"State legislator With the support of Alaska wholesale grocer Barney Gottstein and supermarket builder Larry Carr, Gravel ran for the Alaska House of Representatives representing Anchorage in 1962, initially assigned the 10th and then 8th districts. Alaska had very crowded primaries that year: Gravel was one of 33 Democrats, along with 21 Republicans, who were running for the chance to compete for the 14 House seats allocated to the 8th district.",
"Alaska had very crowded primaries that year: Gravel was one of 33 Democrats, along with 21 Republicans, who were running for the chance to compete for the 14 House seats allocated to the 8th district. Gravel made it through the primary, and in November eight Republicans and six Democrats were elected to the House from the district, with Gravel finishing eighth overall and third among with Democrats, with 8,174 votes. Gottstein became Gravel's main financial backer during most of his subsequent campaigns.",
"Gottstein became Gravel's main financial backer during most of his subsequent campaigns. Gravel served in the Alaska House of Representatives from January 28, 1963 to January 22, 1967, winning reelection in 1964. In his first term, he served as a minority member on two House committees: Commerce, and Labor and Management. He co-authored and sponsored the act that created the Alaska State Commission for Human Rights.",
"He co-authored and sponsored the act that created the Alaska State Commission for Human Rights. Gravel was the chief architect of the law that created a regional high school system for rural Alaska; this allowed Alaska Natives to attend schools near where they lived instead of having to go to schools run by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the lower 48 states. During the half-years that the legislature was not in session, Gravel resumed his real estate work.",
"During the half-years that the legislature was not in session, Gravel resumed his real estate work. With Gottstein and Carr's backing, he became quite successful as a property developer on the Kenai Peninsula. During 1965 and 1966, he served as the Speaker of the House, surprising observers by winning that post. Gravel convinced former Speaker Warren A. Taylor to not try for the position against him by promising Taylor chairmanship of the Rules Committee, then reneged on the promise.",
"Gravel convinced former Speaker Warren A. Taylor to not try for the position against him by promising Taylor chairmanship of the Rules Committee, then reneged on the promise. Gravel denied later press charges that he had promised but not delivered on other committee chairmanships. As Speaker he antagonized fellow lawmakers by imposing his will on the legislature's committees and feuded with Alaska State Senate president Robert J. McNealy.",
"As Speaker he antagonized fellow lawmakers by imposing his will on the legislature's committees and feuded with Alaska State Senate president Robert J. McNealy. Gravel did not run for reelection in 1966, instead choosing to run for Alaska's seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, losing the primary to four-term incumbent Democrat Ralph Rivers by 1,300 votes and splitting the Democratic Party in the process. Rivers lost the general election that year to Republican state Senator Howard Pollock. Following this defeat, Gravel returned to the real estate business in Anchorage.",
"Following this defeat, Gravel returned to the real estate business in Anchorage. U.S. Senator Election to Senate in 1968 In 1968, Gravel ran against 81-year-old incumbent Democratic United States Senator Ernest Gruening, a popular former governor of the Alaska Territory who was considered one of the fathers of Alaska's statehood, for his party's nomination to the U.S. Senate. Gravel's campaign was primarily based on his youth and telegenic appearance rather than issue differences. He hired Joseph Napolitan, the first self-described political consultant, in late 1966.",
"He hired Joseph Napolitan, the first self-described political consultant, in late 1966. They spent over a year and a half planning a short, nine-day primary election campaign that featured the slogans \"Alaska first\" and \"Let's do something about the state we're in\", the distribution of a collection of essays titled Jobs and More Jobs, and the creation of a half-hour, well-produced, glamorized biographical film of Gravel, Man for Alaska.",
"They spent over a year and a half planning a short, nine-day primary election campaign that featured the slogans \"Alaska first\" and \"Let's do something about the state we're in\", the distribution of a collection of essays titled Jobs and More Jobs, and the creation of a half-hour, well-produced, glamorized biographical film of Gravel, Man for Alaska. The film was shown twice a day on every television station in Alaska, and carried by plane and shown on home projectors in hundreds of Alaska Native villages.",
"The film was shown twice a day on every television station in Alaska, and carried by plane and shown on home projectors in hundreds of Alaska Native villages. The heavy showings quickly reversed a 2–to–1 Gruening lead in polls into a Gravel lead. Gravel visited many remote villages by seaplane and showed a thorough understanding of the needs of the bush country and the fishing and oil industries. Gravel also benefited from maintaining a deliberately ambiguous posture about Vietnam policy.",
"Gravel also benefited from maintaining a deliberately ambiguous posture about Vietnam policy. Gruening had been one of only two Senators to vote against the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and his opposition to President Lyndon B. Johnson's war policies was harming him among the Democratic electorate; according to Gravel, \"all I had to do was stand up and not deal with the subject, and people would assume that I was to the right of Ernest Gruening, when in point of fact I was to the left of him\".",
"Gruening had been one of only two Senators to vote against the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and his opposition to President Lyndon B. Johnson's war policies was harming him among the Democratic electorate; according to Gravel, \"all I had to do was stand up and not deal with the subject, and people would assume that I was to the right of Ernest Gruening, when in point of fact I was to the left of him\". In Man for Alaska, Gravel argued that \"the liberals\" would come to West Germany's defense if it was attacked, and that the same standard should apply to the United States' allies in Asia.",
"In Man for Alaska, Gravel argued that \"the liberals\" would come to West Germany's defense if it was attacked, and that the same standard should apply to the United States' allies in Asia. During the campaign he also claimed that he was \"more in the mainstream of American thought on Vietnam\" than Gruening, despite the fact that he had written to Gruening to praise his antiwar stance four years earlier.",
"During the campaign he also claimed that he was \"more in the mainstream of American thought on Vietnam\" than Gruening, despite the fact that he had written to Gruening to praise his antiwar stance four years earlier. Decades later, Gravel conceded that \"I said what I said [about Vietnam] to advance my career.\" Gravel beat Gruening in the primary by about 2,000 votes. Gruening found \"the unexpected defeat hard to take\" and thought that some aspects of his opponent's biographical film had misled viewers.",
"Gruening found \"the unexpected defeat hard to take\" and thought that some aspects of his opponent's biographical film had misled viewers. In the general election, Gravel faced Republican Elmer E. Rasmuson, a banker and former mayor of Anchorage. College students in the state implored Gruening to run a write-in campaign as an Independent, but legal battles prevented him from getting approval for it until only two weeks were left.",
"College students in the state implored Gruening to run a write-in campaign as an Independent, but legal battles prevented him from getting approval for it until only two weeks were left. A late appearance by anti-war presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy did not offset Gruening's lack of funds and endorsements; meanwhile, Gravel and Rasmuson both saturated local media with their filmed biographies. On November 5, 1968, Gravel won the general election with 45 percent of the vote to Rasmuson's 37 percent and Gruening's 18 percent.",
"On November 5, 1968, Gravel won the general election with 45 percent of the vote to Rasmuson's 37 percent and Gruening's 18 percent. Senate assignments and style When Gravel joined the U.S.Senate in January 1969, he requested and received a seat on the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee, which had direct relevance to Alaskan issues. He also got a spot on the Public Works Committee, which he held throughout his time in the Senate. Finally, he was a member of the Select Committee on Small Business.",
"Finally, he was a member of the Select Committee on Small Business. In 1971 he became chair of the Public Works Committee's Subcommittee on Public Buildings and Grounds, and by 1973 he was chair of its Subcommittee on Water Resources, then later its Subcommittee on Environmental Pollution. Gravel was also initially named to the Joint Committee on Congressional Operations.",
"Gravel was also initially named to the Joint Committee on Congressional Operations. By 1973 Gravel was off the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee and the Select Small Business Committee and instead a member of the Finance Committee, and by 1977 was chair of that body's Subcommittee on Energy and Foundations. By 1973 he had also been on the ad hoc Special Committee to Study Secret and Confidential Government Documents.",
"By 1973 he had also been on the ad hoc Special Committee to Study Secret and Confidential Government Documents. By his own admission, Gravel was too new and \"too abrasive\" to be effective in the Senate by the usual means of seniority-based committee assignments or negotiating deals with other senators, and was sometimes seen as arrogant or a nuisance by the more senior and tradition-oriented members. Gravel relied on attention-getting gestures to achieve what he wanted, hoping national exposure would force other senators to listen to him.",
"Gravel relied on attention-getting gestures to achieve what he wanted, hoping national exposure would force other senators to listen to him. But even senators who agreed with him on issues considered his methods to be showboating. As part of this approach, Gravel voted with Southern Democrats to keep the Senate filibuster rule in place, and accordingly supported Russell Long and Robert Byrd but opposed Ted Kennedy in Senate leadership battles.",
"As part of this approach, Gravel voted with Southern Democrats to keep the Senate filibuster rule in place, and accordingly supported Russell Long and Robert Byrd but opposed Ted Kennedy in Senate leadership battles. In retrospective assessment, University of Alaska Anchorage history professor Stephen Haycox said, \"Loose cannon is a good description of Gravel's Senate career. He was an off-the-wall guy, and you weren't really ever sure what he would do.\"",
"He was an off-the-wall guy, and you weren't really ever sure what he would do.\" Nuclear issues and the Cold War In the late 1960s and early 1970s the U.S. Department of Defense was in the process of performing tests for the nuclear warhead for the Spartan anti-ballistic missile. Two tests, the \"Milrow\" and \"Cannikin\" tests, were planned, involving the detonation of nuclear bombs under Amchitka Island in Alaska.",
"Two tests, the \"Milrow\" and \"Cannikin\" tests, were planned, involving the detonation of nuclear bombs under Amchitka Island in Alaska. The Milrow test would be a one-megaton calibration exercise for the second and larger five-megaton Cannikin test, which would measure the effectiveness of the warhead. Gravel opposed the tests.",
"Gravel opposed the tests. Gravel opposed the tests. Before the Milrow test took place in October 1969, he wrote that there were significant risks of earthquakes and other adverse consequences and called for an independent national commission on nuclear and seismic safety; he then made a personal appeal to President Richard Nixon to stop the test. After Milrow was conducted, there was continued pressure on the part of environmental groups against going forward with the Cannikin test, while the Federation of American Scientists claimed that the warhead being tested was already obsolete.",
"After Milrow was conducted, there was continued pressure on the part of environmental groups against going forward with the Cannikin test, while the Federation of American Scientists claimed that the warhead being tested was already obsolete. In May 1971 Gravel sent a letter to U.S. Atomic Energy Commission hearings held in Anchorage in which he said the risk of the test was not worth taking.",
"In May 1971 Gravel sent a letter to U.S. Atomic Energy Commission hearings held in Anchorage in which he said the risk of the test was not worth taking. Eventually a group not involving Gravel took the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to issue an injunction against it, and the Cannikin test took place as scheduled in November 1971. Gravel had failed to stop the tests (notwithstanding his later claims during his 2008 presidential campaign).",
"Gravel had failed to stop the tests (notwithstanding his later claims during his 2008 presidential campaign). In 1971 Gravel voted against the Nixon administration's proposed anti-ballistic missile system, the Safeguard Program, having previously vacillated over the issue, suggesting that he might be willing to support it in exchange for federal lands in Alaska being opened up for private oil drilling. His vote alienated Senator Henry \"Scoop\" Jackson, who had raised funds for Gravel's primary campaign.",
"His vote alienated Senator Henry \"Scoop\" Jackson, who had raised funds for Gravel's primary campaign. Nuclear power was considered an environmentally clean alternative for commercial generation of electricity and was part of a popular national policy for the peaceful use of atomic energy in the 1950s and 1960s.",
"Nuclear power was considered an environmentally clean alternative for commercial generation of electricity and was part of a popular national policy for the peaceful use of atomic energy in the 1950s and 1960s. Gravel publicly opposed this policy; besides the dangers of nuclear testing, he was a vocal critic of the Atomic Energy Commission, which oversaw American nuclear efforts, and of the powerful United States Congress Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, which had a stranglehold on nuclear policy and which Gravel tried to circumvent.",
"Gravel publicly opposed this policy; besides the dangers of nuclear testing, he was a vocal critic of the Atomic Energy Commission, which oversaw American nuclear efforts, and of the powerful United States Congress Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, which had a stranglehold on nuclear policy and which Gravel tried to circumvent. In 1971 Gravel sponsored a bill to impose a moratorium on nuclear power plant construction and to make power utilities liable for any nuclear accidents; in 1975 he was still proposing similar moratoriums.",
"In 1971 Gravel sponsored a bill to impose a moratorium on nuclear power plant construction and to make power utilities liable for any nuclear accidents; in 1975 he was still proposing similar moratoriums. By 1974 Gravel was allied with Ralph Nader's organization in opposing nuclear power. Six months before U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's July 1971 secret mission to the People's Republic of China (P.R.C. ), Gravel introduced legislation to recognize and normalize relations with the P.R.C., including a proposal for unity talks between the P.R.C.",
"), Gravel introduced legislation to recognize and normalize relations with the P.R.C., including a proposal for unity talks between the P.R.C. and the Republic of China (Taiwan) regarding the Chinese seat on the U.N. Security Council. He reiterated his position in favor of recognition, with four other senators in agreement, during Senate hearings in June 1971.",
"He reiterated his position in favor of recognition, with four other senators in agreement, during Senate hearings in June 1971. Vietnam War, the draft, and the Pentagon Papers Although he did not campaign against the Vietnam War during his first Senate campaign, by the end of 1970 Gravel was speaking out against United States policy in southeast Asia: in December of that year he persuaded William Fulbright to join him in a spontaneous two-day filibuster against a $155 million military aid package to Cambodia's Khmer Republic government in the Cambodian Civil War.",
"Vietnam War, the draft, and the Pentagon Papers Although he did not campaign against the Vietnam War during his first Senate campaign, by the end of 1970 Gravel was speaking out against United States policy in southeast Asia: in December of that year he persuaded William Fulbright to join him in a spontaneous two-day filibuster against a $155 million military aid package to Cambodia's Khmer Republic government in the Cambodian Civil War. President Richard Nixon had campaigned in 1968 on a promise to end the U.S. military draft, a decision endorsed by the February 1970 report of the Gates Commission.",
"President Richard Nixon had campaigned in 1968 on a promise to end the U.S. military draft, a decision endorsed by the February 1970 report of the Gates Commission. The existing draft law was scheduled to conclude at the end of June 1971, and the Senate faced a contentious debate about whether to extend it as the Vietnam War continued.",
"The existing draft law was scheduled to conclude at the end of June 1971, and the Senate faced a contentious debate about whether to extend it as the Vietnam War continued. The Nixon administration announced in February 1971 that it wanted a two-year extension to June 1973, after which the draft would end; Army planners had already been operating under the assumption of a two-year extension, after which an all-volunteer force would be in place.",
"The Nixon administration announced in February 1971 that it wanted a two-year extension to June 1973, after which the draft would end; Army planners had already been operating under the assumption of a two-year extension, after which an all-volunteer force would be in place. Skeptics such as Senate Armed Services Committee chairman John Stennis thought this unrealistic and wanted a four-year extension, but the two-year proposal is what went forward in Congress.",
"Skeptics such as Senate Armed Services Committee chairman John Stennis thought this unrealistic and wanted a four-year extension, but the two-year proposal is what went forward in Congress. By early May 1971, Gravel had indicated his intention to filibuster the draft renewal legislation, halting conscription and thereby bringing U.S. involvement in the war to a rapid end.",
"By early May 1971, Gravel had indicated his intention to filibuster the draft renewal legislation, halting conscription and thereby bringing U.S. involvement in the war to a rapid end. During this period he also supported efforts to mobilize and influence public opinion against the war, endorsing the \"Vietnam War Out Now\" rallies in Washington D.C. and San Francisco on April 24, 1971, and financing a broadcast campaign by the antiwar group War No More with a personal loan.",
"During this period he also supported efforts to mobilize and influence public opinion against the war, endorsing the \"Vietnam War Out Now\" rallies in Washington D.C. and San Francisco on April 24, 1971, and financing a broadcast campaign by the antiwar group War No More with a personal loan. In June 1972 he escorted a group of over 100 antiwar protesters, including psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton, actress Candice Bergen, theater producer and director Joseph Papp, and peditrician Dr. Benjamin Spock, into the United States Capitol Building; the group was arrested after blocking a hallway outside the Senate chamber.",
"In June 1972 he escorted a group of over 100 antiwar protesters, including psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton, actress Candice Bergen, theater producer and director Joseph Papp, and peditrician Dr. Benjamin Spock, into the United States Capitol Building; the group was arrested after blocking a hallway outside the Senate chamber. By June 1971, some Democratic senators opposed to the war wanted to limit the renewal to a one-year extension, while others wanted to end it immediately; Gravel reiterated that he was one of the latter, saying, \"It's a senseless war, and one way to do away with it is to do away with the draft.\"",
"By June 1971, some Democratic senators opposed to the war wanted to limit the renewal to a one-year extension, while others wanted to end it immediately; Gravel reiterated that he was one of the latter, saying, \"It's a senseless war, and one way to do away with it is to do away with the draft.\" A Senate vote on June 4 indicated majority support for the two-year extension.",
"A Senate vote on June 4 indicated majority support for the two-year extension. On June 18 Gravel announced again his intention to counteract that by filibustering the renewal legislation, defending the practice against those who associated it only with blocking civil rights legislation. The first filibuster attempt failed on June 23 when, by three votes, the Senate voted cloture for only the fifth time since 1927.",
"The first filibuster attempt failed on June 23 when, by three votes, the Senate voted cloture for only the fifth time since 1927. Protracted negotiations took place over House conference negotiations on the bill, revolving in large part around Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield's eventually unsuccessful amendment to tie renewal to a troop withdrawal timetable from Vietnam; during this time the draft law expired and no more were conscripted.",
"Protracted negotiations took place over House conference negotiations on the bill, revolving in large part around Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield's eventually unsuccessful amendment to tie renewal to a troop withdrawal timetable from Vietnam; during this time the draft law expired and no more were conscripted. On August 5, the Nixon administration pleaded for a renewal before the Senate went on recess, but Gravel blocked Stennis's attempt to limit debate, and no vote was held.",
"On August 5, the Nixon administration pleaded for a renewal before the Senate went on recess, but Gravel blocked Stennis's attempt to limit debate, and no vote was held. Finally on September 21, 1971, the Senate invoked cloture over Gravel's second filibuster attempt by one vote, and then passed the two-year draft extension.",
"Finally on September 21, 1971, the Senate invoked cloture over Gravel's second filibuster attempt by one vote, and then passed the two-year draft extension. Gravel's attempts to stop the draft had failed (notwithstanding Gravel's later claims that he had stopped or shortened the draft, taken at face value in some media reports, during his 2008 presidential campaign). Meanwhile, on June 13, 1971, The New York Times began printing large portions of the Pentagon Papers.",
"Meanwhile, on June 13, 1971, The New York Times began printing large portions of the Pentagon Papers. The papers were a large collection of secret government documents and studies pertaining to the Vietnam War, of which former Defense Department analyst Daniel Ellsberg had made unauthorized copies and was determined to make public.",
"The papers were a large collection of secret government documents and studies pertaining to the Vietnam War, of which former Defense Department analyst Daniel Ellsberg had made unauthorized copies and was determined to make public. Ellsberg had for a year and a half approached members of Congress – such as William Fulbright, George McGovern, Charles Mathias, and Pete McCloskey – about publishing the documents, on the grounds that the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution would give congressional members immunity from prosecution, but all had refused.",
"Ellsberg had for a year and a half approached members of Congress – such as William Fulbright, George McGovern, Charles Mathias, and Pete McCloskey – about publishing the documents, on the grounds that the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution would give congressional members immunity from prosecution, but all had refused. Instead, Ellsberg gave the documents to the Times. The U.S. Justice Department immediately tried to halt publication, on the grounds that the information revealed within the papers harmed the national interest.",
"The U.S. Justice Department immediately tried to halt publication, on the grounds that the information revealed within the papers harmed the national interest. Within the next two weeks, a federal court injunction halted publication in the Times; The Washington Post and several other newspapers began publishing parts of the documents, with some of them also being halted by injunctions; and the whole matter went to the U.S. Supreme Court for arguments.",
"Within the next two weeks, a federal court injunction halted publication in the Times; The Washington Post and several other newspapers began publishing parts of the documents, with some of them also being halted by injunctions; and the whole matter went to the U.S. Supreme Court for arguments. Looking for an alternate publication mechanism, Ellsberg returned to his idea of having a member of Congress read them, and chose Gravel based on the latter's efforts against the draft; Gravel agreed where previously others had not.",
"Looking for an alternate publication mechanism, Ellsberg returned to his idea of having a member of Congress read them, and chose Gravel based on the latter's efforts against the draft; Gravel agreed where previously others had not. Ellsberg arranged for the papers to be given to Gravel on June 26 via an intermediary, Post editor Ben Bagdikian.",
"Ellsberg arranged for the papers to be given to Gravel on June 26 via an intermediary, Post editor Ben Bagdikian. Gravel used his counter-intelligence experience to choose a midnight transfer in front of the Mayflower Hotel in the center of Washington, D.C. On the night of June 29, 1971, Gravel attempted to read the papers on the floor of the Senate as part of his filibuster against the draft, but was thwarted when no quorum could be formed. Gravel instead convened a session of the Buildings and Grounds subcommittee that he chaired.",
"Gravel instead convened a session of the Buildings and Grounds subcommittee that he chaired. He got New York Congressman John G. Dow to testify that the war had soaked up funding for public buildings, thus making discussion of the war relevant to the committee.",
"He got New York Congressman John G. Dow to testify that the war had soaked up funding for public buildings, thus making discussion of the war relevant to the committee. He began reading from the papers with the press in attendance, omitting supporting documents that he felt might compromise national security, and declaring, \"It is my constitutional obligation to protect the security of the people by fostering the free flow of information absolutely essential to their democratic decision-making.\"",
"He began reading from the papers with the press in attendance, omitting supporting documents that he felt might compromise national security, and declaring, \"It is my constitutional obligation to protect the security of the people by fostering the free flow of information absolutely essential to their democratic decision-making.\" He read until 1 a.m., culminating by saying \"Arms are being severed. Metal is clashing through human bodies because of the public policy this government and all its branches continue to support.\"",
"Metal is clashing through human bodies because of the public policy this government and all its branches continue to support.\" Then with tears and sobs he said that he could no longer physically continue, the previous three nights of sleeplessness and fear about the future having taken their toll. Gravel ended the session by, with no other senators present, establishing unanimous consent to insert 4,100 pages of the Papers into the Congressional Record of his subcommittee.",
"Gravel ended the session by, with no other senators present, establishing unanimous consent to insert 4,100 pages of the Papers into the Congressional Record of his subcommittee. The following day, the Supreme Court's New York Times Co. v. United States decision ruled in favor of the newspapers and publication in the Times and others resumed. In July 1971 Bantam Books published an inexpensive paperback edition of the papers containing the material the Times had published.",
"In July 1971 Bantam Books published an inexpensive paperback edition of the papers containing the material the Times had published. Gravel, too, wanted to privately publish the portion of the papers he had read into the record, believing that \"immediate disclosure of the contents of these papers will change the policy that supports the war\". After being turned down by many commercial publishers, on August 4 he reached agreement with Beacon Press, the publishing arm of the Unitarian Universalist Association, of which Gravel was a member.",
"After being turned down by many commercial publishers, on August 4 he reached agreement with Beacon Press, the publishing arm of the Unitarian Universalist Association, of which Gravel was a member. Announced on August 17 and published on October 22, 1971, this four-volume, relatively expensive set became the \"Senator Gravel Edition\", which studies from Cornell University and the Annenberg Center for Communication have labeled as the most complete edition of the Pentagon Papers to be published.",
"Announced on August 17 and published on October 22, 1971, this four-volume, relatively expensive set became the \"Senator Gravel Edition\", which studies from Cornell University and the Annenberg Center for Communication have labeled as the most complete edition of the Pentagon Papers to be published. The \"Gravel Edition\" was edited and annotated by Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn, and included an additional volume of analytical articles on the origins and progress of the war, also edited by Chomsky and Zinn.",
"The \"Gravel Edition\" was edited and annotated by Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn, and included an additional volume of analytical articles on the origins and progress of the war, also edited by Chomsky and Zinn. Beacon Press then was subjected to a FBI investigation; an outgrowth of this was the Gravel v. United States court case, which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled upon in June 1972; it held that the Speech or Debate Clause did grant immunity to Gravel for his reading the papers in his subcommittee, did grant some immunity to Gravel's congressional aide, but granted no immunity to Beacon Press in relation to their publishing the same papers.",
"Beacon Press then was subjected to a FBI investigation; an outgrowth of this was the Gravel v. United States court case, which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled upon in June 1972; it held that the Speech or Debate Clause did grant immunity to Gravel for his reading the papers in his subcommittee, did grant some immunity to Gravel's congressional aide, but granted no immunity to Beacon Press in relation to their publishing the same papers. The U.S. Senate Democratic Caucus backed Gravel in the case, but due to Republican opposition it did not pay Gravel's legal fees, leaving him owing $25,000 (the equivalent of $150,000 in 2019, adjusted for inflation).",
"The U.S. Senate Democratic Caucus backed Gravel in the case, but due to Republican opposition it did not pay Gravel's legal fees, leaving him owing $25,000 (the equivalent of $150,000 in 2019, adjusted for inflation). The events of 1971 changed Gravel in the following months from an obscure freshman senator to a nationally visible political figure.",
"The events of 1971 changed Gravel in the following months from an obscure freshman senator to a nationally visible political figure. He became a sought-after speaker on the college circuit as well as at political fundraisers, opportunities he welcomed as lectures were \"the one honest way a Senator has to supplement his income\". But his speaking tours caused him to accrue one of the worst absentee records in the Senate. The Democratic candidates for the 1972 presidential election sought his endorsement.",
"The Democratic candidates for the 1972 presidential election sought his endorsement. In January 1972 Gravel endorsed Maine Senator Ed Muskie, hoping that his support would help Muskie with the party's left wing and in ethnic French-Canadian areas during the first primary contest in New Hampshire (Muskie won, but not overwhelmingly, and his campaign faltered soon after).",
"In January 1972 Gravel endorsed Maine Senator Ed Muskie, hoping that his support would help Muskie with the party's left wing and in ethnic French-Canadian areas during the first primary contest in New Hampshire (Muskie won, but not overwhelmingly, and his campaign faltered soon after). In April 1972 Gravel appeared on all three networks' nightly newscasts to decry the Nixon administration's reliance on Vietnamization by making reference to the secret National Security Study Memorandum 1 document, which stated it would take 8–13 years for the Army of the Republic of Vietnam to defend South Vietnam.",
"In April 1972 Gravel appeared on all three networks' nightly newscasts to decry the Nixon administration's reliance on Vietnamization by making reference to the secret National Security Study Memorandum 1 document, which stated it would take 8–13 years for the Army of the Republic of Vietnam to defend South Vietnam. Gravel made excerpts from the study public, but senators Robert P. Griffin and William B. Saxbe blocked his attempt to read NSSM 1 into the Congressional Record.",
"Gravel made excerpts from the study public, but senators Robert P. Griffin and William B. Saxbe blocked his attempt to read NSSM 1 into the Congressional Record. Domestic policy In 1970 Gravel co-sponsored legislation to establish a guaranteed minimum income, entitling poor families to up to $6,300 a year (the equivalent of $42,000 in 2019 after adjustment for inflation).",
"Domestic policy In 1970 Gravel co-sponsored legislation to establish a guaranteed minimum income, entitling poor families to up to $6,300 a year (the equivalent of $42,000 in 2019 after adjustment for inflation). He subsequently voted for a \"work bonus\" program, which would have entitled low-income working families with dependent children if they were paying Social Security or Railroad Retirement taxes to a non-taxable bonus of up to 10 percent of their wages.",
"He subsequently voted for a \"work bonus\" program, which would have entitled low-income working families with dependent children if they were paying Social Security or Railroad Retirement taxes to a non-taxable bonus of up to 10 percent of their wages. Gravel also supported extending Social Security to all federal employees and introduced a campaign finance reform bill in 1971 that would have enacted full disclosure of campaign financing, placed limits on large donations, media spending and individual candidate spending.",
"Gravel also supported extending Social Security to all federal employees and introduced a campaign finance reform bill in 1971 that would have enacted full disclosure of campaign financing, placed limits on large donations, media spending and individual candidate spending. In 1969, Gravel was the only Democratic Senator outside of the South to vote for Nixon's Supreme Court nominee Clement Haynsworth. The following year Gravel opposed Nixon's next pick, G. Harrold Carswell.",
"The following year Gravel opposed Nixon's next pick, G. Harrold Carswell. Run for vice president in 1972 Gravel actively campaigned for the office of Vice President of the United States during the 1972 presidential election, announcing on June 2, 1972, over a month before the 1972 Democratic National Convention began, that he was interested in the nomination should the choice be opened up to convention delegates. Toward this end he began soliciting delegates for their support.",
"Toward this end he began soliciting delegates for their support. He was not alone in this effort, as former Governor of Massachusetts Endicott Peabody had been running a quixotic campaign for the same post since the prior year. Likely presidential nominee George McGovern was in fact considering the unusual move of naming three or four acceptable vice-presidential candidates and letting the delegates choose. On the convention's final day, July 14, 1972, McGovern selected and announced Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri as his vice-presidential choice.",
"On the convention's final day, July 14, 1972, McGovern selected and announced Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri as his vice-presidential choice. Eagleton was unknown to many delegates and the choice seemed to smack of traditional ticket balancing considerations. Thus there were delegates willing to look elsewhere. Gravel was nominated by Bettye Fahrenkamp, the Democratic National Committeewoman from Alaska. He then seconded his own nomination, breaking down in tears at his own words and maybe trying to withdraw his nomination.",
"He then seconded his own nomination, breaking down in tears at his own words and maybe trying to withdraw his nomination. In any case he won 226 delegate votes, coming in third behind Eagleton and Frances \"Sissy\" Farenthold of Texas, in chaotic balloting that included several other candidates.",
"In any case he won 226 delegate votes, coming in third behind Eagleton and Frances \"Sissy\" Farenthold of Texas, in chaotic balloting that included several other candidates. Gravel attracted some attention for his efforts: writer Norman Mailer said he \"provided considerable excitement\" and was \"good-looking enough to have played leads in B-films\", while Rolling Stone correspondent Hunter S. Thompson said Gravel \"probably said a few things that might have been worth hearing, under different circumstances\". Yet the process was doubly disastrous for the Democrats.",
"Yet the process was doubly disastrous for the Democrats. Yet the process was doubly disastrous for the Democrats. In the time consumed by nominating and seconding and all the vice-presidential candidates' speeches, the attention of the delegates on the floor was lost and McGovern's speech was pushed to 3:30 a.m. The haste with which Eagleton was selected led to surprise when his past mental health treatments were revealed; he withdrew from the ticket soon after the convention, to be replaced by Sargent Shriver.",
"The haste with which Eagleton was selected led to surprise when his past mental health treatments were revealed; he withdrew from the ticket soon after the convention, to be replaced by Sargent Shriver. Reelection to Senate in 1974 Several years earlier, Alaska politicians had speculated that Gravel would have a hard time getting both renominated and elected when his first term expired, given that he was originally elected without a base party organization and tended to focus on national rather than local issues.",
"Reelection to Senate in 1974 Several years earlier, Alaska politicians had speculated that Gravel would have a hard time getting both renominated and elected when his first term expired, given that he was originally elected without a base party organization and tended to focus on national rather than local issues. Nonetheless, after receiving support from national and local labor leaders, securing key earmarks, and producing another half-hour TV advertorial, in 1974 Gravel was reelected to the Senate, with 58 percent of the vote to 42 percent for Republican State Senator C. R. Lewis, who was a national officer of the John Birch Society.",
"Nonetheless, after receiving support from national and local labor leaders, securing key earmarks, and producing another half-hour TV advertorial, in 1974 Gravel was reelected to the Senate, with 58 percent of the vote to 42 percent for Republican State Senator C. R. Lewis, who was a national officer of the John Birch Society. Second term Gravel's reelection campaign left him $65,000–$75,000 in debt.",
"Second term Gravel's reelection campaign left him $65,000–$75,000 in debt. In 1975 The Washington Post reported on a memo by his executive assistant laying out a fundraising strategy to tackle this, including raising funds from oil companies, meeting with previous donors and \"inquir[ing] into the governmental priorities of these people and their groups in the coming session\", as well as obtaining further speaking fees to reduce his personal debt.",
"In 1975 The Washington Post reported on a memo by his executive assistant laying out a fundraising strategy to tackle this, including raising funds from oil companies, meeting with previous donors and \"inquir[ing] into the governmental priorities of these people and their groups in the coming session\", as well as obtaining further speaking fees to reduce his personal debt. This was followed by a number of stories about links between Gravel, lobbyists and fundraisers, including one that was widely publicized in Alaska about his holding a share in a Colorado resort with two Washington lobbyists he was working with on land and energy legislation.",
"This was followed by a number of stories about links between Gravel, lobbyists and fundraisers, including one that was widely publicized in Alaska about his holding a share in a Colorado resort with two Washington lobbyists he was working with on land and energy legislation. Gravel had been open about the investment and had opposing views to one of the lobbyists on nuclear power.",
"Gravel had been open about the investment and had opposing views to one of the lobbyists on nuclear power. In 1980 the Wall Street Journal published details about his fundraising activities, including writing to individuals and PACs in the oil industry, pledging to kill off proposals for a windfall profits tax on the sector, and traveling in the Middle East with the business partner of one of his donors to sell Alaskan land to businessmen. Gravel suggested that critics of his fundraising were \"naive\".",
"Gravel suggested that critics of his fundraising were \"naive\". In 1975 Gravel introduced an amendment to cut the number of troops overseas by 200,000, but it was defeated on a voice vote. In September 1975 Gravel was named as one of several Congressional Advisers to the Seventh Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly, which met to discuss problems related to economic development and international economic cooperation. In June 1976 Gravel was the focus of a federal investigation into allegations that he was involved in a sex-for-vote arrangement.",
"In June 1976 Gravel was the focus of a federal investigation into allegations that he was involved in a sex-for-vote arrangement. Congressional staff clerk Elizabeth Ray (who had already been involved in a sex scandal that led to the downfall of Representative Wayne Hays) said that in August 1972 she had sex with Gravel aboard a houseboat on the Potomac River, under the instruction of Representative Kenneth J. Gray, her boss at the time.",
"Gray, her boss at the time. Gray, her boss at the time. Gray allegedly wanted to secure Gravel's support for further funding for construction of the National Visitor Center in Washington, a troubled project that was under the jurisdiction of subcommittees that both members chaired. Another Congressional staffer said she witnessed the boat encounter, but Gravel said at the time that he had never met either of the women.",
"Another Congressional staffer said she witnessed the boat encounter, but Gravel said at the time that he had never met either of the women. Gravel and Gray strongly denied that they had made any arrangement regarding legislation, and neither was ever charged with any wrongdoing. Decades later Gravel wrote that he had indeed had sex with Ray, but had not changed any votes because of it.",
"Decades later Gravel wrote that he had indeed had sex with Ray, but had not changed any votes because of it. Gravel and his main financial backer, Gottstein, had a falling out in 1978, during the Congressional debate over whether to allow a controversial sale of U.S. F-15 fighter aircraft to Saudi Arabia. An ardent backer of Israel, Gottstein opposed the sale and asked Gravel to vote against it. But Gravel not only voted for it but made an emotional speech attacking the anti-sale campaign.",
"But Gravel not only voted for it but made an emotional speech attacking the anti-sale campaign. Gravel wrote in 2008 that it was the only time Gottstein had ever asked him for a favor, and the rupture resulted in their never speaking to each other again. Alaskan issues By 1971 Gravel was urging construction of the much-argued Trans-Alaska pipeline, addressing environmental concerns by saying that the pipeline's builders and operators should have \"total and absolute\" responsibility for any consequent environmental damage.",
"Alaskan issues By 1971 Gravel was urging construction of the much-argued Trans-Alaska pipeline, addressing environmental concerns by saying that the pipeline's builders and operators should have \"total and absolute\" responsibility for any consequent environmental damage. Two years later the debate over the pipeline came to a crux, with The New York Times describing it as \"environmentalists [in] a holy war with the major oil companies\".",
"Two years later the debate over the pipeline came to a crux, with The New York Times describing it as \"environmentalists [in] a holy war with the major oil companies\". In February 1973 the U.S. Court of Appeals blocked the issuance of permits for construction; Gravel and fellow Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens reacted by urging Congress to pass legislation overturning the court's decision.",
"In February 1973 the U.S. Court of Appeals blocked the issuance of permits for construction; Gravel and fellow Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens reacted by urging Congress to pass legislation overturning the court's decision. Environmentalists opposed to the pipeline, such as the Environmental Defense Fund and the Sierra Club then sought to use the recently passed National Environmental Policy Act to their advantage; Gravel designed an amendment to the pipeline bill that would immunize the pipeline from any further court challenges under that law, and thus speed its construction.",
"Environmentalists opposed to the pipeline, such as the Environmental Defense Fund and the Sierra Club then sought to use the recently passed National Environmental Policy Act to their advantage; Gravel designed an amendment to the pipeline bill that would immunize the pipeline from any further court challenges under that law, and thus speed its construction. Passage of the amendment became the key battle regarding the pipeline.",
"Passage of the amendment became the key battle regarding the pipeline. On July 17, 1973, in a dramatic roll-call vote, the Gravel amendment was approved as a 49–49 tie was broken in favor by Vice President Spiro Agnew. The actual bill enabling the pipeline then passed easily; Gravel had triumphed in what became perhaps his most lasting accomplishment as a senator. In opposition to the Alaskan fishing industry, Gravel advocated American participation in the formation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.",
"In opposition to the Alaskan fishing industry, Gravel advocated American participation in the formation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. For two years he opposed legislation that established a Exclusive Economic Zone for marine resources. He was one of only 19 senators to vote against Senate approval for the expanded zone in 1976, saying it would undermine the U.S. position in Law of the Sea negotiations and that nations arbitrarily extending their fishing rights limits would \"produce anarchy of the seas\".",
"He was one of only 19 senators to vote against Senate approval for the expanded zone in 1976, saying it would undermine the U.S. position in Law of the Sea negotiations and that nations arbitrarily extending their fishing rights limits would \"produce anarchy of the seas\". The legislation was passed, and the United States has signed but never ratified the Law of the Sea treaty. Gravel accumulated a complicated record on Indian affairs during his time in the Senate.",
"Gravel accumulated a complicated record on Indian affairs during his time in the Senate. During his first year in the Senate Gravel urged abolition of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, criticizing the agency for the pace of development of schools in Alaska, its paternalistic attitudes and the culturally inappropriate nature of its education, and advocating greater shared decision-making between the federal government and native communities in Alaska.",
"During his first year in the Senate Gravel urged abolition of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, criticizing the agency for the pace of development of schools in Alaska, its paternalistic attitudes and the culturally inappropriate nature of its education, and advocating greater shared decision-making between the federal government and native communities in Alaska. Later, his views changed; in the early 1970s Gravel supported a demonstration project that established links between Alaskan villages and the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, for medical diagnostic communications.",
"Later, his views changed; in the early 1970s Gravel supported a demonstration project that established links between Alaskan villages and the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, for medical diagnostic communications. In 1971, he fended off accusations from Alaskan natives that he was not spending enough time working on their land claims. Gravel helped secure a private grant to facilitate the first Inuit Circumpolar Conference in 1977, attended by Inuit representatives from Alaska, Canada, and Greenland. These conferences now also include representatives from Russia.",
"These conferences now also include representatives from Russia. These conferences now also include representatives from Russia. In 1977, Gravel helped lead an effort to have the U.S. Interior Department rename Mount McKinley to Denali; this eventually led to Denali National Park being so named. Subsequently, Gravel proposed a never-built \"Denali City\" development above the Tokositna River near the mountain, to consist of a giant Teflon dome enclosing hotels, golf courses, condominiums, and commercial buildings.",
"Subsequently, Gravel proposed a never-built \"Denali City\" development above the Tokositna River near the mountain, to consist of a giant Teflon dome enclosing hotels, golf courses, condominiums, and commercial buildings. A related idea of his to build a high-speed rail line to Denali also failed to gain traction. A key, emotional issue in the state at the time was \"locking up Alaska\", making reference to allocation of its vast, mostly uninhabited land.",
"A key, emotional issue in the state at the time was \"locking up Alaska\", making reference to allocation of its vast, mostly uninhabited land. President Jimmy Carter desired to put large portions of this land under federal protection against development, a move that some Alaskans vociferously opposed. In 1978 Gravel blocked passage, via procedural delays such as walking out of House–Senate conference committee meetings, of a complex bill which represented a compromise on land use policy.",
"In 1978 Gravel blocked passage, via procedural delays such as walking out of House–Senate conference committee meetings, of a complex bill which represented a compromise on land use policy. The bill would have put some of Alaska's vast federal land holdings under state control while preserving other portions for federal parks and refuges; the blocking action earned Gravel the enmity of fellow Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, who had supported the compromise.",
"The bill would have put some of Alaska's vast federal land holdings under state control while preserving other portions for federal parks and refuges; the blocking action earned Gravel the enmity of fellow Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, who had supported the compromise. In 1980, a new lands bill came up for consideration, that was less favorable to Alaskan interests and more liked by environmentalists; it set aside of Alaska's for national parks, conservation areas, and other restricted federal uses.",
"In 1980, a new lands bill came up for consideration, that was less favorable to Alaskan interests and more liked by environmentalists; it set aside of Alaska's for national parks, conservation areas, and other restricted federal uses. Gravel blocked it, as not ensuring enough future development in the state. A new compromise version of the 1980 bill came forward, which reduced the land set aside to . Representing Alaskan interests, Gravel tried to stop the bill, including by filibuster.",
"Representing Alaskan interests, Gravel tried to stop the bill, including by filibuster. But the Senate voted for cloture and passed the bill. Frustrated, Gravel said, \"the legislation denies Alaska its rights as a state, and denies the U.S. crucial strategic resources,\" and opined that the Senate was \"a little bit like a tank of barracudas\".",
"Frustrated, Gravel said, \"the legislation denies Alaska its rights as a state, and denies the U.S. crucial strategic resources,\" and opined that the Senate was \"a little bit like a tank of barracudas\". Nonetheless, the bill, known as the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980, was signed by President Carter shortly before leaving the White House, and led to millions of acres being set aside in the state for national parks, wildlife refuges, and other kinds of areas under protection.",
"Nonetheless, the bill, known as the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980, was signed by President Carter shortly before leaving the White House, and led to millions of acres being set aside in the state for national parks, wildlife refuges, and other kinds of areas under protection. In 1978 Gravel authored and secured the passage into federal law of the General Stock Ownership Corporation, that became Subchapter U of the Tax Code under the Internal Revenue Code of 1954.",
"In 1978 Gravel authored and secured the passage into federal law of the General Stock Ownership Corporation, that became Subchapter U of the Tax Code under the Internal Revenue Code of 1954. This gave states the ability to create corporations that would invest in for-profit enterprises, with all citizens within the state owning shares in the corporation.",
"This gave states the ability to create corporations that would invest in for-profit enterprises, with all citizens within the state owning shares in the corporation. Gravel's attempt to convince the Alaska state legislature to create such a corporation failed, as did a 1980 state ballot initiative towards the same end, but nevertheless the creation of the General Stock Ownership Corporation in federal law turned out to be significant in the development of binary economics.",
"Gravel's attempt to convince the Alaska state legislature to create such a corporation failed, as did a 1980 state ballot initiative towards the same end, but nevertheless the creation of the General Stock Ownership Corporation in federal law turned out to be significant in the development of binary economics. Loss of Senate seat in 1980 In 1980 Gravel was challenged for the Democratic Party's nomination by State Representative Clark Gruening, the grandson of the man Gravel had defeated in a primary 12 years earlier.",
"Loss of Senate seat in 1980 In 1980 Gravel was challenged for the Democratic Party's nomination by State Representative Clark Gruening, the grandson of the man Gravel had defeated in a primary 12 years earlier. One of Gruening's supporters was Gravel's former backer Gottstein. Several factors made Gravel vulnerable. As an insurgent candidate in 1968 Gravel had never established a firm party base. Not liking to hunt or fish, he was also always culturally suspect in the state. The primary campaign was bitterly fought.",
"The primary campaign was bitterly fought. The primary campaign was bitterly fought. A group of Democrats, including future governor Steve Cowper, led the campaign against Gravel, with Gravel's actions in respect to the 1978 and 1980 Alaskan lands bills a major issue. This was especially so given that the 1980 bill's dénouement happened but a week before the primary. The sources of Gravel's campaign funds, some of which Gravel readily acknowledged came from political action committees outside the state, also became an issue in the contest.",
"The sources of Gravel's campaign funds, some of which Gravel readily acknowledged came from political action committees outside the state, also became an issue in the contest. Gruening had pledged that he would not take special interest group money, but Gravel said that Gruening was \"dishonest\" in accepting individual contributors from Jewish donors living outside the state because to him such contributors comprised \"a special interest group ... that seeks to influence the foreign policy of the U.S.\" Gruening won the primary with about 55 percent of the vote to Gravel's 44 percent.",
"Gruening had pledged that he would not take special interest group money, but Gravel said that Gruening was \"dishonest\" in accepting individual contributors from Jewish donors living outside the state because to him such contributors comprised \"a special interest group ... that seeks to influence the foreign policy of the U.S.\" Gruening won the primary with about 55 percent of the vote to Gravel's 44 percent. Gravel later conceded that by the time of his defeat, he had alienated \"almost every constituency in Alaska\".",
"Gravel later conceded that by the time of his defeat, he had alienated \"almost every constituency in Alaska\". Another factor may have been Alaska's blanket primary system of the time, which allowed unlimited voting across party lines and from its many independents; Republicans believed Gruening would be an easier candidate to defeat in the general election. Gruening lost the general election to Republican Frank Murkowski.",
"Gruening lost the general election to Republican Frank Murkowski. Gruening lost the general election to Republican Frank Murkowski. Gravel was the last Democrat to represent Alaska in Congress for 28 years, until Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich defeated Ted Stevens, by then an aged, iconic figure who had just been convicted of seven felonies for taking unreported gifts, in a very close and protracted election result in 2008. Stevens's conviction was subsequently vacated due to prosecutorial misconduct.",
"Stevens's conviction was subsequently vacated due to prosecutorial misconduct. Career after leaving the Senate Of his 1980 defeat, Gravel later recalled: \"I had lost my career. I lost my marriage. I was in the doldrums for ten years after my defeat,\" and \"Nobody wanted to hire me for anything important. I felt like I was worthless. I didn't know what I could do.\"",
"I didn't know what I could do.\" I didn't know what I could do.\" By his own later description, Gravel was a womanizer, and had an affair while in the Senate, and in December 1980 he and his wife Rita separated. They filed for divorce in September 1981; she later received all of his Senate pension income. During the 1980s Gravel was a real estate developer in Anchorage and Kenai, Alaska, a consultant, and a stockbroker.",
"During the 1980s Gravel was a real estate developer in Anchorage and Kenai, Alaska, a consultant, and a stockbroker. One of his real estate ventures, a condominium business, was forced to declare bankruptcy and a lawsuit ensued. In 1986 Gravel worked in partnership with Merrill Lynch Capital Markets to buy losses that financially troubled Alaska Native Corporations could not take as tax deductions and sell them to large national companies looking for tax writeoffs. Gravel also learned computer programming at some point but never practiced it.",
"Gravel also learned computer programming at some point but never practiced it. In 1984 Gravel married his second wife, Whitney Stewart Gravel, a former administrative assistant for Senator Jacob Javits. Return to politics In 1989 Gravel reentered politics. He founded and led The Democracy Foundation, which promotes direct democracy.",
"He founded and led The Democracy Foundation, which promotes direct democracy. He established the Philadelphia II corporation, which seeks to replicate the original 1787 Constitutional Convention and have a Second Constitutional Convention to bring about direct democracy Gravel led an effort to get a United States Constitutional amendment to allow voter-initiated federal legislation similar to state ballot initiatives. He argued that Americans are able to legislate responsibly, and that the Act and Amendment in the National Initiative would allow American citizens to become \"law makers\".",
"He argued that Americans are able to legislate responsibly, and that the Act and Amendment in the National Initiative would allow American citizens to become \"law makers\". However such efforts met with little success. In 2001, Gravel became director of the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution, where he admired institute co-founder Gregory Fossedal's work on direct democracy in Switzerland.",
"In 2001, Gravel became director of the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution, where he admired institute co-founder Gregory Fossedal's work on direct democracy in Switzerland. By 2004, Gravel had become chair of the institute, and Fossedal (who in turn was a director of the Democracy Foundation) gave the introduction at Gravel's presidential announcement. In 2003 Gravel gave a speech on direct democracy at a conference hosted by the American Free Press. The event was cosponsored by the Barnes Review, a journal that endorses Holocaust denial.",
"The event was cosponsored by the Barnes Review, a journal that endorses Holocaust denial. After some controversy over his appearance, Gravel apologized, saying he did not realize the group's ties. Gravel said repeatedly that he did not share the group's views on the Holocaust, stating, \"You better believe I know that six million Jews were killed. [The Barnes Review publishers] are nutty as loons if they don't think it happened\". The group invited Gravel to speak again, but he declined.",
"The group invited Gravel to speak again, but he declined. Mike and Whitney Gravel lived in Arlington County, Virginia, until 2010 and then resided in Burlingame, California. They have the two grown children from his first marriage, Martin Gravel and Lynne Gravel Mosier, and four grandchildren. Whitney Gravel's income sustained the couple from 1998 on. In the 2000s, Gravel suffered poor health, requiring three surgeries in 2003 for back pain and neuropathy.",
"In the 2000s, Gravel suffered poor health, requiring three surgeries in 2003 for back pain and neuropathy. Due to unreimbursed medical expenses and debts from his political causes, he declared personal bankruptcy in 2004. He began taking a salary from the non-profit organizations for which he was working; much of that income was lent to his presidential campaign. In 2007, he declared that he had \"zero net worth\".",
"In 2007, he declared that he had \"zero net worth\". 2008 presidential campaign Democratic Party primaries At the start of 2006 Gravel decided the best way he could promote direct democracy and the National Initiative was to run for president.",
"2008 presidential campaign Democratic Party primaries At the start of 2006 Gravel decided the best way he could promote direct democracy and the National Initiative was to run for president. On April 17, 2006, Gravel became the first candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2008 election, announcing his run in a speech to the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Short on campaign cash, he took public transportation to get to his announcement. (Gravel called for public financing of elections.)",
"(Gravel called for public financing of elections.) (Gravel called for public financing of elections.) Other principal Gravel positions were the FairTax, as well as withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq within 120 days and a single payer national health care system. Gravel had opposed the Iraq War, and President George W. Bush's rationale for it, from the beginning, and in 2006 said that U.S. troops in Iraq, as in Vietnam, had \"died in vain\".",
"Gravel had opposed the Iraq War, and President George W. Bush's rationale for it, from the beginning, and in 2006 said that U.S. troops in Iraq, as in Vietnam, had \"died in vain\". He also favored a regional peace initiative, as well as reparation payments for Iraqis. Gravel also called for a \"U.S. corporate withdrawal from Iraq\", with reconstruction contracts held by U.S. companies to be turned over to Iraqi firms.",
"Gravel also called for a \"U.S. corporate withdrawal from Iraq\", with reconstruction contracts held by U.S. companies to be turned over to Iraqi firms. Gravel campaigned almost full-time in New Hampshire, the first primary state, following his announcement. Opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination showed Gravel with 1 percent or less support. By the end of March 2007, Gravel's campaign had less than $500 in cash on hand against debts of nearly $90,000.",
"By the end of March 2007, Gravel's campaign had less than $500 in cash on hand against debts of nearly $90,000. Because of his time in the Senate, Gravel was invited to many of the early Democratic presidential debates. During the initial one at South Carolina State University on April 26, 2007, he suggested a bill requiring the president to withdraw from Iraq on pain of criminal penalties. He also advocated positions such as opposing preemptive nuclear war.",
"He also advocated positions such as opposing preemptive nuclear war. He stated that the Iraq War had the effect of creating more terrorists and that the \"war was lost the day that George Bush invaded Iraq on a fraudulent basis\". Regarding his fellow candidates, he said, \"I got to tell you, after standing up with them, some of these people frighten me – they frighten me.\" In one such exchange, Gravel said, \"Tell me, Barack, who do you want to nuke?\"",
"In one such exchange, Gravel said, \"Tell me, Barack, who do you want to nuke?\" to which Obama responded, \"I'm not planning to nuke anybody right now, Mike, I promise.\" Media stories said that Gravel was responsible for much of whatever \"heat\" and \"flashpoints\" had taken place during the Democratic debates.",
"Media stories said that Gravel was responsible for much of whatever \"heat\" and \"flashpoints\" had taken place during the Democratic debates. Gravel gained considerable publicity by shaking up the normally staid multiple-candidate format; The New York Times' media critic said that what Gravel had done was \"steal a debate with outrageous, curmudgeonly statements\".",
"Gravel gained considerable publicity by shaking up the normally staid multiple-candidate format; The New York Times' media critic said that what Gravel had done was \"steal a debate with outrageous, curmudgeonly statements\". The Internet was a benefit: a YouTube video of his responses in the debate was viewed more than 225,892 times, ranking seventeenth in most views for week and first among news and politics clips; his name became the fifteenth most searched-for in the blogosphere; and his website garnered more traffic than those of frontrunners Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, or John Edwards.",
"The Internet was a benefit: a YouTube video of his responses in the debate was viewed more than 225,892 times, ranking seventeenth in most views for week and first among news and politics clips; his name became the fifteenth most searched-for in the blogosphere; and his website garnered more traffic than those of frontrunners Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, or John Edwards. Gravel appeared on the popular Colbert Report on television on May 2, and his campaign and career were profiled in national publications such as Salon.",
"Gravel appeared on the popular Colbert Report on television on May 2, and his campaign and career were profiled in national publications such as Salon. Two wordless, Warholesque campaign videos, \"Rock\" and \"Fire\", were released on YouTube in late May and became hits, and eventually gained over 760,000 and 185,000 views respectively. \"Rock\", in turn, was given airtime during an episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.",
"\"Rock\", in turn, was given airtime during an episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Some thirty-five years after he first achieved the national spotlight, he had found it again. All this did not improve his performance in the polls; a May 2007 CNN poll showed him with less than 0.5 percent support among Democrats. Gravel was in the next several debates, in one case after CNN reversed a decision to exclude him.",
"Gravel was in the next several debates, in one case after CNN reversed a decision to exclude him. Like some of the other second-tier candidates, Gravel did not get as much time as the leaders; during the June 2, 2007, New Hampshire debate, which lasted two hours, he was asked 10 questions and allowed to speak for five minutes and 37 seconds.",
"Like some of the other second-tier candidates, Gravel did not get as much time as the leaders; during the June 2, 2007, New Hampshire debate, which lasted two hours, he was asked 10 questions and allowed to speak for five minutes and 37 seconds. During the July 23, 2007, CNN-YouTube presidential debate, Gravel responded to audience applause when he had complained of a lack of airtime and said: \"Thank you. Has it been fair thus far?\"",
"Has it been fair thus far?\" Has it been fair thus far?\" Detractors began to liken him to \"the cranky uncle who lives in the attic,\" or \"the angry old guy that just seemed to want to become angrier\". Berkeley political scientist David Terr found that moderator George Stephanopoulos directed roughly five percent of his questions to Gravel; in a poll asking who did the best in the debate, Gravel placed seventh among the eight candidates.",
"Berkeley political scientist David Terr found that moderator George Stephanopoulos directed roughly five percent of his questions to Gravel; in a poll asking who did the best in the debate, Gravel placed seventh among the eight candidates. National opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination continued to show Gravel with one percent or zero percent numbers.",
"National opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination continued to show Gravel with one percent or zero percent numbers. By the end of the third-quarter 2007, Gravel had about $17,500 in cash on hand, had collected a total of about $380,000 during the 2008 election cycle, and was continuing to run a threadbare campaign with minimal staff.",
"By the end of the third-quarter 2007, Gravel had about $17,500 in cash on hand, had collected a total of about $380,000 during the 2008 election cycle, and was continuing to run a threadbare campaign with minimal staff. Beginning with the October 30, 2007, Philadelphia event, Gravel was excluded from most of the debates, with the debate sponsors or the Democratic National Committee saying Gravel's campaign had not met fund-raising, polling, or local campaign organizational thresholds.",
"Beginning with the October 30, 2007, Philadelphia event, Gravel was excluded from most of the debates, with the debate sponsors or the Democratic National Committee saying Gravel's campaign had not met fund-raising, polling, or local campaign organizational thresholds. For the Philadelphia exclusion, Gravel blamed corporate censorship on the part of sponsor owner and alleged military-industrial complex member General Electric for his exclusion and mounted a counter-gathering and debate against a video screen a short distance away, but he had lost his easiest publicity.",
"For the Philadelphia exclusion, Gravel blamed corporate censorship on the part of sponsor owner and alleged military-industrial complex member General Electric for his exclusion and mounted a counter-gathering and debate against a video screen a short distance away, but he had lost his easiest publicity. In reaction, supporters organized \"mass donation days\" to try to help the campaign gain momentum and funds, such as on December 5, 2007, the anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition.",
"In reaction, supporters organized \"mass donation days\" to try to help the campaign gain momentum and funds, such as on December 5, 2007, the anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition. Gravel did not compete in the initial 2008 vote, the Iowa caucuses, but was still subjected to a false report from MSNBC that he had pulled out of the race afterward. Gravel did focus his attention on the second 2008 vote, the New Hampshire primary.",
"Gravel did focus his attention on the second 2008 vote, the New Hampshire primary. In early January, Mother Jones' investigative reporter James Ridgeway was filmed interviewing and following Gravel in New Hampshire, in which Gravel is interviewed on the phone by Neal Conan for NPR's, Talk of the Nation. He received about 400 votes out of some 280,000 cast in New Hampshire, or 0.14 percent, before taking time off to improve his health. He resumed campaigning, but fared no better in subsequent states.",
"He resumed campaigning, but fared no better in subsequent states. By the end of January 2008, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and Gravel were the only remaining Democrats from the initial debates still running; Gravel vowed to stay in the presidential campaign until November. On March 11, 2008, Gravel continued to remain in the Democratic race but additionally endorsed a Green Party candidate for president, Jesse Johnson, saying he wanted to help Johnson prevail against Green Party rivals Cynthia McKinney and Ralph Nader.",
"On March 11, 2008, Gravel continued to remain in the Democratic race but additionally endorsed a Green Party candidate for president, Jesse Johnson, saying he wanted to help Johnson prevail against Green Party rivals Cynthia McKinney and Ralph Nader. By late March, Gravel had almost no fundraising and was only on the ballot in one of the next ten Democratic primaries.",
"By late March, Gravel had almost no fundraising and was only on the ballot in one of the next ten Democratic primaries. Switch to Libertarian Party On March 25, 2008, Gravel announced that he would leave the Democrats and join the Libertarian Party, saying: \"My libertarian views, as well as my strong stance against war, the military industrial complex and American imperialism, seem not to be tolerated by Democratic Party elites who are out of touch with the average American; elites that reject the empowerment of American citizens I offered to the Democratic Party at the beginning of this presidential campaign with the National Initiative for Democracy.\"",
"Switch to Libertarian Party On March 25, 2008, Gravel announced that he would leave the Democrats and join the Libertarian Party, saying: \"My libertarian views, as well as my strong stance against war, the military industrial complex and American imperialism, seem not to be tolerated by Democratic Party elites who are out of touch with the average American; elites that reject the empowerment of American citizens I offered to the Democratic Party at the beginning of this presidential campaign with the National Initiative for Democracy.\" The following day Gravel entered the race for the 2008 Libertarian presidential nomination, saying that he would have run as a third-party candidate all along except that he needed the public exposure that came from being in the earlier Democratic debates.",
"The following day Gravel entered the race for the 2008 Libertarian presidential nomination, saying that he would have run as a third-party candidate all along except that he needed the public exposure that came from being in the earlier Democratic debates. Gravel's initial notion of running as a fusion candidate with other parties was met with skepticism. As a Libertarian candidate, Gravel faced resistance to his past support of big government initiatives and his unorthodox positions around direct democracy.",
"As a Libertarian candidate, Gravel faced resistance to his past support of big government initiatives and his unorthodox positions around direct democracy. Nevertheless, he garnered more support than he had as a Democrat, placing second and third in two April 2008 straw polls.",
"Nevertheless, he garnered more support than he had as a Democrat, placing second and third in two April 2008 straw polls. In the May 25 balloting at the 2008 Libertarian National Convention in Denver, Gravel finished fourth out of eight candidates on the initial ballot, with 71 votes out of a total 618; he trailed former Congressman and eventual winner Bob Barr, author Mary Ruwart, and businessman Wayne Allyn Root. Gravel's position did not subsequently improve and he was eliminated on the fourth ballot.",
"Gravel's position did not subsequently improve and he was eliminated on the fourth ballot. Afterwards he stated that \"I just ended my political career,\" but he vowed to continue promoting his positions as a writer and lecturer. 2008–early 2019 In June 2008 Gravel endorsed the NYC 9/11 Ballot Initiative, saying the measure would create a \"citizens commission rather than a government commission\" with subpoena power against top U.S. officials to \"make a true investigation as to what happened\" regarding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.",
"2008–early 2019 In June 2008 Gravel endorsed the NYC 9/11 Ballot Initiative, saying the measure would create a \"citizens commission rather than a government commission\" with subpoena power against top U.S. officials to \"make a true investigation as to what happened\" regarding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. He later said, \"Individuals in and out of government may certainly have participated with the obviously known perpetrators of this dastardly act. Suspicions abound over the analysis presented by government.",
"Suspicions abound over the analysis presented by government. Suspicions abound over the analysis presented by government. Obviously an act that has triggered three wars, Afghan, Iraqi and the continuing War on Terror, should be extensively investigated which was not done and which the government avoids addressing.\"",
"Obviously an act that has triggered three wars, Afghan, Iraqi and the continuing War on Terror, should be extensively investigated which was not done and which the government avoids addressing.\" In August 2008 Gravel was speaking to a crowd of supporters of Sami Al-Arian (who two years earlier had pleaded guilty and been sentenced to prison for a charge of conspiracy in helping Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a \"specially designated terrorist\" organization) when he was caught on tape saying of Al-Arian's prosecutor, \"Find out where he lives, find out where his kids go to school, find out where his office is: picket him all the time.",
"In August 2008 Gravel was speaking to a crowd of supporters of Sami Al-Arian (who two years earlier had pleaded guilty and been sentenced to prison for a charge of conspiracy in helping Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a \"specially designated terrorist\" organization) when he was caught on tape saying of Al-Arian's prosecutor, \"Find out where he lives, find out where his kids go to school, find out where his office is: picket him all the time. Call him a racist in signs if you see him.",
"Call him a racist in signs if you see him. Call him an injustice. Call him whatever you want to call him, but in his face all the time.\" Gravel was criticized for potentially involving the children of the prosecutor, and Al-Arian's family disavowed the sentiments. Gravel defended Alaska Governor Sarah Palin after she was chosen as Republican presidential nominee John McCain's running mate in September 2008.",
"Gravel defended Alaska Governor Sarah Palin after she was chosen as Republican presidential nominee John McCain's running mate in September 2008. He praised Palin's record in standing up to corruption among Alaskan Republicans, thought her national inexperience was an asset not a detriment, and predicted that the \"Troopergate\" investigation into whether she improperly fired a state official would \"come out in her favor\". Gravel made clear he would not support or vote for either McCain–Palin or Obama–Biden in the general election.",
"Gravel made clear he would not support or vote for either McCain–Palin or Obama–Biden in the general election. The following year Gravel said that Palin's politics were \"terrible, but that doesn't detract from the fact that she's a very talented person\". He predicted that Palin would run for president in 2012 and that \"she's going to surprise a lot of people\". Palin did not run, but Gravel's prediction about \"TrooperGate\" was accurate as Palin was found not to have violated ethics laws.",
"Palin did not run, but Gravel's prediction about \"TrooperGate\" was accurate as Palin was found not to have violated ethics laws. In 2013, by the invitation of Hamed Ghashghavi, the secretary for international affairs of the 3rd International Conference on Hollywoodism in Tehran, Iran, Gravel attended that event as an Iranian government-organized anti-Hollywood conference.",
"In 2013, by the invitation of Hamed Ghashghavi, the secretary for international affairs of the 3rd International Conference on Hollywoodism in Tehran, Iran, Gravel attended that event as an Iranian government-organized anti-Hollywood conference. Gravel noted that the conference was attended by \"various elements of extremes\" but said it was necessary to discuss how the U.S. film industry portrayed Iran in order to prevent \"an insane war\" between the two nations.",
"Gravel noted that the conference was attended by \"various elements of extremes\" but said it was necessary to discuss how the U.S. film industry portrayed Iran in order to prevent \"an insane war\" between the two nations. In May 2013 Gravel was one of several former members of Congress to accept $20,000 from the Paradigm Research Group, an advocacy group for UFO disclosure, as part of holding what they termed a Citizen Hearing on Disclosure, modeled after congressional hearings, regarding supposed U.S. government suppression of evidence concerning UFOs.",
"In May 2013 Gravel was one of several former members of Congress to accept $20,000 from the Paradigm Research Group, an advocacy group for UFO disclosure, as part of holding what they termed a Citizen Hearing on Disclosure, modeled after congressional hearings, regarding supposed U.S. government suppression of evidence concerning UFOs. Gravel said, \"Something is monitoring the planet, and they are monitoring it very cautiously, because we are a very warlike planet,\" and, \"What we're faced with here is, in areas of the media, and the government too, an effort to marginalize and ridicule people who have specific knowledge.\"",
"Gravel said, \"Something is monitoring the planet, and they are monitoring it very cautiously, because we are a very warlike planet,\" and, \"What we're faced with here is, in areas of the media, and the government too, an effort to marginalize and ridicule people who have specific knowledge.\" In December 2014 Gravel was announced as the new CEO of KUSH, a company which makes marijuana-infused products for medicinal and recreational use, and a subsidiary of Cannabis Sativa, Inc.",
"In December 2014 Gravel was announced as the new CEO of KUSH, a company which makes marijuana-infused products for medicinal and recreational use, and a subsidiary of Cannabis Sativa, Inc. He also became an Independent Director of Cannabis Sativa. During the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries, Gravel praised Bernie Sanders and his campaign, saying \"Bernie is one of the most gifted politicians I have ever observed. He's a person of great integrity and very clever.\"",
"He's a person of great integrity and very clever.\" Gravel predicted that Sanders would be elected president but would be unable to get his key reforms through Congress, and thus that Sanders and his supporters should back some of the proposals of the National Initiative. In 2016, Gravel said in relation to the September 11 attacks: \"We killed 58,000 American servicemen in the Vietnam War and all they did was die in vain.",
"In 2016, Gravel said in relation to the September 11 attacks: \"We killed 58,000 American servicemen in the Vietnam War and all they did was die in vain. What's so unusual about killing 3,000 more in order to develop the grist for the mill to empower into infinity the military industrial complex?\" and \"There's no question in my mind that 9/11 was an inside job\". The remarks were later disavowed by even Gravel supporters. By 2019 Gravel was living in Seaside, California.",
"By 2019 Gravel was living in Seaside, California. By 2019 Gravel was living in Seaside, California. He was working on a book, at the time titled Human Governance, about his principal idea for direct democracy, a U.S. Constitutional Amendment to create a \"Legislature of the People\" that would circumvent the existing Congress. The book was self-published at the end of the year by AuthorHouse under the title The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People.",
"The book was self-published at the end of the year by AuthorHouse under the title The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People. 2020 presidential campaign On March 19, 2019, Gravel announced that he was considering running in the 2020 Democratic primaries. He said, \"The goal will not be to win, but to bring a critique of American imperialism to the Democratic debate stage.\"",
"He said, \"The goal will not be to win, but to bring a critique of American imperialism to the Democratic debate stage.\" An exploratory committee was formed, with filing a statement of organization with the Federal Election Commission on that same day.",
"An exploratory committee was formed, with filing a statement of organization with the Federal Election Commission on that same day. The filing was the idea of a group of teenagers, led by David Oks and Henry Williams, inspired by the podcast Chapo Trap House, and done with Gravel's consent (after a week spent convincing him of the idea's merits), but without his involvement.",
"The filing was the idea of a group of teenagers, led by David Oks and Henry Williams, inspired by the podcast Chapo Trap House, and done with Gravel's consent (after a week spent convincing him of the idea's merits), but without his involvement. Intrigued by the group's commitment to amplifying his long-held policy goals, Gravel (who would be old on Inauguration Day in 2021) said he planned to meet with them in April, and to discuss a 2020 White House run with his wife.",
"Intrigued by the group's commitment to amplifying his long-held policy goals, Gravel (who would be old on Inauguration Day in 2021) said he planned to meet with them in April, and to discuss a 2020 White House run with his wife. On April 2, 2019, Gravel filed to officially run for office. The campaign called itself the \"#Gravelanche\". Gravel's initial stated goal was merely to qualify for debates by getting the required 65,000 small donors.",
"Gravel's initial stated goal was merely to qualify for debates by getting the required 65,000 small donors. He discouraged people from voting for him and said his preferences were Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard, both of whom favor a non-interventionist foreign policy. But on April 29, Gravel's campaign said he was running to win, not just to participate in debates. In a subsequent interview, though, Gravel emphasized the virtue of Sanders and Gabbard in some order as a presidential ticket.",
"In a subsequent interview, though, Gravel emphasized the virtue of Sanders and Gabbard in some order as a presidential ticket. Statements like these caused Vox to call Gravel \"2020's oddest Democratic presidential candidate\".",
"Statements like these caused Vox to call Gravel \"2020's oddest Democratic presidential candidate\". The New York Times Magazine included Gravel as an example in the rise of democratic socialism in the United States also exemplified by Sanders's 2016 race and the 2018 election of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: \"[Gravel's] campaign represents the most absurd form of a legitimate movement on the left that feels little obligation to the Democratic Party.\"",
"The New York Times Magazine included Gravel as an example in the rise of democratic socialism in the United States also exemplified by Sanders's 2016 race and the 2018 election of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: \"[Gravel's] campaign represents the most absurd form of a legitimate movement on the left that feels little obligation to the Democratic Party.\" In June 2019, Gravel touted the endorsement of Muntadher al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who, in December 2008, made headlines after he threw his shoes at President George W. Bush in protest of the U.S. war in Iraq.",
"In June 2019, Gravel touted the endorsement of Muntadher al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who, in December 2008, made headlines after he threw his shoes at President George W. Bush in protest of the U.S. war in Iraq. Al-Zaidi endorsed Gravel based on his promise to improve White House policies regarding Iraq and the Middle East. On June 13, 2019, the Democratic Party announced the 20 major candidates who qualified for the first debate later that month.",
"On June 13, 2019, the Democratic Party announced the 20 major candidates who qualified for the first debate later that month. Gravel was one of the four who missed out (the others were Montana Governor Steve Bullock, U.S. Representative Seth Moulton, and Miramar, Florida, Mayor Wayne Messam). Gravel had been unable to get the requisite number of donations, or to score one percent or better in enough polls (many polls did not even include him).",
"Gravel had been unable to get the requisite number of donations, or to score one percent or better in enough polls (many polls did not even include him). Nevertheless, Gravel said he would not drop out and would try to qualify for the July debate. In early July, however, Gravel's campaign said it was still 10,000 contributions short of the 65,000-donor threshold and that it was \"nearing its conclusion\". It solicited suggestions for where to donate $100–150,000 of leftover campaign funds.",
"It solicited suggestions for where to donate $100–150,000 of leftover campaign funds. Gravel added that he had always planned on ending the campaign before the teenagers in charge of it needed to return to school. A few days later the campaign became the first to run an attack ad against Democratic front-runner Joe Biden, using the text \"Is this the best our party has to offer?\" Gravel's campaign crossed the threshold of 65,000 donors on July 12, 2019, meeting the qualification mark for that month's debate.",
"Gravel's campaign crossed the threshold of 65,000 donors on July 12, 2019, meeting the qualification mark for that month's debate. But because 20 other candidates, the maximum allowed to participate, had already met at least the polling criterion, which takes priority over the donor criterion, Gravel was not invited. The campaign officially came to a close on August 6, 2019, with Gravel endorsing both Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard for president.",
"The campaign officially came to a close on August 6, 2019, with Gravel endorsing both Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard for president. Gravel's campaign later stated on Twitter that they never wanted to win but saw the campaign as an \"intimately democratic\" project and expressed honor at working with Gravel. Gravel said he would divide remaining campaign funds between charity and a new think tank which would espouse his ideas.",
"Gravel said he would divide remaining campaign funds between charity and a new think tank which would espouse his ideas. The Gravel Institute Gravel used some of the funds remaining from his 2020 presidential campaign to found an eponymous progressive think tank called The Gravel Institute in 2019. As noted by Vice magazine, the institute aims to do battle with PragerU from a left-wing perspective.",
"As noted by Vice magazine, the institute aims to do battle with PragerU from a left-wing perspective. Launched in September 2020, the new entity said it would \"carry on the life's work of former U.S Senator Mike Gravel in fighting for global peace and democracy. Its mission is to promote bold and forward-looking ideas about a more peaceful and egalitarian world, and to build a robust movement of young people to win it\".",
"Its mission is to promote bold and forward-looking ideas about a more peaceful and egalitarian world, and to build a robust movement of young people to win it\". Contributors announced include Cornel West and Slavoj Žižek, as well as Lower Brule Indian Reservation activist Nick Estes.",
"Contributors announced include Cornel West and Slavoj Žižek, as well as Lower Brule Indian Reservation activist Nick Estes. Other presenters have included and will include H. Jon Benjamin, Briahna Joy Gray, Bernie Sanders, Chelsea Manning, Richard Wolff, Stephanie Kelton, Zephyr Teachout, David Cross, Jabari Brisport, Zohran Mamdani, and Gravel himself (though it is unknown if his appearance will be cancelled due to his death in June 2021, or if the video has already been recorded).",
"Other presenters have included and will include H. Jon Benjamin, Briahna Joy Gray, Bernie Sanders, Chelsea Manning, Richard Wolff, Stephanie Kelton, Zephyr Teachout, David Cross, Jabari Brisport, Zohran Mamdani, and Gravel himself (though it is unknown if his appearance will be cancelled due to his death in June 2021, or if the video has already been recorded). Death Gravel died of multiple myeloma at his home in Seaside, California, on June 26, 2021, at age 91.",
"Death Gravel died of multiple myeloma at his home in Seaside, California, on June 26, 2021, at age 91. The obituary for him in The New York Times stated that Gravel was \"a two-term Democratic senator from Alaska ... who was perhaps better known as an unabashed attention-getter\" who later become known for \"mounting long-shot presidential runs\".",
"The obituary for him in The New York Times stated that Gravel was \"a two-term Democratic senator from Alaska ... who was perhaps better known as an unabashed attention-getter\" who later become known for \"mounting long-shot presidential runs\". The obituary in The Washington Post was similar, saying that Gravel was \"an Alaska Democrat with a flair for the theatrical who rose from obscurity to brief renown\" and later \"ran quixotic campaigns for the presidency\".",
"The obituary in The Washington Post was similar, saying that Gravel was \"an Alaska Democrat with a flair for the theatrical who rose from obscurity to brief renown\" and later \"ran quixotic campaigns for the presidency\". The Anchorage Daily News quoted Gravel as saying of himself in 1989, \"I'm an independent kind of guy. A rough and ready kind of guy. My glands work in a certain way that make me stand up, foolishly sometimes, and fight.\"",
"My glands work in a certain way that make me stand up, foolishly sometimes, and fight.\" Political positions Alan Abramowitz and Jeffrey Allan Segal described Gravel as \"a maverick, if not an eccentric, in the Senate.\" His Americans for Democratic Action \"Liberal Quotient\" scores ranged from 81 out of 100 (1971) to 39 out of 100 (1980), with an average of around 61.",
"His Americans for Democratic Action \"Liberal Quotient\" scores ranged from 81 out of 100 (1971) to 39 out of 100 (1980), with an average of around 61. His American Conservative Union scores ranged from 0 out of 100 (several years, including 1971 and 1972) to 38 out of 100 (1979), with an average of 14.",
"His American Conservative Union scores ranged from 0 out of 100 (several years, including 1971 and 1972) to 38 out of 100 (1979), with an average of 14. Abramowitz and Segal note that Gravel's lowest ADA ratings coincided with his two Senate re-election bids, and for the most part his highest ACU ratings followed the same pattern.",
"Abramowitz and Segal note that Gravel's lowest ADA ratings coincided with his two Senate re-election bids, and for the most part his highest ACU ratings followed the same pattern. In 1972, as a young senator, Gravel published Citizen Power: A People's Platform, a manifesto outlining what Kirkus Reviews termed a \"populist reform [that] would provide 'balanced political power' between the people and government and business interests.\"",
"In 1972, as a young senator, Gravel published Citizen Power: A People's Platform, a manifesto outlining what Kirkus Reviews termed a \"populist reform [that] would provide 'balanced political power' between the people and government and business interests.\" Civil rights issues On drug policy, Gravel said in 2007 that he favored decriminalization and treating addiction as a public health matter.",
"Civil rights issues On drug policy, Gravel said in 2007 that he favored decriminalization and treating addiction as a public health matter. During his 2008 presidential candidacy he condemned the War on Drugs as a failure, saying that it did \"nothing but savage our inner cities and put our children at risk\". Gravel called for abolition of capital punishment in his book Citizen Power, and adhered to this position during his 2008 run for president. He supported abortion rights.",
"He supported abortion rights. He supported abortion rights. During the 2008 campaign Gravel was a strong supporter of LGBT rights. He supported same-sex marriage and opposed the Defense of Marriage Act and the U.S. military's \"don't ask, don't tell\" policy. He wrote in 2008 that \"depriving gays and lesbians of equal rights is immoral\". Foreign policy and defense issues Gravel was a critic of American imperialism. Gravel firmly opposed U.S. military action against Iran and Syria.",
"Gravel firmly opposed U.S. military action against Iran and Syria. He voiced opposition to the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, the Military Commissions Act of 2006, the use of torture, indefinite detention, and what he called \"flagrant ignorance\" of the Geneva Convention. In 2014 Gravel called for the release of the full, unredacted Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture. Gravel opposed the use of international sanctions as a policy tool and blamed the ones against Iraq under Saddam Hussein for the deaths of a half-million children in that country.",
"Gravel opposed the use of international sanctions as a policy tool and blamed the ones against Iraq under Saddam Hussein for the deaths of a half-million children in that country. In 2013 Gravel said that sanctions against Iran were \"illegal\". During his 2008 candidacy, Gravel called for a cut in military spending, variously reported to be 15 percent or 50 percent. He called for the savings to boost public education spending. To spur international nuclear nonproliferation efforts, Gravel called for unilateral reductions in the U.S. nuclear arsenal.",
"To spur international nuclear nonproliferation efforts, Gravel called for unilateral reductions in the U.S. nuclear arsenal. In 2008 Gravel criticized the decision of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to not pursue the efforts to impeach George W. Bush and the attempted impeachment of Dick Cheney, saying also that Bush and Cheney had committed crimes and deserved \"to be prosecuted\" at The Hague.",
"In 2008 Gravel criticized the decision of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to not pursue the efforts to impeach George W. Bush and the attempted impeachment of Dick Cheney, saying also that Bush and Cheney had committed crimes and deserved \"to be prosecuted\" at The Hague. In 2013 he expressed disdain for President Obama, calling him \"a total fraud\" and saying that both Bush and Obama should be tried \"for the crimes and murders they've committed\" in the International Court of Justice.",
"In 2013 he expressed disdain for President Obama, calling him \"a total fraud\" and saying that both Bush and Obama should be tried \"for the crimes and murders they've committed\" in the International Court of Justice. Gravel specifically condemned Obama for the drone strikes in Pakistan and elsewhere.",
"Gravel specifically condemned Obama for the drone strikes in Pakistan and elsewhere. Economy, immigration, and environment During his 2008 candidacy Gravel favored a FairTax scheme, which would abolish the Internal Revenue Service, eliminate the federal income tax (which Gravel called \"corrupt\"), and impose a national sales tax. While Gravel described FairTax as \"progressive\", others have criticized it as \"regressive\", disproportionately benefiting the wealthiest Americans.",
"While Gravel described FairTax as \"progressive\", others have criticized it as \"regressive\", disproportionately benefiting the wealthiest Americans. To offset the new sales taxes on essential goods, Gravel's plan called for monthly government rebate payments to individuals and families. During his 2020 campaign Gravel also voiced support for a third legislative body that would give the people direct control of the budget as well as the implementation of a land value tax.",
"During his 2020 campaign Gravel also voiced support for a third legislative body that would give the people direct control of the budget as well as the implementation of a land value tax. Gravel opposed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) during his 2008 candidacy, calling it unfair and economically harmful and needing renegotiation. Gravel believed that NAFTA was the \"root cause\" of illegal migration to the U.S. He favored a guest worker program and \"setting up naturalization procedures that would fairly bring immigrants into legal status\".",
"He favored a guest worker program and \"setting up naturalization procedures that would fairly bring immigrants into legal status\". In a 2007 interview, Gravel identified himself as \"very much of a globalist\" who believed in open markets and open borders and condemned the scapegoating of undocumented immigrants. Gravel also said that he favored eliminating the cap on H1B visas. As a senator from Alaska, Gravel favored drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but opposed it during his 2008 campaign.",
"As a senator from Alaska, Gravel favored drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but opposed it during his 2008 campaign. In 2008, Gravel supported a carbon tax to combat climate change. Gravel spoke in favor of net neutrality during his presidential campaign. Education and health care Gravel called for the cost of college tuition to be borne by the federal government, rather than students.",
"Education and health care Gravel called for the cost of college tuition to be borne by the federal government, rather than students. In his 2008 campaign, he called the No Child Left Behind Act \"a failure\" and called for it to be \"reformed and fully funded\". He expressed support for universal pre-kindergarten and the expansion of the Head Start program; and expressed an openness to charter schools and school vouchers. He also suggested extending the school day and the school year, and supported merit pay for teachers.",
"He also suggested extending the school day and the school year, and supported merit pay for teachers. Gravel also called for publicly funded universal health care to replace the current employer-sponsored health insurance system. He supported \"full funding\" of the VA system. When asked in 2007 about naturopathy, homeopathy, and acupuncture, Gravel said that he was \"very very much in favor\" of holistic health care. Awards and honors In 2008 Gravel received the Columbia University School of General Studies' first annual Isaac Asimov Lifetime Achievement Award.",
"Awards and honors In 2008 Gravel received the Columbia University School of General Studies' first annual Isaac Asimov Lifetime Achievement Award. Electoral history Writings Gravel, Mike. Jobs and More Jobs. Mt. McKinley Publishers, 1968. Gravel, Mike. Citizen Power: A People's Platform. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1972. . revised and reissued as Citizen Power: A Mandate for Change, AuthorHouse, 2008. . Gravel, Mike and Lauria, Joe.",
"Gravel, Mike and Lauria, Joe. Gravel, Mike and Lauria, Joe. A Political Odyssey: The Rise of American Militarism and One Man's Fight to Stop It. Seven Stories Press, 2008. . Gravel, Mike and Eisenbach, David. The Kingmakers: How the Media Threatens Our Security and Our Democracy. Phoenix Books, 2008. . Gravel, Mike. Voice of a Maverick: The Speeches and Writings of Senator Mike Gravel. Brandywine House, 2008. Gravel, Mike.",
"Brandywine House, 2008. Gravel, Mike. Gravel, Mike. Foreword to Poisoned Power: The Case Against Nuclear Power Plants. John W. Goffman & Arthur R. Tamplin, Rodale Press, Inc., Emmaus, PA, June 1971. Gravel, Mike. The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People. AuthorHouse, 2020. Explanatory notes References Citations General references The Pentagon Papers Senator Gravel Edition. Vol. Five: Critical Essays. Boston: Beacon Press, 1972. 341p. plus 72p.",
"Five: Critical Essays. Boston: Beacon Press, 1972. 341p. plus 72p. plus 72p. of Index to Vol. I–IV of the Papers; Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, editors.",
"I–IV of the Papers; Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, editors. External links Mike Gravel official website The Gravel Institute |- |- 1930 births 2021 deaths 1972 United States vice-presidential candidates 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American politicians 20th-century Roman Catholics 20th-century Unitarians 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American politicians 21st-century Unitarians 9/11 conspiracy theorists Alaska Democrats American International College alumni American Unitarian Universalists American anti–Iraq War activists American conspiracy theorists American democracy activists American male non-fiction writers American people of French-Canadian descent American political writers American real estate businesspeople American stockbrokers Anti-corporate activists Assumption University (Worcester) alumni Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Businesspeople from Anchorage, Alaska Businesspeople from Springfield, Massachusetts California Democrats Candidates in the 2008 United States presidential election Candidates in the 2020 United States presidential election Columbia University School of General Studies alumni Deaths from cancer in California Deaths from multiple myeloma Democratic Party United States senators Direct democracy activists Drug policy reform activists Former Roman Catholics Virginia Libertarians Members of the Alaska House of Representatives Military personnel from Massachusetts Non-interventionism People from Arlington County, Virginia People from Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska People with dyslexia Politicians from Anchorage, Alaska Politicians from Springfield, Massachusetts Speakers of the Alaska House of Representatives United States Army officers United States senators from Alaska Writers about direct democracy Writers from Anchorage, Alaska"
] |
[
"Mike Gravel",
"Run for Vice President in 1972",
"Who was Gavel's running mate?",
"I don't know.",
"Who did he compete against in 1972?",
"former Governor of Massachusetts Endicott Peabody had been running a quixotic campaign for the same post",
"What significant events happened during the campaign?",
"At the convention's final day on July 14, 1972, presidential nominee McGovern selected and announced Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri as his vice-presidential choice.",
"What did Gravel do afterward?",
"Gravel was nominated by Bettye Fahrenkamp, the Democratic National Committeewoman from Alaska.",
"What was he nominated for?",
"presidential nominee"
] | C_99b905b192ab4470bbae0787f5f31d5c_1 | Did he have any enemies? | 6 | Did Mike Gravel have any enemies? | Mike Gravel | Gravel "decided to become a pioneer in a faraway place," and moved to pre-statehood Alaska in August 1956, without funds or a job, looking for a place where someone without social or political connections could be a viable candidate for public office. Alaska's voting age of 19, less than most other states' 21, played a role in his decision, as did its newness and cooler climate. Broke when he arrived, he immediately found work in real estate sales until winter arrived. Gravel then was employed as a brakeman for the Alaska Railroad, working the snow-clearing train on the Anchorage-Fairbanks run. Subsequently, he opened a small real estate brokerage in Anchorage (the Territory of Alaska not requiring a license) and saved enough so as not to have to work the railroad again. Gravel joined the Anchorage Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, and continued a sporadic relationship with the movement throughout his life. Gravel married Rita Jeannette Martin, who had been Anchorage's "Miss Fur Rendezvous" of 1958, on April 29, 1959. They had two children, Martin Anthony Gravel and Lynne Denise Gravel, born c. 1960 and 1962 respectively. Meanwhile, he went to Washington, D.C. in 1957 to campaign for Alaskan statehood via the "Tennessee Plan": dressed as Paul Revere, he rode with a petition to the steps of the U.S. Capitol. Seeing Alaska as a wide-open place with no political establishment or entrenched interests, and using the slogan "Gravel, the Roadbed to Prosperity", he ran for the territorial legislature in 1958 but lost. He went on a national speaking tour concerning tax reform in 1959, sponsored by the Jaycees. He ran without avail for the City Council in Anchorage in 1960. During this time, he had become a successful real estate agent; after the 1960 election, he became a property developer in a mobile home park on the outskirts of Anchorage. A partner ran into financial difficulty, however, and the project went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy and Gravel was forced out in 1962. In the late 1960s and early 1970s the U.S. Department of Defense was in the process of performing tests for the nuclear warhead for the Spartan anti-ballistic missile. Two tests, the "Milrow" and "Cannikin" tests, were planned, involving the detonation of nuclear bombs under Amchitka Island in Alaska. The Milrow test would be a one megaton calibration exercise for the second, and larger five megaton, Cannikin test, which would measure the effectiveness of the warhead. Gravel opposed the tests in Congress. Before the Milrow test took place in October 1969, he wrote that there were significant risks of earthquakes and other adverse consequences, and called for an independent national commission on nuclear and seismic safety to be created; he then made a personal appeal to President Nixon to stop the test. After Milrow was conducted, there was continued pressure on the part of environmental groups against going forward with the larger Cannikin test, while the Federation of American Scientists claimed that the warhead being tested was already obsolete. In May 1971, Gravel sent a letter to U.S. Atomic Energy Commission hearings held in Anchorage, in which he said the risk of the test was not worth taking. Eventually a group not involving Gravel took the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to issue an injunction against it, and the Cannikin test took place as scheduled in November 1971. Gravel had failed to stop the tests (notwithstanding his later claims during his 2008 presidential campaign). Nuclear power was considered an environmentally clean alternative for the commercial generation of electricity and was part of a popular national policy for the peaceful use of atomic energy in the 1950s and 1960s. Gravel publicly opposed this policy; besides the dangers of nuclear testing, he was a vocal critic of the Atomic Energy Commission, which oversaw American nuclear efforts, and of the powerful United States Congress Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, which had a stranglehold on nuclear policy and which Gravel tried to circumvent. In 1971, Gravel sponsored a bill to impose a moratorium on nuclear power plant construction and to make power utilities liable for any nuclear accidents; in 1975, he was still proposing similar moratoriums. By 1974, Gravel was allied with Ralph Nader's organization in opposing nuclear power. Six months before U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's secret mission to the People's Republic of China (P.R.C.) in July 1971, Gravel introduced legislation to recognize and normalize relations with China, including a proposal for unity talks between the P.R.C. and the Republic of China (Taiwan) regarding the Chinese seat on the U.N. Security Council. Gravel reiterated his position in favor of recognition, with four other senators in agreement, during Senate hearings in June 1971. Gravel actively campaigned for the office of Vice President of the United States during the 1972 presidential election, announcing on June 2, 1972, over a month before the 1972 Democratic National Convention began, that he was interested in running for the nomination should the choice be opened up to convention delegates. Towards this end he began soliciting delegates for their support in advance of the convention. He was not alone in this effort, as former Governor of Massachusetts Endicott Peabody had been running a quixotic campaign for the same post since the prior year. Likely presidential nominee George McGovern was in fact considering the unusual move of naming three or four acceptable vice-presidential candidates and letting the delegates choose. At the convention's final day on July 14, 1972, presidential nominee McGovern selected and announced Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri as his vice-presidential choice. Eagleton was unknown to many delegates and the choice seemed to smack of traditional ticket balancing considerations. Thus, there were delegates willing to look elsewhere. Gravel was nominated by Bettye Fahrenkamp, the Democratic National Committeewoman from Alaska. He then seconded his own nomination, breaking down in tears at his own words and maybe trying to withdraw his nomination. In any case he won 226 delegate votes, coming in third behind Eagleton and Frances "Sissy" Farenthold of Texas, in chaotic balloting that included several other candidates as well. For his efforts, Gravel attracted some attention: famed writer Norman Mailer would say he "provided considerable excitement" and was "good-looking enough to have played leads in B-films", while Rolling Stone correspondent Hunter S. Thompson said Gravel "probably said a few things that might have been worth hearing, under different circumstances ..." Yet, the whole process had been doubly disastrous for the Democrats. The time consumed with the nominating and seconding and other speeches of all the vice-presidential candidates had lost the attention of the delegates on the floor and pushed McGovern's speech until 3:30 a.m. The haste with which Eagleton had been selected led to surprise when his past mental health treatments were revealed; he withdrew from the ticket soon after the convention, to be replaced by Sargent Shriver. CANNOTANSWER | Rolling Stone correspondent Hunter S. Thompson said Gravel "probably said a few things that might have been worth hearing, under different circumstances | Maurice Robert Gravel ( ; May 13, 1930 – June 26, 2021) was an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Alaska from 1969 to 1981 as a member of the Democratic Party, and who, in later life, twice ran for the presidential nomination of that party.
Born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, by French-Canadian immigrant parents, Gravel moved to Alaska in the late 1950s, becoming a real estate developer and entering politics. He served in the Alaska House of Representatives from 1963 to 1967, and also became Speaker of the Alaska House. Gravel was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1968.
As a senator, Gravel became nationally known for his forceful, but unsuccessful, attempts to end the draft during the War in Vietnam, and for putting the Pentagon Papers into the public record in 1971. He conducted a campaign for the Democratic nomination in 1972 for Vice President of the United States, and then played a crucial role in obtaining Congressional approval for the Trans-Alaska pipeline in 1973. He was re-elected to the Senate in 1974, but was defeated in his bid for a third term in the primary election in 1980.
An advocate of direct democracy and the National Initiative, Gravel staged a run for the 2008 Democratic nomination for President of the United States. His campaign failed to gain support, and in March 2008, he left the Democratic Party and joined the Libertarian Party to compete unsuccessfully for its presidential nomination and the inclusion of the National Initiative into the Libertarian Platform. He ran for president as a Democrat again in the 2020 election, in a campaign that ended four months after it began. Two years before his death, Gravel and his campaign staff founded the progressive think tank The Gravel Institute.
Early life, military service, education
Gravel was born on May 13, 1930, in Springfield, Massachusetts, one of five children of French-Canadian immigrant parents, Alphonse and Marie (née Bourassa) Gravel. His parents were part of the Quebec diaspora, and he was raised in a working-class neighborhood during the Great Depression, speaking only French until he was seven years old. Calling him "Mike" from an early age, his father valued work above all else, while his mother stressed the importance of education.
Gravel was educated in parochial schools as a Roman Catholic. There he struggled, due to what he later said was undiagnosed dyslexia, and was left back in third grade. He completed elementary school in 1945 and his class voted him "most charming personality". A summer job as a soda jerk led to Gravel handing out campaign fliers for local candidates on his boss's behalf; Gravel was immediately impressed with "the awesomeness of political office".
Gravel then boarded at Assumption Preparatory School in Worcester, Massachusetts, where his performance was initially mediocre. By Gravel's telling, in the summer of 1948 he intended to volunteer for the Israel Defense Forces during the 1947–1949 Palestine war, but Alexandra Tolstaya told him to return to school. There an English teacher, the Assumptionist Edgar Bourque, gave him personal attention, improving Gravel's language skills and instructing him in public speaking. Gravel's grades improved measurably in his final year and he graduated in 1949. His sister, Marguerite, became a Holy Cross nun, but Gravel himself struggled with the Catholic faith. He studied for one year at Assumption College, a Catholic school in Worcester, then transferred for his sophomore year to American International College in Springfield. Journalist I. F. Stone and philosopher Bertrand Russell strongly influenced Gravel in their willingness to challenge assumptions and oppose social convention and political authority.
Around May 1951, Gravel saw that he was about to be drafted and instead enlisted in the U.S. Army for a three-year term so that he could get into the Counterintelligence Corps. After basic training and counterintelligence school at Fort Holabird in Maryland and in South Carolina, he went to Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia. While he expected to be sent off to the Korean War when he graduated as a second lieutenant in early 1952, he was instead assigned to Stuttgart, West Germany, as a Special Adjutant in the Army's Communications Intelligence Service. In Germany, Gravel conducted surveillance operations on civilians and paid off spies. After about a year, he transferred to Orléans, France, where his French language abilities (if not his French-Canadian accent) allowed him to infiltrate French communist rallies. He worked as a Special Agent in the Counterintelligence Corps until 1954, eventually becoming a first lieutenant.
Following his discharge, Gravel entered the Columbia University School of General Studies in New York City, where he studied economics and received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1956. He moved to New York "flat broke" and supported himself by working as a bar boy in a hotel, driving a taxicab, and working in the investment bond department at Bankers Trust. During this time he left the Roman Catholic faith.
Move to Alaska
Gravel "decided to become a pioneer in a faraway place," and moved to pre-statehood Alaska in August 1956, without funds or a job, looking for a place where someone without social or political connections could be a viable candidate for public office. Alaska's voting age of 19, less than most other states' 21, played a role in his decision, as did its newness and cooler climate. Broke when he arrived, he immediately found work in real estate sales until winter arrived. Gravel then was employed as a brakeman for the Alaska Railroad, working the snow-clearing train on the Anchorage-to-Fairbanks run. Subsequently, he opened a small real estate brokerage in Anchorage (the Territory of Alaska not requiring a license) and saved enough so as not to have to work the railroad again. The firm was named the M. R. Gravel Real Estate Company. Gravel joined the Anchorage Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, and continued a sporadic relationship with the movement throughout his life.
Seeing Alaska as a wide-open place with no political establishment or entrenched interests, Gravel quickly became part of the civic scene there. By October 1957 he was a Division Chairman for Anchorage for the Democratic Central Committee in the territory, and by June 1958 he was president of the Alaska Young Democrats organization. He also became active in the United States Junior Chamber (Jaycees), and by early 1958 his duties included handing out awards for farmer of the year.
By early 1958, Gravel was running as Democratic Party primary candidate for a Third Division seat in House of Representative of the territorial legislature. (This was one of the four judicial divisions into which Alaska was sectioned at the time.) Using the slogan "Gravel, the Roadbed to Prosperity", he ran but lost. At the same time, he was also an advocate for Alaskan statehood.
Gravel went on a 44-state national speaking tour concerning tax reform in 1959, sponsored by the Jaycees, often dressing for events as Paul Revere. Gravel was selected from some two thousand applications for this position. The tour received a good amount of local newspaper coverage at its various stops, with Gravel's first name sometimes given as Mike and other times as Maurice. The tour's general message was an urging of "lower taxes, more efficiency in government and a system of taxation moderate at all levels of income". At several stops Gravel stated that the "tide of socialism" had to be stopped. He elaborated at another stop, "It is part of our Jaycee creed that economic justice can best be won by free men through free enterprise. We really want to see that free enterprise become our inheritance." The tour was scheduled to conclude in Washington D.C., on Tax Day, April 15, with petition signatures accumulated for reform to be presented to U.S. lawmakers: dressed as Revere, Gravel rode with the petition to the steps of the U.S. Capitol.
The tour over, Gravel married Rita Jeannette Martin at the First Methodist Church of Anchorage on April 29, 1959. She was a native of Montana who had attended Billings Business College before moving to Alaska two years prior and becoming a secretary in the office of the Anchorage city manager. She had also been named Anchorage's "Miss Fur Rendezvous" of 1958. They had two children, Martin Anthony Gravel and Lynne Denise Gravel, born c. 1960 and 1962 respectively.
Gravel ran without avail for the City Council in Anchorage in 1960. During this time, he had become a successful real estate agent; after the 1960 election, he became a property developer in a mobile home park on the outskirts of Anchorage. After a partner ran into financial difficulty, however, the project went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and Gravel was forced out in 1962.
State legislator
With the support of Alaska wholesale grocer Barney Gottstein and supermarket builder Larry Carr, Gravel ran for the Alaska House of Representatives representing Anchorage in 1962, initially assigned the 10th and then 8th districts. Alaska had very crowded primaries that year: Gravel was one of 33 Democrats, along with 21 Republicans, who were running for the chance to compete for the 14 House seats allocated to the 8th district. Gravel made it through the primary, and in November eight Republicans and six Democrats were elected to the House from the district, with Gravel finishing eighth overall and third among with Democrats, with 8,174 votes. Gottstein became Gravel's main financial backer during most of his subsequent campaigns.
Gravel served in the Alaska House of Representatives from January 28, 1963 to January 22, 1967, winning reelection in 1964. In his first term, he served as a minority member on two House committees: Commerce, and Labor and Management. He co-authored and sponsored the act that created the Alaska State Commission for Human Rights. Gravel was the chief architect of the law that created a regional high school system for rural Alaska; this allowed Alaska Natives to attend schools near where they lived instead of having to go to schools run by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the lower 48 states.
During the half-years that the legislature was not in session, Gravel resumed his real estate work. With Gottstein and Carr's backing, he became quite successful as a property developer on the Kenai Peninsula.
During 1965 and 1966, he served as the Speaker of the House, surprising observers by winning that post. Gravel convinced former Speaker Warren A. Taylor to not try for the position against him by promising Taylor chairmanship of the Rules Committee, then reneged on the promise. Gravel denied later press charges that he had promised but not delivered on other committee chairmanships. As Speaker he antagonized fellow lawmakers by imposing his will on the legislature's committees and feuded with Alaska State Senate president Robert J. McNealy.
Gravel did not run for reelection in 1966, instead choosing to run for Alaska's seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, losing the primary to four-term incumbent Democrat Ralph Rivers by 1,300 votes and splitting the Democratic Party in the process. Rivers lost the general election that year to Republican state Senator Howard Pollock. Following this defeat, Gravel returned to the real estate business in Anchorage.
U.S. Senator
Election to Senate in 1968
In 1968, Gravel ran against 81-year-old incumbent Democratic United States Senator Ernest Gruening, a popular former governor of the Alaska Territory who was considered one of the fathers of Alaska's statehood, for his party's nomination to the U.S. Senate. Gravel's campaign was primarily based on his youth and telegenic appearance rather than issue differences. He hired Joseph Napolitan, the first self-described political consultant, in late 1966. They spent over a year and a half planning a short, nine-day primary election campaign that featured the slogans "Alaska first" and "Let's do something about the state we're in", the distribution of a collection of essays titled Jobs and More Jobs, and the creation of a half-hour, well-produced, glamorized biographical film of Gravel, Man for Alaska. The film was shown twice a day on every television station in Alaska, and carried by plane and shown on home projectors in hundreds of Alaska Native villages. The heavy showings quickly reversed a 2–to–1 Gruening lead in polls into a Gravel lead. Gravel visited many remote villages by seaplane and showed a thorough understanding of the needs of the bush country and the fishing and oil industries. Gravel also benefited from maintaining a deliberately ambiguous posture about Vietnam policy. Gruening had been one of only two Senators to vote against the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and his opposition to President Lyndon B. Johnson's war policies was harming him among the Democratic electorate; according to Gravel, "all I had to do was stand up and not deal with the subject, and people would assume that I was to the right of Ernest Gruening, when in point of fact I was to the left of him". In Man for Alaska, Gravel argued that "the liberals" would come to West Germany's defense if it was attacked, and that the same standard should apply to the United States' allies in Asia. During the campaign he also claimed that he was "more in the mainstream of American thought on Vietnam" than Gruening, despite the fact that he had written to Gruening to praise his antiwar stance four years earlier. Decades later, Gravel conceded that "I said what I said [about Vietnam] to advance my career."
Gravel beat Gruening in the primary by about 2,000 votes. Gruening found "the unexpected defeat hard to take" and thought that some aspects of his opponent's biographical film had misled viewers. In the general election, Gravel faced Republican Elmer E. Rasmuson, a banker and former mayor of Anchorage. College students in the state implored Gruening to run a write-in campaign as an Independent, but legal battles prevented him from getting approval for it until only two weeks were left. A late appearance by anti-war presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy did not offset Gruening's lack of funds and endorsements; meanwhile, Gravel and Rasmuson both saturated local media with their filmed biographies. On November 5, 1968, Gravel won the general election with 45 percent of the vote to Rasmuson's 37 percent and Gruening's 18 percent.
Senate assignments and style
When Gravel joined the U.S.Senate in January 1969, he requested and received a seat on the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee, which had direct relevance to Alaskan issues. He also got a spot on the Public Works Committee, which he held throughout his time in the Senate. Finally, he was a member of the Select Committee on Small Business. In 1971 he became chair of the Public Works Committee's Subcommittee on Public Buildings and Grounds, and by 1973 he was chair of its Subcommittee on Water Resources, then later its Subcommittee on Environmental Pollution. Gravel was also initially named to the Joint Committee on Congressional Operations. By 1973 Gravel was off the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee and the Select Small Business Committee and instead a member of the Finance Committee, and by 1977 was chair of that body's Subcommittee on Energy and Foundations. By 1973 he had also been on the ad hoc Special Committee to Study Secret and Confidential Government Documents.
By his own admission, Gravel was too new and "too abrasive" to be effective in the Senate by the usual means of seniority-based committee assignments or negotiating deals with other senators, and was sometimes seen as arrogant or a nuisance by the more senior and tradition-oriented members. Gravel relied on attention-getting gestures to achieve what he wanted, hoping national exposure would force other senators to listen to him. But even senators who agreed with him on issues considered his methods to be showboating.
As part of this approach, Gravel voted with Southern Democrats to keep the Senate filibuster rule in place, and accordingly supported Russell Long and Robert Byrd but opposed Ted Kennedy in Senate leadership battles. In retrospective assessment, University of Alaska Anchorage history professor Stephen Haycox said, "Loose cannon is a good description of Gravel's Senate career. He was an off-the-wall guy, and you weren't really ever sure what he would do."
Nuclear issues and the Cold War
In the late 1960s and early 1970s the U.S. Department of Defense was in the process of performing tests for the nuclear warhead for the Spartan anti-ballistic missile. Two tests, the "Milrow" and "Cannikin" tests, were planned, involving the detonation of nuclear bombs under Amchitka Island in Alaska. The Milrow test would be a one-megaton calibration exercise for the second and larger five-megaton Cannikin test, which would measure the effectiveness of the warhead. Gravel opposed the tests. Before the Milrow test took place in October 1969, he wrote that there were significant risks of earthquakes and other adverse consequences and called for an independent national commission on nuclear and seismic safety; he then made a personal appeal to President Richard Nixon to stop the test.
After Milrow was conducted, there was continued pressure on the part of environmental groups against going forward with the Cannikin test, while the Federation of American Scientists claimed that the warhead being tested was already obsolete. In May 1971 Gravel sent a letter to U.S. Atomic Energy Commission hearings held in Anchorage in which he said the risk of the test was not worth taking. Eventually a group not involving Gravel took the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to issue an injunction against it, and the Cannikin test took place as scheduled in November 1971. Gravel had failed to stop the tests (notwithstanding his later claims during his 2008 presidential campaign).
In 1971 Gravel voted against the Nixon administration's proposed anti-ballistic missile system, the Safeguard Program, having previously vacillated over the issue, suggesting that he might be willing to support it in exchange for federal lands in Alaska being opened up for private oil drilling. His vote alienated Senator Henry "Scoop" Jackson, who had raised funds for Gravel's primary campaign.
Nuclear power was considered an environmentally clean alternative for commercial generation of electricity and was part of a popular national policy for the peaceful use of atomic energy in the 1950s and 1960s. Gravel publicly opposed this policy; besides the dangers of nuclear testing, he was a vocal critic of the Atomic Energy Commission, which oversaw American nuclear efforts, and of the powerful United States Congress Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, which had a stranglehold on nuclear policy and which Gravel tried to circumvent. In 1971 Gravel sponsored a bill to impose a moratorium on nuclear power plant construction and to make power utilities liable for any nuclear accidents; in 1975 he was still proposing similar moratoriums. By 1974 Gravel was allied with Ralph Nader's organization in opposing nuclear power.
Six months before U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's July 1971 secret mission to the People's Republic of China (P.R.C.), Gravel introduced legislation to recognize and normalize relations with the P.R.C., including a proposal for unity talks between the P.R.C. and the Republic of China (Taiwan) regarding the Chinese seat on the U.N. Security Council. He reiterated his position in favor of recognition, with four other senators in agreement, during Senate hearings in June 1971.
Vietnam War, the draft, and the Pentagon Papers
Although he did not campaign against the Vietnam War during his first Senate campaign, by the end of 1970 Gravel was speaking out against United States policy in southeast Asia: in December of that year he persuaded William Fulbright to join him in a spontaneous two-day filibuster against a $155 million military aid package to Cambodia's Khmer Republic government in the Cambodian Civil War.
President Richard Nixon had campaigned in 1968 on a promise to end the U.S. military draft, a decision endorsed by the February 1970 report of the Gates Commission.
The existing draft law was scheduled to conclude at the end of June 1971, and the Senate faced a contentious debate about whether to extend it as the Vietnam War continued. The Nixon administration announced in February 1971 that it wanted a two-year extension to June 1973, after which the draft would end; Army planners had already been operating under the assumption of a two-year extension, after which an all-volunteer force would be in place. Skeptics such as Senate Armed Services Committee chairman John Stennis thought this unrealistic and wanted a four-year extension, but the two-year proposal is what went forward in Congress. By early May 1971, Gravel had indicated his intention to filibuster the draft renewal legislation, halting conscription and thereby bringing U.S. involvement in the war to a rapid end. During this period he also supported efforts to mobilize and influence public opinion against the war, endorsing the "Vietnam War Out Now" rallies in Washington D.C. and San Francisco on April 24, 1971, and financing a broadcast campaign by the antiwar group War No More with a personal loan. In June 1972 he escorted a group of over 100 antiwar protesters, including psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton, actress Candice Bergen, theater producer and director Joseph Papp, and peditrician Dr. Benjamin Spock, into the United States Capitol Building; the group was arrested after blocking a hallway outside the Senate chamber.
By June 1971, some Democratic senators opposed to the war wanted to limit the renewal to a one-year extension, while others wanted to end it immediately; Gravel reiterated that he was one of the latter, saying, "It's a senseless war, and one way to do away with it is to do away with the draft." A Senate vote on June 4 indicated majority support for the two-year extension. On June 18 Gravel announced again his intention to counteract that by filibustering the renewal legislation, defending the practice against those who associated it only with blocking civil rights legislation. The first filibuster attempt failed on June 23 when, by three votes, the Senate voted cloture for only the fifth time since 1927.
Protracted negotiations took place over House conference negotiations on the bill, revolving in large part around Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield's eventually unsuccessful amendment to tie renewal to a troop withdrawal timetable from Vietnam; during this time the draft law expired and no more were conscripted. On August 5, the Nixon administration pleaded for a renewal before the Senate went on recess, but Gravel blocked Stennis's attempt to limit debate, and no vote was held. Finally on September 21, 1971, the Senate invoked cloture over Gravel's second filibuster attempt by one vote, and then passed the two-year draft extension. Gravel's attempts to stop the draft had failed (notwithstanding Gravel's later claims that he had stopped or shortened the draft, taken at face value in some media reports, during his 2008 presidential campaign).
Meanwhile, on June 13, 1971, The New York Times began printing large portions of the Pentagon Papers. The papers were a large collection of secret government documents and studies pertaining to the Vietnam War, of which former Defense Department analyst Daniel Ellsberg had made unauthorized copies and was determined to make public. Ellsberg had for a year and a half approached members of Congress – such as William Fulbright, George McGovern, Charles Mathias, and Pete McCloskey – about publishing the documents, on the grounds that the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution would give congressional members immunity from prosecution, but all had refused. Instead, Ellsberg gave the documents to the Times.
The U.S. Justice Department immediately tried to halt publication, on the grounds that the information revealed within the papers harmed the national interest. Within the next two weeks, a federal court injunction halted publication in the Times; The Washington Post and several other newspapers began publishing parts of the documents, with some of them also being halted by injunctions; and the whole matter went to the U.S. Supreme Court for arguments. Looking for an alternate publication mechanism, Ellsberg returned to his idea of having a member of Congress read them, and chose Gravel based on the latter's efforts against the draft; Gravel agreed where previously others had not. Ellsberg arranged for the papers to be given to Gravel on June 26 via an intermediary, Post editor Ben Bagdikian. Gravel used his counter-intelligence experience to choose a midnight transfer in front of the Mayflower Hotel in the center of Washington, D.C.
On the night of June 29, 1971, Gravel attempted to read the papers on the floor of the Senate as part of his filibuster against the draft, but was thwarted when no quorum could be formed. Gravel instead convened a session of the Buildings and Grounds subcommittee that he chaired. He got New York Congressman John G. Dow to testify that the war had soaked up funding for public buildings, thus making discussion of the war relevant to the committee. He began reading from the papers with the press in attendance, omitting supporting documents that he felt might compromise national security, and declaring, "It is my constitutional obligation to protect the security of the people by fostering the free flow of information absolutely essential to their democratic decision-making."
He read until 1 a.m., culminating by saying "Arms are being severed. Metal is clashing through human bodies because of the public policy this government and all its branches continue to support." Then with tears and sobs he said that he could no longer physically continue, the previous three nights of sleeplessness and fear about the future having taken their toll. Gravel ended the session by, with no other senators present, establishing unanimous consent to insert 4,100 pages of the Papers into the Congressional Record of his subcommittee. The following day, the Supreme Court's New York Times Co. v. United States decision ruled in favor of the newspapers and publication in the Times and others resumed. In July 1971 Bantam Books published an inexpensive paperback edition of the papers containing the material the Times had published.
Gravel, too, wanted to privately publish the portion of the papers he had read into the record, believing that "immediate disclosure of the contents of these papers will change the policy that supports the war". After being turned down by many commercial publishers, on August 4 he reached agreement with Beacon Press, the publishing arm of the Unitarian Universalist Association, of which Gravel was a member. Announced on August 17 and published on October 22, 1971, this four-volume, relatively expensive set became the "Senator Gravel Edition", which studies from Cornell University and the Annenberg Center for Communication have labeled as the most complete edition of the Pentagon Papers to be published. The "Gravel Edition" was edited and annotated by Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn, and included an additional volume of analytical articles on the origins and progress of the war, also edited by Chomsky and Zinn. Beacon Press then was subjected to a FBI investigation; an outgrowth of this was the Gravel v. United States court case, which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled upon in June 1972; it held that the Speech or Debate Clause did grant immunity to Gravel for his reading the papers in his subcommittee, did grant some immunity to Gravel's congressional aide, but granted no immunity to Beacon Press in relation to their publishing the same papers. The U.S. Senate Democratic Caucus backed Gravel in the case, but due to Republican opposition it did not pay Gravel's legal fees, leaving him owing $25,000 (the equivalent of $150,000 in 2019, adjusted for inflation).
The events of 1971 changed Gravel in the following months from an obscure freshman senator to a nationally visible political figure. He became a sought-after speaker on the college circuit as well as at political fundraisers, opportunities he welcomed as lectures were "the one honest way a Senator has to supplement his income". But his speaking tours caused him to accrue one of the worst absentee records in the Senate. The Democratic candidates for the 1972 presidential election sought his endorsement. In January 1972 Gravel endorsed Maine Senator Ed Muskie, hoping that his support would help Muskie with the party's left wing and in ethnic French-Canadian areas during the first primary contest in New Hampshire (Muskie won, but not overwhelmingly, and his campaign faltered soon after). In April 1972 Gravel appeared on all three networks' nightly newscasts to decry the Nixon administration's reliance on Vietnamization by making reference to the secret National Security Study Memorandum 1 document, which stated it would take 8–13 years for the Army of the Republic of Vietnam to defend South Vietnam. Gravel made excerpts from the study public, but senators Robert P. Griffin and William B. Saxbe blocked his attempt to read NSSM 1 into the Congressional Record.
Domestic policy
In 1970 Gravel co-sponsored legislation to establish a guaranteed minimum income, entitling poor families to up to $6,300 a year (the equivalent of $42,000 in 2019 after adjustment for inflation). He subsequently voted for a "work bonus" program, which would have entitled low-income working families with dependent children if they were paying Social Security or Railroad Retirement taxes to a non-taxable bonus of up to 10 percent of their wages. Gravel also supported extending Social Security to all federal employees and introduced a campaign finance reform bill in 1971 that would have enacted full disclosure of campaign financing, placed limits on large donations, media spending and individual candidate spending.
In 1969, Gravel was the only Democratic Senator outside of the South to vote for Nixon's Supreme Court nominee Clement Haynsworth. The following year Gravel opposed Nixon's next pick, G. Harrold Carswell.
Run for vice president in 1972
Gravel actively campaigned for the office of Vice President of the United States during the 1972 presidential election, announcing on June 2, 1972, over a month before the 1972 Democratic National Convention began, that he was interested in the nomination should the choice be opened up to convention delegates. Toward this end he began soliciting delegates for their support. He was not alone in this effort, as former Governor of Massachusetts Endicott Peabody had been running a quixotic campaign for the same post since the prior year. Likely presidential nominee George McGovern was in fact considering the unusual move of naming three or four acceptable vice-presidential candidates and letting the delegates choose.
On the convention's final day, July 14, 1972, McGovern selected and announced Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri as his vice-presidential choice. Eagleton was unknown to many delegates and the choice seemed to smack of traditional ticket balancing considerations. Thus there were delegates willing to look elsewhere. Gravel was nominated by Bettye Fahrenkamp, the Democratic National Committeewoman from Alaska. He then seconded his own nomination, breaking down in tears at his own words and maybe trying to withdraw his nomination. In any case he won 226 delegate votes, coming in third behind Eagleton and Frances "Sissy" Farenthold of Texas, in chaotic balloting that included several other candidates.
Gravel attracted some attention for his efforts: writer Norman Mailer said he "provided considerable excitement" and was "good-looking enough to have played leads in B-films", while Rolling Stone correspondent Hunter S. Thompson said Gravel "probably said a few things that might have been worth hearing, under different circumstances". Yet the process was doubly disastrous for the Democrats. In the time consumed by nominating and seconding and all the vice-presidential candidates' speeches, the attention of the delegates on the floor was lost and McGovern's speech was pushed to 3:30 a.m. The haste with which Eagleton was selected led to surprise when his past mental health treatments were revealed; he withdrew from the ticket soon after the convention, to be replaced by Sargent Shriver.
Reelection to Senate in 1974
Several years earlier, Alaska politicians had speculated that Gravel would have a hard time getting both renominated and elected when his first term expired, given that he was originally elected without a base party organization and tended to focus on national rather than local issues.
Nonetheless, after receiving support from national and local labor leaders, securing key earmarks, and producing another half-hour TV advertorial, in 1974 Gravel was reelected to the Senate, with 58 percent of the vote to 42 percent for Republican State Senator C. R. Lewis, who was a national officer of the John Birch Society.
Second term
Gravel's reelection campaign left him $65,000–$75,000 in debt. In 1975 The Washington Post reported on a memo by his executive assistant laying out a fundraising strategy to tackle this, including raising funds from oil companies, meeting with previous donors and "inquir[ing] into the governmental priorities of these people and their groups in the coming session", as well as obtaining further speaking fees to reduce his personal debt. This was followed by a number of stories about links between Gravel, lobbyists and fundraisers, including one that was widely publicized in Alaska about his holding a share in a Colorado resort with two Washington lobbyists he was working with on land and energy legislation. Gravel had been open about the investment and had opposing views to one of the lobbyists on nuclear power. In 1980 the Wall Street Journal published details about his fundraising activities, including writing to individuals and PACs in the oil industry, pledging to kill off proposals for a windfall profits tax on the sector, and traveling in the Middle East with the business partner of one of his donors to sell Alaskan land to businessmen. Gravel suggested that critics of his fundraising were "naive".
In 1975 Gravel introduced an amendment to cut the number of troops overseas by 200,000, but it was defeated on a voice vote.
In September 1975 Gravel was named as one of several Congressional Advisers to the Seventh Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly, which met to discuss problems related to economic development and international economic cooperation.
In June 1976 Gravel was the focus of a federal investigation into allegations that he was involved in a sex-for-vote arrangement. Congressional staff clerk Elizabeth Ray (who had already been involved in a sex scandal that led to the downfall of Representative Wayne Hays) said that in August 1972 she had sex with Gravel aboard a houseboat on the Potomac River, under the instruction of Representative Kenneth J. Gray, her boss at the time. Gray allegedly wanted to secure Gravel's support for further funding for construction of the National Visitor Center in Washington, a troubled project that was under the jurisdiction of subcommittees that both members chaired. Another Congressional staffer said she witnessed the boat encounter, but Gravel said at the time that he had never met either of the women. Gravel and Gray strongly denied that they had made any arrangement regarding legislation, and neither was ever charged with any wrongdoing. Decades later Gravel wrote that he had indeed had sex with Ray, but had not changed any votes because of it.
Gravel and his main financial backer, Gottstein, had a falling out in 1978, during the Congressional debate over whether to allow a controversial sale of U.S. F-15 fighter aircraft to Saudi Arabia. An ardent backer of Israel, Gottstein opposed the sale and asked Gravel to vote against it. But Gravel not only voted for it but made an emotional speech attacking the anti-sale campaign. Gravel wrote in 2008 that it was the only time Gottstein had ever asked him for a favor, and the rupture resulted in their never speaking to each other again.
Alaskan issues
By 1971 Gravel was urging construction of the much-argued Trans-Alaska pipeline, addressing environmental concerns by saying that the pipeline's builders and operators should have "total and absolute" responsibility for any consequent environmental damage. Two years later the debate over the pipeline came to a crux, with The New York Times describing it as "environmentalists [in] a holy war with the major oil companies". In February 1973 the U.S. Court of Appeals blocked the issuance of permits for construction; Gravel and fellow Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens reacted by urging Congress to pass legislation overturning the court's decision. Environmentalists opposed to the pipeline, such as the Environmental Defense Fund and the Sierra Club then sought to use the recently passed National Environmental Policy Act to their advantage; Gravel designed an amendment to the pipeline bill that would immunize the pipeline from any further court challenges under that law, and thus speed its construction. Passage of the amendment became the key battle regarding the pipeline. On July 17, 1973, in a dramatic roll-call vote, the Gravel amendment was approved as a 49–49 tie was broken in favor by Vice President Spiro Agnew. The actual bill enabling the pipeline then passed easily; Gravel had triumphed in what became perhaps his most lasting accomplishment as a senator.
In opposition to the Alaskan fishing industry, Gravel advocated American participation in the formation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. For two years he opposed legislation that established a Exclusive Economic Zone for marine resources. He was one of only 19 senators to vote against Senate approval for the expanded zone in 1976, saying it would undermine the U.S. position in Law of the Sea negotiations and that nations arbitrarily extending their fishing rights limits would "produce anarchy of the seas". The legislation was passed, and the United States has signed but never ratified the Law of the Sea treaty.
Gravel accumulated a complicated record on Indian affairs during his time in the Senate. During his first year in the Senate Gravel urged abolition of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, criticizing the agency for the pace of development of schools in Alaska, its paternalistic attitudes and the culturally inappropriate nature of its education, and advocating greater shared decision-making between the federal government and native communities in Alaska. Later, his views changed; in the early 1970s Gravel supported a demonstration project that established links between Alaskan villages and the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, for medical diagnostic communications. In 1971, he fended off accusations from Alaskan natives that he was not spending enough time working on their land claims. Gravel helped secure a private grant to facilitate the first Inuit Circumpolar Conference in 1977, attended by Inuit representatives from Alaska, Canada, and Greenland. These conferences now also include representatives from Russia. In 1977, Gravel helped lead an effort to have the U.S. Interior Department rename Mount McKinley to Denali; this eventually led to Denali National Park being so named. Subsequently, Gravel proposed a never-built "Denali City" development above the Tokositna River near the mountain, to consist of a giant Teflon dome enclosing hotels, golf courses, condominiums, and commercial buildings. A related idea of his to build a high-speed rail line to Denali also failed to gain traction.
A key, emotional issue in the state at the time was "locking up Alaska", making reference to allocation of its vast, mostly uninhabited land. President Jimmy Carter desired to put large portions of this land under federal protection against development, a move that some Alaskans vociferously opposed.
In 1978 Gravel blocked passage, via procedural delays such as walking out of House–Senate conference committee meetings, of a complex bill which represented a compromise on land use policy. The bill would have put some of Alaska's vast federal land holdings under state control while preserving other portions for federal parks and refuges; the blocking action earned Gravel the enmity of fellow Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, who had supported the compromise. In 1980, a new lands bill came up for consideration, that was less favorable to Alaskan interests and more liked by environmentalists; it set aside of Alaska's for national parks, conservation areas, and other restricted federal uses. Gravel blocked it, as not ensuring enough future development in the state. A new compromise version of the 1980 bill came forward, which reduced the land set aside to . Representing Alaskan interests, Gravel tried to stop the bill, including by filibuster. But the Senate voted for cloture and passed the bill. Frustrated, Gravel said, "the legislation denies Alaska its rights as a state, and denies the U.S. crucial strategic resources," and opined that the Senate was "a little bit like a tank of barracudas". Nonetheless, the bill, known as the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980, was signed by President Carter shortly before leaving the White House, and led to millions of acres being set aside in the state for national parks, wildlife refuges, and other kinds of areas under protection.
In 1978 Gravel authored and secured the passage into federal law of the General Stock Ownership Corporation, that became Subchapter U of the Tax Code under the Internal Revenue Code of 1954. This gave states the ability to create corporations that would invest in for-profit enterprises, with all citizens within the state owning shares in the corporation. Gravel's attempt to convince the Alaska state legislature to create such a corporation failed, as did a 1980 state ballot initiative towards the same end, but nevertheless the creation of the General Stock Ownership Corporation in federal law turned out to be significant in the development of binary economics.
Loss of Senate seat in 1980
In 1980 Gravel was challenged for the Democratic Party's nomination by State Representative Clark Gruening, the grandson of the man Gravel had defeated in a primary 12 years earlier. One of Gruening's supporters was Gravel's former backer Gottstein. Several factors made Gravel vulnerable. As an insurgent candidate in 1968 Gravel had never established a firm party base. Not liking to hunt or fish, he was also always culturally suspect in the state.
The primary campaign was bitterly fought. A group of Democrats, including future governor Steve Cowper, led the campaign against Gravel, with Gravel's actions in respect to the 1978 and 1980 Alaskan lands bills a major issue. This was especially so given that the 1980 bill's dénouement happened but a week before the primary. The sources of Gravel's campaign funds, some of which Gravel readily acknowledged came from political action committees outside the state, also became an issue in the contest. Gruening had pledged that he would not take special interest group money, but Gravel said that Gruening was "dishonest" in accepting individual contributors from Jewish donors living outside the state because to him such contributors comprised "a special interest group ... that seeks to influence the foreign policy of the U.S."
Gruening won the primary with about 55 percent of the vote to Gravel's 44 percent. Gravel later conceded that by the time of his defeat, he had alienated "almost every constituency in Alaska". Another factor may have been Alaska's blanket primary system of the time, which allowed unlimited voting across party lines and from its many independents; Republicans believed Gruening would be an easier candidate to defeat in the general election.
Gruening lost the general election to Republican Frank Murkowski. Gravel was the last Democrat to represent Alaska in Congress for 28 years, until Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich defeated Ted Stevens, by then an aged, iconic figure who had just been convicted of seven felonies for taking unreported gifts, in a very close and protracted election result in 2008. Stevens's conviction was subsequently vacated due to prosecutorial misconduct.
Career after leaving the Senate
Of his 1980 defeat, Gravel later recalled: "I had lost my career. I lost my marriage. I was in the doldrums for ten years after my defeat," and "Nobody wanted to hire me for anything important. I felt like I was worthless. I didn't know what I could do." By his own later description, Gravel was a womanizer, and had an affair while in the Senate, and in December 1980 he and his wife Rita separated. They filed for divorce in September 1981; she later received all of his Senate pension income.
During the 1980s Gravel was a real estate developer in Anchorage and Kenai, Alaska, a consultant, and a stockbroker. One of his real estate ventures, a condominium business, was forced to declare bankruptcy and a lawsuit ensued. In 1986 Gravel worked in partnership with Merrill Lynch Capital Markets to buy losses that financially troubled Alaska Native Corporations could not take as tax deductions and sell them to large national companies looking for tax writeoffs. Gravel also learned computer programming at some point but never practiced it.
In 1984 Gravel married his second wife, Whitney Stewart Gravel, a former administrative assistant for Senator Jacob Javits.
Return to politics
In 1989 Gravel reentered politics. He founded and led The Democracy Foundation, which promotes direct democracy. He established the Philadelphia II corporation, which seeks to replicate the original 1787 Constitutional Convention and have a Second Constitutional Convention to bring about direct democracy Gravel led an effort to get a United States Constitutional amendment to allow voter-initiated federal legislation similar to state ballot initiatives. He argued that Americans are able to legislate responsibly, and that the Act and Amendment in the National Initiative would allow American citizens to become "law makers". However such efforts met with little success.
In 2001, Gravel became director of the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution, where he admired institute co-founder Gregory Fossedal's work on direct democracy in Switzerland. By 2004, Gravel had become chair of the institute, and Fossedal (who in turn was a director of the Democracy Foundation) gave the introduction at Gravel's presidential announcement.
In 2003 Gravel gave a speech on direct democracy at a conference hosted by the American Free Press. The event was cosponsored by the Barnes Review, a journal that endorses Holocaust denial. After some controversy over his appearance, Gravel apologized, saying he did not realize the group's ties. Gravel said repeatedly that he did not share the group's views on the Holocaust, stating, "You better believe I know that six million Jews were killed. [The Barnes Review publishers] are nutty as loons if they don't think it happened". The group invited Gravel to speak again, but he declined.
Mike and Whitney Gravel lived in Arlington County, Virginia, until 2010 and then resided in Burlingame, California. They have the two grown children from his first marriage, Martin Gravel and Lynne Gravel Mosier, and four grandchildren. Whitney Gravel's income sustained the couple from 1998 on. In the 2000s, Gravel suffered poor health, requiring three surgeries in 2003 for back pain and neuropathy. Due to unreimbursed medical expenses and debts from his political causes, he declared personal bankruptcy in 2004. He began taking a salary from the non-profit organizations for which he was working; much of that income was lent to his presidential campaign. In 2007, he declared that he had "zero net worth".
2008 presidential campaign
Democratic Party primaries
At the start of 2006 Gravel decided the best way he could promote direct democracy and the National Initiative was to run for president. On April 17, 2006, Gravel became the first candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2008 election, announcing his run in a speech to the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Short on campaign cash, he took public transportation to get to his announcement. (Gravel called for public financing of elections.) Other principal Gravel positions were the FairTax, as well as withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq within 120 days and a single payer national health care system.
Gravel had opposed the Iraq War, and President George W. Bush's rationale for it, from the beginning, and in 2006 said that U.S. troops in Iraq, as in Vietnam, had "died in vain". He also favored a regional peace initiative, as well as reparation payments for Iraqis. Gravel also called for a "U.S. corporate withdrawal from Iraq", with reconstruction contracts held by U.S. companies to be turned over to Iraqi firms.
Gravel campaigned almost full-time in New Hampshire, the first primary state, following his announcement. Opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination showed Gravel with 1 percent or less support. By the end of March 2007, Gravel's campaign had less than $500 in cash on hand against debts of nearly $90,000.
Because of his time in the Senate, Gravel was invited to many of the early Democratic presidential debates. During the initial one at South Carolina State University on April 26, 2007, he suggested a bill requiring the president to withdraw from Iraq on pain of criminal penalties. He also advocated positions such as opposing preemptive nuclear war. He stated that the Iraq War had the effect of creating more terrorists and that the "war was lost the day that George Bush invaded Iraq on a fraudulent basis". Regarding his fellow candidates, he said, "I got to tell you, after standing up with them, some of these people frighten me – they frighten me." In one such exchange, Gravel said, "Tell me, Barack, who do you want to nuke?" to which Obama responded, "I'm not planning to nuke anybody right now, Mike, I promise."
Media stories said that Gravel was responsible for much of whatever "heat" and "flashpoints" had taken place during the Democratic debates. Gravel gained considerable publicity by shaking up the normally staid multiple-candidate format; The New York Times' media critic said that what Gravel had done was "steal a debate with outrageous, curmudgeonly statements". The Internet was a benefit: a YouTube video of his responses in the debate was viewed more than 225,892 times, ranking seventeenth in most views for week and first among news and politics clips; his name became the fifteenth most searched-for in the blogosphere; and his website garnered more traffic than those of frontrunners Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, or John Edwards. Gravel appeared on the popular Colbert Report on television on May 2, and his campaign and career were profiled in national publications such as Salon. Two wordless, Warholesque campaign videos, "Rock" and "Fire", were released on YouTube in late May and became hits, and eventually gained over 760,000 and 185,000 views respectively. "Rock", in turn, was given airtime during an episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Some thirty-five years after he first achieved the national spotlight, he had found it again.
All this did not improve his performance in the polls; a May 2007 CNN poll showed him with less than 0.5 percent support among Democrats. Gravel was in the next several debates, in one case after CNN reversed a decision to exclude him. Like some of the other second-tier candidates, Gravel did not get as much time as the leaders; during the June 2, 2007, New Hampshire debate, which lasted two hours, he was asked 10 questions and allowed to speak for five minutes and 37 seconds.
During the July 23, 2007, CNN-YouTube presidential debate, Gravel responded to audience applause when he had complained of a lack of airtime and said: "Thank you. Has it been fair thus far?" Detractors began to liken him to "the cranky uncle who lives in the attic," or "the angry old guy that just seemed to want to become angrier". Berkeley political scientist David Terr found that moderator George Stephanopoulos directed roughly five percent of his questions to Gravel; in a poll asking who did the best in the debate, Gravel placed seventh among the eight candidates. National opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination continued to show Gravel with one percent or zero percent numbers. By the end of the third-quarter 2007, Gravel had about $17,500 in cash on hand, had collected a total of about $380,000 during the 2008 election cycle, and was continuing to run a threadbare campaign with minimal staff.
Beginning with the October 30, 2007, Philadelphia event, Gravel was excluded from most of the debates, with the debate sponsors or the Democratic National Committee saying Gravel's campaign had not met fund-raising, polling, or local campaign organizational thresholds. For the Philadelphia exclusion, Gravel blamed corporate censorship on the part of sponsor owner and alleged military-industrial complex member General Electric for his exclusion and mounted a counter-gathering and debate against a video screen a short distance away, but he had lost his easiest publicity. In reaction, supporters organized "mass donation days" to try to help the campaign gain momentum and funds, such as on December 5, 2007, the anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition.
Gravel did not compete in the initial 2008 vote, the Iowa caucuses, but was still subjected to a false report from MSNBC that he had pulled out of the race afterward. Gravel did focus his attention on the second 2008 vote, the New Hampshire primary. In early January, Mother Jones' investigative reporter James Ridgeway was filmed interviewing and following Gravel in New Hampshire, in which Gravel is interviewed on the phone by Neal Conan for NPR's, Talk of the Nation. He received about 400 votes out of some 280,000 cast in New Hampshire, or 0.14 percent, before taking time off to improve his health. He resumed campaigning, but fared no better in subsequent states. By the end of January 2008, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and Gravel were the only remaining Democrats from the initial debates still running; Gravel vowed to stay in the presidential campaign until November. On March 11, 2008, Gravel continued to remain in the Democratic race but additionally endorsed a Green Party candidate for president, Jesse Johnson, saying he wanted to help Johnson prevail against Green Party rivals Cynthia McKinney and Ralph Nader. By late March, Gravel had almost no fundraising and was only on the ballot in one of the next ten Democratic primaries.
Switch to Libertarian Party
On March 25, 2008, Gravel announced that he would leave the Democrats and join the Libertarian Party, saying: "My libertarian views, as well as my strong stance against war, the military industrial complex and American imperialism, seem not to be tolerated by Democratic Party elites who are out of touch with the average American; elites that reject the empowerment of American citizens I offered to the Democratic Party at the beginning of this presidential campaign with the National Initiative for Democracy." The following day Gravel entered the race for the 2008 Libertarian presidential nomination, saying that he would have run as a third-party candidate all along except that he needed the public exposure that came from being in the earlier Democratic debates. Gravel's initial notion of running as a fusion candidate with other parties was met with skepticism.
As a Libertarian candidate, Gravel faced resistance to his past support of big government initiatives and his unorthodox positions around direct democracy. Nevertheless, he garnered more support than he had as a Democrat, placing second and third in two April 2008 straw polls. In the May 25 balloting at the 2008 Libertarian National Convention in Denver, Gravel finished fourth out of eight candidates on the initial ballot, with 71 votes out of a total 618; he trailed former Congressman and eventual winner Bob Barr, author Mary Ruwart, and businessman Wayne Allyn Root. Gravel's position did not subsequently improve and he was eliminated on the fourth ballot. Afterwards he stated that "I just ended my political career," but he vowed to continue promoting his positions as a writer and lecturer.
2008–early 2019
In June 2008 Gravel endorsed the NYC 9/11 Ballot Initiative, saying the measure would create a "citizens commission rather than a government commission" with subpoena power against top U.S. officials to "make a true investigation as to what happened" regarding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. He later said, "Individuals in and out of government may certainly have participated with the obviously known perpetrators of this dastardly act. Suspicions abound over the analysis presented by government. Obviously an act that has triggered three wars, Afghan, Iraqi and the continuing War on Terror, should be extensively investigated which was not done and which the government avoids addressing."
In August 2008 Gravel was speaking to a crowd of supporters of Sami Al-Arian (who two years earlier had pleaded guilty and been sentenced to prison for a charge of conspiracy in helping Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a "specially designated terrorist" organization) when he was caught on tape saying of Al-Arian's prosecutor, "Find out where he lives, find out where his kids go to school, find out where his office is: picket him all the time. Call him a racist in signs if you see him. Call him an injustice. Call him whatever you want to call him, but in his face all the time." Gravel was criticized for potentially involving the children of the prosecutor, and Al-Arian's family disavowed the sentiments.
Gravel defended Alaska Governor Sarah Palin after she was chosen as Republican presidential nominee John McCain's running mate in September 2008. He praised Palin's record in standing up to corruption among Alaskan Republicans, thought her national inexperience was an asset not a detriment, and predicted that the "Troopergate" investigation into whether she improperly fired a state official would "come out in her favor". Gravel made clear he would not support or vote for either McCain–Palin or Obama–Biden in the general election. The following year Gravel said that Palin's politics were "terrible, but that doesn't detract from the fact that she's a very talented person". He predicted that Palin would run for president in 2012 and that "she's going to surprise a lot of people". Palin did not run, but Gravel's prediction about "TrooperGate" was accurate as Palin was found not to have violated ethics laws.
In 2013, by the invitation of Hamed Ghashghavi, the secretary for international affairs of the 3rd International Conference on Hollywoodism in Tehran, Iran, Gravel attended that event as an Iranian government-organized anti-Hollywood conference. Gravel noted that the conference was attended by "various elements of extremes" but said it was necessary to discuss how the U.S. film industry portrayed Iran in order to prevent "an insane war" between the two nations.
In May 2013 Gravel was one of several former members of Congress to accept $20,000 from the Paradigm Research Group, an advocacy group for UFO disclosure, as part of holding what they termed a Citizen Hearing on Disclosure, modeled after congressional hearings, regarding supposed U.S. government suppression of evidence concerning UFOs. Gravel said, "Something is monitoring the planet, and they are monitoring it very cautiously, because we are a very warlike planet," and, "What we're faced with here is, in areas of the media, and the government too, an effort to marginalize and ridicule people who have specific knowledge."
In December 2014 Gravel was announced as the new CEO of KUSH, a company which makes marijuana-infused products for medicinal and recreational use, and a subsidiary of Cannabis Sativa, Inc. He also became an Independent Director of Cannabis Sativa.
During the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries, Gravel praised Bernie Sanders and his campaign, saying "Bernie is one of the most gifted politicians I have ever observed. He's a person of great integrity and very clever." Gravel predicted that Sanders would be elected president but would be unable to get his key reforms through Congress, and thus that Sanders and his supporters should back some of the proposals of the National Initiative.
In 2016, Gravel said in relation to the September 11 attacks: "We killed 58,000 American servicemen in the Vietnam War and all they did was die in vain. What's so unusual about killing 3,000 more in order to develop the grist for the mill to empower into infinity the military industrial complex?" and "There's no question in my mind that 9/11 was an inside job". The remarks were later disavowed by even Gravel supporters.
By 2019 Gravel was living in Seaside, California. He was working on a book, at the time titled Human Governance, about his principal idea for direct democracy, a U.S. Constitutional Amendment to create a "Legislature of the People" that would circumvent the existing Congress. The book was self-published at the end of the year by AuthorHouse under the title The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People.
2020 presidential campaign
On March 19, 2019, Gravel announced that he was considering running in the 2020 Democratic primaries. He said, "The goal will not be to win, but to bring a critique of American imperialism to the Democratic debate stage." An exploratory committee was formed, with filing a statement of organization with the Federal Election Commission on that same day. The filing was the idea of a group of teenagers, led by David Oks and Henry Williams, inspired by the podcast Chapo Trap House, and done with Gravel's consent (after a week spent convincing him of the idea's merits), but without his involvement. Intrigued by the group's commitment to amplifying his long-held policy goals, Gravel (who would be old on Inauguration Day in 2021) said he planned to meet with them in April, and to discuss a 2020 White House run with his wife. On April 2, 2019, Gravel filed to officially run for office. The campaign called itself the "#Gravelanche".
Gravel's initial stated goal was merely to qualify for debates by getting the required 65,000 small donors. He discouraged people from voting for him and said his preferences were Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard, both of whom favor a non-interventionist foreign policy. But on April 29, Gravel's campaign said he was running to win, not just to participate in debates. In a subsequent interview, though, Gravel emphasized the virtue of Sanders and Gabbard in some order as a presidential ticket. Statements like these caused Vox to call Gravel "2020's oddest Democratic presidential candidate". The New York Times Magazine included Gravel as an example in the rise of democratic socialism in the United States also exemplified by Sanders's 2016 race and the 2018 election of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: "[Gravel's] campaign represents the most absurd form of a legitimate movement on the left that feels little obligation to the Democratic Party."
In June 2019, Gravel touted the endorsement of Muntadher al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who, in December 2008, made headlines after he threw his shoes at President George W. Bush in protest of the U.S. war in Iraq. Al-Zaidi endorsed Gravel based on his promise to improve White House policies regarding Iraq and the Middle East.
On June 13, 2019, the Democratic Party announced the 20 major candidates who qualified for the first debate later that month. Gravel was one of the four who missed out (the others were Montana Governor Steve Bullock, U.S. Representative Seth Moulton, and Miramar, Florida, Mayor Wayne Messam). Gravel had been unable to get the requisite number of donations, or to score one percent or better in enough polls (many polls did not even include him). Nevertheless, Gravel said he would not drop out and would try to qualify for the July debate. In early July, however, Gravel's campaign said it was still 10,000 contributions short of the 65,000-donor threshold and that it was "nearing its conclusion". It solicited suggestions for where to donate $100–150,000 of leftover campaign funds. Gravel added that he had always planned on ending the campaign before the teenagers in charge of it needed to return to school. A few days later the campaign became the first to run an attack ad against Democratic front-runner Joe Biden, using the text "Is this the best our party has to offer?"
Gravel's campaign crossed the threshold of 65,000 donors on July 12, 2019, meeting the qualification mark for that month's debate. But because 20 other candidates, the maximum allowed to participate, had already met at least the polling criterion, which takes priority over the donor criterion, Gravel was not invited.
The campaign officially came to a close on August 6, 2019, with Gravel endorsing both Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard for president. Gravel's campaign later stated on Twitter that they never wanted to win but saw the campaign as an "intimately democratic" project and expressed honor at working with Gravel. Gravel said he would divide remaining campaign funds between charity and a new think tank which would espouse his ideas.
The Gravel Institute
Gravel used some of the funds remaining from his 2020 presidential campaign to found an eponymous progressive think tank called The Gravel Institute in 2019. As noted by Vice magazine, the institute aims to do battle with PragerU from a left-wing perspective. Launched in September 2020, the new entity said it would "carry on the life's work of former U.S Senator Mike Gravel in fighting for global peace and democracy. Its mission is to promote bold and forward-looking ideas about a more peaceful and egalitarian world, and to build a robust movement of young people to win it". Contributors announced include Cornel West and Slavoj Žižek, as well as Lower Brule Indian Reservation activist Nick Estes. Other presenters have included and will include H. Jon Benjamin, Briahna Joy Gray, Bernie Sanders, Chelsea Manning, Richard Wolff, Stephanie Kelton, Zephyr Teachout, David Cross, Jabari Brisport, Zohran Mamdani, and Gravel himself (though it is unknown if his appearance will be cancelled due to his death in June 2021, or if the video has already been recorded).
Death
Gravel died of multiple myeloma at his home in Seaside, California, on June 26, 2021, at age 91.
The obituary for him in The New York Times stated that Gravel was "a two-term Democratic senator from Alaska ... who was perhaps better known as an unabashed attention-getter" who later become known for "mounting long-shot presidential runs". The obituary in The Washington Post was similar, saying that Gravel was "an Alaska Democrat with a flair for the theatrical who rose from obscurity to brief renown" and later "ran quixotic campaigns for the presidency". The Anchorage Daily News quoted Gravel as saying of himself in 1989, "I'm an independent kind of guy. A rough and ready kind of guy. My glands work in a certain way that make me stand up, foolishly sometimes, and fight."
Political positions
Alan Abramowitz and Jeffrey Allan Segal described Gravel as "a maverick, if not an eccentric, in the Senate." His Americans for Democratic Action "Liberal Quotient" scores ranged from 81 out of 100 (1971) to 39 out of 100 (1980), with an average of around 61. His American Conservative Union scores ranged from 0 out of 100 (several years, including 1971 and 1972) to 38 out of 100 (1979), with an average of 14. Abramowitz and Segal note that Gravel's lowest ADA ratings coincided with his two Senate re-election bids, and for the most part his highest ACU ratings followed the same pattern.
In 1972, as a young senator, Gravel published Citizen Power: A People's Platform, a manifesto outlining what Kirkus Reviews termed a "populist reform [that] would provide 'balanced political power' between the people and government and business interests."
Civil rights issues
On drug policy, Gravel said in 2007 that he favored decriminalization and treating addiction as a public health matter. During his 2008 presidential candidacy he condemned the War on Drugs as a failure, saying that it did "nothing but savage our inner cities and put our children at risk". Gravel called for abolition of capital punishment in his book Citizen Power, and adhered to this position during his 2008 run for president. He supported abortion rights.
During the 2008 campaign Gravel was a strong supporter of LGBT rights. He supported same-sex marriage and opposed the Defense of Marriage Act and the U.S. military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy. He wrote in 2008 that "depriving gays and lesbians of equal rights is immoral".
Foreign policy and defense issues
Gravel was a critic of American imperialism.
Gravel firmly opposed U.S. military action against Iran and Syria. He voiced opposition to the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, the Military Commissions Act of 2006, the use of torture, indefinite detention, and what he called "flagrant ignorance" of the Geneva Convention. In 2014 Gravel called for the release of the full, unredacted Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture.
Gravel opposed the use of international sanctions as a policy tool and blamed the ones against Iraq under Saddam Hussein for the deaths of a half-million children in that country. In 2013 Gravel said that sanctions against Iran were "illegal".
During his 2008 candidacy, Gravel called for a cut in military spending, variously reported to be 15 percent or 50 percent. He called for the savings to boost public education spending. To spur international nuclear nonproliferation efforts, Gravel called for unilateral reductions in the U.S. nuclear arsenal.
In 2008 Gravel criticized the decision of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to not pursue the efforts to impeach George W. Bush and the attempted impeachment of Dick Cheney, saying also that Bush and Cheney had committed crimes and deserved "to be prosecuted" at The Hague. In 2013 he expressed disdain for President Obama, calling him "a total fraud" and saying that both Bush and Obama should be tried "for the crimes and murders they've committed" in the International Court of Justice. Gravel specifically condemned Obama for the drone strikes in Pakistan and elsewhere.
Economy, immigration, and environment
During his 2008 candidacy Gravel favored a FairTax scheme, which would abolish the Internal Revenue Service, eliminate the federal income tax (which Gravel called "corrupt"), and impose a national sales tax. While Gravel described FairTax as "progressive", others have criticized it as "regressive", disproportionately benefiting the wealthiest Americans. To offset the new sales taxes on essential goods, Gravel's plan called for monthly government rebate payments to individuals and families. During his 2020 campaign Gravel also voiced support for a third legislative body that would give the people direct control of the budget as well as the implementation of a land value tax.
Gravel opposed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) during his 2008 candidacy, calling it unfair and economically harmful and needing renegotiation. Gravel believed that NAFTA was the "root cause" of illegal migration to the U.S. He favored a guest worker program and "setting up naturalization procedures that would fairly bring immigrants into legal status". In a 2007 interview, Gravel identified himself as "very much of a globalist" who believed in open markets and open borders and condemned the scapegoating of undocumented immigrants. Gravel also said that he favored eliminating the cap on H1B visas.
As a senator from Alaska, Gravel favored drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but opposed it during his 2008 campaign. In 2008, Gravel supported a carbon tax to combat climate change.
Gravel spoke in favor of net neutrality during his presidential campaign.
Education and health care
Gravel called for the cost of college tuition to be borne by the federal government, rather than students. In his 2008 campaign, he called the No Child Left Behind Act "a failure" and called for it to be "reformed and fully funded". He expressed support for universal pre-kindergarten and the expansion of the Head Start program; and expressed an openness to charter schools and school vouchers. He also suggested extending the school day and the school year, and supported merit pay for teachers.
Gravel also called for publicly funded universal health care to replace the current employer-sponsored health insurance system. He supported "full funding" of the VA system. When asked in 2007 about naturopathy, homeopathy, and acupuncture, Gravel said that he was "very very much in favor" of holistic health care.
Awards and honors
In 2008 Gravel received the Columbia University School of General Studies' first annual Isaac Asimov Lifetime Achievement Award.
Electoral history
Writings
Gravel, Mike. Jobs and More Jobs. Mt. McKinley Publishers, 1968.
Gravel, Mike. Citizen Power: A People's Platform. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1972. .
revised and reissued as Citizen Power: A Mandate for Change, AuthorHouse, 2008. .
Gravel, Mike and Lauria, Joe. A Political Odyssey: The Rise of American Militarism and One Man's Fight to Stop It. Seven Stories Press, 2008. .
Gravel, Mike and Eisenbach, David. The Kingmakers: How the Media Threatens Our Security and Our Democracy. Phoenix Books, 2008. .
Gravel, Mike. Voice of a Maverick: The Speeches and Writings of Senator Mike Gravel. Brandywine House, 2008.
Gravel, Mike. Foreword to Poisoned Power: The Case Against Nuclear Power Plants. John W. Goffman & Arthur R. Tamplin, Rodale Press, Inc., Emmaus, PA, June 1971.
Gravel, Mike. The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People. AuthorHouse, 2020.
Explanatory notes
References
Citations
General references
The Pentagon Papers Senator Gravel Edition. Vol. Five: Critical Essays. Boston: Beacon Press, 1972. 341p. plus 72p. of Index to Vol. I–IV of the Papers; Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, editors.
External links
Mike Gravel official website
The Gravel Institute
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Writers from Anchorage, Alaska | true | [
"Various enemies of the American comic book superhero Batman have been created over the years for media adaptations that previously did not exist in the comics. This is a list of such enemies, and original enemies that share the same moniker as characters from the comic books are noted.\n\nEnemies originating in TV and films\n\nEnemies introduced in video games\n\nEnemies introduced in novels, theater and radio\n\nTeams\n\nSee also\n List of Batman family enemies\n\nReferences\n\nEnemies\nSuper Friends characters\nEnemies\nLists of DC Comics supervillains\nSuper Friends lists\nBatman: The Animated Series characters",
"Enemies and Allies is an accessory for the 3rd edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.\n\nContents\nEnemies and Allies contains statistics and descriptions for numerous non-player characters of various types for 3rd edition Dungeons & Dragons.\n\nPublication history\nEnemies and Allies was published in October 2001, and was designed by Bruce R. Cordell, Jeff Grubb, David Noonan, and Skip Williams. Cover art is by Jeff Easley, with interior art by Dennis Cramer, Todd Lockwood, Wayne Reynolds, and Sam Wood.\n\nReception\nShannon Appelcline notes that the NPC book Enemies and Allies was one of many early D&D third edition releases which \"did not have a strong setting\".\n\nReviews\n\nReferences\n\n2001 books\nDungeons & Dragons sourcebooks"
] | [
"Maurice Robert Gravel ( ; May 13, 1930 – June 26, 2021) was an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Alaska from 1969 to 1981 as a member of the Democratic Party, and who, in later life, twice ran for the presidential nomination of that party. Born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, by French-Canadian immigrant parents, Gravel moved to Alaska in the late 1950s, becoming a real estate developer and entering politics.",
"Born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, by French-Canadian immigrant parents, Gravel moved to Alaska in the late 1950s, becoming a real estate developer and entering politics. He served in the Alaska House of Representatives from 1963 to 1967, and also became Speaker of the Alaska House. Gravel was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1968.",
"Gravel was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1968. Gravel was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1968. As a senator, Gravel became nationally known for his forceful, but unsuccessful, attempts to end the draft during the War in Vietnam, and for putting the Pentagon Papers into the public record in 1971. He conducted a campaign for the Democratic nomination in 1972 for Vice President of the United States, and then played a crucial role in obtaining Congressional approval for the Trans-Alaska pipeline in 1973.",
"He conducted a campaign for the Democratic nomination in 1972 for Vice President of the United States, and then played a crucial role in obtaining Congressional approval for the Trans-Alaska pipeline in 1973. He was re-elected to the Senate in 1974, but was defeated in his bid for a third term in the primary election in 1980. An advocate of direct democracy and the National Initiative, Gravel staged a run for the 2008 Democratic nomination for President of the United States.",
"An advocate of direct democracy and the National Initiative, Gravel staged a run for the 2008 Democratic nomination for President of the United States. His campaign failed to gain support, and in March 2008, he left the Democratic Party and joined the Libertarian Party to compete unsuccessfully for its presidential nomination and the inclusion of the National Initiative into the Libertarian Platform. He ran for president as a Democrat again in the 2020 election, in a campaign that ended four months after it began.",
"He ran for president as a Democrat again in the 2020 election, in a campaign that ended four months after it began. Two years before his death, Gravel and his campaign staff founded the progressive think tank The Gravel Institute. Early life, military service, education Gravel was born on May 13, 1930, in Springfield, Massachusetts, one of five children of French-Canadian immigrant parents, Alphonse and Marie (née Bourassa) Gravel.",
"Early life, military service, education Gravel was born on May 13, 1930, in Springfield, Massachusetts, one of five children of French-Canadian immigrant parents, Alphonse and Marie (née Bourassa) Gravel. His parents were part of the Quebec diaspora, and he was raised in a working-class neighborhood during the Great Depression, speaking only French until he was seven years old. Calling him \"Mike\" from an early age, his father valued work above all else, while his mother stressed the importance of education.",
"Calling him \"Mike\" from an early age, his father valued work above all else, while his mother stressed the importance of education. Gravel was educated in parochial schools as a Roman Catholic. There he struggled, due to what he later said was undiagnosed dyslexia, and was left back in third grade. He completed elementary school in 1945 and his class voted him \"most charming personality\".",
"He completed elementary school in 1945 and his class voted him \"most charming personality\". A summer job as a soda jerk led to Gravel handing out campaign fliers for local candidates on his boss's behalf; Gravel was immediately impressed with \"the awesomeness of political office\". Gravel then boarded at Assumption Preparatory School in Worcester, Massachusetts, where his performance was initially mediocre.",
"Gravel then boarded at Assumption Preparatory School in Worcester, Massachusetts, where his performance was initially mediocre. By Gravel's telling, in the summer of 1948 he intended to volunteer for the Israel Defense Forces during the 1947–1949 Palestine war, but Alexandra Tolstaya told him to return to school. There an English teacher, the Assumptionist Edgar Bourque, gave him personal attention, improving Gravel's language skills and instructing him in public speaking. Gravel's grades improved measurably in his final year and he graduated in 1949.",
"Gravel's grades improved measurably in his final year and he graduated in 1949. His sister, Marguerite, became a Holy Cross nun, but Gravel himself struggled with the Catholic faith. He studied for one year at Assumption College, a Catholic school in Worcester, then transferred for his sophomore year to American International College in Springfield. Journalist I. F. Stone and philosopher Bertrand Russell strongly influenced Gravel in their willingness to challenge assumptions and oppose social convention and political authority.",
"Journalist I. F. Stone and philosopher Bertrand Russell strongly influenced Gravel in their willingness to challenge assumptions and oppose social convention and political authority. Around May 1951, Gravel saw that he was about to be drafted and instead enlisted in the U.S. Army for a three-year term so that he could get into the Counterintelligence Corps. After basic training and counterintelligence school at Fort Holabird in Maryland and in South Carolina, he went to Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia.",
"After basic training and counterintelligence school at Fort Holabird in Maryland and in South Carolina, he went to Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia. While he expected to be sent off to the Korean War when he graduated as a second lieutenant in early 1952, he was instead assigned to Stuttgart, West Germany, as a Special Adjutant in the Army's Communications Intelligence Service. In Germany, Gravel conducted surveillance operations on civilians and paid off spies.",
"In Germany, Gravel conducted surveillance operations on civilians and paid off spies. After about a year, he transferred to Orléans, France, where his French language abilities (if not his French-Canadian accent) allowed him to infiltrate French communist rallies. He worked as a Special Agent in the Counterintelligence Corps until 1954, eventually becoming a first lieutenant. Following his discharge, Gravel entered the Columbia University School of General Studies in New York City, where he studied economics and received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1956.",
"Following his discharge, Gravel entered the Columbia University School of General Studies in New York City, where he studied economics and received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1956. He moved to New York \"flat broke\" and supported himself by working as a bar boy in a hotel, driving a taxicab, and working in the investment bond department at Bankers Trust. During this time he left the Roman Catholic faith.",
"During this time he left the Roman Catholic faith. During this time he left the Roman Catholic faith. Move to Alaska Gravel \"decided to become a pioneer in a faraway place,\" and moved to pre-statehood Alaska in August 1956, without funds or a job, looking for a place where someone without social or political connections could be a viable candidate for public office.",
"Move to Alaska Gravel \"decided to become a pioneer in a faraway place,\" and moved to pre-statehood Alaska in August 1956, without funds or a job, looking for a place where someone without social or political connections could be a viable candidate for public office. Alaska's voting age of 19, less than most other states' 21, played a role in his decision, as did its newness and cooler climate. Broke when he arrived, he immediately found work in real estate sales until winter arrived.",
"Broke when he arrived, he immediately found work in real estate sales until winter arrived. Gravel then was employed as a brakeman for the Alaska Railroad, working the snow-clearing train on the Anchorage-to-Fairbanks run. Subsequently, he opened a small real estate brokerage in Anchorage (the Territory of Alaska not requiring a license) and saved enough so as not to have to work the railroad again. The firm was named the M. R. Gravel Real Estate Company.",
"The firm was named the M. R. Gravel Real Estate Company. Gravel joined the Anchorage Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, and continued a sporadic relationship with the movement throughout his life. Seeing Alaska as a wide-open place with no political establishment or entrenched interests, Gravel quickly became part of the civic scene there. By October 1957 he was a Division Chairman for Anchorage for the Democratic Central Committee in the territory, and by June 1958 he was president of the Alaska Young Democrats organization.",
"By October 1957 he was a Division Chairman for Anchorage for the Democratic Central Committee in the territory, and by June 1958 he was president of the Alaska Young Democrats organization. He also became active in the United States Junior Chamber (Jaycees), and by early 1958 his duties included handing out awards for farmer of the year. By early 1958, Gravel was running as Democratic Party primary candidate for a Third Division seat in House of Representative of the territorial legislature.",
"By early 1958, Gravel was running as Democratic Party primary candidate for a Third Division seat in House of Representative of the territorial legislature. (This was one of the four judicial divisions into which Alaska was sectioned at the time.) Using the slogan \"Gravel, the Roadbed to Prosperity\", he ran but lost. At the same time, he was also an advocate for Alaskan statehood.",
"At the same time, he was also an advocate for Alaskan statehood. Gravel went on a 44-state national speaking tour concerning tax reform in 1959, sponsored by the Jaycees, often dressing for events as Paul Revere. Gravel was selected from some two thousand applications for this position. The tour received a good amount of local newspaper coverage at its various stops, with Gravel's first name sometimes given as Mike and other times as Maurice.",
"The tour received a good amount of local newspaper coverage at its various stops, with Gravel's first name sometimes given as Mike and other times as Maurice. The tour's general message was an urging of \"lower taxes, more efficiency in government and a system of taxation moderate at all levels of income\". At several stops Gravel stated that the \"tide of socialism\" had to be stopped.",
"At several stops Gravel stated that the \"tide of socialism\" had to be stopped. He elaborated at another stop, \"It is part of our Jaycee creed that economic justice can best be won by free men through free enterprise. We really want to see that free enterprise become our inheritance.\"",
"We really want to see that free enterprise become our inheritance.\" The tour was scheduled to conclude in Washington D.C., on Tax Day, April 15, with petition signatures accumulated for reform to be presented to U.S. lawmakers: dressed as Revere, Gravel rode with the petition to the steps of the U.S. Capitol. The tour over, Gravel married Rita Jeannette Martin at the First Methodist Church of Anchorage on April 29, 1959.",
"The tour over, Gravel married Rita Jeannette Martin at the First Methodist Church of Anchorage on April 29, 1959. She was a native of Montana who had attended Billings Business College before moving to Alaska two years prior and becoming a secretary in the office of the Anchorage city manager. She had also been named Anchorage's \"Miss Fur Rendezvous\" of 1958. They had two children, Martin Anthony Gravel and Lynne Denise Gravel, born c. 1960 and 1962 respectively.",
"They had two children, Martin Anthony Gravel and Lynne Denise Gravel, born c. 1960 and 1962 respectively. Gravel ran without avail for the City Council in Anchorage in 1960. During this time, he had become a successful real estate agent; after the 1960 election, he became a property developer in a mobile home park on the outskirts of Anchorage. After a partner ran into financial difficulty, however, the project went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and Gravel was forced out in 1962.",
"After a partner ran into financial difficulty, however, the project went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and Gravel was forced out in 1962. State legislator With the support of Alaska wholesale grocer Barney Gottstein and supermarket builder Larry Carr, Gravel ran for the Alaska House of Representatives representing Anchorage in 1962, initially assigned the 10th and then 8th districts.",
"State legislator With the support of Alaska wholesale grocer Barney Gottstein and supermarket builder Larry Carr, Gravel ran for the Alaska House of Representatives representing Anchorage in 1962, initially assigned the 10th and then 8th districts. Alaska had very crowded primaries that year: Gravel was one of 33 Democrats, along with 21 Republicans, who were running for the chance to compete for the 14 House seats allocated to the 8th district.",
"Alaska had very crowded primaries that year: Gravel was one of 33 Democrats, along with 21 Republicans, who were running for the chance to compete for the 14 House seats allocated to the 8th district. Gravel made it through the primary, and in November eight Republicans and six Democrats were elected to the House from the district, with Gravel finishing eighth overall and third among with Democrats, with 8,174 votes. Gottstein became Gravel's main financial backer during most of his subsequent campaigns.",
"Gottstein became Gravel's main financial backer during most of his subsequent campaigns. Gravel served in the Alaska House of Representatives from January 28, 1963 to January 22, 1967, winning reelection in 1964. In his first term, he served as a minority member on two House committees: Commerce, and Labor and Management. He co-authored and sponsored the act that created the Alaska State Commission for Human Rights.",
"He co-authored and sponsored the act that created the Alaska State Commission for Human Rights. Gravel was the chief architect of the law that created a regional high school system for rural Alaska; this allowed Alaska Natives to attend schools near where they lived instead of having to go to schools run by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the lower 48 states. During the half-years that the legislature was not in session, Gravel resumed his real estate work.",
"During the half-years that the legislature was not in session, Gravel resumed his real estate work. With Gottstein and Carr's backing, he became quite successful as a property developer on the Kenai Peninsula. During 1965 and 1966, he served as the Speaker of the House, surprising observers by winning that post. Gravel convinced former Speaker Warren A. Taylor to not try for the position against him by promising Taylor chairmanship of the Rules Committee, then reneged on the promise.",
"Gravel convinced former Speaker Warren A. Taylor to not try for the position against him by promising Taylor chairmanship of the Rules Committee, then reneged on the promise. Gravel denied later press charges that he had promised but not delivered on other committee chairmanships. As Speaker he antagonized fellow lawmakers by imposing his will on the legislature's committees and feuded with Alaska State Senate president Robert J. McNealy.",
"As Speaker he antagonized fellow lawmakers by imposing his will on the legislature's committees and feuded with Alaska State Senate president Robert J. McNealy. Gravel did not run for reelection in 1966, instead choosing to run for Alaska's seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, losing the primary to four-term incumbent Democrat Ralph Rivers by 1,300 votes and splitting the Democratic Party in the process. Rivers lost the general election that year to Republican state Senator Howard Pollock. Following this defeat, Gravel returned to the real estate business in Anchorage.",
"Following this defeat, Gravel returned to the real estate business in Anchorage. U.S. Senator Election to Senate in 1968 In 1968, Gravel ran against 81-year-old incumbent Democratic United States Senator Ernest Gruening, a popular former governor of the Alaska Territory who was considered one of the fathers of Alaska's statehood, for his party's nomination to the U.S. Senate. Gravel's campaign was primarily based on his youth and telegenic appearance rather than issue differences. He hired Joseph Napolitan, the first self-described political consultant, in late 1966.",
"He hired Joseph Napolitan, the first self-described political consultant, in late 1966. They spent over a year and a half planning a short, nine-day primary election campaign that featured the slogans \"Alaska first\" and \"Let's do something about the state we're in\", the distribution of a collection of essays titled Jobs and More Jobs, and the creation of a half-hour, well-produced, glamorized biographical film of Gravel, Man for Alaska.",
"They spent over a year and a half planning a short, nine-day primary election campaign that featured the slogans \"Alaska first\" and \"Let's do something about the state we're in\", the distribution of a collection of essays titled Jobs and More Jobs, and the creation of a half-hour, well-produced, glamorized biographical film of Gravel, Man for Alaska. The film was shown twice a day on every television station in Alaska, and carried by plane and shown on home projectors in hundreds of Alaska Native villages.",
"The film was shown twice a day on every television station in Alaska, and carried by plane and shown on home projectors in hundreds of Alaska Native villages. The heavy showings quickly reversed a 2–to–1 Gruening lead in polls into a Gravel lead. Gravel visited many remote villages by seaplane and showed a thorough understanding of the needs of the bush country and the fishing and oil industries. Gravel also benefited from maintaining a deliberately ambiguous posture about Vietnam policy.",
"Gravel also benefited from maintaining a deliberately ambiguous posture about Vietnam policy. Gruening had been one of only two Senators to vote against the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and his opposition to President Lyndon B. Johnson's war policies was harming him among the Democratic electorate; according to Gravel, \"all I had to do was stand up and not deal with the subject, and people would assume that I was to the right of Ernest Gruening, when in point of fact I was to the left of him\".",
"Gruening had been one of only two Senators to vote against the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and his opposition to President Lyndon B. Johnson's war policies was harming him among the Democratic electorate; according to Gravel, \"all I had to do was stand up and not deal with the subject, and people would assume that I was to the right of Ernest Gruening, when in point of fact I was to the left of him\". In Man for Alaska, Gravel argued that \"the liberals\" would come to West Germany's defense if it was attacked, and that the same standard should apply to the United States' allies in Asia.",
"In Man for Alaska, Gravel argued that \"the liberals\" would come to West Germany's defense if it was attacked, and that the same standard should apply to the United States' allies in Asia. During the campaign he also claimed that he was \"more in the mainstream of American thought on Vietnam\" than Gruening, despite the fact that he had written to Gruening to praise his antiwar stance four years earlier.",
"During the campaign he also claimed that he was \"more in the mainstream of American thought on Vietnam\" than Gruening, despite the fact that he had written to Gruening to praise his antiwar stance four years earlier. Decades later, Gravel conceded that \"I said what I said [about Vietnam] to advance my career.\" Gravel beat Gruening in the primary by about 2,000 votes. Gruening found \"the unexpected defeat hard to take\" and thought that some aspects of his opponent's biographical film had misled viewers.",
"Gruening found \"the unexpected defeat hard to take\" and thought that some aspects of his opponent's biographical film had misled viewers. In the general election, Gravel faced Republican Elmer E. Rasmuson, a banker and former mayor of Anchorage. College students in the state implored Gruening to run a write-in campaign as an Independent, but legal battles prevented him from getting approval for it until only two weeks were left.",
"College students in the state implored Gruening to run a write-in campaign as an Independent, but legal battles prevented him from getting approval for it until only two weeks were left. A late appearance by anti-war presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy did not offset Gruening's lack of funds and endorsements; meanwhile, Gravel and Rasmuson both saturated local media with their filmed biographies. On November 5, 1968, Gravel won the general election with 45 percent of the vote to Rasmuson's 37 percent and Gruening's 18 percent.",
"On November 5, 1968, Gravel won the general election with 45 percent of the vote to Rasmuson's 37 percent and Gruening's 18 percent. Senate assignments and style When Gravel joined the U.S.Senate in January 1969, he requested and received a seat on the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee, which had direct relevance to Alaskan issues. He also got a spot on the Public Works Committee, which he held throughout his time in the Senate. Finally, he was a member of the Select Committee on Small Business.",
"Finally, he was a member of the Select Committee on Small Business. In 1971 he became chair of the Public Works Committee's Subcommittee on Public Buildings and Grounds, and by 1973 he was chair of its Subcommittee on Water Resources, then later its Subcommittee on Environmental Pollution. Gravel was also initially named to the Joint Committee on Congressional Operations.",
"Gravel was also initially named to the Joint Committee on Congressional Operations. By 1973 Gravel was off the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee and the Select Small Business Committee and instead a member of the Finance Committee, and by 1977 was chair of that body's Subcommittee on Energy and Foundations. By 1973 he had also been on the ad hoc Special Committee to Study Secret and Confidential Government Documents.",
"By 1973 he had also been on the ad hoc Special Committee to Study Secret and Confidential Government Documents. By his own admission, Gravel was too new and \"too abrasive\" to be effective in the Senate by the usual means of seniority-based committee assignments or negotiating deals with other senators, and was sometimes seen as arrogant or a nuisance by the more senior and tradition-oriented members. Gravel relied on attention-getting gestures to achieve what he wanted, hoping national exposure would force other senators to listen to him.",
"Gravel relied on attention-getting gestures to achieve what he wanted, hoping national exposure would force other senators to listen to him. But even senators who agreed with him on issues considered his methods to be showboating. As part of this approach, Gravel voted with Southern Democrats to keep the Senate filibuster rule in place, and accordingly supported Russell Long and Robert Byrd but opposed Ted Kennedy in Senate leadership battles.",
"As part of this approach, Gravel voted with Southern Democrats to keep the Senate filibuster rule in place, and accordingly supported Russell Long and Robert Byrd but opposed Ted Kennedy in Senate leadership battles. In retrospective assessment, University of Alaska Anchorage history professor Stephen Haycox said, \"Loose cannon is a good description of Gravel's Senate career. He was an off-the-wall guy, and you weren't really ever sure what he would do.\"",
"He was an off-the-wall guy, and you weren't really ever sure what he would do.\" Nuclear issues and the Cold War In the late 1960s and early 1970s the U.S. Department of Defense was in the process of performing tests for the nuclear warhead for the Spartan anti-ballistic missile. Two tests, the \"Milrow\" and \"Cannikin\" tests, were planned, involving the detonation of nuclear bombs under Amchitka Island in Alaska.",
"Two tests, the \"Milrow\" and \"Cannikin\" tests, were planned, involving the detonation of nuclear bombs under Amchitka Island in Alaska. The Milrow test would be a one-megaton calibration exercise for the second and larger five-megaton Cannikin test, which would measure the effectiveness of the warhead. Gravel opposed the tests.",
"Gravel opposed the tests. Gravel opposed the tests. Before the Milrow test took place in October 1969, he wrote that there were significant risks of earthquakes and other adverse consequences and called for an independent national commission on nuclear and seismic safety; he then made a personal appeal to President Richard Nixon to stop the test. After Milrow was conducted, there was continued pressure on the part of environmental groups against going forward with the Cannikin test, while the Federation of American Scientists claimed that the warhead being tested was already obsolete.",
"After Milrow was conducted, there was continued pressure on the part of environmental groups against going forward with the Cannikin test, while the Federation of American Scientists claimed that the warhead being tested was already obsolete. In May 1971 Gravel sent a letter to U.S. Atomic Energy Commission hearings held in Anchorage in which he said the risk of the test was not worth taking.",
"In May 1971 Gravel sent a letter to U.S. Atomic Energy Commission hearings held in Anchorage in which he said the risk of the test was not worth taking. Eventually a group not involving Gravel took the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to issue an injunction against it, and the Cannikin test took place as scheduled in November 1971. Gravel had failed to stop the tests (notwithstanding his later claims during his 2008 presidential campaign).",
"Gravel had failed to stop the tests (notwithstanding his later claims during his 2008 presidential campaign). In 1971 Gravel voted against the Nixon administration's proposed anti-ballistic missile system, the Safeguard Program, having previously vacillated over the issue, suggesting that he might be willing to support it in exchange for federal lands in Alaska being opened up for private oil drilling. His vote alienated Senator Henry \"Scoop\" Jackson, who had raised funds for Gravel's primary campaign.",
"His vote alienated Senator Henry \"Scoop\" Jackson, who had raised funds for Gravel's primary campaign. Nuclear power was considered an environmentally clean alternative for commercial generation of electricity and was part of a popular national policy for the peaceful use of atomic energy in the 1950s and 1960s.",
"Nuclear power was considered an environmentally clean alternative for commercial generation of electricity and was part of a popular national policy for the peaceful use of atomic energy in the 1950s and 1960s. Gravel publicly opposed this policy; besides the dangers of nuclear testing, he was a vocal critic of the Atomic Energy Commission, which oversaw American nuclear efforts, and of the powerful United States Congress Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, which had a stranglehold on nuclear policy and which Gravel tried to circumvent.",
"Gravel publicly opposed this policy; besides the dangers of nuclear testing, he was a vocal critic of the Atomic Energy Commission, which oversaw American nuclear efforts, and of the powerful United States Congress Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, which had a stranglehold on nuclear policy and which Gravel tried to circumvent. In 1971 Gravel sponsored a bill to impose a moratorium on nuclear power plant construction and to make power utilities liable for any nuclear accidents; in 1975 he was still proposing similar moratoriums.",
"In 1971 Gravel sponsored a bill to impose a moratorium on nuclear power plant construction and to make power utilities liable for any nuclear accidents; in 1975 he was still proposing similar moratoriums. By 1974 Gravel was allied with Ralph Nader's organization in opposing nuclear power. Six months before U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's July 1971 secret mission to the People's Republic of China (P.R.C. ), Gravel introduced legislation to recognize and normalize relations with the P.R.C., including a proposal for unity talks between the P.R.C.",
"), Gravel introduced legislation to recognize and normalize relations with the P.R.C., including a proposal for unity talks between the P.R.C. and the Republic of China (Taiwan) regarding the Chinese seat on the U.N. Security Council. He reiterated his position in favor of recognition, with four other senators in agreement, during Senate hearings in June 1971.",
"He reiterated his position in favor of recognition, with four other senators in agreement, during Senate hearings in June 1971. Vietnam War, the draft, and the Pentagon Papers Although he did not campaign against the Vietnam War during his first Senate campaign, by the end of 1970 Gravel was speaking out against United States policy in southeast Asia: in December of that year he persuaded William Fulbright to join him in a spontaneous two-day filibuster against a $155 million military aid package to Cambodia's Khmer Republic government in the Cambodian Civil War.",
"Vietnam War, the draft, and the Pentagon Papers Although he did not campaign against the Vietnam War during his first Senate campaign, by the end of 1970 Gravel was speaking out against United States policy in southeast Asia: in December of that year he persuaded William Fulbright to join him in a spontaneous two-day filibuster against a $155 million military aid package to Cambodia's Khmer Republic government in the Cambodian Civil War. President Richard Nixon had campaigned in 1968 on a promise to end the U.S. military draft, a decision endorsed by the February 1970 report of the Gates Commission.",
"President Richard Nixon had campaigned in 1968 on a promise to end the U.S. military draft, a decision endorsed by the February 1970 report of the Gates Commission. The existing draft law was scheduled to conclude at the end of June 1971, and the Senate faced a contentious debate about whether to extend it as the Vietnam War continued.",
"The existing draft law was scheduled to conclude at the end of June 1971, and the Senate faced a contentious debate about whether to extend it as the Vietnam War continued. The Nixon administration announced in February 1971 that it wanted a two-year extension to June 1973, after which the draft would end; Army planners had already been operating under the assumption of a two-year extension, after which an all-volunteer force would be in place.",
"The Nixon administration announced in February 1971 that it wanted a two-year extension to June 1973, after which the draft would end; Army planners had already been operating under the assumption of a two-year extension, after which an all-volunteer force would be in place. Skeptics such as Senate Armed Services Committee chairman John Stennis thought this unrealistic and wanted a four-year extension, but the two-year proposal is what went forward in Congress.",
"Skeptics such as Senate Armed Services Committee chairman John Stennis thought this unrealistic and wanted a four-year extension, but the two-year proposal is what went forward in Congress. By early May 1971, Gravel had indicated his intention to filibuster the draft renewal legislation, halting conscription and thereby bringing U.S. involvement in the war to a rapid end.",
"By early May 1971, Gravel had indicated his intention to filibuster the draft renewal legislation, halting conscription and thereby bringing U.S. involvement in the war to a rapid end. During this period he also supported efforts to mobilize and influence public opinion against the war, endorsing the \"Vietnam War Out Now\" rallies in Washington D.C. and San Francisco on April 24, 1971, and financing a broadcast campaign by the antiwar group War No More with a personal loan.",
"During this period he also supported efforts to mobilize and influence public opinion against the war, endorsing the \"Vietnam War Out Now\" rallies in Washington D.C. and San Francisco on April 24, 1971, and financing a broadcast campaign by the antiwar group War No More with a personal loan. In June 1972 he escorted a group of over 100 antiwar protesters, including psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton, actress Candice Bergen, theater producer and director Joseph Papp, and peditrician Dr. Benjamin Spock, into the United States Capitol Building; the group was arrested after blocking a hallway outside the Senate chamber.",
"In June 1972 he escorted a group of over 100 antiwar protesters, including psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton, actress Candice Bergen, theater producer and director Joseph Papp, and peditrician Dr. Benjamin Spock, into the United States Capitol Building; the group was arrested after blocking a hallway outside the Senate chamber. By June 1971, some Democratic senators opposed to the war wanted to limit the renewal to a one-year extension, while others wanted to end it immediately; Gravel reiterated that he was one of the latter, saying, \"It's a senseless war, and one way to do away with it is to do away with the draft.\"",
"By June 1971, some Democratic senators opposed to the war wanted to limit the renewal to a one-year extension, while others wanted to end it immediately; Gravel reiterated that he was one of the latter, saying, \"It's a senseless war, and one way to do away with it is to do away with the draft.\" A Senate vote on June 4 indicated majority support for the two-year extension.",
"A Senate vote on June 4 indicated majority support for the two-year extension. On June 18 Gravel announced again his intention to counteract that by filibustering the renewal legislation, defending the practice against those who associated it only with blocking civil rights legislation. The first filibuster attempt failed on June 23 when, by three votes, the Senate voted cloture for only the fifth time since 1927.",
"The first filibuster attempt failed on June 23 when, by three votes, the Senate voted cloture for only the fifth time since 1927. Protracted negotiations took place over House conference negotiations on the bill, revolving in large part around Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield's eventually unsuccessful amendment to tie renewal to a troop withdrawal timetable from Vietnam; during this time the draft law expired and no more were conscripted.",
"Protracted negotiations took place over House conference negotiations on the bill, revolving in large part around Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield's eventually unsuccessful amendment to tie renewal to a troop withdrawal timetable from Vietnam; during this time the draft law expired and no more were conscripted. On August 5, the Nixon administration pleaded for a renewal before the Senate went on recess, but Gravel blocked Stennis's attempt to limit debate, and no vote was held.",
"On August 5, the Nixon administration pleaded for a renewal before the Senate went on recess, but Gravel blocked Stennis's attempt to limit debate, and no vote was held. Finally on September 21, 1971, the Senate invoked cloture over Gravel's second filibuster attempt by one vote, and then passed the two-year draft extension.",
"Finally on September 21, 1971, the Senate invoked cloture over Gravel's second filibuster attempt by one vote, and then passed the two-year draft extension. Gravel's attempts to stop the draft had failed (notwithstanding Gravel's later claims that he had stopped or shortened the draft, taken at face value in some media reports, during his 2008 presidential campaign). Meanwhile, on June 13, 1971, The New York Times began printing large portions of the Pentagon Papers.",
"Meanwhile, on June 13, 1971, The New York Times began printing large portions of the Pentagon Papers. The papers were a large collection of secret government documents and studies pertaining to the Vietnam War, of which former Defense Department analyst Daniel Ellsberg had made unauthorized copies and was determined to make public.",
"The papers were a large collection of secret government documents and studies pertaining to the Vietnam War, of which former Defense Department analyst Daniel Ellsberg had made unauthorized copies and was determined to make public. Ellsberg had for a year and a half approached members of Congress – such as William Fulbright, George McGovern, Charles Mathias, and Pete McCloskey – about publishing the documents, on the grounds that the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution would give congressional members immunity from prosecution, but all had refused.",
"Ellsberg had for a year and a half approached members of Congress – such as William Fulbright, George McGovern, Charles Mathias, and Pete McCloskey – about publishing the documents, on the grounds that the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution would give congressional members immunity from prosecution, but all had refused. Instead, Ellsberg gave the documents to the Times. The U.S. Justice Department immediately tried to halt publication, on the grounds that the information revealed within the papers harmed the national interest.",
"The U.S. Justice Department immediately tried to halt publication, on the grounds that the information revealed within the papers harmed the national interest. Within the next two weeks, a federal court injunction halted publication in the Times; The Washington Post and several other newspapers began publishing parts of the documents, with some of them also being halted by injunctions; and the whole matter went to the U.S. Supreme Court for arguments.",
"Within the next two weeks, a federal court injunction halted publication in the Times; The Washington Post and several other newspapers began publishing parts of the documents, with some of them also being halted by injunctions; and the whole matter went to the U.S. Supreme Court for arguments. Looking for an alternate publication mechanism, Ellsberg returned to his idea of having a member of Congress read them, and chose Gravel based on the latter's efforts against the draft; Gravel agreed where previously others had not.",
"Looking for an alternate publication mechanism, Ellsberg returned to his idea of having a member of Congress read them, and chose Gravel based on the latter's efforts against the draft; Gravel agreed where previously others had not. Ellsberg arranged for the papers to be given to Gravel on June 26 via an intermediary, Post editor Ben Bagdikian.",
"Ellsberg arranged for the papers to be given to Gravel on June 26 via an intermediary, Post editor Ben Bagdikian. Gravel used his counter-intelligence experience to choose a midnight transfer in front of the Mayflower Hotel in the center of Washington, D.C. On the night of June 29, 1971, Gravel attempted to read the papers on the floor of the Senate as part of his filibuster against the draft, but was thwarted when no quorum could be formed. Gravel instead convened a session of the Buildings and Grounds subcommittee that he chaired.",
"Gravel instead convened a session of the Buildings and Grounds subcommittee that he chaired. He got New York Congressman John G. Dow to testify that the war had soaked up funding for public buildings, thus making discussion of the war relevant to the committee.",
"He got New York Congressman John G. Dow to testify that the war had soaked up funding for public buildings, thus making discussion of the war relevant to the committee. He began reading from the papers with the press in attendance, omitting supporting documents that he felt might compromise national security, and declaring, \"It is my constitutional obligation to protect the security of the people by fostering the free flow of information absolutely essential to their democratic decision-making.\"",
"He began reading from the papers with the press in attendance, omitting supporting documents that he felt might compromise national security, and declaring, \"It is my constitutional obligation to protect the security of the people by fostering the free flow of information absolutely essential to their democratic decision-making.\" He read until 1 a.m., culminating by saying \"Arms are being severed. Metal is clashing through human bodies because of the public policy this government and all its branches continue to support.\"",
"Metal is clashing through human bodies because of the public policy this government and all its branches continue to support.\" Then with tears and sobs he said that he could no longer physically continue, the previous three nights of sleeplessness and fear about the future having taken their toll. Gravel ended the session by, with no other senators present, establishing unanimous consent to insert 4,100 pages of the Papers into the Congressional Record of his subcommittee.",
"Gravel ended the session by, with no other senators present, establishing unanimous consent to insert 4,100 pages of the Papers into the Congressional Record of his subcommittee. The following day, the Supreme Court's New York Times Co. v. United States decision ruled in favor of the newspapers and publication in the Times and others resumed. In July 1971 Bantam Books published an inexpensive paperback edition of the papers containing the material the Times had published.",
"In July 1971 Bantam Books published an inexpensive paperback edition of the papers containing the material the Times had published. Gravel, too, wanted to privately publish the portion of the papers he had read into the record, believing that \"immediate disclosure of the contents of these papers will change the policy that supports the war\". After being turned down by many commercial publishers, on August 4 he reached agreement with Beacon Press, the publishing arm of the Unitarian Universalist Association, of which Gravel was a member.",
"After being turned down by many commercial publishers, on August 4 he reached agreement with Beacon Press, the publishing arm of the Unitarian Universalist Association, of which Gravel was a member. Announced on August 17 and published on October 22, 1971, this four-volume, relatively expensive set became the \"Senator Gravel Edition\", which studies from Cornell University and the Annenberg Center for Communication have labeled as the most complete edition of the Pentagon Papers to be published.",
"Announced on August 17 and published on October 22, 1971, this four-volume, relatively expensive set became the \"Senator Gravel Edition\", which studies from Cornell University and the Annenberg Center for Communication have labeled as the most complete edition of the Pentagon Papers to be published. The \"Gravel Edition\" was edited and annotated by Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn, and included an additional volume of analytical articles on the origins and progress of the war, also edited by Chomsky and Zinn.",
"The \"Gravel Edition\" was edited and annotated by Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn, and included an additional volume of analytical articles on the origins and progress of the war, also edited by Chomsky and Zinn. Beacon Press then was subjected to a FBI investigation; an outgrowth of this was the Gravel v. United States court case, which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled upon in June 1972; it held that the Speech or Debate Clause did grant immunity to Gravel for his reading the papers in his subcommittee, did grant some immunity to Gravel's congressional aide, but granted no immunity to Beacon Press in relation to their publishing the same papers.",
"Beacon Press then was subjected to a FBI investigation; an outgrowth of this was the Gravel v. United States court case, which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled upon in June 1972; it held that the Speech or Debate Clause did grant immunity to Gravel for his reading the papers in his subcommittee, did grant some immunity to Gravel's congressional aide, but granted no immunity to Beacon Press in relation to their publishing the same papers. The U.S. Senate Democratic Caucus backed Gravel in the case, but due to Republican opposition it did not pay Gravel's legal fees, leaving him owing $25,000 (the equivalent of $150,000 in 2019, adjusted for inflation).",
"The U.S. Senate Democratic Caucus backed Gravel in the case, but due to Republican opposition it did not pay Gravel's legal fees, leaving him owing $25,000 (the equivalent of $150,000 in 2019, adjusted for inflation). The events of 1971 changed Gravel in the following months from an obscure freshman senator to a nationally visible political figure.",
"The events of 1971 changed Gravel in the following months from an obscure freshman senator to a nationally visible political figure. He became a sought-after speaker on the college circuit as well as at political fundraisers, opportunities he welcomed as lectures were \"the one honest way a Senator has to supplement his income\". But his speaking tours caused him to accrue one of the worst absentee records in the Senate. The Democratic candidates for the 1972 presidential election sought his endorsement.",
"The Democratic candidates for the 1972 presidential election sought his endorsement. In January 1972 Gravel endorsed Maine Senator Ed Muskie, hoping that his support would help Muskie with the party's left wing and in ethnic French-Canadian areas during the first primary contest in New Hampshire (Muskie won, but not overwhelmingly, and his campaign faltered soon after).",
"In January 1972 Gravel endorsed Maine Senator Ed Muskie, hoping that his support would help Muskie with the party's left wing and in ethnic French-Canadian areas during the first primary contest in New Hampshire (Muskie won, but not overwhelmingly, and his campaign faltered soon after). In April 1972 Gravel appeared on all three networks' nightly newscasts to decry the Nixon administration's reliance on Vietnamization by making reference to the secret National Security Study Memorandum 1 document, which stated it would take 8–13 years for the Army of the Republic of Vietnam to defend South Vietnam.",
"In April 1972 Gravel appeared on all three networks' nightly newscasts to decry the Nixon administration's reliance on Vietnamization by making reference to the secret National Security Study Memorandum 1 document, which stated it would take 8–13 years for the Army of the Republic of Vietnam to defend South Vietnam. Gravel made excerpts from the study public, but senators Robert P. Griffin and William B. Saxbe blocked his attempt to read NSSM 1 into the Congressional Record.",
"Gravel made excerpts from the study public, but senators Robert P. Griffin and William B. Saxbe blocked his attempt to read NSSM 1 into the Congressional Record. Domestic policy In 1970 Gravel co-sponsored legislation to establish a guaranteed minimum income, entitling poor families to up to $6,300 a year (the equivalent of $42,000 in 2019 after adjustment for inflation).",
"Domestic policy In 1970 Gravel co-sponsored legislation to establish a guaranteed minimum income, entitling poor families to up to $6,300 a year (the equivalent of $42,000 in 2019 after adjustment for inflation). He subsequently voted for a \"work bonus\" program, which would have entitled low-income working families with dependent children if they were paying Social Security or Railroad Retirement taxes to a non-taxable bonus of up to 10 percent of their wages.",
"He subsequently voted for a \"work bonus\" program, which would have entitled low-income working families with dependent children if they were paying Social Security or Railroad Retirement taxes to a non-taxable bonus of up to 10 percent of their wages. Gravel also supported extending Social Security to all federal employees and introduced a campaign finance reform bill in 1971 that would have enacted full disclosure of campaign financing, placed limits on large donations, media spending and individual candidate spending.",
"Gravel also supported extending Social Security to all federal employees and introduced a campaign finance reform bill in 1971 that would have enacted full disclosure of campaign financing, placed limits on large donations, media spending and individual candidate spending. In 1969, Gravel was the only Democratic Senator outside of the South to vote for Nixon's Supreme Court nominee Clement Haynsworth. The following year Gravel opposed Nixon's next pick, G. Harrold Carswell.",
"The following year Gravel opposed Nixon's next pick, G. Harrold Carswell. Run for vice president in 1972 Gravel actively campaigned for the office of Vice President of the United States during the 1972 presidential election, announcing on June 2, 1972, over a month before the 1972 Democratic National Convention began, that he was interested in the nomination should the choice be opened up to convention delegates. Toward this end he began soliciting delegates for their support.",
"Toward this end he began soliciting delegates for their support. He was not alone in this effort, as former Governor of Massachusetts Endicott Peabody had been running a quixotic campaign for the same post since the prior year. Likely presidential nominee George McGovern was in fact considering the unusual move of naming three or four acceptable vice-presidential candidates and letting the delegates choose. On the convention's final day, July 14, 1972, McGovern selected and announced Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri as his vice-presidential choice.",
"On the convention's final day, July 14, 1972, McGovern selected and announced Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri as his vice-presidential choice. Eagleton was unknown to many delegates and the choice seemed to smack of traditional ticket balancing considerations. Thus there were delegates willing to look elsewhere. Gravel was nominated by Bettye Fahrenkamp, the Democratic National Committeewoman from Alaska. He then seconded his own nomination, breaking down in tears at his own words and maybe trying to withdraw his nomination.",
"He then seconded his own nomination, breaking down in tears at his own words and maybe trying to withdraw his nomination. In any case he won 226 delegate votes, coming in third behind Eagleton and Frances \"Sissy\" Farenthold of Texas, in chaotic balloting that included several other candidates.",
"In any case he won 226 delegate votes, coming in third behind Eagleton and Frances \"Sissy\" Farenthold of Texas, in chaotic balloting that included several other candidates. Gravel attracted some attention for his efforts: writer Norman Mailer said he \"provided considerable excitement\" and was \"good-looking enough to have played leads in B-films\", while Rolling Stone correspondent Hunter S. Thompson said Gravel \"probably said a few things that might have been worth hearing, under different circumstances\". Yet the process was doubly disastrous for the Democrats.",
"Yet the process was doubly disastrous for the Democrats. Yet the process was doubly disastrous for the Democrats. In the time consumed by nominating and seconding and all the vice-presidential candidates' speeches, the attention of the delegates on the floor was lost and McGovern's speech was pushed to 3:30 a.m. The haste with which Eagleton was selected led to surprise when his past mental health treatments were revealed; he withdrew from the ticket soon after the convention, to be replaced by Sargent Shriver.",
"The haste with which Eagleton was selected led to surprise when his past mental health treatments were revealed; he withdrew from the ticket soon after the convention, to be replaced by Sargent Shriver. Reelection to Senate in 1974 Several years earlier, Alaska politicians had speculated that Gravel would have a hard time getting both renominated and elected when his first term expired, given that he was originally elected without a base party organization and tended to focus on national rather than local issues.",
"Reelection to Senate in 1974 Several years earlier, Alaska politicians had speculated that Gravel would have a hard time getting both renominated and elected when his first term expired, given that he was originally elected without a base party organization and tended to focus on national rather than local issues. Nonetheless, after receiving support from national and local labor leaders, securing key earmarks, and producing another half-hour TV advertorial, in 1974 Gravel was reelected to the Senate, with 58 percent of the vote to 42 percent for Republican State Senator C. R. Lewis, who was a national officer of the John Birch Society.",
"Nonetheless, after receiving support from national and local labor leaders, securing key earmarks, and producing another half-hour TV advertorial, in 1974 Gravel was reelected to the Senate, with 58 percent of the vote to 42 percent for Republican State Senator C. R. Lewis, who was a national officer of the John Birch Society. Second term Gravel's reelection campaign left him $65,000–$75,000 in debt.",
"Second term Gravel's reelection campaign left him $65,000–$75,000 in debt. In 1975 The Washington Post reported on a memo by his executive assistant laying out a fundraising strategy to tackle this, including raising funds from oil companies, meeting with previous donors and \"inquir[ing] into the governmental priorities of these people and their groups in the coming session\", as well as obtaining further speaking fees to reduce his personal debt.",
"In 1975 The Washington Post reported on a memo by his executive assistant laying out a fundraising strategy to tackle this, including raising funds from oil companies, meeting with previous donors and \"inquir[ing] into the governmental priorities of these people and their groups in the coming session\", as well as obtaining further speaking fees to reduce his personal debt. This was followed by a number of stories about links between Gravel, lobbyists and fundraisers, including one that was widely publicized in Alaska about his holding a share in a Colorado resort with two Washington lobbyists he was working with on land and energy legislation.",
"This was followed by a number of stories about links between Gravel, lobbyists and fundraisers, including one that was widely publicized in Alaska about his holding a share in a Colorado resort with two Washington lobbyists he was working with on land and energy legislation. Gravel had been open about the investment and had opposing views to one of the lobbyists on nuclear power.",
"Gravel had been open about the investment and had opposing views to one of the lobbyists on nuclear power. In 1980 the Wall Street Journal published details about his fundraising activities, including writing to individuals and PACs in the oil industry, pledging to kill off proposals for a windfall profits tax on the sector, and traveling in the Middle East with the business partner of one of his donors to sell Alaskan land to businessmen. Gravel suggested that critics of his fundraising were \"naive\".",
"Gravel suggested that critics of his fundraising were \"naive\". In 1975 Gravel introduced an amendment to cut the number of troops overseas by 200,000, but it was defeated on a voice vote. In September 1975 Gravel was named as one of several Congressional Advisers to the Seventh Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly, which met to discuss problems related to economic development and international economic cooperation. In June 1976 Gravel was the focus of a federal investigation into allegations that he was involved in a sex-for-vote arrangement.",
"In June 1976 Gravel was the focus of a federal investigation into allegations that he was involved in a sex-for-vote arrangement. Congressional staff clerk Elizabeth Ray (who had already been involved in a sex scandal that led to the downfall of Representative Wayne Hays) said that in August 1972 she had sex with Gravel aboard a houseboat on the Potomac River, under the instruction of Representative Kenneth J. Gray, her boss at the time.",
"Gray, her boss at the time. Gray, her boss at the time. Gray allegedly wanted to secure Gravel's support for further funding for construction of the National Visitor Center in Washington, a troubled project that was under the jurisdiction of subcommittees that both members chaired. Another Congressional staffer said she witnessed the boat encounter, but Gravel said at the time that he had never met either of the women.",
"Another Congressional staffer said she witnessed the boat encounter, but Gravel said at the time that he had never met either of the women. Gravel and Gray strongly denied that they had made any arrangement regarding legislation, and neither was ever charged with any wrongdoing. Decades later Gravel wrote that he had indeed had sex with Ray, but had not changed any votes because of it.",
"Decades later Gravel wrote that he had indeed had sex with Ray, but had not changed any votes because of it. Gravel and his main financial backer, Gottstein, had a falling out in 1978, during the Congressional debate over whether to allow a controversial sale of U.S. F-15 fighter aircraft to Saudi Arabia. An ardent backer of Israel, Gottstein opposed the sale and asked Gravel to vote against it. But Gravel not only voted for it but made an emotional speech attacking the anti-sale campaign.",
"But Gravel not only voted for it but made an emotional speech attacking the anti-sale campaign. Gravel wrote in 2008 that it was the only time Gottstein had ever asked him for a favor, and the rupture resulted in their never speaking to each other again. Alaskan issues By 1971 Gravel was urging construction of the much-argued Trans-Alaska pipeline, addressing environmental concerns by saying that the pipeline's builders and operators should have \"total and absolute\" responsibility for any consequent environmental damage.",
"Alaskan issues By 1971 Gravel was urging construction of the much-argued Trans-Alaska pipeline, addressing environmental concerns by saying that the pipeline's builders and operators should have \"total and absolute\" responsibility for any consequent environmental damage. Two years later the debate over the pipeline came to a crux, with The New York Times describing it as \"environmentalists [in] a holy war with the major oil companies\".",
"Two years later the debate over the pipeline came to a crux, with The New York Times describing it as \"environmentalists [in] a holy war with the major oil companies\". In February 1973 the U.S. Court of Appeals blocked the issuance of permits for construction; Gravel and fellow Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens reacted by urging Congress to pass legislation overturning the court's decision.",
"In February 1973 the U.S. Court of Appeals blocked the issuance of permits for construction; Gravel and fellow Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens reacted by urging Congress to pass legislation overturning the court's decision. Environmentalists opposed to the pipeline, such as the Environmental Defense Fund and the Sierra Club then sought to use the recently passed National Environmental Policy Act to their advantage; Gravel designed an amendment to the pipeline bill that would immunize the pipeline from any further court challenges under that law, and thus speed its construction.",
"Environmentalists opposed to the pipeline, such as the Environmental Defense Fund and the Sierra Club then sought to use the recently passed National Environmental Policy Act to their advantage; Gravel designed an amendment to the pipeline bill that would immunize the pipeline from any further court challenges under that law, and thus speed its construction. Passage of the amendment became the key battle regarding the pipeline.",
"Passage of the amendment became the key battle regarding the pipeline. On July 17, 1973, in a dramatic roll-call vote, the Gravel amendment was approved as a 49–49 tie was broken in favor by Vice President Spiro Agnew. The actual bill enabling the pipeline then passed easily; Gravel had triumphed in what became perhaps his most lasting accomplishment as a senator. In opposition to the Alaskan fishing industry, Gravel advocated American participation in the formation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.",
"In opposition to the Alaskan fishing industry, Gravel advocated American participation in the formation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. For two years he opposed legislation that established a Exclusive Economic Zone for marine resources. He was one of only 19 senators to vote against Senate approval for the expanded zone in 1976, saying it would undermine the U.S. position in Law of the Sea negotiations and that nations arbitrarily extending their fishing rights limits would \"produce anarchy of the seas\".",
"He was one of only 19 senators to vote against Senate approval for the expanded zone in 1976, saying it would undermine the U.S. position in Law of the Sea negotiations and that nations arbitrarily extending their fishing rights limits would \"produce anarchy of the seas\". The legislation was passed, and the United States has signed but never ratified the Law of the Sea treaty. Gravel accumulated a complicated record on Indian affairs during his time in the Senate.",
"Gravel accumulated a complicated record on Indian affairs during his time in the Senate. During his first year in the Senate Gravel urged abolition of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, criticizing the agency for the pace of development of schools in Alaska, its paternalistic attitudes and the culturally inappropriate nature of its education, and advocating greater shared decision-making between the federal government and native communities in Alaska.",
"During his first year in the Senate Gravel urged abolition of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, criticizing the agency for the pace of development of schools in Alaska, its paternalistic attitudes and the culturally inappropriate nature of its education, and advocating greater shared decision-making between the federal government and native communities in Alaska. Later, his views changed; in the early 1970s Gravel supported a demonstration project that established links between Alaskan villages and the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, for medical diagnostic communications.",
"Later, his views changed; in the early 1970s Gravel supported a demonstration project that established links between Alaskan villages and the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, for medical diagnostic communications. In 1971, he fended off accusations from Alaskan natives that he was not spending enough time working on their land claims. Gravel helped secure a private grant to facilitate the first Inuit Circumpolar Conference in 1977, attended by Inuit representatives from Alaska, Canada, and Greenland. These conferences now also include representatives from Russia.",
"These conferences now also include representatives from Russia. These conferences now also include representatives from Russia. In 1977, Gravel helped lead an effort to have the U.S. Interior Department rename Mount McKinley to Denali; this eventually led to Denali National Park being so named. Subsequently, Gravel proposed a never-built \"Denali City\" development above the Tokositna River near the mountain, to consist of a giant Teflon dome enclosing hotels, golf courses, condominiums, and commercial buildings.",
"Subsequently, Gravel proposed a never-built \"Denali City\" development above the Tokositna River near the mountain, to consist of a giant Teflon dome enclosing hotels, golf courses, condominiums, and commercial buildings. A related idea of his to build a high-speed rail line to Denali also failed to gain traction. A key, emotional issue in the state at the time was \"locking up Alaska\", making reference to allocation of its vast, mostly uninhabited land.",
"A key, emotional issue in the state at the time was \"locking up Alaska\", making reference to allocation of its vast, mostly uninhabited land. President Jimmy Carter desired to put large portions of this land under federal protection against development, a move that some Alaskans vociferously opposed. In 1978 Gravel blocked passage, via procedural delays such as walking out of House–Senate conference committee meetings, of a complex bill which represented a compromise on land use policy.",
"In 1978 Gravel blocked passage, via procedural delays such as walking out of House–Senate conference committee meetings, of a complex bill which represented a compromise on land use policy. The bill would have put some of Alaska's vast federal land holdings under state control while preserving other portions for federal parks and refuges; the blocking action earned Gravel the enmity of fellow Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, who had supported the compromise.",
"The bill would have put some of Alaska's vast federal land holdings under state control while preserving other portions for federal parks and refuges; the blocking action earned Gravel the enmity of fellow Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, who had supported the compromise. In 1980, a new lands bill came up for consideration, that was less favorable to Alaskan interests and more liked by environmentalists; it set aside of Alaska's for national parks, conservation areas, and other restricted federal uses.",
"In 1980, a new lands bill came up for consideration, that was less favorable to Alaskan interests and more liked by environmentalists; it set aside of Alaska's for national parks, conservation areas, and other restricted federal uses. Gravel blocked it, as not ensuring enough future development in the state. A new compromise version of the 1980 bill came forward, which reduced the land set aside to . Representing Alaskan interests, Gravel tried to stop the bill, including by filibuster.",
"Representing Alaskan interests, Gravel tried to stop the bill, including by filibuster. But the Senate voted for cloture and passed the bill. Frustrated, Gravel said, \"the legislation denies Alaska its rights as a state, and denies the U.S. crucial strategic resources,\" and opined that the Senate was \"a little bit like a tank of barracudas\".",
"Frustrated, Gravel said, \"the legislation denies Alaska its rights as a state, and denies the U.S. crucial strategic resources,\" and opined that the Senate was \"a little bit like a tank of barracudas\". Nonetheless, the bill, known as the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980, was signed by President Carter shortly before leaving the White House, and led to millions of acres being set aside in the state for national parks, wildlife refuges, and other kinds of areas under protection.",
"Nonetheless, the bill, known as the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980, was signed by President Carter shortly before leaving the White House, and led to millions of acres being set aside in the state for national parks, wildlife refuges, and other kinds of areas under protection. In 1978 Gravel authored and secured the passage into federal law of the General Stock Ownership Corporation, that became Subchapter U of the Tax Code under the Internal Revenue Code of 1954.",
"In 1978 Gravel authored and secured the passage into federal law of the General Stock Ownership Corporation, that became Subchapter U of the Tax Code under the Internal Revenue Code of 1954. This gave states the ability to create corporations that would invest in for-profit enterprises, with all citizens within the state owning shares in the corporation.",
"This gave states the ability to create corporations that would invest in for-profit enterprises, with all citizens within the state owning shares in the corporation. Gravel's attempt to convince the Alaska state legislature to create such a corporation failed, as did a 1980 state ballot initiative towards the same end, but nevertheless the creation of the General Stock Ownership Corporation in federal law turned out to be significant in the development of binary economics.",
"Gravel's attempt to convince the Alaska state legislature to create such a corporation failed, as did a 1980 state ballot initiative towards the same end, but nevertheless the creation of the General Stock Ownership Corporation in federal law turned out to be significant in the development of binary economics. Loss of Senate seat in 1980 In 1980 Gravel was challenged for the Democratic Party's nomination by State Representative Clark Gruening, the grandson of the man Gravel had defeated in a primary 12 years earlier.",
"Loss of Senate seat in 1980 In 1980 Gravel was challenged for the Democratic Party's nomination by State Representative Clark Gruening, the grandson of the man Gravel had defeated in a primary 12 years earlier. One of Gruening's supporters was Gravel's former backer Gottstein. Several factors made Gravel vulnerable. As an insurgent candidate in 1968 Gravel had never established a firm party base. Not liking to hunt or fish, he was also always culturally suspect in the state. The primary campaign was bitterly fought.",
"The primary campaign was bitterly fought. The primary campaign was bitterly fought. A group of Democrats, including future governor Steve Cowper, led the campaign against Gravel, with Gravel's actions in respect to the 1978 and 1980 Alaskan lands bills a major issue. This was especially so given that the 1980 bill's dénouement happened but a week before the primary. The sources of Gravel's campaign funds, some of which Gravel readily acknowledged came from political action committees outside the state, also became an issue in the contest.",
"The sources of Gravel's campaign funds, some of which Gravel readily acknowledged came from political action committees outside the state, also became an issue in the contest. Gruening had pledged that he would not take special interest group money, but Gravel said that Gruening was \"dishonest\" in accepting individual contributors from Jewish donors living outside the state because to him such contributors comprised \"a special interest group ... that seeks to influence the foreign policy of the U.S.\" Gruening won the primary with about 55 percent of the vote to Gravel's 44 percent.",
"Gruening had pledged that he would not take special interest group money, but Gravel said that Gruening was \"dishonest\" in accepting individual contributors from Jewish donors living outside the state because to him such contributors comprised \"a special interest group ... that seeks to influence the foreign policy of the U.S.\" Gruening won the primary with about 55 percent of the vote to Gravel's 44 percent. Gravel later conceded that by the time of his defeat, he had alienated \"almost every constituency in Alaska\".",
"Gravel later conceded that by the time of his defeat, he had alienated \"almost every constituency in Alaska\". Another factor may have been Alaska's blanket primary system of the time, which allowed unlimited voting across party lines and from its many independents; Republicans believed Gruening would be an easier candidate to defeat in the general election. Gruening lost the general election to Republican Frank Murkowski.",
"Gruening lost the general election to Republican Frank Murkowski. Gruening lost the general election to Republican Frank Murkowski. Gravel was the last Democrat to represent Alaska in Congress for 28 years, until Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich defeated Ted Stevens, by then an aged, iconic figure who had just been convicted of seven felonies for taking unreported gifts, in a very close and protracted election result in 2008. Stevens's conviction was subsequently vacated due to prosecutorial misconduct.",
"Stevens's conviction was subsequently vacated due to prosecutorial misconduct. Career after leaving the Senate Of his 1980 defeat, Gravel later recalled: \"I had lost my career. I lost my marriage. I was in the doldrums for ten years after my defeat,\" and \"Nobody wanted to hire me for anything important. I felt like I was worthless. I didn't know what I could do.\"",
"I didn't know what I could do.\" I didn't know what I could do.\" By his own later description, Gravel was a womanizer, and had an affair while in the Senate, and in December 1980 he and his wife Rita separated. They filed for divorce in September 1981; she later received all of his Senate pension income. During the 1980s Gravel was a real estate developer in Anchorage and Kenai, Alaska, a consultant, and a stockbroker.",
"During the 1980s Gravel was a real estate developer in Anchorage and Kenai, Alaska, a consultant, and a stockbroker. One of his real estate ventures, a condominium business, was forced to declare bankruptcy and a lawsuit ensued. In 1986 Gravel worked in partnership with Merrill Lynch Capital Markets to buy losses that financially troubled Alaska Native Corporations could not take as tax deductions and sell them to large national companies looking for tax writeoffs. Gravel also learned computer programming at some point but never practiced it.",
"Gravel also learned computer programming at some point but never practiced it. In 1984 Gravel married his second wife, Whitney Stewart Gravel, a former administrative assistant for Senator Jacob Javits. Return to politics In 1989 Gravel reentered politics. He founded and led The Democracy Foundation, which promotes direct democracy.",
"He founded and led The Democracy Foundation, which promotes direct democracy. He established the Philadelphia II corporation, which seeks to replicate the original 1787 Constitutional Convention and have a Second Constitutional Convention to bring about direct democracy Gravel led an effort to get a United States Constitutional amendment to allow voter-initiated federal legislation similar to state ballot initiatives. He argued that Americans are able to legislate responsibly, and that the Act and Amendment in the National Initiative would allow American citizens to become \"law makers\".",
"He argued that Americans are able to legislate responsibly, and that the Act and Amendment in the National Initiative would allow American citizens to become \"law makers\". However such efforts met with little success. In 2001, Gravel became director of the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution, where he admired institute co-founder Gregory Fossedal's work on direct democracy in Switzerland.",
"In 2001, Gravel became director of the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution, where he admired institute co-founder Gregory Fossedal's work on direct democracy in Switzerland. By 2004, Gravel had become chair of the institute, and Fossedal (who in turn was a director of the Democracy Foundation) gave the introduction at Gravel's presidential announcement. In 2003 Gravel gave a speech on direct democracy at a conference hosted by the American Free Press. The event was cosponsored by the Barnes Review, a journal that endorses Holocaust denial.",
"The event was cosponsored by the Barnes Review, a journal that endorses Holocaust denial. After some controversy over his appearance, Gravel apologized, saying he did not realize the group's ties. Gravel said repeatedly that he did not share the group's views on the Holocaust, stating, \"You better believe I know that six million Jews were killed. [The Barnes Review publishers] are nutty as loons if they don't think it happened\". The group invited Gravel to speak again, but he declined.",
"The group invited Gravel to speak again, but he declined. Mike and Whitney Gravel lived in Arlington County, Virginia, until 2010 and then resided in Burlingame, California. They have the two grown children from his first marriage, Martin Gravel and Lynne Gravel Mosier, and four grandchildren. Whitney Gravel's income sustained the couple from 1998 on. In the 2000s, Gravel suffered poor health, requiring three surgeries in 2003 for back pain and neuropathy.",
"In the 2000s, Gravel suffered poor health, requiring three surgeries in 2003 for back pain and neuropathy. Due to unreimbursed medical expenses and debts from his political causes, he declared personal bankruptcy in 2004. He began taking a salary from the non-profit organizations for which he was working; much of that income was lent to his presidential campaign. In 2007, he declared that he had \"zero net worth\".",
"In 2007, he declared that he had \"zero net worth\". 2008 presidential campaign Democratic Party primaries At the start of 2006 Gravel decided the best way he could promote direct democracy and the National Initiative was to run for president.",
"2008 presidential campaign Democratic Party primaries At the start of 2006 Gravel decided the best way he could promote direct democracy and the National Initiative was to run for president. On April 17, 2006, Gravel became the first candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2008 election, announcing his run in a speech to the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Short on campaign cash, he took public transportation to get to his announcement. (Gravel called for public financing of elections.)",
"(Gravel called for public financing of elections.) (Gravel called for public financing of elections.) Other principal Gravel positions were the FairTax, as well as withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq within 120 days and a single payer national health care system. Gravel had opposed the Iraq War, and President George W. Bush's rationale for it, from the beginning, and in 2006 said that U.S. troops in Iraq, as in Vietnam, had \"died in vain\".",
"Gravel had opposed the Iraq War, and President George W. Bush's rationale for it, from the beginning, and in 2006 said that U.S. troops in Iraq, as in Vietnam, had \"died in vain\". He also favored a regional peace initiative, as well as reparation payments for Iraqis. Gravel also called for a \"U.S. corporate withdrawal from Iraq\", with reconstruction contracts held by U.S. companies to be turned over to Iraqi firms.",
"Gravel also called for a \"U.S. corporate withdrawal from Iraq\", with reconstruction contracts held by U.S. companies to be turned over to Iraqi firms. Gravel campaigned almost full-time in New Hampshire, the first primary state, following his announcement. Opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination showed Gravel with 1 percent or less support. By the end of March 2007, Gravel's campaign had less than $500 in cash on hand against debts of nearly $90,000.",
"By the end of March 2007, Gravel's campaign had less than $500 in cash on hand against debts of nearly $90,000. Because of his time in the Senate, Gravel was invited to many of the early Democratic presidential debates. During the initial one at South Carolina State University on April 26, 2007, he suggested a bill requiring the president to withdraw from Iraq on pain of criminal penalties. He also advocated positions such as opposing preemptive nuclear war.",
"He also advocated positions such as opposing preemptive nuclear war. He stated that the Iraq War had the effect of creating more terrorists and that the \"war was lost the day that George Bush invaded Iraq on a fraudulent basis\". Regarding his fellow candidates, he said, \"I got to tell you, after standing up with them, some of these people frighten me – they frighten me.\" In one such exchange, Gravel said, \"Tell me, Barack, who do you want to nuke?\"",
"In one such exchange, Gravel said, \"Tell me, Barack, who do you want to nuke?\" to which Obama responded, \"I'm not planning to nuke anybody right now, Mike, I promise.\" Media stories said that Gravel was responsible for much of whatever \"heat\" and \"flashpoints\" had taken place during the Democratic debates.",
"Media stories said that Gravel was responsible for much of whatever \"heat\" and \"flashpoints\" had taken place during the Democratic debates. Gravel gained considerable publicity by shaking up the normally staid multiple-candidate format; The New York Times' media critic said that what Gravel had done was \"steal a debate with outrageous, curmudgeonly statements\".",
"Gravel gained considerable publicity by shaking up the normally staid multiple-candidate format; The New York Times' media critic said that what Gravel had done was \"steal a debate with outrageous, curmudgeonly statements\". The Internet was a benefit: a YouTube video of his responses in the debate was viewed more than 225,892 times, ranking seventeenth in most views for week and first among news and politics clips; his name became the fifteenth most searched-for in the blogosphere; and his website garnered more traffic than those of frontrunners Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, or John Edwards.",
"The Internet was a benefit: a YouTube video of his responses in the debate was viewed more than 225,892 times, ranking seventeenth in most views for week and first among news and politics clips; his name became the fifteenth most searched-for in the blogosphere; and his website garnered more traffic than those of frontrunners Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, or John Edwards. Gravel appeared on the popular Colbert Report on television on May 2, and his campaign and career were profiled in national publications such as Salon.",
"Gravel appeared on the popular Colbert Report on television on May 2, and his campaign and career were profiled in national publications such as Salon. Two wordless, Warholesque campaign videos, \"Rock\" and \"Fire\", were released on YouTube in late May and became hits, and eventually gained over 760,000 and 185,000 views respectively. \"Rock\", in turn, was given airtime during an episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.",
"\"Rock\", in turn, was given airtime during an episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Some thirty-five years after he first achieved the national spotlight, he had found it again. All this did not improve his performance in the polls; a May 2007 CNN poll showed him with less than 0.5 percent support among Democrats. Gravel was in the next several debates, in one case after CNN reversed a decision to exclude him.",
"Gravel was in the next several debates, in one case after CNN reversed a decision to exclude him. Like some of the other second-tier candidates, Gravel did not get as much time as the leaders; during the June 2, 2007, New Hampshire debate, which lasted two hours, he was asked 10 questions and allowed to speak for five minutes and 37 seconds.",
"Like some of the other second-tier candidates, Gravel did not get as much time as the leaders; during the June 2, 2007, New Hampshire debate, which lasted two hours, he was asked 10 questions and allowed to speak for five minutes and 37 seconds. During the July 23, 2007, CNN-YouTube presidential debate, Gravel responded to audience applause when he had complained of a lack of airtime and said: \"Thank you. Has it been fair thus far?\"",
"Has it been fair thus far?\" Has it been fair thus far?\" Detractors began to liken him to \"the cranky uncle who lives in the attic,\" or \"the angry old guy that just seemed to want to become angrier\". Berkeley political scientist David Terr found that moderator George Stephanopoulos directed roughly five percent of his questions to Gravel; in a poll asking who did the best in the debate, Gravel placed seventh among the eight candidates.",
"Berkeley political scientist David Terr found that moderator George Stephanopoulos directed roughly five percent of his questions to Gravel; in a poll asking who did the best in the debate, Gravel placed seventh among the eight candidates. National opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination continued to show Gravel with one percent or zero percent numbers.",
"National opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination continued to show Gravel with one percent or zero percent numbers. By the end of the third-quarter 2007, Gravel had about $17,500 in cash on hand, had collected a total of about $380,000 during the 2008 election cycle, and was continuing to run a threadbare campaign with minimal staff.",
"By the end of the third-quarter 2007, Gravel had about $17,500 in cash on hand, had collected a total of about $380,000 during the 2008 election cycle, and was continuing to run a threadbare campaign with minimal staff. Beginning with the October 30, 2007, Philadelphia event, Gravel was excluded from most of the debates, with the debate sponsors or the Democratic National Committee saying Gravel's campaign had not met fund-raising, polling, or local campaign organizational thresholds.",
"Beginning with the October 30, 2007, Philadelphia event, Gravel was excluded from most of the debates, with the debate sponsors or the Democratic National Committee saying Gravel's campaign had not met fund-raising, polling, or local campaign organizational thresholds. For the Philadelphia exclusion, Gravel blamed corporate censorship on the part of sponsor owner and alleged military-industrial complex member General Electric for his exclusion and mounted a counter-gathering and debate against a video screen a short distance away, but he had lost his easiest publicity.",
"For the Philadelphia exclusion, Gravel blamed corporate censorship on the part of sponsor owner and alleged military-industrial complex member General Electric for his exclusion and mounted a counter-gathering and debate against a video screen a short distance away, but he had lost his easiest publicity. In reaction, supporters organized \"mass donation days\" to try to help the campaign gain momentum and funds, such as on December 5, 2007, the anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition.",
"In reaction, supporters organized \"mass donation days\" to try to help the campaign gain momentum and funds, such as on December 5, 2007, the anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition. Gravel did not compete in the initial 2008 vote, the Iowa caucuses, but was still subjected to a false report from MSNBC that he had pulled out of the race afterward. Gravel did focus his attention on the second 2008 vote, the New Hampshire primary.",
"Gravel did focus his attention on the second 2008 vote, the New Hampshire primary. In early January, Mother Jones' investigative reporter James Ridgeway was filmed interviewing and following Gravel in New Hampshire, in which Gravel is interviewed on the phone by Neal Conan for NPR's, Talk of the Nation. He received about 400 votes out of some 280,000 cast in New Hampshire, or 0.14 percent, before taking time off to improve his health. He resumed campaigning, but fared no better in subsequent states.",
"He resumed campaigning, but fared no better in subsequent states. By the end of January 2008, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and Gravel were the only remaining Democrats from the initial debates still running; Gravel vowed to stay in the presidential campaign until November. On March 11, 2008, Gravel continued to remain in the Democratic race but additionally endorsed a Green Party candidate for president, Jesse Johnson, saying he wanted to help Johnson prevail against Green Party rivals Cynthia McKinney and Ralph Nader.",
"On March 11, 2008, Gravel continued to remain in the Democratic race but additionally endorsed a Green Party candidate for president, Jesse Johnson, saying he wanted to help Johnson prevail against Green Party rivals Cynthia McKinney and Ralph Nader. By late March, Gravel had almost no fundraising and was only on the ballot in one of the next ten Democratic primaries.",
"By late March, Gravel had almost no fundraising and was only on the ballot in one of the next ten Democratic primaries. Switch to Libertarian Party On March 25, 2008, Gravel announced that he would leave the Democrats and join the Libertarian Party, saying: \"My libertarian views, as well as my strong stance against war, the military industrial complex and American imperialism, seem not to be tolerated by Democratic Party elites who are out of touch with the average American; elites that reject the empowerment of American citizens I offered to the Democratic Party at the beginning of this presidential campaign with the National Initiative for Democracy.\"",
"Switch to Libertarian Party On March 25, 2008, Gravel announced that he would leave the Democrats and join the Libertarian Party, saying: \"My libertarian views, as well as my strong stance against war, the military industrial complex and American imperialism, seem not to be tolerated by Democratic Party elites who are out of touch with the average American; elites that reject the empowerment of American citizens I offered to the Democratic Party at the beginning of this presidential campaign with the National Initiative for Democracy.\" The following day Gravel entered the race for the 2008 Libertarian presidential nomination, saying that he would have run as a third-party candidate all along except that he needed the public exposure that came from being in the earlier Democratic debates.",
"The following day Gravel entered the race for the 2008 Libertarian presidential nomination, saying that he would have run as a third-party candidate all along except that he needed the public exposure that came from being in the earlier Democratic debates. Gravel's initial notion of running as a fusion candidate with other parties was met with skepticism. As a Libertarian candidate, Gravel faced resistance to his past support of big government initiatives and his unorthodox positions around direct democracy.",
"As a Libertarian candidate, Gravel faced resistance to his past support of big government initiatives and his unorthodox positions around direct democracy. Nevertheless, he garnered more support than he had as a Democrat, placing second and third in two April 2008 straw polls.",
"Nevertheless, he garnered more support than he had as a Democrat, placing second and third in two April 2008 straw polls. In the May 25 balloting at the 2008 Libertarian National Convention in Denver, Gravel finished fourth out of eight candidates on the initial ballot, with 71 votes out of a total 618; he trailed former Congressman and eventual winner Bob Barr, author Mary Ruwart, and businessman Wayne Allyn Root. Gravel's position did not subsequently improve and he was eliminated on the fourth ballot.",
"Gravel's position did not subsequently improve and he was eliminated on the fourth ballot. Afterwards he stated that \"I just ended my political career,\" but he vowed to continue promoting his positions as a writer and lecturer. 2008–early 2019 In June 2008 Gravel endorsed the NYC 9/11 Ballot Initiative, saying the measure would create a \"citizens commission rather than a government commission\" with subpoena power against top U.S. officials to \"make a true investigation as to what happened\" regarding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.",
"2008–early 2019 In June 2008 Gravel endorsed the NYC 9/11 Ballot Initiative, saying the measure would create a \"citizens commission rather than a government commission\" with subpoena power against top U.S. officials to \"make a true investigation as to what happened\" regarding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. He later said, \"Individuals in and out of government may certainly have participated with the obviously known perpetrators of this dastardly act. Suspicions abound over the analysis presented by government.",
"Suspicions abound over the analysis presented by government. Suspicions abound over the analysis presented by government. Obviously an act that has triggered three wars, Afghan, Iraqi and the continuing War on Terror, should be extensively investigated which was not done and which the government avoids addressing.\"",
"Obviously an act that has triggered three wars, Afghan, Iraqi and the continuing War on Terror, should be extensively investigated which was not done and which the government avoids addressing.\" In August 2008 Gravel was speaking to a crowd of supporters of Sami Al-Arian (who two years earlier had pleaded guilty and been sentenced to prison for a charge of conspiracy in helping Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a \"specially designated terrorist\" organization) when he was caught on tape saying of Al-Arian's prosecutor, \"Find out where he lives, find out where his kids go to school, find out where his office is: picket him all the time.",
"In August 2008 Gravel was speaking to a crowd of supporters of Sami Al-Arian (who two years earlier had pleaded guilty and been sentenced to prison for a charge of conspiracy in helping Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a \"specially designated terrorist\" organization) when he was caught on tape saying of Al-Arian's prosecutor, \"Find out where he lives, find out where his kids go to school, find out where his office is: picket him all the time. Call him a racist in signs if you see him.",
"Call him a racist in signs if you see him. Call him an injustice. Call him whatever you want to call him, but in his face all the time.\" Gravel was criticized for potentially involving the children of the prosecutor, and Al-Arian's family disavowed the sentiments. Gravel defended Alaska Governor Sarah Palin after she was chosen as Republican presidential nominee John McCain's running mate in September 2008.",
"Gravel defended Alaska Governor Sarah Palin after she was chosen as Republican presidential nominee John McCain's running mate in September 2008. He praised Palin's record in standing up to corruption among Alaskan Republicans, thought her national inexperience was an asset not a detriment, and predicted that the \"Troopergate\" investigation into whether she improperly fired a state official would \"come out in her favor\". Gravel made clear he would not support or vote for either McCain–Palin or Obama–Biden in the general election.",
"Gravel made clear he would not support or vote for either McCain–Palin or Obama–Biden in the general election. The following year Gravel said that Palin's politics were \"terrible, but that doesn't detract from the fact that she's a very talented person\". He predicted that Palin would run for president in 2012 and that \"she's going to surprise a lot of people\". Palin did not run, but Gravel's prediction about \"TrooperGate\" was accurate as Palin was found not to have violated ethics laws.",
"Palin did not run, but Gravel's prediction about \"TrooperGate\" was accurate as Palin was found not to have violated ethics laws. In 2013, by the invitation of Hamed Ghashghavi, the secretary for international affairs of the 3rd International Conference on Hollywoodism in Tehran, Iran, Gravel attended that event as an Iranian government-organized anti-Hollywood conference.",
"In 2013, by the invitation of Hamed Ghashghavi, the secretary for international affairs of the 3rd International Conference on Hollywoodism in Tehran, Iran, Gravel attended that event as an Iranian government-organized anti-Hollywood conference. Gravel noted that the conference was attended by \"various elements of extremes\" but said it was necessary to discuss how the U.S. film industry portrayed Iran in order to prevent \"an insane war\" between the two nations.",
"Gravel noted that the conference was attended by \"various elements of extremes\" but said it was necessary to discuss how the U.S. film industry portrayed Iran in order to prevent \"an insane war\" between the two nations. In May 2013 Gravel was one of several former members of Congress to accept $20,000 from the Paradigm Research Group, an advocacy group for UFO disclosure, as part of holding what they termed a Citizen Hearing on Disclosure, modeled after congressional hearings, regarding supposed U.S. government suppression of evidence concerning UFOs.",
"In May 2013 Gravel was one of several former members of Congress to accept $20,000 from the Paradigm Research Group, an advocacy group for UFO disclosure, as part of holding what they termed a Citizen Hearing on Disclosure, modeled after congressional hearings, regarding supposed U.S. government suppression of evidence concerning UFOs. Gravel said, \"Something is monitoring the planet, and they are monitoring it very cautiously, because we are a very warlike planet,\" and, \"What we're faced with here is, in areas of the media, and the government too, an effort to marginalize and ridicule people who have specific knowledge.\"",
"Gravel said, \"Something is monitoring the planet, and they are monitoring it very cautiously, because we are a very warlike planet,\" and, \"What we're faced with here is, in areas of the media, and the government too, an effort to marginalize and ridicule people who have specific knowledge.\" In December 2014 Gravel was announced as the new CEO of KUSH, a company which makes marijuana-infused products for medicinal and recreational use, and a subsidiary of Cannabis Sativa, Inc.",
"In December 2014 Gravel was announced as the new CEO of KUSH, a company which makes marijuana-infused products for medicinal and recreational use, and a subsidiary of Cannabis Sativa, Inc. He also became an Independent Director of Cannabis Sativa. During the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries, Gravel praised Bernie Sanders and his campaign, saying \"Bernie is one of the most gifted politicians I have ever observed. He's a person of great integrity and very clever.\"",
"He's a person of great integrity and very clever.\" Gravel predicted that Sanders would be elected president but would be unable to get his key reforms through Congress, and thus that Sanders and his supporters should back some of the proposals of the National Initiative. In 2016, Gravel said in relation to the September 11 attacks: \"We killed 58,000 American servicemen in the Vietnam War and all they did was die in vain.",
"In 2016, Gravel said in relation to the September 11 attacks: \"We killed 58,000 American servicemen in the Vietnam War and all they did was die in vain. What's so unusual about killing 3,000 more in order to develop the grist for the mill to empower into infinity the military industrial complex?\" and \"There's no question in my mind that 9/11 was an inside job\". The remarks were later disavowed by even Gravel supporters. By 2019 Gravel was living in Seaside, California.",
"By 2019 Gravel was living in Seaside, California. By 2019 Gravel was living in Seaside, California. He was working on a book, at the time titled Human Governance, about his principal idea for direct democracy, a U.S. Constitutional Amendment to create a \"Legislature of the People\" that would circumvent the existing Congress. The book was self-published at the end of the year by AuthorHouse under the title The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People.",
"The book was self-published at the end of the year by AuthorHouse under the title The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People. 2020 presidential campaign On March 19, 2019, Gravel announced that he was considering running in the 2020 Democratic primaries. He said, \"The goal will not be to win, but to bring a critique of American imperialism to the Democratic debate stage.\"",
"He said, \"The goal will not be to win, but to bring a critique of American imperialism to the Democratic debate stage.\" An exploratory committee was formed, with filing a statement of organization with the Federal Election Commission on that same day.",
"An exploratory committee was formed, with filing a statement of organization with the Federal Election Commission on that same day. The filing was the idea of a group of teenagers, led by David Oks and Henry Williams, inspired by the podcast Chapo Trap House, and done with Gravel's consent (after a week spent convincing him of the idea's merits), but without his involvement.",
"The filing was the idea of a group of teenagers, led by David Oks and Henry Williams, inspired by the podcast Chapo Trap House, and done with Gravel's consent (after a week spent convincing him of the idea's merits), but without his involvement. Intrigued by the group's commitment to amplifying his long-held policy goals, Gravel (who would be old on Inauguration Day in 2021) said he planned to meet with them in April, and to discuss a 2020 White House run with his wife.",
"Intrigued by the group's commitment to amplifying his long-held policy goals, Gravel (who would be old on Inauguration Day in 2021) said he planned to meet with them in April, and to discuss a 2020 White House run with his wife. On April 2, 2019, Gravel filed to officially run for office. The campaign called itself the \"#Gravelanche\". Gravel's initial stated goal was merely to qualify for debates by getting the required 65,000 small donors.",
"Gravel's initial stated goal was merely to qualify for debates by getting the required 65,000 small donors. He discouraged people from voting for him and said his preferences were Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard, both of whom favor a non-interventionist foreign policy. But on April 29, Gravel's campaign said he was running to win, not just to participate in debates. In a subsequent interview, though, Gravel emphasized the virtue of Sanders and Gabbard in some order as a presidential ticket.",
"In a subsequent interview, though, Gravel emphasized the virtue of Sanders and Gabbard in some order as a presidential ticket. Statements like these caused Vox to call Gravel \"2020's oddest Democratic presidential candidate\".",
"Statements like these caused Vox to call Gravel \"2020's oddest Democratic presidential candidate\". The New York Times Magazine included Gravel as an example in the rise of democratic socialism in the United States also exemplified by Sanders's 2016 race and the 2018 election of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: \"[Gravel's] campaign represents the most absurd form of a legitimate movement on the left that feels little obligation to the Democratic Party.\"",
"The New York Times Magazine included Gravel as an example in the rise of democratic socialism in the United States also exemplified by Sanders's 2016 race and the 2018 election of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: \"[Gravel's] campaign represents the most absurd form of a legitimate movement on the left that feels little obligation to the Democratic Party.\" In June 2019, Gravel touted the endorsement of Muntadher al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who, in December 2008, made headlines after he threw his shoes at President George W. Bush in protest of the U.S. war in Iraq.",
"In June 2019, Gravel touted the endorsement of Muntadher al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who, in December 2008, made headlines after he threw his shoes at President George W. Bush in protest of the U.S. war in Iraq. Al-Zaidi endorsed Gravel based on his promise to improve White House policies regarding Iraq and the Middle East. On June 13, 2019, the Democratic Party announced the 20 major candidates who qualified for the first debate later that month.",
"On June 13, 2019, the Democratic Party announced the 20 major candidates who qualified for the first debate later that month. Gravel was one of the four who missed out (the others were Montana Governor Steve Bullock, U.S. Representative Seth Moulton, and Miramar, Florida, Mayor Wayne Messam). Gravel had been unable to get the requisite number of donations, or to score one percent or better in enough polls (many polls did not even include him).",
"Gravel had been unable to get the requisite number of donations, or to score one percent or better in enough polls (many polls did not even include him). Nevertheless, Gravel said he would not drop out and would try to qualify for the July debate. In early July, however, Gravel's campaign said it was still 10,000 contributions short of the 65,000-donor threshold and that it was \"nearing its conclusion\". It solicited suggestions for where to donate $100–150,000 of leftover campaign funds.",
"It solicited suggestions for where to donate $100–150,000 of leftover campaign funds. Gravel added that he had always planned on ending the campaign before the teenagers in charge of it needed to return to school. A few days later the campaign became the first to run an attack ad against Democratic front-runner Joe Biden, using the text \"Is this the best our party has to offer?\" Gravel's campaign crossed the threshold of 65,000 donors on July 12, 2019, meeting the qualification mark for that month's debate.",
"Gravel's campaign crossed the threshold of 65,000 donors on July 12, 2019, meeting the qualification mark for that month's debate. But because 20 other candidates, the maximum allowed to participate, had already met at least the polling criterion, which takes priority over the donor criterion, Gravel was not invited. The campaign officially came to a close on August 6, 2019, with Gravel endorsing both Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard for president.",
"The campaign officially came to a close on August 6, 2019, with Gravel endorsing both Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard for president. Gravel's campaign later stated on Twitter that they never wanted to win but saw the campaign as an \"intimately democratic\" project and expressed honor at working with Gravel. Gravel said he would divide remaining campaign funds between charity and a new think tank which would espouse his ideas.",
"Gravel said he would divide remaining campaign funds between charity and a new think tank which would espouse his ideas. The Gravel Institute Gravel used some of the funds remaining from his 2020 presidential campaign to found an eponymous progressive think tank called The Gravel Institute in 2019. As noted by Vice magazine, the institute aims to do battle with PragerU from a left-wing perspective.",
"As noted by Vice magazine, the institute aims to do battle with PragerU from a left-wing perspective. Launched in September 2020, the new entity said it would \"carry on the life's work of former U.S Senator Mike Gravel in fighting for global peace and democracy. Its mission is to promote bold and forward-looking ideas about a more peaceful and egalitarian world, and to build a robust movement of young people to win it\".",
"Its mission is to promote bold and forward-looking ideas about a more peaceful and egalitarian world, and to build a robust movement of young people to win it\". Contributors announced include Cornel West and Slavoj Žižek, as well as Lower Brule Indian Reservation activist Nick Estes.",
"Contributors announced include Cornel West and Slavoj Žižek, as well as Lower Brule Indian Reservation activist Nick Estes. Other presenters have included and will include H. Jon Benjamin, Briahna Joy Gray, Bernie Sanders, Chelsea Manning, Richard Wolff, Stephanie Kelton, Zephyr Teachout, David Cross, Jabari Brisport, Zohran Mamdani, and Gravel himself (though it is unknown if his appearance will be cancelled due to his death in June 2021, or if the video has already been recorded).",
"Other presenters have included and will include H. Jon Benjamin, Briahna Joy Gray, Bernie Sanders, Chelsea Manning, Richard Wolff, Stephanie Kelton, Zephyr Teachout, David Cross, Jabari Brisport, Zohran Mamdani, and Gravel himself (though it is unknown if his appearance will be cancelled due to his death in June 2021, or if the video has already been recorded). Death Gravel died of multiple myeloma at his home in Seaside, California, on June 26, 2021, at age 91.",
"Death Gravel died of multiple myeloma at his home in Seaside, California, on June 26, 2021, at age 91. The obituary for him in The New York Times stated that Gravel was \"a two-term Democratic senator from Alaska ... who was perhaps better known as an unabashed attention-getter\" who later become known for \"mounting long-shot presidential runs\".",
"The obituary for him in The New York Times stated that Gravel was \"a two-term Democratic senator from Alaska ... who was perhaps better known as an unabashed attention-getter\" who later become known for \"mounting long-shot presidential runs\". The obituary in The Washington Post was similar, saying that Gravel was \"an Alaska Democrat with a flair for the theatrical who rose from obscurity to brief renown\" and later \"ran quixotic campaigns for the presidency\".",
"The obituary in The Washington Post was similar, saying that Gravel was \"an Alaska Democrat with a flair for the theatrical who rose from obscurity to brief renown\" and later \"ran quixotic campaigns for the presidency\". The Anchorage Daily News quoted Gravel as saying of himself in 1989, \"I'm an independent kind of guy. A rough and ready kind of guy. My glands work in a certain way that make me stand up, foolishly sometimes, and fight.\"",
"My glands work in a certain way that make me stand up, foolishly sometimes, and fight.\" Political positions Alan Abramowitz and Jeffrey Allan Segal described Gravel as \"a maverick, if not an eccentric, in the Senate.\" His Americans for Democratic Action \"Liberal Quotient\" scores ranged from 81 out of 100 (1971) to 39 out of 100 (1980), with an average of around 61.",
"His Americans for Democratic Action \"Liberal Quotient\" scores ranged from 81 out of 100 (1971) to 39 out of 100 (1980), with an average of around 61. His American Conservative Union scores ranged from 0 out of 100 (several years, including 1971 and 1972) to 38 out of 100 (1979), with an average of 14.",
"His American Conservative Union scores ranged from 0 out of 100 (several years, including 1971 and 1972) to 38 out of 100 (1979), with an average of 14. Abramowitz and Segal note that Gravel's lowest ADA ratings coincided with his two Senate re-election bids, and for the most part his highest ACU ratings followed the same pattern.",
"Abramowitz and Segal note that Gravel's lowest ADA ratings coincided with his two Senate re-election bids, and for the most part his highest ACU ratings followed the same pattern. In 1972, as a young senator, Gravel published Citizen Power: A People's Platform, a manifesto outlining what Kirkus Reviews termed a \"populist reform [that] would provide 'balanced political power' between the people and government and business interests.\"",
"In 1972, as a young senator, Gravel published Citizen Power: A People's Platform, a manifesto outlining what Kirkus Reviews termed a \"populist reform [that] would provide 'balanced political power' between the people and government and business interests.\" Civil rights issues On drug policy, Gravel said in 2007 that he favored decriminalization and treating addiction as a public health matter.",
"Civil rights issues On drug policy, Gravel said in 2007 that he favored decriminalization and treating addiction as a public health matter. During his 2008 presidential candidacy he condemned the War on Drugs as a failure, saying that it did \"nothing but savage our inner cities and put our children at risk\". Gravel called for abolition of capital punishment in his book Citizen Power, and adhered to this position during his 2008 run for president. He supported abortion rights.",
"He supported abortion rights. He supported abortion rights. During the 2008 campaign Gravel was a strong supporter of LGBT rights. He supported same-sex marriage and opposed the Defense of Marriage Act and the U.S. military's \"don't ask, don't tell\" policy. He wrote in 2008 that \"depriving gays and lesbians of equal rights is immoral\". Foreign policy and defense issues Gravel was a critic of American imperialism. Gravel firmly opposed U.S. military action against Iran and Syria.",
"Gravel firmly opposed U.S. military action against Iran and Syria. He voiced opposition to the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, the Military Commissions Act of 2006, the use of torture, indefinite detention, and what he called \"flagrant ignorance\" of the Geneva Convention. In 2014 Gravel called for the release of the full, unredacted Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture. Gravel opposed the use of international sanctions as a policy tool and blamed the ones against Iraq under Saddam Hussein for the deaths of a half-million children in that country.",
"Gravel opposed the use of international sanctions as a policy tool and blamed the ones against Iraq under Saddam Hussein for the deaths of a half-million children in that country. In 2013 Gravel said that sanctions against Iran were \"illegal\". During his 2008 candidacy, Gravel called for a cut in military spending, variously reported to be 15 percent or 50 percent. He called for the savings to boost public education spending. To spur international nuclear nonproliferation efforts, Gravel called for unilateral reductions in the U.S. nuclear arsenal.",
"To spur international nuclear nonproliferation efforts, Gravel called for unilateral reductions in the U.S. nuclear arsenal. In 2008 Gravel criticized the decision of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to not pursue the efforts to impeach George W. Bush and the attempted impeachment of Dick Cheney, saying also that Bush and Cheney had committed crimes and deserved \"to be prosecuted\" at The Hague.",
"In 2008 Gravel criticized the decision of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to not pursue the efforts to impeach George W. Bush and the attempted impeachment of Dick Cheney, saying also that Bush and Cheney had committed crimes and deserved \"to be prosecuted\" at The Hague. In 2013 he expressed disdain for President Obama, calling him \"a total fraud\" and saying that both Bush and Obama should be tried \"for the crimes and murders they've committed\" in the International Court of Justice.",
"In 2013 he expressed disdain for President Obama, calling him \"a total fraud\" and saying that both Bush and Obama should be tried \"for the crimes and murders they've committed\" in the International Court of Justice. Gravel specifically condemned Obama for the drone strikes in Pakistan and elsewhere.",
"Gravel specifically condemned Obama for the drone strikes in Pakistan and elsewhere. Economy, immigration, and environment During his 2008 candidacy Gravel favored a FairTax scheme, which would abolish the Internal Revenue Service, eliminate the federal income tax (which Gravel called \"corrupt\"), and impose a national sales tax. While Gravel described FairTax as \"progressive\", others have criticized it as \"regressive\", disproportionately benefiting the wealthiest Americans.",
"While Gravel described FairTax as \"progressive\", others have criticized it as \"regressive\", disproportionately benefiting the wealthiest Americans. To offset the new sales taxes on essential goods, Gravel's plan called for monthly government rebate payments to individuals and families. During his 2020 campaign Gravel also voiced support for a third legislative body that would give the people direct control of the budget as well as the implementation of a land value tax.",
"During his 2020 campaign Gravel also voiced support for a third legislative body that would give the people direct control of the budget as well as the implementation of a land value tax. Gravel opposed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) during his 2008 candidacy, calling it unfair and economically harmful and needing renegotiation. Gravel believed that NAFTA was the \"root cause\" of illegal migration to the U.S. He favored a guest worker program and \"setting up naturalization procedures that would fairly bring immigrants into legal status\".",
"He favored a guest worker program and \"setting up naturalization procedures that would fairly bring immigrants into legal status\". In a 2007 interview, Gravel identified himself as \"very much of a globalist\" who believed in open markets and open borders and condemned the scapegoating of undocumented immigrants. Gravel also said that he favored eliminating the cap on H1B visas. As a senator from Alaska, Gravel favored drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but opposed it during his 2008 campaign.",
"As a senator from Alaska, Gravel favored drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but opposed it during his 2008 campaign. In 2008, Gravel supported a carbon tax to combat climate change. Gravel spoke in favor of net neutrality during his presidential campaign. Education and health care Gravel called for the cost of college tuition to be borne by the federal government, rather than students.",
"Education and health care Gravel called for the cost of college tuition to be borne by the federal government, rather than students. In his 2008 campaign, he called the No Child Left Behind Act \"a failure\" and called for it to be \"reformed and fully funded\". He expressed support for universal pre-kindergarten and the expansion of the Head Start program; and expressed an openness to charter schools and school vouchers. He also suggested extending the school day and the school year, and supported merit pay for teachers.",
"He also suggested extending the school day and the school year, and supported merit pay for teachers. Gravel also called for publicly funded universal health care to replace the current employer-sponsored health insurance system. He supported \"full funding\" of the VA system. When asked in 2007 about naturopathy, homeopathy, and acupuncture, Gravel said that he was \"very very much in favor\" of holistic health care. Awards and honors In 2008 Gravel received the Columbia University School of General Studies' first annual Isaac Asimov Lifetime Achievement Award.",
"Awards and honors In 2008 Gravel received the Columbia University School of General Studies' first annual Isaac Asimov Lifetime Achievement Award. Electoral history Writings Gravel, Mike. Jobs and More Jobs. Mt. McKinley Publishers, 1968. Gravel, Mike. Citizen Power: A People's Platform. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1972. . revised and reissued as Citizen Power: A Mandate for Change, AuthorHouse, 2008. . Gravel, Mike and Lauria, Joe.",
"Gravel, Mike and Lauria, Joe. Gravel, Mike and Lauria, Joe. A Political Odyssey: The Rise of American Militarism and One Man's Fight to Stop It. Seven Stories Press, 2008. . Gravel, Mike and Eisenbach, David. The Kingmakers: How the Media Threatens Our Security and Our Democracy. Phoenix Books, 2008. . Gravel, Mike. Voice of a Maverick: The Speeches and Writings of Senator Mike Gravel. Brandywine House, 2008. Gravel, Mike.",
"Brandywine House, 2008. Gravel, Mike. Gravel, Mike. Foreword to Poisoned Power: The Case Against Nuclear Power Plants. John W. Goffman & Arthur R. Tamplin, Rodale Press, Inc., Emmaus, PA, June 1971. Gravel, Mike. The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People. AuthorHouse, 2020. Explanatory notes References Citations General references The Pentagon Papers Senator Gravel Edition. Vol. Five: Critical Essays. Boston: Beacon Press, 1972. 341p. plus 72p.",
"Five: Critical Essays. Boston: Beacon Press, 1972. 341p. plus 72p. plus 72p. of Index to Vol. I–IV of the Papers; Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, editors.",
"I–IV of the Papers; Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, editors. External links Mike Gravel official website The Gravel Institute |- |- 1930 births 2021 deaths 1972 United States vice-presidential candidates 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American politicians 20th-century Roman Catholics 20th-century Unitarians 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American politicians 21st-century Unitarians 9/11 conspiracy theorists Alaska Democrats American International College alumni American Unitarian Universalists American anti–Iraq War activists American conspiracy theorists American democracy activists American male non-fiction writers American people of French-Canadian descent American political writers American real estate businesspeople American stockbrokers Anti-corporate activists Assumption University (Worcester) alumni Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Businesspeople from Anchorage, Alaska Businesspeople from Springfield, Massachusetts California Democrats Candidates in the 2008 United States presidential election Candidates in the 2020 United States presidential election Columbia University School of General Studies alumni Deaths from cancer in California Deaths from multiple myeloma Democratic Party United States senators Direct democracy activists Drug policy reform activists Former Roman Catholics Virginia Libertarians Members of the Alaska House of Representatives Military personnel from Massachusetts Non-interventionism People from Arlington County, Virginia People from Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska People with dyslexia Politicians from Anchorage, Alaska Politicians from Springfield, Massachusetts Speakers of the Alaska House of Representatives United States Army officers United States senators from Alaska Writers about direct democracy Writers from Anchorage, Alaska"
] |
[
"Mike Gravel",
"Run for Vice President in 1972",
"Who was Gavel's running mate?",
"I don't know.",
"Who did he compete against in 1972?",
"former Governor of Massachusetts Endicott Peabody had been running a quixotic campaign for the same post",
"What significant events happened during the campaign?",
"At the convention's final day on July 14, 1972, presidential nominee McGovern selected and announced Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri as his vice-presidential choice.",
"What did Gravel do afterward?",
"Gravel was nominated by Bettye Fahrenkamp, the Democratic National Committeewoman from Alaska.",
"What was he nominated for?",
"presidential nominee",
"Did he have any enemies?",
"Rolling Stone correspondent Hunter S. Thompson said Gravel \"probably said a few things that might have been worth hearing, under different circumstances",
"What comments was Rolling Stone referring to?",
"I don't know."
] | C_99b905b192ab4470bbae0787f5f31d5c_1 | What else can you tell me about Gravel? | 8 | Besides losing the vice-presidential nomination, what else can you tell me about Mike Gravel? | Mike Gravel | Gravel "decided to become a pioneer in a faraway place," and moved to pre-statehood Alaska in August 1956, without funds or a job, looking for a place where someone without social or political connections could be a viable candidate for public office. Alaska's voting age of 19, less than most other states' 21, played a role in his decision, as did its newness and cooler climate. Broke when he arrived, he immediately found work in real estate sales until winter arrived. Gravel then was employed as a brakeman for the Alaska Railroad, working the snow-clearing train on the Anchorage-Fairbanks run. Subsequently, he opened a small real estate brokerage in Anchorage (the Territory of Alaska not requiring a license) and saved enough so as not to have to work the railroad again. Gravel joined the Anchorage Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, and continued a sporadic relationship with the movement throughout his life. Gravel married Rita Jeannette Martin, who had been Anchorage's "Miss Fur Rendezvous" of 1958, on April 29, 1959. They had two children, Martin Anthony Gravel and Lynne Denise Gravel, born c. 1960 and 1962 respectively. Meanwhile, he went to Washington, D.C. in 1957 to campaign for Alaskan statehood via the "Tennessee Plan": dressed as Paul Revere, he rode with a petition to the steps of the U.S. Capitol. Seeing Alaska as a wide-open place with no political establishment or entrenched interests, and using the slogan "Gravel, the Roadbed to Prosperity", he ran for the territorial legislature in 1958 but lost. He went on a national speaking tour concerning tax reform in 1959, sponsored by the Jaycees. He ran without avail for the City Council in Anchorage in 1960. During this time, he had become a successful real estate agent; after the 1960 election, he became a property developer in a mobile home park on the outskirts of Anchorage. A partner ran into financial difficulty, however, and the project went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy and Gravel was forced out in 1962. In the late 1960s and early 1970s the U.S. Department of Defense was in the process of performing tests for the nuclear warhead for the Spartan anti-ballistic missile. Two tests, the "Milrow" and "Cannikin" tests, were planned, involving the detonation of nuclear bombs under Amchitka Island in Alaska. The Milrow test would be a one megaton calibration exercise for the second, and larger five megaton, Cannikin test, which would measure the effectiveness of the warhead. Gravel opposed the tests in Congress. Before the Milrow test took place in October 1969, he wrote that there were significant risks of earthquakes and other adverse consequences, and called for an independent national commission on nuclear and seismic safety to be created; he then made a personal appeal to President Nixon to stop the test. After Milrow was conducted, there was continued pressure on the part of environmental groups against going forward with the larger Cannikin test, while the Federation of American Scientists claimed that the warhead being tested was already obsolete. In May 1971, Gravel sent a letter to U.S. Atomic Energy Commission hearings held in Anchorage, in which he said the risk of the test was not worth taking. Eventually a group not involving Gravel took the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to issue an injunction against it, and the Cannikin test took place as scheduled in November 1971. Gravel had failed to stop the tests (notwithstanding his later claims during his 2008 presidential campaign). Nuclear power was considered an environmentally clean alternative for the commercial generation of electricity and was part of a popular national policy for the peaceful use of atomic energy in the 1950s and 1960s. Gravel publicly opposed this policy; besides the dangers of nuclear testing, he was a vocal critic of the Atomic Energy Commission, which oversaw American nuclear efforts, and of the powerful United States Congress Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, which had a stranglehold on nuclear policy and which Gravel tried to circumvent. In 1971, Gravel sponsored a bill to impose a moratorium on nuclear power plant construction and to make power utilities liable for any nuclear accidents; in 1975, he was still proposing similar moratoriums. By 1974, Gravel was allied with Ralph Nader's organization in opposing nuclear power. Six months before U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's secret mission to the People's Republic of China (P.R.C.) in July 1971, Gravel introduced legislation to recognize and normalize relations with China, including a proposal for unity talks between the P.R.C. and the Republic of China (Taiwan) regarding the Chinese seat on the U.N. Security Council. Gravel reiterated his position in favor of recognition, with four other senators in agreement, during Senate hearings in June 1971. Gravel actively campaigned for the office of Vice President of the United States during the 1972 presidential election, announcing on June 2, 1972, over a month before the 1972 Democratic National Convention began, that he was interested in running for the nomination should the choice be opened up to convention delegates. Towards this end he began soliciting delegates for their support in advance of the convention. He was not alone in this effort, as former Governor of Massachusetts Endicott Peabody had been running a quixotic campaign for the same post since the prior year. Likely presidential nominee George McGovern was in fact considering the unusual move of naming three or four acceptable vice-presidential candidates and letting the delegates choose. At the convention's final day on July 14, 1972, presidential nominee McGovern selected and announced Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri as his vice-presidential choice. Eagleton was unknown to many delegates and the choice seemed to smack of traditional ticket balancing considerations. Thus, there were delegates willing to look elsewhere. Gravel was nominated by Bettye Fahrenkamp, the Democratic National Committeewoman from Alaska. He then seconded his own nomination, breaking down in tears at his own words and maybe trying to withdraw his nomination. In any case he won 226 delegate votes, coming in third behind Eagleton and Frances "Sissy" Farenthold of Texas, in chaotic balloting that included several other candidates as well. For his efforts, Gravel attracted some attention: famed writer Norman Mailer would say he "provided considerable excitement" and was "good-looking enough to have played leads in B-films", while Rolling Stone correspondent Hunter S. Thompson said Gravel "probably said a few things that might have been worth hearing, under different circumstances ..." Yet, the whole process had been doubly disastrous for the Democrats. The time consumed with the nominating and seconding and other speeches of all the vice-presidential candidates had lost the attention of the delegates on the floor and pushed McGovern's speech until 3:30 a.m. The haste with which Eagleton had been selected led to surprise when his past mental health treatments were revealed; he withdrew from the ticket soon after the convention, to be replaced by Sargent Shriver. CANNOTANSWER | he "provided considerable excitement" and was "good-looking enough to have played leads in B-films", | Maurice Robert Gravel ( ; May 13, 1930 – June 26, 2021) was an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Alaska from 1969 to 1981 as a member of the Democratic Party, and who, in later life, twice ran for the presidential nomination of that party.
Born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, by French-Canadian immigrant parents, Gravel moved to Alaska in the late 1950s, becoming a real estate developer and entering politics. He served in the Alaska House of Representatives from 1963 to 1967, and also became Speaker of the Alaska House. Gravel was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1968.
As a senator, Gravel became nationally known for his forceful, but unsuccessful, attempts to end the draft during the War in Vietnam, and for putting the Pentagon Papers into the public record in 1971. He conducted a campaign for the Democratic nomination in 1972 for Vice President of the United States, and then played a crucial role in obtaining Congressional approval for the Trans-Alaska pipeline in 1973. He was re-elected to the Senate in 1974, but was defeated in his bid for a third term in the primary election in 1980.
An advocate of direct democracy and the National Initiative, Gravel staged a run for the 2008 Democratic nomination for President of the United States. His campaign failed to gain support, and in March 2008, he left the Democratic Party and joined the Libertarian Party to compete unsuccessfully for its presidential nomination and the inclusion of the National Initiative into the Libertarian Platform. He ran for president as a Democrat again in the 2020 election, in a campaign that ended four months after it began. Two years before his death, Gravel and his campaign staff founded the progressive think tank The Gravel Institute.
Early life, military service, education
Gravel was born on May 13, 1930, in Springfield, Massachusetts, one of five children of French-Canadian immigrant parents, Alphonse and Marie (née Bourassa) Gravel. His parents were part of the Quebec diaspora, and he was raised in a working-class neighborhood during the Great Depression, speaking only French until he was seven years old. Calling him "Mike" from an early age, his father valued work above all else, while his mother stressed the importance of education.
Gravel was educated in parochial schools as a Roman Catholic. There he struggled, due to what he later said was undiagnosed dyslexia, and was left back in third grade. He completed elementary school in 1945 and his class voted him "most charming personality". A summer job as a soda jerk led to Gravel handing out campaign fliers for local candidates on his boss's behalf; Gravel was immediately impressed with "the awesomeness of political office".
Gravel then boarded at Assumption Preparatory School in Worcester, Massachusetts, where his performance was initially mediocre. By Gravel's telling, in the summer of 1948 he intended to volunteer for the Israel Defense Forces during the 1947–1949 Palestine war, but Alexandra Tolstaya told him to return to school. There an English teacher, the Assumptionist Edgar Bourque, gave him personal attention, improving Gravel's language skills and instructing him in public speaking. Gravel's grades improved measurably in his final year and he graduated in 1949. His sister, Marguerite, became a Holy Cross nun, but Gravel himself struggled with the Catholic faith. He studied for one year at Assumption College, a Catholic school in Worcester, then transferred for his sophomore year to American International College in Springfield. Journalist I. F. Stone and philosopher Bertrand Russell strongly influenced Gravel in their willingness to challenge assumptions and oppose social convention and political authority.
Around May 1951, Gravel saw that he was about to be drafted and instead enlisted in the U.S. Army for a three-year term so that he could get into the Counterintelligence Corps. After basic training and counterintelligence school at Fort Holabird in Maryland and in South Carolina, he went to Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia. While he expected to be sent off to the Korean War when he graduated as a second lieutenant in early 1952, he was instead assigned to Stuttgart, West Germany, as a Special Adjutant in the Army's Communications Intelligence Service. In Germany, Gravel conducted surveillance operations on civilians and paid off spies. After about a year, he transferred to Orléans, France, where his French language abilities (if not his French-Canadian accent) allowed him to infiltrate French communist rallies. He worked as a Special Agent in the Counterintelligence Corps until 1954, eventually becoming a first lieutenant.
Following his discharge, Gravel entered the Columbia University School of General Studies in New York City, where he studied economics and received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1956. He moved to New York "flat broke" and supported himself by working as a bar boy in a hotel, driving a taxicab, and working in the investment bond department at Bankers Trust. During this time he left the Roman Catholic faith.
Move to Alaska
Gravel "decided to become a pioneer in a faraway place," and moved to pre-statehood Alaska in August 1956, without funds or a job, looking for a place where someone without social or political connections could be a viable candidate for public office. Alaska's voting age of 19, less than most other states' 21, played a role in his decision, as did its newness and cooler climate. Broke when he arrived, he immediately found work in real estate sales until winter arrived. Gravel then was employed as a brakeman for the Alaska Railroad, working the snow-clearing train on the Anchorage-to-Fairbanks run. Subsequently, he opened a small real estate brokerage in Anchorage (the Territory of Alaska not requiring a license) and saved enough so as not to have to work the railroad again. The firm was named the M. R. Gravel Real Estate Company. Gravel joined the Anchorage Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, and continued a sporadic relationship with the movement throughout his life.
Seeing Alaska as a wide-open place with no political establishment or entrenched interests, Gravel quickly became part of the civic scene there. By October 1957 he was a Division Chairman for Anchorage for the Democratic Central Committee in the territory, and by June 1958 he was president of the Alaska Young Democrats organization. He also became active in the United States Junior Chamber (Jaycees), and by early 1958 his duties included handing out awards for farmer of the year.
By early 1958, Gravel was running as Democratic Party primary candidate for a Third Division seat in House of Representative of the territorial legislature. (This was one of the four judicial divisions into which Alaska was sectioned at the time.) Using the slogan "Gravel, the Roadbed to Prosperity", he ran but lost. At the same time, he was also an advocate for Alaskan statehood.
Gravel went on a 44-state national speaking tour concerning tax reform in 1959, sponsored by the Jaycees, often dressing for events as Paul Revere. Gravel was selected from some two thousand applications for this position. The tour received a good amount of local newspaper coverage at its various stops, with Gravel's first name sometimes given as Mike and other times as Maurice. The tour's general message was an urging of "lower taxes, more efficiency in government and a system of taxation moderate at all levels of income". At several stops Gravel stated that the "tide of socialism" had to be stopped. He elaborated at another stop, "It is part of our Jaycee creed that economic justice can best be won by free men through free enterprise. We really want to see that free enterprise become our inheritance." The tour was scheduled to conclude in Washington D.C., on Tax Day, April 15, with petition signatures accumulated for reform to be presented to U.S. lawmakers: dressed as Revere, Gravel rode with the petition to the steps of the U.S. Capitol.
The tour over, Gravel married Rita Jeannette Martin at the First Methodist Church of Anchorage on April 29, 1959. She was a native of Montana who had attended Billings Business College before moving to Alaska two years prior and becoming a secretary in the office of the Anchorage city manager. She had also been named Anchorage's "Miss Fur Rendezvous" of 1958. They had two children, Martin Anthony Gravel and Lynne Denise Gravel, born c. 1960 and 1962 respectively.
Gravel ran without avail for the City Council in Anchorage in 1960. During this time, he had become a successful real estate agent; after the 1960 election, he became a property developer in a mobile home park on the outskirts of Anchorage. After a partner ran into financial difficulty, however, the project went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and Gravel was forced out in 1962.
State legislator
With the support of Alaska wholesale grocer Barney Gottstein and supermarket builder Larry Carr, Gravel ran for the Alaska House of Representatives representing Anchorage in 1962, initially assigned the 10th and then 8th districts. Alaska had very crowded primaries that year: Gravel was one of 33 Democrats, along with 21 Republicans, who were running for the chance to compete for the 14 House seats allocated to the 8th district. Gravel made it through the primary, and in November eight Republicans and six Democrats were elected to the House from the district, with Gravel finishing eighth overall and third among with Democrats, with 8,174 votes. Gottstein became Gravel's main financial backer during most of his subsequent campaigns.
Gravel served in the Alaska House of Representatives from January 28, 1963 to January 22, 1967, winning reelection in 1964. In his first term, he served as a minority member on two House committees: Commerce, and Labor and Management. He co-authored and sponsored the act that created the Alaska State Commission for Human Rights. Gravel was the chief architect of the law that created a regional high school system for rural Alaska; this allowed Alaska Natives to attend schools near where they lived instead of having to go to schools run by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the lower 48 states.
During the half-years that the legislature was not in session, Gravel resumed his real estate work. With Gottstein and Carr's backing, he became quite successful as a property developer on the Kenai Peninsula.
During 1965 and 1966, he served as the Speaker of the House, surprising observers by winning that post. Gravel convinced former Speaker Warren A. Taylor to not try for the position against him by promising Taylor chairmanship of the Rules Committee, then reneged on the promise. Gravel denied later press charges that he had promised but not delivered on other committee chairmanships. As Speaker he antagonized fellow lawmakers by imposing his will on the legislature's committees and feuded with Alaska State Senate president Robert J. McNealy.
Gravel did not run for reelection in 1966, instead choosing to run for Alaska's seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, losing the primary to four-term incumbent Democrat Ralph Rivers by 1,300 votes and splitting the Democratic Party in the process. Rivers lost the general election that year to Republican state Senator Howard Pollock. Following this defeat, Gravel returned to the real estate business in Anchorage.
U.S. Senator
Election to Senate in 1968
In 1968, Gravel ran against 81-year-old incumbent Democratic United States Senator Ernest Gruening, a popular former governor of the Alaska Territory who was considered one of the fathers of Alaska's statehood, for his party's nomination to the U.S. Senate. Gravel's campaign was primarily based on his youth and telegenic appearance rather than issue differences. He hired Joseph Napolitan, the first self-described political consultant, in late 1966. They spent over a year and a half planning a short, nine-day primary election campaign that featured the slogans "Alaska first" and "Let's do something about the state we're in", the distribution of a collection of essays titled Jobs and More Jobs, and the creation of a half-hour, well-produced, glamorized biographical film of Gravel, Man for Alaska. The film was shown twice a day on every television station in Alaska, and carried by plane and shown on home projectors in hundreds of Alaska Native villages. The heavy showings quickly reversed a 2–to–1 Gruening lead in polls into a Gravel lead. Gravel visited many remote villages by seaplane and showed a thorough understanding of the needs of the bush country and the fishing and oil industries. Gravel also benefited from maintaining a deliberately ambiguous posture about Vietnam policy. Gruening had been one of only two Senators to vote against the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and his opposition to President Lyndon B. Johnson's war policies was harming him among the Democratic electorate; according to Gravel, "all I had to do was stand up and not deal with the subject, and people would assume that I was to the right of Ernest Gruening, when in point of fact I was to the left of him". In Man for Alaska, Gravel argued that "the liberals" would come to West Germany's defense if it was attacked, and that the same standard should apply to the United States' allies in Asia. During the campaign he also claimed that he was "more in the mainstream of American thought on Vietnam" than Gruening, despite the fact that he had written to Gruening to praise his antiwar stance four years earlier. Decades later, Gravel conceded that "I said what I said [about Vietnam] to advance my career."
Gravel beat Gruening in the primary by about 2,000 votes. Gruening found "the unexpected defeat hard to take" and thought that some aspects of his opponent's biographical film had misled viewers. In the general election, Gravel faced Republican Elmer E. Rasmuson, a banker and former mayor of Anchorage. College students in the state implored Gruening to run a write-in campaign as an Independent, but legal battles prevented him from getting approval for it until only two weeks were left. A late appearance by anti-war presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy did not offset Gruening's lack of funds and endorsements; meanwhile, Gravel and Rasmuson both saturated local media with their filmed biographies. On November 5, 1968, Gravel won the general election with 45 percent of the vote to Rasmuson's 37 percent and Gruening's 18 percent.
Senate assignments and style
When Gravel joined the U.S.Senate in January 1969, he requested and received a seat on the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee, which had direct relevance to Alaskan issues. He also got a spot on the Public Works Committee, which he held throughout his time in the Senate. Finally, he was a member of the Select Committee on Small Business. In 1971 he became chair of the Public Works Committee's Subcommittee on Public Buildings and Grounds, and by 1973 he was chair of its Subcommittee on Water Resources, then later its Subcommittee on Environmental Pollution. Gravel was also initially named to the Joint Committee on Congressional Operations. By 1973 Gravel was off the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee and the Select Small Business Committee and instead a member of the Finance Committee, and by 1977 was chair of that body's Subcommittee on Energy and Foundations. By 1973 he had also been on the ad hoc Special Committee to Study Secret and Confidential Government Documents.
By his own admission, Gravel was too new and "too abrasive" to be effective in the Senate by the usual means of seniority-based committee assignments or negotiating deals with other senators, and was sometimes seen as arrogant or a nuisance by the more senior and tradition-oriented members. Gravel relied on attention-getting gestures to achieve what he wanted, hoping national exposure would force other senators to listen to him. But even senators who agreed with him on issues considered his methods to be showboating.
As part of this approach, Gravel voted with Southern Democrats to keep the Senate filibuster rule in place, and accordingly supported Russell Long and Robert Byrd but opposed Ted Kennedy in Senate leadership battles. In retrospective assessment, University of Alaska Anchorage history professor Stephen Haycox said, "Loose cannon is a good description of Gravel's Senate career. He was an off-the-wall guy, and you weren't really ever sure what he would do."
Nuclear issues and the Cold War
In the late 1960s and early 1970s the U.S. Department of Defense was in the process of performing tests for the nuclear warhead for the Spartan anti-ballistic missile. Two tests, the "Milrow" and "Cannikin" tests, were planned, involving the detonation of nuclear bombs under Amchitka Island in Alaska. The Milrow test would be a one-megaton calibration exercise for the second and larger five-megaton Cannikin test, which would measure the effectiveness of the warhead. Gravel opposed the tests. Before the Milrow test took place in October 1969, he wrote that there were significant risks of earthquakes and other adverse consequences and called for an independent national commission on nuclear and seismic safety; he then made a personal appeal to President Richard Nixon to stop the test.
After Milrow was conducted, there was continued pressure on the part of environmental groups against going forward with the Cannikin test, while the Federation of American Scientists claimed that the warhead being tested was already obsolete. In May 1971 Gravel sent a letter to U.S. Atomic Energy Commission hearings held in Anchorage in which he said the risk of the test was not worth taking. Eventually a group not involving Gravel took the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to issue an injunction against it, and the Cannikin test took place as scheduled in November 1971. Gravel had failed to stop the tests (notwithstanding his later claims during his 2008 presidential campaign).
In 1971 Gravel voted against the Nixon administration's proposed anti-ballistic missile system, the Safeguard Program, having previously vacillated over the issue, suggesting that he might be willing to support it in exchange for federal lands in Alaska being opened up for private oil drilling. His vote alienated Senator Henry "Scoop" Jackson, who had raised funds for Gravel's primary campaign.
Nuclear power was considered an environmentally clean alternative for commercial generation of electricity and was part of a popular national policy for the peaceful use of atomic energy in the 1950s and 1960s. Gravel publicly opposed this policy; besides the dangers of nuclear testing, he was a vocal critic of the Atomic Energy Commission, which oversaw American nuclear efforts, and of the powerful United States Congress Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, which had a stranglehold on nuclear policy and which Gravel tried to circumvent. In 1971 Gravel sponsored a bill to impose a moratorium on nuclear power plant construction and to make power utilities liable for any nuclear accidents; in 1975 he was still proposing similar moratoriums. By 1974 Gravel was allied with Ralph Nader's organization in opposing nuclear power.
Six months before U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's July 1971 secret mission to the People's Republic of China (P.R.C.), Gravel introduced legislation to recognize and normalize relations with the P.R.C., including a proposal for unity talks between the P.R.C. and the Republic of China (Taiwan) regarding the Chinese seat on the U.N. Security Council. He reiterated his position in favor of recognition, with four other senators in agreement, during Senate hearings in June 1971.
Vietnam War, the draft, and the Pentagon Papers
Although he did not campaign against the Vietnam War during his first Senate campaign, by the end of 1970 Gravel was speaking out against United States policy in southeast Asia: in December of that year he persuaded William Fulbright to join him in a spontaneous two-day filibuster against a $155 million military aid package to Cambodia's Khmer Republic government in the Cambodian Civil War.
President Richard Nixon had campaigned in 1968 on a promise to end the U.S. military draft, a decision endorsed by the February 1970 report of the Gates Commission.
The existing draft law was scheduled to conclude at the end of June 1971, and the Senate faced a contentious debate about whether to extend it as the Vietnam War continued. The Nixon administration announced in February 1971 that it wanted a two-year extension to June 1973, after which the draft would end; Army planners had already been operating under the assumption of a two-year extension, after which an all-volunteer force would be in place. Skeptics such as Senate Armed Services Committee chairman John Stennis thought this unrealistic and wanted a four-year extension, but the two-year proposal is what went forward in Congress. By early May 1971, Gravel had indicated his intention to filibuster the draft renewal legislation, halting conscription and thereby bringing U.S. involvement in the war to a rapid end. During this period he also supported efforts to mobilize and influence public opinion against the war, endorsing the "Vietnam War Out Now" rallies in Washington D.C. and San Francisco on April 24, 1971, and financing a broadcast campaign by the antiwar group War No More with a personal loan. In June 1972 he escorted a group of over 100 antiwar protesters, including psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton, actress Candice Bergen, theater producer and director Joseph Papp, and peditrician Dr. Benjamin Spock, into the United States Capitol Building; the group was arrested after blocking a hallway outside the Senate chamber.
By June 1971, some Democratic senators opposed to the war wanted to limit the renewal to a one-year extension, while others wanted to end it immediately; Gravel reiterated that he was one of the latter, saying, "It's a senseless war, and one way to do away with it is to do away with the draft." A Senate vote on June 4 indicated majority support for the two-year extension. On June 18 Gravel announced again his intention to counteract that by filibustering the renewal legislation, defending the practice against those who associated it only with blocking civil rights legislation. The first filibuster attempt failed on June 23 when, by three votes, the Senate voted cloture for only the fifth time since 1927.
Protracted negotiations took place over House conference negotiations on the bill, revolving in large part around Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield's eventually unsuccessful amendment to tie renewal to a troop withdrawal timetable from Vietnam; during this time the draft law expired and no more were conscripted. On August 5, the Nixon administration pleaded for a renewal before the Senate went on recess, but Gravel blocked Stennis's attempt to limit debate, and no vote was held. Finally on September 21, 1971, the Senate invoked cloture over Gravel's second filibuster attempt by one vote, and then passed the two-year draft extension. Gravel's attempts to stop the draft had failed (notwithstanding Gravel's later claims that he had stopped or shortened the draft, taken at face value in some media reports, during his 2008 presidential campaign).
Meanwhile, on June 13, 1971, The New York Times began printing large portions of the Pentagon Papers. The papers were a large collection of secret government documents and studies pertaining to the Vietnam War, of which former Defense Department analyst Daniel Ellsberg had made unauthorized copies and was determined to make public. Ellsberg had for a year and a half approached members of Congress – such as William Fulbright, George McGovern, Charles Mathias, and Pete McCloskey – about publishing the documents, on the grounds that the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution would give congressional members immunity from prosecution, but all had refused. Instead, Ellsberg gave the documents to the Times.
The U.S. Justice Department immediately tried to halt publication, on the grounds that the information revealed within the papers harmed the national interest. Within the next two weeks, a federal court injunction halted publication in the Times; The Washington Post and several other newspapers began publishing parts of the documents, with some of them also being halted by injunctions; and the whole matter went to the U.S. Supreme Court for arguments. Looking for an alternate publication mechanism, Ellsberg returned to his idea of having a member of Congress read them, and chose Gravel based on the latter's efforts against the draft; Gravel agreed where previously others had not. Ellsberg arranged for the papers to be given to Gravel on June 26 via an intermediary, Post editor Ben Bagdikian. Gravel used his counter-intelligence experience to choose a midnight transfer in front of the Mayflower Hotel in the center of Washington, D.C.
On the night of June 29, 1971, Gravel attempted to read the papers on the floor of the Senate as part of his filibuster against the draft, but was thwarted when no quorum could be formed. Gravel instead convened a session of the Buildings and Grounds subcommittee that he chaired. He got New York Congressman John G. Dow to testify that the war had soaked up funding for public buildings, thus making discussion of the war relevant to the committee. He began reading from the papers with the press in attendance, omitting supporting documents that he felt might compromise national security, and declaring, "It is my constitutional obligation to protect the security of the people by fostering the free flow of information absolutely essential to their democratic decision-making."
He read until 1 a.m., culminating by saying "Arms are being severed. Metal is clashing through human bodies because of the public policy this government and all its branches continue to support." Then with tears and sobs he said that he could no longer physically continue, the previous three nights of sleeplessness and fear about the future having taken their toll. Gravel ended the session by, with no other senators present, establishing unanimous consent to insert 4,100 pages of the Papers into the Congressional Record of his subcommittee. The following day, the Supreme Court's New York Times Co. v. United States decision ruled in favor of the newspapers and publication in the Times and others resumed. In July 1971 Bantam Books published an inexpensive paperback edition of the papers containing the material the Times had published.
Gravel, too, wanted to privately publish the portion of the papers he had read into the record, believing that "immediate disclosure of the contents of these papers will change the policy that supports the war". After being turned down by many commercial publishers, on August 4 he reached agreement with Beacon Press, the publishing arm of the Unitarian Universalist Association, of which Gravel was a member. Announced on August 17 and published on October 22, 1971, this four-volume, relatively expensive set became the "Senator Gravel Edition", which studies from Cornell University and the Annenberg Center for Communication have labeled as the most complete edition of the Pentagon Papers to be published. The "Gravel Edition" was edited and annotated by Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn, and included an additional volume of analytical articles on the origins and progress of the war, also edited by Chomsky and Zinn. Beacon Press then was subjected to a FBI investigation; an outgrowth of this was the Gravel v. United States court case, which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled upon in June 1972; it held that the Speech or Debate Clause did grant immunity to Gravel for his reading the papers in his subcommittee, did grant some immunity to Gravel's congressional aide, but granted no immunity to Beacon Press in relation to their publishing the same papers. The U.S. Senate Democratic Caucus backed Gravel in the case, but due to Republican opposition it did not pay Gravel's legal fees, leaving him owing $25,000 (the equivalent of $150,000 in 2019, adjusted for inflation).
The events of 1971 changed Gravel in the following months from an obscure freshman senator to a nationally visible political figure. He became a sought-after speaker on the college circuit as well as at political fundraisers, opportunities he welcomed as lectures were "the one honest way a Senator has to supplement his income". But his speaking tours caused him to accrue one of the worst absentee records in the Senate. The Democratic candidates for the 1972 presidential election sought his endorsement. In January 1972 Gravel endorsed Maine Senator Ed Muskie, hoping that his support would help Muskie with the party's left wing and in ethnic French-Canadian areas during the first primary contest in New Hampshire (Muskie won, but not overwhelmingly, and his campaign faltered soon after). In April 1972 Gravel appeared on all three networks' nightly newscasts to decry the Nixon administration's reliance on Vietnamization by making reference to the secret National Security Study Memorandum 1 document, which stated it would take 8–13 years for the Army of the Republic of Vietnam to defend South Vietnam. Gravel made excerpts from the study public, but senators Robert P. Griffin and William B. Saxbe blocked his attempt to read NSSM 1 into the Congressional Record.
Domestic policy
In 1970 Gravel co-sponsored legislation to establish a guaranteed minimum income, entitling poor families to up to $6,300 a year (the equivalent of $42,000 in 2019 after adjustment for inflation). He subsequently voted for a "work bonus" program, which would have entitled low-income working families with dependent children if they were paying Social Security or Railroad Retirement taxes to a non-taxable bonus of up to 10 percent of their wages. Gravel also supported extending Social Security to all federal employees and introduced a campaign finance reform bill in 1971 that would have enacted full disclosure of campaign financing, placed limits on large donations, media spending and individual candidate spending.
In 1969, Gravel was the only Democratic Senator outside of the South to vote for Nixon's Supreme Court nominee Clement Haynsworth. The following year Gravel opposed Nixon's next pick, G. Harrold Carswell.
Run for vice president in 1972
Gravel actively campaigned for the office of Vice President of the United States during the 1972 presidential election, announcing on June 2, 1972, over a month before the 1972 Democratic National Convention began, that he was interested in the nomination should the choice be opened up to convention delegates. Toward this end he began soliciting delegates for their support. He was not alone in this effort, as former Governor of Massachusetts Endicott Peabody had been running a quixotic campaign for the same post since the prior year. Likely presidential nominee George McGovern was in fact considering the unusual move of naming three or four acceptable vice-presidential candidates and letting the delegates choose.
On the convention's final day, July 14, 1972, McGovern selected and announced Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri as his vice-presidential choice. Eagleton was unknown to many delegates and the choice seemed to smack of traditional ticket balancing considerations. Thus there were delegates willing to look elsewhere. Gravel was nominated by Bettye Fahrenkamp, the Democratic National Committeewoman from Alaska. He then seconded his own nomination, breaking down in tears at his own words and maybe trying to withdraw his nomination. In any case he won 226 delegate votes, coming in third behind Eagleton and Frances "Sissy" Farenthold of Texas, in chaotic balloting that included several other candidates.
Gravel attracted some attention for his efforts: writer Norman Mailer said he "provided considerable excitement" and was "good-looking enough to have played leads in B-films", while Rolling Stone correspondent Hunter S. Thompson said Gravel "probably said a few things that might have been worth hearing, under different circumstances". Yet the process was doubly disastrous for the Democrats. In the time consumed by nominating and seconding and all the vice-presidential candidates' speeches, the attention of the delegates on the floor was lost and McGovern's speech was pushed to 3:30 a.m. The haste with which Eagleton was selected led to surprise when his past mental health treatments were revealed; he withdrew from the ticket soon after the convention, to be replaced by Sargent Shriver.
Reelection to Senate in 1974
Several years earlier, Alaska politicians had speculated that Gravel would have a hard time getting both renominated and elected when his first term expired, given that he was originally elected without a base party organization and tended to focus on national rather than local issues.
Nonetheless, after receiving support from national and local labor leaders, securing key earmarks, and producing another half-hour TV advertorial, in 1974 Gravel was reelected to the Senate, with 58 percent of the vote to 42 percent for Republican State Senator C. R. Lewis, who was a national officer of the John Birch Society.
Second term
Gravel's reelection campaign left him $65,000–$75,000 in debt. In 1975 The Washington Post reported on a memo by his executive assistant laying out a fundraising strategy to tackle this, including raising funds from oil companies, meeting with previous donors and "inquir[ing] into the governmental priorities of these people and their groups in the coming session", as well as obtaining further speaking fees to reduce his personal debt. This was followed by a number of stories about links between Gravel, lobbyists and fundraisers, including one that was widely publicized in Alaska about his holding a share in a Colorado resort with two Washington lobbyists he was working with on land and energy legislation. Gravel had been open about the investment and had opposing views to one of the lobbyists on nuclear power. In 1980 the Wall Street Journal published details about his fundraising activities, including writing to individuals and PACs in the oil industry, pledging to kill off proposals for a windfall profits tax on the sector, and traveling in the Middle East with the business partner of one of his donors to sell Alaskan land to businessmen. Gravel suggested that critics of his fundraising were "naive".
In 1975 Gravel introduced an amendment to cut the number of troops overseas by 200,000, but it was defeated on a voice vote.
In September 1975 Gravel was named as one of several Congressional Advisers to the Seventh Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly, which met to discuss problems related to economic development and international economic cooperation.
In June 1976 Gravel was the focus of a federal investigation into allegations that he was involved in a sex-for-vote arrangement. Congressional staff clerk Elizabeth Ray (who had already been involved in a sex scandal that led to the downfall of Representative Wayne Hays) said that in August 1972 she had sex with Gravel aboard a houseboat on the Potomac River, under the instruction of Representative Kenneth J. Gray, her boss at the time. Gray allegedly wanted to secure Gravel's support for further funding for construction of the National Visitor Center in Washington, a troubled project that was under the jurisdiction of subcommittees that both members chaired. Another Congressional staffer said she witnessed the boat encounter, but Gravel said at the time that he had never met either of the women. Gravel and Gray strongly denied that they had made any arrangement regarding legislation, and neither was ever charged with any wrongdoing. Decades later Gravel wrote that he had indeed had sex with Ray, but had not changed any votes because of it.
Gravel and his main financial backer, Gottstein, had a falling out in 1978, during the Congressional debate over whether to allow a controversial sale of U.S. F-15 fighter aircraft to Saudi Arabia. An ardent backer of Israel, Gottstein opposed the sale and asked Gravel to vote against it. But Gravel not only voted for it but made an emotional speech attacking the anti-sale campaign. Gravel wrote in 2008 that it was the only time Gottstein had ever asked him for a favor, and the rupture resulted in their never speaking to each other again.
Alaskan issues
By 1971 Gravel was urging construction of the much-argued Trans-Alaska pipeline, addressing environmental concerns by saying that the pipeline's builders and operators should have "total and absolute" responsibility for any consequent environmental damage. Two years later the debate over the pipeline came to a crux, with The New York Times describing it as "environmentalists [in] a holy war with the major oil companies". In February 1973 the U.S. Court of Appeals blocked the issuance of permits for construction; Gravel and fellow Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens reacted by urging Congress to pass legislation overturning the court's decision. Environmentalists opposed to the pipeline, such as the Environmental Defense Fund and the Sierra Club then sought to use the recently passed National Environmental Policy Act to their advantage; Gravel designed an amendment to the pipeline bill that would immunize the pipeline from any further court challenges under that law, and thus speed its construction. Passage of the amendment became the key battle regarding the pipeline. On July 17, 1973, in a dramatic roll-call vote, the Gravel amendment was approved as a 49–49 tie was broken in favor by Vice President Spiro Agnew. The actual bill enabling the pipeline then passed easily; Gravel had triumphed in what became perhaps his most lasting accomplishment as a senator.
In opposition to the Alaskan fishing industry, Gravel advocated American participation in the formation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. For two years he opposed legislation that established a Exclusive Economic Zone for marine resources. He was one of only 19 senators to vote against Senate approval for the expanded zone in 1976, saying it would undermine the U.S. position in Law of the Sea negotiations and that nations arbitrarily extending their fishing rights limits would "produce anarchy of the seas". The legislation was passed, and the United States has signed but never ratified the Law of the Sea treaty.
Gravel accumulated a complicated record on Indian affairs during his time in the Senate. During his first year in the Senate Gravel urged abolition of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, criticizing the agency for the pace of development of schools in Alaska, its paternalistic attitudes and the culturally inappropriate nature of its education, and advocating greater shared decision-making between the federal government and native communities in Alaska. Later, his views changed; in the early 1970s Gravel supported a demonstration project that established links between Alaskan villages and the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, for medical diagnostic communications. In 1971, he fended off accusations from Alaskan natives that he was not spending enough time working on their land claims. Gravel helped secure a private grant to facilitate the first Inuit Circumpolar Conference in 1977, attended by Inuit representatives from Alaska, Canada, and Greenland. These conferences now also include representatives from Russia. In 1977, Gravel helped lead an effort to have the U.S. Interior Department rename Mount McKinley to Denali; this eventually led to Denali National Park being so named. Subsequently, Gravel proposed a never-built "Denali City" development above the Tokositna River near the mountain, to consist of a giant Teflon dome enclosing hotels, golf courses, condominiums, and commercial buildings. A related idea of his to build a high-speed rail line to Denali also failed to gain traction.
A key, emotional issue in the state at the time was "locking up Alaska", making reference to allocation of its vast, mostly uninhabited land. President Jimmy Carter desired to put large portions of this land under federal protection against development, a move that some Alaskans vociferously opposed.
In 1978 Gravel blocked passage, via procedural delays such as walking out of House–Senate conference committee meetings, of a complex bill which represented a compromise on land use policy. The bill would have put some of Alaska's vast federal land holdings under state control while preserving other portions for federal parks and refuges; the blocking action earned Gravel the enmity of fellow Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, who had supported the compromise. In 1980, a new lands bill came up for consideration, that was less favorable to Alaskan interests and more liked by environmentalists; it set aside of Alaska's for national parks, conservation areas, and other restricted federal uses. Gravel blocked it, as not ensuring enough future development in the state. A new compromise version of the 1980 bill came forward, which reduced the land set aside to . Representing Alaskan interests, Gravel tried to stop the bill, including by filibuster. But the Senate voted for cloture and passed the bill. Frustrated, Gravel said, "the legislation denies Alaska its rights as a state, and denies the U.S. crucial strategic resources," and opined that the Senate was "a little bit like a tank of barracudas". Nonetheless, the bill, known as the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980, was signed by President Carter shortly before leaving the White House, and led to millions of acres being set aside in the state for national parks, wildlife refuges, and other kinds of areas under protection.
In 1978 Gravel authored and secured the passage into federal law of the General Stock Ownership Corporation, that became Subchapter U of the Tax Code under the Internal Revenue Code of 1954. This gave states the ability to create corporations that would invest in for-profit enterprises, with all citizens within the state owning shares in the corporation. Gravel's attempt to convince the Alaska state legislature to create such a corporation failed, as did a 1980 state ballot initiative towards the same end, but nevertheless the creation of the General Stock Ownership Corporation in federal law turned out to be significant in the development of binary economics.
Loss of Senate seat in 1980
In 1980 Gravel was challenged for the Democratic Party's nomination by State Representative Clark Gruening, the grandson of the man Gravel had defeated in a primary 12 years earlier. One of Gruening's supporters was Gravel's former backer Gottstein. Several factors made Gravel vulnerable. As an insurgent candidate in 1968 Gravel had never established a firm party base. Not liking to hunt or fish, he was also always culturally suspect in the state.
The primary campaign was bitterly fought. A group of Democrats, including future governor Steve Cowper, led the campaign against Gravel, with Gravel's actions in respect to the 1978 and 1980 Alaskan lands bills a major issue. This was especially so given that the 1980 bill's dénouement happened but a week before the primary. The sources of Gravel's campaign funds, some of which Gravel readily acknowledged came from political action committees outside the state, also became an issue in the contest. Gruening had pledged that he would not take special interest group money, but Gravel said that Gruening was "dishonest" in accepting individual contributors from Jewish donors living outside the state because to him such contributors comprised "a special interest group ... that seeks to influence the foreign policy of the U.S."
Gruening won the primary with about 55 percent of the vote to Gravel's 44 percent. Gravel later conceded that by the time of his defeat, he had alienated "almost every constituency in Alaska". Another factor may have been Alaska's blanket primary system of the time, which allowed unlimited voting across party lines and from its many independents; Republicans believed Gruening would be an easier candidate to defeat in the general election.
Gruening lost the general election to Republican Frank Murkowski. Gravel was the last Democrat to represent Alaska in Congress for 28 years, until Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich defeated Ted Stevens, by then an aged, iconic figure who had just been convicted of seven felonies for taking unreported gifts, in a very close and protracted election result in 2008. Stevens's conviction was subsequently vacated due to prosecutorial misconduct.
Career after leaving the Senate
Of his 1980 defeat, Gravel later recalled: "I had lost my career. I lost my marriage. I was in the doldrums for ten years after my defeat," and "Nobody wanted to hire me for anything important. I felt like I was worthless. I didn't know what I could do." By his own later description, Gravel was a womanizer, and had an affair while in the Senate, and in December 1980 he and his wife Rita separated. They filed for divorce in September 1981; she later received all of his Senate pension income.
During the 1980s Gravel was a real estate developer in Anchorage and Kenai, Alaska, a consultant, and a stockbroker. One of his real estate ventures, a condominium business, was forced to declare bankruptcy and a lawsuit ensued. In 1986 Gravel worked in partnership with Merrill Lynch Capital Markets to buy losses that financially troubled Alaska Native Corporations could not take as tax deductions and sell them to large national companies looking for tax writeoffs. Gravel also learned computer programming at some point but never practiced it.
In 1984 Gravel married his second wife, Whitney Stewart Gravel, a former administrative assistant for Senator Jacob Javits.
Return to politics
In 1989 Gravel reentered politics. He founded and led The Democracy Foundation, which promotes direct democracy. He established the Philadelphia II corporation, which seeks to replicate the original 1787 Constitutional Convention and have a Second Constitutional Convention to bring about direct democracy Gravel led an effort to get a United States Constitutional amendment to allow voter-initiated federal legislation similar to state ballot initiatives. He argued that Americans are able to legislate responsibly, and that the Act and Amendment in the National Initiative would allow American citizens to become "law makers". However such efforts met with little success.
In 2001, Gravel became director of the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution, where he admired institute co-founder Gregory Fossedal's work on direct democracy in Switzerland. By 2004, Gravel had become chair of the institute, and Fossedal (who in turn was a director of the Democracy Foundation) gave the introduction at Gravel's presidential announcement.
In 2003 Gravel gave a speech on direct democracy at a conference hosted by the American Free Press. The event was cosponsored by the Barnes Review, a journal that endorses Holocaust denial. After some controversy over his appearance, Gravel apologized, saying he did not realize the group's ties. Gravel said repeatedly that he did not share the group's views on the Holocaust, stating, "You better believe I know that six million Jews were killed. [The Barnes Review publishers] are nutty as loons if they don't think it happened". The group invited Gravel to speak again, but he declined.
Mike and Whitney Gravel lived in Arlington County, Virginia, until 2010 and then resided in Burlingame, California. They have the two grown children from his first marriage, Martin Gravel and Lynne Gravel Mosier, and four grandchildren. Whitney Gravel's income sustained the couple from 1998 on. In the 2000s, Gravel suffered poor health, requiring three surgeries in 2003 for back pain and neuropathy. Due to unreimbursed medical expenses and debts from his political causes, he declared personal bankruptcy in 2004. He began taking a salary from the non-profit organizations for which he was working; much of that income was lent to his presidential campaign. In 2007, he declared that he had "zero net worth".
2008 presidential campaign
Democratic Party primaries
At the start of 2006 Gravel decided the best way he could promote direct democracy and the National Initiative was to run for president. On April 17, 2006, Gravel became the first candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2008 election, announcing his run in a speech to the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Short on campaign cash, he took public transportation to get to his announcement. (Gravel called for public financing of elections.) Other principal Gravel positions were the FairTax, as well as withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq within 120 days and a single payer national health care system.
Gravel had opposed the Iraq War, and President George W. Bush's rationale for it, from the beginning, and in 2006 said that U.S. troops in Iraq, as in Vietnam, had "died in vain". He also favored a regional peace initiative, as well as reparation payments for Iraqis. Gravel also called for a "U.S. corporate withdrawal from Iraq", with reconstruction contracts held by U.S. companies to be turned over to Iraqi firms.
Gravel campaigned almost full-time in New Hampshire, the first primary state, following his announcement. Opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination showed Gravel with 1 percent or less support. By the end of March 2007, Gravel's campaign had less than $500 in cash on hand against debts of nearly $90,000.
Because of his time in the Senate, Gravel was invited to many of the early Democratic presidential debates. During the initial one at South Carolina State University on April 26, 2007, he suggested a bill requiring the president to withdraw from Iraq on pain of criminal penalties. He also advocated positions such as opposing preemptive nuclear war. He stated that the Iraq War had the effect of creating more terrorists and that the "war was lost the day that George Bush invaded Iraq on a fraudulent basis". Regarding his fellow candidates, he said, "I got to tell you, after standing up with them, some of these people frighten me – they frighten me." In one such exchange, Gravel said, "Tell me, Barack, who do you want to nuke?" to which Obama responded, "I'm not planning to nuke anybody right now, Mike, I promise."
Media stories said that Gravel was responsible for much of whatever "heat" and "flashpoints" had taken place during the Democratic debates. Gravel gained considerable publicity by shaking up the normally staid multiple-candidate format; The New York Times' media critic said that what Gravel had done was "steal a debate with outrageous, curmudgeonly statements". The Internet was a benefit: a YouTube video of his responses in the debate was viewed more than 225,892 times, ranking seventeenth in most views for week and first among news and politics clips; his name became the fifteenth most searched-for in the blogosphere; and his website garnered more traffic than those of frontrunners Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, or John Edwards. Gravel appeared on the popular Colbert Report on television on May 2, and his campaign and career were profiled in national publications such as Salon. Two wordless, Warholesque campaign videos, "Rock" and "Fire", were released on YouTube in late May and became hits, and eventually gained over 760,000 and 185,000 views respectively. "Rock", in turn, was given airtime during an episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Some thirty-five years after he first achieved the national spotlight, he had found it again.
All this did not improve his performance in the polls; a May 2007 CNN poll showed him with less than 0.5 percent support among Democrats. Gravel was in the next several debates, in one case after CNN reversed a decision to exclude him. Like some of the other second-tier candidates, Gravel did not get as much time as the leaders; during the June 2, 2007, New Hampshire debate, which lasted two hours, he was asked 10 questions and allowed to speak for five minutes and 37 seconds.
During the July 23, 2007, CNN-YouTube presidential debate, Gravel responded to audience applause when he had complained of a lack of airtime and said: "Thank you. Has it been fair thus far?" Detractors began to liken him to "the cranky uncle who lives in the attic," or "the angry old guy that just seemed to want to become angrier". Berkeley political scientist David Terr found that moderator George Stephanopoulos directed roughly five percent of his questions to Gravel; in a poll asking who did the best in the debate, Gravel placed seventh among the eight candidates. National opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination continued to show Gravel with one percent or zero percent numbers. By the end of the third-quarter 2007, Gravel had about $17,500 in cash on hand, had collected a total of about $380,000 during the 2008 election cycle, and was continuing to run a threadbare campaign with minimal staff.
Beginning with the October 30, 2007, Philadelphia event, Gravel was excluded from most of the debates, with the debate sponsors or the Democratic National Committee saying Gravel's campaign had not met fund-raising, polling, or local campaign organizational thresholds. For the Philadelphia exclusion, Gravel blamed corporate censorship on the part of sponsor owner and alleged military-industrial complex member General Electric for his exclusion and mounted a counter-gathering and debate against a video screen a short distance away, but he had lost his easiest publicity. In reaction, supporters organized "mass donation days" to try to help the campaign gain momentum and funds, such as on December 5, 2007, the anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition.
Gravel did not compete in the initial 2008 vote, the Iowa caucuses, but was still subjected to a false report from MSNBC that he had pulled out of the race afterward. Gravel did focus his attention on the second 2008 vote, the New Hampshire primary. In early January, Mother Jones' investigative reporter James Ridgeway was filmed interviewing and following Gravel in New Hampshire, in which Gravel is interviewed on the phone by Neal Conan for NPR's, Talk of the Nation. He received about 400 votes out of some 280,000 cast in New Hampshire, or 0.14 percent, before taking time off to improve his health. He resumed campaigning, but fared no better in subsequent states. By the end of January 2008, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and Gravel were the only remaining Democrats from the initial debates still running; Gravel vowed to stay in the presidential campaign until November. On March 11, 2008, Gravel continued to remain in the Democratic race but additionally endorsed a Green Party candidate for president, Jesse Johnson, saying he wanted to help Johnson prevail against Green Party rivals Cynthia McKinney and Ralph Nader. By late March, Gravel had almost no fundraising and was only on the ballot in one of the next ten Democratic primaries.
Switch to Libertarian Party
On March 25, 2008, Gravel announced that he would leave the Democrats and join the Libertarian Party, saying: "My libertarian views, as well as my strong stance against war, the military industrial complex and American imperialism, seem not to be tolerated by Democratic Party elites who are out of touch with the average American; elites that reject the empowerment of American citizens I offered to the Democratic Party at the beginning of this presidential campaign with the National Initiative for Democracy." The following day Gravel entered the race for the 2008 Libertarian presidential nomination, saying that he would have run as a third-party candidate all along except that he needed the public exposure that came from being in the earlier Democratic debates. Gravel's initial notion of running as a fusion candidate with other parties was met with skepticism.
As a Libertarian candidate, Gravel faced resistance to his past support of big government initiatives and his unorthodox positions around direct democracy. Nevertheless, he garnered more support than he had as a Democrat, placing second and third in two April 2008 straw polls. In the May 25 balloting at the 2008 Libertarian National Convention in Denver, Gravel finished fourth out of eight candidates on the initial ballot, with 71 votes out of a total 618; he trailed former Congressman and eventual winner Bob Barr, author Mary Ruwart, and businessman Wayne Allyn Root. Gravel's position did not subsequently improve and he was eliminated on the fourth ballot. Afterwards he stated that "I just ended my political career," but he vowed to continue promoting his positions as a writer and lecturer.
2008–early 2019
In June 2008 Gravel endorsed the NYC 9/11 Ballot Initiative, saying the measure would create a "citizens commission rather than a government commission" with subpoena power against top U.S. officials to "make a true investigation as to what happened" regarding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. He later said, "Individuals in and out of government may certainly have participated with the obviously known perpetrators of this dastardly act. Suspicions abound over the analysis presented by government. Obviously an act that has triggered three wars, Afghan, Iraqi and the continuing War on Terror, should be extensively investigated which was not done and which the government avoids addressing."
In August 2008 Gravel was speaking to a crowd of supporters of Sami Al-Arian (who two years earlier had pleaded guilty and been sentenced to prison for a charge of conspiracy in helping Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a "specially designated terrorist" organization) when he was caught on tape saying of Al-Arian's prosecutor, "Find out where he lives, find out where his kids go to school, find out where his office is: picket him all the time. Call him a racist in signs if you see him. Call him an injustice. Call him whatever you want to call him, but in his face all the time." Gravel was criticized for potentially involving the children of the prosecutor, and Al-Arian's family disavowed the sentiments.
Gravel defended Alaska Governor Sarah Palin after she was chosen as Republican presidential nominee John McCain's running mate in September 2008. He praised Palin's record in standing up to corruption among Alaskan Republicans, thought her national inexperience was an asset not a detriment, and predicted that the "Troopergate" investigation into whether she improperly fired a state official would "come out in her favor". Gravel made clear he would not support or vote for either McCain–Palin or Obama–Biden in the general election. The following year Gravel said that Palin's politics were "terrible, but that doesn't detract from the fact that she's a very talented person". He predicted that Palin would run for president in 2012 and that "she's going to surprise a lot of people". Palin did not run, but Gravel's prediction about "TrooperGate" was accurate as Palin was found not to have violated ethics laws.
In 2013, by the invitation of Hamed Ghashghavi, the secretary for international affairs of the 3rd International Conference on Hollywoodism in Tehran, Iran, Gravel attended that event as an Iranian government-organized anti-Hollywood conference. Gravel noted that the conference was attended by "various elements of extremes" but said it was necessary to discuss how the U.S. film industry portrayed Iran in order to prevent "an insane war" between the two nations.
In May 2013 Gravel was one of several former members of Congress to accept $20,000 from the Paradigm Research Group, an advocacy group for UFO disclosure, as part of holding what they termed a Citizen Hearing on Disclosure, modeled after congressional hearings, regarding supposed U.S. government suppression of evidence concerning UFOs. Gravel said, "Something is monitoring the planet, and they are monitoring it very cautiously, because we are a very warlike planet," and, "What we're faced with here is, in areas of the media, and the government too, an effort to marginalize and ridicule people who have specific knowledge."
In December 2014 Gravel was announced as the new CEO of KUSH, a company which makes marijuana-infused products for medicinal and recreational use, and a subsidiary of Cannabis Sativa, Inc. He also became an Independent Director of Cannabis Sativa.
During the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries, Gravel praised Bernie Sanders and his campaign, saying "Bernie is one of the most gifted politicians I have ever observed. He's a person of great integrity and very clever." Gravel predicted that Sanders would be elected president but would be unable to get his key reforms through Congress, and thus that Sanders and his supporters should back some of the proposals of the National Initiative.
In 2016, Gravel said in relation to the September 11 attacks: "We killed 58,000 American servicemen in the Vietnam War and all they did was die in vain. What's so unusual about killing 3,000 more in order to develop the grist for the mill to empower into infinity the military industrial complex?" and "There's no question in my mind that 9/11 was an inside job". The remarks were later disavowed by even Gravel supporters.
By 2019 Gravel was living in Seaside, California. He was working on a book, at the time titled Human Governance, about his principal idea for direct democracy, a U.S. Constitutional Amendment to create a "Legislature of the People" that would circumvent the existing Congress. The book was self-published at the end of the year by AuthorHouse under the title The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People.
2020 presidential campaign
On March 19, 2019, Gravel announced that he was considering running in the 2020 Democratic primaries. He said, "The goal will not be to win, but to bring a critique of American imperialism to the Democratic debate stage." An exploratory committee was formed, with filing a statement of organization with the Federal Election Commission on that same day. The filing was the idea of a group of teenagers, led by David Oks and Henry Williams, inspired by the podcast Chapo Trap House, and done with Gravel's consent (after a week spent convincing him of the idea's merits), but without his involvement. Intrigued by the group's commitment to amplifying his long-held policy goals, Gravel (who would be old on Inauguration Day in 2021) said he planned to meet with them in April, and to discuss a 2020 White House run with his wife. On April 2, 2019, Gravel filed to officially run for office. The campaign called itself the "#Gravelanche".
Gravel's initial stated goal was merely to qualify for debates by getting the required 65,000 small donors. He discouraged people from voting for him and said his preferences were Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard, both of whom favor a non-interventionist foreign policy. But on April 29, Gravel's campaign said he was running to win, not just to participate in debates. In a subsequent interview, though, Gravel emphasized the virtue of Sanders and Gabbard in some order as a presidential ticket. Statements like these caused Vox to call Gravel "2020's oddest Democratic presidential candidate". The New York Times Magazine included Gravel as an example in the rise of democratic socialism in the United States also exemplified by Sanders's 2016 race and the 2018 election of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: "[Gravel's] campaign represents the most absurd form of a legitimate movement on the left that feels little obligation to the Democratic Party."
In June 2019, Gravel touted the endorsement of Muntadher al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who, in December 2008, made headlines after he threw his shoes at President George W. Bush in protest of the U.S. war in Iraq. Al-Zaidi endorsed Gravel based on his promise to improve White House policies regarding Iraq and the Middle East.
On June 13, 2019, the Democratic Party announced the 20 major candidates who qualified for the first debate later that month. Gravel was one of the four who missed out (the others were Montana Governor Steve Bullock, U.S. Representative Seth Moulton, and Miramar, Florida, Mayor Wayne Messam). Gravel had been unable to get the requisite number of donations, or to score one percent or better in enough polls (many polls did not even include him). Nevertheless, Gravel said he would not drop out and would try to qualify for the July debate. In early July, however, Gravel's campaign said it was still 10,000 contributions short of the 65,000-donor threshold and that it was "nearing its conclusion". It solicited suggestions for where to donate $100–150,000 of leftover campaign funds. Gravel added that he had always planned on ending the campaign before the teenagers in charge of it needed to return to school. A few days later the campaign became the first to run an attack ad against Democratic front-runner Joe Biden, using the text "Is this the best our party has to offer?"
Gravel's campaign crossed the threshold of 65,000 donors on July 12, 2019, meeting the qualification mark for that month's debate. But because 20 other candidates, the maximum allowed to participate, had already met at least the polling criterion, which takes priority over the donor criterion, Gravel was not invited.
The campaign officially came to a close on August 6, 2019, with Gravel endorsing both Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard for president. Gravel's campaign later stated on Twitter that they never wanted to win but saw the campaign as an "intimately democratic" project and expressed honor at working with Gravel. Gravel said he would divide remaining campaign funds between charity and a new think tank which would espouse his ideas.
The Gravel Institute
Gravel used some of the funds remaining from his 2020 presidential campaign to found an eponymous progressive think tank called The Gravel Institute in 2019. As noted by Vice magazine, the institute aims to do battle with PragerU from a left-wing perspective. Launched in September 2020, the new entity said it would "carry on the life's work of former U.S Senator Mike Gravel in fighting for global peace and democracy. Its mission is to promote bold and forward-looking ideas about a more peaceful and egalitarian world, and to build a robust movement of young people to win it". Contributors announced include Cornel West and Slavoj Žižek, as well as Lower Brule Indian Reservation activist Nick Estes. Other presenters have included and will include H. Jon Benjamin, Briahna Joy Gray, Bernie Sanders, Chelsea Manning, Richard Wolff, Stephanie Kelton, Zephyr Teachout, David Cross, Jabari Brisport, Zohran Mamdani, and Gravel himself (though it is unknown if his appearance will be cancelled due to his death in June 2021, or if the video has already been recorded).
Death
Gravel died of multiple myeloma at his home in Seaside, California, on June 26, 2021, at age 91.
The obituary for him in The New York Times stated that Gravel was "a two-term Democratic senator from Alaska ... who was perhaps better known as an unabashed attention-getter" who later become known for "mounting long-shot presidential runs". The obituary in The Washington Post was similar, saying that Gravel was "an Alaska Democrat with a flair for the theatrical who rose from obscurity to brief renown" and later "ran quixotic campaigns for the presidency". The Anchorage Daily News quoted Gravel as saying of himself in 1989, "I'm an independent kind of guy. A rough and ready kind of guy. My glands work in a certain way that make me stand up, foolishly sometimes, and fight."
Political positions
Alan Abramowitz and Jeffrey Allan Segal described Gravel as "a maverick, if not an eccentric, in the Senate." His Americans for Democratic Action "Liberal Quotient" scores ranged from 81 out of 100 (1971) to 39 out of 100 (1980), with an average of around 61. His American Conservative Union scores ranged from 0 out of 100 (several years, including 1971 and 1972) to 38 out of 100 (1979), with an average of 14. Abramowitz and Segal note that Gravel's lowest ADA ratings coincided with his two Senate re-election bids, and for the most part his highest ACU ratings followed the same pattern.
In 1972, as a young senator, Gravel published Citizen Power: A People's Platform, a manifesto outlining what Kirkus Reviews termed a "populist reform [that] would provide 'balanced political power' between the people and government and business interests."
Civil rights issues
On drug policy, Gravel said in 2007 that he favored decriminalization and treating addiction as a public health matter. During his 2008 presidential candidacy he condemned the War on Drugs as a failure, saying that it did "nothing but savage our inner cities and put our children at risk". Gravel called for abolition of capital punishment in his book Citizen Power, and adhered to this position during his 2008 run for president. He supported abortion rights.
During the 2008 campaign Gravel was a strong supporter of LGBT rights. He supported same-sex marriage and opposed the Defense of Marriage Act and the U.S. military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy. He wrote in 2008 that "depriving gays and lesbians of equal rights is immoral".
Foreign policy and defense issues
Gravel was a critic of American imperialism.
Gravel firmly opposed U.S. military action against Iran and Syria. He voiced opposition to the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, the Military Commissions Act of 2006, the use of torture, indefinite detention, and what he called "flagrant ignorance" of the Geneva Convention. In 2014 Gravel called for the release of the full, unredacted Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture.
Gravel opposed the use of international sanctions as a policy tool and blamed the ones against Iraq under Saddam Hussein for the deaths of a half-million children in that country. In 2013 Gravel said that sanctions against Iran were "illegal".
During his 2008 candidacy, Gravel called for a cut in military spending, variously reported to be 15 percent or 50 percent. He called for the savings to boost public education spending. To spur international nuclear nonproliferation efforts, Gravel called for unilateral reductions in the U.S. nuclear arsenal.
In 2008 Gravel criticized the decision of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to not pursue the efforts to impeach George W. Bush and the attempted impeachment of Dick Cheney, saying also that Bush and Cheney had committed crimes and deserved "to be prosecuted" at The Hague. In 2013 he expressed disdain for President Obama, calling him "a total fraud" and saying that both Bush and Obama should be tried "for the crimes and murders they've committed" in the International Court of Justice. Gravel specifically condemned Obama for the drone strikes in Pakistan and elsewhere.
Economy, immigration, and environment
During his 2008 candidacy Gravel favored a FairTax scheme, which would abolish the Internal Revenue Service, eliminate the federal income tax (which Gravel called "corrupt"), and impose a national sales tax. While Gravel described FairTax as "progressive", others have criticized it as "regressive", disproportionately benefiting the wealthiest Americans. To offset the new sales taxes on essential goods, Gravel's plan called for monthly government rebate payments to individuals and families. During his 2020 campaign Gravel also voiced support for a third legislative body that would give the people direct control of the budget as well as the implementation of a land value tax.
Gravel opposed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) during his 2008 candidacy, calling it unfair and economically harmful and needing renegotiation. Gravel believed that NAFTA was the "root cause" of illegal migration to the U.S. He favored a guest worker program and "setting up naturalization procedures that would fairly bring immigrants into legal status". In a 2007 interview, Gravel identified himself as "very much of a globalist" who believed in open markets and open borders and condemned the scapegoating of undocumented immigrants. Gravel also said that he favored eliminating the cap on H1B visas.
As a senator from Alaska, Gravel favored drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but opposed it during his 2008 campaign. In 2008, Gravel supported a carbon tax to combat climate change.
Gravel spoke in favor of net neutrality during his presidential campaign.
Education and health care
Gravel called for the cost of college tuition to be borne by the federal government, rather than students. In his 2008 campaign, he called the No Child Left Behind Act "a failure" and called for it to be "reformed and fully funded". He expressed support for universal pre-kindergarten and the expansion of the Head Start program; and expressed an openness to charter schools and school vouchers. He also suggested extending the school day and the school year, and supported merit pay for teachers.
Gravel also called for publicly funded universal health care to replace the current employer-sponsored health insurance system. He supported "full funding" of the VA system. When asked in 2007 about naturopathy, homeopathy, and acupuncture, Gravel said that he was "very very much in favor" of holistic health care.
Awards and honors
In 2008 Gravel received the Columbia University School of General Studies' first annual Isaac Asimov Lifetime Achievement Award.
Electoral history
Writings
Gravel, Mike. Jobs and More Jobs. Mt. McKinley Publishers, 1968.
Gravel, Mike. Citizen Power: A People's Platform. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1972. .
revised and reissued as Citizen Power: A Mandate for Change, AuthorHouse, 2008. .
Gravel, Mike and Lauria, Joe. A Political Odyssey: The Rise of American Militarism and One Man's Fight to Stop It. Seven Stories Press, 2008. .
Gravel, Mike and Eisenbach, David. The Kingmakers: How the Media Threatens Our Security and Our Democracy. Phoenix Books, 2008. .
Gravel, Mike. Voice of a Maverick: The Speeches and Writings of Senator Mike Gravel. Brandywine House, 2008.
Gravel, Mike. Foreword to Poisoned Power: The Case Against Nuclear Power Plants. John W. Goffman & Arthur R. Tamplin, Rodale Press, Inc., Emmaus, PA, June 1971.
Gravel, Mike. The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People. AuthorHouse, 2020.
Explanatory notes
References
Citations
General references
The Pentagon Papers Senator Gravel Edition. Vol. Five: Critical Essays. Boston: Beacon Press, 1972. 341p. plus 72p. of Index to Vol. I–IV of the Papers; Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, editors.
External links
Mike Gravel official website
The Gravel Institute
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Writers from Anchorage, Alaska | true | [
"Forever Young is Kaysha's album released 2009.\n\nTrack list\n\n Anti Bad Music Police\n Be With You\n Digital Sexyness\n Duro\n Fanta & Avocado\n Forever Young Intro\n Funky Makaku\n Glorious Beautiful\n Heaven\n Hey Girl\n I Give You the Music\n I Still Love You\n Joachim\n Kota Na Piste\n Les Belles Histoires D'amour\n Love You Need You\n Loving and Kissing\n Make More Dollars\n Nobody Else\n On Veut Juste Danser\n Once Again\n Outro\n Paradisio / Inferno\n Pour Toujours\n Pure\n Si Tu T'en Vas\n Simple Pleasures\n Tell Me What We Waiting For\n That African Shit\n The Sweetest Thing\n The Way You Move\n Toi Et Moi\n U My Bb\n Yes You Can\n You + Me\n You're My Baby Girl\n\n2009 albums",
"\"Tell Me What You Want Me to Do\" is the title of a number-one R&B single by singer Tevin Campbell. To date, the single is Campbell's biggest hit peaking at number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spending one week at number-one on the US R&B chart. The hit song is also Tevin's one and only Adult Contemporary hit, where it peaked at number 43. The song showcases Campbell's four-octave vocal range from a low note of E2 to a D#6 during the bridge of the song.\n\nTrack listings\nUS 7\" vinyl\nA \"Tell Me What You Want Me to Do\" (edit) – 4:16\t\nB \"Tell Me What You Want Me to Do\" (instrumental) – 5:00\n\n12\" vinyl\nA \"Tell Me What You Want Me to Do\" (edit) – 4:16\t\nB \"Tell Me What You Want Me to Do\" (album version) – 5:02\n\nUK CD\n \"Tell Me What You Want Me to Do\" – 4:16\n \"Goodbye\" (7\" Remix Edit) – 3:48\n \"Goodbye\" (Sidub and Listen) – 4:58\n \"Goodbye\" (Tevin's Dub Pt 1 & 2) – 6:53\n\nJapan CD\n \"Tell Me What You Want Me to Do\" – 4:10\n \"Tell Me What You Want Me to Do\" (instrumental version) – 4:10\n\nGermany CD\n \"Tell Me What You Want Me to Do\" (edit) – 4:10\n \"Just Ask Me\" (featuring Chubb Rock) – 4:07\n \"Tomorrow\" (A Better You, Better Me) – 4:46\n\nCharts\n\nWeekly charts\n\nYear-end charts\n\nSee also\nList of number-one R&B singles of 1992 (U.S.)\n\nReferences\n\nTevin Campbell songs\n1991 singles\n1991 songs\nSongs written by Tevin Campbell\nSongs written by Narada Michael Walden\nSong recordings produced by Narada Michael Walden\nWarner Records singles\nContemporary R&B ballads\nPop ballads\nSoul ballads\n1990s ballads"
] | [
"Maurice Robert Gravel ( ; May 13, 1930 – June 26, 2021) was an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Alaska from 1969 to 1981 as a member of the Democratic Party, and who, in later life, twice ran for the presidential nomination of that party. Born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, by French-Canadian immigrant parents, Gravel moved to Alaska in the late 1950s, becoming a real estate developer and entering politics.",
"Born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, by French-Canadian immigrant parents, Gravel moved to Alaska in the late 1950s, becoming a real estate developer and entering politics. He served in the Alaska House of Representatives from 1963 to 1967, and also became Speaker of the Alaska House. Gravel was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1968.",
"Gravel was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1968. Gravel was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1968. As a senator, Gravel became nationally known for his forceful, but unsuccessful, attempts to end the draft during the War in Vietnam, and for putting the Pentagon Papers into the public record in 1971. He conducted a campaign for the Democratic nomination in 1972 for Vice President of the United States, and then played a crucial role in obtaining Congressional approval for the Trans-Alaska pipeline in 1973.",
"He conducted a campaign for the Democratic nomination in 1972 for Vice President of the United States, and then played a crucial role in obtaining Congressional approval for the Trans-Alaska pipeline in 1973. He was re-elected to the Senate in 1974, but was defeated in his bid for a third term in the primary election in 1980. An advocate of direct democracy and the National Initiative, Gravel staged a run for the 2008 Democratic nomination for President of the United States.",
"An advocate of direct democracy and the National Initiative, Gravel staged a run for the 2008 Democratic nomination for President of the United States. His campaign failed to gain support, and in March 2008, he left the Democratic Party and joined the Libertarian Party to compete unsuccessfully for its presidential nomination and the inclusion of the National Initiative into the Libertarian Platform. He ran for president as a Democrat again in the 2020 election, in a campaign that ended four months after it began.",
"He ran for president as a Democrat again in the 2020 election, in a campaign that ended four months after it began. Two years before his death, Gravel and his campaign staff founded the progressive think tank The Gravel Institute. Early life, military service, education Gravel was born on May 13, 1930, in Springfield, Massachusetts, one of five children of French-Canadian immigrant parents, Alphonse and Marie (née Bourassa) Gravel.",
"Early life, military service, education Gravel was born on May 13, 1930, in Springfield, Massachusetts, one of five children of French-Canadian immigrant parents, Alphonse and Marie (née Bourassa) Gravel. His parents were part of the Quebec diaspora, and he was raised in a working-class neighborhood during the Great Depression, speaking only French until he was seven years old. Calling him \"Mike\" from an early age, his father valued work above all else, while his mother stressed the importance of education.",
"Calling him \"Mike\" from an early age, his father valued work above all else, while his mother stressed the importance of education. Gravel was educated in parochial schools as a Roman Catholic. There he struggled, due to what he later said was undiagnosed dyslexia, and was left back in third grade. He completed elementary school in 1945 and his class voted him \"most charming personality\".",
"He completed elementary school in 1945 and his class voted him \"most charming personality\". A summer job as a soda jerk led to Gravel handing out campaign fliers for local candidates on his boss's behalf; Gravel was immediately impressed with \"the awesomeness of political office\". Gravel then boarded at Assumption Preparatory School in Worcester, Massachusetts, where his performance was initially mediocre.",
"Gravel then boarded at Assumption Preparatory School in Worcester, Massachusetts, where his performance was initially mediocre. By Gravel's telling, in the summer of 1948 he intended to volunteer for the Israel Defense Forces during the 1947–1949 Palestine war, but Alexandra Tolstaya told him to return to school. There an English teacher, the Assumptionist Edgar Bourque, gave him personal attention, improving Gravel's language skills and instructing him in public speaking. Gravel's grades improved measurably in his final year and he graduated in 1949.",
"Gravel's grades improved measurably in his final year and he graduated in 1949. His sister, Marguerite, became a Holy Cross nun, but Gravel himself struggled with the Catholic faith. He studied for one year at Assumption College, a Catholic school in Worcester, then transferred for his sophomore year to American International College in Springfield. Journalist I. F. Stone and philosopher Bertrand Russell strongly influenced Gravel in their willingness to challenge assumptions and oppose social convention and political authority.",
"Journalist I. F. Stone and philosopher Bertrand Russell strongly influenced Gravel in their willingness to challenge assumptions and oppose social convention and political authority. Around May 1951, Gravel saw that he was about to be drafted and instead enlisted in the U.S. Army for a three-year term so that he could get into the Counterintelligence Corps. After basic training and counterintelligence school at Fort Holabird in Maryland and in South Carolina, he went to Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia.",
"After basic training and counterintelligence school at Fort Holabird in Maryland and in South Carolina, he went to Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia. While he expected to be sent off to the Korean War when he graduated as a second lieutenant in early 1952, he was instead assigned to Stuttgart, West Germany, as a Special Adjutant in the Army's Communications Intelligence Service. In Germany, Gravel conducted surveillance operations on civilians and paid off spies.",
"In Germany, Gravel conducted surveillance operations on civilians and paid off spies. After about a year, he transferred to Orléans, France, where his French language abilities (if not his French-Canadian accent) allowed him to infiltrate French communist rallies. He worked as a Special Agent in the Counterintelligence Corps until 1954, eventually becoming a first lieutenant. Following his discharge, Gravel entered the Columbia University School of General Studies in New York City, where he studied economics and received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1956.",
"Following his discharge, Gravel entered the Columbia University School of General Studies in New York City, where he studied economics and received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1956. He moved to New York \"flat broke\" and supported himself by working as a bar boy in a hotel, driving a taxicab, and working in the investment bond department at Bankers Trust. During this time he left the Roman Catholic faith.",
"During this time he left the Roman Catholic faith. During this time he left the Roman Catholic faith. Move to Alaska Gravel \"decided to become a pioneer in a faraway place,\" and moved to pre-statehood Alaska in August 1956, without funds or a job, looking for a place where someone without social or political connections could be a viable candidate for public office.",
"Move to Alaska Gravel \"decided to become a pioneer in a faraway place,\" and moved to pre-statehood Alaska in August 1956, without funds or a job, looking for a place where someone without social or political connections could be a viable candidate for public office. Alaska's voting age of 19, less than most other states' 21, played a role in his decision, as did its newness and cooler climate. Broke when he arrived, he immediately found work in real estate sales until winter arrived.",
"Broke when he arrived, he immediately found work in real estate sales until winter arrived. Gravel then was employed as a brakeman for the Alaska Railroad, working the snow-clearing train on the Anchorage-to-Fairbanks run. Subsequently, he opened a small real estate brokerage in Anchorage (the Territory of Alaska not requiring a license) and saved enough so as not to have to work the railroad again. The firm was named the M. R. Gravel Real Estate Company.",
"The firm was named the M. R. Gravel Real Estate Company. Gravel joined the Anchorage Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, and continued a sporadic relationship with the movement throughout his life. Seeing Alaska as a wide-open place with no political establishment or entrenched interests, Gravel quickly became part of the civic scene there. By October 1957 he was a Division Chairman for Anchorage for the Democratic Central Committee in the territory, and by June 1958 he was president of the Alaska Young Democrats organization.",
"By October 1957 he was a Division Chairman for Anchorage for the Democratic Central Committee in the territory, and by June 1958 he was president of the Alaska Young Democrats organization. He also became active in the United States Junior Chamber (Jaycees), and by early 1958 his duties included handing out awards for farmer of the year. By early 1958, Gravel was running as Democratic Party primary candidate for a Third Division seat in House of Representative of the territorial legislature.",
"By early 1958, Gravel was running as Democratic Party primary candidate for a Third Division seat in House of Representative of the territorial legislature. (This was one of the four judicial divisions into which Alaska was sectioned at the time.) Using the slogan \"Gravel, the Roadbed to Prosperity\", he ran but lost. At the same time, he was also an advocate for Alaskan statehood.",
"At the same time, he was also an advocate for Alaskan statehood. Gravel went on a 44-state national speaking tour concerning tax reform in 1959, sponsored by the Jaycees, often dressing for events as Paul Revere. Gravel was selected from some two thousand applications for this position. The tour received a good amount of local newspaper coverage at its various stops, with Gravel's first name sometimes given as Mike and other times as Maurice.",
"The tour received a good amount of local newspaper coverage at its various stops, with Gravel's first name sometimes given as Mike and other times as Maurice. The tour's general message was an urging of \"lower taxes, more efficiency in government and a system of taxation moderate at all levels of income\". At several stops Gravel stated that the \"tide of socialism\" had to be stopped.",
"At several stops Gravel stated that the \"tide of socialism\" had to be stopped. He elaborated at another stop, \"It is part of our Jaycee creed that economic justice can best be won by free men through free enterprise. We really want to see that free enterprise become our inheritance.\"",
"We really want to see that free enterprise become our inheritance.\" The tour was scheduled to conclude in Washington D.C., on Tax Day, April 15, with petition signatures accumulated for reform to be presented to U.S. lawmakers: dressed as Revere, Gravel rode with the petition to the steps of the U.S. Capitol. The tour over, Gravel married Rita Jeannette Martin at the First Methodist Church of Anchorage on April 29, 1959.",
"The tour over, Gravel married Rita Jeannette Martin at the First Methodist Church of Anchorage on April 29, 1959. She was a native of Montana who had attended Billings Business College before moving to Alaska two years prior and becoming a secretary in the office of the Anchorage city manager. She had also been named Anchorage's \"Miss Fur Rendezvous\" of 1958. They had two children, Martin Anthony Gravel and Lynne Denise Gravel, born c. 1960 and 1962 respectively.",
"They had two children, Martin Anthony Gravel and Lynne Denise Gravel, born c. 1960 and 1962 respectively. Gravel ran without avail for the City Council in Anchorage in 1960. During this time, he had become a successful real estate agent; after the 1960 election, he became a property developer in a mobile home park on the outskirts of Anchorage. After a partner ran into financial difficulty, however, the project went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and Gravel was forced out in 1962.",
"After a partner ran into financial difficulty, however, the project went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and Gravel was forced out in 1962. State legislator With the support of Alaska wholesale grocer Barney Gottstein and supermarket builder Larry Carr, Gravel ran for the Alaska House of Representatives representing Anchorage in 1962, initially assigned the 10th and then 8th districts.",
"State legislator With the support of Alaska wholesale grocer Barney Gottstein and supermarket builder Larry Carr, Gravel ran for the Alaska House of Representatives representing Anchorage in 1962, initially assigned the 10th and then 8th districts. Alaska had very crowded primaries that year: Gravel was one of 33 Democrats, along with 21 Republicans, who were running for the chance to compete for the 14 House seats allocated to the 8th district.",
"Alaska had very crowded primaries that year: Gravel was one of 33 Democrats, along with 21 Republicans, who were running for the chance to compete for the 14 House seats allocated to the 8th district. Gravel made it through the primary, and in November eight Republicans and six Democrats were elected to the House from the district, with Gravel finishing eighth overall and third among with Democrats, with 8,174 votes. Gottstein became Gravel's main financial backer during most of his subsequent campaigns.",
"Gottstein became Gravel's main financial backer during most of his subsequent campaigns. Gravel served in the Alaska House of Representatives from January 28, 1963 to January 22, 1967, winning reelection in 1964. In his first term, he served as a minority member on two House committees: Commerce, and Labor and Management. He co-authored and sponsored the act that created the Alaska State Commission for Human Rights.",
"He co-authored and sponsored the act that created the Alaska State Commission for Human Rights. Gravel was the chief architect of the law that created a regional high school system for rural Alaska; this allowed Alaska Natives to attend schools near where they lived instead of having to go to schools run by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the lower 48 states. During the half-years that the legislature was not in session, Gravel resumed his real estate work.",
"During the half-years that the legislature was not in session, Gravel resumed his real estate work. With Gottstein and Carr's backing, he became quite successful as a property developer on the Kenai Peninsula. During 1965 and 1966, he served as the Speaker of the House, surprising observers by winning that post. Gravel convinced former Speaker Warren A. Taylor to not try for the position against him by promising Taylor chairmanship of the Rules Committee, then reneged on the promise.",
"Gravel convinced former Speaker Warren A. Taylor to not try for the position against him by promising Taylor chairmanship of the Rules Committee, then reneged on the promise. Gravel denied later press charges that he had promised but not delivered on other committee chairmanships. As Speaker he antagonized fellow lawmakers by imposing his will on the legislature's committees and feuded with Alaska State Senate president Robert J. McNealy.",
"As Speaker he antagonized fellow lawmakers by imposing his will on the legislature's committees and feuded with Alaska State Senate president Robert J. McNealy. Gravel did not run for reelection in 1966, instead choosing to run for Alaska's seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, losing the primary to four-term incumbent Democrat Ralph Rivers by 1,300 votes and splitting the Democratic Party in the process. Rivers lost the general election that year to Republican state Senator Howard Pollock. Following this defeat, Gravel returned to the real estate business in Anchorage.",
"Following this defeat, Gravel returned to the real estate business in Anchorage. U.S. Senator Election to Senate in 1968 In 1968, Gravel ran against 81-year-old incumbent Democratic United States Senator Ernest Gruening, a popular former governor of the Alaska Territory who was considered one of the fathers of Alaska's statehood, for his party's nomination to the U.S. Senate. Gravel's campaign was primarily based on his youth and telegenic appearance rather than issue differences. He hired Joseph Napolitan, the first self-described political consultant, in late 1966.",
"He hired Joseph Napolitan, the first self-described political consultant, in late 1966. They spent over a year and a half planning a short, nine-day primary election campaign that featured the slogans \"Alaska first\" and \"Let's do something about the state we're in\", the distribution of a collection of essays titled Jobs and More Jobs, and the creation of a half-hour, well-produced, glamorized biographical film of Gravel, Man for Alaska.",
"They spent over a year and a half planning a short, nine-day primary election campaign that featured the slogans \"Alaska first\" and \"Let's do something about the state we're in\", the distribution of a collection of essays titled Jobs and More Jobs, and the creation of a half-hour, well-produced, glamorized biographical film of Gravel, Man for Alaska. The film was shown twice a day on every television station in Alaska, and carried by plane and shown on home projectors in hundreds of Alaska Native villages.",
"The film was shown twice a day on every television station in Alaska, and carried by plane and shown on home projectors in hundreds of Alaska Native villages. The heavy showings quickly reversed a 2–to–1 Gruening lead in polls into a Gravel lead. Gravel visited many remote villages by seaplane and showed a thorough understanding of the needs of the bush country and the fishing and oil industries. Gravel also benefited from maintaining a deliberately ambiguous posture about Vietnam policy.",
"Gravel also benefited from maintaining a deliberately ambiguous posture about Vietnam policy. Gruening had been one of only two Senators to vote against the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and his opposition to President Lyndon B. Johnson's war policies was harming him among the Democratic electorate; according to Gravel, \"all I had to do was stand up and not deal with the subject, and people would assume that I was to the right of Ernest Gruening, when in point of fact I was to the left of him\".",
"Gruening had been one of only two Senators to vote against the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and his opposition to President Lyndon B. Johnson's war policies was harming him among the Democratic electorate; according to Gravel, \"all I had to do was stand up and not deal with the subject, and people would assume that I was to the right of Ernest Gruening, when in point of fact I was to the left of him\". In Man for Alaska, Gravel argued that \"the liberals\" would come to West Germany's defense if it was attacked, and that the same standard should apply to the United States' allies in Asia.",
"In Man for Alaska, Gravel argued that \"the liberals\" would come to West Germany's defense if it was attacked, and that the same standard should apply to the United States' allies in Asia. During the campaign he also claimed that he was \"more in the mainstream of American thought on Vietnam\" than Gruening, despite the fact that he had written to Gruening to praise his antiwar stance four years earlier.",
"During the campaign he also claimed that he was \"more in the mainstream of American thought on Vietnam\" than Gruening, despite the fact that he had written to Gruening to praise his antiwar stance four years earlier. Decades later, Gravel conceded that \"I said what I said [about Vietnam] to advance my career.\" Gravel beat Gruening in the primary by about 2,000 votes. Gruening found \"the unexpected defeat hard to take\" and thought that some aspects of his opponent's biographical film had misled viewers.",
"Gruening found \"the unexpected defeat hard to take\" and thought that some aspects of his opponent's biographical film had misled viewers. In the general election, Gravel faced Republican Elmer E. Rasmuson, a banker and former mayor of Anchorage. College students in the state implored Gruening to run a write-in campaign as an Independent, but legal battles prevented him from getting approval for it until only two weeks were left.",
"College students in the state implored Gruening to run a write-in campaign as an Independent, but legal battles prevented him from getting approval for it until only two weeks were left. A late appearance by anti-war presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy did not offset Gruening's lack of funds and endorsements; meanwhile, Gravel and Rasmuson both saturated local media with their filmed biographies. On November 5, 1968, Gravel won the general election with 45 percent of the vote to Rasmuson's 37 percent and Gruening's 18 percent.",
"On November 5, 1968, Gravel won the general election with 45 percent of the vote to Rasmuson's 37 percent and Gruening's 18 percent. Senate assignments and style When Gravel joined the U.S.Senate in January 1969, he requested and received a seat on the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee, which had direct relevance to Alaskan issues. He also got a spot on the Public Works Committee, which he held throughout his time in the Senate. Finally, he was a member of the Select Committee on Small Business.",
"Finally, he was a member of the Select Committee on Small Business. In 1971 he became chair of the Public Works Committee's Subcommittee on Public Buildings and Grounds, and by 1973 he was chair of its Subcommittee on Water Resources, then later its Subcommittee on Environmental Pollution. Gravel was also initially named to the Joint Committee on Congressional Operations.",
"Gravel was also initially named to the Joint Committee on Congressional Operations. By 1973 Gravel was off the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee and the Select Small Business Committee and instead a member of the Finance Committee, and by 1977 was chair of that body's Subcommittee on Energy and Foundations. By 1973 he had also been on the ad hoc Special Committee to Study Secret and Confidential Government Documents.",
"By 1973 he had also been on the ad hoc Special Committee to Study Secret and Confidential Government Documents. By his own admission, Gravel was too new and \"too abrasive\" to be effective in the Senate by the usual means of seniority-based committee assignments or negotiating deals with other senators, and was sometimes seen as arrogant or a nuisance by the more senior and tradition-oriented members. Gravel relied on attention-getting gestures to achieve what he wanted, hoping national exposure would force other senators to listen to him.",
"Gravel relied on attention-getting gestures to achieve what he wanted, hoping national exposure would force other senators to listen to him. But even senators who agreed with him on issues considered his methods to be showboating. As part of this approach, Gravel voted with Southern Democrats to keep the Senate filibuster rule in place, and accordingly supported Russell Long and Robert Byrd but opposed Ted Kennedy in Senate leadership battles.",
"As part of this approach, Gravel voted with Southern Democrats to keep the Senate filibuster rule in place, and accordingly supported Russell Long and Robert Byrd but opposed Ted Kennedy in Senate leadership battles. In retrospective assessment, University of Alaska Anchorage history professor Stephen Haycox said, \"Loose cannon is a good description of Gravel's Senate career. He was an off-the-wall guy, and you weren't really ever sure what he would do.\"",
"He was an off-the-wall guy, and you weren't really ever sure what he would do.\" Nuclear issues and the Cold War In the late 1960s and early 1970s the U.S. Department of Defense was in the process of performing tests for the nuclear warhead for the Spartan anti-ballistic missile. Two tests, the \"Milrow\" and \"Cannikin\" tests, were planned, involving the detonation of nuclear bombs under Amchitka Island in Alaska.",
"Two tests, the \"Milrow\" and \"Cannikin\" tests, were planned, involving the detonation of nuclear bombs under Amchitka Island in Alaska. The Milrow test would be a one-megaton calibration exercise for the second and larger five-megaton Cannikin test, which would measure the effectiveness of the warhead. Gravel opposed the tests.",
"Gravel opposed the tests. Gravel opposed the tests. Before the Milrow test took place in October 1969, he wrote that there were significant risks of earthquakes and other adverse consequences and called for an independent national commission on nuclear and seismic safety; he then made a personal appeal to President Richard Nixon to stop the test. After Milrow was conducted, there was continued pressure on the part of environmental groups against going forward with the Cannikin test, while the Federation of American Scientists claimed that the warhead being tested was already obsolete.",
"After Milrow was conducted, there was continued pressure on the part of environmental groups against going forward with the Cannikin test, while the Federation of American Scientists claimed that the warhead being tested was already obsolete. In May 1971 Gravel sent a letter to U.S. Atomic Energy Commission hearings held in Anchorage in which he said the risk of the test was not worth taking.",
"In May 1971 Gravel sent a letter to U.S. Atomic Energy Commission hearings held in Anchorage in which he said the risk of the test was not worth taking. Eventually a group not involving Gravel took the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to issue an injunction against it, and the Cannikin test took place as scheduled in November 1971. Gravel had failed to stop the tests (notwithstanding his later claims during his 2008 presidential campaign).",
"Gravel had failed to stop the tests (notwithstanding his later claims during his 2008 presidential campaign). In 1971 Gravel voted against the Nixon administration's proposed anti-ballistic missile system, the Safeguard Program, having previously vacillated over the issue, suggesting that he might be willing to support it in exchange for federal lands in Alaska being opened up for private oil drilling. His vote alienated Senator Henry \"Scoop\" Jackson, who had raised funds for Gravel's primary campaign.",
"His vote alienated Senator Henry \"Scoop\" Jackson, who had raised funds for Gravel's primary campaign. Nuclear power was considered an environmentally clean alternative for commercial generation of electricity and was part of a popular national policy for the peaceful use of atomic energy in the 1950s and 1960s.",
"Nuclear power was considered an environmentally clean alternative for commercial generation of electricity and was part of a popular national policy for the peaceful use of atomic energy in the 1950s and 1960s. Gravel publicly opposed this policy; besides the dangers of nuclear testing, he was a vocal critic of the Atomic Energy Commission, which oversaw American nuclear efforts, and of the powerful United States Congress Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, which had a stranglehold on nuclear policy and which Gravel tried to circumvent.",
"Gravel publicly opposed this policy; besides the dangers of nuclear testing, he was a vocal critic of the Atomic Energy Commission, which oversaw American nuclear efforts, and of the powerful United States Congress Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, which had a stranglehold on nuclear policy and which Gravel tried to circumvent. In 1971 Gravel sponsored a bill to impose a moratorium on nuclear power plant construction and to make power utilities liable for any nuclear accidents; in 1975 he was still proposing similar moratoriums.",
"In 1971 Gravel sponsored a bill to impose a moratorium on nuclear power plant construction and to make power utilities liable for any nuclear accidents; in 1975 he was still proposing similar moratoriums. By 1974 Gravel was allied with Ralph Nader's organization in opposing nuclear power. Six months before U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's July 1971 secret mission to the People's Republic of China (P.R.C. ), Gravel introduced legislation to recognize and normalize relations with the P.R.C., including a proposal for unity talks between the P.R.C.",
"), Gravel introduced legislation to recognize and normalize relations with the P.R.C., including a proposal for unity talks between the P.R.C. and the Republic of China (Taiwan) regarding the Chinese seat on the U.N. Security Council. He reiterated his position in favor of recognition, with four other senators in agreement, during Senate hearings in June 1971.",
"He reiterated his position in favor of recognition, with four other senators in agreement, during Senate hearings in June 1971. Vietnam War, the draft, and the Pentagon Papers Although he did not campaign against the Vietnam War during his first Senate campaign, by the end of 1970 Gravel was speaking out against United States policy in southeast Asia: in December of that year he persuaded William Fulbright to join him in a spontaneous two-day filibuster against a $155 million military aid package to Cambodia's Khmer Republic government in the Cambodian Civil War.",
"Vietnam War, the draft, and the Pentagon Papers Although he did not campaign against the Vietnam War during his first Senate campaign, by the end of 1970 Gravel was speaking out against United States policy in southeast Asia: in December of that year he persuaded William Fulbright to join him in a spontaneous two-day filibuster against a $155 million military aid package to Cambodia's Khmer Republic government in the Cambodian Civil War. President Richard Nixon had campaigned in 1968 on a promise to end the U.S. military draft, a decision endorsed by the February 1970 report of the Gates Commission.",
"President Richard Nixon had campaigned in 1968 on a promise to end the U.S. military draft, a decision endorsed by the February 1970 report of the Gates Commission. The existing draft law was scheduled to conclude at the end of June 1971, and the Senate faced a contentious debate about whether to extend it as the Vietnam War continued.",
"The existing draft law was scheduled to conclude at the end of June 1971, and the Senate faced a contentious debate about whether to extend it as the Vietnam War continued. The Nixon administration announced in February 1971 that it wanted a two-year extension to June 1973, after which the draft would end; Army planners had already been operating under the assumption of a two-year extension, after which an all-volunteer force would be in place.",
"The Nixon administration announced in February 1971 that it wanted a two-year extension to June 1973, after which the draft would end; Army planners had already been operating under the assumption of a two-year extension, after which an all-volunteer force would be in place. Skeptics such as Senate Armed Services Committee chairman John Stennis thought this unrealistic and wanted a four-year extension, but the two-year proposal is what went forward in Congress.",
"Skeptics such as Senate Armed Services Committee chairman John Stennis thought this unrealistic and wanted a four-year extension, but the two-year proposal is what went forward in Congress. By early May 1971, Gravel had indicated his intention to filibuster the draft renewal legislation, halting conscription and thereby bringing U.S. involvement in the war to a rapid end.",
"By early May 1971, Gravel had indicated his intention to filibuster the draft renewal legislation, halting conscription and thereby bringing U.S. involvement in the war to a rapid end. During this period he also supported efforts to mobilize and influence public opinion against the war, endorsing the \"Vietnam War Out Now\" rallies in Washington D.C. and San Francisco on April 24, 1971, and financing a broadcast campaign by the antiwar group War No More with a personal loan.",
"During this period he also supported efforts to mobilize and influence public opinion against the war, endorsing the \"Vietnam War Out Now\" rallies in Washington D.C. and San Francisco on April 24, 1971, and financing a broadcast campaign by the antiwar group War No More with a personal loan. In June 1972 he escorted a group of over 100 antiwar protesters, including psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton, actress Candice Bergen, theater producer and director Joseph Papp, and peditrician Dr. Benjamin Spock, into the United States Capitol Building; the group was arrested after blocking a hallway outside the Senate chamber.",
"In June 1972 he escorted a group of over 100 antiwar protesters, including psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton, actress Candice Bergen, theater producer and director Joseph Papp, and peditrician Dr. Benjamin Spock, into the United States Capitol Building; the group was arrested after blocking a hallway outside the Senate chamber. By June 1971, some Democratic senators opposed to the war wanted to limit the renewal to a one-year extension, while others wanted to end it immediately; Gravel reiterated that he was one of the latter, saying, \"It's a senseless war, and one way to do away with it is to do away with the draft.\"",
"By June 1971, some Democratic senators opposed to the war wanted to limit the renewal to a one-year extension, while others wanted to end it immediately; Gravel reiterated that he was one of the latter, saying, \"It's a senseless war, and one way to do away with it is to do away with the draft.\" A Senate vote on June 4 indicated majority support for the two-year extension.",
"A Senate vote on June 4 indicated majority support for the two-year extension. On June 18 Gravel announced again his intention to counteract that by filibustering the renewal legislation, defending the practice against those who associated it only with blocking civil rights legislation. The first filibuster attempt failed on June 23 when, by three votes, the Senate voted cloture for only the fifth time since 1927.",
"The first filibuster attempt failed on June 23 when, by three votes, the Senate voted cloture for only the fifth time since 1927. Protracted negotiations took place over House conference negotiations on the bill, revolving in large part around Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield's eventually unsuccessful amendment to tie renewal to a troop withdrawal timetable from Vietnam; during this time the draft law expired and no more were conscripted.",
"Protracted negotiations took place over House conference negotiations on the bill, revolving in large part around Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield's eventually unsuccessful amendment to tie renewal to a troop withdrawal timetable from Vietnam; during this time the draft law expired and no more were conscripted. On August 5, the Nixon administration pleaded for a renewal before the Senate went on recess, but Gravel blocked Stennis's attempt to limit debate, and no vote was held.",
"On August 5, the Nixon administration pleaded for a renewal before the Senate went on recess, but Gravel blocked Stennis's attempt to limit debate, and no vote was held. Finally on September 21, 1971, the Senate invoked cloture over Gravel's second filibuster attempt by one vote, and then passed the two-year draft extension.",
"Finally on September 21, 1971, the Senate invoked cloture over Gravel's second filibuster attempt by one vote, and then passed the two-year draft extension. Gravel's attempts to stop the draft had failed (notwithstanding Gravel's later claims that he had stopped or shortened the draft, taken at face value in some media reports, during his 2008 presidential campaign). Meanwhile, on June 13, 1971, The New York Times began printing large portions of the Pentagon Papers.",
"Meanwhile, on June 13, 1971, The New York Times began printing large portions of the Pentagon Papers. The papers were a large collection of secret government documents and studies pertaining to the Vietnam War, of which former Defense Department analyst Daniel Ellsberg had made unauthorized copies and was determined to make public.",
"The papers were a large collection of secret government documents and studies pertaining to the Vietnam War, of which former Defense Department analyst Daniel Ellsberg had made unauthorized copies and was determined to make public. Ellsberg had for a year and a half approached members of Congress – such as William Fulbright, George McGovern, Charles Mathias, and Pete McCloskey – about publishing the documents, on the grounds that the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution would give congressional members immunity from prosecution, but all had refused.",
"Ellsberg had for a year and a half approached members of Congress – such as William Fulbright, George McGovern, Charles Mathias, and Pete McCloskey – about publishing the documents, on the grounds that the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution would give congressional members immunity from prosecution, but all had refused. Instead, Ellsberg gave the documents to the Times. The U.S. Justice Department immediately tried to halt publication, on the grounds that the information revealed within the papers harmed the national interest.",
"The U.S. Justice Department immediately tried to halt publication, on the grounds that the information revealed within the papers harmed the national interest. Within the next two weeks, a federal court injunction halted publication in the Times; The Washington Post and several other newspapers began publishing parts of the documents, with some of them also being halted by injunctions; and the whole matter went to the U.S. Supreme Court for arguments.",
"Within the next two weeks, a federal court injunction halted publication in the Times; The Washington Post and several other newspapers began publishing parts of the documents, with some of them also being halted by injunctions; and the whole matter went to the U.S. Supreme Court for arguments. Looking for an alternate publication mechanism, Ellsberg returned to his idea of having a member of Congress read them, and chose Gravel based on the latter's efforts against the draft; Gravel agreed where previously others had not.",
"Looking for an alternate publication mechanism, Ellsberg returned to his idea of having a member of Congress read them, and chose Gravel based on the latter's efforts against the draft; Gravel agreed where previously others had not. Ellsberg arranged for the papers to be given to Gravel on June 26 via an intermediary, Post editor Ben Bagdikian.",
"Ellsberg arranged for the papers to be given to Gravel on June 26 via an intermediary, Post editor Ben Bagdikian. Gravel used his counter-intelligence experience to choose a midnight transfer in front of the Mayflower Hotel in the center of Washington, D.C. On the night of June 29, 1971, Gravel attempted to read the papers on the floor of the Senate as part of his filibuster against the draft, but was thwarted when no quorum could be formed. Gravel instead convened a session of the Buildings and Grounds subcommittee that he chaired.",
"Gravel instead convened a session of the Buildings and Grounds subcommittee that he chaired. He got New York Congressman John G. Dow to testify that the war had soaked up funding for public buildings, thus making discussion of the war relevant to the committee.",
"He got New York Congressman John G. Dow to testify that the war had soaked up funding for public buildings, thus making discussion of the war relevant to the committee. He began reading from the papers with the press in attendance, omitting supporting documents that he felt might compromise national security, and declaring, \"It is my constitutional obligation to protect the security of the people by fostering the free flow of information absolutely essential to their democratic decision-making.\"",
"He began reading from the papers with the press in attendance, omitting supporting documents that he felt might compromise national security, and declaring, \"It is my constitutional obligation to protect the security of the people by fostering the free flow of information absolutely essential to their democratic decision-making.\" He read until 1 a.m., culminating by saying \"Arms are being severed. Metal is clashing through human bodies because of the public policy this government and all its branches continue to support.\"",
"Metal is clashing through human bodies because of the public policy this government and all its branches continue to support.\" Then with tears and sobs he said that he could no longer physically continue, the previous three nights of sleeplessness and fear about the future having taken their toll. Gravel ended the session by, with no other senators present, establishing unanimous consent to insert 4,100 pages of the Papers into the Congressional Record of his subcommittee.",
"Gravel ended the session by, with no other senators present, establishing unanimous consent to insert 4,100 pages of the Papers into the Congressional Record of his subcommittee. The following day, the Supreme Court's New York Times Co. v. United States decision ruled in favor of the newspapers and publication in the Times and others resumed. In July 1971 Bantam Books published an inexpensive paperback edition of the papers containing the material the Times had published.",
"In July 1971 Bantam Books published an inexpensive paperback edition of the papers containing the material the Times had published. Gravel, too, wanted to privately publish the portion of the papers he had read into the record, believing that \"immediate disclosure of the contents of these papers will change the policy that supports the war\". After being turned down by many commercial publishers, on August 4 he reached agreement with Beacon Press, the publishing arm of the Unitarian Universalist Association, of which Gravel was a member.",
"After being turned down by many commercial publishers, on August 4 he reached agreement with Beacon Press, the publishing arm of the Unitarian Universalist Association, of which Gravel was a member. Announced on August 17 and published on October 22, 1971, this four-volume, relatively expensive set became the \"Senator Gravel Edition\", which studies from Cornell University and the Annenberg Center for Communication have labeled as the most complete edition of the Pentagon Papers to be published.",
"Announced on August 17 and published on October 22, 1971, this four-volume, relatively expensive set became the \"Senator Gravel Edition\", which studies from Cornell University and the Annenberg Center for Communication have labeled as the most complete edition of the Pentagon Papers to be published. The \"Gravel Edition\" was edited and annotated by Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn, and included an additional volume of analytical articles on the origins and progress of the war, also edited by Chomsky and Zinn.",
"The \"Gravel Edition\" was edited and annotated by Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn, and included an additional volume of analytical articles on the origins and progress of the war, also edited by Chomsky and Zinn. Beacon Press then was subjected to a FBI investigation; an outgrowth of this was the Gravel v. United States court case, which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled upon in June 1972; it held that the Speech or Debate Clause did grant immunity to Gravel for his reading the papers in his subcommittee, did grant some immunity to Gravel's congressional aide, but granted no immunity to Beacon Press in relation to their publishing the same papers.",
"Beacon Press then was subjected to a FBI investigation; an outgrowth of this was the Gravel v. United States court case, which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled upon in June 1972; it held that the Speech or Debate Clause did grant immunity to Gravel for his reading the papers in his subcommittee, did grant some immunity to Gravel's congressional aide, but granted no immunity to Beacon Press in relation to their publishing the same papers. The U.S. Senate Democratic Caucus backed Gravel in the case, but due to Republican opposition it did not pay Gravel's legal fees, leaving him owing $25,000 (the equivalent of $150,000 in 2019, adjusted for inflation).",
"The U.S. Senate Democratic Caucus backed Gravel in the case, but due to Republican opposition it did not pay Gravel's legal fees, leaving him owing $25,000 (the equivalent of $150,000 in 2019, adjusted for inflation). The events of 1971 changed Gravel in the following months from an obscure freshman senator to a nationally visible political figure.",
"The events of 1971 changed Gravel in the following months from an obscure freshman senator to a nationally visible political figure. He became a sought-after speaker on the college circuit as well as at political fundraisers, opportunities he welcomed as lectures were \"the one honest way a Senator has to supplement his income\". But his speaking tours caused him to accrue one of the worst absentee records in the Senate. The Democratic candidates for the 1972 presidential election sought his endorsement.",
"The Democratic candidates for the 1972 presidential election sought his endorsement. In January 1972 Gravel endorsed Maine Senator Ed Muskie, hoping that his support would help Muskie with the party's left wing and in ethnic French-Canadian areas during the first primary contest in New Hampshire (Muskie won, but not overwhelmingly, and his campaign faltered soon after).",
"In January 1972 Gravel endorsed Maine Senator Ed Muskie, hoping that his support would help Muskie with the party's left wing and in ethnic French-Canadian areas during the first primary contest in New Hampshire (Muskie won, but not overwhelmingly, and his campaign faltered soon after). In April 1972 Gravel appeared on all three networks' nightly newscasts to decry the Nixon administration's reliance on Vietnamization by making reference to the secret National Security Study Memorandum 1 document, which stated it would take 8–13 years for the Army of the Republic of Vietnam to defend South Vietnam.",
"In April 1972 Gravel appeared on all three networks' nightly newscasts to decry the Nixon administration's reliance on Vietnamization by making reference to the secret National Security Study Memorandum 1 document, which stated it would take 8–13 years for the Army of the Republic of Vietnam to defend South Vietnam. Gravel made excerpts from the study public, but senators Robert P. Griffin and William B. Saxbe blocked his attempt to read NSSM 1 into the Congressional Record.",
"Gravel made excerpts from the study public, but senators Robert P. Griffin and William B. Saxbe blocked his attempt to read NSSM 1 into the Congressional Record. Domestic policy In 1970 Gravel co-sponsored legislation to establish a guaranteed minimum income, entitling poor families to up to $6,300 a year (the equivalent of $42,000 in 2019 after adjustment for inflation).",
"Domestic policy In 1970 Gravel co-sponsored legislation to establish a guaranteed minimum income, entitling poor families to up to $6,300 a year (the equivalent of $42,000 in 2019 after adjustment for inflation). He subsequently voted for a \"work bonus\" program, which would have entitled low-income working families with dependent children if they were paying Social Security or Railroad Retirement taxes to a non-taxable bonus of up to 10 percent of their wages.",
"He subsequently voted for a \"work bonus\" program, which would have entitled low-income working families with dependent children if they were paying Social Security or Railroad Retirement taxes to a non-taxable bonus of up to 10 percent of their wages. Gravel also supported extending Social Security to all federal employees and introduced a campaign finance reform bill in 1971 that would have enacted full disclosure of campaign financing, placed limits on large donations, media spending and individual candidate spending.",
"Gravel also supported extending Social Security to all federal employees and introduced a campaign finance reform bill in 1971 that would have enacted full disclosure of campaign financing, placed limits on large donations, media spending and individual candidate spending. In 1969, Gravel was the only Democratic Senator outside of the South to vote for Nixon's Supreme Court nominee Clement Haynsworth. The following year Gravel opposed Nixon's next pick, G. Harrold Carswell.",
"The following year Gravel opposed Nixon's next pick, G. Harrold Carswell. Run for vice president in 1972 Gravel actively campaigned for the office of Vice President of the United States during the 1972 presidential election, announcing on June 2, 1972, over a month before the 1972 Democratic National Convention began, that he was interested in the nomination should the choice be opened up to convention delegates. Toward this end he began soliciting delegates for their support.",
"Toward this end he began soliciting delegates for their support. He was not alone in this effort, as former Governor of Massachusetts Endicott Peabody had been running a quixotic campaign for the same post since the prior year. Likely presidential nominee George McGovern was in fact considering the unusual move of naming three or four acceptable vice-presidential candidates and letting the delegates choose. On the convention's final day, July 14, 1972, McGovern selected and announced Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri as his vice-presidential choice.",
"On the convention's final day, July 14, 1972, McGovern selected and announced Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri as his vice-presidential choice. Eagleton was unknown to many delegates and the choice seemed to smack of traditional ticket balancing considerations. Thus there were delegates willing to look elsewhere. Gravel was nominated by Bettye Fahrenkamp, the Democratic National Committeewoman from Alaska. He then seconded his own nomination, breaking down in tears at his own words and maybe trying to withdraw his nomination.",
"He then seconded his own nomination, breaking down in tears at his own words and maybe trying to withdraw his nomination. In any case he won 226 delegate votes, coming in third behind Eagleton and Frances \"Sissy\" Farenthold of Texas, in chaotic balloting that included several other candidates.",
"In any case he won 226 delegate votes, coming in third behind Eagleton and Frances \"Sissy\" Farenthold of Texas, in chaotic balloting that included several other candidates. Gravel attracted some attention for his efforts: writer Norman Mailer said he \"provided considerable excitement\" and was \"good-looking enough to have played leads in B-films\", while Rolling Stone correspondent Hunter S. Thompson said Gravel \"probably said a few things that might have been worth hearing, under different circumstances\". Yet the process was doubly disastrous for the Democrats.",
"Yet the process was doubly disastrous for the Democrats. Yet the process was doubly disastrous for the Democrats. In the time consumed by nominating and seconding and all the vice-presidential candidates' speeches, the attention of the delegates on the floor was lost and McGovern's speech was pushed to 3:30 a.m. The haste with which Eagleton was selected led to surprise when his past mental health treatments were revealed; he withdrew from the ticket soon after the convention, to be replaced by Sargent Shriver.",
"The haste with which Eagleton was selected led to surprise when his past mental health treatments were revealed; he withdrew from the ticket soon after the convention, to be replaced by Sargent Shriver. Reelection to Senate in 1974 Several years earlier, Alaska politicians had speculated that Gravel would have a hard time getting both renominated and elected when his first term expired, given that he was originally elected without a base party organization and tended to focus on national rather than local issues.",
"Reelection to Senate in 1974 Several years earlier, Alaska politicians had speculated that Gravel would have a hard time getting both renominated and elected when his first term expired, given that he was originally elected without a base party organization and tended to focus on national rather than local issues. Nonetheless, after receiving support from national and local labor leaders, securing key earmarks, and producing another half-hour TV advertorial, in 1974 Gravel was reelected to the Senate, with 58 percent of the vote to 42 percent for Republican State Senator C. R. Lewis, who was a national officer of the John Birch Society.",
"Nonetheless, after receiving support from national and local labor leaders, securing key earmarks, and producing another half-hour TV advertorial, in 1974 Gravel was reelected to the Senate, with 58 percent of the vote to 42 percent for Republican State Senator C. R. Lewis, who was a national officer of the John Birch Society. Second term Gravel's reelection campaign left him $65,000–$75,000 in debt.",
"Second term Gravel's reelection campaign left him $65,000–$75,000 in debt. In 1975 The Washington Post reported on a memo by his executive assistant laying out a fundraising strategy to tackle this, including raising funds from oil companies, meeting with previous donors and \"inquir[ing] into the governmental priorities of these people and their groups in the coming session\", as well as obtaining further speaking fees to reduce his personal debt.",
"In 1975 The Washington Post reported on a memo by his executive assistant laying out a fundraising strategy to tackle this, including raising funds from oil companies, meeting with previous donors and \"inquir[ing] into the governmental priorities of these people and their groups in the coming session\", as well as obtaining further speaking fees to reduce his personal debt. This was followed by a number of stories about links between Gravel, lobbyists and fundraisers, including one that was widely publicized in Alaska about his holding a share in a Colorado resort with two Washington lobbyists he was working with on land and energy legislation.",
"This was followed by a number of stories about links between Gravel, lobbyists and fundraisers, including one that was widely publicized in Alaska about his holding a share in a Colorado resort with two Washington lobbyists he was working with on land and energy legislation. Gravel had been open about the investment and had opposing views to one of the lobbyists on nuclear power.",
"Gravel had been open about the investment and had opposing views to one of the lobbyists on nuclear power. In 1980 the Wall Street Journal published details about his fundraising activities, including writing to individuals and PACs in the oil industry, pledging to kill off proposals for a windfall profits tax on the sector, and traveling in the Middle East with the business partner of one of his donors to sell Alaskan land to businessmen. Gravel suggested that critics of his fundraising were \"naive\".",
"Gravel suggested that critics of his fundraising were \"naive\". In 1975 Gravel introduced an amendment to cut the number of troops overseas by 200,000, but it was defeated on a voice vote. In September 1975 Gravel was named as one of several Congressional Advisers to the Seventh Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly, which met to discuss problems related to economic development and international economic cooperation. In June 1976 Gravel was the focus of a federal investigation into allegations that he was involved in a sex-for-vote arrangement.",
"In June 1976 Gravel was the focus of a federal investigation into allegations that he was involved in a sex-for-vote arrangement. Congressional staff clerk Elizabeth Ray (who had already been involved in a sex scandal that led to the downfall of Representative Wayne Hays) said that in August 1972 she had sex with Gravel aboard a houseboat on the Potomac River, under the instruction of Representative Kenneth J. Gray, her boss at the time.",
"Gray, her boss at the time. Gray, her boss at the time. Gray allegedly wanted to secure Gravel's support for further funding for construction of the National Visitor Center in Washington, a troubled project that was under the jurisdiction of subcommittees that both members chaired. Another Congressional staffer said she witnessed the boat encounter, but Gravel said at the time that he had never met either of the women.",
"Another Congressional staffer said she witnessed the boat encounter, but Gravel said at the time that he had never met either of the women. Gravel and Gray strongly denied that they had made any arrangement regarding legislation, and neither was ever charged with any wrongdoing. Decades later Gravel wrote that he had indeed had sex with Ray, but had not changed any votes because of it.",
"Decades later Gravel wrote that he had indeed had sex with Ray, but had not changed any votes because of it. Gravel and his main financial backer, Gottstein, had a falling out in 1978, during the Congressional debate over whether to allow a controversial sale of U.S. F-15 fighter aircraft to Saudi Arabia. An ardent backer of Israel, Gottstein opposed the sale and asked Gravel to vote against it. But Gravel not only voted for it but made an emotional speech attacking the anti-sale campaign.",
"But Gravel not only voted for it but made an emotional speech attacking the anti-sale campaign. Gravel wrote in 2008 that it was the only time Gottstein had ever asked him for a favor, and the rupture resulted in their never speaking to each other again. Alaskan issues By 1971 Gravel was urging construction of the much-argued Trans-Alaska pipeline, addressing environmental concerns by saying that the pipeline's builders and operators should have \"total and absolute\" responsibility for any consequent environmental damage.",
"Alaskan issues By 1971 Gravel was urging construction of the much-argued Trans-Alaska pipeline, addressing environmental concerns by saying that the pipeline's builders and operators should have \"total and absolute\" responsibility for any consequent environmental damage. Two years later the debate over the pipeline came to a crux, with The New York Times describing it as \"environmentalists [in] a holy war with the major oil companies\".",
"Two years later the debate over the pipeline came to a crux, with The New York Times describing it as \"environmentalists [in] a holy war with the major oil companies\". In February 1973 the U.S. Court of Appeals blocked the issuance of permits for construction; Gravel and fellow Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens reacted by urging Congress to pass legislation overturning the court's decision.",
"In February 1973 the U.S. Court of Appeals blocked the issuance of permits for construction; Gravel and fellow Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens reacted by urging Congress to pass legislation overturning the court's decision. Environmentalists opposed to the pipeline, such as the Environmental Defense Fund and the Sierra Club then sought to use the recently passed National Environmental Policy Act to their advantage; Gravel designed an amendment to the pipeline bill that would immunize the pipeline from any further court challenges under that law, and thus speed its construction.",
"Environmentalists opposed to the pipeline, such as the Environmental Defense Fund and the Sierra Club then sought to use the recently passed National Environmental Policy Act to their advantage; Gravel designed an amendment to the pipeline bill that would immunize the pipeline from any further court challenges under that law, and thus speed its construction. Passage of the amendment became the key battle regarding the pipeline.",
"Passage of the amendment became the key battle regarding the pipeline. On July 17, 1973, in a dramatic roll-call vote, the Gravel amendment was approved as a 49–49 tie was broken in favor by Vice President Spiro Agnew. The actual bill enabling the pipeline then passed easily; Gravel had triumphed in what became perhaps his most lasting accomplishment as a senator. In opposition to the Alaskan fishing industry, Gravel advocated American participation in the formation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.",
"In opposition to the Alaskan fishing industry, Gravel advocated American participation in the formation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. For two years he opposed legislation that established a Exclusive Economic Zone for marine resources. He was one of only 19 senators to vote against Senate approval for the expanded zone in 1976, saying it would undermine the U.S. position in Law of the Sea negotiations and that nations arbitrarily extending their fishing rights limits would \"produce anarchy of the seas\".",
"He was one of only 19 senators to vote against Senate approval for the expanded zone in 1976, saying it would undermine the U.S. position in Law of the Sea negotiations and that nations arbitrarily extending their fishing rights limits would \"produce anarchy of the seas\". The legislation was passed, and the United States has signed but never ratified the Law of the Sea treaty. Gravel accumulated a complicated record on Indian affairs during his time in the Senate.",
"Gravel accumulated a complicated record on Indian affairs during his time in the Senate. During his first year in the Senate Gravel urged abolition of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, criticizing the agency for the pace of development of schools in Alaska, its paternalistic attitudes and the culturally inappropriate nature of its education, and advocating greater shared decision-making between the federal government and native communities in Alaska.",
"During his first year in the Senate Gravel urged abolition of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, criticizing the agency for the pace of development of schools in Alaska, its paternalistic attitudes and the culturally inappropriate nature of its education, and advocating greater shared decision-making between the federal government and native communities in Alaska. Later, his views changed; in the early 1970s Gravel supported a demonstration project that established links between Alaskan villages and the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, for medical diagnostic communications.",
"Later, his views changed; in the early 1970s Gravel supported a demonstration project that established links between Alaskan villages and the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, for medical diagnostic communications. In 1971, he fended off accusations from Alaskan natives that he was not spending enough time working on their land claims. Gravel helped secure a private grant to facilitate the first Inuit Circumpolar Conference in 1977, attended by Inuit representatives from Alaska, Canada, and Greenland. These conferences now also include representatives from Russia.",
"These conferences now also include representatives from Russia. These conferences now also include representatives from Russia. In 1977, Gravel helped lead an effort to have the U.S. Interior Department rename Mount McKinley to Denali; this eventually led to Denali National Park being so named. Subsequently, Gravel proposed a never-built \"Denali City\" development above the Tokositna River near the mountain, to consist of a giant Teflon dome enclosing hotels, golf courses, condominiums, and commercial buildings.",
"Subsequently, Gravel proposed a never-built \"Denali City\" development above the Tokositna River near the mountain, to consist of a giant Teflon dome enclosing hotels, golf courses, condominiums, and commercial buildings. A related idea of his to build a high-speed rail line to Denali also failed to gain traction. A key, emotional issue in the state at the time was \"locking up Alaska\", making reference to allocation of its vast, mostly uninhabited land.",
"A key, emotional issue in the state at the time was \"locking up Alaska\", making reference to allocation of its vast, mostly uninhabited land. President Jimmy Carter desired to put large portions of this land under federal protection against development, a move that some Alaskans vociferously opposed. In 1978 Gravel blocked passage, via procedural delays such as walking out of House–Senate conference committee meetings, of a complex bill which represented a compromise on land use policy.",
"In 1978 Gravel blocked passage, via procedural delays such as walking out of House–Senate conference committee meetings, of a complex bill which represented a compromise on land use policy. The bill would have put some of Alaska's vast federal land holdings under state control while preserving other portions for federal parks and refuges; the blocking action earned Gravel the enmity of fellow Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, who had supported the compromise.",
"The bill would have put some of Alaska's vast federal land holdings under state control while preserving other portions for federal parks and refuges; the blocking action earned Gravel the enmity of fellow Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, who had supported the compromise. In 1980, a new lands bill came up for consideration, that was less favorable to Alaskan interests and more liked by environmentalists; it set aside of Alaska's for national parks, conservation areas, and other restricted federal uses.",
"In 1980, a new lands bill came up for consideration, that was less favorable to Alaskan interests and more liked by environmentalists; it set aside of Alaska's for national parks, conservation areas, and other restricted federal uses. Gravel blocked it, as not ensuring enough future development in the state. A new compromise version of the 1980 bill came forward, which reduced the land set aside to . Representing Alaskan interests, Gravel tried to stop the bill, including by filibuster.",
"Representing Alaskan interests, Gravel tried to stop the bill, including by filibuster. But the Senate voted for cloture and passed the bill. Frustrated, Gravel said, \"the legislation denies Alaska its rights as a state, and denies the U.S. crucial strategic resources,\" and opined that the Senate was \"a little bit like a tank of barracudas\".",
"Frustrated, Gravel said, \"the legislation denies Alaska its rights as a state, and denies the U.S. crucial strategic resources,\" and opined that the Senate was \"a little bit like a tank of barracudas\". Nonetheless, the bill, known as the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980, was signed by President Carter shortly before leaving the White House, and led to millions of acres being set aside in the state for national parks, wildlife refuges, and other kinds of areas under protection.",
"Nonetheless, the bill, known as the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980, was signed by President Carter shortly before leaving the White House, and led to millions of acres being set aside in the state for national parks, wildlife refuges, and other kinds of areas under protection. In 1978 Gravel authored and secured the passage into federal law of the General Stock Ownership Corporation, that became Subchapter U of the Tax Code under the Internal Revenue Code of 1954.",
"In 1978 Gravel authored and secured the passage into federal law of the General Stock Ownership Corporation, that became Subchapter U of the Tax Code under the Internal Revenue Code of 1954. This gave states the ability to create corporations that would invest in for-profit enterprises, with all citizens within the state owning shares in the corporation.",
"This gave states the ability to create corporations that would invest in for-profit enterprises, with all citizens within the state owning shares in the corporation. Gravel's attempt to convince the Alaska state legislature to create such a corporation failed, as did a 1980 state ballot initiative towards the same end, but nevertheless the creation of the General Stock Ownership Corporation in federal law turned out to be significant in the development of binary economics.",
"Gravel's attempt to convince the Alaska state legislature to create such a corporation failed, as did a 1980 state ballot initiative towards the same end, but nevertheless the creation of the General Stock Ownership Corporation in federal law turned out to be significant in the development of binary economics. Loss of Senate seat in 1980 In 1980 Gravel was challenged for the Democratic Party's nomination by State Representative Clark Gruening, the grandson of the man Gravel had defeated in a primary 12 years earlier.",
"Loss of Senate seat in 1980 In 1980 Gravel was challenged for the Democratic Party's nomination by State Representative Clark Gruening, the grandson of the man Gravel had defeated in a primary 12 years earlier. One of Gruening's supporters was Gravel's former backer Gottstein. Several factors made Gravel vulnerable. As an insurgent candidate in 1968 Gravel had never established a firm party base. Not liking to hunt or fish, he was also always culturally suspect in the state. The primary campaign was bitterly fought.",
"The primary campaign was bitterly fought. The primary campaign was bitterly fought. A group of Democrats, including future governor Steve Cowper, led the campaign against Gravel, with Gravel's actions in respect to the 1978 and 1980 Alaskan lands bills a major issue. This was especially so given that the 1980 bill's dénouement happened but a week before the primary. The sources of Gravel's campaign funds, some of which Gravel readily acknowledged came from political action committees outside the state, also became an issue in the contest.",
"The sources of Gravel's campaign funds, some of which Gravel readily acknowledged came from political action committees outside the state, also became an issue in the contest. Gruening had pledged that he would not take special interest group money, but Gravel said that Gruening was \"dishonest\" in accepting individual contributors from Jewish donors living outside the state because to him such contributors comprised \"a special interest group ... that seeks to influence the foreign policy of the U.S.\" Gruening won the primary with about 55 percent of the vote to Gravel's 44 percent.",
"Gruening had pledged that he would not take special interest group money, but Gravel said that Gruening was \"dishonest\" in accepting individual contributors from Jewish donors living outside the state because to him such contributors comprised \"a special interest group ... that seeks to influence the foreign policy of the U.S.\" Gruening won the primary with about 55 percent of the vote to Gravel's 44 percent. Gravel later conceded that by the time of his defeat, he had alienated \"almost every constituency in Alaska\".",
"Gravel later conceded that by the time of his defeat, he had alienated \"almost every constituency in Alaska\". Another factor may have been Alaska's blanket primary system of the time, which allowed unlimited voting across party lines and from its many independents; Republicans believed Gruening would be an easier candidate to defeat in the general election. Gruening lost the general election to Republican Frank Murkowski.",
"Gruening lost the general election to Republican Frank Murkowski. Gruening lost the general election to Republican Frank Murkowski. Gravel was the last Democrat to represent Alaska in Congress for 28 years, until Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich defeated Ted Stevens, by then an aged, iconic figure who had just been convicted of seven felonies for taking unreported gifts, in a very close and protracted election result in 2008. Stevens's conviction was subsequently vacated due to prosecutorial misconduct.",
"Stevens's conviction was subsequently vacated due to prosecutorial misconduct. Career after leaving the Senate Of his 1980 defeat, Gravel later recalled: \"I had lost my career. I lost my marriage. I was in the doldrums for ten years after my defeat,\" and \"Nobody wanted to hire me for anything important. I felt like I was worthless. I didn't know what I could do.\"",
"I didn't know what I could do.\" I didn't know what I could do.\" By his own later description, Gravel was a womanizer, and had an affair while in the Senate, and in December 1980 he and his wife Rita separated. They filed for divorce in September 1981; she later received all of his Senate pension income. During the 1980s Gravel was a real estate developer in Anchorage and Kenai, Alaska, a consultant, and a stockbroker.",
"During the 1980s Gravel was a real estate developer in Anchorage and Kenai, Alaska, a consultant, and a stockbroker. One of his real estate ventures, a condominium business, was forced to declare bankruptcy and a lawsuit ensued. In 1986 Gravel worked in partnership with Merrill Lynch Capital Markets to buy losses that financially troubled Alaska Native Corporations could not take as tax deductions and sell them to large national companies looking for tax writeoffs. Gravel also learned computer programming at some point but never practiced it.",
"Gravel also learned computer programming at some point but never practiced it. In 1984 Gravel married his second wife, Whitney Stewart Gravel, a former administrative assistant for Senator Jacob Javits. Return to politics In 1989 Gravel reentered politics. He founded and led The Democracy Foundation, which promotes direct democracy.",
"He founded and led The Democracy Foundation, which promotes direct democracy. He established the Philadelphia II corporation, which seeks to replicate the original 1787 Constitutional Convention and have a Second Constitutional Convention to bring about direct democracy Gravel led an effort to get a United States Constitutional amendment to allow voter-initiated federal legislation similar to state ballot initiatives. He argued that Americans are able to legislate responsibly, and that the Act and Amendment in the National Initiative would allow American citizens to become \"law makers\".",
"He argued that Americans are able to legislate responsibly, and that the Act and Amendment in the National Initiative would allow American citizens to become \"law makers\". However such efforts met with little success. In 2001, Gravel became director of the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution, where he admired institute co-founder Gregory Fossedal's work on direct democracy in Switzerland.",
"In 2001, Gravel became director of the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution, where he admired institute co-founder Gregory Fossedal's work on direct democracy in Switzerland. By 2004, Gravel had become chair of the institute, and Fossedal (who in turn was a director of the Democracy Foundation) gave the introduction at Gravel's presidential announcement. In 2003 Gravel gave a speech on direct democracy at a conference hosted by the American Free Press. The event was cosponsored by the Barnes Review, a journal that endorses Holocaust denial.",
"The event was cosponsored by the Barnes Review, a journal that endorses Holocaust denial. After some controversy over his appearance, Gravel apologized, saying he did not realize the group's ties. Gravel said repeatedly that he did not share the group's views on the Holocaust, stating, \"You better believe I know that six million Jews were killed. [The Barnes Review publishers] are nutty as loons if they don't think it happened\". The group invited Gravel to speak again, but he declined.",
"The group invited Gravel to speak again, but he declined. Mike and Whitney Gravel lived in Arlington County, Virginia, until 2010 and then resided in Burlingame, California. They have the two grown children from his first marriage, Martin Gravel and Lynne Gravel Mosier, and four grandchildren. Whitney Gravel's income sustained the couple from 1998 on. In the 2000s, Gravel suffered poor health, requiring three surgeries in 2003 for back pain and neuropathy.",
"In the 2000s, Gravel suffered poor health, requiring three surgeries in 2003 for back pain and neuropathy. Due to unreimbursed medical expenses and debts from his political causes, he declared personal bankruptcy in 2004. He began taking a salary from the non-profit organizations for which he was working; much of that income was lent to his presidential campaign. In 2007, he declared that he had \"zero net worth\".",
"In 2007, he declared that he had \"zero net worth\". 2008 presidential campaign Democratic Party primaries At the start of 2006 Gravel decided the best way he could promote direct democracy and the National Initiative was to run for president.",
"2008 presidential campaign Democratic Party primaries At the start of 2006 Gravel decided the best way he could promote direct democracy and the National Initiative was to run for president. On April 17, 2006, Gravel became the first candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2008 election, announcing his run in a speech to the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Short on campaign cash, he took public transportation to get to his announcement. (Gravel called for public financing of elections.)",
"(Gravel called for public financing of elections.) (Gravel called for public financing of elections.) Other principal Gravel positions were the FairTax, as well as withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq within 120 days and a single payer national health care system. Gravel had opposed the Iraq War, and President George W. Bush's rationale for it, from the beginning, and in 2006 said that U.S. troops in Iraq, as in Vietnam, had \"died in vain\".",
"Gravel had opposed the Iraq War, and President George W. Bush's rationale for it, from the beginning, and in 2006 said that U.S. troops in Iraq, as in Vietnam, had \"died in vain\". He also favored a regional peace initiative, as well as reparation payments for Iraqis. Gravel also called for a \"U.S. corporate withdrawal from Iraq\", with reconstruction contracts held by U.S. companies to be turned over to Iraqi firms.",
"Gravel also called for a \"U.S. corporate withdrawal from Iraq\", with reconstruction contracts held by U.S. companies to be turned over to Iraqi firms. Gravel campaigned almost full-time in New Hampshire, the first primary state, following his announcement. Opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination showed Gravel with 1 percent or less support. By the end of March 2007, Gravel's campaign had less than $500 in cash on hand against debts of nearly $90,000.",
"By the end of March 2007, Gravel's campaign had less than $500 in cash on hand against debts of nearly $90,000. Because of his time in the Senate, Gravel was invited to many of the early Democratic presidential debates. During the initial one at South Carolina State University on April 26, 2007, he suggested a bill requiring the president to withdraw from Iraq on pain of criminal penalties. He also advocated positions such as opposing preemptive nuclear war.",
"He also advocated positions such as opposing preemptive nuclear war. He stated that the Iraq War had the effect of creating more terrorists and that the \"war was lost the day that George Bush invaded Iraq on a fraudulent basis\". Regarding his fellow candidates, he said, \"I got to tell you, after standing up with them, some of these people frighten me – they frighten me.\" In one such exchange, Gravel said, \"Tell me, Barack, who do you want to nuke?\"",
"In one such exchange, Gravel said, \"Tell me, Barack, who do you want to nuke?\" to which Obama responded, \"I'm not planning to nuke anybody right now, Mike, I promise.\" Media stories said that Gravel was responsible for much of whatever \"heat\" and \"flashpoints\" had taken place during the Democratic debates.",
"Media stories said that Gravel was responsible for much of whatever \"heat\" and \"flashpoints\" had taken place during the Democratic debates. Gravel gained considerable publicity by shaking up the normally staid multiple-candidate format; The New York Times' media critic said that what Gravel had done was \"steal a debate with outrageous, curmudgeonly statements\".",
"Gravel gained considerable publicity by shaking up the normally staid multiple-candidate format; The New York Times' media critic said that what Gravel had done was \"steal a debate with outrageous, curmudgeonly statements\". The Internet was a benefit: a YouTube video of his responses in the debate was viewed more than 225,892 times, ranking seventeenth in most views for week and first among news and politics clips; his name became the fifteenth most searched-for in the blogosphere; and his website garnered more traffic than those of frontrunners Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, or John Edwards.",
"The Internet was a benefit: a YouTube video of his responses in the debate was viewed more than 225,892 times, ranking seventeenth in most views for week and first among news and politics clips; his name became the fifteenth most searched-for in the blogosphere; and his website garnered more traffic than those of frontrunners Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, or John Edwards. Gravel appeared on the popular Colbert Report on television on May 2, and his campaign and career were profiled in national publications such as Salon.",
"Gravel appeared on the popular Colbert Report on television on May 2, and his campaign and career were profiled in national publications such as Salon. Two wordless, Warholesque campaign videos, \"Rock\" and \"Fire\", were released on YouTube in late May and became hits, and eventually gained over 760,000 and 185,000 views respectively. \"Rock\", in turn, was given airtime during an episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.",
"\"Rock\", in turn, was given airtime during an episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Some thirty-five years after he first achieved the national spotlight, he had found it again. All this did not improve his performance in the polls; a May 2007 CNN poll showed him with less than 0.5 percent support among Democrats. Gravel was in the next several debates, in one case after CNN reversed a decision to exclude him.",
"Gravel was in the next several debates, in one case after CNN reversed a decision to exclude him. Like some of the other second-tier candidates, Gravel did not get as much time as the leaders; during the June 2, 2007, New Hampshire debate, which lasted two hours, he was asked 10 questions and allowed to speak for five minutes and 37 seconds.",
"Like some of the other second-tier candidates, Gravel did not get as much time as the leaders; during the June 2, 2007, New Hampshire debate, which lasted two hours, he was asked 10 questions and allowed to speak for five minutes and 37 seconds. During the July 23, 2007, CNN-YouTube presidential debate, Gravel responded to audience applause when he had complained of a lack of airtime and said: \"Thank you. Has it been fair thus far?\"",
"Has it been fair thus far?\" Has it been fair thus far?\" Detractors began to liken him to \"the cranky uncle who lives in the attic,\" or \"the angry old guy that just seemed to want to become angrier\". Berkeley political scientist David Terr found that moderator George Stephanopoulos directed roughly five percent of his questions to Gravel; in a poll asking who did the best in the debate, Gravel placed seventh among the eight candidates.",
"Berkeley political scientist David Terr found that moderator George Stephanopoulos directed roughly five percent of his questions to Gravel; in a poll asking who did the best in the debate, Gravel placed seventh among the eight candidates. National opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination continued to show Gravel with one percent or zero percent numbers.",
"National opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination continued to show Gravel with one percent or zero percent numbers. By the end of the third-quarter 2007, Gravel had about $17,500 in cash on hand, had collected a total of about $380,000 during the 2008 election cycle, and was continuing to run a threadbare campaign with minimal staff.",
"By the end of the third-quarter 2007, Gravel had about $17,500 in cash on hand, had collected a total of about $380,000 during the 2008 election cycle, and was continuing to run a threadbare campaign with minimal staff. Beginning with the October 30, 2007, Philadelphia event, Gravel was excluded from most of the debates, with the debate sponsors or the Democratic National Committee saying Gravel's campaign had not met fund-raising, polling, or local campaign organizational thresholds.",
"Beginning with the October 30, 2007, Philadelphia event, Gravel was excluded from most of the debates, with the debate sponsors or the Democratic National Committee saying Gravel's campaign had not met fund-raising, polling, or local campaign organizational thresholds. For the Philadelphia exclusion, Gravel blamed corporate censorship on the part of sponsor owner and alleged military-industrial complex member General Electric for his exclusion and mounted a counter-gathering and debate against a video screen a short distance away, but he had lost his easiest publicity.",
"For the Philadelphia exclusion, Gravel blamed corporate censorship on the part of sponsor owner and alleged military-industrial complex member General Electric for his exclusion and mounted a counter-gathering and debate against a video screen a short distance away, but he had lost his easiest publicity. In reaction, supporters organized \"mass donation days\" to try to help the campaign gain momentum and funds, such as on December 5, 2007, the anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition.",
"In reaction, supporters organized \"mass donation days\" to try to help the campaign gain momentum and funds, such as on December 5, 2007, the anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition. Gravel did not compete in the initial 2008 vote, the Iowa caucuses, but was still subjected to a false report from MSNBC that he had pulled out of the race afterward. Gravel did focus his attention on the second 2008 vote, the New Hampshire primary.",
"Gravel did focus his attention on the second 2008 vote, the New Hampshire primary. In early January, Mother Jones' investigative reporter James Ridgeway was filmed interviewing and following Gravel in New Hampshire, in which Gravel is interviewed on the phone by Neal Conan for NPR's, Talk of the Nation. He received about 400 votes out of some 280,000 cast in New Hampshire, or 0.14 percent, before taking time off to improve his health. He resumed campaigning, but fared no better in subsequent states.",
"He resumed campaigning, but fared no better in subsequent states. By the end of January 2008, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and Gravel were the only remaining Democrats from the initial debates still running; Gravel vowed to stay in the presidential campaign until November. On March 11, 2008, Gravel continued to remain in the Democratic race but additionally endorsed a Green Party candidate for president, Jesse Johnson, saying he wanted to help Johnson prevail against Green Party rivals Cynthia McKinney and Ralph Nader.",
"On March 11, 2008, Gravel continued to remain in the Democratic race but additionally endorsed a Green Party candidate for president, Jesse Johnson, saying he wanted to help Johnson prevail against Green Party rivals Cynthia McKinney and Ralph Nader. By late March, Gravel had almost no fundraising and was only on the ballot in one of the next ten Democratic primaries.",
"By late March, Gravel had almost no fundraising and was only on the ballot in one of the next ten Democratic primaries. Switch to Libertarian Party On March 25, 2008, Gravel announced that he would leave the Democrats and join the Libertarian Party, saying: \"My libertarian views, as well as my strong stance against war, the military industrial complex and American imperialism, seem not to be tolerated by Democratic Party elites who are out of touch with the average American; elites that reject the empowerment of American citizens I offered to the Democratic Party at the beginning of this presidential campaign with the National Initiative for Democracy.\"",
"Switch to Libertarian Party On March 25, 2008, Gravel announced that he would leave the Democrats and join the Libertarian Party, saying: \"My libertarian views, as well as my strong stance against war, the military industrial complex and American imperialism, seem not to be tolerated by Democratic Party elites who are out of touch with the average American; elites that reject the empowerment of American citizens I offered to the Democratic Party at the beginning of this presidential campaign with the National Initiative for Democracy.\" The following day Gravel entered the race for the 2008 Libertarian presidential nomination, saying that he would have run as a third-party candidate all along except that he needed the public exposure that came from being in the earlier Democratic debates.",
"The following day Gravel entered the race for the 2008 Libertarian presidential nomination, saying that he would have run as a third-party candidate all along except that he needed the public exposure that came from being in the earlier Democratic debates. Gravel's initial notion of running as a fusion candidate with other parties was met with skepticism. As a Libertarian candidate, Gravel faced resistance to his past support of big government initiatives and his unorthodox positions around direct democracy.",
"As a Libertarian candidate, Gravel faced resistance to his past support of big government initiatives and his unorthodox positions around direct democracy. Nevertheless, he garnered more support than he had as a Democrat, placing second and third in two April 2008 straw polls.",
"Nevertheless, he garnered more support than he had as a Democrat, placing second and third in two April 2008 straw polls. In the May 25 balloting at the 2008 Libertarian National Convention in Denver, Gravel finished fourth out of eight candidates on the initial ballot, with 71 votes out of a total 618; he trailed former Congressman and eventual winner Bob Barr, author Mary Ruwart, and businessman Wayne Allyn Root. Gravel's position did not subsequently improve and he was eliminated on the fourth ballot.",
"Gravel's position did not subsequently improve and he was eliminated on the fourth ballot. Afterwards he stated that \"I just ended my political career,\" but he vowed to continue promoting his positions as a writer and lecturer. 2008–early 2019 In June 2008 Gravel endorsed the NYC 9/11 Ballot Initiative, saying the measure would create a \"citizens commission rather than a government commission\" with subpoena power against top U.S. officials to \"make a true investigation as to what happened\" regarding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.",
"2008–early 2019 In June 2008 Gravel endorsed the NYC 9/11 Ballot Initiative, saying the measure would create a \"citizens commission rather than a government commission\" with subpoena power against top U.S. officials to \"make a true investigation as to what happened\" regarding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. He later said, \"Individuals in and out of government may certainly have participated with the obviously known perpetrators of this dastardly act. Suspicions abound over the analysis presented by government.",
"Suspicions abound over the analysis presented by government. Suspicions abound over the analysis presented by government. Obviously an act that has triggered three wars, Afghan, Iraqi and the continuing War on Terror, should be extensively investigated which was not done and which the government avoids addressing.\"",
"Obviously an act that has triggered three wars, Afghan, Iraqi and the continuing War on Terror, should be extensively investigated which was not done and which the government avoids addressing.\" In August 2008 Gravel was speaking to a crowd of supporters of Sami Al-Arian (who two years earlier had pleaded guilty and been sentenced to prison for a charge of conspiracy in helping Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a \"specially designated terrorist\" organization) when he was caught on tape saying of Al-Arian's prosecutor, \"Find out where he lives, find out where his kids go to school, find out where his office is: picket him all the time.",
"In August 2008 Gravel was speaking to a crowd of supporters of Sami Al-Arian (who two years earlier had pleaded guilty and been sentenced to prison for a charge of conspiracy in helping Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a \"specially designated terrorist\" organization) when he was caught on tape saying of Al-Arian's prosecutor, \"Find out where he lives, find out where his kids go to school, find out where his office is: picket him all the time. Call him a racist in signs if you see him.",
"Call him a racist in signs if you see him. Call him an injustice. Call him whatever you want to call him, but in his face all the time.\" Gravel was criticized for potentially involving the children of the prosecutor, and Al-Arian's family disavowed the sentiments. Gravel defended Alaska Governor Sarah Palin after she was chosen as Republican presidential nominee John McCain's running mate in September 2008.",
"Gravel defended Alaska Governor Sarah Palin after she was chosen as Republican presidential nominee John McCain's running mate in September 2008. He praised Palin's record in standing up to corruption among Alaskan Republicans, thought her national inexperience was an asset not a detriment, and predicted that the \"Troopergate\" investigation into whether she improperly fired a state official would \"come out in her favor\". Gravel made clear he would not support or vote for either McCain–Palin or Obama–Biden in the general election.",
"Gravel made clear he would not support or vote for either McCain–Palin or Obama–Biden in the general election. The following year Gravel said that Palin's politics were \"terrible, but that doesn't detract from the fact that she's a very talented person\". He predicted that Palin would run for president in 2012 and that \"she's going to surprise a lot of people\". Palin did not run, but Gravel's prediction about \"TrooperGate\" was accurate as Palin was found not to have violated ethics laws.",
"Palin did not run, but Gravel's prediction about \"TrooperGate\" was accurate as Palin was found not to have violated ethics laws. In 2013, by the invitation of Hamed Ghashghavi, the secretary for international affairs of the 3rd International Conference on Hollywoodism in Tehran, Iran, Gravel attended that event as an Iranian government-organized anti-Hollywood conference.",
"In 2013, by the invitation of Hamed Ghashghavi, the secretary for international affairs of the 3rd International Conference on Hollywoodism in Tehran, Iran, Gravel attended that event as an Iranian government-organized anti-Hollywood conference. Gravel noted that the conference was attended by \"various elements of extremes\" but said it was necessary to discuss how the U.S. film industry portrayed Iran in order to prevent \"an insane war\" between the two nations.",
"Gravel noted that the conference was attended by \"various elements of extremes\" but said it was necessary to discuss how the U.S. film industry portrayed Iran in order to prevent \"an insane war\" between the two nations. In May 2013 Gravel was one of several former members of Congress to accept $20,000 from the Paradigm Research Group, an advocacy group for UFO disclosure, as part of holding what they termed a Citizen Hearing on Disclosure, modeled after congressional hearings, regarding supposed U.S. government suppression of evidence concerning UFOs.",
"In May 2013 Gravel was one of several former members of Congress to accept $20,000 from the Paradigm Research Group, an advocacy group for UFO disclosure, as part of holding what they termed a Citizen Hearing on Disclosure, modeled after congressional hearings, regarding supposed U.S. government suppression of evidence concerning UFOs. Gravel said, \"Something is monitoring the planet, and they are monitoring it very cautiously, because we are a very warlike planet,\" and, \"What we're faced with here is, in areas of the media, and the government too, an effort to marginalize and ridicule people who have specific knowledge.\"",
"Gravel said, \"Something is monitoring the planet, and they are monitoring it very cautiously, because we are a very warlike planet,\" and, \"What we're faced with here is, in areas of the media, and the government too, an effort to marginalize and ridicule people who have specific knowledge.\" In December 2014 Gravel was announced as the new CEO of KUSH, a company which makes marijuana-infused products for medicinal and recreational use, and a subsidiary of Cannabis Sativa, Inc.",
"In December 2014 Gravel was announced as the new CEO of KUSH, a company which makes marijuana-infused products for medicinal and recreational use, and a subsidiary of Cannabis Sativa, Inc. He also became an Independent Director of Cannabis Sativa. During the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries, Gravel praised Bernie Sanders and his campaign, saying \"Bernie is one of the most gifted politicians I have ever observed. He's a person of great integrity and very clever.\"",
"He's a person of great integrity and very clever.\" Gravel predicted that Sanders would be elected president but would be unable to get his key reforms through Congress, and thus that Sanders and his supporters should back some of the proposals of the National Initiative. In 2016, Gravel said in relation to the September 11 attacks: \"We killed 58,000 American servicemen in the Vietnam War and all they did was die in vain.",
"In 2016, Gravel said in relation to the September 11 attacks: \"We killed 58,000 American servicemen in the Vietnam War and all they did was die in vain. What's so unusual about killing 3,000 more in order to develop the grist for the mill to empower into infinity the military industrial complex?\" and \"There's no question in my mind that 9/11 was an inside job\". The remarks were later disavowed by even Gravel supporters. By 2019 Gravel was living in Seaside, California.",
"By 2019 Gravel was living in Seaside, California. By 2019 Gravel was living in Seaside, California. He was working on a book, at the time titled Human Governance, about his principal idea for direct democracy, a U.S. Constitutional Amendment to create a \"Legislature of the People\" that would circumvent the existing Congress. The book was self-published at the end of the year by AuthorHouse under the title The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People.",
"The book was self-published at the end of the year by AuthorHouse under the title The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People. 2020 presidential campaign On March 19, 2019, Gravel announced that he was considering running in the 2020 Democratic primaries. He said, \"The goal will not be to win, but to bring a critique of American imperialism to the Democratic debate stage.\"",
"He said, \"The goal will not be to win, but to bring a critique of American imperialism to the Democratic debate stage.\" An exploratory committee was formed, with filing a statement of organization with the Federal Election Commission on that same day.",
"An exploratory committee was formed, with filing a statement of organization with the Federal Election Commission on that same day. The filing was the idea of a group of teenagers, led by David Oks and Henry Williams, inspired by the podcast Chapo Trap House, and done with Gravel's consent (after a week spent convincing him of the idea's merits), but without his involvement.",
"The filing was the idea of a group of teenagers, led by David Oks and Henry Williams, inspired by the podcast Chapo Trap House, and done with Gravel's consent (after a week spent convincing him of the idea's merits), but without his involvement. Intrigued by the group's commitment to amplifying his long-held policy goals, Gravel (who would be old on Inauguration Day in 2021) said he planned to meet with them in April, and to discuss a 2020 White House run with his wife.",
"Intrigued by the group's commitment to amplifying his long-held policy goals, Gravel (who would be old on Inauguration Day in 2021) said he planned to meet with them in April, and to discuss a 2020 White House run with his wife. On April 2, 2019, Gravel filed to officially run for office. The campaign called itself the \"#Gravelanche\". Gravel's initial stated goal was merely to qualify for debates by getting the required 65,000 small donors.",
"Gravel's initial stated goal was merely to qualify for debates by getting the required 65,000 small donors. He discouraged people from voting for him and said his preferences were Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard, both of whom favor a non-interventionist foreign policy. But on April 29, Gravel's campaign said he was running to win, not just to participate in debates. In a subsequent interview, though, Gravel emphasized the virtue of Sanders and Gabbard in some order as a presidential ticket.",
"In a subsequent interview, though, Gravel emphasized the virtue of Sanders and Gabbard in some order as a presidential ticket. Statements like these caused Vox to call Gravel \"2020's oddest Democratic presidential candidate\".",
"Statements like these caused Vox to call Gravel \"2020's oddest Democratic presidential candidate\". The New York Times Magazine included Gravel as an example in the rise of democratic socialism in the United States also exemplified by Sanders's 2016 race and the 2018 election of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: \"[Gravel's] campaign represents the most absurd form of a legitimate movement on the left that feels little obligation to the Democratic Party.\"",
"The New York Times Magazine included Gravel as an example in the rise of democratic socialism in the United States also exemplified by Sanders's 2016 race and the 2018 election of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: \"[Gravel's] campaign represents the most absurd form of a legitimate movement on the left that feels little obligation to the Democratic Party.\" In June 2019, Gravel touted the endorsement of Muntadher al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who, in December 2008, made headlines after he threw his shoes at President George W. Bush in protest of the U.S. war in Iraq.",
"In June 2019, Gravel touted the endorsement of Muntadher al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who, in December 2008, made headlines after he threw his shoes at President George W. Bush in protest of the U.S. war in Iraq. Al-Zaidi endorsed Gravel based on his promise to improve White House policies regarding Iraq and the Middle East. On June 13, 2019, the Democratic Party announced the 20 major candidates who qualified for the first debate later that month.",
"On June 13, 2019, the Democratic Party announced the 20 major candidates who qualified for the first debate later that month. Gravel was one of the four who missed out (the others were Montana Governor Steve Bullock, U.S. Representative Seth Moulton, and Miramar, Florida, Mayor Wayne Messam). Gravel had been unable to get the requisite number of donations, or to score one percent or better in enough polls (many polls did not even include him).",
"Gravel had been unable to get the requisite number of donations, or to score one percent or better in enough polls (many polls did not even include him). Nevertheless, Gravel said he would not drop out and would try to qualify for the July debate. In early July, however, Gravel's campaign said it was still 10,000 contributions short of the 65,000-donor threshold and that it was \"nearing its conclusion\". It solicited suggestions for where to donate $100–150,000 of leftover campaign funds.",
"It solicited suggestions for where to donate $100–150,000 of leftover campaign funds. Gravel added that he had always planned on ending the campaign before the teenagers in charge of it needed to return to school. A few days later the campaign became the first to run an attack ad against Democratic front-runner Joe Biden, using the text \"Is this the best our party has to offer?\" Gravel's campaign crossed the threshold of 65,000 donors on July 12, 2019, meeting the qualification mark for that month's debate.",
"Gravel's campaign crossed the threshold of 65,000 donors on July 12, 2019, meeting the qualification mark for that month's debate. But because 20 other candidates, the maximum allowed to participate, had already met at least the polling criterion, which takes priority over the donor criterion, Gravel was not invited. The campaign officially came to a close on August 6, 2019, with Gravel endorsing both Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard for president.",
"The campaign officially came to a close on August 6, 2019, with Gravel endorsing both Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard for president. Gravel's campaign later stated on Twitter that they never wanted to win but saw the campaign as an \"intimately democratic\" project and expressed honor at working with Gravel. Gravel said he would divide remaining campaign funds between charity and a new think tank which would espouse his ideas.",
"Gravel said he would divide remaining campaign funds between charity and a new think tank which would espouse his ideas. The Gravel Institute Gravel used some of the funds remaining from his 2020 presidential campaign to found an eponymous progressive think tank called The Gravel Institute in 2019. As noted by Vice magazine, the institute aims to do battle with PragerU from a left-wing perspective.",
"As noted by Vice magazine, the institute aims to do battle with PragerU from a left-wing perspective. Launched in September 2020, the new entity said it would \"carry on the life's work of former U.S Senator Mike Gravel in fighting for global peace and democracy. Its mission is to promote bold and forward-looking ideas about a more peaceful and egalitarian world, and to build a robust movement of young people to win it\".",
"Its mission is to promote bold and forward-looking ideas about a more peaceful and egalitarian world, and to build a robust movement of young people to win it\". Contributors announced include Cornel West and Slavoj Žižek, as well as Lower Brule Indian Reservation activist Nick Estes.",
"Contributors announced include Cornel West and Slavoj Žižek, as well as Lower Brule Indian Reservation activist Nick Estes. Other presenters have included and will include H. Jon Benjamin, Briahna Joy Gray, Bernie Sanders, Chelsea Manning, Richard Wolff, Stephanie Kelton, Zephyr Teachout, David Cross, Jabari Brisport, Zohran Mamdani, and Gravel himself (though it is unknown if his appearance will be cancelled due to his death in June 2021, or if the video has already been recorded).",
"Other presenters have included and will include H. Jon Benjamin, Briahna Joy Gray, Bernie Sanders, Chelsea Manning, Richard Wolff, Stephanie Kelton, Zephyr Teachout, David Cross, Jabari Brisport, Zohran Mamdani, and Gravel himself (though it is unknown if his appearance will be cancelled due to his death in June 2021, or if the video has already been recorded). Death Gravel died of multiple myeloma at his home in Seaside, California, on June 26, 2021, at age 91.",
"Death Gravel died of multiple myeloma at his home in Seaside, California, on June 26, 2021, at age 91. The obituary for him in The New York Times stated that Gravel was \"a two-term Democratic senator from Alaska ... who was perhaps better known as an unabashed attention-getter\" who later become known for \"mounting long-shot presidential runs\".",
"The obituary for him in The New York Times stated that Gravel was \"a two-term Democratic senator from Alaska ... who was perhaps better known as an unabashed attention-getter\" who later become known for \"mounting long-shot presidential runs\". The obituary in The Washington Post was similar, saying that Gravel was \"an Alaska Democrat with a flair for the theatrical who rose from obscurity to brief renown\" and later \"ran quixotic campaigns for the presidency\".",
"The obituary in The Washington Post was similar, saying that Gravel was \"an Alaska Democrat with a flair for the theatrical who rose from obscurity to brief renown\" and later \"ran quixotic campaigns for the presidency\". The Anchorage Daily News quoted Gravel as saying of himself in 1989, \"I'm an independent kind of guy. A rough and ready kind of guy. My glands work in a certain way that make me stand up, foolishly sometimes, and fight.\"",
"My glands work in a certain way that make me stand up, foolishly sometimes, and fight.\" Political positions Alan Abramowitz and Jeffrey Allan Segal described Gravel as \"a maverick, if not an eccentric, in the Senate.\" His Americans for Democratic Action \"Liberal Quotient\" scores ranged from 81 out of 100 (1971) to 39 out of 100 (1980), with an average of around 61.",
"His Americans for Democratic Action \"Liberal Quotient\" scores ranged from 81 out of 100 (1971) to 39 out of 100 (1980), with an average of around 61. His American Conservative Union scores ranged from 0 out of 100 (several years, including 1971 and 1972) to 38 out of 100 (1979), with an average of 14.",
"His American Conservative Union scores ranged from 0 out of 100 (several years, including 1971 and 1972) to 38 out of 100 (1979), with an average of 14. Abramowitz and Segal note that Gravel's lowest ADA ratings coincided with his two Senate re-election bids, and for the most part his highest ACU ratings followed the same pattern.",
"Abramowitz and Segal note that Gravel's lowest ADA ratings coincided with his two Senate re-election bids, and for the most part his highest ACU ratings followed the same pattern. In 1972, as a young senator, Gravel published Citizen Power: A People's Platform, a manifesto outlining what Kirkus Reviews termed a \"populist reform [that] would provide 'balanced political power' between the people and government and business interests.\"",
"In 1972, as a young senator, Gravel published Citizen Power: A People's Platform, a manifesto outlining what Kirkus Reviews termed a \"populist reform [that] would provide 'balanced political power' between the people and government and business interests.\" Civil rights issues On drug policy, Gravel said in 2007 that he favored decriminalization and treating addiction as a public health matter.",
"Civil rights issues On drug policy, Gravel said in 2007 that he favored decriminalization and treating addiction as a public health matter. During his 2008 presidential candidacy he condemned the War on Drugs as a failure, saying that it did \"nothing but savage our inner cities and put our children at risk\". Gravel called for abolition of capital punishment in his book Citizen Power, and adhered to this position during his 2008 run for president. He supported abortion rights.",
"He supported abortion rights. He supported abortion rights. During the 2008 campaign Gravel was a strong supporter of LGBT rights. He supported same-sex marriage and opposed the Defense of Marriage Act and the U.S. military's \"don't ask, don't tell\" policy. He wrote in 2008 that \"depriving gays and lesbians of equal rights is immoral\". Foreign policy and defense issues Gravel was a critic of American imperialism. Gravel firmly opposed U.S. military action against Iran and Syria.",
"Gravel firmly opposed U.S. military action against Iran and Syria. He voiced opposition to the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, the Military Commissions Act of 2006, the use of torture, indefinite detention, and what he called \"flagrant ignorance\" of the Geneva Convention. In 2014 Gravel called for the release of the full, unredacted Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture. Gravel opposed the use of international sanctions as a policy tool and blamed the ones against Iraq under Saddam Hussein for the deaths of a half-million children in that country.",
"Gravel opposed the use of international sanctions as a policy tool and blamed the ones against Iraq under Saddam Hussein for the deaths of a half-million children in that country. In 2013 Gravel said that sanctions against Iran were \"illegal\". During his 2008 candidacy, Gravel called for a cut in military spending, variously reported to be 15 percent or 50 percent. He called for the savings to boost public education spending. To spur international nuclear nonproliferation efforts, Gravel called for unilateral reductions in the U.S. nuclear arsenal.",
"To spur international nuclear nonproliferation efforts, Gravel called for unilateral reductions in the U.S. nuclear arsenal. In 2008 Gravel criticized the decision of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to not pursue the efforts to impeach George W. Bush and the attempted impeachment of Dick Cheney, saying also that Bush and Cheney had committed crimes and deserved \"to be prosecuted\" at The Hague.",
"In 2008 Gravel criticized the decision of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to not pursue the efforts to impeach George W. Bush and the attempted impeachment of Dick Cheney, saying also that Bush and Cheney had committed crimes and deserved \"to be prosecuted\" at The Hague. In 2013 he expressed disdain for President Obama, calling him \"a total fraud\" and saying that both Bush and Obama should be tried \"for the crimes and murders they've committed\" in the International Court of Justice.",
"In 2013 he expressed disdain for President Obama, calling him \"a total fraud\" and saying that both Bush and Obama should be tried \"for the crimes and murders they've committed\" in the International Court of Justice. Gravel specifically condemned Obama for the drone strikes in Pakistan and elsewhere.",
"Gravel specifically condemned Obama for the drone strikes in Pakistan and elsewhere. Economy, immigration, and environment During his 2008 candidacy Gravel favored a FairTax scheme, which would abolish the Internal Revenue Service, eliminate the federal income tax (which Gravel called \"corrupt\"), and impose a national sales tax. While Gravel described FairTax as \"progressive\", others have criticized it as \"regressive\", disproportionately benefiting the wealthiest Americans.",
"While Gravel described FairTax as \"progressive\", others have criticized it as \"regressive\", disproportionately benefiting the wealthiest Americans. To offset the new sales taxes on essential goods, Gravel's plan called for monthly government rebate payments to individuals and families. During his 2020 campaign Gravel also voiced support for a third legislative body that would give the people direct control of the budget as well as the implementation of a land value tax.",
"During his 2020 campaign Gravel also voiced support for a third legislative body that would give the people direct control of the budget as well as the implementation of a land value tax. Gravel opposed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) during his 2008 candidacy, calling it unfair and economically harmful and needing renegotiation. Gravel believed that NAFTA was the \"root cause\" of illegal migration to the U.S. He favored a guest worker program and \"setting up naturalization procedures that would fairly bring immigrants into legal status\".",
"He favored a guest worker program and \"setting up naturalization procedures that would fairly bring immigrants into legal status\". In a 2007 interview, Gravel identified himself as \"very much of a globalist\" who believed in open markets and open borders and condemned the scapegoating of undocumented immigrants. Gravel also said that he favored eliminating the cap on H1B visas. As a senator from Alaska, Gravel favored drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but opposed it during his 2008 campaign.",
"As a senator from Alaska, Gravel favored drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but opposed it during his 2008 campaign. In 2008, Gravel supported a carbon tax to combat climate change. Gravel spoke in favor of net neutrality during his presidential campaign. Education and health care Gravel called for the cost of college tuition to be borne by the federal government, rather than students.",
"Education and health care Gravel called for the cost of college tuition to be borne by the federal government, rather than students. In his 2008 campaign, he called the No Child Left Behind Act \"a failure\" and called for it to be \"reformed and fully funded\". He expressed support for universal pre-kindergarten and the expansion of the Head Start program; and expressed an openness to charter schools and school vouchers. He also suggested extending the school day and the school year, and supported merit pay for teachers.",
"He also suggested extending the school day and the school year, and supported merit pay for teachers. Gravel also called for publicly funded universal health care to replace the current employer-sponsored health insurance system. He supported \"full funding\" of the VA system. When asked in 2007 about naturopathy, homeopathy, and acupuncture, Gravel said that he was \"very very much in favor\" of holistic health care. Awards and honors In 2008 Gravel received the Columbia University School of General Studies' first annual Isaac Asimov Lifetime Achievement Award.",
"Awards and honors In 2008 Gravel received the Columbia University School of General Studies' first annual Isaac Asimov Lifetime Achievement Award. Electoral history Writings Gravel, Mike. Jobs and More Jobs. Mt. McKinley Publishers, 1968. Gravel, Mike. Citizen Power: A People's Platform. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1972. . revised and reissued as Citizen Power: A Mandate for Change, AuthorHouse, 2008. . Gravel, Mike and Lauria, Joe.",
"Gravel, Mike and Lauria, Joe. Gravel, Mike and Lauria, Joe. A Political Odyssey: The Rise of American Militarism and One Man's Fight to Stop It. Seven Stories Press, 2008. . Gravel, Mike and Eisenbach, David. The Kingmakers: How the Media Threatens Our Security and Our Democracy. Phoenix Books, 2008. . Gravel, Mike. Voice of a Maverick: The Speeches and Writings of Senator Mike Gravel. Brandywine House, 2008. Gravel, Mike.",
"Brandywine House, 2008. Gravel, Mike. Gravel, Mike. Foreword to Poisoned Power: The Case Against Nuclear Power Plants. John W. Goffman & Arthur R. Tamplin, Rodale Press, Inc., Emmaus, PA, June 1971. Gravel, Mike. The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People. AuthorHouse, 2020. Explanatory notes References Citations General references The Pentagon Papers Senator Gravel Edition. Vol. Five: Critical Essays. Boston: Beacon Press, 1972. 341p. plus 72p.",
"Five: Critical Essays. Boston: Beacon Press, 1972. 341p. plus 72p. plus 72p. of Index to Vol. I–IV of the Papers; Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, editors.",
"I–IV of the Papers; Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, editors. External links Mike Gravel official website The Gravel Institute |- |- 1930 births 2021 deaths 1972 United States vice-presidential candidates 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American politicians 20th-century Roman Catholics 20th-century Unitarians 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American politicians 21st-century Unitarians 9/11 conspiracy theorists Alaska Democrats American International College alumni American Unitarian Universalists American anti–Iraq War activists American conspiracy theorists American democracy activists American male non-fiction writers American people of French-Canadian descent American political writers American real estate businesspeople American stockbrokers Anti-corporate activists Assumption University (Worcester) alumni Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Businesspeople from Anchorage, Alaska Businesspeople from Springfield, Massachusetts California Democrats Candidates in the 2008 United States presidential election Candidates in the 2020 United States presidential election Columbia University School of General Studies alumni Deaths from cancer in California Deaths from multiple myeloma Democratic Party United States senators Direct democracy activists Drug policy reform activists Former Roman Catholics Virginia Libertarians Members of the Alaska House of Representatives Military personnel from Massachusetts Non-interventionism People from Arlington County, Virginia People from Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska People with dyslexia Politicians from Anchorage, Alaska Politicians from Springfield, Massachusetts Speakers of the Alaska House of Representatives United States Army officers United States senators from Alaska Writers about direct democracy Writers from Anchorage, Alaska"
] |
[
"Dion DiMucci",
"With the Belmonts: 1957-1960"
] | C_57ef3079d2cb4481bdcc3f5beea88674_1 | Who were the other members of the Belmonts? | 1 | Besides Dion DiMucci, Who were the other members of the Belmonts? | Dion DiMucci | Bob and Gene Schwartz also signed Dion's friends, the Belmonts, (Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano, and Angelo D'Aleo), a vocal group named for nearby Belmont Avenue, and teamed them, with Dion singing lead. The new group's breakthrough came in early 1958, when "I Wonder Why" (on their newly formed "Laurie" label) made No. 22 on the U.S. charts. Dion said of the Belmonts; "I'd give 'em sounds. I'd give 'em parts and stuff. That's what 'I Wonder Why' was about. We kind of invented this percussive rhythmic sound. If you listen to that song, everybody was doing something different. There's four guys, one guy was doing bass, I was singing lead, one guy's going 'ooh wah ooh,' and another guy's doing tenor. It was totally amazing. When I listen to it today, oftentimes I think, 'man, those kids are talented.'" Their initial hit was followed by "No One Knows" and "Don't Pity Me," which also charted the Billboard Top 100. This success won a place for Dion and the Belmonts on the ill-fated "The Winter Dance Party" tour with Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson), Frankie Sardo, and other performers. On February 3, 1959, after a concert stop in Clear Lake, Iowa, Holly and others decided to charter a flight to the next venue rather than travel on the tour bus. Dion was invited to accompany the group but decided that he did not want to spend $36 for the flight, as it was the same monthly rent his parents paid for his childhood apartment and he couldn't justify the indulgence. The plane crashed, killing all on board; Holly, Valens, Richardson, and the pilot Roger Peterson. Dion and the Belmonts continued on the tour, along with Frankie Sardo, while Bobby Vee, then an unknown artist, performed in Holly's place at the very next concert. Later, Jimmy Clanton, Frankie Avalon, and Fabian were added to replace the other now-deceased headliners. Dion and the Belmonts' next single, "A Teenager in Love," was released in March 1959, eventually hitting No. 5 on the U.S. pop charts and No. 28 in the UK. The group's biggest hit, "Where or When," was released in November of that year, and reached No. 3 on the U.S. charts. However, in early 1960, Dion checked into hospital for heroin addiction, a problem he had had since his mid-teens. Further single releases for the group that year were less successful. There were musical, personal and financial differences between Dion and members of the Belmonts, and in October 1960, Dion decided to quit for a solo career. By the time of their breakup, all eight Laurie releases had charted on the Hot 100. CANNOTANSWER | Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano, and Angelo D'Aleo | Dion Francis DiMucci (born July 18, 1939), better known simply as Dion, is an American singer and songwriter whose music has incorporated elements of doo-wop, rock, R&B and blues. Initially as lead singer of Dion and the Belmonts, and then in his solo career, he was one of the most popular American rock and roll performers of the pre-British Invasion era. He had 39 Top 40 hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s as a solo performer, with the Belmonts or with the Del-Satins. He is best remembered for the singles "Runaround Sue", "The Wanderer", "Ruby Baby" and "Lovers Who Wander", among other hits.
Dion's popularity waned in the mid-1960s. Toward the end of the decade, he shifted his style and produced songs that were more mature and contemplative, such as "Abraham, Martin and John". He remained popular in the late 1960s until the mid-1970s, and continues making music. During the 1980s, Dion produced several Christian albums, winning a GMA Dove Award in 1984 for the album I Put Away My Idols. He returned to secular music in the late 1980s with Yo Frankie (1989). Between the mid-2000s and 2021, Dion released six chart-topping blues albums. Critics who had dismissed his early work, labeling him as a teen idol, praised his later work and noted the influence he has had on other musicians.
A Grammy-nominated artist, Dion has released nearly 40 albums and scored eight Top 10 hits (ten including the Belmonts) on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989.
Early life
Dion was born to an Italian-American family in the Bronx, New York. As a child, he accompanied his father, Pasquale DiMucci, a vaudeville entertainer, on tour, and developed a love of country music – particularly the work of Hank Williams. He also developed a fondness for the blues and doo-wop musicians he heard performing in local bars and on the radio. His singing was honed on the street corners and local clubs of the Bronx, where he and other neighborhood singers created a cappella riffs.
In early 1957, he auditioned for Bob and Gene Schwartz for their short-lived Mohawk Records label. They asked Dion to sing a song which had been arranged by Hugo Montenegro and recorded featuring Vic Damone doing vocals. At first Dion refused, stating the song would sound like something his old fashioned parents would listen to, but the Schwartzes convinced him to give it a try. The backing vocals were by a group called "the Timberlanes", whom Dion had never met. The resulting single, "The Chosen Few", was released under the name "Dion and the Timberlanes", and became a minor regional hit. Dion himself stated in 2019 during an interview at "Crashing the Party" (a radio program related to Norton Records in Brooklyn, New York) that "The Chosen Few" hit the Top Ten locally in Boston and enabled him to perform this song on American Bandstand where the kids at the show started screaming during his performance, which gave him his first impression of being a record star. Writing about this experience later, in his autobiography, The Wanderer, Dion said that he had never met the Timberlanes and did not even know who they were. "The vocal group was so white bread, I went back to my neighborhood and I recruited a bunch of guys – three guys – and we called ourselves Dion and the Belmonts."
Career
Beginnings with the Belmonts: 1957–1960
Bob and Gene Schwartz signed Dion's friends, the Belmonts (Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano, and Angelo D'Aleo), a vocal group named for the Belmont, Bronx neighborhood, and teamed them up with Dion singing lead. The new group's breakthrough came in early 1958, when "I Wonder Why" (on their newly formed Laurie Records) made No. 22 on the U.S. charts. Dion said of the Belmonts; "I'd give 'em sounds. I'd give 'em parts and stuff. That's what 'I Wonder Why' was about. We kind of invented this percussive rhythmic sound. If you listen to that song, everybody was doing something different. There's four guys, one guy was doing bass, I was singing lead, one guy's going 'ooh wah ooh,' and another guy's doing tenor. It was totally amazing. When I listen to it today, oftentimes I think, 'man, those kids are talented.'"
Their initial hit was followed by "No One Knows" and "Don't Pity Me", which also charted the Billboard Top 100. This success won a place for Dion and the Belmonts on the ill-fated "The Winter Dance Party" tour with Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson), Frankie Sardo, and other performers. On February 3, 1959, after a concert stop in Clear Lake, Iowa, Holly and others decided to charter a flight to the next venue rather than travel on the tour bus. Dion was invited to accompany the group but decided that he did not want to spend $36 for the flight, as it was the same monthly rent his parents paid for his childhood apartment and he could not justify the indulgence. The plane crashed, killing all on board: Holly, Valens, Richardson, and the pilot Roger Peterson. Dion and the Belmonts continued on the tour, along with Frankie Sardo, while Bobby Vee, then an unknown artist, performed in Holly's place at the very next concert. Later, Jimmy Clanton, Frankie Avalon, and Fabian were added to replace the other now-deceased headliners.
Dion and the Belmonts' next single, "A Teenager in Love", was released in March 1959, eventually hitting No. 5 on the U.S. pop charts and No. 28 in the UK. The group's biggest hit, "Where or When", was released in November of that year, and reached No. 3 on the U.S. charts. However, in early 1960, Dion checked into hospital for heroin addiction, a problem he had had since his mid-teens. Further single releases for the group that year were less successful. There were musical, personal and financial differences between Dion and members of the Belmonts, and in October 1960, Dion decided to quit for a solo career. By the time of their breakup, all eight Laurie releases had charted on the Hot 100.
Solo stardom and touring worldwide: 1960–1964
By the end of 1960, Dion produced his first solo album on Laurie Records, Alone with Dion, released in 1961. The single "Lonely Teenager" rose to No. 12 in the US charts. The name on his solo releases was simply "Dion". Follow-ups "Havin' Fun" and "Kissin' Game" had less success, and the signs were that Dion would drift onto the cabaret circuit. However, he then recorded an up-tempo number co-written with Ernie Maresca with a new vocal group, the Del-Satins. The record, "Runaround Sue", stormed up the U.S. charts, reaching No. 1 in October 1961, and No. 11 in the UK, where he also toured. "Runaround Sue" sold over a million copies, achieving gold disc status.
For the next single, Laurie promoted the A-side, "The Majestic", but it was the B-side, Maresca's "The Wanderer", which received more radio play and climbed swiftly up the charts to reach No. 2 in the U.S. in February 1962 and No. 10 in the UK. The 1976 re-release made the UK Top 20.
By the end of 1961, Dion had become a major star, touring worldwide and making an appearance in the Columbia Pictures musical film Twist Around the Clock. In 1962, he followed with a string of singles he wrote or co-wrote including "Lovers Who Wander" (No. 3), "Little Diane" (No. 8), "Love Came to Me" (No. 10). He also had successful albums with Runaround Sue and Lovers Who Wander.
At the end of 1962, Dion moved from Laurie to Columbia Records. He was the first rock and roll artist signed to the label, which was an anomaly considering that its then-A&R director, Mitch Miller, loathed that particular genre of music. The first Columbia single, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller's "Ruby Baby" (originally a hit for the Drifters) reached No. 2, while "Donna the Prima Donna" and "Drip Drop" (another remake of a Drifters hit) both reached No. 6 in late 1963. (Dion also recorded an Italian version of "Donna the Prima Donna" using the identical backup vocals.) His other Columbia releases were less successful, and problems with his drug addiction and changing public tastes, especially the British Invasion, saw a period of commercial decline.
Belmonts reunion and renewed contract: 1965–1968
Following a European tour, Dion returned to the U.S. and was introduced to classic blues by Columbia's John Hammond. To the consternation of his management, he began recording more blues-oriented material, including Willie Dixon's "Hoochie Coochie Man" and "Spoonful", but these releases – some produced by Tom Wilson, with Al Kooper on keyboards – were not commercially successful. In 1965, still with Columbia, Dion formed a new group to back him, The Wanderers, composed of John Falbo on guitar, Pete Baron (Pete Falciglia) on bass, and Carlo Mastrangelo of the Belmonts on drums. They made national appearances on Dick Clark's, Where The Action Is, and The Lloyd Thaxton Show. A number of self-penned tracks were recorded and released unsuccessfully as singles, and did not appear in album format until years later. In June 1965 he recorded fellow Columbia Records's contemporary Bob Dylan's composition "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" a half-year before Them (featuring Van Morrison)'s hit version.
In 1966–67, Dion briefly reunited with the Belmonts, recording the LP Together Again for ABC Records. The album was unsuccessful, despite one classic self-penned song, "My Girl the Month of May". Two singles were released from the LP. While neither charted in the United States, they fared better in the UK. "My Girl The Month of May" entered the Radio London "Fab 40" at No. 9 the week of December 25, 1966. A 'turntable' hit at London underground clubs like Middle Earth, the disc received a lot of play from pirate radio DJ's John Peel and Kenny Everett. The follow up, "Movin' Man", reached No. 17 on the "Radio London" charts on Easter Sunday, March 26, 1967. "My Girl The Month of May" was later covered by English artists Alan Bown in 1967, and Island Records artists The Bunch (featuring Sandy Denny and other members of Fairport Convention) in April 1972. During their brief mid-60's reunion, Dion and the Belmonts appeared on the popular Clay Cole Show performing "Berimbau" and "My Girl The Month of May", and occasionally performed at local New York City clubs such as "The Mardi Gras" on Staten Island (April 29, 1967) before disbanding. While Dion's career appeared to be nearing an end, he still retained enough credibility to be, along with Bob Dylan, one of only two rock artists featured on the album cover of the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in 1967.
In April 1968, Dion experienced what he identified as a powerful religious transformation. After getting clean once again from heroin addiction, an experience he documented in his 1970 song "Your Own Backyard", he approached Laurie Records for a new contract. They agreed on the condition that he record the song "Abraham, Martin & John", written by Dick Holler (also the writer of the Royal Guardsmen's "Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron") in response to the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, and those of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy during the spring of 1968. The success of this song (released by Dion in August 1968 and later recorded by many others including Marvin Gaye) which reached No. 4 in the US charts and No. 1 in Canada, resuscitated Dion's career. It sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc.
Mature and Christian music period: 1969–1986
For the next few years, Dion's music became radically different, moving to more contemplative and mature material. He released several albums essentially as a singer-songwriter, to moderate sales, moving to the Warner Brothers label in 1969.
There followed a live reunion show with the Belmonts at Madison Square Garden on June 2, 1972, which was recorded and released as a live album by Warner. A year later, in 1973, Dion and the original Belmonts performed once more, doing a sold-out concert at the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island, New York. However, no recording of the 1973 reunion was released. This was followed in 1975 by the album Born to Be with You produced by Phil Spector. The album was a commercial failure, but has been subsequently praised by such artists as Jason Pierce of Spiritualized and Pete Townshend of The Who with the track "Only You Know" being sampled by Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker for his single "Don't Let Him Waste Your Time" from his 2006 solo album Jarvis.
In 1978, Dion released an album drawing on many of his teenage influences, Return of the Wanderer, another commercial failure.
In December 1979, there was a radical spiritual change in Dion, who had become a born again Christian. Thereafter, his recordings for several years were in a contemporary Christian vein, in which he released five albums on the DaySpring Records label, a division of Word Records in Waco, Texas. These albums reflecting his evangelical Christian convictions were Inside Job (1980), Only Jesus (1981), I Put Away My Idols (1983) which charted at No. 37, Seasons (1984), Kingdom in the Streets (1985) and Velvet & Steel (1986). Several singles were successfully released to Christian radio, notably "Still in the Spirit" from Kingdom in the Streets.
In 1984, Dion won the GMA Dove Award (Christian Music Award) for the album I Put Away My Idols. He was also nominated for Grammy Award for Best Gospel Vocal Performance, Male for the same album.
On September 24, 1985, Dion was a guest on 100 Huntley Street.
Return to secular music and RRHOF induction: 1987–1999
In 1987, Dion agreed to do a concert of his old hits at Radio City Music Hall in New York. The two disc CD of this concert was released in 2005, featuring concert photos by Dion's friend, Michael J. Friedman. This concert helped free him to celebrate both his past and his future, and led to a series of special appearances, including a fundraiser for homeless medical relief. There he shared the stage with fans such as Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon and Lou Reed, all of whom cited Dion as one of their prime influences.
Dion's autobiography, The Wanderer: Dion's Story, co-authored by Davin Seay, was published in the late-1980s.
In 1989, DiMucci returned to rock music with the contemporary album Yo Frankie, which included appearances by Paul Simon, Lou Reed, k.d. lang, Patty Smyth and Bryan Adams. Produced by Dave Edmunds (who also played guitar on the album), "Yo Frankie has a sharp sound while never losing sight of Dion's soulful, doo-wop voice." Overall, "the relevant and nostalgic statement from an artist who helped forge rock & roll's first wave" found his way back on radio and in music videos during this period (both on VH1 and MTV), as well as touring.
Dion was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF) in 1989 (with an introduction by Lou Reed). Controversially, when Dion's solo induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame occurred, the other original members of the Belmonts (Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano, and Angelo D'Aleo) were not inducted. A January 3, 2012 Billboard magazine article stated: "There was strife between DiMucci and Belmonts members, who were not pleased when DiMucci was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame without them in 1989."
DiMucci joined Scott Kempner and Frank Funaro of the Del-Lords and Mike Mesaros of the Smithereens in a short-lived band called Little Kings. A live album was later released, but not widely circulated or promoted.
Grammy Hall of Fame and blues success: 2000–2019
Dion has released several albums with contemporary rock artists. His Déjà Nu album in 2000 found him covering Bruce Springsteen, a major follower over the years. He joined Springsteen onstage in Miami in 2002 for a performance of "If I Should Fall Behind" from Dream on Fire.
In 2002, Dion was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for "Runaround Sue". He continues to perform songs from his albums live, including a concert in 2004 being recorded for release on DVD.
In January 2006, Dion released Bronx in Blue, an album of blues and country standards, which was nominated for a Grammy Award. It peaked at No. 2 on the Top Blues Albums chart. In November 2007, Dion issued a follow-up album titled Son of Skip James, which peaked at No. 4 on the Top Blues Albums chart.
In October 2008, DiMucci released Heroes: Giants of Early Guitar Rock, an album of his covers of early rock and roll songs he considers seminal to the genre. The album includes versions of songs originally recorded by Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, Ricky Nelson, Johnny Cash, and many other early rock guitarists.
In October 2009, Dion performed "The Wanderer" with Paul Simon at the 25th Anniversary Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Concert.
An audiobook and paperback by Dion and Mike Aquilina, titled Dion: The Wanderer Talks Truth (Stories, Humor Music), was published in April 2011. DiMucci shares stories about The Bronx in the 1950s, how he ended up on the cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and his travels with Sam Cooke in the Jim Crow South.
Dion released Tank Full of Blues on January 24, 2012. It peaked at No. 3 on the Top Blues Albums chart.
While touring on April 5, 2015, Dion performed "Donna the Prima Donna" live in Las Vegas. On July 11, 2015, he held a concert in Westbury, New York.
In 2015, Dion released the single "New York Is My Home" with Paul Simon. Dion had previously worked with Simon on his 1989 hit "Written on the Subway Wall". The single was followed by the album New York Is My Home, released February 12, 2016. The album peaked at No. 3 on the Top Blues Album chart.
Dion planned four concerts in the U.S. during early 2016 and was invited as a keynote speaker for the 2016 SXSW in Texas. He spoke on the topic A Conversation with Dion: Rock's Enduring Voice on March 17, 2016.
Dion appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on April 8, 2016.
In May 2017, Dion released Kickin' Child: The Lost Album 1965 from Norton Records, containing songs recorded in 1965 when he was with Columbia Records but were not previously released. Also in May 2017, Richard Barone's Sorrows & Promises: Greenwich Village in the 1960s was released, which included Dion performing a duet of his 1964 song "The Road I'm On (Gloria)" with Barone. The album is a celebration of the New York City scene that Dion was part of during that pivotal era.
Recent albums with KTBA Records: 2020–present
In June 2020, Dion released Blues with Friends via Keeping the Blues Alive Records (KTBA), a new record label created by Joe Bonamassa and Roy Weisman for Dion and other blues musicians to showcase their talents. The album features Van Morrison, Jeff Beck, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, and others (including liner notes by Bob Dylan). A digital album (and a double vinyl record set), Dion released a music video for every song from the album on his website and social media platforms such as Facebook and YouTube. The album reached No. 1 on the Billboard Blues Albums chart (9 weeks at No. 1 and 59 weeks total). It also charted in United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Canada and Australia.
American Songwriter magazine honored Dion's "Song for Sam Cooke (Here in America)" as the "Greatest of the Great 2020 Songs".
Dion also released two Christmas songs in 2020: "Hello Christmas" (featuring Amy Grant) and "You Know It's Christmas" (featuring Bonamassa). Both songs were co-written with Mike Aquilina. Music videos were produced for both songs.
Dion's song "Blues Comin' On" (with Bonamassa) from Blues with Friends was nominated for a 2021 Blues Music Award.
In November 2021, Dion released Stomping Ground (with music videos), which includes extensive liner notes written by Pete Townshend. Except for a cover of "Red House", the songs were written by Dion and Aquilina. Multiple guest artists participate on the album. The album became Dion's second No. 1 blues album.
The Wanderer musical
On October 13, 2011, an industry-only reading of a new play about Dion's life was performed in New York City.
In a December 9, 2011 article from The New York Times, Dion and his collaborator (writer/director Charles Messina) discussed details about the project – titled The Wanderer: The Life and Music of Dion – which will focus on the years between 1957 until the late-1960s, and will feature more than 20 songs from that era as well as new/original music. In the article, Dion gave his perspective on the story: "You know, I always saw my story as a young Sopranos with great music and a Rocky Graziano Somebody Up There Likes Me ending. It's a story of redemption. A rock and roll redemption story!"
DiMucci revealed that Michael Wartella would be starring in The Wanderer on December 16, 2017. There was a reading of the musical on November 2, 2017 while working on it continued. On December 4, 2019, it was announced that former New Kids on the Block member Joey McIntyre would star as Johnny, Michael Wartella as Dion, and Christy Altomare as wife, Susan. The first performance was scheduled to start on May 28, 2020, at the Paper Mill Playhouse. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the opening performance was rescheduled to March 24, 2022.
Personal life
Dion lives in Boca Raton, Florida and New York City.
In the late 1990s, Dion visited his old Bronx parish, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, and returned to Catholicism. Sparking Dion's reversion to Catholicism was "a chance viewing of The Journey Home program on EWTN."
As a practicing Roman Catholic and having struggled with a heroin addiction during his youth, Dion has been involved in prison religion, reaching out to men going through drug recovery.
DiMucci was a member of the American board of directors for Renewal Ministries in 2004.
Dion appeared on The Journey Home and discussed his wanderings from Catholicism to Protestantism and back again on May 1, 2006.
Selective discography
With the Belmonts
Presenting Dion and the Belmonts (1959)
Wish Upon a Star with Dion and the Belmonts (1960)
Together Again (1966)
Live at Madison Square Garden 1972 (1973)
Solo albums
Alone with Dion (1961)
Runaround Sue (1961)
Donna the Prima Donna (1963)
Dion (1968)
Suite for Late Summer (1972)
Born to Be with You (1975)
Streetheart (1976)
I Put Away My Idols (1983)
Yo Frankie (1989)
Son of Skip James (2007)
Blues with Friends (2020)
Stomping Ground (2021)
References
External links
Comprehensive Rolling Stone profile
The Spiritual Journey of the Wanderer Who Came Home By Dion Dimucci
Dion the Wanderer, Back In Blue (an article at NPR.com)
1939 births
Living people
American male singers
American people of Italian descent
American male pop singers
American folk singers
American rock singers
Musicians from the Bronx
American performers of Christian music
Laurie Records artists
Columbia Records artists
Singers from New York City
Dion and the Belmonts members
Doo-wop musicians
Catholics from New York (state) | true | [
"Fred Milano (August 26, 1939 – January 1, 2012) was an American doo-wop singer. Born in the Bronx, New York, he was a member (second tenor) of The Belmonts who became successful in the late 1950s as Dion and the Belmonts, and in the early 1960s. The Belmonts got their name from the street that Milano lived on, Belmont Avenue.\n\nLife\nHe had participated in every one of the Belmonts' recording sessions dating back 54 years. Dion DiMucci said of his death; \"I was shocked, obviously, because it was so sudden. It was already in stage four when he found out there was anything wrong with him. It hit hard because a relationship like we had, it’s ingrained in you. We knew each other from our teenage boyhoods; even though we weren’t close and didn’t talk in later years, what we went through together made us like family. He and the Belmonts — they were the very best. Freddie was almost like a genius with vocal harmony. I was humbled to sing with Freddie, Carlo and Angelo.\"\n\nIn 2000, Dion and the Belmonts were inducted in the Vocal Group Hall of Fame.\n\nMilano died on January 1, 2012, from lung cancer in New York, at the age of 72.\n\nDiscography\n\nSingles\n Mohawk Records \n \"Santa Margherita\" / \"Teen-Age Clementine\" (1957) - The Belmonts\n \"Tag Along\" / \"We Went Away\" (1958) - Dion and the Belmonts\n Laurie Records \n \"I Wonder Why\" / \"Teen Angel\" (1958) - Dion and the Belmonts\n \"No One Knows\" / \"I Can't Go On (Rosalie)\" (1958) - Dion and the Belmonts\n \"Don't Pity Me\" / \"Just You\" (1958) - Dion and the Belmonts\n \"A Teenager in Love\" / \"Ive Cried Before\" (1959) - Dion and the Belmonts\n \"A Lover's Prayer\" / \"Every Little Thing I Do\" (1959) - Dion and the Belmonts\n \"Where or When\" / \"That's My Desire\" (1960) - Dion and the Belmonts\n \"When You Wish upon a Star\" / \"Wonderful Girl\" (1960) - Dion and the Belmonts\n \"In the Still of the Night\" / \"A Funny Feeling\" (1960) - Dion and the Belmonts\n \"We Belong Together\" / \"Such A Long Way\" (1961) - The Belmonts\n \"Story Teller\" / \"A Brand New Song\" (1975) - The Belmonts\n Sabrina/Sabina Records \n \"Tell Me Why\" / \"Smoke From Your Cigarette\" (1961) - The Belmonts\n \"Don't Get Around Much Anymore\" / Searching For A New Love\" (1961) - The Belmonts\n \"I Need Someone\" / \"That American Dance\" (1961) - The Belmonts\n \"I Confess\" / \"Hombre\" (1962) - The Belmonts\n \"Come On Little Angel\" / \"How About Me\" (1962) - The Belmonts\n \"Diddle-Dee-Dum\" / \"Farewell\" (1962) - The Belmonts\n \"Ann-Marie\" / \"Ac-Cent-Tuate-The-Positive\" (1962) - The Belmonts\n \"Let's Call It A Day\" / \"Walk On Boy\" (1963) - The Belmonts\n \"More Important Things To Do\" / \"Walk On Boy\" (1963) - The Belmonts\n \"C'mon Everybody\" / \"Why\" (1963) - The Belmonts\n \"Nothing In Return\" / \"Summertime\" (1964) - The Belmonts\n United Artists Records \n \"I Don't Know Why, I Just Do\" / \"Wintertime\" (1965) - The Belmonts\n \"Today My Love Has Gone Away\" / \"(Then) I Walked Away\" (1965) - The Belmonts\n \"To Be With You\" / \"I Got A Feeling\" (1965) - The Belmonts\n \"You're Like A Mystery\" / \"Come With Me\" (1966) - The Belmonts\n ABC Records \n \"My Girl The Month of May\" / \"Berimbau\" (1966) - Dion and the Belmonts\n \"Movin' Man\" / \"For Bobbie\" (1967) - Dion and the Belmonts\n Dot Records \n \"She Only Wants To Do Her Own Thing\" / \"Reminiscing\" (1968) - The Belmonts\n \"Have You Heard-The Worst That Could Happen\" / \"Answer Me My Love\" (1969) - The Belmonts\n Strawberry Records \n \"I'll Never Fall In Love Again\" / \"Voyager\" (1976) - The Belmonts\n Miasound Records \n \"Let’s Put The Fun Back In Rock n Roll\" / \"Your Mama Ain’t Always Right\" (1981) - The Belmonts with Freddy Cannon\n\nAlbums\n Presenting Dion and the Belmonts (1959)\n Wish Upon A Star with Dion and the Belmonts (1960)\n Together Again (1967) - Dion and the Belmonts\n Summer Love (1969) - The Belmonts\n Cigars, Acappella, Candy (1972) - The Belmonts\n Reunion (1973) - Dion and the Belmonts\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n The Belmonts official website\n\n1939 births\n2012 deaths\nAmerican people of Italian descent\nAmerican male pop singers\nPeople from the Bronx\nDeaths from lung cancer\nDeaths from cancer in New York (state)\nDion and the Belmonts members\nBelmont, Bronx",
"Dion and the Belmonts were a leading American vocal group of the late 1950s. All of its members were from the Bronx, New York City. In 1957, Dion DiMucci (born July 18, 1939) joined the vocal group The Belmonts. The established trio of Angelo D'Aleo (born February 3, 1940), Carlo Mastrangelo (October 5, 1937April 4, 2016), and Fred Milano (August 26, 1939January 1, 2012), formed a quartet with DiMucci.\n\nHistory\nThe name the Belmonts was derived from the fact that two of the four singers lived on Belmont Avenue in the Bronx, and the other two lived near Belmont Avenue.\n\nAfter unsuccessful singles on Mohawk Records in 1957 and then on Jubilee Records (\"The Chosen Few\"; Dion & the Timberlanes not the Belmonts), Dion was paired with The Belmonts. The group signed with Laurie Records in early 1958. The breakthrough came when their first Laurie release, \"I Wonder Why\", reached No. 22 on the Billboard Top 100 chart, and they appeared for the first time on the nationally televised American Bandstand show, hosted by Dick Clark. Dion said of the Belmonts, \"I'd give 'em sounds. I'd give 'em parts and stuff. That's what 'I Wonder Why' was about. We kind of invented this percussive rhythmic sound. If you listen to that song, everybody was doing something different. It was totally amazing. When I listen to it today, often times I think, 'Man, those kids are talented'.\" Dion and the Belmonts were the sound of the city. Their roots were doo-wop groups like the Flamingos, the Five Satins, the Dells, acts who developed their sound in urban settings on street corners, mimicking instruments with their voices, even complex jazz arrangements.\n\nThey followed the hit with the ballads \"No One Knows\" (No. 19) and \"Don’t Pity Me\" (No. 40), which they also performed on Bandstand. This early success brought them their first major tour in late 1958, with the Coasters, Buddy Holly and Bobby Darin, followed by the historic and tragic Winter Dance Party tour featuring Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper. On February 2, 1959, after playing the Surf Ballroom, Holly arranged to charter a plane. Dion decided he could not afford the $36 cost to fly to the next venue. According to Dion, $36 was the same price his parents paid for monthly rent. He told Holly no. Shortly after midnight, on February 3, 1959, the plane crashed near Clear Lake, Iowa, with Holly, Valens, The Big Bopper, and the pilot, Roger Peterson, all being killed. Bobby Vee, then an unknown artist, performed in Holly's place at the next concert. Later, Jimmy Clanton, Frankie Avalon, and Fabian were hired to finish the tour in place of the three deceased headliners. As of January 11, 2017 with the death of Holly's tour guitarist Tommy Allsup, Dion is the lone surviving member of the original Winter Dance Party lineup. (The lone surviving Belmont, Angelo D'Aleo, was not on the tour, as he was in the US Navy at the time.)\n\nIn March 1959, Dion and the Belmonts’ next single, \"A Teenager in Love\", broke the Top Ten, reaching No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 28 on the UK Singles Chart. Written by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman, it's considered one of the greatest songs in rock and roll history. It was followed by their first album, Presenting Dion and the Belmonts. Their biggest hit, \"Where or When\", was released in November 1959, and reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 with the group making another national appearance on American Bandstand. Although publicity photos show the group as a trio without Angelo D'Aleo, he performed on all of their recorded material; these photos were presented for promotional reasons owing to his departure to serve in the U.S. Navy.\n\nOther singles released for the group that year continued to chart on Billboard, but were less successful. In early 1960, Dion checked into a hospital for heroin addiction, a problem he had since his mid-teens. At the height of the group's success his drug dependency worsened. When, \"Where or When\", peaked, he was in a hospital detoxifying. In addition, there were financial and musical differences between Dion and members of the Belmonts. \"They wanted to get into their harmony thing, and I wanted to rock and roll,\" said Dion. \"The label wanted me doing standards. I got bored with it quickly. I said, I can't do this. I gotta play my guitar. So we split up and I did \"Runaround Sue\", \"The Wanderer\", and \"Ruby Baby\". In October 1960, DiMucci decided to quit for a solo career. Now simply known as \"Dion\", his first major hit, \"Lonely Teenager\" was backed by a female chorus. He eventually chose to work with The Del-Satins, who backed him (uncredited) on all his early Laurie and Columbia Records hits, which, besides the three aforementioned hits Dion quoted, also included \"Donna the Prima Donna\" ,\"Drip Drop\", \"Lovers Who Wander\", and \"Little Diane\". Later reissues of these songs would often be erroneously attributed to Dion and the Belmonts. The Belmonts also continued to release records on their own label, Sabina Records, but with less success, although songs like \"Such a Long Way\", \"Tell Me Why\", \"I Need Someone\", \"I Confess\", and \"Come On Little Angel\" all got significant radio play in the New York City area.\n\nDion and the Belmonts reunited in late 1966 for the album Together Again on ABC Records. Produced by \"DiMont Music\", two singles were released from the LP, \"My Girl The Month of May\" / \"Berimbau\", and \"Movin' Man\" / \"For Bobbie\". Neither charted in the United States, but fared better in England. \"My Girl The Month Of May\" broke the \"Radio London Fab 40\" top ten at No. 9 the week of December 25, 1966. One reviewer stated, \"some British radio DJ's gave it a lot of airplay at the time.\" The follow up, \"Movin Man\", reached No. 17 on the \"Radio London\" chart on March 26, 1967. \"My Girl The Month Of May\", was later covered by English artists Alan Bown in 1967, and by The Bunch (featuring Sandy Denny of Fairport Convention) in April 1972. During their brief mid 1960s reunion, Dion and the Belmonts appeared on the Clay Cole Show performing \"Berimbau\" and \"My Girl The Month of May\", and occasionally performed at local New York City clubs such as \"The Mardi Gras\" on Staten Island (April 29, 1967) before disbanding. The original group reunited once again June 2, 1972 for a show at Madison Square Garden, which was recorded and released as a live album for Warner Brothers. A year later, in 1973, DiMucci, Mastrangelo, Milano and D'Aleo performed once more, doing a sold-out concert at the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island, New York. No recording of the 1973 reunion was ever released.\n\nIn 1968, as a solo performer, Dion recorded \"Abraham, Martin and John\" written by Dick Holler. It is a tribute to social change icons, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy. It was written as a response to the assassination of King in April and the assassination of Robert in June. When producer Phil Gernhard initially presented the song to DiMucci, the latter did not care for it. With the persistence of Gernhard, and Dion's wife Susan, he flew to New York that summer. He recorded the song in just one take. Laurie Records released the single in September of that year and it quickly raced up the chart, peaking at number four in December. DiMucci, now a star again, was invited to sing this comeback hit on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, as well as many other top shows.\n\nIncluding Billboard Hot 100 singles, Dion and the Belmonts charted 856 radio station surveys across the United States during the 1950s and 1960s. In 2000 the group was inducted in the Vocal Group Hall of Fame. Dion (without The Belmonts) was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989.\n\nRock Hall omission\nIn 2012, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame did a mass induction of six deserving pioneering groups that were left out in error when their lead singers were inducted in the Hall of Fame's early years of inductions: the Miracles (Smokey Robinson), the Crickets (Buddy Holly), the Midnighters (Hank Ballard), the Famous Flames (James Brown), the Comets (Bill Haley) and the Blue Caps (Gene Vincent) . Because of the timeline when these groups were successful, it was believed that the Belmonts would be included in this induction, but none was forthcoming. Because the Belmonts scored chart hits for an additional three years after Dion left the group, coupled with the fact that the entire group, including Dion, were inducted intact into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2000, 11 years after Dion's solo induction into the Rock Hall, made their omission even more puzzling. In January 2012, the year of that mass vocal group induction, Fred Milano of the Belmonts died (January 1, 2012). In a Billboard Magazine article, dated January 3, 2012, it was stated: \"There was strife between DiMucci and Belmonts members, who were not pleased when DiMucci was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame without them in 1989.\" Carlo Mastrangelo died on April 4, 2016.\n\nDiscography\n\nAlbums\nDion and the Belmonts released four albums:\nPresenting Dion & The Belmonts (1959) Laurie Records\nWish Upon a Star (1960) Laurie Records\nTogether Again (1966) ABC Records\nReunion: Live at Madison Square Garden (June 2, 1972) Released in 1973 by Warner Brothers Records\n\nThe two Laurie Records LPs are the most collectible, especially the first pressings of \"Presenting Dion and the Belmonts\", issued as Laurie LLP-1002 (later reissued as LLP-2002). There were also later compilations, some of which included the separate hits of The Belmonts, and some that included the hits of Dion, and Dion and The Belmonts.\n\nSingles\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n Dion & The Belmonts II\n VIDEO: Induct The Belmonts into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Dion\n\nAmerican vocal groups\nLaurie Records artists\nMusical groups established in 1957\nMusical groups from the Bronx\nDoo-wop groups\n1957 establishments in New York City"
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"Dion Francis DiMucci (born July 18, 1939), better known simply as Dion, is an American singer and songwriter whose music has incorporated elements of doo-wop, rock, R&B and blues. Initially as lead singer of Dion and the Belmonts, and then in his solo career, he was one of the most popular American rock and roll performers of the pre-British Invasion era. He had 39 Top 40 hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s as a solo performer, with the Belmonts or with the Del-Satins.",
"He had 39 Top 40 hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s as a solo performer, with the Belmonts or with the Del-Satins. He is best remembered for the singles \"Runaround Sue\", \"The Wanderer\", \"Ruby Baby\" and \"Lovers Who Wander\", among other hits. Dion's popularity waned in the mid-1960s. Toward the end of the decade, he shifted his style and produced songs that were more mature and contemplative, such as \"Abraham, Martin and John\".",
"Toward the end of the decade, he shifted his style and produced songs that were more mature and contemplative, such as \"Abraham, Martin and John\". He remained popular in the late 1960s until the mid-1970s, and continues making music. During the 1980s, Dion produced several Christian albums, winning a GMA Dove Award in 1984 for the album I Put Away My Idols. He returned to secular music in the late 1980s with Yo Frankie (1989).",
"He returned to secular music in the late 1980s with Yo Frankie (1989). Between the mid-2000s and 2021, Dion released six chart-topping blues albums. Critics who had dismissed his early work, labeling him as a teen idol, praised his later work and noted the influence he has had on other musicians. A Grammy-nominated artist, Dion has released nearly 40 albums and scored eight Top 10 hits (ten including the Belmonts) on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.",
"A Grammy-nominated artist, Dion has released nearly 40 albums and scored eight Top 10 hits (ten including the Belmonts) on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989. Early life Dion was born to an Italian-American family in the Bronx, New York. As a child, he accompanied his father, Pasquale DiMucci, a vaudeville entertainer, on tour, and developed a love of country music – particularly the work of Hank Williams.",
"As a child, he accompanied his father, Pasquale DiMucci, a vaudeville entertainer, on tour, and developed a love of country music – particularly the work of Hank Williams. He also developed a fondness for the blues and doo-wop musicians he heard performing in local bars and on the radio. His singing was honed on the street corners and local clubs of the Bronx, where he and other neighborhood singers created a cappella riffs. In early 1957, he auditioned for Bob and Gene Schwartz for their short-lived Mohawk Records label.",
"In early 1957, he auditioned for Bob and Gene Schwartz for their short-lived Mohawk Records label. They asked Dion to sing a song which had been arranged by Hugo Montenegro and recorded featuring Vic Damone doing vocals. At first Dion refused, stating the song would sound like something his old fashioned parents would listen to, but the Schwartzes convinced him to give it a try. The backing vocals were by a group called \"the Timberlanes\", whom Dion had never met.",
"The backing vocals were by a group called \"the Timberlanes\", whom Dion had never met. The resulting single, \"The Chosen Few\", was released under the name \"Dion and the Timberlanes\", and became a minor regional hit.",
"The resulting single, \"The Chosen Few\", was released under the name \"Dion and the Timberlanes\", and became a minor regional hit. Dion himself stated in 2019 during an interview at \"Crashing the Party\" (a radio program related to Norton Records in Brooklyn, New York) that \"The Chosen Few\" hit the Top Ten locally in Boston and enabled him to perform this song on American Bandstand where the kids at the show started screaming during his performance, which gave him his first impression of being a record star.",
"Dion himself stated in 2019 during an interview at \"Crashing the Party\" (a radio program related to Norton Records in Brooklyn, New York) that \"The Chosen Few\" hit the Top Ten locally in Boston and enabled him to perform this song on American Bandstand where the kids at the show started screaming during his performance, which gave him his first impression of being a record star. Writing about this experience later, in his autobiography, The Wanderer, Dion said that he had never met the Timberlanes and did not even know who they were.",
"Writing about this experience later, in his autobiography, The Wanderer, Dion said that he had never met the Timberlanes and did not even know who they were. \"The vocal group was so white bread, I went back to my neighborhood and I recruited a bunch of guys – three guys – and we called ourselves Dion and the Belmonts.\"",
"\"The vocal group was so white bread, I went back to my neighborhood and I recruited a bunch of guys – three guys – and we called ourselves Dion and the Belmonts.\" Career Beginnings with the Belmonts: 1957–1960 Bob and Gene Schwartz signed Dion's friends, the Belmonts (Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano, and Angelo D'Aleo), a vocal group named for the Belmont, Bronx neighborhood, and teamed them up with Dion singing lead.",
"Career Beginnings with the Belmonts: 1957–1960 Bob and Gene Schwartz signed Dion's friends, the Belmonts (Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano, and Angelo D'Aleo), a vocal group named for the Belmont, Bronx neighborhood, and teamed them up with Dion singing lead. The new group's breakthrough came in early 1958, when \"I Wonder Why\" (on their newly formed Laurie Records) made No. 22 on the U.S. charts. Dion said of the Belmonts; \"I'd give 'em sounds.",
"Dion said of the Belmonts; \"I'd give 'em sounds. I'd give 'em parts and stuff. That's what 'I Wonder Why' was about. We kind of invented this percussive rhythmic sound. If you listen to that song, everybody was doing something different. There's four guys, one guy was doing bass, I was singing lead, one guy's going 'ooh wah ooh,' and another guy's doing tenor. It was totally amazing.",
"It was totally amazing. It was totally amazing. When I listen to it today, oftentimes I think, 'man, those kids are talented.'\" Their initial hit was followed by \"No One Knows\" and \"Don't Pity Me\", which also charted the Billboard Top 100. This success won a place for Dion and the Belmonts on the ill-fated \"The Winter Dance Party\" tour with Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson), Frankie Sardo, and other performers.",
"This success won a place for Dion and the Belmonts on the ill-fated \"The Winter Dance Party\" tour with Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson), Frankie Sardo, and other performers. On February 3, 1959, after a concert stop in Clear Lake, Iowa, Holly and others decided to charter a flight to the next venue rather than travel on the tour bus.",
"On February 3, 1959, after a concert stop in Clear Lake, Iowa, Holly and others decided to charter a flight to the next venue rather than travel on the tour bus. Dion was invited to accompany the group but decided that he did not want to spend $36 for the flight, as it was the same monthly rent his parents paid for his childhood apartment and he could not justify the indulgence.",
"Dion was invited to accompany the group but decided that he did not want to spend $36 for the flight, as it was the same monthly rent his parents paid for his childhood apartment and he could not justify the indulgence. The plane crashed, killing all on board: Holly, Valens, Richardson, and the pilot Roger Peterson. Dion and the Belmonts continued on the tour, along with Frankie Sardo, while Bobby Vee, then an unknown artist, performed in Holly's place at the very next concert.",
"Dion and the Belmonts continued on the tour, along with Frankie Sardo, while Bobby Vee, then an unknown artist, performed in Holly's place at the very next concert. Later, Jimmy Clanton, Frankie Avalon, and Fabian were added to replace the other now-deceased headliners. Dion and the Belmonts' next single, \"A Teenager in Love\", was released in March 1959, eventually hitting No. 5 on the U.S. pop charts and No. 28 in the UK.",
"5 on the U.S. pop charts and No. 28 in the UK. 28 in the UK. The group's biggest hit, \"Where or When\", was released in November of that year, and reached No. 3 on the U.S. charts. However, in early 1960, Dion checked into hospital for heroin addiction, a problem he had had since his mid-teens. Further single releases for the group that year were less successful.",
"Further single releases for the group that year were less successful. There were musical, personal and financial differences between Dion and members of the Belmonts, and in October 1960, Dion decided to quit for a solo career. By the time of their breakup, all eight Laurie releases had charted on the Hot 100. Solo stardom and touring worldwide: 1960–1964 By the end of 1960, Dion produced his first solo album on Laurie Records, Alone with Dion, released in 1961.",
"Solo stardom and touring worldwide: 1960–1964 By the end of 1960, Dion produced his first solo album on Laurie Records, Alone with Dion, released in 1961. The single \"Lonely Teenager\" rose to No. 12 in the US charts. The name on his solo releases was simply \"Dion\". Follow-ups \"Havin' Fun\" and \"Kissin' Game\" had less success, and the signs were that Dion would drift onto the cabaret circuit.",
"Follow-ups \"Havin' Fun\" and \"Kissin' Game\" had less success, and the signs were that Dion would drift onto the cabaret circuit. However, he then recorded an up-tempo number co-written with Ernie Maresca with a new vocal group, the Del-Satins. The record, \"Runaround Sue\", stormed up the U.S. charts, reaching No. 1 in October 1961, and No. 11 in the UK, where he also toured. \"Runaround Sue\" sold over a million copies, achieving gold disc status.",
"\"Runaround Sue\" sold over a million copies, achieving gold disc status. For the next single, Laurie promoted the A-side, \"The Majestic\", but it was the B-side, Maresca's \"The Wanderer\", which received more radio play and climbed swiftly up the charts to reach No. 2 in the U.S. in February 1962 and No. 10 in the UK. The 1976 re-release made the UK Top 20.",
"The 1976 re-release made the UK Top 20. The 1976 re-release made the UK Top 20. By the end of 1961, Dion had become a major star, touring worldwide and making an appearance in the Columbia Pictures musical film Twist Around the Clock. In 1962, he followed with a string of singles he wrote or co-wrote including \"Lovers Who Wander\" (No. 3), \"Little Diane\" (No. 8), \"Love Came to Me\" (No. 10).",
"8), \"Love Came to Me\" (No. 10). 10). He also had successful albums with Runaround Sue and Lovers Who Wander. At the end of 1962, Dion moved from Laurie to Columbia Records. He was the first rock and roll artist signed to the label, which was an anomaly considering that its then-A&R director, Mitch Miller, loathed that particular genre of music.",
"He was the first rock and roll artist signed to the label, which was an anomaly considering that its then-A&R director, Mitch Miller, loathed that particular genre of music. The first Columbia single, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller's \"Ruby Baby\" (originally a hit for the Drifters) reached No. 2, while \"Donna the Prima Donna\" and \"Drip Drop\" (another remake of a Drifters hit) both reached No. 6 in late 1963.",
"6 in late 1963. 6 in late 1963. (Dion also recorded an Italian version of \"Donna the Prima Donna\" using the identical backup vocals.) His other Columbia releases were less successful, and problems with his drug addiction and changing public tastes, especially the British Invasion, saw a period of commercial decline. Belmonts reunion and renewed contract: 1965–1968 Following a European tour, Dion returned to the U.S. and was introduced to classic blues by Columbia's John Hammond.",
"Belmonts reunion and renewed contract: 1965–1968 Following a European tour, Dion returned to the U.S. and was introduced to classic blues by Columbia's John Hammond. To the consternation of his management, he began recording more blues-oriented material, including Willie Dixon's \"Hoochie Coochie Man\" and \"Spoonful\", but these releases – some produced by Tom Wilson, with Al Kooper on keyboards – were not commercially successful.",
"To the consternation of his management, he began recording more blues-oriented material, including Willie Dixon's \"Hoochie Coochie Man\" and \"Spoonful\", but these releases – some produced by Tom Wilson, with Al Kooper on keyboards – were not commercially successful. In 1965, still with Columbia, Dion formed a new group to back him, The Wanderers, composed of John Falbo on guitar, Pete Baron (Pete Falciglia) on bass, and Carlo Mastrangelo of the Belmonts on drums.",
"In 1965, still with Columbia, Dion formed a new group to back him, The Wanderers, composed of John Falbo on guitar, Pete Baron (Pete Falciglia) on bass, and Carlo Mastrangelo of the Belmonts on drums. They made national appearances on Dick Clark's, Where The Action Is, and The Lloyd Thaxton Show. A number of self-penned tracks were recorded and released unsuccessfully as singles, and did not appear in album format until years later.",
"A number of self-penned tracks were recorded and released unsuccessfully as singles, and did not appear in album format until years later. In June 1965 he recorded fellow Columbia Records's contemporary Bob Dylan's composition \"It's All Over Now, Baby Blue\" a half-year before Them (featuring Van Morrison)'s hit version. In 1966–67, Dion briefly reunited with the Belmonts, recording the LP Together Again for ABC Records. The album was unsuccessful, despite one classic self-penned song, \"My Girl the Month of May\".",
"The album was unsuccessful, despite one classic self-penned song, \"My Girl the Month of May\". Two singles were released from the LP. While neither charted in the United States, they fared better in the UK. \"My Girl The Month of May\" entered the Radio London \"Fab 40\" at No. 9 the week of December 25, 1966.",
"9 the week of December 25, 1966. 9 the week of December 25, 1966. A 'turntable' hit at London underground clubs like Middle Earth, the disc received a lot of play from pirate radio DJ's John Peel and Kenny Everett. The follow up, \"Movin' Man\", reached No. 17 on the \"Radio London\" charts on Easter Sunday, March 26, 1967.",
"17 on the \"Radio London\" charts on Easter Sunday, March 26, 1967. \"My Girl The Month of May\" was later covered by English artists Alan Bown in 1967, and Island Records artists The Bunch (featuring Sandy Denny and other members of Fairport Convention) in April 1972.",
"\"My Girl The Month of May\" was later covered by English artists Alan Bown in 1967, and Island Records artists The Bunch (featuring Sandy Denny and other members of Fairport Convention) in April 1972. During their brief mid-60's reunion, Dion and the Belmonts appeared on the popular Clay Cole Show performing \"Berimbau\" and \"My Girl The Month of May\", and occasionally performed at local New York City clubs such as \"The Mardi Gras\" on Staten Island (April 29, 1967) before disbanding.",
"During their brief mid-60's reunion, Dion and the Belmonts appeared on the popular Clay Cole Show performing \"Berimbau\" and \"My Girl The Month of May\", and occasionally performed at local New York City clubs such as \"The Mardi Gras\" on Staten Island (April 29, 1967) before disbanding. While Dion's career appeared to be nearing an end, he still retained enough credibility to be, along with Bob Dylan, one of only two rock artists featured on the album cover of the Beatles' Sgt.",
"While Dion's career appeared to be nearing an end, he still retained enough credibility to be, along with Bob Dylan, one of only two rock artists featured on the album cover of the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in 1967. In April 1968, Dion experienced what he identified as a powerful religious transformation. After getting clean once again from heroin addiction, an experience he documented in his 1970 song \"Your Own Backyard\", he approached Laurie Records for a new contract.",
"After getting clean once again from heroin addiction, an experience he documented in his 1970 song \"Your Own Backyard\", he approached Laurie Records for a new contract. They agreed on the condition that he record the song \"Abraham, Martin & John\", written by Dick Holler (also the writer of the Royal Guardsmen's \"Snoopy Vs.",
"They agreed on the condition that he record the song \"Abraham, Martin & John\", written by Dick Holler (also the writer of the Royal Guardsmen's \"Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron\") in response to the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, and those of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy during the spring of 1968. The success of this song (released by Dion in August 1968 and later recorded by many others including Marvin Gaye) which reached No.",
"The success of this song (released by Dion in August 1968 and later recorded by many others including Marvin Gaye) which reached No. 4 in the US charts and No. 1 in Canada, resuscitated Dion's career. It sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc. Mature and Christian music period: 1969–1986 For the next few years, Dion's music became radically different, moving to more contemplative and mature material.",
"Mature and Christian music period: 1969–1986 For the next few years, Dion's music became radically different, moving to more contemplative and mature material. He released several albums essentially as a singer-songwriter, to moderate sales, moving to the Warner Brothers label in 1969. There followed a live reunion show with the Belmonts at Madison Square Garden on June 2, 1972, which was recorded and released as a live album by Warner.",
"There followed a live reunion show with the Belmonts at Madison Square Garden on June 2, 1972, which was recorded and released as a live album by Warner. A year later, in 1973, Dion and the original Belmonts performed once more, doing a sold-out concert at the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island, New York. However, no recording of the 1973 reunion was released. This was followed in 1975 by the album Born to Be with You produced by Phil Spector.",
"This was followed in 1975 by the album Born to Be with You produced by Phil Spector. The album was a commercial failure, but has been subsequently praised by such artists as Jason Pierce of Spiritualized and Pete Townshend of The Who with the track \"Only You Know\" being sampled by Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker for his single \"Don't Let Him Waste Your Time\" from his 2006 solo album Jarvis.",
"The album was a commercial failure, but has been subsequently praised by such artists as Jason Pierce of Spiritualized and Pete Townshend of The Who with the track \"Only You Know\" being sampled by Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker for his single \"Don't Let Him Waste Your Time\" from his 2006 solo album Jarvis. In 1978, Dion released an album drawing on many of his teenage influences, Return of the Wanderer, another commercial failure.",
"In 1978, Dion released an album drawing on many of his teenage influences, Return of the Wanderer, another commercial failure. In December 1979, there was a radical spiritual change in Dion, who had become a born again Christian. Thereafter, his recordings for several years were in a contemporary Christian vein, in which he released five albums on the DaySpring Records label, a division of Word Records in Waco, Texas.",
"Thereafter, his recordings for several years were in a contemporary Christian vein, in which he released five albums on the DaySpring Records label, a division of Word Records in Waco, Texas. These albums reflecting his evangelical Christian convictions were Inside Job (1980), Only Jesus (1981), I Put Away My Idols (1983) which charted at No. 37, Seasons (1984), Kingdom in the Streets (1985) and Velvet & Steel (1986).",
"37, Seasons (1984), Kingdom in the Streets (1985) and Velvet & Steel (1986). Several singles were successfully released to Christian radio, notably \"Still in the Spirit\" from Kingdom in the Streets. In 1984, Dion won the GMA Dove Award (Christian Music Award) for the album I Put Away My Idols. He was also nominated for Grammy Award for Best Gospel Vocal Performance, Male for the same album.",
"He was also nominated for Grammy Award for Best Gospel Vocal Performance, Male for the same album. On September 24, 1985, Dion was a guest on 100 Huntley Street. Return to secular music and RRHOF induction: 1987–1999 In 1987, Dion agreed to do a concert of his old hits at Radio City Music Hall in New York. The two disc CD of this concert was released in 2005, featuring concert photos by Dion's friend, Michael J. Friedman.",
"The two disc CD of this concert was released in 2005, featuring concert photos by Dion's friend, Michael J. Friedman. This concert helped free him to celebrate both his past and his future, and led to a series of special appearances, including a fundraiser for homeless medical relief. There he shared the stage with fans such as Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon and Lou Reed, all of whom cited Dion as one of their prime influences.",
"There he shared the stage with fans such as Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon and Lou Reed, all of whom cited Dion as one of their prime influences. Dion's autobiography, The Wanderer: Dion's Story, co-authored by Davin Seay, was published in the late-1980s. In 1989, DiMucci returned to rock music with the contemporary album Yo Frankie, which included appearances by Paul Simon, Lou Reed, k.d. lang, Patty Smyth and Bryan Adams.",
"lang, Patty Smyth and Bryan Adams. lang, Patty Smyth and Bryan Adams. Produced by Dave Edmunds (who also played guitar on the album), \"Yo Frankie has a sharp sound while never losing sight of Dion's soulful, doo-wop voice.\" Overall, \"the relevant and nostalgic statement from an artist who helped forge rock & roll's first wave\" found his way back on radio and in music videos during this period (both on VH1 and MTV), as well as touring.",
"Overall, \"the relevant and nostalgic statement from an artist who helped forge rock & roll's first wave\" found his way back on radio and in music videos during this period (both on VH1 and MTV), as well as touring. Dion was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF) in 1989 (with an introduction by Lou Reed).",
"Dion was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF) in 1989 (with an introduction by Lou Reed). Controversially, when Dion's solo induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame occurred, the other original members of the Belmonts (Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano, and Angelo D'Aleo) were not inducted.",
"Controversially, when Dion's solo induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame occurred, the other original members of the Belmonts (Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano, and Angelo D'Aleo) were not inducted. A January 3, 2012 Billboard magazine article stated: \"There was strife between DiMucci and Belmonts members, who were not pleased when DiMucci was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame without them in 1989.\"",
"A January 3, 2012 Billboard magazine article stated: \"There was strife between DiMucci and Belmonts members, who were not pleased when DiMucci was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame without them in 1989.\" DiMucci joined Scott Kempner and Frank Funaro of the Del-Lords and Mike Mesaros of the Smithereens in a short-lived band called Little Kings. A live album was later released, but not widely circulated or promoted. Grammy Hall of Fame and blues success: 2000–2019 Dion has released several albums with contemporary rock artists.",
"Grammy Hall of Fame and blues success: 2000–2019 Dion has released several albums with contemporary rock artists. His Déjà Nu album in 2000 found him covering Bruce Springsteen, a major follower over the years. He joined Springsteen onstage in Miami in 2002 for a performance of \"If I Should Fall Behind\" from Dream on Fire. In 2002, Dion was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for \"Runaround Sue\".",
"In 2002, Dion was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for \"Runaround Sue\". He continues to perform songs from his albums live, including a concert in 2004 being recorded for release on DVD. In January 2006, Dion released Bronx in Blue, an album of blues and country standards, which was nominated for a Grammy Award. It peaked at No. 2 on the Top Blues Albums chart. In November 2007, Dion issued a follow-up album titled Son of Skip James, which peaked at No.",
"In November 2007, Dion issued a follow-up album titled Son of Skip James, which peaked at No. 4 on the Top Blues Albums chart. In October 2008, DiMucci released Heroes: Giants of Early Guitar Rock, an album of his covers of early rock and roll songs he considers seminal to the genre. The album includes versions of songs originally recorded by Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, Ricky Nelson, Johnny Cash, and many other early rock guitarists.",
"The album includes versions of songs originally recorded by Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, Ricky Nelson, Johnny Cash, and many other early rock guitarists. In October 2009, Dion performed \"The Wanderer\" with Paul Simon at the 25th Anniversary Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Concert. An audiobook and paperback by Dion and Mike Aquilina, titled Dion: The Wanderer Talks Truth (Stories, Humor Music), was published in April 2011.",
"An audiobook and paperback by Dion and Mike Aquilina, titled Dion: The Wanderer Talks Truth (Stories, Humor Music), was published in April 2011. DiMucci shares stories about The Bronx in the 1950s, how he ended up on the cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and his travels with Sam Cooke in the Jim Crow South. Dion released Tank Full of Blues on January 24, 2012. It peaked at No. 3 on the Top Blues Albums chart.",
"3 on the Top Blues Albums chart. 3 on the Top Blues Albums chart. While touring on April 5, 2015, Dion performed \"Donna the Prima Donna\" live in Las Vegas. On July 11, 2015, he held a concert in Westbury, New York. In 2015, Dion released the single \"New York Is My Home\" with Paul Simon. Dion had previously worked with Simon on his 1989 hit \"Written on the Subway Wall\".",
"Dion had previously worked with Simon on his 1989 hit \"Written on the Subway Wall\". The single was followed by the album New York Is My Home, released February 12, 2016. The album peaked at No. 3 on the Top Blues Album chart. Dion planned four concerts in the U.S. during early 2016 and was invited as a keynote speaker for the 2016 SXSW in Texas. He spoke on the topic A Conversation with Dion: Rock's Enduring Voice on March 17, 2016.",
"He spoke on the topic A Conversation with Dion: Rock's Enduring Voice on March 17, 2016. Dion appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on April 8, 2016. In May 2017, Dion released Kickin' Child: The Lost Album 1965 from Norton Records, containing songs recorded in 1965 when he was with Columbia Records but were not previously released.",
"In May 2017, Dion released Kickin' Child: The Lost Album 1965 from Norton Records, containing songs recorded in 1965 when he was with Columbia Records but were not previously released. Also in May 2017, Richard Barone's Sorrows & Promises: Greenwich Village in the 1960s was released, which included Dion performing a duet of his 1964 song \"The Road I'm On (Gloria)\" with Barone. The album is a celebration of the New York City scene that Dion was part of during that pivotal era.",
"The album is a celebration of the New York City scene that Dion was part of during that pivotal era. Recent albums with KTBA Records: 2020–present In June 2020, Dion released Blues with Friends via Keeping the Blues Alive Records (KTBA), a new record label created by Joe Bonamassa and Roy Weisman for Dion and other blues musicians to showcase their talents. The album features Van Morrison, Jeff Beck, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, and others (including liner notes by Bob Dylan).",
"The album features Van Morrison, Jeff Beck, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, and others (including liner notes by Bob Dylan). A digital album (and a double vinyl record set), Dion released a music video for every song from the album on his website and social media platforms such as Facebook and YouTube. The album reached No. 1 on the Billboard Blues Albums chart (9 weeks at No. 1 and 59 weeks total).",
"1 and 59 weeks total). 1 and 59 weeks total). It also charted in United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Canada and Australia. American Songwriter magazine honored Dion's \"Song for Sam Cooke (Here in America)\" as the \"Greatest of the Great 2020 Songs\". Dion also released two Christmas songs in 2020: \"Hello Christmas\" (featuring Amy Grant) and \"You Know It's Christmas\" (featuring Bonamassa). Both songs were co-written with Mike Aquilina.",
"Both songs were co-written with Mike Aquilina. Both songs were co-written with Mike Aquilina. Music videos were produced for both songs. Dion's song \"Blues Comin' On\" (with Bonamassa) from Blues with Friends was nominated for a 2021 Blues Music Award. In November 2021, Dion released Stomping Ground (with music videos), which includes extensive liner notes written by Pete Townshend. Except for a cover of \"Red House\", the songs were written by Dion and Aquilina.",
"Except for a cover of \"Red House\", the songs were written by Dion and Aquilina. Multiple guest artists participate on the album. The album became Dion's second No. 1 blues album. The Wanderer musical On October 13, 2011, an industry-only reading of a new play about Dion's life was performed in New York City.",
"The Wanderer musical On October 13, 2011, an industry-only reading of a new play about Dion's life was performed in New York City. In a December 9, 2011 article from The New York Times, Dion and his collaborator (writer/director Charles Messina) discussed details about the project – titled The Wanderer: The Life and Music of Dion – which will focus on the years between 1957 until the late-1960s, and will feature more than 20 songs from that era as well as new/original music.",
"In a December 9, 2011 article from The New York Times, Dion and his collaborator (writer/director Charles Messina) discussed details about the project – titled The Wanderer: The Life and Music of Dion – which will focus on the years between 1957 until the late-1960s, and will feature more than 20 songs from that era as well as new/original music. In the article, Dion gave his perspective on the story: \"You know, I always saw my story as a young Sopranos with great music and a Rocky Graziano Somebody Up There Likes Me ending.",
"In the article, Dion gave his perspective on the story: \"You know, I always saw my story as a young Sopranos with great music and a Rocky Graziano Somebody Up There Likes Me ending. It's a story of redemption. A rock and roll redemption story!\" DiMucci revealed that Michael Wartella would be starring in The Wanderer on December 16, 2017. There was a reading of the musical on November 2, 2017 while working on it continued.",
"There was a reading of the musical on November 2, 2017 while working on it continued. On December 4, 2019, it was announced that former New Kids on the Block member Joey McIntyre would star as Johnny, Michael Wartella as Dion, and Christy Altomare as wife, Susan. The first performance was scheduled to start on May 28, 2020, at the Paper Mill Playhouse. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the opening performance was rescheduled to March 24, 2022.",
"Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the opening performance was rescheduled to March 24, 2022. Personal life Dion lives in Boca Raton, Florida and New York City. In the late 1990s, Dion visited his old Bronx parish, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, and returned to Catholicism. Sparking Dion's reversion to Catholicism was \"a chance viewing of The Journey Home program on EWTN.\"",
"Sparking Dion's reversion to Catholicism was \"a chance viewing of The Journey Home program on EWTN.\" As a practicing Roman Catholic and having struggled with a heroin addiction during his youth, Dion has been involved in prison religion, reaching out to men going through drug recovery. DiMucci was a member of the American board of directors for Renewal Ministries in 2004. Dion appeared on The Journey Home and discussed his wanderings from Catholicism to Protestantism and back again on May 1, 2006.",
"Dion appeared on The Journey Home and discussed his wanderings from Catholicism to Protestantism and back again on May 1, 2006. Selective discography With the Belmonts Presenting Dion and the Belmonts (1959) Wish Upon a Star with Dion and the Belmonts (1960) Together Again (1966) Live at Madison Square Garden 1972 (1973) Solo albums Alone with Dion (1961) Runaround Sue (1961) Donna the Prima Donna (1963) Dion (1968) Suite for Late Summer (1972) Born to Be with You (1975) Streetheart (1976) I Put Away My Idols (1983) Yo Frankie (1989) Son of Skip James (2007) Blues with Friends (2020) Stomping Ground (2021) References External links Comprehensive Rolling Stone profile The Spiritual Journey of the Wanderer Who Came Home By Dion Dimucci Dion the Wanderer, Back In Blue (an article at NPR.com) 1939 births Living people American male singers American people of Italian descent American male pop singers American folk singers American rock singers Musicians from the Bronx American performers of Christian music Laurie Records artists Columbia Records artists Singers from New York City Dion and the Belmonts members Doo-wop musicians Catholics from New York (state)"
] |
[
"Dion DiMucci",
"With the Belmonts: 1957-1960",
"Who were the other members of the Belmonts?",
"Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano, and Angelo D'Aleo",
"Did they know each other from school?",
"I don't know."
] | C_57ef3079d2cb4481bdcc3f5beea88674_1 | How old were the members of the group? | 3 | How old were the members of the Belmonts? | Dion DiMucci | Bob and Gene Schwartz also signed Dion's friends, the Belmonts, (Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano, and Angelo D'Aleo), a vocal group named for nearby Belmont Avenue, and teamed them, with Dion singing lead. The new group's breakthrough came in early 1958, when "I Wonder Why" (on their newly formed "Laurie" label) made No. 22 on the U.S. charts. Dion said of the Belmonts; "I'd give 'em sounds. I'd give 'em parts and stuff. That's what 'I Wonder Why' was about. We kind of invented this percussive rhythmic sound. If you listen to that song, everybody was doing something different. There's four guys, one guy was doing bass, I was singing lead, one guy's going 'ooh wah ooh,' and another guy's doing tenor. It was totally amazing. When I listen to it today, oftentimes I think, 'man, those kids are talented.'" Their initial hit was followed by "No One Knows" and "Don't Pity Me," which also charted the Billboard Top 100. This success won a place for Dion and the Belmonts on the ill-fated "The Winter Dance Party" tour with Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson), Frankie Sardo, and other performers. On February 3, 1959, after a concert stop in Clear Lake, Iowa, Holly and others decided to charter a flight to the next venue rather than travel on the tour bus. Dion was invited to accompany the group but decided that he did not want to spend $36 for the flight, as it was the same monthly rent his parents paid for his childhood apartment and he couldn't justify the indulgence. The plane crashed, killing all on board; Holly, Valens, Richardson, and the pilot Roger Peterson. Dion and the Belmonts continued on the tour, along with Frankie Sardo, while Bobby Vee, then an unknown artist, performed in Holly's place at the very next concert. Later, Jimmy Clanton, Frankie Avalon, and Fabian were added to replace the other now-deceased headliners. Dion and the Belmonts' next single, "A Teenager in Love," was released in March 1959, eventually hitting No. 5 on the U.S. pop charts and No. 28 in the UK. The group's biggest hit, "Where or When," was released in November of that year, and reached No. 3 on the U.S. charts. However, in early 1960, Dion checked into hospital for heroin addiction, a problem he had had since his mid-teens. Further single releases for the group that year were less successful. There were musical, personal and financial differences between Dion and members of the Belmonts, and in October 1960, Dion decided to quit for a solo career. By the time of their breakup, all eight Laurie releases had charted on the Hot 100. CANNOTANSWER | No One Knows | Dion Francis DiMucci (born July 18, 1939), better known simply as Dion, is an American singer and songwriter whose music has incorporated elements of doo-wop, rock, R&B and blues. Initially as lead singer of Dion and the Belmonts, and then in his solo career, he was one of the most popular American rock and roll performers of the pre-British Invasion era. He had 39 Top 40 hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s as a solo performer, with the Belmonts or with the Del-Satins. He is best remembered for the singles "Runaround Sue", "The Wanderer", "Ruby Baby" and "Lovers Who Wander", among other hits.
Dion's popularity waned in the mid-1960s. Toward the end of the decade, he shifted his style and produced songs that were more mature and contemplative, such as "Abraham, Martin and John". He remained popular in the late 1960s until the mid-1970s, and continues making music. During the 1980s, Dion produced several Christian albums, winning a GMA Dove Award in 1984 for the album I Put Away My Idols. He returned to secular music in the late 1980s with Yo Frankie (1989). Between the mid-2000s and 2021, Dion released six chart-topping blues albums. Critics who had dismissed his early work, labeling him as a teen idol, praised his later work and noted the influence he has had on other musicians.
A Grammy-nominated artist, Dion has released nearly 40 albums and scored eight Top 10 hits (ten including the Belmonts) on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989.
Early life
Dion was born to an Italian-American family in the Bronx, New York. As a child, he accompanied his father, Pasquale DiMucci, a vaudeville entertainer, on tour, and developed a love of country music – particularly the work of Hank Williams. He also developed a fondness for the blues and doo-wop musicians he heard performing in local bars and on the radio. His singing was honed on the street corners and local clubs of the Bronx, where he and other neighborhood singers created a cappella riffs.
In early 1957, he auditioned for Bob and Gene Schwartz for their short-lived Mohawk Records label. They asked Dion to sing a song which had been arranged by Hugo Montenegro and recorded featuring Vic Damone doing vocals. At first Dion refused, stating the song would sound like something his old fashioned parents would listen to, but the Schwartzes convinced him to give it a try. The backing vocals were by a group called "the Timberlanes", whom Dion had never met. The resulting single, "The Chosen Few", was released under the name "Dion and the Timberlanes", and became a minor regional hit. Dion himself stated in 2019 during an interview at "Crashing the Party" (a radio program related to Norton Records in Brooklyn, New York) that "The Chosen Few" hit the Top Ten locally in Boston and enabled him to perform this song on American Bandstand where the kids at the show started screaming during his performance, which gave him his first impression of being a record star. Writing about this experience later, in his autobiography, The Wanderer, Dion said that he had never met the Timberlanes and did not even know who they were. "The vocal group was so white bread, I went back to my neighborhood and I recruited a bunch of guys – three guys – and we called ourselves Dion and the Belmonts."
Career
Beginnings with the Belmonts: 1957–1960
Bob and Gene Schwartz signed Dion's friends, the Belmonts (Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano, and Angelo D'Aleo), a vocal group named for the Belmont, Bronx neighborhood, and teamed them up with Dion singing lead. The new group's breakthrough came in early 1958, when "I Wonder Why" (on their newly formed Laurie Records) made No. 22 on the U.S. charts. Dion said of the Belmonts; "I'd give 'em sounds. I'd give 'em parts and stuff. That's what 'I Wonder Why' was about. We kind of invented this percussive rhythmic sound. If you listen to that song, everybody was doing something different. There's four guys, one guy was doing bass, I was singing lead, one guy's going 'ooh wah ooh,' and another guy's doing tenor. It was totally amazing. When I listen to it today, oftentimes I think, 'man, those kids are talented.'"
Their initial hit was followed by "No One Knows" and "Don't Pity Me", which also charted the Billboard Top 100. This success won a place for Dion and the Belmonts on the ill-fated "The Winter Dance Party" tour with Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson), Frankie Sardo, and other performers. On February 3, 1959, after a concert stop in Clear Lake, Iowa, Holly and others decided to charter a flight to the next venue rather than travel on the tour bus. Dion was invited to accompany the group but decided that he did not want to spend $36 for the flight, as it was the same monthly rent his parents paid for his childhood apartment and he could not justify the indulgence. The plane crashed, killing all on board: Holly, Valens, Richardson, and the pilot Roger Peterson. Dion and the Belmonts continued on the tour, along with Frankie Sardo, while Bobby Vee, then an unknown artist, performed in Holly's place at the very next concert. Later, Jimmy Clanton, Frankie Avalon, and Fabian were added to replace the other now-deceased headliners.
Dion and the Belmonts' next single, "A Teenager in Love", was released in March 1959, eventually hitting No. 5 on the U.S. pop charts and No. 28 in the UK. The group's biggest hit, "Where or When", was released in November of that year, and reached No. 3 on the U.S. charts. However, in early 1960, Dion checked into hospital for heroin addiction, a problem he had had since his mid-teens. Further single releases for the group that year were less successful. There were musical, personal and financial differences between Dion and members of the Belmonts, and in October 1960, Dion decided to quit for a solo career. By the time of their breakup, all eight Laurie releases had charted on the Hot 100.
Solo stardom and touring worldwide: 1960–1964
By the end of 1960, Dion produced his first solo album on Laurie Records, Alone with Dion, released in 1961. The single "Lonely Teenager" rose to No. 12 in the US charts. The name on his solo releases was simply "Dion". Follow-ups "Havin' Fun" and "Kissin' Game" had less success, and the signs were that Dion would drift onto the cabaret circuit. However, he then recorded an up-tempo number co-written with Ernie Maresca with a new vocal group, the Del-Satins. The record, "Runaround Sue", stormed up the U.S. charts, reaching No. 1 in October 1961, and No. 11 in the UK, where he also toured. "Runaround Sue" sold over a million copies, achieving gold disc status.
For the next single, Laurie promoted the A-side, "The Majestic", but it was the B-side, Maresca's "The Wanderer", which received more radio play and climbed swiftly up the charts to reach No. 2 in the U.S. in February 1962 and No. 10 in the UK. The 1976 re-release made the UK Top 20.
By the end of 1961, Dion had become a major star, touring worldwide and making an appearance in the Columbia Pictures musical film Twist Around the Clock. In 1962, he followed with a string of singles he wrote or co-wrote including "Lovers Who Wander" (No. 3), "Little Diane" (No. 8), "Love Came to Me" (No. 10). He also had successful albums with Runaround Sue and Lovers Who Wander.
At the end of 1962, Dion moved from Laurie to Columbia Records. He was the first rock and roll artist signed to the label, which was an anomaly considering that its then-A&R director, Mitch Miller, loathed that particular genre of music. The first Columbia single, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller's "Ruby Baby" (originally a hit for the Drifters) reached No. 2, while "Donna the Prima Donna" and "Drip Drop" (another remake of a Drifters hit) both reached No. 6 in late 1963. (Dion also recorded an Italian version of "Donna the Prima Donna" using the identical backup vocals.) His other Columbia releases were less successful, and problems with his drug addiction and changing public tastes, especially the British Invasion, saw a period of commercial decline.
Belmonts reunion and renewed contract: 1965–1968
Following a European tour, Dion returned to the U.S. and was introduced to classic blues by Columbia's John Hammond. To the consternation of his management, he began recording more blues-oriented material, including Willie Dixon's "Hoochie Coochie Man" and "Spoonful", but these releases – some produced by Tom Wilson, with Al Kooper on keyboards – were not commercially successful. In 1965, still with Columbia, Dion formed a new group to back him, The Wanderers, composed of John Falbo on guitar, Pete Baron (Pete Falciglia) on bass, and Carlo Mastrangelo of the Belmonts on drums. They made national appearances on Dick Clark's, Where The Action Is, and The Lloyd Thaxton Show. A number of self-penned tracks were recorded and released unsuccessfully as singles, and did not appear in album format until years later. In June 1965 he recorded fellow Columbia Records's contemporary Bob Dylan's composition "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" a half-year before Them (featuring Van Morrison)'s hit version.
In 1966–67, Dion briefly reunited with the Belmonts, recording the LP Together Again for ABC Records. The album was unsuccessful, despite one classic self-penned song, "My Girl the Month of May". Two singles were released from the LP. While neither charted in the United States, they fared better in the UK. "My Girl The Month of May" entered the Radio London "Fab 40" at No. 9 the week of December 25, 1966. A 'turntable' hit at London underground clubs like Middle Earth, the disc received a lot of play from pirate radio DJ's John Peel and Kenny Everett. The follow up, "Movin' Man", reached No. 17 on the "Radio London" charts on Easter Sunday, March 26, 1967. "My Girl The Month of May" was later covered by English artists Alan Bown in 1967, and Island Records artists The Bunch (featuring Sandy Denny and other members of Fairport Convention) in April 1972. During their brief mid-60's reunion, Dion and the Belmonts appeared on the popular Clay Cole Show performing "Berimbau" and "My Girl The Month of May", and occasionally performed at local New York City clubs such as "The Mardi Gras" on Staten Island (April 29, 1967) before disbanding. While Dion's career appeared to be nearing an end, he still retained enough credibility to be, along with Bob Dylan, one of only two rock artists featured on the album cover of the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in 1967.
In April 1968, Dion experienced what he identified as a powerful religious transformation. After getting clean once again from heroin addiction, an experience he documented in his 1970 song "Your Own Backyard", he approached Laurie Records for a new contract. They agreed on the condition that he record the song "Abraham, Martin & John", written by Dick Holler (also the writer of the Royal Guardsmen's "Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron") in response to the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, and those of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy during the spring of 1968. The success of this song (released by Dion in August 1968 and later recorded by many others including Marvin Gaye) which reached No. 4 in the US charts and No. 1 in Canada, resuscitated Dion's career. It sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc.
Mature and Christian music period: 1969–1986
For the next few years, Dion's music became radically different, moving to more contemplative and mature material. He released several albums essentially as a singer-songwriter, to moderate sales, moving to the Warner Brothers label in 1969.
There followed a live reunion show with the Belmonts at Madison Square Garden on June 2, 1972, which was recorded and released as a live album by Warner. A year later, in 1973, Dion and the original Belmonts performed once more, doing a sold-out concert at the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island, New York. However, no recording of the 1973 reunion was released. This was followed in 1975 by the album Born to Be with You produced by Phil Spector. The album was a commercial failure, but has been subsequently praised by such artists as Jason Pierce of Spiritualized and Pete Townshend of The Who with the track "Only You Know" being sampled by Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker for his single "Don't Let Him Waste Your Time" from his 2006 solo album Jarvis.
In 1978, Dion released an album drawing on many of his teenage influences, Return of the Wanderer, another commercial failure.
In December 1979, there was a radical spiritual change in Dion, who had become a born again Christian. Thereafter, his recordings for several years were in a contemporary Christian vein, in which he released five albums on the DaySpring Records label, a division of Word Records in Waco, Texas. These albums reflecting his evangelical Christian convictions were Inside Job (1980), Only Jesus (1981), I Put Away My Idols (1983) which charted at No. 37, Seasons (1984), Kingdom in the Streets (1985) and Velvet & Steel (1986). Several singles were successfully released to Christian radio, notably "Still in the Spirit" from Kingdom in the Streets.
In 1984, Dion won the GMA Dove Award (Christian Music Award) for the album I Put Away My Idols. He was also nominated for Grammy Award for Best Gospel Vocal Performance, Male for the same album.
On September 24, 1985, Dion was a guest on 100 Huntley Street.
Return to secular music and RRHOF induction: 1987–1999
In 1987, Dion agreed to do a concert of his old hits at Radio City Music Hall in New York. The two disc CD of this concert was released in 2005, featuring concert photos by Dion's friend, Michael J. Friedman. This concert helped free him to celebrate both his past and his future, and led to a series of special appearances, including a fundraiser for homeless medical relief. There he shared the stage with fans such as Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon and Lou Reed, all of whom cited Dion as one of their prime influences.
Dion's autobiography, The Wanderer: Dion's Story, co-authored by Davin Seay, was published in the late-1980s.
In 1989, DiMucci returned to rock music with the contemporary album Yo Frankie, which included appearances by Paul Simon, Lou Reed, k.d. lang, Patty Smyth and Bryan Adams. Produced by Dave Edmunds (who also played guitar on the album), "Yo Frankie has a sharp sound while never losing sight of Dion's soulful, doo-wop voice." Overall, "the relevant and nostalgic statement from an artist who helped forge rock & roll's first wave" found his way back on radio and in music videos during this period (both on VH1 and MTV), as well as touring.
Dion was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF) in 1989 (with an introduction by Lou Reed). Controversially, when Dion's solo induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame occurred, the other original members of the Belmonts (Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano, and Angelo D'Aleo) were not inducted. A January 3, 2012 Billboard magazine article stated: "There was strife between DiMucci and Belmonts members, who were not pleased when DiMucci was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame without them in 1989."
DiMucci joined Scott Kempner and Frank Funaro of the Del-Lords and Mike Mesaros of the Smithereens in a short-lived band called Little Kings. A live album was later released, but not widely circulated or promoted.
Grammy Hall of Fame and blues success: 2000–2019
Dion has released several albums with contemporary rock artists. His Déjà Nu album in 2000 found him covering Bruce Springsteen, a major follower over the years. He joined Springsteen onstage in Miami in 2002 for a performance of "If I Should Fall Behind" from Dream on Fire.
In 2002, Dion was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for "Runaround Sue". He continues to perform songs from his albums live, including a concert in 2004 being recorded for release on DVD.
In January 2006, Dion released Bronx in Blue, an album of blues and country standards, which was nominated for a Grammy Award. It peaked at No. 2 on the Top Blues Albums chart. In November 2007, Dion issued a follow-up album titled Son of Skip James, which peaked at No. 4 on the Top Blues Albums chart.
In October 2008, DiMucci released Heroes: Giants of Early Guitar Rock, an album of his covers of early rock and roll songs he considers seminal to the genre. The album includes versions of songs originally recorded by Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, Ricky Nelson, Johnny Cash, and many other early rock guitarists.
In October 2009, Dion performed "The Wanderer" with Paul Simon at the 25th Anniversary Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Concert.
An audiobook and paperback by Dion and Mike Aquilina, titled Dion: The Wanderer Talks Truth (Stories, Humor Music), was published in April 2011. DiMucci shares stories about The Bronx in the 1950s, how he ended up on the cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and his travels with Sam Cooke in the Jim Crow South.
Dion released Tank Full of Blues on January 24, 2012. It peaked at No. 3 on the Top Blues Albums chart.
While touring on April 5, 2015, Dion performed "Donna the Prima Donna" live in Las Vegas. On July 11, 2015, he held a concert in Westbury, New York.
In 2015, Dion released the single "New York Is My Home" with Paul Simon. Dion had previously worked with Simon on his 1989 hit "Written on the Subway Wall". The single was followed by the album New York Is My Home, released February 12, 2016. The album peaked at No. 3 on the Top Blues Album chart.
Dion planned four concerts in the U.S. during early 2016 and was invited as a keynote speaker for the 2016 SXSW in Texas. He spoke on the topic A Conversation with Dion: Rock's Enduring Voice on March 17, 2016.
Dion appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on April 8, 2016.
In May 2017, Dion released Kickin' Child: The Lost Album 1965 from Norton Records, containing songs recorded in 1965 when he was with Columbia Records but were not previously released. Also in May 2017, Richard Barone's Sorrows & Promises: Greenwich Village in the 1960s was released, which included Dion performing a duet of his 1964 song "The Road I'm On (Gloria)" with Barone. The album is a celebration of the New York City scene that Dion was part of during that pivotal era.
Recent albums with KTBA Records: 2020–present
In June 2020, Dion released Blues with Friends via Keeping the Blues Alive Records (KTBA), a new record label created by Joe Bonamassa and Roy Weisman for Dion and other blues musicians to showcase their talents. The album features Van Morrison, Jeff Beck, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, and others (including liner notes by Bob Dylan). A digital album (and a double vinyl record set), Dion released a music video for every song from the album on his website and social media platforms such as Facebook and YouTube. The album reached No. 1 on the Billboard Blues Albums chart (9 weeks at No. 1 and 59 weeks total). It also charted in United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Canada and Australia.
American Songwriter magazine honored Dion's "Song for Sam Cooke (Here in America)" as the "Greatest of the Great 2020 Songs".
Dion also released two Christmas songs in 2020: "Hello Christmas" (featuring Amy Grant) and "You Know It's Christmas" (featuring Bonamassa). Both songs were co-written with Mike Aquilina. Music videos were produced for both songs.
Dion's song "Blues Comin' On" (with Bonamassa) from Blues with Friends was nominated for a 2021 Blues Music Award.
In November 2021, Dion released Stomping Ground (with music videos), which includes extensive liner notes written by Pete Townshend. Except for a cover of "Red House", the songs were written by Dion and Aquilina. Multiple guest artists participate on the album. The album became Dion's second No. 1 blues album.
The Wanderer musical
On October 13, 2011, an industry-only reading of a new play about Dion's life was performed in New York City.
In a December 9, 2011 article from The New York Times, Dion and his collaborator (writer/director Charles Messina) discussed details about the project – titled The Wanderer: The Life and Music of Dion – which will focus on the years between 1957 until the late-1960s, and will feature more than 20 songs from that era as well as new/original music. In the article, Dion gave his perspective on the story: "You know, I always saw my story as a young Sopranos with great music and a Rocky Graziano Somebody Up There Likes Me ending. It's a story of redemption. A rock and roll redemption story!"
DiMucci revealed that Michael Wartella would be starring in The Wanderer on December 16, 2017. There was a reading of the musical on November 2, 2017 while working on it continued. On December 4, 2019, it was announced that former New Kids on the Block member Joey McIntyre would star as Johnny, Michael Wartella as Dion, and Christy Altomare as wife, Susan. The first performance was scheduled to start on May 28, 2020, at the Paper Mill Playhouse. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the opening performance was rescheduled to March 24, 2022.
Personal life
Dion lives in Boca Raton, Florida and New York City.
In the late 1990s, Dion visited his old Bronx parish, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, and returned to Catholicism. Sparking Dion's reversion to Catholicism was "a chance viewing of The Journey Home program on EWTN."
As a practicing Roman Catholic and having struggled with a heroin addiction during his youth, Dion has been involved in prison religion, reaching out to men going through drug recovery.
DiMucci was a member of the American board of directors for Renewal Ministries in 2004.
Dion appeared on The Journey Home and discussed his wanderings from Catholicism to Protestantism and back again on May 1, 2006.
Selective discography
With the Belmonts
Presenting Dion and the Belmonts (1959)
Wish Upon a Star with Dion and the Belmonts (1960)
Together Again (1966)
Live at Madison Square Garden 1972 (1973)
Solo albums
Alone with Dion (1961)
Runaround Sue (1961)
Donna the Prima Donna (1963)
Dion (1968)
Suite for Late Summer (1972)
Born to Be with You (1975)
Streetheart (1976)
I Put Away My Idols (1983)
Yo Frankie (1989)
Son of Skip James (2007)
Blues with Friends (2020)
Stomping Ground (2021)
References
External links
Comprehensive Rolling Stone profile
The Spiritual Journey of the Wanderer Who Came Home By Dion Dimucci
Dion the Wanderer, Back In Blue (an article at NPR.com)
1939 births
Living people
American male singers
American people of Italian descent
American male pop singers
American folk singers
American rock singers
Musicians from the Bronx
American performers of Christian music
Laurie Records artists
Columbia Records artists
Singers from New York City
Dion and the Belmonts members
Doo-wop musicians
Catholics from New York (state) | true | [
"The Ontario (Old Order) Mennonite Conference is a moderate Old Order Mennonite group in the Canadian province of Ontario, that was formed in 1889 as a reaction to modernizing trends among the Mennonites in Ontario. The members use horse and buggy for transportation. As of 2020, they also have a colony in the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island.\n\nName \nThe Conference is sometimes referred to as Old Order Mennonite Church (e. g. Donald Kraybill)\n, whereas the name given above is used by the Mennonite World Conference and by Stephen Scott\n. A popular name for the members is Woolwich Mennonites or just Woolwichers, because Abraham Weber Martin, the bishop who was the main force behind the formation of the group, resided in Woolwich, Ontario.\n\nHistory \nSince 1871, when six bishops in Ontario declared there should be no association with bishop Jacob Wisler of Ohio, who was dismissed because of his conservative stance, there were tensions among the Mennonites in Ontario about the question how much modern practices like Sunday School, revival meetings, English language preaching etc. should be introduced. The final break between the Old Orders and the modernizers occurred in 1889 when there were two different Conferences, because there was a conflict about the date of the conference.\n\nBelief and practice \nThe members use horse and buggy for transportation. Their stance on technology is quite similar to that of the Groffdale Conference Mennonite Church. The German language is used in worship services and Pennsylvania German is spoken at home and with members of the own group as well as with other Old Order groups.\n\nControversy \nIn November 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario, both the Region of Waterloo Public Health unit and Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health issued orders to close Old Order schools and places of worship in their regions and to limit social interactions. The orders were issued because of extremely high infection rates. In Waterloo Region, the orders applied to sects \"including Markham, Old Colony, and David Martin Mennonite communities\", according to a news report. Both agencies cited a lack of cooperation with public health requirements that were intended to minimize the spread of the virus. In an interview with the Waterloo Region Record, bishop Peter Brubacher, (\"bishop for seven Old Order Mennonite church districts\" in north Waterloo Region according to another news agency), made this comment, \"I guess to be frank and honest, a lot of people really didn’t take it that serious, to isolate\".\n\nMembership\n\nPopulation and distribution\n\nIn 1957 the Old Order Mennonite Conference of Ontario had a membership of 1,061, unbaptized family members not counted. In 1992 there were about 2,200 adult members in 16 congregations. In 2008/9 membership was about 3,200 in 36 congregations. By the year 2018 the population of the community had grown to 6,831 individuals.\n\nSee also\n\n Stauffer Mennonite\n Orthodox Mennonites\n Noah Hoover Mennonite\n David Martin Mennonites\n Reidenbach Old Order Mennonites\n\nLiterature\nDonald B. Kraybill and James P. Hurd: Horse-and-buggy Mennonites: Hoofbeats of Humility in a Postmodern World. University Park, PA 2006.\nStephen Scott: An Introduction to Old Order and Conservative Mennonite Groups. Intercourse, PA 1996.\nDonald Kraybill: Concise Encyclopedia of Amish, Brethren, Hutterites, and Mennonites, Baltimore 2010.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n\"Old Order Mennonite Groups in Ontario\" at Anabaptistwiki.org\n\"Moderate Old Order Mennonite Groups\" at Anabaptistwiki.org\n\nMennonitism in Ontario\nMennonite denominations\nReligious organizations established in 1889\nOld Order Mennonites",
"Victor Vroom, a professor at Yale University and a scholar on leadership and decision-making, developed the normative model of decision-making. Drawing upon literature from the areas of leadership, group decision-making, and procedural fairness, Vroom’s model predicts the effectiveness of decision-making procedures. Specifically, Vroom’s model takes into account the situation and the importance of the decision to determine which of Vroom’s five decision-making methods will be most effective.\n\nDecision-making processes \nVroom identified five types of decision-making processes, each varying on degree of participation by the leader. \n\nDecide: The leader makes the decision or solves the problem alone and announces his/her decision to the group. The leader may gather information from members of the group.\nConsult (Individually): The leader approaches group members individually and presents them with the problem. The leader records the group member’s suggestions and makes a decision, deciding whether or not to use the information provided by group members.\nConsult (Group): The leader holds a group meeting where he/she presents the problem to the group as a whole. All members are asked to contribute and make suggestions during the meeting. The leader makes his/her decision alone, choosing which information obtained from the group meeting to use or discard.\nFacilitate: The leader holds a group meeting where he/she presents the problem to the group as a whole. This differs from consulting approach as the leader ensures that his/her opinions are not given any more weight than those of the group. The decision is made by group consensus, and not solely by the leader.\nDelegate: The leader does not actively participate in the decision-making process. Instead, the leader provides resources (e.g., information about the problem) and encouragement.\n\nSituational influence of decision-making \nVroom identified seven situational factors that leaders should consider when choosing a decision-making process.\n\nDecision significance: How will the decision affect the project’s success, or the organization as a whole?\nImportance of commitment: Is it important that team members are committed to the final decision?\nLeader’s expertise: How knowledgeable is the leader in regards to the problem(s) at hand?\nLikelihood of commitment: If the leader makes the decision by himself/herself, how committed would the group members be to the decision?\nGroup support for objectives: To what degree do group members support the leader’s and organization’s objectives?\nGroup expertise: How knowledgeable are the group members in regards to the problem(s) at hand?\nTeam competence: How well can group members work together to solve the problem?\n\nVroom created a number of matrices which allow leaders to take into consideration these seven situational influences in order to choose the most effective decision-making process.\n\nApplication \nVroom’s normative model of decision-making has been used in a wide array of organizational settings to help leaders select the best decision-making style and also to describe the behaviours of leaders and group members. Further, Vroom’s model has been applied to research in the areas of gender and leadership style, and cultural influences and leadership style.\n\nReferences \n\nDecision theory"
] | [
"Dion Francis DiMucci (born July 18, 1939), better known simply as Dion, is an American singer and songwriter whose music has incorporated elements of doo-wop, rock, R&B and blues. Initially as lead singer of Dion and the Belmonts, and then in his solo career, he was one of the most popular American rock and roll performers of the pre-British Invasion era. He had 39 Top 40 hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s as a solo performer, with the Belmonts or with the Del-Satins.",
"He had 39 Top 40 hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s as a solo performer, with the Belmonts or with the Del-Satins. He is best remembered for the singles \"Runaround Sue\", \"The Wanderer\", \"Ruby Baby\" and \"Lovers Who Wander\", among other hits. Dion's popularity waned in the mid-1960s. Toward the end of the decade, he shifted his style and produced songs that were more mature and contemplative, such as \"Abraham, Martin and John\".",
"Toward the end of the decade, he shifted his style and produced songs that were more mature and contemplative, such as \"Abraham, Martin and John\". He remained popular in the late 1960s until the mid-1970s, and continues making music. During the 1980s, Dion produced several Christian albums, winning a GMA Dove Award in 1984 for the album I Put Away My Idols. He returned to secular music in the late 1980s with Yo Frankie (1989).",
"He returned to secular music in the late 1980s with Yo Frankie (1989). Between the mid-2000s and 2021, Dion released six chart-topping blues albums. Critics who had dismissed his early work, labeling him as a teen idol, praised his later work and noted the influence he has had on other musicians. A Grammy-nominated artist, Dion has released nearly 40 albums and scored eight Top 10 hits (ten including the Belmonts) on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.",
"A Grammy-nominated artist, Dion has released nearly 40 albums and scored eight Top 10 hits (ten including the Belmonts) on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989. Early life Dion was born to an Italian-American family in the Bronx, New York. As a child, he accompanied his father, Pasquale DiMucci, a vaudeville entertainer, on tour, and developed a love of country music – particularly the work of Hank Williams.",
"As a child, he accompanied his father, Pasquale DiMucci, a vaudeville entertainer, on tour, and developed a love of country music – particularly the work of Hank Williams. He also developed a fondness for the blues and doo-wop musicians he heard performing in local bars and on the radio. His singing was honed on the street corners and local clubs of the Bronx, where he and other neighborhood singers created a cappella riffs. In early 1957, he auditioned for Bob and Gene Schwartz for their short-lived Mohawk Records label.",
"In early 1957, he auditioned for Bob and Gene Schwartz for their short-lived Mohawk Records label. They asked Dion to sing a song which had been arranged by Hugo Montenegro and recorded featuring Vic Damone doing vocals. At first Dion refused, stating the song would sound like something his old fashioned parents would listen to, but the Schwartzes convinced him to give it a try. The backing vocals were by a group called \"the Timberlanes\", whom Dion had never met.",
"The backing vocals were by a group called \"the Timberlanes\", whom Dion had never met. The resulting single, \"The Chosen Few\", was released under the name \"Dion and the Timberlanes\", and became a minor regional hit.",
"The resulting single, \"The Chosen Few\", was released under the name \"Dion and the Timberlanes\", and became a minor regional hit. Dion himself stated in 2019 during an interview at \"Crashing the Party\" (a radio program related to Norton Records in Brooklyn, New York) that \"The Chosen Few\" hit the Top Ten locally in Boston and enabled him to perform this song on American Bandstand where the kids at the show started screaming during his performance, which gave him his first impression of being a record star.",
"Dion himself stated in 2019 during an interview at \"Crashing the Party\" (a radio program related to Norton Records in Brooklyn, New York) that \"The Chosen Few\" hit the Top Ten locally in Boston and enabled him to perform this song on American Bandstand where the kids at the show started screaming during his performance, which gave him his first impression of being a record star. Writing about this experience later, in his autobiography, The Wanderer, Dion said that he had never met the Timberlanes and did not even know who they were.",
"Writing about this experience later, in his autobiography, The Wanderer, Dion said that he had never met the Timberlanes and did not even know who they were. \"The vocal group was so white bread, I went back to my neighborhood and I recruited a bunch of guys – three guys – and we called ourselves Dion and the Belmonts.\"",
"\"The vocal group was so white bread, I went back to my neighborhood and I recruited a bunch of guys – three guys – and we called ourselves Dion and the Belmonts.\" Career Beginnings with the Belmonts: 1957–1960 Bob and Gene Schwartz signed Dion's friends, the Belmonts (Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano, and Angelo D'Aleo), a vocal group named for the Belmont, Bronx neighborhood, and teamed them up with Dion singing lead.",
"Career Beginnings with the Belmonts: 1957–1960 Bob and Gene Schwartz signed Dion's friends, the Belmonts (Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano, and Angelo D'Aleo), a vocal group named for the Belmont, Bronx neighborhood, and teamed them up with Dion singing lead. The new group's breakthrough came in early 1958, when \"I Wonder Why\" (on their newly formed Laurie Records) made No. 22 on the U.S. charts. Dion said of the Belmonts; \"I'd give 'em sounds.",
"Dion said of the Belmonts; \"I'd give 'em sounds. I'd give 'em parts and stuff. That's what 'I Wonder Why' was about. We kind of invented this percussive rhythmic sound. If you listen to that song, everybody was doing something different. There's four guys, one guy was doing bass, I was singing lead, one guy's going 'ooh wah ooh,' and another guy's doing tenor. It was totally amazing.",
"It was totally amazing. It was totally amazing. When I listen to it today, oftentimes I think, 'man, those kids are talented.'\" Their initial hit was followed by \"No One Knows\" and \"Don't Pity Me\", which also charted the Billboard Top 100. This success won a place for Dion and the Belmonts on the ill-fated \"The Winter Dance Party\" tour with Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson), Frankie Sardo, and other performers.",
"This success won a place for Dion and the Belmonts on the ill-fated \"The Winter Dance Party\" tour with Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson), Frankie Sardo, and other performers. On February 3, 1959, after a concert stop in Clear Lake, Iowa, Holly and others decided to charter a flight to the next venue rather than travel on the tour bus.",
"On February 3, 1959, after a concert stop in Clear Lake, Iowa, Holly and others decided to charter a flight to the next venue rather than travel on the tour bus. Dion was invited to accompany the group but decided that he did not want to spend $36 for the flight, as it was the same monthly rent his parents paid for his childhood apartment and he could not justify the indulgence.",
"Dion was invited to accompany the group but decided that he did not want to spend $36 for the flight, as it was the same monthly rent his parents paid for his childhood apartment and he could not justify the indulgence. The plane crashed, killing all on board: Holly, Valens, Richardson, and the pilot Roger Peterson. Dion and the Belmonts continued on the tour, along with Frankie Sardo, while Bobby Vee, then an unknown artist, performed in Holly's place at the very next concert.",
"Dion and the Belmonts continued on the tour, along with Frankie Sardo, while Bobby Vee, then an unknown artist, performed in Holly's place at the very next concert. Later, Jimmy Clanton, Frankie Avalon, and Fabian were added to replace the other now-deceased headliners. Dion and the Belmonts' next single, \"A Teenager in Love\", was released in March 1959, eventually hitting No. 5 on the U.S. pop charts and No. 28 in the UK.",
"5 on the U.S. pop charts and No. 28 in the UK. 28 in the UK. The group's biggest hit, \"Where or When\", was released in November of that year, and reached No. 3 on the U.S. charts. However, in early 1960, Dion checked into hospital for heroin addiction, a problem he had had since his mid-teens. Further single releases for the group that year were less successful.",
"Further single releases for the group that year were less successful. There were musical, personal and financial differences between Dion and members of the Belmonts, and in October 1960, Dion decided to quit for a solo career. By the time of their breakup, all eight Laurie releases had charted on the Hot 100. Solo stardom and touring worldwide: 1960–1964 By the end of 1960, Dion produced his first solo album on Laurie Records, Alone with Dion, released in 1961.",
"Solo stardom and touring worldwide: 1960–1964 By the end of 1960, Dion produced his first solo album on Laurie Records, Alone with Dion, released in 1961. The single \"Lonely Teenager\" rose to No. 12 in the US charts. The name on his solo releases was simply \"Dion\". Follow-ups \"Havin' Fun\" and \"Kissin' Game\" had less success, and the signs were that Dion would drift onto the cabaret circuit.",
"Follow-ups \"Havin' Fun\" and \"Kissin' Game\" had less success, and the signs were that Dion would drift onto the cabaret circuit. However, he then recorded an up-tempo number co-written with Ernie Maresca with a new vocal group, the Del-Satins. The record, \"Runaround Sue\", stormed up the U.S. charts, reaching No. 1 in October 1961, and No. 11 in the UK, where he also toured. \"Runaround Sue\" sold over a million copies, achieving gold disc status.",
"\"Runaround Sue\" sold over a million copies, achieving gold disc status. For the next single, Laurie promoted the A-side, \"The Majestic\", but it was the B-side, Maresca's \"The Wanderer\", which received more radio play and climbed swiftly up the charts to reach No. 2 in the U.S. in February 1962 and No. 10 in the UK. The 1976 re-release made the UK Top 20.",
"The 1976 re-release made the UK Top 20. The 1976 re-release made the UK Top 20. By the end of 1961, Dion had become a major star, touring worldwide and making an appearance in the Columbia Pictures musical film Twist Around the Clock. In 1962, he followed with a string of singles he wrote or co-wrote including \"Lovers Who Wander\" (No. 3), \"Little Diane\" (No. 8), \"Love Came to Me\" (No. 10).",
"8), \"Love Came to Me\" (No. 10). 10). He also had successful albums with Runaround Sue and Lovers Who Wander. At the end of 1962, Dion moved from Laurie to Columbia Records. He was the first rock and roll artist signed to the label, which was an anomaly considering that its then-A&R director, Mitch Miller, loathed that particular genre of music.",
"He was the first rock and roll artist signed to the label, which was an anomaly considering that its then-A&R director, Mitch Miller, loathed that particular genre of music. The first Columbia single, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller's \"Ruby Baby\" (originally a hit for the Drifters) reached No. 2, while \"Donna the Prima Donna\" and \"Drip Drop\" (another remake of a Drifters hit) both reached No. 6 in late 1963.",
"6 in late 1963. 6 in late 1963. (Dion also recorded an Italian version of \"Donna the Prima Donna\" using the identical backup vocals.) His other Columbia releases were less successful, and problems with his drug addiction and changing public tastes, especially the British Invasion, saw a period of commercial decline. Belmonts reunion and renewed contract: 1965–1968 Following a European tour, Dion returned to the U.S. and was introduced to classic blues by Columbia's John Hammond.",
"Belmonts reunion and renewed contract: 1965–1968 Following a European tour, Dion returned to the U.S. and was introduced to classic blues by Columbia's John Hammond. To the consternation of his management, he began recording more blues-oriented material, including Willie Dixon's \"Hoochie Coochie Man\" and \"Spoonful\", but these releases – some produced by Tom Wilson, with Al Kooper on keyboards – were not commercially successful.",
"To the consternation of his management, he began recording more blues-oriented material, including Willie Dixon's \"Hoochie Coochie Man\" and \"Spoonful\", but these releases – some produced by Tom Wilson, with Al Kooper on keyboards – were not commercially successful. In 1965, still with Columbia, Dion formed a new group to back him, The Wanderers, composed of John Falbo on guitar, Pete Baron (Pete Falciglia) on bass, and Carlo Mastrangelo of the Belmonts on drums.",
"In 1965, still with Columbia, Dion formed a new group to back him, The Wanderers, composed of John Falbo on guitar, Pete Baron (Pete Falciglia) on bass, and Carlo Mastrangelo of the Belmonts on drums. They made national appearances on Dick Clark's, Where The Action Is, and The Lloyd Thaxton Show. A number of self-penned tracks were recorded and released unsuccessfully as singles, and did not appear in album format until years later.",
"A number of self-penned tracks were recorded and released unsuccessfully as singles, and did not appear in album format until years later. In June 1965 he recorded fellow Columbia Records's contemporary Bob Dylan's composition \"It's All Over Now, Baby Blue\" a half-year before Them (featuring Van Morrison)'s hit version. In 1966–67, Dion briefly reunited with the Belmonts, recording the LP Together Again for ABC Records. The album was unsuccessful, despite one classic self-penned song, \"My Girl the Month of May\".",
"The album was unsuccessful, despite one classic self-penned song, \"My Girl the Month of May\". Two singles were released from the LP. While neither charted in the United States, they fared better in the UK. \"My Girl The Month of May\" entered the Radio London \"Fab 40\" at No. 9 the week of December 25, 1966.",
"9 the week of December 25, 1966. 9 the week of December 25, 1966. A 'turntable' hit at London underground clubs like Middle Earth, the disc received a lot of play from pirate radio DJ's John Peel and Kenny Everett. The follow up, \"Movin' Man\", reached No. 17 on the \"Radio London\" charts on Easter Sunday, March 26, 1967.",
"17 on the \"Radio London\" charts on Easter Sunday, March 26, 1967. \"My Girl The Month of May\" was later covered by English artists Alan Bown in 1967, and Island Records artists The Bunch (featuring Sandy Denny and other members of Fairport Convention) in April 1972.",
"\"My Girl The Month of May\" was later covered by English artists Alan Bown in 1967, and Island Records artists The Bunch (featuring Sandy Denny and other members of Fairport Convention) in April 1972. During their brief mid-60's reunion, Dion and the Belmonts appeared on the popular Clay Cole Show performing \"Berimbau\" and \"My Girl The Month of May\", and occasionally performed at local New York City clubs such as \"The Mardi Gras\" on Staten Island (April 29, 1967) before disbanding.",
"During their brief mid-60's reunion, Dion and the Belmonts appeared on the popular Clay Cole Show performing \"Berimbau\" and \"My Girl The Month of May\", and occasionally performed at local New York City clubs such as \"The Mardi Gras\" on Staten Island (April 29, 1967) before disbanding. While Dion's career appeared to be nearing an end, he still retained enough credibility to be, along with Bob Dylan, one of only two rock artists featured on the album cover of the Beatles' Sgt.",
"While Dion's career appeared to be nearing an end, he still retained enough credibility to be, along with Bob Dylan, one of only two rock artists featured on the album cover of the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in 1967. In April 1968, Dion experienced what he identified as a powerful religious transformation. After getting clean once again from heroin addiction, an experience he documented in his 1970 song \"Your Own Backyard\", he approached Laurie Records for a new contract.",
"After getting clean once again from heroin addiction, an experience he documented in his 1970 song \"Your Own Backyard\", he approached Laurie Records for a new contract. They agreed on the condition that he record the song \"Abraham, Martin & John\", written by Dick Holler (also the writer of the Royal Guardsmen's \"Snoopy Vs.",
"They agreed on the condition that he record the song \"Abraham, Martin & John\", written by Dick Holler (also the writer of the Royal Guardsmen's \"Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron\") in response to the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, and those of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy during the spring of 1968. The success of this song (released by Dion in August 1968 and later recorded by many others including Marvin Gaye) which reached No.",
"The success of this song (released by Dion in August 1968 and later recorded by many others including Marvin Gaye) which reached No. 4 in the US charts and No. 1 in Canada, resuscitated Dion's career. It sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc. Mature and Christian music period: 1969–1986 For the next few years, Dion's music became radically different, moving to more contemplative and mature material.",
"Mature and Christian music period: 1969–1986 For the next few years, Dion's music became radically different, moving to more contemplative and mature material. He released several albums essentially as a singer-songwriter, to moderate sales, moving to the Warner Brothers label in 1969. There followed a live reunion show with the Belmonts at Madison Square Garden on June 2, 1972, which was recorded and released as a live album by Warner.",
"There followed a live reunion show with the Belmonts at Madison Square Garden on June 2, 1972, which was recorded and released as a live album by Warner. A year later, in 1973, Dion and the original Belmonts performed once more, doing a sold-out concert at the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island, New York. However, no recording of the 1973 reunion was released. This was followed in 1975 by the album Born to Be with You produced by Phil Spector.",
"This was followed in 1975 by the album Born to Be with You produced by Phil Spector. The album was a commercial failure, but has been subsequently praised by such artists as Jason Pierce of Spiritualized and Pete Townshend of The Who with the track \"Only You Know\" being sampled by Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker for his single \"Don't Let Him Waste Your Time\" from his 2006 solo album Jarvis.",
"The album was a commercial failure, but has been subsequently praised by such artists as Jason Pierce of Spiritualized and Pete Townshend of The Who with the track \"Only You Know\" being sampled by Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker for his single \"Don't Let Him Waste Your Time\" from his 2006 solo album Jarvis. In 1978, Dion released an album drawing on many of his teenage influences, Return of the Wanderer, another commercial failure.",
"In 1978, Dion released an album drawing on many of his teenage influences, Return of the Wanderer, another commercial failure. In December 1979, there was a radical spiritual change in Dion, who had become a born again Christian. Thereafter, his recordings for several years were in a contemporary Christian vein, in which he released five albums on the DaySpring Records label, a division of Word Records in Waco, Texas.",
"Thereafter, his recordings for several years were in a contemporary Christian vein, in which he released five albums on the DaySpring Records label, a division of Word Records in Waco, Texas. These albums reflecting his evangelical Christian convictions were Inside Job (1980), Only Jesus (1981), I Put Away My Idols (1983) which charted at No. 37, Seasons (1984), Kingdom in the Streets (1985) and Velvet & Steel (1986).",
"37, Seasons (1984), Kingdom in the Streets (1985) and Velvet & Steel (1986). Several singles were successfully released to Christian radio, notably \"Still in the Spirit\" from Kingdom in the Streets. In 1984, Dion won the GMA Dove Award (Christian Music Award) for the album I Put Away My Idols. He was also nominated for Grammy Award for Best Gospel Vocal Performance, Male for the same album.",
"He was also nominated for Grammy Award for Best Gospel Vocal Performance, Male for the same album. On September 24, 1985, Dion was a guest on 100 Huntley Street. Return to secular music and RRHOF induction: 1987–1999 In 1987, Dion agreed to do a concert of his old hits at Radio City Music Hall in New York. The two disc CD of this concert was released in 2005, featuring concert photos by Dion's friend, Michael J. Friedman.",
"The two disc CD of this concert was released in 2005, featuring concert photos by Dion's friend, Michael J. Friedman. This concert helped free him to celebrate both his past and his future, and led to a series of special appearances, including a fundraiser for homeless medical relief. There he shared the stage with fans such as Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon and Lou Reed, all of whom cited Dion as one of their prime influences.",
"There he shared the stage with fans such as Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon and Lou Reed, all of whom cited Dion as one of their prime influences. Dion's autobiography, The Wanderer: Dion's Story, co-authored by Davin Seay, was published in the late-1980s. In 1989, DiMucci returned to rock music with the contemporary album Yo Frankie, which included appearances by Paul Simon, Lou Reed, k.d. lang, Patty Smyth and Bryan Adams.",
"lang, Patty Smyth and Bryan Adams. lang, Patty Smyth and Bryan Adams. Produced by Dave Edmunds (who also played guitar on the album), \"Yo Frankie has a sharp sound while never losing sight of Dion's soulful, doo-wop voice.\" Overall, \"the relevant and nostalgic statement from an artist who helped forge rock & roll's first wave\" found his way back on radio and in music videos during this period (both on VH1 and MTV), as well as touring.",
"Overall, \"the relevant and nostalgic statement from an artist who helped forge rock & roll's first wave\" found his way back on radio and in music videos during this period (both on VH1 and MTV), as well as touring. Dion was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF) in 1989 (with an introduction by Lou Reed).",
"Dion was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF) in 1989 (with an introduction by Lou Reed). Controversially, when Dion's solo induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame occurred, the other original members of the Belmonts (Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano, and Angelo D'Aleo) were not inducted.",
"Controversially, when Dion's solo induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame occurred, the other original members of the Belmonts (Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano, and Angelo D'Aleo) were not inducted. A January 3, 2012 Billboard magazine article stated: \"There was strife between DiMucci and Belmonts members, who were not pleased when DiMucci was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame without them in 1989.\"",
"A January 3, 2012 Billboard magazine article stated: \"There was strife between DiMucci and Belmonts members, who were not pleased when DiMucci was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame without them in 1989.\" DiMucci joined Scott Kempner and Frank Funaro of the Del-Lords and Mike Mesaros of the Smithereens in a short-lived band called Little Kings. A live album was later released, but not widely circulated or promoted. Grammy Hall of Fame and blues success: 2000–2019 Dion has released several albums with contemporary rock artists.",
"Grammy Hall of Fame and blues success: 2000–2019 Dion has released several albums with contemporary rock artists. His Déjà Nu album in 2000 found him covering Bruce Springsteen, a major follower over the years. He joined Springsteen onstage in Miami in 2002 for a performance of \"If I Should Fall Behind\" from Dream on Fire. In 2002, Dion was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for \"Runaround Sue\".",
"In 2002, Dion was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for \"Runaround Sue\". He continues to perform songs from his albums live, including a concert in 2004 being recorded for release on DVD. In January 2006, Dion released Bronx in Blue, an album of blues and country standards, which was nominated for a Grammy Award. It peaked at No. 2 on the Top Blues Albums chart. In November 2007, Dion issued a follow-up album titled Son of Skip James, which peaked at No.",
"In November 2007, Dion issued a follow-up album titled Son of Skip James, which peaked at No. 4 on the Top Blues Albums chart. In October 2008, DiMucci released Heroes: Giants of Early Guitar Rock, an album of his covers of early rock and roll songs he considers seminal to the genre. The album includes versions of songs originally recorded by Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, Ricky Nelson, Johnny Cash, and many other early rock guitarists.",
"The album includes versions of songs originally recorded by Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, Ricky Nelson, Johnny Cash, and many other early rock guitarists. In October 2009, Dion performed \"The Wanderer\" with Paul Simon at the 25th Anniversary Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Concert. An audiobook and paperback by Dion and Mike Aquilina, titled Dion: The Wanderer Talks Truth (Stories, Humor Music), was published in April 2011.",
"An audiobook and paperback by Dion and Mike Aquilina, titled Dion: The Wanderer Talks Truth (Stories, Humor Music), was published in April 2011. DiMucci shares stories about The Bronx in the 1950s, how he ended up on the cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and his travels with Sam Cooke in the Jim Crow South. Dion released Tank Full of Blues on January 24, 2012. It peaked at No. 3 on the Top Blues Albums chart.",
"3 on the Top Blues Albums chart. 3 on the Top Blues Albums chart. While touring on April 5, 2015, Dion performed \"Donna the Prima Donna\" live in Las Vegas. On July 11, 2015, he held a concert in Westbury, New York. In 2015, Dion released the single \"New York Is My Home\" with Paul Simon. Dion had previously worked with Simon on his 1989 hit \"Written on the Subway Wall\".",
"Dion had previously worked with Simon on his 1989 hit \"Written on the Subway Wall\". The single was followed by the album New York Is My Home, released February 12, 2016. The album peaked at No. 3 on the Top Blues Album chart. Dion planned four concerts in the U.S. during early 2016 and was invited as a keynote speaker for the 2016 SXSW in Texas. He spoke on the topic A Conversation with Dion: Rock's Enduring Voice on March 17, 2016.",
"He spoke on the topic A Conversation with Dion: Rock's Enduring Voice on March 17, 2016. Dion appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on April 8, 2016. In May 2017, Dion released Kickin' Child: The Lost Album 1965 from Norton Records, containing songs recorded in 1965 when he was with Columbia Records but were not previously released.",
"In May 2017, Dion released Kickin' Child: The Lost Album 1965 from Norton Records, containing songs recorded in 1965 when he was with Columbia Records but were not previously released. Also in May 2017, Richard Barone's Sorrows & Promises: Greenwich Village in the 1960s was released, which included Dion performing a duet of his 1964 song \"The Road I'm On (Gloria)\" with Barone. The album is a celebration of the New York City scene that Dion was part of during that pivotal era.",
"The album is a celebration of the New York City scene that Dion was part of during that pivotal era. Recent albums with KTBA Records: 2020–present In June 2020, Dion released Blues with Friends via Keeping the Blues Alive Records (KTBA), a new record label created by Joe Bonamassa and Roy Weisman for Dion and other blues musicians to showcase their talents. The album features Van Morrison, Jeff Beck, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, and others (including liner notes by Bob Dylan).",
"The album features Van Morrison, Jeff Beck, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, and others (including liner notes by Bob Dylan). A digital album (and a double vinyl record set), Dion released a music video for every song from the album on his website and social media platforms such as Facebook and YouTube. The album reached No. 1 on the Billboard Blues Albums chart (9 weeks at No. 1 and 59 weeks total).",
"1 and 59 weeks total). 1 and 59 weeks total). It also charted in United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Canada and Australia. American Songwriter magazine honored Dion's \"Song for Sam Cooke (Here in America)\" as the \"Greatest of the Great 2020 Songs\". Dion also released two Christmas songs in 2020: \"Hello Christmas\" (featuring Amy Grant) and \"You Know It's Christmas\" (featuring Bonamassa). Both songs were co-written with Mike Aquilina.",
"Both songs were co-written with Mike Aquilina. Both songs were co-written with Mike Aquilina. Music videos were produced for both songs. Dion's song \"Blues Comin' On\" (with Bonamassa) from Blues with Friends was nominated for a 2021 Blues Music Award. In November 2021, Dion released Stomping Ground (with music videos), which includes extensive liner notes written by Pete Townshend. Except for a cover of \"Red House\", the songs were written by Dion and Aquilina.",
"Except for a cover of \"Red House\", the songs were written by Dion and Aquilina. Multiple guest artists participate on the album. The album became Dion's second No. 1 blues album. The Wanderer musical On October 13, 2011, an industry-only reading of a new play about Dion's life was performed in New York City.",
"The Wanderer musical On October 13, 2011, an industry-only reading of a new play about Dion's life was performed in New York City. In a December 9, 2011 article from The New York Times, Dion and his collaborator (writer/director Charles Messina) discussed details about the project – titled The Wanderer: The Life and Music of Dion – which will focus on the years between 1957 until the late-1960s, and will feature more than 20 songs from that era as well as new/original music.",
"In a December 9, 2011 article from The New York Times, Dion and his collaborator (writer/director Charles Messina) discussed details about the project – titled The Wanderer: The Life and Music of Dion – which will focus on the years between 1957 until the late-1960s, and will feature more than 20 songs from that era as well as new/original music. In the article, Dion gave his perspective on the story: \"You know, I always saw my story as a young Sopranos with great music and a Rocky Graziano Somebody Up There Likes Me ending.",
"In the article, Dion gave his perspective on the story: \"You know, I always saw my story as a young Sopranos with great music and a Rocky Graziano Somebody Up There Likes Me ending. It's a story of redemption. A rock and roll redemption story!\" DiMucci revealed that Michael Wartella would be starring in The Wanderer on December 16, 2017. There was a reading of the musical on November 2, 2017 while working on it continued.",
"There was a reading of the musical on November 2, 2017 while working on it continued. On December 4, 2019, it was announced that former New Kids on the Block member Joey McIntyre would star as Johnny, Michael Wartella as Dion, and Christy Altomare as wife, Susan. The first performance was scheduled to start on May 28, 2020, at the Paper Mill Playhouse. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the opening performance was rescheduled to March 24, 2022.",
"Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the opening performance was rescheduled to March 24, 2022. Personal life Dion lives in Boca Raton, Florida and New York City. In the late 1990s, Dion visited his old Bronx parish, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, and returned to Catholicism. Sparking Dion's reversion to Catholicism was \"a chance viewing of The Journey Home program on EWTN.\"",
"Sparking Dion's reversion to Catholicism was \"a chance viewing of The Journey Home program on EWTN.\" As a practicing Roman Catholic and having struggled with a heroin addiction during his youth, Dion has been involved in prison religion, reaching out to men going through drug recovery. DiMucci was a member of the American board of directors for Renewal Ministries in 2004. Dion appeared on The Journey Home and discussed his wanderings from Catholicism to Protestantism and back again on May 1, 2006.",
"Dion appeared on The Journey Home and discussed his wanderings from Catholicism to Protestantism and back again on May 1, 2006. Selective discography With the Belmonts Presenting Dion and the Belmonts (1959) Wish Upon a Star with Dion and the Belmonts (1960) Together Again (1966) Live at Madison Square Garden 1972 (1973) Solo albums Alone with Dion (1961) Runaround Sue (1961) Donna the Prima Donna (1963) Dion (1968) Suite for Late Summer (1972) Born to Be with You (1975) Streetheart (1976) I Put Away My Idols (1983) Yo Frankie (1989) Son of Skip James (2007) Blues with Friends (2020) Stomping Ground (2021) References External links Comprehensive Rolling Stone profile The Spiritual Journey of the Wanderer Who Came Home By Dion Dimucci Dion the Wanderer, Back In Blue (an article at NPR.com) 1939 births Living people American male singers American people of Italian descent American male pop singers American folk singers American rock singers Musicians from the Bronx American performers of Christian music Laurie Records artists Columbia Records artists Singers from New York City Dion and the Belmonts members Doo-wop musicians Catholics from New York (state)"
] |
[
"Dion DiMucci",
"With the Belmonts: 1957-1960",
"Who were the other members of the Belmonts?",
"Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano, and Angelo D'Aleo",
"Did they know each other from school?",
"I don't know.",
"How old were the members of the group?",
"No One Knows",
"what was the groups most popular song?",
"I Wonder Why\" (on their newly formed \"Laurie\" label) made No. 22 on the U.S. charts."
] | C_57ef3079d2cb4481bdcc3f5beea88674_1 | when did the group split up? | 5 | when did the Belmonts split up? | Dion DiMucci | Bob and Gene Schwartz also signed Dion's friends, the Belmonts, (Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano, and Angelo D'Aleo), a vocal group named for nearby Belmont Avenue, and teamed them, with Dion singing lead. The new group's breakthrough came in early 1958, when "I Wonder Why" (on their newly formed "Laurie" label) made No. 22 on the U.S. charts. Dion said of the Belmonts; "I'd give 'em sounds. I'd give 'em parts and stuff. That's what 'I Wonder Why' was about. We kind of invented this percussive rhythmic sound. If you listen to that song, everybody was doing something different. There's four guys, one guy was doing bass, I was singing lead, one guy's going 'ooh wah ooh,' and another guy's doing tenor. It was totally amazing. When I listen to it today, oftentimes I think, 'man, those kids are talented.'" Their initial hit was followed by "No One Knows" and "Don't Pity Me," which also charted the Billboard Top 100. This success won a place for Dion and the Belmonts on the ill-fated "The Winter Dance Party" tour with Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson), Frankie Sardo, and other performers. On February 3, 1959, after a concert stop in Clear Lake, Iowa, Holly and others decided to charter a flight to the next venue rather than travel on the tour bus. Dion was invited to accompany the group but decided that he did not want to spend $36 for the flight, as it was the same monthly rent his parents paid for his childhood apartment and he couldn't justify the indulgence. The plane crashed, killing all on board; Holly, Valens, Richardson, and the pilot Roger Peterson. Dion and the Belmonts continued on the tour, along with Frankie Sardo, while Bobby Vee, then an unknown artist, performed in Holly's place at the very next concert. Later, Jimmy Clanton, Frankie Avalon, and Fabian were added to replace the other now-deceased headliners. Dion and the Belmonts' next single, "A Teenager in Love," was released in March 1959, eventually hitting No. 5 on the U.S. pop charts and No. 28 in the UK. The group's biggest hit, "Where or When," was released in November of that year, and reached No. 3 on the U.S. charts. However, in early 1960, Dion checked into hospital for heroin addiction, a problem he had had since his mid-teens. Further single releases for the group that year were less successful. There were musical, personal and financial differences between Dion and members of the Belmonts, and in October 1960, Dion decided to quit for a solo career. By the time of their breakup, all eight Laurie releases had charted on the Hot 100. CANNOTANSWER | in October 1960, Dion decided to quit for a solo career. | Dion Francis DiMucci (born July 18, 1939), better known simply as Dion, is an American singer and songwriter whose music has incorporated elements of doo-wop, rock, R&B and blues. Initially as lead singer of Dion and the Belmonts, and then in his solo career, he was one of the most popular American rock and roll performers of the pre-British Invasion era. He had 39 Top 40 hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s as a solo performer, with the Belmonts or with the Del-Satins. He is best remembered for the singles "Runaround Sue", "The Wanderer", "Ruby Baby" and "Lovers Who Wander", among other hits.
Dion's popularity waned in the mid-1960s. Toward the end of the decade, he shifted his style and produced songs that were more mature and contemplative, such as "Abraham, Martin and John". He remained popular in the late 1960s until the mid-1970s, and continues making music. During the 1980s, Dion produced several Christian albums, winning a GMA Dove Award in 1984 for the album I Put Away My Idols. He returned to secular music in the late 1980s with Yo Frankie (1989). Between the mid-2000s and 2021, Dion released six chart-topping blues albums. Critics who had dismissed his early work, labeling him as a teen idol, praised his later work and noted the influence he has had on other musicians.
A Grammy-nominated artist, Dion has released nearly 40 albums and scored eight Top 10 hits (ten including the Belmonts) on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989.
Early life
Dion was born to an Italian-American family in the Bronx, New York. As a child, he accompanied his father, Pasquale DiMucci, a vaudeville entertainer, on tour, and developed a love of country music – particularly the work of Hank Williams. He also developed a fondness for the blues and doo-wop musicians he heard performing in local bars and on the radio. His singing was honed on the street corners and local clubs of the Bronx, where he and other neighborhood singers created a cappella riffs.
In early 1957, he auditioned for Bob and Gene Schwartz for their short-lived Mohawk Records label. They asked Dion to sing a song which had been arranged by Hugo Montenegro and recorded featuring Vic Damone doing vocals. At first Dion refused, stating the song would sound like something his old fashioned parents would listen to, but the Schwartzes convinced him to give it a try. The backing vocals were by a group called "the Timberlanes", whom Dion had never met. The resulting single, "The Chosen Few", was released under the name "Dion and the Timberlanes", and became a minor regional hit. Dion himself stated in 2019 during an interview at "Crashing the Party" (a radio program related to Norton Records in Brooklyn, New York) that "The Chosen Few" hit the Top Ten locally in Boston and enabled him to perform this song on American Bandstand where the kids at the show started screaming during his performance, which gave him his first impression of being a record star. Writing about this experience later, in his autobiography, The Wanderer, Dion said that he had never met the Timberlanes and did not even know who they were. "The vocal group was so white bread, I went back to my neighborhood and I recruited a bunch of guys – three guys – and we called ourselves Dion and the Belmonts."
Career
Beginnings with the Belmonts: 1957–1960
Bob and Gene Schwartz signed Dion's friends, the Belmonts (Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano, and Angelo D'Aleo), a vocal group named for the Belmont, Bronx neighborhood, and teamed them up with Dion singing lead. The new group's breakthrough came in early 1958, when "I Wonder Why" (on their newly formed Laurie Records) made No. 22 on the U.S. charts. Dion said of the Belmonts; "I'd give 'em sounds. I'd give 'em parts and stuff. That's what 'I Wonder Why' was about. We kind of invented this percussive rhythmic sound. If you listen to that song, everybody was doing something different. There's four guys, one guy was doing bass, I was singing lead, one guy's going 'ooh wah ooh,' and another guy's doing tenor. It was totally amazing. When I listen to it today, oftentimes I think, 'man, those kids are talented.'"
Their initial hit was followed by "No One Knows" and "Don't Pity Me", which also charted the Billboard Top 100. This success won a place for Dion and the Belmonts on the ill-fated "The Winter Dance Party" tour with Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson), Frankie Sardo, and other performers. On February 3, 1959, after a concert stop in Clear Lake, Iowa, Holly and others decided to charter a flight to the next venue rather than travel on the tour bus. Dion was invited to accompany the group but decided that he did not want to spend $36 for the flight, as it was the same monthly rent his parents paid for his childhood apartment and he could not justify the indulgence. The plane crashed, killing all on board: Holly, Valens, Richardson, and the pilot Roger Peterson. Dion and the Belmonts continued on the tour, along with Frankie Sardo, while Bobby Vee, then an unknown artist, performed in Holly's place at the very next concert. Later, Jimmy Clanton, Frankie Avalon, and Fabian were added to replace the other now-deceased headliners.
Dion and the Belmonts' next single, "A Teenager in Love", was released in March 1959, eventually hitting No. 5 on the U.S. pop charts and No. 28 in the UK. The group's biggest hit, "Where or When", was released in November of that year, and reached No. 3 on the U.S. charts. However, in early 1960, Dion checked into hospital for heroin addiction, a problem he had had since his mid-teens. Further single releases for the group that year were less successful. There were musical, personal and financial differences between Dion and members of the Belmonts, and in October 1960, Dion decided to quit for a solo career. By the time of their breakup, all eight Laurie releases had charted on the Hot 100.
Solo stardom and touring worldwide: 1960–1964
By the end of 1960, Dion produced his first solo album on Laurie Records, Alone with Dion, released in 1961. The single "Lonely Teenager" rose to No. 12 in the US charts. The name on his solo releases was simply "Dion". Follow-ups "Havin' Fun" and "Kissin' Game" had less success, and the signs were that Dion would drift onto the cabaret circuit. However, he then recorded an up-tempo number co-written with Ernie Maresca with a new vocal group, the Del-Satins. The record, "Runaround Sue", stormed up the U.S. charts, reaching No. 1 in October 1961, and No. 11 in the UK, where he also toured. "Runaround Sue" sold over a million copies, achieving gold disc status.
For the next single, Laurie promoted the A-side, "The Majestic", but it was the B-side, Maresca's "The Wanderer", which received more radio play and climbed swiftly up the charts to reach No. 2 in the U.S. in February 1962 and No. 10 in the UK. The 1976 re-release made the UK Top 20.
By the end of 1961, Dion had become a major star, touring worldwide and making an appearance in the Columbia Pictures musical film Twist Around the Clock. In 1962, he followed with a string of singles he wrote or co-wrote including "Lovers Who Wander" (No. 3), "Little Diane" (No. 8), "Love Came to Me" (No. 10). He also had successful albums with Runaround Sue and Lovers Who Wander.
At the end of 1962, Dion moved from Laurie to Columbia Records. He was the first rock and roll artist signed to the label, which was an anomaly considering that its then-A&R director, Mitch Miller, loathed that particular genre of music. The first Columbia single, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller's "Ruby Baby" (originally a hit for the Drifters) reached No. 2, while "Donna the Prima Donna" and "Drip Drop" (another remake of a Drifters hit) both reached No. 6 in late 1963. (Dion also recorded an Italian version of "Donna the Prima Donna" using the identical backup vocals.) His other Columbia releases were less successful, and problems with his drug addiction and changing public tastes, especially the British Invasion, saw a period of commercial decline.
Belmonts reunion and renewed contract: 1965–1968
Following a European tour, Dion returned to the U.S. and was introduced to classic blues by Columbia's John Hammond. To the consternation of his management, he began recording more blues-oriented material, including Willie Dixon's "Hoochie Coochie Man" and "Spoonful", but these releases – some produced by Tom Wilson, with Al Kooper on keyboards – were not commercially successful. In 1965, still with Columbia, Dion formed a new group to back him, The Wanderers, composed of John Falbo on guitar, Pete Baron (Pete Falciglia) on bass, and Carlo Mastrangelo of the Belmonts on drums. They made national appearances on Dick Clark's, Where The Action Is, and The Lloyd Thaxton Show. A number of self-penned tracks were recorded and released unsuccessfully as singles, and did not appear in album format until years later. In June 1965 he recorded fellow Columbia Records's contemporary Bob Dylan's composition "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" a half-year before Them (featuring Van Morrison)'s hit version.
In 1966–67, Dion briefly reunited with the Belmonts, recording the LP Together Again for ABC Records. The album was unsuccessful, despite one classic self-penned song, "My Girl the Month of May". Two singles were released from the LP. While neither charted in the United States, they fared better in the UK. "My Girl The Month of May" entered the Radio London "Fab 40" at No. 9 the week of December 25, 1966. A 'turntable' hit at London underground clubs like Middle Earth, the disc received a lot of play from pirate radio DJ's John Peel and Kenny Everett. The follow up, "Movin' Man", reached No. 17 on the "Radio London" charts on Easter Sunday, March 26, 1967. "My Girl The Month of May" was later covered by English artists Alan Bown in 1967, and Island Records artists The Bunch (featuring Sandy Denny and other members of Fairport Convention) in April 1972. During their brief mid-60's reunion, Dion and the Belmonts appeared on the popular Clay Cole Show performing "Berimbau" and "My Girl The Month of May", and occasionally performed at local New York City clubs such as "The Mardi Gras" on Staten Island (April 29, 1967) before disbanding. While Dion's career appeared to be nearing an end, he still retained enough credibility to be, along with Bob Dylan, one of only two rock artists featured on the album cover of the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in 1967.
In April 1968, Dion experienced what he identified as a powerful religious transformation. After getting clean once again from heroin addiction, an experience he documented in his 1970 song "Your Own Backyard", he approached Laurie Records for a new contract. They agreed on the condition that he record the song "Abraham, Martin & John", written by Dick Holler (also the writer of the Royal Guardsmen's "Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron") in response to the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, and those of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy during the spring of 1968. The success of this song (released by Dion in August 1968 and later recorded by many others including Marvin Gaye) which reached No. 4 in the US charts and No. 1 in Canada, resuscitated Dion's career. It sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc.
Mature and Christian music period: 1969–1986
For the next few years, Dion's music became radically different, moving to more contemplative and mature material. He released several albums essentially as a singer-songwriter, to moderate sales, moving to the Warner Brothers label in 1969.
There followed a live reunion show with the Belmonts at Madison Square Garden on June 2, 1972, which was recorded and released as a live album by Warner. A year later, in 1973, Dion and the original Belmonts performed once more, doing a sold-out concert at the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island, New York. However, no recording of the 1973 reunion was released. This was followed in 1975 by the album Born to Be with You produced by Phil Spector. The album was a commercial failure, but has been subsequently praised by such artists as Jason Pierce of Spiritualized and Pete Townshend of The Who with the track "Only You Know" being sampled by Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker for his single "Don't Let Him Waste Your Time" from his 2006 solo album Jarvis.
In 1978, Dion released an album drawing on many of his teenage influences, Return of the Wanderer, another commercial failure.
In December 1979, there was a radical spiritual change in Dion, who had become a born again Christian. Thereafter, his recordings for several years were in a contemporary Christian vein, in which he released five albums on the DaySpring Records label, a division of Word Records in Waco, Texas. These albums reflecting his evangelical Christian convictions were Inside Job (1980), Only Jesus (1981), I Put Away My Idols (1983) which charted at No. 37, Seasons (1984), Kingdom in the Streets (1985) and Velvet & Steel (1986). Several singles were successfully released to Christian radio, notably "Still in the Spirit" from Kingdom in the Streets.
In 1984, Dion won the GMA Dove Award (Christian Music Award) for the album I Put Away My Idols. He was also nominated for Grammy Award for Best Gospel Vocal Performance, Male for the same album.
On September 24, 1985, Dion was a guest on 100 Huntley Street.
Return to secular music and RRHOF induction: 1987–1999
In 1987, Dion agreed to do a concert of his old hits at Radio City Music Hall in New York. The two disc CD of this concert was released in 2005, featuring concert photos by Dion's friend, Michael J. Friedman. This concert helped free him to celebrate both his past and his future, and led to a series of special appearances, including a fundraiser for homeless medical relief. There he shared the stage with fans such as Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon and Lou Reed, all of whom cited Dion as one of their prime influences.
Dion's autobiography, The Wanderer: Dion's Story, co-authored by Davin Seay, was published in the late-1980s.
In 1989, DiMucci returned to rock music with the contemporary album Yo Frankie, which included appearances by Paul Simon, Lou Reed, k.d. lang, Patty Smyth and Bryan Adams. Produced by Dave Edmunds (who also played guitar on the album), "Yo Frankie has a sharp sound while never losing sight of Dion's soulful, doo-wop voice." Overall, "the relevant and nostalgic statement from an artist who helped forge rock & roll's first wave" found his way back on radio and in music videos during this period (both on VH1 and MTV), as well as touring.
Dion was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF) in 1989 (with an introduction by Lou Reed). Controversially, when Dion's solo induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame occurred, the other original members of the Belmonts (Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano, and Angelo D'Aleo) were not inducted. A January 3, 2012 Billboard magazine article stated: "There was strife between DiMucci and Belmonts members, who were not pleased when DiMucci was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame without them in 1989."
DiMucci joined Scott Kempner and Frank Funaro of the Del-Lords and Mike Mesaros of the Smithereens in a short-lived band called Little Kings. A live album was later released, but not widely circulated or promoted.
Grammy Hall of Fame and blues success: 2000–2019
Dion has released several albums with contemporary rock artists. His Déjà Nu album in 2000 found him covering Bruce Springsteen, a major follower over the years. He joined Springsteen onstage in Miami in 2002 for a performance of "If I Should Fall Behind" from Dream on Fire.
In 2002, Dion was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for "Runaround Sue". He continues to perform songs from his albums live, including a concert in 2004 being recorded for release on DVD.
In January 2006, Dion released Bronx in Blue, an album of blues and country standards, which was nominated for a Grammy Award. It peaked at No. 2 on the Top Blues Albums chart. In November 2007, Dion issued a follow-up album titled Son of Skip James, which peaked at No. 4 on the Top Blues Albums chart.
In October 2008, DiMucci released Heroes: Giants of Early Guitar Rock, an album of his covers of early rock and roll songs he considers seminal to the genre. The album includes versions of songs originally recorded by Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, Ricky Nelson, Johnny Cash, and many other early rock guitarists.
In October 2009, Dion performed "The Wanderer" with Paul Simon at the 25th Anniversary Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Concert.
An audiobook and paperback by Dion and Mike Aquilina, titled Dion: The Wanderer Talks Truth (Stories, Humor Music), was published in April 2011. DiMucci shares stories about The Bronx in the 1950s, how he ended up on the cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and his travels with Sam Cooke in the Jim Crow South.
Dion released Tank Full of Blues on January 24, 2012. It peaked at No. 3 on the Top Blues Albums chart.
While touring on April 5, 2015, Dion performed "Donna the Prima Donna" live in Las Vegas. On July 11, 2015, he held a concert in Westbury, New York.
In 2015, Dion released the single "New York Is My Home" with Paul Simon. Dion had previously worked with Simon on his 1989 hit "Written on the Subway Wall". The single was followed by the album New York Is My Home, released February 12, 2016. The album peaked at No. 3 on the Top Blues Album chart.
Dion planned four concerts in the U.S. during early 2016 and was invited as a keynote speaker for the 2016 SXSW in Texas. He spoke on the topic A Conversation with Dion: Rock's Enduring Voice on March 17, 2016.
Dion appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on April 8, 2016.
In May 2017, Dion released Kickin' Child: The Lost Album 1965 from Norton Records, containing songs recorded in 1965 when he was with Columbia Records but were not previously released. Also in May 2017, Richard Barone's Sorrows & Promises: Greenwich Village in the 1960s was released, which included Dion performing a duet of his 1964 song "The Road I'm On (Gloria)" with Barone. The album is a celebration of the New York City scene that Dion was part of during that pivotal era.
Recent albums with KTBA Records: 2020–present
In June 2020, Dion released Blues with Friends via Keeping the Blues Alive Records (KTBA), a new record label created by Joe Bonamassa and Roy Weisman for Dion and other blues musicians to showcase their talents. The album features Van Morrison, Jeff Beck, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, and others (including liner notes by Bob Dylan). A digital album (and a double vinyl record set), Dion released a music video for every song from the album on his website and social media platforms such as Facebook and YouTube. The album reached No. 1 on the Billboard Blues Albums chart (9 weeks at No. 1 and 59 weeks total). It also charted in United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Canada and Australia.
American Songwriter magazine honored Dion's "Song for Sam Cooke (Here in America)" as the "Greatest of the Great 2020 Songs".
Dion also released two Christmas songs in 2020: "Hello Christmas" (featuring Amy Grant) and "You Know It's Christmas" (featuring Bonamassa). Both songs were co-written with Mike Aquilina. Music videos were produced for both songs.
Dion's song "Blues Comin' On" (with Bonamassa) from Blues with Friends was nominated for a 2021 Blues Music Award.
In November 2021, Dion released Stomping Ground (with music videos), which includes extensive liner notes written by Pete Townshend. Except for a cover of "Red House", the songs were written by Dion and Aquilina. Multiple guest artists participate on the album. The album became Dion's second No. 1 blues album.
The Wanderer musical
On October 13, 2011, an industry-only reading of a new play about Dion's life was performed in New York City.
In a December 9, 2011 article from The New York Times, Dion and his collaborator (writer/director Charles Messina) discussed details about the project – titled The Wanderer: The Life and Music of Dion – which will focus on the years between 1957 until the late-1960s, and will feature more than 20 songs from that era as well as new/original music. In the article, Dion gave his perspective on the story: "You know, I always saw my story as a young Sopranos with great music and a Rocky Graziano Somebody Up There Likes Me ending. It's a story of redemption. A rock and roll redemption story!"
DiMucci revealed that Michael Wartella would be starring in The Wanderer on December 16, 2017. There was a reading of the musical on November 2, 2017 while working on it continued. On December 4, 2019, it was announced that former New Kids on the Block member Joey McIntyre would star as Johnny, Michael Wartella as Dion, and Christy Altomare as wife, Susan. The first performance was scheduled to start on May 28, 2020, at the Paper Mill Playhouse. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the opening performance was rescheduled to March 24, 2022.
Personal life
Dion lives in Boca Raton, Florida and New York City.
In the late 1990s, Dion visited his old Bronx parish, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, and returned to Catholicism. Sparking Dion's reversion to Catholicism was "a chance viewing of The Journey Home program on EWTN."
As a practicing Roman Catholic and having struggled with a heroin addiction during his youth, Dion has been involved in prison religion, reaching out to men going through drug recovery.
DiMucci was a member of the American board of directors for Renewal Ministries in 2004.
Dion appeared on The Journey Home and discussed his wanderings from Catholicism to Protestantism and back again on May 1, 2006.
Selective discography
With the Belmonts
Presenting Dion and the Belmonts (1959)
Wish Upon a Star with Dion and the Belmonts (1960)
Together Again (1966)
Live at Madison Square Garden 1972 (1973)
Solo albums
Alone with Dion (1961)
Runaround Sue (1961)
Donna the Prima Donna (1963)
Dion (1968)
Suite for Late Summer (1972)
Born to Be with You (1975)
Streetheart (1976)
I Put Away My Idols (1983)
Yo Frankie (1989)
Son of Skip James (2007)
Blues with Friends (2020)
Stomping Ground (2021)
References
External links
Comprehensive Rolling Stone profile
The Spiritual Journey of the Wanderer Who Came Home By Dion Dimucci
Dion the Wanderer, Back In Blue (an article at NPR.com)
1939 births
Living people
American male singers
American people of Italian descent
American male pop singers
American folk singers
American rock singers
Musicians from the Bronx
American performers of Christian music
Laurie Records artists
Columbia Records artists
Singers from New York City
Dion and the Belmonts members
Doo-wop musicians
Catholics from New York (state) | true | [
"This is a list of seasons played by Northamptonshire County Cricket Club in English cricket, from the club's formation to the most recent completed season. It details the club's achievements in major competitions, and the top run-scorers and wicket-takers for each season.\n\nSeasons\n\nKey\n\nDivision shown in bold when it changes due to promotion, relegation or league reorganisation. Top run scorer/wicket taker shown in bold when he was the leading run scorer/wicket taker in the country.\n\nKey to league record:\nDiv - division played in\nP – games played\nW – games won\nL – games lost\nD – games drawn\nNR – games with no result\nAbnd – games abandoned\nPts – points\nPos – final position\n\nKey to rounds:\nPR - preliminary round\nR1 – first round\nR2 – second round, etc.\nQF – quarter-final\nSF – semi-final\nGrp – group stage\nRU - runners-up\nn/a – not applicable\n\nNotes\nA. The National League competition did not start until the 1969 season, and ran until 2010. It was replaced, along with the Friends Provident Trophy, by the group format Clydesdale Bank 40.\nB. The Friends Provident Trophy competition did not start until the 1963 season, and for the 2010 was replaced by a group format named the Clydesdale Bank 40.\nC. The Benson & Hedges Cup competition did not start until the 1972 season, and ran until 2002.\nD. The Twenty20 Cup competition did not start until the 2003 season, and for the 2010 season changed to the FP T20.\nE. In County Championship matches only.\nF. The County Championship was split into two divisions in 2000.\nG. The National League was split into two divisions in 1999.\nH. Owing to the 1999 Cricket World Cup, the Benson & Hedges Cup was replaced by the Benson & Hedges Super Cup, which featured the top eight teams from the 1998 County Championship. Northamptonshire, finishing 15, did not qualify.\n\nReferences\n\nSeasons\nNorthamptonshire-related lists\nSeasons, Northamptonshire County Cricket Club",
"Supernatural was a Swedish pop group that consisted of the winners of the second season of the Swedish reality TV show Popstars. In Sweden the show was broadcast on Kanal5 in 2003.\nThe band had several hits with songs like Supernatural and Rock U. Supernatural was expected to take part in the Swedish precursor selections for the Eurovision Song Contest in 2003 but its record label did not publicize the band sufficiently and the members subsequently split up in 2004 after arguments with their record label.\n\nMembers\nMathilda Carmbrant\nLinda Eriksson (aka Linda Varg)\nSandra Leto\nRobert Skowronski\nSebastian Zelle\n\nAfter split-up\nThe members of Supernatural started a new band, this time with the name Caught Up, but it did not experience the same success.\n\nDiscography\n\nAlbums\n\nSingles\n\nReferences\n\nPopstars winners\nSwedish pop music groups"
] | [
"Dion Francis DiMucci (born July 18, 1939), better known simply as Dion, is an American singer and songwriter whose music has incorporated elements of doo-wop, rock, R&B and blues. Initially as lead singer of Dion and the Belmonts, and then in his solo career, he was one of the most popular American rock and roll performers of the pre-British Invasion era. He had 39 Top 40 hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s as a solo performer, with the Belmonts or with the Del-Satins.",
"He had 39 Top 40 hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s as a solo performer, with the Belmonts or with the Del-Satins. He is best remembered for the singles \"Runaround Sue\", \"The Wanderer\", \"Ruby Baby\" and \"Lovers Who Wander\", among other hits. Dion's popularity waned in the mid-1960s. Toward the end of the decade, he shifted his style and produced songs that were more mature and contemplative, such as \"Abraham, Martin and John\".",
"Toward the end of the decade, he shifted his style and produced songs that were more mature and contemplative, such as \"Abraham, Martin and John\". He remained popular in the late 1960s until the mid-1970s, and continues making music. During the 1980s, Dion produced several Christian albums, winning a GMA Dove Award in 1984 for the album I Put Away My Idols. He returned to secular music in the late 1980s with Yo Frankie (1989).",
"He returned to secular music in the late 1980s with Yo Frankie (1989). Between the mid-2000s and 2021, Dion released six chart-topping blues albums. Critics who had dismissed his early work, labeling him as a teen idol, praised his later work and noted the influence he has had on other musicians. A Grammy-nominated artist, Dion has released nearly 40 albums and scored eight Top 10 hits (ten including the Belmonts) on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.",
"A Grammy-nominated artist, Dion has released nearly 40 albums and scored eight Top 10 hits (ten including the Belmonts) on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989. Early life Dion was born to an Italian-American family in the Bronx, New York. As a child, he accompanied his father, Pasquale DiMucci, a vaudeville entertainer, on tour, and developed a love of country music – particularly the work of Hank Williams.",
"As a child, he accompanied his father, Pasquale DiMucci, a vaudeville entertainer, on tour, and developed a love of country music – particularly the work of Hank Williams. He also developed a fondness for the blues and doo-wop musicians he heard performing in local bars and on the radio. His singing was honed on the street corners and local clubs of the Bronx, where he and other neighborhood singers created a cappella riffs. In early 1957, he auditioned for Bob and Gene Schwartz for their short-lived Mohawk Records label.",
"In early 1957, he auditioned for Bob and Gene Schwartz for their short-lived Mohawk Records label. They asked Dion to sing a song which had been arranged by Hugo Montenegro and recorded featuring Vic Damone doing vocals. At first Dion refused, stating the song would sound like something his old fashioned parents would listen to, but the Schwartzes convinced him to give it a try. The backing vocals were by a group called \"the Timberlanes\", whom Dion had never met.",
"The backing vocals were by a group called \"the Timberlanes\", whom Dion had never met. The resulting single, \"The Chosen Few\", was released under the name \"Dion and the Timberlanes\", and became a minor regional hit.",
"The resulting single, \"The Chosen Few\", was released under the name \"Dion and the Timberlanes\", and became a minor regional hit. Dion himself stated in 2019 during an interview at \"Crashing the Party\" (a radio program related to Norton Records in Brooklyn, New York) that \"The Chosen Few\" hit the Top Ten locally in Boston and enabled him to perform this song on American Bandstand where the kids at the show started screaming during his performance, which gave him his first impression of being a record star.",
"Dion himself stated in 2019 during an interview at \"Crashing the Party\" (a radio program related to Norton Records in Brooklyn, New York) that \"The Chosen Few\" hit the Top Ten locally in Boston and enabled him to perform this song on American Bandstand where the kids at the show started screaming during his performance, which gave him his first impression of being a record star. Writing about this experience later, in his autobiography, The Wanderer, Dion said that he had never met the Timberlanes and did not even know who they were.",
"Writing about this experience later, in his autobiography, The Wanderer, Dion said that he had never met the Timberlanes and did not even know who they were. \"The vocal group was so white bread, I went back to my neighborhood and I recruited a bunch of guys – three guys – and we called ourselves Dion and the Belmonts.\"",
"\"The vocal group was so white bread, I went back to my neighborhood and I recruited a bunch of guys – three guys – and we called ourselves Dion and the Belmonts.\" Career Beginnings with the Belmonts: 1957–1960 Bob and Gene Schwartz signed Dion's friends, the Belmonts (Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano, and Angelo D'Aleo), a vocal group named for the Belmont, Bronx neighborhood, and teamed them up with Dion singing lead.",
"Career Beginnings with the Belmonts: 1957–1960 Bob and Gene Schwartz signed Dion's friends, the Belmonts (Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano, and Angelo D'Aleo), a vocal group named for the Belmont, Bronx neighborhood, and teamed them up with Dion singing lead. The new group's breakthrough came in early 1958, when \"I Wonder Why\" (on their newly formed Laurie Records) made No. 22 on the U.S. charts. Dion said of the Belmonts; \"I'd give 'em sounds.",
"Dion said of the Belmonts; \"I'd give 'em sounds. I'd give 'em parts and stuff. That's what 'I Wonder Why' was about. We kind of invented this percussive rhythmic sound. If you listen to that song, everybody was doing something different. There's four guys, one guy was doing bass, I was singing lead, one guy's going 'ooh wah ooh,' and another guy's doing tenor. It was totally amazing.",
"It was totally amazing. It was totally amazing. When I listen to it today, oftentimes I think, 'man, those kids are talented.'\" Their initial hit was followed by \"No One Knows\" and \"Don't Pity Me\", which also charted the Billboard Top 100. This success won a place for Dion and the Belmonts on the ill-fated \"The Winter Dance Party\" tour with Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson), Frankie Sardo, and other performers.",
"This success won a place for Dion and the Belmonts on the ill-fated \"The Winter Dance Party\" tour with Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson), Frankie Sardo, and other performers. On February 3, 1959, after a concert stop in Clear Lake, Iowa, Holly and others decided to charter a flight to the next venue rather than travel on the tour bus.",
"On February 3, 1959, after a concert stop in Clear Lake, Iowa, Holly and others decided to charter a flight to the next venue rather than travel on the tour bus. Dion was invited to accompany the group but decided that he did not want to spend $36 for the flight, as it was the same monthly rent his parents paid for his childhood apartment and he could not justify the indulgence.",
"Dion was invited to accompany the group but decided that he did not want to spend $36 for the flight, as it was the same monthly rent his parents paid for his childhood apartment and he could not justify the indulgence. The plane crashed, killing all on board: Holly, Valens, Richardson, and the pilot Roger Peterson. Dion and the Belmonts continued on the tour, along with Frankie Sardo, while Bobby Vee, then an unknown artist, performed in Holly's place at the very next concert.",
"Dion and the Belmonts continued on the tour, along with Frankie Sardo, while Bobby Vee, then an unknown artist, performed in Holly's place at the very next concert. Later, Jimmy Clanton, Frankie Avalon, and Fabian were added to replace the other now-deceased headliners. Dion and the Belmonts' next single, \"A Teenager in Love\", was released in March 1959, eventually hitting No. 5 on the U.S. pop charts and No. 28 in the UK.",
"5 on the U.S. pop charts and No. 28 in the UK. 28 in the UK. The group's biggest hit, \"Where or When\", was released in November of that year, and reached No. 3 on the U.S. charts. However, in early 1960, Dion checked into hospital for heroin addiction, a problem he had had since his mid-teens. Further single releases for the group that year were less successful.",
"Further single releases for the group that year were less successful. There were musical, personal and financial differences between Dion and members of the Belmonts, and in October 1960, Dion decided to quit for a solo career. By the time of their breakup, all eight Laurie releases had charted on the Hot 100. Solo stardom and touring worldwide: 1960–1964 By the end of 1960, Dion produced his first solo album on Laurie Records, Alone with Dion, released in 1961.",
"Solo stardom and touring worldwide: 1960–1964 By the end of 1960, Dion produced his first solo album on Laurie Records, Alone with Dion, released in 1961. The single \"Lonely Teenager\" rose to No. 12 in the US charts. The name on his solo releases was simply \"Dion\". Follow-ups \"Havin' Fun\" and \"Kissin' Game\" had less success, and the signs were that Dion would drift onto the cabaret circuit.",
"Follow-ups \"Havin' Fun\" and \"Kissin' Game\" had less success, and the signs were that Dion would drift onto the cabaret circuit. However, he then recorded an up-tempo number co-written with Ernie Maresca with a new vocal group, the Del-Satins. The record, \"Runaround Sue\", stormed up the U.S. charts, reaching No. 1 in October 1961, and No. 11 in the UK, where he also toured. \"Runaround Sue\" sold over a million copies, achieving gold disc status.",
"\"Runaround Sue\" sold over a million copies, achieving gold disc status. For the next single, Laurie promoted the A-side, \"The Majestic\", but it was the B-side, Maresca's \"The Wanderer\", which received more radio play and climbed swiftly up the charts to reach No. 2 in the U.S. in February 1962 and No. 10 in the UK. The 1976 re-release made the UK Top 20.",
"The 1976 re-release made the UK Top 20. The 1976 re-release made the UK Top 20. By the end of 1961, Dion had become a major star, touring worldwide and making an appearance in the Columbia Pictures musical film Twist Around the Clock. In 1962, he followed with a string of singles he wrote or co-wrote including \"Lovers Who Wander\" (No. 3), \"Little Diane\" (No. 8), \"Love Came to Me\" (No. 10).",
"8), \"Love Came to Me\" (No. 10). 10). He also had successful albums with Runaround Sue and Lovers Who Wander. At the end of 1962, Dion moved from Laurie to Columbia Records. He was the first rock and roll artist signed to the label, which was an anomaly considering that its then-A&R director, Mitch Miller, loathed that particular genre of music.",
"He was the first rock and roll artist signed to the label, which was an anomaly considering that its then-A&R director, Mitch Miller, loathed that particular genre of music. The first Columbia single, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller's \"Ruby Baby\" (originally a hit for the Drifters) reached No. 2, while \"Donna the Prima Donna\" and \"Drip Drop\" (another remake of a Drifters hit) both reached No. 6 in late 1963.",
"6 in late 1963. 6 in late 1963. (Dion also recorded an Italian version of \"Donna the Prima Donna\" using the identical backup vocals.) His other Columbia releases were less successful, and problems with his drug addiction and changing public tastes, especially the British Invasion, saw a period of commercial decline. Belmonts reunion and renewed contract: 1965–1968 Following a European tour, Dion returned to the U.S. and was introduced to classic blues by Columbia's John Hammond.",
"Belmonts reunion and renewed contract: 1965–1968 Following a European tour, Dion returned to the U.S. and was introduced to classic blues by Columbia's John Hammond. To the consternation of his management, he began recording more blues-oriented material, including Willie Dixon's \"Hoochie Coochie Man\" and \"Spoonful\", but these releases – some produced by Tom Wilson, with Al Kooper on keyboards – were not commercially successful.",
"To the consternation of his management, he began recording more blues-oriented material, including Willie Dixon's \"Hoochie Coochie Man\" and \"Spoonful\", but these releases – some produced by Tom Wilson, with Al Kooper on keyboards – were not commercially successful. In 1965, still with Columbia, Dion formed a new group to back him, The Wanderers, composed of John Falbo on guitar, Pete Baron (Pete Falciglia) on bass, and Carlo Mastrangelo of the Belmonts on drums.",
"In 1965, still with Columbia, Dion formed a new group to back him, The Wanderers, composed of John Falbo on guitar, Pete Baron (Pete Falciglia) on bass, and Carlo Mastrangelo of the Belmonts on drums. They made national appearances on Dick Clark's, Where The Action Is, and The Lloyd Thaxton Show. A number of self-penned tracks were recorded and released unsuccessfully as singles, and did not appear in album format until years later.",
"A number of self-penned tracks were recorded and released unsuccessfully as singles, and did not appear in album format until years later. In June 1965 he recorded fellow Columbia Records's contemporary Bob Dylan's composition \"It's All Over Now, Baby Blue\" a half-year before Them (featuring Van Morrison)'s hit version. In 1966–67, Dion briefly reunited with the Belmonts, recording the LP Together Again for ABC Records. The album was unsuccessful, despite one classic self-penned song, \"My Girl the Month of May\".",
"The album was unsuccessful, despite one classic self-penned song, \"My Girl the Month of May\". Two singles were released from the LP. While neither charted in the United States, they fared better in the UK. \"My Girl The Month of May\" entered the Radio London \"Fab 40\" at No. 9 the week of December 25, 1966.",
"9 the week of December 25, 1966. 9 the week of December 25, 1966. A 'turntable' hit at London underground clubs like Middle Earth, the disc received a lot of play from pirate radio DJ's John Peel and Kenny Everett. The follow up, \"Movin' Man\", reached No. 17 on the \"Radio London\" charts on Easter Sunday, March 26, 1967.",
"17 on the \"Radio London\" charts on Easter Sunday, March 26, 1967. \"My Girl The Month of May\" was later covered by English artists Alan Bown in 1967, and Island Records artists The Bunch (featuring Sandy Denny and other members of Fairport Convention) in April 1972.",
"\"My Girl The Month of May\" was later covered by English artists Alan Bown in 1967, and Island Records artists The Bunch (featuring Sandy Denny and other members of Fairport Convention) in April 1972. During their brief mid-60's reunion, Dion and the Belmonts appeared on the popular Clay Cole Show performing \"Berimbau\" and \"My Girl The Month of May\", and occasionally performed at local New York City clubs such as \"The Mardi Gras\" on Staten Island (April 29, 1967) before disbanding.",
"During their brief mid-60's reunion, Dion and the Belmonts appeared on the popular Clay Cole Show performing \"Berimbau\" and \"My Girl The Month of May\", and occasionally performed at local New York City clubs such as \"The Mardi Gras\" on Staten Island (April 29, 1967) before disbanding. While Dion's career appeared to be nearing an end, he still retained enough credibility to be, along with Bob Dylan, one of only two rock artists featured on the album cover of the Beatles' Sgt.",
"While Dion's career appeared to be nearing an end, he still retained enough credibility to be, along with Bob Dylan, one of only two rock artists featured on the album cover of the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in 1967. In April 1968, Dion experienced what he identified as a powerful religious transformation. After getting clean once again from heroin addiction, an experience he documented in his 1970 song \"Your Own Backyard\", he approached Laurie Records for a new contract.",
"After getting clean once again from heroin addiction, an experience he documented in his 1970 song \"Your Own Backyard\", he approached Laurie Records for a new contract. They agreed on the condition that he record the song \"Abraham, Martin & John\", written by Dick Holler (also the writer of the Royal Guardsmen's \"Snoopy Vs.",
"They agreed on the condition that he record the song \"Abraham, Martin & John\", written by Dick Holler (also the writer of the Royal Guardsmen's \"Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron\") in response to the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, and those of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy during the spring of 1968. The success of this song (released by Dion in August 1968 and later recorded by many others including Marvin Gaye) which reached No.",
"The success of this song (released by Dion in August 1968 and later recorded by many others including Marvin Gaye) which reached No. 4 in the US charts and No. 1 in Canada, resuscitated Dion's career. It sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc. Mature and Christian music period: 1969–1986 For the next few years, Dion's music became radically different, moving to more contemplative and mature material.",
"Mature and Christian music period: 1969–1986 For the next few years, Dion's music became radically different, moving to more contemplative and mature material. He released several albums essentially as a singer-songwriter, to moderate sales, moving to the Warner Brothers label in 1969. There followed a live reunion show with the Belmonts at Madison Square Garden on June 2, 1972, which was recorded and released as a live album by Warner.",
"There followed a live reunion show with the Belmonts at Madison Square Garden on June 2, 1972, which was recorded and released as a live album by Warner. A year later, in 1973, Dion and the original Belmonts performed once more, doing a sold-out concert at the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island, New York. However, no recording of the 1973 reunion was released. This was followed in 1975 by the album Born to Be with You produced by Phil Spector.",
"This was followed in 1975 by the album Born to Be with You produced by Phil Spector. The album was a commercial failure, but has been subsequently praised by such artists as Jason Pierce of Spiritualized and Pete Townshend of The Who with the track \"Only You Know\" being sampled by Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker for his single \"Don't Let Him Waste Your Time\" from his 2006 solo album Jarvis.",
"The album was a commercial failure, but has been subsequently praised by such artists as Jason Pierce of Spiritualized and Pete Townshend of The Who with the track \"Only You Know\" being sampled by Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker for his single \"Don't Let Him Waste Your Time\" from his 2006 solo album Jarvis. In 1978, Dion released an album drawing on many of his teenage influences, Return of the Wanderer, another commercial failure.",
"In 1978, Dion released an album drawing on many of his teenage influences, Return of the Wanderer, another commercial failure. In December 1979, there was a radical spiritual change in Dion, who had become a born again Christian. Thereafter, his recordings for several years were in a contemporary Christian vein, in which he released five albums on the DaySpring Records label, a division of Word Records in Waco, Texas.",
"Thereafter, his recordings for several years were in a contemporary Christian vein, in which he released five albums on the DaySpring Records label, a division of Word Records in Waco, Texas. These albums reflecting his evangelical Christian convictions were Inside Job (1980), Only Jesus (1981), I Put Away My Idols (1983) which charted at No. 37, Seasons (1984), Kingdom in the Streets (1985) and Velvet & Steel (1986).",
"37, Seasons (1984), Kingdom in the Streets (1985) and Velvet & Steel (1986). Several singles were successfully released to Christian radio, notably \"Still in the Spirit\" from Kingdom in the Streets. In 1984, Dion won the GMA Dove Award (Christian Music Award) for the album I Put Away My Idols. He was also nominated for Grammy Award for Best Gospel Vocal Performance, Male for the same album.",
"He was also nominated for Grammy Award for Best Gospel Vocal Performance, Male for the same album. On September 24, 1985, Dion was a guest on 100 Huntley Street. Return to secular music and RRHOF induction: 1987–1999 In 1987, Dion agreed to do a concert of his old hits at Radio City Music Hall in New York. The two disc CD of this concert was released in 2005, featuring concert photos by Dion's friend, Michael J. Friedman.",
"The two disc CD of this concert was released in 2005, featuring concert photos by Dion's friend, Michael J. Friedman. This concert helped free him to celebrate both his past and his future, and led to a series of special appearances, including a fundraiser for homeless medical relief. There he shared the stage with fans such as Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon and Lou Reed, all of whom cited Dion as one of their prime influences.",
"There he shared the stage with fans such as Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon and Lou Reed, all of whom cited Dion as one of their prime influences. Dion's autobiography, The Wanderer: Dion's Story, co-authored by Davin Seay, was published in the late-1980s. In 1989, DiMucci returned to rock music with the contemporary album Yo Frankie, which included appearances by Paul Simon, Lou Reed, k.d. lang, Patty Smyth and Bryan Adams.",
"lang, Patty Smyth and Bryan Adams. lang, Patty Smyth and Bryan Adams. Produced by Dave Edmunds (who also played guitar on the album), \"Yo Frankie has a sharp sound while never losing sight of Dion's soulful, doo-wop voice.\" Overall, \"the relevant and nostalgic statement from an artist who helped forge rock & roll's first wave\" found his way back on radio and in music videos during this period (both on VH1 and MTV), as well as touring.",
"Overall, \"the relevant and nostalgic statement from an artist who helped forge rock & roll's first wave\" found his way back on radio and in music videos during this period (both on VH1 and MTV), as well as touring. Dion was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF) in 1989 (with an introduction by Lou Reed).",
"Dion was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF) in 1989 (with an introduction by Lou Reed). Controversially, when Dion's solo induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame occurred, the other original members of the Belmonts (Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano, and Angelo D'Aleo) were not inducted.",
"Controversially, when Dion's solo induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame occurred, the other original members of the Belmonts (Carlo Mastrangelo, Fred Milano, and Angelo D'Aleo) were not inducted. A January 3, 2012 Billboard magazine article stated: \"There was strife between DiMucci and Belmonts members, who were not pleased when DiMucci was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame without them in 1989.\"",
"A January 3, 2012 Billboard magazine article stated: \"There was strife between DiMucci and Belmonts members, who were not pleased when DiMucci was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame without them in 1989.\" DiMucci joined Scott Kempner and Frank Funaro of the Del-Lords and Mike Mesaros of the Smithereens in a short-lived band called Little Kings. A live album was later released, but not widely circulated or promoted. Grammy Hall of Fame and blues success: 2000–2019 Dion has released several albums with contemporary rock artists.",
"Grammy Hall of Fame and blues success: 2000–2019 Dion has released several albums with contemporary rock artists. His Déjà Nu album in 2000 found him covering Bruce Springsteen, a major follower over the years. He joined Springsteen onstage in Miami in 2002 for a performance of \"If I Should Fall Behind\" from Dream on Fire. In 2002, Dion was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for \"Runaround Sue\".",
"In 2002, Dion was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for \"Runaround Sue\". He continues to perform songs from his albums live, including a concert in 2004 being recorded for release on DVD. In January 2006, Dion released Bronx in Blue, an album of blues and country standards, which was nominated for a Grammy Award. It peaked at No. 2 on the Top Blues Albums chart. In November 2007, Dion issued a follow-up album titled Son of Skip James, which peaked at No.",
"In November 2007, Dion issued a follow-up album titled Son of Skip James, which peaked at No. 4 on the Top Blues Albums chart. In October 2008, DiMucci released Heroes: Giants of Early Guitar Rock, an album of his covers of early rock and roll songs he considers seminal to the genre. The album includes versions of songs originally recorded by Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, Ricky Nelson, Johnny Cash, and many other early rock guitarists.",
"The album includes versions of songs originally recorded by Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, Ricky Nelson, Johnny Cash, and many other early rock guitarists. In October 2009, Dion performed \"The Wanderer\" with Paul Simon at the 25th Anniversary Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Concert. An audiobook and paperback by Dion and Mike Aquilina, titled Dion: The Wanderer Talks Truth (Stories, Humor Music), was published in April 2011.",
"An audiobook and paperback by Dion and Mike Aquilina, titled Dion: The Wanderer Talks Truth (Stories, Humor Music), was published in April 2011. DiMucci shares stories about The Bronx in the 1950s, how he ended up on the cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and his travels with Sam Cooke in the Jim Crow South. Dion released Tank Full of Blues on January 24, 2012. It peaked at No. 3 on the Top Blues Albums chart.",
"3 on the Top Blues Albums chart. 3 on the Top Blues Albums chart. While touring on April 5, 2015, Dion performed \"Donna the Prima Donna\" live in Las Vegas. On July 11, 2015, he held a concert in Westbury, New York. In 2015, Dion released the single \"New York Is My Home\" with Paul Simon. Dion had previously worked with Simon on his 1989 hit \"Written on the Subway Wall\".",
"Dion had previously worked with Simon on his 1989 hit \"Written on the Subway Wall\". The single was followed by the album New York Is My Home, released February 12, 2016. The album peaked at No. 3 on the Top Blues Album chart. Dion planned four concerts in the U.S. during early 2016 and was invited as a keynote speaker for the 2016 SXSW in Texas. He spoke on the topic A Conversation with Dion: Rock's Enduring Voice on March 17, 2016.",
"He spoke on the topic A Conversation with Dion: Rock's Enduring Voice on March 17, 2016. Dion appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on April 8, 2016. In May 2017, Dion released Kickin' Child: The Lost Album 1965 from Norton Records, containing songs recorded in 1965 when he was with Columbia Records but were not previously released.",
"In May 2017, Dion released Kickin' Child: The Lost Album 1965 from Norton Records, containing songs recorded in 1965 when he was with Columbia Records but were not previously released. Also in May 2017, Richard Barone's Sorrows & Promises: Greenwich Village in the 1960s was released, which included Dion performing a duet of his 1964 song \"The Road I'm On (Gloria)\" with Barone. The album is a celebration of the New York City scene that Dion was part of during that pivotal era.",
"The album is a celebration of the New York City scene that Dion was part of during that pivotal era. Recent albums with KTBA Records: 2020–present In June 2020, Dion released Blues with Friends via Keeping the Blues Alive Records (KTBA), a new record label created by Joe Bonamassa and Roy Weisman for Dion and other blues musicians to showcase their talents. The album features Van Morrison, Jeff Beck, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, and others (including liner notes by Bob Dylan).",
"The album features Van Morrison, Jeff Beck, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, and others (including liner notes by Bob Dylan). A digital album (and a double vinyl record set), Dion released a music video for every song from the album on his website and social media platforms such as Facebook and YouTube. The album reached No. 1 on the Billboard Blues Albums chart (9 weeks at No. 1 and 59 weeks total).",
"1 and 59 weeks total). 1 and 59 weeks total). It also charted in United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Canada and Australia. American Songwriter magazine honored Dion's \"Song for Sam Cooke (Here in America)\" as the \"Greatest of the Great 2020 Songs\". Dion also released two Christmas songs in 2020: \"Hello Christmas\" (featuring Amy Grant) and \"You Know It's Christmas\" (featuring Bonamassa). Both songs were co-written with Mike Aquilina.",
"Both songs were co-written with Mike Aquilina. Both songs were co-written with Mike Aquilina. Music videos were produced for both songs. Dion's song \"Blues Comin' On\" (with Bonamassa) from Blues with Friends was nominated for a 2021 Blues Music Award. In November 2021, Dion released Stomping Ground (with music videos), which includes extensive liner notes written by Pete Townshend. Except for a cover of \"Red House\", the songs were written by Dion and Aquilina.",
"Except for a cover of \"Red House\", the songs were written by Dion and Aquilina. Multiple guest artists participate on the album. The album became Dion's second No. 1 blues album. The Wanderer musical On October 13, 2011, an industry-only reading of a new play about Dion's life was performed in New York City.",
"The Wanderer musical On October 13, 2011, an industry-only reading of a new play about Dion's life was performed in New York City. In a December 9, 2011 article from The New York Times, Dion and his collaborator (writer/director Charles Messina) discussed details about the project – titled The Wanderer: The Life and Music of Dion – which will focus on the years between 1957 until the late-1960s, and will feature more than 20 songs from that era as well as new/original music.",
"In a December 9, 2011 article from The New York Times, Dion and his collaborator (writer/director Charles Messina) discussed details about the project – titled The Wanderer: The Life and Music of Dion – which will focus on the years between 1957 until the late-1960s, and will feature more than 20 songs from that era as well as new/original music. In the article, Dion gave his perspective on the story: \"You know, I always saw my story as a young Sopranos with great music and a Rocky Graziano Somebody Up There Likes Me ending.",
"In the article, Dion gave his perspective on the story: \"You know, I always saw my story as a young Sopranos with great music and a Rocky Graziano Somebody Up There Likes Me ending. It's a story of redemption. A rock and roll redemption story!\" DiMucci revealed that Michael Wartella would be starring in The Wanderer on December 16, 2017. There was a reading of the musical on November 2, 2017 while working on it continued.",
"There was a reading of the musical on November 2, 2017 while working on it continued. On December 4, 2019, it was announced that former New Kids on the Block member Joey McIntyre would star as Johnny, Michael Wartella as Dion, and Christy Altomare as wife, Susan. The first performance was scheduled to start on May 28, 2020, at the Paper Mill Playhouse. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the opening performance was rescheduled to March 24, 2022.",
"Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the opening performance was rescheduled to March 24, 2022. Personal life Dion lives in Boca Raton, Florida and New York City. In the late 1990s, Dion visited his old Bronx parish, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, and returned to Catholicism. Sparking Dion's reversion to Catholicism was \"a chance viewing of The Journey Home program on EWTN.\"",
"Sparking Dion's reversion to Catholicism was \"a chance viewing of The Journey Home program on EWTN.\" As a practicing Roman Catholic and having struggled with a heroin addiction during his youth, Dion has been involved in prison religion, reaching out to men going through drug recovery. DiMucci was a member of the American board of directors for Renewal Ministries in 2004. Dion appeared on The Journey Home and discussed his wanderings from Catholicism to Protestantism and back again on May 1, 2006.",
"Dion appeared on The Journey Home and discussed his wanderings from Catholicism to Protestantism and back again on May 1, 2006. Selective discography With the Belmonts Presenting Dion and the Belmonts (1959) Wish Upon a Star with Dion and the Belmonts (1960) Together Again (1966) Live at Madison Square Garden 1972 (1973) Solo albums Alone with Dion (1961) Runaround Sue (1961) Donna the Prima Donna (1963) Dion (1968) Suite for Late Summer (1972) Born to Be with You (1975) Streetheart (1976) I Put Away My Idols (1983) Yo Frankie (1989) Son of Skip James (2007) Blues with Friends (2020) Stomping Ground (2021) References External links Comprehensive Rolling Stone profile The Spiritual Journey of the Wanderer Who Came Home By Dion Dimucci Dion the Wanderer, Back In Blue (an article at NPR.com) 1939 births Living people American male singers American people of Italian descent American male pop singers American folk singers American rock singers Musicians from the Bronx American performers of Christian music Laurie Records artists Columbia Records artists Singers from New York City Dion and the Belmonts members Doo-wop musicians Catholics from New York (state)"
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